This one art-lesse perswasion hath preuailed more with the world then all the places of reason How many millions miscarry vpon this ground Thus did my fore-fathers Thus doe the most I am neither the first nor the last Doe any of the rulers Wee straight thinke that either safe or pardonable for which we can pleade a precedent This good woman hath more warrant for her resolution then anothers practice The mind can neuer be steady whiles it stands vpon others feete and till it be setled vpon such grounds of assurance that it will rather lead then follow and can say with Ioshua whatsoeuer become of the world I and my house will serue the Lord. If Naomi had not beene a person of eminent note no knowledge had beene taken at Bethleem of her returne Pouerty is euer obscure and those that haue little may goe and come without noise If the streetes of Bethleem had not before vsed to say There goes Noami they had not now asked Is not this Noami Shee that had lost all things but her name is willing to part with that also Call mee not Noami but call mee Marah Her humility cares little for a glorious name in a deiected estate Many a one would haue set faces vpon their want an in the bitternesse of their condition haue affected the name of beauty In all formes of good there are more that care to seeme then to be Naomi hates this hypocrisie since God hath humbled her desires not to be respected of men Those which are truely brought down make it not dainty that the world should thinke them so but are ready to be the first proclaimers of their owne vilenesse Naomi went full out of Bethleem to preuent want and now shee brings that want home with her which shee desired to auoid Our blindnesse oft-times carries vs into the perils we seeke to eschew God findes it best many times to crosse the likely proiects of his dearest children and to multiply those afflictions which thy feared fingle Ten yeeres haue turned Naomi into Marah What assurance is there of these earthly things whereof one houre may strip vs What man can say of the yeeres to come Thus I will be How iustly doe we contemne this vncertainty and looke vp to those riches that cannot but endure when heauen and earth are dissolued BOAZ and RVTH WHiles Elimelech shifted to Moab to auoid the famine Boaz abode still at Bethleem and continued rich and powerfull He staid at home and found that which Elimelech went to seek and missed The iudgement of famine doth not lightly extend it selfe to all Pestilence and the sword spare none but dearth commonly plagueth the meaner sort and balketh the mighty When BoaZ his store-house was empty his fields were full and maintained the name of Bethleem I do not heare Ruth stand vpō the termes of her better education or wealthy Parentage but now that God hath called her to want she scorns not to lay her hand vnto all homely seruices and thinks it no disparagement to finde her bread in other mens fields There is no harder lesson to a generous minde nor that more beseemes it then either to beare want or to preuent it Base spirits giue themselues ouer to idlenesse and misery and because they are crossed will sullenly perish That good woman hath not bin for nothing in the schoole of patience she hath learned obedience to a poore stepmother she was now a widdo past reach of any danger of correction besides that penury might seem to dispense with awe Euen children do easily learne to contemne the pouerty of their own Parents Yet hath she inured her selfe to obedience that she will not so much as go forth into the field to gleane without the leaue of her mother in law is no lesse obsequious to Marah then she was to Naomi What shall she say to those children that in the maine actions of their life forget they haue naturall Parents It is a shame to see that in meane families want of substance causeth want of duty and that children should thinke themselues priuiledged for vnreuerence because the Parent is poore Little do we know when we goe forth in the morning what God meanes to do with vs ere night There is a prouidence that attends on vs in all our waies guides vs insensibly to his owne ends That diuine hand leades Ruth blindfolded to the field of BoaZ That she meetes with his reapers fals vpon his land amongst al the fields of Bethleem it was no praise to her election but the gracious disposition of him in whom we moue His thoughts are aboue ours and doe so order our actions as we if we had known should haue wished No sooner is she come into the field but the reapers are friendly to her no sooner is Boaz come into his field but he inuites her to more bounty then she could haue desired now God begins to repay into her bosome her loue and duty to her mother in law Reuerence and louing respects to parents neuer yet went away vnrecompenced God will surely raise vp friends amongst strangers to those that haue been officious at home It was worth Ruthe's iourney from Moab to meet with such a man as BoaZ whom we find thrifty religious charitable Though he were rich yet he was not carelesse he comes into the field to ouersee his reapers Euen the best estate requires carefull managing of the owner He wanted not officers to take charge of his husbandry yet he had rather be his own witnesse After all the trust of others the Masters eye feeds the horse The Master of this great Houshold of the world giues vs an example of this care whose eye is in euery corner of this his large possessiō Not ciuility only but religion binds vs to good husbandry We are all stewards and what account can we giue to our Master if we neuer looke after our estate I doubt whether Boaz had bin so rich if he had not bin so frugall Yet was he not more thrifty then religious He comes not to his reapers but with a blessing in his mouth the Lord be with you as one that knew if he were with them and not the Lord his presence could auaile nothing All the businesse of the family speeds the better for the Masters benediction Those affaires are likely to succeed that take their beginning at God Charity was well matched with his religion without which good words are but hypocrites no sooner doth he heare the name of the Moabitesse but he secōds the kindnesse of his reapers and still he rises in his fauours First she may gleane in his field then shee may drinke of his vessels then she shall take her meale with his reapers and part of it from his own hand lastly his work-men must let fall sheaues for her gathering A Small thing helpes the needy an handfull of gleanings a lap-full of parched corne a draught of the seruants bottles a loose sheafe was
vndertaken a great taske to teach men how to bee happy in this life J haue vndertaken and performed it wherein J haue followed Seneca and gone beyond him followed him as a Philosopher gone beyond him as a Christian as a Diuine Finding it a true censure of the best Moralists that they were like to goodly Ships graced with great titles the Sauegard the Triumph the Good-speed and such like when yet they haue beene both extremely Sea-beaten and at last wracked The volume is little perhaps the vse more J haue euer thought according to the Greeke Prouerbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What it is euen iustice challengeth it to him to whom the Author hath deuoted himselfe The children of the bondman are the goods of the parents Master J humbly betake it to your Honours protection and your Honour to the protection of the Highest Your Honours most humbly deuoted in all dutie and seruice IOS HALL The Analysis or Resolution of this Treatise concerning TRANQVILLITIE Our Treatise concerning Tranquillitie is partly Refutatorie where the precepts of the Heathen are Recited Reiected for Enumeration Insufficient Qualitie of remedies too weake Positiue which teacheth What it is and wherein it consists How to be attained Enemies of peace subdued whether those On the left hand Of sinnes done Whose trouble is In their guiltines consid How turbulent they are till the conscience be pacified How remedied Peace is through reconciliation Reconciliation through Remission Remission by Satisfaction Satisfaction Not by vs. By infinite merits of Where are considered The person and merits of Christ by whom peace is offered The receiuing of our offered peace by faith In their sollicitation Remedied by resolute resistance Where is the subduing and moderation of our Affections Of paine suffered Crosses Imaginarie How redressed True How preuented and prepared against by Expectation Exercise How to be born Contentedly in respect of their cause Thankefully in respect of their good effect Ioyfully in respect of their issue Death consid How fearefull Which way sweetned On the right Ouer-ioying Ouer-desiring Of Riches Honour Pleasure How to be esteemed As Not good in themselues Exposing vs to euill Rules and grounds of Peace set downe Maine or principall A continuall fruition of the presence of God to be renewed to vs by all holy exercises Subordinate In respect of our actions A resolution To refraine from all occasions of the displeasure of God To performe all required duties To doe nothing doubtingly In respect of our estate To depend wholly on the prouidence of God To account our owne estate best HEAVEN VPON EARTH OR Of true Peace of Minde SECT I. WHEN I had studiously read ouer the morall writings of some wise Heathen especially those of the Stoicall profession Censure of Philosophers I must confesse I found a little enuie and pitie striuing together within me I enuied nature in them to see her so witty in deuising such plausible refuges for doubting and troubled minds I pittied them to see that their carefull disquisition of true rest led them in the end but to meere vnquietnesse Wherein me thought they were as Hounds swift of foot but not exquisite in sent which in an hasty pursuit take a wrong way spending their mouthes and courses in vaine Their praise of ghessing wiâ—tily they shall not leese their hopes both they lost and whosoeuer followes them If Seneca could haue had grace to his wit what wonders would he haue done in this kinde what Diuine might not haue yeelded him the chaire for precepts of Tranquillity without any disparagement As he was this he hath gained Neuer any Heathen wrote more diuinely neuer any Philosopher more probably Neither would I euer desire better Master if to this purpose I needed no other mistris than Nature But this in truth is a taske which Nature hath neuer without presumption vndertaken and neuer performed without much imperfection Like to those vaine and wandring Empirickes which in Tables and pictures make great ostentation of Cures neuer approuing their skill to their credulous Patients And if she could haue truly effected it alone I know not what employment in this life she should haue left for grace to busie her selfe about nor what priuilege it should haue beene heere below to be a Christian since this that we seeke is the noblest worke of the soule and in which alone consists the only heauen of this world this is the summe of all humane desires which when we haue attained then onely we begin to liue and are sure we cannot thence-forth liue miserably No maruell then if all the Heathen haue diligently sought after it many wrote of it none attained it Not Athens must teach this lesson but Ierusalem SECT II. YEt something Grace scorneth not to learne of Nature What Tranquillity is and wherein it consists as Moses may take good counsell of a Midianite Nature hath euer had more skill in the end than in the way to it and whether shee haue discoursed of the good estate of the minde which wee call TRANQVILLITIE or the best which is happinesse hath more happily ghessed at the generall definition of them than of the meanes to compasse them Shee teacheth vs therefore without controlement that the Tranquillity of the minde is as of the Sea and weather when no wind stirreth when the waues doe not tumultuously rise and fall vpon each other but when the face both of the Heauen and waters is still faire and equable That it is such an euen disposition of the heart wherein the scoales of the minde neither rise vp towards the beame through their owne lightnesse or the ouerweening opinion of prosperity nor are too much depressed with any loade of sorrow but hanging equall and vnmoued betwixt both giue a man liberty in all occurrences to enioy himselfe Not that the most temperate minde can be so the master of his passions as not sometimes to ouer-ioy his griefe or ouer-grieue his ioy according to the contrary occasions of both for not the euenest weights but at their first putting into the ballance somewhat sway both parts thereof not without some shew of inequality which yet after some little motion settle themselues in a meet poyse It is enough that after some sudden agitation it can returne to it selfe and rest it selfe at last in a resolued peace And this due composednesse of minde we require vnto our Tranquillitie not for some short fits of good mood which soone after end in discontentment but with the condition of perpetuity For there is no heart makes so rough weather as not sometimes to admit of a calme and whether for that he knoweth no present cause of his trouble or for that he knoweth that cause of trouble is counteruailed with as great an occasion of priuate ioy or for that the multitude of euills hath bred carelesnesse the man that is most disordred findes some respits of quietnesse The balances that are most ill matched in their vnsteddy motions come to an equality
yea without dimention of matter was truly admirable Doubtlesse he went oft about it and viewed it on all sides and now when his eie and mind could vntâ—â— with no likely causes so far off resolues I will goe see it His curiosity led him neeres and what could hee see but a bush and a flame which he saw at first vnsatisfied It is good to come to the place of Gods presence howsoeuer God may perhaps speak to thy heart though thou come but for nouelty Euen those which haue come vpon curiosity haue beene oft taken Absence is without hope If Moses had not come he had not beene called out of the bush To see a fire not consuming the bush was much but to heare a speaking fire this was more and to heare his owne name out of the mouth of the fire it was most of all God makes way for his greatest messages by astonishment and admiration as on the contrary carelesnesse caries vs to a meere vnproficiency vnder the best meanes of God If our hearts were more awfull Gods messages would be more effectuall to vs. In that appearance God meant to call Moses to come yet when he is come inhibits him Come not hither We must come to God we must not come too nere him When we meditate of the great mysteries of his word we come to him we come too neere him when we search into his counsels The Sun and the fire say of themselues Come not too neare how much more the light which none can attaine vnto We haue all our limits set vs The Gentiles might come into some outter courts not into the inmost The Iewes might come into the inner Court not into the Temple the Priests and Leuites into the Temple not into the Holy of Holies Moses to the Hill not to the Bush The waues of the Sea had not more need of bounds then mans presumption Moses must not come close to the bush at all and where he may stand he may not stand with his shooes on There is no vnholinesse in clothes God prepared them for man at first and that of skins lest any exception should be taken at the hides of dead beasts The rite was significant What are the shooes but worldly and carnall affections If these be not cast off when we come to the holy place we make our selues vnholy how much lesse should we dare to come with resolutions of sinne This is not onely to come with shooes on but with shooes bemired with wicked filthinesse the touch whereof pro-the pauement of God and makes our presence odious Moses was the Sonne of Amram Amram of Kohath Kohath of Leui Leui of Iacob Iacob of Isaac Isaac of Abraham God puts together both ends of his pedigree I am the God of thy father and of Abraham Isaac Iacob If he had said onely I am thy God it had beene Moses his duty to attend awfully but now that he sayes I am the God of thy Father and of Abraham c. He challenges reuerence by prescription Any thing that was our Ancesters pleases vs their Houses their Vessels their Cotâ— armour How much more their God How carefull should Parents be to make holy choices Euery president of theirs are so many monuments and motiues to their posterity What an happinesse it is to be borne of good Parents hence God claimes an interest in vs and wee in him for their sake As many a man smarteth for his fathers sinne so the goodnesse of others is crowned in a thousand generations Neither doth God say I was the God of Abraham Isaac Iacob but I am The Patriarkes still liue after so many thousand yeares of dissolution No length of time can separate the soules of the iust from their Maker As for their body there is still a reall relation betwixt the dust of it and the soule and if the being of this part be more defectiue the being of the other is more liuely and doth more then recompence the wants of that earthly halfe God could not describe himselfe by a more sweet name then if his I am the God of thy father and of Abraham c. yet Moses hides his face for feare If he had said I am the glorious God that made heauen and earth that dwell in light inaccessible whom the Angels cannot behold or I am God the auenger iust and terrible a consuming fire to mine enemies here had beene iust cause of terror But why was Moses so frighted with a familiar compellation God is no lesse awfull to his owne in his very mercies Great is thy mercy that thou mayst be feared for to them no lesse maiesty shines in the fauours of God then in his iudgements and iustice The wicked heart neuer feares God but thundring or shaking the earth or raining fire from heauen but the good can dread him in his very sunne-shine his louing deliuerances blessings affect them with awfulnesse Moses was the true son of Iacob who when he saw nothing but visions of loue mercy could say How dreadfull is this places I see Moses now at the bush hiding his face at so milde a representation hereafter we shall see him in this very Mount betwixt heauen and earth in Thunder Lightning Smoke Earth-quakes speaking mouth to mouth with God bare faced and fearlesse God was then more terrible but Moses was lesse strange This was his first meeting with God further acquaintance makes him familiar and familiarity makes him bold Frequence of conuersation giues vs freedome of accesse to God and makes vs powre out our hearts to him as fully and as fearlesly as to our friends In the meane time now at first he made not so much haste to see but he made as much to hide his eies Twice did Moses hide his face once for the glory which God put vpon him which made him so shine that he could not bee beheld of others once for Gods owne glory which hee could not behold No maruell Some of the creatures are too glorious for mortall eies how much more when God appeares to vs in the easiest manner must his glory needs ouercome vs Behold the difference betwixt our present and future estate Then the more Maiesty of appearance the more delight when our sin is quite gone all our feare at Gods presence shall be turned into ioy God appeared to Adam before his sin with comfort but in the same forme which after his sin was terrible And if Moses cannot abide to looke vpon Gods glory when he descends to vs in mercy how shall wicked ones abide to see his fearfull presence when he sets vpon vengeance In this fire he flamed and consumed not but in his reuenge our God is a consuming fire First Moses hides himselfe in feare now in modesty Who am I None in all Aegypt or Midian was comparably fit for this embassage Which of the Israelites had bin brought vp a Courtier a Scholler an Israelite by blood by education an Aegyptian learned wise valiant
neither must dye nor be quenched God as he is himselfe eternall so he loues permanency and constancie of grace in vs If wee be but a flash and away God regards vs not all promises are to perseuerance Sure it is but an elementary fire that goes out that which is celestiall continues it was but some presumptuous heat in vs that decayes vpon euery occasion But he that miraculously sent downe this fire at first will not renew the miracle euery day by a like supply it began immediately from God it must bee nourished by meanes Fuell must maintaine that fire which came from Heauen God wil not work miracles euery day if he haue kindled his Spirit in vs we may not expect he shall euery day begin againe wee haue the fuell of the Word and Sacraments Prayers and Meditations which must keepe it in for euer It is from God that these helps can nourish his graces in vs like as euery flame of our materiall fire hath a concourse of prouidence but we may not expect new infusions rather know that God expects of vs an improuement of those habituall graces we haue receiued Whiles the people with feare and ioy see God lighting his owne fire fire from heauen the two sonnes of Aaron in a carelesse presumption will be seruing him with a common flame As if he might not haue leaue to choose the formes of his owne worship If this had beene done some ages after when the memory of the originall of this heauenly fire had beene worne out it might haue beene excused with ignorance but now when God had newly sent his fire from aboue newly commanded the continuance of it either to let it goe out or whiles it still flamed to fetch prophane coales to Gods Altar could sauour of no lesse then presumption and Sacriledge when we bring zeale without knowledge misconceits of faith carnall affections the deuices of our Wil-worship Superstitious Deuotions into Gods Seruice we bring common fire to his Altar these flames were neuer of his kindling Hee hates both Altar Fire Priest and Sacrifice And now behold the same fire which consumed the Sacrifice before consumes the Sacrificers It was the signe of his acceptation in consuming the beast but whiles it destroyed men the fearfull signe of his displeasure By the same meanes can God bewray both loue and hatred Wee would haue pleaded for Nadab and Abihu They are but yong-men the sonnes of Aaron not yet warme in their Function let both age and blood and inexperience excuse them as yet No pretences no priuiledges can beare off a sinne with God Men thinke either to patronize or mitigate euils by their fained reasons That no man may hope the plea either of birth or of youth or of the first commission of euill may challenge pardon I see heere yong men sonnes of the Ruler of Israel for the first offence strooke dead Yea this made God the more to stomack and the rather to reuenge this impiety because the Sonnes of Aaron did it God had both pardoned and graced their Father he had honoured them of the thousands of Israel culling them out for his Altar and now as their Father set vp a false god so they bring false fire vnto the True God If the sonnes of Infidels liue godlessely they doe their kinde their punishment shall be though iust yet lesse but if the children of religious Parents after all Christian nurture shall shame their Education God takes it more hainously and reuenges is more sharply The more bonds of duty the more plagues of neglect If from the Agents wee looke to the act it selfe set aside the originall descent and what difference was there betwixt these fires Both lookt alike heated alike ascended alike consumed alike both were fed with the same materiall wood both vanished into smoke There was no difference but the Commandement of God If God had inioyned ordinarie fire they had sinned to looke for celestiall now he commanded onely the fire which he sent they sinned in sending vp Incense in that fire which he commanded not It is a dangerous thing in the seruice of God to decline from his owne institutions we haue to doe with a power which is wise to prescribe his owne worship iust to require what he hath prescribed powerful to reuenge that which he hath not required If God had strooke them with some Leprosie in their forehead as he did their Aunt Miriam soon after or with some palsie or lingering consumption the punishment had beene grieuous but he whose iudgements are euer iust sometimes secret saw fire the fittest reuenge for a sinne of fire his owne fire fittest to punish strange fire A sudden iudgement fit for a present and exemplarie sinne He saw that if he had winkt at this his seruice had been exposed to prophanation It is wisedome in gouernours to take sinne at the first bound and so to reuenge it that their punishments may bee preuentions Speed of death is not alwayes a iudgement suddennesse as it is euer iustly suspicable so then certainly argues anger when it finds vs in an act of sinne Leasure of repentance is an argument of fauour vvhen God giues a man Law it implyes that he would not haue iudgement surprize him Doubtlesse Aaron lookt somewhat heauily on this sad spectacle It could not but appall him to see his two sonnes dead before him dead in displeasure dead suddenly dead by the immediate hand of God And now hee could repent him of his new honour to see it succeed so ill with the sonnes of his loynes neither could hee chuse but see himselfe stricken in them But his Brother Moses that had learned not to know either Nephewes or Brother when they stood in his way to God wisely turned his eyes from the dead carkasses of his Sonnes to his respect of the liuing God My Brother this euent is fearfull but iust These were thy sonnes but they sinned it was not for God it is not for thee to looke so much who they were as what they did It was their honour and thine that they were chosen to minister before the Lord Hee that called them iustly required their Sanctification obedience If they haue prophaned God and themselues can thy naturall affection so miscary thee that thou couldest wish their impunity with the blemish of thy Maker Our sonnes are not ours if they disobey our Father to pitie their misery is to partake of their sinnes If thou grudge at their iudgement take heed lest the same fire of God come forth vpon this strange fire of nature Shew now whether thou more louest God or thy sonnes Shew whether thou be a better Father or a Sonne Aaron weighing these things holds his peace not out of an amazement or sullennesse but out of patient and humble submission and seeing Gods pleasure and their desert is content to forget that hee had sonnes He might haue had a silent tongue and a clamorous heart There is no voice louder in
way the best seat If I deserue well a low place cannot disparage me so much as I shall grace it if not the height of my place shall adde to my shame whiles euery man shall condemne me of pride matched with vnworthinesse 34 I see there is not so much difference betwixt a man and a beast as betwixt a Christian and a naturall man For whereas man liues but one life of reason aboue the beast a Christian liues foure liues aboue a naturall man The life of inchoate regeneration by grace the perfect life of imputed righteousnesse the life of glory begun in the separation of the soule the life of perfect glory in the society of the body with the soule in full happinesse The worst whereof is better by many degrees than the best life of a naturall man For whereas the dignitie of the life is measured by the cause of it in which regard the life of the plant is basest because it is but from the iuyce arising from the root administred by the earth the life of the bruit creature better than it because it is sensitiue of a man better than it because reasonable and the cause of this life is the Spirit of God so farre as the Spirit of God is aboue reason so farre doth a Christian exceed a meere naturalist I thanke God much that hee hath made me a man but more that hee hath made me a Christian without which I know not whether it had beene better for me to haue beene a beast or not to haue beene 35 Great mens fauours friends promises and dead mens shooes I will esteeme but not trust to 36 It is a fearefull thing to sinne more fearefull to delight in sinne yet worse than worst to boast of it If therefore I cannot auoid sinne because I am a man yet I will auoid the delight defence and boasting of sinne because I am a Christian 37 Those things which are most eagerly desired are most hardly both gotten and kept God commonly crossing our desires in what we are ouer-feruent I will therefore account all things as too good to haue so nothing too deare to lose 38 A true friend is not borne euerie day It is best to be courteous to all entire with few So may we perhaps haue lesse cause of ioy I am sure lesse occasion of sorrow 39 Secrecies as they are a burthen to the minde ere they be vttered so are they no lesse charge to the receiuer when they are vttered I will not long after more inward secrets lest I should procure doubt to my selfe and iealous feare to the discloser But as my mouth shall be shut with fidelitie not to blab them so mine eare shall not bee too open to receiue them 40 As good Physicians by one receit make way for another so is it the safest course in practice I will reueale a great secret to none but whom I haue found faithfull in lesse 41 I will enioy all things in God and God in all things nothing in it selfe So shall my ioyes neither change nor perish For how euer the things themselues may alter or fade yet he in whom they are mine is euer like himselfe constant and euerlasting 42 If I would prouoke my selfe to contentation I will cast downe mine eies to my inferiours and there see better men in worse condition if to humility I will cast them vp to my betters and so much more deiect my selfe to them by how much more I see them thought worthy to be respected of others and deserue better in themselues 43 True vertue rests in the conscience of it selfe either for reward or censure If therefore I know my selfe vpright false rumors shall not daunt me if not answerable to the good report of my fauourers I will my selfe finde the first fault that I may preuent the shame of others 44 I will account vertue the best riches knowledge the next riches the worst and therefore will labour to be vertuous and learned without condition as for riches if they fall in my way I refuse them not but if not I desire them not 45 An honest word I account better than a carelesse oath I will say nothing but what I dare sweare and will performe It is a shame for a Christian to abide his tongue a false seruant or his minde a loose mistresse 46 There is a iust and easie difference to be put betwixt a friend and an enemie betwixt a familiar and a friend and much good vse to be made of all but of all with discretion I will disclose my selfe no whit to my enemie somewhat to my friend wholly to no man lest I should be more others than mine owne Friendship is brittle stuffe How know I whether he that loues me may not hate mee hereafter 47 No man but is an easie Iudge of his owne matters and lookers on oftentimes see the more I will therefore submit my selfe to others in what I am reproued but in what I am praised onely to my selfe 48 I will not be so merry as to forget God nor so sorrowfull to forget my selfe 49 As nothing makes so strong and mortall hostilitie as discord in religions so nothing in the world vnites mens hearts so firmely as the bond of faith For whereas there are three grounds of friendship Vertue Pleasure Profit and by all confessions that is the surest which is vpon Vertue it must needs follow that what is grounded on the best and most heauenly Vertue must be the fastest which as it vnites man to God so inseparably that no tentations no torments not all the gates of Hell can seuer him so it vnites one Christian soule to another so firmely that no outward occurrences no imperfections in the partie loued can dissolue them If I loue not the childe of God for his owne sake for his Fathers sake more than my friend for my commodity or my kinsman for bloud I neuer receiued any sparke of true heauenly loue 50 The good duty that is deferred vpon a conceit of present vnfitnesse at last growes irksome and thereupon altogether neglected I will not suffer my heart to entertaine the least thought of lothnesse towards the taske of deuotion wherewith I haue stinted my selfe but violently breake thorow any motion of vnwillingnesse not without a deepe checke to my selfe for my backwardnesse 51 Hearing is a sense of great apprehension yet farre more subiect to deceit than seeing not in the manner of apprehending but in the vncertainty of the obiect Words are vocall interpreters of the minde actions reall and therefore how euer both should speake according to the truth of what is in the heart yet words doe more belie the heart than actions I care not what words I heare when I see deeds I am sure what a man doth he thinketh not so alwaies what he speaketh Though I will not bee so seuere a censor that for some few euill acts I should condemne a man of false-heartednesse yet in common course of life
the faults of others He that couereth a transgression seeketh loue Pr. 17.9 Ec. 8.2 but he that repeateth a matter separateth the Prince To these hee is diligent taking heed to the mouth of the King and therefore worthily standeth before Kings and not before the base sort and withall true and faithfull when hee vndertakes anothers suit hee lingers not Pr. 22.29 knowing that The hope that is deferred is the fainting of the heart Pr. 13.12 Pr. 17.8 and though A bribe or reward is as a stone pleasant in the eies of them that haue it and prospereth whithersoeuer it turneth Pr. 19.6 Pr. 21.6 for euery man is a friend to him that giueth gifts yet hee accounteth the gathering of treasures by a deceitfull tongue to be vanity tossed to and fro of them that seeke death SALOMONS SVBIECT §. 9. His duty to His Prince Reuerence Obedience Fellow-Subiects EVery gouernment presupposeth Subiects Pr. 14.18 In the multitude of the people is the honour of the King and for the want of people commeth the destruction of the Prince Of whom God requires in respect of the Prince Reuerence Obedience Pr. 19.6 Pr. 29.26 Ec. 10.20 Pr. 24.21 Pr. 17.11 Ec. 10.20 Pr. 17.11 Pr. 24.22 That they should reuerence and seeke the face of the Prince not cursing the King so much as in their thought nor the rich in their bed-chamber but fearing the Lord and the King and not meddling with the seditious which only seeke euill For as the Fowle of the heauen shall carry the voice and the master of the wing declare the matter so for reuenge a cruell messenger shall be sent against theÌ„ their destruction shall arise suddenly and who knoweth their ruine For their due homage therefore and obedience to lawes they take heed to the mouth of the King and the word of the oath of God Ec. 8.2 and if a law be enacted Ec. 10.8 Ec. 10.9 Ec. 8 3. they violate it not nor striue for innouation Hee that breakes the hedge a serpent shall bite him He that remoueth stones shall hurt himselfe thereby and hee that cutteth wood shall be in danger thereby And if they haue offended they haste not to goe forth of the Princes sight nor stand in an euill thing for he will doe what-euer pleaseth him Ec. 10.4 but rather if the spirit of him that ruleth rise vp against them by gentlenesse pacifie great sinnes §. 10. To his fellow-Subiects in respect of more publike societie is required 1. Regard to Superiors in Estate Desert Inferiors Equals 2. Commerce more priuate societie Iust maintenance of each mans proprietie Truth of friendship Pr. 22.7 Pr. 27.21 IN respect of themselues he requires due regard of degrees whether of superiors The rich ruleth the poore and as the fining pot is for siluer and the furnace for gold so is euery man tryed according to his dignity so as they that come from the holy place be not forgotten in the City Ec. 8.10 Pr. Pr. 11.12 Pr. 14.21 where they haue done right or whether of inferiors for A poore man if he oppresse the poore Is like a raging raine that leaueth no food yea lesse than oppression He that despiseth his neighbour is both a sinner and destitute of vnderstanding or lastly of equals and therein quiet and peaceable demeanour not striuing with others causelesse Pr. 3.30 Pr. 17.14 Pr 25.9 Pr. 25.8 Pr. 26.17 Pr. 6.16 19. not to beginne contentions for the beginning of strife is as one that openeth the waters therefore ere it be medled with he leaueth off and being prouoked debateth the matter with his neighbour And as he goes not forth hastily to strife so much lesse doth he take part in impertinent quarrels Hee that passeth by and medleth with the strife that belongs not to him is as one that takes a dogge by the eare and one of the six things that God hates is he that raiseth vp contentions among neighbours Ec. 5.8 Pr. 8.19 Secondly mutuall commerce and interchange of commodities without which is no liuing The abundance of the earth is ouer all and the King consists by the field that is tilled The husbandman therefore must till his land that hee may bee satisfied with bread for much increase commeth by the strength of the Oxe Pr. 14.4 Pr. 11. â—6 Pr. 24.30 31. and moreouer he must sell corne that blessings may be vpon him which if he withdraw the people shall curse him so that the slothfullman whose field is ouer growne with thornes and nettles is but an ill member Pr. 31.14 And againe The Merchant must bring his wares from farre and each so trade with other Ec. 10.19 P. 22.28 Pr. 23.10 Pr. 23.11 Pr. Pr. 23.4 Pr. 28.22 Pr. 28.20 Pr. 20.21 that both may liue They prepare bread for laughter and wine comforts the liuing but siluer answereth to all For lesse publike society is required due reseruation of propriety not to remoue the ancient bounds which his fathers haue made not to enter into the field of the fatherlesse for he that redeemeth them is mighty not to increase his riches by vsury and interest not to hasten ouer-much to be rich for such one knoweth not that pouerty shall come vpon him and that an heritage hastily gotten in the beginning in the end thereof shall not bee blessed and that in the meane time The man that is greedy of gaine Pr. 15.27 Pr. 18.24 troubleth his owne house 2. Truth of friendship A man that hath friends ought to shew himselfe friendly for a friend is neerer than a brother Pr. 27.10 Pr. 27.6 Pr. 27.9 Thy owne friend therefore and thy fathers friend forget thou not for whether he reproue thee The wounds of a louer are faithfull or whether he aduise As ointment and perfume reioyce the heart so doth the sweetnesse of a mans friend by hearty counsell or whether he exhort Pr. 27.17 Pr. 19.4 Pr. 17.17 Pr. 27 19. Pr. 25.17 iron sharpens iron so doth a man sharpen the face of his friend and all this not in the time of prosperitie only as commonly Riches gather many friends and the poore is separated from his neighbour but contrarily A true friend loueth at all times and a brother is borne for aduersity in all estates therefore as the face in the water answers to face so the heart of man to man who yet may not be too much pressed Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbours house lest he be weary of thee and hate thee neither enter into thy brothers house in the day of thy calamity nor againe Pr. 27.10 too forward in proffering kindnesse to his owne losse A man destitute of vnderstanding Pr. 17.18 Pr. 6.1 2 c. Pr. 6.3 toucheth the hand and becommeth surety for his neighbour If therefore thou art become surety for thy neighbour much more if thou hast stricken hands with the stranger thou art snared with the words of thine owne mouth
of the fruit of her owne hands Pr. 31.31 and let her owne workes praise her PARENTS §. 5. Who owe to their children Prouision Instruction Correction PArents and Children are the next paire which doe giue much ioy to each other Childrens children are the crowne of the Elders Pr. 17 6. and the glory of the children are their fathers To which purpose the Parent oweth to the Childe 1. Prouision A good man shall giue inheritance to his childrens children Pr. 13.22 Ec. 2.18 Ec. 2.19 All the labour wherein hee hath trauelled he shall leaue to the man that shall bee after him And who knoweth whether he shall be wise or foolish yet shall he rule ouer all his labour wherein he hath laboured and shewed himselfe wise vnder the Sunne Here are therefore two grosse vanities Ec. 4.8 which I haue seene the one There is one alone and there is not a second which hath neither sonne nor brother yet there is none end of his trauell neither can his eie be satisfied with riches neither doth he thinke For whom doe I trauell and defraud my soule of pleasure The other contrary riches reserued to the owner thereof for their euill And these riches perish in his euill businesse Ec. 5.12 Ec. 5.13 Pr. 1.8 Pr. 17.21 Pr. 22.6 and he begetteth a sonne and in his hand is nothing 2. Instruction and good education for Hee that begetteth a foole whether naturally or by ill breeding begetteth himselfe sorrow and the father of a foole can haue no ioy And therefore Teach a childe in the trade of his way and when he is old he shall not depart from it 3. Correction He that spareth his rod hateth his sonne but hee that loueth him chasteneth betime Pr. 13.24 Pr. 22.15 for foolishnesse is bound in the heart of a childe the rod of correction shall driue it from him yea there is yet great benefit of due chastisement Pr. 29.15 for The rod and correction giue life but a childe set at liberty makes his mother who is commonly faulty this way ashamed Pr. 23.13 Pr. 25.14 Pr. 4.3 Pr. 29.17 yea more than shame death and hell follow to the childe vpon indulgence only If thou smite him with the rod he shall not die If thou smite him with the rod thou shalt deliuer his soule from hell Though thy sonne therefore be tender and deare in thy sight Correct him and he will giue thee rest and will giue pleasures to thy soule Pr. 19.18 wherefore Chasten him while there is hope and let not thy soule spare Pr. 19.19 to his destruction The sonne that is of a great stomacke shall endure punishment and though thou deliuer him yet thou shalt take him in hand againe CHILDREN §. 6. Their duties Obedience to Instructions Commandements Submission to correction Care of their Parents estate of their owne carriage Pr. 1â— 20 Pr. 10 1. Pr. 24.24 Pr. 19.13 A Wise Sonne reioyceth the father and the father of the righteous shall greatly reioyce whereas The foolish is the calamity of his Parents Contrarily if thou be a wise sonne or louest wisdome thy father and thy mother shall be glad Pr. â—9 3 Pr. 23.15 Pr. 31.1 Pr. 1.8 Pr. 23.22 Pr. 6.20 and shee that bare thee shall reioyce Such an one is first obedient for A wise sonne will heare and obey the instruction of his father and not forsake his mothers teaching yea in euery command he will obey him that begot him and not despise his mother when shee is old not vpon any occasion cursing his Parents as there is a generation that doth for He that curseth his father or mother his light shall bee put out in obscure darknesse Pr. 30.11 Pr. 20.20 Pr. 15.20 Pr. 30.17 Pr. 2.1 Pr. 15.5 Pr. 6.23 Pr. 15.10 Pr. 28.24 not mocking and scorning them for The eie that mocketh his father and despiseth the instruction of his mother the Rauens of the Valley shall picke it out and the young Eagles eat it and not obedient to counsell onely but to stripes Hee that hateth correction is a foole and he that regardeth it is prudent For those corrections that are for instruction are the way of life therefore he that hateth them shall die Secondly carefull both 1. of their estate He that robbeth his father and mother and saith it is no transgression is a companion of a man that destroyeth and 2. of his owne cariage Pr. 19.26 for a lewd and shamefull childe destroyeth his father and chaseth away his mother Pr. 20.11 Let therefore euen the childe shew himselfe to be knowne by his doings whether his worke bee pure and right so his fathers reines shall reioyce when he speaketh and doth righteous things Pr. 23.16 THE MASTER AND SERVANT §. 7. The Master must bee Prouident for his seruant Not too secure too familiar The Seruant must be Faithfull Diligent THe seruant is no small commodity to his Master He that is despised Pr. 12.9 and hath a seruant of his owne is better than he that boasts whether of Gentry or wealth and wanteth bread The Master therefore Pr. 27.27 must prouide sufficiency of food for his family and sustenance for his maids who also as he may not bee ouer-rigorous in punishing or noting offences sometimes not hearing his seruant that curseth him so not too familiar Ec. 7.23 Pr. 29.21 for he that delicately bringeth vp his seruant from his youth at length he will bee as his sonne He must therefore be sometimes seuere more than in rebukes For Pr. 29.19 A seruant will not be chastised with words and though hee vnderstand yet hee will not regard yet so as he haue respect euer to his good deseruings A discreet seruant shall rule ouer a lewd son Pr. 17.2 and he shall diuide the heritage among his brethren In answer whereto the good seruant must be faithfull vnto his Master As the cold of snow in the time of haruest Pr. 25.13 so is a faithfull Messenger to them that send him for he refresheth the soule of his Master A wicked Messenger falleth into euill but a faithfull Ambassadour is preseruation and 2. Pr. 13.17 diligent Whether in charge Be diligent to know the estate of thy flocke or rather Pr. 17.23 the face of thy cattell and take heed to the heards or in his attendance Hee that keepeth his Fig-tree shall eat of the fruit of it Pr. 27.18 so he that carefully waiteth on his Master shall come to honour where contrarily in both these As vineger to the teeth and smoke to the eies Pr. 10.26 so is a slothfull Messenger to them that send him FINIS AN OPEN AND PLAINE PARAPHRASE VPON THE SONG OF SONGS Which is SALOMONS By IOS HALL SIC ELEVABITVR FILIVS HOMINIS Io 3. ANCHORA FIDEI LONDON Printed for THOMAS PAVIER MILES FLESHER and John Haviland 1624. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE MY SINGVLAR GOOD LORD and Patron EDVVARD
may take his full scope and deny his backe and belly nothing but he that hath once conceiued that blessed burden whereof Samson was a type must be strict and seuere to himselfe neither his tongue nor his palat nor his hand may run riot Those pleasures which seemed not vnseemly for the multitude are now debarred him We borrow more names of our Sauiour then one As we are Christians so we are Nazarites the consecration of our God is vpon our heads and therefore our very haire should be holy Our appetite must be curbed our passions moderated and so estranged from the world that in the losse of parents or childreÌ„ nature may not make vs forget grace What doth the loosenesse of vain men perswade them that God is not curious when they see him thus precisely ordering the very diet of his Nazarits Nature pleads for liberty religion for restraint not that there is more vncleannes in the grape then in the fountain but that wine findes more vncleannesse in vs then water and that the high feed is not so fit for deuotion as abstinence Who sees not a cerâ—mony in this coÌ„mand which yet carries with it this substance of euerlasting vse that God and the belly will not admit of one seruant that quaffing cramming is not the way to heauen A drunken Nazarite is a monster among men Wee haue now more scope then the ancient not drinking of wine but drunkennesse with wine is forbidden to the Euangelicall Nazarite wine wherein is excesse Oh that euer Christians should quench the Spirit of God with a liquour of Gods own making that they should suffer their hearts to be drowned with wine and should so liue as if the practise of the Gospell were quite contrary to the rule of the Law The mother must conceiue the only Giant of Israel and yet must drinke but water neither must the childe touch any other cup. Neuer wine made so strong a Champion as water did here The power of nourishment is not in the creatures but in their Maker Daniel and his three companions kept their complexion with the same diet wherwith Samson got his strength he that gaue that power to the grape can giue it to the streame O God how iustly doe we raise our eyes from our tables vnto thee which canst make water nourish and wine enfeeble vs Samson had not a better mother then Manoah had a wife she hides not the good newes in her owne bosome but imparts it to her husband That wife hath learned to make a true vse of her head which is euer ready to consult with him about the messages of God If she were made for his helper hee is much more hers Thus should good women make amends for their first offence that as Eue no sooner had receiued an ill motion but she deliuered it to her husband so they should no sooner receiue good then they should impart it Manoah like one which in those lewd times had not lost his acquaintance with God so soone as he heares the newes fals downe vpon his knees I doe not heare him call forth and addresse his seruants to all the coasts of heauen as the children of the Prophets did in the search of Elias to finde out the messenger but I see him rather look straight vp to that God which sent him My Lord I pray thee let that man of God come againe As a straight line is the shortest the neerest cut to any blessing is to goe by heauen As we may not sue to God and neglect meanes so we must sue to God for those meanes which we shall vse When I see the strength of Manoahs faith I maruell not that he had a Samson to his sonne he saw not the messenger hee heard not the errand hee examined not the circumstances yet now he takes thought not whether he shall haue a sonne but how hee shall order the sonne which he must haue and sues to God not for the son which as yet he had not but for the direction of gouerning him when he should be Zachariah heard the same message and crauing a signe lost that voice wherewith he craued it Manoah seeks no signe for the promise but counsell for himselfe and yet that Angell spake to Zachary himselfe this onely to the wife of Manoah that in the Temple like a glorious spirit this in the house or field like some Prophet or Traueller that to a Priest this to a Woman All good men haue not equall measures of faith The bodies of men haue not more differences of stature then their graces Credulity to men is faulty and dangerous but in the matters of God is the greatest vertue of a Christian Happy are they that haue not seene yet beleeued True faith takes all for granted yea for performed which is once promised He that before sent his Angell vnasked will much more send him againe vpon intreaty those heauenly messengers are ready both to obey their Maker and to relieue his children Neuer any man prayed for direction in his duties to God and was repulsed rather will God send an Angell from heauen to instruct vs then our good desires shall be frustrate Manoah prayed the Angell appeared againe not to him but to his wife It had been the shorter way to haue come first to the man whose prayers procured his presence But as Manoah went directly and immediatly to God so God comes mediately about to him and wil make her the meanes to beare the message to her husband who must beare him the sonne Both the blessing and the charge are chiefly meant to her It was a good care of Manoah when the Angell had giuen order to his wife alone for the gouerning of the childes diet to proffer himselfe to this charge How shall we order the child As both the Parents haue their part in the being of their childreÌ„ so should they haue in their educatioÌ„ it is both vnreasonable vnnatural in husbands to cast this burdeÌ„ vpon the weaker vessel alone it is no reason that she which alone hath had the pain of their birth should haue the pain of their breeding Though the charge be renued to the wife yet the speech is directed to the husbaÌ„d the act must be hers his must be the ouersight Let her obserue all I cammanded her The head must ouer-look the body it is the duty of the husband to be carefull that the wife doe her duty to God As yet Manoah saw nothing but the out-side of a man and therefore offers the Angell an answerable entertainement wherein there is at once Hospitality Thankfulnesse No man shall bring him good newes from God and goe away vnrecompenced How forward he is to feast him whom he tooke for a Prophet their feet should be so much more beautifull that bring vs newes of saluation by how much their errand is better That Manoah might learne to acknowledge God in this man he sets off the proffer of his thankfulnesse from
he hath corrected so can ease them Folly is neuer Ieparated from wickednesse Their heart told them that they had no right to the Arke A Councell is called of their Princes and Priests If they had resolued to send it home they had done wisely Now they doe not carry it away but they carry it about from Ebenezer to Ashdod from Ashdod to Gath from Gath to Ekron Their stomacke was greater then their conscience The Arke was too sore for them yet it was too good for Israel and they will rather dye then make Israel happy Their conceit that the change of ayre could appease the Arke God vseth to his owne aduantage for by this meanes his power is knowne and his iudgement spred ouer all the country of the Philistims What doe these men now but send the plague of God to their fellowes The iustice of God can make the sinnes of men their mutuall executioners It is the fashion of wicked men to draw their neighbours into the partnership of their condemnation Wheresoeuer the Arke goes there is destruction The best of Gods Ordinances if they bee not proper to vs are deadly The Israelites did not more shout for ioy when they saw the Arke come to them then the Ekronites cry out for griefe to see it brought amongst them Spirituall things are either soueraigne or hurtfull according to the disposition of the receiuers The Arke doth either saue or kill as it is entertained At last when the Philistims are well wearie of paine and death they are glad to bee quit of their sinne The voyce of the Princes and people is changed to the better Send away the Arke of the God of Israel and let it returne to his owne place God knowes how to bring the stubbornest enemy vpon his knees and makes him doe that out of feare which his best child would doe out of loue and duty How miserable was the estate of these Philistims Euery man was either dead or sicke those that were left liuing through their extremity of paine enuied the dead and the cry of their whole Cities went vp to heauen It is happy that God hath such store of plagues and thunderbolts for the wicked If he had not a fire of iudgement wherewith the yron hearts of men might bee made flexible hee would want obedience and the world peace The Arkes reuenge and returne IT had wont to bee a sure rule Wheresoeuer God is among men there is the Church Here onely it failed The testimony of Gods presence was many moneths amongst the Philistims for a punishment to his owne people whom hee left for a curse to those forrainers which entertained it Israel was seuen moneths without GOD How doe wee thinke faithfull Samuel tooke this absence How desolate and forlorne did the Tabernacle of GOD looke without the Arke There were still the Altars of GOD his Priests Leuites Tables Veiles Censers with all their legall accoustrements These without the Arke were as the Sunne without light in the midst of an Eclipse If all these had beene taken away and onely the Arke had beene remaining the losse had beene nothing to this that the Arke should be gone and they left For what are all these without God and how all-sufficient is GOD without these There are times wherein GOD withdrawes himselfe from his Church and seemes to leaue her without comfort without protection Sometimes wee shall finde Israel taken from the Arke otherwhiles the Arke is taken from Israel In either there is a separation betwixt the Arke and Israel Heauy times to euery true Israelite yet such as whose example may relieue vs in our desertions Still was this people Israel the seed of him that would not bee left of God without a blessing and therefore without the testimony of his presence was God present with them It were wide with the faithfull if God were not ofttentimes with them when there is no witnesse of his presence One act was a mutuall penance to the Israelites and Philistims I know not to whether more Israel grieued for the losse of that whose presence grieued the Philistims their paine was therefore no other then voluntary It is strange that the Philistims would endure seuen moneths smart with the Arke since they saw that the presence of that Prisoner would not requite no nor mitigate to them one houres misery Foolish men will be struggling with God till they be vtterly either breathlesse or impotent Their hope was that time might abate displeasure euen whiles they persisted to offend The false hopes of worldly men cost them deare they could not be so miserable if their owne hearts did not deceiue them with mis-expectations of impossible fauour In matters that concerne a God who is so fit to be consulted with as the Priests The Princes of the Philistims had before giuen their voyces yet nothing is determined nothing is done without the direction and assent of those whom they accounted sacred Nature it selfe sends vs in diuine things to those persons whose calling is diuine It is either distrust or presumption or contempt that caries vs our owne waies in spirituall matters without aduising with them whose lips God hath appointed to preserue knowledge There cannot but arise many difficulties in vs about the Arke of God whom should wee consult with but those which haue the Tongue of the Learned Doubtlesse this question of the Arke did abide much debating There wanted not faire probabilities on both sides A wise Philistim might well plead If God had either so great care of the Arke or power to retaine it how is it become ours A wiser then he would reply If the God of Israel had wanted either care or power Dagon and we had beene still whole why doe we thus grone and dye all that are but within the Aire of the Arke if a diuine hand doe not attend it Their smart pleads enough for the dismission of the Arke The next demand of their Priests and Soothsayers is how it should be sent home Affliction had made them so wise as to know that euery fashion of parting with the Arke would not satisfie the owner oftentimes the circumstance of an action marres the substance In diuine matters wee must not onely looke that the body of our seruice be sound but that the clothes be fit Nothing hinders but that sometimes good aduice may fall from the mouth of wicked men These superstitious Priests can counsell them not to send away the Arke of God emptie but to giue it a sinne-offering They had not liued so farre from the smoake of the Iewish Altars but that they knew God was accustomed to manifold oblations and chiefly to those of expiation No Israelite could haue said better Superstition is the Ape of true deuotion and if we looke not to the ground of both many times it is hard by the very outward acts to distinguish them Nature it selfe teacheth vs that God loues a full hand He that hath beene so bountifull to vs
cannot haue the heart or the face to stand out against the message of God but now as a man confounded and condemned in himselfe he cryes out in the bitternesse of a wounded Soule I haue sinned against the Lord. It was a short word but passionate and such as came from the bottome of a contrite heart The greatest griefes are not most verball Saul confessed his sinne more largely lesse effectually God cares not for phrases but for affections The first piece of our amends to God for sinning is the acknowledgement of sinne He can doe little that in a iust offence cannot accuse himselfe If wee cannot bee so good as we would it is reason wee should doe God so much right as to say how euill we are And why was not this done sooner It is strange to see how easily sin gets into the heart how hardly it gets out of the mouth Is it because sinne like vnto Satan where it hath got possession is desirous to hold it and knowes that it is fully eiected by a free confession or because in a guiltinesse of deformitie it hides it selfe in the brest where it is once entertayned and hates the light or because the tongue is so fee'd with selfe-loue that it is loath to be drawne vnto any verdict against the heart or hands or is it out of an idle misprision of shame which whiles it should be placed in offending is misplaced in disclosing of our offence Howeuer sure I am that God hath need euen of rackes to draw out confessions and scarce in death it selfe are we wrought to a discouery of our errors There is no one thing wherein our folly shewes it selfe more than in these hurtfull concealements Contrary to the proceedings of humane Iustice it is with God Confesse and liue no sooner can Dauid say I haue sinned than Nathan inferres The Lord also hath put away thy sinne He that hides his sins shall not prosper but hee that confesseth and forsaketh them shall finde mercie Who would not accuse himselfe to bee aquittted of God O God who would not tell his wickednesse to thee that knowest it better than his owne heart that his heart may be eased of that wicednesse which being not told killeth Since we haue sinned why should wee bee niggardly of that action wherein we may at once giue glory to thee and reliefe to our soules Dauid had sworne in a zeale of Iustice that the rich Oppressor for but taking his poore Neighbours Lambe should dye the death God by Nathan is more fauourable to Dauid than to take him at his word Thou shalt not dye O the maruellous power of repentance Besides adultery Dauid had shed the bloud of innocent Vriah The strict Law was Eye for Eye Tooth for Tooth Hee that smiteth with the Sword shall perish with the Sword Yet as if a penitent confession had dispensed with the rigour of Iustice now God sayes Thou shalt not dye Dauid was the voyce of the Law awarding death vnto sinne Nathan was the voyce of the Gospell awarding life vnto the repentance for sinne Whatsoeuer the sore be neuer any soule applyed this remedie and dyed neuer any soule escaped death that applyed it not Dauid himselfe shall not dye for this fact but his mis-begotten childe shall dye for him Hee that said The Lord hath put away thy sinne yet said also The Sword shall not depart from thine house The same mouth with one breath pronounces the sentence both of absolution and death Absolution to the Person Death to the Issue Pardon may well stand with temporall afflictions Where God hath forgiuen though hee doth not punish yet he may chastize and that vnto bloud neither doth hee alwayes forbeare correction where hee remits reuenge So long as hee smites vs not as an angry Iudge wee may indure to smart from him as a louing Father Yet euen this Rod did Dauid deprecate with teares How faine would hee shake off so easie a lode The Childe is striken the Father fasts and prayes and weepes and lyes all night vpon the Earth and abhorres the noyse of comfort That Childe which was the fruit and monument of his odious adultery whom hee could neuer haue looked vpon without recognition of his sinne in whose face hee could not but haue still read the records of his owne shame is thus mourned for thus sued for It is easie to obserue that good man ouer-passionately affected to his Children Who would not haue thought that Dauid might haue held himselfe well appayd that his soule escaped an eternall death his bodie a violent though God should punish his sinne in that Childe in whome hee sinned Yet euen against this crosse he bends his Prayers as if nothing had beene forgiuen him There is no Childe that would be scourged if hee might escape for crying No affliction is for for the time other than grieuous neither is therefore yeelded vnto without some kinde of reluctation Farre yet was it from the heart of Dauid to make any opposition to the will of God hee sued he struggled not There is no impatience in entreaties Hee well knew that the threats of temporall euils ranne commonly with a secret condition and therefore might perhaps bee auoyded by humble importunitie if any meanes vnder Heauen can auert iudgments it is our Prayers God could not chuse but like well the boldnesse of Dauids saith who after the apprehension of so heauie a displeasure is so far from doubting of the forgiuenesse of his sinne that hee dares become a Sutor vnto God for his sicke child Sinne doth not make vs more strange than Faith confident But it is not in the power of the strongest Faith to preserue vs from all afflictions After all Dauids prayers and teares the Childe must dye The carefull seruants dare but whisper this sad newes They who had found their Master so auerse from the motion of comfort in the sicknesse of the Childe feared him vncapable of comfort in his death Suspition is quick-witted Euery occasion makes vs misdoubt that euent which wee feare This secrecie proclaymes that which they were so loath to vtter Dauid perceiues his Childe dead and now hee rises vp from the Earth whereon hee lay and washes himselfe and changeth his apparell and goes first into Gods House to worship and into his owne to eate now hee refuses no comfort who before would take none The issue of things doth more fully shew the will of God than the prediction God neuer did any thing but what hee would hee hath sometimes foretold that for tryall which his secret will intended not hee would foretell it hee would not effect it because hee would therefore fore-tell it that hee might not effect it His predictions of outward euils are not alwayes absolute his actions are Dauid well sees by the euent what the Decree of God was concerning his Childe which now hee could not striue against without a vaine impatience Till wee know the determinations of the Almightie it is free
for vs to striue in our prayers to striue with him not against him when once wee know them it is our dutie to sit downe in a silent contentation Whiles the Childe was yet aliue I fasted and wept for I said who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me that the Childe may liue but now he is dead Wherfore should I fast Can-I bring him backe againe The griefe that goes before an euill for remedie can hardly bee too much but that which followes an euill past remedie cannot bee too little Euen in the saddest accident Death wee may yeeld something to nature nothing to impatience immoderation of sorrow for losses past hope of recouery is more fullen than vse-full our stomacke may be bewrayed by it not our wisdome AMNON and TAMAR IT is not possible that any word of God should fall to the ground Dauid is not more sure of forgiuenesse than smart Three maine sins passed him in this businesse of Vriah Adultery Murder Dissimulation for all which he receiues present payment for Adultery in the deflowring of his Daughter Thamar for Murder in the killing of his Sonne Amnon for Dissimulation in the contriuing of both Yet all this was but the beginning of euils Where the Father of the Family brings sinne home to the house it is not easily swept our Vnlawfull Lust propagates it selfe by example How iustly is Dauid scourged by the sinne of his Sonnes whome his Act taught to offend Maacha was the Daughter of an Heathenish King By her had Dauid that beautifull but vnhappy Issue Absalom and his no lesse faire Sister Thamar Perhaps thus late doth Dauid feele the punishment of that vnfit choice I should haue maruelled if so holy a man had not found crosses in so vnequall a match either in his person or at least in his feed Beauty if it be not well disciplin'd proues not a Friend but a Traytour three of Dauids Children are vndone by it at once What else was guilty of Amnons incestuous loue Tamars rauishment Absoloms pride It is a blessing to be faire yet such a blessing as if the soule answer not to the face may leade to a curse How commonly haue we seene the foâ—â—lest soule dwell fairest It was no fault of Tamars that shee was beautifull the Candle offends not in burning the foolish flie offends in scorching it selfe in the flame yet it is no small misery to become a tentation vnto another and to be made but the occasion of others ruine Amnon is loue-sicke of his sister Tamar and languishes of that vnnaturall heat Whither will not wanton lust carry the inordinate mindes of pampered and vngouerned youth None but his halfe sister will please the eyes of the young Prince of Israel Ordinary pleasures will not content those whom the conceit of greatnesse youth and ease haue let loose to their appetite Perhaps yet this vnkindly flame might in time haue gone out alone had not there beene a Ionadab to blow these coales with ill counsell It were strange if great Princes should want some Parasiticall Followers that are ready to feed their ill humors Why art thou the Kings Sonne so leane from day to day As if it were vnworthy the Heire of a King to suffer either Law or Conscience to stand in the way of his desires Whereas wise Princes know well that their places giue them no priuiledge of sinning but call them in rather to so much more strictnesse as their example may be more preiudiciall Ionadab was the Cousin German of Amnon Ill aduice is so much more dangegerous as the interest of the giuer is more Had he beene a true friend hee had bent all the forces of his disswasion against the wicked motions of that sinfull lust and had shewed the Prince of Israel how much those lewd desires prouoked God and blemished himselfe and had lent his hand to strangle them in their first Conception There cannot be a more worthy improuement of friendship than in a feruent opposition to the sinnes of them whom we professe to loue No enemy can be so mortall to great Princes as those officious Clients whose flattery soothes them vp in wickednesse These are Traytors to the Soule and by a pleasing violence kill the best part eternally How ready at hand is an euill suggestion Good counsell is like vnto Wel-water that must be drawne vp with a Pumpe or Bucket Ill counsell is like to Conduit-water which if the cocke be but turned runnes out alone Ionadab hath soone proiected how Amnon shall accomplish his lawlesse purpose The way must be to faine himselfe sicke in body whose minde was sicke of lust and vnder this pretence to procure the presence of her who had wounded and only might cure him The daily increasing languor and leanenesse and palenesse of loue-sicke Amnon might well giue colour to a Kerchiefe and a pallet Now is it soone told Dauid that his eldest Sonne is cast vpon his sicke bed there needs no suite for his visitation The carefull Father hastenâ— to his Bed-side not without doubts and feates He that was lately so afflicted with the sicknesse of a Childe that scarce liued to see the light how sensible must we needs thinke hee would bee of the indisposition of his first borne Soone in the prime of his age and hopes It is not giuen to any Prophet to fore-see all things Happie had it beene for Dauid if Amnon had beene truly sicke and sicke vnto death yet who could haue perswaded this passionate Father to haue beene content with this succession of losses this early losse of his Successour How glad is he to heare that his Daughter Tamars skill might bee likely to fit the dyet of so deareâ— patient Conceit is word to rule much both in sicknesse and the cure Tamar is sent by her Father to the house of Amnon Her hand only must dresse that Dish which may please the nice Palace of her sicke Brother Euen the Children of Kings in those homelyâ—r Tymes did not scorne to put their fingers to some workes of huswifrie Shee tooke floure and did knead it and did make Cakes in his sight and did bake the Cakes and tooke a Pan and powred them out before him Had shee not beene sometimes vsed to such domestique imployments shee had beene now to seeke neither had this beene required of her but vpon the knowledge of her skill Shee doth not plead the impayring of her beauty by the scorching of the fire nor thinkes her hand too dainty for such meane Services but settles to the worke as one that had rather regard the necessities of her Brother than her owne state Only pride and idlenesse haue banisht honest and thrifty diligence out of the houses of the great This was not yet the Dish that Amnon longed for It was the Cooke and not the Cates which that wanton eye affected Vnlawfull Acts seeke for secrecie The companie is dismissed Tamar onely staies Good meaning suspects nothing Whiles she presents the meat