difference it pleased GOD to put vpon the Workes of Power and the Workes of Wisdome wherewith concurreth that in the Former it is not set down that GOD said Let there be Heauen and Earth as it is set downe of the Workes following but actually that GOD made Heauen and Earth the One carrying the Stile of a MANVFACTION and the Other of a LAW DECREE or COVNCELL From the Heauens in generall our Prophet commeth in Particular to the Moone and Stars which why they were ordeined at the first Moses declareth in many Words Let there be Light r Gen. 1.14 saith Moses in the Firmament of the Heauen to diuide the Day from the Night and let them bee for Signes and for Seasons and for Dayes and Yeeres And let them be for Lights in the Firmament of the Heauen to giue Light vpon the Earth And God made two great Lights the greater Light to rule the Day and the lesser Light to rule the Night he made the Starres also And God set them in the Firmament of the Heauen to giue Light vpon the Earth and to rule ouer the Day and ouer the Night and to divide the Light from the Darknes Otherwise as ſ Plin Nat. Hist l. 2. c. 107. Pliny noteth it exceedeth all Miracles that any one Day should passe and all the World not to be set on a light consuming Fire But how comes it that in this place there is no mention of the Sunne who is the Chiefe of all the rest For as Light is the Queene of Heauen as t Aug. Confess l. 10. c. 34. speakes S. Austen so who is the King to that Queene but that glorious Planet in Heauen that heauenly u Ps 19.5 Bridegroome who so much rejoyceth euery Day to runne his Course x Chrys in hunc Ps S. Chrysostome is of Opinion that in specifying the Moone and Starres he intimates the Sunne to And because that Some saith he exempt the Night from being the Workemanship of God the Prophet here sheweth them their owne Error in making mention of the Moone declaring in these Words that God was the Workeman thereof Whereunto is correspondent that of the Prophet y Esay 45.7 Esay I forme the Light and create Darknes I make Peace and create Euill I the Lord doe all these things But as the Moone is here mentioned and the Sunne not spoken of so elswhere the Sunne is mentioned and the Moone not spoken of at all as in the z Ps 19.5 Psalme before alleaged In them hath he set a Tabernacle for the Sunne which commeth forth as a Bride-groome out of his Chamber and reioyceth as a Gyant to run his Course a Greg. in Ezech Hom. 13. S. Gregory thinkes that the Prophets omitting the Sunne in this Psalme cannot be excused but by an Allegory I should thinke that this Psalme was made in the Night time when the Sunne being gone from that Horizon the Moone was in her Brightnesse all the Night long as sometimes She appeares to vs when She is in the Full. Vers 4. What is Man that thou art Mindfull of him and the sonne of Man that thou visitest him Man b Calvin Instit l. 1. c. 1. §. 3. saith Calvin is neuer sufficiently touched and inwardly mooued with Knowledge of his owne Basenes vntill he haue compared himselfe to the Maiesty of God And how in that case they are at their Wits end we haue often Examples saith he both in the Booke of c Iudg. 13.22 Esay 6.5 Ezec. 2.1 Iudges and in the Prophets so that this was a common Saying among the People of God We shall surely die because wee haue seene God With like Astonishment is the Prophet David here strucken and as here so elswhere Lord d Ps 144.3 saith he what is Man that thou so respectest him or the Sonne of Man that thou so regardest him And Iob to like purpose What is Man e Iob. 7.17 saith he that thou shouldst magnifie him and that thou shouldst set thine Heart vpon him and that thou shouldst visit him euery Morning and try him euery Moment So that holy Men here speake as Mephibosheth f 2. Sam. 9.8 spake to Dauid What is thy Seruant that thou shouldst looke vpon such a dead Dog as I am Indeed consider we Man as he comes into the World and the great adoe there is about him in the bringing of him vp and when once he is brought vp the many By-wayes that he takes and well may we say as here it is What is Man and the Sonne of Man Pliny saw somewhat in Mans Miseryes when he g Plin. Nat. Hist l. 7. Prooem spake as he did namely of all other liuing Creatures how Nature hath brought him forth altogether Naked and afterwards when he is clothed how she hath clothed him yet with the Bounty and Riches of Others how when he is Borne he is immediatly fast bound hauing no part or Member at liberty a point not practised on the young Whelpes of the wildest Beast that is how among all other Creatures there is not one but by a secret instinct of Nature knoweth his owne Good and whereto he is made able some make vse of the Swiftnes of their Feete Some of their Wings some of their Finnes and so forth Man only knoweth nothing vnlesse he be taught he can neither Speake nor Goe nor Eate otherwise then he is trained to it in a Word how naturally he is apt and good at nothing but to pule and crye but how much deeper should wee looke then Pliny did into the Depth of his Misery should we consider which Pliny did not neither indeed could hee the great and aboundant MERCY of God in bestowing vpon him such Dignities as here are specified by the Prophet amidst those and greater Miseries as First that the Lord is Mindfull of him Secondly that he Visiteth him Memores quasi absentis visitas praesentem Thou art Mindfull h Aug. in Ps 35. saith S. Austen as of one that is Absent thou visitest him as Present Thirdly that he Crowneth him with Glory and Worship Fourthly that he giues him Dominion ouer the Workes of his Hands and puts all things in subiection vnder his Feete as is specified in these Particulars Sheepe Oxen Beasts Fowles and Fishes Nor all this in regard of Princes onely and the high Potentates of the VVorld but as i Lem. Exhort ad Vit. Opt. Instit c. 3. Lemnius well noteth Vniversitatis Prafecturam ac Principatum attribuit etiam infimo cuique Cerdoni ac Plebeio qui non minus fruitur Creatoris Munificentia totiusque Mundi Amoenitate spectabili cum primis ac visenda quà m Regum quivis Copijs Opibusque affluens He bestoweth the Gouernment and Principality of all these worldly Things euen vpon euery meane COBLER and basest Artisan who no lesse inioyes this Munificence of the Creator and Pleasure of the World then the most wealthiest King and Potentate But what hath
he powreth out his heart in these words Zelus domûs tuae comedit me O Lord the zeale I beare unto thy house hath eaten me up it inflameth my heart dryeth my bloud consumeth my marrow such a care had he for the house of God it was death unto him to see it so destroied and laid wast So Christ when he saw the Temple of God foulely and unseemly abused that they made the holy place a place for their unlawfull and unhonest gaine by usury that they turned Religion into robbery sold Oxen Sheep and Doves and kept their banks for exchange in the Temple when the Priests and Levites which should serve God were become Merchants and served themselves when the Temple or house of God which David purposed and Solomon finished and Ezechias and Esras and other godly Princes preserved in which was kept the book of the law whither all the people assembled together to serve God was not used like Gods house but like a common faire or market was made a denne of theeves when these grosse abuses were suffered and things were let runne to such extremities and all this under pretence of holinesse as if it were not only lawfull but needs it must be so moved with zeale he could not abide it he made a scourge of small cords Ioh. 2. and drove them all out of the Temple and poured out the mony-changers overthrew the tables said make not my fathers house a house of merchandize And his Disciples remembred that it was written the zeale of thy house hath eaten me up This was no frantick or melancholy passion neither in Moses nor in David nor in Christ Numb 12. Moses was a very meek man above all that were on the earth David was a man that heareth not and in whose mouth are no reproofes And Christ said learne of me for I am humble and meeke when his Disciples James and John grew wrothful against the Samaritanes that would not receive him Luk. 9. and said Lord wilt thou that we command that fire come down from heaven consume them even as Elias did He turned about and rebuked them and said yee know not of what spirit you are yet through zeale for Gods house Christ whipped out the buyers and sellers David shed forth teares abundantly and Moses dasht in pieces the tables of Gods Commandements All men ought to be patient and gentle in matters appertaining to themselves but in Gods cause no man must yeild or be patient In our daies upon whom the end of the world is come when we did lately see those times whereof our Saviour foretold so long sithence that desolation should be in the holy place and such confusion ignorance and blindnes that men should stumble at noon-noon-daies that truth should be a stranger upon earth that men should forsake wholsome doctrine and give eare unto fables that the mystery of iniquity should worke and the very elect if it were possible be deceived what tryall was made of true godly zeale How notably did it shew it selfe against the rage and fury of the wicked What should J speake hereof The examples are fresh you cannot forget them you heard of them so late it is so late since you did behold them What moved so many so learned so vertuous to yeild their backs to the scourge their necks to the tormenters their bodies to the fire to forsake their goods their friends their parents their wives children but the zeale of Gods house Neither death nor life nor Angels nor things present nor things to come was able to separate them from the love of God they continued stedfast unto the end The zeal of Gods house did eat them up But now God hath restored us he hath taken away the desolation from us he hath given us his truth he hath revealed the man of sin he hath raised up a banner of hope we see and enjoy such things as many Kings Prophets would have enjoyed could not what remaineth but that we take the zeale of the Lords house into our hearts and seek by all meanes the glory of the same As our good fathers and brethren shewed the vehemency of their love in disliking the disorders which troubled the Church of God so in this blessed peace which God giveth to his Church let us witnesse our earnest zeale in seeking that it may be made beautifull established for ever Let our next care be to continue possession Kingdomes are preserved by the same meanes by which they were first gotten that which is conquered by zeale by carefull zeale must be kept It was said of Anniball that he knew how to get the victory but how to use it he knew not Many have lost that by negligence which they had by diligence wonne Therefore we ought as our hearts were carefull and desirous to see these daies so by our thankfulnesse to God for so great a blessing and by christian and godly providence fore-see such meanes whereby we may long hereafter enjoy the same When Phydias had made the pourtraiture of Jupiter Pisanus he overlaid it with oyle that it might continue fresh and greene never putrifie When God gave order to Noah for making the Arke he said thou shalt pitch it within and without with pitch that it might be sound and sure and abide the waves He which challengeth to himselfe that proud and wanton name to be called the head of the universall Church after by litle and litle he was gotten into possession was not behinde hand by all meanes to maintaine and keep the same In this policie he took away the reading of the Scriptures from the people he made Noble-men and Princes his Cardinalls he threw down and set up and changed whom and what hee would The Kings and States of the world the Bishops Professours and Schollars in Universities and Preachers were brought to sweare allegiance and obedience unto him I devise not this the stories hereof are abroad and the oath which they took is known his authority grew greater then the authority of generall Councells nothing might be decreed in Councels but what pleased him none might be admitted to speak in Councels but such as were sworne to him he had all law in his breast There was sometimes a proclamation made in Rome that for considerations no man should erect or build up any Theatre and that if any were set up it should be rased pulled downe Pompeius a Gentleman of great wealth and noble courage did build a Theatre such a one as before had not been seen which would receive 2500 men contrary to the Proclamation and order taken But doubting least the next Magistrates should destroy it he caused a place of religion to be set upon it and called it the Temple of Venus whereby he provided that if any would overthrow it because it was a Theatre they might yet spare it for the Temples sake for to pull down a Temple was sacriledge Even so there
4 He that dwelleth in heauen shall laugh them to scorne the Lord shall haue them in derision 5 Then shall he speake vnto them in his wrath and vexe them in his sore displeasure 6 Yet haue I set my King vpon my holy hill of Sion 7 I will preach the Law whereof the Lord hath said vnto me Thou art my Sonne this day haue I begotten thee 8 Desire of me and I shall giue thee the Heathen for thine inheritance and the vttermost parts of the Earth for thy possession 9 Thou shalt bruise them with a Rod of iron breake them in peeces like a Potters vessell 10 Be wise now therefore Oye Kings be learned ye that are Iudges of the Earth 11 Serue the Lord in feare and reioyce vnto him with reuerence 12 Kisse the Sonne least he be angry and so ye perish from the right way if his wrath be kindled yea but a little blessed are all they that put their trust in him THE ANALYSIS THis Psalme is one of those Three that besides the ordinary saying of it the first day of the Moneth is appointed to be read in the Church at Morning Prayer on Easter day Why it was selected to that purpose we shall perceiue by the Annotations and especially the Annotation at the end of this Psalme In the meane time supposing this Psalme to be meant of our Sauiours Kingdome let vs consider Verse by Verse the Prophets Method in this Psalme The Prophet then after the Description of the Enterprises of the Wicked against that Kingdome First in the Peoples opposition and that in the First Verse Secondly in the Counsailes and Endeauours of the Magistrates and that in the Second and Third Verses he obserueth two points First he proposeth to them certaine Conclusions Secondly he dealeth friendly with them by way of perswasion The Conclusions he proposeth are partly in respect of the Lord and things to bee done by his power partly in respect of Men and things to be taught them by the Gospell The things to be done by the Lordâ— power are First that he litle reckoneth of these their Attempts and that in the Fourth Verse Secondly that in time he would crush them euery one and that in the â—ift Verse The things that by the Gospell are to be taught vnto men are that Christ being a King appointed by the Lord himselfe as it is in the Sixt Verse the Lord first proclaimed it to the whole World as it is in the Seuenth aâ—d then endowed him with the Possession of it as it is in the Eight and Ninth Verses At length descending to perswasion he dealeth with the Magistrates whom it principalâ—y concerned to be wiser then the rest and that in the Tenth Verse First that they would presently serue the Lord as it is in the Eleuenth Verse Secondly his Anointed that is his onely begotten Sonne Christ Iesus whom in his owne sâ—eed he had placed ouer them as it is in the Twelfth and last Verse a Hyper. de Rat. Stud Theol. l. 2. c. 27. Obseruat 3. Hyperius makes this whole Psalme as it were a kinde of Dialogue wherein are many Speakers First the Prophet Secondly the Wicked Thirdly God the Father Fourthly and lastly God the Sonne First the Prophet he begins by way of Admiration and that in the First Verse then by way of Narration and that in the Second The Wicked they speake tumultuously and that in the Third The Prophet he replyes and that in the Fourth and Fift Verses God the Father in the Sixt God the Son in the Seauenth God the Father againe in the Eight and Ninth The Prophet againe by way of Exhortation in the Tenth Eleuenth and Twelfth Verses And thus much of the Analysis VErse 1. Why doe the Heathen so furiously râ—ge together and why doe the People imagine a vaine thing First as touching the Heathen here it is in the Originall Goijm Gentes by which appellation the Iewes call all those Nations that were not of their Religion The Heathen then here meant in respect of Dauid might be the Iebuzites the Philistians the Moabites the Syrians and the Ammonites with whom King Dauid had so much to doe In respect of our Sauiour Christ all the Nations of the World might here be meant Gentiles and Iewes to For how did the Gentiles rage against his Kingdome how did the Iewes b Senec. Herc. Fur. Act. 2. sc O Magne Nunquid immunis fuit Infantis aetas King Herod heard no sooner of his Birth but himselfe was c Mat. 2.3 troubled and all Hierusalem with him And how like a Fox he went about to haue surprised him the Story is manifest The People are d Horat. Epist l. 1. Ep. 1. Bellua multorum capitum a Beast with many heads who if they be once vp in armes e Virg. Aeneid l. 1. Iamque Faces Saxa volant furor arma ministrat Fire brands and Stones flye about the Streets and that 's a Weapon that com s next to hand Where the People are principall Actors f Dr Fentoa Sermon 6. Wisd of the Ritch p. 81. saith a good Divine there 's a dangerous peece of worke towards How many seuerall times is it said in the Booke of Iudges vpon occasion of great misdemeanors in the Kingdome of Israel g Iudg. 17.6.18.1.19.1.21.25 In those dayes there was no King in Israel but euery man did that which was right in his owne Eyes How furious popular Tumults haue bene in this case no History whatsoeuer but hath Examples thick and threefold but of all Histories that of Iosephus concerning the Warres of the Iewes is in my minde most remarkeable But what is this Vaine thing here imagined by the People Concerning the Word Vaine Aulus Gellius h A. Gell. Noct. Attic. l. 18. c. 4. tels of a great Controuersie betweene two notable Grammarians about the propriety of the Word The one of them maintaining that Vanity and Folly were both one the other that Folly is one thing and Vanity an other But howsoeuer they dissented the meaning of the Word in this place may well be agreed vpon by vs all that all that was done in this case or by the Heathen or by the People was done to no purpose at all So St Austen Pro eo dictum est vt quid ac si diceretur Frustra It is here i Aug. in hunc Ps said Why doe they so to intimate vnto vs that it was but lost labour that so they did it being most true which the Prophet Esay hath l Esay 8.10 Take counsell together it shall come to naught speake the Word and it shall not stand for God is with vs. And againe m Esay 40.15 Behold the Nations are as a drop of a Bucket and are counted as the small dust of the Ballance behold he taketh vp the Yles as a very little thing n Vers 17. All Nations before him are as Nothing and they are counted to him
notice of the Kingdome of our Saviour and submit themselues wholly thereunto now that the Kingdome is thus spread and the whole World as it were in Beliefe what better befitteth vs Christians then when wee solemnize such Feasts to say this Psalme amongst the rest which sorteth so exceeding well both with the Mystery and the Season PSAL. III. Domine quid 1 LORD how are they increased that trouble me many are they that rise against me 2 Many one there be that say of my soule there is no helpe for him in his God 3 But thou O Lord art my Redeemer thou art my Worship and the lifter vp of my Head 4 I did call vpon the Lord with my Voyce and he heard me out of his holy Hill 5 I laid me downe and slept and rose vp againe for the Lord sustained me 6 I will not be afraid for tenne thousands of People that haue set themselues against me round about 7 Vp Lord and helpe me O my God for thou smitest all mine Enemies vpon the Cheeke bone thou hast broken the Teeth of the Vnâ—odly 8 Saluation belongeth vnto the Lord and thy blessing is vpon thy People THE ANALYSIS VVHat occasion the Prophet David had of writing this Psalme is evident by the Title as the Title is specified in the Hebrew and in some Translations thereof Quomodo Ianna introducit in Domum sic Titulus Psalmi introducit in Intellectum As the Gate a Aug. de Verb. Apost Ser. 20. saith St Austen le ts in to the House so doth the Title of a Psalme to the Vnderstanding thereof In the Vulgar it is thus A Psalme of David when he did flye from the Face of Absolon his Sonne The Story is in the Second of Samuel and is in effect to this purpose Absolon wicked Absolon had made against his Father David a maine Conspiracy Absolon b 2. Sam. 15.10 saith the Scripture sent Spies throughout all the Tribes of Israel saying As soone as yee heare the sound of the Trumpet then yee shall say Absolon reigneth in Hebron David vpon the newes hereof fled from Ierusalem and betooke himselfe vnto the Wildernes at which time as it is not vnlikely he composed this Psalme The Psalme is framed vnto God by way of Petition that in regard his Enemies were so many as it is in the First Verse and so maliciously bent against him as it is in the Second and yet his Faith in God was very firme as it is in the Third Verse Againe in regard the Goodnes of the Lord had bene formerly such vnto him that he never made his Prayer vnto him but he was heard effectually as it is in the Fourth Verse and therefore still relyed on him with much Security as it is in the Fift and Confidence as in the Sixt Verse his Petition I say is to God that he would now also deliuer him as it is in the Seuenth Verse especially for he alone was able to effect it as it is in the Eight Verse And thus much of the Analysis VErse I. Lord how are they increased that trouble mee many are they that rise against mee It was a memorable saying of King Solomon c Prov. 16.7 When a mans Wayes please the Lord hee maketh euen his Enemies to bee at peace with him and it is as true againe on the contrary that when the Wayes of a man please not the Lord he maketh euen his Friends to be at Enmity with him What wayes they were that David took before these Troubles did befall him is recorded in holy Writ namely first the Way of Concupiscence then the Way of Adultery next the Way of Dissimulation afterward the Way of Murther and how displeasing these Wayes were vnto the Lord witnesse the Words of Nathan to David Thou d 2 Sam. 12.9 saith he hast killed Vriah the Hittite with the Sword and hast taken his Wife to be thy Wife and hast slaine him with the Sword of the Children of Ammon Now therefore the Sword shall neuer depart from thy House because thou hast despised me and hast taken the Wife of Vriah the Hittite to be thy Wife Thus saith the Lord Behold I will raise vp Euill against thee out of thine owne House and I will take thy Wiues before thine Eyes and giue them vnto thy Neighbour and he shall lye with thy Wiues in the sight of this Sun For thou didst it secretly but I will doe this thing before all Israel and before the Sun Hence then that Encrease of those that troubled him hence those Many that rose against him His complaint here in this place was not of the Philistians the Idumaeans the Moabites and such like vtter Enemies to the Church of God and consequently to himselfe but of his Subiects his Servants his Counsellers of Estate all in a manner falling from him and adoring now the Sun rising for so they tooke Absolon his Sonne to bee In this his speech then and in these words is both Admiration and Astonishment Admiration for that it was strange that such great Frends a little before should prooue such Enemies vnto him and grow in a tryce from one Extreame vnto another Astonishment for that they were such as himselfe not long before had promoted to the Honours and Dignities they did enjoy But this is no new thing now-a-dayes such vngratefull Wretches as these the World hath such stoare of as there be Moats in the Sun Nay euen at that time it seemes they were so many that David himselfe could not number them onely the Scripture will enforme vs and by that we may guesse the Multitude was exceeding great in that no lesse then e 2 Sam. 18.7 Twenty Thousand of them were slaine in one Day Besides the Captaine and Ringleader of them Absolon him selfe who how he was taken vp betweene the Heauen and the Earth Some say by the Haire the Scripture saith by the Head remaines a Spectacle for all vndutifull and vngracious Children to their PARENTS for euer to behold It shall not bee amisse here to remember that Epitaph or Epigram which f Strigelii Loc. Theolog. a Christoph Pezel edit Part. 3. p. 385. Pezelius hath made vpon him Degener immerito rapâ— Sceptra Parenti O Iuvenis Patriae Pestis acerba tuae Dignatuis coeptis sed Poena secuta vagantem Frondibus arboreis implicuere Comae Hasta Ioab maduit forti vibrata Lacerto Sanguine transfixo Pectore tincta tuo Has Scelerum Poenas pulso dedit ille Parente I nunc Patrijs insidiare Bonis THE ENGLISH Disloyall Princox Plague of natiue Soyle Thou vndeseruedly didst Scepter wring From Fathers hand and made the same thy Spoyle When afterwards it did due Vengeance bring The Trees themselues thee punisht for thy Haire Tangled therewith they hoyst thee in the Aire Nor only so but Ioabs Dart beside Eftsoones bereft thee of thy Life 's strong Fort Into thy Bowels it did swiftly glide And made thy Bloud gush forth in ample sort
euen to the inward Parts which signifieth that Weeping must in as farre as the very Heart Root Vers 7. My Beauty is gone for very trouble and worne away because of all mine Enemies The Beauty of David what it was when he was a Child the Scripture declareth to vâ— namely how d 1. Sam. 16.12 He was ruddy and withall of a beautifull Countenance and goodly to looke to No doubt when he came to Yeeres hee retained the same still for though Beauty be commonly variable and al corporeal things e Ambros Hexam l. 6. c. 6. saith S. Ambrose doe fade and wither away by reason of the accesse of Age or excesse of Sicknes yet with some it is not so but the Elder they waxe the more comely and it is strange to see how some men haue carried their Age. To say nothing of them before the Floud who liued so many Hundred yeeres Adam 930 Seth 912 Cain 910 and who liued least 700 yeeres being perfected in many respects with a most excellent proportion of Humors and as it likely f Vid. Coll. of Hist by Thomas Fortescue Printed by my FATHER Aº 1576. Fruits and Hearbes of farre greater Efficacy and Vertue in those Dayes then since the Earth was cursed Moses g Deut. 34.7 saith the Scripture was an Hundred and twenty yeeres old when he died his Eyes were not dimme nor his naturall Force abated And Caleb to Ioshua h Iosh 14.11 Fourty yeeres old was I when Moses sent me to espye out the Land I am this Day Fourscore and fiue yeeres old As yet I am as strong this Day as I was in the Day that Moses sent me as my strength was then euen so is my strength now for warre both to goe out and to come in The Prophet David was likely enough to haue bene such an one who before this Accident befell carried his Yeeres it should seeme no man better Howbeit now the Case was altered and Sinne had made such a Breach as that where so much Beauty was there was nothing now but Deformity When thou i Ps 39.12 saith he in an other place doest chasten man for Sin thou makest his Beauty to consume away like as it were a Moth fretting a Garment euery Man therefore is but Vanity Omnis Animi Dolor statim se prodit in Vultu All Griefe of Mind l Mollerus in hunc Ps saith One appeares presently in the Countenance and therefore King Solomon m Prov. 17.22 A merry Heart doth good like a Medicine but a broken Spirit dryeth the Bones A good instruction by the way for Women who so much esteeme of their Beauty and for feare of marring thereof will not suffer the Sunne to touch it but the greatest Enemy vnto it is rather Sinne then the Sunne the One with his Beames burnes them not so much as they are scorched by the Other Though Sinne be as cold as Ice to and therefore n Aug. in Ps 125. S. Austen Illigati Frigore Peccatorum gelavimus we are frozen with the Cold and benumming of our Sinnes But how is it that the Prophet addeth that his Beauty is worne away because of his Enemies went the consideration of Enemies so neere him tooke he them so nigh to Heart For doubtles it could not be but an extraordinary anguish of Minde that made such a Metamorphosis of him Anguish of Mind indeed if it be extreame workes strange Effects and that in an instant One onely Night hath bene sufficient to make a young Man that was fresh and of a liuely Hew gray-headed by the Morning o Lemnius de Complex l. 2. c. 2. Lemnius tels of one p Scal. de Subtil Exere 312. Scaliger of an other that haue bene Examples in this kind But would our Prophet nay could our Prophet be so much mooued by his Enemies Yes for his Enemies by all likely-hood gaue out hereupon that what he suffered in this kind was most worthily deserued Like as the Barbarians q Act. 28.4 said of Paul when they saw the Viper on his Hand No doubt this Man is a Murtherer whom though he hath escaped the Sea yet Vengeance suffereth not to liue Indeed there is nothing goes neerer the Heart of a good and godly Man then the hastie Iudgements of Others vpon him by reason of those Crosses which it pleaseth the Lord to send him Hoc vnum tantum dixerim vltimam esse adversae Fortunae Sarcinam quod dum Miseris aliquod Crimen assigitur quae perferunt meruisse creduntur It is r Boetius de Consol l. 1. Pros 4. See my L. of Cant. on Ionas Lect. 6. §. 6. saith Boetius the heauiest Burthen that Fortune can lay vpon our Shoulders that when any Calamity doth betide vs Men will streightway giue out that wee haue our Deserts This it was that wrought Iob so much Trouble with his Friends who could by no meanes perswade themselues but that so great Calamities as those did argue his great Offences both to God and to the World Insomuch that he was fain to make for himselfe many Apologies and as Calvin hath Å¿ Calvin in Iob. Conc. 1. observed Iob maintained a good Quarrell though hee handled it but ill his Friends maintained a Bad one but yet handled it too-too well The Cause that Iob had in hand was this God doth not alwayes punish Men according to the Measure of their Sinnes and therefore that himselfe is not reiected of God as they would haue made him to beleeue On the contrary they maintained that God doth alwayes punish Men according to the Measure of their Sinnes wherein they intreat of Gods Providence they intreat of his Iustice they intreat of Mens Sinnes but herein they goe awry for that hereby they wholly labour to cast Iob into Despaire in applying all to him And this as Beza obserueth his Wife had aymed at before when as she bade him to Blesse God and die Sathan endeavouring as he t Saluo aliorum Interpretum Iudicio ausim affirmare hanc Muliorem eandem prorsus causam egisse atque postea Iobi Amicos quorum dâ—sâ—eptatio subsequitur quidem non alia voluntate nec alijs rationibus impulsam Bez. in Iob c. 2. saith to worke that by her meanes which afterwards hee thought to bring about by those his Friends Doest thou still reteine thy Integrity Blesse God and die As if so be she had said Seest thou not how exceeding angry God is with thee How thou art now at the Pits brink ready to giue vp the Ghost Nay but yet while thy little Life remaineth for dye instantly she thought he should giue Glory vnto God as to a Righteous Iudge and esteeming the Multitude of thy Sins according to the Multitude of thy Calamities which he now sends vnto thee prepare thy self vnto thy End An Interpretation I should well like of did not our last Translators turne it Curse God and die The Rhemists indeed in their
Philosopher be put to Silence nay hee had such Skill that when hee was thought most of all to bee caught and taken like a slippery Snake hee would slide away from them But that God might shew that his Kingdome is not in x 1. Cor. 4.20 Word but in Power there was among the Bishops One of the Confessors by a Man most simple and knowing nothing els but y 2. Cor. 2.2 IESVS CHRIST and him crucified Who when hee saw the Philosopher insulting vpon our Men and boasting himselfe vpon the Skill hee had in Reasoning desires of all that were by to yeeld him roome that he a little might talke with that Philosopher Our Men that knew the Simplicity of the Man and his vnskilfulnesse in that kind began to Feare and withall Blush least that holy Simplicity of his should happely be exposed to the Scornes of those crafty Companions The old Man persisted in his Purpose and thus began O Philosopher saith he in the Name of IESVS CHRIST heare thou those things which are true God that made the Heauen and Earth and gaue Man a Spirit whom he framed of the Dust of the Earth is one he hath by the Vertue of his Word created all things both Visible and Invisible and strengthened them by the Sanctification of his Spirit This Word and Wisdome whom we call the Sonne taking pity vpon humane Errors is borne of a Virgin and by the Passion of his Death hath deliuered vs from euerlasting Death and by his Resurrection hath giuen vs euerlasting Life Whom we looke for to come to be the Iudge of all we doe O Philosopher beleeuest thou this Whereupon he as if he had neuer learnt the Art of Contradiction was so amased by Vertue of the Words that were spoken that being mute to all that was alleaged onely this he was able to answer that it seemed so to himselfe indeed and that there was no other Truth then what was deliuered by that Party Whereupon the old Man Why then if thou beleeuest saith he these things to bee true arise and follow me to the Church and take thou Baptisme the Seale of this Faith Hereupon the Philosopher turning to his Disciples or to those that there were present and came to heare O you Learned Men saith he hearken vnto me While this Matter in hand was perfourmed by Words I also opposed Words vnto Words and those things which were spoken able I was to confute them by the Art of Speaking but now that insteed of Words Power is proceeded from the Mouth of him that speaketh neither can Words resist that Power neither can Man withstand GOD. And therefore if any of you here present can beleeue these things that haue bene spoken as I my selfe doe beleeue them let him beleeue in CHRIST and follow this old Man in whom GOD hath thus spoken And so at length the Philosopher being made a Christian was glad that hee was so vanquished I shall not need here to relate those Legendary Tales of S. Nicholas when he was an Infant how as soone as hee was borne he began to serue God for he would not take the Brest to suck a The Liues of Saints in Spanish by Alfonso Villegas and translated by W. and E. K. B. Part. 2. Decemb 6. Printed at Dâ—wâ—y 1615. they say but one time onely in a Day especially twice a-Weeke to wit on the Wednesday and the Fryday and how hee obserued this Fast all the Dayes of his Life Of S. Romuald who as soone as he was borne b Nova Legend Anâ—l in Vita Runâ—wâ—ldi See My LORD of CAN 1. Answer to Hill 〈◊〉 6. â— spake Divinity and forthwith being baptized did preach high Points of Doctrine and liued in all but three Dayes Or of the Child of nine c Dr Poynets Defence of Priests Marriages p. 200. Dayes old Christned by B. Aldelme and answering to certaine Questions and clearing Pope Sergius of a shrewd Crime that was laid to his Charge All that I will say to these and to such like Stories as these is that of Iob d Iob. 13.7 Will you speake wickedly for God and talke deceitfully for him Truth indeed may spare such Proctours Verse 3. For I will consider the Heauens euen the Works of thy Fingers the Moone and the Starres which thou hast ordeined There are specified in holy e Zanch. de Oper l. 1. c 4. Scripture three kindes of Heauens The First is that whole Space that reacheth from the Earth to the Moone where the Meteors are engendered or to speake more plainly the Aire next vnto vs where the Birds vse to fly and from whence the Raine doth showre downe vpon vs. Thus the Windowes of Heauen were opened as we read in the Booke of f Gen. 7.11 Genesis of Heauen that is of the Aire for so Heauen is taken in diuerse Places of the g Mat. 8.20.13.32 Marc. 4.4 Luc. 8.5 New Testament The Second kinde of Heauen is all those Heauenly and mooueable Orbs that is all that Space that those visible Heauens and Orbs doe containe and herein the Sunne the Moone and the Starres are all of them comprehended whereof we may reade in h Deut. 17.3 Deuteronomy and in many other Places of Scripture besides and with these Zanchius comprehendeth the Ninth Sphere also howsoeuer it bee invisible to the Eye The Third Heauen which is of a farre other kind then are the other Two is that peculiar Place where GOD himselfe is said to inhabite and into which as we read our Saviour CHRIST did ascend and wherein our i Ioh. 17.24 selues also as many as shall be found Faithfull shall be hereafter with our Sauiour And to these Three the Apostle S. Paul did seeme to allude when speaking of himselfe he said that hee was caught vp into the l 2 Cor. 12.2 Third Heauen No doubt but the Prophet here meanes them all Three especially the Second for that the same of all the Rest was onely visible to the Eye That hee calls them here the Workes of the Fingers of God and in an other place the m Ps 102.25 Work of his Hands and the Prophet Esay to the selfe-same purpose n Esay 48.13 Mine Hand hath laide the Foundation of the Earth and my Right Hand hath spanned the Heauens it is for that they are of such Excellency as if they had bene his handy-worke indeed which yet were made by his Word onely as o Gen. 1.6 Moses and p Ioh. 1.3 S. Iohn doe declare q St Francis Eacon of the Advancement of Learning l. 1. p. 27. b. Excellent is that Passage which that great Advancer of Learning hath and suitable hereunto It is to be obserued that for any thing which appeareth in the History of the Creation the confused Masse and Matter of Heauen and Earth was made in a Moment and the Order and Disposition of that Chaos or Masse was the Worke of six Dayes such a Note of