Selected quad for the lemma: enemy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
enemy_n	clothe_v	crown_n	shame_n	982	5	9.2881	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A31405	A sermon preached in a country-audience on the late day of fasting and prayer, January 30 by a priest of the Church of England.	Cave, John, d. 1690.	1679 (1679)	Wing C1585; ESTC R36288	19,279	33

or their power without much toil and disturbance And how great soever the wisdom and power the skill and activity of some Kings may be to facilitate and lighten the duties and burthen of their Empire we know to whose blessing they are indebted both for the one and the other 2 Sam. 22.40 even to that God who gave Solomon an understanding heart to judge his people and girded David with strength to battle to subdue those under him who rose up against him Now seeing these great blessings of Heaven are obtained and continued to Kings ordinarily by Prayer therefore in this respect they need our prayers more than any others do They do so also 2. In respect of their temptations their infirmities being the same with other Mens their checks and restraints less powerful their miscarriages of a publick influence The Devil the great enemy of all good will ply all his advantages against them the World lays all her baits before them shews them all her glory at once she will not let them want any supplies for their luxury any instruments for oppression and cruelty any furniture for Pride and Vanity nor any flatterers to colour and extenuate their Vices and shew them only the fair side of themselves Seeing then they are easily betrayed into sin they must needs want great supplies and succours of the Divine Grace to repel their temptations to secure their innocency or to pardon their errours and exorbitances and consequently many prayers to obtain this Grace to help them in their need 3. They are surrounded with many enemies and exposed to many dangers The height of their glory raiseth as much envy as admiration and makes them more obnoxious to the fury and violence of every storm How many ambitious and aspiring minds seek to greaten themselves by their diminution How many discontented spirits Sons of Belial impatient of the Yoke are trying all ways to throw off their rule and if they cannot advance themselves to bring them down and lay all level How many desperate Fortunes hope to repair themselves by a Kingdoms downfall We our selves have seen all this sadly exemplified and we can make no defense for the future equal to the danger without engaging his help by our prayers who giveth salvation unto Kings Psal 144.10 and sheweth mercy to his anointed 5. We are obliged to be more instant and importunate in our prayers for Kings because this is the most lawful and righteous way of remedying what is amiss in them and of redressing our grievances if we suffer by them we are not allowed to lift up our hand against them though it be in the maintenance of our own right Gods guard secures them more than their own Touch not mine anointed 1 Chron. 16.22 Though David himself had a fair Title to the Crown yet his heart smote him but for cutting off the skirt of Sauls garment and we know afterwards he caused the poor Amalekite to be smitten to death for having a hand in his blood though he could not so properly be said to kill 2 Sam. 1. as to dispatch him or in our ordinary way of speaking to put him out of his pain which in some cases would rather have been interpreted a kindness than a cruelty but this he did no doubt to shew how sacred and inviolate the persons and lives of Soveraign Princes ought to be Nay we are not allowed so much as to lift up our tongues against them in any murmurous complaints Where the word of a King is Eccles 8.4 there is power and who shall say to him what dost thou It is not only intolerable insolence but impiety in some cases to tell them of their faults Job 34.18 Is it fit saith Elihu to say to a King thou art wicked and to Princes ye are ungodly And as we must not speak evil to them so neither must we speak it of them behind their backs We must not reproach the footsteps of Gods anointed Psal 89.51 Exod. 22.28 nor speak evil of the ruler of our people Nay the prohibition reacheth further still and doth not only restrain us from expressing our dislikes of them and their government but from conceiving if possible at least wise from harbouring or cherishing any ill opinion of them in our own breasts Eccles 10.20 Curse not the King no not in thy thought They are accountable to God and to none but him for their misdemeanours those who arraign them at any other Bar invade the Divine Authority and do encroach upon Gods Prerogative as well as the Kings by a bold and daring impiety But it concerns us therefore the more to have recourse to God to seek relief from him by prayer humbly beseeching him to give the King his judgments to guide and direct him in all his ways Isa 60.17 to make his Officers peace and his exactours righteousness and this we must pray too with submission to Gods will and patiently waiting for his help rejoycing the mean while in the testimony of our consciences that we have used no indirect means to help our selves I have propounded these arguments in stead of many more to shew the reasonableness of this Christian duty of praying for Kings and all that are in Authority I shall now only add this to what hath hitherto been spoken in a more general way viz. That our present circumstances are such as do furnish some peculiar motives to this duty of praying for our own King As first of all 1. The great danger that he is in 2. The great need we have at this time of his fatherly care and prudent conduct 1. We cannot but apprehend him to be in great danger because those pernicious designs against his regal person and government seem yet to be but in part discovered because his enemies are such as pretend they have Right and Religion on their side A power to dispose of the Crowns and Lives of Princes to absolve Subjects from all Oaths of Allegiance to make Rebellion and Treason not only Lawful but Meritorious We must needs I say have very sad and serious apprehensions of the Kings danger when we consider that he is encompassed with such Malignant enemies whose Craft and Policy envenoms their Cruelty whose very Religion is more formidable than Pagan impiety and their Church in the worst sense terrible as an army with Banners It concerns us therefore most heartily to commend him to his Almighty and gracious protection Psal 18.50 Psal 33.10 who giveth great deliverances to his Kings who disappointeth the devices of the crafty so that their hands cannot perform their enterprize whose eyes are upon the ways of man and he seeth all his goings Job 34.21 Psal 132.2 before whom Hell is naked and destruction hath no covering humbly beseeching him to bring to light the hidden works of darkness Psal 10.2 and to take the wicked in the devices that they have imagined to cloath all his enemies with

shame and to grant that upon his own head his Crown may long remain and flourish 2. We have a great deal of reason to pray for our King at this time because we never stood in more need of a wise and Religious Prince to feed us according to the integrity of his heart Psal 78.72 and to guide us by the skilfulness of his hands to search out a matter to dive into the depth of our enemies treachery to see through their pretences and to frustrate the counsels of wicked and malicious Men to distinguish between his truly Loyal Honest peaceable Subjects and those who only flatter with their lips whilst War and Malice is in their Hearts to weigh counsels and actions and to proceed in such methods of Policy as are most likely to secure the great interests of Church and State The Characters which in Scripture are given of Kings and Magistrates shew us what great blessings they are to a Nation in times of fear and perplexity of distress and calamity They are called the shields of the earth Psal 47.9 Ezek. 31.17 Judges 20.2 Isa 19.13 Isa 44.28 2 Sam. 14.15 Job 29.15 the arms of a people to bear them up and lead them The corners of a State Pastors Angels Fathers All which speak them our Guides our Guardians our Strength and Safety as well as our Crown and Glory Wherefore in these dangerous and threatning times now so many have openly declared their ill will to this our Sion so many Tobiahs and Sanballats malign our Peace and Prosperity so many Zeha's and Zalmunna's are ready to take to themselves the houses of God in possession we cannot but in some measure be sensible of the great blessing of a Protestant King of one who tenders our Religious no less than our Civil interests and hath hitherto been a nursing Father as well to the Church as to the State and consequently me must needs apprehend that we have a great deal of reason to pray for the life and welfare of such a King for Gods gracious Providence over him and for the continuance of his fatherly care over us that he may be blessed with such Councillors and we with such Magistrates under him as may always be zealous for the rights of God and Caesar as may study to secure the Kings just power and dominion by countenancing encouraging and advancing that Holy Christian Faith which produceth Love Peace and Good-will among Men which teacheth us to be meek and good natured to be gentle and kindly affectionated one towards another to be subject to Principalities and Powers to obey Magistrates and to be ready to every good work I need not say much of our present exigencies we cannot but perceive them and I am as unwilling to raise causeless jealousies as to contribute any thing to a careless and irreligious security I only suggest this that if Kings have a great influence upon our Peace and Tranquillity the practice of Honesty and Piety as you have heard they have that there is more cause than ordinary that we should pray heartily for our King in these sinful and dangerous times that God of his infinite goodness and mercy would save both him and us out of the hands of our enemies that we may serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our lives that glory may dwell in our land and all nations may call us blessed And seeing God hath already been pleased to do great things for us whereof we are glad we must not wholly pass by that part of my Text which calls for our gratitude our giving of thanks but offer unto God the sacrifice of praise as well as of prayer blessing God for the experience we have had of his goodness and patience in sparing us hitherto and for those signal pledges he hath been pleased to give us of his favourable inclination towards us of his unwillingness to cast off his people and forsake his inheritance Psal 94.14 which he hath done by dispersing many of the clouds which have gathered very thick over us and often threatned us with an imminent destruction by lightning our darkness and shining upon us in so many intervals of mercy by warning us so graciously of our danger by making those Plots visible and apparent which were thought too subtle to be discerned and relieving our incredulity with so many repeated and convincing evidences thereby preparing us wither to avoid or to bear the stroke insomuch that if we will not with a careless and obstinate stupidity put the evil day far from us or meet our ruine we may fairly escape it Whereas God might justly have surprized us in our security and overwhelmed us in a suddain and inevitable calamity Whoso is wise and will observe these things Psal 107.43 even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord. I have not time to specify the circumstances of Gods great goodness to us in discovering so much of the late horrid Conspiracy against the Sacred life of our Second Charles and against that Holy Religion which is at once the Support and Glory of his Empire I shall only exhort you to magnify the name of our good God who is worthy to be praised O give thanks to the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who only doth wondrous things 1 Chron. 16.34 Psal 72.18 19. Psal 106.48 and blessed be his glorious name for ever and let the whole earth be filled with his glory Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting and let all the people say Amen FINIS