David and the Amalekite Upon the DEATH of SAUL A SERMON Preached on Jan. 30. 1682. Being the Anniversary of the MARTYRDOM OF King Charles I. Of Blessed Memory By EDWARD PELLING Rector of St. Martins Ludgate and Chaplain to his Grace the Duke of Somerset Tell it not in Gath publish it not in the Streets of Askelon c. 2 Sam. 1. 10. LONDON Printed by J. Redmayne Jun. for William Abington at the three Silk-Worms in Ludgate-street 1683. To my most Honoured Lord Charles Duke of Somerset Marquess and Earl of Hertford Viscount Beauchamp and Baron of Trowbridge May it please your Grace IT is no small part of your Honour that you are descended of such Noble Ancestors as have been Great and Eminent both for their Alliance to the Royal Family and for their continual Fidelity to the Interest of the Crown He that shall peruse only the History of the Late Rebellion and the Letters which did pass between his Late Majesty and the Queen may easily see how Confident that Blessed Prince was of the Loyalty and how Faithfully he was served all along by the Wisdom and Courage of your Noble Grand-Father the Lord Seymour and your Great Vncle the Marquess of Hertford who was the First General of the Kings Forces against the Parliament and lived to see the happy times of Restitution and Dyed Duke of Somerset full of years and Honour since the Restauration of his present Majesty But that which greatly addeth to your Honour is that as you inherit the Titles so God be blessed you inherit the Loyalty of all your Honourable Predecessors Which I say My Lord not by way of Complement but to do you Justice And I must beg your Graces Pardon if that Expression seems to Derogate from your Virtue in making your Loyalty to be not a thing of Choice as all Virtue is but a Principle cleaving to your very Nature which cannot be overcome It is this that hath indear'd you to the King who has given you an Earnest of his Favour in Reposing in you so Great a Trust in the North for Conducting your affairs with so much Judgment and Integrity assoon as ever Providence brought you to bear such a great Figure in the World It is this that has made you to lie so deep in the Hearts and Affections of Good Men wbo take Heart and Courage by seeing your Grace to act so in all things like a good Subject notwithstanding those Temptations which have Mis-led some whose longer Experience should have taught them Wisdom It is this My Lord which I must crave Leave still to put you in mind of that above all things you be careful to have a most Tender regard of your Virtue and to be ever as you are Faithful and True to your Prince For hereby you will do right to the memory of your Honourable Progenitors you will maintain your Honour Clean and Vnspotted you will be useful to the King to the Church and to your Country you will be an Honour and Comfort to your Friends and an Excellent Example to the World It is for these Ends My Lord that I take upon me to present to your Grace this following Discourse begging your Lordships Kind acceptance of it and beseeching God whose Providence hath been so Gracious to you hitherto to Guide Govern and Preserve your self and Noble Consort and to Bless Both your Graces with the long Happiness of an undivided Heart and with a Numerous and Flourishing Issue which is the Hearty Prayer of My Lord Your Grace's most Humble Faithful and truly Affectionate Servant and Chaplain Edw. Pelling 2 SAM 1. 14. And David said unto him How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord 's Anointed BEfore we enter upon the consideration of this place of Scripture we must come fairly to it by making our way through the Context to which the Text doth relate and thus it was There had been now a War between Saul and the Philistines a War that was founded on the Law of God whereby the Children of Israel were forbidden to make any Covenant with the Inhabitants of Canaan or to shew them mercy Deut. 7. 2. This War ended in the Death of Saul and the overthrow of his People though he was made King by God's own appointment though he was God's own Vicegerent over God's own Inheritance and undertook a quarrel pursuant to God's own Will yet in the Conclusion both He and his Forces Good Jonathan himself not excepted are routed upon Mount Gilboa by the Vncircumcised Philistines To shew that Success in War is not an Argument of the Righteousness of a Cause or of the Righteousness of a Party but of the unsearchable Wisdom and Righteousness of God Saul being defeated was full of Horror and Desperation and resolved to hasten out of the World since he had fled before the Philistines and because his Armour-bearer could not be entreated by reason of that Awful regard he bore to Majesty to befriend his undone Soveraign with a Mortal Blow Saul gives Himself his Deaths-wound with his own hands An Amalekite happening to be there took off his Royal Diadem and Bracelet and with great Speed carryed them to Ziklag to David who by Common Fame was known to have been Anointed next Heir to the Crown of Israel David received the news of Saul's and Jonathan's Death with excess of Sorrow But hearing that this Amalekite had had an hand in Saul's destruction his Heart was struck through with Amazement and Indignation Though Saul had been his Bloud-thirsty Enemy yet his Soul was on a Flame at the sad Tidings of his being Murder'd and though this young man was not one of Saul's Subjects but a Stranger yet for the Sake of God whose Impress the Unfortunate King bore for the Honour of Majesty and out of respect to Saul's Divine Vnction and Character he was resolved to revenge the Kings Death with every drop of this Amalekites Bloud and this was the Preamble to his just Sentence How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord 's Anointed In which words we are to consider by way of Explication 1. First the matter of Fact which this Amalekite own'd himself to have been guilty of 2. Davids deep Resentment of the Relation which this Amalekite made of the matter 1. The matter of Fact was that he had stretched out his hand to destroy the King of Israel this he acknowledg'd and seemed to boast of as a Meritorious office which he had done for David who was to be Saul's Successor in the Throne Now it has been a great doubt both among Jews and Christians whether this was a Reality or only a Pretence Many of the Hebrew Doctors affirm which is also the general sense of Sunt apud Hebraeos qui putant hunc Amalekiten adulatorum more mentitum fuisse quando se dixit Saul interfecisse Munster Antiquit. Judaic lib. 6. Christian Writers that Saul killed himself
and that the Amalekite was a Liar as to that particular Nor doth this opinion want its Reasons For in the last Chapter of the First Book of Samuel where the manner of Sauls Death is related no mention is made of the Amalekite but the Text saith that Saul took a Sword and fell upon it v. 4. On the other side Josephus and some more tell us that Saul had not the Onely hand in the case but that the Amalekite was the Principal actor Nor doth this opinion want its Reasons neither For the Amalekites were as much Enemies to Israel as the Philistines were and this Amalekite was on Mount Gilboa when Saul fell and he did not only post away to David as a Messenger of the Fact but persisted in the story as an Agent that had been concern'd in it and persisted to the end too without owning his Folly or excusing his Lye which probably he would have done when he saw that a Sentence of Death against himself was the Onely Welcome and Reward that he was to receive Now for the Solution of this doubt there seem to be some grounds for a Third opinion yet which will make the whole story to Agree viz. that Saul and this Amalekite did Both of them jointly Concurr in the carrying of this Sad Tragedy on For that Saul fell upon his Sword and so gave himself his Deaths-wound is clear That his Armour-bearer might look upon him as Dead though indeed he was not may be Probable That being incumbered with his Arms and So some understand that place agreeable to what we find in the Margin of our Bibles v. 9. Inclusus teneor vestibus Armis ut gladius in quem rui non potuerit me perdere Coat of Mail he did not dispatch himself Fully is not incredible And then 't is likely enough both that Saul did beg a Bloudy Kindness of the Amalekite for fear of falling alive into the hands of the Philistines and that this Amalekite did readily gratify him in hopes of a Richer booty than the price of the Crown and the Bracelet came to But it is not much material whether this Amalekite was Really Guilty or had a mind only to Father the action We will now as David did take his own Word for it and Suppose him to have spoken Truth For none can be better believed then he that confesseth against Himself Every man will be sure to make the best of his own story and though an Evidence may Swear away other mens Lives he will be tender of his own and beware of being his own Accuser though he deposeth to a Lye We will not therefore contrast the Credit of his own Testimony but acquiesce in what he said and look upon him as a Criminal and proceed to 2. The second thing which is most pertinent to the business of this day Davids deep Resentment of this Amalekites relation it was a Dreadful story a most Horrible and Fearful thing in the account of this good man How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord 's Anointed Had it not been a Sin of a most Horrid nature and a clamorous voice He who was so near the Throne would at least have forgiven the man that did so readily help him to the actual possession of it especially being an Heir that had waited with so much Suffering and been provoked by Saul with so many Indignities But King-Killing is a Crime that is Odious and Abominable in the eyes even of those that fare well by the Regicide To which purpose the Learned Grotius has rightly observed out of one of the Roman Tacit. Hist lib. 1. Histories that when the Emperor Galba was Murder'd Vitellius though Humanly speaking he had reason enough to be glad of the Fact having thereby got the power into his hands yet out of a due sense he had of the Horridness of the Villany he commanded those Traitors who had served his turn to be slain all of them when they had the confidence to Address for a Reward An instance not much unlike King David's dealing with this Amalekite when he brought Saul's Bloud upon his own head because he had stretched forth his hand to destroy the Lord 's Anointed Those Words the Lord 's Anointed denote the great nay the Sole thing which we find here and in other places to have made such a deep and continual Impression upon David's Spirit So that when he had cut off the skirt of Saul's robe his Heart Smote him When he was tempted to Kill him in the Cave he abhorr'd the very thoughts of it when Abishai would have destroyed him at one blow as he was asleep David with-held him with a strong hand When Abner was so careless of his Masters safety as to let him fall into David's power David reprehended him And at last when this Amalekite had smote him him who had so long hunted after David's Soul He presently smote the Amalekite all this was grounded upon this Great and Weighty consideration that Saul was the Lord's Anointed A King is said to be the Lord 's Anointed in a Two-fold respect 1. In respect of that outward Ceremonial Unction whereby for Sate-sake he is by the Priest separated from the People or rather Declared Notified and Acknowledg'd to be a Sacred person Now this is not the great thing considerable because it is but a Rite and Form that is not absolutely necessary For many Princes at this day are not thus Anointed at all I know not whether this Unction was ever used to Pagan Kings who yet were Gods Ministers and had Gods Authority as well as others it was a long time before it came to be used even in the Christian World anciently and originally it was a rite peculiar to the Jews alone and among them it was not used constantly neither but when the Succession was broken or a dispute arose about a Successors Title commonly one of a Family was Anointed for all his Posterity and Issue and even then the man was not made King because he was Anointed but he was Anointed because he was King Though there be neither Horn nor Cruse of Oyl in the case yet he is Gods Anointed nevertheless and that upon an Higher and more Noble account viz 2. In respect of that inward and essential Unction which he receives at the very first minute of his Kingship and by which he is Sanctified and set apart and above all others in that very Article of time and which from that day forward is inseparable from his Person Now this Unction consisteth in that Supreme Power which is given unto him in that Sacred Authority which is vested in him in that inviolable Majesty which is inseparable from him in that Divine Image and Impress whereby he bears a different and singular Character and becomes Hallowed And because he receives all this at the hands of God alone because he oweth all this neither to Priest nor People but to God
come to the Crown 3. That when the Men were come David used them rather as a Friendly Retinue then as a Formidable Army to secure his own Life from the hands of Pick-thanks who otherwise might be ready to shed his Bloud to curry favour with Saul and without Saul's Order and Commission 4. That when David imployed his Retinue to Military purposes and after a Military manner it was against those People who were Enemies to Israel and who by the Command of God were to be destroyed and even then too David acted under King Achish as his chief Commissioner and General 5. That from the beginning to the end of the whole matter though David had so many Swords at his command yet he never once Resisted his own Dread Soveraign but only Fled from him and Fled with more security then he could have done otherwise Nay though David had two the fairest opportunities of making Saul his Prisoner and of taking away his Life one in the Cave at Engedi 1 Sam. 24. and another on the Hill of Hachilah 1 Sam. 26. yet still he forbore all manner of violence at both times using this Heroick and Loyal Expression The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my Master the Lord 's Anointed to stretch forth mine hand against him seeing he is the Anointed of the Lord. 2. Whence I proceed to the next conclusion that the Destruction of the Lord 's Anointed the stretching forth the hand to Invade his Life is of all other acts of violence the most Fearful and Horrid Crime The Lord forbid that I should do this thing saith David for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord 's Anointed and be guiltless As he said to Abishai 1 Sam. 26. 9. For Subjects to draw Bloud out of the Sacred Heart of their Prince to cut his Head off as though he had not been Anointed with Oyl to Invade the Life of Gods Vice-gerent and especially to do it as did the Regicides of this day not in a Cave but before the Face of the Sun and at his own Palace door and all this with the utmost Pomp of Villany under colour of Justice by formal Proceedings after a Judicial manner with an unheard of Pageantry of Conscience and Religion After they had taken off his Crown and as it were cut off his Hands after they had Hunted him from his House to the Camp and from Field to Field at last to Arraign the best of Kings as a Malefactor to Condemn him as a Tyrant to Dragg him to the Scaffold as a Traitor and there to cut off his Neck as a Dog Blessed Jesu Since the foundations of the World were laid the like instance with all its circumstances was never known no Humane History can afford us a Parallel nothing that can come near it unless it be that instance lately observed of Conradine the King of Naples who after such a manner but upon different pretensions was Dr. Turners's Sermon before the King 1680 1. Arraigned and Murdered in his own City upon a Scaffold And as that was done by pretending Catholicks so this was done by pretending Protestants They set the Copy and these took it out and in as Bloudy a Character so true is that observation that there was hardly so much as a pair of Sheers between theâ— no more difference indeed than between Judas and Iscariot When David had privily cut off the skirt of Saul's robe though it was only with a design to let him see that he had been in his Power his Heart soon Smote him as if he had made a Breach upon Gods Law and had been guilty of a very Vnworthy and Disloyal Act for the Oyl upon a Kings Head like the Ointment upon the Head of Aaron that descended upon his skirts makes even his Vestments Sacred But with what Agonies and Convulsions would his Soul have been Tortured had the King of Israel been mocked by such a Juncto of Jews as on this day Butcher'd the King of England and in the name of the Lord vied for Wickedness with all the Devils in Hell The story of Saul's Death is a very sad relation all the Parts and Appurtenances thereof together with Saul's own Guilt and the Sin of his Armour-bearer and this Amalekite being rightly considered But yet there are some passages in the story which it may not be amiss for us to observe 1. Concerning the Armour-bearer Saul Commanded him to draw his Sword and to thrust him through therewith being desirous rather to Dye by the hands of his own Servant than to be Abused by the Uncircumcised Philistines But notwithstanding the Kings own Command the Armour-bearer refused to hearken in that particular he durst not obey the King to the Destruction of Majesty he was sore afraid saith the Text 1 Sam. 31. 4. Read on now to the next v. and you will find that this Armour-bearer feared not to Kill himself though he was sore afraid to Kill his Soveraign By which instance it is clear not only that he valued his Prince his Life far above his own but also that he thought it much a more pardonable Sin to be a self Murderer than to be a Regicide though tempted to be so by his Soveraigns Command Doubtless for a Man to Kill himself is a very Horrid Sin because it is his last Act whereby in Humane probability he hurryeth himself off the Earth into Hell Yet this Armour-bearer chose rather to Dye with the Guilt of his own Bloud upon his hands than to Live Guilty of the Bloud of the Lord 's Anointed and before he would be such a Traitor ran a sad venture of being Damned for ever by being Felo de se 2. And then as for the Amalekite that did effectually help on the Destruction of Saul though he did it not of Malice but upon Saul's intreaty though he did it when Saul was now half breathless and when he was sure otherwise to be Killed by the Philistines though he did it to rid him of his present Fear and Pains and struck him more like a Friend than an Enemy doing no other than what Saul himself had already done in part yet this Regicides Conscience seems to have been troubled presently at an excessive rate His breast was filled with Remorse and Anguish and Bitterness of Spirit so that he could not but put on a Mournful and Penitential Habit for he ran to David with his Clothes Rent and with Earth upon his Head Confessing by his Actions that he had committed an Abominable Crime when his Lying Tongue pretended that he had done a meritorious Act. And yet which is observable this Regicide was no Subject of Saul's but a Stranger an Alien from the Common-wealth of Israel an Amalekite Lord What Soul is able I do not say to Aggravate but to Measure the Guilt of the Regicides of this day Regicides that acted not only without any pretended Commands or Allowance of Just Authority though all the Powers on
Earth could not have made a Law competent or tolerable in this case but shed the Bloud of the Lord 's Anointed contrary to all Law of God of Nature and of the Land too Regicides that were Amalekites indeed as to Faith Religion Conscience and Inhumanity but otherwise the Kings own Natural and Born-Subjects that owed him Fealty and Loyalty from the Womb that had often renewed their Natural Obligations by several voluntary and the most Solemn Professions Promises and Vows that had many times repeated the Sacred and Strict Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance and besides all this that in a Solemn League and Covenant of their own had Sworn Article 3. to Preserve and Defend the Kings Majesties Person and Authority that the World said they may bear witness with our Consciences of our Loyalty and that we have no Thoughts or Intentions to diminish his Majesties just Power and Greatness Regicides that Vowed and Swore all this and that with respect to the Glory of God to the advancement of Christs Kingdom to the Honour and Happiness of the Kings Majesty and his Posterity and with Hands lifted up to the most High God as saith the Preamble to that Covenant But never do Hypocrites hands fall more heavy than when they have been lifted up in Gods Worship A Traitor is then most Formidable when he has been at a Test or at a Sacrament or at a Prayer Judas was fullest of Mischief when he had been at the Dish and the Sop. To answer all these Declarations Vows and Oaths as at first they lifted up their Hands to the most High God so at last they stretched forth their hands to Murder Gods Anointed and they Murder'd him in cold Bloud and after Deliberation and Council and Fasting and as their Phrase was when they had been seeking the Lord too This very Amalekite will one day rise up in Judgment against those Regicides and will condemn them for he seem'd to Repent when he had done the Fact he Rent his Clothes and put Ashes upon his own Head for the violence that he had offered to the Anointed one But these Regicides instead of Relenting or being Smitten in their Hearts were of Reprobate Minds and of Seared Consciences being past Feeling any thing but the Fire of Hell They persisted in hardness above that of Judas or of Cain They own'd the Villany and endeavoured to Justifie that as a Noble Heroick and Godly Exploit which made all Churches abroad but Rome to be asham'd and all Foreign Nations not only the Christian World but even Infidels and Barbarians to Abhorr all English men as so many Savage Dogs Nor was this the Wickedness of Dathan's and Abiram's only but Korah's and Sons of Levi were found also some that to Poize the Vessel had a great hand in casting the Pilot over board some that intentionally Preached off the Crown from his Majesties Head some that drove him to the Block some that were upon or not far off from the Scaffold and some too that made the Sound of the Blow to Eccho in the Temple and did not stick with hands lifted up too to Sanctifie the Fact in the very Pulpit And I cannot but take notice of one singular Instance out of due respects to a certain Doctor still Living and in great Vogue that on Jan. 31. 1648. the very day next Jo. Owens Sermon Jan. 31. 1648. dedicated to the Commons pag. 7. after the Murdering of the King as he was holding forth to the Regicides whom he complemented as the visible Instruments of the Work of the Lord and speaking with reference to the things that had been found in England he insisted much upon the Sins of Manasseh Son of Hezekiah King of Judah spake of his false Worship Superstition and Cruelty and of the Apostacy of those who flattered him in his Tyranny for ibid. p. 5. their own advantage and positively asserted that when Kings turn Seducers both the Blind Leaders and Blind Followers Justly fall into the Ditch and that when Kings Command unrighteous things and People suit them with a willing Complyance none doubts but the Destruction of them both is Just and Righteous Come thy ways now my Honest Amalekite Honest in comparison who though thou wast not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the King of Israel yet for ought we know didst never suffer thine Heart to swell against thine own Soveraign didst never trample Faith and True Allegiance to thy Natural Prince under thy Feet didst never break Covenants nor violate Oaths nor any ways further or abett the Bloudshedding of the King of Amalek nor didst ever harden thy Heart to that Desperate State of Impenitence Deadness or Reprobation as to Justifie and Vindicate the most Horrid Act of Treason with hands stretched out and lifted up before the most High God as did those Sons of Belial the Regicides of this day And yet behold a Greater Prince than either the King of Amalek or Saul was here Greater for his Lineage and Extraction Greater for his Wisdom Faith and Constancy to the Truth Greater for all Vertues Divine Moral Political Greater every ways but in the esteem of Men and in the Hearts of his own Subjects and only too Great by being too Good for a most Vnthankful and Improvident Nation To draw now towards a conclusion The design of this discourse is not so much to expose the Traytors as to Represent the Excessive Sinfulness of the Treason of this day to the End that we and our Posterity may see what reason all of us have to be truly Humbled under the Sense of it For murder is a Crying Sin that filleth Heaven with its Noise and Clamour And one reason of it is because it is not only an Injury against the Man but moreover a Contumely offered to the Majesty of God whose Image the Man bears and therefore Philo the Jew calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo de Spec. Leg. Sacriledge and the Greatest of all sorts of Sacriledge Nay it is of such a Staining nature that it polluteth a whole Land as God himself said Bloud it defileth the Land Num. 35 33. And an Instance hereof we have upon Saul's killing the Giheonites He slew them indeed in his Zeal to the Children of Israel and Judah but though 't was His Fact and Cruelty yet a Three years Famine came upon the Land for it 2 Sam. 21. 1. And if all Innocent Bloud staineth a Nation so how much more the shedding of Bloud Royal the Bloud of Kings who in respect of their High Office and Supreme Authority Represent God above all others and bear his Image and Impress after a Peculiar and Eminent manner I must confess that I cannot but still own my Fears that our Land is not yet throughly cleansed from the Bloud of that Innocent Vertuous Religious Matchless Prince who was so Barbarously murder'd among us on this day For though we may believe that the merciful God will not
to Preach to Administer Sacraments to Bind and Loose this Power was from Heaven 2. Take a second Instance in an Oeconomical matter Say a Servant chuseth his Master or a Wife her Husband each of theft pitch upon the Man but neither of them gives him his Authority but both consent to submit unto it his Power of Governing his whole House-hold is from Nature 3. Take a third Instance yet in a Political matter Say a Parish do chuse their Constable or a City their Mayor or a County their Sheriff these indeed determine upon the Person but they give them not their Power nor do they act in the Names of the Electors but their Authority to keep the Peace to Distrain Goods to Seize and Execute Malefactors is from the King and the Kings Officers they are Why much like hereunto is that other Instance when a People chuse their King though it would be better for the World if no People did so Haereditary Government being the best After a great deal of Clamour Disorder Animosity Strife Confusion Distraction and perhaps Bloudshed at last Necessity brings them to agree upon the Man But the Kings Authority comes not from the dirty hands of a Rout nor doth he act in the name of a Soveraign multitude but his Power is from God By his Command Kings are constituted by whose pleasure Men are born God appoints Cujus jussu homines nascuntur hujus jussu Reges constituuntur apti his qui in illo tempore ab ipsis regantur Iren. lib. 5. adv Haeres cap. 24. them and fits them according to the condition of the Times saith Irenoeus And so Tertullian affirms that the Emperor is thence whence the man was before Inde est Imperator unde est homo antequam Imperator Inde Potestas illi unde Spiritus Tertul Apol. c. 30. he was Emperor He receiveth his Power from the same hand which gave him his Spirit And elsewhere saith he We Christians worship the Emperor so Colimus Imperatorem sic quomodo nobis licet ipsi expedit ut hominem à Deo secundum quicquid est à Deo consecutum solo Deo minorem Tertul. adv Scapul as 't is lawful for us and expedient for himself as a Man next unto God as one that hath received all that he hath from God and as one that is inferiour to God alone Now if the case be thus where a Monarchy is Elective as the Roman Empire was whatever is suggested to the contrary the Plea is much the Stronger for the Divine Authority of a Prince where the Crown descendeth by Inheritance as God be blessed it doth with us and for the good of the Kingdom may it descend still in that Natural and Peaceful course to the Worlds end In this case the Consent of the People is neither Essential nor Accessory as they are not capable of conferring the Authority so they are praecluded the liberty of disputing about the Person where there is an apparent or undoubted Heir for God and Nature have already determin'd the Controversie Men may Recognize his Right and in point of Conscience are bound to do so as the Men of Israel did Recognize Saul's Right after he had been Anointed but where a Kingdom is Hereditary ones Right taketh place upon the voidance of another's Possession which is the ground of that Maxim in our Law which is the sharpest Dagger in the Republican's Heart that the King cannot dye I have been the longer upon clearing the account of the Divine Authority of Kings because it was the only consideration which David had in his thoughts when he was moved to proceed so severely against this Amalekite for offering violence unto Saul Quare non Timuisti How came it about that thou wast not afraid that thy Heart did not sink that thy Soul could suffer thee to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord 's Anointed And hence we may fairly proceed to Two Conclusions 1. That it is a Fearful thing even to Resist the Lord 's Anointed A Fearful thing indeed according to St. Paul's Divinity if it be a Fearful thing to be Damned For Opposition tendeth to Destruction and there is no more difference between Resisting and Killing then there is between the means and the end or between putting a Sword to a Princes Throat and direct Cutting it If he be a Murderer by Interpretation who Hateth his Brother he must be a Regicide in the intent who draweth out his Artillery against his Prince and Rebels are beholding to our Charity alone in this as well as other cases if we do not say that never any Subjects drew the Sword against their King but with a Resolution if there was no other remedy to sheath it in his Bloud I do not intend for the Time will not give me leave to handle the case of a Defensive War against a Rightful Soveraign a case that never was maintained but by an Atheist or a Papist or a Protestant-Jesuite When our Saviour commanded us Not to resist evil Math. 5. 39. we must suppose him to teach us to suffer Indignities with Patience as well from the hands of a Superior as from the hands of an equal And when St. Paul affirms that whosoever resisteth the Power resisteth the Ordinance of God Rom. 13. 2. we must conclude that a War against Lawful Authority is a War against Heaven And when St. Peter requiring us to Honour the King presently Subjoined Servants be Subject to your Masters with all fear not only to the Good and Gentle but also to the Froward 1 Pet. 2. 18. we must look upon him to have taught us the necessity of Passive Obedience in the State as well as at Home for otherwise it would follow what is unreasonable to conceive that Princes have not so much benefit by the Gospel for the securing of their Authority as every Ordinary and Private Man hath And in saying thus much God is my Witness that I aim at no other end but to vindicate the Doctrine of the Cross which divers lately have endeavoured to expose to Contempt and Derision But to return to David's practice in reference to Saul because David's having of an Army has been pleaded by Rebels to justifie Resistance for the removing of this Objection many things are to be consider'd 1. That David's case was Particular for he was already Anointed unto the Kingdom and was Haeres Viventis not only Lawful Heir but as sure of the Crown as if Saul had been dead 2. That the little Army which David had was not of his own Raising but they resorted unto him of their own accord partly for Refuge-sake for they were Indigent and Discontented Persons partly to shew David their best respects partly out of Pity and Compassion to a wronged Prince and the Hearts of Men are generally Pitiful and Compassionate in such a case and partly to endear themselves to David and to make their Fortunes by him when he should