something of the Illustrious Effects of Marriage we proceed to inquire what method we are to take to render it blessed propitious and satisfactory which brings us to peruse the Prayer of Eliezer for constituting a Family in which Government was first erected and if still preserved is the best means to preserve National Discipline which was derived from it GEN. 24. v. 12. And he said O Lord God of my Master Abraham I pray thee send me good speed this day and shew kindness unto my Master Abraham THe words contain a pathetical Prayer of Eliezer Abraham's Servant for a good Wife for his Masters Son I pray thee c. The Context and preceding Verses give us an account of Abrahams direction and Eliezer's entrance on this design here we find Abraham's Servant begining with his Supplication to the Lord God of his Master Abraham for success in this undertaking The Explication being so obvious we only take notice of four particulars 1. His Solemn Address to God for success 2. His Prayer is strengthened by this Expression O Lord God of my Master Abraham 3. The Object and Design of his Prayer to have good success this Day 4. That particular kindness God would vouchsafe unto Abraham in the concession and gratification of his request And shew kindness unto my Master Abraham And First of the First of these viz. 1. His Solemn Address to God for Success this is Eliezer's method and as the best way and means to accomplish his desires is to address himself to God who is the Author and giver of every good thing He and He only can give success to our Undertakings or blast and disappoint our most resolved Designs and Intentions Prayer is a Duty which keeps the trade of Religion a going and 't is our happiness that God puts it into our hearts to Pray which is no other than a religious Speech directed to God after a due sort concerning things appertaining to his glory and our good and it is the Key of Heaven and Conduit of Mercy a Perfume and sweet Savour in Gods Nostrils and the Messenger of the Soul to the Throne of Grace Damascen tells De Orth. Fid. lib. that in Prayer the Will is filled with desire and the desires flame and blaze upwards to God and though Prayer is an act of the Will yet it hath its conception in the Heart and is serviceable to the Soul like the animal Spirits to the Body It is and hath been the Method and Usage of Gods Servants in all Ages to Pray to God on all occasions Gen. 13.4 Thus Abraham for Ishmael and when he removed his Family to Bethel and Beersheba he built an Altar and Called on the Name of the Lord And David after he had settled the Ark returned to bless his House that is to Pray for his People so good Nehemiah First I Prayed unto the Lord and then I spake unto the King And 't is the Apostles Exhortation In all things by Prayer and Supplication let your requests be made known unto God 2. His Prayer is strengthened by this Expression O Lord God of my Master Abraham 'T is very Emphatical and gives us to understand Gods great affections to his eminent Servants and the seed of the Faithful And this place more particularly refers to Gods promise to Abraham concerning Isaac Gen. 19.17 and 't is very probable this was a great Topick with Eliezer Isaac being the Son of the Promise and such forms of Invocation were very common in those times in Abraham's charge to his Servant Verse 7. he encourages him in his undertaking by recounting Gods Promises to his Seed And we find often times in Gods appearance to his Servants he is pleased to express himself as remembring his Promises when he appeared to Isaac Gen. 26.24 I am the God of thy Father fear not and Jacob when afraid of Esau strengthened himself by this Invocation Gen. 32.9 O Lord God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac the Lord which said unto me I will deal well with thee So Moses fearing the Aegyptians would not believe him Exo. 4.5 but God to confirm his Faith and the Israelites was pleased to work Miracles That they may believe says God that the God of their Fathers the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob hath appeared unto thee 3. The Object and Design of his Prayer To have Good speed this day Fac ut se mihi ossert quod peto Zenochius in Locum Good speed is an indefinite wish and refers to several Objects but here particularly signifies success in choosing a good Wife for his Masters Son and some render it That he might obtain what he asked others That what he desired might be prosperous and successeful Prosperum fac mihi occursum Vatablus in Locum Both which are Synominous and 't is very aptly and significantly rendred Good speed because the choosing and enjoying a good Wife is so essential a part of a mans happiness this prompted Abraham to that wonderful care in seeking out a good Wife for his Son Verse 3. and nothing could be more satisfactory to Isaac than the enjoyment of this blessing Jacobs seven years seemed but a few dayes for the Love he bare unto Rachel And all Ages of the World have subscribed to this Doctrine 4. That particular Kindness God would vouchsafe unto Abraham Fac misericordiam significat non alio jure fretum hoc audire nisi qua Deus gratiam suam Abramae pollitius fuerat and shew Kindness unto my Master Abraham We are here to enquire what kindness the accomplishment hereof would be unto Abraham And nothing can please better and be more acceptable to a Father than to see his Son happy in a good Wife A noter on the place well expresseth himself And a Father that hath taken so much care and pains in the education and bringing up of his Son who is so dear to him and to whom he hath given so good an Example when his Son is well married and his Father sees him prosecuting those admirable Instructions he received from him and with the help of a good Wife how does he esteem himself happy in his Sons happiness whose Wisdom and conduct may render even his Posterity happy To which the Wise man alludes Pro. 24.23 The Father of the Righteous shall greatly rejoice and he that begetteth a wise Child shall have joy of him Having spoken something by way of Explication we pass on to the Observations and each concluded with a short Inference Prayer is a great and Indispensable Duty Observ 1. A Tribute we owe in recognition of the Divine Soveraignty 't is the Just Prerogative God may expect from his Creatures The other parts and pieces of the Creation pursue the design of their beings the Sacred Poet tells us Psal 19.1 The Heavens declare Gods Glory the Sun rules the Day and the Moon the Night the Elements observe
pass over the Love of Abraham and Isaac to their Wives Ezek. 24.16 of Ezekiel whose Wife was called the delight of his Eyes the Vulgar Latin is Desiderium Oculorum tuorum Augustus Caesar died in the kisses of his Wife Livia Conjugii nostri mea mor vive vale We pass over the affections of Theodosius and Placilla his Queen of Seneca and Paulina Mansolus and Artemesia and it is reported of one that ordered to be writ on his Tomb That he had lived with his Dear Wife forty three years eight months and never fell out What a blessed Amnestia does this noble Constitution settle amongst men And the Conversation of a good Wife sweetens Life and banishes vexation to whom we may tell our discontents and have them lessened and our joyes and have them multiplyed and he that hath a good Wise hath two selves and possesses all his faculties double Homer brings in Paris kissing Hellena after ten years Marriage protesting as much affection as if but newly conjoyned Like the Old man in Ausonius Vxor vivamus quod vivimus moriamur Servantes nomen sumpsimus in thalamo Nec ferat ulla dies ut commutemur in aevo Quin tibi sum Juvenis tuque puella mihi Dear Wife let 's live in love and dye together As heretofore we have in all good will Let no day change or alter our affections But let 's be young to one another still Much like the saying of Solomon And rejoice with the Wife of thy Youth Prov. 5.19 let her be as the loving Hind and the pleasant Roe let her Breasts satisfie thee at all times and be thou ravished alwayes with her Love Here is a magnetick and charming quality a powerful and occult motive and though he rule his Wife as head yet she again commands his Heart no happiness like it placens Vxor a sweet Wife Omnis Amor magnus sed aperto in conjuga major No Love so strong as this Conjugal Love they being but one flesh are unanimous and Gerion-like Amicitiae symbolum Coalescere in Vnum and have but one Heart in two Bodies Corporibus geminis Spiritus unus erat And so continue in mutual Love affection and endearments to each other according as the Poet personates a Loving Husband Propertius Lib. 2. Et me ab amore tuo deducet nulla senectus Sive ego Tythonus sive ego Nestor ero No age shall part my Love from thee sweet Wife Thô I live Nestors or Tythonus life And so è diverso the Woman also hath a great sense of these conjugal obligations she admires her Husband as her Head and Protector and under God a Melior Natura an Auspicious Genius and Tutelar Angel concern'd for her happiness and consulting all the honourable methods for her Preservation and Comfort And the Care Diligence and Industry of a good Husband for the Preservation and Happiness of her and hers recommends him the more to her Love and most endeared affections She cannot but adore the Divine goodness that when her Parents are dead and her Friends fail her that she hath a second Self who is unhappy if she be miserable and under God her happiness in this World depends immediately on the Industry Sobriety Diligence and Providence of her Husband Man and Wife should resemble the Cherubims in the Temple which looked on each other so they should love and admire each other and meet half way in the joint Prosecution of both their good The Apostle exhorts Husbands to love their Wives as Christ loved the Church Eph. 5.25 Col. 3.18 And Wives to submit themselves to their Husbands as it is fit in the Lord and win them by their sweet Conversation And the Wise man 1 Pet. 3.1 in his description of a loving and industrious Wife says She will do him good and not evil all her dayes And goes on descanting on the particular parts of her good housewifery And in the 28 verse Pronounces his blessing on her Prov. 31.10 Her Children arise up and call her blessed her Husband also and he praiseth her We also have read of the constancy of a Ruth of Sarah and Rebecka's fidelity to their Husbands and in the Roman Government the Bride used to salute her Husband Vbi tu Caius Plutarch ego semper Caia It was an excellent Character the Holy Ghost gives of Abigal that she was a Woman of an excellent Understanding in Pacifying David and saving her house Phile and Zenobia were exceeding Lovers of their Husbands and what Lamps of Female Glory were the Cornelia's Panthia's Porcia's and others and how great an Admiration had that Persian Lady for her Husband when at Cyrus his Wedding she was asked How she lik'd the Bridegroom I know not said she for I saw none there but mine own Husband And Plutarch relates of the Love and Wisdom of the Celtick Women that when their Husbands were involved in a Civil War by the endeavours and Solicitation of their Wives a Peace was made and for their Honour and Reward they were admitted to the Council And it was one of the Articles made with Hannibal That if the Carthaâ—inians had any controversie with the Celtians it should be decided by the Celtian Women and we find a passage in Euripides to this effect Optima viri possessio uxor benevola Mittigans iram avertens animum ejus à tristitia Mans best possession is a loving Wife She tempers anger and diverts all strife And as in this Conjugal affection there is such an egress and expansion of the Heart and Spirits to the object loved and a Love and respect of that extent that an Ovid can't teach it nor Solomon describe nor Apelles paint it so an high care and solicitation for the well-being and preservation of each other Res est solliciti plena timoris amor Ovids Epist as the Poet well describes the jealousie of Penelope for the safety of Vlisses In te fingebam violentes Troias ituros Ovids Epist Nomine in Hectureo pallida semper eram How oft my dear Vlisses did I see In my sad thoughts proud Trojans rush on thee And when great Hectors but touch'd mine ears My cheeks drew paleness from my paler fears And as absence is tedious and unpleasant so their departure each from other afflictive and uneasie When Thais took her leave of Phaedria Egone quid velim Noctes diesque ames me me desideres Me somnies me expectes me cogites Me speres me te oblectes mecum tota sis Meus sac postremo animus quando ego sum tuus Doest ask my Dear what service I will have To love me day and night is all I crave To dream on me to expect to think on me Depend and hope still covet me to see Delight thy self in me be wholly mine For know my Love that I am wholly thine But we must shake off this pleasant Argument for there 's no end of it In short how have Philosophers
Intreat the Lord your God to turn away this death only That is pray unto God for me and the prayers of Saints are very acceptable God would not hear Job's Friends Job 42.8 but says God My servant Job shall pray for you 2. This praying for one another does not terminate in personal Obligations but comprehends praying for Christs Church and People for the Propagation of his Gospel that God would give him the Heathen for his Inheritance and the utmost part of the World for his Possession and how pathetically did the Jews in Captivity express their zeal for the welfare of Jerusalem By the Rivers of Babilon Psal 137. there we sat down yea we wept when we remembred Zion and so to the end and for Nations it is St. Pauls exhortation 1 Tim. 2.1 That first of all Supplications Prayers Intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men For Kings and all that are in Authority that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty Nay further we are commanded to pray for our Enemies Mat. 5 44. and Christ prayed for them that crucified him Luk. 23.34 Acts 7.60 Father forgive them and that Protomartyr St. Stepâ—â—â— prayed for them that stoned him And 't is the noble and heroick design of a gracious Heart to be serviceable to Church and State by prayer either to deprecate Judgments or obtain Mercies 1. To deprecate Judgements How did Abraham intercede with God for Sodom and God was pleased to answer him Gen. 9.32 That if ten righteous were in it he would not destroy it for tens sake And how Gracious was God to Jerusalem And I sought for a man among them Ezek 22.30 that should make up the Hedge and stand in the gap before me for the Land that I should not destroy it but I found none It implies Gods great respect for the righteous which Solomon styles fundamentum seculi an everlasting Foundation publick Spirited Persons are like Pillars to bear up Gods Wrath from the place they live in 2. To obtain Mercies so Elijah prayed for Rain in the days of Ahab and obtained it after three years Intermission and so Moses that great Master in Israel after God had reveal'd his will to him he cryed unto God for the Children of Israel and could bid them Stand still and see the Salvation of God and we all know what a glorious Victory followed Inf. Let us therefore upon the whole Pray for each other Gods Church and People that by the fervency and continuance of our Prayers we may either stand in the gap with Abraham or prevail with Jacob at least be found among the righteous that when Gods Judgments are in the earth God may say unto us as he did to Noah Come thou and all thine house into the Ark Gen. 7.1 for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation Observ 4. Prayer is the only way to obtain Mercies or divert Judgments How great Priviledge is it to be admitted into the Presence of some great Monarch but how much greater Prerogative hath the devout Christian that by fervent Prayers and ardent effusion of his Tears and Wishes may freely conferr with the King of Kings this penetrates the Clouds and Sphears and mounts us to the bosome of the great Benefactor and a Charm that if rightly performed prevails on Omnipotency Oratio pura coelos penetrans vacua non redibit St. Austin this Dove sent to Heaven often brings an Olive-leaf in his Mouth This fervent Prayer sayes St. Austin as it pierceth Heaven so it will not return without effect And not only our Duty but our daily wants put us upon this undertaking we are helpless Creatures of our selves and Prayer is our only refuge there is an admirable Oeconomy in the Divine Wisdome to bring man to his Duty and Happiness God tells us Ezek. 36.37 That for this he will be enquired of by the House of Israel to do this for them And 't is but highly rational to confess our dependance upon him that gave us being The Kingly Prophet elegantly describes Gods goodness to those that call upon him in 145th Psalm from the begining to the the end And certainly 't is no Mercy that is not worth seeking to God for but when sought and obtained it makes the blessing the more acceptable and obliges us to improve it with the greater thankfulness and sobriety we can never lose any thing by prayer for we are never out of Gods reach to relieve us if God please to answer us the Blessing is the more safe and sweet and if denyed we are the more humble and patient and content that God should be Master of his own bounty We have the Practice of Gods People recommended to our Imitation and the admirable effects of their Prayers recorded for our encouragement here good Eliezer prayes unto God for good speed he would not venture on it without Petitioning the Lord God of his Master Abraham and the good success he met with was the effect of Prayers Abraham tells him God would send his Angel before him and prosper his way which implies the strength of Abraham's Faith and his Servant after he had prayed V. 13 14. in the very next verses gives us a kind of Prophetick hint of what would come to pass and resigns himself up to the conduct of Providence Behold I stand here by the Well of Water and so on Non tentat Deum cujus instinctu ad hoc motus fuerat Junius in loc Junius observeth he did not tempt God because God prompted him hereto for such manuductory passages of Providence are but Preliminary to success and antecede the effects of our Prayers Signum quod statuit congruum fuisse erat enim signa bonae uxoris indolis affabilis hospitalis strenuae qualem noverat placiturum Isaaco Abrahamo St. Chrys in loc And St. Chrysostome well observes The sign sayes he which Eliezer pitcht upon was very agreeable for those things as affability and courtesie are the indications of a good Wife and such as would please Isaac and Abraham also David alludes to such antecedent Providences sayes God I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go and I will guide thee with mine Eye and such gracious dealings of God with his People are our great encouragement and the effects of Prayer's miraculous James 5.17 as if Elijah could shut and open Heaven at his pleasure Jacobs Prayer turned away the Indignation and Wrath of Esau and his four hundred men after Moses had cried to the Lord for the Children of Israel the Egyptians were drowned in the Red-Sea And after David had prayed unto his God 1 Sam. 17.37 That delivered him out of the paw of the Lyon and the bear he also delivered him out of the hands of the Philistine And when Elijah prayes unto God That the meal shall