for the arerages of his late rebellion yet that it should be done by thy hand then and thus it was flagitiously cruell Yet behold Ioab runnes away securely with the fact hasting to plague that in another whereof himselfe was no lesse guilty So vast are the gorges of some consciences that they can swallow the greatest crimes and finde no straine in the passage It is possible for a man to be faithful to some one person and perfidious to all others I doe not finde Ioab other then firme and loyall to Dauid in the middest of all his priuate falshoods whose iust quarrell he pursues against Sheba through all the Tribes of Israel None of all the strong Forts of reuolted Israel can hide the Rebell from the zeale of his reuenge The Citie of Abel lends harbour to that conspirator whom all Israel would and cannot protect Ioab casts vp a Mount against it and hauing inuironed it with a siege begins to worke vpon the wall and now after long chase is in hand to digge out that Vermin which had earth'd himself in this borough of Beth-maachah Had not the Citie been strong and populous Sheba had not cast himselfe for succor within those wals yet of all the inhabitants I see not any one man moue for the preseruation of their whole body Onely a woman vndertakes to treat with Ioab for their safety Those men whose spirits were great enough to maintaine a traytor against a mighty King scorne not to giue way to the wisdome of a matrone There is no reason that Sex should disparage where the vertue and merit is no lesse then masculine Surely the soule acknowledgeth no Sexe neither is varied according to the outward frame How oft haue wee knowne female hearts in the brests of Men and contrarily manly powers in the weaker vessels It is iniurious to measure the act by the person and not rather to esteeme the person for the act Shee with no lesse prudence then courage challengeth Ioab for the violence of his assault and laies to him that law which he could not be an Israelite and disauow the Law of the God of peace whose charge it was that when they should come neere to a Citie to fight against it they should offer it peace and if this tender must be made to forrainers how much more to brethren So as they must inquire of Abel ere they batter'd it Warre is the extreme act of vindicatiue iustice neither doth God euer approue it for any other then a desperate remedy and if it haue any other end then peace it turnes into publique murder It is therefore an inhumane crueltie to shed bloud where wee haue not profered faire conditions of peace the refusall whereof is iustly punished with the Sword of reuenge Ioab was a man of bloud yet when the wise woman of Abel charged him with going about to destroy a mother in Israel and swallowing vp the inheritance of the Lord with what vehemencie doth he deprecate that challenge God forbid God forbid it me that I should deuoure or destroy it Although that citie with the rest had ingaged it selfe in Shebaes sedition yet how zealously doth Ioab remoue from himselfe the suspicion of an intended vastation How fearfull shall their answer be who vpon the quarrell of their owne ambition haue not spared to waste whole tribes of the Israel of God It was not the fashion of Dauids Captaines to assault any citie ere they summond it here they did There be some things that in the very fact carrie their owne conuiction So did Abel in the entertaining and abetting a knowne conspirator Ioab challenges them for the offence and requires no other satisfaction then the head of Sheba This Matrone had not deserued the name of Wife and faithfull in Israel if she had not both apprehended the iustice of the condition and commended it to her Citizens whom she hath easily perswaded to spare their owne heads in not sparing a Traitors It had beene pittie those walls should haue stood if they had beene too hie to throw a Traitors head ouer Spiritually the case is ours Euery mans brest is as a citie inclosed Euery sinne is a traitor that lurkes within those walls God calls to vs for Shebaes head neither hath he any quarrell to our person but for our sinne If we loue the head of our Traitor aboue the life of our soule we shall iustly perish in the vengeance we cannot be more willing to part with our sin then our mercifull God is to withdraw his iudgements Now is Ioab returned with successe and hopes by Shebaes head to paie the price of Amasaes bloud Dauid hates the murder entertaines the man defers the reuenge Ioab had made himselfe so great so necessarie that Dauid may neither misse nor punish him Policie led the King to conniue at that which his heart abhorred I dare not commend that wisdome which holds the hands of Princes from doing iustice Great men haue euer held it a point of worldly state not alwaies to pay where they haue beene conscious to a debt of either fauour or punishment but to make Time their seruant for both Salomon shall once defraie the arerages of his father In the meane time Ioab commands and prospers and Dauid is faine to smile on that face whereon he hath in his secret destination written the characters of Death The Gibeonites reuenged THE raigne of Dauid was most troublesome towards the shutting vp wherein both warre and famine conspire to afflict him Almost fortie yeeres had he sate in the throne of Israel with competencie if not abundance of all things now at last are his people visited with a long dearth we are not at first sensible of common euils Three yeeres drought and scarcitie are gone ouer ere Dauid consults with God concerning the occasion of the iudgement now he found it hie time to seeke the face of the Lord The continuance of an affliction sends vs to God and calls vpon vs to aske for a reckoning Whereas like men strucken in their sleep a sudden blow cannot make vs to finde our selues but rather astonisheth then teacheth vs. Dauid was himselfe a Prophet of God yet had not the Lord all this while acquainted him with the grounds of his proceedings against Israel this secret was hid from him till he consulted with the Vrim Ordinarie meanes shall reueale that to him which no vision had discryed And if God will haue Prophets to haue recourse vnto the Priests for the notice of his will how much more must the people Euen those that are the inwardest with God must haue vse of the Ephod Iustly is it presupposed by Dauid that there was neuer iudgement from God where hath not beene a prouocation from men therefore when he sees the plague he inquires for the sinne Neuer man smarted causelesly from the hand of diuine iustice Oh that when we suffer we could aske what we haue done and could guide our repentance to the root of our euils
Contemplations THE SIXTH VOLVME By Ios. HALL D. of D. LONDON Printed by J. H. for Nathaniel Butter 1622. Contemplations THE SIXTEENTH BOOKE Containing Shimei Cursing Achitophel The death of Absalom Shebaes Rebellion The Gibeonites reuenged The numbring of the people TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE AND TRVLY NOBLE LORD FRANCIS Lord RVSSELL Baron of THORNHAVGH all increase of Honour and Happinesse RIGHT HO You shall not need to impute it to any other reason besides your vertues that I haue presumed to shroud this peece of my labours vnder your Noble Patronage The world hath taken iust notice how much the Gospell is graced by your reall profession whom neither honor hath made ouerlie nor wealth lauish nor charge miserable nor greatnesse licentious Goe on happily in these safe and gainfull steps of goodnesse and still honour the God that hath honoured you In the meane time accept from my vnworthy hands these poore Meditations more hie for their subiect then meane for their author Wherein SHIMEIES curses shall teach you how vnable either greatnesse or innocence is to beare off the blowes of ill tongues and how basenesse euer molds it selfe according to the aduantage of times ACHITOPHELS depth compared with his end shall shew how witlesse and insensate craft is when it striues against honestie and how iustly they are forsaken of their reason that haue abandoned God The bloud of ABSALOM and SHEBA proclaime the ineuitable reuenge of rebellion which neither in woods nor walls can finde safetie The late famine of Israel for the forgotten violence offered to the Gibeonites shewes what note God takes of our oathes and what sure vengeance of their violation DAVIDS muster seconded with the plague of Israel teaches how highly God may be offended with sinnes of the least appearance how seuere to his owne how mercifull in that seueritie If these my thoughts shall be approued beneficiall to any soule I am rich I shall vow my praiers to their successe and to the happinesse of your Honourable Familie both in the root and branches Whereto I am in all Humble dutie deuoted IOS HALL Contemplations SHIMEI cursing WITH an heauy heart and a couered head and a weeping eie and bare feet is Dauid gone away from Hierusalem neuer did he with more ioy come vp to his citie then now he left it with sorrow how could he doe otherwise whom the insurrection of his owne Sonne droue out from his house from his throne from the Arke of God and now when the depth of this griefe deserued nothing but compassion the foule mouth of Shimei entertaines Dauid with curses There is no small crueltie in the picking out of a time for mischiefe That word would scarce gall at one season which at another killeth The same shaft flying with the winde pierces deepe which against it can hardly finde strength to sticke vpright The valour and iustice of children condemnes it for iniuriously cowardly to strike their aduersary when he is once downe It is the murder of the tongue to insult vpon those whom God hath humbled and to draw bloud of that backe which is yet blew from the hand of the Almightie If Shimei had not presumed vpon Dauids deiection he durst not haue beene thus bold now he that perhaps durst not haue lookt at one of those Worthies single defies them all at once and doth both cast and speake stones against Dauid and all his armie The malice of a base spirits sometimes carries them further then the courage of the valiant In all the time of Dauids prosperitie we heard no newes of Shimei his silence and colourable obedience made him passe for a good subiect yet all that while was his heart vnsound and trayterous Peace and good successe hides many a false heart like as a snow-drift couers an heape of dung which once melting away descryes the rottennesse that lay within Honor and welfare are but flattering glasses of mens affections aduersitie will not deceiue vs but will make a true report as of our owne powers so of the dispositions of others He that smiled on Dauid in his throne curseth him in his flight if there be any quarrels any exceptions to be taken against a man let him looke to haue them laid in his dish when he fares the hardest This practise haue wicked men learnt of their master to take the vtmost aduantages of our afflictions He that suffers had need to be double armed both against paine and censure Euery word of Shimei was a slaunder He that tooke Sauls speare from his head and repented to haue but cut the lap of his garment is reproched as a man of bloud The man after Gods owne heart is branded for a man of Belial He that was sent for out of the fields to be anointed is taxed for an vsurper If Dauids hands were stained with bloud yet not of Sauls house it was his seruant not his master that bled by him yet is the bloud of the Lords anointed cast in Dauids teeth by the spight of a false tongue Did we not see Dauid after all the proofes of his humble loyaltie shedding the bloud of that Amalakite who did but say he shed Sauls Did we not heare him lament passionately for the death of so ill a master chiding the mountaines of Gilboa on which he fell and angerly wishing that no dewe might fall where that bloud was powred out and charging the daughters of Israel to weepe ouer Saul who had clothed them in scarlet Did we not heare and see him inquiring for any remainder of the house of Saul that he might shew him the kindnesse of God Did we not see him honouring lame Mephibosheth with a princely seat at his owne table Did we not see him reuenging the bloud of his riuall Ishbosheth vpon the heads of Rechab and Baanah What could any liuing man haue done more to wipe off these bloudy aspersions Yet is not a Shimei ashamed to charge innocent Dauid with all the bloud of the house of Saul How is it likely this clamorous wretch had secretly traduced the name of Dauid all the time of his gouernment that dares thus accuse him to his face before all the mightie men of Israel who were witnesses of the contrary The greater the person is the more open doe his actions lie to mis-interpretation and censure Euery tongue speakes partially according to the interest he hath in the cause or the patient It is not possible that eminent persons should be free from imputations Innocence can no more protect them then power If the patience of Dauid can digest this indignitie his traine cannot their fingers could not but itch to returne iron for stones If Shimei raile on Dauid Abishai railes on Shimei Shimei is of Sauls familie Abishai of Dauids each speakes for his owne Abishai most iustly bends his tongue against Shimei as Shimei against Dauid most vniustly Had Shimei been any other then a dog he had neuer so rudely barked at an harmlesse passenger neither could he deserue
No otherwise is it in the mentall possession Where euer sinne is there Satan is As on the contrarie whosoeuer is borne of God the seed of God remaines in him That euill one not only is but rules in the sons of disobedience in vaine shall we trie to eiect him but by the diuine power of the Redeemer For this cause the Sonne of God was manifested that he might destroy the workes of the Deuill Doe we finde our selues haunted with the familiar Deuils of Pride selfe-loue sensuall desires vnbeleefe None but thou ô Sonne of the euer-liuing God can free our bosomes of these hellish guests Oh cleanse thou me from my secret sinnes and keepe me that presumptuous sinnes preuaile not ouer me O Sauiour it is no Paradox to say that thou castest out more Deuils now then thou didst whiles thou wert vpon earth It was thy word When I am lifted vp I will draw all men vnto me Satan weighes downe at the feet thou pullest at the head yea at the heart In euery conuersion which thou workest there is a dispossession Conuert me ô Lord and I shall bee conuerted I know thy meanes are now no other then ordinarie if we expect to be dispossessed by miracle it would be a miracle if euer we were dispossessed Oh let thy Gospell haue the perfect worke in me so only shall I be deliuered from the powers of darknesse Nothing can be said to be dumbe but what naturally speakes nothing can speake naturally but what hath the instruments of speech which because spirits want they can no otherwise speake vocally then as they take voices to themselues in taking bodies This deuill was not therefore dumbe in his nature but in his effect The man was dumbe by the operation of that deuill which possessed him and now the action is attributed to the spirit which was subiectiuely in the man It is not you that speake saith our Sauiour but the spirit of your Father that speaketh in you As it is in bodily diseases that they doe not infect vs alike some seaze vpon the humors others vpon the spirits some assault the braine others the heart or lungs so in bodily and spirituall possessions In some the euill spirit takes away their senses in some their limms in some their inward faculties like as spiritually they affect to moue vs vnto seuerall sinnes One to lust another to couetousnesse or ambition another to crueltie and their names haue distinguished them according to these various effects This was a dumbe deuill which yet had possessed not the tongue only of this man but his eare nor that only but as it seemes his eies too O suttle and tyrannous spirit that obstructs all waies to the soule that keeps out all meanes of grace both from the doores and windowes of the heart yea that stops vp all passages whether of ingresse or egresse Of ingresse at the eie or eare of egresse at the mouth that there might bee no capacitie of redresse What holy vse is thereof our tongue but to praise our Maker to confesse our sins to informe our brethren How rife is this dumbe Deuill euery-where whiles he stops the mouthes of Christians from these vsefull and necessarie duties For what end hath man those two priueledges aboue his fellow creatures Reason and Speech but that as by the one he may conceiue of the great workes of his Maker which the rest cannot so by the other he may expresse what he conceiues to the honour of the Creator both of them and himselfe And why are all other creatures said to praise God and bidden to praise him but because they doe it by the apprehension by the expression of man If the heauens declare the glory of God how doe they it but to the eies and by the tongue of that man for whom they were made It is no small honour whereof the enuious spirit shall robbe his Maker if he can close vp the mouth of his only rationall and vocall creature and turne the best of his workmanship into a dumbe Idoll that hath a mouth and speakes not Lord open thou my lips and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise Praise is not more necessarie then complaint praise of God then complaint of our selues whether to God or men The only amends we can make to God when we haue not had the grace to auoid sinne is to confesse the sinne we haue not auoided This is the sponge that wipes out all the blots and blurrs of our liues If we confesse our sinnes he is faithfull and iust to forgiue vs our sins and to cleanse vs from all vnrighteousnesse That cunning man-slayer knowes there is no way to purge the sicke soule but vpward by casting out the vicious humor wherewith it is clogged and therefore holds the lips close that the heart may not disburden it selfe by so wholsome euacuation When I kept silence my bones consumed For day and night thy hand ô Lord was heauie vpon me my moisture is turned into the drought of Summer O let me confesse against my selfe my wickednesse vnto thee that thou maist forgiue the punishment of my sinne We haue a tongue for God when we praise him for our selues when we pray and confesse for our brethren when we speake the truth for their information which if we hold backe in vnrighteousnesse we yeeld vnto that dumbe Deuill where doe we not see that accursed spirit He is on the Bench when the mute or partiall Iudge speakes not for truth and innocence He is in the pulpit when the Prophets of God smother or halue or adulterate the message of their master He is at the barre when irreligious Iurors dare lend an oath to feare to hope to gaine He is in the market when godlesse chapmen for their pennie sell the truth and their soule Hee is in the common conuersation of men when the tongue belies the heart flatters the guiltie balketh reproofes euen in the foulest crimes O thou who only art stronger then that strong one cast him out of the hearts and mouthes of men It is time for thee Lord to worke for they haue destroyed thy law That it might well appeare this impediment was not naturall so soone as the man is freed from the spirit his tongue is free to his speech The effects of spirits as they are wrought so they cease at once If the Sonne of God doe but remoue our spirituall possession we shall presently brake forth into the praise of God into the confession of our vilenesse into the profession of truth But what strange varietie doe I see in the spectators of this miracle some wondring others censuring a third sort tempting a fourth applauding There was neuer man or action but was subiect to varietie of constructions What man could be so holy as he that was God What act could be more worthy then the dispossession of an euill spirit yet this man this act passeth these differences of interpretation What can we doe to vndergoe but one