becomes well the heart of any man but most of a Leuite He that had helped to offer so manie sacrifices to God for the multitude of euery Israelites sinnes saw how proportionable it was that man should not hold one sinne vnpardonable Hee had serued at the Altar to no purpose if hee whose trade was to sue for mercie had not at all learned to practice it And if the reflexion of mercie wrought this in a seruant vvhat shall wee expect from him whose essence is mercy O God wee doe euery day breake the holy couenant of our loue Wee prostitute our selues to euery filthy tentation and then runne and hide our selues in our fathers house the world If thou didst not seeke vs vp wee should neuer returne If thy gracious proffer did not preuent vs wee should be vncapable of forgiueness It were abundant goodnes in thee to receiue vs when we shold intreat thee but lo thou intreatest vs that we wold receiue thee How should wee now adore and imitate thy mercy sith there is more reason wee should sue to each other then that thou shouldst sue to vs because we may as well offend as be offended I doe not see the womans father make any meanes for reconciliation but when remission came home to his doores no man could entertaine it more thankfully The nature of many men is forward to accept and negligent to sue for they can spend secret wishes vpon that which shall cost them no indeauour Great is the power of loue which can in a sort vndoe euills past if not for the act yet for the remembrance Where true affection was once conceiued it is easily peeced againe after the strongest interruption Heere needs no tedious recapitulation of wrongs no importunitie of sute The vnkindnesses are forgotten their loue is renued and now the Leuite is not a stranger but a sonne By how much more willingly he came by so much more vnwillingly hee is dismissed The foure moneths absence of his daughter is answered with foure dayes feasting Neither was there so much ioy in the former wedding feast as in this because then he deliuered his daughter intire now desperate then he found a sonne but now that sonne hath found his lost daughter and he found both The recouerie of any good is farre more pleasant then the continuance Little doe we knowe what euill is towards vs Now did this old man and this restored couple promise themselues all ioy contentment after this vnkind storm and said in themselues Now we begin to liue And now this feast which was meant for their new nuptialls prooues her funerall Euen when wee let our selues loosest to our pleasures the hand of God thogh inuisibly is writing bitter things against vs sith we are not worthie to know it is wisedome to suspect the worst whilst it is least seene Sometimes it falls out that nothing is more iniurious then curresie If this old man had thrust his sonne and daughter early out of doores they had auoyded this mischiefe now his louing importunity detaines them to their hurt and his owne repentance Such contentment doth sincere affection find in the presence of those we loue that death it selfe hath no other name but departing The greatest comfort of our life is the fruition of friendship the dissolution whereof is the greatest paine of death As all earthly pleasures so this of loue is distasted with a necessitie of leauing How worthy is that onely loue to take vp our harts which is not open to any danger of interruption which shall out-liue the date euen of faith and hope and is as eternall as that GOD and those blessed spirits whom we loue If we hang neuer so importunately vpon one anothers sleeues and shed floods of teares to stop their way yet wee must be gone hence no occasion no force shall then remooue vs from our fathers house The Leuite is stayed beyond his time by importunitie the motions whereof are boundlesse and infinite one day drawes on another neither is there any reason of this dayes stay which may not serue still for to morrow His resolution at last breaks throgh all those kind hinderances rather will hee venture a benighting then an vnnecessary delay It is a good hearing that the Leuite makes haste home An honest mans heart is where his calling is Such a one when he is abroade is like a fish in the ayre whereinto if it leape for recreation or necessitie yet it soone returns to his own element This charge by how much more sacred it is so much more attendance it expecteth Euen a day breakes square vvith the conscionable The Sunne is ready to lodge before them His seruant aduises him to shorten his iourney holding it more fit to trust an early In of the Iebusites then to the mercy of the night And if that counsell had been followed perhaps they which found Iebusites in Israel might haue found Israelites in Iebus No wise man can hold good counsell disparaged by the meanenesse of the author If wee be gladde to receiue any treasure from our seruant why not precious admonitions It was the zeale of this Leuite that shut him out of Iebus We will not lodge in the City of strangers The Iebusites were strangers in religion not strangers enough in their habitation The Leuite wil not receiue common curtesie from those which were aliens frō God though home-borne in the hart of Israel It is lawfull enough in tearmes of ciuilitie to deale with Infidels the earth is the Lords and wee may enioy it in the right of the Owner while we protest against the wrong of the Vsurper yet the lesse communion with Gods enemies the more safety If there were another aire to breathe in from theirs another earth to tread vpon they should haue their owne Those that affect a familiar intirenesse with Iebusites in conuersation in leagues of amitie in matrimoniall contracts bewray either too much boldness or too little conscience Hee hath no bloud of an Israelite that delights to lodge in Iebus It was the fault of Israel that an heathenish towne stood yet in the nauell of the Tribes and that Iebus was no sooner turn'd to Ierusalem Their lenitie and neglect were guilty of this neighborhood that now no man can passe from Bethleē Iuda to mount Ephraim but by the Citie of Iebusites Seasonable iustice might preuent a thousand euills which afterwards know no remedy but patience The way was not long betwixt Iebus and Gibeah for the Sun was stooping when the Leuite was ouer against the first is but now declined whē he comes to the other How his hart was lightned when he was entred into an Israelitish Citie and can thinke of nothing but hospitalitie rest securitie There is no perfume so sweet to a Traueller as his own smoake Both expectation and feate doe commonly disappoint vs for seldome euer do wee inioy the good we looke for or smart with a feared euill The poore Leuite could haue found
this fire After all the ayring in the Desert Michaes mother will smell of Egypt It had been better the siluer had been stoln then thus bestowed for now they haue so imployed it that it hath stoln away their harts from GOD and yet while it is molten into an Image they thinke it dedicated to the Lord If Religion might be iudged according to the intention there should scarce be any idolatry in the world This woman loued her siluer enough and if shee had not thought this costly piety worth thanks shee knew which way to haue imploied her stocke to aduantage Euen euill actions haue oft-times good meanings and those good meanings are answered with euill recompences Many a one bestows their cost their labour their blood and receiues torment in steed of thanks Behold a superstitious son of a superstitious mother She makes a God and hee harbours it Yea as the streame is commonly broader then the head he exceedes his mother in euill He hath an house of Gods an Ephod Teraphin that he might be complete in his deuotion he makes his sonne his Priest and feoffes that sinne vpon his sonne which he receiued from his mother Those sinnes vvhich nature conuayes not to vs wee haue by imitation Euery action and gesture of the Parents is an example to the child and the mother as she is more tender ouer her sonne so by the power of a reciprocall loue she can worke most vpon his inclination Whence it is that in the history of the Israelitish Kings the mothers name is commonly noted and as ciuilly so also morally The birth followes the belly Those sonnes may blesse their second birth that are deliuered from the sinnes of their education Who cannot but thinke how far Micha ouer-lookt all his fellow Israelites and thought them profane and godlesse in comparison of himselfe How did hee secretly clap himselfe on the breast as the man whose happinesse it was to ingross religion from all the tribes of Israel and little can imagine that the further hee runs the more out of the way Can an Israelite be thus Paganish O Micha how hath superstition bewitched thee that thou canst not see rebellion in euery of these actions yea in euery circumstance rebellion What more Gods then one An house of Gods beside Gods house An Image of siluer to the inuisible GOD An Ephod and no Priest A Priest besides the family of Leui A Priest of thine owne begetting of thine own consecration What monsters dooth mans imagination produce when it is forsaken of God It is wel seen there is no King in Israell If God had been their King his lawes had ruled them If Moses or Ioshua had been their King their sword had awed them If any other the courses of Israel could not haue been so headlesse We are beholden to Gouernment for order for peace for religion Where there is no King euery one will bee a King yea a God to himselfe VVee are worthy of nothing but confusion if we blesse not GOD for authoritie It is no maruell if Leuites wandred for maintenance whiles there was no King in Israel The tithes and offerings were their due if these had been paid none of the holy Tribe needed to shift his station Euen vvhere royall power seconds the claime of the Leuite the iniustice of men shortens his right What should becom of the Leuites if there were no King And what of the Church if no Leuites No King therefore no Church How could the impotent childe liue without a Nurse Kings shall be thy nursing fathers and Queens thy nurses saith God Nothing more argues the disorder of any Church or the decay of religion then the forced stragling of the Leuites There is hope of growth when Micha rides to seek a Leuite but vvhen the Leuite comes to seek a seruice of Micha it is a signe of gasping deuotion Micha was no obscure man all Mount Ephraim could not but take notice of his domesticall Gods This Leuite could not but heare of his disposition of his mis-deuotion yet vvant of maintenance no lesse then conscience drawes him on to the danger of an idolatrous patronage Holiness is not tyed to any profession Happie were it for the Church if the Clergy could be a priuiledge from leudnesse When need meets with vnconscionableness all conditions are easily swallowed of vnlawfull entrances of wicked executions Ten shekels and a sute of apparell and his diet are good wages for a needy Leuite Hee that could bestow eleuen hundred shekels vpon his puppets can afford butten to his Priest so hath hee at once a rich Idoll and a beggerlie Priest Whosoeuer affects to serue God good cheape showes that hee makes GOD but a stale to Mammon Yet was Micha a kinde Patron tho not liberall Hee calls the young Leuite his father and vses him as his sonne what he wants in means supplies in affection It were happy if Christians could imitate the loue of Idolaters towards them which serue at the Altar Micha made a shift vvith the Priesthood of his owne sonne yet that his heart checks him in it appeares both by the change his contentment in the change Now I knowe that the Lord will be good to mee seeing I haue a Leuite to my Priest Therefore whiles his Priest was no Leuite hee sees there was cause why GOD should not bee good to him If the Leuite had not comne to offer his seruice Michaes sonne had been a lawfull Priest Many times the conscience runnes away smoothly with an vnwarrantable action and rests it selfe vpon those grounds which afterward it sees cause to condemne It is a sure way therfore to informe our selues throughly ere we settle our choice that wee be not driuen to reuerse our acts with late shame and vnprofitable repentance Now did Micha beginne to see some little glimpse of his own error He saw his Priesthood faultie he saw not the faults of his Ephod of his Images of his Gods yet as if he thought all had been well when hee had amended one hee sayes Now I know the Lord will be good to mee The carnall hart pleases it selfe with an outward formalitie and so delights to flatter it selfe as that it thinks if one circumstance be right nothing can be amisse Israel was at this time extremely corrupted yet the spyes of the Danites had taken notice euen of this young Leuite and are glad to make vse of his Priesthood If they had but gone vp to Shilo they might haue consulted with the Arke of God but worldly minds are not curious in their holy seruices If they haue a God an Ephod a Priest it suffices them They had rather inioy a false worship with ease then to take paines for the true Those that are curious in their diet in their purchases in their attire in their contracts yet in Gods businesses are very indifferent The author of lyes sometimes speakes truth for an aduantage from his mouth this flattering Leuite speakes
what he knew would please not what hee knew would fall out The euent answers his prediction and now the spyes magnifie him to their fellowes Michaes Idol is a God and the Leuite is his Oracle In matter of iudgement to be guided onely by the euent is the way to error Falshood shall be truth and Satan an Angell of light if we follow this rule Euen very coniectures somtimes happen right A Prophet or Dreamer may giue a true signe or wonder and yet himselfe say Let vs goe after other Gods A small thing can winne credite with weake mindes which where they haue once sped cannot distrust The idolatrous Danites are so besotted with this success that they wil rather steale thē want the gods of Micha and because the Gods without the Priest can doe them lesse seruice then the Priest without the Gods therfore they steale the Priest with the gods O miserable Israelites that could think that a God which could be stoln that could looke for protection from that which could not keep it selfe from stealing which was won by their theft not their deuotion Could they worship those Idols more deuoutly then Micha that made them And if they could not protect their maker from robbery how shall they protect their theeues If it had been the holie Arke of the true God how could they thinke it would blesse their violence or that it wold abide to be translated by rapine and extortion Now their superstition hath made them mad vpon a God they must haue him by what meanes they care not tho they offend the true God by stealing a false Sacriledge is fit to be the first seruice of an Idol The spyes of Dan had bin curteously intertained by Micha thus they reward his hospitalitie It is no trusting the honestie of Idolaters if they haue once cast off the true God whom will they respect It seemes Leuites did not more vvant maintenance then Israel wanted Leuites Heere was a tribe of Israel without a spirituall guide The with-drawing of due meanes is the way to the vtter desolation of the Church Rare offerings make cold Altars There needed small force to draw this Leuite to change his charge Hold thy peace and come be our father Priest Whether is it better c. Heere is not patience but ioy Hee that was won with tenne shekels may be lost with eleuen When maintenance and honour calls him he goes vndriuen and rather steales himselfe away then is stoln The Leuite had too many Gods to make conscience of pleasing one There is nothing more in cōstant then a Leuite that seekes nothing but himselfe Thus the wilde fire of Idolatrie which lay before couched in the priuate ball of Micha now flies furiously through all the Tribe of Dan who like to Theeues that haue caried away plaguie clothes haue insensibly infected thēselues and their posteritie to death Heresie and superstition haue small beginnings dangerous proceedings pernicious cōclusions This contagion is like a canker which at the first is scarce visible afterward it eates away the flesh and consumes the body Contemplations THE ELEVENTH BOOKE Contayning The Leuites Concubine The Desolation of Beniamin Naomi and Ruth Boaz and Ruth Anna and Peninna Anna and Eli. Eli and his sonnes TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE Sir Fulke Greuille Knight Chancelour of the Exchequer one of his Maiesties most Honourable Priuie Counsailours A most wise learned iudicious ingenuous Censor of Schollership a worthy example of Benefactors to Learning I. H. With his vnfained prayers for the happie successe of all his honourable designements humbly Dedicates this meane peece of his studies CONTEMPLATIONS THE LEVITES Concubine THere is no complaint of a publiquelie disordered State where a Leuite is not at one end of it either as an agent or a patient In the Idolatry of Micha and the Danites a Leuite was an actor In the violent vncleaneness of Gibeah a Leuite suffers No Tribe shal sooner feele the want of gouernment then that of Leui. The law of God allow'd the Leuite a wife humane conniuence a concubine neither did the Iewish concubine differ from a wife but in some outward complements Both might challenge all the true essence of marriage so little vvas the difference that the father of the concubine is called the father in law to the Leuite She whom ill custome had of a wife made a concubine is now by her lust of a concubine made an harlot Her fornication together with the change of her bedde hath changed her abode Perhaps her owne conscience thrust her out of doores perhaps the iust seueritie of her husband Dismission was too easie a penalty for that which GOD had sentenced with death Shee that had deseru'd to bee abhorred of her husband seekes shelter from her father Why would her father suffer his house to be defiled with an adulteresse tho out of his own loynes VVhy did hee not rather say VVhat Doost thou looke to finde my house an harbour for thy sinne Whiles thou wert a wife to thine husband thou wert a daughter to me Now thou art neither Thou art not mine I gaue thee to thy husband Thou art not thy husbands thou hast betrayed his bed Thy filthiness hath made thee thine owne and thine adulterers Goe seeke thine entertainement where thou hast lost thine honestie Thy lewdness hath brought a necessity of shame vpon thine abettors How can I countenance thy person and abandon thy sin I had rather be a iust man then a kinde father Get thee home therfore to thy husband craue his forgiueness vpon thy knees redeem his loue with thy modestie and obedience when his heart is once open to thee my doores shall not be shut In the meane time know I can be no father to an harlot Indulgence of Parents is the refuge of vanitie the bande of wickedness the bane of children How easily is that Theefe induced to steale that knowes his Receiuer When the lawlesnesse of youth knovves vvhere to finde pittie toleration vvhat mischiefe can it forbeare By how much better this Leuite was so much more iniurious was the concubines sinne What husband would not haue said She is gone let shame and griefe goe with her I shall finde one no less pleasing and more faithfull Or if it be not too much mercy in me to yeeld to a returne let her that hath offended seeke mee VVhat more direct way is there to a resolued loosenesse then to let her see I cannot want her The good nature of this Leuite casts off all these tearms and now after 4 moneths absence sends him to seek for her that had runne away from her fidelitie And now he thinks She sind against me perhaps shee hath repented Perhaps shame and feare haue with-held her from returning Perhaps shee will be more loyall for her sinne If her importunitie should winne me halfe the thanks were lost but now my voluntarie offer of fauour shall oblige her for euer Loue procures truer seruitude then necessitie Mereie
euer one of these vnequall matches prosper The two sonnes of Elimelech are swept away childlesse in the prime of their age and in steed of their seed they leaue their carcasses in Moab their wiues widdowes their mother childlesse and helplesse amongst Infidels in that age which most needed comfort How miserable doe we now finde poore Naomi which is left destitute of her country her husband her children her friends and turned loose and solitarie to the mercie of the world Yet euen out of these hopelesse ruines will God raise comfort to his seruant The first good newes is that God hath visited his people with bread now therefore since her husband and sonnes were vnrecouerable she will try to recouer her country and kinred If wee can haue the same conditions in Iudah that we haue in Moab we are no Israelites if wee returne not Whiles her husband and sonnes liued I heare no motion of retiring home now these her earthly stayes are remoued shee thinks presently of remouing to her country Neither can we so hartily thinke of our home aboue whiles wee are furnished with these worldly contentments when God strips vs of them straight-waies our mind is homeward She that came from Bethleem vnder the protection of an husband attended with her sonnes stored with substance resolues now to measure all that way alone Her aduersitie had stript her of all but a good heart that remaines with her and beares vp her head in the deepest of her extremitie True Christian fortitude wades through all euills and tho we be vp to the chin yet keepes firme footing against the streame where this is the sexe is not discerned neither is the quantitie of the euill read in the face How well doth this courage become Israelites when wee are left comfortlesse in the midst of the Moab of this world to resolue the contempt of all dangers in the way to our home As contrarily nothing doth more misbeseeme a Christian then that his spirits should flagge with his estate and that any difficultie should make him dispaire of attayning his best ends Goodnes is of a winning quality wheresoeuer it is and euen amongst Infidels will make it selfe friends The good disposition of Naomi carries away the hearts of her daughters in law with her so as they are ready to forsake their kinred their countrey yea their owne mother for a stranger whose affinity died with her sons Those men are worse then Infidels and next to Diuels that hate the vertues of Gods Saints and could loue their persons well if they were not conscionable How earnestly doe these two daughters of Moab plead for their continuance with Naomi and how hardly is either of them disswaded from partaking of the miserie of her society there are good natures euen among Infidels and such as for morall disposition and ciuill respects cannot be exceeded by the best professors Who can suffer his heart to rest in those qualities which are common to them that are without God Naomi could not be so insensible of her owne good as not to know how much comfort shee might reape to the so litarinesse both of her voyage and her widdowhood by the society of these two yonger widdowes whose affections she had so well tried even very partnership is a mitigation of euils yet so earnestly doth she disswade from accompanying her as that she could not haue said more if she had thought their presence irkesome and burdenous Good dispositions loue not to pleasure themselues with the disaduantage of others and had rather be miserable alone then to draw in partners to their sorrow for the sight of anothers calamity doth rather double their owne and if themselues were free would affect them with compassion As contrarilie ill mindes care not how many companions they haue in miserie nor how few consorts in good If themselues mis-carry they could be content all the world were enwrapped with them in the same distresse I maruell not that Orpah is by this seasonable importunity perswaded to returne from a mother in law to a mother in nature from a toylesome iourney to rest from strangers to her kinred from an hopelesse condition to likelihoods of contentment A little intreaty will serue to mooue nature to be good vnto it selfe Euery one is rather a Naomi to his owne soule to perswade it to stay still and inioy the delights of Moab rather then to hazard our entertainment in Bethleem Will religion allow me this wilde libertie of my actions this loose mirth these carnal pleasures Can I be a Christian and not liue sullenly None but a regenerate heart can choose rather to suffer aduersity with Gods people then to inioy the pleasures of sin for a season The one sister takes an vnwilling farwell and moistens her last kisses with many teares the other cannot be driuen back but repells one intreatie with another Intreat me not to leaue thee for whither thou goest I will go where thou dwellest I will dwell thy people shall be my people thy God my God where thou diest I will die and there will I be buried Ruth saw so much vpon ten yeares tryall in Naomi as was more worth then all Moab and in comparison whereof all worldly respects deserued nothing but contempt The next degree vnto goodnesse is the loue of goodnesse He is in a faire way to grace that can value it If she had not been already a proselite she could not haue set this price vpon Naomies vertue Loue cannot be seperated from a desire of fruition In vaine had Ruth protested her affection to Naomi if she could haue turned her out to her iourney alone Loue to the saints doth not more argue our interest in God then societie argues the truth of our loue As some tight vessell that holds out against winde and water so did Ruth against all the powers of a mothers perswasions The impossibilitie of the comfort of marriage in following her which drew backe her sister in law cannot moue her She heares her mother like a modest matrone contrary to the fashion of these times say I am too old to haue an husband and yet she thinkes not on the contrary I am too young to want an husband It should seeme the Moabites had learned this fashion of Israel to expect the brothers raising of seed to the deceased The widdowhood and age of Naomi cuts off that hope neither could Ruth then dreame of a Boaz that might aduance her It is no loue that cannot make vs willing to be miserable for those we affect The hollowest heart can be content to follow one that prospereth Aduersity is the onely furnace of friendship If loue vvill not abide both fire and anuile it is but counterfeit so in our loue to God vve doe but crack and vaunt in vaine if we cannot be willing to suffer for him But if any motiue might hope to speed that which was drawne from example was most likely Behold thy sister in law is gone backe
a lap-full of parched corne a draught of the seruants bottles a loose sheafe was such a fauour to Ruth as she thought was aboue all recompence This was not seene in the estate of Boaz which yet makes her for the time happy If we may refresh the soule of the poore with the very offalls of our estate and not hurt our selues woe be to vs if we doe it not Our barnes shall bee as full of curses as of corne if we grudge the scattered eares of our field to the hands of the needie How thankfully doth Ruth take these small fauours from Boaz perhaps some rich Iewell in Moab would not haue been so welcome Euen this was a presage of her better estate those which shall receiue great blessings are euer thankfull for little and if poore soules be so thankfull to vs for but an handfull or a sheafe how should we be affected to our God for whose fieldsfull for full barnes full garners Doubtlesse Boaz hauing taken notice of the good nature dutifull cariage and the neere affinitie of Ruth could not but purpose some greater beneficence and higher respects to her Yet now onwards he fits his kindnes to her condition and giues her that which to her meanenesse seemed much tho he thought it little Thus doth the bountie of our God deale with vs It is not for want of loue that he giues vs no greater measure of grace but for want of our fitnesse and capacitie Hee hath reserued greater preferments for vs when it shall bee seasonable for vs to receiue them Ruth returnes home wealthy with her Ephah of barley and thankfully magnifies the liberalitie of Boaz her new benefactor Naomi repayes his beneficence with her blessing Blessed be he of the Lord. If the rich can exchange their almes with the poore for blessings they haue no cause to complaine of an ill bargaine Our gifts cannot be worth their faithfull prayers Therefore it is better to giue then to receiue because he that receiues hath but a worthlesse almes hee that giues receiues an vnualuable blessing I cannot but admire the modestie and silence of these two women Naomi had not so much as talked of her kinred in Bethleem nor till now had shee told Ruth that she had a wealthy kinsman neither had Ruth inquired of her husbands great alliance but both sate downe meekly with their owne wants and cared not to know any thing else saue that themselues were poore Humilitie is euer the way to honor It is a discurtesie where we are beholden to alter our dependencie Like as men of trade take it ill if customers which are in their bookes goe for their wares to another shop Wisely doth Naomi aduise Ruth not to bee seene in any other field whiles the haruest lasted The very taking of their fauours is a contentment to those that haue already well deserued and it is quarrell enough that their curtesie is not receiued How shall the God of heauen take it that whiles he giues and proffers largely wee runne to the world that can afford vs nothing but vanitie and vexation Those that can least act are oft-times the best to aduise Good old Naomi sits still at home and by her counsell payes Ruth all the loue shee owes her The face of that action to which shee directs her is the worst peece of it the heart was sound Perhaps the assurance which long tryall had giuen her of the good gouernment and firme chastitie of her daughter in law together with her perswasion of the religious grauitie of Boaz made her thinke that designe safe which to others had been perilous if not desperate But besides that holding Boaz next of blood to Elimelech shee made account of him as the lawfull husband of Ruth so as there wanted nothing but a challenge and consummation Nothing was abated but some outward solemnities which tho expedient for the satisfaction of others yet were not essentiall to marriage And if there were not these colours for a proiect so suspicious it would not follow that the action were warrantable because Naomies Why should her example be more safe in this then in matching her sonues with Insidels then in sending backe Orpah to her fathers Gods If euery act of an holy person should bee our rule wee should haue crooked liues Euery action that is reported is not straight-waies allowed Our courses were very vncertaine if God had not giuen vs rules whereby wee may examine the examples of the best Saints and as well censure as follow them Let them that stumble at the boldnes of Ruth imitate the continence of Boaz. These times were not delicate This man though great in Bethleem laies him downe to rest vpon a pallet in the floore of his barne when hee awakes at midnight no maruell if he were amazed to finde himselfe accompanied yet though his heart were cheared with wine the place solitarie the night silent the person comely the inuitation plausible could hee be drawne to a rash act of lust His appetite could not get the victorie of reason tho it had wine and oportunitie to helpe it Herein Boaz showd himselfe a great master of his affections that hee was able to resist a fit tentation It is no thanke to many that they are free of some euills perhaps they wanted not will but conuenience But if a man when hee is fitted with all helps to his sin can repell the pleasure of sin out of conscience this is true fortitude In steed of touching her as a wanton he blesses her as a father incourageth her as a friend promiseth her as a kinsman rewards her as a patron sends hir away lade with hopes gifts no lesse chaste more happy then shee came Oh admirable temperance worthy the progenitor of him in whose lips and heart was no guile If Boaz had been the next kinsman the marriage had needed no protraction but now that his conscience told him that Ruth was the right of another it had not been more sensualitie then iniustice to haue touched his kinswoman It was not any bodily impotencie but honestie and conscience that restrained Boaz for the very next night shee conceiued by him that good man wished his mariage bed holy and durst not lye downe in the doubt of a sinne Many a man is honest out of necessitie and affects the praise of that which hee could not auoide but that mans minde is still an adulterer in the forced continence of his bodie No action can giue vs true comfort but that which we do out of the grounds of obedience Those which are fearefull of sinning are carefull not to bee thought to sin Boaz though he knew himselfe to be cleare would not haue occasion of suspicion giuen to others Let no man know that a woman came into the floore A good heart is no lesse afraide of a scandall then of a sin whereas those that are resolued not to make any scruple of sin despise others constructions not caring whom they
haue the more children but barren Annah hath the most loue How much rather could Elkanah haue wished Peninnah barren and Annah fruitfull but if she should haue had both issue and loue she had been proud and her riuall despised God knowes how to disperse his fauours so that euery one may haue cause both of thankfulnesse and humiliation whiles there is no one that hath all no one but hath some If enuie and contempt were not thus equally tempered some would be ouer hauty and others too miserable But now euery man sees that in himselfe which is worthy of contempt and matter of emulation in others and contrarily sees what to pittie and dislike in the most eminent and what to applaud in himselfe and out of this contrarietie arises a sweete meane of contentation The loue of Elkanah is so vnable to free Anna from the wrongs of her riuall that it procures them rather The vnfruitfulnesse of Anna had neuer with so much despight beene laid in her dish if her husbands heart had been as barren of loue to her Enuie though it take aduantage of our weakenesses yet is euer raised vpon some grounds of happines in them whom it emulates It is euer an ill effect of a good cause If Abels sacrifice had not beene accepted and if the acceptation of his sacrifice had not beene a blessing no enuie had followed vpon it There is no euill of another wherein it is fit to reioyce but his Enuie and this is worthy of our ioy and thankfulnesse because it showes vs the price of that good which wee had and valued not The malignitie of enuie is thus well answered when it is made the euill cause of a good effect to vs when God and our soules may gaine by anothers sinne I do now finde that Anna insulted vpon Peninnah for the greater measure of her husbands loue as Peninna did vpon her for her fruitfulnesse Those that are truely gracious know how to receiue the blessings of God without contempt of them that want and haue learned to bee thankefull without ouerlinesse Enuie when it is once conceiued in a malicious heart is like fire in billers of Iuniper which they say continues more yeares then one Euery yeare was Anna thus vexed with her emulous partner and troubled both in her praiers and meales Amidst all their feastings shee fed on nothing but her teares Some dispositions are lesse sensible and more carelesse of the dispight and â—â—â—ties of others and can turne ouer vnkinde vsages with contempt By how much more tender the heart is so much more deeply is it euer affected with discurtesies As waxe receiues and retaines that impression which in the hard clay cannot be seen or as the eie feeles that mote which the skin of the eie-lid could not complain of Yet the husband of Anna as one that knew his dutie labours by his loue to comfort her against these discontentments Why weepest thou Am not I better to thee then ten sonnes It is the weaknesse of good natures to giue so much aduantage to an enemie what would malice rather haue then the vexation of them whom it persecutes Wee cannot better please an aduersarie then by hurting our selues This is no other then to humor enuie to serue the turne of those that maligne vs and to draw on that malice whereof we are weary whereas carelesnesse puts ill will out of countenance and makes it withdraw it selfe in a rage as that which doth but shame the author without the hurt of the patient In causelesse wrongs the best remedie is contempt She that could not finde comfort in the louing perswasions of her husband seeks it in her prayers She rises vp hungry from the feast and hyes her to the Temple there shee powres out her teares and supplications Whatsoeuer the complaint be here is the remedie There is one vniuersall receit for all euills prayer When all helps faile vs this remaines and whiles wee haue an heart comforts it Here was not more bitternesse in the soule of Anna then feruencie shee did not onely weep and pray but vow vnto God If God will giue her a sonne she will giue her sonne to God backe againe Euen nature it selfe had consecrated her son to God for he could not but be borne a Leuite But if his birth make him a Leuite her vow shal make him a Nazarite dedicate his minoritie to the Tabernacle The way to obtaine any benefit is to deuote it in our hearts to the glory of that God of whom wee aske it by this meanes shall God both pleasure his seruant and honour himselfe Whereas if the scope of our desires be carnall wee may be sure either to faile of our suite or of a blessing Ely and Anna. OLd Ely sits on a stoole by one of the posts of the Tabernacle where should the Priests of God be but in the Temple whether for action or for ouer-sight Their very presence keeps Gods house in order and the presence of God keeps their hearts in order It is oft found that those which are themselues conscionable are too forward to the censuring of others Good Ely because hee markes the lips of Annah to moue without noyse chides her as drunken and vncharitably misconstrues her deuotion It was a weake ground whereon to build so heauie a sentence If she had spoken too loude and incomposedly hee might haue had some iust colour for this conceit but now to accuse her silence notwithstanding all the teares which he saw of drunkennesse it was a zealous breach of charitie Some spirit would haue been enraged with so rash a censure when anger meets with griefe both turne into furieâ— but this good woman had been inured to reproches and besides did well see the reproofe arose from mesprison and the mesprison from zeale and therefore answers meekly as one that had rather satisfie then expostulate Nay my Lord but I am a woman troubled in spirit Hely may now learne charitie of Annah If she had been in that distemper whereof he accused her his iust reproofe had not been so easily digested Guiltinesse is commonly clamorous and impatient wheras innocence is silent and carelesse of misreports It is naturall vnto all men to wipe off from their name all aspersions of euill but none doe it with such violence as they which are faultie It is a signe the horse is galled that stirs too much when he is touched Shee that was censured for drunken censures drunkennesse more deeply then her reprouer Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial The drunkards stile begins in lawlesuesse proceeds in vnprofitablenesse ends in miserie and all shut vp in the denomination of this pedegree A sonne of Belial If Hannah had been tainted with this sinne she would haue denied it with more fauour and haue disclaimed it with an extenuation What if I should haue been merrie with wine yet I might bee deuout If I should haue ouer-ioyed in my sacrifice to God one cup of
vehement rebuke to a capitall euill is but like a strong shower to a ripe fielde which laies that corne which were worthy of a sickle It is a breach of iustice not to proportionate the punishment to the offence To whip a man for a murder or to punish the purse for incest or to burne treason in the hand or to award the stocks to burglairy is to patronize euill in steed of auenging it Of the two extremes rigor is more safe for the publique weale because the ouer-punishing of one offender frights many from sinning It is better to liue in a common-welth where nothing is lawfull then where euery thing Indulgent Parents are cruell to themselues and their posteritie Ely could not haue deuised which way to haue plagued himselfe and his house so much as by his kindnesse to his childrens sinnes what variety of iudgements doth he now heare of from the messenger of God First because his old age which vses to be subiect to choler inclined now to misfauor his sonnes therefore there shall not be an old man left of his house for euer and because it vexed him not enough to see his sonnes enemies to God in their profession therefore he shall see his enemie in the habitation of the Lord and because himselfe forbore to take vengeance of his sons and esteemed their life aboue the glory of his Master therefore God will reuenge himselfe by killing them both in one day and because he abused his soueraigntie by conniuence at sinne therefore shall his house be stripped of this honor and see it translated to another and lastly because he suffered his sonnes to please their owne wanton appetite in taking meat off from Gods trencher therfore those which remaine of his house shall come to his successors to beg a piece of siluer and a morsell of bread in a word because hee was partiall to his sonnes God shall execute all this seuerely vpon him and them I doe not read of any fault Ely had but indulgence and which of the notorious offenders were plagued more Parents need no other meanes to make them miserable then sparing the rod. Who should be the bearer of these fearefull tidings to Ely but yong Samuel whom himselfe had trained vp He was now growne past his mothers cotes fit for the message of God Old Ely rebuked not his yong sonnes therefore yong Samuel is sent to rebuke him I maruell not whiles the Priesthood was so corrupted if the word of God were precious if there were no publike vision It is not the manner of God to grace the vnworthy The ordinarie ministration in the Temple was too much honor for those that robbed the Altar though they had no extraordinarie reuelations Hereupon it was that God lets old Hely sleep who slept in his sinne and awakes Samuel to tell him what hee would do with his master Hee which was wont to be the mouth of God to the people must now receiue the message of God from the mouth of another As great persons will not speake to those with whom they are highly offended but send them their checks by others The lights of the Temple were now dim and almost ready to giue place to the morning when God called Samuel to signifie perhaps that those which should haue been the lights of Israel burned no lesse dimly and were neere their going out and should be succeeded with one so much more lightsome then they as the Sunne was more bright then the lampes God had good leasure to haue deliuered this message by day but hee meant to make vse of Samuels mistaking and therfore so speaks that Ely may bee asked for an answer and perceiue himselfe both omitted and censured He that meant to vse Samuels voice to Ely imitates the voice of Ely to Samuel Samuel had so accustomed himselfe to obedience and to answer the call of Ely that lying in the further cells of the Leuites hee is easily raised from his sleep and euen in the night runs for his message to him who was rather to receiue it from him Thrice is the old man disquieted with the diligence of his seruant and tho visions were rare in his daies yet is hee not so vnacquainted with God as not to attribute that voyce to him which himselfe heard not Wherefore like a better Tutor then a Parent he teaches Samuel what hee shall answer Speake Lord for thy seruant heareth It might haue pleased God at the first call to haue deliuered his message to Samuel not expecting the answer of a nouice vnseene in the visions of a God yet doth he rather defer it till the fourth summons and will not speake till Samuel confessed his audience God loues euer to prepare his seruants for his imployments and will not commit his errands but to those whom he hath addressed both by wonder and attention and humilitie Ely knew well the gracious fashion of God that where hee intended a fauour prorogation could be no hinderance and therefore after the call of God thrice answered with silence he instructs Samuel to be ready for the fourth If Samuels silence had been wilfull I doubt whether he had been againe solicited now God doth both pittie his error and requite his diligence by redoubling his name at the last Samuel had now many yeeres ministred before the Lord but neuer till now heard his voice and now heares it with much terror for the first word that he heares God speake is threatning and that of vengeance to his master What were these menaces but so many premonitions to himselfe that should succeed Ely God begins early to season their harts with feare whom he means to make eminent instruments of his glory It is his mercie to make vs witnesses of the iudgments of others that wee may be forewarned ere we haue the occasions of sinning I do not heare God bid Samuel deliuer this message to Ely Hee that was but now made a Prophet knowes that the errands of God intend not silence and that God would not haue spoken to him of another if he had meant the newes should be reserued to himselfe Neither yet did he run with open mouth vnto Ely to tell him this vision vnasked No wise man will be hastie to bring ill tidings to the great rather doth hee stay till the importunitie of his Master should wring it from his vnwillingnesse and then as his concealement showd his loue so his full relation shall approue his fidelitie If the heart of Ely had not told him this newes before God told it Samuel hee had neuer been so instant with Samuel not to conceale it His conscience did well presage that it concerned himselfe Guiltinesse needs no Prophet to assure it of punishment The minde that is troubled proiecteth terrible things and though it cannot single out the iudgment allotted to it yet it is in a confused expectation of some grieuous euill Surely Ely could not thinke it worse then it was The sentence was fearefull and such