Selected quad for the lemma: kingdom_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
kingdom_n	david_n	king_n	tribe_n	2,061	5	9.5458	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A86660	The happiness of a people in the wisdome of their rulers directing and in the obedience of their brethren attending unto what Israel ougho [sic] to do recommended in a sermon before the Honourable Governour and Council, and the respected Deputies of Mattachusets [sic] colony in New-England. : Preached at Boston, May 3d, 1676, being the day of election there. / By William Hubbard ...	Hubbard, William, 1621 or 2-1704.	1676 (1676)	Wing H3209; ESTC W12661	72,888	77

given leave The Lord fill you all with the Spirit of Wisdome and Counsell and make you as the men of his right hand whome he hath made strong for himself and grant you may be found like David who being chosen to be the Shepard of Gods Israel fed them according to the integrity of his heart and guided them by the skilfulness of his hand which is the Prayer of Your humble Servant W. H. SOme Faults have escaped in the Press which the Reader is desired to correct by reading In p. 4. l. 28. head for Decades l. 29. Decades for heads p. 5. l. 19. best for bear p. 7. l. 30. several for general p 9. l. 6. read residence p 17. l. 23. immersed for emersed p. 18. l. 16. badges for bodyes p. 19. l. 9 20. l. 36. Apologue for Apologus p 27. l. 25. leave out here p. 22. l. 23. our worst for or worse l 21. vigor for rigor l. 23. peccatur for peccat p 33. l. 13 Isacks for Israels p. 37. l. 26. fifth for first p. 39. l. 14. for hast hate p. 40. l. 13 tardus for territus p. 43. l. 27. booty for body p. 45. l. 18. rights for rites l. 32 wars for way The like errors in spelling or pointing may be helped by them that read as where each is printed for such p. 56. l. 36. 1 Chron. 12.32 Of the Children of Issachar which were men that had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do the heads of them were two hundred and all their Brethren were at their Commandment IF ever those words of Wisdome Proverbs 8.15 By me Kings Reign and Princes decree Justice were true of any of the Kings and Princes of the Earth they were true of David who in his publick as well as private capacity approved himself a Man after Gods own heart leaving an unimitable patern to the Kings of all succeeding ages both of piety in obeying God and of wisdome and justice in ruling over men as if the Book wherein Samuel wrote the manner of the Kingdome had been perfectly transcribed in his life and Government It was not undeservedly therefore that after so large an edition of the whole Hystory of the Acts and Reign of David in the two first Books of the Kings such a considerable addition should be made to that part of the Hystory which concerned his entrance upon his Kingdome in this twelfth Chapter of the first book of the Chronicles where we have the triumphant manner thereof at large described being attended therein with a great Host as it is called ver 22. like the Host of God from which verse to the end of this Chapter it is very remarkable how the Penman of this sacred Chronicle like some Divine Herauld is Marshalling the respective bands of the said Host under the particular Banners of their several Tribes assigning unto each some distinct Character as a special badg of honour according as they best deserved either for the skilfulness of their Captains and Leaders the number and valour of their followers willingness or readiness in both to promote the design in hand which was the turning the Kingdome of Saul unto David Amongst the rest of the Tribes as they are here ranked in this Chapter special notice is taken of the Tribe of Issachar of which Tribe although no great matter had been foretold in the Prophetical Benediction either of Jacob or Moses yet is there here in the Text a very signal testimony given both to their piety and prudence to their unity and magnanimity any of which cannot be conceived but to tend more then a little to the successful carrying on that great affair which now they had in hand so as at that time what Solomon saith of his vertuous Woman Prov. 31.29 might very fitly have been said of the Tribe of Issachar many daughters have done virtuously but thou excellest them all In the words of the Text there are four things very obvious to the view of the observant Reader 1. The Distribution of the whole Tribe into its integral parts or constituent Members as to their political order viz. the Heads and the Brethren of which two united together consisted the body of the Tribe as is here implyed 2. The qualification of each part fitly disposing them to a regular performance of the duty incumbent on either for the good of the whole 1. Wisdome in those that were the Heads described both by its specification understanding of the times 2. By its application to know what Israel ought to do 2. Willingness in the Brethren to attend the advice and counsel of their Leaders they were at their Commandment 3. The regular and orderly proceeding of each part the which is necessarily implyed in the words that when the heads of the Tribe had counselled and determined what was needful to be done the Brethren were ready to put their resolves in Execution It was not in Issachar as Anacharsis the Philosopher sometimes complained of the tumultuous proceedings in the popular Common-wealth at Athens that wise and grave men deliberated on things but fools and mad men resolved thereof but at this time in Issachar the body of the people were ready to put in execution what those who had understanding in the times judged needful to be done 4. The entire unity of the Tribe amongst themselves declaring the unanimous consent of the whole in that it is said all their Brethren were at their Commandment sc at the Commandment of the two hundred which were the Heads which doth justly advance the gallantry of the Action of the tribe of Issachar in this affair above that of any of the rest of the Tribes by the same proportion by which our Saviour preferred the bounty of the poor Widow above all the rest of the Contributers for as she put into the Treasury all which she had so doth this Tribe send all their whole Stock to increase the Host of David which if they were not so many thousands as some of the other Tribes might send yet seeing there were none that staid behind it was for want of number but not of good-will if they did not equal or exceed the rest of the tribes I shall only paraphrase a little upon the words to give the sense and meaning of them before I commend any thing from thence to our present consideration Of the Children of Issachar these were the descendants of the fifth Son of Jacob by his Wife Leah whose Lot as it seems to have fallen in one of the richest and most fruitful soiles of the whole Land of Canaan so was it more likely as was foretold in Jacobs blessing to dispose the Inhabitants by reason of the robustickness of their body an ordinary effect of the fertility of of any soyle to couch down under a double burden of tribute then by any valour of their minds to shake off the servile yoke It may then not unseasonably here be demanded how it should come

head for the benefit and advantage of the whole body Very fitly therefore in the body politick are the rulers by way of allusion called Heads And in case of inability to discharge those functions such societies may not undeservedly be compared to the Palmists Idols that have eyes but see not and have ears but hear not Suppose the hands be never so strong for action or the feet never so swift for motion yet if there be not discretion in the head to discerne or judgement to determine what is meet to be done for the obviating of evil and danger or procuring of good it will be impossible to save such a body from ruine and destruction If the Mast be never so well strengthened and the Tackline never so well bound together yet if there wants a skilful Pilot to Steer and Guide especially in a rough and tempestuous Sea the lame will soon take the prey as it hapned a little before this time in the Reign of Saul when the Philistines had so often harressed that Country and placed their Garisons in the very heart of the Land and not long after when in the days of Rehoboam who had shields enough some of Gold with other weapons of War many thousand stalls of Horses with Horsemen proportionable to manage them yet for want of wisdome and understanding in the head of that rich and populous Kingdome how soon is it become a prey to the first assaylant as afterwards also in the dayes of Joash when there was but a small company of the Syrians that came against him a great Host was delivered into their hand and all through that ill conduct of the Head of that Kingdome But by the way here we are to mark according to the sence of the words already given under the wisdome of conduct or understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do is necessarily comprehended piety before God as well as prudence amongst men according to the received rule of Scripture Language and Phrase where as Divines use to say verba sensus denotant affectum cordis therefore understanding to know Israels duty requires a great deal of divine skill and spiritual wisdome attained by Faith in Gods promises diligent reading of the precepts of his Law fervent and frequent prayer for divine assistance by which means David became wiser then his Teachers yea was accounted wise as the Angel of God to discerne good and bad and to know all things that were in the earth It was by a special Law required of God that the King in Israel should have a copy of the divine Law written out by his own hand say some of the Rabbines and kept by him that he might read therein all the dayes of his life Deut. 17 19.20 that from thence he might receive direction how to govern his Kingdome so that according to the excellent patern before us in the Text it is requisite that the Heads and leaders of Israel should be versed in Divine as well as in humane Law Therefore we find that when Solomon after he was advanced to be the chief Head and Leader of Israel when he had his Option granted him of God could not ask any thing so well pleasing to God and so needful to himself as wisdome or an understanding heart to judge the Israel of God and to discerne between good and bad As herein had David his Father before him approved himself as a meet Shepheard over the flock of God in feeding of them according to the integ●ity of his heart and guiding them by the skilfulness of his hands Psal 78. ult That is he guided them by his counsel and preserved them by his power in which two branches is contained the sum of a Rulers office And though in many cases the rule is very plain and easie and he that runs as is said may read what Israel ought to do yet things may be oft times so circumstanced in Israel that it is no easie matter to know what Israel ought to do many times the right way lieth in a very narrow the Channel may run between two dangerous precipices on either side so that a man who hath not great understanding Incidit in syllam volens vitare charybdin A Ruler may oft times run into one or more evils and it may be great ones too that intended only to avoid some lesser one yea sometimes he that resolves to keep the middle of the Channel yet for want of insight and experience not making allowance for emergent cases difficulties not easie to be foreseen may by the setting of the Current be shipwracked on the opposite Shoar Si tempora rerum status ita circumvolvantur ut administrandi ratio cum illis consentiens sit bona faeliciter omnia contingent at si tempora et res ipsae mutentur poribit qui in agendo rationem non mutat As said that great Italian Polititian A fitter Instance of which dangerous errour cannot be given then that of Josiah who yet was one of the best Rulers that ever headed the Kingdome of Judah for he to prevent a lesser inconvenience of having his own Kingdome that lay between the two great Kings of Assyria and Egypt made the seat and field of War denies liberty to the Egyptian to pass through his Kingdome and so opposing him in an hostile way is overcome and slain and his Kingdome spoiled by him it proving the most fatal Battel that ever was fought by any of the Kings of Judah and which made way to the final overthrow of the Kingdome and following Captivity of the People So great mischiefs oft times do attend the want of understanding to know what Israel ought to do Rehoboam also and his people did both strangely ruine themselves by a contrary extream in this kind in not understanding of the times to know what they ought to do to avoid the danger which either of them feared The King was afraid of being mated by his Subjects puts on a garb of greater Majesty then was usual in his countenance and words at that time when a condescending carriage with more mildness and gentleness had been more necessary and in all probability had saved both his Honour and his Kingdome on the otherside the people acted by the same fatal and precipitant counsels of rash and unadvised persons to avoid the heavy yoke of the house of David as they conceived advanced one of the Servants of their former Kings whose little finger proved indeed as the other proudly speaks heavier then the loyns of the two former Kings for the Kingdome was not able to stand long under the weight thereof but was soon crushed and ruined by the tyrany of the succeeding Kings of the ten Tribes The consideration of such dangerous consequences might obviate the heady and tumultuous humors of many who upon the least discontent against their Rulers for want of success or the like think of nothing less then of removing them out of the World or

out of the Government at least and substituting others in their room which if they should accomplish possibly might intangle them in the like or a worse mischief then that which they expected to be delivered from as many have found by sad experience Oft doth the remedy prove worse then the disease Infaeliciter agrotat eui plus mali venit a medico quàm a morbo As good to have no King in Israel as to anoint a Bramble over the rest of the Trees In the present exigent before us in the Text the case appeared difficult a good while There was Abner the Captain of the Host of Israel with the Son and Heir of the former King engaged on the one side David and a few of his Servants and followers on the other yet to those that had understanding of those times it doth at the last manifestly appear what Israel ought to do Saul had outed himself of the Kingdome by asking counsel of the Devil how to continue it in his family who were therefore justly rejected of God David was by a special mandate from God chosen to be King in his stead which Abner and the Captains of the Host can readily acknowledge when prejudice and self-interest is laid aside and Conscience but permitted to speak The Kingdome belonged unto David not only in regard of ability and fitness but also in point of right and title as being the person designed of God for them to choose yet is it something long before the people are willing to understand it Though wisdome be alwayes too high for a fool as Solomon speaks yet in the darkest times that ever befel the Israel of God they that will do the will of God may by inquiry study and prayer come to know what it is However it doth hereby appear of how great concernment it is for the Heads in Israel to know what Israel ought to do least otherwise they be drawn to do that which in Israel ought not to be done Gideon was a wise man that judged Israel with great approbation of God and man yet out of a superstitious conceit will needs make an Ephod which thing ought not to have been done in Israel what followed All Israel went a whoring after it and so it became a snare to himself in his family and to Israel also The body of a people are not much unlike the body of waters which are not apt to move of themselves if let alone in their own receptacle but as they receive an impression from a forreign Element or a power that is above them and things that are soft and flexible are susceptible of divers yea contrary impressions David by an insinuating and melting speech bowed the hearts of all the men of Israel as one man They that have such interest in them had need know what they ought to do seeing they may make them do almost what pleaseth themselves that are their Rulers for Absolom had bowed them as well as David though it were the wrong way All mens hearts are not in their own keeping wise men can easily find keys that will open the Cabinet and take away the Treasure for t is said Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel Thus in things of the greatest moment it is easie for Princes and Leaders and Heads of the Tribes to draw them that are their bones and their flesh as David speaks to be of their mind and to engage in their quarrel be it right or wrong Many Instances of the like kind may be given out of prophane as well as Sacred Hystory for the sea of examples of this nature is withous bottome whereby it will be found most evident that those who are the Heads and Leaders of any people may easily engage them in their own quarrels to their ruine and destruction as often as otherwise Thus did Jeroboam Ahab Jehu and others perswade the people of Israel after their own example to embrace the abominable idolatry of the Calves which brought inevitable and fatal ruine upon the whole Kingdome of the ten Tribes as well as upon their owne families Cato was wont to say of the people of Rome and it is as true of any other sort of people that they were like sheep in that it was easier to drive or lead a whole flock or multitude of them then any one single creature amongst them By all which Considerations it is manifest that things are no where like so succesfully to be carryed on as where they who are concerned in the leading of Church or state have such understanding of the times as to know what Israel ought to doe 3. The third thing considerable in this unparalleld pattern of civill polity is the unity of their Counsels That which in this juncture of affairs before us in the text was apprehended as most meet for Israel to doe is by the joynt advice and counsel of the heads of this tribe propounded and by the whole body of the people consented unto and approved such a rare pattern of unity is seldome found in our times Let a body politick be never so well proportioned as to its constitution and form of goverment never so well furnished with wise and able men for its conduct and guidance yet if the several members be not well tuned together by a spirit of love and unity there will never be any good harmony in their Administrations Where the whole multitude is not of one heart and of one mind as was said of them in the Acts. Chap 4.32 there will appear little beauty or strength and no success in any of their motions In the beautifull System● of the world which yet is compounded of sundry Elements and those of differing qualityes one from the other yet is there such a necessary and mutual connection between the parts that they are all so firmly knit one to another that it is altogether impossible to make any breach in their union rather will those several bodies forget the propertyes of their own nature then the●e shall be any Chasma or Vacuum amongst them which would tend to a dissolution of the whole Thus in the body politick where it is animated with one entire spirit of love and unity and setled upon lasting and sure foundations of quietness and peace all the several members must and will conspire together to deny or forbear the exercise of their own proper inclinations to preserve the union of the whole that there be no Schisme in the body as the Apostle speaks Therefore where the higher bodyes in Church or state cannot descend and that of their own voluntary inclination without forcible compulsion and the lower and grosser ones cannot ascend up to meet the other any man may easily read the destiny of such a society It had been much better for Rehoboam to have denyed himself and become the servant of his people and subjects for that one day rather then to have made them his enemies if not his lords for