with the balme of comfortable words heale the wounds of our grieued soules It is the saying of S. Austin Good men euen in this life affoord vs no small comforts for if pouerty pinch vs if sorrow make vs sad if paine in our body afflict vs if banishment or any calamity vex vs if good men be present which know how to reioyce with them that reioice and to weepe with them that weepe and in conference to speake healthful things vnto vs those sharpe things are made maruellously gentle those heauy things are made easie and those aduersities are borne and ouercome For in a good man that hath bowels of cōpassion it is most true that one saith aegrotanti animo medicus est oratio his words will heale a grieued mind Thus much of the person instructed CHAP. 4. NOw we come to the instruction Cast thy burden vpon the Lord and he shall nourish thee he will not suffer the righteous to fall for euer This instruction consisteth of two parts the first is a precept of aduice the second is a promise of recompence The precept is in these words Cast thy burden vpon the Lord The promise is in the rest and he shall nourish thee he will not suffer the righteous to fall for euer This promise giueth assurance of mercy from God according to our want and desire and the precept directeth vs a sure course to seeke and speed of that wanting and desired helpe In the precept Cast thy burden vpon the Lord for the better vnderstanding thereof it will be good to consider first what this burden is secondly what it is to cast this burden vpon God These things vnderstood the precept is vnderstood The name of a burden is familiar many poore men liue by bearing burdens and know wel the meaning of that name when they feele the waight vpon their shoulders But here it is vsed in a borrowed sence for any thing that is heauy to the mind breeding feare care and griefe of which burdens there is great plenty in the world and euery man high and low at one time or other is faine to play the porter and beare some of these burdens some more heauy and some more easie but euery man some For order sake we may endeauour to bring these burdens vnto certaine heads vnder which if not all for this fruitfull world breedeth new burdens daily yet the most may be comprehended And because in some of these burdens we haue immediatly and at the next hand to doe with worldly matters and with men in things belonging to this life in others we haue immediatly and at the next hand to doe with spirituall matters and God himselfe in things belonging to our soules and the life to come therefore I will diuide them into secular and spirituall burdens The secular burdens shall againe be reduced to fower rankes whereof the first shall be the burden of worldly cares when a mans charge is great and his maintenance small and he taketh care how to pay his debt how to get meat and clothes and other necessaries for him and his which burden is made heauy vpon vs sometime by the immediate hand of God sending times of dearth and losses by fire and water and other waies sometime by other men as by oppressors deceiuers theeues bad debtors false seruants and riotous children sometime it is increased by our owne fault through idlenesse through plaie through foolish bargains through daintinesse of fare costly apparell and other courses of riot And this burden may be called the burden of the multitude The second ranke shall be of domesticall troubles either in thy selfe thy family thy kindred or thy habitation For where there is wealth at will and that way no cause of care yet Iob may languish being full of diseases Dauid may haue a scornfull Michol to his wife Abigail may haue a churlish Nabal to her husband Rahel may mourn for her children because they are not the sonne may be riotous and disobedient the daughter may be dishonest and between Amaon Absolon and Thamar the father of the family may haue griefe enough seruants may be vnfaithfull and perhaps maintaine factions thy kindred may be vnkind or fall into some calamity and thy next neighbour may bee thy neare and great enemy or thy house may bee visited with sickenesse so that thy trouble shall breed euen in the nest of thy rest in thine house at thy table in thy bed and in thy bones and there and from thence shall thy vexation grow where and from whence thou didst promise thy selfe comfort A third rank of these burdens shall be troubles more remote growing from enemies and occasions further of For many men haue peace at home ioy in their obedient and louing wiues comfort in their dutifull and sober children content in their trusty and faithfull seruants and sweet fellowship with their kind neighbours so that their home and habitation is their happy paradise and yet their estate may be vndermined by oppressors and deceiuers their names may be disgraced by liers and slanderers and their liues brought into danger by blood thirsty and malicious enemies and they touched with the calamities of their brethren abroad A fourth ranke of these burdens shall be the difficulties following the duties of our callings For though it be our honor and our crowne to performe the duties of our callings yet they grow diuersly to be burdens vnto vs sometime when more is required at our hands then wee are able to performe either by the fault of other men when we are called vnto publique seruices before we be ◅ipe and fit for them or by our owne great fault when we either couetously or ambitiously intrude into callings that we are insufficient for seeking the reward and honor of the place without regard of the seruice to be done in it Sometime we are sufficient and also painfull and yet either God denieth successe to exercise vs therby or men oppose against vs as Elimas did against the preaching of Paul Sometime men are sufficient diligent and effect the seruice laudably but enuious men misinterpret and misreport their doings as the Pharisies did the workes of our Lord Iesus Christ and in stead of praise they are rebuked and reprooued and in stead of deserued and expected reward they are in danger of punishment In all these cases the duties of our callings in themselues honorable yet become heauy burdens vnto vs. Vnder these foure heads I suppose all secular and worldly burdens may be comprehended There are other burthens wherein we haue to doe immediatly with God in things that belong to piety to peace of conscience to the life to come Those may be reduced to two heads The first head and ranke of these burdens are our sinfull lusts our inbred corruptions and infirmities and the law of sinne in our members rebelling against the lawe of our mind whereby it commeth to passe that
hope for the same mercy for the forgiuenesse of thy sinnes which was freely granted to Peter for the forgiuenes of his sins Goe forth therefore with Peter in the sight of thy sins poure out the teares of repentance before God as Peter did and he that receiued Peter to grace wil also receiue thee He was pardoned vpō no peculiar mercy proper to him denied to others but vpon that vniuersall mercy and most ample grace that God is ready to extend to euery cōtrite soule then afforded to Peter that hee out of his experience might after commend it to others Therfore did the Lord Iesus say to him aforehand when thou art conuerted strengthen thy brethrē That is when peace is restored to thy soule vpon assured pardon of thy sinnes past and grace giuen vnto thee to stand more firme for all times following then labour to comfort the hearts of others that haue sinned as thou diddest assure vnto them vpon their contrition the forgiuenesse of their sinne past and the presence of Gods grace for the time to come So that I am not the man but Peter nor Peter out of speculation and from his owne conceit but out of experience and vpon most sure authority from the mouth of his Master the sonne of God the sauior of mankind the Iudg of quicke dead that is warranted to tell thee that there is mercy with God to forgiue thy sinnes committed against knowledge if in this sorrow feare of thine heart thou turne to God and hartily prayest vnto him for pardon with purpose no more to cōmit the like sin I could adde the examples of many of Gods Saints that sinned against knowledge being carried away with a sodaine and violent temptation so that either they had no leisure to thinke what was fittest to doe or they wanted power to withstand the present assault and they after found fauour with God and their sinnes being forgiuen they liue with him in glorie Iacobs lie maintained to his father Isaacs face that hee was not Iacob the yonger but Esau the elder sonne was a sinne of this kind against knowledge but his mothers words as a potent temptation led him to the doing of it Iudaes adultery committed with Thamar his daughter in law though not knowne to be Thamar was a sinne of this kind against knowledge for how could Indah bee ignorant of the Law of God against adulterie written in mens hearts that would haue done execution vpon Thamar when he heard she had played the whoore but the temptation was sodaine and strong fitted with so many opportunities hee was a yong man at that time without a wife shee sate disguised as an harlot it was in the field out of the view of men and shee was soone intreated and yeelded vnto him these opportunities strengthning the temptation made it so potent that Iuda sinned Dauids hastie sentence giuing the estate of Mephibosheth vnto Ziba was a sinne of this kind against knowledge for Dauid could not be ignorant of it that there are many false accusers that a righteous Iudge should giue the accused partie leaue to speake for himselfe before he proceed to sentence but the temptation was strong and sodaine Ziba came with a bribe he brought it in a time when Dauid had need of it The time was troublesome Abs◅lon was vppe in rebellion Why might it not be true that in this trouble of the state Mephibosheth beeing the right heire to Saul might seek to make a faction for him And Dauid had need now of friends and therefore thought fit to make Ziba sure on his side These and like considerations darkening Dauids iudgement gaue strength to the temptation And hee sinned in condemning the innocent and rewarding the wicked accuser and that against knowledge for he was not ignorant of the duety of a Iudge And yet all these haue found fauor and their sinnes haue beene forgiuen vnto them Why then should thy heart faint and thy hope faile because thy conscience tels thee that thou hast sinned against knowledge Repent and turne to God pray and thou shalt be heard This very circumstance that thou we◅ not freely maister of thine owne will but the sodaine or violent temptation led thee captiue is an hole through which hope shineth dig by hearty praier and by true contrition and a doore of mercie shall be opened vnto thee This is in this case to cast thy burden of accusing thoughts vpon God for thine ease CHAP. XVI BVT perhaps thy heart tels thee that the particular sinnes that thou art charged withall were not onely done in thy daies of knowledge whē thou hadst learned before that such things ought not to be done but they were also done in the freedome of thine heart not surprised with sudden feare nor led away captiue by any violent temptation but with full consent of will thy heart at leisure considering and freely chusing against all checke whatsoeuer to do those things venturously boldly presumptuously and as we say desperately casting behind thy backe at that time all feare of God all regard of his law all remembrance of his mercy and all bonds of thy obedience only seeking to satisfie thine owne lusts and preferring the pleasure of sinne and wages of iniquitie before the seruice of God though thou didst know that those pleasures were of that constancie and would breede eternall torments and that the wages and gaine of sinne was of small worth and fading and would breed vnto thee the eternall losse of thy soule This is a hard case indeed and if Sathan haue this aduantage against thee then hath he driuen thee vp into a narrow streight and hemmed thee in very dangerously But yet by the mercy of God there are good and sure meanes by which to escape euen out of this streight though with some difficultie for here hath that saying of the Lord Iesus place That seruant that knew his maisters will and prepared not himselfe neither did according to his will shall bee beaten with many stripes Many and sore gripings shall his conscience feele before he recouer his peace against this accusation it will cost him many teares sighes and grones which I doe the rather remember to make men feare to offend in this manner and to suffer sinne so to raigne in their mortall bodies But yet it is possible for the sinner thus burdened to cast his burden vpon the Lord and to obtaine ease There is yet a hole in the wall of hope wherein if thou dig by humble and hearty prayer it may proue a dore of mercy vnto thee It hath beene so with others For who euer sinned more wilfully and more presumptuously then Manasses though he were yong when he began to raigne being then but twelue yeares of age in that regard all his acts might seme to be grounded in ignorance that had not learned at the first to doe wel after would not learne yet considering the piety
euen the best regenerate man that feareth God and loueth righteousnesse that hath both his vnderstaÌ„ding enlightned his will sanctified so that he wanteth neither knowledge zeale nor humility yet can neither doe the good that gladly he would nor leaue vndone the euill that his soule abhorreth This is no smal burden to the man that wold please God and doe his dutie that hee becomes his owne troubler against his owne will and crosseth himselfe by corruption in that wherein he taketh pleasure by sanctification This made Paul the Apostle to crie out in these words O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of death It was death to him that such corruption was so preualent in his fraile body And in another place he calleth the same law of sinne a pricke in the flesh the messenger of satan to buffet him because it was euer seruiceable to satan and armed his hand against the holy feruant of God so that whensoeuer the Apostle did set his heart to doe well the diuell did beat him with the weapons of his owne corruption This is no small burden to an honest minded man The second ranke of these spirituall burdens are accusing thoughts checkes and terrors of conscience the worme in thy bosome gnawing thine heart This burden often followeth the former as Zophar speaketh When wickednesse was sweet in his mouth he hid it vnder his tongue and fauoured it and would not forsake it but kept it close in his mouth then his meat in his bowels was turned the gal of aspes was in the middest of him That is at first sinne in the committing of it is sweet as ratsbane poison often is goeth downe merrily and is meate and drinke to the sinner and he can not bee wonne from it because it is his delight but at last the time commeth according to the saying of God in the Psalme I wil reprooue thee and set them that is thy sinnes in order before thee According to this saying God mustereth his sinnes together and presenteth a view of them before the soule of the sinner where the diuell as a great officer in that campe setteth them forth in their colours that al the contempt of God and of his commandements all their vnthankfulnesse and forgetfulnesse of their duty all the violence filthinesse fury and disorder that accompanied their sinnes appeareth fresh to the sinners vnderstanding and what wrathin heauen what shame on earth and fire in hell he hath made himselfe worthy of and must now looke for And this turneth the meat in his stomack into 〈◊〉 this is more deadly then the poison of aspes can be then feare increaseth nope decreaseth then the wicked are confounded and could wish â—…illes and mountaines to fall vpon them to couer them from the face of God and thinking to flie deserued destruction they oft times cast themselues into eternall destruction and with Saul Achitâ—…phel and Iudas kil themselues Yea the best seruants of God when it pleaseth him to lay this burden in any tollerâ—…ble measure vpon them are exceedingly affrighted for a time Dauids words being pressed with this burden shew the heauy load of it There is nothing sound in my slesh because of thine anger neither is there rest in my bones because of my sinne For mine iniquities are gone ouer my head and as a waighty burden they are too heauy for me His affliction was great when the griefe of his minde changed the health of his body and left no soundnesâ—…e either in flesh or bones And so was it with the Prophet and the only cause of this so great disease was the remembrance of his sinnes and the feare of Gods angeâ—… by those sinnes deserued Another time laden with this burden as he was before he complained of his load as he had done before saying Innumerable troubles haue compassed me my sinnes haue taken such hold vpon me that I am not able to looke vp yea they are more in number then the haires of my head therefore my heart hath failed me Needes must the assault of innumerable troubles follow the remembrance of innumerable sinnes and these troubles where they lay hold doe depresse the heart that the ouercharged waight cannot looke vp to the mercy feat of God Yea where faith wageth battaile against fear and keepeth the field well strengthened with many promises and in the end preuaileth restoring peace to the conscience yet there for a time vntil the houre and power of darknesse passe ouer terrors are great when the charge of sinne lieth vpon the soule See it in him that had the greatest assurance of all the sonnes of men when the glorious sonne of God our blessed Sauiour Iesus Christ for our redemption was to take vp and beare the burden of our sinnes it did put him to vnspeakable paine and was vpon his mighty shoulders a mighty burden Hence came that tripled praier O my father if it be possible let this cup passe from me neuertheles not as I wil but as thou wilt Thence came that agony that Saint Luke speaketh of that being in an open garden and kneeling on the bare ground about the middest of night in a cold season of the yeere he fell into a great sweat and his sweat was like drops of blood trickling downe to the ground Thence came that crie vpon the crosse which was not the singing of a Psalme but the true dittie of sorrow and of a depressed soule speaking as was before prophecied of him My God my God why hast thou forsaken me All these grew from the burden of our sinnes laid vpon him that he bearing our sinnes in his body vpon the tree we might be deliuered from sinne to liue in righteousnesse The burden therefore of sinne when accusing thoughts once presse and charge the conscience citing vs to appeare and answer before God for our offences is a most heauy burden the burden of the humble and broken hearted man these are the two rankes of spirituall burdens Now vnder these six rankes fower of secular burdens two of spirituall I suppose all those burdens may be comprehended which lie heauy vpon vs in this world and cause feare care and griefe vnto vs first care of the world secondly domesticall troubles thirdly troubles more remote fourthly the difficulties that follow the duties of our callings fiftly the sinfull lusts of our flesh fighting against our soules lastly accusing thoughts breeding terrors of conscience CHAP. V. YOu haue heard what the burden is now let vs consider what it is to cast this burden vpoÌ„ the Lord. And hereof I will speake first generally without relation to any particular sort of these burdens and then particularly with relation to the particular sorts of burdens before named and in such order as they were named but first generally What it is to cast our burden vpon the Lord we may see by the words of Saint Peter repeating this