should marry and how he should be esteemed in his place According to the which though I say it for my selfe I was taken froÌ„ the middest of my people as one worthelie esteemed and honoured in my place for the tokens of my graces then I was straitly viewed and throughlie examined wherein I was found cleane and free from euery one of those blemishes with the which whosoeuer was touched was forbidden to prease forth to do the priests office Leuit. 21.17.18.19.20 I was wel tried to be neither blind nor lame nor brused or flat of nose nor mishapeÌ„ in my meÌ„bers nor brokeÌ„ in my féet nor brokeÌ„ in my haÌ„ds nor crooked in my back nor bleared in mine eyes nor eyes webbed or blemished nor skiruy nor scabbed nor broken in the stoanes The blemishes for the which a man was vnfit for the priesthood yea I was found frée of those imperfections or blemishes which our Elders haue gathered and noted out of that place of the law which disabled the priest for they noted in the head eight in the necke two in the ears twelue in the eye-browes and eye-lides fiftéene in the eyes ninetéene in the nose sixe in the lips and mouth nine in the belly thrée in the backe thrée in the priuities sixtéene in the handes and féete twelue in the leges fiftéene and in all the body foure the which being taken away the naturall body appeared sound faire and perfect in all partes that by the same not onely the puritie of the mind might be signified but also the person of the Messiah truely prefigured Then was I consecrated to the Lord according to the law The consecration and ornamentes of the priest then was I cloathed in the holy garments as namely the Breastplate the Ephod the Tunicle the broadered Coate the Mytre the Girdle which were according to the commaundement garnished and beautified with gould blew-silke purple scarlet white twyned silke and brodered worke also with Owches Chaynes pretious stoans other such things with Vrim and Thumim in the which are expressed not onely spiritually the seuerall graces of a godly minde but also mistically the heaueÌ„lie vertues of the holy Messiah the finall obiect of our loue To this I was annointed with the holy oyle and had mine handes filled for the sacrifices The duties of priesthood performed Thus haue I béene furnished and approued for the Priestes office Now to this haue I beene willing and ready to doe my duety in the execution of my function I haue offered the sacrifices to the Lord for my selfe and the people and haue prayed for them in the which I haue beene mercifully heard and regarded of the Lord as Aaron was I haue taught the people and instructed them in the feare and lawes of the Lord I haue iudged and discerned according to equitie and as placed ouer the priests and ministers in the Lords house I haue regarded therein not only the conuersation and behauiour but also the order of the ministeries and seruices of the persons in the same for the better seruice of God the preseruation and maintainance of the ornaments of the Lords house and the benefit of the Lords people And this the better to performe I haue ruled my selfe and liued according to the law in my place and for my comfort I haue taken to me a cleane Vâ—rgin to wife Moreouer I haue serued and honoured next vnto my God my Lord the King in all dutiful thankfulnesse without giuing him any iust offence to my knowledge And therfore as the King is most wise and will not take an offence being not offered him I am sure he is not afflicted or grieued for any cause of mine as I perswade neither for any thing he hath noted or conceited in any of you But I know well there be other causes things whereof he hath taken this sorrow the which also may bee knowne to some of you and yet are yee most vnwilling to reveile or make knowne but would rather if it might be conceale and couer them for it is the part of a friend to couer the fault of his friend much rather then ought a true Subiect for the loue and honour of his Prince rather modestly to forbeare then to aduenture the display of any his faultes or imperfections They that obserue not this rule resemble shamelesse Cham one of the sonnes of Noah Gen. 9.22 who most vnreuerently both discouered and derided the nakednesse of his father This being said Zadok sighed déepely and made as a proffer to further speeches Neuerthelesse hee refrained for this time for he well knew the causes of the Kings griefe although it pleased him not as yet to vtter it partly for the reuerence he yeelded the kings honour partly for his owne modesty as also for that he was verie vnwilling to be the vnfolder of that which hee was sure the Princes and all the Kinges friendes would be very sory and loath to heare albeit they were so redy to inuestigate that whereof being once certified they did much maruaile at greatly lament and could scarsely ease or mitigate much lesse salue and recure howbeit they endeuoured their best and thought it bootelesse for them to stand wondering and reasoning longer then they might set on and spéedily assay which way to bring ease or comfort to their Soueraigne Lord the which they wel knew could not be effected till time they had found out and considered of the true causes of the kings affliction Therefore though much against their wils yet vrged by the present necessitie they presume on the king in this examination CAP. IX The Lordes are resolved to examine and consider of the King and his actions but note by what occasion in what sort and to what end Of Solomons birth WHen euery one of the Lordes had perused himselfe cleared his owne conscience and approued his words and actions towards the king Azariah Azariah the chiefe Lord replied againe and said Now that wee haue in this sort submitted our selues to the iust triall in all modestie and no lesse faithfulnes to our Lord K. Solomon and so cleared our selues of any iust offeÌ„ce offered him which bringeth no small comfort to our heartes in the time of this our trouble and trial Let vs aduenture to behold the king himselfe in whome it may be that the cause of his owne sorrow may be found Therfore let vs consider of his person actions and his manner both of entrance and life Indéede I confesse as Zadok hath before intimated that it may be thought a thing too malepert in Subiectes to censure the Prince or to pry too narrowlie into his actions and dealings or to discouer any his faults or imperfections especially to this end to diffame or deride him for this was Chams offence against his father for the which he was reproued and his posteritie cursed Neuerthelesse I thinke it not vnlawful nor amisse that the kings Princes and Priuie Counsellors seeing the kings
volume of the booke it is written of mee that I should fulfill thy will O my God I am content to doe it Thus was the most holy sonne and worde of God brought in talking with his father touching mans redemption and shewing both his willingnes and obedience to relieue the state of mankind Hereof it was that the Lord God decreed and said that the womans seed should tread on the serpents head Gen. 3. which signified that one should be borne of the womans body the which the Serpent had corrupt that should not onely purifie her and all mankind but also confound the Serpent and all his power From the which time our fathers haue expected we as yet expect and waite for the comming of that holy Seede Now here by the way wee may consider that albeit the Lord God be wonderfull mercifull vnto mankind he doth not ouerthrow therin his Iustice How the Lord was both iust and mercifull but obseruing either he expresseth great Equitie in a wonderfull for t For beholde hee laid that on his sonne which was due vnto man and againe hee gaue that vnto man which was onely proper to his sonne hee laid mans sinne and faults on his sonne hee imputed the righteousnes of his sonne vnto man In th' one appeared his iustice in th' other his mercy And in them both conioyned equitye That which was due vnto man the holy seed taketh on himselfe namely mans punishment which mans nature could not beare that which the holy seede merited namely eternall life the Lorde gaue vnto man for the sinne of man which deserued death was imputed vnto this seede and the Iustice of the holy seed which deserued Heauen was imputed vnto man I meane vnto them onely that by faith depend on that promise and those be the same whom the Lord God had before loued elected and predestinated to eternall glory and whome hee would not by any meanes permit to perrish and dye for euer This is the onely recouery of mankind and hope of his health This is that eternall verity and obiect of our faith This is the same whereunto all the law and the Prophets and all the tipes and figures both of them before vs and of them now in daily vse do aime point Promises of the Messiah Gen. 6. Gen. 22. Gen. 22.18 and direct vs for all succour helpe comfort and reliefe The decree and promise of this seede was after this confirmed to Noah to whome the Lorde said With thee wil I make my covenant thou shalt come into the Arkè But more plainly to our father Abraham to whome the Lorde declared this Sauiour and said of him In thy seede shall all the nations of the earth bee blessed The same which was called the seede of the Woman is now called the seede of Abraham for the Lorde woulde that hee shoulde come of Abrahams Seede after the flesh Prophesies of Messiah Gen. 49. Exod. 4.13 This is that whome Iacob our Father called Shilo and prophesyed that he should come in the tribe of Iudah And to him should be the gathering of the people This is that same to whome Moses pointed in the booke Velleschemoth when he saide to the Lord. Send I pray thee by the hand of him whome thou wilt send Deut. 18.15.18 and in his booke Haddebarim the Lorde himselfe calleth him a Prophet saying thus vnto Moses I will raise them vp a Prophet from among their brethren like vnto thee This is the same the holy man Iob calleth his Redeemer whome hee knewe to liue Iob. 19. Num. 14.17 This is that bright Starre and Scepter of the which Baalam did prophesie in Moses Booke Vaiedabber saying there shall come a Starre of Iacob and rise a Scepter in Israel 2. Sam. 7.12.13 14. This is that true King of peace promised to David the Kinges Father in 2. Schemuel 7. that Seede of David and Davids Lorde whose throne shall bee established for euer To bee short this is that lively Image of God and King of glory without all spot or blemish most mightye wise and excellent which shall in his time new builde Heirusalem and prepare himselfe an holy Temple and house for his worshippe therein I meane a Church spiritually framed and gloriously garnished after that proportion and forme which David the Kinges Father gaue and prescribed him according to the writing thereof which hee had receiued from Iehovah his God and the which the King hath in his time of peace builded and perfected accordingly Therefore of this holy Seede sang the Princely Prophet in many Psalmes calling him sometimes Gods Sonne sometimes a King psal 2.45.110 sometimes the King of glory sometimes a Priest eternall after the order of Melchisedek sometimes his Lorde sometimes his God sometimes his Redeemer sometimes his Saviour sometimes the Messiah or Annointed of Iehovah And as this holy Seede hath beene thus promised and foretolde of and belieued to come into the worlde Shadowes tipes and figures of Messiah The tree of life in paradise Abel Abraham Noah so hath hee beene shadowed typed and prefigured As first by the tree of life in Paradise of the which if our first parentes had taken and eaten they had neuer dyed but should haue liued foreuer Next by the Sacrifices of Abel Abraham others in the which it pleased God to declare himselfe gratious This Noah also prefigured when the Lord made him the finisher of the old world and the beginner of the new To the same pointed Melchisedek and Melchisalem Melchisedek to shew that he was a King and a Priest A King of peace and righteousnes and a priest of the highest God for euer as without beginning and without ending for the number of his daies may not bee reckoned or knowne The same was signified in the ladder our father Iacob saw Iacobs ladder Moses Iosuah by the which the angels did ascend and descend to and from heauen He was fore-shewed a deliuerer from thraldome in Moses and a Sauiour in Iosuah for Moses brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt and Iosuah conducted them inherited them and preserued them in the promised land Also Aaron the priest of the Lorde prefigured him with his Vrim and Thumim Aaron The pascall Lambe c To the same also serued the vse of the Pascall Lambe and those other symboles and sacraments in the Wildernes as the Manna from heauen the Water from the rocke Iudges and such like In the booke of * Shophtim is mention made of many bodily Saviours by the which was mistically shewed the person and office of Messiah There was Sampson Gedeon Othoniel Ieptha Samuel And within our age Sampson Gedeon Othoniel Ieptha Samuel David the calling annointing and manner of the raigne and condition of David foreshewed the same For all these things my Lordes haue and do rightly aime to that most holy Messiah whome the Lord God would that men should belieue and expect and
to the tyranny of the Serpent which had deceiued them Adams sinne Gen. 3. Iudah Gen. 38.26 Lot Aaron Exo. 32.2 Gen. 34.25 Simeon and Levi. Ruben Gen 49 4. The Israelites Sampson Iudg 2.11.13 3.6 16.18 Laban Gen. 31.30 for the which they were iustly driuen out of Paradise and made subiect to misery and death notwithstanding it pleased the L. God as ye haue heard to forgiue them and to gather to himselfe an holy church euē from among them which had sinned We read that Iudah tooke his daughter in law Thamar lay with her contrary to the law and acknowledged that he had sinned therein Lot was made drunke and lay with both his daughters Aarō the Lords priest yeelded to the making of a molten calfe which the people worshipped VVe read that Simeon and Levi the sonnes of Iacob dealt deceitfully with Hemor Sichē his son and murthered them and their people against the will of their father who in his last words cursed their wrath which was shameles their rage which was cruel As for Rubē Iacobs eldest sonne he defiled his fathers bed distained his dignity Our fathers in the time of the Iudges were carried away to serue Baal Astaroth and they were cōioined with the Cananites against the law of the L. Sampsō the Nazarite combined himselfe with a strange woman yea and in the end yeelded his power to the harlot Dalila Laban the father in law of Iacob was a worshipper of strāge Gods Terah the father of Abrahā was not free frō the like offence And are the sinnes of those our fathers especially the greatest of these sins inferior to the K. sins Notwithstāding it is testified that the L. pardoned thē restored thē to his fauor But ye say that the K. hath turned away his heart form the Lord. Indeede of all others his sins this is the greatest Howbeit I say not therefore that hee hath vtterly turned away his heart as that hee hath quite forsaken God and by wicked apostasy fallen away from him for euer for had it beene so we should not haue seene him in this his estate And as I well remember I heard the king himselfe to say and wee cannot denye it when we well consider thereof and of him in this his estate that in the depth of those his sinnes and vanities he perceiued that yet his wisedome remained with him psal 51.11 1. Sam. 16.14 2. Sam. 7.15 How Solomon is said to turne away his heart from God by the which he ment the graces of that diuine spirit which King David praied that the Lorde would not vtterly take from him being indeed an effect of that mercy which the Lord his God said he would not take from him as he toke it from Saul whom hee had cast off before him But I say the King hath turned away his heart in this sense first in that he hath sinned against the Lorde his God secondly in that he hath yeelded to his lusts and thirdly in that he fainted in his holy zeale For there is no sinne whatsoeuer which a man committeth wherein there is not a turning away of the sinner from the Lord for sinne is contrary to the law of God and argueth a contempt of his iustice neglect of his graces therefore the Lorde requireth in them whom he recoureth and pardoneth a faithful returne in humble contrition Next it is true that euery man is led away from God of his owne concupiscence or naturall lusts and thus the King doting ouermuch on his strange Woemen hath been enflamed ouercome in affection seduced and led away from the Lordes righteousnes Thirdly the king by those former occasions had forsaken his first loue was waxen more colde or luke-warme in that holy religion and godly zeale with the which his heart hath been wonderfully enflamed in his youth But yet I remember what the Lord said I will shew mercy to whome I will shew mercy The same said to Hagar Returne againe to thy mistris Exo. Gen. 16 9. though thine heart was turned from her Againe he saith to the sinner ' Remember from whence thou art fallen and repent and do those good workes which thou hast vsed to doe when I was well pleased with thee Againe Remember thy maker So I confesse though with sorrow of heart that the king in that his estate hath not so zeolously set foorth and maintained the glory and seruices of God as he was wont to doe for whosoeuer is addicted to the former is defectiue in the latter but he neglected a great part of his office and duty But yet the Lord bee thanked we know that the state of religion was neuer altered or changed The holy religion neuer altered but continued the same in Solomons time 2. Chro. 11.16.17 but that hath and yet doth remaine the same as in the time of David notwithstanding the idolatries superstitions and prouocations of his strange women which is a notable argument that yet thee helde the sure foundation of his saith vnshaken And therefore let vs not presume either to say or to thinke that King Solomon is fallen vtterly away from the Lord his God who hath so wonderfully loued beautified and blessed him It is one thing to offend God by euill thoughts euill wordes or wicked deedes another thing to deny God and to forsake him vtterly He that sinneth and offendeth God and yet beleeueth in God he is by his repentance reserved for saluation but who so doth deny God and vtterly apostate from him there remaineth vnto him not so much as one little shell wherewith he may drawe a very small measure of the water of life It is not one and the same thing to turne frō the Lorde and to turne vtterly awry from him without retyre or returne The former of these faults is often seene in Gods owne children when like prodigall and disobedient sonnes they bee tempted to depart from their most louing father and yet do returne home againe are renued by repentāce as were Aaron Moses David the latter is seene in the reprobates only which fall away and neuer returne and therefore are not renued by repentance for they cannot truely repent The reprobates cannot truely repent because the Lord giueth not repentance vnto them as it was apparant in Cain in Lots wise in Saul whom the Lord cast away frō before him But this falling away from God wee haue not found nor shall perceiue in K. Solomon the Lorde bee blessed therefore Neither may wee thinke that howsoeuer he is saide to followe after Astaroth Milcom Molock Camos such others the Gods of the heathen that therefore he was so grosse an Idolator as he did adore and worshippe those strange Gods no more then we may thinke Solomon did not worship Idols Exo. 32.2 that Aaron the Priest did adore and worship the golden Calfe which himselfe had made at the importunacie of our Fathers in the wildernes And I knowe
true Melchisedek and Melchisalem many yeeres ere hee came into this worlde Neither might this prerogative bee well transferred to any other in regarde of the subiect without some iniurie to your highnes disgrace to the thing and blame to my selfe Thirdly as I was very willing in this sort to manifest the acknowledgement of my deepest debt namely dutifull love and true alleageance to your high Soveraignety so was I no lesse encouraged when I considered that I should present my selfe these my labours not before an Egyptian Pharao as did Moses nor before a Lydian Craesus as did Solon but which I vtter with a most ioyfull heart before the Lords annointed a right Christian King who with King David a man after Gods own heart vouchsaveth sweet audience to the prophet Nathan though he speak without a parable for the preferment of yong Solomon and for Israels cōmon good who al so with K. Iehosophat is desirous to know the wil of God thogh by the simple ministery of poore Micheas finally which with K. Solomon is contented to heare in his own royall person the pleading of 2. women though of base cōdition But now because that godly modestie though in the habite of princely magnanimitie admits not in presence any speeches displaying such your apparant worthinesse I lay my hand on my mouth yeelding many thinges to vnwilling silence the which neverthelesse the most loving affections of all your true-hearted subiects cannot but acknowledge willingly proclaime For we are truly perswaded that as Iehovah graced Noah the righteous with many perfections wonderfully blessed David his annointed with an excellent spirite and adorned K. Solomon with manifold graces as wherby changed into other men the first was miraculously preserved in the great deluge which drowned the olde world that he might be made the happy originall of the new the second powerfully rescued from the Lyon the Beare the hurtfull sworde that he might feede the Lords people and Iacob his inheritance the 3. beautified blessed with an admirable peace that he might build the L. house keep the Lords watch do equitie righteousnes in the midst of his people so hath your high excellēcie found enioyed the like frō the L. that being protected preserved by his holy Angels and established on the Throne of your kingdome ye are with that provident Ianus who behelde all thinges 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 made worthy the original of a new prosperous peace with the sweet Psalmist ordained a feeder of the L. inheritance after the discretion of your hands with that lovely Laemuel appointed a builder of that holy house a keeper of the watch and the Executioner of righteousnesse and iudgement in the middest of your people And as this is the end of your advancement the Glory of your Throne the peace of your kingdome and the ioy of your people so in the same shall yee truely confirme the love of GOD to your selfe declare your thankefulnesse to his Almightines perform the duty of a most Christian Governour assure your good Subiects of your vnfained amitie embrace their love retaine their loialty and publikely expresse your right Princely Pietie for the honour of God the comfort of his Church the ioy of your people the peace of your heart the safetie of your place the praise of your vertue and the salvation of your soule for this is that which as saith the Apostle hath all the promises both of this life and of the life to come All the which therefore we dayly desire of God in our heartie praiers to be confirmed encreased established and continued in your sacred Maiestie with the abundance of blessings so long as the Sunne and the Moone endureth Thus farre therfore have I adventured on your high person and presence Moreover seeing your Maiestie is not wont to blame your obsequious servant for profering the stay of your stirrop although ye are well able and willing to mount your faire Palfray without any his help I hope that yee will not much blame mee if in this happie accesse to your royal presence after th' example of wise Zorobabel speaking before King Darius and the three Princes of Persia according to my bounden dutie I onely remember you of that promise and vow made to the King of heaven in the day of your Coronation concerning the building of Ierusalem and the reparation of the Temple It is well knowne that our late deceased Noursemother so well learned and approved in all princely pietie did not only repaire and garnish the Lordes house which before her time lay ruinous and defaced as King Hezekiah and other ancient benefactors had don in their daies but having a right good opinion of the faithfull Pastours and painefull Ministers of the worde as sometimes the noble Sunemitish Ladie had of Elisha the man of God shee was wonderfull careful that they shoulde be enhabled to live of the Gospell which they preached in their due honour and therefore shee builte or at the least repaired and appointed not onely one little Chamber but many large houses for them to turne into compassed with strong walles to bee secured in and furnished with beddes to rest on Tables to eate on stooles to sit on and Candlestickes to put light on with all other meete provision and furniture for their studies functions and fare the which also had happily continued without great breaches vntill the day of her death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plat. lib. 1. Aristoph apud Suid. had not some more expert in Simonides Songes then in Davids Psalmes deceived her trust But as devouring time decayeth houses most strongly built and both estates in all ages by occasions wax blunt so the Lordes house which shoulde first be respected and those Chambers in the next place which should not bee neglected were so empaired that as the former needed the regard of the right owner to support it so the latter the wisdom of the cunning Artificer to edge it Now for that the highest Power hath not onely appointed your royall Maiestie next himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the principall overseer and chiefe Artificer of this great worke But also hath already moved your sanctified minde to consider so religiously of the same wee cannot but acknowledge this divine and gracious benefit with thankefulnes to his high Maiestie and a faithfull hope in holy invocation that your Maiestie may not onely continue zealous and regardfull of that howse but also vouchsafe that those chambers may from time to time bee truely survaighed kept and repaired with the preservation of their pristine and laudable rightes according to the purporte of your mind of pietie therein well declared not for Gehezi the Seller nor for Simon the Buyer nor for the vnworthie hireling But for Elisha that holy man of GOD that so the glorie of the LORDE may fill this house 2. Chro. 7.1.3 and that the people may bow downe their faces and praise the God of Israel
in life and behauiour and not to be perfect within as to make shew without and not to be in either conformable to the office and place I haue especially regarded the maner of my walking that it might bee honest worthie and wise that so I might teach both in doctrine and life and not destroye in th' one Psal 109.7 whiles I would seeme to build in the other accounting them that offend herein worthy of that censure which David gaue on such saying His office let another take Moreouer whereas it was the good pleasure of my Lorde the King and the will of my Lorde Zadoke that I should at times minister for my Lorde Zadoke in the seruice of God the King It is well knowne that I haue not presumptuously vsurped nor intruded nor thrust my selfe into presence but being called and commanded beeing well mindfull of the kinges words writtē amōg his wise prouerbs pro. 25.5.6 Put not forth thy selfe in the presence of the King and prease not into the place of great men for better it is that it be said to thee come vp higher then that thou shouldest be placed lower in the presence of the Prince whome thou seest with thine eyes Therefore I haue not béene of that ambitious and arrogant minde But howsoeuer I might bee suspected as faultie or imperfect in place and time I appeale to the Lord and mine owne conscience as yee my Lords haue done If I be guiltie against the king to my knowledge then would I wish that the one might accuse me and the other condemne me in the presence of you all Howbeit letting passe this examinatiō I presume there is some other cause whereof the kings affliction springeth the which I doubt not will in time appeare in the clearing of vs al. For time is that which discloseth secrets reuealeth the truth therefore is worthily called the mother of truth Nor do I thinke that the king suspecteth any of vs in this case for if he did his iealousie would not haue forborne to disclose and vtter the same to any of vs all for he respecteth neither persons nor power nor wealth nor policie such is his wisedome wealth power and the glory of the fearefull God in him zadock the high priest putteth forth his Apology and sheweth what is the function duty of his place Abiather hauing thus spoken for himselfe he at the last giueth place to Zadoke perceiuing how ready willing also he was to say sōwhat in the presēce of the lords * Zadock was a uery graue and reuerend Father and a faithfull Priest of the Lord doing according to his heart and mind in whome the bright Vrim Thumim so shined that no man either suspected him of any fault towardes the king or doubted of his diuine wisedome and singular perfection and therefore neither the Princes required either any examination or further triall of his integritie howbeit the most reuerend father in all humilitie neither refused nor disdained to doe as they had before done in this respect Therfore stāding vp in the midst of thē he spake with great grauity deliberation to this effect My Lords all although it be so that neither any of you hath giuen this offence vnto the king nor may it be that he holdeth any of you faultie in this matter yet am I glad to see and heare how willing and readie ye haue béene with all submission to examine and cleare your selues in this presence And truely howsoeuer ye bee sory for the kings affliction as indéed ye cannot be glad thereof yet may ye reioice in this that ye haue had this fit opportunity by this confession and trial both to cleare your selues of guilt to manifest your integritie and dutifull heartes towardes his Maiestie But howsoeuer it be that any suspicion or surmises may spring of any of your wordes or dealinges ye are happy in this that ye retain a good consiēce to testify in for your selues to the ease and ioy of your heartes then the which there cannot be a greater treasure in this life The guiltie man proposing to his vnderstanding the law which he hath broken The guilty cōscience and transgressed and withall the iudgement and paine ensewing the same being rightly concluded and applied to himselfe hath alwayes dreade carefulnes and sorrowe of heart as who might thus argue Thus saith the lawe but thus haue I done and so transgressed the lawe Ergo I stand to bee iudged and condemned by the same as who shoulde saye shall not that iust God deale with me as I haue deserued and shall not I be plagued in the end for my desert offending against the law of God as others haue beene plagued for the like and shoulde I promise vnto my selfe safetie any way in this my guiltinesse Thus argued Adam when he had broken the law of the Lord thus also Cain when he had murthered his brother Thus the brethrē of Ioseph who had abused and solde him away Thus argued Pharao after that he had threatned Moses and Aaron and would not let the people go thus Saul when hee perceiued Davids innocencie and his owne malice against him and thus Achitophel and such like who in the knowledge of their owne sinnes and the sense of the diuine Iustice concluded a iust condemnation on themselues Adam fearing what wold ensewe hid himselfe in the bushes and yet hee coulde not bee safe opposed as it were to the diuine wrath and all miseries and therefore confessed Gen. 4. that hee was naked and was afraide at the sounde of the Lordes voyce Cain confessed that his sinne was greater then that hee coulde bee pardoned and that the punishment thereof shoulde bee farre beyond his habilitie to beare yea hee saide vnto the Lord Beholde thou hast cast mee out this day from the vpper face of the earth and from thy face shall I be hid fugitiue also and a vagabond shall I bee in the earth and it shall come to passe that every one that findeth mee shall slay me * The sonnes of Iacob seeing they could not bee hidden Gen 42.21 confessed at length their sinne against their brother saying we haue verily sinned against him and therefore are we now troubled And againe fearing what Ioseph woulde doe vnto them after his fathers funeralls they in the terror of minde come and beséech him to forget their iniury against him The king of Aegypt at length confessed and saide vnto Moses and Aaron Exod. 6.27 Indeede the Lord is righteous and I and my people are vngodly On the which he would conclude his conscience condemning him Therefore shall both I and my people be plagued Saul in the agonie of his heart slew himselfe with his owne sworde and Achitophel who had béene a Counsaylor and prouoker of Absolon against his Father his owne conscience condemning him went and hanged himselfe Surely of all the torments vnder the Sunne there is none comparable to an euill
conscience which aggrauated by his owne sting or pricke doeth euer accuse condemne and wring mans heart If publique fame neither condemne nor accuse nor suspect yet the guiltie conscience within a mans selfe forceth the same to the vttermost neither can it be that he which liueth faultie shall escape the torment and terror thereof nor therfore can hee be happy in his life be he neuer so rich The comfort of a good conscience so honourable so strong so mightye so glorious in the worlde but blessed is the man that feareth God and walketh in his waies as David the Kinges Father hath modulated For this is that which in the lawe is required of him as the King hath saide This man concludeth to himselfe Ioy and gladnes Iob. 23.3.4.5.6.7 when that which hee hath done shal be well approued by the lawe This cheared Iob in the middest of his afflictions notwithstanding that his wife and his thrée friendes hardly charged him with folly So was Ioseph holde in Aegypt when his integritie cleared him So Moses and Aaron were not discouraged Gen. 40.41 Exod. 10. notwithstanding the threates and hard dealinges of Pharao and thus the Kinges father with a cleare conscieÌ„ce protested before King Saul Behold this daye thine eyes have seene 1 Sam. 24.10 how that the Lord hath delivered thee this daye into mâ—ne hand in the caue and some bad mee to kill thee but I had compassion on thee and saide I will not lay mine handes on my Maister for he is the Lords annoynted c. And this to expresse the innocencie of his heart hee feared not to protest before the Lord in his prayer O Lord my God If I haue done any such thing Psal 7.3.4 or if there bee any wickednes in mine handes If I haue rewarded euill vnto him that dealte srowardly with mee yea I haue deliuered him that without any cause is mine enemy then let mine enemy persecute my soule and take mee Yea let him treade my life downe vpon the earth and lay mine honour in the dust Lastly I cannot but remember that worthie example of Samuel the Lords Prophet who was occasioned through the disobedience of the people before King Saul and them to pleade for himselfe to defende his integritie 1. Sam. 12.3 And thus hee saide with a good conscience and boldnes of Spirit Beholde here I am Beare record of mee before the Lorde and before his Annointed Whose Oxe haue I taken Or whose Asse haue I taken Whome haue I done wrong to Whome haue I hurt or of whose hand haue I receiued any bribe to blinde mine eyes therewith and I will restore it you They said their own conscience prouoking them thou hast done vs no wrong nor hurte neither hast thou takeÌ„ ought of any maÌ„s hand Lo my lords here is ioy gladnes the greatest coÌ„fort in this life for the good Conscience hath with it a thousand witnesses and as many pleaders to testifie for his owners integritie and to defend the same before the throne of Iustice This therefore is the swéetest and most wholsome rest of mans soule the title of Religion the spirituall Temple the blessed field the pleasant gardin the golden peace the Angelicall ioy the holy Arke the Kings treasure the house of the spirit and the glasse wherein a man both séeth ordereth and confirmeth himselfe to the liuely image of his maker Though the flesh oppresse vs the world allure vs the Diuel terrifie vs yet is this treasure safe and sure within vs from all daunger of euill Therefore I hold that in this life there is nothing more pleasant more swéet more profitable and more to be desired and reteyned then a good conscience both towards God and man Wherefore my Lords as ye haue very well done in that ye haue submitted your selues to this present examination and tryal so are ye happy in this that ye are iustified in conscience for hereof ye haue and shall find the highest comfort and gladnesse And now I beséech you to permit me to do as ye haue done The high priest is willing to ease himselfe in shewing forth his integritie with the rest that thereby I may not onely expresse mine owne integritie so cleare my selfe of all offence and suspicion of the same but also reioyce together with you though in the middest of mine affliction for the kinges trouble And that the sooner because whiles I stand an hearer and a iudge of other men in their examination and triall I might not séeme to disdaine mine owne 1. Kings 2.35 Abiather was before this time high priest howbeit his cause and dealing concerning both God and the king came into question before the king and his princes and being found guilty against either in his triall he was worthelie deposed and the priestshood translated Then why should I imagin my selfe frée from censures the rather in respect of my place and why should I not abide the hammering of that which should be obiected against me and my maÌ„ner of procéeding towards God the king and his people And if I shall be found guiltie as Abiather was why should not I be remoued as he was another man put in my place more worthy And now my Lords although I may not say whether in my person or in my ministerie and behauiour wherin I am to prefigure the holy Messiah in his priesthood or whether in that Abiather the priest attended sometimes for me in the kings presence any contempt or abuse hath béene taken or suspected to his highnesse offence yet I know well that for mine owne part I here safelie protest from my conscience before the Lord of heauen and earth and before you all that according to that trust which the kinges father reposed in me when I was to annoint and proclame my Lord King ouer Israel and after that good opinion which the king himselfe conceiued of me in the day when he tooke me to him to be the Lords high priest in the place of Abiather whom he put away I haue performed the first and expressed the second whithout any deceit in the one or iust offence in the other and that after my state and dignitie so farre forth as a mortall man could possibly extend himselfe therein And of this as of my calling I hope ye doubt not Neuerthelesse let me be heard I beséech you a few words concerning both this and that seing that the Priesthood was ordayned to foreshew and signifie the office and dignitie of that highest Priest which is to come as vnto whoÌ„ all the types and shadowes of the law do point it hath beene both prouided and commaunded by the Lord himselfe that the Priest might haue his lawfull calling and therewith not onely in bodie but in habites and ornamentes should be pure holy and glorious in all pointes To the which it was aduised how he should be consecrated what he should doe how he he should liue what wife he
which eyther his owne conceit blameth as too base and vndecent to his honour or his owne conscience condemneth as vniust or his wisedome disliketh as too fond or his diuine spirite abandoneth as impious Iehosophat * Well then quod Iehosophat this being well resolued why should wee further delay Let vs approch howbeit with all the best wisedome and modesty to the consideration of the kings Maiesty Of Solomons progeny and birth As for progenie and birth there is no cause that the kings Maiesty should abase or dislike himselfe for hee is the sonne of worthy Nobles yea Noah hee is descended of the most noble house of that auncient Ianus or Noah Noah to whome the Lord granted to see the end of the old world and the beginning of the new howbeit he came not in by Cham nor by Iaphet Shem. but by Shem whome the Lord especially fauoured and chose to continue the seed of the blessed Abraham vnto the time of Abraham our father by whom and from whome the king is lineally descended neverthelesse not by his sonne Ismael the sonne of Hagar the bonde Isaack but by his sonne Isaack of Sarah the frée woman in whome the hope of the promise rested Againe hee was not of Esau who was iustly depriued both of the birth-right and the blessing Iacob but of Iacob whome the Lord louing and liking called Israel and Israel had many sonnes but the king came onely from Iudah â—udah in whose tribe according to the prophesie of Iacob the Scepter should be raised and a Law-giuer continued vnto the comming of Shilo to whome the people should be gathered From hence was the line drawne to Ishai Ishai and from him to David the Kings father who being a man after Gods owne heart David was according to the diuine prouidence ordained and annointed by Samuel the Lords Prophet before all his brethren to be king ouer his people of Israel whom he defended from their enemies on euery side with a strong and valiant hand fed them with discretion iudged theÌ„ with equitie and righteousnes and raigned ouer them ful 40. yeares to the glory of the Lord and good of his people with great honour Bethseba Sol. mother The kinges mother also was Bethseba the daughter of Eliam of no meane parentage her name soundeth the daughter of an oath or the seuenth daughter She was a right noble wise and vertuous Gentlewoman sometimes the wife of Vriah the Hittite a man of great estimation Indeede it was so that for her sake the king affecting her did iniuriously oppresse her said husband the rather by Ioabs meanes at what time this noble woman eyther doubted or simply thought that it was not lawfull for her husband or her selfe being subiectes to deny any thing which the king should command or desire of them 1. Sam. 8 11. knowing what Samuel the prophet had before that said vnto the people when they required a king what their king might or would do vnto them by his power and authority howbeit the trespasse being pardoned and grace and mercy restored according to the kings true repeÌ„tance and humble praier she feared the Lord God of Israel hearkened to Nathan the Lordes prophet notwithstanding that hee had before reproued the King for his faulte whereby she liued and contained her selfe with King David in all godly behauiour and high honour during her life This Noble Lady in many thinges both aided and comforted the King her husband and did not onely beare and bring foorth but also educated brought vp and nurtoured our Lord King Solomon in all such princely and diuine vertues to her power as did best beséeme him that should succeede King David in the happy kingdome of Israel as she had well learned and considered thereof by the inspiration of the diuine Spirit and the instruction of the Lordes Prophet that it was appointed and ordained by the Lord that this Solomon before all Davids other Sonnes should raigne ouer the kingdome of Israel after him Therefore shee diligently endeuored with the King the performance thereof as we sée it is brought to passe this day to the great ioy and comfort of the Lordes inheritance This therefore the young Quéene did gratefully remember at the time of the kinges marriage ascribing vnto her in the great solemnitie the chiefe cause next vnto God of his royall preferment saying to the daughters of Syon Go ye forth I pray you Cant. 3.10 and behold King Solomon in the Crowne wherewith his Mother hath crowned him in this day of his marriage and in the day of the gladnes of his heart And therefore also the king himselfe in the highest of his glory neither disdained nor omitted to commend her her excelleÌ„t vertues before vs al yea and vnder the same hath depainted and set forth not onely an holy and vertous Woman but also the holy Church the which also in his temple with the rich ornaments thereof he prefigured And thereof hath made an Alephabethical Encomion in these words pro. 31 Who so findeth an honest faithful womaÌ„ she is much more worth theÌ„ pearls the heart of her husbaÌ„d may safely trust in her so that he shall fall into no poverty She wil do him good not evil al the dais of her life c. A womaÌ„ that feareth the Lord shal be praised Giue her of the fruit of her hands and let her own workes praise her in the gates These things the king hath ruminated and vttered with great grauity as worthy the memory and imitation therefore wee also haue thought good to note and affixe the same to his wise prouerbs and Parables * Now with this let vs not forget The time of Sol. birth but carefully note and remember the rather to preuent the occasions of euill surmises that the king was neither borne nor begotten nor conceiued in the time of the trespasse and disgrace of his Parents but after the time that the Lord in mercy had pardoned them both and put away their sinnes vpon repentance and prayer 2. Sam. 12.13 of the which pardon the Lord certified him to the ioy and ease of their heartes by the prophet Nathan when also that was brought to passe and verified which David had with teares desired and with faith hoped to obtaine Thou shalt purge me said he with Isope and I shall be cleane thou shalt wash me I shall be whiter then snowe psal 51. Thou shalt make me to heare of ioy and gladnes that the boanes which thou hast broken may reioce For the which also he dewly blessed the Lord and in his thanksgiuing saide O Lord thou hast pardoned all mine iniquities and healed all mine infirmities psal 103. Finally the Lord himselfe to this his pleasure gaue testimony when he did not onely accept his sacrifices and burnt offeringes but also promised to set vp of his Seede after him vpon the throne of the
kingdome of Israel and that also not Absolon nor Adoniah nor Amnon nor any other of Davids sonnes begotten and borne before this time but only Solomon his sonne borne of Bethseba after the pardon granted him should build an house for his name vnto whō he would be as a father to his sonne * Al these things the princes gladly heard to the same subscribed most willingly knowing well both the truth of the kinges petigree and the honour of his noble birth zabud And thereupon spake Zabud and said It séemeth good to me The seuerall names of the King that with this which hath beene saide wée regard those titles and names by the which it pleased the Lord that the king should be called knowne and honoured the which truly haue not bin imposed rashly as many which giue names without respect of the Natures dignity or qualityes of the persons but with great wisedome iudgement and prouidence as were those names of Adam Havah Noah Abraham Lot Abel Sarah Isaack Israel Samuel David and such other which haue had their approbation from the Lord and expressed or taught or remembred some worthy thing In this sort the King hath had and enioyed fiue particular names and names of honor two of the which were imposed by the Lord himselfe the third by Nathan the fourth by his Mother and the last hée resumed by th'approbation of his Lordes In or concerning any of the which names he hath no cause ministred him to be displeased except onely in this that he hath tried himselfe bring a mortall man not answerable in all points to the same knowing it a thing most ridiculous for any person whatsoeuer to bee noted or called by such a title or name of the which hee shal bee found most vnworthy For the first we haue it recorded what the Lord God said to David concerning him he shal be my sonne Secondly he said againe touching him his name is Solomon 2 Sam 7.14 1. Chro. 22.9 Thirdly the prophet Nathan called him Iedid-iah The sonne of God Fourthly his Mother called him Laemuel and fifthly he is called Koheleh In that he is called the Sonne of God and that by God himselfe it giueth vs to consider in him somewhat beyond that which is found to be in other men For they are not of the common sort to whome the Lord vouchsafeth this high title Such are they which resembling the holy Angels haue not only the brightnes of the diuine glory apparāt in them but also are euer willing and ready to execute his pleasure In that he is called Solomō 2. Solomon it noteth the peace of his gouernmēt ouer Gods people according to the reason which the Lord added saying he shal be a man of rest and I will send peace and rest vpon Israel in his dayes In the third name the prophet would expresse not only the loue of God vnto him 3. Iedid-iah but also the loue of God his diuine graces in him to the which alluded the Arabian Quéene at her being here when shee said blessed be the Lord thy God which loued thee hath set thee on the throne of Israel In the fourth his Mother beeing a wise and rare Princesse 4. Laemuel 5. Coheleth woulde by that name signifie the glory of God in him and by him in the people In the last is testified the diligence and desier that the king hath not onely to search out and gather together for his owne further instruction the auntient monuments and holy bookes but also a people vnto the Lord to bee instructed and taught in the holy Religion for the glory of God and their owne health Teaching withall what should be the desier of all Princes in their places namely in this sort to tend to the end of their gouernment and rule Therefore finding rather an honour then an ignomy to grow from hence vnto the king Wee say as the kings daughter said in that excellent song Thy name is a sweet smelling oyntment when it is powred foorth Therefore do the virgins love thee CAP. X. Of Solomons person and estate forme beauty education wisedome c. wherof the cause of his griefe could not rise THen stoode foorth Ahishar and saide Truely my Lordes whatsoeuer hath beene here produced and spoken in the premisses maketh very much euery way for the kings honour and estimation Ahishar and therfore I perceiue not what shoulde thereof be gathered to offende him Neither can I finde any thing worthie dislike in any other points which concerne either his person or his estate for his forme and beautie his education his wisdome his iudgements his words his riches his works his peace his orders of house his pleasures his power his marriage his blessinges his fame his glory c. the king is most excellēt Solomon his beautie Homer singularly renowned as al men wil confes I remēber that looking on a certaine Booke of the Poet Melesigenes who liued and wrote in the time of our iudges among the Greekes I found where he had giuen an exceeding high praise to the forme and beautie of Priamus the Troyan Priamus the which in him as he saide was wel worthy a kingdome so faire was he The same Poet hath also spoken largely of one Nireus Nireus being the fairest of all them which came to Priamus his Pallace though hee had scarcely any worthy quality either of body or mind And in our own Records we haue the praise of the form and beauty of Saul the sonne of Cis whom Samuel annointed King ouer Israel Saul 1. Sam 9.2 that he was a goodly youngman and faire So that among the chidren of Israel there was none goodlier then he from the shoulders vpward he was higher then all the other people And we here present for the most part can say much of Absolon the kinges brother namely that in his time there was none in all Israel so much to bee praised for beautie Absolon 2. Sam. 14.25 from the seale of his foote to the top of his head there was no blemish in him And had his qualities beene to the same correspondent oh God how glorious might he haue beene And further we finde that Ioseph and Moses and Aaron and David haue beene praised in this respect But yet beyond them all looking with iudgement on our Lord the King and seeing howbewty is displayed in his royal person we cannot but acknowledge that for truth which the kings father said to him when he beheld him in his beautye Farre fairer then the sonnes of men art thou Cant. 5.9 Although all these things did properly belōg so were to be referred to the holy Messiah yet were they first spoken as of Solomon who in his person prefigured him as it is more fully declared hereafter And this the noble Princesse considered and sung of him He is both white ruddy the chiefest of thousands ten His head is as fine gold his
Kinges Mother and Nathan that Adoniah had proudly vsurped and that this Solomon his beloued sonne and choson heire apparant was to bee taken for a sinner in Adoniah his sight contrary to the Kinges promise made and confirmed by an oath to Bethseba and NathaÌ„ in that behalfe David was very highly displeased with Adoniah and sware againe vnto Bethseba saying 1 King 1.29 As the Lorde liveth who hath redeemed my soule out of al adversity that as I sware vnto thee by the Lord God of Israel saying assuredly Solomon thy sonne shall raigne after me and he shall sit upon my throne in my place so will I certainly do this day Whereupon King David commanded mee and Nathan the Lordes prophet to annoint his sonne Solomon King ouer Israel euen whiles that David liued the which wee both faithfully performed Wherat David then greatly reioiced and praised the Lord vpon his bedde and he said Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who hath made one to sit on my throne this day even in my sight Therefore this thing being so diuinely prouided and handled in al pointes so directly no man may iustly reproue it neither may the King in the due consideration thereof now in his elder daies either repent thereof or be touched with sorrowe in his heart Nor may wee otherwise thinke but that the Lord of Israel louing well his people hath set our Lord the King on the seate of his Father to do equity and righteousnes in the same 1 King 10. Solomons proceeâ—ings against Adoniah as the noble Queene of Sheba at her beeing heere right worthily testified and as a prophitesse in that behalfe blessed the Lord and the King in the same Moreouer I haue not found that my Lord the king hath merited blame or dislike in any his dealinges touching his said brother Adoniah who had so vniustly exalted himselfe as an Eagle in the clouds of heauen against his honour for truly contrary to the wonted vse of worldly Princes and potentates which cannot easily permit or beare a coÌ„petitor of the kingdome he did not rashly or seuerely execute displeasure of Adoniah but being perfect wise of a most royal heart and of noble Lyons nature perceiuing him to stand infeare of him to submit himselfe to his gratious mercy on the grouÌ„d he gladly pardoned him with this saying that not so much as one haire of his head shoulde fall to the earth if he would thenceforth shew himselfe a worthie man and so commanded him to goe to his house in peace and to rest himselfe so long as wickednes might not be found in him No doubt the king remembred that worthy example of Ioseph so ful of piety who notwithstaÌ„ding the great iniury his brethren had done him Gen. 50.20 did vpon their submission and request forgiue and forget all yea he was so farre from reuenging that iniury that he said fear not now will I nourish you and your children and he comforted them and spake kindly vnto them * Thus farre procéeded Zadoke Benaiah and then Benaiah because he was not onely an eye witnesse but also an actor therin stood forth said And al this do I perfectly remeÌ„ber being especially called appointed by king David together with your reuerence and Nathan the Prophet to deale for the king in those high matters the which I doubt not but NathaÌ„ would also confirme if he were present and therein commend and praise that noble magnanimity ano rare clemency of the king extended towardes his capitall enemy at such his entraÌ„ce into the kingdome when as beeing not yet so perfectly setled scarcely knowing his friendes from his foes hee might rather haue feared the euent of such a dangerous manumission pardon Solomon was not willing to revenge an iniury It appeared that the gratious king was not only glad to pardoÌ„ him which had submitted himselfe and promised obedieÌ„ce but also carefull to eschew all colour or suspicion of tyranny or cruell dealing euen to an aduersary Some Princes and mightie persons in such cases are seuere persecutors euen to the death of them which haue neuer so little offended them although neither they haue nor can possibly hurt them and such as the king well knoweth are more hurtfull to their owne territories then the brute creatures are to such as neuer hurt or annoied them The Dolphin Fish Wee find of the Sea-Dolphins of whose nature the king hath spoken among other beastes and Fishes that if perchance they find a dead man in the seas they feele by the smell of him whether hee hath euer eaten of Dolphin Fish the which if at any time he hath then they deuoure him if not then they defend him from the biting of all other Fishes and bring him to the shoare as it were to his funeralles in the earth Lo although theis Sea-beasts doe by nature reuenge any iniurie yet are they farre off from the persecuting of him that neuer hurt or annoyed them howbeit such is mans cruelty and commonly the vse of mighty persons that they persecute and hurt them grieuously of whome they neuer receiued nor are like to receiue any dammage at all Wherein they righgtly resemble the wolfe which quarrelled with the Lambe and tooke an occasion to kill and deuour him because he drank beneath him in the riuer But as I said albeit it had beene but a iust thing in the king to haue reuenged that iniury yet was hee more mercifull and gentle to his foes to whome in steede of death deserued zadoke hee pardoned and them preserued * Yee haue well saide quod Zadoke and thus shoulde Adoniah haue well remembred and considered accordingly and not haue attempted further matter to prouoke the Kings displeasure and turne mercy into iustice against his owne life But seeing that hee woulde not continue thankefull vnto his Grace but renewe his old malice and thereby worke to supplant the Lordes Annointed I see no reason why the King shoulde further spare him to the danger of his own safetie Therefore I verily belieue that the king hath hath not offended either against God or the lawe in that hee afterward perceiuing the wickednes and ambitious practises of Adoniah Benaiah did cause him to bee rewarded with death And well worthie said Benaiah for notwithstanding the King had most gratiously pardoned him and charged him thereon in my hearing to bee conteyned within his owne house hee yet presumed too boldely to come foorth and most malepertly to rush into the Queenes Chamber after Davids death in such sorte that shee was therewith wonderfully afraide of him neither coulde shee easily bee perswaded that hee beeing her mortal enemy though now subdued would either wish her well or entend her any good For as enemies are not to bee trusted notwithstanding their faire faces and wordes so beyond others had she a great cause to doubt of Adoniah who as she wel knew bare her a deadly hatred for that by her means
or willingnes he had to obey the kinges commandement as those men of Belial which forbeare to sinne openly more for feare of the rod of Iustice then for any loue or reuerence of godly vertues Moreouer Shemei might haue considered as hee was subtle and craftie enough that men suspected are euer obserued and therefore such should be very heedfull not onely of committing the fact but of all pretence and shew of that which is euill Howbeit as he that is euill by nature doth euer presume in his euill without the reuerent feare of either God or man How Shemei was brought into the snare in his time as one garded secured in the foolish conceit of his own humor so Shemei either forgetting or little regarding any of those thinges premised passed foorth of Ierusalem the place wherein he was commanded to stay and went to Geth to Achis pretending to seeke for and to fetch home two of his Seruantes which were some little time before that runne away from him In the which presumption he could not escape a vehement suspicion of practising some lewd matters with the Philistines against the peace and gouernment of the king whome hee euer envied and closely assaied to reduce the kingdome from the house of David which the Lord God had chosen vnto the posterity of Saul whom the Lord had reiected But behold whiles Shemei went forth in his greedy ambition to finde and fetch home his seruants he lost and ouerthrew himselfe For thus by the diuine preuidence which holdeth them not guiltlesse that either touch his annointed or curse and maligne their father mother howsoeuer the seruants of Shemei faulted in their going from him and he had a iust pretence to reclaime them an occasion was rightly ministred in this time of his iudgement to cast him as guiltie into the kinges danger as whereby the king might euen in this though vpon a fresh occasion perform the word of his father David administer true iudgement and yeeld that deserued recompence to that rebellious beast Now my Lords it is apparant as ye see that Shemei though a person of great place could neither be iustified nor defended in such his impieties for why to recapitulate his crimes he was most proud and malitious a rayler seditious perfidious an infringer of oath a lyar and a couetous wretch for hauing wealth beyond his worthines he was thereof puffed vp both against God and his Soueraign enuying the regimēt of David and his prosperitie he cursed the Lords annointed with a most horrible curse against the law and the equitie of the kings cause he moved the people to rebellion against David and his house from whome hee assaide to translate the Scepter he was vntrustie and treacherous to his Lorde whome with all faithfulnesse hee shoulde haue serued in discharge of his duetie Hee had broken his oathe which hee had made to God and the King departing most presumptuouslye from the Cittie of Ierusalem wherein hee had vowed to contain himselfe Hee had scandalized the Lordes annointed most egregiouslye and more hee regarded his owne priuate lucre and gaine in fetching home his Seruantes which were departed and drawing thinges vnlawfully to himselfe then the kings manifest and expresse commandement and therfore in respect of th' one he too boldly transgressed the other Wherefore the king sitting in the seate of the Lord gaue vpon him most iustly the sentence of death and withall commanded me the captaine of his gard to execute the same accordingly whereof the king in my iudgement or any other his true subiects neede not to be sory or displeased To this the Princes answered with one mouth And truly in our iudgements as the king being most wise hath done iust iudgemēt therein so shold he not only be iustified but also commended for the same of as many as either heare or consider thereof Thus indeed hath K. Solomon rightly recompenced his dangerous enemies by the prouidence help of the power diuine For doubtles this is the Lords doing who loueth righteousnes and hateth iniquity as the kings father did sing therfore as he defendeth the iust that feare him in their iustice Psal 45. so he ouertaketh the vngodly that dishonour his high maiestie in their mischieuous deuises and casteth them downe Thus the cankred old serpent whiles he purposed and had subtly plotted not only to deceiue but to destroy that noble mankind in Paradise was by Gods vpright iudgement worthily condemned to the deepest hell and so the blessed Seede of the Woman whom hee had beguiled and thought to kill did in the end confounde both him and his kingdome To this might we adde the tragecall examples of enuious Cain whō the Lord God execrated exiled from the earth for his savage villany against his brother being a righteous man Also of that proud and tyrannous Codorlaomor and those other profane princes which had captiued iust Lot which princes therefore our Father Abraham worthily smote and discomfited of hard hearted Pharao and those cruel Aegyptians who were ouerwhelmed in the red-sea when they verily presumed to haue subdued and vtterly rooted out our fathers Of those cursed Chananites whom the Lord prostrated to the powerfull hand of his seruant Iosuah of the peruerse and hateful Philistines whom Sampson the Nazarite plagued in the spirit of Iehovah of the mōstrous Goliah the Gyant of Geth whom the kinegs father being yet but a yong man and tender slew cut off his head with his own sword of vnnaturall Absolō the kings elder brother who had practised to supplant his father being lawful king who by the iust vengeance from the highest was hanged on a trée by the hair of his head as he rode throgh the woods and beyond some others th' example of that trecherous and rebellious Achitophel a chiefe Counsailor of Absolon is yet fresh in memory who seeing that his crafty and impious counsell was not affected to his desier strangled himselfe with his owne handes Many more fearefull spectacles of the semblable iudgements wee find extant not onely with vs within those his highnes dominions but els where among the Gentiles and euery where to the terror and astonishment of the Sonnes of men but yet to the consolation and vnspeakable ioy of the righteous Wherein is verified that which the kings father hath modulated in his holy songes The wicked haue I seene most strong and plac'd in high degree In wealth and stoare faire florishing much like the lawrell tree But sodainly he past him hence and prisoned was in hell Nor could I find within a whiles the place where he did dwell But as for iust and perfect men the Lord them doth encrease Who have from him them to content great ioy with rest and peace Againe the Lord protects the iust his wealth his life his lot When wicked men are dawnted with the shaftes themselves had shot Oh blessed therefore Godly men preseru'd by God your King But woe yee wicked in your
waies your lot and euery thing The King himselfe in his most graue and high Parables hath many thinges of this argument to be noted as also in and among those patheticall speeches which we dayly heare him to ruminate Neither in truth are the heathen and those which are without free of semblable exāples which schooled them to learne what that is which the highest God loueth and what he most abhorreth Among the which it may not iustly offend either ourselues or our Religion and people that we remember one other graue sentence of the same Gréeke poet who liuing in the time of our Iudges and obseruing many things of those daies in the world whereof he also wrote of great distructions of Kings Princes noble Captaines and mightie Potentates with the causes of the same we find that in the worke whereof he tels of the wandrings of the famous Vlisses he hath these wordes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is In truth all godlesse deeds are nought estem'd with God above But rightfull heastes and godlie workes of goodmen doth he love And eke his foes and wicked wreatches which on earth here live By others spoile at length a pray to iust men doth he give And in this manner Iehovah our God confounded the kinges aduersaries establishing the kingdome in his hand according to that promise made by him to David in the time of his grace The ready way how to preserue Peace Neither did his method of proceeding vnworthelie beseeme him notwithstanding his name noteth Peace or a Peaceable person seing it behoued him for the purchase of true peace to extinguish the Seditious and broachers of vnnecessarie wars a thing no lesse necessary thē that part of his office which concerneth his gouerment to and for the which his father king David counsailed and sang as before Gird thee with thy sword vpon thy thigh psal 45. O thou most mightie Againe seing that al thinges are in vaine which are attempted without an happie successe the which is a singular gift of God and of him to be desired he added Prosper thou in thine Honour And all this wel-beséemed the king to whome the Lord hath granted rest for the building of his house Solomons name therefore hath named him Solomon This being saide the Princes with one accord approued the kings iudgements and orderlie proceedinges in the premisses praysed his royall maiestie in the same blessed the God of Israel that had placed ouer his people so prudent and happie a king and humbly beseeched the most holie of Israel for his graces happy health and wished prosperitie CHAP. XIV The cause of king Solomon his griefe was not of his match with the daughter of Pharao 2 Nor of his amitie with Hyram the King of Tyre 3 Nor of that he royally entertained the Queene of Sheba 4 Nor of his owne infirmitie of age 5 Nor of the feare of death IT cannot be denied said Iehosophat but that our soueraigne Lord Solomō hath done equity and righteousnes in his procéedings and actions tending therin to the end of his gouerment for his own discharge the good of his people and aboue all the honour of Iehovah his God who for the same be praysed for euermore But now the question is and the matter argued augmented and caried from mouth to mouth among the kings Subiects for of this the kinges alteration many men talke diuersly and imagin many thinges whether the king hath iustlie offended in his match with the daughter of king Pharao the Egyptian whom he brought into the cittie of David And here they call to minde not onely what the law hath prouided in this case but that which the Patriarch Isaack hath charged to Iacob touching the daughters of Canaan which he would not that he should touch Iud. 14.3 as also what Manoah and his godlie wife spake to their sonne Sampson the Nazarite when he would haue taken a wife from among the vncircumcised Philistines Howbeit I doubt not but that the king being passing wise and prudent knoweth well how to disgest that morsell and to resolue that doubt Moreouer it is not vnknowne vnto vs that albeit this Princesse was a stranger vnto vs and our Religion whiles shee remained at her fathers house in Egypt yet as she was not of the brood of those cankered hearted Chananites nations which the Lord willed our Fathers to expell and roote out so would not the king aduenture either to touch her or to bring her into his owne house although she was both a noble and beautifull Ladie till time that was done and performed on her Deu. 21.13 which the Law in that case prescribeth but cheifely as she had forsaken her owne people and her fathers house thē polluted with many abominations so turned she to the Lord God of Israel with al her heart for the loue she had both to him and his holie Religion And truelie this is also well obserued that as Rahab of Ierico a belieuing woman and conuert was both admitted and esteemed of the nomber of the true Israelites in the dayes by the wisdom of valiant Iosuah and as Ruth the Moabitish woman was married to Booz king Davids Grandfather and as king David himselfe refused not faire Thamar whome he had gotten in the warres and as other our forefathers haue not abāndoned such womē vpō their true conuersiō to the Lord so neither we abhor such as admit circumcition faithfully serue the true God notwithstanding they be of the Gentiles knowing or at the least presuming that the Lord God hath euen among them some that are his people also that the starre which Balaam somtime saw might lighten them in their due time as we are lightned and that shall be then whē the praier of Noah shall be both heard and effected wherein he desired the Lord to enlarge the tentes of Iaphet to seise him in the tentes of Shem to whom he would that Shanan should be a seruant Now the king in this regard would often say of this Ladie psal 45. The daughter of the king is beautifull within her garments are of beaten gold And herselfe although time was she could say of herselfe I am but blacke O ye daughters of Hierusalem for whie Cant. 4.1 the Sun hath shined vpon mine head yet now hauing no meane pleasure in her beautie Cant 4.1 he could iustlie commend her to her face saying thus How faire art thou my loue how faire art thou thou hast Doues eyes besides that which within thee lieth hidden Wherein doubtlesse as he hath made her a liuelie figure of the church of God to be gathered of and among the Gentiles in time to come so sheweth he what is and shall bee the glorie of the same and wherein the praise thereof consisteth therefore to declare the Lordes good pleasure therein we haue both heard
polluted with any strange Gods when as they came to Bethel to sacrifice vnto Iehovah and should then king Solomon not only permit those horrible Idolatries and loathsome superstitions of Idols but also exhibit them maintenance in the same that follow such thinges so neare the Temple and the holy Cittie of God This thing is not hidden from the Lord who seeth and wil be auenged on the same Howbeit the King most vnhappily doting on those profane women his wiues and concubines which are now reuolted from the Lord and his religion and turned backe vnto their fathers and their Gods hath beene contented to conniue and beare with them in such their abhominations euen before his face and in the open sight of the Lorde people yea and rather then he would diuorce them or deny them or reproue them or correct them or displease them therein as he might haue don and indeede should haue done in this case he hath both appointed and commaunded many great summes of mony and treasure to be paied and giuen forth from his owne treasurie both to the building of certaine houses and places for such their Gods and also for the daily maintenance of their seruices in the same Therof it is before al other things that Iehovah his God is prouoked and waxen angry with him with vs and his people and hath thereon not omitted to threaten him and vs with many mighty plagues and punishments to ensew yea such as neither he we nor our posteritie shal be able to beare thereof as I vnderstand the Lord hath lately spoken by his prophet and messenger vnto the King himselfe saying Forasmuch as this thing is done of thee and thou hast not kept mine appointment and my statutes which I commanded thee 1. King 11.11 I will rent the kingdome from thee and wil giue it to thy Seruant Notwithstanding in thy dayes I will not do it because of David thy Father but I will take it from the hand of thy sonne Howbeit I will not take away all the kingdome but will giue one Tribe to thy Sonne because of David my Seruant and because of Ierusalem which I haue chosen Now here I call to remembrance what the Lorde our God hath resolued in such a case by the consideration of his words once spoken to Eli the Priest in the daies of our iudges 1. Sam. 2.25 I will worship them saith he that worship me but they which despise me shall come to shame Moreouer I remember what the King himselfe hath said in his wise Prouerbs The turning away of the vnwise shall hasten his owne destruction And well I wot therefore that of all the creatures in the world pro. 1.32 the impious and wicked person is most vnhappy that not only in respect of his sinnes and condition of life but in regard of his end and conclusion for as the end of much eating is sicknes the end of pleasure is paine the end of this life is death and corruption so the end of the Sinner is extreame anguish and miserie both in this worlde and after his death For being iustly sequestred from the societie of the Saintes and so shut out from the diuine protection he is euen whiles he liueth molested with an vnquiet conscience an aking heart feareful cogitations and dreames and many afflictions both of body and mind the hand of God being streatched foorth against him from aboue and the instrumentes of wrath tormenting him from beneath Finally this life finished hee broyles and toyles in bitter tormentes for euer more In the which he may be compared to those flying fishes which being in the waters are persecuted by other fishes for their pray springing vp with their finnes into the aire they are followed and deuoured of the cormorants and Sea-meawes or to that bird which being on the ground is hunted by dogs and flying aboue the earth is taken by the vultures for true it is that the man of impietie and sinne hath neither peace nor safety either in this world or in the world to come This thing the kings father well knew and considered of in the depth of his heart therfore when he was remembred of his transgressions and faults by Nathan and by Gad the Lordes prophets and messengers to him in that respect feeling the true sense of Gods angry coūtenance iustly bent against him and his people for the same the perilous estate both of himselfe and his dominions by and by although a chosen magnanimious puissant and valorous minded King comming to answere before the highest God hee sodainly cast himselfe downe to the earth as a base caitiffe hee repented him of his sinnes and in the fearefull agony of his afflicted soule he cried out I have sinned I haue sinned Mercy Lord mercye nor would be leaue off crying and repenting nor any otherwise estéeme of himselfe then a sinfull guilty and condemned wretch vntill he perceiued that the Lord was willing to be appeazed and of his mercie to turne his gratious face towards him as in times past resembling the bird of Paradise which beeing taken in a snare is neuer quiet nor leaueth crying and flittering till time he either dye or be deliuered And thus behoveth it our Lord the King to esteeme of himselfe vnder those his transgressions this to respect and the same to performe which in this desperate and dangerous case is the best counsail we may giue him for remedy and ease For surely surely God being thus prouoked and that iustly he will not be appeazed nor will he surcease to streatch forth his hand of iustice against him so offending vntill that he meekly acknowledge his offences before him repent and seeke him with sorrow and singlenes of heart as we may see in th'examples of our forefathers both in the wildernes vnder the conduct of Moses and Aaron and in this land vnder the gouernment of our wise and valiant Iudges Now my Lords hereof is it that Iehovah our God being most iustly displeased with our Lord the King hee hath in iustice stirred vp and prouoked against him besides the two former enemies which much troubled him that Ieroboam who thirsting for the soueraignity of Israel now especially opposeth himselfe in might and policie against the King Neither may wee thinke but howsoeuer those persons especially Ieroboam are maliciously bent and prouoked against the king and his gouernment The kings enemies are the very instruments of Gods wrath appointed to vex the king and his people and do of themselues little respect or consider the prouidence and working of the most high in this his displeasure that yet they be the very instruments and ministers of Gods iudgements as those other aduersaries of Israel haue beene in the times past against our fathers when as they forgetting God did rebell against him and his holy servants And therefore the onely way to resist them is not the wisedome power policie or arme of man but the grace of our mercifull
was annointed King in the place of David his Father did sit on his throne by his fathers goodwill The charge that David gave to his sonne Solomō 1. King 2. aduise consent and direction David seeing the day to draw neare that he shold rest with his fathers he called Solomon and charged him saying I go the way of all the earth be thou strong therefore shew thy selfe a man keepe thou the watch of Iehovah thy God that thou walke in his wayes keepe his statutes and precepts his iudgements his testimonies as it is written in the law of Moses that thou maist prosper in all that thou doest in every thing that thou medlest withall That the Lord also may make good his word which he spake vnto me saying If thy children take heed to their waies that they walk before mee in truth withall their hearts withall their soules thou shalt not be without a man on the seate of Israel And all this the kings Father tooke from that holy Oracle which Nathan had before that time brought him Wherein the Lorde had certified David 2. Sam. 7. that Solomon his sonne should build an house for his name and hee saide he shall build an house for my name I will establish the throne of his kingdome for ever I wil be his father he shal be my sonne And if hee sinne I will chasten him with the rod of men with the plagues of the children of men but my mercy shall not depart away from him as I tooke it from Saul whome I have put away before thee And thine house shal be established thy kingdome for ever before thee even thy throne shal be established for ever * After this I find it recorded againe that the Lord appeared in Gibeon to King Solomon in a dreame by night Whiles he yet walked in the ordinances and waies of David his Father And the Lord said Aske what I shall give thee the King said Thou hast shewed vnto thy servant David my father great mercy when he walked before thee in truth 1. King 3.5 How David walked with God in righteousnes in plainnes of heart with thee And thou hast kept for him this great mercy that thou hast givē him a son to sit on his seat as it is come to passe this day And now O Lord my God it is thou that hast made thy servant King in steed of David my Father And I am but yong wot not how to go out in And thy servāt is in the middest of thy people which thou hast chosen verily the people are so many that they cannot be tolde nor numbered for multitude Solomons request Give therfore thy servant an vnderstanding heart to iudge thy people that I may discerne betweene good evill For who it able to iudge this so mighty a people And this pleased the Lord well that Solomō had desired this thing Therefore God said vnto him because thou hast asked this thing hast not asked for thy selfe long life neither hast asked riches for thy selfe nor hast asked the life of thine enemies but hast asked for thy selfe vnderstāding discretion in iudgement beheld I have done according to thy wordes Lo I have given thee a wise vnderstāding heart The Lorde granted him his request moreover of his louing mercies so that there hath beene none like thee before thee neither after thee shull any arise like vnto thee And I have givē thee that which thou hast not asked evē riches honour so that there shal be no King like vnto thee in al thy daies * And if thou wilt walke in my waies to keep mine ordinances my commandements as thy father David did walke I wil prolōg thy dayes c. Againe I find it recorded that when the King had builded the Temple and had prayed to the Lord that it would please him to sanctify the same for his name c. 1. King 9.2 The Lorde appeared vnto him the second time and said I have heard thy praier thine intercession that thou hast made before mee For I have hallowed this house which thou hast built to put my name there for ever And if thou wilt walke before mee as David thy father walked in purenes of heart in righteousnes to do all that I have commanded thee wilt keepe my statutes my lawes then will I stablish the seate of thy kingdome vpon Israel for ever as I have promised to David thy father saying Thou shalt not be without a man vpon the seate of Israel zadoke sheweth how gratious the Lord hath beene to Solomon and his people 1. King 10. To what end God giveth good princes * Lo said Zadok ye see how gratious the Lord our God hath shewed himselfe to the King and by him vnto the people of Israel whom the Lord hath chosen and to whome therefore it was his pleasure to giue vs such a King as the Queen of Saba in the due consideration thereof said for godly kings are adorned and giuen of the Lorde for the prosperity and peace of them whome his grace loueth And as by him they raigne so is hee carefull to defend them from euil and to leade them foorth in all goodnes by his wisedome and prouidence Moreouer this is an especiall grace of God bestowed on such Princes For without this the wisest man liuing can neither follow the good nor eschew the euill in this flattering and guilefull world * But read on gentle Iehosophat Is there not somwhat els Yes quod Iehosophat and thus the Lorde added on the contrary part But if ye your children turne away from me will not keepe my commandements my statutes A commination on the Apostates and disobedient 1. King 9.6 which I have set before you but go serve other Gods worship them then will I weed Israel out of the land which I have given them this house which I have hallowed for my name will I cast out of my sight Israel shal be a proverb fable among all nations this house shall be takē away so that every one that passeth by it shal be astonished shal hisse they shal say why hath the Lord don thus vnto this land to this house they shal answere because they forsooke the Lord their God which brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt have taken hold vpon other Gods have worshipped them and served them therefore hath the Lorde brought vpon them all this evill * Then aunswered Zadoke ye haue reade enough of this Argument Loe my Lordes as in the former member the Lorde hath declared his diuine loue and great mercies both to the King and his people and generally to all them that belieue in him and walk in his waies so in this latter he sheweth how much he hateth and abhorreth them that apostate from him follow after other
hope to come and at his comming loue and embrace as the onely person in and through whome the diuine Iustice is satisfied the heauenly will fulfilled the Serpent and all his fiery darts quenched and mankind pardoned healed recouered and blessed for euer Now this being said as an introduction to that which followeth we will come to speak of our Soueraign Lord K. Solomon whom I trust to proue and declare a Saint of the Lord and a right worthy member in his Church and so consequently no reprobate nor prophane nor damned person for if the former be proued wee shall by the same easily cleare him of the latter as before I haue said The Princes at this word seemed much comforted and shewed their willingnes yet further to heare what Zadoke would say For this saide they shall not onely please and satisfy vs but all others aswell they which now liue as they which shall come after vs. Therefore proceede most reuerend Father to proue that which ye haue assumed for the king And we will gladly giue both an attentiue eare vnto your words and vnto you condigne thankes CHAP XXVI Zadoke preveth that K. Solomon is a Saint of the Lord. THen Zadok proceeded reasoned for the King saying Whosoeuer is made and ordained by the will wisedome and providence of God a most lively and excellent figure of that holy Messiah the sonne of God the same is not a damned or reprobate or prophane person but he is a Sainct of the Lord But our Lord King Solomon is made and ordained by the will wisedom and providence of God a most lively and excellent figure of that holy Messiah the sunne of God Therefore our Lord K. Solomon is not a damned reprobate or prophane person but he is a Saint of the Lord. Now although no man may iustly deny either the first or the second proposition in any thing whatsoeuer yet as I perceiue ye are willing to listen ye shall heare mee to declare and proue either and so concludet or the King Surely my Lords it were not onely a great absurdity to hold it but an horrible thing to imagine that the most holy Messiah the sonne of the everlasting God that bright morning Starre that right holy Seede that high diuine Priest that excellent prophet and king of Glory so well resembling the almighty in holines beauty and in all perfection should be prefigured and declared by a prophane and vnholy person and that the excellency of his high dignity and royall gouernment should be typed by any thing common or vncleane Neither haue we found such inequalities in the proportions of the law of the Prophets and holy writings especially touching the promised and expected Messiah But this we finde that as the best things be best figured and declared in and by that which is most like or neere in nature kinde and qualitie so is the dignity person and function of the most holy Messiah prefigured and foreshewed according to the wisdome and prouidence of the Almighty where the types agree well with the things typed Therefore it was commanded in the lawe that the Lambes which were taken for the sacrifices should be cleane without all blemishes Exod. 12.5 Gen. 4.4 Aaron a figure of Messiah Exod. 28.30 Levit. 8. 21.6.18 as such as Habel offered vp to the Lord of the best of his flocks Therefore Aaron the Lords Priest who in his body prefigured the body of Messiah and in his garments expressed the excellency and perfection of his graces and vertues was a person without defectes or blemishes of body and glorious in his beautifull ornamentes according to the commandement the which also my selfe being the present high Priest am holden to retaine and vse and the which for that Abiather my predecessor vsed not but abused he was iustly depriued Moses also who brought our fathers out of the house of bondage and the same whome that prophet should resemble was a man welbeloued of God wel learned sanctifyed and made like vnto him in the glory of his Angels Likewise the Captaine Iosuah whome the Lorde appointed enabled to lead our fathers into this promised land was a man full of the spirit of wisedome the Lord his God both strēgthned and encouraged him whereby hee might be made a meete figure of the true Iehosuah our leader and guide into the land of the liuing To bee briefe David the Kings father who in his time bare an excellent figure of that Messiah both in his annointing nature raigne exaltation and humiliation was a man after Gods owne heart and euery way furnished with divine graces and right princely vertues meete for the same The like may be said of our forefathers Adam Enoch Noah Abraham Isaack Iacob Ioseph Sampson the Nazarite others in and by whome the Lord our God wold tipe and foreshew his deare sonne the Messiah notwithstanding all their humane imperfections and fleshly infirmities All these things saide the Princes haue we hearde with great delight and that to our full satisfaction in that part The princes For indeede such is the nature of the diuine proportions in the lawe in the Prophetes and in the psalmes And therefore he which by the wisedome will and prouidence of God is made a liuely excellent figure of that holy Messiah must of necessitie be a Sainct not a damned wretch reprobate or prophane But now what will ye produce for the proofe of this that our Lord King Solomon among those blessed Fathers is by the same wisedome Solomon is a figure of the holy Messiah will and providence or dained and made a right figure of that most holy Messiah This proposition saide Zadok can neither bee denied nor abandoned but confessed and receiued aswell of them now liuing as of al them that shall come after vs in all posterities who in the due consideration thereof with the circumstances shall grant and conclude with vs in the same And this may easily be gathered and proued to put all men out of doubt First in that according to the diuine prouidence and direction he hath built and garnished that right glorious Temple in Ierusalem Solomon in the building of the Temple figured the Messiah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an house dedicated to the name of the Lorde the which doubtlesse standeth for a perfect figure of the holy Koheleh or Church of the Lorde our God whether misticall in the Congregation of them that serue God after his will declared in his worde or spirituall in the heart and minde of all the faithfull where it pleaseth the holy spirite of discipline to dwell or glorious in heaven of all them that be deliuered from hence and translated into the societie of the celestiall angels An house indeede The Church figured Gen. 3. which none either in heauen or in earth can or must builde or garnish but onely that most holy Messiah and promised Seede And this was prefigured by the womans body betweene whome
my Lordes that ye haue not seene any such thing in the king nor do ye imagine as I suppose that the king at any time was so foolish as to adore or worship such kind of Gods of the which his father David deciding the grosse Idolatrie of the heathen thus sang Their Idols both of silver golde and mens hand worke they be They mouthes have but do not speake and eies but cannot see They have eke eares but do not heare senseles noses so They have handes but they handle not feete but cannot go Doubtles answered the Princes we perswade as yee haue said yea said Azariah and wee haue often heard the K. himselfe to blame and reproue such kind of Idolatry and thus hath he said whose wordes for wisedome and grauity are copied out and divulged euen among the Gentiles Sap. 13.10 14.8 15.3 Miserable are they and among the dead that call them Gods which are but the workes of mens hands Againe deriding the folly of those Idoll-worshippers he saith he is not ashamed to speake to that which hath no soule for health hee makes his petition to that which is sicke for life he humbly praieth to him that is dead Againe cursed be the Idoll that is made with handes yea both it and he that made it he because he made it and it because it was called a God whereas it is but a fraile thing for the vngodly and his vngodlines are both like abhominable vnto God euen so the worke and he that made it shal be punished together Againe To know the Lord God is perfect righteousnesse yea to know his power is the root of immortality As for the thing that men haue found out through their euill science it hath not deceiued vs nor the painters vnprofitable labor namly an image spotted with diuers colors whose sight inticeth the ignorāt to lust after it and he desireth the picture of a dead image that hath no breath Both they that make them they that desire them and they that worship them loue euill thinges and merite to haue such thinges to trust vpon Againe the enemies of Israel that worship those Idols are most vnwise more miserable thē very fooles For they iudge of them to bee Gods which neither haue eyes to see nor noses to smell nor ears to heare nor hands nor fingers to grope and as for their feete they are too slow to goe Lo those and such like wordes hath the king his wisedome vttered touching those heathen Gods and the worshippers of thē euen publikely and in presence of all them to come to him to heare his wisdome that thereby the sooner he might withdraw them from that grosse error and impious abhomination and bring them to the right worship of Iehovah the God of Israel Ye haue truly spoken in this matter said Zadok for in truth I haue not knowen any one man of life that hath more disliked and derided this kind of Idolatry that hath more sharply reprehended them that haue followed after strange Gods then the K. himselfe Neither did he thinke that any man which either knew Iehovah our God or had any wisedome or reason or iudgement or humaine wit wold acknowledge such a senseles image for a God and worship it much lesse himselfe woulde either aduenture or attempt a thing so heinous shamefull and dangerous against the law of God reason and good conscience being a man so wise holy and zealous for the L. his God Therfore let vs not imagine that the K. was so perswaded to prostrate himselfe before those vaine images of the heathen to adore or worship them as Gods or that he did inuocate or pray to them or trust in thē for any aid or comfort seeing that both he knew the abhomination of such vain things In what sense it is said that Solomon followed after strange Gods felt the goodnes of the living God at al times so gratious towards him but indeede this is true that the K. hath in his fond loue and carnall affection to his wiues being Idolators and Apostats from the true religiō so doted besotted himselfe that he hath winked at such their abhominations yea hee hath permitted them to vse their strāge religiōs more yet he hath caused to be built for thē houses high places in the face of all Israel in the sight of Ierusalē hath allowed thē great sums of money maintenance out of his treasurs to for the same wherof it is well said indéede that he followed after their abhominatiōs for being both the K. of Israel the husband of those his wiues he should rather as he might wel do haue restrained punished such horrible abuses of the name honor of God But howsoeuer it was seing we haue not séen such palpable idolatry in the K. as that he did worship their idols nor cā we see into the K. heart as God séeth him Gods secret waies are such as no vultures eie did euer see as Iob said the bottōles profunditie therof we may not attempt to sownd let vs here content our selues with so much thereof as it hath well pleased him to reueale vnto vs iudge iustly and soberly of God and his waies constre the best of his Saintes thinke honourably of this chosen person and his actions and words not rashly censuring the one nor indiscreetely condēning the other And out of all question if in this resolution and minde wee duly search and wisely examine and consider of all thinges we shall find and confesse that howsoeuer it bee K. Solomon did not onely turne away from God and endangered himselfe as all other sinners do but that also he is returned againe and assured of safetie King Solomon did turne again to the Lord. as those which truly repent them of their sinnes that he had not onely his heart seduced and corrupted as his Father David had when he cōmitted murther adultery but hath also a new heart created and a right spirit renewed in him as the same David had after that hee repented psal 51. praied and founde grace with the Lord that he did not only deny the Lord wherby God was exasperated against him as our forefathers both in the wildernes and in the time of the Iudges haue don but also hath acknowledged his power Num. 21.8 and confessed him and therein eschewed his owne destruction as many of our fathers did which beheld that brasen serpēt in the wildernes and wept before the Lord and were preserued and comforted he did not only sin to prouoke the Lord but also he did repent and well pleased the Lord. Exo. 10.17 2. Sam. 12.13 Gen. 4.14 1. Sam. 13.4 Gen. 3.20 38 26. Exo. 32.22 And this he hath done not with his mouth onely as Pharao did but with his heart as K. David did he dispaired not as did Cain and Saul but he sorrowed and repented in hope as did Adam and Iudah
mine horrible ingratitude A K. banisheth from his Court Idolators and wantons and whoremongers c. but I haue fawned on those which in my presence haue dedicated themselues to those abhominations A king should be a patterne of beauty vnto his people in all godly vertues but I haue giuen them an example of lewdnesse in mine inordinate excesse A King is the stay and glory of his place but I haue both weakned and deformed mine house with transgressions A K. both respecteth and expecteth the honor of the most holy but I haue blemished the same with the damps of sinne Therfore vnworthy I am the title of a King And if I may not bee named a King then much lesse should ye call me the King of Israel And truly I may not henceforth be called K. over Israel because the L. God for mine offēces against him hath iustly depriued me of the honor of that high dignity But rather henceforth as I haue rightly merited I may be numbred amōg the fooles of Israel Messiah the true king of Israel Yea and albeit that my seruant Ieroboham hath lifted vppe his handes against mee and shall vsurpe that Name and dignitye yet shall both this Name and dignitye bee reserued as rightly imposed for the most righteous Seede and Prince of Israel which was promised to David my Father and which in his due time shal be raysed vp to sit on his seate and to raigne ouer the house of Israel that is ouer the Saints and holy people of God in doing them equitie and true iudgement for euer In the meane time I must in all humblenesse of minde bewaile my sinnes and the miserie of mine house and posteritie occassioned by the same the which I cannot but euery houre remember consider lament and finally repent and abandon those manifolde vanities of the sonnes of men Solomon is a preacher to teach and perswade the people pro. 31. wherein I haue beene polluted and wearyed in my life Lo thus the King ruminateth in affliction heereof is his continuall meditation in the sorowe of his minde and thus hee expresseth his faithfull repentance euery day * Fiftly although he hath spent some portion of his life in sin and the whiles did forget the wholesome lesson which his mother Bethsabe gaue him yet being in the ende preuented by the grace and mercie of God hee doeth agine often call to minde and recount her wife instructions and ruminateth of that which himselfe hath thought good to write and speake in his wise Prouerbs as a confession of his sinnes and a worthy argument of his Repentance yea hee hath not onely converted and dedicated himself again vnto the Lord in wonderfull great feare and reuerence Solomon inciteth all others to vertues Eccles. 12. but also as a learned and experienced Preacher of Repentance and Righteousnes he halloweth and calleth all men from the vices and vanities of the deceitfull world teaching and exhorting them to feare the Lorde and to keepe his commandements And in this the king is not like them which thinke that a benefite languisheth and perisheth as the flood which powreth foorth her streames into diuers channels and small veynes but he is as the liberall man right willing to benefite many thereby to cause his beneuolence to abound therefore he studieth he preacheth hee speaketh he exhorteth he admonisheth he comforteth he refuteth he confirmeth and whatsoeuer els necessarie and conuenient in a Preacher to drawe men from worldy vanities and to lead them towardes the best good and true felicitie the highest obiect of mans hope All this his nobles and his seruants All these things are testified by Solomons servants which stand before him heare his wisedome and obserue his wordes and workes finde and well vnderstande neither can wee but testifie the same for him before all men Yea wee see and can witnesse that there is in him both the wisedome of GOD and the knowledge of the holy Spirite in such abundance as wee are not able to expresse it and in this wee finde him yet more wise that now all the last hee hath changed his minde and withdrawen his affection from the worlde so farre that as he did sometimes swerue from the Lorde GOD and by his euill example did giue an occasion to many others to blaspheme and offend or at the least to bee offended so hee nowe endeuours himselfe tenne times more to eschewe euill and to seeke the Lorde in singlenesse of heart and to exhort and persuade others to doe the like to and for the which hee hath laboured day and night Eccles. 12 to searche and finde out delightsome wordes right Scripture and the wordes of trueth Wherein he followed not the common woont of sinners which beeing polluted and defiled with filthinesse haue a desire not onely to wallowe therein but also that others should bee defiled with them in the same resembling those Wrestlers or Fighters which care not to brush off the dust from their owne garmentes but rather endeuour to defile one another and fall together euen with the same Thus hath not the King done and to bee plaine The King hauing been nourtered and well trained vp in his youth sheweth foorth at this time the ripe fruites thereof notwithstanding those blemishes of humane imperfections * Finally although it bee a thing too common with men that though they for-beare to sinne for a time fearing the punishment thereof they neuerthelesse afterwarde forget themselues and returne againe Solomon after his repentance revolted not from God as with the dog to his vomit to their former vices as lately did Adoniah and Shimei yet the King beeing otherwise minded hath shunned and abandoned all his worldly delights vices and vanities and dedicated himselfe againe vnto the desire of heauenly things and the ioyes eternall in regard whereof for the loue of GOD and his owne health he abstaineth not onely from things vnlawfull but also from things lawfull and tollerable pleasing the minde and affection of man and now continueth stedfastly the same hauing made a sure Couenant with himselfe neuer to apostate or turne backewarde againe and therefore as the Trauailer which goeth towardes a most famous Citie is euer talking of his iourney and of the place to learne the customes and guise thereof and to expresse his desire to hasten and come thither Solomons common and daily meditation and talke as rauished with the loue of the same So we perceiue that the King is neuer pleased nor eased but when hee talketh and telleth of those high treasures of that most happy place thereof hee ruminateth thereof hee delighteth to talke thereof hee is glad to heare all other things bee they neuer so pleasant seeme loathsome and vaine in his conceit For of this nature are the words of his common talke and such are many of his Prouerbs the which seeme to be powred foorth from the good treasure of a good mans heart as the good fruits sprung of a good
Prophet Ahiah the Silonite hath for the Kings offence threatned punishment to the Seede of David as wee haue heard to our greife and sorow yet being mindefull of his promise and mercy made and shewed to David concerning Solomon to our great comfort hee hath in his grace stayed himselfe there and added this restraint 1. king 11.39 But not for ever or In all his dayes Whererin wee see that mercie is reserued and the punishment is determined in time which may not be vnderstoode of the paine of the reprobates and damned in hel the which is neither a punishment but a torment or plague and that not determinable but without and beyond all time Therfore we conclude that Solomon is not fallen for euer nor shall be punished for ever nor is deprived of the divine mercy but repenting being so well-beloved of God he is pardoned by him who hath commanded the woods and al pleasant trees to over shadow them that be his from this time foorth for ever more * And perswaded thereof Solomons salvation Object we may neither cast into doubt the hope of his eternal Saluatiō with the Lord for though I haue heard one to obiect Can a sinner be saved It is yet certaine as I saide that as such obtaine mercy which repent so shall they bee surely saued which obtaine mercie This the kings father testified when he modulated thus Blessed are they whose vnrighteousnes is forgiven Who are blessed and whose sinnes are covered Blessed is that man to whom the Lorde will not impute sinne And who are indeed blessed euen they to whome the kingdome of God belongeth and which are appointed to eternall happinesse Thus the first man Adam thus Abel the second man that feared God thus Abraham the father of true beleeuers thus Moses the Lords seruant and thus David the kings father and other the Lordes Saints were pardoned of their sinnes and blessed of the Lord. And therefore the King being the Lordes chosen and by his wisedome knowing the excellent effects of repentance and the sweetnesse of Gods louing mercies is doubtlesse happy and expecteth his rest and glorie with those Saints which hauing been wise and turned many vnto righteousnes doe and shall shine and glister as the brightnes of the firmament and as the starres for euer and euer Therefore howsoeuer it hath beene obiected against the King as neither the Egyptians for the heate Solomons defence nor the Scythians for the colde doe feele the terrible clappes of thunder So shall our Lord King Solomon partly by his excellent holines and glorie and partly by his true Repentance and forgiuenes of sinnes besides this our testimonie touching him be protected and defended against all reproches and obloquies of slanderous and enuious tongues aswell in this age as in all the ages that shall follow and succeed in the world yea and as he that casteth his darts against a rocke or other sound thing doeth sometimes hurt himself by the sodaine rebound of the same so whosoeuer shall hencefoorth ayme so contumeliously to the Kings person being a man so holy and glorious may paraduenture be perced himselfe by the inexpected rebounde of his owne dart and so they which haue beene glad of his sorrow and reioyce at his fall shall mourne in their owne destruction as a iust reward of their malitious censures and vngodly glory when on the other side they which loue the Lord and his Saintes shall be glad and reioyce in the sense of his louing mercies CAP. XXXI Why God permitted Solomon to fall Why Solomon now vseth not the Name Tetragrammaton The preservation of Solomons Sermons THE most reuerende Zadok hauing made the former Apologie for the K. and thervpon taken a pauze yet as not willing to giue ouer but as after a little breathing to proceed the Princes tooke an occasion of applause wherein they both approued and commended all those things which had beene sayde for the King The Nature of good subiects as right glad of that which might be iustly found and spoken in his defence being such persons indeed as wished him no euill but all good in their hearts But Zadok to preuent them who might of any his words take an occasion to presume in their sinnes zadok by defēding the king would not offer an occasion to any man to presume too farre vpon the divine mercies said I haue not produced the former arguments for the king nor spoken any thing my Lordes whereby I would animate or encourage men to presume vpon the diuine mercies and so to sinne that mercy might be powred out The Lorde forbid that any man should of this take that occasion Nay rather euery man might beware and take heed that he fall not then whiles he thinketh himselfe to stand most assured For as the most righteous man is not without his sinne and so prouokes the Lorde to anger and deserues damnation so shall not hee escape some measure of punishment Sinnes shall be punished aboue all hainous sinnes shall be horribly punished euen here in this life as it hath been apparant in David when he offended in the case of Vriah also in this our king of whom the Lord said before 2. Sam. 7. If he sinne I will beat him with the Rodde of men and with the plagues of the children of men thus did God beat euen him whom hee had made a man after his owne heart And thus he threatned euen the same whom hee named his Sonne If hee hath thus done on those greene and flowrishing branches what will he doe on the dry and withered stubbes surely whereas hee pruneth and correcteth the former to amend them for their good hee will cut off and destroy the other from among his people for though as a father he pittieth his owne yet as a iust Iudge hee will condemne and as a tyrant will rent a sunder the sonnes of Beliall Deut. 32. neither desist or spare vntill that in them hee hath filled vp the measure of his wrath according to the measure of their transgressions The which thing if the vngodly the féede dayly on mischiefe as on bread and drawe sinnes vnto themselues as with strong ropes duely considered and regarded they would haue lesse courage to flatter themselues in their manifold impieties and to promise peace to their soules in the depth of those their dangers Azariah * Then spake Azariah for the Princes saing Well sayd most reuerend father But wee beseech you wherefore did the Lord God permitte and suffer our noble King not onely to slide but also to sinne yea and to transgresse so horribly before the Lorde and his people zadok Gods secret iudgemēts are beyond the reach of man Shoulde godly sobrietie licence vs answered Zadok to sounde the profunditie of the divine thoughts or to enter into the bowels of his secretes or to searche out the causes of his hidden and vnknowen wayes no surely but rather then to search