and have mercy upon us Lord be thou our helper O be thou our helpe in trouble for vaine is the helpe of man part 5 The Fifth part of the Soliloquie shewing how God threatneth before his visitation IT is a weakenesse it is a fondnesse it is a madnesse in people not to believe the sure effects of certaine causes before they become obvious to their senses In the course of nature wee are apt to believe what wee dare not try Who will put his finger into the fire to try if it will burne Who will cast himselfe into the water to try whether it will drowne him Yet in things divine wee are too incredulous too full of un-beliefe I find that my God hath stricken divers with plagues for the sinnes which they have committed But I likewise find that hee hath threatned divers before hee visited them that so by their amendment they might prevent those judgments which otherwise would ensue It is my best way to find out the crying sinnes of the land by observing the punishments which are sent us for them but I must not forget either the patience of our God or the obstinacie of men the long-suffering of our Creatour or the impenitencie of his creatures Sure I am that the Lord did allways call to repentance before hee punished offenders hee hath ever wooed transgressours both by promises and by threatnings before hee ever made them sick in smiting them for their transgressions Mic 6.13 example 1 When the Israëlites were to be freed from the Egyptian bondage ô how often was Pharaoh admonished to let them goe Moses and Aaron sayd unto him The God of the Hebrewes hath met with us Ex 5.3 let us goe wee pray thee three dayes journie into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God lest hee fall upon us with the Pestilence or with the sword Lord how meeke Moses begged for the people yea and in the name of God too and for an act of religion too and for feare of judgments too yea and those judgments not small or triviall for they should be either the Pestilence or the sword yea and hee pretendeth that those judgments should fall upon the Israelites the people of God if they neglect their sacrifices hee saith not upon the Egyptians hee saith not upon the King And yet for all this the King yeelded not the Israelites sacrificed not and therfore the plagues the vengeance came upon the heads of their oppressours example 2 Gog was threatned for a thing which yet hee was suffered to doe The Israelites were to be his purchase Eze 38.11 the un-walled villages his pray all that dwelled without walls and had neither barres nor gates should be made desolate by him Thus the people of God were to suffer for the sinnes committed against their God But was the enemie to escape by whom the people should be corrected Was Gog to be enriched and to enjoy the spoyle Nothing lesse The very instrument of revenge was not to be freed from the wrath of the revenger nor the executioner to be accounted innocent though hee punished the guilty vers 22 I will pleade against him with pestilence saith the Lord and with blood I will raine upon him and upon his bands and upon the many people that are with him an over-flowing raine and greate hailestones fire and brimstone Thus the Israelites offended and were threatned with the armies of Gog. Gog offended in that hee knew not his maker in that hee looked onely to his advantage and spoyles whilest yet hee executed the vengeance of God hee 's therfore threatned hee shall therfore be consumed When hee should have revenged God upon the rebellious people then God himselfe would be revenged upon him with judgments from heaven example 3 The Prophet Ezekiel was sent to threaten the Israëlites for their many rebellions and thus sayd the Lord God unto him Eze 6.11 Smite with thine hand and stampe with thy foote and say Alas for all the evill abominations of the house of Israël for they shall fall by the sword by the famine and by the pestilence vers 12 Hee that is farre off shall dye of the pestilence and hee that is neere shall fall by the sword and hee that remaineth and is besieged shall dye by the famine thus will I accomplish my fury upon them Here is warning given before the blow be stricken there is the sword allready halfe out here is the famine allready in a due preparation here is an Angel ready to disperse the pestilence but before execution here is notice given before the punishment here is a threatning sent Even thus allso hath our good God dealt with us thus hath hee warned us Eze 33 11. Hee who delighteth not in the death of a sinner doeth never strike before notice given for hee had rather that our repentance should quiver his arrowes then that by our sinnes hee should be enforced to hit us at the heart example 4 I will smite the inhabitants of this citty saith God by Ieremiah concerning Ierusalem both man Ier 21.6 and beast they shall dye of a greate Pestilence Loe here is still the future tense I will not I doe God delighteth not in the execution of his wrath but yet his I will is as sure as his I doe Thus hee hath formerly threatned us with his I will I confesse indeede hee hath and yet wee would not believe what was to come onely because wee found it not instantly present Hence it is that now our people cry now our beastes doe roare and it is but just that men and women should be ranked in the order with beastes seeing that our sinnes have discovered us to be more stupid then them Yet the beasts perish though they could not sinne and wee perish because wee can doe noe-thing but sinne So the servant suffereth for the offences of the master so the beasts are punished for the sinnes of the owners The Pestilence putteth noe distinction betweene them both allthough the one could not the other would not avoyde the punishment example 5 In the booke of Exodus the Lord saith concerning Pharaoh Ex 9.15 the Egyptians Now I will stretch out mine hand that I may smite thee and thy people with Pestilence and thou shalt be cut off from the earth Take heede Pharaoh hee is true who threatneth and allthough hee saith I will yet hee saith allso now I will Hee is ready for thee allthough thy heart be not ready for him hee is just now prepared to punish if thou be not just now prepared to obey I will bring a sword upon you Lev 26 25. that shall avenge the quarrell of my covenant and when yee are gathered together in your citties I will send the Pestilence among you and yee shall be delivered into the hand of your enemies saith the Lord to the Israëlites And againe Deut 28.21 The Lord shall make the Pestilence to cleave to
the peacâ— of thy chosen that I may rest in thee Let mâ— sleepe be like that of the Church that my heaâ—… may allways awake unto thee Cant 5 2. If this nightâ— this sleepe shall be my last Lord make it my best that I may awake in thine armes and live in thy bosome Ps 4.8 Let mee lay mee do wâ—… in peace and sleepe and doe thou Lord makâ— mee dwell in safety So be it ô my father for the merits and worthinesse of thy Sonne Iesus Christ my onely Lord and Saviour Amen part 2 The second part Of the Soliloquie Fitted for the time of lying downe in the bed THe advice of David to his enemies I take mee think's as spoken to my selfe where hee bid's them to Stand in awe Ps 4.4 and sinne not to commune with their owne hearts upon their beds and be still It is fitt that I likewise say my request with my mouth and my petition with my heart and pray upon my bed remember the day of death for ever I have meditated upon the Evening I have prayed for â—otection and since that I have disrobed â—…y selfe of the garments of the day But â—ith them have I put off mine offences 〈◊〉 doe not I intend to put them on againe 〈◊〉 morrow with the apparell of my body â—o this I am apt by nature from this ô my â—od deliver mee by thy grace My clothes â—e layed by and even now mee thought 〈◊〉 could skarce hasten soone enough to hide â—ee in my bed from mine owne sight of â—ine owne nakednesse Lord what a fearefull â—ing is a guiltie conscience which made Adam and Eve to see that they were naked Gen. 3.7 â—…d guilty of their folly and yet to make â—t figge-leav'd aprons to hide their shame â—hus doe I blush at my selfe and yet I have â—ely those figge leaves to hide my sinnes from â—e view of the world vers 8. But Adam and Eve â—…d themselves allso even from the presence of â—e Lord God So doe I endeavour likewise â—hen I am afraid to consider of or unwilling 〈◊〉 confesse unto him my manifold transgresâ—…ons My garments are off the emblems â—oth of my pride and my poverty for the â—ormer is discovered in the richnesse of my â—…bes and the latter in the necessity of them Thus doe wee simple sinners weare the very â—…wells of the wormes and the fleeces of the â—…nocent beastes in the time of the day for â—…odestie for heate and for ornament and in the night wee lye downe in the feathers of the fowles for our ease and our delight Here now I am layed here I am stretched out as if I were created onely for ease and repose But ô my drowzie eyes watch yee a litle and yee my thoughts ponder awhile upon the place where I am layed Such a bed as this hath beene a place of torment Ex 8.3 as well as ease when the river brought forth froggs aboundantly among the Egyptians which went up and came into their houses and into their bed-chambers yea and upon their very beds Lord how it make's mee startle but to name those loathsome creatures and yet these were they which were the Egyptians chamber-fellowes these were their cold and noysome bed-fellowes Even thus have I deserved to be plagued too as were those Egyptians for how often hath God by his Moses and his Aaron by his officers and his ministers commanded mee to let my Israel my soule goe serve the Lord and yet like hard hearted Pharaoh I have still refused But have I not a punishment for my rebellion worse then they had For they had but the loathsome vermine to torment their bodies but I have worse I have my ugly sinnes to torment my conscience which croake so in my bosome that I know not where to free my selfe from their hideous noise But since these froggs have lived in the waters and bred in the waters which became blood through the deepe dye of my hainous offences I will therfore doe as once Elisha the Prophet did by the waters of Iericho 2. King 2.21 Ps 38.18 Ex 12.31 vers 32 I will cast salt into the waters and heale them I will confesse my wickednesses and be sorrie for my sinnes I will dispatch mine Israelitesse and shee shall goe and serve the Lord her flocks allso and her heards my thoughts and my meditations shall goe and serve my God that they may blesse mee allso Then shall these crawling sinnes dye out of this house of my heart Ex 8.13.14 and I will gather them up together on heapes and drowne them in my teares because they have made such a stinke in the nostrills of my God Such a bed as this hath beene the grave such sheetes the winding sheetes of diverse persons who dreamed not of it 2. Sam. 4.7 When Ishbosheth lay on his bed in his bed-chamber the wicked trecherous Rechab and Baanah smote him and slew him and beheaded him 2. Chr 24.25 Ps 89.19 So did Zabad Iehozabad slay Ioash on his bed and hee dyed So it may happen unto mee too unlesse the Lord be my defender and the holy one of Israel my protectour Solomon hath forbid the companie of such Rechabs and Baanahs such Zabads and Ichozabads saying Prov. 4.14 vers 16 Enter not into the path of the wicked and goe not in the way of evill men For thy sleepe not except they have done misâ—hiefe and their sleepe is taken away unlesse they cause some to fall Yet I have entertained such in my society yea I have enticed them and hired them to the destruction even of my selfe My sinnes oh my sinnes are the murderers that are come unto my bed and without the mercy of him who destroyed death will bring mee 2. Pet. 2 3. even mee to destruction my damnation shall not slumber Such a bed as this 2. Sam. 13.5 hath beene the bed of incest when Amnon by the advice of Ionadab lay downe on his bed and made himselfe sicke that his sister Tamar might be sent unto him by his tender and compassionate father O what hellish plotts were invented for the satisfaction of the lust-sick adulterer Hee was but to counterfeit a sicknes who yet was wounded at the heart and shee who both by obedience to her father and love to her brother was ready to dresse the dish hee required was overcome at length by the scorching flames of his incestuous furie Heb. 13 4. That bed which is honourable in the state of mariage yet not unlesse it be kept undefiled was made the torment of a sister un wedded and hee who could not enjoy her by the rules of religion forced her to his appetite by the violence of his hands But as the act was fowle so the effect was revengfull yea and even the innocent suffered for the villanie of the rasisher in so much as Amnon hated her exceedingly 2. Sam. 13.15 so that
that it bindeth my tongue to an un-willing silence My body burneth Ps 69.3 Ps 137 6. my throate is dryed my tongue cleaveth to the roofe of my mouth ô I burne I frie and know not where to be releived Did the drunkards who are mighty to powre in wine Is 5.22 and those who are men of strength to mingle strong drinke but know the miserie which I endure they would spare from their excesse as much as would comfort mee For their owne sakes they would spare the abuse of that creature for want whereof I now complaine Hab 2.15 The Prophet pronounceth a woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drinke that putteth his bottell to him maketh him drunken allso that hee may looke on his nakednesse But I doe cry woe unto my selfe because I have noe neighbour to give mee drinke Here is none that putteth his bottell to my mouth It is not the gust of the wine nor the strength of the drinke nor the pleasantnesse of the liquour that I doe covet The limpid water would be better then wine yea the springs or the fountaines would make mee rejoyce But where ô where are those pleasant potions Where are those snakie rivers which curle and wind themselves in their sporting wreaths Alasse alasse I aske noe more then what beggars disdaine and yet my desires are not fullfilled Mine eyes doe lament the greatnesse of my sinnes and my charitable teares doe wooe mee to give them rest in my mouth as if repentance in this had taught them mercy But when I thankfully accept their friendly courtesie insteed of comforters they become my tormentours These brackish rivelets may refresh my soule but they can never cure the thirst of my body Mee think's they are some-what like the wife of Heber who entertained Sisera in a friendly manner as hee did imagine for shee covered him in her tent Iud 4.18 vers 19 and when hee said unto her Give mee I pray thee a litle water to drinke for I am thirstie Shee opened a bottell of milke and gave him drinke and covered him But when hee committed his wearied limbes to a sweete repose vers 21 shee tooke a naile of the tent and tooke a hammer in her hand and went softly to him and smote the naile into his temples fastened it into the ground and hee dyed Thus my teares doe offer mee reliefe and like unto Iaël they offer mee milke instead of water but with their saltnesse they increase my drought and fasten mee to the ground in my burning flames Yet Ps 42.5 why art thou so cast downe ô my soule and why art thou so disquieted within mee Hope thou in thy God vers 7. for I will yet praise him who shall be the helpe of my countenance and my God Ps 43.5 All his waves and stormes doe goe over mee and yet I cry for water in the middest of the waves I cry and by my cryes I increase my miserie yet cry I must I am enforced to it by my fires by my drought and yet hope I will too even in my God will I hope for I am invited unto it by his mercy Hee promised to his servants by the mouth of his Prophet saying Is 41.17 When the poore and needie sieke water and there is none their tongue faileth for thirst I the Lord will heare them I the God of Israël will not forsake them I will open rivers in high places and fountaines in the middest of the valleys vers 18 I will make the wildernesse a poole of water the drie land springs of waters Now ô my God is the time that I looke for the fullfilling of this promise for water I sieke but none I find I am poore needie my very tongue faileth for thirst and upon thee therfore doe I call I am sure that my God cannot promise more then hee can nor will hee promise more then hee will performe Time was when the Israëlites pitching in Rephidim Ex 17.1 vers 2. there was noe water for the people to drinke Wherfore the people did chide with Moses and said Give us water that wee may drinke And Moses said unto them Why chide yee with mee Wherfore doe yee tempt the Lord vers 3. And the people thirsted there for water and the people murmured against Moses and said Wherfore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children vers 5. and our cattell with thirst And the Lord said unto Moses Goe on before the people and take with thee of the Elders of Israël and thy rod wherwith thou smotest the river take in thine hand and goe Behould I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb vers 6. and thou shalt smite the rock and there shall come water out of it that the people may drinke And Moses did so in the sight of the children of Israël Thus I thirst as did the Israëlites but I will not murmure as did the Israëlites because the God of Israël is my God I may not displease him with repining at my sufferings lest with his rod hee smite mee as did Moses the stone All that I can hope for must come by my prayers and my patience through the merits of my saviour It is not Meribah or Massah my temptation vers 7. or my chiding that will prevaile for my comfort Hee may give mee water and then punish mee with fire O what doe those damned soules in the infernall flames suffer Lu 16.24 where Dives begged of Abraham to have mercy on him and to send Lazarus that hee might dippe though but the tippe of his finger in water and coole his tongue because hee was tormented in the flames If I compare my sufferings with my desert I shall the easier endure this gentle fire This cannot be comparable to the fire of hell and that I have deserved yet suffer but this The mercifull Lord so sanctify this sufferance that the fire which I merit may be extinguished by my teares assisted with the blood of the Lamb un-spotted and then I shall rejoyce in this chastisement At Kadesh once in the wildernesse of Zin there was noe water for the congregation Num 20.2 vers 7. vers 8. and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron And the Lord spake unto Moses saying Take the rod and gather thou the assembly together thou and Aaron thy brother and speake yee unto the rock before their eyes and it shall give forth it's water and thou shalt bring forth water to them out of the rock so thou shalt give the congregation and their beastes drinke vers 9. vers 10 And Moses tooke the rod from before the Lord as hee commanded him And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock and hee said unto them Heare now yee rebells must wee fetch you water out of the rock vers 11
Ioel. 1.9 The meate-offering and the drinke-offering the participation of the holy Communion through feare is cut off from the house of the Lord the Priests the Lord's Ministers doe mourne Hos 4.3 The land mourneth and every one that dwelleth therein languisheth with the beastes of the field and with the fowles of the heavens Therfore with Ezâ—… I will goe into the chamber Ezr 10 6. and when I am come thither I will eate noe bread nor drinke water for I will mourne because of the transgressions of us all Or with Nehemiah I will sitt downe and weepe Neh 1.4 and mourne certaine dayes and fast and pray before the God of heaven example 6 The Lord God of hosts did threaten to touch the land of Israel Amos. 9.5 and it should melt and all that dwelled therein should mourne and it should rise up wholly like a flood and be drowned as by the flood of Egypt Thus hath hee threatned us allso and hath hee not brought it to passe See Ps 97.5 See how the land melteth yea melteth like waxe at the presence of the Lord at the presence of the God of the whole earth Needes must the land the hearts of the inhabitants of the land melt at his presence seeing the Apostle styleth him a consuming fire Heb 12 29. O how all doe mourne that dwell in the land The parents lament the sicknesse of the child the wife of the husband the servant of the mistresse all mourne all lament It may now be truely sayd that the whole land is drowned for what eye is not dimmed with teares What house is not filled with teares What streete is not washed with teares If he saltnesse of water will cause a barrennesse of the earth what fruite can possible our land produce which is thus moistened thus watered with the brine of our teares And yet mee think's the earth appeareth as greedie as ever for it speedily devoureth whatsoever is sprinkeled on it by the sorrowes of the inhabitants The infected cry and the languishing cry and shall not my teares much rather trickle downe my cheekes allthough my doore is not yet converted into pasture nor my walkes overgrowne with the springing grasse O yes much much rather yea and with the more courage will I weepe by how much the more I retaine my strength to weepe I heare Ier 4.31 mee thinke's the voyces of the visited as of a woman in travell and their anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child bewayling themselves and spreading their hands and each of them saying woe is mee now for my soule is wearied because of this murdering sicknesse Is 22.4 Therefore will I take up the resolution of the Prophet Isaiah and whosoever shall come to divert my teares to them I will say Looke away from mee I will weepe bitterly labour not to comfort mee Or with Ieremiah my soule shall weepe in secret places Ier 13.17 for their paines and mine eye shall weepe sore and runne downe with teares because the Lord's flock is thus destroyed The Second part of the Soliloquie treating of Severall causes of God's visitations I Mourne and I mourne and all out of a sense of the generall sufferance I mourne and I mourne by president But doe I find the cause of our distresses The ground of our sicknesses Pestilence is not the onely arrow that is shot from the All-mighty when his revenge is stirred up and yet every punishment is termed a stroake a stripe a plague When the Lord intended the spoyle of the Egyptians by the children of Israel that which in others would have beene deemed theft or at the least a cozenage was in the Israelites but justice and done in obedience to him who is Lord of all Ex. 12.36 when they spoyled the Egyptians of their jewells which yet they but borrowed vers 35 And yet this to the lenders is termed a plague for the Lord said unto Moses Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh c. 11.1 and upon Egypt afterwards hee will let you goe hence When the firstborne of Egypt were decreed to be slaine for the stubbornesse of the King the execution of that decree was styled a plague for God tould the Israelites by his servant Moses c. 12.13 saying The blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where yee are and when I see the blood I will passe over you and the plague shall not bee upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt When the children of Israel had longed after the flesh-pots of Egypt and cryed and murmured against Moses and Aaron saying c. 16.3 Would to God wee had dyed by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when wee sate by the flesh-pots and when wee did eate bread to the full for yee have brought us forth into this wildernesse to kill this whole assembly with hunger then I find the Lord was intreated for flesh but that flesh proved the destruction of the people and that destruction is called a plague For Num. 11.33 while the Quailes were yet betweene their teeth saith the text yere the flesh was chewed the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people and the Lord smote the people with a very greate plague Consumption is allso sayd to be a plague for so saith the Prophet Zech. 14.12 This shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Ierusalem Their flesh shall confume away while they stand upon their feete and their eyes shall consume away in their holes and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth Thus every judgment is truely a plague and from God it cometh and upon men weake men mortall men and women it cometh but it is for their sinnes it is for their transgressions Every one groane 's under the affliction but few for the cause Wee are angrie with the rodde and wee are angrie with the Correctour and yet wee quarrell not with our selves for meriting such yea more yea greater yea more tormenting more continueing punishments I will therfore looke into the sacred page yet once againe I will looke into the roll of that booke Eze 2.9 and with Ezekiel I will spread it before mee and find written therein the Lamentations vers 10 and mournings and woes I will find the punishments and I will find out the offences too I will mourne with them with us with every one that is visited with them for our selves I will prye into the causes of our maladies seing I know that God will not be angry without a cause Ps 89.30 Wee doe first forsake his lawes and walke not in his judgments wee first prophane his statutes vers 31 and breake his commandements vers 32 before hee visiteth our transgression with the rodde and our iniquity with stripes example 1 Wherfore did the Prophet Ieremiah cry
then light because the deedos there of are evill so that if it could have seene it is now stark blind Or if it be not blind I am sure that I am blind I can see none of it Hos 13 8. 'T is true the reason of it is because there is a caule growe's over it and I have noe body to help mee as Ephraim had to rend the caule off it that so I might see 1 King 8.38 Or else it is an infected one 't is visited with the sicknesse with the plague and yet I doe not know the plague of mine owne heart or else it is wicked so wicked that like unto Shimei I cannot learne c 2.44 I doe not know all the wickednesse that mine heart is privie to and if it bee thus wicked Pro 10.20 I have but small comfort from King Salomon for hee tell 's mee that the heart of the wicked is litle worth So that whether my heart be dry or dead or fatt or blind or hidden or infected with the plague or wicked what am I the better for it Nay am I not farre worse infinitely worse rather And yet now I thinke upon it now I examine my selfe a litle better I have just none at all True it is that once I had one but may I not say as the Prophet did that whoredome Hos 4.11 and wine and new wine have taken it away 'T is stollen away sin hath stollen it quite away unawares of mee just as Iacob stole away un awares to Laban or as Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel from his father Gen. 31.20 2. Sam. 15.6 when they came to the King for judgment Alasse I should have kept it in deede I should have kept it with all diligence if I had taken the advise of the wise King Salomon Prov. 4.23 1 Thes 3.13 2 Thes 2.17 Heb 13 9. Deut 20.3 for out of it are the issues of life I should have established it or have beg'd of God that hee would have established it unblameable in holinesse that hee would have established it in every good word and worke for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace I felt it fainting when I feared trembled and was terrified and then I should have had a David to comfort mee and to say unto mee Ps 31.24 Be of good courage and God shall strengthen thine heart thou that hopest in the Lord. I should have spoken kindly to it as Shechem did to Dinah Gen 34 3. when his soule clave unto her and he loved the damosel and spake kindly to her to her heart Prov. 27.9 I should have rejoyced it as Solomon say's with oyntment and perfume with the oyntment of my teares Rev. 5.8 Iud 19 5. and a golden violl full of such odours as St. Iohn speaketh of which are the prayers of the saints I should have comforted it not with a morsell of bread as the Levite was advised by the father of his concubine not of or from or by my selfe but I should have prayed unto God 2. Cor. 1.3 even the father of our Lord Iesus Christ as S. Paul did thank him for the Corinthians the father of mercies and the God of all comfort vers 4. to comfort it in tribulations that I might have beene able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith I my selfe had ben comforted of God It was grieved with in mee Ps 73.24 and I was pricked in my reines But I should have made it like Aaron at the sight of Moses who was glad in his heart Exod 4.14 Ps 4.7 or else I should have prayed to the Lord to have put gladnesse into it as he did into David's more then in the time when the corne and wine increased But now alasse 't is too late my poore heart is gone 't is stollen away from mee what shall I doe to recover it againe I will arise now Cant 3 2. and goe about the citty in the streetes and in the broad wayes I will seeke it vers 3. I will say to the watchmen that goe about the citty Saw yee a heart a poore distressed heart passe by this way that is runne a stray from mee I poore I know not where to find it Alasse 't is not worth any one's taking up 't is not worth the keepinge I 'le describe it unto you that if yee heare of it of such a heart or happē to meete it yee may send it mee home againe and I may give it due correction for playing the vagrant the run-agate That heart which once did dwell in my breast is the most unthankfull guest that ever was harboured in the bosome of a woman It is the greate accuser of my selfe for mine offences and not content with that having arraigued mee for my sinns it hath condemned mee as guilty Ier 17.9 It is a cozening deceitfull heart it is deceit full above all things and desperately wicked even more then I can know full it is of tricks full of delusions there are many devices in it Prov 19.21 Ps 38.8 Ps 64.6 Ps 101.4 It is a troublsome heart in so much as many times I have roared by reason of the disquietnesse of it 'T is a deepe heart not easily pryed into both my inward thoughts my heartit selfe have beene very deepe It is a fro◅ard heart so froward that now 't is runne away frō me Zech 8.17 Mar 15 19. 't is departed It is an evill heart a heart that was always imagining evill and so greate evill that out of it have proceeded evill thoughts murders adulteries fornications thefts false witnesse blasphemies Gen 8.21.6.5 Iob 27.6 It hath beene evill even from my youth every imagination of the thoughts of it were onely evill continually It is a reproaching heart not like unto Iob's who sayd His heart should not smite him so long as hee lived It is a troubled heart Ps 25.17 Ier 4.19 the troubles there of have bene enlarged in so much as I have beene enforced to cry out My bowels my bowels I have beene pained at it it made a noise in mee that I could not hold my peace Lam 1.20 my bowells have beene troubled for my heart hath beene turned in mee 'T is a cowardly trembling heart Deut. 28.65 I had an extreame trembling at it when it was at home and failing of eyes and sorrow of mind it would tremble like Elies for the arke of God 1. Sam. 4.13 Deut 28.28 c 11.16 2. Sam 24.10 1. Chr. 12.33 Ps 12.2 Iam 4.8 Dan 5.21 Exo. 4.21 Heb 3.8 Rom. 2 5. Pro 28 14. Mar 16 14. Eph 4 1◠It would so grievously tremble that I have beene smitten with madnesse and blindnesse and astonishment of it It is an idolatrous heart a heart apt to be deceaved to turne aside serve other Gods
purchase my desires by declining his mercy If any thing cometh it is sent by his providence if nothing cometh yet still I have God who is the best of all If it be his pleasure to bring mee to the earth by this consuming want my body indeede shall yeeld the lesse foode to the wormes but my soule shall be filled with un-speakeable comforts Lord what a base lumpe of clay is this which would so tyrannize over my soule as to make it leave it's confidence in thee What art thou that complainest and yawnest and gapest so greedily for satisfaction Thou art but earth at the best and by the earth thou hast beene fed and to the earth thou shalt returne The foode which thou desirest is a thing to be loathed if thou diddest but consider in what manner thou wert furnished The earth produceth grasse for the foode of the beastes they are fatted to furnish the tables of men and when men doe plentifully feede upon them the least part thereof conduceth to their nourishment the most of it goeth out into the draffe and even that which is putrified it returne's to the earth againe to render it fertile Thus wee live by excrements and wee are fed by putrefaction That which wee loath both in the sent and the sight is forgotten when wee feede upon it in our bread Thus I pine then for nothing but dung and filth for want whereof my belly would force mee to repine against my maker Our fowles are fed with the filthie wormes that proceede from our dung hills our fishes are composed of mudde and slime our beastes are nourished by vertue of that which wee loath to remember and from all these is patched up such a body as at the second or third hand is nothing but dung or whatsoever is worse Were it not shame then for mee to suffer this body which being dead in three or foure dayes will be odious to the living to entice my soule to rebell against my maker O I may not I will not This leanenesse doeth but lecture to mee what I am framed of and the soule is comforted in the weakenesse of the prison That better part doeth long to dwell with the father of spirits Each bitt I should eate Heb 12 9. would but delay my time and retard the fruition of a crowne of glory O my God be pleased to send mee thy blessing as well in want as in plenty that so I may decree and resolve with Saint Paul in whatsoëver state I am Phil 4.11 there with to be content Thus I should be and thus I desire to be for hunger with content is better then feasting and feasting without it is worse then famine If God in his wisedome seeth it good for mee that I should be filled I doubt not of his providence in sending what is good I will as I ought sieke the ordinarie meanes for the preservation of life I will industriously labour or earnestly besiech or painfully travaile for that which may nourish mee If it cometh as I desire I will thanke him who sendeth it if it cometh not as I wish howsoëver I will labour to be content with my lott Him will I honour both in plenty and in want and to his disposing will I yeeld up my selfe True it is that hee created meates for the belly 1. Cor 6.13 and the belly for meates but yet hee will destroy both it and them Hee hath sent mee this affliction to physick my soule and to put mee in mind how nicely I have refused in plenty what now I should thankfully receave in my want Those that are full are apt to surfeit and hasten with more disturbance to the gates of the grave then wee who in hunger doe willingly meete and desire our death Yet I am not so unwilling to live as that I would refuse my nourishment though of the meanest sort nor am I so unwilling to dye Prov. 27.7 as by unlawfull meanes to satisfie my appetite The full soule loatheth an hony-comb but to the hungry soule every bitter thing is sweete I dare not imitate the Israelites who murmured and repined against Moses and Aaron Ex 16.3 and said unto them Would to God wee had dyed by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when wee sate by the flesh-pots and when wee did eate bread to the full for yee have brought us forth into this wildernesse to kill this whole assembly with hunger What would it advantage mee if God in his judgment should send mee my desires Is it not better to partake of his mercy in miserie then of his displeasure in plenty Ps 78.27 vers 28 At the desire of the Israëlites hee rained flesh upon them as dust and feathered fowles like as the sand of the sea And hee let it fall in the middest of the campe round about their habitations vers 29 So they did eate and were filled vers 30 hee gave them their owne desire they were not estranged from their lust Those on whom hee rained downe Manna to eate vers 24 and gave them of the corne of heaven even they were likewise stored with the flocks of the Quailes But their sweete meate had sowre sawce vers 30 vers 31 for while their meate was yet in their mouths the wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them Prov. 10.22 and smote downe the chosen men in Israël It is onely the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich even of him who promised to the Israëlites Ex 23.25 if they would serve him to blesse their bread and their water and to take sicknesse away from the midd'est of them Hee it was who moved Shobi and Machir 2. Sam. 17.27 and Barzillai to bring unto David at Mahanaim and to his people that were hungrie and wearie vers 28 and thirstie in the wildernesse both beds and cupps and earthen vessells and wheate and barley and flowre and parched corne and beanes and lentills and parched pulse And honey vers 29 and butter and sheepe and cheese of kine Luc. 1.53 Hee filleth the hungrie with good things and the rich hee sendeth emptie away Iob. 34.28 The cry of the poore cometh unto him and hee heareth the cry of the afflicted Hungrie and thirstie Ps 107 5. the soules of the Israëlites fainted in them Then they cryed unto the Lord in their trouble vers 6. vers 9. and hee delivered them out of their distresses Hee satisfieth the longing soule and filleth the hungrie soule with goodnesse Thus hee may doe for mee as hee did for them but then I must pray and that in faith I must weepe and that in hope I must remember my sinnes which have deserved this punishment yea greater then here can be inflicted upon mee and I must thank my Creatour who visiteth mee in mercy I must submitt to his pleasure and kisse the rod. Though now as was the Prodigall
hungrie cry when they buy of the rich and are cozened by the rich when they suffer in the cozenage and suffer likewise in the publike in the generall punishment for the cozenage For this our land mourneth for this our people are visited our houses are shut up our streetes are not frequented ouâ— markets not filled and yet the hungry lament and the thirstie doe mourne The poore can neither buy for their money not be imployed in their willing labours to earne them money Is 59.11 nor live without money Wee roare all like Beares and mourne sore like Doves Wee looke for judgment but there is none for salvatien but it is farre from us Therfore with the oppressed I will cry and with the visited allso I will cry I will cry with the oppressed for right and I will cry with â—…e visited for health How long Lord â—ow long wilt thou punish us c. 44.22 O remove â—…ur sinnes like a cloude blott out as a thick cloude our transgressions and as a cloude our sinnes returne unto us for thou hast redeemed us part 3 The Third part of the Soliloquie shewing that Sinne especially is the cause of the Pestilence THe diseased ignorant of the kind of their maladies cause the Phisitian 〈◊〉 consult with their pulses to examine their â—rine and by symptomes to find out the â—ause of their disturbance So should the sick soule allso or else the ignorance of the sinne may hinder the cure Generall complaints have beene made by men groaning under the burdens of severall visitations but doeth the Pestilance come by the same rules and arise from the same causes Surfeits and Consumptions and Feavers and Palsies and Plurisies and other such sicknesses may have their causes in nature and their remedies oftentimes by physick but neither is the cause of the Pestilence so cleere in nature nor is the cure thereof so easie by physick Or if it be yet is this disease more infectious more mortall and therfore more dreadfull then any of the rest It shall therfore be my first care to find out the cause in my soule before I looke upon the effects thereof in the bodies of sinfull mortalls I will examine our times by those of our ancestours and see whether this generall contagion doeth not rather proceede from the mallice of the soule then from the aire dyet or whatsoever else the Phisitians conjecture at The men which Moses had sent to spie out the land of Canaan returned 1. Num 14.36 and made all the congregation to murmur against Moses by bringing up a slaunder upon that land of promise those very men that did bring up that evill report upon the land vers 37 dyed of the plague before the Lord. What Of the plague Of the Pestilence There were but ten of those spies and those ten onely dyed Wee have the Pestilence too but it contenteth not it selfe with ten ten and ten and ten but hundreds dye hundreds are visited thousands complaine every one feareth But was their disease the same as ours Was not theirs an inflammation of their tongues and wormes issueing out of them as a just recompenseâ— because with their tongues they had lyed Or was it not some other extraordinarie plague from the hand of God Or was it not that Pestilence which was threatned when the Lord said unto Moses vers 11 How long will this people provoke mee and how long will it be ere they believe mee for all the signes which I have shewed among them vers 12 I will smite them with the Pestilence and disinherit them and will make of thee a greater nation mightier then they Whatsoever their disease was though I cannot determine it yet will I consider the cause thereof The cause was a sinne a grievous sinne a lye and the effect of this was a sinne a grievous sinne it was murmuring O thus have wee allso added sinnes unto sinnes Wee allso lye wee lye grievously desperately impudently Like unto Iob's friends wee are forgers of lyes Iob. 13.4 Ps 40.4 Ps 58.3 Ps 62.4 Eze. 24 12. Hos 10 13. wee turne aside to lyes wee goe astray so soone as wee be borne and speake lyes wee delight in lyes and wee have wearied our selves with lyes justly therfore now doe wee eate the fruit of lyes And yet not contented with this wee murmur too Against our superiours wee murmur for not governing us according to our licentious and sinfull desires against the rich wee murmur because wee floate not in their plentie yea even against God himselfe wee murmur because hee graunteth not our sinfull desires Thus in every thought and in every word wee either find a sinne or make a sinne For this our lying for this our murmuring wee are now visited wee are now stricken wee are as those spies were destroyed of the destroyer 1. Cor. 10.10 The rebellious Israëlites were threatned by Moses that Every sicknesse 2. Deut. 28.61 every plague which was not written in the booke of the law them should the Lord bring upon them untill they were destroyed vers 62 And they should be left few in number whereas they were as the starres of heaven for multitude These were the menaces these were the threats to the children of Israël but among all these sicknesses where is that which reigneth among us Hath God prepared a new punishment for us such as the Israëlites never suffered nor the law ever mentioned nor skill ever cured Doubtlesse thus God could afflict us but hee chuseth rather to punish us as hee did others that so wee might find out the cause as others have done Hee was pleased to tell the Israëlites the cause of their plague which hee would send upon them vers 62 even Because they would not obey the voyce of the Lord their God Iust thus hee punisheth us as hee punished them even untill wee are allmost quite destroyd and hee telleth us our sinne our offence too by his word by his ministers by our owne consciences even that wee refuse to obey the voyce of the Lord. Iust therfore most just it is that seeing wee have wee doe wee will thus sinne even thus yea thus severely likewise wee should be punished Yea wee deserve it in a farre greater manner in a sarre greater measure Hee who threatned those that would walke contrarie unto him and would not hearken unto him Lev 26 21. that hee would bring seaven times more plagues upon them according to their sinnes Hee who by Moses threatned them that If they would not observe to doe all the words of that law which are written in that booke Deut 28.58 that they might feare this glorious name The Lord thy God vers 59 Then the Lord should make their plagues wonderfull and the plagues of their seede even greate plagues and of long continuance and sore sicknesses and of long continuance The selfe-same God hath found us walking contrarie unto him and therfore hath
complaine I so mournefully as if our afflictions exceeded all that ever were sent upon the children of men If I consider our estate by it selfe I cannot choose indeede but conclude it miserable but if I weigh it with the Pestilences of former ages it will not perhapps appeare a burden so un-supportable Comparisons may peradventure ease my griese and lessen my torments therfore with David I will remember the dayes of ould I will meditate on all the workes of God Ps 143 5. It may be that Solomon may advise mee and comfort mee too where hee thus counselleth Eccl 7.10 Say not in thine heart What is the cause that the former dayes were better then these For thou doest not enquire wisely concerning this I will therfore consider the dayes of ould Ps 77.5 and the yeeres of ancient times Num 16.41 example 1 The children of Israël murmured against Moses and Aaron about the destruction of Korah Dathan Abiram and their accomplices saying Yee have killed the people of the Lord vers 46 and presently there was wrath gone out from the Lord the plague was begunne vers 49 So they that dyed of the plague were foureteene thousand and seaven hundred and all in a day beside them that dyed about the matter of Korah example 2 When Israel abode at Shittim the people committed whoredome with the daughters of Moab and Num 25.1 vers 3. Ps 106 28. vers 29 not contented with this high offence they allso joyned themselves unto Baal-Peor and did eate the sacrifices of the dead Thus they provoked the Lord to anger with their inventions and the plague brake in upon them Num 25.9 and those that dyed in the plague were twentie and foure thousand Their sinne was double it was whoredome both carnall and spirituall their punishment was therfore allmost double to that which was sent for murmuring example 3 When David sent for the Captaine of the hoast to number the people Ioab answered him fairely saying 2. Saâ—… 24.3 Now the Lord thy God adde unto the people how many soever they be an hundred fold and that the eyes of my Lord the King may see it but why doth my Lord the King delight in this thing vers 4. Notwithstanding the King's word prevailed against Ioab and against the Captaines of the boast and Ioab and the Captaines of the hoast went out from the presence of the King to number the people of Israel But what was the event thereof vers 15 The Lord sent a Pestilence upon Israël from the morning even to the time appointed and there dyed of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seaventy thousand men and all of them in the space of but three dayes vers 13 Here was yet a greater number then before and yet all of them fell for the sinne of one onely man but this one man was a King and for his eminent offence five times as many were slaine as when the multitude of people joyned in a murmuring Hee who by the people was acknowledged worth ten thousand of them c 18.3 now for his sinne became the destroyer of seaven times as many of them as hee was vallued at by them so greate was the anger of the Lord for a sinne so greate and committed by a person so greate so eminent example 4 The All-mighty threatned Ierusalem by the mouth of his Prophet that hee would make that cittie desolate Ier 19.8 and an hissing every one that passed thereby should be astonished and hisse c 49.17 because of the plagues thereof The same God threatned Edom allso by the same Prophet saying Edom shall be a desolation every one that goeth by shall be astonished and shall hisse at the plagues thereof The same God againe threatned Babylon by the same Prophet saying c 50.13 Because of the word of the Lord it shall not be inhabited but it shall be wholly desolate Every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished and hisse at her plagues Thus I remember thy judgments of old ô Lord Ps 119 52. and receave comfort Comfesse I must indeede that wee have sinned with our fathers 2. Chr 6.37 wee have done amisse and dealt wickedly but are our punishments as greate as our fathers were Foureteene thousand and seaven hundred of them fell at one time twentie and fower thousand at another time threescore and ten thousand at a third time Lord what mighty numbers were here and yet wee feare when one dyeth wee tremble when ten wee runne when twentie wee are dismayed when an hundred wee are hopelesse heartlesse even allmost quite dead allready when a thousand depart But why should not wee expect as greate plagues as were sent upon any of our ancestours seeing that our sinnes are not lesse either in number or weight Wherein are wee better then Ierusalem or Edom or Babylon that wee are not yet as desolate as were they That every one that passeth by is not astonished nor hisseth at us as they did at them Hee who visited them doeth visit us Ps 89.32 hee visiteth our offences with his rod and our sinnes with his scourges Yet hee visiteth us not so sorely as hee did the Israelites when fowreteene thousand and seaven hundred of them dyed or not so severely as when twentie and fowre thousand of them were swept away or not so grie vously as when threescore and ten thousand of them were destroyed or not so terribly as Ierusalem Edom and Babylon for wee are not quite desolate or not so furiously as Nineveh to whom God spake by his Prophet saying Nah 3.19 There is noe healing of thy bruise thy wound is grievous all that heare the bruite of thee shall clapp the hands over thee Or howsoever not so remedilesly as the army of Pharaoh at Euphrates whom the Lord mocketh by the mouth of his Prophet saying Ier 46.11 Goe up unto Gilead and take balme ô virgin the daughter of Egypt In vaine shalt thou use any medicines for thou shalt not be cured Eze 12 18. This ô this maketh mee to eate my bread with quaking and to drinke my water with trembling and carefullnesse for feare lest our sinne-revenging God should punish us as hee hath done them O what mercies doeth hee not yet offer unto us What kindnesse doeth hee not yet afford us To our Physitians hee giveth knowledg to our medicines hee giveth vertue The herbes of the fields and the fruits of the trees and the flesh of the beastes doe yet offer themselves for our cure and our sustenance O that wee had but so much happinesse as to know the miserie which is due to our offences O that wee had but so much mercy from God as to know his mercy in his gentle visitation For this our miserie will I groane for these our sinnes I will lament for the mercy of my God I will pray and I will cry Heare Ps 30.10 Ps 60.11 ô Lord
thee untill hee have consumed thee from offe the land whither thou goest to possesse it Yea yet once againe The Lord said unto Moses Num 14.11 How long will this people provoke mee And how long will it be ere they beleive mee for all the signes that I have shewed among them vers 12 I will smite them with the pestilence and disinherit them and will make of thee a mightier nation then they O the fathomlesse treasure of the bountie of my God! Rom 2 4. O the riches of his goodnesse and patience and long suffering leading us to repentance What were the Israëlites that hee should not plague them Why not presently The wages is due so soone as the service is done and the punishment is as due so soone as the offence is committed and yet allthough God be forward in the former hee is slow to the latter allthough hee delight in the former yet is hee hardly drawne to the latter Mee think's when I consider the Israëlites I wonder at their rebellions and yet mee think's when I consider our selves I wonder much more Is 5.1 What could have beene done more to this vine-yard of God that hee hath not done unto us vers 2. Hee hath senced us and gathered out the stones from us and planted us with the choycest vine and built a tower in the midst of us and allso made a wine-presse in this his vineyard and yet for all this when hee looked that wee should bring forth grapes behould wild grapes Oh how my heart panteth within mee and my whole selfe is in a trembling feare when I consider his mercies and our rebellions Dan 5.5 O mee think's I see a hand-writing against us allmost upon every doore every inhabitant written as it were with the fingers of a man's hand as once Beâ—shazzar saw upon the plaister of the wall which maketh my countenance change vers 6. and my thoughts be troubled so that the joynts of my loynes be loosed and my knees smite one against another and I cry for mercy for I have offended and I knock for compassion for I have transgressed God did threaten Israel with a pestilence when they should be gathered together in their citties with a Pestilence that should consume them from off the land with a Pestilence that should dis-inherit them and all this to avenge the quarrell of his covenant because they still provoked him because they would not believe him for all the signes that hee had shewed among them But where in had Israel offended In what manner In what measure which this land hath not exceeded And yet ô how unwillingly doth the All-mighty punish us O how slowly O how gently Matt 11.12 The kingdome of heaven suffereth violence saith my Iesus Violence indeede by our daring sinnes for wee draw the revenger's sword for him wee bend his bowe for him Ps 7.12 and make it ready wee allso prepare for him the instruments of death vers 13 Ps 64.3 because wee whett our tongues like swords and bend our bowes to shoote our arrowes even bitter words vers 4. that wee may shoote in secret at the perfect suddenly doe wee shoote at him feare not And what now can wee expect but judgments seeing that wee will not offer the just and rightfull violence to the Kingdome of heaven even the violence of our prayers the violence of our teares the violence of sobbs and sighs and groanes in our spirituall combats and conflicts What can wee expect but vengeance And what doe wee meete with but destruction Hee hath threatned and threatned againe and againe and yet wee have resisted and resisted againe and againe too Is 5.7 When hee looked for righteousnesse behould oppression justly therfore now wee looke for mercy behould a cry A cry in the beds of the languishing a cry in the chambers of the infected and pined prisoners a cry of the healthfull for feare of infection a cry of parents for their tender children a cry of children for their dying parents Brother cryeth for brother sister for sister all cry for helpe Ps 102 1. all cry for mercy O Lord heare our prayers and let our cryes come unto thee The Sixth part of the Soliloquie treating of the duety of a Christian decreeing both to whom and for whom wee ought to pray in the time of Pestilence I Weepe and weepe and sigh and sigh and pray and pray but why doe I thus weepe and sigh and pray If for my selfe it is a debt which is challenged even by nature it selfe so that I may have any hope by these meanes either to prevent or to cure the sicknesse If for others it is charitie it is a religious duety Thus wee are commanded by the Apostle Beare yee one anothers burdens Gal. 6.2 and so fullfill the law of Christ And againe by the same Apostle I am commanded to weepe with them that weepe Rom. 12.15 But must my teares be generall Must my prayers be universall For all For the wicked as well as the godly There was a time when the Prophet Ieremiah might not pray for Iudah The Lord said unto him Pray not for this people for their good Ier. 14.11 vers 12 When they fast I will not heare their cry and when they offer burnt-offerings and oblations I will not accept them but I will consume them by the sword and by the famine and by the Pestilence There was a time too when the Lord said concerning the sonnes c. 16.3 and concerning the daughters that were borne among the Iewes concerning their mothers that bare them and concerning their fathers that begat them vers 4. They shall dye of grievous deaths they shall not be lamented neither shall they be buried but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth and they shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine and their carkeises shall be meate for the fowle of heaven and for the beasts of the earth vers 5. For thus saith the Lord Enter not into the house of mourning neither goe to lament nor bemoane them for I have taken away my peace from this people saith the Lord even loving kindnesse and mercies vers 6. Both the great and the small shall dye in this land they shall not be buried neither shall men lament for them nor cutt themselves nor make themselves bald for them And there was a time allso when the eyes of Iehojakim the sonne of Iosiah King of Iudah c 22.17 and his heart were not but for coveteousnesse and for to shed innocent blood and for oppression and for violence to doe it vers 18 Therfore thus sayd the Lord concerning him They shall not lament for him saying Ah my brother or Ah sister they shall not lament for him saying Ah Lord or Ah his glory vers 19 Hee shall be buried with the buriall of an Asse drawne and cast out beyond the
to whom shall I goe To what physitian or Chyrurgion shall I repaire Lev. 13.2 I reade that if any man of the house of Israël had in the skinne of his flesh a rising or a swelling or a bright spott and if it were in the skinne of the flesh like the plague of Leprosie then hee was to be brought to Aaron the Priest or unto one of his sonnes the Priests vers 3. and the Priest was to looke on the plague in the skinne of the flesh and then to proceede according to order Thus under the Law the Priests were the Physitians both for the body and the soule where upon the Prophet Ieremiah complained and accounted it as a greate judgment upon the people for their sinnes that From the Prophet even to the Priest every one dealt falsely Ier. 6.13 vers 14 they healed allso the hurt of the people sleightly Hence allso another Prophet reproved them Eze. 34.4 because The diseased they had not strengthened neither had they healed that which was sick neither had they bound up that which was broken Under the Gospel allso the Apostles were likewise Physitians for both Mat. 10.1 for when Christ had called unto him his twelve Disciples hee not onely gave them power against un-cleane Spirits to cast them out but allso to heale all manner of sicknesses and all manner of diseases Doubtlesse by this I am likewise taught into whatsoëver sicknesse I fall Psa 110.4 Mal. 4.2 Make use of the prayer which followeth the next Meditation whatsoëver disease I am visited with first of all to goe to the Priest to the Minister of God first to examine my soule before I looke for the cure of my body To the Priest will I therfore goe to the chiefe Priest to the high Priest to the chiefest and highest that ever was even to him who is a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek and humbly will I besiech him to teach mee to feare his name and then I know that hee who is the Sunne of righteousnesse will arise with healing in his wings and will make mee goe forth and grow up as calves of the stall 2. Teares of the visited being marked with the Tokens The Soliloquie THE EjACULATION Psal 5. vers 1. Give eare to my words o Lord consider my meditation vers 2. Hearken unto the voice of my cry my king and my God for unto thee will I pray THere is a time to kill saith Solomon and a time to heale Eccl. 3.3 O that time to kill is now come upon mee but I know not how so much as to hope for the time of healing for here I find the tokens of death the markes of my mortalitie This flesh this sinfull flesh of mine which hath beene so washed so unguented so smoothed and coloured according to the choycest witt of art and industrie hath now the staines in it of a contagious sicknesse Where are now those admirers of comelinesse those idolatrous doaters upon the beawtie of women Let them come and learne the vanitie of their opinions chide their simplicitie by these tokens of vengeance O what a fraile thing is woman easily deluded into a beliefe of her beawty and as easily stricken with her owne deformitie But what doe these spotts meane to die my flesh and strike such a deepe tinture in a smoothed sknne Are diseases blind that thus they fasten every where without either choyce or exception Vaine woman as I am why doe I spend these minuits these few and winged minuits alotted unto mee in such impertinent quaeres These blewish staines tell mee that I must provide to answer for my sinnes yea shortly speedily before him who dispatched them hither unto mee Death approacheth mortalitie knocketh at my burdened heart Lord how heavie is my soule Even as if it were allready at the greate tribunall and pleaded guiltie of millions of enormities They have corrupted themselves saith Moses by the Israëlites Deut 32.5 their spot is not the spot of God's children they are a perverse and crooked generation Is there a spot then which even the children of God may be subject unto Why then may not these be some of those spotts and my selfe be one of those children of God Lord how willingly how greedily doeth every one strive to dye the death of the righteous How easilie are wee apt through ignorance to dwell in the letter of the text when wee should rather prie into a farther intent of the blessed Spirit That spot of the children of God is not seated in the body but in the soule and that spot in the soules of the Israelites was chiefely Idolatrie True it is that even the righteous have their stainei too vers 15 16.17 but not such bloaches not such greate and fowle spots or howsoever not of such a deepe tincture not dyed so in graine as are those of the wicked for they are washed out with the teares of sorrow through the blood of the Lamb. O that my spotts were onely in my skinne and not in my soule and that I could truely justifie my selfe in the language of Iob. Iob. 31.6 vers 7. Let mee be weighed in an even ballance that God may know mine integritie If any blott hath cleaved to my hands But alas I cannot I dare not Yet if I could but come to a sight of my sinnes and be truely humbled for them then am I sure that hee who taught Iacob how to increase his flock of the speckled and the spotted Gen. 30.39 Is 1.18 would easily make mee white as wooll But how or upon what grounds can I expect his mercy feeing all that I can suffer is not punishment enough for all that I have trespassed Heb. 9.22 Without shedding of blood is noe remission sayth the blessed Apostle What comfort then can I expect or what mercy can I hope for seeing that my blood my life is not of vallew enough to suffer what my sinnes have merited much lesse to purchase remission of my sinnes What now shall I doe What hope can I have that my body should be freed from these spots of my disease when I know not how to be freed from the pollutions of my soule By the Mosaicall law If any one of the common people sinned against any of the commandements of God concerning things which ought not to be done Lev 4.27 vers 32 A Lamb without blemish was to be his offering and so the atonement was made for the sinne vers 35 and it was forgiven Here yet was some ease for a distressed soule the sinne was forgiven through the blood of the Lamb. But what hope have I of remission That Law doeth noe longer stand in force nor will the blood of a common Lamb be accepted for the least the smallest offence Yet Cheere up O my drooping soule Let my fainting spirits and my sorrowfull heart take comfort in the middest of my deepe distresse for there is
Ierusalem and to set a marke upon the fore-heads of the men that sighed and that cryed for all the abominations that were done in the midst thereof A marke I have too yea more then one and one and one though not in my fore head and they are set on as if they proceeded from the inke of the writer but woe is mee I have either not cryed at all or not enough either for mine owne sinnes or for the abominations of Ierusalem how then can I hope to escape the destruction And yet hee that spared them if hee please can spare mee likewise for his hand is not shortned Is 59.1 that it cannot save neither is his eare heavie that hee cannot heare 2. King 20.1 When Hezekiah was commanded to set his house in order and it was tould him that hee should die and not live vers 2. hee turned his face to the wall and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore vers 3. vers 5. and presently Isaiah was sent unto him to tell him Thus saith the Lord the God of David thy father I have heard thy prayer I have seeno thy teares behould I will heale thee and I will adde unto thy dayes fifteene yeeres vers 6. Hee may be pleased to say unto mee too as hee did unto Hezekiah for I allso weepe yea I weepe very sore and I allso pray yea I pray heartily Ps 22.19 and say Be not thou farre from mee ô Lord ô my strength hast thee to helpe mee But Hezekiah was more righteous then I am 2. King 20.3 for hee walked before the Lord in trueth and with a perfect heart and did that which was good in his sight Rom. 7 18. Num 12.13 whereas in mee dwelleth noe good thing But Miriam was a woman as I am yea and sinfull and yet when shee was Leprous Moses cryed unto the Lord for her and sayd Heale her now ô God I besiech thee and shee was shut out from the campe but seaven dayes vers 15 and was healed O but shee had a Moses to pray for her whereas I alas have none I have noe such Moses to pray for mee But what shall I therfore remaine quite destitute of all hopes Shall I despaire of the goodnesse and the tender mercies of the most high Noe I may not I must not for that would but increase my sinne adde to my torments The woman in the Gospel who for twelve yeeres space had an issue of blood Mar 5.25 and had suffered many things of many physitians and had spent all that shee had and was nothing bettered vers 26 vers 27 but rather grew worse shee onely came behind my Iesus vers 29 and touched his garment and straight way the fountaine of her blood was dryed up and shee felt in her body that shee was healed of that plague vers 33 VVith that fearing and trembling woman therfore will I in like manner fall downe before him and tell him all the trueth I will confesse unto him all my sinnes or at least so many as possibly I can call to my remembrance Who knoweth but that hee may say unto mee as hee did unto her vers 34 Daughter thy faith hath made thee whole goe in peace and be whole of thy plague I am resolved to take noe repulse The whole multitude even the multitude of my sinnes shall not hinder mee though they rebuke mee that I should hould my peace but with the blind man in the Gospel I will cry so much the more Lu 18.39 Iesus thou sonne of David have mercy on mee Or if that prayer be too short while hee shall prolong my time I will compose and settle my selfe to a larger forme earnestly fervently zealously I will pray unto him and say The Prayer O Eternall and most mercifull Lord God whose eyes are ten thousand times brighter then the Sunne and yet thou vouchsafest to looke with thine eye of providence even upon the meanest of the children of men Lu 1.48 Ps 38.9 reguard I besiech thee the low estate of thine afflicted hand-mayd Thou knowest all my desires and my groaning is not hid from thee To thee the pollutions of my poore soule are more naked and open then these spotts in my flesh are obvious to my sight The fowlenesse of my corruptions have conspired with the infectious ayre to cause these staines in my skinn and by them I am commanded to prepare for my dissolution Lord if thou hast decreed by these meanes to free mee from this world of paine and miserie be pleased to translate mee from hence to the joy of thee my Lord and Master Mat. 25 23. Give mee ô my father a sight of mine imperfections make mee loath them and tremble at them more then I doe at these messengers of death Weane mee from the love of sinne by the consideration both of thy displeasure mine owne mortalitie These spotts appeare like so many eyes which seeme to stare mee in the face and would affright mee with horrour and all because I had not allways a consideration that thine eyes in every place doe behould the evill Prov. 15.3 and the good Blessed God give mee a sight of my corruptions and a detestation of them Ps 51.9 and then turne thou thy face away from my sinnes and blot out all mine iniquities Speake peace and health unto my wounded soule which every minuit expecteth thy coming Lord thou art a God who canst not abide to behould unrighteousnesse looke not therfore with thy wrathfull eye upon mee who am all sinne and pollution but upon thy Sonne and his sufferings Or if thou canst not choose but looke upon mee first cloath mee with the righteousnesse of that immaculate Lamb so shalt thou see mee with love and delight I shall behould thee with unspeakeable joy Prepare mee o my God that I may be a fit guest to be called and invited to the supper of the Lamb. Reu 19.9 Seale unto my soule the remission of mine offences and then make mee willingly to resigne up my body to thine owne disposing Yet thou mayest speake the word if so thou pleasest and thy servant may be healed Mat. 8.8 Luc. 17 15. There was a Leper in the Gospel who fell downe at thy feete ô Iesus giving thee thunks vers 16 and with a lowde voyce glorifying thy name because thou hadst healed him It is as easie for thee to restore mee in like manner Hos 5 13. as thou didst that Leper When Ephraim saw his sicknesse and went to the Assyrian Iudah saw his wound and sent to King Iareb there was found noe healing nor curing of the wounds but those that come unto thee shall find that thou art both able willing to heale all those that are broken in heart Ps 147 3. and to give medicine to heale their sicknesse for unto Israël thou diddest proclayme thy selfe The Lord that
healeth Ex 15.26 Psl 6.2 Have mercy therfore upon mee ô Lord for I am weake ô Lord heale mee for my bones are vexed Ps 41.3 Ier 17.14 Strengthen mee now upon my bed of languishing make thou all my bed in my sicknesse Heale mee o Lord and I shall be healed save mee and I shall be saved for thou art my praise c 30.12 O let not my bruise be incurable though my wound be grievous Let mee have one to pleade my cause vers 13 even that Holy One thine onely begotten Sonne that hee may bind mee up and give mee healing medicines Thou art hee who didst promise Iacob to correct him in measure vers 11 though not to leave him altogether unpunished Thou rebukest mee for my sinne Ps 39.11 and makest my beauty to consume away like as it were a moath fretting a garment These Markes in my flesh doe cause a trembling even in my spirit Rev 13.17 Ps 86.16 Lord graunt that upon my soule be not found the marke of the beast but the marke of thy sonne that hee may owne mee for his O turne thou unto mee and have mercy upon mee give thy strength unto thy servant and save thy distressed hand-mayd Shew now some good token for good vers 17 that it may appeare unto the world that thou Lord doest helpe mee and comfort mee But if in thy secret purpose thou hast decreed at this time to gather mee unto my fathers make mee with joy comfort to render mine account unto thee the Lord of heaven earth Looke not upon the sinnes and offences of my misse-led life but rather looke upon my Redeemer's death Is 53.5 who was wounded for my transgressions bruised for mine iniquites the chastisement of my peace was layed upon him by his stripes therfore let mee be healed In the midst of the streete of thy throne ô God Reu 22.2 of either side of the river of life there is a tree of life bearing twelve manner of fruits and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations O my God let mee but come to tast of those fruits let mee but be shaded under the leaves of that tree of life Ps 41.4 Ps 103 1. Be mercifull unto mee heale my soule for I have sinned against thee Then shall my soule blesse thee O my Lord and all that is within mee shall praise thy holy name who forgivest all mine iniquities vers 3. and canst heale my diseases Into thine hands I commend my spirit Ps 31.5 for thou hast redeemed mee ô Lord thou God of trueth The Spirit and the bride say Come Reu 22.17 therfore let mee who now heare it say Come Let mee heare thy voyce ô God Gen 3.8 in the coole of the day not in the heate of thy displeasure And thou ô my Iesus who for such sinners wert made a sacrifice on the altar of the crosse how downe thine eare as thou didst upon the tree and heare and fullfill the desires of thy wounded supplicant Come ô Iesus and embrace mee in thine armes hide mee in thy wounded side from the wrath of thy father In thee alone doe I trust to thee alone doe I flee succour mee helpe mee save mee O Christ The world I leave to thee I come At the doore of thy mercy doe I knock I call I cry Lord protect mee Iesus comfort mee Strengthen my faith and confirme my hope As my earthly body draweth neerer to the earth so doe thou draw my soule up neerer unto thee who art the father of spirits Heb 12 9. O God make speede to save mee O Lord make hast to helpe mee Finish soone these dayes of sinne and then let mee enter into thy celestiall paradice and that for his sake in whom alone thou art well pleased even Iesus Christ my onely Mediatour and Redeemer Amen subject 16 THE SIXTEENTH SUBjECT Teares of a Mother for the sicknesse of her child The Soliloquie THE EjACULATION Psal 5. vers 1. Give eare to my words ô Lord consider my meditation vers 2. Hearken unto the voyce of my cry my king and my God for unto thee will I pray IT shall come to passe saith Moses to the house of Israel if thou wilt not hearken to the voyce of the Lord thy God Deut 28.15 to observe to doe all his commandements and his statutes which I command thee this day that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee vers 16 Cursed shalt thou be in the citty and cursed shalt thou be in the field Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store vers 17 yea Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body c. vers 18 What all these curses from heaven for the sins of poore distressed mortalls O what a multitude of evills doe our sinnes deserve What punishment doeth not iniquitie cry for It cryeth for the curse of the citty the decay of trading the curse of the field whole rivers of blood in furious battailes the curse of the basket and the store the dearth of provisions Yet all these are but outward punishments and reflect onely upon the baser the worse part of our selves the body but Cursed shall be the fruit of the body oh this biteth like a Serpent stingeth like a Cockatrice Prov 23.32 The fruit of my body Is afflicted with sicknesse but is the sinne of the parent the cause of his affliction Yes yes my conscience acknowledgeth the guilt let my tongue be as ready to confesse it and my heart to repent of it But how standeth this with the justice of the Creatour Gen 18.25 Shall not the judg of all the earth doe right The Prophet Ezekiel telleth mee from God that The sonne shall not beare the iniquity of the father Eze 18 20. Mich 7 6. Ier 9.20 neither shall the father beare the iniquity of the sonne but the soule that sinneth it shall dye Else the daughter might rise up against her mother as saith the Prophet and the women by reason of the vengeance due for their sinnes might teach their daughters wayling c 31.29 Rom 3 4. if the sowre grapes which the parents have eaten should set their childrens teeth on edge But let God be true and every man a lyar that hee may be justified in his sayings and may over-come when hee is judged Hee it is who hath threatned to visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him The sinne is mine Ex 20.5 but the punishment is mine infant's againe the sinne is mine infant's and the punishment is mine And yet farther The sinne is of and from both and the punishment is inflicted upon both His sufferance is my sorrow and his paines my distresse Lord what a due reward of sinne is punishment My child as yet it may be knoweth not sinne and yet is hee punished
charitable to deceased strangers had not the price of him who dyed for all beene the unhallowed summe to purchase the field When they met with that coyne which was not for their use with that they purchased an Akeldama for foreiners But is it not all one in what part of the ground I burie my husband so I lay his body in a place that is set apart for that purpose Surely noe allthough it is equall to him yet is it not to mee Allthough at the resurrection wee shall meete againe at what distance soëver our graves shall be made yet there is some reason wee should be buried so neere as wee may that as our bodies were injoyned a mutuall society in the time of life so they might allso sleepe together in the silent dust It is but just that one grave should receave the bodies of us for whom one bed was designed upon earth that as in our lives wee were made one flesh so after our deaths wee should make one lumpe When Barzillay was offered a favour from King David and wooed to spend his time at the Court hee besought the King saying Let thy servant I pray thee turne back againe that I may dye in mine owne citty 2. Sam. 19.37 and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother Friends have ever desired to lye by friends that those especially who were knitt together in blood affection might be joyned together in their earth and ashes In the cave of Machpelah which Abraham bought of Ephron for fowre hundred shekells of silver Gen 23.16 was buried both himselfe c 49.31 c. 50.13 Act. 5.10 and Sarah his wife There lay Isaak and Rebekah his wife and there lay Leah and Iacob her husband Though Saphira dyed by the judgment of God for the lye shee had tould yet when shee fell dead at Peter's feete and yeelded up the ghost the young men came in and caried her forth and buried her by her husband It is therfore convenient that I choose a place for the buriall of my husband where if so it may be I my selfe may be layed Convenient it is but not absolutely necessarie for the soules shall not enjoy the lesse felicitie for the remoter distance and seperation of the bodies neither shall the bodies either be sensible of the disjunction or shall it retard their meeting at the generall day Allthough the bones of Iacob were caried into the land of Canaan Gen 50.13 vers 5. and buried in the caye of the field of Machpelah which Abraham bought according as hee had made his sonne Ioseph sweare to him before his death yet hee had formerly buried his beloved Rachel in the way to Ephrah c 35.19 which is Bethlehem and there Iacob set a pillar upon her grave which was called the pillar of Rachel's grave vers 20. When the children of Israel journied from Beeroth of the children of Iaakan to Mosera Deut 10.6 Num 20.1 there Aaron dyed and there hee was buried where as Miriam his wife dyed in Kadesh and was buried there yea and Moses his brother the servant of the Lord dyed in the land of Moab Deut 34.5 vers 6. and it is fayd that God himselfe buried him in a valley in the land of Moab over against Beth-Peor but noe man knoweth of his sepulcher peradventure lest the Israelites should have committed idolatrie and worsâ—ipped him for a God Thus doe I sit and muse about the buriall of him whom so deerely I loved Yet mee think's I could most readily preserve him from the dust if either it were in my power or might bring mee content But goe hee must and I must follow him This narrow roome of his coffin must be put in trust with his mouldering earth and hee who in his life time was entertained with varietie of spacious chambers must now securely sleepe in the chamber of a grave O how it grieveth mee to see this effect of sin Had not Adam fallen my husband had not dyed But oh hee 's dead and since nor teares nor sigh's nor groanes nor cryes have power to recall him it is therfore my duety and it shall be my care to expresse my love to him in the rites of his funerall Friends shall carie him neighbours shall attend on him and my teares shall embalme him The Preacher shall be instructed in the vertue which adorned him that so hee may commend them to others for their due imitation The hearers shall greedily attend to the praises of the dead and not onely acknowledg their trueth but contentedly wish like him to live and like him to dye Now ô now another storme approacheth in mine eyes for the companie beginneth to approach my dores and my neighbours and my friends are hastening to my house But when they come let them not thinke to comfort mee lest they adde to my griefe while they vainely strive to conquer my passion I cannot allow an intermission or forbearance of teares lest I should appeare un-naturall If I doe not weepe I did not love O mee think's I could willingly weepe my selfe into a statue that I might become his monument It is the height of injustice to forbid my teares since the delight of mine eyes is now to be caried to the place of oblivion Mee think 's every thing seemeth to call for a teare which is the object of a sense Those bells which so mournfully accord in their tunes invite my neighbours to come to the funerall yet not to appeare with emptie eyes unlesse they come to learne how to weepe These herbes these strewings which lately were fresh and at ease in their beds are willing to lye even under the feete of those that will mourne and because they have noe eyes themselves to weepe us a teare they lye to receave what shall droppe from the mourners These spriggs of Rosemarie doe call to my remembrance with what joy and delight they pleased mee at my nuptialls but lest I should forget the greater happinesse of the mariage with the Lamb even this herbe which served at our wedding doe's attend at the funerall O mee think's these sprigs have sad Rhetorick sitting on their leaves for those dropps of water which hang upon them were once the blood of the fragrant flowers and now are the teares of the drooping plants Sâ— ready were these spriggs to come when I desired them that they slipped from their stemmes to attend these obsequies These exotick perfumes which delight the sense are willing to be burned rather then the living shall be offended with the dead These sable garments strike terrour into the eye and command the spectatour to lend us a sigh And what other lecture is read here or taught but God's decree of man's mortalitie The chiefe speaker and Oratour is hee who hath now forgotten to speake for the locking up of his senses the silence of his tongue and the coldnesse of his pale frozen body have more force to prove the
ceremeniall law yea a Priest himselfe was allowed these acts so naturall and pious Though touching the Nazarites the command was strickt which the Lord delivered unto Moses Num. 6 1. vers 2. saying Say unto the children of Israel when either man or woman shall seperate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite to seperate themselves unto the Lord vers 6. all the dayes that hee seperateth himselfe unto the Lord hee shall come at noe dead body vers 7. hee shall not make himselfe un-cleane for his father or for his mother for his brother or for his sister when they dye because the consecration of his God is upon his head Yet whereas the law said Eze 44 25. The Priests shall come at noe dead person to defile themselves it ran with this exception But for father or for mother or for sonne or for daughter for brother or for sister that hath had noe husband they may defile themselves And againe concerning the common people the law provideth saying Num 19.16 Whosoever toucheth one that is slaine with the sword in the open fields or a dead bodie or a bone of a man or a grave shall be uncleane but the time of his un-cleanesse was to continue but seaven dayes That law hath now noe power to oblige us who are under the Gospel I may touch my dead parent and embrace him yea and kisse him at least in my thoughts when I cannot come to his body And so I will and if there remaine any un-cleanesse in my cogitations I will purifie I will wash it away with the bath of my teares Allthough my sorrowes cannot call him from the grave yet they have power both to discover mine affection and to satisfie my desires Heb 11 35. In ancient times women had their dead raised to life againe This indeede is too much for mee to expect yet it will not be too much for mee to mourne with those women who were afterward thus comforted But then I must be just in my mourning As my love may lawfully be shewed in my teares so must my religion be manifested in my moderation It was a curse upon the Iewes which the Prophet pronounced when hee said Men shall not teare themselves for them in mourning Ier. 16.7 to comfort them for the dead neither shall men give them the cupp of consolation to drinke for their father or for their mother I must not exceede the bounds of modestie in my cryes lamentations but I must drinke rather of the cupp of consolation and hearken to the advice and counsell of my comforters Nature indeede may be seene in a teare and heard in a sigh but if those teares be too many or those sighes too frequent or too lowde my very sorrowes may be sinfull for my want of patience Hee for whom I grieve is better then my selfe and his condition is full of joy and delight why then should I mourne too excessively as if hee were lost why should I grieve too immoderately as if I despaired of a father Hee is gone to a place where hee is freed from sorrowes and can dye noe more onely I am on earth in a valley of teares but I shall have a time to dye too and be gathered unto him In heaven saith Saint Iohn there shall be noe more death Reu. 21.4 neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more paine for the former things are passed away My Redeemer saith that they which shall be accounted worthy to obtaine that world Luc. 20 35. the resurrection from the dead neither marrie nor are given in mariage neither can they dye any more vers 36 for they are equall unto the Angells and are the children of God being the children of the resurrection VVhy then should I lament for him who needeth not my sorrowes and my teares are but a fruitlesse disturbance of my selfe If I am troubled at the losse of a friend so deare I must rather labour to be beloved of my God who is so good I shall one day learne with holy Iob Iob. 17 14. to say to corruption Thou art my father and to the worme Thou art my mother and my sister There is yet something earthly therfore which I shall acknowledge a parent but I must take heede that nothing upon earth doeth make mee an idolater The house of Israel was once so sottish as to say to a stock Ier 2.27 Thou art my father to a stone Thou hast brought mee forth This were a stupid madnesse in mee if I should so dis-honour the memorie of my father as to make the timber succeede him in my reverence But more impious it would prove if I should reject my heavenly father and insteed of him I should honour as Israel did a stock or a stone The greater that my losse is in my deceased parent the more must be my obedience to the father of lights Iam. 1.17 Heb. 12 9. Hee who is and must be the father of my spirit did lend unto mee for a time the father of my flesh Hee hath allso taken from mee my naturall parent that my thoughts may be ever fixed upon him with whom hee dwelleth If my trust be in God my comforts will abound my sorrowes will decrease If my name be written among the righteous my share shall be equall to theirs in the protection of my God Hee hath ever beene mercifull to them that were fatherlesse so that they relyed on his providence and served him with faithfullnesse Ps 27.10 Ps 68.5 When my father and my mother forsake mee saith the Psalmist then the Lord will take mee up a father of the fatherlesse is God in his holy habitation O that I might have the honour to be his child that so I might justly call him father O that I could truely say unto him Thou art my father my God Ps 89.26 Is 63.16 Ier. 3.19 2. Cor. 6.18 and the rock of my salvation O that I could faithfully say Thou ô Lord art my father my Redeemer thy name is from ever-lasting O that I could call him my father and not turne away from him His mercies are greate his promises are full of comfort I will be a father unto you and yee shall be my sonnes and daughters saith the Lord All-mighty O what shall I doe that I may be sure to be adopted into the number of his children Alas as I am I have but litle hope of it for hee is pure but I am un-cleane but I will wash my selfe with my teares of repentance and beseech his Sonne to cleanse mee with his blood Hee is righteous but I am sinfull but I will confesse my wickednesse Ps 38.18 and be sorrie for my sinnes and then I am sure hee will aboundantly pardon Lord though I have beene thine enemie thou canst make mee thy friend though I have hated thee thou canst incline mee to love thee though I have beene rebellious thou
canst make mee thy child O be pleased to hearken to the intercession of mine advocate pleading for mee to the intercession of thy Christ who was obedient to thee to the intercession of my Iesus who was crucified for mee In him be reconciled unto mee for I am well assured that like as a father pittieth his children Ps 103 13. so thou Lord doest pittie them that feare thee This ô this is the way where in I must walke Thus yea onely thus shall I have a father both dead and alive Hee who is dead shall not b◠immoderately bewayled because hee that is ever living shall wipe the teares from mine eyes Mine exchange shall be full of advantage For him who was willing to helpe mee yet was not able for him who loved mee but imperfectly and left mee irresistably I shall have a father whose will cannot be opposed whose power noe creature is able to resist whose love is in perfection and who is not subject either to change Dan 7.9 Ps 90.2 Ps 22.9 or dye Hee is the ancient of dayes hee is God from ever-lasting and world without end If I could say with David Thou didst make mee hope when I was upon my mother's breast as well as I can say with him Thou art hee that tooke mee out of my mother's wombe vers 10 if I could say that thou art my God from my mother's belly as well as I can say that I was cast upon thee from the wombe if I could say that I had allways served thee then should my praise be of thee continually Ps 71.6 and then should I be safe under the shadow of thy wings Hos 14 3. Ashur shall not save us saith Israel wee will not ride upon horses neither will wee say any more to the worke of our hands Yee are our God's for in thee ô God the fatherlesse findeth mercy In God doe the fatherlesse find mercy Ps 35.14 Why then doe I how downe my selfe thus heavily mourning for my father whereas I am assured if I serve and obey the righteous Lord that when my father and my mother forsake mee Ps 27.10 then the Lord will take mee up Hee that is dead was but the weake though the loving instrument to bring mee to life but hee that is living yea and liveth for ever and ever is the God both of power and mercy hee therfore for ever shall be my father Mal 2.10 Have wee not all one father Saith the Prophet Hath not one God created us Yes yes hee is a father to all by creation but hee will not be a father to all by regeneration Lu 12.32 His flock is but litle his children are not many I will therfore strive to be one of the smallest number for those alone shall inherit salvation His mercies were ever greate to the godly his compassions never failed the fatherlesse if they honoured him When David was promised that hee should have a Sonne even then the Lord did allso promise to be a father unto him 1. Ch◠17.13 I will be his father saith the Lord and hee shall be my Sonne I will not take my mercy away from him as I tooke it from him that was before thee But what shall I doe to gaine his protection How shall I perswade him to call mee his child If I love the memorie of my father more then I love him then I cannot possibly be worthy of him for so saith my Saviour Mat 10 37. Hee that loveth father or mother more then mee is not worthy of mee I will therfore strive to honour my God with the strength of my love in heart and in soule and that I may the better doe it I will imitate my dead father in all that was just and righteous in him but whereinsoever hee failed I will decline his stepps 1 King 22.52 Ahaziah was plagued because hee did evill in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father and of his mother 2. Chr 22.3 Hee walked in the way of the house of Ahab for his mother was his counseller to doe wickedly It is not the losse of a parent which can prevaile for a blessing upon the child unlesse in the stead of him that was earthly hee be made a father who is Lord of heaven Hee looketh not on our afflictions with the eye of compassion unlesse wee looke up to him with the eye of faith and devotion Our miseries are but judgments unlesse wee amend and doe but prophesie unto us a destruction at hand When Ieroboam was fatherlesse hee was called to the congregation 1. King 12.20 c 11.26 and they made him King over Israel but hee whose hand at first was lifted against the Crowne and not content with that did afterwards put it forth against the man of God c 13.4 had it justly dryed up so that hee could not pull it in againe unto him Thus the losse of an earthly father could not protect a wicked orphane c 14.9 but hee who did evill above all that were before him and had gone and made other Gods and molten images to provoke the Lord to anger and had cast the Lord behind his back even upon his house was evill to be brought vers 10 The Lord will cutt off saith the text from Ieroboam him that pisseth against the wall and him that is shut up and left in Israel and will take away the remnant of the house of Ieroboam as a man taketh away dung 'till it be all gone But on the contrarie I find that unto the godly a father of the fatherless Ps 68.5 and a judge of the widowes is God in his holy habitation 1. King 7.13 vers 14 Hiram the Sonne of a widow of the tribe of Naptali whose father was a man of Tyre the same was filled with wisedome and understanding and cunning to worke all workes in brasse and was therfore sent for by King Solomon to build his house Gen 25 11. Est 2.7 After the death of Abraham it is said that the Lord blessed his Sonne Isaak After the death of Esther's father Mordecai the Iewe tooke her shee being his uncle's daughter for shee had neither father nor mother Hee tooke her for his owne daughter and afterward the Lord so blessed the orphane that shee came to sit upon the royall throne c 7.3 vers 17 Ps 10.14 and to be the preserver of her nation Thus the poore who commit themselves to God doe find assuredly that hee is a helper of the fatherlesse Hee executeth their judgment so saith Moses Deut 10.18 The Lord doeth execute the judgment of the fatherlesse By Moses allso hee forbiddeth the people saying Yee shall not afflict any widow Ex 22.22 or fatherlesse child Iob accuseth his pretended friends of an high offence when hee chargeth them Iob. 6.27 Is 10.2 saying Yee over-whelme the fatherlesse By the Prophet Isaiah a woe is
downe Sharon was like a wildernesse and Bashan and Carmel did shake off their fruits But what was the reason of all these judgments of all this languishing sent upon the creatures I neede not goe farre to seeke the cause the Prophet will soone determine it for hee complaineth of the people that By swearing and lying Hos 4.2 and killing and stealing and committing adulterie they brake forth and blood touched blood These were their sinnes but what was the effect The selfe same Prophet immediately after threatneth them with it saying vers 3. Therfore shall the land mourne and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish with the beasts of the field and with the fowles of heaven Here was the earth and the world the citties and the fields and the vines and the plants and the lands and the corne and the oyle and the figtrees and all languishing grievously languishing and the cause thereof was the people's sinne But yet mee think's this cannot much concerne mee Shall I for a smootie eare of corne or two or for the drying of the branch of a vine or a figtree presently conclude that the withering of them can paralell my consumption Yes doubtlesse I must if I looke into the cause The trees and the other of the smaller plants could never either be guiltie of an offence or be sensible of a punishment but the men the men they were the offenders and for their transgressions their mother earth had her second curse I cannot pleade mine owne innocency or pretend that I am free from the guilt of enormities Noe noe I cannot I may therfore conceave my selfe one of the trees which I find so cursed for my branches mine armes my leggs my thighs doe pine away my fruits my workes and my labours are now decayed and what can I say or pleade for my selfe I am one of those trees which the Apostle speaketh of whose fruite withereth Iud. 12 without fruit twice dead and now am I ready to be plucked up by the rootes Yet for all this my stubborne heart mee think's stand 's out and would faine perswade mee that the curse of the trees resemble's not my disease But I hope that I shall came this heart of mine and put it to silence when I shall search more narrowly in to the sacred booke Wherfore did the Prophet say that hee heard from the Lord God of hosts a Consumption Is 28.22 determined even upon the whole earth VVas it not because the people sayd vers 15 They had made a covenant with death and with hell they were at agreement when the overflowing scourge should passe thorow it should not come nigh them for they had made lyes their refuge and under falsehood they had hid themselves Doeth not the Lord by the mouth of Moses threaten the people saying If yee will not hearken unto mee Lev 26 14. vers 16 and will not doe these commandements I will allso doe this unto you I will even appoint over you terrour Consumption and the burning ague that shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart Doeth hee not againe menace them and say Deut 28. The Lord shall smite thee with a Consumption and a feaver and with an inflammation and with an extreame burning Doeth not the Prophet tell the people saying Is 10.22 vers 23. The Consumption decreed shall over-flow in righteousnesse for the Lord God of hosts shall make a Consumption even determined in the midst of all the land O my conscience my conscience thou art now at a standâ— O my heart my hardest heart thou art now struck dead Loe here 's my very disease my Consumption and is here not my sinne too Have I never made a covenant with death or beene at agreement with hell Have I never made lyes my refuge or hid my selfe under false-hood Have I not refused to hearken to my God and to doe his commandements O how faine would I have attributed my disease to fecond causes and rather have thanked the Physitian then the Divine for telling mee the ground But now I am at a stand and must needs confesse in the midst of my torments that I find in them the displeasure of my maker I cannot urge one act of goodnesse that ever I did to pleade my pardon for the least for the smallest sinne which I have committed Alas I find my destinie in the booke of Psalmes where the Prophet telleth mee that The wicked shall perish Ps 37.20 and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fatt of lambs they shall Consume into smoake shall they Consume away O were I but worthy to be ranked in the forme with Aoraham I might as well as hee be styled The friend of God Iam 2.23 But my conscience telleth mee that though God be my friend in his goodnesse and longsuffering yet never was I hitherto a friend of his Such a friend to him indeede I am as hee was whom in his meekenesse hee called a friend Mat 22 12. hee who shifted in for a dinner among the guests that were invited But what became of him Alas when hee was found not having on a wedding garment vers 11 vers 13 the Lord then said unto his servants Bind him hand and foote and take him away and cast him into outward darknesse there shal be weeping and gnashing of teeth O this dreadfull sentence have I deserved besides this consumption which I now groane under and all because I am an enemie of the Lord's This shall be the plague saith the Prophet wherewith the Lord shall smite all the people that have fought against Ierusalem Zech 14.12 Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feete and their eyes shall consume away in their holes and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth Ierusalem is the vision of peace Gal 4.26 But I have allways warred against it The Church upon earth hath found mee an adversarie and that Ierusalem which is above hath found mee an enemie This is my fault and justly therfore doe I feele this punishment For this offence my flesh consumeth away while I stand on my feete mine eyes are mistied and over-cast with dimnesse and my tongue is so feeble that I can skarce complaine I may now cry out as Hezekiah did and say Mine age is departed Is 38.12 and is removed from mee as a sheep-heard's tent I have cutt off like a weaver my life hee will cutt mee off with pining sicknesse from day even to night wilt thou make an end of mee But let mee not forget the sinne of Hezekiah His heart was lifted up 2. Châ—… 32.25 therfore there was wrath upon him and upon Iudah and upon Hierusalem Let mee not forget mine owne sinne My heart hath beene lifted up too I have beene proude yea I have swelled with scorne and contempt O that with Hezekiah too vers 26 I could humble my selfe for the pride of my
be as constant in my prayers as the man â—as constant in his attendance at the poole At â—y gate ô Christ I must I doe continually â—e Thy blood ô Iesus is the onely Bethesda â—r my distressed soule Lord leade mee into â—…at poole of blood by the hand of faith and then I shall not distrust the effect of that â—ver O cleanse my soule and then I shall willingly submit to thy pleasure for my body But still ô still my paines increase and my flesh consume's I pray and I begge and I beseech and yet I find noe ease noe reliefe The continuance of my sicknesse doe's but â—each mee the ignorance of the Physitians or â—he deadnesse of the druggs and potions I am dyeted and I am physicked and my body is become the very shop of an Apothecarie and yet I find noe ease noe comfort 'T is true that thirtie and eight yeares continuance of a maladie hindered not Christ from curing with a word But if it had remained longer could hee have done the like Yes surely why not Hee himselfe could as well have dooâ— that as have given power to his Apostles tâ— restore the Criple who had beene fortie yeaâ—… lame This was done by Peter and Iohn for the man that was above fortie yeares ould Act 14 22. c 3.2 and had beene lame from his mother's wombe even on him was shewed this miracle of healing I may hope for some favour too from the hands of my God for though to mee it might appeare allmost a miracle that I should recore yet with God it is as easily effected by a word as was the greate creation of heaven and earth I will therfore submit to his pleasure and 〈◊〉 upon his goodnesse Hee is a God of mercy an tender compassion hee is the greate Physitia both of soule and body hee hath allways delighted in acts of charitie It was his promise upon some conditions to heale a whoâ—… land 2. Chr 7.14 for his owne words are If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seeke my face and turnâ— from their wicked wayes then will I heare from heaven and will forgive their sinne and wiâ—… heale their land I am one of the people ô Christ that is called by thy name for a Christian I am though a sinfull and a feeble Christian and thou hast humbled mee with this thy visitation and grace thou hast given mee I blesse the for it to humble my selfe in the consideration of mine iniquities and to pray and to seâ—… thy face Lord perfect thy good workes and make mee turne from mine iniquities and then heare mee from heaven and forgive my sinne and if it may stand with thy eternall decree heale thy servant Hee hath likewise shewed his mercy even in healing of waters 2. King 2.21 for his Prophet Elisha went forth to the spring of un-wholesome waters and cast salt in there and said Thus saith the Lord I have healed these waters there shall not â—e from thence any more death or barren land So the waters were healed vers 22 according to the saying of Elisha the Prophet Lord I have waters too that require thy helpe for they are un-wholesome they are sinfull I weepe and I lament my teares runne downe on my cheekes Lam. 1.2 and all either with extreamitie of anguish or feare of death or despaire of thy power to restore mee to health few of them are for my sinnes few of them for my transgressions But some hope I have that thou wilt likewise heale these waters for allready thou hast cast some salt into them I find by my tast that they are brackish that they are brinish Lord let mee be noe longer a barren land but make mee fruitfull in good works Col 1.10 Ps 1.3 that I may be like unto a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruite in due season and then though this leafe for a time may faile though the flower of my body may be cropped or mowed for the harvest yet I know that my Redeemer will not cast it into the fire but will make it spring up hereafter in eternall glory Hee hath allso healed the persons of diverse of his people Ps 107.20 for so saith the Psalmist Hee sent his word and healed them delivered them froÌ„ their destructions Is 19.22 So Isaiah prophesieth concerning Egypt saying The Lord shall smite Egypt hee shall smite and heale it and they shall returne even to the Lord and hee shall be intreated of them and shall heale them O what comfortable words were these to Egypt Hee may if hee please cheere mee up allso with the like for hee hath allready smitten mee and in his loving kindnesse hee hath so sanctified this affliction that by it hee hath made mee to returne unto him O Lord now if it be thy pleasure be thou intreated of mee heale mee This God is the same God who speaketh by the mouth of Moses and saith See now that I Deut 32.39 even I am hee and there is noe God with mee I kill and I make alive I wound and I heale neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand This is the same Lord whom Hannah did magnifie in her thankfull Song and said The Lord killeth and maketh alive hee bringeth downe to the grave 1. Sam. 2.6 and bringeth up This is the same God of whom Iob his servant professeth and boasteth saying Hee maketh sore Iob. 5.18 and bindeth up hee woundeth and his hands make whole This is the same Lord VVhom David commandeth his soule to magnifie and saith Ps 103 1. vers 2. Blesse the Lord ô my soule and all that is within mee blesse his holy name Blesse the Lord ô my soule and forget not all his benefits Who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy diseafes vers 3. and who redeemeth thy life from destruction vers 4. this God is the same God who alone hath power over soule body can if hee pleaseth preserve them both Hee it is whose mercies were promised to his Church when by his Prophet hee said The light of the Moone shall be as the light of the Sunne Is 30.26 and the light of the Sunne shall bee seaven fold as the light of seaven dayes in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people and healeth the stroake of their wound Hee it is who giveth such Euangelicall promises to penitent Iudah and saith I have seene his wayes and will heale him c 57.18 I will leade him allso and restore comforts to him and to his mourners I create the fruite of the lipps peace peace to him that is farre off vers 19 and to him that is neere saith the Lord and I will heale him This is hee who inviteth Israel to come unto him and saith Returne yee back-sliding Children and I will heale your backsliding
seldome is love forgotten in the mother of children Cant. 3 6. in whom it is commonly as strong as death vers 7. for many waters cannot quench it neither can the floods drowne it Much therfore I cannot blame the wife of Zebedeus for the fervency of her affection to her beloved Sonnes All that shee erred in was both in the thing shee requested and in the person to whom shee tendered her petition Surely without offence I may likewise besiech my mercifull Saviour that hee will be pleased to undertake the protection of my young ones It is a petition more proper for mee then her's was for her for shee was living and might have beene a comfort unto them but I am dying I am leaving the world I lye drawingon and wayting for that blessed hower of my Saviours comeing All that is left mee now to doe is onely to blesse them before my departure and this is the best legacie that I can bequeath unto them I must I will blesse them by the leave and favour of my God yet not as from my selfe but onely from God not as thinking that my power can purchase their happinesse but praying to him that his blessing may prosper them Thus by faith did dying Iacob blesse both the Sonnes of Ioseph Heb. 11 21. and worshipped leaning upon the top of his staffe Thus old Isaak said unto Esau his Sonne Gen. 27 2. vers 3. Behold now I am old I know not the day of my death now therfore take I pray thee thy we opons thy quiver and thy bowe and goe out to the field and take mee some venison vers 4. and make mee savourie meate such as I love and bring it to mee that I may eate that my soule may blesse thee before I dye Thus Isaak blessed Iacob and said c 28.3 God All-mighty blesse thee and make thee fruitfull and multiplie thee that thou mayest be a multitude of people c. 49.28 Thus Iacob blessed the twelve tribes when hee spake unto them and blessed them every one according to his blessing hee blessed them c 31.55 Thus Laban even in the time of his health rose up early in the morning and kissed his Sonnes and his daughters and blessed them and then departed and returned to his place Yea thus even Moses who was but a leader of the people and not so neerely linked unto them by the bonds of nature blessed them and sayd Deut. 1 11. The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as yee are and blessed you as hee hath promised you Thus the same Moses againe drawing neere to the time of his leaving the world c. 33.1 with his blessing did blesse the children of Israel before his death Thus when the dayes of David drew neere that hee should dye 1. King 2.1 hee gave a charge and a blessing to his beloved Sonne Solomon And noe marveile since it is most true that hee whom God blesseth is blessed Num 22.6 and hee whom hee curseth is cursed The blessing of a parent is nothing but a prayer to the giver of good things Iam. 1.17 that hee may be pleased to send his blessing on their issue Mee thinks therfore the words of Samuel which hee sayd unto the people doe take a deepe impression in my breast 1. Sam. 12.23 for hee sayd God forbid that I should sinne against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you With leave then of my God I will see my children and I will kisse them as Laban did his and I will likewise blesse them The Lord direct mee in my prayers for them and the Lord accept my prayers grant my requests which I shall make unto him for them part 2 The Second part being the benediction or blessing it selfe ending in a prayer MY deerest children yee whom I love in the tender yerning bowells of affection draw neere and attend to the words of your dying mother A weake woman yee see I am but yet sinfull I am which peradventure yee see not O weepe not my prettie ones doe not pierce and breake my troubled heart with your sad laments I must dye my litle ones and goe to a better place whither yee I hope shall one day follow mee Wee came not together into the world nor shall wee goe together out of it In vaine doe yee shed those teares of sorrow for allthough nature teacheth you to bewayle my departure yet grace will teach you to moderate your mourning My heart even bleede's to leave you behind mee fearing lest yee will forget the commandements of your God I should be sorrie to have just cause to say unto you as Moses did to the Levites yet I will put you in mind of his words Deut. 31.27 Behold sayd hee while I am yet alive with you this day yee have beene rebellious against the Lord vers 29 how much more after my death I know that after my death yee will utterly corrupt your selves and turne aside from the way which I commanded you and evill will befall you in the latter dayes because yee will doe evill in the sight of the Lord Heb. 6.9 to provoke him to anger through the worke of your hands But I am perswaded better things of you and things that accompanie salvation though I thus speake O my deare ones hearken unto the words which I shall say They must be my legacie unto you heare mee with patience and treasure up in your memories the last speech of your fainting your dying mother How deare yee cost mee before yee had life and what pangs and torments I suffered for you before yee were heard or seene in the world yee cannot imagine nor I expresse Yet all was forgotten for joy that yee were borne Ioa 16.21 and hoping that yee would adde unto the quire of Saints To this purpose I have laboured and taken care for the nourishment both of your soules bodies and for your sustentation so much as in mee lay from the breast to this instant O what sad and perplexed thoughts have I had for you in the day times and how many howers have I borrowed from my sleepe in the nights to thinke what would become of you if yee should not be obedient to the commandements of my God! To the same God they are best knowne O how often upon my knees have I prayed for your happinesse and wept and mourned when yee have done what yee ought not To him is it best knowne to whom I now am goeing Sometimes when yee have offended I was enforced to correct you but each stripe which yee receaved did cut mee into the heart In many things yee failed because yee were young and in many things I failed too because I am a weake and a sinfull woman If at any time yee thought that I did not my duety take heede that hereafter yee remember it not to my dishonour Ponder in your
fierce wrath and repent of this evill against thy people Is 1.26 Turne thine hand upon us and purely purge a way our drosse and take away all our tinne vers 26 Restore our Iudges as at the first and our counsellers as at the beginning and call our land the land of righteousnesse vers 27 the faithfull land Let our Zion be redeemed with judgment and our converts with righteousnesse Ps 86.17 Shew some good token upon us for good that they which hate us may see it be ashamed because thou Lord helpest and comfortest us Heare ô my God in the bowells of thy compassions close and bind up our wounds for his sake who was wounded for our transgressions pardon us for his sake who is our onely reconciliation and let the cryes which our finns have sent up to heaven for vengeance be ceased and quieted by the blessed pleading of our onely Mediatour betweene thee and us even the beloved Sonne of thy bosome Iesus Christ our onely Lord and Saviour Amen The Second Prayer consisting of 1 A dolefull complaint of our grievous calamities 2 An humble desire of the remission of our sinns 3 A fervent supplication for righteousnesse and peace GReate and glorious Lord God who art the Lord of hosts 1. Sam. 17.45 Exod 15.3 and God of the armies of Israel ô thou who hast styled thy selfe a man of warre whose name is the Lord Looke downe I beseech thee upon the distressed anguish consuming sorrowes of this thy people in our land of blood Thou seest Lord thou seest the afflictions of Ioseph the calamities of thy people how our blood is shed like water on every side of our Kingdome how our bones lye scattered before the pit like as when one breaketh and heweth wood upon the earth How long Lord how long just and holy shall the prayers and the teares and the cries and the supplications of thy saints and servants ascend up unto heaven and yet thou seeme unto us as a deafe man which heareth not and as a man which is dumb Ps 38.13 that openeth not his mouth Is there noe balme in Gilead Is there noe physitian there Why then is nâ—… the health of the daughter of thy people recovered Ier O the hope of Israel the saviour thereof in the time of trouble why should thou be as a stranger in our land and as way-faring man that turneth a side to tarrâ— but a night Psal Thou hast moved our land and divided it ô heale the sores thereof for it shaketh O let the sorrowfull sighing of the prisoners come before thee according to the multitude of thy mercies preserve thou those that are appointed to death Arise ô Lord from thy resting place thou and the arke of thy strength Arise and have mercy upon our Sion for it is time that thou have mercy upon her yea the time is come for why Thâ— servants thinke upon her stones and it greiveth us to see how shee lyeth downe in the dust O now at last be thou favourable and gracious to our Sion and build thou the walls of our Ierusalem Send peace within our walls and plenteousnesse within our pallaces For our brethrens and companions sake I wish this prosperitie yea because of the many houses of the faithfull who put their trust in thee our Lord our God I pray for this good Exod. 3 7. Thou o Lord hast surely seene the afflictions of this thy people and hast heard our cries by reason of the sword for thou knowest our sorrowes vers 8. O come thou downe to deliver us as once thou didst thy people of Israel from the hand of the Egyptians Thou seest how the sword is drawne in an unnatuâ—…ll manner brother against brother neighâ—our against neighbour house against house â—ather against Sonne and Sonne against Father all having weapons of warre which â—re like to destroy the nation all clothing â—hemselves in garments rolled in blood Isa 9.5 Thou seest how many amongst us thirst for blood how whole rivers thereof runne in our fields and in our streetes yet it is not in the power or pollicie of man to stoppe the current It is now o Lord with us as it was once with idolatrous Israel when Moses commanded them saying Exod. 32.27 Put every man his sword by his side and goe in and out and slay every man his brother and every man his companion and every man his neighbour Psal Thy holy temples are defiled and without thy preventing mercy our Ierusalem may be made an heape of stones Heresie and Schisme oppose the cleere light of thy glorious gospel Ps 137.7 and like the children of Edom in the day of Ierusalem they say even of truth it selfe downe with it downe with it even to the ground Many of our citties and townes doe now sitt solitarie Lam. 1 1. c 2.11 that were full of people and are become as widdowes The children and sucklings swoone in our streetes the widows make their lamentations over the gasping bodies of their wounded husbands the young ones cry for bread but some of them find neither fathers to give it theÌ„ nor mothers to compassionate them Is 33.8 The high wayes lye wast 〈◊〉 way-faring man ceaseth the line of confusâ—… is stretched out upon the land c. 34.11 the stones of eâ—…ptinesse vers 13 Thornes come up in our pallaces netâ— and brambles in our streetes and houses aâ— become habitations of dragons c. 8.21 and courts fâ— owles Some wicked ones among us that aâ— hungry Lam. 2.9 fret themselves and curse our Kinâ— and our god and looke upward The law iâ— noe more vers 10 the Prophets allso find noe visâ—… from thee the Lord. The elders sit upon the ground and keepe silence they have cast up dâ—…t upon their heads they have girded themselves with sack-cloth the virgins hâ—… downe their heads to the ground It is not noâ— as it was in the dayes of ould Luc. 7.25 when men clothâ— in soft raiment and they which were gorgeousâ— apparelled and lived delicately were in King courts Is 1.7 Our countrie is desolate our citties aâ— burnt with fire and our land is desolate as orâ— throwne by strangers Lam 5.1 Remember ô Lord who is come upon thy people consider and behold on reproach vers 2. Some of our inheritances are turned to strangers and our houses to aliants Many among us are orphans and fatherlesse vers 3. and many that were wives are become widowes Many doe get their bread with the perill of their lives vers 9. Ps 142.7 vers 6. Ps 94.19 because of the sword that maketh our land a wildernesse O Lord doe thou consider our complaint for wee are brought very low Thou ô Lord art our hope and our portion in the multitude of sorrowes which wee have in our â—…rts let thy comforts ô my God refresh our â—…les Heare ô Lord and