Mr. FLEETWOOD's SERMON BEFORE THE Lord-Mayor c. JAN 30. 1698 9. Child Mayor Jovis nono die Februarii 1698. Annoque Reg ' Regis Willi. Tertii Angliae c. decimo THIS Court doth desire Mr. Fleetwood to Print his Sermon Preach'd at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul the Thirtieth of January last before the Lord-Mayor Aldermen and Citizens of this City Goodfellow A SERMON PREACH'D at St. PAUL's Cathedral JANUARY 30. 1698 9. Before the Right Honourable THE LORD MAYOR AND Court of Aldermen By W. FLEETWOOD Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty LONDON Printed for Thomas Newborough at the Golden-Ball in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1698 9. 1 SAM xxvi 10 11. David said furthermore as the Lord liveth the Lord shall smite him or his day shall come to dye or he shall descend into Battel and perish The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord's anointed THO' one must needs be sensible that Arguments and Inferences fetch'd from the Jewish Government cannot by any means conclude with Certainty another Nation and a different Constitution and that the Scripture-Instances themselves without some general positive Command to follow them can oblige no farther than they carry Reason and Convenience along with them yet because the World is govern'd mostly by Examples and Scripture-Examples chiefly urg'd and fittest for our Imitation it may not be improper to consider in this History the Provocations Saul had given to David and the Opportunities that David had to avenge himself and take away his Life This I will do in the first place and in the second consider the Reason David here assigns for his Proceedings It is the Lord 's anointed And in the third and last place apply my self a little to the Occasion of this Day 's Assembly I. The Persons here concern'd are Saul and David the King of Israel and his Servant the Father and the Son-in-law and the State in which the Text shews us these two was that of Enmity it was the second time that Saul with a premeditated form'd Design had hunted after David to destroy him and 't was the second time that God had put the former in the latter's Power and given his Life into his Hands which he was tender of the second time and spar'd it with his old and usual good Expression God forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed a noble Instance this if 't were alone of a most excellent forgiving Nature of firm and solid Virtue of steady and unshaken Loyalty but when consider'd with its Circumstances that attended it the Provocations Saul had given and the Advantages that David had it will appear an Act so brave and generous that it would be flattering up our selves in vain to hope to see it ever parallel'd throughout Consider therefore first the Prince that was his Captive now and at his Mercy had somewhile since descended so below himself as to become the Envier and Detractor from his Praise was poorly jealous of the Honours he had purchased and tried to blast the Laurels he had gather'd at the expence of so much painful Toil and Hazard and 't is no little share of Grace and Goodness that can restrain a young aspiring Hero from taking Vengeance on the Maligners of his Praise and from removing all Impediments in his pursuit of Fame and Glory Consider Secondly This was the Prince that had attempted twice to murther him himself had thrown his Javelin twice to fix him to the Wall and chose to make himself the Executioner of his own Choler and Revenge hearkening ungratefully to the Suggestions of that Evil Spirit which the good Youth was at the present labouring with his Musick to appease and charm and when Mens Lives are so apparently sought after they usually lay all Respects aside and listen to the Dictates of unruly Nature Thirdly He was a false perfidious Prince under pretence of honouring and advancing him he had remov'd him from himself and made him Captain over a Thousand and still to make the Matter less suspicious said unto him Behold my elder Daughter Merab her will I give to thee for Wife only be valiant for me and fight the Lord's Battels But what follows For Saul said let not mine hand be on him but let the hand of the Philistines Nothing affects a generous Mind so sensibly as being cheated under shew of Friendship and Treachery is never viler than when 't is covered with the Mask of Godliness But after all it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul ' s Daughter should have been given to David that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite to Wife an affront in its own Nature very great undoubtedly but such as according to the Maxims of our modern Gallantry were never to be pardoned But worser yet When Michal's voluntary Love had amply satisfied the disappointment he had had in Merab the unrighteous Father harden'd in his Cruelty would make his Daughter instrumental in the murthering of his Son-in-law would have the Left-hand cut the Right one off the Wife conspire against her Lord and Husband and betray the Life she lov'd and priz'd above her own And when a Man has thus apparently attempted to debauch the Loyalty and break the Union of the Marriage-Bed to dissolve those Sacred Bands to interrupt the sweetest Commerce of Man's Life and violate all the ties of Nature Reason and Religion by a practice of such horrid and unnatural Wickedness there is hardly any excess of Fury so exorbitant but seems at first excusable in a thus injured and abused Husband But God forbid said David notwithstanding all this that I should stretch my hand against the Lord's anointed The Villany of this Attempt the Wickedness of Saul and David's Vertue might yet be raised by considering what were the effects of this his Rage and Disappointment he was so cruel that he took the Princess from her Husband broke off the comfort of her Life and sent her to a Strangers loath'd unhallow'd Bed and even when Jonathan himself his noblest best beloved Son the prop and comfort of his Age the light and joy of Israel the glory of his House and the support of his Kingdom came but to intercede in his Friend's behalf and to excuse his Absence Saul's Anger was so enkindled at him that he cast a Javelin at him to have nail'd him to the Wall a piece of Rage and brutal Violence that Nature wants a name for but a sure Indication that such a settled Wrath was never to be appeased and therefore never to be ventured more and therefore now secur'd for ever But farther he was Perjur'd He had but lately taken a solemn Oath before the Lord and Jonathan David should not be Slain when behold upon the first awakening of his Evil Spirit even whilst his Vows were warm upon his Lips he threw himself the second Javelin at his Heart and threw away all Faith and Honour with it And when a
go along therewith He that hath never gotten these or lost them once may find to his cost when e'er he comes to try that the ties of Duty are not half so strong as the bands of Love nor the Service of the Body comparable to the Affections of the Mind Whereas he that hath gain'd the Heart will certainly be Master of the Hand and Service on Occasion And this was it that Saul foresaw and dreaded so and this was it that David was already in possession of But notwithstanding all this great as he was in Court great as he was in Camp and greater yet in favour of the People he would not venture on the impious Fact still it was The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed The Lord forbid yet David knew it was this very Lord that had rejected Saul from being King that rent the Kingdom from him and that repented he had ever made him King at all Nay David knew himself the Man design'd by God to be his Successor and had accordingly been anointed King by Samuel at the Town of Bethlehem 'T is surely with Ambition as with other Passions the fantastick and imaginary Joys are greater than the experienc'd and substantial ones The Hopes and Expectations far exceed the pleasures of Possession Whatever Cares belong to Crowns they lye conceal'd within their Circles and are more seldom seen than felt and therefore more engage in their pursuits than are contented when they get them But this Temptation found no place with David young and gay and vigorous as he was and even so near the Crown that by conniving at Abishai's Blow he might have been in full and sure possession of it yet he suffered not himself to be transported beyond the Bounds of rigid Honesty and Loyalty and still cries out The Lord forbid Now to conclude and to compleat this Character add Lastly to these great Advantages of being Son-in-law a mighty Man of Valour and accepted in the sight of all the People of knowing Saul rejected and himself design'd for Successor the greatest yet of all Advantages and that is Opportunity that without which all others signifie but little and that with which alone Men serve their turns and make up the defects of all the rest that Pandar to all Sin and fatal Snare of Virtue That that has ruin'd many thousand Souls and betray'd them into most detestable Commissions sometimes against the best Convictions of their Understanding nay and sometimes against their Vows and Resolutions Opportunity that few have Virtue few have Strength sufficient to withstand and of all Opportunities none are so strong and work so powerfully upon the Minds of Men as those that look like Providential ones and seem to come from God Yet this was David's Opportunity and yet withstood Behold said the Men of David to him Chap. 24. and ver 4. Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee Behold I will deliver thine Enemy into thine hand that thou may'st do unto him as shall seem good unto thee And again in the Chap. of the Text and ver 8. Then said Abishai to David God hath delivered thine Enemy into thine hand this day now therefore let me smite him I pray with the Spear unto the Earth at once and I will not smite him the second time As if he had said Look round you noble Youth and see how Heaven and Earth conspire in your Advancement mark how the Providence of God hath ordered every thing in your behalf contriving every Circumstance to concurr in setting the Crown upon your Head How many Psalms have you compos'd how many Vows how many earnest Prayers have you put up that God would visit your Afflictions confound your Enemies and redeem you from Distress Behold then in this Opportunity your Prayers are answer'd and your Vows returned This is the Day this is the Time of which the Lord said I will deliver thine Enemy into thy hand Is it not he and he alone hath wrought this great Salvation for thee with his own Right-hand and with his holy Arm hath he bestow'd on thee this Victory what could our few and feeble Troops have done against a Royal Army had not the Finger of God been visible in all this Action Had not his gracious Providence dispos'd of all Events in favour of your Claim It is the Lord 's doing and marvellous in all our Eyes improve it therefore to his Honour and the advancing his Designs in setting you over his chosen People Will you withstand the Purposes of God or will you not concurr with his good Providence God hath deliver'd Saul into your hands and do not tempt the Lord by slighting or neglecting of his Times and Seasons 't were Madness and Impiety to let him ' scape You must not think the Lord will work out such Deliverances every Day to Day you are a Conqueror and a King if you but please to Morrow you may be a Rebel and undone and who shall pity you You shall not need to imbrue your own Hands in his Blood you shall not need to incurr the Odium of Commanding such a thing to any else I 'll spare your Fame the Guilt of both permit me only by my self to be the Minister of Providence the Executioner of God's Designs This was the sense and purport of Abishai's Speech and carried so much force and worldly Reason with it that none but one that had the fear of God continually before his Eyes could possibly withstand it or say with David The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed And now having done what right I could to the particular State and Circumstances of Saul and David King and Subject and shew'd such Provocations on the one hand and such Temptations and Advantages on the other as it may be never did before or never will again hereafter happen I am to proceed and consider Secondly the Reason David gave for his refusal of Abishai's and the Soldiers Proffer It is the Lord 's anointed By the Lords anointed is here meant the Man that was by God's designation and appointment anointed King or Captain over all the People which was done by the Ceremony of pouring a Vial of Oyl upon his Head and kissing him So that the anointed of the Lord signifies no more than an ordinary King with us David therefore would not stretch forth his Hand against Saul because he was his King He would fly from before him though he was his King as he did from Keilah and he would gather up 600 Men to guard him from the Violence of I will not say the King but his illegal and blood-thirsty Servants that pursued him But he would not touch the King's Life and because he has express'd no other reason than that he was the Lord's anointed that is a King we must either conclude that the Laws of God or the fundamental Constitutions of the Nation had guarded the Persons
Prince hath thus abandon'd common Honesty broken the sacred Cords that knit Societies and keep up Governments and mutual Correspondences together with Relations Natural and Civil and by his Perjuries provok'd the Vengeance of God and is delivered into the Hands of those whose Innocence and good Credulity he had impos'd on and abus'd almost to their Destruction Oh! what a mighty measure of God's Grace must fill the Heart of him that then could say The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed There are some things besides our Lives and Persons in which if we are touch'd we think our selves extreamly Injur'd and they are specially our Friends our Fortunes and Religion and David was in every one of these affected more or less by Saul's implacable pursuit and hunting after him He was constrain'd to change his Habitation carry his Father and his Mother and his whole Family into a strange Country aged and feeble as they needs must be To be forc'd when one is growing old and stooping with Infirmities to forsake ones Native Place the Dwelling of ones Ancestors the Comforts of good Neighbourhood the usual Prospects and familiar Objects of ones Sight with all the old Conveniencies of Life in the way one is in for a strange Country barbarous Neighbours new Laws and Usages and Tongue unknown must needs be hard and troublesome to humane Nature and an Oppression scarce to be endur'd Yet this was David's Case who felt these Evils in himself but much more sensibly in the Distresses of his Parents who by the fury of the King were driven to Mispeh of the King of Moab And then for his Estate it could not otherwise be but he must suffer much in that respect it was impossible to remove his whole Effects King's have long Hands and piercing Eyes and by their Officers can reach and see at mighty distance And Saul had Harpies in his Court undoubtedly as well as other Kings ready to beg and seize upon the Estates of such as by their Crimes or their Misfortunes were obnoxious to the King's Displeasure Lastly for his Religion Although he suffer'd nothing for or by it yet much he suffer'd for the want of it to be driven away into wicked and idolatrous Country and be debarr'd the exercise of his Religion to be hurried from God's Temple and the communicating in the appointed daily Service of that Holy Place was little less than painful Martyrdom to one so zealously and so devoutly bent as David was Let any Man recount the Evils I have mention'd summ up the Persecutions and the Provocations of King Saul and set before his Eyes himself or any one in David's Case wrong'd in his Honour divorc'd from his Nuptial-Bed against his Will despoil'd of his Estate and Property wounded in the Distresses and Afflictions of his Parents attempted privately to be destroy'd pursued in Publick as an Enemy and hunted like a Partridge on the Mountains and forc'd to wander like a Fugitive and seek his Bread out in desolate Places and in a manner Excommunicated by being barr'd the use and exercise of his Religion Let any Man I say but put himself in these bad Circumstances and find himself in a capacity of delivering himself from out of them as David was and think with himself what he would do No 't is not that I would advise him to Let him rather think what David here did The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed There 's hardly any one of all these single Passages that happens to our selves or our Acquaintance but puts us to extremity and provokes us beyond all Patience we call it an intollerable Oppression and weary Heaven and Earth with our Complaints and think our selves undone till we have found our Satisfaction or Revenge How restless are we in contriving Snares how quick in catching Opportunities and how malicious in improving them to our ill-natur'd purposes Much otherwise was it with Righteous David here who call'd not to his Mind his past Wrongs nor cast his Dangers and Oppressions up to make a terrible Account who consulted not with Flesh and Blood nor debated the Matter with those ill Advisers within his Choler and Revenge who cure one Evil by a hundred worse Yet He as he had most Reason so had he most Opportunities and most Advantages to carve out whatever Satisfaction he might judge sufficient Which is what for his Honour and our Instruction I must Secondly insist on He was first the King's Son-in-law one of the greatest Honours in the Kingdom and an Advancement that must needs draw after it a great many Friends and Favourites and make him strong Alliances at Court and tho' those Friendships commonly live but like Flies while the benign and quickening Influences of the Sun continue and dye upon the Frowns and Lowrings of their Prince yet 't were too hard a reflection on the lightness of those places to think such solid Vertue and unquestion'd Merit as eminently shone in David had not acquir'd him a considerable Party and a well-grounded Interest at Court But Secondly he was a mighty Man of Valour he fought the Lord's Battels he was the Sword and Shield the Horsemen and the Chariots of Israel He was the Scourge of the Philistines and indeed of all the Idolatrous Nations round the great Defender of the Jewish Faith and the Supporter of God's Worship And 't is hard to think a Man thus qualified should fail of bearing sway amongst the Soldiery and being gracious in the Camp and all Men know how far that tends to the promoting and securing any great Designs Thirdly This David was belov'd of all the People the Favourite of his Country the very Idol of the Crowd His Youth his Beauty his attractive Grace and popular Deportment together with his Virtue and his Valour had stol'n the Peoples Hearts and charm'd them so to Love and Admiration that he became the Theme of their perpetual Talk their Songs and Dances were compos'd in honour of his great Archievments and all their Instruments of Joy and Musick were tun'd to his invidious Praises How harsh and rude must those Expressions of their Pleasure be how unmannerly and ill-natur'd a Triumph to have the Women come to meet the King himself and grate him with the burthen of their Song Saul hath slain his thousands and David his ten thousands I do not wonder much when I consider humane Nature that Saul as it follows in the next Verse was very wroth and the saying displeased him and then upon a repetition of that Sentence 't was very natural to inferr What can he have more but the Kingdom 'T is fatal to a Prince to lose himself or suffer any else to get the Affections of his People A King may be as wroth as Ahasuerus was and may decree terrible things and Priests may preach up Patience and Obedience long enough but 't will not do unless the Affections of the Subject
of all Men and to make the whole World easie and happy it commanded Governours to exercise their Power with Justice and Uprightness with Clemency and Prudence and all Subjects to obey with Reverence and Submission with Patience and Contentedness but it came not to alter Constitutions nor to give either Governours or People more Power and Authority than they had before For if it had it had brought a Sword along with it it had come to set the Princes of the World at variance with the People and the People with their Princes to prejudice Mens Civil Rights and Liberties and put them in a worse Condition as to this World than they were in before by overthrowing settled Laws by undoing Compacts and Agreements the only Preservatives of Civil Society In a word there would be no end of the Mischiefs that would ensue upon understanding Christianity to oblige all People of the World alike to Obedience and Submission to their Rulers without respect to the different Laws and Constitutions of different Kingdoms and Governments and it would be a very bad Account and Character of that Religion Whereas if Christianity came to urge Obedience to the Laws of every Country not Barbarous Obscene nor Impious nor any ways execrable it came to secure that Country in the way and manner it thought the best and fittest for its Interest and Happiness and brought a Blessing with it and shewed both to Prince and People what was the Measure and the Rule of the ones Power and of the others Obedience a thing most necessary to be known where the Event is of so great Importance both in this World and that to come Since therefore Christianity came not to make the Laws that Subjects must obey but to urge the Subjects to obey the Laws made by the Legislative Power where-ever that resides there is no reason why it should be charg'd with any of the Mischiefs or the Inconveniencies of a Government too absolute or too much limited And therefore to bring the Matter home the unlimited extent of Power placed in the Princes hands or the sacredness of his Person or his being unaccountable to any one for his Proceedings are things that depend entirely on the Civil-Constitution and we must know them from the Laws and the continued Usages and Customs of the Country immemorial or agreed upon No doubt but Kings may take up Crowns on pittiful and wretched Terms as well as Subjects willingly submit their Liberties to the Will of Princes and each of them must stand to the Conditions tho' very inconvenient ones till they can honestly obtain better I know no better and no other certain Rule for all the World to consider than this Look to the Constitution look to the Laws and Customs of a Country if you would know the Prince's Power or Peoples Privilege It is not to the Men of great Reason and much Reading the finest Speculators and Essayers one should be refer'd to upon these Occasions but to the Histories and Records the Laws and Statutes Customs and Usages that are accepted in a Nation and therefore where by these we find the Lives and Liberties of Princes are held Sacred and Inviolable 't is to no purpose to object the Inconveniencies both real and imaginary that may arise from such Impunity Look to the Laws and Constitution I see in such a Case no way is left but to say with David in the Text The Lord shall smite him or his day shall come to dye or he shall perish in the Battel but God forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lords anointed The Lord shall smite him or his day shall come or he shall perish in the Battel that is I leave him to God's disposal let God the Judge of all the Earth do with him as he pleases And tho' we think the leaving wicked Kings to God is the lightest and the kindest Expression of nothing in the World that can be yet we would quickly alter our Opinions and be of David's Mind if we would give our selves leave to consider First That he hates Injustice more Secondly That he is much more ready And Thirdly Much more able to punish it than we can be First He hates it more He hates it purely for the malice of its Nature and its intrinsick Evil. We only for our own and Interests sake because we either feel or dread its Mischiefs He hates Oppression Tyranny and Cruelty because they are the Contradictions of his own Divine and the Corruptions of our Humane Nature They are directly opposite to his most glorious Attribute of Justice to his most gracious ones of Mercy and Compassion He looks with Indignation on those haughty Sons of Violence and Injustice that abuse the Power that God entrusted them and the great Titles that he honoured them withal for the use and benefit to the destruction and confusion of the World only to satisfie their cruel Rage or vain Ambition There 's not a Groan nor Murmur of the poor oppress'd but makes its way to Heaven and finds accession to the Throne of Grace He numbers all our Sighs and counts our Tears and notes down our Afflictions in his Book and treasures them in Wrath against the Day of Wrath. And if we would be strong and patient for a while and tarry but the Lord's leisure we should certainly see he is a God that hates and punishes Iniquity Secondly He is much more willing to punish wicked Governors than we can be Not that the Goodness of God is so ready to afflict or grieve the Sons of Men as they are to deserve it or that the human Fury does not sometimes anticipate the divine Vengeance but that it is more present to his Nature and more immediately his Will to punish Sin than it can possibly be with us The love of Justice and the hate of Sin is so essentially united to his Being that one may sooner fancy no Divinity at all than that it is not willing to reward the proud Oppressors after their deservings Men may be brib'd by Passions Interest and Affections some from persuing others from administring the Justice due to great Offenders The fears and threatnings of Displeasure the hopes of Favour and Advancement the charm of soft Words and the natural pity of Mankind have oftentimes diverted the most Resolv'd and laid the fury of the most Enrag'd But God as he sees not with Mens Eyes so neither is he mov'd with human Motives but is inflexible in his Decrees which are to punish great Delinquents with great Wrath and has declar'd that nothing but sincere Repentance can prevent his Judgments And Lastly He is much more able He is able to punish them in this Life and in the next He can punish them in this Life by defeating all their Enterprises and blasting all their Purposes by infatuating their Counsellors and turning the Wisdom of Achitophel to Folly and Destruction by suffering the Enemy to sow Dissentions Strife and Discord