Pestilence Thirdly The time in which it raigned From the morning euen to the time appointed Fourthly The Place to which it was confined From Dan to Beersheba Fiftly The Number of people which it consumed Seuentie thousand men First The Author is Iehoua The Lord set out by that great Name of his deriued from an Hebrew word signifying Being to shew and make knowne his independencie from any other hee being an eternall Being of himselfe I am that I am Exod. 3.14 and also to manifest that hee giueth being to all the creatures whence some haue well obserued that the name of Iehoua the Lord was not vsed before the whole worke of the Creation was finished but is first mentioned in the second Chapter and fourth Verse of Genesis And lastly to giue vs to vnderstand that God giueth being and accomplishment to all his promises he causeth them to bee brought to passe and become as it were things in Esse in Being Therefore God telleth Moses in the sixt Chapter of Exodus Verse the third That he was not knowne vnto Abraham Isaak and Iacob by his name Iehouah because though they beleeued that he would yet they liued not to see that he did effectually accomplish that which hee had graciously promised in deliuering their seed from the Aegyptian seruitude and inuesting them with the possession of the Land of promise So then the Inflicter of this great and terrible Pestilence was Iehouah the Lord a great God and a terrible as Moses stileth him that vncaused Being the cause of all Being who keepeth his word and that specially in the execution of his wrath vpon sinne Secondly The Nature of the punishment by him inflicted was pestilentiall The Lord sent a Pestilence c. The sicknesse as wee call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. a most grieuous deadly violent and infectious disease seizing on the spirits and suddenly sending to the graue A most vncomfortable sicknesse in as much as when God visiteth vs with it all refraine from visiting vs. Our Louers and friends stand aloofe from this sore and our Kinsmen stand afarre off as Dauid saith of himselfe in another and more generall sense Psalme 38.11 Thirdly As for the time in which the Pestilence raigned Some say it was from morning to mid-day some for the whole three dayes threatned A third sort for halfe the space The Text saith it was euen to the time appointed And if wee shall thinke that the triduall terme was abridged vpon Dauids humiliation repentance or at least that the Plague ceased before the third day ended the Lord being said in this Chapter to repent of the euill forbearing in his anger to punish and forbidding his Angell to proceed any further the phrase of Scripture will bee our warrant in which Gods temporall punishments are not euer decreed irreuocably but determined conditionally and if men will not repent hee will proceed to accomplishment yet will it not therefore follow that Gods will dependeth vpon mans for it is knowne to him from eternitie who they are that shall turne to him by repentance and he is the orderer of their wayes and the ouer-ruler of their wils and their repentance is meerly of his grace and from his gift Fourthly The place to which the Pestilence was confined was from Dan to Beersheba Dan is heere taken locally for a Citie bounding Israel as elsewhere personally for a Sonne borne vnto Iacob T was the vtmost confine of Israel on the North side as Beersheba a Citie of Iudah was on the South towards the Philistines So from Dan to Beersheba is in effect throughout all Israel T were the like phrase of speech if wee of these parts should say of some generall Plague dispersed in all the Iland of Great Brittaine that it raigned from the Start-point on our Southerne Seas vnto Straithy-head in Scotland which is the farthest point stretching it selfe into the North Seas Fiftly The number that dyed were seuentie thousand men A great Catalogue for so small a continuance or in so small a compasse Insomuch that if the mortalitie should haue held the same course which it beganne but a moneth or two it is likely by conferring the number which Ioab tooke of the people with the number which God tooke away by the Pestilence that in all Israel there would not haue beene a man or two left I grant that it is apparant that Ioab brought not an exact number of all the people but withall I say it is most probable that all the people who fell by the Pestilence are not heere numbred but chiefly if not only those whom God subtracted and tooke away from the former computation of those men of warre in whom Dauid gloried So the Lord punished Dauid in the thing wherein he offended God Dauid gloried of the number of his people in his pride and God diminished them with his Plague Thus haue I ouer-runne the particulars to hasten to my obseruations I finde many a notable Emphasis in this Text. Death is not so strange and yet there is notice to be taken of it but for men to die of so strange a death as of the pestilence and for so many to dye of the pestilence and that in so small a compasse of time and within Israels Confines this is that which should force vs to take a more speciall notice of the heauie hand of God The Obseruation which I first draw out of this Text is this Doct. The pestilence is Gods speciall Rod whereby he scourgeth the sinne and punisheth the pride of the most potent and populous Nations God had greatly multiplyed his great mercies vpon Israel and in great mercie had greatly multiplyed Israel made it a great and a mightie Nation of small beginnings and now for Dauids sinne of numbring and for the number of their sinnes he beginneth greatly to diminish them The Lord sent a Pestilence The Pestilence is his great scourge for sinne When you are gathered together in your Cities I will send a Pestilence among you saith the Lord viz. for your breach of my couenant Leuiticus 26.25 Indeed euery sicknesse may be said to bee Gods scourge but the Plague that is specialis plaga Gods speciall and proper stripe the signes that it makes are Gods speciall markes and therefore the Word of the Lord calleth it the Sword of the Lord 1. Chron. 21.12 As Iehouah the name by which God is heere stiled is peculiar to him so the spreading of the pestilence which hee here sendeth is from him alone Wee may rayse other sicknesses to cast downe our selues by our owne surfets and distempers this seemeth to bee meerly of his sending and he only to haue a finger heerein So Dauid acknowledged when he chose to fall into the hands of God by the falling of his people by a Pestilence in the Verse before the Text. And now for vse to vs Beloued Israels calamitie in the time of King Dauid is Englands case in the time of King Charles Facta est
lumpes of dead flesh Christ Iesus that good Samaritan came by and powred in Oyle and Wine the Oyle of his mercie and the red Wine that came from no other Vine besides his owne veines T was only the bloud of that Scape-goate who tooke our nature vpon him that could mollifie our Adamantine hearts We did no way preuent his absolute worke of conuersion by our owne wils preparation or naturall inclination But as Augustine said of the Soule That it was created together with the infusing of it and infused into vs together with the creating of it so must we of our will that God in conuerting our hearts maketh them to will their conuersion and in making our hearts to will their conuersion doth conuert them And thus much of the Heart with reference to men in generall Now as all Clay is in the hand of the Potter and yet he is most carefull of that Clay which he reserueth for vessels which shall serue for the best vses and which hee will set at the highest rate so God fashioneth all hearts alike as the Psalmist noteth yet he is most intentiue to the hearts of Kings And good reason The spirits hearts of priuate men moue their priuate bodies The spirits hearts of Princely and Publick persons moue multitudes euen the whole bodie Politicke Therefore God inspireth the hearts of supreame Gouernours with heroicall gifts and supereminent graces filleth them with fortitude and magnanimitie and frameth and fitteth them for the managing of the weightiest affaires The hearts of priuate men are in the hands of the Lord as the Wels of water their motions are confined within their owne compasse The heart of the King like the riuers of water as yee may see in the words following the Text from him there is to be deriued the whole Weale publicke The Spirit of God mooueth principally on those waters As when the Riuer Nilus in his inundation riseth some Cubits higher then his vsuall limits it is said to bee a certaine presage of a future Dearth and Famine in Aegypt so when the Kings heart swelleth aboue the Lords hand it will fill heauie on the whole Land And now from that which hath beene taught touching the Lords hand both Kings and Subiects may learne to humble themselues vnder Gods mightie hand and to present them hearts vnto him with an Ecce Ancillam Behold thine Hand-maide Those Kings may take correction at Gods hand who as though God had no interest in their principall part pay the vse of it to their owne pleasures who liue rather like such as thinke Gods heart to bee in their hand then those who consider that theirs is in his who direct not any Prayers vnto him pray not vnto him for any directions but making Idols of themselues cry Fiat voluntas nostra let our wils be done It is true indeed that the Priuiledges of Kings are exceeding great They are in a great measure like vnto God himselfe For such maiestie he giueth them that all people nations and languages tremble and feare before them whom they will they slay whom they will they keep aliue whom they will they set vp and whom they will they put downe Dan. 5.19 Their hearts are vnsearchable Prou. 25.3 Their power is in some sort like vnto his Prou. 30.31 Against him there is no rising vp And like him they are not bound to giue men an account of their actions For as none can stay the Lords hand and say vnto him what doest thou Dan. 4. So who shall say to the King what dost thou Yet for all this the same mouth that pronounceth them Gods telleth them that they shall dye like men They may be as Gods to their subiects yet must they bee subiect to God As his hand hath aduanced them so must they exalt him This shall they doe when Maximus and Optimus goe hand in hand Virtus summa potestas Cum cocant When in their Kingdomes they thinke of Gods Kingdome Although Caput Imperij seeme to be the more glorious Title yet Membrum Ecclesiae is the more gracious Name Gratius nomen pietatis quam potestatis sayth Tertullian Apologet. cap. 34 And to speake truly Goodnesse is the onely true Greatnesse They are great who are great in Gods fauour So Moses and Ioseph were great Isidores Etymologie may serue to this purpose Reges à rectè agendo saith hee as if Regere were nought else but rectè agere with him agreeth Hugo Cardinalis in his Comment if wee apply those words to Kings in particular which he vseth in the generall Cor Regale est quod excussit à se iugum seruitutis malae nec alicui seruit nisi Deo cui seruire regnare est Hee that ruleth ouer men must bee iust ruling in the feare of God 2. Sam. 23 3. Rex eriâ— dum benè regis quod nisi feceris nomen Regis in te non constabit so wrote Eleutherius to King Lucius Againe the Lords hand in this Text may serue to checke those Court-palmisters who thinke that they haue found the line of their preferment in their owne hands saying in their hearts Our hand is high and the LORD hath not done all this Deuteronomy 32.27 By the strength of our hand we haue done it and by our wisdome for wee are prudent Esay 10.13 O they should thinke of an higher hand and consider that as they rule by Kings so Kings raigne by God Prou. 8. Therefore when they are exalted they should extoll Gods hand and lift vp their owne onely in prayse to him They should remember that promotion commeth vnto them at the second hand For Promotion commeth neither from the East nor from the West nor from the South But God is the Iudge hee putteth downe one and setteth vp another Psal 75. Therefore that should be their acknowledgement and resolution which was Kings Dauids 1. Chron. 29.12 Both riches and honour saith he come of thee and thou raignest ouer all and in thine hand is power and might and in thine hand it is to make great c. Now therefore our God wee thanke thee and praise thy glorious name Lastly let the same hand serue to beat downe those presumptious miscreants who durst to lay violent hands on the Lords anointed seruants It is fabled of the Bird Amphibia that when the King of Fowles demanded tribute of her shee tooke wing and betooke her selfe to the Sea and liued among the fiâ—hes c. Birds of this feather are our English Fugitiues the Popes Birds who haue forsaken our Land and betaken themselues to the Sea of Rome breaking asunder the bonds of their Allegiance and Religion Their adulterous Mother-Church saith vnto them concerning Christs pretended Vicar that which Christs Virgin-Mother said concerning Christ to the seruants at the marriage in Cana Whatsoeuer he saith vnto you doe it And hee being like the off spring of Herodias before instructed by the cursed doctrine of that bloudie Mother Mat. 14.8
haec est Caesaris illa Dei The Kings Heart is in the hand of the Lord. Esay 14.10 But what hath God an hand Is God also become weake as we is he become like vnto vs. It is vsuall with vs as to christen diuers men so to call different things by one and the same name Pedem nostrum dicimus lecti veli carminis Seneca saith that sage Heathen Our weaknesse is the strongest reason for it that hee standeth on Quia non sufficimus vt singula singulis assignemus So standeth the case with vs men it is nothing so with God Hath he a foot it is to support our infirmities it is to tread a path for our capacities Hath he an Hand in my Text it is to direct our decayed knowledge it is to lead our blind vnderstandings If any therefore shall make a question how the hand may bee fastened on God with whom things corporall can hold no proportion The Figure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must shape him an answere by which our great God mercifully descending and condescending vnto our meane capacities doth because we cannot vnderstand him in the language of Canaan speake vnto vs in our owne Mother-tongue and because wee cannot reade the diuine Characters of his Essence and Presence writeth in our owne hand The Kings Heart is in the hand of the Lord. By this hand then God leadeth vs to the consideration of that high esteeme which hee vouchsafeth vs as if it were not enough for vs that he had made vs like himselfe Hee would if it were possible make himselfe like vs. But heere to speake more pertinently God especially beareth vs in hand Quam habiturus sit circa publicas personas specialem prouidentiam Carthus What an high regard he will haue of Royall sublimitie As if it were not enough for Kings that the Hoast of the Lord were their Guard the Lord of Hoasts will bee their Guardian his hand shall mayntaine their right and manage their affaires The Kings Heart is in the hand of the Lord. I will not diuide or diuorce the Lords hand from the Kings heart What God hath coupled I will not put asunder Let hand and heart goe together In the ioynture it shall bee sufficient for mee to handle First Gods royall Prerogatiue ouer the Heart Secondly Gods Prerogatiue ouer the Heart royall The first of these will euidence that God carrieth an hand ouer the hearts of all men in generall The second that he hath an especiall hand ouer the hearts of Kings And these are the generall obseruations Gods prerogatiue ouer the heart consisteth principally in the disquisition and in the conuersion thereof in searching and in turning it the former exercised as well in the Reprobate as the Elect the other in the Elect only Both most eminently in Kings and men of the highest ranke That it is Gods prerogatiue to search the heart will soone appeare Psal 44.21 vpon a search of the Scriptures Shall not God search this out for he knoweth the secrets of the heart saith Dauid The heart is the fountaine of life with God is the fountaine of life to vse in this sense the saying of the same Kingly Prophet Psal 36.9 This Well is deepe and we haue nothing wherewith to draw Our owne hearts are deceitfull we can hardly euer find the depth of our owne much lesse sound the Bottome of anothers heart Yea but ex abundantia cordis os loquitur the words which a man letteth fall By the speech as by the pulse we may ghesse at the temper of the heart the threed of his speech like that of Ariadne's Clue may somewhat direct vs in tracing the Maze and following the turnings and windings of the heart When I heare a mouth breathing out scurrilitie and blasphemies a mouth vnder whose roofe God and good men neuer come but they receiue a wound what shall I say but that it is retayner and reporter to a wicked heart Thus might wee iudge of the temper of the heart in generall but must leaue the exact search to the hand of the Lord. We may yet be much mistaken and deceiued in some externall Indices of the heart Many Hypocrites there are who for feare of censure or desire of esteeme keepe their tongues cleanly and yet there is many a foule corner in their hearts like those Citizens who sweepe and keepe their doores verie neare for feare of a checke from the Magistrate and yet haue many a sluttish corner in their houses When all is done The Lord is the true beholder of the heart Homo cor ex verbis Deus verba ex corde pensat Greg. Wisd 1.6 Rom. 1.20 1. Sam. 16.7 Psal 139.2 Acts 15.8 Of him it is cleerly seene He seeth not as man seeth for man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart Hee vnderstandeth our thoughts afarre off Hee seeth in secret saith our Sauiour Mat. 6. Therefore Peter recordeth in the Acts that it is God who knoweth the hearts And God appropriateth that prerogatiue to himselfe I the Lord search the heart All things and thoughts are naked and open in his eyes The Fig-tree leaues could not keepe Adams nakednesse out of his sight The Fig-tree could not hide Nathaniel from his priuie search Neither Men nor Angels but by especiall reuelation from him can haue any hand in the search of the heart 2. Chron. 6.30 for hee only knoweth the hearts of the children of men The Heart is in the hand of the Lord. I turne my speech to the conuersion of the heart which is another prerogatiue belonging to the Almightie hand The heart it is that is Primum viuens the first part that is viuified and quickned both in Nature and Grace As when Subiects are vp in Rebellion the Prince intending to subdue them seizeth first on their strongest hold so God in reducing our rebell wills to his obedience first layeth hold on the heart Silly man is no otherwise the cause of his owne conuersion then Marcus Liuius was of the taking of Tarentum who as Plutarch relateth enuying Fabius for his recouering and reducing of it to the Roman obedience Plut. in vita Fab. Maximi in open Senate said That it was himselfe and not Fabius that was the cause of regaining the Citie True answered Fabius For hadst not thou lost it I had neuer wonne it Non potuisti ô homo in te nisi perdere te saith Augustine We haue gone astray like lost Sheepe saith Dauid It is the Lord that must seeke his Seruants Psal 119.176 It is our spirit that animates vs in nature but Gods Spirit quickneth vs in Grace and createth a cleane heart in vs. In Nature the agilitie of our hands is to be attributed to our hearts In Grace the abilitie of our hearts to the hand of the Lord His hand leadeth vs to sauing health Our hearts by sinne were not only wounded but altogether dead stone-dead
breatheth out nothing but Murthers biddeth them ayme at nothing so much as at the heads of the Lords Anointed So was the Assyrian King Isa 10.5 And that bloudie Scythian of later times Punientur iudicio Dei Lactant. Diu. Infi lib 5. cap. vlt. But wee are to learne hence a lesson of Prayer and Supplication for Kings and those which are in authoritie And of Patience and sufferance vnder the yoke of tyrannie If our Kings tyrannize they are the scourge of God as was Antiochus They are in the Lords hand to punish vs and wee must leaue and referre their punishment to the same hand And certainely his hand shall finde out all his enemies Psal 21.8 When God openeth his hand and layeth it graciously on those who are our heads then hee falleth to blessing of vs when he shutteth it and layeth it grieuously about our Heads then hee falleth to buffetting of vs. Wherefore bee our Kings good they are the Ministers of God for our good Bee they euill Indignationis aduersus nos diuinae quasi ministri sunt Lactant. diuin Instit lib 5. cap. vlt. saith Lactantius Good Kings are like fire to comfort and enlighten Bad Kings are as fire to consume and deuoure It is not good medling with or laying hands on either What if Nabuchadnezzars heart bee lifted vp must a sentence of Depriuation bee giuen to despoile him of his throne Dan. 5.20 21. No Gods hand with the turne of an hand must turne him a grazing and make his Heart like the Beasts Dan. 5.23 Let Belshazzar lift vp himselfe against the Lord of Heauen must a censure of Excommunication bee hung vp at his gate No the finger of the Lords hand must write against the wall of his Palace that hand must number his time and finish it Dan. 5.24 weigh him in the ballance and finde him wanting diuide his Kingdome and giue it to the Medes and Persians If the foule mouth of Herod breathe out from a corrupt and cruell heart threatnings against Gods Church must a Chastell therefore strike at his throat or a Rauilliacke stab at his heart No the Lord must lay his hand vpon him his Angels must smite him * Horat. Regum timendorum in proprios greges Reges in ipsos imperium est Dei. The Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord as the Riuers of water Wee must consider that God withholdeth the waters and they drye vp also he sendeth them out and they ouerturne the Earth Iob 12.15 See also Esa 8.7 Hee can cut off the spirit of Princes Psal 76.12 Hee can change the hearts of Kings who are set to doe euill Hee can exchange Kings whom hee hath set as the hearts in the midst of the Bodies politicke Hee can alter and subuert the estates of Kingdomes though they bee set and as it were setled in the very heart of the Earth like that of the Iewes Ezek. 5.5 Hee taketh away Kings Hee ruleth ouer the Kingdomes of men and giueth them to whomsoeuer hee will Magna Magnus disponit Deus So that wee must leaue those things with all our hearts to the disposall of Gods Almightie hand When the righteous are in authoritie the people reioyce saith Salomon Prou. 29.2 When the wicked beare rule what then must the people rebell No as it there followeth then the people mourne They change their note and tune it to lachrymae Riuers of waters runne downe their eyes Psal 119.136 because of those Princes who keepe not Gods Law Bee our Kings then good or euill God hath set them as the tree of good and euill in the midst of the Garden It is not for man to touch them least hee dye Nemo potentes aggredi tutus potest Seneca English it in the words of holy Scripture Who can lay hands vpon the Lords anointed and bee guiltlesse 1. Sam. 26. A thought against the sacred head of Soueraigntie is an attempt against thine owne Scelus in autorem redit like an arrow shot against heauen it commeth downe with a vengeance vpon the Shooters owne head It is like that enuenomed cup of the Monke of Swinsteed which as some write destroyed himselfe together with his Soueraigne Or like that sword wherewith Cassius strooke Caesar Plut. in vit Iulii Caesaris which as Plutarch storieth did afterward slay Cassius himselfe See Psal 37.15 The thoughts and the dreames of some haue beene treasonable But who would haue thought that their owne confession should make them plead guiltie who would haue dream't that their fancie should bee punisht as a fact Si nemo fuerit accusator ipsi narrabunt The Lord hath bound euery heart and hand with such a tye of inuiolable obedience to their Kings that who so prouoketh them to Anger is said to sinne against his owne soule Prou. 20.2 The Lord is so tender ouer them that hee will not haue them touched Touch not mine Anointed Psal 105.15 Hee telleth vs that if the King bee cursed in our thought or in our Bed chamber a Bird of the Ayre shall carrie the voice that which hath wings shall tell the matter Eccles 10.20 When by Gowries Plot our late Lord the King was brought euen to the Chambers of death who would haue imagined that the tongue scarce at libertie should haue discouered that the head was in danger In the Powder-plot when all things were carried in secrecie when those bloud-suckers sealed their cruell resolutions with receit of the Sacrament therein mingling bloud with their sacrifices who would haue thought that that which had wings should haue told the matter that a Quil that a Letter like that Anser Capitolinus should haue bewrayed the capitall danger likely to fall vpon the whole Land It was the hand of the Lord that enlarged the heart of the King to conceiue the intricate meaning of an obscure Riddle It was his hand that discouered deepe things out of darkenesse and brought to light the shaddow of Death Iob 12.22 So the Catesbeian Conspiracie was disclosed much like the Catilinarian of whose discouerie Plutarch reporteth thus Plut. in vit Ciceronis At night after supper and not long before the Massacre should haue beene committed Crassus his seruant brought him a packet of letters deliuered him by a stranger vnknowne was amongst which one hauing no name subscribed was directed to Crassus the effect of which was that there should bee a great slaughter committed in Rome by Catiline and therefore prayed him to forbeare the Citie Crassus therefore went to Cicero partly for feare of the danger and partly to cleare himselfe from the suspition of any league betweene him and the Conspirators Cicero conuented the Senate and caused the said letters to bee read publickly and so those letters bewrayed the Conspiracie Let vs now change but a few names with heathenish Rome and wee shall find but small difference in the reuealing of these two Romish and hellish Conspiracies namely if we put Catesby for Catiline
Monteagle for Crassus our Cecil for her Cicero our late Soueraigne for her whole Senat. Thus the Lords mightie hand hath done for vs great things and holy is his name It hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their owne hearts and holpen our Israel in remembrance of his mercie To contract and conclude all and therewithall in a neerer application of this Text to apply our selues vnto thankes Deut. 32.3 Let vs publish the name and the hand of our Lord Ascribe ye greatnesse vnto our God Deut. 32.9 The Lords portion is his people and Iacobs off-spring the Lot of his Inheritance As for his People with his owne right hand hath hee gotten the victorie ouer the strong holdes of their crooked and stubborne hearts It was his onely hand that pierced that filme which inuolueth their hearts making it to send forth that cordiall water of compunction the shedding whereof mortifieth Nature and irrigateth the grace of their Conuersion Deut. 32.10.12 And as for Iacobs off-spring the Lords hand brought him backe not long since from a desert Land He led him about he instructed him hee kept him as the apple of his eye The Lord alone did lead him and there was no strange God with him that I may so apply those passages in Moses his Song Deut. 32. The Lords hand fortified his Royall heart against all danger both of soule and bodie so that the Idolatrous Nation could neither detayne his person nor obtayne their purposes Their loose Religion did knit him faster to his Lord and Sauiour and their superstitious shewes and seruices did the more confirme his sacred resolution of persisting with sinceritie of heart in the Orthodoxe and Apostolicall Faith Yea the same hand did in some sort reuerse the purposes of our Soueraigne himselfe to reserue him for the accomplishment of Gods owne diuine purposes Cant. 2.1 Hee who is the Rose of Sharon and the Lilly of the Valleyes brought backe our Soueraigne Rose from that barren soyle in whose Plot hee could neuer haue prospered the ground thereof being so deceitfull And now hee hath bedded it with the Royall Lilly in his owne fruitfull Land O let the Almightie Hand knit vp their hearts both together as one Poesie in the bundle of life making him alway a fragrant Rose of a sweet smelling sauour before God And her the turnd Lilly vnto the Lord bearing vp both of them that they may not dash the foot of their affections against the stone and stumbling blocke of Idolatry but rather may dash that in pieces against the Rocke Christ Iesus In the next place consider wee how graciously the Royall Protector of the Soueraigne heart hath enclined the royall heart of our gracious Soueraigne to be the Protector and Auenger of his distressed Sister and Nephewes in the Netherlands whose Land Strangers haue deuoured and in whose low estate the heart of Religion hath long layen vpon bleeding Finally let Leuies Tribe gratefully consider and remember how the Lord enlarged the other day the heart of our graciously enclined Soueraigne for the enlarging of Leuies portion many of whose Tribe want the corporall bread while they prepare the spirituall food As soone as our Lord the King had notice from his loyall Subiects that there was in many barren places of his Maiesties large Dominions a Famine by so much greater then that in Samaria 2. Kings 6. by how much the Soule is better then the Bodie And that in those places it fared with his people as it did with those Samaritans in the 25. Verse of the forementioned Chapter Sacrilegious Simonyaks obtruding to them by way of sale an Asses head to feed their hunger-starued soules yea an Head possessed with a dumbe spirit whose jaw-bone euen while it wanteth motion may bee said to slay as many Soules as Samson did Bodies with his Iaw-bone of an Asse Iudges 15. heapes vpon heapes as it is in the 16. Verse of the Chapter Hauing graciously laid to heart that this was the Kings Euill and by him only to bee cured vnder God and that therefore his Subiects did cry like her in Samaria 2. Kings 6.26 Helpe our Lord O King He soone returned a more comfortable answer then she receiued there namely that the Parliament assembled at that time should take speciall care that for the better propagating of the Gospell in prouiding able Pastors prouision should bee made that aswell the owners of Parsonages Impropriate as the Inhabitants of Parishes vntaught should allow competent maintenance for sufficient Ministers in those Churches whose Cures did neerely concerne themselues in particular Thus the Lord hath highly enriched our Soueraigne with the blessings of Salomon so that hee is wise in his youth and as a Floud filled with vnderstanding His Name is gone farre Ecclus 47.14 16. and for the peace and prosperitie which he wisheth vnto Sion he is highly beloued and renowned And as for the Iles vnder him the Lord hath blessed them with the blessings of the Gentiles in the last Chapter of Isaiah Esay 66. cap. vers 12.14 Hee hath extended peace like a Riuer our hearts reioyce and our bones flourish like an hearbe and the hand of the Lord is knowne towards vs. Now the same Almightie hand of the euerliuing God who hath placed and planted our Soueraigne as the Heart in the bodie of this Triangled Iland reserue euer to it selfe only that little Triangle of his heart giue him an heart to loue and dread the Lord and diligently to liue and rule according to his Commandements that so when hee shall haue finished his course kept the Faith and giuen vp the Account of his high Stewardship hee may heare that comfortable and heart-reioycing voyce pronounced vnto him Math. 25. â—1 Well done thou good and faithfull seruant thou hast beene faithfull ouer a few things I will make thee ruler ouer many things Enter thou into the Ioy of thy Lord. A BRIEFE MEDITATION VPON THE FIFTEENTH VERSE OF the twenty fourth Chapter of the second Booke of Samuel Deliuered at a vveekly Lecture in Deuon Anno 1625. By J. P. THOV SHALT LABOR FOR PEACE PLENTIE LONDON Printed by William Stansby 1626. 2. SAM 24.15 So the Lord sent a Pestilence vpon Israel from the morning euen vnto the time appointed and there dyed of the people euen from Dan to Beersheba seuenty thousand men YEE see euen at the first sight that this Text affoordeth fit matter for the taking vp of our Meditations in these times It maketh report of a great Pestilence spreading it selfe in Israel in the time and specially for the sinne of King Dauid Dauids heart is lifted vp in the number of his people The Lord lifteth vp his hand to cut it off He pricketh that swelling bladder of vaine and carnall confidence with a sharpe and grieuous sicknesse I note in the Text these seuerall particulars First The Author or Inflicter of this mortalitie The Lord. Secondly The Nature of it It was a
narratio de te Anglia mutato nomine cum numero In changing the names of the countrie and circuit together with the number of houres in which this Plague lasted and of the people whom it consumed while it continued heere is our case and wee haue an English historie If the Pestilence then bee Gods scourge for sin let vs see what wee haue to doe to appease him Once wee can neuer goe from his punishments as wee haue strayed from his Precepts hee can follow vs from London to the Mount and from the Lands end to the middest of the Ocean Whither can wee goe from his presence there is no way for vs to flye from him but by flying vnto him and betaking our selues from the face of his Maiestie to the footstoole of his mercie To amend our wayes that is the onely way for vs to appease his wrath and to end his plagues For when wee are once duly humbled for our sinnes God hath attained his end and ayme in punishing vs and then he will stay his hand Whence else doth God complaine by Amos That hee sent the Pestilence among the Israelites after the manner of Egypt as now hee hath sent the Pestilence among the English after the manner of Israel and yet they returned not vnto him Am. 4.10 Wherefore doth he thus testifie and contest against them by Haggai that hee smote them and yet they turned not vnto him Hag. 2.17 True is the Sonne of Syrach his acknowledgement Thou chastnest and warnest vs that leauing our wickednesse wee may beleeue on thee O Lord Wisd 1.2 Well speaketh Lactantius therfore to the purpose Deus morum emendatione placatur qui peccare desinit iram Dei mortalem facit To cease from sinne is to make Gods anger cease from vs and to amend our wayes is the only way to auoide his plagues Let vs then repent of the euill which wee haue wrought against God that he may repent of the euill which he hath brought amongst vs. Let vs repent and not proceed in our sinnes that he may repent and not proceed with his plagues plagues which though in our owne particulars wee feele not yet yet wee must needes feare and should duly compassionate in others For is the head sicke and doe not the inferiour members suffer with it Or if the head Citie continue sicke is it like to fare well with vs May not we see our owne face in that London glasse Certaine it is that our raigning sinnes haue made way for this raigning sicknesse Our inward corruptions beare a part in the cause of this contagion Our sinnes made a separation betweene God and vs ere euer he by this sicknesse hath made vs separate one from another Let vs therfore consider and that with great sorrow and humiliation the great sinnes wherewith wee haue prouoked him equalling I am sure if not exceeding those of Israel The chiefe sinnes wherewith Israel prouoked God were 1. Their Intemperancie and Luxurie in the abuse of those outward blessings wherewith they abounded 2. Their Insolencie and securitie by reason of the many victories which they had atchieued 3. Their Ingratitude not rendring due thanks for the benefits which they had receiued These three were the Capitall sinnes of Israel in which Dauid as Head bare a principall part and for which hee was put to so hard a choice that he preferred the three dayes plague as the easiest punishment God hath no way beene wanting to this our Iland in Israels blessings She hath no way beene behind Israel in those sinnes Hee hath blessed our Kingdome aboue neighbour Nations with his protection and deliuerances with peace and plentie with a potent people and aboue all with the powerfull preaching of his glorious Gospell He hath exalted our times aboue former ages by giuing and preseruing vnto vs Kings and Princes for pietie wisdome and moderation vnparalelled in our or in other humane Chronicles But how haue wee failed in blessing him in magnifying and exalting his name Let our fulnesse of bread and vaine pleasing of our selues in such infinite varietie and exquisite delicacie of feeding our fulnesse of pride and vaine glorying in the strength of our Land Forces and in remembrance of our nauall victories Our vnthankfulnesse to God for the free passage of his Gospell in despite of all plots and proiects to the contrarie and for his manifold and memorable deliuerances of Prince and People from trecherous inuasions and subtile circumuentions at home and abroad our pronenesse to depart from the Lord and to goe a whoring after strange Gods as soone as our most religious Prince and now gracious Soueraigne was departed out of our Land into a strange Nation Our returning such cold thankes for his so blessed returne into his owne inheritance Our generall discontent our eying of Egypt and wishing this our Israel intrusted with and enthralled vnto a nation in some conceits rich and mightie but in all respects base and miserable Let these things these sinnes testifie against vs and let this our ingratitude humble and cast vs downe in a reuengefull iudging of our selues as it hath called and pulled downe iudgements and vengeance on vs. O the ingratitude of a sinfull nation how greatly is it increased Is it possible that we should not daily consider and celebrate Gods great mercie in hindering the intended Powder-plot that cruell and confused Parliamentarie massacre in which Babylons children set on worke by Baals Priests had built the Tower of Babel againe with morter tempered with the publicke bloud had not God confounded them in their owne language and discouered them by their owne priuate Letter And yet woe is vs we suffer this to slip from vs. Yea all those dagges daggers and dangers those pistols poynadoes and poysons fitted whetted and prepared by Pope Papists and the Spanish faction for the breasts of our Royall and Religious Soueraignes are now as it were cased and sheathed and bound vp in vtter obliuion and vnthankefulnesse And is it not iust with God to vnsheathe his sword and rescue his blessings from vs and reuenge our vnthankefulnesse vpon vs I cannot amplifie my speech as this land hath multiplied her sinne and ingratitude yet I will desire you to examin your selues with me a while in some few points wherein I will instance and whereon I desire to insist as the time shall permit to the confusion of our owne faces and the clearing of Gods proceedings with vs and our Land Haue not we euery day put off our repentance and consequently increased our sinnes and doe wee wonder why God day by day cutteth off such rebels and more and more increaseth and spreadeth abroad the pestilence Haue not we sleighted or slandered Gods painful Ministers who haue denounced his iudgments against our sinnes And what maruaile if the plagues which they threatned against vs be now entred amongst vs Are there not amongst vs many pestilent scorners of all goodnesse and religion who sit euen in cathedra
pestilentiae there the Psalmist placeth them such as terme holinesse without which no man can see God pestilent peruersenesse and peeuish precisenesse such as tearme the Lords holy Embassadors as Tertullus did Paul pestilence it selfe so soundeth the Originall those Preachers who pester their sweet sinnes pestilent fellowes that is a common name with them They make them the worst of men and the scumme of the Earth And what maruaile if the pestilence the fiercest of all sicknesses and the scourge of the earth be come among vs Doth not the Extortioner take interest and the Oppressor vse violence doe they not eat like a canker into the estates of the poore going about and seeking how and whom they may ouer-reach and deceiue And doe we wonder why the pestilence breaketh in vpon vs like a mightie torrent sweepeth away our people and taketh away our increase going about like a roaring Lyon seeking whom it may deuoure Haue not many of vs vncharitably and blasphemously wished that the plague of God would light on our Brethren And now how iustly hath it euen ouertaken vs So long haue oathes curses and execrations such as a vengeance take thee and a plague on thee and God confound thee come out from vs like arrowes shot against heauen till now they are readie to returne and fall downe with a vengeance on our owne heads We haue called for them and now they are comming We haue tainted the ayre with them and now the ayre is readie to enter and infect vs. Haue not some of vs heartily wished for our Brethrens deaths that wee might compasse our designes and grow great in the World And now how deseruedly may their death in these contagious times be the bane of our whole Family Is there not the hiding if not the plotting as well as the packing vp of Murthers among vs and all perhaps for the pursing of a piece of mony And what maruell if our bloud bee corrupted and our Land vnpeopled when that bloud is concealed which cryeth for vengeance and leaueth a Land vnpurged Haue not the creatures been peruerted by vs in the intemperate and lawlesse vse of them and what maruell if wee are now readie to bee infected by them in their lawfull and moderate vse Our swelling humour of Pride and Gluttonie in excesse of fare and apparell swilling and swaggering in the most riotous manner hath made way for the swelling tumour of the pestilence spreading and raging abroad in our Land The cloathes which should haue couered our shame and haue so shamefully discouered our pride in steed of keeping vs well and warme are now readie to conuay contagion into vs. We haue shut our doores against the poore the poore hath beene separated from his Neighbour and now we are in danger of hauing our doores shut vp and our selues separated one from another We haue infested others with our particular examples of diuers pernicious deeds And now others are ready to infect vs with pestilent diseases Our humour of corrupting others hath at length brought the corruption of the humours on our selues Wee haue not feared the contagion of Sinners who haue beene notoriously incorrigible and scandalous and now we can hardly escape those whom wee iustly suspect to be infectious In our priuate familiaritie wee haue not separated the precious from the vile wee haue aduentured vpon intimate acquaintance with the most pestilent persons and peruersest Sinners and now those who haue the very sore of the pestilence running vpon them are readie to rush in among vs. In our priuate Families we haue had medly Liueries garments of Linsey-wolsey a mixture of bad seruants with some few good ones Some we haue had of both sorts to bring our dessignes to passe on both sides corrupt men that our corrupt ends might bee compassed and religious men that so they might bee coloured or countenanced Wicked Iudasses there are among vs who thinke they may sinne with liberty and purloyne for their commoditie vnder a confidence that none can espie them as long as Christs followers keepe their company And now the sicke are mingled with the sound and the one endangered by the other Our eares haue itched after Nouelties and strange opinions and now behold a new and a strange contagion is come among vs. Many of vs haue affected Sects Schisme and Separation and now the sicknesse hath made a sore rent and a grieuous separation amongst vs. It hath been heard among vs that children might not bee baptized and admitted into the Church without danger of sinne And now it may bee feared that they will not bee brought into the Congregation without danger of sicknesse Platoes communitie hath beene held by some particular Libertines and now it may be feared that one common plague is let loose to lay hold generally vpon all places To draw towards a conclusion So ill haue wee couenanted with our senses for the Lords seruice that now all of them striue to bee vnprofitable to our selues and are forced to acknowledge a grieuous subiection to the generall contagion that raigneth ouer the Land The Smell hath beene taken with effeminate if not Whorish perfumes The Eare hath beene tickled with vaine if not villanous speeches The Taste hath beene ouer-taken with Luxurie The Touch tainted with Lasciuiousnesse The Eye hath beene rolled with wandring Lusts and altogether set vpon lewdnesse So slenderly haue we guarded these Cinque-ports of our Domesticall Senses that now they are readie to let in an open enemie in open ayre to ouerthrow the whole estate of our bodies as our Cinque-ports on the Sea-coast if they be not watched may proue dangerous in-lets for our foes to enter by and endanger the bodie of our State Thus the Lord is iust but wee haue done wickedly Now once more what is the remedie whereby wee may auoid or induce him to auert his plagues To keepe our Bodies from the pestilentiall infection of the plague we obserue three speciall directions First To hasten from places infected Secondly To remoue into a pure aire Thirdly To haue the prescripts of the best Preseruatiues and Medicines Wee must take a like course for our soules against that plague of sinne First Goe out from the occasions of sinne as Peter did from the High Priests Hall Secondly Goe into a pure aire get vs a pure heart and a conscience purged to which wee may retire in all danger a heart and a conscience clensed by the wind of the Spirit cooling our concupiscence and asswaging our boyling corruptions and inspiring vs with good motions Thirdly Get vs a Peter-teare a bitter weeping proceeding from a true faith in Christ and a due contrition for sinne bewayling our corruptions the causes of these contagions That that is the onely distilled water which fortifieth vs against all Gods plagues For if his scourge once induce vs to penitence it must considering our deseruing needs endue vs with patience and then whatsoeuer befalleth vs It shall goe well with vs and happie shall we be
not himselfe to numbers neither should we seeke to bring him to it by our abstruse obseruations and schoole-quiddities Ne sutor vltra crepidam Wee may not thinke if I may so speake to fit him with the seauens who filleth heauen and earth making the one his throne and the other his footstoole T was chiefly for curiositie of numbring that so many fell of the pestilence in the Text. Much better had it beene for Dauid and so t were for vs in this case instead of such a foolish and needlesse numbring shortning the dayes and hastning the deaths of thousands to haue desired as else where he doth that God would teach him to number his dayes and so to apply himselfe vnto wisedome All Histories diuine and humane are so full of proofes for the confirming and illustrating of my doctrine that me thinkes I delight to dwell longer vpon it then ordinarily I vse to doe vpon other Doctrines How memorably hath Gods hand punished notoriously sinfull acts in their owne kind in all Ages Doe Nabab and Abihu prouoke and incense the Lord with strange Incense God punisheth them with strange fire Leuit. 10 1.2 Are the Israelites not contented with the Lords feeding Numb 11. hee maketh them leaue their carkasses where they lusted after flesh Doe the people of Ierusalem offer Incense to the Hoast of Heauen on the tops of their houses Ier. 19.13 The Caldeans shall come and set fire on that Citie and burne it together with those houses Chap. 22.29 Doe the Ammonites sacrifice their children to Molech their Idoll themselues are forced to passe through the Brick-kilne in all their Cities 2. Samuel 12.31 Doth that cut-finger Adonibezek make himselfe sport with mangling the hands and feete of captiue Kings the Lord maketh him when hee is taken captiue to beshrew his fingers for it by dipping them in the same bloudy dish and seruing him with the same sawce Iudges 1. Doe the stiffe-necked Iewes crucifie Christ at the time of the preparation of their Passeouer It seemed good vnto the most iust God that Titus should plant his siege before Ierusalem at the time in which the Iewes were assembled to celebrate that Feast in which siege he also crucified diuers thousands of them before the walls of Ierusalem as Iosephus reporteth Doth the Whore of Babylon set fire vnto Gods faithfull witnesses What saith hee who calleth himselfe the faithfull and true witnesse Apoc. 3.14 Hee acquainteth Saint Iohn that she shall bee burnt with fire Apoc. 18.8 Doth shee cast the Saints of God aliue into the fire shee her selfe shall bee cast aliue into a Lake of fire burning with Brimstone Apoc. 19.20 Doth Edward the Second King of England burne with the vnnaturall lusts of So dome Gods justice suffereth his vnnaturall Subiects to depriue him of his Souereigntie and to force a hot burning Spit thorow his fundament into his entrailes Doth Henry the Second King of France protest that with his own eyes he will see a Protestant burnt to ashes See how in a iust RetributioÌ„ at a Iust or Tourney the splinter of a Speare passeth through the sight of his Beauer pierceth thorow his Eye perisheth his Braine and procureth his death Doth Alexander the Sixt Pope of Rome prepare a cup of Poyson for his Cardinals that by destroying their persons he might enioy what they possessed himselfe vnawares is made the first taster and dieth of his owne drench Doth bloudie Gardiner Bishop of Winchester deferre his Dinner vpon a greedie and bloudie desire of hearing certaine newes from Oxford of some Martyrs Dispatch wherewithall he might make merry God deferreth not long the kindling of a fire in his body through the intolerable heate whereof he dieth miserably as he liued mercilessely Two other examples I find in the Martyrologie of our Church making mainly for the farther proofe if farther proofes yet need of my last proposed doctrine I purpose to mention no more but those The first is of a certaine Smith who had seemed to haue beene sometimes a zealous professor but left his Sauiour to saue his life and forsooke the faith for feare of the fire giuing no other answer to a message brought him from a dying Martyr by which hee was exhorted to constancie but this That he could not burne What became of him He was afterwards burnt as he went in to saue his goods when his house was fired The other example is of a most vnmercifull Churle who willingly suffered a poore diseased Christian Brother to lye and dye in a ditch neere vnto his house and would by no meanes suffer him to be sheltred in any of his Barnes or Back-houses Stalls or Styes Master Fox compareth him to Diues and well he might for as Diues loued the Dogges which hee kept more then Lazarus which lay at his gates fed them but cared not though he sterued so this wicked wretch would not afford so much as a Dogge-kennell to that distressed creature Now marke the miserable end of this Miser not long after he was found in a Ditch not farre from that in which he left his poore Brother not only dead but sticking in the stinking puddle of the ditch GOD punishing him in the same kind in which he transgressed and returning his reward vpon his owne head as the Prophet Obadiah speaketh Thus yee haue seene the Lord measuring vnto men according to their owne measure that hee may be memorably knowne by the iudgements which he executeth Yee haue seene him following men close by the heeles in their owne wayes to shew in despight of all cauils that his wayes are equall and his iudgements iust Yee haue seene the fat Buls of Bashan beastly and bloudie men frying in their owne torments like Perillus in his brazen Bull that they might know their tortures to be as a Heathen speaketh Indigna passis Autoribus dignissima vnworthy of the Martyrs who indured them worthy of the Authours who inuented them It is high time to wind vp the threed of my speech in a word of application Doth the Lord then vsually confound sinfull men in their owne proiects cast them in their owne play as it were pay them in their own coine Beware we then that we willingly sin in no case sith God can punish vs in the same kinde If wee haue sinned let vs soone iudge our selues least hee suddenly condemne vs. Let vs weepe for sorrow and blush for shame lest he make vs bleed to death O ler vs not proceed in sinne least we giue him a patterne by which he may punish vs. In the second place let vs consider how wee haue dealt with God when wee cast with our selues and seeme to wonder why he should thus and thus deale with vs. His iudgements are alwayes iust and sometime wee may see them manifestly marked out vnto vs with the character of 〈◊〉 on He suffering vs to please our selues 〈◊〉 speciall sinne till it procureth a speciall iudgement proportionable thereunto as Anacreon the Poet so long fell to his wine till at last he was choaked with the kernell of a Grape Let vs beloued conferre Gods workes with ours and see how iustly he hath proceeded against vs in many instances or may at least whensoeuer his abused patience shall disdaine any longer to leaue our prouocations vnpunished If the corrupt Magistrate shall spare to execute Gods iudgement on notorious offenders is it not iust with God to powre downe iudgements on his owne head If hee deny patronage to the innocent depriuing the Orphan of his due and put him by his portion what can hee expect but that the Lord should also put him out of his protection If the sacrilegious person and Symoniacall Patron shall prey vpon God by pilling his Church shall he not pull downe Gods plagues vpon his owne house If the superstitious person shall adde vnto Gods Word out of mans inuentions shall not the Lord adde vnto him the plagues which are written in his Booke If the Swearer shall as it were teare the Name of God with his teeth shall not the Lords curse enter into his house Zach. 5. rent the timber from the stones and consume both together If we take away ought by Extortions and vniust exactions and will not restore 〈…〉 in iustice depriue vs of his blessings 〈…〉 â—â—store them also If wee shut our eares at the cry of the poore wil not God shut his eare at the cry of our prayer If we seeke to Egypt for helpe looke for shelter from Idolatrous associates will not the strength of such Pharaohs be our shame and the trust in such shadowes our confusion Esay 30.3 Let vs consider these things beloued and is it not time to consider them now the Lord sendeth his messengers abroad to call vs to an account Shall wee shut our hearts alwayes against him euen now when he is ready to shut our doores vpon vs and seale them vp with his plagues which waxe so hote among vs of this Countrey yea of this Countie God forbid The Lord giue vs vnderstanding and repentant hearts the Lord turne vs vnto him and his fauourable countenance towards vs The Lord receiue our Prayers heare our groanings and helpe our griefes c. To the Reader ANd thus Gentle Reader I haue communicated vnto thy view these precedent papeâ—â— which were penned for the most part in great want of time aâ— thou are already aduertised Yet are they sent abroad without adding altering augmenting or amending of any materiall passage that so they may follow their originall Copy which together with another Tract not yet published found acceptance at the hands of our Dread and Deare Soueraigne In respect of whose gracious Aspect I haue the more cause to presume of thy fauour or if that may not bee obtayned the lesse reason to esteeme thy Censure
I proceed to that which followeth The Lord sent a Pestilence vpon Israel from the morning to the time appointed From the morning to the time appointed Hence may we gather that Doct. The spreading and speeding of pestilent contagions is both appointed and limited by God He sendeth them and he restrayneth them They shall rage no longer then the appointed time they shall rid no more but Gods appointed and set number Heere the people dye of the plague and the King escapeth In the second of Kings the twentieth Chapter the King is sicke of the plague and the people free here though the popular plague were threatned for three dayes space yet it ceased before the terme was fully expired and there though King Hezekiah were told from God that hee should die yet hee humbling himselfe was raysed as it were from his death-bed recouered from his disease and the Lord added to his dayes We reade in Histories of diuers great generall plagues some raigning ouer all the Realme of England as that in the yeere 1348. vnder Edward the Third some raging ouer all the Romane Empire as that in the yeere 252. vnder Vibius Gallus that pestilent persecutor of the Christian faith Both which plagues and specially the latter in their seuerall times as Historians relate creeping throughout all the Regions of the Earth lasted very long and wasted many Millions of people Insomuch that Cyprian taking an occasion by reason of the greater of those two generall plagues to write his Booke De Mortalitate saith towards the end of that Tract Corruit iam mundus malorum infestantium turbinibus obsessus That the World was euen wasted and went to wracke with the boysterous stormes of maladies and molestations Now who spreadeth these plagues who beddeth the earth in this sicknesse but hee who spreadeth the Heauens as a Curtaine Hee who with-holdeth the waters and they dry vp Iob. 12.15 and also sendeth them out and they ouerturne the earth He restraineth the pestilence and the sore dryeth vp hee sendeth it forth and it ouerunneth the Earth he maketh desolations in the Earth Psal 46.8 Againe he maketh the plague as he doth the plague of warre in the Verse there following to cease vnto the end of the Earth Many there are who haue stretched their wits to discourse how the Lord should cause the pestilence to spread and disperse it selfe abroad Diuers men referre it to diuers meanes some affirming that all those who fall by the pestilence are felled by the immediate stroke of Gods punishing Angell Others conceiuing that the euill one who distilleth into the malicious minds of many who are infectious a desire to infect others as hee doth into the mindes of the seduced a delight to seduce others that hee I say conueyeth contagious infection from one to another deriuing it from place to place from person to person by apparell ayre and all those arts which hee is permitted to vse against a people whom God purposeth to visit Sure I am here is the lamentable effect of the pestilence set downe in this Chapter on which the present calamitie of our owne country maketh so large a Comment here is laid downe the prime Author that layeth it on the maine cause that leades him on and the meanes inducing him to leaue off The meanes of dispersing the pestilence must be left to him also they are in his hands who can vse what meanes hee will to accomplish his iust purposes and to punish a rebellious nation For vse of the point In that God spreadeth the pestilence wee see how wide they are of the truth who impute it rather to the fate of destiny or the influence of malignant starres or the confluence of much people or the closenesse of place or the corruption of the ayre or the inundation of waters or the repletion of humors then to the hand of God who disposeth of all these at his pleasure Againe we may learne that they doe but spred a net for their owne feet who thinke or seeke to flye from the spreading pestilence without flying vnto God Alas it is not the auoiding of places infected nor the correcting of ayres corrupted nor the taking of receits prescribed not the putting off of cloathes suspected that can secure thee from Gods plagues The arrow of Gods anger can passe swiftly through the Ayre and enter secretly into thy bosome as that arrow did into the King of Israels bodie notwithstanding the change of place or attire 1. King 22.30 34. It is not the change of Ayre or rayment but the change of the heart by repentance that can stand thee in stead Though thou presently shift thy selfe shirt and all yet there is no shifting from God hee will finde thee out Indeed the outward meanes of preseruation are to bee sought and vsed but not relyed on When Gods arrowes flye abroad we must primarily arme our selues with prayer and flye vnto God as Iehoshaphat did when his enemies came against him If euill come vpon vs saith he to the Lord as the sword pestilence 2. Chron. 20.9 c. And wee stand in thy presence and cry vnto thee thou wilt heare and helpe He knew that his Progenitor and Predecessor Asa had felt the smart of the contrarie practice who did not so much pray vnto God as desire the Physicians to practice with him 2. Chron. 16.12 and therefore the Lord made their helpes vnprofitable In the next place here might bee drawne an vse of comfort for Gods Children in that the sword is in the hand of their mercifull father who will not euer be angrie but correct them in measure and compasse them with his mercie But there is another vse to bee made and another doctrine likewise to be raised and therefore I will not insist on it The last vse then that wee may more neerly apply a point that so neerely concerneth vs serueth for direction vnto vs all Doth the Lord spread the pestilence among vs and send it out like a running armie wasting wheresoeuer it commeth Psal 91.6 walking in the darknesse and wasting at noone day like a raging and deuouring raine leauing no food like an vniuersall blast destroying all fruits Doth hee make his dreadfull forces post hither and thither amidst our preparations for warre as hee did among Dauids warlike people What should we then doe but as weaker countryes are accustomed vpon the approch of dreadfull Armies submit our selues send our Agents and sue for peace Consider we what those of Tyre and Sidon did in the dayes of Herod Act. 12. towards the end of that Chapter When they vnderstood that Herod did beare an hostile minde towards them they sent their Ambassadors with one accord to desire peace But as for vs mittamus legatos doloris nostri lachrymas let vs with ioynt consent send forth plentifull teares as the onely preualent oratorie of a pierced and wounded heart For as great flouds hinder the preparations of Armies so the teares
of humiliation stay Gods punishing hand With teares let vs ioyne prayers pouring out our soules like water before the Lord. When the Lord bid Hezekiah prouide for present death he prayed and wept sore hereupon the Lord heareth his prayers seeth his teares healeth his sore and lengtheneth his dayes And in this Chapter God hauing denounced a three dayes pestilence doth yet vpon Dauids humble petition shorten the time and in the time appointed cease the plague which hee threatned They of Tyre and Sidon made Blastus the Kings Chamberlaine their friend but as for vs non Blastum sed Christum Intercessorem habeamus Let vs not sue or seeke to those glorious Seruants and Chamberlaines of the Almightie who stand euer in his presence not to Seraphins or Cherubins not to Saints or Angels But as Themistocles tooke vp the Sonne of King Admet into his armes Plut. in vit Themistoc that by him hee might appease the angrie father so let vs take vp Christ the Sonne of God by the hand of faith and set his merits betweene vs and his fathers wrath that hee may dull the point of his punishing sword in the wounds of his beloued Sonne O let vs make him our friend that hee may make our peace with God for otherwise teares and prayers they are all in vaine no better then the howling of dogs or the lowing of Oxen. Let vs goe out of all confidence in our Selues in our Worthies in our Allyes in our Armies in our Nauies and stripping our selues naked cast our selues ouer-board into the bottomlesse Sea of his mercie as our onely safeguard and saluation Lastly they of Tyre and Sidon in the height of blasphemous flatterie hearing the Herodian oration said it was the voice of God and not of Man But let vs in the depth of a contrite penitencie feeling the hand of God say and acknowledge that it is the stroke of God and not of man and that it is in vaine to looke for any helpe but from him Vna manus nobis vulnus opemque feret The hand that casts vs downe can onely raise vs vp It is God that dealeth with vs of England now as of old he did with Ephraim Hos 5.14 taking away when none can rescue If wee shall crye vnto him how long Lord It may bee answered as it followeth in the next verse of the same Chapter till wee acknowledge our offence and seeke his face O let our hearts answer in the Psalmists Eccho Thy face O Lord will wee seeke So it followeth againe in the same verse In their affliction they will seeke mee early they are the last words of that Chapter Then according to that ioynt-motion for a generall humiliation in the beginning of the sixt and next Chapter Come let vs returne vnto the Lord for he hath torne and hee will heale vs hee hath smitten and hee will bind vs vp This doing as it there followeth in the next words After two dayes hee will reuiue vs in the third day he will raise vs vp that is if wee seeke him early he will soone cease his plagues as he ceased this generall pestilence after the terme of two dayes in the time of King Dauid and as he moderated in like manner the violent rage of the Parisian massacre in which within three dayes space there fell ten thousand as it were on our right hands through the raging crueltie of the Romish Catholickes Psal 91 7â— and yet as the Psalmist hath it it came not nigh vs. Let vs goe onward with the Text. The Lord sent a Pestilence vpon Israel from the morning euen to the time appointed and there dyed of the People euen from Dan to Bersheba seuentie thousand men Doct. Seuentie thousand men Hence I gather that oft-times the Lord God punisheth sinfull man in the same thing and in some sort after the same kind in which sinfull man prouoketh the Lord God Dauid is a speciall instance for proofe of this point here and elsewhere elsewhere he vnsheathed the sword against Vriah drew the Lords sword vpon his owne house Vriam iniusto sed non inulto cruore respersit the shedding of Vriahs bloud as 't was vndeserued so 't was not vnreuenged but was punished in due time in its owne kind Here he falleth to numbring of his people and a number of his people fall by the pestilence Hee sendeth about to vnderstand the number of his nation and to know the end thereof And God is about to number his people as hee did Belshazzars Kingdome and to finish and make an end of it Dauid reckoneth without the Lord. It is the poore mans guise saith the Poet to number his small flocke Pauperis est numerare pecus I am sure t was great weakenesse in Dauid to number his great forces as though by their strength and by his owne right hand he had gotten his victories chased his enemies and compassed the Crowne of Soueraigntie Yee may set Dauid in this act in opposition with Abraham Abraham hauing but one Sonne will entrust him with God who telleth him that hee will for a reward of his obedience multiplie his seed Dauid hauing a multitude of people will relye on their strength and the Lord sheweth by this plague that hee can reduce them to nothing he sweepeth away vpon a suddaine seuentie thousand men I suppose there are few trauellers who hearken after strange newes but haue heard of that vulgar report in the Eastern parts as fabulous I thinke as famous concerning those vast stones scattered within a small compasse in that warlike monument on the Playnes of which they tell you that after you haue once numbred them if yee number againe yee shall faile of your former reckoning the Deuill it may be increaseth mens superstitious and groundlesse credulitie by deluding the sight or dazeling the eye But in this wonderfull pestilence popular plague dispersed in that Easterne Israel if Dauid had gone to take an account of his warriers after the first numbring he might haue found a wonderfull abatement threescore and ten thousand fallen off from the number and felled by the pestilence within Israels confines God punishing his pride in not reposing his alone safetie and securitie vnder the meere and mercifull protection of his mightie hand Now beloued not to rest the proofe of the doctrine too long vpon Dauid If considering this septinarie Decade of Thousands destroid and decaid in Dauids number I should affirme that Dauid had specially offended God by his numbring and that God is set downe in the Text punishing him in a most speciall number Those who are so curious in obseruing numbers and haue such a number of curious obseruations touching the seuenth number terming it with Ambrose a sacred number and with Augustin a number mystically portending a kind of perfection might happily befriend me herein But Chrysost would more iustly befoole mee for my labour who tearmeth this curiositie a fabling and a deuice of mans braine God tyeth