altar Ed as a witnesse betweene the Lord and them and after that God gave rest unto Israel from their enemies round about And Joshua waxen old called for all Israel and for their Elders for their heads aâ—d for their Judges and told them of all things the Lord had done for them and what the Lord would doe if they served him counselling them to be valiant and couragious and to keepe the Law delivered by Moses and not to turne neither to the right hand nor to the left nor to leane to the gods of the heathens not to sweare by them or make mariages with them if they did so that they would be snares and traps unto them and thorns in their eyes untill they perished from off the good land the Lord had given them And he said I am going the way of all the earth and you know nothing hath failed you that the Lord promised you but if you transgresse the Covenant of the Lord your God and serve other gods and bow your selves to them then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you and ye shall perish from the land And Joshua againe gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shichem and called for all the Elders of Israel and they presented themselves before God and Joshua told them of all the good things that the Lord had done to the children of Israel from Abraham Isaac and Jacob to that time And the people said they would serve no other gods then the God that brought them and their fathers out the land of Egypt from the house of bondage and which did those great things in their sight and preserved them in all their waies and after much perswasions of Joshua unto the people to serve the Lord he made a covenant with them that day and set them a Statute and an Ordinance in Shechem Joshua wrote it in the book of the law of God and took a great stone and set it up there under an oke that was by the Sanctuary of the Lord so Joshua let the people depart every man to his inheritaece and after he departed to his fathers being one hundred and ten yeares old and they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnah-Serah which is in mount Ephraim MEDITATIONS upon the History of Joshua O Lord thou art gracious unto thine Inheritance for though thou diddest take thy servant Moses to his fathers yet thou diddest not leave thy children of Israel destitute and without a Leader to goe before them but sent them Joshua thy servant to be their captaine and defender This is thy goodnesse O Lord still from time to time to be a preserver of thy people whom thou hast chosen and this mercy of thy speciall providence and love extended it selfe O God not onely to thy children of Israel but to thy holy Church militant here upon earth and likewise to us most miserable sinners by thy continuall providence over us How often O Lord hast thou delivered me the sonne of thy handmaide from time to time and raised me helpers and preservers I have found these thy mercies and let the due consideration of them enter into the closet of my heart and there rest by a blessed remembrance of them never to be forgotten and grant that I may humble my selfe before thee with all due thankfulnesse and obedience to serve thee and thou O God which continuedst thy mercy unto thy servant Joshuah and the children of Israel continue thy good mercies unto me direct and guide me over this Jordan of danger that I be not drowned in sinne and grant that I may rightly and truly follow my guides and the Arke of thy holy Covenant by an humble and true distance directly to follow their feete lest I fall into the crooked by-pathes of my owne inventions and as thy children of Israel after their deliverance over Jordan did shew their thankfulnesse by picking up stones at Gilgall so fix and pitch in my heart O Lord some Sacred monuments of praise and thankesgiving for my redemption from the deep waters of pride and mischief and circumcise thou my corrupted heart and so cleanse and purge me that I may be made fit to fight against sinne and Satan and the Jericho of this inconstant world and grant that I may keepe a holy passeover here in the plaines of my pilgrimage before I approach before the wals of Jericho to conquer the lusts and vanities thereof let my soule know O Lord that the Princes of darknesse will rise up against me to destroy my soule as the Canaâ—nites and the Amorites did rise against Joshua and therefore arme me with thy shield of faith and strengthen me with the helmet of salvation and as the Reubenites the Gadites and the halfe tribe of Manasseh did goe before the children of Israel towards Jericho so let thy blessed Angels O Lord goe before me in this my passage of life and danger of sinne and let the enemies of my soule be astonished and in feare as they were before the children of Israel and as thy holy Army O Lord did goe by thy command seven times about Jericho with such solemnities as thou didst appoint and by thy wonderfull mercy the wals of Jericho fell downe and the city was destroyed by fire so give me thy servant grace to obey thee as thou commandest thought it please not my sense and to imitate thy holy Prophet David to worship thee seven times a day and to obey and serve thee in those things and in that way as thou by thy holy word and the Church of Christ commands me though it seeme contrary to mine owne unruly fancy conceit and opinion that by thy mercy and my obedience the stony wals of my wilfulnesse and iniquity may fall downe in me and thy divine fire may consume all the drosse of my inward and sinfull soule and as Rahab the harlot though a sinfull woman was the instrument of safety to the spies sent by Joshua to view Jericho and by her was discovered the fears of that countrey and people which charity and hospitality of hers proved afterwards the saving of her selfe her kinred and all that she had so by this example let me know O Lord that thou canst worke good out of evil for the good of thy servants and them that go forward to serve thee in the obedience of thy commands And good Lord by this let me know and discerne the great reward thou preparest for them that doe the workes of charity and what a buckler and defence it is unto them in the time of danger when the judgement and strength of man is feeble for O Lord it is thy promise to reward the works of mercy furthermore good Lord keepe covetousnesse pride and dissembling from the soule of thy servant let not the Babylonish garment of pride take hold on me nor let me encline to the wedge of gold to infatuate my understanding thereby to draw me from my obedience to
care for a Wife for his sonne Isaac hee then calling for his Steward making him put his hand under his thigh and causing him to sweare by the Lord God of Heaven and Earth that his sonne should not take a Canaanitish woman to Wife but to goe into his owne Countrey and Kindred and there to take a Wife for him Then said his servant what if the Woman will not come with me into this Land shall I bring back thy sonne To whom Abraham answered beware that thou bring not back my sonne thither againe The Lord God of Heaven who tooke me from my fathers house even from the Land where I was born that spake and sware unto me saying unto thy seed will I give this Land he shal send his Angell before thee and thou shalt take a Wife unto my sonne from thence Neverthelesse if the Woman will not follow thee then shalt thou be discharged of thy oath only bring not my son thither againe and the servant swore unto Abraham so he tooke tenne of his Masters Camels who went his journey obtained Rebecka to be his wife as in the story of Isaac is more at large exprest Now after the death of Sarah Abraham took another Wife called Keturah which bare him divers children and Ahraham gave all his goods unto Isaac but unto the sonnes of his Concubines he gave them gifts and sent them away from Isaac his son this he did in his life-time And Abraham being one hundred seventy and five years old hee yeelded up his Spirit dying in a good age and was gathered to his people and his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the Cave with Sarah in the field Ephron PRAYERS upon the History of ABRAHAM GIve mee obedience O Lord to follow the steps of my Governors and to bee guided by my Parents as Abraham was by Terah his Father who brought him to Haran So likewise let mee be obedient to thy blessed Inspirations which may bring me to the heavenly Canaan And as Abraham carried with him in his journey his wife Lot his Brother with his servants and substance grant that all my nearest affections my flesh blood may cheerfully goe along with mee in this my pilgrimage to my â—eavenly happinesse with the servants substanâ—e of piety and good workes to attend me And in this progresse in Moreh and in the middle of the worldly Canaan let thy blessed grace appeare unto mee and grant that I may build an Altar of thanksgiving in my heart unto thee and call upon thy Name Preserve me in the famine necessity and miseries of this world as thou diddest Abraham But above all worldly helps keepe me from the famine of thy favour and grace that in thee my soule may be safe from the spirituall danger of faith and a good conscience By thy good guidance remove me from danger as Abraham was by his going into Aegypt Let not the feare and jealousie of worldly respects make mee to dissemble before thee O Lord who knows 't the secrets of my heart as Abraham did by his Wife for his earthly safety and deliver mee from such bad intions of fleshly desires as was in Pharaoh King of Aegypt by detaining of Sarah lest I partake of such punishments as befell unto him And for such offences against thee as wrongs and bad intentions done to any man or woman grant thaâ— I may not continue in them but timely to repent and by leaving such sinnes give satisfaction for wrongs done as Pharoah did to Abraham at his departure And still to praise thee for thy mercies O Lord as Abraham did at his return to Bethel Give unto me the like charitable love as was between Abraham Lot in their parting yea in the middle of such worldly fortunes as they had that most dangerous rocke of ambition pride and Emulation and let mee not bee too much in love with the pleasant Plains of this worldly Jordan of earthly and vaine delight with Lot in his choise for then shal I not be so neare the like dangerâ— as he was at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah Good Lord give unto me continuall comforts and assurances unto my soule by thy mercies unto mee in the hope of that blessed eternity as thou diddest give unto Abraham his seede for their blessing in the earthly Canaan and in this Plain of Mamre the Hebron of this world still let me praise thee for all thy mercies with this father of the faithful Give unto me O my helper a helping hand unto my distressed Brethren and friends of this world as Abraham did to Lot in his captivity With such blessings and comforts as was given to Abraham by that King and Priest Melchisadech and not only to be humbly thankefull unto thee for the same but to pay that tithe of duty and obedience due unto thy Ministers as he did In the sadnesse of my dejected spirit and coldnesse of devotion towards thee be thou my strength and comfort as thou wast to Abraham in thy promise to his seede so shall not this my earthly Steward of vain and worldly suggestions possesse annoy and supplant my good thoughts intentions and hopes in thee but still I may be made happy by thy heavenly mercies In the barrennesse of my soule as it was in Sarah her body in such fruitfulnesse as was with Hagar let me not despair with the one nor presume with the other lest I be cast out of thy mercies but in my cries send mee thy good Inspirations to make me returne timely and humbly with Hagar and with leasure to receive thy promised blessing with Sarah So by the humiliation of Hagar and the hope of Sarah I shall by thy mercie with Abraham enjoy the Ishmael of worldly comfort here the Isaac of everlasting happinesse hereafter Grant O Lord that I may be courteous and charitable to all men as Abraham was to the three who came to his Tent doore with the like agility and alacrity to do good works as he did for their provision that aâ— hee in stead of men received Angelâ— so by thy promised mercie to wel doers shall I receive with Abraham thy comfort here and thy heavenly reward hereafter where the Angels waite at the doors of heaven to receive the righteous Take from me O Lord all distrusts of thy promises with Sarah's second doubt and with her wonder at thy mercies for by this faith and confidence in thee I shall by thy goodnesse and in good time with this hope and wel-doing enjoy the happinesse in heaven as she did after in earth in thy promise of Isaac O Lord keep me from the unrighteousnesse which was in Sodome lost by mine unworthinesse the mediations and prayers of the faithfull do not prevail for me before the Throne of mercy lest that for my sins I partake of their punishment from thy seate of justice O Lord how miserable and wretched are we even the best of us without thy continuall
King Eliakim and divers others and Rabshakeh said unto them Say ye unto Hezekiah Thus saith the great King of Assyria What confidence is this wherein thou trustest and spake other great words and blasphemed against the God of Israel and demanding pledges for his Master the King of Assyria Then said Eliakim unto him I pray thee speake unto thy servants in the Syrian tongue for we understand it and speake not to us in the Jewes language in the eares of the people that are upon the wall But Rabshakeh said Hath my Master sent me to thy Master and to thee to speake these words Hath not he sent me unto the men that sit upon the wall that they may eate their owne dung and drinke their owne pisse with you and he spake this with a loud voice in the Jewes language and said more Thus saith the King of Assyria Let not Hezekiah deceive you for he shall not be able to deliver you neither let him make you trust in the Lord or think he can deliver you hearken not to the King but come you out with a present and make your agreement that ye may eate under your owne vines and drink in your owne cisterns but the people held their peace answering him not a word for so the King commanded them then came Eliakim and the rest that were sent out to Hezekiah with their clothes rent and told him the words of Rabshakeh when the King heard it he rent his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the hose of the Lord and he sent Eliakim and the Elders of the Priests covered with sackcloth unto Isaiah the Prophet the sonne of Amos. And they told him of the blasphemy and threatening of Rabshakeh and the Prophet answered them Thus shall you say unto your Master Thus saith the Lord Be not afraid of the words wherewith Rabshakeh hath blasphemed me Behold I will send a blast upon him and he shall heare a rumour and returne to his owne land and there he shall fall by the sword and the King of Assyria being gone from Lachish to fight with the King of Ethiopia he sent messengers to Hezekiah to say unto him Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee saying Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the King of Assyria as well as other lands and Hezekiah received the Letter from the hand of the messengers and after he had read it he went into the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord and prayed unto him saying O Lord of hosts God of Israel that dwellest betweene the Cherubins thou art the God even thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth thou hast made heaven and earth encline thine eare O Lord and heare open thine eyes O Lord and see and heare all the words of Senacherib which hath sent to reproach the living God Now therefore O Lord our God save us from his hand that all the kingdomes of the earth may know that thou art the Lord even thou onely Then Isaiah the sonne of Amos sent unto Hezekiah saying Whereas he had prayed unto the Lord against Senacherib the Lord would neare him and put a hooke in â—is nose and a bridle in his lips and turne him backe by the way he came and that he should not come into the city of Jerusalem nor shoot an arrow there nor cast a banke or trench against it but would defend and preserve the city for his owne sake and for his servant Davids sake and the Angel of the Lord went forth and smote in the Camp of the Assyrians one hundred foure score and five thousand so Senacherib King of Assyria departed and returned and dwelt at Niniveh and after it came to passe as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god that Adramelech and Sharezar his sons smote him with the sword and they escaped into the land of Armenia and Esarhaddon his sonne reigned in his steed And in those dayes was Hezekiah King of Israel sick unto the death and Isaiah the Prophet came unto him and said Thus saith the Lord Set thine house in order for thou shalt die then Hezekiah turned his face towards the wall prayed unto the Lord Saying Remember now O Lord I doe beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and he wept exceedingly then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah saying Goe and say to Hezekiah Thus saith the Lord the God of David thy father I have heard thy prayer and have seene thy teares Behold I will adde unto thy dayes fifteene yeares and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the King of Assyria And this shall be a signe unto thee from the Lord I will bring againe the shadow of the degrees which is gone downe in the Sunne-dyall of Ahaz ten degrees backward and Hezekiah praised the Lord for his mercy saying The Lord was ready to save me therefore will I sing my song to the stringed instruments all the daies of my life in the house of the Lord and Isaiah gave order to apply unto him a lump of figs and lay it as a plaster upon his boyle which did heale him About that time Merodach Baladan the sonne of Baladan King of Babylon sent a letter and presents unto Hezekiah hearing he had been sicke and the King was glad of their coming and entertained them with great courtesie and shewed them all his precious things the silver gold spices and the precious ointments his armour and all that could be seene in his house or his dominions Then came Isaiah the Prophet unto King Hezekiah and said unto him What said these men and from whence came they and Hezekiah said They came even from Babylon then said he What have they seene in thine house and Hezekiah answered I have shewed them all in my treasures and nothing have I hid from them then said Isaiah unto him Heare the word of the Lord of hosts Behold the dayes will come that all that is within thine house and that which thy fathers have laid up in store untill this day shall be carried to Babylon nothing shall be left saith the Lord and of thy sonnes which shall issue from thee shall they take away and they shall be Eunuches in the palace of the King of Babylon And according to this prophesie many yeares after it came to passe Jeremiah living at that time when Nebuchadnezar came to besiege Jerusalem he told them what would befall but the Princes were wroth with him and put him in prison after he had beene there many dayes Zedekiah the King sent and tooke him out and the King asked him secretly Is there any word from the Lord and Jeremiah said There is for thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the King of Babylon therefore heare me O my lord the king let my sute come unto thee that I may not returne to prison where I
Creation of Heaven and Earth and the life of ADAM IN the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth the Earth being a meere Chaos without forme and darkenesse was upon the deepe and the Spirit of God moved upon the waters And God commanded there should bee light and separated the light from darknesse which was day and night Then God commanded a Firmament which was made and called it Heaven After by his power hee made â—he herbs and trees to bud and beare fruit Then hee commanded to be made the two great Lights in the Firmament the Sunne and the Moone and it was so and there was Morning and Evening After God caused the waters to bring forth abundance of Creatures of all kinds with feathered Fowles Moreover he made the Earth to bring forth Creatures of his kind After these great workes God created Man even according to his owne Image to rule over the Earth and all these Creatures This wonderfull worke by Gods power was done in sixe dayes and God rested the seventh day and sanctified it The Lord made this Man of the dust of the ground and breathed in him life and then was he a living soule Then the Lord planting a Garden in Eden put therein the man whom he had thus created that place being planted with all sorts of trees of pleasure and for meat the tree of Life and the tree of Knowledge of good and evill being in the midst of that Garden And out of Eden went a river to water the Garden Then was the man put into the Garden by God to dresse and keep it giving him leave to eate of every tree only forbad him to eat of the Tree of Knowledge the which if he did he should die the death Then the Lord for his comfort formed of the Earth the Beasts of the field and the Fowles of Heaven and brought them to the man who named them But besides for Adam he created one of greater comfort and helpe for the Lord causing a heavy sleepe to fall upon him took out of his side one of his Ribs of which hee made Woman and brought her to Adam who called her Woman And they were both naked but were not ashamed Now in this Garden was a Serpent who was more crafty then any beast of the field who said to the Woman hath god said that yee shall not eate of every tree of the Garden Yes said the Woman of every tree but that in the middest of the Garden God hath commanded we should not touch it lest we dye Then the Serpent said to the Woman ye shall not die at all but God doth know that when you shall eat thereof your eyes shall be opened and yee shall be as Gods to know both good and evill So the Woman seeing the tree was good to eate pleasant to the eye and a tree to get knowledg took of the fruit thereof and gave likewise to her Husband then both their eyes were opened and finding themselves naked they sewed fig-leaves together and made themselves breeches After this in the coole of the day hearing of the voyce of God they hidde themselves amongst the trees from his presence but the Lord called the man who answered I heard thy voyce in the Garden and was affraid being naked Then the Lord said unto him hast thou eaten of the tree I forbad thee And the man said the woman thou gavest me she gave it me and I did eate thereof Then said the Lord to the woman why hast thou done this who answered the Serpent did beguile me and I did eate And then the Lord said unto the Serpent because thou hast done this thou art accursed above all Cattell upon thy belly shalt thou goe and dust shalt thou eate all thy dayes I will also put enmity betweene thy seede and her seede shee shall break thine head and thou shalt bruise his heel And to the woman he said he would encrease her sorrows and that in sorrow should she bring â—orth her children and be subject to her Husband And to Adam for his disobedience he cursed the earth for his sake that thorns and thistles should it bring forth and that in sorrow hee should eate his meat all the dayes of his life and in the sweate of his face hee should eate his bread till he returned to the earth from wheÌ„ce hee was taken and as hee came from dust thither he should returne and Adam called his Wife Hevah The Lord made them coates of skins and cloathed them then the Lord sent him forth from the Garden of Eden least hee should eaâ—e likewise of the tree fo Life sending him to till the earth from wheÌ„ce he was taken And being so cast out at the East side of the Garden of Eden hee set the Cherubims with the blade of a sword to keepe them from the tree of Life After this Adam knew Hevah his Wife who conceived bare Cain who became a tiller of the ground and againe shee brought forth Abel who was after a keeper of sheep After this when hee was one hundred and thirty years old he begat another child calling him Seth and hee lived after that eight hundred yeares and begat sonnes and daughters So al the dayes of Adam were nine hundred and thirty yeares and then he dyed Meditations prayers upon the Creation and life of Adam O Thou incomprehensible God who wast from all beginning even before the Creation of this Heaven and this Earth and who for all Eternity wilt continue after the dissolution of this thy great workmanship the world which thou hast created O Lord I that am thy Creature and composed of this Earth by reason of sinne and ingratitude doe finde my selfe most deformed and ful of darknesse even as that Chaos the world it was before thou O Lord diddest looke upon it and give it light Now my God being in this depraved condition and sitting in this darknesse In thy mercy looke thou upon me enlighten my soule and create a new heart in me and let thy blessed Spirit move upon the waters and troublesome waves of my vast unbridled concupiscence vaine affections whose floods are uncessant in this deepe and darkesome Sea which is so full of danger to my distressed soule O thou fructifier of the Earth which by thy wonderful and unsearchable power and comfort to mankinde created the trees and herbs and by making them to bud and bring forth both blossomb and fruit in their due time Looke mercifully O Lord upon this lump of earth I am composed of and so refresh mee with the dew of thy grace as that timely me from this thy Plant growing from this earth there may spring out the tender buds of contrition the blossome of Charity and the fruit of good workes and piety And let the holy Sun-beames of thy goodnesse which thou hast set in the Firmament of thy mercy preserve me from the bitter cold and frosts of Afflictions the mildewes and
blastings of the temptations and vanities of this world which are so dangerous in the bud and blossome of my good purposes and resolutions towards thee O Lord as thy wonderful works in the Creation are far beyond the weake capacity and apprehension of mortall man to conceive yet by thy goodnesse some things thou makest us sensible of which are so visible to our mortall eyes and so admirable to our due consideration whereby we may so see thy such infinite power and providence for which to magnifie extoll and praise thee O thou God of omnipotency As in wonder thou diddest create thy Creatures abundantly both by Sea and Land so thy goodnesse did this great worke at a time of great mercie and providence to Adam whose Creation did next follow O Lord how abundant is thy goodnesse and thy wayes of mercy except our sins provoke and stop the current of thy blessings What creature is more miserable then man in his birth first breeding yet how wonderfully hast thou ordained and provided for him that though he came most feeble and crying into this miserable world no creature more unable to help himselfe yet thou O God by thy goodnesse even before his being hast thus provided thy creatures and comforts to him for his preservation O Lord how unsearchable are thy workes and how infinite was thy goodnesse in the Creation of our first Father of which substance I am let me with wonder admire â—e astonished that whiles I consider that being so made of the very dust of the Earth and yet to thy blessed Image O Lord most mighty O thou my only hope and comfort of my soule I want new words to expresse this thy boundlesse goodnesse for how doth this thy so high and divine mercy herein meet with my so deepe and earthly misery Therefore let me who am this dust fall downe in all humility before thee upon that Earth of which I am made And O Lord my maker whose Image I am let thy power strength look in pitty upon me and bring mee to the true knowledge of my selfe and thy goodnesse and grant that this thy holy countenance may so shine in me that therby I may be so enlightned by the splendor of thy grace as I may break from the danger and darksome corners of my owne blinde and corrupt conditions so derived unto me and so by seeing thy goodnesse and mercy with most ardent and burning zeal I may adore and magnifie thee my Creator O the unconceivable losse of that happinesse which was once in Paradise that just reward of disobedience and the dangerous â—â—endant of spirituall pride 〈…〉 knowledge the bane of 〈…〉 â—nhappy children of Adam 〈◊〉 â—eeth are set on edge by the forbidden fruit that he did eate we still pursuing to know more then is needefull or that we ought to doe the which even at this unhappy time â—s so like to destroy us and to throw us out of this our fooles paradise which we esteem of so much 〈…〉 pleasure the which indeed though it come farre short of the Paradise of happinesse in Eden yet by thy mercie O God to a sinfull Nation one of the best amongst the thistles and thorns of this our banishment from the happinesse we have lost O Lord open thou mine eyes that I may discern before the coole of the day and my latter end my great offence against thee not to esteeme it any safety for me to run from thee or by covering my secret or open sins with the fig-leaves of hypocrisie it being of such weake and deceitefull â—â—vert to thy All-seeing eye But oh thy mercy my Creator in the depth of thy so just judgements whereby wee were lost and by thy so great mercy whereby we were redeemed and preserved By one womans pride being seduced by the Serpent we suffered and by the humility of another being full of grace who was the Mother of our Redeemer that saved us the one by the Cherubin in thy wrath was kept out of that terrestriall Eden The other with a heavenly salvation brought us the blessed tidings of that happinesse in celestiall Paradise And thus by thy mercy diddest thou breake the head of the Serpent and saved us by that Messias the Saviour of the world This is hee that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and that Word was God and the same was in the beginning with God and all things were made by it He was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not He came to his owne and his owne received him not O unmeasurable mercie of thine O God thou pattern of perfect goodnesse from thy glorious seat of mercy in heaven thus to looke upon us the great map of earthly misery and objects of thy wrath As for our redemption to make this word flesh to dwel amongst us and to see the glory of it as the glory of the only begotten Sonne full of grace and truth Surely there is no mercie or comfort like this thy incomprehensible goodnesse O Lord thus to give thy selfe unto us This is even such a gift as may sufficiently astonish the Receiver Therefore O thou bountifull Benefactor give me grace even to forsake my selfe and give it unto thee Let me out-strip by a heavenly expedition those Shepheards and Kings who came first to offer unto thee the Angels theÌ„ rejoycing when this thy Word was made flesh and came amongst us Lead mee O Lord by that blessed star of thy grace to that manger of mercie Let no difficulties hinder mee in this my holy pilgrimage to the blessed Bethlehem where thou art And if these three Kings tooke such a long journey to see thee O god in that homely stable What difficulties should we undergoe to enjoy thy heavenly salvation Let me imitate these Shepheards Kings by their humility and offerings O Lord by offering even all that I have unto thee my heart in perfect humiliation with those Shepheards both heart and goods in charity to the poore and distressed inimitation of the humility and Presents of these three Kings That at last in the fulness of thy mercie being delivered out of this misery wherein I am fallen by the fall of Adam out of earthly Paradise And being thus redeemed by thee as these devout Shepheards and Kings did see thy face here upon earth in such humility grant that I may so follow thee here by such humble and harmlesse steps as hereafter I may enjoy the happy fight of thee in glory in the heavenly Paradise where the Saints and Angels doe rejoyce in thy presence even for ever and ever THE HISTORY of Cain and Abel CAin being a Tiller of ground brought an oblation of the fruit thereof unto the Lord and Abel did the like with the encrease of his Cattell and of the fatt of them unto the which the Lord had respect but unto the offering of Cain he
had no regard for which he was wroth and his countenance fell downe Then the Lord said unto him why art thou wrath and why is thy countenance cast down If thou dost well shalt not thou be accepted and if thou dost not well sinne lyeth at the door After this Cain spake to his brother and meeting him in the field did murther him Then the Lord said unto Cain where is Abel thy brother who answered I cannot tell am I my brothers keeper Again the Lord said what hast thou done the voyce of thy brothers blood cryeth unto me from the earth Therefore thou art now cursed from the Earth which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brothers blood from thine hand When thou shalt till the ground it shall not henceforth yeeld unto thee her strength a Vagabond and a Run-agate shalt thou be in the earth Then Cain said to the Lord my punishment is greater then I can beare behold thou hast cast me out this day from the Earth and from thy face shall I be hid and shall be a vagabond and whosoever findeth mee shall slay mee Then the Lord said unto him whosoever killeth thee he shall be punished seven fold and the Lord set a mark upon Cain lest any man finding of him should kill him Then hee went out of the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the Land of Nod toward the East fide of Eden and he knew his Wife who conceived and bare a sonne called Enoch and he built a City calling it by his name Enoch Meditations Prayers upon the Historie of Cain and Abel OThe miseries mischiefs that befall us when we have lost thy favour and the happinesse of thy guard and protection O LORD For so it fell out with Adam his generation after their falling from thee and losse of that happinesse safety the which in their innocency they enjoyed in Eden and lost by their disobedience unto thee How are our natures thus depraved when we have lost thy heavenly guidance being made weake and miserable by our own perverse wills as appeares but this so sudden and most unnaturall murther of Cain the first childe of Adam thus to kill Abel his most innocent brother O Lord be mercifull unto mee a sinner one of the sonnes of Adam and who stands in the same corrupted condition and under the lash of thy judgements for my manifold sins strengthen me with thy grace Let the teares my Saviour in obedience unto thee and shed for me in the garden of sorrow strengthen my soule and repaire the losse of thy favour O God which my first Parents lost by their disobedience in that Garden of pleasure in Paradise Let the vigour of thy blessed grace prevent all vice in me and so endew me with thy goodnesse as in stead of murthering I may doe all the workes of mercy to my brother Grant that the sacrifice of my prayers in humility may be presented unto thee with zeale and perfectnâ—â— of heart for as thou art of much mercy so thou art a jelous God therefore with Abel let me bring unto thee even the fatnesse of uprightness and innocency in the sincerity of my soule then with the piety and humility of Abel shall I be acceptable unto thee O Lord keep me harmlesse that I may die in the happiness of Abel and deliver me from the cruelty hardness of heart which was in Cain and from the marke of thy wrath for sin and iniquity O Lord deliver me from such despair as was in Cain for murthering this his innocent brother wherby he became a vagabond or to lose all hopes of thy mercy with Judas forbetraying his Master and my Saviour But make me sensible of thy bounty and my penury thy mercie and my miserie thy strength and my weakenesse And Lord let thy insinite goodnesse and power helpe and strenthen me in all the inevitable dangers so subject unto me by the fall of these my first Parents whose infirmities I carry thus about me But in Jesus Christ thy Son my Saviour looke in mercie upon mee whose innocence did exceede that of Abel's the sonne of Adam and whose sacrifice was of such incomparable value for hee sacrificed even himselfe for me a sinner It was not the fat of Lambs upon the Altar but this immaculate Lamb the Son of God he shed his most precious blood upon the Altar of the Crosse for my Redemption The sprinkling of whose blood speakes better things then that of Abel's for his cryed for vengeance to thy seate of Justice O God but tbis most precious blood did call for and procured mercie from thy seat of mercie And therefore with much comfort in my suite and most humble confidence of thy mercy I beseech thee with this most precious blood so shed for me to wash from me the foule blemishes and heal the putrifactions of my soule fallen upon me by that offence of my first Parents in Paradise which sore I have made worse by my owne loose and sinfull scratching But O my God let his sufferings patience and obedience satisfie for the vanity rashnesse and disobedience that reignes in mee Let the sufferings of him in whom there was no guile stand for me which am so full of guilt Let the blessing of that fruit of my redemption more sweet then Manna which came from that tree the Crosse in this vaile of misery to which we are allotted O Lord it being of such inestimable value let it take off the bitternesse of that curse which is so justly due unto me for that pleasant and banefull deceiving fruit of that tree in Paradise whereby we are made thus miserable and subject to such cruelties as was in Cain and all other infirmities and by thy grace so qualifie me with the gifts of innocencie and harmlesse living that by avoiding all the acts of cruelty and shunning that dangerous rocke of despair at last I may arrive to that happy habitation of Eternity prepared for the innocent and such as trust in thee and thy incomprehensible mercie it being that place of happinesse those Innocents enjoy who were the first most happy harmlesse Martyrs in their Infancy for thy sake O my Saviour THE HISTORY of Noah NOah was the sonne of Lamech who did prophesie concerning him of the comfort that should proceede from him because of the earth the Lord had cursed Lamech lived after hee begat Noah five hundred ninety and five yeares and begat sons and daughters And it came to pass when men began to multiply upon the face of the earth and great impiety did abound that Gods wrath was kindled against theÌ„ for their iniquities for God saw the wickedness of man was great on the earth that every thought and imagination of his heart was evill continually and the Lord said I will destroy man from the face of the earth both man and beast and the creeping things the fowls of the aire for it repenteth mee
that I have made them But Noah found grace in the eys of the Lord for he was a just man and perfect in his generations Noah had three sons Sem Ham and Japhet and the earth was corrupt before God and filled with violeÌ„ce And God said unto Noah The end of all flesh is come before me for the world is filled with iniquity violence Behold I wil destroy them with the Earth Make thee an Arke with roomes in it and pitch it within and without and fashion it as I direct thee a window and a doore shalt thou make in it make it with a lower a second and a third story For behold I wil bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh and every thing that is in the earth shall die But with thee will I establish my covenant thou shalt come into the Ark thou and thy sons and thy wife thy sons wives with thee And of every living thing of all flesh male female shalt thou bring into the Ark to keep them alive with thee and take in with thee food of all sorts for thee and for them And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him and when the Ark was finished the Lord said unto him Come thou and all thy house into the Arke for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation And bring into the Arke of every clean beast by sevens and of unclean by 2. male and female and of fowls by seven to keepe â—eede alive upon the face of the earth for after seven days I will cause it to raine upon the earth 40. days 40. nightsâ—and Noah did as the Lord commaÌ„ded him He was 600. years old when the flood was upon the earth and after he and his family were entered into the Arke and all other living creatures as 't was commanded the flood came upon the earth and the Ark was born above the waters and went upon the face of it and the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth and all the high hils that were under heaven were covered and all flesh dyed that moved upon the earth and the waters prevailed one hundred and fifty dayes upon the earth but after God made a winde to pass over the earth and the waters asswaged And after the hundred and fifty dayes the waters were abated and the Ark rested upon the mountaines of Ararat and after forty dayes Noah opened the window of the Ark and sent out a Raven which went forth too and fro untill the waters were dryed up from off the earth also he sent forth a Dove to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground but the Dove found no rest for the sole of her feet but returned to the Ark. But after seven days more he sent forth the Dove again the Dove came in to him in the evening and in her mouth was an Olive leafe so by that Noah knew the waters were abated upon the earth After that hee staid seven dayes more and sent the Dove out againe which returned no more unto him then Noah removed the covering of the Ark and looked behold the face of the earth was dry and God commanded Noah to come out of the Arke and all that was within it the which he did and after he built an Altar unto the Lord offered burnt offerings on the Altar which was pleasing to the Lord and the Lord blessed the earth again and promised never to destroy it by water any more and set the Rainbow as a signe thereof And the Lord blessed Noah and his sons and Noah began to be a Husbandman and he planted a Vineyard and he drank of the wine and was drunke and was uncovered within his tent And Ham the father of Canaan saw the nakednesse of his father and told his two brethren without then Sem and Japhet took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and went backwards and covered the nakedness of their father and would not look upon his nakednesâ— but when Noah did awake and knew what his younger son bad done he said Cursed be Canaan a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty yeares and all the dayes of Noah were nine hundred and fifty yeares and he dyed MEDITATIONS upon Noah O Lord make me sensible of the grievousnesse of sin aâ—d of the punishments that follow such transgressions let this example of the old world in the time of Noah teach me to looke into my selfe that I may see mine owne iniquities and the corruptions of my heart and give me O Lord true repentance and contrition that I be not drowned in the deluge of my sinfulness but receive me with thy servant Noah into the Ark of thy saving mercy and good Lord let me not be like those secure sinfull persons that built the Ark ' and they themselves perished to give instructions to others and my selfe to fall into impiety to be left out of thy holy Ark of thy saving grace or out of the blessings of thy holy Church and so come at last to perish in my sinnes O Lord whiles I am in this ark of materiall safety and refuge keep me thy servant safe from the danger of shipwrack and leaking in the faith and unity of the â—hurch not to distrust thy providence in this Ark though I live and subsist among the bruit beasts wild creatures of this world who be as the Psalmist speaketh like the horse mule that have no understaÌ„ding Send the Dove of thy holy spirit with the olive branch of thy strength and comfort unto me that may bring joyfull tidings unto my soul of that happinesse which I may expect when I shall be enlarged out of this flesh Bring thy Arke thy Church O Lord out of the troublesome waters of affliction persecution that now so grievously tosse and disturb that poor modell that it may rest upon the safe mountaines of Ararat in the full power of thy mercifull redemption In thy due time take from over my understanding the covering of the ark that I may discerne the pleasure of that heavenly habitation which thou hast prepared for my soule and that I may with a particular evidence of faith and piety passe out of this Ark thy Church militant to thy Church triumphant in heaven and let mee build here an altar of thanksgiving with the incense of zeale burning in my heart to praise thee for all thy mercies and goodness towards me And good Lord whiles I live here the small remainder of my dayes let me not he overcome with intemperate desires or sin in the wrong use of these thy creatures that thou hast ordained for my miserable life but to use them soberly without drunkennesse or any excesse that thereby I may be the better enabled by the comforts of them to serve thee in the moderate use thereof and all other thy
and he shall be a great Nation and that Sarah shall beare Isaac the next yeare Then Abraham tooke Ishmael his son with all the men-children that were borne in his house 15. and that were bought with money and circumcised them the selfe-same day God had commanded him himselfe being ninety nine years old when hee was circumcised and Ishmael thirteen Now againe the Lord appeared unto Abraham in the Plain of Mamre about the heat of the day as he sate at his Tent doore and looking loe three men stood by him whom he ran to meet bowing himselfe to the ground saying Lord if I have found favour in thy sight goe not I pray thee from thy servant but wash your feet under this tree and I will bring you some bread to comfort your hearts and after you may goe and they answered doe as thou hast said Then Abraham made hast unto Sarah and bade her make some cakes upon the Hearth as likewise hee made his servant kill a Calfe aâ—d so with some butter and milke hee set before them standing himselfe by under the tree whiles they did eate Then they asked for Sarah his Wife whom hee said was in the Tent and he said I will certainly come again unto thee according to the time of life for Sarah shall have a sonne Sarah heard this being at the Tent door and laughed within her selfe because she and Abraham being olde And the Lord said wherefore doth Sarah thus laugh shall any thing bee too hard for the Lord to doe at the time appointed will I returne unto thee even according to the time of life and Sarah shal have a sonne then Sarah was affraid So the men did rise and went towards Sodome but Abraham stood yet before the Lord and knowing of the Lords anger he pleaded for that City desiring the Righteous might not be destroyed with the wicked and desired that if fifty righteous were therein it might not be destroyed for said hee unto the Lord shall not the Judge of the world doe right but Abraham's suite continued from fifty to five and forty so from forty to thirty and so to twenty and at last to ten which not being in that City the Lord went from Abraham and Abraham returned to his place After this Abraham went toward the South and sojourned at Gerar and once more said Sarah was his sister and Abimilech the King sent for her whom God before he toucht her in a dream threatned death unto him for taking another man's Wife so with many circumstances in the feare of God very religiously hee delivered her backe to Abraham blaming him for saying she was his Sister the which he excused by saying hee thought them to have been a wicked people and was affraid of his life pretending she was his sister having both one father but not of one mother Then Abimilech gave them great store of Cattell treasure reproving of Sarah for her dissembling he gave them leave to live in his Countrey where they pleased and by the prayer of Abraham Abimilech was heal'd of his Infirmity with his Wife and women-servants who before were barren and now brought forth children before they being accused for Sarah's cause After this according to Gods promise in due season Sarah conceived and bare Isaac whom Abraham circumcised at 8. dayes old and Sarah rejoyced in the Lord and wondred at his mercies And when he was weaned they made a great feast but Sarah seeing Ishmael mocking she said unto Abraham cast out this bond-woman and her sonne for hee shall not be heire with my sonne Isaac at which Abraham was troubled but the Lord comâ—orted him by telling him the comfort he should have by Isaac so in the morning early hee sent away Hagar and Ishmael who went to the Wildernesse of Beersheba and God was mercifull to them in their journey After this there was great friendship between Abraham and Abimilech and all differences being reconciled Abraham giving him Beeves and sheep After this Abraham planted a Grove in Beersheba and called there upon the name of the Lord the everlasting God Then the Lord to prove Abraham's faith said unto him take now thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest and goe to the Land of Moreah and there offer him a burnt-offering upon one of the mountaines I shall shew thee so Abraham went early away with Isaac his sonne two servants his Asses with cloven wood for the sacrifice and the third day spying the place he commanded his servants to stay behind himselfe and Isaac going on to the mountaine to worship Isaac carrying the wood himselfe the knife and the fire Then said Isaac Father here is the fire and the wood but where is the Lamb for the burnt-offring then his father answered that God would provide it and comming to the place Abraham built there an altar and couched the wood on it and bound Isaac his son and laid him like-wise on the Altar upon the wood and Abraham stretched out his hand and tooke the knife to kill his sonne but an Angell from Heaven called unto him saying Abraham Abâ—aham who answered here am I then he said lay not thy hand upon the child nor doe any thing unto him for now I know thou fearest God seeing for my sake thou hast not spared thine onely sonne Then Abraham lifting up his eyes behold there was a Ramme behind him caught by the hornes in a bush the which hee tooke and offered him a burnt-offering in stead of his so and he called the place Jehovah Jireth as it is said this day in the Mount will the Lord be seene and upon this by an Angell from heaven the secoÌ„d time a great blessing was promised unto Abraham and his seede and that in them should all the Nations of the Earth be blessed Then turned Abraham againe to his servants and so went to Beersheba where he dwelt Now after this when Sarah was one hundred twenty and seven yeares old she dyed at Kiriartharba in the Land of Canaaâ— and Abraham mourned for her but hee arising from the sight of the Corps talked with the Hittites about a place for the burying of Sarah hee being there a Stranger and they proffered him to bury her in the chiefest of their Sepulchres but with much respect he desired them to speak for him unto Ephron to give him a Cave called Maeh Pelah at the end of a field for so much money it was worth for a burying place Then Ephroa in the hearing of all the people said No my Lord the field I give thee and the cave that is therein even in the presence of the fons of my people Then Abraham bowed himself before the people saying Seeing thou wilt give it meâ— I will give thee the price of the field and so hee gave him 400. filver sheckles for it after which Abraham buryed Sarah in that cave it being against Mamre the same is Hebron in Canaan Now Abraham being growne old tooke
helpe as it befell once more unto Abraham in Gerer by calling his Wife sister O Lord keep me thy servant from relapsing into deadly sinnes yea in the least offence against thee as he did by this his infirmity And in my wicked intentions and thy just punishments for them deale with mee as thou diddest with Abimilech to repent and leave off before sin fully passes me Keepe me O Lord from a scoffing and mocking condition as was in Ishmael lest I be made a scorne amongst my friends and bee thrust from the society of the discreet Let me O Lord admire and imitate the great faith and resolution of this thy servant Abraham the father of the faithfull give me grace cheerefully and faithfully to goe towards that holy Morah and there to sacrifice my soule and what is most neare and deare unto me to thee to carry that soveraine wood to inkindle 〈◊〉 zeale in mee and the sacred and sharp kniâ—e to cut off the branches of my iâ—bred corruptions and fleshly love and let the two servants the World the Devill stay behind that they may not hinder my good purpose and obedience to thy commands and so by this blessed resolution and sincerity I shall receive thy mercie and a timely offering from thee as Abraham had the Ram with the comfort of thy heavenly grace and blessings still more more to â—â—nforme and strengthen me in a holy progresse towards thee O Lord. Great was this faith in Abraham the Father and perfect was the obedience of Isaac his sonne But oh the incomprehensible goodnesse and mercy of our God and heavenly Father and his sonne my Saviour by that his humiliation and obedience This omnipotent God brought this his only begotten Son unto Mount-Calvary where neither Ramme nor Bullocke was sufficient for that Sacriâ—ice which was for our Redemption but that Lamb of God who tooke away the sinnes of the world he humbled himselfe and was offered as a sacrifice for our sins upon the Crosse whose blood was far more precious theÌ„ that of Rams for this most precious holy and unvaluable blood is the cure of our corrupttd soules by washing away the foule spots of sin Oh was ever the like obedience or ever any love like to this O Lord as the two servants whom Abraham left below the mountaine might wonder at the resolution of their Master his son's obedience so let my soul and body that desires to serve thee in imitation of these two servants with much humility waiting in the bottome and valley where thou hast appointed us to stay with wonder aâ—mire thy goodnesse mercie for this thy fatherly mercie unto us and thy Son's goodnesse and obedience for us for this is mercie beyond measure to us most miserable sinners O Lord it is far beyond the apprehension of sinful man to comprehend this thy so infinite goodnesse and mercie therefore let mee for ever with admiration looke up to heaven from whence thou descendedst to do this so unspeakable a work of pitty mercie and looke downe into my self who was the cause of this severe suffering and see my owne unworthinesse so by seeing this thy incomprehensible goodnesse and my own vilenesse in the humblenesse of my heart mith admiration of thy goodnesse that I may magnifie thy Name for ever O Lord and let sorrow compuÌ„ction for my sins be my companions for ever Let mee O God see the foulness of sin and shun it with perfect hatred it being of that danger to mee and such an offence against thee O Lord even of such a dangerous consequence as nothing could sufficiently satisfie for it but that all-sufficient and great sacrifice upon the Crosse even by such a holy oblation as thy selfe O rightâ—ous God for sinfull man Therefore let the consideration of the shame and pain thou sufferedst upon that Tree make me be ashamed to offend thee Crucifie all the wicked and vaine affections that reigne in my corrupted flesh and bring me in true obedience unto thee O thou Redeemer and Saviour of the world give me patience and moderate sorrow for the loss of near friends as Abraham was for Sarah his wife and to have a charitable venerable regard unto them as Abraham had by the decent burying of Sarah O Lord with Abraham make me carefull for the lawfull and discreet disposing of my children as he did for Isaac And grant that thy good Angel may goe before me in such actions and thy good inspirations so to guide me not only for the earthly marriage of my sonne but likewise that I may so use and enjoy these earthly comforts here as that at last I may bee brought to that blessed marriage in heaven which happinesse there Abraham Isaac and Jacob with the Patriarks Prophets Apostles Martyrs and Professors of the true faith enjoy for all Eternity THE HISTORY of ISAAC THE servant of Abraham having taken his journey according to the direction of Abraham his Master for the obtaining of a Wife for Isaac and said he began his journey having in his charge ten Camels with such goods delivered unto him by Abraham as were fit for his journey who journeyed came to a City called Nahur where comming he there made his Camels to lie downe without the City by a well of water being eventide the time that women used to come for water and then he said O Lord God of my Master Abraham I beseech thee send me good speed this day shew thy mercy to him Loe I stand by the well of water whiles the daughters of the City come hither grant that the Maid to whoÌ„ I say bow downe thy pitcher I pray thee that I may drinke If she say drink and I will give thy Camels drink also let her be she that thou hast ordained for thy servant Isaac and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed mercy on my Master Now while hee was speaking Rebeckah the daughter of Bethuel came out with her pitcher upon her shoulder who was very fair and a Virgin and going downe into the Well and filling her pitcher and comming up the servant ran and met her saying let me drinke I pray thee a little water of thy pitcher Then she hastily put the pitcher to her hand and gave him to drink saying moreover I will draw likewise some water for thy Camels that they may drinke and then she ran againe to the Well and drew water for the Camels So the man wondred at her but held his peace to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not And when the Camels had left drinking the man took a golden Abilloment and two bracelets with ten sheckles of gold and gave them her and he asked her whose daughter she was saying I pray thee tell mee as likewise if there be any roome in thy Fathers house to lodge in she answered I am the daughter of Bethuel whom she bare to Nahor Moreover she said we have litter
and provender enough room to lodge in and the man bowed himselfe and worshipped the Lord saying blessed be the Lord God of my Master Abraham which hath not with-drawne his mercie and his truth from him for when I was in the way the Lord hath brought mee to my masters brothers house She then hearing this ran straight home and told her brother Laban therof who came presently to the man and said unto him come in thou blessed of the Lord wherefore standest thou without seeing I have prepared the roome for thy selfe and thy Camels so he unsadled the Camels giving them litter and provender Then hee and the men that came with him washed their feet and meat was set before him but he would not eate untill he had delivered his message Then hee related how hee was servant to Abraham and how God had blessed him exceedingly in goods money servants and how he had a sonne by Sarah in her old age to whom his Master had given all his estate with all such Circumstances as Abraham had commanded him as aforesaid with such passages as was between Rebecka and him at the Well and how he then gave her the Abiloments and Bracelets Then hee said further unto them if you will deale mercifully and truly with my Master tell me if not tell me that I may turn me to the right hand or to the left Then answered Laban ct Bethuel that this thing is provided of the Lord wee cannot therefore say unto thee neither evill or good Behold she is before thee take her and goe that she may be thy Masters sons wife as the Lord hath said Then hee bowed himself towards the earth unto the Lord and gave unto Rebecka jewels of gold and Raiments as likewise gifts unto her Mother and her Brother and then did eate tarrying there all night Now in the morning when he was ready to depart they desired Rebecka might stay only ten days with them but he said in regard God had prospered his journey hee desired forth-with to goe to his Master Then they desired to know Rebecka's minde and have her consent whose answer was she would goe and so when they had blessed her they let her goe and her Nurse likewise So this servant with Rebecka and her maid-servants tooke their journey riding upon the Camels Now Isaac being walking abroad in the fields to pray in the evening and looking about him see these Camels comming toward him and so soon as Rebecka see him she lighted from her Camell and asking the servant who it was that was comming toward them he said it was his Master so she tooke a vaile and covered her selfe Then the servant telling him what he had Isaac took her to his Mother Sarah's Tent and she was his Wife whom he loved After this Abraham dying Isaac and Ishmael buryed him with Sarah his wife after whose death Isaac dwelt in Beerlahai Roy and Ishmael dying at the age of one hundred thirty and seven years was gathered unto his people Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebecka who continued for a while barren but hee prayed to the Lord who heard him and she conceived and at the time of birth being with child of two they did strive in her womb and she prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto her two Nations are in thy wombe and two manner of people shall bee divided out of thy bowels one people shal be mightier then the other and the elder shall serve the younger So at the time of the delivery the first that came out was red and all over rough him they called Esau and after came the other whose hand held Esau by the heele who was called Jacob and then was Isaac threescore years old Now these two growing into yeares Esau became a cunning Hunter and lived in the fields but Jacob was a plaine man and lived in Tents And Isaac loved Esau for Venison was his meate but Rebecka loved Jacob. Now Esau comming one day very hungry weary out of the fields Jacob had made some pottage of which Esau desired to eate for which Jacob desired Esau's birth-right who answered loe I am almost dead what is then this birth-right to mee so hee sware unto Jacob to give it him and contemning of it hee sold it then gave Jacob unto him some bread and Lentill Pottage and so went away And alter it came to pass that there was a Famine in the land and by the appointment of God Isaac he went to Gerar and there the Lord appeared unto him confirming his promise to Abraham his Father and to the seede of Isaac And being at Gerar Rebecka being very beautifull the men thereabouts did much look after her insomuch as Isaac being affraid he said she was his sister And it came to passe one day Isaac being sporting with her Abimilech King of the Philistines looking out of a window did espy it and called to Isaac said to him surely she is thy Wife and why dost thou say she is thy Sister to whom hee answered that he was affraid of his life Then said the King why hast thou done this If any one of my people had lyen with her thou shouldst have brought sin upon us Then Abimilech charged all his people saying he that toucheth this man or his Wife shall dye the death After this Isaac living in this Land and sowing Corne the encrease was a hundred fold and his Cattell did encrease exceedingly So having a mighty houshold and growing so great the Philistines did envy him insomuch as they filled up the wels which were digged in his Father Abraham's time And being grown so rich and potent Abimilech bade him be gone saying Thou art mightier then wee a great deal Therefore Isaac departed and pitched his Tent in the valley at Gerar and there dwelt and opened the Wells again that the Philistines had stopped calling them by the names that Abraham his Father had given them and his servants digging in the valley found there a Well of living water for which there was strife betweene them and the Herdmen of Gerer they saying it was theirs After this they digged another Well and there was strife for that likewise After this they digged another for which there was no strife So from thence hee went to Beersheba where the Lord appeared unto him the same night and confirmed unto him the blessings and promise to Abraham his Father and his seede and there he built an Altar calling upon the name of the Lord. Then came unto him Abimilech with his friend and a Captaine of his Army to whom Isaac said why come ye to me seeing you put mee out from you who answered him wee saw the Lord was with thee and we used thee kindly and sent thee away in peace and therefore let there be now a Covenant betweene us and let it be done the blessed of the Lord doe this Then hee feasted them and they arose betimes in the
morning and sware one to another departing in peace and amity Now when Esau was forty yeares old hee took to wife Judeth a Hittite and Beshemath another Hittite likewise who were a griefe of minde to Isaac and Rebecka Now Isaac growing old and his sight failing of him he called for Esau his eldest sonne who came unto him to whom he said I am now old and know not the day of my death wherefore I pray thee take thy bow and goe into the field and kill mee some Venison and make me some savory meate and bring it me that I may blesse thee before I dye the which accordingly Esau went about to doe Now Rebecka hearing what Isaac had said after Esau was gone into the field she told Jacob what Isaac had said and pointed Esau to doe and how he intended to blesse him before his death So she commanded him saying goe to the flocke and from thence bring two Goat-kids to make pleasant meate for thy Father that hee may blesse thee then said Jacob to his Mother that his brother Esau was rough and himselfe smooth by which if his Father should feel he should seeme to mock him so should he bring a curse upon himselfe in stead of a blessing but shee said let the curse be upon me So he went and brought them to his Mother who made pleasant meat thereof such as Isaac loved then she put upon him furre cloath's of Esau's which were in the house and covered his hands and the smooth of his necke with the skins of the Kids and so putting the meat bread into his hands he comming to his Father said my Father who answered I am here who art thou my sonne and Jacob said I am Esau thy first borne I have done as thou bid'st mee arise I pray thee sit up and eate of my Venison that thy soul may blesse mee to whom Isaac said how hast thou found it so quickly my sonne who answered because the Lord thy God brought it to my hand Then said Isaac unto him come neare that I may feele thee my sonne whether thou be my sonne Esau or not then Jacob came near him who felt him and said the voyce is Jacob's but the hands Esau's wherefore he blessed him Then he again asked him if he were Esau who answered him hee was then hee called for the Venison to eate that he might blesse him the which was brought by Jacob who did eat as likewise he drank wine After which hee called Jacob unto him to kisse him who did so then he smelled the savour of his garment and blessed him saying the smell of my sonne is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed and when Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob hee departed from his Father After which Esau comming from hunting came to his Father who asking whom hee was told him it was Esau his first borne sonne whereat Isaac was struck with great feare then hee told Esau of what had been done and how hee had blessed his brother that brought meat unto him and that hee should be blessed then Esau hearing this cryed bitterly Then Isaac 〈…〉 behold I have made 〈◊〉 Lord and all his Brethren 〈◊〉 made his servants Also 〈◊〉 wheat wine have I furnished him and unto thee now 〈◊〉 what shall I doe Then 〈◊〉 said unto him hast thou 〈◊〉 blessing my father blesse 〈◊〉 me also my Father and 〈◊〉 lift up his voice and wept 〈◊〉 Isaac said unto him that 〈…〉 of the land should be his â—welling place and to have the 〈◊〉 of heaven from above and 〈◊〉 time hee should break off 〈◊〉 others yoak from off his 〈◊〉 After this Esau hated Jacob intended afterwards to kill him of which â—â—â—becka hearing did forewaâ—â— Jacob and wished him to flye 〈◊〉 Haran to her brother 〈◊〉 for safety untill Esau's 〈◊〉 was over After this Isaac called for Jaâ—â—◠〈◊〉 when he had blessed him gave him a châ—â—ge not to marry any of the daughters of Canaan but presently 〈◊〉 to the house of Bethuel his â—â—â—hers Father and take to 〈◊〉 of the daughters of Laban 〈◊〉 others brother and so after he had blessed him with a 〈…〉 blessing he sent him 〈…〉 Laban Many yeares after this Jacob came unto his â—ather Isaac who was at Mamre which is Hebron where in the hundred and fourescore yeare of his 〈◊〉 he gave up the Ghost and was gathered unto to his people his sons Esau and Jacob burying him PRAYERS upon the History of ISAAC O Lord in thy mercy direct assist and prepare for mee through the passages of this world and in all my journeyes as thou diddest for that faithfull servant and Steward of Abraham's Make me carefull discreet and honest in all my actions and deportments as this good Steward was unto Abraham in his undertakings So concerning my soule and that so certaine a passage to eternity prepare me O Lord and let my care therein transcend all thought of earthly cares in this journey which so nearely concernes eternall happinesse or woe Guide me in what I goe about grant O God that I may take nothing in hand but what may please thee and give unto me O Lord thy blessing in the prosecution with a thankefull heart unto thee for thy goodnesse with this good servant whose prayers and praises thou did'st heare Oh let me admire thy providence and power in this thy worke at the Well to this servant and by it let mee consider how mercifully and strangely thou bringst things to pass even amongst us though not so pointed out by thy holy immediate finger as this particular O bring mee to thy happy Wel-spring of thy happinesse O Lord the comfort of thy holy grace to refresh direct me even that which so farre exceeds all transitory consolations And if this Steward did so much pray for his Master and praise thee O God for thy goodnesse to him how ought I who am thy humble but most unworthy servant even to exceede him in many degrees both in my humiliation for my sins and thankesgiving for all thy manifold mercies for infinite have they been to me beyond desert and expectation Therefore open thou mine eyes which are so dull and raise up my heart which is so dead that the one may see thy goodnesse and the other may praise thee that this my heart may mourne for my sins my eyes may flow into a fountain of tears for my offences With this servant make mee to be carefull in what I shall undertake for others as he was who would eate no meate till hee had delivered his message so O Lord in things which concerne thy service Let me neither eate nor sleepe untill I have paid my vowes and devoted my selfe unto thee for to be continued confirmed in thy feare and favour is happinesse indeed for beyond all earthly hopes whose budd is barrennesse and fruit strife Give me this good Stewards care to be gone
and the cheerfulnesse of Rebecka to be going by the one to discharge the trust to my friend and by the other to gaine the love of my neighbour So O Lord in that which concerns thy service let me with resolution and alacrity come speedily vnto thee so shall not the Bethuel of self-love nor the Laban of worldly care hinder me from my due obedience service of thee Give mee grace in imitation of this Grand-fire of the holy Patriarks the pattern of obedience upon his Fathers Altar and in his constant serving of thee that with a contemplative heart and a penitent soule I may continually call unto thee both morning evening and at all times as he did in that evening he so happily met Rebecka so by thy mercie shall I obtaine thy heavenly Comfort as hee did in earthly respects by meeting of her and so be joyned unto thee for all Eternity Give me a tender care regard for the obsequies of my Parents and to joine in charity for the performance thereof though with my enemies and most jealous friends as it was done by Isaac and Ishmael to their father Abraham Grant me patience O Lord in the barrennesse of my dejected spirit give mee grace to persevere in my prayers unto thee as Isaac did in the barrenness of Rebecka so in due time thou wilt heare me as thou did'st Isaac and in thy good time shall I receive the fruit of thy consolation In the strivings between the flesh and the spirit as was in Rebecka's womb the which by reason of sin and my infirmities I am so subjected unto be mercifull unto me O God and grant that stil I may pray unto thee so by thy grace shall I bee delivered and know thy goodnesse and good pleasure as she did in her two twins And grant O Lord that the blessings of thy good grace may bear rule over this my rough and rude flesh to keepe it in subjection O Lord deliver and preserve me thy servant from the like hunger wearinesse in my soul as it was with Esau in his body that I may not endanger it for the lentill light vanities fading refreshments of fleshly desires thereby to lose my heavenly inheritance that blessed birth-right in heaven purchased for me by the birth and left me by the death of thou my blessed Saviour and Redeemer In much griefe of heart I must confesse O God with great shame and confusion to my self that I have done much evil in thy sight Esau was not more ready by that deare Bargain to eat those lentill potage than I have bin to swallow up sin offences against thee even for a lesse value my greedinesse to sin was such as even for a peice of bread have I finned against thee having been lead away by the meanest of temptations and therefore I have no other plea for my self but thy mercy O Lord and the merits of my blessed Saviour whose Sacrifice for sin upon the Crosse for us that were Gentiles was of far more effecacy then the blood of Buls or Goites were for the Israelites Deliver me O Lord from the power of my infirmities which still persues me to indanger my soule as it dealt with Isacc who fell into his father Abrahams error by calling his wife sister when he came to Gerer amongst the Philistims and give me the like Chastity and Charity as was in Abimeleck towards him and Rebekah Give me O Lord that increase of thy grace and mercy to sustaine my soule as thou diddest give unto Isacc in his corne to preserve his body and graunt that I may be that good ground mentioned in thy Gospel to bring forth the fruit of good works a hundred fold as it was in Isacc's graine Preserve me from the envy of the wicked anâ— from the suggestions to sin that the well-springs of thy grace may not be taken from me but raise up unto me the living well-spring of thy mercy that the stirrings of flesh and blood may have no power to take from me as the matteriall wells were taken from Isacc and bring me O Lord unto the spirituall Beersheba so appeare thou in mercy unto me there as knowing thy goodnes and believing thy promises I may build an Altar of praise and that thanksgiving unto thee In the passages of this world grant that I may alwayes preserve love and friendship both with my friends neighbours and even my enemies with firmnesse and integrity of heart as was between Isacc and Abimeleck And let me so obey my Parents in my courses carriages of this world that I may not prove a griefe of heart unto them as Easu was to Isacc and Rebekah by his marrying of Judeth the Hitite O Lord give me such obedience unto them as may cause and draw their blessings upon me both in their lives and at their deaths to be near unto them in duty obedience as Jacob was whome in mercy thou diddest looke upon and after gave such blessings unto by whose off-spring all the Nations of the world were made happy And still to continue obedient unto them as Jacob was unto his father in his marriage for this obedience to Parents is pleasing to thee O Lord and calls downe for thy blessings upon us the children of men let there alwayes continue in me a neare and pious regard for the interring of 〈◊〉 Parents with a conjunction of charity in the doing of it even with thy greatest emulaters as it was in the charitable performance of this solâ—mnetie between Jacob and Easu in the burying of Isacc their father So by this brotherly concord and charitable deportment wee shall be made partakers of that mercy thou O â—ord hast promised to them that doe the works of mercy to which happy to coâ—â—ition and the fruition of that haâ—pinesse bring me O Lord even 〈◊〉 his sake who was the true 〈◊〉 of patience amongst his enemieâ— and gave forgivenes even to his crucifiers THE HISTORY of JACOB AFter Isaac had blessed Jacob and in obedience to his Father and Mother departing from Beersheba taking his journey to Padan-Aram comming to a certaine place it being night hee took a stone and laying it under his head he fell asleepe and falling into a dreame there appeared unto him a ladder which reached from the earth to heaven Angels going up and down upon it and the Lord standing above it who said I am the Lord the God of Abraham and of Isaac thy Father the Land whereupon thou sleepest will I give unto thee and thy seede and they shall multiply exceedingly in them shall the families of the Earth be blessed and promising to preserve him in all his journeys and to bring him again to that Land Now Jacob awaking was affraid but did thinke the Lord was in that place saying to himselfe it was the house of God and that there was the gates of Heaven Then after hee had risen early in the morning he took that stone
from him and for his Gods hee wisht him to make a search for them and with whom he found them that party should die but Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them then Laban came and searched in Jacob's Leah's and the maids Tents out there could not finde them and so came to Rachels but she had put them in the Camels litter and sat doâ—ne upon them Laban after hee had searched the Tent after came into the Stable where Rachel was siting who said unto him my Lord be not angry that I cannot rise up before thee for the custome of women is upon me so after his search he could not finde his Idols Then Jacob was angry with Laban for persuing after him in that manner telling him of the hard service he had under him even for twenty yeares and of the increase of his wealth by his care withall how hardly he had far'd and what strict accompt he gave unto him that if the least by mis-chance were given he had made it good if they were stolen by day or by night he did the like how in the day he had been consumed with the heat and in the night with frost and was kept from sleep and how he had served fourteen yeares for his two Daughters and six yeares for his sheep and how hee had changed his wages ten times and but that the God of Abraham and the feare of Isacc had been with him hee had sent him empty telling of him that God seeing his tribulation and the labour of his hands had rebuked him the last night Then Laban became exceeding milde with many expressions of fatherly love to his wives and there children and desired to make a firm covenant of friendship with Jacob the which being agreed upon then there was a Pillar set up to be a token thereof and his brethren made a great 〈◊〉 of stones wherepon they 〈◊〉 all eate which heape was likewise to be a witnesse between them of their frienship and they called it Galeed both of them promising neither of them to come over that heapâ—â— one to the other for evil to whâ—â— both of them did sweare Laban swear by the God of Abraham and Nahor his father but Jacob by the feare of his father Isacc Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mounte calling his brethren to eate who did so and stayed upon the mounte all night and early in the morning Laban roase up kissed his sonnes and daughters blessing them departed and went to his place againe After this Jacob going on his journey the Angels of God met him whom he called the hoste of God But being in great feare of his brother Esau he sent messengers before unto him with messages of great respect and humiliation but they returning told him that Esau was coming against him with foure hundred men at which he was sore troubled and divided his people and cattell into companies thinking if the one were taken the other might escape and then Jacob prayed unto the Lord saying O God of my father Abraham and Isacc which said unto me returne unto thy countrey and to thy kindred I am not worthy of the least of thy mercies which thou hast shewed unto me for with my staffe came I over this Jordan I pray thee deliver me from the hands of my brother Esau c. So he tarried there that night and preparing a present for Esau of severall cattell sending his servants before with them in two droves himself following commanding them to say if Esau met them and inquired whose cattell they were there answer should be they were presents sent from Jacob to him and himself followed so they went before and he stayed that night with the company but in the night hee aroase taking his two wives his two maides and his eleven children sending them over the river Jabhek with all his goods Now after they were gone there was a man wrestled with him untill break of the day who seeing he could not prevaile hee touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh which was loossed but Jacob would not let him go without a blessing then he asked his name and he told him Jacob then said he thy name shall be called no more Jacob but Israel because thou hast had power with God thou shalt also prevaile with men and so blessed him and as he parted the Sun aroase and he halted upon his thigh therefore the children of Israel eat not the sinewe that shrank in the hollow of the thigh unto this day After this Jacob going on in his journey he espyed Esau coming towards him with his foure hundred men then hee divided his children to Rachel and Leah and to the two maides putting the maides and their children foremost Leah and her children next and Rachel and Joseph hinmost and he going before them meeting Esau bowed himselfe to the ground seven times untill he came neare him then Easu ran to him and did imbrace him and kisse him and they both wept and seeing the women and children Esau asked who they were who answered they were the children God hath given to thy servant and so in order the mothers and their children came towards him and bowed with great reverence then Esau asked him what he meant by all them drovs of cattell he met hee told him I have sent them to thee that I may finde favour in the sight of my Lord then Esau said I have enough my brother keep them to thy self but Jacob answered nay I pray thee if I have found grace in thy sight then receive my present for I have seen thy face as though I had seen the face of God because thou hast accepted me therefore take my blessing for God hath had mercy on me and so Esau tooke it then Esau said let us take our journey and I will goe before thee but Jacob said my Lord thou know'st the children are tender and the cattel with young and it were dangerous to go too fast but go my Lord before thy servant and I will drive softly untill I come to my Lord unto Sier and so they parted Esau going that day to Sier And Jacob going towards Succoth where coming he built a house and made provision for his cattell after he came to Sechem in the Land of Canaan and pitched before that Citie there he bought a parcell of Land of the sonnes of Hamor where hee set up an Altar and called it the mighty God of Israel And it came to passe that Dinah the daughter of Jacob by Leah going to see the daughters of that countrie Shechem whom the sonne of Hamor Lord of that country seeing took and defiled and after loved her exceedingly desiring his father to obtaine her for his wife who according to his sons desire went to speake unto Jacob about it but Jacob and his sonnes having heard of this wronge done to Dinah were much displeased thereat because he had wrought such villany in Israel Now Hamor coming to Jacob told
him how the soule of his sonne loved Dinah and desired she might be his wife and how by that there should be a continuall freindship betweene them their children and people with great expressions of what love happines this would produce now they seem'd to likewel of those Propositions only they would not marry with an uncircumcised people but if they would be circumcised they would approve thereof all which Hamor and his son Shechem liked well of consenting there unto and Shechem deferred not the doing of it his love was such to Dinah so the father and the sonne acquainted the Citie therewith who considering of the conveniencie and neighbour-hood that hereby might come so they consented and all the men children were circumcised even as they went out at the gate of the City But on the third day after when they were sore two sonnes of Jacob Simeon and Levi took each of them a sword and going boldly into the Citie killed every male as likewise Hamor and Shechem taking Dinah out of Shechem's house and so went away and the other sons of Jacob came up and spoiled the City taking all their goods because of this wrong done to their sister Dinah But Jacob was troubled at this act of Simeon and Levi saying they had made him stinck among the Inhabitants After this God commanded him to arise and goe to Bethel and there to make an Altar unto him the which he did before commanding all his house-hold to put away their false Gods whose counsell they observed giving him all their Gods or Idols and there eare-rings and buryed them under an Oake So they went towards Bethel and there built an Altar and after many promises there of God unto him and his seed with his worship and testimonies of thanksgiving unto God for all his mercies he departed from Bethel and in their journey Rachel travel'd in child-birth and was in danger but the Midwife did comfort her telling her shee should have a son and in her extreamity before she died being delivered called the child Benjamine and so gave up the Ghost was buried at Bethlehem Jacob comaÌ„nding a Pillar to be set upon her grave Then Jacob went on his journey and came to Isaac his Father to Mamre where Isaac died After this Jacob lived in the Land of Canaan where after his other sonnes sold Joseph into Egypt unto which Land in the time of famine by Gods great Providence Jacob and all his sons did repaire All which and the rest of the life and acts of Jacob and his sonnes with Jacobs Death and Buryall are at large exprest in the ensuing History of Joseph PRAYERS upon the History of JACOB O Lord as Jacob by his obedience vnto his Parents obtained the blessing from them in his journey to Padan-Aram thou diddest mercifully preserve him So blesse mee O Lord in what I goe about and give me true obedience towards thee that thou maist give me the blessings of thy holy grace to protect mee through the manifold dangers of my soule in the pilgrimage of this world and that thy blessed inspirations may abide with me In the distresses so subject unto me for my sinnes be thou mercifull unto me as thou wast unto Jacob when his lodging was the earth and his pillow a stone If the Father of the Patriarks and descended from the Father of the faithfull was well contented with such thine appointment and did praise thee for thy mercies Let me O Lord a most miserable sinner and who have been most disobedient unto thee reflect into my self with sincerity of soule by looking into my bad deservings so see them as with compassion to my selfe I may bewaile my manifold sinnes and by the remembrance of them fall down upon this earth and think my selfe so unworthy as to esteeme all the sufferings and hâ—rd passages of this world not punishments sufficient to expiate my câ—ying offences but sâ—ill to bewaile my sins and to lie downe with my head upon this sâ—one of Contrition with patience and thankfulnesse to submit to thy blessed will And in these my streights and most just sufferings thou who sittest in heaven and then stood upon the toppe of that ladder which reached downe to the earth â—here Jacob was Looke downe from thence O Lord and speak mercifully unto me and let thy blessed Angels descend downe upon this ladder and steps of thy favour to assist and comfort mee in all my troubles O Lord awaken thou my drousie spirit that by thy grace casting off all feares I may apprehend thy goodnesse and discern the gates of heavenly mercie for which let me rise early and by taking up stedfast thoughts and good resolutions I may raise up a pillar of praise powring thereon the oyle of chearefull thankefulnesse for all thy mercies as Jacob did upon that stone he stept on and for all thy preservations let me pay my vowes unto thee Lord keepe mee thy servant from voluptuousnesse and curiosity the great distempers of these times and by the example of Jacob thy servant and the Predecessor of Kings who desired but bread raiment give me grace to mortifie all my vain affections surfeitnig pleasures of this world and most willingly to be contented with thy good pleasure Continue thy good providence towards me as thou diddest unto Jacob in his journey when hee came to that Well where he so happily met with Rachel Let mee alwayes admire thy wonderfull wayes and meanes whereby thou bringst thy mercies and blessings unto us And let me O Lord well consider and see how many times in the course of my life thou hast shewed mee thy works of mercie by preventing me in things whereby my owne weak judgement and intentions destructions of soule and bodie had been the issâ—e And likewise how by wayes and meanes of thy speciall providence thou hast protected and directed me into the wayes of safety and therefore as Jacob after thy good guidance was brought unto that Well from which he rowled the stone to doe the office of courtesie So good Lord in imitation of him for thy goodnesse let me remove by thy mercie all sad and heavy thoughts from over those good inspirations which thou hast infused into the dry well of my heart springing from thy grace And that I may abundantly distribute this holy water to the rich by friendship and courtesie and to the poor by love charity And as Jacob in the fulnesse of joy in his heart by meeting of Rachel wept so good Lord when I shall finde at any time the blessed comfort of thy grace and good inspirations let mee embrace them with true thankfulnesse and rejoycing in thee for thy mercies and in fear for thy judgements weep for my offences against thee In the manifold uncertainties unconstancies of the friendships of this world and worldly men give me such honest care and patience as Jacob had by Laban's hard servitude unto him Still to discharge the trust committed
unto me never to distrust thy mercies and deliverance And though things fall not according to my will and choise as it fell out with him about Rachels let me O 〈◊〉 with Jacob's other seven yeares â—â—tiently waite thy liesure and 〈◊〉 time So for thy heavenly mercies in 〈◊〉 drynesse and coldnesse of my resolâ—â—â—ons and devotions towards thee let mee with patience and prayer waite for that good time when thou shalt enlarge and deliver my soule from this thraldome and bondage of selfe-love and the snares of worldly slavery whereby I may be fitted for my journey to the heavenly Canaan there with joy to meete Isaac and all that rest in the happinesse to see thy presence O God Remove from mee all distrusts of thy promises and providence that common and dangerous rock whereupon this weake Vessell we saile in is so subject to fall upon by the crosse windes and troubled Seas of our unfaithfull constitutions for so it was with Rachel when in the bitterness of her anguish shee said to Jacob give me children or else I dye But O Lord so instruct my heart with such firme hope in thee as all doubts may depart from my weak and stupid sences and open thou the eyes of my understanding clearly to discerne how much thy mercy and goodnesse are unto me beyond my deservings and so by this pious patience I shall in thy good time enjoy the fruit of my hopes as Rachel after did by her issue in Joseph that happie sonne of so good a father the very comfort and preserver of the seed of Israel Good Lord let it enter into my heart to see with admiratioÌ„ wonder how thou diddest performe thy promises unto Abraham by this numerous generation of Jacob. After so many doubts by fleshly weakenesse barrennesse of constitutions and the great difficulties and dangers in the sâ—verall stations journeys perigrinatioÌ„s of Abraham and Isaac and the great opppession of the seed of Jacob in Aegypt and their long and dangerous perigrination to that land of promise how from them to come our Saviour O mercie beyond mans apprehension or deserving whereof they did only hope for and the which wee the sons of the bond-woman now see and so happily enjoy and by the enjoyment of which promise both the seed of Jacob and the Gentiles receive such an unvaluable blessing being such as all the hopes promises to Abraham Isaac and Jacob were but types and the tempoall plenty of the Patriarks in their land of milke and honey and all their deliverances were but shadowes in comparison of the fruits of this hope and the super-aboundant mercy of our redemption from sin and the fulnesse of heavenly grace bestowed upon us by this promised Messias in whom they in hope did rejoyce by whom they and we are made so happy in the enjoyment and fruition Oh the hidden treasure of happiness now so transparent glorious inlighten my soule O Lord that by this blessed enlightning I may see thy wonderfull mercy and my owne misery to put off all worldly love and vaine delight and make sale of all my earthly merchandise to purchase this jewell even the love of thee my Saviour farre more precious then that manna was to to the children of Israel for no earthly love is like in perfect happinesse to this of thine O thou Saviour of the world Good Lord let me continually obey blessed command and holy inspirations and as Jacob by thine appointment returned into Canaan and with expedition tooke his journey with his wives children family and goods So Lord let me breake from the love of this world wherein I am made a slave to sin and so subjected to uncertainties as Jacob was for twenty years with so many changes of his wages And let not the allurements and vain promises of this world detaine mee either for the enjoying the fading profits therein or to stay in the vanities thereof with such hopelesse and helplesse promises as Laban did intend to him But let me with resolution and sincerily follow thy good directions break from such things as may offend thee to the hurt of my soule Deliver me O Lord from the fears and jealousies so subject to the infirmities of flesh and blood from the danger of my enemies as thou did'st Jacob from his brother Esau let thy protection be with me and thy holy Angels to guard me And as Jacob sent his wives children servants and goods in order and came before him with such Presents and directions as might appease the fury of his brother Esau. So O Lord in my progres towards thee by a true faith and humble confidence give me a holy care prudence to send unto thee before-hand my heart and good intentions with my goods of piety and good workes that in mercy thou maist receive me so shall I escape thy judgements so justly due to me for my sins O Lord keep me from a wandring spirit and a loose condition so shall I avoid evill and all occasions of evill Let me not doe like Dinah who went a gadding to see the daughters of Shechem whereby she was entrap'd and brought to solly so shall I avoid sin to my selfe and the punishment of others as it befell to that unhappy Prince and Citie of Shechem And O Lord preserve mee from the like cruelty that was in Simeon and Levi whose revenge was implacable and transcendent being odious in the eyes of their Father and to all good people yet by this terrible judgement teach mee to know thy displeasure against sinne and leave such severe punishments to thy unsearchable judgements O thou my Creator Redeemer Preserver or wonderfull in my creation infinitely good in my redemption and most mercifull in my preservation the great strength guide and directer of Abraham Isaac Jacob in all their passages through the Desarts and Labyrinths of this crooked world which mercies of thine O Lord have beene most bountifully and mercifully extended unto me a most miserable sinner Therefore as they at all times and upon all occasions in their severall stations for thy mercies deliverances unto them did build Altars and offer Sacrifices of thankesgiving unto thee for thy goodnesse and Jacob according to his vow at the beginning of his perigrination where he set up that stone did now at his returne in that very place pay his vows even at Bethel with much solempnity and piety So O Lord let it enter into my heart duly to consider of thy great mercies unto me from time to time let me not cast them behind mee but call them to minde and as Jacob by finding thy mercies did not forget them when he came backe to Bethel but there did performe his duty and promise unto thee so let me alwayes remember thy deliverances unto me and how in my severall distresses I have so seen and found them as they having moved good thoughts and purposes in mee of better living good Lord let not
my dulnesse and fleshly vanity dispossesse me of a happy resolution to serve thee But as thou hast begunne in me by thy good motions so continue them and thy mercies unto me that by the strength of thy grace and good Inspirations I may persevere in all good purposes to pay my vowes and upon the Altar of my heart to sacrifice most humble thankes and praise unto thee even for ever Here beginneth the History of Joseph THE HISTORY of Joseph JAcob loved Joseph more then all his children because he was the sonne of his old age and he made him a coat of many colours and Joseph dreamed certain dreames the interpretation whereof much displeased his brethren and they hated him and conspired to slay him But Reuben his brother heard it and delivered him out of their hands But it came to passe afterwards that they stript him and took and cast him into a pit where was no water and they sitting downe to eat bread a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their Camels bearing spicery balme and myrrhe going into Egypt And Judah did perswade his brethren not to kill Joseph that his blood might not be upon them but to sell him to these Ishmaelites and they sold him to a Midianite Merchant for twenty pieces of silver and he carried Joseph into Egypt And his brethren took Josephs coat and killed a kid and dipped the coat in the blood and brought it to their father who knew it and said It is my sonnes coat and some beast hath devoured him and Jacob rent his clothes and mourned for him many dayes And all his sonnes and daughters rose up to comfort him but he refused to be comforted after the Midianites sold Joseph into Egypt unto Potiphar an officer of King Pharaohs who was Captaine of his guard Now the Lord was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man and found favour in the sight of Potiphar who made him overseer of his house and all that he had he put into his hand and the Lord blessed the Egyptians house for his sake and Joseph was a goodly person and well favoured It came to passe that Potiphars wife grew in love with him tempting him to lye with her but he refused and said unto her My Master hath beene kinde unto me and committed all to my charge and how then can I doe this great wickednesse and sinne against God But she daily solicited Joseph and one day coming into the house she caught him by the garment saying lye with me and he left his garment and fled then she called aloud unto the men of her house and said An Hebrew is brought unto us to mock us he came and urged to lye with me and I cryed with a loud voice and when he heard me cry he left his garment and fled and when her lord came home she told him of this passage and his wrath was kindled against Joseph and put him into prison But the Lord was with Joseph and shewed him mercy giving him favour with the keeper of the prison And it came to passe that Pharaoh King of Egypt was wroth with his principall Butler and Baker and they were committed to the prison where Joseph was and they dreamed dreams both of them one night Joseph coming unto them in the morning they were sad and he said unto them Wherefore looke you so sadly and they told him their dreames the which he interpreted that the Butler within three dayes should be released and in King Pharaohs favour and deliver the cup into his hand as he formerly did and Joseph desired him to remember him with Pharaoh when he was thus advanced And Joseph interpreted the Bakers dreame that within three dayes he should be hanged on a tree and it came to passe the third day was Pharaohs birth-day that he made a feast to all his servants and he restored the chiefe Butler to his place and he gave the cup into Pharaohs hand but he hanged the Baker yet did not the Butler remember Joseph but forgat him And it came to passe after two yeares that Pharaoh dreamed that he stood by the river and there came out of the river seven well favoured kine fat and they fed in a medow and seven other kine came out of the river ill favoured and leane and stood by the other kine and did eat them up and he dreamed a second dream that seven ears of corn came up upon one stalke rank and good and seven thin ears and blasted with the East winde sprung up after them and the seven thin ears devoured the seven ranke and full ears Pharaoh being troubled at these dreams sent for the Magicians of Egypt but none of them could interpret these dreams Then spake the cheife Butler unto Pharaoh saying I do Remember my faults this day thou wast wroth with me and thy chief Baker and put us in prison and we dreamed both in one night and there was in the prison with us a young man an Hebrew that did interpret our dreames and according to his interpretation I was restored to favour and the Baker hanged Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph out of the dungeon and he shaved himselfe and changed his raiment and came in unto Pharaoh and Pharaoh said unto Joseph I have dreamed a dreame and no man can interpret it and Joseph answered Pharaoh saying It is not in me God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace Then Pharaoh related his dream and Joseph answered The dreame of Pharaoh is one the seven good kine are seven years and the seven good ears are seven years and the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years and the seven empty ears blasted with the East winde shall be seven years of famine this is the thing that God is about to doe Behold there shall come seven years of great plenty thoroughout all the land of Egypt and there shall be seven years of famine and the famine shall consume the land Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise and set him over the land of Egypt to provide in the seven years of plenty for the famine that shall follow and the counsell was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants And Pharaoh said unto Joseph for as much as God hath shewed thee all this there is none so discreet and wise as thou art therefore thou shalt be over my house and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled only in the throne will I be greater then thou and Pharaoh set him over the land of Egypt and took off his Ring from off his hand and put it upon Josephs hand and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen and put a gold chaine about his neck And he made him ride in the second Chariot which he had and they cryed before him Bow the knee he made him Ruler over all the land of Egypt and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of
requite us all the evill which we did to him and they sent a messenger unto Joseph saying Thy father did command before he died saying so shall ye say unto Joseph Forgive I pray thee now the trespasse of thy brethren and their sin for they did unto thee evil and now we pray thee forgive the trespasse of the servants of the God of thy father and Joseph wept when they spake unto him and his brethren also went and fell downe before his face and they said Behold we be thy servants and Joseph said unto them Feare not for I am in the place of God but as for you ye thought evill against me but God meant it unto good to bring to passe as it is this day to save much people alive Now therefore feare you not I will nourish you and your little ones and he comforted them And Joseph dwelt in Egypt he and his fathers house and lived one hundred and ten yeares and saw Ephraims children of the third generation and the children of Machir the sonne of Manasseh were brought up upon Josephs knees And Joseph said unto his brethren I die and God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham Isaac and Jacob and Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel saying God will surely visit you and ye shall carry up my bones from hence So Joseph died being one hundred and ten years old and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt and after in the time of Joshua when the children of Israel came over Jordan they brought his bones out of Egypt and buried them in Shechem in a parcell of ground Jacob bought of the sonnes of Hamer the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver and it became the inheritance of the sonnes of Joseph MEDITATIONS Upon the History of Joseph who was sold into Egypt by his brethren O Lord God everlasting which out of thy great mercy to mankind sentest thy onely begotten Sonne Jesus Christ into this world for the redemption of me a sinner and who for my sake was sold unto the Jewes by Judas one of his disciples was crucified for my sinnes and is gone before to the heavenly Canaan to be a Mediator at thy right hand for my sinfull and famishing soule for his sake be thou mercifull unto me that am a sofourner here in this Egypt of the world that the vaine temptations of the flesh may not have power over me but give me the like Chastity that Joseph had Neither let me grow in love with the flesh-pots of voluptuousnesse nor be blinded with the Egyptian darknesse of this world But grant I doe most humbly beseech for his sake my Jesus that was sold and died for my sinnes that I may happily passe this pilgrimage here in this land of Egypt and use my stewardship like blessed Joseph by dealing honestly and truly with all men and where I finde favour and friends as he did make me ever thankfull unto thee for thy mercies therein and to be religiously carefull to discharge that trust which shall be committed unto me like Joseph that it may be with me at my accounting day as it was with the wise steward to know what to doe For blessed is that servant whom the Lord when he cometh shall finde so doing Good Lord give me charity towards my Christian brethren and as concerning them that have done me wrong as Joseph did Take revenge from the soule of thy servant O Lord I beseech thee and give me grace to doe good against evill and to forgive as I desire to be forgiven of thee And blessed Lord after aâ—â— thy blessings and mercies here in this Egypt that thou hast prepared as an earthly comfort for me a sinner make me ready and at thy call to take a happy passeover for my passage towards the celestiall Canaan and in the meane time give me grace to overcome all difficulties and to be obedient to my task-masters and superiours in this vale of triall where the enemies of my soule strive against my intended journey towards the Land of promise Good Lord keep me from hardnesse of heart and the Egyptian plagues and punishments my sinnes have so much deserved grant me O Lord a good and prosperous voyage thorough the Red sea of danger help my hungry and drooping soule feed and strengthen it with the Manna of thy blessed Spirit Good Lord give me grace to subject my selfe to follow and obey my Governours as the Israelites did submit to Moses and Aaron and not to follow mine owne devises and inventions But to obey them that thou hast appointed over me and not to be one of the murmuring Israelites neither Seditious and contentious against Order and Government with Corah Dathan and Abiram But in all things to submit my judgement in the way of my Pilgrimage to the Rules of Jesus Christ and the governors of his holy Church as thou O Lord hast commanded not following my owne fancies nor the suggestions of my spirituall enemy that cloaths himselfe like an Angel of light to deceive and fill my soule full of spirituall pride the sin that cast downe the Angels from heaven from which most dangerous rock O Lord deliver thy servant that puts his trust under the shadow of thy wings of mercy that at last I may come with humblenesse of heart and soule through the wildernesse of this world so full of cares troubles and temptations to the land of promise that heavenly Jerusalem which thou hast prepared for them that love and feare thee and fight a good fight through this desart of danger and diffidence let me not in this passage O Lord leane to the pleasures and plenty of Goshen but obey thy lawes delivered at Mount Sinai and chearfully goe on like a good Israelite in this my passage the which so much concerns my soule so that good Lord by a true faith and confidence in thee with a happy perseverance in the obedience of thy Commandements at last I may arrive amongst them that live and feare thee in that heavenly feast of tabernacles and receive the comfort of that blessed saying Come ye blessed of my Father and in that heavenly and eternal habitation where all teares shall be wiped away and all afflictions and temptations cease sing Halleluiah and praise and honour and glory and worship unto the Lambe that sits upon the throne for ever THE HISTORY of Moses AFter the death of Joseph the children of Israel did increase exceedingly in Egypt and grew very mightily and another King reigning after the death of Pharaoh he was jealous of their greatnesse and strength and therefore set task-masters over them to afflict them with their burdens and to keepe them under in so much as they made their lives bitter with hard bondage by work in morter and brick and all manner of service in the field with much rigour and the King in his jealousie
Abraham and his seed to give the land of Canaan and of the bondage of Israel in Egypt and his Covenant and sent him againe to Pharaoh to let the children of Israel goe out of his land but all this while the children of Israel did mightily murmur against Moses and Aaron Moses was then fourescore yeares old and Aaron fourescore and three And they went both unto Pharaoh againe and Aaron cast down his Rod before Pharaoh and it became a serpent and the sorcerers of Pharaoh did the like with their inchantments But Aarons Rod swallowed up all theirs And as God commanded Moses and Aaron in the morning they met Pharaoh at the water and at the Rivers side and desired that the people of Israel might goe and worship God in the wildernesse But he refused then he smote the waters in the sight of Pharaoh and they were turned into blood and the fish died and the river stanke yet Pharaohs heart was hardened this continued for seven dayes in which time they digged for water to drinke And the Lord commanded Moses to goe againe unto Pharaoh to let the people of Israel goe and still his heart was hardened and Aaron stretched forth his hand with the Rod over the ponds and caused frogs to come over the land of Egypt and the Magicians did thâ— like then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said Intreat the Lord that he may take away the frogs from me and my people and I will let the people goe that they may doe service unto the Lord. And Moses said That thou mayst know that there is none like the Lord our God the frogs shall depart but onely they shall remaine in the rivers and the Lord did according to the word of Moses And the Lord commanded to say unto Aaron to stretch out his Rod and smite the dust of the land that it may be lice thorowout all Egypt and it was so and the Magicians attempted to doe the like but could not And they told the King it was the finger of God yet he hearkened not unto them Then the Lord commanded Moses to goe early in the morning unto Pharaoh as he came forth and speak to him that the people of Israel might goe to serve him and to tell him what plagues otherwise would follow but still his heart was hardened then there came a grievous swarme of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into all the land of Egypt and the land was corrupted by reason of the flies Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said Goe ye sacrifice to your God in the land But Moses said they desired to go three dayes journey for it was an abomination to the Egyptians to sacrifice in their land and Pharaoh let them goe desiring Moses to intreat the Lord for him the which he did and the flies departed out of the land of Egypt Yet againe Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let them goe then all the cattell of the land of Egypt died but of the cattell of the children of Israel died not one yet was Pharaohs heart hardened and would not let them goe Then as the Lord commanded Moses took ashes of the furnace and stood before Pharaoh and sprinkled it up towards heaven and there became boiles and blames upon man and beast and upon the Magicians And stil was the heart of Pharaoh hardened and would not let the children of Israel goe and Moses stretched forth his Rod and the Lord sent thunder and haile and the fire ran along upon the ground so there was fire and haile mingled together such as was not since the land of Egypt became a nation and it smote both man and beast and every herbe and brake downe the trees onely in the land of Goshen where the children of Israel were was none Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said unto them I have sinned the Lord is righteous I and my people are wicked Intreat the Lord for me and I will let ye goe And Moses went out of the city and spread his hands unto the Lord and the thunder and haile ceased yet neverthelesse Pharaohs heart was again hardened neither would he let the children of Israel goe And Moses and Aaron came againe unto Pharaoh and said thus unto him Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews How long wilt thou refuse to humble thy selfe before me let my people goe that they may serve me and his servants perswaded him to let them goe but he refused to heare them Then Moses stretcht forth his Rod over the land of Egypt and there came an East winde which brought in Locusts which went over the land of Egypt and the land was darkened and they left no greene thing upon the land Then Pharaoh called againe for Moses and Aaron in haste and said I have sinned against the Lord your God and you forgive my sinne and entreat the Lord for me The which Moses did and the Lord sent a mighty West winde which did drive the locusts into the Red Sea but yet would not Pharaoh let the children of Israel goe Then the Lord commanded Moses to stretch forth his hand towards heaven and there was a thick darknesse throughout the land of Egypt three dayes but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings Then Pharaoh called unto Moses and said to him Goe ye and serve the Lord onely let your flocks and herds stay here but Moses refused that and said they must have sacrifices for the Lord and all their cattell then Pharaoh would not let them goe but bid Moses to see his face no more And the Lord commanded Moses to speake to all the children of Israel upon the tenth day of the moneth to take every house a lambe a male lambe without blemish and to keep it untill the fourteenth day and then kill it in the evening and to take the blood with a bunch of hyssop and strike it on the two side posts and upon the upper post of the doore and that they shall eat the flesh that night rosted with unleavened bread and bitter herbs That they shall eat it with their loins girded shooes on their feet and staves in their hands and in haste for it is the Lords Passeover For the blood upon the posts shall be a token that the Lord would passe in mercy by them when the Egyptians should be destroyed And after the performance of many other ceremonies before the eating of the Passeover it came to passe that at midnight the Lord smote all the first-borne of Egypt and Pharaoh rose up in the night and all the Egyptians and there was a great cry then the children of Israel according as they were commanded departed taking their dough before it was levened and the kneading troughes upon their shoulders with great store of Jewels they had from the Egyptians And they journied towards Succoth being in number about six hundred thousand on foot besides children after they had beene
tooke Joshua and set him before Eleazar the Priest and the congregation and he laid his hands upon him and gave him a charge as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses After this the children of Israel warred against the Midianites and they slew the King of Midian and burnt their cities and their goodly castles and there Balaam was slaine they divided the spoyle of the Countrey And Moses growing old he called Joshuah unto him before the people giving him good counsell and bidding him to be valiant and encouraged the people and setteth forth a song of Gods mercies and vengeance After which the Lord spake unto Moses saying Get thee up into this mountain Abarim unto mount Nebo which is in the land of Moab that is over against Jericho and behold the land of Canaan which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession and dye in the mount whither thou goest up and be gathered unto thy people as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor and was gathered unto his people because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the wildernesse of Zin because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel yet thou shalt see the land but thou shalt not goe thither and after Moses had blessed the twelve Tribes of Israel he went up from the plaines of Moab unto the mountaine of Nebo and the Lord shewed him the land of promise which was promised to Abraham Isaac and Jacob so Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab according to the word of the Lord and he buryed him in a valley in the land of Moab over against Beth Peor but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day he was 120. yeares old when he died his eye was not dim nor his naturall force abated and the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plaines of Moab thirty dayes and there arose not a Prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face In all the signes and wonders which the Lord sent him to doe in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh to all his servants and to all his land and in all that mighty hand and in all that great terrour which Moses shewed in the sight of Israel MEDITATIONS Upon some parts of the History of Moses O Lord direct my meditations and assist me humbly and truely to contemplate this thy great work of the deliverance of thy children of Israel out of Egypt by Moses after they had sojourned there foure hundred and thirty yeares after which time according to thy promise thou diddest deliver them and brought them to the land of promise This great deliverance O Lord is the true type of a great mercy that did follow which was by our Moses Jesus Christ who redeemed and brought us that were Gentiles and under the bondage and slavery of sinne to serve and follow him out of the darknesse wherein we were inthraled being far worse then the Egyptian yoke O Lord my God let it enter into my heart most humbly and seriously to consider of this inestimable mercy of my redemption and of thy wonderfull and unvaluable goodnesse towards me a sinner by sending into this Egypt of the world such a guide such a deliverer and such a Redeemer as all the Angels and powers in heaven doe adore even thy onely Sonne Let me be astonished O Lord with wonder at this thy so great mercy and be confounded in my selfe for offending thee so glorious and so gracious a God And let my sinfull soule be converted unto thee to serve thee with all humblenesse of heart O Lord how sutable in mischiefe were Pharaoh and Herod by giving way to Ambition and Jealousie and the reignes to commit cruelty to an unlimited height for the murdering of innocent Infants Pharaohs ambition was to destroy the Hebrew children amongst whom was Moses which thou O God preservedst to deliver the people of Israel out of Egypt and Herods designe to destroy the children in Jury amongst whom was that immaculate Lambe Christ Jesus even to destroy him who delivered the Gentiles and was after crucified to deliver and redeeme both Jew and Gentile O Lord how wonderfull are thy workes and all thy goodnesse for flesh and blood could not prevaile against thy providence for the cruelty of Pharaoh could not prevent thy goodnesse for thou diddest multiply and blesse thy children of Israel and preservedst Moses in a poore basket of bulrushes to doe thy great worke to deliver thy people out of the thraldome of Egypt And O wonder of wonders and mercy of mercies out of the manger at Bethlehem came our blessed Saviour who redeemed the world and how wonderfully O Lord hast thou preserved thy Church for whom he died and multiplied thy servants through the persecutions of this world As it was thy great mercy and blessing O Lord to preserve Noah and his family in that great Arke whereby mankind was preserved upon earth So it was thy mercy to preserve thy servant Moses in that little arke amongst the watery flags of danger to preserve and bring thy children of Israel descended from Noah out of Egypt to the land of promise from which stock so preserved came my Saviour Jesus Christ as these have beene thy mercies O God to preserve thy people of Israel by thy Prophet Moses the type of Christ and to redeeme the world by thy Sonne my Saviour Jesus So O Lord many have beene thy mercies unto me a sinner by thy manifold mercies and deliverances even since my infancie hitherto both by sea and land Good Lord in thy mercy take from over me this thick and mysty cloud of stupidity that so much darkens my understanding that I may discerne these thy mercies and feare love and serve thee with all the faculties of soule and body and good Lord grant that I may love my kinred and neighbours as Moses did love his Nation the Hebrews with kindnesse and affability to all men as he used to the daughters of Jethro Let the soule of thy servant know that in the places of peace quietnesse and retirednesse from the eye of this world so full of vanity and pleasures there art thou to be found for in the desart behinde the mountain and neare Horeb thou wast with Moses O Lord bring my soule from these worldly cares afflictions and temptations amongst which I live and lead me with thy saving grace toward thy holy mountaine with contemplations of holinesse and penitency for my sins and there let me rest in thee and be freed from the thorny and scorching passages of this world As thou O God didst wonderfully appeare unto Moses in the Bush by a flame of fire which did not burne nor consume it so I doe most humbly beseech thee enter into the heart of thy servant and enflame it with holy love and zeale towards thee and enlighten it O Lord that
it may discerne thy wonderfull goodnesse and that I may have alwayes such a burning desire to serve thee as no overflowings of the waters of this world may quench it let me with Moses put off my shooes of worldly thoughts cares and sinfull imaginations when I shall presume to come before thee for the place where thou art is holy and places consecrated unto thee and thy service in the assembly of Saints are not to be prophaned by any kinde of unholy actions for we must worship towards thy holy temple and enter into it with reverence for so O Lord thou didst command all thy people in all nations of the world Give me grace to obey thy good inspirations as Moses did obey thee by going unto Pharaoh Lord let thy wonderfull works that thou hast done and that I daily see strengthen my faith and confidence in thee and not to distrust thy power and goodnesse but that I may resolutely goe on to serve thee with a blessed perseverance untill my soule shall be delivered out of this Egyptian bondage be freed from the taskmasters of afflictions and the fleshpots of the pleasures of this world Moses was slow in speech and doubtfull of himselfe yet God did worke mightily by him By his example let us master our fleshly opinions and know that God hath his owne work and not to judge of the defects of other men And good Lord teach me to looke into my selfe for if I have received that which others want it is thy meere mercy and goodnesse and as I ought alwayes to be thankfull for thy gifts yet let me not be proud of them for as thy goodnesse gives them so thou canst take them away as thou pleasest for the foot of pride brings downe thy wrath upon us the chiefe of men and though Moses had that defect yet by thy power he did greater matters then either Absolon or Achitophel could bring to passe for thou makest our speaking and hearing and all our senses to serve thy commands and my Reâ—eemer made the dumbe to speake and the lame to walke as by thy great mercy thou hast delivered me from the Egyptian plagues which the hardnes of my heart hath deserved so prepare me I do most humbly beseech thee and make me ready to goe out of this Egypt of the world and to be obedient unto my Leaders and Governours Moses and Aaron in the midst of all perversenesse and perverse men whomsoever In the darknesse of this world enlighten me and as thou diddest send a distinct light to the children of Israel in Goshen so enlighten O Lord my inward soule with the light of thy blessed spirit to discerne thy wonderfull mercies towards me and grant that I may praise thee for thy goodnesse and obey thee as a man separate from all the world prepare me O God to be ready for my passage to the Celestiall Countrey of eternitie as the Israelites were with my loines girt in câ—aritie my shooes on in mortification and my staffe in confidence sprinkle the posts and lintles of my heart with the hysope of thy grace and the precious bloud of thy salvation that I may be knowne to be thine and be received into thy mercy when thou shalt come to visit me and to bring me through the Red Sea of that dangerous passage to the heavenly Canaan of eternitie Keepe me at that time O Lord from distrust and diffidence strengthen me in the narrow passage betweene the two wals of that dangerous water of presumption and despaire that I be not drowned with the Egyptians of this world whose trust is in their chariots and not in thee and whose hardnesse of heart and contempt of thee brought them to destruction O Lord be mercifull to my thirsty soule and preserve me from murmuring against thee thou which diedst upon the tree of the Crosse take all bitternesse from my soule and quench my thirst with the holy water of thy grace and grant that I may cheerefully goe on towards the land of promise Without thy continuall helpe how fraile and perverse are we as the rebellious Israelites ever murmuring and repining against Moses and Aaron send therefore that heavenly Manna unto me that may strengthen my soule and preserve it unto thee in faith and obedience Thou knowest my frailty O God and how feeble I am as likewise my unruly and unbridled conditions my stubbornes and hardnesse of heart therefore I doe most humbly beseech thee for thy mercy sake in Jesus Christ with thy miraculous and mercifull Rod of grace to strike upon my stony heart that from that rock may ascend unto mine eyes a fountaine of teares with such a true and perfect contrition as may come before thee and by thy mercy my sinnes may be washed away and that I may thirst no more after vanity O Lord how weake is the arme of the strongest man without thy help for Moses could not hold up his hand with the Rod without assistance from thee where Amalek fought with Israel but Aaron and Hur assisted him I do most humbly beseech thee in the fight that I have against the Amalek of sin and impiety give me thy Rod of grace and strengthen me and make me able to hold up my hands heart unto thee and in my weaknesse and distresse send me O Lord spirituall comforters which may assist and strengthen my faith that I may hold out untill the sunne of my age be set and obtain victory over all my spirituall enemies With what wonderfull feare diddest thou O Lord deliver thy holy Commandements unto Moses and with what reverence and feare did the children of Israel stand without the bounds of Mount Sinai and onely Moses Aaron Nadab Abihu and seventy Elders of Israel went into the mountaine who worshipped a far off onely Moses came neare the Lord. Good Lord make me to feare and tremble to break these thy holy commandements which thou diddest deliver with such circumstances of glory and terrour and with thy children of Israel let me keepe without the bounds of mount Sinai as thou appointedst them and out of all humane curiosity humbly waite to receive thy lawes from the hands of Moses and the Prophets and Ministers of thy Church Keepe rash presumption from the soule of thy servant for though Aaron Nadab and Abihu and the seventy Elders were good and holy men yet they kept their distance in their worship towards thee O God and at the writing of the Law So good Lord give me lowlinesse to stand before thee without the bounds of Sinai with such as are humble of heart and there worship and waite thy leisure for what thou shalt command me by Moses my spirituall guide by whom I must be directed for I must not be my owne director Without this continuall helpe of thine O Lord and by thy Ministers and Shepherds thou appointest over us how dangerously doth that Wolfe the devil assault and prevaile against this britle and corrupt flesh of ours
that which thou commandest then shall I avoid the punishment due unto disobedience the hurt danger which may redound unto thy Israel my brethren good Lord when I shall fall raise me up with true repentance and let me lie in wait by all prudent and carefull wayes in an holy ambush to destroy and entrap these men of Ai the enemies of my soule and after thy deliverance of me and the forgivenesse of my former offences build in my heart an altar of thankesgiving to sacrifice my soule unto thee and praise thee in the presence of the Ark of thy Covenant before all the Elders of thy Church and if in this my spirituall progresse I shall meete with any people of bad deservings give me grace to beare with their infirmities and to keep my Covenant and promise with them and to helpe them in their distresse as Joshua did deliver the Gibeonites because of his oath that he sware unto them and good Lord helpe and assist me in the continuall conflicts of this world of so much danger and trouble to my soule helpe me at the waters of Merom from the conflicts that there I may suffer by the grand opposers of my hoped for happinesse and for my deliverance I may give thankes unto thee and serve thee in that thy tabernacle of Shiloh which is the house of God Lord by thy mercy give me the benefit and comfort of thy Cities of refuge that by my sinnes of ignorance and weakenesse I may not fall into thy hands of Justice but may be received unto mercy and give me grace O Lord to be thankfull and well contented with that portion of livelihood which thou hast appointed for me amongst the tribes thy servants in this Israel wherein I live give me grace to follow and obey the counsels of my spirituall governours and have a venerable regard to their commands as the good Israelites had to the last counsels of Joshuah and so good Lord living in the true obedience of thee I may depart this transitory life in thy blessed feare and favour even for Jesus Christ his sake my onely hope my captain and deliverer Amen THE HISTORY of DEBORAH NOw after the death of Joshâ—â—h and Ehud the children of Israel did that which was evill in the fight of the Lord for which their sins the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin King of 〈◊〉 the Captaine of whose host was Sisera who oppressed them exceedingly even for tâ—â—eaty yeares At which time Deborah the Prophetesse Wife unto Lapidoth judged Israel who then dwelt under a Palme-tree between Ramah and Bethel in Mâ—â—nt-Ephraim to whom the people came up for judgement who in their distresse cryed unto the Lord and the people comming thus unto her she 〈…〉 Barak the sonne of Abinoâ—â— out of Kâ—desh-Nepthali who comming to her shee told how the Lord had commanded he should take with him ten thousand men of the children of Nepthali and Zebulon and goe towards mount-Tâ—bor saying to him likewise how the Lord would bring Softra with all his Army to the River Kishon and deliver them into his hands but he answered that except she would goe with him her self he would not goe to whom shee replyed I will surely goe with thee but the journey thou takest shall not bee to thire honour for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a Woman So she arose and went with Barak to Kaâ—esh they having with them ten thousand men of Zâ—â—â—lon and Nepthali who after 〈◊〉 to Mount 〈◊〉 Now it was that Heber the Kenite the father in law of Moses had sever'd himselfe from the Kenites and pitched his Tent neare Kadesh And they shewed Sisera how Barak was gone up to Mount-Tabor whereupon hee gathered all his strength together even nine hundred chariots of Iron and great store of people gathered from Harosheth unto the River Kishon of which Deborah hearing shee bade Barak to rise and goe against Sisera saying that the Lord was gone before and how Sisera should be destroyed So Barak marched down from Mount-tabor with the ten thousand men and by the help of the Lord hee discomfited Sisera and all his host pursuing and killing them leaving not a man at which time Sisera leaving his Chariot fled on his feete and came to the Tent of Iâ—â—l the Wife of Heber the Kenite for there was peace then between Jabin the house of Heber Now Sisera comming towards the Tent Jael came out to meete him who said unto him turn in my Lord turne in to me feare not So hee went in and she covered him with a mantle but he being athirst desired of her a little water but she having a bottle of milk gave him that to drink And then he said to her stand at the doore and if any enquire if any man be here say no so he lay down to sleep she covering of him Now whiles he was sleeping and weary she took a naile of the Tent and a hammer and comming softly unto him smote the naile into his Temples fastning of him to the ground and so he dyed At which instant Barak pursuing of Sisera and comming towards the Tent Jael came out to meet him saying come in and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest so hee came in and found Sisera dead the naile being in his Temples So God subdued on that day Jabin King of Canaan before the children of Israel PRAYERS upon the History of DEBORAH HOw unhappy are wee by our inbred corruption like these the children of Israel who still was relapsing from the service of their Creator and Preserver even before in and since their fourty yeares journey towards that land of Promise And now at this very time being growne so high in iniquity as for their due punishment the Lord sold them to the King of Canaan who pesecuted them for twenty yeares such is the reward of sin and so just is the Lord in his judgment against sinners O Lord let me to know that when we do wickedly that thy justice lies at our doors and how thy wrath will break in upon us And if with Judas we betray the sincerity of plainnesse in our heart towards thee with the deceitfull kisse of hypocrisie and sell thee and in thee our selves to commit wickednesse in thy sight Most justly maist thou deale with us as thou diddest with Israel when they were sold by the King of CanaaÌ„ Therefore O Lord deliver me from this most dangerous merchandizing with sin lest I become Bankrupt by mine iniquity and so come short of paying my duty and service unto thee thereby to be cast into the gaole of thy displeasure and by the losse of thy favour and grace be sold as a slave to sin partake with the punishment so due for such a dismall debt not only for twenty years with Israel but even for Eternity with such who have not known thee O Lord in the most dangerous distresse of my soule by reason of
had eat drunk and cheared his heart he lay down by the heap of corn she came softly and uncovering his feet lay downe and he awaking about midnight and feeling one he was affraid Then he said who art thou she answered Ruth thy hand-maid spread therefore the wing of thy garment over me for thou art the Kinsman Then said hee Blessed be thou of the Lord my daughter thou hast shewed more goodnesse in the latter end then at the beginning inasmuch as thou followedst not young men were they poore or rich And now my daughter fear not I will doe what thou requirest for all the City of my people know thee that thou art a vertuous woman Telling her that true it was he was her kinsman but there was one nearer so bade her lye there all night and if in the morning hee would doe the duty of a Kinsman to marry her well and good but if he would not he would then doe the duty of a Kinsman himselfe So she lying at his feet untill the morning she arose early he desiring that none should know that any woman had been there so he calling for her sheet giving her fix measures of barley and returning to the Citie she came to her Mother in law and gave her the corne telling her all the passages betweene Boaz and her selfe So shee bade Ruth sit still untill shee heard further of the thing telling her how hee would not rest untill the thing were done Then without delay Boaz went up to the gate of the City to whom came this Kinsman named to Ruth Boaz desiring him to sit down likewise ten Elders of the City came and sate downe with them Then said Boaz to this Kinsman Naomi is come out of the country of Moab who will sell a parcell of land that was our brother Elemelicks and so proffered it unto him being of nearest in kindred to redeem it before them Elders If he would not that himselfe being the next he would Then he said he would redeem it Then said Boaz if thou buyest it of Naomi thou must also buy it of Ruth the Moabitis the wife of the dead to stirre up the name of the dead upon his inheritance the which this Kinsman refused saying if hee did so he should destroy his owne and so put off that his right to Boaz and to confirme it according to the custome then he put off his shooe and gave it to him which confirmed the agreement Then Boaz called them all to witnesse of this contract wherein he likewise did buy Ruth the Wife of Mahlon to be his Wife to stir up the name of the dead All which the Elders did witnes who prayed unto God that Ruth might be to him like Rachel and Leah which two did build the house of Israel and that he might be famous in Bethlehem and that by the seede of Ruth his house might be like Pharez whom Thamer bare unto Judah So Boaz took Ruth to his wife and the Lord gave her a son and the women said to Naomi blessed be the Lord which hath not lest thee this day without a kinsman And his name shall be continued in Israel and this shall bring thy life again and cherish thine old age for thy daughter in law which loveth thee hath born unto him she is better unto thee then seven sons And Naomi tooke the child and laid it in her lap and became nurse unto it and the women gave it a name calling it Obed which after was the father of Ishai the father of David the King PRAYERS UPON THE History of RUTH O Lord in the prosperities adversities of this world thou hast thy waies of mercie unto us as it befell unto the children of Israel even in their famines what blessings diddest thou give theÌ„ by their perigrinations into other Lands and how diddest thou from time to time not only provide for their bodily sustinance but likewise for their spirituall welfare both in Aegypt and other places And O Lord no less was thy extraordinary mercy unto Naomi by her journey in the time of famine unto Moab with her husband and children whom though by the course of nature death deprived her of theÌ„ yet thou diddest raise up unto her a most happy daughter in law even Ruth O Lord this is the generall current of thy continuall mercy unto us and nothing makes us so unhappy as the want of the fight consideration of that which daily befalls us through the course of our fraile life Therefore open thou mine eyes that I may see these thy mercies unto me for ever praise thee for thy goodness The constant resolution and charity of Ruth unto her Mother in law is for our imitation as the very true example of love and pitty it being the more full of goodness and rarity they being of two severall Nations and Religions O Lord give me such happy love and pitty as was in this thy servant Ruth with her resolution in the pursute of all good things which may tend to thy glory and worship let no worldly perswasions or reasons draw me from my way to Bethlehem in the land of thy promised happinesse but with the good and vertuous let me follow their steps as Ruth did Naomi that thou their God mayst be my God and that I may turne from my worldly and Moabitish affections attain to the happy serving of thee in Judah so shall I live and dye amongst the righteous by this thy mercie and help unto my weakenesse And as nothing but death could part Ruth from Naomi so good Lord let my soule so love and feare thee as to my last breath my hope comfort and confidence may rest in thee alone undividable O Lord furnish me with such happines as was in Ruth by her charity and humble deportment for which as thy blessing was upon this thy own gift of mercy unto her so she had the happinesse of a good esteem in the world shee being so full of modesty and vertue Give me O Lord such piety as may bee pleasing unto thee with such humility harmless courtesie as may gaine the love and good opinion of my neighbours O Lord grant unto mee such perfect frendship with my friend as was between Naomi Ruth with such loving and plain intentions so by thy goodnesse and mercie shall I enjoy such love comfort content as was between them to their dying daies O Lord all thy works are so full of wonder as wee cannot sufficiently admire them as it was by thy provideÌ„ce to bring Ruth unto Judah not only through so many stops by confirming her good purpose so now so strangely to bring her to glean in the field of Boaz whereby such a happiness did befall her not only for worldly respects â—ut likewise even in a heavenly happiness by the marriage and issue she had by Boaz. O Lord my God my ingratitude would cast me even into hell without recovery if I
should not for ever most thankfully acknowledg thy many mercies deliverances unto me not only in my temporall preservations blessings but thou hast brought me into the field of thy plentifull goodness to the bottles of comfort and the sheaves of thy strength and saving grace shewing me all thy blessings to strengthen my confidence in thee and bought mee at a dearer rate then Boaz paid for Ruth Boaz comming into thâ— field amongst the reapers said to them the Lord be with you they answering the Lord blesse thee Admirable and exemplary was the goodnesse and plainenesse of the hearts of our Ancestors whose blessings was one upon another by such their good meanings the blessings of God being upon them What blessings froÌ„ time to time did God give unto the blessings which Abraham Isaac and Jacob gave to their children and people Lamentable is the condition we are grown unto in this our iron ungodly age whiles this blessing is accouÌ„ted superstition and common courtesie being even departed from amongst us Our very children having left off thet common duty and civility which formerly they used even with their milke learning to be surly sawcy and disobedient O Lord deliver mee from this bad custome that tends to such ungodliness from spirituall pride â—nd an over-weening opinion and conceit of my owne judgement But give me grace to follow the good and plaine paths of my fore-fathers in such things as concerns my obedience unto thee and my duty to my Parents Superiours with christian courtesie to be friendly humble and charitable to all men for thou promisest thy blessing and exaltation to the humble but confusion will fall upon the proud whom thou O Lord dost resist The love of Ruth to Naomi was great the comfort she received from her did exceed with her integrity in the doing of it being so sincere by leaving her countrey her parents and her deceased Husbands house And therefore as Boaz by his blessing prayer for her said the Lord recompence thy work and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel under whose wings thou art come to trust So God the rewarder of the righteous and mercifull seeing her humility and goodness did hear the prayers of this righteous man by shewing such great mercie unto hâ—r the which did after follow even in a plentifull manner indeed for though by her first husband she had no Issue yet by Boaz she had Obed from whom descended the wel-spring of our happinesse and salvation Oh thy goodness O Lord whose bounds are without limit and whose workes and wayes are unsearchable thy rewards are the fulnes of happines thy mercie extends from generation to generation to such as love and fear thee Therefore O Lord mortifie all vaine wicked affections which are so inbred in mee by thy grace cast them out and place in stead thereof the strength of a lively faith and the fulnesse of love and charity that thereby I may forsake my selfe and all things that are dear and near unto mee and follow the good steps of the godly as Ruth did Naomi So that at last I may arrive to the happinesse and rest within the limits of thy true Church that pillar of truth and safety and there with an humble heart to serve thee as Ruth did by comming into Judah that once limited place of thy worship O â—he good plainness harmless simplicity of that golden age of the world when bread and water was their common viands parched corn the masters food as it was with Boaz an eminent man in his age for such was his fare and entertainment to a stranger when he reached some to Ruth yet then did God blesse them with comfort health and length of dayes O Lord deliver mee from the pampering of this my corrupt flesh with the voluptuous sensuality of these licentious times the bane of the soule by such luxury and the shortning of our dayes by such surfeits But give me such moderation as I may rather fast then feast and by which in this health of my soul I may the better serve thee here that thereby hereafter I may attaine unto that happinesse where the length of dayes both for soule and bodie is life everlasting O Lord make me studious to requite courtesies zealous to ballance the workes of charity piety as Naomi her zeal was for Ruth by wishing her to Boaz and give prosperity to all my good intentions with the blessing ef a thankfull heart for the successe of thy mecies unto me Grant O God that I may be faithfull and firm in my promise as Boaz was to Ruth true to my friend as he was to his kinsman and discreet in my actions as be was in his performance before the Elders Gods divine providence did mightily appeare by the marriage of these two righteous Boaz Ruth as his blessings upon them after made it manifest O happy Bethlehem to which place Ruth the mirrour of love and pitty with so much difficulty came unto led thither by the light of divine power and following the good steps of Naomi who there was made happy in her sonne Obed. O happy Bethlehem to which place that ever blessed virgin Mary came that most resplendent Vessell of blisse and happiness being led thither by the light of the holy Ghost and then comming upon devotions towards Jerusalem O thou blessed Bethlehem consecrated to our happiness for there was born a Saviour Ruth was happy in her son Obed but this Mary blessed amongst women by her sonne redemption and salvation came into us O Lord my God let the star of thy brightness appear unto me that with them lowly Shepheards I may come to this sacred Bethlehem and there find out that lamb of God that takes away the sinnes of the world more happy were them Kings who came to see thy holy face in the manger at Bethlehem by their humiliations and offerings this blessed sight of thee then in all their glistering loyalties vain-glory of this world Let me O Lord partake with these Kings in their devotions humiliations thou King of heaven Indue lead me with the starre of thy grace that I may come unto thee with the presents of perfect humility patience and perseverance in the pursuit of such things as shall be pleasing unto thee So after thine enlightning here by this light of thy holy countenance and favour unto me grant that at last I may attaine unto that everlasting light in heaven where from the manger and thy crucifying for our sinnes thou art exalted into glory everlasting THE HISTORY OF Hezekiah and the destruction of Ierusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in the reigne of Zedekiah IT came to passe in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah that Senacherib King of Assyria came into Judah and tooke all the strong holds and he sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto Hezekiah with a great Army then came forth unto him from the
was lest I dye there then the King commanded he should be committed into another prison and that he should have given him daily a piece of bread out of the Bakers street whiles the bread lasted but still the Prophet persisted and told them Thus saith the Lord This city shall surely be given into the hand of the King of Babylons army therefore the Princes were incensed against him and said unto the King We beseech thee let this man be put to death for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of warre and all the people in this city in speaking thus unto them And the King said He is in your hands doe with him what you please and they tooke Jeremiah and cast him in a dungeon and they let him downe by a rope and in the dungeon was no water but myre that he sunke in and some men complained of this cruelty done to Jeremiah unto the King who commanded thirty men to goe and take up Jeremiah out of the dungeon and they tooke old rags and cast them downe into the dungeon the which Jeremiah put under his arme pits and so they drew him up and Zedekiah the King sent for Jeremiah and said unto him I will aske thee a thing hide nothing from me and Jeremiah said unto the King If I declare it unto thee wilt thou not put me to death and if I give thee counsell wilt thou hearken to mee so the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah saying as the Lord liveth that made us this soule I will not put thee to death nor give thee into the hands of these men that seek thy life Then he said unto the king thus saith the Lord God of hosts the God of Israel if thou wilt goe forth to the Princes of the king of Babylon then thy soule shall live and this city shall not be burnt with fire and thou and thy house shall live But if thou wilt not goe forth unto them then shall this city be given to the Chaldeans and they shall burn it and thou shalt not escape out of their hands and the king said unto Jeremiah I am afraid of the Jewes that are fallen to the Chaldeans least they deliver me to their hands and they mock me But the Prophet said they shall not deliver thee obey I beseech thee the voice of the Lord so shall it bee well with thee But if thou refuse to goe forth this is the word that the Lord hath shewed me Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah let no man know of these words and thou shalt not die the which he did so Jeremiah after abode in the Court of the prison untill the day that Ierusalem was taken And it came to passe on the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Iudah Nebuchadnezzer king of Babilon and his army came before Ierusalem and besieged it and in the eleventh yeare of Zedekiah the city was taken and all the Princes of the king of Babilon entered the city at which time Zedekiah and all his men of warre fled out of the city by night by the way of the kings gardens but the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them and overtook Zedekiah in the plaines of Iericho and took him brought him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babilon who gave judgement upon him and caused his sonnes to be slaine before his face and all the Nobles of Judah and he put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chaines to carry him to Babilon and they burnt Ierusalem and brake down the walls thereof and carried captive to Babilon all the remainder of the people that were within the city but left the poorer sort that had nothing and gave them vineyards and fields and the king of Babilon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to take him and doe him no harm but use him with all kindnesse so they took Jeremiah out of the Court of the prison and sent him home so he dwelt among the people MEDITATIONS upon the History of king Hezekiah EVerlasting God whilst we live here in this earthly Jerusalem nothing is to be expected but continuall conflicts in our spirituall warfare between the world the flesh and the spirit how bitterly O Lord and vehemently doth the enemy of my soule like Rabshekah suggest into me distrusts and feares to make mee doubtfull of thy promises and providence endeavouring to weaken my faith and confidence in thee by putting great feares doubts and troubles to my inward and fraile senses In this affliction and trouble to my soule O Lord I beseech thee from time to time to give me grace with good Hezekiah to come unto thee with my heart rent and continually to implore thy blessed help and assistance and that I may obtain the like mercy that he did receive from thee and let not that hellish blasphemer prevail over me but put thou a hook in his nose a bridle in his lips and send a blast upon him that he may be driven away and have no more power to disturb and oppres my weak feeble soul by his threatnings and suggestions and good Lord in all thy conflicts batteries and oppressions that hereafter I may meet withall by this my spirituall and dangerous enemy to my soule give me grace most humbly to come unto thee my hope and helper and to thy house where thou dwellest between the Cherubins and there as Hezekiah in his trouble and distresse did spread out the letter of Zenacherib before thee and humbled himselfe before thee with much sorrow so good Lord in all my troubles grant that I may spread before thee with true and perfect humility of heart the troubles and afflictions of my soule and then O Lord heare me and in pitty look upon my danger and deliver me from the power of the Zenacherib of this world and his instruments the disturbers of my pilgrimage to my heavenly happinesse and the quiet of a good conscience in this Jerusalem strengthen O Lord my outward walls of flesh and blood enable me with obedience and patience quietly to beare the reproaches and threatnings of this my spirituall enemy which in a kind of proportion the Children of Israel did endure upon the walls of Ierusalem deliver me from the danger of their deadly arrows O Lord and grant they may not entrench about my soule to endanger it And O Lord as for thy servant Davids sake thou diddest look favourably upon Jerusalem so I doe most humbly beseech thee for thy son Jesus Christ his sake to be mercifull unto me to defend and keep me thy servant that putteth his trust in thee from the danger of al my spiritual enemies whensoever it shall please thee to visit me by the bed of sicknesse be thou then mercyfull unto me a sinner O Lord and with Hezekiah let me turn unto thee with true and perfect contrition of heart and grant that then I may receive mercy and comfort from thee thou God of mercy and compassion and as thou sent'st thy Prophet Isaiah
unto Hezekiah to comfort him in his sicknesse and who administred unto him help both for soule and body so be thou mercifull unto me a sinner and at the hour of distresse and danger send unto mee thy servant spirituall comforts to assist my feeble soule towards thee and good Lord let the lengthening of my dayes here upon earth and my health be sanctified unto me that thereby I may be strengthened to serve thee better and more carefully for thy goodnes and mercy and let me know and continually consider that the eternall life hereafter is the only true happinesse and let me so run my course here O Lord that at last I may attaine and come to that safe haven of felicity the only hope of my soules health and the hope of all them that put their trust in thee O Lord thou seest and knowest the great we aknesse and frailty of flesh and blood and that without thy continuall help we cannot stand but stil are subject to stumblings and falls by the traps of the old serpent and watchfull enemy when it shall please thee O Lord to hear my prayer and to deliver me thy servant from all those dangers and evils as thou didst Hezekiah and the which I have so humbly desired of thee Let me not fall I doe most humbly beseech thee into that great impiety and danger to forget thy mercies to grow proud and confident of my selfe and of my wealth and power and to expose my vanity to the Babilonian messengers and intelligencers the enemies of my soule But let me alwayes be watchfull over my selfe to avoid the danger of all wicked suggestions and still to humble my selfe before thee and truly to know and seriously consider that all things upon earth beauty wealth or whatsoever else that is most pleasing to our fond and unbridled fancy are as but dung even glistring and fading vanities and so shall they servant O Lord by avoiding these vanities continue in thy favour and befreed from the bondage and yoake of Babilon and all the just punishments of sin and be safe within the walls of Jerusalem and worship thee in thy holy Temple for ever MEDITATIONS Vpon the taking of Zedekiah and the captivity of the children of Israel O Lord when we are captived unto sin and drunk in our iniquities how blind doe we run head-strong to destruction neither Zedekiah nor his Princes would follow the counsels of the Prophet Jeremiah for the king was besotted and the Princes were infatuated in their understandings so destruction came upon them O Lord make my soule to know the great danger of sin and what effect it works where presumption fears no danger and hardnesse of heart shuts the gates of mercy Therefore O Lord remove from me thy servant this hardnesse of heart and presumptuous sining against the least I run by my corruption into this dangerous way of blindnesse and wilfulnesse to perdition make me capable and willing to receive good counsell and to obey the instructions and directions of my spirituall guides and not to follow my own dark obstinate mind and opinion that will lead me by a back way and a bad way towards Jericho where my spirituall enemy will entrap overthrow and triumph over me then shall I be captive to a mercilesse enemy and never see again the beauty of Jerusalem but live in chaines and Babilonish blindnesse with Zedekiah But open thou mine eyes O Lord that I may see the mysteries of thy lawes and obey them then shall I behold the beauty of thy holinesse for ever THE WICKEDNESSE Of the sonnes of Eli and the taking of the Ark of the Lord by the Philistines THE sins of the sons of Eli was very great before the Lord for by their bad carriage men abhorred the offering of the Lord and they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation Eli then being old and hearing all that his sonnes had done in Israel with too much mildnesse he said unto them why doe you such things I hear of your evill dealings by all the people it is no good report I hear of you my sonnes ye make the Lords people to transgresse but they hearkened not to the voice of their father and there came a man of God unto Eli and told him of all the mereies that God had done unto his house to sacrifice and wear an Ephod before him telling him of his too much adhering to his sonnes and threatned the judgement of God upon his house and that Hophni and Phineas his two sonnes should dye both in one day and that God would raise up another faithfull Priest to sacrifice before him and that the remainder of Elies house should come and crouch to him for a morsell of bread and shall say put me I pray thee into one of the Priests offices that I may eat a piece of bread And the Lord said to Samuel the Prophet I will doe a thing in Israel at which both the eares of every one that heareth it shall tingle for what I shall doe against Eli when I begin I will also make an end for his iniquity which he knoweth because his sonnes were wicked and he restreined them not Samuel feared to shew Eli that vision but Eli called Samuel and said my sonne what is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee I pray thee hide it not from me and Samuel told him every whit hiding nothing from him Now the Israelites went out against the Philistines to battell and pitched by Eben-ezer and the Philistines met them and they joyned in battell and Israel was smitten and 4000 of them was slain And the Elders of Israel coming into the Camp they said let us fetch the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us that when it cometh among us it may save us out of the hands of our enemies so the people sent to Shiloh to bring from thence the Ark of the Lord of hosts which dwelleth between the Cherubins and the two sonnes of Eli Hophni and Phineas were there with the Ark of God and when it was brought unto the Camp all Israel shouted with a great shout so that the earth rang againe When the Philistines heard thereof and that the Ark was come into the Camp they were afraid saying God is come into the Camp of Israel and woe unto us who shall deliver us from this mighty God this is the God that smote the Aegyptians with all the plagues but they neverthelesse encouraged one another to quit themselves like men that they might not be servants to the Hebrewes and after fighting with Israel they overthrew them and they fled every man to his own tent and there fell of Israel that day thirty thousand and the Ark of God was taken and the two sonnes of Eli Hophni and Phineas were slain and there ran a man of Benjamin out of the Army and came to Shilo the same day with his
the city of David but carried it into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite where it continued three months and the Lord blessed Obed and all his houshold and when David understood how God had blessed them because of the Ark of God David went and brought the Ark of the Lord from thence unto the city of David with much gladnesse and after they that bare the Ark had gone six paces he sacrificed Oxen and fatlings to the Lord and David danced before the Lord and was girded with a linnen Ephod and so it was brought by David and all the hoste of Israel with shoutings and with the sound of Trumpet into the city of David but Michall Sauls daughter looked through a window and seeing king David leaping and dancing before the Ark shee despised him and they brought the Ark of the Lord and set in the tabernacle that David had made for it and then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord and blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts and he gave to every man and woman of all Israel bread flesh and wine and so they departed every one to their house And David returning to blesse his house Michall the daughter of Saul came out to meet him said how glorious was the king of Israel this day who uncovered himself in the eys of the hand-maids of his servants as one of the vain fellowes shamelesly uncovereth himself and David said unto Michall it was before the Lord which chose me before thy father and before all his house to appoint me Ruler over the people of Israel therefore will I play before the Lord and I will be yet more vile then thus and will be base in my own sight and of the maid-servants which thou hast spoken of of them shall I be had in honour therefore had Michall the daughter of Saul no children untill the day of her death MEDITATIONS Vpon the Arke of the holy Covenant O Omnipotent God give unto me thy servant a venerable regard unto thine ordinances and to worship thee as I ought to do and not to encline to an unreverent serving of thee and selfe-conceit but let zeale possesse my soule and humble devotion dwell in my heart deliver me O Lord from the danger of these had and evill times for thine altars are prophaned and thy worship in thy holy places are wholy neglected and the glory seems to be departed out of this our Israel let me look back O Lord to the times of old how thy servants the children of Israel did worship towards thy holy temple and the Ark of thy holy Covenant placed between the Cherubins and how thou wast pleased therewith what blessings O Lord from time to time did goe along with this Ark of thy Covenant and what punishments did fall upon them that did prophane it O Lord give me humblenesse of heart to desire an humble knowledge of thee and not to be busie in prying into thy secrets to look into the Ark of thy Covenant least I be destroyed with them of Bethshemesh neither let me distrust thy power O Lord or intermedle with holy things but keep the right and lowly rule that thou hast commanded so shall I avoid and escape the punishment of Uzzah the sad experience of evill which curiosity and intrusion into Gods secrets and other mens callings ever brought unto the conscience Lord let me stand with perfect humility afarre off with the Publican and humbly without the bounds of the Sanctuary with thy people of Israel in their worship towards thee and not proudly to presume to come into the Sanctum Sanctorum the holy of holyes but venerably to worship towards it with lowlinesse of heart keep thy servant O Lord from the dangerous disease of these times let me not be wise in my own conceit nor busie and opinionated of my own Iudgement to disturb Church and State and to seare my own conscience but give me grace to be humble and meek and as the children of Israel did obey Moses by keeping without the limits of mount Sinai and must not touch the border of it whiles the law was delivered so keep me O Lord farre from presumption that neither eye nor hand out-compasse themselves to my destruction and this was by a most strict charge from thee O God and that only Moses and Aaron should come before thee upon the mount with great punishments threatned unto the breaker of this command By this restraint let thy servant tremble at thy Iudgements and feare with the children of Israel in the conservation of my spirit and obey thee with humility from the very bottome of my heart as the Israelites did at the bottome of mount Sinai and let me not O Lord follow the dangerous example of them that with so much presumption goe about to break the rules which thou hast commanded presuming to step before them whom thou hast appointed to be their guides to break with pride of spirit within the borders of mount Sinai contrary to thy commands good Lord let me leave my Iudgement in points of faith to the Priests that thou hast appointed to come into the inner Temple of thy holinesse where they doe receive the holy oracles of truth from thee to deliver unto us that doe humbly wait in the place and state which thou hast ordained For this boundlesse and unruly pride and groundlesse selfe-conceit as it brought the Angels from heaven so O Lord from time to time it hath disturbed the world and thy holy Church filling it full of hereticks and blasphemers who have been the fire-brands of thy wrath as plagues and punishments for the sins of the world preserve me therefore O Lord from this so dangerous a rock and let me not follow my own will and fancie and keep thy servant from rash and heady resolutions and not be too confident of my own opinion for what am I O Lord to build a Church to my own weak imagination to rend my selfe from the Elders and Congregation of Israel to go a gadding after my own inventions and to fall into the traps of innovations and the private opinions of these bad and dangerous times the Seminaries and seed-plots of sedition and tumults the ruine of Church and Common-wealth of all order government charity and brotherly love But let me keep O Lord that safe rule to walk in even the plain path of thy Church which thou hast appointed both in the old and the new law For O Lord the Church the Ark of thy Covenant was alwayes eminently to be seen and known to the Israelites in all their journies from Egypt to Jerusalem and towards it they did worship so after thy marvellous deliverances of them over the red Sea and the deserts of this world this Ark was placed in thy holy Temple at Jerusalem where all the Tribes of Israel came up to worship and towards which holy of holies they did worship wheresoever they were dispersed and in
their captivities and the sacrifices there was more acceptable to thee then the Adorations that were at Bethel framed by Ieroboam that made Israel to sinne by a worship of his own invention for vain glory the true type of heresie and innovations By this O Lord let thy servant to see that there was alwayes a knowne and certain way of worship and a visible Church to thy children of Israel even in the middle of the red Sea and Jordan of danger and drowning being pursued by the Egypt of this world and still from time to time this people of thine and in thy Church there were guides and governours for them to follow to preserve them from by-paths and in the right rule of thy Church and saving truth which Church and worship was hid from the Gentiles for their great abominations and by thy secret judgements yet out of thy great and wonderfull mercy to mankind according to thy promise and prophesies a Messias did come to redeeme the Gentiles and to bring them unto thee and that great mercy of his Redemption which wonderfull mercy was by my blessed Redeemer and Saviour Iesus Christ the long hoped for Messias descended from the roote of Jesse the great deliverer of the Gentiles from the thraldome and bondage of sinne whom no creature could redeeme but that immaculate lamb the sonne of God descended from that blessed root of whom all the Prophets have so much prophesied and above all the Prophet Esaiah of the calling of the Gentiles and the great visibility of the Church that should be at his coming for all the world to see and follow and by which they should learn to leave all blind corners and crooked by-paths of ignorance and wilfulnesse and all good and humble soules thither to repaire both Jewes and Gentiles even to this Church placed upon an open mountain that every one might see the light thereof thither repaire for the comfort and care of their soules for there are the true Physitians and the wholesome balsames to cure the festred sores of sin and there is safety for the humble of heart and there is ever light prepared for them Thus with humility of heart ascend up into that mountain of the Lord and Thus O Lord by thy incomprehensible mercy thou hast given us a way to follow confirmed to us and the truth thereof by the great example of thy servants in the primitive Church the Apostles Martyrs Confessors and Virgins and other thy Saints by their great sufferings and persecutions in the spirituall progresse of this world before the Ark thy Church could come to rest from that deluge and troublesome waters of afflictions In all their sufferings and persecutions following the Example of their Pilot and Redeemer being humble and meek and obedient to their temporall Lords and giving unto Caesar that was Caesars onely their faith and a good conscience they preserved unspotted before thee O Lord desiring rather to submit their lives then hold up their hands and prayed for their persecutors rather then they would shed the blood of any man that had the least stamp of Gods Image upon him Let me not therefore O Lord spurne against authority nor laugh at devotion as Michall that proud Dame did scoffe at David for dancing before the Ark nor think it superstition to follow thy holy Ark seven times about Jericho if it be commanded by Scripture or men of divine authority have so determined for there is a blessing goes along with this Ark of thy Covenant and happines is a reward to the humble and devout soule that attendeth without reluctation upon thy ordinances and the discipliue of thee O God whiles this Ark of truth stood with Dagon that Idoll fell down and was brossen for truth and falshood cannot stand together let the soule of thy fervant know this O Lord and let mee not think to serve thee but with a single sincere and an humble heart and not to mix it with my own foolish fancy but to serve thee by that rule as thou hast appointed and good Lord let the Dagon of sinfulnesse that is raised up in my corrupt heart fall downe and be broken in peices and place in steed thereof thy holy Covenant and truth Lord cleanse and purge me and make me worthy to receive the Arke of thy Covenant thy saving truth and holy spirit that by my corruptions and wickednesse of life it may not he with mee as it was with them of Ashdod and Ekron whiles the Arke was amongst them to bring punishments and plagues upon me for my iniquity and prophanesse and inordination But sanctifie my soule O Lord and give the blessing unto me that thou diddest give unto Abinadab and Obed-Edom with whom the Ark did rest and make me a happy vessell to receive thy holy spirit and then will all things be happinesses and blessings unto me both in this life and in the life to come O Lord though Eli and his sonnes did unrighteously before thee to the bad example of the Israelites yet let not the bad example that I may see by some bad members in thy Church make me to stumble in my way but still to follow the Ark of thy Covenant and mourn after it as the children of Israel did mourn and rejoyce in the prosperity of thy Church when there shall be any joyfull remembrance of any kinde of mercy or deliverance O Lord bring me thy servant into the sanctuary of thy saving grace and thy holy Ark the Church in safety unto the city of David in despight of all mocking Michals that all the world may praise thee for all thy mercies as David did magnifie thy mercy in the presence of all the congregation with a kind of spirituall joy beyond the limits of all humane conceit or the capacity of a proud Naturalist and place it there O Lord in the Tabernacle of peace and quietnesse that all the world may see thy mercy and know the way to their salvation leaving all blind by-paths and distracted wayes that tend and bend to destruction For thou O Lord hast shewed us a way and left us unexcusable if wee follow it not without unsound and deceitfull reasoning and our destruction is of our selves But let all praise and glory be given to thee O Lord for thy goodnesse and truth Thou O Lord art the way the truth and the life Lord lead us all by that way which thou hast shewn unto that truth which hath promised that life then shall all doubtfull errors be removed from our soules and we shall live in that Ark where is the light and glory of thy presence for ever FINIS Gen. 1. Gen. 2. Gen. 3. Joh. 1. 1. 10. 11. 14. Gen. 4. Heb. 12. 24. Gen. 5. Gen. 6. 6. Gen. 7. Vers. 8. Gen. 11. Gen. 13. Gen. 14. Gen. 15. Gen. 16. Gen. 17. Gen. 18. Gen. 20. Gen. 21. Gen. 22. Gen. 23. Gen. 24. Gen. 25. Gen. 24. Gen. â—â— Gen. 27. Gen. â—8 â— Gen. 28. 〈◊〉 31. Gen. 43. Gen. 35. Gen. 37. Gen. 40. Gen. 41. Gen. 4â— Gen. 43. Gen. 44. Gen. 46. Gen. 47. Gen. 48. Gen. 49. Exod. 1. Exod. 2. Exod. 3. Exod. 4. Exod. 6. Exod. 8. Exod. 9. Exod. 10. Exod. 12. Exod. 14. Exod. 15. Exod. 18. Exod. 19. Exod. 20. Exod. 24. Exod. 32. 33. 34. 35. 40. Levit. 8. 10. Numb 1. 10. 11. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Num. 17. 18. 20. 21. 21. â—â— 25. 27. Deut. 31. 32. 34. Josh. 1. 6. 7. Josh. 8. Josh. 9. Josh. 10. Josh. 11. Josh. 13. Josh. 15. Josh. 22. Josh. 23. Josh. 24. Judg. 4. Judg. 5. Ruth 3. Ruth 4. Isa. 36. Isa. 37. Jer. 37. Isa. 38. Isa. 39. Isa. 37. Jer. 38. 17. 1 Sam. 2. 12. 2. Sam. 6.
sinne give mee grace to call timely unto thee yea to câ—me unto thee thou supream Judge of Israel even thou which dwelâ—est between the Cherubims and sits'â— under the Palm-tree thy blessed seate of mercie Look upon my distresse and deliver me from this sinne and that punishment that I so justly deserve for mine iniquity and deliver me from the powerfull enemy of my soul who seekes to corrupt destroy me either from the truth or power of thy word like Barak whose confidence was more in a fraile woman Deborah by her presence then in thy promises who art omnipotent Bring mee with the strength of thy grace to the holy mountaine of thy power and saving health strengthen my faith and confidence in thee to fight against this proud Sisera of sin my capitall enemie and send thy might from this thy holy mountaine of Tabor that by thy power graâ—â— I may be made able to overthrow and defeat all the disturbers of my soules health who lies so strongly in wait to destroy me with such worldly advantages by their River of Kishon Dissipate all the designes O Lord of all my spirituall enemies let them flie before thy wrath as Sisera did to the Tent of Jael and there let them perish in the snares of their own intended mischiefs to the innocent Retaine in mee a harmlesse and a pure conscience so shall I lie downe with safety and rest under thy happy protection with security to my soule and escape the like judgement that fâ—ll upon Sisera which is the reward of presumptuous and unrepentant sinners And for thy mercies let me praise thee in the innocency of a sincere soule for ever to serve and obey thee untill I shall be freed from this spirituall warfare here and be made happy to rejoyce with thee in that happinesse and bliss of eternity hereafter And let me magnifie thy Name with Deborah and Barak saying with them Praise yee the Lord for the avenging of Israel heare O ye Kings give eare O ye Princes I even I will sing unto the Lord I will sing praise unto the Lord God of Israel The mountaines melted from before the Lord even that Sinai from before the Lord God of Israel My heart is towards the Governours of Israel that offered themselves willingly among the people blesse ye the Lord. Awake awake Deborah awake awake utter a song Arise Barak and lead thy Captivity captive thou son of Abinoam The river of KishoÌ„ swept them way that ancient River that River of Kishon O my soule thou hast trodden down strength So let all thine enemies perish O Lord but let them that love him be as the Sun when he goeth forth in his might THE HISTORY OF RUTH IN the time that the Judges ruled in Israel there was a Dearth in the Land upon which Elimelech of Bethlehem Judah went to sojourn in the Countrie of Moah with his Wife Naomi with their two sonnes where continuing a while Elimelech died and she remained with her sonnes who tooke them Wives of the Moabites the one was named Orpah the other Ruth who lived thereabout ten yeares where both these sonnes died after whose death Naomi hearing the Lord had given them bread in her owne Countrie thither shee returned with her two Daughters in Law into the Land of Judah then Naomi perswaded these her two Daughters in Law to return to their own Motherâ— houses desiring the Lord would shew the like favour 〈◊〉 them as they had done to the Dead and to her wishing them comfort in the house of their husbands and when shee had kissed them they wept But they desired still to continue with her to whom shee answered turne again my daughters for I shall have no more sonnes to be your husbands and pleaded much with them to return so Orpâ—â— departed but Ruth staied with her but still Naomi perswaded Ruth to goe but Ruth told her whither she did goe she would goe and where she dwelt she would dwell saying moreover thy people shall be my people and thy God my God where thou diest I will die and there will I be buried the Lord doe so to me and more also if ought but death part thee and me So when Naomiâ—aw â—aw her love steadfastnesse she brought her along with her to Bethlehem and it was in the beginning of Barly Harvest where Naomies deceased husband had a Kinsman of great power whose name was Boaz. Now Ruth desired her Mother in Law that she might goe with others to gleane who giving of her leave she went and gleaned after the Reapers and it happened to be in the field of Boaz who coming from Bethlehem he said to the Reapers the Lord be with you and they bad the Lord blesse him and hee seeing Ruth he asked the servant that oversee the reapers who she was who told him she was the Moabitish Maide that came with Naomi and how shee desired to gleane there Then said Boaz unto Ruth my daughter goe not into any other field but abide by my Maides go after them I have charged the servants that they touch thee not when thou 〈◊〉 thirst drink such as the servants have then she fell on her face and bowed to the ground and said unto him how have I found favour in thine eyes that thou shouldest know me seeing I am a stranger But hee told heâ— he heard what shee was and what she had done for her Mother in Law having left her Father Mother and her Countrie to come amongst strangers so the Lord recompence thy worke and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel under whose wings thou art come to trust then she said let me finde favour in thy fight my Lord for thou hast comforted me Then Boaz bad her come at meal-times to eate bread and so shee sat by the Reapers and hee reached her parched Corne and she did eate and he commanded she should gleane amongst the sheaves and so returning in the Evening with plenty to her Mother in Law shee asked her with whome she did gleane who told her it was in the Field of Boaz then said Naomi blessed be the Lord for hee ceaseth not to doe good to the living and to the dead telling Ruth hee was of her husbaÌ„ds kindred did wish her not to gleane in any other place but with the Maides of Boaz. Now Naomi did love Ruth exceedingly she finding her goodnesse and constancy and said unto her shall not I seek rest for thee my Daughter that thou maiest prosper saying is not Boaz out Kinsman and this night hee winnoeth Barly wash and anoint thy selfe and put on thy Raiment and get thee down thither let him not know of thee untill hee have left eating and drinking and when he shall sleep mark where he lyeth downe and uncover the place of his feete lie thee down and hee shall tell thee what thou shalt doe And Ruth did according to her directions Now when Boaz