King of Syria bends his power especially against the King of Israel So that were it not that cor Regis in manu Domini the heart of the King was in the hands of the Lord I should wonder with S. Chrysostome if any of the Rulers could bee saved For the devill opens his envenomed Quiver and shootes all his fiery darts at such persons as well knowing that Regis ad exemplum the example of a King brings vice into fashion and gangrenes the whole body For sayes Siracides Eccles 10.2 As the Judge of the people is himselfe so are his officers and what manner of man the Ruler of the City is such are they that dwell therein For the people like Iacobs sheepe conceive by the eye and like the inferiour Orbes follow the motion of the primum mobile contrary to their owne naturall inclinations If Ieroboam sin he makes Israel sin too and if he set up Calves at Dan and Bethel all Israel will be such Calves as to goe up and worship them But suppose Kings stood not in need of our prayers yet sure I am we our selves stand in need to pray for them for as Iacobs life was bound up in the life of Benjamin so is the good of the subject in the prosperity of the Prince Hence the Iewes were commanded to pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar and the peace of Babylon because in the peace thereof they should have peace And S. Paul exhorting us to pray for Kings and such as be in Authority drawes his motive ab utili for by this meanes we shall live a quiet and a peaceable life in all godlinesse and honesty Kings and Queenes are nursing Fathers and nursing Mothers and if the nurse be ill the childe that suckes the breast cannot thrive and prosper Nay the Lords anointed is Spiramentum nariam Lam. 4.20 the breath of our nostrils stop and extinguish that and death ensues immediately So that in praying for Kings wee pray for our selves our prayers returne into our owne bosomes for the blessings powred upon them like the oyntment powred on the head of Aaron stayes not there but runs downe to the beard yea to the very skirts of the cloathing Or as the raine falls first upon the hils but stayes not there but descends into the vallies from whose vapours at first it was engendred When the sons of Iacob went into Egypt to fetch corne for their Father did they not fetch it for themselves their Families When the members of the body feed the belly doe they not feed themselves and provide for their owne nourishment When we pray for the King what doe we else but pray for our selves and provide for the welfare of our owne Families and posterities for under his shadow we live and like the ivie cannot grow without his supportance Acts 12.20 So that as they of Tyre and Sidon saw a necessity of making a peace with King Herod because their Countrey was nourished by the Kings Countrey So a necessity of praying for the King lyes upon every one of us not only because Dominus opus habet but because we our selves have need of it for our welfare is nourished by the Kings welfare our honour by the Kings honour our peace by the Kings peace our safety by the Kings safety and therefore God save the King which is the Forme of their prayer and the last circumstance in the Text. And all the people shouted and said God save the King 2. Pineda observes that it was the custome of all Nations at the inauguration of their Kings Lib. 2. de reb Salom. cap. 6. to use solemne Apprecations boni ominis ergô As sometimes foeliciter sometimes De nostris annis tibi Iupiter augeat annos Sometimes Augusto foelicior Trajano probior Sometimes Dii te servent and the like all which sayes he were doubtlesse derived from this sacred and ancient form in the Text Vivat Rex let the King live for so it is in the Hebrew and the Septuagint renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and our old English Bible reades it God lend the King life and no forme of Apprecation more full or fit then this For the blessing of life is the life of all blessings it being the foundation of whatsoever we have or hope for Hence pellem pro pelle skin for skin and all that ever a man hath will he give for his life and a living dog is better then a dead Lion And as none more full so none more fit for Vita omnium brevis Regum plerumque brevissima the lives of all men are short but the lives of Kings for the most part shortest It was a King that complained My soule is continually in my hands Psal 119.109 and in another place Feare is on every side for they take counsell together against me and devise how they may take away my life Darius did wisely to allow money for the building of the Temple Ezra 6.9 10. and bullockes and rams for the burnt offerings that so the Iewes might offer sacrifices of sweet savour unto the God of heaven and pray for the life of the King and of his sons If we reflect and look back upon former ages wee shall finde Shimeis and Shebai Absaloms and Achitophels Tereshes and Bigthans all sons of Belial flying in the face of sacred Majesty and seeking to lay violent hands upon the Lords Anointed And howsoever these spirits were once well laid and walked not in the Primitive Church yet in these latter times they have beene conjured up by the seditious Doctrine of the Iesuites and are become familiar spirits in all parts of Christendome Haec est salutaris meditatio sayes Mariana this is a wholesome meditation for Kings next their heart to thinke se eâ conditione vivere that they live in that case and condition ut non solum jure sed cum laude gloria perimi possint that they may not only be slaine lawfully but to the praise and glory of them that doe it And I would to God this was the doctrine of the Iesuites only for we know the men and we know their communication but this leaven hath spread further and even sowred them that take upon them to bee reformers of the reformed Churches And whereas Mariana sayes it may be done cum laude Buchanan goes further and would have it done cum praemio too For if I sayes he had power to make a law I would award recompence to be given for killing of Tyrants as men use to reward them for their paines who kill wolves or beares and destroy their yong ones Surely beloved this Doctrine deserves to be the Inprimis in the blacke Catalogue of the Doctrine of the devils it is the doctrine of Beelzebub the Prince of devils it is the bane of mens soules the blemish of Christian religion and the breach of all common tranquillity And is it not high time to pray for the lives of Kings when ambition
High the high Hills and tall Cedars A King sayes Tertull is à Deo primus post Deum secundus count not God and he is the first count God and he is the second Honour the King sayes Ignat for there is nothing more great Ep. ad Smyrn or excellent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all created nature So then the Priest yea though he be the high-Priest must not measure with the King or thinke to hold up his head as high as his Soveraigne Abimelech was high-Priest 1 Sam. 22.15 yet confesses himselfe twice in one verse to be Sauls servant Abiathar was high Priest yet Solomon deposed him and invested Zadok with his office To see a Bishop tread upon the neck of an Emperour and mount his Steed whilst a King holds his stirrop are as prodigious and portentuous spectacles as the Eclypses of the great Luminaries of heaven S. Bernard writing to an Archbishop in France Siomnis anima vestra quis ves excepit ab universit te si quis tentat excipere tentat decipare Bern. Epist 42. Acts 25.10 presses him with omnis anima let every soule bee subject and if every soule then yours for he that goes about to exempt you does but deceive you S. Paul that great Doctor of the Gentiles stands at Caesars Judgement seate where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I ought sayes he to be judged and submit my self to his sentence Nay Christ himselfe the High-Priest of our profession and great Bishop of our soules paid tribute unto Caesar and acknowledged the power of Pilate a subordinate Minister to be given from Heaven And surely if the Doctrine of the Conclave which advances the Miter above the Crown bee new and nought that of the Consistory cannot bee good for it advances the Thistle above the Cedar the people above the Prince witnesse these and the like dangerous and seditious positions Populus Rege est praestantior melior the people are better than the King Lib de jure regni and of greater authority The collective body hath the same power over the King that the King hath over any one person The people may arraigne their Prince and the Ministers excommunicate him so far Buchanan And another of the same stamp affirmes that the power of the people over the King is the same that the power of a generall Councell is over the Pope and as the Councell may displace the one if he be an Heretique so the people may depose the other if he be a Tyrant * And a Tyrant he is sayes another of them if hee hinder the bringing in of their discipline Thus Herod and Pilate mortall enemies become sworne brothers in persecuting the Lords anointed and like Sampsons foxes though they look contrary wayes yet are joyned by the tailes and both carry the firebrands of sedition But returne we againe to Saul who was not so eminent for the stature of his body as he was for the gifts and accomplishments of his minde for in this respect also there was none like him among all the people The vulgar latine reades it non erat vir melior illo there was not a better then he among all the children of Israel A Senuisti was objected against Samuel a David as yet was too yong to come into competition with him Or as Abulen satisfies the doubt persona loquens intelligitur excepta the person speaking which was Samuel must be excepted from the comparison When our Saviour Christ gave this honourable testimony of Iohn the Baptist that among them that were born of women there was not a greater then he it is manifest that Christ himself was excepted for Iohn was not worthy to loose the latchet of his shooe The ordinary glosse sayes that Saul at the time of his election was in statu praesentis justitiae in the state of present righteousnesse Lyra sayes that he was not only vir bonus but excellentis bonitatis a good man but of excellent and exemplary goodnesse S. Bernard speaking of perseverance sayes that bonus erat Saul optimus sed cecidit reprobus factus est Saul was a good man yea the best in Israel but he fell away and became a reprobate As for humility the Scripture gives him this testimony that he was parvulus in oculis suis little in his owne eyes And magna rara virtus honorata humilitas humility in robes is a rare and admirable vertue As for piety no sooner was he invested with the Kingdome but he accompanies Samuel unto Gilgal and there sacrifices peace offerings unto the Lord. And so zealous was he of the Law of God that he would not suffer a witch to live As for Clemency he would not suffer those sons of Belial to be put to death who despised him in their hearts and said shall Saul raigne over us This was Saul but to resume the words of S. Bernard Cecidit cecidit he fell he fell His humility degenerated into pride his piety into profanenesse his clemency into cruelty for he that spared the sons of Belial did not spare the Priests of the Lord. Let him therefore that standeth take heed left he fall and whosoever thou art worke out thy salvation with feare and trembling and be not high-minded but feare Looke upon Saul in the New Testament and thou wilt not despaire looke upon Saul in the Old Testament and thou wilt not presume The one of the chiefest sinner became a Saint and the other of the best man in Israel became a reprobate And so we discharge the first circumstance the ground and occasion of their joy they had a King and such a King as both in respect of the ornaments of his body and the indowments of his minde there was none like him among all the people and come to the second circumstance which is the greatnesse and vehemency of their joy they shouted And all the people shouted and said God save the King Joy is a passion which spreads and dilates and inlarges the heart and if the impressions thereof be strong and masculine it cannot containe it self but breakes out into sensible expressions As sometimes into laughing so did Sarahs joy at the tidings of a Son sometimes into singing so did the Angels joy at the birth of our Saviour sometimes into shouting so did the peoples joy at the inauguration of their King and this of all other is the loudest and shrillest accent of jubilation 1 King 1.40 At the Coronation of King Solomon the people rejoyced with great joy so that the earth sayes the Text rent with the sound of them It fareth with Kings as with all other blessings carende magis quam fruendo their worth and excellency is better knowne by wanting then having them We reade in the book of Iudges that there was no King in Israel and how went the squares then why every man did that which was right in his own eyes And what was that Micah a private man
told you is Decus Israelis the beauty of Israel the supreame Magistrate the effects and influences of whose government as peace justice and religion extend over the whole Kingdome and reach from Dan even to Beersheba from Aarons head to the skirts of his cloathing so that high and low rich and poore one with another and all together owe their bene esse unto him And for this cause it may be amongst many others Kings were of old Crowned neare some Fountaine because they are Fountaines and common blessings the streames of whose government do glad the City of God and refresh his inheritance For Rogis vigilia omnium domos illius labor omnium etia illius industria omnium delicias illius occupatio omnium vacationem tuetur When the King watches we may all sleep when he labours we may all rest his Terme is our Vacation and when he workes every man may keep holy day And now when I looke upon this congregation of Israel I cannot but breake out into the words of the Psalmist Ecce quà m bonum quà m jucundum behold how good and pleasant a thing it was to see so many men of one minde and one mouth for all shouted and all said the same thing Gaudium omnium gaudium singulorum gaudium singulorum gaudium omnium The joy of all was the joy of every one and the joy of every one the joy of all Thus it is in heaven and thus it was here and I would to God it was thus in all places But oh the strife of tongues Oh the great thoughts and divisions of heart that are amongst us Contempt of Authority is become the character of a Christian the cognizance of a sincere professor libelling and speaking evill of dignities the language and dialect of God people preaching Obedience to the Magistrate civill and Ecclesiasticall is interpreted downe right flattery and gaping after preferment Prejudice faction hath so shuffled and confounded all things that a man can come into no parish nor congregation but he shall finde some Mutes some but halfe Vowels some not doing their duty at all others doing it so faintly that a man may perceive their hearts are not right in this matter Well fare this Congregation of Israel Mens omnibus una vox omnibus una they were all of one minde and one mouth they all thought the same thing and spake the same thing every one in the Quire was a loud Cymball for all shouted and a well tuned Cymball too for all prayed which brings me to the second part of the Text the Vote and Apprecation of the people And all the people c. First I exhort sayes the Apostle that supplications and prayers and intercessions and giving of thankes be made for all men and first for Kings and such as be in Authority And what manner of Kings were there in those dayes Idolaters Infidels Tyrants Persecutors those of whom David long before had prophesied Psal 2.2 The Kings of the earth have set themselves and the Rulers take counsell against the Lord and his annointed Nero the Romane Emperour and supreame Magistrate was a Lion so S. Paul cals him he was Dedicator damnationis nostrae the first that drew out the sword of persecution so Tertull. He was so profligately and desperately wicked and tyrannicall that many thought hee should rise againe Lib. 20. de civ Dei cap. 19. and be that Antichrist and man of sin which was to be revealed so S. August and yet as bad as he was S. Paul enjoynes prayers for him and so does S. Peter for the Emperour Claudius one not much better For Suetonius reports of him that he was so mercilesse and given to bloodshed that he would have tortures and punishments executed in his owne presence and delighted to looke upon the faces of Fencers as they lay gasping and yeelding up their last breath besides he was a man inordinately given to the wanton love of women yet for all this the Christians of those times must honour him And this these blessed Apostles did not to curry favour with the Emperours or to flatter themselves into preferment but to copie out their Masters lesson and to shew that they were his Disciples who said Pray for them that persecute you And that this was the constant practice of the Primitive Church Iustin Martyr in his Apol. 2. Origen in his 8. booke cont Celsum Arnob. in his 3. booke cont Gentes Tertull. in his Apol. 30. besides the ancient Liturgies are my witnesses Of all Christian duties Prayer is the best the Apostle hath given it the chiefe seate and set it at the upper end of the Table And of all kinde of prayers Intercession is the best for necessity sayes Chrysost enforces us to pray for our selves but charity invites us to pray for others And charity is that which gives a tincture and rellish to all our prayers for without it the tongues of men and Angels are but as sounding brasse and a tinkling Cymball And surely the best kinde of Intercession is that which is made for the best namely for Kings and such as be in Authority Hence is it that our Mother the Church of England is so copious in it For in her Liturgie she prayes for the King foure or five severall times and yet I dare say commits no Tautologie or idle repetition For his severall capacities as a man as a Christian as a Magistrate as the Supreme Magistrate upon whom lyeth the care of the Church and Common-wealth require it of us Those then that doe curtaile divine Service as Hanun did the garments of Davids Ambassadours and use the prayers of the Church as a noise of Musique at a Play to entertaine the company till the Actors be ready are not only disobedient to the Church in not observing her order but injurious also to the King in depriving him of the benefit of those prayers which the Church hath appointed for him And this is no small injury for Preces subditorum vires Regum the prayers of the people are the power of the King Kings are the heads of the people but the prayers of the people are those locks of haire wherein their strength principally consisteth Sure I am that none stand so much in need of prayers as Kings and such as be in Authority For such is the weight and multitude of their imployments that many times they cannot pray for themselves Well might S. Ambrose wonder at Davids septies in die seaven times a day doe I praise thee and make this inference upon it Si David septies regni licèt necessitatibus occupatus c. If David notwithstanding the affaires of a Kingdome could doe it seaven times private men may doe it seaventy times seaven But besides this Kings and such as are in Authority are most assaulted with temptations That which Christ said of his Disciples is true of Kings Satanas appetiit vos Satan desires to have you and like the