rest with God and who first turned my feet towards Gods Kingdome Your Worships were my first encouragement to the study of Diuinitie and that with no small hindrance to your childrens proceeding in learning whom I taught by your meanes did I first enter into this office and was called vnto this place where I do now exercise and from you and yours haue I receiued manifold encouragements in my ministrie the Lord register them in his Booke that they may be remembred and come in your good accounts at the glorious day of his sonne and be requited seauen-fold into your bosomes wherefore hauing none other thing that I may not be vnthankfull In gratum si dixeris omnia dixeric which of all other sinnes euen amongst the heathen hath euer been reputed most vile odious whatsoeuer respects others haue onely to avoide the note of ingratitude doe I prefume to dedicate to your Worships these first fruits of my labours in this kind that as you heard the first Sermon that euer I preached your Sonne was the first child that euer I baptised your daughter the first that euer I maried so you would vouchsafe to patronize these few Sermons being the first that euer I published let then this poore Infant which knoweth not whither to flie but vnto you as you haue giuen coÌ„fort vnto his Father find some shadow vnder your roofe till the stormes of virulent tongues bee ouerpast Accept of this small testimonie of my great good will according to your wonted curtesie and surely if I shall heare that it is fauourably entertained of you and curteously accepted of the brethren I shall not onely greatly reioyce but also shall hereby be stirred vp and pricked forward to the publishing hereafter of other things with more time better aduice exacter diligence mature deliberation and sounder iudgement Non in principiis perficta quaeruntur sed de paruis principiis ad ea quae perfecta sunt perueniture Ambros thorough the grace of God increasing his guifts in me The Lord for his mercies sake graunt that these my first labours may bee accepted of the Saints and tend to the glorie of God And I hartely beseech the Lord God of all grace the Fountaine of all goodnesse and giuer of all spirituall blessings both for your selues your sonnes daughters brethren sisters and kinsfolks and your whole religious Stocke and Familie and specially for that reuerent religious Matron your deere mother whom God hath many waies honoured and after many great storms sweetly refreshed to her euerlasting consolation in Christ to endue all your foules with heauenly knowledge faith zeale and loue to God his truth and Saints and bestowed great worldly blessings of wealth wisedome and reputatation so it would please him to preferue and keepe you all in pure Religion perfect peace feruent loue vnfayned faith reuerent feare and true holynesse all the daies of your liues that the course of this miserable wretchednesse finished you may receiue the happie fruit of the glorious Gospell with all the Saints and bee crowned with immortall glorie in his purchased Kingdome wherevnto he speedily bring vs for his mercies sake in Christ Amen From Wye in Kent the last of September 1603. Your Worships in all Christian dutie to commaund THOMAS IACKSON TO THE GODLIE DISposed Reader and specially to his Countreymen Kinsfolkes and friends in Lancashire GRace mercie and peace with increase of all godlinesse and pietie from God the Father of all mercie thorough the inualluable merites of Iesus Christ our onely all-sufficient Redeemer by the working of the most mightie and liuely spirit the elects comforter for euer be multiplyed Amen Although it hath pleased God who hath the starres euen all the Angels or Ministers of the Churches in his right hand a Reu 1. 16 to fixe me in these Southerne parts to giue light vnto his people b Mat 5. 14 and not suffer me according to my hearts desire to fasten the cords of my remoouing Tabernacle among est you yet no distance of place or continuance of time can alienate or estrange mine affections from you S. Paule wished himselfe accursed and seperate from Christ for the good of them that were his kinsfolkes according to the flesh c Rom. 9. 3. And surely my heart were harder that flint if I should not haue speciall affection to my natiue soyle where I haue so many louing brethren and a sister deere kinsfolkes and faithfull friends yea my heartie desire and prayer vnto God is that you may come to the knowledge of the trueth and be saued d Ro. 10. 1. 2 Tim. 3. 7 2. Pet. 3. 9 that as nature hath bound vs together wee my also be tyed in a straiter and neerer bond of Religion being borne againe after a spirituall birth e Gal. 4. 19. Iam. 1. 18. 1. Pet. 1. 28 Iohn 1. 13. speaking all the language of Canaan f Esay 19. 18 For your sakes therefore deere Countreymen kinsfolkes and friends and specially so many as loue the Lord Iesus Christ and his Gospell dwelling in Bromley Colne Mersden or thereabouts haue I specially beene drawne to the penning of these few Lectures and to you do I commend them as all equitie and reason would that I should returne the first fruits of my labours thither from whence I came and where I had my first being and bringing vp accept therefore at my hands this poore mite as a token and pledge of one that loueth you vnfainedly in the Lord that whereas by the far distance of place and the great charge committed vnto me to bee attended vppon I am letted from coÌ„ming vnto you in regard of bodily presence that I might be comforted together with you thorough our mutuall faith both yours and mine g â—o 1. 12. Yet by this means the same might be in some measure supplyed on my behalfe I hope you will acknowlede it as a flower of your owne Garden that with greater delight you may smell vnto it and the fruit of your owne field and euen in that respect more willingly eat of it cheerefully digest it to the increase of that stature and strength whereunto you haue alreadie attained in Christ Oh what a ioy it was the last time that I was amongest you to obserue euen a generall and most blessed change that whereas heretofore nothing but blind and superstitious deuotion raigned men generally being like old vessels which could not bee seasoned from retayning the sent of their first liquor whereof many dregs remained that so they might be fit to receiue the pure liquor of the Gospell h Mat. 9. 17. Nay alas where were they that should haue seasoned them the word of God being much more precious than in the daies of Elie i 1. Sa. 3. 1. scarce one Sermon within many miles once a yeere to bee heard Now it hath pleased God to send vnto you many most godly and learned Preachers Againe in the people what a
the first braunch of this doctrine the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews confirmeth it where hee teacheth vs to make application of the promise which God made to Ioshua as made vnto vs let your conuersation be without couetousnesse and be content with those thinges that you haue for he hath said I will not faile thee neither forsake thee so that wee may boldly say the Lord is my helper neither will I fear what man can doe vnto me z Heb. 13. 5 yea we haue the promises aswell as Ioshua had both to the Church in generall and the faithfull in particuler God hath promised his Church in generall saying In that day sing of the vineyard of red wine I the Lord doe keepe it I will water it euerie moment least any assaile it I will keepe it night and day a Esay 27. 2. 3. Yea and Christ hath most comfortably promised vnto euery faithful soule in particuler in the Gospell saying If any man loue me he will keepe my vvord and my father vvill loue him and vvee vvill come vnto him and vvill dvvell vvith him b Ioh. 14. 23 In regard whereof Dauid affirmeth that the Lord is nere vnto them that are of a contrite heart and wil saue such as be afflicted in spirit for many are the troubles of the righteous but the Lord deliuereth him out of all c Ps 34 18. And elsewhere also to the like purpose he sayth God is our hope and strength help in troubles readie to be found d Ps 46. 1. Q. But some may hereupon obiect say Did not Gedeon complaine in the person of all the people when the Angell of the Lord saluted him in this manner the Lord is with thee thou valiant man Ah my Lord if the lord be with vs why then is all this come vpon vs and where bee all his miracles which our fathers told vs off but now the Lord hath forsaken vs and deliuered vs into the handes of the midianites e Iudg. 6. 14. Did not Dauid complaine Will the Lord absent himselfe for euer are his mercies cleane gone f Ps 77. 7. 8 Did not Christ complaine Oh my God my God way hast thou forsaken me g Mat. 27. 46. Yea and the Saints of God also Oh Lord why hast thou made vs to erre from thy waies and hardned our hearts from thy fear returne for thy seruants sake and for the tribes of thine inheritance h Esay 63. 17. How then doe we say that God is thus present with his people A. Indeed God many times for their good i Ro. 8. 28. doth vex his Saints with his storms and lay his hand heauie vppon their loynes k Ps 32. 4. so that their enemies iudge as they did of Dauid God hath forlaken him persecute him and take him for there is none to deliuer him l Ps 71. 11. and themselues also may bee so perswaded as their complaints testifie but the truth is howsoeuer for our tryall and humiliation hee may turne away his cheerful countenāce from vs m Esay 54. 8. yet either he taketh not away the grace but the feeling of it * Fides quandoque sine sensu vt causa sine effectu Greenh fol. 449. in which case men and women are not to be regarded what they say because they speake not according to the trueth but according to their iudgement feeling which is corrupted as a mans tast in a feauer to whom euerie sweet seemeth bitter or if he take away one grace he wil giue vs another in stead of it n 2. Cor. 12. 9. Yea it shall stand as a sealed truth for euer the Lord is nigh to all such as call vpon him faithfully o Ps 145. 18 in due time to deliuer them out of distresse that so they may acknowledge as Iacob did The Lord was in this place I was not aware p Gen. 28. 16. the Lord was with me I thought not so Which truth is confirmed by the manifold examples of Gods deere Saints who hauing been humbled to the gulf of despair yet now are lifted vp again their mouths filled with a psal of praise thanksgiuing vnto our God confessing with Dauid saying though heauines endure for a night Psa 30. 8. 2 yet ioy cōeth in the morning Q. Againe some for the infringing of this doctrine doe demaund how we can be perswaded that God is with them in death whose sicknesses and death are so comfortles ful of idle rauing speeches A. Howsoeuer some and especially the sottish ignorant Papists if a man die quietly and patiently like a lamb though there was neuer any faith repentance or remorse in his heart at his death or holinesse and honestie in his life doubtlesse they thinke hee is saued but if any that professe the truth of Iesus Christ doe endure any violent or extream paines which thorough weakenesse procure impatiencie but specially if they vtter any wordes tending to distrust or despaire Oh then whatsoeuer his life was they crie out Oh see the end of these men and will not spare to brand such an one with the black marke of a reprobate yea to condemne the whole profession of the Gospell thereupon Yet the truth is this That Sathan as hee neuer ceaseth in our whole life so much more is he busie at our death taking the aduantage of sicknesse and infirmitie of nature as knowing that hee must then recouer or for euer loose his Kingdome and God may for a time as it were stand aloofe and leaue his children in this great combate that so hee might bring thē to heauen by the gates of hell * Cuncta dei opera sunt in mediis contrariis Whereupon they may vtter harsh words according to their corrupt iudgement which are not to bee regarded as before we hard Or else these things may proceed from weaknes of nature the violence of the disease the brain being distempered as in hot burning feauers c. and then it is not the man but the disease and they shal die with the disease and neuer preiudice his saluation in Christ nay doubtlesse their spirituall comfort may abound notwithstanding these things * Vera consolatio perpetuo durat in electis potissimum autem efficax est circ◠vitae finem mortis articulum In a word it is a blessed life which giueth comfortable assurance of a blessed death for surely many a prophane vnregenerate man may haue his memorie reason and die most meekely as in consumptions and such like diseases and yet goe to hell as those reprobates of whome Dauid speaketh saying they haue no bands in their death like other men r Ps 73. 4. 5 Whereas many a righteous man hauing led a sanctified life by violence of his disease may be drawne to great torment idle speeches and strange behauiours and yet goe to heauen wherfore let vs refourme our iudgement herein and
there is righteousnesse and peace and ioy in the holy Ghost k Rom. 14. 17. Yea wee shall bee filled with all sweet ioyes and of this supper shall bee none end If any man yet further desire to know where this royall Feast is kept 2. By whom 3. Who are the guests and lastly what is their cheere let him read and consider what the Prophet Esay sayth And in this mountaine shall the Lord of hoasts make vnto all people a Feast of fat thinges euen a feast of fined wines and of fat thinges full of mâ—rrow of wines fined and purified l Esa 25. 6. The place then is Gods holy mountaine euen the Church of God here on earth * Montis nomine Ecclesia per totum orbem terrarum sparsa intelligitur Moll in Ps fol. 212. where this feast is begun the faithfull do tast the sweetnes of such good things as eie hath not seene nor eare heard m 1. Cor. 2 9. but it shall be perfected on the mountain of Gods holynes where the faithful shal haue their soules satisfied with the fulnesse of ioyes which are in the presence of God for euermore n Ps 16. 11. Secondly he that maketh this Feast and prepareth this Table is the Lord of hoasts whose is the earth with all that is therein o Ps 24. 1. whose are the foules of the aire and fishes of the sea cattell vpon a thousand hils p Ps 50. 10. 11 Thirdly the guests are not only such as are inuited forth of an hundred seauen and twentie Prouinces as the guests of that mightie Monarch Ahashuerosh q Hest 1. 1. but all people euen all beleeuers of what age sex qualitie or condition in what place or what time soeuer they liued the poore and afflicted shall be as welcome guests as the rich yea the poore shall eate and be satisfied r Ps 22. 26. Lastly for cheere there are no dainties there wanting there are Oxen and fatlings Å¿ Mat. 22. 4 yea a Feast of wines fined and purified and of fat thinges full of marrow sayth the Prophet whereby are signified the sweete graces of God conuayed vnto faithfull soules by the ministrie of the word and Sacraments as the remission of sinnes and assurance of Gods loue and fauour and full conquest ouer sinne Sathan death and hell which are farre sweeter than most fined purified wines t Cant. 1. 1 Yea than honie and the honie combe and wherein they reioyce with ioy vnspeakable and glorious u 1. Pe. 1. 8 Oh that we could truely hunger and thirst after this heauenly banquet and follow the counsaile of our Sauiour Christ not labour so earnestly for the meat that perisheth but for that meat which endureth to eternall life w Ioh. 6. 27 It followeth Doubtlesse kindnesse and mercie shall follow me all the daies of my life and I shall remaine a long season in the house of the Lord. The Prophet Dauid hauing as we haue heard expressed the singuler fauor loue and prouidence of God towardes him and his people by two pleasant and familier metaphors now he commeth in this last verse to shew the vse thereof viz That hereby his faith was confirmed and setled in the prouidence of God whereby to be preserued vnto the end The Summe whereof The summe of this vers is thus much in effect q. d. Seeing I haue had such great experience of Gods fauour and loue I am perswaded that he will continue the course thereof vnto mee euen vnto the end that now hauing passed thorough so many dangers and peaceably obtained the Kingdom I may now spend all the rest of my daies in the seruice and worship of God and sound forth the Lords praise in the house of my God And this verse consisteth of two principall parts The diuision of this verse first what hee doubted not to receiue kindnesse and mercie shall follow me all the daies of my life Secondly what vse he would make thereof euen dwell a long season The subdiuision of the first part in the house of the Lord. The first part may be subdiuided againe into these members or branches first what he looked for to receiue kindnesse and mercie Secondly how to receiue it it should follow him Thirdly how long in this manner these things should be bestowed vppon him euen all the daies of my life These things doe affoord verie profitable obseruatioÌ„s if I could so insist vpon them but time hath preuented me and I am desirous to make an end of this Psalme because it so well fitteth the present occasioÌ„ wherefore that I may not bee tedious I will but point out the cheefe matter and leaue the rest to your Christian meditations Doubtlesse kindnesse 1. part and mercie When Dauid purposed to build God an house saying vnto Nathan the Prophet of God Behold I dwell in an house of Cedar trees the Arke of God remaineth within the curtaines x 2. Sa. 7. 2 Nathan before hee had asked counsaile of God approoued therof and said Goe and doe all that is in thine heart for God is with thee 3. But Dauid being a man of blood 4. was not fit for such a work and therefore the same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan 12. he should tell Dauid hee was not the man that should build Gods house but his sonne that should proceed out of his loynes concerning whom the Lord thus promised I will be his Father 14. and hee shall be my Sonne and if he sinne I will chasten him with the rod of men 15. and with the plagues of the children of men but my mercie shall neuer depart away from him Surely neuer was this promise more truely fulfilled vnto Salomon than it was to Dauid himselfe God was his Father and therefore when Dauid sinned both committing whoredome and murther y 2. Sa. 11. 4. 17. the Lord sharpely corrected and chastised him many waies as by the death of the child which was begotten in Adulterie z 2. Sa. 12. 18. by his sonne Amnons incest defiling his owne sister Thamaâ— a 2. Sa. 13. 14 by Absoloms killing of Amnon b 2. Sa. 13. 29. by Absoloms treasonable practises persecuting him and seeking to get the Kingdome from him c 2. Sa. 15. 2. 14. by Shimeis cursing of him to his face d 2. Sa. 16. 7. by Absoloms abusing of his Fathers Concubines e 2. Sa. 16. 22. by the fearefull death of Absolom being hanged in an Oake f 2. Sa. 18. 9 yea in a woord the hand of God was still stretched out against him all the daies of his life yet did God neuer take away his mercy from him so that hee might say with the Apostles I haue been persecuted but not forsaken g 2. Cor. 4. 8 9. and so to the like effect heere hee saith doubtlesse kindnesse and mercie c. He saith not 〈◊〉
feare no euill 2. Part of this verse In these wordes is contained the second part of this verse declaring the great valour and courage of euerie true Christian not fearing to passe through this shadowie valley where first we will consider the sense of the wordes The sense of the words The kinds of feare and then the doctrines and vses There is a feare which accompanieth the nature of man may be called a naturall feare frō which Christ Iesus himselfe taking our true nature vpō him was not free as may appeare from the Gospel of Saint Mathew where it is said He began to wax sorrowfull and grieuously troubled a Mat. 26. 37 And in Saint Markes Gospel it is said He began to be troubled in great heauinesse b Mar. 14. 33 Which though some haue held rather to be a propassion then a passion and seeme to collect the same frō the words themselues because it is sayd He began to be afraid * Ierome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet the holy Ghost in another place alluding therunto doth put it out of doubt where he saith That in the days of his flesh he did offer vp praiers and supplications with strong crying and teares vnto him that was able to saue him from death and was also heard in that which he feared c Heb. 5 7 Secondly there is a fond and foolish feare whereof the Psalmist maketh mention saying The wicked do feare where no feare is d Psal 53. 5 So the Disciples were afraid at the sight of their master after his resurrection supposing they had seene a spirit e Lu. 24. 37 Mat. 14. 26 This is one of the curses which God hath threatned in his law saying Vnto them that are left of you I will send a cowardnesse into their hearts in the land of their enemies and the sound of a leafe shaken shall chase them and they shall flie as from a sword and fall no man pursuing them f Leu. 26. 36 Which curse was executed vpon the huge armie of the Midianites who fledde and were destroyed of Gedeon and three hundred men not striking a blow but breaking their pitchers holding their lampes in one hand and their trumpets to blow withall in the other and crying the sword of the Lord and Gedeon g Iud. 7. 17 * Gladius domini Gedeonis The like also we reade of the Aramites who besieging Samariah the Lord caused them to heare a noyse of Chariots and horses and of a great armie which made them to flie for their liues casting away their cloathes aud all that euer they had h 2. Ki 7. 6 Wherein is verefied the saying of wise Salomon The wicked flieth when none pursueth him but the righteous are bold as a Lion i Pro. 28. 1. Thirdly 3 there is a religious feare whose obiect is God which in some is a base slauish and seruile feare full of hatred Oderunt peccare mali formidine poenae malice and contumelie if they durst bewray it this made that ouergrowne sinner Felix to tremble when he heard mention of iudgemēt k Act. 24. 25. Oderunt peccare boni virtutis amore * Pene est pene non in others it is filiall such as the child honoureth his father with wherein there is nothing but loue reuerence purity ingenuitie so neare in affinitie vnto loue that it can hardly bee discerned from it * Pene est pene non whereof Dauid saith there is mercie with thee O Lord therefore shalt thou be feared l Ps 103. 11 But leauing these other kinds of feare to their proper places we are here to vnderstand the Prophet as speaking of a natural fear which in it self is not euill no more then the other humane affectiōs * Non culpat affectum sed excessum Bern. in Cant. ser 26. though it be hard if not impossible for man being so corrupt to keepe the right measure in his affections and not to sinne as Christ did not which point a godly learned man hath well illustrated by this common and plaine simile H. I. in his treatise of the sufferings of Christ fol. 56. If two glasses be filled the one with muddie water the other with cleare Christall snowe water and let them stand till all the muddinesse in the one bee setled at the bottome then shake both these Glasses in the one the mudde ariseth straight way and defileth all the water there in the other although shaken neuer so much yet it remayneth all still as cleare as Christall euen so if any of vs bee shaken with any affection of ioy sorrow feare c. We are presently defiled with mudde but Christ in whom was mans true nature but not the defilement of nature yet remayneth still cleare from any the least sin though neuer so much troubled c so that the Prophet in saying hee will not feare doth not condeme the affection it selfe as euill which we haue also heard to haue ben in Christ who together with our nature tooke these vnpleasant passions vpon him yet without sinne but this is a speech of faith not condemning natural fear but ordering it that it exceed not measure and is as much in effect q. d. Seeing Lord The summe of the second part of this verse thou wilt be with me I will securely cast my selfe vpon thy prouidence and not be distracted or oppressed with immoderat feare though thou lead me thorough the valley of the shadow of death whose example directeth vs to striue to keep an excellent meane in all troubles and dangers neither on the one side to bee desperate and fearelesse nor on the other side to be cast downe and oppressed with feare but to cast our selues vpon God vsing all honest and lawfull meanes and leauing the issue and successe vnto God So much for the opening of the sence of the words now for our instruction Our Lesson is this Doctrine That all such as are sheepe of the Lordes pasture and fold-mates with Dauid of whome the Lord hath taken charge as a faithfull shepheard to prouide al good things for them and to goe in and out before them all these I say need not to be distracted with immoderate feare of any euill but when others are hard bestead and at their wits ends they may securely rest on Gods prouidence and say with Dauid The Lord is my light my saluation whom shall I feare the Lord is the strength of my life of whome shall I be afraid m Ps 27. 1. This doctrine is confirmed by many other places of scriptures Confirmation it is recorded in the prophecie of Esay that the vnbeleeuers hearing of warres and the sword threatned for want of faith they sought to strengthen themselues by wicked league and friendship with straungers and Idolaters but the Lord hee admonished all the faithfull by his Prophet thus Say not ye a confederacie
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Doubtlesse my head shall still bee annointed with oyle doubtlesse my cup shall still run ouer or doubtlesse my prosperitie shall neuer decay For that was a speech of infirmitie as he himselfe afterwards confessed I sayd in my prosperitie I shall neuer bee mooued but had miserable experience of that his weaknesse for the Lord turned away his face and then hee was sore troubled h Ps 30. 6 7 8. yea to omit all the great miseries and straits that he sustained before he came to the Crowne through the hot and long persecution of Saul after he was annointed King and as it seemeth penned this Psalme in thankefull remembrance of Gods mercie towards him Yet sometimes his cup did not runne ouer as when he was readie to faint for thirst and so greedily longed but for a cup of water of the Well of Bethlehem by the gate i 2. Sa. 23. 15. and also when for that great sinne in causing the people to bee numbred the Lord sent Gad vnto him and put it to his choice whether hee would haue seauen yeeres famine to come vpon him in his Land or slye three moneths before his enemies or three daies pestilence Whereupon Dauid himselfe confesseth hee was in a wonderfull strait k 2. Sa. 24. 13 14 c. but yet Dauid by the assurance of faith cleaueth fast to this hold that doubtlesse kindnesse and mercie would follow him q. d. Let what chaunge or alteration soeuer befall me in regard of mine outward estate and condition yet am I sure Gods kindnesse and mercie shall neuer bee taken away from me Doctrine Hence then we haue a verie comfortable lesson taught vs Confirmation viz That howsoeuer it pleaseth God for our sinnes to alter our outward estate to giue vs stormie and gloomie weather as well as faire and Sun-shine daies sometimes to make vs glad and sometimes to giue vs plentie of teares to drinke l Psa 42. 3. and 80. 6. yet is God no changling that he should breake off the course of his fauour and loue towards his elect but whome hee loueth he loueth to the end m Ioh. 13. 1 * Vsque ad mortem continuauit post mortem etiam perseuerat Tollet in Ioh. Tom. 2. fol. 20. and whom hee embraceth it is with an euerlasting compassion n Esay 54. 8. his mercie and loue doth aswell appeare if God open our eies in Aduersitie as in prosperitie in fatherly chasticements and corrections as in giuing vs our hearts desire And therfore howsoeuer Sathan is exceeding subtill to perswade and thorough our weaknesse we are readie inough for to apprehend the same that if God lay neuer so little sickenesse trouble or losse vppon vs by and by we thinke and say Oh God loueth me not if he did he would not deale thus and thus with me or this and that should not befall mee Vse Let vs take heed we be not deceiued this is no other temptation than Christ Iesus himselfe was acquainted with who no sooner was an hungred but by and by Sathan was at his elbow to perswade him that he was not the Son of God o Mat. 4. 3 Let vs therefore follow the example of our Captaine and draw forth the sword of the spirit and say auoid Sathan for howsoeuer God take away my health wealth peace and libertie yet his mercie and louing kindnesse he will neuer take away from mee but rather by these thinges doth seale the assurance thereof vnto mee for it is written as many as I loue I rebuke and chasten p Reu. 3. 19 and God correcteth euerie child that hee receiueth as the father doth the child in whome delighteth q Pro. 3. 11 Heb. 12. 5. But of this wee haue sufficiently heard and spoken before But how shall Dauid receiue this kindnesse and mercie Shall follow me 2. part This is a word of singuler comfort and teacheth vs Doctrine that God will not onely shew vs kindnesse and fauour when we doe earnestly sue and seek for it Confirmation which is our dutie to doe but euen when through weakenesse we shall as it were forsake God and flie from him then will he follow pursue and ouertake vs with his mercie so the Lord hath promised not onely to bee nigh to them that call vpon him faithfully r Psal 145. 18 but before wee call he hath promised to answere heere I am ſ Esa 65. 24 So hee followed Adam with his mercie when he had sinned and hid himselfe amongst the trees of the Garden Adam where art thou t Gene. 3. 9. So hee followed Ionah when he fled post-hast from the presence of the Lord and sent forth a great wind and a mightie tempest to fetch him home againe u Iona. 1. 3 4. and so he followed Dauid when he made such great speed towardes hell committing one sinne and then a greater to couer it withall and by the ministrie of Nathan brought him to the sight of his sinne and repentance that he might bee saued w 2. Sa. 12 13 wherin appeareth the great difference betwixt Gods dealing and mans for men follow after them that they are to receiue any thing off but God followeth them to whome he may giue his mercie * Homines magis persequuntur eos a quibus accipiant quam quibus dent Musc in Ps Yea so proane is God to doe good that he doth good both to the wicked x Mat. 5. 45 and to beasts y Ps 36. 6. Yea the Lord delighteth to doe his people good as hee himselfe hath sayd in Ieremie z Ier. 32. 41 And this is the ground of our perseuerance and continuance in the state of grace to the end that howsoeuer we bee weake and froward readie to start aside like a broken bow and to turne our backes vppon the Lord and flye from him as hee complaineth by his Prophet a Ier. 32. 33 yet God will not leaue vs but follow and ouertake vs with his blessings For so hee hath promised I will make an euerlasting couenant with them that I will neuer turne away from them to doe them good but I will put my feare in their hearts that they shall not depart away from mee b Ie. 32. 40 Secondly Christ who was heard in all things c Iohn 11. 42. hath thus prayed for his Saints Holy Father keepe them in thy name d Ioh. 17. 11 By vertue of which prayer and Gods promise wee are sure wee shall stand and continue in the state of grace to the end and that hee will prosecute vs with his mercie notwithstanding our great weaknesse and frowardnesse But how long doth Dauid assure himselfe to enioy this mercie All the daies of my life ◠part Such is the great inconstancie of man in that which is good that without any cause to morrow he will persecute with hatred him whome to day