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A02545 Holy obseruations. Lib. 1. Also some fewe of Dauids Psalmes metaphrased, for a taste of the rest. By Ios. Hall Hall, Joseph, 1574-1656. 1607 (1607) STC 12671; ESTC S103654 25,435 209

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be neerer thee in thy last what differs that from this but in time Correct thy dulnesse vpon former proofs or els at last thy deuotion shall want life before thy body 19 Those that come to their meat as to a medicine as Augustine reports of himself liue in an austere Christian tēper shal be sure not to ioy too much in the creature nor to abuse themselues Those that come to their medicine as to meate shall be sure to liue miserablie and dye soone To come to meate as meate if without a gluttonous appetite palate is allowed to Christians To come to meat as to a sacrifice vnto the belly is a most base brutish idolatry 20 The worst that euer were euen Caine and Iudas haue had some ●autors that haue honoured them for Saints And the Serpent that beguyled our first Parents hath in that name had diuine honour and thankes Neuer anie man trod so perilous and deepe steppes but some haue followed and admired him Each master of heresie hath found some clients euen hee that taught all mens opinions were true Againe no man hath been so exquisite but some haue detracted from him euen in those qualityes which haue seemed most worthy of wonder to others A man shall bee sure to be backed by some eyther in good or euil and by some shouldred in both It is good for a man not to stand vpon his Abbetters but his quarrell and not to depend vpon others but himselfe 21 We see thousands of Creatures dye for our vse and neuer doe so much as pitty them why do we think much to dye once for God They are not ours so much as wee are his nor our pleasure so much to vs as his glory to him their liues are lost to vs ours but chāged to him 22 Much ornament is no good signe Paynting of the face argues an ill complexion of bodie a worse minde Truth hath a face both honest and comely and lookes best in her owne colours but aboue all diuine truth is most faire and most scorneth to borrowe beautie of mans witt or tongue she loveth to come forth in her natiue grace like a Princely Matrone and counts it the greatest indignity to be dallyed with as a wanton Strumpet She lookes to command reuerēce not pleasure she would be kneeled to not laughed at To pranke her vp in vaine dresses and fashions or to sport with her in a light and youthful maner is most abhorring from her nature they know her not that giue her such entertainment and shall first knowe her angry when they do know her Againe shee would bee playne but not base not sluttish She would be clad not garishly but not in ragges Shee likes as little to bee set out by a base foyle as to seeme credited with gaye colours It is no small wisdome to know her iust guise but more to followe it and so to keepe the meane that while we please her wee discontent not the beholders 23 In worldly carryage so much is a man made of as he takes vpō himselfe but such is Gods blessing vppon true humility that it still procureth reuerence I neuer sawe Christian lesse honored for a wise neglect of himselfe If our deiection proceed from the conscience of our want it is possible wee should be as little esteemed of others as of our selues But if wee haue true graces and prize them not at the highest others shall value both them in vs and vs for them and with vsurie giue vs that honour wee with held modestly frō our selues 24 He that takes his full liberty in what he may shall repent him how much more in what he shoulde not I neuer read of Christian that repented him of too little worldlie delight The surest course I have still found in all earthlie pleasures To rise with an appetite and to bee satisfied with a little 25 There is a time when Kings goe not forth to warfare Our spirituall warre admitts no intermission it knowes no night no winter abides no peace no truce This cals vs not into a garisō where we may have ease and respite but into pitched fields cōtinually we see our enemies in the face alwaies and are alwayes seene and assalted euer resisting euer defēding receiuing and returning blowes If eyther wee be negligent or weary wee dy what other hope is ther while one fights the other stands still We can neuer haue safet●● peace but in victory There must our resistance be couragious and constant whe●● both yielding is death and all treatyes of peace mortall 26 Neutrality in things good or euil is both odious and preiudicial but in matters of an indifferent nature is safe and commendable Herein taking of parts maketh sides and breaketh vnitie In an vniust cause of separation hee that fauoureth both partes may perhaps haue least loue of either side but hath most charitie in himselfe 27 Nothing is more absurd then that Epicurean resolution Let vs eat and drinke to morrow wee shall dy As if wee were made onely for the paunch liued that we might liue yet ther was neuer any naturall man found sauor in that meat which hee knewe should be his last wheras they should say Let vs fast and pray to morrow we shall die For to what purpose is the body strengthened that it may perish whose greater strength makes our death more violent No man bestowes a costly roofe on a ruinous tenement That mans end is easie happy whom death finds with a weak bodie and a strong soule 28 Somtimes euen things in themselues naturally good are to bee refused for those which being euil may be an occasion to a greater good Life is in it self good and death-euill Els Dauid Elias and many excellent Martyrs would not have fled to hold life and auoid death Nor Ezekiah haue prayed for it nor our Sauiour haue bidden vs to flee for it nor God promised it to his for a reward yet if in some cases wee hate not life wee loue not God nor our soules Heerein as much as in any thing the peruersnesse of our nature appeares that wee wishe death or loue life vpon wrong causes we would liue for pleasure or wee woulde die for payne Iob for his sores Elias for his persecution Ionas for his gourd would presently dye and will needs outface God that it is better for him to die then to liue wherin wee are like to garrison souldiers that while they liue within safe wals and showe themselues once a day rather for ceremony pomp then neede or daunger like warrefare well enough but if once called foorth to the field they wish thēselues at home 29 Not onely the least but the worst is ever in the bottome what shoulde God doe with the dregges of our age when sinne will admitt thee his Clyent no longer then God shall be beholdē to thee for thy seruice Thus is God dealt-with in all other offrings The worst least sheafe must bee
enemy to inward rest as outwarde rest may well stand with inwarde vnquietnesse 9 None liue so ill but they contēt themselues in somewhat Euen the begger likes the smell of his dish It is a rare euill that hath not something to sweeten it either in sense or in hope Otherwise men woulde growe desperate mutinous enuious of others wearie of themselues The better that thing is wherein wee place our comfort the happier we liue and the more wee loue good things the better they are to vs. The Worldlinges comfort though it bee good to him because he loves it yet because it is not absolutely and eternall good it failes him wherein the Christian hath iust aduantage of him while hee hath all the same causes of ioy refined and exalted besides more and hyer which the other knows not of The worldling laughes more but the Christiā is more delighted These two are easily seuered Thou seest a goodly picture or an heap of thy gold thou laughest not yet thy delight is more then in a iest that shaketh thy splene As grief so ioy is not lesse whē it is least expressed 10 I haue seene the worst natures most depraued minds not affecting all sinnes but still some they haue condemned in others and abhorred in themselues One exclaimes on couetousnesse yet he can too wel abide riotous good fellowship Another inueighes against drunkennesse and excesse not caring how cruel he be in vsury and oppression One cannot indure a rough and quarrellous disposition yet giues himselfe ouer to vnclean lasciuious courses Another hates all wrongs saue wrong to God One is a ciuill Atheist another a religious Vsurer a third an honest Drunkarde a fourth an vnchaste Iusticer a fift a chaste Quarreller I know not whether euery diuel excel in all sins I am sure some of them haue denomination from some sinnes more speciall Let no man applaude himselfe for those sinnes he wanteth but condemn himself rather for that sin he hath Thou censurest another mans sinne hee thine GOD curseth both 11 Golde is the heauiest of all metalles It is no wonder that the rich man is vsually carryed downward to his place It is hard for the soule clogged with manie weights to ascēd to heauen It must be a strong and nimble soule that can carry vp it selfe and such a lode yet Adam and Noah flewe vp thither with the double Monarchy of the worlds the Patriarkes with much wealth maoie holy Kings with massie Crowns and Scepters The burden of couetous desires is more heauy to an empty soule then much treasure to the full Our affections giue poise or lightnesse to earthly things Either abate of thy lode if thou finde it too pressing whether by hauing lesse or louing lesse or adde to thy strength activitie that thou mayst yet ascend It is more commendable by how much more harde to climbe into heauen with a burden 12 A Christian in all his wayes must haue three guides Truth Charity Wisedome Truth to go before him Charity Wisdome on eyther hand If any of the three be absent he walks amisse I haue seen some doe hurt by following a truth vncharitably And others while they would salve vp an errour with loue haue fayled in their wisedome and offended against iustice A charitable vntruth and an vncharitable truth and an vnwise menaging of truth or loue are all to be carefullie auoyded of him that woulde goe with a right foot in the narrow way 13 GOD brought man forth at first not into a Wildernesse but a Garden yet then he expected best seruice of him I neuer finde that hee delights in the misery but in the prosperity of his seruants Cheerfulnes pleases him better then a deiected and dull heauinesse of heart If wee can bee good with pleasure hee grudgeth not our ioy If not it is best to stint our selues not for that these comforts are not good but because our harts are euil falting not their nature but our vse and corruption 14 The homeliest seruice that we doe in an honest calling tho it be but to plow or dig if done in obedience cōscience of Gods cōmandement is crowned with an ample reward whereas the best works for their kind preaching praying offering euangelical sacrifices if without respect of Gods iniunction and glory are loded with curses God loueth aduerbs cares not how good but how well 15 The goldē infancy of some hath proceeded to a brazen youth and ended in a leaden age All humane maturities have their period Onely grace hath none I durst neuer laie too muche hope on the forwarde beginnings of witt and memorie which haue been applauded in children I knew they could but attaine their vigor and that if sooner no whit the better for the earlier is their perfection of wisedome the lōger shal be their witless age Seasonablenesse is best in all these things which haue their ripenesse and decay Wee can neuer hope too much of the timely blossomes of grace whose spring is perpetuall and whose haruest begins with our end 16 A man must giue thankes for some-what which he may not pray for It hath been sayde of Courtiers that they must receiue iniuries giue thanks God cannot wrong his but hee will crosse them those crosses are beneficiall all benefites challenge thanks Yet I haue read that Gods children have with condition prayed against them neuer for them In good things we pray both for them and their good vse in euill for their good vse not themselues Yet wee must giue thankes for both For there is no evill of paine which God dooth not nothing that God doth is not good no good thing but is worthy of thankes 17 One half of the world knowes not how the other liues and therefore the better sort pitty not the distressed and the miserable enuy not those which fare better because they knowe it not Each man iudges of others condition by his owne The worst sort would be too much discontented if they sawe how farr more pleasant the life of others is And if the better sort such we cal those which are greater could look down to the infinit miseries of inferiours it would make them either miserable in compassion or proude in conceite It is good some-times for the delicate riche man to look into the poor mans cupboard and seeing God in mercy gives him not to knowe their sorrowe by experience to knowe it yet in speculation This shall teache him more thankes to God more mercy to men more contentment in himselfe 18 Such as a mans prayer is for another it shall be in time of his extreamity for himselfe For though he loue himselfe more then others yet his apprehensiō of God is alike for both Such as his praier is in a former extreamity it shal be also in death this way we may haue experience euen of a thing future If God haue been far off frō thee in a fit of thine ordinary sicknesse feare least he will not