bee the more encreased by the beholding one of another 21 Fourthly we are to abstaine from all carnall delights whereby any one of our sences might bee pleased For the sence of pleasure would abate our mourning diminish the sence of our want and hinder our vnfained humiliation before God Wherefore Ierome saith that fasting is to abstaine not onely from meats but also from all pleasures or allurements And Augustine The Scripture saith he teacheth a general fast not from the concupiscence of meates onely but also from all pleasures of temporal delights Thus are we not only to abridge our tast of meats but also to containe our eies from beholding vanities and pleasures our eares from hearing mirth or musick which in time of mourning is vnseasonable our nostrils from pleasant odours and effeminate smels Our sence of feeling from the vse of the marriage bed which as all married persons are to forbeare vpon consent for such a time of humiliation that they may giue themselues to fasting and prayer so are the Bridegroome and Bride admonished to come forth of their marriage chamber in the time of the fast And all these are to be done partly as meanes of our humiliation in remouing the impediments thereof partly as signes of our humiliation whereby we acknowledge our selues vnworthy of these delights and partly as tokens of our repentance in that by way of godly revenge because all our sences haue sinned we depriue thē all of their seuerall delights And as wee are to make all our sences thus to fast so must wee also weyne our minds from sports and recreations which would not onely hinder our humiliation and godly sorrow but also distract our minds from better meditations in sanctifying the fast And thus haue I shewed that in our fast we are to abstaine from food and some other helps and commodities of this life and also from all outward delights and pleasures 22 Now it remaineth that I should speake of rest from bodily labours and worldly businesse For the time of the fast hath the nature of a Sabboth And by the Prophet Ioel it is called dies interdicti a solemnity or day of prohibition wherein men are forbidden to do any worke as ths Lord expoūdeth that word Leui. 23. It is a day of prohibition or a solemne day You shall do no seruile worke therein And Deut. 16. Six dayes thou shalt eat vnleauened bread and in the seuenth day which shall be a solemnity or day of prohibition to the Lord thy God thou shalt doe no worke So Num. 29.35 For there is the same reason of the extraordinary Sabbath of humiliation and of the ordinary But the ordinary was a Sabbath or rest in which no worke was to bee done yea the Lord threatneth to destroy that person from among his people that shall doe any worke that day And as I said before the law of the weekly Sabbath is to be extended to other extraordinary Sabbaths But on the weekly Sabbath wee may do no worke therefore not in this 23 But let vs consider also why and in what respects rest is required in the day of our fast and bodily labours and worldly businesse forbidden The Lord forbiddeth labour and worldly businesse and commaundeth rest on euery Sabbath not because simply he either liketh of rest or misliketh labour but because bodily labors worldly businesse are a meanes to distract vs from the worship of God and rest from them is a remedy against distraction For euery Sabbath is to be sanctified and set apart from our businesse and affaires and is to bee consecrated to the worship of God And further on the Sabbath of humiliation we take vpon vs after a more speciall maner to worship God and therefore that wee may seriously and entirely intend the seruice of God we are to abandō all other busines and cares For that is better done which is done alone as the Philosopher hath truly said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And it is the counsell of the Wiseman that what wee doe wee should do with all our might For by doing many things our minds are distracted This therefore doth teach vs that with free and entire minds sequestred from all worldly cares we are to be conuersant in the worship of God chiefely when after a more speciall manner we indeuour to humble our selues before him For if bodily labours and worldly businesse bee therefore forbidden because they are meanes to distract vs then may we be sure that distraction it self in the worship of God is much more forbidden For distraction breeds hypocrisie in Gods worship and causeth vs when wee draw nigh to the Lord with our lips to remooue our hearts farre from him 24. Againe the Lord commaundeth vs in all his Sabbaths to rest from labours that this outward rest might be an admonition vnto vs to rest from sinne For why may euery one of vs thinke doth the Lord forbid me on the day of rest the lawfull workes of may calling Or why doe I cease from mine honest affaires Must I forbeare that which in it selfe is lawfull and may I doe that which is vnlawfull Must I therefore for this time sequester my selfe from my honest businesse that I may attend vanities or sinnes Or doth the Lord enjoyne me rest because hee is delighted with idlenesse and would haue me to doe nothing No verily If he forbid me that which is lawfull much more doth he forbid that which is vnlawfull And if he commaund me to rest from honest affaires it is not because he would haue me idle for idlenesse is the mother of much iniquitie but because hee would haue me attend better matters In a word he forbiddeth me to doe mine owne workes and businesse that I may doe his worke and attend his religion and seruice Lastly there may an outward cause be rendered why on the day of the fast wee are to cease from bodily labours For our fraile nature cannot well beare abstinence and bodily labour together for labour setting the bodie in a heat wasteth the moisture and spirits which are to bee supplied by nourishment otherwise we spend vpon the stocke of our naturall moisture which is as it were the oyle in the lampe of our life 25. We see then wherein the outward exercise doth consist and the particulars from which we are to abstain Now wee are briefely to consider for how long this abstinence is to be obserued The vsuall time of a fast is the space of a naturall day viz. from euen to euen or from supper to supper For as that was the time appointed for the ordinarie Sabboth of humiliation so also of the extraordinarie From euen to euen shall you celebrate your Sabboth And accordingly it is noted of the Israelits fast Iud. 20. of Dauid and his followers 2. Sam. 1. of Iosuah and the elders Ios. 7. that it was vntill the euening And more particularly of
Dauids fast for Abner that hee refused to eat any meat while it was yet day but swore saying So doe God to me and more also if I tast bread or ought else till the Sunne be downe In like sort not onely the Iews but also the auncient Christians vsed to fast vntill the Sunne were set Howbeit in processe of time they began especially in the Church of Rome to dissolue their fasts at the ninth houre which is three a clocke afternoone which now they haue brought to the sixt houre and for the most part on their fasting dayes goe to supper before noone But the shortest time that is mentioned in the Scripture of a fast is vntill the euening to which custome their practise is most conformable who fast all day vntill the ordinarie time of supper This as I said is the vsuall time But the children of God when they haue beene pressed with more vrgent occasion haue sometimes continued this exercise for more dayes together As Esther and the Iewes for three dayes Esth. 4 and likewise Paule Act. 9. The men of Iabesh Gilead when they mourned for the death of Saule and his sonnes fasted seuen dayes 1. Sam. 31. Daniell one and twentie dayes 26. As for the fortie dayes fast which Moses Elias and our Sauiour Christ did fast it was miraculous and therefore not to be imitated Neither did they fast fortie dayes together either to subdue their flesh or to humble their soules But Moses being the publisher of the law Elias the restorer of religion our Sauiour Christ the author of the Gospell the Lord would by this miraculous fast so countenance their doctrine as that in respect therof they might seeme not men arising from the earth or authorised by men but the two former as Angels the third as the sonne of God sent from heauen for their abstinence for the time was angelicall And we might as well take vpon vs to imitate the Angels not taking of food which they doe not need as the fast of Christ and of the other two who were by the power of God aboue the strength of nature so sustained as that during their fortie dayes they no more needed food than angels doe Neither did our Sauiour Christ or either of the other fast fortie dayes euery yeare but once onely in all his life Wherefore vnlesse we haue the like cause of fasting and the like power to support vs as indeed none haue it is but a vaine thing to goe about to imitat their fast Now when the fast is continued for more dayes together it is not vnmeet that as in the meane time we are to take but one meale euery day in the euening so also that we should at those times content our selues with a spare diet in respect of the quantitie and meane in respect of the qualitie whether it bee fish or flesh or neither according to the example of Daniel But when our fast is once dissolued whether it bee at the end of one day or of more we may freely vse our ordinary diet obseruing alwayes the rules of temperance and sobriety And it fitteth best the faith of Gods children when they haue humbled themselues before God and poured forth their suit into his bosome to cheere vp themselues in this persuasion That they hauing cōmended and committed their cause to God he will dispose of it and them as shall be most for his glory and their good To this purpose consider the examples of Anna 1. Sam. 1 who after she had fasted and poured forth her soule before the Lord she went her way and did eat and looked no more sad Of Dauid euen then when the Lord did seeme to haue denied his perticuler request 2. Sam. 2. He arose from the earth and washed and annointed himselfe and chaunged his apparell and came into the house of the Lord and worshipped and afterward came to his owne house and bad that they should set bread before him and he did eat And thus much may suffice to haue spoken of the outward fast 27 Now for as much as the kingdome of God standeth not in meat and drinke nor in the abstinence therefrom and seeing bodily exercise profiteth little but piety which consisteth in duties of religion sincerely performed hath the promises both of this life and of that which is to come therefore all this outward abstinence is nothing worth vnlesse it be ioyned with the inward fast and spirituall exercise of religion and bee referred thereunto as to the end thereof For if men rest in the outward fast as though that in it selfe were acceptable vnto God they fast no better than the beasts of Niniuie fasted They fast not vnto God for God is a spirit and they that will worship him must worship him in spirit and truth Wherefore as Zacharie sayth to the Iewes who resting in the outward fast imagined that they pleased God therby When you fasted and mourned in the fift and seuenth moneth these seuentie yeares did you in fasting fast to me to me sayth the Lord Likewise Esay 58 when as the Lord respected not the fast of the Iewes whereby they looked to win his fauour as appeareth by their question vers 3. Wherefore haue we fasted and thou respectest it not we haue afflicted our soules and thou regardest it not He rendreth this reason Because neglecting the inward exercise they rested in the outward Is it such a fast that I haue chosen that a man should for a day afflict his soule namely by outward fasting and hang downe his head like a bull-rush and lie downe in sackeloth and ashes wilt thou call this a fasting or an acceptable day to the Lord But if men shall not onely rest in the outward fast as if that in it selfe were an acceptable worship of God but shall also obserue it with an opinion of satisfaction and merit persuading themselues that by their fast they satisfie for their sinnes and merit euerlasting life then is it much more abhominable in the sight of God as being derogatorie to the onely both satisfactorie sufferings and meritorious obedience of Christ our Sauiour And such seemeth to haue beene the fast of the Pharisie who for all his fasting twice a weeke and his other merits which hee alledgeth went home vnjustified And such is the fast of the Papists at this day who not onely rest in their outward fast which notwithstanding in many respects is but a mockefast but also ascribe satisfaction and merit thereunto 28. What then is the spirituall exercise and the inward fast whereunto the outward abstinence must be referred It is an humbling of our soules in a solemne exercise of prayer joyned with repentance for the obtaining of our speciall suit holpen forward and testified by the outward fast as Ezra speaketh chap. 8. I proclaimed a fast that we might humble our selues before our God and seeke of him a right way
wee must therefore craue the assistance of Gods holy spirit the spirit of grace and supplication that he may helpe our infirmities and teach vs to pray according to God 3. The third thing to be considered is the person to whom our prayer is to be directed Call vpon me sayth the Lord our God the mightie God described vers 1. Hee sendeth vs not to any other either as deliuerers or as intercessours but commaundeth vs to come directly vnto himselfe For of them which in their necessitie flie vnto others may that complaint of the Lord bee verified My people haue committed two euils they haue forsaken me the fountaine of liuing waters to dig them pits euen broken pits that can hold no water Now we are to call vpon God first because it is he that afflicteth vs For when we are iudged that is afflicted we are chastised of the Lord. It is hee that maketh peace and prosperitie and it is he that createth euill and affliction And shall there be euill namely of affliction in a citie and the Lord hath not done it Seeing therefore it is the Lord that afflicteth vs it behooueth vs acknowledging the authour of our affliction to turne vnto him that smiteth vs as the Prophet Esay speaketh But here some man will say If God were the authour of mine affliction there were great reason that I should both patiently beare it and also flie vnto the Lord for deliuerance but this affliction which I sustaine it is to be imputed to the vnfaithfulnesse of such a pretended friend or to the mallice and injurie of such an enemie c. and therefore I see not why I may not wreake my selfe vpon them But I answere whatsoeuer is the seâ—ondarie cause of thine affliction be it the deuill himselfe it is the instrument of God who is the authour and principall cause thereof When it was told Iob that the Sabeans and Chaldeans had carried away his oxen and cammels he acknowledged the hand of God and said The Lord hath giuen and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. When Shemei reuiled Dauid although his tongue were set on fire from hell as Iames speaketh of such cursed tongues notwithstanding Dauid acknowledged the cursed tongue of rayling Shemei to haue beene Gods rod to correct him And Ioseph likewise though hee knew that his brethren for mallice and enuie had sold him into Aegypt yet he acknowledgeth them to be the instruments of God who by their meanes did in great mercie send him before them to prouide for them in the time of famine Which must teach vs when we are wronged not with the dog to snarle at the staffe wherewith he is beaten but to turne to him that smiteth vs and to pray vnto him that it would please him to remooue his hand from vs. Secondly as the Lord afflicteth vs so it is he alone that can and will deliuer vs. For who is able without his leaue to remooue his hand from vs He is our refuge and deliuerer he is our hope and strength and a most present helpe in trouble Come therefore and let vs returne to the Lord for he hath spoiled and he will heale vs he hath wounded vs and he will bind vs vp Thirdly he onely that commaunded vs to call vpon him he onely hath promised to helpe vs he onely is able to heare our prayers and to graunt our requests Therefore thou which hearest the prayer vnto thee shall all flesh come Fourthly when as we flie vnto the Lord in time of trouble we glorifie him acknowledging him to be infinitely good and therefore willing omnipotent and all-sufficient and therefore able to helpe and deliuer those which call vpon him And for this cause the Lord in this place preferreth the sacrifice of prayer before all the sacrifices of the law Wherefore grieuously do they offend who when the hand of God is vpon them doe not call vpon him for they are not onely injurious to themselues but to the Lord also whom they rob of that honour which is due vnto him And this commeth to passe either because they doe not acknowledge the hand of God but thinke it to be some misfortune or rest altogether in the secondarie causes after the manner of carnall and heathenish men or because they distrust Gods helpe and therefore either flie to witches and wizards that is to say to the instruments of the deuill that by his helpe the hand of God may be remooued from them or else to some other vnlawfull meanes whereby they make shift to saue their bodily life for a time with the wofull losse both of bodie and soule for euer or else because they beleeue not the promises of God made to our prayers and therefore are discouraged from praying and become desperat as though it would nothing auaile them to call vpon God 4. The fourth and last thing to be considered is the time when we are to pray vnto God We are to pray alwayes and without ceasing but especially as here we are directed in the day of trouble and that for these reasons First because our prayers then are most necessarie for then we feele and feeling doe confesse that Gods helpe is so necessarie for vs as that we vtterly are vndone vnlesse the Lord doe helpe and succour vs. Vnto thee O Lord sayth Dauid doe I crie ô my strength be not deafe towards me least if thou answere me not I be like to them that goe downe into the pit Secondly because our prayers then especially proceeding from the inward sence of our want are most feruent and effectuall For euen as water whiles it runneth at large hath a still motion but being gathered into straits runneth with violence so it fareth with many men who being at large in ease and prosperitie either pray not all or very coldly but being brought into straits they poure forth their soules before the Lord like to a streame of water as the Prophet Ieremie speaketh To which purpose Esay sayth Lord in trouble haue they visited thee they poured out an humble and effectuall prayer when thy chastening was vpon them Thirdly because the Lord doth therefore afflict vs that we should flie vnto him therefore doth he bereaue vs of other helpes and meanes that wee might the more firmely relie vpon him For if wee were not afflicted it may be we should not seeke to him or if wee had other meanes we would relie vpon them This is testified by the Lord himselfe in the prophesie of Hosea For I will be sayth he vnto Ephraim as a Lion and as a Lions whelpe to the house of Iudah I euen I will spoile and goe away I will take away and none shall reseue it I will goe and returne to my place that is I will withdraw my comfortable presence from them for a time till they acknowledge their fault and seeke me In their affliction they will
and punishments in the Scripture are often called iniquities and sinnes But for whose sinnes I beseech you is this publicke judgement laid vpon the land For their sinnes alone who haue beene visited or are dead of the plague No I assure you but for the sinnes of vs all For although God hauing mercie on vs doth for our sinnes among the rest afflict others and spare vs that wee beholding this common judgement in others deserued by our sinnes as well as theirs might meet him in his iudgements and turne vnto him by repentance yet may not wee thinke our selues more righteous than they or esteeme them as more grieuous sinners than our selues because the Lord hath hetherto spared vs vnlesse we would haue that sentence of our Sauiour Christ to bee most justly applied vnto vs I tell you nay but vnlesse you repent you all shall likewise perish Wherefore let vs humble our selues vnder the hand of God let vs turne vnto him that smiteth vs that of vs that at the least may be verified which is said of the Israelits when the Lord slew them they sought him and turned vnto him Let vs I say turne vnto him with all our hearts and with fasting and mourning let vs call vpon God with vpright hearts in this time of our trouble that being deliuered out of the same we may glorifie him Who knoweth if he will returne and repent of this euill nay who knoweth not or who doubteth but he will haue mercie on vs and deliuer vs if our deliuerance may bee for his glorie and our spiritual good seeing he hath so graciously promised in this place that if we call vpon him in the day of trouble he will deliuer vs and we shall glorifie him Hauing spoken of the commaundement we are now to intreat of the promise which is added as a reason or motiue to stirre vs vp to the obedience of the commaundement For as the commaundement teacheth vs that if we desire deliuerance out of affliction that we may glorifie God we are to begge the same at the hands of God by heartie prayer so the promise assureth vs that if wee call vpon God in the day of trouble hee will deliuer vs for his owne glorie and our comfort for so he saith I will deliuer thee and thou shalt glorifie me In which words two things are promised deliuerance and the end or fruit thereof which is the glorifying of God As touching the former we are to consider the circumstance of the person promising and the thing it selfe which is promised The person is God for as it is he that afflicteth so it is hee onely which deliuereth as the Prophet Hosea sheweth this therefore teacheth vs vnto whom we are both in affliction to flie for deliuerance not to Saints in heauen nor to wisards on earth but to God alone and when wee are deliuered to returne thankes And secondly we may here obserue the vnspeakeable clemencie of our gracious God who is so readie as this promise importeth to aunswere to our prayers and to graunt our requests yea in that he allureth vs to call vpon him by his gracious promise it is euident that he is more readie to heare than we to pray So the Lord himselfe testifieth by his Prophet Esay 65.24 Yea before the call I will aunswere and while they speake I will beare and the same is signified in the parable of the prodigall sonne for when he was about to returne to his father by whom is signified God our father his father saw him being yet a great way off and had coÌ„passion and ran and fell on his necke and kissed him And this as it is the priuiledge of Gods people to haue God neere vnto them in all things which they aske at his hands as Moses saith so also this is the assurance of the faithfull that if we aske any thing according to his will he heareth vs. And if we know that he heareth vs whatsoeuer we aske we know that we haue the petitions that we haue desired of him The thing promised is deliuerance for so he saith I will deliuer thee And the same is promised elsewhere for that which our Sauiour Christ hath taught vs to aske the Lord hath promised to graunt But Christ our Sauiour hath taught vs to pray that we may be deliuered from the euill of affliction therefore the Lord hath promised deliuerance therefrom The like promise we haue Psal. 34 When the righteous crie the Lord heareth them and deliuereth them out of all their troubles And againe Manie are the troubles of the righteous but the Lord deliuereth him out of them all Likewise Psa. 91 to such as loue the Lord this promise is made He shall call vpon me and I will heare him I will be with him in trouble I will deliuer him and glorifie him We are therefore with faith in this promise to call vpon God in the time of trouble not doubting of the performance thereof for God who hath made this promise is mercifull and therefore he will in mercie heare those which in trouble and miserie do call vpon him For so he saith Exod. 22 When he crieth vnto me I will heare him for I am mercifull And he is also faithfull which hath promised and therefore will not suffer vs to be tempted aboue our strength but with the temptation will giue an issue that we may be able to beare it It is impossible that God in his word or promise should lie and therefore heauen and earth shall passe away but not one jot or tittle of this word and promise of God rightly vnderstood shall fall to the ground vnaccomplished The same â—aith may be confirmed by the experience of the faithfull in all ages who hauing called vpon the Lord in the time of trouble haue bene deliuered out of the same The Israelits were in grieuous thraldome in Egypt but when they cried vnto the Lord he heard their voyce and deliuered them as themselues professe Num. 201.6 Likewise when they cried vnto him he deliuered them out of the hands of the Amorits the Ammonits the Philistins the Sidonians the Amalekits and other their enemies as himselfe telleth them Iud. 10. Sampson after he had slaine a thousand Philistins with the jawbone of an Asse he cried vnto the Lord being readie to die for thirst and obtained a well in Lechi for so the place is called which for a perpetuall monument of prayer was called the fountaine of him that prayed Dauid often confesseth to the glorie of God that he had diuerse times called vpon God in trouble and that the Lord heard and deliuered him Ionas when hee was cast into the sea and swallowed of the whale cried vnto the Lord and was restored safe to land Ezechias hauing receiued the sentence of death the Prophet Esay telling him that he should die and not liue notwithstanding by prayer obtained the prolonging