what is the reason of all this but because nature must have its rest and delight from that only which is sutable to its own appetite and desire Hence it is that though God be so perfect a good yet he is not the happiness of evil Men or evil Angels for he is not sutable to their vitiated depraved natures The carnal mind which beareth sway in unregenerate men is enmity against God and Devils are as contrary to Gods nature as fire is to water Hence it is that spiritual men place and enjoy happiness in the Father of Spirits because he is the savoury meat which their souls love Though the sinner can live upon dregs as the swine on dung yet the Saint must have refined Spirits and nothing lesse then Angels food and delights It is an unquestionable truth that nothing can give true comfort to man but that which hath a relation and beareth a proportion to his highest and noblest part his immortal soul for his sensitive faculties were created in him to be subordinate and serviceable to their Master Reason therefore he is excelled in them by his inferiours as the Eagle in seeing and the Hound in scenting nature aiming at some more sublime and excellent design the perfection of the rational part in those lower particulars was lesse exact therefore the blessed God alone being a sutable Good to the heavenly spiritual soul of man can only satisfie it Philosophers tell us the reason of the irons cleaving to and resting in the load-stone is because the pores of both bodies are alike so there are effluxes and emanations that slide through them and unite them together One cause of the Saints love to and delight in God is his likeness to God Creatures are earthly the soul is heavenly they are corporeal the soul is spiritual therefore as when friends are contrary in disposition the soul cannot take up its rest and happiness in their fruition but God is sutable and therefore satisfying I am God All sufficient Gen. 17.1 Some derive the word Shaddai from Almighty Alsufficient from shad a dug for as the breast is sutable to the Babe nothing else will quiet it so is God to his Children A man that is hungry finds his stomack still craving something he wants without which he cannot be well Give him musick company pictures houses honours yet there follows no satisfaction these are not sutable to his appetite still his stomack craves but set before this man some wholesome food and let him eat his craving is over They did eat and were filled O miserabilis hâ—mâ—a cordâ—â— sine Châ—isto Oâ—nâ—um omne â—uod viviâ— â—lâ—â—e om Epit. Nep. Tim 1. p. â—5 Neh. 9.25 So it is with mans soul as with his body the soul is full of cravings and longings spending it self in sallies out after its proper food give it the credit and profits and pleasures of the world and they cannot abate its desire it craves still for these do not answer the souls nature and therefore cannot answer its necessity but once set God before it and it feeding on him it is satisfied it s very inordinate dogged appetite after the world is now cured He tasting this Manna tramples on the Onions of Egypt He that drinketh of this water shall thirst again but he that drinketh of the water which I shall give him shall never thirst John 4. CHAP. XII God the Saints happiness because of his Eternity and the Saints propriety in him GOD is a permanent good That which makes a man happy must be immortal like himself as man is rational so he is a provident creature desirous to lay up for hereafter and this forecast reacheth beyond the fools in the Gospel for many years even for millions of ages for ever by laying hold on eternal life He naturally desires an immortality of being whence that inclination in creatures say Philosophers of propagating their kind and therefore an eternity of blessedness The soul can enjoy no perfection of happiness if it be not commensurate to its own duration For the greater our joy is in the fruition of any good the greater our grief in its amission Eternity is one of the fairest flowers in the glorified Saints garland of honour It s an eternal weight of glory 2. Cor. 4.17 Were the triumphant spirits ever to put off their Crown of life the very thought thereof would be death and like leaven would sower the whole lump of their comforts The perpetuity of their state adds infinitely to their pleasure We shall ever be with the Lord. 2. Thes 4.16 Here they have many a sweet bait but there God will be their standing-dish never off the Heavenly Table The creature cannot make man happy Laâ—itia saeculi cum ma na expect â—oâ—e speratâ—r ut veniniâ—t â—oâ—â—â—test tenâ—râ— câ—nvenit Aug. tract 7 in Job because as it is not able to fill him so it is not fast to him like the Moon in the increase it may shine a little the former part of the night but is down before morning Man is not sure to hold them whilst he liveth How often is the candle of outward comforts blown out by a suddain blast of providence Many as Naomi go out full but come home empty some disaster or other as a Theif meets them by the way and robs them of their deified treasure The Vessel in which all of some mens wealth is embarqued while it spreadeth fair with its proud Sails and danceth along upon the surging waters when the Factor in it is pleasing himself with the kind salutes he shall receive from his Merchant for making so profitable a Voyage is in an instant swallowed up of unseen quick-sands and delivereth its Fraught at another Port and to an unknown Master Those whose morning hath been sunshiny and clear have met with such showres before night as have washed away their wealth However if these comforts continue all day at the night of death as false lovers serve men in extremity they leave us the knife of death which stobs the sinner to the heart Le ts out the blood and spirits of all his joyes and happiness But God is the true happiness of the soul because he is an eternal good As this Sun hath no mists so it nevey sets so that the rest of the Soul in God is an eternal Sabbath like the new Jerusalem it knoweth no night Outward mercies in which most place their felicity are like land floods which swell high and make a great noise but are quickly in again when the blessed God like the Spring-head runeth over and runneth ever Fourthly Because of the Saints propriety in this God though God be never so perfect suitable sure a good Yet it s litle Comfort to them that have no interest in him Another mans health will not make me happy when sick What Happinesse hath a begger in the shady walkes pleasant garden stately buildings curious roomes costly furniture and precious jewels of
little dost thou think what Rings and Robes what dainties and delicates what grace and mercy and peace he provided on purpose against the return of thee a wandring prodigal Thou needst now no longer run a score with the World for any of its course carnal fare thy beloved will entertain thee at his own table with curious and costly feasts thou shalt have bread to eat which the world knows not of If dangers and evils pursue thee thou hast thy City of refuge at hand wherein thou mayst be secure from the fear and fury of men and Devils T will be life to thee now to think of Death thou mayst lift up thy head with joy when that day of thy redemption draweth nigh Death will give thee a writ of ease both from sin and sorrow then thy Indentures will expire and thy soul be at liberty Thou hast now taken in thy full lading for Heaven and mayst therefore call like a Merchant that hath all his goods on shipboard to the Master of the Vessel to hoise up sail and be gone towards thy everlasting harbour O how may thy heart revive with old Jacobs to see those wagons which are sent to fetch thee to thy dear Jesus for thou knowest that he is Lord of the Countrey and able to make thee welcome when thou comest thither Now thou art present in the body and so absent from the Lord but then thou shalt ever ever be with the Lord but if thou refusest so great and so good an offer chusing slavery to the flesh before this Christian liberty and resolving as many wicked ones do rather to be free for many Harlots then to take one Wife rather to love and serve divers lusts and pleasures then to be wedded to Jesus Christ go on take thy course but be confident that thy fleshly life like the head of Polypus though pleasant at present will afterwards cause troublesome sleep and frightful Dreams If thou intendest to lanch into the Ocean of eternity without this Pilot the blessed Saviour who alone can steer the Vessel of thy soul amidst those dangerous shelves and sands aright and the ballast of grace not regarding what passage thou hast nor at what Port thou arrivest in the other World whether Heaven or Hell prepare thy self to take up thine eternal lodging amongst frightful Devils and to bear thy part in the endless yellowings and howlings of the Damned and know withal to thy terror that this very tender of grace will one day like Joabs Sword to Abner stab thee under the fift rib cut thee to the very heart and like a mountain of Lead sinck thee deep into that Ocean of wrath when thou shalt have time enough to befool thy self for refusing so good an offer and where thou shalt be tormented day and night for ever and ever I have this day set before thee life and death blessing and cursing therefore chuse life that both thou and thy seed may live That thou mayst love the Lord thy God and that thou mayst obey his voice and that thou mayst cleave unto him for he is thy life and the length of thy days Deut. 30.19 20. CHAP. VIII The Second Exhortation To the serious Christian shewing how a Saint may come to dye with courage I Shall now speak in this Use of Exhortation to the Serious Christian If thy flesh will fail thee so fortifie thy Spirit 2. Exhortation To the serious Christian to be valiant in Death that thou mayst give the flesh a chearful farewel Thy care must be to dye with courage A good Souldier in all his Armour may be daunted at the sight of that Enemy whom he meeteth on a sudden Mary was troubled at the sight and sayings of that Angel which brought the best news that ever the world heard Luk. 1. T is true thou canst never dye before thou art ripe for Heaven but thou mayst dye in some sence before thou art ready in thy own apprehensions to leave the earth Many go to Heaven certainly who go not to Heaven comfortably Tertul. de Spectat cap. 1. It was Tertullians character of the Christians in his time that they were Expiditum morti genus A sort of people prepared for death When a son hath loytered in the day he may well be affraid to look his Father in the face at night but when he hath laboured faithfully he may come into his presence without fear Though he that is sober at home be more ready to put off his cloaths and go to sleep then he that is drinking and vomiting in a Tavern yet even this man may think of some business which he neglected in the day time that may make him unwilling to lye down Surely somewhat is the cause that the children of God are so unquiet when night cometh and so many of them go wrangling to bed Christian I would in a few words direct thee how thou mayst put off thy earthly Tabernacle as chearfully as thy cloaths and lye down in thy grave as comfortably as ever thou didst in a bed of Down It is thy own fault if thou dost not keep such a good fire all day I mean Grace so flaming on the hearth of thy heart that thou mayst encrease it at night and so go warm to bed even to thy Eternal Rest The first Means Take heed of blotting thy Evidences for Heaven Darkness we know is very dreadful 1 Blot not thy evidences for Heaven when men by great or willful sins have so blurred the deeds which speak their right to Heaven that they cannot read them no wonder if being thus in the dark they are affraid to leave the earth It is reported of good Agathon Doroth Doct. 2. that when death approached he was much troubled whereupon his friends said unto him What dost thou fear He answered I have endeavoured to keep the commandments of God but I am a man and how do I know whether my works please God or no for other is the judgement of God and other is the judgement of men He must needs be troubled to be removed from present pleasures who knoweth not that he shall go to a better place Twenty pounds a year certain is counted better then and a man will be unwilling to part with it for forty pounds a year that is doubtful It is assurance onely of a better life which will carry the soul with comfort through the bitter pangs of death Hence it was that Job called so frequently and cried so earnestly to be laid to bed O that I might have my request that God would grant me the thing that I long for even that it would please God to destroy me that he would let loose his hand and cut me off then should I yet have comfort Let him not spare for I have not concealed the words of the holy one Job 6.8 9 10. Job had lived with a good conscience and therefore feared not to dye with great comfort His fidelity to God
2 Sam. 23.5 Mark how the pious King draws all the Wine which made his heart glad in one of his last hours from this Pipe Death is one of the sowrest things in the World and such things require much sugar to make them sweet David found so much honey in the Covenant that therewith he made Death it self a pleasant a desireable Dish If you observe the beginning of the Chapter you will find that his end was near Now these be the last words of David But this this was the quiet and ease of his heart that Gods Covenant with him was everlasting and without end As Death is famous for its terror being King thereof so also for his power it brings down the mighty Princes and Potentates of the Earth Cant. 8.6 Samson was but a Child in Deaths hands hence we read when Scripture would draw strength in its full proportion and length As strong as Death but as strong as Death is David knew it could not break in sunder the Covenant between God and him nor dissolve the union betwixt his Saviour and his soul The firmness of this Covenant being sure footing for faith to stand on is that which puts life into a dying Christian As Death though it parted the soul and body of Christ parted neither of them from the divine nature they were as a Sword drawn by a man the Sword is in one hand separated from the Sheath in the other hand but neither of them separated from the man so though Death break the natural union between the beleivers soul and body it cannot break the mystical union between Jesus Christ and the soul therefore Saints are said to sleep in Jesus 1 Thes 4.14 And truely by the vertue of this Cordial this Covenant they are so far from flying back at the sight of their Foe Death that they can look him in the face with courage and confidence See how they triumph over him as if he were already under their feet O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy Victory 1 Cor. 15.57 58. The sting of Death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law but thanks be to God which hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Hark they speak as Challengers daring their disarmed enemy to meet them in the field and they speak as Conquerors being assured through the Captain of their salvation of the victory before they fight Epiphanius faith Epiph. lib. 1. cap 33. that Adam was buried in Calvary where Christ was crucified Sure it is that Christ at Calvary did somewhat which made the Christians bed soft and easie that whereas it would have been a bed of Thorns he turned it into a bed of down and thereby the beleiver comes to lye on it so contentedly and to sleep so sweetly and comfortably By this time Reader I hope thou understandest the necessity and benefit of this relative change With this Covenant thou art armed Cap a pe with armour of proof with the righteousness of Christ which is law proof death proof and judgement proof and leavest Death wholly disarmed and naked Without this thou hast no Weapons and findest Death a man of War In the forequoted place thou seest that sin is the sting of Death and the strength of sin is the Law The Law binds the soul over for disobedience to its precept to its malediction and punishment passeth a sentence of condemnation already upon the creature and beginneth its execution in that bondage and fear as flashes of the unquenchable fire which seize on men in this life Rom. 7.6 John 3.18 Heb. 2.14 And as sin hath its strength from the law the law making it so powerful to curse and condemn so Death hath its strength and sting its venome and vertue to kill and damn to destroy soul and body for ever from sin Sin makes Death so deadly that its the poyson in the cup which makes it so mortal and loathsom a draught Thy work and wisdom therefore is as the Philistinos when they heard that the great strength of Samson the destroyer of their Country lay in his hair were restless till they had cut it off and became weak so now thou hearest wherein the strength of Death the great destroyer and damner of souls consisteth to be unquiet night and day to follow God up and down with sighs and sobs strong cries and deep groans for pardon of sin and to give thy self no rest till thou attainest an interest in this Covenant through Jesus Christ Pious Job though not in thy case was for this cause exceeding importunate for a sense of this pardon And why dost thou not pardon mine iniquity and take away my trasgressions for now shall I sleep in the dust and thou shalt seek me in the morning and I shall not be Job 7. ult He cryeth out as one fallen into a deep dirty ditch or one whose house is fired Water Water for the Lords sake to clease this defiled soul and to quench this scorched conscience Lord Why doth the messenger who useth to come post to me a poor condemned Prisoner with a pardon lingring so long Alas I wish he may not come too late But what is the reason of this importunity for expedition Why Job in his own thoughts was going to appear before his Judge and he durst not venture without a pardon in his hand for now shall I sleep in the dust The child did not dare to go to bed at night till he had asked his Father Blessing and begd and obtained forgiveness of his disobedience in the day Nothing in the whole creation can pacifie the conscience awakened with the guilt of sin and frighted with the fear of death but a pardon in the blood of this Covenant for want of this it was that the Heathen were either desperate or doubtfull in their deaths and their Orator ingeniously confesseth that notwithstanding all the Medicines they could gather out of their own Gardens the Disease was still too strong for the Remedy But a plaister spread with the blood of Christ and applied by faith to the sore is a soveraign and certain cure Faith in Christ is such a Shield that under its protection a Christian may stand in the evil day of Death keep his ground and secure himself from all the shot which the Law Satan or conscience can make against him I am the resurrection and the life He that liveth and beleiveth in me shall live though he dye Joh. 11. Willet Hexapl. in Levit. c. 11. The Death of the King of Saints is the onely comfort and help against Death the King of Terrors It s a strange property which some report of the Charadrion that if any man have the jaundise and look on the bird and the bird on him the bird catcheth the disease and dieth of it but the man recovereth Christ took mans disease and dyed that all who look on him with an eye of Faith might recover and live
encouraged him to expect mercy from God He had not concealed nor shut up Gods faithfulness from men and therefore knew that God would not conceal his loving kindness from him But David on the other hand when night in his own thoughts drew near was as importunate to fit up longer God seemed to call him to bed but he begs hard O spare me that I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more Psa 39. ult Now mark the reason of this petition David as t is generally conceived was now persecuted by Absolom the unnatural Son forced his Father to flie He in his suffering reads his own sin and Gods indignation and so dreads an appearance in the other World in such a condition He who when things were clear betwixt God and his soul could walk in the valley of the shadow of Death and fear none ill could even give Death a challenge now when things are cloudy and dubious runs back like a Coward He had lost the sense of Gods favour and therefore could not think of venturing into his presence without much fear The train of his corruptions threatned to wait on him to the highest Court and he durst not appear before the Lord with such company He had been declining in his grace under a sad distemper and as a weak consumptionate man he was affraid to travail so great a journey as the way whence he should never return The Tenant who wants his rent loves not to hear of the Quarter day Friend If thou wouldst leave the World chearfully live in the World conscienciously take heed of those fiends which will fright thee in the night of Death chuse suffering before sin and punish thy body to keep thy soul pure The Ermin some say will die before she will go into the Dirt to defile her beautiful skin and the Mouse of Armenia will rather be taken and slain then preserve and pollute her self in a filthy Hole As the white is always in the Archers eye so let thy Death be in thine that it may quicken thee to diligence and exactness in thy life Logicians who regard not the premises infer wilde conclusions so if thou art careless of thy conversation expect but an uncomfortable dissolution As when God looked on all his works and saw that they were good then followed his Sabbath of rest so when thou canst reflect upon the several passages of thy life and see that through Christ they are good and thou hast not been guilty of enormities though of infirmities after this thou wilt joyfully by Death enter into thy everlasting Sabbath Thy evidence will be clear if thy conscience be kept clean but the truth is many even amongst Christians wound their souls by venturing on sin and thence flinch and start back when they come to be searcht besides they neglect casting up their accounts so long that they know not whether they are worth any thing or nothing and so may well be unwilling to have their estates ransackt into If thou shouldst fall I would not sad any Saint take heed of lying there but be as speedy as is possible in calling to Christ to raise thee up If thy conscience be raw with the guilt of any sin a light affliction much more Death will make thee kick and fling and unwilling to bear it But when thy flesh is sound thy spirit healed by the blood of Christ Death it self will be but a light burden on thy back How merrily mayst thou though thou hast not a penny in thine own purse go the way of all the Earth travel into the other World when thou art sure of Christ in thy company who will bear thy charges all the way The second Means 2 Wean thy heart from the World Secondly Mortifie thy affections more to the World and all its comforts They who love the World most leave it worst Lots Wife lingered in Sodom so much and was so loth to depart because she loved it overmuch When boards lye close one upon another they are easily parted but when they are glewed one to another t will cost some trouble and pains If thy heart be loose to the World t will be a small matter to thee to leave it but if thou art fastened to it in thy affections t will not be done without much reluctancy and opposition The Wife who hath been so faithful to her Husband as to keep her heart wholly for him is ready always to open the Door to him when she that entertaineth other Lovers though her Husband knock at the Door dares not run presently to open it but first makes a shuffling and busling up and down to hide or get them out of the way The more thy affections are set on Christ thy true Husband the more the World is taken out of thee and so the more easily wilt thou be taken out of the World He who hath laid up his heart in Heaven will comfortably think of laying down his head in the Earth When the pins of the Watch are taken out which held it together how easily doth it fall in peices When thy affections from these things below are removed how quickly how quietly will thy soul and body fall asunder If the World be as loose to thee as thy Cloak thou canst put it off at pleasure but if it be as close to thee as thy skin they shall have somwhat to do who shall perswade thee to part with it We read of some unwilling to dye for they had treasure in the field Jer. 41.8 Where their treasure was their hearts were also Make it thy work therefore by considering the Worlds vanity and deceitfulness and by pondering Heavens glory and happiness to wean thy heart from sublunary things hereby thou wilt as willingly leave them as ever infant did those breasts which long ago t was weaned from The third Means 3. Familiarize the thoughts of Death Vse thy heart to the frequent thoughts of Death When Children are frighted at a Dog or a Cat we do not give way to their foolish fears but bring the brute to them and get them to touch and handle it and shew them that it is not such a frightful thing as they imagine and hereby in time they are so far from being frighted that they can play with it familiarly Dost thou dread this King of Terrors Death give not way to this fear but bring death up to thy spirit handle it feel it there is no such hurt in it as thou imaginest nothing which should terrifie thee hereby at last thou mayst come to play upon the hole of this Asp One ground I suppose why Job made no more of dying was because he was so well acquainted with Death Strangers are startled at many things in a place which they that are home-born and used to can delight in I have said to corruption Thou art my Father and to the Worms thou art my Brother and Sister Job 17.14 Job was as familiar with Death
as if it had been his Father and made no more of dying then of falling into the Armes and embraces of his Mother or Sister Moses at first started back at the sight of the Serpent but when he had handled it a little t was turned into a rod and nothing frightful to him There is a story of an Ass called Cumanus Ass which jetting up and down in a Lyons skin did for a time much terrifie his Master but afterwards being descried did much benefit him Thou art fearful possibly Reader of this beast supposing it to be a roaring Lyon but come up to it and thou wilt find it but an Ass in the skin of a Lyon and such a one as will be no way hurtful but many ways helpful to thee What is this Bugbear Death which thus frights thee Is it not the Paranymphus which presenteth thy faithful soul to thy beloved Husband Is it not a leaving the World and a going to thy Father Is it less then a kiss of Gods lips The indulgent parent will take the babe into her Arms and with many kisses lay it in her lap when its falling asleep The Chaldee Paraphrase tell us Moses dyed with a kiss of the Lords mouth Deut. 34.5 Will it not be the funeral of all thy corruptions and crosses and the resurrection of all imagiable delights and comforts Didst thou but know this friend more thou wouldst not be so shie of its company The Roman used their youth to gladiatory fights and bloody spectacles that acquaintance with them before-hand might make them less troubled in Wars with their enemies Philostrates lived seven years in his Tomb before his death that his bones might be the better known to his Grave Accustom thy self to the thoughts of death thy change thy translation to bliss thy entrance into Heaven and when it comes his Errand being known so well before he will be welcome Mithridates by accustoming his body to poison turned it into good nourishment Use thy soul to the thoughts of Death and though it be worse then poison to others t will be pleasant and profitable to thee CHAP. IX The Second Doctrine That God is the Comfort of a Christian with the grounds of it His happyness is in God I Proceed now to the second Doctrine from the second part of the Text the Saints comfort But God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever That the comfort of a Christian in his saddest condition is this That God is his portion The Psalmists condition was very sad his Flesh failed him The second Doctrine that the comfort of a Christian in his saddest condition is that Go◠is his portion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. de Ju. Se. cap. 3. Mans Spirit often decayes with his flesh The Spirits and blood are let out together His Heart fell with his flesh but what was the strong cordial which kept him from swooning at such a season Truly this But God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever Aristotle affirmeth of the Tortoys that it liveth when its heart is taken away The holy man here liveth when his heart dyeth As the Sap in winter retreateth to the root and there is preserved so the Saint in crosses in death retireth to God the Fountain of his life and so is comforted David when his Wives were captivated his wealth plundred and his very life threatned for the Souldiers talked of Stoning him was doubtless in a very dreadfull estate one would have thought such an heavy burden must needs break his back but behold the joy of the Lord was his strength But David encouraged his heart in the Lord his God 1 Sam. 30.6 When the Table of earthly comforts which for a long time at best had been but indifferently spread for him was quite empty he fetcheth sweet-meats out of his Heavenly Closet But David encouraged his heart in the Lord his God Methodius reporteth of the Plant Pyragnus that it flourisheth in the flames of Olympus Christians as the Salamander may live in the greatest fire of affliction at this day And as the three Children may sing when the whole world shall be in a flame at the last day They are by the Spirit of God compared to Palm-trees Psalm 92.12 which though many weights are hanging on the top and much drought be at the bottom are neither say some Naturalists born down nor dried up This nightingale may warble out her pleasant notes with the sharpest thorne at her breast The onely reason which I shall give of the Doctrine Reason of the Doctrine because God is his happiness is this Because a Godly man placeth his happiness in God It s natural to the creature in the mid'st of its sufferings to draw its comfort and solace from that pipe whether supposed or real happiness All things have a propensity towards that in which they place their felicity If a stone were lay'd in the Concave of the Moon though air and fire and water are between yet it would break through all and be restless till it come to the earth its centre Asutable and unchangeable rest is the onely satisfaction of the rational creature All the tossings and agitations of the soul are but so many wings to carry him hither and thither that he may find out a place where to rest Let this Eagle once find out and fasten on the true carcasse he is contented as the needle pointing to the North though before in motion yet now he is quiet Therefore the Philosopher though in one place he tells us that delight consisteth in motion yet in another place tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it consisteth rather in rest Happinese is nothing but the Sabbath of our thoughts and the satisfaction of our hearts in the fruition Eth. lib 7. cap. ult of the chiefest good According to the excellency of the object which we embrace in our hearts such is the degree of our happiness the Saints choice is right God alone being the souls center and rest Omnes literae in Jehovah sunt literae qui escentes say the Rabbies Let a sinner have but that which he counteth his treasure though he be under many troubles he is contented Give a covetous man wealth and he will say as Esau I have enough When an ambitious man mounts up to a chair of state he sits down and is at ease If a voluptuous person can but bath himself in the streams of carnal pleasures he is as a fish in his Element So let a Godly man enjoy but his God in whom he placeth all his joy and delight in whom is all his happiness and heaven he is well he hath all Shew us the Father and it sufficeth No more is desired John 14.8 No man thinks himself miserable till he hath lost his happiness A Godlyman is blessed when afflictied and buffetted because God is the proper Orb in which he doth fix and he hath his God still Job