which eyther his owne conceit blameth as too base and vndecent to his honour or his owne conscience condemneth as vniust or his wisedome disliketh as too fond or his diuine spirite abandoneth as impious Iehosophat * Well then quod Iehosophat this being well resolued why should wee further delay Let vs approch howbeit with all the best wisedome and modesty to the consideration of the kings Maiesty Of Solomons progeny and birth As for progenie and birth there is no cause that the kings Maiesty should abase or dislike himselfe for hee is the sonne of worthy Nobles yea Noah hee is descended of the most noble house of that auncient Ianus or Noah Noah to whome the Lord granted to see the end of the old world and the beginning of the new howbeit he came not in by Cham nor by Iaphet Shem. but by Shem whome the Lord especially fauoured and chose to continue the seed of the blessed Abraham vnto the time of Abraham our father by whom and from whome the king is lineally descended neverthelesse not by his sonne Ismael the sonne of Hagar the bonde Isaack but by his sonne Isaack of Sarah the frée woman in whome the hope of the promise rested Againe hee was not of Esau who was iustly depriued both of the birth-right and the blessing Iacob but of Iacob whome the Lord louing and liking called Israel and Israel had many sonnes but the king came onely from Iudah â—udah in whose tribe according to the prophesie of Iacob the Scepter should be raised and a Law-giuer continued vnto the comming of Shilo to whome the people should be gathered From hence was the line drawne to Ishai Ishai and from him to David the Kings father who being a man after Gods owne heart David was according to the diuine prouidence ordained and annointed by Samuel the Lords Prophet before all his brethren to be king ouer his people of Israel whom he defended from their enemies on euery side with a strong and valiant hand fed them with discretion iudged theÌ„ with equitie and righteousnes and raigned ouer them ful 40. yeares to the glory of the Lord and good of his people with great honour Bethseba Sol. mother The kinges mother also was Bethseba the daughter of Eliam of no meane parentage her name soundeth the daughter of an oath or the seuenth daughter She was a right noble wise and vertuous Gentlewoman sometimes the wife of Vriah the Hittite a man of great estimation Indeede it was so that for her sake the king affecting her did iniuriously oppresse her said husband the rather by Ioabs meanes at what time this noble woman eyther doubted or simply thought that it was not lawfull for her husband or her selfe being subiectes to deny any thing which the king should command or desire of them 1. Sam. 8 11. knowing what Samuel the prophet had before that said vnto the people when they required a king what their king might or would do vnto them by his power and authority howbeit the trespasse being pardoned and grace and mercy restored according to the kings true repeÌ„tance and humble praier she feared the Lord God of Israel hearkened to Nathan the Lordes prophet notwithstanding that hee had before reproued the King for his faulte whereby she liued and contained her selfe with King David in all godly behauiour and high honour during her life This Noble Lady in many thinges both aided and comforted the King her husband and did not onely beare and bring foorth but also educated brought vp and nurtoured our Lord King Solomon in all such princely and diuine vertues to her power as did best beséeme him that should succeede King David in the happy kingdome of Israel as she had well learned and considered thereof by the inspiration of the diuine Spirit and the instruction of the Lordes Prophet that it was appointed and ordained by the Lord that this Solomon before all Davids other Sonnes should raigne ouer the kingdome of Israel after him Therefore shee diligently endeuored with the King the performance thereof as we sée it is brought to passe this day to the great ioy and comfort of the Lordes inheritance This therefore the young Quéene did gratefully remember at the time of the kinges marriage ascribing vnto her in the great solemnitie the chiefe cause next vnto God of his royall preferment saying to the daughters of Syon Go ye forth I pray you Cant. 3.10 and behold King Solomon in the Crowne wherewith his Mother hath crowned him in this day of his marriage and in the day of the gladnes of his heart And therefore also the king himselfe in the highest of his glory neither disdained nor omitted to commend her her excelleÌ„t vertues before vs al yea and vnder the same hath depainted and set forth not onely an holy and vertous Woman but also the holy Church the which also in his temple with the rich ornaments thereof he prefigured And thereof hath made an Alephabethical Encomion in these words pro. 31 Who so findeth an honest faithful womaÌ„ she is much more worth theÌ„ pearls the heart of her husbaÌ„d may safely trust in her so that he shall fall into no poverty She wil do him good not evil al the dais of her life c. A womaÌ„ that feareth the Lord shal be praised Giue her of the fruit of her hands and let her own workes praise her in the gates These things the king hath ruminated and vttered with great grauity as worthy the memory and imitation therefore wee also haue thought good to note and affixe the same to his wise prouerbs and Parables * Now with this let vs not forget The time of Sol. birth but carefully note and remember the rather to preuent the occasions of euill surmises that the king was neither borne nor begotten nor conceiued in the time of the trespasse and disgrace of his Parents but after the time that the Lord in mercy had pardoned them both and put away their sinnes vpon repentance and prayer 2. Sam. 12.13 of the which pardon the Lord certified him to the ioy and ease of their heartes by the prophet Nathan when also that was brought to passe and verified which David had with teares desired and with faith hoped to obtaine Thou shalt purge me said he with Isope and I shall be cleane thou shalt wash me I shall be whiter then snowe psal 51. Thou shalt make me to heare of ioy and gladnes that the boanes which thou hast broken may reioce For the which also he dewly blessed the Lord and in his thanksgiuing saide O Lord thou hast pardoned all mine iniquities and healed all mine infirmities psal 103. Finally the Lord himselfe to this his pleasure gaue testimony when he did not onely accept his sacrifices and burnt offeringes but also promised to set vp of his Seede after him vpon the throne of the
haue framed a worthie Apologie for the king and with Arguments sufficient yee haue prooued him to bee not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prophane but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Saint Neither doe wee doubt of any of those things but partly know them and partly beleeue them to be so indeede as yee haue sayde And God forbidde that any of vs by reason of our suspensiue opinions and doubtfull conceites should tender occasion to any of them that come after vs to bee doubtfull of the King whom wee well knowe the Lorde hath elected and will preserue and whome wee esteeme notwithstanding his sinnes a Saint of the Lorde And in truth as those persons which haue bruised frankinsence and beene ensenced therewith doe smell of the same neither will they by and by lose the sauour and sent thereof though they bee purged so the King hauing beene endued with the diuine Spirite and long exercised in the vse of the right Princely and sacred vertues doeth yet and shall enioy the sweete sauor and acceptable memorie of the same neither may so short a time as this life is blotte it out Whereby being enboldened hee may therein contemne them that shall either disdayne him or vniustly iudge of either him his wordes or actions But nowe because the Kings Remission and Pardone Solomons sinnes are pardoned and he remaineth a Saint of the Lord for euer after his trespasse was called into question it may not displease your Reuerence that wee enquire whether his sinnes bee remitted that is whether the Lorde hath forgiuen and pardoned his trespasses forgotten his iniquitie absolued him of his guiltinesse and loosed him from the bandes of eternall death yea or no. For they will reply and thus obiect It may bee that hee was a Saint and seruant of Iehovah his GOD so long as hee kept his minde chaste his body cleane his actions without reproofe and the trueth of his doctrine pure and vnspotted Or so long as hee well pleased GOD who iustifieth the beleeuing sinner or so long as hee was ordained to stand the figure of the holy Messiah wherein hee sheened in perfite beautie but afterwarde in his transgressions and sinnes he turned his beautie into ougly deformitie Nor indeede according to your former words coulde hee possibly bee and remayne the figure of the holy Messiah longer then whiles his beautie remayned perfite in him Therefore except hee were forgiuen and by this his remission clensed and restored to his former excellencie or at the leasted admitted into the fauour of GOD and iustified the former doubt will be still retained and vrged against both him and his words Therefore let it please you to resolue this doubt and satisfie vs therein as we know yee are well able most reuerend Father To this answered Zadok I am most willing both to resolue this doubt and to satisfie you my Lords all in this case therefore to proue that the King hath obtained mercie and pardon of the Lord God for all those his transgressions and so consequently standeth and remayneth a Saint and person dedicated to the Lorde notwithstanding all those his transgressions I thus reason for my Lord the king * Whosoeuer hath truely repented him of his sinnes Solomon obteined mercie for he repented him of his sinnes hee hath obtained mercie and forgivenesse But our Lord King Solomon hath truely repented him of his sins therfore he hath obtained mercy and forgevenesse The first proposition is prooued by many sounde Arguments and positions of holy Scriptures And first by the due consideration of the Nature of GOD who as hee hath created man to his owne image and likenesse and hath a will to preserue him so desireth hee nothing more then his conuersion and amendement after his falling as whereby hee may not bee hindered but furthered and bolpen in his walking towardes the highest Glorie yea in this hee resembleth a true father that both pitieth and pardoneth his owne sonne which hath offended him vpon his true repentance as both Moses Iob and David of famous memorie haue tolde vs with other our holy Prophets who teache and assure vs from the Lordes owne mouth that if an vngodly man will turne away from all his sinnes that hee hath done and keepe all his Statutes and doe the thing that is iudgement and right hee shall doubtlesse liue and not die neither shall his sinnes bee either retained or mentioned vnto him for God hath no pleasure in the death of a sinner but gladly will bee mercifull vnto him and pardon him vpon his repentance For God is most readie to forgiue Therefore hee comforteth vs with this saying Circumcise the fore-skinnes of your heartes Deut. cast away your transgressions and turne againe vnto Iehovah your God and yee shall not dye but liue And this is that which wee beleeue and persuade of our Lorde the king Surely Cain himselfe though too presumpsuous and proude in his sinnes could inregard hereof say and is my sinne greater Gen. 4. then that it can bee pardoned Knowing that the promise which GOD had made to Adam in Paradize both imported and included remission saying that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the Seede of the Woman shoulde breake the Serpents heade whereof man though an execrable sinner shoulde finde both remission and life with Iehovah his GOD. Next to this wee haue a great many comfortable examples in the Bookes of Moses Iob Iosuah the Iudges and Samuel as of the pardon offered vnto Iudah Lot the Israelites and to bee briefe to David the Kings father to whome the Lorde sayde by Nathan the Prophet God hath put away thy sinnes thou shalt not die the which hee often remembred in the Booke of the Psalmes psal 103.3 whereof hee also prouoketh his soule to the praise of GOD who had forgiuen him all his iniquitie and couered all his sinne Nowe as none can forgiue sinnes but God onely so those our ancestors when they sinned perswading that all their sinnes were done against God either immediately or by meanes they would in the hope of remission and health repaire vnto him seeking first to bee reconciled with his grace before they would goe vnto men remembering what olde Eli the Priest 1. Sam. 2. saide some-times to his children If a man sinne against man sayde hee the Iudge may decide it but if a man sinne against GOD who shall bee his Vmpire or Dayes-man Moreouer knowing that pardon required precedent Repentance without the which who will forgiue him that offendeth him among men they neither presumed to approach the diuine throne with proud insolent and presumptuous Spirites but with contrite and humble heartes desiring mercie for sinnes committed and confessed with great submission For albeit that Repentance be very sharpe and bitter to the sinner and many men had leaner sinne openly then repent secretly yet is this the Medicine of trespasses the consumption of iniquities a weapon against Satan and a sharpe sworde prepared and able to daunt
thought it good and no lesse their duties not onely to collect and preserve them but to commit and commende them with the like authoritie to the holy Church Now it remaineth that we also heare and consider what hath beene else resolved concluded and testified by the godly learned and wise men aswell hebrewes as others succeeding them of that age and that not onely before but also sithence the birth death and ascention of the most holy Messiah concerning King Solomon and those his wordes First the auncient hebrewes and Rabins of the Iewes have delivered that Solomon did so much dislike his lustfull delightes and chiefly that sinne of Idolatrie impuâ—ed to him Jn vita pat lib. 7. in prologo in Cap. 1. in that hee tolerated and maintained his strange wives in their abhominations that hee willingly exposed himselfe in person a publike example of repentance throughout the streetes of Ierusalem and woulde also have beene whipped with seaven roddes in that Temple which himselfe had builded had not the learned doctors of the lawe withstood it holding it vnlawfull for them or any others to laye their handes on the Lordes Annointed as David had taught esteeming him not onely their true King but a divine Prophet and holy man of GOD and at this time a person truly repentant for his sinnes whereof they presumed of his pardon and eternall health Next wee finde it testified by the Author of the latter booke of the Chronicles of the kinges of Israel and Iudah Chap. 11. verse 17. that after king Solomon was laide to his fathers Iudah for the time of three yeeres following pleased GOD walking in the waies of David and Solomon not onely of David but also of Solomon noting that although king Solomon walked not perfectly with the Lorde in the time of his trespasses as David walked when hee pleased GOD yet neverthelesse in his latter time hee was reclaimed and walked againe with David as himselfe did in his youth when they both together pleased the Lorde GOD and so in th' end resigned both himselfe repentant and holy vnto God Nota. and the kingdom in the same estate wholy to his sonne Rehoboam for neither was the kingdome as yet divided nor the state of religion altered during the daies of SolomoÌ„s governmeÌ„t according as the L. had de creed promised 1. King 11.12 saying I wil not do it in thy daies Therefore not onely Solomon is combined with good David touching the state of religion the manner of his walking but also it is testified that Rehoboam his son followed the L. also together with theÌ„ of Iudah that scared the L. in the same way full 3. yeeres after Solomons death within the which time it pleased God to fortify the kingdom of Iudah therin to make Rehoboam strong After this the wise Syracides chap. 47.12 among others in his time conceiving wel of this excelleÌ„t person whoÌ„ he esteemed an excelleÌ„t sainct of the L. from whose wise sayings his graÌ„dfather Iesus had collected many his sentences hath carefully and reverently named numbred him among those holy Patriarches fathers of the old testameÌ„t so worthy of praise wherewithall although as a true historiographer in that parte hee hath laide open his sins which els were so apparant as they coulde not be covered yet he extolleth him with many admirable coÌ„meÌ„dations in right consideratioÌ„ giveth not so much as the least aime to any doubtfulnes of either his holines or salvation yea rather he omitted not to say and protest that God forsooke not his mercy meaning that which was promised to David concerning SolomoÌ„ confirmed to SolomoÌ„ accordingly as 1. King 11.39 Neither that he was vtterly destroyed because of his works that he should leaue him no posteritie Fourthly Saint Matthew the Evangelist bringeth in King Solomon in the genealogie of Christ our Saviour together with his mother among those holy fathers of the olde Testament Matt. 1.6 But chiefly the Lorde Iesus himselfe in his profound doctrines and sermons hath not disdained this person but vouchsafed to name him and there-withall to remember not onely the wisdom of King Solomon but also that holy House which he built to the Name of the Lord. And to declare how well he liked the same house he daily taught the people therin shewed them the right vse therof yea hee much disliked that the same should be prophaned by vngodly sinful men therfore assayed to reduce it to his pristin purity when with a whip he drave out both the buyers and sellers saying My house is the house of Prayer for all Nations it was indeede all vnmeet that the thing which was ordayned for a figure of his Church and prepared to so holy an vse should be stayned with mens prophanitie so long as the vse of the figure endured which was vntill the time of the comming of the holy Ghost vnto the Apostles after Christs ascension into the heavens After this that holy Protomartyr Steuen in his answere to the high Priest Actes 7. speaketh right reverently both of Solomon and of his worke and to testifie that the same had yet a further aime then to the ordinary personage or to the worke of other men he addeth But hee that is the highest of all dwelleth not in the Temples made with mens hands alluding to Solomons wordes in the dedication of that house 2. Chro. 6.18 For right well is it said that the very person whome that holy king prefigured dwelt not in that house made with handes howbeit as concerning his power and th'excellent graces of his spirite he is ever present in and with that holy church which Solomons Temple hath prefigured and expressed After all this to passe over the Apostles and their worthie estimation of this person and his workes from the which they have taken and cited argumentes to confirme their doctrins all the ancient fathers of the Nicen Concil Aug. in lib. 17 de civit dei cap. 20. Idem in 2. lib. de doct Christian Ioh. Driedo de Catalo sacr script lib. 2. vide Hieron in extrema visione Ezechiel Ambros super Ecclesiast et in Apolog. David and others both holy and learned in the church have not only gathered received aswel froÌ„ hence as from others monumeÌ„ts of their elders Solomons holines and true repentance but also have esteemed him for a Prophet and in their writings have called him the most wise holy Solomon But were it so that those things did not so plainly appeare in the holy scriptures nor could it be founde in any word or writing of antiquity that Solomon after his transgressioÌ„ did repent coÌ„vert himselfe to the L. what reasoÌ„ what charitie or what wisdom would yet cast into suspeÌ„se the holines salvation of so rare excelleÌ„t a persoÌ„ when there is not extaÌ„t any sufficieÌ„t scripture or warraÌ„t to prove his final prophanity eternall perdition or that hee continued irrepentant vntill his death
Rezon an adversary to Solomon 2. Sam. 8.3 namely Rezon was the sonne of Eliada who fled sometimes from his Lord Hadadezer king of Zoba when David smote him as he went to enlarge his border at the riuer Euphrates who also gathered men vnto him and became captain ouer the company when David slew them and they went to Damascus the Metropolitan cittie of Syria and dwelt there where he also raigned king Therefore is hee an aduersary to Israel retaining his minde of reuenge and denying to pay tribute And this is the mischiefe of Hadad and the hatred against Israel Hadad now raigneth in Edom and Rezon in Damascus ouer all Syria to the great griefe of the king and his people Howbeit all this doth not somuch vex him as that his late seruant Ieroboam the sonne of Nabat the Ephrathite of Zareda whose Mother was Zarviah this kings aunt is now lately stept forth Ieroboam the servant is an adversary 1 King 11.26 and lifteth vp his hand against him For when the king built Mello and amended the broken places of David and saw that this Ieroboam was a man of strength and habilitie for the worke he made him ruler ouer all the charge of the house of Ioseph whereby Ieroboam getting courage credit fauour and power is now waxen proud obliuious of duty and presumptuous wherin he opposeth himselfe against his Soueraigne Lord whereat the king is not a little troubled the more indeede for that he nothing thought much lesse suspected such a thing to be wrought by his seruāt Ieroboam whom he had trusted and obliged by fauour and many singular benefites to be faithfull and obedient vnto him Sodain tidings of vnkindnes trouble wise men much But it is no meruaile though the king be a wise man that hee should be hereat trouble for we know that gentle heartes do much alter when they sodenly heare any hard and strange tidings Thus David the kings father though a man valiant in warre and strong in heart was not a little grieued when he heard that Absolon his owne son had conspired against him but yet more when tidinges came to him that Absolon was slaine hee was likewise sore moued when Ioab had killed Abner a Prince in Israel when hee hearde that Amnon had defiled Thamar his sister that Absolon had killed Amnon and that Adoniah did aspire to the kingdome against his will in his life time * Howsoeuer the prouidence of God had decreed appointed that Ieroboham shoulde thus be exalted Ieroboham his vnkindnes it is cereaine that Ieroboam hath pretended mischiefe in his heart against the king and therfore most wickedly and rebelliously hath lifted vp his hand to hurt his highnes vs. A note of most beastly vnkindnes in him who forgetting the kings gratious fauours and large bounties towardes him vndeserued hath attempted the kings ouerthrow and destruction to aduance himselfe But such is the pride insolency ambition and ingratitude of many whom the fauour and benignitie of good Princes hath vnworthily exalted and honoured that forgetting both themselues their places al the goodnes of their gratious princes and their duties do eagerly seeke to attaine to the very places and honours of their Princes and benefactors by wicked and vngodly meanes Howbeit they find in the end that lot of the Eagle that carried fier to her nest together with her pray which consumed both it and her yong ones for God which bringeth downe all stony mountaines and all high rocks to fill the vallies to make them euen with the ground calleth their impiety vnfaithfulnesse and rebellion into remembrance before him yeelding vnto them in the iust iudgemēt that which they haue worthily deserued * But Ieroboham hauing found that the King vnderstandeth his purpose and practises against him Traitors and rebels live ever in feare and that he seeketh to bridle his insolency durst not to abide the hammering and tryall thereof for traitors and rebels hauing guilty consciences liue euer in fear of the diuine reuēge he is therefore fled into Aegypt vnto Sysar the Egyptian king and there continueth gaping for and expecting to heare of the kinge death when he mindeth with a fresh courage to giue the onset to his sonne Rehoboam which shall succeede in the kingdome whome hee knoweth hath neither the like wisedom to gouerne his people nor will haue sufficient power to resist his enemies and to defend himselfe And yet wel I wot that these things being ordinary troubles which happen to realms prouinces and nations and therefore whosoeuer bee a Prince must settle himselfe armed against them in his time and place our Lord King Solomō wel knoweth both how to beare thē and wade through the middest of themal with a right valiant mind as David his Father hath full often in his daies done Lo thus haue ye heard the declaration of sixe causes of the kings sorrow all which indeede could he wel enough digest were there not yet a farre greater and more dangerous then any of the former For the seuenth beyond all the rest pierceth and griueth the very ground of his heart and that riseth of the great displeasure of the Almighty conceived against him his people Alas said the Princes then may the King be worthily sad indeede when the Lord of heauen looketh so wer vpon him and vs. For dreadfull is the angry face of the almighty The princes especially towardes them that haue iustly prouoked him and his wrath is a very consuming fier who is able to abide it But now let vs heare the declaration of this cause also if it be your good plesure most reuerend Zadoke to whom he answered zadoke although I am not only most sory to heare thereof but very loath to relate it yet to satisfy your importunity for the former causes I am ready to do it according to your desire And I pray God that neither the sin The princes nor the occasion therof be in the Lords iustice laid to our charge To the which said the Lords that God forbid but howsoeuer it be the Lord for his holy annointed be yet mercifull vnto our King vnto vs and the whole common-wealth of Israel that he may be glorified not in our destructiō but in our preseruatiō and prosperitie as in times past he hath beene glorified in the pardon recouery and prosperity of Adam of Abraham of Iacob of Moses of David and others our godly forefathers in their times So be it good Lord we pray and beseech thee CHAP. XIX Zadoke declareth the seventh cause of Solomons sorrow which is the sinne of Solomon NOw will I endeuour saide Zadoke to satisfie your request I will declare the seventh cause Yea I will shew you the last and greatest cause of the Kinges sorrowfull heart And well is this called the greatest For were it not thereof the King might well resolue as he knoweth best how to resolue that euery thing whatsoever might or should
betide him could not so much hurt or annoy either him or his people as it shal be for his and their good so long as both he and they shal feare God The safety of them whome God preserveth howsoeuer it should seeme hurtful and loathsome in the eyes of men See therefore what a soueraign good thing it is to feare the Lord for such as feare him the Lord loueth thē whom he loueth he safely protecteth and for that their protection he hath a speciall care and regard This David considered found in triall to be true and therefore did sing as in the Psalme psal 91.11 For why vnto his Angels bright a speciall charge gives hee In all thy waies for to protect preserve and prosper thee And that they beare thee in their handes and waite still thee vpon That not vnwares thou fall nor bruse thy foote against a stone Thus are they happy which feare the Lorde because the Lord blesseth and preserueth them But now the king perceiueth that the Lord hath turned away his gratious countenāce looketh sternly angerly vpō him vpon his people and that the fierce wrath of God is bent and now comming vnto him and vs the force whereof no man liuing is able to resist or to withstand For who can beare the matchlesse power of the Almightie A description of God being angry God in his anger is as a ramping Lyon as an hungry Beare as a consuming fire as a mightie storme as a waliant warryer as a cruell tyrant as a mighty Gyant as a terrible Iudge If hee touch the high mountaines they shall tremble and smoke as David did sing And this to confirme the king hath placed before his eyes the fearefull Iudgements of God which in his wrath were executed on the old rebellious people he remembreth that when the Lord God was prouoked to anger by the disobedience of our first parents Adam Gen. 3.24 and Hevah though they were his beloued and the first that hee had created in his owne Image hee looked sternely on them and withall hee delayed not to call them into iust iudgement nor spared he to punish them Therfore he sent thē both out of pleasant Paradize opposed them to all miseries and barred the gate that they might not enter into that blessed Tabernacle which was appointed not for the polluted but for cleane and holy persons The king also remembreth the example of Gods heauy wrath against Cayn Gen. 4. whom he reprobated punished and banished from his fathers house and made a vagabond on the earth and that iustly because he had sinned against the Lorde in killing of his brother He setteth also before his face the example of Gods fierce anger on the olde worldings in the time of Noah whom hee destroyed without mercie with the flood of waters Gen. 6. hee calleth into memory the example of the diuine wrath executed on the filthy Sodomites Gen. 19. whom the Lord burned with fire and brimstome Hee is not vnmindfull Exod. 32.28 how the Lord vexed and afflicted our Fathers in the wildernesse when they had angred him with their sinnes of whom onely two of them which came out of Egypt being aboue twentie yeares of age could recouer possession in the promised land Neither is he forgetfull how terrible the Lord shewed himselfe to king David and his people not onely then 2. Sam. 12. when David had transgressed in the case of Vriah but also when he had numbred the people For the one offence the Lord stirred vp his owne sonne and them of his owne house against him and for the other threescore and ten thousand perished with pestilence and had not David repented and entreated mercie he had likewise perished in that high displeasure Sin is odious to God For sinne is that which the Lord abhorreth and as odious as is a Toade or serpent to a man so is the sin that men commit against the Lord vnto him so that as they are contemned and abandoned of men which nourish and foster vp such venemous beasts they are no lesse loathsome to God which commit sin and wallow and tumble in the filthinesse of that which God abhorreth Therefore vpon such as David said the Lorde raineth haile fire and brimstone which is their portion in his wrath neither is there any thing els due vnto them but death shame and confusion againe praying against such hee saith to the Lord Set thou an vngodly man to be Ruler over him and let Sathan stand at his right hand psal 109. When sentence is given vpon him let him bee condemned let his prayer bee turned into sinne Let his dayes be few and let another take his office Let his children bee fatherles and his wife a widow let his children be vagabonds and begge their bread let them seeke it also out of desolate places Let the extortioner consume all that he hath and let the stranger spoile his labour let there be no man to pittie him nor to haue compassion vpon his fatherles children Let his posteritie be destroyed and in the next generation let his name bee cleane put out let the wickednes of his fathers be had in remembrance in the sight of the Lord and let not the sinne of his mother he done away c. Now of such things feareth the king and therefore is waxen very pensiue and heauy not able to withstand the strokes of Gods anger conceiued against him and his people The fiercenes of Gods wrath * Alas Alas then sayd the Princes it is a most fearefull thing to prouoke the Lord to fall into his hands with guiltie consciences for wonderfull and terrible is the Lord in his wrath as ye haue well sayd For though the Lord be slow to anger when hee looketh for mans repentance amendement of life yet is he of great power and will in no case acquit the wicked Though he be most mercifull being pleased yet being prouoked he is most terrible and cruell to them that prouoke him His dealing will be with blustring stormes high tempests and whirle-winds and the cloudes of the ayre are the dust of his feete he will rebuke the raging sea and dry it vp with all the famous riuers of the land yea Basan and Carmel shall shrinke the spring also of Libanus shall be destroyed and the faire trees thereof shal be burnt with fire The great mountaines shall quake at his mighty power and the hils shal be dissolued the earth also shall burne at his sterne countenance with the worlde and all that dwelleth therein What man is hee that is able to stand before his fierce wrath or who can rise vp before the dreadfull anger of his countenance his fiercenesse is powred foorth like consuming fire yea the hard Rocks cleaue in peeces at his might the strong pillars of heauen tremble and all the kindreds of the earth weepe and waile before him when hee beginneth to appeare to visite
and to holde his Court of Iustice Well therefore may the king mourne and bee holden with continuall sadnesse if the consideration of the diuine wrath hath seized on his heart zadoke tels that the king himselfe is the cause of this wrath * But so much the more sayde Zadok is the King perplexed and standes in feare because as hee hath lately found and considered the greatest cause of this anger both rise of himselfe For if a stranger had hurt him he might haue dissembled it if an enemie hee might haue reuenged it if a friend hee might haue complained of it but the cause beeing in himselfe to whom should hee make his moane of whom should he séeke comfort Although I will not iustifie the whole Congregation of Israel The people which dyed in the plague were not free of transgression no more then I might say that all the people which dyed in the pestilence in the time of Davids transgression were guiltles for no doubt they were faultie also before the Lord yet beyonde them all our Lorde king Solomon hath highly offended whereof it may come to passe that the Lorde who was mercifull vnto Israel and in his mercy gaue them such a King as by the which hee might expresse vnto them his loue is now minded to take and remooue farre from them this happy occasion of their peace and so to leaue them and commit thē to the hurtfull hand of the angel of wrath to be punished according to their deserts from the sense whereof they haue been thus long kept and preserued by the blessed meanes of king Solomon Now I remember what the Lord said to Moses when our Fathers had offended and Moses neuerthelesse earnestly prayed and requested him for their pardon Suffer me sayth he or giue me leaue Exod. 22.10 that my wrath may waxe hot against thē and consume them Sée the goodnes of God who not only stayd was restrained frō smiting of them vpon his request but acknowledged Moses the meane of their pardon In what sense the people are said to bee plagued for Dauids sinne But we haue that example of our owne time euen of David the kings father and his people yet in memorie For as long as he pleased Iehova his God God esteemed him accepted him for the occasion of their peace though they had deserued wrath confusion But after that David had transgressed with them and angred the Lorde then became he who was before an occasion of the peoples saftie an occasion of their punishment that not only for his own sin but also for their sins who now had not him in this time of disgrace for their further means to health nor any other such Sauiour as might stand vp in the gape between God them that because they repented not wherfore the Lord sent forth the messenger of death who smote 70. thousand persons with the plague of pestilence that they dyed within 3 dayes And surely we may feare euery one of vs what shal shortly ensue fall both on our king and the people seeing that God being now angry with our king for his sinnes neither looketh gratiously on him now accepteth him and his doings as an occasion of our peace Solomons youth age Indeede the king in his yong yeeres behaued himselfe most grauely shined in all princely vertues which did adorne and beautifie both his person and place which gaue vnto vs and to all his people both hope and expectation of a farre greater excellencie to follow in his Age as those trees which blowing faire in the spring time of the yeere put men in hope of fruits thereof in the time of haruest But alas the king hath in this point farre deceiued all mens expectation behauing himselfe most vnwisely both before God and in the eyes of all good men in this time of his age by the which he hath distained his honor and depriued vs all of that glory the which through him wee had atchiued and hoped by the same to haue had established on our Nation for euer according to the word of the Lord spoken to David in his good loue And of this as I cannot thinke without griefe of heart so can I not speake without weeping teares and deepe sighes * Then answered Zabud zabud as not a little greeued and sorrowfull in his heart to heare such hard tydings of the king with whom he had béene so familiarly acquainted and sayd But what is it I beseech you most reuerend Father wherein the kings Maiestie hath so heynously and daungerously faulted and so highly prouoked God to displeasure I doubt not but that without dishonor to the king hurt to your selfe or offence to any of vs present it may bee spoken heere in Councell that thereby the sooner wee may consult and consider thereof with iudgement and endeuor to our power to salue the displeasure Alas sayd Zadoke when one man offendeth against another there may bee a dayes-man to reconcile them zadok telleth wherein the king hath offended 1. Sam. 2.25 but if a man sinne against the Lorde of heauen who can decide it Thus said Eli the Priest in the like case But now sauing the kings honour and your reuerence my Lordes the king hath committed ah how sorowfull am I to say it the king hath committed but alack shall I vtter it my tongue would rather cleaue to the roofe of my mouth The King hath committed ah yet how loath and hashfull am I to tell it Howbeit it is already seene and not couered it is spoken off and not couched in silence euen of them that dwell not in the Court but in the Countrey yea aswell of them that bee without as of them that remaine within howsoeuer wee would dissimble it the King I say hath committed three great euils of the which the most part of all this displeasure and sorrow commeth both to himselfe and to vs. For beholde First The King hath multiplyed wiues to himselfe Secondly Hee hath combyned himselfe with straunge women Thirdly Hee hath turned away his heart from the Lorde This being sayd the Princes were all abashed and wonderfully amazed not knowing what to say or what to expect or what to thinke but pauzed and looked one on another of them nor could their fearefull tongues vtter the thoughtes of their grieued hearts CAP. XX. The first of Solomons sinnes Viz. the pluralitie of Wiues AFter a very long pauze Abiather the Priest stood forth and obiected for the king concerning the pluralitie of his Wiues Abiather obiecteth for the kings wiues and saide How should this be a fault so heynouse in the king Abraham our Father was permitted to take Hagar his mayd notwithstanding that Sarah was his wedded wife And Iacob the Lords seruant had two wiues namely Leah and Rachel and yet besides them hee had the company of his two maydes Bilha and Zilpha on whom he begat children So Lamech before the flood had two
polluted with any strange Gods when as they came to Bethel to sacrifice vnto Iehovah and should then king Solomon not only permit those horrible Idolatries and loathsome superstitions of Idols but also exhibit them maintenance in the same that follow such thinges so neare the Temple and the holy Cittie of God This thing is not hidden from the Lord who seeth and wil be auenged on the same Howbeit the King most vnhappily doting on those profane women his wiues and concubines which are now reuolted from the Lord and his religion and turned backe vnto their fathers and their Gods hath beene contented to conniue and beare with them in such their abhominations euen before his face and in the open sight of the Lorde people yea and rather then he would diuorce them or deny them or reproue them or correct them or displease them therein as he might haue don and indeede should haue done in this case he hath both appointed and commaunded many great summes of mony and treasure to be paied and giuen forth from his owne treasurie both to the building of certaine houses and places for such their Gods and also for the daily maintenance of their seruices in the same Therof it is before al other things that Iehovah his God is prouoked and waxen angry with him with vs and his people and hath thereon not omitted to threaten him and vs with many mighty plagues and punishments to ensew yea such as neither he we nor our posteritie shal be able to beare thereof as I vnderstand the Lord hath lately spoken by his prophet and messenger vnto the King himselfe saying Forasmuch as this thing is done of thee and thou hast not kept mine appointment and my statutes which I commanded thee 1. King 11.11 I will rent the kingdome from thee and wil giue it to thy Seruant Notwithstanding in thy dayes I will not do it because of David thy Father but I will take it from the hand of thy sonne Howbeit I will not take away all the kingdome but will giue one Tribe to thy Sonne because of David my Seruant and because of Ierusalem which I haue chosen Now here I call to remembrance what the Lorde our God hath resolued in such a case by the consideration of his words once spoken to Eli the Priest in the daies of our iudges 1. Sam. 2.25 I will worship them saith he that worship me but they which despise me shall come to shame Moreouer I remember what the King himselfe hath said in his wise Prouerbs The turning away of the vnwise shall hasten his owne destruction And well I wot therefore that of all the creatures in the world pro. 1.32 the impious and wicked person is most vnhappy that not only in respect of his sinnes and condition of life but in regard of his end and conclusion for as the end of much eating is sicknes the end of pleasure is paine the end of this life is death and corruption so the end of the Sinner is extreame anguish and miserie both in this worlde and after his death For being iustly sequestred from the societie of the Saintes and so shut out from the diuine protection he is euen whiles he liueth molested with an vnquiet conscience an aking heart feareful cogitations and dreames and many afflictions both of body and mind the hand of God being streatched foorth against him from aboue and the instrumentes of wrath tormenting him from beneath Finally this life finished hee broyles and toyles in bitter tormentes for euer more In the which he may be compared to those flying fishes which being in the waters are persecuted by other fishes for their pray springing vp with their finnes into the aire they are followed and deuoured of the cormorants and Sea-meawes or to that bird which being on the ground is hunted by dogs and flying aboue the earth is taken by the vultures for true it is that the man of impietie and sinne hath neither peace nor safety either in this world or in the world to come This thing the kings father well knew and considered of in the depth of his heart therfore when he was remembred of his transgressions and faults by Nathan and by Gad the Lordes prophets and messengers to him in that respect feeling the true sense of Gods angry coūtenance iustly bent against him and his people for the same the perilous estate both of himselfe and his dominions by and by although a chosen magnanimious puissant and valorous minded King comming to answere before the highest God hee sodainly cast himselfe downe to the earth as a base caitiffe hee repented him of his sinnes and in the fearefull agony of his afflicted soule he cried out I have sinned I haue sinned Mercy Lord mercye nor would be leaue off crying and repenting nor any otherwise estéeme of himselfe then a sinfull guilty and condemned wretch vntill he perceiued that the Lord was willing to be appeazed and of his mercie to turne his gratious face towards him as in times past resembling the bird of Paradise which beeing taken in a snare is neuer quiet nor leaueth crying and flittering till time he either dye or be deliuered And thus behoveth it our Lord the King to esteeme of himselfe vnder those his transgressions this to respect and the same to performe which in this desperate and dangerous case is the best counsail we may giue him for remedy and ease For surely surely God being thus prouoked and that iustly he will not be appeazed nor will he surcease to streatch forth his hand of iustice against him so offending vntill that he meekly acknowledge his offences before him repent and seeke him with sorrow and singlenes of heart as we may see in th'examples of our forefathers both in the wildernes vnder the conduct of Moses and Aaron and in this land vnder the gouernment of our wise and valiant Iudges Now my Lords hereof is it that Iehovah our God being most iustly displeased with our Lord the King hee hath in iustice stirred vp and prouoked against him besides the two former enemies which much troubled him that Ieroboam who thirsting for the soueraignity of Israel now especially opposeth himselfe in might and policie against the King Neither may wee thinke but howsoeuer those persons especially Ieroboam are maliciously bent and prouoked against the king and his gouernment The kings enemies are the very instruments of Gods wrath appointed to vex the king and his people and do of themselues little respect or consider the prouidence and working of the most high in this his displeasure that yet they be the very instruments and ministers of Gods iudgements as those other aduersaries of Israel haue beene in the times past against our fathers when as they forgetting God did rebell against him and his holy servants And therefore the onely way to resist them is not the wisedome power policie or arme of man but the grace of our mercifull
Solomon so holy elected and beloued of God shold find no place of true Repentance after his sinnes committed Neither may we in equitie and charitie being indeede witnesses of such his Repentance but testify and auouch the same before the whole world But be it that his Repentance were neither apparant nor here protested by vs should the king therfore If this were not so plainely testified yet might not Solomon be iustly condemned as a reprobate which is so holy a man and the Lords chosen be condemned God forbid And it were too sharpe a censure either to say so or to think that euery person whose sins haue beene laid open in the holy Scriptures hath not been truly repentant except that also such his repentance hath beene expresly and plainely depainted and set foorth in the same Adam his repentance What plaine or expresse mention I beseech you is there made in the holy Scriptures of Adams repentance after his fall in whome wee bee all cast away by nature howsoeuer the same is presumed or gathered by circumstances or of the repentance of Noah after his drunkennes Noah Lot Sampson Simeon Levi. Iudah or of Lot after his incest or of Sampson after his daliances with Dalila or of Iacobs sonnes Simeon and Levi which against the mind of their Father dealt deceitfully and cruelly with Hemor the sonne of Sichem and his citizens or of Iudah th' eldest sonne of Iacob after his sinne with Thamar his daughter in lawe hee confessed indeede that shee was more iust then hee so did Pharao also confesse that the Lord was righteous and that hee and his people were Sinners Surely albeit that these and many other the Lordes chosen haue beene both noted in the holy Scriptures which are extant before vs and also punished in some measure for their sinnes and offences yet did it not alwayes follow that the repentance of euery of them hath beene so largely declared to the world or so plainely set foorth in wordes as was the repentance of David the Kinges Father Davids repentance and of some of others And yet who should either in wisedome reason equity or good conscience call their repentance conuersion or turning againe to the Lord into question to whome the Lorde hath expressed the full assurance of his loue and mercy in their liues What said the King in this case Though the righteous be overtaken by death yet shal he bee at rest Againe The soules of the righteous are in the hand of God their shall none evill touch them Worthily haue these golden sayings beene taken from his mouth Sap. 4.7 and copied out and conserued for the posteritie to giue comfort vnto the Lordes chosen and to satisfy them that might otherwise condemne themselues and their cause in the consideratiō of their punishments and miseries in this life Therefore it is true that as the man which hath beene long nooseled vp in vices will not onely with much adoe leaue them and leauing them will yet retaine some sauour thereof in his person as such which hauing beene long clogged with iron fetters will yet halte after they bee loosed so on the contrary parte hee that hath beene brought vp and exercised in holy vertues will not soone loose the habite much lesse the sauor of them as those vessels will long retaine and yeeld the smack of that liquor which was in them first steeped although they bee washed and assayed to bee purged from the same Neither may wee thinke but that if after the opinion of the very heathen Philosophers one vice ouerthroweth not a vertue in habite much rather shoulde wee of Israel not so much as imagine that one or a few faultes of the children of God occasioned either of ignoraunce or of feare or of infirmitye or of naturall concupiscence or of the malice of the olde Serpent shoulde rent asunder an habite of holinesse and so infringe or weaken the power of Gods free election and loue the which by his spirite euer worketh a godly repentance vnto them which are elected and by the same in mercy appointed to glory For those whome in his loue hee hath elected before all worldes hee wil in his mercy pardon and glorifie and for that purpose hee giueth them a godly repentance as that which is ordained for the calling home againe and recouery of those the Lords chosen whom the Serpent had beguiled and seduced For the Lorde our God will not loose any one of them which appertaine vnto him nor will hee suffer his truth to faile CAP. XXIX Of the nature of Solomons sinnes and argumentes of his true Repentance ZAdoke had no soonr deliuered the former speeches but by and by Abiather rose vp againe and obiected saying Whether are Solomons sins greater then the sinnes of some other that did repent and were pardoned 1. King 11. 5. It is said most reuerend father that the sins of our L.K. Solomō are of the nature as they haue far exceeded the sinnes of those holy ones of whose repentāce we be either certified or perswaded in the holy scriptures as more hainous and dangerous for behold his strange wiues and fleshly Concubines haue turned away his heart from the Lord his God in so much that hee hath followed after Astaroth the God of the Sydonians and Milcom the abhomination of the Ammonites he hath builded an high place for Chamos the abhomination of Moab and for Moloch the abhominatiō of the childrē of Ammon and hath wrought wickednesse in the sight of the Lord and hath not followed the Lord perfectly as did David his father Al these are your own words concerning the King and his trespasse most reuerend father neither haue I added any thing in the hearing whereof who is there almost but that will condemne the king of a more heinous and dangerouse sinne zadok then that the Fathers of whome ye haue spoken did euer commit in their daies But yet I beseech you said Zadok that those my wordes may neither bee wrested nor amisse vnderstood in this case God forbid that therein I shoulde so farre depresse the Kinges hope and estimation with the Lorde as to iudge his sinnes either irremissible or such haue exceeded the sinnes of those others whom the Lorde hath pardoned vpon their true repentance Indeede it cannot be denyed nor defended but that the king hath sinned grieuously against the Lord his God as I said before and therin hath offered an offence vnto the Lords people Howbeit that either the nature of those his sinnes is such as can neither haue pardon as was the sinne of Cain or that it was more hainous and horrible either in quantitie or qualitie then the sinnes of some others whom it pleased the Lorde in mercy to remit and renew vpon repentance wee neither finde nor dare to auouch Our first parents in Paradise committed an horrible transgression They hearkened to Satan they brake the commandement they forsooke the Lord their God were made thralls
my Lordes that ye haue not seene any such thing in the king nor do ye imagine as I suppose that the king at any time was so foolish as to adore or worship such kind of Gods of the which his father David deciding the grosse Idolatrie of the heathen thus sang Their Idols both of silver golde and mens hand worke they be They mouthes have but do not speake and eies but cannot see They have eke eares but do not heare senseles noses so They have handes but they handle not feete but cannot go Doubtles answered the Princes we perswade as yee haue said yea said Azariah and wee haue often heard the K. himselfe to blame and reproue such kind of Idolatry and thus hath he said whose wordes for wisedome and grauity are copied out and divulged euen among the Gentiles Sap. 13.10 14.8 15.3 Miserable are they and among the dead that call them Gods which are but the workes of mens hands Againe deriding the folly of those Idoll-worshippers he saith he is not ashamed to speake to that which hath no soule for health hee makes his petition to that which is sicke for life he humbly praieth to him that is dead Againe cursed be the Idoll that is made with handes yea both it and he that made it he because he made it and it because it was called a God whereas it is but a fraile thing for the vngodly and his vngodlines are both like abhominable vnto God euen so the worke and he that made it shal be punished together Againe To know the Lord God is perfect righteousnesse yea to know his power is the root of immortality As for the thing that men haue found out through their euill science it hath not deceiued vs nor the painters vnprofitable labor namly an image spotted with diuers colors whose sight inticeth the ignorāt to lust after it and he desireth the picture of a dead image that hath no breath Both they that make them they that desire them and they that worship them loue euill thinges and merite to haue such thinges to trust vpon Againe the enemies of Israel that worship those Idols are most vnwise more miserable thē very fooles For they iudge of them to bee Gods which neither haue eyes to see nor noses to smell nor ears to heare nor hands nor fingers to grope and as for their feete they are too slow to goe Lo those and such like wordes hath the king his wisedome vttered touching those heathen Gods and the worshippers of thē euen publikely and in presence of all them to come to him to heare his wisdome that thereby the sooner he might withdraw them from that grosse error and impious abhomination and bring them to the right worship of Iehovah the God of Israel Ye haue truly spoken in this matter said Zadok for in truth I haue not knowen any one man of life that hath more disliked and derided this kind of Idolatry that hath more sharply reprehended them that haue followed after strange Gods then the K. himselfe Neither did he thinke that any man which either knew Iehovah our God or had any wisedome or reason or iudgement or humaine wit wold acknowledge such a senseles image for a God and worship it much lesse himselfe woulde either aduenture or attempt a thing so heinous shamefull and dangerous against the law of God reason and good conscience being a man so wise holy and zealous for the L. his God Therfore let vs not imagine that the K. was so perswaded to prostrate himselfe before those vaine images of the heathen to adore or worship them as Gods or that he did inuocate or pray to them or trust in thē for any aid or comfort seeing that both he knew the abhomination of such vain things In what sense it is said that Solomon followed after strange Gods felt the goodnes of the living God at al times so gratious towards him but indeede this is true that the K. hath in his fond loue and carnall affection to his wiues being Idolators and Apostats from the true religiō so doted besotted himselfe that he hath winked at such their abhominations yea hee hath permitted them to vse their strāge religiōs more yet he hath caused to be built for thē houses high places in the face of all Israel in the sight of Ierusalē hath allowed thē great sums of money maintenance out of his treasurs to for the same wherof it is well said indéede that he followed after their abhominatiōs for being both the K. of Israel the husband of those his wiues he should rather as he might wel do haue restrained punished such horrible abuses of the name honor of God But howsoeuer it was seing we haue not séen such palpable idolatry in the K. as that he did worship their idols nor cā we see into the K. heart as God séeth him Gods secret waies are such as no vultures eie did euer see as Iob said the bottōles profunditie therof we may not attempt to sownd let vs here content our selues with so much thereof as it hath well pleased him to reueale vnto vs iudge iustly and soberly of God and his waies constre the best of his Saintes thinke honourably of this chosen person and his actions and words not rashly censuring the one nor indiscreetely condēning the other And out of all question if in this resolution and minde wee duly search and wisely examine and consider of all thinges we shall find and confesse that howsoeuer it bee K. Solomon did not onely turne away from God and endangered himselfe as all other sinners do but that also he is returned againe and assured of safetie King Solomon did turne again to the Lord. as those which truly repent them of their sinnes that he had not onely his heart seduced and corrupted as his Father David had when he cōmitted murther adultery but hath also a new heart created and a right spirit renewed in him as the same David had after that hee repented psal 51. praied and founde grace with the Lord that he did not only deny the Lord wherby God was exasperated against him as our forefathers both in the wildernes and in the time of the Iudges haue don but also hath acknowledged his power Num. 21.8 and confessed him and therein eschewed his owne destruction as many of our fathers did which beheld that brasen serpēt in the wildernes and wept before the Lord and were preserued and comforted he did not only sin to prouoke the Lord but also he did repent and well pleased the Lord. Exo. 10.17 2. Sam. 12.13 Gen. 4.14 1. Sam. 13.4 Gen. 3.20 38 26. Exo. 32.22 And this he hath done not with his mouth onely as Pharao did but with his heart as K. David did he dispaired not as did Cain and Saul but he sorrowed and repented in hope as did Adam and Iudah
Prophet Ahiah the Silonite hath for the Kings offence threatned punishment to the Seede of David as wee haue heard to our greife and sorow yet being mindefull of his promise and mercy made and shewed to David concerning Solomon to our great comfort hee hath in his grace stayed himselfe there and added this restraint 1. king 11.39 But not for ever or In all his dayes Whererin wee see that mercie is reserued and the punishment is determined in time which may not be vnderstoode of the paine of the reprobates and damned in hel the which is neither a punishment but a torment or plague and that not determinable but without and beyond all time Therfore we conclude that Solomon is not fallen for euer nor shall be punished for ever nor is deprived of the divine mercy but repenting being so well-beloved of God he is pardoned by him who hath commanded the woods and al pleasant trees to over shadow them that be his from this time foorth for ever more * And perswaded thereof Solomons salvation Object we may neither cast into doubt the hope of his eternal Saluatiō with the Lord for though I haue heard one to obiect Can a sinner be saved It is yet certaine as I saide that as such obtaine mercy which repent so shall they bee surely saued which obtaine mercie This the kings father testified when he modulated thus Blessed are they whose vnrighteousnes is forgiven Who are blessed and whose sinnes are covered Blessed is that man to whom the Lorde will not impute sinne And who are indeed blessed euen they to whome the kingdome of God belongeth and which are appointed to eternall happinesse Thus the first man Adam thus Abel the second man that feared God thus Abraham the father of true beleeuers thus Moses the Lords seruant and thus David the kings father and other the Lordes Saints were pardoned of their sinnes and blessed of the Lord. And therefore the King being the Lordes chosen and by his wisedome knowing the excellent effects of repentance and the sweetnesse of Gods louing mercies is doubtlesse happy and expecteth his rest and glorie with those Saints which hauing been wise and turned many vnto righteousnes doe and shall shine and glister as the brightnes of the firmament and as the starres for euer and euer Therefore howsoeuer it hath beene obiected against the King as neither the Egyptians for the heate Solomons defence nor the Scythians for the colde doe feele the terrible clappes of thunder So shall our Lord King Solomon partly by his excellent holines and glorie and partly by his true Repentance and forgiuenes of sinnes besides this our testimonie touching him be protected and defended against all reproches and obloquies of slanderous and enuious tongues aswell in this age as in all the ages that shall follow and succeed in the world yea and as he that casteth his darts against a rocke or other sound thing doeth sometimes hurt himself by the sodaine rebound of the same so whosoeuer shall hencefoorth ayme so contumeliously to the Kings person being a man so holy and glorious may paraduenture be perced himselfe by the inexpected rebounde of his owne dart and so they which haue beene glad of his sorrow and reioyce at his fall shall mourne in their owne destruction as a iust reward of their malitious censures and vngodly glory when on the other side they which loue the Lord and his Saintes shall be glad and reioyce in the sense of his louing mercies CAP. XXXI Why God permitted Solomon to fall Why Solomon now vseth not the Name Tetragrammaton The preservation of Solomons Sermons THE most reuerende Zadok hauing made the former Apologie for the K. and thervpon taken a pauze yet as not willing to giue ouer but as after a little breathing to proceed the Princes tooke an occasion of applause wherein they both approued and commended all those things which had beene sayde for the King The Nature of good subiects as right glad of that which might be iustly found and spoken in his defence being such persons indeed as wished him no euill but all good in their hearts But Zadok to preuent them who might of any his words take an occasion to presume in their sinnes zadok by defēding the king would not offer an occasion to any man to presume too farre vpon the divine mercies said I haue not produced the former arguments for the king nor spoken any thing my Lordes whereby I would animate or encourage men to presume vpon the diuine mercies and so to sinne that mercy might be powred out The Lorde forbid that any man should of this take that occasion Nay rather euery man might beware and take heed that he fall not then whiles he thinketh himselfe to stand most assured For as the most righteous man is not without his sinne and so prouokes the Lorde to anger and deserues damnation so shall not hee escape some measure of punishment Sinnes shall be punished aboue all hainous sinnes shall be horribly punished euen here in this life as it hath been apparant in David when he offended in the case of Vriah also in this our king of whom the Lord said before 2. Sam. 7. If he sinne I will beat him with the Rodde of men and with the plagues of the children of men thus did God beat euen him whom hee had made a man after his owne heart And thus he threatned euen the same whom hee named his Sonne If hee hath thus done on those greene and flowrishing branches what will he doe on the dry and withered stubbes surely whereas hee pruneth and correcteth the former to amend them for their good hee will cut off and destroy the other from among his people for though as a father he pittieth his owne yet as a iust Iudge hee will condemne and as a tyrant will rent a sunder the sonnes of Beliall Deut. 32. neither desist or spare vntill that in them hee hath filled vp the measure of his wrath according to the measure of their transgressions The which thing if the vngodly the féede dayly on mischiefe as on bread and drawe sinnes vnto themselues as with strong ropes duely considered and regarded they would haue lesse courage to flatter themselues in their manifold impieties and to promise peace to their soules in the depth of those their dangers Azariah * Then spake Azariah for the Princes saing Well sayd most reuerend father But wee beseech you wherefore did the Lord God permitte and suffer our noble King not onely to slide but also to sinne yea and to transgresse so horribly before the Lorde and his people zadok Gods secret iudgemēts are beyond the reach of man Shoulde godly sobrietie licence vs answered Zadok to sounde the profunditie of the divine thoughts or to enter into the bowels of his secretes or to searche out the causes of his hidden and vnknowen wayes no surely but rather then to search
or endeuour to finde out wee shoulde reuerently admire and in all things iustifie them for it is true that Moses sayde Deut. 3 2.4 Perfect is the worke of the most mightie GOD for all his wayes are Iudgement Hee is a GOD of trueth without wickednesse righteous and iust is hee Deut. 29.29 Those secret things belong to GOD aboue and they are not for a man to knowe or finde out nor shall hee bee able in any other sorte then hee is able to finde out the circle of a Ring Iob. 28.7 This is that way whereof Iob spake the which the birdes haue not knowne the Vultures eye neuer sawe wherin the Lyons whelps walke not and into the which no Lyon euer came It is farre easier to knowe the way of an Eagle in the Ayre of a Serpent vpon a stoane of a shippe in the Sea and of a man with a yong-woman which yet passed the kings vnderstanding then to finde out the reasons and causes of the Lordes secret iudgements and hidden wayes Therefore when the wisest men in the worlde haue presumed this enterprise they haue beene compared to the hungry man which dreameth that hee is eating and beeing awaked out of his sléepe findeth himselfe emptie Thus are they fedde with winde in steede of woordes they take the shadowe for the bodie they finde wandering cloudes whiles they seeke for rayne and for substances they take holde of accidentes onely The causes of Gods secret iudgements are not to be found out But the better to suppresse the curiositie of mans minde let vs consider certaine examples of the workes and wayes of God the causes and reasons whereof we could neuer as yet finde out In the dayes of Iosuah the Captaine of the Lordes Hoaste wee finde that one Achan sinned against the Lorde Achan Ios 7.25 in that hee had contrary to the commandement taken among the spoyles a certaine Babilonish garment and two hundred sickles of siluer and a tongue of golde and conveyed and hidde them away for the which the whole Hoaste was troubled and fledde before the enemie and afterwarde not onely Achan but also his Familie and all the hee had was destroyed Nowe if Achan onely sinned why did the people flye and fall Againe why were his sonnes and Familie punished and what had his children and cattle deserued that they all perished with him was it not commanded before Deut. 24.16 The fathers shall not bee put to death for the children nor the children for the fathers Chorah Num. 16.13 but euery man shall bee put to death for his owne sin Also in the rebellion of Corah Dathan and Abiram why were the people plagued for these mens offences and wherefore dyed their Wiues and children and seruantes Abraham and Sarah Gen. 18. and cattle together with them * Also we finde that Abraham being fore-folde that hee should haue a sonne of Sarah his wife laughed aswel as did Sarah and yet Sarah was reprooued and not Abraham We may imagine that the one laughed for ioy and the other in scorne but wee haue no such cause deliuered vnto vs for they both beleeued God Moreover Adam Gen. 3. why did God permit Adam to fall and Hevah to be tempted Why was Abraham our Father made a soiorner in a strange land Abraham Iacob Pharao Why was Iacob vexed and afflicted with so many euils in his dayes why did God harden the hart of Pharaoh Why did the Lord plague thréescore and ten thousand of Davids people for his sin In all these things David let vs as I said wonder and iustifie the Lord knowing Iob. Gen. 18. that as no kinde of iniquitie dwelleth in the most high so beeing the Iudge of all the world he iudgeth according to right as Abraham saith and would that men should content their minds only with that which it pleaseth him to reueale vtter vnto them The generall cause of all But thus wee may say that in all those things the Lord hath respected his owne glorie and the benefite of his children and that as his will is in all things performed it was his will that among others the King should fall and shew his imperfections and that as I can gather besides the former for these foure causes Certain particular causes of Solomons sin First that the people which beheld his wonderfull wisedome wealth prosperitie and glory wherein hee hath as by way of symbole expressed the spirituall and heauenly vertues and glory of Messiah might not estéeme or thinke of him more then it is conuenient For indéed they haue for the most part taken him rather for God then for man and others haue taken him for the promised Messiah and not for the Figure of the same wherein they began to derogate from the Lorde and his Annoynted by giuing of his glory to a mortall man And surely for this cause hath the Lord often suffred the right worthy vessels of his grace to fall and to be noted in the holy Scriptures with their imperfections and imfirmities as were Adam Noah Abraham Lot David and such like Next the king hath in this sort fallen that as in his wisedome and diuine vertues he did prefigurate the holy Messiah so by those his slidings and the sinnes of his wiues and strange women imputed also vnto him in that he both affected maintained them notwithstanding their blemishes in religion hee might foreshew the burthen of mans sinnes layd and imputed to the holy one on whose héele therefore the Serpent was to treade in the regard whereof hee shall bee both reputed and esteemed vile and of no reputation among the children of men and shall be punished for their transgressions as David hath prophesied thereof Besides that in this declination of the Kings honor is noted the renting and finall dissipation of our Nation and gouernment in time to come Thirdly the Lorde God will that this example of the Kings fall should bee a terrour and document to all others in posteritie how prosperous or glorious soeuer they shall bee in this worlde full of Vanitie that they beware how they presumne on any ornament either of body or minde or any thing else of this present life and that they promise not to themselues the assurance and continuall vse of that which is but lent them and not their owne to retaine or dispose for if God hath suffered the king who enioyed all these things at his full pleasure to fall yea and to worke wickednes against his owne honor for these his sinnes hath laden him with a measure of his iudgements why should any other man assure himselfe the continuall possession of the like which yet come farre behinde the King in all things Lastly by this the Lord would schole and teach the king as wise as he is that hee presume not to enter into iudgement with him which is most iust and will not acquite a sinner in his sinnes nor to iustifie himselfe
in life and behauiour and not to be perfect within as to make shew without and not to be in either conformable to the office and place I haue especially regarded the maner of my walking that it might bee honest worthie and wise that so I might teach both in doctrine and life and not destroye in th' one Psal 109.7 whiles I would seeme to build in the other accounting them that offend herein worthy of that censure which David gaue on such saying His office let another take Moreouer whereas it was the good pleasure of my Lorde the King and the will of my Lorde Zadoke that I should at times minister for my Lorde Zadoke in the seruice of God the King It is well knowne that I haue not presumptuously vsurped nor intruded nor thrust my selfe into presence but being called and commanded beeing well mindfull of the kinges words writtē amōg his wise prouerbs pro. 25.5.6 Put not forth thy selfe in the presence of the King and prease not into the place of great men for better it is that it be said to thee come vp higher then that thou shouldest be placed lower in the presence of the Prince whome thou seest with thine eyes Therefore I haue not béene of that ambitious and arrogant minde But howsoeuer I might bee suspected as faultie or imperfect in place and time I appeale to the Lord and mine owne conscience as yee my Lords haue done If I be guiltie against the king to my knowledge then would I wish that the one might accuse me and the other condemne me in the presence of you all Howbeit letting passe this examinatiō I presume there is some other cause whereof the kings affliction springeth the which I doubt not will in time appeare in the clearing of vs al. For time is that which discloseth secrets reuealeth the truth therefore is worthily called the mother of truth Nor do I thinke that the king suspecteth any of vs in this case for if he did his iealousie would not haue forborne to disclose and vtter the same to any of vs all for he respecteth neither persons nor power nor wealth nor policie such is his wisedome wealth power and the glory of the fearefull God in him zadock the high priest putteth forth his Apology and sheweth what is the function duty of his place Abiather hauing thus spoken for himselfe he at the last giueth place to Zadoke perceiuing how ready willing also he was to say sōwhat in the presēce of the lords * Zadock was a uery graue and reuerend Father and a faithfull Priest of the Lord doing according to his heart and mind in whome the bright Vrim Thumim so shined that no man either suspected him of any fault towardes the king or doubted of his diuine wisedome and singular perfection and therefore neither the Princes required either any examination or further triall of his integritie howbeit the most reuerend father in all humilitie neither refused nor disdained to doe as they had before done in this respect Therfore stāding vp in the midst of thē he spake with great grauity deliberation to this effect My Lords all although it be so that neither any of you hath giuen this offence vnto the king nor may it be that he holdeth any of you faultie in this matter yet am I glad to see and heare how willing and readie ye haue béene with all submission to examine and cleare your selues in this presence And truely howsoeuer ye bee sory for the kings affliction as indéed ye cannot be glad thereof yet may ye reioice in this that ye haue had this fit opportunity by this confession and trial both to cleare your selues of guilt to manifest your integritie and dutifull heartes towardes his Maiestie But howsoeuer it be that any suspicion or surmises may spring of any of your wordes or dealinges ye are happy in this that ye retain a good consiēce to testify in for your selues to the ease and ioy of your heartes then the which there cannot be a greater treasure in this life The guiltie man proposing to his vnderstanding the law which he hath broken The guilty cōscience and transgressed and withall the iudgement and paine ensewing the same being rightly concluded and applied to himselfe hath alwayes dreade carefulnes and sorrowe of heart as who might thus argue Thus saith the lawe but thus haue I done and so transgressed the lawe Ergo I stand to bee iudged and condemned by the same as who shoulde saye shall not that iust God deale with me as I haue deserued and shall not I be plagued in the end for my desert offending against the law of God as others haue beene plagued for the like and shoulde I promise vnto my selfe safetie any way in this my guiltinesse Thus argued Adam when he had broken the law of the Lord thus also Cain when he had murthered his brother Thus the brethrē of Ioseph who had abused and solde him away Thus argued Pharao after that he had threatned Moses and Aaron and would not let the people go thus Saul when hee perceiued Davids innocencie and his owne malice against him and thus Achitophel and such like who in the knowledge of their owne sinnes and the sense of the diuine Iustice concluded a iust condemnation on themselues Adam fearing what wold ensewe hid himselfe in the bushes and yet hee coulde not bee safe opposed as it were to the diuine wrath and all miseries and therefore confessed Gen. 4. that hee was naked and was afraide at the sounde of the Lordes voyce Cain confessed that his sinne was greater then that hee coulde bee pardoned and that the punishment thereof shoulde bee farre beyond his habilitie to beare yea hee saide vnto the Lord Beholde thou hast cast mee out this day from the vpper face of the earth and from thy face shall I be hid fugitiue also and a vagabond shall I bee in the earth and it shall come to passe that every one that findeth mee shall slay me * The sonnes of Iacob seeing they could not bee hidden Gen 42.21 confessed at length their sinne against their brother saying we haue verily sinned against him and therefore are we now troubled And againe fearing what Ioseph woulde doe vnto them after his fathers funeralls they in the terror of minde come and beséech him to forget their iniury against him The king of Aegypt at length confessed and saide vnto Moses and Aaron Exod. 6.27 Indeede the Lord is righteous and I and my people are vngodly On the which he would conclude his conscience condemning him Therefore shall both I and my people be plagued Saul in the agonie of his heart slew himselfe with his owne sworde and Achitophel who had béene a Counsaylor and prouoker of Absolon against his Father his owne conscience condemning him went and hanged himselfe Surely of all the torments vnder the Sunne there is none comparable to an euill
youth being vnder the education and nurtour of his father David of Bethsabe his mother and of Nathan the Prophet did well remember his maker and therby behaued himselfe in all things most worthily He was a graue wise man even in his yong yeeres for he hearkened to his father when hee taught him and to his mother when shee schooled him and to wisedome when she directed him Oh how wise was hee in his youth Eccles 47.14 filled with heauenly vnderstanding as with a flood his minde couered the whole earth and filled it with graue darke sentences his name went abrode in the Iles and for his peace he was well beloued The countries meruailed at him for his songs An example of Solomons ingratitude to God after his large guifts prouerbs similitudes and interpretations By the name of the Lord God which is called the God of Israel hee gathered God as Tin and had so much Siluer as Lead Al this not with standing as it hath been with great grief declared by the most reuerend father so must it be also recorded here by mee for I cannot dissemble it or passe it ouer that the King hath bowed his loines vnto womē and hath been overcome by his body and turned a way his heart from the Lord. And therein shall appeare to all posterities a most notable example of the kings ingratitude and disobedience against God and therewithall a fearefull example of the diuine iudgements to teach all others to take heede how they forget God and anger him with disobedience after all his large bounties towards them For besides the examples of the Elephants Storks and other beasts and birds without reason the earth which hath no sense shall worthily condemne him For the very earth receiuing good seede of the sowers hand yeeldes him againe in recompence and token of thankfulnes a farre greater quantitie as some thirty some sixty sōe an hundred fold teaching both how ready men should be to requite benefites receiued if they may do it without iniury especially how thankfull to God of whose hand they haue receiued both life and liuing and also to fly that menstrous sinne of vnkindnes then the which no sinne can be greater for within it is comprehended euery other sin whatsoeuer either against God or man either to giue or not to giue it is in a mans owne power but to recompence or requite a good turne it is of duty required And there where power or habilitie wanteth a good minde is accepted Oh God! how many graces blessings and wealthy gifts hath the kings grace receiued of the Lords hand neuer king had the like before him and it is said which wee belieue there shall neuer any succeede him comparable to him in all these things Therfore shoulde his thankfulnes to God haue been greater far aboue al the rest For of him to whom much is giuen is much required Againe shall not the paine of such vnkindnes exceede the punishment of others it is much to bee feared and the mighty shall bee mightely tormented Wherefore the King vnderstanding this is right sorrowfull in his soule zadoke yet speaketh for the King whome wee should not condemne as a reprobate Neither can wee bee merry and glad as wee haue beene sometimes in the florishing happy daies and prosperitye of our King * Then Zadoke the high Priest whome for his grauitie all the Lordes did reuerence and for his wisedome they did gladly heare replied againe againe and saide Yet may we not so condemne the king as if bee were vtterly cast out of the fauour of God for truly hee expresseth great tokens of repentance euery day The King is but a man hath imperfections and infirmities The King is excellent wise but yet the king is a man neither is a man so perfect in this life but that not onely hee hath infirmities but also many imperfections Yea as the fairest day hath his cloude the sweetest hony a prick and the finest wheat his branne so hath the best man liuing on this earth his fall and fault But this I confesse that seldom there hath bin seene in so wise and holy a man so foule a fault and I esteeme the fault so much the more by how much the king was wise and excellent before others A little fault appeareth great in a wise man For as the least blemish wil appeare in the fairest face so a little fault shal be esteemed much in a wise man How-much more this monstrous sinne in the wisest of all men which hath his eyes in his head to foresee and to preuent dangers then when the foole runneth foorth without knowledge to his own shame and confusion Surely the King hath been in this wonderfully ouertaken An example of mans insecuritie vnto all other men A caveat how wise prudent or politike soeuer they bee and a caueat for them to beware they fall not then when they thinke themselues to stand most assuredly For securitie is a deceitfull hagge Security The princes verdit of the Kinges fault and will cast men sodainly into dangers whē they imagine themselues most safe and sure * Indeede said the Princes this thing being so indiscreetly handled by so wise a King wil be an exceeding blot to his honour a sclander to the holy religion a shame to his Princes a plague to his people an encouragement to his enemies and an euill example for the posteritie and yet it shal be as it is conuenient in the Record lest vnto them For we may not be foūd false witnesses therin Alas that euer we should with these our eyes behold such abhominations with these our eares heare such euill reports with our hearts feare in these dayes of such thinges as are threatned and like to fall on vs zadoke telles that the King is contrite and sory for his sins and so repenreth Howbeit said Zadoke there is some hope in that I perceiue the king doth not only feel in his heart the seuerity of the diuine wrath foreseeth the misery that is threatned thereof is sorowfull but also knowing what is best to bee done as his father David did when he had sinned and was reproued by the Prophet hee is wonderfull contrite and grieued in heart for his sinnes which he now hateth and condemneth in himselfe hee is humbled on the earth and couered with sack-cloth and ashes hee maketh ◅rs strange confessions of his life and behauiour Hee abandoneth all the delights of the worlde which hee esteemeth and calleth vaine and hencefoorth doth assay to dedicate himselfe anew vnto the Lorde his God against whom he hath faulted And as hee hath taught that the iust man falleth seuen times in the day and riseth againe so hee knoweth that his onely way to rise is by faithfull repentance the which the Lorde hath promised to preserue keepe in store and to giue vnto them that bee his chosen that thereby they may passe vnto his hill in safetie howsoeuer
to purpose as in the nature of those Symboles Figures Types and shadowes which teach and put vs in minde of things aswell spirituall and eternall as future of the which wee haue and retayne many at this time yet will I not beginne with those externall things lest peraduenture any man shoulde saye that the King is not therefore the better in the spirit nor the more acceptable to God because he is outwardly glorious no more then he is a good king that raigneth in a wealthy country or he a wise gouernour which is placed in a goodly ship or he a worthy man who weareth a faire Coate or that a perfect Steed which is arraied with a golden Saddle Solomon is a figure of Messiah But I wil aspire higher in the consideration of our king to expresse and confirme vnto you his excellency aswell before the Lord as before mortall men And namely and chiefely in that whereby it pleaseth the Lord his God that he should prefigurate and foreshew that holy Messiah whom wee do verily belieue to come into the worlde and doe daily expect But first of this most glorious Person I mean the Messiah it may please you to heare me a few words for they shal be both sweete and comfortable to the true hearted Isralites that from thence I may the better argue for the Kinges holinesse to your content To this the Princes gladly accorded The comfort of the tidings of the Messiah being most willing to heare tell of that most holy and sweete Messiah of Gods mercy promised so long ago typed shadowed prefigured and now so earnestly expected For as their is nothing more pleasing to the prisoner then to heare of his libertie more wished for to the hungry then meate more comfortable to the sicke then the comming of a cunning Phisician and more ioyfull to the condemned to death then the glad tidinges of pardon life so what should be more pleasing more desired more comfortable and more ioyfull to vs which are captiued to the Serpent starued for want of graces sicke and sore in sinne and by a iust sentence condemned to death yea to eternall death then to heare the glad tidings of the coÌ„ming of the most noble Prince the carefull pastour that faithfull Phisician and that mighty Saviour which wil as he is best able release vs refresh vs heale vs pardon and saue vs Say on therefore most reuerend Father for we long to heare of those chearefull things zadoke telleth of mans fall and misery Gen. 3. * Then hearken said he I know it is not hidden from you for Moses hath plainely written thereof in the booke Berescith and it is often read vnto you that our first Parents by the Serpentes subtiltie tooke the forbidden fruit in Paradise therein breake the commandement the paine and inconuenience thereon threatned for the same was that they should dye the death that same day Therfore it followed that they were exiled kept out from the presence of God they were wounded with the act of their transgression they were captiued in the Serpents bands they became odious to their maker they were dispoiled of all their diuine vertues they were opposed to all miseries and lastly subdued vnto ghastfull death and hell torments Lo such was the wofull condition of those our first parents Howbeit this had not beene so intollerable and grieuous vnto vs had not the effect of this transgression beene extended and propagated by nature on all Adams children and posterity but it is too true that all men are thereby holden guilty as the naughty children of like parents and as vnwholesome fruites of the same tree This David the kinges father hath considered and acknowledged Psal 51. in Mismor Ledavid Behold I was shapen in wickednes and in sinne hath my mother coÌ„ceived me yea and when the Lord looked downe from heauen he saw that all were gone out of the waye and were become abhominable and that none of them did good no not one The recovery of man by Messiah But yet seeing Iehovah our God was most willing to recouer and recure man I meane those whome he had in his loue fore knowne for his owne elected to life and appointed for his glory he did in wisedome deuise and prouide a wonderfull meane therevnto wherein his mercy striuing with his Iustice might yet in the ende conclude for Equitie by the which this man who was indged and iustly condemned should be pardoned and yet the diuine iustice not infringed How this could bee compassed by Gods wisedome and prouidence ye shall hereafter vnderstand Here let vs consider in the nature of the diuine goodnes that God is more ready to pardon and to saue then to iudge and destroy the children of his election and grace and the rather for that he loueth them hath created them in his owne image hath appointed them for his glory and would not they should be lost for euer Againe hee considered mans frailtie and pittied it he was mercifull and expressed it he was liberall and extended it he was the best father and declared his affection he was willing to saue and performed his will Therefore hee would neither suffer sin either to ouerthrow him or to raigne or to rest on him but hating and abhorring sin from his heart he did destroy the same by his grace he had compassioÌ„ on mans miserable condition therefore he little waighed yea hee forgat the iniury that man did him hee shewed himselfe ready both to satisfy for his guilt to heale his paine he was more ready to pardon man then man was to aske mercy and finally when in iustice he should and might if he would haue thrown him down into the depth of the nethermost hell he neuerthelesse after his mercy recouered him restored him to grace and raised him vp into the highest heauen And this to effect when neither angels nor powers either in heauen or earth or vnder the earth could do the deede he proposed his owne Sonne euen that most holy and eternall worde of God by whome all thinges were made Gen. 1.1 whom he appointed to deale for mans guilte to satisfy the diuine Iustice and to compasse and effect the most excellent worke of mans redemption by and in the which hee might gather and ioyne againe vnto himselfe a chaste spowsesse as vnto whome he might expresse the greatnes of his loue and continue as an husband or head to defend preserue maintaine and beautify the same for euer The obedieÌ„ce of Messiah Therevpon the Almighty was not so ready that man by this meane should be recouered but that sonne also himselfe as an earnest wower that seeketh for her whome his soule loueth was also willing obedient to doe and performe all things conuenient therein According to the which the Kinges Father did sing in his person Burnt offeringes and sacrifices for sinne thou hast not required psal 40. â—â— Then saide I Lo I come in the
conclude with mée that hee is neither a damned nor a reprobate The consent of the princes or a prophane person but a singuler Saint of the most high To this answered the Princes yee haue well spoken most reuerend father and semblably applyed whatsoeuer yee haue produced for the king Many things whereof wee knowe and all other things wee beleeue to be true as yee haue declared them therefore wee will gladly both subscribe to the same and conclude with you for the Kings holines Morouer as we haue been willing to heare you and are glad of those your resolutions so are wee not weary but more willing as yet to heare you further and further in these things neither shall ye bee more ready to speake then wee shall be pleased to listen and learne to vnderstand the mysteries of the kings excellency and glorie Therefore if ye haue any thing else to produce say on wee beseech you To this said Zadok Yea my Lords there be as yet many more Arguments to this purpose and more then I minde at this time to produce It shall be sufficient that among many I take some few For the thing being already so well proved that of the trueth fewe or none néede to doubt it may be bootlesse for mee to heape together ouer-much lest I may not onely séeme to affirme and confirme that which no man denieth but also to confound your memories with ambages and tedious circumstances But hearken againe As it hath well pleased the Almightie to elect king Solomon to appoint him the builder of his house Solomon in his dignitie prefigureth Christ to honor his birth and to entitle him with those most soueraigne Names so hath hee made him king ouer his people Israel to doe vnto them equitie and righteousnesse And this the Lorde did in his loue to his people 1. king 10. as the noble Queene of Saba said at her being here and so said Hyram the king of Tyrus writing to the king Because the Lord loved Israel therefore hath he placed the king over them Wherein wee see how he typeth the holy Messiah for insomuch as the Lord loued his Church I meane all those faithfull ones whom he had before elected and purposed to glorifie in the end he made his Messiah their Prince and Captaine He gaue vnto them in his good pleasure such a king as might sit vpon mount Sion from whence he had expelled all the halt and the blinde that this king of the right Vrim and Thumim might be placed and raigne therein doing righteousnesse and equitie vnto his Saints If therefore the Lorde loued Israel and in his pleasure placed ouer them a king whom he also loued and by the same would prefigurate both his Messiah his Church what should let vs in this to conclude for the kings holinesse Moreouer the end of this gouernment shooteth to the same scope which is to doe equitie and righteousnes This our king endeuoured to his power and so much performed as a mortall man could but the full perfection thereof indeede is reserued to the most holy seede which is appointed to combine the Lords Iustice with his Mercie therof conclude Equitie when laying mans guilt on himselfe hee shall beare the strokes of the diuine iustice and imputing his perfection vnto man hee shall procure him pardon Thus shall iustice be administred yet mercy shall not be abandoned but one thing so considered with another that both righteousnesse and equitie shall bee extended This worke I say is proper to the Messiah wherein therefore our Lord king Solomon standeth a true figure Furthermore to be briefe Solomons magnanimitie the K. great magnanimitie expresseth the same he spared forbare to punish thē which had offended his Maiestie as Adoniah Ioab and others whom hee would neuer haue struken had they not after their second offence against him worthily deserued the reward of their wickednes and how mercifully he dealt with Abiather it is apparent to signifie how ready the Messiah shall bee to forgiue them that offend him vpon their submission after the diuine nature who as David the king did sing is more ready to pardon then to punish them that sin against him when they repent as we sée in the example of the same David To this His wisedome may be added the excellencie of Solomons wisdō I mean that pure influence flowing from the glorie of the most high the brightnesse of that euerlasting light that vndefiled mirrour of the divine Maiestie and the image of his goodnesse that without measure The which shall perfectly and fully farre beyond all that the King hath or can haue be found really and actually resident in the person of holy Messiah the fountaine of all wisedome and heauenly graces the depth whereof the wit of man is not nor shall euer bee able to sound His iudgements and other things The 2. harlots The priesthood translated as long as the worldendureth Moreouer his discretion in Iudgement concerning the cause of the 2. women and their children signifieth the maner of dealing of the Messiah in iudgemēt between his Church and the malignant in time to come his translating of the Priest-hoode from the house of Eli foretelleth that the Priest-hood in time shall bee translated when the true Melchizedek shall come to offer vp his sacrifice for the people of God His iudgement on Adoniah and Ioab Adoniahs iudgement fore-sheweth that the King of glorie in his dayes shall powerfully throwe downe and confound all such as bee enemies to the Lords Annointed and which seeke to disturbe the common-wealth of his Church Hyram his contribution The sending to Hyram the Sidonian for timber and other things for the building of his Temple signifieth that the Messiah as hee is a light for the Gentiles so he shall from thence also take and gather into the Church according to the request of Noah Gen. 9. who prayed that Iaphet might be persuaded to dwell in the tents of Shem. To this also belongeth the comming of the famous Queene of Arabia The Queene of Sheba to heare the kings wisedome with her royall presents and her entertainement for the time shall come that in the like manner the kings of the Gentiles and the people which dwell in the remote and vttermost parts of the earth shall be congregated to heare the wisdom of the holy one Solomons glorie and riches and shal be most gratefull to him for his loving mercies Also the great glory and riches of the king setteth foorth the high glory and noble vertues of that heauenly king from whose kingly stocke many princely branches of divine issue haue and shall spring out and of whom the kings father diuinely inspired prophesied when he spake in the Psalme of his beautie psal 4.5 grace blessing courage might worship renowne prosperitie honor truth meekenes righteousnes noble actions strength in warre of his throne his scepter his iudgements his
and Moses and Aaron And this he did also truely and speedily as soone as he saw the Angell of Gods wrath had drawen forth his sworde against him his people as David did when he saw the angell of God plaguing the people in this point he well resembled that wary bird which seeing the fowlers bow bent and himselfe in danger makes haste to flye away before that the arrow bee sent foorth against him remembring what his father had modulated If when that men offend the Lord they will not turn againe He furbisheth his percing sword in iustice them to paine He bends his bow it prepares with dreadfull darts of death And lethall instrumentes to take from them their vitall breath But alas there be in the world too many cōparable to that foolish bird which maketh no hast to escape frō the snare before he be taken therin Therfore I now remēber not only what he coūsailed Be not slow to turne to the Lord for sodainly shall his wrath burne like fier but what his father aduised psal 95.8 To day if ye his voice will heare Then harden not your faithles heart As ye with grudging many a yeare Provokte me in the wild desert It is meet that men attend him whē he calleth If men offer gold which is yet but transitory there bee which come with speede and the tree being shaken they will gather vp the fruit without long tarrying But when the Lorde proffereth peace to mans soule they come slackly regarde it little which is the cause they often misse the kings thousand But as for our Soueraign L. albeit we had been neither eare-witnesses nor eye-witnesses yet besides the K. gesture and present constitution of body the very words which wee haue heard from him and yet daily heare him to vtter That is his Ecclesiastes and the which being taken and collected into a register may bee called the booke of his repentance shall for euer witnesse and manifest the same thing For therein it doth and may appeare that our L. King Solomon not onely after his full and perfect experience of all the delights of the sonnes of men and the affaires of this life but also after all those his transgressions wherein he had so much vexed and disquietted both his minde and body angred the L. offended the holy ones distained his honor and endangered his soule is neverthelesse by the admirable operation of the diuine spirite brought to the true sense and knowledge of his sinnes and so of the danger of himselfe and his people the which is alwaies the first grade to true repentance from whence hee hath orderly proceeded to the full perfection thereof as hereafter yee shall vnderstand In the meane time my good L let vs think right honourably of the K. and beleeue that Iehovah his God hath not barred him out from the contrition and repentance of the blessed and so neither from the diuine mercy Ye haue well spoken most reuerēd father said the Princes which we haue gladly heard and will both concurre and conclude with you for the King to the honour of our God And truely in this that hee hath acknowledged and confessed his offences hee may not bee either condemned or disliked albeit hee bee the King of Israel no more then such a thing was blamed in David his father but rather to be commended as it was in him as first in regard of the good example wherby others might be instructed next for the more ease of his own heart oppressed with sorrow in the consideration of his sin with the danger ensewing it Thirdly for the better pacifying of the diuine wrath which is vehemēt against obstinat sinners and fouthly for the good of his people who vpon his repentance and remission might hope for peace there be some who when they haue sinned will not easily acknowledge themselues faultie either to God or to man and therfore are hardly perswaded to amend Wherin they bee like those which holden of desperate diseases not feeling themselues sick are hardly recouered for this is a great hinderāce to amēdment of life when men which are offenders will not acknowledge their offences But there bee some though not many of them which offending do by times feele and know their offences and seek to escape the diuine wrath by a faithful recōciliatiō and so are recouered in good time And these be like not only to those wise birds which as ye said eschew the arrowes comming towards them but also to those which being distempered in their bodies soone espy it and seek to preuent inconueniences by the aduise and help of the cunning phisician For as the sense of the sicknes is the commencement of the cure so the acknowledging of a fault is the first step to pardon and so to the amēdment of him that hath faulted But proceed most reuerend father we pray you and desist not vntill ye haue fully declared the order and manner of the K. true repentance for truly howsoeuer it hath beene a griefe and sorow vnto our hearts to hear of those his great transgressions and sins it is and shal be now a ioy and comfort vnto vs to heare of his happy Repentance by the which it may be the L. will also repent him of that euill which he had purposed to doe vnto him and vs and will turne iustice into mercy that we perrish not in this his high displeasure which is as a fearfull fyer to consume thē that wil neither repent them of their sinnes nor seeke him whiles hee may bee found in the singlenesse of heart CAP. XXX Zadok declareth the order and manner of Solomons Repentance THe Princes hauing heard Zadok thus farre acknowledged the equitie of his dealing and withall hauing praysed and commended the King in this point that although he were a King yet he disdained not both is acknowledge himselfe an offendor after the example of his father David they requested Zadoke to proceede who continuing the former argument spake againe to this effect Surely my Lordes as the K. is most wise and his wisedome euer remained with him so perceiuing that he had sinned against God who thereby was prouoked to anger hee did not onely acknowledge the same in his heart but also considered that the iudgements diuine were now ready to be executed against him and his people Yea Solomons Contrition as in Eccl. ca. 1. 2. hee felt the arrowes of God to stick fast in him whereby he was moved to such great contrition of heart and sorrw of minde for his sins that there was no health in his flesh nor rest in his bones he was brought into such an extreame trouble and heauines that hee went mourning all the day long as sometimes I saw his father David to do when his heart was contrite after the knowledge of his sinnes and sense of Gods wrath Secondly Solomons confession of his sinnes the king hath not omitted to vtter foorth the fearefull