the fear of God and love of his children but the manner of putting them in execution is neither approoved in holie Scripture nor was in it selfe justifiable nor is to bee imitated of us it beeing no more lawfull to save a mans life by a lie than by theft both which without repentance in themselves deserve death eternall Et quomodo non perversissimè dicitur saith S. Augustine ut alter corporaliter vivat debere alterum spiritualiter mori How can it be but a perverse assertion to say That one should incur the death of the soule to free another from that of the body And not farre off in another place Quanto fortius quaÌ„to excellentius dices Nec prodam nec mentiar ut Firmus Episcopus Tagastensis How much more courage and constancy doth it shew for a man to say I will neither betray the truth nor my friend as did Firmus Bishoppe of Tagastum Firmus nomine firmior autem re Firm in name but more firm indeed The truth heerof will the better appear if we consider the greatnes of the offense the second thing which I proposed in as much as it is first directly against God himselfe secondly against the Scriptures the Oracles of GOD thirdly against nature the workmanship of God and fourthly against civill society the ordinance of God Against God it is both essentially and personally taken Against God the Father This is eternall life that they knowe thee to bee the onely true God Iohn 17. 3 Against God the Sonne I am the way the truth and the life Iohn 14. 6 Against God the holy Ghost When hee is comne who is the Spirit of truth he will lead you into all truth Iohn 16. 13. And as God is the Father of truth so is the Divell the father of Lies when hee speaketh a Lie then hee speaketh of his owne for hee is a lier and the father thereof Ioh. 8. 44. No marvell then that one of those seven things which the Lord hates and his soule abhorres is a lying tongue Pro. 6. 17. Secondly it is against the Scriptures the Oracles of God And therefore are they truely called Verbum veritatis the word of truth Eph. 1. 13 not onely because they were indited by the Author of all truth or because they contain so much supernaturall truth as is requisite for our salvation but withall because they excite us to the imbracing practising of truth Cast off lying and speake every man truth unto his neighbour Ephes. 4. 25. Ly not one to another Col. 3. 9. Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle saith our Prophet Even he that speaketh the truth from his heart Psal. 15. Thirdly it is against nature the workmanship of God It is the priviledge of Mankinde above all Creatures that hee is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a creature capable both of reason and speech and as reason was ordained to bee the guide and directer of our speech so was our speech to be the expounder and interpreter of reason And therefore the Grammarians make 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth speech to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which gives light to the notions of the understanding If then wee speak one thing and think another if wee expresse one thing with our lips and conceive another thing in our hearts it is against the end for which God created speech Fourthly and lastly it is against Civill society the ordinance of God a maine part wherof consisting in Conference in Consultation in Contracts Fractavel leviter imminuta authoritate veritatis omnia dubia remanebunt saith Saint Augustine The credit and soverainty of truth being never so little crackt or the practice of lying never so little couÌ„tenanced a man can build upon nothing but all things will bee full of doubt and distrust Rightly then saith the same good Father Nunquam errare tutius existimo quam cum in amore nimio veritatis reiectione nimia falsitatis erratur A man cannot lightly erre more safely then in too much love of truth hatred of lies Truth is a salt which serveth for the seasoning of every action and maketh it favorie both to God and man and in the 6. to the Ephes. it is compared to a girdle or a Souldiers belt whereby they knit together and close vnto their middle the upper and lower peeces of their armour And these belts as they were strong so were they set with studs being faire large There is then a double use of them one to keepe the severall peeces of armour fast and close together to hold the loynes of a man firm steddy that hee may be able to stand the surer and holde out the longer the other to cover the ioynts of the armour that they might not be seene The first use was for strength the second for ornament and thus truth is both an ornament to a Christian souldier and also an excellent meanes for strength to uphold and assure him in the day of trial Therfore wisely doth Solomon advise us To buy the truth but in no case to sell it Pro. 23. 23. The last thing which I promised is the punishment and that surely cannot but much aggravate the grievousnesse of the sinne It is both the punishment of other sinnes and other sinnes the punishment of it When God would punish Ahab for his wickedness presently the Divell offers himselfe for the execution of the service I will goe and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his Prophets 1. King 22. And those that would not beleeve and love the truth he punisheth with strong delusions that they should beleeue lies 2. Thess. 2. And as it is the punishment of other sinnes so did hee punish it with other sinnes in those Philosophers of the Gentiles who because they turned the truth of God into a lie therefore God gaue them up unto vile affections Rom. 1. 25. And the rule is general The mouth that lieth slayeth the soule Wis. 1. 11. Thou shalt destroy them that speake lies Psal. 5. 6. And Revel 22. 15 Without shall bee dogs and enchanters and whoremongers and murtherers and Idolaters and whosoever loveth or maketh lies And if God thus shutte them out of his presence not without cause doth our Prophet promise They shall not tarry in his sight It is the prayer of Salomon Prov. 30. Remoue from mee vanity and lies and his position in the 29. of the same book veâ—s 12 Of a Prince that hearkeneth to lies all his servants are wicked And if wee are to shun the practice of lies much more the doctrine of lies Teaching lies through hypocrisie 1. Tim. 4. 2. One effect whereof is the confident relation of their lying miracles and that Golden Legend compiled by a leaden braine and published by a brazen forehead I will conclude with Saint Augustines conclusion of his two Treatises de mendacio ad Consentium Aut cavenda sunt mendacia recte agendo aut confitenda sunt poenitendo non
proportionable disposition whether it be by instrument or by voice our Prophet the sweet Singer of Israel having singular knowledge in them both as also in the art of Poetry judged them all as very usefull in civill affairs so in sacred actions and religious exercises even in the house of God it selfe not unusefull leaving behinde him to that purpose a number of divinely indited poems howbeit their metre in the originall bee now unknowne and adding unto his poetry melody both vocall and instrumentall by ordaining some of the Levites skilled in musicke to praise the Lord by singing and playing on instruments to the number of foure thousand 1. Chro. 23. 5. who divided into severall companies by course served the Lord in his Sanctuary for the raising up of mens hearts and sweetning their affections towards God The instruments they used in praising the Lord are most of them reckoned up in the last Psalm all which may be reduced to two sorts whereof one is called Negenoth such as made a sound by touching the other Nechiloth such as being hollow made a sound by breathing Sometime the musicall instrument began and the singing voice followed and then the song was called Canticum Psalmi somtime again the song was first sung with the voice and the musicall instrument followed and then it is called Psalmus Cantici of which sort it seems was this Psalm both sung privately by David for his better remembrance therof and by him appointed to bee sung publikely in the Congregation as for the good of others so thereby to oblige himself the more strictly to the performance thereof Before Davids time this singing of sacred hymns was in use as may appear by the songs of Moses and Miriam Exod. 15. and of Deborah and Barach Iudg. 5. After him his Sonnes songs were no less then a thousand and five 1. Kings 4. 32. And one speciall one of his we yet enjoy at this day by the name of Canticum canticorum the Song of songs setting forth unto us the mystical union between Christ his Church Christ himself and his Disciples according to the custome of the Iewes sung a Psalme Mat. 26. 30. Paul and Silas sung in prison Acts 16. 25. And to shew that it was a duty to continue in the Church both S. Paul and S. Iames not onely exhort us to it but give us rules for the practice of it In consideration whereof the Church of Christ doth likewise at this present day retain it as an ornament to Gods service and an helpe both to our edification and devotion neither can they well bee excused from profanenesse who eyther scorn to doo it themselves or scorn others for the dooing of it I will shut up this point with an excellent speech of S. Basils touching this use of singing psalms in Christian Families or Congregations Whereas saith he the holy Spirit saw that mankinde is unto vertue hardly drawen and that righteousnes is the lesse accounted of by reason of the pronenesse of our affections to that which delighteth it pleased the wisedome of the same Spirit to borrow from melody that pleasure which mingled with heavenly mysteries causeth the smoothnesse and softnesse of that which toucheth the â—are to convay as it were by sâ—ealth the treasure of good things into mans minde To this purpose were those harmonious tunes of the Psalmes devised for us that they which are either in years but tender and greene or touching perfection of vertue as yet not growne to ripenesse might when they think they sing learn O the conceit of that heavenly Teacher which hath by his skill found out a way that dooing those things wherein we delight we may also learn that wherby wee profit And so I com from our Prophets manner of expressing his vow I will sing to the burden of his song Mercy and Iudgement I will sing Mercy and Iudgement The ditty or subject-matter of his song hee promiseth should bee modest and grave and useful not light and vain or unsavory and fabulous much less filthy and unclean fit for nothing but as a sacrifice offred to the Divell to defile the mouth and hart of the singer to corrupt others and to offend chaste ears For if evill words corrupt good manners much more lewd songs which the more artificiall they are the more dangerous and pestilent are their effects the pleasantnes of their tune with more facility and less suspicion convaying their poison unto the soule Vse not the company of a woman that is a singer and a dancer neither hear her lest thou bee taken by her craftinesse Ecclus. 9. 4. To which purpose it was not unfitly spoken by the Roman Historian touching Sempronia a gentlewoman of Rome that shee was taught psallere saltare elegantiùs quà m modestam decebat to sing and dance more gracefully then becam a modest woman Besides these amorous and wanton songs and sonnets as they serve the Divels turn to convay poison into the minde so doo they abate the edge of the masculine vigour thereof bending and turning it by degrees from a manly martiall disposition to an effeminate softness Enervant animos cytharae cantusque lyraeque Witnes the great Alexander who among other monuments of Troy being presented with Paris his Lute replied Achillis cytharam mallem Witnes Themistoclâ—s that famous war riour who beeing desired at a banquet to touch a Lute answered that hee could not fiddle but he could make of a little Town a great City And lastly let Nero himselfe bee a witnes heerof who seeing apparant death before his eyes cryed out Qualis artifex perâ—o in regard of his extraordinary skill in singing Now as the matter of our Prophets song was not fabulous or wanton so was it not diffamatory or libelling stuffe impeaching any mans reputation such as the drunkeards made upon him Psal. 69. 12 a lash which the greatest Princes cannot avoid and the best sometimes feel but the knowne authors thereof are by so much the more severely to be censured as they deeply wound and are hardly discovered Finally the matter of his song was not his own triumphs and victories though they were many and glorious aswel against strangers abroad as rebels at home hee left that to others Saul hath slain his thousand and David his ten thousand And thus having taken a brief view what the matter of our Prophets song was not though too too rife now-adaies both in Court and City and Country let us now consider what it was Mercy Iudgement And first take them jointly not Mercy without Iudgement nor Iudgement without Mercy but Mercy and Iudgement both together like Rahel and Leah which twain did build the house of Israel or like Moses and Elias at the transfiguration of Christ whereof the one was the meekest man upon earth and the other the most zealous of the Prophets As the badge of the Ship S. Paulâ—ailed-in â—ailed-in was Castor and Pollux two twinnes so the badge of this Psalm
but not without them for though Mercy bee heer set in the first place yet is it coupled with Iudgement as milk and blood that mingled stood Iudgement like another Iacob layes hould upon Mercie 's heel and though Mercy like Pharez bee first borne yet instantly followes Iudgement like Zarah with his red thread about his arme Nay without Iudgement Mercy caÌ„not subsist in as much as by due execution of Iustice upon particular members Mercy is shewed in preserving the whole body And as filiall Feare is procured by Mercy so is unfained Love by such Iustice. As Mercy then is the more beautiful the more comely and amiable Vertue so is Iustice at times the more necessary It hath long been and still is a Question controversed between Physicians and Philosophers whether the Braine or the Heart be the more principal member in as much as the one is the fountain of life the other of sense so mee thinks when I compare these two Vertues together Mercy is like the Brain qualifying the immoderate heat of those spirits that are bred in the heart but Iustice like the heart it self the fountain of those spirits Now because I am to speake of the administration heerof in handling the last verse of this Psalme I will pass to my third and last part proposed in my Text the Person to whom this Song and this Vow are addressed and that is the Lord Tibi O Iehova psallam to thee O Iehovah will I sing This Name Iehovah anciently tearmed Nomen tetragrammaton the name of foure letters was to the Iewes so venerable that they never durst pronounce it as fearing to pollute it with their lips but Adonai which also signifieth Lord in stead thereof Of all the Appellations given to God in holy Scripture it is alone reserved as peculiar to himself and never imparted to any Creature neither doo we finde it given to God till hee had created man thereby to teach us that as man was by him made a subordinate Lord of the other Creatures so was he the independent and absolute LORD both of him and them To this great Iehovah then this most Soveraigne Lord this Lord of lords it is that David addresseth his Song and his Vow Hee was himselfe a great Lord the grand Commander of a mighty and populous Nation yet he acknowledgeth this Lord to bee by infinite degrees higher and greater than himself and himself to be but a worm in comparison of Him First then of his singing to this Lord then of his vowing unto him and lastly of his vowing and singing unto him Mercy and Iustice. Wee ought in our singing nâ—t so much to respect the delighting of our selves or others with the sweet tuneablenesse of the voice as to do worship to God by it and to edifie our consciences It is both ryme and reason Non Vox sed Votum non chordula Musica sed Cor Non Clamans sed Amans cantat in aure Dei The Heart not Harp Devotion not the Voice The Lover not the Lowd GOD's ears rejoice Not so much the Lute-string as the Heart-string nor so much the shrill Voice as the zealous Affection sounds in the ears of God And heerunto accords the Apostle Singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts Eph. 5. 19. And againe Singing with a grace in your hearts to the Lord Colos. 3. 16 not to your selves but to the Lord or at leastwise rather to the Lord than to your selves Now as hee addresseth his Song so doth he his Vow unto the same Lord according to his owne Counsell Vow perform to the Lord your God Psal. 76. 11. The reason is because all Invocation is due unto God and a Vow is alwaies joyned with invocation either for the obtaining the good wee desire or the avoiding the evill wee fear Besides it is God only that knows the secret motions of the heart As then in that regard we pray unto him alone so unto him alone are wee to direct our Vows who alone is able either to punish us if wee break them or to reward us if wee keep them Lastly a Vow beeing nothing else but a promissory oath as wee are to swear by none but God so are wee to vow to none but God And as the properties of an oath are Truth Iudgement and Iustice so are they also of a Vow Iudgement for the avoiding of rash vows Iustice for the avoiding of wicked vowes and Truth for the performance of such as are neither wicked nor rash but are made upon good advice and tend to good ends Finally our Prophet both sings and vows Mercy and Iudgement to the Lord thereby acknowledging GOD as his guide both in the entrance and accomplishment of all actions so in speciall of Mercy and Iustice and that he would exercise these imperiall Vertues not so much to content himself or to gratifie men as to please and glorifie God not so much because men expected it or commended it as because God commanded it and would take account of it Concerning actions of like nature done for humane respects the Lord hath said they have their reward Mat. 6. 2 that is acceptance honour and reverence from men because they are done to men but the Iustice Mercy that have God for their object and are referred to his glory and set him before them who is the searcher of hearts they I say receive their recompence from God Many times it falleth out that the Prince causeth a wicked person to bee executed the deed is good but perhaps he is moved thereunto rather with desire of revenge or importunity of suters then with the detestation and vileness of the fact this work I say in it selfe is just for the malefactour by his sinne deserved the punishment yet hee that doth it is notwithstanding unjust So much doth vertue desire to be cherished for her own sake or rather so much is God the fountain of all vertue jealous of his honour and jealous also of our love that hee will have every thing to the end it may bee good indeed referred unto himselfe and to the ends that he hath appointed as indeed all is taken and cometh from him alone and therefore should be referred to him and his glory onely as the rivers derived from the sea by secret veins chanels disburden themselves with full mouth into the same again Eccles. 1. 7. To bee short the Prince above all should referre and approve his actions to God seeing that God alone and not man hath set him up and seeing also that hee is not to bee judged by men but by God And now to conclude this point great and excellent things as wee see are comprehended under these two tearms Mercy and Iudgement which are indeed the very summe and abridgement of all that Kings should either learn or doo And seeing they are of so deep reach and extend so far as they doo wee may thereby plainely perceive that it is no light charge To be
crav'd it at his hands withal notably set forth the weaknes of mans wit judgement with the reason therof in these words Give mee that wisedome which sitteth by thy throne and put mee not out from among thy children for I thy servant and sonne of thine handmaid am a feeble person and of a short time and yet less in the understanding of iudgement and the lawes and though a man bee never so perfect among the children of men yet if thy wisedome bee not with him he shall bee nothing regarded for the thoâ—ghts of mortall men are fearfull and our forecasts uncertaine because the corruptible body is heavie unto the soule and the earthly mansion keepeth downe the mind that is full of â—ares Wisedome 9. Seeing then the infirmity of mans fore-sight and determinations together with the uncertainty of humane affaires and events it were good for all religious Princes to take that as their Posie which our late renowned Princesse made the inscription of her Coine Posui Deuâ— adiutorem meum Besides it hath beene noted that those who ascribe too much to their owne wisdome and policie end unfortunately As Caesar Borgia whom Machiavell makâ—s the mirror and paterne of his Prince his Motto was Aâ—t Caesar aâ—t nullus but in the end he proved both Et Caesar nullus And Timotheus the Athenian after hee had in the account given to the State of his gouernment often interlaced this speech and in this fortune had no part was observed never to have prospered in any thing hee undertooke afterwardes Now looke what Fortune was to them the same is Gods Providence unto us whereas on the other side the most prosperous in their enterprises have ever most willingly ascribed their victories their deliverances their success-full Counsels and happy issues rather to the goodness of divine Providence than their owne valour or wit And surely hee that shall consider how a day an houre a moment is enough to overturne the deepest plots of the gravest Senates that seemed as one speakes to have been founded and rooted in Adamant cannot but withall acknowledge it as exceeding folly and ingratitude in any man so to dote upon and admire the sufficiencie of his owne gifts as to forget the Giver so much to rely upon the arme of flesh that hee neglect the direction of Gods holy Spirit which is as if a man should set to Sea without a Pilot or undertake a journey through a dangerous Forrest in a dark night without a guide I will then conclude this point with that prayer of the People for their Prince and the Prince for himselfe Give thy iudgements to the King O Lord and thy righteousnesse to the Kings sonne Psalme 72. 1. A third sort understand these words of our Prophet When wilt thou come unto mee of Gods comming to David to receive him to himselfe thereby implying that hee would so behave himselfe as he would alwayes have an eye to the maine chance not onely to the end of his actions but of his life which indeed is an excellent meanes both to walke wisâ—ly as he promisâ—th before and uprightly as hee voweth immediatly after When Princes look not so much upon their plumes and traines their present power and magnificence as upon their future condition when their bodies shall become the like prey to worms and rottennesse and their soules shall vndergoe the like strict examination as the bodies and soules of their meanest Subjects When this great game at Chesse is heere ended they must with others be laid up together in the common bagge of Nature and then shall thâ—re bee no difference betweene their dust and that of the poorest Begger The rememberance hereof is like a bitter pill to purge out the malignity of many wanton and vaine â—umors or like a strainer all our thoughts speeches and actions which pass through it are thereby cleansed and purified As the bird guideth her body with her traine and the ship is steered with the rudder so the course of mans life is best directed with a continual recourse unto his end It is hard for a man to think of a short life and to thinke evill or to thinke of a long life and to thinke well Therefore when Salomon had spoken of all the vanities of men at last hee opposed this Memorandum as a counterpoiâ—e against them all Remember for all these things thou shalt come to iudgement Eccles. 11. As if hee should say men would never speake as they speake nor doe as they doe if they did but thinke that these speeches and deeds should shortly come to judgement But an hard thing it is for them who fare delicioâ—sly every day who glister like Angels whom all the world admires and sues and bowes to which are called Sacred Gracious and mightie Lords to remember the approach of Death They have no leasure to thinke of it but chop into the earth before they bee aware like a man that walketh over a field cover'd with snow and sees not his way but while hee thinks to run on suddenly falls into a pit so they which have all things at their will and swim in pleasure which as a snow covereth their way dazeleth their sight while they thinke to live on and rejoyce still suddenly rush upon death and make shipwrack in the calme Sea As it is good therfore for them to heare they are gods so it is meet they remember they are mortall gods They shall die like men Psal. 82. For when they forget they shal die like men they also forget to live and raigne like gods Had they with Ioseph of Arimathea their tombes hewed out in their gardens where they use of solace themselves it would make them so to number their dayes that they would apply their hearts unto Wisedome O that men were wise saith Moses then would they consider their latter end Deutr. 32. 29. So that Wisdome brings a man to consider his end and the consideration of his end makes him more wise As on the other side it is noted as a point of folly in Gods people that they minded not nor remembred their end Lament 1. 9. Now as the remembrance of death made the Prophet walke more wisely so did the remembrance of judgement after death make him walke more uprightly as well knowing hee was to render an account to a higher Iudge who could neither bee terrified with stout lookes nor ledde with respect of persons nor perswaded with eloqueÌ„ce nor blinded with gifts But as hee was in greater place then others so should his reward be greater and his Crowne more glorious if he did well but his punishment greater and his torment more grievous if hee did ill Therefore hee presently addes after this ejaculation cast in betweene I will walke within mine house with a perfect heart I will walke within my house with a perfect heart Walking is a word often used in holy Scripture and specially by our Prophet in this book of the Psalms
I hate the worke of them that fall away or turne aside it shall not cleave to me BEcause such as set wicked things before their eyes commonly turn aside after their owne inventions and desires therefore our Prophet having in the former part of this verse promised not to set any wicked thing before his eyes here hee professeth to hate the worke of them that turne aside or fall away I hate It is but Stoicisme and vanity to think that all passions either may be or should be utterly rooted out of the soule They cannot beeing as naturall to the soules sensitive power as the will and unsterstanding are to the reasonable they should not in that Saint Paul censures it as a fault to be without naturall affection in that being qualified and corrected by reason they become usefull for the executing of that which reason directs they are good servans being kept under but bad commanders having gotten the mastery and lastly in that they are found even in the glorified Saints in the blessed Angels in Man before his fall in Christ as Man and are in holy Scriptures attributed to God himself It is a good conclusion of Thomas Animae paessiones malae moraliter dicendâ— non sunt sed quae contra praeter rationis iudicium sunt The passions of the mind are not to bee tearmed morally evill but in that they are either against or beside the dictate of reason And of Augustine before him Interest qualis sit volunt as hominis quiâ— siperversa est perversos habebit hos motus si autem recta est non soluminculpabiles sed etiam laudabiles erunt It availes not a little how the will of man stands affected which if it be perverse these affections will likewise bee irregular but if it bee straight they will not onely bee without fault but deserve commendation The â—ost universall the most operative and the most durable passions of the soule are Love and Haâ—red they spread farthest they pearce deepest they last longest Now as all the other passions flowe from love as their fountain so doth hatred too It may seem a strange assertion yet is it certainely a true one Cum nihil odiâ— habeatur nisi quod adversatur bono convenienti quod amatur omne odium ex amore nasci necesse est since we hate nothing but what is contrary to the good wee love it cannot bee but hatred must spring out of love Fear ariseth from some danger apprehended of losing the thing wee love grief from the sense of the loss of that wee love and hatred from the impatience of opposition against that wee love so that the more our love is the more is our fear to lose that wee love the more our griefe if wee lose it and the more our hatred to that which opposeth against it Since then our Prophets affection was such towards God that his soule thirsted for him as a dry land where no water is that his heart panted after him as the Hart brayeth after the water-brooks that his favour was better to him than life it selfe and his words sweeter than hony more pretious than thousands of gold and silver it cannot bee but his hatred should answer in proportion to that which is opposite to Gods law derogatory to his glory No mervail then that hee not only mislikes or dis-affects or approoves not but detests abhorres hates the work of them that fall away An hatred there is of malice and an hatred of zeal the one profane carnal the other holy and divine the one as a stinking and poysonsome weed shoots up every where through the field of the world the other as a pretious herbe or rare outlandish flowre comes up thinne and that but in a few mens gardens neither prospers it long without much tending and cherishing The one is sowen in our hearts by that envious man who hates the light because his deeds are evil the other planted by that good Spirit who hates all the workers of iniquity Psal. 5. 5. Of it speaks our Saviour The world hates mee because I testifie of it that the works thereof are evill And our Psalmist the type of our Saviour They that hate mee without a cause are more in number than the hairs of my head To hate those that hate us is heathenish to hate those that are harmelesse and innocent is brutish but to hate those that love us and seek our good by telling us the truth that is divelish Am I therefore your enemy because I tell you the truth saith S. Paul to the Galathians And Ahab to Eliah Hast thou found mee O mine enimy Yet this enemy of his it was that brought him at last to an outward and seeming repentance at least and consequently to the turning away of Gods wrath in his daies This kinde of hatred is one of those three bad daughters born of three good mothers Contempt beeing commonly the birth of Familiarity Idleness of Peace and Hatred of Truth But this is not of kin to the hatred our Prophet heer speaks of So far was he from hatred of the truth that I think hee loved and honoured the Propher Nathan the better while he lived for telling him the truth when others flattered him Once I am sure that afterwards he gave him free accesse into his bed-chamber and named him a Commissioner for the declaring of his Successor but the hatred here spoken of is of vice and superstition arising froÌ„ the love of truth and vertue without which hee that is hottest in matters of religion can bee but luke-warme and hee that walkes most upright must needs halt between two opinions This hatred then as it is commended in private men so is it necessary in Magistrate just anger being the whetstone of courage and this hatred of justice which as one truly sayes delights not so much to see men severely punished as justice duely executed that is hates the worke but loves the person therefore saith our Propher I hate the worke of them that turne aside not the persons but the work that is the object of his hatred and the second thing I am to speake of The worke As wee are not to love the vice for the mans sake so neither are wee to hate the man for the vice It is proper to God alone who as Creator hath ius vitae necis an absolute dominion over all his creatures disposing of them at his pleasure to affect or reject to love or hate them as he will his will beeing indeed the measure of right and the rule of justice Vnto Cain and his offering hee had no respect Gen. 4. 5. First hee had no respect to Caine his person and then to his work his offering and yet hee did him no wrong Iacob have I loved but Esau have I hated and the Apostle addes the children beeing yet unborne neither having done any good or evill What shall wee say then Is there unrighteousnesse with God God
couples together hauty eyes and a lying tongue they being the two first of those seaven which the Lord hates and his soule abhors nay our Prophet himself joyns them in one verse Psa. 40. 5 Blessed is the man that hath set his hope in the Lord and turned not to the proud and such as goe about with lies insinuating it may bee that the slanderer who goeth about with lies as a pedler with his pack is as the broker and the proud man as the marchant or chapman to whom he vents his wares for as the slanderer is as ready to receive lies as to coine them so is the proud man as ready to receive slaÌ„ders as to raise them The way then to purge the tongue from Slander is to keep the heart from Pride and the best means to free a family from the one is to rid it of the other Therefore our Prophet having promised in the former part of this verse to cut off him that privily slandereth his neighbour heer hee voweth not to suffer him that hath an high look and proud heart or as some Translations have it a proud looke and a high heart Elatumoculis latum pectore saieth Musculus vastum corde or turgidâ— corde saith Arias Montanus tumentem anime saith Iunius The phrases are somwhat different but they all aime at the same mark and are all sufficiently warrantable by the Originall Wee are then in the first place to consider of the vice heer censured It is Pride both outward in the look and inward in the heart Secondly of the censure opposed unto it It is not suffering so insufferable a vice it is Him that hath an high look and proud heart will I not suffer Had our Prophet said I will not suffer a proud heart the question might have been How wee should come to knowe it hee therefore to â—ase us of that doubt takes the right way to discover it by an high look God having so both ordained and ordered it that our secret thoughts and hidden affections should be manifested to the world by outward acts What man knoweth the things of man save the spirit of man which is in him saith the Apostle 1. Cor. 2. 11. But there hee speaks of a direct and immediate of a primary and infallible knowledge which is proper to God and God alone in as much as hee it is and hee alone that searcheth the heart and trieth the reins Ier. 17. 10. No man no divell no Angell no created substance can possibly attaine to that except it be by divine dispensation by revelation supernaturall The ordinary knowledge then which we have of the heart is gathered by discourse of reason by observation of marks effects as the physician ghesseth of the disease by the Symptomes We judge of the weather by the face of the sky of the motions of the wheels of a clocke or a watch by the pointing of the Index wee judge of the motion of the Sunne by the progress of the shadow in the diall wee judge of the motion of the heart by the beating of the pulse wee judge of the fountaine by the streame which issues from it and lastly wee judge of the depth of the foundation by the height of the building which is raised upon it and as justly may wee gather the pride of the heart from an high look Iudge not lest yee bee iudged saith our Saviour Mat. 7. 1. And his Apostle Iudge nothing before the time untill the Lord come who will lighten things that are hid in darknes and make the counsels of the heart manifest 1. Cor. 4. 5. But they both speak of an uncharitable unadvised peremptory and finall judgement not so much touching the present disposition of men what they are as their future state what they shall bee This then notwithstanding as wee lawfully may and usually doo judge of the passions of the minde of feare of hope of griefe of joy of hatred of love of anger of jealousie by outward signes so may wee as lawfully judge of the vertues or vices of the soul by outward effects as it were of the goodnes of the tree by the fruits or of the value of coin by the stamp set upon it And more safe it is to judge of vices than of vertues in as much as few are so desperately wicked but they desire at least to appear good Vertue may be counterfeit and that so cunningly as the imitation shall seem to exceed the copy the counterfeit the truth but yet I think was never man so madde as to counterfeit a vice wee labour rather by all means to conceal it yet we cannot do it so cunningly but that it shews it self at times as it were in a glasse either in our speech or in our apparell or in our gait or in our countenance or in our actions or in all And doubtlesse the wise observation of these is beyond all the rules that either judiciary Astrology by casting nativities or Physiognomy by inspection of faces or Chyromancy by behoulding the lines of the hand can afford Of these then it may bee truely said Qui bene conijciet vates hic optimus esto But amongst all vices there is none onely drunkenness excepted that discovers it self sooner than pride For the speech wee read of a bragging boasting mouth a mouth of pride Iude ve 16 for the gait wee read of a foot of pride Psal. 36. 11 for apparell of a crown of pride Esay 28. 1 of a chaine of pride Psal. 73. 6. So that pride in the heart can no more hide it self than fire that lies in the bosome or oyle that is wrung in the fist Many that know not the man yet point at him as hee walkes the streets and say There goes a proud fellow which men usually pronounce of no vice beside but the drunkeard because these two chiefely bewray themselves and therfore doth the prophet Habbacuc join them both together 2. verse 5. When a man shall see a cloak imbrodered over with woods and parks and Lordships and lined within with obligations and bands and statutes may wee not justly say that such a man is so farre from cloaking his pride that hee proclaims it in his cloak It was said of old that soft raiment was the weare in Kings Courts whereas now a-daies it is so bedaubed with gold and silver so loaden with pearle and pretious stone as it is hard to judge whether it more burden their bodies or lighten their purses The Poet could say of the women of his time Matrona incedit census induta nepotum And another Pars minima est ipsa puella sui But what would they say or rather what would they not say if they lived in these our daies and saw that we see when for apparell a man can see little or no difference betwixt the Lord and the Tenant the Master the Servant the Prince and the Subject But what a marvellous thing yea what a madnes is it To see
a sharpe greeting sent him 1. King 20. Because thou hast let goe out of thine hand a man whom I appointed to die thy life shall goe for his life and thy people for his people And many times wee see by experience that a desperate wicked man reserved from due punishment proves a continuall vexation vnto him that hath spared him As the nations that inhabited the Land of Canaan being not cast out and destroyed by the Israelites as God had commanded them became by his just judgement a snare destruction unto them a whip on their sides and a thorn in their eyes Ios. 23. 13. Iudges 2. 3. Verse 8. I will earely destroy all the wicked of the Land that I may cut off all wicked doers from the Citie of the Lord. HItherto of the three kindes of lawfull destroying by some phantasticall and Anabaptisticall spirits held unlawfull Now it remaines that I speake of three other unlawfull kindes of destroying by some irreligious and profane spirits held lawfull whereof the first is selfe homicide the destroying of a mans selfe the cutting off the threed of his owne life with his owne hands The second is destroying of another by Duel in single combate whether hee send or accept the chalenge it matters not The third is the destroying of a subject by the sword and at the command of a civill Magistrate onely for reason of State or politique respects without due order of law or course of justice First then of the first of the unlawfulness of a mans destroying himselfe whether it bee for the shunning of shame or griefe or misery or sinne Our Prophet himself was often broght into great distress marvailous streights plunges both bodily and ghostly as may appear by his dolefull complaints through-out this booke of Psalmes Yet would hee not destroy himselfe thereby to bee ridde of them Saul who would not destroy Agag destroyed himselfe but David voweth to destroy the wicked himselfe hee would not destroy Paul though he had fightings without and terrors within and desires to bee dissolved yet dissolve himselfe or hasten his dissolution hee would not Iob though scourged with unmatchable chastisements yet he would not moove from his station without his Generalls command he would not change himselfe but patiently wait all the dayes of his appointed time untill his changing came 14. 14. It was a worthy speech which Iosephus the Iew made to his Souldiers being in a cave where they lay hid after they lost the City Iotapata taken by Vespasian they rather than they would bear the disgrace of being taken by the enemy would needs make an end of themselves like Fannius of whom the Poet Hîcrogâ— Non furor est ne mâ—riare mâ—ri Yet some might perhaps commend this resolution but what saith the good Iosephus to perswade them to the contrary The Almighty hath given unto us our life as a most precious iewell hee hath shut it and sealed it up in this earthen vessel and given it us to bee kept till hee himself 〈◊〉 ask for it againe wee are neither to deny it when hee shall require it nor to cast it forth till hee command it Among other reasons for which the Books of the Maccabees are held Apocryphall this is not the least that they commend 〈◊〉 his destroying of himself as a manfull and noble act whereas indeed it is the truest signe of a minde truely 〈◊〉 like a Cube to stand upright in all fortunes Fortiter ille facit qui miser esse potest The second kinde of unlawfull destroying by too many held lawfull is the killing of another in Duel not such as our Prophet himself undertook with Goliah the Philistine by publike authority from the State and for the publike good of the State but when men for private revenge righting their conceived or pretended wrongs either send or accept a chalenge for single combate all the Sope and Niter in the world cannot wash away the guilt of blood from this practice whatsoever men pretend heerin either for the triall of man-hood or the putting-by the imputation of cowardise or for the maintenance of reputation it cannot excuse in this case And howsoever the world applaud it many times with tearms of worth of gallantry of brave spiritednes and the like yet is it doubtless no better than murder in Gods account and disloyalty to the civill Magistrate by wresting the sword out of his hand and taking his office from him Sin then against God is more to bee feared than shame amongst men and true Christianity to bee preferred before the opinion of such fool-hardy courage Think not I read a Lecture of basenesse since true valour consists not in quarrelling brabbling for private injuries or in stabbing for a word of disgrace but in maintenance of Gods honour in preserving thy alleageance to thy Prince in safe-garding thy Countrey Hee may well bee reckoned among Martyrs who upon conscience and knowledge engageth himself upon these occasions Was Augustus Caesar a coward in the repute of the Heathen when receiving a chalenge from Anthony he returned him this answer that if Anthony had a disposition to dy or were weary of his life there were waies enow else to death besides that The chalenge was rejected and yet his honour untainted I will shut up this point with an excellent speech of Bernards concerning unjust fightings and in that number I esteem these If in thy fighting thou hast a minde to kill another man and then art slain fighting thou diest a murtherer if thou prevail and kill the other thou livest a murtherer Whether then thou live or dy beest conquered or Conquerer it is not good to bee a murtherer So that the conclusion is that which way soever it fall out murther it is before God Miserable for a man to bee slaine and so to goe to his reckoning while hee is malitiously labouring to take away anothers life as miserable if hee kill to bee continually haunted with the guilt of blood All the fame and commendation of doing it upon fair tearms cannot countervail that vexation I have the rather touched this point for that it is one of the evils of our times many scarce accounting themselves men till they have made a braul and like the Youngsters of Helkethhazzurim sheathed their swords in their fellowes bowels whereby the Land is becomne a very Acheldama a Field of blood The more are wee to blesse God who hath put it in the mind of our David not any way to countenance these Cutters but to range them among those wicked ones whom hee hath vowed to destroy and cut off The third kinde of unlawful destroying by some held lawfull is the cutting off of a Subject by the sword or at the command of the civill Magistrate for politick or private respects without just cause and due desert Almightie God who out of the earth moulded man and breathed into him the spirit of life might as an absolute Lord of life and