not and if hee heare a Sermon hee understandeth not what is said And all this because the minde being full of thoughts already hath no roome for other things to enter in And this all men will say is too much and without reason and therefore if wee observe our selves and finde our cares thus possessing our heads wee may resolve these be very irregular and unlawfull cares This is the first signe II. A second is These cares may be knowne to bee irregular if they busie and take up a mans thoughts about such things as are not in his power to order or dispose or alter any way for his aduantage For the regular care maketh a man diligent to use good meanes for his honest ends and when once he hath done what is in his owne power and belongeth to his dutie to doe hee leaveth caring for that which hee cannot compasse But excessive and immoderate care doth not only busie men about the meanes which themselues may vse but about the event and successe of their labours which is in Gods hand only either to grant or to denie When they have done all that they can doe yet they rest not there but they feare and doubt and forecast dangers and difficulties and muse with themselues what the event may bee and if any thing fall out amisse they take thought for that which is alreadie past and cannot be recalled as if the Husbandman when hee hath plowed and sowed and weeded and done all that belongeth to the art of tillage should afterward beate his braines and busie his minde with thinking how the corne will grow and how the weather will prove and what a croppe he may have at the harvest And this is evident to bee foolish and superfluous and therefore if wee finde thoughts of of things without our compasse we may know that to be an irregular and unlawfull care III. A third signe of a sinfull care is if it vexe the minde and disquiet the man and bereave him of his inward peace and contentment For the orderly care maketh a man to advise and provide labour for that which may availe him and when hee hath once done working then hee leaveth caring glad that his worke is at an end Yea and he comforteth himselfe with the conscience of his well doing and because he hath done his owne endeavours hee laieth himselfe downe in peace and with patience expecteth Gods blessing according to his promise But anxious and distrustfull cares they worke vpon the man when they cannot worke about the thing they do not onely fill the head with thoughts but the heart with heaviness and breed sorow when they cannot further the successe For which cause the Greekes call this care 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cut and divide the minde in peeces And the Latines call it cura because it doth cor edere feede upon and consume the heart And in the Hebrew tongue the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 same word signifieth both to take thought or to be carefull and to sorow or bee grieved and our English Bibles do sometimes render it the (a) 1 Sam. 9.5 one way and sometimes the other (b) 1 Sam. 10. ◠Psal 38.18 the unitie of the word implying a neare affinity in the things And wee in our English tongue when wee see a man pine and waste and weare away without apparent cause we say He taketh eare or Hee taketh thought for some thing meaning that his cares breede sorow and his sorow sicknes And this must needes be a great deale too much when that which should help to speede our businesse doth serve to consume our selves IIII. A fourth signe may bee this If our care for earthly things do breede feares and suspitions without cause that is a signe that it doth affect us ouer much and aboue measure For ordinate care as it useth helps to effect his ends so it provideth against lets and dangers that might hinder them but both of them with moderation and as reason doth require But if a mans heart be set on the world his loue to earthly things and the care that hee hath of them doth make him feare every shadow and suspect every fancy much what like a skittish jade that starteth at every straw And as Cain said out of his discontent and diffidence (c) Gen. 4.14 Every one that findeth me shall slay mee when as there was never a one in the world but his owne father and mother so these men doubt lest every great man that they meete with will oppresse them and every poore man will steale from them and every passenger will robbe them and every chapman or customer wil overreach thē every man that they deale with will one way or other deprive them of their commodities riches nor dare they trust any man further then they see him For according as any mans love is to the world so will his feares be lest hee lose that which hee loveth These bee the signes and symptomes of an anxious diffident inordinate and immoderate care If any man feele them in himselfe or finde thē in others he may bee sure that such men are distempered with this sicknes of worldly cares and therefore have neede to seeke for and to make use of whatsoever cure may bee prescribed for their better ease and recoverie CHAP. III. What evils accompany this irregular care CAres such as have beene already described have many ill consequents and companions which may iustly move us with all care to remove them and to ridde our selves of them For example these I They busie and vexe men with excessive toile and yet they no way help him or make him any recompence for his paines And this appeareth by two things 1 because they are needlesse and without use and 2 because they are fruitlesse and without effect First they are needlesse and without use For if men would doe their parts God will bee sure to doe his that is if they use honest meanes as hee hath appointed he will procure a happy issue as himselfe hath promised This the Apostle teacheth us (a) 1 Pet. 5. ◠Cast all your care upon God for he careth for you And David (b) Psal 37.5 Commit thy way unto the Lord and trust in him and he will bring it to passe And our Saviour (c) Mat. 6.33 Seeke ye first the kingdome of God and his righteousnes and all these things of the world shall be added unto you And if God do take care of us and will bring to passe our desires and cast upon us all needefull things when we have done our dutie and do rest upon his providence what a vanity nay iniquity is it to beate our braines about those things which if wee would leave them to Gods disposing would without our care bee better done to our hands Secondly they are fruitlesse and without effect and do no way help forward or further the
thought hee might live without them in the world And so if the things of the world bee unto us as our clothes which are without us and not fastened to out flesh or glued to our hearts then with the Apostle we may freely say of them (a) Philip. 4.12 Euery where and in all things I am instructed both to bee full and to bee hungrie both to abound and to suffer neede But contrariwise if the love of worldly things do enter into our hearts stick fast to our soules as the skinne doth to the flesh every little pull that draweth away any of them will draw away so much blood from our hearts veine See the truth of this in an example or two The (b) Mar. 10.17 c. young man who as hee had great riches so hee loved them too much came to Christ resolving to doe any thing that should bee required for inheriting of eternall life but when Christ once bad him goe and sell all that hee had and give it to the poore and hee should have treasure in heaven hee was sad at that saying as loth to lose heaven but more loth to part with his lands And (d) 1 King 21.4 Ahab was sick and would eate no bread when hee was denied Naboths vineyard which hee did so much desire And (e) 2 Sam. 17.23 Achitophel was so wearie of his life for the disesteeme of his counsell that hee went and hanged himselfe And so all those that love the world and minde earthly things who make their bellie their God or have their portion in this life lose all their joy and are even wearie of their lives if once they bee deprived of that which they love And consequently such men can never be free from these immoderate anxious and tormenting cares And therefore if any man desire to ease himselfe of the cares of the world hee must first emptie his heart of the love of the world 2 A second cause of inordinate cares is a fearefull distrust of Gods providence and his promises made unto vs. For if we durst trust Gods word whē (f) Heb. 13.5 6. he saith I will never leave thee neither will I forsake thee then as the Apostle inferreth in the next verse wee might boldly say with our selves The Lord is my helper and I will not feare what man shall doe unto me not feare if he should take away my goods or stripp mee of my dignities or deprive me of my libertie or bereave mee of my limbs and life And againe wee might say with David (g) Ps 46.1 2 ◠God is our refuge strength a verie present help in trouble There fore will wee not feare though the earth be removed though the mountaines bee caried into the midst of the sea c. Such a man is like a shipp at anchor which the waves and stormes may beate and batter but cannot move out of his harbour or station nor needes such a man to bee disquieted with anxious and distracting cares because he hath fast hold on God who is the rock of his salvation and will not faile him But if a man dareth not rest upon Gods providence nor relie on his promises it is no marvell if he cling fast to the world because hee hath no better stay to hold by And therefore take away his goods or his health or his libertie or his preferments c. and hee will thinke as Micah said to the Danites (a) Iud. 18.24 Te have taken away my Gods and what have I more For his worldly goods they bee his God in whom hee doth trust and whom hee doth adore And therefore if wee will bee eased of immoderate and anxious cares wee must accustome our selves to depend and relie vpon God and to put our trust in him and then the peace of God will preserve us in all crosses III. Rule 3 If wee desire ease of worldly cares wee must seriously meditate on such things as may perswade a reasonable man to equanimitie and patience And for that purpose these meditations will bee helpfull 1 If wee consider the sweet providence of our good God Meditat. 1 which is such as that hee turneth all that we suffer to our greater good Thus Moses telleth the people of Israel that (b) Deu. 8.15 16. God led them through the great and terrible wildernes wherein were firie serpents and scorpions and drought where there was no water but he brought forth water out of the rock of flint and fed them with Mannah that is there was no water but such as God brought them out of the flint nor no bread but such as hee rained downe out of the clouds unto them and all this was that hee might humble them with their wants and prove them in their wants to doe them good at their later end And God himselfe saith of those that were caried away captive that he (a) Ier. 24.5 had sent them into the land of the Chaldeans for their good In which examples we may see that God turned the penury and the captivity of his people into their greater good And so he doth still by the greatest crosses he worketh us the greatest comforts And that he doth two wayes or in two respects 1 Because hee maketh temporall crosses to bee spirituall cures unto us and by the smart which he layeth on the outward he preserveth the soundnesse of the inner man For as a skilfull Physician can by his arte so temper ranck poysons that hee maketh them serve for wholesome medicines so Almighty God by his great wisedome doth so order our crosses that he maketh them to bee medicinall unto us Sometimes he maketh them like purgations to evacuate our pride and profanenesse and worldlinesse and vaine glory and such like corruptions of our soules And sometimes hee maketh them like preservatives to keepe us from falling into those or the like sinnes And sometimes againe hee maketh them like cordials to strengthen our decaying graces and to animate us to holy duties to pray more fervently and to reade and heare Gods word more attentively and to beare the rod of God more patiently and to performe all holy duties with the more life and alacrity And for these and such like respects David said (b) Psal 119.71 It is good for me that I have beene afflicted that I might learne thy statutes And (a) Psal 119.67 Before I was afflicted I went astray but now have I kept thy word And so every one of us may say of the afflictions that we have suffered if wee make a right use of them It is good for mee that I was dejected with sicknesse or disgraced by slanderous tongues or wronged by unjust neighbours or vexed with an unquiet wife or endamaged in mine estate c. For by this meanes I have learned to love God the more and the world and mine owne sinnes the lesse And if we make such wholesome medicines for our soules out of the calamities that
they sleepe not except they have done mischiefe and their sleepe is taken away unlesse they cause some to fall Thirdly all sorts of men are carefull about the things of this life (e) Luke 10.41 Martha was carefull and troubled about many things all of them belonging to provision for the body and entertainment of friends And (g) 1 Cor. 7.33.34 he that is maried careth for the things of the world how he may please his wife and shee that is maried careth for the things of the world how she may please her husband The first sort is a godly care the second is a devilish care and the third is a worldly care and that is it whereof now we do enquire Dist 2. Secondly this worldly care or care for the things of this world is of two sorts it is either a regular and orderly care or an irregular and exorbitant care The regular care is when according to the rule of wisedome and Gods word we forecast and study how to procure our lawfull ends and desires Now the rules prescribed by Gods word for this purpose are three 1 That the desire of our ends be moderate 2 That our pursuit of the meanes conducing to these ends be lawfull And 3 that there be a patient submission of our desires and endevours to Gods will and pleasure 1 That our desires of worldly blessings be moderate Rule 1 so that we neither preferre them before more necessary things nor spend about them unnecessary and excessive paines For example a good man desireth health and wealth and preferments and honours but so as that he doth much more desire grace and Gods fauour and peace of conscience and eternall life And againe he bestoweth paines in seeking for the blessings of this life but it is at seasonable houres and without taking up that time which is due to better things This I call a moderate desire of our ends and it is ever necessary in seeking for worldly things This rule is prescribed by our Sauiour when hee saith (a) Matt. 6.33 First seeke the king dome of God and his righteousnesse and was practised by the Apostle when (b) Philip. 3.8 he suffered the losse of all things for Gods cause and counted them but dung that he might win Christ 2 The next rule is Rule 2 that we use lawfull meanes for attaining of our ends so that wee do not doe any thing for procuring of them which is contrary to Gods word or will This rule the Apostle prescribeth when for seeking of worldly wealth he giveth this direction (c) Ephes 4.28 Let him that stole steale no more but rather let him labour working with his hands the thing that is good that he may have to give to him that needeth In this passage we may note three things for our purpose 1 The end that is desired and that is that a man may have sufficiency not only to supply his owne wants but to relieve the wants of others also 2 The meanes that is forbidden to bee used for this end and that is stealing and whatsoever other unjust dealing And 3 the meanes that is commanded and that is labour and paines-taking by doing some worke that is lawfull and good This is the Apostles rule in seeking for wealth and the same should be ours in our desires and cares for all other worldly things 3 The last rule is Rule 3 that we submit our desires to Gods will and leave our endevours with patience to be ordered by his providence This rule was given by our Saviour when he taught us to pray Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven And himselfe did practise it when he said (d) Matt. 26.39 Luke 22.42 O my Father if it bee possible let this cup passe from me neverthelesse not as I will but as thou wilt For here he earnestly desired preservation from death and yet patiently submitted himselfe to Gods pleasure either for life or death And so David first giveth the rule (a) Psal 37.5 Commit thy way unto the Lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to passe and then followed it in his owne practice (b) 2 Sam. 15.25 26. If saith he I shall finde favour in the eyes of the Lord he will bring me againe and shew me both it the Arke and his habitation But if he thus say I have no delight in thee behold here am I let him doe to me as seemeth good unto him And thus the Disciples at Cesarea (c) Act. 21 1â— 14. did beseech Paul not to goe up to Ierusalem where they knew that he was to bee persecuted but when he would not be perswaded because he knew it was Gods will to the contrary they ceased and said The will of the Lord be done And thus must we doe though our desires bee most reasonable and our meanes most warrantable yet after all we must submit our selues to God and with patience and contentednesse referre all to his providence either for the granting or for the denying of our desires Now if these three rules be observed in our seeking of worldly things if our desires be moderate and our meanes lawfull and all left with due submission to Gods will and pleasure then our care for these things is orderly and regular And this care is both allowable and commendable First it is allowable because S. Paul saith (d) 1 Cor. 7.33 34. He that is maried careth for the things that are of the world how he may please his wife and she that is maried careth for the things of the world how she may please her husband For by this speech he meant not to tell us what maried people might unjustly practice against Gods Law but what they were occasioned to doe by vertue of their calling For else in all estates of life men and women may deale corruptly and dishonour God and the single life might be subject to the like cumbrances that the maried estate is Secondly I say further that this kinde of care is commendable because it is that meanes by which God hath appointed us to serve his providence For to trust to Gods help without using our owne care is not so much to trust God as to tempt him And therefore Solomon sendeth the sluggard to the Pismire to learne care and providence of her in that (*) Prov. 6.8 shee provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest And S. Paul telleth us that (a) 1 Tim. 5.8 if any man provide not for his owne and specially for those of his house he hath denied the faith and is worse then an infidell This care then is a thing both allowed and commended in Scriptures and therefore is not that care for which we need to prescribe any cure But now in the second place there is an irregular and exorbitant care and that is when contrary to the former rules of Gods Law wee seeke after our wished ends 1.
If we desire things of the world too immoderately or too eagerly as if wee preferre them before Gods service or so seeke for them that we neglect good duties or any way affect them more then according to their worth and value In this sort Esau offended when he (b) Heb. 12.16 Gen. 25.31 32 33. sold his birthright for one morsell of meate Nor was Rachel free from this sinne when she said (c) Gen. 30.1 Give me children or else I die For the one preferred his belly before his right to the blessing and the other desired children with impatiency against God 2. If wee use evill meanes for the effecting of our desires then is our care irregular and unlawfull because sinne is no orderly or fit way to procure Gods blessings by This was the sinne of Saul (d) 1 Sam. 28.6 7. who when God would not answer him went to a witch for counsell and the sinne of Ahaziah who in his sicknesse (e) 2 King 1.2 sent to Baalzebub to enquire whether he should recover of his disease and the sin of all those that lye for advantage or use spels for recovery of health or commit any sin for gaining of this worlds goods 3. It is irregular also if we distrust Gods providence for the successe of our lawfull endeavors or if wee do not submit our businesses to Gods pleasure Thus the King of Israel sinned when being distressed with famine hee said in his fury (f) 2 King 6.33 This evill is of the Lord what should I waite for the Lord any longer And the Noble man of the same King when hee distrusted Gods word delivered by the Prophet and said (g) 2 King 7.2 If the Lord would make windowes in heaven might this thing be And so do all they sinne who think as Iob saith the wicked say (h) Iob 21.15 What is the Almighty and what profit shall wee have if wee pray unto him And they who think if besides their labour and paines-taking they do not use shifts and deceitfull dealing they may become beggers for all the promises of Gods blessing upon their endeavors In these three respects our care may become irregular And in the first respect it may properly be called an immoderate care because men do excessively desire their ends In the second it is properly an inordinate care because thereby men pursue their ends in a disorderly manner And in the third it is properly called a diffident and anxious care because it is joyned with anxiety of minde and distrust in Gods providence But commonly all these properties goe together and all of them may be indifferently called by any one of these names For he that desireth or careth for the world immoderately will not stick at the meanes nor trust God with the successe or with patience expect the event And if our care for the things of this life have any of these sinfull conditions then it is an irregular and unlawfull care And that is it which is forbidden by our Saviour when he saith (i) Matt. 6.25 Take no thought or * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bee not carefull for your life what ye shall eate or what ye shall drink nor for your body what ye shall put on and by the Apostle when he saith (k) Philip. 4.6 Be carefull for nothing And it is the care that is here propounded and is to be spoken of in this place Distinct 3. This irregular care for things of the world may be of two sorts 1 If we do disorderly desire to obtaine some worldly good As for example the covetous man when he hath too much already yet wearieth and weareth himselfe with caring for more and the Ambitious man when he hath greater places of honour then hee can manage or discharge yet striveth to come higher still yea and the poore man doth sometimes too eagerly and too immoderately desire a competent meanes of living in the world And all of them do unlawfully care and seeke for a worldly good 2 This irregular care may be by seeking to avoid some worldly evill As namely those that be in prison may take too much care how they may be freed and those that bee in want how they may be relieved and those that bee sick how they may bee recovered In the former kinde Rachel sinned when shee did immoderately desire to beare children and in the later kinde Esau sinned when he did excessively desire the satisfying of his hunger And both of these are within the compasse of the subject here to be spoken of The conclusion then is All care for things of this life whether it be for obtaining of some good or for avoyding of any evill if it be irregular in such sort as hath beene formerly described is that which the Scriptutes condemne under the name of worldly cares and is the thing to be enquired into in this ensuing Treatise CHAP. II. What signes or tokens there bee to discerne this sinfull care by HItherto we have considered the nature of worldly cares as they are condemned in Scriptures and have thereby differenced them in good part from such cares as are lawfull and allowed by Gods word but yet because men are willing to flatter themselves in those things which they delight in and will thereupon be apt to deceive themselves in judging their care of the world to bee a moderate providing for their estate when it is indeed an irregular and excessive carking for the world it will be necessary in the next place to set downe some fensible markes and signes whereby sinfull cares may be more easily discovered and discerned to be such And for that purpose wee may take notice of these tokens following I. If cares do fill the head and heart of a man at unseasonable times that is a signe that they are immoderate and excessive For the moderate and provident care maketh a man diligent about his worke when opportunitie serveth for his benefite and advantage but if a man take care when the time serveth not and then bee thinking on the world when hee should bee busied about other matters that is too much care and exceedeth due proportion and measure And such are the cares of those men who minde earthly things For they fill the head with thoughts and the heart with feares even then when a man intends other occasions and both should and would bee thinking on better things If he goe another way and leave them as he thinketh behinde him they will attend him still they will follow him to his bed and to his board and to his closet They are at his heeles or rather in his head when he walketh in the fields for his recreation and when he is disposing of his houshold for their imployments and when hee is in the Church about his devotions and when he goeth to bed to rest and refresh himselfe and if hee be in bed yet he sleepeth not if hee be in the Church hee prayeth
our hearts to meditate on the vanity of worldly things or on the comforts and peace of a good conscience or on the shortnesse of this life or whatsoever other good matter that we can most willingly receive and entertaine For such will finde the easiest entrance and are likely to abide the longest with us And if our former thoughts and cares do interrupt us and intermingle themselves against our wills and so breake off or hinder our meditations yet we must then force our selves to call home our wandring thoughts and labour to drive out these fansies as (a) Gen. 15.11 Abraham drove away the birds that lighted on his sacrifice 2 We may for the same purpose betake our selves to good company such as whose words may minister grace to our hearts when wee heare them and whose savoury talke may possesse our mindes with a love and liking of them For look how much we give our mindes to marke such mens discourses and so much wee pare away or diminish of our distracting thoughts 3 Wee may and it will be most availeable if wee do bend and set our selves about the reading of Scriptures or perusing of some other wise and sober writings which may both take up our thoughts and informe our mindes So it seemeth David did in the times of his distress (a) Psal 119.23 Princes saith he did sit and speake against me but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes And againe (b) Psal 119.92 Vnlesse thy Law had beene my delight I should then have perished in mine affliction By which speeches we may gather that David did not sit downe and bemone himselfe with discontented thoughts but hee ranne to Gods word and did meditate in his law and had comfort from thence in all his troubles And so should wee doe if any feares afflict our mindes we should goe to the Booke of God and busie our selves with thinking on the sweet sayings that bee there delivered and taught 4 Wee should set our selves with as much chearfulnesse as we may about the businesses and works of our honest callings For these are duties that God requireth at our hands and they bee employments that wee are well acquainted with and such businesses withall as new occasions every day will put us upon and in these respects it will bee the more easie to busie our mindes about the ordering of them And if these have their due place carefull thoughts will have the lesse roome These are the diversions which we may use in this case and if thus or in any other the like kinde we set our heads and hearts on working wee shall both busie our mindes with good thoughts that may profit us and keepe out worldly cares that would annoy us But if when cares and feares do seize upon us we avoyd action and shunne company and cast off the care of our callings and get into a corner that wee may give scope to our cares and may invent arguments to amplifie our misery it is no martiell if our feares and cares and unquiet thoughts get head against us when as our selves do uphold them with our owne hands II. Rule 2 We must strive to take away the cause that breedeth these unquiet cares For as in healing sick bodies Physicians never think the cure to bee sound till the cause of the disease bee removed so it is in healing sick and distempered mindes there can bee no sound cure till the cause which first bred the disease and afterward doth uphold it be removed or taken away Now the causes of this sicknesse which in this place we endeavor to cure are especially these two An immoderate love of worldly things and a fearfull distrust of Gods providence and fatherly care over us 1 An immoderate love of the world is a cause of inordinate cares because (a) Matt. 6.21 where our treasure is there will our hearts also be as our Saviour saith If our treasure that is that which wee esteeme and desire and love as some speciall jewell of great worth if it be in heaven then our hearts will bee in heaven ever thinking upon and ever longing after the celestiall joyes and the society of the glorious Saints and Angels and the presence of the blessed Trinity in the enjoying whereof is fulnesse of joy for evermore And if our treasure be upon earth if we desire and love the things of this life as our greatest good then our hearts will be upon the earth still thinking on the world and ever reaching and gaping after it Wee shall sometimes bee studying how to get them and sometimes how to increase them and sometimes how to dispose of them and when wee have nothing to doe about them yet our hearts will delight to looke upon them and to handle them as the worldling often telleth over his gold and silver not because hee knoweth not the summe but because he delighteth in the sight and sound of it And if once these things bee lost which are so much loved the heart followeth after them mourning and sorowing that his joy is gone as when David tooke Michal away from Phaltiel her supposed husband (a) 2 Sam. 3.16 he went with her along weeping For that which a man doth love immoderately when hee hath it for that hee will mourne immoderately when hee hath lost it And hence it is that because Rachel did too excessively desire childrē before she had them therefore the (b) Ier. 31.15 Prophet doth bring her in as a paterne of them that mourne for their children when they are not For as it fareth with things that appertaine to the bodie those that are loose from the flesh as our clothes and armour are these wee can put on and off without annoyance or paine but that which sticketh to our flesh as the skinne doth if that be pulled or plucked from us it putteth us to paine and breedeth smart and sorow so it is with the things of this world if they be unto us as our clothes things without us such as we desire only for our use then wee can both possesse them and lose them with patience and contented mindes as wee see it was with Iob when hee had lost all that ever hee had (c) Iob. 1.20 21. hee fell downe upon the ground and worshipped or praised God and said Naked came I out of my mothers wombe naked shall I returne thither the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. Iob when hee was stript of all his goods and servants and children all the store that he had in the world hee thought of himselfe no otherwise then as of one that is naked and stript of his clothes and therefore hee endured the losse of all with great patience and praised God as well when hee tooke them away as when he gave them He remembred that hee came without them into the world and must goe without them out of the world and therefore
befall us in the world wee have little cause to vexe our selves with care for that which doth doe us so much good 2 God doth many times make our present crosses to be meanes to prevent future evils which otherwise might doe us greater prejudice in our worldly estate and condition For example (b) Ier. 24.8 9. the Iewes in Ieremies time which escaped the captivity remained at home for their greater hurt For they were driven into all the kingdomes of the earth and were so tortured and consumed there that they became a proverb and a taunt and a curse in all places but those that were taken captives escaped these greater evils and at length were restored home againe and enjoyed their former liberties and lands And in the like manner God doth many times deale with us also For whereas we grieve at the untimely death of our children which wee hoped should have beene the staffe of our old age and should have inherited both our names and houses yet we may observe that many children of as good hope as they ever were have proved such crosses to their parents as that their fathers or mothers have not stuck to say of them Would God hee had never beene borne thus to afflict his friends and vndoe himselfe or I would I had caried him to his grave when I brought him to his nurse Surely Rachel who out of her desire of children said (a) Gen. 30.1 Give mee children or else I dye did afterward (b) Gen. 35.19 die indeed by child-bearing And that sonne which she (c) Gen. 30.24 joyed to think on aforehand proved afterward a (d) Gen. 35.18 Benoni a sonne of her sorow And so the children whose life we do so immoderately desire and for whose death we grieve without measure had they lived might have proved sonnes of sorow and such as wee would have wished that they had beene buried long before And againe we think it an heavy case if a man be diseased or dismembred and either full of paine or deprived of some limme and yet it is not unusuall that strength of body and soundnesse of limmes do give occasion of a farre greater mischiefe so that we may sometimes heare men say Would God I had beene sick in my bed or I would I had lost a legge or an arme when I went to such a place or began such a worke Thirdly we count it a lamentable thing if a man bee robbed by theeves or impoverished by ill debtors or undermined by cunning Lawyers or any way brought to penury or distresse and yet wee may note it in the world that many times riches prove * Eccles. 5.13 the hurt of the owners of them either they embolden them to some desperate attempt that may be their ruine or they whet others with envy to lay snares for their life or one way or other they breed men such woe that they will say of them Would God I had beene borne to never a foot of land or I would I had lived as such a Cobler or Water-bearer doth for then I had escaped these mischiefes and might have had some comfort in my life And the like may bee said of other the like cases concerning all which wee must consider that what we see afterward and wish for it when it is too late that God seeth aforehand and provideth for it before it come And hence we may have a good meditation to comfort us in all distresses For if God do take away our children that are deare unto us as our lifes we should think It is perhaps because he foreseeth that if they should survive they would work either woe to us or ruine to themselves And if he lay sicknesse or lamenesse or maimednesse upon our bodies it may bee hee doth it because he foreseeth that if wee had health and strength and soundnesse of limmes they would be an occasion of some greater mischiefe And if he send us want and poverty and losses in our estates and dealings it is because hee foreseeth that wealth would breede us more woe then it is worth But sure it is that most times God doth lay afflictions either because hee will procure us some good or prevent some evill by them And if so why should we mourne or take thought for that which tendeth to our welfare and greater comfort 2 A second meditation Meditat. 2 to worke patience and to mitigate cares is if wee consider the times and seasons that God taketh for delivering and relieving of his servants And that is this that when all other helps faile then God is most ready to help and then is he nearest to relieve when men are nearest to despaire (a) 1 Sam. 2.6 Hee saith Hannah bringeth downe to the grave and bringeth up againe And (b) Deut. 32.36 God saith Moses will judge his people and repent himselfe for his servants when he seeth that their power is gone and there is none shut up or left And he saith S. Paul (c) 2 Cor. 7.6 comforteth those that be cast downe And hee saith (d) Psal 68.5 Psal 10.14 David is a Father of the fatherlesse and a Iudge of the widowes And (e) Psal 27.10 When my father and mother forsake me then the Lord will take me up In all which sayings wee may consider two things 1 Gods great mercy in helping the distressed hee bringeth men up out of the grave he judgeth his people that is he righteth them from their adversaries and he is a Father to pity them and a Iudge to defend their just cause 2 The objects of this mercy or who they be that God sends such help unto and they be those who are brought downe to the grave that is who are in the deepest misery and those whose power is gone that is who have no meanes to help themselves and those who are cast downe who are fatherlesse or widowes and who are forsaken of their parents and nearest kinred and are destitute of all friends and helpers And hereby wee may see that God doth especially shew mercy when men are in the greatest miserie And that hee doth upon three grounds or for three causes 1 Because he delighteth to shew mercy and mercy still hath misery for its object and is then most ready when there is the greatest need And from hence it is that when the Israelites were oppressed by the Egyptians and (a) Exod. 2.23 sighed by reason of the bondage and cryed then their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage That which made them to cry made him to help that is the sore bondage which they suffered And (b) Exo. 22.23 If thou afflict the widow and the fatherlesse saith God and they cry unto me I will surely heare their cry And it is given for a reason of Gods speciall mercy towards Israel * 2 King 14.26 because he saw the affliction of Israel that it was very bitter for there was not any shut
complaine For say that God hath stricken us with sicknes yes but hee might justly have stricken us with death Or hee hath laied losses and wants upon us yes but hee might have left us without any ragge to our backs or crumme of bread for our bellies or a dropp of water to relieve our thirst Or hee hath suffered men to oppresse us and hale us into prison yes but he might have given way to the Devill to set upon us and hurrie us into hell And finally whatsoever wee suffer yet it is a great deale lesse then wee have deserved and then God might have laied upon us if he had rewarded us according to our sins And hence wee may have a good meditation for our comfort For in what distresses soever wee bee yet wee may bee glad that they are no worse And if our crosses seeme grievous to bee borne wee may cheare our selves in the Apostles words (c) 2 Cor. 4.8 9 Wee are troubled on every side yet not distressed wee are perplexed but not in despaire persecuted but not forsaken cast downe but not destroyed When Hezekiah considered this hee praised God for it (d) King 20.19 Good said hee is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken and Is it not good if peace and truth bee in my dayes which is as if hee should have said God might justly have laied this punishment both on mee and my children and his mercie it is that doth spare mee in mine owne person and deferre his judgment till afterward And the Church in the Lamentations (a) Lam. 3.22 It is of the Lords mercies that wee are not consumed because his compassions faile not And so considering that all our crosses are farre lesse then our sinnes and that God hath mingled much mercie in our afflictions wee have great cause to blesse God that our sufferings are so casie when our deservings have beene so badd 5 Fiftly and lastly Meditat. 5 amidst our solicitous cares for the world we may thinke whether we have not greater cause of taking thought for our soules which yet doth seldome and little trouble our mindes For example say we have lost our goods or offended some great man or endangered our liberties and lives and this filleth us with anxietie and care Yea but have wee not lost some measure of Gods Spirit or offended the Lord of heaven and endangered our soules and salvation And where is the thought that we take for these things This Meditation may either serve to shame us for our worldly mindednes and that wee have so much care about these transitorie things or it may serve to worke in us a greater care for our soules and if that once bee increased our care for the world will in a like proportion be decreased with it These be the Meditations with which if we busie our selves when occasion shall require they may help to avert our minds from musing on our worldly griefe and may mitigate those cares that doe too much possesse our hearts And thus much may serve for this third rule which is to meditate on such things as may perswade to patience and equanimitie IIII. Rule 4 A fourth and last rule is that in all our pensive thoughts wee goe to God for comfort and still unloade our cares into his bosome by praier and supplication For if wee cast them upon God God will ease us of them Nor will any man think that hath not tryed it how much this course may availe to the quieting of a distracted soule and that either because having done his dutie hee may comfort his heart with the conscience of it or because having referred himselfe to Gods mercie hee may well hope that God will support him But what ever the reason bee certaine it is that Hannah gained great ease by it It is said of her (a) 1 Sa. 1.6 7 8 that being upbraided by her adversarie for her barrennesse she wept and did not eate and her heart was grieved Here was her care and thought-taking for want of children But then (b) ver 10 11. in the bitternesse of her soule she went and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore Here Hannah cast her burden upon the Lord and unloaded her cares into his bosom And then thirdly it is added after all that having done her prayers (c) ver 18. she went her way and did eate and her countenance was no more sad Where wee may see that shee had no sooner prayed but she was cheared she had cast her burden upon God and that cased her heart And so if wee by hearty prayer cast our burden upon God that will bee a readie way to unburden our selves And therefore when cares take hold on us in stead of musing wee should fall to praying And then (d) Philip. 4.7 the peace of God which passeth all understanding will preserve our hearts and mindes through Christ Iesus These bee the Rules it now remaineth to applic and make use of them for our selves And that wee may doe two waies 1 If wee have any cares upon us alreadie wee have hence direction how to worke them out and that is by opposing them as they do arise and by diverting our thoughts upon better objects and by considering what end the Lord maketh of such occasions and lastly by unloading our cares into Gods bosom by supplication and prayer And if thus wee finde not present ease yet wee must still waite for many have missed of help because they have made too much haste Of Abraham wee heard before that hee tooke his sonne and the knife and the wood and the fire and went his three dayes journey that hee might sacrifice his sonne where God had appointed and after hee had gone all the way and staied all the time and was now at the last cast of killing his sonne then and not till then hee found Gods help in the topp of the mount But now suppose that Abraham either wearied with the journey or ouercome with griefe or despairing of future help had turned back againe after a dayes journey or two Or say hee had sate himselfe downe at the foote of the hill and with impatient cries had bemoaned his uncomfortable condition what may we thinke would the issue have beene Sure it may well bee supposed that by detaining his sonne he might have lost him but certaine it is that by staying at the foote of the hill he had not found God in the topp of the mount And so if wee make too much haste and will not expect Gods time wee may outrunne Gods providence and faile of his protection and mercie But if wee holde on in using the meanes and resting on Gods worde wee shall in the end finde the Proverb to bee true In the mountaine will the Lord be seene 2 If dangers bee towards and when are they not wee may hereby learne how to prepare for them and how to arme against them that they may not affect us with immoderate cares when they come And that is that wee setle our selves aforehand so to deale in all our occasions as the wise husbandman dealeth in his businesse He diggeth and dungeth and ploweth and soweth and when hee hath done his daies worke betaketh himselfe to his nights rest and leaveth the growing of the corne and the ordering of the weather to Gods care and providence And so should wee resolve to doe For example thus If sicknesse shall befall us wee will goe to the Physician for counsell and use such druggs and diet as may bee convenient and provide such Attendants as may supply us with necessaries and this is as the sowing of our seede and when this is once done then we have done our dayes worke and therefore will laie our selves downe in peace and let God alone with the issue in whose hands only it is And the like course wee should resolve upon in all other the like cases if wee shall bee slandered by foule mouths undermined by cunning heads oppressed by potent neighbours endamaged in our worldly estates or whatsoever other crosse wee shall meete with wee will first sow our seede and then take our rest first use good meanes and then trust God with the successe and hee that hath promised help before wee did aske will not faile to peforme it when wee thinke not on it And if thus wee prepare our selves before the crosse commeth wee shall be the more free from cares when it is come For nothing is more availeable then courage in such cases and a resolution aforehand will by Gods help make us stedfast when the storme is upon us nor will God bee wanting to afford us his help if wee bee not wanting in using of the meanes For that belongeth to us also which was spoken to Solomon Vp be doing 1 Chron. 22.16 and the Lord will bee with thee Now the God of all mercie and goodnesse guide our hearts in the doing of our duties and blesse our labours with successe and comfort and so free us from cares of the world that we may serve him without distraction all our dayes Amen FINIS