praise thee in our selues All thy creation hath not more wonder in it then one of vs other creatures thou madest by a simple command Man not without a diuine consultation others at once Man thou didst first forme then inspire others in seuerall shapes like to none but themselues Man after thine own image others with qualities fit for seruice Man for dominion Man had his name from thee They had their names from man How shold we be consecrated to thee aboue all others since thou hast bestowed more cost on vs then others What shall I admire first Thy prouidence in the time of our creation Or thy power wisedome in the act First thou madest the great house of the world furnishedst it then thou broughtest in thy Tenant to possesse it The bare wals had beene too good for vs but thy loue was aboue our desert Thou that madest ready the earth for vs before wee were hast by the same mercy prepared a place in heauen for vs whiles we are on earth The stage was first fully prepared then was man brought forth thither as an actor or spectator that he might neither be idle nor discontent behold thou hadst addressed an earth for vse an heauen for contemplation after thou hadst drawne that large and reall mappe of the world thou didst thus abridge it into this little table of man hee alone consists of Heauen and earth soule and bodie Euen this earthly part which vile in comparison of the other as it is thine O God I dare admire it though I can neglect it as mine owne for loe this heape of earth hath an outward reference to heauen other creatures grouel downe to their earth and haue all their senses intent vpon it this is reared vp towards heauen and hath no more power to look beside Heauen then to tread beside the earth Vnto this euery part hath his wonder The head is neerest to heauen as in place so in resemblance both for roundnesse of figure and for those diuine guests which haue their seat in it There dwell those maiesticall powers of reson which make a man all the senses as they haue their originall from thence so they doe all agree there to manifest the vertue how goodly proportions hast thou set in the face such as though oft-times we can give no reason why they please yet transport vs to admiration what liuing glasses are those which thou hast placed in the midst of this visage whereby all obiects from farre are clearly represented to the minde and because their tendernesse lyes open to dangers how hast thou defenced them with hollow bones and with prominent browes and lids And least they should bee too much bent on what they ought not thou hast giuen them peculiar nerues to pul them vp towards the seat of their rest What a tongue hast thou giuen him the instrument not of taste only but of speech How sweet and excellent voyces are formed by that little loose filme of flesh what an incredible strength hast thou giuen to the weake bonds of the iawes What a comely and tower-like necke therefore most sinewye because smallest And lest I be infinit what able arms and actiue hands hast thou framed him whereby he can frame all things to his owne conceit In euery part beauty strength conuenience meet together Neither is there any wherof our weaknesse cannot giue reason why it should be otherwise How hast thou disposed of all the inward vessels for all offices of life nourishment egestion generation No vaine sinew artery is ydle There is no peece in this exquisite frame whereof the place vse forme doth not admit wonder and exceed it Yet this body if it be compared to the soule what is it but as a clay wall that encompasses a treasure as the woodden boxe of a Ieweller as a course case to a rich instrument or as a maske to a beautifull face Man was made last because hee was woorthiest The soule was inspired last because yet more noble If the body haue this honor to bee the companion of the soule yet withall it is the drudge If it bee the instrument yet also the clog of that diuine part The companion for life the drudge for seruice the instrument for action the clog in respect of contemplation These external works are effected by it the internall which are more noble hindered Contrary to the bird which sings most in her cage but flyes most and highest at liberty This my soule teaches me of it selfe that it selfe cannot conceiue how capable how actiue it is It can passe by her nimble thoughts from heauen to earth in a moment it can be al things can comprehend all things know that which is and conceiue of that which neuer was neuer shall be Nothing can fill it but thou which art infinite nothing can limit it but thou which art euery were O God which madest it replenish it possesse it Dwell thou in it which hast appointed it to dwel in clay The body was made of earth common to his fellows the soule inspired immediatly from God The body lay senselesse vpon the earth like it selfe the breath of liues gaue it what it is and that breath was from thee Sence motion reason are infused into it at once From whence then was this quickening breath No ayre no earth no water was heere vsed to giue helpe to this worke Thou that breathedst vpon man and gauest him the holy spirit didst also breath vpon the body and gauest it a liuing spirit wee are beholden to nothing but thee for our soule Our flesh is from flesh our spirit is from the God of spirits How should our soules rise vp to thee and fixe themselues in their thoughts vpon thee who alone created them in their infusion infused them in their creation How should they long to returne backe to the fountaine of their being and author of beeing glorious Why may we not say that this soule as it came from thee so it is like thee as thou so it is one immateriall immortall vnderstanding spirit distinguished into three powers which all make vp one spirit So thou the wise creator of all things wouldest haue some things to resemble their creator These other creatures are all body man is body and spirit the Angels are all spirit not without a kind of spirituall composition Thou art alone after thine owne manner simple glorious infinite No creature can bee like thee in thy proper being because it is a creature How should our finite weake compounded nature giue any perfect resemblance of thine Yet of all visible creatures thou vouchsafest Man the neerest correspondence to thee not so much in these naturall faculties as in those diuine graces wherewith thou beautifiest his soule Our knowledge holines righteousnes was like the first coppy from which they were drawne Behold wee were not more like thee in these then now wee are vnlike ourselues in their losse O God we now praise our selues to our shame
King of glory If the lowest pauement of that heauen of thine bee so glorious what shall we thinke of the better parts yet vnseene And if this Sunne of thine bee of such brightnesse and maiesty oh what is the glory of the maker of it And yet if some other of thy starres were let downe as low as it those other starres would bee Sunnes to vs which now thou hadst rather to haue admired in their distance And if such a skie be prepared for the vse and benefit euen of thine enemies also vpon earth how happie shall those eternall Tabernacles bee which thou hast sequestred for thine owne Behold then in this high and stately building of thine I see three stages This lowest heauen for fowles for vapours for meteors The second for the starres The third for thine Angels and Saints The first is thine outward Court open for all The second is the body of thy couered Temple wherin are those candles of heauen perpetually burning The third is thine Holy of Holies In the first is tumult and vanity In the second immutability rest In the third glory and blessednes The first we feele the second we see the third we beleeue In these two lower is no felicity for neither the fowles nor starres are happy It is the third heauen alone where thou O blessed Trinity enioyest thy selfe and thy glorified spirits inioy thee It is the manifestation of thy glorious presence that makes heauen to be it selfe This is the priuiledge of thy children that they he reseeing thee which art inuisible by the eye of faith haue already begun that heauen which the perfect sight of thee shall make perfect aboue Let my soule then let these heauens alone till it may see as it is seeene That wee may descend to this lowest and meanest region of heauen wherwith our senses are more acquainted What maruels doe euen heere meete with vs There are thy clouds the bottles of raine vessels as thin as the liquor which is contained in them there they hange and mooue though mighty with their burden How they are vpheld and why they fall heere and now wee know not and wonder these thou makest one while as some aery seas to hold water an other while as some aery fornaces whence thou scatterest thy sudden fires vnto all parts of the earth astonishing the world with the fearefull noyse of that eruption out of the midst of water thou fetchest fire and hard stones out of the midst of thinne vapours another while as some steele glasses wherein the Sunne lookes and shewes his face in the variety of those colours which he hath not There are thy streames of light blazing and falling stars fires darted vp and downe in many formes hollow openings and as it were gulfes in the skie bright circles about the moone and other planets snowes haile In all which it is enough to admire thine hand though wee cannot search out thine action There are thy subtle windes which wee heare and feele yet neither can see their substance nor know their causes whence and whither they passe and what they are thou knowest There are thy fowles of all shapes colours notes natures whiles I compare these with the inhabitants of that other heauen I find those starres and spirits like one another These meteors and fowles in as many varieties as there are seuerall creatures Why is this Is it because man for whose sake these are made delights in change thou in constancie Or is it that in these thou maiest shew thine owne skill and their imperfection There is no varietie in that which is perfect because there is but one perfection and so much shall wee grow neerer to perfectnesse by how much wee draw neerer to vnitie and vniformitie From thence if wee goe downe to the great deepe the wombe of moisture the well of fountaines the great pond of the world wee know not whether to wonder at the Element it selfe or the guests which it containes How doth that sea of thine roare and fome and swell as if it would swallow vp the earth Thou stayest the rage of it by an incensible violence and by a naturall miracle confinest his waues why it mooues and why it staies it is â—o vs equally wonderfull what liuing mountaines such are thy Whales rowle vp and downe in those fearefull billows for greatnesse of number hugenesse of quantity strangenesse of shapes variety of fashions neither ayre nor earth can compare with the waters I say nothing of thy hid treasures which thy wisedome hath reposed in the bowels of the earth and sea How secretly and how basely are they laide vp secretly that wee might not seeke them basely that we might not ouer esteeme them I neede not dig so low as these mettals mineries quarres which yeeld riches enough of obseruation to the soule How many millions of wonders doth the very face of the earth offer mee which of these herbes floures trees leaues seeds fruits is there What beast what worme wherein wee may not see the footsteps of a Deitie wherein wee may not read infinitenesse of power of skill and must be forced to confesse that hee which made the Angels and starres of heauen made also the vermin on earth O God the hart of man is too strait to admire enough euen that which he treads vpon What shall we say to thee the maker of all these O Lord how wonderfull are thy works in all the world in wisedome hast thou made them all And in all these thou spakest and they were done Thy wil is thy word thy word is thy deed Our tongue and hand and hart are different all are one in thee which art simply one infinite Here needed no helps no instruments what could be present with the eternal what needed or what could bee added to the infinite Thine hand is not shortned thy word is still equally effectuall say thou the word and my soule shall be made new againe say thou the word my body shall be repayred from his dust For all things obey thee O Lord why doe I not yeeld to the word of thy counsell since I must yeeld as all thy creatures to the word of thy command Man BVt O God what a little Lord hast thou made ouer this great world The least corne of sand is not so small to the whole earth as man is to the heauen when I see the heauens the sun moone and stars O God what is man Who would thinke thou shouldst make all these creatures for one and that one well-neere the least of all Yet none but hee can see what thou hast done none but hee can admire and adore thee in what he seeth how had hee need to doe nothing but this since hee alone must doe it Certainly the price and vertue of things consists not in the quantity one diamond is more woorth then manie quarries of stone one loadstone hath more vertue then mountaines of earth It is lawfull for vs to
for the better we were we are the worse As the sons of some prodigall or tainted auncestors tell of the lands and Lordships which were once theirs onlie doe thou whet our desires answerable to the readinesse of thy mercies that we may redeem what we haue lost that wee may recouer in thee what wee haue lost in our selues The fault shall be ours if our damage proue not beneficiall I doe not finde that man thus framed found the want of an helper His fruition of God gaue him fulnesse of contentment the sweetnesse which hee found in the contemplation of this newe workmanship and the glory of the author did so take him vp that hee had neither leisure nor cause of complaint If man had craued an helper he had grudged at the condition of his creation and had questioned that which he had perfection of being But hee that gaue him his being and knew him better then himselfe thinks of giuing him comfort in the creature whiles hee sought none but in his maker Hee sees our wants and forecasts our releefe when wee thinke our selues too happy to complaine How ready will he be to helpe our necessities that thus prouides for our perfection God giues the nature to his creatures Man must giue the name that hee might see they were made for him they shal be to him what hee will In stead of their first homage they are presented to their new Lord and must see of whom they hold He that was so carefull of mans soueraignty in his innocence how can he be carelesse of his safety in his renouation If God had giuen them their names it had not bene so great a praise of Adams memory to recall them as it was now of his iudgement at first sight to impose them hee saw the inside of all the creatures at first his posterity sees but their skins euer since and by this knowledge he fitted their names to their dispositions All that hee saw were fit to be his seruants none to be his companions The same God that finds the want supplies it Rather then mans innocency shall want an outward comfort God will begin a new creation Not out of the earth which was the matter of man not out of the inferiour creatures which were the seruants of Man but out of himselfe for dearnesse for equality Doubtlesse such was mans power of obedience that if God had bidden him yeeld vp his rib waking for this vse he had done it cheerfully but the bounty of God was so absolute that hee would not so much as consult with mans will to make him happy As man knew not while hee was made so shal he not know while his other selfe is made out of him that the comfort might be greater which was seene before it was expected If the woman should haue bin made not without the paine or will of the man she might haue bene vpbrayded with her dependance and obligation Now shee owes nothing but to her creator The ribbe of Adam sleeping can challenge no more of her then the earth can of him It was an happy change to Adam of a ribbe for an helper what help did that bone giue to his side God had not made it if it had beene superfluous and yet if man could not haue beene perfect without it it had not beene taken out Many things are vse-ful conuenient which are not necessary and if God had seene man might not want it how easie had it been for him which made the woman of that bone to turne the flesh into another bone but he saw man could not complaine of the want of that bone which hee had so multiplied so animated O God wee can neuer be loosers by thy changes we haue nothing but what is thine take from vs thine own when thou wilt we are sure thou canst not but giue vs better Paradise MAn could no sooner see then hee saw himselfe happie His eye-sight and reason were both perfect at once and the obiects of both were able to make him as happy as he would when he first opened his eies he saw heauen aboue him earth vnder him the creatures about him God before him hee knew what all these things meant as if he had been long acquainted with them all He saw the heauens glorious but farre off his maker thought it requisite to fit him with a paradise neerer home If God had appointed him immediatly to heauen his body had beene superfluous It was fit his body should bee answered with an earthen image of that heauen which was for his soule Had man bin made only for contemplation it would haue serued as well to haue been placed in some vast desert on the top of some barren mountaine But the same power which gaue him an hart to meditate gaue him hands to worke and work fit for his hands Neither was it the purpose of the Creator that man should but liue mesure may stand with innocence he that reioyced to see al he had made to be good reioyceth to see all that hee had made to be well God loues to see his creatures happy Our lawfull delight is his they know not God that thinke to please him with making themselues miserable The Idolaters thought it a fit seruice for Baal to cut and launce themselues neuer any holy man lookt for thanks from the true God by wronging himselfe Euery earth was not fit for Adam but a Garden a Paradise What excellent pleasures and rare varieties haue men found in gardens planted by the hands of men And yet all the world of men cannot make one twig or leafe or spire of grasse When hee that made the matter vndertakes the fashion how must it needs be beyond our capacity excellent No herb no flower no tree was wanting there that might bee for ornament or vse whether for sight or for sent or for tast The bounty of God wrought further then to necessity euen to comfort and recreation Why are we niggardly to our selues when God is liberall But for all this if God had not there conuersed with man no abundance could haue made him blessed Yet beholde that which was mans store house was also his workehouse His pleasure was his taske Paradise serued not onely to feed his senses but to exercise his hands If happinesse had consisted in doing nothing man had not beene employed All his delights could not haue made him happy in an idle life Man therefore is no sooner made then he is set to worke Neither greatnesse nor perfection can priuiledge a foulded hand Hee must labour because hee was happy how much more we that we may bee This first labor of his was as without necessity so without paines without wearinesse how much more cheerefully wee goe about our businesses so much neerer we come to our Paradise Neither did these trees affoord him onely action for his hands but instruction to his heart for here he saw Gods sacraments grow before him All other trees had a naturall
liue banished from God carying his hell in his bosome and the brand of Gods vengeance in his forehead God reiects him the earth repines at him men abhorre him himselfe now wishes that death which he feared and no man dare pleasure him with a murder how bitter is the end of sin yea without end still Cain finds that he killed himselfe more then his brother wee should neuer sin if our foresight were but as good as our sence The issue of sin would appeare a thousand times more horrible then the act is Pleasant The Deluge THe world was grown so foul with sin that God saw it was time to wash it with a flood And so close did wickednes cleaue to the authors of it that when they were washt to nothing yet it would not off yea so deepe did it sticke in the very graine of the earth that God saw it meet to let it soke long vnder the waters So vnder the Law the very vessels that had touched vncleane water must either be rinced or broken Mankind began but with one and yet he that saw the first man liued to see the earth peopled with a world of men yet men grew not so fast as wickednes one man could soone and easily multiply a thousand sins neuer man had so many children so that when there were men enough to store the earth there were as many sins as would reach vp to heauen whereupon the waters came downe from heauen and swelled vp to heauen againe If there had not been so deepe a deluge of sin there had beene none of the waters From whence then was this superfluity of iniquity Whence but from the vnequall yoke with Infidels These mariages did not beget men so much as wickednesse from hence religious husbands both lost their piety and gained a rebellious and godlesse generation That which was the first occasion of sinne was the occasion of the increase of sinne A woman seduced Adam women betray these sons of God the beauty of the apple betrayd the woman the beauty of these women betrayd this holy seed Eue saw and lusted so did they this also was a forbidden fruit they lusted tasted sinned died the most sins begin at the eyes by them commonly Satan creeps into the hart that soule can neuer bee in safety that hath not couenanted with his eyes God needed not haue giuen these men any warning of his iudgement They gaue him no warning of their sins no respite yet that God might approue his mercies to the very wicked hee giues them an hundred twenty yeares respite of repenting how loath is God to strike that threats so long hee that delights in reuenge surprises his aduersary whereas hee that giues long warnings desires to be preuented if we were not wilfull we should neuer smart Neither doth hee giue them time onely but a faithful teacher It is an happy thing when hee that teacheth others is righteous Noahs hand taught them as much as his tongue His businesse in building the Arke was a reall sermon to the world wherein at once were taught mercy and life to the beleuers and to the rebellious destruction Mee thinks I see those monstrous sonnes of Lamech comming to Noah and asking him what he meanes by that strange worke whether hee meane to saile vpon the dry land To whom when he reports Gods purpose and his they go away laughing at his idlenes and tell one another in sport that too much holinesse hath made him mad yet cannot they al flout Noah out of his faith he preaches and builds and finishes Doubtles more hands went to this work than his many a one wrought vpon the Arke which yet was not saued in the Arke Our outward works cannot saue vs without our faith wee may helpe to saue others and perish our selues what a wonder of mercy is this that I here see One poor family called out of a world and as it were eight graines of corne fanned from a whole barne ful of chaffe one hypocrite was saued with the rest for Noahs sake not one righteous man was swept away for companie For these few was the earth preserued still vnder the waters and all kinds of creatures vpon the waters which else had been all destroyed Still the world stands for their sakes for whom it was preserued Else fire should consume that which could not be cleansed by water This difference is strange I see the sauagest of all creatures lions tygers beares by an instinct from God come to seeke the Arke as we see Swine foreseeing a storme run home crying for shelter men I see not Reason once debauched is worse then brutishnesse God hath vse even of these fierce and cruell beasts and glorie by them even they being created for man must liue by him though to his punishment how greatly do they offer submit themselues to their preseruer renewing that obeysance to this repairer of the world which they before sin yeelded to him that first stored the world He that shut them into the Arke when they were entred shut their mouths also while they did enter The Lions faune vpon Noah and Daniel What hart cannot the maker of them mollifie The vnclean beasts God would haue to liue the cleane to multiplie and therefore hee sends to Noah seauen of the cleane of the vncleane two He knew the one would annoy man with their multitude the other would inrich him Those things are worthie of most respect which are of most vse But why seven Surely that God that created seuen daies in the week and made one for himselfe did heere preserue of seuen cleane beasts one for himselfe for Sacrifice He giues vs sixe for one in earthly things that in spirituall we should be all for him Now the day is come all the guests are entred the Ark is shut and the windowes of heauen opened I doubt not but many of those scoffers when they saw the violence of the waters descending and ascending according to Noahs prediction came wading middle-deep vnto the Ark and importunately craued that admittance which they once denied But now as they formerly reiected God so are they iustly reiected of God Ere vengeance begin repentance is seasonable but if iudgement bee once gone out wee cry too late while the Gospell solicites vs the doores of the Arke are open if wee neglect the time of grace in vaine shal we seeke it with teares God holds it no mercy to pitty the obstinate Others more bolde then they hope to ouer-runne the iudgement and climbing vp to the hye mountaines looke downe vppon the waters with more hope then feare and now when they see their hils become Ilands they climbe vp into the tallest trees there with palenes and horror at once looke for death study to auoid it whom the waues ouertake at last halfe dead with famin and halfe with fear Lo now from the tops of the mountaines they descrie the Ark floting vpon the waters and beholde with enuy that which
ordinary course of generation first liue the life of vegetation then of sense of reason afterwards That instant wherein the heauen and the earth were created in their rude matter there was neither day nor light but presently thou madest both light day Whiles wee haue this example of thine how vainely do wee hope to bee perfect at once It is well for vs if through many degrees wee can rise to our consummation But alas what was the very heuen it selfe without light how confused how formelesse like to a goodly body without a soule like a soule without thee Thou art light and in thee is no darkenesse Oh how incomprehensibly glorious is the light that is in thee since one glimpse of this created light gaue so liuely a glory to al thy workemanship This euen the bruite creatures can behold That not the very Angels That shines foorth onely to the other supreme world of immortality this to the basest part of thy creation There is one cause of our darkenesse on earth and of the vtter darkenesse in hell the restraint of thy light Shine thou O God into the vast corners of my soule and in thy light I shall see light But whence O God was that first light The sunne was not made till the fourth day light the first If man had then beene he might haue seene all lightsome but whence it had come he could not haue seene As in some great pond we see the bancks full wee see not the springs whence that water ariseth Thou that madest the Sunne madest the light without the Sunne before the Sunne that so light might depend vpon thee and not vpon thy Creature Thy power will not be limited to meanes It was easie to thee to make an heauen without a Sunne light without an heauen day without a Sunne time without a day It is good reason thou shouldest bee the Lord of thine owne workes All meanes serue thee why doe wee weake wretches distrust thee in the want of those meanes which thou canst either command or forbeare How plainly wouldst thou teach vs that wee creatures neede not one another so long as wee haue thee One day we shall haue light againe without the Sunne Thou shalt be our Sunne thy presence shall be our light Light is sowne for the righteous This Sunne and light is but for the world below it selfe thine only for aboue Thou giuest this light to the Sunne which the Sunne giues to the world That light which thou shalt once giue vs shall make vs shine like the Sunne in glory Now this light which for three daies was thus dispersed thorow the whole heauens it pleased thee at last to gather and vnite into one body of the Sunne The whole heauen was our Sunne before the Sunne was created but now one starre must be the Treasury of light to the heauen and earth How thou louest the vnion and reduction of all things of one kind to their owne head and center So the waters must by thy command be gathered into one place the sea so the vpper waters must be seuered by these aery limits from the lower so heauy substances hasten downeward aud light mount vp so the generall light of the first daies must bee called into the compasse of one sunne so thou wilt once gather thine elect from all coasts of heauen to the participation of one glory Why doe wee abide our thoughts and affections scattered from thee from thy Saints from thine Annointed Oh let this light which thou hast now spread abroad in the hearts of all thine once meet in thee Wee are as thy heauens in this their first imperfection be thou our Sunne into which our light may be gathered Yet this light was by thee interchanged with darknes which thou mightst as easily haue commanded to bee perpetuall The continuance euen of the best things cloieth and wearieth there is nothing but thy selfe wherein there is not satiety So pleasing is the vicissitude of things that the intercourse euen of those occurrents which in their owne nature are lesse worthy giues more contentment then the vnaltered estate of better The day dies into night and rises into the morning againe that we might not expect any stability heere below but in perpetuall successionâ— It is alwaies daie with thee aboue the night sauoreth onely of mortalitie Why are we not heere spiritually as wee shall be heereafter Since thou hast made vs children of the light and of the day teach vs to walk euer in the light of thy presence not in the darknesse of error and vnbeleefe Now in this thine inlightned frame how fitly how wisely are all the parts disposed that the method of the creation might answer the matter the forme both Behold all purity aboue below the dregges and lees of all The higher I goe the more perfection each element superiour to other not more in place then dignity that by these staires of ascending perfection our thoughts might climbe vnto the top of all glory and might know thine empyreal heauen no lesse glorious aboue the visible than those aboue the earth Oh how miserable is the place of our pilgrimage in respect of our home Let my soule tread a while in the steps of thine owne proceedings and so thinke as thou wroughtest When wee would describe a man wee begin not at the feete but the head The head of thy Creation is the heauen how high how spatious how glorious It is a wonder that we can looke vp to so admirable an height and that the very eye is not tyred in the way If this ascending line could bee drawne right forwards some that haue calculated curiously haue found it 500. yeares iourney vnto the starrie heauen I doe not examine their arte O Lord I wonder rather at thine which hast drawne so large a line about this little point of earth For in the plainest rules of art and experience the compasse must needs be six times as much as halfe the height Wee thinke one Iland great but the earth vnmeasurably If wee were in that heauen with these eies the whole earth were it equally inlightned would seeme as little to vs as now the least starre in the firmament seemes to vs vpon earth And indeed how few stars are so little as it And yet how many void and ample spaces are there besides all the starres The hugenesse of this thy worke O God is little inferiour for admiraon to the maiesty of it But oh what a glorious heauen is this which thou hast spred ouer our heads With how pretious a vault hast thou walled in this our inferior world What worlds of light hast thou set aboue vs Those things which wee see are wondrous but those which wee beleeue and see not are yet more Thou dost but set out these vnto view to shew vs what there is within How proportionable are thy works to thy selfe Kings erect not cotages but set foorth their magnificence in sumptuous buildings so hast thou done O
before they beheld with scorne In vain doth he flie whom God pursues There is no way to flie from his iudgements but to flie to his mercy by repenting The faith of the righteous cannot bee so much derided as their successe is magnified How securely doth Noah ride out this vprore of heauen earth and waters He heares the powring downe of the raine aboue his head the shrieking of men and roaring and bellowing of beasts on both sides him the raging and threats of the waues vnder him hee saw the miserable shifts of the distressed vnbeleeuers and in the meane time sits quietly in his drye Cabin neither feeling nor fearing euill he knew that he which owed the waters would steere him that hee who shut him in would preserue him How happy a thing is faith What a quiet safety what an heauenly peace doth it worke in the soule in the midst of all the inundations of euill Now when God had fetcht againe all the life which he had giuen to his vnworthy creatures and reduced the world vnto his first forme wherein waters were ouer the face of the earth it was time for a renouation of al things to succeed this destruction To haue continued this deluge long had beene to punish Noah that was righteous After fourty daies therefore the heauens cleare vp after 150. the waters sink downe How soone is God weary of punishing which is neuer weary of blessing yet may not the Arke rest suddenly If we did not stay som-while vnder Gods hand we should not know how sweete his mercy is and how great our thankfulnesse should bee The Arke though it was Noahs sort against the waters yet it was his prison he was safe in it but pent vp hee that gaue him life by it now thinks time to giue him liberty out of it God doth not reueale all things to his best seruants beholde hee that tolde Noah 120. yeares before what day he should go into the Arke yet foretels him not now in the Arke what day the Arke should rest vpon the hils and hee should goe forth Noah therfore sends out his intelligencers the Rauen and the Doue whose wings in that vaporous ayre might easily descry further then his sight The Rauen of quicke sent of grosse â—eede of tough constitution no foule was so fit for discouery the likeliest things alwaies succeed not Hee neither will venter farre into that solitary world for feare of want nor yet come into the Arke for loue of liberty but houers about in vncertainties How many carnall minds flye out of the Arke of Gods Church and imbrace the present world rather choosing to feed vpon the vnsauory carcasses of sinfull pleasures then to be restrained within the straite lists of Christian obedience The Doue is sent forth a foule both swift and simple She like a true citizen of the Arke returnes and brings faithfull notice of the continuance of the waters by her restlesse and empty returne by her Oliue leafe of the abatement how woorthy are those messengers to be welcome which with innocence in their liues bring glad tidings of peace and saluation in their mouthes Noah reioyces and beleeues yet still hee waites seuen daies more It is not good to deuoure the fauours of God too greedily but so take them in that wee may digest them oh strong faith of Noah that was not weary with this delay some man would haue so longed for the open ayre after so long closenes that vpon the first notice of safety hee would haue vncouered and voyded the Ark Noah stayes seuen daies ere hee will open and well neere two moneths ere hee will forsake the Arke and not then vnlesse God that commanded to enter had bidden him depart There is no action good without faith no faith without a word Happy is that man which in all things neglecting the counsels of flesh blood depends vpon the commission of his maker FINIS Contemplations THE SECOND BOOKE Noah Babel Abraham Isaac sacrificed Lot and Sodom Imprinted at London by Melch. Bradwood for Samuel Macham and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Bull-head-1612 TO THE RIGHT Honourable the LORD STANHOPE one of his Maiesties most Honourable priuy Counsell All grace and happinesse RIGHT Honourable I durst appeale to the iudgment of a carnall Reader let him not bee preiudicate that there is no history so pleasant as the sacred set aside the maiestie of the inditer none can compare with it for the Magnificence and Antiquity of the matter the sweetnesse of compiling the strange variety of memorable occurrences And if the delight bee such what shal the profit be esteemed of that which was written by God for the saluation of men I confesse no thoughts did euer more sweetly steale me and time away then those which I haue employed in this subiect and I hope none can equally benefit others for if the meere relation of these holy things bee profitable how much more when it is reduced to vse This second part of the world repaired I dedicate to your Lordship wherein you shall see Noah as weake in his Tent as strong in the Arke an vngratious son reserued from the Deluge to his Fathers curse modest piety rewarded with blessings the building of Babell begun in pride ending in confusion Abrahams faith feare obedience Isaac bound vpon the Altar vnder the hand of a Father that hath forgotten both nature and all his hopes Sodom burning with a double fire from hell and from heauen Lot rescued from that impure Citie yet after finding Sodom in his caue Euery one of these passages is not more full of wonder then of edification That spirit which hath penned all these things for our learning teach vs their right vse and sanctifye these my vnworthy meditations to the good of his Church To whose abundant grace I humbly commend your Lordship Your Lordships vnfainedly deuoted in all due obseruance Jos Hall THE SECOND BOOKE Noah NO sooner is NOAH come out of the Ark but hee builds an Altar not an house for himselfe but an Altar to the Lord Our faith will euer teach vs to preferre God to our selues delayed thankfulnesse is not woorthy of acceptation Of those few creatures that are least God must haue some they are all his yet his goodnesse will haue man know that it was he for whose sake they were preserued It was a priuiledge to those very bruit creatures that they were saued from the waters to be offered vp in fire vnto God what a fauour is it to men to bee reserued from common destructions to be sacrificed to their maker and redeemer Lo this little fire of Noah through the vertue of his faith purged the world and ascended vp into those heuens from which the waters fell and caused a glorious raine-bow to appeare therin for his security All the sins of the former world were not so vnsauory vnto God as this smoke was pleasant No perfume can bee so sweete
hide his face once for the glory which God put vpon him which made him so shine that hee could not bee beheld of others once for Gods owne glory which he could not behold No maruell Some of the creatures are too glorious for mortall eies how much more when God appeares to vs in the easiest manner must his glorie needs ouercome vs Behold the difference betwixt our present and future estate Then the more maiestie of appearance the more delight when our sinne is quite gone all our feare at Gods presence shall be turned into ioy God appeared to Adam before his sinne with comfort but in the same forme which after his sinne was terrible And if Moses cannot abide to looke vpon Gods glory when he descends to vs in mercy how shall wicked ones abide to see his fearefull presence when he sets vpon vengeance In this fire hee flamed and consumed not but in his reuenge our God is a consuming fire First Moses hides himselfe in feare now in modestie Who am I None in all Egypt or Midian was comparably fit for this embassage Which of the Israelites had beene brought vp a Courtier a scholar an Israelite by blood by education an Egyptian learned wise valiant experienced Yet Who am I The more fit any man is for whatsoeuer vocation the lesse he thinkes himselfe Forwardnesse argues insufficiencie The vnworthie thinkes still Who am I not Modest beginnings giue hopefull proceedings and happy endings Once before Moses had taken vpon him and laid about him hoping then they would haue knowen that by his hand God meant to deliuer Israel but now when it comes to the point Who am I Gods best seruants are not euer in an equall disposition to good duties If wee finde differences in our selues sometimes it argues that grace is not our owne It is our frailtie that those seruices which wee are forward to aloofe off wee shrinke at neere hand and fearefully misse-giue How many of vs can bid defiances to death and suggest answers to absent tentations which when they come home to vs wee flie off and change our note and instead of action expostulate The plagues of Egypt IT is too much honour for flesh and blood to receiue a message from heauen yet here God sends a message to man and is repulsed well may God aske who is man that I should regard him but for man to aske who is the Lorde is a bolde and proud blasphemy Thus wilde is nature at the first but ere God haue done with Pharaoh he will be knowne of him he will make himselfe knowne by him to all the world God might haue swept him away suddenly How vnworthy is he of life who with the same breath that hee receiues denies the giuer of it But he would haue him conuinced ere he were punished First therefore hee workes miracles before him then vpon him Pharaoh was now from a staffe of protection and sustentation to Gods people turned to a serpent that stung them to death God shewes him himselfe in this reall embleme doing that suddenly before him which Satan had wrought in him by leasure And now when hee crawles and winds and hisses threatning perill to Israel hee shewes him how in an instant he can turne him into a sencelesse sticke and make him if not vsefull yet fearelesse The same God which wrought this giues Satan leaue to imitate it the first plague that he ment to inflict vpon Pharaoh is delusion God can be content the Diuell should win himselfe credit where hee meanes to iudge and holds the honour of a miracle well lost to harden an enemy Yet to show that his miracle was of power the others of permission Moses his serpent deuours theirs how easily might the Egyptians haue thought that he which caused their serpent not to be could haue kept it from being and that they which could not keepe their Serpent from deuouring could not secure them from being consumed but wise thoughts enter not into those that must perish All Gods iudgements stand ready and waite but till they be called for They need but a watch-word to bee giuen them No sooner is the rodde lift vp but they are gone forth into the world presently the waters runne into bloud the frogs and lice craule about and al the other troupes of God come rushing in vpon his aduersaries All creatures conspire to reuenge the iniuries of God If the Egyptians looke vpward there they haue thunder lightning hayle tempests one while no light at all another while such fearfull flashes as had more terror then darknes If they looke vnder them there they see their waters changed into blood their earth swarming with frogs and grassehoppers If about them one while the flyes fill both their eyes and eares another while they see their fruites destroyed their cattell dying their children dead If lastly they looke vpon themselues they see themselues loathsome with lice painful and deformed with scabs biles and botches First God begins his iudgement with the waters As the riuer of Nilus was to Egypt in steed of heauen to moisten and fatten the earth so their confidence was more in it then in heauen Men are sure to bee punisht most and soonest in that which they make a corriuall with God They had before defiled the riuers with the bloud of innocents and now it appeares to them in his owne colour The waters will no longer keepe their counsell Neuer any man delighted in blood which had not enough of it ere his end they shed but some few streames and now behold whole riuers of blood Neither was this more a monument of their slaughter past then an image of their future destruction They were afterwards ouerwhelmed in the redde sea and now before-hand they see their riuers redde with blood How dependant and seruile is the life of man that cannot either want one element or endure it corrupted It is hard to say whether there were more horrour or annoyance in this plague They complain of thirst and yet doubt whether they should dye or quench it with bloud Their fish the chiefe part of their sustenance dyes with infection and infecteth more by being dead The stench of both is ready to poyson the inhabitants yet Pharaohs curiosity carries him away quite from the sense of the iudgement hee had rather send for his magicians to worke feats then to humble himselfe vnder God for the remooual of this plague And God plagues his curiosity with deceipt those whom he trusts shall vndoe him with preuailing the glory of a second miracle shall be obscured by a false imitation for a greater glory to God in the sequell The rod is lift vp againe Behold that Nilus which they had before adored was neuer so beneficiall as it is now troublesome yeelding them not onely a dead but a liuing annoyance It neuer did so store them with fish as now it plagues them with frogs Whatsoeuer any man makes his God besides the true one shall bee once