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B00565
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The meane in mourning. A sermon preached at Saint Maryes Spittle in London on Tuesday in Easter weeke. 1595. / By Thomas Playfere Doctor of Diuinitie.
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Playfere, Thomas, 1561?-1609.
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1596
(1596)
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STC 20015; ESTC S94747
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56,543
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134
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wee must cōsider likewise three virtues that ought to bee in vs. Deuotion compunction compassion For deuotion he sayes BVT VVEEPE For compunction BVT YOV For compassion BVT FOR YOVR SELVES But weepe but you but for your selues BVT VVEEP FOR YOVR SELVES First for deuotion he saith BVT VVEEPE Deuotion generally is a super-naturall dexteritie wrought by the holy Ghost in the heart of a deuoute man whereby hee is made prompt and ready to performe all those dewties which appertaine to the seruice of God As a man may be sayd to be deuout in preaching deuoute in hearing deuoute in making prayers deuoute in giuing almes But here especially by deuotion I vnderstand a certaine softnes and tendernes of the heart which oftentimes is resolued into teares considering the mischiefes and miseries of this world For if Christ in this place wisht them of Ierusalem to weepe for themselues and did himselfe else where weepe for Ierusalem saying O Ierusalem Ierusatem how oftē would I but you would not How much more then ought wee to weepe for the wretchednes of this world They of Ierusalem were caryed captiue into Babylon That captiuitie of Babylon endured seuenty yeres or threescore and ten yeres Now iust so long lasteth our life As the Psalmist sayes The dayes of our life are threescore yeeres and ten So that by this account our whole time in this world is nothing else but the captiuitie of Babylon Therefore we may well say By the waters of Babylon we sate downe and wept when wee remembred thee O Sion And My teares haue been my meate day and night while they sayd vnto me where is now thy God And Woe is me that I am constrayned to dwell in Meshek and to haue my habitation among the tents of Cedar We reade that King Edward the third hauing the King of Scots and the French King his prisoners here in England both together at one time held royall iusts in Smythfield The iusts being ended hee feasted both the Kings most sumptuously at supper After supper perceiuing the French King to be sad and pensiue hee desired him to be merry as others were To whome the French King answered (e) Quomodo cantabimus cantica in terra aliena How shall wee sing songs in a strange land If the French King after all this princely pastime and stately intertainement tooke it so heauily to heart that hee was kept prisoner out of his owne countrey how much more then ought wee to mourne for our captiuitie Especially seeing neither we haue such welcome in the world as he had in England neither yet is England so far frō France as heauē is distant from them both Ierusalem was once finally sacked by Titus and Vespasian whereas besides an infinite number which were otherwise spoyled ten hundred thousand men ten hundred thousand men I say were slaine down right altogether as Iosephus a greeke writer and Iosippus an hebrew author testifie But that which happened once to them happeneth euery day to vs. We dye dayly (f) 1. Cor. 15.31 Our whole life is nothing else but such a spoyle and sackage And among all the miseries of this life nothing is more miserable then this life it selfe For euen those things which might be most comfortable vnto vs as we vse them do breede vs much sorrow Learning and knowledge a great delight Yet Salomon saith Hee that addeth knowledge addeth sorrowe Wealth and riches a good complement Yet Saint Iames sayes Goe too now you riche men weep and houle for the miseries which shall come vpon you So that the onely happines we can haue in this life is a deuoute and a godly bewailing of our vnhappines Which made our Sauiour say woe be to you that laugh now for you shall waile and weepe But on the other side Blessed are they that mourne now for they shall bee comforted Therefore holy Iob desireth God to spare him a little and let him liue a while longer Wherefore That he might laugh That he might be merry No g Vt plangam delorem meum but sayes hee That I may weepe for my woe and griefe Hee thought a man could not haue time enough in this life though it were neuer so long to lament and rue the miseries of this life though it were neuer so short For if euery creature doe sigh grone in it selfe h Rom. 8.22 if the very earth which wee treade vnder our feete doe mourne and pine away in sorrow for the heauie burthen of our sinnes wherewith it is almost wayed and pressed downe to hell how much more then ought we hauing the first fruites of the spirit to haue also true deuotion in weeping for our miserable estate in this world according to this BVT VVEEP BVT VVEEP FOR YOVR SELVES Thus much for our deuotion Now for compunction he sayes BVT YOV The person is implyed in the greeke word which signifies to weepe as they doe which haue a broken and a contrite heart (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 frango Which weeping at the very heart is commanded in the fourth Psalme For whereas we commonly reade it be still in your chambers the Septuagint interpret it haue compunction in your chambers Now the hebrew word which they translate haue compunctiō doth signifie to be prickt to the quicke till the bloud follow againe k Dommu à Dam sanguis And by chambers our hearts are ment As when thou prayest enter into thy chamber that is into the silence and secrecy of thine hart So that Haue compunction in your chambers is as much as if he should haue said Bleed you inwardly at the heart Our teares must not be crocodiles teares For as is praying from the teeth outward so is weeping from the eyes outwarde But saith Bernard we must be let bloud and haue a vayne opened with the launce of compunction l Scindatur aperiatur vena ferro compunctionis Ber. in serm p. 133. And this vayne also must not be the liuer vaine or any other vaine but the heart vaine onely m Non corporis sed cordis Fulgen. Whereupon Dauid saith I roared for the very griefe of my heart n Psalm 38.8 And againe My heart droppeth for heauines o Psal 119.28 Not that his heart dropt in deede But because the teares which he shed were not droppes of water running from the eyes which may be soone forced with onions or such like but drops of blood issuing from the heart such as Christ did sweate in the garden For these no doubte are trew teares which are the blood of a wounded heart p Sanguis vulnerati cordis Aug. Epistola 199. So that the heart must first bee rent and deeply wounded before the eye canne vnfaynedly weepe But in case our sinnes fall vpon vs like theeues and wounde vs at the very heart leaue vs halfe dead and make vs powre out the bloud of true teares then by and by will Christ powre in the wine