was still courteous to thy followers affable to sutors plausible to all Israel only to thee he is cruell Wherefore are those armes if the cause of the quarrell must be a motiue of mercy Yet thou saist Deale gently with the young man Absalom for my sake Euen in the holiest Parents nature may be guilty of an iniurious tendernesse of a bloudy indulgence Or whether shall we not rather thinke this was done in type of that vnmeasurable mercy of the true king and redeemer of Israel who prayed for his persecutors for his murderers and euen whiles they were at once scorning and killing him could say Father forgiue them for they know not what they do If we be sonnes we are vngratious we are rebellious yet still is our heauenly Father thus compassionately regardfull of vs Dauid was not sure of the successe there was great inequalitie in the number Absaloms forces were more then double to his It might haue come to the contrary issue that Dauid should haue beene forced to say Deale gently with the father of Absalom but in a supposition of that victorie which only the goodnesse of his cause bade him hope for he saith Deale gently with the young man Absalom as for vs we are neuer but vnder mercy our God needs no aduantages to sweepe vs from the earth any moment yet he continues that life and those powers to vs whereby we prouoke him and bids his Angels deale kindly with vs and beare vs in their armes whiles we lift vp our hands and bend our tongues against heauen O mercie past the comprehension of all finite spirits and only to be conceiued by him whose it is Neuer more resembled by any earthly affection then by this of his Deputie and Type Deale gently with the young man Absalom for my sake The battell is ioyned Dauids followers are but an handfull to Absaloms How easily may the fickle multitude be transported to the wrong side What they wanted in abettors is supplied in the cause Vnnaturall ambition drawes the sword of Absalom Dauids a necessarie and iust defence They that in simplicitie of heart followed Absalom cannot in malice of heart persecute the father of Absalom with what courage could any Israelite draw his sword against a Dauid or on the other side who can want courage to fight for a righteous Soueraigne and father against the conspiracie of a wicked sonne The God of hosts with whom it is all one to saue with many or with few takes part with iustice and lets Israel feele what it is to beare armes for a traiterous vsurper The sword deuoures twentie thousand of them and the wood deuoures more then the sword It must needs be a very vniuersall rebellion wherein so many perished What vertue or merits can assure the hearts of the vulgar when so gracious a Prince findes so many reuolters Let no man looke to prosper by rebellion the very thickets and stakes and pits and wild beasts of the wood shall conspire to the punishment of traitors Amongst the rest see how a fatall oke hath singled out the ring-leader of this hatefull insurrection and will at once serue for his hangman and gallowes by one of those spreading armes snatching him away to speedy execution Absalom was comely and he knew it well enough His haire was no small peece of his beautie nor matter of his pride It was his wont to cut it once a yeere not for that it was too long but too heauie his heart could haue borne it longer if his necke had not complained And now the iustice of God hath platted an halter of those lockes Those tresses had formerly hangd loosely disheueld on his shoulders now he hangs by them He had wont to weigh his haire and was proud to finde it so heauie now his haire poyseth the weight of his bodie and makes his burden his torment It is no maruell if his owne haire turnd traitor to him who durst rise vp against his father That part which is misused by man to sinne is commonly imployed by God to reuenge The reuenge that it worketh for God makes amends for the offence whereto it is drawne against God The very beast wheron Absalom sat as wearie to beare so vnnaturall a burden resignes ouer his lode to the tree of Iustice There hangs Absalom betweene heauen and earth as one that was hated and abandoned both of earth and heauen As if God meant to prescribe this punishment for traitors Absalom Achitophel and Iudas die all one death So let them perish that dare lift vp their hand against Gods anointed The honest souldier sees Absalom hanging in the Oke and dares not touch him his hands were held with the charge of Dauid Beware that none touch the young man Absalom Ioab vpon that intelligence sees him and smites him with no lesse then three darts What the souldier forbore in obedience the Captaine doth in zeale not fearing to preferre his Soueraignes safetie to his command and more tendering the life of a King and peace of his Countrie then the weake affection of a father I dare not sit Iudge betwixt this zeale and that obedience betwixt the captaine and the Souldier the one was a good subiect the other a good Patriot the one loued the King the other loued Dauid and out of loue disobeyed the one meant as well as the other sped As if God meant to fulfill the charge of his Anointed without any blame of his subiects it pleased him to execute that immediate reuenge vpon the rebell which would haue dispatcht him without hand or dart only the Mule and the Oke conspired to this execution but that death would haue required more leasure then it was safe for Israel to giue and still life would giue hope of rescue to cut off all feares Ioab lends the Oke three darts to helpe forward so needfull a worke of iustice All Israel did not afford so firme a friend to Absalom as Ioab had beene who but Ioab had suborned the wittie widow of Tekoah to sue for the recalling of Absalom from his three yeeres exile Who but he went to fetch him from Geshur to Ierusalem Who but he fetcht him from his house at Ierusalem whereto he had beene two yeeres confined to the face to the lips of Dauid Yet now he that was his solicitour for the Kings fauour is his executioner against the Kings charge With honest hearts all respects either of bloud or friendship cease in the case of treason well hath Ioab forgotten himselfe to be friend to him who had forgotten himselfe to be a sonne Euen ciuilly the King is our common father our countrie our common mother nature hath no priuate relations which should not gladly giue place to these He is neither father nor sonne nor brother nor friend that conspires against the common parent Well doth he who spake parables for his masters sonne now speake darts to his Kings enemie and pierces that heart which was false to so good a father
heart of Absalom is guided by a power aboue their owne Hushai shall therefore preuaile with Absalom that the treason of Absalom may not preuaile He that worketh all in all things so disposeth of wicked men and spirits that whiles they doe most oppose his reuealed will they execute his secret and whiles they think most to please they ouerthrow themselues When Absalom first met Hushai returned to Hierusalem he vpbraided him pleasantly with the scoffe of his professed friendship to Dauid Is this thy kindnesse to thy friend Sometimes there is more truth in the mouth then in the heart more in iest then in earnest Hushai was a friend his stay was his kindnesse and now he hath done that for which he was left at Hierusalem disappointed Achitophel preserued Dauid Neither did his kindnesse to his friend rest here but as one that was iustly iealous of him with whom he was allowed to temporize he mistrusts the approbation of Absalom and not daring to put the life of his master vpon such an hazard he giues charge to Zadok and Abiathar of this intelligence vnto Dauid we cannot be too suspicious when we haue to doe with those that are faithlesse We cannot be too curious of the safetie of good Princes Hushai feares not to descry the secrets of Absaloms counsell To betray a traitor is no other then a commendable worke Zadok and Abiathar are fast within the gates of Hierusalem their sonnes lay purposely abroad in the fields this message that concerned no lesse then the life of Dauid and the whole kingdome of Israel must be trusted with a maid Sometimes it pleaseth the wisdome of God who hath the varietie of heauen and earth before him to single out weake instruments for great seruices and they shall serue his turne as well as the best No counsailour of state could haue made this dispatch more effectually Ionathan and Ahimaaz are sent descried pursued preserued The fidelitie of a maid instructed them in their message the suttletie of a woman saued their liues At the well of Rogel they receiued their message in the Well of Bahurim was their life saued The sudden wit of a woman hath choked the mouth of her Well with dried corne that it might not bewray the messengers and now Dauid heares safely of his danger and preuents it and though weary with trauell and laden with sorrow he must spend the night in his remoue Gods promises of his deliuerance and the confirmation of his kingdome may not make him neglect the meanes of his safetie If he be faithfull we may not be carelesse since our diligence and care are appointed for the factors of that diuine prouidence The acts of God must abate nothing of ours rather must we â—abour by doing that which he requireth to further that which he decreeth There are those that haue great wits for the publique none for themselues Such was Achitophel who whiles he had powers to gouerne a state could not tell how to rule his owne passions Neuer till now doe we finde his counsell balked neither was it now reiected as â—ll only Hushaies was allowed for better he can liue no longer now that he is beaten at his owne weapon this alone iâ— cause enough to saddle his Asseâ— and to goe home and put thâ— halter about his owne necke Pride causes men both to misinterpret disgraces and to ouerrate them Now is Dauids praieâ— heard Achitophels counsell is turned into foolishnesse Desperatâ— Achitophel what if thou be noâ— the wisest man of all Israelâ— Euen those that haue not attained to the hiest pitch of wisdome haue found contentment in a mediocritie what 〈◊〉 thy counsell were despised 〈◊〉 wise man knowes to liue happily in spight of an vniust contempt what madnesse is this 〈◊〉 reuenge another mans reputation vpon thy selfe And whiles thou striuest for the hiest roome of wisdome to run into the grossest extremitie of folly Worldly wisdome is no protection from shame and ruine How easily may a man though naturally wise be made wearie of life A little paine a little shame a little losse a small affront can soone rob a man of all comfort and cause his owne hands to rob him of himselfe If there were not hier respects then the world can yeeld to maintaine vs in being it should be a miracle if indignation did not kill more then disease now that God by whose appointment we liue here for his most wise and holy purposes hath found meanes to make life sweet and death terrible What a mixture doe we finde here of wisdome and madnesse Achitophel will needs hang himselfe there is madnesse He will yet set his house in order there is an act of wisdome And could it be possible that he who was so wise as to set his house in order should be so mad as to hang himselfe That he should be carefull to order his house who regarded not to order his impotent passions That he should care for his house who cared not for either body or soule How vaine it is for a man to be wise if he be not wise in God How preposterous are the cares of idle worldlings that prefer all other things to themselues and whiles they looke at what they haue in their cofers forget what they haue in their breasts The Death of Absalom THE same God that raised enmitie to Dauid from his own loines procured him fauour from forrainers Strangers shall releeue him whom his owne sonne persecutes Here is not a losse but an exchange of loue Had Absalom beene a sonne of Ammon and Shobi a sonne of Dauid Dauid had found no cause of complaint If God take with one hand he giues with another whiles that diuine bountie serues vs in good meat though not in our owne dishes we haue good reason to be thankfull No sooner is Dauid come to Mahanaim then Barzillai Machir and Shobi refresh him with prouisions Who euer saw any childe of God left vtterly destitute Whosoeuer be the messenger of our aide we know whence he comes Heauen shall want power and earth meanes before any of the houshold of faith shall want maintenance He that formerly was forced to imploy his armes for his defence against a tyrannous father in law must now buckle them on against an vnnaturall sonne Now therefore he musters his men and ordaines his commanders and marshalls his troupes and since their loyall importunitie will not allow the hazard of his person he at once incourages them by his eye and restraines them with his tongue Deale gently with the yong man Absalom for my sake How vnreasonably fauourable are the warres of a father O holy Dauid what meanes this ill-placed loue this vniust mercy Deale gently with a traytor but of all traytors with a sonne of all sonnes with an Absalom the gracelesse dareling of so good a father and all this for thy sake whose crowne whose bloud he hunts after For whose sake should Absalom be pursued if hee must be forborne for thine He
wont to tell Nathan what he meant to doe in his holy and most important ciuill affaires There are cases wherein it is not vnfit for Gods Prophets to meddle with matters of State It is no disparagement to religious Princes to impart their counsels vnto them who can requite them with the counsels of God That wood which a single yron could not riue is soone splitted with a double wedge The seasonable importunitie of Bathsheba and Nathan thus seconding each other hath so wrought vpon Dauid that now his loue to Adonijah giues place to indignation nature to an holy fidelitie and now he renewes his ancient oath to Bathsheba with a passionate solemnitie As the Lord liueth who hath redeemed my soule out of all aduersitie euen as I sware vnto thee by the Lord God of Israel saying Assuredly Salomon thy sonne shall reigne after me and he shall sit vpon my throne in my stead so will I certainly doe this day In the decay of Dauids body I finde not his intellectiue powers any whit impaired As one therefore that from his bed could with a perfect if weake hand stere the gouernment of Israel he giues wise and full directions for the inauguration of Salomon Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet and Benaiah the Captaine receiue his graue and Princely charge for the carriage of that so weightie a businesse They are commanded to take with them the royall gard to set Salomon vpon his fathers Mule to carry him downe in state to Gihon to anoint him with the holy oile of the Tabernacle to sound the trumpets and proclaime him in the streets to bring him backe with triumph and magnificence to the Court and to set him in the royall Throne with all the due ceremonies of Coronation How pleasing was this command to them who in Salomons glorie saw their owne safetie Benaiah applauds it and not fearing a fathers enuie in Dauids presence wisheth Salomons throne exalted aboue his The people are rauished with the ioy of so hopefull a succession and breake the earth and fill the heauen with the noise of their Musicke and shoutings Salomons guests had now at last better cheere then Adonijahs whose feast as all wicked mens ended in horror No sooner are their bellies full of meat then their eares are full of the sound of those trumpets which at once proclaime Salomons triumph and their confusion Euer after the meale is ended comes the reckoning God could as easily haue preuented this iollitie as marred it But he willingly suffers vaine men to please themselues for the time in the conceited successe of their owne proiects that afterwards their disappointment may be so much more grieuous No doubt at this feast there was many an health drunke to Adonijah many a confident boast of their prospering designe many a scorne of the despised faction of Salomon and now for their last dish is serued vp astonishment and fearefull expectation of a iust reuenge Ionathan the sonne of Abiathar the Priest brings the newes of Salomons solemne and ioyfull enthronization now all hearts are cold all faces pale and euery man hath but life enough to run away How suddenly is this brauing troupe dispersed Adonijah their new Prince flies to the hornes of the Altar as distrusting all hopes of life saue the Sanctitie of the place and the mercie of his riuall So doth the wise and iust God befoole proud and insolent sinners in those secret plots wherein they hope to vndermine the true sonne of Dauid the Prince of peace he suffers them to lay their heads together and to feast themselues in a iocund securitie and promise of successe at last when they are at the height of their ioyes and hopes he confounds all their deuices and laies them open to the scorne of the world and to the anguish of their owne guiltie hearts Dauids end and Salomons beginning IT well became Salomon to begin his raigne in peace Adonijah receiues pardon vpon his good behauiour and finds the throne of Salomon as safe as the Altar Dauid liues to see a wise sonne warme in his seat and now hee that had yeelded to succession yeelds to nature Many good counsels had Dauid giuen his heire now hee summes them vp in his end Dying words are wont to be weightiest The Soule when it is entring into glory breathes nothing but diuine I goe the way of all the earth How well is that princely heart content to subscribe to the conditions of humane mortalitie as one that knew Soueraigntie doth not reach to the affaires of nature Though a King he neither expects nor desires an immunity from dissolution making not account to goe in any other then the common tracke to the vniuersall home of mankinde the house of age Whither should earth but to earth and why should wee grudge to doe that which all doe Be thou strong therefore and shew thy selfe a man Euen when his spirit was going out he puts spirit into his Sonne Age puts life into youth and the dying animates the vigorous He had well found that strength was requisite to gouernment that he had need to be no lesse then a man that should rule ouer men If greatnesse should neuer receiue any opposition yet those worlds of cares and businesses that attend the chayre of State are able to ouer-lay any meane powers A weake man may obey none but the strong can gouerne Gracelesse courage were but the whet-stone of tyranny Take heed therefore to the charge of the Lord thy God to walke in his wayes and to keepe his Statutes The best legacy that Dauid bequeathes to his heire is the care of piety himselfe had found the sweetnesse of a good conscience and now hee commends it to his successor If there be any thing that in our desires of the prosperous condition of our children takes place of goodnesse our hearts are not vpright Here was the father a King charging the King his sonne to keepe the Statutes of the King of Kings as one that knew greatnesse could neither exempt from obedience nor priuiledge sinne as one that knew the least deuiation in the greatest and hiest Orbe is both most sensible and most dangerous Neither would he haue his sonne to looke for any prosperity saue onely from well-doing That happinesse is built vpon sands or Ice which is raised vpon any foundation besides vertue If Salomon were wise Dauid was good and if old Salomon had well remembred the counsell of old Dauid hee had not so foulely mis-carried After the precepts of pietie follow those of iustice distributing in a due recompence as reuenge to Ioab and Shimei so fauour to the house of Barzillai The bloudinesse of Ioab had lien long vpon Dauids heart the hideous noyse of those treacherous murders as it had pierced heauen so it still filled the eares of Dauid He could abhorre that villanie though hee could not reuenge it What hee cannot pay he will owe and approue himselfe at last a faithfull debtor Now he
glory of the giuer Oh the policie of this Machiauell of Israel no lesse deepe then hell it selfe Goe in to thy fathers concubines which he hath left to keepe the house and when all Israel shall heare that thou art abhorred of thy father the hands of all that are with thee shall be strong The first care must be to secure the faction There can be no safetie in siding with a doubtfull rebell if Absalom be a Traitor yet he is a sonne Nature may returne to it selfe Absalom may relent Dauid may remit where then are we that haue helpt to promote the conspiracie the danger is ours whiles this breach may be peeced There is no way but to ingage Absalom in some further act vncapable of forgiuenesse Besides the throne let him violate the bed of his father vnto his treason let him adde an incest no lesse vnnaturall now shall the world see that Absalom neither hopes nor cares for the reconciliation of a father Our quarrell can neuer haue any safe end but victorie the hope whereof depends vpon the resolution of our followers they cannot be resolute but vpon the vnpardonable wickednesse of their leader Neither can this villanie be shamefull enough if it be secret The closenesse of euill argues feare or modestie neither of which can beseeme him that would be a succesfull traitor Set vp a tent on the top of the house and let all Israel be witnesses of thy sin and thy fathers shame Ordinary crimes are for vulgar offenders Let Absalom sinne eminently and doe that which may make the world at once to blush and wonder Who would euer haue thought that Achitophel had liued at the Court at the Councell-table of a Dauid Who would thinke that mouth had euer spoken well Yet had he beene no other then as the Oracle of God to the religious Court of Israel euen whiles he was not wise enough to be good Policie and grace are not alwaies lodged vnder one roofe This man whiles he was one of Dauids deepe Counsellors was one of Dauids fooles that said in their hearts There is no God Else he could not haue hoped to make good an euill with worse to build the successe of treason vpon incest Prophane hearts doe so contriue the plots of their wickednesse as if there were no ouer-ruling power to crosse their designes or to reuenge them He that sits in heauen laughs them to scorne and so farre giues way to their sinnes as their sinnes may proue plagues vnto themselues These two sonnes of Dauid met with pestilent counsell Amnon is aduised to incest with his sister Absalom is aduised to incest with his fathers Concubines That by Ionadab this by Achitophel Both preuaile It is as easie at least to take ill counsaile as to giue it Pronenesse to villanie in the great cannot want either proiectors to deuise or parasites to execute the most odious and vnreasonable sinnes The tent is spred lest it should not be conspicuous enough on the top of the house The act is done in the sight of all Israel The filthinesse of the sinne was not so great as the impudencie of the manner When the prophet Nathan came with that heauie message of reproofe and menace to Dauid after his sinne with Bathsheba he could say from God Behold I will raise vp euill against thee out of thine owne house and will take thy wiues before thine eies and giue them vnto thy neighbour and he shall lie with thy wiues in the sight of this Sunne For thou didst it secretly but I will doe this thing before all Israel and before this Sunne The counsell of Achitophel and the lust of Absalom haue fulfilled the iudgement of God Oh the wisdome of the Almightie that can vse the worst of euils well and most iustly make the sinnes of men his executioners It was the sinne of Reuben that he defiled his fathers bed yet not in the same height of lewdnesse what Reuben did in a youthfull wantonnesse Absalom did in a malicious despight Reuben sinned with one Absalom with ten Reuben secretly Absalom in the open eies of heauen and earth yet old Iacob could say of Reuben Thou shalt not excell thy dignitie is gone Whiles Achitophel saies to Absalom Thy dignitie shall arise from incest Climbe vp to thy fathers bed if thou wilt sit in his throne If Achitophel were a politician Iacob was a Prophet if the one spake from carnall sense the other from diuine reuelation Certainly to sinne is not the way to prosper what euer vaine fooles may promise to themselues there is no wisdome nor vnderstanding nor counsell against the Lord. After the rebellion is secured for continuance the next care is that it may end in victorie this also hath the working head of Achitophel proiected Wit and experience told him that in these cases of assault celeritie vses to bring forth the happiest dispatch whereas protraction is no small aduantage to the defendant Let me saith he choose out now twelue thousand men and I will vp and follow after Dauid this night and I will come vpon him while he is wearie and weak-handed No aduice could be more pernicious For besides the wearinesse and vnreadinesse of Dauid and his armie the spirits of that worthy leader were daunted and deiected with sorrow and offered way to the violence of a sudden assault The field had beene halfe won ere any blow striken Achitophel could not haue beene reputed so wise if He had not learned the due proportion betwixt actions and times He that obserueth euery winde shall neuer sowe but he that obserues no Winde at all shall neuer reape The likeliest deuices doe not alwaies succeed The God that had appointed to establish Dauids throne and determined Salomon to his succession findes meanes to crosse the plot of Achitophel by a lesse-probable aduice Hushai was not sent backe for nothing where God hath in his secret will decreed any euent he inclines the wills of men to approue that which may promote his owne purposes Neither had Hushai so deepe an head neither was his counsell so sure as that of Achitophel yet his tongue shal refell Achitophel and diuert Absalom The pretences were fairer though the grounds were vnsound First to sweeten his opposition he yeelds the praise of wisdome to his aduersarie in all other counsells that he may haue leaue to denie it in this His very contradiction in the present insinuates a generall allowance Then he suggests certaine apparent truths concerning Dauids valour and skill to giue countenance to the inferences of his improbabilities Lastly he cunningly feeds the proud humour of Absalom in magnifying the power and extent of his commands and ends in the glorious boasts of his fore-promised victorie As it is with faces so with counsell that is faire that pleaseth He that giues the vttrance to words giues also their speed Fauour both of speech and men is not euer according to desert but according to fore-ordination The tongue of Hushai and the
Those darts are seconded by Ioabs followers each man tries his weapon vpon so faire a marke One death is not enough for Absalom he is at once hanged shot mangled stoned Iustly was he lift vp to the Oke who had lift vp himselfe against his father and soueraigne Iustly is he pierced with darts who had pierced his fathers heart with so many sorrowes Iustly is he mangled who had dismembred and diuided all Israel Iustly is he stoned who had not only cursed but pursued his owne parent Now Ioab sounds the retrait and calls off his eager troupes from execution howeuer he knew what his rebellious countrimen had deserued in following an Absalom Wise commanders know how to put a difference betwixt the heads of a faction and the misguided multitude and can pittie the one whiles they take reuenge on the other So did Absalom esteeme himselfe that he thought it would be a wrong to the world to want the memoriall of so goodly a person God had denied him sonnes How iust it was that hee should want a sonne who had robd his father of a sonne who would haue robd himselfe of a father his father of a Kingdome It had beene pitty so poysonous a plant should haue beene fruitfull His pride shall supply nature hee reares vp a stately piller in the Kings dale and cals it by his owne name that he might liue in dead stones who could not suruiue in liuing issue and now behold this curious pile ends in a rude heape which speakes no language but the shame of that carcasse which it couers Heare this yee glorious fooles that care not to perpetuate any memory of your selues to the world but of il-deseruing greatnesse the best of this affectation is vanity the worst infamy and dishonour whereas the memoriall of the iust shall be blessed and if his humility shall refuse an Epitaph and chose to hide himselfe vnder the bare earth God himselfe shall ingraue his name vpon the pillar of eternity There now lies Absalom in the pit vnder a thousand graue-stones in euery of which is written his euerlasting reproch well might this heape ouer-liue that pillar for when that ceased to be a piller it began to be an heape neither will it cease to be a monument of Absaloms shame whiles there are stones to bee found vpon earth Euen at this day very Pagans and Pilgrims that passe that way cast each man a stone vnto that heape and are wont to say in a solemne execration Cursed be the paricide Absalom and cursed be all vniust persecutors of their parents for euer Fasten your eies vpon this wofull spectacle ô all ye rebellious and vngratious children which rise vp against the loynes and thighes from which ye fell and know that it is the least part of your punishment that your carcasses rot in the earth and your name in ignominie these doe but shadow out those eternall sufferings of your soules for your foule and vnnaturall disobedience Absalom is sped who shall report it to his father Surely Ioab was not so much afraid of the fact as of the message There are busie spirits that loue to carry newes though thanklesse though purposelesse such was Ahimaaz the sonne of Zadock who importunately thrusts himselfe into this seruice wise Ioab who well saw how vnwelcome tydings must be the burden of the first post disswades him in vaine hee knew Dauid too well to imploy a friend in that errand An Ethiopian seruant was a fitter bearer of such a message then the sonne of the Priest The entertainment of the person doth so follow the quality of the newes that Dauid could argue afar off He is a good man he commeth with good tidings Oh how welcome deserue those messengers to be that bring vs the glad tidings of saluation that assure vs of the foile of all spirituall enemies and tell vs of nothing but victories and Crownes and Kingdomes If we thinke not their feet beautifull our hearts are foule with infidelity and secure worldlinesse So wise is Ahimaaz growne by Ioabs intimation that though he out-went Cushi in his pace he suffers Cushi to out-goe him in his tale cunningly suppressing that part which hee knew must be both necessarily deliuered and vnpleasingly receiued As our care is wont to bee where our loue is Dauids first word is not how fares the host but how fares the young man Absalom Like a wise and faithfull messenger Cushi answers by an honest insinuation The enemies of my Lord the King and all that rise against thee to doe thee hurt be as that young man is implying both what was done and why Dauid should approue it being done How is the good King thunder-strooke with that word of his Black-moore who as if he were at once bereaued of all comfort and cared not to liue but in the name of Absalom goes and weepes and cries out O my sonne Absalom my sonne my sonne Absalom Would God I had died for thee O Absalom my sonne my sonne What is this we heare that he whose life Israel valued at ten thousand of theirs should be exchanged with a traytors that a good King whose life was sought should wish to lay it downe for the preseruation of his murtherer The best men haue not wont to be the least passionate But what shall wee say to that loue of thine ô Sauiour who hast said of vs wretched traytors not Would God I had died for you But I will dye I doe dye I haue died for you Oh loue like thy selfe infinite incomprehensible whereat the Angels of Heauen stand yet amazed wherewith thy Saints are rauished Turne away thine eyes from mee for they ouercome me Oh thou that dwellest in the Gardens the companions hearken to thy voyce cause vs to heare it that wee may in our measure answere thy loue and enioy it for euer Shebaes Rebellion IT was the doome which God passed vpon the man after his owne heart by the mouth of Nathan that the sword should neuer depart from his house for the bloud of Vriah After that wound healed by remission yet this scarre remaines Absalom is no sooner cast downe into the pit then Sheba the sonne of Bichri is vp in armes If Dauid be not plagued yet he shall be corrected First by the rod of a sonne then of a subiect He had lift vp his hand against a faithfull subiect now a faithlesse dares to lift vp his hand against him Malice like some hereditarie sicknesse runs in a bloud Saul and Shimei and Sheba were all of an house That ancient grudge was not yet dead The fire of the house of Iemini was but raked vp neuer throughly out and now that which did but smoke in Shimei flames in Sheba Although euen through this chastisement it is not hard to discerne a Type of that perpetuall succession of enmitie which should be raised against the true King of Israel O Sonne of Dauid when didst thou euer want enemies How wert thou designed by thine
That God whose counsells are secret euen where his actions are open will not be close to his Prophet to his Priest without inquirie we shall know nothing vpon inquirie nothing shall be concealed from vs that is fit for vs to know Who can choose but wonder at once both at Dauids slacknesse in consulting with God and Gods speed in answering so slow a demand He that so well knew the way to Gods Oracle suffers Israel to be three yeeres pinched with famine ere he askes why they suffer Euen the best hearts may be ouertaken with dulnesse in holy duties But oh the maruellous mercy of our God that takes not the aduantage of our weaknesses Dauids question is not more slow then his answer is speedie It is for Saul and for his bloudie house because he slew the Gibeonites Israel was full of sinnes besides those of Sauls house Sauls house was full of sinnes besides those of bloud Much bloud was shed by them besides that of the Gibeonites yet the iustice of God singles out this one sinne of violence offered to the Gibeonites contrary to the league made by Ioshua some foure hundred yeeres before for the occasion of this late vengeance Where the causes of offence are infinite it is iust with God to pitch vpon some it is mercifull not to punish for all Welneere fortie yeeres are past betwixt the commission of the sinne and the reckoning for it It is a vaine hope that is raised from the delay of iudgement No time can be any preiudice to the ancient of daies When we haue forgotten our sinnes when the world hath forgotten vs he sues vs afresh for our arerages The slaughter of the Gibeonites was the sinne not of the present but rather the former generation and now posteritie paies for their forefathers Euen we men hold it not vniust to sue the heires and executors of our debters Eternall paiments God vses only to require of the person temporarie oft-times of succession As Saul was higher by the head and shoulders then the rest of Israel both in stature and dignitie so were his sinnes more conspicuous then those of the vulgar The eminence of the person makes the offence more remarkable to the eies both of God and men Neither Saul nor Israel were faultlesse in other kindes yet God fixes the eie of his reuenge vpon the massacre of the Gibeonites Euery sin hath a tongue but that of bloud ouer cries and drownes the rest He who is mercy it selfe abhorres crueltie in his creature aboue all other inordinatenesse That holy soule which was heauie pressed with the weight of an hainous adulterie yet cries out Deliuer me from bloud O God the God of my saluation and my tongue shall sing ioyfully of thy righteousnesse If God would take account of bloud he might haue entred the action vpon the bloud of Vriah spilt by Dauid or if he would rather insist in Sauls house vpon the bloud of Ahimelech the Priest and fourescore and fiue persons that did weare a linnen Ephod but it pleased the wisdome and iustice of the Almightie rather to call for the bloud of the Gibeonites though drudges of Israel and a remnant of Amorites Why this There was a periurie attending vpon this slaughter It was an ancient oath wherein the Princes of the Congregation had bound themselues vpon Iosuaâ—s league to the Gibeonites that they would suffer them to liue an oath extorted by fraud but solemne by no lesse name then the Lord God of Israel Saul will now thus late either not acknowledge it or not keepe it out of his zeale therefore to the children of Israel and Iudah he roots out some of the Gibeonites whether in a zeale of reuenge of their first imposture or in a zeale of inlarging the possessions of Israel or in a zeale of executing Gods charge vpon the brood of Canaanites he that spared Agag whom he should haue smitten smites the Gibeonites whom he should haue spared Zeale and good intention is no excuse much lesse a warrant for euill God holds it an hie indignitie that his name should be sworne by and violated Length of time cannot dispense with our oathes with our vowes The vowes and oathes of others may binde vs how much more our owne There was a famine in Israel a naturall man would haue ascribed it vnto the drought and that drought perhaps to some constellations Dauid knowes 〈◊〉 looke higher and sees a diuine hand scourging Israel for some great offence and ouer-ruling those second causes to his most iust executions Euen the most quick-sighted worldling is pore-blinde to spirituall obiects and the weakest eyes of the regenerate pierce the Heauens and espy God in all earthly occurrences So well was Dauid acquainted with Gods proceedings that hee knew the remouall of the iudgement must begin at the satisfaction of the wronged At once therefore doth he pray vnto God and treat with the Gibeonites What shall I doe for you and wherewith shall I make the attonement that I may blesse the inheritance of the Lord In vaine should Dauid though a Prophet blesse Israel if the Gibeonites did not blesse them Iniuries done vs on earth giue vs power in heauen The oppressor is in no mans mercy but his whom he hath trampled vpon Little did the Gibeonites thinke that God had so taken to heart their wrongs that for their sakes all Israel should suffer Euen when we thinke not of it is the righteous Iudge auenging our vnrighteous vexations Our hard measures cannot be hid from him his returns are hid from vs It is sufficient for vs that God can be no more neglectiue then ignorant of our sufferings It is now in the power of these despised Hiuites to make their own termes with Israel Neither Siluer nor Gold will sauour with them towards their satisfaction Nothing can expiate the bloud of their fathers but the bloud of seauen sonnes of their deceased persecutor Here was no other then a iust retaliation Saul had punished in them the offence of their predecessours they will now reuenge Sauls sinne in his children The measure we mete vnto others is with much equitie re-measured vnto our selues Euery death would not content them of Sauls sonnes but a cursed and ignominious hanging on the Tree Neither would that death content them vnlesse their owne hands might be the executioners Neither would any place serue for the execution but Gibeah the Court of Saul neither would they doe any of this for the wreaking of their owne fury but for the appeasing of Gods wrath We will hang them vp vnto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul Dauid might not refuse the condition Hee must deliuer they must execute Hee chooses out seuen of the sonnes and grand-children of Saul That House had raysed long an vniust persecution against Dauid now God payes it vpon anothers score Dauids loue and oath to Ionathan preserues lame Mephibosheth How much more shall the Father of all mercies doe good vnto the children of the
will defray it by the hand of Salomon The slaughter was of Abner and Amasa Dauid appropriates it Thou knowest what Ioab did to mee The Soueraigne is smitten in the Subject Neither is it other then iust that the arraignement of meane malefactors runnes in the stilâ— of wrong to the Kings Crowne and dignitie How much more doest thou O sonne of Dauid take to thy selfe those insolencies which are done to thy poorest subiects seruants sonnes members here vpon earth No Saul can touch a Christian here below but thou feelest it in heauen and complainest But what shall we thinke of this Dauid was a man of war Salomon a King of peace yet Dauid referres this reuenge to Salomon How iust it was that he who shed the bloud of warre in peace and put the bloud of war vpon his girdle that was about his loynes should haue his bloud shed in peace by a Prince of peace Peace is fittest to rectifie the out-rages of Warre Or whether is not this done in type of that diuine administration wherein thou O Father of heauen hast committed all iudgement vnto thine eternall sonne Thou who couldst immediately either plague or absolue sinners wilt doe neither but by the hand of a Mediator Salomon learned betimes what his ripenesse taught afterwards Take away the wicked from the King and his Throne shall be established in righteousnesse Cruell Ioab and malicious Shimei must be therefore vpon the first opportunity remoued The one lay open to present iustice for abetting the conspiracy of Adonijah neither needes the helpe of time for a new aduantage The other went vnder the protection of an oath from Dauid and therefore must be fetcht in vpon a new challenge The hoare head of both must be brought to the graue with bloud else Dauids head could not be brought to his graue in peace Due punishment of malefactors is the debt of authoritie If that holy King haue run into arerages yet as one that hates and feares to breake the banke he giues order to his pay-master It shall be defraid if not by him yet for him Generous natures cannot be vnthankfull Barzillai had shewed Dauid some kindnesse in his extremitie and now the good man will haue posteritie to inherit the thankes How much more bountifull is the Father of mercies in the remuneration of our poore vnworthy seruices Euen successions of generations shall fare the better for one good parent The dying words and thoughts of the man after Gods owne heart did not confine themselues to the straites of these particular charges but inlarged themselues to the care of Gods publique seruice As good men are best at last Dauid did neuer so busily and carefully marshall the affaires of God as when he was fixed to the bed of his age and death Then did he lode his sonne Salomon with the charge of building the house of God then did he lay before the eies of his sonne the modell and patterne of that whole sacred worke whereof if Salomon beare the name yet Dauid no lesse merits it He now giues the platforme of the Courts and buildings He giues the gold and siluer for that holy vse an hundred thousand talents of Gold a thousand thousand talents of Siluer besides brasse and yron passing weight He weighes out those precious mettalls for their seuerall designements Euery future vessell is laid out already in his poise if not in his forme He excites the Princes of Israel to their assistance in so high a worke He takes notice of their bountifull offerings He numbers vp the Leuites for the publique seruice and sets them their taskes He appoints the Singers and other Musitians to their stations the Porters to the Gates that should be And now when he hath set all things in a desired order and forwardnesse he shuts vp with a zealous blessing of his Salomon and his people and sleepe with his fathers Oh blessed soule how quiet a possession hast thou now taken after so many tumults of a better Crowne Thou that hast prepared all things for the house of thy God how happily art thou now welcomed to that house of his not made with hands eternall in the heauens Who now shall enuie vnto good Princes the honour of ouerseeing the businesses of God and his Church when Dauid was thus punctuall in these diuine prouisions What feare can be of vsurpation where they haue so glorious a precedent Now is Salomon the second time crowned King of Israel and now in his owne right as formerly in his fathers sits peaceably vpon the Throne of the Lord His awe and power come on faster then his yeeres Enuie and ambition where it is once kindled may sooner be hid in the ashes then quite put out Adonijah yet hangs after his old hopes He remembers how sweet he found the name of a King and now hath laid a new plot for the setting vp of his crackt title He would make the bed a step to the throne His old complices are sure enough His part would gather much strength if he might inioy Abishag the relict of his father to wife If it were not the Iewish fashion as is pretended that a Kings widow should mary none but a King yet certainly the power both of the alliance and friendship of a Queene must needs not a little aduance his purpose The craftie riuall dare not either moue the suit to Salomon or effect the mariage without him but would cunningly vndermine the sonne by the suit of that mother whose suit had vndermined him The weaker vessells are commonly vsed in the most dangerous suggestions of euill Bathsheba was so wise a woman that some of her counsels are canonized for diuine yet she saw not the depth of this drift of Adonijah therefore she both entertaines the suit and moues it But what euer were the intent of the suitor could she choose but see the vnlawfulnesse of so incestuous a match It is not long since she saw her late husband Dauid abominating the bed of those his Concubines that had beene touched by his sonne Absalom and can she hold it lawfull that his son Adonijah should climbe vp to the bed of his fathers wife Sometimes euen the best eies are dimme and discerne not those things which are obuious to weaker sights Or whether did not Bathsheba well see the foulenesse of the suit and yet in compassion of Adonijahs late repulse wherein she was the chiefe agent and in a desire to make him amends for the losse of the kingdome she yeelds euen thus to gratifie him It is an iniurious weaknesse to be drawne vpon any by-respects to the furtherance of faultie suits of vnlawfull actions No sooner doth Bathsheba come in place then Salomon her sonne rises from his chaire of State and meets her and bowes to her and sets her on his right hand as not so remembring himselfe to be a King that he should forget he was a sonne No outward dignitie can take away the rights and obligations of nature
farre was the vxorious King blinded with affection that he gaue not passage only to the Idolatrie of his heathenish wiues but furtherance So did he dote vpon their persons that he humord them in their sins Their act is therefore his because his eies winkt at it his hand aduanced it He that built a Temple to the liuing God for himselfe and Israel in Sion built a Temple to Chemosh in the mount of Scandall for his mistresses of Moab in the very face of Gods house No hill about Ierusalem was free from a Chappell of Deuils Each of his dames had their Puppets their altars their incense Because Salomon feedes them in their superstition he drawes the sinne home to himselfe and is branded for what he should haue forbidden Euen our very permission appropriates crimes to vs We need no more guiltinesse of any sinne then our willing toleration Who can but yearne and feare to see the wofull wracke of so rich and goodly a vessell O Salomon wert not thou he whose younger yeeres God honoured with a message and stile of loue To whom God twice appeared and in a gracious vision renewed the couenant of his fauour Whom he singled out from all the generation of men to be the founder of that glorious Temple which was no lesse cleerely the Type of heauen then thou wert of Christ the Sonne of the euerliuing God Wert not thou that deepe Sea of wisdome which God ordained to send forth riuers and fountaines of all diuine and humane knowledge to all nations to all ages Wert not thou one of those select Secretaries whose hand it pleased the Almightie to employ in three peeces of the diuine monuments of sacred Scriptures Which of vs dares euer hope to aspire vnto thy graces Which of vs can promise to secure our selues from thy ruines We fall ô God we fall to the lowest hell if thou preuent vs not if thou sustaine vs not Vphold thou me according to thy word that I may liue and let me not be ashamed of my hope Order my steps in thy word and let not any iniquitie haue dominion ouer me All our weaknesse is in our selues all our strength is in thee O God be thou strong in our weaknesse that our weake knees may be euer steddie in thy strength But in the midst of the horror of this spectacle able to affright all the sonnes of men behold some glimpse of comfort was it of Salomon that Dauid his father prophesied Though he fall he shall not be vtterly cast downe for the Lord vpholdeth him with his hand If sensible grace yet finall mercy was not taken from that beloued of God In the hardest of this winter the sappe was gone downe to the root though it shewed not in the branches Euen whiles Salomon remoued that word stood fast He shall be my Sonne and I will be his Father He that foresaw his sinne threatned and limited his correction If he breake my statutes and keepe not my commandements then will I visit his transgression with a rodde and his iniquitie with stripes Neuerthelesse my louing kindnesse will I not vtterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulnesse to faile My Couenant will I not breake nor alter the thing that is gone out of my mouth Behold the fauour of God doth not depend vpon Salomons obedience If Salomon shall suffer his faithfulnesse to faile towards his God God will not requite him with the failing of his faithfulnesse to Salomon If Salomon breake his couenant with God God will not breake his Couenant with the father of Salomon with the Sonne of Dauid He shall smart he shall not perish Oh gracious word of the God of all mercies able to giue strength to the languishing comfort to the despairing to the dying life Whatsoeuer wee are thou wilt be still thy selfe O holy one of Israel true to thy Couenant constant to thy Decree The sinnes of thy chosen can neither frustrate thy counsell nor out-strip thy mercies Now I see Salomon of a wanton louer a graue Preacher of mortification I see him quenching those inordinate flames with the teares of his repentance Me thinkes I heare him sighing deeply betwixt euery word of that his solemne penance which he would needs inioyne himselfe before all the world I haue applied my heart to know the wickednesse of folly euen the foolishnesse of madnesse and I finde more bitter then death the woman whose heart is as nets and snares and her hands as bands Who so pleaseth God shall be deliuered from her but the sinner shall be taken by her Salomon was taken as a sinner deliuered as a penitent His soule escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers the snare was broken and he deliuered It is good for vs that he was both taken and deliuered Taken that wee might not presume and that we might not despaire deliuered He sinned that we might not sinne he recouered that we may not sinke vnder our sinne But oh the iustice of God inseparable from his mercie Salomons sinne shall not escape the rod of men Rather then so wise an offender shall want enemies God shall raise vp three aduersaries vnto Salomon Hadad the Edomite Rezon the King of Aram Ieroboam the son of Nebat whereof two were forraine one domesticall Nothing but loue and peace sounded in the name of Salomon nothing else was found in his raigne whiles he held in good termes with his God But when once he fell foule with his maker all things began to be troubled There are whips laid vp against the time of Salomons fore-seene offence which are now brought forth for his correction On purpose was Hadad the sonne of the King of Edom hid in a corner of Egypt from the sword of Dauid and Ioab that he might be reserued for a scourge to the exorbitant sonne of Dauid God would haue vs make account that our peace ends with our innocence The same sinne that sets debate betwixt God and vs armes the creatures against vs It were pittie we should be at any quiet whiles we are falne out with the God of peace Contemplations VPON THE PRINCIPALL HISTORIES OF THE NEVV TESTAMENT The third Booke Containing The Widowes sonne raised The Rulers sonne healed The dumbe Deuill eiected Matthew called Christ among the Gergesens or Legion and the Gadarene heard TO MY RIGHT WORTHY AND WORSHIPFVLL FRIEND Master IOHN GIFFORD of Lancrasse in Deuon Esquire All Grace and Peace SIR I hold it as I ought one of the rich mercies of GOD that he hath giuen me fauour in some eies which haue not seene me but none that I know hath so much demerited me vnknowne as your worthy Familie Ere therefore you see my face see my hand willingly professing my thankfull Obligations Wherewith may it please you to accept of this parcell of thoughts not vnlike those fellowes of theirs whom you haue entertained aboue their desert These shall present vnto you our bountifull Sauiour magnifying his mercies to men in a
owne promise we may call absolutely for a blessing In all others there is no reason that beggers should be choosers He who doth whatsoeuer he will must doe it how he will It is for vs to receiue not to appoint He who came to complaine of his sonnes sicknesse heares of his owne Except ye see signes and wonders yee will not beleeue This noble man was as is like of Capernaum There had Christ often preached there was one of his chiefe residences Either this man had heard our Sauiour oft or might haue done yet because Christs miracles came to him only by heare-say for as yet we finde none at all wrought where he preached most therefore the man beleeues not enough but so speaks to Christ as to some ordinarie Physitian Come downe and heale It was the common disease of the Iewes incredulitie which no receit could heale but wonders A wicked and adulterous generation seekes signes Had they not beene wilfully gracelesse there was alreadie proofe enough of the Messias the miraculous conception and life of the fore-runner Zacharies dumbnesse The attestation of Angels the apparition of the Starre the iourney of the Sages the vision of the Shepherds the testimonies of Anna and Simeon the prophesies fulfilled the voice from heauen at his baptisme the diuine words that he spake and yet they must haue all made vp with miracles which though he be not vnwilling to giue at his owne times yet he thinkes much to be tied vnto at theirs Not to beleeue without signes was a signe of stubborne hearts It was a foule fault and a dangerous one Ye will not beleeue What is it that shall condemne the world but vnbeleefe What can condemne vs without it No sinne can condemne the repentant Repentance is a fruit of faith where true faith is then there can be no condemnation as there can be nothing but condemnation without it How much more foule in a noble Capernaite that had heard the Sermons of so diuine a Teacher The greater light we haue the more shame it is for vs to stumble Oh what shall become of vs that reele and fall in the cleerest Sun-shine that euer looked forth vpon any Church Be mercifull to our sinnes ô God and say any thing of vs rather then Ye will not beleeue Our Sauiour tells him of his vnbeleefe he feeles not himselfe sicke of that disease All his minde is on his dying sonne As easily doe we complaine of bodily griefes as we are hardly affected with spirituall Oh the meeknesse and mercy of this Lambe of God When wee would haue lookt that he should haue punished this suitor for not beleeuing he condescends to him that he may beleeue Goe thy way thy sonne liueth If we should measure our hopes by our owne worthinesse there were no expectation of blessings but if we shall measure them by his bountie and compassion there can be no doubt of preuailing As some tender mother that giues the brest to her vnquiet childe in stead of the rod so deales he with our peruersnesses How God differences men according to no other conditions then of their faith The Centurions seruant was sicke the Rulers sonne The Centurion doth not sue vnto Christ to come only saies My seruant is sicke of a Palsie Christ answers him I will come and heale him The Ruler sues vnto Christ that he would come and heale his sonne Christ will not goe only saies Goe thy way thy sonne liues Outward things carrie no respect with God The Image of that diuine Maiestie shining inwardly in the graces of the soule is that which wins loue from him in the meanest estate The Centurions faith therfore could doe more then the Rulers greatnesse and that faithfull mans seruant hath more regard then this great mans sonne The Rulers request was Come and heale Christs answer was Goe thy way thy sonne liues Our mercifull Sauiour meets those in the end whom he crosses in the way How sweetly doth he correct our praiers and whiles he doth not giue vs what we aske giues vs better then we asked Iustly doth he forbeare to goe downe with this Ruler lest he should confirme him in an opinion of measuring his power by conceits of localitie and distance but he doth that in absence for which his presence was required with a repulse Thy sonne liueth giuing a greater demonstration of his omnipotencie then was craued How oft doth hee not heare to our will that he may heare vs to our aduantage The chosen vessell would be rid of tentations he heares of a supplie of grace The sickeman askes release receiues patience life and receiues glorie Let vs aske what we thinke best let him giue what he knowes best With one word doth Christ heale two Patients the sonne and the father the sonnes feuer the fathers vnbeleefe That operatiue word of our Sauiour was not without the intention of a triall Had not the Ruler gone home satisfied with that intimation of his sonnes life and recouerie neither of them had beene blessed with successe Now the newes of performance meets him one halfe of the way and he that beleeued somewhat ere he came and more when hee went grew to more faith in the way and when he came home inlarged his faith to all the skirts of his familie A weake faith may be true but a true faith is growing Hee that boasts of a full stature in the first moment of his assent may presume but doth not beleeue Great men cannot want clients their example swaies some their authoritie more they cannot goe to either of the other worlds alone In vaine doe they pretend power ouer others who labour not to draw their families vnto God The dumbe Deuill eiected THAT the Prince of our peace might approue his perfect victories wheresoeuer hee met with the Prince of darknesse he foiled him he eiected him He found him in heauen thence did he throw him headlong and verified his Prophet I haue cast thee out of mine holy mountaine And if the Deuils left their first habitation it was because being Deuils they could not keepe it Their estate indeed they might haue kept and did not their habitation they would haue kept and might not How art thou falne from heauen ô Lucifer He found him in the heart of man for in that closet of God did the euill spirit after his exile from heauen shrowd himselfe Sinne gaue him possession which he kept with a willing violence thence he casts him by his word and spirit He found him tyrannizing in the bodies of some possessed men and with power commands the vncleane spirits to depart This act is for no hand but his When a strong man keeps possession none but a stronger can remoue it In voluntarie things the strongest may yeeld to the weakest Sampson to a Dalilah but in violent euer the mightiest carries it A spirituall nature must needs be in ranke aboue a bodily neither can any power be aboue a spirit but the God of spirits
faithfull for the couenant made with their Parents The fiue sonnes of Adriel the Meholathite Dauids ancient riuall in his first loue which were borne to him by Merab Sauls Daughter and brought vp by her barren sister Michol the wife of Dauid are yeelded vp to death Merab was after a promise of marriage to Dauid vniustly giuen away by Saul to Adriel Michol seemes to abet the match in breeding the children now in one act not of Dauids seeking the wrong is thus late auenged vpon Saul Adriel Merab Michol the children It is a dangerous matter to offer iniury to any of Gods faithful ones If their meeknesse haue easily remitted it their God will not passe it ouer without a seuere retribution These fiue together with two sonnes of Rizpah Sauls concubine are hanged vp at once before the Lord yea and before the eies of the World No place but an Hill will serue for this execution The acts of iustice as they are intended for example so they should be done in that eminent fashion that may make them both most instructiue and most terrifying Vnwarrantable courses of priuate reuenge seeke to hide their heads in secresie The beautifull face of iustice both affects the light and becomes it It was the generall charge of Gods Law that no corps should remaine all night vpon the gibbet The Almighty hath power to dispense with his owne command so doubtlesse hee did in this extraordinary case these carcasses did not defile but expiate Sorrowfull Rizpah spreads her a Tent of Sackcloth vpon the rocke for a sad attendance vpon those sons of her wombe Death might bereaue her of them not them of her loue This spectacle was not more grieuous to her then pleasing to God and happy to Israel Now the clouds drop fatnesse and the earth runs forth into plenty The Gibeonites are satisfied God reconciled Israel relieued How blessed a thing it is for any Nation that iustice is vnpartially executed euen vpon the mighty A few drops of bloud haue procured large showres from Heauen A few carcasses are a rich compost to the earth The drought and dearth remoue away with the breath of those pledges of the offender Iudgements cannot tyrannize where iustice raignes as contrarily there can be no peace where bloud cries vnheard vnregarded The Numbring of the people ISRAEL was growne wanton and mutinous God pulls them downe first by the sword then by famine now by pestilence Oh the wondrous and yet iust waies of the Almightie Because Israel hath sinned therefore Dauid shall sinne that Israel may be punished Because God is angrie with Israel therefore Dauid shall anger him more and strike himselfe in Israel and Israel through himselfe The spirit of God else-where ascribes this motion to Satan which here it attributes to God Both had their hand in the worke God by permission Satan by suggestion God as a Iudge Satan as an enemie God as in a iust punishment for sin Satan as in an act of sinne God in a wise ordination of it to good Satan in a malicious intent of confusion Thus at once God moued and Satan moued Neither is it any excuse to Satan or Dauid that God moued neither is it any blemish to God that Satan moued The rulers sinne is a punishment to a wicked people though they had many sinnes of their owne whereon God might haue grounded a iudgement yet as before he had punisht them with dearth for Sauls sinne so now he will not punish them with plague but for Dauids sin If God were not angrie with a people he would not giue vp their gouernours to such euills as whereby he is prouoked to vengeance and if their gouernours be thus giuen vp the people cannot be safe The body drownes not whiles the head is aboue the water when that once sinkes death is neere Iustly therefore ere we charged to make praiers and supplications as for all so especially for those that are in eminent authoritie when we pray for our selues we pray not alwaies for them but we cannot pray for them and not pray for our selues the publique weale is not comprised in the priuate but the priuate in the publique What then was Dauids sinne He will needs haue Israel and Iudah numbred Surely there is no malignitie in numbers Neither is it vnfit for a Prince to know his owne strength this is not the first time that Israel hath gone vnder a reckoning The act offends not but the mis-affection The same thing had beene commendably done out of a Princely prouidence which now through the curiositie pride mis-confidence of the doer proues hainously vicious Those actions which are in themselues indifferent receiue either their life or their bane from the intentions of the agent Moses numbreth the people with thankes Dauid with displeasure Those sins which carrie the smoothest forheads and haue the most honest appearances may more prouoke the wrath of God then those which beare the most abomination in their faces How many thousand wickednesses passed through the hands of Israel which we men would rather haue branded out for a iudgement then this of Dauids The righteous Iudge of the world censures sinnes not by their ill looks but by their soule hearts Who can but wonder to see Ioab the Saint and Dauid the trespasser No Prophet could speake better then that man of bloud The Lord thy God increase the people an hundred fold more then they be and that the eies of my Lord the King may see it But why doth my Lord the King desire this thing There is no man so lewd as not to be sometimes in good moods as not to dislike some euill contrarily no man on earth can be so holy as not sometimes to ouerlash It were pittie that either Ioab or Dauid should be tried by euery act How commonly haue we seene those men ready to giue good aduice to others for the auoiding of some sinnes who in more grosse outrages haue not had grace to counsell their owne hearts The same man that had deserued death from Dauid for his trecherous cruelty disswades Dauid from an act that carried but a suspition of euill It is not so much to be regarded who it is that admonisheth vs as what he brings Good counsell is neuer the worse for the foule carriage There are some dishes that we may eate euen from sluttish hands The purpose of sinne in a faithfull man is odious much more the resolution Notwithstanding Ioabs discreet admonition Dauid will hold on his course and will know the number of the people only that he may know it Ioab and the Captaines addresse themselues to the worke In things which are not in themselues euill it is not for subiects to dispute but to obey That which authoritie may sinne in commanding is done of the inferiour not with safetie only but with praise Nine moneths and twentie daies is this generall muster in hand at last the number is brought in Israel is found eight hundred thousand strong