doe saue and leaue so much for the vse of their brethren as they that take their full meale and eate as much as possibly they can To take the fruition of the graces of God is the way to make prouision of them for our neighbours and to bestow vpon others is the meanes to retaine and augment them to our selues Secondly they haue an vnderstanding heart and holy discretion to giue to euery one such a portion as is sittest for the health of his soule some are ignorant and haue need of instruction some are vnruly and haue neede of rebuke some are weake and haue neede to be confirmed some are fearefuil and feeble and haue neede of comfort and incouragement All these duties will a wise and righteous man exercise according to the proportion measure and degrees of his wisdome and righteousnesse Thirdly their lips will send a message to heauen deale with the Lord to releeue them whose wants themselues are not able to supply And so they do not onely feed the soules but euen the bodies of very many When their prayers and prayses are accepted of God and made effectuall for the fruitfulnes of the earth Psal 67. 5. 6. Ioel 2. 17. 19. And by this meanes Eliah did feede all Israell by procuring rayne for want whereof they were like to perish All Achabs wealth and the riches and power of the whole kingdome were insufficient for such a work Reproofe of them that neuer ministred any thing but infection Vse 1 to their people for their soules No child no seruant no not the wife of their owne bosome had euer any help by them to saluation Their houses be nurceries seminaries of swearing and gamning and drinking and all kindes of sinfulnesse An ignorant and vngodly family so allowed and continued doth conuince the gouernour to be a sinner a foole and a kind of murtherer of himselfe as the other part of the verse sheweth which shall bee passed ouer now beecause it hath beene partly handled already and must bee againe heereafter Secondly Instruction to make choyse of habitation and societie with iust men for much commoditie is to bee had in their company by the benefite of their fruitfull tongue The blessing of the Lord it doth make rich and he addeth Verse 22 no sorrows with it The purpose and drift of these words is to shew the preheminence that Gods people haue aboue the men of the world that whereas the wicked haue nothing but their owne hands and carnall meanes to trust vnto for their estate such as be Godly haue God to prouide for them and his goodnesse onely doth make rich and they onely are inriched by him But because his enemies haue vsually more store of goods then his children and thereby it may seeme that either men may be rich without his blessing or else that he is more prouident for sinners then for saints therefore he sheweth the difference that troubles and vexations are intermingled with the goods of the wicked and his seruants are freed from them Yet it is not so to bee conceiued as though no good men had any troubles with their riches and that whosoeuer doth finde griefe and perturbations in these earthly things were depriued of the blessing of God and testimonies of his fauour but this is the meaning that so farre as hee doth beestow them and they depend vpon him for them so far they escape from vexations so that the cares and troubles grow meerely from their owne infirmities The blessing c. As euerlasting life is the gift of God so is Doct. a good and comfortable estate in this world Dauid in his A comfortablâ— estate is a blessing of God thankesgiuing to God maketh a free confession thereof saying both riches and honour come of thee c. 1. Chron. 29. 12. First neither the commodiousnesse of any trade nor skill Reasons 1 nor strength nor diligence can preuaile vnlesse hee giue successe Deut. 8. 18. Psal 117. 1. 2. Secondly he alone worketh contentment which is an high degree of richnesse Thirdly he giueth a chearefull heart with the portion and causeth them to take their part of their possessions with comfort Eccle. 2. 24. Fourthly hee preserueth them from the feares of losses whiles they inioy their goods and from immoderate sorrow if their substance bee taken away as that appeared in the example of Iob who by his patience declared himselfe to be as rich when all his goods were gone as hee was at that time when he possessed them all Instruction to vse the meanes that we may be blessed and Vse 1 partakers of his promises And that is first by pietie and religion Psal 112. 1. 2. Secondly by calling vpon the name of God and exercise of prayer for such things as are needefull for vs. Iames. 4. 2. Thirdly by the good imployment and vsage of those things which wee inioy already Prou. 3. 9. 10. Fourthly by mercie and liberalitie to them that are in necessitie Prou. 11. 24. 25. Fiftly by faithfulnesse and diligence in our places and callings as hath beene shewed in the fourth verse Consolation to such as serue him that they shall surely be stored with all sufficiencie Those whom he will raise vp to wealth shall certainely rise though neuer so many seeke to hold them downe for who shall hold backe his hands from giuing his owne vnto his owne How maruailously were Abraham and Iacob inriched among strangers and infidels not onely aliants from their religion but vowed enemies to their nation And where in his wisedome hee seeth it not sit to fill their houses with amplitude of substance he will make fewe things to yeeld many comforts and small things to bee of great force and meane things to be very precious and excellent Psal 37. 16. Terrour for the wicked that they can neuer be rich though they haue riches yet they are not rich but onely plagued with a multitude of torments and vexations Eccle. 2. 26. It is a pastime to a foole to commit wickednesse but wisedome Verse 23 is the delight of a man of vnderstanding It is a pastime to a foole to commit wickednesse c. That is sinnefull men take great pleasure in doing that which is euill as if it were a sport or recreation to them and it is as much ioy and refreshing to him that is Godly wise both to get wisdome and to performe all the good exercises thereof Sinne is the delight of sinners and grace of good men Of Doct. the one sort wee haue many testimonies in this booke but in Sinne is a pastime to sinners and grace is the ioy of good men the second Chapter especially ver 14. They delight in doing euill and reioyce in wicked frowardnesse And in the fourth Chapter ver 17. it is said that they eate the bread of wickednesse and drinke the wine of violence it is meate and drinke vnto them to doe mischiefe Of the other sort the Prophet is an example and patterne in the
fountaine from whence all good affections doe spring Thirdly there can bee no exercise of godlinesse which is the very breath of all religion where the commandement and promise of God is not apprehended Fourthly the diuell hath the dominion of them that liue altogether in blindnesse for hee is the Prince of darkenesse â—he 6. 12. he taketh and holdeth and leadeth them according to his will and he will neuer be willing that either God should be serued 2. Tim. 2. 26. or any man should be saued Instruction to vse all industrie and diligence to get knowledge Vse 1 especially that which hath the stampe of grace vpon it and is proper to the people of God Send to heauen for it by prayer to the Lord search in the word for it with all good indeuours by hearing and reading by meditation and conference by obseruation and experience and all other good exercises Confutation of such as bee altogether carelesse of vnderstanding that haue past a state of their soules to ignorance for tearme of life they would be reputed religious and godly and yet want both mettall and making of all religion and godlines but they though they be without knowledge haue as they say a good minde But why saith the Scripture without knowledge the minde is not good Prou. 19. 2. yet they hope in another world to speede as well as the best and yet the Apostle teacheth that Christ shall come in flaming fire rendring vengeance to them that doe not know God doe they speede so well that be condemned 2. Thes 1. 8. Secondly of them that haue gotten some knowledge but are voyde of all sinceritie and obedience it is not a vertue for their good but a sin for their hurt and though for a time they make it serue their turne for a shew yet it will turne to their sorrow in the end for they increase the hardnes of their hart and the guiltinesse of their conscience and the number of their stripes according to the measure of their fruitles knowledge Luke 12. 47. For thy dayes shall be multiplyed by me and the yeares of Verse 11 thy life shall be augmented If thou be wise thou shalt be wise for thy selâ—â— and if thou Verse 12 be a sinner thou alone shalt suffer After the discription of wisedome whereby it may be rightly discerned is heere proposed the profit and reward of it whereby we are perswaded to imbrace it and that is First in a perticular namely long life which is not so to be vnderstoode as though it were perpetuall and so of absolute necessitie for then good men must grow to be old men and all which dye young should dye wicked and damned but that God hath the keeping of their liues in such good safetie as they shall neuer be taken away before due season they shall not die so soone as that it would be better for them to liue longer nor liue so long as that it might be hurtfull that they died not sooner This point doth Eliphas truely expound to Iob and all other righteous persons Iob. 5. 26. Thou shalt goe to thy Iob. 5. 26. graue in a full age as a crop of corne commeth in due season into the barne Now all graine is not of equall proportion of grouth some is sowen before others and yet is cut downe after them some is sowen after others and commeth to maturitie beefore them so that good husbands dispose not of their haruest by measure of time but by the ripenesse of their corne and two extremities they prouidently auoide neither too hasâ—y to inne the fruits of their fields or trees for so they would wither away neither to defer the gathering of them after they bee ripe for so they would drop off and shedde and grow to rottennesse Afterwards he declareth the recompence of wisedome ingenerall that the possession and practise thereof is not onely a seruice to God nor alone for his sake so often required but redoundeth also to the profit of them that bee owners and performers of it And to this is opposed the contrary state of those peruerse and wilfull scorners that howsoeuer their desire and purpose is to doe mischiefe to others yet all their malice returneth on their owne heads Thy dayes shall be multiplyed c. Wisedome and grace doe Doct. 1 not onely procure our life to bee euerlasting in heauen but of Grace giues maintenance for this life as well as for eternall life good and sufficient continuance in earth So is she said to come like a liberall and bountifull Lady Chap. 3. 16. which brought her hands full to bestow vpon her friends length of daies being in her right hand and in her left hand riches and glory because life it selfe is more precious then wealth and aduancement which depend vpon it and are but ornaments of it therefore she bringeth the continuance of that in her right hand as a gift of greater value and the other in the left as inferiour to it but all very excellent comming out of those glorious hands First that prouidence and power of God doth protect vs Reasons 1 from all the euils that might befall vs as wee vse to deale in our gardens and orchards plucking vp the nettle and weedes and preseruing the good hearbes rooting out the bryars and brambles and nourishing the fruitfull trees Secondly his angels haue a charge to keepe vs by whose ministrie our life is defended Psal 91. 10. 11. Thirdly the feare of God doth make the heart good and a good heart is made cheerefull and a cheerefull heart procureth good health and good health prolongeth the life Fourthly a good man will seeke to God by prayers in the good estate of his body to haue it continued in weakenesse and infirmities to bee cured and this will they doe ordinarily as Ezekias did in a case extraordinary alwayes resigning themselues to his will Fiftly a godly man will bee trusty to himselfe in the keeping of his owne body auoyding surfetings and distempers and disorders whereby wicked men doe weaken themselues and will consionably vse all fit meanes of comfort health safetie Confutation of them that thinke the seruices of wisdome Vse 1 to bee the greatest meanes to shorten mens daies They will kill themselues say they by fasting and praying and musing and reading and running to Sermons but thus to complaine is indirectly to blaspheme God either with imputation of vnfaithfulnesse towards them that seeke him or with impotencie and defect of power for they inferre that hee windeth them into daunger by promise of safetie or that the repaire of the soule must needes bee the ruine of the body and so he cannot heale the one part of man without hurting of the other Instruction to take this holy receipt which is a medicine for all diseases and a remedie to preuent all kinde of mischiefes No Phisicke so forcible or healeth nor plentie so sufficient against want nor any multitude of men and munition
is so able to defend vs from violence Consolation to them that haue a good conscience that they alwaies euery where haue their safetie with them because they carry grace in their harts and God carryeth them in his handes That is true of euery faithfull seruant of God that Abigail did speake concerning Dauid that their soule is 1. Sam. 25. 29. bound in the bundell of life with God it lyeth not loose and scattered for enimies to finde and take vp or tread vpon at their pleasure but it is in Gods owne custodie and bound vp that it shall neither drop downe nor bee wrested from him Hee will defend them in warre and feede them in dearth and preserue them in pestilence and death shall neuer come before they may comfortablie bid it welcome Iob. 5. 19. 20. If thou bee wise c. Of all men Christians bee most prouident Doct. 2 to procure their owne good prosperitie That testimony Onely Christians are good husband is giuen of them by the Lord himselfe Chapter 3. 13. 14. Blessed is the man that findeth Wisedome and the man that getteth Vnderstanding For the marchandise thereof is better than the marchandise of siluer and the gaine thereof is better than gold They that obtaine not onely the knowledge of wisedome but the sound and sure possession thereof which is meant by finding are all in a blessed state not destitute of any happinesse The marchants which trafficke with the Indians for gold and pearles and precious stones make not their commoditie in any proportion comparable to theirs that deale with the god of heauen for the graces of his spirit First in respect of outward state they are in good case the Reasons 1 blessing of God neuer fayling to minister vnto them all good things in fittest season in meetest manner and most competent and conuenient measure They haue euery thing that they neede and enioy the vse of euery thing that they haue God blesseth their labours that thereby they get substance God Psal 128. 2. blesseth their substance that thereby they are nourished by them God blesseth their nourishment that there-withall they haue ioy and comfort and if at any time they fall into afflictions they haue supportation in them deliuerance from them and benefit by them All sicknesse shall be wholesome to them all disgraces for their honour all losses for their gaine all danger for their safeticall troubles for their peace and quietnesse Secondly in respect of the state of their soules the blessednesse wherof consisteth in righteousnesse and that doth yeeld such a benefit which as the Apostle doth truely testifie doth farre surpasse the capacitie of all sence and humane reason which will appeare first if we consider the misery out of which they haue escaped they were the enemies of God and are reconciled to him they were most deepely in debt and are discharged of it they were bond men and are made free they were condemned and are pardoned they were dead in sinnes and trespasses and are quickned to euerlasting life Secondly if we respect the giftes that God vouchsafeth them their nature is healed their soules are sanctified they haue a free accesse to God the holy Ghost is in them Iesus Christ is bestowed vpon them all his merits and all his graces and all his prerogatiues are communicated vnto them Thirdly the fruite of their wisedome is apparant at their death for then doth their faith and faithfull behauiour stand to them and visite their hearts and animats them with hope against the temptations of Sathan and feare of hell and damnation and all kindes of desperation if it bee true that a good conscience is a continuall Prou. 15. 15. feast then especially is it most forcible and comfortable at that time Fourthly the full and perfect reward of it shall bee rendred vnto them in the life to come and chiefely at the last day in the presence of God and men and Angels elect and reprobate and euery particular of euery sort who shall heare their praises and see their glorious aduancement Confutation of them that esteeme mortified Christians of Vse 1 all other creatures to be most sillie and voide of prudencie and most carelesse and voide of all forecast for their affaires Secondly of them that thinke all the precepts and doctrines of obedience are onely for the exercise of the ministers authoritie and nothing for the furtherance of the peoples commoditie so they call it Psal 2. 3. Let vs breake their bonds and cast their cordes from vs. As who would say it is an imprisonment and grieuous restraint to be vnder Christ his ministrie Whereas instruction is for his vse that doth receiue it and not for his will that doth deliuer it It is not a packe or burthen laid vppon his shoulders to carrie for others but as money put into his purse to vse for himselfe Instruction to take greatest paines in husbanding the hart to labour most for the crop of grace and to be most diligent in doing of good Corne and cattell and money and other wealth may be gotten for other men and happely for our enemies but the holy lessons that we conscionably learne the gratious speaches that we seasonably vtter and all the good workes that we duely performe are treasured vp in heauen for our owne soules Consolation against the manifold discouragements which might weaken the hearts of such as be possessed with this wisdome They are railed vpon by some to be hurtfull men they are iested at by others to be foolish men they are threatned they are persecuted and euery way iniuriously dealt with yet let none of these things driue them from their wisedome and make them turne fooles to cause them to leaue of friendship with themselues and to forsake their owne gaine It is more beneficiall for them to be godly then it can be hurtfull to be molested A slight of snow or shower of raine or flash of lightning or clap of thunder cannot compell a thriftie farmer to disclaime his good ground and surcease his husbandrie If thou be a scorner c. The wicked bee most their owne foes Doct. 3 which poynt this holy wisedome confirmeth in the former The wicked man hath no foe like himselfe Chapter ver 35. Hee that sinneth against mee hurteth his owne soule and all that hate mee loue death In all the attempts and proceedings against good men wisedome it selfe is smitten at for their quarrell is against the seruants for the mistrisse sake but they onely sinne against it but can doe no hurt vnto it for that redoundeth wholy vpon themselues And though they be all for themselues and carried strongly with selfe loue in affection yet they doe the worke of mortall hatred and become their owne deadly foes in effect The reasons which were alledged for the former point will Reason also make this manifest by the contrary For as wise men and scorners serue contrary maisters and haue contrary harts and behauiours so
agreeable to Gods will the desire must bee holy and seasoned with the spirit and not carnall and corrupted by the flesh Dauid in a passion would needes know how long hee was to Psal 145. 19. liue And Iames and Iohn would haue fire to come from heauen to destroy a whole towne and an other time they made sute to bee the second men of the whole earth These petitions were not graunted because they were not aduisedly asked nor safe for them to bee obtained Secondly that sometimes lawfull desires are not performed in the same kinde but exchanged for better and that which doth more good is bestowed in steede of them Moses desired to enter into the land of Canaan hee was denied that but hee entred sooner into the heauenly and blessed rest of euerlasting life Paul would haue beene perfectly freede from all originall corruption or at least from the stirrings and working of it but it stoode not with the wisedome of God to yeeld that vnto him but hee assisted him with grace against it which was much more for his owne glory and the sound comfort of Pauls conscience Thirdly that wee tarry the Lords leasure and depend on his hand to minister in fittest time all those good things which our soules desire and so wee shall not faile to receiue them when hee seeth that they will bee most expedient for vs. First hee rayseth vp the heart to seeke for them hee inclineth Reasons 1 the soule so much to long after them and therefore it was his purpose to bestow them Psal 10. 17. Secondly he giueth the spirit of faith prayer which will haue no nay they neuer sustaine any repulse whatsoeuer they lay hold on they make it their owne Iohn 15. 7. 1. Iob. 5. 14. 15. Thirdly hee calleth vs to him by commandement to seeke all good things at his hand and incourageth vs to the same by promises Psal 27. 4. and therefore his owne truth is our securitie for them Fourthly his all sufficiencie and absolute abilitie for performance doth aboundantly exceede all the desires of all the faithfull yea of all creatures though they were neuer so ample and feruent Ephes 3. 20. First consolation to righteous men against the defects that Vse 1 are in their soules and the necessities of state and body they are best prouided for both for so great is the credite which they haue in the court of heauen and their fauour with the king of heauen that they aske and haue desire and preuaile and if they bee not forward inough that wayes they shall bee called vpon to put in their peticions and inlarge their desires Iohn 16. 24. Psal 81. 10. Secondly terror for their enimies that by tiranny and violence compell them to complaine of them So far as the Lord is readie to gratifie them by granting all good things which they aske so far is he also prouoked to punish their aduersaries and oppressors that cause them to cry As the whirle winde passeth so is the wicked no more Verse 25 but the righteous is an euerlasting foundation The meaning of the words is that vngodly men howsoeuer they flourish for a time yet doe sodainely come to ruine and destruction as the whirle-winde swiftly bloweth ouer and is lesse constant and permanent then the ordinary winde is though there bee no stabilitie in any But when it is said they are no more he doth not intimate any mortalitie of their soules as though they should be wholy dissolued as brute beasts for their soules are euerlasting as well as Gods peoples and their bodies shall be raised vp againe at the day of the Lord aswell as the Saints but it is their hope and happinesse and not their being that perisheth they shall neuer recouer any good estate any more Now against these are set the righteous whose soule and body and blessednesse haue a setled safetie as a foundation that can neuer be remoued So that this is the opposition the wicked are as a whirle-winde and so are no more but the righteous are like a firme foundation and so perpetually remaine Though the state of the vngodly be more ruffling then the Doct. seruants of God yet the state of Gods seruants is more certaine Vngodly men haue fare showes but good men haue a firme foundation and stable then the vngodly ones The whirle winde mounteth aloft and tosseth vp hay and straw and stubble and filleth mens eyes with dust and commeth violently vpon them with a blustering blast but immediately it is gone passed far away the foundation lyeth low in the ground and is neither seene nor heard yet there it continueth immoueable for many generations The vnconstant and tickle estate of wicked men is fitly expressed by liuely comparisons in the prophesie of Hosea They shall be as the morning cloud and as the morning dew Hos 13. 3. that passeth away as the chasse that is driuen with a whirle winde out of the floore and as the smoake that goeth out of the chimney The contrary stimitude and stabilitie of the Godly is by our Sauiour himselfe likened to an house that is built on a rocke and the raine fell and the flouds came and the windes blew and Mat. 7. 25. beat that house and it fell not for it was grounded on a rocke First the one sort haue beene as vnconstant in their waies Reason 1 and as easily blowen from sin to sinne as the chaffe and dust and withered leaues haue beene carried vp and downe with the winde and if they haue entred into any good course there haue beene no more stedfastnesse in them then is in the mornnig cloud and morning dewe Isa 64. 6. Hos 6. 4. The other haue rooted and setled aswell in faith as in all faithfull behauiour and for these causes the one side slitteth away and is gone to misery the other remaine happy blessed for euer Secondly the one sort haue God and his Angells to pursue and push them away the other haue God and his Angells to vphold and confirme them that they be not moued from the fruition of his fauour Terrour for sinfullmen whose short and momentanie prosperitie Vse 1 shall so speedily and sodainely be turned into miserie Instruction first not to affect the pleasures of sin wherein may be a continuall expectation of suddaine destruction Secondly not to repose affiance in any wicked person for though there were some constancie in their hearts or mouthes which seldome or neuer falleth out yet there is none in their life and estate Psal 146. 3. 4. Consolation to such as are molested with the boysterous tempests of wicked men though they rore lowd they shall not rage long the Lord will put a speedie end to their crueltie Isa 29. 19. 20. 51. 13. 14. As vineger is to the teeth and smoake to the eyes so is the Verse 26 slothfull to them that send him As vineger c. That is too much vineger or other things Doct. that