Divine grace applies a more virtuall medicine to thy conscience which shall revive either thy patience or thy repentance The soul shall argue with it self If these imputations be true here is work for my repentance I will weep in secret for my sins If false let them not trouble me It is the slanderers sin not mine neither am I bound to father anothers bastard But still upon this calumnie the world condemns me but thy faith and patience assures thee that thou shalt not be condemned with the world Yea there is yet a higher degree of honour belonging to thy patience Have not the best men been traduced Was not the best of men God and man blasphemed yea even upon the Crosse he was jeered when he dyed by some of them for whom he dyed Thus do the comforts of God requite thee that in all this thou art in thy measure conformable to the sufferings of Christ So dost thou allay all these furious tempests with one breath of faithfull ejaculation Thy comforts delight my soul Another complains I am fallen from an affluent estate to deep indigence I have kept hospitality to entertain friends and made charity the Porch of my house to relieve the needy ones The vessell of my meanes is now drawn out to the bottom there is not sufficient provision left for my own family Inquire of thy heart whether this decay did not come by thy own riot or through the vain-glorious affectation of an abundant hospitality If this or that or any other habituall sin were the cause of it begin with mortification there First mourne for thy sinnes then faithfully depend upon thy Creators providence and thou canst not faile of convenient sustenance But it may be that this is not the complainants case he is not taken with a tabe or wasting of his substance like a scarce sensible consumption of his bodily vitalls But his fall is with a precipice from a sublime Pinacle of honour to a deep puddle of penury Such was Jobs condition so did he fall from being rich and happy in the Adverb to be poor and miserable even to a Proverb He had not only abundance of good about him but Omnia bene all went well with him Yet how suddenly did he fall from this abundant prosperity to the depth of miserable poverty Did he now follow the suggestions of that corrupt nature which lay in his bosome and whispered to him on his pillow Curse God and die No but he apprehended the inspiration of grace Blesse God and live So his last dayes were better then his first That infinite mercy did so crown his patience with triumph that his temporall estate was doubled Yea but what posterity had hee left to enjoy it after him Yes for even the number of his children was doubled too For besides those seven Sons and three Daughters which were now with his Father in Heaven he had also seven Sons and three Daughters with himselfe upon Earth Piety and Patience cannot bee cast downe so low but that the hand of mercy can raise it up againe In the multitude of all my losses and crosses O Lord thy Comforts have delighted my soul But another that hath heard all this sad Story and seen the comfortable end sent of the Lord is not satisfied because himself is not redressed Like a coward in wars that looks for the victory before he gives one stroke in the battell What merchant looks to be landed in the place of traffick before he hath past his adventure upon the seas Still saith such a repiner I am in distresse and want even necessaries But still thou and we all must suffer much more before it can be said of us Here is the faith and patience of the Saints Still O my soul wait thou upon the Lord thy most faithfull Creator he will in his good pleasure open his hand and fill thee with plenteousnesse Be thou penitent before him patient under him confident in him and thou shalt have a bundant cause to bee thankfull to him Thy end shall bee peace and comfort in Jesus Christ Yea even now in this dead low waters of fugitive fortunes my soul confesseth that I have the highest wealth For Christs righteousnesse is my riches his merits is my inexhaustible exchequer his blood hath filld my veins with most lively vigour My treasure is in heaven where no violence can take it from me Stil and for ever O God thy comforts delight my soul It is anothers complaint I am shut up in a close prison where I can neither converse with others abroad nor let in others to communicate with me in this my confined home The sparrow on the house-top hath more freedome then I For that though wanting a mate hath an open aire to flie in and may so invite company to solace her I have no society but my disconsolate thoughts no friend to ask me so much as how I do Yet is thy soul at liberty no barricadoed walls no iron-gates or grates no darke dungeons can imprison that The Jail is a strong prison to thy body and thy body is but in a metaphoricall phrase a prison to thy soul Thy body may not walke abroad thy soul can Spite of all thy cruell creditors and some unmercifull Jailors she can break Prison She hath wings that can mount her through clouds and mountains through orbs and constellations and like to Enoch walke with God in a heavenly contemplation of his infinite goodnesse My ears cannot hear those airy Choristers singing their Creators praise in the groves my soul in speculation can hear the Anthems of Angels in heaven I may not hear the Hosanna's of the Church militant in our materiall Temples below I may conceive that my soul hears the Halleluiahs of the Church triumphant above I may not walk in the green pastures and flowry medows on earth my soul may move in the glorious and melodious galleries of heaven Thus O Lord though in my strictest confinement here below thou hast given me large liberty above Still I will glorifie thee for all thy mercies for thy comforts delight my soul Anothers complaint is I am vexed with a multitude of troubles Not the law of the sword but the sword of the law hath disquieted me Let thy soul aske thy conscience this question who did first breake the peace If thou hast first overwhelmed that truth which should bee apparent thou art thine own enemy For truth smothered in wet straw will at length overcome the danknesse of that suppression and set on fire the smotherers Thou hast forsaken the truth and art therefore forsaken of peace There bee two chief preservers of the soul under the Almighty Creator of it Truth and Peace How invaluable are they together Parted how miserable truth is the precious stone Peace the gold wherein it is both set and preserved Truth is the glorious light of the Sun Peace a clear and serene heaven Peace is a most beautifull body
whilst it containes Truth that more lovely soul Truth brings downe heaven to us Peace bears us up to heaven Both are sisters the daughters of one Father God himself Do thou first recover truth by continuall labour seeke it with prayers and teares begg it with the expense of much sorrow buy it and then peace will come in to the bargaine Gods comfort shall again delight thy soul Another complaines I am cast out of doors I have no harbour but the hedges nor lodging but the fruitless ground Poverty hath sent out her excommunication against me all that have an estate are forewarned to shun my company Consider when had Jacob so sweet a nights rest as when the pillow he laid his head upon was a hard stone Then was that ladder set by him by which his soul might climbe up to heaven in a vision whereof before he had but the speculation The Angels were dancing those measures and singing those raptures about him which did in a manner angelifie him His body lay on the bare earth his soul with those spirituall wings of faith and love was mounted above the clouds above the orbs even conversant in the highest heavens When had Elias more excellent provision then when his breakfast was brought him in the morning and his supper in the evening by a raven The messenger was homely but the dyet was heavenly It came from the table of that great King whose hospitality feeds not only men but even the fouls of the air the beasts upon earth and the fishes in the sea The Prophets lodging was but a Field-bed yet even then and there the Lyons were a guard about him the tutelar Angels did round him and the Divine providence preserved him If we be destitute of other lodging and be driven to the common earth yet we have a house over our heads not made with hands but an eternall mansion in the heavens There is also a canopy for us a roof arched over with the two Poles and set with innumerable glistering starrs Yea there is an omnipotent love that protects us a materiall heaven encompassing us and a spirituall heaven within us the peace of a good conscience assuring us of our eternall salvation through Christ Jesus This is a softer lodging then the cabbins of merchants or the Hamachs of sea-farers yea then the most curious beds that the harbengers can provide for Princes O how sweetly doth the Christian rest when he hears that voice from the Oracle of goodnesse My grace is sufficient for thee My comforts shall delight thy soul But anothers complaint is I am perplexed with sicknesse I am a marke against which paine shoots his arrows I wast away with languishments as ice is dissolved by heat into water Rest patient this consumption shall be consumed Death that universall executioner of mankind shall be executed Time shall cut off Death and Eternity shall make an end of Time Death shall have no grave left for his monument or trophee of his victories and the Angel hath sworn that time shall be no more Thy sicknesse may outlast thy Physician but thy soul shall outlive thy sicknesse and nothing shall outlive thy soul But the pangs of my body are so violent that they assault me with distraction Fear not they may beleaguer thee with distrust but never overcome that faith which thou puttest in this God of consolation He is a most faithfull Creator and will servare depositum keep that soul safe with which the beleever hath instrusted him The breaches of the body are the souls windows and afford her a more clear prospect into heaven inkindling her with an ardent desire to be with God in glory Jobs abundant sores would have bred in him a continuity of sorrowes but for that antidote of faith and saving cordiall of hope that his eyes should see his Redeemer in blessednesse The smiling Sunne flatters the traveller out of his cloake whereas the robustious wind causeth him to wrap it the closer about him God forbid that Christian Religion should bee but a cloake yet the outward profession of it is somwhat loosned by wanton healths and sickness wins it more inwardly to the heart Experienced merchants tell us that in the hottest Countreys they find most comfort in the hottest drinks A wonder to us that live in the cold climates but that the Suns adventitions heat so sucks out the radicall moisture and spirits that it leaves the heart feeble and destitute of the naturall comforts It is a maxime in Philosophy that one heat avocates another the greater the lesse The heat of the Sun drawes forth the heat of the heart and leaves it fainting Poor Lazarus with his scraps and scabs was yet in a better condition then the rich man with his Princely Wardrobe and his costly Viands Continued health hath maintained wanton desires and delights upon earth but sicknesse hath sent many souls up to Heaven Yea Lord even with sicknesse afflict my body so that thy Heavenly Comforts do delight my soul It is a generall complaint Afflictions environ me In my short pilgrimage through the sharp wildernesse of this world on the one side the Thorns wound me the Briers and Brambles scratch me on the other This is not only the deserved penalty of sinfull nature Man is born to trouble as the sparks flie upwards But even a kind of fatality inseparable to militant grace All that will live godly in Christ shall suffer persecution That is a rare path upon earth which hath never a rub and a calm passage by water that escapes all molestation But more Be there not some Afflictions that conduce much to our preservation We have found that the falling into one grievous sin the worst of all dangers hath brought us to repentance one of the best preservatives I have heard some Seamen report by experience that in a tempest some raging billow hath swept a man from off the Decks into the maine Ocean yet another wave on the other side hath tossed him up into the ship again so that he was only drenched but not drowned The violent pressure of one Affliction hath sunk a man to distrust in God another with a more furious Storme hath left him destitute of all earthly succour He now resolves the world hath forsaken me I will never look for relief from it But my God hath not forsaken me he never will forsake them that trust in him through Jesus Christ To him I flie upon him I rely he will not suffer me to perish Still O Lord in all my extremities Thy comforts delight my soul Not offering to number mans grievances which be innumerable there is yet the last and it may prove the best complaint remaining I am perplexed with the wofull consideration of my sins those bitter things which God writes against me the irkesome recollection of my transgressions I can argue with Philosophers consult with Politicians hear the ingenious fancies of Poets reason in domestick concernments
4. Quid operantur what they do they delight the soul In the nature of them being Comforts there is tranquility in the number of them being many comforts there is sufficiency in the owner of them being Thy comforts there is omnipotency in the effect of them delighting the soul there is security There is no fear in them for they come for peace they are Comforts There is no weaknesse in them for they come in troopes they are many comforts There is no disorder in them for the God of wisdome is their Captain and leads their forces they are Thy comforts There is no trouble in them for they evangelize joy They delight the soul 1. The Rebells are thoughts Man is an abridgment of the world and is not exceeded by it but in quantity his pieces be not pauciora sed minora If all the veins of our bodies were extended to rivers our sinews to mines our muscles to mountaines our bones to quarries of stone our eyes to the bignesse of the Sunne and Moon and all other parts to the proportion of such things as correspond to them in the world man might stride over the sea as the Hebrews fained of Adam the aire would bee too little for him to move in and the whole firmament but enough for this Starre yea indeed this little world would be the great one and that great world appear but the little one There is nothing in the world for which we may not find some answerable part in man but there is something in man for which we can find no answerable part in the world I need not say Part for the whole world is not able to give any representation Man hath a soul made after the Image of God of this the world can yeild no resemblance The world produceth innumerable creatures man yet in more abundance Our creatures are our thoughts creatures that are borne Gyants that can reach from east to west from earth to heaven These can survey the whole earth bestride the ocean comprehend the vast air and span the very firmament How capable how active is the soul of man It is even comprehensive of universality and hath virtutem ad infinita nature hath set no limits to the thoughts of the soul It can passe by her nimble wings from earth to heaven in a moment it can be all things comprehend all things know that which is and conceive of that which never was never shall be The heart is but a little house and hath but three chambers yet there is room enough for a world of guests God the Creator of all made this soul in a Cottage of clay and this soul is a kind of Creator too for though it dwell in a close prison it can produce creatures Thoughts and any one of these creatures can move with the Heavens move faster then the Heavens over take the Sun and overgoe the Sun contemplate that which the Sun never saw even the dreadfull abysse of hell and a glimpse of the glory of Heaven So various and innumerable are the thoughts of man that hee had need of an astrolobe to marke in what height and elevation they are and so either to advance them or stoope them as they deserve There be three sorts of actions proceeding from the soul some internal and immaâ—eriall as the pure acts of our wits and wills some external and materiall as the meer acts of our sense others mixt between both and bordering upon both the former which Saint Augustine sayes the Greeks call {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} the Latines Perturbationes As the heart inspireth one and the same strength and life into all the parts of the body for the better discharge of their diverse functions though all the parts do not receive it in the same degree The stomack by the vertue it receiveth is made able to digest the liver to concoct the nutriment into blood the spleen like a spunge by sucking up the melancholy spirits to purge the vital parts So the soul breeds all these creatures gives life to all these thoughts yet according to their severall acts and offices they have several names If they be sensitive we call them passions if sensuall lusts if fantasticall Imaginations if reasonable arguments if reflective conscience as they are evill the suggestions of Satan as good the motions of the holy Ghost As the world produceth vipers and serpents and venemous creatures wormes and caterpillars that would devour their parent so the soul breeds noxious and mutinous thoughts that are like an earthquake in her bowels and whiles they maintain civil broiles and factions one against another she feels the smart of all Some thoughts be the darts of Satan and these Non nocent sinon placent we cannot keep theeves from looking in at our widowes we need not give them entertainment with open doors As the Hermite said he could not hinder the birds from flying over his head but he could keep them from building their nests in his haire Wash thy heart from iniquity that thou maist bee saved how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee They may be passengers they must not be sojourners God hath made a Statute against such inmates it is an unblest hospitality that gives them lodging he is no friend to the King that harbours these Seminaries Other thoughts are the motions of Gods spirit and these must not only be guests but familiar friends salutation is not here enough but glad entertainment welcome and indulgence Let no man like himself the better for some good thoughts the praise and benefit of these motions is not in the receit but in the retention Easie occasions will fright away good thoughts from a carnall heart like children which if a bird do but flie in their way cast their eye from their book But Davids thoughts here were anxious commotive thoughts otherwise they stood not in such need of comforts It is likely that they were either Timoris fearfull thoughts or Doloris sorrowfull thoughts Thoughts of fear for what might bee or thoughts of sorrow for what already was The thoughts of fear are troublesome enough as the ill affections of the spleen do mingle themselves with every infirmity of the body no lesse doth fear insinuate it self into every passion of the mind David might find this complication in his thoughts I will please Saul with my harpe but then fear replies he will strike me through with his Javelin He will give me his own daughter in marriage but fear says again How if this prove a fatall dowry if this match be my snare I will refuge my self with Achish at Gath yet what trust is there in Infidels I will lie hidden in Keilah or Hachilah but fear suggests How if the Ziphites discover me What shall I do whither shall I go where shall I rest These were thoughts that stood in great need of comfort The thoughts of sorrow are yet more distractive and such were this royall
as the chariots of Egypt came thundring behind Israel nor above me as Fabius Maximus on the mountaine above Hanibal Imminet nubes a cloud hangs over me not round about me as the Syrians compassed Dothan to take Elisha but within me Without were fightings within were feares and those fears within were worse then those fightings without There are externall calamities able enough to shake the most fortified soul but Summus dolor ab intus Saint Paul reckons up twelve of his inflicted sufferings nine dangers eight continued passions yet as if all these were scarce worth putting into the catalogue he addes Besides the things that are without he had an inward trouble the care of the Churches seeking the lost rebuking the proud comforting the dejected here was the pain Within me There may be Bellum intestinum a kind of unkind battell where victi victoresque invicem dolent the soul bespeaking her affections as Jocasta did her quarrelling sons Bellageri placuit nullos habitura triumphos According to our Saviours prediction A mans foes shall be they of his owne houshold Intra me est quod contra me est that is within mee which is against me We say he wants an enemy that fights with himself and because he fights with himselfe he wants no enemy Sibi pessimus hostis With externall assaults we may grapple threatned mischiefes we may prevent from persecutours too potent for us we may hide us but who shall keep us from our selves Nescis temeraria nescis quem fugias ideoque fugis Whithersoever wee remove we carry our sorrowes with us Outward afflictions are a warre turbulent affections a worse warre both against us but this later is within us He needs no other misery that is troubled within himselfe Aske not the anger of heaven nor the trouble of earth nor the dangers of the sea nor the malice of hell against him whom the anguish of his own thoughts have beaten down He wil say to all other miserable complainers you are happy Outward things may go crosse with us and yet the peace of the soul remaine sound but a wounded spirit who can beare who can cure As mans heart is the first that lives and the last that dies so it is the first that Satan assaults and the last that he gives over Yea were there never a divel the heart hath an ill spirit of its own to vex it As some Boroughs of this Land plead a priviledge that they can hang and draw within themselves Mans heart is such a corporation it can execute it self within it self without any forrain Judge or executioner If wee look no further then among the multitude of our thoughts might we not make a shift to think our selves to hell If we had neither hands nor eyes nor feet would not our hearts find the way thither Within me The proper seat and lodging of these troublesome inmates the thoughts of sorrow is the heart whithersoever they wander there they center Vagabonds taken roguing out of their own precincts are sent with a pasport to the Town where they were borne there they must be kept Extravagant thoughts may rove up and down but back again they must to the heart the house that hatched them must harbour them must answer for them As all faculties of sense have their severall seats seeing is confined to the the eyes hearing to the ears feeling to the flesh and sinews so these perturbations are limited to the heart The locall seat of the sensitive apprehension is the braine of the sensitive affection the heart In the former is softnesse and moisture fit to receive intelligible formes in the other are fiery spirits fittest for passionate and affectionate thoughts My spirit is overwhelmed and my heart within me is disolate In such a distresse let sense informe reason reason speak to will will to conscience conscience to faith faith to Christ and Christ to his Father and they will both send the holy Ghost to comfort us If there bee a fire in the heart of a City all the suburbs will come in to quench it This fire may burne within but it will breake out It is as easie to stifle thunder in the cloud or fire in powder as sorrow in the heart It will have eruption either by the voice in cryes or by the eyes in tears or by the speaking silence of the look in a dejected heavinesse The seat of sorrow is the soule but it will overflow the boundaries Why art thou cast downe O my soule None aske their eyes why they weep or their voices why they lament or their hands why they wring themselves but Anima quare tam tristis O my soul why art thou disquieted within me We see now the full advancement of the misery The thoughts of sorrow an Army of those thoughts the combination of that army the terror of that combination how miserably must the Country suffer where these rebels march who can tell the taking of that heart which feels this combustion within it selfe These be our enemies where are our friends The day is like to be fatally disastrous if we have no defensive forces Yes the Lord shall fight for us and we will hold our peace as Moses comforted Israel when the choice was hard whether to trust the fury of the sea before them or of the Egyptians behind them Fear not stand still and see the salvation of the Lord Thy comforts delight my soul Now are the white ensignes of mercy displayed against these bloody streamers never to a handfull of men almost famished in a fort did the tidings of fresh aid to raise the siege arrive more welcome Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not dyed Though this multitude of oppressours overlay my heart yet Lord if thou comest my soul shall not perish Let your patience sit out the successe of the battell and though I wish you not such conflicts yet if they do come may you never fail of such comforts Thy comforts delight my soul 1. Quanta They are no lesse then comforts not presumptions nor promises nor meer hopes but solid and sensible comforts God made comfort on purpose for sorrow as mercy would want a subject to exercise upon but for misery The blessed Angels are not said to bee comforted as we use the word because they never knew what heavinesse meant they are conserved they are confirmed not properly comforted There may be joy without any antecedent sorrow as the Angelicall spirits ever were and ever shall be filled with unspeakable joy But comfort is the proper physick for trouble this happy nature was not ordained but for sorrow There be some that ducunt in bonis dies suos that have their wayes strawed with roses and violets who move onely the paces of pleasure these have no need of Comfort What Physician ministers cordialls to the strong and healthfull constitution It is the broad through-fare of the world which the Divell is so
all sorrowes and God shall fill them with his sweet comforts Then shalt we sing with chearfull voices Blessed be the Lord that hath not turned away our praier from him nor his mercie from us Amen FINIS MAN'S COMFORT PSALM 94. 19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul HEaven is a place of infinite glory and joy yet is there little joy or glory in the way thither The passage rather lies through much tribulation so trouble some a gallery leads to so happy a bed-chamber There is not a soul in the cluster of mankind exempted from sorrow much lesse shall those grapes escape pressing which God hath reserved for his own cup All that will live godly in Christ shall suffer persecution Not all that live but all that live godly nor all that live godly in respect of outward form but th it live godly in Christ Paul his Atturney pleads their afflictions with an Oportet and lest some should look for a dispensation he backs it with an Omnis The Saints that have overcome the hill be singing above we that are climbing up must be groaning all the way The Anthems in-the up per Quire the Church Triumphant are all Hymns of joy the militant part must bee content with sad tunes in this valley of tears Not that the blessednesse of Immortality is no more perfect but that it needs a foil of perplexity to set it off Not that the joy of heaven is no more sweet but that it needs the sowreness of the world to give it a tast Not that the peace and plenty of Canaan required the wants and molestations of this wildernesse to commend it But so it pleaseth the Almighty King who of his own free grace doth give the preferment to interpose the conditions that the sorrow and ingloriousnesse of this world should be the throughfare to the glories and joyes of his Kingdome For if it pleased him to consecrate the Prince and Captaine of our salvation through sufferings what priveledg can the common souldiers and subjects expect Deus Filium habuit unum sine peccato nullum sine flagellâ— Wee that hold our inheritance in Capite have no other title to it then Christ had before us by suffering When we consider David and his troubles we say Ecce dolores viri behold the sorrowes of a man But when we consider the Sonne of David and his passion we say Ecce vir dolorum Behold the man of sorrowes Indeed if the one ballance were full of sorrows and the other quite empty of comforts there were an unequall poise They that do not finde some joy in their sorrows some comfort in their dejections in this world are in a fearfull danger of missing both in the next But as it is said in case of bodily sicknesse If the patient and the disease joyne then in vaine is the Physician if the disease and the Physician conspire then wo be to the patient but if the patient and the Physician accord then vanisheth the disease So we may observe in spirituall distempers if the soul and sorrow desperately combine then the Spirit departs the Physician is grieved if God and sorrow joyne in anger in anguish the former justly the other sharply then wo to the soul for that cannot be comforted but if the soul by faith and God by grace unite themselves then away flies sorrow for that is expelled Here Davids soul joynes it self with the spirit of consolation and sorrow loseth the day the end is comfort In the multitude of my thoughts within mee thy comforts delight my soul Here is a twofold Army one marching against another Seditio and Sedatio an insurrection and a debellation a tumult and the appeasing of it a band of thoughts assaulting and an Host of comforts repelling resisting protecting There is a multitude of those thoughts and no lesse is the number of these comforts Those troublous thoughts have got into the citadel of the heart Apud me within me and these consolatory forces have entred as farr even into the soul They delight my soul Those thoughts fight under the colours of flesh and blood but these comforts under the Banner of God They are My thoughts but Thy comforts the cogitations of man the consolations of Jesus Christ 1. Look upon the adversary power In the multitude of my thoughts within me 1. O that they were some externall grievances a forraign warr no domestick intestine civill broiles not turbulent thoughts 2. Or if they be thoughts rebellious heart-breaking cogitations yet that there were but some few of them that they might be sooner suppressed not so numerous not a multitude of thoughts 3. Or if they must bee thoughts and a multitude yet that they had chosen some other place to rise in not my Heart the Fort or Court or Bedchamber of my spirit that they had not presumed unto so bold approaches as to mutine Apud me within my heart nearer and closer to mee then mine owne bowels But now to bee Thoughts of so tumultuous a nature Multitudes of so mighty a number Within me of so fearfull a danger without vent composition or quiet here is a ful anxiety 2. View the defensive forces and in the midst of this conspiracy make room for preservation Thy comforts delight my soul 1. They are comforts against litigions and unquiet thoughts a work of peace Comforts 2. They are not scant niggardly but against amultitude of thoughts many Comforts and every one able to quell a whole rout of distractions 3. They are thy comforts not proceeding men or Angels but immediately from the Spirit of consolation against My sorrows Thy comforts 4. They do not onely pitch then tents about me or like a subsidiary guard environ me but they take up their residence in the heart of my heart In my soul These refresh more then the other can offend against the thoughts in my heart thy comforts delight my soul Thus if we be not entred into Aceldama a field of blood yet we are got into Meribah a field of strife or the mountains of â—ether a field of division not unlike that of Rebecca's womb where Jacob strove with Esau for the victory We have seen both the Armies now let us martiall them into their proper ranks setting both the squadrons in their due stations and postures and then observe the successe or event of the battell And because the malignant Host is first entred into the ground of my text consider with me 1. The rebells or mutiners Thoughts 2. The number of them no less then a multitude many thoughts 3. The Captain whose colours they bear a disquieted mind My thoughts 4. The field where the battel is fought in the heart Apud me within me In the other Army we find 1. Quanta how puissant they are Comforts 2. Quota how many they are indefinitely set down Abundant comfort 3. Cujus whose they are The Lords he is their generall Thy comforts
enjoy the company of morall and harmless friends with delight I can pray with confidence to be heard and satisfied I do hope with some assurance of salvation I sleep upon a peacefull pillow Thus far I am in a calm and serene hemisphere and quiet be all my thoughts But after all this Sunshine there ariseth a tempest When I do recollect or be represented unto my conscience my innumerable incomparable intollerable sinnes the remembrance of them is so frightfull the burden of them is so unsupportable that I dare not even look up unto Heaven Faith lies fainting hope is in a swoon fear stands by the bed side despaire lies gaping at the chamber door my soul is in an extasie I am weary of all company but those that speak of mercy I sit mourning all the day long Sorrow and solitude are my associates I do shed some tears and would weep tears of blood for my sins I lament because my sorrows are not greater for offending my God Well yet hear the Physician of souls speaks to thee from Heaven Weep on bleed on this bleeding shall not be unto death Jesus Christ hath a Balsome that shall not onely stanch thy bleeding but fill the veins of thy soul with comfort His blood is an Antidote for thine One drop of that shall satisfie for more sins then ever thou hast committed Weep on for thy Transgressions Those flouds of tears shall not drown thee Yea rather like the waters of that universall Deluge in that saving Arke Christ Jesus they shall bear up thy soul higher towards Heaven They shall not drowne thee yea they shall rather save thee from being drowned This is that Secunda Tabula after shipwrack the main plank that shall preserve thee from perishing emergent repentance There be two most Valiant and Puissant souldiers that are the Souls Champions Faith and Repentance They fight not only against lust and sin those Gyants of the world but even against Principalities and Powers those infernall spirits of darknesse Faith hath her weapons and Forces but Repentance hath many disadvantages 1. Other Souldiers fight standing she kneeling They in a posture confronting their enemies she in humiliation though not tergiversation from her opposites They send forth their messengers of death in thundring ordnance all her thunder is sighs and groans sent up to Heaven for mercies They let flie their fiery Engines of destruction she hath only her ejaculations Her most piercing darts be broken hearts Their shafts are winged with fire her arrows are feathered with water her own soft tears They swallow up the hope of victory with insulation she in an humble prostration expects pity Yet the God of all power and mercy whom she beleaguers in Heaven yeilds her the conquest He comes from his inpregnable Throne by his most gracious favour and insteed of confounding her as a Rebel he useth her as a Friend or Daughter He takes her up from her knees he wipes away all her tears he folds her in his armes he seals her a pardon of all sins and assures her of an everlasting Kingdom in Heaven O victorious Repentance yea rather O triumphant Goodnesse O God Teipsum vincis thou even overcomest thy self that thy Comforts may delight our souls It is reported of Alexander that when he thought and did but think so he had conquered all this world he fell a weeping that there were no more worlds to conquer But there was remaining another world a better then ever Alexander discovered But this was not for an Alexander by force of Armes but for a Mary Magdalen by force of tears to overcome It is true that the Kingdome of Heaven suffers violence but the way of Conquest is not through the blood of bodies but through a floud of tears gushing out for our sins This is such a stratagem of war such a policy of Conquest as the great Monarchs of the world never understood Yet even this through faith overcomes the world Faith hath a plot which shee hath taught her daughter Repentance Concedendo superare to overcome by yeilding It is a stratagem among Wrastlers that if a man can get himself under his antagonist he lifts him up the sooner to cast him down yea to give him the greater fall Repentance stoops as low as she can she lies like Joshuah upon the bare earth yea wollowes in dust and ashes She holds her self not worthy to be Gods foot-stool let him trample upon her and tread her under his feet she still holds him by the feet washeth them with her tears and wipeth them with the hairs of her head and kisseth them though she be spurned by them Doth this humble prostration provoke fury No it rather invites mercy Parcere prostratis scit nobilis ira Leonis The Lyon of the Tribe of Judah will spare such Lambs of humiliation and in the pastures of consolation he will both feed and preserve them That thunder which dissolves the stubborn mettall yet spares the yeilding purse When power and policy have spent their spirits submission is found the only way of Conquest The feafull thunder of vengeance is resisted by the soft wool of repentance 2. Yet hath this blessed grace another disadvantage Faith the chief of all the Forces may be somtimes benighted through the conglomeration of the clouds condensed by our sins Hope may be eclipsed by the interposition of the earth our worldly imaginations betwixt us and that great luminary of heaven the Sun of righteousnesse The century of watchful conscience may be overcome with security Sin is a subtile enemy and his father the Divel wil shew him the opportunity Now is the time of invasion seise on them and cut all their throats What shal repentance now do when faith the great Lady general droops and Hope her Lieutenant general is fainting when the whole century is overcome with slumber Yes there is a watchman in the tower of the soul that doth seldom sleep holy Fear He wakens conscience conscience cals up faith faith rouzeth hope hope cryes aloud to repentance repentance troops all the spiritual forces the martial musick gives the alarm the souldiers are in battel-array the enemies flie the mind is at peace because Gods comforts have delighted the soul 3. One disadvantage more makes dangerous work for repentance The troops of faith are routed one wing of hope is cut off Yet this conquering Queen of the Viragines or maiden-graces alwayes bears up the Rear and never appeares till the day be almost lost When those great Commanders Innocency and Righteousnesse are foiled and beaten and have their Queen the soul in danger to bee taken and slain by sin and Satan her old adversaries Then this Virgo Virago that all this while lay in expectation of the event this martiall Maid victorious Repentance comes in with her Reserve sets upon the conquerors with her fresh forces rescues the Queen our soul puts the great generall Satan to flight and does impartial execution upon all his souldiers which be our
sins Thus one grace begets another by a supernatural generation til they increase in number and measure by the Divine inspiration Faith calls up repentance repentance brings in pardon and forgivenesse pardon leads in comfort and thus O my God Thy comforts delight my soul 4. When God by the preaching of his law hath broken up the fallow ground of our hearts and by the applying of his Gospel hath sown the seed of eternal life in those furrows he lookes that we should bestow our labour in the watering of this plantation The ground is his for he made it the seed is his for he gives it the harvest is his and he owns it Yet such is the bounty of his goodness that he gives his farmers the fruits of it The rent of that great Landlords glory being truly payed the product is ours even the comfort and salvation of our poor souls All our pains is but to hook up the weeds that would hinder the growth of the corn and dew the furrows with our tears that it may spring up with chearfulness But when the reaping-time comes the whole crop is ours and we come home singing with joy and thankfulness Thy comforts have delighted our souls When those glorious reapers the Angels shal bear up our souls to heaven like sheaves into the barn we shal sing harvest-home glorifie our infinite good God and our sweetSaviour JesusChrist To conclude crosses are but the pursuivants to fetch in repentance and afflictions but Gods letters missive formortification When we are fallen into some hainous transgressions we may better say then in our other trouble this will cost hot water For so it will indeed it wil cost the hot waters of our tears from our eyes or it will cost the warm blood of our hearts Our godly sorrow for our sins is like the Pool of Bethesda when that Angel from heaven gracious repentance hath troubled the waters the lazarous soul does but step into them and is cured For all our spiritual diseases this is the remedy upon which we may safely write Probatum est We have made our selves sick by sinning God is the Physician and he prescribes Affliction is the Apothecary and he prepares the Medicine is Repentance and that infallibly cures It is a broken heart that makes us whole God loves a true heart and a clean heart and an honest heart and an humble heart yea and he loves a broken heart too The broken and contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise It is true that we are bound to love him with our whole heart but if it be broken with penitential sorrow for sin he wil heal the fracture redintegrate the heart and reaccept it wholly to himself A contrite heart broken in peices with sorrow and pickled up in brinish tears is a sacrifice that God will not reject Whosoever hath such a heart let him make much of it It is a dish for the king of kings Sin Repentance and Pardon are like to the three vernall months of the yeer March April and May Sin comes in like March blustering stormy and full of bold violence Repentance succeeds like April showring weeping and full of tears Pardon follows like May springing singing ful of joys and flowers If our hands have been ful of March with the tempests of unrighteousnesse our eyes must be ful of April with the sorrow of repentance then our hearts shal be ful of May in the true joy of forgivenesse His soul as there be no comforts like those of God so there is nothing to which comforts are so welcom as to the soul The pleasure which the body takes is but the body yea scarce the very shadow of pleasure the soul of pleasure is the pleasure of the soul There bee many things pleasing to the body wherein the sanctified soul takes no delight especially in the day of trouble In calamity good nourishments are confortable good words are comfortable good friends are comfortable the Physician is comfortable the Divine comfortable a good spouse specially comfortable but in respect of these comforts which passe all understanding we may say of the rest as Job did to his visitant friends Miserable comforters are ye all But blessed are the souls upon whom this Sun of comfort shineth and happy are those showers of fears and sorrows that shall be dryed up with such beams of comforts and blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort To whom with the Son and Holy Ghost be all praise and glory for ever and ever Amen FINIS a Luk. 2. 13. b Gen. 2. 1. c Pro. 30. 37. d Rev. 6. 16. e Psal. 2. 4. f Rev. 19. 18. g Psa 30. 5. h Ps. 90. 9. i Ps. 36. 7. Job 6. 4. Ps. 88. 15. 16. Isa. 59. 2. Isa. 63. 10 a 1 King 22. 25 b Jon. 4. 4. c Psal. 79 5. d 2 Sam. 21. 1. e Psa. 73. 7. f Ezek. 16. 42. g Jer. 14. 13. h Ps 92. 10. i Ps. 9. 17. 21. l Psa. 29. 5. m Psa. 18. 7. n Isa 64. 1. o 1 Kin. 19. 11. p Psa. 2 9. q 1 Kin. 14. 10. 11 r Ps. 37. 36. Josh. 6. 17. 21. 1 Sam. 15 3. Gen. 6. 12. 1 Kin. 14. 13. Josh. 6. 17. Isa. 9. 19. Jer. 22. 8. 9. Gen. 18. 32. Jer. 5. 1. Num. 16. 22. Josh 7. 11. 2 Sam. 21. 1. 2 Sam. 21 14 Psa. 65. 12. Pal. 106 30. Nam 25. 8. Jon. 3. 8. Num. 16. 22. a Psa. 89. 33 b Col. 3. 6. c Psal. 30. 5. d Psal 103. 9. e Exo. 32. 11. f Isa. 54. 8. g Mic. 7. 8. h John 3. 36. i Pia 99. 8. l Rom. 9. 22. m 1 Cor. 11. 32 n Heb. 12. 11. o Isa. 28. 24 r Isa. 27 7. s Isa. 27. 9. t John 1. 11. a Psa. 106. 30. b Num. 16. 15. c Psal. 65. 2. d Hag. 2. 9. e Rom. 10. 13. f 1 Kin. 2. 17. g Jam. 4. 2. h Josh. 7. 8. i Exo. 32. 10. l 2 Sam. 1. 25. m Lam. 1. 1. n Jam. 5. 18. o Act. 7. 56. r Lam. 3. 44. s Eze. 8. 18. t Joh. 9. 31. u Ps. 66. 18. a Isa. 5. 15. b Lu. 8. 28. Psa. 14 4. Psal. 10. 4. Psa. 1 37. 7. Jam. 3. 10. Joel 2. 14. Mal. 3. 10. Psal. 26. 6. Ps. 141. 2. Cypr. Psal. 109. 7. Psal. 66. 20. Act. 14. 22. 2 Tim. 3. 12. Cant. 2. 17. Jer. 4. 14. Mat. 5. 4. Chrys. Chrys. Hom. 2. Ad pop. Antioch Gen. 30. 11. Marke 5. 9. Psal. 34. 19. Job 1. 16. Jonah 2. 3. Plura machinatur cor meum uno momento quam in omnes homines perficere possunt uno anno Hugo l. 3 de Anima Isa. 23. 7. Psal. 81. 14. Gen. 25. 22. 2 Cor. 7. 5. 2 Cor. 11. 28 Matth. 10. 36. Aug. Psalm 143. 4. Psalm 43. 5. Exo. 14. 4. John 11. 21. Psal. 91. 12. Cant. 8. 4. Amos 6. 4. Matth. 2. 18. Joel 2. 13. Acts 27 8. 1 Sam. 17. 40. Psalm 1. 16. 7. Psal. 66. 76. 2 Chron. 32. 8. 2 Kings 6. 16. Psalm 40. 5. Psalm 68. 1. John 2. 7. Psalm 47. 37. 1. 2. 3 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 2 Tim. 3. 12 9 Psa. 54. 17 2 Cor. 1. 3.