the meek and to proclaim liberty to the â—aptives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound Come now and knock off those fetters of unbelief Oh set my soul at liberty that it may praise thee For so many years Satan hath cruelly tyrannized over me oh that this might be the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of the salvation of my God! Lord thou wast lifted up to draw Men unto thee and indeed thou art a drawing Saviour a lovely Jesus I have hitherto slighted thee but it was because I did not know thee mine eyes have been held by unbelief when thou wast opened in the Gospel but now I see thee as the chiefest of ten thousands Thou art the glory of Heaven the glory of Earth the glory of Sion and oh that thou wouldst be the glory of my Soul I confess I am not worthy that thou shouldst look upon me I may much rather expect to be trampled under the feet of Justice than to be embraced in thine arms of Mercy and that thou shouldst rather shed my polluted blood than sprinkle thine own upon me But Lord what profit is there iâ— my blood Wilt thou pursue a dryed leaf Shall it ever be said that the merciful King of Heaven hang'd up a poor soul that put the rope about its own neck and so came selfcondemningly to him fot mercy O my Lord I am willing to submit to any terms be they never so hard and ungrateful to the flesh I am sure whatever I shall suffer in thy service cannot be like to what I have suffered or am like to fuffer by sin henceforth be thou my Lord and Master thy service is perfect freedom be thou my Priest and Prophet my Wisdom and Righteousness I resign up my self unto thee my poor Soul with all its faculties my body with all its members to be living instruments of thy glory Let Holiness to the Lord be now written upon them all let my tongue henceforth plead for thee my hands be lifted up unto thy testimonies my feet walk in thy ways Oh let all my affections as willing servants wait upon thee and be active for thee Whatever I am let me be for thee whatever I have let it be thine whatever I can do let me do for thee whatever I can suffer let me suffer for thee O that I might say before I go hence My beloved is mine and I am his Oh that what I have begged on Earth might be ratified in Heaven My Spirit within me saith Amen Lord Jesus say thou Amen FINIS Erasmi Chiliad p. 299. The smallest Pore is a Leak wide enough to let in Death and sink thy Vessel In Nubia quae est Aethiopia venenum est cuâ—us grani unias decima pars â—ominem vel unum granum decem homines Dan Senert Hypom Phys. Cap. 2. p. 47. Ignis Gehenne lucebit miseris ut viâ—eant undeâ— doleant Insid de sum bon l. 1. Terror ubique tremor timor unâ—eque undique terrari Ovi Mundi creatio est Scriptur a Dei Clemens Vniversus mundus est Dâ—us explicatus See Mr. Whatelie's Care-Cloth Ariftot secund◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 5. Mr. Gurnal Correction Instruction page 182. * See the Turks Letter to the Emperour of Germany lately published by Authority 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Morning-Exercise p. 651. Turbution capitis subversio sensus tempestas linguae procella corporis naufragium virtutus amissio temporis insâ—nia voluntaria blande daemon dulce venenum suave peccatum quam quihabet seipsum no habet quam qui fecit peccatum non fecit sed ipse totus est peccatatum Aug. ad lacr Viginis Qui dedit aquam dedit vinum * Columb de re Anat. Infinitae morborum generâ—â— indenâ—scuntur Appleâ—â—â— Paralyses Arâ—â—rides c. Ille opâ—imus me dicus sibi qui modicus cibi Aug. Ames de conâ—â— p. 139. Guber Dei lib. 4. salv Sine Cerere Baccho frigeâ— venus Mr. Lockyer on Col. 1. p. 113. * There is a double resurrection of Mercy A resurrection of Mercy in Mercy and a resurrection of Mercy in Wrath. It is the first I now labour for and that to prevent the second 〈…〉 Mr. Tho. Goodwin Case of Consc. * Iohn 1. 12. a Iohn 3. 36. b 1 Cor. 1. 30. c 1 Acts 4. 12. d Acts 12. 29. e Isai. 45. 22. f Acts 2. 37.
at the Heavenly Strand and set foot upon the shore of Glory O Sirs I beg of you if you have any regard to those precious immortal Souls of yours which are also imbarqued for Eternity whither all winds blow them and will quickly he at their Port of Heaven or Hell that you will seriously mind these things and learn to steer your course to Heaven and improve all Winds I mean opportunities and means to waft you thither Here you venture life and liberty run through many Difficulties and Dangers and all to compass a perishing Treasure yet how often do you return disappointed in your Designs or if not yet it is but a fading short-liv'd Inheritance which like the flowing Tide for a little while covers the shore and then returns and leaves it naked and dry again And are not Everlasting Treasures worth venturing for Good Souls be wise for Eternity I here present you with the Fruit of a few spare Hours redeemed for your sakes from my other Studies and Imployments which I have put into a new Dress and Mode I have endeavoured to cloath Spiritual Matters in your own Dialect and Phrases that they might be the more intelligible to you and added some pious Poems with which the several Chapters are concluded trying by all means to assault your several Affections and as the Apostle speaks to catch you with guile I can say nothing of it I know it cannot be without its manifold imperfections since I am conscious of so many in my self Only this I will adventure to say of it That how defective or empty soever it be in other respects yet it is stuffed and filled with much true love to and earnest desires after the salvation and prosperity of your Souls And for the other defects that attend it I have only two things to offer in way of excuse It is the first Essay that I ever made in this kind wherein I had no President And it was hastned for your sakes too soon out of my hands that it might be ready to wait upon you when you undertake your next Voyage so that I could not revise and polish it Nor indeed was I sollicitous about the stile I consider I writ not for Critical and Learned Persons my design is not to please your Fancies any further than I might thereby get advantage to profit your Souls I will not once question your welcome Reception of it If God shall bless these Meditations to the Conversion of any among you you will be the Gainers and my heart shall rejoyce even mine How comfortably should we shake hand with you when you go abroad were we perswaded your Souls were interested in Christ and secured from perishing in the New Convenant What life would it put into our Prayers for you when you are abroad to consider that Iesus Christ is interceeding for you in Heaven whilst we are your Remembrancers here on Earth How quiet would our hearts be when you are abroad in Storms did we know you had a special Interest in him whom Winds and Seas obey To conclude what Ioy would it be to your Godly Relations to see you return new Creatures Doubtless more than if you came home laden with the Riches of both Indies Come Sirs set the heavenly Jerusalem upon the Point of your New Compass make all the Sail you can for it and the Lord give you a prosperous Gale and a safe Arrival in that Land of Rest. So prays Your most Affectionate Friend to serve you in Soul-Concernments IOHN FLAVEL IMPRIMATUR Geo. Stradling S. T. P. Rev. in Christo Pat. D. Gilb. Archiepisc. Cant. a. Sac. Domest Ex Aed Lamb. Dec. 14. 1663. To every Sea-man Sailing Heavenward Ingenious Sea-man THE Art of Navigation by which Islands especially are enriched and preserved in safety from Forensical Invasions and the wonderful Works of God in the great Deep and Foreign Nations are most delightfully and fully beheld c. is an Art of exquisite excellency ingenuity rarity and mirability But the Art of Spiritual Navigation is the Art of Arts. It is a gallant thing to be able to carry a Ship richly laden round the World but it is much more gallant to carry a Soul that rich loading a Pearl of more worth than all the Merchandise of the world in a body that is liable to leaks and bruises as any Ship is through the Sea of this World which is as unstable as water and hath the same brinish taste and salt gust which the waters of the Sea have safe to Heaven the best Haven so as to avoid splitting upon any Soul-sinking Rocks or striking upon any Soul-drowning Sands The Art of Natural Navigation is a very great mystery but the Art of Spiritual Navigation is by much a greater mystory Humane wisdom may teach us to carry a Ship to the Indies but the Wisdom only that is from above can teach us to steer our course aright to the Haven of Happiness This Art is purely of Divine Revelation The truth is Divinity the Doctrine of living to God is nothing else but the Art of Soul-Navigation revealed from Heaven A meer man can carry a Ship to any desired Port in all the World but no meer man can carry a Soul to Heaven He must be a Saint he must be a Divine so all Saints are that can be a Pilot to carry a Soul to the fair Haven in Emanuel's land The Art of Natural Navigation is wonderfully improved since the coming of Christ before which time if there be truth in History the use of the Loadstone was never known in the world and before the vertue of that was revealed unto the Mariner it is unspeakable with what uncertain wandrings Sea-men floated here and there rather than sailed the right and direct way Sure I am the Art of Spiritual Navigation is wonderfully improved since the coming of Christ it oweth its clearest and fullest discovery to the coming of Christ. This Art of Arts is now perfectly revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament but the Rulers thereof are dispers'd up and down therein The collecting and methodizing of the same cannot but be a work very useful unto Souls Though when all is done there is an absolute necessity of the teachings of the Spirit and of the anointing that is from above to make Souls Artists in sailing Heavenward The Ingenious Author of the Christians Compass or the Marriners Companion makes three Parts of this Art as the School-men of Divinity viz. Speculative Practical and Affectionate The principal things necessary to be known by a Spiritual Sea-man in order to the steering rightly and safely to the Port of Happiness he reduceth to four Heads answerable to the four general Points of the Compass making God our North Christ our East Holiness our South and Death our West Points Concerning God we must know 1. That he is Heb. 11. 6. and that there is but one God 1 Cor. 8. 5 6. 2. That this God is that
me and make it effectual to me before I go hence and be seen no more THE POEM A fresh and whisking Gale presents to day But now the Ship 's not ready Winds must stay And wait the Sea-mens leisure Well to morrow They will put out but then unto their sorrow That Wind is spent and by that means they gain Perchance a Month's Repentance if not twain At last another offers now they 're gone But e're they gain their Port the Market's done For every work and purpose under Heaven A proper time and season God hath given The Fowls of Heaven Swallow Turtle Crane Do apprehend it and put us to shame Man hath his season too but that mis-spent There 's time enough his folly to repent Eternity's before him but therein No more such golden hours as these have been When these are past away then you shall find That Proverb true Occasion 's bald behind Delays are dangerous see that you discern Your proper seasons O that you would learn This Wisdom from those Fools that comes too late With fruitless cries when Christ has shut the gate CHAP. X. By Navigation one place stores another And by Communion we must help each other OBSERVATION THE most wise God hath so dispenced his Bounty to the several Nations of the World that one standing in need of anothers Commodities there might be a sociable Commerce and Traffick maintaintain'd amongst them all and all combining in a common League may by the help of Navigation exhibit mutual succours to each other The Staple-Commodities proper to each Country I find thus expressed by the Poet Bart. Coll. Hence come our Sugars from Canary Isles From Candy Currans Muskadels and Oyls From the Moluccoes Spices Balsamum From Aegypt Odours from Arabia come From India Gums rich Drugs and Ivory From Syria Mummy Black Red Ebony From burning Chus from Peru Pearl and Gold From Russia Furs to keep the Rich from Cold. From Florence Silks from Spain Fruit Saffron Sacks From Denmark Amber Cordage Firs and Flax From Holland Hops â—orse from the Banks of Rhine From England VVool all Lands as God distributes To the VVorld's Treasure pay their sundry Tributes APPLICATION Thus hath God distributed the more rich and precious Gifts and Graces of his Spirit among his People Some excelling in one Grace some in another though every Grace in some degree be in them all even as in Nature though there be all the Faculties in all yet some Faculties are in some more lively and vigorous than in others some have a more vigorous eye others a more ready ear others a more voluable tongue so it 's in Spirituals Abraham excell'd in Faith â—ob in Patience Iohn in Love These were their peculiar excellencies All the elect Vessels are not of one quantity yet even those that excel others in some particular Grace come short in other respects of those they so excelled in the former and may be much improv'd by converse with such as in some respects are much below them The solid wise and judicious Christian may want that liveliness of affections and tenderness of heart that appears in the weak and one that excels in gifts and utterance may learn Humility from the very Babes in Christ. And one principal Reason of this different distribution is to maintain fellowship among them all 1 Cor. 12. 21. The Head cannot say to the Feet I have no need of you As in a Family where there is much business to be done even the little Children bear a part according to their strength Jer. 7. 18. The children gather wood the fathers kindle the fire the women knead the dough So in the Family of Christ the weakest Christian is serviceable to the strong There be precious Treasures in these Earthen Vessels for which we should trade by mutual communion The preciousness of the Treasure should draw out our desires and endeavours after it and the consideration of the brittleness of those Vessels in which they are kept should cause us to be the more expeditious in our trading with them and make the quicker Returns For when those Vessels I mean the Bodies of the Saints are broken by Death there is no more to be gotten out of them That Treasure of Grace which made them such profitable pleasant and desirable companions on Earth then Ascends with them into Heaven where every Grace receives its adolescence and perfection And then though they be Ten thousand times more excellent and delightful than ever they were on Earth yet we can have no more communion with them till we come to Glory our selves Now therefore it behoves us to be enriching our selves by communication of what God hath dropt into us and improvement of them as one well Notes We should do by Saints as we use to do by some choice Book lent us for a few days we should fix in our Memories or transcribe all the choice Notions we meet with in it that they may be our own when the Book is called for and we can have it no longer by us REFLECTION Lord How short do I come of my Duty in communicating to or receiving good by others My Soul is either empty and barren or if there be any Treasure in it yet it is but as a Treasure locked up in some Chest whose Key is lost when it should be open'd for the use of others Ah Lord I have sinned greatly not only by vain words but sinful silence I have been of little use in the World How little also have I gotten by communion with others Some it may be that are of my own size or judgment or that I am otherwise obliged to I can delight to converse with But O where is that largeness of heart and general delight I should have to and in all thy People How many of my old dear Acquaintance are now in Heaven whose Tongues were as Choice silver while they were here Prov. 10. 20. And blessed Souls how communicative were they of what thou gavest them O what an improvement had I made of my Talent this way had I been diligent Lord pardon my neglect of those sweet and blessed advantages O let all my delight be in thy Saints who are the excellent of the earth Let me never go out of their company without an heart more warmed quickned and enlarged than when I came amongst them THE POEM To several Nations God doth so distribute His bounty that each one must pay a tribute Vnto each other Europe cannot vaunt And say Of Africa I have no want America and Asia need not strive Which of it self can best subsist and live Each Countries want in something doth maintain Commerce betwixt them all Such is the aim And end of God who doth dispense and give More Grace to some their Brethren to relieve This makes the Sun Ten thousand times more bright Because it is diffusive of its Light Its Beams are gilded gloriously but then This property doth gild them o're agen Should Sun Moon
all Process at Law or from the Law is stopt Rom. 8. 1. But if thou be an impenitent persisting sinner thy debt remains upon thine own score And be sure thy sin will find thee out where-ever thou goest Num. 32. 23. i. e. God's revenging hand for sin will be upon thee Thou maist lose the sight and memory of thy sin but they lose not the sight of thee they follow after as the Hound doth the fleeting game upon the scent till they have fetcht thee up And then consider How fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God Heb. 10. 31. How soon may a storm arrest and bring thee before the Bar of God REFLECTION O my Soul what a case art thou in if this be so Are not all thy sins yet upon thine own score Hast not thou mane light of Christ and that precious Blood of his and hitherto persisted in thy Rebellion against him And what can the issue of this be at last but ruine There is abundant mercy indeed for returning sinners but the Gospel speaks of none for persisting and impenitent sinners And though many who are going on in their sins are overtaken by Grace yet there is no Grace promised to such as go on in sin O if God should arrest me by the next Storm and call me to an account for all that I owe him I must then lie in the Prison of Hell to all Eternity for I can never pay the debt nay all the Angels in Heaven cannot satisfie for it Being Christless I am under all the Curses in the Book of God a Child of Hagar Lord pity and spare me a little longer O discover thy Christ unto me and give me Faith in his Blood and then thou art fully satisfied at once and I discharged for ever O require not the debt at my hand for then thou wilt never be satisfied nor I acquitted What profit Lord is there in my Blood O my soul make hast to this Christ thy Refuge-City thou knowest not how soon the avenger of Blood may overtake thee THE POEM Thy sins are debts God puts them to account Canst tell poor wretch to what thy debts amount Thou fill'st the treasure of thy sins each hour Into his Vials God doth also pour Proportionable wrath Thou seest it not But yet assure thy self there 's drop for drop For every Sand of Patience running out A drop of Wrath runs in Soul look about God's Treasure 's almost full as well as thine When both are full O then the dreadful time Of Reckoning comes thou shalt not gain a day Of patience more but then there hastes away Heaven's Pursivant who comes upon the wing With his Commission seal'd to take and bring Do'st still reject Christ's tenders Well next storm May be the Bailiff ordered to perform This dreadful office O then restless be Till God in Christ be reconcil'd to thee The Sum is great but if a Christ thou get Fear not a Prince can pay a Beggar 's debt Now if the Storm should rise thou need not fear Thou art but the Delinquent is not there A pardoned Soul to Sea may boldly go He fears not Bailiffs that doth nothing owe. CHAP. XIX To save the Ship rich Ladings cast away Thy Soul is Shipwrackt if thy Lusts do stay OBSERVATION IN Storms and Distresses at Sea the Richest Commodities are cast over-board they stand not upon it when Life and all is in jeopardy and hazard Ionah 1. 5. The Mariners cast forth the Wares that were in the Ship into the Sea to lighten it And Act. 27. 18 19. they cast out the very tacklings of the Ship How highly soever Men prize such Commodities yet reason tells them It were better these should perish than Life Satan himself could say Job 1. Skin for skin and all that a Man hath will he give for his Life APPLICATION And surely it is every way as highly reasonable that Men should mortifie cast out and cut off their dearest Lusts rather than their Immortal Souls should sink and perish in the Storm of God's wrath Life indeed is a precious Treasure and highly valued by Men You know what Solomon saith Eccles. 9. 4. That a Living Dog is better than a Dead Lion And we find Men willing to part with their Estates Limbs or any outward Comfort for the preservation of it The Woman in the Gospel spent all she had on the Physicians for her Health a degree below Life Some Men indeed do much over-value their Lives and part with Christ and Peace of Conscience for it but he that thus saves it shall lose it Now if Life be so much worth What then is the Soul worth Alas Life is but a vapour which appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away Jam. 4. 14. Life indeed is more worth than all the World but my Soul is more worth than Ten thousand Lives Nature teacheth you to value the first so high and Grace should teach you to value the second much higher Mat. 19. 26. Now here is the case Either you must part with your Sins or with your Souls if these be not cast out both must sink together If ye live after the flâ—sh ye must die Rom. 8. 13. God saith to you in this case as to Ahab when he spared Benhadad 1 King 20. 40. Because thou hast let go a Sin which God hath appointed to destruction therefore thy Life shall go for his Life Guilt will raise a Storm of Wrath as Ionah did if not cast out REFLECTION And must Sin or the Soul perish Must my Life yea my Eternal Life go for it if I spare it O then let me not be cruel to mine own Soul in sparing my Sin O my Soul this foolish pity and cruel Indulgence will be thy ruine If I spare it God hath said He will not spare me Deut. 26. 20. It is true the pains of Mortification are sharp but yet it 's easier than the pains of Hell To cut off a right hand or pluck out a right eye is hard but to have my Soul cut off eternally from God is harder Is it as easie O my Soul to burn for them in Hell as to Mortifie them on Earth Surely it is profitable for me that one member perish rather than that all be cast into Hell Mat. 5. 24. I see the Merchant willing to part with rich Wares if embarqued with them in a Storm And those that have Gangreen'd Legs or Arms willingly stretch them out to be cut off to preserve Life And shall I be willing to endure no difficulties for my Soul Christ reckon'd Souls worth his Blood And is it not worth my Self-denyal Lord let me not warm a Snake in my Bosom that will at last sting me to the heart THE POEM Thy Soul 's the Ship its Lading is its Lusts God's Iudgments stormy Winds and dang'rous gusts Conscience the Master but the stubborn Will Goes Supra Cargo and doth keep the Bill Affections are the Men
God as Deut. 32. 15. Forget God Deut. 4. 14. Yea grow proud of our strength and riches Ezek. 16. 15. and Ier. 2. 31. Ah! How few of us in the days of our prosperity behaved our selves as good Iehosaphat did 2 Chron. 17. 5 6. He had silver and gold in abundance and his heart was lifted in the way of God's Commandments not in pride and insolence REFLECTION Are these the sins that blast our Blessings and wither our Mercies O then let me cease to wonder it is no better and rather admire that it is no worse with me that my neglect of Prayer injustice in dealings Earthly-mindedness and abuse of former Mercies have not provoked God to strip me naked out of all my enjoyments Let me humbly accept from the Lord the punishment of my Iniquities and lay my hand upon my mouth And O that these disappointments might convince me of the Creatures vanity and cause me to drive on another trade for Heaven then shall I adore thy wisdom in rending from me those idolized enjoyments Ah Lord when I had them my heart was a perpetual drudge to them How did I then forget God neglect duty and not mind my eternal concernments Oh if these had not perished in all probability I had perished My God let my Soul prosper and then a small portion of these things shall afford me more comfort than ever I had in their greatest abundance A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked Psal. 37. 16. THE POEM There 's great Complaint abroad that Trading's bad You shake your head and cry 'T is sad 't is sad Merchants lay out their stock Sea-men their pains And in their eye they both may put their gains Your Fishing fails you wonder why 't is so 'T is this saith one or that but I say No 'T will ne'r be well till you confess and say It is our sin that frights the Fish away No wonder all goes into Bags with Holes Since so the Gospel hath been in your Souls We kick'd like Jesurun when the flowing Tide Of Wealth came tumbling in this nourish'd Pride 'Twixt Soul and Body now I wish it may Fare as betwixt the Jews and us this day O that our outward want and loss may be To us a Soul-enriching Poverty If disappointments here advance the Trade For Heaven then complain not you have made The richest Voyage and your empty Ships Return deep laden with Soul-benefits CHAP. XXIV In Seas the greater Fish the less devour So some Men crush all those within their power OBSERVATION THere are Fishes of Prey in the Sea as well as Birds and Beasts of Prey on the Land Our Sea-men tell us how the devouring Whales Sharks Dolphins and other Fishes follow the Caplein and other smaller Fish and devour multitudes of them It is frequent with us in our own Seas to find several smaller Fishes in the Bellies of the greater ones yea I have often heard Sea-men say That the poor little Fry when pursued are so sensible of the danger that they have sometimes seen multitudes of them cast themselves upon the Shoar and perish there to avoid the danger of being devoured by them APPLICATION Thus cruel merciless and oppressive are wicked Men whose tender mercies are cruelty Prov. 22. 10. We see the like cruelty in our Extortioners and over-reaching Sharks ashore who grind the faces of the Poor and regard not the Cries of the Fatherless and Widows but fill their Houses with the gain of Oppression These are by the Holy Ghost compared to the fishes of the Sea Hab. 1. 13 14. This is a crying sin yea it sends up a loud cry to Heaven for Vengeance Exod. 22 23. If thou afflict the widow and the fatherless and they cry unto me I will surely hear their cry And Verse 27. I will hear his cry for I am gracious Nay God will not only hear their Cry but avenge their Quarrel That is a remarkable Text 1 Thes. 4. 6. That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter because that the Lord is the Avenger of all such This word Avenger is but once more used in the New Testament Rom. 13. 4. And there it is applyed to the Civil Magistrate who is to see Execution done upon Offenders But now this is a Sin that sometimes may bâ— out of the reach of mans Justice and therefore God himself will be their Avenger You may overpower the Poor in this World and it may be they cannot contend with you at mans Barr therefore God will bring it before his Barr. Believe it Sirs it is a sin so provoking to God that he will not let it 'scape without severe punishment sooner or later The Prophet Habbakkuk Chap. 1. verse 13. wondred how the holy God could forbear such till the general day of reckoning and that he did not take exemplary Vengeance on them in this Life Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look upon Iniquity Wherefore then lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devours the man that is more righteous than he And Prov. 23. 10 11. Enter not into the Fields of the Fatherless i. e. Of the poor and helpless But why is it more dangerous violently to invade their right than anothers The reason is added For their Redeemer is mighty and he shall plead their cause with thee It may be they are not able to retain a Counsel to plead their cause here therefore God will plead their cause for them REFLECTION Turn in upon thy self O my Soul and consider Hast thou not been guilty of this crying sin Have I not when a Servant over-reached and defrauded others and filled my Master's House with Violence and Deceit and so brought myself under that dreadful threatning Zeph. 1. 9. Or since I came to trade and deal upon mine own account have not the Ballances of Deceit been in my hand I have it may be kept many in my service and employment have not I used their labours without reward and so am under that woe Ier. 22. 13. Or not given them Wages proportionable to their work Isai. 58. 3. Or by bad Payment and unjust Deductions and Allowances defrauded them of a part of their due Mal. 3. 5. Or at least delayed payment ouâ— of a covetous disposition to gain by it whilst their necessities in the mean time cryed aloud for it and so sinned against God's express commands Deut. 24. 14 15. Levit. 19. 30. Or have I not persecuted such as God hath smitten Psal. 69. 26. And rigorously exacted the uttermost of my due though the hand of God hath gone out against them breâ—king their estates O my Soul examine thy self upon these particulars rest not quiet until this guilt be â—emoved by the application of the Blood of Sprinkling Hath not the Lord said Jam. 2. 13. That they shall have judgment without mercy that hath shewed no mercy
10. REFLECTION If the Wisdom of God do thus triumph and glorifie itself in the Distresses of the Saints then why should I fear in the day of evil Psal. 49. 4. Why doth my heart faint at the foresight and apprehension of approaching trouble Fear none of those things that thou shalt suffer O my Soul if thy God will thus be with thee in the fire and water thou canst not perish Though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of Death yet let me fear no evil whilst my God is thus with me Creatures cannot do what they please his wisdom limits and over-rules them all to gracious and sweet ends If my God cast me into the Furnace to melt and try me yet I shall not be consumed there for he will sit by the Furnace himself all the while I am in it and curiously pry into it observing when it hath done its work and then will presently withdraw the fire O my Soul bless and adore this God of Wisdom who himself will see the ordering of all thine Afflictions and not trust it in the hands of Men or Angels THE POEM Though tost in greatest Storms I 'll never fear If Christ will sit at Helm to guide and steer Storms are the triumph of his Skill and Art He cannot close his Eyes nor change his Heart VVisdom and Power ride upon the VVaves And in the greatesâ— danger helps and saves From dangers it by dangers doth deliver And wounds the Devil out of his own Quiver It countermines his Plots and so doth spoil And make his Engines on himself recoil It blunts the Politicians restless Tool And makes Ahitophel the veriest Fool It shews us how our Reason us misled And if we had not we had perished Lord to thy VVisdom I will give the Reins And not with Cares perplex and vex my brains CHAP. XXIX Things in the bottom are unseen No eye Can trace God's Paths which in the Deeps do lie OBSERVATION THE Ocean is so deep that no Eye can discover what lies in the bottom thereof We use to say proverbially of a thing that is irrecoverably lost It is as good it were cast into the Sea What lies there lies obscure from all eyes but the Eye of God APPLICATION Thus are the Judgments of God and the Ways of his Providence profound and unsearchable Psal. 36. 16. The Righteous is like the great Mountains and thy Iudgments are a great Deep i. e. his Providences are secret obscure and unfathomable but even then and in those Providences his Righteousness stands up like the great Mountains visible and apparent to every eye Though the Saints cannot see the one yet they can clearly discern the other Ier. 12. 1. Ieremiah was at a stand so was Iob in the like case Iob 12. 7. So was Asaph Psal. 73. and Habbakkuk Chap. 1. 3. These Wheels of Providence are dreadful for their height Ezek. 1. 18. There be deep Mysteries of Providence as well as of Faith It may be said of some of them as of Paul's Epistles That they are hard to be understood Darkness and Clouds are round about the Throne of God No man can say what will be the particular issue and event of some of his dispensations Luther seemed to hear God say to him when he was importunate to know his mind in some particular Providence Deus sum non sequax I am a God not to be traced Some Providences like Hebrew Letters must be read backward Psal. 92. 7. Some Providences pose Men of the greatest parts and graces His way is in the Sea his paths in the great VVaters and his foot-steps are not known Psal. 77. 19. Who can trace Foot-steps in the bottom of the Sea The Angels Ezek. 1. Have their hands under their wings The hand is either Symbolum roboris The Symbol of strength or Instrumentum Operationis The Instrument of Action Where these hands are put forth they work effectually yea but very secretly they are hid under their wings There be some of God's Works that are such Secrets as that they may not be enquired into they are to be believed and adored but not pryed into Rom. 11. 33. Others that may be enquired after but yet are so profound that few can understand them Psal. 111. 2. The works of the Lord are great sought out of all those that have pleasure therein When we come to Heaven then all those mysteries as well in the Works as in the Word of God will lie open to our view REFLECTION O then why is my heart disquieted because it cannot sometimes discern the way of the Lord and see the connection and dependence on his providential dispensations Why art thou so perplexed O my Soul at the Confusions and Disorders that are in the world I know that Goodness and Wisdom sits at the Stern And though the Vessel of the Church be tossed and distressed in Storms of Trouble yet it shall not perish Is it not enough for me that God hath condescended so far for my satisfaction as to shew me plainly the ultimate and general issue of all these mysterious Providences Ephes. 1. 22. Rom. 8. 28. unless I be able to take the height of every particular Shall I presume to call the God of Heaven to account Must he render a reason of his ways and give an account of his matters to such a worm as I am Be silent O my Soul before the Lord subscribe to his Wisdom and submit to his Will whatsoever he doth However it be yet God is good to Israel the event will manifest it to be all over a design of love I know not how to reconcile them to each other or many of them to the Promise yet are they all harmonious betwixt themselves and the certain means of accomplishing the Promises O what a favour is this that in the midst of the greatest confusions in the world God hath given such abundant security to his people that it shall be well with them Amos 9. 8. Eccles. 8. 12. THE POEM Lord how stupendious deep and wonderful Are all thy draughts of Providence So full Of puzling Intricacies that they lie Beyond the ken of any mortal eye A Wheel within a Wheel's the Scripture Notion And all those VVheels transverse and cross in motion All Creatures serve it in their place yet so As thousands of them know not what they do At this or that their aim they do direct But neither this nor that is the effect But something else they do not understand VVhich sets all Politicians at a stand Deep Counsels as the birth this hand doth break And deeper things performeth by the weak Men are like â—orses set at every stage For Providence to ride from age to age VVhich like a Post spurs on and makes them run From stage to stage until their Iourney 's done Then take a fresh But they the business know No more than Horses the Post-Letters do Yet though its work be not conceal'd from sight 'T will
Scriptures among many others Prov. 5. 2 3 4. Acts 5. 29. Rom. 1. 24 29. Rom. 13. 13. 1 Cor. 6. 13 14 15 16 18. 2 Cor. 12. 21. Gal. 5. 29. Ephes. 5. 3. Col. 3. 5. 1 Thes. â— 2 3 4 5. Heb. 12. 16. Heb. 13. 4. All these with many others are the true sayings of God By them thou shalt be tryed in the last day Now consider how terrible it will be to have so many words of God and such terrible ones too as most of those are to be brought in and pleaded against thy Soul in that day mountains and hills may depart but these words shall not depart Heâ—ven and Earth shall pass away but not one tittle of the Word shall pass away Believe it Sinner as sure as the Heavens are over thy head and the Earth under thy seet they shall one day take hold of thee though we poor worms who plead them with thee die and perish Zech. 1. 5 6. The Lord tells us it shall not fall to the ground Which is a borrowed speech from a Dart that is flung with a weak hand it goes not home to the mark but falls to the ground by the way None of these words shall so fall to the ground Arg. 3. It is a sin that defiles and destroys the body 1 Cor. 6. 18. He that committeth adultery sinneth against his own body In most other sins the body is but the Instrument here it is the Object against which the sin is committed that body of thine which should be the Temple of the holy Ghost is turned into a stye of filthiness yea it not only defiles but destroys it Iob calls it a fire that burneth to destruction Iob 31. 12. or as the Septuagint reads it a fire that burneth in all the Members It is a sin that God hath plagued with strange and terrible diseases that Morbus Gallicus and sudor Anglicus and that Plica Polonica whereof you may read in Bolton's four last things page 30. and Sclater on Rom. 1. 30. These were judgments sent immediately by Gods own hand to correct the new sins and enormities of the world for they seem to put the best Physicians besides their Books Oh how terrible is it to lie groaning under the sad effects of this sin As Solomon tells us Prov. 5. 11. And thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed To this sense some expound that terrible Text Heb. 13. 4. Marriage is honourable in all and the bed undefiled but Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge i. e. with some remarkable judgment inflicted on them in this world if it escape the punishment of men it shall not escape the vengeance of God Ah! with what comfort may a man lie down upon a sick bed when the sickness can be looked upon as a Fatherly Visitation coming in Mercy But thou that shortenest thy life and bringest sickness on thy self by such a sin art the Devils Martyr and to whom canst thou turn in such a day for comfort Arg. 4. Consider what an indelible blot it is to thy nature which can never be wiped away though thou escape with thy life yet as one says thou shalt be burnt in the hand yea branded in the forehead What a foul scar is that upon the face of David himself which abides to this day He was upright in all things save in the matter of Uriah And how was he slighted by his own Children and servants after he had committed this sin Compare 1 Sam. 2. 30. with 2 Sam. 12. 10 11. A wound and dishonour shall he get and his reproach shall not be wiped away This is to give thine honour to another Prov. 5. 9. The shame and reproach attending it should be a preservative from it Indeed the Devil tempts to it by hopes of secresie and concealment but though many other sins lie hid and possibly shall never come to light until that day of manifestation of all hidden things yet this is a sin that is most usually discovered Under the Law Cod appointed an extraordinary way for the discovery of it Numb 5. 13. And to this day the Providence of God doth often very strangely bring it to light though it be a deed of darkness The Lord hath many times brought such persons either by terrors of Conscience Phrensie or some other means to be the publishers and proclaimers of their own shame Yea observe this saith Reverend Mr. Hildersham on the Fourth of Iohn even those that are most cunning to conceal and hide it from the eyes of the world yet through the just judgment of God every one suspects and condemns them for it this dashes in pieces at one stroke that Vessel in which the precious Oyntment of a good name is carried A fool in Israel shall be thy title and even Children shall point at thee Arg. 5. It scatters thy substance und roots up the foundation of thy state Iob 31. 12. It roots up all the increase Strangers shall be filled with thy wealth and thy labours shall be in the house of a stranger Prov. 5. 10. For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a morsel of bread Prov. 6. 26. It gives rags for its Livery saith one and though it be furthered by the fulness yet it 's followed with a morsel of bread This is one of those temporal Judgments with which God punishes the unclean person in this life The word Delilah which is the name of an Harlot is conceived to come from a root that signifiesâ—to exhaust drain or draw dry This sin will quickly exhaust the fullest estate and oh what a dreadful thing will this be when God shall require an account of thy Stewardship in the great day How righteous is it that that man should be fuel to the wrath of God whose health and wealth have been so much fuel to maintain the flame of Lust Oh how lavish of their estates are sinners to satisfie their Lusts If the Members of Christ be sick or in Prison they may there perish and starve before they will relieve them but to obtain their Lusts Oh how expensive Ask me never so much and I will give it said Sâ—echem Gen. 34. 12. Ask what thou wilt and it shall be given thee said Herod to the daughter of his Herodias Well you are liberal in spending treasures upon you lusts and believe it God will spend treasures of wrath to punish you for your Lusts. It had been a thousand times better for thee thou hadst never had an estate that thou hadst begg'd thy bread from door to door than to have such a sad reckoning as thou shalt shortly have for it Arg. 6. Oh stand off from this sin because it is a pit out of which very few have been recovered that have fallen therein Few are the footsteps of returners from this den The longer a man lives in it the less power he hath to leave it It is not only a damning but an