prosper in outward shew by callings or rather trades vnlawfull whereunto there can bee no lawfull calling neither is the vse lawfull as common professed Gamesters combined Cheaters and the like But leauing such to their owne wicked practises wherby they often deceiue the innocent and simple but most of all themselues I wish that other men that haue lawfull callings would consider the necessitie of Prayer to God for a blessing vpon their labours and endeauors not onely Mechanicks and such as liue by their handy-labours but from the highest to the lowest in Church or Common-wealth It is by God that Kings gouerne therefore in imitation of Dauid and Salomon they pray for and obtain wisdome rightly to gouerne their people and where good godly wise and religious Kings reigne there the people in imitation of them pray for their peace and safety and that God would furnish them with wise and religious Counsellors and that no Achitophell lurke wayting for mischiefe Counsellors of State haue an high and weighty calling so haue Iudges of the Land and other chiefe and eminent Magistrates deriued mediatly from God for as the King is called of none but immediatly by God to take chaâ—ge of his people So he imparts the power of the sword vnto his sub-ordinate Magistrats for the execution of Iustice functions of greater weight and moment then is vulgarly esteemed And therefore though I neither presume not neede to mooue them when or how to pray I only may remember them that as they haue highest functions they and we in their behalfes for them may pray for the due execution of them because their office and place is to correct the euill and to protect the good and that they mistake not as by sinister information they may and so erre vnwittingly Men in authoritie and in eminent places are chosen for their Vertues Wisdome Integritie and Iustice yet are they subiect to censure not onely of their Superiours and equals but often of most inferiours wherein happie are the innocent for GOD preserueth them who sitteth in the Throne that iudgeth right to whom whosoeuer prayeth as Dauid did shall finde that he will be a buckler vnto him his glorie and the lifter vp of his head the greatest honour that man in this life can receiue It may seeme needlesse to put such in minde of this holy dutie of prayer who haue the charge and ouersight of the Lords flocke for their calling is so diuine as they may not bee but diuinely indued with heauenly gifts abounding alwayes in the worke of the Lord whose labours are not in vaine blessed be God whom we ought to reuerence as the Ministers of God labouring our saluation and to pray for them Yet may it not bee superfluous to intimate to such as enter rashly into this holy function that it is fit for them to examine their owne inward hearts whether they came with a sincere Spirituall deuotion to edifie Gods Church or to make onely a carnall liuing vnder the name of a workeman in Gods haruest If he came in regard of the first Let him pray that God will blesse his labours if onely of the second Let him pray that God will enable him to discharge it and withall that GOD remit the euill thoughts of his heart for he entred not aright Such as liue by their labours bee they neuer so ingenious neuer so labourious neuer so cunning in their profession art or trade they must know and acknowledge that what they know or howsoeuer they may performe it it is but in part and weake in comparison of the perfection And that the knowledge and skill they haue is not theirs but giuen them by God as hee gaue to Tubalkaine the art of working in yron and to Iubal skill in musicke Yet some and they not of best perfection will attribute their knowledge to their owne naturall wit and inuention making an idol as it were of their owne braine neuer giuing the prayse to the true Giuer and that and the want of prayer is the cause that many Artists and others faile often-times of good successe of what they vndertake to performe Nothing can truely prosper without Gods blessing which cannot bee obtayned but by faithfull prayer Neither will God heare their prayers that deale vniustly in their callings taking neuer so great paynes rising early taking rest late sparing euen their food to increase their store it is all in vaine Howsoeuer some may doe waxe rich by dealing vniustly in weights measures false and counterfeit wares by swearing forswearing and lying the gaines they get are but froth and silth scraped out of the deuils dunghill that will quickly returne from whence it came and hee that so gets without repentance shall haue his portion with his like the Rich man not with Lazarus Happy therefore is he that labouâ—s in his calling diligently deales truely craues Gods blessing faithfully hee and onely he and his like haue rest and peace and plenty in their little truely gotten Such are they that eate the labours of their hands and art blessed Hee therefore that will bee happie and prosper in his calling let him often and faithfully call vpon the Name of the Lord to which purpose he may vse the prayer following or any other to the like purpose A Prayer that God will blesse and prosper our labours and indeuours in whatsoeuer calling O Heauenly Father great in Maiesty wise of Counsell absolute in Power and vnsearchable in Prouidence who of nothing hast made all things and in thy greatest Wisdome hast created man whom thou guidest gouernest and disposest according to thine owne Will and to whom thou hast appointed labour and trauaile whereby to get their reliefe yet not all in one manner of calling Gracious Father as I haue receiued life and being of thee and in thy prouidence a calling therein whereby to maintaine my being So giue a blessing vnto mee that I may haue true iudgement and an vpright heart to performe my dutie therein according to thy Will that my calling may prosper vnder my hands as thou blessedst Iaakob vnder Laban and Ioseph in Potiphers house So blesse me and my vocation that whatsoeuer I doe it may prosper I confesse louing Father that neither the most absolute art greatest naturall knowledge corporall or mentall diligence can auaile any thing without thy blessing By my naturall vnderstanding I can neither apprehend in my minde nor performe with my hands or wit the things that properly belong vnto my calling But it is thy onely Wisdome and of thine owne Fatherly fauour that I haue beene made in some measure capeable of that reason and iudgement to which I haue attained it is not in me as of mine owne power to performe the least part of that which necessarily belongeth vnto my vocation It is thine owne worke in me If thou shouldest deale with mee according to my deseruings thou mightest iustly depriue mee of that meane measure of knowledge that by thy fauour and aide
and in feare to bee stoned of the people And many other crosses had he Not one of Christs Apostles or faithfull Fathers of the Primitiue Church no not Christ himselfe hath escaped the troubles of this mortall life and shall wee weâ—e wee his dearest children thinke or desire to escape it sith it is our honour to suffer with and for Christ The Scriptures themselues besides authentike Histories abound with witnesses that Gods Children haue beene euer most afflicted and that God yet nâ—uer fayleth them nor finally forsaketh them Whosoeuer therefore is strayted with any troubles or pressed with any afflictions Let them make vse of the examples of Gods dealing with and his mercies shewed towards our former afflicted faithfull Fathers For hee is the same God still hee hath the same power the same prouidence the same loue and the same Fatherly care of theÌ„ that trust in him as our faithfull forefathers did and were deliuered And the memoriall of their faith and patience is recorded by former holy men of God as by Moses by Dauid by the Prophets by Christ and his Apostles to teach vs to imitate them in holy obedience euen vs vpon whom the ends of the world are come that through our like patience and faith wee might haue hope to bee likewise eased of our afflictions and troubles as thâ—se and other holy men hoped and were deliuered and releeued Dauid that worthy King of â—srael penned to the prayse and glory of God for our instruction and comfort sundry most sweet and comfortable Psalmes in the middest of his greatest troubles shewing the force of his faith to bee so strong and his hope so assured depending vpon Gods power promises and prouidence as he deemed himselfe euen then deliuered when he was yet in greatest perill Such was the firme and constant hope of holy Dauid that in all his troubles sicknesse of the body danger of enemies yea when his Crowne was like to be taken from his head by his owne sonne through patience and hope not limiting the holy one of Jsrael hee wayted Gods leasure and was deliuered teaching vs to attend Gods appointed time without grudging at our troubles There is no danger so great no tentation so strong out of which God is not able to deliuer his For example was not Daniel in a desperate danger being cast into the hungry Lyons Denne Did hee perish there The three children in the seuenfold hot Furnace were they consumed Did not the powerfull and preuayling hand of God the Angell of his presence miraculously preserue them in his mercie And did he not confound the ministers of their intended torments in his Iustice Why then shall faithfull men feare or be affrayd at the â—alice and furious threates of whatsoeuer roaring Tyrant God hath power ouer their hearts and hands And therefore sayth Dauid full of faith I will not feare what man can doe vnto mee for it is the Lord that maketh mee to dwell in saftie What if then I bee sicke with Hezekiah hee can apply the sweete and salutary figs of his fauour to heale mee or will affoord mee the patience to beare it or which is best of all a speedie dissolution to rest with him If pouerty assaile mee should I grudge and repine at the wealth and prosperitie of others euen as holy Dauid himselfe once seemed to doe seeing himselfe in necessity and the wicked to prosper This he did in his haste but vpon more holy deliberation and consultation with the Word of God he did acknowledge it good for him so to bee humbled knowing that God forgetteth not the poore that call vpon him though he supplie not our necessities in abundance yet he neuer will faile to prouide for vs that we perish not Hee may suffer vs to want some superfluous things of this world that the wealthy haue but instead thereof hee will giue vs better things that the wealthy want Though Lazarus was poore naked hungry and full of sores here loathsome to the eye of men and the rich man gloriously robed his belly full his body free from spott or wrinkle which of these was the happiest Man could not iudge but their ends declared which of them had the best portion the vilest of them in mans sight was most glorious in Gods and contrary Man often fayleth in iudgement of mens happinesse because hee seeth onely the case and seeth not the Iewell within it hee discerneth onely the outward habit but not the inward heart and therefore knoweth not what end any man shall make for whatsoeuer the outward shew bee of a happy man beleeue it not till thou see his end What a miserable man was Iob on the dunghill and what an vnhappy man was Joseph in prison what ends the Lord made with them both is manifest What a happy man was Nabuchadnezzar in his glorious palace and what a glorious Monarch was Balteshasher who feasted one thousand of his Vassall Princes at once What a worthy wise and glorious King was Herod the son of Aristobulus surnamed Agrippa sitting in his royall robes in his regall throne at whose Oration the people showted crying The voyce of God and not of a man Looke within a while vpon the first and thou shalt see him grazing with the wild beasts of the forest Looke vpon the second thou shalt suddenly see him perish in his drunkennesse and behold the third and thou shalt see him immediatly vpon his Deified Oration to be deuoured with the vermine of his owne bowels The estates of these kindes of men seene with the eyes of a carnall man are censured as they seeme but these and infinite other examples prooue that the mightie and the wise men of the world are not all glorious within though gorgious with â—ut Iudge not therfore the ends of men by their outward appearance for the most glorious beginnings of men not fearing God come often to fearefull endes To prooue further by Histories wee need not wee haue seene it with our eyes But as touching the children of God they for the most part seem base and such as are seemly to the outward appearance haue yet humble spirits seeming not the wisest in the world because they are inwardly so innocent and harmlesse as they can shew no carnall policies as doe the wise of the world but the basest and seeming vilest of Gods children that want plentie of food for their bodies or competent clothes to couer their nakednesse are yet through faith the feare of God and humblenesse of heart accepted of God And although it be obserued that at their deaths there be no pompous funerall Obsequies yet dying the Saints of God they haue the Angels of God attending theÌ„ who conuey that part which the world seeth not into heauenly Paradise as they did the soule of Lazarus and leaue that seeming base part to the world in as meane a manner to be disposed to the earth If yet the vngodly poore should pretend interest in the loue and promises
GOD of Hostes who sent his Angell and that night destroyed in Senacheribs campe one hundred fourescore and fiue thousand men Thus God can deale with the enemies of his faithfull people hee can destroy them without their helpe as wee our selues haue found by memorable experience to shew that it is not alwayes the multitude of armed souldiers that are the absolute meanes of victorie it is the meere hand of God to declare himselfe to be in deed the GOD of Hosts against whom no power pollicie or humane wisdome can preuaile And therefore admitteth not the arme of flesh though a necessary meane to haue the glorie of the distruction of his enemies he will confound When Joshua was to goe against Jericho a Citie whom God would destroy though hee was accompanied with a multitude of armed souldiers yet the Lord would not haue the ouerthrow ascribed vnto battery and engines of warre violent instruments But at Gods command they blew with Rams-hornes onely about the wals with a shoute and the walls fell downe God by weake meanes can doe wonderfull things for his Fiue mighty kings combined their forces together against Ioshua and though God permitted Ioshua to haue the victory and slaughter of some of them yet God himselfe had the prayse who slew more with hayl stones from heauen then Ioshua slew with the sword Thus doth God manifest his power that all men may see that they that haue God on their side neede not feare though kings combine and people rage as if they would deuoure Gods people at their pleasures casting their accounts and disposing of their pray before the victorie Benadab that mighty Aramite king threatned Ahab king of Israel to depriue him of all that he had His siluer and his gold his women and his faire children But God gaue Ahab the victorie both on the Mountaines and the Vallies Because they obiected against God that he was God in the Mountaines not in the Vallies as if we should say he were God at Land but not at Sea or to impute good or ill successe in these weighty occasions to false and contrary causes as is commonly seen and obserued to ignorance or negligence of some Commanders or to this or that omission ouer-sight or rashnesse which indeed may bee blame-worthy yet for that wee attribute not good successe to God but to humane power wisdome or pollicie and ill euents and issues to our owne sinnefull deseruings and waâ—t of calling vp on God for a blessing God many times permits his owne children to suffer violence when they forget to serue him The Israelites committing wickednesse in the sight of the Lord God gaue them ouer into the hands of their enemies the Midianites for seuen yeares yet vpon their repentance and returning to God hee raysed vp Deborah and Barak to deliuer them Sinne is the cause that God permitteth a mighty multitude to bee ouer-throwne by a few foure hundred thousand Israelites for one sinne were ouercome twice by sixe and twentie thousand Beniamits If God for one sinne suffered his people to bee thus slaine by a few what will hee not permit to bee done vnto a nation that commits infinite sinnes For one seeming small sinn of one man Achan the children of Israel were chased and put to flight by a few to shew that where sinne raigneth there is no strength in the people to withstand their enemies God is a righteous God perseruing and punishing as hee findeth men faithfull or sinnefull not sparing his dearest children when they rebell against him but as long as they truely obay him no enemie shall preuaile against them Let Pharoh pursue Gods children with purpose to consume them let them but call vpon God let them bee faithfull and they shall see the saluation of God the confusion of their enemies by the immediate hand of God without the helpe or hand of man An hoste of men cannot hurt one man whom God will protect and yet permits sometimes one of his to preuaile against many as Samson who slewe one thousand men with the iaw-bone of an asse and Shamgar with an Oxe goad slew six hundred men to shew that God is not tyed to multitudes to auenge him of the enemies of his children and that a multitude to him is but as one man and as easie to bee ouercome And yet he many times permitteth the wicked to take away the liues of the most righteous and innocent as Kain to kill Abel Herod to kill Iohn Baptist James c. he permits bloody massacres and suffers his dâ—arest children to be martyred after many fearefull meanes not that he is not able to deliuer them but that his owne name by their patient suffrings may be glorified On the other side if it please him and that it stand for the good of his hee can and will defend them hee can send an hoste of Angels to defend theÌ„ and fire from hâ—auen to consume the aduâ—â—saries of them that take him for their streÌ„gth But not according to naturall mans reuengefull desire As when his disciples willed him to call for fire from heauen to consume their enemies he answered them Yee know not of what spirit yee are And therefore although he in his iustice in former times hath and yet is in his power to execute his seuere iudgments with fearefull fire as vpon Sodome vpon Nadab and Abihu and vpon the fifties which came to apprehend Eliah yet ought we to be farre from desire to haue like iudgements inflicted vpâ—on our most mortall enemies vpon such as would euen eate vs vp but rather as wee are instructed first to pray for their reformation and serious reconciliation and refer the issue to God though it may be we cannot as properly say of some malicious aduersaries as Stephen sometimes said of his Lord lay not this his death vnto their charge for they know not what they doe No our most malicious enemies are not ignorant that their malice towards vs is sinne against God to whose iudgement we are in charitie to leaue them for to him not to vs belongeth reuenge who being wise in his vnderstanding and iust in his iudgements is also mercifull and patient in punishing and in all things both to them and vs will do that which is equal right and will reward tyranous oppressors malicious persecuters of his faithful children in his time according to his owne will and for his owne he will neuer leaue nor forsake them Although our enemies may pretend Religion the cause of their malice and couer their inward hatred vnder a counterfeit pretence to worke our reformation therein and with many seeming sweet insinuations worke themselues into our thoughts it behooueth vs to be wise lest that in conceiuing they seek our good they get not our goods which are our obedience to God faith in him and perseuerance True it is that Religion is the cause of many both priuat and publike controuersies and quarrels but that Religion that is increased and maintained