in life and behauiour and not to be perfect within as to make shew without and not to be in either conformable to the office and place I haue especially regarded the maner of my walking that it might bee honest worthie and wise that so I might teach both in doctrine and life and not destroye in th' one Psal 109.7 whiles I would seeme to build in the other accounting them that offend herein worthy of that censure which David gaue on such saying His office let another take Moreouer whereas it was the good pleasure of my Lorde the King and the will of my Lorde Zadoke that I should at times minister for my Lorde Zadoke in the seruice of God the King It is well knowne that I haue not presumptuously vsurped nor intruded nor thrust my selfe into presence but being called and commanded beeing well mindfull of the kinges words writtē amōg his wise prouerbs pro. 25.5.6 Put not forth thy selfe in the presence of the King and prease not into the place of great men for better it is that it be said to thee come vp higher then that thou shouldest be placed lower in the presence of the Prince whome thou seest with thine eyes Therefore I haue not béene of that ambitious and arrogant minde But howsoeuer I might bee suspected as faultie or imperfect in place and time I appeale to the Lord and mine owne conscience as yee my Lords haue done If I be guiltie against the king to my knowledge then would I wish that the one might accuse me and the other condemne me in the presence of you all Howbeit letting passe this examinatiō I presume there is some other cause whereof the kings affliction springeth the which I doubt not will in time appeare in the clearing of vs al. For time is that which discloseth secrets reuealeth the truth therefore is worthily called the mother of truth Nor do I thinke that the king suspecteth any of vs in this case for if he did his iealousie would not haue forborne to disclose and vtter the same to any of vs all for he respecteth neither persons nor power nor wealth nor policie such is his wisedome wealth power and the glory of the fearefull God in him zadock the high priest putteth forth his Apology and sheweth what is the function duty of his place Abiather hauing thus spoken for himselfe he at the last giueth place to Zadoke perceiuing how ready willing also he was to say sōwhat in the presēce of the lords * Zadock was a uery graue and reuerend Father and a faithfull Priest of the Lord doing according to his heart and mind in whome the bright Vrim Thumim so shined that no man either suspected him of any fault towardes the king or doubted of his diuine wisedome and singular perfection and therefore neither the Princes required either any examination or further triall of his integritie howbeit the most reuerend father in all humilitie neither refused nor disdained to doe as they had before done in this respect Therfore stāding vp in the midst of thē he spake with great grauity deliberation to this effect My Lords all although it be so that neither any of you hath giuen this offence vnto the king nor may it be that he holdeth any of you faultie in this matter yet am I glad to see and heare how willing and readie ye haue béene with all submission to examine and cleare your selues in this presence And truely howsoeuer ye bee sory for the kings affliction as indéed ye cannot be glad thereof yet may ye reioice in this that ye haue had this fit opportunity by this confession and trial both to cleare your selues of guilt to manifest your integritie and dutifull heartes towardes his Maiestie But howsoeuer it be that any suspicion or surmises may spring of any of your wordes or dealinges ye are happy in this that ye retain a good consiēce to testify in for your selues to the ease and ioy of your heartes then the which there cannot be a greater treasure in this life The guiltie man proposing to his vnderstanding the law which he hath broken The guilty cōscience and transgressed and withall the iudgement and paine ensewing the same being rightly concluded and applied to himselfe hath alwayes dreade carefulnes and sorrowe of heart as who might thus argue Thus saith the lawe but thus haue I done and so transgressed the lawe Ergo I stand to bee iudged and condemned by the same as who shoulde saye shall not that iust God deale with me as I haue deserued and shall not I be plagued in the end for my desert offending against the law of God as others haue beene plagued for the like and shoulde I promise vnto my selfe safetie any way in this my guiltinesse Thus argued Adam when he had broken the law of the Lord thus also Cain when he had murthered his brother Thus the brethrē of Ioseph who had abused and solde him away Thus argued Pharao after that he had threatned Moses and Aaron and would not let the people go thus Saul when hee perceiued Davids innocencie and his owne malice against him and thus Achitophel and such like who in the knowledge of their owne sinnes and the sense of the diuine Iustice concluded a iust condemnation on themselues Adam fearing what wold ensewe hid himselfe in the bushes and yet hee coulde not bee safe opposed as it were to the diuine wrath and all miseries and therefore confessed Gen. 4. that hee was naked and was afraide at the sounde of the Lordes voyce Cain confessed that his sinne was greater then that hee coulde bee pardoned and that the punishment thereof shoulde bee farre beyond his habilitie to beare yea hee saide vnto the Lord Beholde thou hast cast mee out this day from the vpper face of the earth and from thy face shall I be hid fugitiue also and a vagabond shall I bee in the earth and it shall come to passe that every one that findeth mee shall slay me * The sonnes of Iacob seeing they could not bee hidden Gen 42.21 confessed at length their sinne against their brother saying we haue verily sinned against him and therefore are we now troubled And againe fearing what Ioseph woulde doe vnto them after his fathers funeralls they in the terror of minde come and beséech him to forget their iniury against him The king of Aegypt at length confessed and saide vnto Moses and Aaron Exod. 6.27 Indeede the Lord is righteous and I and my people are vngodly On the which he would conclude his conscience condemning him Therefore shall both I and my people be plagued Saul in the agonie of his heart slew himselfe with his owne sworde and Achitophel who had béene a Counsaylor and prouoker of Absolon against his Father his owne conscience condemning him went and hanged himselfe Surely of all the torments vnder the Sunne there is none comparable to an euill
conscience which aggrauated by his owne sting or pricke doeth euer accuse condemne and wring mans heart If publique fame neither condemne nor accuse nor suspect yet the guiltie conscience within a mans selfe forceth the same to the vttermost neither can it be that he which liueth faultie shall escape the torment and terror thereof nor therfore can hee be happy in his life be he neuer so rich The comfort of a good conscience so honourable so strong so mightye so glorious in the worlde but blessed is the man that feareth God and walketh in his waies as David the Kinges Father hath modulated For this is that which in the lawe is required of him as the King hath saide This man concludeth to himselfe Ioy and gladnes Iob. 23.3.4.5.6.7 when that which hee hath done shal be well approued by the lawe This cheared Iob in the middest of his afflictions notwithstanding that his wife and his thrée friendes hardly charged him with folly So was Ioseph holde in Aegypt when his integritie cleared him So Moses and Aaron were not discouraged Gen. 40.41 Exod. 10. notwithstanding the threates and hard dealinges of Pharao and thus the Kinges father with a cleare conscieÌ„ce protested before King Saul Behold this daye thine eyes have seene 1 Sam. 24.10 how that the Lord hath delivered thee this daye into mâ—ne hand in the caue and some bad mee to kill thee but I had compassion on thee and saide I will not lay mine handes on my Maister for he is the Lords annoynted c. And this to expresse the innocencie of his heart hee feared not to protest before the Lord in his prayer O Lord my God If I haue done any such thing Psal 7.3.4 or if there bee any wickednes in mine handes If I haue rewarded euill vnto him that dealte srowardly with mee yea I haue deliuered him that without any cause is mine enemy then let mine enemy persecute my soule and take mee Yea let him treade my life downe vpon the earth and lay mine honour in the dust Lastly I cannot but remember that worthie example of Samuel the Lords Prophet who was occasioned through the disobedience of the people before King Saul and them to pleade for himselfe to defende his integritie 1. Sam. 12.3 And thus hee saide with a good conscience and boldnes of Spirit Beholde here I am Beare record of mee before the Lorde and before his Annointed Whose Oxe haue I taken Or whose Asse haue I taken Whome haue I done wrong to Whome haue I hurt or of whose hand haue I receiued any bribe to blinde mine eyes therewith and I will restore it you They said their own conscience prouoking them thou hast done vs no wrong nor hurte neither hast thou takeÌ„ ought of any maÌ„s hand Lo my lords here is ioy gladnes the greatest coÌ„fort in this life for the good Conscience hath with it a thousand witnesses and as many pleaders to testifie for his owners integritie and to defend the same before the throne of Iustice This therefore is the swéetest and most wholsome rest of mans soule the title of Religion the spirituall Temple the blessed field the pleasant gardin the golden peace the Angelicall ioy the holy Arke the Kings treasure the house of the spirit and the glasse wherein a man both séeth ordereth and confirmeth himselfe to the liuely image of his maker Though the flesh oppresse vs the world allure vs the Diuel terrifie vs yet is this treasure safe and sure within vs from all daunger of euill Therefore I hold that in this life there is nothing more pleasant more swéet more profitable and more to be desired and reteyned then a good conscience both towards God and man Wherefore my Lords as ye haue very well done in that ye haue submitted your selues to this present examination and tryal so are ye happy in this that ye are iustified in conscience for hereof ye haue and shall find the highest comfort and gladnesse And now I beséech you to permit me to do as ye haue done The high priest is willing to ease himselfe in shewing forth his integritie with the rest that thereby I may not onely expresse mine owne integritie so cleare my selfe of all offence and suspicion of the same but also reioyce together with you though in the middest of mine affliction for the kinges trouble And that the sooner because whiles I stand an hearer and a iudge of other men in their examination and triall I might not séeme to disdaine mine owne 1. Kings 2.35 Abiather was before this time high priest howbeit his cause and dealing concerning both God and the king came into question before the king and his princes and being found guilty against either in his triall he was worthelie deposed and the priestshood translated Then why should I imagin my selfe frée from censures the rather in respect of my place and why should I not abide the hammering of that which should be obiected against me and my maÌ„ner of procéeding towards God the king and his people And if I shall be found guiltie as Abiather was why should not I be remoued as he was another man put in my place more worthy And now my Lords although I may not say whether in my person or in my ministerie and behauiour wherin I am to prefigure the holy Messiah in his priesthood or whether in that Abiather the priest attended sometimes for me in the kings presence any contempt or abuse hath béene taken or suspected to his highnesse offence yet I know well that for mine owne part I here safelie protest from my conscience before the Lord of heauen and earth and before you all that according to that trust which the kinges father reposed in me when I was to annoint and proclame my Lord King ouer Israel and after that good opinion which the king himselfe conceiued of me in the day when he tooke me to him to be the Lords high priest in the place of Abiather whom he put away I haue performed the first and expressed the second whithout any deceit in the one or iust offence in the other and that after my state and dignitie so farre forth as a mortall man could possibly extend himselfe therein And of this as of my calling I hope ye doubt not Neuerthelesse let me be heard I beséech you a few words concerning both this and that seing that the Priesthood was ordayned to foreshew and signifie the office and dignitie of that highest Priest which is to come as vnto whoÌ„ all the types and shadowes of the law do point it hath beene both prouided and commaunded by the Lord himselfe that the Priest might haue his lawfull calling and therewith not onely in bodie but in habites and ornamentes should be pure holy and glorious in all pointes To the which it was aduised how he should be consecrated what he should doe how he he should liue what wife he
should marry and how he should be esteemed in his place According to the which though I say it for my selfe I was taken froÌ„ the middest of my people as one worthelie esteemed and honoured in my place for the tokens of my graces then I was straitly viewed and throughlie examined wherein I was found cleane and free from euery one of those blemishes with the which whosoeuer was touched was forbidden to prease forth to do the priests office Leuit. 21.17.18.19.20 I was wel tried to be neither blind nor lame nor brused or flat of nose nor mishapeÌ„ in my meÌ„bers nor brokeÌ„ in my féet nor brokeÌ„ in my haÌ„ds nor crooked in my back nor bleared in mine eyes nor eyes webbed or blemished nor skiruy nor scabbed nor broken in the stoanes The blemishes for the which a man was vnfit for the priesthood yea I was found frée of those imperfections or blemishes which our Elders haue gathered and noted out of that place of the law which disabled the priest for they noted in the head eight in the necke two in the ears twelue in the eye-browes and eye-lides fiftéene in the eyes ninetéene in the nose sixe in the lips and mouth nine in the belly thrée in the backe thrée in the priuities sixtéene in the handes and féete twelue in the leges fiftéene and in all the body foure the which being taken away the naturall body appeared sound faire and perfect in all partes that by the same not onely the puritie of the mind might be signified but also the person of the Messiah truely prefigured Then was I consecrated to the Lord according to the law The consecration and ornamentes of the priest then was I cloathed in the holy garments as namely the Breastplate the Ephod the Tunicle the broadered Coate the Mytre the Girdle which were according to the commaundement garnished and beautified with gould blew-silke purple scarlet white twyned silke and brodered worke also with Owches Chaynes pretious stoans other such things with Vrim and Thumim in the which are expressed not onely spiritually the seuerall graces of a godly minde but also mistically the heaueÌ„lie vertues of the holy Messiah the finall obiect of our loue To this I was annointed with the holy oyle and had mine handes filled for the sacrifices The duties of priesthood performed Thus haue I béene furnished and approued for the Priestes office Now to this haue I beene willing and ready to doe my duety in the execution of my function I haue offered the sacrifices to the Lord for my selfe and the people and haue prayed for them in the which I haue beene mercifully heard and regarded of the Lord as Aaron was I haue taught the people and instructed them in the feare and lawes of the Lord I haue iudged and discerned according to equitie and as placed ouer the priests and ministers in the Lords house I haue regarded therein not only the conuersation and behauiour but also the order of the ministeries and seruices of the persons in the same for the better seruice of God the preseruation and maintainance of the ornaments of the Lords house and the benefit of the Lords people And this the better to performe I haue ruled my selfe and liued according to the law in my place and for my comfort I haue taken to me a cleane Vâ—rgin to wife Moreouer I haue serued and honoured next vnto my God my Lord the King in all dutiful thankfulnesse without giuing him any iust offence to my knowledge And therfore as the King is most wise and will not take an offence being not offered him I am sure he is not afflicted or grieued for any cause of mine as I perswade neither for any thing he hath noted or conceited in any of you But I know well there be other causes things whereof he hath taken this sorrow the which also may bee knowne to some of you and yet are yee most vnwilling to reveile or make knowne but would rather if it might be conceale and couer them for it is the part of a friend to couer the fault of his friend much rather then ought a true Subiect for the loue and honour of his Prince rather modestly to forbeare then to aduenture the display of any his faultes or imperfections They that obserue not this rule resemble shamelesse Cham one of the sonnes of Noah Gen. 9.22 who most vnreuerently both discouered and derided the nakednesse of his father This being said Zadok sighed déepely and made as a proffer to further speeches Neuerthelesse hee refrained for this time for he well knew the causes of the Kings griefe although it pleased him not as yet to vtter it partly for the reuerence he yeelded the kings honour partly for his owne modesty as also for that he was verie vnwilling to be the vnfolder of that which hee was sure the Princes and all the Kinges friendes would be very sory and loath to heare albeit they were so redy to inuestigate that whereof being once certified they did much maruaile at greatly lament and could scarsely ease or mitigate much lesse salue and recure howbeit they endeuoured their best and thought it bootelesse for them to stand wondering and reasoning longer then they might set on and spéedily assay which way to bring ease or comfort to their Soueraigne Lord the which they wel knew could not be effected till time they had found out and considered of the true causes of the kings affliction Therefore though much against their wils yet vrged by the present necessitie they presume on the king in this examination CAP. IX The Lordes are resolved to examine and consider of the King and his actions but note by what occasion in what sort and to what end Of Solomons birth WHen euery one of the Lordes had perused himselfe cleared his owne conscience and approued his words and actions towards the king Azariah Azariah the chiefe Lord replied againe and said Now that wee haue in this sort submitted our selues to the iust triall in all modestie and no lesse faithfulnes to our Lord K. Solomon and so cleared our selues of any iust offeÌ„ce offered him which bringeth no small comfort to our heartes in the time of this our trouble and trial Let vs aduenture to behold the king himselfe in whome it may be that the cause of his owne sorrow may be found Therfore let vs consider of his person actions and his manner both of entrance and life Indéede I confesse as Zadok hath before intimated that it may be thought a thing too malepert in Subiectes to censure the Prince or to pry too narrowlie into his actions and dealings or to discouer any his faults or imperfections especially to this end to diffame or deride him for this was Chams offence against his father for the which he was reproued and his posteritie cursed Neuerthelesse I thinke it not vnlawful nor amisse that the kings Princes and Priuie Counsellors seeing the kings
locks are curled blacke His eyes are like the Doues vpon the water streames Which are all waste with milke byde full vessels by His cheekes be like spice bedds as the sweetest flowers His lippes are Lillies like that drop the purest mirrhe His hands as ringes of gold with Chrisolite beset His belly yuory white with Saphires garnisht brave His legges as marble pillers on golden sockets set His looke as Libanon as Cedars excellent His mouth as sweetned thinges lovely all is hee Howsoeuer this was spoken as aiming mistically far beyond the Kings person It hath doubtles been applied to our Soueraign without adulation in whom their appeareth some especial grace yea the very image of the diuine nature beyond that hath been perceiued in any other man But were it that he had felt or vnderstood some defects in these external things yet see I not how he might be offended knowing well that he is but a mortall man that whatsoeuer is wanting in the body may bee supplied that to the vttermost by the graces of the minde the which the Lorde more respecteth then the beautie of the body as he said to Samuel when he sent him to annoint David for king moreouer he hath well tryed it and therof hath said it in iudgement that fauour is deceitfull and that beauty is a thing vaine therfore hath not béene of the mind to set his felicitie therein * To this also assented the Princes extolling and praising to the cloudes the most angelicall forme and beautie of the King Benaiah And forth with Benaiah beckning with his and proffered his speach and saide Neither indeed may the kinges education Solomon his eductaion or the manner thereof offend him as Ahishar hath saide for neuer any in this world hath beene better taught and brought vp as towching the feare of God and all princely and heroicall vertues For to this end king David had prouided him most wise and godlie teachers as namelie Nathan Gad Asaph and such other the Lordes prophets and wise men whom he had diuinelie inspired and sent forth yea king David himselfe being a man after Gods owne mind for his heauenlie songes and melody called the sweete Singer of Israel and the Lordes annointed and also his mother Quéene Beth-saba a most prudent and virtuous Ladie as it is before said and either of them haue very carefully taught and scholed him in the feare of the Lord and the right princelie virtues At whose knees he stood and was glad and ready to receaue both instruction and correction And thus himselfe acknowledgeth saying When I was my fathers deare sonne and tenderlie beloued of my mother he taught me also and saide vnto me pro. 4.3 let thine eare receiue my words kepe my commaundements and thou shalt liue Get thee wisdome and get thee vnderstanding forget not the wordes of my mouth and shrinke not from them c. Againe in his latter time ready to depart he left with him this direction 1 king 2.2 Be thou strong and shew thy selfe a man kepe thou the watch of the Lord thy God that thou walke in his waies kepe his statuts his precepts his iudgements and his testimonies as it is written in the law of Moses that thou maist prosper in all that thou doest and in every thing that thou medlest withall c. And this was his mothers lesson when shee taught and nourtured him pro. 31.1 What my sonne what the sonne af my body and what O my dearely beloued sonne Giue not over thy strength thy waies vnto womē which are the destructiō of kings O Laemuel it is not for kinges it is not I say for kinges to drinke wine nor princes strong drinke lest they by drinking forget the law and pervert the iudgement of all poore mens children Againe be thou an advocate for the dumbe to speake in the cause of all such as be succourlesse in this transitorie world open thy mouth defend the thing that is lawfull and right and the cause of the poore and helpelesse Lo such lessons hath his mother taught him so well beseeming I say not a child but a prince and excellent well fitting so beautifull a body from the which virtues are wont to shine as those pretious stoanes which are placed in goodlie Kinges of Gould But beyond all this the Lord his God which loued him and vouchsafed to call him his Sonne did extend vnto him the effect of a fathers office aboue that which earthly fathers are able to do or performe towards their children for he nurtured him by his spirit not onelie in the day time but by the nightes also And in this he acknowledged the great loue and mercie of God towards him as in his wise Prouerbs it is to be learned Lo thus was king Solomon educated and instructed in his tender yeares of the which he yet sauoureth euen in these his elder dayes to his double honour and the consolation of Israel * Therefore I see not that the king should be hereof offended except onely in this that he hath not in his owne cōceit answered in some pointes to this his education and instruction but let that alone to be considered of hereafter To this the Princes did also accord and then rose vp Adomiram and spake as followeth Adoniram Neither wanteth the king the excellencie of wisedome Solomon his wisedome by the which he goeth out and in before the people to iudge and gouerne this great multitude to teach all others the true wisdome This is that which being prized no man can tell the worthinesse thereof as Iob hath said thereof neither is it found in the land of the liuing it cannot be bought for gould nor may the price thereof be obtained with siluer No gold of Ophir no pretious Onyx stoans nor Saphyres may be valued with it for this is the highest Treasure of a king yea and the same without the which a king is vnfurnished of that he ought to haue and so méere vnfit for the place of gouernmēt but hauing this one iewell in possession he is sufficientlie armed not onely to do iustice and to defend them which are at home but also to withstand and subdue the enemies which Eccles 7.9 are abroad for Wisdome is much better then weapons of warre and giueth courage vnto thē that imbrace hir This the king by Gods good grace considered in his yong yeares 1 King 3.9 4.29 and therefore this was that only thing which he desired of the Lord whē he was willed to aske whatsoeuer hee would haue hee should haue it and therefore the Lord being well pleased with his desire gaue him wisdome and a large heart even as the sand that is by the sea shoare without number or measure By the which the king was most wise and therein is preferred before all those famouse men of the East Country which haue so farre excelled other men both in that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
which lifted them vp yea and some are therefore aduanced that forgetting God and their duties Gon. 11. ◠Iudg. 9.53 they may be thrown downe and confounded as Nimrod was and Abimelech aswell for example vnto others which thereby are taught to take heede as for a iust reward of their owne pride ambition insolency great wickednesse Secondly Ioab being faultie against God and the King and now not onely accused before the king and his Princes but iustly condemned and fearing the kinges displeasure and the reward he had deserued hath most egregiously abused that holy place for Sanctuaries are ordained for a refuge and defence Sanctuaries Exod. 21.14 Num. 24. 35.11.14 Deut. 4.42 19.4 Ios 20.3 not for wilful murtherers stubborne malefactors traytors rebels seditionaries and conspiratours against lawful Princes but for innocents such as do or shall ignorantly and by an héedlesse occasion offend that there they may be protected and preserued till time the truth of the matters laide against them be in iudgement discerned and tryed as we finde it written in the law of Moses Nor was it méete indéed that Ioabs eāxple therin though a noble man so neere of bloud to the king and no lesse fauoured of David should embolden others to commit such hainous actions and villanies and then to shrowde themselues vnder those places of refuge so farre off from the true meaning of the law and from the right end of the institution of those places Therefore they that offend in like matters and thinke to be defended with their causes eyther by such places or by the wreasting of the holy lawes to their purpose do alwaies deceiue themselues and draw vengeance on their owne heades deseruedly * Thirdly Ioab expressed a most stubborne nature Ioabs stubbornes peruerse will and disobedient heart against the Lords Annointed for when in the kinges name and by his Highnesse commaundement I commaunded him to come forth from the Altar hee neuer so much as asked mercy of the king nor sought nor entreated for his owne pardon but presuming that the King would not haue aduentured to plucke him from the Altar wherof he had taken hold although he had been a wilful transgressor he then answered most stoutely in the presumption of his hart I wil not came forth and being further certified that then the king would not feare nor omit to stay him euen there for his ambitious praetizes and trespasse he replied as daring the king and his lawfull authority most arrogantly then let him slay me euen here for I will not come forth Neither think I but he will haue some regard to the high reuerence of this place into the which I haue betaken my selfe for the safety of my life as in the Lords Sanctuary vpon this aunswere the king perceiuing his pride and the stubbornes of his hart commanded me to doe vnto him euen as he had said namely to stay him euen there and so hee receiued the execution of his iust iudgement Fourthly the Lord our God The rewarde of murther hath rightly brought vpon the heade of Ioab the reuenge of that innocent bloud which he had before that time shed causeles and now cried to the Lord for vengeance according to that word of David 1. Kin. 2.5 when a little before his death hee gaue the king a very straite charge concerning this matter willing that Ioab should not be holden guiltlesse nor be brought in peace to his graue but that he shold receiue the reward of a merciles murtherer Num. 24. after the wordes of the law in that case prouided as whereby the sooner he might remoue away from the king and his fathers house that bloud which Ioab had shed without iust cause for beyond others his manifold slaughters and oppressions hee smote and most traiterously murthered two men which were more righteous and better then himselfe in the time of peace namely Abner the sonne of Ner captaine of the hoast of Israel 2. Sam. 3.23 who was as king David in his lamentation for him acknowledged a Prince and a Great man and also Amasa the Sonne of Iether Captaine of the hoast of Iudah A man likewise of right excellent gouernement and valour for Ioab being a person very proude enuious and ambitious greatly feared lest the fauour and estimation of those two Worthies in the kings eyes would much diminish or at the least hinder or withstand his further and higher honour Therefore David perceiuing his wicked inclination and considering wel the equitie of the cause charged and required his Sonne our Soueraigne Lord that the bloud of those two worthy persōs should be returned on the head of Ioab and vpon his seede that so vpon David and vpon his séede and vpon his house and vpon his seat there might be and remaine a perpetuall peace Thus truely when one creature kils another the heauenlie Powers crie out to the highest Maiesty saying Lord Lord this thy seruant presumes to be like thee Therefore if the déed be vniust the Creator of all aunswereth Suffer him yet which kils for he also shall be killed Vengeance is mine and I will repay And indéed those celestiall Powers shal and wil so often represent with their praises to the Lord the death of the person slaine till iust vengeance be taken of the slayer who therefore shall be numbred with them that are appointed to perpetual torments Hermogenes * as also one among the Philosophers of the Gentiles hath truely said And so we obserue that albeit the impious and wicked be for their times and turnes aduanced aboue many others better then themselues by the great fauour and liberalitie of bountiful Princes and so stand a while in an high grade of flourishing prosperity and that when the vngodly commit wickednesse against God and his Annointed they are spared or passed ouer with silence wherby forgetting God and their proper conditions they imagine him to bee wel pleased and so promise themselues lasting securitie in their impieties yet neuerthelesse in the end yea euen in their due time are they well ouertaken and destroyed without mercie being nothing worthie of mercie though they crie and call Therefore the Greeke Homer whom in this matter without iust offence to our Religion but to the shame of such ambitious persons we may remember hath well modulated in all iust censure saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus translated Although in pitie powerfull love A long some time refraines To smite the Sinner yet at length He plagues him to his paines But most diuinelie hath the kings father spoken in his Psalms and hymnes touching this argument which when learned Asaph the kings Scholemaister had aduisedly considered with the manifold instances dayly occurring hee thus spake as in the Lordes behalfe Oh now consider this ye that forget Gods grace Lest that I rent you for a pray and none be found in place To rescue or to saue
wiues Ada and Zella And to let passe others David the kings father a man so well beloued of God had diuers wiues of whome he begate sonnes and daughters Therefore why might not the king do the like zadok answereth to the pluralitie of wiues To this answered Zadok It is true howbeit wee should not liue by examples of men but according to the Lawe of the Lorde All men be sinners and offend in many things therefore what they doe we may not respect nor presume to follow but regard what the Lorde hath instituted and commanded And surely this pluralitie of wiues hath beene a fault euen in those fathers Gen. 3.15 16.3 howsoeuer they aymed thereby to the multiplying of their séede whereof they hoped the Messiah should be borne according to the promise Neither should they haue staggered in faith touching the Messiah to imagine that Gods promise could not haue beene performed without their owne wisedome and meanes Abraham seeing his wife aged thought that the promise of God should haue holden on the venter of Hagar howbeit God being faithfull effected his promise in Sarah though beyond the course of nature and mans expectation And this to prooue we reade that at the beginning when God created man he made them Male and Female and therein not three or foure or more but only two in one flesh namely one man and one woman Gen. 2.24 And there-vpon this Law was ordained that for this cause a man should leave his father and mother and should cleave to his wife not Wiues This was the first Institution of Matrimonie and thus it was obserued by Adam by Seth by Enos by Kenan by Mehalaleel by Jared by Henoch by Methusalah by Lamech and Noah and his three sonnes who as we read brought into the Arke with them euery of them one wife for they were but eight persons in all that is to say foure men and so many women being their wiues gen 4.19 The breach of this Institution was first found in that other Lamech which descended from Cayn and afterward as it is deliuered to vs killed Cayn with a dart From whom it was drawen to others continued for a custome in the posteritie though so contrary to the Law and ordinance of the Lord. But leauing the errors of those we are to obserue that first ordinance with those holy fathers of that first Age if we will be free from blame in that respect and not presume the transgression thereof howsoeuer some others bee they kings or potentates of the earth haue followed or faulted and beene tollerated in the abuse of the same But after this there is a speciall Law prouided by the Lord and giuen by Moses Deut. 17. vnto kings and princes before all others that none of them should multiply wiues to himselfe And this the kings mother doubtlesse considered when schooling him she thus charged him saying Pro. 31.2 O my deerely beloved sonne Laemuel give not over thy strength and wayes vnto Women which are the destruction even of kings It may bee shee called to minde Homer II. Vliss A tragicall History written before this time gen 6. what is written in that Heathen Storie of the destruction that fellon so many Kings and Princes in and about Troy touching the rauishing of Helena It may be she remembred what betyded the olde world for the euill coniunction of the sonnes of God with the daughters of men And the king himselfe sometimes in the remembrance of this Lesson could aduise others from this destruction Saying Pro. 5.18.19 Let thy wel be blessed and be glad with the wife of thy youth let her be as the louing Hynde and pleasant Roe let her breasts alwayes satisfie thee and hold thee ever content with her love Hee speaketh of a wife not wiues neuertheles howsoeuer it hath beene occasioned the king hath offended yea he hath wonderfully exceeded therein for he hath not contented his lust with one wife according to the Law nor with a fewe wiues after the example of those godly Fathers Abraham and Iacob but he hath taken vnto himself 700. wiues which were Quéens 300. Concubines in the whole a 1000. as the like was neuer heard off before this time And by these women hee hath béene drawen into an inordinate lust and bin ouercome in affection to the stayning of his honor blemishing of his holy profession the which is in him an heynous fault For although the heathē which know not God and are as brute beastes without vnderstanding doe neigh as the stoned horses after euery woman that hath a faire face and séeke to satisfie their fleshly lusts in these kinds of pleasure yet should not king Solomon endowed with so excellent a spirit and wisedome haue sought to satisfie his desire therein and that the rather because as the constancie of the chaste helpeth to the prolonging of life The inconveniences of fleshly lust as appeareth in the Vultures which being chaste and sober that way liue as it is said by nature an hundred yeeres so they which delight in fleshly lust and be so ordinarily inflamed and ouercome with the same are of a very short life as wée may see in those Sparrowes which of other birdes are full of Lecherie And it is a sure axiome that they which engender much liue the lesse while The king therefore in this hath abreuiated empared wounded and endangered his life His naturall life is shortened his ciuill life is distained his spirituall life is perced and his life eternall is endangered For in the first there is an euacuation of that naturall heate and moistnesse by the which mans life is conserued and the strength of body sustained Yea Luxurie is such an immoderate wantonnesse of the flesh which as a sweete poison an importunate plague and a pernitious potion doth both weaken mans naturall body and effeminateth his minde O extréeme filthinesse of lust all other sinnes are without the body but hee that giueth himselfe ouer to this sin offendeth against his owne body Before this goeth euer heate and petulancy with it in company is stinch and vncleannesse and after it followeth sorrowe and repentance These bee the leaders the fellowes and the followers of luxurious persons Secondly this sinne taketh from a man all his credite good name and glory and bringeth to him distrust an euill fame and ignomy What vice is more dishonest what more damnable what more hurtfull to mans ciuill life and estimation for behold how vertues are decayed how victories languish how glory is swallowed vp of infamie how the vertues of minde and body are infringed Surely a man can scarcely discerne whether it be better or worse to be captiued either of this vice or of his mortall foes * Thirdly the spirituall life is in them wounded for all such as giue themselues ouer to the lust of bodie doe grieue the spirite of God in themselues and suppresse all the good motions of mind
indeede a degree higher then the former albeit the former was abhominable and dangerous to his body life fame soule and glorie And that is the king hath combined himselfe with strange women for hee hath taken the daughter of Pharaoh Strange women and the women of the Moabites Ammonites Edomites Sydonites and Hethites whereas yet concerning those Nations the Lorde sayde vnto our Fathers zabud obiected Goe yee not into them nor let them come into you els will they turne your hearts after their gods To this obiected Zabud for the king But yet it hath beene permitted in the Lawe that such women might neuerthelesse bee taken accepted and vsed of our Nation with certaine prouisoes and conditions For the Lorde saith by the hand of Moses Deut. 21.11 If thou seest among the captives taken in warre a beautifull woman and hast a desire vnto her that thou wouldest have her to thy wife thou shalt bring her home to thine owne house she shall shaue her head and pare her nailes and put her rayment that she was taken in from her and let her remaine in thine house and bewayle her father and her mother a moneth long and after that thou shalt goe in vnto her and mary her and she shall be thy wife In this sort David the kings Father tooke one of his wiues namely the mother of Thamar whom he had captiued in his warres And thus did our king take and accept Pharaohs daughter of whom his father spake in the Psalme Hearken O daughter and consider encline thine eare forget also thine owne people thy fathers house so shall the king have pleasure in thy beautie for he is thy Lord God and thou must worship him And truely howsoeuer the Quéene did dissemble her owne former Religion and made shewe of loue vnto that which we loue and imbrace the king so accepted her and thought nothing lesse then of any hypocrisie in her And therefore in his integritie he imbraced her and tooke her as his owne All this I grant sayd Zadok And I will not denie zadoke answereth the obiection that the king did obserue the like according to the Lawe in all other his wiues and Concubines But why should not such as are receiued on conditions be retained on the same conditions and not otherwise for the meaning of the Lawe is that if such a woman albeit she be Pharaohs daughter or the daughter of any other Prince or person shall not hold and obserue the conditions touching the Religion and peace of Israel but apostate and turne away from the Lord and daily endeuor and study to pollute the honour of our king and contemne the religion of our God that thereupon she be abandoned reiected sent away from the Common-wealth of Israel much sooner from the kings societie yea rather then that societie should he continued to the danger of those inconueniencies Exod. 34.16 Deut 7.3 the parties should bee reduced and committed to the censure of the generall Lawe as when the league is infringed by the breach of the conditions the parties stand as in their former estate any thing to the contrary thereof notwithstanding And this is the Lawe to the children of Israel touching the abandoning of this kinde of societie with any of those seuen execrable Nations as the Hethites the Hevites the Gergesites the Amorites the Chananites the Pherezites and the Iebusites Thou shalt make no marriages with them neither shalt thou give thy daughter vnto his sonne nor take his daughter vnto thy son The reason is added whereunto this prouiso or condition hath respect For they will deceive thy sonne that hee should not follow the Lord and they shall serve strange gods and then will the wrath of the Lord waxe hote against thee and destroy thee This thing Abraham our father both considered and respected long before the Law giuen by Moses for hee had seene the inconuenience of such coniunctions in the old time when by the same the sonnes of God were polluted and the whole earth destroyed in the dayes of Noah Gen. 24.3 therefore hee gaue his seruant a speciall charge for the match of his sonne Isaak with a mate of a faithfull Family The like also Isaak respected when hee disliked the mariage of his sonne Esau with the Hethites and charged his sonne Iacob not to take him a wife of the daughters of Chanaan Gen. 26. 27. but that hee should repayre to his Vncle Laban and take from thence of his daughters But howsoeuer such coniunctions might be tolerated or winked at vpon occasions in some others what needed Solomon the sonne of David to haue lusted after the women of a strange Natition Are not the daughters of Zion faire and beautifull and wise and vertuous yea are they not preferred in honour to all the women in the worlde And did Solomon feare of any heathen Potentate that hee would in this sort be lincked vnto him in amitie for the retayning of peace Yea is hee not stronger and more wise and politicke then any of them all And doe they not more dread and admire him then hee hath neede to doubt what they are able to doe against his Maiestie But alas lust is blinde and many wise men as I said before bee led blindfolded into the pitte of preuarication and woe by such women as being of an euill opinion and like Religion will receiue no kinde of Counsaile which withstandeth or hindereth their fonde lustes and vanities And thereof it is that the King so prudent wise and famous hath beene bewitched enchaunted and besotted so farre that in the lightnesse of voluptuousnesse he hath altered his single minde and distained his honour * These be great faults my Lords but yet hee is much more blameable and guiltie of iudgement no lesse of punishment The third sin of Solomon though hee bee a king because that in his lustes hee hath turned away his heart from the Lorde his God which hath appeared to him at two sundry times For beholde the king hearkening vnto those his strange Wiues which had nowe at length apostated and turned backe againe to the Religion of their Fathers and Countrey hee hath followed after Asteroth the God of the Sydonians and after Melcome the abhomination of the Ammonites and he hath built an high place for Chamos the abomination of Moab euen in the hill that is before Hierusalem and vnto Moloch the abhomination of the children of Ammon and the like hath hee done for other his outlandish Women which burnt incense and offered diuers sacrifices to their sundry Gods Neither seemed the king then touched with any remorse of conscience but cleane contrary to the Lawe of God the charge which his father gaue him the lessons his mother taught him and that which his owne wisedome should perswade in him he hath fowly prostituted himselfe to their lewdnesse and disgraced his Nobilitie Yea all this hath the king done even in his elder years
was annointed King in the place of David his Father did sit on his throne by his fathers goodwill The charge that David gave to his sonne Solomō 1. King 2. aduise consent and direction David seeing the day to draw neare that he shold rest with his fathers he called Solomon and charged him saying I go the way of all the earth be thou strong therefore shew thy selfe a man keepe thou the watch of Iehovah thy God that thou walke in his wayes keepe his statutes and precepts his iudgements his testimonies as it is written in the law of Moses that thou maist prosper in all that thou doest in every thing that thou medlest withall That the Lord also may make good his word which he spake vnto me saying If thy children take heed to their waies that they walk before mee in truth withall their hearts withall their soules thou shalt not be without a man on the seate of Israel And all this the kings Father tooke from that holy Oracle which Nathan had before that time brought him Wherein the Lorde had certified David 2. Sam. 7. that Solomon his sonne should build an house for his name and hee saide he shall build an house for my name I will establish the throne of his kingdome for ever I wil be his father he shal be my sonne And if hee sinne I will chasten him with the rod of men with the plagues of the children of men but my mercy shall not depart away from him as I tooke it from Saul whome I have put away before thee And thine house shal be established thy kingdome for ever before thee even thy throne shal be established for ever * After this I find it recorded againe that the Lord appeared in Gibeon to King Solomon in a dreame by night Whiles he yet walked in the ordinances and waies of David his Father And the Lord said Aske what I shall give thee the King said Thou hast shewed vnto thy servant David my father great mercy when he walked before thee in truth 1. King 3.5 How David walked with God in righteousnes in plainnes of heart with thee And thou hast kept for him this great mercy that thou hast givē him a son to sit on his seat as it is come to passe this day And now O Lord my God it is thou that hast made thy servant King in steed of David my Father And I am but yong wot not how to go out in And thy servāt is in the middest of thy people which thou hast chosen verily the people are so many that they cannot be tolde nor numbered for multitude Solomons request Give therfore thy servant an vnderstanding heart to iudge thy people that I may discerne betweene good evill For who it able to iudge this so mighty a people And this pleased the Lord well that Solomō had desired this thing Therefore God said vnto him because thou hast asked this thing hast not asked for thy selfe long life neither hast asked riches for thy selfe nor hast asked the life of thine enemies but hast asked for thy selfe vnderstāding discretion in iudgement beheld I have done according to thy wordes Lo I have given thee a wise vnderstāding heart The Lorde granted him his request moreover of his louing mercies so that there hath beene none like thee before thee neither after thee shull any arise like vnto thee And I have givē thee that which thou hast not asked evē riches honour so that there shal be no King like vnto thee in al thy daies * And if thou wilt walke in my waies to keep mine ordinances my commandements as thy father David did walke I wil prolōg thy dayes c. Againe I find it recorded that when the King had builded the Temple and had prayed to the Lord that it would please him to sanctify the same for his name c. 1. King 9.2 The Lorde appeared vnto him the second time and said I have heard thy praier thine intercession that thou hast made before mee For I have hallowed this house which thou hast built to put my name there for ever And if thou wilt walke before mee as David thy father walked in purenes of heart in righteousnes to do all that I have commanded thee wilt keepe my statutes my lawes then will I stablish the seate of thy kingdome vpon Israel for ever as I have promised to David thy father saying Thou shalt not be without a man vpon the seate of Israel zadoke sheweth how gratious the Lord hath beene to Solomon and his people 1. King 10. To what end God giveth good princes * Lo said Zadok ye see how gratious the Lord our God hath shewed himselfe to the King and by him vnto the people of Israel whom the Lord hath chosen and to whome therefore it was his pleasure to giue vs such a King as the Queen of Saba in the due consideration thereof said for godly kings are adorned and giuen of the Lorde for the prosperity and peace of them whome his grace loueth And as by him they raigne so is hee carefull to defend them from euil and to leade them foorth in all goodnes by his wisedome and prouidence Moreouer this is an especiall grace of God bestowed on such Princes For without this the wisest man liuing can neither follow the good nor eschew the euill in this flattering and guilefull world * But read on gentle Iehosophat Is there not somwhat els Yes quod Iehosophat and thus the Lorde added on the contrary part But if ye your children turne away from me will not keepe my commandements my statutes A commination on the Apostates and disobedient 1. King 9.6 which I have set before you but go serve other Gods worship them then will I weed Israel out of the land which I have given them this house which I have hallowed for my name will I cast out of my sight Israel shal be a proverb fable among all nations this house shall be takē away so that every one that passeth by it shal be astonished shal hisse they shal say why hath the Lord don thus vnto this land to this house they shal answere because they forsooke the Lord their God which brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt have taken hold vpon other Gods have worshipped them and served them therefore hath the Lorde brought vpon them all this evill * Then aunswered Zadoke ye haue reade enough of this Argument Loe my Lordes as in the former member the Lorde hath declared his diuine loue and great mercies both to the King and his people and generally to all them that belieue in him and walk in his waies so in this latter he sheweth how much he hateth and abhorreth them that apostate from him follow after other