that ever were upon Earth shall then flee from the face of Him whom they have so often blasphemed and denied and shall so far despair of finding mercy with Him in that Day who would sue to Him for it no sooner that they shall address themselves to the Mountains and Rocks as being more pitiful and exorable than He to hide them from the face of Him that sitteth on the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb From the wrath of the Lamb to signify to us that nothing is more terrible than Meekness and Patience when they are throughly provok'd and turn'd into Fury In such dreadful confusion shall all impenitent Sinners be when they shall be surpriz'd by that Great and terrible Day of the Lord And the Case of a dying Sinner who would take no care in the time of his Life and Health to make preparation for another World is not much more hopeful and comfortable For alas how little is it that a sick and dying man can do in such a strait of time in the midst of so much pain and weakness of Body and of such confusion and amazement of Mind With what heart can he set about so great a Work for which there is so little time With what face can he apply himself to God in this extremity whom he hath so disdainfully neglected all the days of his Life And how can he have the confidence to hope that God will hear his cries and regard his tears that are forc'd from him in this day of his necessity when he is conscious to himself that in that long day of God's Grace and Patience he turned a deaf ear to all his merciful invitations and rejected the counsel of God against himself In a word how can he who would not know in that his Day the things which belonged to his peace expect any other but that they should now be for ever hid from his eyes which are ready to be clos'd in utter darkness I will not pronounce any thing concerning the impossibility of a death-bed Repentance But I am sure that it is very difficult and I believe very rare We have but one Example that I know of in the whole Bible of the Repentance of a dying Sinner I mean that of the penitent Thief upon the Cross And the circumstances of his Case are so peculiar and extraordinary that I cannot see that it affords any ground of hope and encouragement to men in ordinary Cases We are not like to suffer in the company of the Son of God and of the Saviour of the World and if we could do so it is not certain that we should behave our selves towards Him so well as the penitent Thief did and make so very good an end of so very bad a Life And the Parable in the Text is so far from giving any encouragement to a Death bed Repentance and Preparation that it rather represents their Case as desperate who put off their Preparation to that Time How ineffectual all that the foolish Virgins could do at that time did in the conclusion prove is set forth to us at large in the Parable They wanted Oyl but could neither borrow nor buy it They would then fain have had it and ran about to get it but it was not to be obtain'd neither by entreaty nor for money First they apply themselves to the wise Virgins for a share in the over-plus of their Graces and Virtues the foolish said unto the wise give us of your Oyl for our Lamps are gone out but the wise answered not so lest there be not enough for us and you The wise Virgins it seems knew of none they had to spare And then they are represented as ironically sending the foolish Virgins to some famous Market where this Oyl was pretended to be sold go ye rather to them that sell and buy for your selves And as dying and desperate persons are apt to catch at every twig and when they can see no hopes of being saved are apt to believe every one that will give them any so these foolish Virgins follow the advice and whilst they went to buy the Bridegroom came and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage and the door was shut and afterwards came also the other Virgins saying Lord Lord open to us but he answered and said verily I say unto you I know you not You see how little or rather no encouragement at all there is from any the least circumstance in this Parable for those who have delay'd their Preparation for another World till they be overtaken by Death or Judgment to hope by any thing that they can then do by any importunity which they can then use to gain admission into Heaven Let those consider this with fear and trembling who forget God and neglect Religion all their Life-time and yet feed themselves with vain hopes by some Device or other to be admitted into Heaven at last Fifthly I observe that there is no such thing as Works of Super-erogation that is that no man can do more than needs and than is his duty to do by way of Preparation for another World For when the foolish Virgins would have begg'd of the wise some Oyl for their Lamps the wise answered not so lest there be not enough for us and you It was only the foolish Virgins that in the time of their extremity and when they were conscious that they wanted that which was absolutely necessary to qualify them for admission into Heaven who had entertain'd this idle Conceit that there might be an over-plus of Grace and Merit in others sufficient to supply their want But the wise knew not of any they had to spare but supposed all that they had done or could possibly do to be little enough to qualify them for the glorious Reward of eternal Life Not so say they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lest at any time that is lest when there should be need and occasion all that we have done or could do should be little enough for our selves And in this Point they had been plainly instructed by the Bridegroom himself But ye when ye have done all say we are unprofitable servants and have done nothing but what was our duty to do And yet this Conceit of the foolish Virgins as absurd as it is hath been taken up in good earnest by a grave Matron who gives out her self to be the Mother and Mistress of all Churches and the only infallible Oracle of Truth I mean the Church of Rome whose avowed Doctrine it is that there are some Persons so excellently good that they may do more than needs for their own Salvation And therefore when they have done as much for themselves as in strict duty they are bound to do and thereby have paid down a full and valuable consideration for Heaven and as much as in equal justice between God and Man it is worth that then they may go to work again
all things on all sides to bring the thing which the Providence of God intended to a happy issue and effect And we must not here forget the many Worthies of our Nation who did so generously run all hazards of Life and Fortune for the preservation of our Religion and the asserting of our ancient Laws and Liberties These are all strange and unusual means but which is stranger yet the very counsels and methods of our Enemies did prepare the way for all this and perhaps more effectually than any counsel and contrivance of our own could have done it For even the Jesuits those formal Politicians by Book and Rule without any consideration or true knowledge of the temper and interest and other circumstances of the People they were designing upon and had to deal withal and indeed without any care to know them I say the Jesuits who for so long a time and for so little reason have affected the reputation of the deepest and craftiest States-men in the World have upon this great Occasion and when their whole Kingdom of Darkness lay at stake by a more than ordinary infatuation and blindness so outwitted and over-reach'd themselves in their own counsels that they have really contributed as much or more to our Deliverance from the Destruction which they had designed to bring upon us than all our wisest and best Friends could have done And then if we consider further how sudden and surprising it was so that we could hardly believe it when it was accomplish'd and like the Children of Israel when the Lord turned again the Captivity of Zion we were like them that dream When all things were driving on furiously and in great haste then God gave an unexpected check to the Designs of men and stopp'd them in their full cariere Who among us could have imagin'd but a few Months ago so happy and so speedy an end of our fears and troubles God hath at once scatter'd all our fears and outdone all our hopes by the greatness and suddenness of our Deliverance O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men And lastly If we consider the cheapness and easiness of this Deliverance All this was done without a Battel and almost without Blood All the danger is lest we should loath it and grow sick of it because it was so very easy Had it come upon harder terms and had we waded to it through a Red Sea of Blood we would have valued it more But this surely is great wantonness and whatever we think of it one of the highest provocations imaginable For there can hardly be a fouler and blacker Ingratitude towards Almighty God than to slight so great a Deliverance only because it came to us so easily and hath cost us so very cheap I will mention but one Circumstance more which may not be altogether unworthy our observation That God seems in this Last Deliverance in some sort to have united and brought together all the great Deliverances which He hath been pleas'd to work for this Nation against all the remarkable attempts of Popery from the beginning of our Reformation Our wonderful Deliverance from the formidable Spanish Invasion design'd against us happen'd in the Year 1588. And now just a hundred years after God was pleased to bring about this last great and most happy Deliverance That horrid Gun-powder Conspiracy without Precedent and without Parallel was design'd to have been executed upon the Fifth Day of November the same Day upon which his Highness the Prince of Orange landed the Forces here in England which he brought hither for our Rescue So that this is a Day every way worthy to be solemnly set apart and joyfully celebrated by this Church and Nation throughout all Generations as the fittest of all other to comprehend and to put us in mind to commemorate all the great Deliverances which God hath wrought for Us from Popery and its inseparable Companion Arbitrary Power And we may then say with the Holy Psalmist This is the Lord 's doing it is marvellous in our eyes This is the Day which the Lord hath made we will rejoice and be glad in it Secondly As the Case in the Text is much like Ours so let us take heed that the Doom and Sentence there be not so too If after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great trespass and since God hath punish'd us less than our iniquities did deserve should we again break his Commandments and join in affinity with the People of these Abominations would He not be angry with us till he had consumed us so that there should be no remnant nor escaping What could we in reason expect after all this but utter ruin and destruction We may here apply as St. Paul does God's Dealing with the People of Israel to the Times of the Gospel for he speaks of it as an Example and Admonition to all Ages to the end of the World Now these things says the Apostle were our Examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted Neither be ye Idolaters as were some of them c. Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of Serpents For the explication of this passage we must have recourse to the History which gives this account of it And the People spake against God and against Moses Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the Wilderness c. impeaching God and his Servant Moses as if by this Deliverance they had put them into a much worse condition than they were in when they were in Egypt And the Lord sent fiery Serpents among the People and they bit the People and much People of Israel died \ But how was this a tempting of Christ Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted that is let not us now under the Gospel tempt our Saviour and Deliverer as the Israelites did theirs by slighting that great Deliverance and by speaking against God and against Moses Neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the Destroyer And how far this may concern Us and all Others to the end of the World who shall tempt Christ the great Patron and Deliverer of his Church and murmur without cause as the Israelites did at the Deliverances which He works for them and against the Instruments of it the Apostle tells us in the next words Now all these things happened unto them for Ensamples or Types and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the World are come Let us not tempt Christ who is now beginning the Glorious Deliverance of his Church from the Tyranny of Antichrist To draw now towards a Conclusion I will comprehend my Advice to you upon the whole matter in as few words as I can Let us use this great Deliverance which God
cruelties which it occasion'd within the City did force great numbers of them to steal out by night into the Roman Camp where they met with as cruel but a speedier death For Titus in hope to reduce them the sooner by terror order'd all those that came out of the City to be crucified before the Walls Which order was so severely executed that for several days five hundred a day were crucified till there was neither room left to place Crosses in nor wood whereof to make them So that they who once cried out so vehemently against our Saviour Crucify him Crucify him had enough of it at last and by the just and most remarkable judgment of God were paid home in their own kind Behold the sad Fate of a sinful People when God is departed from them Then all evils overtake them at once For as their misery increased so did their Impiety to that degree that the Historian tells us they scorned and mocked at all divine and holy things and derided the Oracles of the Prophets esteeming them no better than Fables and in a word were carried to that extremity of wickedness as not only to prophane their Temple in the highest manner and to break the Laws of their own Religion but even to violate the Laws of Nature and Humanity in the grossest Instances which made their Historian to give that dismal character of them that as he thought no City ever suffer'd such things so no Nation from the beginning of the World did ever so abound in all manner of wickedness and impiety A certain sign that God's Soul was departed from them And the same Historian afterwards upon consideration of the lamentable state into which their Seditions had brought them breaks out into this doleful lamentation over them O miserable City what didst thou suffer from the Romans though at last they set thee on fire to purge thee from thy sins that is to be compar'd with those miseries which thou hast brought upon thy self To such a dismal state did things come at last that as the same Historian relates many of the Jews prayed for the good success of their Enemies to deliver them from their civil Dissensions the Calamity whereof was so great that their final Destruction by the Romans did rather put an end to their misery than increase it En quo discordia Cives Perduxit miseros To conclude this sad Story It was the Jews themselves that by their own folly and dissensions forc'd the Romans to this sorrowful Victory over them for in truth all the remorse and pity was on the Enemies side The Romans were little more than Spectators in this cruel Tragedy the Jews acted it upon themselves And they only who were arriv'd at that prodigious height of Impiety and wickedness were fit to be the executioners of this vengeance of God upon one another As if the Prophet had foretold this when he says Thine own wickedness shall correct thee When Impiety and wickedness are at their highest pitch in a Nation then they themselves are the only proper instruments to punish one another The Romans were by far too good and gentle to inflict a suffering upon the Jews that was equal to the evil of their doings None but their own barbarous Selves who were sunk down into the very lowest degeneracy of humane nature were capable of so much cruelty and inhumanity as was requisite to execute the Judgment of God upon them to that degree which their sins had deserved You see my Brethren by what hath been said upon this Argument what were the Faults and what the Fate of the Jewish Nation Now these things as the Apostle expresly tells us were written for our admonition and to the intent that we upon whom the ends of the World are come might be instructed by them We I say who next to the Jewish Nation seem to be a People highly favoured by God above all the Nations of the Earth We resemble them very much in their many and wonderful Deliverances and a great deal too much in their Faults and Follies But as I intend it not so God forbid that there should be any just ground for a full and exact Parallel between us Yet this I must say that nothing ever came nearer to them than We do in several respects In our fickleness and inconstancy in our murmurings and discontents for we are never pleasâ—d with what God does neither when he brings us into danger nor when he delivers us out of it We resemble them likewise in our horrible prophaneness and infidelity and in our impiety and wickedness of several kinds in our monstrous ingratitude and most unworthy returns to the God of our Salvation and lastly in our Factions and Divisions which were the fatal sign of God's being departed from the Jews and the immediate cause and means of those dismal Calamities which wrought their final Ruin And how can we chuse but dread lest their Fate should overtake us the Example of whose Faults and Follies we do in so many things so nearly resemble That this may not nor any thing like it be our Fate let us apply our selves to the great Duties of this Day a serious and deep Repentance and humiliation of our selves before Almighty God for the many and heinous Sins which we in this Nation have been and still are guilty of against His Divine Majesty by our prophaneness and impiety by our lewdness and luxury by our oppression and injustice by our implacable malice and hatred one towards another and by our senseless divisions and animosities one against another without cause and without end By our neglect of God's Worship and prophanation of his Holy Day and by our dreadful abuse of God's great and glorious Name in those horrid Oaths and Curses and Imprecations which are heard almost day and night in the streets of this great City For these and all other our innumerable provocations of the patience and goodness and long-suffering of God towards us let us sadly repent our selves this Day and turn unto the Lord with all our hearts with fasting and with weeping and with mourning And rent our hearts and not our garments and turn unto the Lord our God For he is gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repenteth him of the evil And who knoweth if he will return and repent and leave a blessing behind him Turn thou us unto thee O Lord and we shall beturned Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously And let us earnestly beg of Him that he would be pleased to prevent those terrible Judgments and Calamities which hang over us and which our Sins have so justly deserved should fall upon us And that He would perfect that wonderful Deliverance which he hath begun for us and establish the thing which he hath wrought That He would bless Them whom he hath set in Authority over us and particularly that He would preserve the Person of the King
over let us say Peace be within thee For the House of the Lord our God for the sake of our Holy Religion and of that excellent Church whereof we all are or ought to be Members let every one of us say I will seek thy good And what greater good can we do to the best Religion how can we better serve the interest of it in all parts of the World than by being at peace and unity among our selves here in England upon whom the eyes of all the Protestants abroad are fixed as the Glory of the Reformation and the great bulwark and support of it That so under the Providence of Almighty God and the conduct of two such excellent Princes as He hath now bless'd us withal The One so brave and valiant and Both of them so wise so good so religious we may at last arrive at a firm establishment and become like mount Zion that cannot be moved the perfection of Beauty and Strength and the admiration and joy of the whole Earth which God of his infinite goodness grant for his mercies sake in Jesus Christ To whom with thee O Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory dominion and power thanksgiving and praise both now and ever Amen A Conscience void of Offence towards God and Men. IN A SERMON Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL February the 27 th 1690 1. A Conscience void of Offence towards God and Men. ACTS xxiv 16 And herein do I exercise my self to have always a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards men THese words are part of the Defence which St. Paul made for himself before Faelix the Roman Governour In which he first of all vindicates himself from the charge of Sedition ver 12. They neither found me in the Temple disputing with any man neither raising up the People neither in the Synagogue nor in the City that is they could not charge him with making any disturbance either in Church or State After this he makes a free and open profession of his Religion ver 14. But this I confess that after the way which they call Heresie so worship I the God of my Fathers believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets Here he declares the Scriptures to be the Rule of his Faith in opposition to the Oral Tradition of the Pharisees More particularly he asserts the Doctrine of the Resurrection which was a principal Article both of the Jewish and the Christian Religion ver 15. And I have hope also towards God that there shall be a Resurrection both of the just and the unjust And having made this declaration of his Faith he gives an account of his Life in the words of the Text ver 16. And herein do I exercise my self to have always a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men Herein 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is in this work do I employ my self or as others render it in the mean time whilst I am in this World or as others I think most probably for this cause and reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for this reason because I believe a Resurrection therefore have I a conscientious care of my life and all the actions of it The Discourse I intend to make upon these words shall be comprized in these following Particulars I. Here is the extent of a good man's pious practice to have a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men II. Here is his constancy and perseverance in this course to have always a conscience void of offence III. Here is his earnest care and endeavour to this purpose I exercise my self IV. Here is the principle and immediate Guide of his Actions which St. Paul here tells us was his Conscience V. I shall lay down some Rules and Directions for the keeping of a good Conscience VI. Here is the great motive and encouragement to this which St. Paul tells us was the belief of a Resurrection and of a future State of Rewards and Punishments consequent upon it for this cause because I hope for a Resurrection both of the just and unjust I exercise my self to have always a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men I shall speak but briefly to the three first of these Particulars that I may be larger in the rest I. Here is the extent of a good man's pious practice It hath regard to the whole compass of his Duty as it respects God and Man I exercise my self says St. Paul to have a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men And this distribution of our Duty under these two general Heads is very frequent in Scripture The Decalogue refers our Duty to these two Heads And accordingly our Saviour comprehends the whole Duty of Man in those two great Commandments the love of God and of our Neighbour Matth. 22.38 Vpon these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets that is all the Moral Precepts which are dispers'd up and down in the Law and the Prophets may be referr'd to these two general Heads II. Here is his constancy and perseverance in this course St. Paul says that he exercised himself to have always a conscience void of offence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 continually at all times in the whole course of his life We must not only make conscience of our ways by fits and starts but in the general course and tenour of our lives and actions without any balks and intermissions There are some that will refrain from grosser Sins and be very strict at some Seasons as during the Time of a Solemn Repentance and for some days before they receive the Sacrament and perhaps for a little while after it And when these devout Seasons are over they let themselves loose again to their former lewd and vitious course But Religion should be a constant frame and temper of mind discovering it self in the habitual course of our lives and actions III. Here is likewise a very earnest care and endeavour to this purpose Herein do I exercise my self says St. Paul The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is here render'd exercise is a word of a very intense signification and does denote that St. Paul applied himself to this business with all his care and might and that he made it his earnest study and endeavour And so must we we must take great care to understand our duty and to be rightly informed concerning good and evil that we may not mistake the nature of things and call good evil and evil good We must apply our minds in good earnest to be thoroughly instructed in all the parts of our Duty that so we may not be at a loss what to do when we are call'd to the practice of it And when we know our Duty we must be true and honest to our selves and very careful and conscientious in the discharge and performance of it I proceed in the IV th
Flock what wilt thou say when he shall punish thee 3. The Sins of the People amongst whom there is almost an universal corruption and depravation of Manners insomuch that Impiety and Vice seem to have over-spread the face of the Nation so that we may take up that sad complaint of the Prophet concerning the People of Israel and apply it to our selves that we are a sinful Nation a People laden with iniquity a seed of evil-doers that the whole head is sick and the whole heart faint and that from the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in us but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores We may justly stand amaz'd to consider how the God of all patience is provok'd by us every day to think how long he hath born with us and suffered our manners our open Profaneness and Infidelity our great Immoralities and gross Hypocrisy our insolent contempt of Religion and our ill-favour'd counterfeiting of it for low and sordid ends And which is the most melancholy consideration of all the rest we seem to be degenerated to that degree that it is very much to be fear'd there is hardly integrity enough left amongst us to save us And then if we consider further our most uncharitable and unchristian Divisions to the endangering both of our Reformed Religion and of the Civil Rights and Liberties of the Nation Our incorrigibleness under the Judgments of God which we have seen abroad in the Earth and which have in a very severe and terrible manner been inflicted upon these Kingdoms that the Inhabitants thereof might learn righteousness Our insensibleness of the Hand of God so visible in his late Providences towards us and in the many merciful and wonderful Deliverances which from time to time He hath wrought for us And lastly if we reflect upon our horrible Ingratitude to God our Saviour and mighty Deliverer and to Them likewise whom He hath so signally honour'd in making them the happy Means and Instruments of our Deliverance And this not only express'd by a bold contempt of their Authority but by a most unnatural Conspiracy against Them with the greatest Enemies not only to the Peace of the Nation but likewise to the Reformed Religion therein profess'd and by Law established and to the interest of it all the World over So that we may say with Ezra And now O our God what shall we say unto thee after this And may not God likewise say to us as He did more than once to the Jews Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord and shall not my soul be avenged on such a Nation as this Thirdly We should likewise upon this Day earnestly deprecate God's displeasure and make our humble Supplications to Him that He would be graciously pleas'd to avert those terrible Judgments which hang over us and which we have just cause to fear may fall upon us and that He would be entreated by us at last to be appeas'd towards us and to turn from the fierceness of his Anger This we find the People of God were wont to do upon their Solemn days of Fasting and Prayer and this God expressly enjoyns Blow the Trumpet in Zion sanctifie a Fast call a solemn Assembly gather the People sanctifie the Congregation assemble the Elders c. Let the Priests the Ministers of the Lord weep between the Porch and the Altar and let them say Spare thy People O Lord and give not thy heritage to reproach that the Heathen should rule over them Wherefore should they say among the People Where is their God And to this earnest deprecation of his Judgments God promiseth a gracious answer for so it immediately follows Then will the Lord be jealous for his Land and pity his People And thus likewise Daniel when he set his face to seek the Lord God by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes does in a most humble and earnest manner deprecate the displeasure of God towards his People and beg of Him to remove his Judgments and to turn away his Anger from them O Lord according to all thy righteousness I beseech thee let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy City Jerusalem thy Holy Mountain Because for our sins and for the iniquity of our Fathers Jerusalem and thy People are become a reproach to all that are about us Now therefore O God hear the prayer of thy servant and his supplication and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary which is desolate for the Lord's sake O my God incline thine ear and hear open thine eyes and behold our desolations and the City which is called by thy Name For we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness but for thy great mercy O Lord hear O Lord forgive O Lord hearken and do deferr not for thine own sake O my God for thy City and thy People are called by thy Name And thus also should We upon this Solemn Occasion cry mightily unto God and with the greatest importunity deprecate those terrible Judgments which we so righteously have deserv'd and to which the great and crying Sins of the whole Nation have so justly exposed us Humbly beseeching Him not for our Righteousness but for his great Mercy for his own Name 's sake and because we are his People and are called by his Name and because his Holy Truth and Religion are profess'd amongst us that He would be pleas'd to hear the Prayers of his Servants and their Supplications which they have made before him this Day for the Lord's sake Fourthly We should likewise upon this Day pour out our most earnest Supplications to Almighty God for the preservation of Their Majesties Sacred Persons and for the prosperity and establishment of Their Government and for the good Success of Their Arms and Forces by Sea and Land And more especially since His Majesty with so many Confederate Princes and States of Europe is engaged in so necessary an Undertaking for the Common good of Christendom and for the mutual preservation and recovery of Their respective Rights We should earnestly implore the favour and assistance of Almighty God in so just and glorious a Cause against the common Invader and Oppressor of the Rights and Liberties of Mankind And that of his infinite Goodness He would be graciously pleased to take the Person of our Sovereign Lord the King into the particular care and protection of his Providence That He would secure his precious Life from all secret Attempts and from open Violence That He would give his Angels charge over him and cover his Head in the day of Battel and crown it with Victory over his Enemies and restore Him to us again in safety And that He would likewise preserve and direct the Queen's Majesty in whose hands the Administration of the Government is at present so happily plac'd That He would give Her Wisdom and Resolution for such a Time as
as our thoughts but as the Heavens are high above the Earth so are his ways above our ways and his thoughts above our thoughts And the best way to keep our selves from despairing of GOD's Mercy and Forgiveness to us is to be easy to grant Forgiveness to others And without this as GOD hath reason to deny Forgiveness to us so we our selves have all the reason in the World utterly to despair of it It would almost transport a Christian to read that admirable Passage of the Great Heathen Emperour and Philosopher M. Aurelius Antoninus Can the Gods says he that are Immortal for the continuance of so many ages bear without impatience with such and so many Sinners as have ever been and not only so but likewise take care of them and provide for them that they want nothing And dost thou so grievously take on as one that can bear with them no longer Thou that art but for a moment of time yea Thou that art one of those Sinners thyself I will conclude this whole Discourse with those weighty and pungent Sayings of the wise Son of Syrach He that revengeth shall find vengeance from the Lord and he will certainly retain his Sins Forgive thy neighbour that hath hurt thee so shall thy Sins also be forgiven when thou prayest One man beareth hatred against another and doth he seek pardon of the Lord He sheweth no mercy to a man like himself and doth he ask forgiveness of his own Sins Enable us O Lord by thy Grace to practise this excellent and difficult Duty of our Religion And then Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us For thy mercies sake in Jesus Christ to whom with Thee O Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory Adoration and Obedience both now and ever Amen The care of our Souls the One thing needful A SERMON Preached before the KING and QUEEN AT Hampton-Court April the 14 th 1689. The care of our Souls the One thing needful LUKE X. 42 But one thing is needful IN the accounts of Wise men one of the first Rules and Measures of human actions is this To regard every thing more or less according to the degree of its consequence and importance to our happiness That which is most necessary to that End ought in all reason to be minded by us in the first place and other things only so far as they are consistent with that great End and subservient to it Our B. Saviour here tells us that there is one thing needful that is one thing which ought first and principally to be regarded by us And what that is it is of great concernment to us all to know that we may mind and pursue it as it deserves And we may easily understand what it is by considering the Context and the occasion of these Words which was briefly this Our Saviour as He went about preaching the Kingdom of God came into a certain Village where He was entertain'd at the house of two devout Sisters The elder who had the care and management of the Family and the Affairs of it was imployed in making entertainment for such a Guest The other sate at our Saviour's feet attending to the Doctrine of Salvation which he preach'd The elder finding her self not able to do all the business alone desires of our Saviour that he would command her Sister to come and help her Upon this our Saviour gives her this gentle reprehension Martha Martha Thou art careful and troubled about many things but one thing is needful And what that is he declares in the next words And Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her that is she hath chosen to take care of her Salvation which is infinitely more considerable than any thing else Our Saviour doth not altogether blame Martha for her respectful care of Him but cmmends her Sister for her greater care of her Soul which made her either wholly to forget or unwilling to mind other things at that time So that upon the whole matter He highly approves her wise choice in preferring an attentive regard to his Doctrine even before that which might be thought a necessary civility to His Person From the Words thus explain'd the Observation which I shall make is this That the care of Religion and of our Souls is the one thing necessary and that which every man is concern'd in the first place and above all other things to mind and regard This Observation seems to be plainly contain'd in the Text. I shall handle it as briefly as I can and then by way of Application shall endeavour to persuade You and my self to mind this one thing necessary And in speaking to this serious and weighty Argument I shall do these two things First I shall endeavour to shew wherein this care of Religion and of our Souls does consist Secondly To convince men of the necessity of taking this care I. I shall shew wherein this care of Religion and of our Souls doth consist And this I shall endeavour to do with all the plainness I can and so as every one that hears me may understand and be sufficiently directed what is necessary for him to do in order to his eternal Salvation And of this I shall give an account in the five following Particulars in which I think the main business of Religion and the due care of our Souls does consist First In the distinct knowledge and in the firm belief and persuasion of those things which are necessary to be known and believed by us in order to our eternal Salvation Secondly In the frequent Examination of our lives and actions and in a sincere Repentance for all the errours and miscarriages of them Thirdly In the constant and daily exercise of Piety and Devotion Fourthly In avoiding those things which are pernicious to our Salvation and whereby men do often hazard their Souls Fifthly In the even and constant practice of the several Graces and Vertues of a good Life I. The due care of Religion and our Souls does consist in the distinct knowledge and in the firm belief and persuasion of those things which are necessary to be known and believ'd by us in order to our eternal Salvation For this knowledge of the necessary Principles and Duties of Religion is the foundation of all good Practice wherein the life of Religion doth consist And without this no man can be truly Religious Without faith saith the Apostle to the Hebrews it is impossible to please God For he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him Now these two expressions of pleasing God and seeking Him are plainly of the same importance and do both of them signify Religion or the Worship and Service of God which doth antecedently suppose our firm belief and persuasion of these two fundamental Principles of all Religion That there is a
though he was as the Scripture tells us light of foot as a wild Roe yet did he not escape the spear of Abner It seems that among the Ancients swiftness was look'd upon as a great qualification in a Warriour both because it serves for a sudden assault and onset and likewise for that which in civility we call a nimble retreat And therefore David in his Poetical Lamentation over those two great Captains Saul and Jonathan takes particular notice of this warlike quality of theirs They were says he swifter than Eagles stronger than Lyons And the constant Character which Homer gives of Achilles one of his principal Heroes is that he was swift of foot The Poet feigns of him that by some charm or gift of the Gods he was invulnerable in all parts of his body except his heel And that was the part to which he trusted and in that he received his mortal wound The wise Poet hereby instructing us that many times our greatest danger lies there where we place our chief confidence and safety Nor yet bread to the wise or to the learned The poverty of Poets is Proverbial and there are frequent instances in History of eminently learned persons that have been reduced to great straits and necessities Nor yet riches to men of understanding By which whether we understand men of great parts or of great diligence and industry it is obvious to every man's observation that an ordinary capacity and understanding does usually lie more level to the business of a common Trade and Profession than more refin'd and elevated parts which lie rather for speculation than practice and are better fitted for the pleasure and ornament of conversation than for the toil and drudgery of business As a fine Razor is admirable for cutting hairs but the dull Hatchet much more proper for hewing a hard and knotty piece of timber And even when Parts and Industry meet together they are many times less successful in the raising of a great Estate than men of much lower and slower understandings because these are apt to admire riches which is a great spur to industry and because they are perpetually intent upon one thing and mind but one business from which their thoughts never straggle into vain and useless enquiries after knowledge or news or publick affairs all which being foreign to their business they leave to those who are as they are wont to say of them in scorn more curious and too wise to be rich Nor yet favour to men of skill All History is full of Instances of the casual advancement of men to great favour and honour when others who have made it their serious study and business have fallen short of it I could give a famous Example in this kind of the manifold and manifest disappointment of a whole Order of men the slyest and most subtile in their generation of all the children of this World the most politically instituted and the best studied and skill'd in the tempers and interests of men the most pragmatical and cunning to insinuate themselves into the Intrigues of Courts and great Families and who by long experience and an universal intelligence and communicated observations have reduced humane affairs at least as they think to a certain Art and Method and to the most steddy Rules that such contingent things are capable of I believe you all guess before-hand whom I mean even the honest Jesuits And yet these men of so much art and skill have met with as many checks and disappointments as any sort of men ever did They have been discountenanc'd by almost all Princes and States and one time or other banish'd out of most of the Courts and Countries of Europe And it is no small argument of the Divine Providence that so much cunning hath met with so little countenance and success and hath been so often so grosly infatuated and their counsels turn'd into foolishness But I promis'd only to mention these and to insist upon the second Instance in the Text I return'd and saw under the Sun that the battel is not to the strong to the Gibborim the Gyants for so the Hebrew word signifies in which Solomon might possibly have respect to the history of the Israelites subduing the Canaanites a People of great strength and stature among whom were the Gyants the sons of Anak or more probably to the famous encounter of his Father David with the great Goliah But however that be the Scripture is full of Examples to this purpose that when the Providence of God is pleased to interpose in favour of any side it becomes victorious according to the saying of King Asa in his prayer to God it is nothing with thee to help whether with many or with those that have no power Sometimes God hath defeated great Armies by plain and apparent Miracles Such was the drowning of Pharaoh and his Host in the Red Sea and the Stars fighting in their courses against Sisera by which Poetical expression I suppose is meant Sisera's being remarkably defeated by a visible hand from Heaven And such was the destruction of the proud King of Assyria's Army by an Angel who slew an hundred and fourscore and five thousand of them in one night Sometimes God does this by more humane ways by striking mighty Armies with a Panick and unaccountable fear and sometimes by putting extraordinary spirits and courage into the weaker side so that an hundred shall chase a thousand and a thousand shall put ten thousand to flight This made David so frequently to acknowledge the Providence of God especially in the affairs of War There is no King saved by the multitude of an Host neither is a mighty man delivered by much strength And again I will not trust in my bow neither shall my sword save me And Solomon confirms the same observation There is no wisdom says he nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. The horse is prepared against the day of battel but safety or as some Translations render it Victory is of the Lord. Gideon by a very odd stratagem of Lamps and Pitchers defeated a very numerous Army only with three hundred men Jonathan and his Armour-bearer by climbing up a Rock and coming suddenly on the back of the Philistines Camp struck them with such a terror as put their whole Army to flight King Asa with a much inferior number defeated that huge Ethiopian Army which consisted of a Million And how was Xerxes his mighty Army overthrown almost by a handful of Grecians And to come nearer our selves how was that formidable Fleet of the Spaniards which they presumptuously called invincible shatter'd and broken in pieces chiefly by the Winds and the Sea So many accidents are there especially in War whereby the Divine Providence doth sometimes interpose and give Victory to the weaker side And this hath been so apparent in all Ages that even the Heathen did always acknowledge in the affairs of War a special interposition
know thy abode and thy going out and thy coming in and thy rage against me Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears therefore will I put my hook into thy nose and my bridle into thy lips and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall do this But more especially in vindication of his oppressed Truth and Religion and in the great and signal Deliverances of his Church and People God is wont to take the conduct of affairs into his own hands and not to proceed by humane rules and measures He then bids second Causes to stand by that his own Arm may be seen and his Salvation may appear He raiseth the spirits of men above their natural pitch and giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he increaseth strength as the Prophet expresseth it Thus hath the Providence of God very visibly appear'd in our late Deliverance in such a manner as I know not whether He ever did for any other Nation except the People of Israel when He delivered them from the House of Bondage by so mighty a hand and so outstretched an arm And yet too many among us I speak it this day to our shame do not seem to have the least sense of this great Deliverance or of the hand of God which was so visible in it but like the Children of Israel when they were brought out of Egypt we are full of murmurings and discontent against God the Author and his Servant the happy Instrument under God of this our Deliverance What the Prophet says of that People may I fear be too justly apply'd to us Let favour be shewn to the wicked yet will he not learn righteousness in the Land of uprightness he will deal unjustly and will not behold the Majesty of the Lord Lord When thy hand is lifted up they will not see but they shall see and be ashamed And I hope I may add that which follows in the next verse Lord thou wilt ordain peace for us for thou also hast wrought all our works for us What God hath already done for our deliverance is I hope an earnest that He will carry it on to a perfect peace and settlement and this notwithstanding our high provocations and horrible ingratitude to the God of our Life and of our Salvation And when ever the Providence of God thinks fit thus to interpose in humane affairs the race is not to the swift nor the battel to the strong For which reason their Majesties in their great Piety and Wisdom and from a just sense of the Providence of Almighty God which rules in the Kingdoms of men have thought fit to set apart this Day for solemn repentance and humiliation That the many and heinous Sins which we in this Nation have been and still are guilty of and which are of all other our greatest and most dangerous Enemies may not separate between God and us and hinder good things from us and cover us with confusion in the day of our danger and distress And likewise earnestly to implore the favour and blessing of Almighty God upon their Majesties Forces and Preparations by Sea and Land And more particularly for the preservation of his Majesties sacred Person upon whom so much depends and who is contented again to hazard Himself to save us To conclude There is no such way to engage the Providence of God for us as by real Repentance and Reformation and by doing all we can in our several Places from the highest to the lowest by the provision of wise and effectual Laws for the discountenancing and suppressing of Profaneness and Vice and by the careful and due execution of them and by the more kindly and powerful influence of a good Example to retrieve the ancient Piety and Virtue of the Nation For without this whatever we may think of the firmness of our present settlement we cannot long be upon good terms with Almighty God upon whose favour depends the prosperity and stability of the present and future Times I have but one thing more to mind you of and that is to stir up your charity towards the poor which is likewise a great part of the Duty of this Day and which ought always to accompany our Prayers and Fastings Thy Prayers and thine Alms saith the Angel to Cornelius are come up before God And therefore if we desire that our Prayers should reach Heaven and receive a gracious answer from God we must send up our Alms along with them And instead of all other arguments to this purpose I shall only recite to you the plain and perswasive words of God Himself in which He declares what kind of Fast is acceptable to Him Is it such a Fast as I have chosen a Day for a man to afflict his soul Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush to spread sackcloth and ashes under him Wilt thou call this a Fast and an acceptable Day to the Lord Is not this the Fast that I have chosen To loose the bands of wickedness and to undo the heavy burthens and to let the oppressed go free and that ye break every yoke Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thine house when thou seest the naked that thou cover him and that thou hide not thy self from thine own flesh Then shall thy light break forth as the morning and thy salvation shall spring forth speedily thy righteousness or thine Alms shall go before thee and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward Then shalt thou call and I will answer thee thou shalt cry and He shall say here I am Now to Him that sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb that was slain To God even our Father and to our Lord Jesus Christ the first begotten from the dead and the Prince of the Kings of the earth Vnto Him who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen And the God of Peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his Will working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever Amen The way to prevent the Ruin of a Sinful People A FAST-SERMON Preached before the LORD-MAYOR c. ON Wednesday June the 18th 1690. Pilkington Mayor Mercurii xviii Junii 1690. Annoque Regis Reginae Willelmi Mariae Angliae c. Secundo THis Court doth desire Dr. Tillotson Dean of St. Pauls to Print his Sermon preach'd before the Lord-Mayor Aldermen and Citizens of London at St. Mary-le-Bow Wagstaffe To the Right Honourable
quarrel in our own breasts and arm our own minds against our selves we create an enemy to our selves in our own bosoms and fall out with the best and most inseparable Companion of our lives And on the contrary a good Conscience will be a continual Feast and will give us that comfort and courage in an evil day which nothing else can And then whatever happen to us we may commit our souls to God in well-doing as into the hands of a faithful Creatour To whom with our Blessed Saviour and Redeemer and the Holy Ghost the Comforter be all honour and glory now and ever Amen How to keep a truly Religious Fast IN A SERMON Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL September the 16 th 1691. How to keep a truly Religious Fast ZECH. vij V. Speak unto all the People of the Land and to the Priests saying When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month even those seventy years DID YE AT ALL FAST UNTO ME EVEN UNTO ME IN the beginning of this Chapter the People of the Jews who were then rebuilding the Temple at Jerusalem and had already far advanced the work though it was not perfectly finish'd till about two years after send to the Priests and the Prophets to enquire of them whether they should still continue the Fast of the fifth Month which they had begun in Babylon and continued to observe during the seventy Years of their Captivity in a sad remembrance of the destruction of the City and Temple of Jerusalem or should not now rather turn it into a Day of feasting and gladness To this enquiry God by his Prophet returns an Answer in this and the following Chapter And first he expostulates with them concerning those their monthly Fasts whether they did indeed deserve that name and were not rather a mere shew and pretence of a Religious Fast verses 4 5. Then came the word of the Lord of Hosts unto me saying Speak unto all the People of the Land and to the Priests saying When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month even those seventy years did ye at all fast unto me even unto me The enquiry was particularly concerning the Fast of the fifth Month because the occasion of that was more considerable than of all the other but the Answer of God mentions the Fasts of the fifth and seventh Months these two being probably observ'd with greater solemnity than the other But for our clearer understanding of this it will be requisite to consider the original and occasion of all their monthly Fasts which as appears from other places of Scripture in short was this When the Jews were carried away Captive into Babylon in a deep sense of this great Judgment of God upon them for their Sins and of the heavy affliction which they lay under they appointed four annual Fasts which they observed during their seventy years Captivity viz. the Fast of the fourth Month in remembrance of the Enemies breaking through the Wall of Jerusalem which we find mention'd Jer. 52.6 7. The Fast of the fifth Month in memory of the destruction of the City and Temple of Jerusalem verses 12 13. The Fast of the seventh Month in remembrance of the slaying of Gedaliah upon which followed the dispersion of the Jews of which we have an account Jer. 42.1 2. And the Fast of the tenth Month in memory of the beginning of the Siege of Jerusalem of which we find mention 2 Kings 25.1 In this order we find these four Annual Fasts mention'd Zechar. 8.19 not according to the order of the Events but of the Months of the several Years in which these Events happened And there likewise God gives a full Answer to this Enquiry concerning the continuance of these annual Fasts namely That they should for the future be turned into solemn Days of joy and gladness And the word of the Lord of Hosts came unto me saying Thus saith the Lord of Hosts the Fast of the fourth Month and the Fast of the fifth and the Fast of the seventh and the Fast of the tenth shall be to the House of Judah joy and gladness and cheerful Feasts I return now to the Text Did ye at all fast unto me even unto me that is did these Fasts truly serve to any Religious end and purpose Did not the People content themselves with a mere external shew and performance without any inward affliction and humiliation of their Souls in order to a real repentance Did they not still go on in their sins nay and add to them upon these Occasions fasting for strife and debate and oppression In a word were they not worse rather than better for them And therefore God had no regard to them as it follows in this Chapter Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts saying Execute judgment and shew mercy and compassion every man to his brother and oppress not the widows nor the fatherless the stranger nor the poor and let none of you imagine mischief against his brother in your heart But they refused to hearken and pull'd away the shoulder and stopped their ears that they should not hear yea they made their heart as an Adamant-stone lest they should bear the Law and the words which the Lord of Hosts hath sent by his spirit in the former Prophets Therefore came great wrath from the Lord of Hosts Therefore it is come to pass that as he cried and they would not hear so they cried and I would not hear saith the Lord of Hosts So that notwithstanding these outward Solemnities of Fasting and Prayer here was nothing of a Religious Fast did ye at all fast unto me even unto me They were sensible of the Judgments of God which were broken in upon them but they did not turn from their sins but persisted still in their obstinacy and disobedience And what God here by the Prophet Zechary calls fasting unto Him even unto Him the Prophet Isaiah calls the Fast which God hath chosen and an acceptable day to the Lord. Wherefore have we fasted say they and thou seest not Wherefore have we afflicted our souls and thou takest no knowledge Behold ye fast for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness ye shall not fast as ye do this day to make your voice to be heard on high Is it such a Fast as I have chosen a Day for a man to afflict his Soul Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him Wilt thou call this a Fast and an acceptable day to the Lord Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house when thou seest the naked that thou cover him and that thou hide not thy self from thine own flesh Then shall thy light break forth as the morning and thy salvation shall spring forth speedily Then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer c. From all which
Soul and so long as that remains unwounded the spirit of a man can bear his infirmities God is intimate to our Souls and hath secret ways whereby to convey the joys and comforts of his Holy Spirit into our Hearts under the bitterest afflictions and sharpest sufferings He can enable us by his Grace to possess our souls in patience when all other things are taken from us When there is nothing but trouble about us He can give us peace and joy in believing When we are persecuted afflicted and tormented He can give us that ravishing sight of the Glories of another World that stedfast assurance of a future Blessedness as shall quite extinguish all sense of present sufferings How did many of the primitive Christian Martyrs in the midst of their torments and under the very pangs of death rejoice in the hope of the glory of God There are none of us but may happen to fall into those circumstances of danger and of bodily pains and sufferings as to have no hopes of relief and comfort but from God none in all the World to trust to but Him only And in the greatest Evils that can befall us in this life He is a sure refuge and sanctuary and to repeat the words of the Psalmist after the Text When our heart fails and our strength fails God is the strength of our hearts and our portion for ever Now what would any of us do in such a Case if it were not for God Humane nature is liable to desperate straits and exigencies And he is not happy who is not provided against the worst that may happen It is sad to be reduced to such a condition as to be destitute of all comfort and hope And yet men may be brought to that extremity that if it were not for God they would not know which way to turn themselves or how to entertain their thoughts with any comfortable considerations under their present anguish All men naturally resort to God in extremity and cry out to him for help Even the most profane and Atheistical when they are destitute of all other comfort will run to God and take hold of him and cling about him But God hath no pleasure in fools in those who neglect and despise him in their prosperity though they owe that also entirely to him but when the evil day comes then they lay hold of him as their only refuge When all things go well with them God is not in all their thoughts but in their affliction they will seek him early Then they will cry Lord Lord but he will say to them in that day Depart from me ye workers of iniquity for I know you not Here will be the great unhappiness of such persons that God will then appear terrible to them so as they shall not be able when they look up to him to abide his frowns And at the same time that they are forc'd to acknowledge him and to supplicate to him for mercy and forgiveness they shall be ready to despair of it Then those terrible threatnings of God's Word will come to their minds Because I called and ye refused I stretched out my hand and no man regarded But ye set at nought all my counsel and would have none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear cometh when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind when distress and anguish cometh upon you Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me For that they hated knowledge and did not chuse the fear of the Lord They would none of my counsel they despised all my reproof Therefore shall they eat the fruit of their own ways and be filled with their own devices The ease of the simple shall slay them and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them To which I will add that terrible Passage in the Prophet concerning the perverse and obstinate Jews They are a People of no understanding therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them and he that formed them will shew them no favour And men are miserable Creatures indeed when God their Maker doth abandon them and hath so far hardened his heart against them that he can have no pity and compassion for them Seventhly and Lastly Which is consequent upon all the rest God is such a Good as can give perfect rest and tranquillity to our minds And that which cannot do this though it had all the Properties before mentioned cannot make us happy For he is not happy who does not think himself so what-ever cause he may have to think so Now what in reason can give us disquiet if we do firmly believe that there is a God and that his Providence rules and governs all things for the best and that God is all that to good Men which hath now been said of Him Why should not our minds be in perfect repose when we are secure of the chief Good and have found out that which can make us happy and is willing to make us so if we be not wanting to our selves and by our wilful obstinacy and rebellion against him do not oppose and frustrate this design If a considerate Man were permitted to his own choice to wish the greatest good to himself that he could possibly devise after he had searched Heaven and Earth the result of all his wishes would be that there were just such a Being as we must necessarily conceive God to be Nor would he chuse any other Friend or Benefactor any other Protector for himself or Governor for the whole World than infinite Power conducted and managed by infinite Wisdom and Goodness which is the true Notion of a God After all his enquiry he would come to the Psalmist's conclusion here in the Text Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee Vain Man is apt to seek for happiness elsewhere but this proceeds from want of due consideration For when all things are well weigh'd and all accounts rightly cast up and adjusted we shall at last settle in David's resolution of that great Question What is the chief Good of man There be many says he that say Who will shew us any good That is Men are generally inquisitive after happiness but greatly divided in their Opinions about it Most men place it in the present enjoyments of this World but David for his part pitches upon God in whom he was fully convinc'd that the happiness of Man does consist There be many that say Who will shew us any good Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their Corn and Wine increased The great joy of the men of this World is in a plentiful Harvest and the abundance of the good things of this life But David had