saw his sons and his sons sons even four generations After which the happy days he enjoyed here concluded in an unspeakably more happy Eternity And thus as Satan said doth Iob serve God for nought so we see that his great Patience and exemplary Submission to the Will of God under the sorest and severest trials was not in vain in the Lord but abundantly recompenced But before I conclude this Example of Resignation I must take notice that so great was Iob's Patience that some of the Rabbins of old and some of late have imagined the account that we have of him to be rather a moral fiction a Romance and Parable than a real History So very averse are men to think any higher degrees of goodness attainable than what they themselves are willing to come up to But that we may not doubt whether it were a true History besides other arguments that in Ezech. xiv 14. 20. doth evidently prove it so to be There it is twice said Though these three men Noah Daniel and Iob were in it they should but deliver their own souls by their righteousness intimating that if there were any hope or help for a Nation none were more likely to prevail than these three persons most dear to God for their singular Piety A like expression there is Ier. xv 1. Though Moses and Samuel stood before me yet my mind could not be to this people Now Noah and Daniel Moses and Samuel being no imaginary but real persons why should it be thought that Iob onely was so Let it be farther considered that in Iam. 5. 10 11. we are directed to the Prophets and to Iob as examples of Patience Now the Prophets being no fictions but such as really spake in the name of the Lord how should Iob come to be joyned with them if there were never such a one in being Surely are not exhorted to the imitation of one who never was nor encouraged to a real duty by an imaginary and feigned reward If this Story were a mere fiction the argument to patience which St. Iames useth in those words Ye have heard of the patience of Iob and have seen the end of the Lord c. might have been thus excepted against by those suffering Christians to whom he there speaketh viz. What do you tell us of one Iob of his patience and reward there was never such a person there were never such things practised as are said of him and therefore how can what you have told us concerning him signifie any thing to our encouragement CHAP. X. Of the Example of ELI X. A third Example shall be that of Eli. He was both the High-Priest and Judge the chief of both Capacities Sacred and Civil and judged Israel fourty years But being greatly faulty in not using his power to the restraining his two sons Hophni and Phinehas that rendred the Service of God and the Priesthood vile by their Covetousness Luxury and Uncleanness God sent Samuel with this sad message to him namely that he would judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knew of but did not restrain by his authority That his two sons should die on one day that the dignity of the Priesthood should be taken from his Family and given to another This sentence though most righteous was so severe that it is said that both the ears of every one that heard of the execution of it should tingle 1 Sam. iii. 11. And it was an irreversible sentence for God saith that he hath sworn unto the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever ver 14. A dreadful expression of his great displeasure And now how was Eli affected with this message His Resignation of himself and free Submission to the Will of God is exprest ver 18. in that speech of his It is the Lord Let him do what seemeth him good or what is good in his eyes Let him do not what I but what he thinks best who is both infinitely wise and just and knoweth better than I how to dispose of all for his own glory He is holy in all his ways and therefore 't is fit his will should take place His heart did not fret against the Lord nor was he cut to the heart when this sad cutting message was brought him which was no less than the cutting off of his arm and the arm of his fathers house As it is exprest Chap. ii 31. And he gave proof of it For when he heard that his two sons were slain in Battel which was the sign God gave of the approching ruine of his house Chap. ii 34. he seemed to bear this unconcernedly in comparison of the following tidings For when he heard that the Ark of God was taken that sad word strikes him backward and made him sink down in a deadly swound Then he fell off from his Seat and brake his neck with the fall Chap. iv 18. The good old man was so resigned to the Will of God as to his own concerns that he could patiently bear the departure of the glory of his house but the departure of the Glory from Israel of the Ark which was the token of God's special favour and residence among them this he could not bear CHAP. XI Of the Example of DAVID XI THe fourth Example I shall propose of Self-Resignation is holy David a man after God's own heart that would fulfill 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all his wills as it is Acts xiii 22. He was eminent for obedience to the Divine Commands he delighted to do the will of God yea his law was within his heart Psal. xl 11. And had respect unto all his Commandments Psal. cxix 6. And he was likewise eminent for a patient submissive temper under great trials and sufferings That was an exceeding great trial when with his houshold and loyal Subjects he was forced to fly with all speed out of Ierusalem for the saving his life from the bloudy machinations of his own Son Absolom We have the Story in 2 Sam. 15 16. Chapters Absolom his third son by birth but now his eldest and therefore Heir apparent to the Crown being impatient to stay for it till the natural death of his Father designed first by flattering civilities to insinuate himself into the hearts of the people and afterwards by armed power to force his way into his Throne For his person he was of a very lovely aspect and taking presence so that in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absolom for his beauty from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him He had also a fair and smooth tongue was of a winning and insinuating behaviour so that he stole away the hearts of the men of Israel And having so done it was an easie business to get himself chosen and proclaimed King which was done by the men of Israel and
done and then especially when we are solicited by the Tempter within or without to sin Let us then say with holy David Thy vows are upon me O God I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy righteous judgments Neither hopes nor fears neither the terrours nor allurements of the world shall disswade me from a faithful obedience to them Vows prudently mannaged are of great use to secure us to Religion and this is the onely end of them To vow saith Cajetan is nothing else but to fix the mind and make it immoveable that it may not start back from the practice of Religion And as for those that are shye or slack thus to engage and devote themselves to God which I fear in most proceeds from a too dear affection to some sin or sins let them know that God's Vows are already upon them they are under the Obligation of the Baptismal Vow to renounce the Devil and all his works the vain pomp and glory of the world the covetous desires of the same and the carnal desires of the flesh so as not to follow nor be led by them So much is implied in being baptized in or into the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost And besides those that have received the Lord's Supper have thereby virtually renewed their Vow in Baptism In this other Sacrament we make a Profession that we offer and present unto God our selves our Souls and Bodies to be a Holy and Lively Sacrifice to him Than which there is nothing more due or reasonable considering the great Love of God in giving his Son for us the great Love of our Saviour Christ in his Death and Sufferings represented in this Sacrament and the great Blessings procured for us by the Bloud of that spotless Lamb. So that all of us young or old have already bound our Souls with a Bond as to vow is described Numb xxx being under the engagement of either one or both these Sacramental Vows and therefore in exhorting you to oblige your selves by solemn Vows to the duties of Religion I do not advise you to a new thing but onely to repeat what you have already done and if you intend to stand to the Vows you have made what should deter you from reiterating them whilst you have need of them But always remember when you vow to the Lord to do it with a trust and faith in his power and all-sufficient Grace and with a distrust of your own natural ability to perform your Vows And when at any time you have failed in the performance of them be deeply humbled before God and renew your Engagements with a greater sense of your weakness and falseness of heart and be more watchful over your selves and let your falls make you more narrowly look to your feet for the time to come 5. Fasting is another means to be used for the mortification of the body of Sin It is of great consequence and necessary to the health of the inward man to keep under the body to humble chastise and bring it into due subjection This was the practice of St. Paul himself who had not such unruly passions and appetites to tame as we have Religious Fasting is of great use to the subduing of the Body to the Spirit and to the starving of corruptions by cutting off their provision as the ungovernable beast is made tame by taking away his provinder And there are a sort of Devils that will not go out without Fasting added to Prayer and other means but 't is most especially of force for the casting out the Vnclean Devil And according as we find we stand in more or less need of this remedy we should oftener or seldomer make use of it CHAP. V. Of the great power and efficacy of Faith in God Faith in his Power and Goodness V. FIfthly The next Direstion I shall give in order to subduin gour Wills to the Will of God is that of our Saviour Have Faith in God Mark xi 22. Have faith in his Power and Goodness this will adde life to our prayers this will animate and strengthen all our endeavours Take heed of doubting whether the Lord's hand be not shortned that it cannot save whether his ear be not heavy that it cannot hear or his bowels shut up that he is not ready to help Take heed of questioning whether thine own Will and selfish desires be not stronger than can be subdued of entertaining suspicious thoughts that after all thy endeavours to win the Spiritual Canaan there will be no arriving at that Land of Rest but that at last thou shalt die in the Wilderness that there is none or but little hope of overcoming 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Giant-like mind as the expression is in Ecclesiasticus xxiii 4. and those sons of Anak that thou findest vigorous and strong in thee For by this thine unbelief or weakness of faith thou greatly dishonourest either the Power or Goodness of God who is able and as willing as able to save the Soul that trusteth in him And by this means will the Chariot-wheels of thy Soul be taken off thou wilt extreamly discourage and infeeble thy self and blunt the edge of those weapons wherewith thou art to encounter thy Spiritual Enemies If thy Soul be upright in thee if thou art sincere and hearty in imploring the aids of God's Grace and the assistances of his Spirit and hast faith to be healed and delivered from the Lusts that fight against thee thou shalt undoubtedly see the salvation of the Lord. He will teach thine hands to war and thy fingers to fight he will gird thee with strength and thou shalt be more than conquerour through Christ that loveth thee Though thou hast no might against that great company that cometh against thee against flesh and bloud principalities and powers yet if thou waitest on the Lord and art of good courage he will strengthen thine heart he will strengthen thee with strength in thy soul and through him thou shalt do valiantly and tread down thine enemies He that is in thee will be greater than they that are in the world viz. the lust of the flesh the lust of the eye and the pride of life Take heed therefore of all such reasonings suggestions and principles as tend to beget a despondency and fainting of Spirit but lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees To the Soul that believes all things are possible Let Faith say unto any mountain of difficulty be thou removed and it shall be done Who art thou O great mountain before this blessed Grace and in the exercise of it thou shalt become a plain Thy Self-will and Lusts are therefore strong because thy Faith is weak and thou in that regard makest but a faint resistance But if thou wert strong in the Lord and in the power of his might if thou didst resist stedfast in faith thou shouldest see thine Adversaries flye before thee
for him than at Shimei's injuries and thus replies to him What have I to do with you ye sons of Zeruiah so let him curse because the Lord hath said unto him Curse David that is because the Lord saw it good to permit him to curse me for my punishment who then shall say Wherefore hast thou done so Again Behold saith he my son which came forth of my bowels seeketh my life how much more now may this Benjamite do it Let him alone and let him curse for the Lord hath bidden him David was not a person of a dull phlegmatick temper of a slow and stupid disposition but of a vigorous active spirit he was sensible what a barbarous act this was in Shimei thus to insult over his King and that in his great distress but being also sensible of God's Providence in permitting this wretched man thus to affront revile and curse him to correct him for his sins he quietly and meekly submitted to it And David lost nothing by his humble submission for God delivered him from the policies of Achitophel from the powerful Army of Absolom and brought him back with joy and triumph to Ierusalem And as for Shimei God returned his wickedness upon his own head and David found that true which he did but modestly suppose upon Shimei's cursing It may be saith he the Lord will look upon mine asfliction and that the Lord will requite good for his cursing this day And he that spake with such an humble resigned mind But if he say I have no delight in thee behold here am I let him do to me as seemeth good to him found that God did delight in him and therefore delivered him As he himself expresseth it Psalm xviii 19. He delivered me because he delighted in me God did what seemed good to David seeing he was willing he should do what seemed good to himself I will adde one more passage expressive of David's Resignation It is in Psal. xxxix The particular occasion is not mentioned but that he was in a most afflicted condition we find in the tenth verse Remove thy stroke away from me I am consumed by the blow of thine hand And v. 13. he prayeth that God would spare him that he might recover strength But yet he was patient submissive and quiet ver 9. I was dumb I opened not my mouth because thou didst it As in another case he saith Surely I have behaved and quieted my self as a child that is weaned of his mother my soul is even as a weaned child Psal. cxxxi 2. See how this great man expresseth himself in words of greatest lowliness and humility When he has to do with God he is as a little child a poor low contemptible thing in his own esteem as a worm and no man as he speaks Psal. xxii 6. Though when he had to do with men and was to fight the Lord's Battels whom more a man than David Who more courageous and stout-hearted When he was but a stripling he encountred and slew a Lion and a Bear and the great Giant Goliah Now if David a King one of such heighth and dignity one of so great fame and renown in the world one of such incomparable courage and magnanimity did with such meekness and subjection of Soul submit to the Divine Providence and in such instances as these wherein as a King and as a Father he was most highly provoked and unworthily dealt with is it not a shame for us who are so much his inferiors to be impatient and unresigned and that in far less trials than his were CHAP. XII Of the Example of our BLESSED SAVIOUR XII OUr fifth Example of Holy Resignation is our Lord Jesus Christ Of all Examples the greatest the brightest and fairest Pattern of all for none ever obeyed none ever suffered so much as the holy and blessed Jesus and through sufferings was this Captain of our Salvation made perfect Heb. ii 10. He is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Captain and brave Leader of the noble Army of Martyrs as all self-resigning Souls are For to give their body of Sin and Self-desires to be burnt their own Wills to be consumed by the flames of Divine Love what is it less than Martyrdom And I chuse to mention our Saviour next to David though he was indeed far before him in Obedience and Submission because he is the Spiritual David and called by the name David by the Prophets David being an Historical Type and Figure of Christ both in his Troubles and Triumphs and therefore the second Psalm is applicable both to David and Christ and because there are some memorable conformities between them as to this particular of Resignation 1. Christ had his Iudas as David his Achitophel one near to him and that did eat at his table conspired and lift up the heel against him 2. Israel whom God calls his Son dealt as unworthily with Christ as Absolom did with David 3. David as we have shewn being conspired against goeth with his servants out of Ierusalem passeth over the Brook Kidron goes up by the ascent of Mount Olivet he weeps as he went his heart was sore pained within him the storms of death were fallen upon him and horrour overwhelmed him as he complained upon this occasion Psalm lv 2 4 5. And now it was that he exprest his humble Resignation to the Will of God in those words Behold here am I let him do to me as seemeth good unto him And this Spiritual David beginning to undergo his last and greatest Sufferings goes out of Ierusalem where his enemies were conspiring to destroy him and Iudas helping to facilitate their cruel enterprise He with his Disciples passeth over the Brook Cedron the same with Kidron John xviii 1. he comes to the mount of Olives the same with Mount Olivet Matth. xxvi 30. and in a Garden there he began to be sorrowful and sore amazed and very heavy Told his three Disciples that his Soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death Here he wept he offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears And being in an Agony sweat as it were drops of bloud And here he exprest his humble Resignation to the Will of his Father in these words O my Father if this Cup may not pass away from me except I drink it thy will be done Matth. xxvi 14. Or as it is in St. Luke Father if thou be willing remove this Cup from me nevertheless not my will but thine be done And those words whereby David expresseth his Resignation Psal. xl 7 8. we find applied unto Christ Heb. x. 7. Lo I come in the volume of the book it is written of me I delight to do thy will O my God And in him were they verified in a far more eminent degree There was no compare between David's Resignation and our Saviours his Cup was much more bitter his Sufferings were not such as are common to men but were of an extraordinary
nature being designed for an extraordinary end viz. The making atonement and expiation for the sins of the world He bare our sins in his own body on the tree was wounded for our iniquities bruised for our sins And he was a Person far from deserving the least of sufferings by any the least default For he was spotlesly innocent and ever lived in most perfect Obedience to the Will of God Yet notwithstanding the unspeakable greatness of his Sufferings and his non-desert of them he did not in the least complain of his Father for giving him up to them but intirely submitted to and acquiesced in his will and pleasure The Cup that my Father gives me to drink saith he shall I not drink it Not as I will but as thou willest And the Resignation of his Soul was also exprest by the most wonderful Meekness Charity he discovered towards his bloudy Enemies even in the midst of their unsufferable abuses and barbarous cruelties He was led as a Lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep dumb before the shearers he opened not his mouth Wherein also David was a Type of our Saviour viz. in his behaviour towards the reviling Shimei already mentioned But the Resignation of our Blessed Saviour which was of all others incomparably the greatest I shall not farther inlarge on because I have discoursed already of it and shall have yet farther occasion to speak more in another Chapter I will onely add that this is the Copy we are to eye most though we are incompassed about with a great cloud of other Witnesses and noble Examples of this Vertue CHAP. XIII Of the Example of the Apostle Saint PAUL XIII THe sixth and last Example I shall mention is Blessed Paul A follower of Christ as he stiles himself 1 Cor. xi 1. And he imitated him in nothing more than in Self-Resignation The very first words he spake at his Conversion did speak the great preparedness of his Soul for this Grace Lord said he what wilt thou have me to do Acts ix 6. There then shone round about him a light from Heaven above the brightness of the Sun but a more glorious light shined into his heart and as that light struck his Body down to the earth so did this his Soul and humbled it to the lowest degree of Self-abasement and submissive compliance with the Will of God Lord what wilt thou have me to do was as well the language of his heart as the voice of his lips And whatsoever the Will of God was that he should either do or suffer afterward he was most pliable and yielding to it He would will or act nothing but according to the Will of Christ. To him to live was Christ Phil. i. 21. His own proper will was swallowed up in his will so that he did not so much live as Christ lived in him Gal. ii 20. None of the holy Writers spake more frequently or vigorously than St. Paul of the necessity of our being crucified to the world and of having the world crucified unto us of crucifying the flesh with the affections and lusts of mortifying through the Spirit the deeds of the body as being the onely way to eternal life of putting off the old man which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts By all which expressions is meant the subduing our own will and every inordinate affection whatsoever is contrary to the Will of God and opposite to Self-Resignation These things this excellent Apostle doth inculcate and press with all seriousness and in expressions of greater significancy of a more spiritual force and fuller energy than any forms of speech that occur in the Old Testament And what he thus teacheth and exhorts to he was an eminent Example of the Practice of He himself was crucified with Christ he suffered the loss of all things and accounted all other gains and advantages but losse and dung that he might win Christ that he might know the power of Christ's resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death Phil. iii. 8 10. He professed that it is most reasonable and becoming us that if Christ died for us we should live to him and not to our selves or the pleasing our own wills and that the Love of Christ doth with a sweet force constrain hereunto and that the mercies of God do powerfully engage us to make an entire oblation of our selves to him which is our reasonable service Rom. xii 1. And I say his practice and behaviour was fully agreeable to these his professions At his first Conversion God shewed him how great things he must suffer for his names sake but the hardships he was to endure did not at all startle him The Holy Ghost witnessed in every City that bonds and afflictions did await him but saith he none of these things trouble me nor count I my life dear unto my self and what is dearer than life so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Iesus to testifie the Gospel of the grace of God Acts xx 24. And therefore he went to Ierusalem where he was to expect very great afflictions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bound in Spirit constrained by a holy violence ver 22. Nor could he be perswaded by those Disciples at Tyre that by revelation from the Spirit told him that he would incur much hazard by going up to Ierusalem and therefore advised him not to go Nor was he wrought upon by those other Disciples who endeavoured by their tears added to their earnest entreaties to stay him But his answer to them was What mean you to weep and to break mine heart for I am ready not to be bound onely but also to die at Ierusalem for the name of the Lord Iesus Acts xxi 13. And by the stedfast purpose of his Soul to be resigned to the Will of God herein did he at last win them over to the same Resignation ver 14. And when he would not be perswaded we ceased saying The will of the Lord be done And what severe trials he was exercised with how many and great things he suffered we have an account in 1 Cor. iv 11 c. 2 Cor. vi 4 5. and Chap. xi 23 c. in which place are mentioned together above twenty instances of his sufferings So far was he from living a self-pleasing life that if he pleased himself in any thing it was in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christs sake Chap. xii 10. So far was he from impatience and shrinking at those disposals of Providence that he rejoyced in his sufferings while he filled up that which was behind of the sufferings of Christ in his flesh for his bodies sake which is the Church Col. i. 24. But there is one passage in St. Paul's Writings which I had chiefly in mine eye when I thought him next to our blessed Saviour most worthy to be presented as a Pattern
for the propagation of it as being truly sensible that it is the very Life and Soul of Christianity He appeared to all that knew him to have a vigorous sense of this Principle most of his Discourses in the Pulpit were much tinctured with it and he gave many singular proofs of his living under the power and government of it If the Author's Copiousness of Style and repeating according to his usual manner the same thing somewhat often in different expressions shall offend any I would desire them to consider that this way is not without its advantages both to Hearers and Readers For by this means the matters discoursed are made the more intelligible to the meaner Capacities and apt to make in all sorts the deeper and more abiding impression And however it happens we find by experience that one manner of expressing a thing doth frequently more affect us than another that 's as proper as significant and as easily understood If any shall object against the Author's repeating some of his Motives to the seeking among his Directions for the obtaining a Resigned Temper they ought to remember that the same Considerations may serve very properly both those purposes in different respects If some of the Arguments in the former Section shall seem in effect and for substance the same this will not be looked upon as a just ground of exception by those that shall perceive that they occasion however distinct Discourses and those very pertinent and profitable and 't is sufficient if there be but a modal difference betwixt heads of discourse Now the God of all Grace without whose Blessing all our Endeavors prove ineffectual make this Treatise with all other the pious Labours of his Servants instrumental to the furthering the great End of our Christian Faith The conforming us more and more to the Divine Will and Likeness the qualifying us by Purity of Heart and a participation of that Image of God which consists in Righteousness and true Holiness for his special favour and complacential love in this World and a glorious Immortality in the complete enjoyment of the ever blessed Trinity in the World to come And to conclude with that excellent Prayer in our Liturgy Prevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious favour and further us with thy continual help that in all our works begun continued and ended in thee we may glorifie thy holy Name and finally by thy Mercy obtain Everlasting Life through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen Edward Fowler THE CONTENTS Of the following Treatise SECT I. Considerations recommending the Duty of SELF-RESIGNATION to our most serious and diligent Practice pag. 7 CHAP. I. THat it is the Law of our Creation both first and second The Consideration of God as a second Creator shewed mightily to inforce our Engagement to this Duty upon a fourfold account 7 CHAP. II. That Self-Resignation is that which doth eminently difference a good man from the Devil and the wicked And that mere external Performances do not distinguish between the one and the other 12 CHAP. III. That Self-Resignation is the most acceptable way of glorifying God and that he is honoured by no performances separated from this 17 CHAP. IV. That Self-Resignation is the way to light even in the greatest difficulties and perplexities whether they be in reference to our duty or in reference to our condition and state 21 CHAP. V. That Self-Resignation is the way to rest and peace That those that have attained thereunto find satisfaction and pleasure both in doing and suffering the Will of God That it procures outward as well as inward peace and that Self-willedness is that which puts the World into Confusion 30 CHAP. VI. That Self-Resignation is the way to true Liberty and Freedom of Spirit and the contrary to perfect Slavery and Thraldome 37 CHAP. VII That Self-Resignation is the Sum of the Gospel-Commands That all the Ordinances of the Gospel and even Faith it self are in order to this 46 CHAP. VIII That Self-Resignation is that wherein consisteth the power of Godliness and that as it distinguisheth both from the insincere and the weak Christian. 50 CHAP. IX That Self-Resignation is the Establishment of God's Kingdom in us here and is an Introduction to his Kingdom of Glory hereafter 58 CHAP. X. That Self-will is the Root of all Sin and Misery 61 CHAP. XI That the Love of Christ in dying for Sinners makes the Duty of Self-Resignation most highly reasonable and lays the greatest obligation upon us thereunto 64 CHAP. XII That the high and holy Example of Christ layeth a mighty Obligation on Christians to Self-Resignation 68 SECT II. Directions for the attaining this most excellent Temper of SELF-RESIGNATION 75 CHAP. I. THat in order to the resigning our Wills intirely to the Will of God we should frequently consider such principles as are most available to the effectual subduing them thereunto And several such Principles further inlarged on 75 CHAP. II. That humble and fervent Prayer is a necessary and effectual means to the attaining the grace of Self-Resignation 90 CHAP. III. That in order to our being entirely resigned to the Divine Will we must be willing pati Deum to suffer God and abide the power of his Spirit working in us 95 CHAP. IV. That we are not onely to suffer the Spirit to work in us but ought also to work with him in heartily opposing our Self-desires and what endeavours we should use is shewed in five Particulars 99 CHAP. V. Of the great power and efficacy of Faith in God Faith in his Power and Goodness 106 CHAP. VI. Of the wonderful efficacy of Love to God and Divine things 120 CHAP. VII That Humility is a powerful means to the attaining of Self-Resignation where it is particularly shewn how it is effectual thereunto both as it implieth obedience to God's Commands and as it implies patient submission to his disposals 136 CHAP. VIII That the serious observation of the great Examples of Self-Resignation which are recorded in the Scriptures is of great use and advantage And first of the Example of ABRAHAM 147 CHAP. IX Of the Example of JOB 158 CHAP. X. Of the Example of ELY 177 CHAP. XI Of the Example of DAVID 180 CHAP. XII Of the Example of our BLESSED SAVIOUR 190 CHAP. XIII Of the Example of the Apostle Saint PAUL 195 CHAP. XIV That the consideration of Christ crucified is a very effectual means for the crucifying of the old man 205 CHAP. XV. That the frequent consideration of the great Recompence of Reward is a mighty help to the attaining of Self-Resignation 226 Errata PAg. 82. lin 1. for power r. prosper p. 233. in the marg r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 235. l. 13. for momentary r. momentany THE INTRODUCTION AMongst all Divine Truths none are more frequently more powerfully to be prest and urged than those that are wholly practical that refer to Spiritual Obedience that pertain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to life and
himself hath not and therefore that which is utterly unworthy of so excellent a name and is indeed the vilest and most intolerable slavery The Commands of Sin are most tyrannical and unreasonable never was poor Israelite so abused by Egyptian Task-masters as the Soul of man is by sensual Lusts they command impetuously and cruelly and one or other of them is continually putting upon such offices and employments as are no less contrary to freedom than to the excellency and dignity of our nature To be acted by hot and eager Ambition or greedy and unsatiable Covetousness or a vehement thirst after bodily Pleasures what a miserable bondage and servitude must it needs be to the free and heaven-born Spirit of man But there is no such liberty as to be free to good and enlarged to spiritual Obedience He that is so hath an Empire within him he is in his own power he hath victory over the world both the good and evil things of it His mind is unhampered disintangled and set loose and it is Lord over those whom it before obeyed Solomon expresseth the excellency of the freedom this man enjoyeth in these words He that ruleth his own spirit or passions is better than he who taketh a City Prov. xvi 32. There is no victory more glorious than that whereby we become Conquerours over inordinate affections saith St. Cyprian Nor is there any Victory so glorious To do good with a free and willing spirit with readiness of mind and without reluctance is the most glorious of liberties and this is the happy consequent of Self-Resignation For the farther clearing of this grand Truth know that God is not cruel or over-severe in his restraint of our Wills He doth not like Rehoboam and wicked Rulers affect to lay any unmerciful burdens and loads on men Nor doth he as one ambitious to shew his Superiority and absolute Soveraignty over us give out his Laws and Commands meerly for his own will and pleasure But be we possest with this important Truth That the business of Religion is wholly for the good of man therein God seeks not any advantage that may accrue to himself for he is Self-happy All-sufficient and an infinitely perfect Being He is not worshipt with mens hands as though he needed any thing Acts xvii 25. Our goodness extendeth not unto him Psalm xvi 2. If thou be righteous what givest thou him or what receiveth he at thine hands Job xxxv 7. In all his injunctions he seeks the good the well-being the spiritual interest of his Creatures We cannot hurt God by our Self-willedness and Disobedience but we shall thereby most certainly wrong our selves destroy our own Souls and knowing that this pleasing our own will is no better than sweet poison the Lover of our Souls warns us of the danger of so doing In short thus God most Holy and Wise our Creator and Lord as he is worthy and most fit to give us a Law and Rule to walk by so is that he hath given us most holy just and good He doth not command us any thing nor is there any thing in that Law written in mens hearts and more fully declared in the Holy Scripture but it is absolutely better for us to be obliged to the observance of it than otherwise nor hath he forbidden us any thing but it is absolutely better for us that it should not be allowed us than that it should be as would be easie to demonstrate by enumerating the particular Commands and Prohibitions declared in the Gospel and therefore it cannot be doubted but that the truest Liberty consists in the Resignation of our Wills to the Divine Will This excellent and weighty Truth is most clearly discerned by the Self-resigning Soul for he never feels himself so free or so much master of himself and in his own power as when he is engaged in God's Service But the Natural that is the Sensual man cannot receive this Doctrin and it is foolishness to him He looks upon the Laws of his Creator and Redeemer as too nice and severe and the entire observance of them as unnecessary and troublesome strictness as if the Wisdom of God did not better know the just bounds and measures where man was to be restrained and where he might be indulged than he doth As if God did not best know what belongs to humane nature and the ordering and regulating mens affections and actions As if there were envy in the infinitely good God ill will and an evil eye towards us in denying us any thing that is for our good But to suppose this to have such an inward thought is blasphemy in an high degree It becomes us therefore to have our minds deeply affected with this Truth That it cannot be Liberty to be loose from God the substance of all he commands us being in its own nature unchangably good and all his Laws being such as it is most fit for us to be governed by That both his Commands and Restraints proceed from his tender love and care of us Though Souls as yet unskilful and unexperienced in Religion do not understand thus much at first but are apt to think that God might have dealt less severely with them than he hath done yet they come to be of another mind when they are once grown up to good maturity in Christ then they evidently see that all God commands or forbids was out of the most tender Goodness And therefore what at first was grievous to them becomes their choice nor do they wish to be indulged in this or that which is forbidden nor that they might be free from this or that which is commanded They esteem with David all God's precepts concerning all things to be right They do not think the way too strait or narrow that leads to life nor wish it broader than it is They do not wish the yoke and burden of Christ to be more easie or lighter then it is all they wish is that they were more strong to bear it to obey more chearfully and constantly They choose the Way of God's Precepts they choose it as that which best tends in it self to their happiness and wellfare That which grieveth them is that they are not so strong in Obedience as they should be and pray for Grace to enable them to obey better but they seek not an indulgence or relaxation They know for certain that the onely way to have their wills is to give and resign them to God And that it is for their own advantage not God's that he calls for their hearts and that he requires them for this end that he may fill them with true peace rest and Heaven That he commands them to quit and forsake their false selves that they may enjoy their best and true selves that he forbids them to gratifie that which the world accounts Self-love because it is indeed no other than Self-hatred The great foundation of mens backwardness to receive this Doctrin is their mistake
impetuously carried out to all iniquity with greediness so far as it is judged safe and that such or such a sin is not prejudicial to another more beloved sin or to any worldly advantage or Interest The Soul wherein Self-will is set up saith with proud Pharaoh Who is the Lord that I should obey him This is another abomination of desolation standing in the holy place erected in the Soul which should be holy to the Lord. Self-will it is an inward and mysterious Antichrist opposing and exalting it self above God it sits as God in the heart that inward temple of God shewing it self that it is God It is an Anti-God and will be obeyed in all things It sets up its threshold by God's threshold and its posts by God's posts In the Scripture the pleasing of our own will is frequently put in the general for all sin In Ecclesiastes xi 9. going on in sinful and wicked courses is exprest by walking in the way of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes In Ieremy mens wickedness is often stiled walking after the imagination of their own heart And in Isaiah lviij 13. doing of sinful actions is called doing thine own ways and finding thine own pleasure In Numbers xv 39. sinning against God is called seeking after thine own heart and thine own eyes And as Self-will is the Root of all Sin so is it likewise the Root of Misery both here and hereafter It being the root of the former it must needs be so of the latter also Sin and Misery being inseparable And as we shewed that the Happiness of Heaven as to the main consists in being transformed into the Divine Image or the having but one Will with God so by consequence the Hellish State doth chiefly consist in a perfect contrariety to God and the Soul's opposition to the Divine Will Therefore is the Devil a most miserable creature because he is made up of Self-will because the Will of God is most grievous to him he sets himself against it and goes about the world solliciting and endeavouring to draw others from complying with it And those with whom he prevails he by so doing makes them as miserable as himself If there were no Self-will there would be no Hell according to that of St. Bernard Cesset voluntas propria infernus non erit Let Self-will cease and there will be no Hell To suppose Self-Resignation in a damned and miserable Soul and Self-will in an happy and glorified one is to suppose the greatest contradictions and inconsistences There can be nothing of Self-Resignation in Hell and nothing of Self-will in Heaven In speaking to the fourth aud fifth Considerations it hath been shewed that it is impossible that that Soul should be miserable which is sincerely and intirely resigned to the Will of God and on the contrary that that Soul cannot but be miserable that wills contrary to him and therefore I shall proceed no farther upon this Argument CHAP. XI That the Love of Christ in dying for Sinners makes the Duty of Self-Resignation most highly reasonable and lays the greatest obligation upon us thereunto XI IN the eleventh place The Love of Christ in dying for us is most powerful to oblige Christians to this great Duty of Self-Resignation Christ's giving himself a Sacrifice and Offering to God in a way of atonement and expiation layeth the strongest engagement on Christians to offer up themselves as a Sacrifice to him in a way of Resignation and Obedience This improvement the Apostle makes of this Consideration 2 Cor. v. 14 15. The Love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one died for all then were all dead and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them What could he more express Should not live unto themselves not please themselves gratifie their own Self-will and Lusts but please Christ do his will give him the preheminence in all things Not seek our own but the things which are Iesus Christs Not minde and pursue our own ease profit and honour chiefly and above all but live to his honour and glory and prefer his Interest before our own The like inference the same Apostle makes in 1 Cor. vi 20. Ye are bought with a price viz. with the precious bloud of Iesus Christ therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are God's And what is the best way of glorifying God hath been shewed in the third Chapter The Death of Christ is the great manifestation of his Love by the bitterness of his Cup by the depth of his Sorrows and Sufferings for us we may make an Estimate of the exceeding height of his dear affection Behold and see was there any Sorrow like unto his Sorrow and therefore was there any Love like unto his Love Greater love hath no man than this said Christ himself that a man lay down his life for his friends but he laid down his life for us when Enemies Out of Love he left Heaven and the bosom of his Father and the glorious attendance of the Angels and humbled himself to a mean low and afflicted life upon Earth He who was rich became poor that we through his poverty might be rich Such was the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ. Out of Love he died he who was Lord of all the Lord of Glory the brightness of God's Glory and the express Image of his Person he humbled himself to death even the death of the Cross a death of the greatest pain and shame And notwithstanding the pains and sorrows both inward and outward which he felt were inexpressibly great yet after his Resurrection he would have gone into the Garden again gone over his Agony again and drunk that bitter Cup which made his Soul so sorrowful He would have gone to Calvary and been crucified again he would have poured out his life to death again and again if it had so pleased God had it been the will of his Father that he should repeat his Sorrows and Sufferings for the Redemption of man for he knew nothing but to be obedient and perfectly resigned to the Will of his Father This is that Love of Christ which passeth knowledge Love beyond compare Love beyond expressions or conceptions and can there be a more natural a more powerful engagement to Self-Resignation than such a Love Did Christ so freely give himself for thee and shouldest not thou most heartily and willingly give up thy self to him Was all of Christ turned into a Sacrifice for thee and shouldest not thou make an intire Oblation of thy self without any reserve to him It 's not only Ingenuity but Iustice wholly to live to him that died for thee and bought thee with so dear a price Did he suffer such unexpressible pains for us and shall not we be willing to endure some pain and smart which at first will be in denying the sollicitations of our fleshly mind
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 boils or bubbles forth a good matter We are to judge thereof by the passionateness and earnestness of our desires not by any thing that is obvious to sense not by the loudness or length of Prayer be it without or with a form of words though it were as long as that prayer of Baals Priests from morning to noon or as that prayer among the Papists of fourty hours by which they amuse the weak and injudicious in spiritual things There may be as much yea more of the Spirit of Prayer when there are no words at all There are times when the Spirit maketh intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered affections too quick and strong for expressions and which would cool if put into words Thus Hannah spake in her heart to God her voice was not heard but she poured out her Soul before the Lord and God heard who knoweth the secrets of the heart and the mind of the Spirit These inward breathings of the Soul are ever very precious to God and find favour with him When a Soul prayeth out of a deep sense and feeling of its wants and is full of affectionate breathings after God and hath the most ardent and inflamed desires after Spiritual things this is true praying with fervency and in the Holy Ghost And the silence of the Soul is louder and much sooner reacheth the ears of the Almighty than the greatest loudness and volubility of speech If we would therefore obtain this best and most divine of all blessings let us pray for it with the greatest ardour of affection we may be assured that God will never cast away so rich a Pearl as this upon those that declare themselves insensible of its worth by asking it in a cold and formal manner And the more to excite and quicken our desires after it let us know that if God accepts our prayers and gives us this holy temper of Spirit he doth infinitely more for us than what Herod promised the daughter of Herodias If he gives thee this Empire over thine own Will he bestows that on thee which incomparably excells the greatest earthly Kingdom The Kingdom of God as hath been said is then within us here and we are thereby made meet for his Kingdom of Glory hereafter And who that duly considers this can be flat and heavy in his prayers for this Grace Secondly Our Prayers must be also in Faith Thus S. Iames tells us we must ask this Spiritual Wisdom in the following verse But let him ask in faith nothing wavering That is we must believe that as God is able so he is as willing and ready to give us what we ask if we ask according to his will as S. Iohn qualifies it 1 Ep. v. 14. And it is according to his Will and pleaseth him highly that we ask Spiritual Wisdom This Faith is the ground of all address to God Heb. xi 6. He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him And this he will assuredly be in his own time which is always the best God may sometimes make as if he did not hear that we may seek him more diligently and pray more fervently that he may prove our patience and just valuation of his blessings and that we may be the more thankful for them when we have them prize them the more and improve them the better but if we persevere in earnest and believing praying we shall undoubtedly in due time obtain And as for such spiritual good things as are necessary to Salvation we are to pray for them with such a faith as to assure our selves that God will give them if we ask aright his most gracious nature and promises assuring us that he cannot deny them to such askers CHAP. III. That in order to our being entirely resigned to the Divine Will we must be willing pati Deum to suffer God and abide the power of his Spirit working in us III. THirdly Having poured out thy Soul before God in humble and earnest Prayer thou must be willing pati Deum to suffer God and abide the power of his Spirit working in thee To this purpose there is an observable passage in St. Austin on Psalm cli 3. Magni languores sed major medicus c. Be the maladies of thy Soul never so great yet there is a Physician that is greater and who never fails to cure for to an all-powerful Physician nothing is incurable onely thou must patiently suffer thy self to be cured Do not thrust back his hand when he begins to touch thy sores and search thy Souls wounds He well knows what he is a doing do not hinder and resist when it begins to pain be not so delicate and tender to thine own hurt but with a quiet patience bear for a while the anguish when he cuts and lanceth considering that the present pain makes way for thy future health and soundness Let not Christ and his holy Spirit have cause to say of thee as it was said of Babylon we would have healed him but he would not be healed Vt corpus redimas ferrum patieris ignes For the health and safety of the body in case of a Gangreen or other dangerous disease how do men endure a tedious course of Physick and much torment Vt valeas animo quicquam tolerare negabis And for the health of thy Soul infinitely more considerable than a little longer life and ease of the body which is all that Physick or Chirurgery can at any time effect but can never secure wilt thou not endure the pain of being cured of its diseases which let alone will make thee eternally miserable Let us be therefore entreated as ever we would obtain this Divine temper of Self-Resignation to take heed of quenching the Spirit of resisting the holy Ghost as the Jews did and paid dear for it Take we heed of stifling any of his Convictions and rejecting his Motions Let us not seek to shift off and put by serious and awakening thoughts working in us as the usual practice of sinners is by diverting to the vain entertainments and false pleasures of the world and the flesh nor endeavour to drown the voice of Conscience which is the voice of God and to be heard with a reverend regard If we would have Christ sit as a Purifier and refiner in the midst of us to purge us as gold and silver that we may offer our selves unto the Lord an offering in righteousness we must abide the day of his coming But alas I must needs observe by the way there are but few of the Christian Profession who are thus patient and will endure the refining and purifying work of the Spirit Most would with Simon Magus have the Holy Ghost in his Gifts such as may make them seem some great ones and procure admiration to them but few would have the renewing of the Holy Ghost and the Sanctification of the Spirit unto
dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the spirit of the contrite ones Isaiah lvii 15. Humility disposeth to gratitude and gratitude fits us to receive more from God for a grateful Soul will set a high value upon his blessings and most gladly give him the glory of his grace The humble Christian thinks himself with Iacob less than the least of all God's mercies and consequently he will be heartily thankful for the least and by being thus affected he becomes meet for the greatest and therefore cannot fail of it It is to be observed that when Iacob was in this humble and self-abasing temper it was that he saw God face to face at Peniel Then it was that he was honoured with the name Israel and as a Prince had power with God and men and prevailed But on the contrary Pride and Self-fulness which is ever accompanied with unthankfulness makes men uncapable of receiving the Divine Grace And therefore the Pharisees who gloried in themselves that they were righteous and despised others that were not sick but whole and healthy in their own conceit died of their diseases notwithstanding the great Physician of Souls was so long among them Now there are two graces that Humility gives a peculiar fitness for two of the first magnitude and greatest influence of the greatest use and consequence in a Christians life viz. The Love of God and Faith or Trust in him 'T is evident that Humility hath a peculiar fitness to cherish and increase the grace of Love for the more sensible any one is of his great unworthiness and ill-deservings the more he must needs love God for having so gracious a regard to him the more will he admire and adore the riches of his Grace And 't is as evident that Humility affordeth the like advantage for the Grace of Faith or trust in God for the more sensible a Christian is of his own impotence the more will he rely upon the Divine Power and Goodness for the supply of his wants having so many promises to encourage him The sense of our own weakness will make us distrust our selves the more we distrust our selves the more shall we stay our Souls on God and confide in his Wisdom Power and Grace Now we have particularly shewn of how great efficacy both these Vertues are to enable us to this Duty of Self-Resignation CHAP. VIII That the serious observation of the great Examples of Self-Resignation which are recorded in the Scriptures is of great use and advantage And first of the Example of ABRAHAM VIII EIghthly Look to those lively Patterns and Examples of Self-Resignation set before us in the Holy Scriptures These are of singular use and advantage to be seriously considered For they plainly shew this holy disposition of spirit to be attainable and that God requires herein nothing of us that is impossible Could they do thus and cannot we by the same divine help and power do the like which we have shewn is attainable by us as well as them They were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 subject to like passions with us they were flesh and bloud as we are and naturally as weak and infirm as our selves and God is the same in Power and Goodness now that ever he was And this may commend to us the fulness of the Scriptures that besides the best Precepts and Rules we have the best Patterns and Examples recorded in them of every grace and virtue So that by the guidance and assistance of the Holy Spirit the Christian man may be perfected throughly furnished unto every good work The best Rules of the best life are laid down in the divinely inspired Writings and they are plain and intelligible especially to those that have the good and honest heart but Examples superadded to Rules and Patterns to Precepts make both more instructive and as well encourage as direct our Practice And we having a many worthy Examples upon record of this Self-Resignation the Lesson becomes neither too high nor hard for us to understand or practice How many Precepts have we in Scripture to engage us to Chastity and Purity Meekness and Patience Faith and Charity to an holy resolvedness in owning of God and adhering to his ways and unweariedness in doing good and to every other grace and virtue And have we not besides others the Example of Ioseph for Chastity Moses for Meekness Iob for Patience Abraham for Faith Dorcas and Cornelius for Charity Daniel for an holy resolvedness of spirit in owning God S. Paul for an unwearied Zeal and above all that Example of all Examples for every thing that is holy pure and lovely our Lord Jesus Christ Take we heed then that we be not found ingentium exemplorum parvi imitatores small imitators of mighty examples as Salvian expresseth it But let it be our serious care and holy ambition to transcribe their vertues to write after those fair Copies they have set us to be followers of those blessed Souls wherein they were followers of God and Christ. But our present argument determining us to Self-Resignation let us consider some Examples hereof for our guidance and encouragement First I will present you with that of Abraham Faithful Abraham as he is stiled by the Apostle St. Paul There were ten trials wherewith God was pleased to exercise this good man as they are collected out of his Story by the Hebrew Writers The first and last of which ten were the sorest of all The first was his being called and commanded of God Genesis the twelfth to leave his own Countrey his House and Lands his Friends and Kindred and to go to a place he knew not This Command as unpleasant and grievous as it must needs have been to his flesh and bloud he did not in the least demurr upon obeying But by Faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance obeyed and he went out not knowing whither he went Heb. xi 8. The last was his being commanded to take his onely Son Isaac and to slay and offer him for a Burnt-offering than which there could not be a greater trial We have the Command in Genesis xxii 2. every word of which hath a singular Emphasis and deserves attention Take now thy son thine onely son Isaac whom thou lovest and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of Take now thy Son Not a Beast for Sacrifice not any of the best of his great store of Cattle but his Son Take him now forthwith without any delay Thy Son Isaac Not Ishmael but Isaac his and his Mothers delight and joy as the name signifies Thine onely Son He and Sarah had no other to solace themselves in nor were they ever like to have any other And besides there
that in Hebron too the very place where his Father was first anointed by the men of Iudah and seven years and an half after by the Tribes of Israel And now Absolom endeavours to confirm himself in his usurped dominion by the best arts of power and policy he could imagine He gains Achitophel to be of his side who was the King's Counsellor a man of that venerable esteem for his great wisdom that his Counsel is said to be as if a man had enquired at the Oracle of God Chap. xvi 23. He is busie in preparing a great Army against his Father the Conspiracy was strong and the people increased continually with Absolom which made him cry out as he did in the third Psalm ver 1 2. a Psalm penned upon this occasion Lord how are they increased that trouble me many are they that rise up against me many there be which say of my soul there is no help for him in God And that these many were not the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philistims Moabites Amalakites Amonites and other Heathens but his own Subjects was a more afflicting trouble And that among these should be found Achitophel his Friend and Counsellor that his head and hand should be in all this this made it more afflicting still as he complaineth 55. 12. It was not an enemy that reproached me then I could have born it Neither was it he that hated me that did magnifie himself against me then would I have hid my self from him But it was thou a man mine equal my guide and my acquaintance we took sweet counsel together and walked unto the house of God in company And that the General he that headed the Army against him should be Amasa the son of his sister Abigail and therefore so near to him as that David saith of him that he was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh this was another aggravation of his affliction And lastly This made the affliction most sharp of all that he that was at the head of all that animated this rebellious body should be Absolom That the Son should thirst after the Fathers bloud that he which came forth of his bowels should seek his life as he complains Chap. xvi 11. And that he should be the son whom he loved most passionately even so passionately that after his three years absence from Court it is said Chap. xiii 39. That the soul of David longed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was consumed to go forth unto Absolom And then all this to befall him in his old age too and after he had by his valour and prudent conduct saved his people out of the hands of their enemies Put all these sad circumstances together and was not David in sore troubles and trials But how doth he behave and acquit himself herein Doth he quarrel with Providence and the instruments of his trouble Nothing less But his disposition and carriage was all composed of meekness and submission to the Will of God Being sensible of the eminent danger he was in he prudently provides for his security by removing from Ierusalem which he and his servants did with all speed lest Absolom should suddenly overtake them and thrust or push evil upon them as the word is For his enemies were most quick and active in their preparations against him which therefore he calls the stormy wind and tempest Psal. lv 8. Of his hasty fleeing he speaks Psal. lv 6 7. which refers to this occasion as appears by ver 14. where he cries Oh that I had wings like a dove for then would I flee away and be at rest Lo then would I wander far off and remain in the wilderness Selah I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest Being gotten out of the City in haste he and his Guard they tarry in a place that was far off v. 17. to refresh themselves not knowing whither to go or where to be at rest as he then told Ittai the Gittite who was come to him resolving to fare as he did v. 20. Having made a little pause here he passeth over the Brook Kidron ver 23. a Brook between the City and Mount Olivet the Countrey weeping with a loud voice at this sad Procession As also when they were going up Mount Olivet they went weeping as they went up every one covering his had after the manner of mourners ver 30. And in the midst of these hardships and sorrowful sympathizings of the people which could not but much affect his heart having given order to Zadok the Priest to return back to the City with the Ark of God which thus far accompanied him desiring that that Monument of God's Glory and Presence might not wander up and down with him in his desolate condition but be placed again in the City of God he thus expresseth the humble and quiet resignation of his spirit Ch. xv 25 26. If I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord he will bring me again and shew me both it the Ark and his habitation Ierusalem the City of the great King but if he thus say I have no delight in thee behold here am I let him do unto me as seemeth good unto him Though I be brought to excessive straits though I be deprived of all my glory in this my old age after all the good services I have done for Israel and Iudah yet here am I let him do as seemeth good to him not as seemeth good to me Thy will O Lord shall be my will thy pleasure I will rest satisfied with and acquiesce in Thou shalt chuse for me and to thy choice will I accommodate my self Be it so as thou wouldest have it to be O thou most holy and wise and the Lord of all who dost whatsoever pleaseth thee both in heaven and earth My heart is ready O God my heart is ready it is fixed and resolved to drink of that Cup which thou hast appointed me And his humble disposition of Soul discovered it self immediately after in his penitential behaviour already mentioned as he went up the Mount He wept as he went up and had his head covered and he went barefoot which were the most significant expressions of a great humiliation and submissness of spirit And this meek frame of Soul in reference to God's disposals did dispose him to a rare meekness and patience in reference to men There happened a little after he was past Mount Olivet a very provoking occasion For Shimei a Benjamite threw stones at him and his men and cast dust at them all along in the way and added to this indignity curses and revilings of the person of the King Abishai one of his three chief Commanders was so incensed at the horrid insolence of this dead dog as he called Shimei that he prays the King that he might go over to him and take off his head But David was so far from permitting this that he was more offended at Abishai's Zeal