dropping and found the meat as ready as their appetite they dare not touch that sustenance and will rather indure famine and fainting then an indiscreet curse Doubtlesse God had brought those bees thither on purpose to try the constancie of Israel Israel could not but thinke that which Ionathan said that the vow was vnaduised and iniurious yet they will rather dye then violate it How sacred should we hold the obligation of our owne vowes in things iust and expedient when the bonds of anothers rash vow is thus indissoluble THERE was a double mischeife followed vpon Sauls oth an abatement of the victory and eating with the blood For on the one side the people were so faint that they were more likely to dye then kill they could neither runne nor strike in this emptinesse Neither hands nor feet can doe their office when the stomach is neglected On the other an vnmeet forbearance causes a rauenous repast Hunger knowes neither choice nor order nor measure The one of these was a wrong to Israel the other was a wrong done by Israel to God Sauls zeale was guilty of both A rash vow is seldome euer free from inconuenience The heart that hath vnnecessarily entangled it self drawes mischeife either vpon it selfe or others IONATHAN was ignorant of his fathers adiuration he knew no reason why hee should not refresh himselfe in so profitable a seruice with a litle taste of hony vpon his speare Full well had hee deserued this vnsought dainty and behold this hony is turned into gall If it were sweet in the mouth it was bitter in the soule if the eyes of his body were inlightned the light of Gods countenance was clouded by this act After he heard of the oath he pleads iustly against it the losse of so faire an opportunitie of reuenge and the trouble of Israel yet neither his reasons against the oath nor his ignorance of the oath can excuse him from a sinne of ignorance in violating that which first he knew not then knew vnreasonable Now Sauls leisure would serue him to aske counsell of God As before Saul would not inquire so now God will not answer Well might Saul haue found sinnes enow of his owne whereto to impute this silence Hee hath grace enough to know that God was offended and to guesse at the cause of his offence Sooner will an hypocrite finde out another mans sinne then his owne and now he sweares more rashly to punish with death the breach of that which he had sworne rashly The lots were cast and Saul prayes for the decision Ionathan is taken Euen the prayers of wicked men are sometimes heard although in iustice not in mercy Saul himselfe was punished not a litle in the fall of this lot vpon Ionathan Surely Saul sinned more in making this vow then Ionathan in breaking it vnwittingly and now the father smarts for the rashnes of his double vow by the vniust sentence of death vpon so worthy a sonne God had neuer singled out Ionathan by his lot if he had not bin displeased with his act Vowes rashly made may not be rashly broken If the thing wee haue vowed be not euill in it selfe or in the effect wee cannot violate it without euill Ignorance cannot acquite if it can abate our sinne It is like if Ionathan had heard of his fathers adiuration he had not transgressed his absence at the time of that oath cannot excuse him from displeasure What shall become of those which may know the charge of their heauenly father and will not which do know his charge and will not keep it Affectation of ignorance and willing disobedience is desperate DEATH was too hard a censure for such an vnknowne offence The cruell piety of Saul will reuenge the breach of his owne charge so as he would be loath God should auenge on himselfe the breach of his diuine command If Ionathan had not found better frends then his father so noble a victory had bin recompenced with death He that saued Israel from the Philistims is saued by Israel from the hand of his father Saul hath sworne Ionathans death the people contrarily sweare his preseruation His kingdome was not yet so absolute that he could runne away with so vnmercifull a iustice their oath that sauoured of disobedience preuailed against his oath that sauoured too strong of cruelty Neither doubt I but Saul was secretly not displeased with this louing resistance So long as his heart was not false to his oath he could not be sorry that Ionathan should liue Contemplations THE THIRTEENTH BOOKE Contayning Saul and Agag The Rejection of Saul and the choice of Dauid Dauid call'd to the Court. Dauid and Goliah Ionathans loue Sauls enuie Michals wile Dauid and Ahimelec TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE Sr THOMAS EDMONDS Knight Treasurer of his Maties Houshold and of his most Honorable Priuy COVNSELL RIGHT HO After your long and happy acquaintance with other Courts Kingdoms may it please you to compare with them the estate of old ISRAEL You shall finde the same hand swaying all scepters and you shall meet with such a proportion of dispositions and occurrences that you will say men are still the same if their names and faces differ You shall finde Enuie and Mutabilitie ancient Courtiers and shall confesse the vices of men still aliue if themselues dye You shall see God still honouring those that honor him and both rescuing innocence and crowning it It is not for mee to anticipate your deeper and more iudicious obseruations I am bold to dedicate this peece of my labour to your HONOR in a thankfull acknowledgment of those noble respects I haue found from you both in FRANCE and at home In lieu of all which I can but pray for your happines and vow my selfe Your Honors in all humble obseruance IOS HALL Contemplations SAVL AGAG GOD holds it no derogation from his mercy to beare a quarrell long where he hates He whose anger to the vessels of wrath is euerlasting euen in temporall iudgement reuengeth late The sins of his owne children are no sooner done and repented of then forgotten but the malicious sinnes of his enemies sticke fast in an infinite displeasure I remember what Amalek did to Israel how they laid wait for them by the way as they came vp from Aegypt Alas Lord might Amalek say they were our forefathers wee neuer knew their faces no not their names the fact was so farre from our consent that it is almost past the memory of our histories It is not in the power of time to raze out any of the arerages of God we may lay vp wrath for our posteritie Happy is that childe whose progenitors are in heauen he is left an inheritor of blessing together with estate whereas wicked ancestors loose the thanke of a rich patrimonie by the curse that attends it He that thinks because punishment is deferd that God hath forgiuen or forgot his offence is vnacquainted with iustice and knowes not that
shall the Lord close thee in my hand and I shall smite thee and take thine head from thee Here is another stile not of a boaster but of a Prophet Now shall Goliah know whence to expect his bane euen from the hands of a reuenging God that shall smite him by Dauid and now shall learne too late what it is to meddle with an enemie that goes vnder the invisible protection of the Almighty No sooner hath Dauid spoken then his foot hand second his tongue He runs to fight with the Philistim It is a cold courage that stands onely vpon defence As a man that saw no cause of feare and was full of the ambition of victory he flies vpon that monster and with a stone out of his bagg smites him in the forehead There was no part of Goliah that was capable of that danger but the face and that peece of the face the rest was defenced with a brasen wall which a weake sling would haue tried to batter in vaine What could Goliah feare to see an aduersarie come to him without edge or point And behold that one part hath God found out for the entrance of death He that could haue caused the stone to passe through the sheild and brestplate of Goliah rather directs the stone to that part whose nakednes gaue aduantage Where there is power or possibilitie of nature God vses not to worke miracles but chooses the way that lies most open to his purposes THE vaste forehead was a faire marke but how easily might the sling haue missed it if there had not bin another hand in this cast besides Dauids Hee that guided Dauid into this field and raised his courage to this combat guides the stone to his end and lodges it in that seat of impudence There now lies the great defier of Israel groueling and grinning in death and is not suffred to deale one blow for his life and bites the vnwelcome earth for indignation that he dies by the hand of a shepherd earth and Hell share him betwixt them such is the end of insolence and presumption O God what is flesh and blood to thee which canst make a litle peeble-stone stronger then a Gyant and when thou wilt by the weakest meanes canst straw thine enemies in the dust Where now are the two sheilds of Goliah that they did not beare off this stroke of death or wherefore serues that weauers beame but to strike the earth in falling or that sword but to behead his Master What needed Dauid load himself w th an vnnecessary weapon one sword can serue both Goliah and him If Goliah had a man to beare his sheild Dauid had Goliah to beare his sword wherewith that proud blasphemous head is seuered from his shoulders Nothing more honors God then the turning of wicked mens forces against themselues There is none of his enemies but caries with them their owne destruction Thus didst thou O son of Dauid foile Sathan with his owne weapon that whereby he ment destruction to thee and vs vanquished him through thy mighty power and raised thee to that glorious triumph and super-exaltation wherein thou art wherein we shall be with thee JONATHANS loue and SAVLS enuie BESIDES the discomfiture of the Philistims Dauids victory had a double issue Ionathans loue and Sauls enuie which God so mixed that the one was a remedy of the other A good sonne makes amends for a wayward father How precious was that stone that kill'd such an enemy as Goliah and purchased such a frend as Ionathan All Sauls Courtiers lookt vpon Dauid none so affected him none did match him but Ionathan That true correspondence that was both in their faith and valour hath knit their hearts If Dauid did set vpon a Beare a Lion a Gyant Ionathan had set vpon a whole host and preuailed The same spirit animated both the same faith incited both the same hand prospered both All Israel was not worth this paire of frends so zealously confident so happily victorious Similitude of dispositions and estates ties the fastest knots of affection A wise soule hath piercing eyes and hath quickly discerned the likenes of it selfe in another as we do no sooner looke into the glasse or water but face answers to face and where it sees a perfect resemblance of it selfe cannot chuse but loue it with the same affection that it reflects vpon it selfe No man saw Dauid that day which had so much cause to disaffect him none in all Israel should be a looser by Dauids successe but Ionathan Saul was sure enough setled for his time only his successor should forgo all that which Dauid should gaine so as none but Dauid stands in Ionathans light and yet all this cannot abate one iot or dram of his loue Where God vniteth hearts carnall respects are too weake to disseuer them since that which breaks off affection must needs be stronger then that which conioyneth it IONATHAN doth not desire to smother his loue by concealment but professes it in his cariage and actions He puts off the robe that was vpon him and all his garments euen to his sword and bow and girdle and giues them vnto his new frend It was not perhaps without a mysterie that Sauls clothes fitted not Dauid but Ionathans fitted him and these he is as glad to weare as he was to be disburthened of the other That there might be a perfect resemblance their bodies are suited as well as their hearts Now the beholders can say there goes Ionathans other selfe If there bee another body vnder those clothes there is the same soule Now Dauid hath cast off his russet coat and his scrip and is a shepherd no more he is suddenly become both a Courtier and a Captaine and a companion to the Prince yet himselfe is not changed with his habit with his condition yea rather as if his wisdome had reserued it selfe for his exaltation he so manageth a sudden greatnes as that he winneth all hearts Honour showes the man and if there be any blemishes of imperfection they will be seene in the man that is inexpectedly lifted aboue his fellowes He is out of the danger of folly whom a speedy aduancement leaueth wife IONATHAN loued Dauid the souldiers honored him the Court fauord him the people applauded him onely Saul stomackt him and therefore hated him because he was so happy in all besides himselfe It had bin a shame for all Israel if they had not magnified their champion Sauls owne heart could not but tell him that they did owe the glory of that day and the safety of himselfe and Israel vnto the sling of Dauid who in one man slew all those thousands at a blow It was enough for the puissant King of Israel to follow the chase and to kill them whom Dauid had put to flight yet he that could lend his clothes and his armour to this exploit cannot abide to part with the honor of it to him that hath erned it so deerly The holy
death The dowry is set An hundred foreskins of the Philistims not their heads but their fore-skins that this victory might bee more ignominious still thinking why may not one Dauid miscarry as well as an hundred Philistims And what doth Sauls enuie all this while but enhance Dauids zeale and valour and glory That good Captaine litle imagining that himselfe was the Philistim whom Saul maligned supererogates of his master and brings two hundred for one and returnes home safe and renowmed Neither can Saul now flie off for shame There is no remedy but Dauid must bee a sonne where he was a riuall and Saul must feed vpon his owne heart since he cannot see Dauids Gods blessing graces equally together with mens malice neither can they deuise which way to make vs more happy then by wishing vs euill Michals wile THIS aduantage can Saul yet make of Dauids promotion that as his aduersarie is raised hyer so he is drawne neerer to the opportunitie of death Now hath his enuie cast off all shame and since those crafty plots succeede not he directly subornes murtherers of his riuall There is none in all the Court that is not set on to be an executioner Ionathan himselfe is sollicited to imbrue his hand in the blood of his frend of his brother Saul could not but see Ionathans clothes on Dauids backe hee could not but know the league of their loue yet because hee knew withall how much the prosperitie of Dauid would preiudice Ionathan hee hoped to haue found him his sonne in malice Those that haue the Iaundis see all things yellow those which are ouer-growne with malicious passions thinke all men like themselues I do not heare of any reply that Ionathan made to his father when he gaue him that bloody charge but he waites for a fit time to disswade him from so cruell an iniustice Wisdome had taught him to giue way vnto rage and in so hard an aduenture to craue aide of opportunitie If wee be not carefull to obserue good moods when we deale with the passionate we may exasperate in steed of reforming Thus did Ionathan who knowing how much better it is to be a good frend then an ill sonne had not onely disclosed that ill counsell but when hee found his father in the fields in a calmer temper laboured to diuert it And so farre doth the seasonable and pithy Oratory of Ionathan preuaile that Saul is convinced of his wrong and sweares As God liues Dauid shall not dye Indeed how could it be otherwise vpon the plea of Dauids innocence and well deseruings How could Saul say he should dye whom he could accuse of nothing but faithfulnes Why should hee designe him to death which had giuen life to all Israel Oft-times wicked mens iudgments are forced to yeeld vnto that truth against which their affections maintaine a rebellion Euen the foulest hearts do sometimes intertaine good motions like as on the contrary the holiest soules giue way sometimes to the suggestions of euill The flashes of lightning may be discerned in the darkest prisons But if good thoughts look into a wicked heart they stay not there as those that like not their lodging they are soone gone Hardly any thing distinguishes betwixt good and euill but continuance The light that shines into an holy heart is constant like that of the sunne which keeps due times and varies not his course for any of these sublunary occasions THE Philistims warres renue Dauids victories and Dauids victory renues Sauls enuie and Sauls enuie renues the plots of Dauids death Vowes oathes are forgotten That euill spirit which vexes Saul hath found so much fauor with him as to win him to these bloody machinations against an innocent His owne hands shall first bee imployed in this execution The speare which hath twise before threatned death to Dauid shall now once againe goe vpon that message Wise Dauid that knew the danger of an hollow frend and reconciled enemy and that found more cause to mind Sauls earnest then his own play giues way by his nimblenesse to that deadly weapon and resigning that stroke vnto the wall flees for his life No man knowes how to be sure of an vnconscionable man If either goodnes or merit or affinitie or reasons or oathes could secure a man Dauid had bin safe now if his heeles do not more befrend him then all these he is a dead man No sooner is he gone then messengers are sped after him It hath bin seldome seene that wickednesse wanted executioners Dauids house is beset with murderers which watch at all his dores for the opportunitie of blood Who can but wonder to see how God hath fetcht from the loynes of Saul a remedy for the malice of Sauls heart His owne children are the only meanes to crosse him in the sin and to preserue his guiltlesse aduersary Michal hath more then notice of the plot and with her subtle wit countermines her father for the rescue of an husband Shee taking the benefit of the night lets Dauid downe through a window He is gone and disappoints the ambushes of Saul The messengers begin to be impatient of this delay and now thinke it time to inquire after their prisoner Shee whiles them off with the excuse of Dauids sicknes so as now her husband had good leasure for his escape and layes a statue in his bed Saul likes the newes of any euill befalne to Dauid but fearing hee is not sicke enough sends to aide his disease The messengers returne and rushing into the house with their swords drawne after some harsh words to their imagined charge surprize a sicke statue lying with a pillow vnder his head and now blush to see they haue spent all their threats vpon a senselesse stocke and made themselues ridiculous whiles they would be seruiceable BVT how shall Michal answer this mockage vnto her furious father Hitherto she hath done like Dauids wife now she begins to be Sauls daughter He said to me Let me go or else I will kill thee Shee whose wit had deliuered her husband from the sword of her father now turnes the edge of her fathers wrath from herselfe to her husband His absence made her presume of his safety If Michal had not bin of Sauls plot he had neuer expostulated with her in those termes Why hast thou let mine enemy escape neither had shee framed that answer He said Let me goe I doe not finde any great store of religion in Michal for both shee had an image in the house and afterwards mocked Dauid for his deuotion yet nature hath taught her to preferre an husband to a father to elude a father from whom shee could not flee to saue an husband which durst not but flee from her The bonds of matrimoniall loue are and should bee stronger then those of nature Those respects are mutuall which God appointed in the first institution of wedlocke That husband and wife should leaue father and mother for ech others sake Treason is
euer odious but so much more in the mariage-bed by how much the obligations are deeper As shee lou'd her husband better then her father so shee lou'd her selfe better then her husband she saued her husband by a wile and now shee saues her selfe by a lye and looses halfe the thanke of her deliuerance by an officious slander Her act was good but shee wants courage to maintaine it and therefore seeks to the weake shelter of vntruth Those that do good offices not out of conscience but good nature or ciuilitie if they meet an affront of danger seldome comes off cleanly but are ready to catch at all excuses though base though iniurious because their grounds are not strong enough to beare them out in suffring for that which they haue well done WHITHER doth Dauid flee but to the Sanctuary of Samuel He doth not though he knew himselfe gracious with the soldiers raise forces or take some strong fort and there stand vpon his owne defence and at defiance with his King but hee gets him to the Colledge of the Prophets as a man that would seeke the peaceable protection of the King of heauen against the vniust furie of a King on earth Onely the wing of God shall hide him from that violence GOD intended to make Dauid not a warriour and a King only but a Prophet too As the field fitted him for the first and the Court for the second so Naioth shall fit him for the third Doublesse such was Dauids delight in holy meditations he neuer spent his time so contentedly as when he was retyred to that diuine Academie and had so full freedom to inioy God and to satiate himself with heauenly exercises The onely doubt is how Samuel can giue harbour to a man fled from the anger of his Prince wherein the very persons of both giue abundant satisfaction for both Samuel knew the counsell of God and durst doe nothing without it and Dauid was by Samuel anointed from God This vnction was a mutuall bond Good reason had Dauid to sue to him which had powred the oyle on his head for the hiding of that head which hee had anointed and good reason had Samuel to hide him whom God by his meanes had chosen from him whom God had by his sentence reiected Besides that the cause deserued commiseration Here was not a malefactor running away from iustice but an innocent auoyding murder not a traytor countenanc'd against his Souerayne but the deliuerer of Israel harbored in a Sanctuary of Prophets till his peace might be made EVEN thither doth Saul send to apprehend Dauid All his rage did not incense him against Samuel as the abettor of his aduersarie Such an impression of reuerence had the person and calling of the Prophet left in the minde of Saul that hee cannot thinke of lifting vp his hand against him The same God which did at the first put an awe of man in the fiercest creatures hath stamped in the cruellest hearts a reuerent respect to his owne image in his Ministers so as euen they that hate them do yet honor them SAVLS messengers came to lay hold on Dauid God layes hold on them No sooner doe they see a company of Prophets busie in those diuine exercises vnder the moderation of Samuel then they are turned from executioners to Prophets It is good going vp to Naioth into the holy assemblies who knowes how wee may bee changed beside our intention Many a one hath come into Gods house to carpe or scoffe or sleepe or gaze that hath returned a conuert THE same heart that was thus disquieted with Dauids happy successe is now vexed with the holinesse of his other seruants It angers him that Gods spirit could find no other time to seize vpon his agents then when he had sent them to kill And now out of an indignation at this disappointment himselfe will go and be his own seruant His guilty soule findes it selfe out of the danger of being thus surprized And behold Saul is no sooner come within the smell of the smoke of Naioth then hee also prophesies The same spirit that when hee went first from Samuel inabled him to prophesie returnes in the same effect now that he was going his last vnto Samuel This was such a grace as might well stand with reiection an extraordinary gift of the spirit but not sanctifying Many men haue had their mouthes opened to prophesie vnto others whose hearts haue bin deafe to God But this such as it was was far from Sauls purpose who in steed of expostulating with Samuel falls downe before him and laying aside his weapons and his robes of a Tyran proues for the time a disciple All hearts are in the hand of their maker how easie is it for him that gaue them their being to frame them to his owne bent Who can bee afraid of malice that knowes what hooks God hath in the nosthrills of men and Diuels what charmes he hath for the most serpentine hearts DAVID AHIMELEC WHo can euer iudge of the children by the Parents that knowes Ionathan was the sonne of Saul There was neuer a falser heart then Sauls there was neuer a truer frend then Ionathan Neither the hope of a kingdome nor the frownes of a father nor the feare of death can remoue him from his vowed amitie No sonne could be more officious and dutifull to a good father yet he layes downe nature at the foot of grace and for the preseruation of his innocent riuall for the kingdom crosses the bloody designes of his owne parent Dauid needs no other counsellor no other aduocate no other intelligencer then he It is not in the power of Sauls vnnaturall reproches or of his speare to make Ionathan any other then a frend and patron of innocence Euen after all these difficulties doth Ionathan shoot beyond Dauid that Saul may shoot short of him In vaine are those professions of loue which are not answered with action Hee is no true frend that besides talke is not ready both to do and suffer SAVL is no whit the better for his prophesying he no sooner rises vp from before Samuel then he pursues Dauid Wicked men are rather the worse for those transitorie good motions they haue receiued If the swine be neuer so cleane washed shee will wallow againe That we haue good thoughts it is no thanke to vs that we answer them not it is both our sin and iudgment DAVID hath learned not to trust these fits of deuotion but flyes from Samuel to Ionathan from Ionathan to Ahimelech when hee was hunted from the Prophet he flees to the Priest as one that knew iustice and compassion should dwell in those brests which are consecrated vnto God THE Arke and the Tabernacle were then separated The Arke was at Kiriath-iearim the Tabernacle at Nob God was present with both Whither should Dauid flee for succour but to the house of that God which had annointed him AHIMELECH was wont to see Dauid attended with the
Troopes of Israel or with the Gallants of the Court it seems strange therefore to him to see so great a Peere and Champion of Israel come alone These are the alterations to which earthly greatnes is subiect Not many dayes are past since no man was honored at Court but Ionathan and Dauid now they are both for the time in disgrace Now dare not the Kings sonne in law brother to the Prince both in loue and mariage show his head at the Court nor any of those that bowed to him dare stirre a foote with him Princes are as the Sunne and great subiects are like to Dialls if the Sun shine not on the Diall no man will looke at it EVEN hee that ouercame the Beare the Lyon the Gyant is ouercome with feare Hee that had cut off two hundred foreskins of the Philistims had not circumcis'd his own heart of the weake passions that follow distrust Now that he is hard driuen hee practises to helpe himselfe with an vnwarrantable shift Who can looke to passe this pilgrimage without infirmities when Dauid dissembleth to Ahimelec A weake mans rules may be better then the best mans actions God lets vs see some blemishes in his holiest seruants that we may neither be too highly conceited of flesh and blood nor too much deiected when we haue bin miscarried into sinne Hitherto hath Dauid gone vpright now he begins to halt with the Preist of God and vnder pretence of Sauls imployment drawes that fauour from Ahimelech which shall afterwards cost him his head WHAT could Ahimelech haue thought too deare for Gods annointed for Gods Champion It is not like but that if Dauid had sincerely opened himselfe to the Preist as he had done to the Prophet Ahimelech would haue seconded Samuel in some secret and safe succour of so vniust a distresse whereas hee is now by a false colour led to that kindnesse which shall be preiudiciall to his life Extremities of euill are commonly inconsiderate either for that wee haue not leasure to our thoughts or perhaps so as we may be perplexed not thoughts to our leasure What would Dauid haue giuen afterwards to haue redeemed this ouer-sight VNDER this pretence hee craues a double fauour of Ahimelech The one of bread for his sustenance the other of a sword for his defence There was no bread vnder the hands of the Preist but that which was consecrated to God and whereof none might taste but the deuoted seruants of the Altar Euen that which was with solemne dedication set vpon the holy Tables before the face of God a sacramentall bread presented to God with incense figuring that true bread that came downe from heauen Yet euen this bread might in case of necessitie become common and be giuen by Ahimelech and receiued by Dauid and his followers Our Sauiour himselfe iustifies the act of both Ceremonies must giue place to substance God will haue mercy and not sacrifice Charity is the summe and the end of the law That must be aymed at in all our actions wherin it may fall out that the way to keepe the law may be to breake it the intention may be kept and the letter violated and it may be a dangerous transgression of the law to obserue the words and neglect the scope of God That which would haue dispensed with Dauid for the substance of the act would haue much more dispensed with him for the circumstance The touch of their lawfull wiues had contracted a legall impuritie not a morall That could haue bin no sufficient reason why in an vrgent necessitie they might not haue partaked of the holy bread Ahimelech was no perfect Casuist these men might not famish if they were ceremonially impure But this question bewrayed the care of Ahimelech in distributing the holy bread There might be in these men a double incapacitie the one as they were seculars the other as vncleane he saw the one must be he feared least the other should be as one that wished as litle indisposition as possibly might be in those which should be fed from Gods table IT is strange that Dauid should come to the Preist of God for a sword Who in all Israel was so vnlikely to furnish him with weapons as a man of peace whose armour was onely spirituall Doubtlesse Dauid knew well where Goliahs sword lay as the noble relique of Gods victorious deliuerance dedicated to the same God which wonne it at this did that suite ayme None could be so fit for Dauid none could be so fit for it as Dauid Who could haue so much right to that sword as he against whom it was drawn and by whom it was taken There was more in that sword then mettall and forme Dauid could neuer cast his eye vpon it but he saw an vndoubted monument of the mercifull protection of the Almighty there was therefore more strength in that sword then sharpnes neither was Dauids arme so much strengthned by it as his faith nothing can ouercome him whiles he carries with him that assured signe of victory It is good to take all occasions of renuing the remembrance of Gods mercies to vs and our obligations to him DOEG the master of Sauls herdmen for hee that went to seeke his fathers asses before hee was King hath herdes droues now that he is a King was now in the court of the Tabernacle vpon some occasion of deuotion Though an Israelite in profession he was an Edomite no lesse in heart then in blood yet hee hath some vow vpon him and not onely comes vp to Gods house but abides before the Lord Hypocrites haue equall accesse to the publique places and meanes of Gods seruice Euen he that knowes the heart yet shuts his dores vpon none how much lesse should we dare to exclude any which can onely iudge of the heart by the face DOEG may set his foote as farre within the Tabernacle as Dauid he sees the passages betwixt him and Ahimelech and layes them vp for an aduantage Whiles hee should haue edified himselfe by those holy seruices he carps at the Preist of God after a lewd misinterpretation of his actions of an attendant proues an accuser To incurre fauour with an vniust master he informes against innocent Ahimelech and makes that his act which was drawne from him by a cunning circumuention When wee see our auditors before vs litle do we know with what hearts they are there nor what vse they will make of their pretended deuotion If many come in simplicitie of heart to serue their God some others may perhaps come to obserue their teachers and to pick quarrels where none are Only God and the issue can distinguish betwixt a Dauid and a Doeg when they are both in the Tabernacle Honest Ahimelech could litle suspect that he now offered a sacrifice for his executioner yea for the murtherer of all his family Oh the wise and deepe iudgements of the Almighty God owed a reueng to the house of Eli and now by the delation
or curiositie or suspition of the purloyning some of those sacred implements prying into the secrets of Gods Arke Nature is too subiect to extremities and is euer either too dull in want or wanton in fruition It is no easie matter to keepe a meane whether in good or euill BETHSHEMESH was a Citie of Preists they should haue knowne better how to demeane themselues towards the Arke this priuiledge doubled their offence There was no malice in this curious inquisition the same eyes that lookt into the Arke lookt also vp to heauen in their offerings and the same hands that touched it offered sacrifice to the God that brought it Who could expect any thing now but acceptation who would suspect any danger It is not a following act of deuotion that can make amends for a former sinne There was a death owing them immediately vpon their offence God will take his owne time for the execution In the meane while they may sacrifice but they cannot satisfie they cannot escape The kine are sacrificed the cart burnes them that drew it Here was an offering of praise when they had more neede of a trespasse-offering many an heart is lifted vp in a conceit of ioy when it hath iust cause of humiliation God lets them alone with their sacrifice but when that is done he comes ouer them with a backe reckning for their sinne Fifty thousand seuenty Israelites are stroke dead for this vnreuerence to the Arke A wofull welcome for the Arke of God into the borders of Israel It killd them for looking into it who thought it their life to see it It dealt blowes and death on both hands to Philistims to Israelites to both of them for prophaning it The one with their Idoll the other with their eyes It is a fearefull thing to vse the holy ordinances of God with an vnreuerent boldnesse Feare and trembling becomes vs in our accesse to the Maiestie of the Allmighty Neither was there more state then secrecy in Gods Arke some things the wisdome of God desires to conceale The vnreuerence of the Israelites was no more faulty then their curiositie secret things to God things reuealed to vs and to our children THE REMOVE of the Arke I HEARE of the Bethshemites lamentation I hear not of their repentanc they cōplaine of their smart they complaine not of their sinne and for ought I can perceiue speake as if God were curious rather then they faulty Who is able to stand before this holy Lord god and to whom shall he goe from vs as if none could please that God which misliked them It is the fashion of naturall men to iustifie themselues in their own courses If they cannot charge any earthly thing with the blame of their suffering they will cast it vpon heauen That a man pleads himselfe guilty of his owne wrong is no common worke of Gods spirit Bethshemesh bordred too neere vpon the Philistims If these men thought the very presence of the Arke hurtfull why do they send to their neighbours of Kiriathiearim that they might make themselues miserable Where there is a misconceit of God it is no maruell if there be a defect of charity How cunningly do they send their message to their neighbours They doe not say the Arke of God is come to vs of it owne accord lest the men of Kiriath-iearim should reply It is come to you let it stay with you They say onely the Philistims haue brought it they tell of the presence of the Arke they doe not tell of the successe lest the example of their iudgement should haue discouraged the forwardnes of their releefe and after all the offer was plausible Come yee downe and take it vp to you as if the honor had bin too great for themselus as if their modestie had beene such that they would not forestall and engrosse happinesse from the rest of Israel IT is no boote to teach nature how to tell her owne tale smart and danger will make a man witty He is rarely constant that will not dissemble for ease It is good to be suspicious of the euasions of those which would put off miserie Those of Bethshemesh were not more crafty then these of Kiriathiearim which was the ground of their boldnes faithfull So many thousand Bethshemites could not be dead and no part of the rumor flie to them they heard how thicke not onely the Philistims but the bordring Israelites fell downe dead before the Arke yet they durst aduenture to come and fetch it euen from amongst the carkasses of their brethren They had bin formerly acquainted with the Arke they knew it was holy it could not be changeable and therefore they well conceiued this slaughter to arise from the vnholinesse of men not from the rigour of God and therevpon can seeke comfort in that which others found deadly Gods children cannot by any meanes bee discouraged from their honor and loue to his ordinances If they see thousands strucke downe to Hell by the scepter of Gods kingdome yet they will kisse it vpon their knees and if their Sauiour be a rocke of offence and the occasion of the fall of millions in Israel they can loue him no lesse They can warme them at the fire wherewith they see others burned they can feede temperately of that whereof others haue surfeted to death c. BETHSHEMESH was a Citie of Preists the Leuites Kiriathiearim a Citie of Iuda where we heare but of one Leuite Abinadab yet this Citie was more zealous for God more reuerent and conscionable in the entertainment of the Arke then the other We heard of the taking downe of the Arke by the Bethshemites when it came miraculously to them we do not heare of any man sanctified for the attendance of it as was done in this second lodging of the Arke Grace is not tyed either to number or meanes It is in spirituall matters as in the estate Small helps with good thrift enrich vs when great patrimonies loose themselues in the neglect Shiloh was wont to be the place which was honored with the presence of the Arke Euer since the wickednes of Elies sonnes that was forlorne and desolate and now Kiriath-iearim succeeds into this priuiledge It did not stand with the royall liberty of God no not vnder the law to tye himselfe vnto places and persons Vnworthines was euer a sufficient cause of exchange It was not yet his time to stirre from the Iewes yet hee remoued from one Prouince to another Lesse reason haue we to thinke that so God will reside amongst vs that none of our prouocations can driue him from vs c. ISRAEL which had found the misery of Gods absence is now resolued into teares of contrition and thankfulnes vpon his returne There is no mention of their lamenting after the Lord while he was gone but when he was returned and setled in Kiriath-iearim The mercies of God draw more teares from his children then his iudgments doe from his enemies There is no
suspended the execution In Sauls neglect this charge reuerted to him God loues iust executions so well that he will hardly take them ill at any hands I do not finde that the slaughter of Agag troubled Samuel that other act of his seueritie vpon Saul though it drew no blood yet stroke him in the striking and fetched teares from his eyes Good Samuel mourned for him that had not grace to mourne for himselfe No man in all Israel might seeme to haue so much reason to reioyce in Sauls ruine as Samuel since that hee knew him raised vp in despight of his gouernment yet he mournes more for him then he did for his sonnes for himselfe It greeued him to see the plant which hee had set in the garden of Israel thus soone withered It is an vnnaturall senselessnes not to bee affected with the dangers with the sins of our gouernors God did not blame this sorrow but moderated it How long wilt thou mourne for Saul It was not the affection he forbad but the measure In this is the difference betwixt good men and euill that euill men mourne not for their own sins good men do so mourne for the sins of others that they will hardly be taken off IF Samuel mourne because Saul hath cast away God by his sinne he must cease to mourne because God hath cast away Saul from raigning ouer Israel in his iust punishment A good heart hath learn'd to rest it selfe vpon the iustice of Gods decree and forgets all earthly respects when it lookes vp to heauen So did God meane to shew his displeasure against the person of Saul that he would show fauour to Israel he will not therefore bereaue them of a King but change him for a better Either Saul had slandred his people or else they were partners with him in the disobedience yet because it was their rulers fault that they were not ouer-ruled we do not heare of their smarting any otherwise then in the subiection to such a King as was not loyall to God The losse of Saul is their gaine the gouernment of their first King was abortiue no maruell if it held not Now was the maturitie of that State and therefore God will bring them forth a kindly Monarchy setled where it should Kings are of Gods prouiding it is good reason he should make choice of his own deputies but where goodnes meets with soueraignty both his right and his gift are doubled If Kings were meerly from the earth what needs a Prophet to bee seene in the choice or inauguration The hand of Samuel doth not now beare the scepter to rule Israel but it beares the horne for the annointing of him that must rule Saul was sent to him when the time was to be annointed but now he is sent to annoint Dauid Then Israel sought a King for themselues now God seeks a King for Israel The Prophet is therefore directed to the house of Ishai the Bethleemite the grand-child of Ruth now is the faithfull loue of that good Moabitess crowned with the honor of a kingdome in the succeeding generation God fetcht her out of Moab to bring a King vnto Israel Whiles Orpah wants bread in her owne countrey Ruth is growne a great Lady in Bethleem and is aduanced to be great grandmother to the King of Israel The retributions of God are bountifull neuer any man forsooke ought for his sake and complained of an hard bargaine EVEN the best of Gods saints want not their infirmities He that neuer replied when hee was sent to reproue the King moueth doubts when he is bidden to goe and annoint his successor How can I goe If Saul heare it he will kill mee Perhaps desire of full direction drew from him this question but not without a mixture of diffidence For the manner of doing it doth not so much trouble him as the successe It is not to be expected that the most faithfull hearts should be alwaies in an equall height of resolution God doth not chide Samuel but instruct him He which is wisdome it selfe teacheth him to hide his counsels in an honest policie Take an Heifar with thee and say I am come to do sacrifice to the Lord This was to say true not to say all Truth may not be crossed by denialls or equiuocations it may be concealed in a discreet silence except in the case of an oath no man is bound to speake all he knowes we are not only allowed but commanded to be innocently serpentine There were doubtles heifars enow in Bethleem Ishai had both wealth and deuotion enough to haue bestowed a sacrifice vpon God and his Prophet But to giue a more perfect colour to his intention Samuel must take an heifar with him The act it selfe was serious and necessarie There was no place no time wherein it was not fit for a Samuel to offer peace-offrings vnto God but when a King should be annointed there was no lesse then necessitie in this seruice Those which must represent God to the world ought to be consecrated to that maiestie whom they resemble by publike deuotions Euery important action requires a sacrifice to blesse it much more that act which imports the whole Church or Common-wealth IT was great newes to see Samuel at Bethleem hee was no gadder abroad none but necessarie occasions could make him stirre from Ramah The Elders of the Citie therefore welcome him with trembling not for that they were affraid of him but of themselues they knew that guest would not come to them for familiaritie streight do they suspect it was the purpose of some iudgment that drew him thither Com'st thou peaceably It is a good thing to stand in awe of Gods messengers and to hold good termes with them vpon all occasions The Bethlemites are glad to heare of no other errand but a sacrifice and now must they sanctifie themselues for so sacred a businesse We may not presume to sacrifice vnto God vnsanctified this were to marre an holy act and make our selues more prophane by prophaning that which should be holy ALL the Citizens sanctifie themselues but Ishai his sons were in a speciall fashion sanctified by Samuel This businesse was most theirs and all Israel in them the more God hath to do with vs the more holy should we be With what desire did Samuel looke vpon the sonnes of Ishai that hee might see the face of the man whom God had chosen And now when Eliab the eldest sonne came forth a man of a goodly presence whose person seemed fit to succeede Saul he thinks with himselfe This choice is soone made I haue already espied the head on which I must spend this holy oyle This is the man which hath both the priuiledge of nature in his primogeniture and of outward goodlinesse in proportion Surely the Lords annointed is before him Euen the holiest Prophet when hee goes without God runs into error The best iudgment is subiect to deceit It is no trusting any mortall man when hee speaks of
songs of Dauid had not more quieted his spirits before then now the thankfull song of the Israelitish women vexes him One litle ditty of Saul hath slaine his thousand and Dauid his ten thousand sung vnto the timbrels of Israel fetcht againe that euill spirit which Dauids musicke had expelled Saul needed not the tormēt of a worse spirit then enuie Oh the vnreasonablenes of this wicked passiō The women gaue Saul more and Dauid lesse then he deserued For Saul alone could not kill a thousand and Dauid in that one act of killing Goliah slew in effect all the Philistims that were slaine that day yet because they giue more to Dauid then to himselfe he that should haue endited and begun that song of thankfulnes repines growes now as mad with enuie as he was before with greefe Truth Iustice are no protectiō against malice Enuy is blind to all obiects saue other mens happines If the eyes of men could be contained within their owne bounds not roue forth into comparisons there could be no place for this vicious affection but when they haue once taken this lawless scope to themselues they loose the knowledge of home care only to be imploied abroad in their own tormēt NEVER was Sauls brest so fit a lodging for the euill spirit as now that it is drest vp with enuie It is as impossible that Hell should be free from Diuels as a malicious heart Now doth the frantick King of Israel renue his old fitts and walks and talks distractedly He was mad with Dauid and who but Dauid must be called to allay his madnesse Such as Dauids wisdom was he could not but know the termes wherein he stood with Saul yet in the lieu of the harsh discordous notes of his masters enuy hee returnes pleasing musicke vnto him He can neuer be good Courtier nor good man that hath not learned to repay if not iniuries with thanks yet euill with good Whiles there was a harpe in Dauids hand there was a speare in Sauls wherewith he threatens death as the recompence of that sweet melody Hee said I will smite Dauid through to the wall It is well for the innocent that wicked men cannot keep their owne councell God fetcheth their thoughts out of their mouthes or their countenances for a seasonable preuention which else might proceed to secret execution It was time for Dauid to withdraw himselfe his obedience did not tye him to be the marke of a furious Master He might ease Saul with his musicke with his blood hee might not Twise therefore doth hee auoide the Presence not the Court not the seruice of Saul ONE would haue thought rather that Dauid should haue bin affraid of Saul because the Diuell was so strong with him then that Saul should be affraid of Dauid because the Lord was with him yet we finde all the feare in Saul of Dauid none in Dauid of Saul Hatred and feare are ordinary companions Dauid had wisdom and faith to dispell his feares Saul had nothing but infidelitie deiected selfe-condemned distempred thoughts which must needs nourish them yet Saul could not feare any hurt from Dauid whom he found so loyall and seruiceable He feares only too much good vnto Dauid and the enuious feare is much more then the distrustfull Now Dauids presence begins to be more displeasing then his musick was sweet Despight it selfe had rather preferre him to a remote dignity then indure him a neerer attendant This promotion increaseth Dauids honor loue and this loue and honor aggrauates Sauls hatred and feare SAVLS madnes hath not bereaued him of his craft For perceiuing how great Dauid was growne in the reputation of Israel he dares not offer any personall or direct violence to him but hires him into the iawes of a supposed death by no lesse price then his eldest daughter Behold mine eldest daughter Merab her will I giue thee to wife onely be a valiant sonne to mee and fight the Lords battels Could euer man speake more graciously more holily What could be more graciously offred by a King then his eldest daughter What care could be more holy then of the Lords battels yet neuer did Saul intend so much mischeife to Dauid or so much vnfaithfulnes to God as when he spake thus There is neuer so much danger of the false-hearted as when they make the fairest weather Sauls speare bad Dauid be gone but his plausible words invite him to danger This honor was due to Dauid before vpon the compact of his victory yet he that twise inquired into the reward of that enterprise before he vndertooke it neuer demanded it after that atchieument neither had Saul the iustice to offer it as a recompence of so noble an exploit but as a snare to an enuied victory Charity suspects not Dauid construes that as an effect and argument of his Masters loue which was no other but a childe of enuie but a plot of mischeife and though he knew his owne desert and the iustice of his claime to Merab yet hee in a sincere humilitie disparageth himselfe and his parentage with a Who am I As it was not the purpose of this modesty in Dauid to reject but to sollicite the proferd fauor of Saul so was it not in the power of this bashfull humiliation to turne backe the edge of so keene an enuie It helps not that Dauid makes himselfe meane whiles others magnifie his worth Whatsoeuer the colour was Saul ment nothing to Dauid but danger and death and since all those battels will not effect that which he desired himselfe will not effect that which he promised If he cannot kill Dauid he will disgrace him Dauids honor was Sauls disease It was not likely therefore that Saul would adde vnto that honor whereof he was so sicke already Merab is giuen vnto another neither do I heare Dauid complaine of so manifest an iniustice Hee knew that the God whose battels hee fought had prouided a due reward of his patience If Merab faile God hath a Michal in store for him shee is in loue with Dauid his comelines and valour haue so won her heart that shee now emulates the affection of her brother Ionathan If shee be the yonger sister yet shee is more affectionate Saul is glad of the newes his daughter could neuer liue to doe him better seruice then to be a new snare to his aduersarie Shee shall bee therefore sacrificed to his enuie and her honest and sincere loue shall bee made a baite for her worthy and innocent husband I will giue him her that shee may be a snare vnto him that the hand of the Philistims may be against him The purpose of any fauour is more then the value of it Euen the greatest honors may bee giuen with an intent of destruction Many a man is raised vp for a fall So forward is Saul in the match that he sends spokes-men to sollicite Dauid vnto that honour which he hopes will proue the high-way to