Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	goodness_n	lord_n	psal_n	4,045	5	7.5057	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A84659	Theion enōtikon, A discourse of holy love, by which the soul is united unto God Containing the various acts of love, the proper motives, and the exercise of it in order to duty and perfection. Written in Spanish by the learned Christopher de Fonseca, done into English with some variation and much addition, by Sr George Strode, Knight.; Tratado del amor de Dios. English	Fonseca, Cristóbal de, 1550?-1621.; Strode, George, Sir, 1583-1663.	1652 (1652)	Wing F1405B; Thomason E1382_1; ESTC R772	166,624	277

they conceived a vindicative and revengeful soul never acted that which was truly glorious The Almighty God by his Prophets and Apostles is said to be rich in mercy Joel 2. Heb. 2. Neh. 9.16 17. but never in punishing and richer in this then in any thing else that when the Levites had acknowledged what wonderful things God had done for the Israelites and that notwithstanding all his blessings to them they dealt proudly and hardned their necks and obeyed not his Commandments yet for all this they confess of God to his glory That he is a God ready to pardon or a God of pardons and not onely not a punishing God but as it follows there God is gracious merciful slow to anger and of great goodness And indeed go through the whole Book of God and ye shall not finde God so much extolled for any attribute of his Power Wisdome or Justice as for his Mercy in pardoning injuries done unto him Numb 14.17 Accordingly when God was minded to have destroyed the rebellious Israelites Moses findeth no stronger argument to incline him to mercy then by praying Let the power of my Lord be made great according as thou hast spoken Exod. 36.6 saying The Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy forgiving iniquity and transgressions Psal 10.3 8. Pardon therefore I beseech hee the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy mercy So that by the greatness and riches of his mercy his Omnipotency is made most glorious And as God is most pleased with this attribute of Merciful as conducing most to his glory so in imitating God herein man most proves himself to be his Fathers own childe for as our Saviour spake of the hard-hearted revengeful Jews Joh. 8.44 Ye are of your father the devil who was a murtherer from the beginning so saith he Love your enemies Mat. 5.45 and do good to them that hate you that you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven intimating that by this act and disposition of the heart ye may prove your selves the true born Sons of God your Father And such as cross and oppose this doctrine of our Lord Christ saying in heart or tongue it is baseness and cowardize to put up an affront without taking revenge I must pronounce that man not onely a bastard as S. Paul calls such no son of God but an heretick to Christs doctrine whose precept is Love your enemies We reade that our Saviour told his disciples that for his sake they should suffer and forsake estates wife children and life but never that they should suffer for his name or doctrine any loss of reputation or honour whence it will easily follow that to obey Christs command in pardoning the offences of our neighbour and in loving our enemy we lose not but gain that which indeed with God and good men is truly called and known to be honour To incline mans heart to this duty is the consideration of that trouble and torture which hate and revenge brings into the soul of man This appears by many instances in holy Writ Cain after the murther of his brother became a fugitive in the land of Nod Gen. 4.14 which signifieth disquiet and he is a vagabond not onely to others but to himself wandring with fear and torture of minde as a man distracted and ter●ified fearing himself or as we say his own shadow and Lamech having as the general opinion is slain his thrice great Grandfather Cain he saith I have slain a man to my wounding Gen. 4.23 though it were done ignorantly and by a misadventure yet that manslaughter was a wound to his own heart Good God what wound must that be then to the heart of him who meditates and useth all the means he can to destroy that image of God which Christ the Son of God so loved that he vouchsafed to dye for it When Abigail laboured to pacifie David 1 Sam. 25.31 incensed and purposed to kill the Churl Nabal though a man of no worth or esteem she useth this argument This shall be no grief nor offence of heart unto my Lord that thou hast not shed blood or that thou hast not avenged thy self and David considering what a corrosive the act if committed would have been to his conscience V. 32 33. saith Blessed be the Lord which sent thee with this counsel and blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou which hast kept me from shedding blood It is observed that the Bee having shot her sting and wounded what offended her she either soon after dyes her self or continues but as an half liv'd drone and as despised of others so disconsolate and careless of it self and it can be little other if not worse with that man who seeks revenge on his neighbour for the edge or point of that sword which killed his brother pierceth and woundeth the soul of the slayer and as the wise-man speaks of sorrow and wrath Ecclus. 30.23 so may I of this It shortneth the life and hath killed many Another reason to pardon the injuries done us by our enemy or neighbour is that the stroke comes not so much from our enemy as from God and thereby that we may reap benefit and no hurt if we will our selves Although Joseph had said Ye my brethren sold me to the Egyptians yet in the same verse he addeth God sent me into Egypt Gen. 45.5 His brethren sold him but God sent him And when Shimei cursed David 2 Sam. 16.10 David would not revenge himself on Shimei this had been to have imitated the dog who bites the stone thrown at him but he passeth by the reviler or railer not saying Wherefore hast thou done this and he gives the reason for it for the Lord saith he bade him curse David The King of Assyria is called the rod and the staff of Gods indignation Isa 10● Psa 37.14 and the Prophet saith The wicked have bent their bow and drawn out their sword to slay the godly what then are the godly to do to draw their swords and kill the wicked which in case of defence and backed by lawful authority is justifiable no but they are to consider what follows in the next verse Psa 17. Their bow shall be broken and their sword shall enter into their own hearts and when or how shall this be see that where it is said ●he wicked and so the sword of the wicked is Gods sword who cannot rise or strike unless God speaks as be doth V. 13. Awake O sword and smite Zech. 13.7 Now thine enemies being Gods rod his staff his sword what man is so mad as to resist this sword or to break this staff and not rather to kiss the rod because it is Gods and that it is not laid on for thy destruction but correction and not to hurt and wound but to chastise thee and make thee better Job the upright and