wish short Wee doe not more affect protraction of an easefull life then speed in our dissolution for heere euery pang that tends toward death renewes it To lie an houre vnder death is tedious but to be dying a whole day we thinke aboue the strength of humane patience Oh what shal wee then conceiue of that death which knowes no end As this life is no lesse fraile then the bodie which it animates so that death is no lesse eternall then the soule which must endure it For vs to be dying so long as wee now haue leaue to hue is intolerable and yet one onely minute of that other tormenting death is worse then an age of this Oh the desperate infidelitie of carelesse men that shrinke at the thought of a momentany death and feare not eternal This is but a killing of the body that is a destruction of body and soule Who is so worthy to weare the Crowne of Israel as hee that won the Crowne from Midian Their Vsurpers were gone now they are headless It is a doubt whether they were better to haue had no Kings or Tyrants They sue to Gideon to accept of the Kingdom are repulsed There is no greater example of modestie then Gideon When the Angel spake to him he abased himselfe belowe all Israel when the Ephraimites contended with him hee prefers their gleanings to his vintage and casts his honour at their feet and now when Israel profers him that kingdome which he had merited hee refuses it Hee that in ouercomming would allow them to cry The sword of the Lord and of Gideon in gouerning will haue none but The sword of the Lord. That which others plotte and sue and sweare and bribe for Dignity and superiority hee seriously reiects vvhether it were for that he knew God had not yet called them to a Monarchy or rather for that hee saw the Crowne among thornes What doe wee ambitiously affect the commaund of these mole-hils of earth when wise men haue refused the profers of Kingdomes Why doe we not rather labor for that Kingdome which is free from all cares from all vncertaintie Yet he that refuses their Crown calls for their earings although not to enrich himselfe but religion So long had God bin a stranger to Israel that now superstition goes currant for deuout worship It were pitty that good intentions shold make any man wicked here they did so Neuer man meant better then Gideon in his rich Ephod yet this very act set all Israel on whoring God had chosen a place and a seruice of his owne When the wit of man will be ouer-pleasing God with better deuises then his owne it turnes to madness and ends in mischiefe Abimelechs Vsurpation GIdeon refused the kingdome of Israel when it was offred his seuenty sonnes offred not to obtaine that Scepter which their fathers victorie had deserued to make hereditary onely Abimelec the concubines sonne sues and ambitiously plots for it VVhat could Abimelec see in himselfe that hee should ouer-looke all his brethren If hee lookt to his father they were his equals if to his mother they were his betters Those that are most vnworthy of honor are horest in the chase of it whiles the conscience of better deserts bids men sitte still and stay to be either importuned or neglected There can be no greater signe of vnfitness then vehement sute It is hard to say whether there be more pride or ignorance in Ambition I haue noted this difference betwixt spirituall and earthly honor and the Clients of both wee cannot be worthy of the one without earnest prosecution nor with earnest prosecution worthy of the other The violent obtain heauen onely the meek are worthy to inherit the earth That which an aspiring heart hath proiected it will finde both argument and means to effect If either bribes or fauour will carry it the proud man will not sit out The Shechemites are fit brokers for Abimelec That Citie which once betrayed it selfe to vtter depopulation in yeelding to the sute of Hamor now betraies it selfe and all Israel in yielding to the request of Abimelec By them hath this Vsurper made himselfe a faire way to the throne It was an easie question Whether will ye admitte of the sonnes of Gideon for your Rulers or of Strangers If of the sons of Gideon whether of all or one If of one whether of your owne flesh and bloud or of others vnknown To cast off the sonnes of Gideon for Strangers were vnthankfull To admit of seauentie Kings in one small Country were vnreasonable To admit of any other rather then their owne kinsman were vnnaturall Gideons sons therefore must rule amongst all Israel One of his sonnes amongst those seuentie and who should be that one but Abimelec Natural respects are the most dangerous corrupters of all elections What hope can there bee of worthy Superiors in any free people where neereness of bloud carries it from fitnes of disposition Whiles they say He is our brother they are enemies to themselues and Israel Faire words haue won his brethren they the Sechemites the Sechemites furnish him with mony mony with men His men begin with murder and now Abimelec raignes alone Flattery bribes and bloud are the vsuall stayres of the Ambitious The mony of Baal is a fit hire for murderers that which Idolatry hath gathered is fitlie spent vpon Treason One diuel is ready to help another in mischief Seldome euer is ill-gotten riches better imployed It is no wonder if he that hath Baal his Idol now make an Idol of Honour There was neuer any man that worshipped but one Idol Wo be to them that lie in the way of the Aspiring Tho they be brothers they shall bleed yea the nearer they are the more sure is their ruine VVho would not now thinke that Abimelec should finde an hell in his breast after so barbarous and vnnaturall a massacre and yet behold he is as senselesse as the stone vpon which the bloud of his seauenty brethren was spilt VVhere Ambition hath possest it selfe throughly of the soule it turnes the heart into steele and makes it vncapable of a conscience All sinnes will easily downe vvith the man that is resolued to rise Onely Iotham fell not at that fatall stone with his brethren It is an hard battell where none escapes Hee escapes not to raigne not to reuenge but to be a Prophet and a witnesse of the vengeance of GOD vpon the Vsurper vpon the Abettors Hee liues to tell Abimelec hee was but a bramble a weed rather then a tree A right bramble indeed that grew but out of the base hedg-row of a Concubine that could not lift vp his head from the earth vnlesse he were supported by some bush or pale of Shechem that had laid hold of the fleece of Israel and had drawne bloud of all his brethren and lastly that had no substance in him but the sap of vaine-glory and the pricks of crueltie It vvas better then a kingdom
out of the way to see his dead Aduersary and could not but recal to himselfe his danger and deliuerance Heere the beast met me thus he fought thus I slew him The very dead Lion taught Sampson thankfulnesse there was more hony in this thought then in the carcasse The mercies of GOD are ill bestowed vpon vs if we cannot steppe aside to view the monuments of his deliuerances Dangers may bee at once past forgotten As Sampson had not found his hony-comb if he had not turned aside to see his Lion so we shall lose the comfort of Gods benefits if we doe not renue our perills by meditation Least any thing should befall Sampson wherein is not some wonder his Lion doth more amaze him dead then aliue For loe that carcasse is made an Hiue the bitternesse of death is turned into the sweetness of hony The Bee a nice dainty creature builds her cells in an vnsauory carcasse the carcass that promised nothing but strength and annoyance now offers comfort refreshing and in a sort payes Sampson for the wrong offered Oh the wonderfull goodnes of our GOD that can change our terrors into pleasure and can make the greatest euils beneficiall Is any man by his humiliation vnder the hand of GOD growne more faithfull and conscionable there is hony out of the Lion Is any man by his temptation or fall become more circumspect there also is hony out of the Lion there is no Sampson to whom euery Lion dooth not yeeld hony Euerie Christian is the better for his euils yea Satan himselfe in his exercise of Gods children aduantageth them Sampson doth not disdaine these sweets because he finds them vncleanly layd His diet was strict and forbad him any thing that sauour'd of legall impurity yet hee eates the hony-combe out of the belly of a dead beast Good may not be refused because the means are accidentally euil Hony is hony still tho in a dead Lion Those are lesse wise and more scrupulous then Sampson which abhorre the graces of God because they finde them in ill vessels One cares not for the Preachers true doctrine because his life is euill Another will not take a good receit from the hand of a Physitian because he is giuen to vnlawfull studies A 3 d wil not receiue a deserued contribution from the hands of a Vsurer It is a weak neglect not to take the hony because we hate the Lion Gods children haue right to their fathers blessings wheresoeuer they finde them The match is now made Sampson tho a Nazarite hath both a wedding and afeast God neuer misliked moderate solemnities in the seuerest life and yet this Bridall-feast was long the space of seuen daies If Sampson had matched with the best Israelite this celebration had been no greater neither had this perhaps been so long if the custome of the place had not required it Now I doe not heare him pleade his Nazaritisme for a colour of singularitie It is both lawfull and fit in things not prohibited to conforme our selues to the manners and rites of those with whom we liue That Sampson might think it an honour to match with the Philistims hee whom before the Lion found alone is now accompanied with thirty attendants They called them companions but they meant them for spies The curtesies of the world are hollow and and thanklesse neither doth it euer purpose so ill as when it showes fairest None are so neere to danger as those whom it entertains with smiles whiles it frownes wee knowe what to trust to but the fauours of it are worthy of nothing but feares suspicion Open defiance is better then false loue Austeritie had not made Sampson vnciuill hee knowes how to entertaine Philistims with a formall familiaritie And that his intellectuall parts might be approued answerable to his armes hee will first try maisteries of wit and set their braines on worke vvith harmless thoughts His riddle shal appose them and a deepe wager shall hinde the solution Thirtie shirts and thirty sutes of raymem neither their losse nor their gaine could be much besides the victory beeing diuided vnto thirtie partners but Sampsons must needs bee both waies very large vvho must giue or receiue thirty alone The seauen dayes of the feast are expiring and yet they which had been all this while deuouring of Sampsons meat cannot tell who that cater should be from whence meat shold come In course of nature the strong feeder takes-in meat and sends out filthiness but that meat and sweetnesse should come from a deuouring stomack was beyond their apprehension And as fooles and dogges vse to beginne in iest and end in earnest so did these Philistims and therefore they force the Bride to intice her husband to betray himselfe Couetousnes Pride haue made them impatient of loss and now they threat to fire her and her fathers house for recompence of their entertainment rather then they will lose a small wager to an Israelite Some-what of kinne to these sauage Philistims are those cholerick Gamesters which if the dice bee not their friend fall out with GOD curse that which is not Fortune strike their fellowes and are ready to take vengeance vpon themselues Those men are vnfit for sport that lose their patience together with their wager I do not wonder that a Philistim woman loued herselfe and her fathers family more then an Israelitish Bride-groome and if shee bestowed teares vpon her husband for the ransome of them Sampson himselfe taught her this difference I haue not told it my father or my mother and should I tell it thee If she had not been as shee was fhee had neither done this to Sampson nor heard this from him Matrimoniall respects are dearer then naturall It was the law of him that ordained marriage before euer Parents were that Parents should bee forsaken for the husband or wife But now Israelitish Parents are woorthy of more intirenesse then a wife of the Philistims And yet whom the Lion could not conquer the teares of a woman haue conquered Sampson neuer bewrayed infirmitie but in vxoriousnes What assurance can there be of him that hath a Philistim in his bosome Adam the perfectest man Sampson the strongest man Salomon the wisest man were betrayed with the flattery of their helpers As there is no comfort comparable to a faithfull yoke-fellow so wo be to him that is matched with a Philistim It could not but much discōtent Sampson to see that his aduersaries had plowed with his heifer that vpon his own back now therfore hee payes his wager to their cost Ascalon the Citie of the Philistims is his wardrobe he fetches thence thirty sutes lined with the liues of the owners Hee might vvith as much ease haue slaine these thirtie companions which were the Authors of this euill but his promise forbad him whiles he was to clothe their bodies to vnclothe their soules and that spirit of GOD which stird him vp to reuenge directed him in
to him but they faint in the way We may call long enough if we cry not to him The same hand that raised vp Eglon against Israel raised vp also Ehud for Israel against Eglon When that Tyrant hath reuenged God of his people God will reuenge his people of him It is no priuiledge to be an instrument of Gods vengeance by euil meanes Though Eglon were an Vsurper yet had Ehud beene a Traytor if God had not sent him it is onelie in the power of him that makes Kings when they are once settled to depose them It is no more possible for our moderne butchers of Princes to show they are imployed by God then to escape the reuenge of GOD in offering to doe this violence not being imployed VVhat a strange choice dooth God make of an Executioner A man shut of his right hand either he had but one hand or vsed but one and that the worse and more vnready Who would not haue thought both hands too little for such a worke or if either might haue been spared how much rather the left GOD seeth not as man seeth It is the ordinary wont of the Almightie to make choice of the vnlik eliest meanes The instruments of God must not bee measured by their own power or aptitude but by the will of the Agent Tho Ehud had no hands he that imployed him had enabled him to this slaughter In humane things it is good to looke to the meanes in diuine to the worker No meanes are to be contemned that God will vse no meanes to be trusted that man will vse without him It is good to be suspicious where is least show of danger and most appearance of fauour This left-handed man comes with a present in his hand but a dagger vnder his skirt The Tyrant besides seruice lookt for gifts and now receiues death in his bribe Neither God nor men doe alwaies giue where they loue How oft dooth God giue extraordinary illumination power of miracles besides wealth and honor where he hates So doe men too oft accompanie their curses with presents either least an enemy should hurt vs or that wee may hurt them The intention is the fauour in gifts and not the substance Ehuds faith supplies the want of his hand Where GOD intends success he lifts vp the hart with resolutions of courage contempt of danger What indifferent beholder of this proiect would not haue condemned it as vnlikely to speed To see a maimed man goe alone to a great King in the midst of all his troupes to single him out from all witnesses to set vpon him with one hand in his owne Parlor where his Courtiers might haue heard the least exclamation and haue comne in if not to the rescue yet to the reuenge Euery circumstance is full of improbabilities Faith euermore ouerlookes the difficulties of the way bends her eyes onely to the certainty of the end In this intestine slaughter of our tyrannicall corruptions when we cast our eyes vpon our selues we might well despaire Alas what can our left-hands doe against these spirituall wickednesses But when wee see who hath both commaunded and vndertaken to prosper these holy designes how can wee misdoubt the success I can doe all things throgh him that strengthens me When Ehud hath obtained the conuenient secrecie both of the weapon place now with a confident forhead he approaches the Tyrant and salutes him vvith a true and awfull preface to so important an act I haue a message to thee from God Euen Ehuds poynard was Gods message not onely the vocall admonitions but also the reall iudgements of God are his errands to the world Hee speakes to vs in raine waters in sicknesses famine in vnseasonable times inundations These are the secondary messages of God if we will not hear the first we must heare these to our cost I cannot but wonder at the deuout reuerence of this Heathen Prince Hee sate in his Chaire of State The vnweildinesse of his fat body was such that he could not rise with readiness and ease yet no sooner doth he heare newes of a message from God but hee rises vp from his Throne reuerently attends the tenor therof Though hee had no Superior to controle him yet hee cannot abide to bee vnmannerly in the businesse of GOD. This man was an Idolater a Tyrant yet what outward respects doth he giue to the true God Externall ceremonies of pietie and complements of deuotion may well be found with falshood in religion They are a good shadow of truth where it is but where it is not they are the very body of hypocrisie Hee that had risen vp in Armes against Gods people and the true worship of God now rises vp in reuerence to his Name GOD would haue liked well to haue had less of his curtesie more of his obedience He lookt to haue heard the message with his eares and he feeles it in his guttes So sharp a message that it pierced the body let out the soule through that vncleane passage neither did it admit of any aunswer but silence and death In that part had hee offended by pampering it and making it his God and now his bane findes the same way with his sinne This one hard and cold morsell which hee cannot digest payes for all those gluttonous delicates whereof he had formerly surfeted It is the manner of God to take fearefull reuenges of the professed enemies of his Church It is a maruell that neither any noise in his dying nor the fall of so gross a body called-in some of his attendants But that GOD which hath intended to bring about any designe disposes of all circumstances to his owne purpose If Ehud had not come forth with a calme and settled countenaunce and shut the doores after him all his proiect had been in the dust What had it been better that the King of Moab was slaine if Israel had neither had a messenger to informe nor a Captain to guide them Now hee departs peaceably blowes a trumpet in Mount Ephraim gathers Israel and falls vpon the body of Moab as well as hee had done vpon the head and procures freedome to his people Hee that would vndertake great enterprises had need of wisdome and courage wisedome to contriue and courage to execute wisedome to guide his courage courage to second his wisedome both which if they meet with a good cause cannot but succeed Iael and Sisera IT is no wonder if they vvho ere foure-score dayes after the Law deliuered fell to Idolatry alone now after foure-score yeeres since the Law restored fell to Idolatry among the Canaanites Peace could in a shorter time work â—ooseness in any people and if forâ—ie yeeres after Othniels deliueâ—ance they relapsed what marvell is it that in twise fortie after Eâ—ud they thus miscaried VVhat â—re they the better to haue killed Eglon the King of Moab if the Idolatry of Moab haue killed them The sinne of Moab shal be
Leader be hid or vnreuenged Or if I might hope so yet can my heart allow mee to be secretly trecherous Is there not peace betwixt my house and him Did not I inuite him to my Tent Doth he not trust to my friendship hospitalitie But what doe these vveake feares these idle fancies of ciuilitie If Sisera be in league with vs yet is he not at defiance with God Is hee not a Tyrant to Israel Is it for nothing that GOD hath brought him into my Tent May I not now finde meanes to repay vnto Israel all their kindnesse to my Grand-father Iethro Dooth not GOD offer mee this day the honour to bee the Rescuer of his people Hath God bidden mee strike and shall I hold my hand No Sisera sleepe now thy last and take here this fatall reward of all thy cruelty and oppression He that put this instinct into her hart did put also strength into her hand He that guided Sisera to her Tent guided the naile throgh his temples which hath made a speedie way for his soule throgh those parts and now hath fastened his eare so close to the earth as if the body had been listening what was becomne of the soule There lyes now the great terror of Israel at the foote of a woman Hee that brought so many hundred thousands into the Field hath not now one Page left either to auert his death or to accompany it or bewaile it Hee that had vaunted of his Iron chariots is slaine by one naile of Iron wanting onely this one point of his infelicity that hee knowes not by whose hand he perished Gideons Calling THe iudgements of God still the further they go the sorer they are the bondage of Israel vnder Iabin was great but it was freedome in comparison of the yoke of the Midianites During the former tyrannie Deborah was permitted to Iudge Israel vnder a Palme-tree Vnder this not so much as priuate habitations will be allowed to Israel Then the seat of iudgement was in the sight of the Sun now their very dwellings must be secret vnder the earth They that reiected the protection of God are glad to seeke to the Mountaines for shelter as they had sauagely abused themselues so they are faine to creepe into dennes caues of the rocks like wilde creatures for safegard God had sowen spirituall seed amongst them and they suffered their heathenish neighbors to pull it vp by the rootes and now no sooner can they sowe their materiall seed but Midianites and Amalekites are ready by force to destroy it As they inwardly dealt with God so GOD deales outwardly by them Their eyes may tell them what their soules haue done yet that God whose mercie is aboue the worst of our sinnes sends first his Prophet with a message of reproofe and then his Angell with a message of deliuerance The Israelites had smarted enough with their seruitude yet God sends them a sharp rebuke It is a good signe when God chides vs his round reprehensions are euer gracious forerunners of mercie wheras his silent conniuence at the wicked argues deepe and secret displeasure The Prophet made way for the Angell reproofe for deliuerance humiliation for comfort Gideon was threshing Wheat by the Wine-presse Yet Israel hath both Wheat and Wine for all the incursions of their enemies The worst estate out of hell hath either some comfort or at least some mitigation in spight of all the malice of the world God makes secret prouision for his owne How should it be but he that ownes the earth and all creatures should reserue euer a sufficiencie from forrainers such the wicked are for his houshold In the worst of the Midianitish tyranny Gideons field and barne are priuiledged as his fleece was afterwards from the shower Why did Gideon thresh out his corne To hide it Not from his neighbours but his enemies his Granary might easily bee more close then his barne As then Israelites threshed out their corne to hide it from the Midianites but now Midianites thresh out corne to hide it from the Israelites These rurall Tyrants of our time do not more lay vp corne then curses he that withdraweth corne the people will curse him yea God will curse him with them for them What shifts nature will make to liue Oh that we could be so carefull to lay vp spirituall foode for our soules out of the reach of those spirituall Midianites vvee could not but liue in despight of all Aduersaries The Angels that haue euer God in their face in their thoughts haue him also in their mouthes The Lord is with thee But this which appeared vnto Gideon was the Angel of the Couenaunt the Lord of Angels Whiles hee was with Gideon he might well say The Lord is with thee He that sent the Comforter vvas also the true Comforter of his Church he wel knew how to lay a sure ground of Consolation and that the onelie remedy of sorrow and beginning of true ioy is The presence of GOD. The griefe of the Apostles for the expected losse of their Master could neuer be cured by any receit but this of the same Angel Behold I am with you to the end of the world What is our glory but the fruition of Gods presence The punishment of the damned is a separation from the beatifical face of God needs must therfore his absence in this life be a great torment to a good heart and no crosse can bee equiualent to this beginning of heauen in the Elect The Lord is with thee Who can complaine either of solitariness or opposition that hath GOD with him With him not only as a witness but as a partie Euen wicked men and diuells cannot exclude God not the bars of hell can shutte him out Hee is with them perforce but to iudge to punish them Yea God will be euer with them to their cost but to protect comfort saue hee is with none but his Whiles he calls Gideon valiant he makes him so How could hee be but valiant that had God with him The godless man may bee carelesse but cannot be other then cowardly It pleases God to acknowledge his owne graces in men that he may interchange his owne glory with their comfort how much more should wee confesse the graces of one another An enuious nature is preiudiciall to God Hee is a strange man in whom there is not some visible good yea in the Diuels themselues wee may easily note some commendable parts of knowledge strength agilitie Let God haue his owne in the worst creature yea let the worst creature haue that praise which God wold put vpon it Gideon cannot passe ouer this salutation as som fashionable complement but layes hold on that part which was most important the tenure of all his comfort and as not regarding the praise of his valour inquires after that vvhich should be the ground of his valour the presence of God God had spoken particularly to him He expostulates for all It
suddenly cut off He saw the hope of posteritie extinguished in the virginity of his daughter It is naturall to vs to affect that perpetuitie in our succession which is denied vs in our persons Our very bodies would emulate the eternity of the soule And if GOD haue built any of vs an house on earth as well as prepared vs an house in heauen it must be confessed a fauour worth our thankfulness but as the perpetuitie of our earthlie houses is vncertaine so let vs not rest our harts vpon that but make sure of the house which is eternall in the heauens Doubtlesse the goodnes of the daughter added to the fathers sorow Shee was not more louing then religious neither is she lesse willing to be the Lords then her fathers and as prouoking her father to that which he thought pietie though to her own wrong she saies If thou hast opened thy mouth vnto the Lord doe with mee as thou hast promised Many a daughter would haue disswaded her father with teares and haue wisht rather her fathers impietie then her own preiudice Shee sues for the smart of her fathers vowe How obsequious should children be to the will of their carefull Parents euen in their finall disposition in the world when they see this holie maid willing to abandon the world vpon the rash vow of a father They are the liuing goods of their Parents and must therefore waite vpon the bestowing of their owners They mistake themselues which thinke they are their owne If this maid had vowed herselfe to God vvithout her Father it had been in his power to abrogate it but now that hee vowed her to GOD vvithout her selfe it stands in force But what shall wee say to those children whom their Parents vow and care cannot make so much as honest that will be no other then godlesse in spight of their Baptisme and education What but that they are giuen their Parents for a curse and shall one day finde what it is to bee rebellious All her desire is that shee may haue leaue to bewaile that which she must be forced to keepe Virginitie If shee had not held it an affliction there had been no cause to bewaile it it had bin no thanke to vnder-goe it if shee had not known it to be a cross Teares are no argument of impatience wee may mourne for that wee repine not to beare How comes that to be a meritorious vertue vnder the Gospell which was but a punishment vnder the Law The daughters of Israel had been too lauish of their teares if virginitie had bin absolutely good VVhat iniurie should it haue been to lament that spirituall preferment which they should rather haue emulated While Iepthaes daughter vvas two monethes in the mountaines she might haue had good opportunitie to escape her fathers vow but as one whom her obedience tyed as close to her father as his vow tyed him to God she returns to take vp that burden which she had bewailed to foresee If we be truly dutifull to our father in heauen wee would not slip our necks out of the yoke tho we might nor flie from his commaunds though the doore were open Sampson conceiued OF extraordinary persons the very birth conception is extraordinary God beginnes his wonders betimes in those whō hee will make wonderfull There was neuer any of those which were miraculously conceiued vvhose liues were not notable and singular The presages of the wombe and the cradle are commonly answered in the life It is not the vse of GOD to cast away strange beginnings If Manoahs wife had not been barren the Angell had not been barren the Angell had not been sent to her Afflictions haue this aduantage that they occasion GOD to show that mercy to vs whereof the prosperous are vncapable It would not beseem a mother to bee so indulgent to an healthfull child as to a sick It was to the woman that the Angell appeared not to the husband whether for that the reproach of barrennesse lay vpon her more heauily then on the father or for that the birth of the child should cost her more deare then her husband or lastly for that the difficultie of this newes was more in her conception then in his generation As Satan layes his batteries euer to the weakest so contrarily God addresseth his comforts to those harts that haue most need As at the first because Eue had most reason to be deiected for that her sin had drawne man into the Transgression therefore the Cordiall of GOD most respecteth her The seed of the Woman shall breake the Serpents head As a Physitian first tells the state of the disease with his Symptoms and then prescribes so dooth the Angell of God first tell the wife of Manoah her complaint then her remedy Thou art barren All our afflictions are more noted of that GOD which sends them then of the Patient that suffers them how can it be but lesse possible to indure any thing that he knows not than that hee inflicteth not Hee saith to one Thou art sicke to an other Thou art poore to a third Thou art defamed Thou art oppressed to another That all-seeing Eye takes notice from heauen of euery mans condition no lesse then if he should send an Angel to tell vs he knew it His knowledge compared with his mercy is the iust comfort of all our sufferings O GOD vvee are many times miserable and feele it not Thou knowest euē those sorrowes which wee might haue Thou knowest what thou hast done do what thou wilt Thou art barren Not that the Angel would vpbrayd the poore woman with her affliction but therefore he names her paine that the mention of her cure might be so much more welcom Comfort shal com vnseasonably to that hart which is not apprehensiue of his owne sorrow We must first know our euils ere we can quit them It is the iust method of euery true Angel of GOD first to let vs see that whereof either wee doe or should complaine and then to apply comforts Like as a good Physitian first pulls downe the body and then raises it with cordialls If wee cannot abide to heare of our faults wee are not capable of amendement If the Angel had first said Thou shalt conceiue and not premised Thou art barren I doubt whether shee had conceiued faith in her soule of that infant which her body should conceiue Now his knowledge of her present estate makes way for the assurance of the future Thus euer it pleases our good God to leaue a pawne of his fidelitie with vs that vvee should not distrust him in what he will do when we find him faithfull in that which we see done It is good reason that he which giues the sonne to the barren mother should dispose of him and diet him both in the wombe first and after in the world The mother must first be a Nazarite that her sonne may be so Whiles shee was barren she might drink what she
God It is the qualitie of Superstition to mis-interpret all euents and to feed it selfe with the conceit of those fauours which are so farre from beeing done that their Authors neuer were Why doe not we learn zeale of Idolaters And if they be so forward in acknowledgemeÌ„t of their deliuerances to a false deitie how cheerefully should we ascribe ours to the true O God whatsoeuer be the meanes thou art the Author of all our successe Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodnes and tell the wonders that he doth for the sonnes of men No Musician would serue for this feast but Sampson hee must now bee their sport which was once their terror that hee might want no sorrow scorne is added to his miserie Euery wit and hand playes vpon him Who is not readie to cast his bone and his iest at such a captiue So as doubtlesse hee wisht himselfe no lesse deafe then blinde and that his soule might haue gone out with his eyes Oppression is able to make a wise man mad and the greater the courage is the more painfull the insultation Now Sampson is punished shall the Philistims escape If the iudgement of God beginne at his own what shall becom of his enemies This aduantage shal Sampson make of their tyranny that now death is no punishment to him his soule shall flie foorth in this bitternesse without pain that his dying reuenge shal be no less sweet to him then the liberty of his former life He could not but feel God mockt through him and therfore whiles they are scoffing hee prayes his seriousness hopes to pay them for all those iests If he could haue bin thus earnest with God in his prosperity the Philistims had vvanted this laughing stock No deuotion is so feruent as that which arises froÌ„ extremity O Lord God I pray thee think vpon me O God I beseech thee strengthen mee at this time onely Tho Sampsons haire were shorter yet he knew Gods hand was not as one therefore that had yet eyes â—ow to see him that was inuisible and whose faith was recouered before his strength hee sues to that God which was a party in this indignitie for power to reuenge his wrongs more then his owne It is zeale that moues him and not malice his renued faith tells him that he was destin'd to plague the Philistims reason tells him that his blindnes puts him out of the hope of such another oportunity Knowing therefore that this play of the Philistims must end in his death he recollects all the forces of his soule and body that his death may be a punishment in steed of a disport and that his soule may bee more victorious in the parting then in the animation and so addresses himselfe both to die and kill as one whose soule shall not feele his own dissolution whiles it shal carry so many thousand Philistims with it to the pit All the acts of Sampson are for wonder not for imitation So didst thou O blessed Sauiour our better Sampson conquer in dying and triumphing vpon the charriot of the Crosse didst lead captiuity captiue The law sin death hell had neuer bin vanquisht but by thy death All our life liberty and glory springs out of thy most precious bloud Michaes Idolatrie THE mother of Micha hath lost her siluer and now she falls to cursing She did afterwards but change the forme of her God her siluer was her God ere it did put on the fashion of an Image Else she had not so much cursed to lose it if it had not too much possessed her in the keeping A carnall hart cannot forgoe that wherein it delights without impatience cannot be impatient vvithout curses whereas the man that hath learned to inioy GOD and vse the world smiles at a shipwrack and pitties a theefe and cannot curse but pray Micha had so little grace as to steale from his mother and that out of wantonnesse not out of necessity for if shee had not been rich so much could not haue been stoln from her and now hee hath so much grace as to restore it her curses haue fetcht again her treasures Hee cannot so much loue the mony as hee feares her imprecations Wealth seemes too deare bought with a curse Tho his fingers were false yet his heart was tender Many that make not conscience of committing sinne yet make conscience of facing it It is well for them that they are but nouices in euill those whom custome hath fleshed in sinne can either deny and forfweare or excuse and defend it their seared hearts cannot feele the gnawing of any remorse and their forhead hath learned to be as impudent as their hart is senseless I see no argument of any holinesse in the mother of Micha Her curses were sinne to her selfe yet Micha dares not but feare them I knowe not whether the causelesse curse be more worthy of pitty or derifion it hurts the author not his aduersary but the deserued curses that fall euen from vnholy mouthes are worthy to be feared How much more should a man hold himselfe blasted with the iust imprecations of the godlie What metall are those made of that can applaude themselues in the bitter curses which their oppressions haue wrung from the poore and reioyce in these signes of their prosperity Neither yet was Micha more striken with his mothers curses then with the conscience of sacriledge so soone as he findes there was a purpose of deuotion in this treasure he dares not conceale it to the preiudice as he thought of GOD more then of his mother What shall we say to the palate of those men which as they finde no good relish but in stoln waters so best in those which are stoln from the fountaine of God How soone hath the old woman changed her note Euen now she passed an indefinite curse vpon her sonne for stealing and now shee blesses him absolutely for restoring Blessed be my sonne of the Lord. Shee hath forgotten the theft when shee sees the restitution How much more shall the God of mercies be more pleased with our confession then prouoked with our sinne I doubt not but this siluer and this superstition came out of Egypt together with the mother of Micha This history is not so late in time as in place for the Tribe of Dan was not yet setled in that first diuision of the promised land so as this old woman had seen both the Idolatry of Egypt the golden calfe in the wildernesse and no doubt contributed some of her earings to that Deity and after all the plagues which shee saw inflicted vpon her brethren for that Idol of Horeb and Baal-Peor she stil reserues a secret loue to superstition and now showes it Where mis-religion hath once possessed it selfe of the hart it is very hardly clensed out but like the plague it will hang in the very clothes after long lurking breake forth in an vnexpected infection and old wood is the aptest to take
suppressed it will rise but where it is incouraged it insults tyrannizes It was more iust that Israel shold rise against Beniamin then that Beniamin should rise for Gibeah by how much it is better to punish offenders then to shelter the offenders from punishing And yet the wickedness of Beniamin sped better for the time then the honestie of Israel Twise was the better part foyled by the lesse and worse The good cause vvas sent backe with shame the euill returned with victory and triumph O GOD their hand was for thee in the fight and thy hand was with them in their fall They had not fought for thee but by thee neither could they haue miscarried in the fight if thou hadst not fought against them Thou art iust holy in both The cause was thine the sinne in managing of it vvas their owne They fought in an holy quarrell but with confidence in themselues for as presuming of victorie they aske of GOD not what should be their success but who should be their Captaine Number innocence made them too secure It was iust therefore with GOD to let them feele that euen good zeale cannot beare out presumption And that victory lyes not in the cause but in the God that ownes it VVho cannot imagine hovv much the Beniaminites insulted in their double field and day And now beganne to think God was on their side Those swords which had bin taught the way into fortie thousand bodies of their brethren cannot feare a new incounter Wicked men cannot see their prosperity a peece of their curse neither can examine their actions but the euents Soone after they shall finde what it was to adde bloud vnto filthinesse and that the victory of an euill cause is the way to ruine and confusion I should haue feared least this double discomfiture should haue made Israel either distrustfull or weary of a good cause but still I finde them no lesse courageous with more humilitie Now they fast weepe and sacrifice these weapons had been victorious in their first assault Beniamin had neuer been in danger of pride for ouer comming if this humiliation of Israel had preuented the fight It is sildom seen but that which we do with feare prospereth wheras confidence in vndertaking layes euen good indeauours in the dust Wickednesse could neuer brag of any long prosperitie nor complaine of the lacke of payment Still GOD is euen with it at the last Now hee payes the Beniaminites both that death which they had lent to the Israelites and that wherein they stood indebted to their brotherhood of Gibeah And novv that both are metre in death there is as much difference betwixt those Israelites and these Beniaminites as betwixt Martyrs and malefactors To die in a sinne is a fearefull reuenge of giuing patronage to sinne The sword consumes their bodies another fire their Cities vvhat-soeuer became of their soules Now might Rachel haue iustlie wept for her childrē because they were not For behold the men women and children of her wicked Tribe are cut off onely some few scattred remainders ran away from this vengeance and lurked in caues and rocks both for fear and shame There was no difference but life betwixt their brethren and them the earth couered them both yet vnto them doth the reuenge of Israel stretch it self and vowes to destroy if not their persons yet their succession as holding them vnwoorthy to receiue any comfort by that sexe to which they had bin so cruell both in act and maintenance If the Israelites had not held marriage issue a very great blessing they had not thus reuenged themselues of Beniamin Now they accounted the vvith-holding of their wiues a punishment second to death The hope of life in our posteritie is the next contentment to an inioying of life in our selues They haue sworn and now vpon cold bloud repent them If the oath were not iust why wold they take it and if it were iust why did they recant it If the act were lustifiable what needed these tears Euen a iust oath may be rashly taken not onely iniustice but temerity of swearing ends in lamentation In our very ciuill actions it is a weaknes to do that which we would after reuerse but in our affaires with GOD to check our selues too late and to steepe our oathes in teares is a dangerous folly He doth not commaund vs to take voluntary oathes he commaunds vs to keepe them If wee bind our selues to inconuenience we may iustly cōplain of our owne fetters Oaths doe not onely require iustice but iudgment wise deliberation no lesse then equity Not conscience of their fact but commiseration of their brethren led them to this publique repentance O God why is this come to pass that this day one Tribe of Israel shall want Euen the iustest reuenge of men is capable of pittie Insultation in the rigor of iustice argues crueltie Charitable mindes are grieued to see that done which they would not wish vndone the smart of the offender doth not please thē which yet are throughly displeased with the sin and haue giuen their hands to punish it GOD himselfe takes no pleasure in the death of a sinner yet loues the punishment of sin As a good Parent whips his child yet weepes himselfe There is a measure in victorie and reuenge if neuer so iust which to exceed leeses mercie in the sute of Iustice If there were no fault in their seueritie it needed no excuse and if there were a fault it will admitte of no excuse yet as if they meant to shift off the sinne they expostulate with God O Lord God of Israel why is this come to passe this day GOD gaue them no commaund of this rigour yea he twise crost them in the execution and now in that which they intreated of God with teares they challenge him It is a dangerous iniustice to lay the burden of our sinnes vpon him which tempteth no man nor can be tempted with euill whiles we would so remooue our sinne we double it A man that knew not the power of an oath wold wonder at this contrarietie in the affections of Israel They are sory for the slaughter of Beniamin and yet they slay those that did not helpe them in the slaughter Their oath calls them to more bloud The excess of their reuenge vpon Beniamin may not excuse the men of Gilead If euer oath might looke for a dispensation this might plead it Now they dare not but kill the men of Iabesh Gilead least they should haue left vpon themselues a greater sin of sparing then punishing Iabesh Gilead came not vp to ayde Israel therefore all the inhabitants must die To exempt our selues whether out of singularitie or stubbornness from the common actions of the Church when wee are lawfully called to them is an offence woorthy of iudgement In the maine quarrels of the Church neutralls are punished This execution shal make amends for the former of the spoile of Iabesh