Two Sermons for the Direction for Christian Carriage — Thomas Gataker

Two Sermons for the Direction for Christian Carriage · Thomas Gataker

DAVIDS Remembrancer.

PSAL. 13. 1.

How long, O Lord? Wilt thou forget mee for euer? How long wilt thou hide thy face away from me?

THIS Psalme, as appeareth by theOccasion. whole tenour of it, was composed by the Prophet DAVID during the time of some grieuous and tedious temporall affliction; and that accompanied also (as may seeme) with some spirituall desertion.

And it may well for the subiect matter of it beMatter. tearmed

aforeign Sicut Psal. 38. foreignDAVIDS Remembrancer; as being penned by him for this end, to put God in minde of him, and of his present forlorne and distressed estate.

The Psalme consisteth of three principall Parts.Parts 3.

There is first bVers. 1, 2.a grieuous complaint of his presentPart 1. condition; propounded by way of expostulation;Complaint.

1. cVers. 1.In regard of God; who seemed not to regard him.

2. dVers. 2.In regard of himselfe, by meanes thereof driuen to his shifts, and in a manner at his wits end.

3. eVers. 2.In regard of his aduersaries; who tooke occasion thereby to triumph and insult ouer him.

There is secondly fVers. 3, 4.an humble suit and request Part 2.commenced by him to God, and conceiued in three distinct parts, answering the three branches of his former complaint. For 1. gVers. 3.Hee requestethRequest. God that he would *Respice, refertur ad, Usque quo avertis faciem? Exaudi, ad, Usque quo obliuisceris? Aug. in Psal. 12.Behold and heare; that hee would vouchsafe to regard him, and turne his face againe towards him, and not send him away, inaudita querelà, vnheard and vnanswered.

2. He addeth some Reasons why he desireth and requireth God thus to heare and regard him.Reasons 2.

…. hVers. 3.In regard of himselfe, that hee sleepe not in Reason 1.death: not meant, as some thinke, of iDe somno peccati. Ruffin. in Psal. 12. In peccato. Aug. in Psal. 12. & contr. advers. leg. l. 1. c. 11. Cassiod. & Remig. & ex …que Lombard. De somno peccati qui ducit ad mortem. Acacius Caesar. quaest collect. 4. apud Hieron. epist▪ …d Miner. & Alex.sleeping in Sinne; though k1. Thess. 5. 6, 7. Ephes. 5. … 1 Cor. 15. 34.Sinne in Scripture be oft compared to Sleepe; no…, as others, *Theodoret. & E…thym.of the …eath of griefe and despaire; though that be said too to be a kinde of Death; and 6Gen. 27. 46. Io… 3. 20, 21. Eccles 7. 28.maketh a mans life oft no better, yea more bitter than Death: nor yet as others. lCùm … peccato, quod est ad mortem irrevocabiliter perseveratur. Bern. in Cant. 52. Ne poenitentiam … mortem differens, dormiam cum morte peccati in inferno. Hugo Card. in Psal. 1….of dying eternally, of being euerlastingly damned: but mIun. Calvin. &c. Vide Drus. lib. 3. quaest. 27. & H…resbach. in Psal.of temporall death, (that is vsually tearmed n1 Cor. 15. 6, 51. Iohn 11. 11, 14.a Sleepe; and is nothing indeed but oTi foreign. Quid mors est? Somnus est consueto longior. Chrysostad pop. Antioch. de imag. serm. 5.a Sleepe longer than vsuall; yea in some sort pIer. 51. 39. Nobis cùm semel occidit brevis lux, Nox est perpetua una dormienda. Ca…ull. epig. 5. Quicunque nascimur, brevi post lumine Aeternus impedit sopor. Ben. Lamprid.a perpetuall Sleepe, because to continue qIob 7. 9, 10. & 14. 12.as long as the world lasteth:) that rIob 10. 20, 21. Psal 39. 13.hee might not die in this distressedReason 2. and discomfortable estate.

2. sVers. 4.In regard of his malicious and euill affected Aduersaries; *Psal. 38. 16.that they might not hauehave longer or further cause of joy and triumph in his ouerthrow, as hauing now without all helpe or hope of recouery, gotten the vpper hand of him.

And there is thirdly tVers. 5.a cheerefull and a comfortablePart 3. Conclusion. Conclusion, wherein as recollecting himselfe, and controlling the voice of sense with the voice of Faith;

1. uPr…fitetur.He professeth his trust and confidence in God.

2. xPollicetur. Branch 3.Hee promiseth himselfe assured helpe and deliuerance from God.

And 3. yPaciscitur.He praiseth God for it, as if alreadie he had receiued it: zforeign. Vides animum bene sperantem? Petit, & prius quam acceperit, tanquam qui accepisset, gratias agit. Chrysost. in Psal. 12. Contra quam Bern. in Cant. 10. Gr…tiarum actio beneficium non praecedit, sed sequitur.See the picture of an hopefull heart, saith Chrysostome, he craueth aid of God, and before he hauehave it, he renders thankes for it, as if alreadie he had it.

And thus hauehave you the Summe and Substance of the Psalme, with the seuerall parts of it.Branch 1.

To returne to the first Branch of his Complaint, which I purpose only to insist on.Branch 2.

First, for the Manner of it, or Phrase it is conceiuedManner. in; there are foure seuerall Readings, thoughReadings 4. in effect for sense and substance much the same.

For 1. Some reade the words of the formerReading 1. Part, without stop or stay, as one continued sentence; aGraec. Sept. Lat. Vulgat. Ang. Genev. Reg. Bibl. Calvin. alij.How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord, for euer? But they both neglect the pause in the Hebrew; and beside make no very good sense.

2. Others make a pause, but a pause misplaced;Reading 2. and they thus reade them; bUsquequo, Domine, oblivisceris me? In finem? Remig. in Psal. 12. Erit hoc usque quo in aeternum? Hugo Card. ibid. Sic Vatabl. & Leo Iudae.How long, O Lord, wilt thou forget mee? For euer? As elsewhere, *Psal. 74. 10.How long, O God, shall the Aduersary reproach? shall the enemie blaspheme thy Name for euer? But the pause here in the Originall, is after Domine; not after Obliuisceris.

3. Others placing the pause aright, reade the words as an Aposiopesis, that is, a broken or imperfectReading 3. sentence, not vnfit to expresse passion. cQuousque, Domine? subaudi, non intueberis? oblivisceris mei in aeternum? Iun.Qu… usque, Domine? How long, O Lord? As if he had said; How long will it be ere thou minde me? In aeternum obliuisceris? Wilt thou neuer againe thinke on mee? How long wilt thou hide thy face away from me? And the like we may find in diuers other places; dPsal. 79. 5.How long, O Lord? wilt thou be angrie for euer? Shall thy iealousie burne like fire? And, ePsal. 89. 46.How long, Lord? Wilt thou hide thy face for euer? Shall thy wrath burne like fire? Yea the very selfe-same Aposiopesis apparantly, where he saith; fPsal. 6. 3.But thou, O Lord, how long? And, gPsal. 90. 13.Returne, O Lord: how long? And let it repent thee concerning thy seruants: As also of… hIer. 13. 2. Apoc. 6. 10.elsewhere.

4. It may well be read by way of Reduplication, Reading 4.iPer epimonen repetendo ingeminat. Cassiod.(a forme very fit also to expresse the vehement affection of a soule surcharged with sorrow, and pincht in with paine;) enclosing the middle part of the Verse within a Parenthesis: How long, O Lord? (wilt thou neuer remember me?) how long, (I say) wilt thou hide thy face away from me? And the like Reduplication is found also elsewhere, where hee saith, kPsal. 94. 3.How long shall the wicked, O Lord? How long (I say) shall the wicked exult?

Either of the two latter may well stand with the Context of the words in the Originall.

Secondly, For the Matter and substance of it:Matter.

1. There are two things complained of:Substance.

1. That God had forgotten him.

2. That he had hid his face away from him. Both *Nec oblivio, nec aversio cadit in Deum. Remig. in hunc Psal. Neutrum De' reverâ facit, sed more nostro Scriptura loquitur. Aug. & Ruffin. in hunc locum. Per foreign de Deo perinde ac de homine loquitur. Humanū siquidem oblivisci, & faciem ab eo quem oderis avertere. Muscul.humanitûs dicta, spoken by way of resemblance from the manner of men, and the one going a degree beyond the other. lGravius est aversionem faciei, quam oblivionem sentire. Muscul in hunc loc.It is more to hide his face from him, than not to remember him.

mGenes. 40. 23. & 41. 9. Hinc qu…stio apud Senecam, an obliti ingrati sint dicendi▪ de bene…. lib. 3. cap. 4, 5.Wee may out of vnmindfulnesse sometime forget one, whom wee wish otherwise well vntounto: but when we doe wittingly and willingly nEsai. 58. 7. & 53. 3. foreign; Dion. Chrysost. orat. 38.turne or hide our face away from him, it is a signe that either we hate and abhorre him, or at least desire not to minde or remember him. “In oblivione remissio est benevolentiae & curae, in avers…e faciei indignatie & odium. Muscul.There is an implication of bare neglect in the one; an intimation of anger and indignation, of displeasure and euill will in the other.

For God therefore to forget DAVID, not to minde him, or looke after him, is much! If his eie be neuer so little once off vsus, the spirituall aduersarie is readie presently to seize on vsus, oAeriae potestates tanquam milvi circumvolitant, ut pullum infirmum abripiant. Aug. in Psal. 62. & in Psal. 90.as the Kite on the Chicke, if the Hen looke not carefully after it.

But for God, DAVIDS pPsal. 4. 6, 7. & 18. 18. & 73. 25. foreign. Theophyl. ep. 30. ex Homer. Odyss. foreign.only ioy and stay, to turne his face away from him, that hee may not minde him, as if qPsal. 27. 9.in anger and euill-will towards him, he had cast off all care of him, yea were resolued to reiect him, and were willing to expose him to the will of those that would *Psal. 38. 16.reioyce in his ruine: this is much more. There is an vnmindfulnesse of him implied in the former; an euill minde▪ towards him implied in the latter.

And surely, if rPsal. 30. 5.in the fauour of God there be life; yea sPsal. 63. 3.his fauour is better than life it selfe: then vndoubtedly “foreign. Theophyl. epist. 37.such apprehension of his disfauour and displeasure must needs be as death, yea more bitter than death it selfe to the soule so deserted.

2. Both these are further aggrauated by the circumstance of time; the long continuance of either.Circumstance

1. For the time past; he had beene long in this estate already.

2. For the time to come; it was vncertaine how long it would last.

Now for God tEsai. 54. 8. Psal. 30. 5.for an instant to be angry with some of his, and to hide his face from them, cannot be but most †foreign. Theophyl. ep. 37. foreign Idem epist. 24. Nam fruendis voluptatibus crescit carendi delor. Plin. epist. 5. l. 8. E…, Tum est tormentum carere divit…js, cùm illas iam senseris. Sen con…rov. 6.heauy to those that hauehave formerly enioyed it, and beene before in his fauour: (for *In carcere natus ac nutritus puer, de matris suae anxietate miratur. Bern. de diuers. 12.as for others; those, we say, that were neuer out of hell, thinke there is no other heauen.) The least frowne of his face, or bending of his browes, is a very hell it selfe to such: uPsal. 30. 7.Thou turnedst but thy face away, saith DAVID, and I was troubled.

But to hauehave it last and continue so for a long time together, what a daunting and dismaying must it needs be to that soule, that shall esteeme it selfe in a manner to lie so long in hell, and to hauehave in some sort an hell so long here out of hell, where it had a kinde of heauen before?

And yet further againe, though this heauy and disconsolate estate should last long, and were yet to last farre longer; yet if there were some certaine stint of time set how long it should last; the eye of the soule being fixed vponupon that terme, it would be some comfort to consider how the time wore away. But where the eie of the minde meeteth with no obiect to stint it, but (as it is with persons distressed at Sea in a thicke fog, that hauehave rowed and wrought long till their hearts ake againe, and beaten to and fro, but can descry no shore; or as it is *Quib' cruciatus & ad finem per torment a proper at, & sine fine deficiens durat. Ita fit miseris mors sine morte, finis sine fine, defectus sine defectu: quia & mors vivit, & …nis semper incipit, & deficere desectus ne…cit. Greg. mor. l. 9. c. 47.with those that are in hell, whose torments hauehave no stint, but are boundlesse and endlesse) it is as farre from an end still, for ought it can descry, as at first; it hath lasted thus long, and “Psal. 74. 9.it is vncertaine how long longer it may last: This is that that might breake an heart of stone or steele, that might enforce the forlorne soule to sinke downe vnderunder the heauy burden and vnsupportable weight of it, ouerwhelmed with horror, and swallowed vp with despaire, were there not somewhat else (euen xPsal. 37. 24.an hand of God himselfe) to support and vphold it.

And yet was this, as we see here, DAVIDS estate at the present. He complaineth that God had forgotten him, yea he had hid his face from him: this discomfortable estate had lasted long with him alreadie, and it was vncertaine yet how long it would last.

Whence obserue we this Instruction, that Gods Doctrine.Church and dearest Children are oft in that case, what for outward afflictions, what for inward desertions, that both in the sight of others, and to their owne sense and feeling, God seemeth to hauehave reiected them, and not to regard them.

*Aliorum judicio. Calvin. in Psal. 13. Sic Esai. 53. 4.In the sight, I say, of others: for so say the prophane proud, oppressing and pursuing the poore; aPsal. 10. 11.God hath forgotten them; hee hath hidden away his face, and will neuer more looke after them. And DAVIDS enemies of him, (if he were Author of that Psalme;) bPsal. 71. 11.God hath forsaken him; let vsus pursue him, and seize on him: for there is none to deliuer him.

Yea to *Exsensu proprio. Calvin. in Psal. 13.their owne sense and feeling. For so Sion cGalat. 4. 26.the Mother of the faithfull complaineth; dEsai. 49. 14.The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me. So the Children of the Church, and those no eforeign.bastardly brood Maith. 12. 39.neither, but such as continued firme vntounto God, and faithfull with him, complaine also, That fPsal. 44. 17, 18, 24.though they had not forgotten God, nor dealt disloyally with him; yet God had forgotten them and hid his face away from them. So DAVID, g1 Sam. 13. 14.a man after Gods owne heart, and (as his name soundeth) the Lords Darling, or hforeign amasiu… vel amabilis. Unde Dido Poenis. Inde & Salomonthe beloued of the Lord, yet maketh grieuous complaints often-times vntounto God, and in holy manner debateth the matter, and expostulateth with God, both here andforeign 2 Sam. 12. 25. elsewhere: iPsal. 42. 9.I will say to God my rocke; Why hast thou forgotten mee? And, kPsal. 88. 5, 14.Lord, why reiectest thou my soule, and hidest thy face away from me? I am like to the dead, that lie slaine in the graue; that are cut off from thine hand, and thou remembrest no more.

Yea not lPsal. 22. 1, 8.DAVID alone as a Type of him; but the only begotten of God himselfe, mColoss. 1. 13. Ephes. 1. 6. Matth. 3. 17.his Sonne of LoueLove, as hee termeth him, his dearest Darling, (though nRom. 8. 32. O quantum dilectꝰ, pro quo filius ipse, aut non dilectus, aut saltem neglectus? Bern▪ de temp. Vide & Salvian. de pr… vid. l. 4.he thought him not too deare for vsus) when he was on the Crosse, not in his enemies eies and account only, oMatth. 27. 43.that twitted him with his trust in God, who seemed then not to regard him, but to his owne sense and feeling too, seemed neglected and forgotten, as by that bitter and lamentable complaint that hee then made, appeareth; pMatth. 27. 46.My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken mee? And if it were so with Christ, qPsal. 110. 1. Matth. 21. 45.DAVIDS Lord; no maruell if the like also sometime befell DAVID: if this betided the head, no maruell if it betide the bodie too: If it were sometime the state of the rPsal. 2. 8. Iohn 1. 14.natiue Son, that had neuer beene other; no maruell if it be the state oft of adopted Sonnes, of such as hauehave sGalat. 4. 6.of Seruants been made Sonnes, of such as hauehave from Bond-slaues beene aduanced to that honour.

Which yet we are not so to vnderstand, as ifExplication. God could forget any man, or as if God could forg…t ought. tOblivio in Deumnon cadit. Aug. in Psal. 9. & in Psal. 118. Conc. 15. Et Muscul. in hunc loc. Nihil Deus ignorat, nihil obliviscitur. Greg. Mor. l. 25. c. 4. Neque oblivio in Deum cadit, quia nullo modo mutatur, neque recordatio quia non obliviscitur. Aug. in Ps. 87.Obliuion is a defect, and cannot befall him, who is perfection it selfe. But as wee are said to forget things, when wee doe no more regard them, or take notice of them, or looke after them, than if we had forgotten them: uPsal. 45. 11.Forget thy people and thy Fathers house, saith the Psalmist to Rharaobs Daughter; And rich men are said to forget their poore kindred and acquaintance: So *Tunc meminisse dicitur Deus, quando facit; tunc oblivisci, quando non facit. Aug. in Psal. 87. & in sentent. Prosper. 108. Oblivisci dicitur, cum non miseretur. Hugo Victor. de essent. divin.is God said to forget m…n, when he doth not respect them, when he taketh no care of them, when for good he no more regardeth them, than if he had cleane forgotten them.

Now in this manner doth God indeed forgetDistinction. some; some hee seemeth to forget, though indeed he doe not forget them.

As Ambrose saith, That xQuosdam deserit, quosdam deserere videtur. Ambr. in Psal. 118.God doth wholly forsake some: as he did yMatth. 27. 5.Iudas and z2 Sam. 7. 15.Saul, whom he vtterly cast off. Some he seemeth to forsake, but he forsaketh not indeed. As our Sauiour Christ, albeit aEsai. 53. 4.God seemed to hauehave forsaken him, when not onelyonly bAct. 2. 23.hee left him in his cruell enemies hands, and cLuke 22. 53.suffered them to worke their wils vponupon him, but euen d2 Cor. 5. 21. Esai. 53. 6, 10.powred out his owne heauie wrath and indignation vponupon him; and he complained therefore as before, That eMark. 15. 34.his God had forsaken him; yet was he not indeed then forsaken, but euen then fHebr. 5. 7.heard and helpt; gIohn 16. 32.nor was he euer left alone; but though hMatth. 26. 56.his Disciples all forsooke him▪ and fled from him; yet his Father forsooke him not, but abode euer with him: And DAVID, though iPsal. 22. 1.he complain sometime in the same termes that our Sauiour did; yet elsewhere kPsal. 31. 22.he acknowledgeth that how soeuer he had said in his haste, (in the heat of temptation,) that he was cast out of Gods sight, yet euen then did God heare him, and grant his requests.

In like manner, some God thus forgetteth indeed. (As *Hosh. 8. 14.they forget him; so hee forgetteth them.) lHosh. 1. 6.Call the Childe Loruchamah, saith God to Hoshea; for I will hauehave no more merciemercy on the house of Israel; but (as the Vulgar Latine hath it) mOblivione obliviscar. Vulg. tanquā esset à foreign dextra. quum sit à foreign nistra.I will vtterly forget them: or rather (after the Originall) nUt omninò condonem. Iun. & Livel. Sed prorsus tollam eos. Leo Iud. à facie scil. meâ. Vatabl.I will neuer forgiue them: but oHosh. 4. 6, 9.because they hauehave forgotten the Law of their God, I will forget them; when I hauehave visited their waies on them, and rewarded them for their deeds. pMinatur & memoriam damn andorum, & oblivi…nē damnatorū. Ruffin. in Hose.God threatneth, (saith Ruffine) both to remember to damne them, and to forget euer to shew mercy vponupon them, when he hath once condemned them. Some he seemeth to forget, when he doth not. qDeus benos non negligit, cum negligit. Nec obliviscitur, sed quasi obliviscitur. Ruffin. in Psal.Hee neglecteth not the godly, no not when hee neglecteth them: Yea, rObscuris super nos dispositionibus Deus saepe unde nos aestimatur deserere, inde nos recipit; & unde nos recipere creditur, inde derelinquit: ut plaerunque hoc fiat gratiâ quod ira dicitur; & hoc aliquando ira sit, quod gratia putatur. Gregor. mor. l. 5. c. 5.hee remembreth them then best, when he seemeth least to regard them, when he seemeth most of all to forget them. Though the wicked, when he hath his will on the poore, thinketh that sPsal. 10. 11.God hath forgotten them, and doth not at all minde them; yet tPsal. 9. 18. & 10. 12.the poore, saith the Psalmist, shall not alwaies be forgotten; nor the hope of the afflicted perish for euer. But uPsal. 9. 12.God when he maketh inquisition for bloud, will make it appeare then that hee remembreth them, and that hee doth not forget the poore mans complaint, nor will euer faile any of those that xPsal. 9. 10.seeke to him and trust in him. And yEsai. 49. 14.though Zion complaine that her God had forgotten her; yet the Lord telleth her, and assureth her that euen then zEsai. 49. 15, 16.hee had her as fresh in minde, as if shee were *In manibus sculpsi te. Humanitus dictum. Iun.written vponupon his hands, and her present estate was neuer out of his eye: yea that he could no more forget her, than a woman could Question.her childe, or than the kindest and tenderest “foreign. Greg. Naz. orat. 31. Etsi filius minus interdum quàm debeat filialem affectum exhibuit; mater tamen pro suis visceribus maternū deserere non debet, sed nec valet, affectum. Bern. ep. 300.mother that is the fruit of her owne wombe.

But why doth God, may some say, then deale thus strangely with his deare ones, and by seeming not to regard them, yea by seeming to reiect them, suffer them to be in so wofull and ruefull an estate, that they are in a manner like persons vtterly forlorne for the present?

I answer: God doth this for diuers ends; whereof these are some of the principall.Answer.

First, aAd examen.to trie their sinceritie, their confidenceReasons 8. in God, their constancie with God, whether theirReason 1. hearts be sincere toward him, and vpright with him, or no; whether they will keepe constantly in Gods waies, though God seeme to neglect them, or seeke to indirect courses, because God seemeth not to regard them. b2 Chron. 32. 31.God left Hezekiah, saith the holy Ghost, to trie him and to kn…w, that is, *Tentat Deus ut sciat, i. ut stire nos fa…iat; non ut sciat ipse, quem nil latet, sine tentatione enim nemo satis probatus esse potest, sive sibi ipst, sive alij. Aug. in Gen. contr. Manich. l. 1. c. 22. & de Trinit. l. 1. c. 12. & ibid. l. 3. c. 11. & in Genes. quaest. 57. & 83. quaest. 60. & in Deut. quaest. 19. & in Psal. 36. & in Psal. 58. & in Psal. 44. & de serm. Dom. in mont. l. 2.to make knowne, what was in his …art. And cDeu. 8. 2. & 13. 3.the Lord tempteth you, saith Moses … the Israelites, to humble you, and to proue you, and to know what is in your heart, whether you louelove him heartily, and will constantly keepe his Commandements or no. As a Father will sometimes crosse his Sonne, to trie the Childes disposition, to see how he will take it, whether he will mutter and grumble at it, and grow humorous and waiward, neglect his dutie to his Father, because his Father seemeth to neglect him, or make offer to runne away and withdraw himselfe from his Fathers obedience, because he seemeth to cary himselfe harshly and roughly toward him, and to prouoke him thereunto: So doth God likewise oft-times crosse his children, and seemeth to neglect them, to trie their disposition, what mettall they are made of, how they stand affected toward him: whether they will neglect God, because God seemeth to neglect them, forbeare to serue him, because hee seemeth to forget them, cease to depend vponupon him, because hee seemeth not to looke after them, to prouide for them, or to protect them: like …orams prophane Purseuant; d2 King. 6. 33.This euill, saith hee, is of God; and why should I depend then on God any longer? Or whether they will still constantly cleaue to him, though he seeme not to regard them, nor to hauehave any care of them; and say with Esay; eEsai. 8. 17. Nec sic probatus ab officio recessit. Tu, inquit, avertis faciem tuam à me, sed eg… non sum aversus à te. Ruffin. in Ps. 29.Yet will I wait vponupon God, though hee hauehave hid his face from vsus, and I will looke for him though he looke not on vsus; for fEsai. 30. 18.they are all blessed that wait on him; and he will not faile in due time to shew mercy vntounto all them, that doe so constantly wait on him. As g1 Sam. 13. 8, 10.Samuel dealt with Saul; he kept away till the last houre, to see what Saul would doe, when Samuel seemed not to keepe touch with him. So duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page doth God with his Saints, and with those that be in league with him; hee withdraweth himselfe oft, and hPsal. 10. 1.keepeth aloofe off for a long time together, to trie what they will doe, and what courses they will take, when iPsal. 89. 19, 38, 39. 49.God seemeth to break with them, and to leaue them in the suds, as we say, amids many difficulties much perplexed, as it was with DAVID at this time.

Thus was Sauls hypocrisie discouered. Hee would seeme to depend on God; and k1 Sam. 28. 6, 7.sought to him in his troubles and asked aduice of him. But when God seemed to neglect him, and ga…e him no answer, neither by dreame, nor vision, nor by Vrim and Thummim, neither by Prophet, nor by Prie…t, then left he God and sought to the Sorceresse, and by the Sorceresse to Satan.

Where a question may be moued, how that isQuestion. true that the Holy Ghost saith else-where, that l1 Chron. 10. 14.Saul did not at all aske counsell of God. m1 Sam. 28. 6.Saul asked counsell of God, saith one place; but the Lord gaue him no answer: And, n1 Chr. 10. 13, 14.Thus died Saul in his sinne, saith another place, which he sinned, in that he asked counsell of a Witch, and asked not of God; and therefore the Lord …ew him.

But the answer is easie; and may be returnedSolution 1. in two Rules of the Ciuill Law.

1. oFi…ta pro factis non habentur.That is not deemed done, that is not sincerely done; or pNon videtur fieri, quod non legitimè fit. Reg. Iur.that is not done so as it should. GodFacta haud videntur, facta quae sunt subdolè. accounteth that as not …, that is not done in sinceritie. Take it b… … like: It is said of the idolatrous Heathen that were placed in Samaria, that q2 King. 32. 33.they feared the Lord, and yet serued their owne Idols too; and yet in the very next verse againe it is said of the very same persons, r2 King. 17. 34.Neither they, nor their children feare God to this day: sNon colit rem sanctam, qui non…ancto colit. Salvian, de provid. l. 4.Their Feare was no feare, because no sincere feare: and so Sauls seeking to God no seeking, because no sincere seeking. tPsal. 145. 18.The Lord is neere to all that call on him, but that call on him in sinceritie. And uIohn 4. 24., The true worshippers are such as worship in Spirit and Truth. But xSapiens nummularius Deus est: Nummum ne… falsum, ne… fractum recipiet. Bern. de temp… 109.no counterfeit coine will go for currant with him.

2. yFactum non dicitur quod non perseverat.That is not done, that holdeth not out, that Solution 2.keepeth not firme. zNihil dicitur fuisse factum, quamdiu aliquid supere…t faciendum.There is nothing said to be done, as long as ought is yet vndone; Perseuerance is all in all. aMatth. 24. 13. Apoc. 3. 10.He is faithfull indeed that holdeth out to the last. bProu. 17. 17. Verè amicus semper amat. Dr…s. Prov…. 2. cent. 1. pr. …6. Verus amor nullu novit habere modum. Propert. eleg. 3.He is a true louer, that loueth euer. But cforeign. Eurip. Troad. Aristot. Rhetor. l. 2. c. 21. Amavit nunquam, jugi…er qui non amat.He neuer loued truly, that loueth not continually: He was neuer a true friend, that euer ceaseth to be a friend, that is not a friend alwaies, that loueth not in aduersitie, as well as in prosperitie, nor is content to take part with him, whom hee seemeth to louelove in either: So he neuer truly trusted in God, that euer ceaseth to depend vponupon him, that dareth not trust God as well at sea as on land, as well in aduersitie as in prosperity, that is readie to leaue and giuegive ouer relying on God, so soone as God leaueth in outward shew at least to looke after him.

On the other side, thus was Iobs sinceritie approued. dIob 13. 24.Why, saith he to God, doest thou hide thy face away from me? and carriest thy selfe as an enemie towards me? Surely for no other end, Iob, but to trie thy sinceritie; and to make it manifest what thou art. The Deuill slandered Iob, and traduced him, as if he had beene but an hireling, cIob 1. 9, 10, 11.one that serued God onelyonly to serue his owne turne vponupon God; and would therefore soone leaue God, if God should seeme to leaue him, yea would not stick to curse God, if he should but a little anger him, to his face. But the Deuill proued a lier, like himselfe: it was farre otherwise with Iob: As he was no hireling, so *foreign. Eurip. Hecub.he proued no changeling. As the Heathen man saith of one, fNec iratum colere destitit numen. Sen. ad Marc. c. 13.Hee ceased not to worship euen an angrie God: gIob 13. 15.Though he slay me, saith Iob, yet I will trust still in him. And thus the Saints of God approue vntounto God their owne sinceritie; in that hPsal. 44. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24.though God had forgotten them, yet they had not forgotten him; though iPercussisti, i. percutiendo dejecisti. Verba enim Hebraica saepe motum consignificant. Sic Gen. 38. 9. & Psal. 89. 39.he had smitten them, (that is, by smiting throwne and thrust them downe) to the very bottome of the Sea, the place where the kforeign cetus. prout Genes. 1. 21. Psal. 74. 13. Ezec. 29. 3. & 32. 2. foreign. Chrysost. in Psal. 148.Whales lodge, and had ouer-whelmed them with the shadow of death; and suffered them to be butchered and massacred all the day long, as if they were no other than sheepe sent to the shambles, and set apart for the slaughter; yet for all this, they would not from him, nor seeke to any other but him: As Diogenes the Cynick somtime told his Master Antisthenes, lforeign. Diogen. Laert. Nullus tam durus erit baculus qui à tuo me obsequio separ…t. Hieron. adv. Iovin. l. 2.there was no cudgell so crabbed that could driue them away from him.

Secondly, God doth this mAd exercitium.to exercise the Reason 2.gifts and graces of his Spirit in them. For many graces of God, as Patience, Confidence in God, and the like, are like Torches and Tapers, that shew dimme in the light, but burne cleere in the darke; or like the Moone, and nStell… interdi… latent, noctu…icant. Ita vera virtus non apparet in prosperi…, eminet in adversis. Bern. in Cant. 27.the Starres, that are not seene in the day, but shine bright in the night. oPatientiae in prosperis null' est usus. Greg. mor. l. 11. cap. 19. In malis quae quisque patitur, n… in bonis, quib▪ fruit…r, opus est patientiâ. Aug. in Ioā. 124.There is no vse of patience when all things goe well with vsus. pIam. 5. 11.Yee hauehave heard of Iobs patience, saith Iames. But we had neuer heard of it, had Iob neuer beene in trouble. qI… fides non habet meritum, ubi ratio humana prabet experimentū. Greg. in Euang. 26. Hac est enim la…s fidei, si id quod creditur non videtur. Nam quid magnum est, si id credimus, quod videmus? Aug. in Ioan. 79. Ioh. 20. 29. Facilè enim credimus quod videmus. Ambr. in Luc. l. 10.There is no sight of faith, when we doe sensibly see and feele as it were the louelove and good will of God towards vsus in the pregnant and plentifull effects and fruits of his fauour. rVirtus fidei credere quod non vides; merces fidei videre quod credi…. Aug. in Psal. 109. & de verb. Ap. 27.It is the efficacie of faith, saith Augustine, to beleeue what we see not; for it is the reward of faith for vsus to see what we beleeue. But when sPutas, hîc est? n… potest non esse, sed latet. hyems est; int▪ est viridita… in radice Aug. in 1 Ioan. 9.it is winter time with vsus, and the sap is all downe in the root, little signe or shew of it to be seene abroad, or aboue ground in the branches; when all outward, yea and inward signes of Gods louelove and fauour towards vsus, and of his care and regard of vsus shall seeme to faile and be withdrawne from vsus; when we shall see and feele nothing, but arguments of his anger and wrath, u2 Cor. 7. 5.troubles without and terrors within, Gods face turned from vsus, or his angry looke towards vsus; yet euen then through these thicke and blacke clouds to descry and discerne the bright sunneshine of Gods fauour; and contrary to sense and reason, carnal sense, & corrupt reason, to beleeue that xHebr. 12. 6. Apoc. 3. 21.God loueth vsus, when he lowreth on vsus, and seemeth euen to loath vsus, that we are in fauour still with him when he knitteth the browes and frowneth on vsus, that he remembreth vsus and thinketh on vsus when he seemeth to forget vsus, that hee is a gratious God and yIob 13. 16, 15.a sure Sauiour to vsus, when he seemeth b…nt to destroy vsus; this i… the excellencie of faith indeed. And for the exerciseAqui… pullos s…s in ali… port…, …es reliqui inter pedes. Munster. in Schol. … R. Solomon. of this and other the like graces in his, doth God oft withdraw himselfe from them, as the Nu…e doth from the childe, to teach it to exercise the feet, and learne to stand and goe of it selfe without helpe or hold. Or as the Eagle with her young ones, which when they are growne fledge, shee turneth out of the nest, nor beare…h them euer on her wing, though *Exod. 19. 4. Deut. 32. 11.sometimes shee so doe, but to … them to …, “foreign &c. foreign Basil. S…l. …. 21.…lieth from them, and leaueth them sometime to shift for themselues. God led you along the wildernesse, saith Moses to the Israelites, zDeut. …. … ▪ 3.to h…mble you▪ and to teach you, that man … not by bread, but by Gods word; to teach them aPueris, qui n…e discu…t, sc…pea ind…itur ratis. Pla…t. A…lul. 4. 1. … ast ubi j…m du…averit …as Membra, … que …, discess…e corti…e nare. Horat. serm. 1. 4.to swim without bladders, to goe without crutches, to depend vponupon the ba…e word of God, when bread and water should saile; and to learne, as, with the Apostle, b2 Cor. 1. 9.not to trust in themselues, so †foreign. Bas…l. Sel. …om. 21.not to trust to the m…anes, but in him that worketh by them, and that can as well worke for vsus without them, when they faile.

Thirdly, cAll … e…cendam.to en…re vsus to patience, and holy obedience, Reason 3.and submission of our wils to the good pleasure of God. As a father sometime will crosse his childe in those things that hee hath a minde to, yea and it may be are not euill for him neither otherwise, and deny him somethings that he doth most of all desire, though they be such things as hee is willing enough, yea and hath a purpose afterward to bestow on him, only thereby to enure him to rest contented with his will, and to submit and referre his desires to his pleasure: So doth God oftentimes withdraw and with-hold long from his children outward ioyes, inward comforts, the light of his countenance, the fruits of his fauour, the things they most desire, and that hee purposeth one day toforeign. Hera…lit. apud St…b. c. 3. bestow on them, though he keepe them back for the present, thereby to enure them to patience and childe-like submission; that they may learne to practise what dMatth. 6. 10.they daily pray, and what our Sauiour as well by practise as by precept, hath taught them to say, eMatt. 26. 39, 42. foreign. Thymarid… quidā. Thymarides contra, foreign. Iamblych. in vita▪ Pythag. Vide quid aequi…s est, tenè divinae voluntati conformando subdere, an ut ipsa tuae subserviat volunta…i. Gerson. confol. Theol. lib. 2. cap. 1. M… foreign; Epictet. Arian. l. 2. c. 17. Deus quod vult qui vult, semper est foelix. Sic enim hom… ab humanis in divina dirigit…r, cùm voluntati human… voluntas divina praefertur. Aug. in Ioan. 52.Not my will, but thy will be done. For as fRom. 5. 4.patience maketh triall; so gIam. 1. 3.triall breedeth patience. As hforeign. Pind. Olymp. 4. Marcet sine adversari… virtus. Tunc apparet quanta sit, quantum valeat polleatque, cùm quid possit patientia ostendit. Sen de provid. c. 2.by patience, and by nothing more, is our sinceritie approued: (nothing putteth our pietie to the proofe more than patience:) so such trials as these doe enure to patience and obedience: (As it is said of our Sauiour, That iHebr. 5. 8.though he were the Sonne, yet kforeign.he learned obedience by those things that he suffered:) *foreign. Eurip. He…ub. Quam malè inassueti veniunt ad aratra juvenci?a lesson at the first not so easily learned of vsus, til by continuance of sufferings we hauehave beene enured to the yoake. By these and the like courses therefore God enureth and instructeth his children to beare quietly such burdens as hee pleaseth to lay on them; as also to wait his leasure, and abide his good pleasure, who knoweth what is best for them, and lPsal. 34. 9, 10. & 84. 12.will deny nothing mPsal. 145. 15.in his due season▪ vntounto them; but nProrsus tanquam …grotum reficiens medicus, & quod opus est hoc dat, & quando opꝰ est, tunc dat. Aug. in Ps. 144.as a wise Physitian, saith Augustine, dieting his patient, will both giuegive them what is fit for them to hauehave, and giuegive it them then when it is fit for them to hauehave it.

Fourthly, God dealeth thus many times withReason 4. his children, oAdm…jorem peccati detestationem.to worke in them a greater hatred and detestation of sinne; whereof this hiding of his face from them, is oft a fruit and an effect. pEsai. 1. 15.When you stretch forth your hands, saith God by the Prophet, I will hide mine eyes from you, and though you make many prayers, I will not heare you, because your hands are full of blo…d. And saith the same Prophet, speaking in the person of Gods people; qEsai. 64. 7.Thou hast …id thy face from vsus, and hast consumed vsus because of our iniquities. Yea in the Lamentations the people of God complaine, that rLament. 3. 42, 43, 44.God had euerwhelmed them with his wrath, and couered himselfe with a cloud, that their prayers might not passe, nor hauehave accesse to his Highnesse; because they had sinned and rebelled against him, and he therefore had not spared them. And certainly that is one principall cause, the sinnes of Gods Church and Children, their rebellious courses, their vntoward cariage, their wickednesse, their wanto…nesse, their euill demeanure towards him, that maketh God to turne away his louing countenance from them, and that not only for a time to looke off them, till they humble themselues before him, but *Multa cogitur homo tolerare etiam remissis peccatis: quamvis ut in eam veniret miseriam, primum fueritcausa poccatum. Productior est enim poena quim culpa, ne parva putaretur culpa, si cum illa siniretur & poena. Ac per hoc vel ad demonstrationem debit… miseri…, vel ad emendationem labilis vitae, vel ad exercitationē necessariae patientiae, temp…raliter hominem detinet poena, etiam quem jam ad damnationem sempitern…m reum non detinet culpa. Aug in …an. 124.euen for some space of time after also, to looke strangely vponupon them. Hee doth as a wise and discreet Father, who when his Sonne hath offended him, though vponupon his submission hee be reconciled vntounto him, and be inwardly as well affected againe towards him, as euer, yet will make some shew of anger still, it may be, and lowre and frowne on him for a long time after, that hee may not suddenly take heart to grace, as wee say, againe; but may by that meanes be drawne to be both more seriously sorie for his offence past, and more fearefull for the future of offending his Father. So dealeth God with his children, when they hauehave done amisse and runne riot, though vponupon their repentance he be at one againe with them, yet he concealeth it long many times; neither is his countenance oft the same for a long time after towards them, that formerly it had beene.

Thus dealt DAVID with Absolom; and thus God himselfe with DAVID. s2 Sam. 13. 38, 39.After that Absolom by a traine had made away his brother Ammon, and was fled vponupon it to Geshur; DAVID a Father but too indulgent, (t1 King. 1. 6. 2 Sam. 18. 5. that was his fault, and he smarted shrewdly for it) after some space of time, when the sorow for his son Ammon was ouer, began to earne inwardly after Absolom; and since that Ammon was gone, hee was loth to lose the comfort of his Absolom also, whom he loued but too well, and farre better than his Absolom loued him. And though hee stroue to conceale it, yet uSed malè dissimulat: quis enim celaveritignem, Lumine qui semper proditur ipse suo? Ovid. ep. 12. Apparet facilè dissimulatus amor. Ibid.he could not but discouer it. x2 Sam. 14. 1, 2, 3, 19, 20▪Ioab wisely discerned it, and vsed the woman of Tekoa as a midwife, to deliuer DAVIDS heart of that that *Ita Christus foreign dicitur. Basil. Sel. h… mil. 19.it went great with, and was full of paine withall; and to draw that from him as by constraint or importunitie, which DAVID was of himselfe ouer-willing vntounto alreadie. y2 Sam. 14. 21, 22.Thus Absolom his exile must be called home at length, though with some difficultie: and the matter must proceed not as from DAVID, but from I…ab: DAVIDS affection to Absolom must by all meanes be concealed: Yea, after Absolom was returned, though DAVID, no doubt, longed still after him, and in some sort doated on him, and was m…re seriously and sincerely desiro… to see Absolom, than Absolom was to see DAVID; yet, z2 Sam. 14. 24, 28.Let him turne, saith he, to his owne house, and not se… my face. And so dwelt Absolom, DAVIDS be… beloued some, (for he had not yet Salomon) for the space of two yeeres in Ierusalem, where the Court most was, and yet might not all that while so much as see the King his fathers face, or hauehave accesse once to his presence. DAVID, no doubt, was perfectly reconciled in heart to him, and counted it no small crosse that he must thus be depriued of him; but knowing Absoloms disposition, how soone he might be returning to some such like practise, if hee were sodainely taken into grace againe, was content to enforce himselfe to this harsh and vnpleasing cariage towards him, (vnpleasing, I say, as well to DAVID himselfe, as to Absolom) to preuent some such further mischiefe (if it might hauehave beene) that might otherwise▪ both befall himselfe and Absolo…, as vponupon the change of his countenance towards him shortly after ensued.

Now looke how DAVID dealt with Absolom, so dealt God himselfe with DAVID. After that foule abuse of Bathsheba, and the murther of Vriah, albeit a2 Sam. 12. 13.DAVID had to Nathan freely confessed his offence, and Nathan from God againe assured him of the free and full forgiuenesse of it; The Lord hath taken away thy sinne, thou shalt not die for it: Yet the Lord, the more throughly to humble him for it, and to make him the more wary for the time to come of shunning that that might produce againe such fearefull effects, *Est quidā etiam tranquilli maris tremor, aut lacus qui ex tempestate requievit. Senec. de tranquill. c. 1.did not looke vponupon him so louingly for a long time after, as before he had wont to doe. Reade but the Psalme that hee made after Nathan had beene with him; and see how earnestly and instantly hee crieth and calleth vponupon God still, bPsal. 51. 1, 8, 9, 11, 12.to turne his face away from his sinne, and to looke in mercy vponupon himselfe, not to cast him wholly out of his sight, nor to take his good Spirit vtterly away from him, to restore vntounto him againe those inward comforts and ioyes, which cPsal. …. 6, 7.through the light of Gods countenance hee had formerly enioyed, but had in a manner cleane lost, and was wholly depriued of for the present. And in like manner doth God deale with many other of his deare seruants, after some hainous and notorious crimes by them committed, he withdraweth oft his face and fauourable countenance away from them, not till they repent onelyonly, but euen after they hauehave repented of them, to make them wiser and warier for the time to come, and to detest their owne folly the more for the present.

Fiftly, God oft thus withdraweth and estrangethReason 5. himselfe from his, dAd crucis opus consummandum.That the crosse incumbent may hauehave its full and perfect worke on them, which if it were sooner remoued, it would be the worse for them, as when the corrasiue plaister is pulled off ere the dead flesh is eaten out: and indeed as it were to no end for the Surgeon to clap on a corrasiue, if he should pull it off againe instantly, before it hauehave done ought; it were to no purpose for the Finer to put his gold into the fire, if he should either pull it out againe, or put out his fire, before the ore be melted, and the drossie matter seuered: So it would be to small purpose for God to lay crosses on vsus, for the bettring and amending of vsus, if he should presently againe so soone as wee feele the smart of them, and begin to whine vnderunder his hand, remoue them away instantly, ere we be at all bettered by them, or hauehave that effected on vsus that God intendeth in them.

eIam. 1. 2, 3, 4.Count it matter of much ioy, my brethren, saith Iames, when you fall into many trials, or troubles. Since you know that the triall of your faith bringeth forth patience: And let patience hauehave her perfect worke, that you may be sound and entire. And fOmnipotens Deus quid nobis profuturum sit sciens, dolentium exaudire vocem saepe dissimulat, ut utilitatē augeat, dum per poenā vita penitius purgatur. Greg. mor. l. 14. c. 18. Vota differens cruciat, crucians purgat, ut ad percipiendum quod desiderant, ex dilatione melius convalescant. Idem ibid. l. 8. c. 17.for the furthering and consummating of this worke, doth God oftentimes thus withdraw himselfe, as it were, out of the way, and seemeth to keepe aloofe off, when he is yet neere at hand with vsus. He doth as the Physitian or Surgeon doth with his Patient, when he meeteth with a sore festred or full of dead flesh: Hee applieth some sharpe corrasiue to purge the wound, and to eat out the dead flesh, that would else hinder the cure. gQuomodo cùm medicus epithema molestum & ardens imposuit, aeger ubi medicamento cruciari ceperit, rogat medicum ut tollat emplastrum: Molestum est, inquit, mihi istud emplastrum; tollas, quaeso. Rogat ut tollat, & non tollit. Eg…, inquit, novi quem curo. Non mihi det qui aegrotat consilium. Opus est diu ibi sit, aliter enim nil proficiet. Aug. in Psal. 90. & in Psal. 98. & in Psal. 130. & in 1 Ioan. 6.Which being done, the Patient, it may be, impatient of paine, as soone as he feeleth the smart of it, crieth to hauehave it remoued. But he telleth him, No, it must stay there till it hauehave eaten to the quicke, and effected that throughly for which it is applied. And to this purpose hauing giuen charge to them that be about him, to see that nothing be stirred till hee come againe to him, withdraweth and retireth himselfe till it be full time to take it off againe. Meane while the Patient lying in paine, counteth eueryevery minute an houre till the Surgion come backe againe, and if he stay long, thinketh that sure he hath forgotten him, while he is taken vp with other Patients, or is otherwise imployed, and wil neuer in any time returne again to him: when as the Surgion, it may be, is all this while but in the very next roome to him, there by the houre-glasse, to that purpose set vp, attending but the time, till the plaister hauehave wrought that that it is to effect. And in the very selfe-same manner doth God deale oft with his dearest ones. Thus h2 Cor. 12. 7, 8, 9.Paul buffeted by Satan, (it was no small corrasiue and heart-sore, you may be well assured, that troubled so much so magnanimous a spirit as his was) was instant with God more than once or twice to be rid of that euill. But iNon est ablatum, quod volebat auferri, ut infirmitas illa sanaretur. Aug. in Ioan. 7. Ita Deus & denegans exaudit, & exaudiens denegat; tribuens aufert, non tribuens donat. Simō Cass…in Euāg. l. 5. c. 24.the answer he had from God was, that he must patiently abide it: hee should not want his grace that should enable him to vndergoe it. But it would be worse with him, if it were otherwise; he would be in much perill of being puffed vp with pride, if he were wholly freed from it. Yea thus DAVID, when Gods hand was somtime vponupon him, and he felt it harsh and heauy, he crieth earnestly vntounto God, to hauehave it remoued from him: kPsal. 39. 10.Take, saith he, thy plague away from mee; I am euen consumed with the stroke of thine hand. And he pleadeth with God, as the Patient would doe with the Physitian, when he is full of paine with that that is applied, he is sure that the plaister hath done enough by this time: lPsal. 119. 71, 67.It is good for me that I hauehave beene afflicted. This affliction surely hath done me much good, I am very much amended by it. For mPsal. 119. 67.Before Con…abo te, nō cum argento tamen, …. Nō agam summo iure tecum: quia si ab omni scoriâ, ut argentum, expurgandu… esses, totus disperires. Iun. ibid. foreign. Chrysost. in Psal. 7.I was afflicted I went astray; but since I hauehave beene thus troubled, I am growne more carefull of my courses; now I keepe thy commandements. But nNon se norat aegrotus; sed agrotū norat medicus. Aug. in Psal. 138. Inspecta vena quid intu… ageretur in …groto, medicus noverat, …grotus non noverat. Idem in Psal. 4….God saw that in DAVID, that he, it may be, saw not in himselfe. He saw much dead flesh, much corrupt matter behinde, that was yet to be eaten out, or it would be ready soone to breake forth into some outrage, as also afterward it did, when DAVID came to be free from that harsh course of cure, and hard and strict diet, that God had a long time before held him to.

True it is that oEsa…. 48. 10.God dealeth not with vsus in this kinde, as the Finer doth with his oare, who neuer linneth melting it, and passing it thorow the fire againe and againe, as long as any drossie matter remaineth mixt with it; or as those that boile broths or curious confections for sicke persons, that neuer leaue blowing and boiling so long as any scum at all ariseth on them. If he should so doe, we should neuer be any of vsus out of the furnace of affliction; euen the very best of vsus should be euer either in, or ouer the fire, alwaies burning or boiling as long as we liued. For so long as we liue here, we shall retaine some of this drosse still: *Eradicari siquidem aut extirpari penitus è cordibus nostris, dum hîc vivimu…, non potest. Bern. de temp. 45.nor will our scum be vtterly purged out of vsus, while we abide here. But yet, howsoeuer God doth not goe so exactly to work with vsus, (the crosse would sooner eat our hearts out of our bodies, than worke all spirituall filth and drosse out of our soules) yet he will hauehave that he doth in this kinde, worke to some purpose with vsus, he will not hauehave vsus come out of the fire as wee went in, hee will not endure wee should come off the fire as foule and as full of scum, as we were when he set vsus on. And that the crosse may hauehave this effect indeed on vsus, pNon deferit, etiamsi deserat. Aug. in Psal. 90.he doth in mercy to vsus, till it be done, withdraw himselfe from vsus, that his wonted manner of presence may not hinder the worke of it.Reason 6.

Sixtly, God dealeth thus oft with them, qAdzelum acce… dendum.to stir vp and kindle their zeale, to make them more feruent in praier, and in seeking vntounto him, and to take away that coldnes and remisnes that vsually groweth vponupon them, when they are free from such afflictions. Thus rIudg. 20. 21, 25, 26. Terga dederunt sceleratis ultores sceleris, & plures pau…ioribus. Bern. de consider. l. 2. Sed recurrunt ad Dominum, & Dominu… ad eos. Ibid.he neglected the Israelites, though fighting in a iust quarrell, and suffered them to fall before their brethren the Beniamites, maintaining a bad cause, til they fasted and praied more earnestly, and by a kind of holy and religious importunity wrested aid and assistance from God. Thus sMath. 15. 22, 23. foreign. Basil. Sel. homil. 19.he delaied & put off the poore woman of Canaan crying after him: hee would neither heare her, nor the Disciples making suit for her: he answered her at first with a tMatth. …5. 23. foreign. Basil. Sel. ibid.seeming kinde of sullen silence; then with a cutting answer, sharper than his former silence; uVers. 24.I am not sent, but to the lost sheepe of Israel: And, xVers. 26.It is not fit to take the childrens bread, and to cast it to foreign. Basil. ibid.Dogs. But yforeign. Basil. ibid. Beneficium distulit, ut desiderium accenderet. Stell. in Luc. 24. Si… ignis statu premitur ut crescat. Greg. m…r. l. 20. c. 15.those speeches were but as blasts of the belowes, not to blow out, but to blow vp the fire of her faith, and to make it so to blaze, as should astonish those that saw it. And zCant. 3. 1, 2, 3. & 5. 6. Dissimulatio est, non indignatio. Non est reversus spo…sus ad votum & v…em revocantis; ut desiderium crescat, ut probetur affectus, ut amoris negotium exerceatur. Bern in Cant. 75. Desiderium differtur ut proficiat, & tarditatis suae sinu nutritur ut crescat. Abscondit se sponsus cum queritur, ut non invent… ardentius quaeratur, & differtur quaerens spons… ne inveniat, ut tarditait sua capacior reddita, multiplicius quandoq… … quod querit. Greg. mor. l. 5. …. 3.it is a dissimulation, saith Bernard, not an indignation, a concealement of affection, no abatement of louelove, that Christ in the Cantieles ost with draweth and hideth himselfe from his dearely beloued, and is not found of her▪ nor returneth to her, so soone as shee calleth; it is but to exercise her louelove, to inflame her affection, to make her more eager in seeking vp and downe after him.

Hee doth as a father that hath a sonne at the Vniuersitie, who though hee vnderstand, by his Tutor or some other friends, of his wants, yet will not take notice of them, till from his sonne himselfe hee heare of them, Let him write; saith hee, himselfe for them; and it may be hee shall write twice too before he hauehave what he desireth; because hee will by such meanes hauehave him both to learne to know his dutie, and to exercise his pen also for his owne good: So our heauenly Father, though aMatth. 6. 32.he know well enough what wee hauehave need of, bMatth. 6. 30. Psal. 34. 9, 10.nor will hee suffer vsus to want ought that shall be needfull for vsus, yet cPhilip. 4. 6.he will hauehave our wants made knowne to him by suit▪ and supplication, ere he will …ake notice of them, yea he will make vsus sue long many times ere he fulfil our desires, because he will hauehave vsus to exercise his *Zech. 12. 10.Spirit of Prayer in vsus. Or as the Nurse, who perceiuing that the childe beginneth to neglect her, withdraweth her selfe aside, and keepeth some-while out of sight, yea and letteth the childe, it may be, crie a good ere she come againe to it, to make it grow more fond on her, when it hath beene afraid of losing her: So DAVID, when dPsal. 30. 6.in his prosperitie hee began to presume more than was meet on Gods fauour, and to grow somewhat retchlesse in that regard, as if God were now so firme to him, that he were sure neuer to lose him, nor to hauehave the effects and fruits of it euer withdrawne from him, albeit he were not altogether so carefull to vse all good meanes to retaine it, as formerly hee had beene. ePsal 30. 7, 8.Thou turnedst, saith hee, thy face from me: and then being sore troubled, he sought earnestly with strong cries and salt teares, to recouer and regain againe the sense of Gods fauour, which by his owne neglect he thus had lost. Or *D. Meriton Serm. on 1 Thess. 5. 17.as a Father, saith one, that holding an Apple in his hand, which the childe would faine hauehave, letteth him toile and tug at it, and with much adoe vnloose finger after finger, yea, and it may be, whine and crie heartily ere hee come by it: So doth God many times with vsus, to make vsus fforeign, Ro. 15. 30. Certatim oremu…. Aug. epist. 121. Ut misericordiam exigamus. Idē in Psal. 39.wrestle with him, and as gGen. 32. 24, 25, 26. Hosh. 12. 3, 4. Talibus Iacob funiculis Angelum detinebat, qualibus Moses resticulis Dominum ligaverat, Ex…. 32. 10, 11. Simon Cass. in Euang. l. 14.Iacob sometime by intention and eagernesse of prayer wring fauour away from him; and as hLuk. 18. 4, 5, 7.the poore Widow did by the vniust Iudge, euen by our importunitie ouercome him. Or as iLuk. 24. 28, 29. Finxit se longius ire, cùm mallet cum discipulis remanere. Bern. de grad. humil. Longius iturum finxit, ut in desiderium sui discipuli magis excitarentur. Stella in Luc.our Sauiour Christ dealt with the … Disciples, when he made as though he would goe further, though he meant not to leaue them, to make them the more instant on him, to presse him to stay with them: So doth 9Idcirco recedit, ut aevidius requiratur. Bern. in Cant. 17.God many times make as though hee were leauing, or had left vsus, to incite vsus to a more feruent and instant vsage of all holy meanes, whereby wee may either keepe his fauour with vsus, while wee yet hauehave it, or fetch it againe when it is gone.

Seuenthly, God doth thus kAd gratiam commendandam. Cùm d…t tardius, commendat dona, non negat. Aug. de verb. Dom. 5. Scitè eni… Senec. de benef. l. 1. c. 11. Lenociniu… est muneri antecedens metus. Et, Metus muneri p…dus imponit.to commend to vsus Reason 7.his merciemercy, to teach vsus to make more account of his fauour, when by the want of it wee hauehave felt what a bitter thing it is to be without it, and after long misse of it, come to re-enioy it againe. *foreign. Greg. Naz. …t. 6.The present euill is euer the greatest: and the fit we felt last seemeth vsually the sharpest. But the present good is deemed commonly the least; and †Malunt homines semper quae reliqueriant. Sen. ep. 1…5. Aliena nabis, nostra plus … placent. P. Syr. -majorque videtur Et … vicina …eges. …uven. …at. 14.that that goeth from vsus better, than that that abideth by vsus: and albeit “foreign. Plut. consol. ad uxor. foreign. Idem de tranq.the departure of ought from vsus, make it neuer a whit the better, yet any good thing seemeth better when it is going, and better yet when it is gone, than it did while either there was yet no feare of losing it, or it had not yet left vsus. lDesideria in m… nibus constituta nescimus. Ennod. lib. 7. epist. 17. Plus sensimus qu…d habuimus, postquam habere …. Hieree…. Consol. Pām. Tunc denique omnes nostra intelligimus bona; Quum quae in potestate habuimus, ea amisimus. Plaut. Capt. 1. 2. Discordi… fit cha…ior concordia. Nesciunt homines quantum boni fraternit… habeat, qui nunquam dissederunt. Quintil. declam. 321. Amicitiae, consuetudines, vicinitates q…id habeant v…luptatis, carendo magis intelligimus quàm …ruendo. Cit. post redit.We neuer vnderstand the worth of any thing so well, as by the want of it. *Homines neque proxim… assita, neque longulè dissita cernimus. Apul. apol. foreign. Basil. Caes. hom. 5.The eie cannot so well iudge of an obiect, if it be …ited too neere it; nor †foreign. Plut. de iracund.if it be continually without any intermission in the eye. mforeign. Arist. rhetor. lib. 2. foreign. Synes. epist. 139.The continued and continuall enioyment of the best things, yea and of those that best please vsus, though not alwaies the best indeed, without intermission or enter-change, is wont to breed, if not a surfe…, yet a glut and a satietie, that so dulleth the soules appetite, that it maketh vsus as lesse apprehensiue of, so nforeign. Basil. Caes. homil. 1. Ign…ratur bonorum sapor in prosperis. Vix dignoseitur quaeli… benefici… dum …netur. Post migrationem cup…ta dulcesc…nt. Ennod. lib. 7. epist. 17. Voluptates commendat rarior …. Iuven. sat. 11.lesse affected with the benefit that we enioy in them. oQuod boni habeat sanitas, languor ostendit. Hieron. consol. Pām.Health is neuer knowne what a jewell it is, till by sicknesse wee hauehave beene some time depriued of it. Not doe Gods children know so wel, what a blessing they hauehave of the sense of Gods fauour, till by some spirituall desertion they hauehave been a while berest of it. But as pforeign. Heracht. apud S…ob. c. 3. Gratior est reddita quàm retenta sanitas. Et fessum quies plurimum juvat.health is better esteemed, when wee hauehave beene sicke some time: and q- post frigora dulcior ignis. Mantua… eclog. 1.fire is more comfortable when wee hauehave beene a while in the cold: and rforeign. Basil. …aes. …. … ▪ Pro. 27. 7. Hinc A…xerxes cum post inediā diutu… in ficus … panē … … deace… incidisset, foreign. Plut. apoph. Et S…crates … co…dîmentū fame, potionis silim dixit. Cic. de fin. l. 2.our meat is then best relished, when we hauehave fasted longer than ordinary: and rest is most delightfull, when we hauehave beene tolled and are tired: and sforeign. Herodian. Per…in. Acri…s sunt morsus intermissae libertatis quàm retenta. Cic. offic. l. 2.libertie is more welcome when we hauehave beene some time restrained of it, than when without interruption we hauehave constantly retained it: So Gods fauourable aspect is much more acceptable and comfortable, when tforeign. Greg. Naz. de Cypr. P…st t…pestatem … est serenitas. … i… dec…am. 321. Et dulcior lux est, quod aliquand… desinit, quam si jugiter permaneret. Ennod. …. 5. op. 11. foreign. Plut. erotic.the sun-shine of his fauour beginneth to breake forth againe, after some black and bitter tempests and stormes of his wrath; especially when they hauehave been of long continuance, and much paines hath beene taken for the recouery of it againe.

uDesiderat a magi… grata. Diu desiderata dulcius obti…entur. Aug. de verb. Dom. 5.Things long looked for are most welcome, when they come at the last: And that is commonly sweetest, that is gotten with most sweat. *1 Sam. 1. 2, 11, 26, 27, 28.Samuel was the dearer to Anna, because shee had stayed long for him, and by earnest suit at length obtained him, when shee was almost out of hope of him. So was xLuk. 1. 7, 13, 14.Iohn Baptist to his Parents, who had long sought him of God, and were vouchsafed him in their latter yeeres. yGen. 35. 18. & 44. 20, 30.Iacob loued Beniamin, because he paid so deare for him; he bought himforeign. Eustath. in Iliad. …. foreign. Hesych. foreign. Suid. & Plut. de amic. with the life of his beloued Rachel that died of him: and both him and zGen. 37. 3.Ioseph, because he had them in his old age; yea so full of ioy was Iacob, when he saw Ioseph againe, whom he had long wanted, and had cleane giuen ouer for gone, that †Genes. 46. 30.he desired not to liue a day longer.

It is a good note of Ambroses, from a2 Cor. 1. 11.a speech of the Apostles, that bAmat Deus, ut pro uno rogent multi. Ambr. de poenit. l. 2 c. 10.God loueth to hauehave many sue to him for one, that he may hauehave thankes againe of the more. So cDare vult; & quod dare vult differt, ut amplius desideres dilatum; ut desideranti det, ne vileseat quod dat. Aug. de verb. Dom. 29. Seruat tibi Deus quod non vult citò dare, ut & tu discas magna magnè desiderare. Idem ibid. 5. Solent enim protracta desideria amplius crescere. Gilbert. in Cant. 6.God loueth to hauehave his blessings and fauours begged long ere he part with them, that we may learne the better to value them, and to make more account of them, and to be more thankfull to him for them, when we hauehave them. For when they come vnsued for, we are wont to make the lesse of them. dMerx ultronea putet. Hieron. ad Demetr. & in quaest. Hebr. Citò data vilescunt. Aug. de verb. Dom. 5.Profered ware, for the most part, is but slightly esteemed of. Wee make light of the first and the latter raine, of the constant course of the Sunne, and the seasons of the yeere, though on these things dependeth the stay and the staffe of our life, because they come commonly in a constant and an ordinary course: But when a little dash of raine commeth after fasting and praier vponupon a long drought, wee are vsually as more affected with it, so more thankfull to God for it, than for all the sweet dewes or the plentifull showres that *Iob 38. 37.Gods flagons shed downe vponupon vsus the whole yeere before. Oh, saith DAVID, when he had some space of time found a restraint of Gods fauour, that before he had enioyed, now if God would vouchsafe to looke louingly vponupon him, and restore him the wonted sight and sense of his fauour againe, ePsal. 51. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.he would teach sinners Gods wayes, and his mouth should set forth Gods praise; and he would offer vp to God any thing, that he should desire and would accept of. And for this cause, no doubt, among others, doth God make vsus many times sue long for it, and cry with DAVID, How long, Lord? before it doe come; to make it more welcome to vsus, and vsus more thankfull for it when it doth come.

Lastly, he doth so, fAd cautelam …criorem.to make vsus the more carefull Reason 8.to keepe his fauour, and the sense of it, when we hauehave it, and the more warie to shunne and auoid all such courses, whereby wee may either lose it or hazard the losse of it: “Quàm cara sint, ubi post carendo intelligunt; Quam que attinendi magni dominatus soent. Terent. apud Cicer. de Orat. perf.when wee shall finde by wofull experience, that being once gone, it is not vsually so easily recalled or recouered.

gforeign. Greg. Naz. contr. Eunom. 2. Diligentius custoditur, quod difficulter acquiritur. Quod venit ex facili, faciles segnesque tenemus; Quod spe quodque metu torsit, habere juvat. Ovid. amor.That that is hardly earned, is wont to be more carefully kept. A man will not in haste or vnaduisedly spend his penny, that hee hath laboured hard and taken much paines for; especially if he know not how to get so much againe, but with the like difficultie when that is gone: But lightly come, we say, and lightly gone; young Gallants that neuer knew what the getting of money meant, are readie when they come to it, to let all flie abroad, as if they could hauehave it againe with a wish or a word, when they would. If God, when (for iust causes best knowne to himselfe, and for the most part for euill desert and bad demeanure on our part) he hath turned his face away from vsus, and carried himselfe strangely toward vsus, hee should by and by sodainly vponupon the first and least bend of our hamme, or formall sob, or superficiall sigh, or a forced teare or twaine, or some faint and heartlesse prayer turne it againe toward vsus, and looke kindly againe on vsus; h- …ocet indulgentia nobis. Ovid. amor. 1. 19.it is to be feared that euen the best of vsus would be ouer-much carelesse of retaining it when we had it. But now when wee shall finde by wofull and dreadfull experience in the bitternesse of our spirits, that Gods face being once clouded toward vsus, or turned from vsus, it must, or may at least cost vsus many a deepe sigh, and a salt teare, long looking, and much longing, euen *Psal. 119. 81; 82, 123.till our heart faint, and our eyes faile, much anguish of minde and perplexitie of spirit, much striuing and strugling with our owne corruption and weaknesse, and much straining and wrestling by earnest suit and supplication, by fasting and instancie of prayer, ere we can come to preuaile so farre with God, as to hauehave those thicke clouds of his wrath dispelled, and that louing and amiable aspect of his vouchsafed vsus againe; this cannot but make vsus (if we be not desperately retchlesse) exceeding carefull of all good courses that may keepe and retaine it with vsus, when we hauehave it, and no lesse fearefull of ought that may againe estrange it away from vsus. The Spouse in the Canticles, when after long search, with much adoe, shee had at length lighted on her beloued, iCant. 5. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. & 3. 1, 2, 3.whom by her neglect of him, shee had vnaduisedly giuen occasion to withdraw himselfe from her: kCant. 3. 4. Tenui, nec dimittam eum.I tooke hold on him, saith shee, and I will not let him goe againe. And, lPsal. 80. 18, 19. Irae interveniunt, redeunt rursum in gratiam. Verùmirae si que fortè eveniunt hujusmodi inter eos, rursum ubi reventum in gratiam est, Bis tanto amici sunt inter se quàm prius. Plaut. Amph. 3. 2.Turne away from thy wrath, say the people of God to God in the Psalme, and Let thy face shine forth once againe on vsus: and then will we neuer goe backe from thee againe, nor giuegive thee the like cause to turne thy face againe from vsus.

And thus you see both in what sense God is said to hide his face from his, and for a long time oft (as both to themselues and to others seemeth) to forget them; as also for what causes he is wont so to doe.

Now hence let vsus learne then:Vses 8.

First, That we take heed how we censure menVse 1. as forth of Gods fauour, in regard of any outward afflictions, yea or inward desertions, though they be great and grieuous, long and tedious, sticking close by them without remouall or amendment, producing in them many hideous and fearefull effects, so that in the eyes of the world, as well themselues as others, God may seeme to hauehave cast them off vtterly, and to hauehave forgotten them for euer. It hath been the state ofAmarum poculum prius bibit medicus, ne bibere timeret aegrotus. Aug. in Psal. 98. & in Psal. 48. & in Ioan. 3. & homil. 34. Gods best Saints, of his dearest Children, of his faithfullest Seruants, yea of the only Sonne himselfe, mDan. 4. 24. Sanctus Sanctorum.the Saint of Saints, when he bare the burden of our sinnes. So that, as DAVID speaketh, nPsal. 73. 15.if we should so deeme, if we should goe by this rule, and thereby iudge of mens estates, we should foreign. Origen. apud Euseb. histor. l. 6. c. 4. Secunda intinctura. Tertull. de patient. Martyrium enim qui tulit, sanguine suo baptizatur. Cyprian. ep. 2.condemne, not Gods only Sonne only, which oEsai. 53. 4.some sometime did, as forth of Gods fauour, but the whole progenie of Gods children, the whole race of the righteous, whose Lot and Portion it hath oft beene to be in this wofull condition, and pMath. 20. 22, 23.to drinke of this bitter cup, that qIohn 18. 11.Christ their head began to them; and to passe r1 Petr. 4. 10.this sharpe triall, this fiery and bloudie sMatth. 22. 23.baptisme, that tLuk. 12. 50.their Sauiour past before them.Et quomodo humana temeritas reprehendere audet, quod comprehendere non va…et? Bern. de consid. l. 2.

If we cannot see how such courses may stand with Gods louelove: we must remember that uRom. 11. 33.Gods waies, and his workes, and dealings with his, are wonderfull and vnsearchable, far aboue our reach,Pie ergò ac modestè ex Epicteti sententia Gell. noct. Attic. l. 2. c. 18. Non esse omnes Deo exosos, qui in hac … cum aerumnarū var … luctantur; sed esse arcanas caussas, ad quas paucor… potuit pervenire curiositas. and such as we are not able to comprehend. For xEsai. 55. 8, 9.my waies, saith he, are not as your waies, nor my thoughts as your thoughts. But looke how farre the heauen is higher than the earth, so far are my waies aboue your waies, and my thoughts aboue your thoughts.

And yet may we in some sort euen by humane courses conceiue, how such things as these are, may well stand euen with the greatest louelove. For yPa… ani…um, mater… affectum. Al…ter patres, …ter matres indulgent. Illi excitari …ubent liberos, ad studia obe…nda maturè, feriat… quoque diebus non patiuntur esse ociosos, & sudorem illis, & interdum lachryma… excutiunt. At matres fovere in sinu, continere in umbrâ volunt, nunquā flere, nunquam tristari, nunquam laborare. Patrium habet Deus adversus bonos viros animum, & illos fortiter amat. Sen. de provid. c. 2.God, as the Heathen man well obserueth, hath as well a fatherly discretion, as a motherly affection. His louelove is not a foolish and an vndiscreet louelove, such as many fond mothers hauehave, but a wise, a discreet, a zSapiens vir judicio conjugem (sed & liberos) amabit, non affectu. Hieron. advers. I…vin. lib. 1. q. 1.iudicious louelove, such as wise and prudent parents hauehave. He so loueth his children, as he hath a care of their good; and disposeth and administreth all things so as may be for it. A fond mother would hauehave her sonne alwaies by her good will at home with her, and neuer out of her sight; would hauehave him crossed in nothing, but let him hauehave his will in eueryevery thing, though it be to his owne euill. But the wise parent driueth him out at doores, sendeth him forth to schoole, bindeth him apprentice, it may be, or boordeth him abroad, where hee seeth him but seldome, breaketh him oft of his will, frowneth on him and correcteth him when he doth otherwise than well; and yet aQuis magis amat? pater an mater? mater ardentius, pater constantius. …erson modo viv. conjug. Illa tenerius, ille fortius & virilius. Miratis tu, si Deus ille bonorum amantissimus, quos optimos esse atque excellentiss…nos vult, … illis, cu… qua exerceantur, assignat? Sen. de prov. cap. 2.loueth he him no lesse than the fond mother doth, yea bHebr. 12. 6. Apoc. 3. 19. Dilectione, non odio flagellamur. A…g. epist. 48. Non studio nocendi, sed desiderio sanandi. Ibid. Non erudit pater nisi quem amat, non corripit nisi quem diligit. Hieron. ad Castrut. Molestus est & …edicus furenti p…renetica, & pater filio indiscipl…nato, ille ligando, ille c…dendo, sed uterque diligendo. Aug. epist. 50. Filius enim castigatione dignus, plus amatur, si saepius castigatur. A…br. serm. 6.he doth all that he doth in this kinde out of louelove.

Againe, further it may stand well with such a fathers louelove, not to correct his child only for his faults, when he doth amisse, but, when some disease shall require it, cforeign. Chrysoft. in Psal. 148. Medicum etiam urentem & secantem diligim'. Imò etiam ad urendum secandúmque conducim'.to hire the Surgion to cut him, and to leaue him fast bound in his hands, and either to withdraw himselfe, while the thing is a doing, or if he be by, to refuse to vnbinde him, or to doe ought for him, when being in feare or in paine he shall cry and call vponupon him to stay the Surgions hand, or to helpe to vntie him. dforeign. Dion: Chrysost. …rat. 78.Nor would the Surgion himselfe, were he to cure or cut his owne childe, vse a blunter launcet in the cutting of him, or not cut him so much, or so deepe, the disease requiring it, as he would doe with a meere stranger.

And why may it not stand then with the louelove of God to deale thus harshly and sharply with his dearest children, when either their outward euill courses, or their inward corruptions, by way either of correction, or of cure, (and yet what is eforeign. Arist…t. ethic. lib. 2. cap. 3. foreign. Idem rhetor. lib. 1. cap. 14. Et Aeneas Gaz. de animae immort.correction it selfe but a kinde of cure?) shall require it? Hee may louelove them no lesse, though he hide himselfe from them, than the nurse, or the mother doth her childe, when shee hideth her selfe a while from it, and yet to saue her owne life, would be full loth to lose or to leaue it. Not to adde, that the courses that God vseth in this kinde, are oft-times fforeign. Simplic. in Epictet.as well exercises for those that bee in health and good plight for the present, as Physicke for those that be crasie and sicke, surprised with some deadly or dangerous disease.

Secondly, This may be a warning to GodsVse 2. children, to take heed how they take libertie to sinne vponupon assurance of Gods fauour, and presumption of his goodnesse and fatherly louing kindnesse. For though God doe louelove vsus, yet he doateth not on vsus. gPsal. 89. 30, 31, 32, 34. & 99. 8.If we carry our selues saucily or stubbornly towards him, he will not beare it; if we take bad courses, he will not endure it. He will not suffer vsus through his forbearance of vsus to be hardened in euill: but by some meanes or other he wil be sure to bring vsus home againe, if at least we belong to him, and to his election of louelove. And though he cast vsus not off vtterly, though he damne vsus not eternally; yet he may so seeme to forget vsus, so estrange himselfe from vsus, so withdraw and with-hold from vsus the light of his countenance, that the bright beames of his fauour may neuer shine forth again on vsus, as formerly they hauehave done, so long as wee liue, and so may we come to hauehave not a purgatorie, but a very hell in our soules while wee liue here; hEsai. 38. 15.goe drooping and dwindling, distressed, distracted and de…ected all our life long, and be in little better case for the time than the reprobate oft are, yea than the very deuils and damned soules in hell themselues. Though we escape with our liues, yet the cure may be so costly, and the course of Physicke and Surgery that God shall take with vsus, may be so harsh and vnpleasant, may put vsus to those bitter pangs, and vnsupportable paines, that it may make vsus curse the day that euer wee did wittingly and willingly that that might prouoke such a wrath, or require such a cure, and wish a thousand and a thousand times that we had beene, not fast asleepe in our beds, but dead and buried in our graues when wee did it.

It is a vaine thing therefore for any man to presume so, as to say or thinke, God will neuer sure deale so roughly with me, though I cary my selfe otherwise then I ought towards him. Yea it is most fearefull and dangerous vponupon such impious imaginations to presume to displease & prouoke him to wrath. For to omit that iAn quia Deu… bonus est, ideò tu malus? Ambr. de poenit. lib. 2. cap. 11. Pravi cordis est, ideò malum esse, quia Deus bonus est. Bern. in Cant.it is a note of a most vngracious disposition for a man therefore to be euil, because God is good; and to take libertie to himselfe to wrong God, because God loueth him. Art thou dearer to God than DAVID was? Art thou deeper in Gods bookes, or higher in his fauour than he? Yet how sharply God dealt with him; how roughly, yea how rigorously (as might seeme to fleshly reason) he handled him, hauing prouoked him to wrath, and incurred his displeasure, may appeare by those kPsal. 32. 3, 4. & 38. 2 - 8. & 51. 3, 8, &c.Psalmes wherein at large he complaineth of it. And how long it was in these cases ere he could recouer his former estate of inward comfort and sense of grace with God againe, appeareth likewise by his earnest suit, so oft and so instantly commenced for it, both here and lPsal. 51. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, &c.else-where.

Thirdly, The consideration hereof should instructVse 3. vsus, not to be vtterly dismaid and discouraged, if either wee shall finde and feele our owne estate, or shall see and obserue the state of Gods Church and children to be such as DAVIDS was at this present, and all Israels at other times.

That wee be not daunted and disheartned, though wee meet with many afflictions and distractions, as well m2 Cor. 7. 5.troubles without as terrors within, and shall see no signe of Gods assistance, but all shew rather of the contrary, the fruits of Gods fauour and louelove being all withdrawne and with-held from vsus, and God seeming to carry himselfe not as a friend, but nIob 13. 24.as a … towards vsus, writing bitter things against vsus, and suffering fearefull things to befall vsus. But learne, as the Prophet Esay speaketh, oEsai. 50. 10.when we sit in darknes, and hauehave no light, when we can finde no light of ioy without, nor sparke of comfort within, yet euen then to trust in the name of the Lord, and to stay our selues vponupon our God. We must remember that, as the Apostle saith, p2 Cor. 5. 7.We walke by faith, and not by sight: So qHabbak 2. 4. Rom. 1. 17. Gal. 3. 11. Hebr. 10. 38.we liue by faith, and not by senseFaith g…eth not by feeling; nay it goeth oft against feeling. And this is the very pitch and height of faith, as for a man with Abraham, rRom. 4. 18. foreign. Quod …eractitus foreign, apud Clem. protrept. & Theodor. de Grae…ur. l. 1.aboue hope to beleeue vnderunder hope, so to beleeue all contrary to that that wee see and feele, to beleeue that. God then loueth vsus, is a kind Father, and sIob 13. 15, 16.wil be a sure Sauiour vntounto vsus, when we feele his hand heauy on vsus, and hee seemeth euen bent to destroy vsus.

tRom. 8. 24.We are saued by hope, saith the Apostle; but hope that i… see…e is no hope. And so uEphes. 2. 8.we are sa…ed by faith; and though this xFides, vides. Iohn 8. 56. 2 Cor. 4. 18. Hebr. 11. 27.faith be a kinde of spirituall sight, and that surer and certainer than bodily sight; and yFides non est quod creditur, sed quâ creditur, & illud quod creditur illâ co…spicitur. Aug. de Trinit. l. 14. c. 9. Habet enim fides oculos suos, quibus & ea videt, quae nondum videt, quibus videt tamen, se nondum videre que credit. Aug. ep. 222. Et cum propterea credere j…bemur, quia id quod credere j…bemur, videre non possumus, ipsam tamen fidem quand… inest in nobis, videmus in nobis, quia & rerum absentium praesens est sides, & rerum que foris sunt, intus est sides, & rerum quae non videntur, videtur sides. Idem de Tri… l. 13. c. 1.those things that are not seene by it, are *Melius videntur quae non videntur, quam quae videntur. Ambros. nomine de sacram. l. 1. c. 2.better seene, than those things that are seene; yet zEnervis est & debilu, sed nec sides dicenda qu… credit quod videt. Aug. de peccat. merit. lib. 2. c. 31. Quod videtur, s…ri potuis quàm credi dicitur. Greg. in Euang. 32.the faith (to speake properly) that is seene is no faith: for aHebr. 11. 1.Faith is the euidence of things vnseene? For a man therefore to beleeue that he is in grace with God, when he hath pregnant proofes of Gods fauour, it is a matter of no mastery. But b1 Pet. 1. 8.to beleeue then when he seeth not, yea to beleeue it then when he seeth and feeleth all to the contrary in the apprehension of carnall reason, this is the praise and commendation of faith indeed.

Wee must consider what is or should be the ground and stay of our faith: not these outward props, which we are wont so much to leane on and to trust to, *foreign. Chrysost. in Matth. hom. 82.not our owne sight or sense, that oft faileth and deludeth vsus, but Gods word and his truth, and the stabilitie of his promise, which cMatth. 5. 18.though heauen and earth should passe away, and all things should returne to their first Chaos againe, yet shall dIosh. 23. 14.neuer in ought faile any of those that depend vponupon it. ePsal. 119. 49, 50.Remember thy word, saith. DAVID, vntounto thy seruant, wherein thou hast made me to put my trust: That is my comfort in my trouble; for thy word putteth life into mee. And, fPsal. 119. 114.Thou art my shelter and my shield; and my trust is in thy word. And learne we herein to imitate the earth that we tread on. Though being a massie body, it hangeth in the middest of the aire, enuironed with the heauens, and yet keepeth his place steedily, and neuer stirreth an inch from it, hauing no props or shores to vphold it, no beames or barres to fasten it, nothing to stay or establish it, but the bare word of God alone. For gHebr. 1. 3.by his powerfull word, saith the Apostle, hee vpholdeth all things. And, Thy word, saith the *Psal. 119. 89, 90, 91.Psalmist, O Lord, abideth for euer. And, Thy foreign; Basil. hexam. 1. foreign. Greg. Naz. ad Eunom. 2. Quid est quod totā terrae molem su…inet? & universus orbis cui innititur? si est aliquid quod sustineat celera, ipsū à quo sustinetur? non invenitur nisi virtutis verbum o… portans. Bern. in Psal. 90.truth is from age to age: thou hast laid the foundation of the earth, and it standeth still. It abideth by it to this day by vertue of thine ordinance. And in like manner must we learne to depend vponupon the bare word of God, when all other props and stayes shall be pulled away from vsus: to trust him vponupon his bare promise without pledge or pawne. Else weedeale with him no otherwise than any Vsurer will with the veriest begger or banckrout that is, when he commeth to borrow money of him. Though he dare not trust him on his word; nor on his bond neither (it is nought worth; nothing better than his word;) yet on his pawne or his pledge he dare trust either the poorest or the vnfaith fullest man that is. But as Augustine sai… well, That hMeretricius amor, plus dona dantis quàm amantis affectum diligere. August. meditat. c. 5. annulū magis quàm sponsum amare.it is but a… h…lotrie louelove for a woman to louelove the gift more than the giuer; and so to lone the giuer no longer than hee giueth: So it is but an harlotrit faith for a man to trust Gods pledge or pawne more than God himselfe, and so to trust him no further than he seeth or feeleth what he doth. Yea thetruth is, that in these cases, when we dare trust God no further, …orrely on him any longer than we hauehave so me pledga or pawne of his prouidence, we must not him, but we trust his pledge, iCùm rogo te nummos fine pignore, Non babeo, inquis: Idem si pro me spondet agellus, habes. Quod mibi non credis veteri fido que sodali, Credit co…itulis arboribusque me…. Mart…l. pag. 25. lib. 12.as hee trusteth not the poore man, but trusteth only his pawne, that dare not lend him ought but vponupon his pawne. And hereby may we try and examine the sincerity and the soundnesse of our faith, what it is indeed that we rely vponupon, what it is that we trust to: If we can say, as DAVID here afterward in the shutting vp of the Psalme, That kPsal. 13. 5.we then trust in Gods mercy, and expect safetie from him, euen when hee seemeth to hauehave forgotten vsus, and to hauehave hidden his face from vsus; if we can then l1 Sam. 30. 6.comfort our selues in the Lord our God, when all other aids and comforts hauehave taken their leaue of vsus. It is a feeble faith that cannot stand without stilts, a lame faith that cannot goe without crutches. Hereby will appeare whether a mans stilts beare him vp or no, if hee be able to stand, when they are taken away from him: if he can, it is a signe he rested not on them, though he made vse of them; if hee cannot, it were they, not his legs that vpheld him. And hereby may it appeare what our faith and confidence is founded on, whether on Gods word or his pledge, his pawne or his promise: If when the pledge or the pawne is gone, yet our faith abideth stil firme, it is a signe that it was fixed on God himselfe, and not on it: But if when it is gone, our faith falleth to the ground, it is a signe that our faith was wholly founded on it, not on God or Gods word, which abiding still firme, our faith were it thereon founded would continue stedfast with it. For mPsal. 125. 1.Those that trust in the Lord, saith the Psalmist, are as Mount Sion, that standeth fast, and neuer stirreth. And this is that that we should by all meanes labour and striue vntounto, that our faith may n2 Chron. 14. 11. & 16. 8.rest and rely on God himselfe, and his infallible and vnfaileable Psal. 18. 18.word of promise, not vponupon the outwardforeign pledges and pawnes of his prouidence, nor on the ordinary effects and fruits of his fauour, that so when these shal be withdrawne, yea and withheld long, it may be, from vsus, so that God may oPsal. 27. 9.in anger seeme to hauehave hid his fare from vsus, and to hauehave forgotten vsus, which, as we see, hath beene o…t-times the state and condition of Gods children, yet wee may not be disheartened, but see *Psal. 112. 4.light euen in darknesse, and be able “foreign. Theophyl. epist. 30.to discerne the sweet sunne-shine of Gods fauour euen thorow the thickest clouds of his fiercest wrath.

So likewise for the Church of God, when we shall see it either in generall, or in some principal parts of it, so left vntounto the fury and rage of her malitions and mischieueus-minded Aduersaries, that God seemeth not to regard it, or what becommeth of it, but euen suffereth them to hauehave their owne will vponupon it; in so much, that as Gregory Nazianzen saith of his time, pforeign. Greg. Naz. ad Nectar.Gods former prouidence and care of keeping his Church may seeme vtterly to faile, and that hee hath ceased and giuen ouer to doe for it in these daies as hee had wont to doe in former times: yea when we shall see it left in such plight, not for a short space only, but for so long a time together (her enemies might and malice qPsal. 74. 23.daily growing more and more, and her meanes on the other side daily more and more failing, and her might and power daily more and more impaired and impouerished,) that God may seeme cleane to hauehave forgotten her, and to thinke no more of her, but euen rPsal. 73. 1. & 77. 7, 8, 9.to hauehave cast her off for euer: yet sforeign. Menand. foreign. Ap…llodor.sQui …il … sperare, desperet nihil. Sen. Med. 2. 1. Magnae indolis signum est, sperare se…per. F…. hist. l. 4. c. 8.must we not despaire euen then of her preseruation, and of the raising of her vp againe. But as Iehoshaphat in his straights, t2. C…n. 10. 12. Psal. 25. 15.hauehave the eyes of our faith fixed vponupon God, and his word: who hath promised (and uPsal. 111. 7, 8.his promise shall neuer faile, or proue false) xIosh. 1. 9. Hebr. 13. 5. Psal. 94. 14. 1 Sam. 12. 22.neuer to leane or forsake his, though for a time yIudg. 6. 13.he may seeme so to doe. And wee must withall remember that this is no new matter, but the same that oft-times hath befallen the Church of God formerly. That mans extremitie is Gods opportunitie. zPsal. 119. 126.It is now time for thee, saith DAVID, Lord, to put to thy hand, when men hauehave euen destroyed thy Law. So then is Gods time to helpe his Church, when it seemeth readie to be destroyed and euen vtterly swallowed vp for euer. Then is the fittest time for aGen. 22. 10, 11.the Angell to call to Abraham to stay his hand, when the knife is euen at Isaaks throat, and he giuen vp now for bHebr. 11. 19.dead. And then is the seasonablest time for God to set in foot for the rescuing of his Church and children, and the deliuerance of his chosen ones, cPsal. 37. 12, 13, 14, 15.when the enemies dagger is at their very heart, and they seeme now giuen vp for gone. As dforeign. Ex Iosephi antiq. l. 18. Euseb. hist. eccles. l. 2. c. 5.Philo sometime told his people, That he was verily perswaded that God would now doe some thing for them, because Caius was so earnestly bent against them; yea that then Gods helpe is nearest, when mans is furthest off. As it is commonly said, eUbi desinit Philosophus, ibi incipit Medicus.Where the Philosopher endeth, there the Physitian beginneth; and fUbi desinit medicus, ibi incipit Theologu….where the Physitian endeth, there the Diuine beginneth: So gUbi desinit humanum, ibi incipit divinum auxilium.where mans aid endeth, there Gods aid beginneth. Deliuerance is oft nearest, when destruction seemeth surest. It is neuer fitter time for God to put to his helping hand, than when all humane helpes, that are wont to be as vailes and curtaines drawn betweene our eye and Gods hand, doe vtterly faile: hEsai. 59. 14-18.When iudgement, saith the Prophet, was turned backe, and Iustice stood aloofe off, and Truth was fallen in the streets, and Equitte could not enter, and all true dealing failed; and iNon potest esse salvus, qui non vult esse malus. Salv. de provid. l. 5.by refraining from euill men made themselues but a prey to the euill: and the Lord saw it, and wondred that no man would stand vp or put forth himselfe to stand for the truth: Then did he himselfe put in to saue by his owne arme, and by his iustice to support those that were readie to sinke. Then put he on Iudgement as a Corslet, and Saluation as an Helmet; and Vengeance as a …, and Wrath as a Cloake: to repay the furie of his aduersaries, and to recompeno… his enemies. Then, saith the Prophet, God did thus: and why not till then? Surely (to omit all other ends) to get himselfe the more glory. kEsai. 59. 19.That they might feare the Name of the Lord from the West, and his glorie from the Sunne-rising; when with a blast of his breath, hee should suddenly turne the Tide againe, and the Spirit of the Lord should driue back, yea and cary away the enemie, that brake in like a fl…d, had surrounded a great part, and was like to ouer-flow and ouer-whelme all. That lPsal. 76. 10. 6.ma…s furie, as the Psalmist speaketh, might turne to Gods glory, when by his bare rebuke with a word of his mouth, both horse and chariot are cast into a dead sleepe, and *Psal. 68. 30. Increpa catervam armidiferam: i. sagittis armatam, ut Iun. eoetum hastatum, post D. Kimchi Leo Iud. lancearios vel jaculat… res. Calvin▪the troopes of archers are vtterly discomfited, and the remnant of their rage is contrary to expectation restrained. That mPsal. 46. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10he may be knowne and magnified for a mightie God, and a powerfull Protector; when, though the Nations rage, and the kingdomes are in such a commotion, that the earth seemeth to shake withall, and the very mountaines to be remoued, and swallowed vp in the sea; yet he suddenly stilleth all; breaketh their bowes, knappeth their speares a sunder, and burneth vp their chariots, and by a generall desolation, and destruction of his enemies, setleth such peace the whole world ouer, (for the behoofe of his Church, and the freer passage of his truth) as was nCuncta at que continua totius generi… humani aut pax fuit aut pactio. Flor. hist. lib. 4. cap. 12.in Augustus time, when oEsai. 9. 6.the Prince of Peace came into the world.

Fourthly, Let vsus learne in these cases to examineVse 4. our selues where wee finde such things to befall vsus, whether we hauehave not beene or growne carelesse in endeuouring to retaine the fauour of God with vsus, and to maintaine the worke of his Spirit in vsus: and striue therein to be more feruent, wherein formerly wee hauehave beene slacke. For that is one cause why God is wont so to estrange himselfe from his children, to fetch them home to him, that are too pIerem. 2. 31. Nihil est in nobis corde fugacius, quod à nobis (à Deo etiam) toties recedit, quoties per pravas cogitationes defluit. Greg. pastor. cur. part. 3. … ▪ …. …. 15.prone to stray from him, when he dealeth kindly with them; and to make them more earnest and feruent in those things, that they had waxed remisse and retchlesse in before, when they were free from such afflictions; that as qforeign. Greg. Naz. orat. 31. foreign. Chrys. contra Anomaeos 5. Humana mens, aquae more, & circumclusa ad superiora colligitur, quia illud repetit unde descendit; & relaxata deperitqula se per insima inutiliter spargit. Greg. ubi sup.water pent vp in a pipe, shooteth vp higher than it would otherwise, had it scope and space to disperse it selfe; so our thoughts and desires that would otherwise be straying abroad and wandering in the ends of the world, being by affliction and anguish straitned and restrained, might be caried higher to heauenward, as rAqua … arc… ad sublimiora sustulit. Aug. de temp. 181.Noahs Arke was with the waters of the Deluge, and confined vntounto him, whom they were wandring from before, as sPulli à ma…re liber…s divagantur, donec milvi … impetum formident.the Chicken from her damme, till shee be frighted with the Kite.

And this is the vse therefore that wee should make of such desertions, that we be thereby incited to striue tApoc. 3. 2, 3.to hold that the faster, that wee seeme in danger to lose; that uEsai. 64. 7.we stirre vp our selues to take faster hold on God, as those that looke downe from some steepe place, when they feele their heads begin to swimme, or finde themselues in danger of falling, are wont to take better hold of the raile that may stay them; cling closer about him, xFingit mater se filium quem …lnis gestat, in terram, de…eoturam, ut ipse tenacius haereat. Simon. Cass. in Euang. l. 14.as the nurse childe hangeth on the nurse or the mother, when shee seemeth about to leaue it, or threatens to throw it downe; and as the yRota ab unda rejecta in … revolvitur.wheele of the water-mill, the more violently the floud driueth it away from it, the more violently doth it still turne againe vponupon the streame: So the more violently God with both hands seemeth to thrust and shooue vsus away from him, the more instantly and eagerly should wee enforce our selues to presse vponupon him. Since for that end he doth it, zNon deserit, ut deseratur. Simon Cass. in Euang. lib. 8. cap. 37. Deserit potius, ne deseratur. Ideò videtur deserere, quia non vult deseri.not that he desireth to be rid of vsus, but that he may not lose vsus, that wee may come nearer home to him, abide firmer with him, and sit closer by him than formerly wee hauehave done: like the father, that when his sonne hath some way displeased him, biddeth him away, out of his sight, (though hee would be loth hee should so doe,) not to driue him away indeed, but to make him draw nearer to him, and by humble submission more earnestly endeuour to pacifie and appease his fathers wrath, and seeke to regaine his fauour and good will againe: or like as hee did with Moses, when aExod. 32. 10.he bade him let him alone, Difsimulat Domin^• exaudire rogantem & feriendi licentiā quaerit à Mose, qui fecit Mosem. Bern. de temp. 83. Quid est servo, Dimitte me, dicere, nisi deprecandi ansā praebere? Greg. Mor. lib. 9. cap. 12. Sine me, inquit, & dispergam eos, ut ille postulando & semetipsum offerend… non sineret. Tertull. contra Marc. lib. 2.that he might destroy that rebellious and idolatrous people; not that Moses should so let him alone indeed, but rather that he might not leaue him, but be the more earnest in suit with him on his peoples behalfe, and not giuegive ouer till he had obtained his suit for them.

And in like manner should we be affected also in regard of Gods Church, when wee shall see it to be in such estate as was formerly obserued. We should make her case our owne; and take occasion thereby, to be the more instant with God, that his face may be turned to it, that seemeth to be turned from it, and that in merciemercy and goodnesse hee will remember and thinke vponupon her as his Spouse, whom now, when bLament. 1. 1, 2.like a widow for lorne and desolate, shee sitteth weeping and wailing, he seemeth to hauehave forgotten, and not at all to regard.

Thus may we obserue that DAVID concludeth diuers of his Psalmes made when he was in such estate himselfe, with suit and supplication for the Church of God in generall. cPsal. 51. 18.Oh be fauourable, Quid sibi volunt excitationes illae, quas canitis matutini, collatis ad tibiam vocibus? obdormiscunt enim superi, remeare ut ad vigilias debeant. Quid domitiones illae, quibus benè ut valeant auspicabili salutatione mandatis? Somni enim quiete solvuatur, occupatique ut hoc possint, lenes audiendae sunt naeni…. Arnob. contrgent. l. 5. Sic Homer-Iliad. foreign. Et Iliad. foreign clamore bellico.for thy good pleasures sake, to Sion; and build vp the wals of Ierusalem. And, dPsal. 25. 22.Deliuer Israel, O Lord, out of all his troubles. His owne present condition was a meane to put him in minde of the afflicted and distressed estate of other of Gods seruants. And the like vse should we all make, either of Gods hand on our selues, or of his dealings in this kinde with his Church and children abroad, albeit we our selues remaine free: eEsai 62. 7, 8.You that are mindfull of the Lord, saith the Prophet, what euer you be, be not silent; be importunate with him, and giuegive him no rest, till he repaire Sions breaches, and set vp Ierusalem againe to be the glory of the world.

For to this very end doth God oft as it were winke, and withdraw himselfe from his people, that wee may with strong cries on all hands awake and fetch him againe. True it is indeed that God is not as Baal, of whom Elias sometime said to his Priests, f1 King. 18. 27.Crie aloud; peraduenture he sleepeth, and you must wake him. No▪ gPsal. 121. 4. Tò foreign. Basil. Sel. hom. 21.he that hath the charge of Israel neither slumbereth nor sleepeth. And yet he winketh, if I may so say, and seemeth sometime to sleepe, as hMatth. 8. 24.our Sauiour slept in the ship, when his Disciples were like to hauehave beene cast away the whilst; and he doth thus sleepe to make vsus awake; hee seemeth to sleepe, iVt excitetur, quae dormit, fides nostra. Aug. de …emp. 245. foreign. Basil. Sel. …omil. 21.to make vsus awake out of our sleepe, and crie the louder to wake him out of his seeming sleep. kPsal. 44. 23, 24.Vp, Lord, say they, why sleepest thou? Awake, we beseech thee; and stand not aloofe off for euer. Why dost thou hide thy face away from vsus? and forgettest what misery and affliction we are in? As the Disciples to our Sauiour, when they awoke him out of sleepe; lMatth. 8. 25.Saue vsus, Master: mMark. 4. 38.Carest thou not that wee perish? And againe, nPsal. 78. 65.The Lord awaked, as one that had beene asleepe. Thus at this very present doth God seeme to be asleepe, while the enemies of his Church daily preuaile and get ground of her, and triumph ouer her. Hee seemeth, I say, to sleepe, and hee would by our out-cries be awaked. And sure it is to be doubted that we hauehave not yet cried long enough or loud enough, that he seemeth to sleep still, and doth not yet rouse and raise vp himselfe for the deliuerance of his distressed ones.

Fiftly, Is this oft the estate of Gods children,Vse 5. that not in the sight of others only, but to their owne sense and feeling too, God seemeth to hauehave left them, and to hauehave cast them cleane off? And may it therefore, for ought we know, proue the estate of each of vsus? For oCuivis potest accidere, quod cuiquā potest. P. Syrus apud Sen. ad Marc. c. 9. & de tranquill. c. 11.nothing in this kinde befalleth one, but what may befall any: whose estate may not that be, that was *foreign; Greg. Naz. ad Naz. perich….DAVIDS once? yea rather that was DAVIDS oft? The consideration hereof then should stirre vsus vp eueryevery one to labour before hand to get good assurance of Gods fauour while we are free yet from such afflictions, from such spirituall desertions. As Xenophon saith (and it was a good speech though of a meere naturall man,) That pforeign. &c. Xenoph. Cyripaed. l. 1. Ad quem locum respiciens Plut. de tranquill. foreign. Et Menand. foreign. Huc illud Ben-Syrae, Honora medicum dum non indiges ejus, i. juxta Schol. Ebr. Cole & precare Deū priusquam ejus auxilio tibi op▪ sit. Nā Iure venit cultos ad sibi quisque Deos. Ovid. Pont. 1. 3. Honora medicum dum sanus es, ut in … tibi libentius adsit. Sirac. 38. 1. foreign. Drūs. in …. & in B…n▪ S…. foreign.it stood rich men vponupon to make God their friend in prosperitie, that … they might be sure to finde a friend of him in aduersitie. So it standeth vsus vponupon to get good assurance of Gods fauour and louelove towards vsus, while we are free from afflictions, that when they shall befall vsus, wee may hauehave comfort of that assurance which formerly wee hauehave gotten. For it is with Gods children commonly in this case, as it is with one that hath receiued such a blow or wound on the head, as that though it be not deadly, nor depriueth him wholly of life, yet so astonisheth him for the time, that albeit he hauehave life in him with qActs 20. 10.Eutychus, yet he hath no sense of it: or as with one in a swoune; that discerneth not the light of the Sunne, though it shine full vponupon him, nor can see ought, or take notice of those that stand about him and take paines with him. Or as it is with †foreign. Greg. Naz. de P…e▪ 3. foreign. Idem … per. foreign. Idem in Heron.those that hauehave beene seasick, & are giddy when they come first ashore, al seemeth to turne round with them, and the earth it selfe to reele and roll vp and downe as the ship did. And euen so is it vsually with them at such times, though they hauehave spirituall life of grace in them, yet “Accidit interdum ut Christum in nobis sentiamus, qui sensus illicò nullus sit, Residet tamen in nobis, ut anima in corpore dormientis, licet nec ipsa, nec ulla ejus operatio sentiatur. Spin. de justit. Christ.they feele it not; (rPsal. 51. 10. Create in me, saith DAVID, O Lord, a new heart, as if all were to be begunne againe:) though they be in Gods fauour, yet they see it not; they are not able to discerne (there is such a mist ouer their eyes) the beames of Gods louelove and fauour toward them, though it shine out brightly euen then full in their face, nor his prouident eye ouer them, and care of them, though euen then also it be working about them for their benefit, as effectually as euer. *foreign. Greg. Naz. de cathed. Constant.All seemeth to be shaken with them, euen Gods eternall louelove it selfe toward them, though more firme than the pillers of heauen and earth it selfe are. It is no time therefore then for a man to take triall of his owne estate, when his thoughts and affections are so disturbed and distracted, as sPsal. 13. 2. & 77. 2, 3.DAVID confesseth that it was with him at this time. But it is a …it▪time for him to make vse then of his former triall. For that man that hath before▪time taken sound triall of himselfe, and vponupon due and diligent search, hath found himselfe to be in the estate of grace, and consequently in fauour with God; he may then yet take notice therefore, and reape comfort thereby, tNon reputatione praesentium, sed recordatione praeteritorum.not regarding what then for the present he feeleth, but remembring what vponupon such enquirie hee hath formerly found; and assuring himselfe, since that uRom. 11. 29.the gifts and graces of God are without repentance; and that xSemel electus, semper dilectus.once elected and euer beloued; for yIohn 13. 1.Whom God loueth once, he loueth for euer; zMalach 3. 6.he is no changeling in his louelove; that therefore the grace that once he had is not vtterly gone, though he cannot now discerne it; nor the grace that he once was in with God is not vtterly lost, though it be so concealed, that for the present he cannot now descrie it. And aMulier foetum conceptum non semper molitantem sentit▪ ubi tamen semel & iterum sens… praegnantem se esse non ambigit. Spin. de Iustit. Christ. & Taffin. Marks of Gods Children. cap. 4as women that goe with childe, when they hauehave sometime felt the childe stir in the wombe, do thereby know that they hauehave quickned, and hauehave truly conceiued, though they doe not alwaies so feele it. So if once we hauehave found vponupon due and sound triall good assurance of Gods grace and fauour by the effectual and powerful worke of his good Spirit vponupon our soules, and by the comfortable motions thereof in our hearts, though we hauehave not the like alwaies, (as bHe…, Domine Deus, rarahora, & bre…is mora. Bern. in Cant. 23. Tenuis magis exhalatio, quam pinguis conspersio. Ibid. 14. Sapit quidem suavissimè, sed gustatur rarissimè. Ib. 8.Alas, saith religious Bernard, they come but seldome with many a one, and when they doe come, they are soone gone againe) yet we may be assured that wee hauehave conceiued and are quickened, and that spirituall life is not gone againe, though we finde it not so sensibly to worke in vsus at all times, yea the rather here may we build vponupon it, as hauing far better assurance, than women can in such cases hauehave of the life of that they goe with; because that that is conceiued in them being bred cforeign. 1 Pet. 1. 23.of mortall and corruptible seed, though it hauehave beene quickened, yet dAliquis intra viscera Materna … pracocis fati tulit. Sen. The…. Iob 3. 16. Psal. 58. 8.may die and miscary, ere they be deliuered of it; whereas that that is by Gods word and his Spirit bred and conceiued in vsus, being bred eforeign 1 P…. 1. 23.of immortall and incorruptible seed, by the word of God that liueth and lasteth for euer, if it be once there conceiued, fRenatus non denascitur. Si de Deo conceperis, certus erit partus tuus, non erit aborsus. Aug. de verb. Dom. 20.can neuer die nor decay againe, but g1 Pet. 1. 24, 25. foreign. Cle…. Alex. protrept. Quod de virtute Is… ad Demon. foreign, &c.endureth to eternitie, as he himselfe doth, by whose Spirit it is begotten and bred in vsus. Or as one that hath at leasure times cast vp and ballanced his accounts, and brought all to one entire summe, is at any time readie, if on a sudden hee be called to a reckoning, though hee hauehave not time or leasure then amids many distractions otherwise to runne ouer his reckonings, or to cast vp the particulars, yet to tell how things stand with him; hforeign.it requireth no more but the bare reading, he need not stand to recount it, being sure that it was well and truly cast vp before: So hee that hath before-time truly tried his owne estate, and made his reckonings vp concerning the same with God and his word, may thereby know then how it standeth with him in regard of God, by calling to minde only the issue of his former examination, when by reason of disturbance and distraction through the violence of temptation, he shall hauehave little leasure or libertie to take any exact triall or proofe of it at the present.

Exceeding iniurious therefore are they herein to themselues, that deferre and put off the triall of their estate till such times; and by reason that then either their iNec litant, nec laetantur; qui non tempore suo sacrificant. Vise Drus. proverb. class. 1.sacrifice affordeth no good signes, or they light on an euill Interpreter, that turneth all to the worst, by such their delay they misse then of much comfort, that otherwise they might hauehave had, if they had taken triall of themselues and their estates in due time, but by means of their neglect thereof they are then depriued of, when they hauehave most need of it. And surely did men know before-hand what need they should hauehave, and what want they may finde of comfort in such cases, and how vnfit and vnapt they are like then to finde themselues for such imployments, they would be questionlesse more carefull to sift and examine themselues before such times of triall, and by good assurance of Gods grace and fauour gained before-hand, treasure vp some store of comfort that may then stand them in stead, when there shall be kExod. 16. 25, 26, 27.no Manna found abroad in the fields, nor such sweet l1 King. 17. 1. Aiunt cochleas, cum sitiunt aeris, atque illis de coelo nihil illiquitur, succo proprio victit…re. Symmach. lib. 1. ep 27. Quasi cùm caletur, cochleae in occulto latent, Suo sibisucco vivunt, ros si non cadit. Plaut. Capt. 1. 1.dewes dropping downe vponupon their drie and thirstie soules, as there hath done formerly. It is a wise and a prudent course, mProv. 6. 6, 7, 8. ▪ formicae farris acervos Depopulant, hyemis memores, tectoque reponunt. Virg. Aen. l. 4. Ore trahit, quodcunque potest, atque addit acervo, Quem struit haud ignara, ac non incauta futuri. Tum simul inversum contristat aquarius annum, Nō usquam prorepit, & illis utitur ante Quaesitis. Horat. sat. 1.in Summer to lay vp against Winter; nEphes. 6. 11, 12, 13. foreign. …. …. …. 3▪in time of peace to prouide for warre; and oforeign. Plut. de iracund. foreign. Socrat. apud Stob. c. 3. foreign; Plut. ibid.before stormes come, for men to furnish themselues with such necessaries as they may then stand in need of. And it will be our best wisdome to get and lay vp such matter of comfort before-hand, that whensoeuer such times of trouble and triall shall come, we may▪ hauehave that at hand then, that may stand vsus in stead, and not be driuen to seeke for it, when we should make vse of it, and shall finde it hard to come by, if we were not furnished with it before.

Sixtly, If God in such our afflictions and desertionsVse 6. doe not instantly answer vsus, if hee send not comfort and deliuerance so soone as we call for it; if hee shall hide himselfe from vsus, and seeme not willing to be found of vsus so soone as euer we seeke him; (that which we doe not yet oft, when we seeme to doe) let vsus take heed how we grow thereupon impatient. Let vsus remember that God heareth vsus, euen when pNe surdum agas. Psal. 83. 1.he seemeth to be deafe towards vsus; qNon exaudit ad voluntatem, ut exaudiat ad salutem. Aug. in Psal. 90. & in 1 Ioan. 6▪Hee heareth vsus to our profit, though not to our pleasure; and to our behoofe, though not according to our desire: rDeus & cùm differt adest; & id quod differt, adest; & in eo quod differt, adest. Ide alibi.He is present with vsus, euen when he delayeth vsus; yea hee is present with vsus, in that he doth delay vsus; and that is better then present with vsus, that for the present is denied vsus. sforeign. Greg. Naz. adv. Eunom. 2▪It is a point of mercy in him, that he is not so forward to shew mercy. There is no cause therefore for vsus to be impatient, since that tHebr. 12. 10.all is for our good; yea Patience it selfe is good for vsus; which hereby God doth not u1 Pet. 1. 7. Apoc. 14. 12.trie only and exercise, but xRom. 5. 3. Iam. 1. 3.worke in vsus, and enure vsus vntounto. And yLament. 3. 27, 28, 29.it is good for vsus to learne quietly to beare Gods yoake, to sit downe by it, yea to lie downe vnderunder it, and thrust our mouth in the dust, assuring our selues that so doing we shall hauehave a good issue of it, and shall doe well in the end.

aLuke 21. 19. Psal. 74. 12. O ser… illum beatum, … emendationi Dominus instat, cui dignatur irasci, quō admonendi dissimulatione non decipit. Tertull. de bon▪ patient.Patience, I say, is for our good: But bforeign. Pindar. Pyth. 2. foreign. Bion. Laert. Malum non posse ferre, non leve est malum. Perdidisti tot mala, si nondum misera esse didicisti. Sen. ad Helv. c. 3.by impatiencie there is no good to be gotten. It will be but duplicate page duplicate page a meanes … to make God lay harder and …er things on vsus▪ when we begin to grow impatient vnderunder his hand. As a discreet Father, when his sonne shall take pet at some small matter that his father hath crossed him in▪ may well thereupon take occasion, yea and many times doth, to giuegive him some further and greater cause of disconte…, …o bring him thereby to know himselfe and his dutie, and to teach him to rest content with that that his father will ha…e: pforeign. Euseb. aepud Stob. cap. 123. foreign. Aesc…l. Prom….So when God sendeth small…r and lighter crosses, and men waxe wa…pish and waiwa…d under them, God is wont to second them with greater and weightier afflictions, to worke patience into them▪ and to enure them to the yoake▪ which being qV…on est … mentum …, …, … sui… obs…qui. Sen. de ira. lib. 3. cap. 16. … sed … fi… …, Quicquid c…rrigere est …fas. Horat▪ c…. 1. 24. Posse pati facile est, tibi ni patientia desit. Ovid. rem…d. lib. 2. Nam Pati… quisquis novit pati, pep… vir…s, … mali. Sen. Her. Oct.patiently borne, will become lighter vntounto vsus, and may the sooner in all likelihood be remoued from vsus, hauing taken … that lesson that God thereby would learne vsus. Whereas r…by impatience it will but grow more grieuous vntounto vsus, as *…the sh…e is to the fowle, that by fluttring and straining makes the string straiter, to her greater tor…, and yet is neuer the nearer getting out againe; as the yoake is to the beast, that sforeign ut Theophyl. ep. 41. Nullum tam arctum est jugum, quod non minus laedat ducentem quàm repugnantem. Sen. de iro. lib. 3. cap. 16.by striuing and strugling with it, hath galled her necke, and yet is compelled to draw still in it, with more paine then from her owne folly, than from the weight of it, or of that that shee draweth in it: And we shall but thereby procure to our selues the more euill; as “Gravis quoque febrium vis tolerando minuitur, … auge…r. idem ibid.the sick-man in a burning feuer, while by tossing and tumbling to and fro, he seeketh to finde ease, doth but exasperate the disease, and encrease his owne griefe.

Let vsus beware therefore of impatience; But let vsus take heed especially, how any length of afflictionsVse 7. maketh vsus once thinke of leauing God, or of seeking with Saul to Satan, by putting our hands vntounto wickednesse, or vsing indirect courses, for the saluing and easing or releeuing of our selues. It was the Deuils policie that he vsed, but without successe, with our Sauiour; tMatth. 4. 3, 4.to beare him in hand that his Father had cast off all care of him, thereby to perswade him to depend no longer vponupon his prouidence, who if he did louelove him or regard him, would not so suffer him to starue. And it is one of the slights that euen to this day he vseth oft with Gods seruants, thereby in time of affliction to withdraw them from relying on God, who seemeth not to looke after them, as if they were sure to perish, if they shifted not for themselues, but trusted still to him, that had no care at all of them. And howsoeuer by this engine he preuailed not with our Sauiour, yet by it with many other, too many, too oft he preuailes, and maketh them commit much folly. For while *Esai. 28. 16.through weaknesse of faith, and want of patience,Non praefes…inabit, i. ex impatientia & infidelitate non ad res praesentes confugiet, nec festinatione praepropera Deum antevertet. Iun. they are loth to wait Gods good leasure, and desirous to be rid, in all haste, of the present affliction, they put their hand oft to such courses as produce fearefull effects, and vse such sory shifts for the releeuing of themselues▪ as doe but plunge them further and deeper into such a labyrinth of euils, as they are many times neuer able to get out of againe. So that it fareth with them, as with uNatare nescij, ubi demerg… sesentiunt, temerè quicquid occurrit, vitae cupidi retinendae arripiunt. Cyrill. Alex. epist. 29.persons vnskilfull in swimming, that hauing ventured past their depth, and being in danger now of drowning, while hastily and inconsiderately they catch at what commeth next hand, to saue themselues with, lay hold oft on weeds, that doe but entangle them, and draw them deeper vnderunder water, and there keepe them downe from euer getting vp againe, till they be (that which by such meanes they …ought to preuent) indeed drowned. This subtill slight of Satan we must be carefull in these cases to discouer, and say to our selues, when such things shall be suggested vntounto vsus: xPsal. 77. 10.This is but my weaknesse, or Satans wickednesse: yLament. 3. 31, 32. Non deserit, etiamsi deserere videatur. Aug. in Psal. 44. & Greg. Mor. l. 5. c. 5.God I know hath not left me, though he may seeme not to looke after me. zDeut. 8. 2. & 13. 3, 4.Hee now trieth me whether mine heart be vpright with him or no; whether I will cleaue constantly to him, though hee d…e nothing but crosse mee, and abide still with him, though he seeme wholly to neglect me; or whether I will leaue him, and giuegive ouer adhering vntounto him, if he doe not vse mee as I would that hee should. And therefore I will resolue, that I may not proue vnsound, to keepe constantly with him and not hearken to Satan, nor yeeld to such indirect courses, as by him shall be suggested, for the procuring either of ease or of deliuery, whatsoeuer shall come of it.

Such constancie shall seale vp vntounto vsus our sinceritie; and shall not want with God a rich and a royall reward. For hee that shall so continue depending vponupon God, when all humane helpes shall faile him, and all lawfull meanes of releefe; choosing rather to endure griefe and paine all his life long, and to liue a life more bitter than death it selfe, than to make triall of any vnlawfull course to procure ease and releefe; such a man so dying, saith Chrysostome, aforeign. Chrysost. cont. Iud. ora…. 5 Male interpres, Proximo post martyres loco consistet.shall hauehave his place in heauen among the Martyrs; yea such a one is no other then bforeign. Idem ibid. foreign. Ibid. Non martyrium sola sanguinis effusio consummat; nec sola dat palmam … illa flammarum. Aug. de Sanct. 46. Multi ducunt martyrium in lecto, &c. Idem de divers. 39. vise & Chrysoft. in 1 Thess. homil. 3.a Martyr indeed▪ hee is as good a Martyr as he that leaueth his head on the block, or is burnt to ashes at a stake for the testimonie of Gods truth, and the keeping of a good conscience. All the difference betweene the one and the other is this; that to the one it is said, Deny Christ, or thou shalt die; to the other it is said, Doe euill, or thou shalt liue wretchedly, thou shalt liue a life little better, if not worse, than death. He is once for all a Martyr, that will rather endure the one; he is oft, yea eueryevery day a Martyr, as Paul saith of himselfe, that c1 Cor. 15. 31. foreign. Chrysoft. in Psal. 95. & cont. Iud. 5.he died daily, that chooseth rather to vndergoe the other. Too prone wee are *Ier. 2. 31.to stray from God, when he vseth vsus well, when he dealeth louingly with vsus: but a most blessed thing it is, when our hearts are so linked to him, that we will not stir an inch from him, though he seeme to carrie himselfe neuer so harshly towards vsus.

Lastly, Would we hauehave God in these cases toVse 8. remember vsus? let vsus be carefull then to remember him; yea let vsus then learne to remember our selues. Let vsus take heed how we forget him, if we would not hauehave him to forget vsus: for dDeut. 32. 15, 18. Hosh. 4. 6. & 8. 14. Zech. 12 7, 13.our forgetfulnesse of him, and our dutie to him, is for the most part the cause that moueth him to forget vsus. As indeed †Quid est quod nos queramur de Deo, cum Deus mogis queri de nobis omnibus possit? quae ratio est ut doleamꝰ nos non audiri à Deo, cum ipsi Deum non audiamus? & susurremus non respici à Deo terras, cum ipsi non respiciamus ad coelum? & molestum sit despici à Domino preces nostras, cum praecepta ejus despieiantur à nobis? quid dignius? quid justius? non audivimus, non audimur: non respe…imus, non respicimur. Salvian. de provid. lib. 3.what can be more iust, or what more equall, than for God to forget vsus, when we forget him, and to neglect vsus, when we regard not him; to refuse to heare vsus, when wee refuse to heare him? Or how can wee with any colour complaine of the one, when we are guiltie of the other? Yea when God seemeth to hauehave forgotten vsus, if we would hauehave him againe remember vsus, ePsal. 22. 27. Apoc. 2. 5, 4. Ezech. 36. 31. Deut. 30. 1, 2.Let not vsus then be backward to remember our selues: But let vsus apply our selues to make a right vse of the crosse; helpe to further the effect of it, doe not crosse or hinder the worke of it. The more speedie successe Gods hand hath with vsus, the sooner it is like to be remoued away from vsus. fPsal. 32. 3, 4. Desin… dissimulare. Deus crudelius urit, Qi…s videt invitos succubuisse …ibi. Tibull. …leg. 1. 8. Cedā aculeo, ne bi… pung…r. Bern. de divers. 20.DAVIDS strugling with it, and hanging backe, and refusing to yeeld to that that God thereby required of him, was a meane to continue it the longer vponupon him, and to put him to the more paine. And this vndoubtedly is one maine cause of the long continuance of many euils, that gMulti … & … non su… Bern… Cant. 34.men are humbled, as Bernard speaketh, and yet are not humble; *Plectimur à Deo, nec …ectimur tamen: corripimur, sed non corrigmur. Salvian. de provid. l. 5. Non cessant vitia civi…m usque ad excidia civitatum. Prius est interire quàm corrigi: Prius ipsos quàm in ipsos vitia non esse. Ibid. Multo facilius fregeris, quàm flexeris. Buchan. Bapt.they will breake in sunder, ere they will bow or bend vnderunder Gods hand. Let vsus apply our selues therefore to that which by the crosse God requireth of vsus, if we desire to hauehave the crosse remoued againe away from vsus.

Now this that we may doe:

First, Wee must endeuour to enquire andMeanes 1. finde out the cause of the crosse, and the ground of Gods auersion of his face away from vsus. hLanguorum nullus inven…et medelas, nisi prius morborum cognoverit causas. Origen. in Rom. l. 1. Non potest scire quomod… morbos curare conveniat, qui unde …i sint ignorat. Corn. Cels. de remed. l. 1. Absque causarū observatione morbos nec praecavere, nec curare licet. Fernel. patholog. l. 7. c. 11.A disease can neuer be well cured, till the cause of it be discouered: Nor can we take any right course for the remouall of a crosse, vnlesse that that hath procured it be in some sort discouered. iMica 6. 9.The voice of the Lord, saith the Prophet Micah, crieth vntounto the Citie. God by his iudgements preacheth not verball, but reall Sermons vntounto vsus. kforeign. Basil. Sel. homil. 5.Hee preacheth euen without preaching, as Basil speaketh. As he is said lPsal. 50. 21. Esai. 42. 14. Quid est, Tacui? non judicavi, non vindicavi. Non tacet in verbo; tacet in vindicta, tacet in verbere. Aug. in Ps. 74. & 93. & 100. & in Ioan. tr. 4 & homil. 2.to hold his peace, though hee doe speake, when he doth not punish; so is he said to preach, though he speake not, when he doth punish. mEsai. 26. 9. & 28. 19.His very Iudgements are reall Sermons of reformation and repentance. They hauehave a voice, saith the Prophet: But eueryevery one vnderstandeth not this voice: nQuomodo Bern. in Cant. 79. Graece loquentem non intelligit, qui Graecam non norit, nec Latinè loquentem, qui Latinus non est. Sic lingua amoris ei qui non amat, …arbara est, sicut aes sonans, aut cymbalum tinniens.They speake in a strange language to many, to the most; as oAct. 9. 7. cum 22. 9. Ita conciliat post Calvinum Piscator; melius, puto, quàm Chrysoft. Theophyl. Oecum. Lyra, Hugo, Beza, alij, qui ad Pauli vocem coactius referunt.Pauls companions, when Christ spake to him, they heare a noise and no more.

pPsal. 2. 6. foreign. Heraclit. apud Clement in protrept. & Theodor. de curend. Graec. l. 1.The foolish, saith the Psalmist, conceiue it not, and the brutish vnderstand it not. But qMica 6. 9.a man of wisdome, the wise man, saith the Prophet, knoweth what it meaneth. And as the Psal mist speaketh of Gods workes of merciemercy; rPsal. 107. 43.Who so is wise to obserue these things, such shal vnderstand the louing kindnesse of the Lord: So of his workes of Iudgement saith Ieremie, sIer. 9. 12.Who so is wise to vnderstand these things, to him the Mouth of God speaketh, and he is able to declare what this Voice of God saith. And of both of them the Prophet Hoshe, tHosh. 4. 10.Who so is wise, will vnderstand these things: and who so is of vnderstanding, will know that the Lords waies are uEsai. 26. 7, 10. Ezech. 18. 25.strait and euen, and the iust shall walke in them, but the wicked shall fall in them. To vse Chrysostomes comparison, yea and Augustines too; xforeign, &c. Chrysost. in 1 Cor. hom. 7.Lay you a booke open before a childe, or one that cannot reade, he may gaze & stare on it, but he can make no vse of it, because he vnderstandeth nothing at all in it. But bring it to one that can reade, and that vnderstandeth the language it is written in, and he can reade you many stories or instructions out of it. It is as dumbe and silent to the one; it speaketh to, and talketh with the other. In like manner is it with yDei opera admiranda qui non aspicit tantum, sed. & intelligit, quasi legit. Aliter enim videtur pictura, aliter videntur literae. Picturam cùm videris, hoc est totum vidisse, laudasse. Liter as cùm videris, commoneris eas & legere: quod si fortè non nosti, Quid putamus, inquis, esse, quod hîc scriptum est? Interrogas quid sit, cùm jam videas aliquid. Sed aliud tibi demonstratur us est, à quo quaeris agnoscere quod vidisti. Alios ille oculos habet, alios tu. Apices similiter videtis; non similiter signa cogn…vistis. Tu vides & laudas; ille videt & laudat, legit & intelligit. Aug. in loan. 24.Gods Iudgements, as Augustine also well applieth it: all sorts of men see them, but few are able aright to reade them, or to vnderstand them what they say.

But what is it that the wise man is by them admonished? Surely, aMica 6. 9.to listen to the Rod, saith Micah; and bquis accersat. Iun.who, or what it is that hath procured it: to enquire, saith Ieremie, what is the cause, cIer. 9. 12.why the Land is spoiled, and lieth burnt vp like a wilde wildernesse, that no man passeth thorow; that is, to search out the cause of the present crosse. To which purpose also Gods people in the time of their captiuitie, dLam. 3. 40.Let vsus search, say they, and sift out our workes and our waies. They had before entered into some discourse and dispute with themselues, what might be the cause of that their calamitie. And first they lay downe this for an vndoubted and vndeniable position, That eAmos 3. 6. Quicquid malorum poenarumve perpetimur, censura est divinae manus. Salvian. de provid. l. 8. Quicquid patimur venit ex al…o. Sen. Oed. 5. 2.there is no euill that befalleth any, either person or people, but the Lord hath his hand in it. fLam. 3. 37, 38.Dare any man, say they, say, that gMatth. 10. 29.ought commeth to passe, and the Lord hath not appointed it? Doth not hforeign. Homer. Odyss. 6.both good and euill come out of his mouth? But what then? Doth God as iHebr. 12. 10.earthly fathers doe, who in an idle humour sometime correct their children without cause? Or kLam. 3. 34.doth God take pleasure in stamping vponupon his people, and in vexing and grieuing of them? No: lLam. 3. 33.hee doth not willingly, or from the heart punish, and afflict the sonnes of men. mEst placidus facilisque pater, veniaeque paratus; Et qui fulmineo saepe sine igne tonat. Qui cum triste aliquid statuit, fit tristis & ipse: Cuiq, fere poenam sumere poen… sua est. Ovid. Pont. 2. 2. Est piger ad poenas Deus, est ad praemia velox. Quique dolet quoties cogitur esse ferox. Multa metu poenae, poenâ qui pauca coercet: Et jacet i… vitâ fulmina rara manu. Ibid. 1. 3. Torqueris ipse, cum tam lenis trasceris. Plin. epist. 21. l. 9.It is a griefe to him to be grieuous vntounto vsus; it is a paine to him to be punishing of vsus. It goeth as much against the heart with him to afflict, as it goeth against the haire with vsus to be afflicted. Why but, what is the cause then that he dealeth so harshly with vsus, that hee carieth himselfe so austerely towards vsus? *Lam. 3. 39.Wherefore is the liuing Man afflicted? Man suffereth for his sinne. nLam. 3. 42. Victa tamen vitio est hujus clementia nostro: Et venit ad vires ira coacta suas. Ovid. Pont. 2. 2. Ergò llum demens in me sevire coegi, Mitius imm…sus quo nihil orbis habet. Idem trist. 4. 8. Nunc quoque nil fecit, nisi quod facere ipse coegi. Nec min▪ infestus, quam fuit, esse potest. Idē de Pont. 1. 3. Exacerbamus Deum impuritatibus nostris, & ad puniendos nos tra…imus invitum. Salvian. de provid. l. 4. c. 5.We hauehave sinned and rebelled against him: and hee hath not spared vsus. oDeus bonus de suo, saevus de nostro. Tertull. de resurr. foreign. Basil. Caes. homil. 8. foreign. Greg. Naz. orat. 6.God is good of himselfe; hee hath his harshnesse from vsus; it is our corruption that requireth it. pCrudelein medicum intemperans aeger facit. P. Syr.A disordered patient maketh a cruel Physitian. By our disordered courses, qEsai. 27. 4. Ier. 7. 19. Cùm ejus nature sit mens Dei atque majestas ut nulla iracundi… passione moveatur; tenta tamen in nobis petcatorū exacerbatio est, ut per nos cogatur irasci. Vim, ut ita dixerim, facimus pie ati suae, ac manus quodaminodo afferimus misericordi… suae. Cùm ejus … sit, ut velit nobis jugiter parcere, cogitur malis nostris scelera quae admittimus vindicare▪ Salvia…. de provid lib. 4. cap. 5.wee enforce him to anger, in whom anger is not; and euen wrest and wring that from him, that in some sort is not in him. rIerem. 30. 14.Therefore, saith hee, hauehave I smitten thee with the wounds of an enemie, for the multitude of thine iniquities, and because thy transgressions are grieuous. What these sinnes of theirs therefore were, doe they desire and purpose to make sLam. 3. 40.Search, that so comming to vnderstand the true cause of their calamitie, they may set vponupon some course for meanes of recouery. And in like manner ought we to doe vponupon the like occasions, say as Iob doth; tIob 10. 2. Non sententiam causatur, sed causam scrutatur, erud…ri flagellis petens non erai. Bern. in Cant. 33. Percussionis verbera acceperat, & causas verberum nesciebat. Greg. mor. l. 23. c. 17. Quamvis peccatorem se sentiat & fateatur▪ non cognoscit tamen pro qua specialiter culpâ percutitur. Ibid. l. 9. c. 34. Vise sis eundem ibid. c. 30. & Isidor. de sum. bon. l. 3. c. 2.Shew me, O Lord, or make knowne to me, wherefore thou contendest with me: doe as DAVID did, when in Israel they had had a long time of dearth; u2 Sam. 21. 1.He went to aske of God for what cause it might be: make a search into, take surueigh of our hearts and our liues; labour, as Salomon speaketh, x1 King. 8. 38.to finde out the plague, the cause of it at least, in our hearts, and in our courses.

And for our better furtherance herein we mayConsider at. 6. consider,

1. What sinnes especially God hath in hisConsider. 1. Word threatned such Iudgements against, as are present on vsus, or any part of his Church. For if such sinnes bee now found rife or reigning among vsus, there is iust cause to suspect that aFidē verbis verbera facuant. Greg. in Euang. 37.God by such Iudgements doth make good his Word; bIoh 33. 16. Ezech. 12. 22, 24, 25, 28. & 5. 13. & 6. 10.sealeth vp the Truth of it; and thereby sheweth, that cDeut. 32. 47. Non sunt vane mine dominic…. Polan. in Malac. 1.His menaces are not vaine, or vneffectuall; that dIerem. 5. 12, 13, 14.his Prophets words, as the prophane people sometime spake, are not eforeign. Plut. de and. Translatum ab …vis irritis, ex quibus nihil gignitur, quae foreign Graeci vocant. Plin. hist. nat. l. 10. c. 58. quidam & vento ea putant generari, qua de causa etiam foreign appellantur. Ibid. c. 60. Sed & foreign. Plato in Theaet.windie.Consider. 2.

2. What sinnes God hath formerly inflicted the like plagues for on others: which if these times be found to imitate those in, it may well bee deemed, that fIer. 7. 14. Quid miramur, si paria perpetimur, qui paria perpetramus? Bern. de consid. l. 2.God in Iustice, as hee findeth vsus like them in practise, so he maketh vsus like them in punishment; as he findeth the like sinnes among vsus, soConsider. 3. he powreth the like plagues vponupon vsus; as hee sindeth vsus sicke of the same sores, so hee plieth vsus with the same plaisters.

3. How we hauehave abused those things, or our selues in those things, wherein or whereby God doth punish vsus. For there is oft an Analogie and a proportion betweene mens practises and Gods punishments, betweene their transgressions and his Iudgements. Looke gWisd. 11. 13. In quibus peccamus, in eisdem plectimur. foreign. Dion Chrysoft. orat. 55.wherein men offend, therein vsually are they punished. And blessings abused are turned oft into curses, as “Exod. 4. 3.the staffe sometime into a Serpent, *foreign. Greg. Naz. …rat. 6.that men may be crossed and plagued in those things, which they were not thankfull for, or vsed not well, when they were blessed in them. h1 King. 1. 6. 2 Sam. 18. 5.DAVID was too indulgent a Father to his children, and he smarted shrewdly for it in i2 Sam. 13. 14.Ammons rape of Tamar, k2 Sam. 13. 28, 29.Absoloms murther of Ammon, and both l2 Sam. 15. 10, 12.Absoloms, and afterwards m1 King. 1. 5, 9, 11.Adoniaes rebellion. nHosh. 2. 8, 9.When Gods people abused those temporall blessings of gold and siluer, corne and wine, wooll and flax, that hee had bestowed on them, God threatneth to returne, and take them againe away from them. And in like manner he threatneth them, when they obserued not his Sabbaths, that oLevit. 26. 35.their Land, during their captiuitie, should rest and lye waste vntilled and vntoiled, because it rested not on their Sabbaths, when they dwelt in it: As also that because they set light by the word of God when they had it, hee would pAmos 8. 5, 11.send a famine of hearing it, when they should be constrained to seeke farre and neere for, and yet not finde that, which they then refused when they might hauehave had it, or made no reckoning of, when in great plentie they had it: And qDeut. 28. 47, 48.because they did not serue the Lord their God with a good will, and with a cheerefull heart in the abundance of all things; they should therefore serue their enemies, which hee should send vponupon them, in hunger, and thirst, and nakednesse, and want of all things: And rIer. 5. 19.as they had serued strange gods in their owne Land, so they should serue strangers in a Land that was not their owne.Consider. 4.

4. How we may hauehave beene faultie towards others, in those things that wee now suffer our selues. For sEsai. 33. 1. Ier. 30. 16. Quod quis que fecit, patitur: autorem scelus Repetit; suoque premitur exemplo nocens. Sen. Herc. fur. 3. 2. Quae scelere parta est, scelere linquetur domus. Idem Med. 1. - ferox Theseus qualem Minoidi luctū Obtulerat mente immemori, talē ipse recepit. Claud. nupt. Pel. & Thet.there is a iust retaliation oft in such cases with God. And tDeut. 19. 19, 21. Iam. 2. 13.there is nothing more equall than such requitals. u2 Sam. 12. 10, 11.DAVID abuseth the wife of Vriah; and x2 Sam. 16. 22.his owne sonne abuseth his in the same sort. y2 Sam. 12. 9, 10.He slayeth Vriah▪ himselfe with the sword; and for the slaughter of Vriah the sword haunteth his house. aIudg. 1. 6, 7.Adoni-bezeks cruelty on those that hee had conquered, was requited with the like, executed through Gods iust iudgement on him by those into whose hands he fell: and euen he himselfe acknowledgeth the equitieConsider. 5. of it. And bExod. 22. 22, 24. Tolerabilius est siquis patiatur quod fecerit. Miramur sinos barba…i capiunt, cum fratres nostros nos fatiamus captivos? Diu id oppressione plurimorum elaboravimus, ut captivando alios etiam ipsi incipiamus esse captivi. Sentimus enim quae fecimus; ac labores manuum nostrarum manducamus; & justo judice Deo solvimus quae debemus. Miserti exulum non sumus; ecce ipsi sumus exules. Peregrinos fraude cepimus; ecce ipsi peregrinamur. Praejudicijs alios circumvenimus; ipsi praejudicia nunc timemus. Salvian. de provid. lib. 5.God threatneth such as oppresse poore widowes and orphans, That their wiues shal be foreign. Pindar. Nem. 4. foreign. Non est iniuria pati, quod prior feceris. Sen. de ira, l. 2. c. 30. Qui praedo vult esse, meritò fit praeda. Aug. in Psal. 38. - neque enim lex justior ulla, Quam necis artifices arte perire sua. Ovid. art. 1. foreign. Pythagor. an Rhadamanth. Aristot. Ethie. l. 5. c. 5.widowes, and their children orphans.

5. What neglects or euill acts being faultie in them, we hauehave beene admonished of, or checked for, either publikely in the Ministry of the Word▪ or priuately by good offices of friends or others, yea or inwardly by the voice of our owne heart, or the motions and suggestions of Gods Spirit, and yet we hauehave not regarded to amend and reforme. For it is an vsuall thing with God, when his Word taken not place, nor preuaileth with vsus, cA verbis ad verbera progreditur. Esai. 50. 1, 2. Ier. 26. 3, 4, 5.to second it with the Rod, as thereby dUt fidem verbis verbera faciant, dū corporis plagae testes sunt veritatis & culpae. Greg. in Euang. 37.to seale vp and confirme the truth of it; so eEsai. 28. 19. Vexatio intellectum dat …uditui; quia tunc peccator intelligit quod audivit, cùm se jam pro contemptu vexari d…luerit. Greg. mor. l. 15. c. 22.to make vsus the more attentiue vntounto it. He doth as Absolom did with Ioab, f2 Sam. 14. 30, 31.when he would not come at him, hauing sent once or twice for him, he caused his seruants to set his corne on fire, and then commeth Ioab to him without further sending for, to know what he would with him, and why he had so serued him. And so, saith Elihu, doth God; gIob 33. 14-22.he calleth vponupon men many times to breake off their bad courses, either by outward admonitions, or by inward suggestions; *foreign. Basil Caes homil. 12.which whenConsider. 6. men regard not, he layeth some affliction vponupon them, that continueth with them, and sticketh by them, till it hauehave hAures p…na aperit, qua… voluptas clauserat.opened their eares that were stopt before, and pulled downe their pride, or taken downe their stomack, and made them to say with Saul strucken downe to the ground, iDomine, quid vis faciam▪ Act. 9. 6.Lord, what is it that thou wouldest hauehave mee to doe?

6. How we hauehave abused, as wel Gods Iudgments, as his Mercies; how wee hauehave either refused or neglected to hearken as well to the sound of Gods R…d as to the Voice of his Word; what afflictions hauehave formerly been inflicted on vsus, whereof little or no vse at all hath beene made by vsus. For that is also vsually Gods manner, when men profit not by such crosses as hee hath formerly exercised them with, kIer. 5. 3, 6. Esai. 9. 17-20. Hosh. 5. 12, 13, 14. Amos 4. 6-12.to proceed from shorter to some of longer continuance, from milder to sharper courses. He dealeth with the sonnes of men, as the Physitian doth with his patient; lSi malum morbi fortius cr…erit, majora remedia quaeruntur, & prosalute hominis … fortius se medicina opponit: …speri …ibi, potus ingeruntur amari: Et si conv… luerit malum, & ignis … & ferrum. Firmi…. de error. Gentil.who when he findeth that the potion which hee hath giuen his patient will not worke with him, hee secondeth it with some stronger purge; when he perceiueth the disease to be so setled, that sudden courses will not serue, hee prescribeth him a course of some longer continuance. So our Sauiourforeign. Greg. Naz. orat. 6. foreign. Ibid. fore-warned the poore man, whom hee had healed, That mIohn 5. 14.if hee sinned againe, some worse matter would befall him: his not profiting by the former, would procure vntounto him some further, some farre heauier crosse. And nLevit. 26. 18, 27, 28, &c.God threatneth his People, that if lighter matters would not amend them, he would lay harsher and heauier things on them, till they were euen in a manner wasted and consumed with all.

Secondly, what we finde our selues thus faultieMeanes 2. in, we should endeuour to reforme. As wee must labour to finde out the cause of the euill, and what hath turned Gods face from vsus; so should wee withall labour to remoue the same, oforeign. Greg. Naz. orat. 22. Ut sublata caussa …llatur effectus.that the Cause being taken away, the effect also may cease; and that Gods face that is now turned from vsus may bee turned againe toward… … ▪ For this should bee the end of our search, to discouer what is amisse▪ and this the end of our discouerie, to amend and remoue the euill discouered, either in our hearts or in our liues. pDolos… quaerit, qui ti…t invenire quod qu…rit. Sunt enim qui iniquitatē suam quasi …antur quaerere & timent invenire. Qui quia dolosè agebant ut invenirent, ubi invenerint, non aderunt. Si enim non dolosè sed sincerè agerent, quod invenerunt …dissent. Aug. in Psal. 35.Otherwise our search is but vaine and friuolous, and our inquirie vnsincere. Yea, better were it for vsus neuer to hauehave beene so forward to search, if wee bee not as forward to redresse, what vponupon search wee hauehave found to bee otherwise than well with vsus. It must needs aggrauate wrath, when we are shewed, or see what is amisse, and are not carefull to amend.

qLam. 3. 40.Let vsus search and try our wayes, say they, and returne vntounto the Lord: (as DAVID of himselfe, rPsal. 119. 59.I considered my wayes, and turned my feet▪ vntounto thy paths, wherevpon such consideration, I found that I had swarued from them:) And then sLam. 3. 41. Explorandum, Deplorandum, Implorandum. A…sted. System. Theol.Let vsus lift vp our hearts with our hands vntounto the Lord our God in heauen. A… if it were to no end for them to seeke vntounto God▪ by prayer, till they had pulled downe tEsai. 59. 2. Peccata sola separant inter hoies & Deū. Aug. de pecc. m…r. l. 1. c. 20. T…llatur ergò de m…dio quod interest, & pax est. Bern. in Cant. 4.the partition wall that … betweene them and him; and hindred their suits from getting accesse to him, or obtaining successe with him: vntill they had, as searched out▪ so reformed and remoued such euils, as vponupon their search had presented themselues to their fight, and as came to view vponupon this their suru…igh. And indeed till this course bee taken, uOrans & non operans, iram non placat, sed provecat. Greg. mor. l. 18. c. 3.it i… …o small purpose to pray. It is *… …llum proficit medicamentū, si adhuc serrum in … …it; ita ni…il proficit … illius, cu… … in …, vel … in pectore. …. desum. …. l. 3. c. 7.as if the person pricked or wounded should cry and call vponupon the Surgion to hauehave some case of his paine, but would not endure to hauehave the splinter or the arrow-head pulled out that sticketh fast in his flesh, and causeth his griefe: or as if people should pray to God to stay the rage and furie of the burning, when an house or towne is on fire, and themselues the meane while powre on oyle, or throw on fuell to the fire. This God himselfe noteth, as the maine cause of the continuance of his heauie hand vponupon his people, xIerem. 3. 4, 5.Thou criedst, saith he, vntounto me; O my Father, and the Guide of my youth, yNon sic abibunt odia? vivaces aget Violentus ira… animus? & savus dolor Aeterna bella pace sublatâ geret? Sen. Here. fur. 1. 1.Wilt thou retaine thy wrath alwayes? wilt thou be angrie for euer? This thou sayedst; but thou diddest euill more and more still. And, zHosh. 7. 14.They houle to mee on their beds for their corne and their wine; but they rebell against me still. And againe; aEsal. 9. 12, 13.Therefore is not the wrath of God yet turned away, but his hand is stretched out still; because the people turne not to him that smiteth them; nor are turned away from their sinnes. And surely so long indeed there is no hope of preuailing with God; bPsal. 66. 18.If I see iniquitie in mine heart, saith DAVID, (and cIob 20. 12, 13.be loth to leaue it;) or, If with my heart dAspicitur in corde iniquitas, cum mentis oculis placet. Quae enim diligimus, libenter aspicere solemus. Ruffin. in Psal. 65. Quid est videre, nist indesinenter … videre per …, sed videre per appetitum. Greg. mor. l. 22. c. 3. Conspicere ut acceptetur, quod despici dignum est ut …. Aug. in Psal. 65.I looke after it, (as we are wont to looke after such things as we louelove and delight in, and are not willing to forgoe;) the Lord will neuer heare any prayer of mine that I make to him. As eOli… ▪ offensum sentimus, nec placamus Deam; nec …mputam' causas morbi, ut morbus pariter auferatur. Hieron. epit. Nep…t. Medicus quando agritudinem discutit, si curet quod per aliquam causam factum est, & ipsam causam per quam factum est non curet, ad tempus videtur mederi, sed causa manente morbus repetitur. Aug. in Ioan. 25. Purget humorem, detrahat causam, & non erunt ulcera. Ibid.the cause therefore of the disease must be remoued, (and it can bee dealt with til it be discouered) ere there can be any sound cure of the disease, or such as shall constantly continue: So our sinnes … be r…oued that … Gods face and fauour from …s▪ and withdraw▪ his regard of vsus, ere wee can hope to hauehave his carriage towards vsus altred for the better▪ or any end of our present euils. fPoenas peccatorū suorum pl…rimi perferunt; & intelligere causas poenarū nemo dig…atur. Causa est, quia & si jam aliqua patiamur, n…dum tamen patimur, qua…iā meremur. Agnoscere nos Deus peccata nostra mavult quàm sustinere, & o…tendere potius quid … ▪ mur▪ quam … quod meremur. Ille invitat ad …: nos … offensa…. Vim Deo f… cimus …: ira… i… nos … armam…: N…lentem … cogimus▪ par… …. de … ▪Wee enforce him to continue his hard dealing with …s while wee doe otherwise, we restraine him from doing that, that of himselfe otherwise hee would doe, and is of himselfe in his owne nature most ready and willing vntounto, did not wee ourselues with hold him from it. So that while we continue still in our … and excesses, our owne practise crosseth and hindreth the effect and fruit of our prayers; and we are like those Heathen, of whom the Cy…icke obserued, that gforeign … ap…d … ▪ 6. Q…d …. ap…d …. cap. 18. foreign d… … foreign.they prayed indeed to their Gods for health; but at the very … when they so did, they vsed such excesse …s could not but greatly impaire health, and so wilfully depriued themselues of that that they prayed for▪

Thirdly, that we may … …. ….because … heart i… not i… our … ▪ iIer…. …. 23.nor is it … Meanes 3.power to direct his owne paths▪ kPsal. 90. 11. Ier. 5. 3. & …. …0.no… are … able of themselues to effec… … in vsus▪ o… to worke good on vsus without the aid of Gods Spirit working together with them … … should … earnest with God by prayer, that …e … be … sed, lPsal. 25▪ 4, 5. & …6. 11. … ▪ 1….as he doth correct vsus, so … to … vsus; mPsal. 90. 7, 8, 9, 12.as hee sendeth …, … that hee … vouchsafe grace, whereby we may make a good vse of them, and nEsai. 48. 17.learne to profit by them; as oIo… 10. 2. Ier. 31. 19.to shew and make knowne to vsus what hee aimeth at in them, so to enable vsus in some measure to doe that which he requireth of vsus; pIer. 31. 18.to turne vsus vntounto him, that he may returne vntounto vsus.

And lastly, when wee hauehave thus done, thenMeanes 4. may we with the more comfort and confidence rPsal. 25. 4, 5, 7, 11, 16, 18, 20▪ …1. & 39. 8, 10. … 41. 4, 10.deale with the Lord for the remouall of the euill it selfe, bee it outward or inward. s…. …9. 12, 13, 14.Then may we seeke to him with good assurance of successe, because we seeke him as we should; t…. …. 9.we may then praying hope indeed to bee heard, those u…. 3. 44.clouds of our iniquities being dispersed & dispelled, that before hindred the passage of our prayers. In a word, thus we x…. 1…. 8.repenting of, and y…. 3. 10.turning from our sinnes, that hauehave turned God away from vsus, and z…. …. 1. 22.returning to him that hath hid his face from vsus, hee will a…. …6. 16.turne againe in merciemercy and goodnesse vntounto vsus, and b…. …0. 19.make the light of his countenance againe to shine forth vponupon vsus; we cPs…l. 22. 27.remembring our selues, dPs…l. …. 18.he will cease longer to forget vsus; Yea, hee will beginne ePsal. 25. 7.in merciemercy againe to remember vsus, who fEsai. 54. 8. L…m. 5. 20.in wrath seemed to hauehave forgotten vsus; and shew that hee so doth to our comfort, and the confusion of our foes, by g…. …1. 10.raising of vsus, and hPsal. 3. 3.lifting vp our heads againe, and iPsal. 41. 11.not suffering them to triumph ouer vsus, as formerly they hauehave done.

NOAH His OBEDIENCE, WITH THE GROVND OF IT:

Or His Faith, Feare, and Care.

A MEDITATION On HEBREWES 11. 7.

Deliuered in a Sermon at Lincolnes-Inne:

By THOMAS GATAKER, Batcheler of Diuinitie; sometime Preacher there:

And now Pastor of ROTHERHITH.

LONDON, Printed by IOHN HAVILAND.

1623.

Two Sermons for the Direction for Christian Carriage, Sermon 1 – Title page 2

p. 1DAVIDS Remembrancer.

DAVIDS Remembrancer.