Lectures Upon Psalm 51, Part 7 · Lecture 109
Lecture CIX. On Psalme 51.6. Ianu. 27. 1628.
THE second testimony that I told you the Lord himselfe hath given in this case, is this. That he sheweth in this life, more hatred to the sins of his owne people, then hee doth to the sins of any other men in the world. And this hee hath in all ages, and doth still declare foure wayes, 1. Hee afflicteth in this life all his owne people for sin, so doth he not all wicked men. 2. When he doth intend to bring generall judgements on the world, or upon a nation, he useth to begin with his owne people. 3. When he will make any an example unto others of his anger against sin, he useth to make choise of his owne people for this purpose, rather then of lewd and wicked men. 4. His judgements are wont to be more heavy and sharpe upon his owne people, then those are which he useth to inflict upon wicked men.
For the first of these, It is wonderfull to observe what difference God putteth betweene many lewd men, and his dearest children that way. 1. The Lord useth admirable patience and forbearance towards many lewd men, He reserveth them to the day of judgement to bee punished, saith the Apostle, 2. Pet. 2.9. 2. In this life many a wicked man goeth scot-free, he tasteth of no affliction. They are not in trouble as other men (saith he Psalmist, Psal. …3.….) neither are they plagued like other men. 3. Nay, though their sins bee outragious, yet God plagueth them not. Iob speaketh of some (Iob. 24.12.) that were cruell oppressours, and playd the tyrants, and yet (saith he) God layed not folly unto them. As if he had said, He no way layeth it to their charge. 4. The Lord letteth them runne riot, and doe what they list, and never stoppeth them in their course. Hee suffereth them to walke in their owne wayes, as the Apostle speaketh, Acts 14.16. 5. He holdeth his peace, and doth not so much as by his word rebuke them. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence, saith the Lord, Psalme 50.21. 6. Nay, he seemeth not to see them, but to winke at them, The times of ignorance God winked at, saith Paul, Acts 17.30. 7. So that you see many lewd men are in this life priviledged persons, they goe under a protection, as we read, Gen. 4 15. that Cain did, no man might touch Cain.
On the other side, Looke upon the estate of Gods children in this life, and you shall find, it is farre otherwise with them, they have no such priviledge. For 1. Every godly man shall bee sure to bee afflicted in this life, in one degree or other. Whom the Lord loveth, hee chasteneth (saith the Apostle, Heb. 12.6.) hee scourgeth every sonne whom hee receiveth. And verse 8. If ye bee without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sonnes. 2. The Lord useth not to winke at his childrens faults, but hee observeth them strictly; and if they fall into presumptious, and scandalous sinnes, yea, or into sinnes of secure carelesnesse, and negligence, they shall bee sure to heare of him, and to tast of his rods. If I sin (saith Iob 10.14) thou markest mee, and wilt not acquit mee from mine iniquity. His fire is in Zion (saith the Prophet Esa. 31.9.) and his furnace in Ierusalem. As if he had said. They that sinne there, cannot escape the furnace of affliction, as the same Prophet speaketh and interpreteth himselfe, Esay 48.10. 3 Lastly▪ God useth not, nor may any child of God expect that he should shew such patience and forbearance towards him when hee hath sinned, as hee useth to doe towards many a lewd man. See this in that speech of Phinehas, and the Princes, unto the two tribes, and the halfe, Iosh. 22.18. It will be (saith hee) seeing yee rebell to day against the Lord, that to morrow hee will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel. That wise and holy man (you see) expected present judgement would fall upon Gods people for their sinne, hee had no hope that God would forbeare them for any time, if ye rebell to day, to morrow Gods vengeance will come.
Secondly. When the Lord hath purposed to bring upon the world, or upon any nation, any common calamity, or desolation; any overflowing scourge, that shall passe through a nation, or place, as the Lord calleth it, Esa. 28.18. his manner hath beene, to begin with his owne Church and people, Iudgement must beginne at the house of God, saith the Apostle, 1 Pet. 4.17. Begin at my sanctuary, saith the Lord to the destroying Angell, Ezek 9.6. Hee is wont first to scourge his owne people for their sinnes, before hee beginne with the world; and to make their misery and trouble, a fore-runner of the common and generall destruction. I tooke the cup at the Lords hand (the cup of Gods fury, saith the Prophet Ieremy 25.17.) and made all the nations to drinke (that is, prophesied, that they should certainely drinke of it) unto whom the Lord had sent me. But who were to drinke first of this cup? He telleth us verse 18. Ierusalem, and the cities of Iuda, and the Kings thereof, and the Princes thereof. They were to begin in this cup to Egypt, and the Philistines, to Edom, and Moab, and the Ammonites, and to all other nations, as he sheweth in the verses following. So when our Saviour had prophesied, Luke 21.10, 11. that before the destruction of Ierusalem, Nation should rise against nation, and kingdome against kingdome, and great earthquakes should bee in divers places, and famines, and pestilences, he addeth verse 12. but before all these, they shall lay their hands on you (speaking to his Apostles and Disciples) and persecute you. As if he should say, The judgement shall begin at my house.
Thirdly. The Lord hath beene wont to make his owne people, examples and spectacles of his wrath against sin unto other men. Thus the Prophet spake of his times, Esa. 8.18. Behold, I and the children the Lord hath given me, are for signes and for wonders in Israel; from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Sion. As if hee had said; This is of the Lord, he maketh us so. And thus speaketh the Apostle of his times, 1 Cor. 4.9. We are made a spectacle unto the world. So the Lord made Vzzah an example to the whole congregation of Israel, of his wrath against them all, for carrying his Arke in a cart, which by his ordinance should have beene carried on the Priests shoulders only. Was Vzza the worst man in all the company? No verily; we have rather cause to judge he was a good man, though he transgressed Gods law in that point. Was God displeased with Vzza onelyonly, or had he respect to his sin only in that judgement? No verily. For because yee did not carry the Arke at the first (saith David to the Priests, 1 Chron. 15.13. because yee set it on a cart) the Lord our God made a breach upon us. All the congregation were as deepe in that sinne, as Vzza, the Lord was as much displeased with them all, as with him: onelyonly he made him an example to them all, that they might see what was due to them all, in the judgement that fell upon him; and David made that use of it, as you may see, 1 Chron. 13.11.12. David was displeased (that is, grieved, and troubled in mind) because the Lord had made a breach upon Vzza; and David was afraid of God that day. In like manner did the Lord deale with the yong Prophet, that we read of, 1 Kings 13 24. he made him an example to Ierohoam, and to all Israel. Alas (may you say) was there never a greater sinner in Bethel, nor in all Israel, never a fitter man to be made an example of Gods severity, then this poore man? I answer. Greater sinners there were many, wee may not doubt but that Prophet was a good man, and Gods deare child, though (being deceived by the old Prophet) hee did eate and drinke in Bethel, contrary to Gods commandement, and so did justly deserve to dye. Neither had the Lord in that judgement so much respect to the sinne of that good man, as to the sin of Ierohoam and all Israel; that by his severity toward his owne servant for so small a sin, they might either learne how much more was due to them for their grosse idolatry, and so feare, and repent, or else by the fall and inconstancy of the Prophet, be brought to esteeme the lesse of his prophesie against them, and so be further hardened in their sin. And that the Lord had this respect in his judgement on the Prophet, may appeare by that which the holy Ghost saith, verse 33. of that chapter. After this thing (that is to say, After the Prophet had so sinned, and was so plagued of God for it) Ieroboam returned not from his evill way, but made againe of the lowest of the people, Priests of the high places. As if he had said thus, He received no good by this example, as he should have done, but became the worse by it. And certainely, thus are we to judge of the marvellous severity God hath of late shewed towards his people in the Palatinate, and other parts of Germany, and towards the poore Rochellers; thinke not (beloved) that they were greater sinners then any other, or then we are. OnelyOnly the Lord hath made them examples of his severity to us and to all men; and we may say of them, as the Apostle doth, 1 Cor. 10.11. All these things happened unto them for ensamples. And thus it hath seemed good unto God onelyonly wise, who is righteous in all his wayes, and holy in all his workes (as the Prophet speaketh Psalme 145.17.) to make his deare servants spectacles and examples of his severity against sin rather and oftner, then he doth the lewdest men that live; though sometimes he bring them upon the stage also, as he did Korah and his company Numb. 16. and 26.10.
The fourth and last way whereby God doth in this life shew more hatred to the sins of his owne people, then of any other men is this. That though hee doth in this life execute his judgements also, upon some wicked men as well as upon his owne, God is angry with the wicked (saith the Prophet, Psalme 7.11. and pla…ueth one or other of them) every day. Yet are not his judgements (usually) when they doe fall, so heavy, so sharpe, and extreame upon them, as they are upon his owne people. God is very terrible in the assembly of his Saints, in his true Church, among his owne people, saith the Prophet, Psalme 89.7. And of his judgements that he executeth upon wicked men in this life, if they be compared with those whereby he scourgeth his owne people, it may be said, as it is, of the misery and oppression the people endured vnderunder Solomon, compared with that they should suffer under Rehoboam, 1 Kin. 1….11 Hee chasteneth them with whip…, but his owne people with Scorpions. Therefore when the Lord threatneth extreame affliction, he expresseth it thus. Micab 6.16. Yee shall beare the reproach of my people. As if hee should say, I will so afflict you, as I use to afflict my people when they provoke mee. See an experiment of this in both the destructions of Ierusalem. Never did any people in the world endure so great miseries, as Gods people did there in both of them. Of the first, the Church thus complaineth, Lamenta. 1.12. Behold and see, if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me; wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me, in the day of his fierce anger. VnderUnder the whole heaven it hath not beene done (saith Daniel. 9 12.) as both beene done upon Ierusalem. And such a destruction the Lord himselfe foretold it should be, as never came upon any other people; such as all other nations should even wonder to see, and heare of, and be astonished at it. This house which I have sanctified for my name (saith the Lord, 2 Chron. 7.20.21.) will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverbe, and a by-word among all nations, and this house which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it. And Ezek. 5.9. I will doe in thee, that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not doe any more the like. And of the latter destruction of Ierusalem, our Saviour prophesieth, Mar. 13.19. In those dayes shall bee affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God made unto this time, neither shall be.
And thus have we heard the Doctrine confirmed sufficiently, That the sins of the regenerate are in sundry respects more hainous and dangerous then the same sins are, being committed by other men. And this we have had proved, both by the testimony of the regenerate themselves, and by the Lords owne testimony, he can as ill abide sin in his owne people, as in any other, yea, he hath shewed more hatred in this life to their sins, then to the sins of any other men.
Let us now come to enquire into the reasons of this. And first let us enquire what should be the reason, why the Lord is so severe against them, above all other men. For it may seeme strange, that having freely pardoned the sins of his people, and being fully reconciled to them in Christ, and loving them dearely with an everlasting love, God should yet deale more severely, and sharply with them in this life, then with any other. And indeed the Lord himselfe telleth us, that this should be a matter of wonder, and astonishment unto all men to see it. All nations shall say (saith the Lord Deut. 29.24) wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? What meaneth the heate of this great anger? Yea Gods owne choise servants have stood amazed at it, and beene troubled exceedingly, because they could not discerne any reason for it. Even when I remember it, I am afraid (saith Iob 21.6.) and trembling taketh hold on my flesh. And David Psal. 73.16, 17. When I sought to know this, it was too painfull for me, untill I went into the sanctuary of God. Let us therefore go into the sanctuary of God, and enquire there into the reason of this. And we shall find it may be referred unto three principall heads. For the Lord doth this out of a respect he hath. 1. VntoUnto the regenerate themselves whom he doth thus correct. 2. VntoUnto other men whom he maketh them an example unto. 3. Lastly. VntoUnto the quality and degree of his peoples sin, whom he doth deale thus sharply with.
Reason 1First. The Lord is thus sharpe and severe in correcting his dearest children out of the respect he hath to their persons, out of that eternall and unchangeable love he beareth unto them. Because he would keepe them from sinning as others doe, and from perishing as others shall, therefore he correcteth them so sharply as he doth. He medleth not with the thornes and bryars, but letteth them grow till they be fit for the fire, but his Vines he will cut and prune ever and anon. Many lewd men (because he careth not for them) he letteth alone, till they have filled up the measure of their sin. Fill yee up (saith our Saviour, Matth. 23.32.) the measure of your fathers. He loveth them not so well, as to correct them alwayes when they offend. I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredome, nor your spouses when they commit adultery, saith the Lord, Hosea 4.14. He reserveth wrath for his enemies, saith the Prophet Nahum 1.2. But his owne people, because he loveth them, he will be sure to correct them when they doe amisse. You onelyonly have I kowne (saith he, Amos 3.2. that is, loved and made choise of to be my peculiar people) of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. Iob admired the goodnesse of God in this. What is man (saith he, Iob 7.17, 18, 19.) that thou shouldst magnifie him? and that thou shouldst set shine heart upon him; and that thou shouldst visit him every morning and try him every moment? As if hee should say, It is a signe God maketh great reckoning of a man, and setteth his heart upon him, when he thus visiteth him with his corrections, ever when he offendeth. Certainly the Lord doth not this willingly. He doth not afflict willingly, saith the Church, Lam. 3.33. If he saw any other way so fit as this to keepe them from sinning outragiously, and so from perishing eternally, he would never deale thus with them. Behold I will melt them and try them (that is, correct them, and correct them sharply, saith the Lord, Ieremy 9.7.) for how shall I doe for the daughter of my people? As though he should have said, How should I keepe them from perdition, if I should not cast them into the fornace of affliction? So the Apostle giveth this for the reason, why the Lord so sharply corrected his people in Corinth with pestilence, and mortality, even for going unpreparedly to the Lords table. When we are judged (saith he. 1. Cor. 11.32.) we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. As if he should say, The Lord seeth, that if he should not scourge us, and scourge us thus sharply, even for these negligences of ours, for our loosenes and carelesnes in his service, we would be apt to grow as profane and lewd, as other men, and so cast our selves into everlasting perdition. And thus have the faithfull themselves judged of the Lords severity towards them. It is good for me (saith David, Psal. 119.71.) that I have beene afflicted; and verse 75. I know that thou in faithfullnesse hast afflicted me.