The Shield of Righteousness, Part 8
VER. 8. Doubtleſſe, (or onelyonly) with thine eyes ſhalt thou behold, &c.
WHat was before propounded, is (here) earneſtly affirmed concerning the deliuerances of Gods people in daies of trouble, when thouſands fall. For the Prophet ſaith, Thou ſhalt behold theſe Plagues vponupon others, to wit, with eyes of faith and ſeeing: or God will lay them before thee, and not vponupon thee; prouided that thou feare before his anger, and louelove his goodneſſe. And he ſpeaks of ſeeing, becauſe the experience bringeth peace vntounto the godly and many good things: but then they muſt hauehave eyes to ſee his iudgements, and an eye of faith to obſerue his louelove: his iudgements vponupon the wicked, & his louelove to them. Where the Doctrine is:
Gods children muſt not paſſe ouer Gods iudgements vponupon others Doct. 1 with a careleſſe eye, nor be without eyes to behold his goodneſſe vponupon themſelues. When they meete with ſuch an experience by day or night, they muſt hauehave their day-booke and night-watches for a remembrance of it. So Dauid marked diligently, as it were with a Selah, Gods proceedings in merciemercy to him and his Church, Pſal. 32.4.5.7. for where he had done any notable thing for his people, or for his King, he (as it were) foulded downe a leafe at it, and committed it to tables of memorie. Neither loſt he by the hand: nay the obſeruation was gainefull to him, for it miniſtred great courage to him againſt that brauing monſter Goliah. 1. Sam. 17.37. Abraham (alſo) was comforted in God by the ſame obſeruation of Gods former wayes, when out of him, he could hauehave but ſmall comfort to offer to death his beſt ſonne Iſaac, in whoſe bloud the whole world might ſeeme then to hauehave bene drowned, Geneſ. 22.3.8. Further, it was the practiſe of that excellent Author of 119. Pſalme, who in like caſe of Gods ſpeciall doings, meditated in his precepts, and conſidered his wayes, that is, carefully conſidered them, or wrote them downe. The fleſh is dull in theſe matters; therefore Dauid ſummons his ſoule vntounto them; ſaying: O my ſoule praiſe the Lord, and forget not all his benefits: Or, let no benefit of his be forgotten, Pſal. 103.2. as if he had ſaid; write them vp in thy memorie, and let not thy forgetfull ſenſe keepe the booke of them, or truſt not thy ſenſes with them, but write them in thy heart. In another Pſalme the ſame Prophet (for he was a great obſeruer of things in his time) doth not onelyonly penne theſe mercies of God, as in a booke for his owne memorie, but calls others to the meditation, as if hee would helpe their remembrance (alſo) by reading theſe things out of his booke to them, and therefore ſaith: Come and behold the workes of the Lord, Pſal. 46.8. as if he ſhould hauehave ſaid: I hauehave noted them, and do you obſerue them: As if one of vsus ſhould ſay to another: Come and ſee what times hauehave bene, and how they be changed; what ſickneſſe raigned once, and what health raigneth now; what want of fruites at ſome times, and what abundance at other. This yeare great ſtormes of trouble, and the next a great calme of peace, v. 9. The reaſons:
Reaſon 1 Gods children muſt be thankfull for Gods benefits, which cannot be long, if they forget them; nor longer then they be remembred: therefore God hath commanded that his high Acts ſhould not be forgotten; as where he hath beene extraordinarily good to his people, or ſeuerely ſharpe to his peoples enemies, Deut. 6.12. and 25.17.19.
Reaſon 2 Secondly, the Lord doth theſe great things that they might be remembred, Pſal. 111.4. and ſhall we, by our neglect of them, fruſtrate his ends?
Reaſon 3 Thirdly, if men threaten vsus, we remember our danger, and count it a diſhoneſtie (if they do vsus good,) to forget their louelove: and ſhall Gods threatnings not moue vsus, nor his loues make vsus thankfull? Shall a heathen Monarch keepe a Chronicle, or daybooke of good turnes done to him by his ſubiects; Heſt. 6.1.2. And ſhall Chriſtians keepe no memoriall of ſo wonderfull things done to them by the ſoueraigne Lord of all worlds?
Laſtly, the faithfull conſideration of Gods iudgements vponupon Reaſon 4 others, & mercies to vsus, will make vsus to feare his anger and to louelove his goodneſſe, Habac. 3.2. Exod. 14.31. Iudg. 5.1. Pſal. 78.35.40.42.
A reproofe of the ſlumbring multitude, that paſſe no obſeruation Vſe 1 vponupon Gods doings, let him be angrie or pleaſed, they are one kind of men ſtill, and neuer care to draw any thing from his anger or kindneſſe, for their amendment. Let him thunder maruellouſly with his voice, Iob 37.5. it is but a voyce that paſſeth by, and when the earth is moued, they are not moued. If hee bring the ſea out of his place (as lately he did) to puniſh our diſorder: what great thing doth he worthy noting? His iuſtice in puniſhing with ſo long and fearefull a Plague, is not in our minds: and wee hauehave forgotten his maruellous goodneſſe in the diſcouerie of the Powder-plot, which is paſt, as if God had done nothing. The earth hath trembled vnderunder vsus, the heauens hauehave bene vnquiet and much diſtempered ouer vsus: our houſes hauehave bene toſſed and ſhaken with winds: the ſtaffe of our bread hath bene broken: the enemie hath threatned vsus at our doores: and God hath taken away the wiſe man and the Counſellour: yea the righteous periſh; and who hath conſidered? Eſay 57.1. Hath the Lord done any thing, to wit, in our opinion in all this? or, have we learned ought by it more, then if nothing had bene done? HaueHave not his wonderfull works lately done, deſerued the pen of a readie writer in eueryevery of our hearts? but we hauehave prepared them, not as bookes of remembrance, but as graues to burie his kindneſſe.
An admonition to Gods faithfull Miniſters; the louder God Vſe 2 is in his iudgements, the louder to ſound the trumpet of exhortation in their preachings. Our admonitions muſt not runne alwaies in one tenour, but hauehave the point put vponupon them, as the Lord is more or leſſe prouoked, Eſay 58.1. For, he hath placed vsus in the watch-tower of his Church, that wee might hauehave an eye to his iudgements. The like admonition to all the faithfull, to obſerue Gods doings, and to vſe the eyes that he hath giuen them, to ſee his workes, and not to behold vanitie. It hath beene ſaid of the righteous, that they ſee the Plague, that is, as they thankfully ſcore vp bleſſings when they come, ſo they dolefully record the curſe when it commeth, Prou. 22.3. Neither do they ſee it onelyonly, but hide themſelues from it in a pure heart, and innocent life: where the wicked, not fearing the ſhot of God, neither the artillerie of his iudgements, go on ſtill, to wit, after one faſhion, and in their old way of impenitencie and hardneſſe, till they be deſtroyed. Good men will deepely imprint Gods doings; and be ſure to hauehave an arke of prouidence, builded by repentance, to flee vntounto when a floud is ſent: the wicked (hauing no ſuch conſideration) ſtand naked by ſinne in the face of eueryevery ſtorme that is ſent, and periſh in it. The ſumme of all is this: they that be Chriſtians indeed, muſt and will take a true inuentorie of Gods fauours and iudgements, and ſet downe in their minds by deepe obſeruation, as with a pen of iron, what he hath ſtrangely done, where Chriſtians in face onelyonly hauehave no ſuch notes about them of his ſtrange acts, and forget all his workes, as if they had neuer bene. Let vsus (therefore) not forget Gods acts, his ſtrange acts: neither Gods workes, his fearefull workes, worthy to be had in remembrance. And put it in your bookes what he did ſo lately; one yeare in a ſpring of no raine, and the next yeare in a ſommer of ſo much raine: take your bill, or booke of tables, and write what God did ſcarefully in that great Plague, Luke 16.6.7.and ſtrangely in remouing it. Alſo, what deſolations he made by the ſea, in thoſe Weſt-country flouds: or, if we hauehave forgotten, let vsus remember how God ſet his heauen as braſſe againſt our faces of braſſe: and made it to weepe day and night in raine of long continuance, becauſe wee would ſhed no teares for our ſinnes. Let vsus not forget the ſignes which he ſent among vsus, and which hauehave not bene few: nor his tokens on earth, nor his wonders in the ſea: nor what ſtrange lights he hath ſet with his owne hand in the firmament: nor what a graue was made for vsus by Spaniards once, and once by men of our owne nation; and how we were (at both times) deliuered, and they throwne in as our ranſome: nor how often the ſword hath bene ſet to our very heart, in practiſes againſt our mother in Iſrael and our father now.
Gods end in cauſing the righteous to ſee the Plagues of ſinners, is to aſſure them (the more) in their weake faith and patience, that he will ratifie what he hath ſpoken: and here we learne, That the Lord knowing whereof we are made, Pſal. 103.14. doth diſpenſe with his owne right, to beare with our infirmities. So he did not onelyonly burie the Aegyptians in the ſea, but did it, his people looking on, Exod. 14.30.31. who ſaw them to go downe (quicke) to thoſe graues: and Dauid ſaith, When the wicked ſhall periſh, thou ſhalt ſee▪ Pſal. 37.34. His meaning is, that the wicked ſhall die ſtrangely, and that the godly ſhall ſee their ſtrange death: they ſhall periſh as God hath ſaid, and the other ſee it, that they may not doubt: or, they ſhall periſh that God may magnifie his truth vponupon his enemies, and his people ſee it, that he may be magnified in his children. The ſmoke of Sodome mounted vp as the ſmoke of a fornace, and Abraham muſt ſee it, Geneſ. 19.28. Sedome was wicked and deſtroyed, and Abraham the friend of God beheld her deſtruction. Likewiſe, the fiue Kings of the Amorites, appointed to the ſword, could not be hid; but were found, and brought out to be executed before all Iſrael that ſame day, Ioſ. 10.24.26. it muſt be done, and Iſrael muſt ſee it done. For, the man of power ſhall be deſtroyed, and the man of wiſedome, the righteous man ſhall ſee it, Pſal. 52.5.6. The reaſons:
Our graces of faith, patience, perſeuerance, ſpirituall fortitude, Reaſon 1 and the like, are very weake (many times) without the vphold of the outward ſenſes: and therefore hee that for our weakeneſſe hath added Sacraments, as ſeales to his word to beare it vp, is content to vphold his promiſe in other things with theſe ſenſible helps. And now, as there is no ſenſe more helpefull and certaine then this of ſeeing, none that imprinteth deeper affections in the paſſiue part of the ſoule, then it: So the Lord chuſeth in ſuch caſes, to confirme and ſettle vsus, rather by ſeeing then by heare-ſay. He that is able to ſay, that he is an eye-witneſſe to a thing, may better reſolue himſelfe and perſwade another in that thing, then he that can onelyonly ſay, he heard it.
Secondly, if God did not thus to beare with his children, by Reaſon 2 diſpenſation, giuing them, for the helpe of their weake faith in him, proppes of ſenſe to hold by, they would quickly, not ſtagger onelyonly but fall downe in a deſpaire of his promiſes: but God will not ſee the fall of his people; and his people ſhall ſee the ſaluation of their God.
Reaſon 3 Thirdly, beholding in others with our eyes the recompence of ſinne, it will make vsus (if we belong to God) in a fright, to forſake that way, that caſteth ſuch troubles vponupon thoſe that trauell in it. Now, the Lord knowing that ſuch frights are ſometimes neceſſarie for his children to the helpe of their conuerſion to him, doth ſet the wicked before them in the recompence of their errour by ſome notable deſtruction, that they may take heede in time.
Vſe 1 This diſpenſation of Gods mercy to his children, in a time Peſtilence or other publick viſitation bearing with them, and not ſuffering them to come vponupon the ſcaffold where others are cut off by death; ſhould teach them, from ſuch matter of his patience toward them and ſeuerity to others, to gather benefit to their amendment, and not boldneſſe (thereby) to doe euill, Rom. 2.4. If God be terrible in his works; that is, if he viſit with a wonderfull Plague, with ſtrange ſickneſſes and yeares, with diſorderly ſprings and ſummers, with dearths and death, it is that the world, the godly (at leaſt) ſhould worſhip him, and ſing vntounto his Name, Pſal. 66.3, 4. or, that they ſhould turne to him, and not turne wantons. For, they are not ſpared by chance, or becauſe they are worthy: nor doe they ouerliue the calamities of thoſe; who in times of mortalitie, come ſooner to deaths houſe then they, that they ſhould flatter themſelues in an euill cuſtome, becauſe God hath beene more fauourable to them then to theſe: but they ſee the deſtruction of others, in their owne ſafetie, that by ſuch a ſight they may be made more fearefull to offend, and more carefull to pleaſe God in his commandements now, then before. And this good vſe muſt all Gods children make of his ſparing hand to them or theirs, not carrying the grace of it into wantonneſſe: for, God doth it in louelove to their benefit, and they muſt apply it in wiſdome to the cure of their vnbeliefe and purging of their wickedneſſe. Some, (as if the Lord did puniſh at aduenture in ſuch caſes, and not directly for ſinne) hold on their prouocations, neither changing their skinne, nor altering their ſpots, Ier. 13.23. And theſe are more ſenſles then the ſenſles beaſt: for, the Beaſt feareth exceedingly when hee ſeeth one of his fellowes knockt downe before his face, and pitifully roareth out when he ſenteth his fellowes blood: but theſe are ſenſles of Gods ſtrokes lift vp vponupon men like themſelues: and are not moued where the beaſt is ſo greatly moued: neither pitie Chriſtian blood. It is ſaid of the waters, that they ſaw God, and were afraid, Pſal. 77.16 and of the earth, that it beheld his lightnings, and ſhooke, verſe 18. theſe ſee him in his iudgements, and feare nothing: and (in times of Plague) behold him in many deaths, which are lightnings before their owne death, and ſhake neuer a whit. But Gods children, being taught in a better ſchoole, muſt make another and a better vſe of his patience towards them, and iudgements in the world; not imputing their ſafetie to chance, or proudly to their worthineſſe, as if they had beene no ſuch ſinners as they vponupon whom the tower of thoſe deaths fell, & ſlew them Luk. 13.4. but aſcribing all to God that ſpared them, and confeſſing before him, and the ſonnes of men, how iuſtly he might hauehave donne as much, or more to them, but that hee would hauehave them to liue to praiſe his name, and to confeſſe his truth, that had made them to follow others to their graues, who might hauehave followed them to theirs.
Secondly, this example of Gods bearing with vsus, ſhould be an Ʋſe 2 inducement to vsus, to beare one with another. If he forgiue vsus in the ten thouſand talēts, we muſt not tak our brother by the throat, in the hundred pence, Mat. 18.27, 28. nor, where God ſetteth vsus at liberty for great matters, impriſon our brother for a trifle: my meaning is, where God beareth with our weake faith, and accepts vsus in it, notwithſtanding that we will not truſt him further then we ſee him; nor without ſome paune; it is our part much more to beare with ſome things in our weake brethren, being men as wee are ſubiect to like infirmities Iames 5.17. hee that is ſtrong ought to beare the infimities of the weake, Rom. 15.1. the Apoſtle ſaith ought or muſt: as if he had ſaid; it is his duty and part to beare them. And one of the commendations, and not the leaſt, that Eliphaz giues to Iob is; that he ſtrengthened the weary hands, and knees that bowed downe, Iob. 4.3▪ 4. as if hee had ſaid: he refreſhed them being wearie; and being weake, was a piller of ſtay vntounto them; or he was tender of them, and did not breake them in their bruſings: for, the way thus to beare, is to hauehave tender bowels: which the Apoſtle Saint Paul intimates, where, in doing of this, hee bidds vsus to conſider our ſelues, Gal. 6.1. as if hee ſhould ſay, that this conſideration of our frailtie (if it be impartiall and earneſt as it ſhould be) will make vsus to practiſe this duty with meekneſſe: for, then wee conſider our ſelues in them, that their caſe may bee ours, and that as they hauehave fallen, ſo may we: but when wee conſider that God, in reproouing and afflicting man, doth deſcend to his weakneſſe, Pſal. 78.39. and that Chriſt became like to vsus in all things, that we might be touched with a ſenſe of others infirmities, as he was of ours, Heb. 4.15. how can we but handle their Soares gently, and with the ſpirit of meekeneſſe, whoſe wounds bled before vsus, and ſhould not bee ſtrained but bound vp with our tendereſt compaſſions? And (here) ſpirituall men ſhould remember that they were once carnall: and old men not forget that once they were children: they that hauehave paſſed the temptations of youth, ſhould call to minde what difficulties they mett with in the paſſage: and they that hauehave gotten the ſhoare, think of the ſea which they hauehave eſcaped: for, thus beholding others in the glaſſe of themſelues, (not as they are but as they hauehave beene) they ſhall bee better able to ſhew this meekneſſe to all men; becauſe they themſelues were Doct. 3 in times past, vnwiſe, diſobedient, deceiued, ſeruing luſts and diuers pleaſures, hatefull, and hating one another, Tit. 3.2, 3.
But when God viſits his Church with a Plague, wee may not call it (as here) the Plague of the wicked, and if he (then) make vsus (rather) to behold it in others, then to ſee the worke of it in our ſelues; it is that wee ſhould bee the more compaſſionate toward them in that humiliation: where we learne to ſhew pitie to thoſe whom God hath, any way, humbled in his Church: for, we muſt behold their miſeries otherwiſe, and with other eyes then wee ſee the Plague of the wicked. Moſes had this pitifull and tender heart, whom the glory of a Kings Court could not make to forget his brethrens burdens, Exod. 2.11. Heb. 11.25, 26. So though Ruth might hauehave gon backe to her countrie with her ſiſter-in-law; yet would ſhe not let her mother-in-law go alone in her affliction, but went with her (foot by foot) in all her trouble from the Land of Moab to the Land of Iſrael, Ruth 2.15.17. Daniel, in the captiuitie, was in no bondage himſelfe, but highly in fauour with the King; yet ſo long as Gods people were in diſtreſſe, and Gods Temple in deſolation, hee could not bee merry, but ſorrowed and wept, Dan. 10.2, 3. and Zealous Nehemiah, a great man in the Kings Court and fauour, and in an Honorable Office very neere the Kings Perſon, could not hide the griefe of his heart from breaking forth in his countenance, nor take any comfort in thoſe great Honours he held from the Kings immediate Grace and bounty then, ſo long as his brethren were in aduerſity, & the houſe of the Sepulchers of his Fathers lay waſte, Nehem 2.2 3. the like tender bowels had worthy Vriah, vnworthily dealt with by Dauid, 2 Sam. 11.11.15. and Mordecai a man of ſorrowes for the ſorrowes of his Nation: and Heſter the Queene, who was in great heauines for Mordecai & for them, Heſt. 4.1.2.4. The reaſons: Reaſon 1
We ſhould be followers of God, Epheſ. 5.1. and practiſe mercy, as he is mercifull.
Secondly, that affection which is naturall to the eye doth teach Reaſon 2 vsus this duty: for, the eye that is made to ſee the griefe of the creature, is made to weepe for it: ſo it is in the naturall bodie: and ſo ſhould it be in the myſticall of Chriſt.
Thirdly, we are one anothers members, 1 Cor. 12.27. now members of one body ſhould (all) ſuffer together, & reioyce together, v. 26. Reaſon 3
Fourthly, if we beleeue the communion of Saints; we cannot Reaſon 4 denie to take part with them in weale or wo. For, as when two or mo are partners in a Trade, they partake (indifferently) with the loſſe and gettings that ariſe of that ſociety: ſo Chriſtians, in this ſociety and trade of ſpirituall members, ſhould recken the Churches good their good, and the Churches miſerie, their Plague: and that which is ſpoken of the whole, holdeth, in eueryevery member: therefore; if a neighbours houſe bee viſited (as in time of Peſtilence) it ſhould moue vsus as if ours were ſo: if our neighbour be in trouble, as if we were troubled in him: and if he mourne, as if we ſorrowed.
A reproofe of the incompaſſionate and vnlouing priuateneſſe Ʋſe 1 that hath been in many toward a Citie or Towne, ſhut vp with the Plague, as with Gods owne Key. For, ſome hauehave had no bowels in them at ſuch times, to helpe it with prayer, or to relieue it with victuals: and hauehave eſteemed it their beſt policie and part, to keepe their people and markets from it. Such, behold the Plague of a Towne as Dauids flatterers beheld his trouble, who beheld it a farre off.
Ʋſe 2 An inſtruction, as at all times, to put on large bowels of nature, and tender of compaſſion: ſo eſpecially, when our neighbours miſeries require the ſame. We muſt (at all times) pray one for another, but ſpecially in trouble; and one member helpe another, but chiefly in that members need. So, when the Lord viſiteth with Peſtilence a Towne or Citie, in that caſe of ſickneſſe and reſtraint of trades: the rich (whoſe ſtore God hath bleſſed) ſhould, in an odour of liberality to the poore there, offer that Sacrifice to God, which the Apoſtle ſayth was offered to the Lord, in him, by Epaphroditus, An Odour that ſmelleth ſweete, a Sacrifice acceptable and pleaſant to God, Phil. 4.18. And to prouoke them the rather to this duety, let them remember that it is the exhortation of the Holy Ghoſt by the ſame Apoſtle; While ye hauehave opportunitie doe good vntounto all, Gal. 6.10. Now is the time, and they that hauehave this worlds goods, hauehave the fit time of doing it: or, what can they tell, if God wil euer put ſuch an occaſion into their hands againe, neglecting this? So much for the Prophets earneſt affirmation: the euidence ſpoken of followeth.