King Solomons Solace, Book · Chapter 19
CHAP. XIX.
Zadoke declareth the ſeventh cauſe of Solomons ſorrow, which is the ſinne of Solomon.
NOw will I endeuour (ſaide Zadoke) to ſatiſfie your requeſt. I will declare the ſeventh cauſe; Yea, I will ſhew you the laſt and greateſt cauſe of the Kinges ſorrowfull heart. And well is this called the greateſt: For were it not thereof, the King might well reſolue (as he knoweth beſt how to reſolue) that eueryevery thing whatſoever might or ſhould betide him, could not ſo much hurt, or annoy either him or his people, as it ſhalbe for his and their good ſo long as both he and they ſhal feare God,The ſafety of them whome God preſerveth. howſoeuer it ſhould ſeeme hurtful and loathſome in the eyes of men. See therefore what a ſoueraign good thing it is to feare the Lord, for ſuch as feare him the Lord loueth, & thē whom he loueth, he ſafely protecteth, and for that their protection, he hath a ſpeciall care and regard. This David conſidered, found in triall to be true, and therefore did ſing, as in the Pſalme.
pſal. 91.11.For why; vntounto his Angels bright,
a ſpeciall charge gives hee,
In all thy waies for to protect,
preſerve and proſper thee:
And that they beare thee in their handes,
and waite ſtill thee vponupon,
That not vnwares thou fall, nor bruſe
thy foote against a ſtone.
Thus are they happy which feare the Lorde, becauſe the Lord bleſſeth and preſerueth them. But now the king perceiueth that the Lord hath turned away his gratious countenāce, & looketh ſternly & angerly vpō him & vponupon his people, and that the fierce wrath of God is bent and now comming vntounto him and vsus, the force whereof no man liuing is able to reſiſt or to withſtand. For who can beare the matchleſſe power of the Almightie?A deſcription of God being angry. God in his anger is as a ramping Lyon, as an hungry Beare, as a conſuming fire, as a mightie ſtorme, as a waliant warryer, as a cruell tyrant, as a mighty Gyant, as a terrible Iudge. If hee touch the high mountaines they ſhall tremble and ſmoke (as David did ſing) And this to confirme, the king hath placed before his eyes the fearefull Iudgements of God, which in his wrath were executed on the old rebellious people: he remembreth that when the Lord God was prouoked to anger, by the diſobedience of our firſt parents Adam, Gen. 3.24.and Hevah, (though they were his beloued and the firſt that hee had created in his owne Image) hee looked ſternely on them, and withall hee delayed not to call them into iuſt iudgement, nor ſpared he to puniſh them. Therfore, he ſent thē both out of pleaſant Paradize, oppoſed them to all miſeries, and barred the gate, that they might not enter into that bleſſed Tabernacle, which was appointed, not for the polluted, but for cleane and holy perſons: The king alſo remembreth, the example of Gods heauy wrath againſt Cayn, Gen. 4.whom he reprobated, puniſhed, and baniſhed from his fathers houſe, and made a vagabond on the earth, and that iuſtly becauſe he had ſinned againſt the Lorde in killing of his brother: He ſetteth alſo before his face the example of Gods fierce anger, on the olde worldings in the time of Noah, whom hee deſtroyed without merciemercy with the flood of waters:Gen. 6. hee calleth into memory the example of the diuine wrath, executed on the filthy Sodomites, Gen. 19.whom the Lord burned with fire and brimſtome. Hee is not vnmindfull,Exod. 32.28. how the Lord vexed and afflicted our Fathers in the wilderneſſe, when they had angred him with their ſinnes, of whom onelyonly two of them which came out of Egypt (being aboue twentie yeares of age) could recouer poſſeſſion in the promiſed land. Neither is he forgetfull: how terrible the Lord ſhewed himſelfe to king David and his people, not onelyonly then,2. Sam. 12. when David had tranſgreſſed in the caſe of Vriah: but alſo, when he had numbred the people. For the one offence, the Lord ſtirred vp his owne ſonne, and them of his owne houſe againſt him: and for the other, threeſcore and ten thouſand periſhed with peſtilence, and had not David repented and entreated merciemercy, he had likewiſe periſhed in that high diſpleaſure.Sin is odious to God, For ſinne is that which the Lord abhorreth, and as odious as is a Toade, or ſerpent to a man, ſo is the ſin that men commit againſt the Lord vntounto him: ſo that as they are contemned and abandoned of men which nouriſh and foſter vp ſuch venemous beaſts: they are no leſſe loathſome to God which commit ſin, and wallow and tumble in the filthineſſe of that which God abhorreth. Therefore vponupon ſuch (as David ſaid) the Lorde raineth haile, fire and brimſtone, which is their portion in his wrath, neither is there any thing els due vntounto them, but death, ſhame and confuſion: againe, praying againſt ſuch, hee ſaith to the Lord: Set thou an vngodly man to be Ruler over him, and let Sathan ſtand at his right hand. pſal. 109.When ſentence is given vponupon him, let him bee condemned, & let his prayer bee turned into ſinne. Let his dayes be few, and let another take his office. Let his children bee fatherles, and his wife a widow: let his children be vagabonds and begge their bread: let them ſeeke it alſo out of deſolate places. Let the extortioner conſume all that he hath, and let the ſtranger ſpoile his labour: let there be no man to pittie him, nor to hauehave compaſſion vponupon his fatherles children. Let his posteritie be deſtroyed, and in the next generation, let his name bee cleane put out: let the wickednes of his fathers be had in remembrance in the ſight of the Lord and let not the ſinne of his mother he done away, &c. Now of ſuch things feareth the king, and therefore is waxen very penſiue and heauy, not able to withſtand the ſtrokes of Gods anger, conceiued againſt him and his people.The fiercenes of Gods wrath. *Alas, Alas, (then ſayd the Princes) it is a moſt fearefull thing to prouoke the Lord, & to fall into his hands with guiltie conſciences: for wonderfull and terrible is the Lord in his wrath, as ye hauehave well ſayd. For though the Lord be ſlow to anger when hee looketh for mans repentance & amendement of life: yet is he of great power, and will in no caſe acquit the wicked, Though he be moſt mercifull being pleaſed: yet being prouoked, he is moſt terrible and cruell to them that prouoke him. His dealing will be with bluſtring ſtormes, high tempeſts, and whirle-winds, and the cloudes of the ayre are the duſt of his feete▪ he will rebuke the raging ſea, and dry it vp, with all the famous riuers of the land: yea, Baſan and Carmel ſhall ſhrinke, the ſpring alſo of Libanus ſhall be deſtroyed, and the faire trees thereof ſhal be burnt with fire: The great mountaines ſhall quake at his mighty power, and the hils ſhalbe diſſolued: the earth alſo ſhall burne at his ſterne countenance, with the worlde and all that dwelleth therein. What man is hee, that is able to ſtand before his fierce wrath? or who can riſe vp before the dreadfull anger of his countenance? his fierceneſſe is powred foorth like conſuming fire: yea the hard Rocks cleaue in peeces at his might: the ſtrong pillars of heauen tremble, and all the kindreds of the earth weepe and waile before him, when hee beginneth to appeare, to viſite and to holde his Court of Iuſtice. Well therefore may the king mourne, and bee holden with continuall ſadneſſe, if the conſideration of the diuine wrath hath ſeized on his heart.zadoke tels that the king himſelfe is the cauſe of this wrath. * But ſo much the more (ſayde Zadok) is the King perplexed, and ſtandes in feare, becauſe (as hee hath lately found and conſidered) the greateſt cauſe of this anger both riſe of himſelfe. For if a ſtranger had hurt him, he might hauehave diſſembled it: if an enemie, hee might hauehave reuenged it: if a friend, hee might hauehave complained of it: but the cauſe beeing in himſelfe, to whom ſhould hee make his moane? of whom ſhould he ſéeke comfort. Although I will not iuſtifie the whole Congregation of Iſrael, The people which dyed in the plague were not free of tranſgreſſion.no more then I might ſay, that all the people which dyed in the peſtilence in the time of Davids tranſgreſſion, were guiltles: (for no doubt they were faultie alſo before the Lord) yet beyonde them all, our Lorde king Solomon hath highly offended, whereof it may come to paſſe, that the Lorde, who was mercifull vntounto Iſrael, and in his mercy gaue them ſuch a King, as by the which hee might expreſſe vntounto them his louelove, is now minded to take and remooue farre from them this happy occaſion of their peace, and ſo to leaue them and commit thē to the hurtfull hand of the angel of wrath to be puniſhed, according to their deſerts: from the ſenſe whereof, they hauehave been thus long kept and preſerued, by the bleſſed meanes of king Solomon. Now, I remember what the Lord ſaid to Moſes, when our Fathers had offended, and Moſes neuertheleſſe earneſtly prayed and requeſted him for their pardon. Suffer me, ſayth he or giuegive me leaue,Exod. 22.10, that my wrath may waxe hot againſt thē, and conſume them. Sée the goodnes of God, who not only ſtayd & was reſtrained frō ſmiting of them vponupon his requeſt, but acknowledged Moſes the meane of their pardon!
In what ſenſe the people are ſaid to bee plagued for Dauids ſinne.But we hauehave that example of our owne time, euen of David the kings father and his people yet in memorie. For as long as he pleaſed Iehova his God, God eſteemed him & accepted him for the occaſion of their peace, though they had deſerued wrath & confuſion. But after that David had tranſgreſſed with them and angred the Lorde, then became he, who was before an occaſion of the peoples ſaftie, an occaſion of their puniſhment, that not only for his own ſin, but alſo for their ſins, who now had not him (in this time of diſgrace) for their further means to health, nor any other ſuch Sauiour, as might ſtand vp in the gape between God & them, & that becauſe they repented not: wherfore the Lord ſent forth the meſſenger of death, who ſmote 70. thouſand perſons with the plague of peſtilence, that they dyed within 3 dayes. And ſurely we may feare eueryevery one of vsus, what ſhal ſhortly enſue & fall both on our king and the people, ſeeing that God being now angry with our king for his ſinnes, neither looketh gratiouſly on him, now accepteth him and his doings, as an occaſion of our peace.Solomons youth & age. Indeede, the king in his yong yeeres behaued himſelfe moſt grauely, ſhined in all princely vertues, which did adorne and beautifie both his perſon and place, which gaue vntounto vsus, and to all his people, both hope and expectation of a farre greater excellencie to follow in his Age: as thoſe trees which, blowing faire in the ſpring time of the yeere, put men in hope of fruits thereof in the time of harueſt. But alas, the king hath in this point farre deceiued all mens expectation, behauing himſelfe moſt vnwiſely, both before God and in the eyes of all good men, in this time of his age, by the which he hath diſtained his honor, and depriued vsus all of that glory the which through him wee had atchiued, and hoped by the ſame to hauehave had eſtabliſhed on our Nation for euer, according to the word of the Lord, ſpoken to David in his good louelove. And of this, as I cannot thinke without griefe of heart: ſo can I not ſpeake without weeping teares, and deepe ſighes. *Then anſwered Zabud, zabud.(as not a little greeued and ſorrowfull in his heart, to heare ſuch hard tydings of the king, with whom he had béene ſo familiarly acquainted) and ſayd: But what is it (I beſeech you, moſt reuerend Father) wherein the kings Maieſtie hath ſo heynouſly and daungerouſly faulted, and ſo highly prouoked God to diſpleaſure? I doubt not, but that without diſhonor to the king, hurt to your ſelfe, or offence to any of vsus preſent, it may bee ſpoken heere in Councell, that thereby the ſooner wee may conſult and conſider thereof with iudgement, and endeuor (to our power) to ſalue the diſpleaſure.
Alas (ſayd Zadoke) when one man offendeth againſt another, there may bee a dayes-man to reconcile them:zadok telleth wherein the king hath offended. 1. Sam. 2.25. but if a man ſinne againſt the Lorde of heauen, who can decide it? Thus ſaid Eli the Priest in the like caſe. But now ſauing the kings honour and your reuerence (my Lordes) the king hath committed (ah how ſorowfull am I to ſay it?) the king hath committed (but alack, ſhall I vtter it? my tongue would rather cleaue to the roofe of my mouth) The King hath committed (ah yet how loath and haſhfull am I to tell it? Howbeit, it is already ſeene and not couered, it is ſpoken off and not couched in ſilence, euen of them that dwell not in the Court, but in the Countrey: yea, aſwell of them that bee without, as of them that remaine within, howſoeuer wee would diſſimble it) the King (I ſay) hath committed three great euils, of the which the moſt part of all this diſpleaſure and ſorrow commeth both to himſelfe and to vsus. For beholde, Firſt, The King hath multiplyed wiues to himſelfe: Secondly, Hee hath combyned himſelfe with ſtraunge women. Thirdly, Hee hath turned away his heart from the Lorde.
This being ſayd the Princes were all abaſhed, and wonderfully amazed, not knowing what to ſay, or what to expect; or what to thinke; but pauzed, and looked one on another of them, nor could their fearefull tongues vtter the thoughtes of their grieued hearts.