Eighty Sermons, penitential psalms · Sermon 54
SERM. LIV. Preached to the KING at White-hall, upon the occaſion of the Faſt, April 5. 1628.
PSAL. 6.6, 7.
I am weary with my groaning; All the night make I my bed to ſwin, I water my couch with my teares.
Mine eye is conſumed becauſe of griefe; It waxeth old, becauſe of all mine-enemies.
THis is Davids humiliation; and comming after his repentance and reconciliation, Davids penance: And yet here is no Faſt; It is true; No Faſt named; David had had experience, that as the wiſeſt actions of Kings, (of Kings as Kings over Subjects) ſo the devouteſt actions of Kings, (of Kings, as humble Subjects to the King of Kings, the God of Heaven) had been miſinterpreted. Of ſighing, and groaning, and weeping, and languiſhing, (as in this Text) David ſpeaks often, very, very often in the Pſalmes; and they let him ſigh, and groane, and weepe, and languiſh; they neglect his Paſſion, and are not affected with that; but that is all; they afflict him no farther: But when he comes to faſting, they deride him, they reproach him; Cares God whether you eat, or faſt? But thrice in all the Pſalmes does David ſpeake of his faſting, and in all three places, it was miſ-interpreted, and reproachfully miſ-interpreted; I humbled my ſoule with faſting,Pſal. 35.13. and my prayer returned into mine own boſome; He did this (as he ſayes there) for others, that needed it, and they would not thanke him for it, but reproached him. When I wept, and chaſtned my ſoule with faſting, Pſal. 69.10. Pſal. 109.24.that was to my reproach. So alſo my bones are weake through faſting, and I became a reproach unto them. And therefore no wonder that David does not ſo often mention and publiſh his faſting, as his other mortifications; No wonder that in all his ſeaven penetentiall Pſalmes, (which are the Churches Tropicks for mortification and humiliation,) there is no mention of his faſting. But for his practiſe, (though he ſpeak not ſo much of it in the Pſalmes) in his hiſtory where others, not himſelfe, ſpeake of him, we know that when he mourned, and prayed for his ſick childe, he faſted too. And we doubt not,2 Sam. 2.15. but that, when he was thus wearied, (I am weary with my groaning; All the night make I my bed to ſwim, I water my Couch with my teares; Mine eye is conſumed becauſe of griefe; It waxeth old becauſe of all mine enemies) he faſted too; He faſted oftner, then he tells us of it. As S. Hierome ſayes, Iejunium non perfecta virtus, ſed caeterarum virtutum fundamentum, Hieron.If we muſt not call faſting (as faſting is but a bodily abſtinence) a religious act, an act of Gods worſhip, yet it is a Baſis, and a foundation, upon which other religious acts, and acts of Gods worſhip are the better advanced. It is ſo at all times; but it is ſo eſpecially when it is enjoyned by Soveraigne authority, and upon manifeſt occaſion, as now to us. Semper virtutis Cibus Iejunium fuit, It is elegantly, and uſefully ſaid: At all times,Leo. Religion feeds upon faſting, and feaſts upon faſting, and grows the ſtronger for faſting. But, Quod pium eſt agere non indictum, impium eſt negligere praedicatum, Idem.It is a godly thing to faſt uncommanded, but to neglect it being commanded, is an ungodly, an impious, a refractary perverſneſſe, ſayes the ſame Father. But then another carries it to a higher expreſſion, Deſperationis genus eſt, tunc manducare, cum abſtinere debeas, Maximus de jejunio Ninevitarum.Not to faſt when the times require it, and when Authority enjoynes it, or not to beleeve, that God will be affected and moved with that faſting, and be the better enclined for it, is deſperationis genus, a deſpairing of the State, a deſpairing of the Church, a deſpairing of the grace of God to both, or of his mercy upon both. And truly there cannot be a more diſloyall affection then that, deſper are rem publicam, to foreſpeak great Councels, to be witch great actions, to deſpaire of good ends in things well intended: And in our diſtreſſes, where can we hope, but in God? and how ſhall we have acceſſe to God, but in humiliation? We doubt not therefore but that this act of humiliation, his faſting was ſpread over Davids other acts in this Text, and that as a ſinner in his private perſon, and as a King in his publique and exemplar office, he faſted alſo, (though he ſayes not ſo) when he ſaid he was wearied, I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to ſwim, I water my couch with my teares; mine eye is conſumed becauſe of griefe; It waxeth old becauſe of all mine enemies.
But though this faſting, and theſe other penall acts of humiliation, be the body that carries, and declares, yet the ſoule that inanimates, and quickens all, is prayer; and therefore this whole Pſalme is a prayer; And the prayer is partly Deprecatory, In ſome things David deſires that God would forbeare him, as v. 1. Correct me not, for if thou correct me, others will trample upon me; Rebuke me not, for if thou rebuke me, others will calumniate me; And partly Poſtulatory, that ſome things God would give him, as Health, and Deliverance, and that which is all, Salvation, in the other verſes. Both parts of the prayer are (as all prayer muſt be) grounded upon reaſons; and the reaſons are from divers rootes; ſome from the conſideration of himſelfe, and they argue his humiliation; ſome from the contemplation of God, and they teſtifie his devotion, and preſent recourſe to him; ſome from both together, God, and himſelfe joyntly, which is an acknowledgement, that God works not alone in heaven, nor man lives not alone upon earth, but there is a Converſation, and a Correſpondence, and a Commerce betweene God and Man, and Conditions, and Contracts, and Covenants, and Stipulations betweene them, and ſo a mutuall intereſt in one another. From God himſelfe alone, David raiſes a reaſon, v. 4. Propter miſericordiam, O ſave me for thy mercies ſake; for of the mercy of God, there is no precedent, there is no concurrent reaſon, there is no reaſon of the mercy of God, but the mercy of God: from God, and himſelf together, he raiſes a reaſon, v. 5. Quia non in morte, For in death there is no remembrance of thee; Deſtroy me not, for if I die, Quid facies magno nomini tuo? (as Ioſhuah ſpeaks) what will become of thy glory? of that glory which thou ſhouldeſt receive from my ſervice in this world, if thou take me out of this world? But then, as he begun in reaſons ariſing from himſelf, and out of the ſenſe of his owne humiliation under the hand of God, (for ſo hee does) v. 2. Quia infirmus, Have mercy upon me, becauſe I am weake, and cannot ſubſiſt without that mercy. And Quiaturbata oſſa, his bones were vexed; Habet anima oſſa ſua, ſayes S. Baſil, The ſoule hath bones as well as the body; The bones of the ſoule are the ſtrongeſt faculties, and beſt operations of the ſoule, and his beſt, and ſtrongeſt actions, were but queſtionable actions, diſputable, and ſuſpitious actions; And Turbata anima, all his faculties, even in their very roote, his very ſoul, was ſore vexed, v. 3. As, I ſay, hee began with reaſons of that kinde, ariſing from himſelfe, ſo he returnes and ends with the ſame humiliation, in the reaſons ariſing from himſelfe too, Quia laboravi in gemitu, I am weary with my groaning, all the night make I my bed to ſwimme, &c.
As our Saviour Chriſt entred into the houſe to his Diſciples,Iohn 20.28. Ianuis clauſis, when the doores were ſhut: ſo God enters into us too, Ianuis clauſis, when our eyes have not opened their doores, in any reall penitent teares, when our mouthes have not opened their doores, in any verball prayers; God ſees, and he heares the inclinations of the heart. S. Bernard notes well upon thoſe words of Chriſt,John 11. at the raiſing of Lazarus, Father I thank thee, that thou haſt heard me, That at that time, when Chriſt gave thanks to God, for having heard him, he had ſaid nothing to his Father; but God had heard his heart. Since God does ſo even to us, he will much more heare us, as David, when we make outward declarations too, becauſe that outward declaration conduces more to his glory, in the edification of his ſervants, therefore David comes to that declaratory proteſtation, Quia labor avi in gemitu, I am weary with my groaning, &c.
In which words,Diviſio. we ſhall conſider, Quid factum, and Quid faciendum, What David did, and what we are to doe: for David, after he had thrown himſelfe upon the mercy of God, after he had confeſſed, and prayed, and done the ſpirituall parts of repentance, he afflicts his body beſides; And ſo ought we likewiſe to doe, if we will be partakers of Davids example. And therefore we may doe well to conſider Quid faciendum, How this Example of David bindes us, how theſe groanings and waterings of his bed with teares, and other Mortifications aſſumed after repentance, and reconciliation to God, lay an obligation upon us.
But this is our part, Quid faciendum, what is to be done by us; Firſt, Quid factum, what David did; and truly he did much: firſt gemuit, he came to greane, to ſigh, to outward declarations of inward heavineſſe. And Laberauit in gemits, He laboured, he travelled in that paſſion, and (as the word imports, and as our later Tranſlation hath it) he was wearied, tired with it; ſo farre, that (as it is in the firſt Tranſlation) he faimed, he languiſhed with it. Firſt he ſighed, and ſighed ſo; and groaned, and groaned ſo; paſſionately, vehemently, and then openly, exemplarily; and he was not aſhamed of it, for he came to weeping, though he knew it would be thought childiſh: And that in that abundance, Natare feci, and Liqueſeci lectum, He watred his bed, diſſolved his bed, made his bed to ſwimme, ſurrounded his bed with teares; And more, he macerated his bed with that brine: And then he continued this affliction; It was not a ſudden paſſion, a flaſh of remorſe; but he continued it, till his eye was conſumed by reaſon of that anguiſh, and deſpite, and indignation; as our diverſe Tranſlations vary the expreſſing thereof; ſo long, as night and day laſted, ſo long, as that he was waxen old under it; and when this great affliction ſhould have brought him ſafely into harbour, that he might have reſted ſecurely at laſt, his enemies that triumphed over him, gave him new occaſions of miſerie, his eyes were conſumed, and waxed old becauſe of his enemies; that is, becauſe he was ſtill amongſt enemies that triumphed over him.
Be pleaſed to take another Edition, another Impreſſion of theſe particulars; A naturall mans Morall conſtancy will hold out againſt outward declarations of griefe; yet David came to that, he groaned: A groane, a ſigh may breake out, and the heart be at the more eaſe for that; But Laboravit, they grew upon him, and the more he groaned, and the more he ſighed, the more he had an inclination, and not onelyonly that, but cauſe to doe ſo, for he found that his ſorrow was to be ſorrowed for, and his repentance to be repented, there were ſuch imperfections in all. Therefore he ſuffered thus till he was wearied, till he fainted with groaning, and ſighing. And then this winde does not blow over the raine, he weeps; and weeps the more violently, and the more continually; extreames that ſeldome meet, violence, and laſting, but in his caſe they did. All this, all night, and all this, all this while, not amongſt friends to pity him, and condole with him, but amongſt enemies to affront him, and deride him: So that here are all the ingredients, all the elements of miſery; Sorrow of heart, that admits no diſguiſe, but flowes into outward declarations; and ſuch declarations as create no compaſſion, but triumph in the enemy. I am weary with my groaning, &c.
To proceed then to the particulars in our firſt Part, Quid factum, What David did,1 Part. Gemit. firſt Gemit, He comes to ſigh, to groane, to an outward declaration of a ſenſe of Gods indignation upon him, till he had perfected his repentance. She ſighed, Lament.and turned backward, was Jeruſalems miſery. To ſigh, and turne backward, to repent, and relapſe, is a wofull Condition: But to ſigh, and turne forward, to turne upon God, and to purſue this ſorrow for our ſins, then, in ſuch ſighes, The Spirit of man returnes to God that gave it; Eccleſ. 12.7.As God breathed into man, ſo man breathes unto the noſtrils of God a ſavour of reſt, as it is ſaid of Noah, an acceptable ſacrifice, when he ſighes for his ſins. This fighing, this groaning, expreſſed in this word, Anach, Gemitus, is Vox Turturis. Turtur gemit; It is that voyce, that ſound which the Turtle gives;Plin. li. 18. c. 28. And we learne by Authors of Naturall Story, and by experience, Turturis gemitus indicium veris, The voyce of the Turtle is an evidence of the Spring; When a ſinner comes to this voyce, to this ſighing, there is a Spring of grace begun in him; Then Vox Turturis audita in terra noſtra, ſayes Chriſt to his Spouſe, The voyce of the Turtle is heard in our Land; And ſo he ſayes to thy ſoule,Gan. 2.12. This voyce of the Turtle, theſe ſighs of thy penitent ſoul, are heard interra noſtra, in our Land, in the Kingdome of heaven.
And when he heares this voyce of this Turtle, theſe ſighs of thy ſoule, then he puts thy name alſo into that Liſt, which he gave to his Meſſenger, (in which Commiſſion this very word of our Text,Ezek. 9.4. Anach, is uſed) Signabis ſignum ſuper frontibus virorum ſuſpirantium & gementium, Upon all their fore heads, that ſigh and groane, imprint my mark; Which is ordinarily conceived by the Ancients to have been the letter Tau; of which though Calvin aſſigne a uſefull, and a convenient reaſon, that they were marked with this letter Tau, which is the laſt letter of the Hebrew Alphabet, in ſigne, that though they were in eſtimation of the world, the moſt abject, and the out-caſts thereof, yet God ſet his mark upon them, with a purpoſe to raiſe them; yet S. Hierome, Hieron.and the Ancients for the moſt part aſſigne that for the reaſon, why they were marked with that letter, becauſe that letter had the forme of the Croſſe; Not for any ſuch uſe, or power, as the Roman Church hath aſcribed to that ſign, but as in the Perſecutions of the Primitive Church, the Martyrs at the ſtake, when a cry was raiſed, that they dyed for Treaſon, for Rebellion, for Sedition, and could not be heard, for the clamour, to cleare themſelves, uſed then in the ſight of all, who, though they could not heare them, could ſee them, to ſigne themſelves with the Croſſe, not to drive away devils, or to ſtrengthen themſelves againſt tentations by that ſigne, but by that ſigne to declare the cauſe of their death to be the profeſſion of the Chriſtian Religion, and not Treaſon, nor Sedition. And as we in our Baptiſme have that Croſſe imprinted upon us, not as a part of the Sacrament, or any piece of that armour, which we put on of ſpirituall ſtrength, but as a proteſtation, whoſe Souldiers wee became: ſo God imprinted upon them, that ſighed, and mourned, that Tau, that letter, which had the forme of the Croſſe, that it might be an evidence, that all their croſſes ſhall be ſwallowed in his Croſſe, their ſighs in his ſighs, and their agonies in his. And therefore, Beloved, theſe ſighs are too ſpirituall a ſubſtance, to be beſtowed upon worldly matters; All the love, all the ambitions, all the loſſes of this world, are not worth a ſigh; If they were, yet thou haſt none to ſpare, for all thy ſighs are due to thy ſins; beſtow them there.
Gemit, Laboravit.he ſighs, he groanes; And then, Laboravit in gemitu, he laboured, he travailed, he grew weary, he fainted with ſighing. Not to be curious, we meet with a threefold Labour in Scriptures. Firſt there is Labor communis, the Labour which no man may avoid;Iob 5.7. Man is borne unto travailt, as the ſparks fly upward; Where wee may note in the Compariſon, that it is not a dejection, a diminution, a depreſſing downward, but a flying upward, the true exaltation of a Man, that he labours duly in a lawfull calling; and this is Labor communis; Secondly there is Labor impii, The labour of the wicked, for, They have taught their tongues to ſpeake lyes, ſayes David, and take great paines to deale wickedly;Iob 15.20. As it is alſo in Iob, The wicked man travaileth with paine all his dayes, And (as our former Tranſlation had it) he is continually as one travailing with Child; Indeed the labour is greater, to doe ill, then well; to get hell, then Heaven; Heaven might be had with leſſe paines, then men doe beſtow upon hell; and this is Labor impiorum. And laſtly, there is Labor juſtorum, The labour of the Righteous, which is, To riſe early, to lie downe late, and to eate the bread of ſorrow; for, though in that place, this ſeemes to be ſaid to bee done in vaine,Pſal. 127.2. It is in vaine to riſe early, in vaine to lye downe late, in vaine to eate the bread of ſorrow, yet it is with the ſame exception, which is there ſpecified, that is, Except the Lord build, it is in vaine to labour, Except the Lord keepe the City, it is in vaine to watch; So except the Lord give reſt to his beloved, it is in vaine toriſe early: In vaine to travaile, except God give a bleſſing. But when the Lord hath given thee reſt, in the remiſſion of thy ſins, then comes this Labor juſtorum, the labour that a righteous man is bound to, that as God hath given him a good nights reſt, ſo he gives God a good dayes worke, as God hath given him reſt and peace of conſcience, for that which is paſt, ſo hee take ſome paines for that which is to come, for ſuch was Davids caſe, and Davids care, and Davids labour.
Ephrem, an ancient Deacon, and Expoſitor in the Chriſtian Church, takes this labour of David, Laboravi in gemitu, to have beene in gemitu, but in comprimendo gemitu, that he laboured to conceale his penance and mortification, from the ſight and knowledge of others; Beloved, this concealing of thoſe things, which we put our ſelves to in the waies of godlineſſe, hath alwaies a good uſe, when it is done, to avoid oſtentation, and vaine glory, and praiſe of men; And it hath otherwiſe, ſometimes a good uſe, to conceale our tribulations and miſeries from others, becauſe the wicked often take occaſion, from the calamities and preſſures of the godly, to inſult and triumph over them, and to diſhonour and blaſpheme their God, and to ſay, Where is now your God? and therefore it may ſometimes concerne us to labour to hide our miſeries, to ſwallow our owne ſpittle, as Iob ſpeaks, and to ſpunge up our teares in our braines, and to eate, and ſmother our ſighs in our own boſomes. But this was not Davids caſe now; But as he had opened himſelfe to God, he opened himſelfe to the world too; and as he ſayes in another place, Come and I will tell you, what God hath done for my ſoule, So here he ſayes, Come, and I will tell you, what I have done againſt my God. So he ſighed, and ſo he groaned; he laboured, he was affected bitterly with it himſelfe; And he declated it, he made it exemplar, and catechiſticall, that his dejection in himſelfe, might be an exaltation to others; And then hee was not aſhamed of it, but as he ſaid of his dancing before the Arke, If this be to be vile, I will be more vile, So here, if this paſſion be weakneſſe, I will yet be more weake; for this winde brought raine, Theſe ſighs brought teares, All the night make I my bed to ſwim, &c.
The concupiſcencies of man, are naturally dry powder, combuſtible eaſily,Lacrymae. eaſily apt to take fire; but teares dampe them, and give them a little more leaſure, and us intermiſſion and conſideration. David had laboured hard; firſt Ad ruborem, as Phyſitians adviſe, to a redneſſe, to a bluſhing, to a ſhame of his ſin; And now Ad ſudorem, Hilar.he had laboured to a ſweat: for Lacrymae ſudor animae moerentis, Teares are the ſweat of a labouring ſoule, and that ſoule that labours as David did, will ſweat, as David did, in the teares of contrition; Till then, till teares breake out, and find a vent in outward declaration, wee pant and ſtruggle in miſerable convulſions, and diſtortions, and diſtractions, and earthquakes, and irreſolutions of the ſoule; I can beleeve, that God will have mercy upon me, if I repent, but I cannot beleeve that is repentance, if I cannot weepe, or come to outward declarations. This is the laborious irreſolution of the ſoule; But Lacrymae diluvium, Nazian.& evehunt animam, Theſe teares carry up our ſoule, as the flood carried up the Arke, higher then any hils; whether hils of power, and ſo above the oppreſſion of potent adverſaries, or hils of our owne pride, and ambition; True holy teares carry us above all. And therefore, when the Angel rebuked the people, for not deſtroying Idolatry, They wept, Iudg. 2.5.ſayes the text, there was their preſent remedy; and they called the name of the place Bochim, Teares, that there might be a permanent teſtimony of that expreſſing of their repentance; that that way they went to God, and in that way God received them; and that their Children might ſay to one another, Where did God ſhew that great mercy to our Fathers? Here; here, in Bochim, that is, Here in teares. And ſo when at Samuels motions, and increpation, the people would teſtifie their repentance, They drew water, 1 Sam. 7.6.ſayes the ſtory, and poured it out before the Lord, and faſted, and ſaid, We have ſinned againſt the Lord. They poured water, Vt eſſet ſymbolum lacrymarum, That that might be a type, and figure,Nab. Oziel. in what proportion of teares, they deſired to expreſſe their repentance. For, ſuch an effuſion of teares, David may be well thought to intend, when he ſayes, Effundite coram Deo animam veſtram, Poure out your ſoules before God, poure them out in ſuch an effuſion, in a continuall, and a contrite weeping. Still the Prophets cry out upon Idols and Idolaters, Vlulate Sculptilia; Howle ye Idols, and Howle ye Idolaters; He hath no hope of their weeping. And ſo the devil, and the damned are ſaid to howle, but not to weepe; or when they are ſaid to weepe, it is with a gnaſhing of teeth, which is a voyce of Indignation, even towards God, and not of humiliation under his hand: So alſo ſayes the Propher of an impenitent ſinner, Induratae ſuper petram facies, They have made their faces harder then ſtone; Ier. 5.3.wherein? Thou haſt ſtricken them, but they have not wept; not ſorrowed. Out of a ſtone water cannot be drawne, but by miracle, though it be twice ſtricken;Numb. 20.11. as Moſes ſtroke the Rock twice, yet the water came by the miraculous power of God, and not by Moſes ſecond ſtroke. Though God ſtrike this ſinner twice, thrice, he will not weepe: though inward terrors ſtrike his conſcience, and outward diſeaſes ſtrike his body, and calamities and ruine ſtrike his eſtate, yet he will not confeſſe by one teare, that theſe are judgements of God, but naturall accidents; or if judgements, that they proceeded not from his ſin, but from ſome decree in God, or ſome purpoſe in God, to glorifie himſelfe, by thus afflicting him, and that if he had beene better, he ſhould have fared never the better, for Gods purpoſe muſt ſtand. Therefore ſayes God of ſuch in that place, Surely they are poore, that was plaine enough, and they are fooliſh too, ſayes God there: And God gives the reaſon of it, for they know not the judgements of God; They know not his judgements to be judgements; They aſcribe all calamities to other cauſes, and ſo they turne upon other wayes, and other plots, and other miſerable comforters. But attribute all to the Lord; never ſay of any thing, This fals upon me, but of all, This is laid upon me by the hand of God, and thou wilt come to him in teares. Raine water is better then River water; The water of Heaven, teares for offending thy God, are better then teares for worldly loſſes; But yet come to teares of any kinde, and whatſoever occaſion thy teares,Eſay 25.8. Deus abſterget omnem lacrymam, there is the largeneſſe of his bounty, He will wipe all teares from thine eyes; But thou muſt have teares firſt: firſt thou muſt come to this weeping, or elſe God cannot come to this wiping; God hath not that errand to thee, to wipe teares from thine eyes, if there be none there; If thou doe nothing for thy ſelfe, God finds nothing to doe for thee.
David wept thus,Nocte. thus vehemently, and he wept thus, thus continually; In the Night, ſayes our Text;Pſal. 42.3. Not that he wept not in the day: He ſayes of himſelfe, My teares have been my meate, both day and night, where though he name no faſt, you ſee his diet, how that was attenuated.Lament. 1.2. And ſo when it is ſaid of Jeruſalem, Shee weepeth continually in the night, it is not that ſhe put off her weeping till night, but that ſhe continued her dayes weeping to the night, and in the night: Plorando plorabit, ſayes the Originall in the place; ſhee does weepe already, and ſhee will weepe ſtill; ſhee puts it not off dilatorily, (I will weepe, but not yet) nor ſhee puts it not over eaſily, ſuddenly, (I have wept, and I neede no more) but as God promiſes to his children,Joel 1.23. the firſt and later raine, ſo muſt his children give to him againe both raines, teares of the day, and teares of the night, by waſhing the ſinnes of the day in the evening, and the ſinnes of the night in the morning. But this was an addition to Davids affliction in this night weeping, that whereas the night was made for man to reſt in, David could not make that uſe of the night. When he had propoſed ſo great a part of his happineſſe to conſiſt in this,Pſal. 4. ult. That he would lay him downe and ſleepe in peace; we ſee in the next Pſalme but one, he that thought to ſleepe out the night, come to weepe out the night. When the Saints of God have that ſecurity, which S. Hierome ſpeaks of, Vt ſanctis ipſe ſomnus ſit oratio, They ſleepe ſecurely, for their very ſleepe is a glorifying of God, who giveth his beloved ſleepe, yet David could have none of this.Euſeb. But why not he? Noctem letiferam nocte compenſat; Firſt, for the place, the ſinne came in at thoſe windowes, at his eyes, and came in, in fire, in luſt, And it muſt goe out at thoſe windowes too, and goe out in water, in the water of repentant teares; And then, for the time, as the night defiled his ſoule, ſo the ſinne muſt be expiated, and the ſoule waſhed in the night too.
And this may be ſome Embleme, ſome uſefull intimation, how haſtily Repentance follows ſinne; Davids ſinne is placed, but in the beginning of the night, in the Evening, (In the evening he roſe, and walked upon the Teraſe, and ſaw Bathſheba) and in the next part of time, in the night, he falls a weeping: no more between the ſweetneſſe of ſinne, and the bitterneſſe of repentance, then between evening, and night; no morning to either of them, till the Sunne of grace ariſe, and ſhine out, and proceed to a Meridionall height, and make the repentance upon circumſtance, to be a repentance upon the ſubſtance, and bring it to be a repentance for the ſinne it ſelfe, which at firſt was but a repentance upon ſome calamity, that that ſinne induced.
He wept then,Omni nocte. and wept in the night; in a time, when he could neither receive reſt in himſelfe, which all men had, nor receive praiſe from others, which all men affect. And he wept Omni nocte; which is not onelyonly Omnibus noctibus, ſometime every night, but it is Tota nocte, cleane through the night; And he wept in that abundance, as hath put the Holy Ghoſt to that Hyperbole in Davids pen to expreſſe it, Liquefecit ſtratum, natare fecit ſtratum, Hieron.it drowned his bed, ſurrounded his bed, it diſſolved, it macerated, it melted his bed with that brine. Well; Qui rigat ſtratum, he that waſhes his bed ſo with repentant teares, Non poteſt in cogitationem ejus libidinum pompa ſubrepere: Tentations take hold of us ſometimes after our teares, after our repentance, but ſeldome or never in the act of our repentance, and in the very ſhedding of our teares; At leaſt Libidinum pompa, The victory, the triumph of luſt breaks not in upon us, in a bed, ſo diſſolved, ſo ſurrounded, ſo macerated with ſuch teares. Thy bed is a figure of thy grave; Such as thy grave receives thee at death, it ſhall deliver thee up to Judgement at laſt; Such as thy bed receives thee at night, it ſhall deliver thee in the morning: If thou ſleepe without calling thy ſelfe to an account, thou wilt wake ſo, and walke ſo, and proceed ſo, without ever calling thy ſelfe to an account, till Chriſt Jeſus call thee in the Clouds. It is not intended, that thou ſhouldeſt afflict thy ſelfe ſo grievouſly, as ſome over-doing Penitents, to put chips, and ſhels, and ſplints, and flints, and nayles, and rowels of ſpurres in thy bed, to wound and macerate thy body ſo. The inventions of men, are not intended here; But here is a precept of God, implied in this precedent and practiſe of David, That as long as the ſenſe of a former ſinne, or the inclination to a future oppreſſes thee, thou muſt not cloſe thine eyes, thou muſt not take thy reſt, till, as God married thy body and ſoule together in the Creation, and ſhall at laſt crowne thy body and ſoule together in the Reſurrection, ſo they may alſo reſt together here, that as thy body reſts in thy bed, thy ſoule may reſt in the peace of thy Conſcience, and that thou never ſay to thy head, Reſt upon this pillow, till thou canſt ſay to thy ſoule, Reſt in this repentance, in this peace.
Now as this ſorrow of Davids continued day and night,Oculus. (in the day for the better edification of men, and in the night for his better capitulation with God) ſo there is a farther continuation thereof without any wearineſſe, expreſſed in the next clauſe, Turbatus à furore oculus meus, as the Vulgat reads it, and Mine eye is dimmed, for deſpight or indignation, as our former, or as this laſt Tranſlation hath it, Mine eye is conſumed becauſe of griefe; and to ſpeake neereſt to the Originall, Eroſus eſt oculus, Mine eye is eaten out with Indignation. A word or two ſhall be inough of each of theſe words, theſe three Termes, What the eye, which is the ſubject, what this conſuming, or dimming, which is the effect, and what this Griefe, or Indignation, which is the affection, imports and offers to our application. Firſt, Oculus, the Eye, is ordinarily taken in the Scriptures, Pro aſpectu, for the whole face, the looks, the countenance, the ayre of a man; and this ayre, and looks, and countenance, declares the whole habitude, and conſtitution of the man; As he looks, ſo he is: So that the Eye here, is the whole perſon; and ſo this griefe had wrought upon the whole frame and conſtitution of David, and decayed that; though he place it in the eye, yet it had growne over all the body. Since thou waſt not able to ſay to thy ſinne, The ſinne ſhall come to mine eyes, but no farther, I will looke, but not luſt, I will ſee, but not covet, thou muſt not ſay, My repentance ſhall come to mine eyes, and no farther, I will ſhed a few teares, and no more; but (with this Prophet David, and with the Apoſtle S. Paul) thou muſt beat downe thy body to that particular purpoſe, and in that proportion, as thou findeſt the rebellions thereof to require: Thou couldeſt not ſtop the ſin at thine eyes; ſtop not thy repentance there neither, but purſue it in wholeſome mortification, through all thoſe parts, in which the ſinne hath advanced his dominion over thee; and that is our uſe of the firſt word, the Eye, the whole frame.
For the ſecond word, which in our Tranſlations, is, in one dimmed, Turbatus. Reuchlin.in the other conſumed, and in the Vulgat troubled, a great Maſter in the Originall, renders it well, elegantly, and naturally out of the Originall, Verminavit, Tineavit, which is ſuch a deformitie, as wormes make in wood, or in books; If Davids ſorrow for his ſinnes brought him to this deformitie, what ſorrow doe they owe to their ſinnes, who being come to a deformitie by their own licentiouſneſſe, and intemperance, diſguiſe all that by unnaturall helpes, to the drawing in of others, and the continuation of their former ſinnes? The ſinne it ſelfe was the Devils act in thee; But in the deformity and debility, though it follow upon the ſinne, God hath a hand; And they that ſmother and ſuppreſſe theſe by paintings, and pamperings, unnaturall helps to unlawfull ends, doe not deliver themſelves of the plague, but they hide the marks, and infect others, and wraſtle againſt Gods notifications of their former ſinnes.
And then the laſt of theſe three words, which is here rendred Griefe, Indignatio.does properly ſignifie, Indignation, and Anger: And therefore S. Auguſtine upon this place, puts himſelfe to that queſtion, If Davids conſtitution be ſhaken, if his complexion and countenance be decayed, and withered, Prae indignatione, for Indignation, for Anger, from whom proceeds this Indignation, and this Anger? ſayes that bleſſed Father. If it proceede from God, ſayes he, it is well that he is but Turbatus, and not Extinctus, that he is but troubled, and not diſtracted, but ſhaken, and not overthrowne; but overthrowne, and not ground to powder, not trodden as flat as durt in the ſtreets, as the Prophet ſpeaks. For David himſelfe had told us but a few Pſalmes before,Pſal. 2. ult. That when the Sonne is angry, (and when we ſpeake of the Sonne, we intend a perſon more ſenſible, and ſo more compaſſionate of our miſeries, then when we ſpeake of God, of God conſidered in the height of his Majeſty) and but a little angry, (which amounts not to this provocation of God, which David had falne into here) we may periſh; and periſh in the way; periſh in a halfe repentance, before we perfect our Reconciliation: In the way ſo, before we come to our end; or in the way, in theſe outward actions of repentance, if they be hypocritically, or occaſionally, or faſhionally, or perfunctorily performed, and not with a right heart towards God. Though this be the way, we may periſh in the way.
Now Aquinas places this fury (as the Vulgat calls it, this indignation) in Abſolom, and not in David; He takes Davids ſorrow to riſe out of his ſons rebellion, and furious proſecution thereof; That David was thus vehemently affected for the fault of another: And truly it is a holy tenderneſſe, and an exemplar diſpoſition to be ſo ſenſible, and compaſſionate for the ſins of other men; Though Abſolom could not have hurt David, David would have grieved for his unnaturall attempt to doe it. So in Aquinas ſenſe, it is Excandeſcentia pro inimicis, a ſorrow for his enemies; Not for his owne danger from them, but for their ſin in themſelves; But Gregory Nyſſen takes it, de excandeſcentia in inimicos, for an indignation againſt his enemies: And that David ſpeaks this by way of confeſſion, and accuſation of himſelfe, as of a fault, that he was too ſoone tranſported to an impatience, and indignation againſt them, though enemies; And taking that ſenſe, we ſee, how quickly even the Saints of God put themſelves beyond the hability of making that Petition ſincerely, Forgive us our treſpaſſes, as we forgive them that treſpaſſe againſt us; How hard it is even for a good man to forgive an enemy;Heg. And how hard it is, Nihil in peccatore odiſſe niſi peccatum, to ſever the ſin from the ſinner, and to hate the fault, and not the man.
But leaving Thomas and Gregory, Aquinas and Nyſſen to that Expoſition, in which (I think) they are ſingularly ſingular, either that this ſorrow in David was a charitable and compaſſionate ſenſe of others faults, which is Aquinas way, or that it was a confeſſion of uncharitableneſſe in himſelf towards others, which is Gregories way, the whole ſtream (for the moſt part) of ancient Expoſitors divide themſelves into theſe two channels; Either that this indignation conceived by David, which withered and decayed him, was a holy ſcorn and indignation againſt his owne ſins, that ſuch wretched things as thoſe ſhould ſeparate him from his God, and from his inheritance, according to that chaine of Affections which the Apoſtle makes,2 Cor. 7. That godly ſorrow brings a ſinner to a care; He is no longer careleſſe, negligent of his wayes; and that care to a clearing of himſelfe, not to cleare himſelfe by way of excuſe, or diſguiſe, but to cleare himſelfe by way of phyſick, by humble confeſſion; and then that clearing brings him to an indignation, to a kind of holy ſcorne, and wonder, how that tentation could worke ſo; Such an affection as we conceive to have been in the Spouſe, when ſhe ſaid, Lavi pedes, I have waſhed my feet, how ſhall I defile them? I have emptied my ſoul by Confeſſion, is it poſſible I ſhould charge it with new tranſgreſſions? Or elſe they place this affection, this indignation in God; And then they ſay, it was an apprehenſion of the anger of God, to be expreſſed upon him in the day of Judgement; And againſt this Vermination, (as the Originall denotes) againſt this gnawing of the worme, that may bore through, and ſink the ſtrongeſt veſſell that ſailes in the ſeas of this world, there is no other varniſh, no other liniment, no other medicament, no other pitch nor roſin againſt this worme, but the bloud of Chriſt Jeſus: And therefore whenſoever this worme, this apprehenſion of Gods future indignation, reſerved for the Judgement, bites upon thee, be ſure to preſent to it the bloud of thy Saviour: Never conſider the judgement of God for ſin alone, but in the company of the mercies of Chriſt. It is but the hiſſing of the Serpent, and the whiſpering of Satan, when he ſurpriſes thee in a melancholy midnight of dejection of ſpirit, and layes thy ſins before thee then; Looke not upon thy ſins ſo inſeparably, that thou canſt not ſee Chriſt too: Come not to a confeſſion to God, without conſideration of the promiſes of his Goſpel; Even the ſenſe and remorſe of ſin is a dangerous conſideration, but when the cup of ſalvation ſtands by me, to keep me from fainting. David himſelfe could not get off when he would; but (as he complaines there, which is the laſt act of his ſorrow to be conſidered in this, which is all his part, and all our firſt part) Inveteravit, He waxed old becauſe of all his enemies.
The difference is not of much importance,Inveteravit. whether it be Inveteravi, or Inveteravit; in the firſt, or in the third perſon. Whether Davids eyes, or David himſelfe be thus decayed, and waxen old, imports little. But yet that which Bellarmine collects, upon this difference, imports much. For, becauſe the Vulgat Edition, and the Septuagint, (ſuch a Septuagint as we have now) reade this in the firſt perſon of David himſelfe, Inveteravi, and the Hebrew hath it in the third, Inveteravit, Bellarmine will needs think, that the Hebrew, the Originall, is falſified and corrupted; ſtill in advancement of that dangerous Poſition of theirs, That their Tranſlation is to be preferred before the Originall; and that is an unſufferable tyrannie, and an Idolatrous ſervility. The Tranſlation is a reverend Tranſlation; A Tranſlation to which the Church of God owes much; but gold will make an Idol as well as wood, and to make any Tranſlation equall, or better then the Originall, is an Idolatrous ſervility. It is true, that that which is ſaid here in the third perſon, implyes the firſt; And it is David, that after his ſighing, and fainting with that, After his weeping, and diſſolving with that, After his conſuming, and withering with that, foreſees no reſcue, no eſcape, Inveteravit, he waxes old amongſt his enemies. Who were his enemies, and what was this age that he ſpeaks of? It is of beſt uſe to purſue the ſpirituall ſenſe of this Pſalme, and ſo his enemies were his ſins; And David found that he had not got the victory over any one enemy, any one ſin; Anothers bloud did not extinguiſh the luſtfull heat of his owne, nor the murther of the husband, the adultery with the wife: Change of ſin is not an overcomming of ſin; He that paſſes from ſin to ſin, without repentance, (which was Davids caſe for a time) ſtill leaves an enemy behind him; and though he have no preſent aſſault from his former enemie, no tentation to any act of his former ſin, yet he is ſtill in the midſt of his enemies; under condemnation of his paſt, as well as of his preſent ſins; as unworthy a receiver of the Sacrament, for the ſins of his youth done forty yeares agoe, if thoſe ſins were never repented, though ſo long diſcontinued, as for his ambition, or covetouſneſſe, or indevotion of this preſent day. Theſe are his enemies; and then this is the age that growes upon him, the age that David complaines of, I am waxenold; that is, growne into habits of theſe ſins. There is an old age of our naturall condition, We ſhall waxe old as doth a garment; Pſal. 102.26.David would not complaine of that which all men deſire; To wiſh to be old, and then grudge to be old, when we are come to it, cannot conſiſt with morall conſtancy. There is an old age expreſſed in that phraſe, The old man, which the Apoſtle ſpeaks of, which is that naturall corruption and diſpoſition to ſin, caſt upon us by Adam; Rom. 6.6.But that old man was crucified in Chriſt, ſayes the Apoſtle; and was not ſo onelyonly from that time when Chriſt was actually crucified, one thouſand ſix hundred yeares agoe, but from that time that a ſecond Adam was promiſed to the firſt, in Paradiſe; And ſo that Lambe ſlaine from the beginning of the world, from the beginning delivered all them, to whom the means ordained by God, (as Circumciſion to them, Baptiſme to us) were afforded; and in that reſpect, David was not under that old age, but was become a new creature. Nor as the Law was called the old Law, which is another age alſo; for to them who underſtood that Law aright, the New Law, the Goſpel, was enwrapped in the Old; And ſo David as well as we, might be ſaid to ſerve God in the newneſſe of ſpirit, and not in the oldneſſe of the Letter; Rom. 7.6.ſo that this was not the age that oppreſt him.
The Age that oppreſſes the ſinner, is that when he is growne old in ſin, he is growne weak in ſtrength, and become leſſe able to overcome that ſin then, then he was at beginning. Blindneſſe contracted by Age, doth not deliver him from objects of tentations; He ſees them, though he be blind; Deafneſſe doth not deliver him from diſcourſes of tentation; he heares them, though he be deafe: Nor lameneſſe doth not deliver him from purſuit of tentation; for in his owne memory he ſees, and heares, and purſues all his former ſinfull pleaſures, and every night, every houre ſins over all the ſins of many yeares that are paſſed. That which waxeth old, is ready to vaniſh, ſayes the Apoſtle:Heb. 8.13. If we would let them goe, they would goe; and whether we will or no, they leave us for the ability of practiſe; But Theſaurizamus, we treaſure them up in our memories,Rom. 2.5. and we treaſure up the wrath of God with them, againſt the day of wrath; And whereas one calling of our ſins to our memories by way of confeſſion, would doe us good, and ſerve our turnes, this often calling them in a ſinfull delight, in the memory of them, exceeds the ſin it ſelfe, when it was committed, becauſe it is more unnaturall now,Ezek. 23.19. then it was then, and fruſtrates the pardon of that ſin, when it was repented. To end this branch, and this part, So humble was this holy Prophet, and ſo apprehenſive of his own debility, and ſo far from an imaginary infallibility of falling no more, as that after all his agonies, and exerciſes, and mortifications, and prayer, and ſighs, and weeping, ſtill he finds himſelfe in the midſt of enemies, and of his old enemies; for not onelyonly tentations to new ſins, but even the memory of old, though formerly repented, ariſe againſt us, ariſe in us, and ruine us. And ſo we paſſe from theſe pieces which conſtitute our firſt Part, Quid factum, what David upon the ſenſe of his caſe did, to the other, Quid faciendum, what by his example we are to doe, and what is required of us, after we have repented, and God hath remitted the ſin.
Out of this paſſage here in this Pſalme, and out of that hiſtory,2 Part. where Nathan ſayes to David, The Lord hath put away thy ſin, and yet ſayes after,2. Sam. 12.13. The child that is borne to thee ſhall ſurely dye, and out of that ſtory, where David repents earneſtly his ſin, committed in the numbring of his people, and ſayes; Now, now that I have repented,2 Sam. 24.10. Now I beſeech thee O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy ſervant, for I have done very fooliſhly, yet David was to indure one of thoſe three Calamities, of Famine, Warre, or Peſtilence; And out of ſome other ſuch places as theſe, ſome men have imagined a Doctrine, that after our repentance, and after God hath thereupon pardoned our ſin, yet he leaves the puniſhment belonging to that ſin unpardoned; though not all the puniſhment, not the eternall, yet ſay they, there belongs a temporary puniſhment too, and that God does not pardon, but exacts, and exacts in the nature of a puniſhment, and more, by way of ſatiſfaction to his Juſtice.
Now, Stipendium peccati mors eſt, There is the puniſhment for ſin, The reward of ſin is death. If there remaine no death, there remaines no puniſhment: For the reward of ſin is death, And death complicated in it ſelfe, death wrapped in death; and what is ſo intricate, ſo intangling as death? Who ever got out of a winding ſheet? It is death aggravated by it ſelfe, death waighed downe by death: And what is ſo heavy as death? Who ever threw off his grave ſtone? It is death multiplied by it ſelfe; And what is ſo infinite as death? Who ever told over the dayes of death? It is Morte morieris, A Double death, Eternall, and Temporary. Temporall, and Spirituall death. Now, the Temporary, the Naturall death, God never takes away from us, he never pardons that puniſhment, becauſe he never takes away that ſin that occaſioned it, which is Originall ſin; To what Sanctification ſoever a man comes, Originall ſin lives to his laſt breath. And therefore,Heb 9.27. Statutum eſt, That Decree ſtands, Semel mori, that every man muſt dye once; but for any Bis mori, for twice dying, for eternall death upon any man, as man, if God conſider him not as an impotent ſinner, there is no ſuch invariable Decree; for, that death being alſo the puniſhment for actuall ſin, if he take away the cauſe, the ſin, he takes away that effect, that death alſo; for this death it ſelfe, eternall death, we all agree that it is taken away with the ſin; And then for other calamities in this life, which we call Morticulas, Little deaths, the children, the iſſue, the off-ſpring, the propagation of death, if we would ſpeak properly, no Affliction, no Judgement of God in this life, hath in it exactly the nature of a puniſhment; not onelyonly not the nature of ſatisfaction, but not the nature of a puniſhment. We call not Coyn, baſe Coyne, till the Allay be more then the pure Metall: Gods Judgements are not puniſhments, except there be more anger then love, more Juſtice then Mercy in them; and that is never; for Miſerationes ejus ſuper omnia opera, His mercies are above all his works: In his firſt work, in the Creation, his Spirit, the Holy Ghoſt, moved upon the face of the waters; and ſtill upon the face of all our waters, (as waters are emblemes of tribulation in all the Scriptures) his Spirit, the Spirit of comfort, moves too; and as the waters produced the firſt creatures in the Creation, ſo tribulations offer us the firſt comforts; ſooner then proſperity does. God executes no judgement upon man in this life, but in mercy; either in mercy to that perſon, in his ſenſe thereof, if he be ſenſible, or at leaſt in mercy to his Church, in the example thereof, if he be not: There is no perſon to whom we can ſay, that Gods Corrections are Puniſhments, any otherwiſe then Medicinall, and ſuch, as he may receive amendment by, that receives them; Neither does it become us in any caſe, to ſay God layes this upon him, becauſe he is ſo ill, but becauſe he may be better.
But here our conſideration is onelyonly upon the godly, and ſuch as by repentance ſtand upright in his favour; and even in them, our Adverſaries ſay, that after the remiſſion of their ſins, there remaines a puniſhment, and a puniſhment by way of Satisfaction, to be borne for that ſin, which is remitted. But ſince they themſelves tell us, that in Baptiſme God proceeds otherwiſe, and pardons there all ſin, and all puniſhment of ſinne, which ſhould be inflicted in the next world, (for children newly baptized, doe not ſuffer any thing in Purgatory) And that this holds not onelyonly in Baptiſmo fluminis, in the Sacrament of Baptiſme, but in Baptiſmo ſanguinis, in the Baptiſme of blood too; (for in Martyrdome, as S. Auguſtine ſayes, Injuriam facit Martyri, He wrongs a Martyr that praies for a Martyr, as though he were not already in Heaven; ſo he ſuſpects a Martyr, that thinkes that Martyr goes to Purgatory) And ſince they ſay, that he can doe ſo in the other Sacrament too, and in Repentance, which they call, and juſtly, Secundam poſt naufragium tabulam, That whereas Baptiſme hath once delivered us from ſhipwrack, in Originall ſin, this Repentance delivers us after Baptiſme, from actuall ſinne; Since God can pardon, without reſerving any puniſhment, ſince God does ſo in Baptiſme and Martyrdome, ſince out of Baptiſme or Martyrdome, it appeares often, that De facto, he hath done ſo, (for he enjoyned no penance to the man ſicke of the Palſie, when he ſaid,Mat 9. Son be of good comfort, thy ſins are forgiven thee, Sins, and puniſhments too. He intimated no ſuch after reckoning to her, of whom he ſaid, Many ſins are forgiven her; Sins, and puniſhments too.Luke 17. He left no ſuch future Satisfaction in that Parable upon the Publican,Luke 18. that departed to his houſe juſtified; Juſtified from ſins, and puniſhments too. And when he declared Zacheus to be the ſon of Abraham, and ſaid, This day is Salvation come unto thy houſe. Luke 19.He did not charge this bleſſed inheritance with any ſuch encumbrance, that he ſhould ſtill be ſubject to old debts, to make ſatisfaction by bodily afflictions for former ſins) ſince God can doe this, and does ſo in Baptiſme, and Martyrdome, and hath done this very often, out of Baptiſme, or Martyrdome, in Repentance, we had need of clearer evidence then they have offered to preduce yet, that God does otherwiſe at any time; that at any time he pardons the ſin, and retaines the puniſhment, by way of ſatisfaction. If their Market ſhould faile, that no man would buy Indulgences (as of late yeares it was brought low, when they vented ten Indulgencies in America for one in Europe; If the fire of Purgatory were quenched, or ſlackned, that men would not be ſo prodigall to buy out Fathers or friends ſoules, from thence; If commutation of penance, were ſo moderated amongſt them, that thoſe penances, and ſatisfactions, which they make ſo neceſſary, were not commuted to money, and brought them in no profit, they would not be perhaps ſo vehement in maintenance of this Doctrine.
To leave ſuch imaginations with their Authors; We ſee David did enjoyne himſelf penance, and impoſe upon himſelfe heavy afflictions after he had asked, and no doubt, received aſſurance of the mercy of God, in the remiſſion of his ſins. Why did he ſo? S. Auguſtine obſerves out of the words of this Text, that becauſe ſome of Davids afflictions are expreſſed in the Preter tenſe, as things already paſt, and ſome in the Future, as things to come, (for it is Laboravi, I have mourned, and it is Natare faciam, I will waſh my bed with teares) ſo that ſomething David confeſſes he had done, and ſomething he profeſſes that he will doe, therefore David hath a ſpeciall regard to his future ſtate, and he proceeds with God, not onelyonly by that way of holy worſhip, by way of confeſſion, what he had done, but by another religious worſhip of God too, by way of vow, what he would doe. David underſtood his own conſcience well; and was willing to husband it, to manure, and cultivate it well; He knew what ploughing, what harrowing, what weeding, and watring, and pruning it needed, and ſo perhaps might be truſted with himſelfe, and hee his owne ſpirituall Phyſitian. This is not every ones caſe. Thoſe that are not ſo perfect in the knowledge of their owne eſtate, (as it is certaine the moſt are not) the Church ever tooke into her care; and therefore it is true, that in the Primitive Church, there were heavy penitentiall Canons, and there were publique penances enjoyned to ſinners: Either Ad explorationem, when the Church had cauſe to be jealous, and to ſuſpect the hearty repentance of the party, They made this triall of their obedience, to ſubmit them to that heavy penance; Or elſe Ad aedificationem, to ſatisfie the Church which was ſcandalized by their ſins before; Or Ad Exercitationem, to keepe them in continuall practiſe, the better to reſiſt future tentations, and relapſes; for to them this penance was an Unction, as to one that was to wraſtle with himſelfe, and as the buckling on of an Armour upon one that was to fight Gods Battells, in his owne bowells.
If from ſome of the Fathers, there have faine ſometimes, ſome phraſes which may have ſeemed to ſome, to attribute ſomething more to mans works, to his after-afflictions, and poſt-penances, ſome power of ſatisfaction to the Juſtice of God, Bellarmine himſelfe hath given us one good Caution, That we muſt be very wary in underſtanding thoſe phraſes; for he findes it very inconvenient, to accept all that the Fathers have ſaid, in their manner of expreſſing themſelves in that point. We will adde thus much more, for the better underſtanding of repentance in the roote, and the fruits of repentance, that there is ſuch an indiſſoluble knot, ſuch an individuall marriage between thoſe parts of repentance, which we call Partes conſtitutivas, Eſſentiall parts of repentance, and thoſe parts, which we call Conſecutivas, which doe infallibly concurre, or immediately follow upon repentance, theſe two are ſo inſeparable; There is not onelyonly ſuch a contiguity, but ſuch a continuity in them, not onelyonly ſuch a vicinity, but ſuch an identity, betweene repentance, and the fruits of repentance, that many reverend perſons, in their Expoſitions, and Meditations have preſented, and named one for the other, and have called thoſe ſubſequent, and ſubſidiary things, by the name of Repentance it ſelfe. Hence it comes, that whereas repentance is onelyonly Cogverſio, a turning, and this converſion, this turning hath onelyonly Terminum à quo, Something to turne from, and that is ſin, and Terminum ad quem, Something to turne to, and that is God, Thoſe things which are indeed but helps to hold us in that ſtation, and in that poſture when we are turned from ſin upon God, they have called by the names of Repentance it ſelfe, as parts of it; And ſo theſe bodily afflictions, which we ſpeak of, being indeed to be imbraced for that uſe, to maintaine us in that good diſpoſition, to which our repentance hath brought us, have ſometimes been called parts of repentance, even by godly, and learned Expoſitors; and by occaſion of that eaſineſſe in them, in calling theſe things thus, in after-times, ſalvation it ſelfe, which God gives upon repentance, hath been attributed to theſe poſt-penances, and after-afflictions, which becauſe they doe alwaies accompany repentance, have ſometimes been called repentance.
The meaning of ancient and later men too therein, hath beene to impoſe a neceſſity of taking theſe medicinall Phyſicks, theſe after-afflictions, for that uſe of holding us in that ſtate, to which we are brought; but their meaning hath ever beene too, to exclude ſatisfaction,Ambroſe. properly ſo termed. Poenitentia eſt, mala praeterita plaengere, This is repentance ſayes that Father, to lament and bewaile our former ſins; But, this is not all that he requires, but he addes, Plangenda iterum non committere, This belongs to repentance too, not to returne to thoſe ſins,Auguſt. which we have bewailed. For, Repentance is Vindicta ſemper puniens, quod dolet ſe commiſiſſe, ſayes another alſo; a man truly penitent is a daily executioner upon himſelfe, and puniſhes after, the ſins which he hath committed before. Here we ſee that both theſe bleſſed Fathers, S. Auguſtine, and S. Ambroſe, attribute theſe after-afflictions, and poſt-penances to Repentance, and call them by that name, Repentance. But yet, not to leave theſe bleſſed Fathers, under the danger of miſ-interpretation, and ill application of words well intended, We confider the ſame Fathers in other places too;Ambroſe. Lacrymas Petri lego, ſatisfactionem non lego, I read of Peters teares, not of his ſatisfaction. So if theſe poſt-penances had the nature of puniſhments, yet theſe puniſhments had not the nature of ſatisfaction.Auguſt. But Calamitates ante remiſsionem ſunt ſupplicia, poſt remiſsionem exercitationes, ſayes the other of thoſe Fathers: Till God be pacified by our Repentance, his corrections have more of the nature of puniſhments, becauſe conſidered ſo, we are in the ſtate of enemies, and he may juſtly puniſh; But after God hath remitted the ſin, the after-afflictions are but from a Phyſitian, not from an executioner, and intended to keepe us in our ſtation, and not to throw us lower; So that they are neither properly ſatisfactions,Origen. nor puniſhments. For, for ſatisfaction to the juſtice of God, Nec ſi te excories, ſatis facere poſsis, If thou flea thy ſelfe with haire-cloathes, and whips, it is nothing towards ſatisfaction of that infinite Majeſty, which thou haſt violated, and wounded by thy ſin;Chryſoſt. And then for the other, that is, puniſhment after remiſſion, Vbi miſericordia, poenae locus non eſt, They are incompatible things, If God have reſerved a diſpoſition and purpoſe to puniſh, he hath not pardoned.
So that howſoever ſomething ſaid by them, may ſeeme to make theſe after-afflictions to be neceſſary to repentance, and, in a large ſenſe, parts of repentance, yet neither did they put that value upon mans act, That man ſhould be able to ſatisfie God, nor that deluſion upon Gods act, That God ſhould pretend to pardon, and yet puniſh. Wee are not diſpoſed to wrangle about words, and names; The Schoole may admit that exerciſe, but not the Pulpit. If upon admittance, that theſe after-afflictions might be called puniſhments, they had not inferred a ſatisfaction, and thereupon ſuper-induced a ſatisfaction after this life, and ſo a Purgatory, and ſo Indulgencies, and carried their Babel ſo many ſtories high, We to advance the doctrine of a neceſſity of theſe diſciplines, and mortifications, even after God hath ſealed to our conſciences the remiſſion of our ſin, would not abhor, nor decline the name, we would not be afraid to call them Penances, nor Puniſhments,Chryſoſt. nor Satisfactions; for when S. Chryſoſtome in his time, had no occaſion to be afraid of ſuch a miſ-interpretation, he was not afraid to call them ſo; Non remiſit ſupplicium, ſayes he; God hath not forgiven the puniſhment; And imponit poenam, God exacts a puniſhment at thy hands: But yet, though S. Chryſoſtome ſuſpected no ſuch miſ-interpretations, the Holy Ghoſt who foreſaw that they would come, prevents all dangerous miſ-conſtructions, and directs S. Chryſoſtomes pen, thus, God does all this, ſayes he, Non exigens ſupplicium de peccatis, ſed corrigens ad futurum; whatſoever I have ſaid of puniſhments; it is not, that in that puniſhment, God hath any relation to the former, but to the future ſin, not to our lapſe, but to our relapſe, not to that which he hath ſeene, but to that which he foreſees would fall upon us, if he did not, if we did not prevent it with theſe medicinall aſſiſtances: And, as long as it is but ſo, call them what ye will, yet here is no foundation laid, no materials, no ſtone brought to the building of the Roman Satiſfaction, or Purgatory, or Indulgencies.
Howſoever therefore you exclude dangerous names, doe not upon colour of that, exclude neceſſary things: Howſoever you have delivered your ſelves to the mercy of God, and he hath delivered a ſeale of his mercy to you, inwardly in his Spirit, outwardly in his Sacrament, yet there are Amarae ſagittae ex dulci manu Dei, Nazian.(as Nazianzen calls afflictions after repentance) Sharp arrowes out of the ſweet hand of God; Corrections, by which God intends to eſtabliſh us in that ſpirituall health, to which our repentance, by his grace, hath brought us: Remember ſtill, that this which David did for the preſent, and that which he promiſed be would doe for the future, both together made up the reaſon of his prayer to God, by which he deſired God in the former verſes, to returne to him, to deliver his ſoule, and to ſave him; He had had no reaſon, no ground of his prayer, though he had done ſomething already, if he had not propoſed to himſelfe ſomething more to be done: There is a preparation before, and there is a preſervation after required at our hands, if wee ſtudie a perfect recovery, and cure of our ſoules.Gregor. And as S. Gregory notes well, there is a great deale of force in Davids Poſſeſſive, in his word of appropriation, Meus, lectus meus, and Oculus meus, It is his bed that he waſhed, and they are his eyes that waſhed it: He bore the affliction himſelfe, and truſted not to that which others had ſuffered by way of Supererogation. Sometimes, when the children of great perſons offend at Schoole, another perſon is whipped for them, and that affects them, and works upon a good nature; but if that perſon ſhould take Phyſick for them in a ſickneſſe, it would doe them no good: Gods corrections upon others, may worke by way of example upon thee; but becauſe thou art ſick for phyſicke, take it thy ſelfe. Truſt not to the treaſure of the Church; neither the imaginary treaſure of the Church of Rome, which pretends an inexhauſtible mine of the works of other men, to diſtribute and beſtow; No, nor to the true treaſure of the true Church, that is, Abſolution, upon Confeſſion, and Repentance; No, truſt not to the merits of Chriſt himſelfe, in their application to thee, without a Lectus tuus, and an Oculus tuus, except thou remember thy ſins in thy bed, and poure out thy teares from thine eyes, and fulfill the ſufferings of Chriſt in thy ſelfe. Nothing can be added to Chriſts merits; that is true: but ſomething muſt be added to thee; a diſpoſition in thee, for the application of that which is his: Not, that thou canſt begin this diſpoſition in thy ſelfe, till God offer it, but that thou maiſt reſiſt it, now it is offered, and reject it againe, after it is received. Truſt not in others, not in the Church, nor in Chriſt himſelfe, ſo, as to doe nothing for thy ſelfe; Nor truſt not in that, which thou doeſt for thy ſelfe, ſo, as at any time to thinke, thou haſt done enough and needeſt do no more: But when thou haſt paſt the ſignet, that thou haſt found the ſignature of Gods hand and ſeale, in a manifeſtation, that the marks of his Grace are upon thee, when thou haſt paſt his privy Seale, That his Spirit beares witneſſe with thy ſpirit, that thy repentance hath beene accepted by him, When thou haſt paſt the great Seale, in the holy and bleſſed Sacrament publiquely adminiſtred, doe not ſuſpect the goodneſſe of God, as though all were not done that were neceſſary for thy ſalvation, if thou wert to have thy tranſmigration out of this world this houre; but yet, as long as thou continueſt in the vale of tentations, continue in the vale of teares too; and though thou have the ſeale of Reconciliation, plead that ſeale to the Church, (which is Gods Tribunall, and judgement ſeat upon earth) in a holy life, and works of example to others, and looke daylie, looke hourely upon the Ita quod of that pardon, upon the Covenants and Conditions, with which it is given, That if by neglecting thoſe medicinall helps, thoſe auxiliary forces, thoſe ſubſidies of the kingdome of Heaven, thoſe after-afflictions, (chuſe whether you will call them by the name of Penance, or no) you relapſe into former ſins, your preſent repentance, and your preſent ſeale of that Repentance, the Sacrament, ſhall riſe up againſt you at the laſt day, and to that ſentence (you did not feed, you did not cloathe, you did not harbour me in the poore) ſhall this be added, as the aggravation of all, you did Repent, and you did receive the Seale, but you did not purſue that repentance, nor performe the conditions required at your hands.
But we are here met, by Gods gracious goodneſſe, in a better diſpoſition; with a ſincere repentance of all our former ſinnes, and with a deliberate purpoſe, as thoſe Iſraelites made their powring out of water, a teſtimony of diſſolving themſelves into holy teares, to make this faſt from bodily ſuſtenance, an inchoation of a ſpirituall faſt, in abſtinence from all that may exaſperate our God againſt us; That ſo, though not for that, yet thereby our prayers may be the more acceptable to our glorious God, in our gracious Saviour, To him that ſits upon the throne, and to the Lambe, firſt, that as he is the King of Kings, he will eſtabliſh, and proſper that Crowne, which he hath ſet upon the head of his Anointed over us here, and hereafter Crowne that Crowne with another Crowne, a better Crowne, a Crowne of immarceſcible glory in the Kingdome of Heaven, and in the meane time, make him his Bulwarke, and his Rampart, againſt all thoſe powers, which ſeeke to multiply Miters, or Crownes, to the diſquiet and prejudice of Chriſtendome: And then, That as he is the Lord of Lords, he will inſpire them, to whom he hath given Lordſhip over others in this world, with a due conſideration, that they alſo have a Lord over them, even in this world; and that he, and they, and we have one Lord over us all, in the other world: That as he is the Biſhop and high Prieſt over our Souls, he vouchſafe to continue in our Biſhops, a holy will, and a competent power to ſuper-intend faithfully over his Church, that they for their parts, when they depart from hence, may deliver it back into his hands, in the ſame forme, and frame, in which his bleſſed Spirit delivered it into their hands, in their predeceſſors, in the Primitive inſtitution thereof: That as he is the Angel of the great Counſayle, he vouchſafe to direct the great Counſayle of this Kingdome, to conſider ſtill, that as he works in this world, by meanes, So it concernes his glory, that they expedite the ſupply of ſuch meanes as may doe his worke, and may carry home the teſtimony of good Conſciences now, and in their poſterity have the thanks of poſterity, for their behaviour in this Parliament: That as he is the God of peace, he will reſtore peace to Chriſtendome; That as he is the Lord of Hoſts, he will fight our battayls, who have no other end in our warres, but his peace; and that after this faſt, which in the bodily and ghoſtly part too, we performe to day, and vow and promiſe for our whole lives, he will bring us to the Marriage Supper of the Lambe, in that Kingdome which our Saviour Chriſt Jeſus hath purchaſed for us, with the ineſtimable price of his incorruptible bloud. Amen.