The Husbandmans Companion, Meditation 52
Upon the taſte of honey.
52. Med.
WHen I had a little conſidered the workman, and the work, I deſired to taſte of the fruits of her labours, but when I had taſted of the honey, and found the ſweetneſs of it, and caſt mine eyes upon the little workman, a poor ſmall inſect, a contemptible fly, that yet may challenge all the artiſts in the world by their Chymiſtry to extract ſuch excellent food out of ſtinking weeds, ſinks, dunghills, and other filthy places as ſhe doth, and that without the help of fire, or any other inſtrument then what God hath indewed her with: and when it is extracted, to place and diſpoſe of it in ſuch an excellent order and comely manner as ſhe doth; for ſhe furniſheth her houſe ſo exquiſitly, ſo uniformly as ſhe doth, that one little hole or cell cannot be found in the whole fabrick in a diſorderly form, and all the materials being taken from ſuch varieties of flowers, herbs, and weeds, the quinteſcence being extracted, is ſo orderly diſpoſed, the wax to build the houſe, and the honey to furniſh it, that it is wonderful to behold, and yet the herbs and flowers thus robbed, to our knowledge receive no detriment, nor their owners no dammage, for when it is gone it cannot be miſt. When I conſidered alſo, the vertues and the operations both of the honey, and wax, the work of theſe poor creatures, how uſeful and beneficiall it was, not only for food, but for phyſick, and ſurgery, and for many other uſes, it made me cry out, the finger of God, the finger of God, that hath inſtructed ſuch a poor fly in ſuch an excellent art as this is, and made them ſo painful, ſo diligent, for the good of man, to help them to what they could not otherwiſe have, nor well be without; but if God be the ſchoolmaſter, no matter who be the ſchollars, all the men on earth cannot do the like, much leſs teach another fly this art, nay, we finde God himſelf ſeems to glory in this creature, how ſmall ſoever, as well as in the great Leviathan, and Unicorn, and Behemoth, Job. 41.1. &c. and 40.15. and 35.9. When he commends Canaan, he frequently calls it, a land flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands, Exod. 3.8, 17. and 33.3. Lev. 20.24. and many other places. In other Scriptures alſo we may ſee it commended, Pro. 24.13. my ſon, eat honey, becauſe it is good, and the honey-comb which is ſweet to thy taſte: thus Chriſt accepting the duties, and delighting in the graces of his people, tells us, Cant. 5.1. He hath eaten his honey-comb with his honey, and hath drunk his wine with his milk, and calls upon his friends to drink abundantly alſo; I conſidered alſo, how good God was to us (as well as unto Canaan) in England, that have ſuch ſtore of theſe bleſſings as well as them, and wondred that our provoking ſins had not forced him to deal by us, as he hath dealt by them, and to make our land ſpew us out alſo, yea, to lay a curſe upon the land alſo, as he did upon theirs, for it is conceived that Judea is at this day far more barren, and ſterile, then heretofore it was; ſo true is that of the Pſalmiſt, Pſal. 107.33.34. He turneth rivers into a wilderneſs, and the water-ſprings into dry ground, a fruitful land into barrenneſs, for the wickedneſs of them that dwell therein. I conſidered alſo, if there be ſo much ſweetneſs in the creature what is in the Creator? this being but a ſhadow and reſemblance of his infinite perfections, all the excellency that is in the creature being but a drop to this ocean, a ray to this ſun, and a ſpark to this fire; the Word of God which is a manifeſtation of his will, is by David ſaid to be ſweeter then honey and the honey comb, better then thouſands of gold and ſilver, Pſal. 19.10. and 119.72.103. Job. 23.12. I have not gone back from the commandemonts of his lips, I have eſteemed the words of his mouth more then my neceſſary food: oh, how ſweet then is God himſelf to an hungring ſoul? what are the longings, pantings, faintings, yernings of a believer after his God, who is the very life of his ſoul, yea, never did poor infant more longingly deſire his mothers breaſt, or thirſty earth covet the drops of rain, or thirſty man cry out for drink, then a thirſting ſoul doth after the word which is the ſincere milk to feed it, 1 Pet. 2.2, or at leaſt wiſe after God in the word; ſee the pantings of David, Pſal. 42.1. as the hart panteth after the water-brooks, ſo panteth my ſoul after thee, O God: my ſoul thirſteth for God, even for the living God, when ſhall I come and appear before God; and no wonder, where there is life there muſt be food; and God is the food of the ſoul, and in the Ordinances, the ſoul feeds upon him, here they have a foundation for their faith, hope, and confidence, to build upon, the promiſes are their food in their journey to heavenly Canaan, as Mannah was to Iſrael in the wilderneſs, the word is their fathers legacy wherein are promiſes for this life, and that to come; and yet alas, moſt men look upon it as if it did not concern them: oh my ſoul, is the Word of God ſo ſweet, and ſo precious to the Saints, how is it to thee? how ſtands thy ſtomack affected to it? is it ſweet to thy taſte? if not, ſurely it is a ſigne of a diſtemper: remember the days of old, when thou didſt travail many miles to hear the word, it was precious in thoſe days, and thou fedſt upon it greedily: is it not as ſweet ſtill? ſurely the fault is not in it, but in thy ſelf, take heed leſt if thou play with thy meat, God take it from thee; perhaps thou feed'ſt but upon the husk of duty, and not upon the kernel, upon the bare out-ſide performances, and not upon God in the duty, and this makes thee like Iſrael to loath this dry Mannah: take heed for the time to come, remember from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do thy firſt work: oh my God, diſcover thy ſelf more unto me in thine ordinances; let me feed upon thee in the duty, then will my appetite be renewed, and my ſoul ſhall long after this bread of life, and my graces which now ſtand at a ſtay ſhall then grow and flouriſh.