The Husbandmans Companion, Meditation 96
Upon the worth of meat, to thoſe that know the want of it.
96. Med.
WHen I had well refreſht my ſelf with meat, after I had been hungry and fainty, I began to know the worth of it by the want of it, I found that hunger was the beſt ſauce, the full ſoul (ſaith Solomon) loatheth the hony-comb, but to the hungry ſoul every bitter thing is ſweet, Pro. 27.7. this holds true in ſpirituals alſo, that which David accounts ſweeter then honey and the honey-comb, is now trampled upon by ſtall-fed beaſts, in whom fullneſs hath bred forgetfulneſs, and ſaturity ſecurity; the Phariſees found no ſweetneſs in Chriſts own Sermons; no wonder then if in our times men begin to ſurfet on the bread of life, and loath the word, the honey-comb it ſelf, but hunger, ſeaſons homely proviſion, courſe fare, doves dung, and aſſes heads, as in the ſeige of Samaria: great Hunniades never fared better then in his hunger with a poor Shepherd, with bread and water, and onions; I conſidered the providence of God, how rich he was in his goodneſs, not only in giving life, but alſo in giving food to maintain life, in giving a ſtomack to receive and digeſt this food, otherwiſe the choiſeſt food would be nauſeous, and in giving a bleſſing to this food, and a nutritive faculty, otherwiſe it would do no good; if any of all theſe were wanting, mans life could not be preſerved; I conſidered that bread which is called the ſtaff of life, and indeed the cheifeſt of all food for the preſervation of life, it ſprings out of the earth, as all other food doth, and there can be nothing but the bleſſing of God, that differenceth it from the earth; now if we eat bread, we are ſatisfyed, but if we eat earth we die; for God never bleſſed the earth, or put ſuch a vertue into it as to nouriſh us; now it is only Gods bleſſing that differences the one from the other in its operations; for had God bleſt the earth to this end and purpoſe, it would have ſuſtained us as well as corn that ſprings out of it, but that bleſſing is denied to the one, which is given to the other; the beaſts of the field are fed by the graſs, this will not keep man alive, yea, the ſerpents food ſeems to be the duſt, Gen. 3.14. for what elſe they feed on I know not, and it might have been ours, had God pleaſed, yea, every ſpecies of the creatures, hath ſome peculiar food appropriated to it, and what is ſuitable to one, is diſagreeable to another; now though there be bread provided, it is neceſſary there muſt be life, for what good will food do in a dead mans mouth? yea, it is neceſſary alſo, that there be a ſtomack rightly qualified, for if the ſtomack refuſe it, it cannot nouriſh, and all theſe are Gods gifts; ſome men we ſee are cloathed more richly, and fed more daintily, they eat the fat, and drink the ſweet, yet languiſh for want of health, when others are fat, and well-liking with meaner food, as Daniel and his fellows looked better with pulſe and water, then others did with the Kings meat, Dan. 1.15. it is a mercy to have food, and it is a mercy to have ſtomacks to eat it, and it is no leſs a mercy to have the bleſſing of God upon it, that it may nouriſh us: for this is one of the greateſt outward mercies we enjoy, and tends as much to our external happineſs: this minded me of the Apoſtles injunction, 1 tim. 6.8. we brought nothing into the world, and it is certain we ſhall carry nothing out, and having food and rayment, let us be therewith content; for godlineſs with content is great gain; true piety is true plenty, it is ſtoried of the Chaliph of Babilon, that he was ſhut up amidſt the infinite treaſures of gold, ſilver and precious ſtones, which he had covetouſly heaped together, and there was ſtarved to death, by the great Cham of Cataia, who yet willed him to eat, and make no ſpare: and it is no ſtrange thing, for gold and ſilver were never appointed, or bleſt by God for mans ſuſtentation; food and rayment not junkets, are neceſſary; meat and drink (ſaith Jerome) are a Chriſtians riches, and well may we be content with this, if we knew the want of it; many poor creatures, yea, able Chriſtians, better then our ſelves, have ſuffered much, in Germany, and of late years in Ireland, ſo that dogs, horſes, rats and mice, and ſuch like vermine, were eſteemed good food: in the ſeige of Samaria, there was ſuch a famine, that an aſſes head was ſold for fourſcore pieces of ſilver, and the fourth part of a cab of doves dung for five pieces of ſilver, 2 Kin. 6.25. and in Samaria, and afterwards in Jeruſalem, the hands of the pitiful women ſod their own children and eat them, theſe were their meat in their diſtreſs, 2 Kin. 6.28. Lam. 4.10. but bleſſed be God, we know not want, nor feel not ſorrow; but what good would all the wealth in the world do us, if we wanted food; Jems and Jewels, would be little worth, crowns and kingdomes would yield us no comfort, bread would be of more worth to us then its weight in gold, yet without the bleſſing of God this would not ſerve our turn, or preſerve our lives: how then dare men provoke this God by abuſing theſe his bleſſings? man lives not by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, Mat. 4.4. that is, by every thing that God bleſſeth to that end: if we want bread therefore, let us depend upon him, that can preſerve us without bread, as one of the Martyrs ſaid, when he was threatened to be famiſhed, if God take away my meat, he can take away my hunger, Pſal. 37.3. truſt in the Lord, and do good, ſo ſhalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou ſhalt be fed: one promiſe will do us more good then all our gold, Hab. 3.17, 18. though the fig-tree ſhould not bloſſome, and there be no fruit in the vine, though the labour of the olive ſhould fail, and the field ſhould yield no meat, though the flock ſhould be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the ſtall, yet will I rejoyce in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my ſalvation; though Hagars bottle be empty, God will ſhew her the well; though the ſhip be broken, God will prepare a plank: oh my ſoul, truſt in God for thy bodily food, he that feeds the ravens will not ſtarve the children, but reſt not ſatisfied till thy ſoul be fed with the bread of life; oh my God, on thee I depend for food, both for body and ſoul; Lord, feed both, and with food give a bleſſing, that …oth ſoul and body may be nouriſhed by it.