Contemplations on Mortality, Chapter 7
CHAP. VII. Of a Saints Comforts, againſt all the Evills in Death..
I Will fear no evill, ſaies David: For thou art with me, thy crook and thy ſtaffe, they comfort me.
Here are evills great and manifold in this Valley of Death: evills to be feared and trembled at, but not by a David. A Saint will fear no evill: what David, no evill? not the evill of loſſe nor the evill of ſenſe,Anacephalaeoſis. not the parting from many ſweet injoyments, not the curſe of the Law, thundering from Sinai, and lightning from Ebal, not the conflicts of conſcience, nor the darts of Satan, not the pangs of ſickneſs, nor the pangs of death▪ not the mouldring duſt, nor unſavory ſtench, not the hideous darkneſs, nor the tedious night of the grave, as you may perceive by the foregoing Chapters. O valiant David! when God ſtands by thee: what, do'ſt thou not ſtagger at the doctrin; nor fear the event of thy reſurrection to Judgment, not the ſtrictneſs of that awfull Judg, nor his doomfull ſentence, nor the long face or ſilver hairs of Eternity? No, no! David will fear no evill, and here's his Cordiall. For thou art with me: thy crook and thy ſtaffe, they comfort me.
He fears no evill, becauſe God is with him: He fears God, and therefore nought but God. I'le forewarn you whom ye ſhall fear,aLuk. 12.5. ſayes our Lord, fear him, who after he hath kil'd, hath power to caſt into Hell: yea, I ſay unto you, fear him. The filiall fear of God expells the tormenting fear of death and hell it ſelf. Holy David with one God in his hand encounters and vanquiſhes every evill, and ſcatters the fear of evill. Let the King of Terrors muſter his Forces and order his Troops in Battalia: The ſhadow of death to David is but the ſhadow of evill. ThoughbPſ. 3.6. ten thouſand Curiaſſiers run upon him atilt with envenom'd and poyſoned ſpears,cPſ. 4.8. he layes him down in the boſome of God, he ſleeps in peace; For thou Lord makeſt him to reſt in ſafety. ThedJob 26.11. Pillars of Heaven tremble and are aſtoniſht at his reproof, who keeps a Saint in his arms. Hee'll ſcourge the black Tents ofeHab. 3.7. Mat. 27.54. Cuſhan with affliction, and the pale Curtains of this Land of Midian, like the Souldiers at our Lords Sepulchre, ſhall tremble to detain a Saint in the grave; For he that keepeth Iſrael fPſ. 121.3.ſhall neither ſlumber nor ſleep: hee'l awaken him in due time in the reſurrection morning, to enter the Courts of Glory.
David ſaies not: I ſhall not dye, and therefore I will not fear: But though I dye, I will not fear, for thou art with me. Be the waters of Kidron never ſo deep: the fire of Tophets Valley never ſo quick and furious:gPſ. 40.2. the pit of Moloch never ſo dark and obſcure: God hath ſecured my heart from fear, becauſe he is with me:aIſay 43.2. The waters ſhall not drown, nor the fire burn, nor the pit ſwallow. The power and wiſdome, the mercy and truth of God encircle the faith of a Saint, he dyesbHeb. 11.13. kiſſing and embracing the promiſes, and like good old Simeon taking Chriſt in his arms: he tunes his SwanlikecL k. 2.28 29. Sonner, and ſings himſelf aſleep at the mouth of the grave.
Thou art with me: For thou art mine. A God in Covenant guides to death and receives to glory. Other friends take leave at death: Here's a friend like Ruth dRuth 1.16.goes through with the… to Canaan: Others ſhake hands at the grave, they weep with Orpah and depart: This friend takes thy ſpirit into hiseLuk. 23.46. hands immediately, and keeps thy body in his privyfIſ. 26 20. chamber of preſence. God is the God of Abraham even in the grave. GodgMat. 22.32. is not the God of the dead, but of the living: God is the God of whole Abraham, therefore Abraham is alive to God, his immortall ſoul is alive with God: his precious duſt is alive to God: and therefore Abrahams body ſhall ariſe to glory: 'Tis in his keeping, who keepeth all thehPſ, 34.20. bones of his Saints, not one of them is broken: and to morrow (I mean at the reſurrection of the juſt) all theiriPſ. 35, 10. bones ſhall ſay, Lord who is like unto thee? Joſephs bones are embalm'd for heaven, and lye in a more magnificent Tomb then Egyptian Pyramids, andkGen. 50.25. Exod. 3.19. Joſh. 24.32. Heb. 11.22. follow the Ark to Canaan. Does the Father take care of his childrens bones? what cheſt do they ſleep in? with lIſ. 26.19.my dead body, ſaies Chriſt, in the Cedar Cheſt of the Covenant. What? doe they ſleep in the arms of his own beloved Son? yes, theym1 Theſ. 4.14. ſleep in Jeſus, and ſhall riſe with Jeſus: They are baptized into his death,nV. 14. and buried in his grave, and brought in the clouds together with him. The ſame new Tomb, the ſame Fine Linnen, the ſame Spices, the ſame Angels for a Saviour, and for his Saints. Little did Joſeph of Arimathea, think that he embalmed the whole body myſticall of Chriſt, and wrapt the Saints together with him in the ſame oJoh. 20 7Napkin, but ſo he did, by reaſon of their communion with him.
But does the Father and the Son likewiſe take ſuch heavenly care of dying Simeons? and is the Spirit of Grace at a diſtance from the bodies of Saints, which are his p Temples? No ſuch matter! though there were not a ſtone of theſe Temples lying upon another, yet the Spirit will rear them up. The Spirit of God is at work in the grave of a Saint: If thea1 Cor. 6.19. ſpirit of him that raiſed up Jeſus from the dead, dwell in you. He that raiſed up Chriſt from the dead, ſhall alſo quicken your mortall bodies by his ſpirit that dwelleth in you. So then, well may a Saint with holy Jacob bRo. 8.11.gather up his feet into his bed and ſweetly fall a ſleep. For the Father keeps him, the Son lies by him, and the Spirit quickens him: All heaven will come down to the grave of a Saint, and not wake their beloved, tillcGen. 49.33. the day break and the ſhadows flee away, then up he gets to the mountains of Myrrhe and to the Hills of Frankincenſe.dSong. 6.4.
But to follow David: its worth tracing the footſteps of David: nay the footſteps of God with David in this Valley: Therefore he fears not, for God is with him: lets liſten to his Harp and learn the Ditty. Methinks I hear five principall Songs of ſpirituall conſolation for a dying Saint.
An Experimental feeling of the divine preſence. For thou art with me: David ha's it and David feels it, and therefore ſpeaks it: 'Tis his ſafety to have it, his joy to feel it, and his love to ſpeak it; the having of God at death carries us to heaven ſafely; the feeling it, wings us thither, and makes us ſing of it to others, when we are flying.
A holy Appeal to God in Prayer, David muſt now be ſuppoſed upon his knees, praying, harping, ſinging, for thou art with me: All the joyfull Prayers of a Saint end with Songs, and the Songs with this Epiphonema; this burden, ſhall I call it? No! this Diapſalma, this Selah, this Diapaſon, this Cloſe upon all the Strings, For thou art with me.
A Saint in Covenant, and a Saint knowing it, may dye ſweetly: Tis a ſtrong Cordiall, 'twill ſweat away death: For thou art with me, and whats the reaſon; For thou art mine; He that can prove, that God is his, may ſweetly inferre that God is with him. God's with none but who are his: But they that are ſo, and know it ſo, ſhall fear no evill: For God makes themdAct. 2.28 full of joy with his countenance.
Divine Relation is a Saints Sanctuary. Fly to this holy Tower and thou art ſafe. The LordsaPſ. 23.1. my ſhepherd, I ſhall not want a full Table, trickling Oil, a running Cup are Davids portion. Such a child that hath a God to his Father,V. 5 fears no want. Such a Lamb, that hath a God to his Shepheard, fears no evill. His crook and his ſtaffe ſhall comfort him: Here's green Paſtures and pleaſant Rivers in the very Valley of Death.
Faiths proſpect of Heaven tranſports a Saint, He ſees Deaths Valley: but 'tis a Gilden Vale. 'Tis a narrow Valley, he leaps it over with his Shepheards ſtaffe: Faiths eyes are ſtrong and its legs nimble: He takes his riſe from the promiſe, and no ſooner dies, but is over Kidron: At death carnall mens eyes are dim, no ſpectacle, no optick Glaſſe can help them to ſpie Jeruſalem. A Saint like Moſes hathbDeut. 34.7. ſtrong eyes, nor is his natural moiſture fled. He ſtands upon the Piſgah of his own Tomb, and ſees croſſe the whole Land of Canaan, to the utmoſt,cV. 2. even the Mediterranean Sea. Others at death, how feeble aredEccl. 12.3 the knees of their Souls? their hands the keepers of their houſe tremble, and their thigh-bones the ſtrong men bow themſelves. But the feebleſt of the inhabitants of Zion, (I ſpeak of ſuch as ſtand [in ſpecula viſionis eZach. 12.8] in the watch-tower of Faith, and look through the glaſſe of aſſurance) they ſhall be as David in that day, and the houſe of David ſhall be as God, as the Angell of the Lord before them: As David! but why as David? Sure, ſtrong was the faith and piercing the eye of David, that ſaw glory ſo clearly through all the thick Fogs & Miſts of the Valley: 'Twas God was with him that cleared his eyes, and pointed with his hands as he did to Moſes, andfDeut. 34.1, 4. cauſed him to ſee it. But neither Moſes nor Aaron muſt enter, to ſhew that the ceremoniall no nor the morall Law can't waft us over the Brook to Canaan. But David, the Prince of the new Covenant, he ſhall tread down the Cananites, and on his head ſhall his Crown flouriſh: David the Subject had Daved thegPſ. 84.3. King with him: David the Servant had David the Son: the Son of Jeſſe had the Son of God forhPſ. 110.1. his Lord and Captain. And whoſe Faith ſhall not flowre by Chriſts watering? and whoſe fear ſhall not wither at his preſence: who fears death when this Shepherd ſuſtains? who fears his arriving to Heaven, if a God, if a God in Covenant, if my God and my Father lead me. Thou art now with me, ſaies David, I'le not fear, for ſhortly I ſhall be with thee: Gods with us here: but we are with him in heaven: here drops of Heaven ſlide into us, there we ſhall ſwim in heavens Ocean: Here a little of the oil of joy trickles into our hearts fromaPſ. 133.2. the head of Chriſt: there we ſhallbMat. 25.21. enter into the fulneſs of our Lord and Maſters joy: here it enters into us, and there we enter into it. But ſtill by virtue of his preſence, thou art with me, and the vigor of his conduct, thou ſhalt lead me: Thou art with me to bring me to thee: Thy Crook and thy Staffe they comfort me, and why? For they protect and guide me to thy holy Hill, and to thy Tabernacles. Thou wilt ſhew me the path of life: AtcPſ. 16.11. thy tight hand are pleaſures for evermore: of all theſe five, I hope to treat in their order; If God permit.