The True Christians T est, Part 1 · Meditation 85
MEDITAT. LXXXV. Of Envy and Envious Wiſdom.
THE Earthly, Fleſhly, and Deviliſh Wiſdom, is deſcribed more particularly by the bitter Envying with which it is attended, or which it does attend upon.
Envy ſprings from Poverty: And although it be found in great and rich men, yet it is when they fanſie themſelves poor; and herein indeed they are inferior to them whom they envy.
The more pure and perfect any Being is, the more free from Envy. The All-ſufficient God envies no good to his Creature. However theſe words are to be underſtood—Now lest he put forth his hand, and take of the Tree of Life, &c.
It is plain and certain, that God deſires that all men ſhould be ſaved, and come unto the knowledge of the Truth. He was ſo far from envying the ſtation of man, that he hedg'd him in with a ſevere Threatning; and ſo far from envying his Recovery, that he ſent his Son to make a painful Inquiry, a diligent Search for him, to ſeek and to ſave that which was loſt.
The holy Angels, his Menial Servants, imitate him; they continue their deſpiſed Miniſtry to wretched Man, contribute what they can to his Converſion, and rejoice in it. The Rhetorical deſcription that the Prophet makes of the welcome that the damned or the miſerable give to the Babyloniſh Monarch, Iſa. 14. 9. as fitly agrees to them: Their Charity rejoices, as much as the others Malignity.
The Sun in the Firmament, as if it were afraid that Man ſhould lie in darkneſs, riſes and rejoices to run its Race, and without diſdain or envy ſheds abroad its influences upon the faireſt, and the vileſt parts of the World.
The Rain deſcends upon the barren ground to enrich it, and upon the Rich to make it yet richer.
The richer any Man is in any endowment or accompliſhment, the leſs he is grieved at the proſperity of others. The contented Man, be he who he will, is the Richeſt; therefore he is the freeſt from Envy.
When the Devil was fallen from his Happineſs, he envied the Happineſs of Man yet ſtanding, and ſought to bring him into the ſame condemnation with himſelf; ſo that the Wiſdom that ſerves Envy, may well be called Deviliſh.
But it is well call'd Earthly too; for it is found predominant in none but earthly minds. David indeed caſt an envious glance at the proſperity of the wicked men of his time, Pſal. 73. 3. But it was but a glance, he did not allow himſelf in it; he calls himſelf a Fool, and a Beaſt for it, ver. 22. But a predominant envious temper is worldly; it is contrary to the Divine temper of Charity, and to the nature of that bleſſed Being, whoſe Name is Love.
The Wiſdom that ſerves Envy, is a worldly Wiſdom.
Envy travels with many Plots and Projects, and Serpentine Wiles, to ſupplant its Rivals, and undermine its Superiors. Envious Men are the eldeſt Sons of the old Serpent; they reſemble him, as being his genuine Off-ſpring, and moſt natural Spawn: Them therefore he inſpires, and aſſiſts with his Wiles and Methods.
O my Soul, let not thin… Eye be evil, becauſe God's is good! But rejoice rather in all the Bounty of God expreſs'd towards all men. Rejoice in them all, as if they were thy own, which is the honeſteſt way of making them thine own. Do Men excel thee in Vertue? Imitate them. Do they excel thee in Wealth, Power, or Preferment? Rather pity them, and fear for them, lest their Proſperity deſtroy them, than envy them.
The Inſtances of the Envious Wiſdom are ſuch as theſe.
One while Envy will break out into open Wars, kill and ſlay all before it. How did the two proud Princes fill all Italy with Blood and Confuſion; of which their own Poet aſſigns a cauſe, in the character that he gives of them—Nec ferre potest Coeſarve priorem, Pompejuſve parem.
Another while it lays ſnares privily, and like a deadly Peſtilence, walks in the dark; like a Serpent in the way, like an Adder in the path, that biteth the Horſe-heels, ſo that his Rider ſhall fall backward.
One while it rages, and profeſſes its ſelf an Enemy; another while it glavers, and makes great ſhew of friendſhip. Saul poſſeſs'd with this Devil, will give away his Daughter; if by her he may enſnare the man that had kill'd his Thouſands.
One while it will behave it ſelf proudly, to outvy a Competitor; another while it will behave it ſelf humbly, lick the duſt, proſtrate it ſelf ſhamefully, lie down under the feet of its Rival, if by that means he may be made to ſtumble and fall: He croucheth and humbleth himſelf, that the Rival may fall by that means.
Sometimes it acts by Cruelty, as in Cain; ſometimes by Policy, as in the Patriarchs; ſometimes it is covetous, and receives money, as in the chief Fathers, Gen. 37. ſometimes it is prodigal, and ſpends money, as in the chief Prieſts, Mat. 26.
Sometimes it will put on the Vizard of Devotion, as in Jezabel. This ſame was a dear Daughter of the Serpent; her he inſpir'd with ſpecial Wiles to get Naboth's Vincyard, as we read in the Story, 1 Kings 21.
All theſe, and the like to theſe, are Inſtances of the Serpentine Wiſdom; and ſuch a kind of Wiſdom, to ſerve the deſigns of Envy, is a Symptom of a Lover of the World.
Lord, Give me that full contentment with my own condition, that true valuation of things, that ſincere love of all men, that I may not envy any; and that this may be my rejoicing at the last, the teſtimony of my Conſcience, that in ſimplicity, and godly ſincerity, not with fleſhly wiſdom, but by the grace of God, I have had my converſation in the world!