Works of Joseph Hall, Part 25
AMNON and TAMAR.
IT is not poſſible, that any word of God ſhould fall to the ground: Dauid is not more ſure of forgiueneſſe, than ſmart: Three maine ſins paſſed him in this buſineſſe of Vriah; Adultery, Murder, Diſſimulation: for all which, he receiues preſent payment; for Adultery, in the deflowring of his Daughter Thamar; for Murder, in the killing of his Sonne Amnon; for Diſſimulation in the contriuing of both. Yet all this was but the beginning of euils. Where the Father of the Family brings ſinne home to the houſe, it is not eaſily ſwept our: Vnlawfull Luſt propagates it ſelfe by example; How iuſtly is Dauid ſcourged by the ſinne of his Sonnes, whome his Act taught to offend?
Maacha was the Daughter of an Heatheniſh King; By her, had Dauid that beautifull, but vnhappy Iſſue, Abſalom, and his no leſſe faire Siſter, Thamar: Perhaps, thus late doth Dauid feele the puniſhment of that vnfit choice: I ſhould hauehave maruelled, if ſo holy a man had not found croſſes in ſo vnequall a match, either in his perſon, or at leaſt in his feed.
Beauty, if it be not well diſciplin'd, proues not a Friend, but a Traytour, three of Dauids Children are vndone by it at once; What elſe was guilty of Amnons inceſtuous louelove, Tamars rauiſhment, Abſoloms pride? It is a bleſſing to be faire, yet ſuch a bleſſing, as if the ſoule anſwer not to the face, may leade to a curſe; How commonly hauehave we ſeene the fo…leſt ſoule dwell faireſt? It was no fault of Tamars, that ſhee was beautifull; the Candle offends not in burning, the fooliſh flie offends in ſcorching it ſelfe in the flame; yet it is no ſmall miſery to become a tentation vntounto another; and to be made but the occaſion of others ruine. Amnon is louelove-ſicke of his ſiſter Tamar, and languiſhes of that vnnaturall heat. Whither will not wanton luſt carry the inordinate mindes of pampered and vngouerned youth; None but his halfe ſiſter, will pleaſe the eyes of the young Prince of Iſrael: Ordinary pleaſures will not content thoſe whom the conceit of greatneſſe, youth, and eaſe, hauehave let looſe to their appetite.
Perhaps, yet this vnkindly flame, might in time, hauehave gone out alone, had not there beene a Ionadab, to blow theſe coales with ill counſell. It were ſtrange, if great Princes ſhould want ſome Paraſiticall Followers, that are ready to feed their ill humors. Why art thou, the Kings Sonne, ſo leane from day to day? As if it were vnworthy the Heire of a King, to ſuffer either Law, or Conſcience; to ſtand in the way of his deſires: Whereas wiſe Princes know well, that their places giuegive them no priuiledge of ſinning: but call them in rather to ſo much more ſtrictneſſe, as their example may be more preiudiciall.
Ionadab was the Couſin German of Amnon: Ill aduice is ſo much more dangegerous, as the intereſt of the giuer is more; Had he beene a true friend, hee had bent all the forces of his diſſwaſion, againſt the wicked motions of that ſinfull luſt; and had ſhewed the Prince of Iſrael how much thoſe lewd deſires prouoked God, and blemiſhed himſelfe; and had lent his hand to ſtrangle them in their firſt Conception. There cannot be a more worthy improuement of friendſhip, than in a feruent oppoſition to the ſinnes of them, whom we profeſſe to louelove: No enemy can be ſo mortall to great Princes, as thoſe officious Clients, whoſe flattery ſoothes them vp in wickedneſſe; Theſe are Traytors to the Soule, and by a pleaſing violence kill the beſt part eternally.
How ready at hand is an euill ſuggeſtion? Good counſell is like vntounto Wel-water, that muſt be drawne vp with a Pumpe, or Bucket; Ill counſell is like to Conduit-water, which if the cocke be but turned, runnes out alone; Ionadab hath ſoone proiected how Amnon ſhall accompliſh his lawleſſe purpoſe. The way muſt be to faine himſelfe ſicke in body, whoſe minde was ſicke of luſt; and vnderunder this pretence to procure the preſence of her, who had wounded, and only might cure him.
The daily increaſing languor, and leaneneſſe, and paleneſſe of louelove-ſicke Amnon might well giuegive colour to a Kerchiefe, and a pallet. Now is it ſoone told Dauid that his eldeſt Sonne is caſt vponupon his ſicke bed; there needs no ſuite for his viſitation; The carefull Father haſten… to his Bed-ſide, not without doubts and feates: He that was lately ſo afflicted with the ſickneſſe of a Childe that ſcarce liued to ſee the light, how ſenſible muſt we needs thinke hee would bee, of the indiſpoſition of his firſt borne Soone, in the prime of his age and hopes? It is not giuen to any Prophet to fore-ſee all things, Happie had it beene for Dauid, if Amnon had beene truly ſicke, and ſicke vntounto death; yet who could hauehave perſwaded this paſſionate Father to hauehave beene content with this ſucceſſion of loſſes, this early loſſe of his Succeſſour: How glad is he to heare, that his Daughter Tamars skill might bee likely to fit the dyet of ſo deare… patient. Conceit is word to rule much both in ſickneſſe, and the cure. Tamar is ſent by her Father to the houſe of Amnon; Her hand only muſt dreſſe that Diſh, which may pleaſe the nice Palace of her ſicke Brother. Euen the Children of Kings, in thoſe homely…r Tymes, did not ſcorne to put their fingers, to ſome workes of huſwifrie: (Shee tooke floure and did knead it, and did make Cakes in his ſight, and did bake the Cakes and tooke a Pan, and powred them out before him.) Had ſhee not beene ſometimes vſed to ſuch domeſtique imployments, ſhee had beene now to ſeeke; neither had this beene required of her, but vponupon the knowledge of her skill: Shee doth not plead the impayring of her beauty by the ſcorching of the fire; nor thinkes her hand too dainty for ſuch meane Services, but ſettles to the worke, as one that had rather regard the neceſſities of her Brother, than her owne ſtate: Only pride and idleneſſe hauehave baniſht honeſt and thrifty diligence, out of the houſes of the great.
This was not yet the Diſh that Amnon longed for. It was the Cooke, and not the Cates which that wanton eye affected. Vnlawfull Acts ſeeke for ſecrecie; The companie is diſmiſſed, Tamar onelyonly ſtaies; Good meaning ſuſpects nothing; Whiles ſhe preſents the meat ſhe had prepared, to her ſicke Brother, her ſelfe is made a prey to his outragious Luſt. The modeſt Virgine intreates, and perſwades in vaine; ſhee layes before him the ſinne, the ſhame, the danger of the fact; and ſince none of theſe can preuaile, faine would winne time by the ſuggeſting of vnpoſſible hopes; Nothing but violence can ſtay a reſolued ſinner; What hee cannot by intreaty, hee will hauehave by force. If the Deuill were not more ſtrong in men, than nature, they would neuer ſeeke pleaſure in violence. Amnon hath no ſooner fulfilled his beaſtly deſires, than he hates Tamar more than he loued her. Inordinate luſt neuer ends but in diſcontentment; Loſſe of ſpirits, and remorſe of ſoule make the remembrance of that Act tedious, whoſe expectation promiſed delight. If we could ſee the backe of ſinfull pleaſures, ere we behold their face, our hearts could not but be fore-ſtalled with a iuſt deteſtation. Brutiſh Amnon, it was thy ſelfe whom thou ſhouldſt hauehave hated for this villany; not thine innocent ſiſter; Both of you lay together, onelyonly one committed inceſt: What was ſhe but a patient in that impotent fury of luſt? How vniuſtly doe carnall men miſ-place their affections? No man can ſay whether that louelove, or this hatred were more vnreaſonable: Fraud drew Tamar into the houſe of Amnon, force intertained her within; and droue her out. Faine would ſhe hauehave hid her ſhame where it was wrought, and may not bee allowed it; That roofe vnderunder which, ſhe came with honour, and in obedience and louelove, may not be lent her for the time as a ſhelter of her ignominie. Neuer any ſauage could be more barbarous: Shechem had rauiſhed Dinah, his offence did not make her odious; his affection ſo continued, that he is willing rather to draw bloud of himſelfe and his people, than forgoe her whom hee had abuſed; Amnon in one houre is in the exceſſe of louelove and hate; and is ſicke of her, for whom he was ficke: She that lately kept the keyes of his heart, is now lockt out of his doores. Vnruly paſſions runne euer into extremities, and are then beſt apaied, when they are furtheſt off from reaſon and moderation.
What could Amnon thinke, would be the euent of ſo ſoule a fact, which as hee had not the grace to preuent, ſo hee hath not the care to conceale? If hee lookt not ſo high as Heauen, what could he imagine would follow hereupon, but the diſpleaſure of a Father, the danger of Law, the indignation of a Brother, the ſhame and out-cryes of the World; All which he might hauehave hoped to auoid by ſecreſie, and plauſible courſes of ſatisfaction. It is the iuſt iudgement of God vponupon preſumptuous offenders, that they loſe their wit, together with their honeſty; and are either ſo blinded, that they cannot fore-ſee the iſſue of their actions, or ſo beſotted that they doe not regard it.
Poore Tamar can but bewaile that which ſhe could not keepe, her Virginity, not loſt, but torne from her by a cruell violence: She rends her Princely Robe, and k…ies aſhes on her head, and laments the ſhame of anothers ſinne; and liues more deſolate than a widdow, in the houſe of her brother Abſalom.
In the meane time, what a coroſiue muſt this newes needs be to the heart of good Dauid, whoſe fatherly command had out of louelove, caſt his Daughter into the iawes of this Lion? What an inſolent affront, muſt he needs conſtrue this, to bee offred by a Sonne to a Father; that the Father ſhould bee made the Pandar of his owne Daughter to his Sonne? Hee that lay vponupon the ground weeping for, but the ſickneſſe of an Infant, How vexed doe we thinke hee was with the villanie of his Heire, with the rauiſhment of his Daughter, both of them worſe than many deaths? What reuenge can he thinke of, for ſo haynous a crime leſſe than death; and what leſſe than death is it to him, to thinke of a reuenge? Rape was by the Law of God, capitall, how much more, when it is ſeconded with Inceſt? Anger was not puniſhment enough for ſo high an offence; Yet this is all that I heare of, from ſo indulgent a Father, ſauing that he makes vp the reſt with ſorrow, puniſhing his Sonnes out-rage in himſelfe; The better-natur'd, and more gracious a man is, the more ſubiect he is to the danger of an ouer-remiſſeneſſe, and the exceſſe of fauour and merciemercy: The milde iniuſtice is no leſſe perillous to the Common-wealth, than the cruell.
If Dauid (perhaps out of the conſcience of his owne late offence) will not puniſh this fact, his ſonne Abſalom ſhall: not out of any care of Iuſtice, but in a deſire of reuenge. Two whole yeares, hath this ſlye Courtier ſmothered his indignation, and fayned kindneſſe; elſe his inuitation of Amnon in ſpeciall, had beene ſuſpected. Euen gallant Abſalom was a great Sheep-maſter; The brauery and magnificence of a Courtier, muſt bee built vponupon the grounds of frugalitie; Dauid himſelfe is bidden to this bloudie Sheep-ſhearing; It was no otherwiſe meant, but that the Fathers eyes ſhould be the witneſſes, of the Tragicall execution of one Sonne by another; OnelyOnly Dauids louelove kept him from that horrible ſpectacle. Hee is carefull not to be chargeable to that Sonne, who cares not to ouer charge his Fathers ſtomacke with a Feaſt of Bloud.
AMNON hath ſo quite forgot his ſinne, that he dares goe to feaſt in that Houſe where Tamar was mourning; and ſuſpects not the kindneſſe of him, whom he had deſerued, of a Brother to make an enemy; Nothing is more vnſafe to be truſted, than the faire lookes of a feſtred heart: Where true Charitie or iuſt ſatisfaction, hauehave not wrought a ſound reconciliation, malice doth but lurke for the opportunitie of an aduantage.
It was not for nothing, that Abſalom deferred his reuenge; which is now ſo much the more exquiſite, as it is longer protracted: What could bee more fearefull, than when Amnons heart was merrie with Wine, to be ſuddenly ſtricken with death? As if this execution had beene no leſſe intended to the Soule, than to the bodie; How wickedly ſoeuer this was done by Abſalom, yet how iuſt was it with God, that he, who in two yeares impunity would finde no leiſure of repentance, ſhould now receiue a puniſhment without poſſibilitie of Repentance?
O God, thou art righteous to reckon for thoſe ſinnes, which humane partialitie or negligence hath omitted, and whiles thou puniſheſt ſinne with ſinne, to puniſh ſinne with death; If either Dauid had called Amnon to account for this villanie, or Amnon had called himſelfe, the reuenge had not beene ſo deſperate; Happie is the man that by an vnfayned Repentance acquits his ſoule from his knowne euills, and improues the dayes of his peace to the preuention of future vengeance; which if it bee not done, the hand of God ſhall as ſurely ouertake vsus in iudgement, as the hand of Satan hath ouertaken vsus in miſcarriage vntounto ſinne.