Works of Joseph Hall, Part 7
The reiection of SAVL, and the choice of DAVID.
EVen when Saul had abandoned God in diſobedience, hee would not forgoe Samuel, yea, though he reproued him; when he had forſaken the ſubſtance, yet hee would maintaine the formalitie; If hee cannot hold the man, he will keepe the pledge of his garment, ſuch was the violence of Sauls deſire, that he will rather rend Samuels coate, then part with his perſon. Little did Saul thinke, that he had in his hand the pawne of his owne reiection, that this act of kinde importunitie ſhould carie in it a preſage of his iudgement, yet ſo it did: This very rending of the coat was a reall propheſie, and did bode no leſſe, then the rending of the Kingdome from him, and his poſteritie: Wicked men, whiles they thinke by carnall meanes to make their peace, plunge themſelues deeper into miſery.
Any ſtander by would hauehave ſaid, what a good King is this? how deare is Gods Prophet vntounto him? how happy is Iſrael in ſuch a Prince, as thus loues the meſſengers of God? Samuel, that ſaw the bottome of this hollow affection, reiects him, whom God had reiected; he was taught to looke vponupon Saul, not as a King, but as an offender, and therefore refuſes with no leſſe vehemency, then Saul intreated: It was one thing, what he might doe, as a ſubiect, another what he muſt doe, as a Prophet: Now he knowes not Saul any otherwiſe, then as ſo much the greater treſpaſſer as his place was higher; and therefore he doth no more ſpare his greatneſſe, then the God againſt whom hee ſinned; Neither doth he countenance that man with his preſence, on whom hee ſees God to frowne.
There needs no other Character of hypocriſie, then Saul in the cariage of this one buſineſſe with Agag and Samuel: Firſt, he obeyes God where there is no gaine in diſobedience; then he ſerues God by halues, and diſobeyes, where the obedience might be loſſe: He giues God of the worſt; he doth that in a colour, which might ſeeme anſwerable to the charge of God: He reſpects perſons in the execution; He giues good words, when his deeds were euill; He proteſts his obedience againſt his conſcience; He faces out his proteſtation againſt a reproofe; When hee ſees no remedy, hee acknowledges the fact, denies the ſinne, yea he iuſtifies the act by a profitable intention; When he can no longer maintaine his innocence, hee caſts the blame from himſelfe vponupon the people; Hee confeſſeth not, till the ſinne be wrung from his mouth; Hee ſeekes his peace out of himſelfe, and relyes more vponupon anothers vertue, then his owne penitency; Hee would cloake his guiltineſſe with the holineſſe of anothers preſence; He is more tormented with the danger and damage of his ſinne, then with the offence; He cares to hold in with men, in what termes ſoeuer he ſtands with God; He faſhionably ſerues that God, whom hee hath not cared to reconcile by his repentance: No maruell if God caſt him off, whoſe beſt was diſſimulation.
Old Samuel is forced to doe a double execution, and that vponupon no leſſe then two Kings: The one vponupon Saul, in diuiding the Kingdome from him, who had diuided himſelfe from God; The other vponupon Agag, in diuiding him in pieces, whom Saul ſhould hauehave diuided. Thoſe holy hands were not vſed to ſuch ſacrifices, yet did hee neuer ſpill blood more acceptably: If Saul had beene truely penitent, hee had in a deſire of ſatisfaction preuented the hand of Samuel in this ſlaughter; Now hee coldly ſtands ſtill, and ſuffers the weake hands of an aged Prophet to bee imbrued with that blood, which he was commanded to ſhed. If Saul might not ſacrifice in the abſence of Samuel, yet Samuel might kill in the preſence of Saul: He was yet a Iudge of Iſrael although he ſuſpended the execution: In Sauls neglect, this charge reuerted to him; God loues iuſt executions ſo well, that he will hardly take them ill at any hands.
I doe not find, that the ſlaughter of Agag troubled Samuel; that other act of his ſeueritie vponupon Saul though it drew no blood, yet ſtroke him in the ſtriking, and fetched teares from his eyes. Good Samuel mourned for him, that had not grace to mourne for himſelfe: No man in all Iſrael might ſeeme to hauehave ſo much reaſon to reioyce in Sauls ruine, as Samuel, ſince that he knew him raiſed vp in deſpight of his gouernment; yet he mournes more for him, then he did for his ſonnes, for himſelfe: It grieued him to ſee the plant, which he had ſet in the garden of Iſrael, thus ſoone withered: It is an vnnaturall ſenſeleſneſſe not to be affected with the dangers, with the ſinnes of our Gouernors: God did not blame this ſorrow, but moderated it; How long wilt thou mourne for Saul? It was not the affection he forbade, but the meaſure: In this is the difference betwixt good men and euill, that euill men mourne not for their own ſinnes, good men doe ſo mourne for the ſinnes of others, that they will hardly be taken off.
If Samuel mourne becauſe Saul hath caſt away God by his ſinne, hee muſt ceaſe to mourne, becauſe God hath caſt away Saul from raigning ouer Iſrael, in his iuſt puniſhment: A good heart hath learned to reſt it ſelfe vponupon the Iuſtice of Gods Decree, and forgets all earthly reſpects, when it lookes vp to heauen. So did God meane to ſhew his diſpleaſure againſt the perſon of Saul, that he would ſhew fauour to Iſrael, he will not therefore bereaue them of a King, but change him for a better: Either Saul had ſlandred his people, or elſe they were partners with him in the diſobedience: yet (becauſe it was their Rulers fault, that they were not ouer-ruled) we doe not heare of their ſmarting, any otherwiſe, then in the ſubiection to ſuch a King, as was not loyall to God: The loſſe of Saul is their gaine; the gouernment of their firſt King was abortiue, no maruell if it held not. Now was the maturitie of that State, and therefore God will bring them forth a kindly Monarchy ſetled where it ſhould: Kings are of Gods prouiding, it is good reaſon he ſhould make choice of his owne Deputies: but where goodneſſe meets with ſoueraignty, both his right, and his gift are doubled: If Kings were meerely from the earth, what needs a Prophet to be ſeene in the choice or inauguration? The hand of Samuel doth not now beare the Scepter to rule Iſrael, but it beares the horne for the anointing of him, that muſt rule: Saul was ſent to him, when the time was to be anointed; but now, he is ſent to anoint Dauid: Then Iſrael ſought a King for themſelues, now God ſeekes a King for Iſrael: The Prophet is therfore directed to the houſe of Iſhai the Bethleemite, the grand-child of Ruth; now is the faithfull louelove of that good Moabiteſſe crowned with the honour of a Kingdome, in the ſucceeding generation: God fetcht her out of Moab, to bring a King vntounto Iſrael: Whiles Orpah wants bread in her owne Country, Ruth is growne a great Lady in Bethleem, and is aduanced to be great Grand mother to the King of Iſrael. The retributions of God are bountifull; neuer any man forſooke ought for his ſake, and complained of an hard bargaine.
Euen the beſt of Gods Saints want not their infirmities: He that neuer replyed, when hee was ſent to reproue the King, moueth doubts, when he is bidden to goe, and anoint his ſucceſſor. (How can I goe? If Saul beare it he will kill me.) Perhaps deſire of full direction drew from him this queſtion, but not without a mixture of diffidence; For the manner of doing it, doth not ſo much trouble him, as the ſucceſſe: It is not to be expected, that the moſt faithfull hearts ſhould bee alwaies in an equall height of reſolution, God doth not chide Samuel, but inſtruct him: Hee, which is Wiſedome it ſelfe, teacheth him to hide his counſels in an honeſt policy: (Take an Heifar with thee, and ſay, I am come to doe ſacrifice to the Lord.) This was to ſay true, not to ſay all: Truth may not bee croſſed by denials, or equiuocations, it may bee concealed in a diſcreet ſilence: except in the caſe of an oath, no man is bound to ſpeake all he knowes; we are not onelyonly allowed, but commanded to be innocently Serpentine. There were doubtleſſe Heifars enow in Bethleem, Iſhai had both wealth and deuotion enough to hauehave beſtowed a Sacrifice vponupon God, and his Prophet: But to giuegive a more perfect colour to his intention, Samuel muſt take an Heifar with him: The act it ſelfe was ſerious and neceſſary: There was no place, no time, wherein it was not fit for a Samuel to offer Peace-offerings vntounto God; but when a King ſhould bee anointed, there was no leſſe then neceſſitie in this ſeruice. Thoſe, which muſt repreſent God to the world, ought to be conſecrated to that Maieſtie, whom they reſemble, by publike deuotions: EueryEvery important action requires a Sacrifice to bleſſe it, much more that act, which imports the whole Church, or Common-wealth.
It was great newes to ſee Samuel at Bethleem, hee was no gadder abroad, none but neceſſary occaſions could make him ſtir from Ramah: The Elders of the City therefore, welcome him with trembling, not for that they were afraid of him; but of themſelues; they knew, that gueſt would not come to them for familiarity, ſtreight do they ſuſpect, it was the purpoſe of ſome iudgement, that drew him thither: Commeſt thou peaceably? It is a good thing to ſtand in awe of Gods Meſſengers, and to hold good termes with them vponupon al occaſions: The Bethlemites are glad to heare of no other errand, but a Sacrifice; and now muſt they ſanctifie themſelues for ſo ſacred a buſineſſe: We may not preſume to ſacrifice vntounto God vnſanctified, this were to marre an holy act, and make our ſelues more prophane, by prophaning that, which ſhould be holy.
All the Citizens ſanctifie themſelues, but Iſhai and his ſonnes were in a ſpeciall faſhion ſanctified by Samuel. This buſineſſe was moſt theirs, and all Iſrael in them; the more God hath to doe with vsus, the more holy ſhould we be. With what deſire did Samuel look vponupon the ſons of Iſhai, that he might ſee the face of the man, whom God had choſen? And now, when Eliab the eldeſt ſon came forth, a man of a goodly preſence, whoſe perſon ſeemed fit to ſucceed Saul, he thinkes with himſelfe; This choice is ſoon made, I hauehave already eſpied the head, on which I muſt ſpend this holy Oile: This is the man, which hath both the priuiledge of nature in his primogeniture, and of outward goodlineſſe in proportion: Surely the Lords Anointed is before him. Euen the holieſt Prophet, when he goes without God, runnes into errour: The beſt iudgement is ſubiect to deceit: It is no truſting to any mortall man, when he ſpeakes of himſelfe: Our eyes can be led by nothing but ſignes and appearances, and thoſe hauehave commonly in them either a true falſhood, or vncertaine truth.
That which ſhould hauehave forewarned Samuel, deceiued him; he had ſeene the proofe of a goodly ſtature vnanſwerable to their hopes, and yet his eye erres in the ſhape: He, that iudges by the inſide both of our hearts and actions, checks Samuel in this miſconceit: (Looke not on his countenance, nor on the height of his ſtature, becauſe I hauehave refuſed him; for God ſeeth not as man ſeeth:) The King, with whom God meant to ſatisfie the vntimely deſires of Iſrael, was choſen by his ſtature, but the King with whom God meant to pleaſe himſelfe is choſen by the heart. All the ſeuen ſonnes of Iſhai are preſented to the Prophet, no one is omitted whom their father thought capable of any reſpect: If either Samuel or Iſhai ſhould hauehave choſen, Dauid ſhould neuer hauehave bin King: His father thought him fit to keepe ſheepe, his brethren fit to rule men; yet euen Dauid (the yongeſt ſonne) is fetcht from the fold, and by the choice of God deſtined to the Throne: Nature, which is commonly partiall to her owne, could not ſuggeſt ought to Iſhai, to make him thinke Dauid worthy to bee remembred in any competition of honour, yet him hath God ſingled out to the rule.
God will hauehave his Wiſdome magnified in the vnlikelihoods of his election: Dauids countenance was ingenuous, and beautifull, but if it had promiſed ſo much as Eliabs, or Abinadabs, he had not bin in the fields, whiles his brethren were at the Sacrifice: If we doe altogether follow our eye, and ſuffer our ſelues to be guided by outward reſpects in our choice for God or our ſelues, we cannot but goe amiſſe. What doe wee thinke the brethren of Dauid thought, when they ſaw the Oile powred vponupon his head? Surely (as they were enuious enough) they had too much repined, if they had either fully apprehended the purpoſe of the Prophet, or elſe had not thought of ſome improbility in the ſucceſſe: Either they vnderſtood not, or beleeued not, what God would doe with their brother; They ſaw him graced with Gods Spirit aboue his wont, but perhaps foreſaw not, whither it tended: Dauid (as no whit changed in his condition) returnes to his ſheepe with an humble admiration of Gods gracious reſpect to him, caſts himſelfe vponupon the wiſe and holy Decree of the Almightie, reſigning himſelfe to the diſpoſition of thoſe hands, which had choſen him; when ſuddenly a Meſſenger is ſent from Saul to call him in all haſte, to that Court, whereof hee ſhall once be Maſter: The occaſion is no leſſe from God, then the euent.