Works of Joseph Hall, Part 9
DAVID and GOLIAH.
AFter the newes of the Philiſtims Army, I heare no more mention of Sauls frenzy: Whether the noiſe of Warre diuerted thoſe thoughtfull paſſions, or whether God for his peoples ſake tooke off that euill ſpirit; leſt Iſrael might miſcary vnderunder a franticke Gouernor. Now Dauid hath leiſure to returne to Bethleem: The glory of the Court cannot tranſport him to ambitious vanity; He had rather be his Fathers Shepherd, then Sauls Armour-bearer; All the magnificence and ſtate, which hee ſaw, could not put his mouth out of the taſte of a retyred ſimplicity; yea rather hee loues his hooke the better, ſince he ſaw the Court; and now his brethren ſerue Saul in his ſtead. A good heart hath learnt to frame it ſelfe vntounto all conditions, and can change eſtates without change of diſpoſition, riſing and falling according to occaſion: The worldly mind can riſe eaſily, but when it is once vp, knowes not how to deſcend either with patience, or ſafety.
Forty dayes together had the Philiſtims and Iſraelites faced each other, they pitched on two hills one in the ſight of other, nothing but a Valley was betwixt them: Both ſtand vponupon defence and aduantage; If they had not meant to fight, they had neuer drawne ſo neere; and if they had beene eager of fight, a Valley could not hauehave parted them: Actions of hazard require deliberation; not fury but diſcretion muſt be the guide of Warre.
So had Ioſhua deſtroyed the Giantly Anakims out of the Land of Iſrael, that yet ſome were left in Azzah, Gath, and Aſhdod: both to ſhew Iſrael, what Aduerſaries their forefathers found in Canaan, and whom they maſtered; as alſo that God might winne glory to himſelfe by theſe ſubſequent executions: Of that race was Goliah, whoſe heart was as high as his head, his ſtrength was anſwerable to his ſtature, his weapons anſwerable to his ſtrength, his pride exceeded all: Becauſe he ſaw his head higher, his armes ſtronger, his ſword and ſpeare bigger, his ſhield heauier then any Iſraelite, hee defies the whole hoſt, and walking betweene the two Armies, braues all Iſrael with a challenge; (Why are ye come out to ſet your battaile in aray? Am not I a Philiſtim? and you ſeruants to Saul? Chooſe you a man for you, and let him come downe to me: giuegive me a man that we may fight together.) Carnall hearts are caried away with preſumption of their owne abilities, and not finding marches to themſelues in outward appearance, inſult ouer the impotencie of inferiors; and as thoſe, that can ſee no inuiſible oppoſition, promiſe themſelues certainty of ſucceſſe: Inſolence and ſelfe-confidence argues the heart to be nothing, but a lumpe of proud fleſh.
The firſt challenge of Duell, that euer we finde, came out of the mouth of an vncircumciſed Philiſtim; yet was that in open warre, and tended to the ſauing of many liues, by aduenturing one or two; and whoſoeuer imitateth, nay ſurpaſſeth him in challenge to priuate Duell, in the attempt partaketh of his vncircumciſion, though he ſhould ouercome; and of his manner of puniſhment, if in ſuch priuate combats he caſt away his life. For of all ſuch deſperate prodigals we may ſay, that their heads are cut off by their owne ſword, if not by their owne hand. Wee cannot challenge men, and not challenge God, who iuſtly challengeth to himſelfe both to take vengeance, and to giuegive ſucceſſe. The more Goliah challenges, and is vnanſwered, the more is he puft vp in the pride of his owne power: And is there none of all Iſrael, that will anſwer this champion otherwiſe then with his heeles? Where is the courage of him that was higher then all Iſrael from the ſhoulders vpward? The time was, when Nahaſh the Ammonite had made that tyrannous demand of the right eyes of the Gileadites, that Saul could aske vnasked, What aileth the people to weepe? and could hew his oxen in peeces to raiſe the ſpirits of Iſrael, and now he ſtands ſtill, and ſees the hoſt turne their backe, and neuer ſo much as aske, what aileth the people to flie? The time was, when Saul flew forty thouſand Philiſtims in one day, and perhaps Caliah was in that diſcomfiture, and now one Philiſtim is ſuffered by him to braue a… …el forty dayes; whence is this difference? The Spirit of God, (the ſpirit of fortitude) was now departed from him: Saul was not more aboue himſelfe, when God was with him, then he is below others, now that he is left of God; Valour is not meerely of nature: Nature is euer like it ſelfe; by this rule, he that is once valiant, ſhould neuer turne coward: But now wee ſee the greateſt ſpirits inconſtant, and thoſe, which hauehave giuen good proofes of magnanimitie, at other times, hauehave bewrayed white liuers vntounto their owne reproch; He that is the God of hoſts, giues and takes away mens hearts at his pleaſure: Neither is it otherwiſe in our ſpirituall combats, ſometimes the ſame ſoule dare challenge all the powers of darkneſſe, which otherwhiles giues ground to a temptation; We hauehave no ſtrength, but what is giuen vsus, and if the author of all good gifts remit his hand for our humiliation, either wee fight not or are foyled.
Dauid hath now lien long enough cloſe amongſt his flocke in the fields of Bethleem, God ſees a time to ſend him to the pichtfield of Iſrael. Good old Iſhai, that was doubtleſſe ioyfull to thinke, that he had afforded three ſonnes to the warres of his King, is no leſſe carefull of their welfare and prouiſion; and who (amongſt all the reſt of his ſeuen ſonnes) ſhall be pickt out for this ſeruice, but his yongeſt ſonne Dauid; whoſe former and almoſt worne-out acquaintance in Court, and imployment vnderunder Saul ſeemed to fit him beſt for this errand: Earely in the morning is Dauid vponupon his way, yet not ſo early, as to leaue his flocke vnprouided: If his fathers cōmand diſmiſſe him, yet will he ſtay, till he hauehave truſted his ſheepe with a carefull keeper; we cannot be faithfull ſhepherds, if our ſpirituall charge be leſſe deare vntounto vsus; if when neceſſitie cals vsus from our flocks, we depute not thoſe, which are vigilant and conſcionable.
Ere Dauids ſpeede can bring him to the valley of Elah, both the Armies are on foot ready to ioyne: Hee takes not this excuſe to ſtay without, as a man danted with the horror of warre, but leauing his preſent with his ſeruant, he thruſts himſelfe into the thickeſt of the hoſt, and ſalutes his brethren which were now thinking of nothing but killing or dying, when the proud champion of the Philiſtims comes ſtalking forth before all the troupes, and renewes his inſolent challenge againſt Iſrael: Dauid ſees the man, and heares his defiance, and lookes about him, to ſee what anſwer would be giuen, and when he eſpies nothing but pale faces & backs turned, he wonders, not ſo much, that one man ſhould dare all Iſrael, as that all Iſrael ſhould run from one man: Euen when they flie from Goliah, they talke of the reward, that ſhould be giuen to that encounter and victorie, which they dare not vndertake; ſo thoſe which hauehave not grace to beleeue, yet can ſay, There is glory laid vp for the faithfull. Euer ſince his anointing, was Dauid poſſeſſed with Gods Spirit, and thereby filled both with courage, and wiſdome: The more ſtrange doth it ſeeme to him, that all Iſrael ſhould be thus daſtardly: Thoſe, that are themſelues eminent in any grace, cannot but wonder at the miſerable defects of others, and the more ſhame they ſee in others imperfections, the more is their zeale in auoyding thoſe errors in themſelues.
Whiles baſe hearts are moued by example, the want of example is incouragement enough for an heroicall mind: Therefore is Dauid ready to vndertake the quarrell, becauſe no man elſe dare doe it: His eyes ſparkled with holy anger, and his heart roſe vp to his mouth, when he heard this proud challenger: (Who is this vncircumciſed Philiſtim, that he ſhould reuile the hoſt of the liuing God?) Euen ſo O Sauiour, when all the generations of men ran away affrighted from the powers of death and darkneſſe, thou alone haſt vndertaken, and confounded them.
Who ſhould offer to daunt the holy courage of Dauid, but his owne brethren? The enuious heart of Eliab conſtrues this forwardneſſe, as his owne diſgrace: Shall I (thinkes hee) bee put downe by this puiſne? ſhall my fathers yongeſt ſonne dare to attempt that, which my ſtomach will not ſerue me to aduenture? Now therefore hee rates Dauid for his preſumption; and in ſtead of anſwering to the recompence of the victory, (which others were ready to giuegive) he recompenceth the very inquirie of Dauid with a checke: It was for his brethrens ſake, that Dauid came thither, and yet his very iourney is caſt vponupon him by them, for a reproach; Wherefore cam'ſt thou downe hither? and when their bitterneſſe can meete with nothing elſe to ſhame him, his ſheepe are caſt in his teeth: Is it for thee, an idle proud boy, to bee medling with our martiall matters? doth not yonder Champion looke, as if hee were a fit match for thee? what mak'ſt thou of thy ſelfe? or what doſt thou think of vsus? ywis it were fitter for thee to bee looking to thy ſheepe, then looking at Goliah; the Wilderneſſe would become thee better then the field…: Wherein art thou equall to any man thou ſeeſt, but in arrogancy and preſumption? The paſtures of Bethlem could not hold thee, but thou thoughtſt it a goodly matter to ſee the warres: I know thee, as if I were in thy boſome; This was thy thought, There is no glory to bee got among fleeces, I will goe ſeeke it in armes; Now are my brethren winning honour in the troupes of Iſrael, whiles I am baſely tending on ſheepe, why ſhould not I be as forward as the beſt of them? This vanitie would make thee ſtraight of a ſhepherd, a ſouldier, and of a ſouldier a champion; get thee home, fooliſh ſtripling, to thy hooke, and thy harpe; let ſwords and ſpeares alone to thoſe, that know how to vſe them.
It is quarrell enough amongſt many to a good action, that it is not their owne; there is no enemy ſo ready, or ſo ſpightfull, as the domeſticall: The hatred of brethren is ſo much more, as their blood is neerer: The malice of ſtrangers is ſimple, but of a brother is mixt with enuie: The more vnnaturall any quality is, the more extreame it is; A cold winde from the South is intolerable: Dauids firſt victory is of himſelfe, next of his brother; He ouercomes himſelfe in a patient forbearance of his brother, he ouercomes the malicious rage of his brother with the mildneſſe of his anſwer: If Dauid had wanted ſpirit, hee had not beene troubled with the inſultation of a Philiſtim; If he had a ſpirit to march Goliah, how doth hee ſo calmely receiue the affront of a brother? What hauehave I now done? is there not a cauſe? That which would hauehave ſtirred the choler of another, allayeth his: It was a brother, that wronged him, and that his eldeſt; neither was it time to quarrell with a brother, whiles the Philiſtims ſwords were drawne, and Goliah was challenging. O that theſe two motiues could induce vsus to peace: If we hauehave iniurie in our perſon, in our cauſe, it is from brethren, and the Philiſtims looke on: I am deceiued, if this conqueſt were leſſe glorious, then the following: He is fit to be Gods Champion, that hath learned to be victor of himſelfe.
It is not this ſprinkling of cold water, that can quench the fire of Dauids zeale, but ſtill his courage ſends vp flames of deſire, ſtill he goes on to inquire, and to proffer: Hee, whom the regard of others enuy can diſmay, ſhall neuer doe ought worthy of enuy: Neuer man vndertooke any exploit of worth, and receiued not ſome diſcouragement in the way: This couragious motion of Dauid was not more ſcorned by his brother, then by the other Iſraelites applauded: The rumour flyes to the eares of the King, that there is a yongman deſirous to encounter the Gyant: Dauid is brought forth: Saul, when he heard of a Champion, that durſt goe into the liſts with Goliah, looked for one as much higher then himſelfe, as hee was taller then the reſt; hee expected ſome ſterne face, and brawny arme; yong and ruddy Dauid is ſo farre below his thoughts, that hee receiues rather contempt, then thankes: His words were ſtout, his perſon was weake: Saul doth not more like his reſolution, then diſtruſt his abilitie:: (Thou art not able to goe againſt this Philiſtim to fight with him; for thou art a boy, and hee is a man of warre from his youth.) Euen Saul ſeconds Eliab in the conceit of this diſparitie, and if Eliab ſpeake out of enuy, Saul ſpeakes out of iudgement; both iudge (as they were iudged of) by the ſtature: All this cannot weaken that heart, which receiues his ſtrength from faith: Dauids greateſt conflict is with his friends: The ouercomming of their diſſwaſions, that he might fight, was more worke, then to ouercome his enemy in fighting: Hee muſt firſt iuſtifie his ſtrength to Saul, ere he may proue it vponupon Goliah: Valour is neuer made good, but by tryall: He pleads the tryall of his puiſſance vponupon the Beare and the Lyon, that hee may hauehave leaue to proue it vponupon a worſe beaſt then they; Thy ſeruant ſlew both the Lyon and the Beare, therefore this vncircumciſed Philiſtim ſhall be as one of them. Experience of good ſucceſſe is no ſmall comfort to the heart, this giues poſſibilitie and hope, but no certainty: Two things there were on which Dauid built his confidence, on Goliahs ſinne, and Gods deliuerance, (Seeing he hath railed on the hoſt of the liuing God: The Lord that deliuered me out of the pawes of the Lion and the Beare, he wil deliuer me out of the hand of this Philiſtim.) Well did Dauid know, that if this Philiſtims skin had beene as hard as the braſſe of his ſhield, his ſinne would make it penetrable by eueryevery ſtroke. After all brags of manhood hee is impotent, that hath prouoked God: Whiles other labour for outward fortification, happy and ſafe were wee, if we could labour for innocence: Hee that hath found God preſent in one extremitie, may truſt him in the next; EueryEvery ſenſible fauour of the Almightie, inuites both his gifts and our truſt.
Reſolution thus grounded, makes euen Saul himſelfe confident; Dauid ſhall hauehave both his leaue and his bleſſing: If Dauid came to Saul, as a Shepheard, hee ſhall goe toward Goliah, as a Warriour: The attire of the King is not too rich for him, that ſhall fight for his King and Country: Little did Saul thinke, that his helmet was now on that head, which ſhould once weare his crowne: Now that Dauid was arrayed in the warlike habit of a King, and girded with his ſword, hee lookt vponupon himſelfe, and thought this outſide glorious, but when he offred to walke, and found that the attire was not ſo ſtrong, as vnweeldy, and that it might be more for ſhow, then vſe, hee layes downe theſe accouſtrements of honor, and as caring rather to bee an homely victor, then a glorious ſpoile, he craues pardon to goe in no clothes, but his owne; he takes his ſtaffe in ſtead of the ſpeare, his ſhepherds ſcrip in ſtead of his brigandine, and in ſtead of his ſword hee takes his ſling, and in ſtead of darts and iauelins, hee takes fiue ſmooth ſtones out of the brooke: Let Sauls coate bee neuer rich, and his armour neuer ſo ſtrong, what is Dauid the better, if they fit him not? It is not to bee enquired, how excellent any thing is, but how proper: Thoſe things which are helpes to ſome may be encombrances to others: An vnmeet good may be as inconuenient, as an accuſtomed euill: If we could wiſh another mans honor, when wee feele the weight of his cares, we ſhould be glad to be in our owne cote.
Thoſe that depend vponupon the ſtrength of Faith, though they neglect not meanes, yet they are not curious in the proportion of outward meanes to the effect deſired: Where the heart is armed with an aſſured confidence, a ſling and a ſtone are weapons enow; to the vnbeleeuing no helps are ſufficient: Goliah, though he were preſumptuous enough, yet had one ſhield caried before him, another hee caried on his ſhoulder; neither will his ſword alone content him, but he takes his ſpeare too. Dauids armour is his plaine ſhepheards ruſſet, and the brooke yeelds him his artillery, and he knowes, there is more ſafety in his cloth, then in the others braſſe; and more danger in his peebles, then the others ſpeare. Faith giues both heart and armes. The inward munition is ſo much more noble, becauſe it is of proofe for both ſoule and body: If we be furniſhed with this, how boldly ſhall wee meet with the powers of darkneſſe, and goe away more then conquerors?
Neither did the quality of Dauids weapons bewray more confidence, then the number: If he will put his life and victory vponupon the ſtones of the brooke, why doth he not fill his ſcrip full of them? why will he content himſelfe with fiue? Had he been furniſhed with ſtore, the aduantage of his nimbleneſſe might hauehave giuen him hope; If one faile, that yet another might ſpeed: But now this paucity puts the diſpatch to a ſudden hazard, and he hath but fiue ſtones caſt either to death or victory; ſtill the fewer helps the ſtronger faith; Dauid had an inſtinct from God, that he ſhould ouercome, he had not a particular direction, how he ſhould ouercome. For had he beene at firſt reſolued vponupon the ſling and ſtone, he had ſaued the labor of girding his ſword: It ſeemes, whiles they were addreſſing him to the combat, he made account of hand-blowes, now he is purpoſed rather to ſend, then bring death to his aduerſarie: In either, or both, he durſt truſt God with the ſucceſſe, and before-hand (through the conflict) ſaw the victorie: It is ſufficient, that wee know the iſſue of our fight: If our weapons and wards vary according to the occaſion giuen by God, that is nothing to the euent; ſure we are, that if we reſiſt, we ſhall ouercome, and if wee ouercome wee ſhall be crowned.
When Dauid appeared in the liſts to ſo vnequall an aduerſarie, as many eyes were vponupon him, ſo in thoſe eyes, diuers affections: The Iſraelites lookt vponupon him with pitty and feare, and each man thought; Alas, why is this comely ſtripling ſuffred to caſt away himſelfe vponupon ſuch a monſter? why will they let him goe vnarmed to ſuch an affray? Why will Saul hazard the honour of Iſrael on ſo vnlikely an head? The Philiſtims, eſpecially their great Champion, lookt vponupon him with ſcorne, diſdayning ſo baſe a combitant; (Am I a dog, that thou com'ſt to me with ſtaues?) What could be ſaid more fitly? Hadſt thou beene any other, then a dog (O Goliah) thou hadſt neuer opened thy foule mouth to barke againſt the hoſt of God, and the God of hoſts: If Dauid had thought thee any other then a very dogge, hee had neuer come to thee with a ſtaffe and a ſtone.
The laſt words, that euer the Philiſtim ſhall ſpeak, are curſes, & brags; (Come to me, and I will giuegive thy fleſh vntounto the Fowles of the heauen, and the beaſts of the field.) Seldome euer was there a good end of oſtentation: Preſumption is at once the preſage, and cauſe of ruine: He is a weake aduerſary, that can bee killed with words: That man which could not feare the Gyants hand, cannot feare his tongue: If words ſhall firſt encounter, the Philiſtim receiues the firſt foile, and ſhall firſt let in death into his eare, ere it enter into his forehead: (Thou com'ſt to me with a ſword, and a ſpeare, and a ſheild, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hoſts; the God of the hoſt of Iſrael, whom thou haſt railed vponupon: This day ſhall the Lord cloſe thee in my hand, and I ſhall ſmite thee, and take thine head from thee.) Here is another ſtile, not of a boaſter, but of a Prophet: Now ſhall Goliah know, whence to expect his bane, euen from the hands of a reuenging God, that ſhall ſmite him by Dauid, and now ſhall learne too late, what it is to meddle with an enemy, that goes vnderunder the inuiſible protection of the Almighty. No ſooner hath Dauid ſpoken, then his foot and hand ſecond his tongue: Hee runnes to fight with the Philiſtim: It is a cold courage that ſtands onelyonly vponupon defence: As a man, that ſaw no cauſe of feare, and was full of the ambition of victory, hee flyes vponupon that monſter, and with a ſtone out of his bag ſmites him in the forehead: There was no part of Goliah, that was capable of that danger, but the face, and that piece of the face; the reſt was defenced with a brazen wall, which a weake ſling would hauehave tryed to batter in vaine: What could Goliah feare to ſee an aduerſary come to him without edge or point? And behold, that one part hath God found out for the entrance of death: He that could hauehave cauſed the ſtone to paſſe through the ſhield and breſtplate of Goliah, rather directs the ſtone to that part, whoſe nakedneſſe gaue aduantage: Where there is power or poſſibility of nature, God vſes not to worke miracles, but chuſes the way that lies moſt open to his purpoſes.
The vaſte fore-head was a faire marke, but how eaſily might the ſling hauehave miſſed it, if there had not beene another hand in this caſt beſides Dauids? Hee that guided Dauid into this field, and raiſed his courage to this combat, guides the ſtone to his end, and lodges it in that ſeat of impudence: There now lyes the great Defier of Iſrael, groueling and grinning in death, and is not ſuffered to deale one blow for his life, and bites the vnwelcome earth for indignation, that he dies by the hand of a Shepheard: Earth and Hell ſhare him betwixt them; ſuch is the end of inſolence, and preſumption. O God, what is fleſh and blood to thee, which canſt make a little peeble-ſtone ſtronger then a Gyant, and when thou wilt, by the weakeſt meanes canſt ſtrew thine enemies in the duſt? Where now are the two ſhields of Goliah, that they did not beare off this ſtroke of death? or wherefore ſerues that Weauers beame, but to ſtrike the earth in falling? or that ſword, but to behead his Maſter? What needed Dauid load himſelfe with an vnneceſſary weapon? one ſword can ſerue both Goliah and him; If Goliah had a man to beare his ſhield, Dauid had Goliah to beare his ſword, wherewith that proud blaſphemous head is ſeuered from his ſhoulders: Nothing more honours God, then the turning of wicked mens forces againſt themſelues: There is none of his enemies, but caries with them their owne deſtruction. Thus didſt thou, O Sonne of Dauid, foyle Satan with his owne weapon, that, whereby he meant deſtruction to thee and vsus, vanquiſhed him through thy mighty power, and raiſed thee to that glorious triumph, and ſuper-exaltation, wherein thou art, wherein we ſhall bee with thee.