The Garden of Zion, Part 4
THE GARDEN OF ZION. The Bookes of Samuel.
ELKANAH. The Lord is jealous.
THere was a man of faire mount Ephraim,
Whom Scripture calleth Elkanah by name:
His Hebrew name clearely doth ſignifie,
For ſome great thing JEHOVAHS jealouſie:
Two wives he had Peninah and Hannah,
Yeerely he went to worſhip JEHOVAH
In Shilo, where the Arke of GOD did ſtand,
For ſo to do the LORD did them command;
Peninnah proud becauſe of her children
Provok'd Hannah, becauſe ſhe was barren:
To her ſhe was even like a trapping net,
Seeking alwayes to make her heart to fret.
While her huſband perceiv'd her grief and ſma…
With theſe good wordes he did comfort her he…
Why weepeſt thou for want of fair children?
I to thee ſhall be better then ſons ten:
Then Hannah in great bitterneſſe of heart
Went to Shiloh, from GOD to eaſe her ſmart;
In her prayer ſhe weeped bitterly;
She vow'd this vow unto the LORD moſt hie;
O LORD of Hoaſts, if thou now wilt indeed
Looke on the grief of me thy poor handmaid,
If thou wilt give to thy ſervant a Son,
He ſhall be thine the raſor ſhall not come
Upon his head; he all his dayes ſhall be
A faithfull ſervant conſecrate to thee;
While ſhe continued in prayers divine
Prieſt Eli thought ſhe had beene after wine:
How long ſaid Eli wilt thou drunken be?
Ariſe, ariſe, and put thy wine from thee:
My LORD, ſaid ſhe, do not ſo of me think,
I am not drunk with wine nor ſuch ſtrong drin…
In my great grief, in anguiſh with great ſmart
Before the LORD, I have powr'd out my hear…
Let not, my LORD, this thought in thy heart fa…
That thy handmaid is one of Belial:
From GOD I have been ſeeking ſome reliefe,
Who hath an eye to my complaint and grief.
Then Eli ſaid with great affection,
The great GOD grant thee thy petition:
When this was ſaid the woman went her way,
She eat her meat, her face was fill'd with joy:
The ſon ſhe ſought from great GOD eternell,
From her asking was called Samuel:
This ſon her chear'd againſt Peninnahs ſtrife
Unto the Lord, ſhe lent him all his life.
The Uſe.
Let us learne heere our vaine pride to repreſſe,
And not to grieve theſe that are in diſtreſſe.
Let us learne heere to judge in charitie,
Of others plungd in great adverſitie.
Let us learne heere when ought doth us diſmay,
To run to God and humbly him to pray.
The Song of Hannah.
MY heart rejoiceth in the Lord,
my horn exalt did he:
My mouth is greatly now inlarg'd,
for his goodneſſe to me:
2 There is none holy as the Lord,
there is none beſide thee:
There is no rock that is like God,
our God the Lord moſt hie.
3 Talke no more proudly as ye do,
ſpeake not with arrogance;
For all our deeds the Lord doth weigh,
in his ſacred ballance.
4 The ſtrong bowes of the mighty men
are broken all at length;
And they that ſtumbled now, are girt
with force and divine strength.
5 They that were full in plentie have
hir'd out themſelves for bread:
And they that were in great distreſſe,
from God have found remeed.
6 The Lord by his ſtrong arme doth kill,
and he alſo doth ſave:
He lifteth up, he bringeth downe
unto the ſtinking grave.
7 By his power he doth make poore,
and alſo maketh rich;
He bringeth low, and raiſeth up
unto a certaine pitch.
8 He bringeth up out of the duſt
the poore from the dunghill,
To Princes ſeats; the ſtrong pillars
of earth he makes ſtand ſtill.
9 He will keepe the feet of his ſaints,
the wicked in darkneſſe
Shall all bee ſilent, none by ſtrength
ſhall prevaile more or leſſe.
10 Theſe fooles (who do reject the Lord)
ſhall ſoone be broke to pieces;
With thunders ſhall he trouble them,
though they be great as Princes.
and ſtrength give to his King:
His horne ſhall fill with holy oyle,
and make him long to reigne.
15. ELI. My God.
IN Iſra'l Judge and Prieſt was old ELI;
My God his Hebrew name doth ſignifie:
He had two ſons Hophni and Phineas,
Who did againſt the Lord greatly treſpaſſe;
With greede and whooredome, a moſt filthie vic…
They made all men contemne Gods ſacrifice.
Their father Eli in his words too ſmooth,
Preferr'd to God his ſons in his reproof:
Therefore the Lord reſolv'd them all to kill;
By fall, in Battell, he their blood did spill:
For Elis fault the Lord gave him this check,
He from his ſeat did fall and breake his neck:
As for his ſons (who in vice did excell)
They loſt their life in a bloody battell.
The Uſe.
By Father Eli let all fathers heere,
Learne not to love too much their children dear▪
Let Levits learne heere not to do or thinke
That which may make Gods ſacrifice to stinke.
16 SAMUEL Asked of God.
Here is a Saint the, Son of good Hannah,
Asked of God the moſt high Jehovah:
He was a man of a moſt holy heart,
He from the womb for God was ſet apart:
When he was young, and Elis eyes were dim
The Lord in Silo did appeare to him:
Foure times he cried unto him Samuel,
Before he knew that it was th' Eternall:
To him the Lord there great plagues did reveale,
Againſt Eli which he did not conceale.
My plagues, ſaid God, I will upon him ſpend,
When I begin I als will make an end:
Him will I judge, and his two ſons moſt vile,
Againſt his houſe I will my wrath reveale:
After all this young Samuel went to bed,
Fearing to tell t' ELI what God had ſaid:
The morning come, ſaid Eli to Samuel,
What God hath ſaid ſee that thou now me tell;
But if thou faine if that thou doe not ſo,
God ſo to thee doe, and much more alſo.
Then good Samuel told to him every whit,
Nothing from ELI did he keep ſecret.
When this old Eli clearely underſtood,
It is the Lord ſaid, he, what ſeemes him good
Now let him do againſt both me and mine,
Againſt his ſentence I will not repine,
What SAMUEL ſaid to ELI, more or leſſe,
Upon ELI it ſhortly came to paſſe.
Then it was ſhowne clearly by th' Eternel
That Samuel was for to judge Iſrael.
The proud Philiſtins in his time came out
Againſt Iſra'l; he put them to the rout:
He cri'd to God, and God by thunder heard,
The Philiſtins under their feet he troad;
To ſhew his thanks, to tell what God had done,
In the ſame place he wiſely ſet a ſtone;
A ſtone of help, for to declare Gods fame
Eben-Ezer in Hebrew was its name.
In his old age, when he was full of dayes,
His bribing ſons did not walk in his wayes:
Then all the people greeved with this thing,
Cri'd with one voice, Now let us have a King;
For now Samuel is old, and full of dayes,
His bribidg ſons doe not walk in his wayes;
Then God directed SAMUEL how to ſay,
That Iſra'l had rejected God that day.
Go to, go to, hearken unto their voice,
Give them a King according to their choice;
Be plaine with them, and hide from them n… thing,
Shew them clearely the manner of the King;
To war, to till, to reape, in every point
Of hard ſervice your ſons he will appoint;
Of your daughters, who walk with lofty look…
He will make Bake…s and vile ſluttiſh cooks;
Your fields and yards, which are the moſt ple… ſant,
He will take and give to his owne ſervants:
The tenth of your ſheep and ſeed he will crave,
Your ſtout young men to his worke will hee have:
In all this bondage ye ſhall howl and ſay,
Alas; but God ſhall not you hear that day:
But all this ſpeach to them no change could bring
No not, ſaid they but we will have a King,
As this people rebelliouſly would have
A King, ſo GOD a King unto them gave.
When this was done Samuel did teſtifie,
Before all ISRA'L his integritie.
Now I am old, ſaid he, ſee my gray head,
I have been with you from my young childhood;
Now heere I am, I gladly do accord,
Witneſſe againſt me heere before the LORD:
Be plaine I pray you, and now hide no thing,
For heere we are in preſence of the King:
Whoſe Oxe? whoſe Aſſe have I by wrong poſſeſſed?
By violence whom have I once oppreſſed?
What bribe tooke I therewith to blinde mine eye?
If it be ſo, now let you teſtifie:
Then ſaid they all (as they well underſtood)
We know nothing in thee but what is good:
No man we know hath beene oppreſt by thee,
No bribe was able for to blinde thine eye:
God be witneſſe, ſaid he, and underſtand,
That now ye have not found ought in mine hand▪
After this ſaid, he did them terrifie
With fearfull thunders, piercing through the skie:
The people then to him (quakeing) did ſay,
We have ſinned, to JOVAH for us pray.
Fear not, ſaid he, but comfort to you take,
For his people the LORD will not forſake:
If ye cry to him, he will hear your voice,
For he of you hath onelyonly made his choice;
As for me I will not leave off to pray
For you; I will als teach you the good way:
OnelyOnly take heed, and ſerve the Lord with fear,
So ye his goodneſſe ſhall both ſee and hear:
But if, ye careleſſe, do the wicked thing,
Ye ſhall be conſum'd, both ye, and your king:
After SAMUEL (though he was old and gray)
The proud King Agag in Gilgal did ſlay:
He was a man faithfull in every point,
Before his death two Kings he did anoint.
The Uſe.
Let Judges learne by Samuels hiſtorie,
To take good heed that no bribe blinde their eye.