Twenty-One Sermons on Amos 2, Collection of lectures · Lecture 20
THE XX. LECTVRE.
AMOS 2.14, 15, 16.
Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mightie deliuer himselfe.
Neither shall he stand, that handleth the bow, and he that is swift of foote shall not deliuer himselfe, neither shall he, that rideth the Horse, deliuer himselfe.
And he, that is couragious among the mightie, shall flee away naked in that day, saith the Lord.
THE defiance is set, the trumpet is blowne, the warre is proclaimed from the Maiestie of heauen, against the Kingdome of the ten tribes of Israel. Such was the height of their impieties, discouered, vers. 6, 7, 8. such the foulenesse of their ingratitude, blased vers. 12. that they could not looke for lesse, then a dissipation, a dispersion and ouerthrow by warre.
The proclamation you heard of, of late, out of the 13. verse, it was made, either by way of a grieuous complaint, Behold, I am pressed vnderunder you, as a cart is pressed, that is full of sheaues: or by way of a terrible commination, Behold, I will presse you, as a cart full of sheaues presseth, or is pressed.
The successe and euent of this warre now followeth, vers. 14, 15, 16. wherein three generals hauehave bin obserued: Impotentia fugiendi, Debilitas in resistendo, and Fuga fortium.
The first was, their impotencie and vnablenesse to escape by flight in the day of battell: the second, their debilitie and weaknesse in resisting the enemie: the third, the flight of their most valiant and stout of heart. Three generalls they are, and are by our Prophet diuided into seauen seuerall branches: in which he describes gravitatem tribulationis, as Castrus speaketh, the grieuousnes of their tribulation; or as Quadratus, summam calamitatem & augustians, the extreame miserie and anguish, whereinto they were to fall.
He sheweth Gods iudgements to be ineluctable. If he will the punishment of any, there is no place for refuge, no evasion, no meanes to escape. Neither he that is of an expedite and agile bodie, nor the strong man, nor the mighty, nor the bow-man, nor the swift of foote, nor the horseman, nor the couragious and stout of heart, shall be able to helpe himselfe in that day, in the day of Gods reuengement.
Thus hauehave you summarily the scope of our Prophet in this Scripture, and the meaning thereof. I must now descend to the particulars. The first of the seauen miseries, here foretold to betide the Israelites, is in the beginning of the 14. verse.
The flight shall perish from the swift.
IT is an Hebrew phrase. I meete with the like, Psal. 142.4. Perijt fuga à me. So Dauid in extreame danger in the Caue, complaineth: The flight perished from me, or Refuge failed me; or, I had no place to flie vntounto: that is, I saw not which way I might escape; all hope of evasion was gone from me; I was in mine owne eyes, of necessity to hauehave perished. Perijt fuga à me, The flight perished from mee.
The like forme of speech is, Ierem. 25.35. Peribit fuga à pastoribus, & saluatio ab optimaribus gregis: The flight shall perish from the shepheards, and safetie from the chiefe of the flocke: that is, The shepheards shall hauehave no way to flee, and the principall of the flocke, the Rams of the flocke shall hauehave no way to escape; Peribit fuga, the flight shall perish from the shepheards, and saftie from the chiefe of the flocke.
So, Iob 11.20. it is part of the infelicitie of the wicked, Peribit fuga ab cis, flight shall perish from them, that is, they shall not escape.
The meaning of this phrase is well expressed, Amos 9.1. Non erit fuga cis qui fugient, & non saluabitur ex cis, qui fugerit. He that fleeth of them, shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them, shall not be deliuered. Surely from such peribit fuga, flight shall perish; flee they may, but by their flight they shall not escape.
Peribit fuga, the flight shall perish from the swift. As the flight perisheth, so may other things be said to perish, the Law, and Counsell, and the Word; the Law from the Priest, and counsell from the wise, and the word from the Prophet. Ier. 18.18.
So, Ezech. 7.26. it is said, The law shall perish from the Priest, and counsell from the Ancients. And Ierem. 49.7. Counsell is perished from the prudent. And Esai. 29.14. the wisdome of the wise men shall perish.
Now for the law, and the word, and wisdome, and counsell to perish from the Priest, from the Prophet, from the Wise, from the Prudent, and from the Ancient, what else is it, then for such men to be destitute of such things; the Priest of the Law, the Prophet of the Word, the wise, the prudent, and the ancient, of wisedome and counsell?
So touching my text, I say, for the flight to perish from the swift, it is nothing else, then for the swift to be destitute of flight, to be depriued of flight, to be altogither vnable to flee away, when he would.
The flight shall perish from the swift.
The swift! Who is that? The old Hebrewes say, it is Ieroboam, sonne of Nebat a1. King 11.40., who fled from Salomon into Aegypt, as S. Hierome, and after himbChristoph, à Castro. Remigius, Rupertus, Albertus, Hugo, and Dionysius hauehave obserued. This Iewish conceit is in this place enlarged: As by the Swift they vnderstand Ieroboam, sonne of Nebat, who fled from Salomon; so by the Strong, they vnderstandc1. King 15.16. Baasha, that warlike King, who all his dayes had warre with Asa King of Iudah; by the Mighty, Kingd1. King. 16.16. Omri; by the Bowman, eCap. 19.16.Iehu, the sonne of Nimshi, who slew King Ioram with anf2. King. 9.24. arrow; by the Swift of foote, King g2 King. 15.19.Menahem; by the Horseman, King hCap. 15.25.Pekah, the sonne of Remaliah; and by the Couragious and stout of heart, K. iCap. 17 1. &c.Hoshea, sonne of Elah, the last of the Kings of Israel.
But these are Hebraeorum somnia, as Lyra calls them; or, as Mercerus, Nugamenta: they are Iewish dreames and toyes, vnworthy the maiestie of holy Scripture. I therefore passe them ouer: and doe vnderstand this branch, of the flight perishing from the swift, with the other six that follow, of the vtter subuersion of the state of Israel, and the finall captiuitie of that people when they were caried away by Salmanassar into Assyria. In that day (a heauy day to them) neither he that was of a swift, an expedite and an agile bodie, nor the strong man, nor the mighty, nor the archer, nor the swift of foote, nor the rider, nor the couragious and stout of heart, found any meanes to saue or helpe himselfe.
From the first of these seauen miseries thus expressed in this first branch, The flight shall perish from the swift, we may take this lesson, When God resolueth to punish man for sinne, there is no refuge for him, no evasion, no escaping by flight, though he be of a swift, an expedite, and an agile bodie.
This truth Albertus would ratifie with those words, Prov. 9 2. Velox pedibus offendet. He that is swift of foote offendeth, stumbleth, hitteth against some stone, or stump, and so falleth, and is ouertaken. But the allegation is impertinent. The words are against rash and vnaduised actions in the course of mans life; and doe beare with them this sense: As he that runneth hastily, if he looke not to his feete, that he may chuse the good way, and leaue the bad, is in great danger of continuall falling: so he, that hastily and without due deliberation goeth about this or that, may easily transgresse before he be aware. This sense is naturall to the words, as we render them: He that hasteth with his feete, sinneth. If thou runne hastily to euill, thou sinnest against God and thine owne soule.
The other place alleaged by Albertus to proue, that there is no evasion, no escaping for the swift, is more pertinent. It is in Esay chap. 30.16. Velociores erunt, qui persequentur vos. Thinke you not by flight to saue your selues: for they, that shall pursue you, shall be as swift as you, or swifter.
As pertinent is that of the Preacher, Eccl. 9.11. There is no race to the swift, or, in running it helpeth not to be swift. The meaning of it the Chaldee Paraphrase thus expresseth: though men be as swift as Eagles, yet shall they not by running helpe themselues, or deliuer themselues from death in the day of battell. The Hebrewes refer this to Hasahel, one of the sonnes of Tzeruiah, who though he were an exceeding swift runner, as light of foote as a wilde Roe, as he is described, 2. Sam. 2.18. yet could he not escape, but he must be slainek2. Sam. 2.23. by Abner.
We read of diuers, swift of foote beyond admiration: of Atalanta in thelOvid. Metam. lib. 10. fab. 14. Poet, who seemed Scythicâ non segniùs ire sagittâ, to runne as fast, as an arrow flyeth from a strong bow: of Camilla in an othermVirg. Aeneid. lib. 7. Poet, that she did cursu pedum, with her swift feete, out-runne the winds; that she flew ouer standing corne, nec teneras cursu laesisset aristus and did no hurt to the eares thereof; that she iournied vponupon the restles and swelling Ocean, and neuer dipped the sole of her foote therein. Of Iphictus innIn sacro sermone. Orpheus, oDionysius lib. 28.Nonnus, andpHesiodus. Demaratus. Hygin. Astrom. lib. 2. in Orione. others, that he likewise ranne ouer standing corne without hurt vntounto the eares, and walked vponupon the Sea: of Orion, Neptuns sonne in Hyginus, that he could runne vponupon the waues of the Sea: of Arias, Menecles his sonne, in the Greeke qI…b. 1. Epig. 3. Antipater.Epigram, that running in a race from the beginning to the end no man could see him, so swift he was of foote.
But these I take to be either fabulous, or hyperbolicall. Yet say, there were such; say, there are such; I say, neither was there for them, neither is there for these, any evasion, or escaping from God. No, not any at all. My Prophet in the next verse, the 15. of this Chapter, speaks it in plaine tearmes; He, that is swift of foote, shall not deliuer himselfe.
Not deliuer himselfe! and yet swift of foote. It is euen so. Why may he not attempt to flee? Perchance he may: yet shall his attempt be frustrate: for thus saith the Lord, Amos 9.1. He, that fleeth, shall not flee away, and he that escapeth, shall not be deliuered. Yea, saith he, though they digge into Hell, thence shall mine hand take them: though they climbe vp to Heauen, thence will I bring them downe. And though they hide themselues in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottome of the Sea, thence will I command the serpent and he shall bite them. And though they goe into captiuitie before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them. In this Hyperbolicall exaggeration, (for such it is in the iudgements of S. Hierome, Remigius, Albertus, Hugo, and Dionysius) he sheweth, how impossible it is for man, by seeking to flee, to lurke, or to hide himselfe, to exempt himselfe from the power or wrath of GOD.
This impossibilitie of hiding our selues from the power, or wrath of God, either in Heauen, or Hell, or Sea, or darke place, or any where else, is elegantly and fully illustrated by the sweetest singer of Psalmes, David, Psal 139.7.
Whither shall I goe from thy spirit? or whither shall … flie from thy presence?
If I ascend vp into Heauen, thou art there: if I make my bed in Hell, behold, thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the vttermost parts of the Sea,
Euen there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
If I say, Surely the darknes shall couer me: euen the night shall be light about me.
Yea the darknesse hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as the day: the darknesse and the light are both alike to thee.
You see, nor Heauen, nor Hell, nor Sea, nor darknesse could hide Dauid from the presence of God. Could they not hide Dauid, and shall they be able to hide others? They shall not. God makes it good by that his vehement asseueration, Ierem. 23.23. Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God a far off?
Can any hide himselfe in secret places, that I shall not see him, saith the Lord? Doe not I fill Heauen, and Earth, saith the Lord? You see againe: At hand or further off, in Heauen, or Earth, in places of most secrecie, our Lord he is God, he seeth all things, he fills both Heauen and Earth. Thus hauehave you the confirmation of my doctrine, which was, When God resolueth to punish man for sinne, there is no refuge for him, no evasion, no escaping by flight, though he be of a swift, an expedite, and an agile bodie.
Is there no refuge for vsus, no evasion, no escaping by flight, when God will punish? No, there is none. How can there be any? sith our persecutors shall be swifter then the Eagles of the Heauen to pursue vsus vponupon the mountaines, and to lay waite for vsus in the wildernesse: according to the mone that the daughter of Sion maketh, Lament. 4 19. Flee we, as we may, to mountaines, to the wildernesse, to hide our selues; our flight shall be in vaine: for our persecutors shall be swifter then the Eagles of the Heauen; they whom God will employ, to be the executioners of his displeasure towards vsus, shall still hauehave meanes to ouertake vsus, and to finde vsus out.
Will there be no refuge for vsus, no evasion, no escaping by flight, when God will visit for our sinnes? What shall we then doe beloued? What? Vis audire consilium? Wilt thou heare counsell, saith S. Austine in his sixth Treatise vponupon S. Iohns Epistle, Si vis ab illo fugere, ad ipsum fuge; If thou wilt flee from him, flee to him. Ad ipsum fuge confitendo, non ab ipso latendo. Flee to him by confessing thy sins, but hide not thy selfe from him. Latere enim non potes, sed confiteri potes. For its impossible thou shouldst lye hid from him, yet mayst thou confesse thy selfe vntounto him. Say vntounto him,rPsal. 91.2. Refugium meum es tu, Lord thou art my refuge and my fortresse: my God, in thee will I trust. Refugium meum es tu, Lord thou art my refuge.
To like purpose the same S. Austine vponupon Psal. 71. saith, Non est quo fugiatur ab illo, nisi ad illum, there is no flying from God, but by flying to Him. Si vis evadere iratum, fuge ad placatum, if thou wilt flee from him, as he is angry, flee to him as pacified.
So vponupon Psal. 75. Non est, quo fugias à Deo irato, nisi ad Deum placatum; there is no flying from God angry, but to God pacified. Prorsus non est, quo fugias, beleeue it, there is no flying from God. Vis fugere ab ipso? fuge ad ipsum. Wilt thou needs flee from him? then flee to him.
Flee to him! From whence and whither? Can I flee from any place where God is not, to some place where he is? Or is he not eueryevery where? Fills he not Heauen and Earth? How then can I flee to him?
Vnderstand not any locall flying de loco ad locum, but a flying de vitâ advitam, de actu ad actum, de bonis ad meliora, de vtilibus ad vtiliora, de sanctis ad sanctiora, as Origen speaketh, Homil. 12. in Genesin, and so mayst thou flee to God. Flee from life to life, from an euill life to a good life; from act to act, from an euill act to a good act; from good to better; from profitable courses to more profitable; from sanctified thoughts to more sanctified; and thou doest flee to God. The performance of this thy flight must be, non passibus pedum, sed mentis profectibus, not by the agilitie or swiftnes of thy feete, but by the increase or bettering of will and vnderstanding.
Thus to flee to God, is nothing else, then to draw neere vntounto him, to hauehave accesse vntounto him, to come vntounto him.
To draw neere vntounto him we are exhorted, Iam. 4.8. Draw nigh vntounto God, and he will draw nigh to you. Draw nigh to God! but how? Pedibus, aut passibus corporis, with your bodily feete or paces? No, sed cordis, but with the feete and paces of our heart. Per bona opera, saith the Glosse, by good workes: per morum imitationem, saith Aquinas, by honestie of life and conuersation: fide, affectu, pijs precibus, saith another, by true faith, by sincere affection, by godly and deuout prayers. Such are the feete, such the paces of our hearts; by which, if we are contrite, broken, and sorrowfull in spirit, for our sinnes already past, and are carefull to preuent all occasion of sinne hereafter, we draw nigh to God; yea, we hauehave accesse vntounto him.
To hauehave accesse to God we are invited, Psal. 34.5. Accedite ad eum & illuminamini, & facies vestrae non confundentur: Let your accesse be to God, and be lightned, and your faces shall not be confounded. And this accesse to God, according to S. Austine vponupon Psal. 145.16. is to be, animo, non vehiculo; affectibus, non pedibus; with the minde, not with a chariot; with our affections, not with our feete.
So the same Father vponupon the 59 Psalme. Our accesse to God must be, non gressu pedum, non subvectione vehiculorum, non celeritate animalium, non elevatione pennarum, not by running with our feete, not by hurrying in a coach, not by riding vponupon the swiftest of horses, not by mounting vp with feathered wings; sed puritate affectuum, & probitate sanctorum morum, but with puritie of affections, and sanctitie of behauiour.
This our accesse vntounto God, is nothing else, then our comming vntounto God. The invitation to come vntounto him is generall, Matth. 11.28. It is there made by our Lord sRom. 1.3, 7.Iesus Christ, ourtMatth. 1.21. Sauiour, anduGalat. 3.13. Redeemer, thexRevel. 17.14. Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, the head of all principalitie and power, the ioy and crowne of all Saints, the assured trust and certaineyCol…ss. 1.27. hope of all the faithfull: and its made vntounto all: Come vntounto me, all yee that labour and are heauy laden, and I will giuegive you rest.
Come, Come vntounto me. Quibus gressibus ad semetipsam nos veritas vocat? Christ the Truth, calls vsus; but how shall we come vntounto him? Quibus gressibus? by what steps or paces? Gregorie frames the question, Moral. lib. 21. cap. 4. and there giues this answer: Ad se quippe venire nos Dominus praecipit, nimirùm non gressibus corporis, sed profectibus cordis: its true; the Lord commands vsus to come vntounto him, not with the motion of our bodies, but with the proceedings of our hearts.
Thus I hauehave made plaine vntounto you, what it is Ad Deum fugere, to flee to God. Its nothing else, then Deo appropinquare, ad Deum accedere, ad Deum venire: to draw nigh to God, to approch vntounto him, to come vntounto him: but whether we flee, or draw nigh, or approch, or come vntounto him, the vnderstanding of all must be spirituall. Our wings, our charriots, our coaches, our feete, wherewith we are to flie, to draw nigh, to approch, to come to God, are all spirituall.
And what are they? They are contrition, faith, and obedience. With these we approch, we draw nigh, we flie, we come to God. Ʋt miseri ad misericordiam, vt nudi ad divitem, vt famelici ad panem, vt infirmi ad medicum, vt serui ad dominum, vt discipuli ad magistrum, vt caeci ad lumen, vt frigidi ad ignem; as the wretched to the mercifull, as the naked to the rich, as the hunger-staruen to bread, as the sicke to the Physition, as the seruant to his Lord, as the scholar to his Master, as the blinde to the light, as the cold to the fire: so Hugo Cardinalis vponupon the 4th of S. Iames.
Now with these three, Contrition, Faith, and Obedience, the inseparable companions of true and vnfeigned Repentance, let vsus make haste to God, and flie we with all speede from the wolfe to the shepheard, from death to life, from our sinnes to our Sauiour, from the paths of Hell, full of all darknesse and horror, to the way of Heauen, full of all true ioy and pleasure. So will God draw nigh to vsus, Liberando ab angustijs, gratiam dando, & de virtute ad virtutem promovendo, saith the same Hugo: he will free vsus from distresse, will giuegive vsus of his grace, and will promote vsus from vertue to vertue.
Thus shall it be with vsus, if with the affection of the spouse in the Canticles we call vponupon the Lord. Her affection is seene Chap. 1.4. Draw me, saith she, and we will runne after thee. Say we with like affection, Lord draw vsus and we will runne after thee. Draw vsus and we will runne.
That we may begin zealously to runne after God, we hauehave neede to be drawne, and that with great force. For vnlesse he draw vsus, we cannotzJoh. 6.44. come to him, we cannot follow him. But if he once draw, Lo, then we hasten, then we runne, then we wax hot. Wherefore let the Lord draw vsus, let him pull vsus out from the bondage of our sinnes, let him deliuer vsus from this wicked world; let him powerfully incline our wills and affections towards him, let him giuegive vsus strength to cleaue vntounto him; and then we, and all the faithfull, will at once with speed and earnestnesse, flie vntounto him, draw nigh vntounto him, hauehave our accesse vntounto him, and come vntounto him.
Hitherto of the first branch of this fourteenth verse, expressing the first of the seauen miseries here foretold to betide the Israelites, that, the flight should perish from the swift. Now followeth the second, and it concerneth their strong men;
And the strong shall not strengthen his force.
THE strong, foreign He in whom is strength; strength not of minde, but of bodie; he shall not strengthen his force] though he be foreign, very strong and Iustie, yet foreign, he shall not reteine his force: so daunted shall he be in heart, and his courage so abated, that he shall not dare for his owne defence to vse the strength he hath. He shall be, as if he had no strength at all. The lesson to be taken hence, is: When God meanes to punish, a mans strength will not helpe him.
It will not. For as it is in the song of Hannah, the mother of Samuel, 1. Sam. 2.9. By strength shall no man preuaile. No man against God. For God is Almightie. He remoueth the mountaines, and they know not: He ouercommeth them in his anger. He shaketh the Earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. He commands the Sunne, and it riseth not: and sealeth vp the Starres. He alone spreadeth out the Heauens, and treadeth vponupon the waues of the Sea. He maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the South. He doth great things past finding out: yea, and wonders without number. He is the Almightie: Who euer hath hardned himselfe against him, and hath prospered? So deuout Iob, chap. 9.4. It is as if he had thus briefly argued: God is Almighty: and therefore there is no contending against him, no withstanding him, by any strength of man.
Here may the strong be admonished, that they glory not in their strength, nor put their trust in it. I would wish them to listen to the words of S. Austine in his Enarration vponupon the 33. Psalme: Ad Dominum omnes, In Deo omnes: Get yee all to the Lord, trust yee all in God. Spes tua Deus sit, fortitudo tua Deus sit, firmitas tua Deus sit, exoratio tua ipse si, laus tua ipse sit; finis, in quo requiescas, ipse sit; adiutorium, cûm laboras, ipse sit: Let God be thy hope, let him be thy fortitude, let him be thy strength, let him be thy reconcilement, let him be thy praise, let him be thy end, wherein thou maist pleasure and solace thy selfe, let him be thy refuge in time of trouble. Ad Dominum omnes, in Deo omnes: Get yee all to God, rest ye all in God. Trust not in thy self, nor in thine owne strength.
But thou wouldst still be reputed for strong and valiant. Wouldest thou so? Then be thou so: but take this for thy character; Thou strong and valiant man, be thou the master of thy selfe; subdue thy passions to reason; and by this inward victorie worke thou thine owne peace. Be thou afraid of nothing, but of the displeasure of the Almighty, and runne away from nothing but from sinne. Looke not on thy hands but thy cause; not how strong thou art, but how innocent. Let goodnesse euer be thy warrant, and I assure thee, though thou maist be ouer-mastered, yet shalt thou neuer be foyled. For Deus-fortitudo tua, God will be thy strength.
Thus hauehave you heard in briefe of the second miserie, here foretold to betide the Israelites, that, the strong should not strengthen his force. The third is,
Neither shall the mighty deliuer himselfe.
THE mighty foreign Gibbor. Hee that excelleth in strength; in strength, not of bodie onelyonly, but of minde too. This stout and douty man is called by the Septuagint, foreign, a man of armes, a fighter, a warriour; such a one as hath foreign, as S. Cyrill speaketh, and is skilfull in militarie affaires. This man for all his skill, strength, and valour shall not deliuer himselfe.
Himselfe] The Hebrew is foreign Naphscho, his soule or life. His soule, that is, his life. Well. For what is life, but as the Philosopher defineth it, foreign; the composition and colligation of the soule to the bodie. The soule for life! It is often so put in holy Scripture. As 1. King. 19.4. Elias, in the wildernes, requesting for himselfe, that he might dye, said, It is enough now, O Lord, take away my soule from me. My soule, he meant his life. So Ionas, chap. 4.3. O Lord, Take away my soule from me. That by his soule, he meant his life, it is plaine: for he addeth, It is better for me to dye, then to liue. Satan, Iob 2.4. thus saith vntounto the Lord; Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath, will he giuegive for his soule. For his soule, that is, for his life: and so the Greeke Scholia vponupon the first of S. Iames doe expound it: foreign, The soule is also called life, as in these words; All that a man hath will he giuegive foreign, for his soule or life.
God telleth the rich man in the Gospell, who was talking of larger buildings, when the building within him was neere pulling downe, and thought he had goods enough for his soule to delight in, when he had not soule enough to delight in his goods, Thou foole, this night foreign, this night doe they require and redemaund thy soule of thee, Luk. 12.10. Thy soule, that is, thy life, for the meaning is, this night thou must dye.
S. Austine in his second Booke concerning Christ his Sermon vponupon the Mount, vponupon these words, Nonne anima plus est, quàm esca? Is not the soule more then meat? saith, Animā hoc loco pro istâ vita positā noverimus, know we, that the soule in this place is put for this life, whose retinacle or stay, is the corporall sustenance we daily take. According to this signification is that also spoken, Ioh. 12.25. Qui amat animam suam, perdet illam, he that loueth his soule shall loose it. In each place, the soule is put for life; and accordingly is it rendered in our newest English: in the one place, Is not the life more then meate? in the other, He that loueth his life, shall loose it.
As in these now-cited places, andaPsal. 31.13. Act. 20 24. in …. &c. many other, Anima pro Vitâ, the soule is put for the life; so is it in my text: The mighty shall not deliuer his soule, that is, his life. The meaning is, He shall not saue his life; he shall not saue himselfe.
The doctrine to be taken from hence is this, No man can be priuiledged by his might, against the Lord.
No man can. The Wiseman affirmeth it, Eccles. 9.11. There is no battell to the strong; foreign Laggibborim; to the mighty, to the man of armes there is no battell, no victorie in battell. The Psalmist speaks it plainely, Psal. 33.16. A mighty man is not deliuered by much strength, foreign Gibbor, a mighty man is not deliuered from the danger and power of his enemies, by much or great strength, of himselfe, or others for him. This mighty man in the Vulgar Latin, is stiled a Giant: Gigas non saluabitur in multitudine virtutis suae; A Giant shall not be safe in the multitude of his strength. Little Dauid, but ab1. Sam. 17.42. youth, withoutcvers. 39. armour, only withdvers. 50. a sling and a stone, slew the Philistim, great Goliah. It is true; No man is priuiledged by his might against the Lord.
The reason hereof is that, 1. Sam. 2.2. Non est fortis, sicut Deus noster: There is none strong, like our God. None so mighty, none so potent, as our God. Men of this world, may seeme to be mighty, and of great power: but, our God in Heauen is mightier, and doth whatsoeuer pleaseth him, euen vponupon the mighty here on the Earth.
From hence may the mighty man take instruction; the instruction that is giuen him, Ierem. 9.23. Let not the mighty man glory in his might: But if he will needs glory, let him glory in this, that he vnderstandeth and knoweth the Lord. VponUpon this Lord, the Lord of Heauen and Earth,eIudeth 9.12. creator of the waters, and King of eueryevery creature, let vsus wholy depend; being well assured, that none of these outward things, agilitie of bodie, strength, might, or the like, can be any way avayleable to vsus, if Gods speciall blessing be not vponupon them.
Thus much of the third miserie, here foretold to betide the Israelites, which hath ended the fourteenth verse. The fourth followeth, and is expressed in the first branch of the fifteenth verse: these words,
Neither shall he stand, that handleth the bow.
HE that handleth the bow, is in the language of the Septuagint, foreign, the bowman, the archer, the shooter. He shall not stand] Hee shall not dare to abide his ground: or, if he abide it, he shall not be able to bend his bow; so through feare shall the fDan. 5.6.ioynts of his loynes be loosed, and his knees shall smite the one against the other. This anguish or perplexitie shall betide him, according to Ionathan in his Targum foreign Bicrabha, in time of skirmish and fight, euen then, when his bow should stand him most in steed. By this bow. I vnderstand, not the bow alone and arrowes, but eueryevery other weapon and instrument of warre. From hence ariseth this doctrine, Its not the bow and arrowes, or sword, or any other instrument of warre, that can any whit avayle vsus, when God will punish.
For proofe hereof I produce the iudgement of God vponupon Gog, the cheife Prince of Meshech and Tubal, Ezech. 39.3. where thus saith the Lord, Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thinke arrowes to fall out of thy right hand. Bow and arrowes! There is no helpe in them. None at all: nor in the sword; nor in any other militarie engine. Therefore doth the Psalmist, Psal. 44 6. renounce all trust in them. His words are, I doe not trust in my bow, neither can my sword saue me. His bow and sword, he doth not much care for. Wherein then is his trust? It is in the might and strength of God. Gods power was his buckler, whereto he trusted for his owne defence, and for the discomfiture of his enemies.
It is the Vse we are to make of the doctrine now propounded. We must not repose our trust in any externall helpe, the bow, the sword, or the like, for this were indeed, to rob God of his glory, and to runne to the creature for helpe. Our helpe is but one; and that is the Lord of Hosts. Dominus Deus auxiliator meus: Esay proclaimeth it twise in one chapter, chap. 50. First vers. 7. The Lord God is my helper: secondly, vers. 9. Behold, the Lord God is my helper. The Lord God is my helper, behold, he is my helper. Surely Esay looked for no helpe, but from the Lord his God.
Nor did Ieremie looke for any, but from the same eternall fountaine of helpe: and therefore, chap. 20.11. he saith: Dominus mecum est, quasi bellator fortis: the Lord is with me, as a stout or mighty warriour.
Nor did Dauid looke for any, but from the same. He Psal. 18.2. acknowledgeth the Lord, and him onelyonly, to be his strength, his succour, his fortresse, his deliuerer, his God, his rocke wherein he trusteth, his buckler, the horne of his saluation, and his high tower.
The like he doth, Psal. 144.1, 2. Where, what is his strength, but the Lord? What his goodnesse, his fortresse, his high tower, his deliuerer, his shield, but the Lord? The Lord alone is he, in whom Dauid trusteth. The bow, the sword, the speare, and eueryevery other militarie weapon, he knew to be meere vanitie without helpe from the Lord: and therefore the Lord was to him in steed of all.
And let the Lord be to vsus in steed of all, in steed, of bow, of sword, of speare, of buckler, of shield, of fortresse, of tower, and of eueryevery other militarie engine, and vnderundergPsal. 36.7. the shadow andhPsal. 61.4. couert of his wings, weiPsa. 119.117. shall be safe.
Must the Lord be vntounto vsus in steed of all? In steed of bow, of sword, of speare, and the rest? Ergóne omnis armorum vsus abijciendus? VVhat? Shall we therefore condemne, cast away, or neglect, the bow, the sword, the speare, all kind of artillerie, furniture, or munition that men doe vse, either for the priuate defence of themselues, or for the publicke of the Country?
No, in no wise. This were too too Anabaptisticall. And I am no Anabaptist, that I should maintaine it to be vnlawfull for a Christian, either to make weapons for the vse of man, or to vse them being made. They denie it to be lawfull to vse the sword. I affirme it to be lawfull. My assertion is; All men into whose hands God putteth the sword, may vse the sword, euen to strike and kill, if neede be. Now God putteth the sword first and principally into the hand of the publicke Magistrate, who when iust occasion serues, may draw it out. And sometime he putteth it into the hand of a priuate man. A priuate man when he is assailed of his enemie, may take the sword in way of his owne defence, and may (if there be no other helpe) kill his enemie therewith, so he doe it not vponupon any malice, but onelyonly because he cannot otherwise escape, and saue his owne life.
Now to the question: My answer is; Non reijcitur vsus, sed fiducia. The bow, the sword, the speare, and other instruments of warre, are not to be condemned, not to be cast away, not to be neglected, but to be vsed. Non reijcitur vsus, sed fiducia; their vse is not forbidden, but our trust in them. The vse of all kinde of weapons is common as well to the wicked as to the godly: the difference is in the trust. The wicked, they vse them, and trust in them; the godly, they vse them too, but their trust mounts higher, euen to the Lord of Hosts. The distinction then here to be obserued is, Ʋt vsus creaturis fiducia verò creatori deputetur. Vse the bow, the sword, the speare, and eueryevery other martiall weapon when thou shalt hauehave iust occasion; but see that thy trust be euer in the Lord.
S. Chrysostome vponupon those words of the 44. Psalme, I trust not in my bow, neither shall my sword saue me, saith: Why then dost thou vse them? Why art thou armed? VVhy handlest thou the bow? VVhy the sword? The answer there is returned; Because our God hath so commanded, therefore I vse them: foreign, yet I cast my whole care on him; in him I doe wholy trust. Thus foreign, thus fortified & fensed with power from aboue, we are to fight against our visible enemies: and thus fortified and fensed with power from aboue, we are to fight against our Spirituall enemies. The chiefe of them is the Deuill.
Our fight against him is a daily fight. For our direction in this fight, we hauehave S. Chrysostomes direction. VVhen thou art to combat with the Deuill, say, I trust not in my weapons. I trust not in mine owne strength, or mine owne righteousnesse, but in the mercy of God: say with Daniel, chap. 9.18. O my God, encline thine eare and heare: open thine eyes, and behold our desolation; we present our supplications before thee, not for our owne righteousnesse, but for thy great mercies.
Saue vsus, O Lord, saue thy people, from the power and furie of this immortall enemie. Though as a roaring Lyon he walketh about seeking whom he may devoure, yet shall we, placing all our hope and confidence in thee our Lord and God, be safe vnderunder thy protection. Protect & keep vsus, O Lord, among the manifold dangers of this life, and in thy good time, by the conduct of thy fauour, bring vsus home from this valley of miserie and mourning, to that our hoped-for country of eternall glory, where we may with all Saints sing vntounto thee a perpetuall Halleluiah. Saluation and glory and honour vntounto the Lord our God.