Contemplations and Devotions, Part 9
IX. Hee is Sceptred with a Reed.Mat. 27.29
THus farre, they rather mocke him as a false King, then punish him as a true Malefactor; their bowings, their buffetings, their Roabes, their Crowne, and this their Scepter, are all no other then the severall acts of this their tragike comedy, on his flouted kingdome, haile King of the Iewes. This of the Scepter 'tis the last, and worst; this strikes specially at what is neerest him; the mutuall interests betweene himselfe and his followers, his truth, their trust, the Scarlet vpbraids him of ambition, the Crowne of Vsurpation; but this their reeden Scepter of a deceitfull trustlesnesse, that hee was like Egypt, a broken Reed, to such as leaned on him, as hollow, as fruitlesse, as helplesse, as a dry sap-lesse Reed; his kingdome suitable to such a Scepter, so that by how much his friends were deerer to him then his enemies, nay then himselfe, this touch'd him neerer then the rest. But how shamefully the while doe they more befoole themselues in these their conceited scurrilous abuses? that hand into which they have put this weake, this hollow Reed, how easily could it with or without it, as with a Rod of iron breake to peeces, Psa. ….as a Potters vessell, that their so renowned Romane Scepter? how easily hath it? how easily could hee, that wrought such wonders with a Rod in the hand of Moses, for them, have wrought more, and greater in his owne hand vponupon them?Esa. 59.1. the hand of the Lord is not shortned; give him what Scepter they will, it skils not; no matter what bee the Sword, the Scepter, so his bee the arme; be it a straw, if in this hand of his, that spans the Heavens, and weighs the Mountaines, Esa. 40.12.how able it is to scatter the proud in the imaginations of their hearts; Luk. 8.51.they themselues have long since felt, 'tis the weake things of the world, that hee makes to confound the mighty. In the latter dayes (saies Peter) there shall bee Mockers, 2. Pet. 3.3.that shall say, where is the promise of his comming: But in that last day, when that promise of his comming shall come to passe; what will then become of these Mockers? how will they then looke, when they shall see this very King, whom they now thus scornefully have roabed, crowned, and sceptred;Psa. 104.2. no longer as here covered with shame, as with a garment, Psa 35.26.but cloathed with maiesty and honour, Psa. 146.13riding on the wings of the wind, in a Crowne of starres, with an everlasting Scepter in his hand of power and great glory? Psa. 18.10.then how successelesly will they cry vntounto the Rocks and Mountaines to fall on them, Psa. 45.7.and cover them from the presence of this Lambe, Rev. 6.16.now dumbe before the Shearers, E…a. 33.7.but then with his very voice, glorious and mighty in operation, breaking the loftiest Cedars, then sitting on the Throne, whom now they have trampled thus low into the dust, how will they then cry out with groning, and anguish of spirit (as the Wise man tels them before hand) saying, this was he whom we had sometime in derision, Wis. 5.3.4.5.and a Parable of reproach; wee fooles counted his life madnesse, and his end without honour, how is he now numbred among the sonnes of God, nay, the only begotten Sonne, the darling, in whom onelyonly hee is well pleased; Luk. 2.22.and then in how iust a requitall shall hee that dwells in Heaven laugh them to scorne, Psa. 2.4.the Lord shall have them in derision. Nor if wee looke well into it, shall wee but easily find, even now in respect, but of this his present kingdome of grace; how much weaker, emptier this …heir studied device is, then the Reed 'its engine, and no lesse embleme too; their conceited aime herein was to vpbraid his kingdome at once of a deceitfull weaknesse, a hollow emptinesse, a dry rewardlesse fruitlesnesse; the vsuall defective properties of this their Scepter here, the withred Reed, and what more incongruous to his kingdome then any of these? for the trustfull protection of it, Esay cals it a biding place from the wind, Esa. 32.2.a covert from the tempest: Paul a kingdome that cannot bee shaken, Heb. 12.28.a kingdome that consists not in forme, 1. Cor. 4.20.but in power it selfe; so farre from any hollow Reed-like emptinesse is this kingdome, that in the kingdome there is fulnesse of ioy, Psa 16.12.in the King, the fulnesse of the God head dwelling bodily, Col 2.9.so plenteous in goodnesse and truth, Col. 1.19.that as all our wants can never tire his bounty, so neither can his bounty ever empt his store, hee is a fountaine opened to the house of David, Zac. 1….and that of water of life, I…h. 10.…0.and that of life in abundance. Their Synagogue 'twas indeed a hollow, empty, Reed-like kingdome; but the stalke to the eare of the Romane Empire, but the empty shell, the shadow of what before it had beene: lastly, so farre is this his kingdome from worthlesse, or rewardlesse, fruitlesnesse, that for worth 'tis a treasure, Mat. 13.44.for fruitfulnesse,Luk 13 19. tis a graine of mustard seed; for reward, every Subiect is an Heire, a King, more then a Conqueror; so farre is the true Scepter of this kingdome,Ro 8 37. from a Reed shaken with the wind, that it commands the Seas and Winds themselues,Luk. 8.24. and they obey it; such a Scepter, as if it doe but touch the Mountaines, Psa. 104 32they quake, and smoake, for't, and melt, and skip like Rams; Psa. 114.6. Psa 146.13. Psa 45.7.his Scepter 'tis an everlasting Scepter, and of his kingdome there is no end.
Esa 9.7.Yet doth hee not refuse this Scepter, though a weake, hollow Reed, a Reed (they say) of all things easiest kils a Serpent; and so, it may bee, how truely (but vnwittingly to them) an embleme of the true Scepter of his kingdome, wherewith hee so bruis'd the beads of those Dragons in the waters, the head of that old Serpent the devill, that had so bitten at his heele: Gen. 3.But how vnweariedly busie is their malice?Mat. 27. they tooke the Reed out of his hand, and smote him with it on the head; 'tis not enough that his hand beare it, vnlesse his head feele i… …oo; and so it shall both vndermine his reputation, and batter his person, both hame him, and strike him: herein happily they thinke to play the moralists, to let him see that hypocrisie, like the hollow Reed, in the end both shames and punishes the owner; were their instance as divine, as their embleme morall, their conceit were prettie; but how weakly, how wickedly doe they faile in the application, in misse-applying the deseru'd effects of hypocrisie, to him who is truth it selfe. And yet this further morall have we out of this their abusive error,Io. 14 that as they three wayes wrong him with the hollow Reed, and but one with he sharper Speare, the Reed flouts him, the Reed strikes him, the Reed gives him gall and vinegar to drinke; the speare, though seemingly more hostile, wounds him but once; so hollow hypocrisie wrongs him trip'ly beyond open profanesse, hypocrisie with th… Reed mocks his kingdome, which consists not in word, and forme, 1. Cor. 4.20.but truth and power; hypocrisie strikes at his head, his omniscience, as if it could not search its hollow heart, hypocrisie gives him vinegar in steed of wine, the degenerate vinegar of falshood, and dissimulation, insteed of the wine of sincerity, and truth. Pauls hostile Speare of persecution turnes at length into his owne heart, to wound it with remorse; whereas Iudas'es hollow Reed of hypocrisie turnes to nothing, but a haltar to hang himselfe with: certainely the devill, hee is never so much Serpent, so much devill, as when a transformed Angell of light, 2. Cor 11.1…never more his owne, more himselfe, then when hee most seemes Gods, the farthest, the surest battery of this old Murtherer, Io. 8.44.is when charg'd (as 'gainst our Saviour) out of Gods owne megazine, with an It is written. Mat 4.6.His deepest mines, are the hollow Reed-like heart of a prayer-preying Pharise, Luk. 20.47.sitting in Moses chaire; of a Fox-l…ke Herod, Mat. 23.2.pretending to worship the babe; Mat 2.8.of a painted Iesabell, as well in soule as body, fasting by proclamation, 1. King. 21.9.but, to make the better meale on Naboth's (at once) both blood, and vineyard; of a Locust-like Iesuite,Rev. 9.3. that will gather hemlocke out of Gods owne Garden, his word; and rather then faile, infuse it into his owne Sacrament, the more indiscoverably to poyson his owne anoynted, As they did to poyson Henry 7 To which purpose they abuse these places. Psa. 8.6. Psa. 91.13. Luk 22.38. Act. 10 13.fetching darknesse out of light it selfe, teaching Gods word to speake the devils errand; iust as these his Murtherers doe here, striking God with his owne Scepter, his word: hypocrisie 'tis the leprosie among the diseases of the soule, the more white (like Gehesi's,) the more dangerous; how truely doth it (as with this Reed, they thinke to doe by our Saviour) shame, strike, and deceive, the hand, the head, the heart.
But O my blessed Lord and Saviour, thou that art that promised Shylo, from whom the Scepter must never depart, Gen. 49.10.art not thou that greene tree, Luk. 23.3 1that tree of life? how incongruously then doe they (here) give thee this Scepter, of the dry stubble, a dead Reed, do nor the heavenly elders cast down their Crowns too, Rev. 5.14.& earthly Kings hold theirs of thine? 'tis by thee thou tell'st them,Psa. 144. that they raigne. Doe not to thy Scepter all other Scepters bow, obey, and owe themselues; they could have no power, if not giuen them from above; Io. 19.11.why thē doe they thus poorely crowne, thus weakely scepter thee? why did thy head, thy hand, thus willingly accept these mockeries of maiesty? was it to shew thou wert a God, as well of the closest thicket, a heart-Searcher, that thy Crowne is of thornes, as of the openest Champion, a God vniversall, that thy Scepter is a Reed? or rather then thy power, was it to shew thy mercy, that thou didst not burne these crushed thornes, nor breake this bruised Reed; why should I then despaire either of being borne vp in thy hand here, or worne on thy head hereafter; bee I never so naturally an accursed thorne, if thou be in mee, as in that bush of Moses, Exo 3.2.though thou burne mee, thou wilt not consume mee, bee I never so weake a Reed yet if bruised, thou wilt not breake me, Esa. 42.3.thou breakest not the bruised Reed, Mat. 12.20.but bindest vp the broken. My soule, I must confesse (Lord) tis no other, a very Reed shaken with every wind of temptation, crush'd with every touch of tribulation, a Reed not so white vntounto the haruest, as dry vntounto the fire, not so fit in it selfe for the barne, as the dunghill, yet 'tis a bruised Reed (Lord) bruised with the weight, the conscience of sinne, and so into thy hands am I (with this thy Scepter) bold to commend it, knowing that though (as thine Apostles did by the eares of corne) thou rub it with present smart, and affliction; yet already bruised, thou wilt not quite breake it off with vtter destruction, or burne it vp among the tares with vnquenchable fire, thou shewest the strength of thy arme (Lord) better in breaking, Luk. 1.and scattering the proud and lofty Cedars of the world; rather in supporting the bending, bruised Reeds of humility; thou that cursedst the greene, the leafy figtree, Mat. 21.19.do'st here accept the weake, the bruised Reed. But (O Lord) may I not better wonder at, and chide this my wondering, and chiding at the sharpnesse of that thy Crowne, the weaknesse of this thy Scepter, that doe my selfe give thee, yet still worse; malice, rancor, and debate, are thornes farre sharper to thee, then those of thy Crowne, and wound thee deeper; those though they drew blood from thee, yet drew they no such complaint as these; why persecutest thou mee? Act 9.4.and what too doth my carelesse aw-lesse neglect of thy lawes, and kingdome, but slight thy Scepter, as if it were as this, some helplesse, dreadlesse straw; not able to bee felt, not worthy to bee fear'd: thus my life what is it but a larger, though lesse printed, lesse studied commentary on their broader text; and doth but descant their blunter, harsher plainesong into more variety of abuse? O let my obedience henceforth (Lord) and awfull reverence to thy kingdome, speake the power, the maiesty, the terror of 'its everlasting Scepter: at least, if the obedience of blessed Angells, Rev. 5.and reuerence of crowned Saints out-strip mee in magnifying it's power in glorifying it's Maiestie, yet let not the faith of damned deuils out tremble me at it's terrour,Iam. 2.19. for euen they beleeue it, and tremble at it, and confesse it as well their torment as terrour,Luk. 4. art thou come to torment vsus before the time? Thy Scepter (O Lord) wherewith thou gouern'st in this thy Kingdome of grace, Dauid tells mee 'tis thy word, Psal 45.5.thy word of meekenesse, righteousnesse and truth, whereby thy right hand doth terrible things: and so, thou hast not onelyonly by those strongest of thy creatures, deuils, taught mee to tremble at it, but even by the weakest of them how to resist those strongest ones; the little Frogge (say naturalists) when 'tis to encounter her enemie the water serpent, armes her selfe with what they here giuegive thee for a Scepter, a Reed athwart her mouth, lest the bigger serpent should swallow her downe quick: so let mee ever Lord against that old serpent, that Leviathan, Psa. 104.26.that takes his pastime in the waters; arme both my mouth, and heart, with thy true Scepter, that holy reed of thy word, alwayes encountring him, and his temptations, with that thine owne tryed weapon 'gainst him, a scriptum est, Math. 4.so he shall never be able either to swallow mee into that bottomlesse gulph of despaire, or to throw mee downe from that slippery pinnacle of presumption.