Meat out of the Eater, Poems 7
Joy in Sorrow.
CAn Joy and Sorrow meet
That are so opposite?
The one so Bitter, th'other Sweet?
What, can such Foes unite?
What! meet in one small Heart!
And lovingly agree!
Joyn hands and strengthen one another▪
Doubtless it cannot be.
As Aaron's Serpent-RodExod. 7.12.
Rods of th'Inchanters swallow'd:
So godly Sorrow eateth up,
That Sorrow that's unhallow'd.
It worldly Sorrow kills:
But helpeth Spiritual Joy.
These two will strengthen one another,
And not each other 'stroy.
The deepest godly SorrowIsa. 61.3.
Spring-Tides of Joy brings in.
The more a Soul can joy in God,
The more he mourns for sin.
This Grief the Channel is
In which Joy loves to run:
And Joy the Channel deeper plows
Then when 'twas first begun.
If any Nicodemus
Say, How can these things be?
As Philip to Nathaniel said,
So I say, Come and see.
SONG I.
[1]
UNto this General Head
We need not much to say,
For all that went before doth tend
Our Sorrows to allay.
Yet forasmuch as Grief
From various Causes springs;
Nor is it possible to name
Each thing that Sorrow brings:
[2]
Wee'll spend a few leaves more
Concerning Grief, th' Effect;
That so we may apply a Salve,
And no man's Sore neglect.
If then thou art a Saint
That languishest in Grief:
God hath provided Cordials
To yield thy Soul relief.
[3]
Thou must these Cordials know,
And how to take and use them:
Beware thou do not in a Pett
Neglect, much less refuse them.
God would not have us Blocks
That nothing lay to heart:
Nor would he have us mourn like those
In Christ that have no part.
[4]
Perhaps thou hast displeas'd him,
And therefore art in pain:
But Jesus Christ will soon appease him1 Joh. 7, 9.
If thou return again.
He is thy Father still,
And doth not cease to love thee:
Although he scourge thee for thy faults,
Or for thy sins reprove thee.
[5]
Art thou in heaviness
For some great outward loss?
Of choicest Comforts, dearest Friends?
Or for some other Cross?
'Tis fit that when God smitesJer. 5 3.
Thou shouldest feel the smart:
But let Afflictions bitterness
Make thee lay sin to heart.
[6]
If this Affliction be
Jer. 2.19.An evil bitter thing:
Oh what a bitter thing is Sin,
That doth Affliction bring?
More evil is the Cause
Then the Effect can be:
Job 11.6.For God doth punish less by far
Then thine iniquitie.
[7]
Is it a bitter thing
To be in Heaviness?
What is it then to grieve the Lord,
Amos 2.13. Deut. 32.6. Lam. 3.33.And with my sins to press?
To wrong a loving Father?
Provoke a gracious God
(Who takes no pleasure in our smart)
To whip me with his Rod?
[8]
Convert thy Sorrow's stream
Into the Channel right:
Psal 51.4 2 Cor. 7.9, 10. Jer. 31.18, 19.20.And chiefly mourn because thou hast
Done evil in his sight.
Thus into godly sorrow
Thy worldly sorrow turn,
And God will turn away his wrath
When thus he sees thee mourn.
[9]
As oftentimes we see
In some acute Disease,
To cut a Vein and let him Blood
Will give him present ease:
Right so doth godly sorrow,
The bleeding of the Heart,
Asswage the most heart-killing Grief,
And wondrous ease impart.
[10]
Empty bad humours out;
First cool and cleanse the Blood:
And then a Cordial will revive
And do the man more good.
So when thou humbled art,Isa. 5….15.
And purged from thy sin:
The Lord himself will comfort thee,
And Cordials sweet give in.
[11]
The deeper that the Plough
Of true Repentance goes:Luke 7.47, 50.
The richer Crop of Spiritual Joy
And Holiness there grows.
The greater Spiritual Joy
The Lord to us imparts:
The more again it humbleth us,Ezek. 36.31.
And breaks our stony hearts.
SONG II.
[1]
HEarken what God doth speak
To such as mourn aright,
That under his Afflicting hand
Are broken and contrite.
Blessed are those that mourn;
Matth. 5.4.They shall be comforted:
As first in Sorrow, so in Joy
They shall be like their Head.
[2]
Thus saith the lofty One,
Th' Eternal, Holy Lord;
Isa. 57.15, 16.I dwell in humble contrite Hearts,
That tremble at my Word:
Their Spirits to revive,
And greatly them to chear;
For I'le not alwayes angry be,
With such as do me fear.
SONG III.
[1]
THis World's the Vale of Tears:Psal. 23.4.
We must not look to be,
Whilst we are cloth'd with sinful Flesh,
From griefs and sorrows free.
Here Grief and Joy take turns:
Hereafter Grief shall cease;Isa. 35.10.
And in the room thereof shall come
Eternal Joy and Peace.
[2]
If for a little momentIsa. 54.7, 8.
God seem to frown upon thee:
With Everlasting kindnesses
He will have mercy on thee.
Our time of suff'ring here
Is but a little while:
And then his frown, that makes thee sad,
Will turn into a smile.
[3]
Thy Tears are like good Seed
Sown in a fruitful Field:
They are not lost, but shall in time
A joyful Harvest yield.
Psal. 126.5, 6.Who sow in tears shall reap
In joy: who go and mourn
Bearing choice seed, shall sure with joy
Bringing their sheaves return.
[4]
In midst of Sorrows great
Let this thy Grief allay,
Rev. 7.17.That God will turn thy tears to joy
And mirth another day.
The more thy Sorrows here
And Sufferings have bin:
The greater joy and Happiness
Hereafter thou shalt win.
[5]
'Tis better now to mourn
And to rejoice hereafter:
Then for to wail eternally
For sinful mirth and laughter.
Rev. 18.7. 2 Cor. 4.17.Short sinful Pleasures have
Long-lasting endless pains:
Short and light suff'rings have long joyes
And everlasting gains.
[6]
Eternall Happiness
Will make amends for all.
While Faith beholds what joy's to come,Verse 18.
It counts all suff'rings small.
If drops of Heav'nly Pleasure
Be sweet unto thy taste:
How sweet will streams and rivers be,Psal. 36.8, 9.
Where drink thy fill thou may'st?
[7]
Thy future joy so great
And Ocean-like shall be:
That thou must enter into it,Mat. 25.21.
It cannot enter thee.
Oh what a joy is that
That Thought cannot conceive!1 Cor. 2.9.
That mortal Tongue cannot express,
Nor Heart of man believe!
[8]
The greatest present Griefs,
That thee so much annoy,
Will soon be swallowed in that Sea
Of Everlasting joy.
'Twill then a Pleasure be,
To think of what is past:
And greatly adde unto thy joy
To minde how sad thou wast.
SONG IV.
Solamen miseris focios habuisse doloris
Christum cum sanctis—
[1]
IT is an ease in Grief
To have Coparteners:
It yields some comfort and relief
T' have Fellow-sufferers.
Especially to have
Such as our case bemoan,
As lay to heart our sorrows, and
Under our burden groan.
[2]
Ephes. 4.4, 5▪6.The Saints all make one Body,
Have Union with one Head;
Are acted by one Spirit, and
By him are quickened.
Heb. 13.3.Hence then they cannot chuse
But feel each others smart,
Their Burden bear, lament their case,
And in their woes take part,
[3]
They cannot chuse but mourn
With such as mourners be:
And be afflicted too with thoseRom. 12.15. John 11.16.
Whom they afflicted see.
Christ gives them tender hearts,
Therefore they fellow-feel:
They pitty, pray for, comfort them,
And seek each others weal.
[4]
This is a Comfort then
To Saints in misery,
To have such sweet Companions
Of their Calamity.
That when they are in sorrow
They sorrow not alone:
But meet with some that heartily
Their Miseries bemoan.
[5]
Oh let it never be
That Saints should Saints infest,
And add unto each others grief,
That are with grief opprest.
This wisdom from aboveJam. ….15.
Comes not, but from beneath:
And ill becometh those in whom
The Spirit of Love doth breath.
[6]
That Spirit of Love and Peace,
Who dwells in all the Saints,
2 Cor. 13.11. Job 6.14. Phil. 2.1, 2, 3▪Unite our hearts, appease our strife,
Cease quarrels and complaints:
Help us to pitty more,
And pray for one another,
To strive who shall in love outstrip
And go beyond his Brother.
[7]
This were a blessed strife;
Thus ought we all to strive:
Were this our strife; how would it make
Ephes. 4.16.Souls, Towns, and Churches thrive.
As many Shoulders make
A heavy Burden light:
So might our Burdens lightened be,
Were but our Spirits right.
[8]
Well: Friends may pitty us
And at our Sorrows grieve;
They cannot alwayes help: But Christ
Can pitty and relieve.
This is the main support,
And comfort of the Saints,
That Jesus Christ them pittieth, when
Psal. 103.13.They pour out their complaints.
[9]
Friends sometimes stand aloof,Psal. 38.11.
And Bretheren may forget us,
Or strangers be unto our griefs;
The World at nought may set us:
But Jesus Christ regards usPsal. 136.23. John 14.18.
Ev'n in our low estate;
He mînds us well, and leaves us not
Forlorn and desolate.
[10]
Our gracious,Heb. 2.17, 18. Chap. 4.15. great High-Priest
Is such an One as can
From his Experience pitty us
With bowels of a Man.
Afflicted been he hasIsa. 63 9. foreign
In their Affliction:
And therefore their Affliction was
As if it had been none.foreign
[11]
Though far above all Griefs
In Glory Christ remains:
Yet of the Sorrows of his Saints
A feeling he retains.
He tells our wanderings,Psal. 5… ▪ 8.
And bottleth all our tears,
Is well acquainted with our griefs,
And writeth down our fears.
[12]
He knows thy Sicknesses;
He feeleth all thy smart:
Thy sufferings are his sufferings,
And reach his tender heart.
And if he know and feel
All that doth thee agrieve:
Isa 40▪1, 2, 29, 31.He will with choicest Cordials
Thy fainting Soul relieve.
[13]
Coloss. 1.24.If these thy Sufferings
He reckon to be his:
Hee'll shortly put an end thereto,
Joh. 14.3.And take thy Soul to Bliss.
Christ will not suffer long:
For he's not perfected,
1 Cor. 15.49.Till all his Members be made like
In Glory to their Head.
SONG V.
[1]
THus far we have apply'd
Our speech to mournful Saints,
To chear them under all their Griefs,
And silence their Complaints.
But all men are not Saints
Whom Sorrow doth oppress:
Some may be in a heavy case,
Yet far from Holiness.
[2]
Some Hearts are almost broke
With Carnal Sorrows force▪H…sea 7.14.
That godly Sorrow never touch'd
With any true remorse.
What shall we say to these
That may some ease impart?
What Soveraign Medicine shall we use
To mitigate their smart?
[3]
Poor Souls! I pitty you,
And do your case bemoan:
But peace to you I may not speak,
For God himself speaks none.
Isa. 57.20, 21.There is no peace, saith God,
To th' wicked when distrest:
But they are like the troubled Sea
Which boils and cannot rest.
[4]
Oh that the Lord himself,
Who now doth thee chastise,
And makes thee sad, would waken thee
And open thy blinde eyes!
That God would help thee grieve
For what should grieve thee most!
Jer. 3.13, …1.That thou a wretched sinner art,
That thou thy God hast lost.
[5]
Thou hast not him to go to
When sorrows thee agrieve:
Lam. 1.16.The Comforter is far away
That should thy Soul relieve.
Thou hast offended God
And grieved him full sore:
Zec. 1.12.10.And now he grieveth thee, let this
Grieve and ashame him thee more.
[6]
Could'st thou but lay to heart
Thy sinful woful state:
It quickly would thine other griefs
Asswage and mitigate.
Oh get thy worldly grief
Turned to godly sorrow.
Mourn for thy sins, and put not off
Repentance till to morrow.
[7]
Oh turn from every sinHos. 14 2, 3, 4.
To God with all thine heart:
And make thy peace with him through Christ;
In Christ oh get a part.Acts 10.43. Job 33.23, 24, to 30.
If sorrow bring thee home
To God in Christ: believe
It will the happiest grieving be
That ever thou didst grieve.
[8]
For God that wounded thee,Hos. 6.1, 2. Isa. 1.16, 17, 18.
Thy Soul will also heal:
And unto thee his gracious love
In Christ he will reveal.
Oh therefore haste to Christ!
That so thou may'st not mourn
Like unto them that have no hope,
Because they never turn.