The Fathers Tears over his Daughters Remains, Sermon 2

The Fathers Tears over his Daughters Remains · Sermon 2

p. 23David's Words Upon the Death of his Child.

2 SAMUEL XII. 23.

— I ſhall go to him, but he ſhall not return to me.

THEY are David's calm and quieting Words upon the Death of his Child. He had been in great Sorrows, the Sorrows of Nature and alſo of Grace; the Sorrows of deep Humiliation and Repentance under the holy Anger and Hand of God.

Nathan the Prophet was ſent by God to him to lay open before him his Sin, and to tell him that the Child ſhould die. David humbled his Soul with Faſting, and lay all Night upon the Earth. The Elders of his Houſe went to him to raiſe him up and conſtrain him to eat, but he would not be entreated by them. Therefore when the Child was dead they were afraid to let him know of it, leſt his Sorrow (which was ſo great before) ſhould quite overwhelm him. But to their Surprize he aroſe and waſhed himſelf, and went into the Houſe of God & worſhipped; p. 24and they ſet Bread before him and he did eat. His Servants humbly ask him the Reaſon of this his Conduct, and in the Meekneſs of Wiſdom and Grace he anſwered & ſatisfied 'em. While the Child was yet alive, ſaid he, I faſted and wept; for I ſaid, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the Child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore ſhould I faſt? Can I bring him back again? I ſhall go to him, but he ſhall not return to me.

The Soul of the Child was gone: gone from the Body which was therefore to turn into Duſt, and gone to the World of Spirits, to the Spirits of the Juſt, (as David hop'd) to the Boſom of Abraham; according to the Prayers he had been pouring out for it, with ſtrong Crying and Tears.

He could not think of a Reſurrection from the State of the Dead, his Prayers and Tears could not bring him back again; he could not expect or deſire it. God's Will was done, and it became him to ſubmit; to make the beſt and get the Good of the Bereavement, to worſhip and behave agreably. He turn'd his Thoughts therefore to his own Dying, to get himſelf more ready for his own Departure; and if his Child were happy to meet it in a better Life. "I ſhall go to him, but he ſhall not return to me.

The Words preſent us with the following uſeful, but familiar and plain Obſervations.

1. That our Dead are gone from Us and this World of ours, no more to return to Us or it till the laſt Day.

p. 252. That we are all going after 'em to the other World.

3. That we ſhould ſeriouſly remember this in the Days of our Bereavements, and in our Sorrows over our Dead.

4. That Parents eſpecially ſhould think awfully of it, in their Mourning for dead Children.

I. The Dead are gone from this World of ours, no more to return to it till the laſt Day. The Spirit leaves the mortal Body, its earthly Houſe and Tabernacle; and goes to the World of Spirits, the inviſible World, into an eternal and unchangeable State. For there is an unſeen future World whither the Soul goes at Death; and there is a twofold State in that World of Spirits; a State of Happineſs for elect & ſanctified Souls, and a Place of Miſery and Torment for unholy and unclean Spirits.

For when the Duſt returns to the Earth as it was, the Spirit returns to God that gave it. Eccl. xii. 7. And its everlaſting State is then decided and fixed by Him, in a moſt righteous Judgment paſſed immediately upon every one: Some go away into everlaſting Puniſhment, but the Righteous into Life Eternal. Mat. xxv. ult.

There are the Spirits in Priſon, i. e. Hell. 1 Pet. iii. 19. And broad is the Way, and wide the Gate, that leadeth to Deſtruction, and many there be which go in thereat, Mat. vii. 13. A whole World of precious Souls once went down together, into that Abyſs of Miſery, Eight only excepted. They went quick into Hell. The Depths cover'd p. 26'em, they ſank to the Bottom as a Stone. In what Sholes did they ſink! as Fiſhes taken in the wide Net of God! how did the proud Waters go over their Souls! and the Floods overwhelm them! for Violence was in their Dwellings. — And what Multitudes from Age to Age have ſince gone to the Generation of their Fathers, never to ſee Light! Pſal. xlix. ult. Tophet is large eno' to receive them all, and the many more that are ſtill following their pernicious Ways. We are told of one of theſe many, roaring in the place of Torments as ſoon as out of the Body, and begging that his five ſurviving Brethren might be warned and prevented from coming after him. Luk. xvi. 28.

But there is a Remnant according to the Election of Grace that are gone to Heaven; to Everlaſting Life, Bleſſedneſs and Glory; and a few more choſen of God, and called by his Grace, are going after Them. There are Abel, Seth, Enoch, and the Antediluvian Patriarchs; there Noah, Abraham, Moſes, Prophets and Apoſtles; and there the Spirits of all the Juſt, made perfect, Heb. xii. 23.

Theſe happy Dead are enter'd into Life, are alive for evermore. In the Day they died they were taken up by Angels, and carried to the Paradiſe of God; They are there with Chriſt, where He is, to behold his Glory, and to come with Him at the Reſurrection of the Juſt. And bleſſed and holy are all they that have Part therein! on Them the Second Death has no Power.

Thus the Dead are gone! and whither they go we know, & the Way we know: Not as to Individuals, but conſidered Collectively as two vaſt Bodies of Godly & ungodly, in their unchangeable State.

p. 27For they muſt return no more to us, in this World. "Can I bring him back again? or ſhall he return to me? ſays my Text. O no! not all the Prayers and Tears of the Living; nor all the Wiſhes & Cries of the miſerable Dead, can obtain a Return for any One of them: and as for the pious and happy Deceaſed, they would not return if they might.

This Account and Idea of Death ſhould be familiar to us. Job x. 21. I go whence I ſhall not return. vii. 8, 9, 10 The Eye of him that has ſeen me ſhall ſee me no more,—he that goes down to the Grave ſhall come up no more; he ſhall return no more to his Houſe, neither ſhall his Place known him any more. The dead are in a fixt State; they have bid a final Farewell to this World; ſo has the buried Body and ſo the departed Spirit till the Reſurrection Day; then they will be again united, and ſhare together in everlaſting Sorrows or in everlaſting Joys.

So Man lieth down and riſeth not again till the Heavens be no more, Job xiv. 12. And then the dead ſhall riſe only to be judged, every one according to what he has been and done here in the Body, whether good or evil, 2 Cor. v. 10. How far is this from any Return to this animal and ſenſitive Life, to our preſent earthly Relations or worldly Poſſeſſions, or to any ſecond Time of Probation, or further Opportunity for ſerving God and our Generation, and working out our own Salvation: the only worthy End and Work of our preſent Time and Life.

Upon all, An Exiſtence ſomewhere, after we go hence, is ſuppoſed. Going and returning plainly imply this. We could not be ſaid to go, p. 28if our Spirits were not in ſome Place or other after this Life is ended; and much leſs could we ſpeak properly of not returning, if we did not indeed exiſt any where.

Yet neither can it be inferred from ſuch a mode of Speech, that the Body ſhall never return to Life again, or that the Soul ſhall never return into the Body: It only means that the departed Spirit returns not hither, that we know of, till the Reſurrection of the Dead at the laſt Day. 'Till that Day the Body will not return from the Grave, nor the Spirit from Hades, the inviſible World: But then there will be a Re-union of Soul and Body.— This was an Article of Faith before Job's Time, and has continued to be ſo down to our Days: Job xix. 25. For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He ſhall ſtand at the latter Day upon the Earth; and tho' after my Skin worms deſtroy this Body, yet in my Fleſh ſhall I ſee God: Whom I ſhall ſee for my Self and my Eyes ſhall behold, and not another: tho' my Reins be conſumed within me. 1 Cor. xv. 42. For this Corruptible ſhall put on Incorruption, and this Mortal Immortality.

In ſhort, Going and not returning in our Text means, never to live again ſuch a Life as this which we now do in the Body, either on bodily or ſpiritual Accounts: "He ſhall return no more to his H…uſe, as it is ſaid in the Book of Job, to his preſent worldly Poſſeſſions or Enjoyments, Buſineſs or Delights: No, nor to the Worſhip here any more, as Hezekiah bemoaned himſelf under the Sentence of Death; "I ſhall not ſee the Lord, even the Lord in the Land of the Living; I ſhall beheld man no more with the Inhabitants of p. 29the World. He muſt take leave for ever of his Palace and Court, his princely State and Magnificence; but what was more than all this, he muſt ſee the Temple of God and his Courts no more; no more be among his Worſhippers, in whom was all his Delight, as the moſt excellent on Earth.

And this is at laſt the awful meaning of going at Death, to return no more, "I muſt enter into a fixt and unchangeable State for Eternity, never to enjoy another Time of Probation & Trial. There is a great Gulf fixed betwixt this and the next World, as well as between the two infinitely diſtant States in that to come. Luk. xvi. 26, 27. Neither did miſerable Dives ask to come back himſelf into this World; he knew it could not be granted. And when he pray'd that Lazarus might be ſent from his bliſsful Seat, upon the glorious Errand of converting his Brethren, a Work worthy of the higheſt Angel, the Anſwer is, "That there are living Miniſters to preach the Goſpel, and Saints departed have other Work.

The Sum of all is, Our preſent Life is the only Time and State of Probation to us; at Death we paſs into the World of Reward or Puniſhment, which is eternal & unchangeable. This Life is the only Space granted us for Repentance, and for working out our Salvation with Fear and Trembling.

This World is not our Home. We are all leaving it. Time is of infinite price to mortal Man, and the ſhorter his Time is, it is of ſo much the more Price. Every Moment of it ſhould be carefully redeemed, in obſerving the Seaſons of p. 30particular Duties; to fill it up with Work and Spirit. Death, the Period of this Time, is a very awful and critical Moment. Let us ſee to it, that we all live as Thoſe that are going hence, we know not how ſoon, never to return. And let it comfort the Godly, that they are going from, never again to return to, this State of Sin and Sorrow.

II. As our Dead are gone, no more to return to us, ſo We are going after them to the Grave, and to the World of Spirits, to the State of everlaſting Happineſs or everlaſting Miſery. This nearly concerns us, and ſhould exceedingly affect us. Every one muſt ſay to himſelf, as David here, "I ſhall go alſo! I am going, I muſt go, muſt ſoon be gone! and we ſhould be able to add, Thro' Grace I am preparing, getting ready for my Departure, and am willing to be gone! — This we may think to be the Senſe of David's Heart, the Spirit with which he ſpake.

Within a very, very little Time we ſhall all be gone! gone hence for evermore! every Man Woman and Child! every one in his Time and Order, which God has appointed. For is there not an appointed Time to Man upon Earth? are not his Days alſo like the Days of an Hireling? for now ſhall I ſleep in the Duſt, and thou ſhalt ſeek me in the Morning and I ſhall not be. Job vii. i. & ult. Thus our Days are determined by God, the Number of our Months are with Him, He has appointed our Bounds which we cannot paſs. xiv. 5. For we are Strangers with Him and Sojourners, as all our Fathers were, and after them we go hence and are no more, Pſal. xxxix. ult.

p. 31We know that God will bring us to Death, and to the Houſe appointed for all the Living. We as ſurely know it, as that others are dead and buried before us. Every Man is drawing after as there are innumerable before him. We might have gone before many whom we have ſeen buried. We are, it may be, a Wonder to our Selves, that we did not go firſt; How ſoon we ſhall follow is unknown to us. We know not the Day of our Death; we know neither the Day nor the Hour. This we know, and ſhould be ſaying to our Selves, the Young as well as the Old, "I go the Way of all the Earth. It is appointed for all Men once to die. We ſee that wiſe Men die, alſo the Fool and brutiſh Perſon periſh. And what Man is he that liveth and ſhall not ſee Death? Shall he deliver his Soul from the Hand of the Grave? Or who can by any Means redeem his Brother, or give to God a Ranſom for him? that he ſhould ſtill live for ever and not ſee Corruption? Pſal. xlix. 9, 10.

The Grave is one of the unſatisfied and inſatiable things that cries, Give, give! and never ſays it has enough. One Generation goes down into it after another, yet is it not full. After the Thouſands that are buried to Day, it craves and has as many more to morrow. And if we wait a little longer it is our Houſe, it is ready for us. Job xvii. 1.

Our Souls are alſo going to the ſame Places of Happineſs or Miſery that thoſe before us are gone to. Souls are not mixt in the next World as they are in this: Here the Godly and the wicked dwell in the ſame Houſe, eat at the ſame Table, ſleep in the ſame Bed, worſhip together in one Family & in one Aſſembly. But Death p. 32makes a perfect and total Separation of the one from the other. The Godly are gathered to their People, as the Soul of Jacob to the Spirit of Abraham, and as the Soul of Lazarus to his Boſom; but the wicked and ungodly go to the Generation of their Fathers, never to ſee Light. — David, in the full Perſuaſion of his Child's Salvation, ſaid, "I ſhall go to him. Gracious Parents will ſee again their Elect Children in everlaſting Life. And there all pious Relations will meet again with Joy, and embrace for Evermore: But others ſhall ſee Abraham and Iſaac and Jacob, and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God, and be themſelves ſhut out, Luk. xiii. 28.

Put then the Queſtion, every one to himſelf, "To whom and whither am I going? Going we all are, and haſting out of Time into an awful Eternity; but to which State in the Eternal World are we haſtning? Whither others are gone is not ſo much our Buſineſs to enquire, but whither we our Selves are going is a moſt important and neceſſary Conſideration: O the happy few that are daily thinking of this! and upon good Grounds can ſay to themſelves, as in 2 Cor. v. init. For we know that if our earthly Houſe of this Tabernacle were diſſolved, we have a Building of God, a Houſe not made with Hands, eternal in the Heavens: For in this we grone earneſtly, deſiring to be clothed upon with our Houſe which is from Heaven.— Now He that hath wro't us for this ſelf-ſame thing is God, who alſo hath given to us the Earneſt of the Spirit, Therefore we are always confident, knowing that while we are at Home in the Body we are abſent from the Lord; (for we walk by Faith and not by Sight) We are p. 33confident, I ſay, and willing rather to be abſent from the Body and to be preſent with the Lord. Wherefore we labour that whether preſent or abſent we may be accepted of Him.

I come to the third Head,

III. We ſhould ſeriouſly remember and conſider theſe things in the Days of our Bereavement, in our Mourning over our Dead. Then it was that David ſaid, "I ſhall go to my Dead, it ſhall not return to me."

This is a moving Seaſon, wherein to muſe and let the Fire kindle, and then ſpeak to our Selves and others of our own and their Dying. Yea, and to ſpeak to God and ſay, as in the xxxix Pſalm, Lord! make me to know my End and the Meaſure of my Days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am! Behold thou haſt made my Days a hand-breadth, and my Age is nothing before Thee! Verily every Man at his beſt Eſtate is altogether Vanity.

David the King, the Prophet and the Saint is a good Teacher, a great Example to us. Let us learn of Him to turn our Eyes off from our Dead, upon our Selves; upon our own Souls, their State, and Frame; and to ſay, My Soul, thou muſt ſoon go after thy Dead! in what Preparation art thou for a better World? in what Readineſs to leave this? and where would be thy Lot if this Night thou were required hence?

O that we were wiſe, that we underſtood this, that we were conſidering our latter End! This is God's Wiſh concerning us, and we cannot wiſh p. 34our Selves better than this wiſe and underſtanding Heart. Let us ask of God this Wiſdom which we ſo greatly want, and which He is liberal to give. Pſal. xc. 12. So teach us to number our Days, that we may apply our Hearts unto Wiſdom. What an eaſy Numeration Table is this! So many of our few Days already paſt; but ſo many more at the utmoſt Bounds to come; and whether indeed one more of them remaining to us, altogether uncertain.

One would think that Fleſh and Blood ſhould teach men all this: And if not the Tokens of Death within our Selves, yet the pale and gaſtly Face of it on our neareſt Relations, Friends and Nei'bours. But neither Fleſh and Senſe, nor natural Affection & Sorrow of Heart can make us to know our own End, and the Meaſure of our Days, how frail we are. God only can reach the Hearts of Sinners with an effectual ſaving Impreſſion. Men ſee others go, and feel themſelves going, and yet will not conſider it. There is an Enmity and Averſion in mortal Man to the ſober Conſideration of Death, the realizing his own Death, & the Conſequents thereon. Death paſſes by us, and touches us, and we are a little mov'd for the preſent, but preſently forget it again. Sin which has brought Death on us, has taken away the Underſtanding, the Power and Heart to make a juſt and deliberate Reflection on the matter.

This Wiſdom cometh down from the Father of Light, and is one of his moſt perfect Gifts. We are naturally all Darkneſs & Inſenſibility in our Way to the Grave, as well as when we are in it. We need Divine Teaching in this moſt plain p. 35and obvious matter, of which we are willingly ignorant. God muſt give us an Eye to ſee, and an Ear to hear, and a Heart to underſtand. The fault does not lie in the Head, but in the Heart. The Promiſe of God is, a new Heart will I give you. He gives it liberally to them that ask it. It is the Spirit & Practice of his Saints to think daily and ſeriouſly of Death and Eternity, and to be often ſaying to Themſelves and before the Lord, O my Soul, thou art going after the Generations before thee! Is there not an appointed Time to me as well as others? O remember that my Life is Wind! thine Eyes are upon me and I am not! for now ſhall I ſleep in the Duſt, and Thou ſhalt ſeek me in the Morning, and I ſhall not be!

This is proper Diſcourſe of a Soul to it ſelf, and to God, in this mortal Body, and through this paſſing World. So let it muſe, and …he Heart grow hot, and out of the Abundance of it the Tongue ſpeak, "Lord make me to know my end. Light & Heat come thus together into the conſidering Heart, and the Sun of Righteouſneſs ariſes over it with vital Influences; gives ſpiritual Life and ſuſtains it in this Way. So Bodily Death ſerves to ſpiritual and eternal Life under the Power of the Holy Ghoſt. The Flames of Devotion kindle, are blown up, and kept burning, by daily Meditation on Death & Eternity. But as this ceaſes, ſo the other goes out.

It is in this Way, very much, that the Spirit of God works on Souls, and carries on his good Work in them. He works by Providences and Ordinances together to this End, and on this wiſe. He revives and renews his good Work p. 36hereby. He ſends Death into our Windows, Chambers and Boſoms on this Errand; and he is the Miniſter of God to us for Good, a Meſſenger one of a thouſand. David in our Text found Nathan & Death alike to him in the Hand of God. It was good for him that his Child died. (And in all Probability it had been ill for all Iſrael had it lived.) Death rung a Peal in his Ears, and he anſwered, "Lord I am coming! And as often as any die in our Families, this is the Lord's Voice to us, Man, Woman, Child, thou alſo art following! in what Readineſs art thou? Who is the Man of Wiſdom that hears and anſwers to this Voice of God? This makes it good to go unto the Houſe of Mourning, there to conſider of the End of all Men, and lay the matter to Heart.

This is the Will of God in Chriſt Jeſus concerning us, for He has given us the Example. He kept his own Hour in Mind, and quickned Himſelf, "I muſt work the Work of Him that ſent Me, while it is Day, the Night cometh. He retired upon the Death of his Friend the Baptiſt, and he wept and groan'd in Spirit at the Grave of Lazarus; for He was preſently to die Himſelf, and how was He ſtraitned till it was accompliſhed?

How great then is the Irreligion of Chriſtians, and the Madneſs of mortal Men, in their Inconſideration of their own frail and dying State! Eccl. ix. 10. Man knoweth not his Time; but as the Fiſhes are taken in an evil Net, and as the Birds are caught in the Snare, ſo are the Sons of Men ſnared in an evil Time, when it cometh ſuddenly upon them. As if we were not made wiſer p. 37than the Birds, or were made as ſtupid and inſenſible as the very Fiſh!

This Imprudence and Improvidence of the Children of Men is very provoking to God, and great Sin in them; being in Contempt of the Reaſon which God has given them, of the Souls that He has made them, and of his Word which He has written for them, and of all that is therein ſaid to 'em of a future State and of the Eternal Judgment.

The Holy Ghoſt therefore interprets this ſenſeleſs fearleſs Life to mean nothing leſs than thoſe Words of profane Licence, which are ſo ſeverely animadverted on & expoſed in Scripture, "Let us eat and drink for to Morrow we die! And to Morrow ſhall be as this Day and much more abundant! Soul, thou haſt Goods laid up for many Years, Eat Drink and be Merry. What is this but the God of this World blinding, ſtupifying and hardning Men to their own Deſtruction! They blow out the Candle of the Lord within them, and quench the Spirit of the Lord in his Convictions. Let him ſmite and wound us we do but half awake, and preſently fall aſleep again. Let Him lead us again and again to the Grave after our Friends, we go home and forget where we have been, what manner of Men, what corruptible Fleſh we are, and that we our ſelves may be next carried out and buried.

Let Relatives in their Sorrows over their Dead judge themſelves by what has been ſaid, and be thereby directed and quickned. Let us at leaſt make this Improvement of the Diſpenſation, I ſhall go after! in what readineſs am I? Where and how do I look to meet thoſe who p. 38are gone before me! or thoſe that are to follow after me.

But as my Text came from the Lips of a pious Parent in his Mourning, ſo I am led in a peculiar Manner to direct the preſent Truth to Them: Yet not to them only, but to Children alſo in the Death of Parents, and ſo in every other Relation. I go on therefore to ſay,

IV. Parents eſpecially ſhould think of this in their Bereavements, and in their Sorrows over their dead Children. The Words of David belong firſt to Them, "I ſhall go to it.

The Death of Children is the moſt common Caſe in the whole Courſe of Death. Parents often live to bury many Children, and ſometimes all. They that live long in this World, as the Excellent Judge Hale ſaid on the Death of a Son, muſt look for this Grief. And the Grief is uſually great in this Caſe, for Natural Affection is like Water, flowing downward. The Love of Parents runs down in a Torrent, the Love of Children returns as in an Eddy, which is alſo caus'd by the Stream. When the Spirit of God would repreſent the moſt bitter Grief, He repreſents it by a Mourning for an Only Son, and for a firſt-born. Zech. xii. 10.

The firſt Mourning was of Parents for their Son. Abel's Death was a bitter Grief to our firſt Parents. It called for Tears of Blood, and was as a Sword in the Bowels of Eve.

When God would prove Abraham it was in this moſt tender point. "Take now thy Son, thy only one, whom thou loveſt, and offer him to me. The God of Abraham knew what of all earthly p. 39things lay neareſt to his Heart, and was the utmoſt Teſt of his Love.

Jacob was able to ſee his beloved Rachel die, and when he had ſet a Pillar on her Grave he journeyed on. Gen. xxxv. 20, 21. ‡‡No Author ever drew Nature naked and to the Life like Moſes. And no wonder; for he wrote under the Inſpiration of the God of Nature, to whom all things are naked and open. He the Father of Souls and Former of the Spirit of Man within him, knows his own Work, the Soul that He ha… made, the hidden Springs and ſecret Movements of a …thers Loves and Joys and Griefs; which are like the Flowings of the great Deep. Job xxxviii. 9, 10. Nor is there any part of ſacred Story that delineates theſe, like that of Jacob and Joſeph, inimitably tender and moving. How is the Heart of a Father here painted beyond the Life, to a humane Eye, pierced, bleeding burſting, on ſuppoſed repeated Bereavements, in the Loſs of three Sons? Geneſis xlii. 36, 37, 38. And Jacob their Father ſaid to them, Me have ye bereaved of my Children; Joſeph is not, and Simeon is …ot, and ye will take Benjamin away: All theſe things are againſt me. And Reuben ſpake unto his Father ſaying, ſtay my two Sons if I bring him not to thee; deliver him into my Hand, and I will bring him to thee again. And he ſaid, My Son ſhall not go down with you, for his Brother is dead, and he is left alone; if Miſchief befal him by the Way in which ye go, then ſhall ye bring down my gray Hairs with Sorrow to the Grave. Chap. xliii. 6, 11, 13. And Iſrael ſaid, Wherefore dealt ye ſo ill with me, as to tell the Man whether ye had yet a Brother?— But if it muſt be ſo now,— Take your Brother and ariſe, go again to the Man; and God Almighty give you Mercy before him, that he may ſend away your other Brother and Benjamin! If I am bereaved of my Children, I am bereaved. — What a giving up of Nature was here! like his after gathering up his feet into the bed! So the dying Body after a vain Struggle reſigns, and gives up the Ghoſt. And if hid God had that Day required the Patriarch's Spirit and his Breath, the Summons had been much more readily obeyed, than this Surrender of his Benjamin to the Will of the Man who had ſo ſtrangely demanded a Sight of Him. But he had Simeon in Bonds, and the Life of all the reſt of his Sons and their Children depended on his Submiſſion; the Famine was ſore upon them all, and this conſtrained him to let the other and only remaining Part of his Rachel go. No doubt but it was a Spectacle highly pleaſing to Angels, as it is unto Men for evermore; but how much more unto the Father Almighty Himſelf, to behold the dear Parent in his feeble Age wreſtling and agoniſhing in Prayer for Divine Direction, and then in Faith committing his Only One to the tender Care and ſtrong Protection of Alwiſe and Sovereign Providence, even as Abraham had done Iſaac long before. Judah had with the utmoſt Emotion of Soul obſerved all theſe things, and laid 'em up in his Heart; and as he had in a Strain of filial Tenderneſs which merited the Birthright and carried it from Reuben, pleaded with his Father and prevailed: So when he ſtood again before the Man and ſaw Benjamin arreſted by his Order and in Cuſtody, he was able to ſet the Soul of his Father in ſuch a Light before Joſeph, as overwhelmed his Conſtancy, and broke up all the Springs of Nature, which he had damm'd up with the greateſt Art and Reſolution, as Bars and Doors to the great Deep. See Gen. xliv. 18,—34. Forgive a Father in the Depth of Sorrow, that he has tried to ſoothe his Grief in this Excurſion on the Parental Tenderneſs of Jacob in the Day of his Bereavements.Job 38:9Job 38:10Gen 42:36Gen 42:37Gen 42:38Gen 44:18But when he p. 40tho't Joſeph, the Son he had by her, torn from him by Death, how did he take on? Chap. xxxvii 33, 34, 35. It is my Son's Coat; an evil Beaſt hath devoured him; Joſeph is without doubt rent in Pieces! And Jacob rent his Cloaths, and put ſackcloth upon his loyns, and mourned for his Son many Days. And all his Sons, and all his Daughters roſe up to comfort him; but be refuſed to be comforted; and he ſaid, For I will go down into the grave after my Son, mourning: thus his Father wept for him. This was but a ſuppoſed Death, yet real p. 41to the tender Parent, undoubted and certain to him, and mourn'd accordingly.

In like manner the mighty Reverence and Strength of Aaron's Grace was tried, as with Fire, in the Sight of all Iſrael, and he held his Peace. His profound Silence ſpake aloud his profound Grief.— Job had been long before tried in more awful manner than this of Aaron; and he ſtands a prior Inſtance of Parental Tenderneſs & Conſtancy. No one had more Pleaſure and Joy in a numerous Iſſue, none ever behav'd more piouſly toward a pious Progeny, and never did Brethren and Siſters live more in mutual Love and Delight than they; yet when he was ſurpriz'd with the heavy Tydings of their Sudden and tragical Death together in their eldeſt Brother's Houſe, he proſtrated himſelf on the Ground and worſhipped; "Naked came I out of my Mothers Womb, and naked ſhall I return (into the Grave, the common Womb and Repoſitory of the Dead) the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; bleſſed be the Name of the Lord.

My Text relates how David behav'd on the Death of his Child, but on more bitter Occaſions of Grief he loſt himſelf, when he ſhould rather have kept the Poſſeſſion of his Soul, and call'd in the Exerciſe of Reaſon and Grace: I mean more eſpecially on the Death of Abſalom; unto Whom he could not wiſh to have his Soul gathered; tho' he wiſhed to have died for him, if he might have lived to repent.

The Love of Mothers is yet more tender. We read of two under a like Bereavement, but not in a like Paſſion of Grief; the Widow of Zidon and the Shunamite: When the one ſaw her Son p. 42dead ſhe burſt out, "O thou Man of God! art …hou come to call my Sins to Remembrance, and to ſlay my Son? But when the Son of the other died in her Arms, ſhe ſilently laid him on her Bed, and in her bitterneſs fell at the Prophet's feet.

The Parent we ſhould think will improve the Grief, behave and ſpeak aright under it; ſpeak unto God, to himſelf and his. He has Years, Experience and Wiſdom; is a Father and has ſeen much of a dying World: And what is the Father's Leſſon from his Child's Death, but this in my Text? This at leaſt, this the leaſt, "I ſhall go to it.

Firſt then, Let Parents prepare to part with their Children. Look on them as dying Creatures, and accordingly care for their Souls. Look not upon them as yours, but God's, who may call for them when he will, having only given them to you in Truſt and Charge, to educate them for him, for his Service here, and for Bleſſedneſs in Himſelf for ever. Teach 'em betimes to know God and themſelves; that they have precious immortal Souls, and that God is the Father, Lord and Judge of their Spirits; that they are made for another and far better Life, may very ſoon die, and muſt whenever God orders, who will ſurely bring them into Judgment.

2. Let Children think of and prepare for their going hence before their Parents. They are by no means ſure of out-living them, much leſs ſhould they expect it. Did not Job's Sons and Daughters all die before hi…? I mean his firſt Quiver full of them. So did Aaron's two Sons p. 43die in the Preſence of their Father; And Naomi buried her two Sons in the Land of Moab. Indeed Parents naturally deſire that their Children may out-live them; and good Parents may let their Children hear 'em ask it of God in their daily Family Prayers; that theirs (by his holy Will) may live to ſerve Him when they are gone. With Reverence & great Submiſſion Children may ſay Amen to ſuch Prayers of their Parents; but they may not pleaſe themſelves with the Expectation of ſurviving their loving and dear Parents; to come into their Eſtate, nor for any worſe Ends. We read of One who wickedly expected to out-live his Father and ſaid, The Days of Mourning for my Father are at Hand, and then I will kill my Brother. But pious Children, from the Day of Abel's Death, think of dying before their Parents.

3. Let bereaved Parents be greatly quickned in their Preparations for their own Death. It is a ſorrowful Caſe to need this Way of learning, by ſuch a Providence. We ſhould prepare for Death before we come to be Parents. Yet we need to learn it more and more, better and better, as long as we live. Live and Learn, learn to die as long as you live, and by all the Sorrows and Changes of Life eſpecially. Learn betimes, learn in due Seaſon, and yet learn in Age, out of due Time, if you have not learn'd before. Learn this Leſſon over and over again, get it well by Heart, rivet it in your Memory, ſpeak of it to your lateſt Breath, and practice it in your dying Moments.

p. 444. Let Parents quiet and compoſe themſelves in their Bereavements, by keeping in Mind their own Departure. Thus did David in the Text. He had done well to have had his own Death as much in Mind, and in a like manner, when he heard of Abſalom's; tho' indeed he could not without horror have tho't of going to him. Happy the Father and Mother, the Son or Daughter, that can look forward to their own Death, and quiet themſelves in the Day of their Bereavement. O what need is there to be in a State of Grace and Peace with God for this End! and to have a well grounded Hope of ſuch a State! of an Intereſt in Chriſt and a better Life.— A Parent ſhould look on himſelf as ſo much nearer to Death than his Child, and ſhould be able to hope, thro' Grace, that he is ſo much higher to a better Life, that he ſhould feel the ſtrong Attraction and Powers of the World to come.— As the moſt pious and venerable Mr. Richard Baxter, after his Advance in Life and Grace, and a ſufficient Experience of the Vanity & Emptineſs, the Afflictions and Sorrows of this World, wrote under his Picture two of the beſt Lines that were ever written,

"Farewell vain World! as thou haſt been to me,

"Duſt and a Shadow, theſe I leave with thee.

5. Let thoſe who have no Children, no Name and Poſterity of their Bodies, to leave behind them, live ſo much the more mindful of and devoted to a better World, that is an Heavenly. Abſalom for this Cauſe erected himſelf a Pillar upon Earth; but what an End did he come to? p. 45View him hung by his Pride, his flowing Locks, in the Oak, and there bleeding to Death for his unnatural Rebellion againſt his Father & his King; (his too indulgent Parent, who would have gladly died for him) and then look upon his Pillar, the Monument & Memorial of his Crime and Shame. Like the Wretch that burnt the Temple at Epheſus to make himſelf remembred for an execrable Villain. But there is an Everlaſting Name, a Name written in Heaven, provided for and propoſed to thoſe Humble and Holy Souls in the Church of God, who neither have nor crave a Name (to leave behind 'em) upon Earth. Iſai. lvi. 3, 4, 5. Neither let the Eunuch ſay, Behold I am a dry Tree! For thus ſaith the Lord unto the Eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and chooſe the Things that pleaſe me, and take hold of my Covenant; even unto Them will I give in my Houſe and within my Walls, a Place and a Name better than of Sons and Daughters; I will give them an Everlaſting Name, that ſhall not be cut off. They that leave behind them here a Number of pleaſant Children, leave but a dying Name in them which muſt ſoon be cut off; but a Name among the Sons and Daughters of the Lord Almighty is to Everlaſting, in the Preſence, Glory, Viſion, Love, and high Enjoyment of the living God to all Eternity. God himſelf has rais'd a Pillar for his Elect in all Ages, & written their Names on it, to be read by Angels for ever and ever: Rev. iii. 12. Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God, and he ſhall go no more out; and I will write upon him the Name of my God, and the Name of the City of my God, which is New Jeruſalem, which cometh p. 46down out of Heaven from my God; and I will write upon him my New Name.

6. Let us all be exhorted and taught of God, to live always mindful that we and ours muſt ſhortly take leave, a final everlaſting leave of this World and all things in it. We are all going, as faſt as we well can, faſt to our own ſurpriſes from Year to Year, one after another, out of a vain World, into an awful Eternity! Lord! that we could live and act, from day to day, under this View! What manner of Perſons ſhould we then be, and ought we therefore to be, in all holy Converſation and Godlineſs! in all Sobriety, Righteouſneſs, Purity, Devotion, Heavenlineſs. It would make us look, not at the Things that are ſeen, but at the Things which are not ſeen; for the Things which are ſeen are temporal, but the Things which are not ſeen are Eternal. 2 Cor. iv. ult. One effectual Conviction of the temporary Nature of every thing under the Sun, abiding on us, would cure our inordinate and criminal Fondneſs for earthly Poſſeſſions, our unjuſt Cravings and Endeavours after them, as not worth a dying Creature's doing an unjuſt thing to gain, nor worth a wrangle about, to recover (if wrong'd of) a due Portion in it. —We and our Families, we and our Children, are together haſtning to the Grave, and it may be they before us; and what Portion have we under the Sun! Let the Words of the Apoſtle ſink therefore into our Ears, and on every Occaſion lie uppermoſt on our Hearts; 1 Cor. vii. 29, 30, 31. But this I ſay Brethren, the Time is ſhort; It remaineth that both they that have Wives be as tho' p. 47they had none, and they that weep as tho' they wept not, and they that rejoice as tho' they rejoiced not, and they that buy as tho' they poſſeſſed not; and they that uſe this World as not abuſing it, for the Faſhion of this World paſſeth away.

7. And laſtly, Pious Parents ſhould even find a ſacred Pleaſure in thinking of going after and unto their pious Children deceaſed. They may follow them to the Grave with the conſolatory and peaceful Thought, which our Venerable Eliot ſpake out aloud as he went, after his dead Son, This is the Way to Heaven! As Grace & Friendſhip wro't in the Apoſtle John, and he ſuddenly anſwered on his hearing of the Death of Lazarus, "Let us go and die with him! So a like Tranſport of Love and Deſire, may be forgiven to a gracious Parent on the Death of a Child, in whom he has ſeen the ruling Grace of God from early Infancy. Jacob did not behave like Himſelf, when he refuſed to be comforted on the ſuppoſed Death of ſuch a Son as Joſeph, ſaying, "No, but I will go down to the Grave after my Son mournin! It becomes the Seed of Jacob rather in the Days of Mourning over their pious Deceaſed, to take to themſelves that other and better Tranſport of the Aged Patriarch, when he heard of Joſeph yet alive, and next to the Throne in Egypt, and to ſay, The Soul of my Dead lives in the Preſence of Chriſt, far above all Heavens, let me die and go to be with him there for evermore.

It was in this Hope that Jacob gave Commandment concerning his Bones, that his Sons p. 48ſhould bury Him with his Fathers; and in the like Hope a believing Parent might deſire to be laid with his Children.

Surely it caſt ſome Light into the firſt Grave that was ever dug, that Abel, the Darling of Heaven as well as of Adam, was the Perſon buried; and it may ſeem to the Godly thro' all Ages a kind of ſanctifying and ſweetning the Grave for ever. It is only and wholly the Grace of Chriſt in a Child before its Death, that can make it an Object of Deſire after Death, in a religious Parent's Heart.

I hope I have in all your Hearts this Ground for Communion ſtill with my dear deceaſed Child, in whom I think I ſaw the ſhining Grace of God before ſhe came among you, and more ſince; tho' always under the Veil of great Modeſty and Reſerve. In the ſeveral Relations of a Child, a Wife, a Mother, a Siſter, a Miſtreſs, and a Friend, ſhe has found Grace to carry her ſelf in a laudable and exemplary manner. You are Witneſſes that ſhe has liv'd blameleſs and without Offence among you, and we who have known more of her ſecret Walk with God, and Watch over her ſelf in her Retirements, have this for our Rejoicing, That in Simplicity and godly Sincerity, not with fleſhly Wiſdom but by the Grace of God, ſhe has had her Converſation in the World.

You will give me leave therefore openly to utter my great Thankfulneſs to God, that He has pleas'd to Honour me before You in being the Father of ſuch a Child; and if I have any Hope of the Grace of God in my own Soul, I p. 49muſt have a Meaſure of holy Joy in the Hope of going to her at my Deceaſe, which can't be far off, and of coming with her in the Day of the Reſurrection of the Juſt.

[The Sovereign God of our Spirits made her a pleaſant Soul to her Parents from her Infancy. Thrice ſhe received the Sentence of Death before ſhe was Eighteen Months old, and it was a melancholly Time with us by reaſon of her great Weakneſs, and the mortal Symptoms returning on her. It kept us the more in conſtant & fervent Supplications for her Life, and in daily Reſignations of it; and her ſecond and third Recoveries were as ſurpriſing to her Phyſicians, and unto others who ſaw her in her low Eſtate, as unto her near Relations. I have the Sermons of Wonder and Gratitude to God, yet lying by me which I preached on thoſe Occaſions, when all Hopes of Life had been once and again taken away. And I can never forget the dark & fair Day, when the Beloved Phyſician having warn'd me that nothing now remained but to make the laſt Reſignation of her into the Hands of her Saviour, I called my Family together for that End, and did it in the moſt ſolemn manner I was able, wherein I found my ſelf greatly enlarged, begging of God an eaſy Death by his holy Will: when on a ſudden the Babes piercing ſhrieks ceas'd, for ſhe lay in great Anguiſhes of pain, and the ſleep of Death as we tho't came on and filled us with Tears of Joy to ſee her expiring in Eaſe: but to our great Surprize we found it the next Morning to be the ſleep of Life, for ſhe wak'd free from every Sign of Danger, p. 50her great Weakneſs excepted: She half opened one of her ſunk Eyes, and anſwered unto the Barrow in the Street, repeating what was cry'd there to be Sold. When the dear and Reverend Mr. Pemberton ſaw this ſtrange Recovery, and had expreſs'd a kind of Aſtoniſhment at it, he turn'd to me and ſaid, Well Mr. Colman, I am perſwaded God purpoſes to make this Child a Bleſſing and remarkable in her Life.

In the midſt of this Bodily Weakneſs her Soul made uncommon Improvements for an Infant State; and it may be much the more for the weak State of the Body; for ſhe had not Strength to run about and play like other Children, which was then our Grief. We made it therefore our daily Pleaſure, and her Diverſion, to learn her Letters, and Prayers to God her Maker, Redeemer and Sanctifier, and to fill her little Mind with the Stories of all the Holy Men on Sacred Record; to ſtrike her Admiration and Affection with true Excellency and Perfection; for which End I took care to ſpeak to her of every thing in a juſt and proper Manner, if poſſible to convey regular Ideas into her, as of the Greatneſs and Goodneſs of God, ſo of all that relates to his Worſhip and Service. By this Means before ſhe could go alone ſhe had ſuck'd in a little Treaſure of Sacred Knowlege, and was nouriſhed up from the Breaſt with the ſincere Milk of the Word; the Knowlege whereof became the humble Pride of her Childhood, for we taught her to value her ſelf on it, as far better than bodily Ornaments.]

p. 51I early obſerv'd her daily Retirements to pray to her Father in Heaven, at five or ſix year old, or before; and tho't it my Duty to praiſe her for it, and examine her how and for what ſhe prayed? and whether ſhe kept to Mr. Henry's excellent Form for Children? but her Anſwer greatly pleas'd as well as ſurpris'd me, "that ſhe found God gave her Words to ſpeak when ſhe began to pray. I caution'd and directed her, and gladly left her to the beſt Teacher.

The Spirit of God was moving upon her often in her following Youth. The Families ſhe ſometimes viſited in the Country took Notice of her ſerious and good Inclinations, her chaſte Converſation coupled with Fear, her meek and quiet Spirit, Prudence and ſober Cheerfulneſs, her Love of Lettess and Solitude.

Her Heart was always above the Things of this World; ſo far as I could perceive from firſt to laſt; and neither the Proſpects of it elevated her, nor Injuries from it …oil'd or depreſs'd her. With a View to a better Life ſhe diſpos'd of her Self in Marriage, and has (I truſt) found the Benefit of doing ſo to her infinite Gain. None was more content with her Lot, and no one happier in a tender Husband, or in the Love of her Nei'bours. There never was an Inſtance of more filial Piety, nor a Child more dearly beloved of Parents.—I might ſpeak of her great Ingenuity, and how well ſhe us'd her Pen as well as her Lips, both which drop'd as the H…ney-comb; but her inward Adorning, of great Price in the Sight of God, was her Humiliation, Faith and Devotion before God, with Reſignations to his bleſſed Will in all things; her Benevolence p. 52to all, and ſpecial Love to the Godly in Chriſt Jeſus.

She early gave her Self up to God, but her timorous Diſpoſition reſtrain'd her from proceeding early to the Lord's Table; nor was it without much Conflict of Soul and great Diſtreſs, thro' Fear of coming unworthily, that ſhe at laſt came into full Communion. She afterward exceeded, to her own and her Conſort's great Diſcomfort in her Preparations for Communion Days; which was her Infirmity, and I do not praiſe her for it. Good Chriſtians ſhould take more the Comforts of Religion in their Way to Heaven, in their Obedience to Chriſt, and in the Obſervation of his ſpecial Inſtitutions. Iſai. lxiv. 5. Thou meeteſt him that rejoyceth and worketh Righteouſneſs, thoſe that remember Thee in thy Ways.

Her Siſter's Soul was, next to her own, her chief Care, and ſhe even travail'd in Birth for her, to ſee Chriſt formed in her: She wrote to her, and ſpake to her for this End, living and dying, with the greateſt Concern and Endearment.

But yet more did her pious Soul travail and wreſtle in Prayer for the Children of her own Bowels! Her many Papers on this Head, found ſince her Death, are a pregnant Proof hereof; how ſhe prayed for them, dedicated and reſigned them to God before they were born, as well as after it. — I can never forget the holy Fervours of Affections, and flowing Tears of Joy, with which ſhe ſent her firſt S…n to Baptiſm, and received him back from the Houſe of God; and how I was inſtructed, p. 53charm'd and reproved by her Example, that pleaſant Day! But yet more ſo Eleven Days after, when God called for the Babe away, to ſee her reſign him with a Silence and Calmneſs, like that of the Shunamite of old, and almoſt without a Tear; for ſhe had ſurrender'd and offer'd him up on the Day he was baptized.

[Her dear Couſins tell me that when they ſometimes viſited her, and made ſome abode with her, ſhe would in the Afternoons ſlip away from them, and at an hours End return with a Smile and tell 'em how pleas'd ſhe had been to hear 'em ſo merry. Alas! had we apprehended how ſoon we were to ſee her no more, we had all ſeen her oftner, and it may be had but kept her from her better Retirements.

Her Afflictions were many for the ſhort Time ſhe liv'd, in her own bodily Sickneſſes and in the Burial of her Children; but her greateſt Sorrow was in the Death of her Mother; under all which ſhe behav'd with admirable Submiſſion and Devotion, and the moſt fervent Repentance; as it is written and required, Rev. iii. 19. As many as I love I rebuke and chaſten; be zealous therefore and repent.]

But after all it muſt be ſaid, That her Temper was exceeding timorous, and her Diſtemper Hyſteric, the Accidents of which all know to be a Swimming of the Head and Inquietude of Mind. This naturally both clouded & frighten'd her in her Sickneſs. She was then ready to Enquire, "Why is it thus with me? If I have in Sincerity given up and reſign'd my Self to God, as if I know my own Heart I have …, and now do it again, why then am I ſo afraid? Nor could p. 54we more quiet and comfort her, than by laying before her the true and real Cauſe of it, from the Nature of her Illneſs. Nevertheleſs her Diſorders would return and her Fears with them; and ſhe had eno' to do to wreſtle with them, by encouraging her Self in God, and making her Reſignations to Him, to the laſt Moments of her Underſtanding.

This ſhort Account of Her, living and dying, is both conſolatory to us, and alſo monitory and exciting, (and to Young People in particular) to be inſtant and earneſt in caring for our Souls, and getting ready for a dying Hour.— What a Joy ſhould it be to me this day, to be able to move you from the Example of one of my Children? O might the pious Parents of this Flock, all of them, have the like and greater Conſolation in the Burial of their Adult Children, if God call 'em to ſuch a Sorrow! May your Daughters be, all of them, more poliſhed Stones in the Temple of our God! the Similitude of a Palace for the King of Glory to dwell in.

But I forbear. — My Text admoniſhes us to prepare to follow, both the Elder & Younger, and her Father in particular. She will no more viſit his houſe, nor he ſee her again in what was once her own; it is eno' that there are Manſions in the Father's Houſe above, whether She is gone. She muſt no more be ſeen in theſe Places of the H…ly, this Houſe of Prayer which ſhe loved, nor keep another Sabbath with us on Earth; but there's a better Everlaſting Sabbatiſm and Places of more Holineſs, the Reſt which remains to the People of God after this Life: And what ſignify p. 55our Sabbaths, Sermons and Funerals, if we are not going thither!

Let our Souls therefore cleave to the Dead in Chriſt; by Faith in Whom, and living to Him, we come into that Union to all Saints which Death can never diſſolve.

I now leave my dying Prayers and Bleſſing, with You the dear Flock of Chriſt in this Place; and with your honoured and Beloved Paſtor, to whom God has made me doubly a Father. The Lord long continue Him to you, and increaſe your Joy in him, and his in you; and make You to each other a Crown of Rejoycing in the Day of Chriſt.

I thank you this Day for all the Love ſhown to my Child, while ſhe was with You, and the Sorrow you expreſs at her Death. She has liv'd deſired, and died lamented by You.

I pray God to requite to the pious Siſters of the Flock, the tender Affection with which they have miniſter'd to the dear Deceaſed in her Sickneſſes. May a merciful and faithful Saviour put theſe Kindneſſes of God into that Roll of Charities which He will call over in the laſt moſt bleſſed Day; and ſay of them, I was ſick and ye viſited Me! for in as much as ye have done it to this leaſt of Mine, ye did it unto Me.

I leave a grateful Record of my particular Obligation to the pious and beloved Phyſician ‖‖Dr. Tuſts.of the Town, who to and even beyond his Power has always miniſtred gratis to the Paſtor and his Family. The Lord ſhow Kindneſs to the Houſe of his Servant.

p. 56And now Brethren, "I commend You to God and to the Word of his Grace which is able to keep you, and to build you up unto the Inheritance of the Sanctified.

When, or whether ever, we ſhall again ſee one anothers Faces in this Place is with God, and wholly uncertain to us; but abſent in Body, let us be together in Spirit: And pray for Me in my Age, "That the few Days yet remaining to me on Earth, I may find Grace to be ſtill ſerving the Lord with all Humility of Mind, whatever Tears and Temptations may befall me thro' the Reſidue of my Pilgrimage! that none of theſe things may move me from, but indeed quicken and excite me in the Diſcharge of the Duties of that Miniſtry which I have received of the Lord, to teſtify the Goſpel of the Grace of God.

Peace be to the Brethren, and Love with Faith, from God the Father, and the Lord Jeſus Chriſt! Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jeſus Chriſt in Sincerity. Amen.