THE NINTH SERMON UPON ISAIAH, CHAPTER 38.

THE NINTH SERMON UPON ISAIAH, CHAPTER 38.
12 Mine habitation is departed, and is removed from me, like a shepherds tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off from the height, from day to night, thou wilt make an end of me.
13 I reckoned to the morning, but he brake all my bones like a Lion: from day to night wilt thou make an end of me.
14 Like a Crane or Swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a Dove: mine eyes were lift up on high; O Lord it hath oppressed me, comfort me.
I N our last sermon (well-beloved in Christ Jesus) the Prophet assureth the King of his health by a wonderful sign, which was given to him. The manner and form of the manifesting of the sign was this; The King seeketh a sign and the Lord granteth a sign unto him: and after the same manner that he sought a sign it was given to him. Thirdly, the Lord manifesteth this sign by his own power and virtue, without the support of any creature. The King seeketh a sign, not that he is distrustful of God's promise, nor yet to tempt God as the wicked do; but he seeketh a sign to strengthen his belief in the Lord's promise. He believeth the promise, yet his belief was weak: and to strengthen his weak faith he seeketh the sign. The thing that weakeneth his belief was this: The Prophet in an hour and shorter space cometh to the King, and proposeth two contrary sentences: First he saith to him, make thee ready thou must die; in an instant of time he pronounceth the plain contrary and saith, Thou shalt live: both these two could not stand. Therefore he seeketh a sign to strengthen his belief, whereby he might know the truth of the last promise. This sign was given him as ye heard; and look after what manner he craved it, after that same manner it is granted according to his desire: The Sun is brought back, as also the shadow of it in his fathers dial by ten degrees, and the day which otherwise should have lasted but twelve hours, by this wonder it is made to endure for the space of 22 hours. The sign was wrought partly in the dial, partly in the body of the Sun. It was wrought in the body of the dial, because it was a public work, see up in a public place at the head of the palace over against the Temple: to the end the miracle wrought in it, which was in such an open and common place, might be known to all the city, and consequently to all that were in Judea. It was wrought in the body of the Sun, that the knowledge of that work might come to the whole world, that the whole world who saw that light, might see in that work a God whom they saw not so before. This sign was exceeding fit and proper for the purpose, for by this sign the King saw evidently that it was as easy to God to bring back his life to a flourishing youth, which was hastening to decay, as it was to bring back the Sun, which was very near to his going down. This sign is wrought only by the virtue of God. For that general is true, there is no creature, yea not the devil himself, that hath power to show any true miracle. Then all those miracles that are in the popish Churches, as the images of legs and arms, wax clothes, and all the rest of that sort, are deceiving lies of the devil. The King purchaseth this sign by his own prayer, to learn us this lesson, That suppose the Lord be of mind and purpose to give us benefits, and suppose he hath promised to grant benefits unto us, yet he will not give them but to the seekers, he will have us first seeking them before we obtain them. And so he would learn us this exercise, to stand constant in honoring and worshipping of him who hath these benefits to give us. Before we entered into the song, we declared unto you the whole course of this Kings life from the 14. year of his reign; and in his whole course ye saw, that his whole life was a continual falling and rising, a continual praying and praising of God: Praying in the time of his falls and of his trouble, that the Lord would strengthen him by his Spirit: And praising God for his victories, that he had so mightily delivered him. In this we see an image of a Christian life, and of a Christian exercise, to assure every one of you that while ye are here, your life shall be but a continual falling and rising, rising by the special grace and mercy of God in Christ Jesus. And therefore it becometh you to be occupied in the same exercises wherein this King was employed: In the time of your falls and troubles to be diligent in prayer, seeking strength of the Lord to endure; and praising him in your victories. He that forgetteth to pray, forgetteth to rise, and therefore take heed that in all your troubles ye have ever recourse to God by prayer. We took the song to stand of these three parts: In the first part is set down the great trouble, perplexity and perturbation wherein the King was, what he said during this trouble, and what he did: In the second part there is a rehearsal made of the great benefit that he obtained, how singular and how excellent it was: In the third part he maketh a faithful promise, to be thankful to God for this benefit, to praise him all the days of his life, & that so long as he lived he would never forget him. In the first part we marked the circumstance of time when this trouble of mind overtook the King; to wit, at what time the servant of God came to him, & told him it behooved him to die: from the time he heard death denounced, incontinently the mention of death striketh a fear and a trembling in him. It casteth him in a great perturbation of mind. Suppose he was a godly King, and indeed such a King of whom there is as good mention made as of any other King in the Scriptures of God, yet notwithstanding at the hearing of death he feareth and trembleth. This death is indeed a renting asunder of those two parts which were appointed to have remained together, and therefore it is no marvel, suppose the mention of it strike a fear in the heart. Our own sin hath procured it, and in some measure it is good that we taste what sin hath brought with it. It is true indeed, our death that are Christians, is fully sanctified in the death of Christ Jesus: But it is as true on the other side, that suppose our death be fully sanctified, yet so long as we remain in this earth we are not fully sanctified. And in respect there remaineth in us (yea in the best of us all) a remanent of corruption, yea would God it were but a remanent; of this floweth this fear, trouble & perturbation of mind. It is true, that this faith and the constant hope of a better life that dwelleth in the other part of the soul, do temper the fear, mitigate the trouble, and swallow up the pain of death: yet in respect of the corruption that remaineth, some fear must be, and the greater the corruption is, the greater fear falleth upon the conscience. The chief corruption that grieveth us in the time of death, is the love of the world, the cares of the world, the inordinate love of flesh and blood: So that he that would make himself void of fear, must provide to rid his hands and his heart of these inordinate affections: for experience (although unhappy) teacheth us, that there is no man that can part with that he loveth without exceeding grief. And therefore in the point of death, experience teacheth what it is to cast our affection on frivolous things that suddenly vanish. So I say, now it is time to rid your hands and purge your hearts of such preposterous affections, that death which unto others is so terrible, when it cometh it may be a blessing unto you. I show unto you that all those care were forbidden goods, expressly inhibited by the King of heaven, which are neither profitable for you nor to the country whither ye go. And therefore I desired you to carry with you the love of God, and the love of your neighbor in God: And these kind of commodities shall both profit you, and be welcome to the country whither ye go. In this trouble the first thing that he uttereth, he saith with himself, I see I must die, I am drawing near to the ports of the grave. Suppose he was very loath to die, as his words do testify, yet he maketh him ready. It is foolish & false to think, that preparation to death is a furtherance to death: No, the contrary is true. The readier ye are to die, the more able ye are to live, & the less shall be your anguish when the Lord calleth. As to the reasons I will not insist in them, only the last reason that maketh death to be so fearful to this good King, was the great love which he had to the Church that was in his country; the great care which he had of his faithful subjects, who should lack by his death his merciful protection. And in this I did let you see, that the country had an exceeding blessing, where the Prince is so careful for the Church in his country, and of his faithful subjects, that in his death he hath mind of them, and is grieved to depart from them. As on the other side, the Church must be as heavily cursed, where the Prince hath no regard of ye Church in his country, nor of his faithful subjects. As to the reasons I will not stand precisely in justifying of them all; I think as the word soundeth, that there is something worthy of praise and commendation in them, and something worthy of dispraise and reproof; For so far as they flow of faith and of the good spirit of God, no question they are worthy of praise, and so far as they flow from the Kings unruly affections, they are worthy of dispraise. And surely, it appeareth by the words, that his affections had been somewhat unruly. Well, the lesson that I gathered was; This is the profit that we reap of these preposterous affections, they draw our love from God to the creatures. And ere these affections can be drawn from the creature, they bring such a grief unto them as it were another death. Therefore the thing that we craved was, that ye should set your affection upon God. The truth of love is in God, and therefore it becometh you to bring your hearts from the creature unto God, and employ your affection upon him, in whom only is solid joy. Thus far we proceeded in our last exercise.
Now in the words which I have read, he returneth to his complaint, and he taketh up his lamentation again: & in the first part of the 12. verse, he uttereth his trouble wherein he was. In the end of that verse and in the verse following, he uttereth the great rage & fury of his sickness. And in the 14. verse he letteth us see what he did in this great rage and extremity of his disease.
Then to return to the 12. verse: I say in the beginning of it, he returneth to his lamentation, and he uttereth his complaint as he had wont to do, bursting out after this manner: Mine habitation (saith he) is departed and transported from me. As if he would say, my life is to depart, and the Lord is to transport it to another part, I see death is instant, and the Lord is cutting off this present life of mine.
He letteth us see the manner how his life is to be transported, by two similitudes. The first similitude he taketh from a shepherds tent: The second similitude he taketh from a Weaver and his web.
As to the first similitude, he saith, his life is to be transported from him like a shepherds tent: Look how the tents of shepherds are removed, transported and removed, so, saith the King, he saw his life to be subject to the same transportation. It is known to you all that read histories, that in the East hot countries, as namely among the Tartars and Arabians where the shepherds in the summer seasons remain under tents, so often as they remove their flocks, they remove their tents. And in our own country here, when our shepherds remove their flocks, they remove their other necessaries, alluding to that same custom: so would the King say, look how these tents are removed in the summer season & transported, my life is subject to the same condition.
Of this similitude we have matter full of good doctrine: For this similitude doth first teach us, that there is nothing more instable & uncertain, then is the life of man here beneath: There is nothing more subject to instability then this life which we live in this body: For, as to the nature of tents, ye see (whether ye call them tents, pavilions, or tabernacles, all is one) by experience there is nothing more unstable nor uncertain to dwell in then is a tent. For why? it lacketh a ground, it lacketh a foundation and stability, and instead of a ground it leaneth only to certain pins which enter not deeply into the earth; and consequently by the lightest blast of every wind they are blown up, and when the pins fail the tent falleth: So the King would teach us by this similitude, that this life of ours lacketh a ground, lacketh a foundation, and lacketh a stability. And therefore the King in this comparison, would send us to the life which hath the sure ground, foundation and stability, he sendeth us to that kingdom which as the Apostle, Hebrews 12. saith, cannot be shaken by no kind of stormy blasts: And, as I remember, Heb. 11 9.10. there in these verses the Apostle maketh a flat opposition betwixt these tents that lack a ground and the City of God, saying; that as tents and tabernacles lack a foundation and ground, so the City of God on the contrary hath a ground and a foundation; and in steed of one, he calleth them in the plural number, foundations, look, (saith he) to the city that hath the foundations, whose craftsman and builder is the God of heaven. He expoundeth himself what he meaneth by the foundations, in the last verse, where he saith, such a kingdom as cannot be shaken; that is, whose ground is so sure, that it cannot be shaken nor totter by no process of time, nor stormy blasts. Then the first lesson that ye have from this part of the comparison is this: Learn to seek for the city yt hath sure foundations, seek for the city that cannot be shaken. The Lord give you grace so to do.
In the other part of the comparison he letteth us see, that so long as we are in this life, we have no permanent abode nor certain remaining whereunto we may lean. For as ye may perceive by the history of Genesis, the Patriarchs dwelled in tens, to testify unto us two things: First, to testify that they were no countrymen there, nor native borne men of that country; but strangers and pilgrims in that country, and as they professed themselves, that they were not only strangers of that country, but counted themselves strangers so long as they remained on the face of this earth. The second thing that they testified by dwelling in tents, is, that they were minded not to remain there, it was not their purpose to fix their staff (as we speak,) there: But they were upon their journey, and seeking the way that leadeth homeward, the way that led to their native country, to the City that hath the sure foundations, as they confessed themselves. Then (I say) there is another lesson that we may reap of his similitude: It teacheth us that we have no permanent being here, and we ought not to settle our hearts, nor cast our love on anything here; but seeing we are subject to flitting and removing, not knowing what hour we shall be warned to remove, there is nothing more sure then that we must remove, and nothing more unknown then the time. Therefore it becometh us now in time while we have leisure, to transport our goods, and to send them before us where we are to remain, to send our substance where we are to abide forever. For proof hereof your own experience teacheth you, that there is none of you who have warning and are certain that ye are to remove, but ye will transport your goods and send your substance where ye are to abide. Therefore, seeing yt this is concluded principally in all your hearts, that there is no remaining here but we must remove, and ye are uncertain in what moment ye shall be warned to remove, it becometh us to send our goods, substance & riches before us. And if it be true that our Master saith, that the heart followeth the treasure, let both heart and treasure be sent thither: surely this is a singular lesson, if it were learned. For he is a mad man, & more than mad, that will place his felicity where he is not to remain, and where he knoweth not what hour he shall be warned to depart: I am assured there is none here but they will say as I say. Yet on the other side it is as true, there is none here but he doth as pleaseth himself. Therefore I will call only one thing to your minds. I remember there is a parable set down, Luke 12:16. concerning a rich man who did cast down his barns and enlarged them for his great abundance: when all this was done, he saith to his soul, take thy rest, eat and drink and take thy pleasure, for I have laid up enough for thee. This insatiable fool (as our master calleth him there) knew not that he was tenant at will, and he knew not of the thing that was to come: but as if he had had the times and seasons at his command, he layeth this resolution with his soul: But ye see in this parable how soon he is disappointed, and his soul getteth not the use of this conclusion: for that same night it is taken from him. Well, I know there are none so gross that in words will lay this conclusion with this rich man; but I know again, there are none so wise but in effect they do it: There are none but they say the same to their soul in deed. Always I say, all these conclusions are false and proceed of a foolish brain, and the wisdom that bringeth on this conclusion is plain folly, and their souls shall be disappointed. There is no certain conclusion but that which floweth from the truth: This word is sure, therefore thou must have thy warrant out of the word of God: this word saith thou hast no certainty, no not an hour here. Therefore this word admonisheth all to be ready. And if ye would be rich, seeing riches is the blessing of God, be rich in good works, and send your riches before you, and be rich in God, that ye and your riches may remain together there forever. If I might obtain of you this lesson and no more, I would think this days exercise well employed. Then let men take such a resolution with themselves that they may be so disposed, that when the messenger of death cometh, he cannot come amiss, come when he will. Thus far concerning the first similitude.
The other similitude is taken from a Weaver and his web. And in the words he saith after this manner: I have, saith he, wrought my life, or woven the web of my life to the off-cutting. As the Weaver weaveth his web, so is my life woven ready to be cut off: as if he would say in effect, I see I have shortened my days, there is no remaining for me, I have brought my life to the off-cutting; I have prevented the just time by mine own doing, I have procured my own death. In which words he would teach us, that by his own doings he hath procured & hastened his own death, and by his evil life shortened his time. It is true indeed, that as by sin death entered into the world, so by the multiplying of sin our death is hastened. For that disease is not that striketh on body or soul, but it floweth of sin, yea the death of soul and body floweth of sin. The thing that shorteneth our days is sin, the thing that maketh our days evil and troublesome, is sin, saith Jacob. Sin maketh our days full of anguish and grief, full of trouble and sorrow: Sin wrappeth us in a thousand cares and exceeding vanities whereby we are deceived, and sin consumeth us with unprofitable labors and travels which are not necessary. And what more? Sin weakeneth this body of ours by deceiveable pleasures, it vexeth our mind with such fear and terrors as I cannot express them: Shortly, all the evil that ever God inflicteth, it floweth of sin.
And if it be true that this good King had occasion to say, that his sin procured his death: If so godly a King, so good a youth, had occasion to say this, that sin shortened his days, what may the youth of this country say? what may I pray you, our young Nobility say? Surely, if this King walked in such paths as made him to draw near to his death, it appeareth well that they have taken post in this way, everyone (as appeareth) contending who should run the speediest course to an evil end, except God prevent it. The Psalmist saith, that the bloody man shall not live half his days; if this be true, what shall become of the bloody adulterer, of the sacrilegious blasphemer, much more the Papist and the Idolater? In the which and infinite other vices they run post. If a man having this one vice, shall not end the half of his days, how much more shall his days be shortened in whom these vices concur all in one? this is sure, it cannot fail. I leave the great men, and come to the inferior sort; Look to the profane multitude, ye see in their behavior how speedily they run this post. There are two sins which are joined together in them: to wit, gluttony and drunkenness. And there are none but they know, that these two are the fountains of all bodily diseases, and of the chief diseases of the soul, whereby they perish forever. Now what, I pray you, saith Solomon, Prover. 23. with whom (saith he) lodgeth fear, sorrow, contention, debate and strife? with whom but with the drunken man, and with him that loveth wine? & yet ye see how the greatest part in city & country are defiled with these vices, procuring so far as in them lieth, an evil end to their own souls. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of God, and yet so many as let them loose to these vices must fall into his hands. For it cannot be but the wrath of God from heaven must be poured upon such ungodliness. And there is none who hath poured forth his love and taken himself to these vices, but surely, except he be wonderfully prevented, he shall perish in his sin. And this is not one of the least judgments of God: For John 8. it is counted one of the most terrible judgments, when the Lord threateneth the Pharisees that they shall perish in their sin. If the word which is now sounded might have been able to have called men back, surely it hath been clearly and continually sounded: but when I look to the effects, it appeareth well that this word hath been sounded to the hardening of the greatest part, and to seal up their judgment against the day of the Lord's wrath, which day they have blotted out of their minds and put out of their knowledge, that they should not see it. The Lord nourish this light by his Spirit in us, whereby we may see that there is a heaven and that there is a hell; that seeing the danger, we may press to eschew it; and seeing the felicity, we may haste us to embrace it. Would God it were so. Thus far for the first part of the similitude.
He goeth forward and he saith, He hath cut him off from his beam, or from the throombs that go about the beam, as ye call them. As if he would say after this manner: As the Weaver doth cut off the web from the throombs of his beam, so the Lord hath taken resolute purpose to cut off my life from his beam. In this changing of the persons he letteth us see a great discretion and knowledge in himself; he ascribeth the cutting off to God, but he taketh the cause to himself; he ascribeth the chastisement to God, but he taketh the sin which is the cause of the chastisement, to himself; and he acknowledged God to have his beginning in this work, and himself to have his hand in it also: he acknowledgeth God to be a doer, as in all works God hath his working: And there is no work so abominable as it floweth from the instrument, but as it floweth from God it is both holy and just. So this wise King taketh the cause of his chastisement from God to himself: Happy is he that in time condemneth and judgeth himself; that he may eschew the condemnation of God. Thus far concerning the first part of our division.
Now in the end of this verse and of the verse following, the King setteth down the great fury and rage of his sickness. It was a pestilent fever, and so the raging fury behooved to be exceeding great. He uttereth the vehemency of his disease in the words following, and he speaketh as if he would say after this manner; If God hold on as he beginneth, by the same sickness ere night he will make an end of me. And in the verse following he saith, I propound to myself and I looked for it, that like a devouring Lion he should bruise my bones, he should bruise them shortly, yea ere night. For I take all this to be spoken on one day.
The words indeed (the terrible disease of the body excepted) uttereth more. For it is not possible that so good a King could have spoken so of God, except he had felt some other thing then any distress in his body. So in uttering of these voices he letteth us see, that he had the pains of soul and trouble of conscience joined with the disease of his body, and that he felt God to be as it were a consuming fire, it is not possible that he could have uttered such voices of God, as to call him a devouring Lion, except he felt another kind of fever then any natural fever. Ye see David when he is in the like extremity of body and soul, he crieth Psalms 6. that his bones are vexed and do quake for fear.
Of all the diseases that can come upon any person, no question the disease of the soul and conscience is the greatest. And of all the diseases and troubles that overtake the conscience, no question this is the greater, when with the sight of sin which is enough and more than enough for any to sustain, when with this sight there is a feeling of the wrath of God joined. O! then this sickness is insupportable, when with the sight of sin is joined a touch and feeling of the wrath of God: Merciful God, if the horror be not exceeding great and terrible, so that it is a wonderful matter that the soul can stand upon any assurance of faith, but it should incontinently run to desperation! Yet it is true, that there is never a one of the chief servants of God but he hath had experience of this either less or more: and he hath been touched with the feeling of that hell which the reprobate shall have in a full measure.
The ends why the Lord suffereth his dear children to be in such extremities, are these, to let them see expressly what Christ hath suffered, while as he suffered the full weight of his Fathers wrath inflamed against their sins. And not only against their sins, but also against the sins of all the elect: He casteth them, I say, into this extremity, to let them see what Christ hath suffered for them; how far they are bound to Christ, and how precious that redemption purchased by his blood should be unto us. For it is not possible that any man can make much of that benefit which they know not to be a benefit: so it is not possible for you to make much of heaven, except you have had some taste of hell. And therefore it is that he sendeth his servants to heaven, even by the gates of hell; to let them see that there was no connivance between the Father and the Son. For it might have been thought (as many of the wicked think) that there had been a connivance between God the Father and his Son Christ: And therefore I say, he letteth them taste of these distractions and pangs of hell, that they may say: I see he hath felt hell in another sort, that hath redeemed us from hell: And where that I cannot sustain this which is tempered in a small measure, it hath been a great burden indeed which our Savior hath sustained, whilst he sustained hell for our sins, and for the sins of the whole elect. O then, this exercise is to let them see how far they are bound to God.
The dissolute life of the profane multitude letteth us see clearly, that there is never a one of them that have known the meaning of this article, and this is a sealed letter to many of you all: Therefore it is that they make no account of the death of Christ, and think that he died for himself. For it appeareth they have no touch nor remorse of sin, which is the thing that will destroy them except it be prevented. Their manifest contempt testifieth this over well, for they go forward without remorse in all kind of sins, the more they are forbidden. I remember the Apostle is more sharp in his threatening against these men, then any man can be: For he saith, Hebrews 10. at the end: If he that contemned Moses or any part of his laws died without mercy, how much more shall he be worthy of punishment that contemneth the person of the Son of God? that treadeth the Son of God under foot, and counteth his blood an unholy thing? who will not apply the mercy of Christ to themselves, and reject the Spirit of Christ whereby they should be sanctified. These threatenings, suppose they take not effect suddenly, as also the promises, suppose they be not believed of you, yet they must be uttered by us, that these walls may testify and bear witness to your conscience, that there was a Prophet here: These things were told us, and we had time to have done them if we had listed.
Ere I leave this, it is necessary for you all that ye mark the examples of these heavy diseases. There are few that are touched with them, although they are very worthy of marking. I say, it is necessary that the examples of these diseases be marked, whether it be men or women that have them, we should mark them, if it were but to learn this lesson: We may see how easy it is for God to repress the pride of the flesh: we may see how easy it is to the Lord to daunt the foolishness and wantonness of youth; in an instant of time, in the space of twelve hours, a glorious King is brought to the gates of death. Then ye should say with yourselves, it is time for us to change our course, we see how easy it is to the Lord to bring high conceits low. The Lord doth this to this King, and he seeketh no fire nor sword, he useth no external armor, nor he seeketh no foreign instrument to do it, but he taketh of the stuff that is within him, he taketh the matter of sin wherein he was conceived & borne, unhappy sin which is the matter of all judgments and plagues, it is the matter of death both in body and soul. This matter within ourselves is as ready at the Lord's hand as if it were in his own storehouse, to plague thee best, that intendedst to gainstand him. Thē ye that have your health and the benefit of it, learn to use it well: for if ye abuse it and use it to defile your bodies, which he hath appointed to be the temples of his holy Spirit; look how easy it was to him to bring the King low, as easy and far easier shall it be to him to bring the best of you down. Then I say, ye that have the benefit of health, employ it to the honor of him, and comfort of his Church, that gave you it. Thus far concerning the second part of our division.
In the third part contained in the 14. verse, he letteth us see what he did in this great extremity, the raging fury of his sickness being so great, he letteth us see what was his exercise: and he saith (as ye may see in that verse,) that notwithstanding God handled him so, yet he maketh his recourse to the same God who plagued him, and he seeketh and presseth friendship at the same God who threatened him. He seeketh him as ye may see in that verse, two manner of ways, so long as his tongue served him, that the extremity of his disease took not away the use of it from him. And whereas the extremity of the disease took his speech from him, that he could not utter his mind by words, yet he leaveth not off, but where he might not utter his mind by distinct voices and words, he seeketh him by a dolorous mourning, like to the Dove, and by a heavy lamentation, like to the chattering of the Swallow or Crane. And last of all, he in his gesture lifteth up his eyes to heaven. By this means he retireth himself to God when the benefit of the tongue was taken from him.
The words that he speaketh so long as liberty is granted to him, are few, but very sententious. Where he saith, it hath oppressed me, refresh me or weave me out, persisting in the similitude: As if he would say, I see well the rage and fury of my sickness is so great, that neither force of nature nor any natural means is able to comfort me, the force of the disease hath overcome all force of nature and natural means: Therefore, seeing there is no help in nature, I make my recourse to the God of nature, to whom it is very easy to give help where nature hath refused it. And therefore I desire of the omnipotent God that he would weave out the rest of the web of my life, to restore me to my health, to his glory and to the comfort of his Church. This I think be the sum and meaning of his prayer, whether he mourned, whether he moaned, whether he spake or chattered.
As to the words, the petition would only be considered. It might appear strange that the King should seek the prorogation of his days, as if there were not a life better than this, or a day after this; but if ye weigh the matter well, and consider the race of the history, ye shall find that he had many particulars that moved him to seek the prorogation of his days; and chiefly we know that Manasseh his son was not yet begotten, he lacketh as yet children, in whom he might see the pledges of God's favor and accomplishment of the promises made to him and his fathers house; and specially of that promise concerning the Messias. Now lacking children, in whom he should see the accomplishment of this promise, had he not good reason to seek the lengthening of his days until he see the promise accomplished?
As to the general, I insisted in it before; and therefore I shall be the shorter. I say, it is lawful in some respect to crave prorogation of days; for seeing it is the benefit of God, seeing the servants of God have sought it before, and seeing the Apostle counteth it a special mercy of God, as we may see in the person of Epaphroditus, Phil. 2. verse 29. we must also esteem the same a special mercy. Whosoever knoweth surely in their mind, that the lengthening of their days will serve better to the glory of God, and comfort of his Church, then present death; I say, it is lawful, and they may in faith crave it; Although there is a general condition to be looked to in this, as in all other petitions, that ye submit your will and affections to be ruled by the good will of God, in such sort, that ye have your life and the commodities of it ready to lay down at his feet, ready to offer up in sacrifice when it pleaseth him.
Of this I shall gather one or two notes, and so I shall end this present exercise. The first thing that I will you to mark, is the contrary voices that this King uttereth in the 14. verse and in the verse foregoing: Read these verses, and ye shall see how contrary he is to himself. In the 13. verse ye see he uttereth voices full of doubting, and as it appeareth, full of despair, at the least full of doubting, he uttereth such voices as if God had been his deadly enemy. In the fourteenth ver. he uttereth the flat contrary. And he maketh his recourse to the same God, whom he seeemeth to make his enemy, in the 13. verse, and he seeketh a blessing of him; which testifieth that he trusted in him: for none can call on him in whom they trust not. So this is his behavior in this disease: one while he thinketh God a consuming fire, another while he hath his recourse to him as his only refuge. One while he uttereth voices full of doubting, another while he uttereth voices full of confidence. Now the question ariseth: Is it possible that faith and doubting can have place both in one soul? I say, it is very possible, & there is never a one of ye servants of God but they have had it. And this is sure, that there is no conscience so at rest, that it is without all trouble, and no estate of men so quiet that is without some inquietness in this life: for it is the custom of God, to bring his dearest children sometime into doubting, & suppose he do so, yet in the meantime he sustaineth them from despair. Know we not that this faith of ours is imperfect, subject to a continual growing and progress, but never coming to a perfection so long as we are here, subject to stammering, to manifold errors, wrestlings, and doubtings? Yet all these imperfections are freely pardoned in the righteous merits of Jesus Christ. Where is that soul, or who is he that hath that soul, that if he will examine his faith with the absolute perfection that is in the nature of God, to whom nothing is pleasant but that which is perfect, who shall not fall in doubting so soon as he beholdeth him? Examine your faith with that perfection which is commanded in the Scriptures, and with that progress that is wished for in the holy Scriptures, & who shall not doubt? By this examination, let him but cast down his eyes on the manifold corruption yt is in him, and on the heavy judgment of God that hangeth over both body and soul for sin, and who will not doubt? It is not possible but he must doubt, having his eyes bent on himself and his affections, wherewith he is defiled. So I say, doubting is common to all the best servants of God. There is none of you that will esteem Paul to have been one of the worst; and yet his words declare, that there was a doubting in his soul: for 2. Corinth. 4.8. he saith plainly, we are always in affliction, but not in distress: We are in doubt, but we despair not. So he granteth that there is a doubting in the soul that hath faith; only he denieth despair: As if he would say, I give you to understand, that doubting may stand in the soul with faith, but not to despair: for the word despair, importeth of itself, the cutting of the pillars of our belief. Therefore faith and despair cannot both stand in one soul: But faith and doubting do lodge in my soul, and shall lodge in all the souls of the faithful to the end of the world. Under doubting, he comprehendeth all the errors, temptations, stammerings and wrestlings wherewith our faith is assaulted full oft, which makes us sometimes incline to despair, sometimes to hope: whilst we look on ourselves, to despair, and whilst we look on the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, to hope. Now the Apostle taketh this doubting to himself, as a thing whereunto all Christians are subject.
There are few of you that know what this meaneth, although it is certain ye may be visited this way; therefore keep in memory this, that suppose ye have not to do with it yourselves, yet ye may use it when you visit others: for seeing we carry about with us these bodies of sin, (for the spirit of faith and sanctification filleth not all the soul in this life) and the largest part of the soul being defiled with this remanent corruption, it must utter such stuff as it hath, to wit doubting and stammering. Now seeing there remaineth in the greatest part this corruption, of necessity it must be occupied in doing, it must be working. And what bringeth it forth? Sin. And what doth the multiplication of sin, but hindereth our faith and persuasion, and casteth a veil and a mist betwixt the sight of God and us? and therefore the Prophet calleth it a separation, whereby we are deprived of the sight of God which we have in the Mediator Christ. Seeing then so long as we are in these bodies of clay, we are subject to sin, we cannot but doubt. For suppose we fall not into these gross iniquities, yet sin and the guiltiness thereof bringeth a doubting, and casteth a veil over the eye of our faith; and this veil being on the eye of our faith, out of question it hindereth our persuasion, and maketh us not to be so steadfast in our belief as otherwise we would be, for he that seeth evil, will oft times take one thing for another. So this corruption is the cause of our doubting, which in some measure is ever in the soul.
Now what learn we of this? first we learn this comfort, yt it is no new thing to the servants of God, to utter contrary voices in their great trouble, to utter voices proceeding of a deep sense of the love and the mercy of God in one word, and in another word to utter a feeling of his hatred and wrath, as if he were our deadly enemy. Sometimes this King uttereth words full of doubting, sometime he seeketh benefits of him as he were his good friend. Christ used these contrary voices. There was never a special servant of God, but they had them: And Christ had them himself, more than any servant that he hath; not proceeding of any doubting or mistrust in the mercy of his Father, (because in him there was no root of infidelity,) but coming of the feeling of his extreme wrath for a time. Look Matthew 26. There he saith twice over, let this cup depart from me. And again, he taketh up himself and he saith, Not I as will, but as thou wilt: These are quite contrary; he saith to God, why hast thou forsaken me, and yet he calleth him, my God, my God. So I say, it is no new thing, to the servants of God being in trouble, and having some root of infidelity abiding still in them, to utter voices sometimes full of doubting, and sometimes full of faith. Thus far for the first. Now again, to testify that the soul having faith hath been subject to doubting, and as faith is on the one part, so doubting is on the other: this is a thing that hath been in all the servants of God, and shall be to the end of the world. The example of this ye have in David, ye have the example of it here in Hezekiah, & in all the rest of the good servants of God. Then suppose many of you know not what I say, yet keep the lesson in memory, for it shall stand you in great good steed. For this is sure, that suppose the pains of the body be great, yet there is as great difference betwixt the pains of the body and the pains of the soul, as is betwixt God and the creature. Ye would choose rather all the torments of the body that can be devised, ere ye felt one touch of the consuming wrath of God in the soul. But yet these words will not effect it, for words will not mollify the heart, except the Lord by the power of his Spirit work in the heart. And therefore I have to crave of God, & ye have by your prayers to assist me, that ye be not unfruitful hearers of the word; but seeing there is a Hell, ye may study to prevent it. Now last of all, ye see the King learneth you a new fashion of prayer, and I beseech you mark it. When the extremity is so great that he may not utter nor speak distinct voices, and his speech is taken from him, yet he leaveth not off to pray: but hath recourse to his lamenting & mourning, counterfeiting the distinct voices of the Dove, Crane & Swallow; by this diversity of tunes, uttering his great anxiety. And what fashion of prayer is this? I say, this kind of sighing, mourning, and lifting up of the eyes, is as good language to God, as any language spoken by the tongue. He understandeth the meaning of thy sigh and groan, better than thou understandest me that speakest. And how is this? It is his own Spirit that raiseth these sighs & groans, that moveth these mournings. And I pray you, knoweth he not the meaning of his own Spirit? This the Apostle declareth, Romans 8. He knoweth the meaning of his own Spirit, and therefore whether this Spirit move us to sigh, to mourn or to speak, the Lord understandeth all alike. Then learn this form of prayer, when the Lord visiteth you with sickness, in such sort that the use of the tongue is taken from you, and ye may not lift up your hands to praise him, nor lift up your eyes to look unto him, yet let your moan be made; yea further, suppose the heart would not make moan with the mouth, yet let the mouth, suppose it hath no help, honor and glorify God. Yea, I say more, suppose the case stand so, as it may be that the heart be contrary to prayer, and the mind will not assist the mouth to pray, yet ere God be not honored, let him be honored with the lip; & if the mouth will not do it, let the hand do it. And every member in like manner, to the which the Lord hath given leave, let thē honor God; because even this striving against the hardness of the heart, and provoking of it with the outward members of the body, is pleasant to God: & no doubt it is he who gives this will as a special grace, howbeit we get not incontinently the performance. If ye can learn this, it is not possible that ye can want prayer: for prayer is such, as sometimes is uttered by tears, sometimes by sighs, sometimes by words, and sometimes by gesture. And ever let thy Spirit be well occupied, musing upon God and spiritual things: and whether thou eat, whether thou drink, take thy rest, or whatever thou do, let thy Spirit have ever thy mind on God, comfort thee with this. When the Lord visiteth thee with such kind of disease, that thy tongue is taken from thee, let the rest of thy members honor him. And if ye be not so diseased yourself, yet in your visitation comfort others herewith, assuring them that this kind of language is as well understood as if it were spoken with the tongue. I end here: This king is not exempted from trouble, he is not exempted from temptation both of body and soul. There is none that cast them to live godly, but of force they must suffer trouble: There is none that will make them for heaven, but of all estates, prince or people, or whatever they be, they must walk in the strait way. As to them that walk in the broad way, they shall grow worse and worse, as the Apostle saith, till they come to such a height, until at the last the Lord anger them by the same sins, whereby they anger him. For this is his just judgment, that as thou hast angered him by Adultery, he shall anger thee by the same sin: Hast thou angered him by blood, he shall anger thee by blood also. Hast thou angered him by blasphemy, he shall anger thee with the punishment of blasphemy. Hast thou angered him with drunkenness, he shall anger thee with the punishment of drunkenness. For every sin hath the own punishment in the selfsame. Then as ye would eschew the punishment of sin: so cast you to eschew sin, that so far as the Lord will give you grace, ye may keep yourselves free. And so ye shall have, not only joy & long days here, but everlasting joy after this, purchased to us in the righteous merits of Christ Jesus: To whō with the Father, & the holy Spirit, be all honor, praise & glory, forever & ever; Amen.