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3 Note.

or the good or evil that cometh from one man to another,
3. In that he doth ufe two comparisons and resemblances to
fishes on the fea, and to creeping things on earth,we fee that both
fea and land do afford examples.

And the Prophet is very near touched with the calamities of his brethren, that which way foever he lookech he beholdeth fome reprefentation of their woe.

It is the manner of grief to take all occafions to figure and reprefent to it felf its own forrow.

4. Note. 4. Where he refembleth them to creeping things which have no ruler over them,

Two things do aggravate the calamity reprefented thereby. 1. That which God brought upon Edom, I have made thee Small; for thefe creeping things of the earth are of small ftrength, and are fubject to the foot of man and beaft to tread on them: thus God hath made the Jews the very earth for their enemies to go over them; and this is the punishment of their pride; for Pride must have a fall and these towring fouls of the ayre. muft be turned into creeping worms of the earth.o

2. They have no ruler over them, this is here fet forth as a point of especial note to expreffe the unhappineffe of a People to be without a ruler; and therefore Anabaptifts are wife politicians, that would have no Magiftrate,but the punishment of thelews is juft that they should be without a ruler;

Because they did fo much abuse Authority and rule, that the very Seat of judgement were corrupted; the wicked is Plaintiffe,and the godly defendant. The wicked compaffeth about the righteous, therefore wrong judgement proceedeth.

Better no rulers at all then fuch as David defcribeth, Thou feeft a thief and thou confenteft with him: a Companion of thieves whole Iuftice is like that on Sarisbury plain, Deliver thy purse.

Perchance on both fides,

But rule and Magiftracy is the ordinance of God, as St. Paul teacheth, and God by his fubordinate rulers on earth, carrieth a fword, and not in vain, without this, as when there was no King in Ifrael, every man doth what feemeth good in his own eyes, Which doth utterly deftroy the body, not only disfigure the face of a Common-wealth.

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5. Obferve alfo here the outrage of the ungodly when they 5. Note. finde any way open for their violence; for they come in like a floud that hath made it felf way through the weak banks, and deluge all.

Here is Angle and Net and Dragge, as before, The wicked compaffeth about the righteous; which way shall the righteous escape? As if aman did fly from a Lyon, and a Beare met him, or went into an house and leaned his hand on a wall and a Serpent bit him: Amos 5.19 This made David fo carneft with God not to fall into the hands of man.

There is nothing more cruel then a multitude of ungodly men that have no fear of God before their eyes.

Certum eft infilvis inter fpelaa ferarum malle pati; the teeth of thefe dogs, the hornes of thefe buls of Bafan, the hornes of these Unicornes, the tusks of thefe wild Boars, the pawes of thefe Ly ons and Bears are mentioned in Scripture often to expreffe the the fury and outrage of the wicked,

As Edom cried in the day of Jerufalem, Rafe it. If the foun. Pf. 11. 3 dation be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

Judge now is it not a great grievance to fee and feel the force and fury of the wicked carry all before them, and neither their own conscience, nor the lawes of men restrain them, and God fit ftill, look on and hold his peace; this is that which grieves the Prophet to the heart. But God that feeth it hath pure eyes, and hath a right hand that will finde out all his enemies.

Amos will tell us that God hath his Angle too, and his Net, and his Dragge.

I faw the Lord ftanding upon the Altar, and he faid,

I will flay the last of them with the Sword: he that fleeth of them Shall not fly away; and he that efcapeth of them shall not be de

livered.

Though they dig into hell, there shall my hand take them, though they climb up into heaven, thence will I bring them down.

And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will fearch, and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my fight in the bottome of the fea, thence will I command the Serpent and he shall bite them.

And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence

will

Amos 9.16

Eccl. 5.8.

Will I command the sword and it fall fay them: I will fet mine eyes upon them for evill and not for good.

Let us not be difcoura ged; for the Wiseman faith comforta bly to us;

If thou feeft the oppreffion of the and violent perverting of poor, judgment and juftice in a Province, marvel not at the matter; for be that is higher then the highest regardeth, and there be higher then they.

Our Common-wealth grew foul, the hand of the oppreffor was stretched out, and they that pretended to be the Phyfitians of the difeafes of this State, gave it a potion of deadly wine, that it grew fick and drawing on even to death the hearts of true Patriots failed them.

The poor cried out; the rich could not fay of that which he poffeffed Hac mea funt, these are mine; feats of justice, instead of judgment yeelded wormwood, & ecce clamor, and behold a cry, even the loud voyce of grievances.

But God awaked as one out of fleep; and what the angle of the Magiftrate and the net of the King could not take, the drag of the Parliament is now caft out to fetch it in; and we have gracious promises that we shall see Religion better established, and Juftice better adminiftred, the moths that fretted our garments defroyed, the Caterpillar, the Canker-worm, and the Palmerworme, the Projectors of our times that devoured the fruits of the earth, and drew the breafts of the Common-wealth dry into their own veffels, both detected and punished; yea that we shall fee Ierufalem in profperity all our days; it is the mufick of the voyces of both Houfes of the Parliament, and he that is rector Chori, the Mr. of the Quire, doth fet for them both,

Let Peace be within thy wals, and plenteoufneffe within thy Pa

Laces.

This fils our mouths with laughter, and our tongues with finging. The Keeper of Ifrael is awake, and hath not been an idle Spectator of thofe tragedies that have been acted here a mongst us; he hath but tarried a time, till the abominable wickedneffe of the fons of Belial was found worthy to be punished.

One note more remaineth. The Prophet doth find that all this 6. Note. evil doth not come upon the Jews by chance, by the malice of

Satan,

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Satrn, or the proud covetous cruelty of the Chaldæans; for he faith to God,

Thou makeft men as the fishes of the fea.

Here is the hand of God, and the counfell of God in all this. And God taketh it upon himself, as you have heard before. Behold yee among the heathen, andregard and wonder marveilowfly, For I will work a work in your days which you will not believe.

Lo, Iraife up the Chaldeans, &c.

For though fin brought in punishment, yet Gods Juftice is the Author of all evils of this kind, and the inflicter of punishment. Tu domine fecifti, faith the Pfalmift, Thou Lord haft done it, And I have taught you that the wifedome and goodneffe of God can make ufe of evil men for the correction of his Church;

They be ingredients in the dose,thatGod giveth to his diseased People to purge them.

Therefore let not our hearts fret at those rods which have no ftrength to use themselves, but rather stoop to the right hand of God, who manageth them for our caftigation.

We have no fence against these judgments, but a good conscience endeavouring to ferve God fincerely; for that either diverteth the judgment, that the Sun fhall not fmite us by day, nor the Moon by night; or it maketh us able to bear it, as from the hand of a Father that cannot finde in his heart to hurt us.

You heard the faith of this Prophet concerning this point: we Shall not die.

Thou haft ordained them for judgment, thou haft eftablished them for correction.

Only let not us be incorrigible, nor faint when we are rebuked; for he chafteneth every fon that be receiveth.

The fourth grievance is the pride and vain-glory of the proud
Chaldeans, expreft in two things

S1. In the joy of their victories, They rejoyce and are glad
2. In their attribution of this glory to themselves, which is
felf-idolatry.

1. They rejoyce and are glad.

The

Verf. S

Verf. 6.

H¢A.3.15.

The enemies of the Church have their time to laugh, the Wil man calleth it the candle of the wicked, it lighteth them for a time; it is unius diei hilariis infania, they dance to the pipe, and drink their wine in bowles, they eate of the fat, and they remember not the affliction of Jofeph to pity it, they remember it to refult over Jofeph.

The King and Haman fate drinking together when the Edict was gone forth for the deftruction of the Jewes, and then the City Shushan was perplexed.

The grief of the Church is the joy of the ungodly. It is Davids complaint, Tea they opened their mouth wide against me, and Pf. 35 21. faid, Abas our eye hath feen it.

They have Davids deprecation. Let them not fay in their Verf. 25. hearts, Ah, fo would we have it; let them not say we have swallowed them up.

Verf 26.

Verf. 17.

They have Davids imprecation.

Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion that rejoyce at mine hurt; let them be clothed with fhame and dishonour, that magnifie themselves against me.

He was in the very paffion of this Prophet for this. Lord, how long wilt thou look on?

Saint Augustine upon these words faith, Quod capiti,hoc corpori, what was to the head, that to the body; for thus did the Jewes rejoyce in the Croffe of Chrift, they had their will of him: it is vox capitis, the voyce of the head,

But in mine adverfity they rejoyced, and gathered themselves toV.rf. 15. gether against me.

Reason 1.

Saint Augustines comfort against this calamity is,

Quicquid faciunt, Christus in calo eft; honoravit ille p nam (u= am, jam crucem fuam in omnium frontibus fixit, which hath refe rence to the figning with the figne of the Crole in the Baptifme of Chriftians then in the ufe of the Church

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The reafon of this joy in the wicked at the forrowes of the Church is, because the wicked do want the knowledge and feare of God; they do not know that God is the protector of the Church; but becaufe they fee them in outward things molt neglected, they judge them given over of God and forfaken. Davids complaint,

For

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