Com.S. The Duties ofSuperiouri. Chap;q 3 3 Now evil is taken two ways, it-is either Culpeor Pane, of . fin or pua;lhment, and fo Superioars may be evil in both refpc s, and yet Obedience is due. I. For thepenal evil; as when they are roughand froward. Saint Peter chargeth Servants, to be Subjeel to their Matters, not only to them that are good, but to thefro- r Pet.2.13. ward. We have an example of this in Hagar Sarah: maid. It is fail, that Sarahdealt Gen.15.5. hardly with her, yet the Angel ( meeting with her alter fhe fled from her mitlris for herhard ufage ) willed her to return to her Mitiris, and fubmit her fell to her. 9. And as it was with her in a Family, fohath irbeen in the Common- wealth ; for we fee how roughly Saul ufed David, and how he fought his life without caule, yet he departed not from his Obedience to him, nor would offer him any violence, when he had him at an advantage in the Cave; his heart fmote him fir cutting the lap ofhisgarment, and as it is in Pfalm 120.8. He wasfor peace when his enemies were r Sam. 24.4. for war. 2. For the other of fault. As the froward and cura Magillrate is to be honour- Hofeah3,ro. ed, fo the wickedalfo ; for as it is God that in his wrath denieth us a Prince, and 13.1 í. as Hofeah faith, they (hall fay, We have no King, becaufe we feared not the Lord, what Amid King do unto us; fo it is he that in his anger giveth a King, as he proteflèth by his Prophet. And many times the fault is in the people if the King be bad. It is for their fins Job,3.,3,,, that the hypocrite reigns , and 'the People are enfnared, as Elibu in Job fpealcs: and therefore where People chofe themfelves Kings or Rulers, rejeEting the lawful Governours, to whom the Government rightly belongs ;'or looking at their own benefit, or liberty, rife again(' their lawful Princes, and change the Government, not proceeding in the Fear ofGod, nor looking at his Glory, but at themfelves, God punif ico People by thofe Rulers they have fet up. They have fit up a Kirgbut not by me, they have made Princes,. and I knew it not, Hof" 8'4' u. faith God by the Prophet. And as it is in the fame Chapter, becaufe Ephraim bath Fo made many altarr tofin,altars thall be unto him to fn: foGod faith concerning wicked Rulers, feeing People will have fuch,God will plague them with the fame ; People mull therefore be fubjefi' to evil Rulers, becaufe by their fins they have brought them upon themfelves. And betides, though they be evil yet as Solomon faith, The heart of the King isin the handof God, whocan guide it as he pleafeth, as the river ofPros.ara:. maters s and as he fometimes moves evil Kings to make good Decrees, as Balthazar `Sa "'.X4.1. andDarius,and fo fometimes permitteth Satan in fome things to prevail over a good King,asover David when he numbered his People : And as he may fora time leave a good Prince, fo from others fometimes he may quite take away for ever his good Spirit and fend an evil fpirit as he did to Saul. So thatdt is all one with r Sam.t6.14. God, to make an evil Prince good, and to fet an evil Prince over the People at fir(}. And though be fet an evil King over the People, yet as in the cafe of Nabuehadnezir God bath given him the Kingdoms,and it was his will tie nations (heuld Jer.27.5.7. fervebiro. And the King of Aff-ur, is called the rod ofGods wrath, as purpofelyfent Efa.lo.5. by him to correcrf the people : and becaufe it is his doing, therefore thepeople are á d 29.7. by theProphet commanded to pray for Nebuchadnezzar, under whom they were r Tim.s.z. Captives, and to frbmit to him, and obey him. So likewife in the new- Tetfament, the Apofllq, willeth, that prayers be made for Governours, though they werenot r Pet.s.t9. Chriltians then, and Saint Peter commandeth all men to honour the King which A41.a5.11. then was Nero, to whom faint Paul appealedfrom his Deputy, though he were one of the greatefi Tyrants that ever was. But this muff be added out ofChryfoflom, 'Asírrµx úx t21 7é avd`par,uN.a d`riLTa Sms 71 Orx, that whatfoever HonourWe attribute to filch evil Princes, is not to them as men s but to Godhimfeif, and in Reverence and Obedience to his Ordinance, nor barely 1' nesffw,m, to thePerforo, butvrs apatroireínsto the vizard that God hath put upon him:or if to the Perlon (as it cannot well be conceived otherwife,for thePerlon and Office mull not be fevered, yet not to the Perfonbarely for it fell, but to loch a Perfon as it is veiled and clothed with AuthorityfromGod. We may .fee this in the cafe of Mordecai, when Haman advifed the, King, what fbould be done to the man whom the King would honour, which wasto Efth. 5.3 put ón the royal apparel, &c., upon him. It is`plain, that the Honour done .by the people to Mordocheus was in refpc& of the Kings robes upon him ; and fo are we
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