3SS Chap.9.0fthe honour due to thofe that excel ingifts,&c.com.5. There is etas :emporis, & afar meriti, anage oftime, and anage ofmerit, and there are,as Saint 7ude fpeaks, arbores autumnales, trees that begin to bloroin in the end of harvefi, when their fruit fhould be gathered : fuch are true reprefentatives ofan old man without understanding ; but yet, though theybe filch, they are to behonour- ed for their years, though they benot worthy hoc pati, to receive this Honour, yet it Pfaltn 92.13. is meet for us hoc agere, to give it to them. They mutt not be fuch trees, but David: trees, bringing more fruit in their age; the older the more wifdom mutt appear in them. 2. Anfwerable to this, they muff fo live, that their agemay deferve Honour. The Wife-man tells us how this may be. The hoaryhead is a crown ofglary : but how ? if it be found in the way of righteoufnefs: and then ( as he fpeaks in another place ) Prov. i6' i9 The beauty ofold men is their gray-head. TheApofile defcribes inparticular fix qua- Tit. 2. 2. lities that they ihould be enduedwith ; r. Sobriety, 2. Gravity, 3. Temperance, 4. Soundnefs in Faith, 5. Charity, 6. Patience. 3. The third Duty is to provide for their cafe, for age brings weaknefs, therefore Nuni. s. 24. young boyes mutt not fit, and ancient men Eland. God provided for the cafe of the Levites, after they were fifty years of age they wereexempted from the fervice of the Tabernacle, and yet had their allowance. The Prophet Efay mentions it as a tign ofgreat confufion, and ofjudgment imminent , when Children (hall prefumeagainjl &ay 3. 5: the ancient, andthe bafe againfi the honourable. If we carry our felves thus to aged perfons,tic fief noble, fo it fhalibe done to us when we come to years, and Jiefief noftris, fo (hall others do toour Fathers, and to our children, when they grow old. Old age is a burden, but youngmen fhould help to make this burden light to old men,by giving them reverence, which if theydo they (hall reap a blelling, by their Blefíings and Prayers, whichare ina fpecialmanner effe&ual with God : as on the other fide by negleét ofthis Duty they may expeá acurfe fromGod and the aged; for the blef- flogs or curfesofFathers or Mothersare ufually heard.ofGod,and made good upon obedient or difobedient Children. 3. We come now to the third kind ofExcellency, confifting in bons fortune, the goods offortune, as they are called; orin outward eflate,as in Nobility,and Riches,&c. for Noblemen,and rich-menare in Scripture ufually called Fathers, and confequently there is an Honour due to them. Nabal was rich ; and David in his meffage to him implicitely calls him Father ; Give Ipray thee to thy fervant,and to thy.fin David;ìvhat- foever cometh to thy hand: and Naaman the Syrian was an honourable man, and his fervants call him Father ; My father, ifthe Prophet bad commanded thee a fm II mat- ter,c&c. The reafon hereof is. r. Becaufeofthe Commongood, that theymay bring 'to the Common- wealth in . times of Peace and War : Nervus Reipublica pecunia, money is the finews of a Com- saon-wealth, and therefore becaufe God hath bleffed them above othersin their <eco- nomical relation, the Common- wealth clothprize andefteern them accordingly, and prefers them above others, Petting them among the Elders in the gates ; for if they Prov. 3r: 23. havebeen careful in their own houle, it is like they will be fo alfo in the Common- wealth. Their Duty anfwerable to this is expreffed by the Apofile, to communicate their a Tim. 6. 19. goods for the benefit ofothers, and to be rich in goodworks. Nehemiah had betides his own family, 15oothers whichhe maintained at hisTable. Barziliai was a rich man, andhe provided for Davidall the time that he layat Mabanaim, when he was in danger by Abfaloms rebellion, for which David would afterward have rewarded -.him. So when the King of Or came to invade the Land of Ifrael, Menahem the King gave him a thoufand Talents topacifie him,which was levied as theText faith, ofall the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty(bekels offtiver ; and fo by thismeans the Land was preferved. Thus richmen are,and ought to be ferviceable for the pub- .lick, and for this caufe they are tobehonoured. 2. A fecund reafon is, becaufe men that are richmay exercife fome vertues which others cannot do, as Magnificence,Liberality,Alms,&c. and great men may promote and help forward good caufes, and therefore there is reafon that filch fhould come %Urots, 35.6 in partemhonoris, to have part ofthe honour. Examples of this we have in thofe that offered liberally for the Temple, (which they could not have done, unlefs they had been rich) fo that there was much left, which was employed for the maintenance of the
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