278" Chap. r 2. An Expe fitionupon the ¡oo&ofJos. Verf, t8. 'God fet up Cyrus King;to put down Kings ; ya he faith,Irrillloofe the loinsofKings. Cyrus was the infrrnment,but both the deign and the tuccels was ofGod. Kings cannot make bonds fo fart either to ftrengthen themfelves,or ftráit their people as God can loofethem. Thereare four bonds which the Lord utually loof- eth, when he chaftenr the pride ,nd fain ofKings. Firft, The bondsof their authority, that their word is not íeverenced nor received as betc,: e. Where the wordof a King is ( faith Solomon ) there is power : Yet when God is angry, he cari render their wordpowerlefs. Secondly, He loofetit the bonds of their riches and revenues: Riches are a ftr ength to Kings ; Riches are the fitppert,as well as the fruit ofpeace; And they are the finewsof war : When crea- ture is gon, power Raies nor long behind. honey anfwersall things ; and when that faites, Princes feld :m receive contentful anfwers. God fendsa mots ap 'n the publike treafitrr, and that eats afunder many bonds sad ooligat ions. Thirdly, Which is firc,,riper r',ati the former twn,God loofeth the bond of a peoples live and aflethion unto Kings. Love is the bond of obedience, both to Godand turn, Princes fit fafteft in the affe&ions Gd thti people. Tim. King who hath the hearts of his fiabje&s, hash their hands and catir purfes too at command. Oderint lum Jehordm out- I,sed, or rather never lived in che love ofhis,peo- nretu.tnt. pie, und he dyedondefired (2 Chron. 2I. 2o.) Some have faid. let themhate while they mint fear : lsut that fear isfafeji which fprings from love. Fourthly, TheLord t -iof.: th the bond of their leagues,alliances and confederacies with forreign nations . They (hall not Rand fart by covenanrs with men, wi.; break the covenant of their God. Through this judgment of God, Kings have been (Amer en- tangled, than ftreugthenrd with leagues. Thofe leagues and alliances fpoken of by Daniel (chap. it. ) between the Kings of the North and of the South, próvèd fnares to catch, rather than he'ps to uphold one another. Thee bonds, or what bonds elfe foever, the Kings of the earth make, either to fttpporr themfelves, or opp eis their peo- ple, are tooled, by the power ofGod. As there is no bond of God fo ftrong, but the heart 'of man will atenipt to break it; fo tiler: is no bond of min fo fining, but the hand ofGod can break it, He loofeth the bonds of Kings, A7
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