Lrs.XIV. _ :A(abaland ~bigail. _ . ._. \ A one good turn reqmres another ; mfome cafes,not hurrmg IS menrorious : Hee that fhou\d examine the qualities of Dit.vids followers, muft needs grant it worthy ofa fee, that Naba/s Aocks lay untouched in Carmdl ; but more, that DavidJ Souldierswere N.<balrShepheards, yea thekeepers ofhis Sheph<ards, gave them a juftintereft inthat.Sheep-01earingFeaft, juftly fhould they have been fet at the upper end of the Table. That Na~a!J Sheep were fafe, he might thank his Shepheards; that his Shtpheards were fafe, he might thank DavidJ Souldiers: It is no fmall benefit that we receive in a fafe proteCtion ; well may we thinR our fubftance due, .where.weowe our felves. Yet this churlifl1 Nabal doth not ondy give nothing to D11vids Merfengers, but which is worfe then nothing, ill words; Who it David, 01; who is the forme of Ijhai .P There be many firvams no~ 11 adayu th.tt bl"tak< a.. ay fom th<ir <.M afters. David asked him bread, hegiveth him ftones. All Ifrael kne\y and honoured their Deliverer: yet this Clown, to fave his vid:uals, will needs make himaman, either ofno mc:rits or ill, eitheran obfcure man or a fugitive. Nothing is more cheap then good words; thefe Nabal might have given, and been never the poorer: If he had been refolved to Omt his hands in a feare of Sau!J r<venge, he might have fo tempered his deniall, that the repulfe might have been free from offence: ;But nowhis foule-mouth doth not only deny, but revile.ltfhould have been NJbalr glory,that his Tribe yeelded fuch a Succeffor to the Throneof lfrae11 n9w in alllikelihood,hisenvy ftirs him up to difgracc that man, who furpatred him in honour and vertue, more then he w~s furpatred by him in wealth and eafe; Many a one fpeaks faire, that meanes ill, but when the c mouth fpeaks foule, it arguesa cortuptheart; Ifwith Saint lama his verbal! benefa&ors, we fay onely, Depart in peace, warme your felves, fill your bellies , wee !hall anfwer for hypocrytic:Ul uncharitabkneffe; but if we rate and curfe thofe rieedy foules, whom we ought to telieve, we fha11 give a more fearfull account ofa favagecruelty in trampling onthofewhom God hathhumbled. Jfhealino with good words be juftly punifhable, what tornierit ls there for thofe that wo"und with evill ~ DaviJ, whichhad a11 this while been in the Schoole of pati"encc, hatli' no\v his ldfon to feek: He who hath.happily digefted all the railings and perf<cutions ofa wicked Mafter, cannot put off:hisaffronr of a Nabal; Nothing can affwage his · choler, butbloud: How fubjetl are the beft ofGods Saints to weak paflions,and if D we have the grace to ward an expected blow of temptation, how eafily are we furprized with a fudden foyfe! . Wherefore ferve theferecorded weakneffts of holy men, but to ftrengthen us againfi the confcien~e of our infirmities<: Not that we fhould take courage to imi· tate them inthe evill, whereunto they have been mifcarryed; But we fhould take heart to o•r fdves,againft the difcouragement ofour own evil" . : Thewifdome ofGod bath fo contrived it, that commonly (in Societies)· good is mixed with evil!,wicked Nabal bath in his houfe a wife and good Servanr, a prudent and wonhyWife; That wife fervant i.s careful! to adverrife hisMiftreffe ofihe danger; his prude-nt Mifirdfc is carefull to prevent it. . , . . The lives of all his family were now in hazard : ihe dares not committhis E bufineffe to the fidelity ofa meffenger, but forgetting her fexe, puts her felfe into the errand; Her foot is not llow,her hand is not empty; According to the offence llie frames her fatisfaClion; Her Husband refufed to give, O,e brings a bountifull gift; Her Husband gave ill words, lhe fweetens them with a meek and humble deprecation; Her Husband could f.1y, who;. Da"'id? 01e falls at his feet; her Husband difmiffcs DavidJ men empty, !hebrings her Servants laden with piovifion; as ifit had been onely meant to eafe the repelled Meffengers of the carriage, nottofcantthem ofthe required benevolence; N o wir, no art could dcvifc amore pithy and powerfull Oratory : As all fatisbClion, fo hers begins with a confeflion; wherein !hedeeply blameth the folly of her Husband: She could not have been. a good Wife,iffhe had not honourod her unworthy head; Ifa firailger fhould have termed him foolein her bearing, he could not have gone away in peace : Now-to X xxx • fave tojt--J
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