LIB. xvr. 'The qibeoniter revenged. A 'The qibeonitet r~vengel. IIHE raigne of DAtlid was moft troublefome towards the lhutting up. wherein both warre and famine confpire to aiBi&him: AImoll forty I yeares had he fatein the throne oflfrael,with c11mpetency,ifnotabundance ofall things;now at !aft are his people vifJtedwith a loogdeanh, we are not at firft fenlible ofcommon evills:Three yearcs drought and fcarcity are gone over ere Dwid confu!ts with God,concerning theoccafionef the judgement,nowhe fou'ad it high time to f<ek the face ofthe Lor~; The continuance of an aflliClion fends us to God, & calls upon us ro aok for a reckoning; whereas like B men ftrucken in their Ueepe,a fudden blowcannot make us to finde our felves; but rather afionitheth, then teacheth us. David was himlelfaProphet ofGod,yct had not the Lord all thiswhile acquainted himwith the grounds of his proceedings againfi Ifrael1 this fecret was hid from him, rill he Confulted with theUrim; Ordinary meanes !hall reveale that to him, which no vifion had defcried:And ifGod will have Prophets to have receurfc unto the Priefis,forthe notice of hiswill;how much more mulhhe people! E...en thofc that are inwardeft with God, muft have ufe of the Ephod. J utlly it is prefuppofed by D•vid that there was nev<r judgment from God,where bath not b<en a provocation fr6 men;theroforc when he fees theplague,he inquires for the fin. Never manfmarted cauOefly from the hand of divine juftiee; Ohthat C when we fuffer, we could aske what we have done,and could guideour repentance to the roote ofour evils. That God whofe counfds are fecret,even where his a~ions are open, will noe be clofe to his Prophet,to his Prldl: without inquiry we !hall know nothins; upon in· quity nothing !ball be concealed from us that is fit for us ro know. Who c1n chooftbut wonder at oncc,hothat D•11iJs flackneffein confultingwith God,and Gods fpeed in anfwering follow a demand!He that lo well knewthe way to Gods Oracle, fuffers lfrael to be three yeares pinched with famine, erehe askes why they fuffer;Evcn the beft hearts may be overtakenwith dulneffe in holyduties; But oh themarvellous mercy ofGod,thattakos not theadvirage ofour wcakncffes. D•vlds quefiion is not more flow, then hls anf••er is fpecdy,II il for Saul, •nd for hil D bloody houfo, btc••fe he jle,. the Gibw•itts. Ifrad was full oflins, befides thofcof S•uls houfo;S•uls houfe was full of fins, befides thofe ofblood:Much blood waslbed by them befides that ofthe Gibeonites ; yet the julliceofGod lingles out this one fin ofviolence offered to the Gibeonires (contrary to the league madeby Iofou, fome foure hundred yeares before) for the occafion of this late vengeance. Where the caufes ofoffence are infinite, it is juft with God to pitch upon fome; iris mercifull not to puoith for all : Weln<er forty year<S are pafi betwixt the commitlion of the fin, and the reckoning for it;It is a vaine hope that is raifed fromthe delayofjudge• ment:No time can beany prejudice to the Ancientofdayes:When we have forgot• ten our fins; when the world hath forgotten us, bee fues us afrelh for our arcrages. The Oaughter of the Gibeonites was the fin not ofthe prefenr,but rather the former E geoeration;and now pofterity payes for their forefathers: Even we men hold it nor unjufi to fue the heir<S and executors ofour debtors; Eternall parments God ufes onely to require ofthe perfon, temporary oft-times offucceffion. AsS ••l washigherby the head and !boulders then the reft of Ifrael,both in llature and dignity, fo were his fins more conlpicuous then thofe ofthe vulgar. The <nu· nence ofthe perfon makes the offence more remarkable to the eyes bothof God and =L • Neither S•ul nor Ifrael were faultldfe in other kinds, yet God fixes the eyeofhls revenge upon the maffacre ofthe Gibeonites. Every fin bath a tongue, but that of bloodover-cryes and drowns thereil. He who is mercy it felfeabhorres cruelty in his creatureaboveallother inordioateneffe1 !hat holy foulewhich washeavy preC. fed with the weight ofanhainous adultery, yet cryes out, Dllivtr "' ' {r1111 6/olll, 0 Gill,
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