Hall - HP BX5133 .H34 1647

Contemplations. LIB. XIX· blelfedwith peaCe!.!lay but a while,you fhalfee her come on her knees to the Kincr A of I.(i:Jei,pitifully complainingthat !hewas fi;ipped ofhoufe,:md land:andnow G~ I hep IS famto doe that good 9ffice for her,wh!Ch was not accepted from his mafter. 'Ihofe that .!land fafiefiupon earth have but llippery footing: no man can fay that he lliall not need friends. Modefiy fealed up the lips ofthe good shnn;Jmite: lhe was afi1amedtoconfelfe her longing:Gehezi eafily guelfed that her barrennelfe could·not but be heraffiicti6. fl1ee was childlelfe,her husband old: Elijha gratifies her with the newes ofa fonne; Abgfll this feafon according tg the time oflife,tholljhalt embrace • fonne: How liberalis God by his Prophet, in giving beyond her requefts: not feldome doth his bounty over-reach our thoughts, an~ meet us with thofe benefits, which wee thought too good fol'US!O aske.Greatnefie and inexpectation makes the bleffmg feeme incredible, Nay, my Lord, thgumanofGod,doe not lie tothinehand-m•id: We areneverfure B enough ofwhat wedefire: We are not more hard 10 beleeve, thenlorhtodifirufi beneficial events:She we! knew the Prophets holinelfe couldnot .!land with wilful fallhood;perhaps lhe might think it fpoken by way oftryall,not offerious affirmation;as unwilling therefore that itlhould not be,and willing to hearethat pleafing word feconded, lhe faies, Dse not lie tJJ thine h•nd-maid. Promifes are made good, not byiter3tion,bur by theeffect; The Shun•mite conceives, and bears afon, at the fet feafon: Howglad a mother fhe was, thofe know befi, that have mourned under the difcomfort ota fad fierility.The child growes up, and is now able to find out hh father in the field,amongfi his Reapers: His father now grewyoung againwith the pleafure ofhis fight; and more joyed in this fpring ofhis hopes,theninallthe C cropsofhis harvelt;But what fiability is there in thefe earthly delights~ The hot bettmes ofthe Sunne beat upon that head whicb 100 much care hadmade tender,& delicate; The child camplaines 10 his f.uhur, ofhis paine; Oh that grace could teach us, what nature teaches 1nfams, in all ourtroubles to bemoane our felvesto our heavenly father ! He fends himtol1is mother; upon her bp, aboutnoone, the child dies; as ifbe would return his foul into that bofome, from which it was derived to him;The ~ood S!JunAmitehath loft her fonne,her faith fhe had not lofi;Paffion bath not robbed her ofher wifdome;As not dillracted with an_ accident fofudden,foforrowfull, lhe biesher dead child upon the Prophets bed, fhelocksthe doore;lhe hides her griefe,lefi that confiermationmight hinder her defigne;fhe hafiens to her husband,and (as not daring tobe other then officious in fo difireff-!UII D ~n bccafion)acquainrs him with her joumey,(though not with the caufe) requires pf h:imboth attendance and conveyance; fl1e pofis 10 mount Carmel; fhe cannot fo foonennd out the man of God, as he bath found her; He fees herafarreoff,and )if<~ a thankful! gucfi, fends his fervanr hafiily to meet her, to inquire of the ihcalth of her felfe, her husband, her child<; Her errand was not to Ge!Je..,i, it 'was to Elijha; rlo melfenger fhall interrupt her ; no eare fhall receive hercomplaint but the Prophets. Down fhe fals pallionately at his feet, and, forgetting the lfailiion ofher bafhfull firangenelfe, !ayes hold ofthem, whether in an humble :veneration of hisperfon, or in a fervent defire offatisfatlion. Gehe:.i, who well •kne1v how uncouth, how unfit this gefiu<e offalur:itionwosfor his mafter, oifers iro remove her, and admonifl1eth her ofher difiance; The merciful! Prophet eafi· E Ly apprehends that no ordinary occafion could fo tranfport agrave, and well goiverned matrone; as therefore pitying her unknowne paffion, he bids, Ltt h:r alone,for herfo•lir vtxrd withiu her,and the L.rdbath hid it frbm mre, and hath not t.Um«. lfexrremityofgriefe have made her unmannerly, wife and holy Elifb•r knowes noL how to pardon it1 !'fedares not adde forrow to the affiitled; bee. can 1 !letter beare an unfeemlinelfe m her grecung, then crutlty m her moleflauon. Greot was the familiarity that the Prophet had with his God; and as friends are wont mutually to impart their counfells to each other, fo had~he Lorddo':eto him;Eiifoa was not idle on mount Carmel; What was it that he _faw not from ~hece~ Not heaven onely, butt he vvorl<! vvas before_him,_yet the Slmnamites lo!feJS .contealed from him: neither doth he fhame to confelfeit; 0 fttimesrhofe that know reater

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