[ontemplationr. LIB. V. yet their cenfure lhould have bin unjuft. Shall God care for the tongues ofmen. the A holy God,for th_e tongues oflnfidds~ Thevery Ifraelites,now they were froO: under the hands ot ..£gypt,carednot for the~r words;and fl~>ll the God ofHeaven re. gard that" hich is not worth the regard of men~ Their tongues could not walk a. gainft God,bm from himfelf; and if it could have been the worfe for him; would he have permitted it~ But, 0 God, how dainty art thou ofthine honour, that thou canft not endure theworft ofmen fl10uld have any colour to taint it! What doe we men !land upon our jufiice and innocence, with negled ofall unjufi cenfures· when that infinite God,whom no cenfures can "ach, will not abide that thev<ry Eoyptians lhould fallly taxe his power and mercy~ Wife men mull cate,not only tg deferve well,but to hearewell, and to wipe off, not onely crimes,hut cenfures. There was never fo precious a Monument,as theTableswrittenwith Gods own Jl hand.If we fee but the !lonewhich Iacobs head refted on; or, on which the foot of Chrift did once tread; we look upon it with more then ordina,ry refped: With what eye lhould we have beheld this ftone,which was hewed and written with the very linger of God~ Any manu-fcriptfcroll written by the hand ofa tamous man, is laid upamongftour jewds; What place then lhould we havegiven to the handwritingof the Almighty ! That which he hathdiaated to hisfervants die Prophets, challenges juft honour from us;howdoth that deferve veneration,which his own hand wrote immediatly! Prophefies and Euangelicalldifcourfes he hath written by others, never did he write any thing himfelfbutthefe Tables ofthe Law :neither did he ever fpeak any thing audibly to whole mankinde,but it;The hand,the !lone,the Law were all his. C By how muchmore precious this Record was,by fo much was the fault greater,of defacing it.What King holds it ldfe then rebellion,to teare hiswriting,andblemi!h his Seale?At the lirft heingraved his image in the table ofmans heart1Adam blurred the!mage, but (through Godsmercy) faved the Tablet. Now hewrites his williA the Tables ofllone; UKofis breaksthe Tables,and defuced thewriting: ifthey had been given him for himfelf, the Author,the ~atter had deferved,that as theywere written in ftone,for permanency;fo they lhould be kept forever :and as they were • everlaftin~ in ufe,fo they lhould be in prefervation. Had they been writtenin clay, they couldbut have been broken: but now they were given for all Ifrael, for all mankinde. He WlS but the meffenger,notthe own<r. Howfoever therefore Ifrael had deferved,by breaking thisCovenant withGod,to have thisMonumenrofGods D Covenant with thembroken by the fame hand that wrote it : yet how durft M•fh thus care!ellycall away theTreafureofall the world;and by his hands undoe that, whichwaswith fuch coft and care done by hisCreator1 Howdurft he failethetrull ofthat God,whofe pledge he receivedwith awe,and reverence~ He that expoftulated with God, to have Ifraellive and profper, why would be deface the rule or theirlife,in the keeping wheroftheyfl10uld profper!I fee,that forty daies talk with God cannot bereave a man of paflionate infirmity: he that was the meekell upon earth, in a fudden indignation abandons that, which in cold bloud he would have held fafter then his life: He forgets the Law·written, when he faw it broken l His zealc for God hath tranfported himfrom himfdf,&his duty to the chargeofGod: He more hates theGolden Calf wherin he faw ingraventhe Idolatr.y oflfrael,then E he honoured theTables of!lone;wherein God had ingraven his Commandements; and more longed tO deface tbe Idol,then he caredto preferve the Tables. Yet that God which fo flmply revenged the breachofone Law,upon the Ifraelites, checks not M ofts for breakmg both the Tables ofth<; Law. The Law ofGod is fpirituall; the internal! breach ofoneLaw,is fo hainous,that in C!lmparifon ofit, God fcarce counts the breaking ofthe outward Tables,a breach ofthe Law. The goodndle'?f God winks at the errours ofhonefl zeale,aQd fo lo,·es the ftrength of good atfeatons, that it paffeth overtheir infirmities:How highly God doth efteemeawell governed zeale; when his mercy crownes it with all the faults ! The Tables had notoffended : The Calfehad,and lfrael in ir. tMoftstakes re, vengeon both: He burne> and !lamps rheCalfe to powder, and gives it lfraelt". l. ... dunk; 1
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=