NAo MI and Rv T H. fhrwill try to recover her country,and kindred.Ifwe can have the fame condition in Judah,that we have in.Mo~b,wc are no Ifraelites ifwe returne nor. Whiles her husband anti fons lived,I heare no motion of retiring home; now rhefe her earthly !byes are removed, fhee thinks prefenrly of removing tO her country; Neither canwe fo heartily thinke ofour home above, whiles we are furnifhed with thefe conten~ments; when Gods llnps us of them, llwghn.ayes our nund " llJC>mc!lvard. from Bethlee~,un~r the prote&ion ofan husband,~ttended with .Jn<:rlonne>;,l\oredwith fubll~nce; refolves now to mcafure all that ...ay alone.Her bad 1\riptherofall, but a good heart; that rem~ines ... ith her,asd beares up her the dccpell ofhe~extremit~. TrueChdllian fortitude .,.~des~horow all evils; and though we be up to thc.chm, yet keeps 6rme footmg agam£\ the fireame: where tillS is,the. [e<IS not difcerned ; neither io the qu~ntity ofthe cvill read in the face. H01• well doththis courage become Ifraelites, when 1ve arc lrft comfortlef!C: in the midi\ ofthe Moab ofth1sworld, ro refolve the contc!Tipt ofall . · the rray to our home I As contrarily, nothing doth more mif-befeem a rhan rbat hi~ fpirit 11~o:'Jd fi:og IYith ~is e£\ate, and that any diftiQ.Ilty lumdefpurt ofattammg h1s-bell cnJs; Goodne£fe is ofa ~<inning quality wherefoevcr it is, and evrn amongll Infidels will make it felfe friends. The good difpofition of Naami catries away the hearts of her dau;;hrers in law with h<r; fo as they are ready to forfake their their country, yea their owne mother, for a ftraogcr, wbofe affinity dyed her fonnes. Thofe men are worfe than Infidels, :and next ro.Divels, that the vertues of Gods Saints ; -and could love their perfons well, if theywere confcionable. - Howearoellly doe thefe two.daugbtenof Mo•b plead for their c:ontinuartcewil:h 'JI{.a""'i;and hmv hulily is either ofthemdiff'wadcd from partaking ofthe ruifery her fociety! There are good natures even among Infidcls,and fuch as for moral difpolition,and civil! refpe&s, cannot be exceeded by tbe bell profeffors. Who can futftr his heart to rtfl 1nthofe qualities, which are common to them that arc without God? ' Nflomi could not be fo infen!ible or ber ow11e good, as not to know how rnuch comfort fhe might reape to tbc folitarinelfe, both of her voyage; aftd her widdow-hood, by tlic fociety ofthefe two yo~er widdowcs,,whofe affc&ions fhe bad I fo well tried; even very parlnerlhip inmitigation of evils ; yet fo earneftlydotb fhee di"ll\vade themfrom accompanying het, as that !bee could not have fayd more, if fhe had thought their prefence irkefome, and burdenous : Good difpolitions lave not ro p1eafure thcmfel•es with ,tke difadvantage of otlien ; and had rath"be miferahle alone, than to draw in partners to their forro·N; for the fight ofanotbers calamity, doth rather double their mone ; and ifthemfelvos were free, would atfea them with compaffion : As contrarily, ill minds care not hmr many companions they have in mifery, nor bow few conforts in good; If themfelves mifcltry, they could be content all the world wete inwrapped10ith them in the fame dillreff'c. E I marv~Jlnotthat Orpah is bythis feafonable impor~unity perf10aded to return; from a morher in Jaw,to amother in nature;from a toilefome journey,to reft;from 1\rangors,toher ldnred;from an hopelelfc conditi.>n,to liklihoods ofcontentment. A little in treaty.~ ferve to move nature to begood unto it fdfe: Every oneis rather a Naomi to hiS own foule, to perf,nde it to lhyfiill, andinjorthedelights of Ato.th, _rather than to hazard our cntcrtainment1in B•thlmlf. Will Religion allow me this Nilde liberty of my attions, this loofc mirth, thcfe carnall pleafures ? -~ Can I be a Chriflian, and not live fullenly ? .None but a regenerate heart can chufe rather to futfer adverfity with Gods people, than to injoy the plcafurcs of fin for a fearon. The one lill:er takes an unwilling fare~<ell,and moillens her !aft ki£fes with many P reares:
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