John Knox - Life of Knox by Thomas M'Crie - Puritan
Hard Drive
Extracted from: Selected Writings of John Knox: Public Epistles, Treatises, and Expositions to the Year 1559
"During his residence at Berwick, he
[Knox] had formed an
acquaintance with Marjory Bowes, a young lady, who afterwards became his wife.
Before he left Berwick, Knox had paid his addresses to this young lady, and met
with a favourable reception. Her mother also was friendly to the match; but,
owing to some reason, most probably the presumed aversion of her father, it was
deemed prudent to delay solemnizing the union. But having come under a formal
promise to her, he considered himself, from that time, as sacredly bound, and
in his letters to Mrs. Bowes always addressed that lady by the name of
mother." (M'Crie's Life of Knox [Edinburgh, 1855], p. 44.)
"Mrs. Bowes, who had borne her
husband some fifteen children, had accepted the Protestant doctrine of
justification by faith alone, probably prior to Knox's arrival. She soon became
an important member of the congregation. Nevertheless, her views were not
shared by her husband, although her fifth daughter Marjory and her son George
seem to have followed her example. While we do not know very much about her,
she shows herself to have been a woman with two distinct sides to her nature.
On the one, according to Knox she was a person with strong convictions who at
times strengthened even him when he was faint. This we may well believe, for
she withstood considerable opposition, if not persecution, in her own family
because of her faith. On the other hand, she had continual doubts and fears
about her own spiritual condition: whether she had true faith, whether she was
of the elect, whether she had committed the unpardonable sin. This uncertainty
caused her constantly to consult Knox, and when he was not present to write to
him. The letters in which he attempted to reply to her questions she kept and
these provide us with a good insight not only into her problems, but into Knox
himself." (W. Stanford Reid, Trumpeter of God [New York, 1974], p. 79-80.)
Shortly after being exiled in Dieppe, Knox
dispatched two treatises to England. The reformer had previously begun writing
the Exposition upon the Sixth Psalm
in response to the entreaties of Mrs. Bowes. The Godly Letter of Warning or
Admonition, was the other treatise
sent at this time.
Knox was separated from his betrothed, as
well as his mother-in-law, until he journeyed to Scotland in the autumn of
1555. Sometime after this, he and Marjory were able to solemnize their
marriage. Marjory and her mother then returned with Knox to Geneva in September
1556, when the reformer assumed pastoral responsibilities within the
congregation of English exiles in Geneva.
Wherein are declared his cross, complaints, and
prayers; necessary to be read of all them, for their singular comfort, that
under the banner of Christ are by Satan assaulted, and feel the heavy burden of
sin with which they are oppressed.
The patient abiding of the sorely
afflicted was never yet confounded.
To his beloved mother, John Knox sends
greeting, in the Lord.
The desire that I have to hear of your
continuance with Christ Jesus, in the day of this his battle, which shortly
shall end to the confusion of his proud enemies, I can neither express by
tongue nor by pen, beloved mother. Assuredly it is such that it vanquishes and
overcomes all remembrance and solicitude, which the flesh uses to take for
feeding and defence of itself. For in every realm and nation God will stir up
some one or other to minister things that appertain to this wretched life. And
if men will cease to do their office, yet he will send his ravens; so that, in
every place, perchance I may find some feathers [clothing] to my body. But, alas! where I shall find
children to be begotten unto God by the word of life, that I cannot presently
consider. And therefore the spiritual life of such as sometimes boldly
professed Christ (God knows) is to my heart more dear than all the glory,
riches, and honour on earth.
And the falling back of such men, as I
hear daily do turn back to that idol[1]
again, is to me more dolorous [sorrowful] than, I trust, the corporeal death shall be, whenever it shall come
at God's appointment. Some will ask then, Why did I flee?[2]
Assuredly I cannot tell. But of one thing I am sure: the fear of death was not
the chief cause of my fleeing. I trust the one cause has been, to let me see
with my corporeal eyes that all had not a true heart to Christ Jesus who in the
day of rest and peace bore a fair face. But my fleeing is no matter; by God's
grace I may come to battle before all the conflict be ended. "And haste
the time, O Lord, at thy good pleasure, that once again my tongue may yet
praise thy holy name, before the congregation, if it were but in the very hour
of death."
I have written a large treatise touching
the plagues that assuredly shall apprehend obstinate idolaters,[3] and those also who, dissembling with them, deny
Christ by obeying idolatry, which I would you should read diligently. If it
come not to you from the south, I will provide that it shall come to you by
some other means.
Touching your continual trouble, given
unto you by God for better purpose than we can at present espy, I have begun
unto you the exposition of the sixth psalm; and as God shall grant unto me
opportunity and health of body (which now is very weak), I purpose to absolve [complete] the same.
[THE ARGUMENT [OF THE SIXTH PSALM]
It appears that David, after his offences,
fell into some great and dangerous sickness, in which he was sorely tormented,
not so much by corporeal infirmities as by sustaining and drinking some large
portion of the cup of God's wrath. And albeit he was delivered (as then) from
the corporeal death, yet it appears that long after (yea, and I verily believe
all his life) he had some sense and remembrance of the horrible fear which
before he suffered in the time of his sickness. And therefore the Holy Ghost,
speaking in him, shows unto us what are the complaints of God's elect under
such crosses; how diversely they are tormented; how that they appear to have no
sure hold of God, but to be abject [cast out] from him. And yet what are the signs that they
are God's elect? And so does the Holy Ghost teach us to seek help of God, even
when he is punishing and appears to be angry.
THE SIXTH PSALM[4]
O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger,
nor chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
Psalm 6:1
David, sorely troubled in body and spirit,
lamentably prays unto God, which, that we may more surely understand, I will
attempt to express [it] in more words. David speaks unto God, as he would speak
unto a man, in this manner: [5]"O Lord, I feel
what is the weight and strength of thy displeasure. I have experienced how
intolerable is the heaviness of thy hand, which I, most wretched man, have
provoked against myself by my horrible sins. Thou whippest me and scourgest me
bitterly; yea, thou so vexest me, that, unless thou withdraw thy hand and remit
thy displeasure, there resteth nothing unto me but utterly to be confounded. [6]I beseech thee, O Lord, rage not, neither be
commoved against me above measure. Remit and take away thy heavy displeasure,
which, by my iniquity, [7]I have provoked against myself." This appears
to have been the meaning of David in his first words, whereby he declares
himself to have felt the grievous wrath of God before he burst forth in these
words.
In which, first, is to be noticed, [8]that the prophet does acknowledge all trouble that
he sustained, as well in body as in mind, to be sent of God, and not to happen
unto him by chance. For herein peculiarly differ the sons of God from the
reprobate: that the sons of God know both prosperity and adversity to be the
gifts of God only, as Job does witness. And, therefore, in prosperity commonly
they are not insolent nor proud; but even in the day of joy and rest they look
for trouble and sorrow. Neither yet in the time of adversity are they
altogether left without comfort, but by one mean or other God shows to them that
trouble shall have an end; where contrariwise, the reprobate, either taking all
things of chance, or else making an idol of their own wisdom, in prosperity are
so puffed up, that they forget God, without any care that trouble should
follow; and in adversity they are so dejected, that they look for nothing but
hell.
Here must I put you in mind, dearly
beloved, how oft you and I have talked of these present days, till neither of
us could refrain [from] tears, when no such appearance there was seen by man. How
oft have I said unto you, that I looked daily for trouble, and that I wondered
at it, that I did escape it so long? What moved me to refuse, and that with
displeasure of all men (even of those who best loved me), those high promotions
which were offered by him,[9] whom God has taken from us for our offences?[10] Assuredly the foresight of trouble to come. How
oft have I said unto you, that the time would not be long that England would
give me bread? Advise with the last letter that I wrote unto your
brother-in-law, and consider what is therein contained.
While I had this trouble, you had the
greater; sent, I doubt not, to us both of God; that, in that great rest, and,
as we call it, when the gospel triumphed, we should not be so careless and so
insolent as others were, who, albeit they professed Christ in mouth, yet sought
they nothing but the world, with hand, with foot, with counsel, and wisdom. And
albeit at this present [time] our comfort appears not; yet, before all the
plagues are poured forth, it shall be known that there is a God who takes care
for his own.
[11]Secondarily, is to be observed, that the nature and
engine [disposition] of the
very sons of God, in the time of their trouble, is to impute unto God some
other affection than there is, or can be in him, towards his children; and
sometimes to complain upon God, as that he did those things which, in very
deed, he cannot do to his elect. David and Job often complained that God had
left them, had become their enemy, regarded not their prayers, and took no heed
to deliver them. And yet it is impossible that God shall either leave his
chosen, or that he shall despise the humble petitions of such as do incall his
support. But such complaints are the voices of the flesh, wherewith God is not
offended so as to reject his elect, [12]but
pardons them among their innumerable infirmities and sins. And therefore,
dearly beloved, despair you not, albeit the flesh sometimes bursts out in heavy
complaints, as it were, against God. You are not more perfect than were David
and Job; and you cannot be so perfect as Christ himself was, who, upon the
cross, cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matt.
27:46). Consider, dear mother, how lamentable and horrible were those words to
the only Son of God. And David, in the eighty-eighth psalm (which, for the
better understanding, I desire you to read) complains upon God, that night and
day he had cried, and yet he was not delivered; "But," says he,
"my soul is filled with dolour; I am as a man without strength. I am like
unto those that are gone down into the pit, of whom thou hast no more mind;
like unto those that are cut off by thy hand. Thou hast put me in a deep
dungeon. All thy wrath lieth upon me. Why leavest thou me, Lord? Why hidest
thou thy face so far from me? Thou hast removed all my friends from me. Thou
hast made me odious unto them" (Ps. 88:3-8). And thus he ends his psalm
and complaint, without mention of any comfort received. And Job, in diverse
places of his book, makes even the like complaints; sometimes saying that God
was his enemy, and had set him, as it were, a mark to shoot at; and, therefore,
that his soul desires actual destruction (cf. Job 16:13).
These things I recite unto you, dearly
beloved, understanding what have been your troubles heretofore, and knowing
that Satan will not cease now to persuade your tender conscience that none of
God's elect have been in like case as you are. But by these precedents, and many
other places (which I have no opportunity now to collect), it plainly does
appear that God's chosen vessels have suffered the like temptations. I remember
that often you have complained upon the grudging and murmuring that you found
within yourself, fearing that it provoked God to more displeasure. Behold and
consider, dear mother, what God has borne with his saints before. Will he not
bear the same with you, being most sorry for your imperfection? He cannot do
otherwise. But as his wisdom has made us all of one mass and nature (earth and
earthly); and as he has redeemed us with one price (the blood of his only Son);
so must he, according to his promise, look mercifully upon the offences of all
those that incall [call upon]
the name of the Lord Jesus (Rom. 10:13): of these, I mean, that refuse all
other justice [righteousness]
but his alone.
But to our matter: of these precedents it
is plain that God's elect, before you, suffered the like cross as presently you
suffer; that they have complained as you complain; that they have thought
themselves abject [cast off] as
you have thought, and yet may [still] think yourself; and yet, nevertheless,
they were sure in God's favour. Hope, dear mother, and look you for the same;
hope (I say) against hope. How horrible the pain is to suffer that cross none
can express, except such as have proved it. Fearful it is, for the very pain
itself; but most fearful it is, for that the godly, so tormented, judges God to
be angry, in fury, and in rage against them, as is before expressed. Seeing we
have found this cross to appertain to God's children, it shall be profitable to
search out the causes of the same.
Plain it is, that not only God works all
to the profit of his elect, but also that he works it of such love towards
them, and with such wisdom, that otherwise things could not be. And to
understand this is very profitable, partly to satisfy the grudging complaints
of the flesh, which in trouble, commonly does question, "Why does God this
or that?" And albeit the flesh in this earth can never be fully satisfied;
but even as hunger and thirst from time to time assault it, so do other more
gross imperfections. Yet the inward man, with sobs unto God, knowing the causes
why the very just are sorely troubled and tormented in body and spirit in this
life, receives sure comfort, and gets some stay of God's mercy, by knowing the
causes of the trouble. All causes I may not here recite, but two or three of
the principal I will touch.
The first is, to provoke in God's elect a
hatred of sin, and unfeigned repentance of the same; which cause, if it were
righteously considered, were sufficient to make all spiritual and corporeal
troubles tolerable unto us. For seeing it is, that without repentance no man
does attain to God's mercy (for it is now appointed by him, whose wisdom is
infinite, I mean, of those that are converted to the feeling of sin), and that
without mercy no man can come to joy: is not that which lets us understand what
repentance is, gladly to be received and embraced?
Repentance contains in it a knowledge of
sin, a dolour [sorrow] for it,
and a hatred of it, together with a hope of mercy. It is very evident that
God's own children have not, at all times, the right knowledge of sin that is to say, how odious it is before God much less have they the dolour for it, and hatred
of it. Which if they had, as they could not sin, so could they never be able
(having always that very sense of God's wrath against sin) to delight in
anything that appertains to the flesh, more than the woman whom God has
appointed by the help of man to produce mankind, could ever delight in man, if
at all times she felt the same pangs of dolour and pain, that she does in her
childbirth. And therefore God, for such purposes as are known to himself, does
sometimes suspend from his own children this foresaid sense and feeling of his
wrath against sin; as no doubt he here did with David, not only before his sin,
but also sometime after. But lest the sons of God should become altogether
insolent, like the children of the world, he sends unto them some portion of
this foresaid cup, in drinking whereof they come to such knowledge as they
never had before. For, first, they feel the wrath of God working against sin,
whereby they learn the justice of God to be even such as he himself pronounces,
that he may suffer no sin unpunished. And thus begin they, as well to mourn for
their offences, as also to hate the same, which otherwise they could never do.
For nothing is so pleasing to the corrupt nature of man as sin is; and things
pleasing to nature, nature by itself cannot hate.
But in this conflict, as God's children
feel torments, and that most grievous; as they mourn, and by God's Holy Spirit
begin to hate sin; so they come also to a more high knowledge: that is, that a
man cannot be saviour to himself. For how shall he save himself from hell, who
cannot save himself from anguish and trouble here in this flesh, while he has
strength, wit, reason, and understanding? And therefore he must be compelled in
his heart to acknowledge, that there must be another Mediator betwixt God's
justice and mankind, than any that ever descended of the corrupt seed of Adam;
yea, than any creature that only is [a] creature. And by the knowledge of this
Mediator, at last the afflicted comes by some sense and lively feeling of God's
great mercies declared unto mankind, albeit they are not so sensible as is the
pain. And albeit that torment, by this knowledge, is not hastily removed, yet
the patient has some hope that all dolour shall have [an] end. And that is the
cause why he sobs and groans for an end of pain; why also he blasphemes not
God, but cries for his help, even in the midst of his anguish.
How profitable this is to the children of
God, and what it works in them, as the plain scripture teaches, so experience
lets us understand. And verily even so profitable as it is to mourn for sin, to
hate the same, to know the Mediator betwixt God and man, and, finally, to know
his free love and mercy towards them: so necessary is it to drink this foresaid
cup. What it works in them, none knows but such as tastes it.
In David it is plain that it wrought
humility and abjection [casting down] of himself; it took from him the great trust that he had in himself;
it made him daily to fear, and earnestly to pray, that afterwards he should not
offend in like manner, nor be left to his own hands. It made him lowly,
although he was a king; it made him merciful when he might have been rigourous;
yea, it caused him to mourn for Absalom his wicked son. But to the rest of the
causes.
The second cause why God permits his elect
to taste of this bitter cup is to raise up our hearts from these transitory
vanities; for so foolish and so forgetful of nature, and so addicted are we to
the things that are present, that unless we have another school master than
manly [human] reason, and some
other spur and perpetual remembrance than any that we can choose (or devise
ourselves), we neither can desire, neither yet righteously remember, the
departure from this vain and wicked world, to the kingdom that is prepared.
We are commanded daily to pray, "Thy
kingdom come" (Matt. 6:10): which petition asks that sin may cease; that
death may be devoured; that transitory troubles may have an end; that Satan may
be trodden under our feet; that the whole body of Christ may be restored to
life, liberty, and joy; that the powers and kingdoms of this earth may be
dissolved and destroyed; and that God the Father may be all in all things,
after that his Son Christ Jesus has rendered up the kingdom for ever.
For these things are we all commanded to
pray. But which of us (at the time when all abounds with us, when neither body
nor spirit has trouble), from our heart, and without dissimulation, can wish
these things? Verily, none. With our mouths we may speak the words; but the
heart cannot thirst the effect to come, except we are in such estate that
worldly things are unsavoury unto us. And so they can never be, but under the
cross; neither yet under all kinds of crosses are worldly things unpleasant.
For, in poverty, riches do greatly delight many; for although they lack them,
yet they desire to have them, and so they are neither unsavoury nor unpleasant;
for things that we earnestly covet are not unpleasant unto us. But when things
appertaining to the flesh are sufficiently ministered unto us, and yet none of
them can mollify our anguish or pain, then the heart sobs unto God, and
unfeignedly wishes an end of misery. And, therefore, our heavenly Father, of
his infinite wisdom, to hold us in continual remembrance that in this wretched
world there is no rest, permits and suffers us to be tempted and tried with
this cross, that with an unfeigned heart we may desire not only an end of our
own troubles (for that shall come to us by death), but also of all the troubles
of the church of God; which shall not be before the again [second] coming of the Lord Jesus.
The third cause I collect of Moses' words
to the Israelites, saying, "The Lord thy God shall cast out these nations
by little and little before thee. He will not cast them out all at once, lest,
perchance, the wild beasts be multiplied against thee" (Deut. 7:22). And
also, "When thou shalt enter into that good land, and shalt dwell in the
houses which thou never builded, and that thou shalt eat and be filled, give
thanks unto the Lord thy God, and beware that thou forget him not; and that
thou say not in thy heart, 'The strength of mine own hand hath brought these
great riches unto me'" (cf. Deut. 6:10-12; 8:8-17).
In these words are two things appertaining
to our matter, most worthy to be noted. First, that Moses says, that the Lord
will not at once, but by little and little, destroy those nations; adding the
cause, lest, perchance (says he), the wild beasts be multiplied, and make
uproar against you. The second, that when they had abundance, then they should
declare themselves mindful of God's benefits; and that they should not think
their own power, wisdom, nor provision was any cause that they had the fruition
of those commodities.
By these precedents, the Holy Ghost
teaches unto them, that like as they did not possess nor obtain the first
interest of that land by their own strength, but that the Lord God did freely
give it to them; so likewise they were not able to brook [sustain] nor enjoy the same by any power of themselves.
For although God should have, in one moment, destroyed all their enemies, yet,
if he should not have been their perpetual safeguard, the wild beasts would
have troubled them. And if they had demanded the question, "Why wilt thou
not destroy the wild beasts also?" He answers, "Lest thou forget the
Lord thy God, and say unto thy heart, 'My strength hath obtained this quietness
to myself'" (Deut. 8:17).
Consider, dearly beloved, that such things
as the Spirit of God foresaw to be dangerous and damnable unto them, the same
things are to be feared in us; for all things happened to them in figures (1
Cor. 10:11). They were, in Egypt, corporeally punished by a cruel tyrant; we
were in spiritual bondage of the devil by sin and unbelief. God gave to them a
land that flowed with milk and honey, for which they never laboured; God has
opened to us the knowledge of Christ Jesus, which we never deserved, nor yet
hoped for the same. They were not able to defend the land, after they were possessed
in it; we are not able to retain ourselves in the true knowledge of Christ, but
by his grace only. Some enemies were left to exercise them; sin is left in us,
to teach us to fight. If [there] had not been enemies, wild beasts should have
multiplied amongst them; if such things as we think most do trouble us were not
permitted so to do, worse beasts should have dominion over us: to wit, trust in
ourselves, arrogance, oblivion, and forgetfulness of that estate from which God
has delivered us, together with a light estimation of all Christ's merits;
which sins are the beasts that, alas, devour no small number of men. Neither
yet let any man think, that if all kinds of crosses were taken from us, during
the time we bear the earthly image of Adam, that we should be more perfect in
using the spiritual gifts of God to
wit, the free remission of sins, his free graces and Christ's justice [righteousness], for which we never laboured nor [than] that people should have been in using of those corporeal gifts.
And Moses says unto them, "Beware
that thou forget not the Lord thy God" (Deut. 8:11). He who knows the
secrets of hearts, gives not his precepts in vain; but knowing what things are
most able to blind and deceive man, the wisdom of God, by his contrary precepts,
gives him warning of the same. Experience has taught us how such beasts have
troubled the church of God, to speak nothing of the time of the prophets, of
the apostles, or of the primitive church.
What trouble Pelagius made by his heresy!
affirming that man, by natural power and free will, might fulfill the law of
God, and deserve for himself remission and grace. And to come a little nearer
to our own age, has it not been openly preached and affirmed in schools, and
set out by writings, that only faith does justify, but that works do also
justify? Has it not been taught that good works may go before faith, and may
provoke God to give his graces? What has been taught of men's merits, and of
the works of supererogation? Some openly affirming, that some men have wrought
more good works than were necessary to their own salvation. I pray you,
consider if these men said not, "Our hand and our strength have given
these things unto us" (Deut. 8:17). What were these devilish heresies
aforesaid, and others that have infected the whole Papistry? Assuredly they
were cruel and ravenous beasts, able to devour the souls of all those upon whom
they get the upper hand. But the merciful providence of our God, willing our
salvation, will not suffer us to come to that unthankfulness and oblivion. And
therefore he permits us, with his apostle Paul, to be buffeted to [of] our
enemies to the end, and that we may mourn for sin, and hate the same; that we
may know the only Mediator and the dignity of his office; that we may unfeignedly
thirst [for] the coming of the Lord Jesus; and that we neither be presumptuous,
lightly esteeming Christ's death, neither yet unmindful of our former estate
and miseries. And so this cup is, as it were, a medicine prepared by the wisdom
of our eternal Physician, who only [alone] knows the remedies for our corrupt nature.
Advert and mark, dear mother, that all
comes to us for our most singular profit. It is a medicine, and therefore
presently it cannot be pleasing. But how gladly would we use and receive, when
the body was sick (how unpleasant and bitter that ever it was to drink), that
medicine which would remove sickness and restore health! But O! how much more
ought we, with patience and thanksgiving, receive this medicine of our Father's
hand, that from our souls removes so many mortal diseases (his Holy Ghost so
working by the same); such as pride, presumption, contempt of grace, and
unthankfulness; which are the very mortal diseases that, by unbelief, kill the
soul, and do restore unto us lowliness, fear, invocation of God's name,
remembering of our own weakness, and of God's infinite benefits, by Christ
received; which are the very evident signs that Jesus Christ lives in us. What
signs and tokens of these precendents have appeared in you (and [in] others
that are in your company), since your first profession of Christ Jesus, it
needs me not to rehearse. "God grant that the eyes of men be not blinded
to their own perdition. Amen."
Presently I may write no more unto you in
this matter, beloved mother. But as God shall grant unto me more opportunity,
by his grace who gives all, you shall receive from my hands the rest of David's
mind in this psalm: most earnestly beseeching you in the bowels of Christ
Jesus, patiently to bear your present cross and dolours, which shortly shall
vanish, and shall never appear. I cannot express the pain which I think I might
suffer to have the presence of you, and of others that are alike troubled, but a
few days. But God shall gather us at his good pleasure; if not in this wretched
and miserable life, yet in that estate where death may not dissever us. My
daily prayer is for the sorely afflicted in those quarters. Sometimes I have
thought that impossible it had been, so to have removed my affection from the
realm of Scotland, that any realm or nation could have been equally dear unto
me. But God I take to record in my conscience, that the troubles present (and
appearing to be) in the realm of England are doubly more dolorous [sorrowful] unto my heart, than ever were the troubles of
Scotland. But hereof to speak, I now supersede; beseeching God of his infinite
mercy so to strengthen you, that in the weakest vessels Christ's power may
appear.
My hearty commendation to all whom effeirs
[this concerns]: I mean such as
now boldly abide with Christ. I bid you so hearty farewell as can any wicked
and corrupt man do to the most especial friends. In great haste, and troubled
heart, this 6th of January [1553-54].
[THE SECOND PART] But to our purpose:
dearly beloved, accept this cup from the hands of our heavenly Father, and
albeit your pains are almost intolerable, yet cast yourself, because you have
no other refuge, before the throne of God's mercy, and with the prophet David,
being in like trouble, say unto him:
Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak!
O Lord, heal me, for all my bones are
vexed!
Psalm 6:2
Now proceeds David in his prayer, adding
certain causes why he should be heard, and obtain his petitions. But first, we
will speak of his prayers, as they are in order through this whole psalm.
David, in sum, desires four things in this
his vehement trouble. In the first verse, he asks that God would not punish him
in his heavy displeasure and wrath. In the second verse, he asks that God
should have mercy upon him. And in the third verse, he desires that he should
heal him. And in the fourth verse, he asks that God should return unto him, and
that he should save his soul. Every one of these things was so necessary unto
David, that lacking any one of them, he judges himself most miserable. He felt
the wrath of God, and therefore desired the same to be removed. He had
offended, and therefore desired mercy. He was fallen into most dangerous
sickness, and therefore he cried for corporeal health. God appeared to be
departed from him, and therefore he desired that the comfort of the Holy Ghost
should return unto him. And thus was David, not as the most part of men
commonly are in their prayers, who, of a consuetude [usage] and custom, often times do ask with their mouths
such things as their hearts do not greatly desire to obtain.
But let us mark principally what things
are to be noted in these his prayers, which he, with earnest mind, poured forth
before God. It is evident that David, in these his prayers, sustained and felt
the very sense of God's wrath; and also that he understood clearly that it was
God only that troubled him, and had laid that sore scourge upon him. And yet he
seeks support or aid no where else but at God alone, who appeared to be angry
with him. This is easy to be spoken, and the most part of men will judge it but
a light matter to flee to God in their troubles. I confess, indeed, that if our
troubles come by man's tyranny, then the most sure and most easy way is to run
to God for defence and aid. But let God appear to be our enemy, to be angry
with us, and to have left us, how hard and difficult it is then to call for his
grace and for his assistance none knows, except such as have learned it by experience;
neither yet can any man so do, except the elect children of God. For so strong
are the enemies who, with great violence, invade the troubled conscience in
that troublesome battle, that unless the hidden seed of God should make them
hope against hope, they could never look for any deliverance or comfort. The
flesh lacks not reasons and persuasions to bring us from God. The devil, by
himself and by his messengers, dares boldly say and affirm that we have nothing
to do with God. And a weak faith is often compelled to confess both the
accusations and reasons to be most true.
In time of trouble, the flesh does reason:
"O wretched man, perceive you not that God is angry with you? He plagues
you in his hot displeasure; therefore it is in vain for you to call upon
him." The devil, by his suggestion or by his ministers, does amplify and
aggravate these precedents, affirming and beating into the conscience of the
sorely afflicted in this manner: "God plagues you for your iniquity. You
have offended his holy law. Therefore it is labour lost to cry for mercy or
relief; for his justice must needs take vengeance upon all disobedient
offenders." In the mean season, a weak faith is compelled to confess and
acknowledge the accusations to be most true; for who can deny that he has
deserved God's punishments? The flesh feels the torments, and our weakness
cries out, "All is true, and no point can be denied."
The vehemence of this battle may be
plainly espied [in the account of] the sickness of Hezekiah, and in the history
of Job. Hezekiah, after he had, with lamentable tears, complained that his life
was taken away, and cut off before his time; that violence was done unto him,
and that God had bruised all his bones like a lion; at last he says, "Be
thou surety for me, O Lord" (Isa. 38:14-15). But immediately upon these
words, as it were correcting himself, he says, "What shall I say, it is he
that hath done it!" as who should say, "To what purpose complain I to
him? If he had any pleasure in me, he would not have treated me in this manner.
It is he himself, whom I thought should have been my surety and defender, that
hath wrapped me in all this wretched misery. He cannot be angry and merciful at
once (so judges the flesh), for in him there is no contrariety. I feel him to
be angry with me, and therefore it is in vain that I complain or call upon
him."
This, also, may be perceived in Job, who,
after he was accused by his friends, as one that had deserved the plague of
God; and after his wife had willed him to refuse all justice, and to curse God
and so to die; after his most grievous complaints, he says, "When I called
upon him, and he hath answered, yet believe I not that he hath heard my
voice" (Job 9:16). As if Job would say, "So terrible are my torments,
so vehement is my pain and anguish, that, albeit, verily God has heard my
petitions, yet I feel not that he will grant me my request." Here is a
strong battle, when they understand perfectly that remedy is in none, but in
God only; and yet they look for no support from God's hand, as might appear to
man's judgment. For he that says that God punishes him, and therefore cannot be
merciful, and he who doubts whether God hears him or not, appears to have cast
away all hope of God's deliverance.
These things I put you in mind of, beloved
mother, that, albeit your pains sometimes are so horrible, that you find no
release nor comfort, neither in spirit nor body; yet if the heart can only sob
unto God, despair not; you shall obtain your heart's desire, and you are not
destitute of faith. For at such time as the flesh, natural reason, the law of
God, the present torment, and the devil, at once do cry, "God is angry,
and therefore is there neither help nor remedy to be hoped for at his
hands" at such time, I say, to
sob unto God is the demonstration of the secret seed of God, which is hid in
God's elect children; and that sobs only are a more acceptable sacrifice unto
God, than, without this cross, to give our bodies to be burnt, even for the
truth's sake. For if God is present by [the] assistance of his Holy Spirit, or
no doubt is in our conscience, but we stand assuredly in God's favour, what can
corporeal trouble hurt the soul or mind? seeing the bitter frosty wind cannot
hurt the body itself, which is most warmly covered and clad from violence of
the cold.
But when the Spirit of God appears to be
absent, yea, when God himself appears to be our enemy, then to say, or to
think, with Job in his trouble, "Although he should destroy or slay me,
yet will I trust in him" (Job 13:15). O, what is the strength and
vehemence of that faith, which so looks for mercy, when the whole man feels
nothing but dolours on every side? Assuredly that hope shall never be
confounded, for so is it promised by him who cannot repent of his mercy and
goodness. Rejoice, mother, and fight to the end, for sure I am that you are not
utterly destitute of that Spirit who taught David and Job. What obedience I
have heard you give unto God, in your most strong torment, it needs now not
[for me] to write; only I desire, which is a portion of my daily prayer, God
our Father, for Christ Jesus his Son's sake, that in all your trouble you may
continue as I have left you, and that, with David, you may sob. Albeit the
mouth may not speak, yet let the heart groan, and say, "Have mercy upon
me, O Lord, and heal me" (Ps.
6:2). And then, I nothing doubt, your grievous torments shall not molest you
for ever, but shortly shall have an end, to your everlasting consolation and
comfort.
[13]You think, peradventure, that you would gladly call
and pray for mercy, but the knowledge of your sins does hinder you.
[14]Consider, dearly beloved, that all physic or
medicine serves only for the patient. So does mercy serve only for the sinner,
yea, for the wretched and most miserable sinner. Did not David understand
himself to be a sinner, and adulterer, and a shedder of innocent blood? Yea,
knew he not also that he was punished for his sins? Yes, verily he did, and
therefore he called for mercy; which he that knows not the heaviness and
multitude of sins can in no wise do, but most commonly does despise mercy when
it is offered; or, at least, the man or woman that feels not the burden of sin,
lightly regards mercy, because he feels not how necessary it is unto him; as
betwixt Christ and the proud Pharisees (Luke 5:31-32), in many places of the
New Testament it is to be seen. And therefore, dear mother, if your adversary
troubles you with your sins past or present, objecting that mercy appertains
not unto you, by reason of your sins, answer unto him as you are taught by our
Saviour Christ Jesus, that the whole needs no physician, neither yet the just,
mercy nor pardon; but that our Christ is come to give sight to the blind, and
to call sinners to repentance, of whom you acknowledge yourself to be the
greatest, and yet that you doubt nothing to obtain mercy, because it was never
denied to none [any] that asked
the same in faith, and thus no doubt you shall obtain victory by Christ Jesus,
to whom be praise for ever. Amen.
In the rest of David's prayer now will we
be shorter, that we may come to the ground of the same. After desiring of
mercy, David now desires a corporeal benefit, saying, "Heal me,
Lord" (Ps. 6:2). Hereof is to
be noted that bodily health, being the gift of God, may be asked of him without
sin, albeit we understand ourselves to be punished for our offences. Neither
yet in so praying, are we contrary to God's will; for his providence has
planted in the nature of man a desire of health, and a desire that it may be
preserved. And, therefore, he is not offended that we ask health of body, when
we lack it, neither yet that we seek preservation of our health by such
ordinary means as his Majesty has appointed; provided always that God himself
be first sought, and that we desire neither life nor health to the hindrance of
God's glory, nor to the hurt or destruction of others our brethren; but,
rather, that by us God's glory may be promoted, and that others, our brethren,
by our strength, health, and life may be comforted and defended. These
precedents now rightly observed, it is no sin earnestly to ask of God health of
body, albeit we know our sickness to be the very hand of God, punishing or
correcting our former evil life.
This I write, because some men are so
severe, that they would not that we should ask bodily health of God, because
the sickness is sent to us by him. But such men do not rightly understand,
neither yet consider, that sickness is a trouble to the body, and that God commands
us to call for his help in all our troubles. Surely, our submission and
prayers, in such extremity, is the greatest glory that we can give to our God.
For so doing, we think that his mercy abounds above his judgment, and so we are
bold to pray for the withdrawing of his scourge. Which petition, no doubt, he
must grant; for so he promises by his prophet Jeremiah, saying, [15]"If I have spoken against any nation or city,
saying that I will destroy it, and if it turn from iniquity, and repent, it
shall repent me also of the plagues that I have spoken against it" (Jer.
18:7-8). God promises to show mercy to a whole city or nation if it repent; and
will he not do the same to a particular person, if, in his sickness, he calls for
grace? He has shown unto us that he will, by diverse examples, and especially
to the leprosy of Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, which she received of
the Lord's hand, punishing her high and haughty mind. And again, upon her
submission, and at the prayer of Moses, she shortly was restored to health.
But to proceed. David, moreover, prays, "Turn
again, O Lord" (Ps. 6:4). It
appeared unto David, being in the extremity of his pain, that God was
altogether departed from him, for so this flesh (yea, the whole man) always
judges when trouble works by any continuance of time. David had sustained
trouble many days; he had prayed, and yet was not delivered. And, therefore, he
judges that God, being offended for his sins, had left him. And yet it is plain
that God was with him, working repentance in his heart by his Holy Spirit;
expressing forth those sobs and groans, as also the desire he had to be
restored to that comfort and consolation which sometimes he had felt, by the
familiarity which he had with God. All these motions, I say, were the
operations of God's Holy Spirit; and yet David could perceive no comfort nor
presence of God in his trouble, but lamentably complains, as you have heard
before. Hereof it is plain, that the very elect sometimes are without all feeling
of consolation, and that they think themselves altogether destitute, as may be
seen in David.
[16]But it is chiefly to be noted, that David, in his
anguish, remembers that God sometimes had been familiar with him, for he says, "Turn
again, O Lord," signifying
hereby, that before he had felt the sweetness of God's presence; but now he was
left to himself without feeling of comfort or consolation. For thus David
appears to complain, "Hast thou not been familiar with me, O Lord, thy
unprofitable servant? Didst thou not call me from keeping sheep, to be anointed
king over thy people Israel? Didst thou not so encourage my mind, that I feared
not the fresh strength of the cruel lion, neither yet the devouring teeth of
the hungry bear, from whose jaws I delivered my sheep? Didst not thou once
inflame my heart with the zeal of thy holy name, that when all Israel were so
afraid that none durst encounter with that monster Goliath, yet thy Majesty's
Spirit made me so bold and so valiant, that, without harness or weapons (except
my sling, staff, and stones), I durst enterprise singular battle against him?
Was it not thy own strength that gave me victory, not only at that time, but
also over all other enemies that have sought my life since? Hast thou not made
me so glad by the multitude of thy mercies and thy most gracious favour, which
thou from time to time most abundantly hast poured upon me, so that both soul
and body hath rejoiced through the gladness of thy countenance? Hast thou not
been so effectually present with me in troubles and dangers, that my very
enemies have known and confessed that thy power was always with me, and that
thou didst take my defence upon thy own self? [17]And
wilt thou now so leave the habitation that thou hast chosen? Shall it be left
desolate for ever? Can thy mercies have an end, and shall thy fatherly pity
never appear more unto me? Shalt thou leave me for ever, thus to be tormented,
whom thy goodness afore so abundantly comforted? O Lord, I am sure thy free
mercies will not so treat me; and therefore turn again, O Lord, my God; and
make me glad with thy countenance, whom of long time thou hast left void of
consolation and joy."
Advert and consider, dearly beloved, in
what estate David was, when he had no other comfort, except only the
remembrance of God's former benefits showed unto him. And, therefore, marvel
you not, nor yet despair yea, albeit
you find yourself in the same case that David was. Sure I am, that your own
heart must confess that you have received even like benefits of the hands of
God as David did. He has called you from a more vile office than from the
keeping of sheep, to as great a dignity (touching the everlasting inheritance)
as he did David. For, from the service of the devil and sin, he has anointed us
priests and kings by the blood of his only Son Jesus. He has given you courage
and boldness to fight against enemies that are more near unto you than were
either the lion, the bear, or Goliath, to David. Against the devil, I mean, and
his assaults; against your own flesh, and most inward affections; against the
multitude of them that were (and yet remain) enemies to Christ's religion; yea,
and against some of your most natural friends, who appear to profess Christ
with you, and in that respect the battle is more vehement.
What boldness I have seen with you in all
such conflicts, it needs not me to rehearse. I write this to the praise of God;
I have wondered at that bold constancy which I have found in you at such time
as my own heart was faint. Sure I am, that flesh and blood could never have
persuaded you to have contemned and set at nought those things which the world
most esteems. You have tasted and felt of God's goodness and mercy in such
measure, that not only are you able to reason and speak, but also, by the
Spirit of God working in you, to give comfort and consolation to such as were
in trouble. And therefore, dear mother, think not that God will leave his own
mansion for ever. No, it is impossible that the devil shall occupy God's
inheritance, or yet that he [God]
shall so leave and forsake his holy temple that he will not sanctify the same.
Again, God sometimes suspends his own presence from his elect, as here by David
may be espied, and very often he suffers his elect to taste of bitterness and
grief for such causes as are before expressed. But to suffer them to be reft
out of his hands, that he neither will, nor may permit; for [if] so, he were a
mutable God, and [would] give his glory to another, if he permitted himself to
be overcome of his adversary, which is as impossible as it is that God shall
cease to be God.
Now last, David prays, "Deliver my
soul, and save me" (Ps. 6:4).
In this prayer, no doubt, David desired to be delivered from the very corporeal
death at that time, and his soul to be saved from the present plagues and
grievous torments that he sustained. In which it might appear to some that he
was more addicted to this present life, and that he loved more the quietness of
the flesh, than it became a spiritual man to do. [18]But,
as before is said, God has naturally engrafted and planted in man this love of
life, tranquillity, and rest; and the most spiritual man often times desires
them, because they are seals and witnesses of the league and fellowship that is
between God and his elect. And albeit trouble most commonly does follow the
friends of God, yet he is nothing offended that earnestly we ask our quietness;
neither is that our desire any declaration of carnality or of inordinate love
that we have to the world, considering that the final cause wherefore we desire
to live, is not for enjoying of worldly pleasures; for many times, in the midst
of these, we grant and confess that it is better to be absent from the body.
But the chief cause why God's elect do desire life, or to have rest on earth,
is for the maintenance of God's glory, and that others may see that God takes
care over his elect.
But now to the grounds and foundations of
David's prayers, and whereupon his prayers do stand.
1. The first is taken from the vehement
trouble which he sustained, and from the long continuance of the same;
2. The second is taken from the goodness
of God;
3. And the third from God's glory, and
from the insolent rage of his enemies.
Here is to be observed and noted, that
neither is trouble, neither long continuance of the same, neither yet the proud
and haughty minds of wicked men, the chief moving cause why God hears our
prayers, and declares himself merciful unto us; and therefore they may not be
the sure and sound foundations of our prayers; but only God's infinite goodness
is the free fountain of all mercy and grace, which springs and comes unto us by
Christ Jesus his Son; but they are causes, by operation of the Holy Spirit,
helping our weakness to believe, and to trust that God (who is the Father of
mercies) will not be angry for ever at the sorely afflicted, neither yet that
he will punish without mercy such as call for his help and comfort; as also
that God, who has always declared himself enemy to pride, will not suffer the
proud and obstinate contemners of his poor saints long to blaspheme his lenity
and gentleness, but that he will pour forth his plagues upon them, according to
his threatenings. And so are our troubles, and the tyranny of our enemies in
that behalf, fundamentals whereupon our prayers may stand, as here appears.
David declares his dolour, and its
continuance, in these words,
I am consumed away with sickness, all my bones
are vexed, and my soul is in horrible fear. But, Lord, how long wilt thou thus
entreat me? I am wearied for sobbing; I water my bed with tears.
Psalm 6:2, 6
Let us think that David thus speaks,
"O Lord, mayest thou, who ever hast taken care for me from my mother's
womb, now forget me, the workmanship of thy own hands? Mayest thou, that hast
declared thyself so merciful unto me in all my tribulations, now in the end
take thy mercies clean from me? Hast thou no pity, O Lord! Dost thou not behold
that I am pined and consumed by this grievous torment, wherein not only is my
tender flesh, but also my very bones (the strongest part of the body) so vexed,
that neither is there beauty nor strength left unto me. If these anguishes
occupied the body only, yet were the pain almost insufferable; but, O Lord, how
horribly is my soul tormented, that, albeit it be immortal, yet it so quakes
and trembles, as [though] very death could devour it. And thus do I sustain
most grievous torments, both in body and soul, of such long continuance, that
it appears unto me thou hast forgotten to be merciful. O Lord, how long wilt
thou treat me in this manner? Hast thou forgotten thy loving mercies? Or hast
thou lost thy fatherly pity? I have no longer strength to cry; yea, and for
sobs and groans I am so weary, that my breath faileth me; the tears of my eyes,
wherewith nightly I have wet my bed, hath borne witness of my unfeigned dolour;
but now my eyes are waxed dim, and my whole strength is dried up."
In all these lamentable complaints, David
speaks unto God as he would speak unto a man that was ignorant what another man
suffered; whereof it may be understood how the most prudent and the most
spiritual man judges of God in the time of trouble. Assuredly he thought that
God takes no care for him, and therefore does he, as it were, accuse God of
unmindfulness, and that he looked not upon him with the eyes of his accustomed
mercy, as clearly by these words may be espied. And yet are David's troubles
the first ground and cause why he makes his prayers and claims to be heard. Not
that troubles (as before is noted) are sufficient by themselves for God's
deliverance, but, in recounting his dolour, [19]David
has a secret access to God's mercy, which he challenges and claims of duty to
appertain to all his, who in the time of trouble call for his support, help,
and aid. And it is the same ground that Job takes, when he says, "Is it
profitable unto thee that thou violently oppress me? Wilt thou despise the work
of thy own hands? Thou hast formed and made me altogether, and wilt thou now
devour me? Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast fashioned me as a mold, and
that thou shalt bring me to dust. Thou hast covered me with skin and flesh;
with sinews and bones hast thou joined me; with life and comeliness hast thou
beautified me; and thy prudence hast kept my spirit" (Job 10:3, 8-9,
11-12). Here may be espied upon what ground these two stood in their most
grievous pains. Their trouble moved them to complain and to appeal to the great
mercy of God, which, as they alleged, even so it is most sure, he may deny to
none that ask it. For as the trouble of his creatures is no advantage unto God,
so to deny mercy when it is asked, were to deny himself.
And herein, dearly beloved, I heartily
wish you to rejoice, for I can be witness how constantly you have called for
grace in your anguishes; and your own conscience must testify, that oftentimes
you have found release and comfort in such measure that you have been bold to
triumph against your adversaries, in Christ Jesus your Saviour. Be not afraid,
albeit presently you feel not your accustomed consolation; that shall hurt you
no more than the troubles of David and Job did hurt them, who, in the time that
they spoke these former words, found no more consolation than you do now in the
most extremity of your trouble. Neither yet did they hastily obtain comfort,
for David says, "O Lord, how long wilt thou so cruelly punish me?" (cf. Ps. 6:3). And yet we know most assuredly that
they were heard, and that they obtained their heart's desire; as, no doubt,
every man shall, that in time of trouble, be it spiritual or corporeal, appeals
only to God's mercy.
The second ground and foundation whereupon
the prayers of David do stand is the infinite goodness of God. For thus he
says, "Save me, O Lord, for thy goodness" (Ps. 6:4). David before had asked mercy, and
declared his complaints; but now searching and reasoning with himself secretly
in his conscience after this manner, "Why should God show mercy unto him
that so heinously had offended, and that justly was tormented by God's hand for
his transgression and sin?" he finds no other ground that is always sure
and permanent, except God's infinite goodness, which he espies to be the only
stay; which neither tempest of winds, nor floods of water, are able to
overthrow nor undermine. [20]And O! how piercing are the eyes of faith, that, in
so deep a dungeon of desperation, can yet espy, in the very midst of this
troublesome darkness, plentiful goodness to remain in our God; yea, and such
goodness as is sufficient and able to overcome, devour, and swallow up all the
iniquities of his elect, so that none of them are able to gainstand [withstand] or hinder God's infinite goodness to show his
mercy to his troubled children.
Hereby are we taught, beloved, in the
extremity of our trouble, to run to God's goodness only; there to seek comfort
by Christ Jesus, and nowhere else. I fear nothing the blasphemous voices of
such, nor their raging against God, and against his only eternal verity, who are
not ashamed to affirm that this kind of doctrine makes men negligent to do good
works; against whom no otherwise will I contend than the apostle does, saying,
"Their damnation is just" (Rom. 3:8). For my purpose and mind is to
edify those whom God has called from darkness to light, whose eyes it has
pleased his mercy so to open, that evidently they feel the flesh to rebel
against the spirit (even in the hour of their greatest perfection), in such a
manner, that all power, all justice, and all virtue proceeding from us is so
contaminated and defiled, [21]that the very good works which we do must be purged
by another; and that, therefore, none of them can be an infallible ground of
our prayer, neither yet a sufficient cause why we should be heard.
But the goodness of God, as it is
infinite, so can it not be defiled by our iniquity; but it passes through the
same, and will show itself to our consolation, even as the beams of the bright
sun pass through the misty and thick clouds, and bring down his natural heat,
to comfort and quicken such herbs and creatures as, through violence of cold,
were almost fallen into most deadly decay, and thus only the goodness of God
remains, in all storms, the sure foundation to the afflicted, against which the
devil is never able to prevail. The knowledge of this is so necessary to the
afflicted conscience, that without the same it is very hard to withstand the
assaults of the adversary. For as he is a most subtle spirit, and vigilant to
trouble the children of God, so it is easy to him to deface and undermine all
the grounds and causes that are within man; and especially, when we are in
trouble; yea, he can persuade us that we want those things which, most
assuredly, we have received by God's free gift and grace.
As, for example, if we desire to be
delivered from trouble and anguish of conscience, with David and Job, the devil
suddenly can object, "What appertains their examples unto you? They had
many notable and singular virtues which you lack." If we desire remission
of sins with Magdalene, with Peter, or with any other offenders, he has these
darts ready to shoot: "They had faith, but you have none! They had true
repentance; you are but a hypocrite! They hated sin and continued in good works,
but you rejoice in sin, and do no good at all!" By these means can he who
is the accuser of us and of our brethren, ever find out some crafty accusation
to trouble the weak conscience of the afflicted, so long as ever it rests upon
anything that is within itself; and till, by the operation of the Holy Ghost,
we are ravished and reft to the contemplation of our God, so that our minds are
fixed only upon God's infinite goodness, claiming by the same to receive mercy;
as Job does in his former words, the sense and meaning whereof is this: [22]"O Lord, thou madest me when yet I was not;
thou gavest me soul and body when I neither knew nor understood what thy power
was. Thou feddest me and nursed me when I could do nothing but weep and mourn;
and thy Majesty's providence unto this day hath preserved my life; and yet
neither I nor my works could profit thee. For thou (whose habitation is in
heaven) needest not the help of man. And as for my works, such as the fountain
is, such must the waters be. My heart is corrupted. How then can anything that
is clean proceed from the same? And so, whatever I have received, that either
was, is, or hereafter shall be, within my corrupt nature, all proceeds from thy
infinite goodness, which began to show thy mercy before I knew thee. Canst
thou, O Lord, leave me thus, then, in my extremity? I grant and confess that I
have offended. But is there any creature clean and perfect in such perfection
that without mercy he may abide the trial of thy justice? Or is there any
iniquity now in me, which thy wisdom did not know before? And thus I appeal
only to thy mercy, which springs from thy infinite goodness."
O beloved, when the afflicted soul can
thus forsake and refuse whatever is in man, and can stay itself (how little
soever it be), upon God's infinite goodness, then are all the fiery darts of
the devil quenched, and he is repulsed as a confounded spirit. It shall hurt
nothing, albeit the stormy tempest cease not suddenly; that is sufficient, that
this anchor be cast out, which assuredly shall preserve your ship, that she
violently run not upon the foreland of desperation.
This I write, beloved in the Lord, knowing
what have been your complaints heretofore; in that you found your faith faint,
that you could not repent of your former evil life, that you found no
disposition nor readiness to good works, but were rather carried away of sin
and wickedness. If all this had been true, yet had you been in no worse case
than the apostle Paul was, when he cried, "Oh wretched and unhappy man
that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of sin?" (Rom. 8:24).
But I assuredly know that the chief part
of your trouble proceeds from the malice and envy of the devil, who would
persuade to your hurt, that you delighted in those things which, to you, were
most displeasing. For how oft have you complained of the weakness of your
faith! How oft have you lamented the imperfection of your flesh! The tears of
your eyes have witnessed before God that you delight not in such things as your
adversary falsely lays to your charge. For who uses continually to mourn for
those things that are pleasing to his heart, if they be present with them at
all times? Or who will desire pleasing things to be removed from him? You have
mourned for your weakness, and have desired your imperfections to be removed;
and you have detested all sorts of idolatry. How then can you think that you
take any pleasure in the same? Despair not, although all remembrance of God's
goodness or worthiness be removed from your mind. You have David, Job, Daniel,
and all the other saints of God in equal sort with you. Of David and Job you
have heard. And Isaiah, making his heavy complaint for the plague of the people
of Israel, openly confesses that all have sinned, that their righteousness was
nothing but filthiness, that none sought God, that none called upon his name
(Isa. 64:6). And Daniel, in his prayer, likewise confesses that all had wrought
wickedly, that all had declined from God, yea, that none had submitted
themselves to God, nor yet had made supplication unto him, albeit he had
punished their former disobedience; and therefore he says that they did not
allege their own justice [righteousness] in their prayers (Dan. 9:4-19).
Consider, dear mother, that no mention is
made of any righteousness that was in themselves, neither yet do they glory of
any works or virtues that they had wrought before; for they understood that God
was the author of all goodness, and therefore to him only appertained the
praise. But as for their sins, they understood them to be the infirmities of
their own flesh, and therefore they boldly called for mercy, and that only by
God's infinite goodness, which is no less free unto you than unto them,
according to the riches of his liberal graces, which he plentifully pours forth
upon all them that incall [call upon] the name of the Lord Jesus.
The third and last ground of David's
prayer was the glory and praise of God's name to be shown and uttered in his
life, as in these words he declares, "For there is no remembrance of
thee in death: Who laudeth thee in the pit?" (Ps. 6:5). As [if] David would say, "O Lord,
how shall I pray and declare thy goodness when I am dead, and gone down into
the grave? It is not thy ordinary course to have thy miracles and wondrous
works preached unto men by those that are buried and gone down into the pit.
Those that are dead make no mention of thee in the earth; and, therefore, O
Lord, spare thy servant, that yet, for a time, I may show and witness thy
wondrous works unto mankind." These most godly affections in David did
engender in him a vehement horror and fear of death, besides that which is
natural and common to all men, because he perfectly understood that, by death,
he shall be letted [prevented]
to advance the glory of God any further. Of the same he complains most
vehemently in the eighty-eighth psalm (vvs. 10-12), where, apparently, he takes
from them that are dead, sense, remembrance, feeling, and understanding;
alleging that God works no miracles by the dead; that the goodness of God
cannot be preached in the grave, nor his faith in perdition; and that his
marvellous works are not known in darkness. By which speeches we may not
understand that David takes all sense and feeling from the dead, neither yet
that they which are dead in Christ are in such estate that they have not
consolation and life by God. No, Christ himself does witness the contrary. But
David so vehemently depresses their estate and condition, because that, after
death, they are deprived from all ordinary ministration in the kirk of God.
None of those that are departed are appointed to be preachers of God's glory
unto mankind. But after death, they cease any more to advance God's holy name
here amongst the living on earth; and so shall even they, in that behalf, be
unprofitable to the congregation, as touching anything that they can do either
in body or soul after death. And therefore David most earnestly desires to live
in Israel for the further manifestation of God's glory.
Here is to be observed a short, but yet a
most necessary note, which is this: What are the things that we ought
principally to seek in this transitory life? Not those for which the blind
world contends and strives; but God and his loving-kindness towards mankind,
his amiable promises, and true religion, to be advanced and preached unto
others, our brethren, that are ignorant. If we do not so, we may rather be
counted beasts than men dead stocks
nor [than] living creatures yea, rather things that be not at all, than
substance having either being or life. Seeing that the heavens declare the
glory of God; the earth, with the whole contents thereof, whatever they are, do
give praise to his holy name; the sea, floods, and fountains, with the wonders
contained in the same, do not cease to make manifest the wisdom, the power, and
the providence of their Creator: what then shall be said of [the] man that
neither seeks nor regards God's glory? Yea, what shall be judged of those that
not only hinder God's glory, but also declare themselves enemies to such as
would promote it? I must speak my conscience with a sorrowful heart; they are
not only dead, but they are also of the nature of him by whose malice and envy
death entered into the world, that is, of the devil. But them I omit at this
present [time], because their accusation does not much appertain to this our
matter, whereof now I must make an end, somewhat contrary to my mind; for so I
am compelled to do by some present troubles, as well of body as of spirit.
The fourth part of this psalm I omit to
more opportunity; for it does not much appertain to the spiritual cross, but it
is, as it were, a prophecy, spoken against all such as rejoice at the troubles
of God's elect, [and] who assuredly shall be confounded, and suddenly brought
to shame, when the Lord shall hear the voices of his sorely afflicted. Now,
dearly beloved in our Saviour Jesus Christ, seeing that the spiritual cross is
proper for the children of God; seeing that it is given to us as a most
effectual medicine, as well to remove diseases as to plant in our souls most
notable virtues, such as humility, mercy, contempt of ourselves, and continual
remembrance of our own weakness and imperfections; and seeing that you have had
most evident signs that this medicine has wrought in you a part of all the
premises [those things of which I've spoken], receive it thankfully of your Father's hand,
what trouble soever it brings with it. And albeit the flesh grudge, yet let the
spirit rejoice, steadfastly looking for deliverance; and assuredly you shall
obtain, according to the good will and promises of him who cannot deceive: to
whom be glory for ever and ever, before his congregation. Amen.
Now seeing it is uncertain, beloved
mother, if ever we shall meet in this corporeal life; which words I will that
you take not in any displeasure, for if God continue you in life, and me in
corporeal health, I shall attempt and essay to speak with you, face to face,
within less time than is passed since the one of us last saw the other. And be
you assured, beloved mother, that neither shall it be the fear of death, nor
the rage of the devil, that shall impede me; and therefore, I beseech you, take
not my words in that part, as though I were not minded to visit you again. No,
I assure you, that only God's hand shall withhold me. But because our life
vanishes as the smoke before the blast of wind, my conscience moves me to write
unto you, as though I should take from you my last good night on earth. The sum
whereof is this, to exhort and admonish you, even as you will have part with
Christ Jesus, to continue in the doctrine to the end, which before the world
you have professed.
For before God, before Christ Jesus his
only Son, and before his holy angels, neither [am] I ashamed to confess, nor
doubt I to affirm, that the doctrine which you and others have heard not only of my mouth, but also faithfully taught
by the mouths of many others (of whom some are exiled, some cruelly cast into
prison, and the rest commanded to silence) is the only word of life, and that all doctrine repugning to the same
is diabolical and erroneous, which assuredly shall bring death and perpetual
condemnation, to all those who thereto shall condescend and agree. And,
therefore, mother, be not moved with any wind, but stick to Christ Jesus in the
day of this his battle. And also, I admonish you to avoid that abomination,
which often you have heard affirmed by me to be damnable idolatry. And I take
God to record in my conscience, that neither then (nor now) I spoke (neither do
speak) for pleasure or hatred of any living creature in earth, whatsoever it
be; but as my conscience was certified by the infallible and plain word of God,
from which, I praise my most merciful Father, I am not this day one jot
removed; neither repent I of that, my blessed and most happy society with the
truth of Christ's gospel, unto which it has pleased God to call me, the most
wretched of others. Neither forthink I [do I regret] that
God has made me an open and manifest enemy to Papistry, to superstition, and to
all that filthy idolatry which is newly erected in God's hot displeasure.
Neither yet would I recant (as they term it) one sentence of my former
doctrine, for all the glory, riches, and rest that is in earth.
And, in conclusion, I would not bow my
knee before that most abominable idol, for all the torments that earthly
tyrants can devise, God so assisting me, as his Holy Spirit moves me to write
unfeignedly. And albeit I have, in the beginning of this battle, appeared to
play the faint-hearted and feeble soldier (the cause of which I remit to God),
yet my prayer is that I may be restored to the battle again. And blessed be God
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I am not left so bare without comfort, but
my hope is to obtain such mercy, that if a short end be not made of all my
miseries by final death (which to me were no small advantage), that yet, by him
who never despises the sobs of the sorely afflicted, I shall be so encouraged
to fight, that England and Scotland shall both know that I am ready to suffer more
than either poverty or exile, for the profession of that doctrine, and that
heavenly religion, whereof it has pleased his merciful providence to make me,
amongst others, a simple soldier and witness bearer unto men. And therefore,
mother, let no fear enter into your heart, as that I, escaping the furious rage
of those ravening wolves (which for our unthankfulness are lately loosed from
their bands), do repent anything of my former fervency. No, mother, for a few
sermons by me to be made in England, my heart at this hour could be content to
suffer more than nature were able to sustain; as by the grace of the most
mighty and most merciful God, who only is [the] God of comfort and consolation
through Christ Jesus, one day shall be known.
In the mean season, yet once again, and as
it were my final good night and last testament in this earth, in the bowels of
Christ Jesus, I exhort and admonish you constantly to continue with the verity
which yet shall triumph and obtain victory, in despite of Satan and his malice.
And avoid idolatry, the maintainers and obeyers whereof shall not escape the
sudden vengeance of God, which shall be poured forth upon them, according to
the ripeness of their iniquity; and when they shall cry quietness and peace
(which never remains for any continuance with the ungodly), then shall their
sudden destruction come upon them without provision.
The God of peace and consolation, who, of
his power infinite and invincible, has called from death the only true and
great Bishop of our souls, and in him has placed our flesh above principalities
and powers of whatsoever preeminence they be, in heaven or in earth, assist you
with his Holy Spirit, in such constancy and strength, that Satan and his
assaults be confounded, now and ever, in you, and in the congregation, by
Christ Jesus our Lord. To whom, with the Father and with the Holy Ghost, be all
praise and honour eternally. Amen.
Upon the very point of my journey, the
last of February 1553,
Yours with sorrowful heart,
John Knox
Watch and Pray
Notes
1. The Romish Mass
2. Upon the accession of Queen Mary, persecution
erupted throughout England. Knox was persuaded by friends to depart to the
Continent.
3. See The Godly Letter of Warning or Admonition
to the Faithful in London, Newcastle, and Berwick, p. 145ff.
4. Marginal note: The beginning of the sixth psalm
5. Marginal note: The dolorous complaint of David in his trouble
6. Marginal note: His prayer
7. Marginal note: His confession
8. Marginal note: All trouble comes of God
9. During the reign of King Edward, Knox had declined
to accept both the bishopric of Rochester, and a ministerial living in London.
10. Marginal note: King Edward
11. Marginal note: God's very elect sometimes accuse God
12. Marginal note: God shows mercy where none is deserved
13. Marginal note: Objection of the flesh
14. Marginal note: Answer by similitude
15. Marginal note: Mark well
16. Marginal note: In trouble David remembered God's former works to
him
17. Marginal note: Wilt thou forsake the poor creature that thou has
done so much for?
18. Marginal note: The most spiritual man desires rest
19. Marginal note: Mercy appertains to all the creatures of God that
call for the same unfeignedly for Christ's sake
20. Marginal note: The eyes of faith
21. Marginal note: The cleanest works that we can do are in God's
sight unclean
22. Marginal note: A most faithful confession
Copyright © 1995 by Kevin Reed
Presbyterian Heritage Publications
P.O. Box 180922
Dallas, Texas 75218
This edition has been edited to reflect
contemporary spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Bracketed words are supplied
where needed to complete the sense of a sentence. Bracketed words in italics
are inserted following some
antiquated terms or phrases as a convenience to the modern reader. Therefore,
the words in brackets are not a part of the original text.
This publication has been provided in
electronic form for the personal convenience of our readers. No part of this
publication may be transmitted or distributed in any form, or by any means
(electronic, mechanical photocopying, or otherwise) without prior permission of
the publisher.
Still
Waters Revival Books - John Knox: A Biography 2 Volume Set (1895) by P.
Hume Brown - John Knox