[170] 2 Theſſ. 3. 3. 2 Tim. 2. 19. Ioh. 15. 16. Luke 10. 20. Ioh. 16. 22. & 10. 28, 29. v. Pſal. 35. 5. & 125. 1. Prou. 10. 30.
There is no want to them that haue this Feare of any Good thing that is Good for them[171]. For firſt, Pſal. 25. 14. The ſecret, that is, the feare of the Lord, is with them that feare Him; and is not that enough, though I ſhould ſay no more with the Pſalmiſt, becauſe Godly Feare is Gods Treaſure, Eſai. 33. 6. and Better little with it (ſaith Salomon) than Great Treaſure[172]? But there is more behind to moue you further to affect this Excellent Grace. For if you will Feare the Lord, He will ſhew you his Couenant[173] of life and peace[174], Teach you the way that you ſhall chuſe[175], Haue a Booke of remembrance written before Him for you[176]: Hee will Ariſe vnto you the Sunne of Righteouſneſſe with healing in his wings[177]: He wil hide you in his preſence from the pride of men[178], Keepe you ſecretly in a Pauilion from the ſtrife of tongues, Deliuer you in Temptation euen againe[179]; yea He will take pleaſure in you[180], Pitie you as a Father doth his children[181], Fulfill your Deſire, Heare your crie and ſaue you[182]. And what is all this, but in a word (the word of my Text) Hee will praiſe you, which is the Thing Promiſed to a woman fearing the Lord.
II.
The thing promiſed.
In what reſpect to Ipſa.
Ipſa Laudabitur: She ſhall be praiſed.
She ſhall be ſo; but may not that labour be ſpared? For a man would thinke, ſhe hath been praiſed all this while; becauſe Godly Feare, the Grace of God in Her, and the onely cauſe of her Praiſe, hath beene alreadie ſo much commended vnto you? No (Beloued) my Text (you ſee) applies and appropriates this praiſe to Ipſa, Her own Perſon, by vertue indeed of the Feare of the Lord. For were it not for that, it were better Contemning Her, yea Contending[183] with Her, than Commending Her, becauſe that is a conſtant marke of the Godly to Contemne the vngodly, Pſal. 15. 4. This, of the wicked to Praiſe the wicked, to Bleſſe the Couetous, whom the Lord abhorreth, Pſal. 10. 3. It is not her Friendſhip, no nor Carnis bona (as Saint Ierom[184] calls them) the Good endowments of the fleſh, can priuiledge him from a Curſe, if ſo be, he praiſe her without or aboue[185] her Deſerts, Prou. 27. 14. Onely the feare of the Lord, with the excellent fruits thereof, is Gods Gift[186], for which (ſaith Fulgentius[187]) ſhe ought, and he may ſafely commend her, becauſe then, not ſhee; but Gods Grace in her is Praiſed, Epheſ. 1. 6. Yea then, not ſhe, but God himſelfe is Glorified in Her, Gal. 1. 24.
FOOTNOTES:
[171] Pſal. 34. 9, 10. Eccleſ. 40. 26, 27. & 1. 16.
[172] Prou. 15. 16.
[173] Pſal. 25. 14.