A SERMON PREACHED AT BARSTAPLE; Upon occasion of the late happy success of God's Church in foreign parts.  
By G. H. D. D.  
LONDON, Printed for R. Allot, and are to be sold at the sign of the Bear in Paul's Churchyard, 1632.   

A SERMON PREACHED AT BARSTAPLE UPON OCCASION OF THE LATE HAPPY SUCCESS OF GOD'S CHURCH IN FOREIGN PARTS.  judge's Cap. 5. Ver. 31. So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord: But let them that love him be as the Sun when he goeth forth in his might. 
THere are few I presume that hear me this day but some what they have heard of the great victories which it hath pleased Almighty God lately to give to those of the reformed Churches in foreign parts, professing our religion; in which regard that we might in some sort express our mindfulness of them our well-wishing to them, our thankfulness for them, and our rejoicing with them: I have made choice of these words at this time by God's gracious assistance to be opened unto you.  
In the Chapter going before we read of a wonderful great defeat by Barak the son of Abinoam, and Deborah the Prophetess (who at that time judged Israel though a woman) given to the forces of jabin King of Canaan, which were utterly routed, pursued & put to the sword by the Israelites not so much as a man left alive all the way from the river Kishon even to Harosheth of the Gentiles, being sprinkled with blood and bestrewed with dead carcases, and for Sisera the General of the Army under jabin, the day being thus lost he forsakes his chariot and flies for his life, and in his flight at the motion of jael the wife of Heber the Kenite turns aside into her tent, where being courteously entertained, and tired with weariness, giving himself to his rest, he fell so sound asleep that jael taking the opportunity stole upon him, and with a hammer in her hand fastened a nail in his temples, so fully home that he never rose again from the place.  
Hereupon Deborah and Barak, and by their example all the people take up a song of triumph, a sacred and solemn hymn, to the Lord of Hosts the Author of the victory, which takes up this whole Chapter, in imitation of Moses and the men of Israel on the one side, and Miriam the sister of Moses with the women on the other, who after their deliverance from the cruel oppression of the Egyptians, and the overwhelming of Pharaoh and his horsemen in the red Sea, thus sing unto the Lord (which it should seem was the burden of their song,) For 
Exo. 15: 1.  he hath triumphed gloriously, the horse and the rider hath he thrown into the Sea. And such a song was that which the daughters of Israel took up (perchance in imitation of this) after the vanquishing of the Philistines; they go forth to meet Saul and David in their return from that slaughter with tabrets and instruments of music, singing, and dancing, and as they played they answered one another and said, Saul hath slain his thousands and David his 
1 Sam. 18. 7.  ten-thousands; Nay the very Gentiles after victory obtained, they had their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too, or songs of triumph which they called a Poean, Poeana canamus; and again, dicite Io Poean, & Io bis dicite Poean: and if they did thus to their heathenish gods which indeed were no gods but Idols, how much more should we do the like to the true and everliving God.  
This Song (as it is thought) was composed by Deborah, which I am the rather induced to believe, not only because she was a woman of singular gifts and graces, and above all endued with a prophetical Spirit, because she stirred up and spurred forward Barak, assisting and encouraging him with her presence and counsel in the whole action, but chiefly because in the 12 ver: she thus rouzeth up herself, Awake, awake Deborah; awake, awake, utter a song: but by whom-soever it is composed it is certainly a most excellent divine hymn, and of a marvellous lofty high strain, as will easily appear to any man that reads it with attention and judgement.  
The words of my Text they are the very upshot and close of the song, and in that respect no doubt the more considerable. They contain in them a prayer, a double prayer, spreading itself into two branches, whereof the one is an Imprecation against God's enemies, so let all thine enemies perish O Lord; the other a Petition, but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might; the Imprecation is for the perishing of God's enemies; the Petition for the flourishing of his friends, because first his enemies must perish before his friends can flourish, as darkness must first be dispelled before light come in place, and sickness expelled before health be recovered: these two being like the two buckets of a well, or the two scales of a balance, the falling of the one is the rising of the other, as the house of David grew stronger by the weakening of Saul's house, and Rome erected her trophies in the ruins of Alba.  
Now the Imprecation being thus delivered by a Prophetess, contains a Prediction, as the Petition doth likewise a position, and in some translations is so rendered. In the Imprecation we are first to consider, whether or no it be lawful and how far to pray against others; Secondly, what these enemies of God are; Thirdly, by whose hand they are to fall and to perish; and lastly, the manner of their perishing out of this word, So: so let all thine enemies perish O Lord.  
That which gives occasion to this doubt in the 
Math. 5. 44.  first place, is the words of our Saviour, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. We are to know then, that we must pray for our enemies, but against God's enemies; this was the practice of the Prophet David, 
Psal. 35. 13.  when he speaks of his own enemies when they were sick (saith he) my clothing was sackcloth, I humbled my soul with fasting, I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother, I bowed down heavily as one that mourneth for his mother: but when he speaks of God's enemies who had taken to themselves the houses of God in possession, than he changes his note; O my God 
Psal 83. ver. 12.  make them like a wheel as the stubble before the wind, as the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire, so persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. It was the usual form of the Priests at the removing of the Ark, specially in time of war, and we 
●● Nm. 10. ver. 35.  have it taken up by the Psalmist, Let God arise and 
Psal. 68 ver. 1.  let his enemies be scattered, let them also that hate him flee before him, let his, not our enemies be scattered, or if they be both ours and his, we are to pray for them as they are ours, but against them as they are his.  
We may lawfully pray against their designs though not against their persons, as David prayed 
2 Sam. 15. 31.  against the plots and policy of Achitophel, O Lord, I pray thee turn the counsel of Achitophel into foolishness; or we may pray against their persons indefinitely, though not particularly, as thus let them be confounded (what ere they be) and turned back that 
Psa. 129. ver. 5.  hate Zion, let them be as the grass upon the house tops, which withereth before it groweth up, wherewith the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom; or lastly, we may pray against their persons in particular, conditionally, though not absolutely; first, we are to pray for their conversion, and then if maliciously and wilfully they persist in their obstinacy, in the second place for their confusion; 
Psal 83 ver. 16.  This was David's method, fill their faces with shame that they they may seek thy name, O Lord, that is, that they may be converted unto thee; but in case they will not be converted but stand out in their rebellion, and go on still with an hard heart, ahigh hand, a stiff neck and a brazen forehead, than it follows, Let them be confounded and troubled for 
Verse 17.  ever, yea let them boe put to shame and perish; if by shame they will not be wrought to conversion, from shame let them be brought to confusion; but then we must here remember, that we do not so much rejoice because they perish, as because by their perishing the Church of God is delivered, and the glory of God advanced in the manifestation of his justice: and for that reason the same Prophet 
Verse 18.  presently adds, That men may know that thou whose name is only jehovah, art the most high over all the earth: that thou art the supreme judge of the world and sittest in the throne that judgeth right; to which very purpose is that in another Psalm, The righteous 
Psal. 58. 10. 11.  shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance, he shall wash or bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked, so that a man shall say, verily there is a reward for the righteous, verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth; therefore shall the righteous rejoice in the vengeance and blood of the wicked, not because their blood is shed, but because by the shedding of their blood, men are brought to know and acknowledge that he is the God that judgeth the earth with righteous judgement; for shall not the judge of all the earth do 
Gen. 18. 25.  right? finally hereunto likewise acordeth that song of triumph, Rev. 19 after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying; Alleluja, salvation, and glory, and honour, and power unto the Lord our God, for true and righteous are his judgements, for he hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand: and again they said Alleluja.  
This rub being thus removed, I now come to the second part of this first branch, which is what these enemies of God are. The enemies of God either acknowledge no God, as professed Atheists, or acknowledge a God but not the true God, as Idolaters, or the true God but go not to him the true way, that is, by JESUS CHRIST, as Mahometans and jews; or go to him by JESUS CHRIST, but not by him alone, as Romanists; or go by him alone, but (withal) fancy to themselves, and obstinately maintain some erroneous opinion in fundamental points, as Heretics; or are sound enough in fundamental points, but out of an affectation of singularity separate themselves from the congregation, as schismatics; or lastly, join themselves to the congregation, but either with false hearts as hypocrites, or foul hands as profane persons, having both of them a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: these may all of them in some sense, though in a divers manner, & in a different degree, be termed the enemies of God. And again, to speak generally, they are all God's enemies who blaspheme God's name, who with hold Gods right, who profane God's day, who dishonour God's house, who abuse God's word, whou nreverently or unworthi lie receive God's Sacraments, who despise Gods ordinances, who neglect Gods commandments, who disgrace or disesteem God's ambassadors.  
But by the enemies of God here in this place undoubtedly are to be understood the enemies of his Church, that is, such as persecute it, or for professions sake oppose themselves against it: such an indissoluble link and reciprocal connexion there is betwixt God and his Church, that it cannot be but that the enemies of the one should be the enemies of the other. The reproaches of them that reproached 
Psal. 69 9  thee are fall'n upon me, saith the Psalmist as a member of the Church; and again, Do I not hate them O Lord that hate thee? and am I not grieved with 
Ps. 139. 21. 22.  those that rise up against thee? I hate them, with a perfect hatred, I count them mine enemies. And as God's enemies are the Church's enemies, so the enemies of the Church, are God's enemies, and therefore they are Gods enemies because they are the Church's enemies; Lo thine enemies make a tumult, and they 
Psal. 83. 2.  that hate thee have lift up the head: and why were they thine enemies? the reason is there immediately added, They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones; because they took counsel against his people, and consulted against his Church, therefore were they his enemies: Remember Lord (saith the same Prophet) the reproach 
Psal. 89. 49.  of thy servants, wherewith thine enemies have reproached them, therefore they were His enemies because they reproached his servants, that is, his Church; and in this very Chapter, Curse ye Meroz (saith the Angel of the Lord) curse bitterly the inhabitants thereof, because they came not up to the help of the Lord against the mighty: whereby he entitles the Church's quarrels to the Lord. But above all we have to this purpose in the ninth of the Acts a singular testimony from the mouth of the Lord himself, as it were an oracle speaking to us from heaven, where we read that when Saul (who afterward was called Paul) was breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the Disciples of the Lord (that is, the Church) and to that end was upon his journey to Damascus, being amazed with an exceeding bright light, which shone round about him, he heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? and he said, Who art thou Lord? and the Lord said, I am jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks; jesus whom thou persecutest? why jesus was then in heaven and Saul on earth; Saul clothed with misery and mortality here below and jesus above sitting at the right hand of God in glory and majesty far enough out of Saul's reach, how then could Saul persecute jesus? surely none otherwise but because he persecuted the members of his Church, which jesus takes to heart as if himself had been persecuted in his own person.  
The reason here of is apparent, the Church is the spouse, and he the husband of this spouse, the Church the body and he the head of this body, the Church the family and he the father of this family, the Church the army and he the General of this army, the Church the kingdom and he the Sovereign of this kingdom; and if the spouse suffer can the husband be insensible of it? if the body suffer can the head be insensible of it? if the family suffer can the father of the family be insensible of it? if the army suffer can the general be insensible of it? if the kingdom suffer can the sovereign be insensible of it? nay a far neereunion there is betwixt Christ and his Church than betwixt the husband and the spouse, for this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and they two shall be one flesh: one flesh they are, but the wife lives not by the soul of the husband, as the Church doth by the spirit of Christ the wife feeds not upon the flesh of the husband as the Church doth upon the flesh of Christ, the wife is not bought with the blood of the husband as the Church is redeemed by the blood of Christ, and by this means becomes nearer unto him than his own right hand, dearer than the apple of his eye.  
Here is our comfort then, there being so many obligatory relations and mutual engagements between God and his Church, the enemies of the Church are thereby made his enemies, and if God be on our side who shall be against us? To fight against God is as if a man should spit against the wind which carries it back in his own face; the fury of God's enemies against his Church is but as the rattling of a violent haile-storm upon the tiles, which makes a great noise for the time as if it would beat down the house, but is cast off as soon as it comes on and then lies on the ground, and within a while melts away; or as the proud surges of the sea which come swelling and roaring towards the rock, as if they would rend it in pieces and carry all before them, but the issue is that they dash themselves against the rock and so turn into froth, but the rock being only washed remains where it was; so is it with the Church which is built upon the rock, the winds may blow and the floods arise, and the rain beat upon it, but it falls not, because 'tis, built upon a rock, and the gates of hell shall never be able to prevail against it.  
The third considerable point in this Imprecation is the hand by whose power the enemies of God shall perish, that is, by the hand and power of him whose enemies they are, and therefore doth Deborah (as we see) by an apostrophe turn her to the Lord and directs her speech to him, So let, or so shall all thine enemies perish O Lord, that is, they shall thus perish by thy hand; and hence it is that in so many passages she ascribes the victory wholly to the Lord; Deborah said unto Barak, Up, 
judges 4. 14.  for this day wherein the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the Lord gone out before thee? and in the next verse immediately following, The Lord 
Ver. 15.  discomfited Sisera and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak: it is not said, that Barak discomfited them before the Lord, but the Lord before Barak: and again in the 23. of the same Chapter, So God subdued on that day jabin the King of Canaan before the children of Israel.  
Though Barak signify lightning, yet was he but as a thunderbolt in the hand of God against Sisera, and though Deborah signify a Be, yet no doubt but her diligence and providence in assisting Barak was overruled and guided by the providence of God; and so much herself upon the matter confesseth in this very song: they fought from heaven, the stars in their courses or paths fought against Sisera: they fought from 
Ver. 20.  heaven, who was that but he Lord of heaven and 
Antiq. l. 5. c. 6.  earth? which josephus thut expresseth; There suddenly fell a storm. (saith he) of rain mixed with hail, which the wind drove against the faces of the Canaonites, and took away their sight, making those that carried darts, and such as served with the sling unprofitable in their service, the Targeteers likewise having their hands benumbed with cold could scarcely wield their swords, but the tempest beating on the backs of the Israelites, not only wrought them less offence, but made them also more forward, being whetted thereunto by the manifest sign of God's favour and presence, whereupon disarraying and breaking through their enemy's battle, they made a great slaughter of them, so as a part of them fell by the weapons of the Israelites, the rest were overrun by their own horsemen and chariots: Hitherto josephus: much like whereunto is that story which Eusebius (out of Apollinarius and Tertullian) reports that the army of Marcus Aurelius warring upon the Marcomannians, being in sore distress for want of water, and having at that time in his pay a legion of Christians which served under him, they all with one consent (the sign being given) fell upon their knees, and earnestly prayed God for relief, who instantly thereupon sent such a storm of thunder and lightning and rain and hail, as it amazed their enemies, driving full in their faces, but refreshed them to the utter discomfiture of the one, and victorious triumph of the other; and thus the Emperor himself (though by religion a Pagan) by his letters signified to the Senate, and thereupon gave not only that legion the name of fulminatrix, but straight charge that none should be put to death or punished for being Christians.  
All which considered great reason had Gideon in the cry of his soldiers to prefer the sword of the Lord before his own, as 'tis in the seventh Chapter of this book; The sword of the Lord and of Gideon; not the sword of Gideon without the sword of the Lord, nor the sword of Gideon in the first place, and then the sword of the Lord; but first, the sword of the Lord, and then the sword of Gideon; the sword of the Lord to direct, and the sword of Gideon to execute; the sword of the Lord as the primary esficient, and the sword of Gideon as the subordinate instrument, the sword of the Lord without the sword of Gideon in the ordinary course, will do nothing, and the sword of Gideon without the sword of the LORD at all can do nothing. Navies of ships, troops of horse, regiments of foot, fortresses, ramparts, artillery, munition and all military provision without him avails nothing; he it is who directs the bullet and the arrow to the mark, who sharpens the sword that it may enter in to glut it self with flesh and make itself drunk with blood, who gives wisdom to the captain and courage to the soldier, who strengtheneth his arm and teacheth his fingers to fight, and covereth his head in the day of battle; Through God we shall 
Ps. 13.  do valiantly, for he it is that shall tread down our enemies: no King can be saved by a multitude of men, and a horse is but a vain thing to deliver a man: vain is the help of man without the help of the Lord, therefore King David (who wanted neither valour, nor experience, nor provision for the wars) professeth of himself, I will not trust in 
Psal. 44. 6.  my bow, it is not my sword that shall save me: he doth not say I will break my bow, or I will cast away my sword, but I will not trust in my bow, it is not my sword that shall save me, but it is thou Lord that savest, and puttest them to confusion that hate us; it is thou, and thou alone, that refrainest the spirit of Princes, and art terrible among the Kings of the earth, that knappest the spear in sunder and burnest the chariots in the fire, that bluntest the head of the arrow that it cannot pierce, and takest off the edge of the sword that it cannot wound, that takest away the wisdom of the Captain and the courage of the soldier, that pullest down the thickest walls, batterest the strongest forts, and levellest the highest towers with the ground. It is thou and only thou, who raisest and turnest the winds at thy pleasure, and by them makest use of rain and snow and hail and dust and smoke and of the winds themselves, to the annoyance of thine enemies and relief of thy friends. Thus as S. Ambrose in his book against Symmachus reports it, he assisted the good Emperor Theodosius being now in great danger by raising on the sudden a mighty wind, which carried back the darts of his enemies upon their own heads, and withal caused the darts of his soldiers to pierce the deeper into their bodies, which no doubt gave occasion to those verses of Claudian,  

O nimium dilecte Deo, cui fundit ab antris  
Aeolus armatas acies, cui militat aether,  
Et conjurati veniunt ad classica venti.   

O Gods great favourite, to whom is sent  
From Aeole's vaults a warlike regiment;  
Under whose ensign heaven above bears arms,  
And the winds, sworn his soldiers, wait alarms.   
To whom then shall we go with a song of triumph for victory received? Not unto Mars, as did the old Romans, but for us our help standeth in the name of the Lord who hath made both heaven and earth, some put their trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God; his name we will remember by flying to him for succour, and his name we will remember by returning to him with praise and thanksgiving▪ Not unto us Lord, not unto us, but untothy name give the praise; and herein we are sure we cannot err, except Moses erred, who after his victory obtained upon the Amalekites built 
Exodus 17. 15.  an altar and called the name of it jehovah Nisi; the Lord my banner; except the Prophet David erred 
Psa. 1● 9, 10.  who professed of himself, I will sing a new song unto thee O God; upon a psaltery and an instrument often strings will I sing praises unto thee. It is he, it is he that giveth victory unto Kings and delivereth David his servant from the peril of the sword, or from the hurtful sword; lastly, except Deborah the Prophetess erred, I am sure we cannot err in this point, who in the very entrance of her song dedicates it to the Lord; Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, hear O Ye Kings, and give ear 
〈◊〉  O Ye Princes, I, even I, will sing unto the Lord, I will sing praise to the LORD GOD of Israel.  
The fourth and last observation in this first branch is, the manner of perishing of God's enemies, out of the word, So, So let all thine enemies perish O Lord. So, as did Sisera with his army; suddenly, and when they least expect it, as did Sisera; shamefully, and with dishonour, as did Sisera; utterly, and without recovery, as did Sisera; So let all thine enemies perish O Lord. First then, let them perish suddenly and when they least expect, as did Sisera. Sisera was now in the height of his pride and confidence, in the very top of his jollity and bravery; his master had now by the space of twenty years mightily oppressed and harrowed the children of Israel, whereby they became both unarmed and dishartened, 
Cap. 4. 3.  he had now drawn out into the field, as witnesseth josephus' 300000 foot, 10000 horse, and 3000 chariots, whereof 900 of them were of iron, whereupon himself and his adherents were so assured of the victory, that as we read in the three verses here immediately before going in 
Ver. 3. & 13.  my text, His mother looking out at a window and earnestly expecting every moment (as it should seem) the return of her son in his triumphant chariot, she wondered what should stay him there, he was so long a coming▪ whereunto her wise ladies answered her, or rather she prevented them and answered herself, that the reason no doubt of his long stay could be none other than the dividing of the prey taken from the vanquished enemy, and the lading of themselves with abundance of rich and pleasant spoils: but behold, while she thus expected and reasoned the matter in herself, woeful tidings was suddenly brought her, not only of the death of her dearest son, but of the miserable defeat and slaughter of the whole army by him conducted, and then presently follow the words of my text, So, even so let all thine enemies perish O Lord.  
Nay, so they shall perish, when the wicked spring as the 
Psal. 7.  grass, and when all the workers of iniquity did flourish, than it is that they shall be destroyed for ever; then, even 
Psal 7.  than shall God shoot at them with a swift arrow, Suddenly shall they be wounded; when they 
17 ● 3.  shall say peace and safety, then Sudden destruction shall come upon them unawares, as travel upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape that which the Psalmist speaks of the wicked in general, may truly be verified in particular, of those enemies of the Lord, who lately perished, I have seen 
Psa 35.  the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green Laurel: yet (for all his great power and pomp) he passed away, and lo he was not; yea I sought him but he could not be found, he was suddenly gone in the turn of an hand: as it was fore told of julian, Nubecula est & cito transibit, he is but a thin cloud and will quickly vanish, and so indeed it fell out. Such a flash was that Spanish bravado in the year 1588., predictions had every where run and were verily believed, that some great conversions of kingdoms would fall out in that year, and the Spaniards for the invasion of this kingdom covered the seas with such a navy, as for ships, men, munition and provision in all kinds it was (as our Annalist speaks) omnium quas Oceanus unquam vidit instructissima, the best furnished and most accomplished of any that the Ocean ever saw, it was more like a moving forest than a fleet, three whole years in preparing, and cost the King of Spain by their own report thirty thousand ducats every day; inso much as themselvesin the pride of their heart, and assurance of victory called it the invincible Armado, and Bernardinus, Mendoza, than ambassador in France, caused books to be published of their conquest of England; but notwithstanding all their vain brags and confidence, they passed away and were not, we sought them but they could not be found.  

Quam benè te ambitio mersit vanissima ventus?  
Et tumidos tumidae vos superastis aquae?   

justly the wind windy ambition drowned,  
And swelling waves did swelling hearts confound.   
In memory of which sudden discomfiture money was coined with this inscription, stamped on the one side, Venit, Vidit, Fugit, and on the other, Dux femina facti; So let all thine enemies perish O Lord.  
Let them also perish So, that is, shamefully and with dishonour, as Sisera did. He was for his person and qualities, a Captain of great fame and long experience, trained up in the wars and military affairs from his very childhood: whereas Barak on the other side was but a raw commander, of little experience and less courage as it should seem by his answer to Deborah, that he would not march into the field nor encounter Sisera without her, and beside, that his soldiers were taken up in haste, undisciplind, unexercised and unfurnished, their spirits had been broken by long servitude under the Canaanites, and their number very small, but ten thousand men in the whole, scarce matchable with Sisera▪ s horsemen; yet by this handful of men was Sisera▪ s huge host cut in pieces, and himself flying shamefully out of the battle, as shamefully by the hand of a woman, as did Holophernes by the hand of judith, and Abimelech should have done having his scull broken by a piece of a millstone thrown down from a tower from the hand of a woman, had not he to prevent the shame commanded his armour-bearer to thrust him through with his sword, as we may read in the ninth Chap. of this very book. Thus Sisera (as 
Ver. 53.  Guicciardin speaks of Charles the eight his expedition to Naples and return from thence) came into the field like thunder and lightning, but went out like a snuff, more than a man at first, and less than a woman at last. Thus perished Herod a grievous 
12.  persecutor of the Church too, who sitting in Majesty upon his throne of estate, and glistering in his royal apparel as an Angel, making an eloquent oration unto the people, so that they gave a shout crying out and saying, It is the voice of God, and not of man; but immediately the Angel of the Lord smote him, and he was eaten up of worms, and gave up the ghost, and so perished both suddenly and shamefully. And thus Goliath who was of a mighty stature, whereunto 
●.  his strength was every way answerable, and his armour, his helmet, his coat of male, his greaveses, his target, his spear proportionable to his strength and stature, upon which he was so confident that he disdained David, making account and threatening him, out of hand, to give his flesh to the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field; but it fell out otherwise, this great Giant thus swelling with pride quickly falls by the cast of a stone thrown out of the sling of a poor silly boy in comparison of him; and this God doth that the plumes of man's presumption may thereby be taken down, and the greatness of his own power may appear in the weakness of the means. And so let all thine enemies perish O Lord. Lastly, let them perish So, that is, utterly, without all hope of recovery, as Sisera did; not so much as a man left to 
Cap. 4. 16.  carry tidings of the success to jabin King of Canaan; whose forces they were: nay more than so, josephus 
Antiq. 5. 8.  assures us that Barak having now gotten to himself more spirit by this victory, he made use of it, and stayed not here, but marched forward leading his army even to the gates of Azor, the Imperial City of all Canaan, slew jabin that came out against him, and having slain the King leveled the City with the ground; with which relation of josephus the last verse of the Chapter immediately going before seems to accord, where we read that the hand of the Children of Israel prospered and prevailed against jabin the King of Canaan until they had destroyed him: and so much doth the Psalmist intimate 
Psal 83. 9  where he makes this victory as a precedent or pattern to all succeeding ages. Do unto them (saith he, praying against the professed enemies of God and his Church) as unto the Midianites, as to Sisera, as to jabin at the brook of Kison which perished at Endor, they became as the dung of the earth: And so let all thine enemies perish O Lord. Yea, so sha● all thine enemies perish O Lord (this imprecation being likewise a prediction) thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel; thou shalt 
Psal. 2. 9  so dash them as they shall be broken to shivers; thou shalt so break them to shivers, as there shall not be left so 
Revel. 2 27.  much as a sheard to take fire withal from the hearth, or water out of the pit: from hence it is that their perishing 
Esay 30. 14.  is compared to the vanishing of smoke, which mounts and dilates itself for a time, but instantly is so clean 
Psal. 68 2.  gone as no man knows what is become of it; and to the burning of stubble which in a moment is turned into ashes: The hoùse of jacob shall be a fire, and the house of 
Obadiah 18.  joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them and devour them, and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau for the Lord hath spoken it. Such a promise we have of the utter perishing of the whore of Babylon. The ten horns which thou sawest upon the beasts, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and hsall 
Rev. 17. 16.  eat her flesh, and burn her with fire: and in the very next Chapter of the total and final destruction of the City Babylon (by which Rome is meant, and that even by the testimonies of the jesuits themselves Vega and Ribera) And a mighty Angel took up a 
Rev 18. 21.  great millstone and cast it into the Sea, saying: Thus with violence shall that great City Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all; shall be found no more, there is her final; no more at all, there is her total destruction. And s, oeven so, let all thine enemies perish O Lord; suddenly, shamefully, irrecoverably.  
And so I pass from the malediction to the benedi ction, from mount Ebal, the mountain of cursing, to mount Gerazin the mountain of blessing, from the imprecation against God's enemies, to the deprecation for his friends. But let them that love him be as the Sun when he goeth forth in his might: upon which I shall insist the less, because I have already dwelled so long upon the former. In the handling thereof I will first treat of that kind of divine love which is here to be understood, and of the several degreestherof; secondly of the semblance of such as are therewith inflamed to the sun; thirdly, of their resemblance to the sun when he goeth forth in his might.  
Love is a passion of the mind, or that point of the soul by which it longeth to be united to the thing it loves; Amor meus pondus meum, eo feror quocunque feror saith Saint Augustine, my love is to me my weight, by it am I carried, whithersoever I am carried: so that look what wings are to a bird, sails to a ship, legs to a man, wheels to a cart, and weight to heavy bodies, to the drawing of them down to the centre from whence they came; the same is love to the soul for the uniting of it to the object it affects; Anima est non tam ubi animat quam ubi amat, the soul being not so much where it lives as where it loves.  
Again, love is as it were prima mensura, the principal and primary measure of all the other passions of the soul; as our love is, so is our hatred, our hope, our joy, our fear, our grief; proportionable to the measure of our love, to the thing we affect is our hatred to that which opposeth against it, our hope of attaining it if we have it not, our joy in possessing it if we have it, our fear of losing it even when we possess it, and lastly, our grief for the loss when we are deprived of it.  
Now for the general kinds of love; it is either unlawful as immoderate, self love, irregular carnal love, inordinate worldly love; or lawful, and that either natural, between those of the same blood, or moral, between those of the same virtuous qualities, or civil between those of the same City and Corporation, or Spiritual, between those of the same mystical body of JESUS CHRIST; and yet a more transcendent than all these is Divine love, which first reflects upon God, and then from God and for God's sake upon other things and persons: Qui aliquid amat praeter Deum & non propter Deum, non amat Deum; he that loves any thing or person beside GOD, and not in reference to God, loves not God. God than we are all to love, because he is God, most beautiful and glorious, most wise, most powerful, most holy, most just, most true in himself; we are likewise to love him, because he is Good to all his creatures in general, and to us in particular; and for God's sake we are to love those things which belong unto him, but specially his Church, than which nothing in this world is to him more precious, or more properly his; and this love do I take to be understood here in this place, let those that love him be as the sun; for as by God's enemies in the former part of the verse are to be understood the enemies of his Church, so by his friends in this latter part are undoubtedly to be understood the friends of his Church, and of that Gospel and truth which by that Church is professed.  
Of this love there are different degrees; whereof the first is to wish well unto it, and to pray for it, that GOD would be pleased to raise up Kings and Queens to be nursing fathers and nursing mothers unto it, that he would stir up the Princes of the earth to be a protection to it, and to shroud it under the wings of their authority, that the vineyard which his own right hand hath planted, be not devoured either by cunning of wily Foxes, or by the rage of the wild Boar out of the forest.  
A second degree of this love is, to prefer the peace, the liberty, the prosperity of the Church before our own private concernements, as the arm offers itself to the blow for the preservation of the head wherein consists the safety of the body, and the elements forsake their proper motions for the good of the Universe; thus did Vriah that worth soldier and faithful servant of the Lord and o● David, being advised by the King to go home and refresh himself with the comforts of his own. 
● Sam. 11. 11.  house; what was his answer? The ark (saith he and Israel and judah dwell in tents, and my Lord joab an● the servants of my Lord abide in the open fields: shall then go into mine own house to eat and to drink and lie with my wife? by thy life and the life of thy soul, I will not do this thing: a memorable speech, an admirable resolution to be in a manner careless of himself, till he saw the state of the Church (the prosperity whereof then depended upon the preservation of the Ark) to be in safety. To like purpose was that noble answer of Terentius a renowned captain under Valens the Emperor, an Arrian by profession, who returning with victory from Armenia, and being thereupon willed by the Emperor to demand some recompense for his good service, presented this petition that the Orthodox Christians might have the liberty of a Church by themselves, wherein to worship God apart from the Arrians (whose heresy had then spread itself exceedingly;) he asked not (saith Theodoret) gold or 
Lib 4. 28.  silver, lands or houses, but sued only in the Church's behalf: yet the Emperor upon the reading of his supplication being much displeased, tore it in pieces, threw it away and bid him ask somewhat else: but Terentius modestly gathering up the pieces again, professed to him, that if he could not be heard in God's cause, he would make no suit for himself; Sanctus & arduus hic amor est dignusque notari, this I confess was a very high strain and great measure of love to God his truth and the distressed Church.  
But the third and last and highest pitch of love to God's Church is, when a man, but specially a Prince, a King adventures and endangers his crown, his kingdom, his life, and all to deliver the Church from oppression and persecution; and surely greater love than this hath no man, than to hazard all he hath for the good of the Church, whereof he professeth himself a member; and great reason it is that the members of the same Church (though far distant in place yet linked together by the same faith) should assist such an one with their persons or purses, or both (if they be able;) or if with neither, yet at leastwise with their prayers, that God would give him the heart of David, the head of Solomon, the hand of Gideon, in a word that he may be as the Sun: Let them that love him (that draw their swords and display their banners in his cause) be as the sun.  
The sun (saith Syracides) is vas admirable, a marvelous instrument; and well might he so call it, it being next to man himself the greatest wonder among all the works of God, and in a manner visibilis mundi Deus, the visible God of the world; in so much that Socrates (judged by the Oracle the wisest man than living) would spend whole days in gazing upon it as a man transported and ravished in admiration of it, and truly were it not our inbred disposition magis nova quam magna mir ari, rather to wonder at things new and strange than great in themselves, it is certain there is no one thing we should so much admire as the sun in regard of the greatness, the glory, the regularity, the swiftness, but above all the wonderful virtue and efficacy thereof in working upon these inferior bodies; Let them then that love him, and so love him 
Pro. 4. 18.  as to fight his battles for the Church's sake be as the Sun.  
Regular and constant in their religious purposes as the sun is uniform and invariable in his course from the East to the West, and from the West to the East again, from the North to the South, and from the South to the North again, not missing the least jot in all his points and periods, turns and returns, but performing his office so duly, so exactly, so precisely, as if he were indeed a reasonable creature and perfectly understood what he did according to that of the Psalmist: he appointed the Moon for seasons, and the Sun knoweth his going down.  
Safe and secure in their persons, as from conspiracy and rebellion at home, so from foreign machinations and jesuitical Assassinates, as the sun is placed out of gunne-shot far enough above the reach of all malicious and forcible attempts, free not only from danger but from all fear and possibility of danger.  
Unwearied and indeficient in their pious erterprises, as the sun, which though it hath now lasted by the space of so many thousand years, yet since the first creation thereof hath it lost nothing of that primitive vigour and original perfection which by Almighty God was bestowed upon it.  
Swift and speedy in their prosperous success as the sun, which (as Astronomers assure us) runs above a thousand miles within the compass of every minute; and this incredible swiftness was it which gave occasion to Copernicus and others to conceive, that the globe of the earth did rather ●●ove and the sun stand still.  
Lastly, Let them be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might, which the Prophet David hath excellently described: In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race, his going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it, and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. Let them that love him be as the sun when he thus goeth forth in his might. Let them be acceptable and glorious, powerful and vigorous as the sun when he riseth in the morning, and so by degrees mounts up to the vertical point at high noon, chase away the darkness, dissolving the frost, dispelling the mist, and cheering up the spirits both of men and beasts, partly with its warmth, and part lie with its light.  
Let their ways be as the path of the just, 
Pro. 4. 18.  which Solomon compares to the shining light increasing more and more unto the perfect day. So let them go on and still march forward from strength to strength, from courage to courage, from victory to victory, till they have brought their noble and worthy designs to a blessed end. So let all thine enemies perish O Lord, but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in 〈◊〉 might. Grant this good Lord we beseech thee 〈◊〉 thy mercy's sake, for thy promise sake, for thy son's sake, to whom with thee and the holy spirit, three persons and one God invisible, eternal, only wise, we ascribe, and desire to be ascribed all power, Majesty and dominion now and for ever.  PSAL. 45 Ver. 3, 4, 5. 
Gird thy sword upon thy thigh O most mighty, with thy glory and thy Majesty.  
And in thy Majesty ride prosperously, because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness: and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.  
Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the King's enemies, whereby the people fall under thee.  
Deo soli gloria.  
FINIS.