It was a good saying of one, ' I hide not my sins, but I shew them ; I wipe them not awray, but I sprinkle them ; I do not excuse them, but accuse them. The beginning of my salvation is the knowledge of my transgression.'2 When some told Prince Henry,3 that delicios generis humani, that darling of mankind, that the sins of the people brought that affliction on him, Oh no! said he, I have sins enough of my own to cause that. ' I have sinned, saith David, but what have these poor sheep done?' 2 Sam. xxiv. 17. When a Christian is under the afflict- ing hand of God, he may well say, I may thank this proud heart of mine, this worldly heart, this froward heart, this formal heart, this dull heart, this backsliding heart, this self-seeking heart of mine ; for that this cup is so bitter, this pain so grievous, this loss so great, this dis- ease so desperate, this wound so incurable ; it is mine own self, mine own sin, that hath caused these floods of sorrows to break in upon me. But,
4. Fourthly, A holy, a prudent silence doth not exclude the teaching and instructing of others when we are afflicted. The words of the afflicted stick close ; they many times work strongly, powerfully, strangely, savingly, upon the souls and consciences of others. Many of Paul's epistles were written to the churches when he was in bonds, viz., Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon ; he begot One- simus in his bonds, Philem. 10. And many of the brethren in the Lord waxed bold and confident by his bonds, and were confirmed, and made partakers of grace by his ministry, when he was in bonds, Philip, i. 7, 13, 14. As the words of dying persons do many times stick and work gloriously, so many times do the words of afflicted persons work very nobly and efficaciously. I have read of one Adrianus, who, see- ing the martyrs surfer such grievous things for the cause of Christ, he asked what that was which enabled them to suffer such things ? and one of them named that 1 Cor. ii. 9, ' Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
1 Road Ezra ix. ; Neb ix ; Dan. ix. 6, 15, with Job vii. * [Job. Lud.] Vivaldus.
* Son of James I., whose death was ' married to immortal verso ' by George Chap- man.— G.
PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 309
neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.' This word was like apples of gold in pictures of silver, Prov. xxv. 11, for it made him not only a convert, but a martyr too. And this was the means of Justin Martyr's conver- sion, as himself confesseth. Doubtless, many have been made happy by the words of the afflicted. The tongue of the afflicted hath been to many as choice silver. The words of the afflicted many times are both pleasing and profitable ; they tickle the ear and they win upon the heart ; they slide insensibly into the hearers' souls, and work effica- ciously upon the hearers' hearts : Eccles. x. 12, ' The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious,' or grace, as the Hebrew hath it ; and so Jerome reads it, Verba oris sapientis gratia, the words of the mouth of a wise man are grace. They minister grace to others, and they win grace and favour from others. Gracious lips make gracious hearts ; gracious words are a grace, an ornament to the speaker, and they are a comfort, a delight, and an advantage to the hearer.
Now, the words of a wise man's mouth are never more gracious tnan when he is most afflicted and distressed. Now, you shall find most worth arid weight in his words ; now his lips, like the spouse's, are like a thread of scarlet ;they are red with talking much of a crucified Christ, and they are thin like a thread, not swelled with vain and unprofitable discourses. Now his mouth speaketh of wisdom, and his tongue talketh judgment, for the law of the Lord is in his heart, Ps. xxxvii. 30 ; now his lips drop as honey-combs, Cant. iv. 11 ; now his tongue is a tree of life, whose leaves are medicinable, Prov. xii. 18. As the silver trumpets sounded most joy to the Jews in the day of their gladness, so the mouth of a wise man, like a silver trumpet, sounds most joy and advantage to others in the days of his sadness, Num. x. 10.
The heathen man could say, Quando sapiens loquitur, aulea animi aperit, when a wise man speaketh, he openeth the rich treasure and wardrobe of his mind ; so may I say, when an afflicted saint speaks, Oh the pearl, the treasures that he scatters ! But,
5. Fifthly, A holy, a prudent silence doth not exclude moderate mourning or tveeping under the afflicting hand of God. Isa. xxxviii. 3, ' And Hezekiah wept sore,' or, as the Hebrew hath it, ' wept with great weeping.1 But was not the Lord displeased with him for his great weeping ? No ; ver. 5, ' I have heard thy prayers, I have seen thy tears : behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.' God had as well a bottle for his tears, as a bag for his sins, Ps. lvi. 8. There is no water so sweet as the saints' tears, when they do not overflow the banks of moderation. Tears are not mutes ; they have a voice, and their oratory is of great prevalency with the almighty God. And therefore the weeping prophet calleth out for tears: Lam. ii. 18, ' Their heart crieth unto the Lord, 0 wall of the daughter of Zion.let tears run down like a river day and night : give thyself no rest ; let not the apple of thine eye cease;' or, as the Hebrew hath it, 'let not the daughters of thine eye be silent.'2 That which we call the ball or apple of the eye, the Hebrews call the daughter of the eye, because it is as dear and
1 Ps. vi. 6 ; xxxix. 1 ; Jer. ix. 1,2; Lam. i. ; ii. 11, 18.
1 And the Greeks call the apple of the eye, the damsel of the eye, the girl of the eye ; and the Latins call it the babe of the eye.
310 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9.