Again, That little estate that a righteous man hath is most com/monly
60 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD's NOAHS. [LAM. III. 24.
a more lasting, a more abiding, a more permanent, and a more en- during estate than the great and large estates of the wicked are, Pro v. XV. 16, and xvi. 8. Ps. xxxvii. 16, ' A little that a righteous man hath, is better than the riches of many wicked.' One old piece of gold is worth more than a thousand new counters, and one box of pearls is more worth than many loads of pebbles, and one hundred pounds a year for ever is better than many hundreds in hand. It is very observ- able the psalmist doth not simply say, the estate, but the rich estate ; the riches not of one, or a few, but of many wicked, are not comparable to that little that a righteous man hath. The Hebrew word l^J^'i, Ha- mxyn, that is here rendered riches, signifies also a multitude, or an abundance, or store of riches.^ A little that a righteous man hath is better than the multitude of riches, or the abundance of riches, or the store of riches that many wicked men have ; and he gives you the reason of this in the l7th verse : ' For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but he upholdeth (or under-props) the righteous.' By ' the arms of the wicked,* you are to understand their strength, their valour, their power, their wit, their wealth, their abundance, which is all the arms they have to support and bear up themselves in the world with. Now, these arms shall be broken, and when they are broken, then, even then, will God uphold the righteous, that is, God will be a continual over- flowing fountain of good to his righteous ones, so that they shall never want, though all the springs of the wicked are dried up round about them.
O Sirs ! there are so many moths, and so many dangers, and so many crosses, and so many losses, and so many curses that daily attends the great estates of wicked men, that they are very rarely long-lived. Ah ! how many in this great city are there that have built their nests on high, and that have thought that they had laid up riches for many years, and that have said in their hearts, that their lands, and stocks, and trades, and houses, and pompous estates should abide for ever, who are now broken in pieces like a potter's vessel. Ah ! how often doth the pride, the oppression, the lying, the cheating, the over-reaching, the swearing, the cursing, the whoring, the covetousness, the drunken- ness, and the wantonness of the wicked, cut the throat of all their mercies ! These are the wickednesses that as a fire bums up all their outward enjoyments, and that turns their earthly paradise into a real helL It is the wickedness of the wicked that causeth their prosperity to wither, and that provokes God to turn their plenty into scarcity, their glory into contempt, and their honour into shame. It is very observable, that in the holy Scriptures the prosperous estates of the wicked are frequently compared to things of an abrupt existence,^ to a shadow which soon passeth away; to chaff, which a puff, a blast of wind easily disperseth and scattereth; to grass, which quickly withereth before the sun ; to tops of corn, which in an instant are cut off; to the unripe grape, which on a sudden drops down ; yea, to a dream in the night ; and what is a dream, but a quick fancy, and a momentary vanity ? All the riches that the wicked gain, either by their trades, or by
* From this word Bamon comes the word Mammon, Luke xvi. 9. » Job xiv. 2; xxi. 17, 18; Isa. xxix. 5; 2 Kings xix. 26; Job xxiv. 24; xv. 33; ZZ.8.
Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. 51
their friends, or by their great places, or by their high offices, or by their subtle contrivances, or by their sinful compliances ; and all the honour they gain in the court, or in the camp, or in the school, is but light and inconstant ; it is but like the crackling of thorns under a pot. They are fading vanities, that commonly die before those that enjoy them are laid in the dust.
Oh, therefore, let all Christians be contented with their little, seeing that their little shall outlast the large estates of wicked and ungodly men. A man that hath God for his portion can truly say that which no wicked man in the world can say, viz., * Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever,' Ps. xxiii. 6. The psalmist doth not say that good- ness and mercy should follow him a day, or a few days, or many days, but that 'goodness and mercy should follow him all the days of his life.' The Hebrew word radaph, that is here rendered to follmv, signifies to persecute ; saith the psalmist, * Goodness and mercy shall follow me, as the persecutor follows him he persecutes;' that is, it shall follow me frf quently, it shall follow me constantly, it shall follow me swiftly, it sha. follow me earnestly, it shall follow me unweariedly. The word signifies^ a studious, anxious, careful, diligent following ; it is a metaphor that is taken from beasts and birds of prey, that follow and fly after their prey with the greatest eagerness, closeness, and unweariedness imaginable. Why thus should mercy and loving-kindness follow David all the days of his life; and if in a temptation, he should prove so weak and so foolish as to run from goodness and mercy, yet goodness and mercy should follow him, like as the sun going down followeth the passenger that goeth eastward with his warm beams.
O, but now the mercies of the wicked are short-lived. Though the wicked flourish and spread themselves like a green bay tree one day, yet they are cut down the next, and there is neither root nor branch to be found, tale nor tidings to be heard of them ; for in a moment, they, with all their greatness, state, pomp, and glory, are utterly van- ished and banished out of the world, Ps. xxxvii. 35-37. And so, Ps. xxxiv. 10, ' The young lions do lack and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.' Young lions are lusty, strong, fierce, and active to seek their prey, and have it they will if it be to be had : and yet for all that they shall lack and suffer hunger. By young lions, the learned understand,
[1.] First, All wicked rulers; men that are in the highest places and authority, as the lion is the king of beasts, Prov. xxviii. 15, Ezek. xxxii. 2.
[2.] Secondly, By lions they understand all cruel oppressors, that are still oppressing and grinding of the faces of the poor: Prov. xxx. 30 ; * rich cormorants,' as the Septuagint renders it, ' who live on the spoil of the poor, and are never satisfied.'
[3.] Thirdly, By lions, they understand the tyrants and the mighty Nimrods of the world, which are sometimes called lions, Jer. ii. 15, 1 Chron. xi. 22, Nahum ii. 13.
[4.] ATid lastly. By lions, they understand all the crafty and subtle politicians of the earth : Ezek. xxxviii. 13, 'The lion lurks very craftily and, secretly for his prey.' The sum of all is this, That wicked men