A commentary or, exposition upon the divine second epistle general, writtenA commentary or, exposition vpon the diuine second epistle generall, written

3 That all afflictions come by a supreme providence, therefore be patient. ^qShall we receive good at the hand of God, and not evil? What ever be the Instruments, he looks to the high Agent; Deus abstulit; The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away; Blessed be the Name of the Lord. So David, ^rRemove thy stroke from me; I am consumed by the blow of thine hand. Whatsoever is the weapon, it is thy blow. So he snibbed the sons of Zerviah, concerning the blaspheming of Shimei; it may be the Lord hath said to him, Curse David, 2 Sam. 16.10. Deus jussit. So our Saviour told Pilate,^s Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above. GODS providence is matter necessitatis, the mother of necessity: now Patience makes a virtue of this necessity. Other creatures modestly and silently obey, and shall man vex himself with impatience? Quicquid Superi voluere, peractum est; To wrestle with Fate, is to provoke Fate to wrestle with us; and then who falls? Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the LORD commandeth it not? Lam. 3.37. Murmur not my son, thy Father did it. We strike at God, and he says to us, as Caesar said to Brutus; Is it thou my son? Well may he strike us, and let us only say, Tu Pater, it is Thou my Father, and be silent.^t These things hast thou done, and I kept silence, saith the Lord. Wicked men strike the just ⟨p. 137⟩God, and he holds his peace: the just God strikes wicked men, and they murmur.

3 That all afflictions come by a supreme providence, therefore be patient. ^qShall we receive good at the hand of God, and not evill? What ever be the Instruments, hee lookes to the high Agent; Deus abstulit; The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away; Blessed be the Name of the Lord. So David,