Certain prayers and godly meditations very needful for every ChristenCerteine prayers and godly meditacyons very nedefull for euery Christen

¶ The .v. chapter of the fifth image which is the evil on the lift hand.

¶ The .v. chapter of the fyft ymage whiche is the euyll on the lyft hond.

Some adversaries we have here in this life (besides them of whom we have spoken in the Chapter next before which are damned and made like unto finds) whom we must consider with an other mind / & we shall perceive .ij. profits that come of them. First that they abound with temporal goods / in so much that the Prophets where almost moved unto envy by their goods / as in the Psalm .lxxvij. ⟨image 83⟩My feet be almost moved / my steppes be dispersed / for I have favoured the wicked / seeing the peace and prosperity of sinners. And after / Behold the very sinners have obtained the abundauntry chess in the world. And in Hieremye .xii. Truly lord thou art just / if I should dispute with the / how be it. I will speak righteous things unto the / why doth the weigh of wicked men prosper? for they are all well / which transgress thy commandments and live wickedly. Why doth he pour so many benefits upon them for nothing and leseth them? but to comfort us / and show how good he is to them that are righteous / as the psalm sayeth: he that is so good to evil how much more shall he be good to the good? reserved that he punisheth the evil with no vexation / and tempteth the good with many troubles / that they may knowledge him to be good to them / not only in these present goods / but also in the secrete goods which be to come / and may say with the same Psalm it is good for me to cleave to the lord / and to put my hope in god: As though he should say / be it / that I suffer some things which I see they ⟨image 83⟩suffer not / yet I trust that god is much better unto me them unto them and so these visible evils are an argument of invisible goodness / that we should trust for goods invisible / and despise the evils that we suffer: Even as Christ in the gospel / biddeth us to behold the fowls of the air / & the ly yes of the field saying / if god so clothe the grass which is to day in the field & to morrow shall be cast into the furnace shall he not much more do the same unto you / o ye of little faith / wherefore by conferring the goods with which the evil abound / unto the evils which we suffer our faith is exercised / and our comfort (which only is holy) is stablished in god so that it is necessary that all things work for the best unto them that love god.