God's anger

My thoughts: thus easy is it with God to make a man become his own punisher. Under whose regiment are all these troubles? Under my self, My thoughts. As God threatens Tyre, that ancient and glorious City; that her own feet shall carry her a far off to sojourn: Our own ¹feet shall carry us, our own creatures torment us: like diamonds, we are cut with our own dust. When David had numbered the people, his own heart smote him: God finds the rod within us, wherewith to scourge us. As some vapour engendered in the caverns of the earth, struggles for vent; and being barred of free passage, causeth an earthquake in the foundations that bred it. Or as some fiery exhalation wrapped up in the bowels of a thick cloud, breaks through that watery resistance, and delivers it self to the world with a dreadful noise. So the griefs and perturbations begotten by our own lusts, become terrors within us, and rend our very hearts, till they get vent by confession and repentance: thus do we muster up forces against our own peace. We pray, Lord deliver us from our enemies; and in that number we do wrap up our unthought of selves: for we are our own enemies. Turn thine hand upon mine enemies: for thou canst do it with the turning of an hand: Deliver me from the evil man: who is that? saith S. ²Augustine: he is not far to seek: libera me ab homine malo, that is, à meipso: deliver me from the evil man, that is, from my self: I am the aptest to beget ⟨p. 54⟩destruction upon mine own soul: no enemy could hurt us, if we were our own friends.

My thoughts: thus easie is it with God to make a man become his own punisher. Under whose regiment are all these troubles? Under my selfe, My thoughts. As God threatens Tyre, that ancient and glorious City; that her owne feet shall carry her a farre off to sojourne: Our own ¹feet shall carry us, our own creatures torment us: like diamonds, we are cut with our own dust. When David had numbred the people, his own heart smote him: God finds the rod within us, wherewith to scourge us. As some vapor engendred in the cavernes of the earth, struggles for vent; and being barred of free passage, causeth an earthquake in the foundations that bred it. Or as some fiery exhalation wrapp'd up in the bowels of a thick cloud, breakes through that watry resistance, and delers it self to the world with a dreadful noise. So the griefs and perturbations begotten by our own lusts, become terrours within us, and rend our very hearts, till they get vent by confession and repentance: thus do we muster up forces against our own peace. We pray, Lord deliver us from our enemies; and in that number we do wrap up our unthought of selves: for we are our own enemies. Turn thine hand upon mine enemies: for thou canst do it with the turning of an hand: Deliver me from the evil man: who is that? saith S.