Secondly, Labour to justify the Lord in all that he has §2done: Say, the Lord is righteous, though he hath laid your City desolate. When Jerusalem was laid desolate, and the Wall thereof broken down, and the Gates thereof were burnt with fire; Nehemiah justifies the Lord, Chap. 9. 33. Howbeit, thou art just in all that is brought upon us, for thou 1hast done right, but we have done wickedly. The same Spirit was upon Jeremiah, Lam. 1. 1, 4, 8. How doth the City sit solitary, that was full of people? H•w is she become as a Widow? She that was great among the Nations, and Princess among the Provinces? How is she become tributary? The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her Gates are desolate; her Priests sigh, her Virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled against his commandment. The same Spirit was upon David, Psal. 119. 75. I know, O Lord, that thy Judgements are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. So Psal 145. 17. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. This Maxim we must live and dye by, though we don't always see the reason of his proceedings. 'Tis granted on all hands, that voluntas Dei est summa, perfectissima, & infallibilis Regula divinae justitiae, & Deus sibi ipsi lex est. The will of God is the chiefest, the most perfect and infallible Rule of Divine Justice; and that God is a Judge to himself. Shall 2not the Judge of all the earth do right? In this Negative question, is emphatically implied, an Affirmative Position: which is, that God above all others, must and will do right; because from his Judgement there is no appeal. Abraham considering the Nature and Justice of God, was confidently assured, that God could not do otherwise but right. Hath ⟨p. 134⟩God turned you out of house and home, and marred all your pleasant things, and stripped you naked as the day wherein you were born: yes. Why if he hath, he hath done you no wrong: he can do you no wrong: he is a Law to himself: and his righteous Will is the Rule of all Justice. God can as soon cease to be, as he can cease to do that which is just and right. So Psa. 97. 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him; Righteousness and Judgement are the habitation of his throne. Clouds and darkness, notes the terribleness of Gods administrations:
Secondly, Labour to justifie the Lord in all that he has §2done: Say, the Lord is righ•eous, though he hath laid your City desolate. When Jerusalem was laid desolate, and the Wall thereof broken down, and the Gates thereof were burnt with fire; Nehemiah justifies the Lord, Chap. 9. 33. Howbeit, thou art just in all that is brought upon us, for thou 1hast done right, but we have done wickedly. The same Spirit was upon Jeremiah, Lam. 1. 1, 4, 8. How doth the City sit solitary, that was full of people? H•w is she become as a Widow? She that was great among the Nations, and Princ•ss among the Provinces? How is she become tributary? The wayes of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her Gates are desolate; her Priests sigh, her Virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled against his commandment. The same Spirit was upon David, Psal. 119. 75. I know, O Lord, that thy Judgements are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. So Psal 145. 17. The Lord is righteous in all his wayes, and holy in all his works. This Maxim we must live and dye by, though we don't alwayes see the reason of his proceedings. 'Tis granted on all hands, that voluntas Dei est summa, perfectissima, & infallibilis Regula divinae justitiae, & Deus sibi ipsi lex est. The will of God is the chiefest, the most perfect and infallible Rule of Divine Justice; and that God is a Judge to himself. Shall 2not the Judge of all the earth do right? In this Negative question, is emphatically implyed, an Affirmative Position: which is, that God above all others, must and will do right; because from his Judgement there is no appeal. Abraham considering the Nature and Justice of God, was confidently assured, that God could not do otherwise but right. Hath ⟨p. 134⟩God turn'd you out of house and home, and marred all your pleasant things, and stript you naked as the day wherein you were born: yes. Why if he hath, he hath done you no wrong: he can do you no wrong: he is a Law to himself: and his righteous Will is the Rule of all Justice. God can as soon cease to be, as he can cease to do that which is just and right. So
- 1N•h•m. 1. 4. So Ma•••c•us the Emperor justified God, when he saw his Wife and Children butchered before his eyes by the Traitor Phocas, and knew that himself should soon after be stewed in his own Broth; cried out, Just art thou O Lord, and just are all thy Judgements.N•h•m. 1. 4. So Ma•••c•us the Emperour justified God, when he saw his Wife and Children butchered before his eyes by the Tray•or Phocas, and knew that h•mself should soon after be stewed in his own Broth; cryed out, Just art thou O Lord, and just are all thy Judgements.
- 2Gen. 18. 25.
