Men are gods, or, The dignity of magistracy, and the duty of the magistrate…

We are also to honour Magistrates both by praying for them, and paying tribute to them; the former is our duty, and the latter is their due; I will, saith the Apostle, that prayers and supplications be made for all men, for Kings, and all in authority; 1 Tim. 2.1, 2. The burden which lieth on them is weighty, we had need therefore to beg of God to strengthen their backs, otherwise they can never bear it.¹ There is a truth in that saying, Did men but know the weight of a Crown, they would not stoop to take it up. Pride indeed is so prevalent with many persons, that they will venture their lives to satisfy their ambition; these mens great care is to get the Sword, the Sceptre, not how to use them for God and his people; but certainly they who mind a faithful discharge of their trusts, find the Magistrates Throne to be a place of little ease. They are shepherds, Isai. 44.28. and we know the life of a shepherd is a laborious life, they endure the scorching heat of Summer, and the nipping cold of the Winter to keep their flocks safe. Cares and Fears about public concernments molest them night and day, as weights hang on a clock, ⟨p. 227⟩and will not suffer them to sleep. If they watch to protect us, should not we watch unto prayer for them?² The emblem of King Henry the seventh in all the windows of his house was still a Crown in a bush of thorns; surely to tell us that great places are not free from great cares; that no man knoweth the weight of a Sceptre, but he that swayeth it.

We are also to honour Magistrates both by praying for them, and paying tribute to them; the former is our duty, and the latter is their due; I will, saith the Apostle, that prayers and supplications be made for all men, for Kings, and all in authority; 1 Tim. 2.1, 2. The burden which lyeth on them is weighty, we had need therefore to beg of God to strengthen their backs, otherwise they can never bear it.¹