Martin Luther on Psalms 127:2

Verse. 2. It is in vaine for you to rise earely and to lye downe late, and eate the breade of sorrow.

It is in vaine (saith he) for a man to rise earely, to goe late to bed, and with great labour to get his liuing: for so signifieth bread in this place. The Hebrewes call it the bread of affliction. The meaning then of these wordes is this: The bread of affliction. that bothe in houshold and ciuill gouernment all mans endeuour, all his care, study and trauel is in vaine except it be blessed from aboue. For by these kinds of speech, To rise earely, &c. to rise earely, and to lye downe late, he signifieth greate care and paineful trauel. As if he saide: It is not thy strength, thy care, thy study and endeuour that can make thee riche: but the blessing of God maketh a man rich, &c. God wil not giue successe vnto thee because of thy labour, like as he will not giue riches to such as are idle and carelesse. Notwithstanding thou must labour, and yet must thou commit and commend al to God, which blesseth and giueth successe vnto all.

But it seemeth (as the text soundeth) that the Prophet here forbiddeth laboure, contrary to that sayinge in Genesis: In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eate thy bread: Also to these wordes of S. Paule: Rom. 10. Let him ruleth doe it with diligence. Here he seemeth to say the contrary: For he pronounceth that to laboure, to rise earely and to lye downe late, to be carefull and painfull is but in vaine, whereas notwithstanding in other places sloth and idlenes are condemned. Here ye must make a distinction betwene faith and workes, or betwene the spirite and the fleshe. With thy hart thou must trust in God and call vppon him: but if thou hast maried a wife, or bearest any office in the common wealth, that perteineth to the olde man, to the flesh & not to the spirit, to works and not to faith. Here thou must labour and exercise the outwarde man: Thou must rise earely and lye downe late: that is, thou must be carefull as touching the outwarde man, howe thou maist prouide for thy family, doe good in the common wealth, &c, but thy minde must be free and voyde of care, for care ought to extend no farther then to the outward man onely: That is, the outwarde man ought not to be idle and slouthfull, but diligently to doe that which he is called vnto, in labouring, in studying, in deuising, in prouiding as an instrument: So the handes must labour, but the hart must looke vpward from labour to the Lord, and craue helpe of him. So that whiles the outward man is exercised with labour and trauel, the hart of the new man in the steede of care and trauel, must f[illegible: 1 letter]ye to prayer and say: Lorde I obey and willingly followe thy calling. I wil therefore doe all thinges in thy name: Gouerne thou & direct my labours. This consolation is so great, that it can not be expressed. For although no successe follow, yet art thou quiet in mind & sayest: Thus it hath pleased God. I am not the principall cause to doe what I would, but the instrument cause onely, & haue done what I could. For like as when thou hurte [illegible: 1 letter]ethy ha[illegible: 2 letters] with thyne axe or with some other toole in doing thy works, yet thy hand remaineth the same it was before and is not caste away: euen so, although thy family be disobedient, commende the matter to God and doe what thou canst: then shalt thou doe both these thinges so as God wil be wel pleased: that is, thou shalt rise earely and not rise earely, thou shal labour, and yet shalt not labour in vaine. For as touching the old man thou eatest the bread of sorrowe, but thy hart is quiet and at rest in hope of succour and the blessing of the Lord.

These thinges we dayly teach, and yet is the couetousnes of men so great, that there is no ende of heaping vp riches by hooke or crooke, by right or wrong. Yea they wil rather omitte the seruice of God, the hearing and preaching of his worde, then any gaineful labour. They doe not see that whiles they neglect the worde and seeke their owne gaine, they procure vnto them selues a farre greater losse, which although they doe not presently feele, yet shall it come to passe, that their riches which with so greate labour they heape togither, by Gods iust iudgement shall perish eyther by theeues, by warre, by fire or otherwise: or else they shall neuer come to the heyre whom they doe appoynt. But in Popery this perswasion was deepely rooted in mens heartes, that if they had once heard a Masse, they beleued that what so euer they tooke in hand that day, should prosper. Howe great then is our impietie, which doe not giue that reuerence to God and his word, which they gaue to their own idolatrous worke? yea which preferre our owne gayne, our wealth and riches aboue God and the incomparable rich treasure of his word? Wherefore it shall come to passe, that for the punishment of this sinne, the world shall be brought to greater pouertie, and from day to day there shall be greater scarsitie of all thinges: like as we also doe see at this day that there is greater dearth of all thinges then hath bene in times past. What is the cause? Forsoth we rise earely, we lye downe late, and eate the bread of affliction: We delite in earthly cares, in toyle and trauell, be it neuer so paynefull, to enrich our selues, and in the meane season we neglect God and his word. Therefore will God heape vppon vs aboundantly both cares and calamities, end that most iustly, for that it is which we so greedely seeke.

But I returne to the text. In the which ye see that housholde and ciuill gouernment are wholy committed vnto vs, but yet so that we must know and acknowledge our selues to be but Gods instruments and Gods workemen: not authors or first causes of these diuine matters. Therefore the Prophet thought it not enough to say affirmatiuely: God him selfe gouerneth and maketh the citie, he buildeth the house and appoynteth the family, but he setteth downe also the negatiue and sayth: Ye doe it not. And this is the part of a good teacher. But (as I haue sayd) the worlde can not abide the negatiue. For the worlde sayth: This will I, this haue I done, and this will I doe. It will needes be the gouerner of common wealthes and rule in Gods steede. Wherefore it receaueth a iust reward in that his enterprises are all in vayne and his labours without successe: As the Psalme sayth: Psal. 77.33. Their dayes are consumed in vanitie: that is to say, they were deade before they could bring to passe that they tooke in hande. For since they will not beleeue that God gouerneth all thinges, they see their owne policie to be but vanities, their labours vnprofitable and of none effect. Let euery one of vs therefore abyde in his degree and calling, and let vs knowe that this God requireth of vs, that we say: I beleue in one God: that is, God will still be God, the creator and maker of all things, and vs he will take and account as his workemen onely, as instruments and not authors or principall causes. But because we couet to be authors and efficient causes, therefore we finde nothing but vanitie and bread of affliction.

This sentence must be enlarged and applied to all states and degrees of men, and not onely to artificers and men of occupation which rise earely to doe their worke. Not that it is euill to rise earely and goe late to bed, not that it is euill to be exercised with labour all the day: For these thinges God requireth of all men, but sloth and idlenes is accursed. But we must here put a distinction betwene labour and presumption. Labour is not forbidden, but presumption is condemned. He doth not condemne labour, but diuilish presumption he condemneth, because that we, not contented with our owne trauel and care, doe take vpon vs also Gods office and care which he hath for vs: and he will wrest from vs his diuine power and maiesty which we so presumptuously vsurpe and take vpon vs: he will haue vs to labour and not to be idle: For this tentation is naturally rooted in vs, that we presume to be as gods. This diuilish presumption beganne in paradise when Satan sayd to Eue: Ye shall be like gods, & it alwaies continueth fast fixed in this flesh, so that it can not be suppressed as it ought to be, and as we both teach and are taught, but needes we will be gods. This is therefore a very naturall disease and corruption of the creature. Against this presumption, and this care, which perteyneth to the diuine maiestie alone, the holy Ghost here fighteth, when he sayth, that it is not our endeuour, wisedom and policie, but God him selfe that ruleth these thinges, and we are but his instruments. But the wicked are neuer the better, Yea the godly also doe offend herein very often. For we are not content with our owne state and condition, but we will be gouerners also, and wil appoynt the beginning, the middes and the end, as may best serue for our owne commoditie. Wherefore we tyre our selues with vayne cares night and day, as the examples of the whole world doe declare. One man purposeth to marry this mayden or that, and in ordering of his house, in guyding of his familie to vse such wayes as he liketh best. But afterwardes the matter falleth out contrary to his expectation. Now his wife lyeth sicke, now his children dye, now one calamitie or an other hapneth. An other man deuiseth an exact forme of gouerning of the common wealth: but experience teacheth him that he is miserablie deceaued. All this is done (and in deede wel done) to the end thou shouldest knowe that God will not suffer thy presumption vnpunished, which goest about by thine owne wisedom and policy to take from him his diuine power and maiestie. But if no trouble happen to such presumptuous and carelesse wretches, it is a manifest token that great and horrible calamities hang ouer their heades, which at length they shall feele, and shall not escape.

To be briefe, there is no kinde of life wherein ye shall not see verie many thinges come othewise to passe then a man woulde looke for. Howe many thinges haue hapned to our aduersaries the Papistes contrary to their expectation? And of those thinges whereof they thought them selues to be most sure and certeyne, what haue they brought to passe? So it hapneth to euery Magistrate and to euery familie, that many tymes they can not accomplish that they take in hande. What gayne they then by their policies and paynefull trauells but vanitie, in that they torment them selues without any profite, and so spende their liues that there is almost no tyme wherein they enioy a quiet minde? So shall ye finde some Princes to be most happie if they woulde quietly enioy those giftes wherewith God hath endued them. And this is the meane whereby they might so doe, if they woulde commende [illegible: 1 word] vnto God. But what doe they? They take vppon them those thinges which are aboue their power and not required of God, and lose that happines which they did enioy: and with these cares and trauells they afflict and torment them selues euen vnto death. And worthely. For why doe they so arrogantly take vppon them those thinges which God requireth not at their handes, and doe not quietly enioy those thinges which they possesse? Eccle. 6. As Salomon sayth: There is an euill which I haue seene vnder the Sunne, and it is muche amongest men: A man to whome God hath giuen riches, and treasures, and honour, and he wanteth nothing for his soule of all that it desireth: but God giueth him not power to eate thereof, &c. For if we could be content with those thinges which we haue, and quietly vse the giftes of God, and so reioyce with our wife, our children, and families geuing thankes into God for the same, and with a good conscience doing our dutie in our vocation, what could be so happy as we? But we doe that which this verse forbiddeth. We rise earely, we lye downe late, we torment our selues, and with sorrowe we eate our breade, This is the life of man throughout the whole world, as the holy Ghoste here witnesseth. The cause is, for that no man is content with his owne state. The benefites which God hath bestowed vpon vs to vse and enioy, we doe mislike. And as we doe not way or consider our owne good gifts and commodities: so haue we a loue and liking of other mens, and couet the like. And what haue we thereby? Uanitie of vanities, bread of affliction, vnprofitable care and trauel, lying down and rysing vp in vaine.

Wherefore the godly alone doe content them selues with those good thinges which they enioy. The godly are contented with that they haue. For they knowe that God is the giuer and gouerner of all good thinges. Wherefore they laboure with an vpright heart, and those things which they get with their labour, they vse as the gifts of God, & do not presume to be the authors and efficient causes thereof: therefore they haue quietnes and peace of conscience: And if any trouble happen, they can ouercome it with Iob saying: God hath giuen and God hath taken away, the name of God be blessed. So can they bothe vse the good giftes which they haue, and also ouercome all troubles and calamities. The flesh can doe neither of these, but is occupyed only about such thinges as it would haue, and whilest it seeketh and traueleth for the same, it loseth the good thinges which presently it doth enioy: As did Esops dogge, Esops dogge which swimming ouer the water with a peece of flesh in his mouth, snatched at the shadowe of the flesh shining in the water, and so lost both. which in snatching at the shadow, lost the flesh which he had in his iawes, and the shadow withall. This dogge therefore is an image of the whole worlde, wherin ye may se, as it were, one master of the houshold, to whom God hath giuen a wife, children, a family, substance, &c. These thinges are the flesh in the doggs mouth. What doth he now? The giftes which he hath, he doth not regarde, but afflicteth him selfe with other vaine cares for such thinges, as he hath not nor shall euer attaine vnto. But these thinges can not be learned out of bookes▪ but experience and practise is the onely glose that interpreteth this Psalme. For I my self also doe vnderstand these matters and can teach them vnto others. Yet often times it so commeth to passe, that I weary my selfe with vaine labours and trauells. The cause is, for that the desire and presumption to be like vnto God▪ which is in vs▪ and begun in Paradise, can not be vtterly shaken of, no not in the Sainctes and children of God. Nowe the more a man hath of this originall poyson, the lesse quietnes of minde and inward peace he hath, according to that saying of Augustine: A wise saying of Augustine. Thou hast commaunded Lord and so commeth it to passe, that euery vnordinate mind should be a punishment vnto it self. For like as drunkennes bringeth with it his owne punishment, that is to fay, cruditie and headach: so an inordinate mind bringeth with it the bread of sorrow and laboureth in vaine.

This is it which I sayd before, that this sentence is to be vnderstand, not onely of artificers, but generally of all men in all offices and callings, that it is in vayne for them to rise early, that is to say, to be curious and carefull, and to presume of them selues in any kind of life. So the Magistrate riseth earely when he hath a care that all thinges may be done as he hath determined. Likewise in all kindes of life to rise earely is, when a man hath no quietnes, no time of rest from cares and trauells, vnlesse he obteyne that he seeketh for. But all this is in vayne. Hereof haue I seene innumerable examples, and ye shall see the like if ye liue. Yong men, because they lacke experience, doe not yet vnderstand these matters. But in time ye shall see that in all states and kindes of life, in husbandmen, artificers, the learned, vnlearned, Magistrates, Kinges, Princes, ye shall see (I say) that they rise earely, that is, they are carefull, they appoynt certeyne endes whereunto they direct all their deuises and policies. They make them selues efficient causes, and take vpon them to rule all thinges by their owne wisedom. This the Gentiles also did see, and therefore they sayd that fortune beareth rule in all thinges. For if wisedom were enough to bring matters well to passe, then Cicero and Demosthenes had not bene deceiued by their wise and honest policies. If wisedom and strength were sufficient, then Hector had preserued Troy, and Iulius Caesar the Romane Empire. For wisedom, power, policie, & carefulnes was not lacking in these excellent men. They rose earely, they lay downe late, and did eate the bread of sorrow: notwithstanding they were deceiued and miserably perished. Therefore they were constrayned to say, that fortune ruleth in all the affayres of men, & that all thinges are done by chaunce. For commonly the wiser men they were, the more foolishly they gouerned in all their affaires. And true it is, that great wisedom ouerthroweth great kingdoms. And many times (as the prouerb sayth) wise men comit no small folly. Wise men some times committe great folly. Therefore, although the Gentiles (not lightned by the word of God, but onely taught by experience) did confesse that the affaires of men are not gouerned by wisedom and power, yet did they still presume vpon their owne wisedom and power, and needes they woulde gouerne common wealthes by their owne counsells and policies. But afterwarde, when they saw that there followed no successe, they acknowledged their errour and attributed all thinges vnto fortune. These words fortune, chaunce, casualty & such like are not vsed because any thing commeth otherwise to passe then by the prouidence of God, but for that many things fall out otherwise then we looked for, & the cause thereof we can not see. But we must not impute any thing vnto fortune (except we wil cal this fortune, when the counsells, the policies and enterprises of the wise and mighty come otherwise to passe, then they them selues did purpose or determine): but to the iudgement of God, who after this maner punisheth pride, arrogancie and presumption. For why do they presume to bee wise and mighty in those thinges which are farre aboue the wisedom and power of man, and are not gouerned but by God alone? Why doe they not there vse their wisedom and power where as God would haue them: to witte, in those things that are vnder their power? which are mentioned Gen. 2. Worthely therefore are they deceiued, and crye out that all things are gouerned by fortune: but to late, when they haue destroyed common wealthes and kingdoms. The song of fooles to say: I had not thought, or, had I wist. For this is the song of fooles, to say: I had not thought, and so to accuse fortune.

For fortune is not the cause that thy deuises and policies doe deceiue thee, but thine owne folly and the ignorance of God and thy selfe: First for that thou dost not vnderstand who or what thou art: Againe, thou doest not see what the commaundement of God is, and how farre forth he will haue thee to rule & gouerne. Thou beginnest with to high a note, as the Asse doth, and therefore thou makest an ill ende. When thou seest this, thou cryest out and sayest: there is no God, there is no prouidence of God: For wise and politike Princes doe not accomplishe that which they haue most wisely deuised and determined: Wise and mightie men bring not to passe that they go about. mighty Princes bring not that to passe, which they are able to doe as touching their strength and power. Therefore either God is vniust, or no God at all: for else he would haue regard vnto wise men, and all thinges shoulde be done as they haue determined. O blasphemous mouth. As though God must be such a God, who when he seeth that thou hast deuised and ordered all thinges wisely, must come vnto thee and say: Master gouerner, you haue done all thinges well: you are a wise man and able to gouerne without me. But thou presumptuous spirite, whilest thou attributest all things to the wisedom, policie & power of man, where is the glory and the maiestie of God? yea where is God him selfe if thou doest prouide, gouerne, and bring to passe all things? If all thinges be done by thy wisedom and power, then is the wisedom & power of God brought to nothing. Nay rather let thy wisedom, thy power and thy policie be vtterly confounded and brought to nought, that thou maist learne by experience, that the wiser a man is, the lesse able he is to accomplish that he taketh in hand, yea the more foolish he is and without all successe: On the other side, where lesse hope is, there God giueth best successe, to the ende thou shouldest know that the wisedom and power wherin thou doest glory and trust, is nothing, and can doe no good, but rather much hurt. Not that God condemneth wisedom and power, for they are the gifts of God giuen vnto men: but this he condemneth, that men of great wisedom & power through the confidence they haue therin, doe exclude God from all houshold and ciuill gouernment, and take vppon them to rule all thinges by their owne wisedom and power. So Cicero, Iulius Caesar, Brutus by wisedom & policie goe about to rule the common wealth. They thinke with them selues: Thus will I doe, Who? I Cicero, I Caesar, I Brutus. By what meanes? By mine owne wisedom, policie & power. This arrogancie and pride they doe not know to be sinne. Afterwards, when they see their wise counsells disapoynted, their deuises and policies ouerthrowne, they become blasphemers, & thinke there is no God, or else that God is vniust, which giueth no honour to vertue, no successe to wisedom. But why haue they no successe? Because they passe the boundes of their owne wisedom, and are not content that they are set as Lords & rulers ouer the beasts of the fielde, the fishes of the sea, the foules of the ayre, &c: the gouernment whereof God hath committed vnto man (Gen. 2.): but also they presume of them selues to rule mā like vnto them selues, house, wife, children, kingdoms. Empires, and that by their owne authoritie and wisedom, setting God a part, and not asking of him either counsell or succour.

Wherefore this verse is an image and true resemblance of the whole world. The whole world riseth earely in vayne. For what is all the world else, with all his wisedom, deuises and policies, but an earely rising in vayne. Beholde the higher powers, Princes, Magistrates, behold the rulers and gouerners of families, and ye shall see that they rise earely, but in vayne. From the highest therefore vnto the lowest, the Prince as well as the poore handmayden in the hause sing this song: I rise earely, I tyre my selfe, and I eate the breade of sorrowe. There are very fewe lightned by God from aboue, which haue the grace to knowe them selues to be but instruments and God to be the gouerner, or thinke the successe of their trauells to be the gift of God, and not the worke and fruite of their owne wisedom and policie. All the rest doe walke in the arrogancie and presumption of their owne hartes, and as though they were Lordes and rulers ouer all thinges, they attribute all vnto their owne worke and wisedom. And what gayne they hereby but vtter ruine and destruction? So Cicero, Demosthenes and other excellent men in the common wealth did not offend in that they were wise: like as Achas and Achab in the kingdome of Israell did not, which, as it appeareth, were men of great policie: but in this they sinned: because they thought those affayres and that kingdome to be subiect vnto their wisedome. Cicero sawe him selfe to be the onely Oratour of the common wealth of Rome, and he sawe also what ought to be done and howe all thinges ought to be gouerned: but because he lacked the feare of God, and imputed all to his owne deuises, his owne wisedom and policie, excluding God: therefore God woulde showe vnto him by his owne experience, that wisedom and policie is not enough for the executing and accomplishing of such weightie matters, but that the blessing of God is required from aboue. Wherefore Cicero did not onely no good in the common wealth with his wise counsell and great wisedom, but also procured his owne destruction.

The same may we say also of worldly wealth and riches. Riches are not euill, but they are the giftes of God, as wisedome is. Therefore the Lorde giueth vnto vs the vse and possession thereof. But when the rich man will say: these thinges are mine, these haue I gotten by mine owne labour and industrie, and beholdeth them as his owne birth, this is euill, and is that diuilish presumption and that desire to be like vnto God, The naturall presumption of man to be like vnto God, or to be as Gods. the which our first parents, being deceiued by the Deuill, beganne in Paradise, and all we which came of them, doe bring with vs. As impossible therefore as it is for vs to put of this flesh which we carry about with vs: so impossible is it vtterly to cast away this presumption and desire, to be as Gods. Notwithstanding the godly doe fight against it, and from day to day stil they mortifie it more and more, vntill at length it be wholy abolyshed, togither with this life. The godly therefore, to whome God hath giuen worldly goodes and riches, doe say: In deede I haue wealth and substaunce, but this is not my worke, but thy blessing O Lord and thy gifte, which thou hast giuen vnto me by the meanes of my labour. But if thou haddest not giuen it, thongh I had laboured neuer so much, I shoulde haue had nothing. But the worlde sayth otherwise. The abuse of the giftes of God in the worlde. I haue a faire wife, I haue sweete children. By whose gifte and benefite? Forsooth mine owne. Nay sayth the Lord: Seeing thou doest so arrogantly presume vppon these thinges as thyne owne, thou lyest. And for a token hereof I will cause that thy children shall dye, or shall be defiled: that thy wife shall lye sicke or become an harlot, or else shall consume thy goods, &c. An other hath faire houses, gay and sumptuous buildinges. If you aske of him: how came you by these things? by whose meane? by whose deuise and policie? He aunsweareth: Euen by mine owne. No, not so, sayth the Lorde, and that thou mayest see it to be true, I will bringe to passe, that eyther they shall be consumed with fire, or else before thou shalt enioy them according to thy desire, thou shalt dye. An other quietly and peaceably gouerneth a common wealth, a dukedome, a kingdom. By whose power and policye? By mine owne, sayth he. Not so. And that thou maiest see the same to be true, either sedition, warre or some other trouble shall be raised vp, that thou shalt wonder and say: who could once haue thought that these thinges shoulde haue come thus to passe?

Against this presumption, this Psalme armeth vs, & teacheth euery one, both Prince and people, high and low to say: My wife, my children, my family, my goods, the publike peace, the cōmon wealth, &c. are the gifts of God. These I wil vse with thankfulnes so long as it shall please God and as he shall giue me the vse thereof. If my wife or my children dye, if any trouble come either publikely or priuately, I wil say: O Lord, I was the possessor of these benefites, thou gauest them and thou hast also taken them away, I will therfore patiently beare this losse. Notwithstanding, the possession there of could not alwaies haue continued, &c, A mind thus [illegible: 2 letters]med & instructed shal be wel able cherefully to beare all aduersities: which the wicked are constrained to suffer with great anguish and sorowe. But they heare not these thinges: Therefore they finde & feele that to be most true which this Psalme sayth: It is in vaine for you to rise earely: Yea they are their owne tormentors and their owne deuils, which miserably vexe & torment them selues, but altogither in vaine. For why doe they not harken and giue eare vnto the word? Beholde therfore all common wealths, al kingdomes, either of the Romanes, the Athenians, the Lacedemonians, the Thebanes, or others, whereof any historyes are extant, and ye shall see a true image and liuely resemblance of this verse.

Verse. 2. But to his beloued he will giue sleepe [or rest] or else: To his beloued he will giue by sleepe.

After that he had before sufficiently reproued that presumption and desire to be like gods, which is naturally rooted in vs, now he proceedeth to the other part of this Psalme, in the whiche he teacheth that all thinges come from the blessing of God. For this is in deede the right order of teaching, first to destroy that which is false, and then to builde vppe that which is true and sound. For it might be demaunded: what is then to be done, if our power and wisedome doe nothing auaile? As we see it came to passe in Cicero, in whome there was as great wisedome as was possible to be in a man, and yet he did no good therewith, but hurt both him selfe and others. He did not offend by ignorance as touching the affayres wherein he had to deale. What then was his offence? with his wisedome he toyned presumption, because that he thought the administration of the hardest matter in the whole worlde, to be the worke, the effect and fruite of his wisedome. Wherefore, although there was in Cicero (as I haue saide, and as his workes do testifie) so much wisedom as can be in any man, yet was he not able to performe that he tooke in hande. Therefore he could not see that ende of his labours, deuises and polycyes which he looked for. Like as it happened also to Demosthenes and many other excellent men whiche with like presumption tooke vpon them the like gouernment. Whereas then the ende fell out contrary to their expectation, there was in them no lacke of wisedom or wise and prudent gouernment, but their owne folly was the cause therof, in that they gloried, not only in them selues, but also in others, that the people might magnifie them and say: Behold, we haue followed this man, he hath brought these matters to passe, &c. as that verse of Cicero doth declare: O happie Rome (sayth he) when I was made a Consul thereof. Is not this an arrogancie intolerable and worthie to be beaten downe? In the ende therefore he singeth an other song, as in his epistle to Octauius it doth appeare. And this is to make of yt gift of God, a work of the pride of man, or rather of the deuill.

If then Cicero and Demosthenes, since their wisedom, their wise counsells and deuises haue deceaued them, should nowe demaund this question: what is to be done? Shall wisedom be reiected? Shall the common weale be neglected and forsaken? &c. Salomon aunswereth: No, not so. But (sayth he) ye must rule, ye must gouerne the common weale with counsell and good aduise. So he biddeth the master of a houshold to marry a wife, to till the ground, to nourish his family, &c. but yet so that this sentence must alwayes stand: he will giue to his beloued by sleepe. He will giue, that is, what so euer a man hath he must acknowledge the same to be a gift. Also he will giue to him which is his beloued, and he wil giue also by sleepe. So that it shall be a gift, and a gift giuen to his beloued, and easily giuen. This is the summe & effect of this verse briefly expoūded, which he will afterward more largely declare by the partes thereof: So that what so euer thou beholdest, thy selfe, thy life, thy body, thy wife, thy children, peace and quietnes, good successe, &c, thou must acknowledge the same to be the gift of the Creator, giuen vnto none but vnto his beloued. In the former verse therefore (as I haue sayd) is set forth a liuely resemblance of the whole world, wherein are men, not beloued, but starke madde through a carnall presumption and desire to be like vnto God, which will rule all thinges by their owne deuises and policies. These men haue no gift for as much as that which they haue, they doe not acknowledge as a gift, nor say: These thinges God hath giuen vnto me. And albeit Cicero and other Philosophers doe sometimes confesse that these thinges are Gods giftes, yet they doe not so beleue: for they them selues will bee as Gods, which with their owne counsells, wisedome and wise policies haue defended the common weale, enlarged the Empire, preuented imminent daungers and troubles, &c. Through this presumption they prouoke God to send amongst them some Annibal, or some Pirrhus, or to stirre vp ciuill warres by Silla, Pompeius, or the conspiracie of Cataline, with other seditious persons, that so they might knowe them selues, not to be the gouerners of so high and weighty matters. Thus the wicked also and the godles haue the giftes of God, although they vnderstand not that they are giftes. But this must we vnderstand and knowe. Wherefore if thou hast married a wife, if thou be a Magistrate in the common weale, or liuest in any other calling, be wise, heare the word of God, and vnderstand what thou art, and what thou art not. Adorne thy wife, thy children, thy family, thy substance with this title, that the Lord hath giuen them: that is to say, thinke euen from thine hart that they are the giftes of God, which God hath giuen thee, and requireth nothing else againe for the same, but that with a thankful hart thou shouldest acknowledge the same to be his giftes. But this to doe is also the gift of God, as it is sayd in the .8. chapter of the booke of wisedome: I knowe that I coulde not keepe my selfe chast except God gaue it vnto me, and that was a poynt of wisedom also, to know whose gift it was.

He therfore which certeinly perswadeth him self, that his wife, his children, his goods are the gifts of God, is not proud through the successe thereof, because he knoweth them to be Gods giftes, and not his owne worke or his owne glory. The husband being thus perswaded, hath a pure reioycing in his wife and children, because he knoweth that they are the giftes of God, and he enioyeth them with thankes giuing, so long as it pleaseth God. If God take them away againe, he beareth it patiently and eateth not the bread of affliction, because he is the beloued of God, and he liueth as though he were in a sleepe, and whiles he sleepeth the nette is drawne according to the prouerbe, that is, all thinges prosper and goe well with him. Thus the godly man vseth Gods giftes and that rule, that gouernment which is committed vnto him by God. Genesis. 2. He eateth, he drinketh, he sleepeth, he reioyceth in his wife, his children, his substance with thankes giuing, saying: Lord God, it was thy gift, and it is thy gift: If thou take it away, thine it is againe, &c. So resteth his hart in true and godly quietnes. But the wicked haue the bread of affliction, and sleepe not, no not in the night. But the godly man, not onely in the nyght, but all the time of his life sleepeth sweetely: that is, he hath a cheerefull and a quiet conscience, and resteth, as it were in a softe bedde. He leaueth vnto God the chiefe gouernment of all things, he enioyeth Gods giftes, and knoweth him selfe to bee Gods instrument, and so hath all thinges in rest as it were by sleepe, geuing glory vnto God: and in doing nothing he doth all thinges, and in doing all thinges he doth nothing.

Thus hauing before sufficiently reprehended and condemned the presumption of mans wisedome and strength, he sheweth the true cause and also the chiefe master and gouerner of families and common weales: to witte, the Lorde him selfe. And here he vseth a maruelous breuitie: he giueth to his beloued (sayth he) by sleepe. This sleepe whereof he speaketh must be referred to the rest and quietnes of the minde and conscience, and not to the rest of the fleshe or of the body. We muste labour and trauel as touching the body, but with a cheerefull conscience, looking assuredly for the blessing of God: as in Genesis it is written, that all our welfare, and all that we haue consisteth in the blessing of God and not in our owne labour and industrie. Nowe he procedeth, and that which before he briefely expounded, he declareth more at large in the same order whiche before he obserued, firste speaking of housholde gouernment, and afterwardes of politike gouernment.