John Trapp on Ecclesiastes 3:4-5

Verſ. 4. A time to weep, and a time to laugh] Onely wee muſt not invert the order, but weep with men, that wee may laugh with Angels; lay godly ſorrow as a foundation of ſpiritual joy. Surely out of this eater, comes meat; out of this ſtrong, ſweet: ſtrong and ſweet refreſhments follow upon penitential performances: theſe April ſhowers bring on May flowers. Tertullian ſaith, that he was nulli rei natus niſi poenitentiae, born for no other purpoſe, but to repent: but then, he that truly repenteth, de peccatis dolet, & de dolore gandet, is grieved for his ſins, and then is glad of ſuch a grief. Thoſe that ſo ſow in tears ſhall reap in joy: whereas thoſe that will not (in an evill time, Eſay 22.12. eſpecially when God calls to weeping and mourning, and even thruſts men down as it were with a thump on the back) weep here, where there are weeping handkerchiefs in the hands of Chriſt, are like to have their eyes whipt out in hell, and to howl with devills.

A time to mourn] Matter enough of mourning wee ſhall bee ſure of (and wee ſhould bee ſoberly ſenſible of it) whiles wee are in this vale of miſery, vally of tears, in hoc exilio, in hoc ergaſtulo, in hoc peregrinatione, (as Bernard hath it) in this Priſon-houſe, Purgatory, Pilgrimage, in this place of baniſhment and bondage, how can wee look for better? God ſet us not here, as hee did Adam in Paradiſe, to take his pleaſure, or as hee did Leviathan in the Sea, to ſport and dally. Wee muſt not think to do as the people of Tombutum in Africk, who are ſaid to ſpend their whole time in ſinging and dancing. The way of this world is like the wilderneſs of Sin, or the vale of Siddim, Camd. Eliſab. or the Pacifique Sea, which Captain Drake found tempeſtuous and troublous above meaſure. Many miſeries and moleſtations both, Satanical and ſecular, wee are ſure to meet with, to make us mourn. Hierome complains that hee had furrows in his face, and Iſicles from his lips with continual weeping. Origen is thought to have died of grief. Chryſoſtome calls the days of his life, the days of his ſorrow. Baſil was made old and unprofitable for Gods Church, before his time, with travel and trouble. Rebecca is weary of her life, ſo is Elijah; Naomi will bee Naomi no longer, but Marah-Paul veyls all his top-ſayls, and ſits down in the duſt, 1 Tim. 1.15. beſides his ſympathizing with others, 2 Cor. 11.29, 30.

And a time to dance] Or skip as young Cattel do at ſpring-tide. Here is nothing for mixt immodeſt dancings. Quid opus eſt talibus ſa[illegible: 2 letters]amentis? What need people provoke themſelves to that evill they ſo naturally encline to? Nemo ſobrius ſaltat, ſaid the Heathen Oratour, No ſober man will offer to dance.Chryſoſt. Auguſtin. Where there is dancing, there the Devill is, ſaith a Father: and cannot men bee merry, unleſs they have the Devill for their Play-fellow? Dancing (ſaith Another) is a circle, whoſe center is the Devill, but buſily blowing up the fire of luſt, as in Herod, that old Goat.

Sander. ſchiſm. Ang. lib. 1. Verſ. 5. A time to caſt away ſtones] As when King Henry the eighth pulled down the Abbyes and other religious Houſes, (as they called them) ſaying, Corvorum nidos eſſe penitus diſturbandos, ne iterum ab cohabitandum convolent, that the Crows neſts were to be pulled in peeces,Acts and Mon. that they might never neſtle there any more. And herein hee did but as Cardinal Wolſey did before him: for hee, by the Popes own licenſe▪ had a little before, pulled down forty Monaſteries, and taken their ſtones and revenues, to build and endow his two Colledges at Oxford, and Ipſwich. Elapidation is a peece of the Churches happineſs, Eſa. 5.2.

And a time to gather ſtones together] As in building Forts, Caſtles, Colledges, Bridges, Cauſeys, ſuch as was that, 1 Chron. 26.16, 18. 1 King. 10.5. 2 Chron. 9.11. See 2 Chron. 16.6.

A time to embrace] With honeſt conjugal embracements (as the Chaldee Paraphraſt interprets it) not with thoſe libidinous embracings of the boſom of a ſtranger,R[illegible: 1 letter]pertus. Prov. 5.20. No time for ſuch, 1 Pet. 4.3. Diabolus capite blanditur, ventre oblectat, cauda ligat.

And a time to refrain] As in times of common calamity: for ſhould wee then make mirth? Ezek. 21.10. Should not the Bridegroom come forth of his chamber, and the Bride out of her Cloſet? Joel 2.16. Some of the Ancients do very much note the manner of Noahs going into the Ark,Ambroſ. de Noe & Arca, cap 21 and how the father and the ſonnes went together, the mother and her daughters in Law went together: God himſelf dividing at that time thoſe whom himſelf had joyned together. Others tell us, that & bruta ipſa intra Arcam, quamdiu diluvium duravit, continuerint, the very brute creatures coupled not in the Ark, during the deluge. There is both an intemperate and an intempeſtive abuſe of the marriage Bed, which ought to bee kept undefiled, Heb. 13.3. and not ſtained and diſhonoured with either unſeaſonable or ſenſual exceſſes, and uncleanneſſes; which God will certainly plague, (though they lye without the walk of humane cenſure) without true and timely repentance.Sculte. Annal. Lutheri nuptias amici etiam improbabant, &c. Luthers marrying a wiſe then when all Germany was in a hurly-burly,Quoniam vero ipſum Luth[illegible: 1 letter]rum quodammodo triſt[illegible: 1 letter]orem eſſe ceruo & perturbatum ob vitae mutationem, omni ſtudio & benevolentia conſolari eum cupio. and all Saxony in heavineſs for the death of their good Elector Frederick (Luthers greateſt friend) was no ſmall grief to his beſt friends; and afterward alſo to himſelf, as Melanchthon teſtifieth in an Epiſtle to Camerarius.