John Trapp on Micah 4:9

Ver. 9. Now why doeſt thou cry out aloud?] Hout and houle? q.d. haſt thou any ſuch cauſe to be ſo unreaſonably and out ragiouſly impatient ſo long as Chriſt is thy king and counſellour? What if there now be no king in th[illegible: 1 letter]e? What if thy counſellour be periſhed? A wo-caſe I confeſſe, and great confuſion moſt needes be the iſſue of it; as it fell out in Ieruſalem after Ioſiah was ſlaine: Confer Hoſ. 3.4. with the Note there. But yet there is hope in Iſrael concerning this thing; neither need the Saints be ſo exceſſively dejected with outward croſſes, ſo long as Chriſt is with them, and for them. If Seneca could ſay to his friend Polybius, Fas tibi non eſt ſalvo Caeſare, de fortuna tua queri, Be thy caſe never ſo miſerable,Sen. ad [illegible: 1 letter]olyb. Conſol. thou haſt no cauſe to complaine, ſo long as Caeſar is in ſafety: How much leſſe ground of mourning or murmuring have Chriſts ſubjects, ſo long as He liveth and raigneth? Gaudeo quod Chriſtus Dominus eſt, Calvin. Epiſt. alioqui totus deſperaſſem writeth Miconius to Calvin, of the Churches enemies: I am glad that Chriſt is Lord of all: for otherwiſe I ſhould have had no hope of help at all. David in deep diſtreſs comforteth himſelf in the Lord his God 1 Sam. 30.6. and Pſal. 119.94. I am thine, ſave me, ſaith He: q. d. my profeſſed ſubjection to thee calleth for thy care and protection of me: and here he ſtayes himſelf. Kings and Councellours are great ſtayes to a ſtate: but Chriſt is not tied to them. Theſe are but particular good things, as is health againſt ſickneſſe, wealth againſt poverty &c. but Chriſt is an Ʋniverſall good, all ſufficient and ſatisfactory; every way proportionable and fitting to our ſoules, and ſeverall neceſſities. Why then do we cry aloud as utterly undone? why ſing we not rather with David when at greateſt under, The Lord liveth, and bleſſed be the God of my ſalvation. Pſal. 18.46. It is God that avengeth me, and delivereth me from the violent man &c, He is King of all the earth. He is wonderfull in counſel, and excellent in working &c. It was a learned mans Motto, Bleſſed be God, that he is God; and bleſſed be Chriſt that he reignes for ever; that Counſel is his, and ſound wiſdome: that he hath underſtanding, he hath ſtrength Prov. 8.14.

for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travel] They have, but they needed not, hadſt thou but turned into thy counting-houſe, and conſidered thy manifold priviledges in Chriſt, thy King and Counſellour. We oft puniſh our ſelves by our paſſions, as the lion that beates himſelf with his own taile. Sed ô benè (ſaith an Interpreter here) quod ſint hidolores ſaltem ſimiles parturientium, It is yet an happineſſe, that the Churches pangs, though bitter,Tarnou. yet are no worſe then as thoſe of a woman in travell. For 1. The paines of travell ſeldome bring death; but life both to mother and child: ſo do afflictions to the Saints 2 Cor. 4.17. Heb. 12.9. 2. Travell comes not by chance, nor for long continuance: neither doth affliction Ioh. 7.30. Luk. 22.53. 3. Travell is unavoidable, and muſt be patiently born: ſo muſt affliction; or elſe we loſe the fruit of it: Act. 14.22. 2 Tim. 3.12. 4. Sharp though it be, yet it is ſhort: ſo mourning laſteth but till morning Pſal. 30.6. and 73.24. and 135.14. Ioh. 16.15. Ier. 10.23. 5. As the travelling woman hath the help of other women: ſo hath the afflicted, of God, Angels and men. 6. Laſtly, as ſhe remembreth the ſorrow no more for joy of a manchild born into the world: ſo is it here Ioh. 16.20. Rom. 8.17, 18.