John Trapp on Micah 7:1

CHAP. VII.

Verſe I. WOe is me, for I am as when they have gathered the ſummer-fruits] Allai li Alaſſe for me. This laſt ſermon of his, the Prophet begins with a patheticall quiritation: bewailing his own unhappineſſe in the little good ſucceſſe of his miniſtery. Mirifice autem noſtris temporibus hic ſermo convenit, ſaith Gualther: This diſcourſe ſuites well with theſe times; wherein we may juſtly cry out with the Prophet Eſay, Who hath beleeved our report? And againe, O my leaneneſſe, my leaneneſſe! woe is me, for there is only as the ſhaking of an olive-tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done Eſai. 24.13, 16.Hei mihi quàm pingui macer eſt mihi taurus in arvo. Though he had worne himſelf to a very ſceleton in the Lords work; yet had he laboured in vaine, Iſrael was not gathered chap. 49.4, 5. and hence his wofull complaint. The like we read of Elias 1 King. 19.10. where he bitterly bewailes his aloneneſſe: So did A[illegible: 1 letter]hanaſius in his age, and Baſil in his. Faſciculus temporum Anno, 884. cryes out, for the paucity of good people, Heu, heu, Domine Deus, Alaſſe, Lord, how few appeare to be on thy ſide. Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vaſto.Virgil. And Gualther complaines, that the Anabaptiſts in Germany urged this as chief argument to draw people from communion with our churches,In loc. that there was ſo little good done by preaching, and ſo few ſoules converted. Hence ſome miniſters deſpond, and are ready to kick up all. Latimer tells of one who gave this anſwer why he left off preaching, becauſe he ſaw he did no good. This, ſaith Latimer, is a naughty, a very naughty anſwer. A grief it will be, and fit it ſhould be: piety to God and pitty to men calls for it. Chriſt wept over Ieruſalem: Paul had great heavineſſe and continuall ſorrow in his heart (not inferiour to that of a woman in travel) for his contumacious countreymen: [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Rom. 9.2. neither could he ſpeak of thoſe lewd loſels at Philippi with dry eyes Philip 3.18. But an utter diſcouragement it ſhould not be, ſith our reward is with God howſoever Eſay 49.5. and perhaps a larger, becauſe we have wrought with ſo little encouragement; we have plowed when others have only trod out the corn:Hoſ. 10.91. they trod and fed together, when as thoſe that plow have no refreſhing till the work be done. Certaine it is that God will reward his faithfull ſervants ſecundum laborem, non ſecundum proventum, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. according to their paines taken in the miniſtery, and not according to their peoples profiting.

There is no cluſter to eate] None to ſpeak of: hedge-fruit there is great ſtore: wild-grapes not a few: grapes of Sodom, cluſters of Gomorrah: But for good grapes, pleaſant fruit, godly people, there is a wondrous ſcarcity of ſuch. Diogenes lighted a candle at noon-day to look for a man: the Hoſt of Nola went to the graves to call for the good men of the town. Tully ſaith, that if there be one good Poet in an age, it is well. Chriſt wondred at one good Nathaniel, and tells us in the ſame chapter, that they are but few that receive him, and with him the adoption of ſons Ioh. 1.12. Cluſters we muſt not look for: bu[illegible: 1 letter] if there be found two or three berries in the top of the uppermoſt bough: four or five in the outmoſt fruitfull branches, it's well. Sufficit mihi auditor unus, ſufficit nullus. Iſa. 17.6. Paul when he came firſt to Philippi had a poore audience; only a few women Act. 16.13. and one convert: neither had he much better ſucceſſe at Athens; and no Church could be planted there Act. 17.

my ſoule deſired the firſt ripe fruites] praecocem fructum, the rath-ripe fruit, as a great dainty, a precious rarity. We highly prize nettle-buds, when they firſt bud: ſo doth God our young ſervices. Ier. 1.11. he made choice of the almond tree becauſe it bloſſometh firſt: ſo of Ieremy from his infancy. He called for firſt-fruites of trees, and of the earth, in the ſheafe, in the threſhing-floore, in the dough, in the loaves. He would have eares of corne, dried by the fire; and wheat beaten out of the green eares Lev. 2.14. He would have the primiroſe of our child-hood. There were three ſorts of firſt-fruites: 1. Of eares of corne offered about the Paſſeover. 2. Of the loaves, offered about Pentecoſt. 3. About the end of the yeare, in Autumne. Now of the two firſt God had a part, not of the laſt. He likes not of thoſe Arbores autumnales Jude 13. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. that bud at later end of harveſt. Converſion (as Divines obſerve) uſually falleth out between eighteen yeares of age, and eight and twenty: Beſides Abraham in the old Teſtament, and Nicodemus in the New, we have not many inſtances of men converted in old age. When people grow croked and rooted in evill practiſes, they are hardly ever ſet ſtraight againe. Remember therefore thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth: Eccleſ. 12.1. his ſoule delighteth in the firſt ripe fruites. Remember that Jeſus Chriſt ſhed his blood for thee, when he was but 8. dayes old: and took thee into his family by baptiſme, when thou didſt hang on thy mothers breſt.