John Trapp on Proverbs 20:18

Verſ. 18. Every purpoſe is eſtabliſhed by counſel] That thy proceedings bee not either unconſtant or uncomfortable,Deliberandum eſt diu quod ſtatuendum eſt ſemel. deliberate long ere thou reſolve on any enterpriſe. Adviſe with God eſpecially, who hath ſaid, Woe bee to the rebellious children that take counſel, but not of me, &c. Iſa. 30.1. David had able Counſellours about him: but thoſe he moſt eſteemed and made uſe of, were Gods teſtimonies, Pſal. 119.24. Thy teſtimonies alſo are my delight, and the men of my counſel. Princes had learned men ever with them, called [non-Latin text not transcribed] Remembrancers, Monitors, Counſellours, as Themiſtocles had his Anaxagoras, Alexander his Ariſtotle, Scipio his Panaetius and Polybius: of which latter Pauſanias teſtifieth,Paſuan. lib. 8. that he was ſo great a Politician, that what he adviſed never miſcarried. But that is very remarkable that Gellius reports of Scipio Africanus, that it was his cuſtome before day to goe into the Capitol in cellam Jevis, and there to ſtay a great while, quaſi conſultans de Rep. cum Jove, as if hee were there adviſing with his God concerning the Common-wealth:Gell. lib. 7. Whence it was that his deeds were pleraque admiranda, admirable for the moſt part, ſaith the Author. But we have a better example: David in all his ſtreights went to ask counſel of the Lord,1 Cor. 1.30. Iſa. 9.6. who anſwered him. Doe we ſo, and God will not fail us, for he hath made Chriſt wiſedome unto us, and a wonderful Counſellour.

And with good advice make warre] Ahab in this might have been a Precedent to good Joſiah. He would not goe againſt Ramoth-Gilead, till he had firſt adviſed with his falſe Prophets. But that other Peerleſs Prince, though the famous Prophet Jeremy was then living, and Zephaniah, and a whole Colledge of Seers, yet he doth not ſo much as once ſend out of doors to ask, ſhall I goe up againſt the King of Aegypt? Sometimes both grace and wit are aſleep in the holieſt and warieſt breaſts. The Souldiers rule among the Romans was, Non ſequi, Vege[illegible: 1 letter]. l. 1. c. 17 Lucian. non fugere bellum: Neither to fly, nor to follow after warre. The Chriſtian Motto is, Nec temorè nec timidê, be neither temerarious nor timorous. And that's a very true ſaying of the Greek Poet, Lucian. [non-Latin text not transcribed] [non-Latin text not transcribed].