AS God hauing tyed Abrahams faith , and by tryall found it sincere , in walking obediently vnto his will , did plant his Church in Abrahams posterity , being holie branches of a holy tree : so this Church God woulde not leaue destitute of his further grace , but as in mercy hee had freely chosen the same from among the rest , so in his goodnes he blessed it aboue the rest . He sent his Prophets from time to time , as dilligent husband-men to employ theyr Prayers both earely and late , for the dressing of hys Vineyard , and to do all things which might serue to make it fruitfull : that as hee had planted the same by himselfe , so he might water it by his seruants , & giue the increase by his spirit .

Amongst these seruants of God , whom the Lord had indued with the spirite of Prophesie , some were employed specially among the Iewes , consisting of the Tribes of Iudah and Beniamin : some were sent to the ten Tribes of Israell , which being reuolted from the house of Dauid , were now become a seueral kingdome of themselues : some exercised a more ioynt function concerning both the kingdome of Iudah & Israell : and some Prophecied more specially concerning forraigne Nations . Of those Prophets , whose commission was to preach vnto the Iewes , our prophet Ieremiah was neyther the last nor the least : who being indued with rare and excellent gifts of God ; as namely with feruent zeale , inuincible courage , and vnchaungeable constancy , beganne for to prophecie in a most corrupt and daungerous time , when the Booke of the Lawe was lost , and neuer a coppie thereof extant for the instruction of the people . Whereof it is easie to gather , howe much a do the prophet had with the way-ward people , hauing no common rule to direct them , either for the worship of God , or for the leading of their liues , ( but euery man liuing as himselfe liked best ) both corrupting the seruice of God with their Idolatrous inuentions , and defiling their conuersations with horrible sinnes . And after that , when the Booke of the Lawe was found , and publickly authorized by godly King Iosiah , the people for all that became not much more tractable , though for his time reduced to some better order ; yet afterwardes , like false-hearted Apostataes , they vtterly reuolted to their olde superstitions , and loosenes of life . And straunge it is to consider , what contradiction the holy prophet founde among that stif-necked people , who neither regarded the Lorde that sent him , nor the Ambassage hee deliuered , nor the iminent calamities which were ready to fal vpon their heads .

None of all these thinges could make their stonie harts to repent , but on the contrary , they raysed vp troubles and persecutions against the prophet , shutting him sundry times in prison , & sundry times seeking his life , they remoued him from one dungeon to another , where his feet stucke fast in the myre , in so much that he could not bee gotten out , till hee was drawne vp with ropes , as we see in the 37. & 38. chapters . And yet notwithstanding , he was not dismayd , but patiently endured al these afflictions , and hauing constantly continued in the faithfull discharge of his propheticall function , for the space of more then 40. yeares together , at length ( as it is recorded of him ) he was stoned to death in Egypt , by those Iewes that wer fled thither for feare of the Chaldaeans .

But now to approch nearer vnto our text . When Isaiah that excellent prophet of the Lorde , who had bin vehement in rebuking the sinnes of the people , & had laboured most earnestly to bring them to repentance , could not preuaile with all his Trauayle , but lost his labour , and spent his strength in vain , hauing continued prophesying about the space of threescore yeares : what hope could our prophet Ieremiah conceiue , who succeeded him , to preuaile more with that obstinate people , then his predecessor had done , being both seruants of the same Lord , both employed in the same affayres , and both ayming at one marke , which was the repentance of the people , and theyr preseruation from destruction , depending vpon their repentance ? Our prophet therefore , as hee was later in time , and the destruction of the Iewes nearer at hand , so his care was the greater , to frame and compose himselfe in speaking to the Iewes after such a sort , as his speech might most deepely pierce the very sinnewes of their harts , and transfuse it selfe into the marrow of their soules : not that he hoped to atchiue any greater maters with them , then Isay & Ioel his predecessors had done , but to make them inexcusable before God , and that themselues might acknoledge the Lord to deale most iustly with them , when they should feele the rigor of his iudgements , hauing bin thereof so often fore-warned . This therefore is the cheefest point in Ieremiah his doctrine to be obserued , that nowe no hope of pardon was left vnto the Iewes . they had so long despised mercy , that now vengeance was come , and therefore they were to looke for nothing but to feele the waight of Gods heauy indignation . And for this they were to thanke themselues ; for thogh God be ful of patience & long suffering , and is loth to punish sinners when they do offend , yet hee will not alwaies suffer himselfe to be mocked ; his iustice wil not alwaies be sleeping , but at length wil rowze vp it selfe like a ramping Lyon , and who is able to indure the fiercenes thereof . Though he giue his people a long time to repent , & sende his seruants to call them , to inuite them , to intreat them , & to wo them , as a man doth wo a Virgin , whom he would make his wife , promising that hee wil be merciful to their sins , and not remember their iniquities , that he wil deal with them in the greatnes of his loue , & not in the rigour of his iudgement ; that he will receiue and embrace them , as his deare children , & bestow al good things vpon them both in this life , & in the life to come , if they will amend their liues , & turn vnto him ; yet when they wil not be reformed , when they remaine impenitent & incorrigible , and do harden their harts against al these louing & gracious admonitions , how can the lord do lesse then make them know and feele , that as he hath aboundance of sweet mercies laid vp in store for them that feare him , so his treasure is not without sharpe arrows , swords , and al kind of weapons , to gore the harts of al his enemies ? Seeing then the Iewes were such , how could the prophet Ieremiah do lesse , then sounde out the trumpet of Gods wrath , & thunder out the threatnings of Gods indignation against them ? But what ? did not Isay before him , denounce the iudgementes of God against the Iewes ? Yes verily , but with this difference : that Isaiah , as he was vehement , so with his threatnings he alwaies mingled words of comfort , and gaue hope of pardon vpon amendment : but Ieremiah , when neither Isaiahs preaching would moue them , nor the example of their bretheren ( whom the Assyrians had caried away captiues , hauing vtterly destroied their kingdom ) could work any remorse in their harts , Ieremiah after al this , seeing the Iewes obstinatly giuen ouer to hardnes of hart , he tels them plainly , that he must not now dissemble with them , but as they were obdurate in their malice , without hope to bee reclaimed , so they must nowe prepare themselues euer to beare the burthen of Gods wrath , without hope to be released .

And we may further say , that God by the prophet Isay did expostulate with the Iewes , hee pleaded hys cause against them , and brought them to their tryall ; but by Ieremiah he conuinceth them , he findes them guilty , and giues sentence against them , & that sentence was performed euen in Ieremiahs time , who saw with his owne eyes the execution thereof .

Seeing then , that the decree was passed , theyr destruction determined , and the sentence irreuocable : Admonitions were vnprofitable , exhortations were vnfruitfull , to pray for them was forbidden : Thou shalt not pray for this people , neyther lift vppe cry or prayer for them , neither entreat me , for I will not heare thee , sayth the Lord . Ier. 7 , 16. This was the cause , that our prophet heere frames himselfe to mourne , lament , and bewayle , the misery , destruction , and calamity of the Iewish Nation : Oh that my head were ful of water , &c.

And because this Citty , and this land , hath bin as much blessed of God as euer Iudah & Ierusalem was , and the Lordes Gracious care to call you to repentance , that ye might not perrish in your sinnes , hath beene as great ouer you , as euer it was ouer them : & that so many excellent Preachers , indued with such variety of gifts , haue been sent vnto you from so many places , besides your ordinarie Preachers , whome the Lorde hath placed among you ( which though they bee few through your owne fault , yet are they enow to make you without excuse : ) and al these haue not ceased to cry and cal on you , for the amendment of your liues , to lay away your swearing , your drunkennesse , your Whoredome , your falshood and deceit in buying , selling , and bargaining , your prophaning of Gods Sabboths , your contempt of his word , your biting , extorting , and oppressing vsuries , besides infinite others your grieuous and abhominable sinnes , and yet all in vaine ; insomuch that the Lord hauing laid his heauy hand vpon many places of this Land , to the destruction of many thousands , hath begunne also to stretch it out vppon this Citty , and is like to proceed further , and not yet to make an end , according to that of the Prophet Isaiah 9 , 12. The wrath of the Lord is not yet turned away , but his hand is stretched out still . This is the cause , that hath mooued me , laying aside all matter both of doctrine and exhortation , to make choyse of this place of Scripture , the better to occasion me to lament & bewaile both the hardnes of your hearts , and the greatnes of your punishment , and to say with the prophet Ieremiah , Oh that my head , &c.

The Prophet in these words doth signifie , that as their sinnes were monstrous , passing al measure , so the destruction was fearfull , which the Lord was determined to bring vpon them , exceeding the measure of his ordinary Iudgements : and therefore , that hee was not able sufficiently to bewayle the greatnesse thereof . For great sinnes procure great punishments , and great punnishments are neuer without great sorrow and lamentation . Seeing therefore the punnishments which God had prepared for the Iewes , were such as they had neuer felt before , so the Prophet desireth to bewayl the same with such a measure of Lamentation , as neuer had bin heard of before : that the greatnes of his mourning might ( if it wer possible ) be fully answerable to the greatnesse of their miseries . In these wordes wee may obserue two things : First , the mourning of the prophet , and secondly , the obiect of his mourning . The mourning in these words , Oh that mine head were full of Water , and mine eies a fountain of teares , that I might weep day and night : the obiect of his mourning was , the slaughter of the people : that I might weepe day and night , for the slain of the daughter of my people . His mourning he sets down in most patheticall and significant terms . And this he doth by way of a Rhetoricall gradation ; for he that weepeth , sheds tears , and he that sheds tears , must haue some inward moisture that must be resolued into tears . The prophet therfore framing & composing himself to weep , and in weeping to exceed measure , & to passe moderation , that he might not be interrupted in the course of his weeping for want of matrer to ministet suply of tears , he first wisheth that his head were full of water , or rather , that his head were resolued into water : for that commeth nearer the Haebrew original , Oh that some man wold make my head to become as water . In this great lamentation the prophet seemeth to fear nothing more , then that his head should be drawn dry , & that for lack of moysture , he should be constrained in time to forbear weeping , for ( as Seneca saith ) Nullus dolor longus est , qui magna est .

The sorrow that is great cannot be long , for such is the infirmity of nature , that nothing vehement or violent can bee of long continuance . Seeing therefore , that this sorrowe was extraordinatie , because it did arise of an extraordinary ocasion , here he sets forth in extraordinary & hyperbolicall formes of speech , rather expressing his desire , how hee would haue it to bee , then any hope he had that it could so be , & not so much declaring what was possible & likely to bee doone , as what was meete and conuenient to bee done .

The thing therefore that our prophet desireth is , first , that his head might be ful of water . It is not a small quantity of water that will content him , but he would haue it ful of water . Nay , he would haue it resolued into water , that so long as it is a heade , so long it might neuer be without water , to weepe and waile for the destruction of the people .

But why doth hee wish that his head were full of water , and not rather his heart , seeing the heart is the seate of all the affections ? Although the heart is the seate of the affections , yet the head is the seat of all the sences , both inwarde and outward . And the head as it is the highest part of the bodye , so the mind which is the chiefest part of the soul , hath erected her throne therein , & keepes there her residence , and from thence as from a Watch Tower , apprehendeth all things , vnderstandeth al things , and discerneth all thinges that are brought vnto her by the outward sences , which are her handmaids .

This is the place where the minde doeth sitt as Queene and Gouernour , and whatsoeuer it be shee commaundeth , prescribeth , or directeth , that the will and affections are ready to execute . And for that cause it is said , Mens cuiusque est quisque . The mind of euery man is the man himself . This is that which first aprehendeth the cause of griefe & sorrow , and by & by Communicateth the same with the hart , which is presently moued either to embrace or dislike , as the minde Iudgeth the obiect to bee good or euil : Like vnto a Porter , who keeping the gate doth open it to his friend , and shuts it to his enemy . By this the prophet in his Prophetical spirit , did foresee that horible and bloody slaughter which should be committed by the hoast of the Chaldaeans in the City of Ierusalem . And this did so deeply afflict and pierce his hart , that he could not containe himselfe , but must needs break out into a most dolefull lamentation . And the better to continue and increase his sorrow by ministring ( as it were ) food thereunto , he wisheth that his head wer full of water : for as fire consumeth wood and coales , and for want of woode or coales , the fire it selfe will consume and be extinguished ; so weeping exhausteth and draweth out teares , and when teares are consumed , without supply , weeping it selfe must needes haue an end . And therefore , that a fresh supply might neuer be wanting , he wisheth that his head might alwaies abound with water . And for this purpose , the head is a more fit member then the heart : First , because the obiect of the affections is there apprehended and iudged of , and according to that iudgement the hart is affected .

Secondly , for that the head is much larger , and of a more capacious figure . Thirdly , because it is more apt to receiue and hold water , both in regard of the ventricles or receptacles of the braine within , and also for that it is strongly fenced and enuironed ( as it were ) with a hard wall round about . And lastly , for that the head hath better means to expresse the grief and sorrow of the heart , both by mourning with the voyce , and by weeping with the eyes : And thus I am come to the second point of the gradation , which is the second thing that the prophet desireth for the better expressing of his great sorrow .

He doth not onely wish that his head were full of water , but he declares the cause thereof ; which was , not to keepe it still enclosed in his head , but that from thence it might bee deriued and resolued into brinish teares , as faithfull witnesses of his inward griefe . And to this end hee wisheth , that his eyes might bee as a Fountaine , or ( as it is in the Haebrewe Originall ) a vaine of teares , which might be alwayes open & neuer stopped , alwaies running and neuer dry . When a man would seeke a well , first he digges to get water , and when he hath found Water , his next care is , to draw it out , for such needfull vses , as occasion requireth . Euen so our Prophets desire is first ; that hee might haue in his body a springing wel , that his head might be the conduit ; and for the better drawing of this water out , he wisheth in the next place , that his eyes might be as spouts or as conduit pipes to powre forth this water . And it could not be , but so many as had not harts of flint , must needs bee moued with astonishment , to see and behold this great lamentation . And yet our prophet is not content with this , but he addeth , as the third step of the gradation , that I might weepe day and night . It cannot content him to haue his heade full of Water , it cannot content him , that his eyes shedde teares : but as though this were no weeping , to expresse further , that all thys comes from the inward sence & sorrow of his hart , he wisheth that hee might weepe , and not simplie weepe , but weepe so , that his eies might neuer linne weeping , and his eye-lids might neuer close themselues to take any rest , but be alwaies open to weepe day and night . Great was that mourning of the women of Bethelem , when their children were slaine by the cruelty of Herod , whereof our prophet Ieremiah prophecieth Chap , 31. 15. which Testimonies is alledged by the Euangelyst S. Mathew , in the second Chapter and the 8. verse , where hee applyeth the same to that slaughter of Herod : who seeing himself deluded by the wise men , caused al the male children of Bethlehem to be slaine , from two yeares olde and vnder , with intent to murther Christ , among the rest In Ramah was a voyce herd , mourning and weeping , & great lamencation : Rachael weeping for her children , & would not be comforted , hecause they were not . But that lamentation , although it was bitter , yet was it not to be compared with this of our prophet , because that was only for the losse of some of their children , but here the prophet bewayleth that miserable and fearefull destruction which shoulde generally come vpon all Iudah and Ierusalem , as well young as olde , wherein there should scarse be any that should scape & not perish , either by famine , sworde , or by pestilence , or at least be carried into captiuity . It is much that Dauid sayth of himselfe , Enery night wash I my head , and water my couch with my teares , psal. 6 , 6. Oh worthy practise for a penitent soule to imitate , touching euery sinner that groneth vnder the burden of his sins , to spend the nightes not in sleeping , but in weeping , not in slumbring & drowsynes , but in crying and calling to God for mercy , shedding the tears of true repentance ? Worthy also is that to bee remembred , which is recorded of the sinfull woman in the gospell , Luke 7. who wept so aboundantly , that she washed the feete of Christ , with the teares that trickled down from her eies . But this mourning of our prophet exceeds them both , if not in greatnes , yet in continuance , whose teares distilling without intermission , as from the conduit of a springing wel , would be sufficient , not only to water his couch , or to wash the feet of those that came nere him , but euen in time to send forth riuers of waters , like those wherof Ezechiel speaketh , chap , 47. which comming forth of the temple , were at the first measuring vp to the anckles , at the second measuring vp to the loins , but at the third measuring , the waters were become as a riuer , that could not be passed . But why doth our prophet weep so immoderatly ? That by his sheding of many teares , some might drop out of theyr eies . For the prophet weeps not here for himself , but for the great misety that should come vpon the people . And though he was likely to sustaine some part of their affliction , because he dwelt among them , yet himselfe was but one , & not one of the greatest ; the state of the Monarchy rested in them , that is , in the king , in the Nobles , and the rest of the people .