Christ's Tears over JERUSALEM;
OR,
Caveat for England to call to God for mercy, lest we be plagued for our
Contempt and Wickedness.
To the Tune of, The Merchant Man.
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WHen Christ our Lord drew nigh
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unto Jerusalem,
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Fore-seeing all the miseries,
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the which should fall on them:
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And casting of his looks
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upon that beautious town,
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Fer very grief the bitter tears
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from his fair eyes fell down.
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Repent fair England, now repent,
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repent while you have space;
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And do not like Jerusalem,
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despise Gods proffered Grace.
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Alas Jerusalem,
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Jerusalem (said he)
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Which kill'd the Prophets of the lord
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when they were sent to thee:
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How oftentimes would I,
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have kept thee from all ill?
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Even as the Hen her Chickens keep,
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but thou art stubborn still.
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O that thou hadst but known,
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at least in that thy day,
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The things which did concern thy peace,
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but now 'tis hid away:
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Yea from thy eyes 'tis hid,
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thou shalt not see the same,
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And for thy sorrows coming on,
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thy self do only blame.
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Therefore the days shall come,
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thy enemies shall rise,
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And trench thee on every side,
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regarding not thy crys,
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Thy strong and stately Towers,
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in wrath they shall confound,
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And make thy sumptuous buildings all
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lie equal with the ground.
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ANd such shall be their rage,
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they shall not leave in thee,
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One stone upon another stone,
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which shall not spoiled be:
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Because thou knewest not,
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the seasonable day,
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Wherein the Lord did visit thee,
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to wash thy sins away.
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Thus Christ without the Town,
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did weep for their distress:
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While they within, triumph in sin,
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and use all wickedness.
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No whit they would believe,
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the words which he did say,
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But enviously did practice still,
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to take his life away.
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He mourned and he wept full sore,
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to think upon the smart,
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While they full stout did go about,
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to pierce his tender heart,
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And for his pains they stript him,
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and whipt him through the town,
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And with a wreath of prickling thorns,
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his holy head did crown.
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They scofft and laught at him,
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they dasht him in the face,
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They call'd him gracious Lord and King,
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in flouting and disgrace,
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And throw his hands and feet,
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they nail him to the cross,
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Between two lewd and wicked thieves,
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but few lament his loss.
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They gave him for to drink,
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sharp Vinegar and gall,
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And with a Spear they pierc'd his side,
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till his heart blood did fall:
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Yet patiently and mild,
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he suffered every thing,
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And prayed his father not to charge
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them with that grevious sin.
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When they had dispatch,
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the living Lord of might,
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Full safely then they thought themselves
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from sorrow, care and strife:
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But within few years space,
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as Christ before had told,
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The mighty Emperor of Rome,
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came thither with courage bold,
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And with a mighty Host,
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he did besiege them round,
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By Sword and Famine e're he went,
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he did them quite confound,
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Yea, Dogs and Cats they eat,
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Mice, Rats, and every thing,
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For want of food, their infants young,
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unto the Pot they bring.
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No pitty could they find,
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at this their enemies hand,
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But fire, Sword, and cruel death,
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before them still did stand.
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Their famous City fair,
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he set upon a flame,
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He burnt their Temple unto dust,
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that stood within the same.
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And those that scap'd the sword,
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and fury of his hand,
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He made them slaves and bond-slaves all,
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within a forreign Land:
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Thus fair Jerusalem,
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was cast unto the ground,
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For their great sin and wickedness,
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the Lord did it confound.
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Awake England I say,
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rise from the sleep of sin,
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Cast off thy great security,
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which thou hast lived in:
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Thy God hath often call'd,
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and offered thee his grace,
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His Messengers have shown his will,
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to thee in every place,
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Great wonders he hath shown,
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to thee by Sea and Land,
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And sent strange tokens in the air,
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to make thee understand:
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He is offended sore,
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at thy great wickedness,
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And that except thou dost repent,
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thy plagues shall be exprest.
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Remember how of late,
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the Spaniard he assail'd,
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And how by Gods especial power
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they ne're a whit prevail'd:
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And all was for to try,
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if thou wouldst sin forsake,
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And to an upright holy life,
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thy self at last betake,
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But soon thou didst forget
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his favour in the same,
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Which afterwards most grievously,
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his wrath did so inflame:
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That then he plagued thee,
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with Pestilence and death,
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Whereby in Countrey and in town,
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a number lost their breath.
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Yet wilt thou not forsake,
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thy wickedness and ill,
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But in thy pride and Covetousness,
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thou hast continued still:
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Provoke not God to wrath,
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with thy most loathsome sin,
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But speedily to amend thy life,
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with Prayers now begin,
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And therefore now O England,
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at last for mercy cry,
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And grieve the Lord thy God no more
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through thy iniquity,
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Lest he forsake thee quite,
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and turn away his face,
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Because like to Jerusalem,
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thou didst dispise his Grace:
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FINIS.
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