Chapter 13 of 43

mourning or weeping under the afflicting hand of God. Isa. 38:3,

wardrobe of his mind; so may I say, when an afflicted saint speaks,

Oh the pearl, the treasures that he scatters! But,

5. Fifthly, A holy, a prudent silence doth not exclude moderate

'And Hezekiah wept sore,' or, as the Hebrew hath it, 'wept with great

weeping. But was not the Lord displeased with him for his great

weeping? No; ver. 5, 'I have heard thy prayers, I have seen thy tears:

behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.' God had as well a

bottle for his tears, as a bag for his sins, Ps. 56:8. There is no water so

sweet as the saints' tears, when they do not overflow the banks of

moderation. Tears are not mutes; they have a voice, and their oratory

is of great prevalency with the almighty God. And therefore the

weeping prophet calleth out for tears: Lam. 2:18, 'Their heart crieth

unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like

a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine

eye cease;' or, as the Hebrew hath it, 'let not the daughters of thine

eye be silent.' That which we call the ball or apple of the eye, the

Hebrews call the daughter of the eye, because it is as dear and tender

to a man as an only daughter; and because therein appears the

likeness of a little daughter. Upon which words, saith Bellarmine,

Clames assiduè ad Deum, non lingua, sed oculis, non verbis sed

lachrymis, ista enim est oratio, quæm pacare solet: cry aloud, not

with thy tongue, but with thine eyes; not with thy words, but with thy

tears; for that is the prayer that maketh the most forcible entry into

the ears of the great God of heaven. When God strikes, he looks that

we should tremble; when his hand is lifted high, he looks that our