o condemn at
once, even when we see rulers of State, Church, or household--such as
our parents--fall into error and sin. Who can tell why God so permits?
Such sins must not be excused, yet we see that they are of value for
the consolation of the pious. They teach us that God can bear with the
errors and sins of his people and that even we, when beset with sins,
may trust in the mercy of God and need not lose heart.

155. But what is medicine for the righteous, is poison for the wicked.
The latter do not seek to be taught and comforted by God. Their
unworthiness prevents them from recognizing his glory in the saints.
They see nothing but the stumbling block and the snare, with the
result that they fall and are left to perish alone.

156. Let us, therefore, truly respect those in authority over us. If
they fall, we must not be offended. We must remember that they are
human, and that God's ways are wonderful in his saints, because it is
his will that the wicked shall be offended and provoked. Thus Moses
threatens the Jews: "I will provoke them to anger with a foolish
nation" (Deut 32, 21). Because, during the whole period of the
kingdom, they refused to hear the prophets, God gave the offense of
casting away a wise and religious people, which had the promises and
was descended from the patriarchs. In its place, he chose the filth
and dregs of the world, a foolish people; that is, it was without
piety, without religion, without worship, without that divine wisdom
which is his Word. This offense roused the Jews to insane anger.

157. This will be the lot of the papists. Some great offense shall be
given them by God against which they shall find themselves helpless,
and thus they shall come to grief like Ham. Renouncing the reverence
due both to God and his father, in deeming himself more capable of
ruling the Church than Noah, in secretly deriding or censuring his
parent, he finally presents the spectacle of disclosing his wicked and
irreverent attitude before others.

158. The two other brothers, Shem and Japheth, did not follow Ham's
wicked example. While conscious of the scandalous fact that their
father was drunk and lay in shameless nakedness like a little
boy,--while recognizing that this ill became the ruler of Church and
State, they remained mindful of the reverence due a parent. They
gulped down the offense given; they hid the offense and gave it a
worthier aspect, so to speak, by covering their father with a ga