about to frame and O how many how exceeding many or innumerable are they yet God saw not onely some or many but every one of them It was said by one of the Ancients upon this place Profundum mâ—ris deuâ— ingreditâ—r quâ—ndo visitare mentes etiam pressâ—â— sceleribus non dedignatur Greg. l. 29. c. 7 God goes to the depth of the sea as often as he goeth into the depth of mans heart and beholds what is there And there â—e beholds not onely the great but small beasts as the Psalmist calls the fish of the sea that is not onely great but small lusts and foolish imaginations the huge multitudes and shoals of vain thoughts which swim and play in that wide sea of mans heart are distinctly seen and as distinctly judged as if but one were there Thirdly From the scope of this place note That seeing we cannot search into the depth of the sea it should stay our curiosity in searching into and stay us from discontent when we cannot find the depth of Gods Counsels concerning us and of his Providences towards us There is a dutiful search into the Works of God David speaks of it Psal 111.2 The works of the Lord are great sought out of all those that have pleasure in them They are sought out that is they who have pleasure in them do and will endeavour soberly to search them out as much as may be but let all take heed of searching them wantonly or presumptuously that is either to satisfie their curiosity or with an opinion that they can reach the depth of them The Lord would have us satisfie our selves in the ignorance or rather nescience of those natural things which he hath not made known to us Surely then which is as hath been said the scope of this Chapter we should be satisfied though we in some cases know not nor can perceive the reason of Gods providential dealings either towaâ—ds particular persons and families or his Church in general Will any wise or sober man vex and disquiet himself will he be angry and pettish because he knows not all the secrets of the earâ—h and sea as some say Aristotle the Philosopher was to death and drowning because he could not find out the reason why the sea in one place ebbed and slowed seven times in one day Why then should we be impatient because the reason of Gods proceedings with the sons of men or of the strange ebbings and slowings of things in the sea of this world is secreted and hidden fâ—om us And therefore when we are not able to enter into the springs of this sea nor to walk in the search of this depth let it not trouble us but humble us as it did Job to whom the Lord put these questions and proceeded to put more and more hard questions if harder can be in the next words Vers 17. Have the gates of death been opened or revealed unto thee Or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death Here is another strange question Who among the living hath had the gates of death opened to him Oâ— hath viewed the doors of the shadow of death We read often in Scripture of the gates of death Psal 9.13 Num illius profunda quae verè dixirim mortis regiam c. rimatus es Bez. Psal 107.18 and which is all one of the gates of the grave Isa 38.10 but who knows what these gates are yet we may say something towards the clearing of this question A gate in strict sense is that by which we are admitted into any place and so the gates of death are That whatsoever it is by which we enter into death or go into the black hall of the grave Again The gates of death are any great and eminent danger Then we may be said to be at the gates of death when our lives are in great hazard to be lost either by the violence of enemies or by any violent sickness In the former sense David spake in way of supplication Psal 9.13 Have mercy on me O Lord consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me thou that liftest me up from the gates of death that is from deadly danger In the latter he spake by way of narration in his elegant description of the sick Psal 107.18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat and they draw near unto the gates of death that is they are ready to die or sick unto death And thus said King Hezekiah upon his sick-bed and as he thought a little before upon his death-bed Isa 38.10 I shall go to the gates of the grave I am deprived of the residue of my years that is of those years which I might have reckoned upon as mine according to the common account of mans life or the usual course of nature These are the more general gates of death and about these all agree But there are several opinions what should be specially intended by the gates of death in this place Portae mortis sunt causae corruptionis quantum advirtutes corporum â—â—lestium Aquin. in loc First One riseth very high saying that by the gates of death we are to understand the visible heavens because the heavenly bodies send down sometimes malignant influences which have a mighty power to corrupt the bodies of men here below so causing death to carry them away Thus he imagins death issuing out of the clouds as out of opened gates upon men on earth But that 's a far fetcht interpretation Secondly Oâ—hers go to the utmost contrary point and say by the gates of death we are to understand Hell The Papists give a description of several receptacles for souls departed under the earth they make at least three distinctions First Limbus Patrum The place where they affiâ—m the souls of the Fathers were before Christ came in the flesh and had accomplished the work of our redemption here on earth Secondly Purgatory the place where the souls of all that die not in mortal sin as they distinguish are reserved to be purged by temporary punishments before they can get to heaven Thirdly The lowest of all is that which we call Hell the place of the damned whither all go say they and we too who die in sin without repentance This place of torment some take for the gates of death But seeing the Lord is here speaking of natural things not of moral actions not of the consequents of them rewards and punishments therefore though we may truly call Hell the gates or power of death yet that notion as well as the former is altogether heterogeneal in this Text. Thirdly Several expound the gates of death in connection with the former verse for the depth or bottom of the sea where many dead carcases lie rotting all such as are cast away by shipwracks or die at sea being usually thrown into the deep and therefore at last the sea shall give up her dead as well as the earth Fourthly The gates of death
of Heth. If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth such as these which are of the daughters of the Land what good shall my life do me Better be out of the world than see my sons miscarry These two sights to see children suffering or to see them sinning are a pain not only to the eyes but to the hearts of parents But to see them First Prosperous in their way Secondly Pious keeping the way of the Lord to have and see such children and childrens Children to the third and fourth generation how delightful is this The Apostle John professed 3 Epist ver 4. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth He means his spiritual children those whom he had converted to the faith and begotten to Christ in the ministery of the Word O what a joy was it to that holy Apostles heart to see them walk answerably to the profession of the Gospel and his expectation Now as that was so great a joy to him that he had no greater so 't is an unspeakable joy when godly parents see their natural children spiritual and walking in the truth To see children new born to see them gracious and to see them prosperous also what a blessed sight is this And this was the sight doubtless which Job had he saw his children His sons and his sons sons to the fourth generation His blessedness as to all without him in this life was at the highest when he saw the prosperity of his children both in soul and body Thus Job was blessed every way he was blessed with riches blessed with long life blessed in the multiplication of his family he was blessed also in his death as appeareth in the next and last words of this Chapter and Book Vers 17. So Job died being old and full of days As Solomon said Eccles 12.13 Hear the conclusion of the whole matter Fear God and keep his commandements So I may say now Hear the conclusion of all men To fear God and keep his commandements is the consumating end of our lives but to dye is the consuming end of all our lives and to a good man 't is an entrance into eternal life Such and so Job died The Lord having spoken of his life is not silent about his death The story the holy story brings Job to his grave and that could not but be a blessed death which was the close of a gracious life So Job died Death is the separation of the soul from the body 't is the sleep of the body in the grave and thâ— rest of their souls in heaven who dye in the Lord. There is no difficulty in these words take a note or two from them First Death takes all sooner or latter Job lived a long time but he did not out-live death Mors ultima clausula vitae Mors ultima linea rerum he enjoyed an hundred and forty years prosperity in this world yet he left the world He lived long yet a day came when he could not live a day longer 'T is said of all the long livers Gen. 5. They died Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years and he died Seth lived nine hundred and twelve years and he died Methuselah the longest liver in this world lived nine hundred sixty and nine years and he died Here Job lived an hundred and forty and so he dyed David put the question of all men Psal 89.48 What man is he that liveth and shall not see death How great or how good how rich or how wise how strong or how valiant soever any man living is he must dye How long soever any man hath lived in this world he must dye for the world must dye there must be a dissolution of all things and therefore a dissolution of all men Psal 82.6 7. I said ye are gods but ye shall dye like men Kings and Princes who have the priviledge to be called gods have not the priviledge of God not to dye like men This is a common theam I intend not to stay upon it only let me tell you death will overtake us all sooner or later upon a double account First Because it is appointed Secondly Because it is deserved It is appointed unto men once to dye Heb. 9.27 and all men have deserved to dye to dye eternally and therefore much more to dye naturally Rom. 5.12 As by one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death past upon all men for that all have sinned Now seing the condition of all men is a dying condition receive these four cautions First Prepare for death There is no avoiding it at the long run therefore be ready to entertain it at last and because we may dye at any time be preparing for death at all times How miserable are they who are so old that they cannot live and yet so unprepared that they are afraid to dye Job died and we must If so Is it not our wisdome to prepare for death Secondly Submit quietly to the arrest of death There is no striving with the decrees of God Our death is under a divine appointment Eccles 8.8 There is no discharge in that war no priviledge to be pleaded no exemption no prescription Your strength cannot stand against the assaults of death your prudence and policy cannot find any way of escape from it nor can your piety or godliness deliver you out of the hands of natural death As there is no work nor devise nor knowledge in the grave whither we are going Eccles 9.10 so there is no knowledg no device no wisdom can keep us from going into the grave no not our graces Grace is as salt to the soul preserving it from moral corruption for ever But it cannot keep the body from natural corruption in this world Mors est nobis nimis domestica utpote quam in viscaribus nostris circumserimâ— Plutarch in Consol ad Apoll. because our graces in this world are mingled with corruption Death is domestical to us that is we have the seed of it within our selves we carry it daily in our bowels and in our bosomes therefore submit quietly to it for there is no avoiding it Thirdly Seing all must dye get that removed which is the troubler of a death-bed and the sting of death get that removed which makes death bitter get that removed which makes death the King of terrours so terrible that is sin This should be our study all the days of our life to get rid of sin to be dying to sin daily because we must dye at last and may dye for all that we know or can assure our selves any day we live 1 Cor. 13.56 The sting of death is sin Whensoever or in what way soever we dye it will be well with us if the sting of death be first pulled out and whensoever we dye after never so long a life it will be miserable if we dye in our sins as Christ told the Jews in
the highest threat I go away and ye shall dye in your sins John 8.21 They that dye in their sins dye a double death at once a temporal and an eternal death together And to those who have got the sting of death pulled out that is the guilt of sin removed and washed off by the blood of Christ I would Fourthly Take this caution If you would have death easie to you dye more and more to sin daily Some who are dead to sin may find much life of sin remaining in them and they who have much of the life of sin in them will never dye easily they will find strong bands in their death which in another sense some wicked men find not Psal 73.4 While either sin or self or the world are lively in us death will be greivous to us Therefore let them who are dead to sin never think themselves dead enough to it while they live they who are most dead to sin and the world have the sweetest and most comfortable passage out of the world So Job dyed Being old It must needs be that Job was an old man when he had lived an hundred and forty years after all his changes before this change came Why then is it added he died being old or being an old man Surely to teach us this lesson Old age and death cannot be far asunder 'T is a truth young men and death are not very far asunder youth and death are at no great distance but when we see an old man we may conclude that death and he are very near neighbours While we see an old man with his staff in his hand we may say he carrieth a rapper in his hand by which at every step he knocks at the door of the grave There is no man not the youngest man that can reckon certainly upon one day beyond what he hath and therefore Solomon admonisheth us Prov. 27.1 Beast not of to-morrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth And the Apostle James checks those who would reckon upon a day he tells them upon the matter That they reckon without their hoast James 4.13 Go to now ye that say to day or to-morrow we will go into such a City and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain And then at the 14th verse Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow for saith he What is your life it is even a vapour that appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away They that are youngest have not a day nor an hour in their power to reckon upon what then have they that are old We may say of them They are even past their reckoning A woman near her time will sometimes say she hath but a day to reckon and some will say they have never a day to reckon old men may say so they have not a day to reckon Young men may dye old men must dye Then let old men be much in the meditation of death let them be often looking into their graves their gray hairs that do so are found in the way of wisdom Job dyed being old There was no longer staying for him in this world Once more Job dyed being old And full of days There is a twofold fullness First A fullness of satiety Secondly A fullness of satisfaction They are full in a way of satiety who loath that which they are filled with 't is burthensome to thâ—m They are full in a way of satisfaction who having enough are pleased and desire no more Some expound this Text of Job in the former sence he was full of days that is he had a fullness of satiety upon him he had lived so long that his life was a burden to him he had lived till he was weary of living his life was tedious and grievous to him It is said Revel 9.6 In those days shall men seek death and shall not find it and shall desire to dye and death shall flee from them That which most flee from some pursue and it fleeth from them None are so unfit to dye as they who upon the account spoken of in that Text seek death and desire to dye I do not conceive that Job was full of days in the former notion as the stomack may be full of meat and loath it or be burthened with it but as having had enough of it though well liked to the last morsel And I am sure he was not full of days when he dyed in the latter notion as one wearied with the troubles of his life for all his latter days were a blessing to him and he blessed in them all His last days in this world being his best days of worldly enjoyment he could have no reason upon any worldly account to desire a departure out of the world I grant a good man though he hath not lived many days may be full of days even to weariness by reason of his temptations corruptions and sins of which kind of weariness the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 5.2 In this earthly house of the body we grown earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven And upon this account possibly Job himself might be weary of his life and desire the death of his body that he might be delivered from the body of that death But Jobs worldly life was as sweet as it was long he was as full of blessings as he was of days and therefore doubtless he was only satisfied with living not tired with it He did not loath his natural life nor did he hunger after a longer life in this world he hungred after eternity not time He did not hunger after a longer life as they do who have their portion in this life how long soever they have lived A worldly man is never satisfied with living in the world he never hath his belly full of living here while he sees he may as Job might fill his belly with the good things of this life But as Job had lived very long and very well on earth so he knew there was a better life to be had in heaven and therefore was full of days both as having had many and as having no desire after more on earth As he was not which David deprecated Psal 102.24 taken away in the midst of his days so he was willing to come to the end of his days and for that reason might well be said to dye being old and full of days Secondly These words so Job died being old and full of days may note as his willingness to dye so the easiness of his death he was come to a full ripeness for death Fruit that is fully ripe is soon gathered and sometimes drops off alone from the tree Job was every way ripe for death his body was ripe he was full of days his soul was ripe he was full of grace surely then his was a spontaneous death a very sweet way of dying His natural strength was not much being old
without them but a foundation is of absolute necessity there cannot be continuing house without a foundation Fourthly The foundation is the support of the whole building that bears and upholds all the rest But some may say What are the foundations of the Earth I answer A foundation may be taken either properly or metaphorically formally or allusively The foundations of the Earth are not formal but metaphorical foundations 'T is a speech borrowed from men who must have a proper foundation for their buildings The Earth is not laid upon any formal but it hath a vertual foundation The Scripture saith sometimes that the Earth is founded upon the seas and established upon the floods Psal 24.2 yet in a proper sense the Sea is not the foundation of the Earth It 's said also Job 26.7 He hangeth the Earth upon nothing The whole bulk of Sea and Earth together are one Globe one Building formed and compacted together But the Earth may be said to have foundations and that God hath laid the foundations of it for this reason Because the Earth is set fast and firm it is like a house that hath foundations not only a foundation but foundations it stands most firm A house builded upon a rock Matth. 7.25 stands fast and immoveably in all weathers because built upon a sure foundation A house builded upon the sands falls it hath no sure foundation The Earth is made firm strong and sure as those houses or buildings that are raised upon rocks and is therefore said to have foundations Why is Heaven or the state of glory called a City having foundations Heb. 11.10 but because the state of glory or that glorious City is a firm state or as it is called in another place Chap. 13.14 a continuing City A City which shall it self continue for ever and whose Citizens without succession continue for ever Now though the Earth be but a moveable tent or weak cottage in comparison of Heaven or our heavenly state yet God in his infinite Wisdom and Power hath formed and established it so firmly for the habitation of man and all inferiour creatures upon its own center that the Lord may truly be said to have built it upon foundations or to have appointed foundations for it as 't is often expressed elsewhere Psal 102.25 Psal 104.5 Prov. 8.29 as well as here Where wast thou When I laid the foundations of the Earth The form of the words is considerable in opposition to that opinion of some of the Ancients Aquin. in loc who attributed the site of the Earth and of the other Elements not to any divine supernatural Power of the Maker but to the very Nature of the Earth or the necessity of the Matter according to which heavy things tend downward and light things rise high so according to that opinion the Earth being a heavy body falleth lowest or took its place of its self Now that this opinion may be consuted and shut out of doors the Lord compares his making of the World to the building of a house which is ordered according to the reason of the builder so that though it be a truth in Nature that heavy things fall lowest yet we are to ascribe all to the Wisdom of God the Disposer of them who hath done all things according to the pleasure of his own Will and that with such admirable contrivance that man is not able to comprehend it as the last words of the verse intimate Where wast thou when I laid the foundation of the Earth Declare if thou hast understanding But before I pass to those words in the latter part of the verse I shall gather up some observations from this former part of it Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth c. Hence Note First The time of man upon Earth compared with the Eternity of God is nothing Where wast thou David Psal 39.4 prayed that God would teach him how frail he was as to the duration of his life and he adds in the next verse Mine age is nothing before thee The age of man is nothing before God if we consider it as to its beginning or if we consider it as to its ending When began the age of the most aged man Are not all men of yesterday God had an eternity of Being before man was upon the face of the earth And what 's the age of man as to its continuance As it began but yesterday that is a very little while ago or but the day past so it may end to morrow that is within a few dayes to come yea possibly before the next day or the morrow cometh Boast not of to morrow Prov. 27.1 both because thou knowest not what a day may bring forth nor whether as to thee a to morrow shall be brought forth Death sweeps men suddenly from the face of the earth only the Lord alwayes is and is alwayes the same All things change but God is not changed He is himself and his years fails not Then what 's mans age compared to God Note Secondly God is the first Being Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth God alone was before all things yet he was not at all alone Anteomnia erat deus solus ipse sibi mundus locus tempus omnia Tertul. adversus Praxeam cap. 5. For as one of the Ancients saith He was to himself a world place and time and all things Thirdly God is an Eternal Being It 's possible for one to be first and not to be eternal One man may have a Being before another and not have a Being from eternity but God had an eternal Being before the world had a Being or man any Being in the world There are Things of three sorts First Such as have had a beginning and shall have an end and be no more Thus it is with all meer sensitive Creatures the Beasts of the Earth and Fowls of the Ayre they perish there 's an end of their being when they die or come to the end of their lives Secondly There are other things which have had a beginning yet shall have no end As Spirits Angels good or bad and the souls of men yea the bodies of men though they are subject to and are cut off by death yet they shall return again and having been sown in corruption shall be raised in incorruption and be clothed with immortality which is a piece of Eternity Thirdly There is a Being which is without beginning and without ending and that is Gods Being only or the Being of God who thus exprest himself to Moses I am and I am that I am Exod. 3.14 That word takes in all Time past present and to come yea past present and to come are all one in Gods Being Psal 90.1 Thou hast been our habitation from generation to generation That is We thy people have alwayes or in all revolutions of time dwelt or sheltered our selves in thee and then at the second
His largeness of heart though like the sand of the sea will be but narrowness of heart compared with the enlargements which Saints shall have there Glorified Saints shall be in natural things exact Philosophers able to answer all the questions here put to Job In spiritual things they shall be exact Divines all dark Scriptures shall be clear to them Châ—ist will be their Comment all daâ—k questions will be clear to them Christ will be their light Those perplexed Cases and fatal Controversies which have troubled the peace of the Church and have occasioned the calling together of some hundreds of the ablest Scholars to debate and determine them shall at one view be understood shall have all their knots untied and their difficulties removed by the meanest if among them there shall be found any meaner than others of glorified understandings What sweetness the soul shall feel at this revelation of all knowledge a little knowledge will serve to judge For then not only to this challenge which the Lord made to Job about those special matters the gates of death and the breadth of the earth but also to any other Declare if thou knowest it all Every soul will readily and confidently answer Lord in thy light I know it all JOB Chap. 38. Vers 19 20 21. 19. Where is the way where light dwelleth and as for darkness where is the place thereof 20. That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof 21. Knowest thou it because thou wast then born Or because the number of thy days is great THe Lord having posed Job in the former Context about the depth of the Sea the darkness of Death and the vastness of the Earth here calleth him to an account about the light of the Sun and the darkness of the Air in these three verses As if he had said If thou knowest the breadth of the whole earth about which I enquired last of thee then tell me in what part of the earth doth the light dwell and where is the place of darkness Vers 19. Where is the way where light dwelleth The Septuagint translate In what land doth light dwell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In qua terra Sept. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vbi via in quae habitat scil â—post viae itineris spatium emensum Or where is the land of light We say Where is the way The Hebrew word notes a trodden beaten way or as we speak a high-way Where is the way where light dwelleth That is whither light retireth and doth as it were betake it self in the night when it hath gone its journey and is past thy Horizon For every one knows where light dwells while the Sun is up with us and shines upon us But what becomes of it or whither it goes when 't is gone from us that 's a question and here say some the question The word which we translate dwelleth implieth a retirement Verbum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est ad quietem noctem traducendam alicubicommorari a rest after long labour and travel Where is the way where light-dwelleth and as for darkness where is the place of it Here are two gâ—eat contraâ—ies which cannot agree nor dwell together in any one subject yet met together in this Text Light and darkness and there is some yea not a little darkness in this question about the light We need a great measure of Divine Light to answer this question about the Light Where is the way where light dwelleth Tell me O Job if thou canst where light lodgeth where it reposeth it self when the Sun is gone down and departed out of thy sight Tell me what way leadeth to the lodging of light The words as Interpreters give it have in them a poetâ—cal tincture as if the Sun setting retired to his chamber as we do when the light and business of the day is ended David speaks of the Sun as a Bridegroom coming out of his chamber Psal 19.5 And when his race as to us is run every day he hath a chamber ready for him not that the Sun doth at all end its motion or sit down to rest but because it seems to rest when it goeth down to us As if the Lord had said Hast thou travelled to the place of the Suns rising and setting Where is the way where the light dwelleth There may be a threefold answer given to these questions as light is taken properly for the natural light the light of the day caused by the Suns approach and as darkness is taken properly for natural darkness caused by the with-drawing of the Sun First Some because the word dwelleth notes a stay or an abode for such is a dwelling place answer the question geographically and say light dwelleth under the Poles There are two poles of the earth the Northern and the Southern under both which interchangeably light and darkness abide six moneths together and because of the long stay and abode of light and darkness there Geographers reckon and conclude the dwelling of light and the place of darkness to be there and that therefore the Sun hath two dwelling houses one in the North the other in the South Secondly When Astronomers answer these questions Where is the way where light dwelleth and where is the place of darkness They say The East is the place of light and the West the dwelling of darkness And the reason given is this Because the Sun riseth in the East and goes down in the West leaving the World Forvide Titan obitus pariter tecum Alcides vid it Ortus novitque tuas utrasque domos Sen. in Herc. Act. 4. Alludere videtur ad signorum Zodiaci spatia per quae Sol cursum suum perragit quae ab astrologis Mansiones vel Domus solent appellari Itáque Zona illa sive fascia Zodiaci in cujus medio protenditur eccliptica est via solis qui in tot habitare domus dicitur quot in illa sunt signa Bold that half of the World upon which it shined in the day over-shadowed with darkness It is by the access and recess by the rising and setting of the Sun that we enjoy light or are wrapped up in darkness And so East and West are called by the ancient Poets the houses or dwellings of the Sun Astronomers have found out according to their doctrine twelve houses or dwelling places of the Sun they imagine a girdle or bond passing quite through the heavens which they call the Zodiack and there a line which they call the Ecliptick in which the Sun moveth or which is the way of the light and in this line they place the twelve signs the first of which the Sun entreth the first moneth of the year and is called Aries the second Taurus the third Gemini c. These are onely fictions by which they represent the gradual motions of the Sun in the several seasons of the year and
it not been for sin nor had the sight of any creature been terrible to us had we not sinned When Adam had sinned then God was terrible to him then presently he hid himself O therefore be cast down at the sight of sin which hath made both God and many creatures a terror a casting down to us How terrible this creature Leviathan is to man appears further by what the Lord saith next Vers 10. None is so fierce that dare stir him up who then is able to stand before me The former part of this verse carrieth on the matter of the whole former verse None is so fierce that dare stir him up that is Leviathan is a creature so fierce so cruel that none how fierce soever dare provoke him no nor awaken him The words may be taken two wayes First None dare stir him up when he is asleep 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 crudelis saevus fevox immisericors Secondly No man dares challenge or provoke him when he is awake The word rendred fierce properly signifies cruel because cruelty makes men fierce or because fierce men are usually very cruel None is so fierce as to stir him up Hence note First There is no wisdom in provoking an enemy that is too strong for us Wise men though bold and possibly cruel too yet when attempts are exceeding dangerous will not venture Physicians will not stir some humours in the body for it would be like stirring of a fierce Lion that is asleep they dare not provoke them but do all they can to attemper and allay them to stir such a humour were to stir Leviathan He hath more rashness than courage who meddles with more than his match or as some say conjures up a spirit that he cannot lay again Secondly Saith the Lord none is so fierce or cruel that dare stir him up He means not cruel to Leviathan but to himself none is so cruel to himself as to go about to stir up Leviathan because there is so much danger in that attempt Whence Observe They who run themselves upon great dangers unadvisedly are cruel to themselves They are their own enemies and the greatest enemies to themselves How cruel then are sinners to their own souls who are so fierce as daily to stir up Leviathan Prov. 6.32 Whosoever committeth adultery with a woman hath no understanding he that doth it destroyeth his own soul surely then he is cruel to his own soul he seems to be very kind to his harlot but he is very unkind yea cruel to himself Pro. 8.36 He that sinneth against me saith Wisdom wrongeth his own soul all they that hate me love death 'T is Christ that speaks thus he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul he is cruel to himself Many when they sin do it to please themselves O what a good turn do they hope to do themselves when they venture upon unlawful pleasures or profits But he that doth so hateth me saith Christ and he that hateth me loves death How cruel is that man to his own life that is in love with death yet so in truth are they who love any sin by sining You may as was toucht before stir up and awaken a sleeppy conscience and conscience may be more terrible than Leviathan yea by sin you may awaken and stir up the sleeping vengeance of God who is more than a thousand Leviathans and consciences Once more remember that possibly by not stirring up your selves to take hold of God you may stir up God to be angry with you as 't is said Isa 64.6 7. Our iniquities like the wind have taken us away What follows And or for there is none that calleth upon thy name that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee Which words as I apprehend may be taken two ways First As shewing their sluggishness that though their iniquities that is the punishment of their iniquities carried them away or they were carried â—way as a punishment of their iniquities yet they did not stir up themselves to call upon the name of God nor to take hold of him Secondly As shewing the reason why their iniquities carried them away even because they did not stir up themselves to take hold of God Their not stirring up themselves to take hold of God stirred up God against them If we do not stir up our selves especially when at any time we are compassed about with sins and dangers or with dangers procured and brought upon us by our sins as with Leviathans we may stir up God against us as a Leviathan And therefore let us take heed lest we be found fierce and cruel against our own souls by sinning against God or by not stirring up our selves to take hold of God such neglects are full of provocations Hitherto we have had instruction concerning this Leviathan how great how stout how fierce and cruel he is now the Lord makes application He hath been diâ—coursing about a huge tremendous Sea-monster but what is all this for Surely for very great use And the Lord maketh use of it two ways First In this verse to shew his own irresistibleness If none can stand before Leviathan then who can stand before me Secondly In the 11th verse to shew his own independency that he hath no need of any creature Who hath prevented me that I should repay him And all this the Lord makes good by that great assertion for whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine this great Leviathan is mine to do what I will with him This is the sum of that two-fold Application which the Lord makes from the hitherto description of Lâ—viathan the first part whereof is expressed in the latter part of the 10th verse Who then is able to stand before me As is the Lord had said no man is able to stand before me If this creature Leviathan be so terrible that no man is able to stand before him then who can stand before me for all the strength and courage that Leviathan hath I have given him and 't is nothing to what I have 't is not so much to me as a drop of the bucket or a dust of the ballance to the whole world Can none stand before Leviathan Who then can stand before me One Translation saith Can you resist before my look Quis rasistere potent vultu meo Scult As God had said before one shall be cast down at the sight of him namely of Leviathan so here Can any man stand before me or at the sight of me Is any man able to abide my look the majesty of my eye Surely no. The sence is much the same with that of our reading Who then is able to stand before me Hence Observe Our inability to stand before mighty creatures should mind us of our utter inability to stand before the Almighty God This is the most proper use that ever was made of a doctrine The Lord made a promise and it was a very wonderful promise which the Lord made
I wished so often for death that I wooed the grave and so haâ—tily called for my return to the dust in the day of my affliction Thirdly I abhor that ever I despaired of my restauration or that I gave up my self as a man utterly lost for this world Fourthly I abhor that I used so many complaints of the severity of the Lords dealings with me Fifthly I abhor that I was so bold as to desire to plead with God Sixthly I abhor that I was so much in setting out my own righteousness and innocency Seventhly I abhor that ever I spake any word which should in the least darken or reflect upon the goodness mercy faithfulness righteousness and soveraignity of God in his dispensations towards me These are the things which had unwarily passed him in the heat of disputation with his friends and these he now abhorreth Take it either way I abhor my self or these things it comes all to one for the truth is he did abhor himself for those things which he had spoken with so much imprudence and impatience while he was under the hand of God I abhor my self neither is that all And repent Job was not only affected to abhorrence but to repentance The word translated repent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Niphal significat consolari in Piel poenitere Drus signifies two contrary things in Scripture First To grieve which is proper to repentance sorrow and repentance ought to go together Secondly To comfort or to take comfort thus it is rendered Gen. 24.67 Isaac was comforted concerning the death of his mother 2 Sam. 13.39 David was comforted concerning Amnon Psal 77.2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord my sore ran in the night and ceased not my soul refused to be comforted It may seem strange that the same word which signifies sorrow and repentance should signifie also comfort and to be comforted but sorrow and comfort meet in true repentance godly sorrow doth not hinder much less quite exclude and shut out joy in God Repentance is ushered in by godly sorrow and grief of heart for sin and it concludes with comfort and joy of heart in God who pardoneth sinners and therefore the same word which signifies to repent may well signifie both to grieve and to take comfort Repentance is a change from a bad state to a good and a turning from the worst of evils sin to the chiefest good God himself and therefore must needs be followed if not accompanied with much sweetness and comfort 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Et consolationem accepi in pulvere cinere A Greek translator renders it expressly so in this place Wherefore I abhor my self and take comfort in dust and ashes and doubtless while Job was repenting in floods of sorrow his comforts came flowing in There is a laughter in the midst of which the heart is sorrowful and the end of that mirth is heaviness saith Solom Prov. 14.13 and there is a sorrow that 's a blessed sorrow in the midst of which the heart laughs and the end of which heaviness is mirth To repent in the general nature of it is to change both the mind and way and so take up new principles and new practices A man that truly repenteth is not the same man he was before he repented he can say I am not I. And as in true repentance there is a change from a bad to a good mind and from a perverse to a right and righteous way so in repentance there is a change from a troubled to a quiet mind and from a painful to a pleasant and delightful way So then there is a two-fold change in repentance First A change of the mind from sin Secondly A change in the mind from sorrow Many are the griefs and gripes the troubles and perplexities with which the conscience of an awakened sinner is followeth till he hath unburdened himself by confession and repentance when once he hath truly done so how great is his peace how sweet are his consolations And therefore when the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 7.10 Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of his meaning is the repentance which it works is matter of great rejoycing or fills the soul of an humbled believing sinner with great joy I abhor my self saith Job and repent But how did Job repent his was no ordinary repentance therefore he adds I repent In dust and ashes That is either First Throwing my self upon the ground Jer. 6.26 Jer. 25.34 2 Sam. 12.16 or Secondly Sitting upon the ground in the dust as Job 2.8 Isa 58.5 Jonah 3.6 or Thirdly Casting dust upon my head Job 2.12 Dust cast upon the head was the embleme of an afflicted heart And to sit in the dust or to cast dust upon the head was anciently the ceremonial part of repentance Job doth not leave that out I repent saith he in dust and ashes Solitis ceremoniis poenitentiam agâ— and so some express it I repent with outward wonted ceremonies But I conceive we need not take it strictly to repent in dust and ashes being only a proverbial speech implying very great solemn and serious repentance There is another rendring of this latter part of the verse thus I repent as looking upon or accounting my self dust and ashes 't is an argument of much humility and humiliation to do so Abraham gave himself no higher a title before the Lord Gen. 18.27 I have begun to speak who am but dust and ashes If we take it thus I abhor my self and repent looking upon my self but as dust and ashes it is a good sence also and reacheth the purpose which Job was upon or which was upon Jobs spirit in that day and duty of repentance There is no difficulty in the words they yield many useful observations Wherefore I abhor my self First As the word wherefore refers to that signal discovery which Job had of God who did not only manifest himself to him by the hearing of the ear but by the seeing of the eye that is more fully than before Observe The clearer manifestations we have of God the greater and deeper are our humiliations Job saw more of the power more of the soveraignity more of the holiness of God in himself and more of his goodness to him Qui Deum vidit fieri non potest quin seso accuset contemnat despiciat non enim certiâ— noveris tuam impuritatem quam si divina puritas op osita fuerit Brent than he had done before and therefore he abhor'd himself That place is parallel to this Isa 6. where as soon as the Lord had declared himself in his holiness and glory the Prophet cried out ver 5. Wo is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the King the Lord of hosts that is my bodily eyes have see the signs of his presence and