the Text thus The Lord saies up sound wisdome for the righteous c. when hee is in distress then hee hath such quietness of spirit soundness and presence of mind that in the must of his straits hee is in a sufficiency Not so the wicked Job 20.22 Hee is a buckler to them The body cannot bee wounded but through the buckler if skilfully handled Happy art than O Israel who is like unto thee Deut. 33.29 O people saved by the Lord the shield of thy help c. Vers 8. Hee keepeth the paths of judgement Well may they walk uprightly that are so strongly supported Gods hand is ever under his they cannot fall beneath it Hee keepeth the feet of his Saints 1 Sam. 2.9 Vers 9. Then shalt thou understand righteousness Not as cognoscitiva standing in speculation But as directiva vitae a rule of life Knowledge is either Apprehensive onely or Affective also This differs from that as much as the light of the Sun wherein is the influence of an inlivening power from the light of Torches Vers 10. Is pleasant to thy soul Spiritual joy mortifies sin His mouth hankers not after homely provision that hath lately tasted of delicate sustenance Pleasure there must bee in the wayes of God because therein men let out their souls into God that is the fountain of all good hence they so infinitely distaste sins tasteless fooleries Crede mihi res severa est verum gandium saith Seneca True joy is a solid business Becman 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vers 11. Discretion Hebr. Thoughtfulness or good advisement Cogito quasi coagito Notat sercitatem such as is that of the wife to please her husband 1 Cor. 7.34 casting this way and that way how to give best content Or that of the good huswife to build her house Prov. 14.1 studying in every business how to set every thing in order As the Carpenter studies how to set every part of the frame in joynt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vers 12. That speaketh froward things As if his mouth were distorted or the upper-lip stood where the nether should See Act. 20.30 Vers 13. To walk in the wayes of darkness As Theeves Drunkards Dicers and our other Solifugae that abuse even gospel-Gospel-light that put not light under a bushel but under a dunghil that when they have walked themselves aweary in these by-wayes high wayes to hell sit down in darkness and in the shadow of death Luke 1.79 which posture imports 1. Continuance there â— Content as well a paid of their scat These hate the light because their wayes are evil Joâ— 3. The light stands in the light of their wicked wayes as the Angel did in Balaams way to his sin Vers 14. Who rejoyce to do evil It is their meat drink sport Prov. 4.27 and 10.23 they cannot bee merry unless the Devil bee their play-fellow This is reckoned as an aggravation of Jerusalems sin Jer. 11.15 Melior est tristitia iniqua patientis quam latitia iniqua facieâ—tis When thou dost evil then thou rejoycest But better is the sorrow of him that suffereth evil than the jollity of him that doth evil saith Austin Vers 15. Whose wayes are crooked How justly may God say to such as the Crab in the Fable did to the Serpent when hee had given him his deaths wound for his crooked conditions and then saw him stretch himself out streight At opoâ—tuit sic vixisse It is too late now you should have lived so And they froward Absurd 2. Thess 3.2 Men made up of meer incongruities solacising in opinion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speeches actions all Vers 16. From the strange woman Forbidden thee by God as strange fire strange Gods c. Which flattereth with her lips Whose lips are nets whose hands are bands whose words are cords to draw a man in as a Fool to the stocks or an Oxe to the slaughter Vers 17. Which forsaketh the guide of her youth That is Her Husband as Helena Becman Herodias Bernice Act. 25.13 and other odious Harlots Adulterium quasi ad alterum vel ad alterius torum This Wanton never wants one though her Husband bee ever so near And forgetteth the Covenant of her God Marriage is a mixt Covenant partly Religious and partly Civil The parties tye themselves first to God and then to one another The bond is made to God who also will bee ready enough to take the forfeiture For Whores and Adulteresses God will judge Hâ—b 13.3 Vers 18. For her house inclineth unto death Terence calleth Harlots Cruces quia juvenes macerent affligant Venery is deaths best Harbinger Venus ab antiquis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dicta Jacob. Reâ—ias Shee provideth saith one not for those that are already born but for those that shall bee born Of Pope Paul the fourth that old Goat it went for a by word Eum per candem partem animam profudisse per quam acceperat Pope John the twelfth being taken with an Adulteress was stabbed to death by her Husband Alexander the Great and Othâ— the third Barns lost their lives by their lusts But how many alas by this means have lost their souls Fleshly lusts by a specialty fight against the soul 1 Pet. 2.12 And nothing hath so much inriched hell saith one as beautiful faces And her paths unto the dead Hebrew El Rhephaim to the Giants 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 projecti sunt To that part of hell where those damned monsters are together with those sensual Sodomites who giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh are thrown forth for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire Jude 7. Vers 19. None that go unto her return again Some of the Antients have here hence concluded that Adultery is an unpardonable sin But all manner of sin and blasphemy shall bee forgiven unto men saith our Saviour save onely the sin against the Holy Ghost Matth. 12.31 True it is that a Whore is a deep ditch and a strange woman is a narrow pit Prov. 23.27 That Whoredome and Wine and new Wine take away the heart Hos 4.11 That such are said to bee destitute of understanding and to have lost even the light of nature Prov. 6.32 Rom. 1.28 to bee past feeling and given up to a dead and dedolent disposition Eph. 4.18 19. to bee impudent Jer. 2 3. wherefore also they are compared to dogs Deut. 23.18 2 Sam. 3.8 and for most part impenitent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hom. Eccles 7.28 Grace as One well observeth is seated in the powers of Nature Now carnal sins disable nature and so set us in a greater distance from grace as taking away the heart c. Howbeit all things are possible with God Mark 9.26 27. And though few have awakened out of this snare of the Devil yet some have as David and that woman Luke 7.37 50. lest any humbled sinners should despair
Titus remembring one day that hee had done no good to any one cryed out Amici diem perdidi And again Hodie non regnavimus Wee have lost a day c. This was that Titus that never sent any suitor away with a sad heart and was therefore counted and called Humani generis deliciae the darling of mankind the peoples sweet-heart The Senate loaded him with more praises when hee was dead than ever they did living and present Vers 7. Truly the light is sweet The light of life of a lightsome life especially Any life is sweet which made the Gibeonites make such an hard shift to live though it were but to bee hewers of wood and drawers of water I pray thee let mee live live upon any terms said Benhadad in his submissive message to that merciful Non-such 1 King 20.32 If I have found favour in thy sight O King and if it please the King let my life bee given mee at my petition Sic de Aspasia Milesia Cyri concubina Aelian lib. 12. cap. 1. var. hist said that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that paragon of her time Q. Esther cap. 7.3 Ebedmelech is promised his life for a prey Jer. 39.18 And so is Baruc as a sufficient reward of that good service hee had done in reading the Roll for the which hee expected some great preferment Jer. 45.5 compared with chap. 36.1 2. The Prophet chides him and tells him hee might bee glad of his life in those dear years of time when the arrows of death had so oft come whisking by him and hee had so oft stradled over the grave as it were and yet was not fallen into it To maintain our radical humour that feeds the lamp of life is as great a miracle saith One as the oyl in the widows cruise that failed her not To deliver us from so many deaths and dangers as wee are daily and hourly subject unto is a mercy that calls for continual praises to the Preserver of mankind But more when men do not onely live but live prosperously as Nabal did 1 Sam. 25.6 Thus said David to his messengers shall yee say to him that liveth viz. in prosperity Which such a man as Nabal reckons the onely life The Irish use to ask what such a man meant to dye And some good Interpreters are of opinion that the Preacher in this verse brings in the carnal carl objecting or replying for himself against the former perswasions to acts of charity Ah! saith hee but for all that to live at the full to have a goodly inheritance in a fertile soil in a wholesome air near to the River not far from the Town to bee free from all troubles and cares that poverty bringeth to live in a constant sun-shine of prosperity abundance honour and delight to have all that heart can wish or need require what an heavenly life is this what a lovely and desirable condition c. Psal 34.12 What man is hee that desireth life and loveth many daies that hee may see good saith David I do saith one and I saith another and I a third c. as St. Austin frames the answer It is that which all worldlings covet and hold it no policy to part with what they have to the poor for uncertainties in another world In answer to whom and for a cooler to their inordinate love of life the Preacher subjoyns Vers 8. But if a man live many years and rejoyce c. q.d. Say hee live pancratice basilice and sit many years in the worlds warm sun-shine yet he must not build upon a perpetuity as good Job did but was deceived when hee said I shall dye in my nest Job 29.18 Psal 30 and holy David when hee concluded I shall never bee moved For as sure as the night follows the day a change will come a storm will rise and such a storm as to wicked worldlings will never be blown over Look for it therefore and bee wise in time Remember the daies of darkness that is of adversity but especially of death and the grave The hottest season hath lightning and thunder The Sea is never so smooth but it may bee troubled the Mountain not so firm but it may bee shaken with an earthquake Light will bee one day turned into darkness pleasure into pain delights into wearisomeness and the dark daies of old age and death far exceed in number the lightsome daies of life which are but a warm gleam a momentary glance Let this bee seriously pondred and it will much rebate the edge of our desires after earthly vanities Dearly beloved saith St. Peter I beseech you as Pilgrims and strangers abstain from fleshly lust c. q. d. 1 Pet. 2.12 The sad and sober apprehension of this that you are here but sojourners for a season and must away to your long home will lay your lusts a bleeding and a dying at your feet It is an observation of a Commentator upon this Text that when Samuel had anointed Saul to bee King to confirm unto him the truth of the joy and withall to teach him how to bee careful in governing his joy hee gave him this sign When thou art departed from mee to day 1 Sam. 10.2 thou shalt finde two men at Rachels sepulchre For hee that findeth in his mind a remembrance of his grave and sepulchre will not easily bee found exorbitant in his delights and joyes For this it was belike that Joseph of Arimathea had his sepulchre ready hewn out in his garden The Aegyptians carried about the Table a deaths-head at their feasts and the Emperours of Constantinople Isidor on their Coronation-day had a Mason appointed to present unto them certain Marble-stones using these ensuing words Elige ab his saxis ex quo Invictissime Caesar Ipse tibi â—umulum me fabricare velis Chuse Mighty Sir under which of these stones Your pleasure is ere long to lay your bones Vers 9. Rejoyce O young man in thy youth i. e. Do if thou darest like as God said to Balaam Rise up and go to Balak Numb 22.20 that is go if thou thinkest it good go sith thou wilt needsly go but thou goest upon thy death Let no man imagine that it ever came into the Preachers heart here oleum camino addere to add fuel to the fire of youthful lusts to excite young people unruly enough of themselves to take their full swinge in sinful pleasures Thus to do might better befit a Protagoras of whom Plato reports Plato in Menen that hee many times boasted that whereas hee had lived threescore years forty of those threescore hee had spent in corrupting those young men that had been his pupils or that old Dotrel in Terence that said Non est mihi crede flagitium adolescentem helluari potare scortari fores effringere I hold it no fault for young men to swagger drink drab revel c. Solomon in this Text either by a Mimesis brings in the wilde
burial and in that respect weeping and wailing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is one of the dues of the dead whose bodies are sown in corruption and watered usually with tears It is better therefore to sort with such to mingle with mourners to follow the Herse to weep with those that weep to visit the heavy-hearted this being a special means of mortification than to go to the house of feasting where is nothing but joy and jollity slaying Oxen and killing Sheep eating Flesh and drinking Wine yea therefore eating and drinking because to morrow they shall dye Ede Sardanapali vox belluina bibe lude post mortem nulla voluptas What good can bee gotten amongst such swinish Epicures What sound remedy against lifes vanity It is far better therefore to go to the house of mourning where a man may bee moved with compassion with compunction with due and deep consideration of his doleful and dying condition where hee may hear dead Abel by a dumb eloquence preaching and pressing this necessary but much neglected lesson that this is the end of all men and the living should lay it to heart or as the Hebrew hath it lay it upon his heart work it upon his affections inditurus est illud animo suo so Tremelius renders it hee will so minde it Job 30.33 Psal 39.4 5 as to make his best use of it so as to say with Job I know that thou wilt bring mee unto death And with David Behold thou hast made my daies as a span c. And as Moses who when hee saw the peoples carkasses fall so fast in the wilderness Lord teach us said hee so to number our daies Psal 90.12 as to cause our hearts of themselves never a whit willing to come to wisdome Vers 3. Sorrow is better than laughter Here as likewise in the two former verses is a collation and praelation Sorrow or indignation conceived for sin is better than laughter i. e. carnal and prophane mitth This is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nazianzen speaks in another case a Paradox to the world but such as may sooner and better bee proved than those Paradoxes of the antient Stoicks The world is a perfect stranger to the truth of this sacred position as being all set upon the merry Pin and having so far banished sadness as that they are no less enemies to seriousness than the old Romans were to the name of the Tarquins These Philistins cannot see how out of this Eater can come Meat and out of this Strong Sweet how any man should reasonably perswade them to turn their laughter into mourning and joy into heaviness James 4.9 A pound of grief say they will not pay an ounce of debt a little mirth is worth a great deal of sorrow there is nothing better than for a man to eat and drink and laugh himself fat Spiritus Calvinianus Spiritus Melancholicus a Popish Proverb to bee precise and godly is to bid adue to all mirth and jollity and to spend his daies in heaviness and horrour This is the judgement of the mad world ever beside it self in point of Salvation But what saith our Preacher who had the experience of both and could best tell Sorrow is better for it makes the heart better It betters the better part and is therefore compared to fire that purgeth out the dross of sin to water that washeth out the dreggs of sin yea to eye-water sharp but soveraign By washing in these troubled waters the conscience is cured and Gods Naamans cleansed By feeding upon this bitter-sweet root Gods penitentiaries are fenced against the temptations of Satan the corruption of their own hearts and the allurements of this present evil world These tears drive away the Devil much better than Holy-water as they called it they quench Hell flames and as April showers they bring on a man the May-flowers both of grace 1 Pet. 5.5 and of glory Jer. 4.14 What an ill match therefore make our Mirth-mongers that purchase laughter many times with shame loss misery beggery rottenness of body distress damnation that hunt after it to Hell and light a candle at the Devil for lightsomeness of heart by haunting Ale-houses Brothel-houses conventicles of good fellowship sinful and unseasonable sports and other vain fooleries in the froth whereof is bred and fed that worm that never dies A man is nearest danger when hee is most merry said Mr. Greenham And God cast not man out of Paradise saith another Reverend Man that hee might here build him another but that as that bird of Paradise hee might alwaies bee upon the wing and if at any time taken never leave groaning and grieving till hee bee delivered This will bring him a Paradise of sweetest peace and make much for the lengthening of his tranquillity and consolation Dan. 4.27 Oh how sweet a thing is it at the feet of Jesus to stand weeping to water them with tears to dry them with sighs and to kiss them with our mouths Onely those that have made their eyes a fountain to wash Christs feet in may look to have Christs heart a fountain to bathe their souls in Vers 4. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning Hee gladly makes use of all good means of minding his mortality and holds it an high point of heavenly wisdome so to do Hence hee frequents funerals mingles with mourners Monimenta quasi mentem momentia hears etiam muta clamare cadavera makes every tomb a teacher every Monument a Monitor laies him down in his bed as in his grave looks upon his sheets as his winding-sheet Ut somnus mortis sic lectus imago sepulchri If hee hears but the clock strike sees the glass run out it is as a Death-head to preach Momento mori to him hee remembers the daies of darkness as Solomon bids Eccles 11.8 acts death aforehand takes up many sad and serious thoughts of it and makes it his continual practice so to do as Job and David did The wiser Jews digged their graves long before as that old Prophet 1 King 13.30 Joseph of Arimathea had his in his garden to season his delights John Patriarch of Alexandria sirnamed Eleemosynarius for his bounty to the poor having his tomb in building gave his people charge it should bee left unfinished and that every day one should put him in minde to perfect it that hee might remember his mortality The Christians in some part of the Primitive Church took the Sacrament every day because they looked to dye every day Austin would not for the gain of a million of worlds bee an Atheist for half an hour Quid hic facio Aug. Descript of the Isle of Man abbridg Arist because hee had no certainty of his life for so short a time His Mother Monica was heard oft to say How is it that I am here still The women of the Isle of Man saith Speed whensoever they go out of their doors gird
they did not but were senselesly silent therefore He answereth by a discription of himself Calling the generations from the beginning Giving them their Being and having them at a Beck I the Lord the First and with the Last 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De leg lib. 4. Virg. This was anciently believed concerning God as Plato testifieth A te Principium tibi desinet Ver. 5. The Iles saw it The Heathens were convinced by the former arguments yet not converted they were affraid and yet they came together to confirm themselves mutually in their abominable Idolatries Yea they drew near As it were to justify their Idolatries before the Lord. Such is the desperate obstinacy of obdurate sinners Pharaoh menaced Moses even during that palpable darkness The Philistines were afraid when they saw the Ark of the Covenant brought into the feild and yet they encourage one another to fight against Israel 1 Sam. 4.8 9. The Thief on the cross was under the arrest of death and yet railed Felix trembled and yet expected a bribe from St. Paul There is a cold sweat sitteth on all the limbs of Antichrist at this day and yet they repent not of their Idolatries nor murthers nor sorceries nor fornication nor thefts Rev. 9.20 21. but defend them all they can Ver. 6. They helped every one his neighbour Thus those desperate Idolaters did from the first Eusebius telleth us that in the seventh year of Abraham Ninus the founder of Niniveh set up an Image of his father Belus In Chron. which was worshipped after his death so did other Princes by his example not moved with Gods mercies shewed to Abraham who worshipped the true God alone setting up altars to him whereever he came Ver. 7. So the Carpenter encouraged the Gold-smith Because no small gain was brought hereby unto these crafts-men Acts 19.24 25. The Jew-doctours tell us that Terah the father of Abraham was an Image-maker at Vr of the Chaldees till God called him thence Hyperius saith that all these words are to be taken as pronounced with irrision and contempt that so the vanity of Idols may the more plainly be perceived sith they have no more worth then is given them by their worshippers Ver. 8. But thou Israel art my Servant And it was for thy sake and for thy settlement that I have dealt so long with these odious Idolaters whom else I would not once look toward nor commune with as he said 2 King 3.14 The seed of Abraham my Friend This stile was an higher honour to Abraham then if God had ingraven his name in the orbes of Heaven See the Note on Jam. 2.23 Hushai was Davids Friend and Augustus vouchsafed to give Virgil the name of Amicus This was a special favour but not like that in the Text. Ver. 9. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth sc in the loyns of Abraham thy Progenitour And called thee from the chief men thereof Called thee and culled thee out of the Grandees of the Chaldees the rich the potent and the honourable separate from the common sort setting thee above the Kings of the earth Psal 89.27 Ver. 10. Fear thou not for I am with thee Cordialibus ut ita dicam verbis Deus hoc eloquitur As long as a childe hath his Father by the hand he feareth none Quid timet hominem homo in sinu Dei positus what should he who lyeth in Gods own bosom fear any man alive Is not Gods presence security sufficient I will strengthen thee I will help thee c. I will I will I will Oh the Rhetorick of God! Oh the certainty of the Promises With the right-hand of my righteousnesse i. e. My righteous right-hand that shall right all thy wrongs Ver. 11. Behold all that were incensed against thee These and the following precious Promises the Jews misapply to the coming and Kingdom of their Messias the Papists to their Hierarchy Let every true servant of God take them home as spoken to himself Every promise droppeth Myrrhe and mercy Ver. 12. Even them that contended with thee Heb. the men of thy contention thy Contendents such as this Eristical age hath more then a good many By the Quakers wild fancies and rude practices we may see how cross-grained these people are in contradicting every thing Many mens spirits saith One now-adayes lie like that Haven Acts 27.12 toward the South-West and North-West two opposite points Ver. 13. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand As a tender father taketh his dear childe by the hand in dirty or dangerous wayes especially lifting him over So the Saints are said to sit down at Gods feet Deut. 33.3 or to stand betwixt his legs as little ones do Ver. 14. Fear not This is oft inculcated for better confirmation and comfort Our Saviour may seem to have hence his Fear not little flock It is no easy matter to chear up afflicted consciences Luther saith it is as hard a matter as to raise the dead Hence this frequent Fear not Ver. 15. I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth Traham aut tribulam in omnem partem probè dentatam Such as those Eastern Countries did use to mash in pieces their rougher and harder fodder for their cattle or rather to thresh out their harder grain with Chap. 28.25 28. or to torture men with 2 Sam. 12 31. Thou shalt thresh the mountains Thy lofty and mighty enemies This was fulfilled in the Macchabees But especially in the Apostles subduing the Nations to the obedience of the Faith See 2 Cor. 10.4 Ver. 16. Thou shalt fan them But find nothing in them of any solidity the heart of the wicked is little worth And thou shalt rejoyce in the Lord As the sole doer of all for it is he that subdueth the people under us and doth all our works for us Chap. 26.12 Ver. 17. When the poor When such as are poor in spirit sensible of their utter indigency shall blessedly hunger and thirst after righteousnesse shewing themselves restless and unsatisfiable without it And there is none None to be found in the doctrine of the Pharisees Philosophers or Fryars Ver. 18. I will open rivers in high places Rather work miracles as once in the Wildernesse Exod. 17.6 7. then my poor people shall want necessary support and succour Ver. 19. I will plant in the wildernesse the cedar c. That is saith Lyra I will give variety of graces to my people Per varia ligna varietatem gratiarum insinuat Oecol And the Box-tree That groweth of it self in wild places saith Diodate to signify that the Church will alwaies have worldly wild plants mixed and growing in it Box is alwayes green indeed and full of leaves but it s of an ill smell semen habet omnibus invisum animantibus and of a worse seed Sphinx Philos Ver. 20. That they may see and know and consider Heb. lay 1. Lay it upon their heart which
e. I will call them by the Gospel which is the power of God to salvation to all beleevers Rom. 1.16 And they shall bring thy sons in their armes sc when they bring them to be baptized Respicit ad puerilem conditionem yet some expound it Metaphorically as Deut. 32.10 Hos 11.3 Ver. 23. And Kings shall be thy nursing-fathers Such were David Solomon Hezekiah Josiah Constantine Theodosius Placilla Queen Elizabeth c. They shall bow down to thee They shall give thee civil worship and low obeysance and that for Christs sake who is thine head and husband and dwelleth in thee They shall bow down to thee c. Such honour hath every Saint through Christ The Popes Parasites would hence ground his holding out his feet to be kissed yea his treading upon Kings and Emperours But Peter would none of this Act. 10.25 26. so little cause had that Pope once to cry out Et mihi Petro. Interpreters do rightly note that in these and the like texts Xenoph. lib. 8. Plutarch in Alcib the Prophet alludes to the manner of the Persians amongst whom those that would speak unto the King did first kisse the pavement that the King had trodden upon Hence Martial Pictorum sola basiare Regum The ancient Christians also to honour and hearten their Confessours and such as suffered imprisonment for the truths sake did use to kisse their hands yea to cast themselves down at their feet Tertullian writing to some of the Martyrs saith Non tantus sum ut vos alloquar I am not good enough to speak unto you He telleth also of some in his time that they did reptare ad vincula Martyrum creep to the bands of the Martyrs in way of honour to them Ver. 24. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty Not unlesse he be overmatched and over-mastered The heathens were wont to ask Who can wring a club out of Hercules his hand or a light-bolt out of Joves The Captive Jews here seem to ask Who can deliver us from the Babylonians who have both might and right for them for we are their lawful Captives and we see not how we can be set at liberty Thus they thought at least if they spoke not as much not looking at all to the power and faithfulness of God sed ad praesentium rerum spectra ac hostium potentiam Those that look downward on the rushing and roaring streams of miseries and troubles which run so swiftly under them shall be sure to be taken with a giddiness c but such as stedfastly fasten on the power and Promise of God all-sufficient shall be established Ver. 25. But thus saith the Lord Here 's a full answer to the former objection as God doth usually in the Scripture frame answers to mens thoughts the Law is spiritual and heart-reaching And I will contend with him that contendeth with thee I will over power the devil and thy most head-strong lusts bringing thee out of his slavery so that thou shalt be able to do all things through Christ who strengtheneth thee Phil. 4. Thy temporal enemies also thy persecutors shall feel my power as did Pharao Nero Diocletian Julian c. See on Gen. 12.2 Ver. 26. And I will feed them that oppresse thee with their own flesh Which yet no man ever hated Aâ—â—m ut â—lâ—â—â—us mactaâ—em sâ—â—gâ—â—e â—â—mas but nourisheth and cherisheth it Eph. 5.29 But Zions enemies should one destroy another and be put to such straits as the Jews were in the siege of their City by Titus that they fed upon their own flesh and the flesh of their children So hard a thing it is to kick against the pricks quae in coelum expuunt in faciem ipsurum recidunt And they shall be drunk with their own blood Yea drowned in it as was Attilas King of Hunnes Flac. â—lly Felix Count of Wartenburg a great Warriour and bloody persecuter of the Lutherans who was choaked in his own blood and Charles the ninth of France to whom a certain Poet thus rightly speaketh Naribus ore oculis atque auribus undique ano Et pene erumpit qui tibi Carle cruor Non tuus iste cruor sanctorum at caede cruorem Quem ferus hausisti concoquere haud poteras CHAP. L. Ver. 1. WHere is the bill of your mothers divorcement Heb. abscission this bill was called by the Greeces 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but none such could here be produced or proved as given by God to the Jewish State but that the disloyalty was theirs and their dereliction on their part God had neither rejected them though innocent as some husbands did their wives out of a peevish and selfish humour nor sold them though obedient as some fathers did their children for payment of their debts for he is neither debter to any nor non-solvent Rom. 11.35 36. Behold for your iniquities ye have sold your selves O duram servitutem O miseram necessitatem You have sold your selves as Ahab did to work wickedness 1 King 25.29 and therefore I have justly sold and abandoned you into the hands of your enemies Judg. 2.13 14. 3.7 8. Psal 44.11 12. Is your mother i. e. The Synagogue whereunto the Jews do yet still adhere as to their mother and the Lord did then acknowledge himself to be her husband but now he hath worthily cast her off Ver. 2. Wherefore when I came was there no man Christ came unto his own but his own received him not Joh. 1. This was condemnation Joh. 3. their rebelling against the light of the Gospel this was the great offence the damning sin the very cause of their utter rejection Is my hand shortned at all Or rather have not you by your obstinacy and incredulity transfused as it were a dead Palsy into the hand of Omnipotency Mar. 6.5 He could do there no mighty work because of their unbelief of so venemous a nature is that cursed sin Behold at my rebuke I dry up the Sea I have done it you know Psam 106.9 and can do it again Be not therefore faithless but believing as Joh. 20 27. Ver. 3. I clothe the heavens with blacknesse I did so in that three-daie darkness in Egypt Exod. 10.21 22. and shall do so again at the time of my Passion I can therefore doubtless deliver you not only from Babylon but from sin death and hell by giving you an entrance into Heaven by the waters of Baptism and by bringing you out of darkness into my marvelous light 1 Pet. 2.9 And make sack-cloth their covering Ita ut coelum pullata veste obtensum fuisse dixeris So Rev 6.12 Ver. 4. The Lord God Heb. the Soveraign self-being Hath given me Me Isaiah but much more Jesus Christ the Arch-Prophet of his Church who spake as never man spoke Joh. 7.46 See Matth. 7 28 29. Luke 4.22 Grace was poured into his lips Psal 45.2 and it was no less poured out of his lips whilst together with his
Priestly office had been spoken chap. 53. here of his Prophetical and Princely These were frequently set forth even in the Old Testament by the Crown or golden plate on the high-Priests head was signified Christs Kingly office by the breast plate his Priestly and by the bells his Prophetical Ver. 5. Behold thou shalt call a Nation Yea all Nations that yet dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death being utterly ignorant of God and his will of themselves and their duties But now when they shall know God or rather be known of him they shall run to Christ and yea flye as a cloud and flock into the Church as doves scour into their columbaries rushing into the windows chap. 66.8 Because of the Lord thy God Through the mighty operation of his Spirit by the preaching of his Word The Philosophers though never so able could hardly perswade some few to embrace their Tenents Plato went thrice into Sicily to convert Dionysius but could not do it Socrates could not work upon Alcibiades nor Cicero upon his own son because God was not with them nor was willing to glorify his Son Christ by them as he did afterwards by his holy Apostles Ver. 6. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found Seek not his Omnipresence for that ye need not do sith he is not far from any one of us Acts 17.27 but his gracious presence his face and favour seek to be in the fear of the Lord and in the comforts of the Holy Ghost in communion with him and conformity unto him and give not over till you find it Seek him seriously seek him seasonably There is a time when men shall seek the Lord with their flocks and heards and yet not find him when once he hath withdrawn himself from them Hos 5.6 Call ye upon him while he is near In a time of acceptance Psal 32.6 before he hath sworn that he will not be spoken with Psal â—5 11 God is but a while with men in the opportunities of grace Prov. 1.24 28. Ver. 7. Let the wicked forsake his wayes Or else never think of finding favour with God or of calling upon him to any purpose The Leapers lips should be covered according to the Law A good motion from an ill mouth will never take with God Pura Deus mens est purâ vult mente vocari Et puras jussit pondus habere preces And the unrighteous man his thoughts See Jam. 4.8 with the Note A Pilat may wash his hands a Pharisee clense the outside of the platter Castae manus sunt sed mens habet piacula said an Heathen who saw by the light of nature that clean hands and foul hearts did not suit well And let him return unto the Lord See the Notes on Zach. 1.2 Joel 2.12 13. For he will abundantly pardon Heb. he will multiply to pardon as we multiply sins Epist 7. ad Venant he will multiply pardons God in Christ mollis est misericors not an austere man implacable inexorable but multus ad ignoscendum as the Vulgar here rendereth it and Fulgentius thus descanteth upon it In hoc multo nihil deest in quo est omnipotens misericordia omnipotentia misericors c. In this much nothing is wanting how can there say sith there is in it omnipotent mercy and merciful omnipotence A pardon of course He giveth us for involuntary and unavoidable infirmities this we have included in that general pardon which we have upon our general repentance And for other sins be they blasphemies Matth. 12.13 God hath all plaisters and pardons at hand and ready made and sealed for else we might dye in our sins while the pardon is in providing He hath also hanged out his tables as I may say in the holy Scriptures shewing what great sinners he hath pardoned Act. Mon. 109. as Adam that Arch-rebel Manasseh who was all manner of naughts David Peter Paul Magdalen c. The Lord Hungerford of Hatesby was beheaded for buggery in Henry the eights time The Lord Thomas Cromwel a better man but executed together with him cheared him up and bad him be of good comfort for said he If your repent and be heartily sorry for that you have done there is for you also mercy with the Lord who for Christs sake will forgive you therefore be not dismaid God seemeth to say to sinners as once the French King Francis the first did to one that begged pardon for some ill words spoken against his Majesty Do thou learn to speak little so to sin no more and I will not fail to pardon much I can remit whatsoever you can commit never doubt it Ver. 8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts q. d. You may think it impossible likely that such great and grievous sinners as you have been should ever be received to mercy but what talk you of your thoughts mine are infinitely above them neither may you measure my mercies by your own models Bring broken and bleeding hearts to my Mercy-seat and I shall soon think all the meritorious sufferings of my Son all the promises in my Book all the comforts of my Spirit all the pleasures of my kingdom but enough for you Ver. 9. For as the heavens are higher then the earth And that 's no small deal see the Note on Psal 103.11 12. Lo such is the proportion that my mercy beareth to your mercy even the very best of you that the heaven doth to the earth i. e. That a most vast circumference doth to one little point or center Ver. 10. For as the rain cometh down Simile omnium elegantissimum pariter notissimum Of the use and efficacy of fit similitudes See the Note on Hos 12.10 Ver. 11. So shall the word be that goeth out of my mouth The word in general but specially the word of Promise it shall surely give seed to the sower and bread to the eater comforts of all sorts both for the present and for the future Onely we must see that we be good ground and then pray that the heaven may hear the earth as Hos 2.21 But it shall accomplish that which I please It shall produce the sweet fruits of righteousnesse Rom. 8.13 14. There is saith a good Author a certan shell-fish that lyeth alwaies open towards Heaven as it were looking upward and begging one fruitful drop of dew which being fallen it shutteth presently and keepeth the door close against all outward things till it hath made a pearl of it In reading or hearing the Promises if we open our shells our souls the Heaven will drop the fruitful dew of grace to be employed worthily in making pearles of good works and solid virtues Who is she that commeth out of the wildernesse to joyn her self to her well-beloved Cant. 6.9 Ver. 12. For ye shall go out with joy sc Out of your spiritual bondage worse then that of Babylon The mountains and the hills The mute and brute creatures as they
bruised or broken sc in their estates And that ye break every yoke Cancel every unjust writing say the Septuagint They took twelve in the hundred in Nehemia's time this was a yoke intolerable Specul Europi I pray you let us leave off this usury saith he chap. 5.10 At this day the Jews are in all places permitted to strain up their usury to eighteen in the hundred upon the Christians but then they are used as the Friars to suck from the meanest and to be sucked by the greatest Ver. 7. Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry Thine own bread it must be and that especially whereof thou hast on the fast-day abbridged thy self for what the rich spare on such a day the poor should spend Hereby 1. Mens prayers shall speed the better Acts 10.4 2. They shall make God their debtor Prov. 19.17.3 That is best and most pleasing alms to God that is given in Church assemblies for 1. It is an Ordinance of God and a Sabbath-duty 1 Cor. 16.1 2. 2. Christ there sitteth and seeth the gift and mind of every alms-giver Luke 21.1 2. setting it down in his book of remembrance Mal. 3.16 And that thou bring the poor that are cast out Scilicet tanquam rebelles as those poor Albigenses were in France and their posterity lately in Piedmont Scultet Annal the Protestant Lorainers proscribed for religion by their Duke and entertained by the State of Strasborough at the earnest suit of the Ministers there till they could be conveniently provided for elsewhere there being some thousands of them which till then were forced to feed upon hips haws leaves of trees and grasse of the field That thou cover him Duties of the second Table only are here enjoyned because they are excellent evidences of true piety and pure religion Jam. 1. ult And that thou hide not thy self from thine own flesh Thy poor brother who is of the same nature with thee and is as capable of grace and glory as thy self Learn to see Christ in thy poor Pâ—titioner and thou wilt the sooner yield Matth. 25. Consider also what is said of him that shutteth up his bowels of compassion from his necessitous brother 1 Joh. 3.17 Ver. 8. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning He saith not shall appear but shall break forth ut velocitatem copiam dantis exprimeret saith Chrysostom that he might expresse the swiftnesse and bountifulnesse of God the giver of it And thy health shall spring forth speedily The Sun of righteousness shall arise unto thee with healing under his wings Mal. 4.2 See the Note And thy righteousnesse shall go before thee Thou shalt have the comfort and credit of thy bounty and charity which is oft called righteousnesse as Psal 112.9 Dan. 4.24 Acts 10.35 And the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward i. e. The glorious Jehovah shall see to thy safety See Psal 27.10 with the Note See also Isa 52.12 Ver. 9. Then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer Thou shalt have the royalty of his ear easy accesse to and all best successe at the throne of grace no such cause to complain as thou didst ver 3. that thy prayers were lost If thou take away from the midst of thee E meditullio tui from thy very heart Jun. by an inward reformation si animo opere sermone aversaberis inhumanitatem if thou heartily hate cruelty and act accordingly The yoke As ver 6. The putting forth of the finger The finger of that wicked fist ver 4. or that finger wherewith thou threatenest thy servants or pointest at others in scorn or disdain as the proud Pharisee seemeth to have done at the poor Publican when he said I am not as that fellow Luke 18.11 And speaking vanity Or violence as the Chaldee here talk concerning the wringing and wronging of others All this must be done or else no hope that God will hear prayers look to it See Psal 66.18 with Notes Ver. 10. And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry Not thy sheaf only relieving the necessitous out of deep commiseration Ex animo liberaliter bilariterque and couldest part with thy very life also for them if duely called thereunto Compassion excelleth alms and outward works of mercy for when one giveth an alms he giveth something without himself but by compassion we relieve another by somewhat within and from our selves And satisfy Not save him alive only by a scant allowance prisoners pittance Then shall thy light arise in obscurity Thou shalt abound with blessings of all sorts See my common place of Alms. And thy darknesse be as the noon-day In agone horrore mortis erit tibi consolatio spes salutâ— ac lucis God will make thy bed in all thy sickness and comfort thee at the hour of death Ver. 11. And the Lord shall guide thee Or lead thee as thou leadest the harbourless outcast into thine house ver 7 And satisfy thy soul in drough As thou didst satisfy the poor hungry mans soul ver 10. See Psal 33.19 and Prov. 28.27 with the Notes And make fat thy bones i. e. Chear up thy heart for a sorrowful spirit drieth up the bones Prov. 17.22 The Vulgar Translation hath it he will deliver or set free thy bones sc from bands and fetters as thou hadst loosed or set free thy poor brethren from their bands and yokes ver 6. And thou shalt be like a watered garden Filled with the fruits of righteousness and with spiritual consolations unspeakable and glorious joyes And like a spring of water whose waters fail not Similitudines Allegoriae magnam habent gratiam Who would not now turn spiritual purchaser Ver. 12. And they that shall be of thee Thy posterity that have taken their being and beginning from thee Shall build the old waste places Heb. the wastes of antiquity i. e. The ruinous places of Jerusalem The Apostles also as master-builders and others as builders together with them have an happy hand in rearing the fair fabrick of the new man that hidden man of the heart See Ephes 2.20 21 22. And thou shalt be called the Repairer of the breach The Father of thy Country the repairer of peace the restorer of lost liberty c. Such honour had Nehemiah of old Hunniades alate who having overthrown Mesites the Turks General at his return into the Camp a wonderful number of the poor Captives came and falling at his feet and kissing them gave God thanks for their deliverance by him some called him the Father some the Defender of his Country the Souldiers their invincible General the Captives their Deliverer the women their Protectour the young men and children their most loving Father He again with tears standing in his eyes courteously embraced them rejoycing at the publick good and himself giving most hearty thanks to God commanded the like to be done in all the Churches of that Province Turk â—â—st 269. c.
rusheth with as much violence as an overflowing flood Hinc apparet fructus liberi arbitrii saith Oecolampadius See here the fruit of free-will and what man will do being left to himself Carnal affections are forcible and furious Plato himself saw and could say as much In Phadâ—o when he compared concupiscence to an headstrong horse that runneth away with his rider and cannot be ruled Ver. 7. Yea the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed time These fouls though wanting reason know well when to change quarters whether against summer as the stork turtle and swallow or against winter as the crane But my people know not the judgement of the Lord Whether his summer of grace offered or his winter of punishment threatened to embrace the one or to prevent the other See a like dissimilitude and opposition Isa 1.3 Ver. 8. How do ye say We are wise If ye were so ye would never say so Surely I am more brutish then any man said holy Agur Prov. 30.2 This only I know that I know nothing said Socrates Neither know I so much as this that I know just nothing said a third How could these in the text say We are wise when the fouls of the ayr outwitted them confer Job 35.11 The Law of the Lord is with us Vox est Pharisaeorum So the Jesuites at this day as of old the Gnosticks will needs be held the only knowing men The Empire of learning belongeth to the Jesuites say they a Jesuite cannot be an heretick Casaub ex Apologista Jungantur in unum dies cum nocte lux cum tenebris c. i. e. Let day and night be jumbled together light and darkness heat and cold health and sickness life and death so may there be some likelihood that a Jesuite may be an heretick saith one of them The Church is the soul of the world the Clergy of the Church and we of the Clergy saith another Lo certainly in vain made he it i. e. The Law for any good use that this people or their leaders put it to See Hos 8.12 Rom. 2.17 25. Ver. 9. The wise men are ashamed They have cause to be ashamed of their grosse ignorance and folly ver 7 8. and greater cause then ever humble Austin had to say Scientia mea me damnat my knowledge undoeth me Lo they have rejected the word of the Lord As to any holy practice their knowledge is only Apprehensive and notional not Affective and practical And what wisdom is in them q d. None worth speaking of they lose their civil praises because not wise to salvation Ver. 10. Therefore will I give their wives For a punishment of their rejecting my Word which ought to be received with all reverence and good affection Dilher Elect. lib. 1. cap. 2. The Turkes do so highly respect the Alchoran which is their Bible that if a Christian do but sit upon it though unwittingly they presently put him to death For every one c. See chap. 6.13 Ver. 11. For they have healed See chap. 6.14 Ver. 12. Were they ashamed See chap. 6.15 Ver. 13. I will surely consume them saith the Lord Texitur hic quasi tragoediae scena here followeth a kind of Tragedy saith an Expositour God is brought in threatening the Prophet bewailing the people despairing and yet bethinking themselves of some shelter and safeguard if they knew where to find it c. There shall be no grapes on the vine nor figs But instead thereof I will give them waters of gall to drink ver 14. Tremellius and Piscator read it thus There are no grapes on the vine nor figs on the figtree yea the leaves are fallen that is say they there is no power of godlinesse found among them no not so much as any profession neither fruit nor leafe And the things that I have given them shall passe away I will curse their blessings Mal. 2.2 and destroy them after that I have done them good Josh 24. Ver. 14. Why do we sit still Here the people speak see on ver 13. being grievously frighted upon the coming of the Chaldees and thereupon consulting what course to take but all would not do ver 16. Let us be silent Sic silent pavidimures coram fele For the Lord our God hath put us to silence Hath expectorated our courage and stopped our mouths And hath given us waters of gall to drink Succum cicutae our bane our deaths-draught so that now we know by woful experience what an evil and bitter thing sin is for a drop of honey we have now a sea of gall Ver. 15. We looked for peace but no good came Our false Prophets have merely deluded us So poor souls when stung by the Friers Sermons were set to pennances and good deeds which stilled them for a while but could not yeeld them any lasting comfort The soul is still ready to shift and shark in every by-corner for ease but that will not be till it comes to Christ Ver. 16. The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan See chap. 4.15 this caused in the Jews hearts a motion of trepidation confer Job 39.20 It is the priviledge of believers in nothing to be terrified by their adversaries Phil. 1.28 but with the horse spoken of Job 39.22 to mock at fear and not to turn back from the dint of the sword Ver. 17. Behold I will send Serpents Cockatrices i. e. Chaldees no lesse virulent then serpents as violent as horses Serpentum tot sunt venena quot genera tot pernicies quot species tot dolores quot colores saith an Ancient Serpents are of several sorts Isidor lib. 12. cap. 2. but all poisonful and pernicious The Basilisk or Cockatrice here instanced the worst sort of serpents say the Septuagint here goeth not upon the belly as other serpents but erect from the middle part and doth so infect the aire that by the pestilent breath coming therefrom fruits are killed and men being but lookt upon by it and birds flying over it stones also are broken thereby and all other serpents put to flight Dlod Pisc And they shall bite you There is an elegancy in the original Ver. 18. When I would comfort my selfe c. Or as some render it O my comfort against sorrow i. e. O my God others my recreation is joyned with sorrow Ver. 19. Behold the voyce of the cry This was it that broke the good Prophets heart the shrieks of his people Haec est querela hypocritarum Oecol Is not the Lord in Zion Thus in their distresse they leaned upon the Lord as Mic. 3.11 and enquired after him whom in their prosperity they made little reckoning of Why have they provoked me to anger q. d. The fault is meerly in themselves who have driven me out from amongst them by their Idolatries Ver. 20. The harvest is past the summer is ended They had set God a time and looked for help that summer at farthest but the Lord as he