either of these even with the gripes and gnawings of his owne evill conscience for the evill he hath done This paine followes some wicked men all the dayes of this life and it shall be the portion of all wicked men after death Eliphaz aymes at this in the next Verse while he saith A dreadfull sound is in his eares there I shall further insist upon it We have yet another very considerable part of the wicked mans misery held forth in the close of this Verse And the number of yeares is hidden to the oppressour The word which we render Oppressor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Violentus crudelis robustus tyrannus qui suis nititur opibus aliis terribilis est signifies a man exceeding powerfull and terrible or by his power terrifying others He that oppresseth must have power and some desire power for no other end but to enable them to oppresse Solomon speaks of a poore man that oppresseth Prov. 28.3 but he oppresseth onely those who are lesse powerfull then himselfe A poore man that oppresseth the poore is c. One poore man may be as much above another poore man in power as some rich men are above the poore Equalls in power cannot oppresse But who is this Oppressor to whom the number of yeares are hid The Oppressor in this part of the Verse is the wicked man in the former part Eliphaz speakes still of the same person though under another name whom he there called wicked he calls here an Oppressor Hence Note That to oppresse is a very great wickednesse For an oppressor and a wicked man are the same man Againe in that the word which signifies an oppressor signifies also a mighty man or a man of great strength we may further Note That men who have much power are apt to abuse it for the oppression of others it is in the power of my hand sayd Laban to Jacob to doe thee hurt And Laban had hurt Jacob if God had not stopt him They that have much power in their hands need much holinesse in their hearts Pauci anni reconditi sunt violento Jun. that they may use it well much power is a temptation to doe much hurt Numeâ—us annorum i. e. facile numerabiâ—es The number of yeares is hidden to the Oppressors The number of yeares say some is an Hebraisme for few yeares or yeares that are easily numberable a Childe may tell the yeares of an Oppressor they are so few Hence the words are also rendered thus Few yeares are layd up for the Oppressor Master Broughton translates plainely to the sense Soone numbred yeares are stored to the Tyrant Hence Observe First That wicked Oppressors are often speedily cut off by the hand of God Psal 55.23 Blood-thirsty and deceitfull men shall not live out halfe their dayes If God should lengthen out the lives of men set upon mischiefe who could live 'T is a comfort for us as well as a curse on them that Soone numbred yeares are stored to the Tyrant his treasure is not great in dayes who dayly treasures up wrath against himselfe Another resuming these words Hee travelleth with paine out of the former part of the Verse reads it thus And in the whole number of yeares which are layd up for him he travelleth in paine That is his whole life is miserable As if that which is a truth of all wicked men were more specially applicable to oppressors That they travell in paine Hence we may note Qui vult a multis metui multos tirre a oportet They who love to trouble others shall be sure to meet with trouble themselves He that desires to be feared shall be often affrayd Oppressors and Tyrants in all ages have experimented this truth which flowes both from the nature of their unjust actions towards men as also from the just retaliation of God Our reading leads us to a further consideration The number of yeares is bidden to the Oppressor That is as some expound they are determined or defined in the secret counsell of God It is under a hidden decree how long his oppressing power shall continue and when he shall receive the reward of his oppressions Or rather thus The number of yeares of his owne life is hidden to the oppressor that is he knows not how long he shall liue But is that any speciall judgement upon the Oppressour that the number of his yeares or how long he shall live is hidden to him Is not the number of a good mans yeares hidden to him Are not the number of every mans yeares hidden to him Doth any man know how long he shall live David indeed prayes Teach me to number my dayes Psal 90. and Make me to know mine end and the measure of my dayes what it is Psal 39.4 Yet he doth not desire to know precisely the number of his dayes or time of his end he onely desires to know their generall number or utmost extent spiritually namely that at the most they were not many that so he might make a wise improvement of his life and a holy preparation for his death Seeing then the number of every mans yeares is hidden to him how is this reckoned as the peculiar punishment of a wicked man that the number of his yeares are hidden to him I answer It is true the number of yeares is hidden from all men both from good and bad the Lord hath made that a secret Two numbers are secret First The number of the yeares of the World when that shall end Of that day and houre knowes no man no not the Sonne of man but the Father onely Secondly The number of the yeares of a mans owne life or the day of his death is a secret which no man knowes though many have been busie to pry and inquire into it But though godly men know not the number of the yeares of their owne lives yet this is no affliction to them under which notion it is here sayd of the Oppressor The number of yeares is hidden to him A wicked man is thoughtfull about this how he may live long not how he may live or doe well he would fulfill many dayes and yeares in the World that so he might have his fill of worldly profits and pleasures He is therefore troubled to thinke his life hangs upon uncertaine tearmes because he is uncertaine of any good beyond this life A godly man knowes not the number of his yeares but he knowes by whom they are numbred that satisfies him be they longer or shorter more or lesse But a wicked man would have the account in his owne hand he would be Lord of all even of time too but he cannot The number of yeares are hidden to the Oppressor Observe hence That the number of the yeares of mans life is a secret which none knowes but God himselfe And as it is so so it is best for man that it should be so The certaine knowledge when our lives should end would hinder
vve have used them both for our owne good and the good of others I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himselfe thus saith the Lord Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised Jer. 31.18 Ephraims outward moanes were as musick in the eares of God Ephraim did not murmure against God but he bemoaned himselfe Ephraim was not angry at his chastisement but Ephraim mourned being chastised God heard this fully in hearing hee heard it or it pleased him to heare it It is our duty to testifie our sorrow by the saddest notes of a troubled spirit and it is a delight to God when vve doe so not that hee delights in our sorrows but he delights in the witnesse vvhich vve beare to his wisedome righteousnesse and faithfulnesse in sending those sorrowes I heard Ephraim bemoane himselfe Will an offendor that lookes for mercy come before the Judge in rich apparrell or in some affected dresse Comes he not rather in his Prison clothes puts he not on the garments of heavinesse The Messengers of Benhadad put dust on their heads and ropes about their necks and sack-cloth on their loynes when they came to mediate for the life of their Master And thus the Lord speakes to the Israelites Exod. 33.5 when they had sinned and he was wroth Put off your Ornaments that I may know what to doe with you Ornaments are uncomly when God is threatning judgements It is time for us to lay by our bravery when God is about to make us naked Sack-cloth sowed upon the skin and our horne in the dust are the best ensignes of an afflicted state The Prophets counsell indeed is Joel 2.13 Rend your hearts and not your garments Rending the garments may be taken not onely strictly for that act but largely for all outward actings of sorrow Yet when he saith Rent not this is not a prohibition of but a caution about the outward acting of their sorrow Not in Scripture is not alwayes totally negative it is often directive and comparative So in this place Rend your hearts and not your garments is your hearts rather then your garments or be sure to rend your hearts as well as your garments The one must be done the other ought not to be left undone See more of this Chap. 1. Vers 20. upon those word Then Job rent his Mantle Thirdly Observe Great sorrow produceth great effects and leaveth such impressions as testifie where it is The Apostle saith of the sorrow of the World That it worketh death 2 Cor. 7.10 The sorrow of the World may be taken two wayes First For the sorrow of carnall worldly men whose sorrow for sin is only a vexing of their hearts not a breaking or humbling of their hearts which being separate both from true faith for the pardon of sin and from any reall purpose of leaving their sin worketh death both temporall death often wearing out their naturall life lingringly and sometime destroying their naturall life violently as in Judas as also hastning them on to eternall death of which it selfe is a foretast or beginning Secondly This sorrow of the World is a sorrow for the losse of or disappoyntments about worldly things This also worketh both those deaths in meere worldly men and when it is excessive as under a temptation it may be in a godly man it may be sayd to worke the death of the body in him yea great and continued sorrow though it be not excessive worketh towards this death in a godly man drying his bones and drawing out his spirits as is cleare in Job on whose eye-lids the very shadow of death sate while hee wept and sorrowed 'T is hard to dissemble a little griefe but a great deale cannot be hid As godly sorrow manifests it selfe in excellent effects upon the soule of which the Apostle numbers up seven at the eleventh Verse of that Chapter For this selfe same thing that yee sorrowed after a godly sort what carefulnesse it wrought in you yea what clearing of your selves c. Now I say as godly sorrow manifests it selfe in manifold effects upon the soule so doth the sorrow of the World set its marks upon the body As a good mans heart is made cleane by weeping the teares of godly sorrow so every mans face is made foule by weeping the teares of worldly sorrow and as godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation and life eternall so the sorrow of the World vvorketh an entrance to temporall death yea we may say that godly sorrow doth sometimes worke temporall death Paul was afrayd lest the incestuous person while he was repenting might be Swallowed up with over much sorrow 2 Cor. 2.7 vvhich as vvee are to understand cheifely of a swallowing up in the gulfe of despaire so we may take in that also as a consequent of the other a swallowing of him up in the Grave of death as if hee had sayd The poore man may both despayre and dye under this burden if you let it lye too long upon him As soone as Heman had sayd in his desertion My soule is full of troubles he presently adds And my life draweth nigh unto the Grave I am counted with them that goe downe to the pit free among the dead Psal 88.3 4 5. To which he subjoyns Ver. 9. Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction and then expostulates Vers 10. Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead Shall the dead arise and praise thee As if he had sayd These sorrows will bring me to my grave or in the language of Job On my eye-lids is the shadow of death Till wee enjoy a life beyond the reach of all sorrows wee shall not be beyond the reach of death Hence that promise Revel 21.4 God shall wipe away all teares from their eyes and there shall be no more death neyther sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more paine And as that life which hath no death in it shall have no sorrow in it so that life which is a continuall death the life of the damned is nothing else but sorrow There shall be weeping and wayling and gnashing of teeth for evermore Mat. 13.42 Their eyes shall ever weep their faces shall ever be foule with weeping and on their eye-lids the shadow of death shall dwell for ever Fourthly The hand of God being heavy upon Job he defiled his horne in the dust and fouled his face with weeping he regarded neyther the beauty of his face nor the dignity of his condition all was nothing to him Learne from it Great afflictions take off our respect to the World and all worldly things What is honour What is Gold or Silver What is a goodly House What is a beautifull Wife and pleasant Children What are fine cloathes or a faire face in a day of sorrow or in the approaches of death Spirituals are highest prized when we are lowest Grace shines clearest in worldly darknesse but the light of worldly enjoyments is darknesse to us and that vvhich some esteeme as a Sun is but a
Christ his being a Paraclete or an Advocate and the spirits being an Advocate John 16.7 If I goe not away saith Christ the Comforter or the Advocate will not come unto you that is The holy Ghost will not come unto you One Advocate goeth away that the other Advocate may come Christ is an Advocate by way of impetration the spirit is Advocate by way of application Christ is an Advocate vvith God to get mercy for us the spirit is an Advocate with us to prevaile on our hearts to receive that mercy Though Christ be our Advocate in Heaven pleading for us with the Father yet if we had not the spirit to plead in our hearts on earth we â—ould never receive the good that Christ hath purchased for us of his Father Christ appeares for us in Heaven Heb. 9.24 He appeares as an Atturney in Court for his Client he is gone to Heaven to appeare for us the spirit comes from Heaven and appeares in us Christ began the worke of his intercession here John 17. Hee is gone into Heaven to continue and perfect it The spirit doth both begin and perfect his intercession here he doth not plead for us but in us or the spirit makes intercession for us by stirring us up to prayer by teaching us how to word and mould or rather how to sigh and groane our prayers Christ makes intercession for us by presenting and tendering those prayers to the Father which the spirit helpes us to make or by making prayers for us himselfe to the Father Some dispute how they inquire much after the manner how Christ makes intercession or performes the office of an Advocate for us but it is enough for us to know that hee is an Advocate or that he makes intercession for us though we are not able to describe the manner how Whether it be First Onely by presenting himselfe to the Father and his appearing for us which is an equivalent if not a formall intercession Or secondly By the tendering of his righteousnesse and merits as satisfaction to the Father Or thirdly By expressing our wants and his desires for us Whether by all these or by which of these or whether by some other way is not determinable by us yet this is cleare that he performes the office of an Advocate for us and that we receive every good thing from the hand of God through his hand Further Christ may be considered First As an Advocate for the whole Church There are some causes of common concernement to all the people of God Thus he was an Advocate for Jerusalem when under bonds and captivity in Babylon Zech. 1.12 Then the Angell of the Lord not a created but the creating Angell or the Angel of the Covenant who is the Son of God answered and sayd O Lord of Hosts how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the Cities of Judah against which thou hast had indignation these three score and ten yeares And as Christ pleads for the whole Church so for every particular member of the Church and that also under a twofold notion He is Advocate first to take away our sins If any man sin saith the Apostle John 1 Epist 2.1 we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous c. Secondly Christ is an Advocate for us with the Father in our sufferings and troubles to get them taken off from us or sanctified to us Doubtlesse Job made use of Christ continually as an Advocate to take off the guilt of sin yet here he makes use of Christ as an Advocate to get off his sufferings especially these misjudgings of his Freinds who deeply censured and aspersed him because of his sufferings yea a Beleever makes use of Christ as an Advocate to get any good thing whether little or great whether for soule or for body as much as he doth for the removing of any evill whether of sin or trouble Secondly Observe The Doctrine of a Mediator betweene God and Man was knowne and beleeved in the World long before Christ came into the World Many saw Christ by Faith before he was seene in the flesh Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seene Heb. 1.1 And as it is the evidence of things so of persons that are not seen Christ tells the Jewes John 8.56 Your Father Abraham rejoyced to see my day and he saw it and was glad And when the Jewes quarrelled at this Thou art not yet fifty yeares old and hast thou seen Abraham Jesus sayd unto them Verily verily I say unto you before Abraham was I am As Abraham saw his day by Faith so David in spirit called him Lord Mat. 22.43 And as these persons with all the holy Elders saw Christ by Faith in the promise so the whole Ceremoniall Law was a representation of Christ to faith by sense Every slaine Sacrifice spake the death of Christ and the sprinkling of that blood the sprinkling of their consciences and ours for the remission of sins Yea They did all eate the same spirituall meat that is the same which we now eate and did all drinke the same spirituall drinke for they dranke of that spirituall Rock that followed them and least we should mistake what was meant by that Rock the Apostle expounds it himselfe And that Rock was Christ The Rock did not follow them but Christ who was signified by that Rock did follow them They who are built upon Christ the Rock shall never be moved yet Christ is a moving as well as a living Rock to those who are built upon him whither soever they move he follows them Thus Jesus Christ was meate and drinke to the Jewes as well as to us for he is the Lamb slaine from the foundation of the World Revel 13.8 that is The vertue ot his death saved all who have been saved from the foundation of the World As Christ was slaine from Eternity in the counsell of God so he was slaine from the beginning of time in the promise of God Gen. 3.15 which was the publication of his death he was then also slaine as to the heart of Beleevers whose Faith having once a word for it makes that which is absent in regard of place spiritually present and that which is not in regard of time truely to be Thirdly Observe The Mediatour betweene God and man hath beene knowne and beleeved in all Ages under a twofold nature both God and Man We have both in this profession of Jobs Faith He beleeved the Mediatour to be God for he saith Mine eye powreth teares to God There is the divine nature He beleeved that the Mediatour should be man and therefore adds The Son of man for his freind there is his humane nature so that not onely the generall Doctrine of the mediatorship of Christ but this particular about the constitution of his person as Mediator was also knowne Had not our Advocate been man he could not have suffered for us and had hee
will plead for a man with God and the Son of man for his Freind As if Job had sayd I know I have a Freind of Christ and Christ lookes on me as his freind and therefore I have highest confidence that he will plead my cause and take off this scandall So much for Jobs earnest desire upon his appeale that his cause might come to a hearing and that Christ would undertake the pleading of it before his Father He gives a reason in the last verse why he was thus pressing to have the businesse brought to an issue why he did thus appeale to God as his witnesse why he did powre out teares to Christ that he would plead for him Why all this Vers 22. When a few yeares are come then shall I goe the way whence I shall not returne Deum vellem jamjam in presentia disceptationem in se recipere quia ad mortem propero Jun. As if He had said For as much as I must dye shortly I desire to have this difference taken up before I dye I cannot live long in this world and I would not goe out of the world under such a cloud as is now upon me Is it not time for me to hasten my cause to an end when mine end hastens and to get my busines determined before my yeares are Anni numeri Heb. i. e. qui numerati sunt adeo et brevissima periodo circumscripti When a few yeares are come The Hebrew is yeares of number that is Yeares which may easily be numbred Isai 10.19 The trees that remaine shall be few that a Child may write them they shall be trees of number that is a small number and Gen. 34.29 Jacob saith We are but few the Hebrew is We are men of number we may soone be told a Child may tell us and yet you provoke Citie and Countrie against us We very well translate according to the Hebraisme yeares of number a few yeares When a few yeares are come I shall goe the way whence I shall not returne What way is that which hath Vestigiv nulla retrorsum where all steps are forwards and none backward this is such a way as wee meet not with in all our earthly travels yet every man on earth is travelling towards such a way travell which way you will you have as many steps backwards as forwards men comming and going but saith Job I shall goe the way I shall not returne What way is this This is the way of all flesh Joshua 23.15 1 King 2.2 This is the way to the grave that way hath no steps backwards But are there no returne from the grave It is true some have risen there have been some first fruits of a resurrection but they who have come from the grave are so few that their foot-steps are worn out by those many many thousands of thousands who have gone to the grave What multitudes have gone the way to the grave and are not returned some few have returned but these so few that we may still affirme the way to the grave knowes no returning That which is very rarely done the contrary being very frequently done is said not to be done at all or never to be done But Job seemes to deny his owne returne he speakes as if he should not be only lodged for a while but lost for ever in the grave I shall goe the way whence I shall not returne I answer That Jobs faith was clear in the point of the resurrection of the body appeares by the confession which he makes Chap. 19.25 26. and therefore when he saith I shall not returne his meaning is as was shewed upon a like passage Chap. 10.21 First That he should not returne by any power of nature Secondly That he should not returne to a State of nature he believed fully that he should returne by the power of God to an estate of glory Our bodies which are sowen naturall bodies shall be raised spirituall bodies Though that which was sowed shall returne yet vvhen it returnes it shall not be as it was sowed Lastly whereas Job saith I shall not returne his meaning is vvhen I dye or if I dye I shall no more returne to my house and dwelling in the vvorld I must take my leave of all these things for ever My place shall know me no more as he speakes to the same subject Chap. 7.10 From the first branch of the verse note The yeares of mans life are few You may quickly number them Secondly As the yeares of mans life come about quickly so when they are come vve must goe certainely vvee must goe with death I shall goe saith Job there is no hindring no stopping of that journey it will not serve any mans turne to say He hath no mind to goe he must goe it will not serve any mans turne to say He is not at leisure to goe he must go it will not serve any mans turne to say he is not fit to goe He is not prepared to goe he must goe as he is fit or unfit prepared or unprepared he must goe It will not serve any mans turne to say he will give all the treasure in his house all the money in his purse to be spared this journey he must goe It will not serve any mans turne to say he will get another to goe for him or he will send one in his rooome There is no dying by proxie every man when his few yeares are come must goe in person Thirdly Observe A Believer can speake of death familiarly It is a comfort to him in his sorrowes to thinke that he shall dye shortly When a few yares are come I shall goe the way c. he speakes pleasantly the mention of death was a life to him Jobs life was a kinde of death and therefore to him especially death would be a kind of life were our hearts rightly affected they that have the most lively life would thinke death better thâ—n this life I desire saith Paul to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best of all Death was better to him then life and lest any should say no marvaile if Paul desired to dye who could scarse tell where to live and no marvaile if he would dye once for all who was in deaths often to prevent this cavil he adds Which is best of all Barely to dye is better to some then a troublesome life but to dye and be with Christ is better then the best life much more is it better then that life in this world which is a continuall death as Jobes was how shoul such a man sing out Job's verse When a few dayes are come I shall goe the way whence I shall not returne Fourthly Observe It is good to put death before us under the easiest notions Here Job cals it only a going a going out of the world that is all he elsewhere cals it a sleepe and the Spirit of God every where in reference to Saints
verbis multum pollicetur re nihil praestat Bez. Blandiebantudum externa bona illi pollicebantur Merc. they made him large promises of a restauration that his estate should be like the morning that he should outshine the very Sun and be a great man againe Thus they spake Chap. 5.19 20. Chap. 8.5 Chap. 11.15 16 c. hee looked on all these fayre promises as flatteries because in his owne thoughts he was a dead man and his calamities past all hope of recovery in this World As if hee had sayd Why doe you feed me with such vaine hopes and prophesie to me of Wine and of strong drinke of earthly honour and riches of length of dayes and of a multitude of yeares yet behinde in the race of this present life I cannot but call this flattery and a departure from the laws of freindship For alas My dayes are extinct my breath is corrupt and yet you are telling me of long life and good dayes in this World And indeed this is at once the custome and the fault of many who visit their Freinds upon the borders of death they thinke they are not freindly unlesse they labour to give them hopes of life and deliver their opinion peremptorily We doubt not but you will doe well enough you will recover from this sicknesse and getting over this brunt and see many dayes This is flattery it is our duty to speake comfortably to our dying Freinds to set forth the love of God and his readinesse to pardon to prepare them for a better life and to make their passage out of this more easie But when wee see them at the Graves mouth when death is ready to seize on them then to tell them of long life is rather the office of a Flatterer then of a Freind We shew more love to our dying Freinds by offering our counsels and tendering up our prayers for their fitnesse to depart out of this life then by shewing our desire that they should live and our loathnesse to part with them Secondly Jobs Freinds may be sayd to speake flattery to God and then the words are an Argument from the greater to the lesse as if he had sayd If he who speakes flattery to his freind a man like himselfe shall be punished then much more shall he who speakes flattery to God But you will say How can God be flattered There are two wayes of flattering men First By promising them more then we intend Secondly By applauding them more then they deserve When we cry up those for wise men who are little guilty of wisedome or commend those as good who are very guilty of evill both these are straines of flattery It is impossible to flatter God in this latter sense for we cannot speake of God higher then he is his glory wisedome and goodnesse are above not onely our words but our thoughts But we may flatter God in the first sense by promising him more then we intend they on their sick beds doe but flatter God who tell him how good and holy they will be when their hearts are not right with him Yet neyther is this the flattery of God which Job may be supposed to suggest against his freinds The flattery here suggested is their justifying the proceedings of God in afflicting Job by condemning Job as if there had been no way left to cleare up the righteousnesse of God but by concluding that Job was unrighteous This manner of arguing Job calls Speaking wickedly for God and talking deceitfully for him This he also calls The accepting of his person Ch. 13.7 8. As if they had been the Patrons and Promoters of Gods cause and honour while they thus pleaded against Job and layd his honour and innocency in the dust That there is a sinfull flattery of God in such a procedure against man was shewed more largely in the place last mentioned to which I referr the Reader for his further satisfaction He that speakes flattery to his freind What of him The next words tell us what The eyes of his Children shall faile But shall he himselfe escape Shall not hee smart for it Saith not the Scripture Whatsoever a man sowes that shall hee reap the sower shall be the reaper This is not spoken to free the Flatterer from punishment but to shew that more then he shall be punished for his flattery as he himselfe shall not escape so he may bring others also into danger with him As sin spreads it selfe in the pollution of it so in the punishments of it When but one sins many may be defiled and when but one acts a sin many may be endangered a man knowes not upon how many he may bring evill when he doth ill himselfe The eyes of his Children shall faile What is meant by the failing of the eyes was shewed Ch. 11.20 where Zophar saith The eyes of the wicked shall faile and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost In generall 't is this They shall be disappointed of their hopes or they shall expect so long and nothing come that their eyes shall faile with expectation The eyes of his Children shall faile Some by Children understand not his naturall Children or the Children of his body but his Children in a figure Morum atque vitae imitatores Aquin. such as imitate and follow him who take his course and tread in his pathes for as they are called the Children of the Devill who are like him and doe his workes and as we are called the Children of God not onely in reference to our new birth and spirituall generation but also in reference to our new obedience and holy actions Mat. 5.44 45. So they may be called a mans Children who resemble him in his manners as well as they who issued from his loynes Hence Note First The punishment of sin doth not alway rest or determine in him that committed the sin The bitter fruits of sin are often transmitted and handed over to those who had no present hand in them when they were committed The whole Familie and Posterity of sinners may smart many a day after and inherit the sins of their Progenitors as well as their Lands when the Father purchaseth or provides an Inheritance for his Childe by flattery or any other indirect way the eyes of his children may faile for it I have met with this point before Cha. 15.33 34. and elsewhere therefore I onely touch and passe from it Secondly Consider the particular sin against which this judgement is pronounced It is the speaking of flattery Hence Observe The sin of flattery is a very provoking sin That sin which shall be punished in posterity is no ordinary sin Those good actions which the Lord promiseth to reward in posterity or in after times have a speciall excellency in them It shewed that the deed of Jehu in destroying Ahabs House and rooting out his Idolatry though Jehu himselfe was a very bad man and did it with a bad heart yet I
governe himselfe by presidents no man can tell certainely which way he vvill goe by looking into the way vvhich he hath gone for though he useth no liberty in the issue of his dealings but rewardeth every man according to his works yet hee useth much liberty in the meanes which lead unto it Secondly This ariseth from the narrownesse of mans heart who measuring God by his owne line and comparing what God hath done by what he would do cannot as the Apostle speakes in another case attaine unto the righteousnesse of God in vvhat he doth 'T is excellent wisedome to know how to interpret and improve the dealings of God vvith our selves or others The grossest mis-interpretation of his dealings is to conclude the guilt or innocency of man the love or hatred of God from them Jobs Freinds upon such mistakes incurred this censure I have not found one wise man among you Job having by way of introduction spoken to the men or to the persons of his Freinds proceeds to speake his owne case Vers 11. My dayes are past my purposes are broken off even the thoughts of my heart What doe you tell me of comfortable dayes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Transierum My dayes are past they are gone by as wee say The Shew is gone by or the Company is gone by so saith Job My dayes are gone by There 's no looking after them any more they are out of sight why would you bring them into my minde againe Dayes may be taken here in a twofold sense First For the terme of his life Secondly For the state of his life As taken for the terme of his life My dayes are past is Morti vicinus sum I am a neere neighbour to death death and I am ready to meet and imbrace the life of man is measured by daye◠when our dayes are past there 's nothing left to measure nothing to measure by My dayes are past But how could Job affirme The terme or dayes of my life are past when as he was alive that day to say this so he lived many a faire day after he had sayd it Can we call that past which is still present with us or which is yet to come He affirmes this First because he conceived that the greatest part of his dayes were actually past and that it was not worth while to reckon upon the few dayes behinde he did not thinke that remnant so considerable as to measure it but threw it by as a peice of uselesse nothing Our dayes are so passing that with a little Rhetorick we may say they are past as soone as they begin how much more may wee say so when we are sure they must shortly end and are really almost yea onely not past Secondly Job might say My dayes are past because doubtlesse it had seized on his spirit that his Glasse was run that hee should dye presently hee never looked to outlive that storme So that his dayes were past in his account though not in Gods account Job could say of himselfe as we use to say of those Women who have gone out their full time of Child-bearing that He had not a day more to reckon As Job had a full assurance that he should live eternally so he had a kinde of assurance that hee should dye very shortly And therefore as to his owne apprehensions and the calculation which he had made of his dayes their date was out and hee might say My dayes are past Againe As taken for the state of his life so My dayes are past is My good dayes my prosperous dayes are past you tell me of a day of deliverance what a morning I shall have but I looke on all my dayes here as dayes of darknesse wee say of a man who is not only in an evill but in a desperate or irrecoverably evill condition He hath seene all his best dayes or all his good dayes are gone Job was full of trust for a good eternity but he had no hope of good days The terme of a mans dayes may continue long when the comfort of his dayes is or when his comfortable dayes are quite past Though Jobs dayes continued as to the terme of his life yet his dayes as hee judged were past as to any comfortable state of life in which sense he might also say My dayes are past Nor did Job speake this complainingly or with a low spirit My dayes are past he did not whine it out as they doe who are loath to dye and would faine live still in the delights of life but he spake boldly and cheerfully he spake of his Dying day as of his Marriage day My dayes are past As a young man saith My marriage day is at hand I shall be marryed shortly with such a holy allacrity Job spake I shall dye shortly my dayes are past He looked upon his comfortable dayes in the World as past and yet he was comforted Job was full of paine yet usually in the close of his speeches he gathered up himselfe and spake in a height and heat of spirit As the Cock towards morning flutters his Wings before he Crowes and gives warning of the approaching day or as the Lyon strikes his sides with his Tayle to rouze up his spirits before he attempts his prey so Job stirr'd up himselfe towards the close of his answers and resumed new spirits acting That dying man to the life who having nothing in this World eyther to feare or hope dyes without feare yet with abundance yea in assurance of hope My dayes are past Hence Observe First As the words are taken in the former sense A gracious heart hath peace in the approaches of death His contentments are not done when the terme of his life is done He can say My dayes are past as cheerfully as Agag sayd Surely the bitternesse of death is past Some godly men have dyed farr more pleasantly then ever any wicked man lived Secondly From the latter sense Observe A gracious heart can take present comfort and rejoyce in this World while he knowes that all his worldly comforts and joyes are past Faith overlookes or lookes thorow and beyond all the evills of this life to a good which shall never dye yea Faith sees and enjoyes a present good while sense sees nothing and indeed hath nothing else to see but evill A carnall man parts with his good dayes or with the good of his dayes as Phaltiel went to deliver up Michal Sauls Daughter and Davids Wife by right weeping all along as he went 2 Sam. 3.16 There 's a sad parting betweene a worldly heart and worldly things but he that is spiritually minded though he doth not despise the meanest of worldly good things as made by God for the use and comfort of man so when God cals him from them or them from him he can part with he use of them and yet not be dispossessed of comfort he knowes that hee hath a present good and that he hath greater good
Woe to those who put off their beginnings in grace till they are readdy to finish in nature A dying man is unfit for any businesse how much more for this He is extreamely indisposed for worldly purposes much more for heavenly and therefore as soone as a man that hath any Estate begins to be sick Freinds will move him Pray Sir settle your Estate make your Will you know not how God may deale with you if your disease should encrease a little more you may be totally disabled to doe it therefore pray hasten Yea we finde that most men of valuable Estates in the World make their Wills in their health when they are free from sicknesse and furthest from death when they have the greatest activity of minde and body They wisely remember how some who had a full purpose to make their Wills in sicknesse have been suddenly overpowred by the malignity of a disease and could never doe it but have left all at six and sevens If so shall any man leave his soule undisposed of or at six and sevens till such a time A sick man being minded of any worldly businesse unlesse he have a great minde to it thinkes it excuse enough to wave it because he is sick I pray doe not trouble me with it saith he I cannot thinke of it now you and I will speak about it hereafter when I am recovered Doe sick men thinke it reason they should be excused from worldly businesse because they are sick and shall any man resolve that it is best to deale about spirituall businesses when he is sick If Job who had a holy and a sound minde under a diseased body sayd My purposes are broken off and the thoughts or possessions of my heart how much more will they feele these breaches whose minds are sick and more diseased then their bodyes Further Observe The difference betweene God and man what a vaine creature man is and how excellent God is God never had one of his purposes broken whatever hee purposed he hath carryed to perfection hee never lost a thought nor any of the possessions of his heart The counsell of the Lord stanâ—eth for ever and the thoughts of his heart to all Generations Psal 33.11 'T is the glory of God that his purposes stand he is able to make them stand though all the World should combine as one man to cast them downe 'T is the dishonour of man that hee so often falls from his owne purposes and eates up his owne resolves and 't is the punishment of some men that their purposes receive a fall that their most solemne debates and setled resolves are scattered and confounded The Lord in judgement bringeth the counsell of the Heathen to nought he maketh the devices of the people of none effect Psal 33.10 All the thoughts of man are loseable and most men lose their thoughts It is the comfort of Beleevers that they are not bottom'd upon their owne purposes or thoughts but upon the thoughts and purposes of God that 's their basis and that shall never be broken God is unchangeable and therefore his purposes cannot break When mans purposes are broken hee eyther changeth or suffers a change of which Job complaines in the next Verse Vers 12. They change the night into day and the light is short because of darknesse Here are two things to be opened First What is meant by changing the night into day Secondly Who it is that changeth the night into day They change the night into day Hath not the Lord made a promise yea a Covenant which is more then a promise and annexed a signe to it which is the ratification of a Covenant Gen. 8.22 that to the end of the World while the earth remaineth Seed time and harvest and Summer and Winter and cold and heate and day and night shall not cease that is they shall not cease in their turnes and seasons How is it here sayd They change the night into day as if the night and day were out of course when as the Lord hath covenanted that they shall continue in their course I answer There is a twofold change of times of day and night First A naturall Change Secondly A metaphoricall Change The united power of all creatures in Heaven and Earth cannot make a naturall change of day into night and God the Creator hath promised that he will not make that change he will not breake the succession of night and day while the Earth remaineth But a metaphoricall change of night into day and of day into night hath been often made for when the night is so full of trouble to us that we cannot sleep the night is changed into day and when the day is so full of trouble to us that wee can neyther doe our worke Hoc tormentum cordis nec nox interrumpebat quae est tempus deputatum humanae quieti graviuâ— est pati somni defectum in nocte quam in die Aquin. Meae cogitationes molestae animum rodentes noctem mihi convertunt in diem efficiunt ut noctes ducam in somnes Merc nor take our comforts then the day is changed into night The night is the time appointed for naturall rest therefore the night may be sayd to be changed into day when we cannot rest and this is a great affliction for though in some sense and in Scripture sense too to have the night changed into day is a mercy and notes a change from a troubled estate into a comfortable estate yet to have the night changed by our restlesnesse or want of sleep is both an affliction it selfe and an argument that we are burdned and over-pressed with other manifold afflictions In this sense Job complaines of the change of his night into day and thus God often changeth times and seasons both to particular persons and whole Nations Dan. 2.21 Daniel answered and sayd Blessed be the Name of God for ever and ever for wisedome and might are his and hee changeth the times and the seasons hee removeth Kings and hee sets up Kings He changeth the times and seasons that is He makes seasons comfortable or troublesome peaceable or unquiet hee changeth the night into day or the day into night as himselfe pleaseth And the light is short because of darknesse Propter calamitates Jun. That is The day is to me as no day because of my calamity and misery my day is short because darknesse suddenly overtakes it Artificiall dayes are long or short according to the distance which the darknesse of the night keepes from them Our metaphoricall dayes are long or short according to the distance which the darknesse of trouble keepes from them Thus the change of day into night and of night into day is to be reckoned by the condition we are in When we cannot sleep in the night our night is changed into day and when sorrow seazeth on us in the day our day is changed into night or The light is short to us by
are ready for us and we have made our bed in the darknesse it is not for us to looke for life here indeed to live to us is Christ but to dye is gaine A Beleever can willingly part with all his earthly possessions for heavenly hopes much more can he joyfully part with all his earthly hopes for the possession of Heaven Thirdly from these expressions The Grave is my house I have made my bed in the darknesse Note A Beleever looks upon death as a state of rest As the whole house is a place of rest compared with the World abroad so the Bed is the speciall place of rest Revel 14.14 Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord from henceforth they rest from their labours and their workes follow them They shall follow their worke no more who are followed by their works The Grave is the house and bed of the body to all who dye Heaven is the house and rest of the soule to all those why dye in the Lord. Saints have here a rest in their labours they shall hereafter have a rest from their laboures Lastly Whereas the bed of death is made in darknesse Observe There is nothing desireable in death as considered in it selfe A darke condition is the worst condition Darknesse which in Scripture signifies all evill is a word good enough to expresse the state of death by What desireablenesse there is in death what pleasures in the Grave will appeare further in those arguments which death useth to invite us home to its house the Grave in the next Verse vvhich tels us our most lovely companions yea our sweetest and most endeared relations there are Corruption and Wormes Vers 14. I have sayd to corruption Thou art my Father and to the worme Thou art my Mother and my Sister Hyperbolae sunt quibus significat se omnem jam vitae cogitationem abdicasse Jun. This Verse is of the same sense with the former onely here Job breaks into an elegant variation of new metaphors and hyperbolicall expressions I have sayd That is I have as it were called to and saluted the retinue and attendants of death as my freinds and kindred As I have made my bed in the Grave and as that is my house so now I am finding out my houshold relations I say to this Thou art my Father and to that Thou art my Mother and Sister 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Est clamare vocare appellare per electionem nominare elegans prosopopeia per quam Job tumulum alloquitur Bold The word which we render I have sayd c. signifies not barely to say but to cry or call out I have called out to corruption so Master Broughton To the pit I cry O Father O Sister O Mother to the Worme not barely I have sayd but I cry and not barely I cry Father to the pit but he adds also a note of exclamation O Father Secondly The word imports not generally a calling or crying out to any one that comes next but to some speciall person by way of election and choice or to such as vve know vvell and are acquainted with as the termes of Father Mother and Sister imply Verbum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat etiem occurrere alicui nam occurrentem solemus salutatione vel interrogatione aliqua proprio nomine appellare Further the word signifies not onely to call aloud and to call with election but to goe forth on purpose to call a Freind or to invite him in As when we see an acquaintance comming towards us or our dwellings we step out to meet and welcome him so the word may beare in this place As if Job seeing death drawing towards him had gone out and said O corruption my Father O wormes my Mother my Sister vvelcome vvelcome such an elegancy the word yeelds us I shall not here stay upon any anxious disquisition about the propriety of these relations how Job cals corruption his Father and the vvorme his Mother and Sister or in drawing out comparisons about them vve are to looke onely to a generall proportion not to an exact propriety in these words there 's no need to make out parallels between corruption and a Father or betweene wormes and a Mother or a Sister Onely thus much may be asserted particularly First He speakes thus to shew that he looked on death not onely not as an enemy but not as a stranger Death and he were well acquainted Secondly He speakes thus to shew that death vvas not only not a stranger to him but as one of his kindred He vvas upon as fayre termes vvith death as vvith Father and Mother Thirdly Job speakes thus to shew Vt ostendat mortem sibi in votis esse cunctis illum amicitiae necessitudinis nomininis compellat Pinet that he did not onely looke upon death as in a neere relation to him but as having a kinde of delight and contentment in death vvhat is more sweet to a man vvho hath been in a long journey and is returning home then to thinke that he is comming to his Father and Mother to his Brethren and Sisters As nature gives us kindred by blood so it is a custome to adopt and stampe to our selves kindred by kindnesse one vve call Father and another vve call Mother one is our Brother a second is our Sister a third our Cozen by the mutuall tyes or by the receits and returnes of curtesie Thus we are to take these compellations as intimating vvith vvhat spirit Job entertained the thoughts of death even with no other then if he had beene to fall into the embraces of Father and Mother and Sister He sayd to corruption as we should say to wisedome Prov. 7.4 Say unto wisedome thou art my Sister and call understanding thy Kinswoman that is Acquaint thy selfe with and be familiar vvith vvisedome so shalt thou keepe thy selfe vvhich is both thy vvisedome and thy happinesse a stranger From the strange Woman Vers 5. Further it may yet be enquired what it is which Job cals Corruption and the worme I have sayd to corruption c. What is this corruption There are two opinions about it First Some interpret him speaking to the corruption and wormes which had already seized upon his body for his diseases and ulcerous sores had bred corruption and wormes As if he had sayd I may well call corruption my Father for I am already full of corruption I may well call the worme my Mother my sister for the wormes creep in and out at my sores continually my body is as if it had layne already in the Grave full of corruption and wormes Secondly Others expound him speaking to and of the corruption and wormes which waited his comming into the Grave The vvord in the Text which wee translate Corruption signifies also the Grave because bodies doe not onely corrupt in the Grave 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fovea corruptio quod in fovea corpus corrumpitur but
speakes of it in the most comfortable expressions Death it selfe is so embalmed yea and cloathed in the holy language that there is even a sweetnes and a beauty in it When a man hath worne a suit of Apparrell a great while and hath even worne it out or it becomes foule and nasty would he not be glad to put that off and get a new one upon his back therefore death is called an uncloathing a putting off the flesh there is no hurt in that when a man hath tyred himself all the day at his work would he not gladly go to bed therfore death is called rest or sleep Under these or the like considerations held forth in Scripture we may as it were burie al hard thoughts of death as was further shewed Chap. 14.12 especally while we remember that as now life is by many degrees bits or morsels swallowed up of mortality so then death shall at one bit or morsell be swallowed up of life 2 Cor. 5.4 For Christ hath not onely conquered but abolished death and hath brought not onely life but immortality to light through the Gospell 2 Tim. 1.10 Life is good yet when it may be sayd of a life it shall dye that puts an evill into life But if life be good how good is immortality which is a life that cannot dye Sixthly Note Job is very importunate to have a blot upon his good name wiped out his conscience was cleere his soule was well he could say Chap. 13. Hee is my Saviour and I know that I shall be justified yet because he was under aspersions and harsh censures he hastens to have these taken off because he was to dye shortly If we should on this ground be carefull to settle our outward estates and credits how much more should we be carefull upon this ground to see that our soules be well settled How should each one say I will hasten to get my sins pardoned my person justified I will hasten to have all cleer between God and my soule For when a few yeares are come I shall goe the way whence I shall not returne And if I doe not see these things done while I am here I shall never come back to see them done nor can they be done at all in the place whither I am going There is no repenting no reforming no beleeving in the grave if our spirituall change be not before our naturall change it will never be This â—rgument should provoke us to settle the affaires of our soules speedily It is not unlawfull nay it is a duty to vindicate our credit and to order the affaires that concerne this life because we have not long to live The hast of death should make us hast our worke even the worke of this life much more upon this ground should we see that our hearts be setled that our eternall peace be setled how should the haste of death make us haste the worke of the life which is to come But as it should make us hasten that worke so it must not make us huddle that worke or slubber it over or doe it to halves Such haste is waste indeed For if we leave our soules halfe setled and our peace halfe made and our repentance and turning to God in the midd way we shall never come againe to finish and perfect them no more then we shall to begin them Therefore set speedily about the worke and give your selves no rest till the worke be perfected for when a few dayes are come you shall goe the way where yee shall not returne Lastly Which was Jobs speciall case It is an affliction for any man to dye under a blott of disgrace Our credit and good name should be precious to us while we live especially wee should be carefull to dye with good credit and not to let a blott lye on us when wee are going out of the World Job would not dye under the name of an Hypocrite or an Oppressour with which black titles he had been charged by his Freinds It is a mercy to goe to the Grave with honour among men and to dye desired though it be enough that we goe to our Grave having honour with God and being desired of him A good name is a Box of oyntment powred forth and a good report especially among those that are good is as the embalming of our memories to posterity And yet the Saints are not so sollicitous for repaires in honour because of that esteeme which they have of their owne esteeme that 's the straine of ambition and they have learned to goe through good report and evill report through honour and dishonour they know how to goe forth without the Campe bearing the reproach of Christ But they are unwilling that Christ should beare their reproach or that his name should be dishonoured through them And therefore seeing they desire while they live to adorne the Doctrine of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in all things they cannot but be carefull before they dye to remove from their owne names whatsoever might reflect dishonour upon his How neer Job was in his owne opinion to the valley of the shadow of death is yet more evident in the first words of the next Chapter Here he onely tells us he must dye shortly there he tells us upon the matter that he was dead already here he saith When a few yeares are come I shall goe there he saith not onely that he had no more yeares to come but no more dayes My dayes are extinct c. JOB CHAP. 17. Vers 1 2 3 4 5. My breath is corrupt my dayes are extinct the Graves are ready for me Are there not mockers with me And doth not mine eyes continue in their provocation Lay downe now put me in a surety with thee who is he that will strike hands with me For thou hast hid their heart from understanding therefore shalt thou not exalt them He that speaketh flattery to his freinds even the eyes of his Children shall faile THE beginning of this Chapter pursues the Argument layd downe in the close of the former Or as a learned Expositor speaks Job in this doth enliven the premises Hoc capite intendit inanimare praemissa Aquin. and as it were put fresh spirits into what he had spoken before For whereas he had before desired the Lord to hasten his cause to a day of hearing because his day of death hastened Cha. 16. Vers 22. When a few yeares are come I shall goe the way whence I shall not returne Here to shew that hee was a dying man he describes himselfe as a dead man My breath is corrupt my dayes are extinct the graves are ready for me Secondly There Job made an appeale to God O that a man might plead with God as a man pleads with his Neighboâ—r Vers 21. And hee gives the reason why My Freinds scorne mee Vers 20. He doth the same here in other language Vers 2. Are there not mockers with me And doth