shaken out of it 14. It is turned as clay to the seal and they stand as a garment 15. And from the wicked their light is with-holden and the high arm shall be broken THe Lord in dealing with Job had already put sundry Questions to him about the earth and about the sea as hath been shewed in the former part of this Chapter here the Lords calls his thoughts up into the ayre or bids him look to the heavens and duly consider the light of the Sun In this the Lord intends the same thing which he had done before while he was questioning Jâ—b about the Earth and the Sea namely to humble him and bâ—ing him â—o a full submission by shewing him his weakness and utter insufficiency as also to set forth his own wisdom power and greatness Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days c. We may gather up the general sense of these four verses in oâ— this brief sum As if the Lord had thus bespoken Job If thou answerest that the things I have already questioned thee about were before thy time and therefore must needs be done without either thy counsel or assistance then I ask thee farther Hast thou ever hastened or retarded hast thou quickened or stopt the rising of the Sun at any time since thou wast born or hast thou ever caused the morning light in any one of these Jew days which thou hast seen to spread it self far and near even every where to the uttermost parts of the earth that so those evil doers and night-birds who being children of darkness cannot but hate the light and love the works of darkness might by its rising be at once discovered and affrighted This seems to be the purpose and scope of God in these words More particularly Vers 12. Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days That 's the first Question Hast thou since thy days given the morning its charge to Mr. Broughton translates implying that every morning the Sun receives as it were fresh orders from some hand or other now hast thou given out orders for â—â—e morning light Doth the day-light obey thee Doth the Sun arise at such times and places as thou hast appointed Hast thou commanded it so we render The word notes commanding with fullest authority Verbum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vâ—tâ— jubâ—re oâ—essâ— exhibere sisterâ— in actum â—oâ—spectum edâ—câ—re Imperium voluntatis efficaâ— intelligitur quod statim sequitur effâ—ctus a command to appear and be ready upon duty a command to stand forth and do what is enjoyned This word of command is most proper unto God Psal 33.9 He spake the word and it was done he commanded and it stood fast The command of God is a creating command it puts things into act his saying gives them a being his calling them to work makes them work or sets them a work Now saith God Hast thou commanded the morning Hast thou O Job such a word of command upon any câ—eature for the producing of any effect motion or action Hast thou commanded The morning Aâ—anando latine dicitur mane quâ—d cum sole manâ—t dies abâ—â—ience By the morning the Lord means the morning light As if he had said Hast th u raised the Sun out of its bed and brought forth the morning hast thou like the Master or Lord of this great family the World called up thy servants and set up thy light for them to work by hast thou commanded the morning that is caused the Sun to rise which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoyceth as a strong man to run a race Psal 19.5 No saith the Lord it was not 't is not thou that commandest the morning it is I that command the morning I commanded the first morning Gen. 1.5 I said Let there be light and there was light and the evening and morning were the first day It was I who the fourth day said Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and for seasons for days and for years It was I that made two great lights the Sun and Moon the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night Gen. 1.14 15 16. The first morning and all the mornings the light-bearer or the light-bringer came forth and appeared at my command not at thine Hast thou commanded the morning Since thy days There is somewhat special in those words Since thy days We may take them either of these two ways First As if the Lord had said Cum dixit A diebus tuis Ostendit id antequam ille nasceretur factum esse perpetuum illum naturae ordinem in manu dei esse non hominum Merc. Was there no morning before thy days Or Was there not a morning befoâ—e thou hadst a morning in the world Did the birth of the morning wait till thou wast born Did it not look forth noâ— appear till thou didst appear Surely there were mornings hundreds of years before thou hadst a morning in the world The morning did not stay for thee nor for thy day Secondly Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days That is since thou camest into the world hast thou had the honour priviledge and power to awaken and call up the morning as thou dost thy houshold servants Know O Job that as there was a morning before thou wast born or hadst a day in the world so since thy day thou hast neither made the morning nor raised up the morning light that power is now in my hand as it was before thou wast in being thou art but of yesterday of a few days there was a morning before thy days and since thy days many have continued and come forth daily yet not at thy command but at mine As I brought forth the light in the first day of the Creation so the fourth day I created the Sun into which I gathered the light and at whose rising the morning shews it self Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days 'T is a daring Question thou hast not I have done it and not thou Hence Note First What God will have done he can command to be done or it shall be done at his command The Lord needs not labour to produce the most difficult effects he can produce them as a Lord by a word speaking he needs not intreat nor treat about the bringing forth of any matter his will is enough to bring it forth What God will have done shall be done Thus it was at the beginning when God created all things and gave them a being and thus it hath been ever since for the moving of all things to their several ends and issues to this day all hath been done by a word of command David Psal 148. calling the Sun Moon and Stars to praise the Lord gives that as the reason vers 5. for he commanded and they were created Now I say as
I may say fed and fattened from heaven All Vegetatives grass herbs plants flowers trees all Sensitives beasts of the earth fowls of the air yea and rational creatures too all men who breath in the air and walk upon the earth are refreshed and fed by the influences of heaven by the clouds and stars Further the Stars send down their influences not only upon living creatures in their three ranks but even upon inanimate creatures the minerals the stones that lye deep under the earth the precious gems with those of a courser grain receive much from the influences of the Stars So then all earthly bodies receive and derive their vigor and beauty from the heavenly the Sun and Moon have the greatest power and there is a very great power in the Stars and Constellations in the Pleiades Orion and Arcturus for the production of great effects Secondly In that 't is said Canst thou bind or stop the Influences of Pleiades Observe It is not in the power of man of any man to hinder or stay the virtue of the stars from falling down upon the earth What God will do by the creature no man can undo If God set those heavenly bodies at liberty and bids them send down their influences man cannot lock them up nor imprison their powers nor bind them from working And hence we may inferr First if none can bind the influences nor stay the comfortable virtue of the stars when God is pleased to let them out then much less can any bind or hinder the influences of the Spirit When God is pleased to send his Spirit to work upon the heart of man who can lett him There is a threefold influence or work of the spirit of God upon the soul of man First To enlighten or to give the light of the knowledge of his own glory in the face of Jesus Christ Who can hinder God when he purposeth thus to instruct and teach the ignorant and make them wise unto Salvation wiser than their teachers who can hinder it Secondly To convert to work faith and repentance together with love humility c. These graces are destilled and drop down from the Spirit of God upon the soul and who can hinder the Spirit from working them in the most hardened and unbelieving souls in the most vain proud and presumptuous soul the barren'st wilderness dryest heath such are persons unconverted are made fruitful by the influences of the Spirit Thirdly To refresh and comfort There are unspeakable influences of joy destilled from the spirit upon believers and when God will let them down from heaven who can lett them what can let them All the troubles and sorrows all the pains and tortures that men can invent or inflict upon a believer cannot bind these influences of the Spirit nor hinder joy in believing The greatest evils of this life can neither shut up nor shut out that comfort which the Spirit speaketh The most churlish winds that can blow from the coldest quarters of the world cannot chill much less kill or blast those fruits of the Spirit Love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness saith meekness temperance mentioned by the Apostle Gal. 5.22 23. The soul grows green like a Garden or Pasture in the Spring the soul bud's blossom's and brings forth these blessed fruits abundantly when fed with these dainties and delicacies of the Spirit Those great floods of trouble and persecution which the Serpent any where or at any time casts out of his mouth cannot prevail against the least drop of Consolation wrought in the heart by the Spirits influence Paul and Silas were bound in Prison but there their persecutors could not bind the sweet influences of the Spirit from comforting them nor daunt them by any terror from triumphing in Christ they could sing in Prison yea they sung at Midnight Secondly We may Inferr If God hath placed the Stars in heaven to drop down sweet influences upon us then at every sight of the Stars our hearts should be raised up in the admiring thoughts of the wisdom goodness and power of God We usually look upon the Stars as if they were only so many lights bespangling the Canopy of heaven and sparkling as so many fires in the firmament but we seldom consider their virtues their influences or the wonderful effects which they produce How few are there who behold the heavens with Davids eyes Psal 8.3 4. When I said he consider thy heavens the work of thy fingers the Moon and the Stars which thou hast made What is man that thou are mindful of him God is mindful of man not only to give him light by the Moon and Stars by the benefit whereof he sees other things but God gives many unseen benefits by the Moon and Stars The influences of the Stars are as beneficial to us Qui negat esse Deum spectet modo fidero câ—li Sidorâ— qui spectat non negat esse Deum and as great a treasure as their light We indeed have great cause as we are commanded Psal 136.7 8 9. to pay the tribute of thanks to God for setting up the Sun Moon and Stars in the heavens to give us light O give thanks to him that made great lights the Sun to rule by day the Moon and Stars to rule by night Yet we must not confine our thankfulness to God for them only as they give us light for they give us heat as well as light and wonder working influences as well as either Moses their civil Father blessing the twelve Tribes as Jacob their natural Father did before his departure out of the world thus bespake the blessing upon Joseph Deut. 33.13 14 15. Blessed of the Lord be his land for the precious things of heaven for the dew and also for the deep that coucheth beneath and for the precious fruits brought forth by the Sun and for the precious things put forth by the Moon and for the chief things of the ancient mountains and for the precious things of the lasting hills and for the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof c. Here we have two sorts of precious things First The precious things of heaven Secondly The precious things of the earth of the hills and mountains The former precious things are the cause the latter the effect The precious things of heaven are the influences of the Sun and Moon under which we are to comprehend the influences of the Stars these cause or produce the precious things of the earth that is Grass Hearbs with all sorts of Vegetables growing upon the surface of the earth they produce also the precious things of the ancient mountains and of the lasting hills that is gems or precious stones gold and silver together with all sorts of inferiour minerals Now if the Stars by their influences yield us all these precious things have we not much cause to admire both the power of God who hath implanted those vertues and opperations in them as also his
His largeness of heart though like the sand of the sea will be but narrowness of heart compared with the enlargements which Saints shall have there Glorified Saints shall be in natural things exact Philosophers able to answer all the questions here put to Job In spiritual things they shall be exact Divines all dark Scriptures shall be clear to them Châ—ist will be their Comment all daâ—k questions will be clear to them Christ will be their light Those perplexed Cases and fatal Controversies which have troubled the peace of the Church and have occasioned the calling together of some hundreds of the ablest Scholars to debate and determine them shall at one view be understood shall have all their knots untied and their difficulties removed by the meanest if among them there shall be found any meaner than others of glorified understandings What sweetness the soul shall feel at this revelation of all knowledge a little knowledge will serve to judge For then not only to this challenge which the Lord made to Job about those special matters the gates of death and the breadth of the earth but also to any other Declare if thou knowest it all Every soul will readily and confidently answer Lord in thy light I know it all JOB Chap. 38. Vers 19 20 21. 19. Where is the way where light dwelleth and as for darkness where is the place thereof 20. That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof 21. Knowest thou it because thou wast then born Or because the number of thy days is great THe Lord having posed Job in the former Context about the depth of the Sea the darkness of Death and the vastness of the Earth here calleth him to an account about the light of the Sun and the darkness of the Air in these three verses As if he had said If thou knowest the breadth of the whole earth about which I enquired last of thee then tell me in what part of the earth doth the light dwell and where is the place of darkness Vers 19. Where is the way where light dwelleth The Septuagint translate In what land doth light dwell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In qua terra Sept. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vbi via in quae habitat scil â—post viae itineris spatium emensum Or where is the land of light We say Where is the way The Hebrew word notes a trodden beaten way or as we speak a high-way Where is the way where light dwelleth That is whither light retireth and doth as it were betake it self in the night when it hath gone its journey and is past thy Horizon For every one knows where light dwells while the Sun is up with us and shines upon us But what becomes of it or whither it goes when 't is gone from us that 's a question and here say some the question The word which we translate dwelleth implieth a retirement Verbum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est ad quietem noctem traducendam alicubicommorari a rest after long labour and travel Where is the way where light-dwelleth and as for darkness where is the place of it Here are two gâ—eat contraâ—ies which cannot agree nor dwell together in any one subject yet met together in this Text Light and darkness and there is some yea not a little darkness in this question about the light We need a great measure of Divine Light to answer this question about the Light Where is the way where light dwelleth Tell me O Job if thou canst where light lodgeth where it reposeth it self when the Sun is gone down and departed out of thy sight Tell me what way leadeth to the lodging of light The words as Interpreters give it have in them a poetâ—cal tincture as if the Sun setting retired to his chamber as we do when the light and business of the day is ended David speaks of the Sun as a Bridegroom coming out of his chamber Psal 19.5 And when his race as to us is run every day he hath a chamber ready for him not that the Sun doth at all end its motion or sit down to rest but because it seems to rest when it goeth down to us As if the Lord had said Hast thou travelled to the place of the Suns rising and setting Where is the way where the light dwelleth There may be a threefold answer given to these questions as light is taken properly for the natural light the light of the day caused by the Suns approach and as darkness is taken properly for natural darkness caused by the with-drawing of the Sun First Some because the word dwelleth notes a stay or an abode for such is a dwelling place answer the question geographically and say light dwelleth under the Poles There are two poles of the earth the Northern and the Southern under both which interchangeably light and darkness abide six moneths together and because of the long stay and abode of light and darkness there Geographers reckon and conclude the dwelling of light and the place of darkness to be there and that therefore the Sun hath two dwelling houses one in the North the other in the South Secondly When Astronomers answer these questions Where is the way where light dwelleth and where is the place of darkness They say The East is the place of light and the West the dwelling of darkness And the reason given is this Because the Sun riseth in the East and goes down in the West leaving the World Forvide Titan obitus pariter tecum Alcides vid it Ortus novitque tuas utrasque domos Sen. in Herc. Act. 4. Alludere videtur ad signorum Zodiaci spatia per quae Sol cursum suum perragit quae ab astrologis Mansiones vel Domus solent appellari Itáque Zona illa sive fascia Zodiaci in cujus medio protenditur eccliptica est via solis qui in tot habitare domus dicitur quot in illa sunt signa Bold that half of the World upon which it shined in the day over-shadowed with darkness It is by the access and recess by the rising and setting of the Sun that we enjoy light or are wrapped up in darkness And so East and West are called by the ancient Poets the houses or dwellings of the Sun Astronomers have found out according to their doctrine twelve houses or dwelling places of the Sun they imagine a girdle or bond passing quite through the heavens which they call the Zodiack and there a line which they call the Ecliptick in which the Sun moveth or which is the way of the light and in this line they place the twelve signs the first of which the Sun entreth the first moneth of the year and is called Aries the second Taurus the third Gemini c. These are onely fictions by which they represent the gradual motions of the Sun in the several seasons of the year and
canst thou guid them as a Father guids his Family his Wife Children and Servants canst thou direct them their course how or which way to go Some think he useth the word guid because this constellation represents the form of a Wain or Wagon and is by us commonly called Charles-wain or the greater Bear Canst thou guid Arcturus That 's another Constellation seated in the Northern Pole notably conspicuous to us in a clear night 'T is the Sea-mans mark or guid The Lord who guids that Star hath made it a guid to the Sea-man in the night by looking to that he knows how to make his course Canst thou guid Arcturus With his Sons Some read Arcturus and her Daughters Master Broughton and her Children We render in the Masculine Gender and his Sons There is one principal Star and several other Stars that stand as Children about their Father or Mother and therefore the Lord expresseth them by that familiar Allusion Arcturus and his Sons canst thou guid them Hence Note First The Stars have a Guid a Governour The Stars move as directed God himself is the guid of the Stars not Man As a Shepheard guids his flock in the fields so the Lord guids the Stars in that spacious field of the heavens yea he names and numbers them as a Shepheard doth his flock Psal 147. He telleth the number of the Stars and call's them all by their names The Prophet exhorting the people to lift up their eyes on high that is to the heavens presently adds and behold who hath created these things Isa 40.26 that is the heavens and the fuâ—niture of them he bringeth out their host by number that is the host of the Stars As an Army is enrolled and numbered how many thousands they are so doth the Lord bring forth that host by number and calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might for that he is strong in power not one faileth There 's not one of the host of heaven not one of the Stars that faileth but comes forth at Gods call and appears as it were in rank and file when and where the Lord gives command Thus the Prophet speaks of the Stars as Gods host and of the Lord as a Commander or General of an army knowing their number nature place and office mustering and marshalling them oâ—dering them out upon service as he pleaseth And whereas in the best disciplin'd armies of men many fail when drawn out to service some for fear others through unfaithfulness not a few through weakness and sickness here 's neither weak nor sick neither an unfaithful nor a fearful one in this host not one faileth Nor doâ—h the Lords memory fail for he calls them all by their names which shews the perfect remembrance and exact knowledge which the Lord hath of them all It is reported as a wonder Plin. lib. 7. c. 24. Valerius Maximus lib. 3. c. 7. of Cyrus King of Persia that he having a vast Army yet knew them by face and was able to call every man by his name What then shall we say of this wonder The Lord who guideth Arcturus and his Sons who leads out this innumerable Army of the Stars knows every one of them by name and sends them forth by name upon what enterprise or service he pleaseth The Lord having questioned Job about those four eminent and well known Constellations Pleiades in the Spring Orion in the Winter Mazzaroth in the Summer and Arcturus with his Sons in the Autumn to convince him that as he was not able nor any man else to alter the natural motions or courses of the Stars so that neither he nor any man else was able to alter the course of his providence The Lord I say having done questioning Job about these four notable Constellations of heaven in special proceeds to interrogate him more generally about the whole heavens in the next Verse Vers 33. Knowest thou the Ordinances of heaven canst thou set the Dominions thereof in the earth Surely as thou knowest not the special laws by which I govern the Pleiades Orion Mazzaroth and Arcturus so not the general laws by which the heavens are governed Knowest thou the Ordinances of heaven The word here rendred Ordinances is often rendred in the Psalms statutes laws decrees knowest thou the laws or statutes of heaven The word rendred heaven is of the dual number as Grammarians speake because in what part soever of the earth any man stands the heaven is cut in two parts as to him by the Horizon whereof one part is over him and the other under him As there is a heaven above us so a heaven below us though wheresoever any man is on earth heaven is above him Knowest thou The Ordinances of heaven Now the Ordinances of heaven may be of two sorts First Those which God hath given to the heavens The heavenly bodies move according to his constitutions who made heaven and earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Secondly Those which the heavens give to the earth or to man on earth The heavens may be said to impose their laws upon the earth men being guided and directed by the changes and motions of the heavens how to order many of their motions and actions on the earth those especially which concern the earth The heavens give these common laws as I may say to men concerning the earth First When to Till the earth Secondly When to cast their Seed into the earth Thirdly When to reap and gather the fruit of the earth When to perform any part of Husbandry to the earth is known only by the heavens that is the heavens by their motions and vicissitudes shew men the seasons of doing these and these works on earth And if men obey not these laws of heaven nor observe their seasons they loose all their labour and cost bestowed on the earth Again when he saith knowest thou the Ordinances of heaven the meaning may be this Are the heavenly bodies disposed or impowered by thy wisdome hast thou given them vertue to work upon inferiour bodies I hast thou made the statutes by which they are governed or by which they govern That 's the Lords Prerogative Hence note First The heavens are under a law they have their statutes They are under a law in a three-fold Respect 1. In respect of their motion how and whither they shall move 2ly They are under a law as to their influences where and on whom they shall drop them down 3ly Which necessarily follows the former They are under a law as to their effects and operations upon the Creatures whether for good or for evil The heavens can neither hurt nor help us but according to higher order This threefold law may be understood in that one Scripture Jer. 31.35 Thus saith the Lord which giveth the Sun for a light by day and the ordinances of the Moon and of the Stars for a light by night Note Secondly What all the Laws and Ordinances of heaven
are is a secret to man Knowest thou them saith God to Job There are some Ordinances of heaven or some things for which heaven is ordained which are easily and commonly known such are the changes of seasons with the division of night and day of winter and summer There are also sec et Ordinances and Orders given to the heavens according to which they produce many unexpected and extraordinary â—ffects here on earâ—h as Drought and the consequent of it Famine Infection in the air and the consequent of it Pestilential diseases and Mortality Who knows these ordinances of heaven and if these are so unknown then we may conclude First If man know not such like secret Ordinances of heaven surely he is much less able to understand the secret counsels of heaven We know but litle of those things that are commonly seen and felt among us but there are reserves which we cannot know at all Secondly We may hence also conclude If the heavens have their statutes and Ordinances as to their motion c. then much more hath man statutes and ordinances according to which he should move The heavens never move but according to ordinances Let us be sure that whatever we do à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 praefectus ideo non nemo praefecturam vertit Drus. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod Augustinus interpretatur commutationes coeâ—i we have an ordinance or word of God for it either express or consequential If the heavens be under such a rule shall we think God hath left man at random or without a rule how to speak and think and do in this world It is dangerous to move without an ordinance much more to move against an ordinance we should take heed of acting besides a Law much more of acting against a Law Knowest thou the Ordinances of heaven and as it followeth Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth Cast thou set his force upon the earth Ponere dominium est facere ut dominetur quasi dominum constituere Hoâ— homo non facit sed solus Deus Drus. So Mr. Broughton translates To set the dominion is to make one have dominion and as it were to appoint a Lord or Governour in the earth This is not mans work but Gods As if God had said to Job Canst thâ—u give power to or impower the Stars to rule day and night to cause diversity of weathers and of seasons to which all things here below must submit or with which they must needs comply The word which we read Dominion signifies an under dominion an inferior dominion it signifies a Magistracy or power under a Power The Hebrew language hath two words the one signifying the power of a Judge who gives the rule of the Law and the other Qui simplicitèr judicat sententiam pronunciat dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sed executor qui judicatum exequitur cogit refractarios obedire sententiâ—â— judicis dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here used signifying the power of a Sheriff who sees execution done A person may be in power and have great command yet not the first or chief command The Heavens have not a supream or an absolute command over the earth but a dominion by way of administration they have and that a large and great one Heaven hath a dominion so far as to execute and fulfil that which God the supream Judge orders determines and gives forth both concerning persons and things here on earth The heavens have a ministerial dominion respecting most changes wrought in this world Their ministry respects not only the constant and usual changes of times and seasons barely considered but they have also a ministry with respect to those usual and rare changes which according to the appointment of God befal the persons and conditions of men in this world Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth Thou canst not but I can and have I have set and determined what dominion the Heavens shall have upon the earth or how they shall exercise their dominion Hence observe The Heavens have a power on the earth Some Astrologers give them a power of doing all on the earth as if both our lives and livelihoods depended wholly upon the Aspects of Planets It is not this mans endeavour say they nor that mans skill but all flows from the Stars These make or put the Heavens which are Gods work into the place of God himself they put the heavens into the place of the God of Heaven All things are in the hand of Heaven say they We say All things even the Planets themselves are in the hand and at the dispose of God We grant and this Text proves that the Heavens have a great power upon the earth we cannot but see and feel what the Sun doth upon the earth we see it distributes the year into four seasons Summer and Winter Spring and Autumn we see it makes Equinoxes twice in the year when days and nights are of an even length and as many Solstices in one of which dayes are of greatest length and nights in the other We see how the Sun brings forth several effects in those several seasons even the generation or corruption of natural things We know also that as the North draws the Magnete or Load-stone so the Sun the Heliotrope a flower so called because it follows the motion of the Sun It is said also that the Sun hath a great power upon the Cock who therefore croweth about midnight as if he did then congratulate or welcom the return of the Sun from the Antipodes to our Hemisphear Though these instances are not demonstrative or concluding yet they are probable evidences of the Heavens dominion in the earth Further 't is generally agreed that the Moon hath a great Power upon the waters causing the ebbing and flowing of the Sea as also upon those inhabitants of the Sea Shelfish because they are observed to increase with the increase of the Moon and to decrease at the wane of it Nor may we deny the heavens have a dominion upon the bodies of men for though we subscribe not to those fancies of Astronomers who have fixed a special star as ruling the special parts of mans body as you see in Almanacks who tell us also That in the body of man the Sun answers the heart Mars the gall Jupiter the liver Mercury the mouth and tongue Saturn the head though I say we subscribe not to these no nor to those other sentiments of theirs who ascribe a special dominion to the seven Planets over the seven ages or stages into which the course of mans life is commonly divided that is First Infancy to the dominion of the Moon Secondly Childhood to Mercury Thirdly You h to Venus Fourthly Adolescency or the young mans state to the Sun Fifthly Compleat manhood to Mars Sixthly Old age to Jupiter Seventhly extream or decrepid old age to Saturn yet doubtless
the Stars have a great power upon the bodies of men as well as upon Plants and all sorts of Vegetables subordinately to the power and appointment of God who ruleth all things and persons according to the pleasure and uncontroulable soveraignty of his own will Again Naturalists tell us and many are not far from believing them that the Planets have great power over minerals and metals They say Gold is under the dominion of the Sun Silver of the Moon Iron of Mars Lead of Saturn and that Tin and Coppar are under the dominion of that Planet by them called Jupiter Now whether or no God hath set these metals under the peculiar dominion of these stars I will not dispute not will I deny that there may be a natural sympathy and congeniality between them nor that their influences may be very operative and effectual towards their geneâ—ation production and full concoction in the bowels of the earth Only let us take heed that we be not found giving that to the Heavens which God hath not given them Remember the dominion here intended of the heavens over the earth is a ministerial not a supream dominion 't is not I dare say any such dominion as those Astrologers cry up who would perswade or make us believe First That the dispositions and manners of all men are under the dominion of the Planets and Stars Secondly That the very way and course of every mans life is ordered by the dominion of Stars and Planets Thirdly That all the successes and events good or bad of mens actions and undertakings depend upon the Stars and Planets Fourthly which some have adventured to affirm That the rise and fall of great persons and families together with the growths and declinings of whole Kingdoms and Common-wealths are under the dominion of the Stars Fifthly That the flourishings and decayings of Arts and Sciences depend upon them Yea Sixthly That the stars operate much towards the planting and progress towards the rooting up or going back of Religion But this Scripture intends not any such dominion of heaven over the earth Moses hath told us long since what this dominion is Gen. 1.14 And God said let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years The ordinary lights or stars of heaven are always for ordinary signes and seasons and sometimes there are extraordinary lights seen in heaven or the ordinary are seen appearing in an extraordinary manner to signifie that God is about to do extraordinary things or to bring forth extraordinary times and seasons So then they who say the heavenly bodies have no power or produce no effects upon the earth or earthly bodies oppose not only the testimony of sense and daily experience but this and other express testimonies of Scripture And as for those who ascribe all those things before mentioned or any one of them absolutely to the dominion of the heavenly bodies or luminaries they put them in the place of God himself and overthrow the common foundations of Religion which teacheth us to depend wholly upon God for all things which teacheth us also to trust in him alone and to look upon his favour not the favourable looks or aspects of the Stars as the fountain of all our good as also to fear him and his displeasure alone not the displeased looks of the Stars as the fountain of all penal evils Therefore let us in these things speak and think according to sobriety All that I shall add for the conclusion of this Point is First Let us be warned and awakened by the signes of Heaven but let us not be dismayed at them let us leave that to the Heathen who know not God Jer. 10.2 or rather let us pray that the Heathen may no longer be left under that blindness and bondage Secondly If any would know what shall come to pass or would acquaint themselves with future events whether with respect to persons or Nations let them not go to nor consult Star-gazers but the holy Scriptures the Word of God for he hath given us a written word wherein as in a glass we may see First What God would have us to do and how to order the whole course of our lives Secondly What good what blessings what successes we are like to have or may expect through his free favour to us in Christ we walking humbly holily believingly before him Thirdly What evils what crosses what curses what miseries what mischances as we speak we are subject to and may fear if we walk proudly impenitently frowardly in the way of our own hearts We need not go to the Stars if we would know what is like to befal us in this life let us consult the Promises and they will tell us what good we shall receive if we believe and obey let us go to the threatnings and they will tell us what evils will be our portion if we are unbelieving and disobedient Let us fear God not the Stars let our hope be in God not in the Stars If we are evil and do evil the most auspicious conjunctions benigne and promising appearances of the Stars in our nativity will never produce us any true good and if we are good and do good their most inauspitious harsh and threatning appearances shall do us no hurt It needs not trouble us under what Star we were born if we are new born One being told that the Stars in power or which had the dominion in his birth bare him no good will answered I care not for that I have had a second birth Do not my words saith the Lord Mic. 2.7 do good to him that walketh uprightly doubtless they do and so they will let the Stars do their worst Let us sit down quietly in this assurance That whatsoever rule or dominion Heaven hath in the earth the dominion of God is over and over-ruleth the Heavens JOB Chap. 38. Vers 34 35 36 37 38. 34. Canst thou list up thy voice to the clouds that abundance of waters may cover thee 35. Canst thou send lightnings that they may go and say unto thee Here we are 36. Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts or who hath given understanding to the heart 37. Who can number the clouds in wisdom or who can stay the bottles of heaven 38. When the dust groweth into hardness and the clods cleave fast together IN the context of these five Verses return is made to the Meteors of Heaven The Lord having questioned Job about the Stars those pure heavenly bodies the Pleiades Orion Mazzaroth and Arcturus with his Sons here puts the question afresh about the aireal bodies or the natural works of God in the Air. The first question concerns the Clouds and the effects or births of them the waters Vers 34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds That is canst thou do it effectually Canst thou speak so loudly that
verse they confess not only their being in him throughout all generations but his most blessed Being before all generations Before Mountains were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the Earth and the World even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God The first Being is an eternal Being and therefore the Prophet saith Isa 57.15 God inhabiteth Eternity The Eternal dwells in Eternity But what is Eternity One of the Ancients calleth it Aeternitas est interminabilis vitae tota simul et perfect possessio Boeth de Consol l. 6. The perfect possession of a boundless or limitless life whole and all at once Eternity hath no terms nor bounds of beginning or ending 'T is a possession of all at once there is nothing past or to come but all is alwayes present to God Note Fourthly God is the fountain of all being he hath given a being to all things The Apostle Paul Acts 17.28 discoursing with the Athenians having said In him we live and move and have our being convinceth them further by that saying of their own Poets for we are also his off-spring We spring from him as from a root or fountain With him is the fountain of lives Psal 36.9 even of natural life as well as of spiritual and eternal Every life every being is but a stream issuing from Jehovah And as every life is from God so also is the being of all things without life The Lord gave the liveless Earth its being its beginning Some Naturalists have asserted the eternity of the World and so the eternity of the Earth They could not compass which way or how the World could have a beginning and therefore said it had none Here we have the Founder of the World God himself teaching man this Divine Philosophy about the beginning of the World and taking it to himself I laid the foundations of the Earth When the Heathen Philosopher read what Moses had written concerning the Creation of the World Thus the Heavens and the Earth were finished and all the host of them Ger. 2.1 He presently said The man speaks wonders but how doth he prove what he hath spoken Where are his demonstrations He would put Moses to his proof but Moses's proof was faith in the testimony of God Through faith we understand that the Worlds were framed by the Word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear Heb. 11.3 We understand the Work of Creation yet not by the strength of natural reason but through faith which gives credit to the Word of God and perswades the heart that the report therein made is a truth Plato in Timaeo For though some Philosophers have evinced by arguments grounded upon reason that the World was made yet that it was made by the Word of God either the Essential Word the Son of God spoken of John 1.1 who is the efficient cause of it or by the Declarative Word spoken of in this place of the Hebrews which was the means or instrumental cause of making the World Gen. 1.3 6. This I say cannot at all be understood by reason but purely and only by faith because it is so revealed in the Scriptures Fifthly In that the Lord here saith I laid the foundations of the Earth Observe God hath made the Earth firm and immoveable The stability of the Earth is of God as much as the being and existence of it Psal 104.5 He laid the foundations of the Earth that it should not be removed for ever There have been many Earthquakes or movings of the Earth in several parts of it but the whole body of the Earth was never removed so much as one hairs breadth out of its place since the foundations thereof were laid Archimedes the great Mathematician said If you will give me a place to set my Engine on I will remove the Earth It was a great bâ—ag but the Lord hath laid it fast enough for mans removing Himself can make it quake and shake he can move it when he pleaseth but he never hath nor will remove it He hath laid the foundations of the Earth that it shall not be removed nor can it be at all moved but at his pleasure and when it moves at any time it is to mind the sons of men that they by their sins have moved him to displeasure There hath been or will be a shaking of the Earth in mercy for we have it in a promise Heb. 12.26 Whose voice then namely at the giving of the Law shook the Earth but now he hath promised saying yet once more I shake not the Earth only but also Heaven Some understand this promise as fulfilled at the coming of Christ in the flesh at which time indeed there were notable and amazing motions and alterations both in Heaven and Earth Others expound it of the Day of the ultimate Judgement not a few of some great providential dispensations of God which shall shake not the Earth only but also the Heavens as taken in a Metaphor for earthly and heavenly things referring to the Church of God and the Kingdomes of Men. I shall not interpose in this matter about the sense of that Text but onely say whatever the Apostle meant by Earth or Heaven and the shaking of it yet this remains as an unshaken Axiom that the Fabrick of the Earth properly taken stands fast The Lord hath laid the foundations of it that it should not be removed David to shew the stedfastness of his faith put that supposition Psal 46.2 Therefore will not we fear though the Earth be moved The Prophet also did the like to assure us of the stability of the Covenant of Grace Isa 54.10 yet we need not fear that either the Earth shall be removed or the Mountains depart Such suppositions shew indeed the immoveableness of the Word which God hath spoken not the moveableness by any natural power or natural decay of the Earth whose foundations he hath laid And hence the Psalmist argues the Lords faithfulness to his Word Psal 119.90 Non magis moveronaturaliter terra quam quiescere coelum potest Bold All earthly things move but the Earth wherein all these motions are made stands still Eccl. 1.4 The Earth can no more move than the Heavens can stand still Some modern Philosophers have turned the scale of Nature and would perswade us that the Heavens stand still and the Earth moves but 't is good for us to stand to and abide by the Scripture which tells us the Earth stands still and abideth or it abideth that is it standeth as the Margin explains it Psal 119.90 And that it standeth still or abideth not only because it hath still a being as things in motion have but because it is still or stands without moving is so much my faith as well as my sense that I see no reason to be moved from it Sixthly The Power and Will of God are the onely foundation of the Earth 'T is said by the Psalmist
to the former instance of the power of God the Stars and Angels rejoycing at the laying of the foundations of the earth And the general reason why the Lord bâ—ings in the stars and the sons of God rejoycing at the laying the foundations of the earth and finishing that work we may conceive to be this that the Lord would thereby convince Job of his murmuring and complaining or of the unquietness of his spirit under the works of his providence As if he had said The stars and all the sons of God rejoyced at the founding of the Earth extolling the work Monetur Jobus ut exemplo angelorum dei opera miretur laudet non sugillet Scult and congratulating the appearances of my power and glory in it Now who art thou that when I have put forth my power and wisdom in this work of my providence towards thee thou shouldst complain and find fault with what I have done instead of resting and rejoycing in it Surely O Job thou thinkest my works of providence are imperfect though my work of Creation was not but consider was the Creation in the very first part of it such as caused all the sons of God to rejoyce and wilt thou who sayest thou art a son of God sit unsatisfied with any of my works Thus the Lord handles Job and from that testimony which the stars and his sons gave of the Works of Creation reproves him for his unquietness under his Works of Providence So much for the general state of the words Yet to clear them farther in general before I come to the particulars there are three veins of interpretation opened about them First Some interpret this whole verse concerning the stars or the heavenly bodies not only taking the first part of the verse literally for the stars in heaven but by the sons of God in the latter part of the verse they understand the stars in a figure as I shall shew more fully when I come to the opening of those words Thus they expound the whole verse concerning the glory and praise which the stars in heaven gave to God for the Work of Creation at the laying of the foundations of the Earth Hieronymus Gregorius Beda A second sort of Interpreters expound the whole verse of the Angels and not of the Stars properly at all they suppose the morning Stars to be Angels in a figure and the Sons of God to be Angels in the letter and so expound the whole verse of the Angels as if the words were a description only of that joy which the Angels of Heaven only expressed when they saw God beginning the Work of Creation or laying the foundations of the Earth The third sort of Interpreters divide the sense expounding the first part of the verse properly for the Stars those studs of light with which the Heavens are adorned whâ—ch in their kind are brought in singing at the Creation of the Earth and by the Sons of God in the latter part of the verse they understand the Angels those spiritual substances who are the Native Inhabitants of Heaven they especially are represented shouting for joy when that work was begun I cannot adhere to the first sort of Interpreters giving all to the Stars nor to the second giving all to the Angels though that hath many learned Authors who press it hard but following the middle way shall take the former part of this verse for the Stars of Heaven and the latter for the Angels in Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sunt steâ—â—ae quaedam singulares quae non aliis admistae solae feruntur Sydora vero quae in aliquod signum stellarum plurium composita feruntur Macrob. l. 1. c. 14. Matutinas nominat meo judicio quod sub auroram magis splendere videantur Merc. When the morning Stars sang together There are single Stars and Stars as I may say in a combination commonly called a Constellation There is an Evening Star and a Morning Star which yet are but one called by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by the Latines Lucifer The light bringer because that Star appears very bright immediately before day-break or before the Sun riseth and the same Star which ushered or led in the Sun in the morning comes behind the Sun in the evening and is then called Hesperus The Evening Star Here the Lord speaks in the plural number of the morning Stars not in the singular of a morning Star And the Lord calls them morning Stars say some because the Stars appear most clearly and shine most brightly near the approach of the morning or break of the day Secondly Others conceive them so called Sydera summo mundi mane lucentia mequâ— suo formoso splendore landantia because they were created or formed in the very morning of the World they were early made For though as I shall touch afterward as to their perfection the Stars were made the fourth day yet their Creation is comprehended in the work of the first day under those general words Gen. 1.1 In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth the Heavens contained all the Stars in their materiality though not yet formally produced for the Stars being but the thicker part of the Heavenly Orb when the Heavens were made the Stars were also made and may therefore be called Morning Stars as being made in the Morning of the World early made Thirdly They may be called Morning Stars because they according to their manner exprest their joy early or betimes in the Morning of the World or as soon as the Lord had laid the foundations of the Earth Those things which are done early Qui mane aliquid aggrediuntur opus Matutini dicuntur Nec minus Aeneas se matutinus agebat Virg l. 8. Idem est matutina astra laudant atque mane laudant Sanct. are done in the morning and they who do things in the morning have the denomination of the morning upon them The Poet anciently said Aeneas was Matutinus A Morning Man because he was early at his work so these may be called Morning Stars because they were early at work singing the praise of God Thus the reason why the Wolf hath this Epithite An Evening Wolf is because he doth his work he comes forth for his prey in the evening Hab. 1.8 Zeph. 3.3 In the former Prophet the Chaldean Horse-men are compared to Evening Wolves for fierceness and in the latter the Judges of Israel are set under the same comparison for blood-sucking cruelty And as thus upon different accounts some are called Morning Men others Evening Men so 't is upon no good account that any are called Night-men though the general reason of it be the same with the former because they do their bad work or works of darkness under the shadow and favour of the Night The Thief the Murderer the Adulterer are Night-men all these are wont to do their work in the Night Job 24 13 14 15 16.
of thy workmanship have cause to do it more than and above all they cannot but be speaking and talking of thy Kingdome and Power which are very glorious Upon which account the tongue of Man especially the tongue of a Godly Man is called his glory I will sing and give praisâ— said David Psal 108.1 even with my glory What is that his tongue the chief bodily instrument of divine praises The Stars in their courses once fought against the enemies of God Judg. 5.20 and they alwayes in their places sing the praises of God Let it not be said that Saints are silent So much of these words as the Stars are taken properly There are some as I said before who take these Stars metaphorically or figuratively for the Angels and then their singing is proper and there are two reasons given why by the stars in this place we should understand the Angels First If we consider the truth or course of the History because the Earth being created the first day the Stars were not in being till the fourth day unless we comprehend them as was said before as to their matter and reallity under those words of Moses In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth but as to their appearance and formality so they were not till the fourth day and if so how could they sing the praises of God at the laying of the foundations of the Earth A second reason is given from this Chapter because God speaks of the Stars afterwards vers 31 32. Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades the seven Stars so called or loose the bands of Orion c. Here the Lord treats with Job about the Stars in proper sense therefore probably the Morning Stars here mentioned are not to be taken properly but tropically for the Angels And the Angels may very well be called Stars or Morning Stars by a Metaphor because of their spiritual beauty and excellency in which they out-shine all the Morning Sâ—ars yea that special Morning Star commonly known by the Name of Lucifer or Light-bringer Though the Angels have not a visible bodily beauty yet they have a better beauty than any body 'T is said of Stephen Acts 6.15 when he stood before the Council They beheld his face as it had been the face of an Angel Angels being Spirits have no visible faces but because Angels are in their nature and qualities beautiful creatures therefore Stephen having an extraordinary beauty stampt upon him is said to have the face of an Angel And as beautiful persons may be said to look like or resemble Angels so Angels may be said to look like or resemble Stars The Church for the lustre of her graces is said to look forth as the Morning fair as the Moon clear as the Sun Cant. 6.10 and so may the Angels as the Stars The Apostle saith of those false Apostles who would needs be accounted Stars faithful Ministers of Christ in the Firmament of the Church they are transformed into Angels of light 2 Cor. 11.14 that is they would appear like Angels of light The holy Angels are Angels of light The seven Stars are the seven Angels saith Christ expounding the Vision to John Revel 1.20 This shews that Angels and Stars have a ve y great similitude so that as there in one sense so here in another the Stars may signifie the Angels And the Angels may very well be called Morning Stars because they were the first of living Creâ—tures their Creation being supposed to be though Moses expresseth nothing of it comprehended within that of the Heavens In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth the Heaven and the heavenly Inhabitants the Angels The evil Angel the Devil that fallen Angel is also called a Morning Star That Title Lucifer Son of the Morning which the Prophet bestows on the Assyrian Isa 14.12 for his pomp and pride properly belongs to the Devil the Arch-Devil a fallen Angel or the Primier of the fallen Angels yea Jesus Christ himself is called the Day-Star 2 Pet. 1.19 and under another far different expression the Morning Star Rev. 2.28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and he saith of himself Rev. 22.16 I am the bright and Morning Star Thus Christ who is the Angel of the Covenant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord of Angels the Creator of Angels is called the Morning Star All these Scriptures bear testimony that it is not strange to expound Stars by Angels And therefore when the Lord saith The Stars sang together according to this interpretation upon which yet I shall not insist but leave the Reader to his own opinion it is but the same with that which followes in the close of the verse to which I now proceed And all the Sons of God shouted for joy Acies Angelorum Chald. Angeli mei Sept. The Chaldee Paraphrase is express that the Sons of God are the Angels rendring The Armies of Angels shouted for joy And the Septuagint are as clear for it saying When all my Angels sung for joy both leave out our Translation the Sons of God and put that which is the Exposition into the Text the Angels of God That the Angels are called Sons of God hath been shewed before chap. 1.6 There was a day when the Sons of God came together that is the Angels and Satan the evil Angel came also among them The Devil or evil spirit thrust himself into the assembly of the good Spirits or holy Angels who are the Sons of God If any ask how the Angels are the Sons of God I answer First Negatively They are not the Sons of God as Jesus Christ is Angels became the Sons of God in time Jesus Christ is the Son of God from Eternity The Apostle Heb. 1.5 puts the question To which of the Angels said he at any time thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee The Angels are the created Sons of God Jesus Christ onely is his onely begotten Son Angels are the Sons of God by meeâ— gâ—ace and favour the Lord accounting them as Sons accepting them as Sons using and respecting them as Sons as he doth also all true believers who likewise are the Sons of God But Jesus Christ alone is the Son of God by Naâ—ure or by an eternal generation and was so declared in the fulness of time both by his Incarnation and Resurrection which many conceive to be the Apostles intendment in those words This day have I begotten thee taken out of the second Psalm and quoted Acts 13.33 as also Heb. 1.5 Secondly In the Negative The Angels are not the Sons of God by Regeneration nor by Adoption Thus Believers only are the Sons of God John 1.12 To as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to as many as believed on his Name Believers are the Sons of God regenerated and adopted Angels are not so The holy Angels needed not Regeneration nor as they were created
in this duty The Apostle speaks concerning the Woâ—k of the Ministry 2 Cor. 6.1 We as workers together those words with him are put in by the Translators and the supply is to a very good sense We as workers together with him that is with God For he is pleased to use his Ministers as Workers together with himself Yet it may well be understood concerning the Ministers of the Gospel only joyning in this one thing that is with one voice or one cry beseeching sinners to be reconciled unto God chap. 5.20 and that as it followeth in the close of this first verse chap. 6. They receive not the grace of God in vain All Ministers should be workers together As all the Angels were siâ—gers together and shouters together so the Ministers of Christ should be workers together That which is the work of one is the work of them all and they should all joyn in it And how sad is it to see those who call themselves and would be accounted the Sons of God divided in their work and way when one rejoyceth in that which to another is cause of mourning when one mans meat is as we speak proverbially another mans poyson or one mans comfort another mans grief How many are there who cannot joyn in rejoycing and thanksgiving for works of God I mean Providential Works as eminent in their kind as the Creation Work or the laying of the foundations of the Earth That will be a blessed day when we shall see the full effect of that prophesie Zeph. 3.9 Then will I saith the Lord turn to the people a pure Lip of Language that they may all call upon the Name of the Lord with one consent or shoulder Here 's a promise of all as one and of all with one consent shoulder inward outward man associated in prayer or calling upon the Name of the Lord which by a Synechdoche includes all the parts and takes in the whole compass of the worship of God The accomplishment of this prophesie was the scope of Apostolical Prayer Rom. 15.5 6. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like minded one towards another according to or as the Margin hath it after the example of Christ Jesus that ye may with one mind and with one mouth glorifie God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ All the Sons of God in the Text were of one mind and had as it were but one mouth the joy of one was the joy of them all All the Sons of God on Earth have this principle in them to rejoyce in God and to magnifie God for his mercy onely all have not the same light They that have not an habitual principle in them to praise God in and for his works are not of his family they are not worthy to be reckoned Sons of God who have not a readiness or present disposition in them to joyn with all or with any of his true Sons in shouting for joy at his gracious appearances in his mighty works of mercy as also in humbling themselves together with them at the terrible appearances of his dreadful works of Judgement or at the usual prognosticks or fore-runners of them Again Taking the Stars for the Angels they were Morning Stars the Angels sang and shouted for joy in the Morning Hence Observe The very first appearances of the power and wisdom of God in his works should put us upon the work of praise and rejoycing We say truly better late than never but 't is best to be early and with the first in a good work David did not onely awake early or in the morning to praise God but as the Hebrew may be rendred he awakened the morning Psal 57.8 David was a morning man in praising of God so were the Angels 'T is healthful both for soul and body to be morning men to be early both in praising God and praying to him God requires and he infinitely deserves the first fruits of our time our youth which is the morning of our life the first fruits of our age should be dedicated to God Eccles 12.1 and so should the morning which is the youth if I may so speak of every day Our first thoughts should be of God and with God as soon as we awake we should set open the door of our hearts by meditation to let God in and knock open the doors of heaven by prayer and supplication to get in to God It should not be unlamented that the course of most men runs so contrary to this their senses are no sooner loosed from the bands of sleep but they let loose their thoughts and set the doors of their souls wide open to sensitive sometimes to wicked and sensual objects and so shut out God and matters of greatest moment to and about their immortal souls How unworthy are such of this blessed relation under which the Angels those early praisers of God are here represented Sons of God Thirdly In that it is here said All the Sons of God shouted for joy that is all the Angels then created Observe They who have joyned in some outward worships of God may yet fall off and apostatize Here all the Angels of God joyned in this thanksgiving at first yet soon very soon after a great part of the Angels rebelled against God and became Apostates for presently upon the Creation of man which was the sixth day there was a Devil a Tempter who overthrew man yet here we have all the Angels in a holy Quire Hypocrites are forward to joyn in acts of praise in acts of prayer in acts of hearing who yet in time of temptation fall away and so fall into as bad a condition as the fallen Angels of whom the Apostle Jude saith vers 6. that not having kept their first estate or principality but leaving their own habitation appointed them of God he hath reserved them in everlasting chains both of Providence and Justice under darkness unto the Judgement of the Great Day Fourthly Observe The great business of Angels and that which they are most bent to is to praise God Psal 103.20 Psal 148.2 Isa 6.3 And as at the birth of the World the Angels shouted for joy so at the birth of Jesus Christ who was the Author of the second Creation as well as of the first the Angels shouted for joy suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God Luke 2.13 To praise God is heavenly work 't is angelical work the most proper work of the Sons of God We shall not alwayes have need of praying but we shall alwayes have cause to be praising and shouting for joy This shout will remain to all eternity Praise is the most spiritual work and requires the most spiritual frame of heart and therefore the chief of that work is reserved to an estate wherein not only our souls but our bodies too shall be altogether spiritual Fifthly Note The Work of Creation should continually call up
our thoughts to the praise of God to sing and shout his praises Did the Stars take them properly and did the Sons of God the Angels rejoyce when the work first began and is not the work to be rejoyced in now 't is finished Though sin hath sullied the work yet the glory of God is still transparent in it the power goodness and wisdom of God are gloriously seen in the things that are made Rom. 1.20 not onely were they seen but they are â—een to this day The creatures are still a glass wherein we may â—â—hold the invisible things of God even his eternal Power and God-head so that they who glorifie him not in and for those works will be found and left without excuse They are a book a volume consisting of as many leaves and lines as there are distinct sorts of creatures wherein we may read the great God plainly described to us and if so let us remember our fault this day Is it not our sin and shame that we are so little in admiring God for this work which set all the Angels in heaven a singing a shouting a wondring There are several things in the Works of Creation which well considered will soon provoke us to singing and to shouting First The multitude of Creatures Secondly The various kinds of Creatures Thirdly The beauty and excellency that is in the Creatures Fourthly The profit and the usefulness of the Creatures These laid together should draw out our praises and cause us to exalt the power wisdom and goodness of God manifested in and by his Creatures Lastly Consider what was iâ— that caused the Angels to â—hout for jâ—y when they saw this woâ—k of God begun Surely it was the appearance or manifestation of God shining brightly in the Work of Creation Hence Observe The discoveries of the power wisdom and goodness of God should stir up and engage every man and cannot but effectually stir up and engage those who are wise and good to rejoyce in God Somewhat of God is stamped or there are certain lines of his transcendent perfections drawn upon every Creature here a line of wisdom and there a line of power here a line of goodness and there a line of mercy the sight of these should cause us to shout for joy especially that this God the Creator of the ends of the Earth is our God for ever and ever and will be our guide even unto death How many lines have we of God in the World which we have not read much less studied and commented upon In how many things is God visible and yet we see him not nor acknowledge him as we ought Take onely these two things by way of inference from the whole First To be of a praising of a rejoycing spirit iâ—â—o be of an excellent spirit of an angelical spirit Let us imitate â—he Angels in praising God The Angels are called the Sons of God because they imitate him let us imitate the Angels in praising God so shall we approve our selves the Sons of God too Secondly Consider The Angels rejoyced at the laying of the foundations of the Earth The Earth was made for man Heaven was the Angels habitation they were well provided for if there had never been an Earth they had been provided for yet they shouted for joy when God laid the foundations of the Earth for the use of man and beast Hence take this Inference It shews a good spirit to rejoyce at the good of others or to be pleased with that which is beneficial to others though it be no benefit to us This argues an excellent spirit an angelical spirit Some if they are well housed and provided for care not whether others are housed and provided for or no nor can they rejoyce at the good of others but as their own good is concern'd In glory we shall be like to the Angels our very bodies shall be like to the Angels living without food without sleep without marriage in Heaven we shall neither marry nor be given in marriage but shall be like the Angels O let us strive to be like the Angels in our minds now as we hope to have our bodies like the Angels hereafter even clothed as the Schoolmen call them with angelical endowments Unless our spirits are like the Angels here unless we have hearts like the hearts of Angels in this World we shall never have bodies like them hereafter or in the World to come JOB Chap. 38. Vers 8 9 10 11. 8. Or who shut up the Sea with doors when it brake forth as if it had issued out of the womb 9. When I made the Cloud the garment thereof and thick darkness a swadling band for it 10. And brake up for it my decreed place and set bars and doors 11. And said Hitherto shalt thou come but no further and here shall thy proud waves be stayed THe Lord having questioned Job about the Fabrick of the Earth and shewed the triumph and acclamations of Angels at it in the former Context He next leads him to the waters or carrieth him to the Sea there to consider his Works of wonder As Moses in the beginning of Genesis having summarily and in general spoken of the Creation of Heaven and Earth descendeth to particulars so here we have the Lord passing from one part of the Creation to another from the Creation of the Earth to that other great part of the Creation the Waters or the Sea Vers 8. Who shut up the Sea with doors c. In these words we have First The Creation of the Sea Secondly Its Constitution both set forth by most elegant Metaphors The Creation or Production of the Sea is shadowed by allusion to an Infant breaking forth out of the womb Vers 8. The Constitution or settlement of the Sea is carried on in suitable Metaphors to the end of the eleventh Verse Vers 8. Or who hath shut up the Sea with doors when it brake forth c. We have here First The Birth or Nativity of the Sea Secondly What God did with the Sea when it was born and issued out of the womb Then God shut it in with doors and prepared garments and swadling bands for it then he restrained the rage force and fury of it and held it as his prisoner or captive in bonds As soon as an Infant is born it is bound up and swadled and as soon as the Sea as I may say was born or come into the World God took order with it and to keep it in order he provided doors to shut it in and garments to bind it up with What the Scripture speaks of Gods coercing the Sea may be reduced to two heads First To that restraint which he laid upon the Sea presently upon its Creation some say the first others the third day of the Creation according to that Gen. 1.9 God said Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear and it was so Thus the
ascending course to the middle point of the heavens which makes the Vernal Equinox at which time the day and night are of an equal length as about the eleventh of out March as also the Suns coming in its descending course to the other middle point of the heavens which makes the Autumnal Equinox at which time the day and night are again of an equal length as about the eleventh of our September Now according to all these variations of the Suns motion the day-spring varieth its place day by day and the Lord enquires of Job how this comes to pass Hast thou caused the day-spring to know its place No 't is I that have made the day-spring to know its place I have appointed it those several stages where it shall rise to day and where to morrow and where every day throughout the year this is from my contrivement and appointment not from thine Hast thou caused the day-spring to know its place Hence Note First It is the Lord who appoints every creature its proper place The beauty of the world is from the order of the world and that every creature knows its place makes the whole creation amiable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The World is expressed in Greek by a word noting the beauty and order of it And that which renders the creatures not onely beautiful but serviceable to man is the order they are placed in The Sun keeping its appointed course makes Summer at one time and Winter at another The Sun ever moves in unless stayed by miracle as in Joshua's time but never moves out of its place As no creature is burdensome so there 's no creature unserviceable when kept in its place as was surther shewed vers 10. Note Secondly The course of times and seasons is firmly and inviolably setled by the command of God This fettlement was made in the Creation Gen. 1.14 And when the flood had made as it were a confusion of the times and seasons the Lord renewed this settlement Gen. 8.22 While the Earth remaineth seed time and harvest and cold and heat and Summer and Winter and day and night shall not cease Read this fully Jer. 31.35 36. Jer. 33.20 Sun and Moon know their time and 't is God who hath taught them this knowledge and given them this instruction The light keeps its time though it changeth its time every day Psal 104.19 He appointeth the Moon for seasons the Sun knoweth his going down The Sun is instructed as it were where to rise and where to go down The Sun follows the direction of God There is no rational creatâ—re that doth so exactly follow the conduct of God as the Sun The Sun forgets not its duty it never mistook the hour either of its rising or going down as we more largely shewed a little before it never mistook a hairs breadth for place nor a moment of its time And as it moves according to the command of God so nothing can stay its motion but the command of God And if He say Sun stand thou still it will do so again as in the days of Joshua Now if all creatures keep their station and observe their motion according to the instructions they receive from God should not this be our instruction If God hath caused the day-spring to know its place and time if the Sun rise where and when he would have it Shall not we know our place and time Shall not we be where and when God would have us As every thing so every person is most useful in his proper place and season The Sun is therefore so useful because it knows and keeps both carrying and distributing its light up and down the world to the sons of men answerably to its instructions and that commission given it from above The Lord having put questions to Job about the direction of the morning light and by whom the day-spring is taught to know its place proceeds to shew the work and effects of the day-spring and morning light Hast thou caused the day-spring to know its place Vers 13. That it might take hold of the ends of the Earth In this verse we have two things concerning the day-spring or the light First The powerful extensiveness of it The light takes hold there 's its power It takes hold of the very ends of the Earth there 's its extensiveness Secondly We have one part or point of the usefulness or beneficialness of light when it thus takes hold of the ends of the earth this good it doth or this benefit comes by it the shaking of the wicked out of it As if it had been said The day-spring takes hold of the ends of the earth for this end and purpose that the earth may be freed from the wicked That it might take hold of the ends of the earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vt apprehenderet Rab Sel. Jarchi That is that the morning or the day-spring might c. Some of the Rabins refer those woâ—ds that it may take hold not to the day-spring but to Job As if the Lord had said Canst thou O Job make the day to know its place that thou mightest take hold of the ends of the earth as I do and shake the wicked out of it But rather as we That the day-spring might take hold Vt extremaâ— terrarum oras radiis quasi totidem digitis injectis prehendet Bez. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non tam phrasi poetica quam Hebraismo alae tribuuntur terrae Pined apprehend and hold fast the ends of the earth Mr. Beza expresseth it in this elegancy The Sun sends forth its rays as so many fingers to take hold of the utmost verges or ends of the earth The Hebrew is The wings of the earth and so Mr. Broughton translates To hold the wings of the earth By the wings of the earth according to an Hebraisme very frequent in Scripture we are to understand the extream or remotest parts of the earth And because the wings of a bird are stretched out to the very utmost when she flieth the Hebrews call that which is the extream or utmost bound of any thing the wings of it and hence in their language the utmost part or hem of a garment is the wing of a garment as here and elsewhere the utmost parts of the earth are the wings of the earth Isa 11.1 2. He shall set up an ensigne for the Nations and shall assemble the out-casts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners or as the Margin hath it wings of the earth Thus the Lord speaks of the light Hast thou caused the day-spring to know its place that it might take hold of the ends or wings of the earth Hence Note First The Suns light is wonderfully extensive and diffusive The Sun hath large arms or rather long wings Some hawks are called long winged The same we may say of the Sun that hath long wings indeed reaching to the utmost stretch ends
shadow of a great rock in a weary land Isa 32.2 All which metaphors signifie one and the same thing that Christ will be comfortable to his people either immediately or by provision of means in the most troublesome times there intended by wind and tempest by a dry place and a weary land And that he had been all this to his in such a day the same prophet assures us chap. 25.4 Thou hast been a strength to the poor a strength to the needy in his distress a refuge from the storm a shadow from the heat when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall The History of the taking of Jerusalem by the Babylonians set down by Jeremy tells us that he was fully heard and answered when he pâ—ayed chap. 17.17 Be not thou a terror to me thou art my hope in the day of evil Jeremy found the Lord very favourable to him and giving him favour in the eyes of the enemy when that evil day the day of battel and war came upon Jerusalem Thus sometimes God stayeth his rough wind in the day of the East-wind Isa 27.8 that is he forbeareth to shew himself rough harsh or grievous to his people when great troubles are otherwise upon them noted by the East-wind which naturally is a blasting blustring and boisterous wind and therefore a day of great trouble is elegantly expressed or called a day of the East-wind When the Psalmist had described the fained humiliations of the people of Israel in the Wilderness which he calls their flattering God with their lips and lying unto him with their tongues This was enough to provoke God to make their day of trouble terrible to them yet saith that Scripture He being full of compassion forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not yea many a time turned he his anger away and did not stir up all his wrath Psal 78.38 Though they all stirred him to wrath yet he did not stir up all his wrath when it was worst with them that would have made it a terrible day indeed This is the Lords way with his people in an evil day But when it is a day of battel and war with the wicked world or with the wicked of the world he opens his treasures of wrath and will let them see and feel what stores of snow and hail he hath reserved against that time And hence it is that such are represented in the day of the Lord going into the clifts of the rocks and into the tops of the ragged rocks for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his Majesty when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth Isa 3.21 Lastly Note Snow and hail are Gods weapons and artillery with which he sometimes fights against sinful man The Lord of Hosts hath such instruments of war in his Armory as no Prince can produce nor make use of either to offend his enemies or to defend himself An ancient Poet said of Theodosius the Emperour Onimium dilecte dei cui militat aether Et conjurati veniunt ad classiâ—a venti Claudian Euseb Eccl. Histor l. 5. c. 5. O thou greatly beloved of God for whom the heavens sight and at the sound of whose trumpets the winds the confederate winds present their service and assistance The Thundering Legion in the Army of Aurelius the Emperour is famous in the Church History and hath been mentioned before upon other passages of this Book together with the occasion of that honourable Title bestowed upon them in that age The Scriptures give frequent instances of the Lords avenging himself upon his and his peoples enemies by storms of hail This was one of the ten grievous plagues which God sent upon Pharaoh and the Land of Egypt Exod. 9.17 18. As yet exaltest thou thy self against my people that thou wilt not let them go behold to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof and until now It was with hail-stones that God fought against and discomfited the Army of five confederate Kings in the days of Joshua Josh 10.11 The Lord cast great stones from heaven upon them and they died they were more which died with the hail stones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword There are two things singular and extraordinary if not miraculous in this passage of providence First The magnitude and weight of these hail-stones together with the violence of their motion was such that like bullets discharged from Canon or great Ordnance they slew them out-right or dead on the place upon whom they fell Secondly That the Israelites being in pursuit of these Canaanites and doubtless mixed with them as in a barrel where they come to handy stroaks it must needs be that yet none of them were hurt by the hail stones but the Canaanites onely God who â—o shew his goodness causeth his Sun to shine and his rain to fall indifferently upon the good and upon the bad knows how that he may shew his Justice to cause his hail to fall distinctly upon the bad and not upon the good Deborah saith in her song Judg. 5.20 The stars in their courses fought against Sisera Joseph lib. 3. Antiquit. Judaicarum c. 6. It is reported by Josephus describing this battel that as soon as the armies joyned battel God sent a violent shower of hail which say some being naturally caused by the influences of the stars or heavenly bodies the stars may be said to have fought in their courses like souldiers drawn up in battalia against Sisera and his army And thus by great thunder the Lord discomfited the host of the Philistins in the days of Samuel 1 Sam. 7.10 The prophet gives out several threatnings under the notion of hail Isa 28.17 chap. 30.30 and so doth that last prophesie Rev. 16.21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven every stone about the weight of a talent All which places though not taken literally and properly but metaphorically and symbolically for great and sore judgements of one kind or other yet are a clear proof that proper hail stones have sometimes been the instruments of Gods sorest revenge upon his hardned enemies So then sometimes God doth as it were pitch his Military Tent or Râ—yal Pavilion in the Air there he seems to muster his Army to bring forth his weapons and from thence to confound his foes God useth the clouds both as his shield to protect his people Exod. 14.19 and as his bow to shoot at and wound the wicked Armamentaria Coeli Juven Satyr 16. From thence Psal 11.6 He rains upon the wicked snares fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest this shall be the portion of their cup That is they shall have nothing else in their cup to drink but this and of this they shall drink deep even the very dregs and wring them out Psal 75.8 A heathen Poet called the Clouds
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 generavit in Hiphil de viro tantum Merc. is applyable to either Parent man or woman in a different Conjugation as Grammarians speak but in the Conjugation here used it is proper only to the man and therefore they who translate who hath conceived wrest this Text and depart from the Original sence of the word as here expressed in which the Metaphor of or the Allusion to a Father is still continued Who hath begotten The drops of dew The Lord doth not ask who hath begotten the Dew but the drops of Dew Drops are very small things yet the great God who made the mighty waters of the Sea makes also the small drops of Dew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Guttas tantum hic extat Sunt qui 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exponunt quasi fluctus quod in magna abundantia fluctuum more ros effundatur c. Merc. Ros est vaporis terrae propinqui noctúque resrigerati in aquam concretio Some derive the Original word which we render drops from a Root that signifies a flood as implying that though the Dew falleth in single drops yet being fallen there is much of it even a flood of it Others deriving the word from at least judging it hath near alliance with a word signifying a drinking Cup or a Vial render who hath begotten the Cups or Vials of Dew We heard of the Dew at the 19th verse of the 29th Chapter where Job to set forth the prosperity of his former condition said The Dew lay all night upon my branches Vapours drawn up from the earth in the day by the heat of the Sun are returned in Dew by the moderate coolness and stilness of the night The remote efficient cause of Dew is the heat of Heaven raising vapours from the earth The next efficient cause of Dew is the temperate coolness and quietness of the night for if the night be windy the Dew falls not and if the night be very cold the vapours are congealed and hardned into a frost 'T is only in temperate seasons that we find those dâ—ops of Dew hanging like so many Orient Pearls upon the grass leaves and Flowers at once adorning and refreshing them Vapores sereno tempore medium aeris regionem ascendentes resolvuntur frigore in guttas tenues Arist l. de mund c. 1. Plin. l. 2. c. 60. We may take notice of two things in the falling of the Dew First It falls very silently Secondly very abundantly No man hears the Dew fall nor can any number the drops of Dew which fall Hushai used both these allusions in that piece of loyal counsel which he gave for the defeating of the counsel of Achitophel 2 Sam. 11.12 where he advised Absalom te gather all Israel from Dan to Beersheba as the sand which is by the sea for multitude and so saith he we will light upon him as the Dew falleth upon the ground that is we will come so silently upon him and in such numbers even as the drops of Dew upon the ground that he shall not be able to avoyd us no more than he can avoyd the Dew which in one and the same instant falls upon the field or Country all over An Army comes with an intent to fall upon the enemy like a storm yet it may be said to come and fall upon him like a Dew both because it comes alwayes like a multitude and because it comes somtimes very silently to surprize him at unawares Who hath begotten the drops of Dew Hence Note as before of the Rain so here of the Dew God is the father of the Dew as well as of the Rain The Dew differs not much from the Rain both are of the same nature and they have the same Father and he will be own'd in the Dew as well as in the Rain The Prophet Haggai reproving the returned Jewes Chap. 1.10 for their neglect in not building the Lords House represents the Lord thus speaking to them Because of my house that is wast and ye run every man to his own house that is you eagerly and violently running is a violent exercise pursue your private ends and interests not minding nor promoting my honour and worship Therefore the Heaven over you is stayed from Dew and the earth is stayed from her fruit The want of Dew makes many wants If we want but the Dew of Heaven we shall quickly want the fruits of the Earth We usually take notice of the want of Rain but we seldome take notice of the want of Dew or pray for the falling of it nor do we give thanks for it as for Rain when we see it fallen and sweetly filling the bosome of the earth Yet the with-holding of Dew though Dew be a less mattâ—r than Rain is a greater Judgment than the with-holding of Rain for 't is a sign that the Judgment of drought is at the height or in the perfection of it when the Lord doth not only with hold the Rain which is the greater mercy but the Dew too which is the lesser O how dry must the earth be when it hath not only no plentiful showers of Rain but not so much as a drop of Dew And therefore when the Prophet Eliah would shew the extreamity of the Famine which was coming upon Israel he made that high protest 1 Kings 1.17 As the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand there shall not be Dew nor Rain these years but according to my word Not only shall ye have no Rain but no Dew and when the Heaven is stayed from giving Rain or Dew the Earth must needs be stayed from yielding fruit or food And so great is the Lords care in disposing the Dew of Heaven that Solomon tells us Prov. 3.20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up and the Clouds drop down Dew As if he had said The Dew doth not steal down upon the earth without Gods knowledge not a drop of it destils upon the earth without his orders and privity And when 't is said By his knowledg the Clouds drop down Dew it hath this in it God knows what moysture is meet for the earth whether little or much Dew or Rain though I conceive we may take the word Dew in this Text of the Proverbs synechdochically for any or all the moysture that falls from Heaven as by the breaking up of the depths in the former part of the verse we are to understand all the moysture which riseth from and is conveighed up and down in the lesser or greater Channels of the eaâ—th The Lord doth so much know how useful and beneficial the Dew is to the Earth that it is said to drop down by his knowledge as if the Lord did exercise a very special knowledg about it The Clouds are Gods Vessels which being lockt up by him keep in their precious liquoâ— and being opened by him pour it down in Rain drop and destil it down in Dew whereof Solomon in the place last cited
they are As the number and nature of the stars so of the clouds which are beneath the stars exceed mans wisdom The least and lowest works of God are above mans reach how much more his greatest works and those which are far above Yet further from this word which we translate to number to declare or demonstrate that precious stone the Saphir mentioned often in Scriptures hath its name Quis sapphirinas effecit nubes sapientia Jun. and so the Text is rendred thus who can make the clouds saphâ—rine or like a Saphir the meaning is who can make the clouds bright and clear l ke the Saphir-stone The Saphir is a most pleasant resplendent and beautiful gem That glorious throne which was shewed the Prophet in vision Ezek. 1.26 had the apâ—earance â—f a Saphâ—â—-stone that is it had a most excellent and illustrious appearance Now saith the Lord who can make the clouds dark of themselves like a Saphir-stone that is serene pleasant beautiful and delightful to the eye God can make bright clouds Zech. 10.1 clouds wonderful fair and pleasant to behold even as pleasing to the eye as a precious Saphir As this translation holds out a truth in it self so 't is very sutable to that which followeth Or who can stay the bottles of heaven Clouds darken the heavens Hunc interpretationem postulâ—â—e videtur antithesis quum additur lagenas coeli quis collocet q d. quis â—oelum num â—â—renum ac sulum nunc verò nubilum reddat Pisc but when the Lord stayeth the clouds from rain then the heavens are clear like a Saphir God can make the heavens cloudy or clear Who can stay the bottles of heaven that is the clouds who can stay them or as the Hebrew strictly who can cause them to lye down Master Braughton renders who can destill the barrels of heaven The word here used signifies a bottle or any vessel wherein liquor is preserved and it may be taken either foâ— a bottle made of skin a leathern bottle or for a bottle made of clay an earthen bottle a Potters bottle as 't is called Isa 30.14 The clouds are like a leathern or an earthern bottle which as it holds the liquor so being unstopped and held up the liquor runs out who can stay the bottles of heaven that is if God once unstop the clouds they presently pour down in and who can stay them from raining no man can That 's a plain sence as if the Lord had said who can hinder the clouds from giving down rain if once opened who but I can restrain the rain which is heavy of it self and tends naturally downwards from falling out of the clouds There is another reading of this part of the verse Conâ—entum coeli qun dormire faciet Vulg. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 per quinque puncta significat Nâ—hlium in strumentum musicum utri simile habens chordas quae pulsantur who can slay the harmony of heaven The Vulgar Latine renders who can make the musick of heaven sleep that is cease or be quiet The reason of this translation is this because the same word which signifieth a bottle signifies also a musical instrument somewhat resembling the form of a bottle Psal 33.2 Thus some take it here as intending that musical or melodious harmony which antient Philosophers have affiâ—med is made by the motion of the heavenly sphears yet by this they do not mean a proper musical sound or harmony such as the Pythagoreans dreamed of which some other learned men have said is so sweet and ravishing that if we did but hear iâ— we could neither eat nor drink nor sleep Yea they tell us that Moses while he did not eat nor drink nor sleep those forty days in the Mount was all that while taken up and ravished with that Musick but you may put that among Jewish fables Sober men following this translation who can stay the musick of heaven understand by it only the harmonious concord and agreement which all the heavenly Orbes unfailably observe in their several courses without the least jarr or discord That 's a truth shewing the great wisdom and power of God who hath put the heavens into such a sweet order that they move not only constantly but harmoniously Though the motion of the heavens makes no audible or proper musick yet it makes an intelligible or metaphorical musick that is the heavens move orderly there is an agreement in their motion which is the the sweetest musick in heaven among Saints and Angels and among good men on earth We say of men moving peaceably in their places as becomes them there is a harmony among them And how blessed a thing would it be to see all sorts of men moving orderly in their spheres what a harmony would it make to see every one doing his duty and doing it in his place whereas to omit duty makes our lives useless and to do it out of our place makes us troublesome and unharmonious And therefore though I insist not upon this reading yet it were well if all would insist upon the moral of it labouring to make harmony as much as may be in all their motions But I pass from it and rest in our own Who can stay the bottles of heaven that is who can make them leave raining The Lord by a late question convinced Job that no man can make it rain vers 34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds that abundance of waters may cover thee and by this question he would convince him that no man can obstruct or hinder the rain Who can stay the bottles of heaven Hence observe It is God who stayeth or restraineth the clouds from raining Should not the Lord put stopples into those bottles should not he close up those barrels they would drop down continually and in stead of watering drown the earth When in the days of Noah the Lord opened the bottles of heaven forty days together who could stop or stay them Did not the clouds pour down till the whole world was over-whelmed and unless the Lord did now stay the clouds and forbid them to give out their whole stock they would again over-whelm the world There are Seas of waters above our heads God keeps them in from hurting the earth and lets them out to help iâ— The next verse intimates at least this power of God over the clouds and the season when he exerciseth it Who can stay the bottles of heaven Vers 38. When the dust groweth or is poured into hardness and the clods cleave fast together The Margin of our Bibles gives us the former part of the verse in a very different translation thus When the dust is turned into mire The earth hath had its fill if not too much rain when the dust is turned into mire And when 't is so who but God stayeth the bottles of heaven from pouring down overmuch But I shall only open the reading in the Text of which there are
hatcht her young they look whitish which the old ones cannot abide being themselves black and therefore the Raven forbears to feed his young ones for seven dayes saith my Author that is till their feathers begin to grow black whereby he knows them to be his own being loth to bring up a spurious brood so that all this time of their estrangement and forbearance the Lord feeds their young ones some say with a dew from heaven or with little flies say others bred out of their dung But I shall not stay upon these things especially considering that they who professedly write of the nature and manners both of beasts birds are very silent as to any such observations concerning the Raven yet because so grave an Author as is noted in the Margin insists upon this latter reason take this Note from it Every one loves its like A Raven doth not love her young till she perceives them in her own likeness It is said also of the Eagle that when her young are first hatcht she will not own them for hers till having held them up to the Sun she finds they out-face it here 't is said the Raven will not own her young till they are black Now if it be thus in nature if it be a truth that the Raven is not delighted in her young till they grow black 't is doubtless true in spirituals like to like God loves none with delight but holy and pure ones and the more holy and pure any are the more he loves them the reason is because himself is altogether infinitely pure and holy Where God sees most of his own image which is puâ—ity and holiness there he loves most and for such he will certainly provide such he will surely feed But which way soever the young ones of the Raven come to want food whether it be through the forgetfulness or the unnaturalness of the old Raven or because they are hatchr white upon what account soever I say it is that they come to want food the Text saith they are in such want that they cry to God yea that They wander for lack of meat This is a further evidence of their distress they cry when they are in their nest and there God provides for them and when they wander from their nest for lack of meat God feeds them too Some restrain this wandring to a narrow compass and say 't is only in their nest where they struggle and are unquiet for want of meat but this their wandering for want of meat may be conceived to be out of the nest rather than in it for a nest being a strait place it cannot be congruously said that the young ones wander while they are in it And therefore which clears the matter sufficiently Naturalists tell us That when the Raven hath fed his young in the nest till they are well fledged and able to flie abroad then he thrusts them out of the nest and will not let them abide there but puts them to get their own living Now when these young ones are upon their first flight from their nest and are little acquainted with means how to help themselves with food then the Lord provides food for them 'T is said by credible Authorities that the Raven is marvellous strict and severe in this Locis arctioâ—ibus ubi non satis cibi pluribus sit duo tantum incolunt suos pullos cum jam potestas volandi est primum nido ejiciunt deinde regione tota expâ—llunt Arist l. 9. de Histor animal c. 31. for as soon as his young ones are able to provide for themselves he will not fetch any more food for them yea some affirm the old ones will not suffer them to stay in the same Country where they were bred and if so then they must needs wander We say proverbially Need makes the old wife trot we may say and The young ones too It hath been and possibly is the practise of some parents towards their children who as soon as they can shift for themselves and are fit in any competency to get their bread they turn them out of doors as the Raven doth his young ones out of the nest Now saith the Lord in the Text When the young ones of the Raven are at this pinch that they are turned off and wander for lack of meat who then provides for them do not I the Lord do not I who provide for the old Raven provide for his young ones both while they abide in the nest and when they wander for lack of meat Hence note first which was in part toucht before The providence of God extends it self to all even the meanest of his creatures As some deny providence so others restrain it to greater matters or more eminent creatures as if it were true of Jehovah which Heathens said of their Idol Jupiter He is not at leisure to mind little things But the Lord Jehovah disdains not to look after the least things he looks into birds nests to see they want nothing or to supply their wants Young Ravens are inconsiderable creatures yet the Lord remembers and considers them And if God take care of young Ravens then I may again infer he will much more take care of their young ones or children who are themselves heirs of the promise the spiritual seed of Abraham Secondly in that young Ravens are here said to cry unto God Observe Extream want or necessity will put meer nature upon praying or crying to God The worst of men yea the very beasts will pray in their kind or after their manner when they are pinched with extremities either of want or fear The Heathen Marriners in Jonah being greatly distressed cryed every one to his god There may be a cry of prayer to God in the mouth where there is no grace in the heart The Apostle saith Rom. 10. Whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved but then it must be in faith for so it follows there How shall they call on him on whom they have not believed Many call upon God that shall not be saved Psal 18.41 They cryed but their was none to save them even to the Lord but he answered them not The cry of graceless men is seldomer heard than the cry of reasonless beasts or birds Hence Thirdly Note The Lord hears the cry of nature when 't is in want He hears the cry of beasts and he hears the cry of Ravens Though wicked men stop their ears and will not hear his commands yet he sometimes hears their cryes in outward troubles and doth them good many wayes Hence also we may infer If the Lord hears the cry of nature in beasts and birds and bad men how much more will he hear the cry of grace and of the spirit of Adoption crying Abba father in his children If he hears the croking cry of young Ravens who have no intention to pray to him how much more will he hear the believing
or turning round upon the nether stone which because it bears the weight of the work in grinding is the harder of the two though both are very hard as if it had been said if any stone be harder than another that 's most like the heart of Leviathan Now though this may have respect to the litteral or proper hardness of the flesh of Leviathans heart yet we are not to stay in that sense for there is a moral or metaphorical hardness as well as a natural or proper hardness The heart of one man is said to be hard and the heart of another soft and tender not because the natural flesh of one mans heart is hard and anothers soft but because of a moral hardness or tenderness in the heart of the one or other There is no difference between them in the body of a good and bad man as to tenderness and hardness but the soul-heart if I may so speak of the one and of the other differ exceedingly as to hardness and tenderness The heart of every good man as to the spiritual constitution of it is soft and tender but the heart of every evil man is hard and stony Again a fearful man is said to have a soft heart every little danger pierceth it or makes an impression upon it but a man of courage and boldness is said to have a hard heart or a heart of brass nothing can daunt him In this sense Leviathan hath a hard or firm heart a heart of brass The hardness of Leviathans heart Fortis intrepida est Jun. Est forti infracto corde seu animo nihil timet Merc. notes his courage boldness and stoutness he is not timerous like many other creatures his heart is as uncapable of fear as a stone and as impenetrable by any passion as the nether mill-stone So that to say his heart is as hard as a stone is all one as to say He is fearless or he is couragious So then There is a threefold moral hardness of heart spoken of in Scripture First Impenitency for sin is often called hardness of heart They who go on knowingly to sin against God are bold daring men they have hard hearts indeed Such hearts have all men by nature and therefore God makes that promise to sinners I will take away the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh Ezek. 36.26 Secondly Unmercifulness or cruelty towards men is called hardness of heart We commonly say of such a man Crudeles inclementes aut è saxo geniti aut cor habere saxeum dicuntur he is a hard-hearted man that is he is a cruel and unmerciful man Thirdly Couragiousness and stoutness in appearance of danger may be called hardness of heart A man of great courage hath a heart hardned against all fears and dangers Leviathan hath a hard heart in these two latter senses he is cruel and unmerciful he spares none he swallows down all without distinction a Jonah and all if he meet with him The Whale hath no mercy and therefore may be said to have a hard heart Again Leviathan is full of courage he fears no colours as we say therefore he may well be said to have a hard heart Cor durum signum audaciae fortitudinis Plin. l. 11. c. 37. And those creatures which have the hardest hearts in a physical sense are observed by Naturalists to be most daring and couragious Now as Leviathan is thus fearless at the appearance of the greatest dangers so when he appears all are filled with fear As he is altogether dreadless according to the interpretation given of this verse so he is altogether dreadful according to the express tenour of the next Vers 25. When he raiseth up himself the mighty are afraid by reason of breakings they purifie themselves We have had in the seven verses last opened the description of Leviathan in many things which cannot but render him an object of fear and terror surely then when he shews himself all will be in a fright even the mighty who seem best fenced against fear as the Text speaks When he raiseth up himself the mighty are afraid When he raiseth up himself Whither not out of the water but in the water or to the surface of the water sometimes the Whale swims upon the top of the water Now when he raiseth up himself or as M◠Broughton translates at his stateliness or as another both putting the word into a Noune which we put into a Verb At his excellency The mighty are afraid by reason of breakings they purifie themselves In these words as was shewed before we have a double effect of Leviathans raising himself in sight or to the view of others The first effect is The mighty are afraid The second is this By reason of breakings they purifie themselves The mighty are afraid The Lord doth not say When he raiseth up himself the weak and as we say hen-hearted cowards but the mighty are afraid the mighty of all sorts not only mighty fishes but mighty men the stoutest Sea-men and Mariners yea Captains and Warriers at Sea are afraid and not only are they afraid when he raiseth up himself like a moving mountain but amazed with fear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fortes proprie pii i e. Angeli hoc nomine dicti quod robare polleant maxime pra ceteris creaturis hoc nomen etiam ad homines transfertur robore potentia valentes Timebunt Angeli Vulg. and even struck dead with astonishment The Hebrew word rendred mighty may be carried beyond mighty men even to Angels and so the vulgar Latine reads it When he lifts up himself the Angels will be afraid The word is applyed to the Angels all the Scripture over it properly signifies strong or mighty ones Angels are strong and mighty they excel all other creatures in strength Psal 103.20 If we take that translation The Angels will be afraid it is only to shew that Leviathan is so terrible that not only the fish in the Sea and men on earth but if such a thing could be the Angels of Heaven would be afraid of him As Christ when he would set forth the efficacy of seduction which shall be in the latter dayes saith False Prophets shall come and deceive if it were possible the very elect Mat. 24.24 So this Leviathan would make the Angels afraid if it were possible As Ships in a storm at Sea are said to mount up to the Heavens Psal 107.26 though they alwayes keep upon the billows of the water so by a like hyperbole we may say when Leviathan raiseth up himself the Angels of heaven are afraid But as the word often signifies an Angel so it is commonly applied to men of might strength and courage We translate indefinitely the mighty without determining it upon one or other sort of mighty ones and so we may understand it of any among the visible creatures that are mighty When he raiseth up himself the mighty are
therefore Job was specially to beware of this lest the Devil who desired to tempt him should prevail upon him by suggesting proud and high thoughts of himself and so make him a subject of his own kingdom for he is that mystical Leviathan who kings it to purpose over the children of pride As if the Lord had said to Job Lay down all thoughts and words which have any savour or tincture of pride Wilt thou be proud of this or that or any thing know that in his kind I have given more to Leviathan to be proud of than to thee And consider under whom thou art to reckon thy self if thou art lifted up in pride even under Leviathan for he is a King over all the children of pride And though Leviathan be exceeding proud and haughty yet I can quickly bring him down surely then I can bring thee down yet more than hitherto I have done Therefore O Job do not contend any more with me be not unquiet under my hand who am indeed thy King Lapsi videntur qui hoc de Leviathan vel etiam de Satana interpretati sunt Coc. Tenebras offudit interpretibus omissio relativi c. Coc. This leads me to another reading of the verse which makes the antecedent to he not Leviathan not the Devil but God himself He that beholdeth all high things is a King over all the children of pride That is God who beholdeth all high things and is higher than the highest Eccles 5.8 he is above the proudest men So then these words he beholdeth all high things having the Relative That supplyed are a circumlocution of God God indeed beholds all high things and high persons Let men be never so high God beholds them And as he beholdeth all things so he is higher than the highest things he is a King over all the children of pride who are the highest among men or high above all men in their own conceit The Lord as a King can rule and over-rule the proud he can bring down their high looks the Lord said to Job which may give some light to this interpretation when he would stir him up to consider himself what he was able to do and to do his best chap. 40.12 Look on every one that is proud and bring him low Canst thou do it canst thou look on every one that is proud and bring him low Thou canst not but I can God beholdeth all high things he hath them all before him and is a King over them he can make the proudest and stoutest and greatest that are in the world stoop to him That Great Monarch Nebuchadnezzar who lorded it over the greatest of the world in his days was at last brought to confess that the Lord was a King over all the children of pride Dan. 4.37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven all whose works are truth and his ways are judgment and those that walk in pride he is able to abase In this sence God is a King over all the children of pride Now though the words according to the sense given of this last reading may safely be applied to God yet as most among late Interpreters understand them literally of Leviathan so many of the antients who have written upon this Book turn this whole description of Leviathan into an Allegory of the Devil as was toucht before and to make it out they have run into many needless speculations But I conceive though it be true that many things spoken of Leviathan are applicable to the Devil as also to Tyrants to Antichrist and all wicked men and some who are very sparing in urging the Allegory yet grant we may when we read what is said of Leviathan reflect upon the Devil and consider what a mighty power he hath to do mischief if the goodness and power of God did not restrain him Yet 't is safest to keep to the plain sense and not to busie our selves much in transforming the holy Scriptures into Allegories in which some have been over-bold nor should any venture to draw Allegories but out of a natural meaning as the Apostle Paul did in the 4th Chapter of his Epistle to the Galathians I shall only adde that as from the nature of this Leviathan supposed to be the Whale we may receive many instructions so the Lord doth sometimes Preach or Prophesie to whole Nations by him that is he gives warning by him to Nations of some great things which shall come to pass among them 'T is the observation of an Interpreter upon this place God saith he prophesies to people and nations by the Whale or Leviathan Deus catos quasi poenitentiae precones facit dum insolitis locis apparentes bella alias clades nuncient ut homines poenitentiam agant Scult And as other places he was a Germane so we have had warnings by him for saith he in the year 1620 there was a Whale cast upon the shore of a great river far within the land twenty and five ells long and a half immediately before the great wars changes and troubles which befel Germany Hence he infers when these mighty fishes come into places which are out of their way and road or when God casts them upon unwonted shores it foreshews some unwonted thing or that God will bring guests among them that they never thought of Thus I have done with this long and large description which the Lord makes of Leviathan There remains only one chapter more which gives us the full effect and issue of all the dealings of God with Job and of his speakings to Job about Behemoth and Leviathan All was to humble him and we shall see him deeply humbled and eminently restored in the next chapter JOB Chap. 42. Vers 1 2 3 4 5 6. 1. Then Job answered the Lord and said 2. I know that thou canst do every thing and that no thought can be with-holden from thee 3. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledg therefore have I uttered that I understood not things too wonderful for me which I knew not 4. Hear I beseech thee and I will speak I will demand of thee and declare thou unto me 5. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but now mine eye seeth thee 6. Wherefore I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes THis Chapter is the conclusion of the whole History and Book of Job it consisteth of three general parts First Of Jobs deep and sincere humiliation before the Lord in these six verses Secondly Of the reconciliation of Jobs three friends to the Lord or of their attonement and peace made with the Lord vers 7 8 9. Thirdly Of Jobs restitution by the wonderful goodness and powerful hand of the Lord to as good yea to a better estate tahn he had before from the tenth verse inclusively to the end of the Chapter The words under hand contain the first part of the Chapter and I call them Jobs
the highest threat I go away and ye shall dye in your sins John 8.21 They that dye in their sins dye a double death at once a temporal and an eternal death together And to those who have got the sting of death pulled out that is the guilt of sin removed and washed off by the blood of Christ I would Fourthly Take this caution If you would have death easie to you dye more and more to sin daily Some who are dead to sin may find much life of sin remaining in them and they who have much of the life of sin in them will never dye easily they will find strong bands in their death which in another sense some wicked men find not Psal 73.4 While either sin or self or the world are lively in us death will be greivous to us Therefore let them who are dead to sin never think themselves dead enough to it while they live they who are most dead to sin and the world have the sweetest and most comfortable passage out of the world So Job dyed Being old It must needs be that Job was an old man when he had lived an hundred and forty years after all his changes before this change came Why then is it added he died being old or being an old man Surely to teach us this lesson Old age and death cannot be far asunder 'T is a truth young men and death are not very far asunder youth and death are at no great distance but when we see an old man we may conclude that death and he are very near neighbours While we see an old man with his staff in his hand we may say he carrieth a rapper in his hand by which at every step he knocks at the door of the grave There is no man not the youngest man that can reckon certainly upon one day beyond what he hath and therefore Solomon admonisheth us Prov. 27.1 Beast not of to-morrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth And the Apostle James checks those who would reckon upon a day he tells them upon the matter That they reckon without their hoast James 4.13 Go to now ye that say to day or to-morrow we will go into such a City and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain And then at the 14th verse Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow for saith he What is your life it is even a vapour that appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away They that are youngest have not a day nor an hour in their power to reckon upon what then have they that are old We may say of them They are even past their reckoning A woman near her time will sometimes say she hath but a day to reckon and some will say they have never a day to reckon old men may say so they have not a day to reckon Young men may dye old men must dye Then let old men be much in the meditation of death let them be often looking into their graves their gray hairs that do so are found in the way of wisdom Job dyed being old There was no longer staying for him in this world Once more Job dyed being old And full of days There is a twofold fullness First A fullness of satiety Secondly A fullness of satisfaction They are full in a way of satiety who loath that which they are filled with 't is burthensome to thâ—m They are full in a way of satisfaction who having enough are pleased and desire no more Some expound this Text of Job in the former sence he was full of days that is he had a fullness of satiety upon him he had lived so long that his life was a burden to him he had lived till he was weary of living his life was tedious and grievous to him It is said Revel 9.6 In those days shall men seek death and shall not find it and shall desire to dye and death shall flee from them That which most flee from some pursue and it fleeth from them None are so unfit to dye as they who upon the account spoken of in that Text seek death and desire to dye I do not conceive that Job was full of days in the former notion as the stomack may be full of meat and loath it or be burthened with it but as having had enough of it though well liked to the last morsel And I am sure he was not full of days when he dyed in the latter notion as one wearied with the troubles of his life for all his latter days were a blessing to him and he blessed in them all His last days in this world being his best days of worldly enjoyment he could have no reason upon any worldly account to desire a departure out of the world I grant a good man though he hath not lived many days may be full of days even to weariness by reason of his temptations corruptions and sins of which kind of weariness the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 5.2 In this earthly house of the body we grown earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven And upon this account possibly Job himself might be weary of his life and desire the death of his body that he might be delivered from the body of that death But Jobs worldly life was as sweet as it was long he was as full of blessings as he was of days and therefore doubtless he was only satisfied with living not tired with it He did not loath his natural life nor did he hunger after a longer life in this world he hungred after eternity not time He did not hunger after a longer life as they do who have their portion in this life how long soever they have lived A worldly man is never satisfied with living in the world he never hath his belly full of living here while he sees he may as Job might fill his belly with the good things of this life But as Job had lived very long and very well on earth so he knew there was a better life to be had in heaven and therefore was full of days both as having had many and as having no desire after more on earth As he was not which David deprecated Psal 102.24 taken away in the midst of his days so he was willing to come to the end of his days and for that reason might well be said to dye being old and full of days Secondly These words so Job died being old and full of days may note as his willingness to dye so the easiness of his death he was come to a full ripeness for death Fruit that is fully ripe is soon gathered and sometimes drops off alone from the tree Job was every way ripe for death his body was ripe he was full of days his soul was ripe he was full of grace surely then his was a spontaneous death a very sweet way of dying His natural strength was not much being old
our blessed Saviouâ— the light and life of the world hath counselled us Let our light shine and so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorifie our father which is in heaven Matth. 5.16 We that have light commanded for us every day how should we be lights and go forth as the Sun casting out our rays and beams in a holy and godly conversation And while we go forth and walk in such a conversation we go forth and walk as the Sun in its strength we enlighten all the world where we come and dazel the eyes of the wicked world or of the wicked in the world Sixthly How should we who have light commanded for us avoid all the works of darkness yea We should as the Apostle exhorts Rom. 13.12 13. cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light we should walk honestly as in the day As in the day which the light of the natural Sun makes and as in the day which the light of the mystical Sun our Lord Jesus Christ hath made Seventhly Remember as God hath commanded a morning for us here so he will command a light or a morning a morning light for all our actions hereafter As God hath made the the light so he will bring all things to light Many now live in the light of this world whose works are in the dark as well as theirs are works of darkness Now as the Lord hath commanded a morning to shine for us to worke by so he will have a morning wherein all our works shall be seen 1 Cor. 4.5 He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and the manifest the counsels of the heart Men may dig deep to hide their counsels from God but God knows how to bring them and their counsels to the morning and will cause a light to shine upon them though they have no light of truth or righteousness in them God will bring every work into judgement with every secret thing Eccl. 12.14 We must all appear saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.10 or we must all be manifest we must appear and so must our works too Those works of men shall be light as to their discovery which are nothing but darkness as to their impurity Those deeds which have no light in them shall come in the clearest light and be plainly seen to the bottom both by Men and Angels The Lord who hath commanded this moâ—ning light for us to do our work in will command another morning light to judge our works in and to give us the reward of them And let all the wicked of the earth to whom the morning of any day because they are in danger to be discovered by it is as the shadow of death Job 24.17 Let them I say consider how many thousand deaths that morning will be to them which will actually fully and impartially discover all their wickedness with all the secrets of it Lastly Consider if the Lord hath bestowed so great a mercy upon us in commanding the morning or in giving us light the light of the Sun then let us be minded how great a mercy the Lord hath bestowed upon us in commanding the light or morning of the Gospel to come upon us It was night with us and so it would have been for ever for any means we could have devised or used to help out selves out of it till God commanded Christ the bright Morning Star Rev. 22.16 and Sun of Righteousness to rise and shine upon us How unspeakable a mercy is it that such a light should appear to us who not only were in darkness but were darkness If we account it a mercy that God hath commanded a morning to shine to us O what a mercy is it that we have a Christ to shine upon us That the Day-Star from on high hath visited us That he who is the true light that enlightens every man that cometh into the world John 1.9 hath risen upon us both to scatter the darkness of sin and ignorance and to chear our souls with the sweet beams of his healing wings So much of the first part of the verse Hast thou commanded the mâ—rning since thy day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sâ—ir◠〈◊〉 auâ—â—râ—◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mane 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aurora dâ—ssâ—runt Nam prima dici 〈…〉 diâ—tum 〈…〉 hâ—c a nigri◠〈◊〉 specio ut vid tur Nam 〈◊〉 res sub diâ—â—rulo apparere inâ—pturâ— nigricâ—â—â— viâ—entur Câ—c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eâ—t nigrescâ—re bin nigrescentem lucem scil diluculum significat Sol varie nec uno loco oritur quotidie ejus loâ—â—s mutatirut sol ascendit aut descendit in signis Zodiaci Merc. And caused the day-spring to know his place That is when and where it should break forth and appear every morning The day-spring is exprest by a different word in the original from the morning light it implieth the first of the morning when the air is darkish or duskish we commonly call it the gray of the morning The word signifies to be dark or that darkness which we call twilight When the day-spring ushers in the morning there is a kind of dimness in the light Now saith the Lord Hast thou caused the day-spring to know its place hast thou taught it where to shew it self to the world The Lord speaks nere of the day-spring as if it were a rational creature that took instructions or a word of direction where to begin the morning light God not man hath taught the day-spring to know its place We have a like expression Psal 16.11 Thou wilt shew me or thou wilt cause me to know the path of life Thus the Lord makes the day-spring know the path to its own place The day never springs twice immediately in one place but is in a continual variation as Astronomers with experience teach The place of the light or Sun-rising differeth every morning and from thence we have the difference of the dayes The Sun passing through the twelve signs of the Zodiack beginning with Aries c. I shall not trouble you with their names which have been devised and are used only for learning sake the Sun I say passing every year thâ—ough these twelve Signs all which Astronomers present unto us under various forms or figures such as themselves fancied most useful to subserve the understanding of that Art according to the situation of these Signs through which the Sun runs his course in the Heavens the day-spring to us on Earth changeth its place every day appearing sometimes more southerly and sometimes more easterly as the Sun either ascends to the Summer Solstice at which time the day is at longest and the night at shortest as about the eleventh of our Moneth called June or when it descends to the Winter Solstice at which time the day is shortest and the night longest as about the eleventh of our December To which we may add the Suns coming in its