ascend into the hill of the Lord c. and answered it vers 4 5. He that hath clean hands and a pure heart who hath not lift up his soul to vanity nor sworn deceitfully he shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness that is a righteous reward or a reward according to righteousness from the God of his salvation Solomon asserts the present performance of what is only promised in this Psalm he saith not The just shall receive the blessing but they have actually received it Prov. 10.6 Blessings are upon the head of the just By the just man we may understand First him that is in a justified state or him that is just by faith Secondly him that walks in a just way or that do justly And they who are indeed justified are not only engaged by that high act of grace to do justly but are either constantly kept in doing so or are soon brought to see they have not done so and to repentance for it Just and upright men in these two notions are so much blessed that they are a blessing Prov. 11.11 By the blessing of the upright is the City exalted As an upright man wisheth and prayeth for a blessing upon the City where he liveth so he is a blessing to it and that no small one but to the greatning enriching and exaltation of it He that is good in his person becomes a common good to Cities yea to whole Nations such are a blessing because they receive so many blessings Pro. 28.20 A faithful man shall abound with blessings This faithful man is one that acts and doth all things faithfully as appears by his opposition in the same verse to him that maketh hast to be rich of whom the Text saith he shall not be innocent that is he must needs deal unfaithfully or unrighteously for in making such post-hast to riches he usually rides as we say over hedge and ditch and cannot keep the plain way of honesty Thirdly As they who are in a state of grace and they who act graciously in that state so they who worship holily or holy worshippers have a special promise of the blessing As Sion is the seat of holy worship so there the Lord commandeth the blessing upon holy worshippers Psal 133.3 And again Psal 115.12 13. He will bless the house of Israel he will bless the house of Aaron he will bless them that fear the Lord both small and great that is the generality of holy worshippers shall be blessed The fear of the Lord is often put in Scripture for the worship of the Lord and so they that fear him are the same with them that worship him Fourthly They are the blessed of the Lord who trust the Lord for all and so make him the all of their trust Psal 34.8 O tast and see that the Lord is gracious blessed is the man that trustith in him that is in him only or alone being convinced of the utter insufficiency of the creature That man is cursed who trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm Jer. 17.5 therefore pure trust in God hath the blessing Fifthly They that are a blessing unto others shall have the blessing from the Lord. What it is to be a blessing to others read at large in the 29th Chapter of this Book vers 11. and in 31. Chapter vers 20. They that do good to others they especially who do good to the souls of others are a blessing to others Now they who do good they shall receive good themselves Prov. 11.25 The liberal shall be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered also himself He that watereth is a common good a blessing to the place where he lives a blessing to the rich a blessing to the poor a blessing to relations a blessing to strangers upon such the Scripture assures the blessing of the Lord. Sixthly They who promote the worship and service of God they that are friends to the Ark of God shall be blessed 2 Sam. 6.11 The Lord blessed the house of Obed-edom because he entertained the Ark shewed kindness to the Ark and was ready to do any service for the Ark of God he will be a friend to the true friends of his Church Seventhly They shall receive a blessing of God who strive in prayer for his blessing Jacob was blessed but he wâ—estled for it They that would have it must ask it with a gracious importunity they that seek it diligently shall find it These are the chief characters of the persons whom the Lord will bless And seeing his blessing is so effectual for the procurement of our good we should above all things labour to procure his blessing When Jacob wrestled with the Angel he asked nothing of him but a blessing Gen. 32.26 He did not say I will not let thee go except thou deliver me from my brother Esau he did not say I will not let thee go unless thou make me rich or great he only said I will not let thee go except thou bless me let me be blessed and let me be what thou wilt or I can be What should we desire in comparison of the blessing of God seeing his blessing strictly taken is the fruit of his fatherly love A man may be rich and great and honoured among men yet not beloved but he that is indeed blessed is certainly beloved of God Esau could not obtain the blessing Now what saith the Lord by the Prophet of him as the Apostle quotes the Prophet Rom. 9.13 Esau have I hated Esau got much riches but he could not get the blessing for he was hated of the Lord and therefore it is said Heb. 12.17 He found no place for repentance though he sought it carefully with tears that is he could not make Isaac repent of blessing Jacob though through a mistake yet according to Gods appointment he could not prevail with him no not by tears to take off the blessing from his brother Jacob and place it upon himself And the reason why the blessing remained with Jacob was because he was loved of God The blessing must go where the love goes The loved of the Lord are and shall be blessed and they who are blessed have all good with a blessing Read Gen. 24.35 Gen. 26.13 Gen. 28.3 2 Sam. 6.11 Psal 107.38 Yea as God giveth all good with a blessing so he giveth himself who is the chief good best of all and blessed for evermore to those whom he blesseth Then how should we desire the blessing of God or to be blessed by God It is wonderful how passionately and even impatiently the Votaries of Rome desire the Popes blessing they think themselves made men if they can but have his blessing I have read of a Cardinal who seeing the people so strangely desirous of his blessing Quando quidem populus hic vult decipi dicipiatur said Seeing this people will be deceived let them be deceived But we cannot be too desirous of a blessing from
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
the sea Here shall thy proud waves Be stayed The Hebrew is And here it shall set it self against the pride of thy waves As if the Lord had said if they come here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fluctus recte dicti quia volvuntur ventis Et magnos volvunt ad littora fluctus Dicuntur etiam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fragore vel quod franguntur in littora scopulos vel quod inter se colliduntur my doors shall meet them my commands like bars shall stop them that they shall not be able to go a step further they shall not conquer my commands nor break down the doors nor dissolve the bars which I have set up The word rendred waves properly signifies a heap because waves role in heaps one upon the neck of another First In that this Text makes so particular a description of the provision which God made to keep the sea in order as soon as it was born he bound it up in swadling-bands and then brake up a decreed place for it and there set up bars and doors that it should come no further He put the sea under confinement Hence Note The sea left to it self would mischief all the sea would return and cover the earth quickly As soon as ever it brake forth out of the earth it covered the earth and so it would do again if the Lord should let it alone David took special notice of this work of God Psal 104.9 Thou hast set a bound that they the waters spoken of vers 6 7 8. cannot pass over that they turn not again to cover the earth Which plainly implieth that the waters would turn again to cover the earth and so recover their first liberty even to overspread the face of the whole earth did not God restrain and hold them in as was shewed before in the general explication of this verse Secondly Note The creature can go no farther than God permits or suffers Rational creatures often go beyond the commands of God but neither they nor any creature can go beyond the counsel of God They who transgress or pass over the line of his revealed will cannot pass over the line of his secret will The Lord secretly puts a stop to all creatures as here to the sea How extravagant soever mens spirits are or their practices are yet they are under an over-ruling power The sea hath continued under this command ever since God made it it hath gone no further than the Lord would Though it be a truth that the sea hath broken visible and natural yea artificial banks and bounds and bars yet it hath never broken those special invisible banks bounds and bars Deus non sibi eas rerum leges fixit quas nequeat ad tempus cum libot mutâ—re which God hath made for it his decree When God gave the sea visible banks and bounds and bars he did not intend them for banks and bounds and bars to his own will and therefore he sometimes bids the sea go beyond and break its visible bounds and bars He commanded a general deluge in Noahs time then all was sea no dry land appeared And though we have the Lords promise that he will never destroy the world how sinful soever by an universal deluge any moâ—e Gen. 9.11 yet Histories and experiences have told us there have been many particular inundations of the sea breaking its anciently known bounds and bars nevertheless it never did nor ever shall break the bars of this word hitherto shalt thou come but no further The divine pillar of this Ne plus ultra No further stands inviolable If the sea break bounds at any time 't is because God hath given it a special commission to do so for the punishment of men who break their bounds by sin The sea is still Gods prisoner and goes not out of those doors which God hath set up and barred without his licence it stirs not a foot from the decreed place which God broke up for it but as he lengthens its chain Thirdly Note To God alone that power belongs which keeps the sea within compass It is not the sands nor the banks nor the rocks that can do it The water is a very barbarous and head-strong element none can put a bridle into the lips of it but God himself A late Historian speaking of the siege of Rochel saith there was a stupendious dike made which might be called a bridle to the sea but God alone can make a bridle for the sea his word in the Text Hitherto shalt thou come and no further is the bridle Some dispute whether it be not a continued Miracle that the sea is kept within its compass We say miracles are discontinued and I conceive 't is beside the nature of a miracle to be continual yet without dispute 't is a continued marvel or wonder that the sea is thus kept in if the Lord should let it loose if he should remove the bar and unlock the door of that prohibition here given it but one hour no natural doors nor bars could hinder it from returning to cover the face of the earth Take a few inferences from the whole First The sea is Gods and he hath made it Psal 95.5 And he made it as to declare his own glory so to promote our good Psal 104.25 26. The earth O Lord is full of thy riches so is this great and wide sea wherein are things creeping innumerable both small and great beasts there go the ships there is that Leviathan whom thou hast made to play therein O magnifie God who hath made the sea so vast so wide so great yet so useful and commodious As the sea is a terrible creature so a beneficial creature bringing forth and feeding an innumerable company of beasts as the Psalmist speaks We may as soon number the sands as the shoals of fish bred and nourished in those mighty waters Secondly As the sea is the Lords and he made it so the sea is the Lords and he masters it Psal 89.9 Thou rulest the raging of the sea when the waves thereof arise thou stillest them Glorifie the Lord in this No earthly potentate can coerce the sea Xerxes presumed he could tame the Heâ—espont a little brook comparatively to the Ocean but it would not obey him he disciplined it with three hundred stroaks for attempting his bridge of boats but it would not mend he cast fetters into it as if it had been his vassal but it would not be bound It is God who binds the sea That knows no Lord but him that made both it and the dry land It was proof enough of Christs Divinity that rebuking the winds and the sea there was a great calm This made the men marvel saying what manner of man is this surely he is more than man that even the winds and the sea obey him Matth. 8.26 27. When some Courtiers would have flattered our Danish King Canutus into a belief that his power was more
Lord sends his rain upon the wilderness he hath done so and he hath promised to do so still that is he hath sent and will send the rain of the Gospel upon the Heathen Some Nations are a wilderness as they live in a wilderness so they are themselves a wilderness a desert and we have a promise that the Lord will cause the rain spiritual rain to fall upon this wilderness Isa 35.1 2. The wilderness and the solitary places shall be glad for them for whom for the Church and for the sending forth of the Gospel by them and the desert shall rejoyce and blossom as the rose it shall blossom abundantly and rejoyce even with joy and singing the glory of Lebanon shall be given to it the excellency of Carmel and of Sharon That is it shall be fertile and fruitful in spirituals as those places Lebanon Câ—rmel and Sharon which was the glory and excellency of them were in temporals But how should the wilderness and solitary places attain this glory That 's shewed at the sixth and seventh verses for in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert and the parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water This Prophesie contains a promise of sending the Gospel and with that the Holy Spirit who is often compared in Scripture to water to those who were or are in their soul-state as a dry heath or as a barren wilderness This prophet doth not only hold out a like promise in the same Metaphors but explains it thus Isa 44.3 4 5. I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground what is meant by water and floods we may learn from the next words I will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine off-spring and they shall spring up as among the grasse as willows by the water-courses that is they shall grow and flourish internally in grace and knowledge and not onely so but they shall openly professe it and avouch it as it followeth in the fifth verse One shall say I am the Lords and another shall call himself by the Name of Jacob c. That is they shall give up their Names to be enrolled and registred as our Annotators express it in Gods Church-book or among his faithful servants In deserto pluere est verbum dei gentilitatè praedicare Greg. l. 29. Moral c. 16. It was the saying of one of the Ancients with respect to this Allegory To send rain upon the desert is to preach the word of God unto the heathens And the Lord magnifies himself in the dispensation of this spiritual rain when as he sends it upon his Garden the Church so also upon the wilderness the Heathen that the wilderness may become a garden and the desert a paradise that they knowing the Lord and believing on him may be joyned to the Church Thus also the Lord divides a water-course to cause it to rain on the earth where no believing man is on the wilderness where there is no good man The reason of his so doing is given expresly in the next words Vers 27. To satisfie the desolate and waste ground and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth Here is the reason of sending rain upon the wilderness it is to satisfie the desolate and wast ground Mr. Broughton renders The wast and vast ground The Vulgar Latine renders Inviam desolatam Vulg. The unpassable ground or at least that which none passes and so being disused lies wast and desolate But in what sense soever 't is desolate or by what means soever it became desolate the Lord sends rain to satisfie it that is to water it abundantly Vt riget ad satietatem usque satisfaction is to have our fill The very wast ground shall have enough enough to allay the heat and drought of it enough to make it fruitful and enough to fructifie the trees and plants that grow there and so to feed and fatten the beasts thâ—t live there The Vulgar Latine renders Vt impleret c. Vulg. Satur dierum plenus dierum synonyma sunt Drus That he may fill the desolate and wast ground that which is filled is or should be satisfied To be full of dayes in Scripture is to be satisfied with living A man may have lived many dayes yet not be full of dayes but he who is full of dayes as 't is said of some of the Patriarchs is not hungry after more time or dayes in this world therefore to be filled and satisfied import the same thing And to be sure they who are not satisfied when they are full will not be satisfied when they are empty But however it is with man we know the earth spoken of in the Text is fully satisfied it gapes for no more when 't is filled with rain And this the Lord will send To satisfie the desolate and wast ground But why is the Lord so careful to satisfie the desolate and wast ground The ground is a senselesse thing that feels not the want of rain I answer The Lord doth not satisfie the ground for the grounds sake but for their sake who live upon and are maintained by the ground Fruit-bearing trees and grass are maintained by the moisture and fatnesse of the ground beasts are maintained by those fruits and grasse therefore the Lord satisfies the ground with rain that it may satisfie the trees and grasse and they the beasts that live upon it So then the Lord satisfieth the ground that it may satisfie all sorts of vegetables growing out of the ground and that they may satisfie all kinds of animals living upon the ground Such a gradation we find Hos 2.21 22. I will hear saith the Lord I will hear the heavens and they shall hear the earth and the earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oil and they shall hear Jezrael that is my people We may run up the meaning of this promise backwards thus When my people whom I now call Jezrael in a way of promise as in a way of threatning chap. 1.4 being pressed with hunger and famine cry to the corn and the wine and the oil for food they shall hear them and when the corn and wine call to the earth for moisture to feed them that shall hear and when the earth calls to the heavens for rain they shall hear and when the heavens call to God for orders to carry rain he will hear them It is for mans use that God makes the earth fruitful and where there are no men 't is for the beasts sake that he satisfieth the desolate and wast ground Hence Note First God is not wanting to any of his creatures according to their state He will not let the senseless ground suffer hunger and thirst overlong that shall have food after its kind or proper for it Secondly Note Even the Earth knows when it hath enough It is
cry the deep groans and sighs of Saints who set their faces purposely to pray unto him and seek his face This poor man cryed a man rich in grace doubtless he was and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles Fourthly Note If you would have supply in your wants you must ask it of God When you are in want whither soever you go if you go not to God you go to a wrong door The Ravens tell you whither to go when you are in want it is not to this or that creature to this or that means to this friend or that but you must go to God for help and if we have help any where else and not in God our help is worse than our distress Wants are an evil of affliction but the help we get out of wants in any way with neglect of God is an evil of sin therefore cry to God The Lions are said to seek their meat from God and here the Ravens are said to cry unto God the young Lions and the Ravens will condemn those who in their distresses do not cry to God the fountain but run to broken cisterns It was the sin of that good King Asa that in his disease he sought not to God but to the Physicians 2 Chron. 16.12 not that Asa had cast off prayer to God or did not at all seek unto him it cannot be that so good a man as the Scripture reports him should so much at once forget God and himself but the meaning is he was very cold and negligent in calling upon God for help and over confident of help by his Physicians Lastly consider God provides for the young Ravens when the old ones leave them or put them out of their nest Hence note When nearest Relations in nature leave us God will not When they whose duty it is to take care of us prove unnatural like the Raven to his young ones then God will take care of us When my father and mother forsook me saith David Psal 27.9 10. then the Lord took me up The Lord who seeds out-cast Ravens will give entertainment to his out-cast servants Psal 68.5 A father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows is God in his holy habitation They that are fatherless by their parents deserting of them or fatherless by the decease of their parents God they committing themselves to him will be a father unto them he will do the office of a father to them that is provide for them Thus much of the Lion chief among the beasts of the earth and of the Raven one of the worst among the fowls of the Air. The wisdom of God hath chosen out these creatures that in testifying his care of them he might convince Job that he had not cast off the care of him but would provide for him possibly in unknown wayes of providence as he did for the Lions and the Ravens JOB Chap. 39. Vers 1 2 3 4. 1. Knowest thou the time when the wild Goats of the rock bring forth or canst thou mark when the hinds do Calve 2. Canst thou number the mouths that they fulfill or knowest thou the time when they bring forth 3. They bow themselves they bring forth their young ones they cast out their sorrows 4. Their young ones are in good liking they grow up with corn they go forth and return not unto them IN the former context which was the close of the 38th Chap. The Lord gave Job an account of his care in providing food for the Lion and the young Lions for the Raven and his young ones In this context and Chapter the Lord proceeds to shew his care and providence concerning both the production and sustentation of several other creatures of whom men take no care nor make any provision for at all The wild Goats and the Hind the wild Asse and the Vnicorn There are some creatures which live under mans inspection and are provided for by him being tame and serviceable there are others which have no commerce as I may say with man but are savage living at laâ—ge in the fields and forâ—ests upon hills and mountains yet these are preserved in theiâ— generations and increase as well as those which are the under the eye and daily care of man The wild Goats are preserved as well as the sheep and the Hinds of the Forrest as well as the Calves of the Stall In and by all these examples the Lord would have Job take special notice that his providence extendeth both to the feeding or nourishing of all kinds of creatures as also to their births and bringing forth for the preservation of their several kinds So then the providence of God is here magnified in continuing and multiplying several sorts of four footed beasts of the earth and winged fowls of the air some of which being tame are kept by the care of man others being wild and avoiding the presence of man he scarce knowing the nature of them nor having any service by them are perpetuated in their kinds by the only care of God In these four verses there are two things in general about which the Lord holds forth his care of these savage creatures First About the bringing forth of their young ones Secondly About the bringing up of their young ones The bringing forth of their young ones we have in the three first verses of this Chapter the bringing up of their young ones we have in the 4th verse About the bringing forth of their young ones the Text speaks two things First The season of it and secondly The painful manner of it The season of it in the two first Verses Knowest thou the time when the wild Goats of the rock bring forth verse 1. and then of the hinds ver 2. Canst thou number the months that they fulfill The painful manner of bringing forth their young is expressed at the 3d verse They bow down themselves they bring forth their young ones they cast out their sorrows The bringing up and growth of their young ones is given ver 4. Their young ones are in good liking they grow up with corn c. Thus we have the general scope and parts of this context I shall now deal with the particulars Vers 1. Knowest thou the time when the wild Goats of the rock bring forth The first question concerns the wild Goats and the season of their bringing forth Haec sequentia verba per Synecdochen intelligenda sunt pro eo quod est totam administrationem earum obtinere Jun. Knowest thou the time c. These words intend more than a bare naked knowledge of the time they take in the knowledge of the whole disposal or administration of God concerning the wild Goats in their bringing forth Knowest thou the time The word rendred time signifies the opportune time the fit time the appointed time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tempus opportunum seu idoneum knowest thou the time or that time When the
man and made him vile even viler than the dust out of which he was made Thirdly Man is vile with respâ—ct to all those evil consequences and effects of sin which have possessed or are ready to possess First our bodies such are weakness sickness pains and all manner of diseases Secondly our names such are reproach infamie and disgrace Thirdly our estates such are poverty and want Fourthly our persons imprisonment and restraint Fifthly our souls such are blindness and ignorance in our minds stubborness in our wills inordinacy in our affections These consequences of sin as well as sin it self especially those consequences of sin which are themselves sinful as those last mentioned are render us vile From this first Observation take these four inferences First If man be vile in that threefold respect before spoken of he is so in many more then let not any man prize himself much We do not prize vile things without us why then should we much prize our selves who are vile We are very apt to have thoughts of our selves beyond our selves or to think of our selves beyond what is meet Did we remember that we were vile high thoughts of self would soon down and we would cease from our selves as well as from other men saying Wherein are we men to be accounted of Isa 2.22 The best man of meer men hath but a little breath in his nostrils and he hath much sin in his soul wherein then or for what as a natural man is any man to be accounted of Did we know our selves more understandingly we should know our selves less valuingly In which sense Job said Chap. 9.21 Though I were perfect I would not know my soul It is our ignorance who and what we are which causeth us to have high thoughts of our selves as it is our ignorance who and what Christ is which causeth us to have such low thoughts of him and such slow or slight desires after him Joh. 3.10 Secondly As because we are vile we should take heed of prizing our selves much so we should more take heed of being proud of our selves at all Indeed where the former is where any person man or woman sets too high a price upon self it is very hard to abstain from pride in self for pride in self arises from over-prizing of self We first think too well of our selves and then are lifted up in our selves As it is through the power of faith that our hearts are lifted up to God and in God so whensoever our hearts are lifted up in our selves glorying in our own attainments or to our selves gaping after our own ends it proceeds from pride Thirdly See the exceeding goodness of God who hath put honour upon vile man We have made our selves vile and so we should reckon our selves yet the Lord is pleased to esteem his people highly and make them honourable Isa 43.4 Since thou wast precious in my sight thou hast been honourable Job was vile as he confessed in his own sight yet he was precious in Gods sight And thus the Lord estimates all that are godly all that are true believers â—hough vile and of no value in themselves nor in their own sight yet precious they are in his sight Since thou wast precious in my sight thou hast been honourable We are never truly honourable till precious in the sight of God There is a bubble which the world calls honour a wind of fame with which many are much affected and with which some are invested who are not at all precious in the sight of God The best the truest honour ariseth from preciousness in the sight of God they who are esteemed by God are indeed persons of estimation His grace shewed favourably and freely to us his grace working mightily and effectually in us puts a blessed worth upon us though we are vile in our selves and so accounted by the world Fourthly See the goodness of God in this also that though we are vile yet he is pleased to set his heart upon us and to mind us We little mind vile things light things trifles we lightly pass by We are but a light thing a vile thing in our selves yet God not only hath us in his heart but sets his heart upon us Thus spake Job in the lowest ebbe of his outward felicity and he spake it admiringly as well as truly Chap. 7.17 What is man that thou shouldst magnifie and that thou shouldst set thine heart upon him When he saith What is man it is as it he had said Man is but a vile thing yet the Lord is mindful of him yea magnifieth him And though the Lord forbids us to set our hearts or affections on earthly things Col. 3.2 on the best of earthly things all which are comprehended under that one word or title Riches Psal 62.10 And though the reason why he forbids us to set our hearts upon these things is because they aâ—e vile yet he is pleased O infinite goodnesse to set his heart upon us though we are vile and considered as sinful much more vile than they even than the vilest of them We have the like question put again Psal 144.3 Lord what is man that thou takest knowledge of him or the son of man that thou makest account of him What is man 'T is a diminishing question implying that man is a vile thing or a nothing Is it not then a wonderful thing is it not the fruit of rich and free grace that God should take an account or make such an account of man And if God sets his heart upon man who is so vile how should man set his heart upon God who is so infinitely excellent God may be said to descend surely he condescends exceedingly when he sets his heart upon vile man The Lord humbleth himself saith David Psal 113.6 to behold that is to take any notice of or to take into his consideration the things that are in heaven and in the earth how much more doth he descend condescend and humble himself when he sets his heart upon vile man Now doth God set his heart upon vile man which is an humbling to him and shall not vile man set his heart upon the great and glorious God which is not only his duty but his felicity his honour and exaltation Again Job saith I am vile What was Job a godly man sure a holy man by Gods own testimony yet even he speaks at this low rate of himself Behold I am vile Hence note Secondly The better we are the less we esteem our selves and still the better and better we grow the lower are our thoughts of our selves There is no greater argument of height in grace than low thoughts of self Next to faith in Christ self-denial or to deny our selves is the great duty of the Gospel Mat. 16.24 Now as to deny our selves is to be very low in our own eyes so it is one of the highest acts of grace in us and requires not only truth of of grace but
him or have him to be but what he is he is of and from himself Thirdly Observe The majesty and glory of the greatest among men is the gift of God Deck thy self with majesty saith God to Job but Job could not deck himself he could not pâ—t a clothing of majesty and excellency of glory and beauty upon himself All that man hath is received from God and is but a ray from his unconceiveable light As all our spiritual aâ—ray deckings and ornaments are put on us by God Ezek. 16.10 11. I cloathed thee with broidered work I covered thee with silk I decked thee also with ornaments I put a jewel on thy forehead c. So all civil ornaments are put on man by God I girded thee said God of Cyrus Isa 45.5 though thou hast not known me that is I gave thee all thy power and greatness thy honour and dignity though thou tookest no notice of me in doing it nor that I did it Thus it is said of Solomon 1 Chron. 29.25 The Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel And thus spake Daniel to Belshazzar concerning his father Nebuchadnezar Dan. 5.19 And for the majesty that he that is God gave him all Nations People and Languages trembled and feared before him All the majesty and excellency all the glory and beauty of the greatest Monarchs is derived from God Fourthly Observe The majesty and excellency the glory and beauty of man is nothing to Gods Christ saith Mat. 6.29 Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these Solomon was a King in the greatest majesty and excellency glory and beauty of any that ever was in the world yet saith Christ he was not decked like one of these Lillies then how far short did his glory fall of the glory of God! how doth all the glory of the world vanish and disappear at the appearance of the glory of God even as the lustre of the moon stars doth at the rising of the thrice illustrious Sun And as mans glory is nothing to Gods while it lasts or endures so it is nothing to his in the lastingness and duration of it Dominion and majesty are Gods and shall be ascribed to God everlastingly It is said of Ahasuerus Esther 1.4 that he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent Majesty many days even a hundred and fourscore days but the Lord sheweth his excellent Majesty for ever and ever for it abides for ever and if so what is the majesty of man compared with the Lords Isa 40.6 All flesh is grass and the goodliness of it as the flower of the field The majesty and excellency the glory and beauty of man is but the goodliness of flesh or the best of a fleshly earthly state and what is that but the goodliness of a fading flower or of the grass that is cut down and withers yea which sometimes withers before it is cut down as David saith Psal 129.6 7. the grass doth upon the house tops which withereth afore it groweth up wherewith the mower filleth not his hand nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosome Fourthly note The way to lay the creature low is to consider the Majesty of God Why doth the Lord call Job to deck himself with humane majesty and excellency was it not to bring him to a due consideration of his own divine majesty and excellency Job must compare himself with God in his glory that he might fall down convinced that himself had no glory Thus the Lord shewed Job his own meanness and exility by bidding him imitate the divine Majesty and excellency Secondly The Lord calls him further to imitate him if he could in the mighty effects of his power or in his powerful works against proud and wicked men Vers 11. Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath As if he had said let me see now what a man thou art or rather what a God thou art when thou art enflamed with anger Cast abroad That is furiously disperse and scatter thy rage or rages The word signifies a scattering after breaking to pieces Psal 2.9 As a Potters vessel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 notat confractionem cum dispersione 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 indignatio à transeundo vel quod citò transeat Ira furor brevis est when it is broken is scattered abroad so saith the Lord scatter abroad the rage of thy wrath the Hebrew word is The passing of thy wrath Rage makes a speedy passage it hath a swift motion and do thou cast it abroad while 't is stirring and in motion let it not cool cast it abroad hot The word notes a violent hurrying along Scatter abroad the rage Of thy wrath Or as the Hebrew hath it of thy nostrils Raging appears by breathing or in the quick stirring of the nostrils when we breath but why would the Lord have Job shew his rage The answers is do it to the destruction of the proud Behold every one that is proud and abase him Go look upon proud ones in thine anger deal with them as they deserve The word implies more than bare beholding There is a twofold beholding of things or persons First With favour delight and pleasure Psal 33.18 and 34.15 In both places the Lord is represented beholding or casting an eye upon his people with grace and favour for their good and comfort Secondly There is a beholding with anger and displeasure that is the meaning here behold every one that is proud behold them all not only to take notice of them who they are but behold them as I do in wrath and anger Behold Every one that is proud Be they few or many great or small shew thy self against every one that is proud and Abase him Every proud man is as a mountain Go shew thy self like me behold those that are as mountains among men and make them valleys abase them that 's the Lords work and the meaning of his word here as if he had said I have a power that though proud ones are as great mountains yet I can make them as valleys The Lord speaks this again at the beginning of the Vers 12. Look on every one that is proud and bring him low Here is an elegant repetition of the same thing almost in the same words meerly to inforce the matter look on every one that is proud bend thy brows look frowningly upon him as if thou wouldst look him thorough And bring him low The Septuagint say quench him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Superbum extingue Sept. The proud man is all in a flame now saith God behold this proud man and quench him extinguish him put him out Thus the Lord calls Job to express his displeasure in these effects against proud men that he might appear in wrath like him As if the Lord had said I behold the proud man and I abase
time of Behemoths making I made him the same day with thee for all the beasts of the earth were made upon the sixth day the same day in which man was made Fourthly Which I made with thee that is I made him to be with thee I did not make Behemoth as I made Leviathan to play in the Sea but I made him to be with thee on the Land that thou shouldst behold him and take notice of him or that he should be under thy hand yea not only so but contrary to the nature of wilde beasts to love thy company and to desire converse with thee to be guided by thee and in many things to act with a kind of reason and understanding like thee or as thy self and other men do Fifthly Which I made with thee that is for thee I made him for thy use I made him to serve thee Though he be thus great and vast yet he will be thy humble servant There will be occasion afterwards to shew further how serviceable and useful Elephants are to man Sixthly I made him with thee that is I made him as nigh to thee as any of the unreasonable creatures yea nigher to thee than any of the unreasonable creatures for I have made him excel them all as thou excellest him he is above other irrational creatures as thou art above all irrationals He next to Angels and men is the chief of my wayes The word made may import this also and so it is used 1 Sam. 12.6 The Lord advanced the Hebâ—ew is Made Moses and Aaron The Lord hath so made the Elephant that he hath also advanced him above all the beasts of the field I have set him as near the seat of reason as might be and not be rational In all these respects we may understand the Lord saying to Job concerning Behemoth I made him with thee He is thy fellow-creature and how great soever he is he is my creature I made him the same day that I made thee and I made him to abide in the same place with thee or where thy abode is I made him also for thy service and that he might be a meet servant for thee I have made him almost a partaker of reason with thee so far at least a partaker of reason that he will very obsequiously submit to and follow the conduct of thine and though he be the strongest beast on earth yet thou mayest find him acting more according to thy reason than his own force or strength There is yet another interpretation of these words given by Bochartus which favours his opinion that Behemoth is the Hippopotame or River Horse Whom I have made with thee Tecum vel potius juxta te or rather near thee or hard by thee that is in thy neighbour-hood in a Countrey which borders upon thine As if saith he God had said to Job I need not fetch arguments from far to prove how powerful I am seeing I have them at hand For among the beasts which I made in Nilus which is near thy Countrey Arabia how admirable is the Hippopotame And that the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies by or near as well as with he gives many examples Josh 7.2 Judg. 9.6 Judg. 18.3 Judg. 19.11 2 Sam. 6.7 2 Sam. 20.8 which the Reader may peruse and consider Thus the Elephant was made with man But how lives he how feeds he Not like man He eateth grasse as an Oxe From these words also the Authour last mentioned collects an argument for the strengthening of his interpretation The Oxe and Elephant saith he are alike labouring beasts and therefore no wonder if they feed alike or live upon the same kind of food but that the Hippopotame which is an aquatical Animal and abides for the most part in the bottom of Nilus should eat grasse like an Oxe this is strange and matter of wonderment Nor is it for nothing that he is compared to the Oxe whom he resembles not onely in his food but in the bignesse of his body and in the shape of his head and feet whence the Italians call him Bomarin that is the Sea-Oxe Yet these words may very well be applied to the Elephant It being not onely true that his food is grasse but a merciful wonder that it is so For â—â—d this vast creature live upon prey or the spoil of other beasts what havock yea devastation would he make to satisfie his hunger So that these words He eateth grasse as an Oxe may carry this sense As if the Lord had said Though I have made this beast so great and strong yet he is no dangerous no ravenous beast he doth not live by preying upon other beasts by tearing and worrying sheep and Lambs as Lions and Bears and Wolves do this great and mighty creature eats grasse lâ—ke an Oxe Thus God would have Job take notice what way he hath provided for the subsistence of the Elephant He eateth grasse as an Oxe yet not altogether as the Oxe His food is as the food of an Oxe for the matter both eat grasse but he doth not eat in the same manner as an Oxe Why how doth an Oxe eat by licking up the grasse with his tongue into his mouth as he is described Numb 22.4 but the Elephant gathers up the grasse with his trunk and then puts it into his mouth Naturalists give these two reasons why the Elephant cannot eat like the Oxe Ne ore pascatur adminuculo linguae ut boves impedit colli brevitas linguae quoque quae illi animali perexigua est interius posita ita ut eam vix videre possis Decerptam proboscideherbam dentibus quos utrinque quatuor habet commolit Arist l. 2. de Histâ—r Animal c. 5 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pasco First Because of the shortnesse of his Neck Secondly The littlenesse of his Tongue which lies so far within his Mouth that it cannot easily be seen and therefore he crops the grasse with his trunk and putting it into his mouth grindes it with his teeth He eateth grasse like an Oxe He is like the Oxe as to what he feeds upon not as to the way of his feeding So then though the Elephant be so bulky and big-bodied yet by the Lords Ordinaâ—ion he is as harmlesse as a labouring Oxe he will not hurt any beast of the field This phrase Eating like an Oxe is used to set forth the peaceablenesse of his Nature Thus those blessed times are described when the power of the Gospel shall overcome the wrath and enmity which is in the Serpents seed against the seed of the Woman Isa 11.7 The Cow and the Bear shall feed their young ones and the Lion shall eat straw like the Oxe Lions will be quiet that is the spirits of those men who have been like Lions and Bears even they shall eat straw like the Oxe they shall not hurt the Lambs and Sheep of Christs flock and fold
of the tongue in this latter part of the verse is made use of by some as an argument to prove that Leviathan cannot be the Crocodile who as Naturalists write of him hath no tongue his mouth is wide but tongue-less To this objection Beza gives one and Bochartus adds a second answer The former saith it is not strictly affirmed in the Text that Leviathan hath a tongue 't is only denied that he hath a tongue in which a hook or cord may be fastned The latter saith that the Crocodile is not altogether tongue-less but only as we speak in another sense tongue-tied He hath a tongue but 't is an immoveable one cleaving fast to his lower jaw And this Bochartus confirms by so many unquestionable authorities as may easily remove this objection from weakning his assertion Canst thou draw out his tongue with a cord Vers 2. Canst thou put an hook into his nose or bore his jaw thorow with a thorn Constringesnè inserto junco ut piscator minutos pisces Jun. Some expound this verse only as a further illustration of the former in reference to the taking of this fish But rather it is an allusion to the custome of fisher-men who when they have taken fish put a thorne through their nose and hang them up to be seen or for sale The word translated an hook signifies properly a pond or standing water Psal 114.8 and then a bull-rush because bull-rushes grow in standing waters or by pond-banks We take it metaphoricaly for a hook because a hook is like a bull-rush with its head hanging down Isa 58.5 Is this a fast that I have chosen a day for a man to bow down his head as a bull-rush Further to put a hook into the nose signifies these two things in Scripture First To repress the rage or wrath of man And Secondly to divert or turn him aside from his purpose 2 Kings 19.28 Ezek. 19.4 And so in this place the significancy of the phrase may be thus conceived Canst thou O Job abate the fury or stop the course of Leviathan Canst thou put a hook into his nose Or bore his jaw thorow with a thorn And so carry him away with thee Some understand it as an allusion to the ringing of a Bear or Swine Canst thou over-power him and boring his nose put a ring into it as into the snout of a Swine or Bear and so lead or carry him whither thou pleasest as a beast which thou hast tamed and brought to hand These two verses have the same tendency both setting forth the greatness of Leviathan as to the weight and bulk of his body Canst thou draw out Leviathan canst thou put an hook into his nose c. Hence Note The Lord is to be admired and magnified in and for the greatness and vastness of any Creature There are two things about which the Lord is to be magnified in his creatures First In their qualities There are some little very little creatures in whose qualities the Lord is greatly to be magnified The Pismire a poor little thing little bigger than a pins-head hath an admirable wit and fore-cast The Crane the Turtle the Swallow are but small creatures yet they observe or understand their times much better than many men and are not only to be imitated by men in that quality but to be admired for it Secondly Other creatures are to be admired for their quantity or bigness and of this sort Leviathan is chief The reports of the Ancients concerning the bigness of Leviathan Câ—tâ—s 600. pedum longitudinis 360. latitudinis in flumen Arabiae intrasse tradit Plinius l. 32 c. 1. Musculus piscis dux câ—torum oculorum vice fungitur Plin. l. 8. c. 2. are almost beyond belief One reports their bodies as big as four acres of ground that they appear like mountains or small islands in the sea that some being measured have been found six hundred foot in length and three hundred and sixty in breadth And that least they should come in shallow waters or be soundred by coming too near any shoar they have always a little fish called Musculus for their guide or leader which is to them instead of eyes Late Navigators and they who make it their business to follow the Whale-fishing have seen Whales of very vast dimensions and that sometimes they endanger the overthrow of considerable ships which argues their extraordinary strength and greatness Heathens have said that though it cannot be denied but there are many wonderful creatures to be seen upon the land yet the sea is the great store-house of wonders And we may give it in these three things First It is wonderful that in the sea there are such various kinds of fishes It is not imaginable how many sorts of fish the sea affords I once heard a very learned Gentleman and a great Traveller say that being abroad upon publick service and entertaining the Ambassador of another State at his table the feast was wholly of fish and the fish were only shell-fish variously cookt every dish having the shells laid about the verg of it the fish being taken out yet the Ambassador could not give a name to any one of them having never seen their like in any part of the world where he had been Now if a wise knowing man also great a feast could not give a name to any one shell-fish before him what variety of kinds is there in the sea take all together Secondly 'T is wonderful to consider the huge multitude which is of every kind of fish in the sea The kinds are exceeding many and there are innumerable of every kind Thirdly That is wonderful which I am now upon the vastness the greatness of some kinds Not only is Leviathan but several other fishes of the Sea bigger than any beast upon the land Let us consider the greatness of the creatures to lead us into the consideration of the greatness of God How great how mighty is that God who hath made such great such mighty creatures Secondly From these words Canst thou draw up Leviathan with a hook Note Great things cannot be done ordinarily with small means A hook and a line may serve the turn to draw up any small and some great fishes but they will not serve turn to draw up a Leviathan There must be a proportion between the instrument and the work else nothing can be done in a natural way As we need not call for a beetle to kill a fly we may do that with a touch of the finger in which sense David spake 1 Sam. 24.14 Against whom is the King of Israel come forth against a dead dog or a flea As if he had said I wonder thou should'st raise an army against me who have so little strength and intend thee no hurt had I strength as I have had opportunity to do it Now I say as we need not use great means to effect little things so we must use great means to do
Nathan the Prophet did to reprove King David but he told his friends at first word My wrath is kindled against you Though they were good men yet not so dear to God as Job and therefore he dealt in a more fatherly and favourable way with Job than with them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exarsit incensus inflammatus est Inter septem voculas Hebraeorum quae iram significant haec omnium est gravissima Scult they had only hot words My wrath is kindled against you c. I am more than angry As the coals of spiritual love spoken of Cant. 8.6 so the coals of divine wrath are coals of fire which hath a most vehement flame There are seven words in the Hebrew language which signifie anger and this notes the most vehement of them all My wrath is kindled The Latine words Ira and Irasco seem to be derived from it The word is sometimes applied to grief there is a kind of fire in grief Thus 't is said 1 Sam. 15.11 It grieved Samuel and he cryed unto the Lord all night Samuel was vehemently grieved becauâ—e of the ill performance of Saul in his expedition against the Amalakites 'T is also translated to fret Psal 37.8 9. Fret not thy self in any wise to do evil fretting hath its burning My wrath saith the Lord is kindled There is a wrath of God which is not kindled as I may say it is not blown up 't is covered in the ashes of his patience and forbearance but here saith God My wrath is kindled This is spoken by God after the manner of men God feels no change by wrath or anger no impression is made on him by any passion Wrath in God notes only his change of dispensations towards man not any in himself When he acts like a man whose wrath is greatly kindled then 't is said his wrath is kindled as when he acteth like a man that sheweth much love it may be said his love is kindled Further when God saith My wrath is kindled it implieth there is some great provocation given him by man as in the present case Eliphaz and his two friends had done The Lord threatned a sinful Land with brimstone and salt and burning like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and this being executed all Nations shall say wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this Land what meaneth the heat of this great anger Then men shall say because they have forsaken the Covenant of the Lord God of their Fathers c. Deut. 29.23 24 25. The wrath of God is never kindled till blown and that which bloweth it up is mans sin nor doth the ordinary sins of man kindle the wrath of God for then it must be alwayes kindled even against the best of men Doubtless when the Lord said in the Text to Eliphaz My wrath is kindled against thee and thy two friends there was somewhat extraordinary in their sin which kindled it and therefore the Lord directed them an extraordinary way as to circumstances for the querching of it and the making of their peace But here it may be questioned why did the Lord say his wrath was kindled only against Eliphaz and his two friends had he nothing to say against Elihu he had spoken as harshly to Job as any of them yet Elihu was not at all reproved much less was the wrath of God kindled against him I answer 'T is true Elihu spake very hard words of Job yet we may say four things of Elihu which might exempt him from this blame which fell upon those three First He did not speak with nor discover a bitter spirit as they did Secondly Elihu objected not against Job his former life nor charged him as having done wickedly towards man or hypocritically towards God he only condemned him for present miscarriages under his trouble for impatience and unquietness of spirit under the cross Thirdly That which Elihu chiefly objected against Job was the justifying of himself rather than God as he speaks at the beginning of the 32d Chapter not the maintaining of his own innocency nor the justifying of himself before men Indeed Job failed while he insisted so much upon that point that he seemed more careful to clear himself than to justifie God Fourthly When Elihu spake hardly it was more out of a true zeal to defend the justice of God in afflicting him than to tax him with injustice Now because Elihu did not carry it with a bitter spirit and hit the mark much better than his friends though in some things he also shot wide and misunderstood Job therefore the blame fell only upon Jobs three friends and not upon Elihu The Lord said to Eliphaz my wrath is kindled against thee and against thy two friends but his wrath went no further Hence note First The Lord knows how to declare wrath as well as love displeasure as well as favour He hath a store of wrath as well as of love and that is kindled when he is highly displeased Secondly Note Sin causeth kindlings or discoveries of divine wrath Had it not been for sin the Lord had never declared any wrath in the world nothing had gone out from him but kindness and love favours and mercies Wrath is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and against unrighteousness only Rom. 1.18 Unrighteousness kindleth wrath sin is the kindle-coal When we see wrath or displeasure going out we may conclude sin is gone out Moses said to Aaron Numb 16.46 Take a Censer and put fire therein from off the altar and put on incense and go quickly unto the congregation and make an atonement for them for there is wrath gone out from the Lord the plague is begun Now as in this latter part of the chapter Moses shews that wrath was gone out against that people from the Lord so in the former part of it he shews that sin and that a great sin was gone out from that people against the Lord. Thirdly Note The Lord sometimes declareth wrath even against those whom he loveth Wrath may fall upon good men such were these friends of Job All the Elect whilest they remain unconverted or uncalled are called Children of wrath Ephes 2.3 Though they are in the everlasting love of God yet they are children of wrath as to their present condition whilst in a state of nature and unreconciled to God Now as the children of God are children of wrath before their conversion so when any great sin is committed after conversion they are in some sense under wrath and the Lord declareth wrath against them till the breach be healed and their peace sued out It is dangerous continuing for a moment in any sin unrepented of or we not going unto God by Jesus Christ for pardon When once the wrath of God is kindled how far it may burn who knoweth There is no safety under guilt Therefore kiss the son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little blessed
though they had judged him an hypocrite or an ungodly man Thus the Lord sent them to Job that they might eat their words and receive a full conviction of their error Thirdly God would have them go to his servant Job to make them sensible that the favour he intended them was very much for Jobs sake and that they must in part be beholding to Job for it Fourthly The Lord sent them to Job that he might give a high evidence of his grace especially of his charity in forgetting injuries and requiting good for evil His friends had reproached him ten times and grieved his spirit very much yet he must shew how ready he was to forgive them and pray that they might be forgiven Fifthly God would have them to go to Job that they might know that Job was reconciled to them as well as himself Sixthly God would have them go to Job that this might humble them or that they might shew their humility and submission It was a great piece of self-denial for them to go to Job after such a contest and entreat him to speak for them of whom they had spoken so hardly and with whom they had long contended so bitterly Thus the Lord tried both Job and them the Lord tried Jobs charity and their humility We are hardly brought to confess that we have wronged others or have been out and mistaken our selves 'T is no easie matter for a man to acknowledge himself overcome 't is extream hard to become a suppliant to one whom we lately despised and trampled upon All this is his hard meat and not easily digested yet Eliphaz and his two friends must digest all this before they could acceptably obey the Lords command in going to his servant Job Nor was it an easie matter for Job to forget so many affronts and unkindnesses as he had received from his friends ' T is hard for a man that hath been wronged and reproached yea condemned to pass air by and not only embrace his opposers and reproachers but pray and solicite for them Thus the Lord in sending them to Job took tryal both of Job and them The Lord commanding them to supplicate him whom they had offended and expecting that he should make suit and supplication for them who had offended him put both their graces to it and in a most sweet and gracious way at once healed the breach which had been between Job and them as also that between them and himself Who ever took up a difference more sweetly or reunited dissenting brethren thus wisely Go to my servant Job And offer up for your selves a burnt-offering That is those seven bullocks and seven rams Here as was said before was the facrifice but who was the Priest The text saith Offer up for your selves which may intimate that that as they were to offer a sacrifice for themselves so that they themselves offered it But as Interpreters generally so I conceive Job was the Priest who offered it in their behalf We read chap. 1.5 that Job offered sacrifices for his children and there it was shewed that he was the Priest Every sacrifice must be offered by a Priest the people brought the sacrifice unto him to offer for them No sacrifice is acceptable without a Priest Therefore Jesus Christ who was our sacrifice was a Priest also none could offer him but himself he was both sacrifice and Priest and Altar So then whereas the Text saith they were to offer a burnt-offering for themselves the meaning is they were to bring it unto Job and he to offer it for them The Priest offered and Israel offered that is Israel offered by the Priest they brought the matter of the sacrifice to the Priest and the Priest slew and presented the sacrifice to the Lord. It is one thing to offer another thing to slay the sacrifice They offered a sacrifice who brought it or at their cost caused it to be brought to the holy place and this any of the people might do They offer it upon the Altar to the Lord who were especially appointed thereunto These were the Priests only Before the Ceremonial law as given by God to Moses the Priest-hood lay in the eldest or father of the family upon which account Job was a Priest whereas afterwards the Priest-hood was settled in the family of Aaron and it was forbidden to any but one of hs line to offer sacrifice So that when the Lord said to Eliphaz and his two friends Go to my servant Job and offer up for your selves a burnt-offering he directed them to Job Non est hic curiousè captendo distinctio holocausti aboliis victimis cim haec ante legem contigovint Quasi latinè diceres-holocaustabitis holo caustum i.e. in solidum offeratis ut in auras totum abort officietis Merc. as having the honour of Priest-hood in him and so the power of doing it for them or in their behalf Offer up for your selves A burnt-offering That is a sacrifice wholly consumed by fire The Hebrew is very elegant make an ascentton to ascend The whole burnt-offering was the most perfect offering and therefore the Hebrews express it by a word that signifieth the perfect consumption of it in the fire and so the ascention of it to heaven in smoke and vapour as a sweet odour in the nostrils of the Lord as the Apostle speaks Ephes 5.1 and as David Psal 141.2 A part of many sacrifices was saved to feast upon afterwards as the harlot spake Prov. 7.14 I have peace-offerings with me this day have I payed my vows but the burnt-offering was wholly consumed and sent up unto the Lord. Go to my servant Job and offer up for your selves a burnt-offering Hence note First The Lord is very ready to forgive and to be at peace with those that have offended him Though the fire of his wrath be kindled as it is said in the former verse yet he is willing to have it quenched The Prophet Micah chap. 7.18 makes this report of God He retaineth not his anger for ever that is he retaineth it but a little while he is speedily pacified and forgives and sometimes as here he forgives without any higher signification of his anger than a bare rebuke The Lord did not lay the least mulâ—t the least chastning or affliction upon Eliphaz and his two friends though his wrath was kindled against them I grant it is not so always some smart sorely and pay dearly for their errors When the anger of the Lord was kindled against Aaron and Miriam Num. 12.9 for speaking against Moses as those three had against Job he was not then so easily pacified for first it is said in the close of the 9th verse he departed and ver 10. the cloud departed from off the tabernacle here was much displeasure yet not all for it followeth and behold Miriam became leprous white as snow In this case God was angry with two that had spoken against a servant of his and they felt
on earth praying for those that live on earth Job was alive in the body and so were those three men to whom the Lord said My servant Job shall pray for you The Lord having assured Eliphaz and his two friends that Job would pray for them giveth them encouâ—agement to go and desiâ—e his prayers by a gracious promise For saith he him will I accept and threatneth them in case they should forbear in the next words Lest I deal with you according to your folly in that ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right like my servant Job First Of the gracious promise him will I accept The Hebrew saith his face will I lift up Acceptation with God is the lifting up of the face of man then man lifteth up his face with boldness when he is accepted with God When God refused to accept Cain and his offering his countenaâ—ce fell or was cast down Gen. 4.5 Unless the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon us as David prayed Psal 4.6 we cannot with any comfort much less with true confidence lift up our face or countenance unto God That 's the significancy of the word Him will I accept God is no accepter of persons as the word is often used in Scripture Deut. 10.17 The Lord is a great God mighty and terrible which regardeth not persons It is the same phrase in the Hebrew with this in the Text he lifteth not up faces that is the Lord doth not accept persons upon any outward respect First The Lord doth not accept persons for their personableness as I may say the Lord doth not delight in any mans legs his delight is in them that fear him Psal 147.10 11. he doth not accept men for their goodly stature as he told Samuel when he would needs have poured the oile upon the first-born of the Sons of Jesse 1 Sam. 16.7 Look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature because I have refused him for the Lord seeth not as man seeth for man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart 'T is the beauty of holiness and integrity in the heart not the beauty of fairness upon the face with which God is taken 't is a lowly mind not a high stature which God accepts Secondly The Lord is no accepter of persons as to the nation or country where they were born or live Thus the Apostle Peter spake Acts 10.35 I perceive that God is no respecter of persons but in every Nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him God doth not prefer Jews before Gentiles Barbarians or Scythians that a man had his birth in this or that Nation neither helps nor hinders acceptation with God Thirdly The Lord accepteth no mans person for his riches Prov. 11.4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath No mans person is acceptable to God for his purse or his penny no not at all Fouâ—thly The Lord â—ccepteth no mans person for his worldly greatness honour and dignity He poureth contempt upon Princes Psal 107.40 The day of the Lord is against the hills and mountains Isa 2.14 The great God regardeth not any man meerly for greatness the Lord accepts no mans person upon these or any such like accounts He only accepts the persons of those that fear him and do his will Suscipit faciem Deus quando precantem câ—audit The Lords acceptance of any person in the sense of this promise concerning Job is First To shew favour and manifest affection to him Secondly To honour aâ—d highly esteem him Thirdly Which is here specially intended to answer his prayers and grant his requests not only for himself but for others When a person is once accepted his prayers shall not be denied nor suffer a repulse The Lord accepteth persons as a King the persons of those loyal Subjects who come to intreat his favour and pardon for those that have offended him and rebelled against him he grants their suit and treats them fairly In this sense the Lord maketh promise to Eliphaz and his two friends that he will accept Job Hence Observe First It is a very high favour and priviledge to be accepted of God Him will I accept saith the Lord of Job This was a favour beyond all the favours that follow after in the close of the book about the doubling of his estate If Jacob Gen 32.20 was so taken with a hope of acceptance by his brother Esau Peradventure he will accept me If when he was accepted by Esau he said chap. 33.10 I have seen thy face as though I had seen the face of God and thou wast pleased with me Then how much more should we rejoyce in this assurance that God hath accepted of us and that he is pleased with us If the Apostle Rom. 15.3 prayed so earnestly and desired others to strive with him in prayer to God that his service which he had for Jerusalem might be accepted of the Saints then how much more should we pray that our services may be accepted of God and rejoyce when they are accepted The Apostle made it his chief work to get acceptation with God 2 Cor. 5.9 Wherefore we labour that whether present or absent that is whether living or dying we may be accepted with him we are ambitious of divine acceptation The word which we translate labour noteth a labouring after honour which ambitious men labour much after implying that to be accepted with the Lord is a very high honour indeed the highest honour There is a two-fold acceptation First Of our persons Secondly Of our services The former is the ground of the latter and Jesus Christ is the foundation of both Ephes 1.6 He through glorious grace hath made us accepted in the beloved Jesus Christ is so dearly beloved of the father that he is called The Beloved as if only beloved The acceptation of our services is often promised in Scripture as a high favouâ— Exod. 28.38 Ezek. 20.40 41. Isa 56.7 This Moses prayed for in the behalf of the Tribe of Levy which Tribe was appointed to offer sacrifice and to pray for the people Deut. 33.11 Bless Lord his substance and accept the work of his hands What was the work of Levies hands it was to offer sacrifice to which prayer and intercession was joyned That Levi who had the priest-hoâ—d fixed in the family of Aaron should be accepted in the work of his hands was a blessing not only to himself but to many more This David prayed earnestly for Psal 19.14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my redeemer He put up a like prayer Psal 119.108 Accept I beseech thee the free-will-offerings of my mouth O Lord. This was the prayer of Araunah for David 2 Sam. 24.23 The Lord thy God accept thee So great a priviledge it is for our persons and services to be accepted with the Lord