everlasting foundation Wee finde not the Copulative word is expressed in the Hebrew there 't is onely but the righteous an Everlasting foundation So that I should rather read it thus But the righteous have an everlasting foundation wicked men seeme to have but the righteous man indeed hath an Everlasting foundation There is no earthly foundation everlasting For all earthly things passe away and are fo farre from lasting for ever that they last but as it were for a little for a moment What then is this everlasting foundation It is a foundation layd in heavenly things The foundation which is layd in things above shall abide The things which are not seene and they onely are eternal 2 Cor. 4.18 but the strongest foundation layd in things below endures but for a season The things which are seene are temporal as the Apostle speakes in the same place Such foundations are soone overflowne with a flood As will appeare yet further in the next observation Which take thus The flood and storme of Gods anger will overflow all the foundations the strongest foundations of wicked men Their riches their power their wisdome their Councels whatsoever they have imagined layd and made for a foundation to themselves eyther of honour or safety shall be overflowne and swept quite away yea all their refuges layd together will prove but a refuge of lyes Isa 28.17 Judgement also will I sayth the Lord lay to the line and righteousnes to the plummet and the hayle shall sweepe away the refuge of lyes and the waters shall overflow the hiding place That is those places wherein they thought to hide secure themselves against the overflowing scourge A wicked man is in greatest danger when he thinkes himselfe in greatest safety and then most ready to fall when he sayth in his owne heart or boasteth it out to others that he is upon a sure foundation For whatsoever opinion he hath of it yet the truth is his foundation is but sand and which makes his case more miserable though he be told so and others have found it so yet he will not beleeve it While as the Prophet speakes Isa 44.20 He feedeth of ashes a deceaved heart hath turned him aside that be cannot deliver his soule nor say is there not a lye or as the former Scripture hath it a refuge of lyes in my right hand Only the righteous is or hath as Solomon speakes an everlasting foundation A righteous man hath two foundations which shall never be shaken much lesse overthrowne who so are setled on those foundations may be as confident as confidence it selfe The first of these two foundations is Gods Eternall Decree his Decree of Election that 's an unmoveable foundation and that is the foundation upon which beleevers build their hopes The Apostle 2 Tim. 2.19 20. is proving that even in the house of God that is among the outward professors of the name of God there are of all sorts vessells of gold and silver vessells also of wood and of Earth Some to honour and some to dishonour and when he had said of Himeneus and Philetus that they had erred concerning the truth saying that the resurrection is past already and so had overthrowne the faith of some vers 18. Hee presently adds What though it be thus what though some men have fallen from their foundation yet the foundation of God standeth sure having this Seale The Lord knoweth who are his vers 19. Where we have first the foundation of God namely his decree of Election Secondly the Seale or assurance of it as to him even his owne certain knowledge of the Elect The Lord knoweth who are his So that while hypocrites or meere verbal formal professors back-slide and Apostatize from the faith yet the Elect are safe and stand fast in the purpose of God and while many discover themselves to be vessels of dishonour in the house of God wood and Earth of base and britle materials yet Saints indeed who are vessels of honour made of purest metal of Gold and Silver these shall abide for ever He that is once a vessel of honour shall alwayes be so For the foundation of God standeth sure having this Seale The Lord knoweth who are his Secondly As there is this more hidden foundation upon which Saints are sure and which no flood can overflow so there is another sure foundation and that is Jesus Christ upon which Saints are built and therefore the holy Prophet having discovered that refuge of lyes which he threatens should be swept away by the overflowing scourge subjoynes by way of Opposition in the next verse Isa 28.16 Therefore thus sayth the Lord God Behold I lay in Sion for a foundation a stone a tryed stone a precious corner stone a sure foundation and he that beleeveth shall not make hast Whom the Prophet means by this sure foundation the Apostle tells us expressely and by name 1 Cor. 3.11 Other foundation can no man lay then that which is laid which is Jesus Christ and they that are built on him the living Rock as all Beleevers are have eternal life and shall never perish This Christ himselfe teacheth us Matth. 7.24 25. Who soever beareth these sayings of mine and doth them I will liken him to a wise man that built his house upon a Rock And what 's the Rock that these wife men build upon This rock is Jesus Christ hee is the rock of Ages Hee fayles not nor can they fall who are in him as it followeth Then the raine descended the floods came the winds blew and beat upon the house and it fell not for it was founded on a rock Saints are lively stones and they comming to Christ by faith who is a living stone dissalowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious are built up a spirituall house 1 Pet. 2.4 5. If this house should fall Christ must fall too for though Christ and this house are distinguished yet they are not divided Christ and this house are one So then though the floods of angry men of enraged Devils beate upon it yet they shall returne foaming out their owne shame when they have done their worst they shall but wash this house leaving it somewhat more cleane but no whit unsetled This is the glory and priviledge of Beleevers that while the strongest foundations of the Earth are overflowne with a flood They have a twofold foundation That of Election in the Love of God and that of Redemption in the bloud of Christ which cannot be overflowne by any the most violent and impetuous flood So then ungodly men are miserable when they appeare most happy and at their best estate are altogether vanity for eyther their estate hath no foundation or but such a foundation as cannot stand and that is as bad or rather worse then none at all It is better to have no appearance of strength then to have nothing but an appearance of it Further may we not from the opposite state of
hides his face he will never see And againe Psal 144.7 8 11. Send thy hand from above rid me and deliver me out of great waters from the hands of strange children whose mouth speaketh vanity and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood If the mouth speaketh vanity the hand is full of falsehood we may even feele deceite in their hands whose mouthes speake any kinde of vanity but especially this which is the vainest vanity of all How doth God know or surely God doth not know Such the Psalmist rebukes Psal 94.4 5.7 How long shall they utter and speake hard things What things were those The next words shew us They breake in peeces thy people c. yet they say the Lord shall not see c. understand ye brutish among the people he that formed the eye shall he not see There is no greater argument of brutishnes and ignorance then to question the knowledge of God or to say How doth God know And which is the same in other words can he judge through the dark cloud As if Job had further argued thus I am safe enough from the knowledge of God for as he is high above me so there are dark clouds between him and me Can he judge through the dark cloud My opinion is he cannot For knowledge goeth before judgement Si non novit ergo nec judicare potest ad rectū enim judicium requiritur cognitio causae He that knoweth not certainly can never judge rightly Justice is pictured blind in reference to persons but not in reference to things or causes Justice must take no notice of this or that man whether he be great or little high or low a neere friend or a stranger Justice is blinde as to all these considerations and knoweth no man but Justice must know every mans case and cause unlesse man know that how can be judge and if God know not that how can he judge He must have light to see what is done before he passe Sentence upon what is done therefore Can he judge through the darke cloud Surely he cannot Thus the Atheist concludeth indeed and thus Eliphaz represents Job concluding in his owne heart there is not onely a great distance between God and me not onely is he in the height of heaven and I below on earth but there are many gloomy clouds between him and me As he is high above me so there are such impediments in the way that he cannot see me The Vulgar reads Et quasi per caliginum judicat Vulg. He judgeth as through darknes Now the best of Saints see God through a Glasse darkly or in a ridle 1 Cor. 13.12 And secure sinners thinke that God seeth them onely through a cloud darkly or as Eliphaz speaketh through a dark cloud he knoweth not clearly but dimly To judge through a cloud is to judge of things confusedly not distinctly by guesse or conjecturally not exactly or face to face This is all the sight which an evill heart alloweth God if he allow him any concerning his wayes and actions They who doe things which cannot abide the light are willing to beleeve that all they doe is in the darke Theirs are works of moral darknes and therefore they please themselves with thinking that their works are hid eyther in natural or artificiall darkness It is sayd of the Lord in Scripture Psal 97.2 Clouds and darknes are round about him while judgement and righteousnesse are the habitation of his throne but these imagine that God cannot proceed in judgement and righteousnesse because clouds and darkness are round about him It is sayd 1 King 8.10 11 12. The cloud filled the house of the Lord so that the Priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. Then spake Solomon the Lord said that he will dwell in the thick darkness Reade Exod. 20.21 Deut. 5.22 Psal 18.11 God is light saith the Apostle John 1 Ep 1. and he dwelleth in light which no man can approach unto 1 Tim. 6.16 How then can he be said to dwell in thick darknes I answer those Scriptures which say that God dwells in darknes that clouds and darknesse are round about him teach us that God and his wayes are much hid from us we are not able to look up to him or see clearely what he doth much lesse can we see what his counsells are The clouds and darknesse which are about him doe not hinder his sight of us but our sight of him Our darknes is no darknes to him but his darknes yea his light is darknes to us Againe God is sayd to dwel in a cloud to reprove our boldnes and curiosity who are too apt to pry into what is not to be knowne and to neglect our duty in what we know or to neglect the knowledge of our duty God hath some reserves in counsells some of his providences are wrapt up in clouds Hee will be trusted and honored in what he is not seene or knowne Not to know these things is indeed our nescience but not our ignorance and not to seeke after the knowledg of these things is our duty not our sloath Thus God who dwels in light dwels also in a cloud for he dwells in light that no man can no nor ought to approach unto Wee may come neere his light by faith but wee cannot come neere his light by knowledge There is such an infinite such an overcomming light in God that it is a darknes to us the most Eagle-like eyes of a humane understanding are not onely dazzel'd but quite blinded with his brightness Now as no man can judge through this light of God so some men are ready to say and thus Eliphaz brings in Job saying that God cannot judge through dark clouds through clouds and darknes Nor doth Eliphaz bring in Job saying thus only by way of doubt or question but by way of averrement and resolution in the next verse Vers 14. Thick clouds are a covering to him that he seeth it not This verse is but an explication of the 13th Can he see through the dark cloud There he puts the question here he gives a peremptory answer he cannot certainly for Thick clouds are a covering to him that he cannot see The Hebrew for thick clouds is but one word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nubes dictae sunt a densitate a radice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 densum esse q d. sicut nos latet deus ita deum latent nostra coelestia illi tantum patent which in the roote signifies Thickness or to be thicke Some clouds have a kinde of thinnes in them and are as it were transparent Others are more grosse and opacous quite hindering and intercepting our sight of all that is beyond them with these saith Eliphaz thou O Job vainely conceitest that the sight of God also is intercepted so that as we cannot see God so God cannot see us A vayle
feare Gladnes faith and glorying which is faith triumphant are peculiar to the upright when the arrow of God wounds the wicked Wee have this double effect againe exprest upon the same occasion Psal 107.42 He powreth contempt upon Princes and causeth them to wander in the wildernesse where there is no way but he sets the poore oh high the righteous shall it and rejoyce What shall they see not only the Godly poore set on high but ungodly Princes filled with contempt that 's part of the spectacle which the righteous shall behold and beholding rejoyce yet this is not all for it follows And all iniquity shall stop her mouth The abstract is put for the concrete iniquity for men of iniquity And so the meaning is men of iniquity or wicked men shall stop their mouths their mouths shall be stopt With shame and feare they shall have nothing to say when the Lord doth this They shall not mutter a word against the workes of God but as Hannah speakes in her Song 1 Sam. 2.9 shall be silent in darknes A like report rayseth the hearts of the people of God into a holy merriment Psal 97.8 Sion heard and was glad the daughters of Judah rejoyced What was the matter what good newes came to Judah what to Sion the Text resolves us Because of thy judgements O Lord The answer is not because of thy mercies or because of thy goodnes O Lord but because of thy judgements and those were dreadfull ones ver 3. A fire goeth before him and burneth up his enemies round about Confounded be all they that serve graven Images c. ver 7. Sion heard of it and was glad Once more Psal 58.10 The righteous shall rejoyce when he seeth the vengeance he shall wash his feete in the bloud of the ungodly Not that the righteous delight in bloud or proudly insult over the worst of enemies The Psalmist doth only in hyperbolical straines of Eloquence borrowed from the language of triumphant conquerers expresse a compleate and glorious victory The stile is of the same signification with that Psal 68.23 That thy foote may be dipped in the bloud of thine enemies and the tongue of the doggs in the same When so much bloud is shed that the foote may be dipt and washed in it that doggs may lap it up like water this argues a great destruction and when the wicked are thus destroyed the righteous shall rejoyce But here it may be queried What matter of joy is this why should the righteous rejoyce in the sorrowes of the wicked is it not alike sinful to be troubled at the joyes and to rejoyce at the troubles of our brethren The light of nature condemns rejoycing over those who are in misery and we have an expresse Scripture against it Pro. 24.17 Rejoyce not when thine enemy falleth let not thy heart be glad when he stumbleth And David puts it among the sins of his enemies Psal 35.15 In my adversity they rejoyced And he professed ver 13. that when they were sicke his cloathing was sacke cloath and that he humbled his soule with fasting David was so farre from rejoycing when his enemies were ruined or dead that he mourned when they were but sicke and would not eate when they could not And as Davids holy practice denyed it so doth Solomons divine precept Rejoyce not when thine enemy falleth How then shall wee reconcile these Texts I answer there may be a rejoycing at the afflictions and troubles of others which is not onely unbecoming and unseemely for the righteous but very sinfull As First To rejoyce and be glad meerely because an enemy is fallen into misery is both unseemly and sinfull And so we are to understand Solomons Proverbe Rejoyce not when thine enemy falleth Some understand this of falling into sinne Hee makes himselfe a sinner indeed who rejoyceth because another hath sinned He that rejoyceth because another hath sinned rejoyceth upon the matter because God is dishonoured Such joy is a kinde of thanksgiving for Satans victory But as to rejoyce because another falls into sin is the worst fall into sinne so to rejoyce meerely because an enemy falls into misery is worse then our owne falling into misery He shewes that he hath not the heart of a man in him who is glad at the misery of any man And he who rejoyceth thus when his enemy falleth doth himselfe fall much worse The ruine and downfall of an enemy suppose him the vilest enemy considered in it selfe is meate and drinke to none but revengefull and envious spirits David was much troubled and chargeth it as an extreame peece of folly upon himselfe Because he was envious at the foolish when he saw the prosperity of the wicked Psal 73.3 Now it is an issue flowing from the same principle purely to envy the prosperity and purely to rejoyce in the adversity of the wicked Nero was justly reckoned a monster among men who could sing when himselfe had set Rome a fire And they have some-what of a Neronian spirit in them who can sing when they see their enemies consuming in the fire God delights not in the misery of man as it is misery upon man nor doe they who are taught of God Secondly As to rejoyce or be glad at the destruction of enemies meerely because they are destroyed so to rejoyce upon private ends or respects because they being taken out of the way and removed out of the world we hope to have more scope and roome in the world for our selves or because we hope to step into their places to fit downe in their seates to possesse our selves of their lands and riches to fill our selves with their spoyles upon this account to rejoyce when wicked men fall when the Lord powres out contempt upon Princes because I say we hope to be gainers by it is alltogether uncomely for the righteous Let the righteous take heed to themselves that they be not found thus rejoycing in the calamities of the wicked They who doe so are eyther but pretenders to godliness men who are onely of the faction of the righteous for though they who are righteous indeed are farre from a faction yes there are a sorâ— of men who professe righteousnesse as if it were nothing but a faction now I say they who thus rejoyce are but eyther of the faction of the righteous while they are really of the number of the wicked or if they are really righteous who doe so and I confesse that a righteous man may doe so David which was acting the counter-part envied their prosperity and by the same reason any godly man may be acted out in joy at their adversity but now I say if they who are really righteous doe so we must conclude them under a sore temptation and they will at last conclude of themselves as David did in the counter-case Psal 73.22 so foolish have we been and ignorant even as a beast before thee You will say then how may or doe the righteous rejoyce
he is a God eyther he is talking c. Thus Hierusalem is expressed Isa 37.22 when Senacherib sent up that proud threatning message the Lord sent a comfortable message to his people by Isaiah the Prophet Thus saith the Lord God of Israel whereas thou hast prayed to me against Senacherib the king of Assyria this is the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning him the virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorne the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee The daughter of Zion and the daughter of Jerusalem are but one and the same shee was called a virgin not as some have conceived because she was never taken or forced by any enemy nor was she so called because he had preserved her selfe pure and chast in the worship of the true God For she had her faylings and Idolatrous dalliances before that day but she was so called because of that speciall care which God had of her to protect and save her against the insultations of the enemy then ready to assault her even as a virgin is protected from violence in her fathers house And the Prophet to assure them that it should be so speakes of the ruine of Senacheribs Army and Jerusalems laughter as accomplisht and come to passe already The virgin daughter c. hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorne and shaken her head at thee What God saith shall be done is as good as done already The Assyrians were yet in their Jollity laughing at Jerusalem and promising themselves the spoyle of the people of God yet saith the Lord Jerusalem hath laughed thee to scorne that is assuredly she shall And as the people of God doe sometimes formally and explicitly laugh at the downfall and whitherings of the wicked so they alwayes virtually and secretly laugh them to scorne even when they stand and flourish in their greenenes and prosperity For while the Godly are not daunted with the power and splendour while they are not terrified with the threats and high lookes of the wicked but in the singlenes and simplicity of their hearts keepe close to God his wayes and truths even this though they use the duest respect to them in regard of their authority both in word and gesture is a laughing them to scorne For this is as a thorne in the sides of evill men and as a pricke in their eyes when they see they will not stoope to their greatnes in any sinfull complyance with their commands This is a truth but the former is the truth intended in this Text. Hence note That wicked men are not onely miserable but ridiculous They are the laughter of the innocent upon more accounts then one First because they doe such childish and ridiculous things such things as can never reach the ends they desire and purpose they are justly laughed at whose counsells and courses are unsuitable much more when contrary to their designes Secondly Wicked men become ridiculous while the Lord frustrates their wisest counsels and blasts those hopes which were bottom'd upon the most probable principles and foundations while he takes them in their own craft and entraps them in the snare which they layd for others Thirdly While he over-rules all that they plot or act to serve his owne ends and fullfill his owne holy counsels Hence the enemies of God are said to pine away this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feete he doth not say that they shall all be slaine but their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feete and their eyes shall consume away in their holes and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth Zech. 14.12 which as some interpret of their bodily languishment that they shall live dying continually or that their life shall be a continuall death so all interpret the cause of this consumption to arise from vexation of spirit because they shall see themselves scorn'd and laughed at or that they are become ridiculous to all the world but chiefly to Jerusalem the Church and people of God whom they shall behold in good condition notwithstanding all the opposition which they have made against them which Eliphaz also clearely expresseth in the next words Vers 20. Whereas our substance is not cut downe but the remnant of them the fire consumes There are divers readings and renderings of this verse first some with an affirmative interrogation is not their substance cut downe that is it is cut downe And then this verse is a continuation of the former discourse concerning the utter extirpation of the wicked The righteous are glad they laugh them to scorne is not their substance cut downe and doth not the fire consume the remnant of them As if Eliphaz had said Whatsoever they had of any substance or moment is cut downe and if possibly there be any small inconsiderable remainder of them fire that is some devouring Judgement will meete with it and make an utter end of it Innocens subsarnabit eos quia non fuit succisa substantia nostâ—a c. q. d. ut qui se res suas salvas illos autem penitùs igne illo divino videant jure absumptos Bez Secondly Another understands this 20 â—h verse as a reason of the former the righteous are glad when the wicked fall the innocent shall laugh them to scorne because our substance was not cut downe as if he had sayd our safety will be matter as of praise to God who hath preserved us so of holy scorne and insultation over ungodly men who longed to see our destruction and sayd in their hearts that surely our day was not onely comming but hastning whereas indeed we see the day come upon them which burneth as an oven and themselves as stubble Wicked men are for the most part doubly disappointed first by their owne fall when they looked to stand secondly by the standing of the righteous when they looke yea and long for their fall This double disappointment doth at once double their sorrow and the joy of the Innocent who laugh them to scorne because their owne substance is not cut downe but the remnant of them the fire consumeth Innocens subsannabiteos dicens etsi non est succisa substantia nostra tamen excellentiam illorum consumpsit ignis Pâ—sc There is a third translation which makes these words the forme in which the innocent expresse their laughter at the wicked When The innocent laugh them to scorne they will thus bespeake them Whereas or Although our substance is not cut downe yet the remnant of them or the best the excellency of them the fire hath consumed There is a fourth reading which makes the second part of the Chapter begin with this verse For hitherto Eliphaz hath been describing the sinfulnesse of wicked men and the wrath of God upon them for their wickednes
may stand before him As he knows what strength such need so he gives them the strengâ—h they need He will put strength in me maybe the confidence of any soule in Jobs case We are not able to stand before God under the burden of our corruptions nor yet are we able to walke before him under the burden of our duties unlesse himselfe be pleased to administer strength to us And surely if we have cause even to glory in our infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon us 2 Cor. 12.9 then much more have we cause to glory in the power of Christ when we finde so many infirmities resting in us The Prophet saw this fully while he said Isa 45.24 Surely shall one say in the Lord have I righteousnesse and strength even to him shall men come in the Lord shall all the seed of Israell be justified and shall glory That we have strength in and from the Lord is to us a ground of holy Glorying as wel as that we have righteousnesse in him For though to be justified be a higher favour then to be strengthned yet unlesse we were strengthned as we could not take in the comfort of our Justification freely so neyther could we give God the glory of it so fully as we ought And as it is the joy of beleevers that God will put strength into them when they are humbled under the greatest weaknesses so that their strength is still in him For God doth not so put it into us as to put that strength out of himselfe The strength which God puts into us is a strength still residing in himselfe The strength which we have received as well as that which we have not yet received is still in the hand of God And from his hand we shall receive renewalls of strength for all our needs and purposes Take five instances in speciall First A Believer shall receive strength to doe or an acting power from Christ Though Christ hath done all for us yet we have much to doe for Christ and such is the mystery of Godlinesse that the same Christ who hath done all for us will also doe all in us Christ layeth a yoak upon the necks of his people and a burden upon their shoulders but he puts power and strength into their shoulders to carry his yoak and beare his burden and that 's the reason why he calls his yoake easie and his burthen light it is not so considered in it selfe as if we could make light worke of the worke of Christ but his burden is light because he hath promised to give his at least a sufficient strength to bear it A heavy burthen is not grievous to equal strength it is light to a superior or greater strength As all our sins the least whereof is a burden too heavy for us to beare are light to us through the righteousnesse of Christ so all the commandements of God the least of which is too hard for us alone are light to us through the strength of Christ This was the Apostle Pauls profession I can doe all things through Christ that strengtheneth me Phil. 4.13 A little is too much for us all is but little for Christ as we have the anointing of the Spirit whereby we know all things 1 Joh. 2.20 so we have the strengthening of the Spirit whereby we doe all things It is a high priviledge that Saints who receive their worke from heaven receive their strength from heaven too And that as God puts his commands upon them so he puts this power into them The Lord is so farre from requiring worke of us without giving us wages for what we have done that he doth not require worke of us without giving us strength to doe it When we looke upon our reward it might seeme that we have done all our selves but when we looke upon his assistance it is as evident that we have done nothing of our selves The Lord is not like those Aegyptian task-masters who called for brick but would not give straw no the Lord who calls for brick doth not onely give us straw but strength even hands and hearts to doe our worke Gospel-grace or new-Covenant-grace promiseth us strength to doe what we are commanded to doe Secondly The Lord gives us as strength to doe so to suffer strength to beare his crosse as well as his yoake so the Apostle comforts the Corinthians 1 Ep 10.13 No temptation that is no affliction for as every temptation hath trouble in it and is therefore justly called an affliction so every affliction hath a tryall in it and is therefore justly called a temptation in which sence the Apostle there saith no temptation hath taken hold of you but that which is common to man but God is faithfull that will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able but with the temptation will make a way of escape that ye may be able to beare it As if he had sayd be not afrayd that you shall be oppressed with the burden of any affliction or temptation which ye endure in my cause or for my name sake for ye shall receive an ability commensarable to your affliction whatsoever it is you shall be supported in those afflictions which are immediately from the hand of God much more in those which are from the hand of man even in the extreamest and hottest persecutions Paul had experience of this 2 Tim. 4.17 There he tells a sad story of the fearefullnesse if not of the unfaithfullnes of men even of good men to him in an evill day and he tells as comfortable a story of the presence and faithfullnesse of God to him in an evill day even in the worst and blackest day that this world could lowre upon him in At my first answer no man stood with me that is no man appeared to strengthen to comfort me all men forsooke me I pray God it be not laid to their charge What then was he left of all because left of all men no such matter All men left him but God who is but one One-most God and who alone is more then all men abode by him as it followes in the Text notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthned me that by me the preaching might be fully knowne and that all the Gentiles might heare and I was delivered out of the mouth of the Lyon that is out of the danger of my deadly persecuters even out of the danger of Nero himselfe by whose power so many had been destroyed The Lord alwayes stands by his in time of affliction and tryall eyther to strengthen them in it or to strengthen them out of it that is to escape it eyther to deliver them from the danger of it or to encourage them in the dangers of it Thirdly The Lord puts strength into his people to mortifie corruption he gives us not onely power against but power over our lusts Fleshly lusts and corruptions are strong and if we have not strength from
lesse then what he spake before for having sayd I did not decline what need he say I did not apostatize for he that doth not so much as decline is farre from apostatising I answer that in this negative there is that ordinary figure extenuation speaking lesse then is intended or intending more then is expressed and so not to goe backe from is to goe forward in or to proceed on in the commandements of God and so the sense riseth higher I have kept his way and have not declined Non recedere a mandatis est illa opere complere tenere non dimittere de manu aut actione Pined neither have I gone backe from his commandement I have kept close to it without the least willing declension I have not layd the commandement out of my hand much lesse have I put it out of my heart And then we are to interpret this negative I have not gone backe by this affirmative I have stood to thy commandements constantly and resolvedly The Scripture is full of such negatives Thus when the Lord makes that promise Joel 2.26 My people shall never be ashamed It seemes to be but a small matter that the people of God shall not be ashamed but the meaning is they shall be highly honoured they shall have a name and reputation in the world they shall make their boast in of me their God all the day long So when the Apostle gives that negative counsel 1 Thes 5.18 Despise not prophesie his purpose is to exhort the Thessalonians and us in them to the readiest embraces and highest estimations of it Not to despise is to honour prophesie that is the preaching of the word in a due exposition and application of it to exhortation and edification and comfort So then there is much more in these words I have not gone backe from the commandement then thus I have not turned or apostatized from the commandement I have not throwne up nor abjured my profession Jobs meaning is I have kept strictly and firmely to it I have asserted it and affirmed it and will maintaine it to the end as I have hitherto lived so I am purposed to dye in the obedience of it I have not gone backe from the commandement of his lips We finde the word used in such a signification Prov. 17.13 Who so rewardeth evill for good evill shall not depart from his house Semper familiariter in illius domo versabitur or evill shall not goe backe from his house As evill shall come so evill shall not goe backe he shall not be able to dismisse it when it cometh evill shall keepe close to his house dwell and abide in his house or hang upon him like an unwelcome guest he shall not get it out for ever Againe Isa 54.10 The mountaines shall depart and the hills shall be removed but my kindnesse shall not depart from thee neither shall the Covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee Thus the Lord assures his people of the grace and good of the new Covenant The mountaines shall depart that is though the mountaines depart or let them depart and the hills remove yet my kindnes shall not depart or it shall not goe back from you that is my kindnesse shall imbrace you sticke close to you and abide with you for ever so here I have not gone backe that is I have imbraced and stuck to the commandement of his lips We also finde such a sense of the word Mich. 2.3 Therefore thus saith the Lord Behold against this family doe I devise an evill from which you shall not remove or withdraw your neckes that is the evill which I devise against you shall remaine upon you and stick by you ye shall not get this yoake off your neckes nor your neckes out of this collar it shall be an abiding evill which will not goe backe as ye have not gone backe from the evill of sin so ye shall not goe backe from the evill of punishment it will not remove from you nor shall ye remove from it So here I have not gone backe or removed my necke from the commandement of God I have not stirred a foote from it Yet further that which before he called the way of God here he calls the commandement of his lips lips are the instruments of speech God is a spirit and hath no corporeall parts the Scripture speakes thus of God after the manner of men because men speake with their lips their lips being a principall instrument of speech therefore the commandement which God hath made knowne and spoken in a way peculiar to himselfe is called the commandement of his lips Praeceptum labiorum i. e. praeceptum labijs ejus pronounciatum Genitivus adjūcti vel efficientis Pisc Mr Broughton translates strictly to the letter His lips lawes I cast not off And when Job calleth the commandements of God the commandements of his lips it hath a great force in it to oblige man to reverence and obey them They are not commandements which he hath published by others onely he hath also published them himselfe They are the commandements of his lips that is those commandements which as he made and others speake in his name so he hath spoken them too Emphaticus est iste Hebraismus ad majorē praeceptorū dei commendationē reverentiam observantiam sc quod ab ipso dei ore prolata Bold He is both the Author and the publisher of them Exod. 20.1 And God spake all these words and sayd David Psal 66.13 14. puts that imphatically upon his holy vowes to shew how he was engaged to performe them I will goe into thy house with burnt offerings and I will pay thee my vowes that my lips have uttered and my mouth hath spoken when I was in trouble As if he had said my vowes are not onely such as I have conceaved in my heart and resolved in my owne thoughts but I have spoken them out and declared them openly therefore it lyes upon me not onely in conscience but in honour to pay and performe them If we must doe what our lips have uttered much more wust we doe what God hath uttered with his lips Lip-labour will not answer those commandements which are the labour of Gods lips Therefore saith Job I have not turned back from the commandement of his lips Hence Observe First A godly mans way is forward he doth not turne backe He doth not decline either to the right hand or to the left much lesse doth he goe backe he doth not onely stay where he was but he is better then he was his course is onward and forward Job 17.9 The righteous shall hold on his way It is bad enough not to goe forward but to goe backward is farre worse If any draw backe saith God Heb. 10.38 my soule shall have no pleasure in them And what pleasure can their soules take in whom the soule of God takes no pleasure
Nineveh should be over-throwne yet when they turned from what they had done God turned from what he sayd he would doe And did he not change his mind in reference to his promise to Zion as there in reference to his threatning against Nineveh The promise to Zion runs in this tenour This is my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it Psal 132 14. Yet the Lord removed out of Zion he departed from Jerusalem and gave it into the enemies hands How many miseries and captivities did that people undergoe long agoe and how are they scattered from Jerusalem into all Lands unto this very day How then shall we reconcile the Text and poynt in hand with these quoted Scriptures and many others of a like interpretation How is God unchangable or in one minde when we read of his repenting what he had done of his saying what he would doe and yet not doing what he had said both in his promises in his threatnings How can these changes and the Lords unchangeablenes stand together or how is he but in one minde the tenour of whose doings doth so often vary both from what he hath formerly done and from what he hath professed he would doe In a word How is the Lord constant to what he sayth he will doe when eyther he doth it not or doth the quite contrary to it He that repenteth is not in one minde seing repentance is a change of the minde First I answer Repentance properly taken notes a change of the minde But in an improper or allusive sence there may be repentance without any the least change of the minde When God is sayd to repent as in those texts alledged we are to understand it improperly or onely in allusion unto man The Scripture in many other things speakes of God eyther as condescending to mans understanding or as alluding to the common actions of man God doth not act as man doth yet by such expressions as hold out what and how man acts we may come the more easily to understand what God doth As in the present instance when man repents he doth these two things First He ceaseth to doe what he began to doe he breakes the thread of his former motions Secondly When man repents that he hath done or made such a thing he is ready to deface and destroy that which he hath made or done When man repents that he hath set up such or such a thing he removes and takes it downe Thus God is sayd to repent not because his minde is changed but because as a man that repenteth he ceaseth to doe what he did or he destroyeth that which he had made Thus the Lord is said to repent his making of Saul king because he meant to remove him from being king And to repent that he had made the world because his purpose was for the sin of man to deface and destroy the present beautie and excellency of the world which he had made God often puts forth the effects of repentance toward man but the repentance of a man never put forth any effect upon God Secondly We may answer thus God often minds a change Aliud est mutare voluntatem aliud velle mutationem Aquin par 1. q. 19. art 7. But he never changes his minde And so all those Scriptures before mentioned note onely that God did minde a change or make a change But not that he did change his minde There is a vast difference between these two to minde or determine a change and to change the minde or determination As for instance a man that is resolved to weare garments sutable to the season of the yeare and temperature of the weather in the heate of summer it is his minde to weare light and thinne garments that he may be coole and in the cold of winter his minde is to weare heavier and thicker garments that he may be warme Now if this man when winter comes leaves off his light thinne garments puts on those that are heavier and thicker he cannot be sayd to change his mind for his minde was alwayes to weare change of garments according to the season of the yeare and temper of the weather And thus the Lord according to the changes which he finds among men for the better or for the worse doth both minde and make eminent changes among them as to his providentiall administrations whether in wayes of Judgement or of mercy but in these he never changes his own minde forasmuch as his mind was everlastingly fixed in case of such emergencies to make those changes in his administrations and dealings with the sons of men Thirdly For further answer We are to distinguish between the outward sentence and declaration of God and his secret purpose or decree God doth often change his sentence or the declaration But he never changeth his purpose decree or counfell Quaest But is not that externall declaration the minde of God also Answ I answer These denounced sentences or declarations are the minde of God yet they are not the same with the counsels and purposes of God but serve for the fullfilling and bringing of them about for by the change which the sentence revealed worketh in man the counsel of God not revealed is effected The frustrating of the one fulfills the other And the Lords designe in such declarations of his minde is to bring about or accomplish his purposes and counsells God did purposely declare or pronounce a sentence of death against Hezekiah by the Prophet Isaiah to the intent that his counsell concerning the continuance of Hezekiahs life might be fulfilled And he sent the Prophet Jonah to publish a sentence of utter destruction against Nineveh purposely that his counsel concerning the preservation of Nineveh might be accomplished The Lords counsel and purpose was that Hezekiah should live and recover out of that disease But how did he fulfill this even by sending him a message of death which caused him to weepe sore and pray and cry earnestly to the Lord for life Thus saith the Lord set thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed unto the Lord saying c. But then it may be questioned was that word of the Lord true which he sent to Hezekiah by the Prophet saying thou shalt dye The sentence published was true and would certainly have come to passe according to the order and working of second causes for looking to them Hezekiah must die his sicknes was unto death In those dayes was Hezekiah sicke unto death Doubtlesse his Physitians and all that were about him gave him over for a dead man Onely God could restore him and the way wherein he would restore him was by prayer So for Nineveh if we consider the desert of their sin the sentence was true Nineveh shall be destroyed But the Lord sent his Prophet to tell them of their approaching destruction that they might fast and turne
and this agrees well with the former because he that performeth and payeth according to his word hath peace both in himselfe and with other men An honest pay-master sits downe in peace and prevents his owne trouble But to the matter He that is God performeth The thing that is appoynted for mee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quia reddet statutum meum Mont. 'T is the same word which we had at the 12th verse of this Chapter I have esteemed the words of his mouth more rhen my necessary or my appoynted food Here wee render it the thing that is appoynted for mee The word is often used in the 119 Psalme and signifieth any Ordinance Law Statute or Decree whether divine or humane for all these are the appoyntments eyther of God or man about things to be done or forborne And as God makes appoyntments of things which he would have us doe so of such things as himselfe will doe to or concerning us Master Broughton translates it here as we doe at the 12th verse implying necessary food or the provisions of this life Because he furnished mee with my dayly bread That which wee render the thing that is appoynted for mee he renders my dayly bread Another learned in that language Perfecit necessaria mea Vatab i. e. perfecit quicquid mihi erat opus ipse corporis mei artifex omnium quae in me sunt agrees in the same sence and varyes very little in words Hee hath performed or accomplished those things which were necessary for mee or all those things which I stand in need of He who set up this frame of my body and hath given mee this life hath administer'd all things needfull for the upholding of this body and for the maintaining of this life And so the words carry Jobs sence or acknowledgement of the fatherly care and kindnes of God towards him What his soule desireth even that he doth for hee furnisheth mee with dayly bread and hee performeth what is necessary for me or supplyeth all my wants According to which sence Mr Broughton renders the second part of the verse also And many such graces are with him Thus Job spake at the 10th Chapter ver 8.12 Thy hands have made mee and fashioned me together round about Thou hast granted me life and favour and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit So that the minde of these translaters seemes to be this That Job would set forth the unchangeablenes of Gods decree in giving him his appoynted comforts as well as sorrows Yet rather by this appoyntment or the thing which God had appoynted him wee are to understand as I conceive his afflictions onely and his sorrow As if he had said Quicquid deme decrevit absolvet sive in bonum sive in malum Merc Non me missum faciet donea impleverit quae in statuit Merc I finde that God will doe what he hath a minde to doe how grievous soever it be eyther to the minde or flesh of man for he performeth the thing that hee hath appoynted for mee hee hath appoynted me to sorrow and I have had sorrow and trouble store And he will not dismisse me or let mee goe out of his hand till he hath performed every title of what he hath appoynted for my portion of sorrow and suffering in this world And to shew how much he was assured of this He speakes in the present tense Not he will performe but he performeth c. As if he had sayd He will as surely doe it as if he were now a doing it Hence observe First That God will certainly performe all his appoyntments concerning man He is able to doe it and he will doe it This poynt was largely insisted upon from those words of the former verse He is in minde who can turne him God doth what he hath a minde to doe therefore I shall not here stay to shew the certainty of Gods performing what he hath appoynted but to shew the appoyntment of all things which he performeth Take the observation thus formed Whatsoever God performeth or doth to any man was before appoynted or decreed for or concerning him All the workes of God in time were his decrees before time hee performeth the thing that is appoynted and appoynted by himselfe and his appoyntments are as himselfe is from everlasting Whatsoever God doth we finde it under an appoyntment First and especially as to the buisines in hand the afflictions and suffering of his servants All their sufferings are under an appoyntment Micah 6.9 The Lords voyce cryeth unto the City and the man of wisdome shall see thy name heare ye the rod and who hath appoynted it As if he had said your selves by your sins are the procurers of it we the Prophets are onely the reporters and publishers of it But God himselfe is the appoynter of it As publique and national rods so private or personall rods are appoynted And as often as we feele their smart we should consider their appoyntment The Apostle 1 Thes 3.3 moves the Saints to a steadines of spirit under affliction upon this ground that no man should be moved by these afflictions he doth not mean that wee should be without sense of our afflictions stroakes and sufferings but his meaning is that we should neither be moved by impatience under them to murmure at them nor be moved by undue feares to faint in them why for your selves know that wee are appoynted thereunto The afflictions are appoynted to us and wee are appoynted to them and your selves know it This doctrine hath been published to you that afflictions are under a divine appoyntment that there is a decree of God about them And that First as to the matter of what sort the affliction shall be secondly as to the measure or degree how great the affliction shall be Thirdly the appoyntment reaches the season and that twofold First when the affliction shall begin and secondly how long it shall continue every thing in affliction is under an appoyntment Secondly As our afflictions so also our comforts are under an appoyntment As the Lord hath appoynted the Gall so the honey of our cup as the cold and winter so the warme and summer seasons of our lives Isa 61.2 3. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath annoynted me to preach good tidings to the meeke c. To proclaime the acceptable yeare of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourne to appoynt unto them that mourne in Sion and this appoyntment in execution is 〈◊〉 fullfilling of the first appoyntment by decree to appoynt unto them tâ—â— mourne in Sion to give unto them beauty for ashes the oyle of Joy foâ— mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heavines And as our spirituall comforts so our temporall our outward salvations and protections are under an appoyntment Isa 26.1 Salvation shall God appoynt for walls and bulwarkes Thirdly As the wall of
for a love to the truths and wayes of God which they practice for want of this they often apostatiâ—e and fall back even from the practice of them No bonds can hold us alwayes to the duties of obedience but those of love to God and to the things wherein duty calls us to obey And as want of this love is the reason why man is so apt to backslide and is so far as a Negative may be the very seed and principle of backsliding so it is the reason why God gives such up to the power and spirit of backsliding 2 Thes 2.10 11. Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should beleeve a lie What is not begun in our affections will not abide long in our actions Secondly Observe Not to abide in the pathes of truth and holines is the marke of an ungodly man They who are not what they appeare in goodnesse will not alwayes so much as appear good They that are as Jacob spake of his eldest Son Reuben Gen. 49.4 unstable as water shall not excell nor are they to be numbred among the excellent ones The Apostle exhorts Saints 1 Cor. 15.58 To be stedfast and unmoveable alwayes abounding in the worke of the Lord. Saints move in the worke of the Lord but they must not move out of the worke of the Lord Bee ye stedfast and unmoveable but in what in the worke of the Lord That is the sphere in which Saints move the sphere of their activity and use and out of that they dare not move The Sun in the firmament is moving continually but it is in his proper line called by Astronomers The Eclipticke line So a godly man is alwayes moveing in the way of godlines that 's his proper line and he never moves out of it wholy Hee may have through the power of corruption and temptation his wandrings and goings astray but then he hath his repentings and returnings into the way againe he cannot abide long much lesse alwayes in the pathes of darknes Hee comes to himselfe with the prodigal and then he comes to his father he bethinkes himselfe where he is and comes backes into the path where he ought to be if at any time he walke in the counsel of the ungodly the gradation is made in the first Psalme which thing he ought not to doe yet surely he will not as it followes stand in the way of sinners or if he stand a while in that way yet he will not sit downe in the seat of the scornfull he will not rest nor stay there Now as it is an argument and a marke of Godlines when a man findes that though he hath many faylings and wandrings yet he abideth not in the pathes of darknes so it is an argument of the noughtines of a mans heart and state when though he now and then hits upon the doing of a good thing yet he abides not in the pathes of light Vaine thoughts as the Prophet Reproves the Jewes lodge in the wicked so long that the Lord complaines How long shall vaine thoughts lodge in you But as good thoughts seldome come to an ungodly man so they lodge not at all with him they are great strangers to him and he useth them as the worst of strangers yea as enemies he quickly turnes them off yea he thrusts them away from him he abideth not in the pathes of light Job having thus set forth the Spirit of a wicked man by his rebellion against the light by his unaffectednes with and unstayednes in the wayes and pathes of it proceeds to give us a further account of his wicked courses and workes of darknes Vers 14. The murtherer rising with the light killeth the poore and needy and in the night is as a Theife The murtherer is hee that killeth a man without warrant and authority every slaying of a man is not murther but to slay a man or to take away the life of a man without warrant that 's murther And that 's the grosse sinne forbidden in the sixt Commandement Thou shalt not kill or thou shalt doe no murther And this is usually committed eyther in malice to the person or in Covetousnesse after the spoyle Some take away the life of a man in malice to his person they hate him deliberately as Cain did Abel and therefore they kill him Others have no quarrel to the man possibly they never saw him before but they covet his goods and that they may rob him of his goods they rob him of his life They are such as live upon the spoyle and they will spoyle though they cause the innocent to dye for it and themselves too in the end In eyther of these wayes wee may understand the murtherer here The former because 't is sayd in the next words He slayes the poore and needy and there is little gaine in their blood when they goe downe into the pit The latter because 't is sayd in the latter part of the verse That in the night he is as a theife But Job first shewes us that this murtherer is a diligent man Rising with the light That is rising as early or as soon as the light riseth The murtherer is no sluggard the light doth not finde him in bed he takes the prime of the morning he will loose no time Men who love hunting rise early So doe these hunters of men When the morning is light they practice it saith the Prophet Mich. 2.1 Honest men rise early to goe about the workes of their Calling and wicked men rise early to fulfill the lusts of their hearts David saith Psal 101.7 I will early destroy all the wicked of the Earth As if David had sayd I will rise with the light to destroy the wicked and here you see how the wicked are described riseing Early to destroy the righteous to murther the Innocent So the next words expresse the designe of his early rising He riseth with the light what to doe no good I warrant you 't is To kill the poore and needy That 's his busienes He begins his mornings worke with a worke of cruelty you heare of killing presently The murtherers heart is full of blood and it will not be long ere his hand be full too for their feete are swift to shed blood Rom. 3.15 and they are skilfull to destroy But it may seeme that they are not very wise for themselves though they are very bloody against others For Job doth not say they slay the fat and full ones but The poore and needy There are some who distinguish between these two and tell us that in these two words two yea all sorts of poore are Included The first word they say intends those poore who heretofore were rich but now empoverished or fallen into poverty and that by the second word are meant those who have been born and alwayes bred up in a low condition But wee
Acts 27.20 Tenere faciem throni est coelum occultare et obducere nubibus That neyther Sun nor Starrs in many dayes appeared here was a holding backe or covering of the face of the throne of God And thus our experiences have often found it held backe the face of heaven being masked or vayled over with naturall clouds and vapours Againe if we take the face of the throne of God for that eminent manifestation of himselfe as in heaven Thus also God holdeth backe the face of his throne by covering it with a Metaphoricall cloud as it is expressed Psal 97.1 2. The Lord reigneth c. clouds and darknesse are round about him that is we can see no more of his glory in reigning then we can see of a Kings throne which is covered with a Canopy and compassed about with curtaines Job gives this plainly for the interpretation of this former part of the verse in the latter part of it And spreadeth his cloud upon it That is upon the face of his throne Wee may take this cloud first properly thus God covers the heavens from the sight of our eyes Secondly improperly as clouds note onely secrecy and privacy Thus God spreadeth a cloud upon his throne to hide it from the eye of our understanding so that we can no more comprehend the glory of God in himselfe or in his wayes and workings towards man then we can see the Sunne Moone and Starres when muffled and wrapt up in thicke clouds Thus David speaketh of the Lord Psal 18.11 He made darkenes his secret place his pavilion round about him were darke waters and thicke clouds of the skyes But the Apostle saith 1 Tim. 6.16 That God dwelleth in light How then doth the Psalmist say there and elsewhere that he made clouds and darknes his secret place and his pavilion I answer As the Lord is light and hath no darkenes at all in him Joh 1.5 so as to himselfe he ever dwelleth in light and hath no clouds nor darkenes at all about him And therefore when it is sayd that he spreadeth a cloud upon his throne and maketh darkness his secret place or his secret place darke we are to understand it in reference to our selves for whensoever God hideth himselfe or the reason of his dealings and dispensations from us Then the cloud is spread upon his Throne When God is sayd to spread a cloud over us or any thing we have it noteth his care over us and his protection of us Isa 4.5 And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion and upon her assemblyes a cloud and smoake by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night what is meant both by this cloud and flaming fire is clearely expounded in the last words of the verse for upon all the glory shall be a defence or a covering Thus I say a cloud spread by God upon us implyeth that we are under his covert and defence But when God spreadeth a cloud upon or covereth himselfe with a cloud this implyeth all the Scripture over the hiding and concealing of himselfe and his workes from us And in this sence Job sayth He holdeth backe the face of his throne and spreadeth a cloud upon it Hence note First God hath a throne Kings have thrones much more hath God who is the King of kings King Solomon made himselfe a great throne of Ivory and overlayd it with the best Gold 1 Kings 10.18 Kings have formall Thrones God hath a real one Hee hath all power in his hand and this he administreth according to the pleasure of his owne will both in heaven and earth Note Secondly God manifesteth himselfe in heaven as Princes upon their thrones so heaven is the throne of God And where God acts most our affections should be most and our conversation most Where the Throne is thither the great resort is many flocke to the Court. As it will be our glory hereafter to be in heaven or about the throne of God for ever in person so it is our grace to be dayly there in Spirit while we are here The earth is Gods footestoole yet many make that their throne Heaven is Gods throne and many make that their footestoole They tread and trample upon the things of heaven while they set their hearts upon the things of the earth 'T is a sad mistake when men set their feete where they should set their hearts and prophane the throne of God not onely by levelling it with but by laying it lower then the ground Observe Thirdly God hideth his owne glory from the sight of man He holdeth backe the face of his throne he will not suffer the lustre of it to appeare but spreadeth a cloud upon it Indeed we are not able to beare the cleare discoveryes of divine Glory 1 Tim. 6.16 God dwelleth in light which no man can approach unto though he were permitted and offered the priviledge to approach unto it God dwelleth in and is possessed of that infinite perfection of light that no creature is capable of When Moses made that petition to God Exod 33.18 I beseech thee shew me thy glory The Lord answered v. 20. Thou canst not see my face for no man shall see me and live It seemes that while God spake with Moses his glory was overshadowed or that God to use Jobs language in the text held backe the face of his throne and spread a cloud upon it and therefore Moses begg'd the removall of it or that his glory might breake through it and shine unto him Wel sayth God thou canst not see my face as if he had sayd If I should grant thee that request thou art not able to enjoy it or make use of it for as my nature is altogether invisible so thou canst not beare the super-excelling brightnes which the cleare manifestations of my immediate presence would dart forth upon thee for that Glory of my presence is too great a weight for humane fraylety to stand under it would astonish rather then comfort thee and in stead of refreshing confound and make thee as a dead man No man shall see my face and live Man must dye before he can in that sence see the face of God and then he shall as the Apostle speakes 1 Cor 13.12 see face to face and know as he is knowne So that though we are much short of the happines of the next life while we see as through a glasse darkely and God holdeth backe the face of his throne yet it is a mercy to us while we are in this life that he doth so because we are not able to abide the sight of him face to face or to behold the face of his throne As Christ had many things to say to his Desciples which they were not able then to beare so Christ hath purchased such mercyes and priviledges for his people as they are not able to beare while they are on this side the grave Every state hath enjoyments suitable
doe so no more how much more should all that see feare and doe so no more Thirdly What shall we say of those who not onely heare and see the reproofes of God but feele them also and yet tremble not when the rod is upon their backs a sword in their bowels judgements round about them and death climbing up at their windowes yet they are not astonished they are not onely word proofe but judgement proofe they are not sencible of what they feele they are smiteen yet not sicke sorrow and griefe of heart toucheth them not though they are smitten for their sins and peirced with many sorrows They are so farre from being troubled at the remembrance of former sins while they smart under present afflictions that with wicked King Ahaz they sin yet more against God in the time of their affliction They are so farre from turning as wisedome counselleth us Pro 1.23 at the verbal reproofes of God or at the reproofes of his mouth that they will not returne while he reproves them with his hand Surely at last the trembling pillars of heaven shall reprove them who tremble not nor are astonished at the reproofes of God Vers 12. He divideth the sea by his power and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud The generall scope and sense of this verse is an illustration of the power and wisedome of God by a twofold effect first by dividing and vexing the mighty waters of the sea with boystrous winds and stormes secondly by stopping and appeasing them when they are in their highest rage and proudest fury as if they were smitten to death First He divideth the sea by his power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 movit commovit volvit per Antiphrasin quievit The word which we render to divide hath a twofold signification in a contrariety as is frequent in the Hebrew First to move and roule to stirre up and trouble as the waters and waves of the Sea are by the winds which doe so move and stirre them as that they seeme to divide and cut them asunder and cause them to dash one against another and so it is applicable to the Sea in a storme secondly Virtute sedavit mare Sept Virtute ejus quiescit mare Vatabl it signifyes to quiet and appease and so it is applicable to the Sea in a calme The seventy render it so here He hath appeased the Sea by his power and a learned Hebrician gives the same sence By his power the Sea is quiet And 't is indeed an act of the same power to quiet the Sea to hush the winds and command a calme as to rayse stormes upon the sea or to put the sea into a storme but I shall not prosecute that sense in this first part of the verse because the latter part of it speakes rather of that poynt as will appeare in the opening of it And so the whole verse giveth us a compleate description of the mighty power of God upon the mighty waters first in causing their rage and fury secondly in causing them to be still and quiet The exercise of which two powers cary a compleate Empire and Dominion over the Seas He divideth the sea There is a generall interpretation of the verse which I shall touch before I pitch upon that which I conceave most proper This division of the Sea and smiting through the proud is supposed to be a description of Gods dealing with Pharaoh and his Aegyptians when he brought the people of Israel out of Aegypt at which time the History telleth us that he divided the sea by his power and by his understanding he smote through the proud or through Rahab The division of the Sea is unquestionable Exod. 14.21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the Sea and the Lord caused the Sea to goe backe by a strong East-winde all that night and made the Sea dry land and the waters were divided The latter part of the verse is as cleare in the plaine signification of it to the same worke of providence for then By his understanding did God smite through the proud And the word Rahab which we translate proud is often used in Scripture to signifie Aegypt Thus Psal 87.4 I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me that is of Aegypt and Babylon as if he had sayd those places which have been the greatest enemyes to the people of God shall desire to joyne with the people of God Sion shall have converts from Aegypt and Babylon And the reason why Aegypt is expressed in Scripture under this word ariseth from both significations of it first strength for Aegypt was a very strong Nation and therefore the Israelites were reproved for going to them for helpe and relying upon their strength which though great in it selfe yet should be to them but a broken reed secondly as it signifyeth pride or the proud men are usually proud of strength and Aegypt being a strong Nation was also a very proud Nation yet this Aegypt this Rahab strong and proud shall fall downe and humble her selfe before the Lord. And though now Aegyptians be strangers from the Common-wealth of Israel yet of them it shall be sayd that they were borne by a second or new spirituall birth in Sion We have the like sence of the word and almost the same phrase of speech with this in Job Ps 89.9 10. Thou rulest the raging of the sea when the waves thereof arise thou stillest them then followeth in the next words Thou hast broken Rahab as one that is slaine that is Aegypt thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arme And againe Isa 51.9 Awake awake ô arme of the Lord put on strength The Psalmist sayth Thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arme the Prophet prayeth Awake awake ô arme of the Lord As in the ancient dayes in the generations of old art thou not it that hath cut Rahab and wounded the Dragon art not thou it which hath dryed the Sea c. Which plainly hints the destruction of Pharaoh and his host in the red Sea Job also seemes to ayme at that noble and notable act of divine power and understanding And the words of the text as all must grant without any straine or trouble are applicable to it The onely difficulty lyeth in this because it is not agreed upon by any Chronologers who have searched strictly and critically into those times that Job lived after the departure of the people of Israel out of Egypt Haec accipere de decem plagis Egypti vix permittit aetas Jobi quem moâ—tuum putâ—nâ— eo anno quum Iâ—aelitae egâ—essi sunt ex Egypto Drus Non plaet haec referre ad divisionem maris rubri in Egypto Isâ—aelita ingratia quia ante illud eÌ„pus credimus fuisse J b generalitèr potius loquitur de dei operibus Merc yea some affirme that Job dyed that very yeare when the Israelites departed out of Egypt and if so then