treasure I need not stay to tell you The Judgements of God saith David Psal 19.10 are more to be desired then Gold yea then much fine gold And againe Psal 119.72.127 The law of thy mouth is better to me then thousands of Gold and silver And ver 127. when he saw how some made voyd the Law of God he sayth Therefore I love thy commandements above Gold yea above fine Gold As if he had sayd because I see some men esteeme and reckon thy law as if it were drosse and throw it up as voyd and antiquated or taking the boldnes as it were to repeale and make it voyd that they may set up their own lusts and vaine imaginations because I see both prophane and superstitious men thus out of love with thy Law therefore my love is more enflamed to it I love it above gold which leads the most of men away captives in the love of it and I esteeme it more then that which is most esteemed by men and gaines men most esteeme in this world Fine Gold yea as he sayd Psal 19. more then much fine Gold Secondly Observe A high and reverentiall esteeme of the word of God workes the heart and keepes it close to the obedience of the word Job having said before I have kept the commandements of his mouth I have kept his wayes and not declined I have not gone back now comes to the spring of all this constancy in obedience I have esteemed the words of his mouth c. Love is the spring of action and esteeme is the top of love we love nothing which we doe not esteeme and what we love much we thinke we can never esteeme enough And what we thus love and esteeme we strive to keepe close unto They that receive the truth and doe not receive the love of it quickly turne from it to beleive a lye yea God therefore sends them strong delusion to beleive a lye because they received not the love of the truth As not to love the truth is a sin so it is punished with another sin the love of error Though we have taken much truth into our understandings yet unlesse we take it into our affections also we cannot hold it long 'T is love which holds the heart and the word together No man willingly obeyes that Law which he doth not love Before David could say The Law is my meditation all the day he sayth O how I love thy law Ps 119.97 The hypocrite who hates instruction and casts the word of God behinde his backe that is slights and vilifies it to the utmost for so much to cast behinde the backe imports the hypocrite I say who thus casts the word of God behinde his backe will be talking of the word and have it much in his mouth yea he will mouth it so or be so talkative about it that God reproves or checks him for it Psal 50.16 Vnto the wicked saith God What hast thou to doe to declare my statutes or that thou shouldest take my Covenant in thy mouth So then the hypocrite was very busie with his tongue and he could speake much of that which he loved never a whit But was the hypocrite a man of his hands also was he busie in obeying the word which he had cast behinde his back The next words of the Psalme ver 18 19 20 21. tell us what he was busie about even this he was breaking the Law as fast as he could When thou sawest a theife then thou consentest with him and hast been partaker with Adulterers c. The inditement is large and upon many heads yet all true and is therefore closed with These things hast thou done ver 21. I the Lord am witnes and so is thy owne Conscience That Scripture is a cleare glasse wherein we may see how all they will use the Law of God who doe not highly esteeme the words of his mouth We may read Jobs text backward for their character Their feete have not held his steps his way have they not kept but declined they have gone back from the commandement of his lips And why so for they have esteemed the words of his mouth no more then their un-necessary food no more then the scraps that fall from their Table no more then as the Proverb saith their old shoes I have esteemed the word of his mouth more then my necessary food When Job saith I have esteemed the word of his mouth c. It is as if he had sayd this is enough for me that God hath sayd it to make me esteeme it Hence observe Thirdly Whatsoever God saith is to be esteemed for his owne sake or because he hath sayd it As God needs not borrow light from any what to speake so he needs not borrow testimony or Authority from any to ratifie what he hath spoken He is to be beleeved for himselfe His words need no sanction but ipse dixit I the Lord have sayd it or thus saith the Lord that is enough to silence all queryes and disputes both about the truth of what is delivered and the necessity of our obedience to it As the word of Gods mouth is to be obeyed so it is therefore to be obeyed because it is the word of his mouth That he hath sayd it must command our faith As he is the true God so he is the God of truth Every word of his mouth is pretious As what God hath spoken must be the rule of our faith so that he hath spoken it must be the reason of our faith I have esteemed the words of his mouth c. Lastly From both these verses we may take notice of the severall steps by which Jobs piety did arise to so eminent a hight First He strongly tooke hold of the steps of God Secondly He diligently kept his way Thirdly He declined not eyther to the right hand or to the left Fourthly He went not backe from the Holy commandement both which negatives may be resolved into this affirmative He walked very closely and exactly with God in utmost perseverance Fifthly He tooke a delightfull care about all those things which the word of God called him unto even beyond all the care which he tooke for those things which are most conducible to and necessary for the comforts of his body or natural life JOB CHAP. 23. Vers 13. But he is in one minde and who can turne hinc and what his soule desireth even that he doth IN this verse Job is conceived by some at once making discovery of his owne infirmitie and of the soveraignty of God But though all agree that they carry a full discovery of the soveraignty of God yet many are so farre from judging them a discovery of Jobs infirmitie that they rather discover the strength and hight of his Grace and holines To cleare the whole matter we may take notice That there are three apprehensions about the scope and sence of these words First As if in them Job renderd a reason
vision Thirdly Some expound feare in the Text for that speciall feare which riseth from guilt or for terror of conscience Sudden feare troubleth thee That is thy conscience flyes in thy face and affrights thee thy feare flows not from any outward troubles that threaten thee or from wants that afflict thee but from those wickednesses which have been committed by thee thy conscience vexeth and tormenteth thee not onely with feare but with sudden feare feare rusheth upon thee unexpectedly violently like an armed man Sudden feare troubleth thee Taking feare in all or any one of these interpretations Note Sudden feare surprizeth securest sinners When they shall say peace and quietnesse then sorrow and anguish come upon them as paine upon a woman in travell and they shall not escape The Prophet in vision Zech. 5.1 Saw a flying roll That flying roll was the Curse And it was called a flying roll to note the speedy and sudden coming of those judgements that were written in it They came not onely upon the spurre but upon the winge They came flying Flying is a swift motion and that motion is applyd to judgement when once God giveth it a Commission to come Hence also Deut. 32.41 the sword is called a lightning sword or a sword that hath lightning in it If I sayth the Lord whet my glittering or lightning sword The sword of the Lord is as Lightning it hath burning and swiftness in it divine vengeance cometh as Lightning It is called also the overflowing scourge Isa 28.15 'T is a scourge because the lashes of it cause much smar◠and paine and 't is an over-flowing scourge to note the suddennes of it The scourge comes in like a mighty flood Againe This suddennes of feare or of things feared may have reference unto the security of wicked men who though they have often heard of dangers and judgements have been threatned upon them yet they alwayes come suddenly upon them because they never prepare for them To such as are unprepared evills are alwayes sudden how often soever they have been warned of them As to him that is prepared death is never sudden though he dye as we vulgarly phrase it a sudden death So he that is unprepared for death dyeth suddenly though he dye that which wee commonly call a lingring death Thus death and judgement shall come suddenly upon all ungodly men It shall be sayth Christ Matth. 24.37 as in the dayes of Noah they were eating and drinking they were marrying and giving in marriage till the day that Noah entred into the Arke and knew not till the floud came and tooke them all away But did they not know of the floud till the floud came assuredly they did for Noah foretold them of and preached the coming of the floud a hundred and twenty yeares before it came Gen. 6.3 My spirit shall not alwayes strive I will not alwayes be contending yet his dayes shall be an hundred and twenty yeares That is he shall have an hundred and twenty yeares warning all that time the old world had warning of the flould and Noah preached upon that Text all that time yet the floud came upon them saith the Text and they knew it not that is they regarded not what Noah said they tooke no thought neyther to prevent the floud nor to prepare for it The Author to the Hebrews tels us that Noah by faith being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with feare prepared an Ark to the saving of his house by which he condemned the world that is the then world of unbeleefe and hardnes of heart and became heyre of the righteousnesse which is by faith Heb. 11.7 Hee had a holy feare in him and a faith also a faith that the thing should be done and a feare of God who threatned to doe that thing Thus by faith being moved with feare he prepared an Arke for the safety of himselfe and of his household Why did not the rest also make preparation they did not beleeve nor did they feare Christ rebuked hi◠Disciples in the storme at Sea Matth. 8. with why are ye fearefull O ye of little faith The old world might have been rebuked with why are ye fearelesse even because ye are of little or rather of no faith at all Vnlesse dangers threatned be beleeved they are never feared and unlesse they be both beleeved and feared they are never avoyded Whensoever the Lord of such servants shall come he cometh in a day when they looke not for him and in an houre that they are not aware of Matth. 24.50 that is he cometh suddenly What can come more suddenly upon any man then that which he looked not for nor was at all aware of Thus he shall come to cut them asunder and to appoint them their portion with hypocrites There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Sudden feare troubleth thee Vers 11. Or darkness that thou canst not see and abundance of waters cover thee Some render this verse by way of interrogation Aut autu solus tenebras non videres tanta scelera impunè ferres Shalt thou not see darkness and shall not the abundance of waters cover thee shalt thou onely not see darkness and passe unpunished for such monstrous wickednesses As if he had sayd thou seemest to wonder that darkness is upon thee thou makest strange of it that flouds or abundance of waters cover thee But hast thou not deserved and called forth these Judgements by many sinfull provocations Others render this Text not as a Question but as a direct Assertion Thou thoughtest that thou shouldest or thou hadst a conceit that thou shouldest never see darkness nor any trouble coming upon thee thy heart was lift up in hope of Impunty thou didst perswade thy selfe that God had as high an opinion of thee as thou hadst of thy selfe or thou hast flattered thy selfe in thy sinfull way and thou thoughtest that God would have flattered thee also But I shall rather as we connect it with the former verse carrying on the same intention Or darkness that thou canst not see Darkness may be taken eyther properly or improperly darkness properly taken is that of the ayre by the withdrawing of the Sunne This is not here intended Darkness improperly taken is that of our state and it is twofold First Internall which is indeed ignorance or the darknes of the minde As if he had sayd Darkness veyles the eye of thy understanding that thou canst not see eyther the hand of God upon thee for thy sinnes or those thy sinnes which have caused God to lay his heavy hand upon thee Thy understanding is darkned that thou canst not see This intellectuall or internall darknesse is twofold First Naturall or inbred every man hath naturally so much darkness in him that as he cannot see the truths that are in the word of God so he cannot see the intendment of the works of God Secondly Judiciary or inflicted Isa 6.9 Goe and tell this
people Stupidus esplanè nisi tua scelera harum tuarum calamitatū aquae more inundantium obruentium causam esse vides Merc heare ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not Make the heart of this people fat and make their eares heavy and shut their eyes What were these eyes and eares that were to be made heavy and shut Surely they are to be understood not of Organicall but of intellectuall eares and eyes But who was to shut these eyes A holy Prophet And how was hee to shut them By prophecying or speaking to them in the Name of the Lord. The proper worke of the Word is to open the eyes and enlighten the minde But when a people have long shut their owne eyes against or onely dallyed with that transcendent mercy the light then God which is the severest judgement shuts their eyes and darkens them with light Of this Judiciary darkness some interpre◠the present Text as if Eliphaz had sayd there is a worse plague upon thee then all those spoken of even blindness and confusion of minde so that thou canst neyther see what brought thee into them nor how to finde thy way out but art as a man under water or in the darke amuzed in these thy afflictions not knowing what to doe or which way to turne thy selfe Secondly Darkness taken improperly is Externall so a state of sorrow and affliction is a state of darkness As before snares so here darkness notes any troublesome condition or the trouble of any mans condition And when to darkness this is added Darkness that thou canst not see it may import the greatest degree of darkness even darkness in perfection or as the Scripture speaks thick darkness yea outer darkness There is a darknes in which wee may see a darknes which hath some kinde of light in it but when darknes is so thicke that we cannot see that is that we cannot see any thing in it as we commonly say of extreame darkness 't is so darke that a man cannot see his hand then 't is perfect darkness Light is not properly seene but 't is the medium or meanes by which wee see much lesse is darknes seene it being properly that which intercepts and hinders sight yet 't is rare to meete with darknes which hath not some mixture or tinctures of light or with such darknes as in which nothing at all can be seene yet such was this metaphoricall darknes with which he supposed Job was muffled up I have more then once in other passages of this Booke met with and explained this terme shewing how and why afflictions and troubles are expressed by it and therefore I shall not now stay upon it Onely here take notice Gentiles idem sentire gustiebant dum non eosdem in prosperis quos in adversis adibant deos In prosperis quidem solē Jovem opulentū Minervam Mercurium Apollinem hos omnes quasi lucis secundarum rerum largitores at in adversis tellurem Neptunum alios malorum depulsores nocte multum potentes quasi tenebrarum ipsi domini essent Bold That the old Heathens had such conceptions of darkness And therefore being in a prosperous state they had recourse to the Sunne to Jupiter Minerva Mercury their Idol-Deities as the dispensers of light and comfort but being under sufferings and sorrows they made their applications to the Earth to Neptune and others whom they vainely beleeved were Rulers of the Night and Lords of darkness as if these could command and chase away all evills from them Scripture Language is full of such Descriptions about men in sorrow Darkness that thou canst not see And abundance of waters cover thee * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quamvis multitudinē aut inundationē significat cum celeretate quadam strepitu The word rendred abundance signifies a company or troope of waters which meete and march together even as horses prepared for battell and ready to give the charge So the word is translated 2 Kings 9.17 A Watchman from the Tower sayd I see a company And that was Jehu with his troopes who came marching furiously with the revenge of God in his hand upon the house of Ahab And so Ezek. 26.10 By reason of the abundance of their horses their dust shall cover thee thy walls shall shake at the noyse of the Horsemen and of the Wheeles and of the Chariots Reade the same use of the word Isa 60.6 The multitude some read the inundation of Camels shall cover thee They shall come in such abundance that they shall come like a floud and shall be as the gathering of many waters Troopes of Horses and Camels rush together as many waters And waters rush and throng together even as many horses Thus here abundance or an Army of waters come in upon thee and cover thee Waters in Scripture frequently signifie afflictions Isa 43.2 When thou passest thorow the waters that is thorow great afflictions I will be with thee Psal 18.16 Hee drew me out of many waters That is out of many afflictions Psal 66.12 Wee went through fire and water but thou broughtest us forth into a wealthy place Fire and water note all sorts of afflictions hot and cold moyst and dry And some conceive that water in a metaphoricall sence is so often used in Scripture to signifie affliction because water in a proper sence did once afflict the whole world As the generall Judgement upon the world at the last day shall be by fire so the first generall Judgement upon the world was by water it was a floud of waters by which the Lord destroyed the old world Likewise Pharaoh and his Host of Aegyptians which was the second most Eminent Judgement that ever was in the world were overwhelmed by the waters of the red Sea Thus Moses sang Exo. 15.4 5. Pharaohs Chariot his host hath he cast into the Sea his chosen Captaines also are drowned in the red Sea The depths have covered them they sanke into the bottome as a stone And againe v. 10. The Sea covered them they sanke as Lead in the mighty waters Water being the Element and the Instrument which God hath so often used in his angry dispensations towards sinfull men it may emphatically expresse any dispensation of his anger Yet if we consider the very nature of the thing it selfe it carrieth significancy enough to be the Embleme of saddest and soarest affliction First There is in water a swallowing power as water is easily swallowed so it swallowes all up Man cannot subsist in it when it is most peaceable and he can hardly escape out of it when 't is enraged Sorrow and affliction are swallowers also unlesse mercy appeare and moderate them they drowne and overthrow all The Apostle useth that expression when he adviseth the Corinthians 2 Ep 2.7 To forgive and comfort the incestuous person whom according to his advice they had formerly Excommunicated or cast out from fellowship in the
true God now I say if they who do but set up a new worship for the true God make a strange God what then doe they who in their hearts set up a new God that is who frame Conceptions of God which himselfe never gave ground for in his word Such was the Conceit which Eliphaz had of Job when he presumes him saying How doth God know Can he judge through the dark cloud Secondly From the particular misapprehension of God imposed by Eliphaz upon Job And thou sayest How doth God know c. Observe Sinfull men fancie to themselves that God eyther doth not or cannot take notice of them in their sinfull wayes Thus they reason Can he see thorow the dark Cloud and conclude Thick Clouds are a Covering to him that he seeth not and he walketh in the Circuit of heaven What Eliphaz layes to Jobes charge falsely is often charged by the Holy Ghost upon wicked men truely Psal 10.11 Hee hath said in his heart God hath forgotten he hides his face he will never see it Who this He is whose heart speakes this language appeares clearely in the former part of the Psalme where he is more then once called The wicked ver 2 3. and where more then one of his wickednesses are described ver 7 8 9 10. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud under his tongue is mischiefe and vanity he sitteth in the lurking places of the villages in the secret places doth he murder the innocent c. After all this he sayth in his heart God hath forgotten that is he hath forgotten the poore whom I have under my power therefore I may safely oppresse them He hideth his face he will never see it that is God will never take any knowledge either of my doings or of their sufferings We have a sample of the same impiety Psal 73.11 And they say how doth God know and is there knowledge in the most high behold these are the ungodly in the world c. And againe Psal 94.6 ver They slay the widdow and stranger and murther the fatherlesse here are their workes of darknesse yet they say the Lord shall not see neither shall the God of Jacob regard Not onely did they presume that the Lord did not see but that he should not The Lord shall not see As if they could stop or blinde the eyes of God as easily as they had blinded their owne Consciences Take one Instance further Ezek. 8.12 Then said he unto mee Sonne of man Seest thou what they doe hast thou seene what the Ancients of the house of Israell doe in the darke Every man in the Chambers of his Imagery for they say the Lord seeth us not he hath forsaken the Earth Much like the language here He walketh in the Circuit of heaven hee hath other busines to doe then to minde us As God is sometimes sayd to forsake the Earth in wrath to punish the sin of Man so wicked men say he alwayes forsakes the Earth in neglect both of their sin and punishment And as Idolaters who have a minde to other gods are willing to beleeve that God hath forsaken the earth as to the protection of them Wee say they are in danger God takes no care of us therefore blame us not if we betake our selves to other Gods for protection If he had not forsaken us we had not forsaken him So all sorts of resolved transgressors who have a minde to any sinfull way are willing to beleeve that God hath forsaken the earth as to any observation of them Wee may doe what we list for God doth not minde or regard what we are doing If we thought he did indeed see us we durst not thus sinne against him But seeing he doth not trouble himselfe with any care about us why should we trouble our selves with any feare about him Now this Presumption that God doth not see us in what we are doing opens a doore to the doing of all Evill Security from danger is the great encouragement unto sin Though wicked men would not be lesse sinfull yet they would not sin so much or be so full of sin did they not vainely flatter themselves out of the sight of God Every Man would faine beleeve that God doth not see him when he is doing that which he would not have seene or be seene in doing it And how do men please themselves in this false hope that God doth not see them when they doe that which is displeasing unto God! From the Intendment of Eliphaz to Convince Job that the Clouds are no Covering to God and that the Circuit of heaven doth not Confine him Observe Thirdly God is omniscient hee knowes all things Thou sayest thus How doth God know I tell thee God doth know And thou hast an argument upon thy backe if thou hast none in thy heart to prove it thy sence or feeling may teach thee if thy reason or understanding doe not and by thy suffering thou mayest see that God seeth what thou hast been doing This great truth That God is omniscient or knowes all may easily be knowne and ought to be beleeved by all When the Lord had made the world in six dayes Gen. 1.31 He saw all that he had made All was in view at once hee had a Prospect of the whole Creation in his eye And as all his own Creatures so all our Creatures are seene by God hee seeth all that himselfe hath made and hee seeth all that wee have made or are making day by day Gen. 6.5 God saw that the wickednes of man was great in the earth and that every thought of the Imagination of the thoughts of his heart was onely evill Continually or every day The Lord saw that is the Lord knew fully infinitely more fully then we know those things which wee see every Imagination or figment of the thoughts of mans heart The figment of our thoughts is what the minde fashioneth or maketh up within it selfe by thinking corrupt nature keepes a constant mint of evill imaginations in the head as it hath a sinke of filthy affections in the heart The minde of man hath a formative faculty in it And the same word which the Holy Ghost useth to signifie the worke of God in making man Gen. 2.7 The Lord God formed man out of the dust of the earth or dust out of the earth the same word I say is used in the Noune Gen. 6.5 to signifie the imagination of man because that is alwayes shaping moulding or forming one sort of thoughts or other naturally none but ugly evill thoughts These are the creatures which man as fallen is the maker of and he maketh as I may say infinite creatures he is forming them continually in his imagination that 's the shop wherein there 's a dayly Creation such as it is of monstrous wickednesses till God by his new Creation changeth the frame and nature of it Now I say as God seeth his owne creatures so he seeth
beleeving and fearing the report or prophecy of a deluge laught them to scorne and in derision doubtlesse ask't them what voyage they intended and whether they meant to sayle their Ship over the dry Land as for them they never dreamt of a Sea hanging in the clouds and ready to drop downe upon their heads Now as the ungodly world derided Noah and his Sons for their credulity before the flood came so 't is probable enough that when the flood came upon that world of the ungodly Noah and his Sons laught at and derided their incredulity They who laugh at divine threatnings deserve to be laughed at under divine sufferings Others apply this particularly to the Tragedy of Pharaoh and his Egyptians overwhelmed and drowned in the red sea of which it is said Exod. 14.30 31. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the shoare and Israel saw that Great worke which the Lord did upon the Egyptians The effect of this sight is two wayes described in that holy Historie First by the acting of feare and faith And the people feared the Lord and beleeved the Lord and his servant Moses Secondly by the acting of their joy in the Lord and their holy insultation over the drowned Egyptians Chap. 15. v. 1. Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord and spake saying I will sing unto the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously the horse his rider hath he throwne into the Sea Thus also that innocent people saw the ruine of their wicked enemies and laughed them to scorne Yet I conceive Eliphaz speaking here rather upon a generally experienced and positive truth then strictly and particularly ayming at those ancient Examples The innocent that is any innocent person whether innocent in reference to the doing of evill or having escaped the sufferance of evill laugh them to scorne Before he sayd the righteous see it and are glad now he sayth the innocent laugh them to scorne it is one thing for a man to be glad in himselfe and another thing to laugh other men to scorne for though to be innocent carries in it somewhat lesse or at the most but so much as to be righteous yet to laugh the unrighteous and wicked to scorne when they fall carries in it much more then to be glad when they fall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denotat gestum qui fit ore labijs ficta balbutie five quod balbutientes irrideri soleaÌ„t sive quod irrisores balbutiant per contemptum et malignam imitationem And besides the word in the Hebrew signifies the most scornefull laughter such a laughter as is expressed by a distortion of the mouth and lips or by a kinde of fained lisping with the tongue and artificiall faultring in speech For as they that lispe and faulter in speech are usually derided and laught at so they that deride and laugh at others will purposely lispe or faulter in speech Stammerers are contemptible and many stammer at others in contempt This imitation of a defect in nature shewes the excesse of malice Such is the force of this expression The innocent laugh them to scorne Here it may be questioned how a good man an innocent person can doe such a thing can he thus laugh the wicked to scorne it is difficult enough to salve it as consistent with Grace for a righteous man to rejoyce at the fall of the wicked but it is farre more difficult to salve it how a righteous man may laugh them to scorne scorning and deriding are the practices of lewd persons of sons of Beliall such indeed are usually scorners and jeerers The enemies of Jesus Christ are so described Psal 22.7 All they that see me that is all the wicked that see me for many Disciples saw Christ in his sufferings and did not onely pity him but honour and beleeve on him but saith he all they who are mine enemies that see me laugh me to scorne they shoot out the lip and shake the head And David tells us Psal 1.1 that to fit in the seate of the scornefull is the conclusion of those who have first walked in the way of the ungodly and secondly stood in the way of sinners The common Latine translater renders that in the Psalme not the seate of scorners but the seate of the pestilence And indeed they have spirituall plague-spots upon them and the surest tokens of eternall death who are given up to be scorners Therefore question it againe how are the Innocent scorners I answer That as when humane affections which are below the divine nature are attributed to God such are to repent to be grieved at the wickednes and to laugh at the calamity of the wicked we say these note onely an effect upon the creature not a change of affection in God for in him there is no variablenes nor shadow of change so when those actions Irrisio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 similia quae affectum humanum significant uti a deo longe absunt ita quae mali moris sunt ab ecclesia Coc Vt haec de deé 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iâ—a de sanctis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sunt intell genda which are below or unsuteable to a renewed regenerate nature in man are attributed to the Saints such as these to wash their feete in the bloud of the ungodly to laugh them to scorne in their saddest miseries we must say that these note rather what the wicked deserve then what the godly doe The godly are no scorners but there is that in wicked men which is worthy to be laughed to scorne or wicked men doe that for which they deserve to be laughed at whatsoever is evill in such like actions is farre from the heart and spirit of the godly And therefore as Scriptures of such a tenour are to be interpreted and understood in such a manner as becomes and is consistent with the holines of God so also in their proportion to the holines of the Saints The laughter of the Saints in these dispensations is serious and their scorning the acting of their graces not of their corruptions And thus it is said of God himselfe Psal 2.4 He that sitteth in heaven shall laugh the Lord shall have them in derision And Prov. 1.26 I will mocke at your calamity and laugh when your feare commeth when your feare commeth as desolation and your destruction commeth as a whirlewind c. that is I will carry my selfe so towards you I will pity you who have been scorners of my word and have set at nought my counsel no more then men pity those whom they laugh to scorne such is the laughter of the Saints at the calamity of the wicked And thus Eliah derided Baals Priests while they wearied themselves in their foolish superstition 1 Kings 18.27 And it came to passe at noone that Eliah mockt them and said cry aloud for
God or what fruit he should have in prayer Verse 27. Thou shalt make thy prayer to him and he shall heare thee and thou shalt pay thy Vowes In these words we have a further promise leading to a further duty as beforâ— the duty of returning to the Almighty had a promise annexed to it of lifting up the face to God or boldnesse in prayer So now the promise of being heard in prayer is followed with a duty The payment of vowes Thou shalt make thy prayer to him c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 multiplicavit propriè verba fortia fâ—dâ—t in Oratione The word notes the powring out of many prayers or of a multitude of words in prayer yet not of bare wâ—rds but of words cloathed with power strong prayers as well as many prayers For as the Gospel comes from God to us not in word onely but in power and in the holy Ghost and in much assurance 1 Thes 1.5 so prayer should goe from us to God not in word onely but in power and in the holy Ghost c. Thus saith Eliphaz Thou shalt make many and mighty prayers strong prayers prevailing conquering prayers so the word is used Gen. 25.21 Tâ—en Isack intreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren that is he made many prayers to God he made a businesse of praying that he might have a sonne though there was a sure promise made to Abraham that he should have a sonne and that in him and from him should come the promised seed yet Isack was long without a sonne and he leaves it not carelesly in the decree of God resolving Idly God hath said I shall have a sonne at least if not many sonnes why should I trouble my selfe in the thing No Isack had not so learned the minde of God he was better skill'd in Divinity then so to separate the meanes from the end or to conclude that wee need not pray for that which God hath purposed and promised He I say was better instructed then so and therefore though he doubtlesse did fully beleeve that God would fullfill the promise made to Abraham in giving him a sonne yet he entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren and he intreated the Lord earnestly he made plenty abundance of prayers for it cannot be supposed but that he had prayed for that mercy long before for it was neere twenty yeares since his marriage to Rebeccah as appeares plainely by comparing the 20 verse of that Chapter with the 26 â—h the former telling us that he was forty yeares old when he marryed Rebeccah and the latter that he was threescore when Rebeccah bare Jacob and Esau So that I say we cannot suppose but so holy a man as Isack had been suing out the good of the promise before but when he perceived it sticking so long in the birth then his soule fell in travel about it then he was very fervent in prayer and would give the Lord no rest Then he entreated the Lord c. The same is sayd of Manoah Judges 13.8 Then Manoah intreated the Lord and said oh my Lord let the man of God which thou didst send come againe unto us and teach us what we should doe unto the childe that shall be borne he prayed then with much earnestnes or made prayers for direction in that thing The word is often used to signifie abundance Isa 35.2 It shall blossome abundantly Jere. 33.6 Behold I will bring in health and cure and I will cure them and will reveale unto them the abundance of peace and truth Not onely shall they have peace and truth but abundance of them So here thou shalt not onely pray but a spirit of prayer shall be powred out upon thee aboundantly Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him Hence note First Prayer is a dutie We owe prayer to God as his creatures or in regard of our naturall dependance upon him much more as new creatures or in regard of our spirituall dependance upon him Secondly Note It is our duty not onely to pray but to pray much or to pray with much fervency The emphasis of the Originall word here used leades us to this as well as many Scripture Authorities Cold asking invites a denyall 't is effectuall or working fervent prayer that prevailes much Jam. 5.16 Note thirdly Prayer is due onely to God Prayer is a part of holy worship and all such worship is proper to God alone Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him Saints and Angels worship God with us we must not worship eyther Saint or Angel with God no nor God by the helpe and mediation of Saints or Angels We know no mediator of intercession but he who is the mediator of redemption the Lord Jesur Christ Fourthly Taking in the consideration of the time as before in the former part Then shalt thou have thy delight in the Lord then shalt thou make thy prayer to him Observe That we are never in a fit frame for prayer till wee turne from every sin by repentance As the Lord will not heare us when we pray if we regard iniquity in our heart Psal 68.18 so neyther are we in a fitnes to speake to God in prayer if we regard any iniquity in our hearts Repenting and praying must be of the same length unlesse we repent continually we cannot pray continually because we sin continually The more holy we are the more free we are to pray Sinne clogs and checks the spirit in this great duty cast off that weight and then shalt thou make thy prayer to him And he shall heare thee To heare prayer is more then to take notice of the matter or words spoken to heare prayer is to grant what we pray for as our hearing the word of God is more then to take in the sound or sence of what is spoken it is to submit to and obey what is spoken Now as we heare no more of the word of God then we beleeve and practice so the Lord heareth no more of what we pray in a Scripture sence then what he granteth There are two expressions in Scripture which note this First To have regard to a person or to a prayer 1 Kings 8.28 29. when Solomon prayed at the dedication of the Temple the Lords hearing of prayer which he then beggd is thus described Have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant and to his supplication c. that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day Respicere est audire So it is said of Abel Gen. 4.4 that the Lord had respect to his offering the Lord looked towards him and accepted of him to accept a prayer is to heare a prayer Secondly The hearing of prayer is described by the presence of God with those that pray Isa 58.9 Then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer thou shalt cry and he shall say here I am This is a wonderfull condescension 't is even as when a Master calling to
so cares not who sees him some are ambitious to be seene while they doe so and though any should be so modest that they doe not desire to be seene while they doe so yet no man that doth so is affrayd to be seene and usually such come to the light to the light of other mens knowledge and they would come further into the light of their own knowledg such are free to come to light of all sorts that their deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God when a man comes to the light he gives a fayre evidence that his workes are wrought in God how ever it argues both that he desires they should be such as are wrought in God as also that he is willing they should come to the tryall whether they are wrought in God or no that is whether they be so wrought as if God did worke in him or whether there be any appearance in them that he hath wrought them in the light and love in the strength and helpe of God Now as when a man comes willingly to the light it shewes that he hath an honest perswasion in his breast that his workes are good So when we see any seeking corners and shunning the light by which others may see them or that light by which they may see themselves this shews that they have a troublesome conviction upon their consciences that their workes are so farre from being wrought in God that they are wrought against God that is against his mind and will This the Apostle teacheth in the example of the old Gentiles Rom. 2.15 They shew the worke of the Law written in their hearts their conscience bearing them witnesse and their thoughts in the meane while accusing or excusing one another Were there not an unextinguishable light in nature by which even a natural man may have some glimmerings of and discernings between good and evill he would no more avoyd the sight of others when he doth evill then when he doth good And seeing he thus naturally avoydes the view and sight of all men when he doth evill This doth more then intimate that there is a Judge above nature who without respect of persons will reward every man according to his workes Conscience is Gods Deputy in man and what that being rightly enformed doth in man God will doe too Wee are so assured by the Apostle John 1 Joh. 3.21 If our heart condemne us God is greater then our heart and knoweth all things As if he had sayd this is an argument that there is a God to condemn because the heart condemnes For God is greater then the heart God is the supreame Judge the infallible Judge the heart is but an under-officer unto him Why should the heart of a man smite him why should he be troubled when he hath done evill why should he be so troubled to be seene in doing evill were it not that there is a God who judgeth both the hearts and wayes of men While the foole saith in his heart there is no God Psal 14.1 the heart of a foole sayth there is a God while he saith in his heart there is no God to see my sin his heart saith to him cover thy sin that it may not be seene and what English can we make of this saying of his heart but this There is a God For though Job spake here of such grosse sinners as have reason enough to hide themselves and their doings from the eyes of men lest they should bring them both to shame and punishment yet even those sinners are fearefull to have their sins discovered who need not feare any punishment but from the hand of God Secondly Observe Sin befools the sinner or sinners are very foolish They are glad if they can escape the eye of man when as their sins are alwayes under the eye of God What is the eye from which darknesse can hide us to that eye which seeth through darkenes If one see them saith the text they are in the terrors of the shadow of death and yet they are not terrifyed that One seeth them That One seeth them alwayes who is more then all men and yet they are satisfyed if they are not seene of men That which they would not doe if a little childe did see them they dare doe though the Great God of heaven and earth see them What the Prophet speakes of feare in reference to suffering wee may say much more of feare in reference to sinning Isa 51.12 13. Who art thou that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall dye and forgettest the Lord thy Creator Who art thou surely thou art so far from being a Godly man that thou art lesse then a man in this thing even a foole and a beast What doest thou feare to sin in the presence of a man or when a man who shall dye seeth thee and forgettest that the Lord thy maker seeth thee that he seeth thee who hath stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth Well might the Apostle 2 Thes 3.2 joyne these two together unreasonable and wicked men and give the reason of both in the words which follow for all men have not faith Where there is no faith there is much wickednesse and he who is much in wickednesse is nothing in reason Faith is above reason but not against it wickednesse is not onely below reason but quite against it They who act against that rule which is given by God to man act also against that reasō which is given by God to man No man acts so much against faith as he who doth not beleeve that God seeth him in all his actings nor doth any man act more against reason then he who beleeveth that God seeth him and yet is more afraid to be seene of men then he is to be seene of God JOB CHAP. 24. Vers 18. He is swift as the waters his portion is Cursed in the earth he beholdeth not the way of the Vineyards THere are foure Apprehensions concerning the general scope of these words First Job is conceived here describing a fourth sort of wicked men or the same men acting a fourth sort of wickednes for having as hath been shewed from the former words first drawne out the doings of the murtherer and secondly of the Adulterer and thirdly of the theife at land digging through houses he in the fourth place as some Interpret the text proceeds to discover the Pyrate who is a theife upon the water a Sea-theife He is swift as the waters or he is swift upon the waters The letter of the Hebrew is He is swift upon the faces of the waters he moves in and upon all waters It is usuall in Scripture to call the outward part of any thing the face of it as the face of the heavens is that part of the heavens which doth outwardly appeare to us or is next to our eye O ye hypocrites sayth Christ Math. 16.3 ye can discerne the face of
is unprofitable therefore these cannot profit themselves Then what is that wisedome which Eliphaz means when he saith He that is wise may be profitable to himselfe I answer The wise man here intended is not the man that is politickly wise worldly wise carnally or craftily wise but the man spiritually wise his wisedome will bring him in profit He that is guided by holy and godly wisedome shall reap the benefit and eat the fruit of it We have such wisdome described Psal 111.10 The feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome a good understanding have all they that keep his Commandements he doth not say a good understanding have all they that know his Commandements for many may know the Commandements and yet not have a good understanding but they have a good understanding indeed that do his Commandements And when the Psalmist saith The feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome the word Beginning signifies not onâ—ly the first step or entrance into a thing but the head or hight of it so that Beginning is as much as chief or principall the best wisedome the chief the top wisdome the head wisdome or the head of wisdome is the fear of the Lord. Job gives the same description of wisdome in the last words of the twenty-eighth Chapter Behold the fear of the Lord that is wisedome and to depart from evill that is understanding Would you know what is true wisedome 't is the fear of the Lord would ye know who is wise The godly man is the truly wise man yea he is the onely wise man But then it may be questioned May a wise man be profitable to himselfe Doth not the Apostle say Rom. 14.7 None of us liveth to himselfe c. Then how can a man be wise to himselfe And doth not the Apostle give the rule 2 Cor. 5.15 Christ dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves If we may not live to our selves how then doth he say here that the wise man is profitable to himself He that is profitable to himself lives to himself doth he not I answer First the wise man must not make his own profit the end or the designe of his wisedome but he may look upon his own profit as that which will be the issue fruiâ— and consâ—quent of his wisedome A carnall man looks to and loves his work for the rewards sake A godly man may look to and love his reward for the works sake Prov. 9.12 If thou be wise thou shalt be wise for thy self that is the fruit or the good of thy wisedome will drop into thy owne bosome A wise man may look for his advantage in the end of his worke though he is not to make his own advantage the end of his work We are not to make either temporal or eternal advantages the end of our wisedome but we may look upon them as fruits and effects that God leads us to by the exercise of wisedome Secondly I answer a wise man cannot be profitable to himselfe as the founder of his own happinesse or as having a sufficiency in himselfe to make himself happy but a wise man may be a means or an instrument of his owne happinesse and walking in the way of wisedome he walks in the way to his own happinesse Thus he that is godly wise or that feareth God may be profitable to himselfe Hence Observe He that is truly wise godly and holy shall find fruit and benefit by it The Apostle 1 Tim. 4.8 assureth us that Godlinesse is profitable for all things The greatest gain in the world is Godlinesse It hath the promises of this life and of that which is to come Whatsoever drops out of any promise of the Gospel fals into the lap of a goly man the promises are his and therefore the good of the promise is his When the promises open at any time and give forth their vertue they must needs give it forth to him that is wise to him that is godly for godlinesse hath the promises When the Apostle had rebuk'd a sort of men that made godlinesse onely a stalking-hors to get gain he presently adds But Godlinesse is great gaine if a man be content with what he hath Godlinesse it selfe is great gaine if we have no more but godlinesse brings in gaine abundance of gaine besides it selfe Matth. 6.35 Seeke first the Kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof and all these things shall be added or cast in as an advantage to you The Apostle Rom. 6.21 puts a kind of holy scorne upon sinners come tell me What fruit had you of those things whereof you are now ashamed What fruit have you by your folly pride worldlinesse envy what fruit have you found in these things Bring me in an account of your gaine by trading in any sin The end of these things is death there is no great profit in that But now being made free from sin and become servants to God ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life Here are fruits good store and all good fruits both for here and hereafter We can never want fruit our selves while we are bringing forth fruit unto God All obedience is attended with a blessing and though as was toucht before we cannot be the founders of our own blessednesse nor must we meerly designe our own happinesse or aime at our owne proâ—â—◠〈◊〉 that is mercenary service yet we may look at our owne happinesse and profit yea and Lay up for our selves a good foundation as Paul adviseth rich men 1 Tim. 6 1â— We then make the best of our riches when we lay up for our selves a good foundation But can a man lay a foundation of his happinesse in his riches what a rotten foundation will that be what hay and stubble in this sense will gold and silver be What 's the meaning of it then when the Apostle saith Laying up for your selves a good foundation I answer we do it by the right improvement of riches for he speaks there to rich men not that we can lay any foundation to build upon beside Jesus Christ for other foundation can no man lay then that which is laid even Jesus Christ but when our hearts are not glued to the creature but we use them in a holy manner here 's our laying up a good foundation A godly wise man may look upon his right improvement of worldly riches as an effect of the grace and love of Christ dwelling in his heart and thus he may be said to lay up for himselfe a good foundation And further a beleever may looke upon his worldly profits as a fruit of the same grace the Lord having promised that he will blesse and provide for him so that every way a wise man may be profitable to himselfe Thus Eliphaz hath at once asserted a possibility for a man to be profitable to himselfe and denyed any possibility that a man can be profitable unto God which
which will be as so many Observations from the Text. It may seem a very Paradox to assert that it is no pleasure to the Almighty that a man makes his way perfect therefore take the sense first in three Affirmative Propositions and then in three that are Negative First The Lord hath pleasure in us as we are righteous in Christ Yea he loves to hear us boast of this righteousnesse and glory in it and the more we doe so the more pleasure he taketh in it Isa 45.25 Surely shall one say in the Lord have I righteousnes even to him shall men come c. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory The seed of Israel are righteous in the Lord and glory in that righteousnesse yea the Lord is pleased to hear them glorying in that righteousnesse for that 's the righteousnesse of his Son in whom he is well pleased Mat. 3. â—7 And because the Church is cloathed with this righteousnesse therefore she is called The Lords delight Isai 62.4 Thou shalt no more be called forsaken neither shall thy Land any more be termed desolate but thou shalt be called Hephzibah thy land Beulah for the Lord delighteth in thee Thou shalt be called my delight or my pleasure is in her The word of the Text the Lords pleasure is in the Church and therefore the Lords pleasure is in the Church becaus the Church is adorned and beautified with the righteousnesse of Jesus Christ this is it which causeth the Lord to call his Church Hephzibah My pleasure is in her When Eliphaz enquireth Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous We may answer the Lord hath pleasure in this righteousnesse and as he tels the Church so every perticular Believer his delight and pleasure is in him Secondly God takes pleasure also in us as we are righteous in Conversation David Psal 147.10 11. gives a clear proof of it both in the negative and in the affirmative The Lord delighteth not in the strength of a Horse he taketh not pleasure in the leggs of a man The Lords delight is neither in Horses nor in men neither in their strength nor in their beauty wherein is the Lords pleasure then The next words shew us where He takes pleasure in them that feare him and hope in his mercy This Scripture seems to speak directly contrary to Eliphaz in Job he saith Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous But David saith The Lord takes pleasure in those that feare him therefore we must not understand Eliphaz in this sense as if the Lord had no delight or contentment at all in the holinesse of his people as if it were all one to him whether they are holy or unholy There is a Generation who say that all actions are alike and that it is all one before God whether men be righteous or unrighteous whether they doe good or evil wo to them that understand this Scripture in such a corrupt sense for the Lord doth not onely hate iniquity but he is Of purer eyes then to behold any iniquity He hath no pleasure either in unrighteousnesse or in the unrighteous but both righteousnesse and the righteous are his pleasure There are three things which I shall touch for the confirmation of it First the Lord cannot but take pleasure in his own Image Now that righteousnesse which is implanted in us and put forth by us the righteousnesse of our natures and of our actions as we are regenerate is nothing else but the Image of God renewed upon us Seeing then God cannot but take pleasure in his own Image therefore it is a wickednesse to think that God takes no pleasure in a righteous man or in his righteousnesse Secondly as this righteousnesse is the image of God in us so it is the very workmanship of God upon us Ephes 2.10 For we are his workmanship we are so not only first in our naturall capacity as we are men and secondly in our civil capacity as such or such men high or low rich or poor but also which is the thing intended by the Apostle in our spiritual capacity as Saints Thus we are the workmanship of God created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them The same Apostle saith againe He that hath wrought us for this selfe same thing is God 2 Cor. 5.5 Is it possible that God should have no pleasure in his own works We read in the first of Genesis that when he had made the world the Lord saw all that he had made and behold it was very good God hath an All-seeing eye he alwayes beholdeth all things but when 't is said he saw all that he had made this imports a special act of God after the manner of men who strictly view and behold what they have done delighting in it Thus the Lord saw all that he had made he as it were came to view his own work he saw and behold it was very good he took pleasure in it Now if God took pleasure in that structure and fabrick of the world the first Creation how much more doth he take pleasure in that holinesse which he hath wrought in the hearts of his people which is a second creation and that 's a more curious and noble structure then this visible world is The new Creation is more excellent then the old Therfore the Lord cannot but delight in a righteous person for he is his workmanship What Job Ch. 14.15 assures himselfe of is most true in this respect Thou wilt have a desire to the worke of thine hands Job speaks there of his outward man my body he means was made by thee 't is the work of thy hands and thou wilt fetch it back again thou wilt redeem it from the dust Whatsoever hath the workmanship of God upon it he hath pleasure in it as it is his work and a speciall pleasure in that which as any work of Grace is is his speciall work Thirdly this Consideration shews that the Lord must take pleasure in a righteous person because he bears the form of his will revealed in his word Holinesse is our conformity to the will of God Now the Lord cannot but take pleasure in those who conforme to his will Samuel tels Saul 1 Sam. 15.22 and there he useth this word in the Text Hath the Lord as great delight in Burnt-offrings and sacrifices as in obeying the voyce of the Lord God gave thee a word a Command to which he expected thy conformity but thou hast thought to please the Lord with Sacrifices which he commanded thee not this was thy mistake and thy folly We honour God when we do his will surely then he must needs take pleasure in those that doe it Man takes pleasure when he can have his will though it be a corrupt and sinfull will fulfilled It cannot but be a pleasure to God when his holy will is
fulfilled or done on earth as it is in Heaven Thus we see the second Propnsition cleared for the understanding of these words That as the Lord takes pleasure in those who are righteous by the imputed righteousnesse of his Son so even in those also who are reghteous by the Implanted righteousnesse or holinesse of his spirit Thirdly God takes pleasure to see a sincere and upright person justifie himselfe or plead his owne justice against all the false accusations and suspitions of men The Lord likes it well to hear a man who is falsly accused to stand up and maintaine his own innocency yea it is our duty and we are bound in conscience to maintain our own innocency So David in the seventh Psalm and in the eighteenth Psalm justified himselfe against Saul And thus Job all along in this Book justified himselfe against the opinion of his friends in this sense God takes pleasure when we are so righteous in all our dealings and perfect in all our wayes that we dare encounter whosoever speaks the contrary and can wash off all the aspersions which either misguided and mistaken friends or professed Enemies cast upon us You have now had those three affirmative Propositions for the understanding of the Text. Take three more in the Negative First God hath no pleasure to see us justifie our selves before him or to plead our own righteousnesse with him yea he is extreamly displeased at it This some conceive the chief thing which Eliphaz aimed at Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou doest justifie thy selfe No thou dost highly provoke him in doing so to plead with or to justifie our selves before God that we are righteous is worse then all our unrighteousnesse for this overthrowes the whole design of the Gospel which is 1 Cor. 1.29 That no flesh should glory in his presence but be that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. And Rom. 3.19 20. The Law convinceth all That all the world may become guilty before God therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall be no flesh justified in his sight God will have every mouth stopped or cry guilty and therefore for any one to open his mouth and justifie himselfe before God is to overthrow the Gospel They are ignorant of the righteousnesse of God who goe about to establish their own righteousnesse Rom. 10.3 And as God hath no pleasure in them who boast of their righteousnesse to justifie themselves before him so Secondly God hath no pleasure in them who boast of their owne righteousnesse and contemne others Though a man may assert the righteousnesse of his Conversation against all them who question it yet God resents it highly when any proclaim their own righteousnesse to the despising of others Christ speaks a Parable against those in the 18th of Luke v. 9 10 11. who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others Two men went up into the Temple to pray the one a Pharisee the other a Publican The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himselfe God I thank thee that I am not as other men are extortioners adulterers unjust or even as this Publican Here was one that advanced his owne active righteousnesse and he did it with the contempt of another I am not as this Publican The Lord takes no pleasure in this yea the Lord is highly displeased with this And Isa 65.5 the Prophet represents the Lords indignation against this pharisaicall spirit in dreadful eloquence Stand by thy selfe come not near to me for I am holier then thou Thus they pleaded their righteousnes in contempt of others These saith the Lord are a smoak in my nose that is greevous and displeasing a fire that burneth all the day Thirdly God hath no pleasure at all in any of our righteousnesse either in the righteousnesse of our Justification or the righteousnesse of our Sanctification as the least addition to his owne happiness The reason of it is because as was shewed from the former Verse God is self-sufficient and hath no dependance at all upon the Creature So that what pleasure soever the Lord hath in the righteousnesse of our Justification or of our Sanctification we cannot put it to this account that we add any thing to his happines All the pleasure which God taketh is in himselfe or in the fulfilling of his owne good pleasure in Christ And therefore the work which Jesus was to doe on Earth is called the pleasure of God Isa 53.10 Deus nullis rebus quae extra ipsum sunt tangitur aut mutatur It pleased the Lord to bruise him he hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soule an offering for sin he shall see his seed he shall prolong his dayes and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand That pleasure of the Lord was the work which the Lord put into his hand or which he gave him to doe even the bringing about his eternal purpose for the recovery of lost man that 's a work in which the Lord takes pleasure so much pleasure that the Prophet calleth it His pleasure And thus the Apostle speaks Eph. 1.5 6. Having predestinated us to the adoption of Children by Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his owne will c. The good pleasure of God is onely in his owne will that 's his pleasure The Lord delights to see his will accomplisht in the saving of sinners as well as in the obedience of Saints that 's a part of the good will of God why doth he take pleasure in the obedience of Saints even because his own will is done It 's not any thing in us that doth it So when he saves us the pleasure which he takes is in the fulfilling of his owne will rather then in our salvation Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous Vers 4. Will he reprove thee for fear of thee Or will he enter with thee into judgement The Question is to be resolved into this negative He will not reprove thee for fear of thee c. Will he reprove thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 arguit redarguit corripuit judicavit The word signifies first to argue or dispute and so to convince by the authority of reason Secondly to plead so to convince by evidence of the Law and fact Mich. 6.2 Hear yee O Mountaines the Lords Controversie and ye strong foundations of the Earth for the Lord hath a controversie with his people and he will plead with Israel The Mountaines and the strong foundations of the earth are the great men of the earth or Magistratical powers with these the Lord threatens a Controversie and that he will plead or argue his cause with them Thirdly it signifies to argue or plead not with words onely but with blowes to reprove with correction Job 5.17 Happy is the man whom thou correctest The word which here we render reprove is there rendred to correct which is reproving by blowes Fourthly
and as a hater of wickednesse He reproves man because he hath sinned against him not because he is afraid of him as Eliphaz shews in the words which follow JOB CHAP. 22. 5 6 7 8 9. Is not thy wickednesse great and thine iniquity infinite For thou hast taken a pledge of thy Brother for nought and stripped the naked of their clothing Thou hast not given water to the weary to drinke and thou hast with holden bread from the hungry But as for the mighty man he had the earth and the honourable man dwelt in it Thou hast sent widdows away empty and the arms of the fatherlesse have been broken IN this Context Eliphaz intends to shew the true reason why God reproved Job and entred into judgment with him it was not as was sayd at the 4th Verse either because God was afraid of him or because he feared God but it was for his wickednesse as Eliphaz though mistaken concluded against him as if he had said God doth not punish thee because he is afraid of thee but because he loveth justice and hateth iniquity Is not thy wickednesse great and thine iniquity infinite That 's the scope of these words which we may fitly call Job's Indictment and this Indictment is laid down first in general words vers 5. Is not thy wickednesse great and thine iniquity infinite And here Job is not charged with wickednesse and iniquity barely but under a two-fold aggravation 1. Great 2. Infinite Secondly We have his Indictment drawn on t into particular Charges or a spefication of some notorious sins given against him in the Verses following This particular Charge consists of two heads First Sinnes against man Secondly Sinnes against God His supposed sinnes against man contained in the words now read are of two sorts First Sinnes of commission or of the evill which he had done Secondly Sinnes of omission or of the good that he had not done The evill which he chargeth him to have done is twofold first an act of injustice taking a pledge in the sixt verse secondly an act of uncharitablenesse stripping the naked in the same verse Both which evills or miscarriages towards the honest poore are aggravated ver 8th by his undue connivence at the wicked rich as he was too severe against the poore so he was over-favourable towards the great and mighty But as for the mighty man he had the earth and the honourable man be dwelt in it as if he had said Thou didst never set thy selfe to doe justice upon the great ones be they and doe they what they will they have the earth thou didst never put forth or exercise thy power to suppresse and oppose their insolencies thy edge was turned only against inferior ones Thou tookest a pledge from the poore and hast stripped the naked of their cloathing His sinnes of omission are expressed in the 7th verse Thou hast not given water to the weary thou hast withholden bread from the hungry and in the 9th verse Thou hast sent widdows away empty and the armes of the fatherlesse have been broken Which may be either taken thus Thou hast broken their armes or thou hast not given thy helpe and assistance to restore and releive them when broken Thus we have a light into the meaning of these five verses as they are a charge of sinne upon Job Vers 5. Is not thy wickednesse great The question may be taken two wayes either conjecturally and doubtingly or assertively and affirmingly Usually in Scripture such questions are resolved into assertions and so divers Interpreters resolve this here Is not thy wickednesse great That is I conclude against thee that thy wickednesse is great and that thy iniquities are infinite so Mr Broughton renders Doubtlesse thy evill is great Others conceive it more cleare to the minde of the Text that this question should be interpreted conjecturally Non tam haec ei ex professo obijcit quam cogitandum ei relinquit num haec fecerit Merc. Is not thy wickednesse great That is may we not suppose that thy wickednesse is great may we not from at least probable grounds thinke thus of thee And that First from the generall state of man by nature mans heart being sinfull he may sinne and sinne as it were without bounds greatly There is no man sayth Solomon 1 Kings 8. 46. that liveth and sinneth not Solomon puts it as a parenthesis in his prayer but it is such a parenthesis as hoocks in all man kinde it takes all in Who is there that sinneth not so Pro. 20.9 Who can say I am cleane from my sinne Now upon this generall ground Eliphaz might suppose Is not thy wickednesse great All men have this in their nature and hast not thou made improvement of it in thy life All men being sinfull by nature art not thou extreamely sinfull in practise Againe He might make the supposition upon this ground his present condition or his affliction thou art greatly afflicted thy afflictions are not of an ordinary sise or measure therefore is not thy wickednesse great and thine iniquity beyond the ordinary measure Upon this common rule he might suppose his sin very great for usually God doth proportion and measure out punishments by our sinnes Thy sufferings are very great therefore are not thy sinnes great too Thus he might speake conjecturally upon both these considerations And yet if we consider how positively he speaks of particulars at the 6th and 7th verses c Thou hast taken a pledge of thy brother for nought and stripped the naked of their cloathing c. He gives us but too much ground to thinke that he did more then barely conjecture while he sayd Is not thy wickednesse great The word which we render wickednesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 malum tuū vox Hebraea pertinet ad improbitatē quandam impudentiam contra jus aequum omnia conculcantem is by some specially expounded of that wickednesse which hath a kinde of impudence in it and which doth not onely breake transgresse or step over the Law but spurns against it every man that sinneth steppeth over the Law over the line but there are some that kicke at it some who trample upon it yea they would destroy it so some highten the emphasis of the word Againe the word is rendred by others as signifying the evill of punishment in this part of the verse and not the evill of sinne Is not thy affliction great therefore thy iniquity is infinite Malitia in sacris interdū est afflictio aerumna vexatio pro malo paenae non culpae accipit Rab Lev The Greeke word Matth. 6.34 answers this Sufficient to the day is the evill thereof that is the trouble and the sorrow of it Amos 3.6 Is there any evill in the Citie which the Lord hath not done So here Is not thy evill great thy evill of punishment therefore thy iniquity is infinite But I rather fix it upon the former though the word sometimes
because the Lord will not be mercifull to such thus final impenitency may be called a triumphing or conquering sin seing the mercy of God seemes to yeeld unto it They will not humble themselves to seeke mercy yea they slight and despise mercy therefore they shall not finde mercy The Prophet Jeremie represents the LORD thus expostulating againe with the Jewish Nation Chap. 5.22 23. Feare ye not me sayth the Lord will yee not tremble at my presence which have placed the sand for the bound of the Sea by a perpetuall decree that it cannot passe it and though the waves thereof tosse themselves yet can they not prevaile and though they roare yet can they not passe over it but this people hath a revolting and rebellious heart they are revolted and gone The words as I conceive have these two things in them first that the Lord is to be feared who doth such things who sets bounds to the Sea c. Secondly that the wickednesse of mans heart is admirable or rather that we are to be astonished at the wickednesse of mans heart which is more boysterous and disobedient then the raging waves of the Sea The Lord sets bounds to the waves of the Sea which waves in their owne nature are altogether boundlesse liquid waves have no bounds of their owne yet the Lord having put bounds to them they are kept in bounds The sand bounds the Sea so that though the waves thereof tosse they cannot prevaile though they roare they cannot passe over but this people have revolted and are gone As if he had said I the Lord have put a bound to the Sea I have also set a bound to the wickednesse of mans heart what is that my Word my Law The Law of God is a moral bound to stop and keepe in compasse the raging waves of mans corruption God doth not alwayes put an externall bound by sword and judgement to stop men whether they will or no from sinne but he alwayes puts a morall bound to stop them this is supposed in the Text I put a bound to the Sea to the Sea also of mans heart to the wickednesse that is there but this people are revolted and gone they have broken all my bounds even that perpetuall decree of my righteous Law Now as when the Sea breaks its bounds the waters flow infinitely there is no stopping them so when the heart of man breaks bounds revolts and is gone he sinnes infinitely he makes no end of sinning By these Scriptures we may understand in what sense the iniquities of wicked men may be sayd to be infinite though nothing is infinite in a strict and proper sence but God himselfe Is not thy wickednesse great and thine iniquitie infinite But hath Job given Eliphaz any just occasion of this surmise that his sin was in this sence infinite Did he ever observe eyther wickednesse in generall or those particular wickednesses which he presently enumerates taking a pledge denying reliefe of the poore stripping the naked c had he seene any of these evills acted by Job certainly he had not Job was a man of another frame of life then these things import these blacke lines and colours would never make the picture of Jobs heart or life this is as ill a draught of a man as could be made yet Eliphaz puts all this upon Job at least by supposition is it not thus but what reason had he for this supposition none but this the greatnesse of his affliction the infinite troubles that were upon him God set no bounds to Jobs sorrows therefore he thought Job had sinned beyond all bounds Hence observe Wee are ready to judge their sinnes great who are the greatest sufferers Though we know nothing by them though we can charge nothing upon them yet this thought riseth naturally in us when we see any under great and extraordinary sufferings surely they are great and extraordinary sinners The worst of sinners never suffered more in this world then the best of Saints Witnes those Jewish Worthyes whose torments are reported by the Author to the Hebrewes Chap. 11.37 and as these were adjudged to suffer because they were thought the worst of sinners so doubtlesse many who saw them suffer thought them such though they knew nothing done by them to make them such Read also this Spirit Luk. 13.2 Act. 28.4 This hath been formerly observed from other passages in this booke and therefore I onely touch it and passe away Againe Eliphaz seemes to take Job off from the wrong ground of his sufferings and tells him though he looked to other reasons yet the true reason was the greatnesse of his wickednesse and the numberlesnes of his iniquities Hence observe That few thinke of or hitt upon any other cause of suffering but sinne Sin is so much and so often the cause of suffering that we doe it no wrong to suspect it as the cause of all sufferings and it is indeed one kinds of cause causa sine qua non of all our sufferings so that we can hardly wrong sin by this suspition but we may easily wrong both God and man by it When the blind man came before Christ his Disciples asked him saying Master who did sin this man or his parents that he was borne blind they could hit upon nothing but sin why the man was borne blind Joh. 9.2 But at the third verse Christ answered Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents he vindicates both from this suspition What man was this and who were his parents that they sinned not were they cleane from sinne not so neyther but the meaning of Christ is this neither hath this man sinned nor his parents so as that eyther his sin or theirs should be reckoned the speciall cause why he was borne blind There was somewhat else in it which the Disciples tooke no notice of nor did they understand Christ doth not deny but that a mans owne sinne and the sin of his parents may be a cause of blindnesse but neither the one nor the other was the cause in that mans case as if Christ had sayd Can you thinke of nothing else why a man is afflicted but onely his sinne There are many other causes of suffering besides that The cause why some suffer is the tryall of their graces The cause why many suffer is to beare witnesse to the truth and to encourage others both in the profession of it and in persecutions for it And Christ particularly assignes another cause of the sufferings of the blind man That the worke of God might be made manifest in him That the worke of God in his power and mercy might be seene in restoring this man to his fight therefore was he borne without the power of seing The blindnes of that man was an occasion to make a very glorious discovery of God Much of God had not been so eminently seene at that time if that man had alwayes seene Many are cast downe upon beds of sicknesse or into a
man is of impurer eyes then to behold the glory and holiness of God in cleare manifestations of it and therefore heaven is the seate the habitation of his holinesse and of his glory Hence we may take two further inferences First That our hearts and our eyes should be lifted upwards the whole currunt of Scripture speaks of God as above in heaven And that 's the reason why the Apostle Col. 3.1 exhorts Sett you affections on things above and not on things here below And as on things above so most of all upon God who is above Sursum corda The old word was Lift up your hearts and David sayth in prayer Psal 25.1 I lift up my soule to thee And againe Psal 123.1 Vnto thee lift I up mine eyes O thou that dwellest in the heavens Yea our Lord Jesus Christ himselfe when he prayed Joh. 17.1 Lift up his eyes to heaven and said Father the houre is come glorifie thy Sonne c. The eye lift up to heaven is a signe of the heart lift up to heaven and that corporeall visible action serves to fix our most spirituall affections upon the invisible God 'T is indeed an easie thing to lift the eyes up to heaven but it is very hard yea impossible without a divine assistance to lift up the heart to heaven the heart of a prophane worldling mudds so much in the earth that he seldome lifts up so much as his eyes to heaven and how much or how often soever a hypocrite lifts up his eyes to heaven yet still his heart muds in the earth The eye lookes upward naturally but if ever the heart looke upward 't is a worke of Grace Secondly Then serve the Lord with reverence and holy feare in in all your addresses to him and appearings before him Wee reverence those who are on high on earth and shall wee not reverence him who is higher then the highest him who is in the hight of heaven While Christ bids us say Our Father which art in heaven he teacheth us as to pray with confidence because God is our father so to pray with reverence because he is a father in heaven Matth. 6.9 The Preacher Eccl. 5.2 makes this an argument why wee should be taken up in high thoughts of God why we should speak in a reverentiall manner both of him and to him Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God He puts as it were a double bridle upon man in his drawing neere to God first upon his mouth Let not thy mouth be rash and secondly upon his heart for the heart will talke at random as well as the mouth yea the heart will talke more at random then the mouth can and there is praying with the heart alone as well as with the heart and mouth together therefore sayth he Let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God Why for God is in heaven and thou art upon the earth therefore let thy words be few Here are indeed two arguments to enforce this composure of spirit first the highnes and Greatnes of God secondly the lownes and vilenes of man Consider God is above and thou art below not onely in regard of place but of state and dignitie of power and majesty The being of God in heaven notes not onely a power of soveraignty to command us but a power of ability both to punish and to provide for us to punish our rashnes and to supply all our wants wherewith we acquaint him and humbly mention before him therefore Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thy heart be hasty c. The same Solomon in the same booke allegorically describing the declined decrepid condition of man saith of the old man that he is afraid of that which is high Eccl. 12.5 Young men will be clambering and ascending but old men are afraid of that which is high they dare not goe up a high steepe place least their strength or breath should fayle or least their braine should turne and they through giddines tumble downe Old men love to keepe upon levell or even ground and are afraid of that which is high Surely both young and old have reason to be afraid of him that is high to have reverentiall thoughts of God who is in the highâ— of heaven higher then the heavens The distance of man from God as God is in heaven and man on earth is great and the dissimilitude of man to God as God is holy and man corrupt is farre greater eyther of these Considerations single is enough but both these layd together is aboundantly enough to keepe the heart in an humble selfe-abasing frame before the Lord. 2ly Taking these words Is not God in the hight of heaven As the supposed speech of Job thou sayest God is in the hight of heaven that is confined to heaven so that he looks no further but thou art deceived God is not lockt up in heaven he looks to all things here on earth As the earth is the Lords and the fullnes of it as to right propriety so the earth is the Lords with all the fullnes of it as to care and providence Though there be a distinctnes in the manner or manifestation of his being in heaven and on earth yet he is as truly and as much on earth as he is in heaven Hence note God is omnipresent or every where Though we are to adore and worship God as in heaven yet we must not shutt up God in heaven as he is in heaven so he is upon the earth also he is with us yea he is in us he is in all places not circumscribed by any nor limited to any place God is present in all places and fills all places with his presence onely he doth not declare his presence alike in all places The Lord appeares where and as he pleaseth but he cannot be otherwise or otherwhere then he is and that is every where While the Psalmist queryed Whether shall I goe from thy presence He was so farre from imagining that any such place could be found that in the very next words he concludeth God to be every where by an enumeration of all places Psal 139.7 8. If I ascend up to heaven thou art there if I make my bed in Hel behold thou are there Hel standeth in utmost opposition to heaven as heaven in Scripture-language is the highest so hell is the lowest place now sayth David If I make my bed in hell thou art there If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the utmost parts of the sea even there shall thy hand leade me and thy right hand shall hold me That is there I shall findâ— thee efficaciously present with me The Lord having said Isa 66.1 Heaven is my throne presently adds and the earth is my footstoole So the earth is called because its scituation in nature is below the heavens his throne is there his footstoole
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
with men but we read not of any honour they did to or received from God It is the highest disgrace to be memorable for actings against grace or for ungracious actings Num observas perpetuum ordinem quem in puniendis talibus impijs teâ—uit deus post natos homines Merc Putat hunc esse perpetuum ordinem domini ut impios hic puniat sed fallitur Merc Againe The old way may be taken for the way of punishment or for that course of divine Justice which was Executed upon wicked men in those elder times There is away of Judgement which God takes as there is a way of Sinne which man takes Sinfull ways lead into troublesome ways end in death Hast thou considered the way of justice which the Lord went in towards those old Sinners powring out his wrath and emptying the vialls of his Indignation upon them till hee had consumed and swept them off as rubbish from the face of the earth Hast thou marked the old way which eyther the lusts of wicked men have led them into or which the justice of the Lord hath brought them into Hast thou observed the old way Which wicked men have troden The Hebrew is Men of Iniquity Which phrase plainly imports that he doth not speake of the ordinary race or ranke of sinners but of the Extreamest sinners men so full of iniquity that they deserved this blacke Title men of Iniquity Antichrist is called not onely a man of sin or the man of sin but which implyeth a sinner of a higher forme then both the former That man of sin 2 Thes 2.3 He being indeed not onely among the chiefest sinners but the chiefe of sinners The phrase in the Text is a degree lower then that yet it notes a very great degreee And therefore when the Prophet would assure the greatest sinners repenting and returning to God of the readines of God to pardon he expresseth them in this stile Isa 55.7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man or as the Original Text hath it the man of iniquity his thoughts and c. As a man of Bloods notes a very bloody man a man given up to that particular sin of cruelty So a man of iniquity is one given up to sin in Generall Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men men of iniquity have Trodden This word trodden referred both to a sinfull and a suffering way notes the frequency of their going or being in those wayes And as it is referred to their sinfull way alone it notes first their boldnesse in sinning secondly their resolvednesse to sin A trodden way is such a way as a man hath often gone and in which he is not afraid to goe Hast thou marked the old way Hence note First The way of Sin and Error is an old way The Devill sinned from the beginning and men have sinned from their beginning not onely have there been sinnings but great sinnings from the begining the old way is the way of sin though the oldest way be not There was holines before there was sinne and truth before there was Error So that the way of sinne is the old way but not the oldest way God all whose wayes are holy was from everlasting The Angels who have been holy as long as they have been were from the beginning And the first beginning of man in his conversation was no doubt like his constitution holy He quickly went out of the way but surely his first step was not out of the way he went right before he went wrong and stood before he fell Againe if you take the way for the way of punishment Note That God in all ages hath punished sinners in their sinfull wayes God hath every where and every when left the tract and print of his anger and displeasure upon sinners though some particular sinners have gone unpunished in some age yet there was never any age wherein sinne was not punished in some The Lord gives a morall stopp to sinne perpetually that is by his Lawes he declares against it his word is expresse against all ungodlynes both the word of his Command and the word of his threatning Now as the Lord doth alwayes put this morall stopp in the way of sinne so he often puts a Judiciary stopp or a stop by way of Judgement And as in the 3d of Genesis he set a flaming sword in the way of the tree of life so he continually sets a flaming word that is a threatning to keepe the way of the tree of death that is of sinne Thus he alwayes meetes sinfull men in the way of their lusts as the Angel met Balaam when he went to curse the Israel of God with a drawne sword to stopp them in their way the Lord hath set many drawne swords in the way of every sinne and he hath left the prints of his wrath upon the backs of many sinners that wee should take heed of sinning The Lord hath left many sad examples upon record against sinne nor hath he at any time favoured it or done any thing which might indeed encourage sinners for though sometimes wicked men have prosper'd yet should wee looke into all times wee cannot finde that wicked men were ever blessed Judgement hath overtaken them sooner or later And if it hath at any time come too late to overtake them in this world yet it will come soone enough to overtake theirs in this or themselves in the world which is to come No man is blessed at any time who comes at last to be miserable Thirdly In that he saith Hast thou marked the old way Note It is our duty to observe and marke as the way of sinfull men so the way in which God punisheth their sinne All the wayes of God are to be marked as wee are to observe what the Lord speakes so what he doth his works as well as his word are remarkeable Who so is wise saith the Psalmist Psal 107.43 and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving kindnes of the Lord. I may say also that they shall understand the judgements of the Lord. And againe the Prophet confirmes it Hos 14.9 Who is wise and he shall understand these things prudent and he shall know them for the wayes of the Lord are right and the Just shall walke in them but the transgressors shall fall therein The wicked fall in the way of his commandements and therefore surely they shall fall in the way of his judgements And as the Lord hath given us Examples of this so he hath given this as the use of those Examples that wee should marke and observe them The Apostle 1 Cor. 10. shewes that all the dealings of God with that his ancient People the Jewes are written and recorded as our Examples ver 5 6 7. With many of them God was not well pleased but they were overthrowne in the wilderness Now these things were our Examples to the Intent that wee should not lust
after evill things as they lusted neither be Idolaters as some of them were nor fornicators nor tempt Christ nor murmure c. He shuts up all with the same doctrine ver 11. Now all these things happened unto them for Ensamples and are written for our admonition upon whom the Ends of the Earth are come therefore let him that standeth take heed least hee fall The Apostle Peter also 2 Pet. 2. brings in first the instance of the Angells that fell secondly of the old world thiâ—dly of Sodome and Gomorrah Whom God condemned with an overthrow making them an ensample unto those that afâ—er should live ungodly The Scripture speakes of two sorts of Ensamples Fâ—rst for imitation secondly for caution The lapsed Angels the old world these Cities Sodom and Gomorrah are all left as Ensamples for caution that all after ages marking the old way of their sinne and punishment might feare to sinne and suffer as they have done Fourthly From the manner of this Expression which wicked men have troden taking the way conjunctively for the way both of sinne and punishment this troddennes of it notes the frequent passage which many have made through it They have not gone it once onely but often Hence observe As wicked men offend often so the Lord hath punished often as they have made pathes in sinne so God hath made pathes in Judgement It is easie to follow sinners as it were by the print and tract of those evills which have overtaken them But I passe it here because Eliphaz proceeds more directly to describe the punishment of wicked men in the next words Vers 16. Which were cut downe out of time and whose foundation was overflowne with a flood At this verse the Original hath a very conspicuous note of distinction The Jewes are very exact in observing the letters and the verses of every booke in the Bible and between these two verses is the middle of the booke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there being exactly the same number of verses behinde as we have had before in this whole book of Job taking the 16th verse Inclusively So that now wee are halfe the booke over according to the number of verses The whole containing 1070. The former part hath had 535. and as many remaine for the latter part This I touch onely by the way Which were cut downe The words carry an alusion to the felling of trees as if hee had sayd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plerique reddunt succisi sunt sed verbum hoc nunquaÌ„ occurrit in ea significatione in sacris literis sed tantuÌ„ apud doctores HebraeoruÌ„ idque per meta thesin literarum a verbo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cum enim tantum occurrat in libro Job ibi vertitur rugare aut corrugare aut rugas contrahere These men were like great Oakes and tall Cedars but the Lord cut them downe The word is Conceived more properly signifying to wrinckle or to make furrowes in the face for this word is used but once more in all the Bible it is in the 16th Chapter of this Book ver 8th and there wee translate wrinckles Thou hast filled mee with wrinckles which is a witnes against me So some render it here Who were wrinckled out of time Now what are wrinckles they are the markes of old age and they shew that weaknes is coming upon us or that wee are in our declining Condition so that it is a very Elegant Expression to say They were wrinckled out of time that is they were old afore they were old before they were old according to the nature of man they were made old by the Judgements of God They lookt as if they were worne spent and eaten out by time whereas indeed they were spent eaten and worne out with the wrath and indignation of God which fell upon them Thus they were wrinckled out of time or before their time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sine tempore vel non tempus i. e. antequam explerent vitae annos secundam communem naturae legem They were cut downe and no time as some render But it may be sayd as Solomon did Eccl. 3.1 There is a time for every thing how then could they be cut downe in no time There may be a twofold interpretation given of this Hebraisme First this to shew that they dyed a violent not a naturall death that eyther God by his immediate Judgements did cut them off or that he gave them up to the Justice of man who cut them off before their time Man hath a set time an ordinary time of dying the dayes of man are threescore yeares and ten this is the ordinary time of dying they that dye before are in Scripture sence Cut downe out of time or not in time that is not in that time at which men usually dye according to the course and custome of nature Secondly when 't is sayd They were cut downe without time the meaning is they were cut downe very suddenly as if it were done without any time at all God was so farre from lingring or taking up long time to destroy these men that he cut them downe as it were without any time at all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sine tempore verti potest sine mora even in a moment in an Instant as speedily as a man can thinke it farre more speedily then any man can do it He did it without delay As usually the grace of God so often the wrath of God makes no demurres Observe from the manner of Expression Cut downe That God brings ruining Judgements on the stoutest of sinners Hee doth not onely pull off some of their fruit and leaves or lopp off their branches but he cuts them downe yea hee stubs them up by the roots till there is nothing left they are cut downe root and branch Thus the Lord threatned the house of Jeroboam 1 King 14.10 Behold I will bring evill upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall that is every man of his house and him that is shut up and left in Israel that is him that is most esteemed as things shut up are and him that is least esteemed as things left abroad are or those who are secured or have secured themselves in strongest holds as men shut up are as well as those who are left naked and exposed to the easiest dangers as men left at large are and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam that is all who have escaped or survived the former troubles as a man taketh away dounge till it be all gone that is till his house be utterly exterminated for dounge being a filthy and noysome thing men never leave taking it away from places where it is an annoyance till they have taken it all away That which is offensive in the whole nature of it is offensive in the least degree of it Againe When 't is sayd Hee cuts
flock and brought in a Kid to make the savoury meat for Isaac Now the Apostle Paul to advance the freenes of grace doth not only instance in those two persons but useth a phrase of speech which savours so much of that passage that though he had not named the men yet every man who knew the Scriptures must needs understand both of whom and of what he meant it It is not of him that willeth c. that is it was neyther Rebeckaes will to have it so nor Jacobs hast which appeared in his running to the flock to have it so that gave him the Blessing but it was of God that shewed mercy And as it was then so it is now though a man be as willing as Rebeckah or though he make as much speed as Jacob for his blessing yet all comes freely by the grace of God Thus the frequent usage of Scripture shewes us how much the Spirit of God delights to lead our thoughts by the light of some one word a great way back into the consideration of what hath been done and written of old for our instruction The words of the text now under discussion Whose foundation was overflowne with a flood are surely an allusion to some particular persons or action in the dayes of old and they may be applyed three wayes First To the drowning of the whole world in the time of Noah by a flood when the Lord opened the windowes of heaven and overwhelmed both man and beast in those mighty waters which universal judgement is by way of eminence called The Deluge or The Flood unto this very day Secondly They may have respect to the overthrow of Sodome and Gomorrah which Cities though they were destroyed by fire yet it was with a flood of fire The Text saith expresly Gen. 19.24 Then the Lord rayned upon Sodome and upon Gemorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven and he overthrew the Cities all the plaine c. They were overflowne with a flood of fire Thirdly Hunc locum a v. 15. ad v 20. omnino respicere ad dimersionem Pharaones Egyptiorum non levibus suadeor conjecturis Pined The allusion may be carried to the destruction of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the red Sea They also were overflowne with a flood The waters of the red Sea which stood up as a wall for Israell to passe thorow at the Command of God returning upon the Egyptians swallowed them up them and their Chariots and their horses The enemy sayd thus Moses describes that fatal overthrow Exod. 15.9 10. I will pursue I will overtake I will divide the spoyle my lust shall be satisfied upon them I will draw my sword my hand shall destroy them Thus the enemy raged foamed with revenge like a tempestuous Sea and had opened all the sluces of his will to overflow them And when the enemy had thus breathed out his wrath in a foure times repeated I will Then the Lord did blow with his wind the Sea covered them They sanke as lead in the mighty waters So then the words may relate to any of those three signall Judgements to the drowning of the old world with a flood of water to the destruction of Sodome and Gomorrah with a flood of fire or to the overthrow of Pharaoh and his Egyptian host in the red Sea But more particularly for the explication of these words whose foundation was overflowne with a flood Whose foundation This word foundation taken in a proper sence referres to a materiall building And the foundation of any building is the stability and strength of it by foundation in a metaphorical sence Ea omnia quae illis velur fundamenti loco erant in quibus spem praesidium ponebant c. Merc wee are to understand all those things by which the state of persons or things is upheld and here whatsoever wicked men support beare up themselves by as a building is borne up by the foundation is to be understood as their foundation So their power their riches their councell their wisdome their friends and confederates whatsoever I say is the support of their worldly State that 's their foundation And thus it is here said their foundation was overflowne With a flood In two of the former Instances to which the allusion was made their foundation was overflowne by a flood properly taken If wee take it more generally for all wicked men who at any time have been overthrowne wee may say that they have all been overflowne by a flood metaphorically For so First The displeasure of God by what meanes or instrument soever put forth is called a flood whether is be by sword or by famine or by pestilence it is a flood Esa 8.7 Wee read warre Compared to a flood Now therefore behold the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river strong and many what were these waters Even the King of Assyria and all his glory the King of Assyria with his Armyes in which he gloried or which he counted his glory were the waters of the river strong and many and hee shall come up over all his channells and goe over all his hands that is the former Limits of his Dominion And he shall passe thorow Judah hee shall overflow and goe over There The Sword is Compared to a flood or to a mighty river which beares downe all before it The same Prophet speakes againe in the same Language Esa 59.19 When the enemy shall come in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a Standard against him as if it had been said The enemy shall come rushing in like a mighty torrent but the Spirit of God like a more mighty winde shall blow and rush upon him causing him to recoile and give back or as our Margent hath it put him to flight Againe Ezek. 13. The Prophet foreshewes the approaching calamity upon those who had seduced the Jewes into a vaine security which is there called the building of a wall with untempered morter A wall he calls that prophecy because it promised safety and defence but he calls it also a wall built with untempered morter because that false prophecy was a weake prophecy and should shortly fall The manner how he gives us in the notion of the Text vers 13. Wherefore thus saith the Lord God I will even rent it with a stormy winde in my fury and there shall be as an overflowing shower in mine anger c. that is wrath shall be upon it the Babylonian Army was the special judgement in which that wrath was expressed and that shall be as an overflowing shower Great and continuall showers will try the strongest buildings and quickly overthrow the weake A wall of untempered morter is no match for a storme As our Saviour also assures us in the close of his Sermon on the Mount Matth. 7.27 where all those evills troubles afflictions sorrowes and persecutions whether sent upon such as are really
of a wicked man he desires to have God depart he is afraid of the presence of God what are the desires of a godly man he desires nothing more then the presence of God he sayes as Moses Exod. 33.15 If thy presence goe not with mee carry me no further I desire to be no where but where God manifests himselfe to be let me see the day of my departure out of the world rather then the day of Gods departure from me in the world Let riches goe let liberty goe let friends and relations goe so God stay with me All company is solitarines to me all fullnesse is emptinesse to me and the most populous City worse then a desolate wildernes to me where I finde not the presence of God with me I feare nothing like this The departure of God from me I read indeed Luke 5.8 that Peter once sayd to Christ Depart from mee for I am a sinfull man O Lord. But the reason was not because he was weary of the presence of Christ but because he thought himselfe altogether unworthy of the presence of Christ And therefore at another time when many of Christs Disciples went back walked no more with him and hereupon Christ sayd to the twelve Will ye also goe away Then Simon Peter answered him Lord to whom shall we goe thou hast the words of Eternall Life Joh. 6.68 He who would not go from Christ could not indeed desire that Christ should goe or depart from him They who have tasted how gratious the Lord is can never totally depart from God nor can they at all beare it that God should depart from them Thus the Church complaines Jer. 14.9 Why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the Land and as a way fayring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night Why shouldest thou be as a man astonished as a mighty man that cannot save yet thou O Lord art in the midst of us and we are called by thy name leave us not Whatsoever thou doest to us doe not leave us let any evill come but doe not thou goe let sword come let famine come let plague come but doe not thou depart leave us not Thus the Saints cling about a departing God while wicked men are willing he should depart And cōsidering the opinion which these wicked men had of God 't is no wonder though they presse him to depart for what should God do with them if he can doe nothing for them or doe them no good Such was their apprehension of God as appeares in the next clause And what can the Almighty doe for them They should rather have said What cannot the Almighty doe for them If the question be put what the Allmighty can doe The answer is at hand he that is Allmighty can do any thing yet these wretches say What can the Allmighty doe for them Et quid operabitur omnipotens eis Heb. Allmightinesse it selfe is questioned as weaknesse and omnipotency as impotency by unbeleevers From the generall sense of this infidel question Observe First That worldly wicked men have low and slight thoughts of God It is sayd of a wicked man Psal 10.4 God is not in all his thoughts that is he is in none of his thoughts or God is not at all in his thoughts But is any man so voyd of God that God is not in all his Thoughts can any man utterly extinguish or blot the thoughts of God out of his heart is not the notion of a God written with indelible characters upon the heart of man by nature if not how is the Law written there by nature I answer wicked men have thoughts and cannot but have thoughts of God But first They like not to retaine God in their thoughts or which is the same in their knowledge Rom. 1.28 Secondly The thoughts which they have of God are unworthy of God while they thinke of God they thinke below God and so indeed their thoughts are not at all the thoughts of God While we thinke of God otherwise then he is and hath revealed himselfe to be we doe not thinke of the God that made us but we make an Idol-God in our own thoughts Now wicked men thinke either that God hath no strength power goodnesse and wisdome or can do little with what he hath What can the Allmighty doe for them They who are afarre off from God by unbeliefe are not able to discerne his power his goodnes his wisdome his faithfullnesse his Allsufficiency They neyther understand what God affirmes of himselfe nor give credit to what he hath promised unto us We say of those things which appeare more then they are that they affect more afarre off then neere at hand but those things which are more then they appeare affect more when they are nigh then when they are afarre off God is infinitely more then he appeares And he being neere to those who beleeve affects them wonderfully But God is farre from unbeleevers and they are farre off or in a state of farthest distance from God therefore they are not affected with him But say who is God what is Gods power what is his allmightinesse Wee have heard much of him but wee see little in him They looke upon God as if he were like the Idolls described Psal 115.4 5 6 7. Who have eyes and see not eares and beare not hands and handle not c. All the attributes of God that he is allmighty unchangeable c. are but a sound of words or empty titles in their eares A beleever can make a living out of any attribute of God for when the Scripture saith he lives by faith the meaning is he lives upon the goodnes mercy and power of God revealed in the promise and layd hold on by faith Thus the just live by faith upon God but the wicked and unbeleevers cannot live upon those termes They see little or nothing in God to make a Living of and therefore they say What can the Allmighty doe for them Secondly Note That carnall men count the service of God unprofitable What can God do for them if they serve him what profit is it His is a leane service they shall but starve themselves by attending upon him and undoe themselves by doing his worke Thus they sayd in the former Chapter and so they say againe in this The carnal man accounts nothing good but that which is outwardly good Who will shew us any good Psal 4.6 they know not that all good cometh through the hand of God that it cometh in at the doore of the promise They can looke no further then they see and therfore becuse they see no profit they looke for none They doe not see that God doth any thing for them and therefore they conclude he cannot What can the Allmighty doe for them Thirdly Note That The spirits of worldly men are meerely mercenary If they doe any thing for God or at the command of God they doe it only upon hopes of reward they
never obey commandements for the holines that is in them but for the benefit that comes by them What can the Allmighty doe for them As when Judas betrayed Jesus Christ he went out with a mercinary spirit to doe that wickednesse What will you give mee and I will betray him So when a carnal man serves Jesus Christ he sayth What will he give me what can he doe for me he cannot serve God for nought that is freely as Satan charged Job in the beginning of this booke Job serveth thee sayd Satan because thou hast done so much for him because thou hast served his turne and made a hedge about him this was Satans slaunder upon that good man but 't is no sâ—under to say so of carnal men Doe they serve God for nought They doe not they cannot if they may gaine by godlinesse they will doe somewhat which shall have a shew of godlinesse profit will make any thing passe with and pleasing to a carnall minde though in it selfe it be never so displeasing Such is the noblenesse of the people of God that though there be a reward in serving of him yet they are ready to serve him without reward they can serve him upon a bare command abstract from promises and profits They can obey God as a creator though he should not be a rewarder Godlinesse is profitable for all things and hath the promise both of this life and of that which is to come yet a gratious heart loves Godlinesse more then profitablenes and eyes the worke of God more then his reward Further for the opening of these words Some read thus What can the allmighty doe against them The Hebrew particle stands indifferently to both and may be translated for or against in which sense we finde it in the 35th of this Booke Si peccaveris quid ei nocebis propriè quid ei facies ver 6 7. If thou sinnest what dost thou against him That is what hurt dost thou to God thy sinne cannot reach or wound him what dost thou against him Thus here They say to the allmighty depart from us and what can the allmighty doe against them Surely the allmighty is not able to hurt us from him we expect no good and from him we feare no evill Were not these mighty men thinke you who thought the Allmighty could not match them These were mighty men indeed Giants sons of Anak no doubt they were but Giants in wickednes And so this reading gives us a further character or discovery of a wicked mans Spirit Hence Observe Some wicked men have this presumption that let God doe his worst he cannot hurt them I finde in Scripture a threefold false and presumptuous apprehension which evill men have of God while they are doing evill First Some presume that God will protect them from evill while they doe evill Mich. 3.11 The beads thereof judge for reward and the Priests thereof teach for hire and the Prophets thereof divine for money yet will they leane upon the Lord and say Is not the Lord among us none evill can come upon us These were such as made it their busines to breake the Law of God yet they thought God would not suffer any trouble to breake in upon them Secondly Others presume that at least God will not be so severe as to inflict those evills which he hath threatned The old world was threatned with a Deluge but they could not beleeve God would make good his word they even mockt at the credulity and simplicity of Noah to see him build that great Ship or Arke upon the dry Land as if he meant to sayle his vessel without water As for them they neither belâ—â—ved nor feared a flood So they Isa 5.19 will put the Lord to a triall Let him hasten his worke that we may see it let us see what he will doe as if they had said to the Prophet you told us what he would doe how severe he would be what meaneth all your talke we would see something done What will the Allmighty doe against us Surely nothing he is not so strict as you make him The Prophet describes the worst of men the men setled on their lees speaking thus Zeph. 1.12 They say in their heart the Lord will not doe good neither will he doe evill that is he will neyther reward nor punish he will neyther helpe nor hurt To say eyther of these is alike dishonourable unto God To say eyther much more both though indeed to say eyther is to say both is to say not only that God is neyther to be loved nor feared but that he is not at all It is the glory of God to doe the one as well as to doe the other and unlesse he could doe both he could doe neyther Isa 45.7 I forme the light and create darknesse the darknesse of trouble is of God as much as the light of comfort I make peace and create evill the evill of punishment is as much the creature of God as peace is and God doth as much appeare a creator in the one as in the other the doing of this kinde of evill doth as much shew the power and providence of God as the doing of good yet those in the Prophet sayd the Lord will doe neither He will neither doe good neyther will be doe evill Thirdly Those in the Text were raysed to a higher pitch of presumption then both the former For they sayd what can the Allmighty doe against us As if they had sayd Let him doe his worst wee feare him not To thinke that God will sheild us from the evill which others threaten or that he will not bring that evill upon us which himselfe hath threatned when we doe evill are very high actings of presumption But to thinke that God can doe nothing against us to thinke that the Arme of God is shorter then that it can reach us or weaker then that it can over-power us to thinke that we have out-growne divine justice and are too big or too strong to be dealt with by the Allmighty is presumption to madnes woe to those sinners who secure themselves in the goodnes of God to them more woe to those who secure themselves in Gods neglect of them but above all woe is their portion who secure themselves as it were in the weaknes of God even while in words they acknowledge his power saying What can the Allmighty doe against us Thirdly Others read the words thus They say to the allmighty depart from us and what hath the allmighty done against them That is what hurt hath God done them They are troubled at the presence of God But what cause hath God given them to be troubled at his presence And then we may connect these words with the words of the 18th verse What hath God done against them yea he filled their houses with good things that 's all the dammage he did them This is a fayre sence and consistent with the Original Text leaving the
gives such a vehement admonition to beware of the way of wicked men Pro. 4.14 15. Enter not into the path of the wicked and goe not in the way of evill men avoyd it passe not by it turne from it and passe away As in the former context he as a carefull father had pressed his Sonne to the closest pursuit of wisdomes way so here he as earnestly presseth him to depart from the path of wickednes He would have his sonne not only not goe into it but not so much as passe by it that is not goe neere it as the next words intimate turne from it as if he had sayd keepe at a distance keepe aloose off doe not stay so long within sight of it as to looke upon it that 's his last counsel passe away not to returne or come neere it any more And while we consider whither that way leads we shall easily grant that when all is sayd little enough is sayd to lead us away from it Where the way is sinne the wages is death Therefore let him who desires to avoyd the conclusion of the wicked say The counsell of the wicked is farre from me Job CHAP. 22. Vers 19 20. The righteous see it and are glad and the innocent laugh them to scorne Whereas our substance is not cut downe but the remnant of them the fire consumeth ELiphas still pursues the ruine and extirpation of wicked men he shewd us before the sinfullnes of their practises towards man and the folly of their opinion in saying to God depart from us who had never hurt them nor given them any cause to be weary of his presence unlesse this displeased them that he filled their houses with good things And because they declared themselves thus vaine therefore Eliphaz rejected both them and their way The counsell of the wicked is farre from me Now in this verse he acquaints us wiâ—h the event or issue of their counsells and how the righteous carry themselves when God calls the wicked to an account and reckons with them for their prophanenes and irreligion Vers 19. The righteous see it and are glad Who the righteous man is and what denominates a man righteous hath been shewed bâ—fore The righteous see it what do they see That which they beleeved looked for the fall of wicked men This act of seeing may be referr'd eyther to the person seeing or to the object seene as 't is referr'd to the person of the righteous so seeing notes both their priviledge and their pleasure They are admitted to see this spectacle of divine Justice and it is their happines to see it This David intimates Psal 37.34 Wait on the Lord and keepe his way and he shall exalt thee to inherit the Land when the wicked are cut off thou shalt see it The righteous shall be honoured with this fight yea and pleased with it the cutting off of wicked men by the hand of God The righteous man hath a promise to see this and promises are the conveyances of mercies Psal 91.8 A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand but it shall not come nigh thee onely with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked Thou shalt be a spectator not a partaker in that calamity Wicked men sometimes glutt their eyes with â—eholding the troubles of the Saints and they account it a happy day when they can have such a sight They signe that day with a white stone when the black stone of the most unjust and cruell condemnation proves the present lot of the righteous David discovered such a spirit in his enemies Psal 35.21 They opened their mouth wide against me and said aha aha our eyes have seene it What had they seene The former verse tells us They speake not peace but they devise deceitfull matters against them that are quiet in the Land When these devises tooke and had successe then they were pleased then they had what they would and saw what they desired And thus the enemies of the Church are described Miâ— 4.11 Now also many Nations are gathered against thee and say let her be defiled there is a twofold defiling a defiling with sinne and a defiling with bloud and misery the latter is meant by the Prophet let her be defiled and let our eyes looke upon Sion They counted it a blessed sight to see Sion bleed The wicked would have such sights often though usually their eyes fayle with waiting and their hope is as the giving up of the Ghost But righteous men shall see the righteous God hath sayd it vengeance powred upon the wicked Againe we may expound this act of seing with reference to the object seene and so it imports 2 things first the certainly of their fall wicked men shall undoubtedly be destroyed and there shall be eye-witnesses honest and faithfull witnesses testifying their destruction The righteous shall see it and report it to after generations Secondly As seeing notes the certainty of their fall or the evidence and clearenesse of it so the publiquenesse of it That which is done to the eye is done openly What the justice of God doth against the wicked shall not be done in a corner but as upon the house-top The reading of the Septuagint is full to this sence They shall be made publicke examples 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Denotat rem omnibus conspicuam in publicum exemplum propositam It is the care of just and wise Magistrates not onely to punish malefactors but to punish them openly That so all may see and feare and doe no more presumptuously There are three speciall reasons why offences are punished and the Greekes expresse each punishment by such a word as carryeth a distinct signification of those reasons First Some are punished that themselves may amend and better their manners This they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Secondly Others are punished to repayre the honour or maintaine the dignity of those against whom they have offended lest if such should escape without condigne punishment authoritie should be contemned grow cheape or be lightly valued This they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A third sort were punished for example 1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acerbitas ulciscendi maleficij bene atque cante vivendi disciplina est Caecilius apud Gel. l. 2. c. 1. that others might be deterred from doing the same things lest they also incurre the same sufferings This was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As much as to say the holding of a man forth in his sufferings to the open view that he may be seene of all men and that all may be warned to avoyd his error And thus the Lord who is the righteous Judge of all the world punisheth wicked men The same word is used by the Evangelist Matthew Chap. 1.19 Joseph being troubled that Mary was with childe for he knew not the mystery of hir over-shadowing
by the Holy Ghost was minded to put her away secretly and would not make her a publique example He was unwilling to bring her to justice or that others should see eyther her supposed sin or punishment But as God doth worke many glorious salvations for his people that the wicked may see it and be ashamed so he brings many visible destructions upon the wicked not onely that the righteous may see it and rejoyce or be glad which act follows next to be opened but that the wicked may see it and tremble to doe wickedly Hence observe First That the Lord sets up wicked men many times as examples of his wrathfull justice Not onely doe they feele wrath upon themselves but others see it The Lord sometimes chastens his owne people in the view of the world and sets them up as examples of his fatherly displeasure Thus Nathan speakes in the name of the Lord to David 2 Sam 12.12 Thou didst it secretly but I will doe this thing what thing I will afflict and chasten thee for this great offence before all Israel and before the Sâ—nne that is in plaine and cleare light Though thou hast done this evill in the darknes ot many close contrivances yet I will draw the curtaine and make the poenall effects of thy sinne as conspicuous as the actings of thy sin have been close and covert Againe Numb 25.4 when the people began to commit whoredome with the daughters of Moab and Israel had joynâ—d himselfe unto Baal peor so that the Anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel Then the Lord said to Moses take all the heads of the people that is the capital offenders or chiefe rulers who gave way or at best gave no stop to such wickednes and hang them up before the Lord against the Sunne that the feirce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel To hang them up before the Sunne is a phrase of speech importing the publicknes of their punishment as it is sayd of the seven Sons of Saul that they were hanged on the hill before the Lord 2 Sam. 21.9 for caution unto all whatsoever is done in the fight of all or so that all may see is sayd in the Language of the Jewes to be done before the Sunne To which sence also we may interpret that vision of the Prophet Zechariah Chap. 5 6. 9 10 11. at the 6th verse we reade of an Ephah and this lift up ver 9th between earth and heaven the Ephah was a measure of dry things among the Jewes and in that vision it signified that the sinne and punishment of the Jewes were measured and proportioned This Ephah being lifted up and carried I sayth the Prophet said whether doe these beare the Ephah ver 10. And he said unto me to build it an house in the land of Shinar and it shall be established and set there upon her owne base The building it a house in the land of Shinar that is in Babylon signified the lastingnes or continuance of their sinne in the sad consequents of it their punishment and banishment in strange lands not for the space of seventy yeares onely as by the Babylonians but as some of the Learned expound the vision for many seventyes by the Romanes and as this Ephah had a house built for it noting the setlednes and durâ—tion of the Judgement which should come upon them for their sinne so also it was set upon its own base to signifie the notoriousnes or conspicuousnes of the Judgement it being as a house set upon pillars for all to behold and take notice of as we see fullfilled to this day since the first overthrow of their estate by Titus Vespatianus and their final dispersion by Aelius Adrianus There are I grant other conceptions about that vision but as this suits wel with the poynt in hand so with the calamitous state of that people to this day And thus the Lord threatned the King of Tyrus Ezek. 28.17 Whose heart was lifted up because of his beauty and who had corrupted his wisdome by reason of his brightnesse Now what will the Lord doe what course will he take with him The next words enforme us I will cast thee to the ground and I will lay thee before Kings that they may behold thee He doth not say I will cast thee into the ground but to the ground and lay thee before Kings that is thou shalt he a spectacle for all the Kings of the Earth that they may behold as what thy pride and selfe-confidence have brought thee to so what their owne if they tread thy path eyther will or justly may bring them unto Thus also in the 7th verse of Jude Epistle the Apostle sayth that Sodome and Gomorrha and the Cities about them in like manner giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh are set forth for an example suffering the vengeance of Eternal fire The Judgements of God are not onely punishments to them who went before but premonotions to them who come after The righteous see it and are glad Here is the effect which that sight wrought upon the righteous The eye affects the heart and the heart is affected sutably to the object eyther with joy or with sorrow The destruction of men is a sorrowfull object and therefore we might rather expect that the righteous beholding it should be affected with sorrow but the Text affirmes a direct contrary effect of this fight The righteous see it and are glad Hence observe The judgements of God upon the wicked are matter of joy to the righteous It is the duty of the Saints to mourne with them that mourne and to rejoyce with them that rejoyce Rom. 12.15 But then we must understand these mourners and rejoycers to be such as themselves are Saints must mourne with mourning Saints and rejoyce with rejoycing Saint The godly are not bound eyther to joy the joyes or sorrow the sorrowes of the wicked The judgements of God upon the wicked have a twofold effect eminently noted in Scripture First they cause feare and secondly they cause joy When exemplary justice was to be done according to the law of Moses upon presumptuous transgressours it is sayd Deut. 13.11 All Israel shall heare and feare and shall doe no more any such wickednes David Psal 64. having complained to God in prayer of the cruelty of his enemies and begged protection from their malicious practises growes up to much assurance that downe they must v. 7 8. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow suddenly shall they be wounded and then ver 9. All men shall feare and shall declare the worke of God for they shall wisely consider of his doings Thus feare is the issue of divine judgement And yet joy is the issue of them at the 10th verse of the same Psalme The righteous shall be glad in the Lord and trust in him and all the upright in heart shall glory Feare is a common effect All men shall
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
when the ungodly fall and not fall into sin themselves I answer First The righteous rejoyce at the fall of the wicked as blessing God who hath kept their feete from those wayes in which the wicked have fallen As 't is a great mercy to be kept out of those ill wayes to be kept from fiding with those corrupt interests in the pursuit of which we see many broken so 't is a duty to rejoyce that we have not walked in their way whose end we see to be nothing els but destruction Secondly The righteous have cause to rejoyce blesse God when they see the wicked fall because themselves are saved keepe their standing because themselves have escaped the danger and the Lord hath been a banner of protection over them in the day when the wicked fell Moses after the destruction of Amaleck built an Altar and called the name of it Jehova-Nissi Exod. 17.15 that is to say The Lord is my banner And in like cases the joy of the Saints is not properly in the destruction of the wicked but in their owne deliverance through the mighty power good hand of God with them It is the presence of God with them the appearance of God for them which is the gladnes of their hearts Thirdly The righteous then rejoyce because the Church and people of God are in a fayre way to peace when the Lyons are destroyed the sheepe are in safety when the Wolves and the Beares are cut off the flock rests quietly so in this case when men of devouring cruell spirits wicked and ungodly ones are removed the flocke of God the sheepe of his pasture feed quietly none making them afrayd The fall of the enemies of Sion is the establishment of Sion yea in a great measure of mankinde As the Prophet most elegantly sets it forth Isa 14.6 7 8. He who smote the people in wrath with a continuall stroke he that ruled the Nations in anger is persecuted and none hindereth The whole earth is at rest and is quiet they breake forth into singing yea the firre-trees rejoyce at thee and the Cedars of Lebanon saying since thou art layd downe no feller is come up against us How often have wicked men in power felled not onely the Firre-trees and Cedars of the world but the goodly trees of righteousnesse in the Lords plantations have they not therefore reason to sing when such fall seing the Fellers themselves are then felled and fallen Fourthly Joy ariseth to the righteous because God is honoured in the fall of wicked men And that 's their chiefest joy That God is honoured is more joy to the righteous then that themselves are saved how much more then then that the wicked are destroyed There is a threefold honour arising to God when the wicked fall First God is honoured in his justice such a day is the day of the declaration of the righteous judgement of God as the Apostle speakes of the great day of Judgement Rom. 2.5 Thou after thy hardnesse and impenitent heart treasurest up to thy selfe wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God Some doe even question the justice of God when wicked men prosper but he is vindicated in his justice when wicked men fall It cannot but please righteous men to see the righteous God exalted or God exalted in his righteousnesse They know and beleeve that God is righteous when the wicked prosper Jer. 12.1 But when the wicked are punished they proclaime his righteousnes Then they sing the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lambe saying Great and marvailous are thy workes Lord God Almighty just and true are thy wayes thou King of Saints Who shall not feare thee O Lord and glorifie thy Name c. for thy Judgements are made manifest Rev. 15.3 4. The Lord is alwayes alike Just but it doth not alwayes alike appeare how just he it And as that God is just is the faith and stay of the Saints so the appearances of his justice are their joy and triumph Secondly God is honoured much in the attribute of his truth in the truth of his word in the truth of his threatenings when the wicked are punished God hath spoken bloudy words concerning wicked men not onely in reference to their future estate in the next life but to their present estate in this Say to the wicked it shall be ill with him the reward of his hands shall be given him But what is this reward There are two sorts of rewards First rewards of love and favour according to the good which we have done Secondly rewards of wrath and anger poenal rewards according to the evill which we have done Now when the Lord puts these poenal rewards into the hands of the wicked or powres them upon their heads he is honoured in his truth as well as his justice for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it As the promises are yea and Amen 2 Cor. 1.20 so also are the threatnings unto the glory of God by us But as when David saw his life in danger every day he began to question the truth of God in the promise that he should live to reigne and fit upon the throne of Israel for saith he Psal 116.11 when things went thus with him I said in my hast all men are lyars even Samuel among the rest who assured me of the Kingdome by expresse message from God but surely he also is deceived and hath fed me with vaine hopes Now as these words of David according to our translation of them and the truth of the thing in frequent experiences shew that Godly men are apt to question the truth of the promise when themselves are by seemingly contradicting providences much afflicted so they are apt to question the truth of the threatnings when they see outward providences prospering the wicked Therefore when the threatnings have their actuall yea and Amen that is when they are executed upon the ungodly this also is to the glory of God by us that is God is glorified by all his people who heare of it in the truth of what he hath spoken Againe as God is magnified in the truth of his threatnings when any particular wicked man is punished so when common calamities come upon the wicked the truth of God or God in his truth is magnified two wayes First As such calamities are a fullfilling of many Prophecies secondly As they are the answer or returne of many prayers The vengeance which falls upon the Enemies of the Church of God is drawne out by prayer Luke 18.7 8. And there is nothing wherein God is more honoured then when prayer is answered For as therein he fullfills our wants so his owne word Who hath not said to the seed of Jacob seeke ye mee in vaine Thirdly When the wicked fall the Lord is honoured in the attribute of his power How great is his power who puls downe great power It argues the Almightines
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
be shortned in spiritualls the raine of holy doctrine shall not be removed from you or as vve translate thy teachers shall not be removed c. Some amongst us vvould have the teachers of holy doctrine removed lest by feeding them the bread vvater of the Land should fayle as if the charge of publick preaching the riches of the Grace of Christ would be an undoing or at least an impoverishing of the Nation Whereas I touch it onely by the way the Prophet comforts the people of God in the midst of all their wants outward afflictions that they should not want the presence of their teachers nor the showers of holy instruction by them Againe Joel 2.23 Be glad O Zion and rejoyce in the Lord your God for he hath given you the former raine moderately and he will cause to come downe the raine the former raine and the latter raine in the first month That vvhich vve render The former raine moderately others translate a Teacher of righteousnes Sanctè colludit propheta nominibus doctoris seu legislatoris pluvâ—ae seu imbris maturini serotini or according to righteousnes so you may finde in the Margin of your larger Bibles And that 's the great mercy vvhich Zion is to rejoyce in for can vve thinke that Zion the children of Zion should be called so earnestly to rejoyce meerly in natural raine or the effects of it because of the abundance of Corne and Wine and Oyle which the earth vvell vvatered usually produceth This is too poore a thing considered alone for Zion to rejoyce in Zion or the people of God doe and must confesse themselves unvvorthy of the least outward mercy even of a shovver of raine or of a sheafe of corne and they ought to praise God and be very thankfull for these But these are not properly the matter of Zions gladnesse and rejoycing In these the vvorld rejoyceth Who will shew us any good Psal 4.7 they are for Corne and Wine and Oyle but Lord saith David lift up the light of thy Countenance upon me Thou hast put gladnes in mine heart more then in the time that their corne and their wine encreased As if he had said Worldly men rejoyce in corne and vvine but I rejoyce more in the light of thy countenance The light of the favour of God and the light of the knowledge of God are the chiefe matters of a beleevers joy And this light of holy joy comes in usually vvith and by the raine of that doctrine which falls upon us from the mouth of God in the teachings of his divine Lavv. Receive the Law from his mouth But you vvill say What is this Lavv vvhich comes dovvne like raine from heaven and vvhich vve are to receive from the mouth of God I ansvver The Lavv may be taken tvvo vvayes First Strictly for the ten Commandements or the five Bookes of Moses vvhich are called the Lavv. Secondly More largely and so the vvhole vvord of God is the Lavv. Christ himselfe calls the Booke of Psalmes the Lavv tvvo or three times in the nevv Testament Joh. 10.34 Jesus answered them is it not written in your Law I have said yee are Gods vvhere vvas that vvritten in the 82d Psal v. 6. And so againe Joh. 15.25 But this cometh to passe that the word might be fullfilled that is written in their Law they hated me without a cause What Lavv doth he meane those vvords vve finde Psal 35.19 Take one text further 1 Cor. 14.21 In the Law it is written With men of other tongues and other lips will I speake unto this People Where is that vvritten Esay 28.11 So that the Law in a large sense is taken for the vvhole body of the vvord of God or for the general Revelation of the mysterie of his vvill in vvhich sense vvee may say the Gospel is the Lavv And the Gospel is expressely called the Law or rule of faith Rom. 3.27 So that by Law here vve may understand vvhatsoever the Lord hath given us eyther as a rule of life or as a rule of faith The Seaventy translate Eliphaz speaking in that latitude 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Receive whatsoever God delivers declares or puts forth Receive I pray thee the Law from his mouth From vvhose mouth from the mouth of God how can that be Indeed Moses vvent up into the Mount and vvas vvith God fourty dayes and there received the Lavv from his mouth but could Job Receive the Lavv from his mouth as Moses did I ansvver If God had called him to it as he did Moses he might But that 's not the purpose of Eliphaz Neither are wee I conceive to understand him of such a Receiving from the mouth of God as the old Prophets had vvho received the minde of God by Immediate Inspiration dictates from God himselfe for though they vvere not called up solemnly into a Mount as Moses to receive the Lavv yet the Spirit was sent to make knowne the minde of God to them And in that sence the Prophet Jeremiah is said to warne King Zedekiah from the mouth of the Lord 2 Chron. 36.12 And he did that which was evill in the sight of the Lord his God and humbled not himselfe before Jeremiah the Prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord that is he received a vvord from God by an Extraordinary Revelation to carry unto the King vvho yet humbled not himselfe And so Esay 30.2 the Lord complaines of his people that walked to goe downe to Aegypt to strengthen themselves with the strength of Pharaoh c. and yet had not asked at his mouth that is had not asked direction in the thing according to the vvayes of Revelation then in use by enquiring of the Prophets or of the high Priest And the Lord tels the Prophet Jeremy Ch. 15.19 Prophetae sunt quasi os dei quia per ipsos loquutus est that he should be as his mouth if he would take forth the precious from the vile as if he had sayd if thou art faithfull in my vvork I will reveale my selfe to thee thou shalt speak even as if I my selfe spoke thou shalt be as my mouth Now I conceive Eliphaz doth not goe thus high when he bids Job Receive the Law from the mouth of God as if he vvere to expect Immediate direction and advice from him For then we may be sayd to receive a rule or a law from the mouth of God when vve receive that which God hath manifested at any time as a rule and lavv for us vvith the rest of his people to walke by they vvho receive that law once delivered from the mouth of God may be said to receive the lavv from his mouth though they are not the Immediate receivers of it yea though it were published some thousands of yeares before they vvere borne Some from these words collect that the books of Moses vvere written before this time and that Eliphaz did referre Job to those
If thou returne to the Almighty thou shalt be built up thou shalt put away iniquity farre from thy Tabernacles Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brookes Yea the Allmighty shall be thy defence and thou shalt have plenty of silver ELiphaz having invited Job at the 21 verse to renew his acquaintance with God and now againe pressing him to returne to God he reckons up those advantages which might move and incourage him 〈◊〉 it he tells Job what will follow his returne to and acquaintance with God and these advantages are of two sorts First Temporall and outward secondly spirituall and inward the temporall good things which he assures him of in case he repent and turne to God are set downe first more generally in the 23 verse Thou shalt be built up secondly They are set downe particularly first He should then have riches gold and silver in the 24 â—h verse secondly protection The Allmighty shall be thy defence v. 25. as he will fill thy house so he will guard thy house and keepe all safe In the following parts of the Chapter Eliphaz assures him of eight blessings spirituall First Joy in God ver 26th Thou shalt have thy delight in the Allmighty Secondly Confidence or holy boldnesse before God Thou shalt lift up thy face unto God thou shalt not hide thy head and run into â—orners but lift up thy face Thirdly which is an effect or part of the former freedome in prayer Thou shalt make thy prayer to him v. 27th Fourthly He assures him of audience or of an answer to his prayer in the same verse He shall heare thee and thou shalt pay thy vowes that is thou in thy prayer having made vowes to God God shall heare thy prayer and so give thee occasion to pay thy vowes Fifthly He promiseth him not onely that his prayer shall be heard but that his very purposes and designes shall be fullfilled Thou shalt decree a thing and it shall be established to thee v. 28. When thou resolvest upon such a way or course in thy affaires thou shalt have this priviledge thy decree shall stand Sixthly He promiseth him direction and counsell what way he should take what course to run in the close of the same verse And the light shall shine upon thy wayes that is thou shalt see what to doe the Lord will give thee counsell Seaventhly He gives him hope of rising out of any trouble or that vvhen others are overtaken with calamities he should be preserved at the 29th verse When men are cast downe then thou shalt say there is a lifting up for God will save the humble person Eighthly He promiseth that he shall not onely have blessings personall and family blessings but he shall be a â—â—blique blessing v. 30. He shall deliver the Island of the innocent and it is delivered by the purenesse of thy hand Thus you have both the generall scope of this latter part of the Chapter which is to stirre up Job to returne to God and likewise the particular blessings and mercies which are held forth as arguments moving him to returne Vers 23. If thou returne unto the Allmighty To Returne is used frequently in Scripture in a metaphoricall sense and signifies as much as to repent sin is a going away from God great sinning is a going farre from God a going as it were into a farre Country such sinners would goe out of Gods sight and fall out of his memory Eliphas had charged Job deeply with such departures and now he speakes to him of returning And here wee may consider the condition or state of Job and the season in vvhich Eliphaz presseth him to this duty he was in an afflicted condition the hand of God was upon him Novv Eliphaz adviseth him to returne Intimating at least that the present dispensation of God towards him vvas a speciall opportunity for the duty he moved him unto Hence Note When God afflicts us when his hand is upon us he speaks to us repent or bespeaks our repentance How often in Scripture doth the Lord complaine as if he were vvholy frustrated of his designe vvhen either nations or persons being smitten by his judgements did not returne unto him or repented not Isa 9.13 They turne not to him that smiteth them that is they turne not to me the Lord I have smitten them and I alone can heale them yet they turne not to me as if the Lord had said I therefore smote them that they might bethinke themselves of returning but they turned not to me As they turned not at my vvord or to me speaking so they turned not at my sword or to me smiting I see they are not onely Sermon-proofe my Prophets spake to them in vaine but they are judgement-proofe also my hand is upon them in vaine they returne not And as it was then so at this day for may vve not observe some mouldering in their estates crushed in their hopes crossed in their children blotted and blasted in their credit weake and sicke in their bodies even tired and vvorne out under severall afflictions yet no thought of returning to the Lord or of making their vvay perfect before him So that the Lord may say to them as he once did to his ancient people the Jewes Isa 1.6 Why should ye be smitten any more ye will revolt more and more The returning of many is like that vvhich Solomon speaks of Pro. 26.11 As a dog returneth to his vomit so a foole returneth to his folly As Jesurun waxed fat and kicked so some vvill be kicking while they waxe leane Further Eliphaz doth not speake barely to Job of returning but he directs him to the object If thou returne To the Allmighty And that is expressed in some translations very emphatically 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 revertere usque ad dominum videtur idem esse cum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Returne home to the Allmighty returne till thou comest to or reachest God be thou sure to repent home so the word is used Hos 14.2 Joel 2.12 Amos 4.6 returne home to God stay not short of him in your repentance that is repent fully seriously And the intendment of Eliphaz in speaking thus might be to reprove Job for his former by him supposed hypocrisie Si plane serio toto corde noÌ„ ut ante hypocrita fuisti c. Merc thou hast returned before but not to the Allmighty surely thou didst repent onely as an hypocrite in former times when thou madest the greatest shews of repentance Therefore now repent as a sincere convert Thy former repentunce was to thee a fruitlesse repentance and therefore doubtlesse but a fained and false repentance Thou couldst never after it recover out of thine afflicted thy ruinous condition and therefore surely thou didst never by it recover out of thy sinfull condition or from thy sins But now I promise thee if thou returne to the Allmighty thou shalt be built Hence
not hold or keepe what they had gotten It is the Lord that establisheth the creature to us and defends it for us The best things in the world take wings and are gone unlesse the Lord stay them with us and unlesse the Lord defend and keepe them for us they will soone be puld out of our possession Some mens estates wast away they know not how there is a hole in the bottome of the bagge they thought not of Others have their estates violently taken away from them because the Lord is not their defence The Lord is The protector of his people the Lord is a Castle a strong Tower all manner of fortifications about his people to defend their estates and persons much more their soules And Eliphaz seems to mind Job that he once had but now had lost this defence God once made ahedg about him or rather was a hedg about him but he opened a gap or withdrew and then in came the Sabeans and Caldeans and spoyled all Now then saith he returne to the Lord and he will once againe be thy defence How safe are they that have God for their defence who live under the shaddow and covert of the Almighty How safe are they I say and all that they have The vulgar latine is so full of this sense Eritque omnipotens contra honestes tuos Vulg. that he leaves out the word defence and oâ—l saith The Almighty shall be or shall stand up for thee against thine enemies and in this perfect outward happinesse consisteth For to have much and that secured is all we can desire for the things of this world Many have gold and riches store but the thing that troubles them is this how to make all sure Returne to the Lord and he shall be thy defence he shall be an assurance Office to thee he shall protect thee against all windes and weathers against all enemies and pirates The Almighty shall be thy defence and the defence of thy gold Further Because the word which we render defence signifieth gold also as was shewed therefore some keepe to that reading and thus translate this 25 verse Eritque omnipotens lectissimum aurum tuum argentuÌ„ viresque tibi Jun. And the Almighty shall be thy choice gold and silver and strength unto thee Which reading is likewise followed by Master Broughton And the Almighty will be thy plentifull gold and silver of strength to thee This sense of the word is comfortable indeed for to have told Job onely this Thou shalt lay up gold as the dust and gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooke this had been though a great mercy yet but a common mercy such as the men of the world have and enjoy Many that know not God lay up gold as the dust and they who serve him not have often store of silver But when God himselfe saith I will be your Gold and silver This is not onely the richest of temporall but the riches of all spirituall mercies For when 't is sayd the Lord shall be thy choice gold and silver of strength to thee the meaning is he will be better to thee then the choicest Gold and a greater strength then silver unto thee This is a rare and a distinguishing mercy Wicked men may have gold from God but no wicked man hath God for his gold Hence note That God himselfe is the riches and fullnes the gold and silver of his people The Lord is my portion saith my soule whose soule sayd this It was the soule of a mourning Jeremie And when sayd he this even then when their lands and houses were possessed by the enemy even then when their Gold and silver with all their goodly things were carryed captive into Babylon Then Jeremy sayd The Lord is my portion Lam. 3.24 the Gold and silver which I had in my house are gone but my Gold silver in heaven is not gone into captivity he is my portion still and for ever They who have God for their gold and silver are happier and richer then gold and silver can make them What can be said more to draw our hearts to God then this promise that God will not onely give us riches but that himselfe will be our riches What can be sayd more to take a covetous mans heart off from the love of his gold then this take thy heart off from thy Gold and God will be thy gold And so what can be spoken more prevailingly to the voluptuous man who delights to swim in rivers of sensual pleasures O take off thy heart from these pleasures of sin which are but for a season and God will be thy pleasure for evermore What stronger argument to take downe the ambition of man who hunts after high places and dignities in the world then to tell him withdraw from this pursuite and God will be thy honour and thy high place Wee may say to the ambitious to the covetous to the voluptuous and in a word to all sorts of sinners Ye shall finde all that your sins can offer you and infinitely more in God your honours and pleasures your gold and silver you shall have altogether in him One of the antients speaks well and truly to the point That man is too Nimis est avarus cui deus non sufficit Bern. Deus meus omnia too covetous whom God doth not suffice or who is not satisfied with God The onely true reason why any man is not satisfied with God is because he knoweth not God He that can say knowingly the Lord is my God cannot but say I am satisfied When God is ours all is ours And the poorest who are rich in faith have as great a share in this riches as the richest God is the poore mans gold they that have neyther gold nor silver in their purse as Peter sayd to the impotent man may have God in their hearts The Almighty is their gold and silver too as it followeth in the text And thou shalt have plenty of silver 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a radiâ—e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lassus fatigatus fuit Aâ—gentum lassitudinum quod prae copia lassos reddit homines numerando illud vel cerâ—è appendendo Nam olim appendebant argentum unde pensionis vocabulum in sermone latino Drus Some render Thou shalt have silver of wearinesse He meanes it not of silver as it wearies a man in the getting of it but he meanes it of so great a quantity or summe of silver as shall weary a man to tell it or trouble him to weigh it The manner of accounting silver was anciently by weight hence what is payd in money is called a pension We translate fully to that sense thou shalt have plenty of silver for they that have so much as tires and wearies them to tell or weigh it have store enough We put silver of strength in the Margen Silver is a strong metall and it is strength great strength to Man This
object cannot be immoderate but in temperals they quickly may and therefore as to them our moderation should be known to all men Yet if God give in abundance of temporals in the lawfull exercise of our callings we may warraÌ„tably enjoy it as a blessing from him The providence of God doth often bound us to a little and we ought to be contented with the least portion of outward things with bare food rayment but the word of God doth not bound us to a little nor doth it say it is unlawfull to have much And as it is not unlawfull to have much of the world so it is a great exercise and tryall of our Graces to have much As there are some Graces of a Christian which come not to tryall till we are in want so there are other Graces which come not to tryall unlesse we have aboundance Want tryeth our patience and our dependance upon God for a supply of what we have not and aboundance tryeth our temperance our humility our liberality yea and our dependance upon and faith in God for the sanctifying blessing and making of that comfortable to us which we have When a rich man seeth an emptines in his aboundance without the enjoyments of God in it he exerciseth as high a grace and sheweth as heavenly a frame of mind as that poore man doth who seeth and enjoyeth a fullnes in God in the midst of all his emptines And therefore Paul puts both these alike upon a divine teaching Phil. 4.12 In all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need And had it been unlawfull to enjoy plenty Eliphaz had never pressed Job to repentance by this motive The Almighty shall be thy defence and thou shalt have plenty of silver JOB CHAP. 22. Vers 26 27. For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty and shalt lift up thy face unto God Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him and â—e shall heare thee and thou shall pay thy Vowes IT hath been shewed from the former context how Eliphaz encouraged yea provoked Job to repentance and returning to God by the proposall of many promises by promises of outward and temporall mercies gold silver and protection He might have what he pleased of God for the comforts of this life if his life were once pleasing unto God In this latter part of the Chapter he riseth higher and proposeth spirituall promises And he begins with the best of spirituall promises the free injoyment of God himselfe Vers 26. For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty c. As if Eliphas had said If thou dost indeed repent and turne from sin thy conscience which now troubles yea torments thee shall have sweete peace in God and thou who now grovellest with thy eyes downe to the ground by reason of thy pressing guilt and misery shalt then with confidence lift up thy face unto God in prayer and thou shalt finde God so ready at hand with an answer that thou shalt see cause chearefully to performe thy Vowes which thou madest to him in the day of trouble That 's the generall scope of this latter part of the Chapter I shall now proceed to explicate the particulars For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Allmighty The first word implyeth a reason of what he had said before Having spoken of temporall promises he confirmes his interest in them by assuring him of spirituall for then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty As if he had said God will not deny thee outward comforts in the creature seing he intends to give thee the highest comforts even delight in himselfe 'T is an argument like that of the Apostle Rom. 8.32 He that spared not his owne Sonne but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all things Thus Eliphaz seemes to argue seeing God will give thee himselfe to rejoyce in or to rejoyce in himselfe how can he deny thee gold and silver with those other conveniencies which concerne this life these being indeed as nothing in comparison of himselfe Then shalt thou delight c. Then that is when thou returnest to God and not till then then thou mayest expect to receive much sweetnesse from him such sweetnesse as thy soule never tasted or experienced to this day Then shalt thou have thy delight The word signifies to delight or take contentment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 delectatus fuit coâ—pore vel animo Sonai etiam aliquâ—d delicatum â—oâ—â—e whether it be outward contentment or inward contentment the delight of the body or the delight of the minde And so an universall delight thy whole delight shall be in the Lord. Moses Deut. 28.56 describes those women by this word who were made up of delight Thy tender and delicate woman that is such as are so delicate that they are the delight of all who behold them or who are themselves altogether devoted to their delights who as the Apostle Paul speaks of the wanton widdow 1 Tim. 5. live in pleasure These are threatned with such calamities as should render their very lives a paine to them The word is used againe Isa 58.13 14. where the Prophet speaks of keeping the Sabboth If thou turne away thy foote from the Sabbath from doing thy pleasure on my holy day and call the Sabbath a delight what then then shalt thou delight thy selfe in the Lord thou shalt have curious delight all manner of delight in the Lord if thou call the Sabbath a delight the holy of the Lord honourable and shalt honour him if thou hast a delight in duty thou shalt have the delight of reward Thus Eliphaz then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty And 't is considerable that he doth not say thou shalt have thy delight in the mercifull or gracious God but in the Allmighty in him thou shalt have thy delight whose power is over all and who is able to doe whatsoever pleaseth him Even the power and allmightinesse of the Lord shall be as pleasant to thee as his mercy and loving kindnesse Further delight in the generall nature of it consists in these two things First In the suitablenesse and conveniency of the object and the faculty whether sensitive or intellective Secondly It consists in the reflection and application of the faculty upon the object So that to delight our selves in the Allmighty hath these two things in it First A suitablenesse in our soules to the Lord. Secondly The soules reflecting upon the Lord as good and gratious unto us This reflect act breeds and brings in delight and works the heart to an unspeakeable joy in God By this last and highest act of faith we take in the sweetnesse of the Almighty and delight our selves in him mightily This faith doth not onely suck the promises wherein the love of God is evidenced to us but is it selfe an evidence of the love of God to
a thing and it shall be established unto thee and the light shall shine upon thy wayes When men are cast downe then thou shalt say There is lifting up and he shall save the humble person He shall deliver the Island of the Innocent and it is delivered by the purenesse of thine hands IT hath appeared in opening the whole Context of which this is a part how Eliphaz presseth Job with promises assuring him that not onely good but great good should accrew to him by his returning to God and acquainting himselfe with the Allmighty And in the foregoing verse That great benefit was shewed The Lords hearing the prayer of such as doe so Thou shalt make thy prayer to him and he shall heare thee and thou shalt pay thy vowes Here Eliphaz gives in another excellent promise Thou shalt also c. that is moreover and beside what I have said I adde this Vers 28. Thou shalt also decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 scidit abscidit secuit divisit Metaleptice secuit lites definivit decrevit Importat hoc verbum decretum cum quadam separatione unius rei ab alia Bold Thou shalt decree The word here translated to decree signifies properly to divide to cut asunder So it is used 1 Kings 3.25 when Solomon gave sentence between the two women that were harlots concerning the living Childe he sayth Divide the Childe my decree is that the Childe shall be divided Now hence by a Trope the word signifies also to decree to descide or to determine a matter because in all decrees about or determinations of a Controversie there is as it were a Cutting off the buisines a laying aside of one thing and a sticking to another When the whole matter is debated and weighed in Councell then the result and issue of all is drawne up and given out in a decree So that to decree is to divide or separate one thing from another resolving upon that which we conceive most just and reasonable Thou shalt decree a thing The Hebrew is Thou shalt decree a word Verbum pro re frequenter per Metonymiam adjuncti it is usuall in that language to put word for thing And when he saith Thou shalt decree a thing wee are not to understand it at large as if whatsoever were decreed should be established but the meaning is thou shalt decree that which is right and good in it selfe and good for thee For the decree being made by a godly man wee cannot suppose that he should decree any thing but that which is just and good and so the signification of the former word is well applyed to this Thou shalt decree that is thou having by deliberation and serious discussion considered what is right and having cut off all evill from thy sentence thou decreeing such a thing it shall be established unto thee There are yet two opinions concerning this decree as it is an exposition of the former promises Thou shalt be heard and Poterit esse pracedentis partis expositio Decernes offerre vota et deus illa rata efficiet vel rata semper fundes verba Piâ—ed thou shalt pay thy vowes that is what thou suest for by prayer on earth shall be decreed for thee in heaven That is thy prayer shall certainly be performed thy prayers shall not be lost no They shall be as the Statutes and decrees of heaven It is said of Eliah 1 Kings 17.1 what he decreed was done and what was his decree his decree was his prayer See how he speaks as if he had the command of heaven and earth as if he had carryed the keyes of the Clouds at his girdle As the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand there shall not be dew nor raine these yeares but according to my word But what was this word of Elijah the Apostle James expounds that for us he telleth us what this word was when Eliah sayd it shall be according to my word Jam. 5.17 Elias was a man subject to the like passions as wee are and he prayed earnestly that it might not raine and it rained not on the earth for the space of three yeares and six months And he prayed againe and the heavens gave raine and the earth brought forth her frruit The Apostle explaines what the word of Elijah was even a Prayer-word he prayed and sought the Lord in that thing and his prayer was as certainly performed to him as if he had the whole power of decreeing what he would have Thus here thou shalt powre out a prayer and thy prayer shall be as a decree established with God So we read Gen. 32.24 in the report of Jacobs wrestling with the Angel that the word of Jacob was as a decree I will not let thee goe except thou blesse me I will have a blessing and it is said as a Prince hast thou power with God and with men and hast prevailed Jacob had what he would in prayer he decreed a thing and it was established to him The prayers of Saints are decrees with God and 't is but reason they should be so because their prayers answer the decrees of God or they pray for that which God hath decreed and indeed there is no Saint or Godly man would pray any other prayer or aske any thing of God but what God hath determined and decreed before to give As a Godly man would doe nothing but what God hath commanded so he would aske nothing but what God hath decreed This is a comfortable truth yet I rather conceive the sence of this place more generall and not tyed up to that of prayer and therefore Secondly Thou shalt decree a thing that is thou shalt take up a resolve or a purpose thou in thy wisdome and prudence shalt say in thy heart I will doe such a thing or I would bring such a thing to pass Ordinabis per tuam providentiam facturum aliquid quasi rem non futuram incertam sed quasi divina jam voluntate constitutam illam habebis Aquin. and it shall come to pass or be established For as many men mett together in Councell make Decrees so any man in himselfe may make a decree and we alwayes make decrees in our own minds before wee joyne in any decree with others first wee speake in our mindes then we speake out our mindes Thou shalt decree a thing that is thou shalt resolve to goe such a way or to doe such a thing and it shall be done Now this Case of decreeing must be understood with a Caution suppose the thing it selfe be just and lawfull as wee touched before yet a man must not make absolute decrees that 's the priviledge of God he onely can make peremptory decrees who hath all things in his power we must decree submissively to the will of God and say if the Lord will if the Lord please wee will doe such a thing The Apostle James 4.12
13 14. reproves those that would make peremptory decrees of what they would do in reference to outward affaires Goe to now yee that say to day or to morrow wee will goe into such a Citie here is a decree wee will goe to such a place or doe such a thing wee will continue there a yeare and buy and sell and get gaine It is lawfull for men to take up a purpose to goe to such a place and follow their trade to buy and sell and get gaine in an honest way but no man must be peremptory in this because we know not what shall be on the morrow therefore the Apostle directs Yee ought to say if the Lord will we shall live and doe this or that Such decrees must be made with the Lords good leave or with a reference to his pleasure who alone doth whatsoever pleaseth him As the persons so the workes of all men are in the hand of God Eccl. 9.1 And there they are first as to the performance of them secondly as the successe of them They take themselves for more then men who decree the doing of lawfull things without the leave of God We must not onely see what we doe is according to the will of God but we must have his good-will for the doing of it that is as we must have a Law from God for what we doe so leave from God Thus Paul teacheth us to speake by his owne example 1 Cor. 4.19 I will come unto you shortly if the Lord will And againe Chap. 16.7 I must tarry a while with you if the Lord permit Once more Phil. 2.19 I trust in the Lord to send Timothy to you shortly And even Heathens themselves by the light of nature have acknowledged such a submission as due unto their superiour Power their gods Ethnicis illudi in ore frequens erat si dij volunt therefore they used to express their resolutions thus If the gods will much more must Christians speake thus in all they undertake to doe we will doe it if God will Thou shalt decree a thing And it shall be established unto thee That is thou shalt have successe in it it shall be confirm'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 surget tibi surgere pro existere vel effectum dari The word in the Originall signifies to rise up as also to stand So some render it here Thou shalt decree a thing and it shall rise up to thee When a thing that we are determined upon prospers and comes well on we say it riseth up to us whereas a businesse that failes falls off from us or goeth backward But saith Eliphaz to Job The thing which thou decreest shall rise or come up to thy minde to thy desire or as some read It shall come to thee we say Veniet tibi Vulg. it shall be established So the word is used frequently in Scripture Esay 40.8 The word of the Lord shall stand Now as the word of the Lord shal stand so shall the word of man while it is according to the word of God So the word is used in the Case of a virgins making a vow Numb 30.4 If the father heare it and say nothing it shall stand or be confirm'd otherwise if he dislike it is a void vow a null vow So that here to rise up or to be established notes only the effectivenes and successe of those decrees which this godly man should make these shall be established unto him for his good he shall have the comfort and benefit of them while he aymes at the Glory of God in them Hence note First The successe of our Councells and Decrees is a great mercy Eliphaz brings it in by way of promise Thou shalt decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee Success in any of our right actions is to be acknowledged as a mercy and therfore the Lord doth so distinctly specifie the successlesnes of the Jewes after their return from Babylon in their rural and houshold businesses for neglecting to build his house Hag. 1.6 to shew that he had a Controversie with them Yee have sowne much and brought in little no success yee eate but have not enough yee drinke but yee are not filled with drinke that is yee are not satisfied yee cloath you but there is no warmth which is the effect of cloathing and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes Which is a proverbiall speech implying that nothing sticks nothing stayes by a man no more then money doth in a bag that hath holes in it or water in a sieve or in a leaking vessell Successlesnes attended them in all they did and that was their affliction So when our Councells prosper when what we advise to be done thrives in the doing when the directing word of a man proves like the Creating word of God Gen. first who did but say Let there be light and there was light let there be a firmament and there was a firmament c. Thus when a man shall say let such a thing be done and it is done when every thing comes forth at a word like a new Creation how great both a mercy and honour is this When he saith let there be deliverance and there is deliverance let there be victory and there is victory let there be peace and there is peace when in cases of greatest difficulty and utter impossibility to flesh and bloud he speakes like magnanimous Joshua Josh 10.13 in a commanding language to the creature while with strongest confidence in humblest dependance upon God Sunne stand thou still upon Gibeah thou Moone in the valley of Ajalon the Sun stood still and the Moone stayed untill the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies Who of the sons of men who were not also the sons of God were ever crowned with such an honour Secondly He doth not say he shall decree a thing and establish it for man may decree a thing but man cannot establish it the decree is from one the establishment is from another and who is that other Eliphaz doth not expresse who by name but we may easily understand who it is even God himselfe For as it is God alone who hath given a being to all things so he alone gives all things their establishment whether they be things wrought by him or wrought by us God shall establish it or it shall be established by the fiat and consent of God Hence observe The success of our Councells and decrees is from God There are many who take wise yea honest Councells which yet are not established because the Lord is not pleased to establish them and the Lord doth often overthrow evill and malitious Counsels We read Esay 7.5 6 7. of Councells and Decrees made Syria Ephraim and the son of Remaliah have taken evill Councell against thee saying they decree a thing what was it let us goe up against Judah to vex it there was the decree
let us make a breach therein for us and set a king in the midst of it even the Son of Tabeal Here was their decree we will vex this people we will set a king among them the Son of Tabeal But what saith the Lord to this Thus saith the Lord God 7 ver it shall not stand neyther shall it come to passe It is this word in the Text it shall not be established You have made a decree but you have not my consent for the Establishment of it and therefore it shall not stand it shall not come to passe Take another Scripture Esay 8.10 The Lord doth as it were give them leave to make decrees make as many decrees as you will and sit together in Councell lay your Councells as deep as you can take Councell together and it shall come to nought you may take Councell but it is in my Power whether it shall succeed or no and I have decreed concerning your decree that it shall come to nought speake the word and it shall not stand The standing or not standing the frustrating or the fullfilling of our Decrees and Councells it is from the Lord. Thirdly When he saith Thou shalt decree a thing and it shaâ—â— be established unto thee We may observe The Councells of the Godly are under a promise of good successe They have a kinde of Assurance that what they say shall come to passe though they have not an absolute Assurance yet they have much assurance though wee cannot say in every particular Case that their decree shall be Established to them yet their decrees in generall are under a promise of Establishment Christ speaketh concerning the Decrees of a Church-Assembly Math. 18.18 Verily I say unto you whatsoever yee shall binde on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever yee shall loose on Earth shall be loosed in heaven that is I will Establish your Decrees If when you meet together in my name you decree concerning a person to bind sin upon him he shall be bound if to loose or pronounce him pardon'd he shall be loosened your decree on earth shall be a decree in heaven I will binde what you binde and loose what you loose Now in proportion the Lord speakes the same concerning the decrees of any Godly man what he binds on earth the Lord doth binde in heaven and what he looseth on earth God looseth in heaven that is there is an Establishment of his decrees and as the Church there hath a promise that the Lord will joyne with her in her decrees so a Godly man hath a promise here that the Lord will joyne with him in his decrees We have also an excellent confirmation of it Esay 44.25 26. The Lord is many wayes described in Scripture but here he is described by disappointing and establishing the Councells of men He it is that frustrateth the tokens of the lyars and maketh diviners mad that turneth wise men backward and maketh their knowledge foolishnes Here is a description of God in reference to the disappoyntments which he puts upon his enemies in frustrating their Councells and decrees they boast of these and these tokens that assure them of good successe but the Lord frustrates their tokens The Diviners say O the Starrs promise good luck and tell us we shall have good fortune thus diviners boast but the Lord maketh the diviners mad how doth he make them mad by making them see things fall out quite cross to what they have foretold or prophesied Againe hee turnes wise men backward that is he turnes the Councells of wise men backward when they have resolved such a thing the Lord sets it quite another way this is the glory of God that he can give check to the Councells of the greatest Polititians and deepest Machiavells he turnes them backward Thus the Lord is set forth overthrowing the decrees of the wicked but at the 26 â—h ver He is set forth establishing the decrees of the Godly He it is that confirmeth the word of his servant and performeth the Councell of his Messengers that saith to Jerusalem thou shalt be Inhabited and to the Cities of Judah yee shall be built c God confirmeth the word of his servant which may be understood not onely of the word of Prophesie though that be the scope of that place as if it had been sayd when the Lord sendeth forth his Prophets and holy Diviners 't is not with them as with false Prophets and heathenish Diviners who making promises from the Starres of heaven not from the God of heaven are frustrated and disappoynted 't is not thus with the Lords holy Diviners for he confirmeth the word of his Servants Now I say wee may understand that Text not only of that word of prophecy which the Lord puts into the mouths of his Servants by an immediate inspiration but also of that word of prophecy or decree which any one of his faithfull servants speaketh or maketh according to his already revealed will This word of his servants the Lord confirmeth also and performeth the Councell of his Messengers And the reason is as was touched before about prayer because there is a suitablenes between such words and decrees of his servants and his owne Decrees for the designes of his servants falling in with his owne designes so their decrees with his decrees he in establishing their decrees doth indeed but establish his owne For the servants of God desiering that their decrees may be suitable to the written or revealed will of God they seldome misse of a suitablenes to the decrees of his hidden and secret will So that their decrees are as it were the Duplicate or Counterpane of the Decrees of God and therefore no wonder if they be under such a promise of successe and establishment The Lord saith concerning his owne Decrees or thoughts Surely as I have thought so shall it come to passe Isa 14.24 Now if wee thinke as God thinketh then what wee thinke shall come to passe too and as I have purposed so shall it stand If wee purpose as God purposeth then our purposes shall stand too Againe Esay 46.10 I am the Lord and there is none else I am God and there is none like meÌ„ declaring the End from the beginning and from ancient time the things that are not yet done saying my Councell shall stand and I will doe all my pleasure If then the Councells of Saints be the Councells of God he will doe all their pleasure That 's the summe of this promise to Job Thou shalt decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee Which appeares further from the last Clause And the light shall shine upon thy wayes Eliphaz in this promise might possibly have respect to Jobs former Complaint Chap. 19.8 Hee hath fenced up my way that I cannot passe and he hath set darknes in my pathes As if Eliphaz had here sayd thou didst Complaine a while agoe that God set darknes in thy pathes doe thou returne unto
Hebrew text 't is there onely when cast downe and because that word is not exprest therefore some supply out of the former clause Cum humiliatae fuerâ—nt viae tuae dicas elatio illis est i. e. mox senties conditionâ—m tuaÌ„ ex ima factam optimaÌ„ Contextus mirè concisus est ideo vaâ—ie intelligitur Merc. the word way The light shall shine upon thy way when it that is when thy way is cast downe though thou be now in a low condition and though thou shouldest hereafter be cast into a low condition againe yet thou shalt say there is a lifting up or thou shalt be lifted 〈◊〉 If at any time thy wayes be cast downe in darknes the light shall shine upon them thou shalt say in faith there is a lifting up The Apostle speakes in a language like this of himselfe and of his fellow-Apostles 2 Cor. 4.8 Wee are troubled on every side yet not distressed perplexed but not in despaire persecuted but not forsaken cast downe but not destroyed Thus here when there is a casting downe or when thy wayes are cast downe yet thou shalt say there is a lifting up Thou mayest be cast downe but not destroyed Yet I conceive that Suplement of the word men which we put into the Text is more suitable to the scope of it and then the sence is this When men are cast downe that is when sinners or ungodly men are cast downe when God comes to ruine his enemies and make them desolate then thou shalt say there is a lifting up A lifting up for me and for such as I am Thou shalt say This saying may be taken two wayes and in both 't is the voyce of faith First Thou shalt say in prayer or thou shalt pray O Lord Dices sc in tuis ad deum precibus exaltatio sit sc illi depresso i. e. exalta illum Odeus Piscaâ— let there be a lifting up Thus it is expounded as a promise to Job that when others were cast downe he should helpe them up againe by prayer thou shalt say There is a lifting up or O Lord let there be a lifting up namely of him who is cast downe lift him up O Lord. As prayer is in its owne nature a lifting up of the soule to God Psal 25.1 so prayer in the effect of it hath a mighty power and prevalency with God for the lifting up both of our owne bodyes and outward estates as also the bodyes and outward estates of others out of the deepes of misery and trouble Many a Godly man hath lifted himselfe and others out of the mire by prayer while seing a casting downe he hath sayd There is a lifting up or O Lord let there be a lifting up This sence carrieth a high priviledge but I rather conceive that intended in the next verse And therefore Secondly I shall take these words of Eliphaz as a promise When men are cast downe Pollicetur Jobo Eliphaz eximiam foelicitatem iâ—pijs alijs atque etiam hâ—stibus suis ad extâ—eâ—uÌ„ infelicitatis gradum praecipâ—tatis thou shalt say or confidently affirme this thing there is a lifting up that is I promise or assure thee O Job that when thou shalt see the Lord bringing vengeance upon the wicked when thou seest them fall on this side and on that when nothing is visible but the ruine and destruction of men and families yea of Nations that even then thou shalt sayâ— there is a lifting up that is thou shalt have faith for thy selfe that both thou and thine shall be lifted up or saved and delivered in a time when many wicked men or thine enemies fall and perish and shall never as to any worldly enjoyment rise any more Hence observe That a godly man may have much assurance when others are cast downe that yet he and others shall be preserved and lifted up When men were cast downe in Sodome when Sodome was overthrowne Lot was lifted up and assured of his preservation When all the men in the world were overwhelm'd and swept off the face of the earth with a Deluge there was a lifting up for Noah and his family he and his were safely housed in the Arke floating upon the waters Thus the Lord hath made provision for the preservation of his people when thousands have been undone and cast downe on the right hand and on the left by common calamities yea when they have been cast downe his people have been not onely preserved but exalted and lifted up Thou shalt say there is a lifting up And hee shall save the humble person That is the Lord shall save him the vulgar reads thus He that is humble shall be in glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept Interior animi fastus tumor per oculos et per omnes externos gestus se prodit The Seaventy thus Because thou hast humbled thy selfe thou shalt be saved But I shall keep to our Reading hee shall save the humble person or according to the strictnes of the Hebrew He shall save him that is low of eyes 't is frequent in Scripture to expresse an humble person in this forme A man that hath low eyes as high lookes and lofty eyes are every where in Scripture the periphrasis of pride David sayd Psal 101.5 Non enim is supeâ—biae mos est qui latere aut dâ—ssimulari possit Pined him that hath an high looke and a proud heart will I not suffer for you may see pride in the eye pride sits upon the eye therefore David puts a high looke and a proud heart both together there And againe Psal 131.1 Lord mine heart is not haughty nor mine eyes lofty So that I say an humble person and a person of low eyes is the same as a proud person and a person of lofty eyes is the same in Scripture sence and both are very significant Expressions He shall save the humble person this humble person may be taken two wayes either passively or actively Passively Non tam modestuÌ„ qui sese submittit ut v rtuteÌ„ significet intelligo quam affictum etsi illad etiam senteÌ„tiae non repugnat imo utruÌ„que recte intellexeris Merc. so 't is he that is cast downe and layd low by affliction Thus the humble person is the same with the humbled person affliction is an humiliation however the afflicted take it or carry it and usually it makes men humble at least in appearance and lowly in their lookes whereas in prosperity men lift up their eyes usually and looke softily as if they would reach heaven with their heads while their hearts are farre from it But affliction makes men stoope We may understand the Text of a person who is humble when humbled who stoopes downe quietly to take up and beare his crosse and doth not in stoutnes slight it or in wantonnes play with it but is serious under the rebukes of God Hee shall save the humble person Secondly It may be taken actively
have often professed my selfe to be when he hath kept me to the utmost of his purpose in this fiery furnace of affliction When he hath tryed me I shall come forth as gold that is when all 's done he knows that I shall hereafter approve my selfe upright in heart and that through his grace already bestowed upon me I have hetherto kept his way and not declined nor gon back ftom the commandements of his lips yea that I have esteemed the words of his mouth more then my necessary food Thus Job is conceived complaining upon this account that he should be so extreamely afflicted though the Lord knew his way and that he was both a lover of his Word and a keeper of his Commandements and that he would persevere with joy in keeping them to the end though he should not see the expected and desiered end of those sorrows Fourthly Because he is conceived complaining that he found the Lord altogether inexorable so that no impression could be made upon him by any thing he could say or doe to take him off from his severity towards him Ver. 13 14. He is of one minde who can turne him there is no dealing with God and what his soule desireth even that he doth let it fall where and on whom it will he will doe it for he performeth the thing that is appoynted for me From all which Job inferreth that he had cause enough to complaine much more that he did not complaine without cause Ver. 15 16 17. Therefore am I troubled at his presence when I consider I am afraid of him for God makes my heart soft and the Allmighty troubleth me because I was not cut off before the darknesse neither hath he covered the darknesse from my face Thus you have the parts and scope of the whole Chapter as 't is supposed to be an over-bold complaint in reference to the dealings of the Lord with him From all which 't is concluded Saepe antea statuerat Job se amicorum exacerbantibus sermonibus â—efessum nolle amplius cum ijs disserere sed potius cum deo aequissimo judice Nunc hoc suum proposituÌ„ ad implere tentans ad deum sermonem dirigit vel ad seipsum i. e. secum ipse ratiocinatur Bold that though the Chapter begins with Then Job answered and said yet that Job doth not answer Eliphaz nor apply himselfe to what he had said but that being wearied with his often repeating and renewing the same arguments against him he doth upon the matter leave him and his friends and all discourse with them turning himselfe to God and powring his sorrows into his bosome as if the answer were directed to God and not at all to Eliphaz But I rather apprehend according to the former interpretation of this reply that Job doth here plainly hold forth an answer to what Eliphaz had objected or layd to his charge and that being still so hotly opposed he doth first defend his owne integrity in this Chapter and that secondly in the next he overthroweth the ground or foundation upon which his friends built their generall opposition affirming that there is neither any certaine time nor way in which the Lord doth punish wicked men in this world and that therefore no argument can be framed or judgement given of any mans condition by his present state or the external dispensations of God towards him Taking this sence we may reduce the whole Chapter to these two parts First A preface secondly the pleading it selfe The preface is layd downe in the second verse Even to day is my complaint bitter my stroake is heavier then my groaning the pleading follows in the subsequent parts of the Chapter the summe of which may be collected into this formal Argumentation Yee doe falsely accuse him of wickednesse and hypocrisie who is ready to plead his cause and doth earnestly desire that he may doe it before the throane of God But I am ready and doe earnestly desire to plead my cause before the throane of God Therefore yee falsely accuse mee of wickednes and hypocrisie The assumption only of this Syllogisme is handled in this Chapter from the second verse to the end in which it appeares that Job was ready not onely to dispute the poynt in controversie with his friends but was most willing that the Lord should have the hearing of it for so he sayth O that I knew where I might finde him that I might come even to his seate I would order my cause before him and fill my mouth with arguments That is I would produce such arguments for my selfe and against my opposers as would render my cause just and innocent before God how guilty soever I am found and represented in the opinion of men Thus farre concerning the general state of this Chapter I shall next proceed to explicate the parts and particulars of it Vers 1. Then Job answered and said These words have occurr'd often before I shall not stay upon them But what said he and how did he answer Vers 2. Even to day is my complaint bitter my stroake is heavier then my groaning Thus Job begins This is at once his prologue to what he had to say and his Apology for what he had passionately sayd already Even to day or even this day The word day is taken eyther more largely for the time neere at hand or strictly for the present time Psal 95.8 To day if ye will heare his voyce harden not your hearts That is Heare his voyce this instant day and harden not your hearts one day longer Againe Deut. 4.8 What Nation is there so great that hath statutes and judgements so righteous as all this law that I have set before you this day or at this present time Jacob saith to Esau Gen. 25.31 Sell me this day thy birth-right that is let me have it now let us strike up the bargaine this houre or before we part Thus here To day c. As if Job had said O friend Eliphaz I perceive that after all those dayes of disputation which have passed between us this day is like to be spent and run out in as harsh censures on your part and in as bitter complaints on my part as any of the former Even this day is my complaint bitter The word rendered complaint is translated also sometimes prayer and sometimes meditation Gen. 24.69 Isack went out into the field to meditate we put in the Margin to pray Hannah useth the same word 1 Sam. 1.16 Account not thy handmaide for a daughter of Beliall for out of the abundance of my complaint we put in the Margin Meditation and griefe have I spoken hitherto Many complaine who pray not some pray who complaine not and others meditate who doe neyther complaine nor pray yet usually we meditate that we may consider what to pray about in prayer powre out our complaints both about those sins and wants and mercies which have fallen under our meditation Even to day is
my complaint bitter The Original word hath a twofold derivation Aliqui deducunt a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod signifi at amaritudinem alij a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denotane rebellionem seu contumaciam most render it as we bitter Bitternesse in Scripture is often used by a metaphor to denote any thing which is grievous troublesome afflictive or distastfull to us because bitter things are so to the pallate or tast of man Bitter things are troublesome to sence and troubles are bitter to the Spirit Affliction is a bitter pill thou writest bitter things against me sayd Job to God before Chap. 13.26 so that when he saith my complaint is bitter it sounds thus much my complaint is as great as great can be and I have the greatest reason to complaine For by complaint we are to understand not onely the act of complaining but the matter upon which he did complaine or the cause of his complaint As if he had sayd My afflictions about which I complaine are exceeding bitter no marvaile then if my complaint be so too Secondly The word comes from a roote signifying to rebell to disobey to be exasperated or as some learned in the Hebrew give it to vary or alter the frame of a mans spirit and the disposition of his minde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exasperatio propriè variatio altenitas ut sic diâ—am quod qui rebellet variet infringat verbum mandatum alterius aut foedus cum eo initum because they who disobey and rebell doe certainly vary and change their minds from what they ingaged to be or professed they were before they turne aside eyther from the lawfull command given them or from the promise and faith which they had given So the word is used 1 Kings 13.26 Where the sacred History tells us of a Prophet who was sent out upon a Message by the Lord unto Jeroboam and though he faithfully performed the Message yet hearkening to the counsell of another Prophet he was slaine by a Lion Thus saith the Lord for as much as thou hast disobeyed or rebelled against the mouth of the Lord that is the words that proceeded out of the mouth of the Lord and hast not kept the commandement which the Lord thy God commanded thee c. Thy carkasse shall not come into the sepulcher of thy fathers Thus the word is translated by some in this Text of Jobs disobedience or rebellion And they render the whole sentence with an interrogation Etiam hoc die contumacia habetur querimonia mea Contuman est questus meus perstat q. d. non paret non cedet solatijs vestris Rab. Sol What is my complaint this day accounted rebellion as if I did contumaciously set my selfe against God while I am powring out my sorrows before him whereas indeed my complaint is rather rebellious or stout against your consolations it yeelds not to them nor is at all abated by them The way or course which you take to comfort me is too weake to graple with much more is it too weake to conquer and subdue my sorrows Yet further This sence and translation of the word may be applyed to that speech of Eliphaz in the former Chapter ver 21. exhorting Job to acquaint himselfe with God and to be at peace As if he had sayd Leave off thy distances lay downe the weapons of that most unholy warre which thou hast taken up against God To which close rebuke Job answers here what Is my complaint to God looked upon by you as a combate with God or do ye thinke that while I beg pity and favour of God I have bid him defiance or declared my selfe his enemy What else can be the meaning of it that you exhort me so seriously to reconcile my selfe to God He that is called to make peace with another is supposed to be at warre with him or at least to beare him ill will So then according to this rendering and interpretation of the Text the drift of his speech is to shew how little ground there was yea how unjust it was that he should be accused of rebellion and contumacy against God while he was onely bemoaning his owne sad condition and putting up his complaint to God We may forme up his sence into this argumentation He cannot be justly accused of rebellion against God who complains much or greatly when his griefe is more or greater But my griefe is more and greater then my complaint Therefore I cannot be justly accused of rebellion against God because I complaine Againe The text is thus rendred Etiam hodiè est vel suo loco manet exasperatio querelae meae Merc. Quasi ex noxio medicamine vulnus crevit Etiam post tot tanta verba vestra quibus sperabam fore ut me sola remini augetur mea querela quia nihil est in vestris verbis consolationis Merc. Even to day the sharpnes or bitternesse of my complaint remaineth or my sorrow is as it was I am no way eased but rather more afflicted by what you have sayd for the easing of my affliction An improper plaister doth but enflame not at all heale the wound So that as according to the former interpretation he tooke off their charge of impatience contumacy and rebellion against God according to the minde of this he shews the weaknesse and insufficiency of what they had spoken as to the allay of his sorrow and the curing or satisfying of his distemperd spirit So that here he seemes to renew and confirme that opinion which he had given of his friends in their procedure with him Chap. 13.4 Ye are forgers of lyes ye are all Physitians of no value O that ye would altogether hold your peace and it should be your wisdome And againe Ch. 16.2 Miserable Comforters are ye all Shall vaine words have an end or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest So here ye have done nothing yet effectually to remove my complaint I am like a poore patient who having been long under the Physitians hand and suffered many painefull applications is yet as farre from a cure as the first houre of his undertaking Even to day the bitternes the sharpenes of my diseased minde remaineth I have been in paine as the Church speakes Isa 26.18 I have as it were brought forth winde Ye have not wrought any deliverance neyther hath this inhabitant my sorrow fallen by your hand Lastly Some referre these words to the promise made by Eliphaz Chap. 22.21 exhorting Job to acquaint himselfe with God c. and so good should come to him But saith Job here Though I am cleare from what you accuse me and also have communion with God in wayes of holines yet I experience no such good as you promise I am not brought into wayes of comfort but rather my sorrows encrease and my complaint is as bitter this day as ever it was And as it follows in the Text My stroake is heavier then
highest in grace are censured as acting and speaking below nature And as these whose graces are â—oving aloft are often suspected of madnesse So secondly they who lye below complaining under the pressures of nature by affliction are as often suspected of and charged with impatience A troubled spirit can hardly judge aright of it selfe and is seldome rightly judged by others I will end this poynt with two Cautions The first to all concerning those that are afflicted The second to all that are afflicted To the former I say judge charitably of those who complaine bitterly for as a man in a low condition knoweth not what himselfe would eyther be or doe were he advanced to the heights of honour and power so he that is at ease and wel knoweth not what himselfe would eyther be or doe were he in paine or overwhelmed with sorrows Extreames in any â—â—ate are rarely borne with a wel or duely tempered moderation Secondly To the latter I say let them expect to heare themselves hardly censured and learne to beare it let not such thinke strange of their sufferings eyther under the hand of God or by the tongues of men Great sufferers speake often unbecommingly and are as often so spoken of Thirdly Forasmuch as the matter of this suggestion against Job tumultuous and rebellious speeches at least speeches savouring strongly of rebellion are incident to any Godly man in Jobs condition Observe There may be rebellion against God in a good mans complainings under the afflicting hand of God An unquiet spirit is not onely a great burden to man but a dishonour to God Our dissatisfaction with the dealings of God carrieth in it at least an implicit accusation of him or that God hath not done well because it is ill to sence with us There is a rebellion against the rod as wel as against the word of God For as our strugling and striving with the word of God and the unquietnesse of our hearts under any truth when it takes hold of us is rebellion against God so to strive and struggle with the rod of God or with the crosse that he layes upon us is rebellion against him also God speakes to us by his rod as wel as by his word and we spurne at God in wrangling with his rod as wel as in wrangling with his word Yea to have hard thoughts of God as that he is severe and rigourous that he hath put off his bowells of compassion towards us and forgotten to be gratious such thoughts as these of God under affliction are rebellious thoughts And as there is a rebellion in the thoughts against God in case of affliction so also in the Tongue Thus to murmur is to rebell I doe not say that all complaining is rebelling but all murmuring is we may complaine and tell the Lord how sad it is with us how much our soules our bodies our estates our relations bleed and smart We may complaine and make great complaints without sin but the least murmuring is sinfull yea in the very nature of it so full of sin that it usually and deservedly passeth under the name of Rebellion The children of Israel were as often charged with rebellion as with murmuring And therefore when they murmured for want of Water Moses sayd unto them Heare now ye rebels must we fetch you water out of this Rocke Numb 20.10 And againe Moses chargeth this upon them with his last breath as it were Deut. 31.27 I know thy rebellion and thy stiffe necke behold while I am yet alive with you this day ye have been rebellious against the Lord and how much more after my death yea the Lord himselfe chargeth rebellion upon that unparalleld payre of Brethren Moses and Aaron themselves because they had not so fully as they ought at all times and in all things submitted unto his divine dispensations among that people Numb 24. The Lord spake to Moses saying Aaron shall be gathered unto his people for he shall not enter into the Land which I have given unto the children of Israel because yee the Lord puts them both together in the sin rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah Fourthly whereas Job sayth Even to day my complaint is bitter Observe The Afflictions and sorrows of some eminently Godly sticke by them or continue long upon them It is with afflictions as with diseases there are some acute diseases sharpe and feirce for a while but they last not they are over in a few dayes for eyther the disease departs from the man or the man departs out of the world by the feircenes of his disease There are also Chronicall diseases lasting lingring diseases that hang about a man many dayes yea moneths and yeares and will not be gone while he lives but lye downe in the grave with him Such a difference we finde among thosâ— other afflictions and troubles which are not seated as diseases in the body but reach the whole estate of man Some are acute and sharpe like the fierce fitts of a feavor but they last not or like Summers sudden stormes which are soone followed with a succession of faire weather But there are also chronicall afflictions tuffe and unmoveable troubles which abide by us which dwell with us day after day yeare after yeare and never leave us while we live or till we leave the world Many a good man hath carryed his affliction with him to the grave If any shall object how then is that of David true Psal 30.5 Weeping may endure for a night â—â—t joy commeth in the morning I answer First That Scripture speakes of that which is often experienced but not alwayes secondly It is most true also that all our weeping is but for a night yea but for a Moment as the Apostle speakes 2 Cor. 4.17 compared with that morning of joy when the day of our blessed eternity shall begin Thirdly the Psalme hath this scope cheifely to shew that the troubles of the Saints are not everlasting not that they are never lasting or to shew that the night of weeping shall at last conclude in a morning of joy to the Godly not that their night of weeping shall presently conclude For as some have onely a Summers night or a short night of sorrow so others have a winters night or a long night of sorrow And this night of sorrow may be as long not onely as many natural dayes or as somes yeares but as long as all the naturall dayes and yeares of this present life The morning of joy is not to be understood of the next morrow after the sorrow began for how long soever our weeping continues it is night with us and whensoever joy comes though at midnight 't is morning with us For sure enough as those sonnes of pleasure are described Isa 56.12 promising themselves the continuance of their joyes To morrow shall be as this day and much more abundant therefore come fetch wine and let us drinke to day there will be wine enough
he being but dust and ashes should thus presse upon God and that he was afterwards reproved for it in the 38th Chapter of this Booke verse the first and second Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlewinde and said there he found him who is this that darkeneth Councell by words without knowledge gird up now thy loynes like a man for I will demand of thee and answer thou me And againe in the 40th Chap. ver 2d 3d 4th 5th Shall he that Contendeth with the Almighty instruct him he that reproveth God let him answer it Then Job answered the Lord and said Behold I am vile I will lay my hand upon my mouth Once have I spoken but I will not answer yea twice but I will proceed no further As if he had acknowledged his error and overboldnes in pressing upon God as in other places so also in this O that I might come even to his seate Yet I conceive that Job in this passage doth but put forth the nobler and higher actings of his faith and that he speaks this not as forgetting the distance of dust and ashes from the glory of God or from the glorious God but as remembring the promise and as insisting upon his priviledge as a beleever who is invited to come and to come with boldnes to the throane of Grace For though that promise was not given out as to the formality of it in those times yet the vertue of it was though in a lower degree then now To come with boldnes to the throne of grace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denetat loâ—um praeparatum a â—adice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In voce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 puâ—o esse metotonymiam q d. vsque ad locuÌ„ in quo ipse proâ—ptus paratusque est ad audiendum ubi sui copâ—am facit Coc. Representat deum tanquam supremum Judicem in solio excelso sedenteÌ„ jusque suum unicuique reddentem Bold sounds much like this to come even to his seate and this Job did not onely as emboldened by the clearnes of his conscience towards men but as by the freenes of the Grace of God in Christ towards him In pursuance whereof it is well conceived by a learned enterpreter that there is a metonymie in the word which signifies a prepared seate that is such a seate as whereon God presents himselfe to poore sinners prepared and ready to give them both admittance to himselfe and a gratious audience of their requests and suites The word which wee translate seate signifieth a prepared place a place fitted implying somewhat speciall and peculiar unto God Heaven is called the habitation of his holines and of his glory Esay 63.15 yet wheresoever the Lord is hee makes it a heaven Thus also he can make any place where he is a hell The wicked shall be punished with everlasting fire from the presence of the Lord 2 Thes 1.9 that is the very presence of the Lord shall be a hell and torment to them The Lord can be both terrible and gratious in his presence any where yet he is somewhere more gratiously some where more terribly present Some cannot beare those expressions The Throne of God the seat of God heaven and hell As if these were but the Imaginations fancies and fictions of mans braine But the Lord hath his seates and dwelling places whence and where he declares himselfe both in mercy and in judgement both in his holines and in his glory Isa 6.1 I saw also the Lord sitting upon his Throne high and lifted up Thus the Lord manifested himselfe in vision to the Prophet and David confesseth Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever Psal 45.6 that is thy Power and Soveraigntie David speakes not of a material Throne such as Kings have the Power and Soveraignty of God are his throne wheresoever he is and is pleased to declare himselfe in his soveraignty and power So that when Job saith O that I might come even to his seate or throane the meaning is O that I might come as neer him as possibly I may I would not stand at a distance or keepe aloofe off as a guilty malefactor but draw neere to him in a holy and well-grounded confidence Thus Job speakes in answer to that Charge of Eliphaz in the former Chapter Is not thy wickednes great and thine iniquities infinite Now saith Job you shall see what my sinnes are and what my guilt seing I dare venture even to the very throne of God where no hypocrite dares appeare While Job professeth That if God after the manner of men should sit in open Judgement there will be such a Judgement at the last day he would come neer to him and not be afraid he seemes fully assured of his owne integrity or of the goodnes of his cause as also that God would be good unto him Hence observe That true holines and uprightnes hath abundance of Confidence before God Adam having sinned and the guilt of his sin being upon him durst not come to the Seat to the Throne of God God came to him in the coole of the day to examine and question him about his sin but he hid himselfe among the trees of the garden he withdrew not daring to abide him and that 's the state of all sinners who have the guilt of sin upon them they hide they run from God when once their Consciences are awakened As sin in the act of it is a turning or departure from the holines of God so sin acted or sin in the guilt of it causeth not onely a departure but a running and a hiding from the justice of God Guilty sinners are so farre from coming up to his Seat that they cannot endure to come in his sight a malefactor hath little minde to come before the Judge or to the Bench where the Judge sitteth Solomon saith Prov. 20.8 A king that sitteth in the Throne of Judgement scattereth away all evill with his eyes Wee may understand it thus he scattereth evill actions and evill persons evill workes and evill workers with his eyes there 's not an evill man willing to appeare or that dares to appeare before him They who are selfe-condemned must needs be afraid that others will condemne them also Magistrates sitting in Judgement are terrible to guilty malefactors Or thus Hee scattereth the evill with his eyes that is he makes evill men reveale and scatter their most secret evills by his prying into them and industrious Examination of them that evill or wicked practice which they had bound up in their hearts and said none shall know it he scatters and discovers Solomons proverb carryes an experienced truth in it both wayes And we may argue from it That if an earthly King or Magistrate sitting on the Throne scattereth all evill with his eyes how much more doth God neither any evill matter nor any evill man can stand before him And seing the Lord discovers all the evill that is in the hearts and wayes of men what
before thee Job speakes to this sence I would order my cause before him or to his face as the Hebrew Text hath it that is in his presence And fill my mouth with Arguments Pleno ore fidentèr constanter pro me dicam Bold I would have arguments enow or good store to prove that your proceeding hath been unequall toward mee And when he sayth I would fill my mouth with arguments it shewes that his heart was full of arguments Christ teacheth us to argue so Luk. 6.45 Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Jobs heart was full therefore he would fill his mouth David prayeth Psal 71.8 Let my mouth be filled with thy praise And the Church speakes of her joy when God had turned their captivity Psal 126.2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter In this language God bespeakes his people Psal 81.10 Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it Open it by faith and I will fill it with what fill it with mercy and with blessings So here I would fill my mouth with arguments that is I would not want matter to speake for my selfe Os meum replebo increpationibus Vulg. or in my owne cause The vulgar reades it I will fill my mouth with Chidings or with reproofs The word properly signifies Conviction and then wee are to understand it in reference to his friends I would abound with convincing reproving or chiding arguments against you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non redargutiones intelligit quibus deum injustitiae accusaret sed rationes quibus se tueretur Sic 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Graecie sumitur Merc. who have thus long reproached mee I would bring such arguments as should not onely be a proofe of mine owne integrity but a reproof of my friends severity Some arguments have onely a proof in them others have a reproof too Job would fill his mouth with arguments which should be both proofs for himselfe and reproofs to his opposers Job had not a word to say against God but he had much to say against his friends I would fill my mouth with Arguments Note from it Troubled spirits have many things to say and usually abound much in their owne sence Furor arma ministrat As the passion of anger will administer weapons to a man though he be no great fighter so those passions of griefe and sorrow will administer arguments to him though he be no great disputer A troubled soule will hardly be put to a stand or non-plus They who suffer much will alwayes have somewhat to say If nature deny said one of old yet Indignation will make a man a Poet And if nature deny yet sorrow will make a man a Logician and trouble will make a man an Advocate in his owne cause The tongues of many are tipt with Oratory they have excellent words and strong reasons too from the pressures that are upon their spirits trouble of spirit fills the mouth with Arguments two wayes First Against themselves how strongly will some in that case dispute against their owne peace what arguments will they bring against any comfort that is offered them and how nimbly will they reply to any one that goes about to answer them how will they finde out new mediums when those are foyled by which they have formerly nourished their unbeleefe and discouraged themselves from taking hold on mercy 'T is wonderfull to heare the pleadings of a troubled spirit and 't is one of the hardest taskes in the world to answer the doubts which such a man will make against himselfe Secondly The troubles of many fills their mouths with arguments for themselves that 's the meaning of Job here in this place I would fill my mouth with arguments to maintaine my Cause I should not want eyther matter or words to plead this busienes were I before the Throne of God and yet I would not be so free and forward to speake as to neglect or slight what is spoken to me as it followes Vers 5. I would know the words that he would answer mee and understand what he would say unto mee Some are so hasty to speake that they will not heare they are so forward to plead their owne Cause that they will not receive the opinion of another Job discovers an equall spirit to both As I would order my Cause and fill my mouth with arguments so I would know the words that he would answer mee too I would have the good manners or the grace rather to heed and understand what God would say to mee Cognâ—scam sanationes quas loquetur mihi Sep. Quam mihi laboranti curationeÌ„ adhibiturus esset intelligeâ—em Chrysost The Septuagint render it thus I would know the healings which he would speake to me or as another What medicine or way of cure he would praescribe and administer to mee and this might respect eyther the quieting of his Spirit or the repayring of his credit and good name which had been sorely and deeply wounded by his friends not onely suspecting but charging him as an hypocrite or wicked man This is a fayre sence onely it straitens the Text For we may suppose Job in this addresse and application to God ready to heare whatsoever God should say unto him whether his were words of approbation or reproof whether for him or against him Though Job had doubtlesse a strong confidence that God would approve of him and give sentence on his side yet considering his owne weaknesses and distempers of minde he might well conceive that some things had fallen from him or been done by him which might deserve and call for chidings and rebukes as the issue indeed was And therefore it was most congruous that he should present himselfe before the Lord in a frame of heart to receive reprehensions as well as consolations I would know the words that he would answer me and understand c. Knowing and understanding may be taken here two wayes First for Considering and weighing what God would say or what Award he would make In which he seemes closely to checke his friends who thought him so dull and incapable that surely he did not apprehend nor understand their answers Well saith Job whatsoever you thinke of my dulnes to understand your answers or what you have sayd yet I doubt not but I shall understand the answers of God or what he shall say unto mee Secondly They note a reverence and respect to the word of God I would know the words that he would answer that is submit to them I would not oppose the Judgement or Opinion of God concerning me Though Job did not sit downe or acquiesse in the judgement of his friends yet he would reverence and sit downe quietly in the judgement of God in the answer which he should please to give In eyther of these interpretations the sence is good I would know that is I would study to finde out the minde of God and understand
what he saith to mee and then reverently submit thereunto Further This forme of speaking I would know the words and I would understand c. seemeth to imply a vehement desire in Job to know the minde of God concerning him As a man that is accused longs to heare the minde of the Judge as for others 't is not much to him what they say for him or against him As Paul spake in a like case 1 Cor. 4.3 With me it is a very small thing to be judged of you or of mans judgement c. he that judgeth me is the Lord that is to his judgement I must stand He is above all Hence note First That a godly man is carefull to understand the answer and determinations of God concerning him I would know the words that he would answer mee and this not onely according to the supposition which Job makes here if God should speake to him personally or mouth to mouth but in what way soever God should speake to him It is the great care of a Godly man to know the word of God written and deliver'd over to us as the rule of our life and faith for indeed therein wee have our judgement and our answer as Christ saith the words that I speake they shall judge you at the last day that is by the word you shall be judged Likewise it is the care of a Godly man to understand what God speakes to him by his workes and providences by his rods and chastnings In these the Lord speakes to us and gives us answers They who are wise will study to know and understand them We may conceive that Job had respect to two things especially about which he desiered that he might understand the answer and words of God to him First That God would shew him the true Cause of his affliction for he did not take that to be the Cause which his friends had so often suggested and so disputed upon that Fallacy all along which Logicians call The putting of that for a Cause which is not the Cause Therefore Job hoped to know of God what he would say as to the reason why he did Contend with him Secondly What God would say to him by way of Direction and Councell by way of remedy and redress he was sollicitous to understand the minde of God and what God expected from him under this dispensation So that Jobs scope was not at all as Eliphaz suspected to plead his owne righteousnesse and holy walkings before God as if God had been beholding to him for them and so must needs grant him as having deserved it whatsoever he should aske But that he might be acquainted with the holy will and purpose of God concerning himselfe and to be instructed by him about the grounds and ends of his long and sharpe affliction that so he might beare it more chearefully and more fruitfully As also and that principally that he might heare from his Majesty which was the great poynt in controversie between him and his friends whether he did correct and chasten him as a son or punish and take vengeance on him as on a rebell and so set him among the examples of caution for sinners in time to come Secondly Note A Godly man rests in the Judgement of God Si me nisontem pronunciaret cum gaudio si sontem cum patientia sâ—sciperem sententiam ejus Scult Job would not rest in his friends judgement but in Gods judgement he would rest and enquire no further I saith he freely yeeld up my selfe to that if the Lord should pronounce mee Innocent I would rest in his sentence and be thankfull if the Lord should pronounce mee faulty yet I would rest in his sentence and be patient yea then I would aske mercy and begg his grace for the pardon of my faylings God is an Infallible Judge and therefore no man ought to question his determinations Indeed Every mouth shall be stopped and all the world become guilty before God Rom. 3.19 that is acknowledg theÌ„selves guilty before him when he judgeth And as there is no avoyding the judgement of God so a godly man desires to rejoyce in it Good is the word of the Lord sayd Hezekiah 2 King 20 19. When a very sore sentence was past against him and he sayd is it not Good if peace and truth be in my dayes By good in the former part of the verse he meanes just and equall as if he had sayd though this word be full of gall and wormewood yet it is no other then I and my people have deserved and drawne upon our selves By good in the latter part of the verse he meanes Gracious and mercifull as if he had sayd God in this sentence hath mixed the good of justice and equity with the good of graciousnes and mercy or in the midst of Judgement he hath remembred mercy Thus also when God gave sentence by fire against the two sons of Aaron Moses sayd to Aaron This is that the Lord spake saying I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me and before all the people I will be glorified Lev. 10.3 Now when Aaron heard this the text saith And Aaron held his peace He murmured not he contradicted not but rested patiently in the judgement of God And thus Job was resolved to give himselfe up to the judgement of God whatsoever it should be And we shall finde him in the next words hoping strongly to finde God very sweete and gratious to him could he but obtaine a hearing at his Judgement seate JOB CHAP. 23. Vers 6 7. Will he plead against me with his great power No but he would put strength in me There the righteous might dispute with him so should I be delivered for ever from my Judge JOb still prosecutes the proofe of his integrity from his willingnesse to appeare before God and plead his case at his throne and as in the two former verses he told us what he would doe upon supposition that he could finde God and have accesse unto him even that he would state his case and then fill his mouth with arguments he would also seriously attend and strive to understand the answer which God should give him So in these two verses he holds out what entertainment he assured himselfe of in this his addresse to God as also what confidence he had of a faire hearing and of a good issue As if he had said O Eliphaz you have often deterred and over-awed me with the Majesty of God as if he would certainly crush such a worme as I am and that I could not at at all stand or abide a tryall before him in Judgement Eliphaz hath spoken to that sense at the 4th verse of the former Chapter Will he reprove thee for feare of thee will he enter with thee into judgement dost thou thinke that God will condescend so farre as to treate with thee but know O Eliphaz that I am not afraid of the presence of God for
To draw backe is perdition as they who draw backe are the most forward to destroy others Hos 5.2 The revoulters are profound to make slaughter so they shall be sure to be destroyed themselves The people of Israel in their travels through the wildernes to Canaan did often discover this spirit of Apostacy Psal 78.41 They turned backe and tempted God We finde them at a consultation about it Numb 14.4 They said one to another let us make us a Captaine and let us returne into Egypt Our Lord Jesus had such a sort of men who followed him in person Joh. 6.66 From that time many of his Disciples went backe from him and walked no more with him They were Disciples who went backe and there were many of them so many that Christ in the next verse sayd to the twelve Will ye also goe away Then Peter answered Lord whether shall we goe thou hast the words of eternall life As if he had sayd we cannot mend our selves whether soever we goe why then should we goe from thee As a Godly man goeth on so he seeth reason why he should 'T is as irrationall as sinfull to goe backe from him who hath the words of eternall life or from the commandement of his lips who hath given the promise of life The Apostle Paul had a reaching spirit and he was alwayes reaching forward Phil. 3.12 13. Not as though I had already attained or were already perfect but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus As if he had sayd I would to the utmost answer the designe which Christ had upon me when he first tooke hold of me effectually by his grace Paul was so farre from going backe that he forgot what was backward Some remember what is past or what they have done so much that they forget what is to be done But saith Paul this one thing I doe forgetting those things which are behinde and reaching forth unto those things which are before I presse towards the marke for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus The marke and the price are alwayes before us there is no coming at the marke nor winning of the price by turning backe Prov. 4.18 The path of the just is like the shining or morning light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day The path of the unjust if it have any light in it is but like the evening light which shines lesse and lesse which declines and goeth downward till the perfect night and till himselfe be wrapt up in everlasting darknesse The Sun in the firmament went backe by miracle for a signe to Hezekiah that he should recover the health of his body But if we see any goe back who have heretofore shined like the Sunne in a Gospel pofession we have just cause to looke upon it as a sad symtome that their soules are in a dangerous if not in an irrecoverable condition I have not gone backe sayth Job from the commandement of his lips Againe from all these expressions in that Job speaking of the same thing calls it the way of God the commandement of his lips and in the latter part of this verse the word of his mouth to which he had cleaved and wholy devoted himselfe for the guiding of his whole man in the duty which he owed and had been carefull to pay both to God and man Observe The word of God is the onely rule of life And in this poynt the word or commandement of God is to be taken in a double opposition first to our owne devises and rules secondly to the devises and rules of other men man must not prescribe to himselfe nor may we receive the prescriptions of men to order our practise by God is the onely Law-giver and we must receive the Law from his mouth He that will please God must shutt all his own imaginations out of doores and have nothing to doe with them 'T is not what man hath a minde to doe but what the minde of God is he should doe that pleaseth him or is eyther a worship or a service acceptable to him We never dishonour God more then when we take upon us to serve him our owne way and leaving his rule make a rule for our selves Such a serving of God is rebellion against him as was told Saul by the Prophet 1 Sam. 15.22 Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voyce of the Lord. Saul thought he had done very well when he saved the sheep and oxen for sacrifice But he was told that to obey is better then sacrifice and to hearken then the fat of Rams God had commanded burnt offerings and sacrifice but he had no delight in them when his owne voyce was not obeyed or when they were offered eyther beside or against his command Luk. 16.15 That which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to the Lord His thoughts are not our thoughts eyther in the doing of what is good or in the pardoning of what is sinfull As man is apt to thinke that God will not pardon what he hath done sinfully so that he will accept of what he thinkes he hath done holyly though he hath no rule for the doing of it but what himselfe hath devised We alwayes fayle in our measure while we measure God by our selves And it is as dangerous to take the rule of our actions from men as not to take the rule of God In this sence we must call no man Master nor may we be the servants of the wisest men And as we must not be the servants of men because which is the Apostles reason 1 Cor. 7.23 We are bought with a price that is dearely redeemed by Christ so neyther may we be the servants of men in following their dictates because we have received a word from God whom alone we ought to follow and none else but in subordination to or complyance with his word and the commandement of his lips or as it followes in the conclusion of this verse the words of his mouth I have esteemed the words of his mouth more then my necessary food Job having given us two negatives I have not declined I have not turned backe as proofes of his integrity and holines now gives us an affirmative to make up the fullnes of his proofe Not to doe evill is commendable but to doe good is a higher commendation I have esteemed the words of his mouth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Hebrew word signifies two things first to hide or conceale secondly to prise value or esteeme Some render this Text by the former not as we I have esteemed the words of his mouth In sinu meo abscondi verba oris ejus Vul◠Graecos secetus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 legit non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at ventit ac si scriptum esset 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in sinu meo abscondi Merc.
have esteemed or hid the word of his mouth according to my former manner or as I was wont to doe As if he had sayd what I now professe is no new thing with me I have not taken up this estimation of the word now on the suddaine upon my sick-bed I have done so long before now and so I doe still As it was said of Timothy that from a childe he had learned the Scripture Againe Taking the same reading the sence may be given thus Vpon election and deliberation I esteeme the word of his mouth As if he had said I doe not esteeme the word of God for nothing or as not having considered it and judged of the excellency of it but upon long debate consultation and tryall I have pitcht my election upon it Further Some in these words conceave Job alluding to those things which men doe out of long custome or according to their ancient course of life As if he had sayd There is nothing more fixed and setled eyther in my heart or in my practise then the Law of God Obedience to it is now become to me as another nature I slight in comparison of that all humane Lawes and Constitutions as also all my owne most practised formes and customes We render I have esteemed the words of his mouth more then my necessary food The Original word signifies a statute or a law and so any thing which is established or appointed for our use as a law or statute is And because our food our necessary food is that which is cut out or appoynted to us eyther by God or man therefore this word is applyed to signifie dayly bread or necessary food Banquets and great feasts are without all measure and bounds they know no law but are usually full of excesse both as to what is prepared and to what is consumed 't is seldome that either providers or eaters keepe the rule in feasting But a due necessary food which is for the maintaining of our lives and the renewing of our strength to goe on in our callings this food hath a bound and we eate as it were by measure or by statute therefore we translate necessary food others appoynted food or a portion So the word is used Gen. 47.22 Onely the Land of the Priests bought he not for the Priests had a portion assigned them of Pharoah and they eate the portion which he gave them their assigned portion is expressed by this word a portion it was to live upon such as Schollers have in Colledges and Almes-men in Hospitalls by the Statute of their Founders And in the booke of the Proverbs we have it twice used in such a sense Pro. 30.8 Remove from me vanity and lyes give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient for me or with my statute bread that is give me so much onely as the law of nature or the law of my necessity and conveniency calls for to fit me for duty with this statute bread let me be fed let others have their full tables this shall serve my turne Againe Pro. 31.15 Shee ariseth also while it is yet night speaking of the good house-wife and she giveth meate to her house-hold and a portion to her maidens she doth not throw the house out at windows or make havock of all as not caring which end went forward And as she is no prodigal waster so she is neyther niggardly nor scraping neither pineing nor pinching but giveth a meete portion to her maidens So here I have esteemed the word of thy mouth more then my necessary food This small proportion of food greatens the sense of the Text and heightens Jobs holinesse and piety very much for when we come to full tables where there is excesse our stomacks loath the meate and the more meate there is the lesse some are able to eate because the stomacke is over-charged with the sight of it Appetie may be dull'd with abundance but when we finde onely a convenient necessary statute portion as it were so much as is needfull to satisfie hunger and give some moderate delight this pleaseth most and is more esteemed by temperate persons then the greatest feast in the world A man doth not nautiate his necessary food or loath what hunger craves a crust of bread and that which is course is pleasant then necessary food is the sweetest food and we are best satisfied with that which breeds no satiety We live most comfortably with that food without which we cannot live at all comfortably So then when Job saith here I esteemed the word of his mouth more then my necessary food it is as if he had plainely sayd I tooke more care for and had a higher esteeme of the food of my soule then for that food of my body which necessity forceth every man to esteeme Hence note First That a godly man hath a high estimation of the word of God First He doth not onely esteeme it but he esteems it as food Secondly He esteemes it as necessary food Thirdly He esteemes it more then necessary food Here are three steps by which his estimation of the word of God is to be taken David saith of a godly man Psal 1.2 His delight is in the law of the Lord. The word there used signifies both will and delight Some render it voluntas will and others voluptas delight We may take in both his will and his delight is in the law of the Lord or he delightfully wills it Would you know where the delight and joy of a Godly man is it is in the law of the Lord there 't is fixed and no where else comparatively but in the Lord of the Law These two are inseparable he that delights in the Law hath first delighted in the Lord and he that delights in the Lord cannot but delight in the Law There are two metaphors used in Scriptute which shew the estimation and delight which Saints have in the law of God or in the word of his mouth First As the word is compared to food secondly as the word is compared to treasure the word is often compared to food and the most delicious food Psal 119.103 How sweete are thy words unto my taste yea sweeter then honey to my mouth And Psal 19.10 They are sweeter then the honey and the honey-combe He doth not meane the honey-combe barely as the vessell wherein the honey is kept but by the honey-combe he means the honey that flows or drops immediately and as I may say naturally without any art or pressing out of the combe which is esteemed the purest honey such is the law of God to the spirituall palate of a Godly man That feast Math. 22.2 Luke 14.16 to which sinners are invited is onely the declaration of the word and minde of God in the Gospel The word of Grace is the greatest feast which God makes his people Againe the word is as often compared to treasure what the esteeme and desire of man is to
of what he spake in the verse immediatly foregoing here giving an account why he had kept so close to God and to his wayes My foot hath held his steps his way have I kept and not declined neither have I gone backe from the commandements of his lips c. And why all this for he is of one minde That is God will have his way there 's no resisting his commandements must be observed that which he once made a law and rule for me to walke by continueth so still He is of one minde Therefore I must keepe close to his minde It were a vaine thing for me to turne any other way when God holds the same way It were folly for me to change my practice when I finde no change at all in his precepts they being still one and the same in themselves and having the same obligation upon me Secondly These words may give an account or a reason of his afflictions As if he had thus expressed himselfe Though my conscience beareth me witnesse that I have not gone onne in any such sinfull way as ye tax me with nor defiled my selfe with such grosse iniquities as usually draw downe the visible Judgements of God upon men Yet I finde God going on still to afflict me he keeps his rod upon my backe and his burden upon my shoulders his terrors still incamp about me and his arrowes drinke up my spirit Nor will he be moved by any entreaty of mine to withdraw his hand from me What ever pleaseth him he will doe how unpleasant soever it is to me And what 's the reason of all this He is in one minde God is unalterable therefore doe not thinke that because he continueth these afflictions and burdens upon mee that therefore all must be resolved into my sinne No we may resolve all this into the soveraigntie and unchangeablenes of God he is in one minde and he will doe what his minde is and none shall turne him Egregie tuetur divinam providentiam nam cum amici illa tantum ratione pro divina providentia pugnent quod scelera puniat at Job illam agnoscit cum aerumnas ille immittit propter praeclaros fines nobis occultos soli deo notos Pined Juri libertati dei assignat afflictiones quas amici peccatis Coc Thirdly which sutes the former That Job here shewes his friends the true way of reconciling his owne innocency with the sharp afflictions and troubles which were upon him Job felt and saw and others eyther did or might that he was sorely afflicted And Job knew though others did not that he was innocent as to the charge brought against him Then how shall he reconcile the justice of divine providence with his owne innocence His friends knew not how to reconcile the innocency of an afflicted man and the Justice of an afflicting God This was a riddle which they could not unfold And therefore when they saw God thus afflicting him they concluded as strongly as if they had seene it that Job had greatly offended God But Job knew how to unlocke this secret and expound this riddle Hee knew how to maintaine and assert his owne integritie while he suffered and yet acquit the Justice of God in laying those sufferings upon him He could say God is supreame He is in one minde And what he doth he may doe because he hath a minde to doe it He hath deep purposes and designes which I am not able to reach or fathome Therefore though I complaine I doe not complaine as if God had done me wrong but because I smart because I feel such paines and so heavie a pressure upon me I am far from saying that he hath injured me though he hath thus afflicted me nor can any thing which he hath done or shall further doe be an injury to me for I confesse that he hath a right to doe whatsoever he pleaseth to doe Thus we have an excellent defence made by Job in these words to vindicate the Lords sharp dealings with him from the least suspition of injustice and to accord the assertion of his owne afflicted innocence with a beleeving reverence of the righteousnesse of God and so these words of his are the breathings of a very gracious spirit teaching us far better then his friends had done how to answer for God in his saddest dispensations towards man They knew no other way to doe it but by rendering Job a notorious hypocrite an haynous offender and these his sufferings to be the punishments of his hypocrisie and offences But Job resolves all into the unchangeablenes of Gods will and the soveraignty of his power Thus much for the generall scope of these words Vers 13. But he is of one minde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These words undergoe variety of readings I will name foure First Some translate thus For he is alone That is Ipse enim solus est Vulg. he is the onely Judge there is none above him to whom I might appeale from him nor hath he any equall to ballance him There 's none to be found upon the earth no nor in heaven that can alter and controule his decrees or supercede and checke any of his proceedings He is alone Ipse unus est Pagn Aliqui 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 redundare putant Merc Cum nemo absolutè sit nisi deus nemo sit absolute bonus nisi deus ita nemo unus est nisi deus Deus est unissimus Sed si ipse contra unum agit quis revocet eum Jun Et ipse in uno Mont In uno supple fixus ipse perpetuò sui similis est i. e. non mutatur ut homo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Et quis averiet eum Mont Et quis redire faciet eum retrorsum Pagn i. e ab instituto vel a semel statuta sententia Secondly Others conceave there is a redundancy in the affix beth in And so in stead of He is in one the words are thus given He is one As if Jobs meaning were this There is none One but He or none One as He. As Christ saith There is none good but God or there is but one good that is absolutely good so there is none one but God that is absolutely One God is suherlatively one the one-most-one Thirdly Thus But if he act against one who can turne him And so M. Broughton Yet when he is against me who can stay him This hath a cleare truth in it and fully hits the scope of the place But I conceive a fourth reading which leads to ours to be yet more cleare and that is He is in one and who can turne him In one what one we answer in one minde noting the stabilitie of the thoughts and purposes of God his minde is one his purpose is one his decree is one he is alwayes like himselfe in all these He doth not change his minde as man doth He is constant and fixed to his owne purposes
to the dictates of his owne will and wisdome He is one And who can turne him Or Who can turne him away Or as another renders Who can make him returne backwards that is who can make him goe back from what he hath determined and once resolved upon True repentance or conversion is the change of the minde in man Every man that is converted from his sinfull state course by the power of God becomes another man as to his morals and spiritualls then he was before but man cannot turne God and make him any other then he is God can cause man to change his minde but man cannot make God change his minde nor turn him backward The Prophet saith of God Isa 44.25 That he turneth wise men backward and maketh their knowledge foolish The turning of the wise backward is the altering of their councells When they will not alter them God can He saith Their councells shall not stand nor shall they reach the end to which they were appoynted And it is so Sed quid ego similis cum sit sibi semper idem Quis rationem ab eo facti dictivè reposcat But can the wisest of men or all wise men plotting and laying their heads together turne the most wise God backward They cannot So that these words hold forth the efficacie and stabilitie of the purposes counsells and decrees of God Who can turne him And what his soule desireth even that he doth God is not like man consisting of a soule and body Man is the result of soule and body united together A soule is not a man nor is a body a man man is a third thing rising out of both But God is a spirit Animam alicujus sumi pro eo cujus est anima res est nota quare anima dei deus est Sanct And when Job sayth What his soule desireth The meaning is what himselfe desireth The soule of a man is indeed the man because the choycest part of man though man hath another part namely a body yet the soule is he The soule of man being his best part is often put for the whole man But the soule of God is not put here for God because it is the best part of Him His soule is himselfe Further This phrase or manner of speaking what his soule desireth notes onely the intensnes and strength of his desires or what he desiereth strongly The Lord sometimes makes offers to doe that which is not in his heart or desire to doe But what ever his soule goes out upon indeed or would have done that shall be done Thus the word is used frequently to set forth the full purpose of God to doe a thing Levit. 26.30 And I will destroy your high places and cut downe your images and cast your carkases upon the carkases of your idols and my soule shall abhorre you That is extreamly abhorre you I will abhorre you with the utmost abhorrence And againe Isai 1.14 Your new moones and your appointed feasts my soule hateth That is I hate them with a perfect hatred to shew how deepe his hatred was of those things as done by them he saith my soule hateth them As if he had sayd I hate your formality in my worship from the bottome of my heart We have the same sence Jer. 6.8 Be thou instructed O Jerusalem lest my soule depart from thee That is lest I totally depart I will depart not onely by withdrawing some of your outward comforts but even those which are the more intimate and immediate discoveries of my love my soule shall depart from thee or be loosed and dis-joynted from thee as we put in the Mergin that is I will be of no more use to thee or a helpe to thee then a member of the body is to the body when it is dislocated or removed from its proper joynt Once more Jer. 32.41 I will rejoyce over them to doe them good and will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soule That is I will doe it for them entirely and affectionatly or with entirest affection What his soule desireth That is What he desireth or whatsoever pleaseth him Velle est hoc loco aliquid peculiarius expetere concupiscere solet ad rem quam piam delectabilem referri We desire onely those things which are very pleasing And those things which are most pleasing to us are to us very desirable The desire of man is love in motion as his joy is love at rest But in God desire and joy are not distinguishable in him there is no motion all is rest What his soule desireth Even that he doth The Hebrew is very concise His soule desireth and doth That is he no sooner desireth a thing but he doth it Optat tantam protinus fectum est Merc or when he desireth it is done The will of God is execution though he willeth many things which as to man are not presently no nor till a long time after executed yet as to himselfe whatsoever God willeth is executed and whensoever he pleaseth his will is actually executed among men He desireth and it is done From the words thus opened we may observe according to the first reading of the former part of the verse That God is one There is one God and but one Thus the Lord speaks of himselfe by the Prophet Isa 44.8 Is there a God besides me Yea there is no God I know not any Isai 45.5 I am the Lord and there is none else there is no God besides me He is one himselfe and he hath not a second The Heathens having many gods when they were oppressed by any one god Saepe premente deo dat deus alter opem they sought reliefe from another As Sorcerers and Witches goe to a stronger spirit for help against what a weaker spirit hath done Heathen gods were devill-gods and they are many The Jewes degenerating into Idolatry multiplyed their Gods according to the number of their Cities Jer. 2.28 But Jehovah The living God The Lord is one God We affirme from Scripture that there are three Hees or subsistences in the God-head commonly called persons Father Sonne and Spirit but these three are one not onely by consent but by nature and essence Heare O Israel sayd Moses Deut. 6.4 The Lord our God is one Lord. Secondly From our reading He is in one or as we supply He is In one minde Observe that great truth God is unchangable I the Lord change not Mal. 3.6 The unchangeablenes of God may be considered in divers things First In his essence or nature God knoweth no decay He is a spirit an eternall spirit He hath nothing mingled or mixed in him which should worke or tend to alteration God is simple He is most simple even simplicity it selfe There is no composition in him no diversitie of qualities in him Man changeth in his natural constitution because compounded and made up of
different elements qualities and humours which contending and fighting one with another necessitate his change Every day brings some though insensible changes upon us And in a few yeares our changes are very visible and sensible The Psalmist speaking of the heavens which of all visible creatures are in nature most unchangeable yet calls them changeable in comparison of God Psal 102.26 The heavens are the work of thy hands They shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed The heavens are the purest part of the creation and freest from elementary mixtures yet they shall wax old they shall be changed In opposition to which the Psalmist adds ver 27. But thou art the same and thy yeares shall have no end Nor are the yeares of God onely without end but himselfe is without change Indeed there is no change of time to God past present and to come are all the same to him and he is the same in all Thou art the same or more emphatically according to the strictnes of the Hebrew phrase Thou art thy selfe alwayes thy selfe As thou art thou wast and as thou art and wast thou wilt be for ever When Moses desiered to know the name of God Exod. 3.13 wee finde it at the 14th verse and God said unto Moses I am That I am And he said thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel I AM hath sent me unto you Secondly As God is unchangeable in his essence so in all his divine perfections and attributes all which are essentiall unto him God is as powerfull and strong as ever he was Isa 26.4 Isa 59.1 As high and soveraigne as ever he was Psal 92.8 as wise and omniscient as ever he was 1 Tim. 1.17 As gracious and mercifull as ever he was his mercy endureth for ever Psal 100.5 As faithfull and true as ever he was Rom. 3.3 4. And as just and righteous as ever he was he doth and will reward every man according to his workes Thirdly God is unchangeable in his purposes decrees and counsells The Medes and Persians boasted of their decrees that they alterd not Dan. 6.18 But the very unalterablenes of humane Decrees is alteration it selfe compared with the unalterablenes of divine decrees We have the Lord thus speaking in the Prophet Isai 46.16 I am God and there is none like me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done saying my counsell shall stand and I will doe all my pleasure And as the Lord establisheth his owne counsel so he can unsetle the best layd counsels of the sons of men Psal 33.10 11. The Lord bringeth the counsel of the Heathen to nought he maketh the devices of the people of none effect The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever the thoughts of his heart to all generations And hence the Lord by his Prophet challengeth the deepest politicians the Oracles for counsel the Achitophels of this world 〈◊〉 straine their wits to the utmost for securing of their owne counsels from disappoyntment Isai 8.10 Gird your selves and ye shall be broken in pieces take counsel together and it shall come to nought speake the word and it shall not stand for God is with us he is with us as to protect us against your open opposition so to blast your most secret consultations against us And as the Lords counsels are immutable in themselves so he hath condescended to assure us of their immutabilitie Heb. 6.17 18. Wherein God willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie we might have strong consolation c. Oaths are sacred and the strongest confirmations between man and man and therefore though the counsel of God be immutable without an oath yet that we might have the greatest assurance that it is so God hath confirmed it by an oath That so the heyres of salvation having two immutable things to rest their soules and build their faith upon might not onely have consolation strong consolation such consolation as might master and overcome all the feare and unbeliefe of their owne hearts and the gainesayings of Satan Fourthly God is also unchangeable in his promises what ever he hath sayd he will doe for his people He is in one minde it shall be done A promise from God is the best securitie halfe a promise an it may be as he speakes to the meeke of the earth Zeph. 2.3 Seeke righteousnes seeke meeknes it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lords anger this halfe promise I say is better security then the hand or seal yea then the oath of the faithfullest man on earth 2 Cor. 1.20 All the promises of God in him that is in Christ are yea and in him amen That is they shall certainly be performed and accomplished God doth not give promises as many men doe to rayse and then disappoynt and abuse our Hopes He doth not make promises rather for snares to catch others then for bonds to tie himselfe as some men doe which is not only a great unworthines and disingenuitie in them but a great iniquity and sin the Lords promises are our richest inheritances and that not onely because he hath promised greater and better things then are in the compasse of any mans power to make good or in the compass of any mans understanding to make but because h◠will certainly be as good to us in performance as he hath been in promise For He is in one minde concerning all that he hath promised He will be mercifull as he hath promised and pardon sin as he hath promised He will deliver us from trouble as he hath promised and sanctifie all our troubles to us as he hath promised He will give us his Spirit as he hath promised and save us eternally as he hath promised Fifthly He is also in one minde concerning his threatnings He will be as good as his word in the evill which he hath spoken against sinners as well as in the good which he hath spoken concerning his servants Zech. 1.5 Your fathers where are they and the Prophets doe they live for ever But my words and my statutes which I commanded my servants the Prophets did they not take hold of your fathers And they returned and sayd like as the Lord of hoasts thought to doe unto us according to our wayes and according to our doings so hath he dealt with us That is his threatnings have arrested us as Sergeants doe a malefactor or a debtor and carryed us away their prisoners As if the Lord had sayd Your fathers are dead and my Prophets are dead also but the words which my Prophets spake to your fathers concerning the sword famine and captivitie which should shortly come upon them these dreadfull prophesies dyed not
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 who can but feare to be under that power which hath no limits but a corrupt will But who would feare to be under the power of God acted by his will seing he willeth nothing but what is righteous just and good What can we expect but right from him who is righteousnesse what but good from him in a good cause who is goodnes it selfe how great or how unlimited soever his power is If some men might doe what they would what evill would they not doe There 's nothing stands between some men and the wronging of all men they have to doe with but the want eyther of power or of opportunity to doe it The Lord can doe what he will but he will doe nothing but what is good He is able to ruine all men but he will wrong no man no not the worst of men What his soule desireth even that he doth but it is impossible his soule should desire to any thing but what is right Lastly When it is sayd Whatsoever his soule desireth even that he doth or more close to the Originall He desireth He doth We learne That It is as easie with God to doe a thing as to desire to have it done All men would doe what their soules desire but most men desire that which they cannot doe yea though men have a desire to doe a thing and a power to doe it also yet it is not so soone done as desired there must be a preparation and the use of meanes before man can doe what he hath a power to doe so that though a man hath power proportionable to his desire yet he is not presently a partaker of his desire But God can make his power as speedy as his desire He can make the declaration of his will and the execution of it contiguous For though many things lie long in the will of God before they are done and what he willed from eternity is don in time and the time of doing it be yet a great way off yet he can doe any thing as soone as will it and whatsoever he willeth or desireth is to him as done already Psal 104.30 Thou sendest forth thy Spirit they are created The creation there spoken of is providence for that is a continued creation The first creation was the production of all things out of nothing to that being which they had but there is another work of creation which is the continuing or renewing of things in their being and of this he sayth Thou sendest forth thy Spirit that is thy power they are created And thou renewest the face of the earth Thou makest a new world And thus God makes a new world every yeare sending forth his Spirit or quickning power in the raine and Sun to renew the face of the earth And as the Lord sends forth his power in providenciall mercies so in providenciall Judgements He looketh on the earth and it trembleth He toucheth the hils and they smoake ver 32. A man can soone give a cast with his eye so soone can God shake the earth that is eyther the whole masse of the earth or the inferior sort of men on the earth When he looketh or casts an angry eye upon the earth it trembleth He toucheth the hils that is the powers and principalities of the world and they smoake If he doe but touch them they smoake that is the dreadfull effects of the power and Jugement of God are visible upon them As soone as the Lord calls all creatures readily tender their service Psal 105.31 34. He spake and there came divers sorts of flies and lice in all their coasts ver 34. He spake and the Locusts came and caterpillers and that without number If the Lord speake the word it is done God spake the world into this beautie he did but say Let there be light and there was light And he can speake the world into trouble and confusion He doth but say Let there be darknes and there is darknes It was an high speech of Caesar who meeting with some opposition from that yong noble Roman Metellus sayd Let me alone lest I destroy thee And presently added It is easier for me to doe this then to speake it Such was his power that he could easier take away a mans life then give sentence of death against him This is most true concerning the great God of heaven and earth there is no more difficultie in his doing of a thing then in his desiring and willing it to be done The generall truth of this verse carryeth in it a twofold inference First Of terrour to the wicked God is in one minde the same opinion which he had of their wayes and persons heretofore the same he hath still The same curses and Judgements which he hath denounced against them formerly are in force still Is it not a terrible thing to incorrigible wicked men to remember that what the soule of God desireth he doth when his soule desireth nothing but vengeance and wrath for them Therefore tremble before the Lord ye wicked and be ye sore affraid at the remembrance of his unchangeablenes Secondly Of abundant comfort to the faithfull and righteous The mind of God is mercy to them and he is in this one minde towards them none can turne him His soule desireth to doe them good And whatsoever his soule desireth that he doth What can Saints desire more then that God should doe all that for them which he desireth and all that he will assuredly doe Therefore rejoyce in the Lord ye righteous and give thankes at the remembrance of his unchangeablenes JOB CHAP. 23. Vers 14 15 16 17. For he performeth the thing that is appoynted for mee and many such things are with him Therefore I am troubled at his presence when I consider I am afraid of him For God maketh my heart soft and the Almighty troubleth mee Because I was not cut off before the darknesse neither hath he covered the darknesse from my face IN the former verse Job exalteth God first in his unchangeablenes He is in one minde who can turne him Secondly in his Almightines What his soule desireth even that he doth In the 14th ver he speaks of God in reference to his personal experience and brings downe the generall proposition to his owne particular case As if he had sayd I indeed have found that what his soule desireth even that he doth mine owne sad experience proves and beares witnes to this truth my present state makes the Comment of this text for he performeth the thing that is appoynted for mee Vers 14. Hee performeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in primaria significatione denotat implere finire deinde in pace esse etiam solvere compensare Pined The word hath various translations but all are well summ'd up in this Hee performeth First It signifies to pay payment is performance therefore the same word is used both for performing and paying Secondly The word signifies to be at peace
probable that they who know him should know times too for to whom should God communicate his secrets but to those who are neere to him to those that are his As if he had sayd Give me a reason if you can why God to whom all things and times are knowne from eternitie should not make knowne these times to those that know him And so the argument may be formed in this manner Such as know God should know his dayes if any know them But they that know God doe not know his dayes therefore God keepes his dayes close to himselfe so that whereas Eliphaz supposed Job as doubting the providence of God Chap. 22. ver 12 13 14. and asks the question ver 15th Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have troden Job answers here I deny not the providence of God but I deny that all the wayes of Gods dealing with wicked men are obvious to the eye of Godly men and shew me reason if you can seing God knoweth all times why the way of his judgements are so little visible to them which know him But who are they that are described by this circumlocution They or the men that know God We may take them in a twofold notion First More Generally for all godly men for all who are truly such know God Secondly More specially for those Godly men who know God more then others there are some who have a peculiar knowledge of him and dayly intimacy with him who live as it were in his bosome and see what is in his breasts comparatively to others And further because words of knowledge comprehend the affections in Scripture by those that know him much we are to understand those that love him much that delight in him much that feare him much and obey him much Now though we may expound this text of truely Godly men at large yet the latter sort are chiefly meant why seeing times are not hidden from the almighty doe not they that know him godly men yea his favourites who know most of his minde who as they are after his heart so in his heart eminently why doe not they who know him thus See his dayes Diem domini appellamus cum judicium suum exercit in impios Whose dayes and what dayes doth Job here intend The former part of the verse answers the first question They are the dayes of God And to the second question I answer The dayes of God are those dayes wherein he worketh or brings forth some great worke whether it be a worke of Judgement or a worke of mercy For as Times in the former part of the verse so dayes here include the things done in those dayes and hence Mr Broughton renders wayes not dayes None sayth he that know him see his wayes Whensoever God doth somewhat among men which declares him in an eminent manner to be God that in Scripture is called the Day of God Thus the Prophet speakes Isa 2.12 The day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty and upon every one that is lifted up and he shall be brought low And upon all the Cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up c. Thus the day of the Lord is the day of his judgement among men I passe not for mans day or for the judgement of man sayth Paul 1 Cor. 4.3 And when he saith 1 Cor. 3.13 The day shall discover it He meanes a day of tryall will discover every mans worke whether it be silver gold hay wood or stubble The day of discovery will be a Glorious day of God The Civilians have an expression which reacheth this notion of a day They say of a man that hath had judgement in the highest Court from whence there is no appeale Summum obijsse diem dicunt Jurisconsulti vid Bold He hath passed his last day that is his highest and greatest triall because then there is no more medling with him or bringing the suite about againe Such are the dayes of God of which Job here speaketh Why seing times are not hidden from the Almighty doe they that know him not see his dayes From the former part of the verse Note First That times are knowne perfectly knowne to God Yea not onely are times perfectly knowne to God but firmely fixed and most wisely disposed of by him men may know that which they have no power to dispose of but the knowledg of God and his power run paralel through all times and things So that as when the text sayth Times are not hidden from the Almighty it notes that they are fully knowne to him so also that they are uncontrouleably disposed and ordered by him And as times are knowne to God so he makes them knowne when and to whom he pleaseth When Joseph had revealed to Pharaoh both the matter and the time concerned in his dreames then saith Moses Gen. 41.45 Pharaoh called Josephs name Zaphnath paaneah which say some signifies in the Egyptian language The Saviour of the world Which name say they Pharaoh might give him because by his advice in laying up stores of corne in the yeares of plenty such a world of men or so great a part of the world was saved from perishing by famine in the yeares of scarcity But say others deriving the word from an Hebrew roote it signifies a revealer of secrets Which title of honour Joseph well deserved and was most proper to him seing he had revealed that Great secret unto Pharaoh both that there should be a famine as also the time and season of it But where had Joseph this secret was it from any astrologicall skill of his owne He tells us plainely whence it was at the 15th and 16th verses of the same Chapter for when Pharaoh had sayd to Joseph I have heard say of thee that thou canst understand a dreame to interpret it He presently answers first Negatively It is not in me and then affirmatively God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace See the like in that most remarkeable passage Den. 2.17 18 19 20 21. From all which we learne that God knoweth times and changeth times that is makes great changes in times according to the counsell of his owne will First If we take time for the succession of dayes weeks months yeares and ages thus the Lord knoweth times The number of the dayes of man the precise number of the yeares and ages wherein any worldly state or power shall continue are not hidden from him Secondly Times are not hidden from God as times are taken for the seasons and opportunities of action The Lord knowes what time will be as a wheele or as a socket fitted for the carrying on or establishing of every worke We are often troubled at this and misse our season but God knoweth every season he knoweth the times and therefore can time every worke exactly And the Hebrew word here used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denotat congruum tempus properly signifies
the fatherlesse they take the widows Ox for a pledge They turne the needy out of the way the poore of the earth hide themselves together IN the first verse of this Chapter it was shewed that they who know God that is godly men doe not in this world see his dayes that is the dayes of his judgement and vengeance upon the wicked In the following part of this Chapter Job proceeds to describe wicked men in severall acts of wickednesse and how they carry it on and have many faire dayes in the world while they are doing fowle and filthy worke They doe as much mischiefe as they can and they enjoy as much outward prosperity as they can desire to have or tell what to doe with it when they have it so that they seeme equally to abound in the practice of evill and in the possession of Good See what havocke they make in the words of this context Vers 2. Some remove the Land-marks they violently take away flocks and feed thereof Some remove Of whom Job spake in particular or of what particular time he spake is uncertaine Some referre it to the dayes before the Floud for that was a time wherein the world was filled with violence and that was the speciall sinne of that age set forth Gen. 6.11 The earth also was corrupt before God That is men dwelling upon the earth were corrupt morally corrupt corrupt in their manners Thus the earth was corrupt before God and he shews wherein that corruption did consist and the earth was filled with violence But as the character which Job gives of these men may wel suite those times so what times have not produced such a sort of men And though some times have been more tainted with and notorious for those sinnes then others yet all times have been tainted with them and therefore we may take the words generally as applicable to any age of the world Some remove the Land-markes That is those marks which are set up for the distinction or division of Lands that every man may know his owne and not entrench upon his neighbours inheritance These land-marks or bounds they remove 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 retigit apprehendit vis verbi ea est ut ita res attingatur quò◠apprehendatur peâ—tinet ad vim potentioris manuÌ„ inijcientis The Hebrew is they touch so 't is translated some touch the land-marks land-marks were sacred things they ought not to be touched nor medled with The Lord speaks of his holy people Psal 105.15 Touch not mine anointed and doe my Prophets no harme Another word is used in the Psalme but we may give the same emphasis here some touch the land-marks as if it were a fault so much as to handdle or meddle with them yet the word here used signifies both to touch and to take and so to take as violently to carry away Zech. 1.6 Did not my word take hold of your fathers that is did it not apprehend and seaze upon them yea remove them out of the land of the living Where the word of God toucheth it taketh away eyther to destruction or salvation And that word in the Prophet hath a double allusion either to the hunting of beasts or to fighting and contending with men the word followed your fathers it overtooke them it tooke them it laid hold on them as the hunter layeth hold upon his prey or as an enemy follows and over-takes a fleeing enemy did not my word take hold of your fathers yes it did and that to purpose The word is used Psal 40.12 Mine iniquities sayth David take hold of me so that I am not able to looke up they have dealt with me as with a fugitive that runneth away They have taken hold of me and they hold me fast my sinne hath apprehended me So that though this originall word signifies to touch yet it is so to touch as to offer violence to take away to remove as is expressed in those instances 1 Sam. 30.8 David inquired of the Lord saying shall I pursue after this troope shall I over-take them so 2 Sam. 15.14 David said to all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem arise let us flee for we shall not escape from Absolom make speed to depart least he overtake us suddenly In which places as this word is used so the use of it is about violent and forcible actings so that this touching is taking or removing they remove or pull up the land-marks to set them in some other place for their owne advantage This was their first sin the removing of land-marks which was upon the matter to take away propriety and to put all men out of possession There can be no possession without distinction Mira fuit in antiquis tum in constituendis tum in servandis limitibus fides atque religio naturall riches consist in lands and cattle both beare their owners mark The care and industry of the ancients was exceeding great and accurate about their land-marks both in setting them up and in observing them that every man might have his owne wherefore to remove the land-marks was indeed to take away the land Hence note That God hath given unto man a proper speciall and personall right in his lands and goods If it were not so then first it were no sinne to remove land-marks or a vaine thing to set them up if there be no distinction of inheritances by propriety what needs there be any distinction by marks or limits to shew this is such a mans land and that anothers No man may set a speciall marke where he hath not a speciall right Secondly if there were no propriety there could not be such a sinne as stealing and theeving that which is every mans any man may take and be blamelesse Thirdly if there were not propriety there would be but little industry If mens lands and goods were not their owne who would be found to take care of them or paines about them Fourthly to make all things common were to run all into confusion There is nothing more unequall then this kinde of equality If all had a like right in the things of the world all would thinke to have a like power in the government of the world Propriety and Magistracy must stand and fall together But some may object that practice of the primitive Church Acts 2.44 who had all things common And if all things with them were in a community where was propriety I answer First This practice of theirs was purely voluntary not at all imposed as appeares plainely from the words of Peter to Ananias Acts 5.4 While it remained was it not thine owne or more close to the Greek Remaining did it not remaine to thee that is it was properly thine before thou soldest it and thou mightest have kept thy interest in it No man compelled thee to sell or give and if thou hadst not sold it thou mightest still have held communion with the Church for all that But
24. Vers 5 6 7 8. Behold as wilde asses in the desert goe they forth to their worke rising betimes for a prey the wildernes yieldeth food for them and for their Children They reap every one his Corne in the field and they gather the vintage of the wicked They cause the naked to lodge without Cloathing that they have no Covering in the Cold. They are wet with the showers of the mountaines and embrace the rock for want of a shelter JOb proceeds to enumerate the wickednesses of those men whom yet God spared and bare with he had set downe many of their sinfull wayes before they removed the land-marks they violently tooke away flocks they spared not the asse of the fatherles nor the widdows oxe They turned the needy out of the way so that the poore of the earth were forced to hide themselves together See now the further progresse of their wickednes even to admiration for so much the word Behold with which Job leads on his discovery of their vexatious practices doth import Vers 5. Behold as wilde asses in the desert they goe forth to their worke There is a difference in opinion among Interpreters about the subject of this verse whom wee are to understand under this description As wilde asses in the desert going forth to their worke Some of Note conceave that the poore are the subject of these words Exegesis praeordentis dicti de intoleranda inproborum sevâ—tia in pauperes quorum opera contra legem abutuntur Jun or the persons here intended And then they hold forth the hardship and misery to which they were reduced by those mercilesse tyrants Behold as wilde asses in the desert they goe forth to their worke Oppressors did so vex them and strip them out of all that they who heretofore had enough to live upon were constrained to goe forth to day-labour and worke for their living at the command or under the cruel bondage of those inhumane Taske-Masters Yet I conceive that wee may more clearly expound these words as carrying a continued series of the practices of wicked men who are here compared to wilde asses and there is a word in the 5th verse which gives a speciall reason why this should not be understood of the poore or oppressed but of the oppressor where it is sayd they rise betimes for a prey now that word which we render a prey cometh from a root which signifies to teare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 carpsit discarpsit dilaceravit dentibus prâ—prium ferarum est to rend to pull assunder after the manner of wilde beasts and is of the same sound as well as significatioÌ„ with our English word teare therefore it should rather be understood of oppressors then of the oppressed for a man that goes forth to labour and worke for his living cannot properly be said to rise betimes for a prey for he goes forth to get his bread honestly now a prey is that which is got by violence and the word is never applyed to men but in allusion to ravenous and devouring beasts Jacob comparing his son Judah to a Lyons whelpe Gen. 49.9 saith From the prey my Sonn thou art gone up So Moses Deut. 33.20 And of Gad he said Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad hee dwelleth as a Lyon and teareth the Arme with the Crowne of the head And David praying to be delivered out of the hand of his enemy gives this reason Psal 7.2 Lest he teare my soule like a Lyon while there is none to deliver So that the word noting properly the act of a ravenous beast who lives upon spoyle and prey It is very improper to apply it to the worke of a labouring man who lives and earnes his bread with the sweat of his brows Yet I finde that word signifying food in generall Mal 3.10 Bring yee all the tythes into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house Which the interlineral renders that there may be a prey in mine house Vt sit praeda in domo mea Mont Vt sit quod rapitis c. Pâ—gna and another thus that there may be that which ye snatch in mine house Surely the Lord strikes at some misdemeanour while he expresseth the food of the Priests Levites by a word signifying that which is torne away by violence And I conceave it may either reflect upon the people who parted so hardly with the tythes which did belong to the Temple at that time that they were rather torne or pulled from them by a kinde of violence then freely payd or brought in according to the Law of God or it might reflect upon the extreme greedines of the Priests that did administer in the Temple as if they did look upon the tyths their portioÌ„ in them with as earnest desire as wild beasts hang over wait for a prey So that where this word is used to signifie food there is somewhat in the circumstance of the Text which leaves a touch of rapine and violence upon it And therefore it is not applicable to the earnings of honest labourers but to the cruel gettings of theeves and oppressors The mountaines of prey spoken of Psal 76.4 were eyther those places where conquering Armyes devided the spoyle after a victory obtained or where robbers preyed upon passengers And therefore I shall take the subject of this verse to be the oppressors of the poore not the poore oppressed Behold as wilde asses in the desert they goe forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The particle of likenes as is not in the Hebrew nor yet the word Asses expressely And therefore Mr Broughton reads strictly to the Original Behold the wilde in the wildernes goe forth to their worke The word signifies wilde at large but because wilde asses are extreamely wilde therefore the word is specially applyed to them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ferus homo Thus the Angel sayd of Ishmael Gen. 16.12 And he will be a wilde man Behold as wilde asses in the desert The desert is the dwelling place of wilde asses Tame asses or asses brought to hand are about the house or in the enclosed pastures but wilde asses inhabit the desert The word that wee render desert comes from a roote that signifies to speake and the desert is so called by the figure of Contrary speaking 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Locutus est per antiphrasin quasi locus a sermone remotus because there is little or no speaking in deserts many words are heard onely in Cities or places where many people frequent It signifies also to lay wast because deserts are wast and barren places in comparison of drest and Enclosed grounds such is the place whether these spoylers goe forth as wilde asses To their worke But wild asses worke not onely tame asses are labouring asses So that the similitude runs not upon that poynt yet we may say wilde asses have a worke and 't is much like that which
sinfull ends they run as nimbly at it as if they could run upon the top of a corne feild and never presse a straw or as if they could run upon the water and never wet their feete By which hyperbolies the ancient Poets used to expresse the greatest celerity of motion Wee have a proverbiall saying among us which reacheth this swiftnes of a wicked man in sin He say we must needes run whom the Devill drives There is no doubt but evill men are Divel-driven yea Divel-ridden he rides them with whip and spurre to the doing of his blacke worke and therefore no wonder if they are so swift and make such hast about it That they make hast to doe it is too visible and that they make more hast then good speed is as visible For while they make hast to sin they make hast also to the curse As it follows in the next words Their portion is cursed in the earth Job spake in the singular number before but here in the plural He is swift c. Their portion c. His meaning I conceave may be this That looke how many soever they be of them that are thus swift to sin there 's not one of them shall be able to out-run the curse They are swift as the water to doe evill but the curse will be as swift as the winde to make them miserable Their portion is cursed The word signifieth any thing which falls to a man of right 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pars porti◠possessio or is bestowed upon him for his lot or share First that part or portion which comes by way of Inheritance is so expressed Gen. 31.14 Deut. 12.12 The Inheritance that a father gives his son is his portion Secondly It signifies that part share or lot of food which is given out to any man for his dayly provision Deut. 18.8 Thirdly It notes that which is given to the poore by way of almes Eccl 11.2 Give a portion to seven and also to eight that is give to many for thou knowest not what evill shall be upon the earth It is used also for a share or distribution of the spoyle to each Souldier after a victory Gen. 14.24 Aner Eshcol and Mamre let them take their portion sayd Abram to the King of Sodome after he had rescued his Brother Lot and the captivated Kings In this place the word is taken in the largest sence as comprehending whatsoever they could call theirs or was any way belonging to them So that when Job sayth their portion is Cursed his meaning is all that they have is cursed As they have sinned in all they did so they are cursed in all they have The Grace of God in the Gospel is compared to leven Math. 13.33 which a woman tooke and hid in three pecks of meale till the whole was levened As the Grace of God both in regenerating and comforting runs through the whole man Pulchra est in Hebraeo paranomasia vocū conjugatorum nam levis maledictus ab eadem radice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oriuntur Levificatio est maledictio Pineds so the curse of God like leven sowres the whole lumpe of man it runs through all that a man is or hath Their portion is cursed There is an Elegant paranomasia in the Hebrew between these two words in the text swift or light and Cursed They being both represented by one radicall word and the reason of it is because those things that are light or contemptible are Cursed or in a Cursed Condition They that honour me saith the Lord 1 Sam. 2.30 I will honour but they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed or they shall be cursed There the same word is used in the Original which in the present text we translate cursed To curse a man is to slight him to the utmost and we never esteeme so lightly or basely of any thing or person as when we curse eyther the one or the other Their portion is Cursed in the earth Maledicere est leviter de aliquo sentire levibus acerbisque scommatibus aliquum proscindere But by whom are they cursed or who curseth them I may answer They are cursed both by God and man As if Job had sayd their doeings have been such upon the earth that first all men curse them and secondly God curseth them Some are cursed by men and yet God blesseth them others are blessed or highly esteemed by men yet God curseth them But these men are such who as they please not God so they are contrary to all men as the Apostle spake of some 1 Thes 2.15 and therefore God and man joyne in their curse Their portion is cursed In the earth That is in all their earthly concernments or they are cursed even here while they are upon the earth where they thinke themselves and where possibly some others thinke them also most blessed For though they have gotten much in the earth or of earthly things yet all they have gotten is cursed and therefore all that they have is cursed for they have got nothing beyond the earth Againe These words may be read by way of Imprecation wee read them by way of assertion let their portion be cursed in the earth Like that Psal 109.8 9 10 11. Let his dayes be few and let another take his office let his children be fatherlesse c. Appareant plantae eorum super terrā aridae i. e. cum conseverint agros suos non gerimnet terra Some of the Ancients make the Paraphrase thus Let the roots of what they sow or plant appeare bare in the earth when the root of a tree or the roots of corne appeare above ground both tree and corne must needs wither for want of moisture For as the earth feeds the root so the roote feeds the stocke and the stocke the branches That is a cursed tree which beares no fruit according to its kinde and that tree whose roote is not suckled by the earth can beare no fruit Every wicked man is eyther cursed in not bringing forth fruit or else the fruit which he brings forth is cursed And therefore Their portion is every way cursed in the earth There is yet another Interpretation of these words which I shall but briefely touch and passe on Their portion is Cursed in the Earth that is the Region or place where they dwell is Cursed They dwell in desolate places or they skulke up and downe in deserts and wildernesses having done so much mischiefe among men that they dare not shew their faces where they are knowne Now deserts and desolate places may justly be called Cursed places because of their barrennes for barrennes is the Curse which God laid upon the earth for the sin of man Gen. 4.17 As a fruitfull Land may be called a blessed Land because the blessing of God maketh a Land fruitfull Isaac said to his Son Jacob Gen. 27.27 The smell of my Son is as the smell of a field which
sight nor sound of the curse for a long time As light is sowne for the righteous Psal 97.11 that is They shall have a crop of good things though it lye as seed doth a great while under the clods and as dead in the furrowes So darkenes is sowne for the wicked they perceive it not yet but they shall be wrapt up in it for ever yea while they perceive it not they are in it and they are by so much the more in it by how much the lesse they perceive it For this is ever true The portion of the wicked is Cursed in the Earth though they seeme compassed about with blessings I will Curse your blessings saith the Lord Mala. 2.2 yea I have cursed them already The wicked may be rich and yet cursed honourable and yet cursed successefull in busienes and yet cursed blessed and yet cursed God doth curse their blessings That which is a blessing in the kinde and matter of it is to some a curse in the use and issue of it So then as godlynes is profitable for all things and hath the promise of this life as well as of that which is to come 1 Tim. 4.8 Godlynes is compassed about and cloathed with promises of all sorts and seasons So ungodlynes is unprofitable for all things makes him that is so miserable in all things For it hath the curse of this life and of that which is to come if the promise doe not meet a godly man in this life or in the things of this life yet it will in the life to come and in the things of the life to come yea in all things so farre as concernes the life to come the blessing alwayes meetes him And if the curse doe not meet a wicked man in this life yet it will in the life to come and in the things of the life to come yea in all things so farre as concernes the life to come The curse alwayes meetes him Then see the folly of those who feare the Curse and are not afraid of sin as if a man should feare drowning and yet cast himselfe into the water or feare burning and yet throw himselfe into the fire thus doe they who love sin and feare the curse If the beauty of holynes doth not take upon the heart yet the curse that attends sin may deterre from medling with it And did men know the terror of the Lord as the Apostle speakes 2 Cor. 5.11 they would easily be perswaded to take heed of sin even of every sin for though usually great sins bring the curse yet the least sins may They who know what the curse of the Lord is cannot but know what the terror of the Lord is that is that the Lord is to sinners very terrible For the curse of the Lord abiding upon a sinner makes him every way and alwayes miserable There needs no more to be said to prove a man miserable then this that his portion is cursed or that he is under the curse For as the blessing of God makes us happy with any portion that 's enough the blessing being it selfe the best and most aboundant portion Every good thing is vertually in the blessing so the Curse is vertually every evill thing therefore that must needs make a man miserable When the Lord blesseth it is not an empty word but a power goes with it to make a man blessed And when the Lord curseth it is not an empty word but a power goes with it to make a mans portion cursed in the earth Job having layd downe this position gives a proofe of it in the last words of the verse Hee beholdeth not the way of the vineyards Some reade these as the former words Cohaerebit cum superioribus si haec sit quasi praecedentis expositio imprecationis Nullam habeat impius partem in agris locisque frugiferis ex quibus ullum fructum percipere possit Pined by way of imprecation Let his portion be cursed in the earth and let him not behold the way of the vineyards We translate assertively He beholdeth not c. But what is meant here by not beholding is it onely this he commeth not within the view or sight of them I conceave there is more in it then so and that when Job sayth he beholdeth not his meaning is he enjoyeth vineyards no more or he dwelleth no more in a fruitfull and pleasant land such as that land is which aboundeth in vineyards and so consequently with wine but he shall live miserably in a barren soyle So that we may now interrogate wicked men whether murtherers Adulterers or theeves as Paul doth every sinner Rom. 6.21 What fruit have ye of those things whereof ye are or ought to be ashamed have ye any fruit of the vine surely no For such behold not the way of the vineyards To behold is to enjoy the pleasantnes to tast the sweetnes of the fruit of the vineyards Wine which is the fruit of the vineyard is pleasant and delightfull it makes glad the heart of man Psal 104.15 And vineyards are here named to signifie all sorts of outward good things they being the Chiefe of outward good things For as sometimes bread signifieth all outward good things because that strengthens mans heart so Wine because that cheareth and comforteth the heart of man So that when Job saith He shall not behold the way of the vineyards It is as if he had sayd He shall not tast of or enjoy any good thing For Againe Those words he heholdeth not c. are not to be understood as if he did voluntarily refuse to behold or cared not to behold the way of the vineyards but as implying a force or constraint upon him by which he was kept or hindred from looking that way Whence take this briefe note The losse of good is a great misery as well as the enduring of evill It hath been questioned which is greater the punishment of losse or the punishment of paine but without all question losse is a very great punishment not to behold the way of the vineyards not to returne to house and land to wife and children is a sore affliction What will it then be never to behold the face of God but to be under a sentence of eternal banishment from his presence His portion is cursed in the earth here in this world who beholdeth not the way of the vineyards how then is his portion cursed in the next world who shall never behold the path or way of life There are yet several other readings and expositions of these words Abstinebit a via regia et frequētia hominum ne cognoscatur Vatabl ita festinat fugere ut ne proprias quidem vineas olim tam gratas aspiciat Isidor First As if the meaning were to shew the wicked mans feare of being seene because of his guilt and that therefore he would not behold or come neere the way of the vineyards that is those places which many people
is no sinning in Gods account and comparatively to the sinning of others So they who are borne of the Devill as Christ saith those contradicting Jewes were Joh. 8.44 doe nothing but commit sin and sin so as if they and their like alone did sin For as no godly man sins as a wicked man doth so somâ— wicked men sin at such a rate that it may be said they only sin eveÌ„ in respect of the generality of wicked men Thus also some Godly men doe so farre exceed and out-strip other Godly men in holynes and the acting of their Graces as if they onely were Godly as if they onely had the acting of those graces Abraham beleived as if he onely had been a beleever and Job was patient as if none had patience but he David was a man so upright as if onely he had been upright or a man after Gods owne heart There are Saints like Abraham and David none like them and there are sinners like Jeroboam and Ahab none like them So doth the grave those that have sinned Observe They who are extreamely sinfull make themselves sevenfold more subject to death then other men They who sin as if none did sin but they are so subject to death as if none were subject to death but they For if every sin the least sin doth put us into the hand or under the power of death then great sins multiplyed and continued in put us into the hand and under the power of death much more The Psalmist saith of wicked worldly men Psal 49.14 Like sheepe they are layd in the grave death shall feed on them and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling or as we put in the Margin the grave being an habitation to every one of them shall consume their beauty But some may object Is not this true of Godly men too are not they thus handled by death and the grave doth not death feed on them and doth not the grave consume their beauty I answer though it doth yet it doth not so feed upon nor consume them as it feedes upon and consumes wicked men For the Psalmist speakes here of death as it were triumphing over the wicked whereas the Godly triumph over death For first he saith The wicked are layd in the grave like sheepe They lived like Wolves or Lyons but they are layd in the grave like sheepe If it be asked why like sheepe I answer not for the innocency of their lives but for their impotency in death as if it had been sayd when once death took them in hand to lay them in the grave they could make no more resistance then a sheepe can against a Lyon or a Wolfe And when death hath thus layd them in the grave then secondly saith the Psalmist death shall feed on them as a Lyon doth upon a sheepe or any wild beast upon his prey which is a further degree of deaths triumph over the wicked And thirdly their beauty shall consume in the grave that is all their bodily and natural beauty and that is all the beauty which they have shall consume in the Grave whereas the Godly have a beauty and they count it their onely beauty which the grave cannot consume and that is the beauty of their graces the beauty of holynes the spirituall beauty of the inner man yea and the spirituall beauty of their outward holy actings shall not consume in the Grave For blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord for from henceforth saith the Spirit they rest from their labours and their workes follow them Rev. 14.13 that is their good workes follow them not to death but into life and will be both beauty and blessednes to them from the Lord for ever Whereas cursed are the dead that dye in their sins for from henceforth they shall be denyed rest for ever and none of their workes wherein they tooke pleasure in this world shall follow them into the next to give them any pleasure All their beauty and outward blessednes ends in the grave If in this life onely we have hope in Christ sayth the Apostle of beleevers 1 Cor. 15.19 we are of all men most miserable then how miserable are they who have no hope beyond this life or if they have both that and their present beauty consume together in the grave Thus it is plaine that though godly men dye yet death hath not such a hand over them as over the wicked And as wicked men are more under the hand of death then the Godly when they dye so they are continually more lyable unto death Sin which unfits men to dye comfortably fits them as it were to dye naturally The more sinfull any man is the sooner may death surprise him Holynes hath not onely a promise of eternall life hereafter but of a long life here Psal 34.12 13. And sin is not onely under a threat of eternal death hereafter but of a speedy death here Psal 55.23 But thou O Lord shalt bring them that is wicked men downe into the pit of destruction But when it may be long first the next words make answer Bloody and deceitfull men shall not live out halfe their dayes That is not halfe the dayes which as others doe so they naturally might live eyther the Justice of God or of man shall cut such men off in the midst of their dayes The grave gapes for those who have thus sinned So then though there are many spirituall reasons referring to eternal life which may move the sons of men to take heed of sin Pro sepalchruÌ„ est cur malim infernus aut inferi Nam sepulchâ—um rapit etiam bonos iâ—feri solos eos rapiunt qui peccaverunt i e. improbos Drus yet there is a strong motive from the concernments of this present temporal life and that not onely as to the comforts of it but also as to the very continuance of it They hasten themselves to the grave who make hast to sin and so at once endanger the hopes of the next life and the enjoyment of this Lastly Some because the Grave in a general sence consumes the Godly as wel as the sinner in the sence last expressed doe therefore restraine the word Sheol in this place to hell as it signifyes the place or state of the damned which is proper onely to those who have sinned and dye in their sinnes So the whole verse is thus rendred Vt terra torri da calor absumunt aquas invales ita infernus eos qui peccaverunt Tygur As dry earth and heate consume the snow waters so hell consumeth those that have sinned All that sin and turne not shall be turned to hell But shall hell consume them they shall ever be consuming but never consumed Hell shall consume them as to a comfortable being but it shall not consume them as to a being they shall be allwayes dying but never dead Hell is the portion and all the portion of all wicked men
mine holy one wee shall not dye thou hast ordained them for Judgement and O God thou hast stablished them for Correction Thou art of purer Eyes then to behold evill and canst not looke on iniquity Wherefore lookest thou on them that deale treacherously and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous then he As if he had sayd Lord I know thou beholdest all the Evill in the world and art of purer eyes then to behold it with any delight or approbation Now seeing it is so why then doest thou looke on them that deale treacherously In the former part of the verse he sayd Thou canst not looke on iniquity and in the latter he saith why doest thou looke on them that deale treacherously There is a twofold looke of God First as was toucht before a looke of approbation secondly a looke of patience And so the meaning of the Prophet is seeing O Lord thou canst not looke upon sin approvingly why doest thou looke upon it patiently And holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoure the righteous As if he had said How is it Lord that thou doest not breake forth into the severest rebukes against them How is it that they have not so much to appearance as a frowne or an ill word from thee who have deserved blowes and utter breakings Indeed if God had but the patience of all Creatures had he but the patience of men and Angels the sin of man would spend it out in one day God could not hold his tongue nor his hand an houre Considering that he clearely discerneth all the wickednes that is in the wayes of men and that every the least unevennes as well as wickednes is extreamly displeasing to him were not his Infinite patience God could not hold but destroy all the wicked of the world or all that world which lyeth in wickednes were it not that hee is resolved to magnifie his patience And though for reasons knowne to himselfe hee beares with those that are burdensome to him very long not onely many dayes but yeares yet the time is at hand when he will bring them to Judgement and Judge them according to those wayes upon which his eyes have been Then the wicked shall finde that as the eyes of God have been upon all their wayes so that he hath not at all or not in the least been pleased with any of them JOB CHAP. 24. Vers 24 25. They are exalted for a little while but are gone and brought low they are taken out of the way as all other and cut off as the tops of the eares of Corne. And if it be not so now who will make me a lyar and make my speech nothing worth JOb still proceedeth to describe and here concludeth his description of the state of wicked men he hath as hath been shewed in the exposition of the former part of the Chapter drawne the blackest character of their wickednesse as also given the fayrest prospect of their outward happinesse They sin and prosper they sin and are safe they have much good while they doe much evill This text speakes againe of their prosperity yet with a diminution they are exalted but it is onely for a little while for they are gone and brought low they are taken out of the way as all others and cut off as the tops of the eares of Corne. There are two opinions concerning the general scope of these words First Some conceive that Jobs aime is to shew that both in life and death wicked men fare like other men They are exalted for a little while as all others are they are gone brought low and taken out of the way as all others are Yet secondly I rather incline that he here intends to set forth the miserable conclusion of wicked men not onely as they are cut off from worldly enjoyments as all men sooner or latter are but as they are cut off from worldly enjoyments in a way which is not common to other men or which is not the common way of man And the reason why I rather incline to this as Jobs scope is because these various expressions of the same thing they are gone they are brought low they are taken out of the way they are cut off these various expressions I say seeme to carry somewhat more then the remove of men out of the world by the ordinary way of dying or then by a naturall death Vers 24. They are exalted for a little while but are gone They that is the wicked the adulterer the theife the oppressour such he had before described are exalted they grow great and spread farre they grow high or are advanced to high places The originall word which we render to be exalted signifies to be lifted up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 levavit exaltavit exaltatus fuit latini Romā hac originatione decorare gestiunt ab magnitudinem or any thing that is lifted up in height or greatnesse and hereupon some Critricks tell us that the Great City Rome had her name from this Hebrew roote Rome as all who know any thing of antiquity know is a City which hath been exalted over the nations a City great in strength and mighty in power Rome is as much as height or exaltation As Abraham is a high father an exalted father They are exalted The word may be applyed to a twofold exaltation first an inward exaltation by pride some rise within faster then they rise without yea there are some that rise very high within when they are cast very low without they exalt and lift up themselves in pride of spirit though they are cast downe in state The word is often applyed to note pride or haughtinesse Micah 2.3 Thus saith the Lord behold against this family doe I devise an evill from which ye shall not remove your necks neither shall ye goe haughtily The word is ye shall not goe in your height in your altitudes as ye have done the case shall be altered with you and the Tables turned for this is an evill time that is an evill time to you a time of calling you to an account about and of punishing you for all your wickednes and especially for your pride As ye have made it an evill time by your sin so ye shall finde it to be an evill time to and by your smart And this hight of spirit often breakes forth and is signified in height of action or in haughty postures The lifting up of the head the stretching out of the neck Thus Isa 2.11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled The heart looks out at the eye the lofty heart makes a lofty looke according to the frame of the heart is the cast of the eye the eye is not proud but as it is instructed and tutoured by the heart so it acts proudly and looks haughtily And thus they alwayes act who though they are not exalted yet have a minde to exalt themselves who when others cast no
persons not limited to this or that particular nation or person yea he hath dominion not onely over all here below but in heaven above as Bildad speakes a little after He maketh peace in his high places Christ is Prince of the Kings of the earth Rev 1.5 He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings Rev. 19.16 that is not onely a King or a Lord excelling all other Kings and Lords but also ruling them or reighning over them Kings are his Subjects Secondly His is an absolute dominion that is he governes by no law but by his owne will this kinde of dominion is proper unto God alone He doth and he onely may governe by his owne will Hee doth in heaven and earth what ever pleaseth him This was spoken of Job 23.13 Hee is in one minde and who can turne him and what his soule desireth that hee doth Hee doth not goe out of himselfe for his rule his owne desire is his rule all the desires of God are holy just and righteous and therefore his desire and will may well be his rule It is good that he should have an absolute dominion and rule according to his owne will who cannot will any thing but what is good And 't is but just that he should rule as he pleaseth who cannot be pleased with any thing but what is just Thirdly His is an everlasting dominion Psal 145.13 Psal 66.7 As men are mortall so are States Kingdomes and Empires The strongest and greatest of them have had their fates and funerals Wee see what changes there have been of dominion and power out of one hand into another but the dominion of God is subject to no change nor knoweth it any fate The Babylonian the Persian the Graecian and the Roman Monarchyes have seene their day but the dominion of Jesus Christ is an everlasting dominion Dan. 4.34 't is so acknowledged even by Nebuchadnezzar And at the end of the dayes I Nebuchad-nezzar lift up mine eyes unto heaven and mine understanding returned unto mee and I blessed the most high and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever whose dominion is an everlasting dominion and his Kingdome is from generation to generation Fourthly His is an Effectuall Dominion As he hath a right to doe what he will so he hath strength to effect what he willeth Such is the dominion of God and because it is such even an uniâ—â—rian absolute everlasting and effectuall Dominion Therefore let man remember his duty Dominion calleth for subjection That 's the Apostles rule Rom. 13.1 Let every soule be subject unto the higher powers and if every soule ought to be subject unto the higher powers among men then every soule ought to be subject much more to the power of God for his is the highest power And thus we ought to submit First Unto his lawes Legislative power is his what God sayth must be our rule We may not dispute much lesse quarrell at any of his commands but obey them naturally the heart of man rebells against the law of God Rom. 8.7 The carnall minde is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be that is it cannot be subject while it remaineth carnal onely a renewed or a spirituall minde submits to a spirituall law Secondly Submit to his workes to what he doth as wel as to what he saith and that first in the provision and allowances that he makes for you that is a part of Gods dominion to cut out a portion for every man Therefore in every estate be content secondly submit to the works of God in his afflictions and chastisements 1 Pe. 5.6 Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time When old Eli heard that terrible message concerning the destruction of his whole family for Samuel told him every whit and hid nothing from him hee sayd it is the Lord let him doe what seemeth him good 1 Sam. 3.18 Thus the Church sate downe in silence not speaking a word because it was the act of God Lam. 3.28 Thirdly submit to God in the whole compasse of his government in ordering the affayres of the whole world when he breaks and when he builds when he sets up and when he pulls downe when he makes peace and when he makes warre in all these acts of dominion submit to God When the Prophet calls us to behold what desolations the Lord maketh in the earth he adds this word as from the Lord Be still and know that I am God Psal 46.10 As if the Lord had sayd Let none question mee for what I have done I am God and if ye know indeed that I am ye will not have a word to say against what I doe So Zech 2.13 Be silent O all flesh before the Lord for he is raised up out of his holy habitation He is risen to make great changes therefore be silent submit let there be no murmuring at no contending with his providences for dominion and feare are with him Some render this word feare as an adjunct or Epithete of the former Dominatus quidem formidabilis est penes illum Jun Dominion and that a terrible fearefull or formidable dominion is with him but rather distinctly as wee Dominion and feare are with him God hath no feare in him nor upon him for he is as infinitely above all feare as he is above hope But feare is with him or feare is his because he is so much to be feared Feare is with God upon this threefold account First Because many at present doe feare the Lord every Godly man is a man fearing God Secondly Because every man ought to feare dread and stand in awe of God even the Princes and powers and dominions of the earth ought to feare the Lord. Psal 2.11 Be wise now therefore O ye Kings be instructed O ye Judges of the earth serve the Lord with feare and rejoyce with trembling Kings and Judges must serve and feare the Lord or serve the Lord with feare Who then must not Thirdly Feare is with him because all shall feare and dread him at last whether they will or no they whose proud hearts stout it against God they that goe on impudently in sinne fearelesse of the Majesty and wrath of God yet a time will come when their stomacks shall be taken downe a time will come when all the world shall tremble before the Lord. As now many doe it and as all ought to doe it so all shall doe it Isa 2.19 They shall goe into the holes of the rocks and into the tops of the ragged rocks for feare of the Lord and for the glory of his Majesty when hee ariseth to shake terribly the earth Such a day is comming upon the lofty ones upon the Cedars and upon the Oakes upon the fearelesse and they shall feare and which is the greatest argument of feare run into a hole for feare It is prophecyed Revel 6.15 That the
Job disclaime all selfe-Justification Chap. 9.20 21. If I justifie my selfe mine owne mouth shall condemne mee if I say I am perfect it shall also prove mee perverse Though I were perfect yet would not I know my owne soule I would despise my life What can be sayd more fully to the tenour of the Gospel for the abasement of selfe and the advancement of free grace in justification He sayd indeed Chap. 13.18 Behold now I have ordered my cause I know that I shall be justified But he never sayd that he should be justified for the cause sake which he had ordered There is a twofold justification First The justification of a man in reference unto some particular act or in his cause Secondly The justification of a man in his person When Job sayd I know that I shall be justified his meaning was I shall be justified in this case in this buisines I shall not be cast as an hypocrite for hee alwayes stood upon and stiffely maintained his integrity or I know I shall be justified in this opinion which I constantly maintaine That a righteous man may be greatly afflicted by God while in the meane time hee spareth the unrighteous and the sinner A man may have much to justifie himselfe by before God as to a controversie between him and man but he hath nothing at all to justifie himselfe by as to his state towards God Againe As these words are referred to Jobs complaint of the severity of Gods dealings with him Observe Whosoever complaines of the dispensations of God towards him cannot be justified in it Thus the Jewes of old complained Ezek. 18.25 Ye say the way of the Lord is not equall But were they justified in this complaint with God How doth the Lord expostulate with them in the next words Heare O house of Israel is not my way equall is not your way unequall As if he had sayd All the inequality is on your part there is none on mine The wayes of God how hard and grievous soever they may be as they were towards Job yet unequall or unrighteous they can never be The usuall dealings of God with us are full of mercy his severest dealings with us have no want of Justice How then can man be Justified with God Or how then can he be clean that is borne of a woman Here 's another question of the same tenour and in the 15th Chap ver 14th Eliphaz spake almost in the same termes What is man that he should be clean and hee that is borne of a woman that hee should be righteous Jobs friends beate often upon this poynt vehemently suspecting that he did over-weene his owne condition and thought too highly of himselfe Whereas Job did not onely freely and ingeniously but with a great deale of holy rhetorique and elegancy confesse against himselfe againe and againe that hee neither was nor could be cleane before God Onely hee would not admit their plea against him that hee suffered for his uncleanenes or that hee was uncleane because he suffered Master Broughton translates thus Or The borne of woman locke to be cleared We say How can hee be cleane that is borne of a woman that is how can hee have a nature at all cleane or be altogether cleane in his life who commeth into the world through a world of uncleanenes Can the streame be cleane when the fountaine is uncleane or the product be better then that which is produced Man borne of a woman by natural generation so Bildad is to be understood comes from an uncleane fountaine from an impure Original and therefore how can he be pure or cleane What the particular Emphasis and importance of this phrase To be borne of a woman is hath been opened already Chap 14.1 Chap 15.14 and therefore I referre the reader to those texts for a further Exposition And shall here onely give out this Observation All men borne of a woman by natural generation are impure and uncleane There was never but one man the Lord Jesus Christ borne of a woman who was not uncleane and he was borne of a woman not in an ordinary but miraculous way The holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the most high shall overshadow thee Luk. 1.35 All else borne of a woman have been and are uncleane It is sayd Gen. 5.3 Adam lived an hundred and thirty yeares and begat a Son in his owne likenes after his Image and called his name Seth. Adam begat a son in his owne likenes what likenes it is not meant of his outward likenes of the figure or feature of his body that was the least part of the likenes there intended in which his son was borne every father begets a son in a humane shape and we say the child is like his father not onely as having the same specifical nature but as having the personal figure and proportions of his father But when it is sayd Adam begat a son in his owne likenes in his Image the meaning is he begat a son that was a sinner as himselfe was and corrupt as himselfe was even Seth who was given in the place of Abel God in the creation made man in his image after his likenes Man by procreation begets a son not in Gods image but in his owne And that not onely like him in constitution as a man but in corruption as a sinner David confesseth of himselfe Psal 51.5 Behold I was shapen in Iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive mee Some to avoyd the strength and dint of that text as to the proofe of the corruption of nature by propagation put a most corrupt and base glosse upon it As if David had therein onely confessed his parents sinfullnes or inordinate affections in begetting and conceaving him not his owne natural sinfulnes as begotten and conceaved I know no better argument of the corruption of nature then such corrupt interpretations of Scripture For doubtlesse as Bildad here in the Text so David was acquainted not onely with the doctrine of original sin and the corruption of nature but had found and felt the sad effects of it in himselfe And from that experience could say I was shapen in iniquity c. as also consent to what Bildad saith in this place What is man that is borne of a woman that hee should be clean doe but acknowledge that any one is borne ordinarily of a woman and wee may conclude him to be sinfull and uncleane That I may make this a litle clearer I shall touch at three things which are distinctly considerable in the sin of Adam First That particular act or fact against the Law which he committed in eating the forbidden fruit Secondly The legal guilt that flowed from that act both upon his person and upon his posterity Thirdly The naturall Corruption which as a consequent of the former stayned all mankinde Or there was first the transgression of the Commandement which was his eating the forbidden fruit Secondly there was
to doe in a right manner we upon the matter doe not at all We may resolve these interrogations of the Text into negations How hast thou helped him that is without power is as much as this thou hast not helped him how savest thou the arme that hath no strength is indeed Thou hast not saved him how hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdome caryeth this meaning thou hast given him no counsell we use to say as good never a whit as never the better and how good soever any thing is that we doe if we doe it amisse it will be reckoned by God what reckoning soever men make of it as if we had done no such thing Moses said to the Lord under a temptation when he was troubled at the complaint of the people because the deliverance promised did not come on and they were not freed as was expected Lord wherefore hast thou so evill entreated this people why is it that thou hast sent me for since I came to Pharaoh to speake in thy name he hath done evill to this people neither hast thou delivered thy people at all Exod. 5.23 Is this a deliverance this is no deliverance we are apt to thinke the mercyes of God no mercyes unlesse he give us full and perfect mercyes unlesse we presently receave all that we looke for we looke upon it as if we had receaved nothing at all But how truely may the Lord say to the children of men when they performe duties slightly and negligently ye have not done them at all ye have neyther prayed nor heard nor fasted at all because ye have been negligent in and unprofitable under them The workes and dutyes of the best are not every way full but the workes and dutyes of some are alltogether empty and they doe nothing in all they doe Fourthly In these severall interrogations are here held forth the severall effects of holy advice given according to the word and minde of God how hast thou helped him that is without power saved the arme that hath no strength counselled him that hath no wisdome As if he had sayd thou indeed hast offered me counsell from God if thou hadst managed it right this would have been the fruit of it I who have no power should have been helped and I who am as an arme without strength should have been saved Hence observe That the word of God or divine truths are mighty in operation when duely administred The word of truth conveigheth strength to the weake wisdome to the simple comfort to the sorrowfull light to those who are in darkenes and life unto the dead The word lifts up the hands which hang downe and the feeble knees The law of the Lord that is every holy truth saith David Psal 19.7 8. is perfect and what can it doe the next words tell us converting or restoring the soule The testimony of the Lord is sure and what can that doe the next words tell us making wise the simple The statutes of the Lord are right and what can they doe even that which is most sweete where it is done reioycing the heart The commandement of the Lord is pure in it selfe and it worketh gloriously in us enlightning the eyes I may say also The word of the Lord is mighty and it giveth strength to those who have no might As it is mighty for the pulling downe of strong holds casting downe imaginations every thing that exalteth it selfe against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor 10.4 5. So it is as mighty for the raysing up of the weake for the lifting up of those who are cast downe and fallen below the knowledge of God through unbeliefe and for the bringing of poore soules out of captivity into that blessed liberty of faith in Christ What Great things the word rightly applyed and divine truths brought home with Authority have done and still can doe was shewed at the 4 â—h Chapter of that booke verse 3d and 4th As also at the 25 â—h verse of the sixth Chapter upon those words How forcible are right words Though we ought to helpe those who have no power by more then words yet words have holpen many who had no power as Job doth more then intimate while he reproves Bildad for his unskillfull wording it with him How hast thou helped c. And how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unde Graecum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Appellatio a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod esse significat sapientia enim rerum omnium existentium prima praecipua est Drus That which we render The thing as it is is but one word in the Original and it hath a threefold signification First It is put for the essence substance or being of a thing The Greek word for substance is very neere this in sound and may possibly be a derivative from it Secondly It signifieth that working or operation which flowes from being Things first are and then they act and they are to little or no purpose unlesse they act Thirdly It signifieth counsell advice wisdome or sound wisdome Prov. 3.21 so Mr Broughton translates And makest advice knowne aboundantly Others taking up the same notion render How hast thou declared wisdome abundantly As if he had sayd Thou thinkest thou hast opened a treasure and declared store of wisdome and knovledge in this discourse or that thou hast made a very wise and learned discourse whereas indeed it will be found leane and short in it selfe as also impertinent to the poynt in hand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad multitudinem vel multiplicitèr Our translation takes it in the first sense How hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is that is how hast thou declared the substance of the thing or the solid truth in plenty or as the Hebrew phrase imports in great number and with much variety Hence note First Every thing ought to be declared as it is that is the naked truth ought to be declared It is our duty to speake of things as they are not to put colours upon them and so make them appeare what they are not or otherwise then they are truth is plaine and truth should be told plainely The naked truth or the thing as it is is most beautifull to the eye of the understanding And though Bildad did misreport what he spake of God yet he did not make a full report How hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is Secondly Hence note As we ought to speake the truth so to speake the truth out or all the truth Paul tells the Church of Eâ—hesus Acts 20.20 That he had kept nothing back that was profitable for them and sayth he ver 27. I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God Paul plentifully declared the thing as it was Bildad spake truth but not all the truth as to Jobs case
were too short were stretched longer Yet thus doe they who have but one word for all commers or for all they come to We would judge him a very unskilfull Physitian who let the disease be what it will should prescribe one and the same medicine or apply the same salve though a very soveraigne one to every soare As wee say That which is one mans meate is another mans poyson so we may also say That which is one mans medicine may be another mans poyson That which cures one disease may encrease another Therefore the Physician must consider to whom he gives the potion as well as what he gives and the Chirurgion must not onely know what his salve is but to whom he applyes it so in this case To whom hast thou uttered words weigh it wel whether they be babes or strong men in Christ whether they be under peaceable or troublesome dispensations whether obstinate or tender-hearted For these must be differently dealt with as their states doe differ We may else doe more hurt then good We may quickly as the Prophet speakes Ezek. 13.19 Slay the soules that should not dye that is grieve trouble the godly and save the soules alive which should not live that is harden and fatten the wicked in their sinnes The Apostle hath left us an excellent rule by his owne practice 1 Cor. 9.19 Though I be free from all men yet have I made my selfe servant to all that I might gaine the more and unto the Jewes I became as a Jew that I might gaine the Jewes to them that are under the Law as under the Law that I might gaine them that are under the Law to them that are without the Law as without Law being not without law to God but under the law to Christ that I might gaine them that are without Law to the weak became I as weak that I might gaine the weak I am made all things to all men that I might by all meanes save some and this I do for the Gospel sake that I might be partaker thereof with you In this context we see what was chiefely in the Apostles eye even that which is the highest and fayrest marke in the world the saving of soules And that he might attaine this end he critically observed the temper and state of his hearers striving to frame and sute himselfe and his speech accordingly He was not the same to all but he would be as they were to whom he spake or with whom he did converse yet Paul did not symbolize with nor connive at any in their sins he did not take upon him all colours he was not a man for all men or a man for all houres and humours The holy Apostle did not turne as flatterers doe with the times nor fashion himselfe to the severall garbes of men in a sinfull way Paul was so farre from any such base complyances that he having put the question doe I yet please men answers and concludes in the next words Gal. 1.10 If I yet pleased men I should not be the servant of Christ But weighing the state of all men he formed his words and did accommodate his Ministery for their gaine or rather for the gaining of them Some are all things to all men that they may gaine by all that they may advantage themselves by all which is a spirit not onely unworthy of a Minister but of a man but Paul complyed with all that he might gaine them or bring them in the greatest gaine Or he complyed with all men that Christ might gaine and faith in him be propagated this I doe for the Gospel sake I doe not this for my owne sake I doe not put my selfe into all formes towards men for my own preferment in the world but that Christ may be preferred in the hearts and acceptations of all men with whom I have to doe before the world And that this was his purpose we have his sence fully from his owne pen 1 Cor. 10.32 33. Give none offence neyther to the Jewes nor to the Gentiles nor to the Church of God even as I please all men in all things not seeking mine own profit but the profit of many that they may be saved There are five things to be taken notice of that we may utter words to profit First The matter or what we speake Those words which have no worth in themselves can never profit others While the Prophet Hos 14.2 exhorteth the people to repentance He sayth Take with you words that is choise words select words consider what words you take with you when you turne to the Lord and plead with him for mercy saying take away all iniquity and receave us graciously And as we are to take words with us choyse words to expresse choyse matter in when we speake to the Lord so also in proportion when we speake to Men as from the Lord. Secondly We must consider to whom we are to utter words we must not shoot at random or without a marke Some doctrines are generall but there ought to be a speciall application of Generall doctrines Other Doctrines are peculiar to some We must not cast pearles before swine nor give childrens bread to doggs And we must be as carefull that we speake not to children that is to the truely Godly as we should doe to doggs and swine for so the Scripture calls them prophane and ungodly men Thirdly We must consider the season or time when we speake Those words will take at one time which will not at another There is as much care to be had and as much skill seene in a due timeing of our words as of our actions Fourthly We must consider the quantum or the measure of words uttered we may over-lay and over-charge those to whom we speake Every one cannot beare a strong shower of speech or words powred out like a flood upon such Our doctrine as Moses sayd his did Deut. 32.2 must drop as the raine our speech must distill as the dew as the smal raine upon the tender hearbe and as the showers upon the grasse Fifthly We must consider the manner in which we utter words whether to speake as a Barnabas or as a Boanarges whether as a son of thunder of wrath and judgement or as a son of peace of joy and consolation Of some have compassion that is deale tenderly with them Jude v. 22. making a difference and others save with feare pulling them out of the fire We doe but cast words into the ayre unlesse we thus make a difference in the manner of speech as they differ to whom we speake When we have duely weighed the matter which the persons to whom the season when the measure how much and the manner in which we ought to speake then we are like to speake to purpose and shall be above this reproofe which Job here gives Bildad To whom hast thou uttered words And whose spirit came from thee The word which we translate spirit signifyes also
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
and proper to it Further as God hideth his glory from man because he is not able to beare it all so he hideth much of that from him which he is able to beare both to make him hunger and thirst the more after it and to draw him into the greater reverence and estimation of it We usually esteeme that more which is veyled and under a cloud then that which is very cleare and openly revealed and according to our present state and frame that is most reverenced by us which is most concealed from us When a cloud hath dwelt a while upon the Sunne we desire the more to see the face of it and are the more affected with the sight of it God will not hold backe the face of his throne from us in glory nor will he ever spread a cloud upon it and yet we shall have fresh desires after it and high valuations of it everlastingly But while we dwel in this corrupt and corruptible flesh wee are apt to neglect that which is alwayes with us especially if it be alwayes alike with us And therefore as the wise and gracious God will not let us see his throne here at all in the full glory of it because we cannot beare it so he will not let us see that glory of it continually which we are able to beare lest we should grow eyther carelesse of it or unthankfull for it It is even best for us that we have but a darke and imperfect sight of God in this world both in reference to what he is and to what he doth or first in reference to himselfe in his nature and Excellencyes Secondly in reference to his wayes or workes in their speciall reasons and ends As our darkenes cannot at all comprehend the light of God so God is pleased to cover much of his own light with darkenes that we should not comprehend it How many glorious truths are there the face of which he holdeth backe from many of his precious servants how often doth he spread a cloud as upon the truths which he sendeth in his Word so upon the graces which he hath wrought in us by his Spirit so that the soule is not onely hindred from beholding what is without but what is within and is so farre from beholding the glorious perfection of God and his workes abroad that it cannot so much as discerne any of the gracious workes of God at home He spreadeth his cloud upon it Vers 10. He compasseth the waters with bounds untill the day and night come to an end Job having described marvaylous acts of divine power in the heavens descends againe to shew his marvayles in or about the Seas and mighty waters He compasseth the waters with bounds The word which we render to compasse Proprietas pecaliaris verbi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est lineam vel circulum describere quasi circino Forte etiam in dicatur eodem circumdandi verbo unum effici globuÌ„ ex terra et aqua atque unum idem utriusque elementi esse centrum Pined signifyeth properly to draw a line or make a circle as Mathematicians doe with a payre of Compasses so that it notes the shutting up or circumscribing any thing to a certaine place or measure beyond which it cannot move And thus God compasseth the waters At the 8th verse Job shewed how God compasseth the upper waters the waters in the ayre He bindeth up the waters in his thicke clouds Here he sheweth how God by the same almighty power compasseth about the lower waters the waters of the Sea The Hebrew is The face of the waters as in the former verse The face of his throne The face of the earth is the upper part of the earth Gen. 1.29 I have given you every herbe bearing or seeding seed which is upon the face of all the earth And so the face of the waters is the upper part of the waters because the upper part of the water as also of the earth lyeth open to the eye as the face of a man doth And it may therefore be sayd that he compasseth the face of the waters because though the whole body and bulke of the waters swel and rage yet the face or upper part of the waters is that which at any times breaketh over and overfloweth And therefore the face of the waters onely as to us is compassed about with bounds The word noteth a legal bound a statute or decree and is frequently used in Scripture especially in the 119th Psalme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stanuum constitutie dec câ—etum sign ficat praecepti constantiam durationem nam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est insculpere seu incidere lapidi ligno vel Metallo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Septu for the Law or rule which God hath given man both for his worship and continuall course of life And hence the Prophet Jeremiah speaking to the Jewes about this thing useth another word to signifie the bound of the Sea and the word which here we render Bound is there rendred Decree Jer 5.22 Feare ye not me saith the Lord will ye not tremble at my presence which have placed the sand for the bound of the Sea by a perpetuall decree that it cannot passe it And there is so much of a Law or of an appoyntment in it that the word is applicable to any thing which is put under a certaine law or appoyntment So it is put for an appoynted time in the 14th Chapter of this booke v. 13th and for appoynted foode in the 23d Chapter of this booke v. 12th as here for an appoynted space or circle within which as within a wall or with gates and barrs the waters of the Sea are kept He compasseth the waters with bounds Hence Note First The Sea is bounded by the power of God As God hath given man understanding to provide a bit and a bridle for the mouth of the horse and mule which have no understanding lest they come neere unto him Psal 32.9 that is neerer to him then they should or neere to him not to serve him or be used by him but to kicke him or tread upon him Thus God himselfe who is infinite in understanding hath put a bit or bridle into the mouth of the Sea which is further from understanding then eyther Horse or mule lest it come neere to drowne and overwhelme us Neyther shoares nor sands neyther cliffs nor rockes are the bound and bridle of the Sea but the Decree and command of God Observe Secondly It is an unanswerable argument of the glorious power and soveraignetie of God that he is able to compasse the waters with bounds Who shut up the Sea with dores was Gods humbling Question to Job in the 38th Chapter of this booke v. 8.10 11. and sayd hitherto shalt thou come and no further here shall thy proud waves be stayed The Psalmist Ps 104. having shewed how at first Gen. 1 1. the whole earth was covered with the deep as
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
in man to desire God to strike through his pride and it is a great act of mercy to man when God doth so The more God smiteth our sins the more he declares his love to and his care of our soules The remainders of pride in the Saints shall be smitten through but sinners who remaine in their pride shall be smitten through themselves God whose power and understanding are made known by smiting through the proud waves of the Sea will at last make his Justice and his holynes knowne by smiting through the proud hearts of men or rather men of proud hearts Proud men strike at God yea kicke against him no wonder then if he strike and kicke them All the sufferings of Christ are wrapt up under that one word His humiliation implying that as he was smitten for all our sins so most of all for our pride That man whose pride is not smitten to death or mortifyed by the death of Christ shall surely be smitten to death even to eternall death for his pride As God understandeth thoroughly who are proud so by his understanding he will smite through the proud JOB CHAP. 26. Vers 13 14. By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens his hand hath formed the crooked Serpent Lo these are parts of his wayes but how little a portion is heard of him but the thunder of his power who can understand JOB hath given us a particular of many illustrious works of God what he doth in the depths below Et ut in opere ipsius pulcherrimo desinam hic ille est qui coelos illa enarrabili pulchritudine exornavit spherae illae suis giris undique coelos serpeÌ„tium instar percurreÌ„tes sunt opus manibus ipsius tornatum Bez and what in the hights above in this verse he gives another instance and that a very choyce one upon the same subject As if he had sayd After all this large discourse which I have made of the workes of God I will conclude with that which is the most remarkeable peice of them all This is he who hath adorn'd the heavens with that unutterable beauty wherewith they shine and the spheares which wind and turne round about the heavens like Serpents are smoothed and polished by his hand Vers 13. By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens The Spirit of God is taken two wayes in Scripture First q. d. visua voluntate ut nomen spiritus saepius in scriptura usurpatur sed malo ipsum dei spiritum almum accipere quo omnia deus fecit Merc for the power of God Secondly and so here for God the power as distinct from the Father and the Son By whom God wrought all things in the creation of the world Gen 1.2 The Earth was without forme and voyd and darkenes was upon the face of the deepe and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters It is a rule in Divinity That the external workes of the Trinity are undevided and so the Three Persons concurred in the making of the world God the Father created and is called Father in Scripture not onely in relation to the Eternall ineffable Generation of God the Son but also in reference to the production of the creature God the Son or the Eternal Word created Joh. 1.1 2 3. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God All things were made by him and without him was nothing made that was made God the Spirit or Holy-Ghost he likewise created and He onely is mentioned by Moses distinctly or by name as the Agent in the original constitution of all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non simplicem motionem denotat sed qualem columba perficit cum evis ad excludendum pullos incubat Rab Selom Verbum â—ranslatum ab avibus pullitiei suae incubantibus Jun. And the Hebrew word rendred in our translatioÌ„ moved the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters by which the Agency of the Spirit in that Great worke is expressed caryeth in it a very accurate significancy of that formative vertue or power which the Spirit put forth about it For it is a metaphor taken from birds who sit upon their eggs to hatch and bring forth their young ones and so importeth the effectual working of the Spirit whereby that confused masse or heape was drawne out and formed up into those severall creatures specifyed by Moses in the Historie of the Creation Among which we find the Garnishing of the heavens spoken of here by Job is reported by Moses for the worke of the fourth day Further we may consider the heavens first in their matter and being secondly in their beauty and ornaments Job speakes of the latter By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adornavit decoravit pulchrè fecit God hath not onely created but pollished and as it were painted or embroydered the heavens The originall word implyeth the making of them beautifull contentfull and pleasant unto the eye this is the Lords worke And therefore as the whole world because of the excellent order and beauty of it is exprest in the Greeke by a word that signifies beautifull 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so some parts of the world have a speciall beauty and lustre put upon them beyond the rest The heavens are not like a plaine garment as we say without welt or guard but they are laced and trimmed they are enamel'd and spangled they glister and sparkle in our eyes with rayes and beames of light By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens If it be asked what is this garnishing of the heavens I answer the setting or placing in of those excellent lights Sunne Moone and Starres in the heavens are the garnishing of them Light is beautifull and the more light any thing hath the more beauty it hath Precious stones have much light in them those lights the Starres are as so many stones of beauty and glory set or moving in the heavens Light as diffused and shed abroad in the ayre is exceeding delightfull and beautifull but light as it is contracted and drawne together into the Sunne Moone and Starres is farre more beautifull light in the ayre pleaseth the eye but light in the Sunne conquers and dazzel's the eye by the excessive beauty and brightnesse of it In the first day of the Creation God sayd Let there be light and there was light but in the fourth day he sayd let there be lights that is let there be severall vessells to receave hold and containe light and then to issue it out among the inhabitants of the earth Gen. 1.14 And God sayd let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night and let them be for signes and for seasons and for dayes and for yeares and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth and it was so And
before his workes of old When God first came forth and appeared in making the world hee possessed me saith Wisedome that is from everlasting A way is that wherein we goe out and shew our selves openly or abroad And hence it is elegantly sayd that Creation was the beginning of Gods way for then God did as it were goe out from himselfe into his workes and in his workes he shewed himselfe openly who was before hidden in himselfe from Eternity God had infinite immanent or internal acts in himselfe before or rather God was one infinite eternal immanent Act before But the first external transient act of God or the first expression of himselfe who can never be expressed to the life as he is was by the worke of creation and therefore that was the beginning of his way And of this way the way of creation as also of those of providence Job speaketh when he sayth lo these are parts of his wayes Accommodatè ad subjectam materiam viae dei dici possunt teÌ„pestates na â—que in hujusmodi mirabilibut aeris mutationibus ille vanire ad nos dicitur And hence the Scripture calleth stormes and tempests thunder and lightning in which God appeareth so terrible the wayes of God Nah 1.3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will not at all acquit the wicked The Lord hath his way in the whirlewind and in the storme and the clouds are the dust of his feete that is God declareth himselfe to be God by his judgements and angry dispensations which like boysterous windes and stormes which like clouds and darknes afflict the children of men loe these are parts of his wayes Hence note First All that we know of the workes of God is but a part As 't is sayd of Solomon 1 Kings 4.33 that he spake of trees from the Cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssope that springeth out of the wall He spake also of beasts and of fowl and of creeping things and of fishes so Job had been discoursing from the heights of heaven to the bottome of the Sea yea to the bottome of hel and yet he comes off and sayth loe these are parts of his wayes He that speaketh and knoweth many things yea he that speaketh all that he knoweth hath yet spoken onely a part of that which is knowable The Apostle sayth 1 Cor 13.9 10. We know in part and we prophecy in part Many know more then they utter or prophecy but no man can utter or prophecy more then he knoweth We know but a part of what is to be knowne and we know what wee know but in part and therefore when we have spoken our all we have spoken but a part Though every Godly man knoweth all things needfull for him to doe and beleeve yet the holyest man on earth doth not know all that God hath done God hath some reserved and secret wayes into which he doth not lead his people As the best of Saints see but the Back-parts of God in this life so they see but a part of the wayes of God in this life loe These are parts of his wayes Againe Taking the original word as it signifies not only a part but the outside or extreame of any thing Note That which wee know of the workes of God is not onely no more then a part of his workes but 't is indeed only the outside of his workes 'T is but as the hemme to a garment or the borders to a Continent When we have travelled as farre as we can and as we thinke into the very heart of the workes of God yet we have gone no further then the borders of them And it is as if a man comming to discover this Island should onely walke upon the shoare where he dis-embarkt and there viewing the cliffes and rockes the sands and neerest Marishes should take upon him to report the state of the whole Island what hath this man seene nothing but the extremity the border of the Land and can he make a compleate discovery of the whole he hath not seene the pleasant hills and vales the townes and Cities the forts and Castles the trade and riches the customes and manners of the people no man can know the chiefe things of a Nation or Country that stands onely upon the shoare All that we know of the workes of God is onely the shoare and outside of them we cannot reach the heart nor fathome the bottome of them The workes of the Lord are great Psal 111.2 Sought out of all them that have pleasure therein that is they who take pleasure in them doe their utmost to finde out the utmost of them A godly man is as industrious to understand the wayes and workes of God as he is to understand his word yet he cannot reach eyther fully And therefore that Psalme hath an excellent conclusion to satisfie us in our exclusion as yet from the perfect knowledge of these things The feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome a good understanding have all they that doe his commandements As if the Lord had sayd though while ye labour to seeke out my workes yet ye cannot finde them out to perfection be not discouraged as if ye were shortned in wisedome and knowledge for the feare of my name is wisedome enough for you and obedience to my commandements is the best understanding let this satisfie you while ye know but a part of my wayes And if wee know but a part and that the outside of the wayes and workes of God then surely we cannot know all of God himselfe as it followeth in the next words And how little a portion is heard of him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pars paâ—ticula murmur tenuis susurrus Susurrum verborum ejus Symmachâ— ut deinceps cum ingenti toniâ—ru comparet vix parvam stillam sermonis ejus audierimus Vulg Sept In Hebraeo tantum est paâ—luluÌ„ pauxillumvè sine ulla guttae sive stillae mentione 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quanta exiguitas The Original notes any thing which is little or a little portion of any thing Hence some render it a drop which is a little or the least portion of water So the vulgar and the Seventy Wee have hardly heard a little drop of his speech Others render it a whisper which is but a little portion of a voyce How little a whisper have we heard of him The workes of God are as it were a whisper concerning him all that we see or can say makes but a kinde of silent report of God in comparison to what he is or to what might be sayd of him And so the word whisper is opposed to thunder in the close of the verse But the thunder of his power who can understand As if Job had sayd All that I have spoken of God is but a whisper there is a Thunder of his power which I am neither able to utter nor to understand All creatures speake
a God yea they speake much of God as the Apostle affirmeth for the conviction of the Gentiles in their Idolatrous departures from him Rom 1.20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are cleerely seene being understood by the things that are made even his eternall power and God-head so that they are without excuse The creatures speake loud enough to stop mans mouth and leave him without all excuse Opera haec nominat susurrum sermonis ab usu et fine Sunt enim opera dei significativa indicant gloriam authoris sed non sunt clarus sermo verum submissior susurrus sc indices leviores et benigniores quasi puerorum magistri non docentes omnia sed accommodata captui Coc Quam pauca sunt quae scimus respectu corum quae nescimus yet comparatively they doe but whisper there is a thunder of God infinitely lowder then their voyce So that Job calleth those workes of God wherein he had instanced a whisper or still voyce because though they signifie to us and declare the Glory of their Author yet they are not a full declaration of it but only such a one as is accommodated to our childish capacity All that they speake or can speake of God yea all that can be spoken of God by the wisest of men is onely as a whisper to thunder or as a drop to the Ocean But I shall not say more of the elegancy of this word here it having been already opened Chap 4.12 where Eliphaz thus bespeakes Job Now a thing was secretly or as we put in the Margin by stealth brought to me and mine eare receaved a little a whisper a drop thereof in thoughts from visions of the night c. All that we know now of God and his wayes is but little to what wee know not and but little to what wee shall know hereafter every day wee heare great things reported and preached of God both to our eyes and eares and though we should have sermon upon sermon line upon line all the dayes of our lives yet at the last day of our lives wee must say How little a portion have wee heard of him The thunder of his power the lowdest and clearest speakings of it are reserved to that state when our eares shall be bored and our hearts proportionably enlarged to receave it Further Job had been long speaking of the workes and wayes of God yet concludeth how little a portion is heard of him why doth he not rather say how little a portion is heard of them the reason is because what ever is sayd of the wayes and workes of God is to discover God rather then to discover them To speake of the earth and seas of the ayre and fire of thunder and lightning of the heavens and starres is not an extolling of the workes of God but an extolling of God in and for his workes Hence note The workes of God should leade us to God himselfe Our study of the creature should be to gaine a clearer light and knowledge of the creator There are many expressions and impressions of God upon the things which he hath made and we never see them as we ought till in them we see their maker A critical eye lookes upon a picture not so much to see the colours or the paint as to discerne the skill and workmanship of the Painter or Limner yea some as the Apostle speakes in reference to spiritualls have sences so exercised about these artificialls that they will read the Artists name in the forme and exquisitenes of his art An Apelles or a Michael Angelo needs not put his name to his worke his worke proclaimes his name to those who are judicious beholders of such kinde of workes How much more as the Psalmist speakes that the name of God is neere doe his wondrous workes both of creation and providence declare to all discreete beholders that which the eye and heart of every godly man is cheifely upon is to find out and behold The name that is the wisedome power and goodnes of God in all his workes both of creation and providence It were better for us never to enjoy the creature then not to enjoy God in it and it were better for us not to see the creature then not to have a sight of God in it And yet when we have seene the most of God which the creature can shew us we have reason to say how little a portion is seene of him and when we have heard the most of God that can be reported to us from the creation we have reason to say as Job here doth how little a portion is heard of him and to conclude as he doth this verse and Chapter But the thunder of his power who can understand This thunder of his power may be taken First Strictly and in the letter for natural thunder for even that is numbred in Scripture among the wonderfull and most dreadfull workes of God The Scripture calleth it also the voyce of God Psal 29.3 The voyce of the Lord is upon the waters the God of Glory thundereth Non aliter de tonitruo loquuntur sacrae scripturae quam de dei voce magnifica atque terribâ—li plenaque minarum Thus a learned paraphrast connects these words with the former As if Job had sayd Now that I have sayd all that I can how little a thing is it in comparison of him and his greatnes as may appeare by one instance more the power and majesty which he utters in his thunder which who can sufficiently admire and therefore none can fully understand Secondly The Thunder of his power is any extraordinary worke of God especially his dreadfull and terrible workes of Judgement For by them he speakes out his infinite power and majesty in the eares of men as it were by thunder Of such a voyce we read Psal 68.32 33. Sing unto God ye kingdomes of the earth O sing prayses unto the Lord Selah Who this Lord is and how he manifests himselfe is set forth in the next words Insignibus vero illius gestis quibus non tam splendet quam cum tonitru coruscat animo percipieÌ„dis quie tandem per fuerit Bez to him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens which were of old lo he doth send out his voyce and that a mighty voyce Thus also the Prophet Isayah Chap 30.30 describes the Lord comming forth for the rescue of his people and the utter ruine of the Assyrian Army And the Lord shall cause his glorious voyce to be heard and shall shew the lightning downe of his arme with the indignation of his anger and with the flame of a deveuring fire with scattering and tempest and hailestones For though that destruction of the Assyrians was effected by the ministery of an Angel Isa 37.36 yet doubtlesse it was not done in silence but eyther with an amazing tempest mixt with thunder and lightning or with such confusion
latter part of the Verse may receive the same Exposition Will he enter with thee into judgment namely for thy feare Will God deale with thee upon the account of thy piety And when he comes to justifie thee will he impute that to thee Or when God enters into judgement with thee will he suffer thee to present thy fear thy piety or goodnesse to him and so thereby answer his plea or take away the action which he brings against thee When God enters with us into judgement we may boldly plead our interest or Faith in the Mediator but we must not plead our fear the Grace or Holinesse either of our persons or of our services Thus we see the Doctrine of the Text according to this Exposition and the Active signification of the word Feare carrieth in it the very life and spirit of the Gospel All the worth and merit of our works as to righteousnesse is nul'd and laid prostrate and we taught to glory in nothing but the free gift and grace of God by our Lord Jesus Christ Secondly As Fear is taken passively Will he reprove thee for feare of thee That is is God afraid of thee doth he pick quarrels with thee for fear of thee Or seek occasions against thee when there is none only lest thou shouldest stand in his way or be a detriment to him This appears plainly to be the sense of our Translators Whence Observe God is above the feare of the Creature As in the former Verse God is above any advantages or hopes that the Creature can give him so he is above the feare of any hurt that the creature can doe him As the goodnesse or righteousnesse of man cannot benefit the Lord so the wickednesse and sinfulnesse of man cannot at all impaire the eternall glory and happinesse of the Lord. Though the wickednesse of man be a darkening to the manifestations of his glory and for that wicked men shall be judged yet as to his essential glory all the wickednesse in the world cannot darken that nor be the least abatement to it Will he reprove thee for feare of thee No man cannot hurt the Lord by all his wickednesse and therefore The punishment which God layeth upon wicked men is not after the manner of men God doth not punish as man punisheth Eliphaz here speaks of that which is often indeed a true ground among men why they reprove or punish other men Some reprove others upon a vaine fear of them and some upon a just fear of them Why did the Jews accuse and reprove Christ Was it not for fear of him at least they pretended a fear why else were they so hasty to have Jesus Christ brought to judgement John 12.47 48. Then gathered the chief Priests and Pharisees a Councel and said what doe we for this man doth many Miracles if we let him thus alone all men will beleeve on him and the Romanes shall come and take away both our place and Nation They Crucified Christ for fear though it was but a vain fear that he would be the ruine of their state the Romanes must needs come and destroy them if they let him alone Feare makes men cruell and they are most ready to hurt others who continually suspect hurt from others It hath been an ancient Observation that Cowards are murtherous and revengefull while a man fears that such a man will be his ruine he ruines him if he can and removes that out of his way which he supposeth standing in the way of his owne safety Why did Pharaoh give Command to slay the Male-Children of the Jews and oppresse that people It was upon a vaine or cowardly fear Come let us deale wisely with them lest they multiply and it come to passe that when there falleth out any warre they joyne also with our enemyes and fight against us and so get them up out of the Land Ex. 1.10 It is sayd at the 7th verse of that Chap. that the children of Israel were fruitfull and God fullfilling herein his promise made to Abraham encreased aboundantly and multiplyed and waxed exceeding mighty and the Land was filled with them When God thus cast a gratious eye upon them Pharoah and his Councellers cast a jelous eye upon them and began to suspect their multiplying might at last diminish him that their rising might prove his ruine Therefore upon reason of state he must find out a way to suppress and keepe them under as slaves and bondmen whom his Ancestors received as welcom guests and had to that day enjoyed as faithful friends Pharoah being captivated with this feare saw no way to free himselfe but by taking away the freedome of that whole People As some through the prevalency of their owne feares dare not doe justice so others through the prevalency of feare doe that which is unjust Take one instance more why did Herod Matth. 2. send out to slay all the Children It was for fear of the King of the Jewes he was afraid of Christ and therefore that he might murther him he gave that horrible sentence to slay all the Infants Again some reprove and judge upon a due fear for as Tirants and wicked men are full of fear because full of cruelty and have suspitious thoughts that others will wrong them because they have a mind to wrong every man so just and righteous Magistrates when they see evil working they must reprove and punish it lest it spread to the endangering of the publick Peace This is a just fear and such as becomes a man even a man of courage and integrity such may feare that if seditious spirits be let alone Verissimum est illud quod inter argumentādum assumit Eliphaz ex timore frequenter nasci aut vehementius accendi solere severitatem in irrogando supplicio Pined they will undermine a whole Nation and destroy thousands A Magistrate reproves and Judges Theeves and Murtherers out of fear that if they encrease no man shall live quietly Such as either openly or secretly contrive evil against a Nation the Magistrate from a just ground of fear deals with them reproves least they should disturb or infect the whole But the Lord doth not reprove any man for fear of him he is of such infinite strength and stability so far out of the reach of all the plots and contrivances of the wicked that he needs not call them to account lest they should hurt his state pull him out of his Throne spoile his Kingdome or get his Dominion from him the Lord is not afraid of any of these things but the true reason why the Lord reproves wicked men is because he hates their iniquities and is a God of truth and judgment Though Magistrates may punish not only out of the love of Righteousnesse and Judgment but because they fear a State may be ruin'd if they do it not yet the Lord hath none of this fear in regard of his State but he doth it meerly out of love to justice
sayth when he is in a right frame in reference to the wayes of holynes Psal 108.1 O God my heart is prepared or fixed A godly man doth not good upon a sudden or by chance as we say but he sets himselfe to it his heart is fixed or prepared and his face is set heaven-ward or for heavenly duties So Daniel spake of himselfe Dan. 9.3 I set my face unto the Lord God to seeke by prayer and supplications and as a godly man is in the wayes of God so the wayes of God are in him Thus David describes him Psal 84.5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee in whose heart are the wayes of them that is the wayes which Godly men walke in and they are the wayes of God Now as this is the true state of godlinesse when the heart is in it and prepared for it so the true state of wickednesse is when a mans heart is in it and prepared for it This is the proper character of a wicked man The eye of the Adulterer waiteth for the twilight Every word hath weight in it the twilight is the Adulterers season It is not sayd he waites for the night or for the day but he waiteth for the twilight which is neither day nor night but between both We have such a description of time in reference to the mixt and uncertaine state of things Zach. 14.6 7. And it shall come to passe in that day that the light shall not be cleare nor darke But it shall be one day which shall be knowne to the Lord not day nor night Such a thing is Twilight it is neyther cleare nor darke neyther day nor night but between both There is a twofold twilight first the morning twilight and secondly Diluculum Crepusculū the evening twilight the morning twilight begins when the night ends the evening twilight begins when the day ends The Latines have two distinct words to expresse these distinct twilights by but our language is not so well stored and therefore we must distinguish them by the matter spoken of or the scope of the speaker Thus here when 't is sayd in the text he waiteth for the twilight we are to understand it of the evening twilight not for the morning twilight and the reason is because the morning twilight is not for the adulterers turne or purpose for then the light prevailes upon the darkness but it is the evening twilight for then darkness prevailes upon the light And that this is the Adulterers twilight is cleare Prov. 7. v. 6 7 8 9. Nox et tenebrae administrae sunt impijs suarum libidinum Ipsa nox alioquin caeca infandarum tamen libidinū oculatus testis est At the window of my house saith Solomon I looked through the casement and behold among the simple ones I discerned among the youths a man voyd of understanding passing by the way to her house and he went neere her corner in the twilight in the evening or in the evening of the day in the blacke and darke night And behold there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot c. His eye waited for the twilight and in the twilight he was taken Hence note The doing of evill hath its proper seasons as well as the doing of good Though sin be never in season yet it hath some times which are more seasonable for it to sin is never in season as to the lawfullnesse of committing it but sin hath its seasons as to the conveniency of committing it The Adulterer takes his season he waiteth for the twilight Whence note secondly Evill men are very carefull to hit their seasons for the doing of evill It were desireable that the godly were as carefull to hit their seasons and take their times as the ungodly are To every thing saith the Preacher Eccl 3.1 there is a season and a time for every purpose under the Sunne And because it is so saith the same Preacher Eccl 8.6 The misery of man is great upon him But why doth this make the misery of man great upon him I answer The reason of this misery upon man is not because there is a season but because eyther of his ignorance or negligence to find it There are a thousand wayes to misse a season and but one to hit it And were there as many wayes to hit as to misse it were a thousand to one but man would misse rather then hit and therefore the misery of man is great upon him Because if once he misse his season it cannot be recovered and then he must needs be miserable Good men are miserable as to some cases because they are often so carelesse to hit their season of doing good and doe so often misse it notwithstanding all their care Wicked men are for ever miserable because they are so carefull not to misse their season of doing evill and doe so often hit it The eye of the Adulterer waiteth for the twilight and he seldome as to his own end waites in vaine But why is he so greedy for the twilight The next words say why where he brought in Saying no eye shall see me Where sayth he this he sayth it in his heart this is his discourse in his owne breast and to whom sayth he this he sayth it to himselfe there is a dialogue between the Adulterer and his owne heart and thus he concludes I will waite for the twilight and then no eye shall see me And when he sayth no eye shall see me his meaning is There is not any eye that shall see me Thus he playes the foole at All 's hid Yet further this no eye may have a threefold reference First No eye of common men shall see me I will doe this in secret I will have such a cover of darknesse over me that my neighbours and friends shall not be able to take any notice of mee Secondly No eye may referre to men in chiefe that is Verba quae sequuntur exigunt ut ista de Magistratus justitiaeque ministris intelligantur Bold Quisquis aut officio aut quovis alio modo super alios inspicit actusque eorum observat vocatur oculus no eye of the Magistrate nor of any Minister of Justice shall see me Magistrates are the eyes of a Nation they should overlooke all places eyther by themselves or their Officers to observe what is done As the adulterers eye watcheth so there should be an eye of Justice watching to catch Adulterers Some interpret this Text especially of the adulterers hope or selfe-perswasion that he shall escape the eye or knowledge of the Magistrate who is appointed to oversee the manners of that people over whom he is placed and to be a terror yea a Minister of vengeance to them that doe evill for he beareth not the sword in vaine Rom. 13.3 4. Magistrates should so much marke and eye the state of a people that they are called eyes in Scripture Isa 29.10 For the Lord
hath powred out upon you the spirit of deepe sleepe and hath closed your eyes what or who are those eyes the next words enforme us the Prophets and Rulers the seers hath he covered The Hebrew word which we render rulers is heads Rulers are the heads of a people and what is a head without eyes or having its eyes covered God did not cover the eyes which were in the peoples personal heads but he covered the eyes which were in their publicke heads He hath closed your eyes that is those that should be as heads and eyes to you your Prophets and your rulers Thus also say some Government is expressed by an eye Deut. 33.28 Israel then shall dwell in safety alone Fons vel oculus Jacob suum imperium habebit in terra Canaan Bold Apud persarum reges quidam fuerunt qui dicebantur oculi aures Zenoph the fountaine of Jacob shall be upon a land of corne and wine also his heaven shall drop dew That which we translate the fountaine of Jacob others render as well and as truely from the Original the eye of Jacob that is say they the Magistracy the ruling power as if he had sayd as the people of Israel in generall shall dwell in safety so their eye their government or their Governours in speciall shall be blessed with plenty they shall be upon a land of corne and wine It hath been observed also in antiquity that great Princes had certaine men in office whom they called their eyes Princes have their eyes and eares in every place that is their Officers Thus we may expound this Text the Adulterer sayth No eye shall see me The ruling or Magistraticall eye shall not see me and if what I doe be not seene by that eye let others see what they will and say what they please I shall not suffer at all for what I doe and then all 's well that 's as much as I care for And here we may note That As some Adulterers have their eyes abroad that is agents to espy out Beauties for them So most of them if not all are afraid of the eyes of others Thirdly No eye shall see me that is not the eye of God God himselfe shall not see me Thus the adulterer hopes to hide his sin from his eye who is indeed all eye Homines latere cupiens Dei oculum non timeus and whose eye is over all Thus the adulterer supposeth himselfe under such a vayl of darknes that he is free not onely from the eye of men on earth and from the eye of those who are gods upon earth but even from the eye of the God of heaven Hence observe First A sinner is full of vaine presumption He presumes that the sin which he commits against the light of his owne conscience shall never come to light he presumes that the sin which he commits in his owne eye shall not come to the eye of others I have elsewhere noted this ignorant confidence of carnal men and onely name it here Secondly Note It is not the act of sin but the discovery of it which a wicked man feareth He cares not what wickednesse he doth so he may goe unseene a godly man is afraid of doing evill though he could doe it with greatest secrecy or under the darkest cover he is afraid to doe evill because of the evill and unrighteousnesse of it because of the pollution and unanswerablenesse of it both to his owne duty and the goodnesse of God to him but it is the discovery not the iniquity of his worke which the hypocrite feareth Thirdly As the eye is taken for the eye of the Magistrate Observe That it is the punishment of sin at which a wicked man is troubled he is not troubled at the sin it selfe 'T is the consequence of sin not the nature of it the smart of sin and not the filth of it which the wicked would avoyd Lastly As no eye is exclusive also to the eye of God Note Wicked men presume that their sins are secret even to God himselfe They thinke sure God can see no further nor no better then man And so they have hopes to hide themselves not onely from the eyes of men but from the eyes of God as we may see plainly Jere. 23.23 Can any hide himselfe in secret places that I shall not see him saith the Lord This question can any shews that some had flattered themselves into such a conclusion that they could so hide themselves in secret places that God could not see them The holy Psalmist sayd Psal 139.12 The darknesse hideth not from thee but the night shineth as the day the darknesse and the light to thee are both alike But a wicked man sayth the darknesse hideth from thee the night is night to thee O what beggerly apprehensions have men of God! As if he whose eyes are ten thousand times brighter then the Sunne could not see without Sunlight or as if he could not see but in the light who made the light Vanus est qui purat se in tenebris esse tutum cum lucem vitare non possit quae lucet in tenebris tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt Ambros Naturalists say of those living creatures which have fiery eyes that they can see as well in the darke as in the light the reason is because they see not by taking in the species of the object into the eye but by sending out a light from their own eye upon the object God hath fiery eyes indeed he needs no outward light to see by who is nothing else but light Vaine sinner what can be darknes to him who is light and in whom there is no darkenes at all There is nothing doth more argue the blindnes of a sinner then this simple saying of his No eye seeth me unlesse it be that simple practice of his which he useth to the same purpose and which is discovered as his last shift in the last words of this verse And he disguiseth his face The Hebrew is He setteth his face into a secret he muffles himselfe he changeth his habit he puts on a visard harlots were wont to disguise themselves Gen. 39.14 when Tamar tooke upon her the habit of an harlot the Text saith She put on a disguise so here the Adulterer puts on a disguise he puts a cozzening face upon his face and then thinkes that though he be seene yet he cannot be discerned and that though some may see where he is yet none shall see who he is He disguiseth his face One would have thought that being in the twilight and the darkenes of the night ready to compasse him about that no eye could see him he should not need to have put on a visard or a muffler yet he doth so he puts a disguise upon his face Which may teach us That when a man doth ill he never thinks he is safe or secret enough When a mans conscience tells him he sins he would not