apt to say if the dayes of darkness be so many let us not make them more then they are by denying our selves the pleasures of light but let us freely indulge to our selves all our delights and live to the length of our desires 1 Cor. 15.32 whereunto Solomon answereth in these words 1. By way of Concession 2. By way of sad and severe praemonition The Concession some would have to be real and serious as if he had said I would not discourage thee from the use of lawfull pleasures nor debar thee such contents as the flower of thine age do call for only I would have thee carefull not to exceed the bounds of temperance and moderation but by the vanity of things present and certainty of future judgement to compose thy mind to sobriety in enjoying and to a readiness to depart from these vain delights as Gal. 5.13 1 Pet. 2.16 enjoy pleasures but be not drowned in them use honest delights but be not a slave unto them Thou seest that all here is Vanity that the fashion of this world the power wealth honour pleasures strength health beauties thereof all vanish and pass away that all of us must be brought before Gods tribunal and all our actions undergo a severe tryal therefore let it be thy chiefest care to provide for that account But the place is much more Emphatical if we understand the Concession Ironically as 1 Reg. 18.27 22.15 Ezek. 28.3 4. Matth. 26.45 Since thou art wilfull and scornfull take thy course Rejoyce in thy youth or because thou art young strong healthfull and thy bones full of marrow Job 21.23 24. And let thine heart cheer thee Symmachus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let it be wholly in good or in delights and walk in the wayes of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes Do what thou pleasest let thy wanton and wandring eye enflame the lusts of thy heart and let thy sensual heart give law to thy whole man deny not thy self any thing which heart can wish or eye look on Numb 15.39 1 Joh. 2.16 2 Pet. 2.14 3.2 Ezek. 23.16 Josh. 7.21 Jer. 18.12 Psal. 81.12 Job 21.7 Thus sharply doth the Lord deride the pride and folly of young men in their career of Lust and Vanity and as it were give them over to their own hearts desires Prov. 1.24 28. Rom. 1.28 But know thou Though thou Endeavour to blind thine own eyes with sensual delights to smother thy conscience and to baffle those principles of fear and restraint which God hath planted in thee Though thou wouldst not see yet thou shalt see and know to thy cost Isa. 26.11 1 Reg. 22.25 2 Pet. 3.5 that for All these things For all the sins vanities and excesses of thy youth for all those things which are now so gratefull to thy senses though they please thine eye they will gnaw and sting thy conscience Job 13.26 Psal. 25.7 God whose Word and fear thou now despisest from whose eye thou canst not hide thy sins from whose Tribunal thou canst not withdraw thy conscience will bring thee Perforce whether thou wilt or no when thou shalt in vain call to Mountains and Rocks to hide thee Rev. 6.16 Luk. 23.30 into judgement The Judgement of the great day Jude vers 6. called the Terrour of the Lord 2 Cor. 5.10 Act. 17.30 the consideration whereof should abate the heat of lust and cause the heart of young men to tremble at the wrath to come V. 10. Therefore remove sorrow from thine heart and put away evil from thy flesh for childhood and youth are vanity This is not to be understood Ironically as the former words of the verse foregoing nor in that sense but seriously as a seasonable precept unto young men who are of all other men by reason of the heat of their blood subject unto passions and unto pleasures the one seated in the heart the other in the flesh◠from both which he doth here forewarn them Remove sorrow or anger and indignation from thine heart If we read it sorrow then hereby is meant all those sinfull pleasures which though the deceitfull heart look on as matter of joy yet will certainly fill the heart with sorrow at the last Prov. 14.13 If Anger or Indignation then the meaning is that he should restrain all Inordinate passions and perturbations of mind especially take heed of swelling or storming at the will and wayes of God or at any serious advice minding him thereof James 1.19 Job 6.24 and put away evil sinfull lusts from thy flesh From thy bodily members Rom. 6.13 1 Cor. 6.15 2 Cor. 7.1 1 Pet. 2.11 2 Tim. 2.22 and so some understand the word flesh in the sense as it is used Ezek. 16.26 23.20 2 Pet. 2.10 Jude vers 23. for childhood and youth are vanity The reason of this advice drawn from the vanishing condition of youth and the pleasures thereof Youth is but as the Aurora or early morning of a day quickly gone from thence to noon and from noon to night therefore care should be used to spend it in such a manner as that we may have an abiding fruit and pleasure which will not vanish with the years which were consumed in the pursuance of it CHAP. XII IN this Chapter the Wise man proceedeth to demonstrate this Vanity of youth and old age which quickly run into Death And then concludeth the whole Book He had before by an Emphatical Ironie deterred Young men from those inordinate passions and sensual pleasures which that slippery age is most subject unto and that by the Consideration of that dreadfull account which in the last Judgement God will require of them And because that age of of all other is most apt to put the evil day far from them and to look on Death and Judgement as at a great distance as evil men use to do Ezek. 12.27 2 Pet. 3.3 4. Amos 6.3 therefore he doth by a Prolepsis prevent that shift Young men might be apt to say the things you press us unto are good but we shall have time enough before Judgement come to think of them old age will be a fit season to draw off from the world and to draw nigh to God Solomon here perswades from so dangerous a Resolution shewing the necessity of seeking and serving God in our youth in regard old age will be very unfit to begin so great a work in Whereupon he sheweth 1. The Vanity of Old age setting it forth by a large and an elegant Allegory and by other expressions Vers. 2 6. 2. He presseth the same duty by another argument from the approach of death which taketh away all means of Repentance and conversion vers 7. And having thus by an Induction of many particulars shewed the Vanity both of the Creatures here below and of the Condition of man under the Sun who were they never so excellent could not long enjoy them He doth conclude the whole book 1. With resuming his first conclusion vers
event not answerable to our follies but to his love 5. That we cannot judge of the wisdom or folly the goodness or badness of men by outward events because these happen alike to all Chap. 8.14 9.11 V. 16. There is no remembrance c. What he observed in the general before he now maketh good in two particulars viz oblivion and death which are both alike common to wise men and to fools Wise men may seem to secure at least their names though they cannot their bodies from mortality by such magnificent works as Solomon here wrought and by such noble contemplations as he was conversant in but he assures us here the contrary and elsewhere that Piety onely keepeth the name from rotting with the body Prov. 10.7 Psal. 112.6 Psal. 49.11 12. Jer. 17.13 Time will eat out all the monuments of wisdom or though they continue yet the renown of a wise man doth him no good at all he is not after death sensible of it or comforted with it so Chap. 1.11 new wise men that arise in after Ages will darken and eclipse the honour of those that went before them and so will it be done to them in the Ages that follow To be sure no mere wise or great mans honour separated from Piety will hold pace with his being at the last day there will so much shameful matter be discovered against the wisest of wicked men as they shall the â—â—se all their renown and shall appear to be vessels of dishonour and shame for evermore 1 Cor. 4.5 2 Tim. 2.20 And how dieth the wise man as the foâ—l The second fate common to both Thâ—s how is a passionate interrogation noting grief that it is so wonder that it is no otherwise and indignation or disdain that thingâ— so exceeding different in their worth should both of them perish alike Thus there is a Quomodo dolentis of grieving Lam. 1.1 admirantis of wondring Acts 2.7 8. Indignantis or objurgantis of chiding and disdain Joh. 5.44 Matth. 23.33 And because it may be objected That this Argument may as well disable Piety from making a man happy as wisdom Since the same question may be framed of them as well as of these How dieth the just man as the unjust 〈◊〉 must remember that Piety followes a manâ— and so abides with him after death which no other acquired excellencies do either as ornaments or as comforts Rev. 14.13 Death doth not cut off their spiritual life and union with Christ which was that which made them happy here Wicked men are dead being alive 1 Tim. 5.6 and good men livâ— in death Joh. 11.25 26. Mat. 22.32 therefore the Jews called their burying place domus viventium the houses of the living Therefore there is no durable Life or Honouâ— but in the fear of the Lord. V. 17. Therefore I hated life c. Thiâ— is the effect which this great vanity of thâ— most excellent humane endowment wrougth in the heart of Solomon made him weary of living to so little purpose as to dye at last like the basest of men He saw no loveliness or desireableness in life it self though â—he chiefest outward blessing all the course â—hereof being full of evil grievous cruciaâ—ing disquieting labour all which at last â—uns down like the waters of Jordan into the same lake of death with the other refuse of men Many mens poverty pains sickness worldly troubles have caused them to complain of their life but here is one who had health peace honour abundance of all the contents which the world could afford not murmuringly but as it were judiciously and critically making the same complaints The greatnesse of his wisdom being such as that all the comforts of life were too narrow to satisfie the inquiries of it he saw little valuable or desireable in it Here observe 1. That life it self is too mean a thing to bring full content to the soul of man It must be something better then life which must do it Psal. 63.3 2. That in the greatest confluence of worldly things the life of a man may be full of grievous labour and he weary of it not onely out of anguish of spirit but of natural wisdom observing the vanity thereof 3. That the wisdom of man without making use of the grace of God is very apt to undervalue the greatest outward blessing which humane nature is capable of as Solomon here doth life There is â—aturally so much distemper in the heart of man that except all things answer his own desires and expectations he will fall out with his very life and pick quarrels with the choycest blessings that God here affords him As a little cloud hides the light of the whole Sun from the eye so amidst a multitude of enjoyments a little labour or trouble which comes along with them doth darken the beauty and remove the content of them all Gen. 30.1 Psal. 59.15 Esth. 5.13 4. Concerning this point of being weary of Life or hating it as an unlovely and undesireable thing we may note 1. That Life is the choycest and principal outward blessing which God here affords us and that unto the comfort and preservation thereof all other outward blessings are directed Mâ—tth 6.25 2. That though in a way of obedience we are to undervalue it at the command of God when he calls on us to lay it down Luke 14.26 Act. 20.24 1 Joh. 3.16 Joh. 12.25 and in comparison of a better life we may groan for a deliverance from it and to be with Christ Phil. 1.23 yet it is a great fault out of passion murmuring outward troubles nay out of largeness of heart as here Solomon doth to dis-esteem and wax weary of so great a blessing Gen. 27.46 Numb 14.2 Job 10.1 36.20 Jon. 4.3 8. V. 18. Yea I hated all my labour c. All those magnificent and excellent works which with so much labour I had wrought They were all so far from ministring unto my heart any solid contentment that I grew wholly out of love with them had no regard nor respect at all unto them If by hatred here and in the former verse be meant only an abatement of that love and delight which his heart might over-sensually take in them then this was a very commendable fruit of the vanity which he discovered in them according to the counsel of the Apostle upon the same ground 1 Cor. 7.29 30 31. 1 Joh. 2.15 Love not the world that seems to be a worldly and secular life or Temporal Being nor the things of the world that is the provisions and materials which are the fuel of lust in the world and so hatred sometimes signifies an abatement and moderation of love Matth. 10.37 compared with Luke 14.26 Joh. 12.25 Gen. 29.30 31. But if by Hatred is meant a detestation and abhorrency of them so as to leave off all care of duty to be exercised in wordly things according to the travel which God hath appointed for the sons of men Chap.
multiplicantur somnia etiam vanitates multiplicantur sic se habent verba multa As when dreams are multiplied vanities also are multiplied so is it in many words In all the sense is the same Mercer a most learned Interpreter makes the connexion sense to be thus I have given thee these cautions to be tender of thy behaviour in the presence of God that thou maiest not by dreams fancies vanities or multitude of difficult businesses be brought to utter any thing rashly before God but amidst all dangers or dreams or vanities or difficulties to fear God and not to suffer thy self to be withdrawn from him by any temptations But the words seem to prescribe the same remedy against rash vowes as before against other hasty addresses unto God vers 3. There is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the conjunction copulative as elsewhere Gen. 43.8 25.34 The plural vanitates is as much as plurima vanitas great vanity or many vanities as Prov. 1.20 Wisdoms i. principal or excellent wisdom Isa. 64.6 Our righteousnesses i. most righteous action Gen. 19.11 Blindnesses i. Thick and through blindnesse Psal. 45.15 With gladnesses i. with great gladness 2 Pet. 3.11 What manner of persons ought we to be in holy conversations and godlinesses i. In all manner of holy conversation and godliness Cant. 5.16 His palate is sweetnesses and he is altogether or every whit of him is desires i. Most sweet and most desirable Dan. 9.23 A man of desires i. Greatly desired oâ— beloved Isai. 53.3 A man of sorrows i. Full of sorrows but fear thou God This is the remedy of all vanities in Worship to serve God rather with inward reverence and fear then with rash hasty many formal empty expressions The fear of God is the foundation of all holy duties Chap. 12.13 Isa. 29.13 Deut. 28.58 Mal. 1.6 Heb. 12.28 19. V. 8. If thou seest the oppression of the poor and violent c. The connexion of these words with the former stâ—nds thus The fear of God doth many times expose men unto injury and violence and that every where all a Province and Country over and that not onely from ordinary persons but from great men and that without remedy because if haply they have recourse unto judgment and justice for ease even they finde wresting perverting distorting of justice So that a mans tranquility in this life may seem to be but little mended by Piety and fear of God whereby he is in danger of being reduced to poverty and distress This is a stumbling-block which may cause men to be offended at the waies of God Matth. 11.5 6. 13.21 Gal. 5.11 and good men have stumbled at it Psal. 73.12 13. Against this temptation he here subjoyns a seasonable antidote they should not be much amazed at it but rather comfort themselves that there lyeth an appeal to a higher Court where they shall certainly be righted and their innocency vindicated If thou seest the oppression of the poor and that such oppression as that thou hast no remedy against it but it is powerful enough to wry and pervert judgment And yet further no escape from it but it meets with thee all the Nation or Province over If you see a poor man that fears God not onely suffer under the meanness of his condition but under fraud calumny rapine violence where ever he goes as Ezek. 18.12 18. Job 20 19. Mic. 3.2 Job 24.2 12 19.7 8. Psal. 74.20 Jer. 6.6 7. 20.8 Ezek. 8.17 marvel not at the matter Be not amazed or astonished at it so much the word imports Isa. 13.8 Job 26.11 Think it not a strange thing 1 Pet. 4.12 Do not think hardly of God nor distrust his Providence or grow weary of his service What wonder at all is it to see power crush poverty or wickedness suppress Piety Psal. 37.8 9. at the matter Or at the will or purpose to wit of God in suffering and ordering this thing for these things happen not without his appointment and providence Hab. â— 12 Isa. 10.5 Psal. 17.13 for he that is higher then the highest regardeth and there be higher then they Higher viz. God who is higher the relative without the antecedent which is very usual or The High from above The High regardeth it It seemeth to be a vehement and emphatical Anadiplosis the same word is used for from above Gen. 27.39 49.25 This kind of elegant and emphatical repetition is frequent in the Scripture Psal. 22.1 Jer. 7.4 22.29 Ezek. 21.27 2 Sam. 18.33 1 Reg. 18.39 Judg. 5.30 Psal. 98.4 5 6. 124.1 2. Hos. 2.2 Dan. 10.19 And according to this sense God is said in a way of Judgment to look down from heaven upon the violence of great men and to speak from thence in his wrath unto them Psal. 2.4 5. 11.4 5 6. Exod. 2.23 24. 1 Sam. 9.16 Psal. 93.4 Or He that is higher then the High God who is the High above all the Earth the High and Mighty One above the Potentates of the World who are called High ones Isa. 24.21 Isa. 2.11 12. 2 Sam. 23.1 He that is King of kings and Lord of lords Higher then the Kings of the earth Psal. 89.27 regardeth Observeth the violence of proud men to avenge it Or keepeth the poor who are oppressed by them Isa. 3.14 Prov. 22.22 23. Psal. 10.12 18. 11.5 68.5 72.14 and there â—e higher then they Namely The Holy Angels who are sent forth for the good of the Church Heb. 1.14 who pitch their tents about believers and are Guardians over them Psal. 34.7 91.11 who behold the face of God as Ministers ready to execute his commands in behalf of them Matth. 18.10 whose service God is pleased to use in the punishment of Tyrants and subversion of States Isa. 37.36 Act. 12.23 V. 9. Moreover the profit of the earth is for all Here he returneth to consider the vanity of all kind of Riches amongst which though some are to be preferred before others as namely corn and cattel which are the profits of the earth yet both the one and the other are unable to make the possessors of them happy Yet withall the words may seem to have some relation to what went before namely That God in his providence hath so ordered things in the civil body That the Head cannot say to the Foot I have no need of thee the King himself wanteth the help and cannot subsist without the labour of poor men and that may be a check unto oppression and violence the profit of the earth is for all Or above all other profit He commendeth husbandry consisting in tillage and grazing above all other wayes of gain as extending to the necessary supply of all men whatsoever for bread is the staffe of life Isa. 3.1 Gen. 41.55 Prov. 24.27 27.23 24. 31.16 Adam even in Innocency was to have dressed the earth Gen. 2.15 There is an excellency or profit of the earth in or above all The
Chron. 12.2 So the meaning is A wise mans heart is ready and prepared unto every good work he doth things with judgment and counsel he doth with mature advice and deliberation so weigh his actions the circumstances consequences probabilities and events of them as that he may not afterwards repent of his behaviour therein He worketh by the guidance of his heart Prov. 15.22 Luke 14.28 30. But a fool is left-handed in his works doth all his business bunglingly praeposterously inconsiderately either when he adviseth about business his hand is absent and doth not execute it or when he worketh and goeth about it his heart is absent and doth not direct it A wise man hath the command of his heart knowes how to use it seasonably opportunely and in conformity to times places persons so that his undertakings may be successful and prosperous whereas a fool is transported with passion amazed at difficulties perplexed with uncertainties at his wits end and knowes not which way to take or what to resolve goes about his business as awkwardly and undecently as a man would do whose right hand were tyed behind him and had onely his left hand to help him Prov. 2.10 15. 4.26 13.16 16.22 23. Examples of this wisdome we have in Jacob Gen. 32. Joseph Gen. 41. David 1 Sam. 16.18 Abigail 1 Sam. 25. Jethro Exod. 18.19 the Woman of Abel 2 Sam. 20. Paul Act. 23.6 and of the contrary folly Numb 14.40 45. 1 Reg. 12.8 Isa. 19.11 17. V. 3. Yea also when he that is a fool walketh by the way his wisdome faileth him c. Not onely in his private actions and undertakings but in his open conversation amongst men in his motions gestures behaviour gate countenance usual deportment he is destitute of prudence and common discretion and bewrayeth the folly of his heart by the affected fondness of his conversation and he saith to every one that he is a fool The Septuagint render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whatsoever he thinketh on is folly Symmachus in Hierom He suspecteth of all men that they are fooles Whereunto the Vulgar answereth Cum ipse insipiens sit omnes stultos aestimat being a fool himself he accompteth all other men fools as to him that hath the Jaundies every thing seemeth yellow and to him that hath a distempered palate every sweet thing â—asteth bitter to him that hath a vertiginous brain every fixed thing seemeth to turn round so to a man made up of pride and folly other men much wiser then himself do appear fools The Chaldee rendreth it All men say that he is a fool But the most emphatical is as we read it He saith to All men That he is a fool He doth so palpably discover and as it were proclaim his own folly by his gestures and behaviour as if he would himself tell them that he is a fool Prov. 6.13 12.23 13.6 18.2 Jude vers 13. V. 4. If the spirit of the Ruler rise up against thee leave not thy place Here he sheweth the excellent use of wisdome in ordering our conversation towards Superiours teaching us to bridle all disloyal passions to restrain all unlawful attempts to keep our selves in the same eaven and unmoved temper whatever provocations we meet with to the contrary If the spirit of the Ruler The Chaldee hereby understandeth the power and dominion of any ruling lust by which a man should not suffer himself to be shaken from his steadfastnesse nor removed out of his place or from his duty But this is inconsonant with the series of this Chapter which is much taken up in the Errours of Government and the inconvenient passions which those Errors may produce in the minds of the people Others understand it of the spirit of Rule and Government as we often read of the spirit of Judgment of Prophecy of Revelation of Wisdome of Knowledg so the skill of Governing is called the Spirit of God 1 Sam. 10.10 11. 11.6 16.14 Isa. 11.1 2. And they understand it thus If the Lord advance thee unto high place of power and Government Leave not thy place continue humble and lowly still forget not thy duty towards thy brethren as Deut. 17.15 20. But the later clause of this verse plainly leads us to another sense If the spirit that is the wrath and displeasure of the Ruler rise up against thee so passion is sometimes called Chap. 7.9 Prov. 25.28 Judg. 9.23 2 Chron. 21.16 And it seems to denote high displeasure like that of Saul of whom it is said That he Breathed out threats against the Church Act. 9.1 His rage was as a Terrible Blast of a storm against a wall Isa. 25.4 And this is further intimated in the phrase of Ascending or rising up as a grievous Tempest or as a flame of fire 2 Sam. 11.20 Ezek 24.8 Psal. 78.21 If the high displeasure of the Ruler be though unjustly and injuriously lifted up against thee as Potiphars against Josephs Sauls against David Labans against Jacob Pauls against the Church of Christ leave not thy place Contain thy self within the bounds of thine own calling and condition do not either through fear and despair withdraw thy self from thy duty nor through insolence and impatience rise up in disloyalty against him whose spirit is risen against thee keep still in the rank of a subject and behave thy self with that lowliness and submission which becometh a subject He speaketh not against a prudent withdrawing from a storm and hiding a mans self as Jacob â—led from Esau and David from Saul and Elias from Jezabel and Christ from Herod Matth. 10.23 but of disloyal and rebellious defection going out of his sight Chap. 8.3 as Israel to their Tents 1 Reg. 12.16 He requireth us for conscience towards God to suffer wrongfully and to be subject even to those that are froward and injurious 1 Peâ— 2.18 19. Not to violate our Allegiance nor to attempt any conspiracy against them but onely in our sufferings to make our prayers and complaints known unto God who is a Judge between them and us and is able to vindicate our innocency and to deliver us out of their hands Every man must keep his station as Souldiers in an Army are to stay in their own rank 1 Cor. 7.20 21. A man cannot expect to have Gods blessing any where but in his own place His promises and protection are annexed unto our duty Psal. 91.11 2 Chron. 15.2 This was the sin of the Ten Tribes against the house of David Hos. 8.4 and of Absolom and Sheba against David himself 2 Sam. 15.10 and 20.1 for yielding pacifieth great offences This is a reason ab utili to perswade unto the duty For whereas a man might haply conceive that the wrath of a King is implacable and their lost love unreconcileable again and that therefore their case being desperate a man were as good give over duty as perish under it He sheweth that by submission and lenity of spirit a
disable thee another time from doing that good which now he puts into thy hand It is wisdome to do Gods work in Gods time Haply thou thy self mayst fall into want and stand in need of help from others therefore make thee friends of Mammon before hand Luk. 16.9 Ps. 37.26 41.1 2 3. 1 Tim. 6.18 19. V. 3. If the clouds be full of rain they empty themselves upon the earth and if the tree fall towards the South or towards the North in the place where the tree falleth there it shall be He urgeth the duty of charity and bounty by elegant similitudes Clouds that are full of moisture do not keep it to themselves but shed it forth in showers on the earth and on all kind of corn and herbs for the benefit of many whence they are called the bottles of heaven Job 38.37 and the chambers of the Lord Ps. 104.13 from whence he poureth down rain according to the vapour thereof Job 36.27 28. so should rich men Prov. 11.25 whom the Lord hath filled with his blessings as the Scripture useth to express it Deut. 33.23 Job 22.18 Prov. 5.10 Deut. 6.11 Prov. 30.9 Phil. 4.12.18 not keep Gods blessings to themselves but pour them forth upon those that are empty and if the tree fall c. This some apply unto death as if we were thereby warned to do good while we may because death will at last cut us down and deprive us of any further opportunity Eccl. 9.10 Joh. 9.4 and as death leaves us judgement will find us But it seemeth rather to denote the benefit of charity unto the authors thereof that wheresoever their bounty and mercy is placed there it will be found again to their comfort they shall not go without their reward as the tree on which side ever it falls it will there be found when the owner thereof inquireth after it V. 4. He that observeth the wind shall not sow and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap By these similitudes he preventeth all those pretences and objections which carnal hearts are apt to make against the present season of doing good and are apt thereby to defer and put it off to some fitter time when they shall have found out more fitting objects on which to place their bounty We are very apt to frame excuses against present duty Hag. 1.2 Act. 24.25 Prov. 3.27 28. Here therefore the Wise man removeth these pretences He that will by every wind be deterred from sowing his seed lest it should be blown away and by every cloud from reaping his corn lest the weather should be unseasonable shall never do his business because there will never be wanting some discouragement or other so he that is ever framing carnal objections against doing good shall over-slip the season and never do his duty nor receive his reward We are to take notice of the present call of God unto any good work and the present opportunity he puts into our hands and not delay service upon the fear of future contingents which are not in our power Matth. 6.34 V. 5. As thou knowest not what is the way of the Spirit nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with Child even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all By our ignorance of the works of Gods providence he warneth us to be diligent in embracing every present opportunity of doing good and not to defer or delay duty till haply the Lord will put us out of all capacity to do it This ignorance he proveth a minori If we know not things more ordinary and familiar unto us which happen every day as the way of the spirit Symmachus rendreth it of the wind which way it comes and goes how it riseth and slackneth Joh. 3.8 Or how the soul comes into the body and quickneth it so the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Or how the bones do grow How the several parts of the body skin flesh sinews bones some hard some soft are all shaped out of the same seed Psal. 139.13 16. Job 10.10 13. Much less are we able to foresee the works of Gods providence which are far off and exceeding deep Chap. 7.24 Therefore since we know not what shall be to morrow how God may dispose of our life or our estate how long he may continue unto us opportunities of doing good we ought not to defer or put off duty from time to time but while we have a present season to embrace it Chap. 9.10 Gal. 6.10 V. 6. In the morning sow thy seed and in the evening withold not thy hand for thou knowest not whether shall prosper either this or that or whether they both shall be alike good He inferreth from the former doctrine of the uncertainty of future events an hortatory conclusion to be doing good on all occasions and to be assiduous and dililigent in the work which God hath set us to do whether all our labour take effect or no. The Lord being sometimes pleased to frustrate mens endeavours and to defer the success they expected from them First to try them whether they would persevere in their calling and continue therein with God though they had not alwayes alike incouragement 2. To teach them that successes depend not upon the labours of man but upon the will and free blessing of God And he persisteth in his former Metaphor of sowing seed meaning thereby First in particular works of charity and mercy to the poor as vers 1 4. 2 Cor. 9.6 Ps. 112.9 Secondly In general works of righteousness in our general or particular callings Prov. 11.18 Hos. 12.10 Thereby teaching us that works of mercy and righteousness do not perish but will bring forth an harvest of comfort and great reward unto those that abound in them Gal. 6.8 sow thy seed Do thine own work intend thine own calling intermix not thy self in things which belong not unto thee 2 Thess. 3.10 1 Thess. 4.11 Be liberal of thine own estate Ephes. 4.28 In the morning sow and in the evening withold not thine hand or let not thine hand rest or give over Begin betimes and be not weary of well doing but continue unto the end be alwayes doing of good morning and evening note the whole day from one end of it to the other Gen. 1.5 Dan. 8.14 Psal. 104.22 23. So Solomon bids us be in the fear of the Lord all the day long Prov. 23.17 It is to be understood of the morning and evening of a mans life which should be wholly consecrated to God Lam. 3.27 Eccles. 12.1 Psal. 92.14 Matth. 10.22 or of the morning and evening of a mans prosperity as soon as ever God giveth thee an estate begin to do good with it and be not weary of so doing but continue to the end God requires our charity to be set about on the first day of the week 1 Cor. 16.2 Gal. 6.9 10. The night is shut out of the time of working or of dâ—ty therefore