Paraphrase And God himself in the XXXVIII Chapter approves of this kind of discourse and takes the very same method to give Job a sensible representation of his own tremendous Majesty verse xxii c. Hast thou enter'd saith he into the treasures of the Snow or hast thou seen the treasures of the Hail which I have reserved against the time of trouble against the day of battel and war * See Exod. IX xviii c. Hath the Rain a Father Or who hath begotten the Drops of the Dew Out of whose womb came the Ice And the Hoar-frost of Heav'n who hath gender'd it The waters are hid as with a stone and the face of the deep is frozen And again Verse xxxiii c. Knowest thou the Ordinances of Heaven Canst thou set the Dominion thereof in the Earth Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds that abundance of waters may cover thee Canst thou send lightnings that they may go and say Here we are viz. ready at thy beck and call as they are always at mine All these Meteors as we stile them go and come at God's bidding onely He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth and his word runneth very swiftly Every Creature gives the word with all expedition to its next fellow And again He sendeth out his Almighty word and melteth them c. He commands the Clouds that they rain and that they rain not too Isa V. vi He with-holdeth the waters and they dry up Also he sendeth them out and they overturn the Earth Job XII xv But I pass on now to what I principally aim at which is to give you those useful and important Lessons we are every one to take out from this matter of common knowledge and observance I. Then from hence we learn Not to attribute these notable Effects of God's Providence to Chance or Blind Fortune nor yet so to ascribe them to any natural Causes as to leave God out of our Philosophy 'T is certainly preposterous vain and wicked so to do for all Second Causes necessarily suppose the First and depend upon him in all their motions The whole link of Nature's Chain of Causes and Operations is bound to his Throne who gives influence and sets Rules and Measures to them all Nay I will add there is no Reasonable account at all to be given of any of these Things which we daily converse with see and behold no solving of these ordinary Phoenomena without recourse had unto God as chief and principal And strange it is that so great a part of the World should be yet stupid amidst so many miraculous Testimonies of the Divine Being and Presidency Whereas we ought certainly as Elihu exhorteth Job to stand still and consider the wondrous works of God Ch. XXXVII xiv and to magnifie praise and adore him in and for them all Chap. XXXVI xxiv We should cry out with the Psalmist O Lord our Governour how excellent is thy Name in all the world Psal VIII And again O Lord how manifold are thy works In wisdom hast thou made them all Psal CIV And yet again O Lord how glorious are thy works Thy thoughts are very deep An unwise man doth not well consider this and a fool doth not understand it Psal XCII v vi Therefore are they all call'd upon to praise God because they afford us so much matter occasion and motive so to do continually They are the standing and universal witnesses of his infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness in the world They are the natural Preachers of Divinity whose voice is every where to be heard declaring the glory of God and shewing his handy work as the Psalmist speaks particularly of the Heavens and Firmament with the stars of light Psal XIX There is neither Speech nor Language but their Voice is heard among them Their sound is gone out to all Lands and their words to the ends of the world We may say of them therefore God gave the Word great was the company of Preachers Psal lxviii And among the other works of God we call more particularly in the Benedicite to these Meteors to bless and praise and magnifie him for ever O ye showrs and dews O ye winds of God! O ye Winter and Summer O ye Frosts and Cold O ye Ice and Snow Bless ye the Lord praise him and magnifie him for ever Which kind of language by way of Address to insensible Creatures whoever are offended at must first blame the Holy Penman who set the Copy of it Psal Clxviii viii as I before quoted it And again Psal Ciii ult O speak good of the Lord all ye works of his in all places of his Dominion We see as Clarius notes upon the Text what occasions devout and pious men take of praising God and yet blockish and ungrateful worldlings amidst all this plenty of Instances can think of nothing to extort and exercise their Religion and Thankfulness II. We learn from hence not to murmur and complain or Repine at whatsoever comes to pass for in so doing we challenge God foolishly * * Job I. xxii or Impute Folly and weakness to him We Blaspheme his Soveraignty and call his Wisdom and Power and Goodness into question And yet This is the Fault which querulous mortals are every where almost too prone unto If the weather be hot saith Sabrian we complain of Drought if Rainy of Deluge and inundation If the year be Vnfruitful of Dearth and Scarcity If fruitful of Cheapness De Gub. Dei. And so If it be cold and piercing of Bitter Blasts and Winds c. Every one so acts and speaks as if he himself could order things better than they are But herein we do only betray our own Ignorance and Rashness sottishness and impiety We judge of Things falsly by their present appearance and out-side only and not by that Reference or Relation which one Thing hath unto another and all have as parts to the Good and Benefit of the whole We would in some odd moods have no Winter or the least that may be of it and so should have but barren and unhealthful Springs and Summers too As the Heathen Pliny said wisely He who prays for none but warm and serene Winters Non pro Arboribus vota facit makes no Good wishes for the Trees no nor the Fruits of the Earth or the Inhabitants of it either Could we once see it we are infinitely better under the Conduct and Government of God's Providence than we could possibly be at our own or other mens choice III. We Learn from hence to be deeply humbled in the sense of our own Ignorance of God Almighty's works and That Infinite wisdom and power whereby they are contrived and managed The more we discern of God's Majesty in them the more we shall see also of our own vileness and imperfection and how unreasonable it is for us to take upon our selves peremptorily to determine of them which are all beyond our Grasp and comprehension
vi c. Go to the Ant thou Sluggard consider her ways and be wise which having no Guide Overseer or Ruler provideth her Meat in the Summer and gathereth her Food in the Harvest There is no such ingenious Tutor of all sorts of Prudence as Necessity Quis expedirit Psittaco suum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Magister artis ingenique largitor venter Persius II. Next as to others it trains us up to all the bowels of Compassion and Charity in consulting what we can for their Indigence and Infirmities to help and enable them to support themselves and Families under those pinching Extremities which do sometimes attend the Season of the year With Dorcas to make Coats and Garments for the poor Widows Acts IX xxxix And with the hospitable Batharians at Melita to shew all possible Kindness to ship wrack'd Strangers kindling them a Fire and taking them into shelter because of the present Rain and Cold. As St. Paul records that lovely instance of heathen Goodness and Humanity Acts XXVIII i ii How great a Charity and Benificence is it to contribute towards the Relief of the necessitous in Fewel and Cloths and Harbour as well as Food to render the bitter winter tolerable And III. It trains us up especially to the religious Fear and Obedience of God Let all the earth fear the Lord saith the Psalmist let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him as I quoted it before and that from a like Topic Psalm XXXIII And he takes notice whether we make that use of our Reason as we should to infer this Duty from hence and lets us know how ill he resents it if we do not so Witness that Complaint against his people for this neglect Jerem. V. xxiv Neither say they in their heart Let us now fear the Lord our God who giveth us Rain the former and the latter Rain in its season and reserveth to us the appointed Weeks of the Harvest That is Who crowneth the year with his Goodness feedeth us with the Fat of Wheat and for the Production of that commands the Clouds and Seasons c. But This is not all I would here suggest This farther offers it self to our Thoughts That it is highly Reasonable we should learn Obedience to Him whose commands all Things else so readily obey Even Snow and Hail and Ice Storm and Tempest fulfilling his word We should therefore learn Obedience from them that we be not Heteroclites and Exceptions from the rest of the Creation unto whom it might be expected that we who are in a Form above them should rather set a good Example And we should learn this Obedience the more because what in them is Necessity only may in us be a Vertue and a Vertue highly to be rewarded from our Lord and Masters Bounty And still the more because the Ties of Gratitude are upon us We are obliged to pay this Tribute of Thankfulness to him whom all Things else obey for our Benefit and Welfare to maintain us in Health and Strength and Chearfulness that we may do him service And that without anxious and diffident cares for our own Provision what we shall Eat and what we shall Drink and wherewith we shall be cloathed Siâ—…e the Lord we serve is both able and willing to supply us with all these Necessaries Being such in power and Wisdom and Goodness as we have heard him described Who sendeth his commandment upon Earth and his word runneth very swiftly who giveth Snow like wooll and scattereth the Hoar-frost like Ashes who casteth forth his Ice like Morsels so that none is able to withstand his cold who sendeth out his word again and melteth them bloweth with his South Wind and the Waters flow Now unto this Supreme All-perfect Being the Creator Preserver and Ruler of the world the Almighty and Everlasting God who Governs all Things both in Heaven and Earth be ascribed by us as is most due All Honour and Glory and Praise and Adoration with Thanksgiving and Obedience for ever and ever Amen The END Books lately printed and sold by Ric. 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Vatablus Upon his bidding it is that the Earth yieldeth her increase and Nature with all her Auxiliaries is at his pow'rful beck In the Text it self we have 1. A general Acknowledgment of God's over-ruling Providence He sendeth forth his Commandment upon earth and his word runneth very swiftly And 2. A particular Illustration or Exemplification of it by way of Instance both in the Giving and Removing great Snows and Frosts with Hail and Ice He giveth Snow like wool and scattereth the Hoar-frost like Ashes He casteth forth his Ice like Morsels Who is able to abide his Frost or who can stand before his cold He sendeth out his word and melteth them He bloweth with his wind or causeth his wind to blow and the waters flow 1. I say A General acknowledgment of Gods over-ruling Providence throughout the world He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth and his word runneth very swiftly Mandat tantum statim executio sequitur Scultetus He only calls and all things answer him he commands and the Execution follows upon it Thus at first by the word of the Lord were the Heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth He gathereth the waters of the Sea together as an heap and layeth up the Deep in Store-houses viz. by the same word of his mouth Let all the Earth fear the Lord let all the Inhabitants of the World stand in awe of him For he spake and it was done He commanded and it stood fast Psal XXXIII vi x. see Genes I. His Almighty Fiat produced all things out of nothing And by the same are they still preserved Upholding all things by the word of his power saith the Apostle Hebr. I. iii and so are they also Ruled and Governed as here we have it He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth and his word runneth very swiftly This sending forth his commandment is nothing else but that hidden yet effectual way whereby he orders all things Calvin He no sooner speaks gives out the word of order issues out his Warrant and Commission but praestò ad parendum concurrunt omnia all things are at hand upon it ready to obey him yea quick and nimble in their observance of him His word runneth very swiftly Verbo solo quicquid vult efficere potest Munster By his word alone he can do every where whatsoever he will And this 2. he goes on to evidence and illustrate by examples namely by his sudden sending of Great Snows and Frosts with Hail and Ice and as sudden dissolving of them again when he pleaseth In the expressing of which he is very Poetical We will take the Particulars as they lie i. He giveth Snow like Wool Nix aemula lanae Vellera nivis Virg. He turns the moist vapours of the Air into white flakes of Snow which descend silently and within a while lie a great thickness as a Fleece of wool on the ground wherewith it is no less warmly clad and nourished and defended from the biting winds than the sheep is by its wool or our bodies by garments made of it Thus Snow hath not only the colour and likeness but the defensive and comforting properties of wool It is not an injury but a benefit to the Earth And Rabbi Arama said Dies unus nivium prodest plus quam quinque Dies pluviae Viccars Decapla in loc One day of Snow doth more good than Five of Rain ii He scattereth the Hoar-frost like ashes Instar Cineris that is as some of the Hebrew Doctors comment upon it Parum hic parum illic Ibid. Here a little and there a little or it may be as we do ashes to dry up superfluous moisture in wet places Vitreâ cum Terra pruinâ Spargitur By his word the Frost comes which he gently strews upon the surface of the Earth iii. He casteth forth his Ice like morsels Tanquam Frusta Some refer it unto Hail-storms q.d. Dr. Patrick's Par. Sometimes he congeals the moist vapours into Ice which he breaks as it were into bits and throws down in a violent Hail Lapidosae grandinis imber Others rather to the Freezing of the earth and waters Dr. Hammond when the whole Surface is congealed into a firmness as strong as Chrystal able to bear the greatest weight and a multitude of pieces of Ice are scattered on the face of the ground like morsels of bread without any appearance of moisture in them which the Poets also are wont to express after a like manner speaking in Great Frosts of Drinking morsels of Wine swallowing it down by Gobbets Nec hausta meri sed data frusta bibunt Ovid. And whole Rivers stop'd in their course Glacie cursus fraenantur aquarum as a Horse by his Reins and standing with a thick Crust of hard Ice over them Stabant jam Flumina duro incrustata gelu Id. Nay and High-ways made by this means for Men and Horses and Carriages on the Deeps and standing Bridges erected as it were over the Great Waters As Ovid phraseth it speaking of the Cold upon Pontus Quáque rates ierant pedibus nunc itur undas Frigore concretas Vngula pulsat Equi Perque novos pontes subter labentibus undis Ducunt Sarmatici barbara plaustra boves iv It is added who is able to abide his Frost or who can stand before his Cold such is sometimes the severity of this pinching weather such the extremity of the cold that neither Man nor Beast on the Earth nor Birds in the Air nor Fishes in the Rivers are able to resist the Force of it or long to support and endure under its assaults It stupifies and benumbs all our senses Non tractabile Frigus and stagnates our blood Torpetque vinctus frigido sanguis gelu c. and turns us almost into so many petrified monuments of its rigorous fury It cuts off Intercourse between Country and Country blocks up the Merchant and Mariners in the Haven or which is worse starves them abroad at Sea It confines the Traveller from his journeys It clogs the Mills that they cannot Grind our Corn and so produceth a kind of Dearth in the midst of abundance Nay it converts our very Bread and Meat and Drink into Stones It retains the busie Husbandman within from his Field-â—…ork and makes the very savage Creatures keep to their Hideing places And though the more Northern Climates are usually more sensible of this as the Inhabitants of Russia and Muscovie who are put to all the Art they have to make Defensatives against it yet whensoever God pleaseth he can call it also into the most temperate and warm Regions under Heaven as we have had of late some considerable Feeling of it His hand you see is all along to be owned and observed in these things He giveth the Snow He scattereth the Hoar-frost He casteth forth his Hail or Ice And it is his Cold too
think upon Poverty and Need from the morning unto the evening the time is changed and all things are soon done before the Lord. That is His Word runneth very swiftly Eccles XVIII xxv xxvi Who knows how soon our halcyon dayes may be turned into a Tempest our Peace into Troubles our Plenty into Want and Scarcity our Liberty into Thraldom our Health into Sickness and our Life it self into the Shades of Death VI. By the same instances we are also caution'd against Impatience and Despair in the time of our Adversity Against Impatience under that hand which there is no controuling or resisting of no strugling with or striving against ineluctabile fatum that All-commanding Hand which wounds and alone can heal us And then Against Despair too in the worst of Conditions that can befall us for there is nothing too hard for God to alter and remove * * Sperat infestis metuit secundis alteram sortem benè praeparatum pectus Informes hiemes reducit Jupiter Idem sumeret non si malè nunc olim sic erit Horat. with less Trouble and Diffienlty than we speak a Word Be the Season never so rigorous and extreme so that we are not able to hold up long under it yet he can send out his Word and dissolve all into Softness blow upon the frozen Ice with his south wind and make the waters flow again out of the Rock He can hush and lay the stormy Tempest or turn it into a Calm our Night into Day our Calamity and Sorrow into Joy and Gladness He can act what to us looks very like a Contradiction and Repugnance make the cold and chilling Snow to warm the Earth and feed it with his Ice as morsels of Bread He can bring sweet out of bitter to us The same vapours he can turn and daily doth into contrary appearances even into moist and fluid Rain or into hard and stony Ice like Chrystal or else into soft and yielding Snow Let us not therefore forget the Exhortation or Consolation for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies both and both indeed it is which speaketh unto us as children My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him Hebr. Xll. v. VII From hence we may learn the monstrous and unaccountable Vanity of profane men who can ever think to thrive in the world without God's leave and blessing When as it is plain that not only we our selves subsist by him live and move and have our being in him Live not by Bread alone but by every Word of God But the very common means of our Subsistence depend altogether and entirely upon him upon his Smiles to vouchsafe secure and succeed them or upon his Frowns to disappoint and deprive us of them or blast them to us and render them ineffectual There are a great many things that go to the upholding of us in the world And we can have none of them all unless he please nor any of them longer than he please nor can any of them do us good further than he please to bless it We too much verifie the vulgar Emblem of Swine feeding upon Acorns on the Ground without looking up to the Tree that scatters them We are maintain'd by God's heavenly Bounty but consider not as we ought the invisible Hand in the Clouds that dispenseth all unto us We pore only upon the Crop before us without thinking how many Causes and Circumstances the Production of it is owing to We consider not how the Earth must hear the Corn and Grass and the Heavens also hear the Earth and the God of Heaven and Earth prosper both 'T is he that must open the Windows of Heaven and pour us out a Blessing from thence that we may have a Sufficiency or Plenty of all necessaries Malachi III. x. This is the sence and importance of that excellent Psalm Psal Cxxvii Except the Lord build the House the Workman buildeth in vain Except the Lord keep the City the Watchman also waketh in vain And so in like manner all the rest of our toil and labour is in vain unless he speed the Plough and give the increase Of all sorts of men in the world the Husbandman one would think and consequently indeed all others who are some way or other beholding to him for the profit of the earth is for all the King himself is served by the Field Eccles v. ix But of all others I say the Husbandman should be Religious whose livelihood and success doth all along so visibly depend upon God Almighty's Providence St. James tells us of his patience and he recommends it for a pattern worthy of imitation Behold the Husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and the later rain Chap. v. vii And he should be as exemplary for a continual devotion God-wards who alone can prosper him And this hath been always the Piety of good men to utter their good wishes for themselves and one to another by directing them still to Heaven for the success Whence is that of the Psalmist Prosper thou the work of our hands upon us O prosper thou our handy-work Psal xc And again Neither do they which go by say The blessing of the Lord be upon you we bless you in the Name of the Lord Psal cxxix Now let none tell me here that some thrive as well who seldom or never call upon God for it For these are instances of his patience and long-suffering only But they have nothing to trust to that so they shall They take not the right way and method for it And when Adversity befalls them as frequently it doth they have the sense of their own guilt to double and increase it wrath with their sickness c. Eccles v. xvii VIII How dreadful a thing must it needs be to provoke God to be our Enemy upon whom we not only have so close and near a dependance but who is so formidable for strength and power He is a terrible Enemy indeed who can when ever he please cut off all Recruits and Succors from us stop all Reliefs starve and pine us out with hunger and thirst and cold and nakedness Nay and he hath many terrible Hosts of strong ones whom we cannot brave it out against at his beck and command Snow and Hail and Storm and Tempest all fulfilling of his word prospering and succeeding to what end soever he commissions them And who is able to abide his Thunderbolts or his Frost His scorching heat or pinching cold Now If we are not able to stand before his cold which is but one of that numerous Militia ready prest for his service how shall we ever bear up against himself As he reasons with Job upon that formidable Instance which is but a single Instance too of his power the great and stupendious Leviathan in the waters the Whale or Crocodile Job xli