of which the wicked man beleeves he shall not returne First Some understand it of the darknesse of sin but a wicked man cannot be sayd to despaire of that about which he never had any hope Pii spe se armant in spem contra spem sperant Merc. or desire Secondly Some understand darknesse litterally and plainly of the darknesse of the night and interpret thus He beleeves not that he shall returne out of darknesse that is he is so haunted with feares every night when he lyes downe that he thinks he shall never live till the morning This is a good sense Thirdly Others understand this darknesse to be death he hath a perfect sound of dread when death comes because he beleeves not that he shall returne out of that darknesse The resurrection is the consolation of the Saints in the midst of greatest dangers and thickest darknesse because though they dye yet they beleeve they shall returne out of darknesse But a wicked man who beleeves or hopes for nothing beyond the time of this life if he be once cast into the Grave either thinkes he shall lye there for ever or if he beleeves he shall rise yet he doth not beleeve that he shall rise out of darknesse for he shall rise in darknesse and goe downe to everlasting darknesse Fourthly A fourth expounds it of internall darknesse the darknesse of his spirit or of those mists and clouds which hang about his minde A godly man falling into this darknesse doth not actually beleeve he shall returne out of it for such a faith were his returne out of it but a wicked man as he hath no ground so no possibility continuing in the state he is to beleeve it Saul had a wofull dark spirit and beleeved not that he should returne out of it by the helpe of God therefore he went to a Witch a Counsellour of the Prince of darknesse for helpe But fifthly I rather conceive as often elsewhere so here by darknesse is meant outward affliction When the destroyer comes upon him and he is cast into a sad darke condition he hath no faith for himselfe that he shall returne out of it or be delivered from it This is an extreame agravation of the miserable state of a wicked man who either hath no outward prosperity or his prosperity is nothing to him he enjoyes it not but if ever he fall into outward misery how great is his misery so great that he gives himselfe for gone a lost man for ever He beleeves not that he shall returne out of darknesse Observe hence That a wicked man neither doth not can beleeve deliverance from evill First He hath no ground to beleeve promises are the foundation of faith A wicked man may be under promises of conversion from his sin but he is not under any promise of mercy while he continues in his sin the whole Book of God yeelds him not in hat state any speciall promise for so much as a bit of bread when he hath bread he hath it from providence not from a promise or but from a generall promise He is fed as a Beast is fed the Lord being the preserver of Man and Beast He cannot have a speciall promise himselfe not being an heyre of promise Therefore when he falls into darknesse he hath no ground to beleeve Whereas a godly man never hath so much ground to beleeve as when he falls into darknesse because then he hath more promises then before his outward losses gaine him the advantage of many sweet promises which till then he could not plead for the succour and nourishment of his faith As a wicked man hath no promise of God in the sense explained at any time so a godly man hath most promises of God in evill yea in the worst of times And as a wicked man hath no ground to beleeve so he usually hath no heart to beleeve as he hath no reason to hope for better things so he hath no courage his spirit sinks and fails when his state doth Abigall had no sooner told Nabal that the destroyer was comming upon him in his prosperity but his heart sunke within him like a stone and he dyed away presently Secondly The best of a wicked mans faith that he shall returne out of darknesse is but a presumptuous fansie or meer Foole-hardinesse A good man is like a Childe in his Fathers house who takes no care but casts all upon his Parents in the greatest storme he commits the helme to Christ as Pilot he can say as David Psalm 42. when he is in trouble Why art thou disquieted O my soule He cals his soule to question and would have his soule give him a reason Why art thou troubled my soule hope in God for I shall yet praise him But a wicked man hath no God to hope in therefore he cannot say I shall yet praise him That man cannot cast his burden of cares upon the Lord Psal 55.22 who cares not how he burdens God with his sins therefore he must beare and sinke under both burdens himselfe He cannot beleeve that he shall returne out of the darknesse of trouble who delights and sports in the darknesse of iniquity Againe Consider this is brought as a proofe of the wofull condition of a wicked man It is misery enough that the destroyer shall come upon him but this is more miserable he cannot beleeve deliverance from destruction Hence Observe That want of faith in time of affliction is more greivous then affliction It is worse not to beleeve deliverance then to fall into trouble as the life of faith is the best life so the life of unbeleife is the worst life Despaire of good is the greatest evill Faith is not onely the support and reliefe of the soule in trouble but it is the victory and tryumph of the soule over trouble Faith doth not onely keep the soule alive but lively Faith keeps the soule fat and in good plight Faith is a sheild both against temptation and affliction But every blow falls upon the bare skin of an unbeleever Faith is a sheild both against the fiery darts of the Devill and with a difference against the fiery darts of God also Let God himselfe cast his darts at a Beleiver Faith secures him from hurt though not from wounds yea his very wounds through a worke of faith shall worke his good It is the comfort of a man that feareth God and obeyeth the voyce of his Servants that while he walketh in darknesse and hath no light he is bid to trust in the name of the Lord and to stay upon his God Isa 50.10 But while a man that doth not feare God walkes in darknesse and hath no light his misery is that he can neither trust in God till light comes nor that light will ever come How happy are the righteous to whom light ariseth in darknesse How unhappy are the wicked who being in darknesse conclude that the light will never arise Faith makes all
as a man not as his enemy but as a wicked man and as an enemy to God The foundation of this holy Warr was layd in that word of God Gen. 3.15 I will put enmity betweene thee and the Woman between her seed and thy seed As there is an enmity de facto in wicked men against the righteous they will ever be opposing them So there is an enmity de jure of right and duty in the righteous against the wicked they ought ever to oppose them that quarrell those feudes must not be layd downe and therefore the Apostle John who though he was the beloved Desciple and was most pressing and perswasive to love among Saints and Brethren yet he forbids the love of wicked men Love not the World 1 Epist 2.15 which referrs as well to worldly persons as worldly things And the Apostle James is direct Chap. 4.4 The freindship of the World is enmity against God Our peicing in or making peace with the World is a proclaimed Warr against God himselfe It is our duty and it is our spirituall safety to stirr up our selves spiritually against the wicked As we deny not civill peace with Hypocrites and the worst of men so there is a spirituall warfare which wee are bound to continue how chargeable soever it may prove to us against all Hypocrites and vvicked men And if they say of this Sword as Jer. 47.6 O thou Sword of the Lord how long will it be ere thou be quiet We must answer as the Sword doth there How can I be quiet seeing the Lord hath given me a charge against Askelon The Sword of that Warr receives its Commission from God and is designed now to one coast anon to another The Sword of this Warr hath long since received its Commission from God against all the coasts of sin and powers of darknesse nor can it be quiet or put it selfe up in its Scabbard while there is an Hypocrite appearing upon the face of the Earth Gods quarrell must be perpetuated it can never be taken up Let them returne to thee but returne not thou to them was the Prophets charge Jer. 15.19 There 's no compounding of this difference they must returne and give themselves up to God and his wayes else we cannot give them an inch of ground or make truce with them for an houre much lesse may we make peace with them or give them the right hand of fellowship Secondly Here we have the Hypocrite in his flourish and the innocent in his affliction the Hypocrite aloft and the innocent below yet when it is thus even then the innocent is described stirring up himselfe against the Hypocrite Hence Observe A godly man afflicted doth not at all approve or applaud the Hypocrite but opposeth him in his greatest pompe and worldly splendour When the wicked are at the highest even as happy as the World can make them yet a godly man will not change states with them or as we say turne Tables with them he would not have his outward prosperity with his heart if it were worth ten thousand Worlds He sees and knowes there is more excellency and worth in afflicted grace then in the most prosperous wickednesse The love of God is better then life and if so what are all the things of this life compared to it Hence a godly man hath no better opinion of the wicked in riches then in poverty and hee hath no worse opinion of himselfe when he is poore then when he was rich Hee doth not account grace the lesse glorious because it hath so little of outward glory upon it And seeing he will not change states with him he cannot envy him We envy those only whom we judge in a better condition then our selves David under a temptation was envious at the foolish when he saw the prosperity of the wicked Pâ—al 73.2 3. and his feet were almost gone his steps had well-nigh slipt but when he recollected himselfe and went to the Sanctuary such thoughts were quickly downe and envy was extinct he saw much matter enough to pitty wicked men but none to envy them they stand in slippery places and are suddenly cast downe How are they brought into desolation as in a moment they are utterly consumed with terrours And as he doth not envy them so thirdly much lesse doth he imitate them he is so farr from imitating them that hee sets himselfe to oppose them and he opposeth them all those ways and with all those weapons that God hath put into his hand He opposeth ever him by counsell and conviction by reproofes and prayers And as he fights against the Hypocrite by prayer so by prayer he fortifies himselfe against all sinfull complyances with him Thus David prayed Psal 141.4 Incline not my heart to any evill thing to practice wicked workes with men that worke iniquity and let me not eate of their dainties As if hee had sayd Though wicked men be fine-fed and dyet upon dainties every day though they devoure the fatt and drinke the sweet and have all things that their hearts can desire yet Lord ever keep me from the practice of wicked workes with men that worke iniquity and let me not eate of their dainties who finde a sweetnesse in sin and take pleasure in unrighteousnesse It is the counsell of the wise man Prov. 1.10 11. My Son if sinners entice thee consent thou not Doe not associate with them they will tell thee of great matters they will say Come let us lay wait for blood we shall fill our houses with spoyle cast in thy lot among us let us all have one purse My Son walke not thou in the way with them refraine thy foot from their paths for their feet run to evill c. He that would refraine his foot from walking in must first refraine his heart from approving of the paths of wickednesse This the innocent doth and more while he stirreth up himselfe against the Hypocrite And as he sets himselfe against the way of the Hypocrites so he labours to set forward with all his might in the way of holinesse for that 's his way as appeares in the next Verse Vers 9. The righteous shall hold on his way and he that hath cleane hands shall wax stronger and stronger The righteous Ex tanti viri exemplo atque memoria incrementum accipient singulare Sanct. Tenebit mordicus Merc. Apprehensam tenebit firmiter non discedet ne latum quidem unguem sed haereâ—it firmior in suo vivendi instituto pietatem audentius colet It is the same man still who should be encouraged by Jobs example to a vigorous progresse He the righteous man Shall hold on The word signifies to hold with strength to hold toughly to hold as with the teeth resolving never to let goe but ever to goe onn In his way What way It may be taken eyther particularly for that way of opposition which hee maintained against the Hypocrite or secondly for the way of
AN EXPOSITION WITH Practicall Observations CONTINUED UPON The fifteenth sixteenth and seventeenth Chapters of the Book of JOB BEING The Summe of twenty three Lectures delivered at Magnus neer the Bridge LONDON By JOSEPH CARYL Preacher of the Word and Pastour of the Congregation there JAMES CHAP. 1. VERS 12. Blessed is the Man that endureth temptation for when he is tryed he shall receive the Crowne of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him LONDON Printed by Matthew Simmons and are to be sould by Thomas Eglesfeild at the Marigold and at the Brasen Serpent in Pauls Church-yard 1650. TO THE CHRISTIAN READER TO THOSE ESPECIALLY OF THIS City who have been the movers and continue the Promoters of this WORK SOLOMON who made Many Bookes tells us toward the end of one of them Eccl. 12.12 That of making many Books there is no end and that much study is a wearinesse to the flesh But while Solomon speakes thus doth he not at once blot those many Books which himselfe had written and discourage others from writing any more Though study be a wearinesse to the flesh yet 't is granted that 's no sufficient reason why we should desist the flesh must be wearied and hard wrought 't is good it should be so But there 's no colour of reason why we should begin that which eyther cannot be finisht and brought to an end or which is to no end when 't is brought to an end and finisht How then saith Solomon that of making many Books there is no end His scope cleares this scruple for having read his Son a Lecture upon the vanity of the Creature and having given him many excellent advices for the due steering of his course through this World he applyes all in the former part of this Verse And further by these my Son be admonished Let what is now written take upon thy heart and be accepted with thee For Vers 10. The Preacher sought to finde out acceptable words and that which was written was upright even words of truth Againe Vers 11. The words of the Wise are as Goads and as Nayles fastned by the Masters of Assemblies which are given from one Shepheard Therefore let these words like Goads put thee on and like Nayles fasten thee to the obedience of my counsels By these my Son be admonished As if he had sayd Let not this Booke which discovers the vanity of all worldly things be it selfe accounted vaine If this Book prevaile not with thee if it master not thy judgement and mannage not thy affections 't is to no end for me to make many Bookes seeing this is cloathed with as much compleatnesse of rule to direct as a Book of this Argument can be and is stampt with as much strength of Authority to command as any Book of any Argument can be And further why shouldest thou my Son put mee to the making of many Bookes What if I could make many with as much ease to my owne spirit as I have made this one which was given me in immediately by the spirit yet thou canst not study or as we put in the Margin read many Books without weaâ—inesse to thy flesh So then though Solomon might have just had ground to put the affectation both of writing and reading many Books upon the file of his observed vanities yet hee doth not disoblige from the study of necessary and serious Books nor at all condemne those many Monuments of profitable learning which industrious Pens have in any Age bequeathed to Posterity He indeed which yet is but a second designe if it be at all the designe of that place takes us off from vaine studies and censures those Bookes be they few as well as many which have no tendency to make any man eyther the wiser or the better by reading them Nor can those Books how many soever they are be to their disparagement called Many which center in and promote what is but one in every kinde any kinde of Truth cheifely that which we call Divine or Holy Truth Any One uselesse or erroneous Booke is too many Many usefull and Orthodox Bookes are but One. The five Bookes of Moses are but One Law The foure Bookes of the Birth Life and Death of our ever blessed Redeemer Jesus Christ are but One Gospell All the Bookes of both Testaments are but one Booke Vpon which account we may also say that All those many and many Bookes which faithfully interpret That one Booke are but one Booke And though of making many such Bookes there should as I conceive there will be no end till this World ends as End is taken for a ceasing to make them yet of making many such Bookes there is an end yea many noble ends as End is taken for the good or benefit which comes by making them The making of such Bookes is good and a benefit to the Reader as communicating to him those manifestations of the spirit which are given to every man to whom they are given to profit withall The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there used by the Apostle signifies such a profit as streameth out to community The making of such Bookes is also good and a benefit to the Maker as being an improvement of his Time and Talents to his owne peace and his Masters glory 'T is reward beyond all the World can give for any worke that God hath glory and man peace in doing it As this small peice of worke is directed to these last mentioned ends and as it ought principally to the first of them so that it may reach the former by adding a Mite or two to the Treasury of the Readers knowledge in the best things and by being his encouragement to walke in the best wayes is the hope and prayer and the reaching of it will be indeed a very rich reward and payment of Your affectionate Freind and Servant in this Worke of the Lord Joseph Caryl May 22. 1650. AN EXPOSITION Upon the Fifteenth sixteenth and seventeenth Chapters of the Book of JOB JOB Chap. 15. Vers 1 2 3 4 5 6. Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite and sayd Should a wise man utter vaine knowledge And fill his belly with the East winde Should be reason with unprofitable talke Or with speeches wherewith he can doe no good Yea thou castest off feare and restrainest prayer before God For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity and thou chusest the tongue of the crafty Thine owne mouth condemneth thee and not I Yea thine owne lips testifie against thee WEE are come to the second Session of this great dispute between Job and his three Freinds they have all spoken one turne and now they returne to speake Eliphaz who led the first charge leads the second and that with a very violent march against this sorrowfull man Yet we are not to conceive Eliphaz upon any designe to revile his person or to vex his spirit That were most unsuitable in any Freind much more such we suppose Eliphaz to
extinguisht and the fountaines dry Thus Eliphaz asserts that his abâ—ttors and instructers in the opinion he maintained were both old and learned old men From this contest about Antiquity and ancient men so often renewed and so much urged betweene Job and his Friends We may observe First That they who have most yeares upon their backs are or may be supposed to have most knowledge and wisedome in their heads and hearts Secondly They who have Antiquity on their side are apt to conclude that they have Truth on their side That which is indeed most ancient is most true yet there are very many very ancient untruths It is no new thing to see a gray-headed errour and a false Doctrine much older then our Fathers But I shall not prosecute either of these points having met with matter of this straine before Chap. 8. v. 8 9 10. Chap. 12. v. 12. to which places I refer the Reader Eliphaz having finished his third reproofe of Job for his arrogancy and the high conceit he had of himselfe proceeds to a fourth and that is as hath been sayd for the low conceit which he had of the comforts tendered him in the Name of God Num parum a te consolationes Dei Heb. Supplendum est verbum reputantur Numquid grande est ut consoletur te Deus Vulg. q. d. facile est Deo ut te ad statum prosperitatis reducat Aquin. Existimasnè tuis aerumnis non posse Deum parem consolationem afferre Vers 11. Are the consolations of God small with thee or is there any secret thing with thee These words undergoe much variety of interpretation the Vulgar Latine neer which some others translate gives a faire sense but at too great a distance from the letter of the Originall thus Is it a great thing that God should comfort thee As if he had sayd Art thou so low that all the consolations of God are not able to raise thee up Is it a worke too big for God himselfe to comfort thee Cannot he change thy outward and inward sorrowes into joyes Will not the consolations of one that is infinite serve thy turne Hath not hee balme enough in store to heale thy wounds nor treasure enough in stock to repaire thy losses T is no hard thing with God to comfort the most disconsolate soule that ever was he that made light to shine out of darknesse can give us light in our thickest darkenesse An minores sunt consolationes dei quà m ut te consolari possint Vatab. This is a truth but for the reason above I stay not upon it The Septuagint translation is farre wider then the former Thou hast received but few wounds in comparison of the sinnes that thou hast committed which is a Paraphrase not a translation and such a Paraphrase as seemes to lye quite without the compasse of the text The meaning and intendment of it may be given thus as if he had sayd Thou complainest that thou art greatly afflicted that thy sorrowes are innumerable Pauca prae iis quae peccasti accepisti vulnera Sep. but if thou considerest thy great and many sinnes thy sufferings are few yea thy sufferings may rather be called consolations and thy losses gaines Are the consolations of God small to thee seeing thou hast sinned so much When God layes but a little affliction upon sinfull man he may be sayd to give a great deale of mercy A third gives this sense An consolationes Dei tam contemptibiles judicas ut projiciat eas ante blasphematores Are the consolations of God small to thee That is Doest thou esteeme the consolations of God so cheape that he will give them to such a one as thou or that hee will lavish them out upon the wicked and cast these Pearles to Swine to such as are blasphemers and contemners of God But why doth Eliphaz call these the consolations of God Did God administer them to Job with his owne hand or did he speake to Job from Heaven Some conceive that though he and his Freinds spake them yet Eliphaz calls them the consolations of God by an Hebraisme because he judged them great consolations Thus in Scripture The Mountaine of God Suas et sociorum consolationes vocat Dei consolationes non sine arrogantia fastu Drus and the River of God are put for a great Mountaine and a great River so here As if he had fayd Thou hast received many great consolations from us thy Freinds and doest thou account them small But I rather take the sense plainely that he calls them so because God is the author and giver the fountaine and originall from whom all consolations spring and flow The Consolations of God are two-fold First Arising from good things already exhibited to us Secondly From good things promised to us The Consolations of God in this place are good things promised or offered Promises are Divine conveyances of Consolation The Freinds of Job had made him many promises that he repenting God would make his latter end better then his beginning c. Hence Eliphaz tells him that he had slighted the consolations of God Any man who reads his story may wonder why he should Surely Job was not in case to refuse comfort considering how he was stript of all comfort The full soule indeed loatheth the honey Combe but to the hungry soule every bitter thing is sweet that is those things which dainty palates distast he eates very savourly Job was kept short and low enough he had nothing of consolation left either without or within he was poore and sore without he was full of horrour and terrour within the arrowes of the Almighty had even drunk up his spirit and layd all his comforts wast and doth he yet neglect or undervalue comforts 'T is true he had reall consolations as appeares by that profession of his assurance of Gods favour towards him I know that I shall be justified yet he had no sensible consolations his frequent complaints shew he had not So then the consolations of God for esteeming which little he is reproved were the promises of consolation made to him in the name of God by the Ministry of his Friends Are the consolations of God small unto thee Hence observe First That consolation is the gift and proper worke of God Thou saith David Psal 71.21 shalt encrease my greatnesse and comfort me on every side The Lord shall comfort Sion he will comfort all he wast places Is 51.3 And againe As one whom his Mother comforteth so will I comfort you and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem God comforts as a Mother tenderly and he comforts as a Father yea as a Master effectually I will comfort you and yee shall be comforted As the corrections of God are effectuall and prosper in the worke for which they are sent so also are his consolations Ephraim sayd Jer. 31.18 Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised So every soule
Some read Much lesse So Mr. Broughton Much lesse the uncleane and loathsome The Originall may beare either as also a third reading Surely then without any impeachment to the scope of the place The heavens are not cleane in his sight Much lesse is abominable and filthy man cleane in his sight Againe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abominabilis propriè quem nemo dignari debeat auditu visu familiaritate contactu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abominari nos dicimus quae in cogitatione nostra non patimur Bold The heavens are not cleane in his sight how much more abominable and filthy is man in his sight We may take it also as a direct inference without any comparison either from the greater or the lesse The heavens are not cleane in his sight surely then man is abominable and filthy The word which we translate abominable notes that which is most abhorring to the nature of man that which is not onely so nauseous that the stomack cannot digest it but so base that the mind is burdened to thinke of it yea the word imports that which is rejected by all the senses abominably rejected that which the eye cannot endure to looke upon that which the eare cannot indure to heare of that which is a stink in the nostrils and which the hand will not touch Such an abominable thing the word beares and such is man God loathes him and is of purer eyes then to behold iniquity much more a lumpe of iniquity he is as a stink in the nostrills of God nor will he touch him for any thing in him unlesse with a hand of justice to destroy him Hoc videtur dictum per antithesm propter Sanctorum caelorum pulchritudinem quorum species mundicies lux ordo conc etus mirabilis conspectus multo jucundissimus Further some explaine abominable by that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 16.26 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha that is let all abominate and cast him out of their society When the Lord would shew the worst thought that he had of the best services of the Jewes he tels them Incense is an abomination to me and when the Psalmist would convince us how the people of Israel had defiled themselves with their owne workes and polluted the Land with blood he gives it in the word of this Text Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people in so much that he abhorred his owne inheritance Psal 106. v. 40. His Inheritance was so abominable to him that he would not touch it nor take it into his owne hands but as it followes in the Psalme He gave them into the hand of the Heathen Hence Observe Sinfull man is loathsome and abominable unto God How much more abominable is man This is not to be understood of some particular man or of some sort of men who are more vile then others but take the best of men the most accomplisht and compleate in the whole course of nature these are abominable they are deprived of the Image of God they are stampt with the Image of Satan they are not onely unable to doe that which is good but they are totally averse from it yea enemies to it is not all this enough to render man abominable in the sight of God And so abominable is man that he doth not onely displease the eye of God but the very eyes of those who have received the grace of God A godly man turnes away from the wicked as the wicked man doth from the godly Prov. 29.27 An unjust man is an abomination to the just and he that is upright in his way is an abomination to the wicked The distast is mutuall 't is called enmity Gen. 3.15 here abomination The wicked man saith as the Devill to Christ What have I to doe with thee thou Son of David The godly man saith What have I to doe with thee thou son of Belial 'T is the sin of the wicked man to abhor the righteous for he abhors him for his righteousnesse 'T is the duty of a godly man to abhor the wicked and he abhors him onely for his wickednesse To doe so is a peice of his character Who shall dwell in the Mountaine of God He is a man in whose eye a vile that is a wicked person is abhorred Psal 15.4 Much lesse can he looke pleasedly or pleasantly upon a wicked man his heart riseth against him not out of pride or high thoughts of himselfe or from the lownesse of his condition if he be poor but from the odiousnesse of his disposition and his opposition of goodnesse Such a man is vile in his esteeme how honourable so ever he is in the eye of the World Againe which shewes yet further that a man in nature is abominable when any man repents and turnes to the Lord he is an abomination to himselfe he is abominable to God and good men before he repents and upon the same account he is abominable to himselfe when he repents For as God and good men before so he then sees his owne vilenesse and deformity then he smells the filthinesse of his owne corrupt heart This the Prophet assures us Ezek. 36.31 where the Lord promiseth to powre out the spirit of repentance upon his people To take away the heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh and then They shall loath themselves for all their abominations as not being able to endure the stench of their owne corruptions When Job at the sight of God saw himselfe more clearly then he cryes out Wherefore I abhorre my selfe and repent in dust and ashes If a good man seeing himselfe is an abomination to himselfe how much more is sinfull man abominable in the sight of God And which aggravates the point to the highest Not onely is a man repenting abominable to himselfe but even a wicked man upon a cleare discovery of himselfe to himselfe becomes an abomination to himselfe though he be farre from repentance That 's the reason why a wicked man cannot abide to search his owne heart or returne into his owne bosome Isa 46.8 Remember this shew your selves men bring it againe to minde The Hebrew is Bring it to your hearts They who love their sin love not to looke to their sinfull hearts they dare not turne their eye inward or upward not upward because there is so much holinesse in God not inward because there is so much filthinesse in themselves Hence the Lord threatens Na. 3.5 6. because they would not looke on their owne filthinesse that he would shew their filthinesse to all the World He would shew the Nations their nakednesse and the Kingdomes their shame And howsoever a naturall man hides his abomination from his eye now or will not see it yet all shall be layd open to him in the day of judgement which will be as a day of the revelation of the righteous judgement of God So a day of the revelation
of the unrighteousnesse of man And then he shall though too late abhor himselfe for ever There hath been a dispute whether the sins of Beleevers shall be opened at that day but there is no question but the sins of Unbeleevers shall and that not onely to shame them but to punish and torment them yea possibly the sight of sin will be a greater torment to them then all their other torments and to be led about as the Prophet was in reference to others from one uncleane roome of their hearts to another there to behold all the abominations of their hearts will be the very pit of Hell O how abominable and as it followes in the Text. Filthy is Man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Putridus foetidus graveolentus translatio a carnibus rancidis non despumatis Drus Pagninus existimat deduci a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rubigo ollae Spuma excrementum The word is derived from a root that signifies corrupt rotten putrified the scum of a Pot the rust of Mettalls the dunge or excrement of man and beasts there are no words filthy enough to expresse the filthinesse of man The word is found but three times as some observe in the Scripture in this construction and in all of them it is applyed to shew the abominable wickednesse of Man the first place is this of Job it is found also Psal 14.3 Psal 53.3 Which Psalmes are most pregnant descriptions of the corrupt state of man as if this were a word pickt out on purpose as a glasse to shew man his face and naturall complexion in There is a second translation of the word which gives more light to this How much more abominable and unprofitable is man One word signifies filthy and unprofitable because that which is corrupt and filthy â—â—â—â—lis Vulg. â—â—x putrida sunt inutilia suâ— is also unprofitable and unfit for use It is an extreame debasement unto man that he is unprofitable so filthy that he is good for nothing The Apostle puts thse together Tit. 1.16 Abominable disobedient and unto every good worke reprobate that is unfit for every good worke We may say of man in this sense as the Prophet Ezek. 15.3 doth of the Vine Sonne of man what is the Vine tree more then another tree excellent to yeeld Wine but in the third Verse we have another answer Shall wood be taken thereof to doe any worke or will men make a pin of it to hange any Vessell thereon will you build a house of Vine Timber or will you so much as make a Pin of it The Vine is not fit to make a Pin of thus we may say of a carnall man he is unprofitable Qui sibi nequam est cui usui bonus est will the Lord use him in any worke no he is reprobate to every good worke will he serve the Lords turne so much as to make a Pin of That is is he profitable for the least service No he is not He is also like the Corne growing upon the house top whereof The Reaper filleth not his hand nor he that binds up the Sheaves his bosome The reason why man appeares thus filthy is because he deales so much with filth and he is thus unfit to doe any good because he is continually doing evill as it followes in the last clause of this Verse Which drinketh iniquity like water Will you know what declares man abominable and filthy in the sight of God It is not his poverty his sicknesse his raggs or any externall defilement nothing but sinne makes him so He drinkes in iniquity like water this makes him as filthy as the dirt and mire he treads upon or as the vomit and dunge which he casteth out Hence Note in generall Sin and sin onely makes man abominable and filthy in the sight of God nothing can defile the soule but sin though a man be cloathed with filthy garments though his skin be over-run with filthy sores though he lye in a stinking Channel yet the Lord will not say he is abominable or filthy in these respects for even in such a state or at such a time Christ may have taken him in his armes and kissed him with the kisses of his lips But though he goe cloathed in Scarlet though he lye in a bed of Ivory and is perfumed with all the spices of Arabia yet sin makes him filthy and abominable in the eye of the Lord. Secondly Observe The multiplyed acts of sin are an evidence that man is habitually sinfull or that he is abominable and filthy He that doth righteousnesse is righteous and he that doth unrighteousnesse is unrighteous If man were not filthy he could not drinke iniquity that is feed upon and delight in sin which is but filthinesse This expression of mans sinfulnesse is further considerable he doth not onely commit iniquity but hee drinkes iniquity and he doth not sip at it but hee drinkes it like water Elihu speaks thus Job 34.7 What man is like Job who drinketh up scorning like water and so doth Solomon Prov. 26.6 Hee that sends a message by the hand of a foole cutteth off the feet and drinketh dammage that is he shall have dammage enough a full draught of it his belly-full of it by sending such an empty-headed messenger upon his errand So to drinke iniquity and to drinke it like water is to doe aboundance of iniquity I shall give seven observations which will discover the intendment of this manner of speaking and draw out the meaning of He drinks iniquity like water First thus Men naturally hath a strong appetite or desire to sin Mans naturall desire is to nothing else but sin Drinking implyes appetite a man doth not drink ordinarily till he is thirsty And though Drunkards have sometimes no thirst yet they have alwayes a strong desire to drink Sinfull man is a thirst for and desires the drafts of sin Ephes 4.19 He commits iniquity with greedinesse which is a Metaphor taken from eating and drinking And because man hath not a greater desire after any thing then to drinke therefore it is gone to a Proverbe among us when we would shew our willingnesse to doe a thing we say We will doe it as willingly as to drink when we are a thirst Such is the bent of man to sin that he hath no more reluctance to commit it then the thirsty man hath to drink He thirsteth after it as vehemently as David did after God Psal 42.2 My soule thirsteth for God for the living God as the Hartpanteth after the water brookes so panteth my soule after thee O God Or againe the heart of man thirsteth after the waters of iniquity as David thirsted after the waters of the well of Bethlem who will give me to drink of the waters of the Well of Bethlem At which word some of his mighty men brake through the whole Host of the Enemy to fetch that water When man thirsts for this water of iniquity his owne heart or hand
strength such was the power of the man whom Eliphaz describes such his strength He subdued strong Cities he conquered men and he thought he could conquer God too But though to destroy and pull downe intimate strength yet to build and set up Cities requires grater strength This strength also is here ascribed to the wicked man who First either comes to Cities already overthrowne or overthrowes Cities And then secondly builds the Cities which are overthrown that himselfe may dwell in them He will not dwell in Cities built to his hand or in Palaces ready made but he will make goodly Palaces out of desolate places a City wasted by Warr by Fire and Sword shall revive out of the rubbish and recover to its ancient splendor if he undertake it Master Broughton renders clearely to this sense Though hee makes dwellings of Cities ruinated of houses undwelt which were comming to heaps of stone Here 's the compleatnesse of his worldly power He makes flourishing Cities desolate and desolate Cities flourish he dwells in desolate Cities in Houses where no man inhabiteth that is in Cities which he himselfe once made desolate having cast out their proper Inhabitants but hath now re-edified and enlarged for his owne use and honour Hence Observe First That a wicked man cares not wohm he ruines so he may raise himselfe Downe with Kingdomes downe with Cities downe with all so he may stand or have his owne ends Secondly Observe Which is the scope of Eliphaz A man that hath great power among men begins to thinke himselfe strong enough for God also He made earthly Cities desolate and none was able to resist him therefore he hopes to make Heaven desolate and disturbe the throne of God He runs upon his neck c. Againe Some expound this Verse not of the cause of this mans sin but of the punishment of his sin He dwells in desolate Cities Terrores de quibus nuper dictum est non patiuntur impium in familiari hominum consortio vivere ideo desolatorum urbium ruinas latibula quaerit Pined in places where no man dwelt that is He shall dwell alone he shall either refuse or be refused by all good company For this miserable solitude may arise two wayes First From trouble of minde he having oppressed others shall finde himselfe at last so oppressed with the witnesse of his owne conscience that to avoyd it he retires into desolate places into waste Wildernesses into old ruinous buildings where none dwell but the Owle and the Screech-owle Isa 34. He that findes not his owne conscience good company never finds any Secondly This wicked man is cast out from the company of men he hath been a scourge to many and now all are a scourge to him Tyranny growes intolerable to mankinde Dan. 4.33 Hujusmodi tyranni eiiciuntur in exilâ—um Nebuchadnezzar was the greatest Monarch in the World and a proud Tyrant at last he was turned out to grasse his Nobles Lords and Subjects forsook him and he who ruled men lived among Beasts or as the same Prophesie of Daniel reports it Chap. 5.20 When his heart was lifted up and his minde hardned in pride he was deposed or as the Chaldee made to come downe from his Kingly throne and they tooke his glory from him and he was driven from the sons of men c. Which we may answer with Jobs text He was forced to dwell indesolate places The Roman Story tells us of Nero that perceiving himselfe a lost man by the revolt of some Provinces and the generall complaint of the people against his insolent Government he wandered up and downe and crept first into a thicket by and by into a Cave with Sporus his filthy Favorite and at last when he heard of the sentence of death given against him by the Senate and that their Officers were hasting to attach him he with a little helpe of one of his Servants cut his owne Throat Thirdly Others interpret these words as noting the wicked mans worldly decay he shall not have a House to put his head in His strong Cities and goodly Palaces shall goe to ruine or he shall be forced to dwell in a ruinous House a House ready to fall about his eares who before lived in ceiled Houses He hath pulled downe other mens houses and now he dwels in houses ready to fall downe he impoverisht others and now himselfe is turned out among the poor Hence Observe That God often makes the punishment of man suitable to his sin The Lord is known by the judgement which he executeth the wicked is snared in the work of his owne hands Psal 9.16 The judgements of God are alwayes just and sometimes their justice is visible As the wicked feel them so all may see them and say Righteous art thou O Lord. The Prophet describes this retaliation of Divine judgement Isa 5.8 9. Woe to them that add House to House and lay Feild to Feild till there be no place that is no place for others to dwell in that they may be placed in the midst of the earth What is the danger of this In mine eare saith the Lord of Hoasts of a truth many Houses shall be desolate many and faire without Inhabitant Here is desolation the reward of desolation and as they took bread from others and puld the cup from their mouthes so their bread shall be taken away and their cup left empty Thus it followes in the Prophet Vers 10. Yea ten Akers of Vineyard shall yeeld one Bath A Bath was a measure among the Jews of Liquids containing as is conceived about eight Gallons So that when he saith Ten Akers of Vineyard shall yeild one Bath the meaning is there shall be a great scarcity of Wine An Aker of Vineyard should not yeild a Gallon of Wine that 's a miserable Vintage And the seed of an Homer shall yeild an Ephah An Homer was a measure for dry things containing ten Ephahs So that when it is sayd The seed of a Homer shall yeeld an Ephah the meaning is they shall reape but the tenth part of the seed sowne which is a miserable Harvest and the highest threat of ensuing Famine Thus the Lord punished them as they had sinned they starved the poore and God threatens to starve them Hunger never pinches so terribly as when it is a punishment sent at the cry of the hungry Againe Isa 33.1 When thou shalt cease to deal treacherously then they shall deale treacherously with thee When the deceiver is deceived and the trecherous dealer ruined by treacherous dealing men then the truth and faithfulnesse of God are eminently exalted And as it is in punishments so often in rewards God doth us good in the same way wherein we have done good The Midwives saved the Males of the Israelites in Aegypt and by this act of pitty built the house of Israel which the Lord took so well at their hands That he built their houses or made their houses flourish Ez.
undertake the office of comforting others should consider these three things especially First The nature of the affliction whether internall or externall that which will comfort a man in bodily afflictions will not doe it in soule afflictions Secondly The degree or measure of the affliction If the Playster be too narrow for the Soare how can it heale Thirdly They should consider the temper of the Person afflicted if he be pressed in conscience for sin they should not presse his conscience with sin much lesse should they thunder out judgement and terrour against him for sin if he be very weak they should use few words if he be passionate they should use gentle words lest in stead of perswading they provoke his spirit Many a soule is cast downe and swallowed up in despaire by the ignorance or unfaithfulnesse of those who would bee called Comforters and Supporters Ezek. 13.19 They slay the soules that should not dye and save them alive that should not live Unskilfull Physitians of the body kill more then bodily diseases And though the unskilfulnesse of soule-physitians doth not indeed kill soules that should dye for 't is their owne sin that kils them nor can kill the soules that should not dye for the medicine of Christs most precious blood will heale and save such from their sins yet unskilfull soule-physitians shall be judged and dealt with as having done all this because they have done their utmost to doe it which is also the meaning of that Text 1 Cor. 8.11 And through thy knowledge shall the weake brother perish for whom Christ dyed that is an indiscreet use of that liberty which thy knowledge teacheth thee doth that which may be accounted a destroying of thy weake Brother As that knowledge so the ignorance before spoken of slayes the soules that should not dye As it requires the power so the wisedome and teachings of God to comfort and extricate poore sâ—ules in and from the Labyrinth of their sorrows The Lord hath given me the tongue of the learned What to doe That I should know how to speake a word in season to him that is weary Isa 50.4 It is a great peice of learning to speak aright to a weary soule to deale with them so as neither to flatter them in their sins nor oppresse them under their sins to deale with them so in th ir affliction as that we neither cause them to sleight the hand of God nor yet to sink under it He that can guid and steer the course of a soule that is afflicted and tossed with the tempest of sin and sorrow between this rock and gulfe the Scylla of presumption and the Charybdis of despaire he is a learned Pilot indeed This learning is the speciall gift of God Christ himselfe acknowledgeth that the Lord his Father had given him the tongue of the learned for this end This learning is not taught in the Schooles of men Philosophers and Oratours never taught such an art of consolation nor can it be attained by the bare teaching of the holyest Doctors and Preachers of Divine truths Wee may have a rich furniture of materials for this worke and yet make no worke of it nor be able to put truths and consciences rightly together unlesse the annoynting teach us As the Prophet brings in our great Master and Tutor in this heavenly science againe confessing of himselfe Isa 61.1 The spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath annoynted me to preach good tydings to the meek he hath sent me to binde up the broken hearted to proclaime liberty to the Captives Till we are annoynted by God we cannot speake effectually to man without the spirit who is the comforter wee prove but miserable comforters we bungle at the work and rather undoe soules then doe them any good Wee may Preach good tydings good newes from Heaven the Gospel is nothing else but good newes yet no good comes of it till the good spirit comes with it both instructing the hearts of those that heare and the tongues of those that speake duely to apply the word Master Calvin upon this place saith Some Comforters have but one song to sing and they have no regard to whom they sing it All persons all estates and all conditions are alike to them The wisedome of a comforter consists in discerning and making these differences As the Apostle Jude hints unto us Ver. 22 23. And of some have compassion making a difference and others save with feare As faith saves all so in a sense feare saves some that is they must be terrifyed and made afraid that they may be saved Jobs Freinds would needs save him with feare whereas they should have had compassion of him and have spoken kindly to him Because they could not make this difference therefore they tooke a wrong course with him and were justly taxed without distinction Miserable comforters are yee all Vers 3. Shall vaine words have an end As if he had sayd I have got no comfort I would faine get some rest your words have not refreshed me I desire you would not trouble me you have done me no good will you have done Shall vaine words have an end The Hebrew is Shall words of winde have an end That expression hath ben opened twice before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verba vervi i e. ventosa parum solidas rationes habentia How long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong East winde saith Bildad Chap. 8.2 Should a wise man utter vaine knowledge and fill his belly with the East winde saith Eliphaz Chap. 15.2 Job retorts it upon them Shall words of winde have an end You tell mee that my words are windy yours are so indeed I must hide my selfe from these blasts and stormes of your tongues unlesse you grow calmer Shall windy words have an end Words are windy First When they have no solid reason no substance in them reason is the substance of words and so is truth these two goe alwayes together and where these are not nothing goes out of the mouth but winde Projicit ampullas c. we say of all words which are not followed with action Words are but winde we may say so also of all words which are not accompanyed with reason Verba plena spiritu superbiae Secondly Words are windy when they have much pride and swelling conceitednesse in them The Scripture cals such words Swelling words of vanity That which swels our hearts will quickly swell our lips pride doth both Pride is a winde within us vaine words are a winde without us the proud man knowes not how to ease himselfe of this winde within but by breaking it out in words Thirdly Words are windy when they have much passion in them when they are angry and furious an angry man blusters rather then speakes and makes a noise rather then a discourse While David Psal 39.2 3. was dumb with silence while he held his peace from good his sorrow
yea and saved their soules among and towards vvhom hee hath diligently used those meanes appointed by God for the attaining of those great and noble ends though possibly those ends be not attained God himselfe reckons thus of all the labours of his faithfull servants they shall be rewarded as having done that vvhich they have been doing vvith their hearts hands and tongues though they see little fruit of eyther Then I sayd I have laboured in vaine Isa 49.4 but though it vvas in vaine to those for whom he laboured that is they got no good by it yet it was not in vain to him who laboured he got much good by it as it follows in the same Verse Surely my judgement is with the Lord and my worke or my reward one vvord signifies both reward and vvorke to shew that these can never be seperated my worke saith hee is with my God and Vers 5. Though Israel be not gathered yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength As vve are not to judge of the goodnesse of any cause by the successe but by the justice of it so neither doth God adjudge the reward of any vvorke by the successe but by the goodnesse of it together with the sweat and sincerity of him that doth it As the will of a godly man is accepted for the deed so his deed is accepted for the successe JOB CHAP. 16. Vers 6 7 8 9 10 11. Though I speak my griefe is not asswaged and though I forbeare what am I eased But now he hath made mee weary thou hast made desolate all my company And thou hast filled me with wrinkles which is a witnesse against me and my leanenesse rising up in me beareth witnesse to my face He teareth me in his wrath who hateth me he gnasheth upon me with his teeth mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me They have gaped upon me with their mouth they have smitten mee upon the cheek reproachfully they have gathered them selves together against me God hath delivered me to the ungodly and turned me over to the hands of the wicked IN the five former Verses of this Chapter Job reproved the personall faylings of his Freinds towards him hee now enters upon the confutation of their opinion This is the constant method both of Job and his Freinds they never come to the matter till they have fallen upon the man nor touch the opinion till they have dealt with the person And this is the tenour of most mens spirits to this day in disputes and controversies and some doe not onely deale with the man before the matter but lose the matter in dealing with the man entangling and engaging themselves so much in personall quarrels that they forget or desert the doctrinall quarrell Job and his Freinds though they were too mindfull of the former yet they did not forget the latter and here Job addresses himselfe unto it Yet before he enters upon the state of the question he sets forth his owne state and shews how it was with him granting which Eliphaz had made the ground of his accusation that he was in an extreamely afflicted condition yet denying what he from thence inferred that he was therefore wicked or continued knowingly in any sinfull course He describes his afflictions with much variety of Argument and Elocution to the seventeenth Verse First Aggravating them by their unmoveablenesse or remedilesnesse His sorrows were stubborne and such as would not yeeld to any kinde of remedy Vers 6. Though I speake my griefe is not asswaged and though I forbeare what am I eased In the former Verse Job speakes in a high straine of assurance that if his Freinds were afflicted The moving of his lips should asswage their griefe But it seemes his owne experience had taught him that the moving of his lips could not asswage his owne greife Though I speake saith he here my griefe is not asswaged Hence Observe A man may doe that for others which he cannot doe for himselfe He may comfort others in their sorrows when hee cannot comfort himselfe he may resolve others in their doubts when he cannot resolve himselfe hee may answer to cases which their consciences put him when he cannot answer his owne yea 't is possible for a man to speak such words to another as may turne him from his sin and save his soule and yet himselfe continue in sin and lose his owne soule for ever Naturalists have a rule concerning the senses That when a sensible object is brought too neere or layd upon the sense it not onely hinders but takes away the present sensation This holds a proportion in rationall actings the neerer any one is to us in relation the harder it is to fixe counsell upon him and because wee are neerest to our selves therefore it is hardest of all to counsell our selves Our Saviour Christ prevents what he foresaw some ready to object against him Luke 4.23 Yee will surely say unto me this Proverbe Physitian heale thy selfe The Proverbe in its Originall is I conceive to be understood personally but as Christ suggests it there it is to be understood Nationally or Provincially Heale thy selfe is heale thy owne Countrey exercise thy power of working miracles there as well as thou hast done it in other places that this is the meaning of it appeares plainely by the next words Whatsoever we have heard done in Canaan doe also in thine owne Countrey For Christ as yet had wrought no mighty workes of healing there Mark 6.5 But why was Christ so slow in manifesting himselfe to his owne Countreymen Hee gives the reason Vers 24. And he sayd Verily I say unto you no Prophet is accepted in his owne Countrey The Gospel of Mark Chap. 6.4 adds two closer relations His owne Kin and his owne House They in a mans house are neerer to him then his kindred abroad and his kindred are neerer to him then his Countrey-men now among these a Prophet hath no honour They know him so much that they doe not respect him or his sayings The Jewes sayd Is not this the Carpenter the Son of Mary the Brother of James c. Christ being thus neere to them had little honour among them Now for as much as a man is neerer to himselfe not onely then his Countrey-men but then any of his Kin therefore his owne counsels and comforts have ordinarily so little effect upon himselfe he is not accepted in his owne breast There are some indeed so gracious or great in their owne eyes that they vvill aske counsell of none but themselves nor follow any advise but their owne but usually man seeks out as being neither able to satisfie his owne doubts nor abate his owne sorrowes though possibly more able for both then he to whom he seekes Though I speake my griefe is not asswaged and though I forbeare what am I eased Some conceive Job speaking here like an Orator who seems to stand in doubt vvhat to doe
that second sense of the word They have filled or satiated themselves with me Note It is a kinde of pleasure to some to see others in paine We should be pained with the paine of others fellow-feeling is a duty how farr are they departed from this duty who are so farr from feeling the sufferings of others that they take pleasure in their sufferings There are two sorts of pleasure which every good man should abhorr First Pleasure in sin our owne or others The worst that was sayd of the wicked Gentiles was this They not onely doe such things but take pleasure in them that doe them Rom. 1.32 Secondly Pleasure in the sufferings and sorrows of others some doe not onely put others to the suffering of sorrow but take pleasure in the sorrow which they suffer they make their teares as Wine their ashes as Bread and untill they see them weeping and feeding on ashes their owne Wine is as teares and their Bread as ashes to them Haman came full from the Queenes Banquet and he was invited by her to a second Banquet the next day yet still he was hungry and sayd Hest 5.13 All this avayleth me nothing so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the Kings gate 'T is like Haman had eaten and drunke freely yet the Banquet had not filled his belly All this availeth me nothing More then forty of the Jewes bound themselves under a curse that they would neyther eate nor drink till they had killed Paul Acts 23.12 13. It would have been better to Haman then meate and drinke to have killed Mordecai and all the Jewes Some have been heard to say O how sweet is revenge What a pleasant draught is a draught of blood Spightfull spirits hunger and thirst for the downefall and misery of those who stand in their way nor will any thing satisfie hatred but the ruine of those who are hated and when once they see them ruined they are satisfied as envy is troubled at the good which another enjoyes more then at all the evils which it selfe feeles so malice is more satisfied with the evils which befall others then with all the good which it selfe enjoyes Ex. 15.9 The enemy sayd I wil pursue I will overtake I will divide the spoyle my lust shall be satisfied upon them Pharoah and his Courtiers yea all the Aegyptians hungred and thirsted for the flesh and blood of Israel They had a lust or a longing rather as women with Childe have sometimes inordinate appetites after strange meates to eate mans flesh and drink the blood of the slain Revenge is as craving a lust as covetousnesse but it is a lust more easily satisfied then covetousnesse This encreases by receiving what it desires but that if it may have it is satisfied That which covetousnesse receives is onely as fewell to a fire but that which revenge receives Appetitus finis est infinitus is as food to the stomack the desire of the end is infinite but the end being once attained desire is at an end Yee are filled with mee Job having thus described the instruments and manner of his affliction turnes his thoughts from them to the supreame efficient and orderer of his afflictions Vers 11. God hath delivered me to the vngodly and turned me over into the hands of the wicked The words seemeth to bâ—are an allusion to the proceeding of an earthly Judge who having tryed a Malefactor and found him guilty pronounceth sentence of death upon him and then delivers or turnes him over to those whoâ—e office it is to see execution done accordingly The word which we render to deliver signifies also to shut up which suites well with the former notion for a condemned Person is more closely shut up and more narrowly watcht then before But who were the ungodly to whom he was delivered and the wicked into whose hands or power he was turned These were not onely the Chaldeans and Sabeans but also all such as shewed any malice against him or willingly afflicted him in his afflictions The words carry in them a correction of his former complaint as if he had sayd Why doe I trouble my selfe with men why doe I complaine of their unkindnesse or cruelty against me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A via divertit deflexit declinavit God hath done it he hath delivered and turned mee over as a Magistrate doth a Malefactor whom he hath condemned into the hands of these tormenters he hath sealed a writ for my execution Thus Job ascribes all to God hee sometimes wrangles with men but as often before so now againe he lookes beyond them at once seeing and adoring the hand of God putting him and his estate into the hands of men Hence Note First Wicked men are ordered by Providence They cannot take till God puts into their hands a Sparrow fals not to the ground without God much lesse doth a godly man fall into the hands of the wicked without God They doe but execute what God decrees though they doe it without any respect to his decrees and quite crosse to his commands Many will be found at once executing the decrees and disobeying the commands of God Secondly God delivers his dearest Children into the hands of wicked men for tryall and correction Their graces and goodnesse appeare most when they are under the handling of evill and gracelesse men Many of their corruptions are purged out while they are in their power who are not at all purged from their corruption Foule hands may serve to wash that cleane which is foule and they who are but drosse may fetch off the rust which cleaves to the purest mettall Thirdly Note It is an aggravation of affliction to be given up to wicked men It is an affliction to be in their company what is it then to be under their power Woe is me saith David Est hoc in judicio Domini gravissimum quod adversariis videatur Favere a parte eorum stare consilia conatusque ipsorum contra nos prosperando Brent that I dwell in Meshec how wofull then is it to be a Prisoner in Meshec While God keeps the Rod in his owne hands the smart is not so greivous We learne this in Davids choise 2 Sam. 24.14 when three evils were offered him he resolves Let me fall now into the hand of the Lord for his mercies are great and let me not fall into the hand of man A good man can easier dye by the hand of God then receive a slight wound by the hand of an Enemy As those comforts are sweeter so those sufferings are not so bitter which Beleevers receive immediately from God It is hard to suffer from equals much more from inferiours but most of all when we suffer the fatherly displeasure of God from those who are the objects of his displeasure as a Judge Let the righteous smite me saith David Psal 141. a reproofe from them is oyle but a reproofe from the wicked is Gall and Viniger
figere contendant Bez. and for a signe to be spoken against What signe A Butt signe or a Butt mark A signe to be spoken against that is All shall direct the Arrowes of their words against him Bitter vvords are compared to Arrows many showres of these were shot against Jesus Christ He vvas aymed at on every side by envious spirits and malevolent tongues He might say as Job Thou hast set me up as a mark Observe from this Allusion First The Servants of God must expect many afflictions from the hand of God A mark is not set up or it is very rarely set up for one shot As God hath more mercies then one in store for his people so he hath more Arrows then one for them in his Quiver When thou hast received one shot prepare for a second and a third Observe Secondly God seemes to take pleasure in afflicting his people This also contributes to the proofe of the generall Observation before given For the more pleasure any one takes in afflicting the more severity he shewes in afflicting A Father chastiseth his Childe with teares in his eyes every stroake vvhich a vvise Father gives his Childe is as a wound to himselfe and this abates the smart of the blow but for Fathers to doe it as the Apostle speakes Heb. 12. For their pleasure or vvhen it pleaseth a Father in that sense to doe it this encreaseth the smart The sufferer feeles most paine vvhen it is a pleasure to another to make him suffer Now vvhat is shooting at a mark No man shoots at a marke for toyle to make a labour and a businesse of it but men shoot at a mark for their recreation and pleasure God delights not properly in the sorrows and sufferings of his people he is not like those cruell Tyrants vvho fasten their Captives to a Post and then shoot them dead for sport God doth not willingly much lesse sportingly afflict the Children of Men Lam. 3.33 yet it pleaseth him to afflict them yea as Job speakes Chap. 9. He laughs at the tryall of the innocent that is He carryes himselfe as to their sense as if he did not regard vvhat they suffered though indeed he be infinitely tender of them in all their sufferings yet because they doe not alwayes understand the language of this laughter it makes them cry out as if God had forsaken them and were either really turned an Enemy against them or at least did not use them as his Freinds from which neer relation nothing appeares more remote then to be set up and shot at as a mark Observe Thirdly Affliction doth not hit the Saints by chance but by direction There is a great difference betweene shooting at randome and shooting at a mark God doth now draw his Bow at a venture as he who slew Ahab did 1 Kings 22.34 or shoot at the vvhole host of mankinde let the Arrow light where and on vvhom it vvill but he singles out the particular person whom he intends to hit Every one of his Arrows goes upon a speciall errand and touches no breast but that against whom it vvas sent And as this speakes the honour of God who determines as much upon whom as vvhat to doe and chuseth out those at vvhom he meanes to shoot as vvell as the meanes by vvhich he shoots at them so it should establish our hearts to receive his shot and in this sense to be like a senselesse mark which stirrs not from the Arrow nor vvithdrawes from the deadly Bullet It is not onely the grace but the glory of a Beleever when he can stand as a But-mark and take affliction quietly The Apostle speakes neer this language and fully this truth 1 Thes 1.3 I would that no man should be moved for these afflictions for you your selves know that we are appointed thereunto As if he had sayd I would have you stand as Posts notwithstanding all these afflictions Not that he would have them carelesse or secure but couragious and full of holy undauntednesse I would have no man flinch or stirr a foot no more then a mark that is shot at Why Knowing that wee are appointed thereto As a mark is appointed to be shot at and set up on purpose that the Arrow may be directed against it so the Lord sets up his Saints and Servants on purpose that he may shoot the Arrows of affliction at them therefore let us keep our ground and not be moved We honour God yea it is our honour also when we are unmoveable in active obedience as the Apostle exhorts 2 Cor. 15.58 Wherefore my Brethren be stedfast and unmoveable alway abounding in the worke of the Lord for as much as yee know that your labour is not in vaine in the Lord. But as it is our honour and Gods honour too when we are unmoveable in doing the will of God so it is a greater honour both to him and us when we are so in suffering his will or in passive obedience when wee stand to it and move no more in way of cowardise and impatience then a Post when it is shot at This is the glory of a Christian and it is his duty this is the glory of God and it is his due though it be put here as an aggravation of the greatnesse of Jobs affliction that he was set as a standing mark yet it is a hightning of our praise contentedly to be so God will make wicked men his standing mark to all eternity against whom he will shoot the Arrowes the poysoned Arrows of his indignation which shall drinke up their spirits and yet their spirits shall not be consumed God makes his precious Servants and faithfull people his standing mark for a time they feele the Arrowes of affliction and are deeply wounded as Job further prosecutes his sad condition continuing the Allegory in the next Verse Vers 13. His Archers compasse me round about he cleaveth my reynes in sunder 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Magni ejus sed hic quadrare non potest Licet enim 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sig. magnitudinem sive in quantitate continua sive in discreta hic tamen in discreta est accipienda a multitudine enim sagittarii dicuntur Rabim God hath a Bow he hath his Arrowes and his Archers all ready at a call The decree of God is his Quiver his Arrows are his purposes and the Instruments which execute them are his Archers whether rationall or irrationall whether men or things any thing which God useth to afflict man by is his Archer His Archers have compassed mee about The word is Rabbi His Archers from Rab great so some read it His great Ones have compassed me about The word Rab doth not onely signifie greatnesse in bulke or continued quantity but in number or discreet quantity Hence Archers are called Rabbi great ones not from their magnitude but from their multitude because Archers goe in company two at the least and usually many are a set or they are called
This evill is of the Lord wherefore should I waite on the Lord any longer As if he had sayd I will never waite for any kindnesse at his hand who hath already used me thus unkindly Hee that takes an affliction in ill part at the hand of God will never expect good from him or if he doe it must come very speedily or else his waiting is over 'T is not unlikely that this King by the advice of the Prophet Elisha had waited a little but he was soone weary Why should I waite any longer There was reason enough why he should but his unbeleife would not let him see what he saw nor understand what himselfe had spoken For the reason which he gave why hee would waite no longer is the strongest reason that can be given why he should have waited longer This evill is of the Lord. 'T is true that among men they from or of whom evils are are usually the unfittest to remove them Men who wound are seldome skil'd at curing but the Lord brings no evill but what he can remove nor doth he make any wound but what he can heale yea no power nor art in the World can heale the wounds that he makes or remove the evills which hee brings but his owne Hence the patient Beleever cryes out with the Church Hos 6.1 Let us returne to the Lord yea let us waite upon the Lord for hee hath torne and hee will heale But the impatient unbeleever saith Let us turne away from the Lord let us waite upon the Lord no longer for 't is he that hath torne us therefore surely hee will not heale us Grace and corruption may take up the same principles but they draw conclusions from them as contrary as themselves are Thirdly It is exceeding sinfull to give over waiting as thinking that God cannot helpe Some shorten their patience by shortning the hand of God That such were the apprehensions of the Jewes is more then probable by the Prophets Negative assertion Isa 59.1 Behold the Lords hand is not shortned that it cannot save Fourthly It is exceeding sinfull to give over waiting upon God by turning aside to sinfull wayes Some finde out as they suppose neerer wayes to helpe themselves then by attending upon God they like not as such have prophanely called them those pious delayes and so over Hedge and Ditch they will to the overtaking of their owne ends The Prophet Jeremiah describes such Chap. 18.12 And they sayd there is no hope or our case is desperate all 's lost What then but we will walke after our owne devises and every one doe after the imagination of his evill heart The Lord had told them Vers 11. Behold I frame evill against you and devise a device against you But did the Lord devise a device meerely to ensnare them or did he frame evill against them onely to undoe them No his ayme was their repentance not their ruine and therefore he adds in the same Verse Returne yee now every one from his evill wayes and make your wayes and your doings good As if the Lord had sayd Though I am about to frame evill against you yet doe yee returne to me and all shall be well How doe they resent this threatning and this Counsell They grow desperate upon it And seeing God had brought them into such straits they would get out as well as they could And as he was devising devices against them so they had devices of their owne and them they would follow Thus they would not waite upon God for a remedy in the way of repentance for their old sins but they would provide themselves a remedy by running into new sins They had a device in their heads which should match the device of God Now what the Prophet subjoynes Vers 13 14 15. as a strong redargution of that people who refused to waite upon God in that way the same may we say to all those who refuse to waite upon God in any way The Virgin of Israel he cals her so to minde her what shee should be not to commend her for what shee was hath done a very horrible thing will a man leave the Snow of Lebanon which commeth from the rock of the feild Or will a man as our Margin hath it leave my feilds for a rock or for the Snow of Lebanon that is Will any traveller be so foolish as to leave the plaine feilds where hee may passe with ease and pleasure without let or hinderance to climbe over craggy Rocks and precipitious Hils will hee leave a beaten path to goe through vast Woods and desolate Forrests covered with Snow where no track or footsteps are to be seene or as it followes in that Verse shall the cold flowing waters which come from another place be forsaken or shall the coole running waters be forsaken for strange waters that is Will any man who hath fresh Fountaine-water of his owne at home goe to seeke water in a stincking Ditch in standing pooles and miery puddles when he is a thirst Such is the choice or exchange which they make who cease waiting upon God in his wayes and turne aside for helpe to their owne crooked wayes Stumbling as the Prophet speakes at the fifteenth Verse of the same Chapter in their wayes from the ancient paths to walke in paths in a way not cast up or where no Causey is Though the hand or providence of God doth sometimes bring his people as the Prophet speakes Isa 42.16 By a way which they knew not and leads them in paths that they have not knowne that is Into a way which they knew not by any former teachings of men or experiences of their owne yet his hand never leads them into any way which is not cast up or which may not be made out by some rule or example in the word To leave waiting upon God in his ordinary wayes and to goe in any extraordinary way which hath no ground in the word is purely to follow our owne wayes and to goe after the imaginations of our evill hearts Job in this place apprehended it unseasonable for him to waite for those worldly attainments and enjoyments which his Freinds promised him but he was not unwilling to tarry the Lords leisure nor was he displeased with God for afflicting him nor did he say God could not helpe him much lesse did he turne from God to any wicked way to helpe himselfe when he sayd If I wait the Grave is mine house Secondly Observe from it A good man may give up all his worldly expectations A Beleever may in this sense be an unbeleever and lay down all his hopes in this life of long life and of good dayes of riches and temporall greatnesse When Freinds bid such on their sick beds Be of good cheere we hope to see you abroad shortly we hope God will raise you up againe they will even forbid those comforts and say Doe not intice us back into the World with these hopes the Graves
are ready for us and we have made our bed in the darknesse it is not for us to looke for life here indeed to live to us is Christ but to dye is gaine A Beleever can willingly part with all his earthly possessions for heavenly hopes much more can he joyfully part with all his earthly hopes for the possession of Heaven Thirdly from these expressions The Grave is my house I have made my bed in the darknesse Note A Beleever looks upon death as a state of rest As the whole house is a place of rest compared with the World abroad so the Bed is the speciall place of rest Revel 14.14 Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord from henceforth they rest from their labours and their workes follow them They shall follow their worke no more who are followed by their works The Grave is the house and bed of the body to all who dye Heaven is the house and rest of the soule to all those why dye in the Lord. Saints have here a rest in their labours they shall hereafter have a rest from their laboures Lastly Whereas the bed of death is made in darknesse Observe There is nothing desireable in death as considered in it selfe A darke condition is the worst condition Darknesse which in Scripture signifies all evill is a word good enough to expresse the state of death by What desireablenesse there is in death what pleasures in the Grave will appeare further in those arguments which death useth to invite us home to its house the Grave in the next Verse vvhich tels us our most lovely companions yea our sweetest and most endeared relations there are Corruption and Wormes Vers 14. I have sayd to corruption Thou art my Father and to the worme Thou art my Mother and my Sister Hyperbolae sunt quibus significat se omnem jam vitae cogitationem abdicasse Jun. This Verse is of the same sense with the former onely here Job breaks into an elegant variation of new metaphors and hyperbolicall expressions I have sayd That is I have as it were called to and saluted the retinue and attendants of death as my freinds and kindred As I have made my bed in the Grave and as that is my house so now I am finding out my houshold relations I say to this Thou art my Father and to that Thou art my Mother and Sister 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Est clamare vocare appellare per electionem nominare elegans prosopopeia per quam Job tumulum alloquitur Bold The word which we render I have sayd c. signifies not barely to say but to cry or call out I have called out to corruption so Master Broughton To the pit I cry O Father O Sister O Mother to the Worme not barely I have sayd but I cry and not barely I cry Father to the pit but he adds also a note of exclamation O Father Secondly The word imports not generally a calling or crying out to any one that comes next but to some speciall person by way of election and choice or to such as vve know vvell and are acquainted with as the termes of Father Mother and Sister imply Verbum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat etiem occurrere alicui nam occurrentem solemus salutatione vel interrogatione aliqua proprio nomine appellare Further the word signifies not onely to call aloud and to call with election but to goe forth on purpose to call a Freind or to invite him in As when we see an acquaintance comming towards us or our dwellings we step out to meet and welcome him so the word may beare in this place As if Job seeing death drawing towards him had gone out and said O corruption my Father O wormes my Mother my Sister vvelcome vvelcome such an elegancy the word yeelds us I shall not here stay upon any anxious disquisition about the propriety of these relations how Job cals corruption his Father and the vvorme his Mother and Sister or in drawing out comparisons about them vve are to looke onely to a generall proportion not to an exact propriety in these words there 's no need to make out parallels between corruption and a Father or betweene wormes and a Mother or a Sister Onely thus much may be asserted particularly First He speakes thus to shew that he looked on death not onely not as an enemy but not as a stranger Death and he were well acquainted Secondly He speakes thus to shew that death vvas not only not a stranger to him but as one of his kindred He vvas upon as fayre termes vvith death as vvith Father and Mother Thirdly Job speakes thus to shew Vt ostendat mortem sibi in votis esse cunctis illum amicitiae necessitudinis nomininis compellat Pinet that he did not onely looke upon death as in a neere relation to him but as having a kinde of delight and contentment in death vvhat is more sweet to a man vvho hath been in a long journey and is returning home then to thinke that he is comming to his Father and Mother to his Brethren and Sisters As nature gives us kindred by blood so it is a custome to adopt and stampe to our selves kindred by kindnesse one vve call Father and another vve call Mother one is our Brother a second is our Sister a third our Cozen by the mutuall tyes or by the receits and returnes of curtesie Thus we are to take these compellations as intimating vvith vvhat spirit Job entertained the thoughts of death even with no other then if he had beene to fall into the embraces of Father and Mother and Sister He sayd to corruption as we should say to wisedome Prov. 7.4 Say unto wisedome thou art my Sister and call understanding thy Kinswoman that is Acquaint thy selfe with and be familiar vvith vvisedome so shalt thou keepe thy selfe vvhich is both thy vvisedome and thy happinesse a stranger From the strange Woman Vers 5. Further it may yet be enquired what it is which Job cals Corruption and the worme I have sayd to corruption c. What is this corruption There are two opinions about it First Some interpret him speaking to the corruption and wormes which had already seized upon his body for his diseases and ulcerous sores had bred corruption and wormes As if he had sayd I may well call corruption my Father for I am already full of corruption I may well call the worme my Mother my sister for the wormes creep in and out at my sores continually my body is as if it had layne already in the Grave full of corruption and wormes Secondly Others expound him speaking to and of the corruption and wormes which waited his comming into the Grave The vvord in the Text which wee translate Corruption signifies also the Grave because bodies doe not onely corrupt in the Grave 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fovea corruptio quod in fovea corpus corrumpitur but