humble themselves c. 2 Chron. 7. 14 And if their uncircumcised hearts be humbled and they accept of the punishment of their iniquity c. Lam. 26. 4. He resisteth the proud but gives grace to the humble 1 Pet. 5. 5. And Lord thou hast heard the desire of the humble Psal 10. 17. And he shall save the humble person Job 22. 29. So that it is both our duty and security to humble our selves especially when God is humbling us Ahab doing this though but Hopocritically yet the Lord refpited the evil in his days 1 Kings 21. 29. Seest thou says the Lord to Elijah how Ahab humbleth himself before me this was but in outward appearance because he humbles himself before me I will not bring the evil in his days c. But how acceptable then is the hearty humiliatinn of a true penitent And according to what appears of this it bodes good or ill to a Nation When the Lord had manifested his displeasure against that people Exod. 33. 5 It is very observable what the Lord there fays to them Put off says he thy ornaments from thee that I may know what to do unto thee But does not God know what to do to a people and what he will do with them Yes but his displeasure appearing against this people he speaks as one unrefolv'd either for sparing or destroying and as willing to be determin'd as he found their posture and demeanour to be As if he had said If thou do indeed humble thy self and repent I will shew thee mercy but if thou still persist in thy pride and impenitency I will execute my Judgments upon thee So that by what a people are as to this they may guess and conclude how it is like to be with them and what God will do to them and if so how sad may we judg it is like to be with England with London For do we put off our ornaments lay down our pride nothing less for was there ever more does it not testifie to our faces is it not visible and apparent And that even now when God goes on still to testifie his displeasure against us as he hath severely a-late verily we so carry it as if we would not be humbled though God humble us nor lye low though he lay us low and the Lord forgive it to us Ministers that we do no more reprove it in our Assemblies which some sadly resent trading indeed is low and mens estates low but we carry it as high or higher than ever God says to us as to Pharoah How long wilt thou refuse to humble thy self before me Exod. 10. 3. I have laid your health low your strength low many of your lives low your City low your houses low your estates low your trading low O! when shall your hearts be humbled and laid low certainly if we do not humble our selves and lye low God will yet lay us lower Direct 4. Doing what we do very humbly Let it be yet Hopefully Self-abasingly but not disparingly As Shechaniah said to Ezra We have trespassed against our God c. yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing Ezra 10. 2. And who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not c. Jonah 3. 9. And the Lord does here in the very words themselves so express himself as yet to incourage his people For 1st he names Israel twice here O Israel and again O Israel as a name that had been and still was very dear to him as David because Absalom was dear to him he names his name thrice O my son Absalom my son my son Absalom c. 2 Sam. 18 33. 2dly He says Thy God to shew the Covenant still continued firm if they did but repent and all to keep up hope and that his people might catch thereat as it is said the servants of Benhadad did diligently observe whether any thing would come from the King of Israel and did hastily catch it 1 Kings 20. 33. Oh our iniquities are indeed great exceeding great and are increased over our heads and our trespasses are grown up unto the heavens Ezra 9. 6. But Gods mercy is great not only to the heavens but above the heavens and many and great both are his tender mercies And as the heavens are higher than the earth so are his ways and thoughts higher than ours Psal 108. 4. And he delighteth in mercy It was part of the Lords Name which he proclaimed before Moses The Lord God gracious and merciful abundant in goodness forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin c. Exod. 34. 6 7. And Let Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities Psal 130. 7 8. And the Lord likes well of this that his people humbling and abasing themselves should yet hope in his merey and not despair the Lords eye is said to be upon them that fear him and withal hope in his mercy yea he is said to take pleasure in such Psal 33. 18. and 147. 11. Expecting all from it and encouraging themselves in it which is so great and withal so free Direct 5. Perseveringly unweariedly resolving to persist in our suits till we prevail as the Saints of old I will not says Jacob let thee go except thou bless me Gen. 32. 26. The Lord bids Moses Let him alone and offers him fair that he would make of him a great nation Exod. 32. 10 11 12 13 14. But that would not take him off but he still besought the Lord his God and prevailed we should resolve as the Prophet Isaiah 62. 1 For Sions sake I will not hold my peace and for Jerusalems sake I will not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth And ver 6 7 I have set watchmen upon thy walls O Jerusalem which shall never hold their peace day nor night And ye that make mention of the Lord keep not silence And give him no rest till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth As it is said of the Macedonians that Alexander being displeas'd with them they not only laid by their Arms and put on mourning apparel and came running in troops to his Tent but there continued for near three days together beseeching his pardon till they obtain'd it And God forbid that we should sin against the Lord in ceasing still to pray for England for London c. but strive together in our prayers still for them with all perseverance and this the Lord is well pleased with we never give him more rest than when in this sense we give him least when we still pray and do not faint but follow on with our prayers till we prevail Direct 6. and last That we may Effectually do what we do and make peace Let us take hold of the Lords
currat sententia I have studied plainness and given but an hint of what I might much more have inlarg'd That this being so much the duty and concern of all it might not exceed the capacity of any and that neither the Price nor prolixity thereof might discourage any from the procuring and reading thereof We have many hot disputes and controversies at this day among our selves But it were well we all now joyntly and unanimously set our selves to comprimise and take up that controversy which the great God hath with us and to appease that wrath which by reason of our many great and crying sins is so justly incens'd against us and has a-fresh a-late broken out several ways among us to put us upon which is the main purport and design of the ensuing discourse to which that it may prove subservent shall be the prayer of him who is and remains Studious and desirous of thine and the Nations weal. R. Perrot An Advertisement THere is extant by the same Author a Larger Treatise Intituled Englands sole and Sovereign way of being saved grounded upon Psal 80. 19 Turn us again O Lord God of Hosts cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved England's present great and most incumbent Duty viz. To meet God in the way of his Judgments Amos IV. 12 13. Therefore thus will I do unto thee O Israel and because I will do this unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel For lo he that formeth the mountains and createth the wind and declareth unto man what is his thought that maketh the morning darkness and treadeth upon the high places of the earth the Lord the God of Hosts is his Name CHAP. I. The general Scope Coherence Parts and Explication of the Words THE Lord had inflicted several Judgments upon this People already 1. He had given them cleanness of teeth and want of bread ver 6. 2. Withholden the rain from them ver 7 8. 3. Smitten them with blasting and mildew ver 9. 4. Sent among them the Pestilence as he hath among us 5. Slain their young men with ehe sword and taken away their horses as he hath done ours ver 10. Yea 6. He had overthrown some of them as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and they were as a fire-brand pluck't out of the burning ver 11. And yet they notwithstanding all these Judgments remaining still incorrigible and not returning to the Lord The Lord thereupon resolves 〈…〉 Therefore thus will I do unto thee O Israel◠and because I will do this unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel c. In the words we have 1st The Lords Minatory Resolution Therefore thus will I do unto thee O Israel 2. His seasonable Admonition and that is that Israel because he will do this prepare to meet him 3. We have this Admonition back'd and enforc'd by an Argument drawn from the Consideration of Gods infinite Power Might Majesty and Greatness of which we have here a most ample Description ver 13 He formeth the mountains and createth the wind c. and he that doth all this the Lord the God of Hosts is his Name Explication Therefore thus will I do unto thee c. this therefore refers to their incorrigibleness under former Judgments as the ground of the Lords present Resolution Thus will I do unto thee How This Interpreters several ways make out 1st thus i. e. say some as I have before threatned Verse 2 3 Or thus i. e. as thy incorirgibleness deserves and calls for Or 3dly thus i. e. worse then ever I have done yet I will come with a severer strook so Calvin and others Or 4thly the Lord by expressing himself thus would the more point out the dreadfulness of the stroak as being above what could be exprest and therefore wraps it up in silence and leaves it to them to imagine what it would be Prepare to meet thy God I find Expositors Interpreting this in a double sense 1st As spoken Ironically i. e. in a way of holy derision at this Peoples obstinacy and fool hardiness as if the Lord had said Seeing then you will not be reclaim'd but still stand it out against Me and I also am resolved to go on to do as I have said and do Proclaim open war against you as Enemies and Rebels Prepare then to meet me muster up your forces and gather together your strength and make the best preparations you can and see if you be able to withstand Me or keep off that final Destruction which I have determined to bring upon you And so this is like to the message which Jehu sent to the rulers of Jezreel and those that brought up Ahabs children 2 Kings 10. 1 2 3 c. And this agrees well enough with the sequel for lo he that formeth the mountains c. as if the Lord had said And you had need to make all and the best preparation that you can for you have a God to contest with and he a God of infinite Power Might Majesty and Greatness he formeth the mountains c. and the Lord the God of Hosts is his Name But others understand it rather as spoken in a plain genuine sense viz. that Israel should meet him in an humble penitential way so as to endeavour to appease him and so prevent that final overthrow which else was like to come upon them and so we are to look upon the words not so much as a challenge but as seasonable counsel and advice to Israel to prevent yet if possible their ruin and so I shall understand it at present and thus it seems the rather to be taken because the Lord does in the very next Chapter several times invite them to seek him that they might live as ver 4 Seek ye me and ye shall live and ver 6 c. Indeed their case seem'd even desperate and God seem'd to have shut up against them the gate of mercy but the Lord hints yet to them that if they did but timely prepare to meet him there might be hopes yet of pacifying of him CHAP. II. The several collateral Observations Obs 1. WHatever is done to a people in a way of Judgment It is the Lord that does it Therefore thus will I do unto thee and ver 6 I also have given you cleanness of teeth c. and Amos 3. 6 Shall there be evil in a City and the Lord hath not done it Our sins indeed they occasion and procure what is done put him upon such work as he tells Jerusalem Jer. 4. 18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee this is thy wickedness c. and the Lord makes use of what Instruments he pleases in executing what is done but still he does it whoever are the Instruments he is still the great Agent and Efficient Affliction cometh not forth of the dust neither doth trouble spring out of the ground Job 5. 6. Judgments are not casual but providential Isa 42. 24 Who
gave Jacob for a spoil and Israel to the Robbers did not the Lord he against whom we have sinned c and the Lord still observes what he does in such a way and sets down and keeps as it were a Catalogue of his Judgments as well as of his Mercies and of peoples deportment under them how they carry it as here in this Chapter The Lord declares all he had done and all their incorrigibleness notwithstanding Yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord and Jer. 8. 6 I hearkned and heard but they spake not aright no man repented him of his wickedness saying what have I done Every one turned to his course as the horse rushes into the battel Vse 1. Let us then in all that is done see own and acknowledg the Lords hand and humble our selves under the same thus it is said The man of wisdom shall do Mic. 6. 9 The Lords voice crieth unto the City And the man of wisdom shall see thy Name i. e. he shall see thee and own thy hand in what is done the not doing of which the Lord complains of and threatens Isa 26. 11 Lord when thy hand is lifted up they will not see but they shall see c. 2. Let us turn to him that smites and seek the Lord of Hosts as he often invites Hosea 14. 1 O Israel return unto the Lord thy God Take with you words and turn to the Lord say unto him Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously c. So Joel 2. 12 Therefore also now saith the Lord Turn ye even to me with all your heart c. and seek ye me and ye shall live Amos 5. 4 6. And this the Lord expects Hosea 15 In their affliction they will seek me early Lord in trouble have they visitod thee Isa 26. 16. And peoples not doing of this is the great matter and ground of his complaint and it rolls so in his thoughts that he knows not how as it were to digest it As here in this Chapter it is five times together the matter of the Lords complaint Yet have ye not return'd to me saith the Lord ver 6. So ver 8 9 10 11. So elsewhere Hosea 11. 7 Though they called them to the most High none at all would exalt him They looked after and minded other ways and means of help Isa 22. 8 Thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the Forest c. ver 9 10 11. And they thought in this they were very wise and politick but they neglected the main To look to the Lord and to seek and turn to him ver 11 12 23. And for this the Lord threatned to bring upon them final ruin For all this his anger is not turned away but his hand is stretched out still For the people turneth not to him that smites them neither do they seek the Lord of Hosts Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail branch and rush in one day Isa 9. 12 13 14. And therefore as ever we would prevent our own and the Nations ruin let us speedly set upon this yea and encourage one another to this as the best course we can take as the best way we can go as those Hosea 6. 1 2 3 Come say they let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn and he will heal us he hath smitten and he will bind us up c. And why gaddest thou about saith the Lord so much to change thy way i. e. the way which I have prescribed thee and that which should be thy way but thou triest other ways and conclusions but in vain and to no purpose they shall avail thee nothing Jer. 2. 36 37 Thou shalt be ashamed of Egypt as thou wast ashamed of Assyria Yea thou shalt go forth from him and thine hands upon thine head a sign of shame and sorrow for the Lord hath rejected thy confidences those ways and refuges thou confidest in and thou shalt not prosper in them Observ 2. Whatever the Lord does or threatens to do to a people in a way of Judgment it is not without cause there is a therefore for it Therefore thus will I do unto thee O Israel and therefore hath he poured upon him the fury of his anger Isa 42. 25. Therefore the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you Mat. 21. 43. And so I might give you hundreds more of such therefores and wherefores but they are every where obvious and therefore I shall not stand to mention them and all declare that whatever the Lord does in à way of Judgment it is not without cause But does not the Lord tell Satan that he moved him against Job to destroy him without cause Job 2. 3 It was indeed without cause as to what Satan did alledg and pretend as to Job which was gross Hypocrisie so without cause but not absolutely for if God narrowly search the best there 's ever cause so as to justifie God as to what he does God indeed sometimes afflicts without respect to sin but still there is cause enough from sin in the best to merit it though not always the moving cause c. Vse 1. This then lets us see the vast difference between Gods acting in a way of Judgment and the sinners in a way of sin For the one is not without cause there is a therefore for it but none for the other There 's no therefore for that we do not indeed suffer without cause but we sin without cause Gods Judgments are not without cause but mans transgressions are and hence is it that the Lord does so Expostulate with his people as concerning their sinful carriages towards him as being without cause nay as having given them great cause to the contrary as Jer. 2. 5 Thus saith the Lord What iniquity have your Fathers found in me that they are gone from me and Verse 31 Have I been a wilderness unto Israel a land of darkness say my people We are lords we will come no more to thee So Mic. 6. 3 4 5 O my people What have I done unto thee and wherein have I wearred thee Testifie against me For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt c. As if the Lord had said I have done indeed much good for thee shewn a great deal of kindness towards thee But what evil or hurt did I ever do to thee So that if it be ask't here Who hath wounds who hath grief who has offence without cause It must be answered God haes O the disingenuity Ingratitude and unreasonableness of sin and sinners Gods Service is indeed most reasonable as that we should love him and live and devote our selves to him Which is yur reasonable service Rom. 12. 1. But sin is unreasonable and sinners That we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men 2 Thes 3. 2. Solomon advises Prov. 3. 30 Strive not with a man without cause if he have done the no harm