like hony well yet will they not indure to have it come near their lips when they have sore mouthes Sweet to the soul health to the bones i. e. Satisfactory to the minde and medicinal also to the body which many times follows the temperament of the minde Alphonsus King of Sicily is said to have recovered of a dangerous disease by the pleasure that hee took in reading Q. Curtius and some others in like sort by reading Livy Aventine c. But these were Physicians of no value to that of David Unless thy Law had been my delight Psal 119.92 I should then have perished in mine affliction Look how those that are fallen into a swoon may bee fetched again with cold water sprinkled on their faces or with hot water poured down their throats so those that are troubled in mind may by patience and comfort of the Scriptures recover hope Vers 25. There is a way that seemeth right to a man This wee had before totidem verbis Prov. 14.12 See the Note there And think not this a vain repetition but know that it is thus redoubled that it may bee the better remarked and remembred Nothing is more ordinary or more dangerous than self-delusion To deceive another is naught but to deceive thy self which yet most men do is much worse as to belye ones self kill ones self c. is counted most abominable To warn us therefore of this greatest wickednesse it is that this sentence is re-iterated Vers 26. Hee that laboureth laboureth for himself Hee earns it to eat it hee gets it with his hands to maintain the life of his hands as it is therefore also called Isa 57.10 Animantis cujusque vita in fuga est saith the Philosopher Life will away if not repaired by aliment Et dii boni Seneca quantum hominum unus exercet venter O what a do there is to provide meat for the belly There are that make too much adoe whiles they make it their God Phil. 3.19 as did that Nabal Pamphagus those in St. Pauls time that served not the Lord Jesus Christ but their own bellies and our Abbylubbers Quorum luxuriae totus non sufficit orbis O monachi vestri stomachi c. See my common place of Abstinence For his mouth craveth it of him Heb. Bows down to him or upon him Quippe quam suum cogit os Castalio Sueton. in Tiber. Either as a suppliant or as importunately urgent The belly hath no ears necessity hath no Law Malesuada fames will have it if it bee to bee had Drusus meat being denied him did eat the very stuffings of his bed but that was not nourishment The stomack of man is a monster saith one which being contained in so little a bulk as the body is able to consume and devour all things and yet is not consumed of it self nor destroyed by that heat that digesteth all that comes into it Vers 27. An ungodly man diggeth up evil i. e. Hee ransacketh and raketh out of the dust out of the dunghil such old evils as have long lain hid to lay in the Saints dishes and to upbraid them with Thus the Manichees dealt by Austin when they could not answer his Arguments they hit him in the teeth with his youthful follies whereunto his reply was onely this Quae vos reprehenditis ego damnavi What you discommend in mee I have long since condemned The malicious Papists did the like to Reverend Beza reprinting his Wit-wanton Poems put forth in his youth on purpose to despite him and objecting to him his former miscarriages which hee had sorely repented This when one of them did with great bitternesse all the answer hee had was Hic homo invidet mihi gratiam Christi This man envies mee the Grace of Jesus Christ Neither dealt Aaron and Miriam much more gently with their Brother Moses Numb 12.1 when they spake against him because of the Ethiopian woman whom hee had married Who was this Ethiopian woman but Zipporah for an Ethiopian and a Midianite are all one And when did hee marry her many a year ago Exod. 2. But they were resolved to pick a hole in Moses coat and having nothing else to fasten on they digge up this evil and throw it as dirt in his face In his lips there is a burning fire The tongue in its shape and colour resembleth a flame of fire It is oft set on fire of Hell James 3. and it self setteth on fire the whole course of nature Their breath as fire shall devoure you Isa 33.10 as the fire of Aetna devoured Empedocles that would needs go too near it But what shall bee given unto thee or what shall bee done unto thee thou false tongue false though thou speak the truth if with a minde to do mischief Sharp arrows of the mighty with coals of Juniper yea that very fire of Hell from whence thou wast enkindled Psal 120.3 4. Vers 28. A froward man soweth strife The Belialist before mentioned vers 27. as hee digs so hee sows but as ill seed as may bee that which comes not up but with a curse as cud-weed and devils-bit hee is a sedulous seeds-man of sedition this bad seed hee sows in every furrow where hee can finde footing And a whisperer separateth even very friends A pestilent pick-thank that carries tales and so sows strife Such were Doeg and other abjects that tare Davids name and ceased not Psal 35.15 tossing it with their carrion-mouths as Dogs buzzing into Sauls ears ever and anon that that might set him a gog against him Such also were those malicious Makebates the Pharisees who when they thought the Disciples had offended spake not to them but to their Master why do thy Disciples that which is not lawful As when they thought Christ offended they spake not to him but to his Disciples Thus these whisperers went about to separate very friends to make a breach in the Family of Christ by setting off the one from the other The words of such whisperers are as wounds and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly Prov. 18.8 They are like the wind that creeps in by the chinks and crevises in a wall or the cracks in a window that commonly prove more dangerous than a storm that meets a man in the face upon the Champion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vers 29. A violent man enticeth his neighbour As those seducers at Ephesus dragged Disciples after them Act. 20.30 compelling them by their perswasions to imbrace distorted doctrines such as cause convulsions of conscience Such are said to thrust men out of Gods waies Deut. 13.5 As Jeroboam did the house of Israel as Julian and other cunning persecutors did in the primitive times 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prevailing as much by their tifing tongues as by their terrifying sawes Heb. 11.37 they were sawn asunder they were tempted The Apostle ranks and reckons their alluring promises among their violent practices But though they speak
mad man Robert de Beliasme Earl of Shrewsbury Anno Dom. 1111. delighting to doe mischief and exercise his cruelty and then to say Am not I in jest An example hereof he shewed upon his own Son who being but a child and playing with him the father for a pastime Speeds Chron. 473. put his thumb in the boys eyes and thrust out the balls thereof Vers 20. Where no wood is there the fire goeth out Lignis ignis conservatur so is strife by evil tongues these are the Devils bellows and boutefeaus Ye shall conceive chaff yee shall bring forth stubble your breath as fire shall devour you Isa 33.11 Such is the breath of Tale-bearers A cover-feu bell would doe well for these Incendiaries that else may set on fire the whole course of Nature Jam. 3.6 See the Note on Chap. 16.28 Vers 21. So is a contentious man Hebr. A man of contentions Vir biliosus bellicosus a man made up of discords as Democritus said the world was that loves to live in the fire as the Salamander doth the dog-dayes continue with such all the year long and like mad doggs they bite and set a madding all they can fasten on as did Sheba Korah and Judas who set all the Disciples a murmuring at the oyl poured on Christs head So Arrius set all the Christian world on a light fire and Pope Hildebrand cast abroad his firebrands Vers 22. The words of a tale-bearer c. See chap. 18.8 Vers 23. Burning lips and a wicked heart c. The tongue of the righteous is as fined silver but glosing lips upon a false heart is no better than drosse upon dirt counterfeit friends are naught on both sides having os maledictum cor malum as Luther renders this Text a bad mouth and a worse heart Wicked men are said to speak with an heart and a heart Psal 12. as speaking one thing and thinking another drawing a fair glove on a foul hand These are dangerous to be dealt withall for like Serpents they can sting without hissing like curre doggs suck your bloud only with licking and in the end kill you and cut your throats without biting so cunning and close are they in the conveyance of their collusion Squire sent out of Spain to poyson Queen Elizabeth annoynted the pummel of her saddle with poyson covertly Camd. Eliz. â—7 and as it were doing somewhat else praying with a loud voyce God save the Queen When those Romish Incendiaries Gifford Hodgeson and others had set Savage a work to kill the said Queen they first set forth a Book to perswade the English Catholicks to attempt nothing against her So Parsons when hee had hatched that nameless villany the Powder-plot set forth his book of Resolution as if hee had been wholly made up of devotion Caveatur osculum Iscarioticum It is the property of a godly man to speak the truth from his heart Psal 15. Vers 24. He that hateth dissembleth with his lips And so heaps sin upon sin till he be transformed into a breathing devil This is meant not so much of the passion of hatred as of the habit of it when it hath wholly leavened the heart and lies watching its opportunity of doing mischief The Devil is at Inne with such as Mr. Bradford phraseth it and was as great a Master Serm. of Repent long before the Florentine Secretary was born as since Vers 25. When he speaketh fair beleeve him not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Take heed whom you trust beware of men Matth. 10.17 blesse your selves from your pretended friends and pray with David to be delivered from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue Admit they not only speak us fair Psal 120.1 but doe us many kindnesses yet beleeve them as little as David did Saul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Soph. Virgil. Martial Enemies gifts are giftlesse gifts said one Heathen And timeo Danaos dena ferentes saith another Munera magna quidem misit sed misit in hamo Et piscatorem piscis amare potest Vers 26. Whose hatred is covered by deceit c. He shall be detected and detested of all sooner or later God will wash off his varnish with rivers of brimstome Love as it is the best armour so it is the worst cloak and will serve dissemblers as the disguise Ahab put on and perished 1 King 22. Vers 27. Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall thereinto This is the same with Psal 7.15 Where-hence it seems to be taken See the Note there Heathen writers have many Proverbs to like purpose See Erasm Chiliad And he that rolleth a stone it will return upon him Cardinal Benno relates a memorable story of Pope Hildebrand or Greg. 7. that he hired a base fellow to lay a great stone upon a beam in the Church where Henry 4. the Emperour used to pray and so to lay it that it might fall as from the top of the Church upon the Emperours head and kill him But whilst this Caytiff was attempting to doe it the stone with its weight drew him down and falling upon him dashed him in peeces upon the pavement The Thracians in Herodotus being offended with Jupiter for raining unseasonably upon them shot up their arrows at him which soon after returned upon their own pates Vers 28. A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it False love proves to be true hatred by the evil consequent of its ruine and destruction to the party flattered and betrayed by a smooth supparasitation There are that thus read the Text The false tongue hateth those that smite it c. Truth breeds hatred as the fair Nymphs did the ill-favoured Fauns and Satyrs CHAP. XXVII Vers 1. Boast not thy self of to morrow Exod. 13.14 THat is of what thou wilt doe hereafter in quovis tempore postero See 1 Sam. 28.19 Petrarch lib 3. Memurah ad finem Jam. 4.14 Hee was a wise man that being invited to a feast on the next morrow answered Ex multis annis crastinum non habui for these many years I have not had a morrow day to promise for any business But what luxurious fools were those Sybarites Aelian that intending a feast did use to invite their guests a whole year before Nescis quid serus vesper vâ—hat Hinc Haebrei eventae appellaâ—t filios temporis For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth A great-bellied day Whiles a Woman is yet with child none can tell what kind of birth it will be Luk. 12.16 17. Time travelleth with Gods Decrees and in their season brings them forth but little doth any man know what is in the wombe of to morrow till God hath signified his will by the event David in his prosperity said that hee should never be moved but he soon after found a sore alteration God confuted his confidence Psal 30. So the evil which men intend against us may prove abortive either dye in the wombe or else they may
curse pronounced against it Judg. 5.23 the very name and memorial of it is utterly extinct and blotted out as also what befell the barren Fig-tree when once cursed by Christ it withered away suddenly Mat. 21.19 20. both root and branch though naturally the Fig-tree is the most juyceful of any tree and beareth the brunt of winter-blasts Scuke Ver. 22. Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine Iteratò taxat hoc vitium eò quod invaluerat The Prophet inveigheth against this vice a second time because it was grown so common Drunkards also are a sottish kind of creatures and had therefore more then need to be double dealt with like as Physicians use to give double quantities to such as have Palsies or Epilepsies so to awaken their dull drowsy senses Many of these sots take it for a great glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athen. Vopisc in Bonoso that they are mighty to drink wine as did Darius King of Persia who caused it to be written upon his tomb I was a great hunter I could also drink much wine and bear it bravely This was as one well saith to glory in his shame it being rather the commendation of a tun then of a man for a beast will scarce abide it to be able to take in and contain much liquour When Bonosus the drunken Roman had hangd himself it went for a byword Amphoram pendere non hominem that a tun or tankard hung there and not a man And when one was commended to King Alphonsus for a great drinker and able to bear it he answered that that was a good praise in a sponge Gentiles ipsi risere tales athletas but not in a Prince This if Alexander the Great and Tiberius the Emperour those great drinkers and incouragers of others to that vice had well remembred they would not have been so infamous as they are and will be to all posterity Aristoph in Ranis Civilis est irrisio non carens sale Oecolamp And men of strength or valour but to do what 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Comedian hath it to drink and do worse onely a goodly prize surely a fair commendation fortes esse strenuos non contra hostes sed ad exhauriendos calices gigantes esse non ad bellandum sed ad potandum to be carpet-knights not of Mars but of Bacchus and fitter for a canopy then a camp To mingle Or to pour in whether into their own wide gullets or into the cup to make others drunk for preventing whereof Minos King of Creet made a Law that men should not drink one to another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to drunkenness So did Lycurgus at Lacedemon And our King Edgar made an Ordinance for putting pins in cups that none should quaffe whole ones or cause others to do so Ver. 23. Which justify the wicked for reward q. d. Woe to such also for even they both are abomination to the Lord Prov. 17.15 See the Note there See also chap. 1.23 Ver. 24. Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble For all the crimes afore mentioned and for that to all the former they add this that they have cast away the Law of the Lord and despised his word As the fire Heb the tongue of fire that is the top of the flame which resembleth a tongue that is also thin broad long and of a fiery colour setting on fire the course of nature and is it self set on fire of hell Jam. 3.6 Devoureth the stubble and the flame consumeth the chaff Sin doth as naturally draw and suck judgments to it as the loadstone doth iron as dry stubble and light chaff doth fire suddenly and with no ado shall sinners be consumed when God once taketh them to do exorientur exurentur So their root shall be rottenness in allusion to the vine ver 1. which brought forth rotten grapes ver 4. And their blossom shall go up as dust shall vanish and come to nothing as it needs must where the root is putrified Of wild vines Pliny saith Ostentant fructum potius quam porrigunt Lib. 16. cap. 27. they rather make a shew of fruit then yeeld any And there are some vines saith Varro whose fruit ever rotteth before it hath time to ripen Var. ap Cas D on He meaneth they shall vanish in their greatest flourish of seeming felicity Ver. 25 Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled For contempt of the Law 1 Thes 2.16 but especially of the Gospel wrath came upon that wretched people of the Jews to the utmost or untill the end as some read it They are to this day a people of Gods wrath and curse and become a wofull example of that Rule Atrocia delicta puniuntur atrocibus poenis Hainous sins bring heavy punishments This desolation of theirs as Daniel prophesieth chap. 9. shall continue to the end And he hath stretcht forth his hand against them His mighty hand as St. James hath it wherewith he oft leaveth bloody wailes on the backs of the best when they provoke but crusheth the wicked in pieces and crumbleth them to crattle And hath smitten them Revenge is the next effect of anger And the hills did tremble i. e. The highest among them or literally Ar. Montan. Hype bole the senseless hills seemed sensible of so great displeasure And their carcasses were torn in the middest of the streets What havock there was made of men at the last destruction of Jerusalem Josephus Egesippus Orosius and Eusebius fully tell us What with the extremity of famine what with the fury of the sword and what with sickness during the siege there perished about 600000 able men or as others say 1100000 besides 97000 carried captive Titus the Roman General seeing the infinite carcasses of the Jews cast out unburied without the walls of the City was much grieved Joseph and took God to witness that he was not the authour of that calamity but that the fault was altogether in those stubborn Jews that held out the City against him For all this his anger is not turned away With those froward ones God will shew himself froward Psal 18.26 and not give place to their pertinacy till they had enough of it It must be an humble submission that pacifieth Gods wrath Ver. 26. And he will lift up an ensign That is by his secret providence he shall bring on the enemies army The Roman forces are called Gods armies Mat. 22.7 and Titus confessed that he only lent God his hand to execute his wrath on that rebellious people the Jews And will hiss unto them Bring them together with little ado as Pilots hiss for their ship-boyes or shepheards whistle for their sheep to come about them From the end of the earth Rome was far remote from Jerusalem and in the Roman army were likely many French Spaniards Italians and perhaps Britons And behold they shall come with speed Sooner then those mockers imagined who said ver
passions as the former seems to have because close in cloaking his malice who yet is a fool too before God Vers 19. In the multitude of words In multiloquio stultiloquium Many words are hardly well managed Non est ejusdem saith one It is seldome seen that a man of many words miscarries not But hee that refraineth his lips As Elihu did Job 32.11 and as Epaminondas is worthily praised by Plutarch for this quod nemo plura nosset pauciora loqueretur that no man knew more and spake less than hee did Vers 20. The tongue of the just is as choice silver Hee scattereth pearls Mat. 7.6 hee throws abroad treasure Mat. 12.35 even Apples of Gold in shrines of Silver Prov. 25.11 I will turn to the people a pure language saith God Zeph. 3.9 a lip of excellency Prov. 17.7 the language of Heaven As William the Conquerour sought to bring in the French tongue here by enjoyning children to use no other in schools Lawyers to practise in French no man was graced Daniels Hist but hee that spake French c. The heart of the wicked is little worth Est quasi parum is as little as need to bee Hee is ever either hatching Cockatrice Eggs or weaving Spiders Webs as the Prophet hath it Vanity or villany is his whole study and his daily discourse Isa 59.5 Vers 21. The lips of the righteous feed many A great house-keeper hee is hath his doors ever open and though himself be poor yet hee maketh many rich 2 Cor. 6.10 hee well knows that to this end God put Hony and Milk under his tongue Cant. 3.11 that he might look to this Spiritual lip-feeding to this end hath he communicated to him those rivers of water Joh. 7.38 that they may flow from him to quench that world of wickednesse that being set on fire of Hell would set on fire the whole course of Nature Jam. 3.6 They are empty vines that bear fruit to themselves Hos 10.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Those are voyd houses we say where the doors daily open not The people hung upon our Saviours lips as the young Bird doth on the Damms bill Luk. 19.43 Bishop Ridley preached every Lords-day and Holy-day except letted by some weighty businesse Act. Mon. fol. 1559. to whose Sermons the people resorted saith Master Fox swarming about him like Bees and coveting the sweet juyce of his gracious discourses Look how Joseph nourished his Fathers houshold with Bread according to their Families or according to the mouthes of their Families Gen. 47.12 So doth the righteous man those of his own charge especially Chepi tappam Welfare Popery for that saith a grave Divine I have heard old folks talk M. Sam. Hier. that when in those dayes they had Holy-bread as they called it given them at Church they would bear a part of it to those that did abide at home So should Masters of Families carry home the bread of life to their Housholds But fools dye for want of wisdome By their either refusing or abusing the food of their souls as the Pharisees they pine away in their iniquities Levit. 26.39 Vers 22. The blessing of the Lord it maketh rich As is to be seen in the examples of the Patriarches Abraham Isaac Jacob and others Whereas there is a curse upon unlawful practices though men be industrious as in Jehoâ—achim Jer. 22. And all our policies without prayer are but Arena sine calce Sand without Lime they will not hold together And he addeth no sorrow with it Those three vultures shall bee driven away that constantly feed on the wealthy worldlings heart Care in getting Fear in keeping Grief in losing the things of this life God giveth to his wealth without woe store without sore gold without guilt one little drop whereof troubleth the whole sea of all outward comforts Richard the third had a whole Kingdom at command and yet could not rest in his bed for disquietment of mind Polydor Virgil thus writes of his Dreame that night before Bosworth-field That he thought all the Devils in Hell pulled and haled him in most hideous and ugly shapes and concludes of it at last I do not think it was so much his dreame as his evil conscience that bred those terrours Vers 23. It is a sport to a fool to doe mischief He is then merriest when hee hath the Devil for his play-fellow He danceth to Hell in his bolts and is passing well a paid for his woful bondage Was hee a Father or a Monster think you that playing with his own Childe for a pastime put his thumbs in the boyes eyes and thrust out the balls thereof Speed This was Robert de Beliasme Earl of Shrewsbury in the reign of our Henry the first Anno Dom. 1111. And what a mad sport was that of Joab and Abner 2 Sam. 2.14 to see and set those youngsters of Helkath Hazzurim to sheath their swords in their fellows bowels And that of Nero who set the City of Rome on fire for his pleasure whiles he plaid on his Harp the destruction of Troy But a man of understanding hath wisdome Viz. For his sport or delight It is his meat and drink his Hony and Hony-comb c. Libâ—nter omnibus omnes opes concesserim ut mihi liceat vi nulla interpellante isto modo in literis vivere saith Cicero I would give all the wealth in the world Lib. 9. Epist that I might live altogether in my Study and have nothing to trouble me Leo. Digges Slatt oâ— 1 Ep. to Thessal Ep. dedic Peach Comp Gentle Idem in his vally of vanity p. 116. Crede mihi extingui duâ—ce esset Mathematicarum artium studio saith another Beleeve me it were a dainty death to dye studying the Mathematicks Nusquam requiem invenâ— nisi in libro claustro saith a third All the comfort I have is in a Book and a Cloyster or Closet Mentior if my soul accord him not saith learned Doctor Slatter The old Lord Burley Lord high Treasurer to his dying day would carry always a Tullies Offices about him either in his bosome or pocket And the Emperour Charls the Fifth took such delight in the Mathematicks that even in the midst of his whole Army in his Tent he sate close at his study having for that purpose as his instructer Turrianus of Cremona evermore with him So sweet is the knowledge of Human Arts to those that have tasted them How much more the knowledge of the Holy which saith Agur is to ascend up into Heaven Prov. 30.3 4. to those mature ones who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil Heb. 5.14 See Psal 119.103 Job 23.12 Rom. 7.22 Vers 24. The fear of the wicked shall come upon him A sound of fear is in his ears in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him Job 15.21 Pessimus in dubiis Augur Timor Thus it befel Cain Statius in
all may bee well betwixt you Vers 2. The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright Heb. deals kindly with her offers her no abuse by venting her unseasonably and making her over-cheap and little set by Eloquence wisely ordered is very commendable and avails much Daniels Hist But what a poor praise was that to the Duke of Buckingham that speaking to the Londoners in the behalf of that Usurper Richard the third hee gained the commendation that no man could deliver so much bad matter in so good words and quaint phrases Here was eloquentiae satis sapientiae parum The tongue was given us for better purpose 't was Davids glory and hee used it accordingly But the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness Heb. Bubbleth it out blurteth it out as a fountain casteth out its waters with a great force and swiftness non quid Quicquid in buccam sed quantum is all their care being talkative above measure and forward to utter whatsoever comes into their chaps Vers 3. The eyes of the Lord are in every place Hee is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All-eye and his providence like a well-drawn picture that vieweth all that come into the room Rev. 2. I know thy works and thy labour not thy works onely but thy labour in doing them And as for the Offender though hee think to hide himself from God by hiding God from himself yet God is nearer to him than the bark is to the tree for in him all things subsist Col. 1.17 and move Vide Sen. Ep. ad Lucil. 34. Act. 17.28 understand it of the minds motions also And this the very Heathen saw by natures rush-candle For Thaeles Milesius being asked whether the gods knew not when a man doth ought amiss yea said hee if hee do but think amiss Interest animis nostris cogitationibus Sen. Deus intimior nobis intimonostro saith another God is nearer to us than wee are to ourselves Repletively hee is every where though inclusively no where Nusquam est ubique est As for the world it is to him as a Sea of glasse Rev. 4.6 corpus diaphanum a clear transparent body hee sees thorow it Beholding the evil and the good The evil are first mentioned because they make question of this truth But what saith a worthy Divine yet alive Think not that hee who is invisible cannot see God like the Optick virtue in the eye sees all and is seen of none No man needs a window in his breast as the Heathen Momus wish'd for God to look in at every man before God is all window Job 34.22 The eyes of Christ are as a flaming fire Rev. 1.14 And the school of nature teacheth that the fiery eye needs no outward light that sees extra mittendo by sending out a ray c. Vers 4. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life As uttering words that have a healing property in them pure precious and profitable not unlike that tree of life in the midst of Gods Garden that would have given immortality to the eaters See August de Civit. dei lib. 15. cap. 20. But perversenesse therein is a breach of the spirit That is in the conscience which it goreth and gasheth and in the heart which it defileth and disposeth to further evil it leaveth both a sting and a stain in a mans own soul besides the much mischief that it doth to the spirits and manners of other men that are corrupted by it Gods Spirit also is not a little grieved and vexed when the godly man suddenly falls as sometimes hee doth into bitter words clamours and evil-speakings these are even as smoak to the eyes and make the Spirit of God ready to loathe and leave his lodging as the Apostle intimates Ephes 4.30 31. There are that thus translate the Text But the mischievousnesse of it is as a breach made by the wind and set this sense upon it as a blustring wind which throws down trees and houses doth much harm so a violent and venemous tongue causing troubles and calamities is very pernicious and hurtful Job 8.2 Pray wee therefore with David Psal 120. Deliver mee Lord from a lying lip and a deceitful tongue c. Vers 5. A fool despiseth his Fathers instruction Heb. Entertains it with contumelious and opprobrious language as a mad man doth a potion offered him for his health Hierome oft renders the word to blaspheme and indeed to reject good counsel of a Father especially with scorn and reproach is blasphemy in the second Table But hee that regardeth reproof is prudent Wise hee is and wiser hee will bee This made David prize and pray for a reprover Psal 141.5 And 't is said of Gerson that great and wise Chancellour of Paris that hee took pleasure in nothing more In vita Gers quam si ab aliquo fraternè charitativè redargueretur than in a friendly reproof The like is reported of Sir Anthony Cope by Dr. Harris Samuels fun Epist who preached his Funeral and of that famous man of God Mr. William Wheatly by Mr. Scudder who writes his life Hee was glad saith hee Mr. Wheatlyes Archery p. Pref. when any of the righteous smote him and would take it well not from his superiours onely but from his equals and far inferiours Vers 6. In the house of the righteous is much treasure Every righteous man is a rich man whether hee hath more or less of the things of this life For first hee hath plenty of that which is precious Secondly Propriety what hee hath is his own hee holds all in Capite-tenure in Christ hee shall not bee called to account as an usurper All is yours 1 Cor. 3.22 because you are Christs and Christ is Gods And although he hath little many times in present possession yet hee is rich in reversion rich in bills and bonds rich in an apparent pledge that is worth all the world besides that is in Christ for having given us his son how shall hee not with him give us all things also Rom. 8. But in the revenues of the wicked are trouble For besides the curse of unsatisfiableness in the very pursute of them hee meets with many grievances fears jealousies disgraces interruptions discontentments and then after the unsanctified enjoyment of them follows the sting of conscience that dissweetens all and that will unexpressibly vex and torment him through all eternity Hee hath swallowed down riches and hee shall vomit them up again God shall cast them out of his belly c. Job 20.15 Disgorge hee shall surely those murthering morsels either by remorse and restitution in the mean time or with despair and impenitent horrour hereafter Vers 7. The lips of the wise disperse knowledge They are the lights of the world and they diffuse light where-ever they come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 2. shining as Lamps or Luminaries and seeking to save themselves and those that hear them How did those learned Scribes our famous
which yet if Bellarmine reckoneth right runneth in the eighth part of an hour seven thousand miles others say many more Ver. 7. And their feet were strait feet Importing their right progresse in executing Gods will We must also make straight or even pathes for our feet lest that which is lame be turned out of the way Heb. 12.13 See ver 9. And the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calves foot Round Hoc ad agilitatem varietatem cursus spectat and therefore easily turned The Angels as they see every way so they are apt to go every way and this with the greatest facility that can be And they sparkled So swiftly they went that their feet seemed to sparkle or strike fire Like the colour of burnished brasse Burnished not blemished polished not polluted Ver. 8. And they had the hands of a man under their wings Faces wings hands all to expresse saith one the sufficiency of Gods Providence for all means of help A little of the Angels saith another is set forth by these faces wings hands feet but the distinct knowledge of Angels as Angels is reserved till we are like the Angels in heaven Great Angels they are but act invisibly for most part Their hands are under their wings Ver. 9. Their wings were joyned one to another To shew the unity of Angels the uniformity also of their motions in Gods service there is a suteablenesse and agreeablenesse betwixt them They turned not when they went sc Till they had effected that they went for and then they did as ver 14. They went every one straight forward The Angels in the execution of their office keep a straight course without deviating or detrecting without cessation or cespitation Our eyes should also look right on Prov. 4.25 and we should make strait steps for our feet Heb. 12.13 This is Angel-like St. Paul that earthly Angel did so Phil. 3.13 14. Ver. 10. They four had the face of a man and the face of a Lyon Hereby is set forth the wisdom strength serviceablenesse and perspicaciousness of the holy Angels for the Churches good all things requisite to great undertakings neither forbear they to serve us though we have the sent of the earth and hell about us quantumnis cos proh dolor faetore peccatorum mon raro laedamus Deumque offendamus though by the stench of our sins Polan Would any great Prince detend a mean man full of fores and vermin we do frequently annoy them and offend God And they four had the face of an ox Angels are obsequious painful patient useful The ox is of those beasts that are ad esum ad usum and is truely called jumentum à juvando They four also had the face of an Eagle Angels are shard-sighted 2 Sam. 14.20 vigorous and vivacious swift beyond belief Dan. 9.21 and if they be once upon the wing there is no escaping for any wicked people or person Ver. 11. And their wings were stretcht upward Faces and wings are both turned toward God at whose beck and obedience the holy Angels wholly are Psal 103.20 Or hereby may be imported the swiftness sublimeness and equality of their service Two wings of every one See on ver 9. And two covered their bodyes See on Isa 6.2 Ver. 12. And they went every one strait forward See on ver 9. Whither the Spirit was to go they went That is the Spirit of God by whose direction and conduct the Angels do all things He is the great Agent that setteth Angels awork Let us also be led by the Spirit of God so shall we approve our selves sons of God Rom. 8.14 Ver. 13. Their appearance was like burning coules of fire Angels are actuosi efficaces ut ignis of a fiery nature and of a fiery operation as is also the holy Spirit Isa 4.4 Mat. 3.11 Act. 2.3 whereby they are actuated Angels are all on a light fire as it were with zeal for God and indignation against sin Let us be like-affected Paul was an heavenly spark John Baptist a burning and shining light Chrysostom saith that Peter was a man made all of fire walking among stubble Basil was a pillar of fire Latimer cryed out Deest ignis In Bucholcere vivida omnia fuerunt Melch. Adam c. It went up and down among the living creatures The fire and flame did Heb. it made it self to walk of it own accord and pleasure And the fire was bright Let us also labour to kindle and keep quick the fire of zeal upon the harth of our hearts without all smoke or smutch of sin And out of the fire went out lightenings The Lord is known by the judgement which he executeth his noble works done by those instruments of his the holy Angels are quickly noted and noticed as in Sennacheribs army Ver. 14. And the living creatures ran and returned Assoon as ever their work was done they came back to him who sent them out to know his further pleasure and to do him more service When the Angel had lessoned the good women about our Saviours Resurrection he biddeth them go quickly and tell his Disciples c. and then dismisseth them with Loe I have told you Mat. 28.6 7. q. d. Be gone now about your business you have your full errand why linger ye pack away As the appearance of a flash of lightening Which appeareth and disappeareth in an instant Ver. 15. Behold one wheel upon the earth Things here below are exceeding mutable and therefore compared to wheeles because they may seem to run on wheeles and to have no certain course but to be turned upside down eftsoones such is the various promiscuous administration of them to many mens thinking To set us right herein here we have the vision of the four wheeles for each of the four living-wights had a wheel by him ver 16. and chap. 10.9 to shew that God governeth all the four quarters of the world by the ministery of his Angels This the Poets hammered at but hit not on in their foolish fable of Fortunes wheele St. James speaketh of the wheele of nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chap 3.6 And indeed this world is of a wheeling nature moveable and mutable But God who moves this wheel who fuleth the world is unchangeable and eternal Jam. 1.17 and his providence and the ministery of his Angels sets all the wheels in the world in motion Ver. 16. The appearance of the wheeles was like unto the colour of a Beryll Heb. as the eye or colour of Tarshish i. e. the sea or Beryl which is of a sea-colour even sea-green whereby is represented the flux and fluctuating constitution of things here below And they four had one likenesse There is the same instability of things in one place as in another and the same over-ruling providence Their appearance and their work were as it were a wheel in the midst of a wheel God hath a wheel Providence in all the
of Sacrifices Prov. 7.14 And hereunto Saint James seems to allude Chap. 5.5 Vers 2. A wise servant shall have rule over a Son c. God hath a very gracious respect unto faithful servants and hath promised them the reward of inheritance Col. 4.24 which properly belongs to Sons This falls out sometimes here as to Joseph Joshuah those subjects that married Salomons Daughters 1 King 4.10 14. but infallibly hereafter when they shall come from East and West to sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdome of Heaven and to enter into their Masters joy but the children of the Kingdome shall bee cast out Mat. 8.11 12. Vers 3. The fining-pot is for silver c. God also hath his fire in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem Isa 31.9 his conflatories and his crucibles wherein hee will refine his as silver is refined and try them as gold is tried Zech. 13.9 Not as if hee knew them not till hee had tried them for hee made them and therefore cannot but know them As Artificers know the several parts and properties of their works Sed tentat ut sciat id est ut scire nos faciat saith Augustin Hee therefore tries us that hee may make us know what is in us what drosse what pure metal and that all may see that wee are such as for a need can glorifie him in the very fires Isa 84.15 that the trial of our faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth though tried in the fire may bee found to praise and honour and glory 1 Pet. 1.7 Vers 4. A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips It is an ill sign of a vicious nature to bee apt to beleeve scandalous reports of godly men If men loved not lyes they would not listen to them Some are of opinion that Solomon having said God tryeth the hearts doth in this and the two next following verses instance some particular sins so accounted by God which yet passe amongst men for no sins or peccadilloes at the utmost seeing no man seems to receive wrong by them such as these are to listen to lying lips to mock the poor to rejoyce at another mans calamity and the like Loe they that do thus though to themselves and others they may seem to have done nothing amisse yet God that tries the hearts will call them to account for these malicious miscarriages Vers 5. Hee that mocketh the poor c. See the Note on Chap. 14.31 And hee that is glad at calamities shall not bee unpunished Hee is sick of the Devils disease 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Job was not tainted with Chap. 31. as the Edomites Ammonites Philistims and other of Sions enemies Lam. 1. were How bitterly did the Jews insult over our Saviour when they had nailed him to the Crosse And in like sort they served many of the Martyrs worrying them when they were down as Dogs do other Creatures and shooting sharp arrows at them when they had set them up for marks of their malice and mischief Herein they deal like barbarously with the Saints as the Turks did with one John de Chabes a Frenchman Turk Hist fol. 756. at the taking of Tripolis in Barbary They cut off his hands and nose and then when they had put him quick into the ground to the waste they for their pleasure shot at him with their arrows and afterwards cut his throat Mr. John Deuly Martyr being set in the fire with the burning flame about him sang a Psalm Then cruel Doctor Story commanded one of the tormentours to hurl a faggot at him whereupon being hurt therewith upon the face Act. Mon. fol. 1530. that hee bled again hee left his singing and clapt both his hands upon his face Truly said Doctor Story to him that hurled the fagot Thou hast marred a good old song This Story being after the coming in of Queen Elizabeth questioned in Parliament for many foul crimes and particularly for persecuting and burning the Martyrs hee denied not but that hee was once at the burning of an Herewigge for so hee termed it at Uxbridge Ibid. 1918. where hee cast a faggot at his face as hee was singing of Psalms and set a winnebush of thorns under his feet a little to prick him c. This wretch was afterwards hanged drawn and quartered and so this Proverb was fulfilled of him Anno. 1571. Hee that is glad at calamities shall not bee unpunished Vers 6. Childrens children are the Crown of old men That is if they bee not children that cause shame as vers 2. and that disgrace their Ancestors stain their blood If they obey their Parents counsel and follow their good example for otherwise they prove not Crowns but corrosives to their aged Sires as did Esau Absolom Andronicus and others And the glory of children are their Parents If those children so well descended do not degenerate as Jonathan the son of Gershom the son of Manasseh or rather of Moses as the Hebrews read it with a Nun suspensum Judg. 18.31 and as Elies Samuels and some of Davids sons did Heroum filii noxae Manasseh had a good Father but hee degenerated into his Grandfather Ahaz as if there had been no intervention of a Hezekiah So wee have seen the kernel of a well-fruited-plant degenerate into that crab or willow that gave the original to his stock But what an honour was it to Jacob that hee could swear by the fear of his Father Isaac To David that hee could in a real and heavenly complement say to his Maker Truly Lord I am thy servant â—â—am thy servant the son of thy handmaid Psal 116.16 To Timothy that the same Faith that was in him had dwelt first in his Mother Lois and his Grandmother Eunice 2 Tim. 1.15 To the children of the Elect Lady c. To Mark that hee was Barnabas his sisters son To Alexander and Rufus men mentioned onely Euseb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mark 15.21 but famously known in the Church to bee the sons of Simon of Cyrene To the sons of Constaintine the Great to come of such a Father whom they did wholly put on saith Eusebius and exactly resemble To bee descended of those glorious Martyrs and Confessors that suffered here in Queen Maries daies Vers 7. Excellent speech becometh not a fool A Nabal a sapless worthless fellow in whom all worth is withered and decayed qui nullas habet dicendi vires as Cicero hath it that can say no good except it bee by rote or at least by book what should hee do discoursing of high points God likes not fair words from a foul mouth Christ silenced the Devil Odi homineâ— ignava â— pâ—râ—â— philosopha sententia when hee confessed him to bee the Son of the most high God The leapers lips should bee covered according to the Law The Lacedemonians when a bad man had uttered a good speech in their Council-house liking the speech but not the speaker
best children as being the fruit of their faith and the product of their prayers The Vulgar renders it Os vulva and Mercer Orificium matricis referring it not to barren but to incontinent women such as was Messala and other insariate punks quarum libido non expletur virili semine vel coitu The earth that is not filled with water That can never have enough at one time to serve at all times That is a strange earth or country that Pliny speaks of ub siccit as dat lutum imbres pulverem where drought makes dirt and rain causeth dust And yet so it is with us saith a Divine The plentiful showers of Gods blessings rained down upon us are answered with the dusty barrenness of our lives The sweet dews of Hermon have made the hill of Sion more barren Oh I how inexcusable shall we be c. And the fire that saith not It is enough Fire is known to be a great devourer turning all combustibles into the same nature with it self How many stately Cities hath this untamable element turned into ashes It is an excellent observation of Herodotus that the sparks and cinders of Troy are purposely set before the eyes of all men that they might be an example of this Rule That great sinnes bring great punishments from God upon the sonnes of men Scipio having set Carthage on fire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and beholding the burning foresaw and bewailed the destiny of Rome which as it hath been often burnt already so it shall be shortly to purpose the Kings mariners and merchants standing aloof and beholding the smoke of her burning Rev. 17.16 and 18.8 9. God will cast this rod of his wrath into the fire burn this old whore that hath so long burnt the Saints for Hereticks and refused to be purged by any other nitre or means whatsoever therefore all her dross and trash shall pass the fire This is so plain a truth that even the Papists themselves subscribe to it Hear what Ribera a learned Jesuite saith Riâ— in loc Romaâ— non solum oâ— pristinam impietatem c. That Rome as well for its ancient impiety as for its late iniquity shall be destroyed with an horrible fire it is so plain and evident that he must needs be a fool that doth but go about to deny it Vers 17. The eye that mocketh at his Father As Ham did at Noah And despiseth to obey his mother or despiseth the wrinkles of his mother as some read it that looks upon her with disdain as an old withered fool The Ravens of the valley shall pick it out God takes notice of the offending member and appoints punishments for it Horat. pascere in cruce corvoâ— pro suspendi possuit Ep 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By the Law such a childe was to be put to death and here is set down what kind of death hanging upon a tree which the Greeks also call a being cast to the crows or ravens Thus the Scripture is both Text and gloss one place opens another the Prophets explain the Law they unfold and draw out that Arras that was folded together before The ravens of the valleys or brooks are said to be most ravenous Corvi fluviatiles and the young Eagles or Vultures smell out carcases and the first thing they do to them is to pick out their eyes Effossos oculos voret atro guiture corvus Willâ—t on Levis They are cursed with a witness whom the holy Ghost thus curseth in such emphatical manner in such exquisite terms Let wicked children look to it and know that Vultu saepe laeditur pietas as the very Heathens observed that a proud or paltry look cast upon a parent is a breach of piety punishable with death yea with a shameful and ignominious death Let them also think of those infernal ravens and vultures c. Vers 18. There be three things which are too wonderful The wisest man that is cannot give a reason of all things as of the ebbing and flowing of the sea of the colours in the rain-bow of the strength of the nether chappe and of the heat in the stomack which consumeth all other things and yet not the parts about it Agur here confesseth himself gravelled in four things at least and benighted Vers 19. And the way of a man with a maid That is either with a close and chast virgin that is kept close from the access of strangers and goes covered with a veyl or else with a maid that though defloured yet would pass for a pure virgin and is so taken to be till her lewdness is discovered It is expresly noted of Rebecca to her commendation that though fair to look upon yet shee was a virgin neither had any man known her Gen. 24.16 there are that pass for virgins and yet it cannot be said of them that man never knew them The saurum cum virgo tuum vas fictile servet Vt fugias quae sunt noxia tuta time Vers 20. So is the way of an adulterous woman The strumpet when she hath eaten stolen bread hath such dexterity in wiping her lips that not the least crumme shall stick to them for discovery So that Agur here shews it to be as hard to find it out as the way of an Eagle in the air the way of a serpent on a rock c. Unless taken in the manner she stoutly denyes the action And if so taken yet nihil est audacins illis Juvenal Satyâ— 6. Deprensis iram atque animos a crimine sumunt Vers 21. For three things the earth is disquieted Such trouble-towns are odious creatures the places where they live long for a vomit to spâ—e them out As they live wickedly so they dye wishedly there is a good worlds-riddance of them as there was of Nabai and of those in Job 27.23 with 15. who were buried before half-dead being hissed and kickt off the stage of the world as Phocas was by Heraclius And for four which it cannot bear The very axle-tree of the world is even ready to crack under them the earth to open and swallow them up Vers 22. For a servant when he reigneth As Jeroboam Saul Zimri Herod Heliogabalus Phocas See the Note on chap. 19.10 Vespasian only of all the Emperours is said to have been better for his advancement For a fool when he is filled with meat When his belly is filled with Gods hid treasure Psal 17.14 when he prospers and hath what he will Prosperity is hard meat to fools Luxuriant animi rebus plerunque secundis Ovid. they cannot digest it They grow giddy as weak heads doe after a cup of generous wine and lay about them like mad-men the folly of these rich fools is foolishnesse with a witnesse Prov. 14.24 See the Note there 1 Sam. 1.6 Vers 23. For an odious woman when she is married Such an one was Peninnah who vexed good Hannah to make her to thunder as the Original hath
the damned there endure and this the Assyrians are here threatned with yea their very King whose preservation from the stroke of the Angel was but a reservation to a worse mischief here and hereafter For potentes potenter torquebuntur great men if not good shall be greatly tormented and the more they have of the fat of the earth the more they are sure to fry in hell Such therefore had need to add true grace to their high places else they shall prove but as an high gibbet to bring them to more disgrace in this world and torment in the next Of old Heb. from yesterday Hence some infer that hell-torments are always fresh and new as if they had begun but yesterday and every sacrifice there is salted with fire Mar. 9.49 that is it burneth but consumeth not fire being of a burning but salt of a preserving nature He hath made it deep and large capacious enough to receive a world full of wicked ones Psal 9.17 The pile thereof is fire and much wood Hell-fire is no Metaphorical thing but a material true proper real and corporeal fire Mat. 18.9 25.41 Luk. 16.23 for vehemency of heat saith Austin it exceedeth ours as far as our fire doth exceed fire painted on the wall That Friar said too little of it who said that one might feel it burn seven miles of Aetna Vesuvius Pietra mala which is a mountain in the highest part of the Apennines that perpetually burneth come not near it Some gross Papists have imagined Aetna to be the place of Purgatory Odilo Abbot of Cluniacum perswaded Pope John the nineteenth that he had there seen the tormented souls wailing whereupon that Pope appointed the Feast of All-souls The breath of the Lord as a stream of brimstone This formidable fire then is fed with most tormenting temper rivers of brimstone and kindled with the breath of the Almighty throughout all eternity Simile quiddam videmus in thermis ubi sulphureae scaturigines magno fremitu effervescunt some resemblance hereof we have in the hot baths c. CHAP. XXXI Ver. 1. WO to them that go down to Egypt for help The Prophet saw them set upon it to send down to Egypt he therefore addeth another Woe to such refractaries and layeth before them more reasons to disswade them from doing so a good president for Preachers Oecolampadius rendreth it O descendentes O ye that go down to Egypt c. Oh ye are a wise company of you and full well ye have done it But they look not to the holy one of Israel They trust not God at all that not alone He that stands with one foot on a rock and another foot upon a quick-sand will sink and perish as certainly as he that stands with both feet on a quick-sand See Psal 62.2 5 6. Ver. 2. Yet he also is wise yea he is the only wise God whatever the worlds wizzards think of Him or of themselves They counted the voyage down to Egypt the wisest way and to rest altogether upon God Tacita Antithesis in qua latet Antanaclasis to be altogether impolitique as the case now stood Egypt also they knew was famous for wisdom chap. 19.11 12. but considered not how God had fooled them Exod. 1. and taken those foxes in their own craft 1 Cor. 3 19. And will bring evil To those evil-Counsellors especially 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ver. 3. Now the Egyptians are men and not God Poets fain that in the Trojan war one god fought against another Mulciber in Trojam pro Troja stabat Apollo But these Jews could not imagine that the Egyptians in whom they confided were fit matches for God and able to deal with him Who would set those briars and thorns against me in battle I would go through them I would burn them together chap. 27.4 And their horses flesh and not spirit God is Lord of hosts and as the Rabbins well observe he hath his Cavallery and his Infantry or his horse and his foot his upper forces and his lower ready prest The charets of God are twenty thousand even thousands of Angels Psal 68.17 and what can the Egyptian horse do against such worthy warriors Ver. 4. Like as the Lion and the young Lion That they may trust in God and not in the arm of flesh the Prophet setteth before them under two fit similitudes the power of God ver 4. and the mercy of God ver 5. These are the Jachin and the Boaz the two main pillars and supports of Trust in God Procopius here noteth that the Lyon when he preyeth first roareth so terribly that he thereby amazeth both the cattle and their keepers and then he falleth upon them and teareth them in pieces so doth God first roar that is threaten by his Prophets and then he destroyeth such as obstinate themselves in a sinful course Ver. 5. As birds flying so will the Lord of Hosts This is the second similitude the Eagle when she flyeth highest of all from the nest and seemeth to set her self among the clouds still keeps her eye on her nest so that if any come near her young ones to offend them she makes all possible speed for their defence Such an Eagle is Almighty God Deut. 32.11 such a hen is Jesus Christ Mat. 23.37 see Psal 91.1 2. The Church is Gods nest who dare meddle with it Sennacherib had threatned to destroy nest and young ones together because he had done so elsewhere and none durst wag the wing at him chap. 10.14 but he found it otherwise here chap. 37.33 Ver. 6. Turn ye unto him Vos Apostatae Judaei He runs far that never turneth again we say ye have revolted and run away from God with all your hearts doing evil as ye could O Turn again to Him ex profundo imoque corde ad illum redite let there be a proportion betwixt your sin and your repentance Turn ye unto me usque ad me all out as far as to me give not the half turn only with all your heart Joel 2.12 Take heed left there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God Heb. 3.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 parit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ver. 7. For in that day Sc. of your effectual conversion chap. 30 22. or when the Assyrian shall assault you then you shall see the vanity of your Idols and of all humane helps so chap. 2.20.22 Ver. 8. Then shall the Assyrian fall fall in his forces flee in his person but evil shall hunt that violent man to destroy him Psal 140.11 Not of a mighty man or of a mean man but of an Angel And his young men shall be discomfited Heb. shall be unto melting they shall melt away as 1 Sam. 14.16 Vide hic saith à Lapide see here how this world is nothing else but a perpetual ruin of all kinds and conditions of men Ver. 9. And he shall pass over to his stronghold To Nineveh never thinking
upon Revelations and fained Miracles think the same of Rantâ—rs Quakers and some Anabaptists prove Palea that is chaff hay and stubble that shall be surely burnt 1 Cor. 3.11 Some render the text Quid paleae cum tritico what hath chaff to do with the wheat as Hos 14.9 Joh. 2.4 Away with any such mixtures In the writings of some Sectaries Sunt bona mista malis sunt mala mista bonis The speech in the text seemeth to have been Proverbial and is not unlike that of the Apostle 2 Cor. 6.14 15 16. and those in humane Authors Quid sceptre plectro Suid. Qui specillo gladio quid lecytho strophio quid hyaenae cani quid bovi delphino quid cani balneo c. So what communion hath faith and unbelief zeal and passion c. And yet unbelief may be with faith Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief Mar. 9.24 zeal with passion yea in young Christians heat and passion goeth sometimes for zeale and yet it is but chaff which when blown away the heap is little else but wheat that is saith zeal humility though we have lesse pride passion presumption But this by the way only Ver. 29. Is not my Word like a fire As it is like solid wheat wholesom food 1 Tim. 6.3 so it is no lesse liâ—e fire that most active Element called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it is pure saith One and fire because it is fair It inlighteneth enliveneth warmeth purgeth assimilateth aspireth consumeth combustible matter congregat hâ—mogenea segregat heterogenia so doth the Word when accompanied by the Spirit who is of a fiery nature and of a fiery operation Isa 4.4 Mal. 3.2 Matth. 3.11 The words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and thee are life Job 6.65 Did not our hearts burn within us whiles he talked with us by the way and opened unto us the holy Scriptures Luke 24.32 when the word comes home to the heart in the power of it the preacher was sent of God See Gal. 2.8 And like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces i. e. The rockiest hearts and sturdiest stomacks are tamed terrified by the Word when God once takes them to do Iâ— is as his plough to break up their fallow ground and as his sword to run them through Jer. 4 Heb. 4. and to lay them for dead Rom. 7. And like as the hardest ice is broken with hot waters as well as with hammers so is the hardest heart with the Gospel as well as with the Law Ver 30. Behold I am against those Prophets Heb. Behold I against by an angry Aposiopesis That steal my Word every one from his neighbour That filth it either by hiding it from others as the Popish Doctors do from the common people or by wresting it to the defence of their false doctrines as Marcion the heretike whom therefore Tertullian fitly calleth Murem Ponticum the rat of Pontus for his gnawing and tawing of the Scriptures to bring them to his purpose Or by a fraudulent imitating of Gods true Prophets taking up their parables and making use of their expressions such as are Thus saith the Lord Grace be to you and peace c. Wasps also have their combs as well as Bees and Apes will be doing as they see men to do Or lastly by causing the people ro forget and lose the good that they had once learned of the true Prophets This we see daily done by the cunning fetches and flatteries of the Seducers of our times causing many to lose the things that they had wrought 2 Joh. 8. Ver. 31. That use their tongues Or abuse them rather to smoothing and soothing up people in their sins lenificant linguas id est blando sermone alliciunt plebem they flatter and collogue or tollunt linguam they sift up their tongues viz. by extolling themselves and speaking magnifically of their own doing As one hath observed of some Sectaries amongst us that they often call upon their hearers to mark Dulcorantium mollificantium False Prophets sooth sweeten men for it may be they shall hear that which they never heard before When the thing is either false or if true no more then is ordinarily taught by others and which they have stolen out of the writings of others And say He saith See on ver 30. Ver. 32. That cause my people to erre by their lyes and by their lightnesse By their lying discorses and light or lose courses So Zeph. 3.4 Judg. 9.4 If these false Prophets had been of a sober grave behaviour the people might have been with better excuse deluded by them as Aristotle noteth of Eudoxus and the same is true of Epicâ—rus himself as Tully telleth us that he prevailed much in disputing for pleasure because he was no voluptuous man himself But these in the text were no lesse leud then loud lyars Ver. 33. What is the burthen of the Lord Ironicum interrogandi genus thus they profanely asked by way of scoff or despite such as he will drive down their throats again plaguing them for their profane malignity Then shalt thou say What burthen q d. I 'le burden you to some purpose sith ye profanely count and call my Word a burthen you shall suddenly have your back-burthen of plagues and miseries for the contempt of it I will even forsake you And then Woe be unto you Hos 9.12 you shall be eased of these burthens and of me together and that you 'l find misery enough See chap. 12.7 Learn therefore to speak holily and honourably of Gods Word left thou hear this Word of his Thou shalt never enter into my rest Ver. 34. That shall say The burthen of the Lord Nempe per lâ—dibrium in contempt and derision See 2 Chron. 36.16 Ver. 35. Thus shall ye say God sets them a form who otherwise knew not how to lisp out a syllable of sober language Loquamur verba Scripturae saith Peter Ramus utamur sermone Spiritus Sancti Let us inure our selves to Scripture-Expressions Ver. 36. For every mans word shall be his burthen That jear of his aforementioned shall lye heavy upon him and cost him dear for under the weight he shall sink and be crusht in pieces Ver. 37. Thus shalt thou say to the Prophet See on ver 35. Ver. 38. But sith ye say The burthen of the Lord Sith ye accuse me as unmerciful my Word as a ponderous burthen and my Messengers as telling you nothing but terrible things and bloody businesses which therefore you are resolved to slight and neglect Ver. 39. Therefore behold I even I will utterly forget you I nunc ergo lude pasquillis putidis dicteriis saith One. Go thy waies now thou that thinkest it a goodly thing to gibe and jear at Gods Ministers and their messages Consider of this dreadful denunciation and thereby conceive aright of the hainousnesse of thy sin for God doth not use to kill flies upon mens foreheads