perished Fourthly There are teares of love unfeigned and strong affection Thus David and Jonathan kissed one another and wept one with another untill David exceeded 1 Sam. 20.41 When Jesus Christ wept at the Sepulcher of Lazarus The Jewes sayd Behold how he loved him John 11.35 36. They saw his heart at his eyes These teares spake mutuall and reall endearements Fifthly There are the teares of holy prayers and fervent desires Jacob wept and made supplication Hos 12.4 He cryed and prayed The voyce of his teares was lowder then the voyce of his supplication and his prayers were in this sense even drowned in teares Jacobs teares spake the fervency of his spirit and his faith in prayer The Angell understood them so and he prevayled Sixthly There are teares of compassion for the miseries of others Weep with them that weeP is the Apostles rule Rom. 12.15 When Nehemiah heard the report of Jerusalems ruine and of the sad condition of his Brethren there He sate downe and wept Nehem. 1.4 His teares spake pitty to his Country-men and zeale for God Seventhly There are the teares of passion in reference to our owne afflictions Such teares speak humane frailty or the common infirmity of the flesh Eighthly There are the teares of damnation Hypocrites and their associates in Hell are described Weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth for evermore Their teares speak despayre or misery without hope of remedy The tears which Job powred forth were of the seventh sort teares of passion or sorrow caused by the afflicting hand of God but especially by the unkindnesses of his Freinds My freinds scorne me but mine eye powreth out teares unto God Job knew that as God had a Book for his prayers so a Bottle for his teares yea he knew teares should be heard as well as prayers Teares are powerfull Oratours God reads our hearts in those lines which teares draw on our faces One of the Ancient Phylosophers hath adjudged weeping unworthy a man Lachrymae a viris claris auferendae sunt mulieribus autem relinquendae Plat. de rep Dial. 3. and tells us it is onely for Women and Children to weepe But as there are teares of effeminate and childish pusillanimity so there are teares of heroicall and holy importunity To weep for feare of sufferings from man is indeed below man but to weep to God when we suffer eyther under the hand of God or man doth well become the best of men not to weep to God when we eyther suffer or have sinned proceeds not from courage but from sullennesse and is not the argument of a noble spirit but of a hard heart Who so couragious as David who feared not a Lyon nor a Beare who would not be afrayd though an Hoast of men encamped against him and though he walked in the valley of the shadow of death yet how often do we read him weeping and crying to God Psal 39.12 Hold not thy peace saith he at my teares David in that case could not hold his peace from crying to God and he was perswaded that God would not hold his peace at his cry he expected to have his teares answered He did not say Hold not thy peace at my words or at my prayer but as importing that his very teares had a voyce and language in them he desired that they might be answered David did not weep for feare of men but in faith to God And so did Job Mine eye powreth out teares vnto God God was the object of his teares as much as of his prayers God is above and yet our teares fall into his bosome these waters ascend this raine doth not fall but rise these showres doe not come from the Clouds but they peirce the Clouds As the heate of the Sun drawes the water upward so doth the heate of Gods love Some of the Ancients use strange Hyperbolies about the power and motion of teares I will not stay upon them we may say too much of them but thus much we may safely say that from a heart rightly affected and touched with the sense eyther of sin or suffering they have much weight in them and are pressing upon God Mine eye powreth out teares unto God From the conexion of this latter part of the Verse with the former Observe When wee are scorned by men it is good for us to mourne to God My Freinds scorne me now I weep and pray It is best for us to apply our selves to God when we live in the embraces of men when all men speake well of us and applaud us what is all this if we have not the good word and the good will of God unlesse we have an applause in Heaven it will doe us no good to have the true applause much lesse the flatteries of men on earth Suppose they speake right and give us but our due yet we must not rest in that but goe to God The good word of God is better to us infinitely then the best vvord of the best men to him let us have recourse when we have the greatest favour and fairest Quarter in the World but when the World scornes and rejects us then is a speciall season for us to hasten into the presence of God wee should live neerest and closest to God when men cast us off or throw us out of their societies and affections There is a twofold recourse to God whereof the first is from choice the second from necessity It is best to make our recourse to God upon choise but he will not refuse us if necessity drive us to him God is most worthy to be our choyce but he is willing to be our refuge yet he is indeed a refuge to those onely in evill times who have made him their choyce in the best times When all goes well with us in the World we should not thinke our selves well till we enjoy God It is good for me to draw neere to God saith David Psal 73.28 It is good for me to doe it in good times in the best times this I make my election And when David saith It is good he meanes it is best that positive beares the sense of a Superlative and therefore he had sayd a little before Vers 25. Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee But in an evill time God is both the choyce and the refuge of his people He is our refuge properly to whom we come when others cast us off and hee is our choyce to whom we come when others call for us and seeme ambitious to be kinde unto us It is not thank-worthy to make God barely a refuge to come to him because wee can goe no where else we should thinke our selves no where till we are in his presence wheresoever we are and that we have nothing till we have him whatsoever we have Not to preferr the least of God before all the World is not onely un-ingenuous in us but sinfull against and
from the presence of the Lord Here was no appearance of terrour it was the voice of God walking as a freind not marching as an enemy and it was in in thr coole not heat of the day these circumstances argue the guiltinesse of Adam and his Wife who fled and hid themselves at this appearance of the Lord. The voice of God walking was a dreadfull sound in their eares because they had not hearkned to the voice of God commanding Wicked Pashur who opposed the good Prophet is branded with a new name Jer. 20.3.4 The Lord sayd his name shall no more be called Pashur but Magor-Misabib that is Feare round about and in the next Verse the reason is given why this name was given him For I will make thee a terrour to thy selfe He that is a terrour to himselfe can no more be without terrour then he can be without himselfe Nor can any thing be a comfort to him who is his owne terrour And therefore a guilty conscience heares a dreadfull sound what sound soever he heares he ever expects to heare bad newes and he puts fearefull glosses and comments upon that which is good A wicked man interprets all reports in one of these two mischievous senses either To the discredit of others Pessimus in dubiis Augur timor Stat or to the disquiet of himselfe Bring what text of providence you can to him he corrupts it with one of these glosses Yea the faithfull counsells of his owne Friends are dreadfull sounds unto him for he hath a suspicion that while they are counselling him for good it is but a contriving of evill against him or a setting of snares to catch him Againe sometimes God creates a sound or causeth the wicked to heare a dreadfull sound 2 Kings 7.6 The Lord made the Hoast of the Syrians to hear a noyse of Charriots and a noyse of Horses even the noyse of a great Hoast c. Upon this dreadfull sound they arose and fled Sometimes a wicked heart creates a sound and what the Prophet threatens he heares the stone out of the Wall the beame out of the Timber crying against him The Story tells us of one who thought that the Swallowes in the Chimney spake and told tales of him We say in our Proverbe As the Foole thinketh so the Bell clinketh much more may we say As an evill conscience thinketh so every thing clinketh As he that hath a prejudice against another takes all he heares spoken of him and all that he heares him speak in the worst sense and most disadvantageous construction to his reputation so he that hath a preâ—udice against himselfe construes all that he either heares or sees against his owne Peace Hence it is that he doth not onely flee when he is pursued but when none pursue Prov. 28.1 The wicked flies when none pursueth except his owne feares but the righteous is as bold as a Lyon This terrour was threatned in the old Law Levit. 26.36 They that are left alive of you in the time of your Captivity I will send fainting in their hearts in the Land of their Enemy and the sound of a shaking leafe shall chase them What poore spirits have they who are chased by the motion of a leafe The sound of a leafe is a pleasant sound it is a kind of naturall musick Feare doth not onely make the heart move Homines tui non expectato adventu hostis velut transsossi examinantur metu Jun. As the Trees of the Forrest are moved with the winde Isa 7. but it makes the heart move if the winde doe but move the Trees of the Forrest The Prophet Isaiah tells Jerusalem Thy slaine men are not slaine with the Sword not dead in Battell Isai 22.2 With what then were they slaine And how dyed they a learned Interpreter tells us how They were slaine with feare and dyed with a sound of Battell before ever they joyned Battell This answereth the judgement denounced by Moses in another place Deut. 28.65 The Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart and fayling of eyes and sorrow of minde and thy life shall hange in doubt before thee and thou shalt feare day and night and shalt have no assurance of thy life But here some may object Is this the portion of wicked men Doth a dreadful sound in their eares afflict their hearts Have not many such much peace and doe they not either smile or wonder to heart others complaining of an afflicted spirit and beg prayers for the appeasing of their troubled conscience which are matters they have no acquaintance with nor knowledge of I answer First We are not to understand the proposition as if all wicked men have or that any wicked man at all times hath this dreadfull sound in his eare but thus it is very often and thus it may be alwayes thus it is with many and thus it may be with all wicked men A wicked man hath as we say no fence for it no priviledge nor promise to secure him from it Againe though some wicked men have not this dreadfull sound in their eares yea though they have pleasant sounds in their eares like them who sang to the Viall c. Amos 6. yet first their peace is not a true peace secondly it is not a lasting peace thirdly that which they have ariseth from one of these two grounds either from neglect of their consciences or from some defect in their consciences The neglect of conscience from whence this ariseth is twofold either first when they neglect to speake to conscience conscience and they never have a word much lesse any serious conference or discourse either concerning the state of their hearts or the course of their lives and then all 's peace with them Secondly when the speakings of conscience are neglected conscience hath a double voice of direction and correction conscience tells a man what he ought and what he ought not to doe conscience checks a man for not doing what he ought or for doing what he ought not Yet many over power and restrain conscience from this office and never leave opposing till they have silenced yea conquered it Such as these have peace such a one as it is and heare nothing but a sound of delight in their eares while this silence lasteth Againe this may arise from some defect disabling conscience to doe its ordinary or naturall duty the conscience of an evill man may have some goodnesse in it Conscience may be considered two wayes either morally or naturally that onely is a morally good conscience which is pure and holy a conscience cleansed from the guilt of sin by the blood of Christ thus no wicked man can be sayd to have a good conscience That is a naturally good conscience which performes the office or duty to which conscience is appointed conscience is set up in man to performe certaine offices if the conscience of a bad man performe them his conscience in that sense is good The first
they lookt for and sayd Thy Brother Benhadad If thou ownest him as a Brother surely thou wilt not use him as an Enemy There is to the point in hand a holy cunning in catching up words which drop from the lips of men in affliction and 't is our wisedome to make improvement of them As for instance There was an ancient Professor as I have been informed in much distresse of conscience even to despaire he complaining bitterly of his miserable condition to a Freind let this word fall That which troubles me most is that God will be dishonoured by my fall This word was hastily catcht at and turned upon him to the asswaging of his griefe Art thou carefull of the honour of God and doest thou thinke God hath no care of thee and of thy salvation A soule for saken of God regards not what becomes of the honour of God Therefore be of good cheere if Gods heart were not towards thee thine could not be towards God or towards the remembrance of his name Thus words should be watcht yea and silence should be watcht for advantages to ease a distressed soule Lastly These words may referr to God as if Job had said Whether I speake or whether I forbeare God doth not come in to my helpe I finde no comfort from him he puts no stop to my paine nor doth he asswage the floods of griefe which are ready to swallow me up He gives me no ease at my complaining cryes nor doth he give me any at my patient silence The next Verse seemes most sutable to this exposition where Job applyes himselfe to God shewing what hee did to him both while he spake and while he held his peace he wearyed him still and left him in a wearyed condition Vers 7. But now he hath made me weary thou hast made desolate all my company We may see in this context that the spirit of Job vvas much troubled by the troublednesse of his speech At this seventh Verse he speakes in the third Person He hath made me weary and before he gets to the end of it he speakes in the second Person Thou hast made desolate In the eighth Verse Thou hast filled me with wrinkles In the ninth Verse He teareth me in his wrath The tenth Verse is Plurall They have gaped upon me Strange kinde of Grammar sometimes in the third Person sometimes in the second sometimes in the Singular sometimes in the Plurall number His minde was uneven or unsetled and so was his discourse We must not play the Criticks with the words of men in paine nor submit their sentences to a Deske of Grammarians Broken language and incongruities of speech doe well enough become broken hearts and wounded spirits God will not call his Schollers in the Schoole of affliction to the Ferula for such faults or false Latine falling from their mouthes either in prayer or conferences while their hearts are true and the language of their spirits pure But now he hath made me weary But Now Now is not here a Particle of time onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a specification of the season noting that then God eyther began or still continued to make him weary but it carryes also a strong asseveration or the certainety of the thing as in that promissory exhortation Hag. 2.4 Yet now be strong O Zerubbabell saith the Lord and be strong O Joshua Though you see things yet below expectation though this be a day of small things yet take heart and encourage your selves to carry on this reforming worke Yet now be strong even now when so many things might weaken both your hearts and hands and be yee assured that I will not reject your confidence but vvill cause you to prosper in it Nunc in principio dictionis quandam cordis dulcedinem connotare solet Bold And in promises besides the certainety of the thing promised and the speedy fulfilling of them it intimates much sweetnesse of affection in him that makes the promise On the contrary in threatnings and comminations besides the certainety and speed of them it notes the sharpnesse and severity of his spirit who gives those threats So Isa 5.5 And now goe to I will tell you what I will doe to my Vineyard Now goe too is chiding cheare As if the Lord had thus rated them What Have you served mee thus as sure as I formerly planted and hedged this Vineyard so surely will I now pull downe the hedge and root it up In this fulnesse of sense take it here But now he hath made me weary certainly or of a truth he hath I was once sweetly and strongly hedged about with mercy But now hee hath made mee weary and desolate He hath made me weary He is not expressed in the Hebrew and therefore there is a doubt who is meant by this He. Nunc autem oppressit me dolor meus Vulg. Some understand it of his griefe and sorrow and read it thus But now it hath made me weary my paine hath tyred me Secondly Others understand it of vvhat had been spoken by his Freinds your tedious discourses and severer censures have quite spent my spirits and made me weary Our translation leads us to a person and our Interpretation leads us to God He that is God hath made mee weary Job every where acknowledgeth that God vvas the Author and Orderer of all his sorrows Now he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non solum fatigationem denotat sed fastidium molestissimum tum animi tum corporis Hath made me weary Or He hath wearyed me it is but one word and it signifies not an ordinary wearinesse not such a wearinesse as comes upon us after a turne or two in the Feilds A man who walkes into the ayre to refresh himselfe may come home weary but it notes such wearinesse as vvee feele after long and tedious travell or after a hard journey yea it notes not onely wearinesse of body but the wearinesse of the minde It is possible for a man to weary his body and yet his minde remaine unmoved bare outward action stirres not the minde To ride to run to digg or thresh weary the body not the minde but those workes which with action have contention in them as to argue and dispute doe at once exercise and weary both minde and body The vvearinesse of the minde is the most painefull wearinesse Jobs wearinesse takes in both thou hast vvearied my body and vvearied my minde too I am full of soares vvithout and of sorrow within And such was that wearinesse spoken of by the Prophet Isa 47.13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels that is In going long journeys to aske counsell of thy adored wise men or Wizzards rather of Southsayers and Diviners In this pursuit thou hast laboured thy body and vexed thy soule but profited neither After all thy travels vvhat hast thou brought home but wearinesse Tyred flesh and a tyred spirit is all the fruit of our
Doctrine is the purity of it and the sincerity of prayer is the purity of it Job did not boast his prayer pure without infirmity but he did professe it pure without hypocrisie Yet besides this casting out of hypocrisie there are diverse ingredients to be taken in towards the composition of a pure prayer of which I shall touch more distinctly by and by We read in the Institutes of the Ceremoniall Law of pure Myrrhe of pure Frankincense of pure Oyle of pure Incense all which concurred to pure worship among the Jewes and typed out all pure worship both among Jewes and Gentiles of the latter the Lord saith Mal. 1.11 From the rising of the Sun unto the going downe of the same my name shall be called upon among the Gentiles and in every place Incense shall be offered unto my name and a pure offering This pure offering Job intends when he saith My prayer is pure Under these two There is no injustice in my hand and my prayer is pure Job conteines the whole duty of man both to God and to man Here is Justice comprehending the dutyes of the second Table His duobus membris utramque tabulam complectitur Merc. and Prayer comprehending the duties of the first Table Thus Job was compleat in all the will of God and had respect to all his Commandements And thus he verified Gods testimony of him Chap. 1.1 and approved himselfe to be A man perfect and upright fearing God and eschewing evill which is the whole duty of man From the words in generall Observe First Man hath great support in bearing afflictions from the witnesse which his heart gives of his owne integrity 'T is matter of wonder that ever Job should beare so many burdens and endure breach upon breach till wee remember that though he had many breaches upon his body and estate yet he had none upon his conscience Indeed his spirit had breaches by way of tryall and temptation from God but it had none by way of disobedience against God The spirit of a man saith Solomon will sustaine his infirmities Prov. 18.14 There are two sorts of infirmities First Sinfull infirmities such are impatience doubtings deadnesse of heart and vanity of thoughts Secondly Penall or painefull infirmities such as are poverty sicknesse diseases or any outward crosse whatsoever These latter are the infirmities which Solomon meanes and these the spirit of a man will sustaine even while his flesh or body sinks under them Yet here spirit is not taken meerely in opposition to bodily or materiall flesh though the spirit under that Physicall notion is able to beare much more then the body can but as spirit is opposed to spirituall and sinfull flesh that is to a carnall corrupt minde The spirit of a man furnished with grace supported with the favour of God and the testimony of a good conscience will sustaine all his infirmities that is cause him to beare with much not onely patience but courage and cheerfulnesse the heaviest burdens of affliction which eyther the wisedome of God doth or the malice of man can lay upon him Holinesse makes the weake strong and the strong like Giants to endure all shocks of trouble and hardship A whole skin feeles no smart though you bath it with brine and if a man have a sound conscience if his spirit be not galled and raw he is able to stand at any time and sometimes to rejoyce in the saltest waters of worldly sorrow For though he be not as was shewed before senslesse of or without outward smart yet having no inward smart which is the worst smart hee is above it The paines and wants of the body are almost lost and swallowed up in the comforts and enjoyments of the minde A wounded spirit who can beare A spirit unwounded what can it not beare He that hath no injustice in his hands hath much peace in his heart and while our prayer is pure our spirits will not be much troubled in any of our troubles Secondly Observe It is possible to live without any knowne sin Job knew of no injustice in his hand nor was he conscious of any impurity in his prayer The Apostle John writes to Saints of all Ages and Statures under the title of His little Children not to sin 1 John 2.1 And in that he doth not only admonish them of what they ought not to doe but of what they might attain not to doe For though he that saith he hath no sin deceives himselfe and sins in saying so 1 Joh. 1.9 yet it may be sayd of some without sin and they in Jobs case may say it of themselves without sin that they sin not The best Saints have and know they have sin in their natures and sin in their lives yea and sometimes they fall into great sins yet such a degree of holinesse is attaineable in this life that a man may be sayd not to sin For then in a Gospell sense we are sayd not to sin when we cast off and are free from all grosse and scandalous sins and doe both carefully avoyd and make conscience of the least and the most secret sin Zacharie and Elizabeth Luke 1.16 were both righteous before God walking in all the Commandements and Ordinances of the Lord blamelesse that is They did not live in any open or knowne sin they lived so that no man could blame them or bring any just complaint against them eyther in matters of morality which seeme to be meant in the word Commandement or in matters of worship which seeme to be meant by the word Ordinance And when I speak of not living in any knowne sin I meane not onely that Saints may rise so high as not to live in any sin which the World takes notice of but they may yea and often doe arrive at that hight of holinesse not to live in any sin knowne to themselves if once a true Beleever discovers sin he cannot owne it much lesse live in it be it injustice or wrong towards men be it any fayling in the worship and service of God he will not suffer it to lodge with him He that hath grace in his heart cannot live with injustice in his hand there is an inconsistence between these two a life of grace and to live in sin Sin may be much alive in him that hath grace but he cannot live in sin he may be often tempted to the act of it and sometimes possibly overtaken with it yet he cannot live in it He cannot keep injustice in his hand nor frame an impure prayer in his heart A good man may doe an act of injustice but he continues not unjust he restores what he hath taken unjustly from men and repents before the Lord but usually he is not conscious to himselfe of doing unjustly towards men If a Laban one with whom hee hath had converse and dealing twenty yeares together should come and search his house he is able to say to him as honest Jacob did to his Uncle
Hab. 1.13 Seeing then there is much iniquity in our holy things we must doe all by our High Priest who as the typical High Priest did for the Children of Israel Exod. 28.38 beares the iniquity of our holy things that we as they may be accepted before the Lord. Sixthly That and onely that is pure prayer which is breathed in and breathed out by the spirit of God Edifie your selves in your â—ost holy Faith pray in the holy Ghost Jude Vers 20. Or praying by the holy Ghost as some translate that is by the strength and helpe of the holy Ghost We cannot make pure prayer with our owne breath parts and gifts the holy spirit breathes holy prayer into and draws it out of our hearts As we know not what to beleeve or doe aright till the spirit teacheth us so we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the spirit it selfe maketh intercession for us Rom. 8.26 The spirit maketh intercession not as Christ doth the spirit doth not mediate between God and us but as it is the office of Christ to intercede for us with God so it is the office of the holy Ghost to make those intercessions in us which we put up to God So that the spirit is said to make intercession for us because the intercessions and prayers which we make are made by the spirit the spirit formes them in us As some duller Schollers in a Schoole who cannot make their Exercises get their exercises made for them by those that are more pregnant so the spirit makes intercession for us We are dull and low 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 particula 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad nos laborantes refertur quorum tamen vis omnis ab eo spiritu proficiscitur qui sicut nos penitus collapsos erexit ita etiam erectos regit ideoque dicitur ipse vicissim onus attollere ne sub eo fatiscamus Bez. in Epist ad Rom. and straitned wee cannot make a prayer the spirit makes them for us in our hearts Hence it is said in the beginning of the Verse The spirit also helpeth our infirmities The Greek word signifieth to helpe as a Nurse helpeth a little Childe to goe or as a weake decrepid old man is upholden by a staffe or rather as the composition of the word implyes The spirit helpeth together And then it is a Metaphor taken from those who lift a weight or a peece of Timber too heavy for one together The spirit lends us his hand in this duty and they who have received grace act also with the spirit Thus the spirit helpeth together The Spirit and a Beleever are both at it to carry on this praying worke yet all that strength which we put to the worke flowes from the spirit who as he raiseth us when wee are quite fallen so hee assists us when we are raised and then wee make good worke pure worke of it in prayer Lastly That is a pure prayer which comes from a pure person And there is a double purity of the person necessary to a pure prayer First There is the purity of his state he must be a converted and regenerated person otherwise his prayer is abominable though he should be right in as many of the forementioned requisites as it is possible for an unregenerate man to be as suppose he not onely prayeth to God and for such things as are agreeable to the will of God but also as he thinks for the glory of God yet the mans prayer is impure because himselfe is impure God hath respect to the person before he hath respect to his supplication Prov. 15.8 The prayer of the wicked is an abomination to God but the prayer of the upright is his delight And againe Hee that turnes away his eare from hearing the Law even his prayer shall bee abomination Prov. 28.9 Secondly As there must be purity of state before there can be a pure prayer so also purity of life that is he must be renewed in purity not lying or continuing in any sin 1 Tim. 2.8 I will that men pray every where lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubtings Holy hands note the purity of our actions as a holy heart notes the purity of our state To lift up the hands is to pray the signe being put for the thing signified The meaning is let your prayers be holy First without wrath to men come not to seeke the favour of God with anger and revenge in thy heart against man Secondly pray without doubting that respects God and is opposed to Faith As if the Apostle had sayd Pray both in actuall Faith and Love Yet the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there used is rendered by some Disceptation or wrangling as if the Apostle had in that specified one effect of wrath 'T is expounded also by others for any internall distraction or distemper of the mind for the minde of man is often carryed away from God in prayer and maintaines secret Dialogismes discourses and conferences in and with it selfe when it should be wholly taken up with God The covetous mans heart talkes of Gold and the voluptuous mans heart talkes of pleasures when hee seemes to pray yea these Foules will often come downe upon the Sacrifice of an Abraham onely as soone as hee espies them hee drives them away yet by these interruptions in prayer as well as by any sinfull action unrepented of before prayer the holinesse of prayer or the lifting up of holy hands in prayer is hindred and defaced even in those whose persons are holy David was a man that was pure in state he was a converted person yet he saith Ps 66.18 If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not heare my prayers Though I am pure in state yet if I am impure in life the eare of God will shut against my suites Isa 1.14 15. God rejects the prayers of his owne people because their hands were full of blood and hence his counsell Wash you make you cleane put away the evill of your doings from before mine eyes c. Come now let us reason together saith the Lord Vers 18. As if he had said while I see your sins I cannot heare your prayers while your iniquities are before mine eyes your supplications cannot enter into mine eare nor will I answer them How can any soule expect with Faith that God should doe what he requests when hee will not doe what God commands Or that God should fulfill our desires while wee in any thing neglect his rules As the prayer of an unholy person is turned into sin so the sin of a holy person may cause the Lord to turne away his prayer Then take that counsell of the Apostle writing to and of Saints Heb. 10.22 Let us draw nigh to God with a true heart in full assurance of Faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evill conscience and our bodies washed with pure water There is a twofold evill conscience First That which
face and hardned thy heart against the feare of the Almighty These shewes of a ground Eliphaz might take but Job had given him no reall ground to pronounce this heavy censure Thou castest off feare But passing by the rigid hypothesis of Eliphaz we may from his words as they are a Thesis observe That to cast off the feare of God is highest wickednesse to cast off the feare of God is the beginning of wickednesse as to entertaine The feare of God is the beginning of wisedome the word here used signifieth not onely the beginning but the top the chiefe the head and highest perfection of a thing the feare of God is both first and last the beginning and end of holinesse To feare God and keep his Commandements is all man in goodnesse to cast off the feare of God is all man in sinfulnesse the beginning and end of wickednesse It is ill not to have the feare of God but it is farre worse to cast of the feare of God it is ill not to chuse the feare of God Prov. 1.29 but to reject the feare of the Lord that is desperate if once feare be cast off all wickednesse is let in at the same doore at which the feare of the Lord goes out any sin may enter As Abraham sayd The feare of God is not in this place and they will kill me for my Wives sake they have no impediment of lust to cast off who have once cast off the feare of God And as they who cast off this feare are ready to doe or say any thing that 's evill so they are unready to doe or say any thing that is good as they have no restraint upon them from iniquity so they can easily restrain themselves from duty The next words shew this Thou restrainest prayer before him Prayer is a principall part of the outward worship of God and is both here and elsewhere put for the whole outward worship of God The word signifies also meditation musing or thinking Detrahis confabulationem cum Deo Jun. So some render here Thou takest off conference with God thou wast wont to keep continuall correspondence with Heaven and maintaine a sweet humble familiarity with God by holy meditation but now thou art like a stranger and commest not at him But whether we translate the word by Prayer or Meditation the sense is the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Meditatio loquela etiam oratio for praying is speaking to God yea an arguing and pleading with God And so 't is used in the Titles of the 102. and 142. Psalmes The word which we render to restraine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Significat 1. prohibere 2. diminuere Non est intelligendum quasi arguatur Job quod remiserit vel prohibuerit orandi studium sed potius è contra quod multiloquio vel battologia usus erat Bold Hoc est vitium dictum a Theophrasto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 proprie a Graecit dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 minutiloquium Minuere stillas aquarum est minutissimas frequentissimasque pluviae guttas mittere signifies two things First to withdraw or stop Secondly to lessen and diminish Jer. 48.37 Every beard clipt or diminished we may take it in both senses here as reproving Job either for a totall forbearance and throwing up the duty of Prayer or for shortning and abating it Yet there is an opinion that Job is not here charged for lessening or abating but for lengthening and encreasing Prayer Thou castest off feare and multiplyest Prayer The Hebrew word notes the cutting or dividing of a thing into small peices or portions which is indeed to multiply it and to make it though not more in bulke yet more in number Job 36.27 Thou makest small the drops of raine that is thou multiplyest the drops of raine so here thou makest small thy Prayers as so many drops of raine thou hast never done dropping Prayers thou dost mince thy supplications or cut them out into many small shreads as if thou didst hope to be heard for thy much speaking Such were the silly devotions of the old superstitious Gentiles which the hypocriticall Pharisees imitated and were therefore reproved by Christ under the name of vaine repetitions Matth. 6.7 Of which fault a learned Interpreter judges Eliphaz reproving Job in this place But I rather keep to our owne Translation Thou restrainest Prayer Here againe it may be questioned What cause had Eliphaz to charge Job with restraining prayer The Jewish Writers say it was because he denyed Providence Hebraei ad id referunt quod putant Jobum Dei providentiam negasse quod nos non putamus Mer. q d. ista tua assertio doctrina quod mala supplicia eveniant bonis justis tollit religionem publicum divini numinis cultum and so by consequence Prayer for if God doe not order the affaires of the World the afflictions and deliverances of his people why should we pray to him about them Others referre it not to his denyall of Providence but to that which Eliphaz supposed a fundamentall errour against the Doctrine of Providence That God destroyeth the righteous and the wicked That he laughs at the tryall of the innocent Now will any innocent man pray to God in his affliction when he is told that God laughs at his affliction Will any righteous man call upon God for help when he is taught that God destroyeth the righteous Who would serve a Master who gives such wages and payes those that honour him with disgrace yea with destruction So that Job is charged with restraining Prayer according to this answer to the question not because he totally forbore prayer himselfe or perswaded others to forbeare it but because Jobs assertions were such as might yeeld those consequences and cause many to suspend Prayer or give over calling upon the Name of God in the day of trouble We may be charged to say or doe that which flowes from what we doe or say though we neither say nor doe the thing it selfe Many are guilty of those errors consequentially which yet they never affirmed thetically or directly We may be so farre from asserting that we may professedly abhorre an opinion which yet lyeth secretly under some of our assertions We say justly That the Pope is Antichrist and that pure Popery is Antichristianisme yet the Pope doth not deny Christ for the Pope thinks himself Christs Vicar upon earth and therefore must needs acknowledge him to be come in the flesh yet by consequence the Pope is an opposer both of the Person and Offices of Christ and popish Doctrine fights against the truth of Christ As prophane men Professe they know God yet in their workes they deny him Tit. 1.16 So many erroneous persons professe they love and honour those holy truths and spirituall duties which by consequences they indeed deny as Eliphaz though unduely supposed Job had done the duty of Prayer Thou restrainest prayer before God Taking
the words abstractly they yeeld us this usefull observation That it is an argument of an evill heart to shorten Hic proponitur tanquam ingens piaculum quod homo afflictus remittat orandi studium or restraine to lessen or to give off Prayer in times of trouble That King spake to the height of prophanenesse when he said 2 Kings 6. This evill is of the Lord and why should I waite on the Lord any longer When we have done waiting we have done praying No man will aske for that which he doth not expect to receive How long so ever affliction lasteth so long prayer-season lasteth if the Winter day of our trouble be a Summer day in length if it be continued many dayes yea many moneths and yeares prayer should continue Psal 50.15 Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will heare and thou shalt glorifie me Let the day of trouble be short or long God lookes to heare of us all that day Is any afflicted let him pray saith the Apostle James it is a duty to pray when we are not afflicted when we prosper in the World But is any man afflicted then is a speciall season for prayer A sincere heart prayes alwayes or continues in prayer an hypocrite never loves to pray and at two seasons he will restraine or lay aside prayer First when he is got out or thinks he hath prayed himselfe out of affliction Prosperity and worldly fulnesse stop the mouth of prayer and he hath no more to say to God when he hath received much from God Secondly a Hypocrite restraines prayer when he perceives he hath got nothing by prayer he sees he cannot or feares he shall not get out of trouble and therefore he will pray no more in trouble his spirit failes because his afflictions hold out Upon which soever of these two grounds the Hypocrite restraines prayer he shewes the wickednesse of his heart If from the former he shewes that he beares no true love to God if from the latter he shewes that he hath no true faith in God or dares not trust him Further to cast off prayer is to cast off God and he that lives without prayer in the World lives without God in the World Hence the Heathen who know not God and the Families that call not upon his Name are joyned together or rather are the same Jer. 10.25 Further to restraine prayer is worse then not to pray The latter notes onely a neglect of the duty the fromer a distast of the duty To give over any holy exercise is more dangerous then not to begin or take it up The one is the prophane mans sin the other is the Hypocrites Thou restrainest prayer and hee that doth not utter prayer with his mouth will soone utter wickednesse with his mouth as it follows Vers 5. For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity and thou chusest the tongue of the crafty Here Eliphaz explaines and proves what he said before that Job had cast off the feare of God and restrained prayer as if he had said If thou hadst kept in holy feare that would have kept in thine iniquity Hadst thou not restrained prayer that would have restrained and bridled downe thy sin but thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity and that sheweth that prayer is restrained and that feare is cast off here is a demonstration of it If you should come to a Princes Court and see a great croud about the doore you would say the Porter is there he stops and examines them if at another time you see all going in as fast as they please you will say the Porter is out of the way Thus while the feare of the Lord stands like a Porter at the doore of the soule we keep our thoughts and actions in compasse we examine what goes in and what comes out but when once that 's gone Non opus est ut te doceam in quo pecces cum ipse tuus sermo doceat te iniquum esse Vatab Reus verbis oris tui Sept order is gone Any thing may be sayd any thing may be done by him who feares not who prayes not Thou hast cast off feare and restrained prayer for thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity out it comes as fast as it can I need not tell thee wherein thou hast offended thy mouth powres it out Hence Note That the evill which is in the heart will out at the mouth unlesse prayer and the feare of God restraine it As the good that is in the heart will come out of the mouth especially when prayer unlocks the mouth David prayes Lord open thou my lips and then he undertakes for his mouth that it shall shew forth the praise of God Psal 51.1 My heart is inditing a good matter the heart doth this in prayer or meditation what follows My tongue is as the Pen of a ready Writer Heavenly thoughts in the heart shoot out at the tongue in heavenly words When the heart is devising of a good matter the tongue will be swift to speake and set all to a good tune Thus also while the heart is inditing an evill matter the tongue runs to evill Such a man needs not learne from others he hath a root of bitternesse in himselfe Hence our Saviour concludes Matth. 12.37 By thy words thou shalt be condemned and by thy words thou shalt be justified Why shall we be condemned by our words Qualis vir talis oratio Mens mala linguam movet vos fingit ad improbos sensus neque aliud os loquitur quam quod interior suggerit atque imperat sensus The Prophet complaines of those who made a man an offender for a word I answer our words shew what we are they declare our hearts as a man may be discovered of what Country he is when he speakes so of what spirit he is The tongue is the scholler of the heart and speakes what that dictates A man is justly condemned by evill words because they testifie that he is evill Thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity Observe Secondly There are some iniquities which are more properly ours then some others are Thine iniquity Job had as Eliphaz seemes to suggest a kind of peculiarity in it As God ownes some people in a speciall manner though all the people of the earth be his yet they are his beloved people So man ownes some sin in a speciall manner though a corrupt heart hath a relation to all the sins in the World yet some one is his beloved sin and may be called by way of emminency his iniquity 'T is his as his Houses and Lands as the Money in his Purse and the Garments on his backe are his Observe thirdly Every man is most ready to act and utter his speciall iniquity Thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity There are some sins in a mans heart which possibly he may never utter all his dayes but he must be talking of or acting his beloved one Hence David speakes it as a high worke
just the sincere thy heart sets thee out sure Possit per dativum ita verti quid attribuit tibi cor tuum Bold Quid docet te cor tuum Rab. Sol. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat doctrinam sed ita dicitur a discendo potius quam a docendo Drus Quid docuit te cogitatio tua Targ. and gildes thee over with attributes beyond thy deserving Master Broughton following one of the Rabbins presents us with a different translation from either of these What Doctrine can thy heart give thee or what can thy heart teach thee The word which we render to take to carry or hold up a thing signifies also to learne or teach Doctrine but rather to learne then to teach as Grammarians tell us which somewhat abates the clearenesse of that version yet the Chalde Paraphrase followes the same sense What hath thy owne thought taught thee What learnest thou there as if Eliphaz had sayd Thou hast an evill heart and surely an ill Master will teach but ill Doctrine when the heart is inditing of a good matter Psal 45. then we may learne good lessons from the heart and then we speake most effectually to the hearts of others when we speak from our owne hearts they having first been spoken to by the spirit of God But a corrupt heart can teach no better then it hath and that is corrupt Doctrines These are truths yet too much strained for upon this Text and therefore I passe from them and abide by the ordinary signification of the word as we read it Why doth thy heart take thee up or carry thee away as if he had sayd Thy heart hath seized upon thee and arrested thee thou art led away prisoner or captive by the violence and impetuousnesse of thy owne spirit The word is applyed Ezek. 23.14 to the motion of the spirit of God sent unto Ezekiel to instruct him The spirit lifted me up or caught me away that which the good spirit did unto Ezekiel not onely upon his spirit but upon his body for hee was corporally carryed away from the place where he was that the heart of Job as Eliphaz conceived did unto him it lifted him up and carryed him away There is a kind of violence in the allurements and inticings of the heart As a man is sayd to be carryed away by the ill counsells of others so also by his owne In the former sense the word is used Prov. 6.25 Where Solomon advising to take heed of the Harlot saith he Keep thee from the evill Woman from the flattery of the tongue of a strange Woman lust not after her in thy heart neither let her take thee with her eye lids There he makes use of this word let her not take thee or let her not carry thee away upon her eye lids let not her wanton eye flatter thee to the sin of wantonnesse and uncleannesse As the eye of a whorish Woman so the whorish heart of a man often takes and carryeth him away Hence observe The heart hath power over and is too hard for the whole Man Passions hurry our hearts and our hearts hurry us and who can tell whither his heart will carry him or where it will set him downe when once it hath taken him up This is certaine it will carry every man beyond the bounds of his duty both to God and man Take it more distinctly in these three particulars The heart quickly carryeth us beyond the bounds of grace Secondly the heart often carryeth us beyond the bounds of reason When passion workes much reason workes not at all Thirdly it may carry us beyond the bounds of honesty yea of modesty 'T is very dangerous to commit our selves to the conduct of passion that unlesse kept under good command will soone run us beyond the line both of Modesty and of Honesty of Reason and of Grace He that is carryed away thus farre must make a long journey of repentance before he can return and come back either to God or to himselfe Some have been carryed visibly away by the Devil by an evill spirit without them if God give commission or permission the Devill can easily doe it very many are carryed away by the evill spirit within them An evill heart is as bad as the Devill the evill spirit without and the evill spirit within carry us both the same way and that is quite out of the way Consider further how the heart carryeth us away even from spirituall duties and holy services and this is not only the case of carnall men who are given up to their hearts lusts but of the Saints their hearts are continually lifting at them and sometimes they are carryed quite away from Prayer and from hearing the Word the heart lifts the man up and steales him out of the Congregation while his body remaines there the body sits still but the minde which is the man is gone either about worldly businesse and designes or about worldly pleasures and delights He stirres not a foot nor moves a finger and yet he is carryed all the World over He visits both the Indies yet steps not over his own threshold Thus the heart being carryed away carryeth the man away And that 's the reason why God calls so earnestly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cum omni custodia My Son give me thy heart for where our hearts goe we goe or wee are carryed with them Keep thy heart with all diligence Prov. 4.24 or With all keeping or above all keeping it must have double keeping double guards keep keep watch watch thy heart will be gone else and thou wilt goe with it if thou looke not to thy heart thy heart will quickly withdraw it selfe and draw thee along also Why doth thy heart carry thee away is a deserved check upon every man when his heart doth so and Let not thy heart carry thee away is a necessary caution for every man lest his heart should doe so Jobs heart was too busie with him though not so busie as Eliphaz judged when he thus checkt him with Why doth thy heart carry thee away And what doth thine eye wink at But is it a fault to wink with the eye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nutu utor quia nutus ficri solet vel capite vel oculis it is sayd Joh. 13.24 that Peter beckned to or winked at John the Greeke word signifieth an inviting gesture by the whole head or by the eye he winkt at him I say to aske Christ who it was of whom he spake There was no fault in that but Eliphaz findes fault with this What was the supposed fault There is a twofold faulty winking First When wee wink at faults our owne faults or the faults of other men to beare with or approve them Secondly When we wink at the vertues and good deeds of others to slight or undervalue them possibly Eliphaz taxeth Job for both these as if he winked at his owne faults 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
Cloud to us in the day of distresse That is best which is good to us in our worst estate The favour of God the pardon of sin the fruites of the spirit are alwayes pleasant to the Saints but then most when the yeares or times are upon them of which they not onely say with the Preacher Eccles 12.1 Wee have no pleasure in them but vve have much paine and trouble in them The face of the new creature is never foul with vveeping nor is the horne of our salvation defiled when vvee lye in the dust or on the dunghill Job having according to his manner accurately described his calamities and shewed vvith vvhat deep sense and self-abasement he had entertained them he passeth to a refutation of that inference vvhich his Freinds drew and had often pressed upon him from those premises of his affliction Eliphaz suggested him impious and unjust because hee was thus smitten Job plainly denyes it Vers 17. I have not received these wounds in my body and estate for any injustice in my hands no nor for any impiety in my heart also my prayer is pure This Verse takes off both parts of that generall assertion as to Jobs personall condition Chap. 15. Vers 34. The Congregation of Hypocrites shall be desolate fire shall consume the Tabernacles of bribery There Eliphaz closely hinted that Job was an Unjust man and an Hypocrite Job answers no my Tabernacle is not the Tabernacle of bribery there is no injustice in my hands my Congregation or those with whom I joyned in vvorship vvere not a Congregation of Hypocrites my prayer is pure As if he had sayd Though it be a truth that the Congregation of Hypocrites shall be desolate yet it doth not follow that every man is an Hypocrite whose Congregation is made desolate for mine is desolate and yet I know my prayer is pure And though fire shall consume the Tabernacles of bribery yet every man is not guilty of bribery whose Tabernacle is consumed with fire for so is mine and yet I avouch it there is no injustice in my hands Vers 17. Not for any injustice in my hands The word that we translate injustice signifies rapine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Propriè rapina violentia injuria violence or wrong done by violence any open tyrannicall oppression The Harpie being a ravenous Foule hath his name from this root in Hebrew as also in the Greek from one of the same importance because he doth not subtlely surprize his prey but openly assault it It signifies also violence mingled with scorne and contempt as is observed upon that of the Prophet Ezek. 22.26 Her Priests have violated my Laws The Priests did not goe behinde the doore they made an open breach upon the Law of God they did not sin secretly as if they had been afrayd to be seen but avowedly and before the Sun Hence some have rendred that Text Her Priests have contemned my Lawes noting eyther that it was a violation vvith contempt or that Lawes which are once contemned cannot be long unviolated Thus Job professeth there is no such injustice in my hand Job did not disclaime all faylings in doing justice but all intendments of doing injustice he did not peremptorily deny that there was no injustice in his hand arising from mistakes of the Law but none from contempt of the Law Not for any injustice In my hand Injustice is ascribed to the hand not because injustice is alwayes though usually it be done with the hand vvith the hand men take away and vvith that men detaine the right of others David speakes thus 2 Chro. 12.17 Seenig there is no wrong in mine hand that is I have done no wrong The hand is the great instrument of action most injustice is done by the hand though much be done by the tongue and a Judge who gives an unjust sentence with his tongue may be sayd to have injustice in his hands Besides he may be sayd to have injustice in his hands who keeps any thing in his hands vvhich vvas gotten by injustice he also may be sayd to eate injustice who feeds upon vvhat he got unjustly Prov. 4.17 They eate the Bread of wickednesse and drink the Wine of violence that is they eate Bread and drink Wine gotten by wickednesse and violence Job disclaimes injustice in all these notions There is no injustice in my hands as if hee had sayd I have not gotten wealth by injustice nor enricht my selfe by making others poore I have not been as an Harpie to scratch and teare from others to feed my selfe Hee gives a full account of this Chap. 29. and Chap. 30. wiping off those aspersions of injustice by a large narrative of his proceedings in that publick capacity as a Magistrate the breviate of vvhich is summed up in this negative There is no injustice in my hand Further Injustice may be taken two wayes Either strictly for the act of a Magistrate perverting the Law and going besides the rules of righteousnesse Or largely for any wrong that one neighbour in a private capacity doth another To doe justice is every ones duty as well as the Magistrates vve use to say Every man is eyther a Foole or a Physitian vvee may say Every one is eyther a doer of justice or a dishonest man For though to doe justice is chiefely the Magistrates work yet no man who hath any thing to doe in the World can live as he ought vvithout doing justice In this large sense also vve may expound Jobs disclaimer of injustice as if he had sayd I have not willingly fayled in any of those duties which the Law of love towards my neighbour calls for and obliges me unto There is no injustice in my hands Also my prayer is pure Prayer is taken two vvayes as injustice is Eyther largely for the whole vvorship of God My house shall be called the house of prayer Matth. 21.13 that is All kinde of publick worship shall be performed and tendered to me there Prayer being so principall a part of vvorship may vvell comprehend all the parts of worship that which is chiefe in any kinde often denominates all the rest So Love is put for all the duties of the Law and Faith for all the duties yea and for all the Doctrines of the Gospell though in both many other duties and Doctrines are contained Strictly Prayer is that part or worship which consists in calling upon God Prayer is the making knowne of our desires or the opening of our hearts to God It is the ascent of our soules to God David being about to pray saith Vnto thee O Lord doe I lift up my soule In this place we may take prayer in both the notions of it My prayer Is pure The word signifies shining bright glorious a gracious prayer shines so bright that there is a glory in it My prayer is pure Zophar charged Job for saying My doctrine is pure Chap. 12.4 Now Job himselfe saith My prayer is pure The truth of
Laban Gen. 31.37 Whereas thou hast searched all my stuffe what hast thou sound of all thy household-stuffe set it here before my brethren and thy brethren that they may judge betwixt us both As if he had sayd Is there any injustice in my hand Let it come to tryall Or as upright Samuel to all Israel 1 Sam. 12.3 Behold here I am witnesse against me before the Lord and before his annoynted whose Ox have I taken Or whose Asse have I taken Or whom have I defrauded Whom have I oppressed Samuel had been long a Judge yet he knew of no injustice in his hand neither did any man know of any and therefore all acquit him from the least blemish of unfaithfulnesse in his Office Vers 4. Thou hast not defrauded us nor oppressed us neither hast thou taken ought as a bribe of any mans hand And he sayd unto them Vers 5. The Lord is witnesse against you and his annoynted is witnesse this day that yee have not found ought that is ought gotten unjustly in my hand That man hath reacht the perfection of justice who neyther takes out of the hand of others violently nor of the hand of others covetously to byas his spirit when hee sits in judgement Such a perfect Justicer was Samuel all Israel could not finde ought so come by in his hand Hee might say and he did say as much in effect with Job Not for any injustice in my hand And as a Beleever may arrive at such a blamelesse walking towards men that they cannot say He hath sinned so at such a holy walking before God that God himselfe will not say He hath sinned And this God will not say vvhen hee sees a soule labouring as Paul was once praying that the Colossians might to walke worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitfull in every good worke Col. 1.10 And when he sees that his prayer is pure and his worship tendered with a perfect or sincere heart When a soule doth not wilfully neglect any duty towards God God will say he hath performed all duty and though there may be many failings in prayer yet God will say that mans prayer is pure So then we grant that no man lives and sins not yet we affirme that no godly man lives in sin and that some godly men are so farr from living in any sin that others cannot tax them nor can they tax themselves of acting any grosse sins yea though the best of Saints here know they sin and know their sins yet they may be sayd not to commit knowne sins that is not to sin knowingly He is not properly sayd to sin knowingly vvho knowes he sins but he who sins against his knowledge Thirdly Observe Holinesse consists in a compleat uniformity or in conformity to the whole will of God Job drawes the picture of a holy man in all his limbs and lineaments equity and purity containe all Some are First Table Christians others are Second Table Christians Some are zealous for prayer who are extreame cold in doing Justice some are extreame honest and just to men righteous in all their dealings but they care not for prayer nor have they any delight in communion with God The Law of God is one entire thing and so must mans obedience be He that offends in one poynt is guilty of all Jam. 2.10 For though he that commits adultery cannot properly be sayd to breake that Law Thou shalt doe no murder yet whosoever commits adultery may properly be sayd to break the whole Law the reason is given by that Apostle in the next Verse For he that sayd Doe not commit adultery sayd also Doe not kill now if thou commit no adultery yet if thou kill thou art become a transgressour of the Law He that breakes any one linke of a chaine breaks the chaine though he break not a second linke 't is so here the vvhole Law is Copulative and as in this sense the Law is one so the Law-maker is altogether one This the Apostle James hints as the reason of it For he that sayd doe not commit adultery sayd also doe not kill As if hee had sayd There is one and the same Legis-lative power commanding all and therefore if yee transgresse one yee transgresse all And how can there be a state of holinesse without an equall respect to both Tables of the Law seeing the breach of any one Law of either Table is though not formally yet reductively a breach of every Law in both Tables And therefore 't is the ayme of a Beleever to fulfill both Tables of the Law though he faile in every Law of both hee gives up his will wholly to God yea he may be sayd to lose his will in the will of God and this is his doing the whole will of God And indeed wee doe nothing unlesse vvee be found doing all Observe Fourthly We may without hypocrisie make report of our owne integrity Job doth it here and had done it before and we finde holy men doing it often in Scripture Non ad jactantiam sed ad divinae veritatis assertionem commemorat I saith Paul 2 Tim. 4.7 have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the Faith This he speakes of himselfe but not for himselfe not out of vaine-glory or a desire of esteeme with men as the Pharisees but that others might be encouraged by his example and that God might have the glory of his free and powerfull grace enabling him to give and hold out such an example Other passages in this Book have led me to this note before and therefore I onely mention it here More particularly Observe Injustice towards men and impurities in the worship of God are great and provoking sins Job disclaimes these by name it is as if Job had said Were there injustice in my hands or were I false in the worship of God it were no wonder though all these judgements should seize upon me yea though my burden were heavier I had no reason to complaine I must thanke my selfe Injustice and false worship will certainely bring breach upon breach they breake not onely single persons but Kingdomes and Nations Oppression and Superstition are Kingdome-shaking sins much more will they shake the wals and foundations of a private House or Family Againe Observe If God afflict where there is no injustice how justly doth hee destroy those who are unjust Shall they complaine who are beaten for their faults when some are beaten who have no fault The Apostle Peter argues 1 Pet. 4.18 If the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the ungodly and sinners appeare I may also argue if the righteous be not saved from outward afflictions if the godly are smitten how shall the ungodly and sinners escape unsmitten Many are smitten not for any injustice in their hand there is some other end and that a just one why they are smitten nor is God unjust in smiting them Now if just ones are without any
injustice thus smitten how just is it with God to smite those who are unjust The repenting Theefe rebuked him that blasphemed and spake evill of Christ upon this consideration Dost thou not feare God seeing thou art in the same condemnation and we justly for we receive the due reward of our deeds This man and we are in the same condemnation but not in the same fault we are all condemned to dye but wee justly and he unjustly This man hath done nothing amisse but we have done much amisse Luke 22.40 41. Now as this Theefe was patient under his owne just sufferings seeing another suffer who was just So when we heare that the Lord afflicts those who have done no evill how ought such to lay their hands upon their mouthes who are afflicted for the evill which they have done We know saith the Apostle Rom. 3.19 that whatsoever the Law saith in a way of threatning it saith to them who are under the Law that is who are not onely under it as having heard the precept of the Law but are under it also as having by sin deserved the penalty of it that every mouth may be stopped and all the World become guilty before God or subject to the judgement of God not having a word to object why sentence should not be executed because they have transgressed My prayer is pure Taking prayer either for the worship of God in generall or for that speciall duty of calling upon the name of God Note from it That Onely pure prayer is acceptable prayer Cain brought an offering to God as well as Abel But unto Cain and his offering God had not respect Gen. 4.5 It is not what we doe but how we doe it which is acceptable to God Pure prayer is pleasing to the pure God and no other can please him Heathens have told us that their Gods require pure worshippers and pure worship The impure spirit imitates God he will be worshipped and he will have according to mans opinion a pure worship Omnis proefatio sacrorum eos quibus non sunt purae manus sacris arcet Liv. lib. 41. Praecipuum est non admittere in animum mala consilia â—uras ad caelum manus tollere Sen. lib. 3. Nat. Qu. how much more doth the holy God require pure worship But what is it which denominates prayer pure or when is prayer pure Prayer is pure First When it is directed to a right object when we pray to God and to God onely It is the sole priviledge of God to receive prayer O thou that hearest prayer to thee shall all flesh come There is but one hearer of prayer and that is God Daniel withstood the Decree of the King when he forbad him to make his prayers to God he would rather be cast to the Lyons then not to pray or pray to any besides God therefore he opened his window to let them see his resolution and prayed to God thrice a day openly We may petition living men but we must pray onely to the living God All men except such as have sinned unto death are to be prayed for but no man must be prayed unto Neither Saint nor Angell nor any Creature are the object of prayer but God alone Secondly Pure prayer must be right in the matter of it as well as the object if we pray for that which is unlawfull our prayer must needs be unlawfull as it is a sin to doe any thing which God commands not so it is a sin to aske any thing which God allows not God hath set speciall bounds to three things First To our Faith he teacheth us what to beleeve Secondly To our actions he teacheth us what to doe Thirdly To our prayers he teacheth us what to desire We may make enlarged prayers but we are not left at large in prayer The square or rule of prayer is the will of God 1 John 5.14 And this is the confidence that we have in him if we aske any thing according to his will he heareth us The will of God is the rule not onely of things to be done by us but of things which we are to aske God to doe for us As man naturally would rather doe so he would rather have his owne will then the will of God Man would faine be his owne carver but God will not let him It pleases man better to goe two mile upon his owne errand then one upon Gods errand and it pleases man better to have any one thing of his owne chusing then two of Gods chusing but it should not The will of God under a threefold revelation is the rule and matter of prayer First The will of God in commandements whatsoever God hath charged upon us to doe wee may pray for power and strength to doe it or that it may be done Secondly The will of God in Promises what God hath sayd he will give we may pray to receive Thirdly The will of God in Prophesies what God hath foreshewed shall come to passe we must pray that it may come to passe The prayer of man gives birth to the Prophesies of God Thus saith the Lord I will yet for this be enquired of by the House of Israel to doe it for them Ezek. 36.37 God is a sure pay-master yet he expects we should sue him before he payes Daniel found by Books that the time drew nigh for the deliverance of the Jews out of Babylon and then saith he I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications with fasting sack-cloth and ashes Dan. 9.1 2. The manifestation of the will of God in a Prophesie is a strong ground of prayer Thus the matter of prayer is the will of God under one of those three manifestations a Command a Promise or a Prophesie A third thing in pure prayer is the forme of it There is a twofold forme of prayer First The internall or essentiall forme Secondly The externall or accidentall forme of prayer The externall forme is that habit of words and expressions with which we cloath our desires when we present them unto God This forme varies not onely according to the severall occasions and emergencies of this life which call us to the duty of prayer but also according to the severall gifts and abilities of those who pray We are free as to this forme from all tyes and prescriptions except this that wee utter our mindes to God soberly gravely spiritually with an eye to those formes and patternes of wholesome words delivered to us in the word of God and especially to that part of the word which Christ gave both as a compendium and a copy of holy prayer But as for the essentiall and internall forme of prayer that is unchangeable and must ever be one and the same Namely That we pray in the name of Christ One of the Ancients was much delighted in reading Tullies Hortensius yet this at last abated the edge of his delight in it That he did not finde
the name of Christ in it As the Name of Christ is the greatest ornament of all Books where it is August lib. 3. Confess cap. 4. so the name of Christ is the essence of all prayers and that is no prayer where his Name is not John 14.13 Whatsoever yee aske in my Name I will doe it that the Father may be glorified in the Son whatsoever yee doe doe all in the Nome of Christ giving thanks to God through him Col. 3.17 To pray in the Name of Christ is more then to name Christ in prayer It is easie to name Christ in prayer but it is a hard thing to pray in the Name of Christ To pray in the Name of Christ is First To looke up to Christ as having purchased us this priviledge that we may pray for it is by the blood of Christ that vve draw neere to God and that a Throne of grace is open for us Secondly To pray in the Name of Christ is to pray in the strength of Christ Thirdly To pray in the Name of Christ is to pray in the vertue of the present mediation of Christ vvhich carries this acknowledgement in it That what we aske on earth Christ obtaines in Heaven To pray thus is no easie matter and unlesse vve pray thus vve doe not pray at all John 16.23 24. In that day yee shall aske me nothing Verily I say unto you what soever yee shall aske the Father in my Name hee will give it you Hitherto have yee asked nothing in my Name aske and yee shall receive that your joy may be full But how doe these parts of the Text consist Why doth Christ tell them that they shall aske nothing in that day and yet promise that vvhat they aske hee vvill give There is a twofold asking First By vvay of Question Secondly By way of Petition The former is asking that vve may know or be informed in vvhat vve doubt the latter is asking that vve may receive and be supplyed vvith vvhat wee vvant Now vvhen Christ saith In that day yee shall aske me nothing he had a little before promised such a manifestation of the minde of God to them by the spirit that they should not need to come and aske him as if he had said Now yee put questions as vve read they did about many things yee understand little of the mystery of the Gospel but in that day yee shall have so cleere a revelation about the things of Heaven that yee shall not need to propose your doubts and desire resolution for you shall be able to resolve your selves by the light within you This the Apostle John 1 Epist 2.20 tels the Saints But yee have an unction from the holy one and yee know all things And againe Vers 27. But the annoynting which yee have received of him abideth in you and yee need not that any man should teach you but as the same annoynting teacheth you all things and is truth and is no lye and even as it hath taught yee shall abide in him These Scriptures are both a cleere exposition and an illustrious verification of that promise of Christ In that day yee shall aske me nothing that is After my resurrection But when he saith Whatsoever yee aske the Father in my Name he will give it the meaning is Your prayers shall be heard vvhile you keep close to this essentiall forme Asking in my Name Besides this essentiall forme of prayer there is also another forme vvhich we may call in a quallified sense essentiall As vvhen the matter wee pray about is spirituall and absolutely necessary to salvation then to pray in an absolute forme If it be temporall and outward or if it be of a spirituall nature yet such as is onely necessary to the vvel-being of a Beleever as spirituall gifts yea and the degrees of grace are then to pray in a conditionall forme as submitting it to the will of God not onely for the time and manner and meanes and measure vvherein or by vvhich wee shall receive those things but also submitting the very things themselves to his good pleasure vvhether we shall receive them at all or no. Nor doth conditionall prayer hinder Faith but looks to the rule We may pray without doubting though we pray vvith a condition and vvhen we are fullest of submission vvee may be fullest of confidence yea without submission in those cases there can be no true confidence Fourthly Prayer is pure when the end vvhich we ayme at is pure The end denominates every action as to the quality or goodnesse of it The great end of prayer as of all other actions and vvithout vvhich neither those nor this can be called pure is the glory of God Hallowed be thy name is the first prayer and that hath influence into all our prayers we must pray for all that God may be glorified and pray for nothing that our lusts may be satisfied Though wee may pray that our vvants may be supplyed that may be an end yet never that our lusts may be satisfied James 4.3 Yee aske and receive not because yee aske amisse Where vvas the fault vvhich the Apostle found and specified in those prayers Not in the object they prayed to God not in the matter they prayed for things lawfull not in the forme they prayed in the Name of Christ but the fault was in the end yee aske amisse that yee may bestow it on your lusts It is possible for a man to pray not onely for evill things but for good things and not onely for outward good things but for spirituall good things to bestow upon his lusts some pray for spirituall gifts to bestow them on their lusts pride vaine-glory and covetousnesse yea it is possible for a man to pray for grace to bestow it on his lust so Hypocrites doe though it be impossible for any man who indeed receives grace to bestow it upon his lust Let your end be pure that your prayers may be pure also Fifthly Prayer is pure when it is mingled with and put up in Faith By Faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice then Cain Heb. 11.4 and without Faith it is impossible to please God Vers 6. Prayer is our comming to God He that comes to God must beleeve that God is and that hee is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Faith takes hold of Christ by whom only our prayers are purified and therfore there can be no pure prayer without Faith As God purifies our hearts by faith so our prayers are purified by Faith Faith doth not onely take hold of God for the granting of our prayer in which sense 't is said Jam. 1.6 If any one aske let him aske in Faith that is That he shall receive but Faith takes hold of Christ for the purifying of our prayer that so it may come up with acceptance before God Hee is of purer eyes then to behold evill he cannot looke on iniquity to approve of it or to like it
or condemnes He that is righteous knowes that all his sins are covered by the freegrace of God in the righteousnesse of Jesus Christ and he knowes that he hath not covered his sin as Adam by excuses nor sewed the Fig-leaves of carnall reasonings together to hide his nakednesse he knowes also that he lives not in any knowne sin nor hath wickedly departed from the Lord. Now because in all these respects he knowes nothing by himselfe therefore he cares not who knows him he cals not for Masks or Visors for Curtaines or coverings to obscure or disguise himselfe or his actions under eyther from the sight of God or man but is willing to stand forth in the open light For though the best of men may have done some act which is not fit for the open light yet considering the whole frame of their hearts and lives towards God together with what hath past betweene God and their soules about that act they are not afrayd that the worst act which ever they have done should stand forth in the open light and as for those crimes which men uncharitably charge upon them every honest heart speakes boldly the sense of this first part of Jobs imprecation O earth cover not thou my blood From the second branch of Jobs imprecation Let my cry have no place Observe Not to have prayer heard and accepted by God is the greatest misery that can befall man God is the last refuge of a distressed soule and the meanes by which we make God our refuge or flye to him for refuge is beleeving and servent prayer Prayer is a duty and yet it is a priviledge it is a priviledge not onely to receive an answer of prayer but to put up our requests in prayer he therefore that askes a stop upon his owne prayers hath at once asked a stop upon all his mercies he cannot looke to be releeved who tells God he doth not looke to be heard and when prayer hath no place of acceptance in Heaven wee can have no place of contentment on the Earth Upon this account we may conclude That Man cannot bespeake any thing worse for himselfe then not to be heard when he speakes to God As it is one of the highest honours done to God that men make prayers to him so it is one of the deepest afflictions of man for God not to heare his prayers Such was Sauls condition 2 Sam. 28. God doth not answer me neither by dreames nor by Vrim nor by Prophets He could get no answer from God his cry had no place This troubled him more then the invasion of the Philistims I am sore distressed saith he the Philistims make Warr upon me and God is departed from me When trouble comes and God goes away man is in a wofull estate We have no promise to receive unlesse we aske and though we doe aske wee cannot receive unlesse our prayer be received God receives the prayer of man before man receives any thing from God in prayer All our treasure lies in Heaven our comfort is in Heaven our protection is in Heaven and prayer is the messenger which we send to Heaven in the name of Christ for all things or for whatsoever else we need on earth Now if prayer cannot get in if God will not heare prayer if hee send back our messenger without audience what can wee receive The sinfulnesse of man appeares in nothing more then in this That he calleth not upon God Psal 14.4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge Who eate up my people as they eate bread and call not upon the Lord Now as the sin of man appeares exceedingly in not calling upon God so the wrath of God appeares exceedingly in not hearing man when he cals Prov. 1.20 Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seeke me early but they shall not finde me God will powre out wrath upon the Families that call not upon his name Jer. 10.25 but hee powres out most wrath upon those Families whom he heares not when they call upon his name All our mercies are shut out at once when prayer is shut out nor shall that person have any place or roome in Gods heart whose cry hath no place in his eare Holy Job was sensible enough of this nor durst hee have imprecated that his cry should have no place but that being conscious of no evill hee was assured that his cry had place and therefore as in the sincerity of his soule he made that imprecation so in the confidence of his soule he proceeds to make his Appeale to God in the next words Vers 19. Also now behold my witnesse is in Heaven and my record is on high As if he had sayd I feare no evidence that can be brought against me on earth and I rejoyce in the witnesse I have in Heaven though I have none to testifie for me here yet I have one that will testifie for me above My witnesse is in Heaven and my record is on high Vtitur testificatione caeli postquam terrae testimonium produxit Eugub Some conceive that as Job had spoken to the earth before so now he speakes to Heaven O earth cover not my blood O Heaven witnesse for me But he saith not my witnesse is Heaven but my witnesse is in Heaven nor doth he call the Heavens to witnesse for him but he cals him who is in Heaven to witnesse and that is God There are two branches of this appeal Idem bis dicit conscientiae suae integrae declarandae causa Lavat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Synonymum est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hieron in Trad. and they both intend the same thing My witnesse is in Heaven and my record is on high The words witnesse and record are of the same signification though they differ in the letter The one is properly an Hebrew word and the other Syriack When Jacob and Laban were in that contest Gen. 31.47 Jacob tooke a Stone and set up a Pillar for a witnesse And Jacob sayd to his Brethren Gather stones and they made an heape and they did eate there upon the heap and Laban called it Jegar-sahadatha that is a heap of witnesses as it is in the Margin but Jacob called it Galeed or Gilead Jacob speaking the pure Hebrew and Laban the Syriack language they take in both the words of Jobs appeale My witnesse is in Heaven my record is on high Est forma juramenti quo deum invocat innocentiae suae testem atque conscientiae spectatorem Cajet Job speakes the same thing twice to shew how strongly he beleeved that the Lord would be witnesse for him My witnesse is in Heaven my record is on high Heaven and high are the same as witnesse and record are And when he saith on high or in the high place he useth not the word Bamoth by which those high places are expressed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In excelsis malimin altissimis quia excelsa
of two sorts First When wee are called by others who have lawfull power to testifie the truth such is swearing before a Magistrate Secondly When we offer it our selves for the removall of such jealousies as are cast upon us and wee have no other way left to free or vindicate our selves from This latter was the occasion of Jobs Oath as also of those alleadged concerning Paul and Abraham but whether it be an Oath of the one sort or of the other both meet in this that God is appealed to and called to witnesse by such as use them and seeing he is a jealous God who will not hold them guiltlesse that take his name in vaine I shall add some cautions for the bounding and directing of our practice First We may call God to witnesse in weighty matters and unlesse the matter be weighty eyther in it selfe or in the consequents of it wee may not God is my witnesse and God is my Judge are not for common much lesse for vaine things There are two things in every Oath or appeale to God which shew this First An Oath is for confirmation Heb. 6.16 vaine things are not worthy the mentioning much lesse are they worthy the confirming we ought not to strive at all about them much lesse ought we to sweare about them which is an end of all strife Secondly In every Oath or appeale to God there is an invocation of the Name of God but the name of God must not be taken in vaine which it cannot but be when it is taken into our mouthes about a vaine thing Secondly We may call God to witnesse when men give a wrong witnesse of us or will not give a right witnesse for us but if we can have testimony upon earth wee must not goe to Heaven for it God must be our last resort Job found none on earth to witnesse for him and his afflictions were looked upon as sufficient witnesses against him and therefore he was necessitated to make his addresse to God Thirdly When the matter is not onely such as others will not testifie when they might but such as no man can testifie none being privy to it but onely God and our owne soules then wee have a just ground of appeale to God who will bring to light the hidden things of darknesse and will make manifest the counsels of the heart Jobs sincerity was suspected and that is such a secret as man hath no accesse unto and therefore can give no witnesse to it Who is sincere and who is an hypocrite is resolved onely by the testimony of God and of our owne soules Fourthly We must be sure to call God to witnesse in truth Thou shall sweare the Lord liveth in truth in righteousnesse and in judgement Jer. 4.2 Vnlesse we have a witnesse within us wee must not call God to witnesse who is above us God is ready to witnesse with our consciences but woe to those who call God to witnesse against their consciences Holy Paul called God to record upon his soule 2 Cor. 1.23 that is He did as it were which is also done in every Oath engage or pawne his soule and salvation upon it that he spake the truth When our soules beare record with us we may venture to call God to record upon our soules But some when they have no witnesse from their soules yea when their soules witnesse against them will yet venture to call God to record upon their soules They will needs be tryed by God who dare not abide the just tryall of men such would make God who cannot lye witnesse to a lye They use the glorious God as some doe a sort of miscreants called Knights of the Post who for a Fee will not onely say but sweare what you will This is highest prophanation of the name of God For as he that beleeves not the truth of God makes him a lyar so also doth he that appeales to God for the witnesse of an untruth More partiularly My witnesse is in Heaven my record is on high Job speakes this not onely because he wanted the witnesse of men but because of the high esteeme hee had of the witnesse of God Hence Observe The witnesse of God is the most desirâ—â—ble witnesse The witnesse wee have on 〈◊〉 is nothing worth unlesse we have a witnesse in Heaven Iâ— we have not the inward witnesse of our owne conscience it is little advantage though we have a thousand outward witnesses conscience is more then a thousand witnesses but God is more then ten thousand consciences Therefore never rest in any witnesse till you have the witnesse of God We labour saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.9 and that word signifies not onely an earnest or an industrious but an ambitious labour that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him As if he had sayd Possibly we might gaine acceptation and applause among men would wee but study to please and apply our selves to them but the favour of men will not serve our turne nor can we sit downe and rest our selves under their shadow Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord was Davids prayer Psal 19.14 David could not beare it that a word or a thought of his should misse acceptation with God It did not satisfie him that his actions were vvell vvitnessed unto by men on earth unlesse his very thoughts were witnessed to by the Lord in Heaven Some as it is sayd of those Rulers John 12.42 Love the praise of men more then the praise of God So long as they have a record here below they little regard his record who is on high There is no greater argument of a carnall minde then this He that loves the praise or testimony of men as much as he loves the praise or testimony of God doth indeed love it more Seeing there is nothing more unequall then an equall partition of our esteeme betweene God and Man Where our obligation unto two is unequall wee can never be discharged by paying each of them an equall summ We have cause to blesse God when we have vvitnesse among men but the witnesse of men should be of no price with us in comparison of the witnesse of God Not onely may wee have recourse to the vvitnesse of God vvhen we cannot obtaine the witnesse of men but wee must preferr the single witnesse of God before a throng of humane witnesses and when wee have enough on earth yet say with Job My witnes is in Heaven The witnesse of the men of this world or of evill men while wee keepe a good conscience is a mercy But as the witnesse of good men is more desireable than the witnesse of all other men and the witnesse of a good conscience is more desireable than the witnesse of good men so the vvitnes of God is more desireable than without which we cannot have it and with which we shal have it the witnesse of a good conscience For