condition Vnderstand ye brutish he speaks to men who acted more like beasts then men He that planted the ear Shall he not hear He that formed the eye shall he not see As if he had said He that made the ear is all hearing and he who formed the eye is all eye all sight The argument holds strong from Gods power in forming man to his power of knowing man and to his power of disposing man I am teneo hujâ—â— rei causam cum enim manus illius me fecerint jure suo potest Deus me destruere Cajet That 's the first way of dependance Secondly Job may be conceived as rendering an account of those things about which he had taken the boldnesse to interrogate the Lord at the third verse Here he answers his own question as if he had said now I see well enough why thou maist despise and destroy thy work It is thy work I will go no further for a reason to vindicate thee in breaking me to pieces then this That thine hands have set me together Thou hast made me and thou maiest unmake me thou hast rais'd me up and thou maiest pull me down So the copulative vau in the originall which we translate by the adversative yet is taken for a conjunction causall and so it is frequently used in Scripture Gen. 30.20 Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return The sense is Dust thou art therefore to dust thou shalt return Exod. 15.23 24. The waters were bitter and the people murmured that is The waters were bitter therefore the people murmured thus here Thine hands have made me and fashioned me therefore thou dost destroy me He that builds the house at his own charge and by his own power may ruin it at his own pleasure Ex sua formatione artificis misericordiam movet ex commemorato pristino beneficio alia denuò efflagitandi ansam arripit Pined Thirdly The words may carry the sense of a strong motive to prevail with God to handle Job more gently or to deal more tenderly with him why The Lord had bestowed much care and cost to make and fashion him therefore he will surely pity and spare him There is a naturall motion of the heart in every agent towards the preservation of that which proceedeth from it Creation is followed with providence If a speechlesse and livelesse creature could speak and understand it would argue with it's maker in Jobs case as Job doth Dost thou yet destroy me David strengthens his heart to ask good at the hands of God because he had spoken good concerning him 2 Sam. 7.27 Thou O Lord of Hosts God of Israel hast revealed to thy servant saying I will build thee an house therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this praier unto thee Now if David were not only emboldned to ask but even assured to receive mercy because God promised to build him a house that is to prosper his estate and family how much more might Job be encouraged to pray for and expect mercy from the hand of God because God had already framed and built that naturall house his body The Prophet Isaiah being about to plead with God for new mercies presents him with a catalogue of his old mercies Chap. 63.7 8 9. I will mention the loving kindenesses of the Lord and the praises of the Lord according to all that the Lord hath done unto us and the great goodnesse towards the house of Israel which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies and according to the multitude of his loving kindenesses c. Having thus at large told the Lord what he had done the Prophet in a holy zeal contends with him about what he was doing vers 15. Look down from heaven and behold fromâ— the habitation of thy holinesse and of thy glory where is thy zeal and thy strength the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies towards me Are they restrained Doubtlesse thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us c. As if he had said That great sea of thy goodnesse hath sent out abundant streams of good things heretofore and are all those streams now dried up and the springs exhausted What 's become of thy zeal and strength and compassions Are they all spent and gone Thus Job seems to plead here thine hands have made me Et sic repentè praecipitas me Vulg. Antithesi beneficiorum amplissimorum in se à Domino collatoruÌ„ exaggerat iram qua nunc in se desaevit ac afflictiones quibus exagitatur Jun. thou hast done thus and thus for me and wilt thou now destroy me According to this interpretation the later clause of the verse is rendered by an interrogation Thine hands have made me and fashioned me and dost thou yet destroy me What thou my maker destroy me Remember I beseech thee so in the next verse that thou hast made me as the clay and wilt thou bring me into the dust again Thus by a specification of the great outward benefits which he had received from the hand of God he seems to aggravate his present sorrows and to solicite future mercies Thine hands Hands are often ascribed to God as was shewed vers 3. Many things are made with the hand The maker of all things is without hands and yet he is all hand Hence all things that were made are said to be made by the hands of God not only the forming of man but the forming of the heavens and of the earth is the work of his hand Psal 102.25 Psal 95.5 both are put together Isa 48.13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth and my right hand hath spanned the heavens Wheresoever the great works of God are exprest a hand usually is exprest as the instrument working them yet his hand wrought the least as well as the greatest a worm of the earth as well as man upon the earth or the Angels in heaven The heads of men have run into great variety of opinion about these hands forming man First Many of the Ancients understand by the hands of God Ambros in Hexam Hom. 11. Basil c. The Sonne of God the second Person in the Trinity and the holy spirit of God who is the third Thine hands have made me that is the Sonne and the holy Spirit who were assistant to and of counsell with the Father at the Creation of man And God said Let us make man in our image after our likenes Gen. 1.26 Others expound hands literally and formally not as if God had hands that 's below their conceit but thus It hath been said of old that when God at first formed man the Sonne took upon him an outward shape or the shape of a man and so say they Christ not made man but in the form of man formed man Thirdly The hands of God are all second causes which God useth toward the production of any effect Causis secundis veluti quibusdaÌ„
if he had said There shall be sorrow in those places where usually the greatest joy was found or there shall be sorrow in every place Joy shall dislodge and give place to sorrow for I will passe thorow thee saith the Lord. So that as the work of providence in sparing and the work of providence in punishing may be understood by this word with a little varying of the construction He passeth by me in the waies of mercy and I see him not Deus simplicissimus est spiritus invisibilis itaque neque nos adorientem cum venit neque cum obis pedem referentem sentiâ—e possumus and he passeth thorow me in the waies of judgement and I see him not I cannot see or understand him as I ought either in waies of judgement or of mercy Thirdly we may take the words as they are an argument to prove the power and wisdom of God to be such as man is no way able to match or to deal withall which is the subject Job is upon He would set the Lord infinitely above all that is in the creature and he doth it there by an argument drawn from his nature What is his nature Why he is most simple he is a spirit without any mixture without any composition without any materiality he is invisible bodily eies cannot behold him therefore certainly bodies are not able to overcome him Man being a materiall substance is not able to see the Lord then surely he is not able to contend with much lesse to conquer the Lord What then doth he medling with him It was said at the 4th verse of this Chapter Who ever hardened himself against him and hath prospered Is flesh and bloud any match for a spirit If man would strive with God where should he have him He goeth by me â—nd I see him not he passeth on also and I perceive him not I know not where to meet him he can come upon me on every side he may take me at all advantages and destroy me for I know not how to guard or defend my self If a man were to fight with an enemy whom he could not see and yet his enemy saw him what an advantage had his enemy against him Doth any man harden himself against God He goeth by and we see him not How then can we deal with him or stand against him Thus I say it may be an argument to make good that great assertion That there is no contending with God flesh and bloud are too weak for a spirit It is the argument which the Apostle uses to shew that the devil is too hard for man We wrestle not with flesh and bloud but with principalities and powers with spirituall wickednesses c. Ephes 6. They passe by us and we understand it not they are now here amongst us and we take no notice of it We are no matches for evil spirits much lesse are we able to match the most holy Spirit Est invicti hostis descriptio Spirituall wickednesses are strong but spirituall holinesses are stronger This third interpretation renders the words a description of an invincible enemy Fourthly It may be understood in the generall Significatur hic summa distantia inter Deum homines Deus omnia videt rebus omnibus praesentia efficaciâ— sua intervenit homo suo affixus loco Deum non videt nisi in effectis Coc. to note the infinite distance which is between God and man or the dignity of God above man The Lord is omnipresent he is going by and he is passing on he is in all places and he acts his power and wisdom where he pleases Poor man is confined to a place to a spot of earth when he is here he cannot be there but God is every where And though God be every where yet he cannot be seen any where where he is God sees all himself being unseen and fils all places his presence being is unperceived nothing is hid from him yet he is hid to every thing but the faith of his own people Thus He goeth and we see him not he passeth on and we perceive him not And so the whole is a confirmation and proof of the generall assertion that the Lord is infinite in power and wisdom and that man is an ignorant narrow-room'd and narrow-hearted weak creature compared unto him We may form up the Argument thus Si quod documentum potentiae sapientiae suae â—e dat Deus ob oculos meos non sum is qui id pervestigare possum adeo inscrutabilia sunâ— judicia ejus Juâ— Transeundi transmeandi verbis concinnè significat ea documenta sapieÌ„tiae quae Deus exh bet quasi praesens praeâ—entes erudiret He is weak and ignorant in comparison of God who cannot see or comprehend where God is or what God doth But man is not able to comprehend or see where God is or what God doth Therefore man iâ— weake and ignorant in comparison of God The ground is this He that cannot comprehend or see what another doth is not able to hinder or match him in what he doth But such is the state and condition of man he is so far from being able to equall God in dignity or hinder what he doth that he cannot finde out or know what God doth Yet this is not to be taken strictly as if man did not at all perceive or understand what God doth Job in the former context gave us a large account of the works of God what wonders he had done The Saints finde out some of Gods doings in the world though the blinde world see not any thing he doth But he speaks comparatively The Lord passeth on and we perceive it not that is it is little of God that we perceive it is little of the workings of God that we see at the best There are many persons who do not see him at all and many works that are not seen at all by any person Ita significat ex ioperibus Dei vix centissimum quodque ut par est ab hominibus expendi â—ined And they the eies of whose understandings are anointed to see most clearly are not able to see all that God doth None can see all some will not see what they may Isa 26.10 Lord when thy hand is lifted up they will not see it and in the former verse In the land of uprightnesse will he deal unjustly and will not behold the Majesty of the Lord. That which good men see is but little and evil men see nothing So that as the Lord goeth altogether invisibly in his essence so mostly in his actions man sees but few things of the many and little of the great things which God doth Nemo potest scire an Deum habeat in se habitantem in se manentem Jâ—cob Janson in loc I meet with a grosse exposition of this text given by some Papists No man saith one of them can know whether God dwell
think of him most A soul complaining may be over-whelmed in stead of being helped Now he that laies on further afflictions Post orationes meas ita me semper in miseriis reliquit ac si me derideret slights and laughs at the former And this is the first way in which it may be made out how God laughs at the triall of the innocent When they complain he doth not presently relieve them nay he laies heavier burdens of affliction upon them and makes them more matter of complaining before they have any matter of rejoycing Deus ex viroruÌ„ fortium sc piorum conflictu non levem capit voluptatem Secondly thus The Lord is said to laugh in regard of the pleasure He takes in the fruits effects and issues of those troubles wherewith his people are exercised He laugheth not at the affliction it self but at the effects and successe of it he knows the issue will be matter of high contentment to himself and benefit to the Saints He laughs at their triall because he knows they will honour him in their trials He laughs not because they are pained but because himself is glorified As a father who puts a childe upon a very hard task which yet he is assured the childe is able to go thorow with takes content to see him sweat at it to pant and blow at it Or as a Commander in warre rejoyces when he puts a party of whose valour and skill he is confident upon some dangerous service Though he knows many of them must bleed for it and some of them perhaps die for it yet it pleases him to see such engaged in it Thus God laughs at the trials and most desperate adventures of the innocent for he sees they are men who will bide a triall they will neither shrink in the wetting nor will their spirits consume in the burning And thus a believer is exhorted to laugh at his own triall My brethren saith the Apostle James chap. 1.2 count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations or trials The more trials the more joyes And thus one believer may laugh and rejoyce at the triall of another because he knows that the trial of our faith being much more precious then of gold that perisheth though it be tried with fire shall be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1.6 7. Hence observe First The Lord may bear himself toward his own people in their affliction as if he mockt at their afflictions As he laughs at wicked men in earnest and hath them in derision So he puts out an appearance of derision in what he doth to his own people Secondly To see good men tried is a delight unto God Laughter is an expression of our inward content and joy Though the word of the text is scarce used for laughter in a good sense yet here it may The Prophecy saith of Christ Isa 53.10 It pleased the Lord to bruise him God the father was delighted to bruise his Sonne not that he delighted in afflicting or striking him he was tender and dear to him as the apple of his eye But with respect to the issue and fruit of it the Lord was pleased His father laughed to see him cast down and suffering whom he fore-saw conquering and triumphing So it is here A man delights to see wrestlers shew their strength as also to behold men striving for masteries in fencing or running a race which are but trials of activity and contendings for honours Thus when the Lord bringeth his innocent servants into affliction he doth but bring them to a wrestling to a running or a fencing to see how they can make use of their hands and legs how they can make use of their spirituall armour how they can weild the sword of the Spirit how they can defend themselves with the shield of faith how they can bear a knock upon the helmet of salvation how they can walk upon thorns and sharp stones himself having before shod their feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace This is the spectacle which God delighteth in and laughs at and it is a glorious spectacle The Roman triumphs were but childish plaies to these of the Saints called out and clad with the armour of righteousnesse which makes them more then Conquerours over tribulations and distresse over persecution famine nakednesse peril and the sword yea over principalities and powers over things present and to come The Saints in their trial conquer not only all present evils but all that are possible Non video quid habeat in terris Iupiter pulchrius si convertere animum veliâ— quam ut spectet â—atonem jam pantibus non semel fractis stamen nihilominus inter ruiâ—raâ— puâ—ieas rectum Sinec lâ— de provid They are reall victours over those evils which they shall never feel or see As in doing so in suffering all is reckoned to us which we are willing to engage in though actually we doe not no marvell if God laugh at the triall of such Champions and Christian Hero's It is the observation of Seneca a Roman Moralist and Philosopher in his book of providence speaking of some of the ancient Worthies of Rome I see not saith he what Jupiter hath on earth more contentfull to him or to which he would rather turn his eye then to behold Cato standing firm in the midst of publike ruines and that though after all his wrestlings as a noble Patriot for the saving of his Countrey he found both his honest counsels broken and his unwearied labours lost yet he did not lose his Spirit nor was his heart broken Now if an Heathen could say that to see such a man contest with all manner of troubles was he thought a delight for Jupiter and laughter to the idol-gods May not we changing the persons make his sense the comment of this text and a proof of this observation It is a holy delight to the holy God to see his faithfull ones his Abrahams in a triall to see his Jobs in a triall his Pauls in a triall to see those Grandees in graces shew such admirable skill such courage such zeal such faith such patience such submission of spirit to see Saints play the men thus in such spirituall trials and hottest services is not this just matter of laughing and rejoycing to the Lord And if the Lord take a kinde of pleasure in the trials of his Saints then surely the Saints ought not to be displeased at their trials Hence the holy Ghost bids the Saints laugh as well as the Lord laugheth Jam. 1.2 My brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations Christians never look upon a triall with such sad and sowr faces the face of God is full of smiles to see you at it shall that make you sad which makes God rejoyce Never grieve but when ye fear ye have grieved God Further note That the afflictions of the Saints are
qui verba detorquet aliam figuram i. e. significationem iis tribuit To seek comfort any where but in Christ is to seek the living among the dead Christ is comfort cloathed in our flesh and he is the comfort of our spirits Till he gives comfort every man must conclude as Job I am afraid of all my sorrows I am afraid The word signifies strong trembling and shaking fear Of all my sorrows The root hath a double signification First To afflict with grief Isa 63.10 They vexed his holy Spirit Secondly To fashion or form a thing Job 10.8 Thy hands have made me and fashioned me round about The same word by a Metaphor signifies both to grieve and to fashion to vex and to form because a man that forms fashions a piece of wood or stone seems to put it to pain by cutting and hewing And he that forms wax vexes and chafes it in his hands Thus I say because in the fashioning of a thing a man doth bruise cut and as it were put it to pain therefore the same word signifies both to vex or grieve and to form or fashion And this word is applied unto the ill usage of words Psal 56.5 Every day saith David speaking of his enemies they â—rest my words or they put my words to pain and grief or they painfully and grievously wrest my words Davids enemies took up what he spake and put a new shape upon it and this they did so vexingly that they are said to wrest his words a thing is vexed when it is wrested or wrought quite out of the form it before had The same Metaphor the Apostle Peter useth in reference to Doctrine 2 Pet. 3.16 speaking of the Epistles of Paul in which are some things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest or put upon the rack they painfully form his words and represent them in a meaning which he never intended What is spoken may be right both in the matter and intendment of the speaker yet another wrests forms and fashions it in his own mould and makes it bear a sense which the speaker never dream'd of In this Text we have the Noun only which importeth either the labour or pains which a man taketh or the pain and grief which a man feeleth Hence in the Hebrew this word signifies an Idol and both acceptions fall into the reason of it First because Idols are made fashioned and formed up curiously with a great deal of art and labour the wax or clay or stone is put to pain you must cut it and carve it to make an Idol Secondly because Idols are served attended and worshipped with much pain and grief False worship or the worship of Idols is alwaies more servile and painfull then true worship is False worship is a painfull service a servile service a toil rather then a worship but the service of the true and everliving God is an holy an ingenuous a noble and an honourable service Idols are troublesome both in their making and in their worshipping From this two-fold interpretation of the word I finde a two-fold translation given First Thus I am afraid of all my works as if Job Verehar omnia opera mea Vul. having a design to comfort himself in a reflexion upon his good works and former holy walkings feared they would not serve his turn or bear up his spirit in the evil day which was come upon him As if he had said I have lived as exactly by the rule of the Word as I could I have had respect to all the Commandments of God that I might not sinne against him Yet I am afraid of all my works the anger of God will surely soak thorow them all or finde holes and breaches in them to come in upon me at Thus he is conceived reasoning with himself But doubtlesse it was not Jobs meaning to look to the innocency or holinesse of his life past as the ground of his present comfort he that would doe so may justly be afraid of all his works When we see the best of our selves we have more reason to be afraid then to be comforted As we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling so we have cause to fear and tremble at our works But rather as we translate I am afraid of all my sorrows that is I no sooner endeavour to comfort my self but presently my sorrows throng about me they appear before my face and make such a gastly apparition that I am afraid Sorrows charge and assault me afresh when I am purposing to make an escape from the hands of sorrow When I think of leaving off my heavinesse or of getting out of the sight of it sorrows come upon me with greater violence then before While a prisoner is quiet and content with his restraint the keeper laies no great restraint upon him but if he perceive him meditating an escape or attempting to break prison and set himself at liberty presently more irons are clapt upon him and an advantage taken even to load him with chains Such hard usage this poor prisoner feared at the hand of his sorrows If I say I will leave off my heavinesse I will throw off my bolts and fetters and get out of these troubles I am afraid of all my sorrows I shall have all the Keepers and Jailers about me they will lay more load upon me and watch me more strictly then before You tell me I am in love with my sorrows but the truth is fears of sorrow incompasse me round about I am afraid of all my sorrows Note hence First this generall truth That affliction is the matter of fear Naturall fear arises from the apprehension of some approaching evil and as fear grows more boisterous and inordinate so it represents us with sadder though but supposed evils Secondly Observe A godly man may be much opprest with the fear of afflictions When I would comfort my self I am afraid of all my sorrows It is terrible to me to think that they still encrease upon me and that whilest I hope to escape I am more ensnared Christ himself when he was in our nature and clothed with our flesh was afraid of all his sorrows he was a man of sorrows and he was afraid of his sorrows too Matth. 26.38 He said My soul is exceeding sorrowfull even unto death and he offered up praiers and supplications with strong cries and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared Heb. 5. His were extraordinary sorrows indeed such as no creature ever felt or tasted The Cup of sorrow which he drank was mixed and tempered with all our sorrows and with the cause of them our sins This was it he feared being in our nature though as that nature was hypostatically united unto the divine nature it had infinitely more power to bear all those sorrows then we have in our nature to bear the least sorrow Now if Christ himself
in our flesh was afraid of his sorrows which yet he knew he should overcome how much more may the fear of sorrows overcome us while we are in the flesh Lastly Observe That the fear of afflictions assaults and oppresses some most when they set themselves most to conquer and overcome them I saith Job would comfort myself but I am afraid of all my sorrows I fear they will be doubled and trebled upon me therefore I had rather sit still then by striving to unloose straiten the cords of my affliction faster upon me The next clause seems to hint this as a reason why his sorrows hung so close upon him I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent But how did Job know this As God said to Adam Gen. 3.11 Who told thee that thou wast naked So I may say to Job Who told thee that God would not hold thee innocent Or where hadst thou this assurance of thy condemnation The Saints may know or be assured that God will pardon them but a wicked man cannot know or be assured that God will not This knowledge of Job was but a suspition or at the most a conjecture And the giving out of this conjecture was but the language of his fear his faith could say no such thing for God had no where said it The best men speak sometime from their worser part Their graces may be silent a while and leave corruption to have all the talk When the flesh is under great pain the spirit is hindered from acting its part and then sense gets the mastery over faith Had it not been upon such a disadvantage Job had never offended with his tongue by saying he knew what he could not know I know that thou wilt not hold me înnocent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à radice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word which we translate innocent commeth from a root which signifieth pure and clean purus mundus per Metaphorae innocent insous and in the verb to cleanse and make pure And because innocency is the purity or cleannesse of a person therefore the same word signifies to cleanse and to hold or make innocent In which sense it is used frequently Exo. 20.2 Thou wilt not hold him guiltlesse or innocent that taketh thy Name in vain The counsell that David gave upon his death-bed unto Solomon concerning Joab was Therefore hold thou him not innocent or guiltlesse 1 King 2.9 that is let the bloud which he hath shed be upon him let his honour and his name continue stained and blemished in thy thoughts and judgement Hold him not innocent Here the Question is To what antecedent we are to referre the relative Thou I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent Thou who There are two opinions about it Some referre it to God and some to Bilaad to whom Job maketh answer in this place They that refer it unto God make out the sense thus Either first taking the word properly for cleansing and healing the sores and wounds which were upon his body Adversus illud quod amici statuunt probos videlicet etiam castigatos nunquam succidi hoc pro certo statuam ô Deus nunquam esse me ab istis quibus totus scateo foedissimis ulceribus ac vermibu◠repurgandum Bez Novi quod non sis me liberum dimissurus Coc. I know thou wilt not cleanse my body from this filthinesse from these diseases that now anoy me And so it is an answer to the words of Bildad telling Job that in case he sought unto God and humbled himself before him he would awaken for him and remove those judgements No saith Job when I think of ease and deliverance all my fears return upon me and I know God will not yet cleanse ease or deliver me from them Again Taking it tropically as we render it for a judiciall cleansing or purification so Thou wilt not hold me innocent is as much as this Lord such sorrows and troubles are upon me that I fear thou wilt not declare or pronounce or give testimony concerning me to the world that I am an innocent person Because the sores and troubles upon him were as an evidence against him in the judgement of his friends that he was a wicked person therefore saith he Lord I am afraid Thou wilt not hold me that is Thou wilt not declare me to be innocent by taking away these evils Non mundabis i. e. purum justum vel etiam innocentem non declarabis that so this opinion of my friends concerning me may be removed or confuted From this sense note First That even a godly man in deep afflictions may have misgiving thoughts of God The soul misgives sometimes about the pardon of sinne and is even swallowed up with despair concluding I know God will not hold me innocent he will not be reconciled unto me or blot out my transgression But especially which is rather the minde of Job the soul misgives about release from punishment Some being hamper'd in the bands of affliction conclude God will never let them loose or set them at liberty again Such a conclusion Davids unbelief made against himself I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul 1 Sam. 27.1 When Jonah was cast into the deep in the midst of the seas when the flouds compassed him and all the billows and waves passed over him then he said Chap. 2.4 I am cast out of the sight of thine eyes Indeed Jonah began to recover quickly his next words being a breath of faith Yet I will look again toward thy holy Temple Secondly Observe That untill fear of guilt be removed fear of trouble will not remove Job was not very clear about the pardon of his sinnes somewhat stuck upon his spirit while he was under the clouds and darknesse of this temptation therefore saith he I am afraid of all my sorrows Till the soul is setled in the matter of pardon or freedome from guilt it can never be setled about freedome from punishment Hence the Apostle Heb. 2.10 15. speaking of the Saints before the comming of Christ cals Christ the Captain of our salvation and assures us he took flesh that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the devil and deliver those who through fear of death were all their life time subject unto bondage The language is very near this of the Text I am afraid of all my sorrows As Job was in bondage under his afflictions through the fear of his returning sorrows So they were all their life time subject unto bondage through the fear of approaching death All the Saints before the comming of Christ were under such a bondage for the Apostle speaks as of a generall state That he might deliver those who through the fear of death were all their life time subject unto bondage The reason hereof was because they had not so manifest and convincing a light concerning the pardon of sinne the freenesse of grace
legally convict him of his crime Thus it is with men in their judiciall proceedings He that contends must know some crime and the Judge passes sentence as he sees the crime proved and made good against him but God is not as man he may proceed to judgement vvithout an accusation and he may give judgement before the crime be proved Job vvas smitten vvithout cause truly alleadged much lesse attested God afflicts that grace may be proved not because sin is proved He is not a man as I am that I should answer him Answer him Respondere hoc loco potest esse verbum forensâ— It is a judiciary vvord or answering in judgement To justifie is a law terme and so is to answer one puts in his bill and another his answer some Courts proceed by bill and answer If the Lord saith Job should put in his bill against me I would not put in my answer He is not a man as I am that I should answer him Or vve may take the word Answer in generall for the returning of satisfaction to a question If the Lord demand a reason or an account of me I could not satisfie him Many vvho can give a reason of the hope that is in them cannot give a reason of the sufferings which are upon them But though they know no particular reason why they suffer yet they believe it is not without reason Some holy Martyrs have said to their cruell persecutours urging them with sophisticall Questions We can die but we cannot dispute And so the Saints under the most difficult providences of God are resolved to say We can die under them but vve vvill not dispute them He is not a man that vve should answer him in vvhat he speaks or doth Hence observe First The consideration that God is above man is enough to humble and silence man No man is proud in the presence of another vvhom he thinks to be his better The sight of greater beauty keeps down pride of beauty Pride cannot live in the eye of that which is above the reason of it in our selves Yea he that findes he is but equall or upon even ground vvith others can hardly be proud of any thing in himself While vve suppose our gifts or knowledge but like those of other men vve are not lifted up in the opinion of them Now If equality check pride a thought of superiority must needs kill it And if the common superiority of a man kiss our pride how much more doth the knowledge of that superexcellent superiority vvhich is in God Doth not the beauty and dignity of God obscure the lustre and darken the beauty of all creatures Is the shining of the stars any thing vvhen the Sun appears Much lesse is the holines strength and goodnes of man any thing when the goodnes holines and strength of God stand forth or appear we must say we are nothing when we see what God is The sight of him in vvhom nothing of our imperfections can be found cannot but humble us in the sight of all our perfections Hence vvhen the Lord vvould abase man and extoll himself he removes all of man from himself 1 Sam. 15.29 God is not a man that he should repen Men are full of repentings and that they are so shews them to be men There is a repentance vvhich is a grace of God and there is a repentance vvhich is an infirmity in man By the former men turn to God from that sin in vvhich they vvere or have done By the later men turn both from God and man in what they promise or purpose either to be or doe They are this day of one minde and to morrow of another to day they love and to morrow they hate now they vvill and anon they vvill not They are in and out no man knows vvhere to finde them but God is ever the same he changes not Elihu sends a challenge to all teachers in the name of God Who teacheth like him Chap. 36.22 God himself challengeth Job in his own name Chap. 40.9 Hast thou an arm like God Or canst thou thunder with a voice like him To whom will you liken me saith God vvhen he vvould bring down the pride of the creature To whom will you liken me and make me equall and compare me that we may be like Isa 46.5 Why doe ye exalt your selves Why have ye such high thoughts of your selves Can ye finde out any to compare with me Or can ye make a parallel of me among all my creatures All the unevennesse of man towards God arises from presumptuous thoughts of his evennesse with God Take a taste in two or three particulars First Man grows into a boldnesse of sinning against God because he thinks God is but so holy as man is he conceits that which sutes his spirit sutes Gods Spirit also This causeth him to doe many things most unsutable to the Spirit of God Psal 50.18 When thou sawest a thief then thou consentest with him and thou hast been partaker with the adulterer thou givest thy mouth to evil and thy tongue frameth deceit c. these things hast thou done And what encouraged or hardned him to doe these things The next words give us an account of that Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thy self that is thou didst frame conceptions of me according to the Idaea of thine own brain or the model of thine own heart Thou wast well pleased with such filthines and abominations therfore thou didst conclude I would not be displeased with them The true reason why most men make nothing of evil is because they make God nothing in goodnes as to that point beyond themselves this doth not trouble our spirits we see no hurt in what we do Surely then God sees no hurt in it neither is his Spirit troubled with our doings Secondly Boldnesse in pleading with and complaining against God when he doth what likes not us arises from thoughts that we are like him None would quarrell what God doth in cutting out and proportioning their own estates to them or in casting down the humble and meek in exalting the proud and vile if they did fully believe God had as much right and reason as they see he hath power to doe what he doth Man draws God into his own compasse and then wonders to finde him work so out of compasse If I were as God saith one I would doe thus and thus surely God is as I am he hath such thoughts as I have saith another then why doth he thus Till we have fully studied this point That God is not as we are we shall never rest fully satisfied in what God doth if he doth what we would not Thirdly Unbelief springs from the same muddy fountain unbelief of the power of God to deliver us when we are in outward straits and dangers and unbelief of the mercy of God to pardon us when we are in spirituall straits and desertions What 's the reason why
as usually befall the Saints though yours be moderate afflictions and 〈◊〉 common stature such as in the eye of reason any man may 〈◊〉 with by a common assistance of grace yet there are temptations which if God the faithfull God should not come in with greater assistances then usuall you are not able to bear They who wrestle with more then flesh and bloud alwaies need more then the strength of flesh and bloud to help them in their wrestlings And because they are often assaulted with greater strength therefore they are assisted with greater strength For if God doe either with-draw his help from the Saints or leave them to wrestle with Satan alone and to fight single with his Armies or if he doe not proportion the aid he sends to the temptation he permits they are sadly over-charged though they can never be totally overcome and 't is possible to grow weary of the battell though we are assured of the victory It is the honour of the Saints to conquer when they are tempted but it is their happinesse to be above or without temptation How many poor souls put up bils of complaint and beg praiers against temptations Paul praid thrice that is often and much when the messenger of Satan buffeted him whether his were an inward or an outward temptation is doubted but without doubt that temptation made his life burdensome to him till he received that answer from God My grace is sufficient for thee Secondly The Saints are wearied with the weight of their sinfull hearts Inward corruption burdens more then outward temptation and were it not for corruption within temptation without could not be very burdensome The devil tempted Christ but because he found nothing at all in him complying with or sutable to his temptations therefore Christ threw them off with ease That enemy without could doe us no hurt he might put us to some trouble if he found no correspondence within The traitour in our own bowels opens our ports and lets in the adversary His sparks could never enflame us if he found no tindar in us The basenesse and unbelief the lusts and vanities of our mindes are apt to take fire at every injection A gracious soul cannot live here without sinne and yet can easier die then sinne Paul Rom. 7.24 cries out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death or from this body of death That is from my body which is subject to death by reason of these remains of carnall corruption or from my carnall corruptions which are the remains of my spirituall death and are worse to me then any death All the afflictions of his 〈◊〉 and the pains of his body were but a play and a kinde of so 〈◊〉 compared with the trouble which this body of death put him to He rejoyced in tribulation but he could not but mourn under corruption Many poor souls are so vexed with these mysticall Canaanites that their spirituall Canaan the state of grace is to them like Egypt the land of their captivity And when they are commanded to rejoyce they answer if we could not sin we could rejoyce How shall we sing the Lords song in a strange land O that we might goe home Thirdly The Saints grow weary of their lives through the wickednesse of other mens lives not only doe their own corruptions burthen them but which shews the holinesse of their hearts more the corruptions of others The sinfulnesse and pollutions of the times and places wherein they live especially of persons they are related to makes their lives grievous and imbitters all their comforts Rebekah that good woman tels her husband Isaac Gen. 27.46 I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth for if Iacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth such as these which are of the daughters of the land What good shall my life doe me The sweetnesse of my life is gone if this son miscarry as his brother hath done before him The Prophet Jeremy cries out O that I had in the wildernesse a lodging place of waifaring men that I might leave my people and go from them What made him so weary of living among them and that was but a step on this side being weary of his life The next words shew us They be all adulterers an assembly of treacherous men Jer. 9.2 Better be in a waste wildernesse among vvilde beasts then in a populous City among beastly men 'T is a part of our compleat happinesse in heaven that vve shall have no ill neighbours there They vvho are evil can take pleasure in those who do evil But the more holinesse any one hath the more is he burthened with the unholinesse of others And that 's the reason why God himself is exprest to be so exceedingly burdened with the sins of men to be wearied and broken with them to be laden with them as a Cart with sheaves He is infinitely holy Grieve not the holy Spirit of God Ephes 4.30 The Spirit is so holy that sin which is unholinesse grieves him presently And in proportion look how much any man is more holy then others by so much is he more afflicted with the impurity of others As the holy Spirit of God who is all holy so the spirits of holy men who yet have a mixture of sin cannot but be afflicted with the sins of men Fourthly Some of the Saints would part with this life because they have got such assurance and evidence of a better life When much of eternall life appears to a godly man he is weary of a temporall life Naturall things are but burdensome trifles to those who are stored with spirituall Christ saith Luk. 5.39 No man having drunke old wine straight way desireth new for he saith the old is better He that tastes what is better then he enjoyes is unsatisfied with all he enjoyes We can hardly be perswaded what we have is good when we see better of the same kinde How much more hardly is this perswasion wrought in us that earthly things which differ in kinde from heavenly are any great good when heavenly things are open before us When the Disciples at the transfiguration had but a glimpse of glory They say It is good to be here Let us build three tabernacles They do not speak comparatively as if now they had met with somewhat better then ever they had before but positively as if they had never met with any good before When the Spirit carries the Saints into his wine-cellar and gives them a draught of everlasting consolations the wine of worldly comforts will not down they begin to disrelish the dainties and delicacies of the creature A true sight of heaven makes the earth scarce worth the looking after or the living in Such live because God will have them live to doe him service not because they desire to live to serve their own ends Paul was in a great straight betwixt two Phil. 1.23 whether he
me out of thine hand or pull me away from thee by strength or by entreaty I should wonder the lesse at thy severity God doth sometimes even bespeak the intercession of others and complains that none come in to deliver a people or a person out of his hand When he was about to destroy Sodom he tels it unto Abraham probably for that very end that Abraham might intercede for Sodom and at least get Lot out of his hand When God was about to execute his judgments upon Jerusalem Non est qui clamâ—t Deus optme re stringas gladium ne strictum exterdas â—n populum tuuÌ„ He saw and there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessour none to take him off from destroying that people Isa 59.16 The Prophet complains in words of the same importance chap. 64.7 There is none that calleth upon thy name that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee Friends seeing a father go out hastily to correct his child rise presently or stir up themselves to take hold of the father or to mediate for the childe Pray spare him for this time and hold your hand but saith the Prophet There is none that will stir up himself to take hold of God He is going out in wrath and no man puts him in minde of mercy with that cry of another Prophet O spare thy people and give not thine heritage to reproach When Abraham was ready to slay Isaac upon the altar when his hand was stretched out to fetch the fatall blow just then did the Angel take hold of his sword and delivered Isaac out of his hand God saith to Moses Exod. 32.10 Let me alone God was about to destroy that people Moses would not permit him he seeks to deliver Israel out of the revenging hand of God by that holy violence of praier and supplication Lastly Others look upon Job as breathing out a very heroick and magnanimous spirit in these words As if he had said Lord Thou knowest and thou shalt know that I am not wicked though none deliver or take me out of thine hand Thou shalt finde me holding mine integrity as long as I hold my life I am resolved to honour thee whatsoever thou doest with me And so he refutes the charge of Satan Satan said Touch his flesh and his bone and he will curse thee to thy face No saith Job though he taketh away my flesh and my bones yet I will not curse him to his face no nor speak an ill word of him behinde his back Though I should never be delivered yet God shall never be blasphemed Upon the whole observe That there is no means on earth can rescue us out of the hand of God I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand Deut. 32.39 Till God discharge us there 's no escaping none can force us out of his hand whatsoever is in theirs power cannot policy cannot riches cannot we cannot bribe our selves out of the sight or beyond the stroke of divine justice A golden key will not open Gods prison door Riches avail not in the day of wrath and in some daies of wrath prayer it self cannot prevail Then take heed how ye fall into the hands of God No wise man will run into his displeasure from whom there is no deliverance but at his own pleasure See more of this point Chap. 9.12 JOB Chap. 10. Vers 8 9 10 11 12 13. Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about and yet thou doest destroy me Remember I beseech thee that thou hast made me as the clay and wilt thou bring me into dust again Hast thou not poured me out as milk and crudled me like cheese Thou hast cloathed me with skin and flesh and hast fenced me with bones and sinews Thou hast granted me life and favour and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit And these things hast thou hid in thine heart I know that this is with thee AT the third verse of this Chapter we found Job questioning with the Lord Is it good for thee that thou shouldest oppresse That thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands In these words he insisteth upon and illustrateth that argument by fitting it to his own condition As if he had said Lord seeing thou wilt not despise the work of â—â—ine hands why shouldest thou despise me Am not I the work of thy hands Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about and yet thou dost destroy me The whole context argues out this point wherein we may observe 1. His forming or making set down in generall at the eighth verse Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about 2. The matter out of which he was formed and made at the ninth verse Remember I beseech thee that thou hast made me as the clay 3. His forming is drawn out in particulars Wherein we have First His conception at the tenth verse Hast not thou poured me out as milk and crudled me as cheese 2. The conjunction or setting together of his patts at the 11. verse Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh and hast fenced me with bones and sinews 3. The quickning of his parts thus joyned and set together at the 12. verse Thou hast granted me life 4. The preservation of his life in the same verse Thou hast given me life and not only so but favour and thy visitation doth preserve my spirit 5. Lastly We have Jobs strength of assurance or his assertion concerning all this at the 13. verse These things thou hast hid in thine heart I know that this is with thee as if he had said Lord Thou knowest all is truth which I have spoken There are three opinions concerning the connection or tie of these words with those that went before First Some conceive that Job persisteth in the same matter handled in the words immediately foregoing exalting the knowledge of God concerning man upon this ground because God made man Thou knowest that I am not wicked How did Job know that He must needs know what man is who made man Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about forasmuch as I am thy work a piece of thy framing surely thou knowest what thou hast framed thou who hadst knowledge enough to make me hast a perfect knowledge of what thou hast made me We may joyn it also with the later clause None can deliver out of thine hand Why Thine hands have made me and fashioned me Is it possible for the work to deliver it self out of the hand of him who wrought it Is that which is formed too strong for him that formed it when as the same hand which gave it form gave it strength We finde this argument as to the former part Psal 94.9 where from the work of God in our naturall constitution the holy pen-man proves the fulnesse of his knowledge concerning us in every
manibus utitur Deus ad producendas res sublunares Aquin. All hands work for God they work for him while they are set a work against him and so may be called The hands of God Mans making since the Creation is not an immediate work the Creation of the first man was Yet it is so much the work of God still that every man is the work of his hands as well as the first man All inferiour causes concurring to the making of man are the hands by which God maketh man Fourthly The hands of God are generally taken for the power and wisdom of God The hand of power acts what the hand of wisdom doth contrive As the hand is often put for power so to put any thing into the hand of another is to put it into his power That grant which was made to Satan at the beginning of this book runs in this strain Behold be meaning Job is in thine hand that is Thou maist do with him what thou wilt only save his life Chap. 2.6 The Schoolmen determine the hands of God to be the understanding and will of God which they call The executive power of God by these he determines what shall be done and doth what he predetermines The very decree and purpose of God is called the hand of God Act. 4.28 Of a truth against thy holy childe Iesus whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together for to doe whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done Gods hand was the soveraign power of God over-ruling those evil instruments to fulfill his holy counsels while they intended only to fulfill their own wicked counsels We may best interpret Iob in the fourth sense Thine hands have made me and fashioned me Tu pro tua potestate tuoque jure Bez. that is I am made and fashioned by thy power and wisdom I am a piece of thy forming None but the only wise and all-powerfull God could produce such an effect as I am Have made me and fashioned me Here are two words which some distinguish by referring the one to the body the other to the soul We need not be so accurate about these words But thus much is plainly noted in them that the Lord was exceeding accurate about this work the fashioning of man Both words have their speciall elegancies The first which we translate made signifies more then to make 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In sua prima significatione denotat dolore afficere it signifies to make exactly and curiously It is a word proper to Artificers who work or should work with an equall mixture of diligence and knowledge of pains and skill Artificers mingle their heads and their hands in every thing they undertake and bestow more study then toil upon their works This word is translated also to grieve vex or to put one to trouble The perverse carriage of the people of Israel toward the Spirit of God is expressed by it Isa 63.10 Panis anxietate magna labore partus They rebellid and vexed his holy Spirit And that bread of sorrows that is bread gotten by sorrowfull or hard labour is delivered in this term Ps 127.2 See a further explication of the word Chap. 9. vers 27. pag. 352. God is not put to any pain at all in making man Deus nō se fatigavit in homine condendo Sed de Deo Scriptura hominis more loquitur quasi summa cura anxietate ad eū formandum usus esset Deus ut nihil ad ejus perfectionem deesset Merc. Manus tuae dolore afficiunt me quae secerunt me Jun. he doth all his works with infinite delight and ease Nothing is hard to him who can doe all things Omnipotency never meets with any difficulty But God is exprest in making man by a word signifying solicitousnesse and painfull care implying That man is made as those things are upon which man bestows greatest pains and care Man doth not look like a piece of work slubbered over slightly or clapt up in haste The most wise God who shewed his manifold wisdom in the work of redemption shewed much of his wisdom in the work of creation He made man as we speak in print A learned translatour renders Thy hands put me to pain which have made me as if Iob had complained here of the pain vvhich God put him to after he had made him rather then exalted God for the pains he seemed to have taken when he made him But we may better keep to our rendering Thine hands have made me and Fashioned me The making of man importeth his being The fashioning of him the outward formality of his being Man receives not only his nature but his figure from God The vvord signifies to trim or polish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Est aliquid facere sed ornate polite rem omnibus modis perfectam efficere to do a thing curiously and compleatly Gen. 1.31 God saw all that he had made and behold it was very good He saw all vvith delight and highest content for he had put all into a composure of most exquisite comelinesse and perfect beauty A due and proper fashion to the essence of comelinesse Thine hands have not only made but fashioned me and that not in part only but as it followeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Alludere videtur ad figuli rotam Pined Artifices opus pene absolutum curiose circumspiciunt ut si quid oculis ingratum deprehendant corrigant Sanct Together round about This is no pleonasme or superfluity of speech for though when a thing is made and fashioned it is supposed to be made round about yet here to shew the exactnesse of God in making man Iob speaks as if God had resolved to have all of his own doing and vvould not trust the least part of this vvork into the hand of any other Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about Which vvords are say some First An allusion to the art of a potter who formeth and fashioneth earthen vessels turning them often about and about upon his wheel Or it may be an allusion to a Statuary or to a painter vvho having a curious costly piece in hand goes about it and views it round on every side That if any thing sute not his eye his fancy or the rule of art he may correct it Secondly a Dicit in circuitu quod corpus videtur animae esse in circuitu sicut vestimentum vest ito aut sicut domu habitatori Aquin. Others conceive that this round about is only a circumlocution for the body because the body encompasseth the soul round about as a garment doth the body or a house the inhabitant Thirdly b Totum dicit ut ad singula corporis membra referatur Idem est quod latinus dicit intus extra intus in cate à capite ad pedes
dead It is usuall in Scripture by a dogge to set forth the vilest estate of man and the most excellent by a lion When Mephibosheth would shew how low he was in his own eyes though the son of a noble Prince he joyns these two Dead and a dog together 2 Sam. 9.8 What is thy servant that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am He cals himself not only a dog as Christ did the woman of Canaan and as she acknowledged her self to be but to lay himself as low as lownesse it self he cals himself a dead dog implying That life giveth some honour and casteth a lustre upon every subject which it inhabits though it be the meanest When Esau was near perishing with hunger Gen. 25.32 he resolves thus I am at the point to die and what profit shall this birth-right do to me As if he had said Shall I keep my birth-right and lose my life My life is more precious Thus he spake and he spake profanely in it yet there is some truth in what he spake for if we take birth-right precisely in the notion of a civil priviledge so life is better then a birth-right but he is called profane Esau because there was a spirituall priviledge in his birth-right which he ought to have valued above his life Any spirituall good thing is better then naturall life but life is the best of naturall and better then all civil good things When the Prophet would expresse how great a blessing a King was to his people he called him The breath of their nostrils Lam. 4.29 and live for ever was the highest apprecation given the Babylonian Kings The most noble imitations of art are about this piece of nature It is the ambition of a painter to draw to the life or to shadow the motions and actings of life When we would commend a picture we say It is done to the life How precious a favour is reall life the very shadow of which is of so great a price He that laieth down his life paieth the greatest debt whether to justice or to nature Christ went to the highest price for and shewed the greatest favour to sinners when he parted with and pawned this jewell for them his precious life This should minde parents as to pray for quickning after conceptions so to give thanks when the embryon is quickned Now if this naturall life be such a favour What is spirituall and eternall life Thou hast given me life and favour Chesed omnia beneficia Dei promiscuè complectitur Coc. Non solum vitam dedisti sed cumulasti banis omnibus quae ad victum honorem rem vitae necessariam pertinent Hoc nomine coÌ„plectitur etiam omnia beneficia quae ultra vitaÌ„ Deus homini concedit dum educandum euÌ„ instituendum informanduÌ„ in lege sua timore curat Merc. or life as a favour Thirdly By favour in conjunction with life we may understand the accidents of life that is those good things which accompany and accommodate our lives Thou hast given me life not a bare life not a meer subsistence or being in the world but with life thou hast also given me favour many mercies and comforts to make my life sweet and pleasant to me Besides favour takes in not only those outward comforts of health strength liberty plenty but those inward ornaments of life also good education and instruction in knowledge both humane and divine It appears Iob had a fair portion of these favours His was not a naked but a clothed soul a soul gilded and engraven all over with heavenly truths So that Job in this word reports the bounty and munificence of God towards him in all the former additions and accomplishments of his life Many have lives which they scarce look upon as a favour Some accidents of life are more worth then the substance of it Our well-being is better then our being It may prove a desirable favour to be rid of life In which sense Iob spake of himself at the first verse of this Chapter My soul is weary of my life His life was then a burden but once a favour Thou hast granted me life with favour Fourthly Iob may here intend spirituall and eternall favour Quoniam Chesed significat aliquid perfectum in amore idcirca slatuimus Iohum hic intelligere istaÌ„ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sive studium quod Deus exercet erga suos quâ—s facit filios suos in Christo Coc. Chesed signifies the grace or favour of God in Christ Psal 89.33 My loving kindenesse will I not take from him nor suffer my faithfulnesse to fail If he fail in duty I will chasten him in mercy I will not remove mercy from him The Vulgar translates Thou hast given me life and mercy which some expound of that speciall mercy the pardon of his sinne and his washing from originall corruption As if Iob had said I partake not only of life but also of that which is better then life it self Thy favour or loving-kindenesse Psal 63.4 The favour of God in spirituall things in pardoning sin in regenerating the soul in sending the holy Spirit is the perfection of his favour What is man without that favour which makes him a sonne of God but even a beautifull or at most a rationall beast as David cals him Psal 49.21 And should a man give thanks for outward favours only without any reflection upon spirituall a beast could he speak might give such thanks The life of sense and growth is a mercy but beasts and plants live thus The life of reason is a greater mercy but wicked men live thus many are in hell unto whom God granted this life and they would be glad God would call in his grant and take it from them But unto these three lives God adds a fourth to his elect even a life of grace through Jesus Christ This is the favour of favours and the blessing of all our blessings except this favour be granted with our lives it were better for us never to have had a grant of our lives It is more eligible not to have been born then not to be born again Chesed sumitur pro venustate corporis Coc. There is a fifth Interpretation taking the word Chesed for corporall favour or the beauty of the body we say such an one is well favoured he hath an excellent feature the favour of a man is seen in the feature of his face Favour is the perfection of beauty Some have a clear mixture of white and red yet no favour In this sense the word is used Isa 40.6 where the Lord makes a proclamation The voice said Cry and he said What shall I cry All flesh is grasse and the goodlinâ—sse thereof as the flower of the field The word which we translate goodlinesse is Chesed All flesh is grasse man withers quickly and Chesed the goodlinesse thereof all of man his favour beauty strength all these are as the