power are ascribed to sinne because God gives men over to those punishments which their sins challenge at his hands Some sinnes have a louder voice then others but every sinne unpardoned the mouth whereof is not stopt by the bloud of Christ cries to God for vengeance till God put the sinner into the hand of sin that he may at once receive pay for and from his own folly Observe from the former interpretation First That The Lord doth often in judgement give man up to the power of his sinfull lusts This is a generall truth though we cannot draw it down to the instance of Jobs children The Lord in wrath leaves man to himself Every man by nature sins freely and many are left by God to a judiciary freedome in sinning He cannot restrain himself and sometimes God will not restrain him but lets him take his fill of sinne and be as wicked as he will Revel 22.11 He that is unjust let him be unjust still he that is filthy let him be filthy still This permission is the highest and sorest affliction This liberty is worse then any bondage Thus also the Church leaves those to their ignorance who obstinately refuse instruction 1 Cor. 14.38 He tha◠is ignorant let him be ignorant still Those souls are in a desperate condition who are put out of the care either of God or of his Church Secondly Observe That Sin is a punishment Sinne is the punishment of sinne Thy children sinned against him and he gave them into the hand of their sinne Tu Domine dixisti ita est ut omna malus animus sibi ipsi fit poena August he never goes unpunished for sinne who sins and repents not Thou Lord saith one of the Ancients hast decreed it and so it is That every evil minde is it 's own scourge The Apostle tels us Heb. 10.31 that it is a fearfull thing to fall into the hand of the living God it is indeed and it is as fearfull a thing to fall into the hand of deadly sins or dead works How dreadfull a thing is it to be under the power and tyranny of our own hearts The committing of sinne is worse then the enduring of trouble The Lord doth not only punish men according to their sins but he makes their sinne their punishment yea their sins are their punishers He puts them into the hand of sin as into the hand of a tormentour A Heathen could threaten a wicked man Vlciscentur eū mones sui Cicero ad Attich thus His manners shall be his revenge Holinesse carries its reward with it and though no creature will recompense the good we doe yet doing good is a recompence In keeping the Commandments of God there is an exceeding great reward Psal 19.11 The act of keeping them is a reward as well as the issue A good work is pay enough to the worker So also is an evil work Prov. 1.32 The turning away of the simple shall slay him A simple childe that will not be ruled counsell'd or ordered such Solomon speaks of Ye simple ones how long will ye love simplicity That is your own foolish vain waies The turning away of such simple ones from the counsell of the wise shall slay them The way of sinne is death as well as the end or wages of it As faith the Proverb of the Ancients they are the words of David concerning Saul 1 Sam. 24.14 Wickednesse proceedeth from the wicked but mine hand shall not be upon him David knew that Saul was a man so wicked that he needed no other revenger but his own self his own sinne would bring misery enough upon him therefore saith he Wickednesse proceedeth from the wicked that is the punishment of wickednesse proceedeth from the wicked man himself Observe the occasion of those words it was when some about David advised him to slay Saul not I saith he my hand shall not be upon him I know he is a man so given up to sinne so enslaved to his own vile affections that ther 's enough upon him already and in a short time more will be upon him Wickednesse proceedeth from the wicked but mine hand shall not be upon him I will leave him to the hand of his sin which is his plague already and which in a little time will attach him and doe me right though he never would When God took up a resolution against his own people that he would not hear or be intreated and protested his minde could not be towards them he saith Jer. 15.2 Let them go forth such as are for the sword to the sword and such as are for the famine to the famine and such as are for the captivity to the captivity This was a dreadfull sentence but for God to say to a people Let them go forth in the waies of their sinne he that is for drunkennesse to be drunk he that is for uncleannesse to be unclean he that is for pride to be proud he that is for swearing to oaths and he that is for envy to be envious and he that is for idolatry to his idols O how unconceivably miserable are such a people To be left in the hand of these sins is a spirituall judgement and these sinnes will quickly bring in temporall judgements and not long hence eternall From the later interpretation Observe Sinne shall not alway goe away unpunished by outward sensible evils God will sinke and cast men away for their transgressions If sinne be in the house punishment lies at the doors and will turn the lock and open it or break it open upon the sinner And though he hide himself in vaults or secret corners yet his iniquity will finde him out He that will not cast away his transgression shall be cast away for his transgression whether he will or no. So much for these words wherein Bildad sets before Job the sinfulnesse of his children thereby to vindicate the justice of God in giving them up to the dominion of their sin or to destruction for their sinne In the next words he advises Job to take heed by their harms and assures him of happy successe in case he doe As if he had said Though they perished in their transgression yet doe not thou despair For Verse 5. If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes and make thy supplication to the Almighty c. God hath been just in punishing thy children and he will be mercifull in pardoning thee in accepting thy person in prospering thy estate if now at last thou apply thy self to seek him diligently Though thy children have fallen into the hand of their transgression yet there is hope that thou maiest escape Thus he deals with him in a way of counsell as Eliphaz had done before Chap. 5. v. 8. I would seek unto God and unto God would I commit my cause this is the counsell I give thee and the course I would take my self Bildad speaks the same in effect and almost in the letter If thou wouldest
the former context exalted the power and wisdom of God in many instances and closed all with an admiring sentence He doth great things and unsearchable marvellous things without number He in these words seems to give a proof of those attributes of Gods works that they are innumerable and unsearchable c. Verse 11. For loe he goeth by me and I see him not he passeth on also but I perceive him not As if he had said I am not able to reckon how often he worketh for I cannot alwaies perceive when he worketh I am not able to search out all his great and wonderfull actings for I cannot see him in many of his actings He goeth by me and I see him not The Lord is said to goe by us not in regard of any locall motion for he that filleth all places moves to none Doe not I fill heaven and earth is the Lords query of himself to those who thought to play least in sight with him And he convinces them that they could not be hid from him in secret places because he fils all places There is no place to be found beyond the line of heaven and earth both which God fils Jer. 23.24 Then his motion is not locall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mutavit variavit rem vel locum denotat mutationem conditionis vel loci Mol. in Ps 90. 6. but providentiall God doth not move to act but his acting is his moving He goeth by us doing marvellous things for us and we see not when he is doing or what he is doing The other word here used He passeth on is of the same sense yet more peculiar and proper to the motion of spirits we had it in the fourth Chapter vers 15. A spirit passed before me saith Eliphaz when he speaks of the vision that appeared It signifies to change and vary either place or condition The transitory changablenesse of the creature is expressed by it Psal 102.27 Thou doest change them and they shall be changed the creatures passe on as from place to place so from condition to condition The fashion of them passeth away 1 Cor. 7.31 They have not only a perfective change but a corruptive change but of the Lord he saith Thou art the same and thy years shall have no end The word is used for changing by oppressive destruction Prov. 31.8 Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction or death Such as are appointed to that great change are called a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Filij excidij i. e. qui traâ—untur excidio Jun. in loc The Sons of change or destruction Thus the Originall So that the word signifieth any change or motion whether perfective or corruptive The Lord saith Job passeth on he maketh changes he worketh sometimes to perfect sometimes to destroy but I perceive him not I am not able to make out what he doth Here are two words one referring to sense the other to understanding He goeth by me and I see him not that is my senses cannot finde him He passeth on also and I perceive him not that is he destroieth he buildeth he planteth he rooteth up but I am not able to apprehend him or unriddle the meaning of his wonderfull works He doth great things and things unsearchable b NoÌ„ est una interpretatio hujus divini ac cessuâ— recessus Pined There is much variety of opinion about the meaning of these words though I think the meaning is clear in that generall I have now given Yet I will touch a little First Some interpret Jobs discourse conversing still in and about the c Multa sunt naturalia quorum suprenum auctorem Deum vel opus inchoantem vel ab opere cessantem noÌ„ observamus atque ita praecedenti sententiae haec innectitur tanquam illius subjecta ratio Id. Quemadmodum sit in omnibus extra omnia supra omnia sciri non potest Olymp. naturall works of God the earth the heavens the waters and the air of which he had spoken before as also about the body of man Act. 17.28 In him we live and move and have our being God is about us he is ever with us and yet we observe not either when he begins to work or resteth from working How he is in all things without all things and above all things is not known Secondly Others take his going and passing for the acts of his d Deum venire miserentis est discedere punientis Phil. Presb. Aquinas ad beneficia praestita vel denegata refert Transit eum quem impunituÌ„ relinquit Drus favour or dis-favour He goeth by me in bestowing favours and He passeth on in taking them away his accesses or recesses in mercy or judgement his love and his wrath are often indiscernable He goeth by me he passeth on he varieth his workings and I perceive him not To passe by is taken sometimes for sparing pardoning or shewing mercy The Lord by his Prophet Amos 7.8 reports severall judgements from a full execution of which he was taken off yet at last he resolves I will not passe by them any more it is the word here that is I will not have mercy on them any more I will not spare them any more the next time I come with my drawn sword in my hand I will be sure to smite and wound before I put it up I will not passe by them any more So He passeth by me may note here the sparing mercy of God The Lord spareth man many times and pardons him not suffering his whole displeasure to arise when man takes no notice but is insensible of it The word is used in this sense Prov. 19.11 It is the glory of man to passe by an offence that is to spare a man that hath offended not to punish him or take revenge and it is ordinary in our phrase of speech to say I will passe you by for this time that is I will not take any severe notice or strict account of what you have done And we finde in the same prophecy of Amos that to passe thorow notes judgement and wrath in the opposite sense In the fifth Chapter vers 17. In all vineyards shall be wailing Why For I will passe thorow thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In interiori tuo or I will passe into thy bowels or inwards So the letter of the originall that is I will come to judge thee I will passe thorow thee as a revenger and wound thee deeply insomuch that in all vineyards there shall be wailing why in all vineyards When he saith There shall be wailing in all vineyards it implies there should be wailing every where for if there were joy in any place it would be in the vineyards vineyards are places of mirth and refreshing grapes make the wine which makes glad the heart of man Therefore when he threatens That in all vineyards there shall be wailing it is as much as
made a Covenant with death and an agreement with hell were very full of faith such as it was Isa 28.15 When the over-flowing scourge shall passe thorow it shall not come unto us An over-flowing scourge 'T is an elegant metaphor taken from waters is a common spreading sweeping judgement which like an over-flowing river encompasses circles about and fetches in all Slay suddenly Every scourge doth not slay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Subito statim ita ut non sentiatur donec res fiat and many which slay doe not slay suddenly We usually hear the clashing of the scourge before we feel the smart of it The Lord shews the scourge and threatens it before he smites with it he lets judgement hang like a black cloud over the heads of some long before it fals upon them But others He slaies suddenly Some take this suddennesse of the scourge in slaying for a mittigation of the judgement and others for the heightning of it In the former sense suddennesse doth not imply the sudden comming of it but the sudden killing of it a scourge which doth it's work quickly so that a man doth not hang long as it were upon the rack of an affliction The Church of the Jews Lam. 4.6 complains of their afflictions as if the judgement of Sodome and Gomorrah had been more easie and eligible then that which the Lord brought upon Jerusalem not that they thought God had dealt worse with them then with Sodome and Gomorrah but as to this particular because Sodom was overthrown in a moment but Jerusalem was pined away by degrees with famine A sudden scourge is a kinde of mercy Better die once then die alwaies Or as the Apostle speaks concerning the afflictions of the Saints Rom. 8.36 To be killed all the day long When one under torture petitioned Tiberius the Roman Emperour a bloudy cruell tyrant that he might be quickly dispatcht he desired not life or pardon but a speedy death the Emperour sent him word Nondum tecum in gratiaÌ„ redij That as yet he was not reconciled to him or become his friend His cruelty would neither suffer the man to live longer nor to die speedily And some observe that as the Prophet expresses his trouble at the prosperity of the wicked in their lives so at this kinde of prosperity in their deaths There are no bands in their death Non sunt nodi in morte eorum but they are lusty and strong Psal 73.4 that is when they die they die in their strength they are not pined away with long and tedious sicknesses They live in pleasure and die with ease They are not bound to their beds and tied down with the cords of chronicall lingring diseases It is some favour if the scourge must slay to be slain in this sense suddenly But here the scourge slaying suddenly is a judgement comming unexpectedly They who sleep in security seldom dream of scourges Observe hence God can send death and affliction in a moment When they shall say Peace and safety then sudden destruction commeth upon them as travel upon a woman with childe and they shall not escape 1 Thess 5.3 Wicked men are never so neer destruction as when they are most secure And that by the way is the reason why we have least cause to fear those men who fear God least Security springs from infidelity and both from sleighting if not contemning the Word of God no marvell then if the Lord hasten his wrath to justifie his truth and slay them on a sudden who would not believe no not at leisure But to the point The Prophet describes it elegantly Isa 30.13 This iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall that is this iniquity shall produce a judgement which shall be to you as a breach ready to fall Swelling out in an high wall whose breaking commeth suddenly at an instant If once a high built wall doe but swell down it comes Such a swelling wall fell upon and slew twenty and seven thousand of Benhadads scattered Army 1 King 20.30 And such a tower in Siloe fell upon eighteen and slew them Luk. 13.4 The Prophet Jeremy at once imprecates and fore-tels a speedy scourge upon the gain-saying Jews Let a cry be heard from their houses when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them Jer. 18.22 This hath been the case of many among us who thinking of no danger have been surprized by a troop themselves made prisoners and their houses spoil'd in one hour Such was the condition of our Brethren in Ireland it is almost incredible how suddenly that scourge slew them there was scarce a Protestant that had so much as a suspition of the danger nay some would not believe it when a great part of the countrey was on a flame and the enemy had butchered thousands That scourge if ever any slew suddenly the perfect and the wicked As mercies may come so suddenly to our senses that they overcome our faith so may judgements Some have been surprized with mercy Psal 126.4 When the Lord turned our captivity as the streams in the South that is gave us sudden deliverance rivers in the South rise not from a constant spring but from accidentall raines which make violent land-floods on a sudden At the approach of this sudden mercy the Jews were like to them that dream So when the Lord sends sudden judgements rivers of calamity rivers of bloud as rivers in the South when he brings in captivity as rivers in the South then are we in a dream too and are not only destroied but distracted and amazed But how fast soever judgements come tâ—â—y come not suddenly upon them who are awake much lesse on them who are watching for them when they come If the scourge slay suddenly what then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vel à radice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dissolvit Vel à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tentavit He will laugh at the triall of the innocent M. Broughton reads it thus He scorneth at the melting away of the innocent The reason of the different reading is because the Hebrew word may spring either from a root signifying to tempt and try or from another To melt and dissolve He scorneth at the melting away of the innocent Afflictions are meltings They dissolve our comforts yea our very hearts in the same sense that godly sorrow breaks our hearts Pity should be shewen to him that is melted Cha. 6. but ye forsake the fear of the Almighty so M. Broughton translates there The Lord tempted Abraham Gen. 22.1 that is the Lord tried his faith to finde out of what strength it was and how much he could trust him in that great businesse of sacrificing his son He will laugh at the triall of the innocent At their melting or trying by afflictions The difficulty is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ridere est irredere subsannare ut fit ab hostibus cum eos quos captivos detinent diuturnis
earthly-poor nor hell all the earthly-rich God doth not give wicked men all the earth but all the earth which they have is of his giving Most of the earth is given to be their possession and all the possession which is given them is of earth therefore it is said He giveth the earth into the hand of the wicked And seeing God giveth the earth into the hand of the wicked we may observe also That wicked men have a just title to the earthly things which they enjoy They are not meer usurpers neither shall they be dealt with as meer usurpers They have no spirituall title no title by Christ they claim not by promise which the Saints doe They have forfeited their title by sinne all is lapsed and escheated into the hand of the great land-Lord Their goods are forfeited and so are their lives into the hand of God and he gives both back for a while into their hands He gives them their lives back and reprieveth them for which time of their reprieve he giveth them the earth to live upon or to maintain their lives and so farre as they use earthly things for the continuance of life they shall not be accounted or reckoned with as usurpers They shall not be charged for using the creaturâ— but for abusing it for making the earth serve their lusts not 〈◊〉 making it a support of their lives And seeing as the Lord hath given them back their forfeited lives so also their forfeited lands by a deed of gift sealed with generall providence this is enough to secure them in those worldly possessions which they have neither got nor hold by injustice from the brand of usurpation Dominium non fundatur in gratia and from the violence of dispossession As what God hath joyned no man may put asunder So what God hath given no man must take away Neither riches nor rule are founded in grace He hath given the earth into the hand of the wicked He covereth the faces of the Judges thereof He covereth There is some Question whom we are to understand as the antecedent to this relative He who is he that co-covereth Tegit ne videant quod aequuÌ„ justum est â—rus Some make the antecedent a wicked man Others say 't is God The earth is given into the hand of the wicked and he that is the wicked one covereth the faces of the Judges thereof Or He that is God covereth the faces of the Judges thereof I shall a little open this expression it needeth some uncovering for it is dark in both relations First Look upon that interpretation which refers it to wicked men He covereth namely That wicked man who is preferred and exalted covereth the faces of the Judges that is he stops the course of justice And there are four waies by which wicked men cover the faces of the Judges Munera caecos reddunt judices First By gifts and rewards Bribes vail yea put out the eyes of a Judge that he cannot see to give every one his due Hence that charge Exod. 23.8 thou shalt take no gift for the gift blindeth the wise and perverteth the words of the righteous Secondly The faces of the Judges are covered by threatnings Fear of losse blindes as well as hope of gain Some send terrible messages to the judge Will not you doe as we would have you Will not you give your sentence and opinion thus at your peril be it Now the Judges face is covered his eyes are put out by a threat the mist and cloud of a Princes displeasure of a great mans indignation is before his eyes His face is covered Thirdly The Judges faces are covered by actuall putting them to shame by casting them out of favour and clouding them with disgrace by taking away their commissions or sending them a Quietus est laying them by as unfit for service any of these is a covering of the Judges face There is a fourth way of covering the Judges face to which the second and third are often made a preparatory And that is by putting the judge to death So much that expression implies in the 40th of this book of Job vers 13. where the Lord with infinite wisdome and holinesse insulting over Job to humble him bids him arise and doe some great thing somewhat which might speak him a man of might Deck thy self now with majesty and excellency and aray thy self with glory and beauty cast abroad the rage of thy wrath and behold every one that is proud and abase him look on every one that is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked in their place Hide them in the dust together and binde their faces in secret that is cover their faces as men prepared for death as men ready to goe out to execution We may expound it by that Esth 7.8 where as soon as ever the word went out of the Kings mouth They covered Hamans face And by that Mark 14.65 where when Christ was judged worthy of death the text saith They spit on him and covered his face The covering of the face was a mark of a condemned man held as unworthy to behold and enjoy the light of the Sunne or the light of the Princes countenance Thus to cover the faces of the Judges is to condemn the Judges and to take them out of the world by sufferings rather then suffer them to doe right I finde that of Elihu Job 34.29 interpreted to this sense When he giveth quietnesse who can make trouble That is when the Lord doth absolve and acquit a man giving him a discharge then he is free no man can sue him or trouble him much lesse condemn him but if he hide his face who then can behold him So we translate it meaning thus If the Lord hide his own face But this exposition saith If the Lord hide the face of that man that is If the Lord condemn that man or passe sentence of death upon him of which covering or hiding the face was a symboll then Quâ— rei faciem poterit amplius videre quasi absolutus sit Bold I lictor colliga manus caput obnubito in foe lici arbori suspendito Cic. in orat pro Rabir. who can behold him That is who then can see his face or have society with him whom God hath separated to death It was a custom also among the Romans when sentence was pronounced upon a malefactour thus to command the executioner Take him away binde his hands cover his face hang him up And usually with us malefactours who are ready to suffer the pains of death put a covering upon their faces This also may be a good sense of the words He covereth the faces of the Judges that is a wicked Prince oppresseth and putteth the Judges to death And whereas good Princes say Let justice be donâ— though the world perish he saith Let the Judges perish rather then justice should be done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iudices
am very confident that how pure and righteous so ever I am or by further washing and cleansing believing and repenting shall appear to be yet the Lord hath an intent to try me further even to the uttermost and will cast me into the ditch mire and dirt of further afflictions so that they who make up their judgements by your rule though they were as neer to me as the clothes upon my back must yet abhor and loath me as ye my friends now doe as a wicked person He seems to speak as the Apostle doth 1 Cor. 4.9 I thinke that God hath set forth us the Apostles last as it were men appointed unto death for we are made a spectacle to the world and to Angels and to men This is the summe and generall sense of these five verses The words are full of difficulty and there is much variety of judgements about them but I hope in the close to make out a sense upon every particular which shall be matching and sutable with this which hath been given in generall If I say I will forget my complaint If I say In this Iob answereth directly to the charge of Bildad at the 8th Chapter ver 2. How long wilt thou speak these things and shall thy words be like an East-winde To which Iob answers Bildad If I should cease speaking as thou seemest to chide me into silence If I should say I will not complain any more I will give over these mournfull discourses and bite in my strongest pains What then will the event prove what thou hast promised surely no I am afraid of all my sorrows and almost assured that they will return upon me If I say I will forget my complaint I will forget The word which we render forget may signifie a three-fold forgetfulnesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Est oblivisoi ut 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 First Forgetfulnesse coming from the neglect of our naturall abilities when we are carelesse and take no heed to remember Recordari cum cura diligentia Secondly Forgetfulnesse arising from the weaknesse of our naturall abilities when though we are carefull yet we cannot remember But Iob means neither of these he intends a third kinde of forgetfulnesse even a studied and an affected forgetfulnesse when how able soever we are yet we will not or would not remember If I say I will forget my complaint that is If I purposely set my self or labour to forget my sorrows yet I cannot get off their remembrance As the Hebrew Zachar signifies not only the naturall act of memory but diligence in remembring So doth the Hebrew Sachah to forget It is sometimes as hard a work to forget as it is at any time to remember How do the damned in hell strive to forget their pains and complaints they would count it a happinesse if they could put their misery out of minde and memory one hour but they cannot And they can no more forget what they have felt then not be sensible of what they feel If I say I will forget 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My complaint Sapit hoc verbum meditabuÌ„dum quendam sermonem anxium intellectiâ— vocisque discursum The word notes meditation and here a mournfull meditation a breathing forth in mournfull expressions The same word is used Chap. 7. vers 13. When I say My bed shall comfort me and my couch shall case my complaint or my mournfull meditation then thou scarest me with dreams Miseriae memoriam omnem depoâ—am Drus So then Jobs meaning is If I should set my self with greatest intention to forget that is to lay aside the thought of my troubles and sorrows and say I will leave off my heavinesse and complain no more I will not pore upon my afflictions but resolve to be above them yet it will not be I finde no case forgetfulnesse is a medicine for some diseases and pains but I finde no cure no remedy that way for mine Whence observe There are some things which man can very hardly forget or get out of his minde We may study their forgetfulnesse and yet not be able to forget them And they are of two sorts First Worldly pleasures Secondly Worldly sorrows These will not fail to minde us We need the art or rather the grace of forgetfulnesse to lay these aside And there are two things which we are slow to remember First Our own duties And secondly The mercies of God About these we need the art or rather the grace of memory And usually they who have most neglected to remember duty are most afflicted with the constrained remembrance of their own sorrow And they shall not be able at all to forget the wrath of God who would not remember the mercies of God If I say I will forget my complaint I will leave off my heavinesse and comfort my self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Leave off my heavinesse The Hebrew word for word is I will lay aside my face for that which strictly and in the letter of that language Notat faciem iram etiam â—â—istitiâ—m signifies the face or countenance of a man doth also signifie First Anger and wrath Secondly Sorrow and heavinesse 'T is put for anger Psal 34.16 The face or anger of the Lord is against such as doe evil So Lam. 4.16 Levit. 17.10 I will set my face that is I will shew my anger and manifest my displeasure against them And the reason why that word which signifies the countenance or face signifies also anger and wrath sorrow and heavinesse is because both anger and sorrow break forth in the face If a man be very angry you shall see his anger scribled in the uneven character of his countenance If a man be very heavy and sorrowfull you shall see the lines of sorrow drawn in his face Therefore it is said of Hannah 1 Sam. 1.18 when she received a refreshing and reviving answer from the Lord in praier the poor soul sate drooping and mourning as much as praying but as soon as she had a hint of audience and acceptance it is said She went away and did eat and her countenance was no more sad the sadnesse of her heart appeared no more in her countenance there was fair weather in her face and Sunne-shine in her fore-head the rain and showres of her tears were blown over and dried up As in some sinners The shew of their countenance doth testifie against them Isa 3.9 that is they are so grossely wicked that you may see sinne in their faces whereas others can keep sinne close enough in their hearts they can keep the disease in and shut themselves up when they are sick of the plague of their hearts 1 King 8. nothing but holinesse is discernable in the face of their conversation when nothing but rottennesse and corruption lies at the bottome of their spirits But as the corruption of many a mans heart breaks forth in botches upon the face of his actions and the
double oppression First An oppression by our words And secondly An oppression by our actions the oppression of the tongue and the oppression of the hand The tongue is a great tyrant the tongue will lay on load and draw bloud The Vulgar understands it of this tongue-oppression Is it good for thee that thou shouldest calumniate or slander me that is Give others occasion to speak evil of me That is a good sense Slander and censure wound deep hard words bruise the credit and break the heatt as well as hard blows bruise the flesh and break the bones But take it here rather for oppression by outward violence So the word is often used Psal 119.122 I have done judgement and justice give me not â—ver to mine oppressours to those who would wrong me because I have done right And it noteth as an open or violent oppression so a cunning subtil oppression a cheating fraudulent oppression All wrong how close and cunning soever is oppression We have that sense of the word Hos 12.7 He is a merchant the balances of deceit are in his hand he loveth to oppresse How doth a Merchant oppresse He comes not like a thief or a Nimrod with a sword in his hand bidding you Deliver your purse or your life commanding you to give up your right or your liberty but while in buying and selling in trading and dealing he offers you a fair bargain or as we say a penny worth for your penny he smites you secretly and cuts your throat as famine doth without a knife the balances of deceit are in his hand Balances are put for all instruments or means of trading by these he deceives light weights oppresse the State as a heavy weight presses the body The word imports also oppression by with-holding what is due as well as by taking away what we duly hold Deut. 24.14 Thou shalt not oppresse an hired servant that is poor and needy that is thou shalt not detain or keep back any part of his wages The word you see is of a large sense Is it good unto thee to oppresse I know thou wilt not oppresse me either by speaking evil of or over-censuring me either by open violence or by secret fraud either by taking from me what I have or by detaining from me what I ought to have Thou wilt not oppresse either with tongue or hand either as a robber with thy sword or as a merchant with thy balances Thus Iob expostulates upon highest confidence both of the justice and holinesse of God as if he had said Lord I know thou doest not love to oppresse no thou art mercifull and full of compassion Whence is it then that thou seemest to act so unlike thy self Is this thy pity to a poor creature and thy love to the work of thy hands Thou usest to rejoyce in the consolation of thy people and mercy pleaseth thee thou usest to send out rivers of goodnesse for wearied souls to bathe in and streams of comfort for thirsty souls to drinke and be refreshed in How is it then that a bitter cup is put to my lips continually and that I am overwhelmed in a salt sea in a sea of gall and bitternesse Hence observe God is so good and gracious that he loves not to grieve his creature Among men Mica 7.4 The best of them is as a brier the most upright is sharper then a thorn hedge Even they that seem most gentle and compassionate will yet sometimes scratch like briars and tear like thorns but the Lord changeth not neither do his compassions fail The actings of God appear sometimes unsutable to his nature but they are never so When he breaks us to pieces he delights not in our breakings nor doth he ever break his own but with an intent to binde them up again God is so farre from loving to oppresse that one of his most eminent works of providence is to relieve those who are oppressed Ps 12.4 For the oppression of the poor will I arise saith the Lord. And when the Lord arises oppressours shall fall O Lord cries Hezekiah in his sicknesse I am oppressed undertake for me Isa 38.14 As if he had said This disease like a mercilesse tyrant oppresses my spirit death hath even master'd me and got the victory over my house of clay Lord Come to my rescue thou wast wont to deliver poor men as a prey out of the hand yea mouths of their oppressours O deliver me from this cruell sicknesse which is ready to oppresse my life and hale me as a prisoner to the grave Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppresse And That thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands This clause hath the same sense in generall with the former It is not good unto thee It is neither pleasing nor profitable nor honourable That thou shouldest despise the worke of thine hands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Significat rejicere cum fastidio tanquam vile comtemptum quid Mer. in Pagâ— Exfastidâ—o contemptu sequi solet rei contemptae oppressio aut abj ctâ—o Huâ—c hominem quem â—uis maâ—i bâ—s fo masti de luto terrae Dru. Some translate this clause by oppression Is it good that thou shouldest oppresse the work of thine hands The word in propriety signifies to dâ—spise we have met with it more then once before it noteth also loathing yea abhorring And it may very well bear that other sense of oppressing for when a man loaths a thing and abhors it he will quickly slight and oppresse it who cares what becomes of that which he abhors These two are joyned together 2 King 17.20 The Lord rejected all the seed of Israel and afflicted them and delivered them into the hand of spoilers untill he had cast them out of his sight When once the Lord rejected or despised the seed of Israel they were presently afflicted and delivered up to spoiling That thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands He means himself or any other man all men being the work of Gods hands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Propriè laboreÌ„ lassitudinem quandam in efficiendo opere denotat ex quo orationis bujus vis amplificatur The word which we translate work strictly taken signifies hard work extream labour labour with wearinesse Here understand it in a large sense for God works not to wearinesse And when after he had finished the whole work of creation it is said by Moses Gen. 2.2 That he rested on the seventh day from all the work which he had made The meaning is only this he gave over or ceased to work not that his work put him to any pain or need of rest But why is man called The work of Gods hands Hath God who is a Spirit hands or any bodily parts By an ordinary figure in Scripture hands and feet eyes and ears are ascribed unto God He is therefore said to have hands because he works not because he works with hands The hand is the
knowledge of us beyond ours though he know us better then we know our selves yet no man can tell the Lord Thou knowest that I am not wicked but he who knows that he is not The excellency of our condition consists in being godly the comfort of it consists in knowing that we are godly When David offers himself to the triall Psal 139.24 Search me O Lord and see if there be any way of wickednesse in me He speaks not as doubting whether he were wicked or no but as being assured that he was not As if he had said There are many weaknesses in me I know but I know not of any wickednesse He that offers himself to Gods search for his wickednesse gives a strong argument of his own uprightnesse The best of the Saints may be at a losse sometimes for their assurances and not know they are good They may stand sometimes hovering between heaven and earth yea between heaven and hell as uncertain to which they shall be accounted Yet many of the Saints are fully perswaded they are Saints and sit with Christ in heavenly places while they are wâ—ndering here upon on the earth A godly man may know this two vvaies First By the vvorkings of grace in his heart Secondly By the testimony of the Spirit with his heart First By the vvorkings of grace in his heart 1 Joh. 2.3 Hereby we know that we know him if we keep his Commandments and chap. 3.14 We know that we are passed from death to life because we love the brethren There may be such workings of grace in the heart as may amount to an evidence of grace What our being is is discernable in our workings The word is as clear as light that our justification may have a light or evidence in our sanctification though no cause or foundation there Grace is the image of Christ stamped upon the soul and they who reflecting upon their souls see the image of Christ there may be sure that Christ is theirs Christ hath given all himself to those to whom he hath given this part of himself Secondly This may be known by the testimony of the Spirit with the heart 2 Cor. 5.5 He that hath wrought us for the self same thing is God God sets up a frame of holinesse in every believer He hath wrought us and how are we assured that he hath Who also hath given us the earnest of his Spirit The graces of the Spirit are a reall earnest of the Spirit yet they are not alwaies an evidentiall earnest therefore an earnest is often superadded to our graces There is a three-fold work of the Spirit First To conveigh and plant grace in the soul Secondly To act and help us to exercise the graces which are planted there Thirdly To shine upon and enlighten those graces or to give an earnest of those graces This last work the Spirit fullfils two waies First By arguments and inferences which is a mediate work Secondly By presence and influence which is an immediate work This the Apostle cals witnesse-bearing 1 Joh. 5.8 There are three that bear witnesse in earth The Spirit and the water and the bloud The Spirit brings in the witnesse of the water and of the bloud which is his mediate work but besides and above these he gives a distinct witnesse of his own which is his immediate work and is in a way of peculiarity and transcendency called the witnesse of the Spirit Hence that of the Apostle Paul We have not received the spirit of the world but we have received the Spirit which is of Christ that we may know the things that are freely given us of God 1 Cor. 2.12 The things freely given may be received by us and yet the receit of them not known to us therefore we receive the Spirit that we may know what is given us and what we have received The Spirit doth as it were put his hand to our receits and his seal also whence he is said To seal us up to the day of redemption Ephes 4.30 Sixthly Observe A godly man dares appeal to God himself that he is not wicked He dares stand before God to justifie his sincerity though he dares not stand to justifie himself before God Job had often laid all thoughts of his own righteousnesse in the dust but he alwaies stands up for his own uprightnesse God is my witnesse saith the Apostle Paul Rom 9.1 whom I serve in my spirit in the Gospel of his Sonne I serve God in my spirit and God knows that I do so I dare appeal unto him that it is so God is my witnesse When Christ put that question and drove it home upon Peter thrice Simon Lovest thou me Lord saith he Thou knowest all things Thou knowest that I love thee Joh. 21. As if he had said I will not give testimony of my self thou shalt not have it upon my word but upon thine own knowledge It were easie for me to say Master I love thee with all my heart with all my soul but I refer my self to thy own bosome Thou knowest I love thee So when Hezekiah lay as he thought upon his death-bed he turned himself to the wall desiring God to look upon the integrity of his life Lord remember how I have walked before thee in truth Isa 38.3 I do not go to the world for their good word of me I rest not in what my Subjects or neighbour Princes say of me Lord it is enough for me that what I have been and what I am is laid up safe in the treasury of thy thoughts This brings strong consolation when we take not up the testimony of men nor rest in the good opinion of our brethren but can have God himself to make affidavit or bear witnesse with us and for us That such a man will say I am an honest man that such a man will give his word for me is cold comfort but when the soul can say God will give his word for me The Lord knows that I am not wicked here 's enough to warm our hearts when the love of the world is waxen so cold and their tongues so frozen with uncharitablenesse that they will not speak a good word of us how much good soever they know by us Seventhly Consider the condition wherein Job was when he spake this he was upon the rack and as it were under an inquisition God laid his hand extream hard upon him yet at that time even then he saith Lord thou knowest that I am not wicked Hence observe A man of an upright heart and good conscience will not be brought to think that God hath ill thoughts of him how much evil so ever God brings upon him The actings of God toward us are often full of changes and turnings but the thoughts of God never change A soul may be afflicted till he is weary of himself yet he knows God is not weary of him Whomsoever he hath once made good he cannot but for ever esteem good
shall be the patern of ours as here upon earth the spirits of believers are of the same fashion with Christs the same minde is in the Saints which was in Christ there is but one draft of grace in the main upon the souls of all holy men and that is a copy of Christs his being the originall So in heaven the bodies of all believers shall be of the same fashion with Christs There shall be but one draft of glory in the main for degrees do not vary the kinde upon the body of Christ and the bodies of all his members In reference to this future change of the body the body in its present state is vile Secondly Hence it follows That as we must not undervalue the frame of mans body in generall as imperfect so we may not despise any for their speciall bodily imperfections It is God who hath made and fashioned them round about It is said 2 Sam. 5.8 that the blinde and the lame were hated of Davids soul Yet to hate any for defects in the body is a very great defect in the soul and to contemn any for naturall blemishes is a spirituall blemish How then could David hate the blinde and the lame and not sin or are we to number this among his sins There are two expositions of those words upon either of which we may clear the difficulty First That when David sent to summon that fort the Iebusites who were the defendants trusting in the strength of the place told David in scorn that he must first conquer the blinde and the lame As implying that blinde and lame souldiers were garison good enough to deal with his great Army upon the advantage of such a fortresse Secondly The blinde and the lame may rather be the Idols and strange Gods which the Iebusites worshipped of whose protection they were not the lesse confident because the Jews counted them but blinde and lame As if they had said even these gods which you call blinde and lame see well enough what ye are doing and will come fast enough and too fast for your ease to our aid and succour These blinde and lame gods were justly hated of Davids soul but he had learned better then to hate men who were made lame or blinde by God Thirdly Seeing all men are fashioned round about by the hands of God then as we must not despise any for their bodily imperfections so not envy any for their bodily perfections Some are as much troubled to see another have a better body or a more beautifull face as many are alike sinfully both to see another have a better purse or a more plentifull estate then themselves Fourthly Let not the thing formed say to him that formed it Why hast thou made me thus If thy earthly Tabernacle be not so highly so strongly built if the materials of it be not so pure or not so exactly tempered if thou hast not so good a constitution so elegant a composition if thou art not so adorn'd and polish'd as some others are yet be not discontented the hands of God have made and fashioned thee round about It is a great honour to a vessel that he made it though he have made it in this sense a vessel of dishonour Fiftly If God hath fashioned our bodies then we must not put them out of fashion It is dangerous to deface the work of God to undo that which God hath done to unmake that which God hath made How sad is it that any should pull down a building of Gods own setting up without warrant from God! Self-murder or the murder of another is an high affront to God and should have a severe revenge from man He that sheds his own bloud takes revenge upon himself And who so sheddeth mans bloud by man shall his bloud be shed for in the image of God made he man Gen. 9.6 As what God hath joyned by a civil so by a naturall band Let no man put asunder Lastly If thou art made and fashioned by God then let God have the use of all thou art Let God dwell in the house which he hath set up Let thy body be imploied for God he that made it hath most right to it Every thing in man shews forth the wisdom and goodnesse of God towards man let every thing in man shew forth obedience and submission unto God This was the ground of Davids praier Psal 119.73 Thy hands have made me and fashioned me give me understanding that I may learn thy commandments as if he had said Lord I would use this body this soul this all which thou hast made for thy glory therefore give me understanding that I may learn thy will I would not do the will of another while I dwell in thy house and am thy tenant at will I would not imploy those members which thou hast given me to fulfill the Law of sin or the commands of Satan The Apostle is clear upon this argument in reference to redemption 1 Cor. 6.19 Ye are not your own ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God with your bodies and in your spirits which are Gods Now as in the work of redemption we are of God by grace so in the work of creation we are of God by nature The reason holds in both glorifie God with your bodies which are not your own but Gods It is usuall in letting out of houses to put a clause in the lease that the house shall not be imploied to such and such uses but only to such as are expressed in the indenture Surely the Lord who hath built and furnished these houses hath taught us how to imploy them and what trade to exercise in them even the trade of holines Take heed you do not let out any room or corner of a room in this house for sin to trade in or for the work of iniquity This is to let out a house of Gods making to the devils using Yet thou dost destroy me The word signifies to swallow up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Absorbere est morsicatim destruere Coc. Deglutio significat omnimodā exterminationē resumque omnium profundissimum exitium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to swallow up with greedinesse Psal 52.4 Thou lovest all devouring or swallowing words words which swallow down thy neighbours credit and devour his good name as one morsel The holy Ghost expresseth our finall victory over death by a word which reacheth this sense 1 Cor. 15.54 Death is swallowed up or drunk down in victory death is drunk up at a draught Christ called his sufferings by which he got this victory a cup. The Apostle uses the same word again 2 Cor. 5.4 That mortality might be swallowed up of life When this mortall shall have put on immortality death shall be swallowed up in victory that is there shall be a compleat victory over death and not only so but mortality shall be swallowed up of life In heaven there shall be no death nor any thing like
before man had any sinne in him how much more is it now when most men have nothing at all in them but sin and the best have very much That which is born of the flesh saith Christ Ioh. 3.6 is flesh His meaning is corrupt nature can produce none but corrupt acts It is a truth also that our pure nature because it was constituted as of other parts so of flesh the soul like a sparkling diamond being set in clay was thereby rendered more prone to fleshly or sinfull acts Naturall flesh in its best state is more apt to bring forth spirituall flesh namely sinne then a spirit is Angeli idcirco irremissibilitèr peccaverunt quia tanto robustius stare poterant quanto eos carnis commix tio non tenebat Greg. Moral in loc And that 's a reason among others which some give why God was so irreconcilably angry with the Angels which fell why he did never so much as mention them in a way of mercy or discovered a thought of them for good since their fall I say one reason given is this Because God could not remember that Angels were made as the clay or formed out of the dust They were created spirits pure spirits they had no clogs of flesh and bloud about them no fogs no mists vapouring up from a sensitive part to cloud their intellectuall They had the more power to continue pure because they were free from any earthly and elementary mixtures Their sin was a compound of more evils because their nature was so simple Angels having no tempter without them no flesh about them turned themselves away from God meerly upon the freedom of their own wils As every good action is by so much the better by how much it hath a freer concurrence of our wils so is every evil action so much the worse The sinne we commit is the greater by how much we have had the lesse provocation to commit it The sinne of our first parents in eating the forbidden fruit was aggravated in it self because God gave them such plenty and variety of other fruits to eat but it was lessened in comparison of the Angels sinne because they had more provocations to sinne then the Angels had The bait of the temptation against our first parents was laid in their constitution which being corporall and earthly must needs be delighted with earthly objects The forbidden fruit was pleasant to the eye there the flesh took it And it was pleasant to the taste there the flesh took it again These provocations man had over and besides that of the Angels a hope or a desire to mend his condition and to become like unto God A body of earth hath a sutablenesse to all earthly allurements Every like hath a naturall tendency and motion towards its like This moves the Lord to pity sinfull man though man must not hence plead impunity for sinne The measure and degrees of sin upon such actings are abated but the acts do not therefore put off the nature of sinne A sinner in dust and clay cannot be excused yet is not so much polluted and more to be pitied then a sinning spirit And that 's a third notion in which we may expound Iob beseeching God to remember that he hath made him as the clay I might write many things in this clay out of which man was made but I have met with other passages already of the same subject especially in the fourth Chapter vers 19. in those words Materia ex quae orti sumus nobis ad modestiā magistra esse debet quid enim luto sive argilla vilius Sanct. Whose foundation is in the dust which Text being near of the same importance and interpretation with this in hand I shall rather refer the Reader thither then insist upon the same deductions and inferences a second time Take only this in generall Our reflection upon the matter out of which we are extracted should lesson us to low and modest thoughts of our selvs for what is lower then the earth We say He that lieth upon the earth hath not whence to fall It is as true He that riseth out of the earth hath nothing in himself whence he should be lifted up Remember that thou hast made me as the clay and Wilt thou bring me into the dust again To be brought to the dust is first a circumlocution or description of death Psal 30.9 Shall the dust praise thee shall it declare thy truth That is shall I praise thee when I am among the dead What profit is there in my bloud when I go down to the pit Not that profit sure I cannot bring thee in the tribute of praise when my life 's gone out Secondly To be brought to the dust is a description of any low and poor condition Psal 22.29 All they that be fat upon the earth that is the great and mighty shall eat and worship All they that go down to the dust that is the mean and base shall bow before him As if he had said rich and poor high and low the King and the beggar have alike need of salvation by Jesus Christ and must submit unto him that they may be saved for as it there follows None can keep alive his own soul The captivity of the Jews in Babylon is expressed under those notions of death and of dwelling in the dust Isa 26.19 to shew how low they were brought even so low that no power but his who can raise the dead could work their deliverance Job saw himself brought to the dust of a low condition of poverty and of disgrace and he feared he should be brought to the dust of death and of the grave That 's the meaning of this expostulating querie And wilt thou bring me into the dust again He was not at all brought out of the dust of his affliction and therfore he could not say of that Wilt thou bring me into the dust again The words are read three waies 1. As an Assertion 2. As an Interrogation 3. As an Admiration First Many Interpreters give them as a plain assertion Remember that thou hast made me as the clay and thou wilt bring me into the dust again Secondly Others read them as we with an interrogation Remember that thou hast made me as the clay and wilt thou bring me into the dust again Thirdly Some heighten them into an admiration Thou hast made me as the clay and what wilt thou now bring me into the dust again What a wonder is this Could I have expected such a sudden change as this Quoad naturam vilissimus sum quoad judicium tuum morti addictus ut in pulverem revertar utrumque debet te commovere ut parcas mihi in vita Coc. Particula pro sic sumenda est futurum potentiale est decentiam vel debitum vel jus vel potestatem denotans q. d. sicut me tanquā cementum compegisti eadem potestate cum volueris in terram reduces
the Lord because I have sinned against him Secondly Observe That the more we see of the indignation of God in any affliction the sorer is the affliction As the love and smiles of God comfort the Saints more then all the outward comforts he heaps upon them a little with much sensible love is to us huge mercy So the disfavour and frowns of God trouble the Saints more then all the troubles which he heaps upon them A little with much sensible disfavour is to us a heavy crosse Let trouble increase yet if displeasure abate the spirit of a man will bear and stand under it though his flesh and outward man fall under it Though the furnace should be heated seven times hotter yet if the Lord do but let down one beam or ray of his love into the soul all that burning fire will be but like a warm Sun But when the scorchings of indignation mingle with affliction this is dreadfull The anger of a fool saith Solomon is very heavy yet that is not so much as a feather to a milstone or a mountain compared with the anger of God And though believers are freed from that anger and indignation which he darts upon his enemies yet they to sense yea to their present opinion may be dealt with as enemies And though the indignation which God pours upon his own people and that upon the wicked be as different as their states are yet the one may be under as much temporary pain and sorrow as the other is For as an hypocrite may for a time taste as much of the goodnesse of God and feel as much joy in his service and sometimes more then a man who is godly and sincere so also may one who is godly and sincere taste more of the displeasure of God for a time and feel as much sorrow in his sufferings and sometimes more then a wicked man Job concludes with the same thing in a different habit of words Changes and war are against me I have variety of afflictions a multitude of afflictions and afflictions in their strength these three things are implied in those two words Poenae militant in me Vulg. Changes and warre He had variety of afflictions for changes were upon him He had many and strong afflictions For warre was upon him One strong man cannot make a war nor many weak ones And it is as strange that this should be called a warre which was but against one weak man The Roman stories cry up the honour of a man who alone upon a narrow passe made a stand against a whole army till supplies came what shall we say then of Job who single and alone maintained his standing against many armies and held out a long war 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Excidere quod exciditur immutatur à statu suo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Est tempus quoquis in statione aut militari officio est Citra hos tantos dolores mihi certum tempus est praescriptum intra quod sum moriturus Mer. Changes and warre are upon me The first word which signifies changes signifies also destruction or cutting off Some render it so here excision or cutting off by which he meaneth death is upon me The other word which we translate warre noteth also a set or an appointed time as was shewed at the first verse of the 7th Chapter Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth So some translate it here putting all together thus Excision or death the cause being put for the effect is upon me and a determined time of my life M. Broughton translates Changes and staied army have I. Taking in both interpretations of the word so his sense may be expressed in this tenour Lord have not I a setled and determined time to die Why then are such extream afflictions prepared against and charged upon me as if by those thou wouldest hasten my death and bring me to my grave sooner then thou thy self hast appointed I shall die at the time thou hast determined though thou shouldest not distresse my life and even force out my breath with such pressing extremities Further Taking the later word for a prescribed time some conceive Iob carrying an allusion to those who are surprized with feavers and agues they have changes some well daies Hunc sensum aâ—â—pâ—ctuâ—tur Abâ—â—-Ezra Rab. Sal. and some sick daies yet the fever returns upon a set time or in a constant recourse till the distemper is checked As if he had said My afflictions are like fever fits though I have some intermission yet I finde a regression the fit comes upon me again Changes at set times are upon me But rather according to the letter of our translation Changes and warre are against me that is I am exercised with variety of wars The word imports any kinde of change change of times or change of things it signifies also change of garments Exerceor contrariu interse compugnantibus malis vel potius varijs sibi invicem succedentibus malorum agminibu Merc. Judg. 14.12 That notion of the word hath an elegancy in it in reference to Jobs condition He was a man cloathed with affliction sorrow encompassed him as a long mourning cloak and Iob had changes of this raiment he went not alwaies in one sute though his sutes were still of one colour for he went alwaies in blacks Again We may interpret this change of his change from one estate to another from joy to sorrows from peace to trouble from plenty to want from costly robes to filthy rags Time was when Job went in scarlet and fine linen and if he pleased might have fared deliciously every day but when he spake this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was in another state and habit cloathed with sackcloth and lying in the dust It is said of wicked men Psal 55.9 Because they have no changes therefore they fear not God Every creature is subject to change and hath some changes every day God only is unchangeable Yet some men seem to have no changes though they cannot be free from naturall changes one moment yet they may be free from many years civil changes they maybe so far from such changes as Job felt from good to evil that all the changes they are acquainted with may be only from good to better from strong to stronger from rich to richer that 's the intent of the Psalm They have no changes from joy to sorrow from health to sicknes from riches to poverty from honour to disgrace therefore they fear not God their hearts were hardned because their estates prospered So then these changes import either divers sorts of afflictions or divers returns and charges of the same afflictions The second word carrieth that allusion Agmen quiddaÌ„ malorum ut etiam dicitur lerna vel Ilias malorum Mer. Vexationes turmatim me invadunt Drus Sagittandi militandi verba saepe eleganter in scripturis declarant Dei contra impios
therefore make you friends of it while you have it that when ye fail that is when you die or goe out of the world they may receive you that is ye may be received into everlasting habitations leave not this habitation till ye have got interest in a better The Saints arm themselves against death by this argument We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hand eternall in the heavens 2 Cor. 5.1 We know there is no return to buildings made with hands we must leave our houses for ever our lands for ever and our relations for ever but we are assured of a building of God an house not made with hand eternall in the heavens This supported their hearts when their earthly houses were falling Job having thus described death it self proceeds to describe the grave which is the place of death or the Black-â—all of the King of terrours Would you know what this place is from whence there is no returning It is saith he in the close of this verse even the land of darknesse and the shadow of death And in the last verse Verse 22. A land of darknesse as darknesse it self and of the shadow of death without any order and where the light is as darknesse This is the place where death dwels or the seat of death and here 's a description of it which exceeds the phansie of Poets and the rhetorick of all Heathen Oratours The Spirit of God riseth to the height of eloquence in discovering that unpleasant region This subterranean Geography gives a double character of it 1. A land of darknesse 2. A land of the shadow of death both which are aggravated by their additions It is a land of darknes but not of any ordinary darknes It is a land of darknesse as darknesse it self It is a land of the shadow of death not of an ordinary shadow of death but of the shadow of death 1. Without any order 2. Where the light is as darknesse A land of darknesse That is abounding with darknesse a land where darknesse is the staple and the only commodity to be had Darknesse is the hangings and ornament of the house of death The grave is elswhere called A land of forgetfulnesse Psal 88.12 because there all things are forgotten We read Jer. 12.5 of a land of peace that is a land where peace abounds a land in every corner whereof peace springs and groweth up Canaan Deut. 8.8 was called A good land a land of brooks of water of fountains and depths that spring oâ—t of the valleys and hils A land of wheat and barley and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates A land of oyl olive and of honey That is a land where these good things were naturall and plentifull A land where neighbour Nations might furnish themselves and fraight their ships with those commodities Cum sepulchruÌ„ dicitur terra tenebrarum ibi tanquam in nativo solo obsâ—uritas intelligitur provenire In such a sense Iob cals the grave A land of darknes As if he had said Would you know what the merchandize of the grave is I will tell you it is darknesse there you may have darknes as much as you desire and besides that nothing how much so ever you desire it This shews the terrour of death to a meer naturall understanding Many are afraid to be at all in the dark how much more to be alwaies in darknesse As light is put for joy so darknesse for sorrow Darknesse whether spirituall or naturall is afflictive Dark houses are unpleasant what then is a land of darknes The face of a man is darkned with sorrow and joy is the light of it It hath bin observed that some great Princes have had light beaming out from their eyes Augustus had so sparkling an eye Suetonius in Augusto c 7 9. that few could look upon him his eye cast forth raies like the Sun dazling the beholders Good gracious Princes cast out beams of favour upon their people which refresh them as the light Death the grave have no light in their faces Death looks black and grim hell is extreamest darknesse and the pains of hell are chains of darknes And of the shadow of death There is more then the shadow of death in the grave death it self dwels there The words sound an abatement of the sense Terra cujus palpebrae sunt sicut caligo umbrarum mortis Tâ—rg but indeed they heighten it The shadow of death is thick darknes thickest darknes the very strength of darknes This shadow is the substance of death or death with addition of greatest deadlines Job having given the land this dreadfull name A land of darknesse and of the shadow of death makes it yet more dreadfull by this further explication A land of darknesse as darknesse it self Or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A land of darknesse which looks like darknesse The word signifies wearinesse restlessenesse and vexation of spirit To be in a dark condition is to be in a wearisome condition The Vulgar reads it A land of misery Some darknes hath a degree of light mingled with it but this is pure or unmixed darknesse darknesse in it's proper hue darknesse it self When a man of skill acts skilfully we say he acts like himself and when a wicked man doth very wickedly we say he doth like himself The darknes of the grave looks like nothing but it self Every evil the more like it is to it self the worse it is When the Apostle would shew sin in its colours he calleth it sinfull sin Rom. 7.13 Sin by the commandment became exceeding sinfull the commandment caused it to look like it self Sorrowfull sorrow and painfull pain are the worst of pains and sorrows There is sorrow which may consist with some joy and pain which may cohabit with some ease but he that hath sorrow like sorrow it self and pain like pain it self hath the extremity of both Thus also every good the more like it is to it self the better it is holines like it self is the purest holinesse grace like it self is the sweetest grace When a holy man works like himself his work is best God is ever like himself in all he doth and every thing we do is then best when it is done most like to what God doth And of the shadow of death without any order or The shadow of death and not orders 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Et non ordines The word which we translate order is frequent in the Rabbins the holy Text hath it only in this place and here in the plurall number A land of darknesse and the shadow of death and without any orders a land unordered Ther 's no government no method in the grave And if it hath no order then it hath nothing in it but confusion nothing but disorder That the grave or the state of death is without any order may be understood two waies