For his Land Thirdly For Mercy He causeth it to come saith Elihu whether for Correction for his Land or for Mercy all these purposes and designs God hath in moving and ordering these vast and mighty bodies of the Clouds which hang like Mountains in the air Thus you have the parts of these words with their scope and tendency More distinctly Vers 12. And it is turned about by his counsel First Vapours are raised and condensed into Clouds by the counsel of God he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth Psal 135.7 Which vapours as was shewed before are the material cause or matter of the Clouds Secondly As by the counsel of God the vapours are raised of which Clouds are made so this Text tells us that by his counsel the Clouds are moved and order'd in their motion which motion of the Clouds is very various somtimes one way somtimes another somtimes forward somtimes backward or retrograde somtimes their motion is circular as the word here used by Elihu seemeth to imply It is turned or whirled about ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã according to that of Solomon Eccl 1.6 The wind goeth toward the South and turneth about unto the North it whirleth about continually and the wind returneth again according to his Circuit We have here three words expressing the motion of the wind First it goeth Secondly whirleth about Thirdly returneth again and all this according to its circuits It is said of Samuel 1 Sam. 7.16 He went from year to year in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpet and judged Israel in all these places Thus the winds according to the Commission they receive from God ride every year in circuit now they are in one quarter and anon in another and wheresoever they come they may be said to do judgment in a way of favour to some and in a way of displeasure unto others The wind hath his Circuits and as the Circuit of the wind is such is the Circuit of the Clouds the motion of the Clouds is from the wind some say from the Starrs but most generally as to the natural cause it is from the wind which way the wind moves that way the Clouds move And though the motion of the Clouds and Winds seems exceeding unsteady and changeable up and down without any certain rule in Nature yet they observe their Circuits and run their compasse as God appoynts them Mr Broughton renders And for varieties he turneth himself in his wise Counsels for their operation for whatsoever he Commandeth them It is turâed about say we By his Couâsel It should seem that God even calls a Councel which way the Clouds shall be directed they go by his Councel The word in the Hebrew is a very significant one that I mean which we render his Counsel others his skill his art or cunning and there are not a few who render it they are turned about by his Engines as if God did use as it were artificial Engines to turn about those mighty bodies of the Clouds ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Propriè rei nauticae peritia qâae intractandis funibus potissimum c nsistit unde nominis appellatio Drus Convertuntur artifiâio ipsus Tââ Ipsa quoque incircuitibus volvitur maclinis ejus Merc Vertitur solertiis ejus Drus Properly the word signifieth the Ropes and Tackling of a Ship in ordering which Ropes and Tackling the whole management of the Ship doth consist The Mariner shews his skill and art in steering his Ship a right course which he doth not only by guiding the Rudder but by ordering the Ropes and Tackling this way and that way to compasse or avoyd the wind And the Hebrew word Tachbuloth here used hath a very great neaâness in sound to the Tackling of a Ship This is a most elegant Metaphor shewing how the Lord doth as it were steer the course of the Clouds or guide the Clouds as the Sea-man doth his Ship his Counsels may be compared to the Tackling and the Ropes or rather to the Helme by which the Ship is guided God is as the great Pilot sitting at the Stern and he turns these Clouds as his Ship he turns them about as a Ship tacks this way and that way to reach her Port and there unlade The Rain Snow Haile are the Lading which these swift Ships the Clouds carry from place to place to serve the providences of God towards man This divine conduct of the Clouds is very admirable the Lord knowing what parts of the Earth need those Commodities Rain Snow c. which those aerial Vessels are laden with for the enriching of the world We render it by his Counsel that is by those means which he in his Wisdome and Counsel useth to turn the Clouds about they are turned we translate the word Pro. 1.5 Wise Counsels and Pro. 20.18 Good advice there Solomon saith With good advice make warre And indeed good advice is the best tackling for Ships in a warre at Sea and the best ammunition for a warre at Land Councel is a noble a notable Engine The greatest things on Earth are turned about by it and so are those great things in the air the Clouds They are turned about by his Counsel That they may do whatsoever he Commandeth them Here 's the general design and purpose of God in turning about the Clouds whithersoever he please it is that they may do whatsoever he Commandeth them where we have the Clouds set forth First In their obedience They do the Commands of God Secondly In the universality of their obedience They do whatsoever he Commandeth Elihu compares the Clouds and Meteors to good servants who are ready to do what God their Master requireth of them and not only so but they do his Commands every where or wheresoever he requires them they do all his Commands and that in all places as the Text speaks in the next words Vpon the face of the world in the Earth That is wheresoever there is Earth or a World ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã orbis pars terra habitabilu Graecè ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã habitable or unhabitable thither or so far doth God send the Clouds in his service or for the executing of his will Further when he saith Vpon the face of the World his meaning is upon the outside or uppermost part of the World and because the Heavens even the uppermost Heavens are a part of the world with which the Clouds have nothing to do their business lying here below therefore I conceive Elihu determines it expresly in the Earth The Clouds are not raised or made for the use and service of the world above but of the world below They do whatsoever he Commandeth them upon the face of the World in the Earth Hence observe First The motion of the Clouds is not of themselves nor meerly from any natural cause or power but of God He as it were by certain Engines and weights turnes them about they move not
serves their turn and answers their state by a common instinct of nature which man hath answerable to his state either by immediate Revelation or by means of instruction from God So then Beasts and Birds receive their peculiar qualities and abilities from God as well as their Being And God hath bestowed those qualities which are shadows of wisdome and understanding upon Beasts and Birds not only for their own preservation but for the benefit of man that they may be more useful to him and fitter for his service As God hath made both Man and Beast for himself so he hath made the Beasts of the Earth and Fowls of the Air for Man either to serve mans necessity or to procure his honest delight And that they might reach both these ends he hath furnished them accordingly A creature which hath not somwhat in it like Reason could be little made use of by the Reason of Man Thirdly Note Man is far better taught than either the Beasts of the Earth or Fowls of the Air. Man as Man hath that in him which wonderfully exceeds the Beasts of the Earth and Fowls of the Air he hath Reason in him which they have not he is a reasonable creature which they are not and so can do that which they cannot Man by the power of Reason is able first to propose to himself an end in what he doth secondly to chuse fit means for the attaining of that end neither of which Beasts can do And if any man be without wisdome to propose to himself a right end and to chuse due means loâding thereunto there 's little difference between that man and a beast surely all his wisdome is but brutish Further God hath not only given Man a sense of those things which are hurtful to him as he hath to the Beasts of the Earth and Fowls of the Air but God hath given Man an Understanding by which he knowing God may worship him by which also he may see into and foresee the causes of things and likewise rightly apply known means either to prevent or remedy evils and to bring about that which is good Again as God hath bestowed that wonderful blessing of Reason upon Man above Beasts and Fowls which makes him capable of higher instructions and fruitions than either of them so God hath provided higher and better means for the instruction of Man than he hath for the instruction of Beasts He teacheth us more For First He hath given his Word to Man not to Beasts he hath not made a Bible for the Beast of the Earth and the Fowls of the Air but for Man he hath that he might both know his will and do it know his favour or good will to him and enjoy it Secondly He hath given some men his Spirit he hath not bestowed his Spirit upon any Beasts nor upon any Fowls of the Air and because his Spirit teacheth us we are said to be taught of God eminently taught of God Thirdly he hath given us his Ordinances and appointed Officers or set persons in Office to mannage and hold out those Ordinances wherein himself is both honoured and enjoyed He saith the Apostle Eph. 4.11 12. gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ for the bringing in and building up of souls He sheweth his Word unto Jacob his Statutes and Judgments unto Israel Psal 147.19 and as it follows in the next verse of the same Psalm He hath not dealt so with any Nation as with his Israel his Church to be sure he hath not dealt so with the Beasts of the Earth nor with the Fowls of the Air as was shewed also in opening the Text. Further as to the matter in question about the Providences and dealings of God with man God hath taught Man much more than Beasts As First That all things which befall us come from and are ordered by himself Secondly That we ought to receive the Rule and take instruction from God how to behave our selves under his various dealings Thirdly He hath taught us at all times and in all turns of Providence to stay our selves in waiting upon him Psal 37.7 Fourthly He hath taught us in times of trouble and affliction to cry to him and call upon him as his children in faith not barely to complain much less to be impatiently outragious like Beastâ Now if God hath taught us more than the Beasts then we should not live by sense nor pursue sensible things as Beasts do but aspire to and seek after union and communion with God whom the beasts of the earth know not How greatly will this aggravate the sin of man if having been taught more than beasts any man should be found to have learned less than beasts as will appear yet more in the next observation but one Fourthly Elihu at least intimates this Note Men sometimes act but as or indeed below the very beasts of the earth and the fowls of the air For saith he they say not Where is God our maker who gives us songs in the night who teacheth us better or more than the beasts of the earth As if he had said In extremam stultitiae meam incidimus si sapientiores nos eo putemuâ qui sapientes nos facit The beasts of the earth answer the instinct of nature which is all the cost God bestows in teaching them better than men do those costly teachings and instructions which God bestows upon them by his Word by his Spirit by his Ministers by his Ordinances and by his Providences for all these wayes doth the Lord teach and instruct men from day to day yet men often act not only beside and below but quite contrary to all these teachings The beasts of the earth keep up to the instruction which they have received the instinct of nature they move according to that but man who hath an understanding doth not alwayes move suitably to his understanding man hath reason yet he doth not alwayes regulate his motions by reason but is hurried by passion or led by sense as a beast Psal 49.20 Man that is in honour and understandeth not is like the beasts that perish that is though his state and spheare be higher than a beast yet he moves by as low a principle as a beast even by sense or sensual appetite either irrascible or concupiscible as a beast doth By the man in honour that understandeth not the Psalmist intends not a fool that hath no understanding nor an Idiot that hath no use of reason but he is said not to understand because he doth not use his understanding as he in the Parable that did not use his Talent is said to have none Mat. 25.29 Understanding is a Talent and a great one a choyce one too A man that hath the greatest natural understanding and reason yea possibly the greatest learning and experience
God he will not bow his ear to us We only fill the air with words we are but sounding brass and tinkling Cimbals in all we say to God unless we do what God saith Elihu supposing Jâbs spirit yet unsubdued or not wrought and brought into a right frame under his affliction might well say he openeth his mouth in vaine and as it followeth to the same effect in the close of this verse and Chapter He multiplieth words without knowledge Here is another hard censure upon this good this holy and wise man Job Some Expositers fall heavy upon Elihu as charging Job too far he spake say they many things that were right but not rightly he spake many things that were true but he did not speak truly in fixing them upon Job he spake all uprightly but somewhat too rigorously And indeed if he had charged him so far as to say he had no knowledge at all and had not opened his mouth at all to purpose he had charged him beyond both truth and modesty But Elihu who was set up by God for this very end to humble Job had ground to tell him that as to some things he had both opened his mouth in vaine and multiplied words without knowledge that is he had spoken many words which seemed not to proceed from any sound or well-grounded knowledge and I may give a four-fold ground of it First Because he had not sufficiently attended and magnified the Soveraignty of God in laying those afflictions upon him Secondly Because he had not as he ought sate down quietly under the hand of God but often called to know the cause and that God would plainly tell him the reason or give him an account why he suffered Whereas he should have remembred that as many of the judgements of God are unsearchable and his wayes past finding out by man so he hath reserved some of them as secrets in his own breast and will no more give any man an account of them than any man ought to desire an account of them Thirdly Because he had not more considered his sin or had not been so much in considering the greatness of his sin as he had been in setting forth the greatness of his integrity For though it were true which Job spake that his way was upright and though God had given testimony to his uprightness and integrity in all his wayes yet he should not have insisted so much upon that poynt which had so much affinity with self-boasting though he intended it only for self clearing or for the righting of himself It had been more becoming him to have been aggravating his sin than setting forth his righteousness this was the poynt that Elihu struck at that he had justified himself too much and judged himself too little Yea Job was convinced of this at last Once have I spoken but I will speak no more that is of my own integrity or righteousness Fourthly He may be said to have multiplied words without knowledge because he had spoken so much in the aggravation of his afflictions 'T is true his afflictions were very great yet Elihu censures him deservedly because he took too much notice of them complaining often and often how heavy the hand of God was upon him yea that God was an enemy to him whereas he should rather have lookt upon the visitation of God as light and easie Inscritam objicit quod pugnantia saliem non satis inter se cohaerentia conjunaeit Merl or at least as but little comparatively to what the Lord was able to lay upon him or what his sin might justifie God in laying upon him Elihu having observed Job often and long striking upon that string hightning his sufferings and troubles had reason enough not only to call him off from it but to check him for it And therefore let us remember and be admonished that in all our afflictions we should not so much set forth the greatness of our suffering as the greatness of the mercy of God we should look upon little mercies as great it shews an excellent spirit when we heighten and greaten the mercy and goodness of God even in little things but we should speak of and look upon our greatest chastenings and afflictions as light and little Job fayled somewhat in all these things and in some of them his faylings were great and upon some of if not upon all these grounds I judge Elihu gave this judgement upon Job He openeth his mouth in vaine and multiplieth words without knowledge Job also yeilded himself thus faulty at last Chap. 42.3 Who is he there he speaks of himself in a third person Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge therefore have I uttered that I understood not things too wonderfull for me which I knew not I shall close my thoughts upon this Chapter with minding the Reader First of Elihu his candedness âowards Job beyond what he found from his other friends for Elihu chargeth Job here only with vanity and inadvertency not with any premeditated wickedness or blasphemy as Eliphaz had done Chap. 22.13 14. Secondly let me mind the Reader of that liberty and plainness of speech which Elihu used towards Job in telling him of and censuring him for his faylings as also of that patience meekness and equanimity with which Job heard received and bare his sharpest censures not replying one word in passion nor so much as pleading the least excuse for his former passionateness but taking all in good part and doubtless improving all for his spirituall profit JOB Chap. 36. Vers 1 2 3 4. 1. Elihu also proceeded and said 2. Suffer me a little and I will shew thee that I have yet to speak on Gods behalf 3. I will fetch my knowledge from afar and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker 4. For truly my words shall not be false he that is perfect in knowledge is with thee ELihu hath already made three addresses or speeches to Job and here he begins a fourth this and the next Chapter are wholly spent in it and are the issue of his whole discourse with this sorrowful man In which we may consider three parts First The Preface or rather the Prefaces of his speech Secondly The Body or Substance of his Speech Thirdly The Conclusion of it The Preface or Prefaces the Introductions of this Discourse of Elihu with Job are contained in the foure verses of this Text under hand The Body of his Discourse is begun at the fifth verse inclusively and continued to the 23d verse of the next Chapter exclusively The Conclusion of all is laid down in the two last verses of the 37 Chapter In this copious Discourse or long Oration Elihu brings not any new assertion or saying of Job to be proved against him nor doth he reprove Job for any new fault but insists upon the proof of what himself had asserted before to shew that God is righteous or to maintain the righteousness of God which he doth variously by
perpetuity of establishment not only a lasting but an everlasting establishment he can give an eternity of establishment Here is compleat happiness What can we desire more than First to be in a great and good estate Secondly to be established there Thirdly to be established for ever They that are set high are set in slippery places unless the Lord be with them how much more if the Lord be against them Psal 73.18 But the Lord can set us as high as the highest Rock and yet make us as firme as the firmest Rock He doth establish them for ever And they are exalted Some read thus He establisheth them for ever when they are exalted which makes a very clear sense when they are got high the Lord doth establish them fully and finally We render it as a distinct act of God They are established for ever and they are exalted probably intending thus much that the Lord when he will do a thing can do it notwithstanding all opposition that either is or can be made against it he sets them with Kings on the Throne and doth establish them for ever yea they rise in power and dignity more and more They are exalted Hence Note What God will do shall be done If he saith to a person be exalted he shall be exalted if he saith to Jerusalem thou shalt be built and to the Temple thy foundation shall be laid Isa 44.28 it is done if he saith pull down Babylon down it must come even to the very foundation Ephraim said Jer. 30.18 Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised I found the effects of thy chastisement it came home to me What Goââill work no man can lett or put a stop to Further From the other reading Note Whom God sets up no man can pull down till himself pleaseth He doth establish them for ever when they are exalted God is able to maintain his own acts whether in casting any down or exalting them When God laid the mountains and heritage of Esau wast for the Dragons of the Wilderness Mal. 1.3 Edom said at the next verse well I see we are impoverished but we will return and build the desolate places As if Edom had said Though the Lord hath brought us thus low yet we doubt not to recover our former glory But what saith the Lord hear what in the next line Thus saith the Lord of Hosts They shall build or let them build but I will throw down Now I say as when the Lord pulls down none can build without his leave so whom the Lord exalteth none can pull down He establisheth them for ever when they are exalted Thus Elihu sets forth the exceeding kindness of God to and his care over the righteous not only his provident care as to their present condition but as to the abiding of their exaltation and the establishment of it for ever JOB Chap. 36. Vers 8 9 10. 8. And if they be bound in fetters and be holden in cords of affliction 9. Then he sheweth them their work and their transgressions that they have exceeded 10. He openeth also their ear to discipline and commandeth that they return from iniquity THese three verses hold forth three things in particular all which concern the righteous of whom Elihu said in the former verse not only that God doth not withdraw his eyes from them but establisheth them on high or advanceth them highly in this world First That possibly they may be cast into sore afflâctions even after their exaltation the newly promised lastingnes of it v. 8. Secondly That the procuring cause of these afflictions is their own sin for we find mention of their transgression in the 9th verse and of their iniquity in the tenth Thirdly That the purpose and designe of God towards them when they have brought themselves into streights are cast into an afflicted condition is very gracious and tends to their everlasting good And this designe is three-fold First To discover their sin to them that 's laid down at the 9th verse Then he sheweth them their work and their transgressions Secondly To prepare them for a better receiving of faithful counsel and instruction at the 10th verse He openeth also their ear to discipline Thirdly To bring them quite off from their sin that 's expressed in the close of the 10th verse and commandeth that they return from iniquity These are the parts this the purpose of the Context under hand Vers 8. And if they be bound in fetters There is some question who are to be understood as the Antecedent to this they if they who are they Some because the words following speak of transgression and iniquity conceive that surely it must be meant of wicked men or of the ungodly but El hu comes not upon that subject til the 13th verse there he turns his speech to such but the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath c. Therefore here he doth not speak of or to wicked but righteous men falling into trouble and affliction they that is the righteous c. Again Taking righteous men to be the Antecedent as the text plainly carries it yet there is a difference in opinion whether we are to understand Elihu speaking of righteous men in that special dignity described at the 7th verse such as are with Kings on the Throne or of righteous men in general I conceive we may understand the text of either And therefore First When Elihu saith If they be bound in fetters he may intend those righteous men who were so highly exalted in the former verse such a change may come upon them even they who were with Kings on the Throne may come to be bound in fetters and holden in the cords of affliction Secondly He may intend it of righteous men in any other condition for Elihu having shewed how graciously God dealeth in exalting some righteous men sheweth that God is gracious also unto those that are not exalted even unto those that are greatly afflicted and brought very low Briefly as in the former verse he spake of righteous men lifted up so here of righteous men cast down As if he had said If any of the righteous are at any time so far from being exalted with Kings on the Throne that they are cast upon the dunghill and are brought into great streights yet it is not because God takes no care of them or because he hath cast them out of his favour but it is thus with righteous men for many blessed ends and purposes which God hath upon them or towards them to shew them their sin to fit them for instruction and to bring them off from their iniquity Thus the words prevent an objection for Elihu having said he withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous but with Kings are they on the Throne some might say You can shew us very few such sights you can shew us few righteous men with Kings on the Throne or exalted highly in this world and we can shew you many righteous
thing that moves upon it and grows out of it to rejoyce Fifthly sometimes drowns the earth and destroys the Inhabitants of it As I say the natural rain doth all these things so also doth the spiritual rain the word of God That First mollifieth Secondly cleanseth Thirdly fructifieth Fourthly comforteth the hearts of all those that receive it and Fifthly The rain of the word drowns and destroys all those that rise up against it or will not receive it JOB Chap. 36. Vers 29 30 31. 29. Also can any understand the spreadings of the Clouds or the noise of his Tabernacle 30. Behold he spreadeth his light upon it and covereth the bottom of the sea 31. For by them he judgeth the people he giveth meat in abundance ELihu having spoken of the wonderfull work of God in forming and sending rain in the two former verses speaks next of the Clouds which are as vessels containing the rain and in which the rain is carried and conveighed up and down the world for the use of man or for those services to which God hath appoynted it He begins with a denying Question Vers 29. Also can any understand the spreading of the Clouds As if he had said To what I said before I adde this Here is another secret in nature Can any understand the spreading of the Clouds He doth not say can vulgar ignorant and unlearned persons understand but can any Can the wisest can the most learned Can the best studied Philosophers understand the spreading of the Clouds Can they understand That is they cannot understand But have not men especially learned men understanding enough to ascend the clouds and discover the nature of them Surely their understandings are very mean or very much clouded who understand not what the spreading of the clouds meaneth I answer though Elihu's question hath a negation in it yet not a total negation ãâã doth not exclude the understanding of men wholly out of ãâã clâuds he only denieth man a full understanding of all thinâ ãâ¦ã âch concern either the nature or motion of the clouds Whâ ãâã understand much about the spreading of the clouds but they cannot understand all The best of godly men undeâstand not much or see but a little way into spiritual things And the wisest of worldly men do not cannot see all in natural things Can any understand The spreading of the Clouds ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Expansiones vel differentias nubium cum aliae steriles sint aliae pluviam aliae grandinem mitâant Sed reclius expansiones vertitur Merc Here are First the Clouds Secondly the spreading of them The word which we translate spreading hath a two-fold signification First with the alteration only of a poynt upon one letter it signifieth The difference of things in any kinde And then the Text is read Can any understand the difference of the Clouds that is the variety that is among the clouds The clouds are not all of a likeness nor all of a bigness there are clouds of many sorts and sizes there are clouds which breed snow and clouds which breed haile clouds which breed raine and clouds which breed thunder and lightning Some clouds are empty called clouds without raine or water Pro. 25.14 Jude v. 12. and other clouds are full of water There is a difference also of clouds as to our sight and view some are black some white some red some are greenish others palish clouds from which various colours and appearances Prognosticks are made of the change of weather as Christ told the Pharisees Mat. 16.2 3. Naturalists observe very many differences in the clouds nor is it without wonder that the clouds which are made all of one matter vapours drawn from below should produce such and so many different effects that according to this reading we have reason to put the question Who can understand the differences of the Clouds We read it and that well and full to the Hebrew Text Who can ânderstand the spreading of the Clouds or their expansion The most cunning and knowing men in the mysteries of nature caânot either tell how far the clouds will spread or to what poynt and part of the world they will convey their water and as I may say unburden themselves Thus the words refer back to the two former verses The Clouds are spread as a Curtain or as a piece of Tapestry or as a mighty Canopy Who can understand the spreading of them The spreading of them First as they carry raine or Secondly the spreading of them as some expound the place as they convey the Lightening which the Scripture saith Math. 24.27 Passeth from one end of heaven to the other from the East to the West who knoweth how far the Lightning will spread in the Clouds Thus some connect it with the following verse Who can understand the spreading Of the Clouds There is a special derivation of the word rendred Clouds ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã nubes a densitate est crassamentum aââis ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã vel a ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã stillare vel a ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã cadere from the Hebrew Greek and Latine all pretending to the nature of the Clouds The Hebrew word properly noteth the thickness or grossness of the Clouds the Greek word noteth the dropping nature of the Clouds being derived from a roote which signifieâh to drop or which is near the fame to descend the roote word signifying to fall the Latine word is taken from covering because the Clouds mask or cover the face of Heaven and often hide and screine the shining of the Sun from us Now because Elihu is upon a work of nature and insists upon it all along in the next Chapter I shall therefore to clear the matter propose and answer three Questions concerning the Clouds First What is a Cloud or what is the nature of the Clouds A cloud is a moist vapour drawn up from the earth or water by the heat of the Sun into the middle region of the Aire as Naturalists divide the Aire where being by the coldness of the place congealed and as it were knit together it hangeth and continueth there till it be broken up at the dispose of God and sent down for the comfort or correction of man in raine snow haile c. The clouds of heaven derive their pedigree from the moisture found on earth and to the earth they return their moisture Secondly Seeing the Clouds are such mighty bodies and contain as I may say whole seas of water in them and water being a heavy body naturally descends or tends downward as all heavy things do it may be questioned and indeed it is a wonder how those Clouds are kâpt aloft in the Aire how comes it to pass that such heavy bodies such floods of water do not presently fall violently and at once shed themselves down upon and overwhelme the earth To that I answer First Some say the Clouds are kept up by that natural inbred heat
mouth For the close of this matter I shall only adde That though we ought to be affected with the voice of God in his Word as with his voice in Thunder yet let us not stay in that which notes chiefly if not only that dread of God which the word leaves upon our spirits but let us look after and labour for that effect of the Word which like the beames and light of the Sun may warme our hearts with joy and leave strongest impressions of the kindness and favour of God upon them Mr. Forbes opening that Scripture Rev. 14.2 where St. John saith He heard a voice from heaven and that of three sorts First He heard a voice as the voice of many Waters Secondly As the voice of a great Thunder Thirdly He heard the voice of harpers harping wâth their harpss Upon consideration of this threefold voice which St. John heard the fore-named worthy Author takes up a meditation to this puâpose The word of God saith he hath three degrees of operation in the hearts of men First It comes into mens eares as the sound of many waters which is a kind of confused noise and commonly bringeth neither terror nor joy but a wondering acknowledgment of a strange force and more than humane power as we read of those Mark. 1. who having heard the word of Christ were astonished at his doctrine v. 22. and were all amazed v. 27. insomuch that they questioned among themselves what thing is this what new doctrine is this But knew not what to make of it The second degree is that the Word of God cometh to the ear of man like Thunder which causeth not only wonder but greater astonishment and amazement Both these may be in a wicked prophane person and are often found upon common professors But âhere is a third degree or effect of the Words operation which strictly taken is proper and peculiar to the Elect and that is when the Word heard is as the voice of harpers harping with their harpes that is when the Word doth not only affect us with admiration or strike the heart with astonishment and terrour like the sound of many waters and the voice of Thunder but also filleth it with sweet peace and joy in the Holy Ghost when the Word is like melodious musick to the soul ravishing us with divine delights and raising us up to a heavenly life while we are here sojourning on this earth JOB Chap. 37. Vers 3 4 5. 3. He directeth it under the whole heaven and his Lightning unto the ends of the earth 4. After it a voice roareth he thundereth with the voice of his excellency and he will not stay them when his voice is heard 5. God thundereth marvelously with his voice great things doth he which we cannot comprehend ELihu having shewed in the two former verses how much himself was affected with what God then did or with what himself was about to say concerning the doings of God having also called upon others for due attention and laboured to make the same impression upon their spirits that he found upon his own he proceeds to speak to the special matter First To the workes of God in those terrible fiery Meteors Thunder and Lightning which he doth in the three verses now under discussion and then goeth on to speak of other wonderful works of the wonder-working God in the following part of this Chapter as was before shewed in laying open the whole Vers 3. He directeth it under the whole heaven This verse holds forth the divine guidance of those things which seem most remote from any guidance He directeth it under the whole heaven Here we may consider First In whose hand this guiding power is He that is God directeth it Secondly how far he guideth or the extent of his guiding power 't is not limited but universal far and near even under the heaven and to the ends of the earth There is some variety as of reading so of interpretation about this verse arising from the various significations of that word which we render directeth there is a threefold sence given of it Aliqui a Rabinicâ ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quod est resolvere humectare exprimere Hinc September ab illis ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Tishâi dictus qââsi expressoâââ quod eo âââse fiat Vindeââa Merc. First As taken from a root which signifieth to press or sqeeze and so 't is applyed to the pressing of grapes which causeth the juice or liqour of them to flow out And upon that consideration the seventh month of the year our September hath its name among the Jews from this word because then the Vintage being ready the ripe Grapes are gathered and prest into Wine From this notion of the word some render the text thus he presseth or dissolveth it under the whole heaven that is God presseth the Cloud as a bunch of Grapes is pressed these Intepreters make that the antecedânt to it he presseth it that is the Cloud and so causeth it to rain 'T is God who presseth and as I may say squeezeth the Clouds by his power and then showers fall down and distil upon the ea th uâder the whole Heaven That 's a tâuâh and some-where else spoken of in this book wheâe we read of Gods melting or pressing the Clouds as we do a bunch of Grapes or a spung so causing them to give forth rain Alii a ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã intueri respicere considerare quasi Deus omnia sub coelo consideret Sed nec Grammatica convenit tum euim ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã dicendum fuerat nec sensus admodum propter afflââum Merc. Subier omnes coelos ipse confiderat Vulg. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a radice ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quod est dirigi re rectificare Secondly Others derive the word from a root that signifieth to behold attentively to behold and consider Thus the latine translator renders it he considereth under the whole heaven that is according to this interpretation there is a Providence of God a wise and an unerring Providence of God at work in all places he considers and takes notice of all things under heaven the least motion of the Creature falls under his inspection He beholdeth or considereth under the whole heavens that 's a truth also yet I conceive with others the Grammar of the Text will not well comply with this reading Therefore Thirdly I conclude our own translation most suitable both to the Original text and to the scope of this whole Chapter Now according to our rendring the word comes from a root which signifieth to set a thing right or strait and from that a person who is right a man of a right spirit who squares and orders his actions by a right rule and to a right end is expressed Chap. 1.1 where Jobs character is given by this word A man perfect and right we say upright that is a man that hath right aimes and walkes by
the moral Law commands or forbids the light of Nature leads us to do and to forbear There is a generation of people grown up and spreading amongst us who cry up the light within them with neglect of if not in opposâtion to the Word written and preached to them These make a very ill use of this notion For whosoever bids us look to the light within us to draw us off from the Word or light without us erre greatly and may quickly draw us into the greatest errors both in Faith and Practise 'T is dangerous to go or act against the light within us yet if we go or act alwayes by that light alone we shall be in daâkness before we are aware Natural light without Scripture-light proves a false light and may quickly lead us out of the way and besides our duty Therefore the Prophet when any should say Seek unto them that have familiar Spirits c. doth not say look to the light within you for resolution whether ye should hearken to such or no but to the Law and to the Tesâââony if they speak not according to this wârd it is because there is no light in them Isa 8.20 If that which is called light within us speak not according to the light of the Law and Testimony without us there is no true light or as the Margin hath it no morning in us the Day-starre hath not risen in such hearts nor do they speak like children of the light Take heed of striking and so splitting against that Rock yet certainly there is a light within us that must not be resisted The Apostle reports that as the sin of the old Gentiles Rom. 1.28 They did not like to retain God in their knowledge they had a light of God by nature God was in their knowledge but they liked not to think of God but rather thought of the world and of any vanity than of God rather of the creature than of the Creator for this cause God gave them up to a reprobate mind ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to do those things which are not convenient They who obey not who answer not the light of Nature in doing good shall be left to the doing of those evills which are against the light of Nature Such were those things which the Apostle calls by a modest word not convenient or not fitting that duty and decorum which man as man should carefully and religiously observe By which negative expression Not convenient he positively intends the vilest evils and debaucheries of Nature not to be named And if God were so wroth with the Gentiles for not answering the common Light of Nature no marvel if he spake so dreadfully against those that refuse and oppose the Light of the most glorious Gospel John 3.19 This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darknesse rather than light because their deeds were evil Not to answer the Light of Conscience within us rightly informed much more not to obey the Light of the Gospel without us leaves us under condemnation The Light within man will shew him very much what he ought to do and judge him for not doing it Thinkest thou this to be right Doth the Principle planted in thee comply with this Position But what was it that Elihu puts the Question about You have it in the close of the verse That thou saidst My righteousnesse is more than Gods Or according to the strictnesse of the Hebrew My righteousness is before Gods The Preposition here used is often taken comparatively and hath the same signification with that Math. 11.19 where Christ saith as we translate Wisdome is justified of her Children that is Christ or the Doctrine of the Gospel the Divine Light that shines there is justified that is approved and declared just by all who are her Children indeed born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God This is a good and profitable sence Though strangers do not will not justifie Wisdome yet her Children do and will Neverthelesse that comparative translation and reading which some contend for carrieth in it a clear truth also and serves to illustrate this Text in Job now under-hand Wisdome is justified more than her children or rather than her children or before her children That is more rather and before the Scribes and Pharisees who pretended highly that they were the children yea the chief if not the only children of Wisdome and while they made this boast they really resisted and opposed Jesus Christ who is wisdome and in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdome And therefore how much soever the Scribes and Pharisees flattered themselves in their own opinion or were applauded and preferred by others as children of wisdome or as very wise men yet Jesus Christ the true Wisdome was justified by God and all good men more than they or before yea infinitely before them he was justified fully but they not at all Such a negative sence Christ intends in that comparative determination between the Publican and the Pharisee Luke 18.14 I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other That is the Publican went home justified rather or righteous rather or more righteous than the Pharisee the proud Pharisee not being at all justified nor righteous but in his own eyes Some Comparatives imply a perfect Negative to the opposite party others only a partial Such a comparative sence Elihu intimates in Jobs asseâtion of his righteousness Thou saidst my righteousnesse is more than Gods Or I am to be justified rather than God But some may say where spake Job this where 's the Châpter and Verse did Job or could Jâb overshoot himself to such a height of blasphemy I answer First Some indeed charge Elihu deeply as if he had feigned all these things against Job or formed them up in his own Imagination rather than grounded them upon any of his assertions but we need not thus wound Elihu to get a salve for Jobs sore Therefore Secondly I answer that although Job had not spoken this in so many words or syllabically yet he had spoken that from which Elihu might gather such a sence or of which he might make such an interpretation And therefore he seems to say at the thiâd verse If thou thinkest this a falsehood or too hard a charge and shouldst deny that thou hast said My righteousness is more than Gods I 'le tell thee what thou hast said which hath given me ground I think just and sufficient ground for this accusation Thou hast said What advantage will it be unto me and what profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin And is not this to make thy righteousnesse more than Gods But what righteousnesse is here meant I answer There is a twofold righteousnesse First There is the righteousnesse of our persons which is either imputed in justification or imparted in sanctification as hath
to be cleansed from his sin would be nâââvantage no profit as to his eternal estate that had been impious and an Atheistical Speech crossing the whole current of Scripture and overthrowing the very foundation of godlinesse Take away eternal reward and punishment and where 's Religion where 's either the love or fear of God His meaning then is that Job had said it would be no profit no boot to him for the present or as to his then condition if he were cleansed from his sin This Elihu might gather from those two places Chap. 9.22 23. This is one thing therefore I said it He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked If the scourge slay suddenly he will laugh at the tryal of the innocent As if Elihu had said Thou canst not avoid this proof of my first Charge for he that saith God destroyeth the perfect and the wicked that is the perfect as well as the wicked saith also in effect What profit is it that I am cleansed from my sin But thou hast said the former therefore the latter also Again thou hast said Chap. 10.15 If I be wicked wo unto me and if I be righteous yet will I not lift up my head I am full of confusion therefore see thou mine affiiction weigh thy words Thou hast said Wo to me if I be wicked and if I be righteous it will not be much better with me I will not I dare not lift up my head my confusion is so great How great soever my innocency is I have little comfort or 't is much-what alike with me whether I be righteous or wicked In these places and by these speeches Job seems to put little or no difference between the dealings of God with the wicked and the righteous Once more Those words Chap. 9.28 29 30. are of a like import I am afraid of all my sorrows I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent If I be wicked why then labour I in vaine if I wash my self with snow water and make my hands never so clean yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch and mine own cloaths shall abhorre me Saying this thou hast said how innocent soever I am I shall not be dealt with as an innocent if I make my self never so clean God will throw me into the ditch that is into affliction From these speeches Elihu might charge Job with saying What profit is it as to my temporal good that I am cleansed from spiritual evil my sin As for his eternal estate that 's not the matter controverted in this book The summe of all amounts to this If I am cleansed from my sin I may be as great a sufferer and as hardly dealt with in this world as if I were altogether unclean And hence it might be inferred Surely Job was more righteous than God because while he laboured to please God as becometh his people and good servants to do God was pleased instead of rewarding him as he had done many and promised all who do so to afflict him as he useth to do and hath threatned to do to the worst of evil men the wicked Thus thou haât said What advantage c. The word here rendred advantage signifieth gain any way ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã profuit contulit utiliâ commodin fuiâ or any thing that is commodious and gainful to us thou hast said What advantage will it be unto thee Thus he brings in Job putting the question to himself what advantage should he get to himself in this life by living a religious or a holy life As if he had said Doubtless 't is concluded in thy breast thou shalt get none And to strengthen this thy unbelief at least to shew that thy unbelief in this poynt is very strong thou hast said the same thing in another dress of words a second time For I have heard thee saying thus also What profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin Job was taxed for a saying of the same scandalous sense Chap. 34.9 He hath said it profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God There Elihu accuseth him for affirming in a third person it profiteth a man nothing and here for questioning in his own person What profit shall I have ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A radice ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã pâofuit utilitatem attulit hinc Belial mutilis Some derive the word Belial from this root signifying an unprofitable one or an unthrift a man that doth no good either to himself or others What profit shall I have what shall I get All the good I shall get I may put in my eye and see never the worse In a word I shall not mend my condition if I mend my conversation so it followeth If I be cleansed from my sin The words If I be cleansed are not exprest in the Hebrew Text but are cleaâly implyed and undeâstood For Job cannot be supposed to ask this question What profit shall I get by or from my sin that question were nothing to the present purpose or disputation And therefore though all Interpreters do not make this supplement yet all agree that a supplement is to be made Most concur in this What profit shall I have if I depart from or forsake my sin We say If I be cleansed from my sin As if these were Jobs thoughts this his saying Let me keep my sin or not keep my sin I see I am like to suffer I shall still be kept under the rod. That 's the plain sense of the words Elihu chargeth Job with complaining of God that it would be no advantage to him ãâã to the ease of himself from any outward affliction and calamity how much soever he forsook or were cleansed from his sin There are two other readings of this verse Nam dixisti quid profutura se justitia tua sit tibi item quid profiâiam ex ea magis quam ex peccato meo Pisc Rab Sclom which I shall only name and then give two or three Notes from our own First Thus Thou hast said What profit shall I have more by it that is by my righteousness than by my sins As if his meaning were which is a very grosse one What good shall I get by well-doing more than by ill-doing One of the Rabbins takes in strongly with this comparative exposition between those remotest moral extreams good and evil as to his case But I dare not joyn either with the one or other in this interpretation Si roges quid profuturum sit âibi dicens quid proficerem a supplicia mea Jun A second gives it thus If thou demandest what may it profit thee saying What good shall I get by further punishment or suffering It hath been said before that those words If I be cleansed are not found expresly in the Hebrew Text And the word in our Translation rendred sin signifieth also punishment or suffering which is the fruit or effect of sin So that according to
this reading Elihu in these words prevents an objection which Job might take occasion to make from what he had said or wished rather at the 36th verse of the former Chapter My desire is that Job may be tryed unto the end That is further afflicted or afflicted to the utmost Against this desire of Elihu Job is by him supposed making his exception or objection in this verse As if he had said Why doest thou or what reason hast thou to desire that I should be yet again tryed by affliction What I pray would that profit me if I were afflicted yet more and more Can the suffering of evil do me good or make me better To this objection Elihu gives answer in the next verse and those which follow to the ninth and he doth it as the Asserter of this Interpretation judgeth by this Dilemma Thy afflictions would profit either God or thy self seeing God doth nothing in vaine but neither thy sufferings how grievous soever nor thy doings how righteous soever can profit God no more than thy sins or evil doings can damage God therefore it remains that if God afflict thee further it will be if thou hast a heart to improve it for thy profit This reading and the sense arising from it is much insisted on but as the former is very harsh so I conceive this latter is very dark and intricate and grounded upon the supposition of an objection very remote or not easily to be suggested in this discourse And therefore to avoyd both my own and the readers unnecessary trouble I shall take the Text as it stands in our Translation and offer somewhat for instruction from it How great sinfulness there is in saying There is no profit in the wayes of God I have shewed at the 21st Chap. vers 11 th and Chap. 34th vers 9. So that referring the Reader thither I shall here give only this Note It is very sinful to say we shall get no advantage by leaving sin We may well put the Apostles question Rom. 6.21 to our selves What fruât have we in those things whereof we are now ashamed What benefit have we got by polluting our selves with sin But how vaine a question is it to say What profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin Elihu chargeth Job with this yet still remember he referrs not to his eternal but temporal condition And this was Asaphs or Davids temptation also as to his temporal condition even he the one or the other David or Asaph spake as much in express terms as Job is here charged with Psal 73.13 where complaining of the great tryals and troubles he had been under and of the prosperity of the wicked Behold saith he these are the ungodly who prosper in the world they increase in riches But how is it with me Verily I have cleansed my heart in vaine and washed my hands in innocency for all the day long have I been plagued and chastned every moment As if he had said What have I got by my holiness and forsaking of sin what have I gained by my strictest walkings and abstainings from the very appearance of evil Have I not reason to conclude in good earnest that I have cleansed my heart and hands in vaine seeing my sufferings are not lessned though my sins are seeing my punishments are renewed every morning though I am every morning upon the renewal of my repentance Thus spake the Psalmist in the day of his temptation and doubtless this day of his Temption had been a day of temptation and provocation to the Lord like that of Israels in the Wilderness Psal 95.7 had not the Lord come in by his grace and helped him to bite in his words at the very next verse If I say I will speak thus if I use such not only uncomely but wicked language as this I have cleansed my heart and hands in vaine Behold I should offend against the generation of thy children And when I thought to know this it was too wonderful for me that is it was beyond my skill to reconcile these works these providences of God towards me with his word and promises nor was I any whit less at a loss how to reconcile the prosperity and flourishing condition of wicked men with those terrible threatnings which the Lord in his Word every where thunders out against them These cross and intricate dispensations puzzel'd me greatly put my soul into a maze nor could I spel their meaning nor make out the sense of them Vntill I went into the Sanctuary of God then understood I their end the woful Catastrophe the miserable end of wicked-men their slippery standing and their sudden falling as both are described v. 18 19 20. Then also I understood the blessedness of a godly mans estate both now and for ever in having God his guide and his portion v. 24 25 26. then I understood what profit and advantage comes by cleansing our selves from sin though to the eye it appeare not yea though all appearances speak the contrary To be cleansed from or to remove sin is profitable and advantagious First As to the removal of Judgement When we begin cleansing work the Lord usually makes an end of afflicting work For as one great end of sending affliction is to cleanse us from sin Isa 27.9 By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his sin so our being cleanâed from sin is usually the end of our afflictions When we are cleansed from sin we are troubled no more we smart no more speak then Is it no profit to be cleansed from sin when so many not only persons but Nations have been ruin'd because not cleansed from sin God gave his own people cleanness of teeth Amos 4.6 that is famine or want of bread because of the uncleanness of their hearts and lives and is it no profit to be cleansed from sin when for our sinfull uncleannesses God will cleanse us of all our comforts even to a morsel of bread 'T is therefore a speech both false in it self and highly diâhonourable unto God to say I shall have no profit for still I shall suffer though I be cleansed from my sin whereas first there is more profit in being cleansed from sin than in being delivered from sufferings and secondly when once we are cleansed from sin we are in the fairest way to be cleared from and see an end of all our sufferings Secondly The more we are cleansed from sin the more communion we have with God and the more peace from God Is not this a great profit a profit besides the eternal reward a profit far better than any temporal reward Will not communion with God satisfie us for the loss of friends of estate or health Will not peace with God answer all the tribulations we can meet with in this world If therefore being cleansed from sin we have closer communion and sweeter peace with God let no man say
What profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin And although there should be no present profit or advantage though no visible no nor spiritual income as to present comfort should redound to us in this world by being cleansed from sin yet remember it is our profit and our best profit to be cleansed from sin to be emptied of sin to mortifie sin to destroy sin if we should have no profit in hand by leaving sin yet there is a profit promised that infinitely exceeds all the profits and pleasures which we can have or hope for by retaining our sin such profit and pleasure as will abundantly recompence us for all the worldly losses we are at and penitential sorrows which we pass thorow in keeping or cleansing our selves from sin The Apostle rejoyced at the sorrow of the Corinthians 2 Cor. 7.9 But is it good to rejoyce at the sorrow of others should we not mourn with those that mourn 'T is true we should yet 't is good to rejoyce in that sorrow which doth others good such was the sorrow of those Corinthians The Text is expâess Now saith St Paul I rejoyce not that ye were made sorry but that ye sorrowed to repentance for ye were made sorry after a godly manner or according to God that ye might receive damage by us in nothing There is then no damage no hurt by such sorrow But comes there any good any profit by it yes much every way for as it followeth v. 10. godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of that is greatly to be rejoyced in What is matter of joy if salvation be not True repentance for sin is repentance to salvation And is there not profit is there not all profit in that As there is a Fountain opened the blood of Christ for sin and for uncleanness Zech 13.1 that is for washing away the uncleanness of sin so there are abundance of blessings flowing from that Fountain to all such as by the actings of Faith and Repentance wash and are clean Thus far of Elihu's first charge and the proof of it taken from Jobs own sayings How he answers and refutes those sayings of Job will appear in opening the next words JOB Chap. 35. Vers 4 5 6 7 8. 4. I will answer thee and thy Companions with thee 5. Look unto the Heavens and see and behold the Clouds which are higher than thou 6. If thou sinnest what dost thou against him or if thy transgressions be multiplyed what dost thou unto him 7. If thou be righteous what givest thou him or what receiveth he of thine hand 8. Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art and thy righteousness may profit the son of man THe former Context contained the Charge which Elihu brought against Job that he should say His righteousness was more than Gods and that it would be no profit to him if he were cleansed from his sin In the Context of these five Verses Elihu gives answer to those had Job positively and purposely said or asserted them blasphemous sayings or assertions And we have here First The promise or overture of an answer at the 4th verse I I will answer thee and thy Companions with thee Secondly We have the answer it self laid down in the 5th 6th 7th and 8th verses which answer consists in three particulars First That God cannot be hurt or endammag'd by our sin at the 6th verse Secondly That God can have no benefit or advantage by our righteousness at the 7th verse Thirdly That both Job himself and other men like himselfe may yea shall certainly have hurt and dammage by their sin as also benefit or advantage by their righteousness vers 8th Thus Elihu's answer obviates Job's passionate question at the 3d verse What profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin As if Elihu had said I know that neither thy sins can do any hurt to God nor can thy righteousnesse do him any good but thy sins may hurt thee and thy righteousnesse advantage thy self therefore lay down such wicked and desperate thoughts as these say not What profit will redound to me if I be cleansed from my sin c. That 's his answer according to our Translation Other readings present us with other forms of answer but I shall not stay upon them Vers 4. I will answer thee and thy Companions with thee Elihu makes overture of answering before he answers and tells him he will before he doth it I will answer thee or I will return thee words Answering is the returning of woâds to words yet not of empty words but of words fill'd with Reason and Authority to resolve him that is doubting or to convince him that is gain-saying I will answer thee And thy Companions with thee I will speak that which shall not only take off thy Objections but theirs also who are of thy mind or joyn in Opinion with thee I will answer thee and thy Companions with thee I will do both at once when I have answered thee they also will be answered one answer will serve thee and them Vna fidelia duos parietes dealbabo Drus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Socius amicus familiaris qui simul pascitur convictor One Line will mark and measure both Walls The word which we render Companions signifies any Friends or Familiars with whom we usually converse with whom we eat or who eat bread with us 2 Sam. 13.3 Prov. 17.17 We may take it either more strictly for a special intimate bosome friend who is to a man as his own soul as Moses speaks Deut. 13.6 or for a friend at large such as is called a Neighbour Exod. 20.16 Levit. 19.18 Yet the question may be Whom doth Elihu mean by Jobs Companions when he saith I will answer thee and thy Companions with thee Some by his Companions understand those who came to visit him in his affliction and maintained that long Discourse with him those three friends of whom we read Chap. 2.11 Eliphaz the Temanite Bildad the Shuite and Zophar the Naamathite The Septuagint conclude Elihu meant them only ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Sept. for thus they render I will answer thee and thy three friends But why should Elihu joyn them with Job seeing they held Opinions contrary to Job True they did yet they were not able to make good their Arguments or convince Job they had condemned Job but not answered him they did their businesse imperfectly and to halves or impertinently and to no purpose so that all their answerings were called no answer Chap. 32.3 And therefore Elihu might see reason to undertake the satisfaction not only of Job but of his three friends who had not given Job a satisfactory answer unto that hour Others take the word Companions in a more large sence for all that were of his Opinion As if Elihu had said I challenge all the world whosoever accompanies thee or takes thy part in justifying such sayings or assertions
we may see much of God they are a Natural Alphabet the Letters whereof being well placed and rightly put together we may spell the name of God his Wisdome Power and Goodnesse Thus the Apostle argues Rom. 1.19 20. That which may be known of God is manifest in them or to them that is to the very Heathens His proof for this is taken from the poynt now proposed For the invisible things of him from the Creation of the world are cleerly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal Power and God-head The Apostle layes it down in general Whatsoever is made whatsoever is part of the Creation holds out somewhat of God The very Clods of the Earth declare his Power how much more the Clouds and Starrs of Heaven Therefore Look to the Heavens Behold the Clouds consider them Psal 19.2 They declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy-work If you ask more particularly what do they declare I answer First That God is every Creature doth so if there be a Creature there must needs be a Creator If there be Effects there must be an Efficient the made Heavens declare their Maker Secondly The Heavens declare not only that God is but that he is above Christ hath taught us to pray Our Father which art in Heaven God is every where yet there especially Heaven is the Habitation of his Holinesse and of his Glory Thirdly In the purity of the Heavens we may see the holinesse and purity of God and they being so incorruptible and unchangeable declare Fourthly The incorruptibility and unchangeablenesse of God He that made them such is much more such himself The very unchangeablenesse of the Heavens is changeable compared with the unchangeablenesse of God The Heavens saith David Psal 102.25 26. are the work of thy hands they shall perish but thou shalt endure or stand yea all of them shall wax old like a Garment as a Vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed but thou art the same and thy years shall have no end Fifthly The Heavens which God hath built as a House for himself being so high above the touch of the Creature shew us that God is infinitely exalted above the reach and molestation of sinful man that 's the thing which Elihu aims at as appears by what followeth in the next words Look to the Heavens and see behold the Clouds which are higher than thou Vers 6. If thou sinnest what dost thou against him or if thy transgressions be multiplyed what dost thou unto him As if he had said When thou lookest to the Heavens thou plainly seest thou canst do nothing against them it would be a vain thing for thee to attempt the Heavens to clamber up to the Clouds surely then thy sinnings thy frettings thy discontents and complaints cannot hurt God therefore be quiet If thou sinnest The word here used notes sin in the least degree ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Erraviâ any error or deviation from the Rule but it comprehends sins of the highest degree even such as the Prophet calls Amos 5.12 Mighty sins If thou sinnest at the greatest rate at the height of blasphemy What dost thou against him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Non tam nocere quam opârare et laborare significat q. d. Laborando et adnitendo quid tandem efficies quo illum laedas Pined The Hebrew is What workest thou against him Properly the word signifieth only to work we render it by working against that is to the hurt and disadvanâage of another to his mischief and undoing As if he had said If thou shouldest set thy shoulder to the work if thou shouldest do evil with both hands greedily yet thou canst make no work of it in this matter what dost thou against him what hurt hath he by it And to assure Job that he hath none nor can have any Elihu serves him up the same Messe in another Dish of words in the close of the verse Or if thy transgressions be multiplyed Here Elihu speaks as high as he meant before Transgressing is more thân ordinary sinning though as was toucht upon the word under sinning he comprehended any the most extraordinary transgressings If thy sins be transgressions rebellions or prevarications and they be multiplyed if thou sinnest out of malice and wrathful purpose against God himself and dost not only commit some one of these but many and heapest them up together yet c. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Et ad molem et numerum communis est If thy transgressions be multiplyed The word signifies both magnitude and multitude hence some render If thy transgressions be great we say If they be many Sin as much as thou wilt and sin as often as thou wilt sin as much as thou canst what hurt hath God by it Some by sin in the former part of the verse understand that evil which is committed immediately against God and by transgressions in this latter clause such evils as are done against our neighbour But I see no need at all to be so distinct we may take it respecting God or man or both for those sins which we commit against man are also against God he is the person offended his Law is broken against whomsoever the sin is committed If thou multiply thy transgressions What dost thou unto him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That word What dost thou signifies not only or not so much strong labour and endeavour as the former did but cunning in labour and skill in labour As if he had said Though a man set all his wits awork to do evil what can he do to him Neither pains nor skill neither industry nor policy neither open force nor secret stratagems can do him any the least annoyance Some Creatures are weak and inconsiderable as to any thing they can do by outward power yet they can do much by their subtilty and cunning but neither the one nor the other can do any thing unto God Scrue up thy wits to the highest pin or peg yet thou canst do nothing really prejudicial unto him The words are plain from them Observe First God receives no dammage by the sin of man how great or how many soever his sins are A man may quickly vex and undo himself by sin Wisdome saith Prov. 8.36 He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul All they that hate me love death But the sinner cannot hurt God he is far above us man can no more hurt God by sin than he can hurt the Clouds or the highest Heavens Had we an enemy above the Clouds were it not a madnesse to shoot arrows or bend our forces against him What is man to God! The School-man concludes Nothing can be added to Per actum hominis Deo nihil potest accrescere vel deperire Sed tamen homo in quantum in se est aliquid subtrahit Deo vel ei exhibet cum sârvat vel non servat ordinem
hurt a man as thou art There is an excellent paradox handled by some of the Ancients Nemo potest ab alio laedi nisi a seipso nisi enim quis laedatur animo non laeditur No man is hurt but by himself for unless a mans soul be hurt he is not hurt which is much confirmed by and appeareth clearly in the example of Job For the devil planted all those engines and made all those assaults upon and against him not because he had a design to make him poor childless and diseased all which he knew could not hurt him but to make him impatient and to extort one evil and blasphemous word against God from him But though it be true that no man is hurt but by himself yet it is true also that the sin of one man may hurt another Oppression hurts other men as to civils whether they will or no but no sin can hurt another as to morals unless he will no man is infected by vice if himself refuse and be against it yea the oppressions and afflictions which other men thrust violently upon us cannot hurt us unless we by our impatience under them bring hurt to our selves The cruel usage of Tyrants did not hurt the Martyrs when they burnt them and imprisoned them and hanged them they did not hurt them because they were patient under those oppressions and took their sufferings for Christs sake with joyfulness What hurt did the poverty and ulcers of Lazarus do him What hurt had Abel by that inhumane cruelty of his brother Cain What hurt had Paul by all his sufferings What any of the Saints by imprisonment or banishment by being sawne asunder or slain with the sword properly no hurt at all It is out of the power and reach of wicked persecutors to hurt the Witnesses of Christ though they have power to slay them Steven was not hurt when he was stoned because he freely gave up himself In a word take it thus First no man is hurt by the sin of another but as himself is pleased with or practiseth the same sin Secondly no man is hurt by the temptations of the devil but as he consents and yeilds to them Thirdly no man is hurt by the oppositions and persecutions of others but as he is impatient under them Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art And thy Righteousness may profit the son of man That is thy righteous actions or deeds may profit the son of man that is thy self or any man good or bad Those words may profit are not expressed but are clearly implyed in the sense of the Text. Righteousness tends to every mans benefit it may help and profit thy self it may be helpfull or profitable to those who are about thee or with whom thou hast to do Hence note First Righteousness or âighteous actions have profit in them Wickedness turns to mans hurt of it self but Righteousness doth profit Although there be a vast and wide difference between mans righteousness and unrighteousness this latter of it self deserving all manner of evil and the former because imperfect at the best deserving no good at all yet through the bounty and benignity of God it comes to pass that the smâllest if sincere endeavour after righteousness shall profit a man as much as his greatest unrighteousness can hurt or damage him For God who doth not reward us according to our iniquities Psal 103.10 will most amply reward us according to our righteousness The Apostle gave command Exercise thy self unto godliness follow that trade well why for godliness is profitable unto all things 1 Tim. 4.8 it profits by vertue of the pâomise and it hath the promise of this life as well as of that which is to come Titus 3.8 This is a faithfull saying and this I will that thou constantly affirme that they which have believed in God might be carefull to maintain good works why for these things are good and profitable unto men Some expound these words good and profitable unto men chiefly of doctrine To teach men to follow works that indeed is good and profitable doctrine now if it be a good and profitable doctrine to press men to good works to works of Righteousness then Righteousness it self and good works must needs be profitable There is such an excellency in the nature of Righteousness it is such an honourable amiable and beautifull thing in its own nature that it is enough to draw us to the doing of it as some have said of Vertue in general If vertue could be seen it would draw all to the admiration of it so I say of Righteousness in special If it could be seen it would draw all eyes and hearts after it But besides that here is an excellent Loadstone here is profit thy Righteousness may profit another profit draws much it draws on all men in the world where there is any profit and benefit to be had how do men strive to trade there as if Heaven were to be had there now Righteousness is profitable the exercise of Righteousness is no poor trade there is a great deale of advantage in it and I might shew you how every work good for the matter done in a right manner and for right ends is profitable to others and to our selves To speak a good word may be a means to minister grace unââ the hearers and to âo a good work of any sort ministers a gracious example to the beholders by doing good you may draw others to do good to see one walking in wayes of righteousness invites and allures others into wayes of righteousness as bad examples corrupt so good examples instruct as bad examples build up for hell so good examples build up for heaven To be built or helpt on heaven-ward is the best profit in the world greater profit than the gain of the whole world And as every good work ministers a good example to the beholders so works of Charity minister comfort and relief to the receivers as also an occasion of blessing God for their benefactors yea works of Charity to others are profitable also to our selves for there is a promise of reward to those who minister the least charities to such as deserve the greatest charity though usually they find the least Math. 10.42 Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only and how cold is their charity who will not give that in the name of a disciple shall in no wise lose his reward that is he shall surely have it Thus we see how profit and advantage even great profit and advantage comes by Righteousness yet take heed of thinking that your Righteousness deserves any the least profit at the hand of God Though we press you to Righteousness as profitable yet it becomes you to say we are unprofitable servants and therefore cannot challenge any profit as our due how righteous soever we are It doth not at all follow because we affirme Righteousness will
profit us that therefore Righteousness can justifie us or that because it is profitable to us therefore it can save us All our righteousnesses are but as a filthy garment saith the Prophet and therefore unprofitable for this thing The Apostle counted all things loss not gain dung not profit that he might win Christ and be found in him not having his own Righteousness Phil. 3.8 9. Righteousness is profitable if you keep it in its proper place and apply it to its proper use it is profitable to what God hath appointed it he helps us to work Righteousness and then rewards us for our righteous working God is not unrighteous to forget our work and labour of love Heb. 6.10 Let us be found in our duty and then in due time and place we shall find our profit Our experience will teach us at last that while we have been doing good to others we have done good to our selves Righteousness is profitable unto all things and to all men as well to those who do it as to those for whom it is done JOB Chap. 35. Vers 9 10 11 12 13. 9. By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry they cry out by reason of the arme of the mighty 10. But none saith Where is God my maker who giveth Songs in the night 11. Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth and maketh us wiser than the fowles of heaven 12. There they cry but none giveth answer because of the pride of evill men 13. Surely God will not hear vanity neither will the Almighty regard it I Have dispatched the first of those great Objections which Elihu made afresh against Job in this Chapter his speaking unduly of God This context contains a second with the answer to it The Connection is given by some thus Whereas Elihu told Job at the 8th verse That his wickedness might hurt a man like himself He here proves that the wickedness of man is very hurtfull to men so hurtfull that by reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry They cry out by reason of the arme of the mighty Yet I shall not prosecute the words in that dependance but as they are matter of a second complaint or charge brought by Elihu against Job The charge is laid down in the 9th verse and his answer is prosecuted in the 10th 11th 12 th and 13th verses Vers 9. By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry This offended Job the poor cryed and they had no helper no deliverer We may conceive that Elihu gathered up this complaint from the words of Job Chap. 24.12 Men groan from out of the City and the soul of the wounded cryeth out yet God layeth not folly to them As if he had said The Lord lightly passeth by and takes little notice of the greatest afflictions the oppressions of the poor though righteous men Elihu grants these general truths First that many are oppressed Secondly that many cry out in their oppressions Thirdly that many remain undeliveeed from and unreliered in their oppressions God sometimes seemeth not to regard the groans and cryes of the afflicted nor doth he alwayes presently take vengeance of oppressors according to their folly Elihu grants all this he grants that many poor men are so mightily oppressed by the mighty that they are forced to cry mightily yet he strongly acquits God from any such imputation as those words of Job seem to admit or insinuate And in the prosecution of his answer as will appear in opening the 10th and 11th verses he sheweth that the reason why the oppressed are not delivered or answered when they cry is in themselves and not in God and he would have Job consider whether he were not of that number they cry saith Elihu but they do not cry with such a frame of heart with such a disposition of spirit as they ought they cry as men pressed rather with the weight of their own sufferings than toucht with any sense of their sins or reverence of the soveraignty of God giving them up to the power of oppressors or as having any faith in him for their deliverance or quiet submission to him who is ready to help all those who religiously fly to him for refuge and is able to bring them out of their daâkest and most deplorable condition These may be said either not to pray at all or they pray not with such holy aims and designs with such integrity and uprightness of heart as becometh the people of God They pray under the power of impatience or moved with envy at the power of their adversaries or with a desire of utmost revenge which nothing stops them from but their own want of power or because they cannot and therefore God takes no notice of their prayers v. 12 13. There they cry but none giveth answer Surely God will not hear vanity neither will the Almighty regard it That 's the summe and scope of the Context I shall now open the words in order Vers 9. By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry Here are oppressions and a multitude of oppressions ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The word signifieth magnitude as well as multitude the muchness as well as the manyness if I may so speak of the oppressions which were upon them Any one great oppression will make men cry how much more many great ones We render it as a word of number By reason of the multitude Of oppressions ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Oppressit vim fecit quavis injuria affecit The Original notes oppression of all sorts First oppression upon the credit and good name of another by slander and false accusation So the Septuâgint render it By reason of calumnies or unrighteous charges or Sycophantismes that 's the word in the Greek Translation they cry False accusers undermine others and bring them into danger by burdening them with lyes Secondly it notes usually oppression upon a mans estate 1 Sam. 12.4 Isa 33.15 Ezek. 18.7 Mal. 3.5 Thirdly upon his person Isa 52.4 Now when a man is oppressed all over when his credit or good name is oppressed by calumniation his estate by wrongfull seisure and his person by violent restraint here 's a troop a multitude of oppressions By reason of the multitude of oppressions They make the oppressed to cry That is the oppressed do not only complain a little but are forced to open lamentations the load upon them is so heavy that they cannot contain they cry yea as the next clause hath it they cry out as a woman in travel when her paines come upon her They make the oppressed to cry They make them cry upon a double Consideration First because of the misery which they feel and are burdened with Secondly for the mercy which they desire expect and think long a-coming men cry for ease for help for assistance for deliverance we may suppose the oppressed
ones in the Text crying in all these respects the burden was so heavy upon them that it made them cry out for the very weight of it and they cryed and called for some charitable or tender heart to come and ease them of it and deliver them from it Elihu doth not rest in speaking this once but repeats it again By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry They cry out by reason of the arme of the mighty These words poynt us expresly to the cause of their cry or out-cry it was the arme of the mighty which may be taken either properly or figuratively Properly the Arme is a well known and most usefull member of the body And because there is a great deal of strength and power in the arme therefore by a figure the arme signifieth strength might or power and to say they cry out by reason of the arme of the mighty is as much as to say they cry out by reason of the power of the mighty Severissimum dei supplicium immissione aut descensione Brachii significatur The arme is frequently in Scripture put for power the powerful wrath of âod is called the arme of God The Prophet Isa 30.30 speaks of the lighting down of his arme When the Lord lets his arme fall oâ light down upon a man a family or a Nation in wrath it crusheth either or all of them to pieces And as the powerful wrath so the powerful grace of God is called his arme Isa 53.1 Who hath believed our report to whom is the arme of the Lord revealed That is his mighty power working by and manifesting it self in Christ and in the ministery of the Gospel for the conviction conversion and salvation of sinners Thus also the arme of man is the power of man Dan. 11.6 She shall not retain the power of the arme neither shall he stand nor his arme That is his power shall fall or both he and she Bernire and Antiochus Theus shall fall and be powerless Psal 37.16 The arme of the wicked that is their power shall be broken but the Lord upholdeth the righteous They cry out by reason of the arme Of the mighty The same word which in the first part of the verse is translated multitude is here translated The mighty ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã But what was the mightiness of these men There is a four-fold mightiness First there is mightiness of body that is natural might and 't is properly the might of the arme Secondly there is a mightiness in valour and in Armes Thus souldiers and warriers are mighty men they who having courage in their hearts have also weapons in their hands and swords by their sides are the mighty Such a one was Gideon to whom the Angel said Judg. 6.12 The Lord is with thee thou mighty man of valour Thirdly there is a mightiness of Authority And thus the Magistrate is a mighty man suppose he be weak in body yet he is mighty in power and can do great things Fourthly there is a mightiness of wealth and riches Thus Boaz is called a mighty man of wealth Ruth 2.1 Riches have so much might in them that in the Hebrew one word serves to signifie both might and riches We may understand the mighty man here in any or all these four senses The oppressed cry out by reason of the arme of the mighty They who have much bodily strength often oppress the weaker and so do the mighty in Armes and so do the mighty in Authority and so the mighty in riches have often done making the poor and the oppressed cry They cry out by reason of the arme of the mighty From the former part of the verse Observe Oppression is a common sin Not only was Babylon stained with it but Jerusalem That 's an amazing passage Jer. 6.6 Thus hath the Lord of hosts said hew ye down trees and cast a Mount against Jerusalem This is the City to be visited she is wholly oppression in the midst of her Not only was Jerusalem a City but The City a City above all Cities to be visited by an oppressing enemy and whâ even because she not only had oppressors in her but was oppression O how oppressive was that City which was oppression and that not only in some parts of her but wholly and that not in her skirts and suburbs but in the midst of her The Lord to shew that the Jewes were superlatively rebellious or most rebellious against him calleth them in the abstract rebellion as the Margin hath it Ezek. 2.7 and to shew how superlatively oppressive they were one against another He calls Jerusalem oppression Here in the Text we have a multitude of oppressions surely then there were a multitude of oppressors To heare of a multitude of sins of all sorts is very sad but when there is multitude of one sort and that one of the worst sort and such a sin as cannot go alone but draws after it a heap of almost all sorts of sin what a multitude of sins are there It cannot be denied but that oppression is a very common epidemical sin if we take and consider it in the full latitude of it For there is a two-fold oppression First there is a secret oppression To deceive defraud or go beyond another in the Apostles sense is to oppress him And thus 't is said Hos 12.7 He is a Merchant the balances of deceit are in his hand he loveth to oppress He doth not oppress by violence with a sword in his hand but by craft with balances in his hand he oppresseth while he over-reacheth in dealing and trading This sort of oppression runs up and down every where and though this kind of oppression make not a great cry yet it is a great sin a crying sin There is also a secret oppression under colour of Law many turn the very Rules of Justice into rods of oppression And this is by so much the worse by how much it hath the better cover Secondly there is an open oppression the Nimrods of the world the mighty Hunters taâe and vex and trouble all they can and would make all tremble before them or run from them as the Hare and Hart from their merry but merciless pursuers Now if both secret and open oppressions are so commonly practised oppression may justly beare the title of a common sin Secondly Note Oppression is a very crying sin That cannot but be a crying sin which makes so many cry Oppression then is a crying sin First as to the nature of it Secondly as to the effect of it Oppression cryeth and it makes those cry who are oppressed Solomon saith Eccles 7.7 Oppression maketh a wise man mad That which puts a man even out of his wits or besides the right use of his reason will put him much to the use of his tongue causing him to complain cry out and clamour But who are they that are most given to and deepest
every pressing danger let us go to God in faith and hope and he will either give us enlargements or do us good by and in our worst and greatest straits Thirdly Note As it is good when at any time we are in trouble to look to God so we should then look to God specially under this relation as he is our Maker It is good then to say God is my maker and I am the work of his hands therefore he will take care of me and deliver me out of the hand of my oppressors There are five duties which arise from this Consideration that God is our Maker First We should highly esteem and be thankfull for this benefit our making Secondly We should be confident that he who hath made us will preserve us Thirdly We should patiently submit to him when he afflicteth us himself or suffers others to afflict us Fourthly We should give him glory by believing that he will take care of us in or deliver us out of all our sufferings and afflictions Fifthly We should not think nor speak hardly of God because he hath made us subject to tryals and the exercise of patience neither should we take it ill that he hath made others so high or great that they have power to oppress us In all these respects we should look to God our maker and neither murmure at nor be afraid in a day of âffliction The Lord himself poynts us to that Isa 51.12 13. Who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall dye and of the son of man which shall be made as grasse and forgettest the Lord thy maker It is good in time of affliction to remember God in all our relations and in this as our maker in a three-fold making of us First As our maker in a natural capacity that is as he hath made these bodies of ours we may plead with and urge the Lord to take care of and preserve our bodyes because he ha h made them preservation is an act of providence and pâovidence followeth creation Secondly As our maker in a civil capacity that is as he hath made us rich or poor high or low in the world or in any worldly enjoyments Pharaoh that great Dragon lying in the midst of the rivers said Ezek. 29.3 My river is mine own and I have made it for my self But grace teacheth us to say otherwise if we are rich or strong God hath made us so if our river be broad and deep full and over-flowing God hath made it so and if we are poor and weak if our river be naârow and shallow empty and dry God hath made it so and who shall say to him Why hast thou made it so That God is the maker of our crosse should make us quiet under it Thirdly A godly man should look to God in affliction as his maker in a spiritual capacity I do not mean as he hath made our spirits but as he hath made us spiritual or as we are his workmanship that 's the Apostles word created in Christ Jesus unto good works Eph. 2.10 That we are thus wrought works much upon the heart of God in the day of our affliction That God hath made us men that we are his creatures is a good argument a faire plea and moves much but that he hath made us new men or new creatures his Sons by grace and Temples of his Spirit that he hath made us holy believing righteous is a far stronger argument a suller plea and moves much more A soul that can go to God thus and tell him he is his maker a soul that can say as 't is said of the Church Isa 54.5 My maker is my husband He that made me hath married me to himself a soul that can say this may indeed triumph in and over all his tribulations How sweet is it to have an interest in Christ and by him a relation to God as our maker in this respect When the Lord rejects a people to the utmost he saith he will not be stayd no not by this relation as their maker from doing it Isa 27.11 This is a people of no understanding therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them and he that formed them will shew them no favour As if the Prophet had said If any argument could move the Lord to shew mercy this would do it to tell him he hath made such a people or he is their maker But there are none whom the Lord hath made in the third sense as to a new creation but he will have mercy on them and shew them favour his making of them such is a gâeater mercy and an higher favour thân any they can ask of him nor are there any of that making who are of no understanding So then he that is made of God spiritually needs not care for all the unmaking or undoing he can receive from men nor fear that he shall ever be unmade or unmercy'd by God All he can lose in this world doth not cannot make him miserable who is made fit for the world to come He knoweth he hath an estate setled upon him by his Maker which cannot be taken away A man thus made may say to his spoylers Ye have taken nothing from me but the scraps and sweepings the parings and chippings of my estate The Archers indeed have sorely grieved me and shot at me but my bow abides in strength and the armes of my hands are made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. He that is spiritually made or made a new creature is made for ever and in every strait he may look to God his Maker as a helper and restorer He that made us when we were nothing can help us when we are reduced to a very nothing It is an encouragement to go to God for healing because he hath wounded us Come and let us return unto the Lord saith the Church for he hath torne and he will heale us he hath smitten and he will bind us up Hos 6.1 Much more is it an encouragement to go unto God to be our healer because he hath been our Maker He that hath made us can mend us He that built us can repaire us if we say as we ought and have been taught Where is God our maker Who giveth songs in the night Those words contain a second Consideration why the oppressed should seek to God he giveth songs that is matter of songs or cause of singing joy and comfort even in the night There are several opinions about the meaning of these words Some as I shewed before interpret this verse of the oppressors None of them say Where is God my maker who giveth songs in the night So the words are a description as of the great worldly security so of the great worldly felicity of those oppressors Poor men labour all day hard and being wearied out with their labours when night cometh they go to bed But prophane great and rich men
season That is I have as it were discourses and soliloquies secret debates about and strong desires after the things of God even in the night That soul is indeed awake to God which is acquainted with and used to these divine songs in the night the time of sleep Further Take the word night in a metaphorical notion as night signifieth a troublesome state God may be said to give songs in the night when he comforts us in or at any time of affliction I need not stay to prove that in Scripture the night is put for affliction nor need I prove that to give inward joy in a day of outward sorrow is to give songs in the night The observation rising from this metaphorical understanding of night is this which the Scripture and experience are full of God sends comfort to his people or causeth them to rejoyce in the midst of their afflictions It is the Apostles description of God 2 Cor. 1.3 4. The God of all comfort who comforteth us in all our tribulation What sweet songs have suffering Saints sound in the darkest midnight of their affliction What inward peace in outward troubles What soul freedome in bodily restraint Carmen in nocte est laetitia in tribulatione Greg One of the Ancients hath put the question and answered it What 's a song in the night 'T is joy in time of trouble Whenever God gives a soul joy in time of trouble he gives a song in the night Paul and Sylas sang in the night in both notions of night If we take night in a proper sense they sang in the night and in an improper sense they were in prison that was a night of affliction to them yea it was midnight with them the power of darkness or the darkest outward affliction to them yet saith the Text At midnight Paul and Sylas sang They had songs in their mouths and in their hearts too they sang so loud that all heard them And hence we may collect the strength of the argument or reason upon which Elihu here saith God doth not regard the cry of many under oppression they make a noyse but none saith Where is God my maker who giveth songs in the night who is able to comfort us in all our afflictions who is able to make darkness light to us and turn our sorrows into songs of joy they had not these high thoughts of God not these holy confidences in God while they lay under the oppressions of men and therefore God did not regard their cry nor save them from the arme of the mighty This is the first part of the answer which Elihu made to Jobs complaint that the oppressed were not delivered though being pressed so sorely they could not forbeare to cry yea to cry out in their misery The next words give us a fuller and more expresse answer to that complaint Vers 11. Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth and maketh us wiser than the fowles of heaven Vers 12. There they cry but none giveth answer because of the pride of evil men Vers 13. Surely God will not hear vanity neither will the Almighty regard it Elihu proceeds in assigning a second reason to highten their sin who being in distresse say not Where is God my maker or he giveth a further account why the Lord doth not presently attend to the prayers and crys of some men under great oppression He had shewed in the former verse one reason of the Lords forbearance to help them in such distresses they did not say heartily Where is God our maker nor did they remember him according to the special benefits which they sometimes had received from God even songs in the night In this 11th verse Elihu aggravates the sin of such oppressed persons by the consideration of that light understanding wherewith God hath indued and inriched man above the irrational creatures and which he hath therefore furnished man with that he might know what to do in a time of distress in the day of affliction they say not Where is God my maker Who not only gives us songs in the night matter of praise but teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth Some of the Jewish Interpreters read these words positively not as we comparatively or âhey render them to shew that God hath appoynted the very beasts to be our Tutors not as we that himself tutors us beyond the beasts Thus Who teacheth us by the beasts of the earth and maketh us wise by the fowls of heaven This answers what Job spake in the 12th Chapter of this book v. 7. Ask now the beasts and they shall teach thee and the fowls of the air and they shall tell thee 'T is a truth that God doth teach us by the beasts of the earth and makes us wise by the very fowls of the air We may learn much in the School of those creatures who have not only no learning but no understanding and may be stirred up to the exercise of excellent vertues by those which have not the exercise of reason The Scripture sendeth man the highest of visible creatures to the lowest of visible creatures to creatures so little that they are scarce visible for instruction Go to the Ant thou sluggard consider her wayes and be wise Pro. 6.6 There are several observable qualities and as I may call them vertues not only in the beasts of the earth and fowls of the air but in the meanest creeping things which are very imitable by man and thus God doth teach us by the beasts of the earth and by the fowls of the air vertually though not formally by their practise and example though not by their precepts or rules for such teachings neither the beasts of the earth nor the fowls of the air have any competency at all Man alone cannot teach man ââfectually to conversion and salvation all that are so taught are and must be taught of God 1 Cor. 3.5 6 7. yet the beasts of the earth and the fowls of the air may and do teach us instrumentally to conviction and if we learn not by them their teachings as rude as they are will be to our shame confusion and condemnation But I rather take the words as we translate them comparatively Who teacheth us more than the beast of the earth As if he had said God teacheth the beast somewhat but he teacheth man much more Quidem Hebraeorum specialiter eo reserunt ne bestiarum aut avium more invicem rapiamur Merc They who expound this context of the wicked man who oppresseth the poor give the sense thus God teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven that is he teacheth us that we should not like beasts vex tear and rend one the other that we should not like the Bear of of the Wood and the Lyon of the Forrest nor like the Vultures and ravenous Birds of the air ââey one upon another They who
pen of the Scribe is in vaine As if he had said You have been taught you have had the Law of the Lord and you aâe ready to boast of it as the Apostle observed Rom. 2.23 but with what face can ye take it upon your selves to be wise men or arrogate wisdome to your selves or so much as own the Law when you are so unready to pay that obedience which you owe to it The Crane the Turtle and Swallow the very fowls of Heaven follow the light of nature better than you have done the light of Scripture and daily instruction These reasonless creatures reason with themselves more rationally than you have done They say thus in themselves It is best for us to change our quarters and take our flight to some more benigne or milder region for here the season grows sharp and the weather tempestuous if we abide here we starve we perish with cold and hunger But you my people are so sottish that you change neither your minds nor manners you mend neither your wayes nor your works what changes soever I bring upon you or how much soever I vary my wayes and workings towards you you apply not your selves to my course and dealings with you but still take your own course say I or do I what I will you neither embrace seasons of grace and offers of mercy nor do ye labour either to prevent or to avoyd those storms of wrath and divine vengeance with which you have been often threatned and which hang in the clouds ready to drop down and overwhelme you And will ye say after all this we are wise when the fowls of the air appear wiser than you And will you say the Law of the Lord is with us when they guide themselves better by the Law of nature And forasmuch as it is thus with you have I not reason to conclude that Lo certainly in vaine made he it the pen of the Scribe is in vaine that is it was to little or no purpose that God at first enacted and published his Law Exod. 20. or appoynted Scribes to write it out that Copies of it might be transferred to and read by his people Deut. 17.18 Chap. 31.9 Is not both the making and writing of the Law vaine as to you seeing you are thus vaine and foolish even much more vaine and foolish than the Stork in the Heaven than the Turtle Crane and Swallow notwithstanding the making and writing out of the Law for you This will fill the faces of the wicked that is both of the prophane and formal professors of the Lords name with shame and confusion for ever when they shall be made to see and confesse that the beasts of the earth have followed their light better than they though God hath taught them more than the beasts of the earth and that the fowls of the air have carried themselves more wisely than they though God hath made them wiser than the fowls of the air Vers 12. There they cry but none giveth answer because of the pride of evil men When Elihu had thus closely hinted the sin of those persons that acted below beasts and birds in their afflictions he proceeds to tell us what they do in their affliction There they cry but none giveth answer We translate these words But none giveth answer in a parenthesis we may read the verse without it and transferre those words to the end of the verse There they cry because of the pride of evil men but none giveth answer That is as some give the meaning they being oppressed by the pride of evil men cry out of their insolencies and their own miseries and yet can get no answer for the reasons given in the two former verses that is because they do not heartily and believingly apply themselves to God their Maker ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A faciebus superbiae malorum Mont Propter superbiam malorum Pagn Ibi vel tunc Aâverbia loci pra adverbiis temporis passim sââuntur Merc Mr Broughton understands it thus of the pride of oppressors There saith he they cry but he answers not concerning the wrong-doers pride Others take it for the pride of the oppressed There they cry The word rendred there is an Adverb of place but here it notes the time or estate rather in which these persons lived they were in an oppressed estate or condition when they cryed yet saith the Text None giveth answer that is they have no help when they cry they cry to men yea they cry to God for help but have none help is far from them God doth not answer them immediately by himself neither doth he send them answer by the hand of any other Now what is the reason of this The Text gives it partly yet somewhat obscurely in this verse more fully and clearly in the verse following The reason given here is their pride Because of the pride of evil men that is because themselves are so proud they are at once poor and proud humbled but not humble they are oppressed and subdued under the power of men yet their pride remains unsubdued and in full power they are laid low in estate but they are not lowly in spirit proud men oppress them and they though oppressed are still proud their hearts are not brought down though they are come down wonderfully as the Prophet spake of the captivated Jewes Lam. 1.9 They are fallen before men in misery but they are not fallen before God in humility they cry of wrong but themselves are not right and that 's the reason why they are not righted There they cry but none giveth answer because of the pride of evil men This also is a good sense and may yeild us profitable instruction I leave the Reader to his choyce both being safe and usefull There they cry c. Note hence First They that are oppressed and brought low will be crying and complaining Both God and Men shall hear of them There they cry An afflicted condition is a complaining condition Nature being pinch't will speak I said Job Chap. 7.11 will not refraine my mouth I will speak in the anguish of my heart I will complain in the bitterness of my soul I mourn in my complaint said David Psal 55.2 The title of the 102d Psalm runs thus A prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed and powreth out his complaint before God Note Secondly Some in their afflictions do nothing but cry nothing but complain Elihu doth not say There they repent and there they humble themselves and there they turn to God but there they cry that they are troubled is the all the only thing that troubles them 'T is said before God teacheth man more than the beasts of the Earth but many in a day of affliction do no more than the Beasts of the Earth A Beast when hurt will cry he will rage and roare and that 's as much as many men do when they are hurt though God hath taught them more
neither will the Almighty regard it Consider that Elihu doth not only say God will not hear but he adds neither will the Almighty regard it The doubling of the matter in higher Language intimaâes somthing to us and we may note this from it As the Prayers of evil men are vain so they have not any the lest regard from God He will neither hear nor regard David saith Psal 66.18 If I regard iniquity in my heart God will not hear my Prayer God will not hear a David a good man as to that particular prayer if he regard iniquity in his heart that is if he hold any the least complyance or secret correspondence with any sin yea if he hath not repented of and laboured to mortifie every known sin Doubtless then he will not regard the prayers of evil men when they pray also with an evil mind And when this and other Scriptures say he doth neither hear nor regard them there is more intended than expressed even that he doth reject and abhor them that they are a burden and an abomination to him The Scripture is much in shewing how much God makes of holy prayers For first God hath not only promised to hear but regard such prayers Psal 112.17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute and not despise their prayers that is he highly prizeth and esteemeth them Secondly The Scripture telleth us God delighteth to hear such prayers they are sweet to him they are the best musick in his ears Let me hear thy voyce for sweet is thy voyce her prayer-voyce he means chiefly saith Christ to his Spouse Cant. 2.14 Thirdly The Scripture assureth us that God looks upon or reckoneth prayer as an honour done to him 't is an eminent part of worship 't is the giving of him glory certainly therefore take prayer purely God doth regard it very much he will have regard to that which he hath promised regard to he will have regard to that which is sweet and delightful to him which is an honour and brings glory to him therefore there must needs be a great matter in it when he saith He will not regard a prayer such a prayer must needs be very vile impure and stark naught in it self which he thus thrusteth from him or cannot away with It must be confessed that God sometimes defers to hear that is to answer the prayers of those that call upon him in faith and even their prayers who call upon him humbly and sincerely Holy prayers are not alwayes presently answered but holy prayers are never unregarded never rejected 'T is never said in Scripture God doth not regard the prayers of a godly man God may let him stay long for the answer of his prayer to try his faith and patience but he will not slight his prayer As it is the duty of all men to pray and the desire or delight of a godly man when his heart is in a right frame to pray so it is the priviledge of every godly man that his prayer is heard and regarded And as it is the sin of most wicked men that they pray not at all Psal 14.4 Jer. 10.25 so it is the misery of all wicked men that their prayers though they make many and long prayers are not heard are not regarded They are far from the grace and feare of God who regard not to pray unto him and they are as far from the mercy and favour of God whose prayers are not regarded And if a man be upon such bad terms with God that he is not regarded when he is at his best work his praying-woâk O how little is such a one regarded when he is at his worst work his sinning-work If some men are not regarded when they are praying to God what are they when they are swearing and blaspheming God when they are causlesly vexing or oppressing their brethren If some men are not regarded when they are praying what are they when they are revelling and reviling The Lords indignation breaketh out to the utmost against wicked men when he tells them the best of their duties their prayer is vanity and though they cry much to him he will not hear nor regard them The Lord hath not said to the seed of Jacob seek ye me in vaine Isa 45.19 that is ye shall not seek me in vaine no as your prayers are honourable and acceptable unto me so they shall be profitable and beneficial unto you you that go forth weeping bearing and scattering this precious seed shall doubtless come again and bring your sheaves with you your prayers shall be returned with blessings upon your souls upon your bodies upon your estates upon your families in which you live as also upon the Nations and upon the Churches among whom you live Thus the seed of Jacob have found and shall further find by the blessed experiences of all these blessings that God hath not said to them Seek ye me in vaine He hath only said of them who are vaine your seekings of me are vaine in themselves and will be vaine fruitless answerless unto you for I the Lord will not hear vanity neither will I the Almighty regard it JOB Chap. 35. Vers 14. Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him yet Judgement is before him therefore trust thou in him THere is a two-fold rendring or translation of this 14t h verse First Some connecting it with the former and taking it in a dependance upon what Elihu had last affirmed concerning God He heareth not vanity Multo minus si diâ is non contemplaris istud exauditurus eât judica coram eo expecta eum Jun neither doth the Almighty regard it translate thus Much less will he hear thee if thou sayest thou doest not loâk to or regard this judge thy self therefore before him and waite for him As if Elihu should bring an argument from the less to the greater God will not hear vanity nor will the Almighty regard it how much less will he hear thee who sayest upon the matter that thou regardest not him or what he saith and doth That word which in the close of the 13th verse we render regard is the same with that in this 14th verse rendered see as if the whole were a rebuke or a conviction of Job for his stoutness in not viewing and contemplating the power and prerogative of God as he ought in laying his hand upon him and therefore saith Elihu if God will not hear those that pray vainly how much less will he regard thee who seemest not to regard him that is not to humble thy self before him as becomes thee to thy Soveraigne Lord And thereupon Elihu gives him counsel in the close of the verse Judge thy self before him and then waite for him or trust him as we render it Mr Broughton seems to speak in his translation much to this sense giving it thus So when thou sayest thou wilt not mark it judge before him and waite for him As God will
not regard vaine prayer so when thou sayest to him thou wilt not mark it that is attend to providences as thou oughtest he wil not regard thee There is a truth in this and the Original word may fairly bear this translation yet I shall not stay upon it but rather take this Context as the beginning of a new argument than as the inforcement of the former understanding it so the words have yet a reading different from ours Another modern translater disliking the former reading only in the first part of the verse gives his own thus In this also thou hast sinned Those words are supplyed to make up the sense Etiam in hoc pexasti quòd dixisti te non contemplaturum eum Judica te coram eo expecta eum Pisc as being the bringing in of a further charge against Job In this also thou hast sinned that thou hast said thou shalt not see him judge therefore thy self before him and look for him This is the matter of his new charge Thou hast said thou shalt not see him this is thy sin And having given him this charge Elihu gives him counsel according to this translation in the close of the verse Judge therefore thy self before him and look for him We say in our translation Judgement is before him that is before God this translation saith Judge thy self before him and the reason of it is because some take the word here as a Noune Aliqui ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã nomine exponunt Judicium alii pro ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã verbo imperativi modi Judica Merc others as a Verb of the Imparative mood Judge thy self before him and then look to him or trust in him that is thou hast failed greatly and sinned in taking up such a Conclusion as this that thou shalt not see God the sense of which I shall open when I come to our own translation therefore I advise thee to judge thy self thoroughly and humbly to acknowledge thy fault This translation is much insisted upon and because it hath a profitable sense I shall note two or three poynts from the latter part of the verse where it differs from ours and then proceed to our own Translation Job being charged with sin for saying that he should not see God is here advised to judge himself Judge thy self and look to or trust in him Hence Note It is our duty to judge our selves And 't is a great Gospel duty The Apostle gives it in plain words 1 Cor. 11.31 If we would judge our selves we should not be judged of the Lord. We are very apt to judge one another but very backward to judge our selves It is a great work to erect a Tribunal as I may say in our own Souls and Consciences to sit in Judgement upon our selves which that we may do we must do these three things First we must send Summons to our selves we must cite our selves to our own Tribunal for alwayes before Judgement Summons must go out and be sent to the party offending Here we are to send Summons to our selves that is to call together all the powers of our souls to appear in this Judgement and answer what is or may be alledged against us And when we have Summoned our selves then secondly we are to examine search and try our selveâ Lam. 3.41 Let us search and try our wayes and turn again unto the Lord. Thirdly having tryed and examined our selves before we can come to Judgement that Judgement which is here intended we must humble our selves under a Conviction of our own vileness and sinfulness whether of our nature or of our actions whether of our state or of our way for whereas there are two parts of Judgement Absolution and Condemnation we can never come to that part of Judgement the judging of our selves as persons worthy to be condemned by the Lord for our sins unless we are first convinced of our sins Now when we have summoned examined and convicted our selves then we are ready to judge our selves to judge our selves even with the judgement of condemnation respecting what we have done yet we should do it with hopes of absolution acting our faith upon the free grace and mercy of God through the satisfaction which Jesus Christ hath made for us Again The scope of this counsel or the reason why Elihu adviseth Job to judge himself was to shew that he had rashly judged of the wayes of God because he had not duly judged himself Hence Note Self-judging or judging our own doings will preserve us from rash judging the doings and dealings of God with us We shall never think God deals harshly or rigorously with us if we do but enter into and pass a right judgement upon our own souls As they that judge themselves shall not be judged of the Lord 1 Cor. 11.31 so they that judge themselves will never judge the Lord no they will acquit and justifie the Lord under all his proceedings even in his sorest and severest ones Thus did Ezra in reference to those great and unparalel'd sufferings of the Jewes in the Babylonian warr and captivity Chap. 9.13 Thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve And so did Daniel Chap. 9.7 O Lord righteousness belongeth unto thee but unto us confusion of faces as at this day Further Elihu concluded Job very much affected with or highly conceited of himself because he pleaded his own innocency or integrity so much and was so desirous to come to a hearing and have his matter tryed before God and therefore saith he Judge thy self Hence Note Self-judging will keep us from proud or high thoughts of our selves of our own wayes or works how good soever they are Suppose our wayes and our works pure and good as Jobs indeed were for the maine he was a man of the highest elevation in holiness and of greatest integrity yet if we would thoroughly examine and judge our selves consider our short comings in duty our sinnings against duty and the sins that cleave to our best duties we should find our very innocency to be guilty and our righteousness to be unrighteous and surely such a discovery would lay us very low in our own thoughts and go very far towards the subduing of that pride of our hearts which often ariseth from the contemplation of our own wel-doing Lastly Consider this counsel was given Job according to this translation with respect to that which follows Judge thy self and trust in or wait for him Hence Note We are never fit to trust nor to wait upon God in any of his providences till we judge our selves or Judging of our selves will dispose and prepare our hearts for trusting and resting upon the power goodness and mercy of God The more we judge and humble our selves the readier haâh God declared himself to help us in our extremities 1 Pet. 5 6. we also are then the readier to trust and wait on him both because we then see more clearly what need we
darkness into light who in the first Creation when all lay together in a confused heap and darkness over all bâought forth light and set all in order The Lord can command light out of darkness good out of evil order out of confusion and he can do all this easily and at an instant therefore whatever the appearances of things are let not us judge according to appearance but hope and wait and stick to what God hath promised Though providences appear cross to promises and prophesies yet they never frustrate either Let us also be sure to stick to the commandements of God for we may rest assured God will stick to his promises To keep Commandements is our work to keep promises is Gods work though we fayle much in our work God will not fayle at all in his work To believe this is the highest and truest work of faith But if we are faithful in our work the keeping of Commandements we have a further evidence that God will be faithful in his work the keeping or fulfilling of promises a great part the most spiritual part of Gods fulfilling promises being his enabling of us to keep Commandements and then we shall be able to say not only in faith but from experience that Judgement is before him And untill we come to this conclusion of faith in dark times when we cannot see him the soul never sits down in rest Nothing fixes the soul but trust in God we are unquiet yea we boyle with unquietness and toss as the angry Sea with the windes till we trust fully upon God upon his wisdome and power upon his goodness and faithfulness and can say let him do as seems good in his eyes we know he is and will be good to Israel even to such as are of a clean heart When we can once stay our minds on God we are quiet but when we must bring God to our mind and must have God go our pace or come at our time and work in our way none of which he will do what a do soever we make to have it so O how restless and troubled are we even like the troubled Sea when it cannot rest And O how much of this restless trouble discovers it self in the minds of many that I say not the most of men and all because they cannot trust God when they do not see him or because when they do not see him which was Jobs fayling they say they shall not see him If matters come not to pass according to their platforme and model or hit not the dates and dayes the times and seasons which they have fixt in their unscriptural Kalender or by a mistake of the Scripture Kalendar they are ready to say they shall not see him their hopes are as the giving up of the ghost that is they give all for lost and past recovery Many trust God as they do some men no farther than they see him they are the worst and coursest sort of men whom we trust no otherwise How dishonourable then how infinitely below God is such a trust Elihu would have Job and so should we trust God though he could not see him and said he should not Thou hast said thou shalt not see him yet trust in him Lastly From the illative particle therefore that is because Judgement is before him trust thou in him Note hence The consideration of the Righteousness and Justice of God is a mighty argument to provoke us to trust him and wait upon him Trust is not every bodyes due some as we speak proverbially are to be trusted no farther than a man can throw a Milstone that is they are not to be trusted at all Trust I say is not every bodyes due but to trust God is every bodyes duty yea and interest too for he is cloathed as much with righteousness and justice as he is with strength and power Will you not trust an honest man will you not trust a wise man We can come to a height of confidence in man sometimes if we think him a man of judgement and wisdome of honesty and faithfulness we can trust all we have in such a mans hand how much more should we say to God seeing Judgement is before him therefore will we trust in him We have an eminent Scripture urging this duty upon this ground Isa 30.18 The Lord is a God of Judgement Judgement is there taken in the same notion as here in the Text he is a wise and a just God the Lord is a God of judgement what followeth Blessed are they that wait for him There can be nothing said more urging more encouraging to wait and trust on God to do us right then this He is a God of Judgement a righteous God Judgement is before him Thus far of the good counsel which Elihu gave Job in this his dark and deserted state and counsel it was worthy to be embraced with both armes and with an open breast and that Job had need of it he shews in the next words while he tells Job and us it was not so with him yet as appeared by the sad hand of God upon him and his own distemper under it JOB Chap. 35. Vers 15 16. 15. But now because it is not so he hath visited in his anger yet he knoweth it not in great extremity 16. Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain he multiplieth words without knowledge IN the close of the former verse Elihu called upon and exhorted Job to a patient reliance and trust on God Judgement is before him therefore trust thou in him here in the 15th verse he shews that the reason why God visited him so sorely and yet continued his visitation upon him was because he did not as he ought patiently trust in and rely upon him There are several readings of this verse but I shall only mention one besides our own and having stayed a little about that go on to the explication of the Text as it lyes in order before us Some render thus But know now his anger hath visited thee but a little Hebr Nunc autem cito quod paululum te visitavit ira ipsius neque inquisivit multum admodum Merc Scito perexiguum esse quo te deus iratus plectit nisi levitèr in te inqui ere mâluisset Bez nothing neither hath he made any great inquisition The sense of the verse according to this rendring riseth thus As if Elihu had said God hath dealt with thee O Job far better than thou hast dealt with him or then thou hast cause to expect he hath not laid his hand so heavy upon thee as thy iniquity hath deserved and yet thou complainest much of his severity whereas indeed he hath not strictly inquired into the multitude of thy sins which if he had done he would certainly have brought upon thee a greater multitude of afflictions he would have afflicted thee much more Thou art too well used to complain thus That 's the summe of this rendring which
great extremity Who knoweth not the Antecedent to he is Job according to this translation because he knoweth not But what did not Job know First He knew not the dealings of God with him to submit to them as he should Secondly He knew not that there was such a miss or deficiency in the acting of his graces he perceived not how weak a soul he had in that weak body his trust his faith did not act and yet he knew it not or took no notice of his fayling in those duties Thirdly He hath visited in his anger yet he knoweth it not that is he knoweth not the anger of God who visiteth him To know may be taken three wayes First For the bare notion or apprehension of a thing thus certainly Job did know that he was visited for he spake often and enough of it Secondly To know is to consider to lay a thing to heart Isa 1.3 My people doth not know Israel doth not consider the latter part is exegetical and expounds the former My people doth not know that is doth not consider So Hos 2.8 She did not know that I gave her corn c. Psal 90.11 Who knoweth the power of thy anger that is who considers it who weighes what the anger of the Lord is we have sweet thoughts about the mercy and love and goodness of God yet 't is little very little of any of these that we know The love of God which we delight to know passeth knowledge Eph. 3.19 But for the anger of God which is so dreadful we seldome set our selves to the study of it none can know it comprehensively and few seek or labour to know it industriously considerately Thirdly To know is to be under a due sense of what we know We may know a thing and consider it yet not have a feeling of it I conceive we are to understand the word know here in these two latter senses He knoweth it not that is he doth not consider nor hath he a due sense either of the defect of his own graces that his faith acts not as it ought that his trust performes not its part as it should nor doth he know the anger of God in this visitation that is he knoweth not nor considereth the scope and meaning of God in this angry dispensation Yet he knoweth it not In great extremity ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã est ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Multitudo multum passim oâcurrit in Targ Interdum in Hebraismo Merc. The word signifieth any kind of encrease Mal. 4.2 They shall go forth and grow up as the Calves of the Stall So 't is used Jer. 50.11 Because ye are grown fat we put in the Margin big or corpulent Lev. 13.5 If the Plague of Leprosie he means encrease grow great and spread it self then c. Jobs affliction was a great one at first and it grew greater afterwards He was in great extremity or in extremities of what in great extremity First of loss and poverty in his Estate Secondly of pain and torment in his Body Thirdly of grief and anguish in his Soul In all these he suffered and suffered extreamly or in great extremity Mr. Broughton renders Because Job knoweth not this great plenty namely of sorrows which compass him about This was the censure of Elihu upon Job and Job had given Elihu too much ground for this censure Though Jobs Faith and trust were strongly at work somtimes yet they did not alwayes continue their work in the same degree or strength and while he often complained in his extremity that God dealt with him as with an enemy he did not well consider what that anger of God was in which he visited him during the time of that great extremity Yââ he knoweth it not in great extremity As this not knowing is referred to his weakness in acting his Graces now it is not so yet he knoweth it not Note A godly man is not alwayes sensible of his defects and failings in grace As some have little or no Grace who yet conceit they have much Rev. 3.17 Thou sayest I am rich and encreased in goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and naked So others who have grace yea much grace in the habit as Job had may be very insensible how little it acts yea they may suppose it acts much when the actings of it are intermitted or extreamly suppressed by passion and corruption They may think their Faith strong or that they trust fully in God they may think themselves patient and humble under the hand of God and yet be greatly defective in the working of all these Graces I mean not such a deficiency only as is common to all believers the best come short in the exercise of grace but some great deficiency may be and yet the soul not sensible of it As some are over-sensible of their failings complaining that they have no Faith no Patience when they not only have Faith and Patience as to their Being but as to their working also and possibly working well It is a different work of the Spirit to act and stir up Grace in us and to discover to us the actings and stirrings of Grace Now as some godly men act Grace and know it not so in others that are godly Grace acts not and they know it not Faith is down and they know it not they can bear little or nothing patiently yet they take no notice of it Thus the words of Elihu concerning Job he knoweth it not referr to the former part of the verse It is not so that is his Graces act not yet he takes no notice of it but thinks Faith and Patience with other Graces work well enough Secondly As not knowing refers to the visitation of God He hath visited him in his anger and he knoweth it not yea though in great extremity though he have a very hard time of it Hence Note First A good man may not only be visited but extreamly visited by the hand of God He may be under many extremities at once extreamly visited in Body extreamly in Mind extreamly in his Relations extreamly in his Name extââamly in all his worldly concernments As there is no outward evil for the matter so none for the degree but a good man may be in it Let us be moderate in judging those who are in the extreamest extreamities of suffering Secondly Note Some good men or good men somtimes under very great afflictions are not sensible of the hand of the Lord upon them As a good man may receive many mercies and yet not observe at present how or from whom he receives them so he may be under angry visitations or dispensations in great extremity and not mind the dealing of God with him in it nor what he intendeth by it yea he may complain of the burthen and cry out under the pressure yet not know it at that time for his own good for his humbling or purging
The Prophet saith concerning Ephraim Hos 7.9 Strangers have devoured his strength and he knoweth it not That is Enemies have swallowed up or taken away that wealth those riches they have subdued those Armies those Forces which he looked upon and boasted of as his strengâh they have broken him quite with Warrs Invasions yet Ephraim knew it not and not only so but as it followeth Yea Gray hairs are here and there upon him that is he hath many Symptomes or Signs or ruine and destruction yet he knoweth it not Grief of heart for great changes in our Estate change the hair many grow gray with sorrow So that when 't is said gray hairs are upon him 't is an allusion taken from the Body Natural to the Body Politick for as when the natural Body of a man hath gray hairs appearing or as Solomon allegorizeth Eccl. 12.5 when the Almond Tree flourisheth it is an argument that old Age and infirmities are coming upon him Gray hairs tell us that Death and the Grave are not farr off they signifie some decay of nature Now as the natural Body hath its gray hairs so a Politick Body the body of a State hath its gray hairs too that is somthing may come upon a State which sheweth that it is declining and waxing old that it is ready to break and go to the Grave I shall not stay to enquire what are the gray hairs of a Nation I only bring that Scripture to prove that many are insensible of the hand of God he visiteth in his anger yet man possibly a good man knoweth it not as Ephraim knew not of his gray hairs But did not Ephraim know his affliction or did not Job know his what is it to know or who may be said to know an affliction I answer they only know their afflictions or that God is visiting in his anger First who labour to find out the cause of Gods visitation If we feel the afflicting hand of God upon us and enquire not whence is this why is it so what hath moved or provoked the Lord to this manner of proceeding with us If I say we make not such enquiries we are visited in anger and know it not And therefore in that case the Prophet Jeremy exhorts the afflicted captivated Church of the Jewes in Babylon to search and try their wayes Lam. 3.41 that is to consider why it was so with them what was the cause of their captivity Till we sit down and make diligent search why we are visited why any affliction or calamity is upon our Persons and Families or upon the Kingdomes and Nations respectively where we live we know neither the day of our visitation nor what our visitation is Then only we know Gods visitation when we are studying the causes of it Scire est per causas scire To know a thing is to know it in the causes of it Secondly They may be said to know the visitation of the Lord that are studying as the cause which they have given so the ends and purposes which God hath in visiting them for how much soever we find and see the causes of an affliction yet till our hearts are drawn out to answer the ends of it we do not truly know it But you will say what are the usual ends which the Lord hath in afflicting his people I answer First to turn them from sin Secondly to unglew and wean them from the world Thirdly that they may live nearer to or more with him Fourthly that they may live more unto him or which takes in both the latter ends that they may enjoy him more while they live honour him more with their lives Now I say till we are upon this kind of study both of the causes of our visitation and the ends of it beg that we may both remove those causes comply with or answer those ends we may be said not to know the visitation of the Lord though it be and we are in great extremity And if this be to know the visitation of God surely many are perishing and sinking under the hand of his visitation wââ yet know it not How many are there who neither endeavour to search out the causes nor to fulfil the ends for which the Lord visiteth them in his anger I conceive this assertion or supposition at least of Elihu's concerning Job both as to his not trusting God in his affliction and not knowing his visitation was though in part true and occasion'd on Jobs part yet over-harsh and severe nor was the inference which he made from it in the next verse less severe and harsh Vers 16. Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain he multiplyeth words without knowledge Here 's the conclusion of Elihu's third Discourse with Job Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain Some connect this verse with the former according to the first reading of it before mentioned that giving a reason of this But now his anger or he in anger hath visited thee but a little or nothing c. Therefore thou O Job openest thy mouth in vain As if he had said Because the anger of God hath not punished Job sharply enough nor in proportion to the multitude and greatness of his sins therefore he speaks thus boldly and rashly Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain To open the mouth is a Pariphrasis of speaking As if he had said therefore Job speaks in vain To speak in vain or to use vain words is to speak to little or no purpose as I have had occasion to shew upon other places of this Book Chap. 15.2 Chap. 16.3 and therefore shall not stay upon it here Job was no vain speaker he used to speak words of weight words of soberness and truth yet was overborn by passion though not to speak vain words in the matter yet to speak or open his mouth in vain Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain Consider the Inference therefore that is First Because he doth not humble himself in a patient dependance upon God Secondly because he doth not as he ought duly take notice of the purpose of God in visiting him Thirdly because he seems more solicitous and zealous in defending his own right and credit than the honour and righteâusness of God for all these Reasons he openeth his mouth in vain that is he loseth his labour in all this discourse and might as we speak proverbially have saved his breath to cool his broth Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain Taking the Charge which Elihu brought against Job in the former verse to be well grounded and true we may Note All our complaints to and debates with God as also all our Apologies for our selves in affliction are fruitless and succesless till we give Glory to God and answer his purposes in laying his hand upon us Gratio vana sensus atque sapientiae inops tantum sonitu verborum querimoniarum clamosa Unless our hearts bow to
looking through the various works of God those especialy which are wrought on high the Meteors of the aiery region the raine the snow the lightening and the thunder in and by all which report is made as of the Wisdome and Power so of the Justice and Righteousnesse of God who often declareth his mind to Mankind by those Teachers and proclaims by their mouths as it were by sound of Trumpet how terrible he is and will be to wilful and impenitent sinners That 's the summe of his Argumentation or the Scope of this his last undertaking with Job Vers 1. Elihu also proceeded and said This is the Pen-mans Preface he makes the Connexion thus between the former and this discourse Elihu also proceeded and said The Hebrew is Elihu added that is to his former speeches he added this We render the word he continued Chap. 23.1 Elihu also proceeded or continued his speech and said and what said he that begins at the next verse Vers 2. Suffer me a little and I will shew thee that I have yet to speak on Gods behalf Here begins Elihu's own Preface ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Hoc significatu chaldaicum est Drus the aim or tendency of which is to gain Jobs attention and subscription to what he had to say and he suggesteth four Arguments or Motives in these three Verses to draw out the attention of Job and likewise to gain his submission to what he should lay before him First He gives him an Argument from his intended brevity I 'le be short I mean not to be tedious I will not tire thee nor wear out thy patience with a long Discourse Suffer me a little His second Argument is taken from the greatness of the Person in whose name and behalf he was about to speak As if he had said Hear me for it is not my own Cause nor the Cause of any man that I have in hand I speak for God Suffer me a little and I will shew thee what I have yet to say for God His third Argument is taken from the Authority in which he would speak Hear me diligently for what I have to say Nihil vulgar nihil non magnum dicâm Sanct. is not only for God but from God I will fetch my knowledge from afar and ascribe righteousnesse to my Maker vers 3. Fourthly Which is a necessa y Consequent of the former two he would be heard because he resolved and hoped he should make good that resolu ion to speak the truth and nothing but the truth he offers this at the 4th Verse For truly my words shall not be false he that is perfect in knowledge is with thee These are the four Arguments contained in this Preface by which Elihu like a wise perswasive Orator would draw on the attention of Job in hearing and gain his approbation in receiving what he had to say We may gather up the spirit and substance of all his Arguments into this one He is to be patiently heard and readily assented to who intends to speak but a little and that little for God and that little from God and that in truth and nothing but the truth But what I am now about to speak shall be but little and that for God and from God and that in truth and nothing but the truth Therefore I am to be heard patiently c. Suffer me a little Sta circa me paululum Mont. Some render stand or stay about me that is have patience a while be not hasty Impatient persons will be gone they will not abide by it to hear another out Our Translation reaches this sence fully according to the Idiom of our Language Suffer me a little ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Parum modicum est temporis et quantitatis discretae The word which we render little may referre either to the littleness or brevity of his Speech or to the littleness of the space or time which he would spend in speaking we joyn both here as if he had said I will not speak much and therefore I shall not take up much of your time The word is used by the Prophet with an addition Isa 10.25 Yet a very little while and the indignation shall cease and mine anger in their destruction that is in the destruction of the enemies of my People As if he had said My wrath shall not abide it shall not last long nor continue upon my People and when I have done with them it shall be turned upon their enemies and oppressors the Assyrians and towards them it shall not cease till they are utterly overturned Take one instance more in the same Prophet nearer the businesse of the Text in Job Isa 28.10 11. Line upon Line Precept upon Precept here a Little and there a Little or now a little and then a little They shall not be overburdened they shall have it by drops by inches by little and little as they are able to bear just as children and young Novices are taught who cannot receive much at once but now a letter and then a letter now a rule and then a rule Possibly Elihu perceived Job was not in a case to hear much and therefore condescending to his weak condition by reason of his long sufferings he saith to him Suffer me a little Yet further I conceive when Elihu saith to Job Suffer me a little it may signifie one of these two things or both of them First That Job had given him some interruption as he was speaking before It is usual with us if when a man is speaking any interpose to say Pray suffer me a while you shall have your liberty to object or reply what you please when I have done Secondly That he had shewed some dissatisfaction with what Elihu had spoken fully out or when he had done speaking and therefore he desired that he might further cleer the matter and speak out his mind yet at least a little more if it might be to his full satisfaction and the removal of all his doubts Suffer me a little Lay all these things together and they will teach us a poynt of prudence so to compose and compact what we have to say that it may not be grievous or burthensome to those that hear us especially not to those who as Job was are already grieved in mind or body or both As the Spirit of God lest the Faith and Patience of his People should fail in sufferings telleth yea assureth them it is but a little while that they shall suffer relief or deliverance and which is more the Reliever the Deliverer is making hast towards them Heb. 10.27 Yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry as the Spirit of God I say doth thus nurse up the Faith of his People in suffering times so we had need to nurse up the attentions of our Hearers at all times but then chiefly when they are under any kind of suffering and say yet a little
forgets God as his Maker will never remember much less answer and accomplish the ends for which he was made Thirdly I will ascribe righteousness to My Maker Note A godly man takes God as his own and appropriates him by Faith in all his Relations Faith takes not only a share in God but all of God My God my Father my Maker my Redeemer are strains of Faith A Believer doth as it were ingross God to himself yet desires and endeavours that all as well as himself may have their part and portion in God yea God for their Portion Job said Chap. 19.25 I know that my Redeemer liveth He spake as if he had got a Redeemer not only to but by himself Thus also holy Paul of Christ Gal. 2.22 Who loved me gave himself for me as if he had been given for him alone and loved none but him This is the highest work of Faith and 't is the signification of our hottest love to God it shews endearedness of affection to him as well as neerness and clearness of interest in him when we thus take him as our own Saviour Father Maker I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker Observe Fourthly He who is the Maker of all men can be unrighteous to nâ man nor is lyable to the censure of any man whatever he doth 'T is impossible that he who made us should wrong or injure us and that upon a twofold Principle First Of the respect he hath for Justice towards all those whom he hath made God is so tender that he doth not willingly or with his heart afflâct nor grieve the children of men to crush under his feet all the Prisoners of the earth Lam. 3.33 34. much less will he as it followeth vers 35 â6 turn away the right of a man before the face of the most High that is before his own face who is the Most High As if it had been said The Lord will not pervert Judgment in any mans Case that comes before him Or if we take those words before the face of the Most High as denoting the highest Judicatory on Earth as our Margin intimates putting there for Most High A Superiour then the meaning is The Lord doth not approve that any earthly Judge though Supream or most Superiour should turn aside the right of a man how inferiour soever for as the 36th verse hath it To subvert a man in his Cause the Lord approveth not or as the Hebrew is rendred seeth not that is he seeth it not with approbation but indeed with detestation and will severely punish such subverters of Justice Secondly It is impossible that he who hath made us should wrong or injure us upon the principle of his Soveraignty over all those whom he hath made He that gives all men their being he that gives all to all men that are in being can be unrighteous to no man whatsoever he taketh from him or doth with him We have Job in the beginning of this Book Chap. 1.21 ascribing righteousness to God his Maker upon this reason or principle The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord. It is he that made me a man 't is he who once made me a rich man a great man the greatest man of all the men of the East Chap. 1.3 What if now he hath lessened me and left me little or nothing what if he hath now made me a mean man a poor man in account a no man what if God hath now stript me naked and taken all from me He hath taken nothing but what he gave why then should I take it ill at his hands or have so much as an ill thought of him the Lord gives and the Lord takes there 's no unrighteousness in all this If God should utterly undoe us he doth us no wrong if he should as it were unmake us let us consider he is our Maker then we must say there is no unrighteousness in him yea we shall be ready with Elihu in the Text to ascribe righteousness unto him And therefore as a Corollary from the whole Note Fifthly Whatsoever God doth with us or others we ought to maintain the honour of God and retain good thoughts of him both as righteous and good Though Heaven and Earth be moved though the World be full of confusion and unâighteousness yet we must ascribe righteouânesse to God Whatsoever or whosoever falls to the dust the Honour and Justice of God must not Thus far of Elihu's third Argument for attention the Fourth is at hand in the next verse Vers 4. For truly my words shall not be false he that is perfect in knowledge is with thee As if he had said I am purposed to speak the truth and nothing but the truth therefore hear me Truly my words shall not be false He gives assurance for or warrants the truth of his words while he saith they shall not be false Negatives in Scripture often carry a strong affirmation The Father of a Fool hath no joy Non est âânum pro passimum est sic non remittâtur ei i. e. famietur Drus saith Solomon Prov. 17.21 that is he shall have a great deal of sorrow When the Scripture denyeth forgiveness to any sort of impenitent sinners or saith their sin shall not be forgiven the sense is they shall be punished When we say proverbially Goods ill gotten shall not prosper the meaning is they shall perish and do him mischief that hath gotten them not only shall he not thrive with them but they shall ruine and undoe him his goods ill gotten shall do him no good when the evill day is come much less shall they be able or he by them to prevent the coming of an evil day Once more When we say Such a thing is not ill done our intendment is 't is very well done excellently done So here when Elihu saith Truly my words shall not be false his meaning is I will speak truth and truth to the highest I will speak nothing but what shall endure the Touchstone and the Test I will not offer thee a Syllable of falshood what I alledge and urge either for God or against thee shall not be fetcht oâ hammer'd out of my own brain and so subject to errour and mistake but such as God who cannot erre by whose Spirit and in whose stead I speak unto thee hath inspired me with or taught me for thy conviction and instruction Fourthly When he saith Truly my words shall not be false we may take it two wayes First As to the matter spoken Secondly As to the mind of the Speaker when truth is thus spoken t is truly spoken thus much Elihu engag'd for As if he had said The matter that I speak shall be true and I will speak it in truth or with a true mind and heart I will not speak any thing to flatter thee nor for my own ends to trouble thee my words shall be candid and sincere
as well as found and orthodox I will speak the truth and speak it in truth Some speak that which is false as I may say in the sincerity of their heart thinking it to be true and others speak truth in the falseness of their heart that is they have some by ends in speaking it from both those Elihu here clears himself and with both these Job had taxed his Friends Chap. 13.7 Chap. 17.5 Hence observe It is the highest Commendation of a Speaker to speak truth and the higher the Truth the higher the Commendation of the Speaker Words can have no greater beauty nor richer ornament than Truth and Truth is never more adorn'd than by plainness of Speech nor more beautiful than when like our first Parents in innocency 't is naked To speak truly is much more honourable than to speak eloquently one plain word of plain truth is better than a long painted Oration tinctured with the least errour What then are long Orations and large Volumes which have upon the matter as many errours as words as many lyes and flatteries as Periods and Sentences at best some in putting off their words do as others in putting off their wares mingle good and bad together 'T is dangerous to make such medlies As we must not put bad for good darkness for light bitter for sweet falshood for Truth so we must not blend or put bad among the good nor mix darkness with light nor falshood with Truth And as 't is dangerous to mix any falshood of Doctrine with Truth so to mix falshood of Heart with Truth of Doctrine or to speak Truth but not in truth The Apostle is zealous in protesting against falshood and professing for the Truth in both these respects First as to the truth of the Doctrine or of the matter spoken 2 Cor. 2.17 We are not as many which corrupt or deal deceitfully with the Word of God we do not adulterate or mix it with our own imaginations or inventions which he further confirms Chap. 4.2 We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty c. Secondly As he spake truth of Doctrine so he spake it in the truth of his heart as he assured the Corinthians in both the places last mentioned we are not only no corrupters of the Word of God but as of sincerity there 's truth of heart as of God in the sight of God speak we in Christ And again We walk not in craftiness nor handle the Word of God deceitfully but by manifestation of the truth commend our selves to every mans Conscience in the sight of God He makes a protest yet once more in the same tenour and somewhat higher 2 Cor. 13.8 We can do nothing against the Truth O blessed Impotency but for the Truth O blessed Ability Who would not be weak against the Truth who would not be strong for the Truth which is strongest of all and will prevail And as we should speak nothing against the Truth so nothing but the Truth nothing beside the Truth nothing that may be any blemish or turn to the least disservice of the Truth yea though it should be as we hope for the service of that excellent and amiable thing called Peace a thing so excellent that we cannot over-bid nor pay too much for it unless we part with and pay away truth for it and if ever we do so we over-bid for it and over-buy it indeed and shall have cause at last to repent of our bargain and cry out we have burnt our Fingers and it would be well if that were all Therefore let us remember the Lords admonition by his Prophet Zech. 8.19 Love the Truth and Peace First Truth then Peace Nor was there ever any true Lover of Truth that was not also a Lover of Peace nor any true Lover of Peace but was such a Lover of Truth that he could lay down or let go his Peace for it One of the Ancients tells us Tantus sit in te veritatis amor ut quicquid dixeris juratum putes Hieron There ought to be so great a love of Truth in us that whatsoever we say to be true should be as much as if we had sworn it to be true or had delivered it upon Oath There is no more goodness in what we say than there is Truth in what we say A Lye in report or Discourse and a Lye in Doctrine or Dispute are both abominable to God and should be so to man therefore Elihu heartily disclaims it Truly my words shall not be false He that is perfect in knowledge is with thee This Assertion suits well with the fore-going Protestation ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Integer scientiarum vel integer scientis Heb. He that is perfect in knowledge will not cannot utter words of falshood But who is that and where to be found Some understand it of God He that is perfect in knowledge is with thee that is God is with thee in this business and without all controversie it may be said of God in the highest and strictest sense of Peâfection He is perfect in knowledge The Lord is a God of knowledge 1 Sam. 2.3 as well as ãâã God of mercy he is as knowing as he is merciful perfect in both Taking the Text so 't is as if Elihu had said Thou hadst need O Job look to thy self and diligently attend to what is spoken for thou hast not to do with man with one like thy self only but thou hast to do with God Some insist much yea altogether upon this Interpretation of the word God is with thee therefore receive truth God cannot be deceiv'd nor doth he deceive therefore hearken and obey Yet Elihu might speak thus with respect to the message brought by himself for when man speaking in the Name of God speaks the mind of God to us it may be said God is with us and speaks to us by him The Apostle saith 2 Cor. 13.5 If any require a Sign or Token of Christ speaking in me Christ speaks while his Messengers and Ministers speak truth The same Apostle testified of the Thessalonians that they took his speaking as Gods speaking 1 Thess 2.13 When ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us ye received it not as the word of man but as it is in truth the Word of God And therefore I conceive we are to understand the words of Elihu concerning Elihu himself yet not as in himself but as fitted for and assisted in the work by God He that is perfect in knowledge is with thee As if he had said Though I am but a young man yet thou hast not to deal with an ignorant man with one who is but a novice or smatterer in the things of God with one that is yet in the Elements of Divine knowledge and learning He that is perfect in knowledge is with thee And it is conceiv'd that Elihu speaks thus in the third person for Modesties sake as the Apostle Paul also did 2 Cor.
10.22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousie Are we stronger than he As if he had said What do ye mean he speaks to those that would venture to go to the Table of Devils that is who cared not how they mingled themselves and held Communion in the things of God with those who worshipped Devil-gods or as all Idolaters do Devils rather than God what mean you saith he to these consider your selves Will you provoke the Lord are you stronger than he are you his match are you able to graple with him not so well as a Child with a mighty Giant or a Lamb with a Lion The mightiness of the Lord his Almightiness should make sinners tremble and fear to provoke him he can crush them as a Moth and break them in pieces like a Potters Vessel As 't is the Joy of all true Believers that God hath laid help for them as 't is said Psal 89.19 upon one that is mighty that is Christ of whom David was but a shadow and as 't is the comfort of the Fatherless how weak soever that their Redeemer is mighty Prov. 23.11 So it may fill the faces of the wicked and presumptuous with confusion and their hearts with despairing sorrow to hear that God who is ready to take vengeance on them is mighty Behold God is mighty that 's a glorious sight and yet behold a sight more glorious if more glorious may be And despiseth not any What a temperament is here God is so mighty that he feareth none no not the mightiest yet so meek that he despiseth not any no not the meanest Elihu having asserted the mightiness of God amplifieth it First by his gracious condescension and moderation in the use of his mightiness he is mighty yet he doth not exercise his might in a proud vaunting or contemning way he despiseth not any that 's the first thing in which he amplifies the excellency of God in his mightiness Secondly As God is thus mighty and moderate in the exercise of his might not despising any so behold another excellency of this might of God He is mighty not only in strength of Arm and Authority but as the last words of the verse set him forth In strength and wisdome Or he is as wise as he is strong Some men have a great deal of might and they presently swell proudly this spoyls all others have a great deal of might but not a bit of wit or wisdome or understanding how to dispose or make the best of it But what a mighty God have we to do with who is mighty and despiseth no man who hath not only might of strength but might of wisdome too Thus we see how Elihu in this latter part of the verse advanceth or extolleth the mightiness of God in these two things the infinite Moderation and Wisdome that go along with it and act it I shall a little open both First his wonderful Moderation in the exercise of his mightiness He is mighty And despiseth not any To despise is an act of Pride Pride is a bad Moâher of many bad Children these three especially First boasting of our selves Secondly contending with others Thirdly despising of others The word here used signifies to despise with abhorrence or loathing as the Stomack doth meat which is offensive to it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ill savoured meat is loathsome and any thing which the mind nauseates is an abhorrence to us The Lord despiseth not he doth not nauseate any The word any is not exprest in the Original Text that saith only The Lord is Mighty and despiseth not we put that supplement in our Translation any He is Mighty and despiseth not any Others render more strictly thus Behold God is Mighty and despiseth not his own people The Chaldee Paraphrase speaks exegetically The Lord is mighty and despiseth not the righteous man The Greek Version hath a fourth supplement to the same purpose God is mighty and despiseth not the innocent person ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Innocentem simplicem integrum Sept. Etsi ââgaââr âusti tamen non ideo quia justi Merc. the man free from evill or wickedness a man of integrity a man of simplicity the Lord will not despise such are often afflicted but never despised especially not as such Lastly thus God is mighty and despiseth not the mean the afflâcted the poor or those of low estate Psal 22.24 He hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted neither hath he hid his face from him but when he cryed unto him he heard And this seems most proper to the scope and meaning of Elihu here God is mighty and despiseth not those who have no might Thus the words reflect chiefly upon Job who at least seemed to charge God that he did not consider him in his affliction or in his low estate when he complained and cryed to him We have two Texts in this Book of Job which might very well move Elihu to speak thus unto him though God be mighty yet he despiseth not the afflicted or the poor Job said Chap. 10.3 Is it good to thee that thou shouldst oppress that thou shouldst despise the work of thy hands and shine upon the Counsell of the wicked As if he had said to God Thou seemest to despise me the work of thy hand now that I am poor low and reduced as it were to dust Again Chap. 19.7 we have neer the same âânguage Behold I cry out of wrong but I am not heard I cry a loud but there is no Judgment As much as to say I am despised and neglected I am not regarded when I cry This Elihu takes off in the present Text Behold God is mighty and despiseth not any he despiseth not the afflicted not the poor when they cry unâo and call upon him and therefore in this O Job thou hast misbehaved thy self or spoken amiss But which-soever of these supplements we take the sense is good and the Proposition true he despiseth not what will he not despise we say not any a second his own a third the Just a sourth the Innocent a fifth the afflicted there is a sixth which I shall offer before I part with these words All these are true God despiseth not Hence Note First Though the Lord be infinitely more mighty than the mightiest of men yet he doth not despise any man He doth not despise man in general who is the work of his hand yea Job said once Chap. 14.15 Thou wilt have a desire to the work of thy hand The Lord doth not despise any of his works as they are his works or as they come out of his hand and therefore when Jonah seemed to set so low a rate upon the Ninivites who were the work of his hand his Creatures the Lord reproved him for it by the Gourd which when the Lord smote Jonah was angry but said the Lord Dost thou well to be angry for thy Gourd Hast thou mercy upon a Gourd and should
time and means and manner as in all his outward Administrations so in ministring or giving out this right the Lord waits to be gracious till we are ready for his grace and he waits in the same sence to be righteous till the poor are ready for their right they shall not stay for it when once they are ready for it and it would be a wrong to them to have their right before they are ready for it Lastly There is a day spoken of wherein the Lord will do all his poor right in the view of all the world Acts 17.31 He hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the World in Righteousnesse by that man whom he hath ordained The day approacheth wherein the Lord will judge the world in righteousness Right is prepared designed for them The time till right shall be done to all as is desired or to the utmost of their desires maketh hast He that shall come will come and will not tarry Behold saith he I come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according as his works shall be Rev. 22.12 And if the Lord come with a reward in his hand for those who have done well he will undoubtedly come with right in his hand to give all those who have suffered wrongfully JOB Chap. 36. Vers 7. He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous but with Kings are they on the throne yea he doth establish them for ever and they are exalted THis verse contains a further confirmation of Gods righteous and gracious dealing with the righteous and gracious poor yea with all that are righteous and gracious The words may be taken either in a stricter or in a larger sense First Strictly as an Exposition of the latter part of the former verse He giveth right to the poor that is He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous We may put both together He is so set to give right to the righteous poor he takes such care of them that he cannot take his eye off from them Secondly In a larger and more general sense as a Conclusion upon the whole matter that God will not desert any righteous person whether poor or rich high or low God will take notice of piety and godliness wheresoever he finds it He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã minuit diminuit ademit substraxit The word which we translate withdraweth and is here used negatively He withdraweth not signifies strictly in the Noune any kind of abatement or diminution and in the Verb to diminish or abate or take short in any kind that which was before When Pharaoh Exod. 5.8 gave out a fresh Charge for burdening or indeed oppressing the Children of Israel in their bondage the Order ran in this stile The tale of bricks which they did make heretofore you shall lay upon them you shall not diminish or withdraw any you shall not abate them a brick And Moses shewing how sacred a thing the Word of God is Deut. 9.2 gives a double check or prohibition to all medlers with it First to medlers by way of addition Ye shall not add unto the Word Secondly by way of abateâent or abstraction Ye shall not diminish or withdraw from it it is this word As if the Lord had said Every tittle of my word shall stand by it self and every Iota be establisht be sure that ye put nothing to it that you withdraw nothing from it Further this word which we translate withdraw is rendred also to clip as the hayr of the head or beard is clipt Jer. 48.37 It is indeed high treason against the King of Heaven to clip his coyn his word which bears the royal stamp and superscription of his truth and holiness Thus here he withdraweth not that is the Lord doth not abate lessen diminish or take off his eyes from the righteous his eyes are fixed on them for good alwayes and they are alwayes fixed in the same strength and vertue He withdraweth not His eyes God is a Spirit without parts and passions yet often in Scripture parts and passions are ascribed to him in allusion to man here eyes He withdraweth not his eyes that is his sight Oculos domini esso super aliquem nisi aliquid additur semper in bonum sumitur peculiarem ejus favorem et curam importat Bold or his providence And we may take notice that in Scripture where this expression is used without any further addition it is alwayes taken in a good sense When we read either of Gods keeping his eyes upon his people or of his not withdrawing his eyes from his people it alwayes respects their priviledge benefit and comfort He withdraweth not his eyes From the righteous He doth not say from this or that righteous man but from the righteous implying the whole kind or generation of the righteous The indefinite is universal we may render it thus he withdraweth not his eyes from any that are righteous The righteous here may be taken in a two-fold notion First for the righteous as to their state or who are in a state of righteousness Man wanting a righteousness of his own hath the righteousness of another assigned and imputed to him Justified persons through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ are righteous persons as hath been shewed heretofore Secondly We may take righteous here with respect to the righteousness of their wayes and actions They who do righteousness are righteous saith the Apostle John To a righteous state there belongs a righteous way a righteous walk righteous acting not that the righteous do not sin but they would not nor do they sin at all as the unrighteous It is a high blemish or staine to the Gospel when any that pretend to a righteous state or to righteousness by Jesus Christ are not righteous as to their wayes and course as to their walkings and workings whether towards God or man 'T is true in a strict legal sense none are righteous no not one but in a Gospel sense all justified and fanctified persons are righteous and they are called so not only positively as to what themselves are but comparatively as to what the men of the world are who live in a state or walk in a course of sin and unrighteousness The Lord withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous But some may here object or question Is this true only of the righteous Doth the Lord at any time withdraw his eyes from the unrighteous truly that would be very good newes to many unrighteous persons they would be glad that they and their way might be hid from God or that God would not look upon them I answer This Scripture is not to be so understood as if God did behold the righteous and not the wicked for Prov. 15.3 The eyes of the Lord are every where beholding the evil and the good whether things done or persons doing them The Lord doth not withdraw his eyes from
without fruit to us and therefore he openeth the ear to discipline and sheweth us the meaning of such a cross or sickness of such a loss or affliction He openeth their ear to dâscipline Hence note First It is a special power of God which helps us to understand his mind either in his Word or in his Works We neither understand the dealings nor sayings of God if left to our selves the heart of man is shut his ear is deaf the ear of his heart that 's the ear here intended till God say as in the Gospel to the bodily ear Ephatha Be thou opened Pro. 20.12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye the Lord is the maker of them both That 's a great truth First of the sensitive ear and eye 't is the Lord who hath made the one to hear and the other to see as he told Moses Exod. 4.11 and as 't is said Psal 94.19 Secondly 't is as true if understood of the intellectual eye and ear the hearing ear and seeing eye that is the ear that heareth obediently and practically that ear is of Gods forming and making such an ear did God create Acts 16.14 where it is said A certain woman named Lydia a seller of purple of the City of Thyatira which worshipped God heard us whose heart the Lord opened that she attended to the things that were spoken by Paul Further what was the season of opening the ear It was a day of affliction when they were bound in fetters and holden in cords of affliction Hence learn God useth afflictions as medicines or means to restore spiritual hearing Man is often cured of his spiritual deafness both as to the voyce of the word and workes of God by sickness A good man in health Fles prospera donum est dei consolantis res odversa est donum dei admonentis quod igiturpateris un de plangis medicina est non paena castigatio non damnatio August in Psal 102. Qui juhentis verba non audiunt ferientis verberibus admonentur ut ad bona aeterna paenae trahant quos praemia non invitant Greg l. 26. Moral c. 26. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã et dicit peace prosperity may have his ears so stopped that the Lord sees it needful to send some sharp correction to get out the ear-wax and unlock them Prosperity saith one of the Ancients is the gift of God comforting us adversity is the gift of God admonishing us why then dost thou complain that thou sufferest thy suffering is a medicament not a punishment 't is for thy bettering not for thy undoing 'T is a favour to feel God striking when we have not heard him speaking and he therefore strikes that we may attend what he speaks When words do not prevaile to open the ear fetters and cords shall That 's the second designe of God when he brings the righteous into streights Then he openeth their ear to discipline The third is given in the close of this verse And commandeth that they return from iniquity Here 's the issue of the former two The shewing them their transgressions the opening their ear are that they may return from iniquity and here is a command that they must And commandeth that they return c. The Hebrew text may be rendred He speaketh or saith that they return from iniquity and this speaking may be expounded two wayes First by perswading He speaks perswadingly The Lords afflictions are perswasions his stroaks are entreaties he beseecheth us by ouâ sorrows and sicknesses and weaknesses and pains that we would return from our iniquity Secondly we take speaking or saying in the highest straine He speaks by commanding he speaks authoâitatively Thus we render He commandeth The command of God is twofold First formal or express when God gives the rule in so many words Secondly vertual The command of God I conceive is here to be understood in this latter sense When the Lord afflicteth the righteous he vertually commands or sends out his Edict that they return from their iniquity The word return implyes them formerly following some iniquity gone far from the Lord This returning is repenting all the Scripture over I need say no more of that As by sin we turn from God so by repentance we return from iniquity and as the Lord at all times commands the righteous by his word so they even force him sometimes to command them by his rod which is called discipline in the former part of the verse because sinners feel paine and find matter to learn all at once He commandeth that they return from iniquity The word rendred iniquity signifies a vain empty thing ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã habet significationem nihili Ab operibus suis malis quae similia sunt vanitate nihilo Chald a thing of nought so the Chaldee paraphraseth it here He commands that they return from their evil works which are like to vanity and a thing of nought What is sin but a kind of nothing we look for great matters from sin but it is a vanity it is like an Idol nothing in the world that is it is not such a thing as it doth import or as it promiseth or as the opinion of men make it to be Iniquity is no such thing as it pretendeth or as is pretended The Lord commandeth that they return from iniquity that is from doing that which will profit them nothing at all or no more than a vaine thing a thing of nothing can And yet though iniquity be nothing good or profitable yet 't is all things evil and hurtfull nor had any thing ever hurt us or been evil to us had it not been for iniquity He commandeth that they return from iniquity Hence Note First Affliction hath a voyce God speaks loudly to us by affliction He speaks to us as loud in his works as he doth in his word he trumpets to us he thunders to us in his works God speaks aloud but sweetly to us in his works of mercy he speaks aloud but terribly to us in his works of judgement Secondly Seeing as was touched in opening the words this command is not to be taken for a standing Law for so God alwayes commands men to return from iniquity but the command here is a renewed act or a special dispensation there is as it were a fresh command issued when a man is under the afflicting hand of God Hence Note God reinforceth or reneweth his command to return from sin as often as he reneweth our afflictions That we return from iniquity is a standing an everlasting Law but when we are in affliction then there is as it were a fresh Edition of the command 't is as I may say new printed and proclaimed the fetters print this command upon our heels and the cords upon our hands that we return from iniquity Thirdly Note Iniquity is a vaine thing it is a nothing Shall we not then return from it one would think a little perswasion
might serve the turn to hasten our return from a nothing and shall not a command do it when I say a nothing remember as was shewed sin is no such thing as you look upon it to be where are the profits that you have reaped by sin where are the contents and pleasures that you have taken by sin the profit the pleasure and content of sin are nothing there is no advantage to be had by sin Sin is something in the ill effects of it if you would have paine and dishonour and reproach you may have enough of it in sin and you will find sin a something in that sense but sin is a nothing that is no such thing as you expect and look for and therefore be perswaded to return from it Lastly From the whole text take notice of the purpose of God what he hath in his heart when he afflicteth his people the righteous for their iniquities and faylings for their faults and uneven walkings The scope of God in all this is not their hurt but good it is not to destroy them for their sin but to destroy their sin it is not to withdraw himself from them but to draw them nearer to himself all the hurt that the Lord intends us by any affliction is but to get out our dross and to fetch out our filth to bring us off from those things that will undo and ruine us for ever And how great an argument of the goodness of God is it that he designeth the evils which we suffer in these dying bodies to heal the evils and help on the good of our immortal souls that 's all the hurt that the Lord means us And the Lords heart is so much in this design the return of those he afflicts from their iniquity that he seems confident of it that when any are in affliction surely they will return Hosea 5.15 In their affliction they will seek me early surely they will And therefore the Prophet speaks of the Lord as defeated and disappointed of his purpose when he seeth such as he hath afflicted continuing in their sin Isa 9.13 The people turneth not unto him that smiteth them neither do they seek the Lord of Hosts As if he had said 'T is a wonder that being smitten they have not returned what a strange what a cross-grain'd people are these What doth the Lord smite you that you should run farther from him and follow your iniquity closer or hold it faster you may be ashamed that you turn not unto him that speaks to you but when you are smitten will you not return from iniquity remember the Lord therefore suffers you to be bound in fetters that you may be loosed from your sins he therefore suffers you to be holden in the cords of affliction that you might let go your transgressions Take heed you be not found disappointing him of his purpose How well it will be with those who do not disappoint him and how ill 't is like to be with such as do will appear further and fully in the two next verses JOB Chap. 36. Vers 11 12. 11. If they obey and serve him they shall spend their dayes in prosperity and their years in pleasures 12. But if they obey not they shall perish by the sword and they shall die without knowledge IN the former Context we heard what the blessed designes of God are upon the righteous when they are bound in fetters and holden in the cords of affliction namely to convince them of their sin to fit them for the receiving of Instruction and to bring them clear off from iniquity In these two verses Elihu proceedeth to shew what the issue of those afflictions will be in a double respect or case First In case the afflicted come up to and answer the forementioned designes of God that is if they take knowledge of their sin if their ears be opened to Instruction if they return from iniquity what then he tells us v. 11. If they obey and serve him they shall spend their dayes in prosperity and their years in pleasures that shall be the issue the blessed issue of all the afflictions with which they were exercised Secondly He shews us how those afflictions will issue in case the afflicted come not up to those designes of God in case they are not brought to a knowledge of sin nor receive instruction nor return from iniquity what then he tells us that v. 12. if they obey not this will be the consequent of their obstinacy they shall perish by the sword and they shall die without knowledge We have a parallel Scripture to this almost in terms Isa 19.20 If ye hear and obey ye shall eat the good of the Land but if ye refuse and rebell ye shall be devoured with the sword This text not only carries the sense but almost the words by which Elihu expresseth both the Lords pleasure and displeasure in this place to Job Vers 11. If they obey or hear That is take out the lesson taught them if they do that which the affliction teacheth them or which God teacheth by their affliction by their cords and fetters then c. The same word is frequently in Scripture used for obeying and hearing Psal 81.8 11 13. Psal 95.7 To what purpose is our hearing the will of God without obedience to it When young Samuel said at the Lord's call Speak for thy servant heareth 1 Sam. 3.10 his meaning was Lord I am ready to do what thou speakest We hear no more than we obey and therefore obeying and hearing may well be exprest by the same word The text is plain I shall only give this Note and pass on It is our duty to hear and obey when-ever God calls or speakes either in his word or in his works That which this text holds out specially is the voice of God in his works what God speakes by Fetters what he speakes by Cords If ever we hear and obey the voice of the Lord it should be when he teacheth us as Gideon taught the men of Succoth Judg. 8.16 with thornes and briars of the wilderness O let us take care of hearing and obeying this voice For First God is the Lord and therefore to be obeyed Secondly God is a Soveraign Lord and therefore much more to be obeyed Thirdly As all the Commands so all the Chastisements of God are just and righteous therefore they are most of all to be obeyed Fourthly To obey the Commands of God whether taught us in his Word or by his Rod is good yea best for us therefore we should obey for our own good If they obey And serve him or worship him The word which here we render to serve ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Religio at numinis cultus est servitus quaedam is very often in Scripture rendred to worship and sometimes worshipping is expounded by serving Mat. 4.10 Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serve that also is the mind of the
Text If they obey and serve him Hence note The Lord expects our service and then especially when we suffer Religion and the Worship of God in the whole compass of it is nothing else but service a blessed service a free service a service infinitely more free than any thing the world calls freedom Exod. 4.23 Let my Son go that he may serve me that is worship me All the Sons of God are his Servants and they have most of the Son in them who have most of the Servant in them If any deny him service they deny their sonship or rather as the Apostle speaks of Non-sufferers in one kind or other Heb. 12.8 They are bastards not sons yea God expects whole and all service from us or that we should serve him with our all Deut. 10.12 Thou shalt serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart We must serve the Lord not only with the best we have but with all the best with the heart and all the heart We serve God no further than we obey him and we worship him no further than we serve him and that heartily To serve God as to love God is a very comprehensive word 't is the summe of all the duty of Man To serve God is to submit both to what he commands us and to what he layeth upon us To serve God is to submit to what he would have us do and to whatsoever he is pleased to do with us and so we serve him particularly under sufferings We should alwayes serve him actively and we are called sometimes to serve him passively All Believers are free and yet they must serve and they are made free on purpose to serve We are purchased by the blood of Christ that we might serve him Because we are bought with a price we must not be the servants of men saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 7.23 Whose servants then Surely the servants of God Servus tanquam in bello servatus We are conquered that we might serve The Latines say that a Servant is one that is saved in War taken and saved So it is with all the people of God they are taken in the holy war they are taken prisoners and so made servants to Jesus Christ Yet Believers are servants not only by conquest but compact and covenant every godly man hath as it were sealed Indentures with God he hath upon the matter put his ear to the Lords post to be boared thorow as you read Exod. 21.6 that he may be his servant for ever The Lord expects service But what is it to serve him First To serve him is to do his Will Secondly To serve him is to do his whole Will It is not the doing of this or that piece of the Will of God or this or that patch of the Will of God which renders us his servants but the doing his whole Will Thirdly To serve him is to do his Will only so saith the Scripture Him only shalt thou serve If it may be supposed that we could do the whole Will of God and yet do the will of any other or do our own will too in any thing contrary to his we were not his servants if we serve him not alone or if we serve him not only that is if in serving man we aim not chiefly at the serving of him or if all our services to men are not subservient or not in subordination to the service of God we serve him not at all Fourthly I may add this also To serve God is to do every thing under this contemplation that what we do is the Will of God 'T is very possible for a man to do that which is the Will of God and yet not to serve him in doing it which we never do till we do it because it is the Will of God His Will must be not only the Rule of what we do but the very Reason why we do it else our doings are not his servings They that do not attend this serve God but as a beast may serve him a beast may do that which is the Will of God the inanimate creatures serve him so We hear of stormy winds and tempests fulfilling his Will Psal 148. All living yea liveless creatures do that which is his Will but they do not attend this that it is his Will which they do So that I say to do his Will not considering that it is his Will is to serve him no otherwise than beasts or than the winds or stormes serve him And to do his Will ayming at our own wills or ends is to serve him but as a hypocrite serves him A hypocrite doth not serve God in what he doth though he doth many things which are materially the Will of God because in all he minds his own will more than the Will of God Lastly We must serve God as Sons Mal. 3.17 A Son serveth no less than a Servant yea much more though not as a servant for he knoweth more of his Fathers mind than a meer servant doth Joh. 15.15 and he knoweth that he shall have also though not Wages at the end of every day yet the inheritance in the end Obadiah was the proper name of one good man and it is a name common to all good men they are as that word imports Servants of the Lord. It is a common Theam to urge men to serve God but it is a rare thing to be indeed a servant of God To serve God is the Summe and Marrow of all knowledge in divinity and the great end why we came into this World and for which we are here detained Nor is it an easie matter to come up to or attain the holy skill of serving such a Lord and Master as he There must be a doing of his Will and of his whole Will and of his Will only and that under this precise contemplation that it is his Will to denominate us his servants or to make a proof that we serve him Now whether God teacheth us by his Word or by his Rod which is the teaching of this context O how readily should we obey and serve him To serve him is not only the design of our being made free that is we were not onely made free to serve him but to serve him is our freedom as was touch't before yea to serve him is not onely to be free but to serve him is to reign and rule They that serve God to purpose reign over the lusts of the evil World without and over their own lusts within nor can any reign over the lusts of the world without or their own within but only they who serve him and only so far as they serve him Every gracious act of service to God is the subjugation or bringing under of some lust or other in man Now if any should say surely this is a very sad Life to be alwayes serving or to lead only the life of a servant I answer To serve God or the service of God is
sweet pleasant and easie in a twofold respect Fiâst comparatively to the service of sin and the world of lust and the devil that 's a weariness indeed as well as a baseness Secondly It is easie also if we consider the help we have in it The people of God serve him in a Covenant of Grace which as it calls them to work so it gives them help to work The New Covenant doth not call us as Pharaoh did the children of Israel to make brick and deny us straw yea under that Covenant we have not onely straw afforded us to make our brick but we have strength afforded us to make our brick thar is the very power by which we serve our Master is given in by our Master The Masters of this world set us a work but they give us no strength but what work soever God sets his Covenant-servants about he gives them strength to do it Then O how sweet is it to serve him and how readily should our hearts come off in his service Let me add one thing more which brings us to the next words serve him for his is not a lean service not an unprofitable service there is a reward promised to those who serve him yea his very service is a reward his work is wages Therefore what calls soever we have from him let us answer and serve him There are two things which should be the daily meditation of Saints or they should be continually acquainting themselves with them First The Cross of Christ that they may know how and be willing to suffer for him Secondly The Yoak of Christ that they may know how and be willing to serve him If they obey and serve him What then even that which was the last consideration prove king us to his service there is a reward in iâ If they obey and serve him They shall spend their dayes in prosperity and their years in pleasures Here 's good wages who would not serve that Master who will pay him for his work in that desireable coyne Pleasure and Prosperity They shall spend their dayes in prosperity that is they shall run out their dayes in prosperity their dayes and their prosperity shall be like two parallel lines one as long as the other ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Significat tum consumere tum consummare significat etiam consumi desiderio quod dicitur aliquem deperire amore The word which we translate to spend signifies to finish and that in a double respect First in a way of Consumption Secondly in a way of Perfection or Consummation That which is consumed is finished or ended So the word is used Psal 90.7 Numb 16.45 The Lord saith to Moses Go you up from this Congregation that I may consume them in a moment I will dispatch them and make an end of them presently The Lord can soon rid his hand of sinners And as it notes a consuming by suddain judgements by diseases or age so by longing or desire 2 Sam. 23.15 And David longed 't is this word he was even spent and consumed with a longing desire and said Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate Now as that which is consumed or spent so that which is perfected is finished Thus Moses having set down the particulars of the whole work of Creation summes all up in this word Gen. 2.1 2. Thus the heavens and the Earth were finished and all the host of them that is God compleated or brought that great work of Creation to its utmost perfection he put as we may speak his last hand to it there was nothing more to be added Here in the text we aâe to take this word spend not only as it often signifies to spend in a way of Consumption but also to spend in a way of Perfection they shall perfect not barely wear out their dayes A godly man hath not so much consumed as perfected the dayes of his life when he is come to and hath ended the last day of his life They shall spend their dayes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In bono i. e. in omni jacunditâtâ In prosperity or in good saith the Original Prosperity is a good thing a good blessing of God They shall spend their dayes in good we translate it in the 21 Chapter v. 15. in wealth Wealth also is a good blessing of God to those that are good and prosperity takes that in prosperity is a large word comprehending all good health and wealth honour and peace what-ever we can imagine to render our lives comfortable comes under the name of Prosperity They shall spend their dayes in prosperity or in good this reward they shall have from the Lord who serve him Is not this good wages The carnal rich man pleased himself and said Luke 12.19 Soul take thine ease thou hast goods laid up for many yeares The godly do not please themselves that they have goods laid up for many years in their own Stock in their Lands in their Houses in their Purses in their Shops but they please themselves that they have good laid up for many years yea for eternity in the Promises of God They who serve him they shall spend their dayes in good they shall have good for every day and so finish their dayes with good yet this is not all They shall spend their dayes in prosperity And their years in Pleasures In the former words he promised dayes of Good here years of Pleasure as if he had said they shall enjoy their prosperity long they shall not only have Dayes but Years filled up with it One year containes many dayes how many dayes of pleasure are there in years of pleasure Our life is measured by days to shew the shortness of it the longest measure of it is by years They shall spend their years ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ât jucundis ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Affort jucunditatem delectaticâ in pulchrâudinem rei nobis gratissimae In Canticis Parg. in Epithâlmiis Munst ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Sâ pt in deloctâtionibus Pagn In Pleasures or as we may read it in sweetnesses in pleasuntnesses in deliciousnesses in beauties The word is used 2 Sam. 1.23 to shew the loveliness of Jonathan and Saul they were a pleasant pair a couple of goodly persons They shall spend their dayes in pleasantness or in pleasures Further Take notice the word is plural he doth not say they shall spend their dayes in pleasure but in pleasures implying all sorts and varieties of pleasure in Songs saith one in Marriage Songs saith a second in graceful Beauties saith a third and which may be all or any of these in delights saith a fourth But here are two Questions that I must give answer to for the clearing of this Scripture First The Question may be Is this a mercy much to be reckoned upon to spend our years in pleasure saith not the Apostle 1 Tim. 5.6 The widow that lives
fetters and held in cords De carcere educentur ad occisionem gladij Aquin. Per gladium iransire dicitur qâi gladio occiditur Drus but now the sword shâll overtake them and they shall perish or be taken away by the sword The Hebrew is they shall pass away by the sword that is they shall die Man is said to pass away by the swoâd when the sword doth not pass by him but smites and kills him which is a temporal perishing It is said Isa 57.1 The righteous perish c. As the righteous perish by a natural death so they may perish by a violent death and possibly that may fall upon them when they attend not the providential dispensations of God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã âââprie ââè miâsile aut jaââlum They shall perish by the sword or by the drawn weapon The word notes any weapon that is drawn or cast forth hence some translate it a Dart or Javeling which is shot out of the hand but it may also be applied to the Sword which being drawn forth out of the sheath is often sent upon deadly messages and may be numbered among missive weapons Now when Elihu saith they shall perish by the sword we may take the word sword properly or tropically Properly two wayes First for the sword of the Warrier Secondly for the sword of the Magistrate either justly punishing or grievously afflicting Some good men have acknowledged in great trials and sufferings under the hand of man that God hath met with them for their neglect or non-attendance to more immediate afflictions under his own hand Again take the sword tropically or improperly and so any sore affliction that greatly annoyeth especially if to death is called a sword in Scripture They shall perish by the sword under one notion or other if they do not obey Hence learn God will not spare no not his own People if they do not obey him God is full of sparing-mercy but the righteous may provoke him so that he will not spare no not them Judgement begins often at the house of God 1 Pet. 4.17 And if Judgement begin at the house of God what shall the end be of those that obey not the Gospel This is a terrible word The righteous may perish by the sword how dreadfully then shall the unrighteous the wicked the scorners of godliness perish If God will make his own people smart in his anger when they provoke him how will he speak to his enemies in his wrath and vex them in his fore displeasure Psal 2.5 Secondly From the gradation of their troubles First they were bound in fetters and holden in cords but now here 's a sword a devouring sword a killing deadly weapon Hence learn They who give not glory to God in lesser or in lighter afflictions draw greater upon themselves They may come from a cord to a sword from being bound to be slain God hath several sorts of Instruments to chasten his people with and as the best of outward good things may be the portion of evil wicked men so the worst of outward evils may be the portion of good men they may at any time and sometimes shall perish by the sword and as it followes They shall die without knowledge The sword is death a deadly sword ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they shall die Without knowledge or as the text may be read because they were without knowledge But is any righteous man without knowledge That the soul be without knowledge is not good saith Solomon Prov. 19.2 How then can he be good whose soul is without knowledge And seeing we interpret this text of the righteous how can it be said they die without knowledge I answer Knowledge may be taken in a more general sense and so no righteous man either lives or dies without knowledge he neither lives nor dies without the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ whom to know is eternal life John 17.3 and without the knowledge of whom all who are actually capable of such knowledge must die eternally he neither lives nor dies without the knowledge of himself as a sinner and of Christ who saveth him from his sins Such ignorances are inconsistent with the state of a godly man he may do foolishly but he is not a fool he may be wanting in some kind of knowledge but he doth not want knowledge he cannot be without saving knowledge though he may perish temporally without knowledge The first thing that God makes in the new creation is light the light of knowledge there he begins his work therefore we cannot take knowledge generally simply and absolutely in this text Dei monita per castigationes âcire intelligere noluerunt Drus but as knowledge may be taken restrictively for knowledge in or about this or that particular so a good man may want knowledge there may be somewhat which the Lord would acquaint the righteous with and teach them by their fetters and afflictions which they do not learn and therefore they die without kâowledge or because they are without knowledge yet that want of knowledge together with all their other wants and ignorances are pardoned to them Further we may expound the words thus They shall die without knowledge that is without the knowledge or consideration of of that special affliction or judgement which is coming upon them Non est oratio affirmativa stultitiae vel negativa scientiae sed simplicitèr negat advertentiam Bold they shall die unawares not thinking nor so much as dreaming of such a judgement or that such a hand of God was so near them According to this interpretation Elihu intends either their inadvertency of that approaching scourge or calamity with which they are overtaken or their not understanding the reason of it Christ saith in the Gospel Luke 12.46 The master of that servant the evil servant shall come in a day which he knowes not of and in a time when he looked not for him Now as the last Judgement the great Judgement shall come upon the wicked in a time when they look not for it so the Lord may bring a special particular judgement upon some one or more of his own people when they do not think of it or never suspected that they should fall under it Good men are sometimes surprized and so they shall die without knowledge is no more than this they shall be taken unawares by a suddain unexpected judgement Though every godly man hath a preparation for the general judgement yet as to a particular one he may be much unprepared Lastly Some expound the words of more than inadvertency or bare nescience even of folly and some degree of affected ignorance which possibly may prevaile upon a righteous man in some cases and for a time but I rather adhere to the former interpretation because as was shewed before the whole context seems to intend a more ordinary case of a righteous man So then this Scripture holds out the sad issues
of prophane spirits usually dye in their youth and are cut off in the Flower of their Age. They who multiply their sins substract from their dayes and they have least gâound of hope to live long who live ill As bloody so deceitful men such are hypocrites in heart shall not live out half their dayes They who live not out half their dayes dye in youth That also is the meaning of Eliphaz Chap. 15.32 where he saith The wicked man shall have his recompence before his time as also when he saith Chap. 22.16 They were cut down out of time that is before the ordinary time of cutting man down by Death was come And therefore I answer Secondly they die in youth needs not be taken in that strictness as importing that they die before they come to mens estate but only that they die before the common time of dying To die in youth signifieth any immature death or when death cometh suddainly upon any they may be said to die in youth Thus here they die in youth that is some immature or suddain death overtakes them they come to an hasty or untimely end they prolong not their dayes on earth Thirdly this dying in youth may refer to the hypocrites unpreparedness or unfitness to die Unprepared persons may be said to die in youth because youths or younger men aâe usually unprepared to die Hence that serious memento or warning given them Eccles 12.1 Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth Young men are commonly so unprepared to die that whosoever die unprepared may be said to die in youth yea though they die in old age they die infants I may say at least in alusion to that of the Prophet possibly it may be a proof of what I say Isa 65.20 An old man that hath not filled his dayes by being good and doing good dieth a child As a child may be said to die an hundred years old when he dies full of grace so a man of an hundred years old may be said to die a child an infant when he hath no grace for though he hath been long in the world yet he can hardly be said to have lived at all So then how long soever the hypocrite in heart hath had a being on the earth and a breathing in the air he alwayes dieth in youth or before his time Moritur cum Juventa Jun. Ponitur × pro ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ut cap. 9.26 Psal 143.7 Pisc Aeque morientur pari judicio Dei conterentur atque juveniles illi animi qui proterve obnituntur Deo palam ad omne flagitium projecti sunt Jun. Vt hic vita mori dicitur sic Authores Latini dicunt vita vivere vitam vivere vita moritur cum homo vitam cum morte commutat Drus Vita eorum suppleo ausertur Pisc Cum meritoriis Pisc Latini vacant cinaedos pathicos qui in concubitu libidinoso vice mulieris funguntur Id. because he hath not yet learned the way to eternal life There is yet another reading of the woâds we say they die in youth that saith they die with youth or young men that is as dissolute deboyst vitious and riotous young men die so hypocrites die The hypocrite is opposed to the outwardly profane in his life but he shall be like him in his death As if Elihu had said look as vain voluptuous youths carnal youths or young men who give themselves up to their pleasures look as or how they die look what wrath is upon them when they die even so shall the hypocrites in heart die they die with the youth I shall touch this further upon the last clause where Elihu gives us this sence in other words and in words that more fully reach this sence for having said they die in or with youth he thus concludes And their life is among the unclean Here it may be queried forasmuch as he said before they die in youth how doth he here say Their life is among the unclean what life have they when dead I answer By their liâe we may understand that life which hypocrites in heart shall have after death which may be taken two wayes First for the life of the soul while the body remaines a consuming or consumed caâkass in the grave that life after death the life of their soules is among the unclean Secondly for the life which they shall have after the resurrection of their bodies that will be among the unclean too Some translate the words thus Their life is taken away among the unclean we say their life is among the unclean The word is is not in the original text and we may make the supply by a word signifying to take away Their life is taken away among the unclean that is they shall die like the worst of sinners they shall make no better an end than the unclean and profane no better than the most foul and filthy Sodomites as the original imports For The word which we render unclean hath a double yea a contrary signification holy and unholy clean and unclean They who are holy onely in name are most unholy in heart and life ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Duo contraria signifiâat sanctura profanum pollutum scortatorem Recte simulatores effaeminatis comparat quia ex pravitate animi contingit quod homines sint simulatores est enim proprium magnanimi esse manifestum Aquin. The Scripture often by the same word expresseth things of utmost opposition so here he calleth those who are most unholy by a word which signifieth holiness the Hebrew saith their life is among the Sodomites Mr. Broughton translates and their life with fornicators Sodomites who are the most unclean and filthy sinners worse than fornicators are expressed by a word by this word which also signifieth holy or holy ones Deut. 23.17 There shall not be a Sodomites or an holy one among you and therefore as we read of Sodomites in the land who are sinners against the the law of nature 1 Kings 14.24 so according to that law of Moses we read 1 Kings 15.12 and Chapter 22.46 as also 2 Kings 23.7 of the destroying of the houses of the Sodomites and of the removing of Sodomites out of the land Sodomites being the most abominable of all unclean ones how unclean are they whose life is among them or whose life is taken away wiâh them The Spirit of God doth rightly compare hypocrites to Sodomites and filthy persons because it proceeds from the heat of some base lust or other that any are hypocrites 'T is proper to those who are magnanimous or of noble spirits to be open clear-hearted and ingenious Their life is with the unclean Hypocrites have a great affectation to be numbered among the clean and holy and possibly they have been or may be high in the opinion of men for holiness for very Sainâs But their life shall be among the Sodomites or the unclean It being a shame to
way of admonition and counsel forasmuch as he had done amiss before and carried himself unduly under the hand of God even so far as to fulfil the counsel of the wicked that therefore he would now for the time to come take heed and be more wary And lest Job should slight this admonition or counsel Elihu adds a powerful motive to urge that duty upon him even the wrath of God Beware Why Because there is wrath Beware and beware lest this wrath breaking forth he take thee away with a stroke And how dreadful the wrath of God is Elihu shews in these three verses by a threefold Consideration First because if we fall into the Lords hand when he is in wrath there is no meanes under heaven that can deliver or bring us off This he asserteth at the latter end of the 18th verse Then a great ransome cannot deliver thee It is dangerous coming un-der that wrath from which a ransome especially a great ransome cannot deliver What that ransome is which cannot deliver us is expressed in the 19th verse Will he esteem thy riches no not gold A Second motive to beware oâ this dreadful wrath is this because if once the wrath of God be up as there is no ransom so no power in the creature that can deliver That we have in the latter part of the 19th verse nor all the forces of strength though thou hast armies millions of men in armes yea though thou hast legions of Angels in pay yet they cannot prevail all the forces of strength cannot deliver thee There is also a third consideration to shew the unavoidableness of the wrath of God namely because there is no sleeing no making an escape from it Some indeed are so angry that you cannot satisfy them with a ransom and so powerful that no strength can deliver you from their power yet possibly you may make an escape and hide from them you may get out of the way and lye out of sight but saith Elihu that will not do neither in this case v. 20. desire not the night when people are cut off in their place the night or darkness will be no cover to thee from the wrath of an angry God Thus you have the sum and substance of this admonition to Job Beware because there is wrath and that wrath of God so terrible that nothing can deliver from it no ransom no power nor can we deliver our selves by flight or by darkness I shall now open the words more distinctly ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã calor ira a ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã caluit incaluit quod iracundi incalescunt Verse 18. Because there is wrath beware c. The word which we translate wrath comes from a root that signifies heat or to be hot and we know they that are angry and in wrath are very hot their mind and spirit are enflamed we use to say to an angry man why are you so hot the wrath of man is hot the wrath of God is certainly much hotter Because there is wrath but where is it I answer First there is wrath in the breast or heart of God there his anger is kindled against sinners Secondly There is wrath in the decree of God against sinners Zeph. 2.2 Thirdly there is wrath in the threatnings of God there it first appeares and breaketh forth Deut. 29.20 So the Apostle Rom. 1.18 The wrath of God is revealed from heaven How is it revealed As his love is revealed in promises so his wrath in threatnings Fourthly there is wrath in the works of God in his Judgments acted upon the children of men As there is wrath hidden in his breast and decreed so wrath is heard from his mouth in terrible threatnings and seen in his hand by terrible Judgments executed upon his enemies We may see wrath in the dealings of God his works tell us he is angry Therefore fear to persist lest in his anger he take thee quite away We should beware of sinful works lest we provoke and stir up the Lords anger to make bloody work There is wrath particularly as to the dealings of God with thee O Job saith Elihu therefore Beware The word beware is not expresly in the Hebrew texâ but it is plainly intended and supplied by Interpreterâ in geneâal to make up and clear the sence of this verse We have a like reading in the 36th of Isaiah v. 18. Beware lest Hezekiah perswade you c. The word beware is a supplement added there in a different character to shew that it is not expressed in the Hebrew As if Raoshakeh had said If Hezekiah perswade you to stand out against my Master Sennacherib you will provoke his wrath to your utter ruine and destruction therefore beware There as here beware bespeakes our caution because there is wrath take heed what you do or say Hence note First There is a wrath of God against sin or God will appear in wrath against sinners The Apostle John in his first Epistle Chap. 4.8 tells us in a direct predication God is love and 't is as true God is wrath The wrath of God is a divine perfection it is the perfection of God as his love is God is one and the same he is not divided into several passions perturbations or affections but thus the Scripture speaks of him to denote what we may expect from him and what he is and will be in his actings towards them who obey him not Secondly note The wrath of God appears and is put forth in his works of judgment As the goodness of God is his love acted or as the good things which God doth for us are love-actions so the evils that are upon us are wrath-actions I do not say that every evil which we endure in this world is the acting of wrath upon us but I say there is wrath in the actings of evil upon us Moses said to Aaron Numb 16.46 Go quickly take a Censer hast hast and make an atonement there is wrath gone out How did he know wrath was gone out He tells us in the next words the plague is begun He saw wrath in that dispensation of God the plague begun argued that God was angry Because there is wrath beware Hence note Thirdly We should by all meanes take heed and beware of the wrath of God The wrath of man is a small matter to the wrath of God yet we are very careful to beware of the wrath of man especially of great men The wrath of the Kings and Princes of the world is like the âoaring of the Lion saith Solomon and we are ready to tremble at that but O how should we tremble at and beware of the wrath of God! Who knoweth the power of thine anger Psal 90.11 We may take some scantling some measure of the wrath of man and know how far it can go and what it can do but we can take no measure of the wrath of God for it is immesurable and therefore we should avoid every
thing that procures his wrath That 's the meaning of this caveat do nothing that blowes up or incenses the wrath of God But what is it that blowes up wrath It is sin every sin hath that in it which may blow up wrath The Apostle saith The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men not only against this or that ungodliness noâ only against this or that degree of ungodliness 't is neither against ungodliness of some special kind nor of some special degree but against all ungodliness therefore all ungodliness and all unrighteousness is to be avoided And as we should do nothing to provoke wrath so we should do every thing which may prevent wrath Psal 2.12 Kiss the Son why lest he be angry and his wrath kindle Who is the Son and what 's this kissing of the Son which pâevents wrath The Son is Christ he is the Son of God this kissing is a kiss of homage an humble submission to Jesus Christ by faiâh and obedience it is a Gospel receiving of Châist to kiss the son is to receive Christ as ouâ King as our Pâiest as our Pâopheâ to receive Christ in the whole manifestation of his Mediatorship Do this to prevent wrath kiss the Son And consider how terrible he repoâts that wrath to be If his wrath be kindled but a little blessed are they that put their trust in him On then take heed that you do not provoke the wrath of God and do your utmost to prevent it which nothing can do but kissing the Son that will and that only can do it submit to Jesus Christ receive Jesus Christ without him it is impossible to prevent wrath Hâ that believes not the wrath of God abideth on him Johs 3.36 Jesus Christ alone is he which delivereth us from the wra h to come 1 Thes 1.10 And if we further consider this wrath from the expression both of the Psalm and of the Text it should make us who are so fearful of and who so shift from the wrath of men exceedingly afraid of the wrath of God The word as was shewed before comes from a root which signifieth the heat of fire implying that the wrath of God is fire and Heb. 10.27 it is called fiery indignation yea God himself Heb. 12.29 is called a consuming fire Why doth the Scripture express him and his wrath by fire Surely because fire is well known to us and we are well able to conceive how dreadful a thing fire is when it is in its rage and fury when it hath got the mastery Fire is a comfortable servant but a dreadful master Now as fire is the most dreadful element so wrath is the most dreadful attribute of God yet I may say that elementary fire which as to our sence is so dreadful is but a sun-shine compared to the wrath of God as will appear if we consider it in two things First it burns internally The visible fire burns but visible things outward things but this fire burns within scorches the conscience burns the soul burns that which all the fires in the world cannot reach cannot touch God is a Spirit and the wrath of God is a fire that burnes the spirits and will for ever afflict and torment the consciences of wicked men The hottest fires which the most enraged malitious Persecuters kindle cannot touch the spirit the conscience is quiet the soul triumphs while the flesh fries in the fire 'T is the fire of divine wrath alone which hath power upon the soul and a burning there is ten thousand times more painful than the burning of our flesh Secondly the wrath of God burns eternally Your fires here though they are dreadful yet they go out they consume themselves by consuming the matter or fuel cast into them they cannot continue alwayes because they eat up and devour that which maintaines them But the wrath of God burns continually God is called a consuming fire not because the fire of his wraâh consumes but because he consumeth sinners in the fire of wrath and when we say he consumeth sinners in his wrath or his wrath consumeth sinners we are not to understand it of a consumption as to being but only as to a well or comfortabe being for not only the soulâ but the very bodies of sinners shall remain in this fire of the wrath of God for ever unconsumed The bodies of the damned shall be raised again at the great day and being re-united to their souls both shal abide unconsumed in the fire of this consuming wrath eternally The great dread of ordinary fire is that it consumes what it burns but the greatest dread of this fire is that it consumes not that which it burns O therefore take heed of the wrath of God the wrath of God is terrible as to corporal and temporal judgements much more as to spirituall and eternal judgments that is as the fire of his wrath burns both internally and eternally Because there is wrath beware Lest he take thee away with his stroke Here the danger is exprest If the Lord be angry he can soon take thee away with a stroke he can remove yea hurry thee away out of all thy present joys and enjoyments to everlasting sorrows The word imports a violent remove The stroke here spoken of is like that Chap. 24.26 He striketh them as wicked men ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Cum comâlosione in the open sight of others that is he shames them as well as punisheth them as he strikes them with his hand to their confusion so he strikes or claps his own hands together in dirision as 't is said Chap. 27.23 Men shall clap their hands at him and shall hiss him out of his place we may take it in both these significations Lest he take thee away with a stroke that is lest he strike thee so as to make an utter end of thee or lest he take thee away with derision clapping his hands at thee and pouring contempt upon thee Have we not reason to beware of that wrath which in either sense can take us away with his stroke Yet I conceive a third sense may be given of these words Lest he take thee away with his stroke that is lest he take thee away suddenly even as suddenly as a stâoke can be given Hence Note First God can presently strike to destruction He can take the strongest away with a stroke he can do it wi h one stroke The Lord needs not stand cutting and slashing hacking and hewing as we say all day long one stroke of his will do it He took away Herod at one stroke Acts 12.23 He took away Ananias and Saphira at one stroke Acts 5.5 Nadab and Abihu were taken away with one stroke Lev. 10.1 All these perished and so have thousands more as with a stroke so suddenly at one stroke The Lord can strike home as Abishai said to David in the case of Saul when he found him in the
to the godly at all times hath it especially in a time of streights and trouble But as the Lord never regards wicked men so then lest when they have most need of it Will he esteem them no not in affliction There is a third reading of these words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in piel contra rapinas munivit hinc ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã aurum lectissimum quasi ab igne munitum aut quod fit hominis munimentum Will he esteem thy riches no not any defence As our translation no not gold falls in plainly with the first words of the Text so this with the latter Will he esteem thy riches no not gold say we answering the word riches in the first part of the verse Will he esteem thy riches no not defence say others which answers those words nor all the forces of strength in the latter part of the verse So then as our reading complyes with the former part of the verse so this hath as faire a compliance with the latter No not any defence The word signifies to fortify to fence to make strong and hence gold because gold is mans strength and defence Riches are a great strength to be rich in gold is a mans strong tower Will he esteem thy riches no not gold or defence Nor all the forces of strength These words in the close of the verse being the same with the middle part as last rendred may very well be drawn up into one and conceived of as if Elihu had said Suppose thou art a mighty man and hast strong forces he will not esteem thee for all that The very weakness of God is stronger than man 1 Cor. 1.25 that is than the strongest man or than any strength which man can procure either to oppose God or to protect himself against him The Prophet to shew the great power of the Chaldeans saith Hab. 1.10 They shall scoff at kings and deride every strong hold Surely the Lord is so far from esteeming the defences and forces of strength which men make to and for themselves that he scoffs at and derides them The Lord will deride all the strong holds of man even the forces of strength Some get internal carnal strong holds to fortifie themselves in of which the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 10.4 The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the casting down of strong holds Most sinners are men of wit they provide themselves strong holds to save their sins in they have their excuses and reasonings to defend their sins or themselves in their sins by Others are men of might they get external strong holds they have Armies and Cities of defence to secure themselves by but will the Lord regard either Not the strong holds set up and maintained by force of wit no nor all the forces of strength Though thou hast Army upon Army and City upon City though thou dost add Castle to Castle and Fort to Fort they are no more than paper walls before the Lord. As neither riches nor nobleness so no power of man can secure man from the hand of God Mr. Broughton varieth a little from our reading yet concurrs fully in sense No gold nor any other thing should be able to give sound strength which himself expounds by this short gloss If now thou despisest repentance thou shalt be utterly cast off As if he had said to Job it is not thy or any mans standing out against God that will help you your only help is in repentance and self-humbling before God Will he esteem thy riches no not gold nor all the forces of strength Hence note There is no strength against the Lord. As there is no counsel so no force of strength against the Lord. Hannah sang this truth 1 Sam. 2.9 By strength shall no man prevail that is against man if God be with him much more is it true that by strength shall no man prevail against God Isa 1.31 The strong shall be tow and the maker thereof as a spark that is as some expound their Idols whom they made their strength shall be as tow that is as the most combustible matter easily consumed and the maker of it that is the Idol-maker shall be as a spark Do but blow a spark among tow and what will become of it Such are the strongest Idols in which men trust and such are the mightyest and strongest men before the Lord who trust in them Tow or flax or hemp after the dressing is as tinder that the least spark will give fire to The strong Idol shall be as tow and the maker of it as a spark or which is in effect the same The strong man shall be tow and that which he hath made or as we put in the Margin his work that is his Idol shall be as a spark and they shall both burn or perish together This is the sentence of the Lord against the strong a spark shall set them on fire and burn them how then shall the strong be able to stand before the Lord who is not a spark but a fire and that a consuming fire and therefore I may urge Elihu's counsel to Job upon all sorts of men upon those especially who persist in any sin take heed because there is wrath beware c. or I may urge them with the Prophets dehortation Jer. 9.23 Let not the wise man glory in his wisdome nor the mighty man in his strength nor the rich man in his riches for none of these can help or deliver from wrath only Jesus Christ can and it hath been shewed who they are to whom he will not be a delivering ransome It may be very useful to consider what negatives Elihu puts upon sinners as to deliverance from kindled wrath not riches not honour not crying not praying not strength not defence can deliver without turning from sin to God and all in Christ Elihu having urged two arguments to make Job beware of wrath first because nothing could ransom him God regards not riches no not gold secondly because nothing could rescue him all the forces of strength could not defend him against nor fetch him out from under the hand of God Elihu I say having dispatched these two arguments he in the 20th verse gives a further and that a third argument to move Job to take heed of wrath because as he could neither be ransomed nor rescued so neither could he be hid or sheltred from the wrath of God That is the general sense of the next verse Vers 20. Desire not the night when people are cut off in their place The root of that word which we render desire signifies a very earnest breathing and longing after a thing as conceiving and believing the enjoyment thereof would be an exceeding comfort and refreshment to us ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã significat respirare anholare ad aliquid vel rei alicujus summo desiderio teneri Merc. So 't is used in the seventh Chapter of this
book at the second verse as the servant earnestly desireth the shadow c. When a labourer is hot and sweltered almost as we say at his work in the Sun how earnestly doth he desire the shadow We say in the Margine of that place he gapeth after the shadow A man when he is hot gapes to suck in fresh air Such an intendment and force there is in this word desire not long not for gape not after the night The night seems not to be a thing or a season so desireable that we should gape for it or long after it Solomon saith Eccl. 11.7 Surely light is pleasant and it is a comfortable thing for the eyes to behold the Sun but who hath a desire after the night what is the beauty or comeliness of the night that any should so much desire it why then doth Elihu here forbid Job as supposing he did to desire it desire not the night I answer the night may be taken two wayes or under a twofold notion First properly as that which casteth a vail or mantle of darkness over both persons and things and covers them from our sight in allusion to which the sense is this Do not hope to hide or conceal thy self from the eye or knowledge of God As thou canst not be ransomed as thou canst not be rescued from his power which was shewed before so desire not the night for thou canst not be obscured from his knowledge under the covert of it there is no hiding from God Though I judge that interpretation too gross which supposeth Elihu counselling Job not to desire the night as robbers and adultereâs to cover him while doing wickedly yet possibly he might think Job was not so free to confess the evils which he had done and therefore rather desired the concealment of them Secondly the night in Scripture as also in humane Authors is put improperly for death All the dead are wrapt up in a night of darkness Hence that counsel John 9.4 Work while you have the day the night cometh when no man can work We may work yea much work is done in the natural night It is said of the vertuous woman Prov. 31.18 Her candle goes not out by night she and her maids are at work in the night therefore it cannot be strictly meant that no man can work in the night The night there is the night of death Ne aspires ad illam noctem sc mortis qua abeunt populi ad locum suum Jun. Qua e medio tolluntur populi in loâo ipsorum Pisc or of an extream troublous life in these nights especially in the former no man can work for there is no wisdom nor device nor labour in the grave whether we are going Eccl. 9.10 According to this Scripture interpretation desire not the night is desire not death Job had put forth such desires more than once Chap. 7.15 My soul chooseth strangling and death rather than life Mr. Broughton translates Breath not unto that night for peoples passage to their place That is saith he desire not death the common passage of all men as thou hast done Therefore Elihu seems here to call Job off from those desires do not thou peeviâhly or impatiently because of the trouble of thy life call for death lest it come too soon and it do by thee as it hath done by many others whom it hath cut off in judgment So it followes here Desire not the night When people are cut off in their place Death is a cutting off As many die in the night so when-ever any die they are cut off from this world and all the imployments of it they are cut off from their dearest friends and relations Death cuts off the thread of life and us from the comforts of this life The Hebrew is when people ascend The Original Scripture expresseth dying by ascending though the death of the wicked is rather a descending Verbum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ascendere pro excidi tolli âumitur It is said by a late Writer concerning the heathen profane and wicked Emperors of Rome Such a one descended that is died in such a year of his abomination Now though the wicked descend when they die yet there is a sence also wherein all men may be said to ascend when they die and there is no doubt but the godly as to their more noble part ascend to God when they die Thus the word is used in the fifth Chapter of this Book at the 16th verse where Eliphaz speaking of the death of a godly man saith to Job Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age like as a shock of corn cometh or ascendeth in his season David deprecated an immature death under this Metaphor Psal 102.14 Take me not away in the midst of mine age The word is let me not ascend in the midst of mine age that is before I have measured the usual course of life Translatio a condelis quarum lumen ascendit atque ita paulatim consumuntur ipsa Thus to ascend is the same with to be cut off death cuts off the best from this world and then they ascend to a better This sense of the words suits well with the latter exposition of the night as taken for the night of death The word ascend is conceived to have in it a double allusion first to corn which is taken up by the hand of the reaper and then laid down on the stubble Secondly unto the light of a candle which as the candle spends or as that which is the food of the fire is spending ascends and at last goes out and vanisheth There is yet a further sense of the whole verse thus Desire not the night c. That is do not curiously enquire the cause of that divine judgement by which God sometimes sweeps away whole nations good and bad together in the night or suddenly Or thus disquiet not thy mind in the night but rather rest in the will of God when thou seest or hearest of those great destructions which come upon persons or nations ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Sub subter saepe significat in loco Desire not the night when people are cut off in their place that is when they die in or are removed from the place where they formerly lived and had their abode in which sense it is said of the dead their place shall know them no more Psal 103.16 How well soever any are setled death cuts them off in their place First Forasmuch as Elihu speaking to Job in this distressed estate wishes him not to desire the night Observe In times of distress and trouble we are apt to make many strange wishes or to express uncouth requests and desires The Prophet Jeremiah quits himself from this in one point chap. 17.16 I have not desired the woful day Lord thou knowest He was so far from desiring it that he prayed for the peace and prosperity of that people but though
prosecuteth the admonition which he had given Job in the 21 verse to take heed of uttering any thing rashly concerning Gods dealings with him or of choosing iniquity rather than affliction And he presseth the admonition by two great arguments First From the power and wisdome of God in the 22t h verse Behold God exalteth by his power who teacheth like him Secondly He urgeth it by an argument taken from the soveraignty of God as also from his most exact Justice v. 23. Who hath enjoyned him his way or who can say thou hast wrought iniquity As if he had said Take heed how thou accusest the Justice of God in any of his dealings with thee If God be of such power of such wisdome of such soveraignty of such integrity then consider well what thou speakest yea what thou thinkest of God beware thou speakest not a word nor conceivest a thought amiss of him Consider I say God himself his wayes and works thoroughly and thou wilt conclude with me That though many in the world have great power and have left the markes of it in many places and upon many persons yet none like God either first in doing his own work or secondly in directing or teaching us how to do ours So that Elihu by this report and commendation of the power and wisdome of God seems to comfort Job in the assurance or hope of better things Ecce deus excelsus in fortitudine sua Vulg ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã excelsus est intransitive sumi potest attollit robur suum i. e. robâre suo excelsus est if he would hearken to and accept his counsel for as God had mightily afflicted and broken him so he was as mighty to heal those breaches and deliver him he only waited to see him in a better frame that he might be gracious Isa 30.18 That 's the general sum of the words Vers 22. Behold God exalteth by his power Some read God is high in his own power that carrieth Elihu's reason strongly in it God is exalted in his power above all others and therefore it is no way sutable or consentaneous unto reason that the greater power should be questioned much less condemned of injustice by the lesser power There must be a parity a co-ordination or a co-equality at least if not a superiority where judgement is given That 's a great truth God is exalted in his own power David Psal 21.13 turns it into a prayer or wish Be thou exalted O Lord in thine own strength He makes a like prayer Psal 108.5 The Lord in other places declareth himself pâremptorily in it Psal 46.10 Be still and know that I am God I will be exalted among the Heathen I will be exalted in the Earth It shall be so whether men will or will not whether men will or no God will be exalted because he is exalted in his own power not in any derived power or power given him from the creature Men or Angels The power which God puts forth in his works exalt him or shew him to be a great a mighty God Behold God is exalted by his own power But we translate the Text and so I conceive it more fitly sutes the scope of Elihu as expressing an act of God towards others Behold God exalteth by his power So Mr Broughton Mark the Omnipotent sets up by his strength Behold As hath been shewed is a note both of attention and admiration God The strong God the potent the omnipotent God who is able to overcome all difficulties Exalteth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Elevare exaltare corroborare stabilem inconcussum reddere The word which we render to exalt signifieth to set in an inaccessible height or to exalt veây high and not only so but to establish in that exaltation yea so to confirme and corroborate him that is set up in such a height that no power is able to molest trouble or afflict him and therefore a word coming from this root signifieth a fortified Castle or Tower such places if any are exalted and lifted up on high Behold God exalteth As if Elihu had said God is not only exalted in himself he is not only lifted up beyond the reach of all creature-annoyances but he is able to lift up others and he doth actually exalt his when he pleaseth beyond the reach of all danger beyond the hurtfull power of those who hate them and therefore have a mind to hurt them God is so exalted above others that he can exalt others also He exalteth by His Power He hath the power in himself The word which we render power signifieth First That might and strength which is corporal the might and strength of the body Secondly Inward might and strength whether acquired or infused the might of the mind wisdome and pollicy Thirdly Civil might and power honour and riches Whatever maketh a man strong comes under the notion of this word and every way in all the Notions of power God is exalted He exalteth by his power But seeing 't is barely asserted He exalteth by his power nothing being expressed it may be questioned whom doth he exalt or what doth he exalt I answer Forasmuch as the Scripture leaveth it at large and undetermined we may apply this assertion to any either thing or person God exalteth whom he pleaseth and what he pleaseth VVe may take it distinctly these five wayes First He exalteth Himself by his power that is he exalteth his own Name and Glory which is nearest to him yea as himself Secondly He exalteth every work which he will undertake and engage upon He doth not only lay the Foundation of his work and rear up the VValls a little way but he exalteth by his power till he hath set up the Head-stone of his work as the Prophet Zechariah speaketh Chap. 4.7 all that love and fear him shouting and crying Grace Grace to it He exalteth his works of Providence as once he did his work of Creation to full perfection Thirdly The Lord exalteth those that fear him for they are most properly his Favourites and whom should he exalt but those whom he favoureth All the worldly exaltations of evill men are but depressions and abasements compared with those exaltations and advancements which God intendeth for all that fear him and some he exalteth much in this VVorld Fourthly and more specially He exalteth by his power such Job then was those that are cast down by the oppressing power of men even the poor and those that have no help Thou art he saith David Psal 9.13 that liftest me up or exaltest me from the gates of death When I am perishing when I am ready to be swallowed up with death when I am at the greatest loss even as to life it self then thou liftest me up thou liftest me up from the very gates of death Again Psal 18.48 He delivereth me from mine enemies yea thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me When they are casting me down God is
exalting and raising me up And if God will raise up who can keep down Fifthly We may take the words in this general sense Whosoever is exalted in this world God exalteth him The Sparrow cannot fall to the ground nor the least thing or person be lifted from the ground but by the hand of God As he exalteth some in a way of special favour so he exalteth the worst of men in a way of common providence As none can be exalted if he say no God is able to put a barr or a stop to any mans exaltation so he can exalt whom he will and none are able to put a barr or a stop to their exaltation Behold God exalteth by his power Hence Note God is able to exalt any person how low soever brought how much soever despised Elihu spake this purposely to Job who was in a low condition brought as it were to the very gates of death and he makes this large description of the power of God in exalting those that are cast down purposely to comfort Job to erect his spirit and cheare his heart with a blessed confidence that how much soever he was at present under-foot or under-hatches yet he might hope for better things even to be lifted up if he humbled himself under the mighty hand of God Psal 9.9 The Lord will be a refuge the word in the Text answers this or an high place for the oppressed Places of refuge are usually high places and therefore the same Hebrew word signifieth both an high place and a place of refuge Psal 107.41 He setteth the poor on high from affliction and maketh him families like a flock The Prophet Isa 33.16 Having spoken of the man that walketh in his integrity tels us how it shall be with him He shall dwell on high The word is He shall dwell in the high places that is he shall dwell in God who is most high for evermore God will exalt him even to as much safety as himself is in his place of defence shall be the munition of Rocks bread shall be given him Particeps erit divinae faelicitatis atque consors tecti aântonsâc his water shall be sure He shall be housed with God yea housed in God he shall be fed by God he shall lodge under his roof and sit as it were at his Table he shall have bread enough and water enough and both sure enough And if the Lord exalteth thus by his power let none be discouraged in their afflictions and castings down The Lord alone is sufficient yea all sufficient and he exalteth not only by his will that is he hath not only a will to exalt but he exalteth by his power that is he hath power enough to exalt whom he will What power soever is in the creature 't is the Lords power 't is a stream from his Ocean and when the Lord is pleased to remove all power from the creature he hath a sufficient reserve of power in himself or in his own hand by which he can command deliverance yea exaltation Therefore do not speak either despondingly or desparingly as if all hope were gone when at any time all humane power is gone for God exalteth by his own power and as it followeth in the Text Who teacheth like him As if Elihu had said God is not good only at acting but he is good at instructing and he is best at both He is best or beyond all in power He is best or beyond all in wisdome and understanding and therefore who teacheth like him At the 15th verse of this Chapter we have the substance of what is here asserted and so upon the matter 't is but the same thing repeated there it is He delivereth the poor here He exalteth by his power There 't is said He openeth their ear to instruction here Who teacheth like him The words are a divine chalenge Who teacheth like him B ing forth the man bring forth the Angel that can The word which here we tender to teach in its first sense signifieth to cast a Dart Javelin or Stone It signifieth also to raine Verbum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã commune ad pluviam et ad dâctrinam vel legem qua perfunditur et excolitur animus ad frâctus bonorum operum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and so the raine which fals from heaven because that is as it were cast from the clouds to the earth Hence by a Metaphor it signifieth to teach or instruct because holy doctâine or instruction cometh down like raine from heaven upon the minds and hearts of those that are taught My doctrine shall distill as the dew and my speech shall drop as the raine said Moses Deut. 32.1 And hence the whole Law of God is expressed by a word in the Hebrew coming from this roote that being powred down from heaven in showres of doctrine to make men fruitfull in every good word and work In answer to which some translate this latter part of the verse Nullus ei similu in Legislatoribus Vulg There is no Law-giver like unto him Who is a Law-giver like him or there is no Law-giver like him To give Law or to be a Law-giver is more than barely to be a teacher though he that teacheth doth also in a sense give Lawes Here I conceive we take the fittest and most suitable signification of the word when we render it by teaching Who teacheth like him As if he had said None can teach like God and therefore surely none can teach him how to governe the world or to dispose of any mans person or condition as thou O Job hast rashly or overboldly done for while thou hast complained so much and so often of his dealings with thee thou hast upon the matter attempted to teach him But Who teacheth like him Where shall we find any able to give instruction and apply doctrine like God God is exalted infinitely in power and yet he condescends to be a teacher or an instructer God doth not stand upon his power only he saith not I have power to do what I will I can force all men to my will or break them if they will not but he instâucts and perswades he labours to allure the soul into a right understanding of his will and submission to it Who teacheth like him Hence note First The great goodness of God that he who hath all power to command should yet vouchsafe to instruct that he who is the Judge will also be the Teacher of his People This is the great Pâomise in the Covenant of grace They shall be all taught of God John 6.45 Some things may be known by the light of nature of which knowledge God is the Author in the same sense as he is of all natural Powers and faculties But here Eliââ intends a spiritual knowledge both of God and of our selves or a teaching of divine things by divine chastenings both with respect to what we should do and desire as also with respect
few are there in power who do not much iniquity who do not either for want of better information or of a better conscience oppress grieve and afflict those that have to do with them or are subject to them God may do what he will yet will do nothing but what is right How infinitely then is God to be exalted in his truth and righteousness And thus the word of truth exalts him Deut. 32.4 2 Chr. 19.7 Rom 9.14 There is no unevenness much less aberration in any of the ways of God he never trod awry nor took a false step Who can say unto him without great iniquity thou hast wrought iniquity Hence we may infer If God works no iniquity in any of his wayes whether in his general or special providences Then All ought to sit down quietly under the workes of God Though he bring never so great judgments upon nations he doth them no wrong though he break his people in the place of dragons and cover them with the shadow of death he doth them no wrong Though he sell his own people for nought yet he doth them no wrong All which and several other grievances the Church sadly bemoans Psal 44. yet without raising the least dust concerning the justice of God or giving the least intimation of iniquity in those several sad and severe wayes Secondly We should not only sit down quietly under all the dispensations of God as having no iniquity in them but exalt the righteousness of God in all his dispensations as mingled also sprinkled with mercy Though we cannot see the righteousness of God in some of them yet we must believe he is not only so but merciful in all of them though the day be dark we cannot discern how this or that su es with the righteousnes much less with the goodness and mercy of âod yet sit down we ought in this faith that both this and that is righteous yea that God is good to Israel in the one and in the other When the prophet was about to touch upon that string he first laid down this principle as unquestionable Jer. 12.1 Righteous art thou O Lord yet give me leave to plead with thee about thy Judgments Why doth the way of the wicked prosper Why is it thus in the world I take the boldness to put these questions O Lord yet I make no question but thou art righteous O Lord. It becomes all the sons of men to rest patiently under the darkest providences of God And let us all not only not charg God foolishly but exalt him highly and cry up both his righteousness and kindness towards all his people For who can say to God thou hast wrought iniquity Having in several other passages of this book met with this matter also I here briefly pass it over JOB Chap. 36. Vers 24 25. 24. Remember that thou magnifie his work which men behold 25. Every man may see it man may behold it afar off THese two verses contain the third advice counsel or exhortation given by Elihu to Job stirring him up to give glory to God in his providential proceedings with him There are three things considerable in these two verses First The general duty commanded which is to magnifie the work of God Secondly We have here a special reason or ground of that duty the visibility and plainness yea more than so the illustriousness of his work The work of God is not only such as some men may see but such as every ãâã âay see yea behold afar off Thirdly We have here an incentive to provoke to this duty in the first words of the Text Remember Vers 24. Remember that thou magnifie his work which men behold To Remember imports chiefly these two things First to call to mind what is past Mat. 26.75 Then Peter remembred the words of Christ. Secondly To remember is to keep somewhat in mind against the time to come in which sence the Law runs Exod. 20.8 Remember the rest-day that is keep it in mind that when-ever it cometh or upon every return of that day ãâã may be in a fit posture and preparation for it Remember the rest or sabbath day to keep it holy To remember in this place is set I conceive in a double opposition First To forgetfulness of the duty here called for remember and do not forget it Secondly To the slight performance of the duty here called for the magnifying of the work of God Remember that thou magnifie As if he had said Be thou daily and duely affected with it do not put it off with a little or a bare remembrance the matter is weighty consider it fully As if Elihu had said to Job Thou hast much forgotten thy self and gone off from that which is thy proper work I have heard thee much complaining of the workes of God but thy work should have been to magnifie the work of God Though God hath cast thee down and laid thee low yet thy business should have been to exalt the work of God Remember it would much better become thee to act another part than this thou shouldest have acted the part of a magnifier of the work of God not the part of a complainer gainst it Remember that thou ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã i. e. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Augeas extollas ejus opus non accuses ut nunc facis Merc. Magnifie The root signifieth to encrease and extol We may consider a twofold magnifying of the work of God There is an inward magnifying of the work of God and there is an outward magnifying of the work of Goâ First There is ãâã ââd magnifying of the work of God when we think highly ãâã it thus did the Virgin in her song Luke 1.46 My soul doth magnifie the Lord. Her heart was raised up and stretched out in high thoughts of God Secondly There is an outward magnifying of the work of God To speak highly of his work is to magnify his work to live holily and fruitfully is to magnifie his work We cannot make any addition to the work of God there is no such magnifying of it but we must strive to give the works of God their full dimension and not lessen them at all As we must not diminish the number of his works so we must not diminish the just weight and worth of them There is such a charge of God to the Prophet about his word Jer. 26.2 Go tell the people all the words that I command thee to speak unto them diminish not a word Deliver thy message in words at length or in the full length of those words in which it was delivered unto thee We then magnifie the woâk of God when we diminish not a tittle As we cannot add any thing to it so we must neither abate nor conceal any thing of it To magnifie is not to make the works of God great but to declare and set forth the greatness of them that 's the magnifying here especially intended Remember
comprehending all sorts of men even those who arâ dim sighted blear-eyed that is of weakest understanding may be a good improvement of the Text implying that as some of the woâks of God are o mysterious that the wisest cannot see the meaning of them so many very mâny of his woâks are so manifest that common men may compasse them Magnifie his works which men behold The works of God are of two sorts visible and invisible First Such as we see or know by s ght Thus the woâks of Creation and the works of Providence his present providences are such as we behold they are visible works Secondly There are invisible works of God which we cannot behold but must believe and can know only by faith such are his spiritual works or what he works upon or in the spirits of the children of men These are written in too small a letter for the eye of Nature to behold none can see them or behold them but by an eye of faith or spiritual understanding The works of regeneration and sanctification for which God is wonderfully to be magnified may be seen or beheld in the fruits and effects of them in those they are very visible but they cannot be seen in themselves The past and future providences of God cannot now be seen by the eye but by faith they may and we ought to believe that such things were wrought and shall be wrought we are to receive the testimony given by faithful History that such things were done though we never saw the doing of them and we are to receive the sure word of Prophecy that such things shall be done though we live not to see the doing of them The work of God intended here by Elihu is a visible work therefore it must fall among his providences Vers 25. Every man may see it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Omnes homines in quibus est vel miâa bonae mentis Merc That is say some every wise and understanding man but rather any man as was touched at the former verse if he be but a man of common understanding if he have âny spark of Reason left in him unquencht if he have his eyes in his head he may see it the eye of every one who will not shut his eyes against the light must needs see it We say Who so blind as they that will not see Man may behold it afar off The word here rendred Behold is not the same which we translate Behold in the former verse nor is it the same word which signifieth to see in the former part of this verse ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Some make a difference between seeing in the former part of the verse ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and Beholding in the latter Holy and good men see the woâks of God clearly and distinctly ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they look on them with dâlight and contentment the common sort of men only bâhold âhem first darkly as at a distance secondly confusedly and in grosse Man may behold it Afar off There is a four-fold conception about that afar off ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A Longe Mont Eminus i. e. a formatione mundi huc usque Râb Solomâth Non plane perspicit rationem ejus Pisc First Some expound it for afar off in time The work of God doth not weare out that first and great visible work of Creation which was from the bâginning yet remaineth Ages pass away but the work of God doth not pass away though done some hundreds yea thousands oâ years ago Secondly Afar off that is imperfectly not fully he may have some discoveries of it every man the weakest man may discern somewhat of it Things that are high and afar off are confusedly seen not clearly or fully discerned A man that is afar off cannot be distinguishingly knowne When a man is afar off we may see him to be a man but what manner of man he is or who he is we cannot discern though possibly it may be our own father yet being afar off we cannot know him distinctly Thus to see afar off notes only a confused knowledge That 's a good sense things afar off are not distinctly seen Thirdly Afar off may be expounded of all the sight we have on this side Heaven In this world we see all that we see afar off we have not a near intimate knowledge of things especially not of the best things spiritual things of all them we must say We know but in part and see thorow a glasse darkly as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 13.12 Such things as are not immediate to us E longinquo i. e. ex posteriori us et effectiâ Merc we are said to see thorow a glass or as represented in their effects and issues or in their back parts as God himself is seen Exod. 33.18 23. Thou shalt see my back parts but my face shall not be seen said God to Moses when he moved to see his glory Fourthly This beholding afar off may note the greatness of the work of God the exceeding lightsomness and glo iousness of it Those things that are great may be seen a great way off A high Tower is seen afar off We haâdly believe the doctrine and reports of Astronomers how far off the Sun is which every eye beholds Though the Sun be so many thousand miles distant yet any man may see it 't is so great so beau iful so bright a body Many of the works of God have such a beauty radiancy and luster in them that any that are not stark blind may see them afar off Remember that thou magnifie his work which men behold Every man may see it man may behold it afar off From the centext of these two verses note First We are very apt to forget our duty in giving God the glory of his works The memento or remember at the beginning of the verse is no more than needs We have bad memories for any thing that 's good especially for the good word and the good works of God We are so far from magnifying his work that we often forget his work 'T is said of Israel Psal 106.13 They soon forgat his works If we soon forget the woâks of God we shall sooner forget to magnifie God for his work Many remember the work of God who do not magnifie it nor him for it but none can magnifie the work of God nor God for his work who do not remember it Secondly In that the Text saith Remember that thou magnifie not only that thou speak of or declare his work but magnifie it Note We usually have low apprehensions of the work of God While we remember it we do not magnifie it while we speak of his work we seldome praise his work It is said of the vertuous Woman Prov. 31.31 Her own works praise her in the Gates that is they like so many Elegant Oratours tell all that pass by how praise-worthy she is The woâks of God will
God We owe the full submission of our wills to the Will of God in a twofold respect First to whatsoever he willeth us to do or to his commanding will Secondly to whatsoever he will do with us or to his disp sing Will. In these and in all things let us strive to gâeaâen all the acting of our souls towards God because he is great Secondly If God be great then we may infer for consolation First Be not discouraged in prayer when you have great things to ask when your wants are great and your necessities urgent when you must have great supplies when small matters will not serve your turn In many caâes it is not a little help it is not a small matter which will do the thing which we sue unto God for now here is a mighty ground of comfort for us if we want great things we have a great God to go unto and how great soever our wants are they are all but small to the greatness of that God unto whom we go Ephes 3.20 He is able to do exceeding abundantly above what we ask or think and not only above what we actually ask and think but indeed beyond what possibly we can ask or think above what we are able to ask or think Therefore let us never be discouraged in prayer because of the greatness of the things that we have to ask of God Secondly Be not discouraged though as your wants so your dangers and your troubles are great How great soever the danger is you would be delivered from God is greater to whom you come for deliverance And therefore when a great Mountain stood in the way of the deliverance of the people of God Zech. 4.7 the Prophet speaks in his language Who art thou O great Mountain thou shalt become a Plain before Zerubbabel that is before the power of that God in whom Zerubbabel trusts and whose work Zerubbabel carries on Hence that holy confidence Psal 66.3 Through the greatness of thy power thine enemies shall submit themselves to thee or they shall yeild feigned obedience as we put in the margin which some render thus through the greatness of thy power thine enemies shall be found liars All the readiâgs magnifie the g eatness of God Through the g eâtness of thy power thine enemies the enemies of thy people shall âubmit they shall be found liars tâey shall yeild feigned obedience they shall not be able with all their greatness to stand iâ out against the great God Therefore be not discouraged at any time at the greatness of danger Though you walk through the very valley of the shadow of death that 's to be in the greatest danger yet as David did not so do not you fear no not that great danger while the great God is with you Thirdly Be not d scouraged though your sins are great when you come to aâk the pardon of them As the greatness of sin puts a very great damp upon the spirit of man in asking pardon so the greatness of God should take off that damp My thoughts are not your thoughts saith the Lord Isa 55.7 8 9. in this matter There is nothing wherein God doth more exceed man than in pardoning sin Mic. 7.18 If sin be great the mercy of God is great too infinitely greater than the sin of man if sin be great remember we have a great high Priest Heb. 4.14 not only a Priest but a high Priest and a great high Priest therefore fear not to ask the pardon even of the greatest sin in his name and for his sake And this is true it we respect either national or personall sins it may encourage us in asking pardon for nations how great soever their sins are Moses when the People had greatly sinned against God had recourse to this Numb 14.18 19. The Lord is of great mercy pardon I beseech thee the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy mercy as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt even until now Do thus also with respect to personal sins David made the greatness of his personal sin an argument to go to God for mercy Psal 25.11 Pardon my sin O Lord for it is great He was so far from being disheartened by the greatness of his sin to aâk the pardon of it that according to our reading he had great hope of pardon as well as sâw he had great need of pardon and all because he knew God was great in mercy Or if we read that text thus Pardon my sin O Lord though it be great the sense is much the same for as the former makes the greatness of his sin a reason provoking him to hasten unto God for pardon as great diseases hasten us in seeking remedies so the latter shews that the greatness of sin is no stop to the mercy and free grace of God in Christ for the pardon of it Christ in that Parable Mat. 18.24 gives instance of the greatest debt he tells us of one that owed his Lord ten thousand talents a vast sum a very vast sum a talent being according to the lowest computation three hundred pounds of money ten thousand times three hundred pounds is a huge sum so that here was a great debt now saith the text When the debtor had nothing to pay he came to his Lord or Creditor and he forgave him all He did not say wouldest thou have me or can I forgive such a debt as this What ten thousand talents He forgave it as if it had been a debt of two mites Thus and many other wayes we may improve this first Attribute of God mentioned in the text his greatness both as to our direction in duty and consolatition in every extreamity Behold God is great And we know him not That 's the second thing The words are plain but the tense is difficult for it may be objected Do not we know God Elihu said but just now in the very verse before the text Magnifie his works which men behold every man may see it man may behold it afar off Surely if the works of God may be known and seen by every one God himself may be known for he is known in his works as the Apostle argues Rom. 1.20 The things which he hath made make him known how is this then said That God is great and we know him not Doth not the Prophet in denouncing that dreadful curse Jer. 10.25 Poure out thy wrath upon the heaâhen that know thee not thereby intimate that all the people of God know him Doth not Christ tell us John 17.3 This is eternal life to know thee the onely true God They who have eternal life must have the knowledge of the true God But all true believers have eternal life already in hope and shall have it shortly in hand therefore they know God The Promise of the New Covenant is Heb. 11. They shall all know me from the least to the greatest that is all my Covenant-people shall know me How
especial power wisdom and goodness of God The water if left to it self would âall whole like a sea upon us or like a mighty floud in such quantities as would instead of refreshing overwhelm the earth When God drowned the world it is said Gen. 7.11 The same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up and the windows or flood-gates of heaven were opened We are not to imagine that heaven hath windows oâ flood-gates but God did not put forth his mighty power to make small the drops of rain but let it come all at once those waters which were before bound up in the clouds by the decree of God were now by his decree let loose in a wonderful manner and measure and came down not in drops but in streames and spouts the clouds did not as formerly destil their burden Pluvia in nubibus velut in linteo continetur atque in illis velut compressa guttatim distillâtur but ease themselves of it at once or altogether Rain ordinarily as sweat through the Pores of the skin passeth by degrees through the Pores of the Clouds yet God can let it out all at once Sea-men who take long Voyages tell us they meet with spouts of wateâ endangering great ships So then this making small the drops of water is to be ascribed to a threefold Attribute of God Fiâst It is a woâk of his power nor is it done without a kind of Miracle that the water comes down as it were through a sive or watering-pot Secondly It is a work of divine wisdom The Lord knowing that the earth cannot digest huge portions of water at once divides it into little po tions that the earth may gradually receive and let it soak into iâs bosom for the feeding of Plants and the supply of all câeatuâes that live upon it Thirdly 'T is a work also of divine Goodness for if God did not make small the drops of water if it should come down whole it would drown the earth instead of comforting and fattening it Behold then the Power Wisdom and Goodness of God in making small the drops of water Though Philosophers have attempted to find out and assigne a reason in Nature about this falling of the rain in drops yet they have not fully attained the reason why nor the manner how God doth this we must ascribe it chiefly to the power wisdome and goodness of God in ordering it for the benefit of man yea of all living creatures Plane admirabilem et tremendum in illu et per illa fefe exhibet deus Merc And surely Elihu leads us to consider the wonders of those things which are common and naturall to convince us that forasmuch as we cannot clearly see the reason of those lesser things we should take heed of prying into greater and remoter secrets and he would have Job particularly know that seeing he could not find out the way of God in these natural things much less could he find out the way and whole designe of God in those his providential dealings with him He maketh small the drops of water and then as it followeth in this verse They pour down rain according to the vapour thereof Though the water be made into small drops yet he doth not say they drop down but they pour down rain that is the drops fall plentifully that frequent expression in Scripture of pouring down every where implyeth plenty or abundance The promise of pouring out the Spirit in the latter dayes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã fundit fundendo purgaovit active item percolatus exâolatus de faecatus suit Imber nimbus plu âa notes the abundance of the Spirit that shall then be given The word signifies also to straine implying that the rain is contained in the Clouds as it were in a linnen cloath which being pressed distills the water in small streams or drops as it were through a strainer They pour down Rain There are three words in the Latine the first of which notes a showre or gentle rain ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã pluvia hiââ ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã verbum transitivum in Hiphil significat feâit âluere quo certe innuitur deum esse Authorem pluviae Fagius in Gen the second a stormy or fierce rain the third rain in generall Rain in this place may be taken in all or either of these notions for at one time or other the Clouds pour down drops into all sorts of rain Rain as I said is made of vapours drawn up and here he saith They pour down rain According to the vapour thereof There are two sorts of vapours there are dry vapours and moist vapours dry vapours say Naturalists are the matter of the wind and the moist are the matter of the rain Now saith Elihu they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof that is Pluviae quasi fluviae eo q òd fluant Isidor Quae fundunt pluviam post nebulam âjus Pisc ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã significat vâporem et nubem significât etiam calamitatem hinc versus ita vertitur nam subtrahit stillas aquarum quae fundebant pluviam ad calamitatem ejus Jun look in what proportion the Sun draweth the vapours into the Aire in that proportion doth the rain fall upon the Earth or in the samâ proportion that the vapour is drawn up in that proportion is the rain let down Some render the word which we translate vapour a cloud that is after the water is drawn up into a Cloud it pours down rain proportionably Another translation renders it Affliction or trouble and give the whole verse thus He draweth up the drops of water which poured down rain to their Calamity This the lea ned Author applyeth particularly to the Flood in Nâahs time but I shall not stay upon that Our reading is clear They pour down rain according to the vapour thereof that is in the same proportion that vapours come up the rain falls down First In that as the rain is made of the vapour so according to the vapour or in proportion to the vapour such are the showres of rain Note According to what is naturally received returns are naturally made And if the Clouds of Heaven return to man naturally according to that they receive from the Earth how is man on earth bound morally or in duty to return according to what he receives from Heaven Let us mind our accordings and proportions to the dealings and dispensations of God The Clouds of the aire will condemn us at least witness against us if we receive much and return little I passe this Only here we may take notice of six things in Concatination one with another First vapours are drawn up from the Earth Secondly they are made into watery Clouds Thirdly from thence they are sent back to moisten the Earth Fourthly the rain sent down is proportionable to the vapour that went up Fifthly according to that proportion the Earth is made more or lesse fruitfull plentifull
rains cause or produce plentifull fruits ordinarily from the Earth and little rains little fruits Sixthly and lastly man is nourished and hath his outward Comforts encreased or lessened in proportion to the fruits which the Earth bringeth forth or to the fruitfulness of the Earth All these things attend and depend upon one another They pour down according to the vapour thereof and God draws up in proportion to what himself purposeth they shall pour down Thus we see how God by the Sun draws out the moisture and sap of the Earth to return it back with advantage Drawing up the moisture makes the Earth languish and her fruits wither sending it down again makes the Earth green flourishing and fruitful They pour down rain c. And what more Elihu answers Vers 28. Which the Clouds do drop ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã nunc Coelum nunc nubes denotât a tenuissimâ earum Substantia Drus Here he speaks more expresly and tells us more clearly than before what the vapours are made up into According to the vapour thereof which the Clouds do drop As Clouds are made of vapours so they are the receptacles or vessels of rain which they hold as was shewed before as long as God pleaseth and when he gives the word then they drop And distill upon man abundantly That 's another elegant word implying the manner in which the rain comes or falls it is as by a distillation Here also 't is expressed for whose use or sake principally the rain is sent The Clouds saith the Text drop and distill upon man yet we know men get themselves out of the rain as soon and as fast as they can The rain falls upon the earth and abides there yet 't is said to distil upon man because the rain distils at mans request and for mans sake That other creatures are cherished by the rain is not for themselves but for man as man is not cherished and maintained by those creatures for himself but for God As the rain distills chiefly for the glory of God so nextly for the relief and comfort of man and for man it distills Abundantly ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Super hominem multum vel super homines affluentèr ut ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã sit adverbium quod eù minùs se probaâ mihi quia Rab. hic scrilitur eum Cametz Drus There is a double reading of this word Some take it as an Adjective to the Substanâive man rendring thus it distills upon many men we take it adverbially Which distill upon man plentifully that is in great plenty upon man We may take in both readings without strain to the Text or departure from the matter in hand For as the rain all 's or distills upon man abundantly so upon abundance of men the rain we know falls sometimes very plentifully and at times or one time or other all the world over watering every mans ground and serving every mans turn or occasions Therefore Elihu expresseth the blessing fully when he saith The Clouds distill upon man abundantly or upon abundance of men Hence Note First The Lord haih rain enough in store He hath vessels plentifully filled for the watering of the Earth and The Lord is so free in his dispensation of the rain that as he gives it to many in number so to many in kind he maketh his rain to fall as well as his Sun to shine upon the just and on the unjust Math. 5.45 It shews the exceeding goodness as well as the bounty of God that the evill partake of his benefits as well as the good And for our further improvement of this bounty of God remember that if God be so abundant and liberall in blessings to us we ought in proportion to abound in duty towards him or as the Apostle exhorts 1 Cor. 15.58 we should be stedfast and immoveable alwayes abounding in the work of the Lord. Some do only a little I may say only here a stitch and there a stitch of work for God but we should abound in it and that not only now and then by fits but be alwayes fixed in it especially we should do so with respect to that which the rain is a Symbol of the word of God When God drops and distills the rain of Gospel tâuths and holy soul-saving instructions abundantly upon us how should we abound in every good word and work It was prophesied of Christ Psal 72.6 He shall come down as rain upon the mown grass as showers that water the earth Some of the Ancients expound that place of the coming down of Christ in his Incarnation then indeed he came down like rain upon the mown grass he came down sweetly and powerfully 'T is true also that Christ who is God the Word the substantial Word comes down as rain in and with the declarative word of God preached and faithfully dispenced to the souls of men and when Christ comes down thus to us we should rise up to him and return fruits of grace according to the showres of grace which we have received The Prophet gives us an elegant comparison of the natural and spiritual rain in their effects and issues Isa 55.10 11. For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth not thither but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give feed to the sower and bread to the eater so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth it shall not return unto me voyd but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it Now what is the pleasure of God in giving his Word what is the arrand upon which he sends it 'T is I grant sometimes to harden deafen and blind a people Isa 6.9 10. 't is sometimes to be a savour of death unto death 2 Cor. 2.16 These are dreadfull judiciary purposes of God in sending his Word nor doth it ever please the Lord to send his Word upon this arrand but when he is sorely displeased by a peoples slighting and contempt of his Word The thing which primaâily pleaseth him the purpose which he chiefly puâsueth in sending his Word is that his people may have as the Apostle speaks Their fruit unto holiness in this life and in the end everlasting life For these ends the Lord is daily distilling upon us the rain of his Word both in commands and promises and in both abundantly Therefore let us labour to abound in returns of faith of love of hope of self-deniall of zeal for God and of fruit-bearing unto God If when God distills the natural rain that should provoke us to fruitfulness in spiritualls how much more when he pours down so much spiritual rain upon us For the close of this meditation consider That As the natural rain First softens the earth and mollifies it Secondly cleanseth the earth and washeth it Thirdly enricheth the earth and makes it fruitfull Fourthly comforts the earth and makes every
Christ makes this an argument of faith in God for food and cloathing Mat. 6.26 Behold the fowls of the air for they sow not neither do they reap nor gather into barns yet your heavenly Father feedeth them are not ye much better than they How little faith have you who knowing that God feeds the fowls of the air yet cannot trust him for your food He giveth food in abundance Thirdly note Plenty and scarcity are at the dispose of God He can give meat in scarcity as well as meat in abundance he can give cleanness of teeth as well as fulness of bread And as he can strengthen the staff of bread so break it and cause us to eat bread by weight and with care and to drink water by measure and with astonishment Ezek. 4.16 To eat by weight and drink by measure is to eat and drink in the want of bread and water as is expressed vers 17. And as these changes of our natural so of our spiritual food are from the Lord Amos 8.11 I will send a famine What famine not of bread but of hearing the word of the Lord. 'T is the Lord who sends plenty and scarcity of bread whether for the soul or for the body Fourthly In that he saith by them he giveth meat in abundance Note God useth natural meanes as the cause either of plenty or scarcity The Lord could give us abundance if he pleased without rain but he rarely gives abundance but by rain he sends rain out of the Clouds to water the earth and make it fruitful The Lord could make our souls fruitful in every good work without the preaching of the word but he seldom doth it I believe never when the word may be had without the preaching of the word And therefore the Lord by his Prophet makes a comparison between or a paralel of these two Isa 55.10 11. As the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth not thither but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater so shall my word be that goeth out of my mouth c. The Lord useth rain and snow yea wind and thunder to fit the earth as he useth his Word and holy Ordinances to fit the soul to bring forth fruit to himself He could do both alone but he improveth that order of nature and grace which himself at first set up and instituted to bâing about these excellent ends ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Praebebit escâm per multam Sept. By them he giveth meat in abundance The Greek translation renders all manner of muchness From the whole learn what cause we have to acknowledge the goodness of God in every shower of rain and fleet of snow for by them he giveth us our meat We should hence also be minded to fear the Lord and to take heed of his displeasure It is said Asts 12.20 when Herod was highly displeased with them of Tire and Sidon they came with one accord to him and having made Blastus the Kings Chamberlain their friend desired peace because their Country was nourished by the Kings Country O how much more should we labour to avoid the displeasure of God and hasten to make our peace with him seeing our Country is nourished by his Country The heavens nourish the earth else the earth could not afford any thing for our nourishment We are fed rather from the heavens than from the earth The clouds drop down and make the earth fat to give grass for cattel and co n for man Elihu speaks nothing of the Earth but of the Clouds fâom them we are fed Lately consider Elihu joynes both effects expresly By them he judgeth the people he giveth meat c. Hence note The Lord can make the same creature either beneficial or hurtful to us That which is an instrument in his hand for good to his servants is often a plague and a scourge to his enemies The rain which at one time moistens the earth at another time drowns it the rain which at one time cherisheth the creatures at another time choaks them The winds which at one time fan the air and cool it at another time enrage and vex it the winds which at one time sweeten and cleanse the air at another time corrupt and infect it The Lord can with the same creatures furnish himself for any dispensation By them he judgeth the people and by them he giveth meat in abundance JOB Chap. 36. Vers 32 33. 32. With clouds he covereth the light and commandeth it not to shine by the cloud that cometh between 33. The noise whereof sheweth concerning it the cattel also concerning the vapour THese two verses have a Character of difficulty and obscurity put upon them by several interpreters Hujus et sequentis versus difficultas et obscuritas tanta semper ab omnibus enarratoribus habita est ut vix alius in toto hoc libro ne dicum in toto sacro codice locus isto impenetrabilior esse videatur Bold and some have concluded them the most difficult and darkest portion of the whole Book of Job yea of the whole Book of God And should I reckon up all the various Grammatical constructions of these words together with the distinct interpretations given upon them I should weary my self and rather perplex than advantage the Reader And therefore I shall speak to these two verses First as they are laid down plainly in our translation according to which with submission to the judgement of those learned Authors I see neither any great difficulty nor obscurity in them and shall afterwards give a brief account at least of some of those different readings and translations which I find upon them The words as I conceive according to the mind of our translators and as the Text clearly beareth hold out two things concerning the raine of which Elihu had spoken before First What is naturally preparatory to raine or foule weather that we have in the 32d verse With clouds he covereth the light and commandeth it not to shine by the Cloud that cometh between Secondly We have that which is declaratory of raine or as some call them the Prognosticks and signs of raine these are laid down in the 33d verse The noise thereof sheweth concerning it the Cattel also concerning the vapour Vers 32. With clouds he covereth the light He that is God covereth the light with Clouds We heard of the Clouds at the 29th verse but the word there used is not that which is used in this 32d verse Vox ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã amâigua est ad manus nubes proprie volas denotat ad nubes refero quia de iis hactenus actum et quia propriè curvaturas significat quales in unaquaque mibo duae sunt convexa concava De Dieu in loc The word here made use of by Elâhu signifies generally any thing that is hollow or concave as
a spoon platter oâ bool or such like utensils which are bowed with a convex and concave superficies it hath also particularly two eminent significations both of which are made use of in this place by Interpreters First it signifieth the hand so we translate it Job 16.17 There is no injustice in my hand The word which here we translate a Cloud is there translated a hand Now the hand we know hath a hollowness or cavity in it unless when it is purposely held forth plaine The second signification is that of the Text a Cloud which is also hollow and as most conclude the same word is put to signifie a hand and a Cloud because Clouds usually ât the first appearance are but small or like a hand as Elijahs servant repo ted to him after his seventh going to view the Heavens 1 Kings 18.44 Behold a little Cloud like a mans hand In this sence we take it here in our translation Some render With his hand he covereth the light we say With Clouds He covereth the light He covereth or hideth the light that is from our eyes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Texitâ abscondiâ imponendo aliquid quo tegos tanquam operculo vel veste he causeth it to disappear or not to appear to us The wo d notes covering as with a garment or covering with any thing that intercepts and stops the sight and hence by a Trope it is applyed to the pardon of sin Psal 32.1 Blessed is the man whose sin is covered When the Lord pardons sin he is said to cover it because he will not suffer it to appear against the sinner nor be charged upon him to condemnation As pardon covers sins so Clouds cover the Heavens and when they are covered the light is covered With Clouds he covereth the light The Prophet Jeremy in his Lamentations Chap. 3.44 complained sadly because God who is light had covered himself Thou hast covered thy self with a Cloud that our prayers should not pass through As God doth sometimes cover himself oâ hide the light of his Countenance from his people as with a cloud that their prayers cannot pass through so he ofâen hides or coveâs the light of the aire with natural oâ proper Clouds that the Sun beams for a time cannot pierce noâ pass through With Clouds he covereth The light ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã tum lucom tum solem a quo lux vel quia est fons lucu significat The word used by Elihu signifies both light and the Sun which is the fountain from whence light flows and issues yea the word signifies also fire The Sun Moon and Stars are called ignes the fires of heaven because like so many fires or mighty torches they give light to us on earth And by a metaphor the word signifies Joy Comfort all sorts of good things as on the other side by darkness troubles and calamities of all sorts are metaphorically exprest in Scripture With Clouds he covereth the light And commandeth it not to shine by the Cloud that cometh between As if he had said When a Cloud covereth the light 't is the command of God which puts the Cloud as a covering upon it Those words not to shine are not expresly in the Hebrew Text theâe it is only thus With Clouds he covereth the light and commandeth it by that which cometh between nor is the word Cloud exprest in the latter part of the verse we put it in as a suppliment in another Character more fully to express the sence of the Text. And commandeth it not to shine The word which we translate to command properly signifies to bid or command a thing to be done Verbum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quod significat praecipere quum regit praepositionem ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã significat intordicere Pisc but when it stands in construction as here with Gnal it signifieth to forbid or stay a thing that it be not done Gen. 2.16 God commanded the man or concerning the man c. As that command expressed a liberty to eat of every other tree in the Garden so it included a prohibition of eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge which is also expressed at the 17th verse We have a like construction of the word Gen. 28.6 1 Kings 2.43 He commandeth it not to shine By the Cloud that cometh between By that which comeâh between or by that which meets it that is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã occuârit irruit aggressus est per Metaphorâm intercessit occurrit deprecandi cauâa Hinc ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã per occurrens sc per occurrenâem nubem quaâinterveniente lucem solu tegit Drus Merc as we supply it by the thick and daâk Cloud which meets and intercepts the bright beames of the Sun The root of the word signifies to meet with force not only occurrere but irruere to rush upon to invade to assault or to charge as an enemy is charged in battel and it signifies by a Metaphor to intercede to make prayer or supplication for another which is as iâ were a coming between man and man An Intercessor cometh between two parties the party offending and the party offended he interposeth himself to make up the breach or to take up the difference that if possible a reconciliation may be made The Latine word which we translate Latinely to intercede is of the same significancy and this Hebrew word is often so rendred Jer. 7.16 Pray not for this people nor make intercession to me that is thou shalt not come between me and this people to stop or stay me that I break not out into wrath or from pouring out my wrath upon them In other Scriptures it is used to note an act of intercession between man and man Gen. 23.8 as also an act of address by prayer and intreaty whether towards God or man Job 21.15 Ruth 1.16 And because the word properly notes meeting another with a kind of violence it intimates with what a holy violence with what strength earnestness and fervency of spirit we ought to meet God either in prayer for our selves or when we come as intercessors and stand before him in the behalf of others whether Persons Nations or Churches Many Interpreters as I shall shew afterward take the word in this sence here for an Intercessor or for a person that prayeth and intercedeth for another We in our translation expound it of a thing and that thing of a Cloud that interposeth or cometh between us and the Light He commandeth the light not to shine by the Cloud that cometh between or by the Cloud that passeth between us and the light of the Sun Hence note First The best and sweetest mercies we have in this world may quickly meet with a stop When we have the Light a Cloud may soon come between the Light and us Which as it is true of the natural Light and Clouds so of that which is Light in a figure our most comfortable enjoyments and that
which is a Cloud in a figure troublesome and afflictive Providences There is no light of what kind soever it is but there may be a Cloud to intercept it and come between us and that even the light of the favour of God the light of his countenance which is the most blessed light of all even that light hath many a Cloud The clouds of ouâ sins cause the Lord to cloud his face with anger and displeasure and hinder the light of his favour and loving kindnâss from shining upon our souls Secondly In that Elihu saith He câmmandeth it not to shine Note The Lord hath a soveraign power over all creatures He sends forth his commanding word not only to Angels and Men but to Beasts yea to inanimates he sends out his orders and edicts to the Clouds of the Air to the Light of the Sun to things without life and they submit presently and obey he speaketh to the light as if it were a âeaâonable creature he commandeth it not to shine and it shineth not The hosts of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth are at the diâpose of God the wââle course of nature moves and stands still at his word and pleaâure The Sun stood still in the dayes of Jâshua at his command and by the same command the Sun wenâ backward in the days of Hezekiah and 't is by his command that the Sun withdraws its light and is muffled up with Clouds at any time He commandeth it not to shine Take these Inferences from it First Then what cannot God do He that commands the light not to shine and it shineth not Is any thing too hard for him who but God can stop the Sun from shining If all the Princes and Potentates of this world should joyn their forces their counsels together and send a prohibition to the Sun to stay its light and forbear its shining one moment they were not able to do it yet if the Lord do but speak the word the Sun shineth not he can give it a prohibition and supersede the going forth of its light to us yea he hath power enough not only to coveâ the Sun with Clouds but to turn it into a Cloud and to blot it out of the heavens Secondly learn hence In what dependance we are upon God for every thing God can keep the light from us every day if he pleaseth and wrap us up in perpetual darkness as he plagued the Land of Egypt with thick darkness for three dayes together 'T is true the Sun riseth and goeth down in a natural course yet still by a divine order and commission As God can sorbid the Light by interposing Clouds so he can sorbid the Clouds to give us showers and bind up all the sweet influences of heaven from destilling upon the earth to make it fruitful He can speak to our garments that they warm us not to our food that it nourish us not to our physick that it cure and heal us not to all our relations that they comfort us not to all our possessions and riches that they content us not O let us remember that we depend upon God for Rain for Light for Sun-shine for all it is at his word that they all put themselves forth to do us good and at his word they are all staid and stopt in their motion from doing or bringing us any good Leâ us remember also God can command another light not to shine he can by a word stop the progress of the Word and stay that blessed and most beautiful light the light of the Gospel from shining to us by some Cloud or other coming between To how many nations of people where that light sometimes shined hath God long since sent a command and it shineth not It shined brightly in former Ages upon the African Churches but now for a long time God hath said to the light of the Gospel shine not upon them there 's scarce any light at all at most but a glimmering of Gospel-Light in all that vast continent a quarter-part of the world What mighty Dominions are now possest by the followers of Mahomet both in Europe and Asia where the light of the Gospel did once shine very brighâly and gloriously How famous were those seven Asian Churches men ioned and writ to by the command of Christ and the ministry of his servant and Secretary John Rev. 1.2 3. yet now darkness possesseth all those places and the Alcoran hath thrust out the Gospel and whence is all this Surely God commanded and that light shined not nor hath it shined with any bâightness for many hundred years Jesus Christ who threatened Ephesus with the removal of her Candlestick hath removed all those Candlesticks and put out their ligâââ The same stop can God give to the Gospel-light which hath shined among us blessed be his Name for many years together Let us take heed that we forfeit not that blessed light that we provoke not the Lord by our abuse of it and unthankfulness for it to send out a command that it shine not among us any more We read in the Prophets how divine light was prohibited both to the People and to the Prophets The stop of it to the People we have Amos 8.9 I will cause the Sun to go down at noon and I will darken the earth in the clear day The Prophet speaks not here at all of the stop of natural light nor doâh he only intend the stop of that metaphorical light Prosperity in outward things which the Lord doth often eclipse and daâken when men dream least of it or have no more fear about it than âhey have that the Sun will go down at noon day but he at least intends if it be not his principal intendment to shew that a grievous judgmânt was hastning upon them as to their spiritual enjoyments that the light of divine knowledge what to believe and what to practise was declining and ready to go down though they thought it was but noon with them and the day very clear For as the famine threatned vers 11. is expounded upon the place by the Prophet himself not to be a famine of bread and a thirst for water but of hearing the word of the Lord so the darkness threatened in this 9th verse is not to be restrained to the loss of their worldly liberties and comforts but extended to those which were spiritual and divine the failing of vision and the removing of the light of the Word And as in this Prophet we find the light departing from the People so in the third of Micah vers 6 7. we find God commanding the light not to shine to the Prophets the false prophets he meanes there for so he describeth them vers 5. Therefore shall night be unto you the prophets who deceive my people who teach them vanity and lead them to Idolatry and superstition therefore I say shall night be unto you that ye shall have no vision and it shall be dark
shewed how himself was affected with a gracious fear and trembling labours to affect others also with the same fear in the next verse Vers 2. Hear attentively the noise of his voice and the sound that goeth out of his mouth We have here a doubling of the word in an unusual way That Hebraisme is ordinarily read Plus est inquit Rab. David quam audiendo audite nam infinitum postpââtitur ego nihil aut pârum refârre puto hoc an illo mâdo effârâs Drus hearing hear but in this place 't is hear in hearing which one of the Jewish Doctors saith hath a greater emphasis than the ordinary Hebraisme hearing hear Others find nothing of such a difference in those differing Heb aismes however both call for greatest heed in hearing what is spoken when 't is either said hear in hearing or hearing hear we should as our translation gives the sense fully Hear attentively There is a two-fold hearing First A hearing with the ear of the body there needs little stirring up of that ear to attend the voice of thunder here spoken of that speaks so loud that men cannot if they would not but hear that commands audience and attention that boreth the ear and makes its own way The deafest adders can hardly stop their eares so as not to hear the voyce of that not muttering charmer but but rouzâng speaker Thunder Secondly There is a hearing with the ear of the mind a spiritual hearing such as the Prophet spake of Hab. 3.2 O Lord Non solum auditum excitat sed intelligentiam postulat I have heard thy speech c. that is I have heard it fully clearly understandingly affectionately obedientially Elihu is here stirring up not so much the outward sence as the affections with all the powers of the inner man to attend and take notice of that which was then to be heard what was that Hear attentively The noise of his voice ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Commotio perturbatio animi prae metu vel prae ira Audite audiendo cum tremore voâem ejus Merc. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Omnem sonitum articulatum aut inarticulatum significat in genere ãâã umque strepitum The word here rendred noise signifies both an angry noise and an awful fear Ps 4.4 such a noise as causes fear or such a fear as is caused by a dreadful noise Hence some read the words Hear his voyce with trembling we say hear the noise of his voice According to the former interpretation the noise of his voice is the noise of thunder that if any thing makes a noise a dreadful noise as was toucht before a noise like the roaâing of a Lion Hear the noise Of his voice The word voice is taken in general for any sound articulate or inarticulate Ezek. 1.24 and it may very well signifie thunder because thunder in several scriptures is called absolutely A voice the voice of God and whole volyes of Thunder are called voices of God Exod. 9.28 Pharaoh entreated Moses that he would entreat the Lord that there might be no more mighty thundrings we put in the margin voyces of God It is said Exod. 20.18 the people saw the Thundrings the Hebrew is voices the meaning is they heard the Thundâings as if they had been so many voices or they heard as it were voyces when it thundered Thus 't is said Rev. 4.5 Out of the Throne proceeded lightnings and thundrings and voices Again Chap. 10.3 seven thunders uttered their voyces Hear attentively the noise of his voice that is the noise of of his Thunder speaking aloud and aloft in the air And the sound that goeth out of his mouth The word imports secret silent meditation ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Sermo meditaetus proprie meditatio Sermonem etiam significat ore prolatum as also an audible sound of voice or words spoken and it may be applyed particulârly to that more gentle quiet or whispering sound of thunder of which I shall have occasion to speak further at the 4th verse Some Thunders speak very loud others give a kind of gentle sound Philosophy tells us that this difference in thunder ariseth from the different constitution of the clouds in which it is bred and through which it breaks The greater may more properly be expressed by the words in the first part of this verse The noise of his voice and the lesser by these in the latter part Tonitruorum unum genus est cujus fit grave muâmur aliud genus est acre quod crepitum magis dixerim quam sonum aliud frangor est subitus vehemens quo edito concidunt homines c. Sen. l. 6. Nat. q. c. 27. The sound that goeth out of his mouth Now Whether it be the noise of his voice or a whispering soft sound both or either must be attended Hear attentively the sound That goeth out of his mouth Thunder is said to go out of the mouth of God as words go out of the mouth of man and as men especially the minds of honest men are known by the words which go out of their mouths so God maketh himself known to the world or makes the world both know him and fear him in his power and greatness by the noise and sound of thunder Elihu chargeth Job to attend diligently this noise this sound and he calleth it the noise of Gods voice the sound that goeth out of his mouth Hence observe First God speaks to man in Thunder or Thunder is the voice of God to man And so 't is often called in Scâipture the 29th Psalme almost throughout is a proof of it Thunder being there seven times called The Voice of the Lord. The very Heathens had that apprehension of Thunder Poetae Joâem tonantâm tonitrâââm âocâm Jovis vocare solent calling it the Voice of the Gods Jupiter was siânamed Thundring Jove Hâre we have Jehovah the true God the living God sending out his Voice in Thunder That Voice spoken of by David Psal 68.33 is usually interpreted of Tâunder Lo he doth send ouâ his Voice and that a mighty Voice Thunder may be called thâ Voice of God in a double respect First Because it is a great and mighty voice and then those words of God have only the force of an Epithete Quod magnum eât diviââm esse dicitur ãâ¦ã As the Cedars of God the Rivers of God are great Cedars and Rivers so a grâat Voice is called the Voice of God God is great and therefore great things are ascribed to him Secondly Thunder is called the Voice of God because God formes and puts it forth by his power as a man doth his voice God may be said to utter his Voice when he sends out the Thunder And as Thunder is put forth by or speaks from God so it puts forth or speaks much of God it speaks and puts forth much of the Power and Mâjesty of God When it thunders we should think we hear God
a right rule Moses Deut. 32.15 calls the people of God collectively as one man Jeshuruâ that is a people that are or should be right and upright with God Thus here he directeth it that is God doth as it were by a strait line level or take his aim when he dischargeth the Thunder in the Cloud As he that dischargeth his gun small or great or shoots an arrow levels and directs it at a mark so the Lord directeth it What is this it 'T is plain by what followeth in the latter part of the verse where the Lightning is expresly mentioned that he meanes the Thunder or the Thunder-bolt for the Clouds are in that case charged with bolts we have had many dreadful instances as well in ancient Histories as in our own time of Thunder-bolts like Bullets shot from the Clouds As if Elihu had said whither-soever the Thunder-bolt goeth to what quarter of the world soever 't is designed it receives commission and direction from God what to do and where to fall whom it shall smite or what mark it shall hit He directeth it under the whole heaven And his Lightning to the ends of the earth Naturalists define or describe Lighâning thus Fulgui seu coruscatio est flammae micâtio ab exhalationiâus accensiâ è nubibus erumpentibus exorta Arist 2. Meteor cap 9. 'T is a bright shining caused by exhalations fired in and violently breaking out of the Clouds The Hebrew is his light The Sun is the fountain of Light and that is eminently Gods Light but the Light here spoken of is not the ordinary Light shining in the Air by the rising of the Sun this Light is Lighâning which is a sudden flasâing or breaking forth of light from the Clouds as when a gun is fired or discharged a light flasheth from it such is that which Authors of all sorts call Lightning and here the Scripture calls his Lightning At the 3d Verse the Thunder was called his Voice the Voice of God and in this the Lightning is called his Lightning Elihu appropriates it unto God himself his Lightning This Lightning hath more than light in it it hath heat and fire in it though we do not alwayes feel it yet many have the effects of heat and fire appearing sadly upon them And this is such a fire as water cannot quench and therefoâe we often read in Scripture Ignis sua natura in verticem surgit si nihil illi prohibet assendet fulmen autem cadit eadem necessitate qua excutitur nihil itaque dubii relinquitur quiâ divina illi virtus insit Seneca of Lightning joyned with the Rain Psal 135.7 Jer. 10.13 Jer. 51.16 which may be remark't as one of the wonders of it There is a second that the Lightning is said to fall from heaven When the disciples brought a report back to Christ what gâeat things they had done what conquests they had got over evil spirits Christ answered Luke 10.18 I saw Satan like Lightning fall from heaven Lightning falls from heâven for though Lightning of its own nature being fiery should ascend yet it descends through the power of God Naturalists observe it as a wonder that the Lightning should descend Seneca demonstrates it could not be unless there were a divine power in it that the Lightning should come down from heaven and as Elihu said before he directeth it or the Thunder under the whole heaven so we are here to take up that word again and say He directeth his Lightning To the ends of the earth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Aâa proprie avium est ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Sept. Here is the act and the extention of the act to the ends of the earth the Hebâew is the wings of the earth so the word is used Gen. 1.21 God created great whales c. and every winged fowl The ends of the earth are called the wings of the earth because they are the farthest out-stretchings of the earth as a bird when she flies stretcheth out her wings to the utmost They are also called The corners of the earth Ezek. 7.2 Thou son of man thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel an end the end is come upon the four corners of the land the Hebrew is upon the four wings or ends of the earth as if he had said an end is come upon the East and West North and South These four wings or extreams of the earth are the same which Christ called the four winds Mat. 24.31 where speaking of the Resurrection at the last Judgment he shews how all that are raised shall be brought to one place or general Session and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his Elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other that is from the four ends corners skirts or wings of the earth The utmost extreamity of a garment or of a land according to the Hebrew is called the wing of it Now forasmuch as Elihu represents God thus directing both the Thunder and Lightning Observe first All the motions of the Creature even the most violent and to appearance contingent motions of the Creature are under the direction yea under the dominion of God Thunder and Lightning go the way which God appointeth and chalketh out to them they move not of themselves they move not whither men or devils would have them but whither God would have them The Devils I grant have great power in the Air yet 't is limited by and wholly subordinate to the will and power of God As the reasonable creatures and their motions that is the motions of Men and Angels are under the direction of God as Jeremiah speaks Chap. 10.23 It is not in him that goeth to direct his own steps The Hebrew useth a word there which may be rendred to prepare to establish or to confirm neither of which are in him that goeth we render it according to the present text it is not in him that goeth to direct his own steps who directs them then It is God that directs the steps of man It is not in the power of man to direct his own steps he is not able to do it and besides that he hath not the liberty or priviledge to do it he may not do it he ought not to do it 't is the duty as well as the safety of man to leave the direcâion of his wayes and steps to God 'T is God that directs the steps of man yea the indirect steps of man are under the mighty power of God the very wandrings of men are under the guidance of God the motions yea commotions the actions and the most disturbed actions of man are under a most certain disposure and disposition of God When men do they know not what God knows and orders what they do Now I say as God directs reasonable creatures men or angels so unreasonable creatures in their motions the
vel retardabit aliquis fulmen vel fulgur cum deus emittere petit Scult Neque differt illa cum audienda est vox ejus Jun i. e. fulgetra tonitruum praenuncia exhibet ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã non differt i. e. praemittit Jun Some understand the raine and showers which usually follow upon or after a great thunder and we commonly call them thunder showers Others understand the Lightning and the Thunder as if he had said When Gods purpose is declared that there shall be lightning and thunder he will not stay them or take them by the heele as the word properly signifieth whence Jacob had his name because when Esau was coming into the world Jacob took him by the heele as if he would have stayed or stopped his birth at least have got into the world before him and therefore Esau said Gen. 27.36 Is he nât rightly called Jacob for he hath supplanted me these two times Which some render according to the letter of the Text My brother may well be called an Heeler for he hath heeled me these two times In this sense the Lord will not stay the birth and breaking forth of these terrible twins Thunder and Lightning Lastly learned Junius referrs them to the Lightnings only rendring He doth not defer them when his voyce is to be heard which he thus expounds He sends lightning before foretelling thunder will follow But I conceive the former exposition more cleare which refers this not staying or he will not stay both to thunder and lightning in consort or together Hence note When once God speaks the word and is resolved upon the doing of a thing there is no stopping of him nor will he stay his work He will not take thunder and lightning by the heele when he hath bid them go We have a parallel sense to this câncerning the thunder and lightning of divine Judgements Zeph. 2.1 2. Gather your selves together O gather your selves together before the decree bring forth As if he had said If once the decree bring forth if once God declare that wrath shall come there is no recalling of it He will not stay it when his voyce is heard for then Isa 43.13 The Lord will work and nâne shall let him he will not stop it himself and none else can Thunder and lightning shall come whosoever stand in their way must down And as none can lett God by power so none shall lett him by prayer if once he be resolved ahd hath sent forth his decree therefore do not provoke the Lord to give out the word for then your case is desperate There 's no opposing the work of God or God in his working He will not stay them when his voyce is heard Vers 5. God thundreth marveilously with his voyce great things doth he that we cannot comprehend Consider how often this word is repeated He roareth with his voice He thundereth with the voice of his excellency and here He thundereth marveilously This may teach us First which hath been noted before that the works of God in nature are to be heeded Secondly that we are very backward to heed them Thirdly this is so often ascribed to God least we should think that thunder is only a work of nature God thundereth marveilously Tonat mirabilia Hebr Numerus pluralis indicat ingentem admirationem stuporem mortalium ad vocem tonitrui Pined The words may be read God thundereth marvels 't is in the plural number We render well God thundereth marveilously but there is a greater Emphasis taking it in the plural number God thundereth marvels Consider thunder and lightning in a proper or in a metaphorical sense there are many marvels or wonders in them Naturalists observe many marvels in natural thunder and lightnings these sometimes melt the sword without hurt to the scabbard dissolve the mettal not consuming the purse break the bones and not the flesh these spoyl the Wine without staving or breaking the cask kill or stifle the child in the womb and not the mother God thunders marveilously in these things Again how many marveilous Judgments hath God wrought by thunder how often hath he destroyed the enemies of his people and the blasphemers of his great Name by thunder and lightning from Heaven Anastatius the Emperour an Eutichian persecutor of the Orthodox Christians was slaine by thunder The History of the Church speaks of a Christian Legion or Brigade of Christians in the Army of Aurelius the Emperour who earnestly prayed the whole Army being in a great strait that God would appear for their help and the defeating of the enemy whereupon the Loâd sent raine for their reliefe as also thunder and lightning by which the enemy was discomfited and destroyed whereupon that Legion was called The thundering Legion When Julian the Apostate meerly to despite the prophesie of Christ Mat. 24. who had said of the Temple at Jerusalem there should not be left one stone upon another Julian I say in despite of this prophesie yea to despite it gave command for the building of the Temple at Jerusalem and upon his command there was a great quantity of materialls brought together for that purpose but the Lord seeing the pride of this enemy sent a marveilous thunder with an Earthquake which not only amazed the workmen but scattered those materials put a stop to the work Now as there are many marvels wrought by natural thunder and lightning so also by that which is spiritual Nor will it be unuseful for us to consider them upon occasion of what is said of natural thunder in this Scripture God thundereth marveilously in the dispensation of his Word or in his dealings with the souls of sinners to bring them home to himself and to turn them from their sins We may not excluding the proper sense profitably expound the whole 29th Psalm in this spiritual sense wherein the Lord under the Allegory of a terrible thunder-tempest seems to give a prophetical description of his mighty power in propagating the Gospel to the ends of the earth which goeth not out as an empty sound beating the aire but with wonderful efficacy convincing the world of sin and of their need of Christ to save them from their sins And to shew that this is the scope of the Psalm David begins it with a strong exhortation v. 1 2. Give unto the Lord O ye mighty give ye unto the Lord glory and strength Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his Name worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness As if David had said O ye the mighty Princes and Potentates of the world who in most places and times have contemned God and his holy worship and being your selves either irreligious or engaged in a false religion have used your power against and hindered the progress of the Gospel and the advancement of true religion I advise and admonish you to lay down that spirit to embrace thâ Gospel to love the power of godliness to propagate
the true knowledge of Jesus Christ and to encourage the faithfull dispencers and professors of it both by your favour and example worshiping the Lord in the beauty of holiness If any should ask Why is the Lord to be so worshipped why must he have such high honours from those that are high what doth he in the World which calls for such adoration David answers Meteorologically as well as Theologically he answers from the Clouds vers 3. The Voyce of the Lord is upon the Waters the God of glory thundreth the Lord is upon many Waters The voyce of the Lord is powerful the voyce of the Lord is full of Majesty As if he had said Although the Lord Jesus Christ will not set up an outward pompous political Kingdome such as that of Cyrus or Alexander c. yet by the Ministry of the Gospel he will erect a spiâitual Kingdome and gather to himself a Church that shall abide for ever out of all the Nations of the earth For the Gospel shall be carryed and preached to not only the people of Israel the Jewes but to the Gentiles all the world over that the minds of men may be awakened enlightned and moved with that unheard of Doctrine of Salvation by Christ which had been hid from Ages and Generations And though many shall be hardned against and oppose that glad-tydings yet because the God of glory thundereth that is because the voyce of the Lord is powerful and full of Majesty he accompanying the Ministry of the Gospel with power and terror like that of Thunder home to the Consciences of men for their conviction and conversion therefore it shall do great and glorious things subduing the greatest and stoutest sinners to the obedience of his Will This Thunder will cast down the strong holds of sin and every thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10.4 5. This is it which the Prophet David intendeth according to this allegorical interpretation by the effects of Thunder elegantly expressed vers 5 6 7 8 9 The Voyce of the Lord breaketh the Cedars yea the Lord breaketh the Cedars of Lebanon that is proud and high-minded men who are in their own conceit as tall as Cedars these he will make to see that they are but shrubs these he will humble and break âheir hearts by true repentance for the pride of their hearts and all the abominations of their lives Further vers 6. He maketh them also to skip like a Calf Lebanon and Syrion like a young Vnicorn that is the Lord by his thundering powerful voyce first will make them skip as frighted with fear and secondly as revived with joy Yet more vers 7. The Voyce of the Lord divideth the Flames of fire that is will send and divide to every one as they need 1 Cor. 12.11 the holy Spirit who is compared to and called Fire Mat. 3.11 and who came as with a Thunder-storm of a mighty rushing wind and with the appearance of cloven Tongues like as of fire and sate upon each one of the Apostles Acts 2.2 3. Nor did this Voyce of Thunder accompanied with divided flâmes of fire reach Jerusalem only for as it follows vers 8. The Vâyce of the Lord shaketh the Wilderness the Wilderness of Kadesh that is the Lord by the voyce of the Gospel shall go forth with power to those Gentiles who are like a wilderness barren oâ goodness and unmanur'd in spirituals though they dwell in well-govern'd Cities and are well-furnished with Morals It shall go forth also to those Gentiles who inhabit wast wildernesses and are not so much as reduced to civility These wildernesses the thundering voice of the Lord hath shaken heretofore and doth shake at this day and will yet further shake that the fulness of the Gentiles may come in Many of these wildernesses hath the Lord turned into fruitful fields and pleasant lands by the voice of the Gospel sounding among them For in these wildernesses as it followeth vers 9. The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve that is they that were as wild as untaught and untamed as the hind or any beast in the forrest he brings to the sorrows of theiâ new-birth to Repentance and Gospel-humiliation And in doing this He as the Psalmist goes on discovereth the forrests that is opens the hearts of men which are as thick set and full grown with vanity pride hypocrisie self-love and self-sufficiency as also with wantonness and sensuality as any forest is over-grown with thickets of trees and bushes which deny all passage through till cleared away by cutting down or burning up Such an opening such a discovery doth the Lord make in the forrests of mens hearts by the Sword and Fire that is by the Word and Spirit of the Gospel and when all this is done the forrest becomes a Temple and as that verse concludes In his temple doth every one speak of his glory And if the floods of ungodliness rise up against this people whom the thunder and lightning of the Gospel have subdued to Christ and framed into a holy Temple then the Psalmist assureth us vers 10. The Lord sitteth upon the flood that is 't is under his power he ruleth and over-ruleth it yea The Lord sitteth King for ever and v. 11. The Lord will give strength to his people the Lord will bless his people with peace Thus the Lord thundereth marveilously and these are glorious marvels which he thundereth he converts sinners The thunder of the Gospel frights them out of sin and the grace of it gives them peace Thus though I like not their way who are given to allegorize the Scriptures yet I doubt not but we may make a profitable use both of this and many other Scriptures by way of allegory This being an undeniable truth which is the ground of it That the Lord puts forth as it were the power of Thunder and Lightning in the preaching of his Word these two things are to be marked First That Thunder and Lightning are a kind of Word of God to us they tell us though confusedly yet plainly enough for the conviction and condemnation of gainsayers there is a God the greatest Princes of the world have taken notice of Thunder and Tempest that there is a God over all governing all nor needs there any more teaching than that to condemne Athiests and Mockers at Religion We say proverbially of some men who make a rude noise they are so loud that we cannot hear God Thunder for them yet know there 's no noise can so drown the voice of Gods Thunder in the Clouds but it will condemn all that hear it not so as to acknowledg God in it Secondly We should mark that as Thunder and Lightning are a kind of Voice or Word of God to us so the Word of God or the Voice of God speaking in his Word is a kind of Thunder and Lightning to us
very mighty very powerful even clothed with an irresistible power and might And therefore if we take the Prophet David in 29th Psalm before mentioned speaking in the former part of it of the effects of Natural Thunder only yet toward the close of the Psalm he applyeth it to the Word of God while he saith v. 9. And in his Temple doth every one speak of his glory that is the Word and Ordinances of God ministred in his Church or Temple will put every one to acknowledge and speak of the glorious Power of God even much more than the mighty Thunder which soundeth in our eares or the subtil Lightning which flasheth in our eyes There is a far more royal power in the Thunder of the Word than in the word of Thunder This terrifyeth only to Conviction but that terrifieth to Salvation for after God speakes terror there in his Threatnings he speaks comfort in the Promises and when he hath affrighted us with a sense of our sins and of his wrath due to us for our sins as with an horrible tempest he presently refresheth us with the gentle gales of revealed gâace and with the pleasant amiable Sun-shine of his favour by Jesus Ch iât And therefore in respect both of the Natural and Spiritual Thunder considered in the circumstances and consequences of it Elihu might well conclude as he doth in the last words of this Verse and matter Great things doth he which we cannot comprehend We may take these words not only as intending the great things of the Thunder which indeed are such as we cannot comprehend but as a transition from Thunder to those other great things that God doth set forth in the latter part of the Chapter Great things doth he God doth the least things but he can do great things he doth great things Which we cannot comprehend The Hebrew is He doth great things and we know not Fâcit magna non cognoscimus Heb. which may be expounded two wayes First We know not that is we take no notice of them God doth great things and we are very backward to consider them Secondly We know not that is he doth such great things that let us consider and study them as long as we will let us break our brains to find out the greatness of them yet we shall never find it out He doth great things that we cannot comprehend The text is clear and the sense profitable in either Interpretationâ he doth great things which we do not consider or he doth great things that when we have considered them and done the most we can we cannot come to the full knowledge of them Naturalists speak much of the causes of these things yet the clearest sighted among them could not see the bottom of them nor reach the utmost reason of them Great things doth he which we cannot comprehend Hence note It is both proper and easie to God to do great things He is the great God so great that doing great things is no weariness to him Tâe tâxt doth not say hâ hath done great things oâ he will do great things buâ he doth grea things he is alwayes doing g eat tâââgs and ãâã is a poânt improveable for the comfort of the people ãâã God When a great matter is to be done we say who shall do it ãâã when we are in great troubles and dangers we sây who shall deliver us If small matters be to be done we think we oâ oâher men like our selves can do them but when great mâââârs are to be dâne we hardly believe that God can do them for us yet 't is all one with God whether the thing be great or little that is to be done if he please to undertake the doing of it It is questioned Amos 7.2 By whom shall Jacob arâse for he is small They looked to this and that creature and saw Jacob so small and low that they thought he could never rise again but remember Jacobs God is great and he doth great things this great thing especially to raise them that are low and small What-ever your condition is remember God is great and can as well do great things as little as easily make a world as give you a morsel of bâead there is nothing hard to God He doth great things and according to the strictness of the Hebrew text we know not that is we consider them not we take little notice of them Hence observe The sons of men are commonly very slight thoughted about the great works of God When God thunders maâvelâ we know them not we lay them not to heart The Prophet Isa 5.12 sheweth how busie the caâeless Jews were in their miâth and jollity but they regarded not the work of the Lord neither considered the operation âf his hands When God is doing gâeat thingâ oâe man is getting wealth another taking his pleasure but they regard not at all or have very little regard to what God is doing Again from our reading Great things doth he which we cannot comprehend Note God doth great things that are beyond the greatest of our apprehensions such things as after all our study we are short in and short of As it is our sin that we take not paines enough to know the great things that God doth so God doth things so great that when we have done our best or after all our paines we cannot know them fully though we know their outside yet little of their inside though we know their effects yet little of their causes and contrivances To know a thing is to know it in the causes of it Scire est per causas scire to see the reason of it A man knoweth not the things that he knows till he seeth the reason of what he knows How little doth man know of or see into the reason of the great things that God doth How little do we see of the marvels that are in the works of God The love of God passeth knowledge Ephes 3.19 Though we labouâ to know it and 't is our sin that we labour not more to know it yet we cannot it surpasseth all our knowledge And as that love of God which is the first mover of all the good and great things that he doth for his people âââseth our knowledge so the things that are the effects of that love to his people are so great that they pass our knowledge Hence we may infer these two duties First Let us be much in the admiration of the great things that God doth Where knowledge ends there admiration should begin It was a shame for a Philosopher to admire because he was supposed to know the whole compass of nature but 't is no shame for a Christian to admire there being many things not only in the âpecial dispensations of grace but in the common dispensations of providence which he cannot know comprehensively the whole compass of which he cannot graspe or take in with the best of his understanding Secondly
Let us take heed of censuring the works of God Some are very bold in passing their Verdicts upon the great things that God doth this and that is not so well done this and that might have been otherwise done The great things which God doth please not many men if hey hit not their interest how apt are they to find fault But seeing God doth great things that we cannot comprehend let us take heed of censuring any of the great things that God doth no man should judge or censure that which he doth not cannot know and fully understand But usually they who understand things least censure them most and they are most apt to judge who have the weakest judgements JOB Chap. 37. Vers 6 7 8. 6. For he saith to the snow be thou on the earth likewise to the small rain and to the great rain of his strength 7. He sealeth up the hand of every man that all men may know his work 8. Then the beasts go into dens and remain in their places ELihu having set forth the wonders of divine power in Thunder and Lightning gives us other instances to the same purpose in this context First In the Snow Secondly in the Rain And he describes the Snow and Rain three wayes First By poynting at their Author or producer in the 6th verse He that is God of whom he spake in the close of the former verse Secondly He sheweth the way or manner of their production he saith 'tis done by a word or command that is by a word of command he saith to the Snow he likewise saith to the small Rain and to the great Rain of his strength be ye on the earth Thirdly He discribes the effects or consequences at least of Snow and Rain and those are of two sorts First What respects man at the 7th verse He sealeth up the hand of every man that all men may know his work Th re we have the first effect the sealing of mans hand together with the designe or intent of God in it that all men may know his work The second effect respects the beasts of the earth at the 8th verse then that is when God hath commanded the Snow and the Rain to be on the earth then the beasts go into dens and remain in their places Thus wâ may conceive the parts and general scope of these three verses Vers 6. For he saith to the Snow That causal particle for in the front of this verse imports a reason or an account given in these words of what was sâid before at the 5th verse God doth great things which we cannot comprehend then presently followeth for he saith to the Snow c. As if Elihu had said not only are Thunder and Lightning but Snow and Rain to be numbred and reckoned among the great and marveilous works of God for he saith to the Snow He saith That is as hath been shewed already he commandeth What God saith shall be must be his words are laws he saith to or commandeth the Snow Not only doth God give commands to rational creatures men Angels but to meer sensitive creatures the beasts and to senseless creatures to vegetives or plants yea to inanimates to things without any life at all such are Snow and Rain yet as if Snow and Rain had an ear to hear an understanding to mind a command from God the text represents God speaking to these He saith to the Snow c. The Snow falls in silver showres every year and covers the face of the earth All men behold it but few understand either what it is or why it is sent Take this brief description of it from the Schoole of Nature Snow is a moist vapour drawn up from the earth to or neer Nix est vâ or humidus in mediam aeris regionem subvectuâ ubi in nubâm condensatur congâlatus instar lanae carminâtae desâeâdit teâ partes âteâdum magnas intârdum exiguas antequam in guttas resolâatur Garcae Meteor c. 29. the middle region of the Air where it is condensed or thâckned into a Cloud and falls down again lâke carded wool sometimes in greater sometimes in lesser flakes Snow and Rain are made of the same matter and have their breeding in the same place only they differ in theiâ outward foâm as is obvious to the eye and their season Rain falleth in the warmer seasons the Clouds being dissolved into Rain by heat or when the cold is more remiss Snow falleth in the shaâper seasons the Cloud being âhickned by the cold Hence Solomons comâaâison Prov. 26.1 As Snow in Summer so honour is not coâely for a fool Snow is a goodly white robe upon the Winter-body of the earth or upon the body of the earth in Winter yet how unseemly is it upon the body of the earâh in Summeâ hiding and obscuring as well as hurting that which is the natural beauty and ornament of it Thus honour is a precious robe yet no way fitting the back of a foolish or undeserving person Snow is very improper and unnatuââl in Summer because the coldness of it hinders the ripening of tâe corn and other fruits of the earth And therefore when Solomon saith Chap. 25.13 As the cold of snow in the time of Summer so is a faithful messenger to him that sendeth him His meaning is noâ that the falling of ânow is either comâortable or seasonable in the time of Summer but that snow gathered in Winter and reserved as the custome is in hot countries till Summer being put into drink doâh exceedingly cool it and so refresheth those who are ready to faint wiâh heat But not to go further from the Text in hand we see that Snow and rain have the same original both being formed out of vapours As in mans body who is a little world from the Stomack there riâe up vapours to the Head which by the coldness of the brain are changed into and sent back again in Rheumes and Catarrs So vapours drawn up from the Earth into the Air are sent back in Snow and Rain Solomon descâibing the infirmities of old age alludes to this while he warnes the young man that thus the Clâuds will return after the Rain Eccl. 12.2 which may be understood either more generally of that succession of troubles to which old age is subject or more particularly of Rheum and Flegm wherewith old age is molested the defluxion of the Rheum being as the Rain and the gathering of new matter which continually distilleth from the Head upon the Lungs being as the returning of the Clouds after the Rain He saith to the Snow Be thou on the earth The place where Snow is generated is in the Air from thence it receives a command to dispatch it self to the Earth and there to abide He saith to the Snow be thou on the Earth that is cover the face of the earth be thou as a mantle upon the earth or as a white sheet spread over the whole face of
his word This goodly Fabrick of the World was made by his word and all the creatures in the world will presently act upon a word from God Psal 33.9 He spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast Gods saying is doing This is a point of high consolation to all the people of God what-ever their affliction is God can command them out of it what-ever their wants are God can command a supply for them He that saith to the natural Snow and to the Rain to Stormes and Tempests be ye upon the earth can also say to the Snow and Rain to the Stormes and Tempests of trouble be ye not upon the earth He can do or undo by his word as himself pleaseth 'T is also matter of great terror to all that rise up against and disobey the word of the great God for though they ãâ¦ã they see nothing at hand to interrupt them nothing to check them in the way of their lusts though they look upon themselves beyond the âeach of dânger yet 't is but a word speaking from God and they are wrapt up in Snow and hurrican'd with a Storm and Tempâst He saith to the Snow c. This irresisible force of a word fâom God was nââed also upon those words in the 9th Chapter vers 7. He cââmandeth the Sun and it riseth not The Sun will not appear or ãâã will hide it self in an Eclipse or Cloud and daâken the whole ea ââ if Gâd do but give a command Thi dly tâke the point yet more strictly and restrainedly as here in the text He saith to the Snow and to the Rain Snow and Rain are at the command of God Non tiâi videantur casibus moveriqui verbo Dei in omni motu suo deserviunt Quo vult Deus illuc fertur nubes sâve pluviam sive nivem sive grandinem portat August in Psal 148. Psal 147.15 16. He sende h forth his commandment upon earth his word runneth very swiftly that word referrs to the particular matter in hand as appeareth in the very next Verse and the two which follow He giveth Snow like wool he scattereth the hâar Frost like ashes he casteth forth his Ice like moâsels c. David applies the swift running of Gods word to these things and how swiftly these run on his errands we may see 1 Kings 18.44 For whereas there had been no rain for three years a half according to the word oâ Elâjah the Pâophet God did but say to the Rain come and it came and though Eâijahs Servant at first saw a very small appearance of it only a Cloud like a mans hand yet presently the whole heavens were masked over with Clouds and there was a mighty rain The great rain of his strength Rain and Snow and Vapours quickây fulfil his word Psal 148.8 God is the Lord of hosts and these creatures are his host these as well as men and ang ls are his hosts Psal â4 10 Who is this king of glory the Lord of hosts is the king ãâã glory and 't is the great glory oâ God âhat he hath such hoââs at his command None of the Pâinces oâ Powers of this wo lâ have any such How long may they send their commands to the Snow before it will come or to the Rain before they can get a drop of it neither the one nor the other will stir at the command of man but at the command of God they haste away And if when the Lord saith to the Snow and to the Rain come and they come abide upon the earth and they abide there how will this reprove and condemn thousands of the children of men to whom the Lord speaks and speaks again and again he sends out his commandment and his word runs very swiftly to them yet they stir not they move not Surely Snow and Rain will rise up in judgement against those to whom the Lord hath said do this and they did it not to whom the Lord hath said do not this yet they did it The word represents all sorts of Creatures below man as well as the Angels above man readily obeying the command of God to teach man how readily he should obey his commands and how greatly he shall be condemned if he do not and that not only by the Angels in heaven but by the Snow and Rain that fall upon the earth Fourthly From the destinction which is here made of the rain the small rain and the great rain of his strength Note In what degree or quantity soever the rain falls it is by the special appointment of God If it be a small gentle soaking rain it is because God hath spoken to the small rain to go if it be a great a violent a smoaking rain a rain of his strength it is because God hath said to the great rain go We are not to stick in second causes but to have our hearts raised higher both as to the rain it self and to the proportions of it He maketh small the drops of rain as 't is said at the 27th Verse of the former Chapter and he can make great the drops of rain of the drops of rain g eat he can cast the rain into what mold he pleaseth great or small it shall be a sweetly-distilling rain or it shall be as Solomon speakes a fiercely sweeping rain Prov. 28.3 where he compares the poor man that oppresseth to a sweeping rain God hath sweeping rains and as 't is said Ezek. 13.13 overflowing showres in his hand and he sometimes sends not a watering showre not a refreshing or comforting showre in mercy not a showre to enrich and fatten the earth but an overflowing showre to drown the earth and destroy the fruits of it in his anger and this is true whether you take the showre properly or metaphorically If you take the showre properly for that which falls from heaven he sends the refreshing he sends the overflowing showre or if you take it metaphorically a showre may signifie any kind or degree of judgement he can send one judgement which shall be as small rain and he can send another which shall be as great rain as the rain of his strength an overflowing showre He can send forth as that allusion is used Jer. 12.5 his footmen and he can send forth his horsemen greater or lesser Judgments as himself pleaseth he proportiâns and cuts them out according to his own infinite wisdome and righteous will Lastly From these words He saith to the snow abide on the earth or be thou on the earth stay there and so to the rain Observe Snow or Rain continue or stay upon the face of the earth till God calls them off When he saith be ye upon the earth upon the earth they will be until the same power that sent them fetch them back again These hosts are like a well ordered and well disciplined army wherein Souldiers sent out by the order of their General or superiour Officers must
to have it so but I rather take it for the frost-making winds which are sent by God By the breath of the Lord that is when the Lord appoynts and orders cold winds to come out of his treasure when the Lord gives out the word of command A verbo dei dat Gâlu Chald pro a voluntate dei dat gelu sc Arcturus cold winds issue forth and then frost appears David affiâmes in general Psal 33.6 By the word of the Lord were the Heavens made and all the Host of them by the breath of his mouth The Heavens and their Hostâ all the powers and vertues of them all the influences and âfficacies of them are given out by the breath of the Lord. And among other things that are given by the breath of the Lord Frost is given Frost is cold in excess frost is great cold every cold is not freezing cold The word which we rendeâ frost iâ oââen rendred ice and it cometh from a root which signifieth to mâke bald because frost and ice cover the grasse which is to the ground as haire to the head of man and so make the su face of the Eaâth smooth like a bald head Frost also makes the surface of the Earth not only smooth but bright and shining like a bald head By the breath of the Lord frost is given Hence Note Frost is the gift or dispeâsation of God Changes in the air as well as changes in the estates lives or hearts of men are from the Lord Psal 147.17 He giveth snow like wooll he scattereth the hoar frost like ashes He casteth forth his ice like morsels who can stand before his cold It is Gods ice and his cold as well as his rain or his Sun-shine When the Psalmist saith He scattereth the frost he casteth forth his ice he saith the same thing in substance which Elihu doth here By the breath of the Lord frost is given There is a continuall dependance of all creatures in their motions and operations as well as in their beings upon the will of God 't is by his word that frost is given Some deny the working of the first cause with the second causeâ any otherwise than as God once gave them a working power and conserveth that power once given them Whereas indeed God hath not only given a general power to the creature not only hath he said There shall be frost somtimes and heat somtimes and fair weather somtimes but when-ever the heat or cold or frost come they come by a particular order from him As all things men especially have their being in him so their working and moving from him and that not only because he makes us in general working moving creatures but as to every special work and motion This the Prophet asserts while he puts those reproving questions Isa 10.15 Shall the axe boast it self against him that heweth therewith or shall the saw magnifie it self against him that shaketh it as if the rod should shake it self against them that lift it up or as if the staffe should lift up it self as if it were no wood Living and natural creatures move no more without God thân artificial and liveless instruments such as the axe and saw the rod and staff can move themselves without the hand or help of man By the breath of the Lord frost is given And the breath of the water is straitned This is an effâct of the former Frost drinks up the waters Glacies est copia aquae in angusto and so straitens them some-define ice which is made by the frost to be store of water in a little room or narrow compasse Every years experience tells us that the waters are pinched with the frost Waters which were out before a frost are fetcht in or contracted by the frost hence 't is said Chap. 38.30 The waters are hid as with a stone which is of the same sence with this expressâon The breadth of the water is straitned God brings the wateâs into their old bounds or into narrower bounds than before by frost From this effect of frost that the breadth of the water is straitned by it Note Cold is a straitner 'T is so in natural things 't is so also to mind the reader of that occasion'd this note in spirituals and morals Take coldness as it is an ill disposition or an indiâposition upon the heart it straitens us as to the doing of any good foâ as Christ hath foretold us Mat. 24.12 that because iniquity shall abound in the latter dayes the love of many shall wax cold So when-ever love or zeal or any grace in us waxeth cold piety in all the acts or whole compasse of it will certainly decline and be straitned He that before had a large heart becomes narrow-hearted and is pinched in his spirit by this sinful coldnesse Warmth enlargeth Cold straiteneth God sends the cold of afflictions upon many bad men to straiten their Lusts else they would keep no bounds they would overflow all and it is the gâeat design of Satan to send a cold upon or to frieze the spirits of all good men that they may be straitened and made unfit for the service of God Take heed of a coldness in your disposition for that will be a straitner of your graces but welcome the frost of affliction that may be a stâaitner of your corruptions There is nothing we should feaâ more except the loss of them and the favour of God with them than to feel our graces straitened nor is there any thing except the favour of God which we should more desire than to feel our lusts and corruptions weakned and abated Et rursum latissime funduntur aquae Vulg Ego consenserim illis qui participium ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã non arctum veâ angustum sed â fusum aut solutum potius reddunt Sic aquiloni facultatem efficiendi gelu Austro liquandi fundendi attribuit Bold Some render this latter part of the veâse not as we The breadth of the waters is straitned but The waters are dissolved into their breadth As if Elihu had said the ice or frost being dissolved the waters return to their wonted latitude The word rendred straitened may be derived from a root which signifieth to dissolve to melt and pour out Thus as according to our translation we take the latter part of the verse as an effect of the first frost being that whereby the breadth of the waters is straitned so according to this translation it stands in opposition to the former By the breath of the Lord frost is given and he again by his breath diss lveth the water Thawing as well as freezing is from God Thawing is the melting of the ice as mettal is melted in the fire so ice is melted by the heat of the Sun Thus the North makes ice and the South unmakes or melts it The power of God is to be seen in dissolving those huge rocks and mountains of ice into
allusion to those showres of rain powred from the clouds And as the Lord powres out his Spirit which can never be wearied or drawn dry so the Lord makes use of many thick clouds which hold much spiritual rain even to weariness for the refreshing of wearied souls I mean such Ministers as he hath furnished with great gifts and graces such as are not as the Apostle Jude compareth some Teachers Clouds without water but as true and faithful Teachers should be full of water The waterings of any Apollo are at the Lords disposeâ He saith drop thy word here drop thy word there and thou shalt not drop thy word any more here or there The Lord hath often been so bountiful to Nations and Churches that he hath even wearied many thick clouds to water them with the rain of his word That of the Psalmist though it be true of the rain properly taken falling upon the earth is most true of spiritual rain falling upon the Churches Psal 65.10 Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly thou setlest the furrows thereof And so is thaâ also to be understood Psal 68.9 Thou O God didst send a plentiful rain or rain of liberalities whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance when it was weary Thou didst even weary the thick cloud to confirm that is to refresh thy weary people And seeing they who carry and dispence the Word are in Scripture emblematically expressed by Clouds Isa 60.8 Who are these that flee as a cloud and as the doves to their windows The Preachers of the Gospel come as so many clouds and the Prophet tells us the Word cometh down as rain and snow from heaven Isa 55.10 which supposeth a cloud from whence it cometh foâ saith the Lord So shall my word be that goeth out of my mouth it shall not return unto me void but it shall accomplish that which I please Seeing I say the dispensers of the Word are compared to clouds let them that sit under the droppings of these clouds take heed they be not unfruitful or like that ground which drinketh in the rain yet beareth nothing but briars and thorns whose end is to be burned God hath wearied and quite spent many of these thick clouds by continual dropping upon and watering the souls of men yet how barren how fruitless are they If but one of the clouds of heaven be wearied in watering the earth we soon after discern the face of the earth refreshed and renewed by it And shall God weary those heâvenly clouds by watering men on earth and men remain unrefreshed unrenewed Clouds of sorrow and darkness will at last weary all those with their waterings and droppings upon them who when God hath wearied his Clouds by watering them with the word of life from Heaven yet remaine altogether barren and unfruitfull By watering he wearieth the thick Cloud He scattereth his bright Cloud The former part of the verse spake of a thick Cloud Nubes ex cujus discussione lucem restituit Hânc appellat nubem lucis dei qua dispulsa lux et serenitas inducitur Merc this latter speaks of a bright Cloud The Hebrew is The Cloud of his light which I conceive is here added First to shew that Clouds of all sorts serve the purposes of God the thick Cloud and the bright Cloud the dark Cloud and the light Cloud are made use of by him And as he doth weary the Cloud that is full of water so he scattereth the Cloud that is full of light or he scattereth his bright Cloud Yet some considering it is not said in the letter of the Text Nubem lucis non dicit lucidam sed quae lucem abscondit Coc A light Cloud but a Cloud of light understand by a Cloud of light such a Cloud as hides and hinders the light and which being scattered light and faire weather succeed Yet rather as before But why is it here said that he scattereth his bright Cloud possibly because he hath no use of his bright Cloud but of his thick Cloud only when he would water the earth And indeed Clouds which are only bright or which have much light but no water are of little use Some have much light of knowledge but no water of instruction to drop upon others such Clouds God disperseth and scatters It is not an outward faire appearance which can bring us into acceptance with God The bright Cloud shall be scattered if it have no rain in it to water the earth Againe Some translate His light scattereth the Cloud So the text may be read according to the letter of the Hebrew as if the meaning were this God by the Sun-beams dispels or disperseth the Cloud for Clouds are scattered sometimes by the wind sometimes by the Sun That which gathered the Cloud may also scatter it The Sun draweth up the vapours of which Clouds are formed or compacted and soone after the Sun dissolveth the Clouds which it had gathered The same power makes and unmakes the Cloud gives it a body and takes it away His light scattereth the Cloud That 's a truth also For as brightness or light is scattered among the Clouds and makes the Clouds appeare bright so brightness or light scatters Clouds or causeth them to disappeare Elihu having thus discoursed of wind and cold of freezing and thawing of working some Clouds to weariness and of scattering others proceeds in the two following verses to shew the special uses which the Lord makes of all those motions in the air and impressions upon the Earth with the Inhabitants of it whether in a way of Judgment or of Mercy JOB Chap. 37. Vers 12 13. 12. And it is turned about by his counsel that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth 13. He causeth it to come whether for correction or for his land or for mercy IN the former verse Elihu spake of the Clouds of the thick Cloud wearied with watering and of the bright Cloud scattered by the Wind or Sun In these two verses he further sets down two things more generally concerning the Clouds First He shews whence the motion of the Cloud is and by what or whom directed It is turned about by his counsel in the beginning of the 12th verse and he causeth it to come at the beginning of the 13th verse There we have the Spâing of the Clouds motion Secondly Elihu shews the purpose or the design of the Lord in turning about the Clouds by his counsel which design is laid down two wayes First In general That they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth that 's the first purpose of God in moving the Clouds they are to execute his Commands and that 's his general purpose Secondly We have his special purposes or designs laid down in the close of the 13th verse and they are three-fold He turneth about the Cloud and causeth it to come First For Correction Secondly
not others shall if Jewes will not Gentiles shall if the Jewes will not carry it like the children of Abraham God can and will raise up children unto Abraham of the Stones of the street he will nor want instruments to answer his Counsels nor to execute his commands God will shake Heaven and Earth but he will have his Will done and his decrees perfected yea he will dissolve and ruine them rather than not have his Word fulfilled That of David Psal 136.2 Thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy Name is true of the word of command as well as of the word of pâomise God will magnifie the word of his promise above all his Name and he will also magnifie the word of his command above all his Name that is his Word is as a glass wherein his Name that is his Holiness his Power his Goodness his Faithfulness his Mercy his Justice and his Wrath are to be seen and shall be seen in the accomplishments of it towards the children of men Therefore fear and admire this mighty God who will find means for the executing of his Word for the doing of all that he hath spoken The Clouds shall do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the World in the earth Fourthly If the Clouds are turned about by his Counsel if he doth as it were hale the Ropes to turn the Clouds which way soever he pleaseth then Whensoever you see the Clouds gathered by the wind remember God hath somwhat to do there 's somwhat to be done these Clouds are the Servants of God there 's some command or word of God or other to be fulfilled We do not as we ought consider the Counsel of God in the motion of the Clouds yea some when the Clouds gather and the storms of Wind or Rain of Thunder and Lightning break forth are more ready to think of the Counsel of the Devil than of God they are apt to say surely There 's Conjuring abroad What 's that but the executing of the Devils Counsel whereas we should say God doth it by his Counsel Take heed of neglecting God when you see the Clouds do not attribute their motion or the most dreadful Storms that proceed from them to any thing beside the Counsel of God for there is not the least vapour can rise out of the earth for the making of a Cloud but he causeth it to ascend there are not any materials gathered toward the constituting of a Cloud but they are under Gods hand he causeth the vapours to ascend and there is not the least breath of wind can stir to move the Clouds Clouds are moved with the wind but as God hath appointed neither bad Angel nor good can stir a Cloud but as God willeth And therefore look to the hand and counsel of God in all these things take heed of staying in any work of Nature do not ascribe these impressions and perturbations in the Air to the power of the Devil and wicked Arts all is of the Lord whatsoever is done One of the Ancients said concerning the Devils when they desired leave to enter the Swine Why should any of the sheep of God be afraid of the Devil when the Devils cannot have power over the Swine without leave from God The Devil cannot move a breath of wind but according to the will of God though he be the Prince of the Air yet there is a Prince above him to whose commands all are subject both in Heaven and in Earth Fifthly If it be so that God commands the Clouds whensoever they come with their storms or showrs then ascribe the praise of all the good you receive from the clouds to God and be humbled under the hand of God whensoever you receive outward dammage from the clouds do not say it is a chance Sixthly Learn hence the greatness and the soveraignty of God say as they did admiringly Math. 8.27 Who is this that both the Winds and Seas and Clouds obey him None of the words of the Lord shall fall to the ground as an Arrow or Dart that misseth thâ Mark or as water spilt that cannot be gathered up again which latter allusion is specially intimated 1 Sam. 3.12 19. Here in the Text Elihu sets forth the Power and Soveraignty of God having all creatures at his beck and command as hath been shewed already from other passages in this Book and more will occurr hereafter The Soveraignty of God over men can never be duly acknowledged till we acknowledge his Soveraignty over Winds and Rain Hail and Snow which lye in the Bowels and bosome of the clouds and from thence are dispenced to the earth at the will of God Seventhly and lastly If the clouds do whatsoever God commands them if they be such faithful servants to God then surely the clouds will one day rise up or come forth as witnesses against all that resist the commands of God Not to obey them is bad enough but to resist them is far worse Christ would awaken the Scribes and Pharisees by telling them Math 12.41 The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the Judgment against this Generation and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah as also the Queen of the South because she came from far to hear the wisdome of Solomon If Jesus Christ uâged those instances of the men of Niniveh and of the Qâeen of the South to terrifie that Generation for not obeying his commands or foâ not receiving the Promises of the Gospel doubtleâs then in the g eat Day the very clouds and winds shall come in as witnesses against all those that have resisted the will of God in any of his commands Have the Clouds will he say done whatsoever I commanded them and have you resisted have you cast my words behind your back when the very Clouds have taken up embrac'd and fulfilled them The Clouds will be a swift witness against all those that rebel against the commands of God The Snow and Rain the Winds and Storms fulfilling his word will bring in a casting Evidence against all those who have cast his word behind their backs All this we may read and see in the commanding power of God over the Clouds and in their readiness to obey Elihu proceeds Vers 13. He causeth it to come whether for Correction or for his Land or for Mercy He that is God causeth It that is the Cloud He causeth the Clâud to find so the Hebrew to find every place and every person concerning whom it hath received command and commission from God Thus the word is used by Moses Numb 32.23 If ye will not do so behold ye have sinned against the Lord and be sure your sin will find you out that is the punishment of your sin and that Judgment which God will pour out upon you for your sin will find you out wheresoever ye are In this sence the Cloud will find us out we render well He causeth it to come that is
to cherish and comfort the fruits of the Earth But besides these common and ordinary ends of sending rain somewhat extraordinary seems to be intended when the Text saith He causeth it to come for mercy or favour What 's the favour or special meâcy that comes by rain Surely it is the sending of such a rain and such a blessing with it as causeth the earth to bring forth abundantly The Lord can more than supply wants he can give plenty he can give as much in one year as may serve for two or three Sive ad Benignitatem scâut benigne fiat terrae citra necessitatem ut cum pluvââ descendit summo aestu ad aerem refrigerândum Drus Thus he pâomised Levit. 25.21 Then I will Command my blessing upon you in the sixth year and it shall bring forth fruit for three years the sixth year was the year before the Sabbath-year for then they were not to till the gâound Now if you carefully observe my Sabbath-year saith God you shall have no want though you do not sow This is a mercy when God sends in a double or treble Crop when he not only sends enough to serve the tuân or to keep us alive but abundance and plenty so that the floars shall be full of wheat and the fats shall overflow with wine and oyle as the promise is expressed Joel 2.24 Hence note God is not only a just but a bountifull Master He doth not only give us enough for necessity but for delight and contentment if we use his boun y well and turn not his blessings to his dishonour plenty will be our mercy The Clouds come somtimes for Correction God sweepes away even our necessaries by raines which are therefore in Scriptuâe called sweeping raines at other times the Clouds come for mercy and empty themselves to fill us with the blessings of the earth that we both by corrections and favours may be led to repentance and receive further mercy not only mercy fâom the Clouds but mercy above the Clouds Thus the words stand in a fair opposiâion and one part of the verse illustrates the other Yet I conceive there is somwhat further in these woâds for mercy or in mercy and free benignity which may intimate thus much to us That even the Rain from the Clouds and fruits of the earth are not given us of desert but of free favour and mercy They come for mercy or as a mercy God doth not seed the World because he owes them any thing but because he is mercifull we do not oblige him to give us a drop of rain or a morsell of bread sweet showres from Heaven and plentifull harvests on Earth are acts of grace mercy favour and good-will unto man God payeth men wages in nothing but in punishment whân God punisheth he payes wages that which is deserv'd if God send the Clouds for Correction we have what our sins have procured and brought upon us but if he send plenty we have mercy a gracious bounty or largess from the hand of God our daily bread is not pay nor wages but reward and mercy much lesse is that which is more or beyond our daily bread We by sin deserve that the Heavens should be as the Lord thâeaten'd his ancient people in case of disobedience as bâass and the Eaâth as iron but we have not deserv'd that the Heavens should drop fatness and the Earth yeild her increase this is mercy Not only are we to look upon the Pardon of sin as a meâcy and Redemption by the blood of Christ as a mercy and Justification through his Righteousness as mercy and eternall life as a mercy or coming from mercy and free grace but we are to receive every bit of bread as coming to us through mercy freely and not upon any account of our own workings or deservings And if we cannot deserve a showre no nor a drop of rain from the Clouds if we cannot deserve a Crop of Corn from the Earth then surely we cannot deserve grace or peace from God or eternal life and happiness with God Therefore how should we magnifie and admiâe the mercy and free grace of God for spiritual thingâ when we see such cause of magnifying him even for temporal good things if the Clouds are favourable to us it is of mercy Further That notion may be well improv'd which some give of this word reading the Abstract by the Concrete we say For mercy they say for the mercifull that is for the liberall benigne and mercifull man the man of a large heart to dâ good God causeth the Cloud to come somtimes for Correction usually for his land to conveigh common comforts and he hath his times wherein he causeth it to come for the merciful that is in special favour to those that are mercifull and good and gâacious both as they have received grace from God and as they have done good things for and among men He that watereth shall be watered also himself Pro. 11.24 Thus you see the three-fold Message that God sends the Clouds upon either to Correct men for their sin or for his Land that the Creature in general may have subsistence or for special favour and mercy to his peculiaâ people and for those above the rest of good men who are mercifull and ready to do good JOB Chap. 37. Vers 14 15 16. 14. Hearken unto this O Job stand still and consider the wondrous works of God 15. Dost thou know when God disposed them and caused the light of his cloud to shine 16. Dost thou know the ballancings of the clouds the wonderous works of him which is perfect in knowledge THis context begins the second part of the Chapter wherein Elihu First exciteth Job to a serious contemplation of the wonderful works of God this is expressed in the 4th verse Secondly He urgeth the weakness and inability of Job and indeed of any man to understand the full compass of those works And this he doth First In general as to them all in the beginning of the 15th verse Dost thou know when God disposed them Secondly he sheweth his inability as to particulars or the several kinds of the works of God First As to his causing of the Light to shine in the close of the 15th verse Secondly As to his weighing or ballancing of the Clouds verse 16th The summe of these three verses together with the two next which follow make up an earnest exhortation that Job considering and comparing that great power and wisdom of God which appear shine in those forementioned works with his own weakness and insufficiency would therefore humble himself and not venture any further to contest or plead with God And because many of the Lords providential works are unsearchable as wel as these which are natural therefore Elihu would not have Jâb busie himself in any curious prying into those which concerned his present condition For if there be infinite and unerring wiâdom tempered with mercy and justice with
lighâ enough to look through all the darkness and obscurity that is in the Works and Word of God I do not affirm this to cast that reproâch of obscurity upon the Woâd of God which the Papists do The Word of Goâ hath in it abundance of light yea 't is a light there is enough in it so plain that any who have any ârue light may see much of it and be able to order their speech comâoââably and competently that is acceptably before God abâut it Yet there is a mysterious daâkness in many parts of the Word and Works of God which our light is not clear enough to master and get through God hath purposely done and spoken some things which stand as secrets which our eye cannot pierce into that he might keep us low and little in our own eyes As there is enough in the Word which the siâplest may understand and speâk of to âalvation so there are some things there to poâe the wisest and hold them in a silent admiâation The Apostle Peter 2 Epist 3.16 speaking about the Epistles of Paul saith In them there are some things hard to be understood He doth not say all things in the Epistles of Paul are hard to be understood but some things aâe and they are so for our exercise and tryal As those things are altogether secrets to us which God hath not revealed so some things are in a great degâee secâets to us though God hath revealed them and if so Then First Let us believe when we cannot understand Faith hath a knowledge about all general Principles yet he that hath no more Faith in some special Scripture-Pâinciples and Mysteries than he hath knowledge will have but little Faith in them Though we must have a knowledge about every thing we believe yet we may be much more in believing many things than we are in knowing them we may have much Faith in that of which we have but little knowledge As Faith is the evidence of those things which cannot be seen at all by the eye of sence so it is the evidence of some things to us which are very little seen by the eye of the understanding The blessed Virgin said How shall this be When she was told she should have a Son she could not understand the thing there was a darkness in it yet she believed it Secondly When we find darkness in the Works or Truths of God which are the Object of our Faith Let us adore what we cannot see and admire where we cannot apprehend Thirdly When we find darkness in any of the works of God Let us be sure to forbear to censure or question those works How vain a thing is it to judg when we do not understand or to say that is not done well which we know not how it is done Doubtless We cannot order our speech about such things before God by reason of darkness and therefore we should tremble to speak rashly or hardly of them Elihu heightens the poynt yet further in the next words Vers 20. Shall it be told him that I speak if a man speak surely he shall be swallowed up I find another rendring of these words in such a tenour as this Is there any need that he should be told what I speak As if Elihu's meaning were that God being omniscient and every where present needeth not any to bring him a report what men say or do he knows our doings and hears all our sayings though none tell him I hearkned and heard saith the Lord Jer. 8.6 He that planted the ear shall he not hear he that formed the eye shall he not see If any man behave himself amiss or speak amiss God seeth it God heareth it The Omnipotent needs no helper the Omniscient needs no informer no intelligenceâ to bring him an account oâ what is done oâ spâken Is there any need saith Elihu accoâding to this reading that he should be told what I speak We render Shall it be told him that I speak Verbo forensi videâur tâ us esse mitâo versuâ An narâabitur vel in actââeferretur Merl. Here some instead of the word told translate record shall it be recorded registred or written in a book that I speak that is that I have undertaken thy cause as thou hast stated iâ Shall this be recorded and the record sent to God that I intend to be thy Advocate surely no neither I nor any man of wisdome or discretion will undertake to spâak in this matter after thy manner Shall it be told him that I speak An aliquis audebit ei narrare quum locutus fueâo siâ naâpâ ut tâ locutus es de gubeânatione Dei Pisc I dare not I would not have it told him that I will for a World Hence Note First No man who understands himsâlf will venture upon the doing or speaking of any thing that may provoke God or be displeasing to him Will any wise man be an Advocate to plead a Cause which he knows will upon just gâounds offend and distast an earâhly Judg The Preaâher saith Solomon meaning himself Eccl. 12.10 sought to find out acceptable words the Hebrew is words of delight or words of the will He meaneth not flatteâing words or men-pleasing words but such words as may profit men or please men for their profit that is aâ the Apostle speaks Rom. 15.2 for their good to edification Now if we should not provoke men but seek to find out in the sence given words acceptable to them should we not much more take heed of speaking any thing to the provocation of God should we not seek to find out words of delight and acceptation with him words of his Will that is words every way agreeable to his holy will Secondly As Elihu feared such a report should be made to God Note It is high presumption to do or speak amiss not fearing God should know of it We are afraid to do that evil which may be reported to great persons who have power to punish us It such a man be told say some what we have done what will become of us Many are not afraid to do evil who yet are afraid it should be told their betters what evil they have done Servants will somtimes thus check children in a Family when they have done amiss We will tell your Father we will do your errand to your Mother that 's a dreadful word to a child that hath any âeverence of Father or Mother to say I will tell your Father and Mother of you The Lord knoweth all that we do amiss as was âaid before though no man tell him but shall it be told to God what such and such men speak or do and will they speak or do it still shall it be told God what they speak and against whom they speak shall it be told God whom they reproach whom they revile and will they venture it 'T is dangerous when such Tales are truly told in the ears of God
against the men of the World they were better have Tales told and reports made against them to all the Princes of the earth than have reports made to God against them To have a poor soul upon just grounds telling God what evil men have done against him how they have slandâed and reproached him how they have opprest and vext him will come at last to a sad account against them Shall it be told God that I speak saith Elihu And shall it be told God that we do evil and we regard it not Shall we answer thoâe that tell us they have told o will tell God of our evil doings as impudent childâen and servants do such as threaâen them with telling thâir Pââents and Masters of their evil doings What care we do if yâu will O let us take heed how we do or speak that which if told in the ears of God may cause blame and bring his displeasure upon us There are a sârt of Tale-bearers very odious in the sight of God and all good men such are spoken of Prov. 11.13 Prov. 18.8 But they who bring reports to God as Joseph did to his Father Jacob concerning his brethren Gen. 37.2 of the evils done by men such Tale-bearers if I may so call them do but their duty and as their reports are accepted with God so they hasten wrath upon evil men Luke 18.7 Shall it be told him that I speak If a man speak surely he shall be swallowed up Si dixerit Heb scil apud se illud nempe se velle talem sermonem Deo narrare Pisc That is if any man speak if a wise man speak and if he speak as wisely as he can and place his words in the best oâder he can yet if he shall desiâe as Job hath done to come near unto âod and plead with him surely he shall be swallowed up Job in the hottest of those desiâes to plead with God did not as haâh formerly been noted in favour of him challenge God he diâ not think himself a Match for God in pleading his cause before him he good man was far from such a presumptuous spirit yet because he insisted so much upon that desire of pleading his cause with God Elihu had reason to check him in such language as this If a man speak surely he shall be swallowed up We that are dust and ashes may not be so bold with God 't is best for us to lye at his foot and let him do what he will with us only beg of him that we may improve his dealings and profit by his corrections if the wisest and holiest of men shall speak otherwise Surely they shall be Swallowed up The word implies that a man so speaking shall be ruined and brought to nought Mr. Broughton renders Would any man plead when he shall be undone No man but a mad man would speak in a business wherein he must needs be ruined We say well swallowed up that is both he and his understanding shall be utterly confounded This phrase of speech is often used in Scripture when a greater power undertakes a lesser thus fire swalloweth up stubble and oppressors their poor underlings David saith of his enemies with respect to the greatness of their malice Ps 56.1 Ps 57.3 They would swallow me up Possibly they had not power enough to do it or no fitting opportunity to do it but they wanted no will to do it They would swallow me up if they could that is they would make an utter end of me or dispatch me quite So this word is used in several other places Isa 28.7 They are swallowed up of wine Some swallow down the wine so long till the wine swalloweth them up the wine gets the mastery over them and they are no longer as we speak proverbially their own men The Apostle gives order concerning the incestuous person that had been cast out of the Church 2 Cor. 2.5 receive him saith he lest he be swallowed up of over-much sorrow that is lest sorrow get the mastery of him It is not good that the floods of sorrow though it be a sorâow for sin should prevail over us so as to swallow us up in the gulph of despair Again while the Apostle ââsures us and would have us triumph in that assurance that death shall never do a godly man any hurt he thus expresseth it 1 Cor. 15.54 Death is swallowed up in victory that is in and by the victory of Jesus âhrist He by dying quite overcame death he did not only wound it and worst it or get the better of it or âour it but toâally ruin'd it as to any power of hurting us all which and whatsoever else concerns the death of death and the destruction of the grave is wrapt up in that one word Death is swallowed up in victory And therefore also it is said by the same Apostle 2 Cor. 5.4 Mortality shall be swallowed up of Life Jesus Christ hath brought in such a life through the Gospel as shall at last put an utter end to Mortality Our Mortality now by degrees puts an end to or swalloweth up our Lives but then Life will quite swallow up or put an end to our Mortality that is our Mortality shall be quite removed and taken out of the way by that Life which Christ haâh purchased for his people by his own death All these Scriptures shew the force of the word here used by Elihu when he saith If a man speak surely he shall be swallowed up If a man speak How or to whom The answer is If a man speak to God he shall be swallowed up But shall every one that speaks to God be swallâwed up Not so therefore we must go to the manner of speaking If a man speak to God not keeping his distance if a man speak to God without a Mediatour he shall be swallowed up as a drop of water is swallowed up of the Ocean or as a spark of fire is swallowed up in a great flame Perdetur vir ille fulgore celsitudinis Majestatis ejus perstrictus or as the light of a Candle or Glow-worm is swallowed up by the Sun there is no standing for the Creature before God in such a nearness of access but by faith in a Mediator If a man speak he shall be swallowed up Man is no match for God or he is a most unâqual match Yet further these words may note the coâquest of the mind or understanding of man by an object which is too high and excellent for it for then his thoughts yea and his Reason too are swallowed up and he is carried out of himself as a man in an extasie or trance When St. Paul was caught up to the third heavens and heard unspeakable words he was swallowed up with the greatness of the matter and was in a divine extasie whether in the body he could not tell or whether out of the bâdy he could not tell 2 Cor. 12.2 3 4. Thus saith Elihu shall
north With God is terrible Majesty THe two verses last opened may be taken as a Parenthesis to the former discourse concerning Gods wonderful works in nature forming those dreadful impressions of Thunder and Lightening Storms Tempest in the Air whereby Elihu having represt as he supposed the swelling of Jobs spirit by calling him to teach them what to say to God in his cause for they as he had handled it could not order their speech by reason of darkness nor durst Elihu venture that it should be told God he intended to speak knowing or foreseing that if he made such an attempt he might soon be swallowed up by the incomprehensible greatness and glory of God Elihu I say having made this little diversion or digression as he had done sometimes before to coole and calme the spirit of Job he returns to his former matter in these words and considers further the works of God in those higher Regions the Aireal heavens how he muffles up and covers the light and how he unvailes and opens it again by his own power and according to the pleasure of his will The words are plain according to our translation I shall open them breifly as they are here set down and then give out a further reading of them which raises the scope and intendment of Elihu yet higher Vers 21. And now men see not the bright light which is in the Clouds And now Some have conjectured that at this very instant of time while Elihu was discoursing there happened a sudden change in the Air or in the face of the Heavens therefore he saith and now do not the heavens grow dark so that men cannot see the bâight light which is in the Clouds as if here were a preparation to that Whirlwind or Tempest out of which God himself is said to speak to Job at the beginning of the next chapter Yet I apprehend we need not expound the word now so stâictly with respect to the present season or moment of time but rather to the present matter as we often use that particle Now both in speech and writing not so much to denote the direct instant or present time as for a leading word to the matter which is to follow And now men see not or they cannot see the bright light which is in the Clouds Light is the most visible thing in the world though indeed we are not so properly said to see the Light at all as to see all things by the light for it is Light which maketh manifest as the Apostle speaks Ephes 5.13 But though Light be in vulgar sense so visible in its own nature and in strictest sense that which maketh all things visible yet by accident or by some providential interposition light it self is not alwayes to be seen Light is often hidden from our eyes and then as Elihu speakes here men see not the bright light The word which we translate bright light ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Prâprie candidus unde ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Candens lâpra Drus Propriè dânotat nâviâ instar egregiâ splendidum candi dum esse Rab. Kinhi signifies the whiteness of Snow and I find it applied Levât 13.2 to the whiteness of Leprosie if there shall appear in the flesh a bright or shining spot a spot like snow then c. And hence it is said of Gehazi 2 Kings 5.27 that when his master called him to account about his going after Naaman found him flatteâing and faulty he laid that sore judgment upon him The leprosie therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and unto thy seed for ever and he went out of his presence a leper as white as Snow It is this word which signifies as any extraordinary whiteness and clearness so the cleââness and whiteness of Snow in particular which hath a kind of transparency in it and is full of light Yet the light which is in the Clouds when the Sun shineth is much more bright than Snow Now men see not the bright light Which is in the Clouds Or in the Skie for the word here used as hath been shewed before signifies the Skie the Firmament and somtimes the Air as well as the Clouds ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Aethera tenui ejus substantia nam ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã significat comminuere Drus and it imports the natural thinness of those Coelestial Bodies in that higher and upper Region of the World Men see not the bright light which is in the Clouds Light is properly in the Sun the Sun is the vessel the vehicle the seat the chariot of Light but as Light is in the Sun subjectively so Light is in the Clouds objectively and also as they are a Medium through which the Light is conveighed and passeth to us Yet somtimes men see not that bright Light which is in the Clouds for Clouds being very thick or thickened they become to us as an opacous Body through which the Light can neither find nor make its way and then there 's no beholding the Light of the Sun shining upon them in its greatest brightness while the Air is thus Clouded Men see not the bright Light which is in the Clouds Hence note God can make that which is most visible in it self invisible unto us There is alwayes bright Light in the Air when and where the Sun is up and gotten above the Horizon The Sun shines continually how dark soever the weather be but God can draw such a Curtaine of Clouds Vapours and Mists in the day time between us and the bright face of the Sun that we cannot behold it Light alwayes is but Light is not alwayes to be seen when Clouds come between the Sun is darkened in the clear day We may infer as a further improvement of natural things to those which are spiri ual That the light of God's face or countenance that is the light of his favour shines ever towards his faithful servants though it be not alwayes seen Clouds coming between may shadow them from that blessed Light Psal 97.2 Clouds and darkness are round about him that is his dispensations aâe daâk and cloudy yet as then Righteousness and Judgement are the habitation of his Throne that is as then he doth right to all sorts of men so then also Mercies and Loving-kindnesse stand round about his Throne or as the Apostle expresseth it Heb. 4.16 his Throne is then A Throne of Grace that is he hath Grace or Favour in his heart to bestow upon all his People who come to him not with a presuming but a believing boldness Our sins and transgressions are called a Cloud a thick Cloud Isa 44.22 I have blotted out as a thick Cloud thy transgressions and as a Cloud thy sins Sins are Clouds and those Clouds often hinder us from seeing the bright light of the face of God shining upon us and as our sins usually hinder us from seeing that bright light which is in the face of God so God sometimes
Hence note What-ever stands in the way of our comforts God can quickly remove it When Clouds cover the light from us God hath âis wind ready to chase them away and clear up the weather Never did any such thick and dark Cloud of sorrow and trouble hang over the heads or fill the hearts of the people of God but he had means at hand to dispell and scatter it or he could scatter it himself without means When dreadfull Clouds of danger looked black upon and threatned the Church of God during the Reign of Julian the Apostate Athanasius said It is but a little Cloud Nâbecula est citò transibit a wind will shortly cleanse it away His meaning was now we are compassed about with fear and trouble but peace and prosperity will not stay long before they return This is true also if we carry it yet in a more spiritual way as to those Clouds of sorrow which often darken and afflict our minds in the midst of outward prosperity or in the clearest Sun-shine-day of peace that ever was in this world when these inward Clouds dwell as it were upon the soul the Lord hath a wind which passeth and cleanseth them away too What is that wind it is his holy Spirit The word in the text Bolduc is used often to signifie not only the natural wind in the air but that divine wind the Holy Ghost who is compared unto the wind in many places of Scripture and his opperations are like those of the wind For as the wind bloweth where it listeth we hear the sound thereof but know not whence it cometh nor whither it goeth so saith Christ is every one that is born of the Spirit John 3.8 And as our Regeneration is wrought by that secret yet strong and powerfull wind so likewise is our consolation The Spirit of God doth those âffices in our hearts which the winds do in the air As the wind dispells and sweeps away the Clouds which are gathered there so the Spirit of God cleanseth our souls from those Clouds and foggs of ignorance and unbelief of sin and lust which are gathered in and would else abide for ever upon our hearts From all these Clouds the holy Spirit of God cleanseth us in the work of Regeneration And from all those Clouds which trouble our Consciences the holy Spirit cleanseth us in the work of Consolation Some Interpreters expound the words only in this mystical sense quite rejecting the proper But though by allusion we may improve the words to this spiritual sense yet doubtless Elihu speaks here of the winds properly taken or of the natural winds and their sensible effects and so according to our reading this Text as it hath been opened teacheth us what sudden changes God makes in the Air. Now the light is shut up or shut in and anon it is let out again and all by the powerful hand of God who doth administer these things to us interchangeably as himself pleaseth Secondly The text according to another reading which others insist much upon and conceive pertinent to the scope of Elihu runs thus âim enim non respiâiunt homines lucem quum nitida est in superioribus nubibus quas ventus transiens purgavit Translatio Jun For now men cannot see the bright light in the Clouds when the wind passeth and cleanseth them Mr Broughton translates clearly so his words are these And now men cannot look upon the light when it is bright in the Air then a wind passeth and cleanseth it And then the sence of the whole verse is plainly a setting forth of the excellency or superexcellency rather of the light of the Sun which is so clear and splendid that if the Air be but cleansed from Clouds if it be but a pure Air no man is able to face it nor his eye directly to behold it We behold all things by the light of the Sun but no man can stedfastly behold the light in the Sun no man can look right up to the Sun when it casts forth its fiery rayes and shines bright upon us And this some conceive so genuine and clear an exposition of the Text that the light of it may seem to obscure and darken all others Now according to this second reading the whole verse with that which followeth contains an argument to confirm the former proposition laid down at the 20th verse If a man speak he shall be swallowed up that is if a man come too nigh unto God and be over-bold with him he shal even be swallowed up of his brightness that it is so I prove thus saith Elâhu The very light of the Sun Nemo potest adversis oculis âitidum solem contueri quis ergo ferat praesentiâm Majestaââ dei Jun which shines in the Air is so bright and so powerful that no man is able to hold up his eyes against it And if so then from the lesser to the greater his argument riseth thus If when the Sun shineth brightly no man is able to look upon it then much less are we able to behold the bright Majesty of God or to comprehend his greatness This rendring hath a very profitable sense in it leading Job to reason thus with himself I plainly see by all that hath been discoursed that for as much as I am not able to bear the brightness which breaks through the Clouds nor the noise of Thunder of which Elihu spake before for as much as I am not able to bear the fiercenesâ of a great Rain nor the coldness of the Frost nor the impetuousness of the Wind nor the violence of a Tempest for as much as I am not able to bear the clear light of the Sun shining in my face therefore surely I am much less able to bear the Majesty and glory of God if he should unvaile or open himself unto me Thus I say Elihu leads Job to an humbling conviction that he could not stand before the glorious Majesty of God because he was not able to endure the brightness of the Sun shining upon him If the light of the Sun the Created light be too excellent for mortal eyes then what is God the Creating light what is God who dwelleth in light who is light and in whom there is no darkness at all 'T is a Maxime in Nature Excellens visibile visum destruit A âisible object exceeding bright dazles the eye and even destroys the sight And why was all this spoken to Job Surely to bring him upon his knees as afterwards it did to humble him to take him off from his frequent appeals or desires of approach to God for the debate and determination of his cause The sum of all in a word is as if Elihu had said O Job thou canst not see the bright light of the Air if the wind do but fan it and cleanse the Clouds how then shalt thou be able to dispute thy cause before God to whom the most glorious
light of the Sun is but a Cloud yea but as a clod of earth The next words carry on this conviction yet further Vers 22. Fair weather cometh out of the North with God is terrible Majesty The former part of this verse hath a respect to the latter part of the former The wind passeth and cleanseth them fair or bright weather cometh out of the North. It hath been shewed before in opening the 9th verse of this Chapter that the South wind ingenders the Rain and causeth foule weather here saith Elihu fair weather cometh out of the North. The North wind saith Solomon Pro. 25.22 driveth away Rain so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue The North wind blows coldly yet it blowes clearly it clears the Air from Clouds We render Fair weather cometh out of the North. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Aurum The word translated fair weather signifieth gold gold cometh out of the North. Fair weather in its season is worth much gold and may well be called golden weather the Sun in such seasons gilds both the Air and Earth with his precious beams And I find an ancient Interpreter sticking much upon the strict signification of the Hebrew word maintaining that gold is to be taken here properly Out of the North cometh gold because saith he in the Northern Countryes through the greatness of Cold the heat in those parts is so pent in the bowels of the Earth that it more fully concocts and refines the gold than in other places Out of the North comes gold that is the purest gold But I conceive that was not at all the business of Elihu here and I find the Scripture in another place expressing that which is shining beautifull and precious by gold Zach. 4.12 The oyle which the two Olive-branches emptied out of themselves through the two golden pipes is called gold or golden oyle that is Lux quovis auro splendidior âez bright oyle pure oyle and so because the light of the Sun shining in fair weather is purer and more defecate than the purest gold therefore this Scripture expresseth it by gold through the North a golden cometh saith Mr Broughton Again Some taking the word gold here metaphorically for any pretious thing take the word North metaphorically also for any evil thing that is for any affliction trouble or sorrow which we meet with in this world these are indeed as a cold chilling North-wind and so they will needs give the sence of this Scripture mystically thus Out of the North cometh precious things that is afflictions which are as a cold chilling North-wind make us more precious or through cold chilling afflictions we are made more and more precious Job saith and this text may have such an allusion and I give it no further to that Chap. 23.10 When he hath tried me I shall come forth gold that is I shall come forth precious Whether God doth try us by the North or by the South whether by the heat of prosperity or by the cold of adversity if we are under his tryal and are faithfull we come out gold we come out more precious from our tryals than we came in The Apostle hath a like allusion 1 Pet. 1.6 7. Ye are now for a season in heaviness if need be through manifold temptations that is troubles tribulations and afflictions That the triall of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth though it be tried with fire might be found to praise c. Thus Out of the North comes Gold or this precious thing a tryed faith That 's a truth from the allegorical sense of this place but I shall not stay upon it The proper meaning is Elihu would have Job and all men know God hath his several Climates or places out of which he sends and dispenceth fair and foul weather foul weather cometh out of the South and fair out of the North. Out of the North cometh fair weather The Hebrew word rendred North signifieth hiding ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã abscondit occuliavit hinc ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã septentrio aquilo quasi abscondita quia sol ibi multo per annum temp re ibi non conspiciatur because the remote parts of the North are much hidden from the Sun a great part of the year being quite dark and therefore the Northern Climate may well be called the hidden part of the world Some put a Question upon those words of David Psal 75.6 Promotion comes neither out of the East nor out of the West nor from the South Here are three of the foure Winds specified and it is said Promotion comes from neither of them But why is it not also said that Promotion comes not from the North that 's the question I answer It were answer enough to say that we ought not to put questions curiously about such things it should satisfie us that the Spirit of God is pleased to say it is so and no more Yet some tell us the reason why it is not said Promotion cometh not from the North is because indeed it cometh out of the North which say they is intimated in the Hebrew word for the Nârth which signifies âidden or secret Promotion comes not from the East nor West nor South but from the North saith this Author it comes from the North in a figure or mysterie that is it comes from some hidden providence or secret hand which many take no more notice of than we do of the furthest part of the North. God promotes many in this world to power and sends them great prosperity we see not how or which way The causes and contrivances of it are hidden close and in the breast of God This also is a truth in that sence we may say Fair weather cometh from the North. Promotion is visible but the manner of it is a secret we see not the causes for which nor the wayes in which it cometh It is enough to touch these niceties and to touch them can do no hurt while the matter arising from them hath the clear consent of and is harmonious with other plain places of Scripture Fair weather cometh out of the North and as it followeth With God is terrible Majesty This is the Epiphonema the exulting conclusion of both these verses yea of Elihu's large discourse concerning the works of God in Naturalls As if Elihu had said All these things God doth and tell me then is not terrible Majesty with God in God or with God is terrible Majesty The word which we render Majesty ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã celsitudo majestas a ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quidem deduâunt quod est confiteri celebrare laudare ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Theod ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Symmach Ad deum formidolo a laudatio Vulg comes say Grammarians from a root which signifies to confess to acknowledge to celebrate because Majesty Greatness or Excellency is and ought to be much acknowledged confest and celebrated The word notes
affected with his fear It is both our duty and our commendation so to fear God as not to sin against him or to be kept from sinning against God by the fear of God that is lest God should punish us for our sins and give us to eat the bitter fruit of our own evil doings But to fear God because we hear and are assured that he is ready to pardon our sins especially to fear him when he hath given us a comfortable assurance that our sins are pardoned or even tâen to be filled with the fear of his great and reverend Name when we are actuâlly praising him and magnifying his free grace in Christ for the pardon of them this shewes a truly gratious spirit indeed With God is terrible Majesty and with God is terrible praisâ he is at once to be praised and feared All this Elihu would fix upon the heart of Job from the consideration of the works of God his providencial works in the Air how much more should this fear affect us when we behold his terrible works of providence upon the Earth turning the world as it were upside down by the wonderful vicissitudes and revolutions which his hand brings to pass respecting either Persons and private Familyes or whole Kingdomes and Nations With God is terrible Majesty JOB Chap. 37. Vers 23 24. 23. Touching the Almighty we cannot find him out he is excellent in Power and in Judgement and in plenty of Justice He will not afflict 24. Men do therefore fear him He respecteth not any that are wise of heart THese two Verses conclude the whole discourse of Elihu with Job The 23d verse is Doctrinal the 24th is the Use or Application of the Doctrine In the 23d verse we have a four-fold Doctrine held out concerning God First The Doctrine of his Incomprehensibleness We cannot find him out Secondly Of his Power He is the Almighty he is excellent in Power Thirdly Of his Righteousness he excells in Judgement and plenty of Justice But though he is thus full of Justice yet he is also very Gracious and therefore Fourthly We have the Doctrine of his Mercy and Tenderness towards the Creature in the last words of the Verse He will not afflict God is infinitely above man in Power and in Wisdom yet he never useth either the one or the other to the oppression or wrong of any man He will not afflict This is a very suitable peroration of the whole Narrative or matter declared which Elihu had so long insisted upon And having laid down this four-fold Doctrine concerning God he shews us the use of it in the 24th veâse where we have a practical Inference from what was before asserted concerning God Men do therefore fear him or therefore men ought to fear him As iâ he had said Seeing God is thus incomprehensible thus powerful seeing he is thus excellent in Judgement in plenty of Justice as also in Goodness and Mercy therefore good men do and all men should fear him This is a very natural and undeniable Inference yet Elihu doth not leave it bare but adds a strong inforcement in the close of the verse why all men the greatest of men the wisest of men should fear God For he respecteth not any that are wâse in heart The wisest the greatest of men cannot carry it with God by their wisdom or policy by theiâ gââaâness or power therefore let them fear him This is the sum and scope of these two verses Vers 23. Touching the Almighty we cannot find him out That is He is unâearchable and incomprehensible The Original strictly read iâ The Almighty we cannot fiâd him out The Almighty ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Oânipotens nominativus absolute positus Pisc is a Nominative absolute as Grammarians speak we supply that word Touching As if he had said should we enter upon a discourse of the Almighty we cannot find him out Touching the Almighty That God is Almighty and what the word Shaddai here rendred Almighty doth import hath been shewed and opened already in other places of this Book especially in the fifth Chapter at the 17th verse and in the eighth Chapter at the 3d and 5th verses thither I refer the Reader for further satisfaction in that matter and pass from it here Touching the Almighty We cannot find him out This also I shall pass over in a word having spoken to it more fully Chap. 11.7 where Zophar puts this Question Canst thou by searching find out God Canst thou find him out unto perfection In which Questions Zophar challenged Job or any man else to set their understandings upon the tenters to put all their abilities to the utmost stretch to find out God if they could being assured they could not find him out unto perfection So then this assertion in the Text We cannot find him out beaâing the same sence with those Questions I shall not stay upon it Only Note God cannot be compast by the enquiries of man Touching the Almighty we have but this to say of him We cannot say much of him or how much soever we say of him we say but a little of what he is or of what may be said of him for we cannot find him out We may find God but we cannot find him out God is to be found by every humble faithful seeker of him The Prophet Isa 55.6 calls us to that duty of seeking with an assurance of finding Seek ye the Lord whilst he may be found and so doth David Psal 32.5 For this that is for pardon of sin for grace and mercy or for this that is upon the experience which I âave had of thy readiness O Lord to pardon my sins even as soon as I confessed and acknowledged them for this I say shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found God may be found to do us good and shew us mercy when we seek him rightly there is a finding time or a time while God may be found Some give no other limit to this while or finding time than the limit of this life Dum adhuc in haâ vita estis Rab. Jonath Deus invenire potest iâbiquo quovis tempore ante obsignata decreta Abenâ ezra And to be sure if he be not found while we are in this Life he can neither be sought noâ found after this Life Yât more strictly to seek him while he may be found as one of the Rabbins glosseth that place is to seek him before the Decree comes forth as the Prophet Zephany speaks Chap. 2.2 It is possible we may seek God and seek him too late and then there 's no finding of him Only they shall seek and find him who seek him in the finding time and they who do so shall certainly find as was said before God ready to do them good and shew them mercy But how much soever or how early soever we seek him we cannot find him out that is we cannot find
had Fathers of our flesh who for a few dayes chastened us after theâr own pleasure they to ease themselveâ have put us to pain but the Lord doth it for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness There is just cause we should be afflicted when we provoke God by sin or when he would purge us from our sin or make us more holy And as it may be said God will not afflict because he doth not afflict us but when there is cause for it so Thirdly Because he doth not afflict us but when there is need 1 Pet. 1.6 nor more than there is need we shall not be afflicted an hour longer nor have a grain more of weight in the burden of our cross nor a drop more of gall and wormwood in the cup of our sorrows than we have need of Isa 27.7 8 9. Hath he smitten him as he smote those that smote him in measure when it shooteth forth thou wilt debate with him As if it had been said he shall have no greater a measure than is both useful and needful First to humble him for his sin secondly to subdue and mortifie his sin thirdly he shall have no more than is needful to exercise his graces his faith and patience no more fourthly than is needful to make him thankful for deliverance and sensible of mercy when it comes Thus as God who hath plenty of Justice will not afflict us but when there is need so not more than is need Fourthly It may be said He will not afflict because he doth not afflict us more than we can bear he tenderly considers our strength what we are able to stand under how long we are able to stand under it he will not break our backs nor our hearts unless by godly sorrow for or from sin by affliction God saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 10.13 is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it Hence whân it is said Lam. 3.33 He doth not afflict willingly c. it follâweth vers 34. to crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth The Lord makes many his prisoners yet then his bowels are opened towards them he will not crush nor tread them down as mire in the streets I saith the Lord Isa 57.16 will not contend for ever c. For if I should the Spirit should fail before me and the souls which I have made I know what your spirits can bear and I will contend no longer than I know you are able to bear it Hence that Promise Psal 125.3 The rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous least he put forth his hands to evil The Lord knows the rod may prevail over us so as to put us upon the doing of evil and therefore he will take order that it shall not Thus we may safely understand this assertion He will not afflict that is he afflicts not willingly he afflicts not till there is need nor will he afflict more than needs nor more than we are able or himself will enable us to bear he will either support us under or give us deliverance out of all our afflictions in due time I might hence or from the whole infer a double duty First Be Patient under affliction Secondly Be Comforted in affliction For God doth so afflict that he may be truly said not to afflict But having met with occasions for the ministring of such like counsels to the afflicted from other passages in this book it may suffice only to mind the Reader of them here This spake Elihu in the close or peroration of his discourse to stir up Job to consider all the dealings of God with him he would have him sit down with these four Doctrinal Conclusions upon his heart that God is Excellent in Power and in Judgement and in plenty of Justice he will not afflict Surely he will not afflict more in measure nor longer in time than is need as Job seemed in his passion to intimate and charge God for which he had several reproofs before Thus far I have opened these words as they stand in our translation There are two or three different readings especially of the latter part of the verse which would not be altogether omitted and therefore I shall touch at them and then proceed to the next and last verse of this Chapter which is also Elihu's parting word or the conclusion of his large and close discourse with Job The first different reading is much insisted upon by some Interpreters Take it thus Omnipotens quem non assequimur amplus est virtute sed judicio mâgnitudine justitiae non affliget Merc. The Almighty whom we cannot find out is great in power but he will not afflict in judgment and plenty of justice This translation transposeth those words which we place in the end of the verse he will not afflict to the middle of it and it renders the copulative particle And by the adversative But This makes the sence of the whole verse more plain and easie than the former as also to rise up more fully to the purpose of Elihu As if he had thus summed up all that he spoke before or had contracted it into this sum Which things seeing they are so as I have declared we may certainly conclude Quamvis sit potentissimus tamen homines ante creatos tanti facit ut non utator omnipotentia sua ad eos summo jure pro meritis eorum affligendos Jun. that the Almighty is so full of majesty and power that we are no way able to reach compass and find him out Yet notwithstanding he is so full of goodnesse and mercy that he is very sparing towards men and will not afflict them according to their demerits nor up to the extremity of justice This exposition holds out clearly that temperament of the power and justice with the goodness and mercy of God which Elihu undertook to demonstrate at the fifth verse of the thirty sixth Chapter and so forwards He is great in power but he will not afflict in judgement Take this note from it How great soever the power of God is yet he doth not afflict sinful man according to the greatness of his power nor the utmost line of his justice The Lord is full of mercy full of sparing mercy he spareth his people as a man spareth his own son that serveth him Mal. 3.17 And indeed if God should afflict in plenty that is in extremity of justice what would become of the best of the holiest of men Who can withstand the power of the great God who can stand in judgment before him if he should mark iniquities Psal 130.3 Woe to the most innocent man alive if God should mark iniquities and not forgive iniquities And therefore it follows in the next or 4th verse of that Psalm
be feared because he is so gracious and full of compassion even while he doth afflict There is mercy with God not to afflict that 's sparing mercy and therefore he is to be feared there is mercy also with God in moderating our afflictions that 's sparing mercy too and therefore he is to be feared The graciousness of God manifested somtimes in sparing to afflict us and often in afflicting us sparingly should move us to fear him both greatly and alwayes and if sparing mercy should move us to fear him then much more should forgiving and pardoning mercy When the Lord Exod. 34.6 7. Passed by before Moses and proclaimed The Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sin c. At this proclamation of grace Moses vers 8. made haste and bowed his head towards the earth and worshipped How graceless then are they who when they hear that God is gracious merciful and abundant in goodness fear him not but grow wanton and abuse his kindness Now they who fear God upon the due consideration either of his power or goodness find their hearts First Much enlarged in the service of God or in doing the work and walking in the wayes of God Isa 60.5 Secondly This fear keeps their hearts to a close communion with God Jer. 32.32 I will put my fear in their heart and they shall not depart from me We usually not only depart but run from those whom we fear but the true fear of God Covenant-fear makes us cling about and keep close to him Thirdly This fear keeps up good thoughts and high estimations of God in the worst times or when he is pleased to bring the greatest troubles upon us An Israelite indeed who feareth the Lord and his goodness Hos 3.5 will say let God do what he will with him Truly God is good to Israel Psal 73.1 Let us consider whether we have these effects of a gracious fear working in our hearts upon the remembâance both of the power and mercy of God Men do therefore fear him He respecteth not any that are wise in heart These words as was touched before press the former duty of fearing God inferred from the greatness and excellency of his power judgment jâstice and mercy yet further upon us As if he âad said Men do therefore fear him Why Because He respecteth not any that are wise in heart that is in general he respects none who are so wise or wise in such a way as not to fear him upon those fore-mentioned grounds He respecteth not The word is seeth not There is an elegant paranomisie in this verse ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Videre ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã âimerâ the words which signifie to fear and to respect or see being very near in sound God doth not see them with respect who do not see him with fear He seeth not any that are wise in heart It cannot be meant of the ordinary sight of the eye that he seeth not the wise in heart God seeth clearly who they are Nor can it be meant of the common apprehension of the mind that he knoweth not the wise in heart God understands fully what they are It must be meant then of a seeing with liking or special approbation God seeth not the wise in heaât so as to like or app ove them Our translation is full and clear to that fence He respecteth âot oâ he regardeth not any that are wise in heart that is he takes no notice of them they are not pleasing to him Or thus He respecteth not any that are wise in heart that is as they fear not him so he is not afraid of them He respecteth not any that are Wise in heart Oâ wâse of heart But some may say Doth not God respect nor regard doth noâ he take notice of those that are wise of heart Whom then doth he respect or regard of whom will he take notice if not of the wise in heart Hath the Lord any respect for fooles for ignorant men for ideots for sotts Surely men that are wise in heart are not only very amiable but honourable in the eyes of God Why then is it said He respecteth not any that are wise in heart I answer The wise in heart are of two sorts First there are some wise in heart who are so only in their own opinion in their own conceits or eyes they have great thoughts of their own wisdom and therefore as they are apt to despise men so they are far from the fear of God There is a wisdom in some men opposed to the fear of God whereas true wisdome in any man is the beginning of that fear as that fear is called the beginning of wisdom Psal 111.10 Qui sibi videntur esse sapientes Vulg. The vulgar Latine varie h the formeâ part of the verse yet renders this latter part by way of glosâ rather than translation They that seem to themselves to be wise and indeed the wise in heart whom God respecteth not are the proudly wise the selfishly wise such as are wise only in themselves and to themselves such as have only that wisdom which the Apostle calleth the wisdom of the flesh or the carnal mind Rom. 8.7 which is not subject to the Law of God nor indeed till mortified can be He that is carnally wise disputes the commands of God and takes the boldness to censure his works such wise men God respecteth not yea they are under his greatest disrespect Secondly Others are truly wise graciously wise wise for their souls wise for heaven wise for happiness submitting their wisdom to the will of God and doing his will They that are thus wise in heart the Lord respects and highly respects how can he do otherwise seeing this is the character of God himself Job 9.4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength And as God is wise in heart so according to their line and measure they that are godly are wise in heart too Therefore taking our translation the wise in heart intended by Elihu must needs be those that are only carnally wise politickly wise naâurally wise that is wickedly wise or at best vainly or vain-gloriously wise Further should we take the wise in heart for those that are truly wise graciâusly wise yet it must be acknoâledged that even âhey may so mis-behave themselves as to miss present respect from God And doubtless Elihu observing that Job had spoken somewhat highly of himself and did not carry it humbly enough under the hand of God though his spirit was broken and brought down at last checks him here by telling him God respecteth not any that are wise in heart no not him in that case and frame of spirit as lifted up in his own wisdom Yea Taking wise in heart in this best sence for the graciously wise it is not for their wisdom and holiness that God respecteth or favoureth them As he will
intuetur Bez signifying properly to see some keep to that propriety of it and render the text thus He seeth not all wise in heart that is when the Lord looketh among the children of men he doth not find many yea scarce any of them wise Thus the sense runs in connection with the foâmer part of the verse Men should be so wise as to feare God and not dispute any of his proceedings But he seeth or knoweth that all are not so yea he findeth that a great many even the most of men by much are very fools The truth is all men naturally are no better Psal 14.2 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God but he did not find one wise in heart among all the children of men as Descendants from the first Adam And when he cometh among the best of men men of a second birth the seed and descendants of the second Adam he doth not see them so wise as to give him glory in every condition nor under every dispensation yea he finds a great deal of folly in their hearts Taking this sense of the words Elihu seems here again to give Job a close rebuke as not having behaved himself so wisely under his sufferings as became a man professing the feare of God 'T is rare to find a man wise throughout a man having true wisdome of heart and oâdering himself according to the rules of that wisdome in all the turnes and changes of his life Secondly The latter part of the verse is translated thus Men though never so wise in heart Non videbit cum omnis sapiens corde vel non v debunt cum sc deum omnes sapientes âorde q. d nullus eorum ipsum videbit Drus cannot see him This reading runs the construction of the words quite another way The former said He seeth not all wise in heart this saith Men wise in heart cannot see him The sence of which reading may be thus conceived The wisest men cannot see God he is both invisible and incomprehensible As men cannot see him at all by sence so neither can they comprehend him by reason As the eye cannot take him in who is invisible so neither can a finite understanding take him in who is infinite in understanding We have a sight of God through faith in this life Thus Moses saw him who is invisible Heb. 11.27 We see him here darkly through a glass the glass of his word and woâks of his ordinances and providences 1 Cor. 13.12 But the clear sight of him face to face the sight of him as he is is reserved to hereafter 1 Cor. 13.12 1 John 3.2 These two latter readings of this latter part of the verse hold out usefull truths for further meditation but I adhere to our own as more clear in the originall as also more sutable to the scope and intendment of the foregoing discourse Elihu having said this sits down and is silent leaving Job to meditate upon and consider what he had said And now no sooner had Elihu wound up his bottome and made an end but behold God began and took Job in hand he spake to him out of the whirlwind at the beginning of the next Chapter and brought him upon his knees before he had done with him as will appeare further if the paâience of God give time and opportunity to go so far To him be all the praise and glory who hath helped thus far Ameâ A TABLE Directing to some speciall Points noted in the Precedent EXPOSITIONS A ADvocate To be one for God a great honour as well as a duty 140. Three wayes of being an Advocate for God 141. They who are Advocates for God should have audience and may have courage 142 Aetna the top of it said to be covered alwayes with snow 472 Affliction many cry and complain in it who look not to God in it 65. God comforts his in affliction 73. To cry in affliction and not to repent is very sad 87. The sorest afflictions of this life are little to what God might lay upân sinners 115. God expects the work of faith and patience in affliction and if he see it not he will afflict more 120. God looks for two things in time of affliction 121. God afflicts his children with fatherly anger 123. A good man under great affliction may not be sensible of Gods hand 129 Whâ are sensible in affliction 130. Ends of affliction 131. The best men may fall into the worst afflictions 221. Afflictions are grievous to the flesh 223. How Gâd shews us ãâã work in affliction 224 225. Afflictions are perswasions 232. Affliction hath a loud voyce 233. Gods design in afflâction 234. Not profiting by lesser draws on greater âfflictions 253. Affliction a seas n for prayer 267. They that are humbled in affl ction are neer deliverance from affliction 278. Hard to keep our selves from sin in times of great afflâction 320. Any affliction is to be chosen rather than sin 327. Six wayes affliction good sin not at all 328 329. Affliction compared to cold weather 495 God can afflict us by any of his creatures 515. In what sense God may be said not to afflict shewed in foure things 631 632. God doth not afflict man in extremity 634. God sometimes afflicteth the wisest and holiest men 648 Africa called Ammonia and why 559 Anestatius the Emperour slaine with Thunder 460 Anger how the Lord is angry with his children and visits them in anger 124 125 Apostates their case desperate 304 305 Appeales to our selves very convincing 4 Arme what it signifies in Scripture 57 Artaxerxes long-hand why so called 41 Athanasius his saying concerning the troublesâme reigne of Julian 601 Attila called the scourge of God 515 Attributes of God how distinguisht 177 Augustus Caesar his fearfulness of Thunder 437 B Babylon dangerous being in it because threatned with falling or with a fall 485 Ballancing or weighing three or foure things which God is said in Scripture to ballance 550 551 Bath col what 456 Beasts of the earth how they teach us 75. How we are taught more than the beasts of the earth 76 77 79. Men act sometimes below the beasts 81. Beasts affected with the providences of God in changes of weather 482. This a reproof to many men 483 Beholding a far off may import foure things 355 Belial son of Belial who 16 Benefits common benefits of God to be much acknowledged 150 Blaspheming the name of God what 34 Blood of Christ what kind of sinners that will not ransome 304 Bounty of God he thinks nothing too good for his good servants 287 Breath of the Lord what 496 C Cattel foreshew weather-changes 427 Why G d hath given them such a natural instinct 427 Cham the name of one of Noahs sons what it signifies 558 Changes God gives warning of them 425. Changes in all things both natural and civil 564. Changes the state of
the righteous subject to them in this world 222. No condition so bad but God can change it to a gâod one 248 Chiromancy an unwarrantable Art 478 Choyce sin must not be our choyce what-ever we are put to chuse 324 Church why called Heaven in Scripture 573 Circumstances increasing sin 229. Consideration of circumstances do exceedingly heighten both our sins and the mercies of God 361 City two mystical Cities how built 35 Clouds their differences and spreading 399 400. Three questions answered about the Clouds 401 402. Vses of the Clouds both natural and spiritual 403. Clouds without water like the promises of the world 405 Clouds the Tabernacle of God 407 The same word signifieth a hand and a Cloud why 417. Cloud how it may be said to be wearied 500. Preachers of the Word compared to Clouds 502. Clouds are moved by the counsel of God 505 507. Clouds have their work or somwhat to do 508. Clouds are faithfull servants they do all that God commands 508. Inferences from it 509 510. Clouds sent for correction 5â5 516. 'T is a divine power which ballanceth the Clouds 550 Cold comes at Gods call 495. Cold how both usefull and hurtfull 495. Cold compared to affliction in the effects of it 495 496. Cold is a straitner 498. True in spirituals as well as in naturals 498 Command of God twofold 233 Conscience how terrible to be under the terrors of it when God is angry 609 Consideration what it is 528. Consideration opposed to two things 529 Conversion what done to a sinner in it 39 Covenant the benefit of the new Covenant 240 Creation the sole work of God 567. An Inference of comfort from it 568 Creature that God hath made a man a new creature a strong plea with God 69. Creatures necessary to one another but none to God 44 45. God can correct us by any of his creatures 515. God hath a care of all his creatures 518. God disposeth the motions of every creature 536 Crying of three sorts 264 Custome takes away admiration 534 D Danger every creature would get out of danger or harmes-way 483. Inferences from it both for instruction and reproof 483 484 Daâkness twofold 578. Improper darkness taken foure wayes in Scripture 579. Darkness or obscurity how in the Word of God 586 Death they who live like the wicked shall have their death 272. Death how an ascending 313. How sad their condition is who seek relief by deaâh 316. To wish for death in most a vain wish 317. Death when terrible 610 Deliverance from evil is the work of God 276. Deliverance in though not out of affliction 277 Dependance of man upon God for every thing 420 Despising what it is 169. Who are not despiâed by Gâd 169 170 Discipline what 231 Distress puts all men upon calling to God yet few do it aright 64 Distrust questions all that God is 122 Dâopping the Word what it notes 387 Duty man seldome misseth trouble from God when God misseth duty from man 21 E Eare the opening of it what 230 Eare opened by affliction 232 Eclipses of Sun and Moone why wondered at and not their ordinary shining and motion 534 Effects God can stop the effects of all natural causes 565 Ends of our works to be looked to especially the end of Gods works 363. What the great ends of Gods works are 364 365. Ends of the earth why called wings 450 Establishment as well as preferment is from God 215 Eternity of God hath a double respect 378. Eternity what it is 378 Inferences from the eternity of God 378 379. Thoughts of eternity should take us up 383 Eresian winds what they are 494 Evill of trouble prepares for the receiving of good 278 Exaltation of several sorts all from God 335 336. God can exalt those that are lowest 336 Excessiveness or exceedingness of sin opened 227 Eyes of God what 201. A fivefold eye of God upon the righteous 202 203. How the eyes of God are alwayes upon his peâple 206. Objections answered 207 208. The happiness of the righteâus shewed in this 208. The duty of the righteous never to withdraw their eyes from God 210. A threefold eye to be kept alwayes upon God 210 F Faith appropriates God as our own 151. Faith should be great because God is great 370. Faith quiets the mind 528. The strength and firmness of Faith like what 569. How needfull Faith is in our coming to God 586 Fatness what it signifieth in Scripture 286 Feare how in Heaven 611. Feare of God what 639. It is the duty of all men to feare God 640. Feare of God set in a fourfold opposition 640. God to be feared when afflicting us 640 641. Why it may be supposed that all men feare God 641 God is to be feared because he is so powerfull and just 642. God is to be feared because so graciâus and mercifull 643. Three effects of the true feare of God 643 644 Fetters and Bonds what they signifie in Scripture 220 Finishing of a thing two-fold 241 Fore-seeing of evil how by a prudent godly man 427 428 Fâost how like ashes 473. what frost is 496. Why the same word signifies frost and baldness 496. Frost the gift of God 497 G Garments what the Hebrew word signifies and how it leads us to consider our first fall in Adam 558 559. A four-fold use of garments 559 560. That our garments warm us is from the blessing of God 560 Gift a Gift what 40. Nâthing can be given to God or received by him as any addition to him 42 43. Glory of God the end of all his works 364 God is expressed in Scripture by a word of the plural number and what that may import 65. God no unrighteousness in the dealings of God with man 11. God self-sufficient needs nothing receives nothing of man 42 43. Heathens had such apprehensions of God 44. Four inferences from it 44 45. How God is or may be seen 103 104. Sight or discovery of God to the soul very sweet 104. God knows the right of every mans cause and will do every man right 109. Whom God doth not whom he doth despise 170 171. God hath a due regard to all sorts of men 171. God hath a wonderfull magnificent heart or Spirit 184. The magnificence of Gods heart discovered in three things 184 185. The Will of God the Rule of righteousness 346. His righteousness in all things 347. How God may be said to encrease 368. Greatness of God 369. In what seâce God is not known 373 374. God eternal 378. God is a liberal house-keeper 413. Motions of all creatures under his command 450. It is easie to God to do great things 465. God can do all with a word 473. Inferences from it 473. God is very lâberal 501. God is not only a just but a bountifull master 520 God perfect in knowledge the perfection of his knowledge shewed seven wayes 553 554. Five inferences from it 554 555. How men speaking to God must
in heart of two sârts 645. In what seâce God respâcteth not any that are wiâe 645 646. G d regardâth nât the âiâest men who do not fear him 646. The wi est men cannot hinder the Câuâsels of Gâd by their wisdom and pâlicy 647. Thoughts of the wiââ va n in two respects 648. None âise by nature nor are any erfectly wiâe in this world though they have grace 649 Wisdome how ascribed to the Fowls of the Air. 77. The Wisdome of Fâwls c. is of God 78. Wisdome of God wherein the strength of it consists 175. How God is only wise 177 178. Wisdome practical what 177. Six Inferences from the Wisdome of God 179 180 Wishes we apt to make strange wishes in times of distress 315 Words rash words turned against the Speaker 12. Sharp words somtimes most profitable 13. Word of God how like Rain 397 398. Word of God preached how like thunder shewed in five things 444. When the Word of God is duly attended shewed in three things 445 Three degrees of the Words coming to us 445 446. Word of God how it may be said to be dark 586 Wo ks of God in Nature to be exactly considered especially the Heavens 26. Some works of God beyond our apprehension 466. Two Inferences from it 467. Men slow to consider the works of God 480. God would have all men study his works 480 God stops men in their work that they may consider his works 481 Works of God of all sorts to be considered 529 530. How the works of God are to be considered shewed four wayes 531. Inference from it 532. The common and ordinary works of God are full of wonder 533 Works good works how profitable to our selves and others 52 5â Work ours shewed us by God in affliction in a two-fold respect 223. Sin is properly our work 224. The faultiness of our work most clearly discovered in affliction 225. Works of God of all sorts are to be magnified 351. Works of Gâd visible or invisible 353. Men apt to forget and have low apprehensions of the works of God 356. It is our duty to magnifie the works of God 358. How they are magnified shewed five wayes 359 360. The Ends of God in any wo k much to be eyed 363. What those Ends are 364 365 Woâld a godly man is content with a little of but not satisfied with all the world 288 Worldly comforts and mercies may soon meet with a st p. 419 Wrath of God what and where 296. Wrath appears in works of Judgement 297. We should by all means beware of the wrath of God 298. Wrath of God a fire infinitely more dreadful than fire 299 Y Years the measure of mans Life not of Gods 377. The word in Hebrew signifieth changes and why 377 Youth to die in youth what shewed three wayes 269. A TABLE OF Those Scriptures which are occasionally cleared and briefly illustrated in the fore-going EXPOSITIONS The First Number directs to the Chapter the Second to the Verse the Third to the Page of the BOOK Chap. Vers Page  Genesis  1. 6. 402. 2. 1 2. 241. 2. 16. 418. 7. 11. 393. 9. 12 13. 545. 15. 16. 191. 16. 14. 204. 21. 6. 119. 22. 14. 205. 25. 8. 273. 27. 33. 435. 27. 36. 459. 31. 29. 60. 37. 11. 117. 38. 26. 9. 45. 8. 360. 49. 20. 243.  Exodus  1. 17. 187. 4. 17. 515. 4. 43. 238. 5. 8. 200. 9. 16. 184. 14. 11. 122. 15. 11. 6â1 18. 21. 109. 18. 22. 187. 20. 4 5. 119. 32. 25. 559. 38. 8. 570.  Leviticus  25. 21. 519. 26. 41. 327.  Numbers  9. 7. 387. 14. 17. 185. 16. 45. 241. 16. 46. 297. 17. 2. 514. 23. 14. 172. 32. 23. 513.  Deuteronomy  4. 2. 387. 5. 24. 593. 11. 12. 205. 16. 20. 629. 19. 5. 452. 28. 23. 390. 28. 24. 392. 29. 29. 176. 31. 29. 224. 32. 15. 448. 32. 31. 4. 32. 34. 427. 33. 2. 540.  Judges  9. 23. 563.  Ruth  1. 6. 119. 2. 1. 58.  I Samuel  1. 6. 457. 2. 3. 175 109. 12. 6. 64. 15. 23. 263. 22. 8. 230.  II Samuel  15. 31. 647. 16. 10. 360. 23. 15. 241. 24. 14. 283.  I Kings  2. 4. 318. 20. 28. 453. 22. 34. 45â  II Kings  3. 17. â91 4. 2. 501.  I Chron.  12. 32. 428. 16. 25. 36â 29. 10 16. 42.  II Chron.  20. 12. 282. 28. 13 22. 261. 31. 20 21. 616.  Job  9. 23. 302 14. 10. 15. 14. 21. 7. 188. 21. 25. 243.  Psalms  2. 1 2. 31. 2. 3. 221. 2. 12. 298. 7. 3. 195. 8. 3 4. 27. 9. 9. 336. 10. 3. 173. 10. 16. 380. 11. 4. 203. 12. 5. 196. 14. 2. 649. 16. 3. 42. 16. 7. 73. 17. 3. 72. 17. 13 14. 516. 18. 11. 408. 18. 41. 90. 25. 10. 11. 25. 11. 372. 29. 1 2 3 4 c. 461 462 30. 4. 125. 31. 6 7. 281. 31. 15. 379. 31. 23. 627. 32. 5. 615. 32. 7. 111. 32. 9. 83. 36. 4. 322. 36. 8. 286. 39. 5. 178. 42. 8. 72. 46. 10. 5â8 49. 20. 81. 51. 3 4. 147. 51. 4. 412. 51. 15. 183. 52. 1. 173 60. 55. 23. 192. 5â 1. 484. 58. 1 2. 630. 66. 3. 371. 66. 18. 322 95. 68. 8 9. 38â 69. 33. 268. 72. 6. 397. 73. 1. 363 11. 73. 13. 18. 75. 6. 605. 77. 6. 72. 77. 19. 616. 78. 8 32. 365. 80. 1. 541. 81. 11. 331. 81. 16. 287. 84. 11. 189. 90. 11. 127 185 298. 92. 6. 353. 99. 12. 339. 102. 14. 31â 102. 17. 96. 10â 25 â6 377. 103. 10. 116. 104. 34 35. 104. 106. 7. 12â 107. 42. 9â 13. 111. 2 7. 32. 111. 2 4. 358. 115. 3. 161. 116. 12. 43. 126. 4. 249 488. 130. 3. 117. 136. 2. 511. 138. 6. 90. 146. 3 4. 380. 147. 15 16. 472. 147. 18. 499. 150. 2. 369.  Proverbs  1. 32. 625. 6. 6. 83. 6. 12 13. 203. 10. 22. 285. 15. 29. 89. 16. 2. 552. 16. 3. 18â â0 12. 231. 21. 18. 302 21. 17. 244. 21. 27. 229 258. 21. 3â 179. 22. 3. 427. 25. 13. 470. 25. 23. 491. 25. 27. 592 26. 1. 469. 28. 3. 59. 30. 4 40â 31. 31. 356.  Ecclesiastes  1. 6. 505. 2. 14. 428. 8. 11. 626. 12. 2. 470. 12. 10. 588.  Canticleâ  2. 14 96. 3. 1. 73. 4. 9. 210. 4. 12. 477. 4. 16. 491.  Isaiah  1. 2. 83. 1. 3. 529. 1. 15. 90. 1. 31. 211. 1. 25 26 27. 623. 3. 11. 193. 4. 4. 6â3 5. 6. 389. 5. 13. 255. 5. 20. 325. 6. 2. 374. 8. 2â 6. 8. 16. 476. 9. 13. 235. 10. 6. 190. 10. 3. 609. 10. 25. 1â8 14. 27. 163. 17. 13. 4â2 21. 1. 488. 25. 6. 2â6 26. 7. 551. 26. 11. 532. 27. 4 5. 172 18â 27. 7 8 9. 632. 27. 11. 628. 28. 7. 5â1 28. 10 11. 138. 28. 22. 2 1. 28.