the Lord and the light shall shine upon thy wayes or there shall be light in stead of darknes in thy pathes This light may be taken three wayes First A light of direction thou shalt see what to doe So it answers the former promise Thou shalt decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee Thou shalt not make blind decrees or decrees in the darke thou shalt not decree at a venture or at random the light shall shine upon thy wayes thou shalt have the light of the Word and the light of the Spirit to direct thee in making thy decrees and for the ordering of thy whole conversation Secondly Light shining upon his wayes is the prosperity of his wayes as if he had sayd successe shall attend thy undertakings the favour of God and his blessing shall be upon what thou takest in hand as the Sun shining upon the earth ripens the fruits thereof so the light heate and influence of divine favour shall ripen thy undertakings and bring them to a desiered perfection Light in Scripture is often put for prosperity as hath been shewed from other passages of this booke Thirdly The light shall shine upon thy wayes that is thou shalt have personall Comfort and Contentment in thy wayes that 's a different blessing from the former 't is possible for a man to be in a prosperous way and yet himselfe to take no Comfort nor Contentment in it When these three lights shine upon any man in his way or upon the wayes of any man when the Lord shewes him what he should do when he prospereth succeeds what he doth and when he hath comfort joy in what he is doing or hath don then the blessing is full As the Lord meets him that rejoyceth in his way and worketh righteousnesse so the Lord doth often meet those that worke righteousnesse in their way causing them to rejoyce And then the light shines upon their way indeed This is a further adddition unto the promise of successe before given From the first notion of light first Observe The righteous are under a promise of direction and guidance by God they shall see their way and know what to doe by a divine light The steps of a Good man are ordered by the Lord Psal 37.23 That is the Lord gives him light to see how to order his steps He hath not onely an outward naturall light shining in the ayre and an outward spirituall light shining in the rule but he hath an inward spirituall light shining in his heart or that outward rule planted within as it followes at the 31 verse of the same Psalme The law of his God is in his heart and none of his steps shall slide The law in the heart is a rule within which directs the good man what to doe and gives him such good direction that none of his steps shall slide He shall not walke like a man upon glasse or ice all whose steps are slips or in danger of sliding but he shall walke like a man upon plaine firme ground whose very steps are as sure as standings As Saints who were darknes are made light in the Lord in reference to their state so they have light from the Lord in reference to their walkings and as they receive a light from God whereby they know all things that is those great things which concerne Eternal life 1 Joh. 2.20 Yee have an Vnction from the holy one and ye know all things Now as they have a light promised them that they may know all things that is all necessary saving truths or doctrines of salvation for attaining the next life so a light is promised them whereby they may doe all things that is all their necessary workes businesses and affaires which concerne their duty in this life From the second notion of light Observe Righteous men such as turne unto the Lord shall have a Blessing in their way their way shall prosper As they shall have a light shining to shew them their way so to prosper them in their way God is a Sunne and he is a Shield Psal 84.11 And as he is a Sunne to give light and a Shield to protect so no good thing will he withold from them that walke uprightly That is he will not hinder or stopp those good things from them which their soules desire or move after they shall prosper in their way yea when 't is sayd He will not withhold c. there is more intended then expressed for the meaning is he will plentifully give forth or powre out all good things to and upon them who walke uprightly From the third notion of light learne That the Lord gives Godly men Joy and Comfort in their way Though their way be a way of much labour yea and a way of much danger too though it prove a way full of sweat trouble yet the Lord will cause a light to shine upon them and refresh them in their way To the righteous there rises up light in darknes The light of joy in the darknes of sorrow the light of comfort in the darknes of trouble They who walke in the light of truth and holines usually finde the light of joy and comfort in their way and are sure to finde it in their end The wayes of wisdome saith Solomon Pro. 3.17 are wayes of pleasantnes and all her pathes are peace and if at any time her wayes and pathes are not peace and pleasantnes as to the outward man they often are not while we are travelling in them yet they are alwayes so in the close of our travells Psal 37.37 Marke the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace Yea when others finde most trouble in their way then God is neerest to him for support as it followes in the next words Vers 29. When men are cast downe then thou shalt say there is a lifting up and he shall save the humble person In this and the following verse Eliphaz gives a firme assurance to Job by way of promise that he should not onely be delivered but should have two further priviledges First That himselfe should be exalted when others were cast downe or that he should be saved in times of common calamity ver 29. Secondly That he should be a meanes of safety to others and should prevaile with God for their deliverance he shall deliver the Island of the Innocent c. vers 30. That 's the generall scope of these two verses according to our translation as will further appeare in the explication of them Vers 29. When men are cast downe ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã depressus prostratus When they are prest or opprest with mountaines of affliction and trouble So the word is used Esay 2.17 The loftines of man shall be bowed downe that is the lofty man shall be bowed downe as a man with a heavy burden upon his backe Wee say when men are cast downe the word men is not exprest in the
enter with thee into judgement ELIPHAZ now enters his third and last contest with Job in which some tell us that he behaveth himselfe like a man who seekes Victory rather then Truth who though he hath been sufficiently answered yet will not seem to be overcome yea that he takes up the same weapons to maintain this third with which hee maintain'd his two former Encounters The first in the fourth and fifth Chapters and the second in the 15th as if he were resolved to contradict though he could not confute the reasons wherewith Job had made his defence But as such a carriage as this in Disputation is altogether vaine in it selfe so it is most uncomely in a wise and godly man who ought not to refuse truth and reason though spoken by an Adversary but rather modestly to sit downe and confesse his own errour and mistaking And therefore though Eliphaz in this answer or triplication doth but roule the same stone and move upon the same hinge in generall still adjudging Job to suffer for his sinne and to be punisht as an evill doer yet he puts all into a new method and varies the sceane or manner of his argumentation which may be reduced to this forme as if Eliphaz had said O Job if thou sufferest all these evills for some cause as certainely thou dost for these things could not come by chance but by the wise disposure and providence of God then that cause or reason for which thou sufferest must either be found in God or in thy selfe If thou sayest the reason is in God and that he doth it by his prerogative thou dost rashly intrude thy selfe into his secrets and art over-bold or curious in searching into his hidden counsells and when thou hast made out thy conjectures we may as easily denie as thou dost affirm but if thou hast recourse to and reflâctest upon thy owne selfe for the cause of thy sorrows and sufferings surely thou canst finde out or pitch upon nothing else but thy sinfulnesse and abounding transgressions which while thou refusest to acknowledg thou dost but harden thy heart against God and growest impatient under the rebukes of his afflicting hand therefore I admonish thee to repent c. This seems to be the summe of that whole discourse which Eliphaz gives in this Chapter as will further appear in the explication of the parts Againe we may contract his scope and give it in this briefe Job having constantly affirmed against his friends that God equally afflicts the righteous and the wicked and having said which might have gained respect to what he was about to say that hee pleaded for God Chap. 21.4 As for me is my complaint to man or for man no it is to God or in Gods behalf Hereupon Eliphaz taxes him with this presumption as if he would needs undertake to be a patron for God and so to bring him in some advantage or to stand him in stead for the maintaining of his cause therefore he begins his speech with this chiding expostulation Can man be profitable unto God or suppose thou wert which I shall presently disprove as thou hast often boasted righteous yet is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous This seems to be the intent of the whole Chapter in which we may further take notice of two distinct parts The first is reprehensory Eliphaz reproves and rebukes Job sorely to the end of the 20. verse The second is hortatory Eliphaz moveth Job earnestly to repentance in which he coucheth many Promises and gives Assurance that it shall not be in vaine from the 20th ver to the end of the Chapter Acquaint now thy selfe with him and be at peace thereby good shall come unto thee c. The first part his reprehension begins at the second vers V. 2. Can a man be profitable unto God There are three readings of these words First thus Can a man be compared to God Numquid Deo comparari potest homo etiam cum perfectae fuerit scientiae Vulg. Some labour much in the defence of this reading but I shall not stay upon it For though it be a truth that man cannot be compared to God how wise or how good soever he is What 's the wisdome or the goodnesse of man to God Yet the Originall Text doth not freely yeeld it selfe up to that translation which bears this truth 2. Master Broughton renders thus Can the humane wight teach the Omnipotent that word which we render to be profitable he Quidam verbum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã pro docere exponunt in utroque hamistichio Merc. to Teach The Chaldee Paraphrase favours this translation and some render it so in both parts of the verse Can a man teach God As he that is wise may teach himselfe If a man should be so bold to take upon him to teach God would God regard his teachings but I shall passe by this also especially considering that Eliphaz had no reason to tax Job with such a Presumption as if he had taken upon him to direct God how to order his affaires when as Job himselfe Chap. 21. v. 22. had strongly repressed and condemned such a boldnesse Shall any teach God knowledge Job having so lately exalted God above mans teaching as was shewed in opening that verse it is not probable that Eliphaz should reprove him as conceiting himselfe wise enough to teach God Or that he thought Job either had done or was about to doe that which with his last breath almost he confessed no man could do The third is our reading Can a man be profitable unto God Can a man he doth not mean an ordinary weak sickly frail man but a man yea any man at his best the word here used notes a man in his health strength and glory a man in the flower and perfection not only of his naturall abilities but in the richest furniture and array of his acquired yea inspired abilities Take this man a man of these atttainments a man thus accomplisht and Can he be profitable to God For as when the Psalmist saith Psal 33.17 A horse is a vaine thing to save a man By the horse there wee are not to understand a leane poor weak slow-pac'd horse or a strong swift horse unman'd Such a horse indeed is a very vain thing to save a man by Such a horse may do a man more hurt then help when hee comes into danger but the Psalmist means a horse of the greatest strength courage and swiftnesse A horse exactly man'd and taught all his postures even such a horse is a vaine thing to save a man Againe when the Scripture saith Christ came to save sinners we must not understand it of lesser lower or of the ordinary sort of sinners only but even of the highest and the greatest for such Jesus Christ came to save as well as the least of sinners So here when 't is said Can a man be profitable to God we must expound it of the
them downe without time or before their time we may observe Wicked men are often ripe for Judgement before they are ripe in yeares It is said in the 15th of Genesis Cum potuissent diutive persistere Tygur Capti sunt immaturi Sep. The Iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full their sin is not come to a full stature for as there is a fullnes of stature in holynes unto which Saints at last arrive in Christ so there is a fullnes of stature in wickednes to which the Lord suffers sinners to arrive and as when Saints have attained their full stature in holynes they are received into glory so when wicked men have attained a full stature in wickednes they are cut off and turned downe to destruction Though the Lord suffer long yet he will not alwayes suffer And as some are but young men yet old Saints and have had much Experience of God and of the wayes of grace though but little of the world that distinction which the Apostle gives of Saints into little children young men and fathers 1 Joh. 2.13 14. is not to be understood in reference to naturall yeares but to standing in grace or to a growth and progress in holynes so some wicked men are but of few yeares or but young in reference to their naturall age who yet are old in sinne aged in wickednes they are fathers in abomination while but children in time and so are cut downe before time Wicked men are never cut downe till they are ripe in sinne but they are often cut downe before they are ripe in nature Thirdly Which were cut downe out of time namely in little time or without delay Hence Note That God can quickly make an End of wicked men Hee needs not take any long time to doe it hee tooke but very little time to make the world it was made in six dayes which in reference to the greatness of the worke is no time when a great thing is done in a little time wee may say it was done without any time at all Now if the Lord could frame a world without time surely he can cut downe the world or the inhabitants of it in a little time Ruining worke is easier then building worke He that built in this sence without time can pull downe without time wee need not trouble our selves with such thoughts as these when wee see wicked men Enemies of God and his people in their height and strength O what a length of time will it require O how many yeares must be spent in cutting downe these strong Oakes those tall Cedars the Lord can cut them downe in a moment Our late experinces have shewed us wicked men cut downe without time before they thought they could be shaken yea toucht they have beân cut downe when they concluded they could not be reached they have been ruined The Jesuites and other Matchavillian politicians have a received Maxime of State among them Take time and you may doe any thing If you are disappointed in a project this yeare waite a few yeares longer say they and you shall eyther finde or make a way to accomplish it But the Lord can doe any thing he hath a minde to at any time or without taking time The Apostle prophecying of the Antichrist saith 2 Thes 2.6 7. Now ye know what withholdeth that he may he revealed in his time for the mystery of iniquity doth already worke onely he who now letteth will let till he be taken out of the way The power and splendour of the Romane Empire stood in Antichrists way and he could not cut it downe without time He was hacking and hewing heaving and thrusting many yeares yea some ages before he could remove that blocke out of his way and so make way for his owne Greatnes The wisest of men must have time to bring about their ends Onely God the onely wise God can cut downe and remove whatsoever stands in his way though it stand like a great mountaine without time or without taking time if once his time be come in which he would have it removed The wicked of those elder times were cut downe suddenly without time Eliphaz confirmes it further in the next words Whose foundation was overflowne with a flood In this latter clause Eliphaz seemes more clearly to hint at some particular wicked men or to shew who those wicked men were that hee Intends as the object of his observation namely those whose foundation was overflowne with a flood It is usuall in Scripture by some one word to alude to great actions and changes past Take two or three Instances for Illustration of this Psal 55.15 David Imprecates vengeance upon his enemies in this Language Let them goe downe quick into hell Which expression carrieth a plaine allusion unto that dreadfull judgement Numb 16.31 32. It came to passe as hee that is Moses had made an End of speaking all these words the ground clave asunder that was under them and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and their houses and all the men which appertained unto Corah and all their goods They and all that appertained to them went downe alive into the pit c. This historicall Narration the Psalmist hints at in his imprecation as is plaine by that word quick or alive Let them goe downe quick or alive into hell that is let such wrath seaze upon them as seazed upon Corah Dathan and Abiram on whom the earth closed and they perished from among the Congregation Againe when the Apostle makes promise to Saints in the behalfe of Christ what assistance they might expect from him in time of temptation and what issue from it he thus assures them The God of peace shall tread Satan under your feete shortly Rom. 16.20 Which plainly beares upon that first grand Promise that Christ the seede of the Woman should breake the Serpents head Gen. 3.15 for it is by vertue of that act of Jesus Christ bruising the head of Satan that Satan is troden under our feet As Christ bruised him under his owne feete so hee will bruise or tread him under out feete the seede of the woman in person as well as in their representative shall breake the Serpents head Lastly those words Rom. 9.16 hold a cleare correspondence with that Story Gen. 27. concerning Jacob and Esau So then it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy Hee had sayd before that God loved Jacob and hated Esau and concludes upon it So then it is not of him that willeth c. Wee may take notice in that famous peice of the divine History that much meanes was used that Jacob might obtaine the Blessing Rebecca her heart was set upon it shee did what shee could to procure the Blessing for her younger Sonne her will was wholy in it and Jacob hee run for it too for as soone as Ever his mother had given him counsell he ran presently to the
for a love to the truths and wayes of God which they practice for want of this they often apostatiâe and fall back even from the practice of them No bonds can hold us alwayes to the duties of obedience but those of love to God and to the things wherein duty calls us to obey And as want of this love is the reason why man is so apt to backslide and is so far as a Negative may be the very seed and principle of backsliding so it is the reason why God gives such up to the power and spirit of backsliding 2 Thes 2.10 11. Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should beleeve a lie What is not begun in our affections will not abide long in our actions Secondly Observe Not to abide in the pathes of truth and holines is the marke of an ungodly man They who are not what they appeare in goodnesse will not alwayes so much as appear good They that are as Jacob spake of his eldest Son Reuben Gen. 49.4 unstable as water shall not excell nor are they to be numbred among the excellent ones The Apostle exhorts Saints 1 Cor. 15.58 To be stedfast and unmoveable alwayes abounding in the worke of the Lord. Saints move in the worke of the Lord but they must not move out of the worke of the Lord Bee ye stedfast and unmoveable but in what in the worke of the Lord That is the sphere in which Saints move the sphere of their activity and use and out of that they dare not move The Sun in the firmament is moving continually but it is in his proper line called by Astronomers The Eclipticke line So a godly man is alwayes moveing in the way of godlines that 's his proper line and he never moves out of it wholy Hee may have through the power of corruption and temptation his wandrings and goings astray but then he hath his repentings and returnings into the way againe he cannot abide long much lesse alwayes in the pathes of darknes Hee comes to himselfe with the prodigal and then he comes to his father he bethinkes himselfe where he is and comes backes into the path where he ought to be if at any time he walke in the counsel of the ungodly the gradation is made in the first Psalme which thing he ought not to doe yet surely he will not as it followes stand in the way of sinners or if he stand a while in that way yet he will not sit downe in the seat of the scornfull he will not rest nor stay there Now as it is an argument and a marke of Godlines when a man findes that though he hath many faylings and wandrings yet he abideth not in the pathes of darknes so it is an argument of the noughtines of a mans heart and state when though he now and then hits upon the doing of a good thing yet he abides not in the pathes of light Vaine thoughts as the Prophet Reproves the Jewes lodge in the wicked so long that the Lord complaines How long shall vaine thoughts lodge in you But as good thoughts seldome come to an ungodly man so they lodge not at all with him they are great strangers to him and he useth them as the worst of strangers yea as enemies he quickly turnes them off yea he thrusts them away from him he abideth not in the pathes of light Job having thus set forth the Spirit of a wicked man by his rebellion against the light by his unaffectednes with and unstayednes in the wayes and pathes of it proceeds to give us a further account of his wicked courses and workes of darknes Vers 14. The murtherer rising with the light killeth the poore and needy and in the night is as a Theife The murtherer is hee that killeth a man without warrant and authority every slaying of a man is not murther but to slay a man or to take away the life of a man without warrant that 's murther And that 's the grosse sinne forbidden in the sixt Commandement Thou shalt not kill or thou shalt doe no murther And this is usually committed eyther in malice to the person or in Covetousnesse after the spoyle Some take away the life of a man in malice to his person they hate him deliberately as Cain did Abel and therefore they kill him Others have no quarrel to the man possibly they never saw him before but they covet his goods and that they may rob him of his goods they rob him of his life They are such as live upon the spoyle and they will spoyle though they cause the innocent to dye for it and themselves too in the end In eyther of these wayes wee may understand the murtherer here The former because 't is sayd in the next words He slayes the poore and needy and there is little gaine in their blood when they goe downe into the pit The latter because 't is sayd in the latter part of the verse That in the night he is as a theife But Job first shewes us that this murtherer is a diligent man Rising with the light That is rising as early or as soon as the light riseth The murtherer is no sluggard the light doth not finde him in bed he takes the prime of the morning he will loose no time Men who love hunting rise early So doe these hunters of men When the morning is light they practice it saith the Prophet Mich. 2.1 Honest men rise early to goe about the workes of their Calling and wicked men rise early to fulfill the lusts of their hearts David saith Psal 101.7 I will early destroy all the wicked of the Earth As if David had sayd I will rise with the light to destroy the wicked and here you see how the wicked are described riseing Early to destroy the righteous to murther the Innocent So the next words expresse the designe of his early rising He riseth with the light what to doe no good I warrant you 't is To kill the poore and needy That 's his busienes He begins his mornings worke with a worke of cruelty you heare of killing presently The murtherers heart is full of blood and it will not be long ere his hand be full too for their feete are swift to shed blood Rom. 3.15 and they are skilfull to destroy But it may seeme that they are not very wise for themselves though they are very bloody against others For Job doth not say they slay the fat and full ones but The poore and needy There are some who distinguish between these two and tell us that in these two words two yea all sorts of poore are Included The first word they say intends those poore who heretofore were rich but now empoverished or fallen into poverty and that by the second word are meant those who have been born and alwayes bred up in a low condition But wee
from this Hebrew word it is conceaved the Heathens also called the Sun Jupiter Hammon and they had Sun-Images called Chammamin Levit. 26.30 which they worshipped Drought and heate consume the snow water The word as many other in the Hebrew hath a neernesse of sound as well as in sence with our English word gussell and wee say of Great drinkers They are Guzzlers The dry earth and heate gussell or drinke in the snow water as the intemperate person gussels and drinks downe his liquor Thus drought and heate consume the snow water that is the snow when melted into water So doth the grave those that have sinned There is a wonderfull concisenes in the Hebrew ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã intra breviâas quae obscuritatem parit non dubium est similitudinem esse Merc we finde there no particle of likenes nor is there any expression of those that as appeares by the different letter in our translation yet there is no doubt but the words carry in them the force of a similitude therefore we may safely supply them according to our reading So doth the grave those that have sinned The same word is used indifferently in the Original both for the grave and hell both significations are made use of by Interpreters in this place First the grave or death secondly Hell which is the second death and everlasting death consumeth those that have sinned But why doth he say the grave consumeth those that have sinned Can he meane any speciall sort of men by this forasmuch as all men have sinned and sin dayly I answer It is a truth the grave consumeth and death reigneth over all for that all have sinned Wheresoever sin hath to doe death hath to doe the terretories of death are as large as the terretories of sin And had it not been for sin death had never had any dominion in the world nor can the grave consume any but those who have sinned The Body of man had never come into the graves mouth and it had been too hard a morsel for the stomacke of the grave to digest had it not been for sin For though the body of man in its materialls and constitution was mortall that is was under a possibility of dying before he sinned yet if sin had not brought him under the threat of death God had never subjected him under that decree of dying in pursuance of both which the grave now consumeth all those that have sinned The grave consumes Godly men because they have sinned and the grave consumes wicked men because they have sinned yet there is a great difference among these sinners who dye and a greater difference among these sinners when they are dead And therefore Job speakes here destinctively for though it be a truth that all whether Godly or wicked have sinned and that the grave consumeth all who have sinned yet Job doth not here intend all men by Those who have sinned For by them Job meanes grosse presumptuous and impoenitent sinners he meanes it not of those who sin according to common fraylety but of those who sin with a high hand obstinately Such he meanes even oppressours adulterers murtherers of whom he spake by name before these and such as these are the sinners whom he intends while he saith so doth the grave those that have sinned And it be said so doth the grave those that in this sence have not sinned I answer The Grave is sayd in a speciall manner to consume those who have thus sinned First Because such sinners doe more subject and lay themselves open to death by their wicked courses and intemperate living Such sinners spoyle their bodyes and corrupt their blood they fill themselves with diseases which bring them early to the Grave Secondly Because God doth often cut the thread of such mens lives when they are strong and healthy and tumbles them into the graves mouth to be consumed before they have lived out halfe their dayes The words being thus opened fall under a twofold interpretation First As implying the felicity such as it is of wicked men in dying or the easinesse of their death as they live in pleasure so they dye without paine That 's a poynt insisted upon at the 13th verse of the 21th Chapter They spend their dayes in wealth and in a moment or with ease they goe downe to the grave Moriuntur facillimè suavissime ita ut nihil doloris aut cruciatus senti ant non lenta morte contabescunt ut magna ex parte probi Merc Ex Hebraeis aliqui putant indicari lenissimam mortem in piorum qua lenitur et insensibiltâèâ liqu fiant c. Pined And againe ver 32 33. Hee shall be brought to the grave the clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him Where Job shews that wicked men have as much ease in death as others and many times a great deale more They dye in a moment not tyred out with the torture of chronical diseases but having a quicke and speedy passage out of the world are dissolved even as the snow is by the heate and warmth of the Sunne This sence some of note insist chiefly upon as most suiteable to Jobs scope in describing the corporall and temporall felicity of wicked men even in death which carryes the greatest appearance of terror and trouble in it But I rather take these words as a description of the miserable end and sad conclusion of a wicked man For the word which we render to consume signifies a forceable swallowing downe a kinde of devouring which doth not consist with that other explication Drought and heate consume the snow-waters so doth the grave those that have sinned Hence observe First Some sin so as if they were the onely sinners or as if they onely had sinned All men sin but some goe away with the name as if they onely were worthy to be called sinners In which sence the Evangelist sayth Luke 7.37 And behold a woman in the City which was a sinner when she knew that Jesus sat in the Pharisees house brought an albaster box of ointment c. But were not all the women in the City sinners They were so but this woman had a common fame for a sinner that is for an uncleane wanton woman shee was a sinner of sinners the chiefe of sinners in that City So Luk. 19.7 when Christ went to the house of Zacheus the Pharisees were vexed and murmured saying that he was gone to be guest with a man which was a sinner As if they had sayd he is gon to the house of a notorious sinner a man so sinfull and guilty that all men seeme innocent and sinlesse in comparison of him So they accounted That Zacheus the Publican and doubtlesse he was as noted a man for sin before his conversion as he was for grace after it As they who are borne of God doe not commit sin yea cannot sin because they are borne of God 1 Joh. 3.9 that is their sinning
vulgar and improper sence even those things that never had life may be called dead Mr Broughton renders strictly not dead things but things without life are formed under the waters The Hebrew word may come from a twofold roote and so hath a twofold signification First to heale and cure ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã dolorem mitigavit sanavit transferturper MetaphoraÌ a corpore ad animam ut sig remittere peccata and in Scripture it is transferred from the healing of the body to the healing of the soule in the remission of sins because as the wound of the body is healed by the salve so is the soules wound namely sinne healed by remission or forgivenesse The word is used in this sence Isa 6.10 Make the heart of this people fat and make their eares heavy and shut their eyes least they see with their eyes and heare with their eares and understand with their heart and convert and be healed that is pardoned Secondly ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã debitis dissolutus laxus languidus it signifies to be dissolved or loosened to be weake and languishing wee translate it dead because things that are dead are weakened and dissolved and therefore death is called a dissolution As Paul sayd Phil. 1.23 I desire to depart or to be dissolved that is to dye and the same phrase is used for death 2 Cor 5.1 Wee know that when the earthly house of this Tabernacle shall be dissolved c. Againe by the figure Antiphrasis frequent in Scripture this word as it signifies dead and weake things so also strong and lively things yea those that are strongest or most lively and therefore Gyants who are the strongest of men are expressed by this word Deut. 2.11 The Enims dwelt therein in times past Ecce Gigantes gemunt sub aquis Vulg a people great and many and tall as the Anakims which also were accounted Giants c. And the vulgar translates so here Behold The Giants groane under the waters Giants are called Rephaim in the Hebrew which word in the roote signifies to weaken not from their nature but from their effects not because they are weake but because they weaken others Giants are so strong that the very sight of them makes others weake and faint or pulls downe men of strength and might It is sayd that Saul and the whole Army of Israel were dismayed when they saw Goliah and greatly afraid they were weake before the Giant There is much labouring to make out this sence of the word here some understand it of the Giants before the flood Behold the Giants groane from under the flood Those Giants were indeed overthrowne by the waters and so they conceave that Job alluded unto them but I shall not stay upon that interpretation Others expound the text of those Gyants whose proper element is water the mighty fishes of the Sea the Whale the Leviathan spoken of in this booke of Job Leviathan is a Sea-monster a Sea-gyant of huge dimensions Naturall Historians and travellers describe the vastnes of the Whale or Leviathan to wonder and amazement And 't is granted that in these Gods power is much seene But I shall lay by this exposition also because I conceive fishes are spoken of in the next words where they are called the inhabitants thereof that is of the Sea or waters Againe this word Rephaim is often put for the dead or those that are departed this life Psal 88.10 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead shall the dead arise and praise thee There are two words used for the dead in that verse one is the ordinary word the other is that of the Text. Solomon Pro. 2.18 shewing how dangerous it is to have to doe with the adulteresse sayth Her house inclineth unto death and her paths unto the Rephaim or the dead The house of Adultery and uncleanenes is the Gatehouse to death it is not a house raysed up but bowed downe her house enclineth unto death and she who is the governesse of rather the miss-governeness of the house will by her ill life bring thee among the dead even among those who are twice dead corporally dead at present and spiritually dead for ever But that which I shall rather pitch upon according to our translation ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is that by these dead things are meant such things as never had any life Mr Broughton expounds his translation Things without life of those precious things that are formed under the waters Amber and pearle and goodly stones These dead things are found under the waters and there they are formed Gods providence reacheth to the furthest places even to the bottome of the Sea and lowest earth which seeme to be as cast off So he glosseth and so doe other Interpreters Incipit dei providentiam poâentiam describere a rebus subterraneis initio sumpâo Merc concluding that Job is here setting forth the power of God in forming minerals and pretious stones under the waters or in the deepes and so riseth in his discourse by degrees to higher things As if he had sayd O Bildad what doest thou shewing me the power and providence of God in the high places where he maketh peace I can tell thee that the same power and providence of God are extended to those things which are wrought in the bowels of the earth and at the bottome of the Sea and so are furthest removed from our sight And whereas we say Dead things are formed there that word properly signifies to bring forth children or any living creature Job 39.1 2. Knowest thou the time when the wilde Goates of the rock bring forth or canst thou marke when the Hindes doe calve Canst thou number the moneths that they fulfill or knowest thou the time when they bring forth yea The Eternall Word and Wisdome of God speakes of himselfe in the language of this Word Pro. 8.25 Before the mountaines were setled before the hils was I brought forth It signifieth also to be in paine and groane for paine because child-bearing causeth much paine and groaning So the word is used in a metaphoricall sence Deut 2.25 This day will I begin saith the Lord to put the dread of thee and the feare of thee upon the Nations that are under the whole heaven who shall heare report of thee and shall tremble and be in anguish because of thee they shall be in anguish as a woman travelling with child and pained to bring forth Whence that translation takes its ground The Gyants groane under the waters And as it signifies to forme and fashion the child or any living thing in the womb and then to bring forth so it is applyed to the forming of things that have no life Ps 90. â2 Before the mountaines were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God Dead things are formed But by whom here is no power exprest Job sayth onely they are formed
he further explaines in the next words Vers 3. Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous Or is it any gaine to him that thou makest thy way perfect In the former Verse Eliphaz denyed in generall that God receiveth any benefit from man In this third Verse he speaks the same thing but somewhat more distinctly denying first that he receives any pleasure which might add to his blessednesse or secondly any gaine which might add to his abundance Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous Is it any gaine to him that thou makest thy way perfect As if he had said Is the blessednesse of God encreased by thy righteousnesse Or doth the perfection of thy wayes augment his treasure Is he either the happier or the richer by any thing thou art or canst doe That 's the scope and sence of the words in generall Is it any pleasure The word which we Translate Pleasure signifies the will ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Notat voluntatem cum complacentia vel acquiescentia and because it is so great a pleasure unto man to have his wil therefore the same wârd signifieth both pleasure and the will So the word is used Psal 1.2 Blessed is the man whose delight is in the Law of God that is whose will is there or who takes pleasure in the Law of God his will being resolved into the will of God Then we take pleasure and delight in a thing when we conforme to it or close with it The judgment of God is so expressed upon Coniah Jer. 22.28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken Idol Vas in quo non est voluntas Is he a vessel wherein there is no pleasure A Vessel for the lowest use as 't is interpreted ver 21. A vessel in which there is no complacency it is onely for necessity So the word is taken also Prov. 3.15 He is more precious then Rubies all the things thou canst desire or have pleasure in are not to be compared to him And againe Isa 58.13 If thou forbeare to do thy pleasure upon mine holy day What is the pleasure of a carnal man upon the Sabboth upon the holy day of God It is to doe his own will and not the will of God If thou forbear to doe thine own pleasure that is thine own will upon my holy day Thus here Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Sept. The Septuagint Translate somewhat differently What cares the Almighty if thou art unblameable in thy wayes Thus a man usually speaks of that wherein he hath no pleasure What care I for it Is it any pleasure c. That thou art righteous Righteousnesse is two-fold First of Justification so some understand it here Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art justified Or secondly there is a righteousnesse in Conversation so most understand it here Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art holy Which is the same with the latter clause of the Text That thou makest thy way perfect Further the word signifies to plead our own justice as wel as to have a justice or righteousnesse of our own And thus it may be Expounded in this place An oblectationi est omnipotenti quod justificas te Jun. Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous that is that Thou dost justifie thy self or as Mr. Broughton pleadest justice Dost thou justifie thy selfe or stand upon thine owne integrity and then think to please God Se justificare non tam est justum esse quam contendere conari adversus calumnias scelera sibi objecta ex ratione coram judice respondere or to carry the day against man upon those tearms Is it any pleasure to the Almighty That word fully hits the design of Eliphaz it signifies both Almighty and All-sufficient one that hath all in his own compaââ that needs not goe out of himselfe to fetch in any supplies or aid from abroad He is self-sufficient and he hath a sufficiency for all others Is it any pleasure to this Almighty one that thou dost thus justifie thy selfe Or is it any gaine to him that thou makest thy way perfect As it is no pleasure so no gaine The second Verse before opened clears the mind of this clause What there he calleth profit is here called gaine in different words And the word here used is rendred indifferently both gaine and profit Gen. 37.26 When Joseph was cast into the pit Judah said What profit is it to slay our Brother let us sell him let us make gaine of him that way slaying him wil be no profit to us And as it signifies gain so covetousnes the reason is because covetousnes hath gaine for its object covetousnesse provokes men to seek gain Jethro Exod. 18.21 gives councel that Magistrates should be Men fearing God and hating covetousnesse or hating gaine that is not onely all covetous practices but inordinate desires of gaine for these lead into unlawful wayes of gaine even to the perverting of Justice Is it any gaine to him that thou makest thy way perfect That is thy life thy conversation thy course what though thou strivest after the highest attainments of grace the purest purity of life is this any gaine to the Lord The Septuagint render That thou makest thy way simple The simple sincere plain way is the perfect way The perfection of our way is the simplicity sincerity and uprightnesse of it Another reads Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thy way is undefiled Or cleane that thou doest sweep and wash thy way so that there is no spot to be seen upon it Psal 119.1 Blessed are the undefiled or perfect in the way The severall parts of this Psalm begin with a new Letter Alphabetarius est hic Psalmus ostendens parvulos ab ipsis statim elementis pueritia infarmandos esse ad pietatem Hilar. according to the order of the Hebrew Alphabet intimating that it ought to be learned even of Children as one of the Ancients infers from it The undefiled in the way are such properly as have been holy or pure from their youth such as did never corrupt their wayes Timothy is said from a Child to learn the Scriptures Suppose thy way thus perfect that none could tax thee with any grosse sin even from thy Child-hood could this be any gaine to the Almighty There is yet another Translation Aut an lucro quod integras asseris vias tuas Iun. which implyeth not only the study of holinesse but a boasting in holinesse Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou doest justifie thy selfe Or is it any gaine to him that thou dost affirm thy wayes are perfect So it fals in with the third rendring of the former clause For the understanding and further clearing of these words I shall draw them forth into distinct Propositions
Some translate it to evidence to evince and determine Thus it is said Gen. 20.16 that Abimilech reproved Sarah that is gave evidence that she had a husband And Abrahams Servant said Gen. 24.44 She that saith to me both drink thou and I will also draw for thy Camels let her be the woman whom the Lord hath appointed for my Masters Son That is let this token be an evidence to me that it is she whom thou hast appointed for his wife Some here take it so Will God evidence or determine concerning thee by thy feare or the worship which thou givest him That thou art righteous We expresse it fully enough Will he reprove thee for fear of thee Or will he enter with thee into judgement Both these expressions are of the same sence and these words for fear of thee may be read in the close of the Verse Will he reprove thee or will he enter with thee into judgment for fear of thee Feare may be taken here two wayes Either first Actively or secondly Passively Take it Actively and so it notes the Fear of Job Putasne te plecti ob religioneÌ tuam Will he reprove thee because of thy Feare And then by his Fear we are to understand his Religiousnesse or Holinesse so Mr. Broughton Would he reprove thee for thy Religion Take this Fear Passively An de religione tua argueret te Iun. and then it implyeth a Fear which God himselfe might be thought to have of him as if Eliphaz had said God is not afraid of thee The Prophet saith Isa 51.12 Who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man c. Quis vel hoc desipiens sentiat quod Dominus ex timore nos arguat ex metu judicium suum contra nos proponat Greg. Much more may we say who or what is man that God should be afraid of him One of the Ancients following this Interpretation professeth that no fit or comely sense can be given of these words but concludes that Eliphaz spake very foolishly and grosly or as a man forsaken left of God For saith he can any one imagine such a thing as this that Job should have a thought that God was afraid of him But we may very well accommodate the sense in either of these Considerations of Fear whether Actively or Passively and judicious Interpreters carry it both wayes Let us weigh it a little in both Pâtasne quod ille te affligat quiaâ religiâsus sis Dei timeus ac integer ut dâ te ipse predicas minime vero quiu potius quod sis irreligiosus Merc. First Actively as Fear is taken for the Fear which Joh feared that is for his religion and worship or the exercise of it then the meaning is this Dost thou think that God doth punish thee for thy goodnesse or because thou art righteous No it is because thou art irreligious Is not thine iniquity great and thy sin infinite As he speaks out in the nâxt words Doest thou think that God punishes thee for thy holinesse No he can find sins enow to doe it for And Eliphaz might speak to such a sense I conceive because Job pleaded his integrity so much as if he should say Never think that God afflicts thee for thy holinesse or righteousnesse but rather acknowledge thy sins and thy wickednesse to be the cause of thy afflictions Are not thine iniquities manifest There is a truâh in this God doth correct many who fear him but he doth not correct âny one for fearing of him many holy persons are afflicted but no man was ever afflicted for his holinesse God hath made many promises to the godly man that he will reward him and doe him good Say to the righteous it shall be well with him Godlinesse is profitable for all things having âhe promises of this life and of that which is to come Therefore no man needs feare that God will hurt him for his holinesse though a holy man may receive many rods and scourges from God yet holinesse never received the least scourge from God Numquid ex timore tuo judicabit te Deus quando te judicabit non respiciet ad timorem tuum tantum connivebit ad mala quae feceris Hoc fine subijcit nonne malum tuum amplum est ostendit autem nullam pietatem hominis esse perfectam ut mae justus judicari a deo possit Coc. Againe as fear is taken Actively for Religion or for holinesse the sense may be given thus in pursuance of the fourth signification of the word Reprove before âxplained When God comes to judge thee or when he declares what thou art he will not look to thy fear onely to thy profession of Religion and holinesse and over-look or wink at thy sins and therefore he presently subjoynes Is not thy wickednesse great Hereby arguing that no mans piety is so perfect that thereby he can be accounted just or righteous in the sight of God or that a mans profession yea and practice of Religion is of no value either to escape the punishment of his sin or to deserve a reward at the hands of God Some expound that Psal 50.8 in a paralel sense to this the Original word being the same I will not reprove thee for thy Sacrifices which is the same with Fear in the Text according to this Interpretation being put for all outward worship or religiousnesse or for thy burnt-offrings continually before me For those words to have been which our Translators supply may be left out and the sense remain perfect Or if those words be continued then the negative particle not is as in many Scriptures it is to be reassumed out of the first part of the Verse and the whole read thus I wil not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or for thy Burnt-offrings not to have been continually before me That is I will not charge thee with a neglect of outward duty or worship the inward and spiritual of which he speaks ver 14. Eliphazo propositum est ostendere quod religio hominis non prosit ad demerendum deum vel peccati paenam evadendaÌ Coc. being that which is most pleasing unto me Now as to the paraleling of this place in the Psalms with the sence of Job's Text now under hand we must read them thus I will not judge thee for thy Sacrifices that is when I determine concerning thy righteousnesse I will not doe it by having an eye to or respecting thy Sacrifices thy religious course and exercise of holines though thou hast bin much yea even continually conversant in them I shall only argue and declare thee righteous as thou trustest in me and by Faith takest hold of my Covenant Thus as the Lord is conceived saying in the Psalm I will not judge or declare thee righteous for thy Sacrifices so here Eliphaz will he that is certainly he will not judge or declare thee righteous for thy feare And so the
and as a hater of wickednesse He reproves man because he hath sinned against him not because he is afraid of him as Eliphaz shews in the words which follow JOB CHAP. 22. 5 6 7 8 9. Is not thy wickednesse great and thine iniquity infinite For thou hast taken a pledge of thy Brother for nought and stripped the naked of their clothing Thou hast not given water to the weary to drinke and thou hast with holden bread from the hungry But as for the mighty man he had the earth and the honourable man dwelt in it Thou hast sent widdows away empty and the arms of the fatherlesse have been broken IN this Context Eliphaz intends to shew the true reason why God reproved Job and entred into judgment with him it was not as was sayd at the 4th Verse either because God was afraid of him or because he feared God but it was for his wickednesse as Eliphaz though mistaken concluded against him as if he had said God doth not punish thee because he is afraid of thee but because he loveth justice and hateth iniquity Is not thy wickednesse great and thine iniquity infinite That 's the scope of these words which we may fitly call Job's Indictment and this Indictment is laid down first in general words vers 5. Is not thy wickednesse great and thine iniquity infinite And here Job is not charged with wickednesse and iniquity barely but under a two-fold aggravation 1. Great 2. Infinite Secondly We have his Indictment drawn on t into particular Charges or a spefication of some notorious sins given against him in the Verses following This particular Charge consists of two heads First Sinnes against man Secondly Sinnes against God His supposed sinnes against man contained in the words now read are of two sorts First Sinnes of commission or of the evill which he had done Secondly Sinnes of omission or of the good that he had not done The evill which he chargeth him to have done is twofold first an act of injustice taking a pledge in the sixt verse secondly an act of uncharitablenesse stripping the naked in the same verse Both which evills or miscarriages towards the honest poore are aggravated ver 8th by his undue connivence at the wicked rich as he was too severe against the poore so he was over-favourable towards the great and mighty But as for the mighty man he had the earth and the honourable man be dwelt in it as if he had said Thou didst never set thy selfe to doe justice upon the great ones be they and doe they what they will they have the earth thou didst never put forth or exercise thy power to suppresse and oppose their insolencies thy edge was turned only against inferior ones Thou tookest a pledge from the poore and hast stripped the naked of their cloathing His sinnes of omission are expressed in the 7th verse Thou hast not given water to the weary thou hast withholden bread from the hungry and in the 9th verse Thou hast sent widdows away empty and the armes of the fatherlesse have been broken Which may be either taken thus Thou hast broken their armes or thou hast not given thy helpe and assistance to restore and releive them when broken Thus we have a light into the meaning of these five verses as they are a charge of sinne upon Job Vers 5. Is not thy wickednesse great The question may be taken two wayes either conjecturally and doubtingly or assertively and affirmingly Usually in Scripture such questions are resolved into assertions and so divers Interpreters resolve this here Is not thy wickednesse great That is I conclude against thee that thy wickednesse is great and that thy iniquities are infinite so Mr Broughton renders Doubtlesse thy evill is great Others conceive it more cleare to the minde of the Text that this question should be interpreted conjecturally Non tam haec ei ex professo obijcit quam cogitandum ei relinquit num haec fecerit Merc. Is not thy wickednesse great That is may we not suppose that thy wickednesse is great may we not from at least probable grounds thinke thus of thee And that First from the generall state of man by nature mans heart being sinfull he may sinne and sinne as it were without bounds greatly There is no man sayth Solomon 1 Kings 8. 46. that liveth and sinneth not Solomon puts it as a parenthesis in his prayer but it is such a parenthesis as hoocks in all man kinde it takes all in Who is there that sinneth not so Pro. 20.9 Who can say I am cleane from my sinne Now upon this generall ground Eliphaz might suppose Is not thy wickednesse great All men have this in their nature and hast not thou made improvement of it in thy life All men being sinfull by nature art not thou extreamely sinfull in practise Againe He might make the supposition upon this ground his present condition or his affliction thou art greatly afflicted thy afflictions are not of an ordinary sise or measure therefore is not thy wickednesse great and thine iniquity beyond the ordinary measure Upon this common rule he might suppose his sin very great for usually God doth proportion and measure out punishments by our sinnes Thy sufferings are very great therefore are not thy sinnes great too Thus he might speake conjecturally upon both these considerations And yet if we consider how positively he speaks of particulars at the 6th and 7th verses c Thou hast taken a pledge of thy brother for nought and stripped the naked of their cloathing c. He gives us but too much ground to thinke that he did more then barely conjecture while he sayd Is not thy wickednesse great The word which we render wickednesse ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã malum tuuÌ vox Hebraea pertinet ad improbitateÌ quandam impudentiam contra jus aequum omnia conculcantem is by some specially expounded of that wickednesse which hath a kinde of impudence in it and which doth not onely breake transgresse or step over the Law but spurns against it every man that sinneth steppeth over the Law over the line but there are some that kicke at it some who trample upon it yea they would destroy it so some highten the emphasis of the word Againe the word is rendred by others as signifying the evill of punishment in this part of the verse and not the evill of sinne Is not thy affliction great therefore thy iniquity is infinite Malitia in sacris interduÌ est afflictio aerumna vexatio pro malo paenae non culpae accipit Rab Lev The Greeke word Matth. 6.34 answers this Sufficient to the day is the evill thereof that is the trouble and the sorrow of it Amos 3.6 Is there any evill in the Citie which the Lord hath not done So here Is not thy evill great thy evill of punishment therefore thy iniquity is infinite But I rather fix it upon the former though the word sometimes
all religion placed in second Table worke in giving every man his due in compassion to the poore in helping the helplesse in feeding the hungry in cloathing the naked in comforting the sorrowfull and by name the fatherlesse and the widow This is pure religion to visit the fatherlesse and the widow That is this is the practicall part or the true practice of religion without which all religion is vaine Therefore when the Apostle had sayd v 21. Receive with meeknes the engraffed word Lest any man should stay there and think he had done enough when he had been a bearer he adds Be doers of the word That is looke to the practicall part of religion be diligent in the duties of love to men as wel as in those of the worship of God Take these two inferences from the whole verse First Seeing God taketh so much care of the widow and the fatherlesse Let the widow let the fatherlesse trust in God They who receive peculiar promises from God should put forth suitable acts of faith towards God Faith cannot worke without a word and where it hath a word it ought to worke Wee have both put together in the present case Jer. 49.11 Leave thy fatherlesse children I will preserve them alive and let the widows trust in mee As if God had sayd if none will take care of them I will I will take care of them I will be a father of the fatherlesse a husband to the widow leave that care to me Therefore let the widow and fatherlesse trust in God A word from God is a better a bigger portion then all the wealth of this world Secondly Seeing the Lord is so jealous over them and so ready to take their part against all their adversaries this should provoke them to be full of zeale for God God stands up for their protection therfore they should stand up for God their protector and patron How carefull should they be to please him who is so watchfull to preserve them Speciall promises call for speciall obedience as well as for speciall faith The more God engageth himselfe to doe for us the more should we engage our selves in his strength to doe for him None have more reason to be rich in faith and love to God then the poore and fatherlesse Thus farre wee have examined the Inditement or Charge which Eliphaz brought against Job now see what he inferres upon it here is thy sinne and there 's thy punishment JOB CHAP. 22. Vers 10 11. Therefore snares are round about thee and sudden feare troubleth thee Or darknesse that thou canst not see and abundance of waters cover thee THese two verses have variety of expressions but the intendment of all is one and the same Snares and feares and darknesse and abundance of waters signifie all manner of evills All these are upon thee because thou hast sent widows away empty and hast suffered the Armes of the fatherlesse to be broken because thou hast done these things therefore Snares are round about thee Some render the Originall Text to another sence ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã non significat illationem aut convenientiam consoquentis ad antecedens sed convenientiam aptitudinemque antecedentis ad consequens Coc not as bearing an effect of the former words not as if hee had been punished with these evills for those sinnes but as if these evills had caused him to sinne and so the words are expounded as a kinde of scorne as if Eliphaz had sayd When thou didst those things no doubt snares or feares or darknes or waters came upon thee thou was forc't by suffering these evills to doe all this evill wast thou not was it not because thou wast prest with snares and feares and darknes and waters that thou didst oppresse the widow and the fatherlesse All which Questions are reducible to these plaine Negations Thou wast not pressed with any of these perplexities upon thy selfe to oppresse the poore there was no snare no nor any feare neere thee darknesse did not hinder thy sight nor did the waters of affliction cover thee Thou hast not been thrust upon sinne by these temptations nor constrained by the moral violence of any incumbent necessity but hast done it freely to sin even in this manner and at this hight hath not been thy refuge but thy choyce Thou hast not acted these iniquities by any instigation eyther from persons or providences but upon thine owne election This is a fayre sence and a mighty reproofe seeing as was lately noted every evill we doe is by so much the worse by how much wee have had the lesse provocation or solicitation to doe it But I rather take the words as wee render them to expresse the sad effects and fruits of his sinne As if Eliphaz had said Because thou hast taken a Pledge of thy brother for nought c. because thou hast sent widows away empty and the armes of the fatherlesse have been broken therefore snares are round about thee c. The words may have a threefold Allusion First To the besiedging of a City snares are round about thee Hostile aliquid obsidionale significat thou art now hemde in on every side with-troubles as Christ threatens Jerusalem Thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee c. A trench is but a great snare to catch men as men catch birds and vermine in snares Or Secondly The Allusion may be to Imprisonment thou art compassed with strong walles and shut in with gates thou art shackel'd with iron snares Thirdly The words may allude to hunting and fowling in such disports nets and snares are set to take the intended game Snares are often spoken of in Scripture to intimate or set forth the afflictions and sorrowes that entrap and hold the sons of men So that to say Snares are round about thee is no more but thus troubles are round about thee and these snares are sometimes set by the hand of man sometimes by the immediate hand of God Good things are often made a snare to the undoing of evill men and evill things are often made a snare to the troubling though not to the undoing of good men But I shall not prosecute this allusion having spoken of it at the 18th Chap v. 6 7 8. where Job complaines that God had taken him in his snare as also in the 19th Chapter at the 5th verse And sudden feare troubleth thee Wee may understand this feare first for the passion of feare or for feare within Secondly for the occasion of feare which is feare without Sudden feare troubleth thee that is the appearance or apprehension of some terrible thing causeth thee to feare Passio pro objecto materia suni in omni idiomate familiare Sanct. Feare is often put in Scripture for the thing feared for the object of feare or for that which causeth feare Thus also hope is put for the thing hoped for and vision for the thing seene or the object of the
Church Lest saith he such a one should be swallowed up with over-much sorrow Sorrow of any sort even sorrow for sinne may possibly have an excesse or an over-muchnes in it and when ever it hath so beyond the end for which it serves for sorrow is not of any worth in it selfe but as it serves to a spirituall end When I say sorrow hath such an excesse then not onely the comforts but the gifts and usefullnes of the person sorrowing are in danger to be swallowed up by it Secondly Water doth not onely swallow up but enter in while it covereth the body it fills the bowells Thus affliction like water fills within as well as covers without David complaines that his afflâctions did so Psal 69.1 Save me O God for the waters are come in unto my soule Not onely have these waters sweld over mee but they are soakt into mee Inward or soule-afflictions as well as outward and bodyly afflictions are set forth by waters Psal 109.18 As he cloathed himselfe with cursing like as with his garment so let it come into his bowells or within him like water and like oyle into his bones Liquids penetrate so doe afflictions Thirdly As the water is not mans proper Element hee lives and breathe in the ayre not in the water So affliction is not our proper Element though it be due to our sinne yet it is not proper to our nature Man was not made to live in affliction as the fish was made to live in the water and therefore as it is said The Lord doth not willingly afflict nor grieve the Children of men Lam. 3.33 'T is as it were besides the nature of God when he afflicts the children of men So it is sayd Heb. 12.11 No chastning for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous Man is out of his Element when he is under chastnings Hee was made at first to live in the light of Gods countenance in the smiles and embraces of divine love As man is out of his way when he sins so he is off from his end when he suffers He was not designed for the overwhelming choaking waters of sorrow and judgement but for the sweete refreshing ayre of joy and mercy It often proves a mercy in the event to be covered with these waters To be covered with them that we may be washed by them is a mercy but onely to be covered with them especially as Eliphaz here saith Job was to be deeply covered with them is a deepe and soare affliction Abundance of waters cover thee Hence note That as God hath treasures of mercy and abounds in goodness so hee hath treasures of affliction and abundance of wrath As God hath abundance of waters sealed up in the Clouds as in a treasury and hee can unlocke his treasury and let them out whensoever he pleaseth eyther to refresh or overflow the Earth so hee hath abundance of afflictions and hee can let them forth as out of a treasury when he pleaseth And as wee read Ezek. 47. that the waters of the Sanctuary those holy waters were of several degrees first to the Ankles secondly to the knees then to the Loines and then a river that could not be passed over abundance of waters Thus also the bitter waters the waters of affliction are of severall degrees some waters of afflictions are but Ancle-deepe they onely make us a little wet-shod there are other waters up to the knees and others to the Loynes and others wee may rightly call abundance of waters a Sea of waters I am come into deepe waters saith David Psal 69.2 or into depth of waters where the floods overflow mee And having sayd Psal 42.6 O my God my soule is cast downe within mee He adds in the next words v. 7. Deepe calleth unto deepe at the noyse of thy water-spouts All thy waves and thy billowes are gone over me Where by deepe to deepe by waterspouts by waves and billowes he elegantly sets forth his distresse in allusion to a Ship at Sea in a vehement storme and stresse of weather when the same wave upon whose back the vessel rides out of one deep plungeth it downe into another Thus the afflicted are tossed and overwhelmed in a Sea of trouble till they are at their wits end if not at their faiths end Take two or three Deductions from all these words layd together Wee see by how many metaphors the sorrows of this life are set forth even by snares and feares and darknes and waters Hence note First That as God hath abundance of afflictions in his power so hee hath variety of wayes and meanes to afflict the sonnes of men eyther for the punishment of their sinne or for the tryall of their graces If one will not doe it another shall if the snare will not feare shall if feare will not darknes shall and if darknes will not the waters shall and if waters of one hight will not doe it hee will have waters deepe enough to doe it abundance of waters shall doe it hee hath variety of wayes to deale both with sinners and with Saints Secondly Consider the inference which Eliphaz makes Therefore snares c. are upon thee That Is because thou hast done wickedly in not releeving and in oppressing the poore therefore snares have entangled thee This though false in Jobs particular case yet is a truth in General And it teacheth us That There is an unavoydable sequell between sinne and sorrow Looke upon sinne in its owne nature and so the sequell is unavoydable sinne is bigge with sorrow as affliction burdens the sinner so sinne is burdend with affliction Sinne hath all sorts of affliction in its bowells and wee may say of all the evills that afflict us they are our sinnes Sinne is formally the transgression of the Law and sinne is virtually the punishment of transgressors Many I grant are afflicted for tryall of their graces as hath been shewed before but grace had never been thus tryed if man had not sinned Sinne is the remote cause of all afflictions and it is the next or immediate procuring cause of most afflictions Would any man avoyde the snare let him feare to sinne would he avoyd feare let him feare to doe evill would he keepe out of darkness and not be covered with abundance of waters let him take heed hee drinke not iniquity like water let him have no fellowship with the unfruitfull workes of darkness God tells the sinner plainely what portion he is to expect Say woe to the wicked it shall be ill with him for the reward of his hands shall be given him Isa 3.11 Wee may as well hope to avoyd burning when we run into the fire or dirtying when we run into the mire as to escape smarting when we run into sinne Yet more distinctly wee may consider all those evills comprehended under those words in the Text Snares darknes c. eyther in reference to wicked men or to the Saints Snares and darknes upon the wicked are the
after evill things as they lusted neither be Idolaters as some of them were nor fornicators nor tempt Christ nor murmure c. He shuts up all with the same doctrine ver 11. Now all these things happened unto them for Ensamples and are written for our admonition upon whom the Ends of the Earth are come therefore let him that standeth take heed least hee fall The Apostle Peter also 2 Pet. 2. brings in first the instance of the Angells that fell secondly of the old world thiâdly of Sodome and Gomorrah Whom God condemned with an overthrow making them an ensample unto those that afâer should live ungodly The Scripture speakes of two sorts of Ensamples Fârst for imitation secondly for caution The lapsed Angels the old world these Cities Sodom and Gomorrah are all left as Ensamples for caution that all after ages marking the old way of their sinne and punishment might feare to sinne and suffer as they have done Fourthly From the manner of this Expression which wicked men have troden taking the way conjunctively for the way both of sinne and punishment this troddennes of it notes the frequent passage which many have made through it They have not gone it once onely but often Hence observe As wicked men offend often so the Lord hath punished often as they have made pathes in sinne so God hath made pathes in Judgement It is easie to follow sinners as it were by the print and tract of those evills which have overtaken them But I passe it here because Eliphaz proceeds more directly to describe the punishment of wicked men in the next words Vers 16. Which were cut downe out of time and whose foundation was overflowne with a flood At this verse the Original hath a very conspicuous note of distinction The Jewes are very exact in observing the letters and the verses of every booke in the Bible and between these two verses is the middle of the booke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã there being exactly the same number of verses behinde as we have had before in this whole book of Job taking the 16th verse Inclusively So that now wee are halfe the booke over according to the number of verses The whole containing 1070. The former part hath had 535. and as many remaine for the latter part This I touch onely by the way Which were cut downe The words carry an alusion to the felling of trees as if hee had sayd ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã plerique reddunt succisi sunt sed verbum hoc nunquaÌ occurrit in ea significatione in sacris literis sed tantuÌ apud doctores HebraeoruÌ idque per meta thesin literarum a verbo ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã cum enim tantum occurrat in libro Job ibi vertitur rugare aut corrugare aut rugas contrahere These men were like great Oakes and tall Cedars but the Lord cut them downe The word is Conceived more properly signifying to wrinckle or to make furrowes in the face for this word is used but once more in all the Bible it is in the 16th Chapter of this Book ver 8th and there wee translate wrinckles Thou hast filled mee with wrinckles which is a witnes against me So some render it here Who were wrinckled out of time Now what are wrinckles they are the markes of old age and they shew that weaknes is coming upon us or that wee are in our declining Condition so that it is a very Elegant Expression to say They were wrinckled out of time that is they were old afore they were old before they were old according to the nature of man they were made old by the Judgements of God They lookt as if they were worne spent and eaten out by time whereas indeed they were spent eaten and worne out with the wrath and indignation of God which fell upon them Thus they were wrinckled out of time or before their time ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã sine tempore vel non tempus i. e. antequam explerent vitae annos secundam communem naturae legem They were cut downe and no time as some render But it may be sayd as Solomon did Eccl. 3.1 There is a time for every thing how then could they be cut downe in no time There may be a twofold interpretation given of this Hebraisme First this to shew that they dyed a violent not a naturall death that eyther God by his immediate Judgements did cut them off or that he gave them up to the Justice of man who cut them off before their time Man hath a set time an ordinary time of dying the dayes of man are threescore yeares and ten this is the ordinary time of dying they that dye before are in Scripture sence Cut downe out of time or not in time that is not in that time at which men usually dye according to the course and custome of nature Secondly when 't is sayd They were cut downe without time the meaning is they were cut downe very suddenly as if it were done without any time at all God was so farre from lingring or taking up long time to destroy these men that he cut them downe as it were without any time at all ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã sine tempore verti potest sine mora even in a moment in an Instant as speedily as a man can thinke it farre more speedily then any man can do it He did it without delay As usually the grace of God so often the wrath of God makes no demurres Observe from the manner of Expression Cut downe That God brings ruining Judgements on the stoutest of sinners Hee doth not onely pull off some of their fruit and leaves or lopp off their branches but he cuts them downe yea hee stubs them up by the roots till there is nothing left they are cut downe root and branch Thus the Lord threatned the house of Jeroboam 1 King 14.10 Behold I will bring evill upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall that is every man of his house and him that is shut up and left in Israel that is him that is most esteemed as things shut up are and him that is least esteemed as things left abroad are or those who are secured or have secured themselves in strongest holds as men shut up are as well as those who are left naked and exposed to the easiest dangers as men left at large are and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam that is all who have escaped or survived the former troubles as a man taketh away dounge till it be all gone that is till his house be utterly exterminated for dounge being a filthy and noysome thing men never leave taking it away from places where it is an annoyance till they have taken it all away That which is offensive in the whole nature of it is offensive in the least degree of it Againe When 't is sayd Hee cuts
Godly men at least intimated in this and toucht before conclude that they are happy when they appeare most miserable and that at their worst estate they are altogether above uncertainty For as they have a foundation so such a foundation as will stand all stormes and weathers What can be added to their felicity who are in an estate so good in the nature of it that they need not desire a change and so sure in the foundation of it that they need not feare a change much lesse an overflowing flood Eliphaz proceeds to describe the particular wickednes of those men or how they did Expresse their wickednesse Whose foundation was thus overflowne They say unto God depart from us c. JOB CHAP. 22. Vers 17 18. Which said unto God Depart from us and what can the Almighty doe for them Yet he filled their houses with good things but the counsell of the wicked is farre from me IN the former context Eliphaz had charged Job with impiety against God and called him to consider the dispensations of God in former times towards impious men here he shewes us what their impiety was It was impiety hightned into blasphemy The seven abominations which were in their hearts brake out at their lips and were vomited out of their mouths in blacke choler in choler as blacke as hell Vers 17. Which said unto God depart from us c. These words are filled with the very spirit of malice against God himselfe And we have the same breathed out in the same language in the former Chapter at the 14th verse there the reader may finde them explicated and I shall add somewhat for a further explication here Which said to God depart from us To this hight of madnes doe some wicked men arise their spirits being bigge with sinne they bring forth or belch out this monster of words They say to God depart from us They as it were send God a writ of Ejectment they doe not pray or entreate God to depart from them but with as much rudenes and incivillity as unholynes and prophanenes Say unto God depart from us 'T is a word of command from man but such a one as breakes all the commandements of God Moses Numb 16.26 beseeches the people saying Depart I pray you from the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs but here we have wicked men not praying God to depart but bidding him they say depart from us David speakes to the wicked Psal 119.115 Depart from me ye evill doers for I will keepe the commandements of my God he bids them begone He would not give them the least wellcome or entertainment And so Jesus Christ is described speaking to the wicked in the day of Judgement Matth. 7.23 Depart from me away get you out of my presence I will not have to doe with you I will doe nothing for you Depart His is a word of command indeed which though they have no will to obey yet they shall obey it whether they will or no. Thus in the present text wicked men presume to say to God himselfe depart from us c. Hence note First That wicked or meere carnall men have some appearances and impresses of the presence of God upon their spirits They could not say to God depart from us had they not some impressions and notions of God of the will and Law of God of the truth and power of God upon them They who are alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them doe yet feele a presence of God with them Act. 17.27 That they should seeke the Lord if haply they might feele after him and finde him though he be not farre from every one of us Take mankind in generall good and bad beleevers and infidels there is a neerenesse of God unto them unto them all and that not onely a neerenesse of God in what the Apostle there speakes of common preservation vers 28. In him we live and move and have our being or of naturall communications of which the Apostle speakes there also From him we receave life and breath and all things vers 25. But further God is with them by a twofold light first by a light of Direction secondly by a light of Conviction All have a Light of direction 1. by the Law written in their hearts The Apostle is expresse for this Rom. 2.14 For when the Gentiles he meanes it of Gentiles unconverted which have not the Law doe by nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law that is formally published and preached to them are a Law unto them selves Which shew the worke of the Law written in their hearts their conscience also bearing witnes c. And as all have a light of direction from the Law written in their hearts or in the booke of Conscience so also 2. they have a light of direction from the Law of the creation or from that which is written of God in the Booke of the creature The same Apostle makes this the ground of the righteousnes of God in that dreadfull Revelation of his wrath against all ungodlynes and unrighteousnes of men be they who they will who hold the truth in unrighteousnes because that which may be knowne of God is manifest in them or to them for God hath shewed it to them But how or where hath God shewed them this The Apostle answers in the next verse Rom. 1.20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearely seene being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse So that though all men have not a light of direction from God so powerfull as to change them and make them holy yet they have a light so cleare and full as is enough to make them guilty And when they refuse to follow this light of direction in doing what is right then followes that other light of convictioÌ their consciences troubling them or as the Apostles phrase is Rom. 2.15 their thoughts accusing them because they have done that which is not right This presence of God is common to all men to the worst of men and this is it which provokes them to say to God depart from us And this is argumeÌt enough to stop the mouth of the Atheist who saith in his heart there is no God when as yet he cannot stop the mouth of his owne conscience from saying there is a God while hee sayth and this he alwayes sayth eyther in plaine termes or in that which is equivalent to God depart from me And from hence wee may observe Secondly That the presence and manifestations of God to wicked men are a trouble to them None are troubled with the neerenes of God to them but they who are farre from him all naturall men are farre from God in state and in heart and God is neere all naturall men eyther in his word or in his works
never obey commandements for the holines that is in them but for the benefit that comes by them What can the Allmighty doe for them As when Judas betrayed Jesus Christ he went out with a mercinary spirit to doe that wickednesse What will you give mee and I will betray him So when a carnal man serves Jesus Christ he sayth What will he give me what can he doe for me he cannot serve God for nought that is freely as Satan charged Job in the beginning of this booke Job serveth thee sayd Satan because thou hast done so much for him because thou hast served his turne and made a hedge about him this was Satans slaunder upon that good man but 't is no sâunder to say so of carnal men Doe they serve God for nought They doe not they cannot if they may gaine by godlinesse they will doe somewhat which shall have a shew of godlinesse profit will make any thing passe with and pleasing to a carnall minde though in it selfe it be never so displeasing Such is the noblenesse of the people of God that though there be a reward in serving of him yet they are ready to serve him without reward they can serve him upon a bare command abstract from promises and profits They can obey God as a creator though he should not be a rewarder Godlinesse is profitable for all things and hath the promise both of this life and of that which is to come yet a gratious heart loves Godlinesse more then profitablenes and eyes the worke of God more then his reward Further for the opening of these words Some read thus What can the allmighty doe against them The Hebrew particle stands indifferently to both and may be translated for or against in which sense we finde it in the 35th of this Booke Si peccaveris quid ei nocebis propriè quid ei facies ver 6 7. If thou sinnest what dost thou against him That is what hurt dost thou to God thy sinne cannot reach or wound him what dost thou against him Thus here They say to the allmighty depart from us and what can the allmighty doe against them Surely the allmighty is not able to hurt us from him we expect no good and from him we feare no evill Were not these mighty men thinke you who thought the Allmighty could not match them These were mighty men indeed Giants sons of Anak no doubt they were but Giants in wickednes And so this reading gives us a further character or discovery of a wicked mans Spirit Hence Observe Some wicked men have this presumption that let God doe his worst he cannot hurt them I finde in Scripture a threefold false and presumptuous apprehension which evill men have of God while they are doing evill First Some presume that God will protect them from evill while they doe evill Mich. 3.11 The beads thereof judge for reward and the Priests thereof teach for hire and the Prophets thereof divine for money yet will they leane upon the Lord and say Is not the Lord among us none evill can come upon us These were such as made it their busines to breake the Law of God yet they thought God would not suffer any trouble to breake in upon them Secondly Others presume that at least God will not be so severe as to inflict those evills which he hath threatned The old world was threatned with a Deluge but they could not beleeve God would make good his word they even mockt at the credulity and simplicity of Noah to see him build that great Ship or Arke upon the dry Land as if he meant to sayle his vessel without water As for them they neither belââved nor feared a flood So they Isa 5.19 will put the Lord to a triall Let him hasten his worke that we may see it let us see what he will doe as if they had said to the Prophet you told us what he would doe how severe he would be what meaneth all your talke we would see something done What will the Allmighty doe against us Surely nothing he is not so strict as you make him The Prophet describes the worst of men the men setled on their lees speaking thus Zeph. 1.12 They say in their heart the Lord will not doe good neither will he doe evill that is he will neyther reward nor punish he will neyther helpe nor hurt To say eyther of these is alike dishonourable unto God To say eyther much more both though indeed to say eyther is to say both is to say not only that God is neyther to be loved nor feared but that he is not at all It is the glory of God to doe the one as well as to doe the other and unlesse he could doe both he could doe neyther Isa 45.7 I forme the light and create darknesse the darknesse of trouble is of God as much as the light of comfort I make peace and create evill the evill of punishment is as much the creature of God as peace is and God doth as much appeare a creator in the one as in the other the doing of this kinde of evill doth as much shew the power and providence of God as the doing of good yet those in the Prophet sayd the Lord will doe neither He will neither doe good neyther will be doe evill Thirdly Those in the Text were raysed to a higher pitch of presumption then both the former For they sayd what can the Allmighty doe against us As if they had sayd Let him doe his worst wee feare him not To thinke that God will sheild us from the evill which others threaten or that he will not bring that evill upon us which himselfe hath threatned when we doe evill are very high actings of presumption But to thinke that God can doe nothing against us to thinke that the Arme of God is shorter then that it can reach us or weaker then that it can over-power us to thinke that we have out-growne divine justice and are too big or too strong to be dealt with by the Allmighty is presumption to madnes woe to those sinners who secure themselves in the goodnes of God to them more woe to those who secure themselves in Gods neglect of them but above all woe is their portion who secure themselves as it were in the weaknes of God even while in words they acknowledge his power saying What can the Allmighty doe against us Thirdly Others read the words thus They say to the allmighty depart from us and what hath the allmighty done against them That is what hurt hath God done them They are troubled at the presence of God But what cause hath God given them to be troubled at his presence And then we may connect these words with the words of the 18th verse What hath God done against them yea he filled their houses with good things that 's all the dammage he did them This is a fayre sence and consistent with the Original Text leaving the
reader to his choyce I shall only give the observation which riseth clearely from this God never giveth wicked men any just cause to be weary of him He never doth them any wrong and he often gives them many a blessing and have they any reason to bid him depart he is usually very patient towards them and doth never bring any evill upon them till they have doubly deserved it and have they any reason to be displeased at that yea whensoever he punisheth them in this world he punisheth them then their sinnes deserve indeed there is a punishment behinde adaequate and commensurate to their sinne but they shall never be punished beyond what or more then their sin deserves Seeing then their punishment in the next life though it will be great beyond imagining yet shall not be great beyond deserving and all their punishments in this life are lesse then the demerit of their sinne As was paenitentially confessed by Ezra in the name of the Jewes after they had been broken by the sword and brought into captivity for their sinne Chap. 9.13 Seeing I say 't is but thus with them when 't is worst with them What hath the Allmighty done against them is not all their destruction meritoriously from themselves Againe How much soever God punisheth them in this life they have no reason to complaine or say to God depart from us for even those punishments are messages from God to awaken them out of their sinnes and so to prevent worser punishments therefore when God perceived that stubborne people going on in their sinnes telleth them he will smite there no more as implying that it was his favour to smite them Isa 1.5 Why should ye be smitten any more ye will revolt more and more Surely then such have no reason to say to God depart from us when he smites them as if he did them ey ther hurt or wrong seing he smites them that they might returne unto him Those judgements of God are a mercy which are sent to teach man his duty Now if the judgements of God have somtime mercy in them and never have any injury in them what hurt or injury can there be to man in the service of God Hath the Allmighty done any thing against them whom he lovingly invites to the doing of his will And yet some complaine of wrong when they are onely called to doe what is right and cry out as if God hurt them when he doth but governe them The Lord calls his murmuring people to account about this thing Mich. 6.3 O my people what have I done to thee that is what hurt what wrong have I done unto thee and wherein have I wearied thee testifie against mee As if he had sayd thou hast nothing to bring against me in evidence unlesse it be my kindnes as it follows ver 4. For I brought thee up out of the Lord of Egypt and redeemed thee our of the house of servants and I sent before thee Moses Aaran and Miriam O my people remember c. Consider all my dealings with thee all the deliverances I have wrought for thee all the Statutes and Ordinances all the Lawes and Commandements which I have given thee and then let thy Conscience speake What have I done unto thee which is an evill to thee or wherein have I wearied thee in the things which I have required thee to doe I have done many good workes for thee and I have commanded thee to doe many workes such workes as are not onely good in themselves but good for them who doe them for which of these is it that thou art weary of me There is not that wicked man in the world but God may say to him what have I done to thee or what have I called thee to doe that thou shouldest be weary of mee that thou shouldest desire me to depart from thee Thus if we reade the words in this latter sence What hath the Allmighty done against them They carry a reproofe of their ingrâtitude against God who had not hurt them yea who had done them good If we reade the words in the second sence What can the Allmighty doe against them They carry a high contempt and slight of his power as if God could doe them no hurt If we reade the words in the first sence according to our translation which I rather pitch upon they carry upon contrary termes a like contempt of the power of God as if he could doe them no Good What can the Allmighty doe for them Vers 18. Yet bee filled their houses with good things The Hebrew is And be filled their houses with good things wee translate yet which better cleares the meaning and scope of the Text according to our reading of the former verse They say to God depart from us and what can the Allmighty doe for them yet he filled their houses with good things As if he had sayd they thought God could doe nothing for them Horum quidem domos ipse impleaver at bonis Jun q. d. Dei benificijs abusi sunt turpitèr tanquam de spolijs dei ipsius triumphaverunt Jun whereas indeed he did all for them all the good they had they had it from God He filled their houses that is he gave them abundance he did not onely put some good things into their houses but he filled their houses with good things they had a plentifull state God gave them a rich portion in the good things of this world his corne his wine his oyle his flax his gold his silver were their portion He filled them and they rebelled against him He bestowed many benefits upon them which they abused to serve their lusts and vainely triumphed in what he freely gave them as if they had been spoyles forcibly taken from him Hence Observe first That God doth them good that are evill Christ perswaded his hearers and us in them upon this account to love their enemies That they and we might be the children of our father which is in heaven For he maketh his Sunne to rise on the evill and on the Good and sendeth raine on the just and on the unjust Matth. 5.45 As God hath some peculiar people so he hath some peculiar blessings and good things which the world in common shares not in but he hath a sort of blessings and good things which are the common share of the world raine and Sun fat and sweet Gold and silver are such good things as their hearts and houses are often filled with whose hearts and house are empty of goodnes These good things God gives them who know no more why he gives them then they did why he did not suddenly bring evill upon them of whom the Apostle speakes Rom. 2.4 Despisest thou the riches of his goodnesse and forbearance and long-suffering not knowing that the goodnesse of God leadeth thee to repentance when God doth good to those that are evill whether it be by bestowing good upon them or by withholding evill
He doth it usually for one of or both these reasons First That they might repent and live knowest thou not what Message the goodnesse of God brings Speakes it not thus Repent repent yea doth not divine goodnesse taking thee by the hand leade thee to repentance Secondly The Lord doth them good who continue in the evill of sinne that they might be left inexcuseable when the evill of wrath and punishment falls upon them every mouth shall be stopped all the world of wicked ones become guiltie before God when they remember that they sinned and went on to sinne against the God that sed them against the God that cloathed them against the God that filled their houses with good things and protected them in the use and enjoyment of those good things with which he had filled their houses Secondly In that he doth not only give them good things but filled their houses with good Observe God giveth great portions of good things to wicked men They have not only enough to live upon but they have enough to live comfortably upon they have not only enough to live upon themselves but they have enough to lay up for their children after them the Lord is not only good but he is liberall and bountifull in its kinde to the worst of men they whose hearts are shut to him his hand is open to them he is inlarged towards them who are streightned towards him And this is added not only to render the goodnesse of God more glorious but the sinne of man more sinfull and odious in our eyes Whence observe Thirdly Sin hath by so much the greater evill in it by how much it is committed against the greater goodnesse It is a horrible wickednes to say to God depart from us though he empty our houses of all good things but it is much more horrible wickednes to say so when he filleth our houses with good things What When God hath filled our houses shall wee kicke him out of doores This was the sin of Jesurun that when he waxed fat he kicked as Moses sayth Deut. 32.15 Thou art waxen fat thou art growne thicke thou art covered with fatnes Then he forsooke God which made him and lightly esteemed the rocke of his Salvation Their fin is great who lightly esteeme God while he makes them leane but how sinfull is their sin who slight God that hath made them fat As good things received binde us stronger unto duty so good things abused binde us stronger under guilt Fourthly As wee connect these words with the latter branch of the former verse What can the allmighty doe for them yet he filled their houses with good things Wee may take this observation Though Carnal men receive many good things from God yet then know him not as the fountaine of them They who are evill cannot own God purely eyther in good or evill It is but seldom that they say with that wicked King This evill is of the Lord 2 Kings 6.33 And it is seldomer that they say this good is of the Lord They say what good doth God for us eveÌ whil he filleth their houses with good things Indeed the best of Saints receive many good things from God which they know not of they receive many secret mercies secret I meane not only to others but to themselves and so they are not able to give God the glory of them distinctly because they have not a distinct knowledge of them But all the good things which the wicked have are to them of an unknowne original Though they know what they have yet they know not from whence or from whom they have what they have they know not who feeds them who cloaths them who provids for them yea though they make many formal acknowledgements of this and will tell you of Gods goodnes to them yet really they know it not nor doe they cordially acknowledge it The Lord complaines of his people about this Isa 1.3 The Ox knoweth his owner and the Asse his Masters cribb he upbraids them not onely as below other men but a below the beasts as if the reasonlesse creatures had acted more rationally then they but Israell doth not know my people doe not consider What was it they did not know nor consider they knew not nor considered what the Ox and the Asse knew and considerâd The Ox knoweth his owner he knoweth that his Master seeds him as wel as works him Thus also the asse knoweth his Masters crib as he knoweth that his Master imployeth him so he knoweth that his Master provideth for him The dull Asse takes notice of the cribb and knowes where and by whom he receiveth Good but yee my people know not me ye doe not consider him that seeds you For I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against mee they never honoured me as the fountaine and founder of their felicity The Prophet Hosea reproves the same sottishnes and blindnes in that people Chap. 2.8 9. For she did not know that I gave her come and wine and oyle and multiplyed her silver and gold which they prepared for Baal Therefore I will returne and take away her come in the time thereof As If the Lord had sayd I will make them know that I can take these things away seing they would not know or at least not acknowledge that I am he who gave them Carnal men attribute their good things and the filling of their houses with them to any thing rather then to God They thanke their friends or their good fortune they thanke themselves their policy their industry for what they have They ascend not up to God in thankfulnes for what they have They who say What can the Allmighty doe for them How should they acknowledge that the Allmighty hath done any thing for them The Prophet Hab 1.16 speaks of men those portion was fatt and their meate plenteous but to whom did they referre all this whom did they acknowledge for their benefactor or as the cause of those great successes The Prophet tells us They sacrificed to their nets and burnt incense to their drags The words carry an allusion to fishing in which worke or art netts and drags are the instruments of the fisherman so that to sacrifice to the net or to the dragge is to give the honour and thanks of all our attainements to second causes and creature helps to our own wit power and industry c. To these sayth the Prophet they sacrificed That is they honoured them in the place or stead of God Sacrifice it proper and peculiar to God and therefore he that offers sacrifice to any thing makes it his God or puts it in the place of God They who thanke themselves for the good they have are a God to themselves And thus wee finde The Assyrian ascribing all to his owne power Isa 10.14 By the strength of my hand I have done it and by my wisdome for I am prudent and I have removed the
he is a God eyther he is talking c. Thus Hierusalem is expressed Isa 37.22 when Senacherib sent up that proud threatning message the Lord sent a comfortable message to his people by Isaiah the Prophet Thus saith the Lord God of Israel whereas thou hast prayed to me against Senacherib the king of Assyria this is the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning him the virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorne the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee The daughter of Zion and the daughter of Jerusalem are but one and the same shee was called a virgin not as some have conceived because she was never taken or forced by any enemy nor was she so called because he had preserved her selfe pure and chast in the worship of the true God For she had her faylings and Idolatrous dalliances before that day but she was so called because of that speciall care which God had of her to protect and save her against the insultations of the enemy then ready to assault her even as a virgin is protected from violence in her fathers house And the Prophet to assure them that it should be so speakes of the ruine of Senacheribs Army and Jerusalems laughter as accomplisht and come to passe already The virgin daughter c. hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorne and shaken her head at thee What God saith shall be done is as good as done already The Assyrians were yet in their Jollity laughing at Jerusalem and promising themselves the spoyle of the people of God yet saith the Lord Jerusalem hath laughed thee to scorne that is assuredly she shall And as the people of God doe sometimes formally and explicitly laugh at the downfall and whitherings of the wicked so they alwayes virtually and secretly laugh them to scorne even when they stand and flourish in their greenenes and prosperity For while the Godly are not daunted with the power and splendour while they are not terrified with the threats and high lookes of the wicked but in the singlenes and simplicity of their hearts keepe close to God his wayes and truths even this though they use the duest respect to them in regard of their authority both in word and gesture is a laughing them to scorne For this is as a thorne in the sides of evill men and as a pricke in their eyes when they see they will not stoope to their greatnes in any sinfull complyance with their commands This is a truth but the former is the truth intended in this Text. Hence note That wicked men are not onely miserable but ridiculous They are the laughter of the innocent upon more accounts then one First because they doe such childish and ridiculous things such things as can never reach the ends they desire and purpose they are justly laughed at whose counsells and courses are unsuitable much more when contrary to their designes Secondly Wicked men become ridiculous while the Lord frustrates their wisest counsels and blasts those hopes which were bottom'd upon the most probable principles and foundations while he takes them in their own craft and entraps them in the snare which they layd for others Thirdly While he over-rules all that they plot or act to serve his owne ends and fullfill his owne holy counsels Hence the enemies of God are said to pine away this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feete he doth not say that they shall all be slaine but their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feete and their eyes shall consume away in their holes and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth Zech. 14.12 which as some interpret of their bodily languishment that they shall live dying continually or that their life shall be a continuall death so all interpret the cause of this consumption to arise from vexation of spirit because they shall see themselves scorn'd and laughed at or that they are become ridiculous to all the world but chiefly to Jerusalem the Church and people of God whom they shall behold in good condition notwithstanding all the opposition which they have made against them which Eliphaz also clearely expresseth in the next words Vers 20. Whereas our substance is not cut downe but the remnant of them the fire consumes There are divers readings and renderings of this verse first some with an affirmative interrogation is not their substance cut downe that is it is cut downe And then this verse is a continuation of the former discourse concerning the utter extirpation of the wicked The righteous are glad they laugh them to scorne is not their substance cut downe and doth not the fire consume the remnant of them As if Eliphaz had said Whatsoever they had of any substance or moment is cut downe and if possibly there be any small inconsiderable remainder of them fire that is some devouring Judgement will meete with it and make an utter end of it Innocens subsarnabit eos quia non fuit succisa substantia nostâa c. q. d. ut qui se res suas salvas illos autem penitùs igne illo divino videant jure absumptos Bez Secondly Another understands this 20 âh verse as a reason of the former the righteous are glad when the wicked fall the innocent shall laugh them to scorne because our substance was not cut downe as if he had sayd our safety will be matter as of praise to God who hath preserved us so of holy scorne and insultation over ungodly men who longed to see our destruction and sayd in their hearts that surely our day was not onely comming but hastning whereas indeed we see the day come upon them which burneth as an oven and themselves as stubble Wicked men are for the most part doubly disappointed first by their owne fall when they looked to stand secondly by the standing of the righteous when they looke yea and long for their fall This double disappointment doth at once double their sorrow and the joy of the Innocent who laugh them to scorne because their owne substance is not cut downe but the remnant of them the fire consumeth Innocens subsannabiteos dicens etsi non est succisa substantia nostra tamen excellentiam illorum consumpsit ignis Pâsc There is a third translation which makes these words the forme in which the innocent expresse their laughter at the wicked When The innocent laugh them to scorne they will thus bespeake them Whereas or Although our substance is not cut downe yet the remnant of them or the best the excellency of them the fire hath consumed There is a fourth reading which makes the second part of the Chapter begin with this verse For hitherto Eliphaz hath been describing the sinfulnesse of wicked men and the wrath of God upon them for their wickednes
unable to resist or make his party good with him with much submission takes hold of his arme or weapon endeavouring by earnest suit to stay him from smiting And indeed to take hold of the strength of God is to take hold on his mercy The strength of God to save sinners lyes in his mercy and that mercy is in his Son who is his strength to save sinners if a sinner lay hold of this strength the mercy of God in his Son that he may make-peace with God if this be his designe he shall make peace there shall not be a treaty with God in Christ for peace in vaine if a sinner should take hold of the strength of his owne righteousnes performances if he should take hold of the strength of all the Angels in heaven he could not make peace with God nor would God agree with him upon those termes Such a soule must returne re infecta without his errand God is ready to be at peace with ãâã but we must have our peace in his way not in our owne Acquaint now thy selfe with him and be at peace And this peace whether in our selves or with God is no light or unprofitable thing as Eliphaz to provoke Job to pursue and seeke after it tells him in the last words of this verse Thereby good shall come unto thee Thereby whereby or by what what is it that shall procure or produce this good The answer is at hand Thy acquaintance with God thy being at peace will procure all good things for thee Acquaint thy selfe with him and be at peace be at peace in thy own spirit be quiet be at peace with God be reconciled every way good shall come unto thee Mr Broughton renders Prosperity shall come unto thee the sence is the same Others read in stead of good shall come unto thee thy comings in shall be good thou shalt have a good revenâââood income Proventus tuus erit bonus Drus whereas before evill came upon thee now thy coâââgs in shall be good This also is of the same meaning with our translation I shall not need to stay upon the opening of the words there is no difficulty in them From their dependance in that he saith Acquaint thy selfe with him and be at peace so shall good come unto thee These words are brought in by way of inference upon the former whence Observe That when wee are estranged from God good is estranged from us God can stop the Influences of all our mercies from us he can lay an embargo upon all Creatures from bringing any good to us the there be store of treasure and rich Commodity in the place yet he can barre up all that no good can come unto us yea the Lord in such cases doth often lay a stop upon the spirit of prayer in his own people and when the heart is stopt that we cannot pray then usually good is stopt and kept back from coming to us Prayer is that which fetches in mercy and good things through the love of God in Jesus Christ Prayer may have a twofold stop First prayer may have a stop in the heart secondly Prayer which comes forth of the heart may have a stop in heaven the Lord doth even shut out-prayer sometimes and when prayer is shut out no good can get out to us Prayer is sent upon a message to heaven and if our messenger be shut out of doores and not admitted in what answer can we expect by his message And the Lord as he doth stop such from the receiving of further good so from the receiving of good by what they have already Wee may have that which in the nature of it is good and yet have no good by it God can stop the creature in our hands that it shall not at all give us any Comfort as well as he can stop any creature-comfort from comming into our hands Unlesse the Lord in one sence stop the creature it quickly leakes out all the Comfort which he hath put into it and proves to us indeed what sin hath made it a broken Cistern And unlesse the Lord open the creature the creature cannot give forth that good which it hath It will be to us as a Cisterne without a vent to passe out the water for our use There 's many a one who hath enough in his hand take it in any kinde but he enjoyes nothing of it because the Lord locks up the conduit or the cisterne and then how much good soever there is in it there 's none for him It is all one to us whether we have onely a broken Cisterne for our portion or a Cisterne alwayes lockt up for as the one lets all the water run out so the other holds all the water in we are as farre from good if our Cisterne hold all as if it held nothing at all It is then not onely our duty and our holines to acquaint our selves and be at peace with God but our wisdome and our interest For it is as he pleaseth alwayes and usually as we please him that eyther we have any thing that is good comming to us or that any good commeth to us by that which we have Secondly Note which is a Corallary from the former observation That the renewing of our Communion with God and making peace with him is followed with all manner of mercies and good things So shall good come unto thee There was never any man a looser by acquaintance with God Gods acquaintance is a gainfull acquaintance Our acquaintance with God should we consider it abstractly and separate from all benefit but his very acquaintance yet that is benefit enough God is the chiefest Good and therefore when we enjoy him we enjoy all Good The enjoyment of God himselfe is infinitely more then the enjoyment of all created good things that come from God Friends are sometimes in those heights of friendship and noblenes of spirit one to another that they count the enjoyment of one another to be more then all the benefits they can heape upon or reape by one another it is your good Company saith such a friend and your acquaintance that delights me more then all the good you can bestow upon mee And is not God much more so to us Thus I say acquaintance with God alone is all good but besides as the poynt leads us to consider God gives out good things from himselfe to all his holy acquaintants temporall or bodily good comes to us by his acquaintance and so also and that chiefly doth spirituall or soule good Acquaint thy selfe with God and the dewes of grace showers of the Spirit shall fall into thy bosome Acquaint thy selfe with God and spirituall Comfort shall flow in unto thee spirituall strength shall flow in unto thee thy soule shall be filled as with marrow and fatnes And as good shall come to thee in person so to thine to thy family and posterity good shall come And as God will cause good to
said to be the midst or Center of the body now saith he keep the law in the very midst of thine heart in the safest place as the heart is the safest place the middle of the body so the middle of the heart is the safest place of the heart So vve may understand that of David I have hid thy Commandements in my heart Psal 119.11 And Deut. 6.6 These words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart that is thou shalt lay them up there Of this laying up the law in the heart vve are to understand Eliphaz here as if he had sayd O Job thou hast often heard of the law but thou hast been a forgetfull hearer now heare it and hold it now as the Apostle exhorts the Hebrewes Heb. 2.1 give the more earnest heed to the things which thou hast heard or shalt hereafter heare lest at any time thou shouldest let them slip or thou shouldest run out as we there put in the margin as a leaking vessel Further This laying up the vvord in the heart is opposd unto a bare barren knowledge it is not enough to have the vvord of God in our heads that is to know it it is not enough to have the word of God upon our tongues that is to speake of it but we must lay it up in the heart For though the heart in Scripture takes in the understanding and the whole soule yet chiefly it respects the affections lay up the word in thine heart that is let thy affections be vvarm'd with it vvhile thy memory retaines and keepes it and thy understanding is enlightened vvith a true notion of it Hence Observe First The word of God is a precious thing We doe not lay up trifles and trash but precious things and treasure vve lay up our Plate and Jewells our Gold and Silver the vvord of God should be more to us than thousands of gold and silver it is the most precious Jewell 't is treasure and therefore it must be laid up Secondly The heart is the Arke or Cabinet in which the word must be laid up There was an Arke or Chest provided for the law Exod. 25.21 and that Arke was Christ he was typified by it and indeed the law would be too hot for our hearts too hot to lye there if it had not first layne in the heart of Christ wee since fallen could never have been an Arke for it if he had not been The tables of the law were laid in the Arke and the Arke in which the lavv vvas put had a mercy-seat vvhich did cover it all over The dimensions of the Arke and of the mercy-seate were exactly the same two cubits and a halfe in length and a cubit and a halfe in breadth Exod. 25.10.17 so that nothing of the law could appeare or rise up in Judgement against poore sinners The propitiatory or mercy-seate covered all Now as Christ hath been the Arke of the law to protect and cover us from the condemning power of it so the hearts of beleevers must be the Arke of the law where it must be layd up with a readines of minde to yeeld our selves up to the commanding power of it David prophecying of Christ saith Psal 40.10 I have not hid thy righteousnesse within my heart yet he had said before I delight to doe thy will thy law is within my heart To cleare which Scripture take notice that there is a twofold hiding of the righteousnesse or vvord of God in the heart First so as to obscure or conceale it from others in that sence David saith I have not hid thy righteousnesse in mine heart I have declared thy faithfullnes and thy salvation and not concealed thy loving kindnesse and truth from the great Congregation And thus no man ought to lay up the truths the law the promises of God in his heart to conceale and stifle them there Secondly There is a hiding of the law in our hearts first that it may be safe lest Satan or the world should snatch it from us Secondly That we may further consider of it when a man hath got an excellent truth or Scripture he should lay it up in his heart to ponder and meditate more upon it to draw out the sweetnes and to experience the power of it Thirdly That vve may have it ready at hand for our use and so the Scribe instructed for the kingdome of heaven is described by bringing forth out of his treasury things both new and old How sad is the condition of many that have heard much but laid up little or nothing at all of all that vvord which they have heard Some having laid it up in their note books are satisfied with that 't is good and usefull to doe so but doe not let it lye there get a Copie of it in your hearts a few truths in your hearts are better to you then many truths in your bookes no man was ever saved by the vvord in his booke unlesse that vvord were also written in his heart God commanded the Jewes Deut. 6.8 9. to vvrite the law upon the post of their houses and on their gates to bind them as a signe upon their hand and as frontlets between their eyes They were commanded also to put fringes upon the borders of their garments Numb 15.38 vvhich our Saviour calls Phylacteries Math. 23.5 these were ribands of blue silke or as some say scroles of parchment upon which the law being first wrought or written and then bound upon their garments they were to looke upon it and remember all the commandements of the Lord Num. 15.39 Vanissimi profecto pharisaei illi qui cum ipsi non servarent in corde mandaâa at membranulas decalogi complicantes quasi coronaÌ capiri facientes phylacterium eoc sua proprictate Custoditârium est Bold Now saith Christ they make broad their Phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their Garments as much of the lavv as you vvill upon theiâ Clothes but none of it in their hearts Thus the proud Scribes and Pharisees went about as it were Clothed with the vvord of God but his vvord was farre from their hearts nor did it appeare in their lives it is a meere vanity to have much of the law in our bookes while vve neglect to keepe it in our hearts and act it in our wayes The former is good but it doth no good without the latter The want of this the laying up the vvord in the heart causeth the great want of Saints in the things of God and as many loose that Grace which they seemed to have so many are at a losse in the use of that Grace which they have because they have not laid up the vvord of God in their hearts so carefully as they ought We say proverbially Sure bind and sure find They who would surely finde the comfort of the word of God when they need it had need to bind it sure when they receive it JOB CHAP. 22. Vers 23 24.25
was the former promise Thou shalt be built up and all evill shall depart away from thy Tabernacle Iniquity which properly signifies the evill of sin is often put in Scripture for the evills of trouble and suffering and as all acknowledge this to be a truth so some judge it the truth specially intended in this place I shall therefore briefely note from it That when we truely returne to God from sin then suffering evills depart from us and ours For though the Lord be pleased to dispence variously for triall of his people and often suffers the evill of affliction to hang about their Tabernacles who desire sincerely and endeavour faithfully to put all iniquity farre from their Tabernacles yet this is the promise of God and this hath been often experienced by Godly men That God hath turned trouble out of their doores when they have humbly and zealously laboured to turne sin out of their hearts Eliphaz having incouraged Job by this generall promise he draweth it forth into particulars And that first in reference to outward things Vers 24. Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brookes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã munire Aurum lectissimum quasi ab igne munitum aut quod sit hâmini munimentum Then that is when thou hast acquainted thy selfe with God then when thou hast laid up his law in thy heart then when thou hast returned to the Almighty thy selfe and put away iniquity farre from thy Tabernacle Then thou shalt lay up gold as dust c. The word which we render Gold signifies to fortifie or to defend and it is translated a defence at the 25th verse Solomon saith Eccl. 7.12 not onely That wisdome is a defence but that money is a defence that is it procures defence and Gold is the chiefe of money Though Gold be not a defence formally yet virtually it is Gold defends it selfe against all the forces of fire and it is a principall meanes of defending us against the fire and fury of the Greatest dangers Thou shalt lay up Gold as dust c. But Christ sayth Math. 6.19 Lay not up treasures for your selves on earth And it was a rule given concerning the King of Israel in the Leviticall Law long before Israel had a King Deut. 17.17 He shall not greatly multiply to himselfe silver and gold How then doth Eliphaz say that he who repents shall lay up gold as the dust is that fit worke for him I answer the words are not to be understood as an exhortation to bend his endeavours to the gathering of riches but as a promise from God that he shall by a blessing from above gather store of riches here below Thou shalt lay up gold as the dust By gold here and silver in the next verse we are to understand all manner of riches because gold and silver are the chiefe riches therefore all is contained under them And when he sayth Thou shalt lay up gold as the dust the words receive variety of renderings some thus Thou shalt lay up gold above the dust as if he should say thou shalt have more gold than dust which is a straine of rhetoricke expressing aboundance Others read Thou shalt lay vp gold upon the dust As Psal 24.2 He hath founded it upon the Seas A third renders Thou shalt lay up gold by the dust Like that Psal 1.3 A tree planted by the river side A fourth thus Et pone in pulvere Aurum Coc Noli animum auro apponere nimisque illud diligere sed nihili aestima deijce in terram unde ortum est aestima ut terram lapides petrae Scull Pone ubi deus Natura posuit Coc. by way of counsell And lay gold in the dust Which two latter readings are expounded as a direction given to Job how he should lay up gold he must not lay up gold in his heart and spirit but in the dust or by the dust As if he had said Put that purer dust that better concocted and refined dust in the common dust put the dust to dust put thy gold in its proper place where God and nature put it 'T is but dust and so a fit companion for the dust yea say some 't is as if Eliphaz had sayd Doe not so much as make roome for it in thy house provide not chests for it let it lie where it had its originall It came from the dust there leave it returne it backe to its owne Country to the place of its nativity A Heathen hath this notion concerning gold and silver c. And he labours much to shew that the site position of these things in nature holds forth how we ought to receive and estimate them Nulli nos vitio natura conciliat nihil quideÌ quod avaritiam nostram irritaret posuit in aperto pedibus aurum argentuÌ sub jecit calcandum ac premendum dedit quicquid est propter quod calcamur premimur Sen ep 94. Even nature by which he meanes the ordinary course set in nature draws us off from coveting Gold and silver there is nothing which may provoke or stirre up covetousnesse which God hath advanced or set up high in the order of nature Gold and silver are the chiefe objects of Covetousnesse now both these as also whatsoever else man is pressed about and as it were trodden underfoote in the dirt for by burdensome or covetous cares God hath thrust or trodden under our feete Gold doth not fall out of the clouds of heaven hut lieth under the clods of the earth there God hath put them to be trampled and trodden under our feete that we might scorne to have our affections trampled upon and trodden underfoote by them or such things as they So then All that this interpretation or translation aymes at in saying Gold must be put in the dust is onely to shew us that our estimations should be taken off from it or that we should place it as low in our thoughts as God hath placed it in the order of nature And this is a spirituall sense suiting that of our Saviour Lay not up for your selves treasures on earth make not great preparations to keepe your earthly treasures especially let them not be kept in your heart or lie there where Christ onely and the treasures of heaven ought to be layd up Put your gold in the dust or let it be esteemed as dust seing at best it is but wel concocted dust So Gold and silver are called Amos 2.7 That paât after the dust of the earth upon the head of the poore So the Prophet describes their extreame covetousnes who will be rich though it be by empoverishing those who are poorest Yet I conceive in this place Eliphaz hath another ayme And that where be saith Thou shalt lay up Gold as the dust his meaning onely is thou shalt lay up plenty of Gold or ââou shalt gather much riches for the
dust of the earth or sand of the Sea are used frequently to signifie abundance or the exceeding numerousnesse of things or persons Who can count the dust of Jacob and the number of the fourth part of Israel Numb 23.10 that is they are as the dust that cannot be counted or numbred that was the promise made to Abraham Gen. 13.16 I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth So here Thou shalt lay up gold as the dust that is gold more then thou canst tell or cast up Thou shalt have not onely enough but even more then enough Job was very rich before now saith Eliphaz Thou shalt have gold as the dust thy riches shall be encreased thou shalt have a greater store and stocke then ever Thou shalt lay up gold as the dust And as it followeth The Gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooke 'T is the same thing in another tenour of words the Hebrew is Thou shalt lay up Ophir as the stones of the brooke The word gold is not expressed in the Originall yet it may wel be understood Ophir Nomen insula unde auâuâ primae noâae adferebatur quod inde Ophir appellatum hoc est ut quidam opinantur Obrysum quasi Ophirisum Drus Ophir is put for the Gold of Ophir because Ophir was the place of Gold yea of the richest Gold 1 Kings 9.27 28. They came to Ophir and fet from thence gold foure hundred and twenty tallents and brought it to king Solomon Ophir was a noted place in those times for gold both in reference to the plenty and purity of it 'T is a question much controverted where Ophir is some making it to be an Iland in Africa others place it in India since the discovery of America or the West Indyes many contend that Ophir is now called Peru and they have as they conceive a probable ground for this opinion from that place in the Holy Story 2 Chron. 3.6 Where 't is sayd He that is Vid Bold in hunc locum Jobi Solomon garnished the house with pretious stones for beauty and the gold was gold of Paruaim which is neere in sound to the name of that Gold-abounding Country in America called Peru. I shall not undertake to decide this Geographicall Controversie about Ophir That which is agreed on all hands is enough for my purpose and the explication of this Text that Ophir was a Country famous in ancient times both for the plenty and excellency of the Gold found there and brought from thence Therefore sayd Eliphaz Thou shalt lay up Ophir that is the Gold of Ophir pure and pretious Gold As the stones of the brooke That is thou shalt have abundance of gold to lay up gold ãâã the dust and to lay it up as the stones of the brooke or as the stones of the valley are paralel expressions for plenty of Gold suteable to those hyperbole's 2 Chron. 1.15 The king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones c. And Chap. 9 of the same booke v. 27. The king made silver in Jerusalem as stones and Cedar trees made he as the Siccamore trees that are in the low plaine in abundance Thus in the text Job is promised to lay up the Gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooke The Vulgar translation reads differently He shall givâ Thee for earth a Rocke Dabit pro terra silicem pro silice torrentes aureos Vulg. and for a Rocke streames of Gold which is a proverbiall speech implying a change for the better as if he said thou before who hadst a sandy foundation shall now build upon a rock as Math. 7.27 And we finde such language in the Prophet Isa 60.17 where the Lord promiseth for brasse I will bring gold for Iron silver for wood brasse c. So here For earth I will give thee stone and for stone Golden brookes or brookes of Gold that is those brookes where gold is or I will give thee much Gold out of those brookes Idque ponendo pro pulvere lectissimum aurum pro rupe Ophirinâm stuviatile Jun. Junius seemes to favour this translation most of all rendring the whole verse thus connexing it with the former Thou shalt be built up c. and that by giving thee for dust the choicest gold and for the rocke the river gold of Ophir By all assuring Job of a happines in his civil state in case he did change or mend in his spirituall state Then he who had so great a change in his worldly estate for the worse should have a greater change in his worldly state for the better The next verse is a continuation of the promise much to the same intent and almost in the same words and therefore I shall open that also before I give any observations Vers 25. Yea the Allmighty shall be thy defence and thou shalt have plenty of silver There is some difference in the reading of this verse for the word which we translate defence is the same which we translate gold in the former verse And hence some translate thus thy gold shall be mighty Making the word Shaddai which is one of the names of God and usually rendred Almighty to be as an Epithite to the word Gold Thy Gold shall be strong or mighty And thus some translations render the word Shaddai Ezek. 1.24 where the Prophet saith I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters as the voice of the Allmighty so we render but others thus As a mighty voice So in the present text whereas we say The Almighty shall be thy defence or according to the strictnes of the word The Almighty shall be thy Gold others give it thus Thy Gold shall be mighty And this answers the latter clause of the verse where we reade Thou shalt have plenty of silver yet put in the Margin Thou shalt have silver of strength or strong silver These readings have an elegancy in them But I shall keepe to our owne which is profitable to us and sutable to the text Yea the Almighty shall be thy defence the particle yea shewth that this is a hâgher step of mercy then the former as if he had said Thou shalt not onely have gold which is a defence but better then gold even the Almighty for thy defence or God who is better then Gold will be thy defence and the defence of thy Gold The Hebrew word is plural Defences which intimates first all sorts of defence secondly strong defence The Almighty shall be thy defences All manner of defence and a strong defence unto thee Hence note God himselfe is pleased to be the Lord protector of his people who repent and turne to him both in their persons and estates There are many in the world who have gold but there are few who have this defence for it The Prophet Haggai speakes of those who earned money but put it into a bag with holes that is they could
not hold or keepe what they had gotten It is the Lord that establisheth the creature to us and defends it for us The best things in the world take wings and are gone unlesse the Lord stay them with us and unlesse the Lord defend and keepe them for us they will soone be puld out of our possession Some mens estates wast away they know not how there is a hole in the bottome of the bagge they thought not of Others have their estates violently taken away from them because the Lord is not their defence The Lord is The protector of his people the Lord is a Castle a strong Tower all manner of fortifications about his people to defend their estates and persons much more their soules And Eliphaz seems to mind Job that he once had but now had lost this defence God once made ahedg about him or rather was a hedg about him but he opened a gap or withdrew and then in came the Sabeans and Caldeans and spoyled all Now then saith he returne to the Lord and he will once againe be thy defence How safe are they that have God for their defence who live under the shaddow and covert of the Almighty How safe are they I say and all that they have The vulgar latine is so full of this sense Eritque omnipotens contra honestes tuos Vulg. that he leaves out the word defence and oâl saith The Almighty shall be or shall stand up for thee against thine enemies and in this perfect outward happinesse consisteth For to have much and that secured is all we can desire for the things of this world Many have gold and riches store but the thing that troubles them is this how to make all sure Returne to the Lord and he shall be thy defence he shall be an assurance Office to thee he shall protect thee against all windes and weathers against all enemies and pirates The Almighty shall be thy defence and the defence of thy gold Further Because the word which we render defence signifieth gold also as was shewed therefore some keepe to that reading and thus translate this 25 verse Eritque omnipotens lectissimum aurum tuum argentuÌ viresque tibi Jun. And the Almighty shall be thy choice gold and silver and strength unto thee Which reading is likewise followed by Master Broughton And the Almighty will be thy plentifull gold and silver of strength to thee This sense of the word is comfortable indeed for to have told Job onely this Thou shalt lay up gold as the dust and gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooke this had been though a great mercy yet but a common mercy such as the men of the world have and enjoy Many that know not God lay up gold as the dust and they who serve him not have often store of silver But when God himselfe saith I will be your Gold and silver This is not onely the richest of temporall but the riches of all spirituall mercies For when 't is sayd the Lord shall be thy choice gold and silver of strength to thee the meaning is he will be better to thee then the choicest Gold and a greater strength then silver unto thee This is a rare and a distinguishing mercy Wicked men may have gold from God but no wicked man hath God for his gold Hence note That God himselfe is the riches and fullnes the gold and silver of his people The Lord is my portion saith my soule whose soule sayd this It was the soule of a mourning Jeremie And when sayd he this even then when their lands and houses were possessed by the enemy even then when their Gold and silver with all their goodly things were carryed captive into Babylon Then Jeremy sayd The Lord is my portion Lam. 3.24 the Gold and silver which I had in my house are gone but my Gold silver in heaven is not gone into captivity he is my portion still and for ever They who have God for their gold and silver are happier and richer then gold and silver can make them What can be said more to draw our hearts to God then this promise that God will not onely give us riches but that himselfe will be our riches What can be sayd more to take a covetous mans heart off from the love of his gold then this take thy heart off from thy Gold and God will be thy gold And so what can be spoken more prevailingly to the voluptuous man who delights to swim in rivers of sensual pleasures O take off thy heart from these pleasures of sin which are but for a season and God will be thy pleasure for evermore What stronger argument to take downe the ambition of man who hunts after high places and dignities in the world then to tell him withdraw from this pursuite and God will be thy honour and thy high place Wee may say to the ambitious to the covetous to the voluptuous and in a word to all sorts of sinners Ye shall finde all that your sins can offer you and infinitely more in God your honours and pleasures your gold and silver you shall have altogether in him One of the antients speaks well and truly to the point That man is too Nimis est avarus cui deus non sufficit Bern. Deus meus omnia too covetous whom God doth not suffice or who is not satisfied with God The onely true reason why any man is not satisfied with God is because he knoweth not God He that can say knowingly the Lord is my God cannot but say I am satisfied When God is ours all is ours And the poorest who are rich in faith have as great a share in this riches as the richest God is the poore mans gold they that have neyther gold nor silver in their purse as Peter sayd to the impotent man may have God in their hearts The Almighty is their gold and silver too as it followeth in the text And thou shalt have plenty of silver ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a radiâe ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã lassus fatigatus fuit Aâgentum lassitudinum quod prae copia lassos reddit homines numerando illud vel cerâè appendendo Nam olim appendebant argentum unde pensionis vocabulum in sermone latino Drus Some render Thou shalt have silver of wearinesse He meanes it not of silver as it wearies a man in the getting of it but he meanes it of so great a quantity or summe of silver as shall weary a man to tell it or trouble him to weigh it The manner of accounting silver was anciently by weight hence what is payd in money is called a pension We translate fully to that sense thou shalt have plenty of silver for they that have so much as tires and wearies them to tell or weigh it have store enough We put silver of strength in the Margen Silver is a strong metall and it is strength great strength to Man This
his servant he answereth here Sir here I am and that is as much as to say I am ready to your command I am ready to doe what you will have me here I am so saith that promise in the Prophet Thou shalt cry and the Lord shall say here I am that is Adesse est aâdire I am ready to doe what you aske I am even ready O unspeakeable Goodnes at your command as our translation of the 11 âh verse of the 45th Chapter of Isayah speakes out in plaine termes or I am willing to doe what you will have me to doe All which is in effect and vertually contained in the word of the Text. He shall heare thee This teacheth us First That God is the hearer of prayer It is the Lords title O thou that hearest prayer unto thee shall all flesh come saith David Psal 65.2 God is not onely A hearer of prayer but he is The Hearer of prayer to heare prayer is his peculiar prerogative and priviledge as wel as his goodnes and mercy none in heaven or earth have a will to heare prayer as God doth nor have any a power to doe it No creatures eare is long enough to reach the complaints nor his stocke large enough to supply the wants of all his fellow creatures The crowne of this honour fits none but God himselfe He shall heare thee Secondly Note It is a great mercy a mercy comprehending all mercy to be heard in prayer He shall heare thee Man cannot desire a richer favour then to be heard of God To have audience in the Court of Princes and among the great men of the earth is a great favour What greater worldly priviledge can a man have then this that he hath the eare of those who are greatest in the world When a man saith I have the Princes eare I can be heard when I speake we thinke he hath spoken enough to make him a man How great a mercy is it then to have the eare of God to have ready audience in the Court of heaven that as soone as we call the Lord is ready to answer here I am what 's the matter what would you have it shall be done your request is granted And to shew that to be heard by God is the summe of all mercies or all our mercies wrapt up in one the Scripture testifies that not to be heard of God is the summe of all judgements or all judgements wrapt up in one When the Lord refuseth to heare or sayth he will not heare those that pray then wrath is comming upon them to the uttermost Thus the Lord threatned the Jewes Isa 1.15 When ye spread forth your hands I will hide my eyes from you yea when ye make many prayers I will not heare your hands are full of bloud As it is an argument of the greatest sinfullnesse of man against God not to pray Powre out thy fury upon the Heathen that know thee not and upon the families that call not on thy name Jere. 10.25 So it it an argument of the greatest wrath of God upon man not to be heard in prayer He that is not heard receives nothing and he that is heard receives all And this is the Saints priviledge by Jesus Christ their prayers are heard they have welcome audience at the throane of Grace continually And hence by way of Corallary from the former observation we learne that Holy prayers are fruitfull and gainefull prayers God hath not said to the seed of Jacob seeke ye me in vaine Hee that goeth forth and weepeth bearing pretious fruit this pretious fruit faith and prayer or the prayer of faith shall doubtlesse there 's no hazard nor peradventure in the case come againe rejoycing bringing his sheaves with him His showry seed-time shall be blessed with a fruitfull and plentifull harvest The wicked make many adventures many voyages by prayer such as it is heaven-wards yet come home without ladeing without any fraight at all Their prayers are all lost and turne to no profit and indeed theirs are not prayers but words or babling rather But holy prayer the prayer of the holy is prevailing At quibus cum que tandeÌ modis peccator oret verum etiam est nunquam exaudiri peccatorem ex dignitate suae personae aut meriti sed ex dei gratia misericordia Bold Those showers of prayers and teares which beleevers send up to heaven are like the raine as the Prophet speakes Isa 55.10 which commeth downe 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 Even thus the word of prayer which goeth out of the mouthes or hearts rather of beleevers returnes not to them voyd but prospers in the thing whereto they send it As appeares yet more fully in the next words of this verse spoken by Eliphaz He shall heare thee What then And thou shalt pay thy Vowes That is God will give thee the mercies which thou didst pray for and thereby give thee occasion to pay the vowes which thou didst make to him in case he performed thy desire in prayer Eliphaz is not exhorting Job directly to pay vowes but he is assuring him that his prayer shall be heard and so fully answered that he shall see reason and have aboundant cause to pay them and to pay them both fully and chearefully Thou shalt pay thy Vowes The word signifies free votive promises made to God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã significat votivas promissiones deo factas quae obligant nec retractari nec solvi propria authoritate possunt Bold yet obligatory upon man for howsoever as the word implyeth there ought to be the greatest freedome and voluntarines in making a vow yet a vow being made there is an obligation a bond or tye upon him that made it to performe or pay it He that voweth binds himselfe but he cannot unbind or absolve himselfe from his vow nor can he retract or call in his lawfull vow Eliphaz I suppose here mentions the payment of Vowes because the godly in those times did often make Vowes When Jacob Gen. 28.20 fled from his brother Esau he in case of his safe returne vowed a vow saying If God will be with me and will keepe me in this way that I goe and will give me bread to eate and rayment to putt on so that I come to my fathers house againe in peace then shall the Lord be my God that is I will owne and honour him love and depend upon him more then ever And this stone which I have set up shall be Gods house and of all that thou shalt give me I shall surely give the tenth to thee Here 's the tenour and forme of the most ancient and famous vow that ever was made Likewise Hauna 1 Sam. 1.11 vowed a vow and said O Lord of hoasts if thou wilt indeed looke on the affliction of
Dimissus oculis est qui suo ju dicio existi matione sibi ipsi vilescit He shall save the humble person that is the person who is low in his owne eyes while in the greatest worldly heights the person that humbles himselfe and walkes humbly with God and men when most exalted Thus the Apostle James exhorts the brother of high degree or the rich brother to rejoyce in that he is made low Jam. 1.10 But if he be rich how is he made low he meanes it not of a lownes in state but of a lownes or rather lowlines of spirit The brother of high degree hath no cause to rejoyce in his highnes but when he is low in his owne eyes Lownes of eyes is more then a vertue or common modesty 't is a Grace That 's in a spirituall sence the most Grace-full looke which is the most humble looke He shall save the humble person But with what salvation I answer Salvation is eyther temporal and bodyly or eternal usually called the salvation of the soule We may expound this Text of both The Lord saveth the humble person both body and soule both temporally and eternally Where note That the Lord takes speciall Care of humble ones The Lord seemes to take so much care to save the humble as if there were none else that he tooke care to save or regarded what became or them whether saved or no. And the Lord speakes of proud persons as if he contemn'd none but under that name and notion Jam. 4.6 He resisteth the proud he that is proud of his person or parts or estate or witt or power the Lord resisteth him And he speakes of the humble as if none were saved but under that name and notion He saves the humble personâ or as that Text in James hath it He giveth grace to the humble What grace There is a twofold grace and both are given to the humble First he gives them the grace of favour or good will he is kinde to and respecteth the humble or as this text in Job hath it Hee saves the humble person Secondly He gives much grace to the humble as grace is taken for that gracious worke of the Spirit in us forming up faith love c. in our soules The Lord gives more of this grace also to the humble that is he addeth unto the graces which they have and makes them more humble more gratious a man cannot be in that sence an humble person without grace humility it selfe is a great grace and the greater our humility is the greater accession we have of other graces Thus I say we may understand the text in James both wayes He giveth grace to the humble that is he favours and respects them because they are gracious and he addeth to or encreaseth their graces We have a promise very paralel to these of Eliphaz and James Psal 18.27 Thou wilt save the afflicted people but wilt bring downe high looks The word which we translate afflicted signifies also one humbled and humble and so we might render the Psalme Thou shalt save the humbled or the humble people and that the humble are to be taken in to partake of the priviledge of that promise is plaine from the opposite Terme in the latter clause of the verse High lookes that is high lookers God will bring downe but he will save the humble person Men of low and meane estates are usually wrapt up with great ones in the same judgement as the Prophet speakes Esay 5.15 The meane man shall be brought downe and the mighty man shall be humbled the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled there we have the meane man and the mighty man under the same wrathfull dispensations of God The wicked whether high or low are farre from salvation but God knowes how to make a distinction between the humble and the proud when his wrath makes the greatest confusions in the world Humility it is not onely a sweet but a safe grace yea a saving Grace wee never goe under the Covert of God so much as when wee walke humbly with God He will save the humble person Vers 30. Hee shall deliver the Island of the Innocent and it is deliver'd by the purenes of thine hands The promise is continued to the man that returnes to God Hee shall deliver the Island of the Innocent or as some translate the Innocent shall deliver the Island The sence is the same He shall deliver the Island that is the Inhabitants of the Island All shall be safe the Island and they that dwell in it There is another reading of the Text which yet falls in fully and clearly with this whereas we reade He shall deliver the Island of the Innocent Liberabit noxium Pisc it may be read He shall deliver him that is not Innocent Now because this may seeme a very wide difference in the translation wee are to Consider the ground of it how this can be made out that the same text should be rendred the Innocent and him that is not Innocent The reason is because the word which we translate Island is taken by many of the Hebrew Doctors Vocula ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quae hic redditur insula idem valet quod ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã non Pisc Ego cum veteribus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã pro negatione exponereÌ Eritque facilis sensus sc deus puritate manuum tuarum etiam nocenteÌ vel non innocentem liberabit Merc. as also by other translators onely for a negative particle signifying not or that which is not So the word is rendred 1 Sam. 4.21 when Phineas his wife dying in travell gave the name to her Childe shee sayd Hee shall be called Ichabod There is no glory or not glory And againe Pro. 31.4 the word is used in the same sence It is not for Kings O Lemuel to drinke wine strong drinke is not for Princes So here Thou shalt deliver the nocent or the not Innocent And so the whole verse is thus translated God because of or for the purenes of thy hands will doliver the nocent or those who are not innocent Whereas we say Thou shalt deliver the Island of the Innocent or the Innocent shall deliver the Island And it is delivered by the purenes of thine hands Eliphaz spake before in the third person here in the second 't is probable he did so purposely to make Job understand that he meant him It is delivered c. That is the Island is deliver'd according to our translation how is it delivered by the purenes of thine hands The word notes the most exact purity and cleannes like that of gold when it is refined in the fire or of garments that are washed with Soape or Nitre Manus purae sunt opera inculpata quae crimine vacant Drus by this purenes it or the Island shall be deliver'd and by the purenes of his hands he meanes the purenes of his actions or administrations The
whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof Secondly In this we see the honour which God puts upon Godly men What can be greater then this to be really though perhaps farre from being accounted so the Deliverers and Saviours of their Country What an honour was it to Abraham when God told a King that he was beholding to Abraham for his life or that favour must be granted to him at the suite and as it were sent him by the hand of Abraham Gen. 20.7 Hee shall pray for thee and thou shalt live An honour much like this God put upon Job also at the latter end of this Booke Chap. 42.8 My servant Job shall pray for you for him will I accept lest I deale with you after your folly Such Honour in some degree have all the Saints Thirdly Let men honour those whom God honours thus and let the Princes and Powers of the world be glad when they heare that they have many such in their Dominions When such are subject to them as rule with God It is sayd of Zerxes the Greatest Monarch in the world in his time that when Themistocles came over to him who was a man eminent for wisdome and Eloquence that being over-joyed at such a treasure he cryed out in his sleepe I have got Themistocles the Athenian Spirituall wisdome renders men a Greater treasure to States then moral wisdome can Surely then they who are spiritually wise deserve to be rejoyced in I am sure it is not safe to let them be discouraged by whom our safety is established much lesse is it safe to let them fall by whom in their capacity kingdomes stand least of all is it safe to cast them downe who by the rule of divine politicks are State-upholders Therefore let me say this to all the powers of this world doe not destroy those who have the priviledge to be Saviours and deliverers Yea Take heed of deading and straitning their spirits in prayer for you above all take heed of turning their prayers against you Doe not provoke your owne Horsemen to fight against you and your owne Chariot-wheeles to run over you As these are the best friends to a Nation so the worst enemies Better have many outwardly opposing you then one upon just ground secretly praying or but complaining to God against you They who have no power at all in their hands no not so much as to helpe or save themselves may yet destroy many by the purenes of their hands that is they holding up pure hands in prayer may bring downe destruction upon many who are wicked and the adversaries of Christ because their adversaries But that which they mostly doe and that which they worst of all desire to doe is That Lands and Islands may be delivered by the purenes of their hands To shut up this poynt and Chapter we see that as the Saints are killed all the day long by the wicked world for the Lords sake Rom. 8.36 that is because they owne the Lord and his wayes so the wicked of the world are spared even all the day long or as often as they are spared by the Lord for the sake of the Saints that is because the Lord ownes and approves them and their wayes and doth therefore give peace to the world that so in their peace they also may have peace JOB CHAP. 23. Vers 1 2. Then Job answered and said Even to day is my complaint bitter my stroake is heavier then my groaning IN the former Chapter we had the third last charge of Eliphaz against Job in this and that which followeth Job makes his reply and defends himselfe against what Eliphaz had objected and charged upon him There are two opinions concerning the tendency of this reply First Some interpret it in favour of Job as if he onely summoned his friends to the tribunall of God being confident of a good issue there Secondly Others enterpret it as a presumptuous suggestion against God himselfe and the strictnesse of his proceedings with him which they endeavour to prove upon as they conceive these foure grounds of his complaint First Because he complained that his afflictions were beyond all his complaints and that what he had sayd was but little to what he felt or to the greatnesse of his sorrow ver 1 2. Eveââo day is my complaint bitter my stroake is heavier then my groaning These words are conceived to cary in them at least an intimation that Job thought himselfe too hardly dealt with or that there was no just cause why he should be prosecuted and proceeded against with so much severity by the continued and renewed stroakes of God upon him And indeed it cannot be denyed That he whosoever he is is justly judged as over-bold with God who judgeth any of the dealings of God with himselfe or with any other man over-severe But wee shall finde that though Job complained often that his sorrows as to him were exceeding great yet he never complained that as to God they were unjust Secondly Say they because he complained that he could not get admittance unto God nor audience with him which was a further aggravation of his sorrow This he prosecutes from the third verse to the end of the ninth O that I knew where I might finde him that I might come even to his seate I would order my cause before him and fill my mouth with arguments I would know the words which he would answer me c. As if according to the scope of this exposition he had sayd I have waited long under my pressures and burdens with my petition in my hand yea I have tendered up my petition but as yet I can get no answer Alas I am greatly afflicted yet so farre from being releeved That I cannot be heard I would therefore gett neare God to spread and order my cause before him To be heard and to be releeved are often in Scripture sence the same thing and alwayes not to be heard signifies as much as not to be releeved Till the Lord gives us his eare he never gives us his hand therefore Job must needs think himselfe farre from being helped while he thought that he was not heard Thirdly Because he complained that the Lord did thus afflict and try him when he already knew what he was and what he would be after his tryall by the sorest afflictions when he knew that he was innocent that he would continue hold out in his innocency to the end That he would not be weary of well-doing though under the worst of sufferings Ver. 10 11 12. He knoweth the way that I take c. As if he had sayd The Lords needs not doe this to try me for he knoweth well enough who I am and the way that I goe he knoweth both the frame of my heart and the course of my life he knoweth how it is with me now and that I shall be found such ãâã I
have often professed my selfe to be when he hath kept me to the utmost of his purpose in this fiery furnace of affliction When he hath tryed me I shall come forth as gold that is when all 's done he knows that I shall hereafter approve my selfe upright in heart and that through his grace already bestowed upon me I have hetherto kept his way and not declined nor gon back ftom the commandements of his lips yea that I have esteemed the words of his mouth more then my necessary food Thus Job is conceived complaining upon this account that he should be so extreamely afflicted though the Lord knew his way and that he was both a lover of his Word and a keeper of his Commandements and that he would persevere with joy in keeping them to the end though he should not see the expected and desiered end of those sorrows Fourthly Because he is conceived complaining that he found the Lord altogether inexorable so that no impression could be made upon him by any thing he could say or doe to take him off from his severity towards him Ver. 13 14. He is of one minde who can turne him there is no dealing with God and what his soule desireth even that he doth let it fall where and on whom it will he will doe it for he performeth the thing that is appoynted for me From all which Job inferreth that he had cause enough to complaine much more that he did not complaine without cause Ver. 15 16 17. Therefore am I troubled at his presence when I consider I am afraid of him for God makes my heart soft and the Allmighty troubleth me because I was not cut off before the darknesse neither hath he covered the darknesse from my face Thus you have the parts and scope of the whole Chapter as 't is supposed to be an over-bold complaint in reference to the dealings of the Lord with him From all which 't is concluded Saepe antea statuerat Job se amicorum exacerbantibus sermonibus âefessum nolle amplius cum ijs disserere sed potius cum deo aequissimo judice Nunc hoc suum proposituÌ ad implere tentans ad deum sermonem dirigit vel ad seipsum i. e. secum ipse ratiocinatur Bold that though the Chapter begins with Then Job answered and said yet that Job doth not answer Eliphaz nor apply himselfe to what he had said but that being wearied with his often repeating and renewing the same arguments against him he doth upon the matter leave him and his friends and all discourse with them turning himselfe to God and powring his sorrows into his bosome as if the answer were directed to God and not at all to Eliphaz But I rather apprehend according to the former interpretation of this reply that Job doth here plainly hold forth an answer to what Eliphaz had objected or layd to his charge and that being still so hotly opposed he doth first defend his owne integrity in this Chapter and that secondly in the next he overthroweth the ground or foundation upon which his friends built their generall opposition affirming that there is neither any certaine time nor way in which the Lord doth punish wicked men in this world and that therefore no argument can be framed or judgement given of any mans condition by his present state or the external dispensations of God towards him Taking this sence we may reduce the whole Chapter to these two parts First A preface secondly the pleading it selfe The preface is layd downe in the second verse Even to day is my complaint bitter my stroake is heavier then my groaning the pleading follows in the subsequent parts of the Chapter the summe of which may be collected into this formal Argumentation Yee doe falsely accuse him of wickednesse and hypocrisie who is ready to plead his cause and doth earnestly desire that he may doe it before the throane of God But I am ready and doe earnestly desire to plead my cause before the throane of God Therefore yee falsely accuse mee of wickednes and hypocrisie The assumption only of this Syllogisme is handled in this Chapter from the second verse to the end in which it appeares that Job was ready not onely to dispute the poynt in controversie with his friends but was most willing that the Lord should have the hearing of it for so he sayth O that I knew where I might finde him that I might come even to his seate I would order my cause before him and fill my mouth with arguments That is I would produce such arguments for my selfe and against my opposers as would render my cause just and innocent before God how guilty soever I am found and represented in the opinion of men Thus farre concerning the general state of this Chapter I shall next proceed to explicate the parts and particulars of it Vers 1. Then Job answered and said These words have occurr'd often before I shall not stay upon them But what said he and how did he answer Vers 2. Even to day is my complaint bitter my stroake is heavier then my groaning Thus Job begins This is at once his prologue to what he had to say and his Apology for what he had passionately sayd already Even to day or even this day The word day is taken eyther more largely for the time neere at hand or strictly for the present time Psal 95.8 To day if ye will heare his voyce harden not your hearts That is Heare his voyce this instant day and harden not your hearts one day longer Againe Deut. 4.8 What Nation is there so great that hath statutes and judgements so righteous as all this law that I have set before you this day or at this present time Jacob saith to Esau Gen. 25.31 Sell me this day thy birth-right that is let me have it now let us strike up the bargaine this houre or before we part Thus here To day c. As if Job had said O friend Eliphaz I perceive that after all those dayes of disputation which have passed between us this day is like to be spent and run out in as harsh censures on your part and in as bitter complaints on my part as any of the former Even this day is my complaint bitter The word rendered complaint is translated also sometimes prayer and sometimes meditation Gen. 24.69 Isack went out into the field to meditate we put in the Margin to pray Hannah useth the same word 1 Sam. 1.16 Account not thy handmaide for a daughter of Beliall for out of the abundance of my complaint we put in the Margin Meditation and griefe have I spoken hitherto Many complaine who pray not some pray who complaine not and others meditate who doe neyther complaine nor pray yet usually we meditate that we may consider what to pray about in prayer powre out our complaints both about those sins and wants and mercies which have fallen under our meditation Even to day is
a cause to complaine Thanksgiving will be all our worke and the worke of all in heaven And by how much we are the more in thanksgiving and the lesse in complaining on earth unlesse it be of and against our selves for sinne the more heavenly we are When we are stricken we should complaine as little as we can and we should alwayes be able to say as Job here That our complaint is not greater then our stroake JOB CHAP. 23. Vers 3 4 5. Oh that I knew where I might find him that I might come even to his seate I would order my cause before him and fill my mouth with arguments I would know the words which he would answer me and understand what he would say unto me JOb having shewed in the former verse how bitter and how sad his Condition was even farre beyond his owne Complaint and that his stroake was heavier then his groaning he now turnes himselfe from earth to heaven from the creature to the Creator from man to God Job had been among his friends a great while they had debated the matter long but all in vaine and without fruit to his soule he had yet received no Comfort What will he doe next see here his address to God Vers 3. O that I knew where I might finde him that I might come even to his seat O that I knew The Hebrew is who will give me to know c. The words are a forme of wishing ordinary among the Jewes Who will give or who will grant mee this or that O that I knew c. And it Intimates or Implyes two things First A vehement and strong desire after somewhat much desierable who will give mee this or where shall I have it Secondly It Implyes selfe-Inability or selfe-Insufficiency to attaine and reach the thing desiered As if Job had said I am not able of my selfe to finde him O that I knew where I might finde him O that I eyther had the light of this knowledge in my selfe or that some body would enforme and teach mee O that I had a friend to Chalke mee out the way to lead mee by the hand and bring mee neer to God Quis mihi tribuat ut cognos cam inveni am illum Vulg. The vulgar latine Reading fixeth both those acts upon God as the Object O that some one or other would give mee to know and finde him As if his wish and longing desire were first to know God secondly to finde him or in finding to know him Our translation determines this knowing in Job and finding upon God O That I knew where I might finde him Who it is that Job would finde is not exprest in the text by name nor is there any Anticedent in the verse before with which we can Connect this relative him Yet 't is beyond question or dispute that he meanes God O that I might finde him that is God But why did he not say O that I knew where to finde God but O that I knew where to finde him I answer He doth it because his heart being full of God he supposed that those to whom he spake had their hearts full of him too and so would easily understand whom he meant or that he could mean none but God Wee finde such kinde of abrupt speeches as I may call them in other Texts of Scripture still arising from fullnes and strength of affection in the speaker See how Solomon begins his Love-song his Song of Songs The Song of Songs which is Solomons that 's the title of it How doth it begin Let him kiss mee c. Here is a strange Exordium to a Song none having been spoken of before Let him kiss mee with the kisses of his mouth by whom the Church would be kissed shee expresseth not but her heart was so full of Christ so full of love to Christ her Bridegroom her husband that shee thinks it needlesse to mention him by name when shee speakes of him whose kisses shee desiered Her love had passed through the whole Creation through men and Angels through all things here below and fixt it selfe onely upon Christ her Lord and Love Therefore shee never stood speaking personally of him but onely relatively and leaves all to understand whom she intended Thus saith Job O that I knew where I might finde him when as he had not spoken of any distinct person before in this Chapter And wee have a like passage flowing from a like abundant love to Christ in the 20 âh of John ver 15. where Mary comes to the Sepulchre Christ being risen and the Angel seing her weepe asked her the reason of it To whom shee replyed Because they have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him having thus said shee turned her selfe backe and saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus he saith unto her Woman why weepest thou whom seekest thou Shee supposing him to be the Gardiner said Sir if thou have borne him hence tell me where thou hast laid him Shee never names Christ but onely saith If thou have borne him hence c. because her heart was full of Christ shee thought his heart was full of him too and that hee understood her well enough whom she meant though shee sayd not whom shee meant Thus in the present text Job was to God at that time as Mary to Christ at a losse for him not knowing where to finde him God was as it were removed from him as Christ was risen from the Sepulchre Therefore he complainingly and affectionately enquires O that I knew where I might finde him My soule is a thirst for God my heart pants after him O that I knew where I might finde him The Hebrew word signifieth to finde Verbum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã significat saepius obviam habere quemquam vel alâcui obvium fieri by going out to meet a man or as we say to light upon him As Ahab said to Elijah 1 King 21.20 Hast thou found or met mee O mine enemy and he answered I have found or met thee So the word is used 2 King 10.13 Jehu mett with the Brethren of Ahaziah King of Judah In the Margin wee say Jehu found the Brethren of Ahaziah that is he mett them upon the way for he went out to meet them Read also 1 Sam. 10.3 As if the sence were thus given O that I knew where I might finde him that is whither I might goe to meet him though I should not finde him by accident or as wee say stumble upon him I would goe out I would travell and take paines upon hopes to meet him Secondly That word signifies so to finde as to take hold and apprehend to take fast hold of a thing and then O that I might finde him is O that I might lay hold on him if I knew where I might have him I would lay fast hold on him and cleave close to him So the word is used Esay 10.10 As
can give perfect boldnes in comming to the Throne of God but onely an Interest in Jesus Christ in whom the throane of God is become a Throane of grace to sinners Were it onely a Throne of Judgement and Justice no flesh could stand before it but being a Throne of grace the worst of sinners who wait for grace may come neer and the neerer they come the welcomer they are A godly man is never better then when he is neer God and then thinks himselfe best when he is neerest unto God all his happines in this life and his glory in that which is to come doth consist in his nearenes unto God Secondly Whereas Job saith O that I might come even to his Seat Observe A Godly man is willing that God should Judge both his Person and his Cause That 's the designe of Job he had appealed from the Judgement of his friends and begd the Judgement of God He was resolute in it to stand or fall according to his sentence But why was Job so desirerous of the Judgement of God why would he goe to his Throne and appeale to him When men make appeales from one Throne to another they have their reasons for it When Paul said I appeale to Caesar Act. 25.11 doubtless he was fully perswaded that he should find better termes with Caesar then among the Jews So when Job saith I appeale to God which is the highest appeale and beyond which there lyes no appeale doubtlesse Job was fully perswaded that he should finde better termes at Gods tribunal then he had found among his friends And Job might have many grounds of better termes from God For First God is wise even a God of Judgement who would not receive Judgement from a wise and understanding Judge especially from him who is wisdome and understanding Secondly God is Omniscient there are many wise Judges but no Omniscient Judges in the world Princes are said to have long hands and very cleare eyes they can reach farre and see farre but they cannot see all but God is able to Judge the secrets of all hearts for he sees all secrets and knowes what man cannot For that reason a godly man loves the Judgement of God because he knowes his heart And for the same reason wicked men hypocrites especially are afraid of the Judgement of God they know if their outward actons should come to be scan'd much more if their hearts should be turn'd outward it must needs goe ill with them Most hypocrites carry it faire onely for a while before the world they at last discover themselves the disease breaks out at their fingers ends or at their tongues end Their words or works discover the rottennes of their hearts and the formality of their profession But some hypocrites carry it fayre to the world all their dayes and feare not the Judgement of men yet even then a thought of the Judgement of God is dreadfull to them whereas the Saints even all who are sincere desire God to Judge them for indeed their hearts are better then their wayes and their affections then their actions and they know that God discernes with what heart and spirit every thing is done as well as what is done He doth not Judge by appearances as we ought not Joh. 7.24 and therefore his is a righteous Judgement God doth not judge things as they appeare but as they are unlesse they are as they appeare and whatsoever their appearance is he can judge them as they are He can judge by discerning what is in the deepe and follow a matter to the very spring of it therefore I 'le goe to God saith the upright heart my desire is that he should Judge my cause Thirdly The Lord is a gratious and a mercifull Judge he is as full of pity as he is of wisdome and as ready to relieve as he is quick-sighted to discerne Fourthly The Lord is very patient First patient to heare and secondly patient to beare Patience to heare is a great encouragement many Judges are weary of the worke they will not heare a poore man out but God will and God is patient also to beare with and passe by the faylings of his people whose uprightnes he knowes Lastly A Godly man knowes that God his Judge hath received an atonement that he is made for him and upon grounds of Justice and righteousnesse is become his friend Some who have bad Causes yet come up to the Throne of man boldly because they know the Judge is made for them by a bride and so will give sentence on their side be it right or wrong Saints know that the Judge is made for them but made in a holy manner not with base bribery to blinde his eyes to pervert justice but he hath received an atonement he is appeas'd and satisfied by a Mediator at his owne appointment If God should search the best of Saints narrowly they must needs fall in judgement yet they know they shall stand in judgement because the Judge is reconciled to them by Christ yea Christ who made the Atonement and is the reconciler is the Judge this encourageth Saints to come to God For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life Rom. 5.10 The case standing thus with beleevers who seeth not ground for their appeale from the judgement eyther of open enemies or as Job did mistaken Friends O that I might come even to his Seate In the two next verses Job tells us what he would doe if his appeale were granted and himselfe admitted to the seate of God Vers 4. I would order my Cause before him and fill my mouth with arguments Vers 5. I would know the words which he would answer mee and understand what he would say unto mee Thus he describes his intended behaviour before his Judge in allusion to legall proceedings where the Plaintiff brings in his bill and the Defendant his answer I would order my Cause before him The Hebrew word which wee translate to order ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã est militare verbum atque dicitur de aciebus quae certa ratione ac ordine disponuntur is a military terme properly used for the ordering of an Army or the putting of them into a Posture for a battell we call it Marshalling an Army And hence it is applyed to the ordering of any other thing Psal 23.5 Thou wilt prepare a Table for mee in the midst of mine enemies to order a Table is to set dish by dish there is a kinde of method in setting dishes at great feasts Thou wilt prepare a Table for me Againe Ps 50.21 God speakes to the hypocrite about his sinfull doings I will set them in order before thee that is those sins and confused practices of which thou hast sayd in thy heart I shall never heare more of them shall be brought forth and set like a terrible Army in ranke and file
before thee Job speakes to this sence I would order my cause before him or to his face as the Hebrew Text hath it that is in his presence And fill my mouth with Arguments Pleno ore fidentèr constanter pro me dicam Bold I would have arguments enow or good store to prove that your proceeding hath been unequall toward mee And when he sayth I would fill my mouth with arguments it shewes that his heart was full of arguments Christ teacheth us to argue so Luk. 6.45 Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Jobs heart was full therefore he would fill his mouth David prayeth Psal 71.8 Let my mouth be filled with thy praise And the Church speakes of her joy when God had turned their captivity Psal 126.2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter In this language God bespeakes his people Psal 81.10 Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it Open it by faith and I will fill it with what fill it with mercy and with blessings So here I would fill my mouth with arguments that is I would not want matter to speake for my selfe Os meum replebo increpationibus Vulg. or in my owne cause The vulgar reades it I will fill my mouth with Chidings or with reproofs The word properly signifies Conviction and then wee are to understand it in reference to his friends I would abound with convincing reproving or chiding arguments against you ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã non redargutiones intelligit quibus deum injustitiae accusaret sed rationes quibus se tueretur Sic ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Graecie sumitur Merc. who have thus long reproached mee I would bring such arguments as should not onely be a proofe of mine owne integrity but a reproof of my friends severity Some arguments have onely a proof in them others have a reproof too Job would fill his mouth with arguments which should be both proofs for himselfe and reproofs to his opposers Job had not a word to say against God but he had much to say against his friends I would fill my mouth with Arguments Note from it Troubled spirits have many things to say and usually abound much in their owne sence Furor arma ministrat As the passion of anger will administer weapons to a man though he be no great fighter so those passions of griefe and sorrow will administer arguments to him though he be no great disputer A troubled soule will hardly be put to a stand or non-plus They who suffer much will alwayes have somewhat to say If nature deny said one of old yet Indignation will make a man a Poet And if nature deny yet sorrow will make a man a Logician and trouble will make a man an Advocate in his owne cause The tongues of many are tipt with Oratory they have excellent words and strong reasons too from the pressures that are upon their spirits trouble of spirit fills the mouth with Arguments two wayes First Against themselves how strongly will some in that case dispute against their owne peace what arguments will they bring against any comfort that is offered them and how nimbly will they reply to any one that goes about to answer them how will they finde out new mediums when those are foyled by which they have formerly nourished their unbeleefe and discouraged themselves from taking hold on mercy 'T is wonderfull to heare the pleadings of a troubled spirit and 't is one of the hardest taskes in the world to answer the doubts which such a man will make against himselfe Secondly The troubles of many fills their mouths with arguments for themselves that 's the meaning of Job here in this place I would fill my mouth with arguments to maintaine my Cause I should not want eyther matter or words to plead this busienes were I before the Throne of God and yet I would not be so free and forward to speake as to neglect or slight what is spoken to me as it followes Vers 5. I would know the words that he would answer mee and understand what he would say unto mee Some are so hasty to speake that they will not heare they are so forward to plead their owne Cause that they will not receive the opinion of another Job discovers an equall spirit to both As I would order my Cause and fill my mouth with arguments so I would know the words that he would answer mee too I would have the good manners or the grace rather to heed and understand what God would say to mee Cognâscam sanationes quas loquetur mihi Sep. Quam mihi laboranti curationeÌ adhibiturus esset intelligeâem Chrysost The Septuagint render it thus I would know the healings which he would speake to me or as another What medicine or way of cure he would praescribe and administer to mee and this might respect eyther the quieting of his Spirit or the repayring of his credit and good name which had been sorely and deeply wounded by his friends not onely suspecting but charging him as an hypocrite or wicked man This is a fayre sence onely it straitens the Text For we may suppose Job in this addresse and application to God ready to heare whatsoever God should say unto him whether his were words of approbation or reproof whether for him or against him Though Job had doubtlesse a strong confidence that God would approve of him and give sentence on his side yet considering his owne weaknesses and distempers of minde he might well conceive that some things had fallen from him or been done by him which might deserve and call for chidings and rebukes as the issue indeed was And therefore it was most congruous that he should present himselfe before the Lord in a frame of heart to receive reprehensions as well as consolations I would know the words that he would answer me and understand c. Knowing and understanding may be taken here two wayes First for Considering and weighing what God would say or what Award he would make In which he seemes closely to checke his friends who thought him so dull and incapable that surely he did not apprehend nor understand their answers Well saith Job whatsoever you thinke of my dulnes to understand your answers or what you have sayd yet I doubt not but I shall understand the answers of God or what he shall say unto mee Secondly They note a reverence and respect to the word of God I would know the words that he would answer that is submit to them I would not oppose the Judgement or Opinion of God concerning me Though Job did not sit downe or acquiesse in the judgement of his friends yet he would reverence and sit downe quietly in the judgement of God in the answer which he should please to give In eyther of these interpretations the sence is good I would know that is I would study to finde out the minde of God and understand
what he saith to mee and then reverently submit thereunto Further This forme of speaking I would know the words and I would understand c. seemeth to imply a vehement desire in Job to know the minde of God concerning him As a man that is accused longs to heare the minde of the Judge as for others 't is not much to him what they say for him or against him As Paul spake in a like case 1 Cor. 4.3 With me it is a very small thing to be judged of you or of mans judgement c. he that judgeth me is the Lord that is to his judgement I must stand He is above all Hence note First That a godly man is carefull to understand the answer and determinations of God concerning him I would know the words that he would answer mee and this not onely according to the supposition which Job makes here if God should speake to him personally or mouth to mouth but in what way soever God should speake to him It is the great care of a Godly man to know the word of God written and deliver'd over to us as the rule of our life and faith for indeed therein wee have our judgement and our answer as Christ saith the words that I speake they shall judge you at the last day that is by the word you shall be judged Likewise it is the care of a Godly man to understand what God speakes to him by his workes and providences by his rods and chastnings In these the Lord speakes to us and gives us answers They who are wise will study to know and understand them We may conceive that Job had respect to two things especially about which he desiered that he might understand the answer and words of God to him First That God would shew him the true Cause of his affliction for he did not take that to be the Cause which his friends had so often suggested and so disputed upon that Fallacy all along which Logicians call The putting of that for a Cause which is not the Cause Therefore Job hoped to know of God what he would say as to the reason why he did Contend with him Secondly What God would say to him by way of Direction and Councell by way of remedy and redress he was sollicitous to understand the minde of God and what God expected from him under this dispensation So that Jobs scope was not at all as Eliphaz suspected to plead his owne righteousnesse and holy walkings before God as if God had been beholding to him for them and so must needs grant him as having deserved it whatsoever he should aske But that he might be acquainted with the holy will and purpose of God concerning himselfe and to be instructed by him about the grounds and ends of his long and sharpe affliction that so he might beare it more chearefully and more fruitfully As also and that principally that he might heare from his Majesty which was the great poynt in controversie between him and his friends whether he did correct and chasten him as a son or punish and take vengeance on him as on a rebell and so set him among the examples of caution for sinners in time to come Secondly Note A Godly man rests in the Judgement of God Si me nisontem pronunciaret cum gaudio si sontem cum patientia sâsciperem sententiam ejus Scult Job would not rest in his friends judgement but in Gods judgement he would rest and enquire no further I saith he freely yeeld up my selfe to that if the Lord should pronounce mee Innocent I would rest in his sentence and be thankfull if the Lord should pronounce mee faulty yet I would rest in his sentence and be patient yea then I would aske mercy and begg his grace for the pardon of my faylings God is an Infallible Judge and therefore no man ought to question his determinations Indeed Every mouth shall be stopped and all the world become guilty before God Rom. 3.19 that is acknowledg theÌselves guilty before him when he judgeth And as there is no avoyding the judgement of God so a godly man desires to rejoyce in it Good is the word of the Lord sayd Hezekiah 2 King 20 19. When a very sore sentence was past against him and he sayd is it not Good if peace and truth be in my dayes By good in the former part of the verse he meanes just and equall as if he had sayd though this word be full of gall and wormewood yet it is no other then I and my people have deserved and drawne upon our selves By good in the latter part of the verse he meanes Gracious and mercifull as if he had sayd God in this sentence hath mixed the good of justice and equity with the good of graciousnes and mercy or in the midst of Judgement he hath remembred mercy Thus also when God gave sentence by fire against the two sons of Aaron Moses sayd to Aaron This is that the Lord spake saying I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me and before all the people I will be glorified Lev. 10.3 Now when Aaron heard this the text saith And Aaron held his peace He murmured not he contradicted not but rested patiently in the judgement of God And thus Job was resolved to give himselfe up to the judgement of God whatsoever it should be And we shall finde him in the next words hoping strongly to finde God very sweete and gratious to him could he but obtaine a hearing at his Judgement seate JOB CHAP. 23. Vers 6 7. Will he plead against me with his great power No but he would put strength in me There the righteous might dispute with him so should I be delivered for ever from my Judge JOb still prosecutes the proofe of his integrity from his willingnesse to appeare before God and plead his case at his throne and as in the two former verses he told us what he would doe upon supposition that he could finde God and have accesse unto him even that he would state his case and then fill his mouth with arguments he would also seriously attend and strive to understand the answer which God should give him So in these two verses he holds out what entertainment he assured himselfe of in this his addresse to God as also what confidence he had of a faire hearing and of a good issue As if he had said O Eliphaz you have often deterred and over-awed me with the Majesty of God as if he would certainly crush such a worme as I am and that I could not at at all stand or abide a tryall before him in Judgement Eliphaz hath spoken to that sense at the 4th verse of the former Chapter Will he reprove thee for feare of thee will he enter with thee into judgement dost thou thinke that God will condescend so farre as to treate with thee but know O Eliphaz that I am not afraid of the presence of God for
might be some drosse in him that he had not found And now he would be re-tryed that he might come forth purest gold Pure gold feares neither the furnace nor the fire neither the Test nor the Touchstone nor is weighty gold afraid of the Ballance He that is weight will be weight how often soever he is weighed he that is gold will be gold how often soever he is tryed and the oftener he is tryed the purer Gold he will be what he is he will be and he would be better then he is Every man of Jobs mettal saith or may say Let him try mee and I shall come forth as gold JOB CHAP. 23. Vers 11 12. My foot hath held his steps his way have I kept and not declined Neither have I gone back from the commandement of his lips I have esteemed the words of his mouth more then my necessary food AT the 21th and 22th verses of the former Chapter Eliphaz having sharply rebuked Job gave him very wholesome and holy counsell Acquaint thy selfe now with him and be at peace receive the law from his mouth and lay up his words in thy heart In these two verses Job professeth that he had done so that he had kept close to God followed him step by step that he had not declined or turned back and that he had done all this out of pure love to the word So that each member of this context seems to carry a direct answer to every member of that counsel which Eliphaz had there given him As first to that of Eliphaz Acquaint thy selfe with God he sayth I have held his steps That man takes and holds neere acquaintance with another of whom it may be affirmed that he treads in or holds his very steps Againe Eliphaz advised Job thus Receive the Law at his mouth Job answers I have not gone back from the commandement of his lips c. Or thus First He that takes hold of the steps of God acquaints himselfe with God Secondly He that keeps the way of God and declines not from it is at peace with God Thirdly He that goeth not back from the commandement of his lips receives the Law at his mouth Fourthly He that esteemeth the word of God more then his necessary food hath surely layd up the word of God in his heart Job professeth in these two verses that he had done all this and therefore he had already done what Eliphaz presseth him to doe His whole conversation had exactly hitt the counsell given him Vers 11. My foote hath held his steps My foote We are not to take the word foote strictly Cum dicit pes meus pro eo habendum ac si dixisset ego apprehendi gressum ejus Drus Verbum significat aliquid violentèr detinere ne labatur aut fugiat aut fluat Bold ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for that speciall member of the body so called but by the foote we are to understand the whole man my foote that is I my selfe have held his steps I have held them And he meanes such a holding as hath a kinde of honest pertinaciousnesse in it or a resolvednesse not to let goe what is held a resolute holding a cleaveing fast to a holding with a kinde of violence such as Jacob expressed to the Angel Gen. 32.26 I will not let thee goe except thou blesse me My foote hath held To lay hold is the proper action of the hand not of the foote and it is used here onely as it signifies the keeping of a thing close and fast any way so as not to part with it or as it imports a constant walking with God My foote hath held his steps or upon his steps The word which signifies to goe signifies also to be happy or blessed and the reason is because our way or motion sheweth what our end and rest shall be our happinesse in the end lieth virtually in our way But what were those steps that his foote took hold of Steps in the Text may be taken two wayes First For those steps which God hath appointed man to take Vestigia dei idem significare poterunt quod via dei sc illius precepta legem quam nobis tenendam commonstrat Pined Gressum ejus accipe passivè id est ab eo definitum monstratum Jun. Vestigia dei sunt divinae actiones quibus ille preit vel sunt ejus effectus ad extra sc Charitatis clementiae justitiae veritatis Pined walking as and where God would have him so these steps are the same with the law or way of God not actively for the steps which God takes but passively for the steps which he directs and appoints us to take Secondly We may expound these steps for Gods own steps not for the steps which he shews us in his word that we should take but for the steps which he shews in his practise or in his example that himselfe hath taken My foote hath held his steps so to follow the steps of another is to imitate him and to follow the steps of God is to imitate him the steps of God are those holy actings wherein he goeth before us and sets us an example Some of the workes of God are a rule his actions are directions to us Then Jobs meaning is I have imitated God and followed his example in all things that are imitable by man I have so much acquainted my selfe with God and have been so familiar with him that I have as it were coppied out his way in my life and conversation Thus he speakes of God as leading the way and going before us and saith he I have not satisfied my selfe to follow him at large or in the same common path but I have set my feete in his very steps or I have followed him step by step Hence note That a godly man doth example himselfe by God He followeth the way of God in his workes as well as in his word or he obeyeth God doing as well as commanding Many of the workes of God are infinitely beyond our imitation yet he workes so in other things that he hath descended to our imitation And though we cannot follow God in any thing as to an equality yet we may follow him in many things as to the similitude of his workings we may goe the same way that he goeth and take the same steps that he hath taken though we cannot take them in that perfection nor goe with such exactnes as he hath gone before us A childe may write the same letters the same words and lines which the most acurate penman or artist in writing hath prescribed him for a copie and so the childe may be said to hold the steps of his Master letter for letter word for word line for line though there be a wide difference discernable between their writings To follow God is our dutie Godlinesse is Godlikenesse or an imitation of God And practicall Christianity is nothing else but our imitation of Christ
is come upon us that is all these common calamities and afflictions yet have we not forgotten thee nor dealt falsely in thy Covenant our hearts are not turned back neither are our steps declined from thy way As if she had said These afflictions have been strong temptations upon us to cause us to decline from thy wayes but through grace we have kept our ground and remained constant in thy Covenant yea though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons and covered us with the shadow of death As many yea most of the Saints have improved under the crosse so there have been some who either through their present unbeleefe or forgetfulnes of the exhortation which as the Apostle saith Heb. 12.5 speaketh unto them as unto children have had their faintings and declinings under it Fifthly Others decline through prosperitie and worldly injoyments when they grow rich in temporalls they grow poorer in spiritualls As their outward man encreaseth so their inner man decayeth and as they flourish in the flesh so hey wither in spirit Hence holy Agur prayed Pro. 30.8 9. Give me not poverty least I be poore and steale and take the name of God in vaine that would be a sad declining give me not riches lest I be full and deny thee and say who is the Lord That 's a sadder declining then the former Povertie endangers grace much but riches more To be rich or great in the world is a great temptation Food convenient is the most sweet and most untemptationlesse condition As hypocrites fall quite off from God when they come onne much in the world so the sincere may be much hindred in their way And as many godly men have declined through their owne prosperitie so some have declined or at least have been in great danger of declining by the prosperitie of others David was readie to decline from God when he saw the prosperitie of ungodly men Psal 73.2 As for me my feete were almost gone my steps had well nigh slip't when I saw the prosperitie of the wicked David was almost downe when he saw the wicked up Their standing had almost given him a fall My steps sayth hââ had well nigh slipt now if it put David a man eminent in godlinesse so hard to it to keepe his standing all the grace in his heart and assistance from God could scarce hold him up how much more may they who come farre short of David decline by seing the prosperitie of wicked men are not they readie to conclude surely we shall thrive and doe well enough though we doe as others doe who doe not trouble themselves in a strictnes about matters of religion as we have done Verily as it follows at the 13th verse we have cleansed our heart in vaine and washed our hands in innocency If we had spared our paines of labour we could not have endured more paine of trouble for all the day long have we been plagued and chastned every morning Such arguings as these shew great declinings Yet they who are sincere will soone recover themselves againe and say as David after he had reviewed this Temptation ver 15. If we say we will speake thus we should offend against the Generation of the righteous Now seing the Godly are so many wayes endangered to declining let us be warned of it and beware of it These are declining times many professors have shamed themselves and the profession of the Gospel He is a Christian indeed that can say in truth as Job did I have kept his words and not declined they that knew me many yeares agoe may finde me in as good yea in a better plight then I was then Hypocrites true beleevers may look act very like one another but as the nature of their estates have alwayes a vast difference to the understanding so the event gives a vast difference between them to the eye Hypocrites keep the word of God a while but they ever decline in the end finally from it and sometims throw it off in the way totally When they are in the way they grow weary of it a smal matter working either upon their hopes or fears will put them quite out of it Every difficulty every danger is to them a Lion in the way causing them to decline from it wheras to those that are sincere difficulties are not stops but incitements and spurres they doe but provoke their zeale they cannot quench it And hence the holy Apostle sends a challenge Rom. 8.35 to all the troubles afflictions and evills in the world he bids them doe their worst and when they have done it they shall not be able to seperate him from the love of God neither from the love wherewith Goââoved him or from that love wherewith he loved God I have kept his wayes and not declined Secondly Observe That sinne is a declining from the way of God That 's the Apostles definition 1 Joh. 3.4 Sin is the transgression of the Law And transgression is a going aside or a going over the line by which God hath chaulked us out our way God hath not left us at our liberty though he hath left us as the Apostle James calls it Chap. 1.25 a perfect law of liberty He hath not left us to travell over hedge and ditch but hath shewed us our way a high way and a way as the Prophet speakes Isa 35.8 And it shall be called the way of holines the way-faring men though fooles shall not erre therein Yet fooles are alwayes erring from it all their walkings are wandrings and their goings are goings astray who walke and goe on in a sinfull way The word which signifies sinne in the Hebrew imports most properly the missing of a mark because sinning is a missing of the mark and a declining from the way I have kept his way and not declined Vers 12. Neither have I gone backe from the commandement of his lips c. Job proceeds with his negative profession having said before I have not declined he saith the same thing againe in other words I have not gone backe from the commandement of his lips See how often he repeats and inculcates this poynt both that he might be beleived and that he might shew how confident he was in the uprightnes of his owne heart I have not declined neither have I gone backe By these various expressions and often repetitions Job sets forth in generall the exactnes of his care in keeping close to God neither have I gone backe The word signifies both to depart and to touch and some put both significations together here ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã recessit decessit palparit tetegit Ita recedere a re aliqua ut tangi aut contrectari nequeat implying such a departure from a thing or person as not at all to touch or come neere it againe which is a totall apostacy or desertion from it As if Job had said I have not apostatised from the wayes of God But this seemes
lesse then what he spake before for having sayd I did not decline what need he say I did not apostatize for he that doth not so much as decline is farre from apostatising I answer that in this negative there is that ordinary figure extenuation speaking lesse then is intended or intending more then is expressed and so not to goe backe from is to goe forward in or to proceed on in the commandements of God and so the sense riseth higher I have kept his way and have not declined Non recedere a mandatis est illa opere complere tenere non dimittere de manu aut actione Pined neither have I gone backe from his commandement I have kept close to it without the least willing declension I have not layd the commandement out of my hand much lesse have I put it out of my heart And then we are to interpret this negative I have not gone backe by this affirmative I have stood to thy commandements constantly and resolvedly The Scripture is full of such negatives Thus when the Lord makes that promise Joel 2.26 My people shall never be ashamed It seemes to be but a small matter that the people of God shall not be ashamed but the meaning is they shall be highly honoured they shall have a name and reputation in the world they shall make their boast in of me their God all the day long So when the Apostle gives that negative counsel 1 Thes 5.18 Despise not prophesie his purpose is to exhort the Thessalonians and us in them to the readiest embraces and highest estimations of it Not to despise is to honour prophesie that is the preaching of the word in a due exposition and application of it to exhortation and edification and comfort So then there is much more in these words I have not gone backe from the commandement then thus I have not turned or apostatized from the commandement I have not throwne up nor abjured my profession Jobs meaning is I have kept strictly and firmely to it I have asserted it and affirmed it and will maintaine it to the end as I have hitherto lived so I am purposed to dye in the obedience of it I have not gone backe from the commandement of his lips We finde the word used in such a signification Prov. 17.13 Who so rewardeth evill for good evill shall not depart from his house Semper familiariter in illius domo versabitur or evill shall not goe backe from his house As evill shall come so evill shall not goe backe he shall not be able to dismisse it when it cometh evill shall keepe close to his house dwell and abide in his house or hang upon him like an unwelcome guest he shall not get it out for ever Againe Isa 54.10 The mountaines shall depart and the hills shall be removed but my kindnesse shall not depart from thee neither shall the Covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee Thus the Lord assures his people of the grace and good of the new Covenant The mountaines shall depart that is though the mountaines depart or let them depart and the hills remove yet my kindnes shall not depart or it shall not goe back from you that is my kindnesse shall imbrace you sticke close to you and abide with you for ever so here I have not gone backe that is I have imbraced and stuck to the commandement of his lips We also finde such a sense of the word Mich. 2.3 Therefore thus saith the Lord Behold against this family doe I devise an evill from which you shall not remove or withdraw your neckes that is the evill which I devise against you shall remaine upon you and stick by you ye shall not get this yoake off your neckes nor your neckes out of this collar it shall be an abiding evill which will not goe backe as ye have not gone backe from the evill of sin so ye shall not goe backe from the evill of punishment it will not remove from you nor shall ye remove from it So here I have not gone backe or removed my necke from the commandement of God I have not stirred a foote from it Yet further that which before he called the way of God here he calls the commandement of his lips lips are the instruments of speech God is a spirit and hath no corporeall parts the Scripture speakes thus of God after the manner of men because men speake with their lips their lips being a principall instrument of speech therefore the commandement which God hath made knowne and spoken in a way peculiar to himselfe is called the commandement of his lips Praeceptum labiorum i. e. praeceptum labijs ejus pronounciatum Genitivus adjuÌcti vel efficientis Pisc Mr Broughton translates strictly to the letter His lips lawes I cast not off And when Job calleth the commandements of God the commandements of his lips it hath a great force in it to oblige man to reverence and obey them They are not commandements which he hath published by others onely he hath also published them himselfe They are the commandements of his lips that is those commandements which as he made and others speake in his name so he hath spoken them too Emphaticus est iste Hebraismus ad majoreÌ praeceptoruÌ dei commendationeÌ reverentiam observantiam sc quod ab ipso dei ore prolata Bold He is both the Author and the publisher of them Exod. 20.1 And God spake all these words and sayd David Psal 66.13 14. puts that imphatically upon his holy vowes to shew how he was engaged to performe them I will goe into thy house with burnt offerings and I will pay thee my vowes that my lips have uttered and my mouth hath spoken when I was in trouble As if he had said my vowes are not onely such as I have conceaved in my heart and resolved in my owne thoughts but I have spoken them out and declared them openly therefore it lyes upon me not onely in conscience but in honour to pay and performe them If we must doe what our lips have uttered much more wust we doe what God hath uttered with his lips Lip-labour will not answer those commandements which are the labour of Gods lips Therefore saith Job I have not turned back from the commandement of his lips Hence Observe First A godly mans way is forward he doth not turne backe He doth not decline either to the right hand or to the left much lesse doth he goe backe he doth not onely stay where he was but he is better then he was his course is onward and forward Job 17.9 The righteous shall hold on his way It is bad enough not to goe forward but to goe backward is farre worse If any draw backe saith God Heb. 10.38 my soule shall have no pleasure in them And what pleasure can their soules take in whom the soule of God takes no pleasure
To draw backe is perdition as they who draw backe are the most forward to destroy others Hos 5.2 The revoulters are profound to make slaughter so they shall be sure to be destroyed themselves The people of Israel in their travels through the wildernes to Canaan did often discover this spirit of Apostacy Psal 78.41 They turned backe and tempted God We finde them at a consultation about it Numb 14.4 They said one to another let us make us a Captaine and let us returne into Egypt Our Lord Jesus had such a sort of men who followed him in person Joh. 6.66 From that time many of his Disciples went backe from him and walked no more with him They were Disciples who went backe and there were many of them so many that Christ in the next verse sayd to the twelve Will ye also goe away Then Peter answered Lord whether shall we goe thou hast the words of eternall life As if he had sayd we cannot mend our selves whether soever we goe why then should we goe from thee As a Godly man goeth on so he seeth reason why he should 'T is as irrationall as sinfull to goe backe from him who hath the words of eternall life or from the commandement of his lips who hath given the promise of life The Apostle Paul had a reaching spirit and he was alwayes reaching forward Phil. 3.12 13. Not as though I had already attained or were already perfect but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus As if he had sayd I would to the utmost answer the designe which Christ had upon me when he first tooke hold of me effectually by his grace Paul was so farre from going backe that he forgot what was backward Some remember what is past or what they have done so much that they forget what is to be done But saith Paul this one thing I doe forgetting those things which are behinde and reaching forth unto those things which are before I presse towards the marke for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus The marke and the price are alwayes before us there is no coming at the marke nor winning of the price by turning backe Prov. 4.18 The path of the just is like the shining or morning light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day The path of the unjust if it have any light in it is but like the evening light which shines lesse and lesse which declines and goeth downward till the perfect night and till himselfe be wrapt up in everlasting darknesse The Sun in the firmament went backe by miracle for a signe to Hezekiah that he should recover the health of his body But if we see any goe back who have heretofore shined like the Sunne in a Gospel pofession we have just cause to looke upon it as a sad symtome that their soules are in a dangerous if not in an irrecoverable condition I have not gone backe sayth Job from the commandement of his lips Againe from all these expressions in that Job speaking of the same thing calls it the way of God the commandement of his lips and in the latter part of this verse the word of his mouth to which he had cleaved and wholy devoted himselfe for the guiding of his whole man in the duty which he owed and had been carefull to pay both to God and man Observe The word of God is the onely rule of life And in this poynt the word or commandement of God is to be taken in a double opposition first to our owne devises and rules secondly to the devises and rules of other men man must not prescribe to himselfe nor may we receive the prescriptions of men to order our practise by God is the onely Law-giver and we must receive the Law from his mouth He that will please God must shutt all his own imaginations out of doores and have nothing to doe with them 'T is not what man hath a minde to doe but what the minde of God is he should doe that pleaseth him or is eyther a worship or a service acceptable to him We never dishonour God more then when we take upon us to serve him our owne way and leaving his rule make a rule for our selves Such a serving of God is rebellion against him as was told Saul by the Prophet 1 Sam. 15.22 Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voyce of the Lord. Saul thought he had done very well when he saved the sheep and oxen for sacrifice But he was told that to obey is better then sacrifice and to hearken then the fat of Rams God had commanded burnt offerings and sacrifice but he had no delight in them when his owne voyce was not obeyed or when they were offered eyther beside or against his command Luk. 16.15 That which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to the Lord His thoughts are not our thoughts eyther in the doing of what is good or in the pardoning of what is sinfull As man is apt to thinke that God will not pardon what he hath done sinfully so that he will accept of what he thinkes he hath done holyly though he hath no rule for the doing of it but what himselfe hath devised We alwayes fayle in our measure while we measure God by our selves And it is as dangerous to take the rule of our actions from men as not to take the rule of God In this sence we must call no man Master nor may we be the servants of the wisest men And as we must not be the servants of men because which is the Apostles reason 1 Cor. 7.23 We are bought with a price that is dearely redeemed by Christ so neyther may we be the servants of men in following their dictates because we have received a word from God whom alone we ought to follow and none else but in subordination to or complyance with his word and the commandement of his lips or as it followes in the conclusion of this verse the words of his mouth I have esteemed the words of his mouth more then my necessary food Job having given us two negatives I have not declined I have not turned backe as proofes of his integrity and holines now gives us an affirmative to make up the fullnes of his proofe Not to doe evill is commendable but to doe good is a higher commendation I have esteemed the words of his mouth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Hebrew word signifies two things first to hide or conceale secondly to prise value or esteeme Some render this Text by the former not as we I have esteemed the words of his mouth In sinu meo abscondi verba oris ejus Vulâ Graecos secetus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã legit non ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã at ventit ac si scriptum esset ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in sinu meo abscondi Merc.
have esteemed or hid the word of his mouth according to my former manner or as I was wont to doe As if he had sayd what I now professe is no new thing with me I have not taken up this estimation of the word now on the suddaine upon my sick-bed I have done so long before now and so I doe still As it was said of Timothy that from a childe he had learned the Scripture Againe Taking the same reading the sence may be given thus Vpon election and deliberation I esteeme the word of his mouth As if he had said I doe not esteeme the word of God for nothing or as not having considered it and judged of the excellency of it but upon long debate consultation and tryall I have pitcht my election upon it Further Some in these words conceave Job alluding to those things which men doe out of long custome or according to their ancient course of life As if he had sayd There is nothing more fixed and setled eyther in my heart or in my practise then the Law of God Obedience to it is now become to me as another nature I slight in comparison of that all humane Lawes and Constitutions as also all my owne most practised formes and customes We render I have esteemed the words of his mouth more then my necessary food The Original word signifies a statute or a law and so any thing which is established or appointed for our use as a law or statute is And because our food our necessary food is that which is cut out or appoynted to us eyther by God or man therefore this word is applyed to signifie dayly bread or necessary food Banquets and great feasts are without all measure and bounds they know no law but are usually full of excesse both as to what is prepared and to what is consumed 't is seldome that either providers or eaters keepe the rule in feasting But a due necessary food which is for the maintaining of our lives and the renewing of our strength to goe on in our callings this food hath a bound and we eate as it were by measure or by statute therefore we translate necessary food others appoynted food or a portion So the word is used Gen. 47.22 Onely the Land of the Priests bought he not for the Priests had a portion assigned them of Pharoah and they eate the portion which he gave them their assigned portion is expressed by this word a portion it was to live upon such as Schollers have in Colledges and Almes-men in Hospitalls by the Statute of their Founders And in the booke of the Proverbs we have it twice used in such a sense Pro. 30.8 Remove from me vanity and lyes give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient for me or with my statute bread that is give me so much onely as the law of nature or the law of my necessity and conveniency calls for to fit me for duty with this statute bread let me be fed let others have their full tables this shall serve my turne Againe Pro. 31.15 Shee ariseth also while it is yet night speaking of the good house-wife and she giveth meate to her house-hold and a portion to her maidens she doth not throw the house out at windows or make havock of all as not caring which end went forward And as she is no prodigal waster so she is neyther niggardly nor scraping neither pineing nor pinching but giveth a meete portion to her maidens So here I have esteemed the word of thy mouth more then my necessary food This small proportion of food greatens the sense of the Text and heightens Jobs holinesse and piety very much for when we come to full tables where there is excesse our stomacks loath the meate and the more meate there is the lesse some are able to eate because the stomacke is over-charged with the sight of it Appetie may be dull'd with abundance but when we finde onely a convenient necessary statute portion as it were so much as is needfull to satisfie hunger and give some moderate delight this pleaseth most and is more esteemed by temperate persons then the greatest feast in the world A man doth not nautiate his necessary food or loath what hunger craves a crust of bread and that which is course is pleasant then necessary food is the sweetest food and we are best satisfied with that which breeds no satiety We live most comfortably with that food without which we cannot live at all comfortably So then when Job saith here I esteemed the word of his mouth more then my necessary food it is as if he had plainely sayd I tooke more care for and had a higher esteeme of the food of my soule then for that food of my body which necessity forceth every man to esteeme Hence note First That a godly man hath a high estimation of the word of God First He doth not onely esteeme it but he esteems it as food Secondly He esteemes it as necessary food Thirdly He esteemes it more then necessary food Here are three steps by which his estimation of the word of God is to be taken David saith of a godly man Psal 1.2 His delight is in the law of the Lord. The word there used signifies both will and delight Some render it voluntas will and others voluptas delight We may take in both his will and his delight is in the law of the Lord or he delightfully wills it Would you know where the delight and joy of a Godly man is it is in the law of the Lord there 't is fixed and no where else comparatively but in the Lord of the Law These two are inseparable he that delights in the Law hath first delighted in the Lord and he that delights in the Lord cannot but delight in the Law There are two metaphors used in Scriptute which shew the estimation and delight which Saints have in the law of God or in the word of his mouth First As the word is compared to food secondly as the word is compared to treasure the word is often compared to food and the most delicious food Psal 119.103 How sweete are thy words unto my taste yea sweeter then honey to my mouth And Psal 19.10 They are sweeter then the honey and the honey-combe He doth not meane the honey-combe barely as the vessell wherein the honey is kept but by the honey-combe he means the honey that flows or drops immediately and as I may say naturally without any art or pressing out of the combe which is esteemed the purest honey such is the law of God to the spirituall palate of a Godly man That feast Math. 22.2 Luke 14.16 to which sinners are invited is onely the declaration of the word and minde of God in the Gospel The word of Grace is the greatest feast which God makes his people Againe the word is as often compared to treasure what the esteeme and desire of man is to
treasure I need not stay to tell you The Judgements of God saith David Psal 19.10 are more to be desired then Gold yea then much fine gold And againe Psal 119.72.127 The law of thy mouth is better to me then thousands of Gold and silver And ver 127. when he saw how some made voyd the Law of God he sayth Therefore I love thy commandements above Gold yea above fine Gold As if he had sayd because I see some men esteeme and reckon thy law as if it were drosse and throw it up as voyd and antiquated or taking the boldnes as it were to repeale and make it voyd that they may set up their own lusts and vaine imaginations because I see both prophane and superstitious men thus out of love with thy Law therefore my love is more enflamed to it I love it above gold which leads the most of men away captives in the love of it and I esteeme it more then that which is most esteemed by men and gaines men most esteeme in this world Fine Gold yea as he sayd Psal 19. more then much fine Gold Secondly Observe A high and reverentiall esteeme of the word of God workes the heart and keepes it close to the obedience of the word Job having said before I have kept the commandements of his mouth I have kept his wayes and not declined I have not gone back now comes to the spring of all this constancy in obedience I have esteemed the words of his mouth c. Love is the spring of action and esteeme is the top of love we love nothing which we doe not esteeme and what we love much we thinke we can never esteeme enough And what we thus love and esteeme we strive to keepe close unto They that receive the truth and doe not receive the love of it quickly turne from it to beleive a lye yea God therefore sends them strong delusion to beleive a lye because they received not the love of the truth As not to love the truth is a sin so it is punished with another sin the love of error Though we have taken much truth into our understandings yet unlesse we take it into our affections also we cannot hold it long 'T is love which holds the heart and the word together No man willingly obeyes that Law which he doth not love Before David could say The Law is my meditation all the day he sayth O how I love thy law Ps 119.97 The hypocrite who hates instruction and casts the word of God behinde his backe that is slights and vilifies it to the utmost for so much to cast behinde the backe imports the hypocrite I say who thus casts the word of God behinde his backe will be talking of the word and have it much in his mouth yea he will mouth it so or be so talkative about it that God reproves or checks him for it Psal 50.16 Vnto the wicked saith God What hast thou to doe to declare my statutes or that thou shouldest take my Covenant in thy mouth So then the hypocrite was very busie with his tongue and he could speake much of that which he loved never a whit But was the hypocrite a man of his hands also was he busie in obeying the word which he had cast behinde his back The next words of the Psalme ver 18 19 20 21. tell us what he was busie about even this he was breaking the Law as fast as he could When thou sawest a theife then thou consentest with him and hast been partaker with Adulterers c. The inditement is large and upon many heads yet all true and is therefore closed with These things hast thou done ver 21. I the Lord am witnes and so is thy owne Conscience That Scripture is a cleare glasse wherein we may see how all they will use the Law of God who doe not highly esteeme the words of his mouth We may read Jobs text backward for their character Their feete have not held his steps his way have they not kept but declined they have gone back from the commandement of his lips And why so for they have esteemed the words of his mouth no more then their un-necessary food no more then the scraps that fall from their Table no more then as the Proverb saith their old shoes I have esteemed the word of his mouth more then my necessary food When Job saith I have esteemed the word of his mouth c. It is as if he had sayd this is enough for me that God hath sayd it to make me esteeme it Hence observe Thirdly Whatsoever God saith is to be esteemed for his owne sake or because he hath sayd it As God needs not borrow light from any what to speake so he needs not borrow testimony or Authority from any to ratifie what he hath spoken He is to be beleeved for himselfe His words need no sanction but ipse dixit I the Lord have sayd it or thus saith the Lord that is enough to silence all queryes and disputes both about the truth of what is delivered and the necessity of our obedience to it As the word of Gods mouth is to be obeyed so it is therefore to be obeyed because it is the word of his mouth That he hath sayd it must command our faith As he is the true God so he is the God of truth Every word of his mouth is pretious As what God hath spoken must be the rule of our faith so that he hath spoken it must be the reason of our faith I have esteemed the words of his mouth c. Lastly From both these verses we may take notice of the severall steps by which Jobs piety did arise to so eminent a hight First He strongly tooke hold of the steps of God Secondly He diligently kept his way Thirdly He declined not eyther to the right hand or to the left Fourthly He went not backe from the Holy commandement both which negatives may be resolved into this affirmative He walked very closely and exactly with God in utmost perseverance Fifthly He tooke a delightfull care about all those things which the word of God called him unto even beyond all the care which he tooke for those things which are most conducible to and necessary for the comforts of his body or natural life JOB CHAP. 23. Vers 13. But he is in one minde and who can turne hinc and what his soule desireth even that he doth IN this verse Job is conceived by some at once making discovery of his owne infirmitie and of the soveraignty of God But though all agree that they carry a full discovery of the soveraignty of God yet many are so farre from judging them a discovery of Jobs infirmitie that they rather discover the strength and hight of his Grace and holines To cleare the whole matter we may take notice That there are three apprehensions about the scope and sence of these words First As if in them Job renderd a reason
of what he spake in the verse immediatly foregoing here giving an account why he had kept so close to God and to his wayes My foot hath held his steps his way have I kept and not declined neither have I gone backe from the commandements of his lips c. And why all this for he is of one minde That is God will have his way there 's no resisting his commandements must be observed that which he once made a law and rule for me to walke by continueth so still He is of one minde Therefore I must keepe close to his minde It were a vaine thing for me to turne any other way when God holds the same way It were folly for me to change my practice when I finde no change at all in his precepts they being still one and the same in themselves and having the same obligation upon me Secondly These words may give an account or a reason of his afflictions As if he had thus expressed himselfe Though my conscience beareth me witnesse that I have not gone onne in any such sinfull way as ye tax me with nor defiled my selfe with such grosse iniquities as usually draw downe the visible Judgements of God upon men Yet I finde God going on still to afflict me he keeps his rod upon my backe and his burden upon my shoulders his terrors still incamp about me and his arrowes drinke up my spirit Nor will he be moved by any entreaty of mine to withdraw his hand from me What ever pleaseth him he will doe how unpleasant soever it is to me And what 's the reason of all this He is in one minde God is unalterable therefore doe not thinke that because he continueth these afflictions and burdens upon mee that therefore all must be resolved into my sinne No we may resolve all this into the soveraigntie and unchangeablenes of God he is in one minde and he will doe what his minde is and none shall turne him Egregie tuetur divinam providentiam nam cum amici illa tantum ratione pro divina providentia pugnent quod scelera puniat at Job illam agnoscit cum aerumnas ille immittit propter praeclaros fines nobis occultos soli deo notos Pined Juri libertati dei assignat afflictiones quas amici peccatis Coc Thirdly which sutes the former That Job here shewes his friends the true way of reconciling his owne innocency with the sharp afflictions and troubles which were upon him Job felt and saw and others eyther did or might that he was sorely afflicted And Job knew though others did not that he was innocent as to the charge brought against him Then how shall he reconcile the justice of divine providence with his owne innocence His friends knew not how to reconcile the innocency of an afflicted man and the Justice of an afflicting God This was a riddle which they could not unfold And therefore when they saw God thus afflicting him they concluded as strongly as if they had seene it that Job had greatly offended God But Job knew how to unlocke this secret and expound this riddle Hee knew how to maintaine and assert his owne integritie while he suffered and yet acquit the Justice of God in laying those sufferings upon him He could say God is supreame He is in one minde And what he doth he may doe because he hath a minde to doe it He hath deep purposes and designes which I am not able to reach or fathome Therefore though I complaine I doe not complaine as if God had done me wrong but because I smart because I feel such paines and so heavie a pressure upon me I am far from saying that he hath injured me though he hath thus afflicted me nor can any thing which he hath done or shall further doe be an injury to me for I confesse that he hath a right to doe whatsoever he pleaseth to doe Thus we have an excellent defence made by Job in these words to vindicate the Lords sharp dealings with him from the least suspition of injustice and to accord the assertion of his owne afflicted innocence with a beleeving reverence of the righteousnesse of God and so these words of his are the breathings of a very gracious spirit teaching us far better then his friends had done how to answer for God in his saddest dispensations towards man They knew no other way to doe it but by rendering Job a notorious hypocrite an haynous offender and these his sufferings to be the punishments of his hypocrisie and offences But Job resolves all into the unchangeablenes of Gods will and the soveraignty of his power Thus much for the generall scope of these words Vers 13. But he is of one minde ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã These words undergoe variety of readings I will name foure First Some translate thus For he is alone That is Ipse enim solus est Vulg. he is the onely Judge there is none above him to whom I might appeale from him nor hath he any equall to ballance him There 's none to be found upon the earth no nor in heaven that can alter and controule his decrees or supercede and checke any of his proceedings He is alone Ipse unus est Pagn Aliqui ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã redundare putant Merc Cum nemo absolutè sit nisi deus nemo sit absolute bonus nisi deus ita nemo unus est nisi deus Deus est unissimus Sed si ipse contra unum agit quis revocet eum Jun Et ipse in uno Mont In uno supple fixus ipse perpetuò sui similis est i. e. non mutatur ut homo ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Et quis averiet eum Mont Et quis redire faciet eum retrorsum Pagn i. e ab instituto vel a semel statuta sententia Secondly Others conceave there is a redundancy in the affix beth in And so in stead of He is in one the words are thus given He is one As if Jobs meaning were this There is none One but He or none One as He. As Christ saith There is none good but God or there is but one good that is absolutely good so there is none one but God that is absolutely One God is suherlatively one the one-most-one Thirdly Thus But if he act against one who can turne him And so M. Broughton Yet when he is against me who can stay him This hath a cleare truth in it and fully hits the scope of the place But I conceive a fourth reading which leads to ours to be yet more cleare and that is He is in one and who can turne him In one what one we answer in one minde noting the stabilitie of the thoughts and purposes of God his minde is one his purpose is one his decree is one he is alwayes like himselfe in all these He doth not change his minde as man doth He is constant and fixed to his owne purposes
to the dictates of his owne will and wisdome He is one And who can turne him Or Who can turne him away Or as another renders Who can make him returne backwards that is who can make him goe back from what he hath determined and once resolved upon True repentance or conversion is the change of the minde in man Every man that is converted from his sinfull state course by the power of God becomes another man as to his morals and spiritualls then he was before but man cannot turne God and make him any other then he is God can cause man to change his minde but man cannot make God change his minde nor turn him backward The Prophet saith of God Isa 44.25 That he turneth wise men backward and maketh their knowledge foolish The turning of the wise backward is the altering of their councells When they will not alter them God can He saith Their councells shall not stand nor shall they reach the end to which they were appoynted And it is so Sed quid ego similis cum sit sibi semper idem Quis rationem ab eo facti dictivè reposcat But can the wisest of men or all wise men plotting and laying their heads together turne the most wise God backward They cannot So that these words hold forth the efficacie and stabilitie of the purposes counsells and decrees of God Who can turne him And what his soule desireth even that he doth God is not like man consisting of a soule and body Man is the result of soule and body united together A soule is not a man nor is a body a man man is a third thing rising out of both But God is a spirit Animam alicujus sumi pro eo cujus est anima res est nota quare anima dei deus est Sanct And when Job sayth What his soule desireth The meaning is what himselfe desireth The soule of a man is indeed the man because the choycest part of man though man hath another part namely a body yet the soule is he The soule of man being his best part is often put for the whole man But the soule of God is not put here for God because it is the best part of Him His soule is himselfe Further This phrase or manner of speaking what his soule desireth notes onely the intensnes and strength of his desires or what he desiereth strongly The Lord sometimes makes offers to doe that which is not in his heart or desire to doe But what ever his soule goes out upon indeed or would have done that shall be done Thus the word is used frequently to set forth the full purpose of God to doe a thing Levit. 26.30 And I will destroy your high places and cut downe your images and cast your carkases upon the carkases of your idols and my soule shall abhorre you That is extreamly abhorre you I will abhorre you with the utmost abhorrence And againe Isai 1.14 Your new moones and your appointed feasts my soule hateth That is I hate them with a perfect hatred to shew how deepe his hatred was of those things as done by them he saith my soule hateth them As if he had sayd I hate your formality in my worship from the bottome of my heart We have the same sence Jer. 6.8 Be thou instructed O Jerusalem lest my soule depart from thee That is lest I totally depart I will depart not onely by withdrawing some of your outward comforts but even those which are the more intimate and immediate discoveries of my love my soule shall depart from thee or be loosed and dis-joynted from thee as we put in the Mergin that is I will be of no more use to thee or a helpe to thee then a member of the body is to the body when it is dislocated or removed from its proper joynt Once more Jer. 32.41 I will rejoyce over them to doe them good and will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soule That is I will doe it for them entirely and affectionatly or with entirest affection What his soule desireth That is What he desireth or whatsoever pleaseth him Velle est hoc loco aliquid peculiarius expetere concupiscere solet ad rem quam piam delectabilem referri We desire onely those things which are very pleasing And those things which are most pleasing to us are to us very desirable The desire of man is love in motion as his joy is love at rest But in God desire and joy are not distinguishable in him there is no motion all is rest What his soule desireth Even that he doth The Hebrew is very concise His soule desireth and doth That is he no sooner desireth a thing but he doth it Optat tantam protinus fectum est Merc or when he desireth it is done The will of God is execution though he willeth many things which as to man are not presently no nor till a long time after executed yet as to himselfe whatsoever God willeth is executed and whensoever he pleaseth his will is actually executed among men He desireth and it is done From the words thus opened we may observe according to the first reading of the former part of the verse That God is one There is one God and but one Thus the Lord speaks of himselfe by the Prophet Isa 44.8 Is there a God besides me Yea there is no God I know not any Isai 45.5 I am the Lord and there is none else there is no God besides me He is one himselfe and he hath not a second The Heathens having many gods when they were oppressed by any one god Saepe premente deo dat deus alter opem they sought reliefe from another As Sorcerers and Witches goe to a stronger spirit for help against what a weaker spirit hath done Heathen gods were devill-gods and they are many The Jewes degenerating into Idolatry multiplyed their Gods according to the number of their Cities Jer. 2.28 But Jehovah The living God The Lord is one God We affirme from Scripture that there are three Hees or subsistences in the God-head commonly called persons Father Sonne and Spirit but these three are one not onely by consent but by nature and essence Heare O Israel sayd Moses Deut. 6.4 The Lord our God is one Lord. Secondly From our reading He is in one or as we supply He is In one minde Observe that great truth God is unchangable I the Lord change not Mal. 3.6 The unchangeablenes of God may be considered in divers things First In his essence or nature God knoweth no decay He is a spirit an eternall spirit He hath nothing mingled or mixed in him which should worke or tend to alteration God is simple He is most simple even simplicity it selfe There is no composition in him no diversitie of qualities in him Man changeth in his natural constitution because compounded and made up of
yea these are not yet dead but alive and in force against you If we doe not take hold of the preceptive part of the Law by obedience the poenal part of the Law will take hold of us for our disobedience Thus the Lord professeth Mal. 3.5 And I will come neare to you to Judgement and I will be a swift witnes against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against false swearers and against those that oppresse the hireling in his wages the widow and the fatherlesse and that turne aside the stranger from his right and feare not me saith the Lord of hosts for I am the Lord I change not I will certainly be not onely a Judge but a witnesse and that a swift one against such wicked ones There is no evading my Judgement seing I am both witnes and Judge as a witnes I know all that ye have done and as a Judge I have power not onely to condemne you but also to give you up into the hand of the executioner for I am the Lord of hosts I have all the Armyes of heaven and earth at my command and bidding Thus I will doe and be ye assured of it that I will doe so for I am the Lord I change not Sixthly God is unchangeable or of one minde in his gifts Rom. 11.29 The gifts and calling of God are without repentance That is The gifts of his effectuall calling shall never be repented of As they who receive them will have no cause to repent yea they will have cause to reioyce in them for ever so God who gives them will not repent He is in one minde he will not alter his gifts As Pilate when he was moved to alter his writing upon the Crosse of Christ answered What I have written I have written that is what I have written shall stand so what motion soever should be made to God to recall the gifts of effectuall calling he would surely answer What I have given I have given my gift shall stand There are gifts of a meere outward calling which God takes away againe His gifts doe not stand with such because they stand still with his gifts That was the doome of the idle servant who had one talent given him Take the talent from him and give it to him that hath ten Talents Math. 25.15.28 But the gifts of effectuall calling shall not be taken away Jam. 1.17 Every good gift and every perfect gift such is the gift of effectuall calling is from above and cometh downe from the father of lights with whom is no variablenes nor shadow of turning And as there is no variablenes in God as to the matter or generall nature of the gifts which he bestoweth they are all good and perfect gifts in their kinde though they are not all in the same degree of goodnes and perfection God doth not give his people sometimes bread and sometime a stone now an egge and anon a scorpon now I say as there is no variablenes in God as to the nature of the gifts which he bestoweth so there is no variablenes in him as to the act of giving or bestowing As the Lord giveth liberally and upbraydeth not Jam. 1.5 so he giveth liberally and repenteth not Thus we see he is not onely one but in one minde He is unchangeable And that not onely in his essence and glorious attributes or perfections but in his counsels and decrees in his promises and threatnings in his gifts and bounties to all his people He giveth and repenteth not Before I passe from this poynt it will be needfull to answer some Objections which are raised against it from those Scriptures which seeme to say that God is not of one minde or that his minde doth alter and change First That report which Moses makes of God seemes to say so Gen. 6.6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him at his heart What is repentance but the change of the mind therefore he that repents is not in one mind Seing then God repents how is he unchangeably in one minde A like appearance of contradiction we find 1 Sam. 15. not onely with this text in Job but between the 11th verse compared with the 29th of the same Chapter The 11 âh verse speakes thus Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel saying it repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be King c. ver 29. And also the strength of Israel will not lie nor repent for he is not a man that he should repent The strength or victory of Israel is God for it was by his strength that Israel had all his victories and of him Samuel saith He will not repent when as himselfe had sayd a little before It repenteth me c. To these Scriptures we may adde 2 Kings 20th which in words holds out a great change in the minde of God concerning Hezekiah if we compare the first and the fift verses of that Chapter together ver 1. In those dayes Hezekiah was sicke unto death and the Prophet Isaiah the son of Amos came to him and said unto him thus saith the Lord set thine house in order for thou shalt dye and not live Here is a strong affirmation that Hezekiah should dye And to the affirmative the negative is also added Thou shalt dye and not live 'T is the strongest manner of asserting any thing when the contrary is denyed As it is sayd of John the Baptist John 1.20 And he confessed and denied not but confessed I am not the Christ c. So here Thou shalt die and not live Yet we read vers 5. And it came to passe before Isaiah was gone out of the middle Court that the word of the Lord came to him saying Turne againe and tell Hezekiah the Captain of my people thus saith the Lord the God of David thy father I have heard thy prayers I have seene thy teares behold I will heale thee on the third day thou shalt goe up unto the house of the Lord and I will adde unto thy dayes fifeene yeares Doth not this import an evident change in the minde of God Having dispatcht the Prophet to tell Hezekiah that he shall die and not live He presently after even before he was got out of the Court sends the same Prophet backe to tell him that he shall live and not die We have the same difficulty in that knowne place in the Prophesie of Jonah Chap. 3.4 Jonah is sent to Nineveh with a direct message Yet fourtie dayes and Nineveh shall be overthrowne Notwithstanding as soone as the fast was proclaimed and kept and the Ninevites had repented and turned from their evil wayes The Lord also repented of the evil denounced against them ver 10. And God saw their workes that they turned from their evil way and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would doe unto them and he did it not Here God repented of his threatning He had said
and this agrees well with the former because he that performeth and payeth according to his word hath peace both in himselfe and with other men An honest pay-master sits downe in peace and prevents his owne trouble But to the matter He that is God performeth The thing that is appoynted for mee ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quia reddet statutum meum Mont. 'T is the same word which we had at the 12th verse of this Chapter I have esteemed the words of his mouth more rhen my necessary or my appoynted food Here wee render it the thing that is appoynted for mee The word is often used in the 119 Psalme and signifieth any Ordinance Law Statute or Decree whether divine or humane for all these are the appoyntments eyther of God or man about things to be done or forborne And as God makes appoyntments of things which he would have us doe so of such things as himselfe will doe to or concerning us Master Broughton translates it here as we doe at the 12th verse implying necessary food or the provisions of this life Because he furnished mee with my dayly bread That which wee render the thing that is appoynted for mee he renders my dayly bread Another learned in that language Perfecit necessaria mea Vatab i. e. perfecit quicquid mihi erat opus ipse corporis mei artifex omnium quae in me sunt agrees in the same sence and varyes very little in words Hee hath performed or accomplished those things which were necessary for mee or all those things which I stand in need of He who set up this frame of my body and hath given mee this life hath administer'd all things needfull for the upholding of this body and for the maintaining of this life And so the words carry Jobs sence or acknowledgement of the fatherly care and kindnes of God towards him What his soule desireth even that he doth for hee furnisheth mee with dayly bread and hee performeth what is necessary for me or supplyeth all my wants According to which sence Mr Broughton renders the second part of the verse also And many such graces are with him Thus Job spake at the 10th Chapter ver 8.12 Thy hands have made mee and fashioned me together round about Thou hast granted me life and favour and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit So that the minde of these translaters seemes to be this That Job would set forth the unchangeablenes of Gods decree in giving him his appoynted comforts as well as sorrows Yet rather by this appoyntment or the thing which God had appoynted him wee are to understand as I conceive his afflictions onely and his sorrow As if he had said Quicquid deme decrevit absolvet sive in bonum sive in malum Merc Non me missum faciet donea impleverit quae in statuit Merc I finde that God will doe what he hath a minde to doe how grievous soever it be eyther to the minde or flesh of man for he performeth the thing that hee hath appoynted for mee hee hath appoynted me to sorrow and I have had sorrow and trouble store And he will not dismisse me or let mee goe out of his hand till he hath performed every title of what he hath appoynted for my portion of sorrow and suffering in this world And to shew how much he was assured of this He speakes in the present tense Not he will performe but he performeth c. As if he had sayd He will as surely doe it as if he were now a doing it Hence observe First That God will certainly performe all his appoyntments concerning man He is able to doe it and he will doe it This poynt was largely insisted upon from those words of the former verse He is in minde who can turne him God doth what he hath a minde to doe therefore I shall not here stay to shew the certainty of Gods performing what he hath appoynted but to shew the appoyntment of all things which he performeth Take the observation thus formed Whatsoever God performeth or doth to any man was before appoynted or decreed for or concerning him All the workes of God in time were his decrees before time hee performeth the thing that is appoynted and appoynted by himselfe and his appoyntments are as himselfe is from everlasting Whatsoever God doth we finde it under an appoyntment First and especially as to the buisines in hand the afflictions and suffering of his servants All their sufferings are under an appoyntment Micah 6.9 The Lords voyce cryeth unto the City and the man of wisdome shall see thy name heare ye the rod and who hath appoynted it As if he had said your selves by your sins are the procurers of it we the Prophets are onely the reporters and publishers of it But God himselfe is the appoynter of it As publique and national rods so private or personall rods are appoynted And as often as we feele their smart we should consider their appoyntment The Apostle 1 Thes 3.3 moves the Saints to a steadines of spirit under affliction upon this ground that no man should be moved by these afflictions he doth not mean that wee should be without sense of our afflictions stroakes and sufferings but his meaning is that we should neither be moved by impatience under them to murmure at them nor be moved by undue feares to faint in them why for your selves know that wee are appoynted thereunto The afflictions are appoynted to us and wee are appoynted to them and your selves know it This doctrine hath been published to you that afflictions are under a divine appoyntment that there is a decree of God about them And that First as to the matter of what sort the affliction shall be secondly as to the measure or degree how great the affliction shall be Thirdly the appoyntment reaches the season and that twofold First when the affliction shall begin and secondly how long it shall continue every thing in affliction is under an appoyntment Secondly As our afflictions so also our comforts are under an appoyntment As the Lord hath appoynted the Gall so the honey of our cup as the cold and winter so the warme and summer seasons of our lives Isa 61.2 3. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath annoynted me to preach good tidings to the meeke c. To proclaime the acceptable yeare of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourne to appoynt unto them that mourne in Sion and this appoyntment in execution is ãâã fullfilling of the first appoyntment by decree to appoynt unto them tââ mourne in Sion to give unto them beauty for ashes the oyle of Joy foâ mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heavines And as our spirituall comforts so our temporall our outward salvations and protections are under an appoyntment Isa 26.1 Salvation shall God appoynt for walls and bulwarkes Thirdly As the wall of
in any new sufferings O saith he God hath made my heart soft that is I begin to faint I finde my selfe drooping I have not that strength of spirit and though I am not a coward yet I have not that courage that hardnes or hardines of spirit which I have had heretofore He queried indeed Ch. 6.12 Is my strength the strength of stones or is my flesh brass He had much strength but not the strength of stones nor was he hard as brass Now he saith plainly my heart is made soft it melteth like wax at the fire I am so litle like brass or stones in strength or hardnes that I am altogether like wax or water I am so far from having a minde to strive with or rise up against God that I know not how to stand before him if he which he seems to intend should still goe on to afflict me I am growne weake and unable to beare yet my burden remaines and will probably be made yet more heavie This interpretation carrieth a distinct sence in it and that which is most genuine to the scope of the place Mr Broughtons translation of the latter clause of the verse suites this exposition of the former with much clearenes For the Omnipotent hath softned my heart and the Almighty hath made me shrinke Whereas wee say the Almighty troubleth me he saith The Almighty hath made me shrinke For so a man commonly doth who eyther feares or feeles that which he is not well able to beare Hence Note The heart of a Godly man even of the most Godly may be so weakened under long continued sufferings that he may finde himselfe utterly unable to beare them any longer Wicked men labour to strengthen and harden themselves all they can to beare in opposition to God and Saints would strengthen and harden themselves all they can to beare in submission to God Pharaoh hardened his heart to oppose God striking him hee had stroake after stroake and Judgement after Judgement yet he would not yeeld but at last God made his heart soft in one sense though hee hardened it in another God appeared at last too hard for Pharaoh hee could hold out no longer And we finde the Lord speaking thus by Ezekiel to his people who it seemes by the language which God useth concerning them had as it were set themselves with unholy resolutions to stand or rather stout it out with God and beare the worst that hee could doe unto them But saith the Lord Ezek. 22.14 can thine heart endure or can thine hands be strong in the day that I shall deale with thee When I deale with thee in wayes of Judgement when I take thee in hand to punish and repay thee according to thy workes can thine heart endure no! it cannot endure it shall not be able to endure The Lord doth not meane it of an endureing with submission and patience So it is the honour of Saints to endure what ever God layes upon them but to endure with stoutnes and resistance art thou able to stand it out or can thine hand be strong no thy heart and hand will be soft and weake thou wilt not be able to beare it when I come to deale with thee It is sayd of Christ by David his type Psal 22.13 when hee was under those terrible sufferings for our sins that his heart was made soft and if it were so with the greene tree what must it be with the dry I am powred out like water and all my bones are out of joynt my heart is like wax it is melted in the midst of my bowells Thus the sufferings of Christ our head who was also the Captain of our salvation and the mighty God made his heart soft and melted him His heart was not melted with sorrow for his owne sin for he was without sin but the sorrow that was upon him for our sins melted his heart Whose heart will not melt grow soft that is unable to beare it when God layeth his hand heavy and long upon him Therefore we râad in the Prophet how the Lord takes notice of this and condescends to the weaknes of man Isa 57.16 I will not contend for ever neither will I be alwayes wroth I will not goe onne to doe as I have done Why What 's the reason of it not but that God is able to continue his Contending and to carry on his warre whether with persons or with Nations for ever but he hath respect to the poore Creature for saith he I will not doe it lest the spirit should faile before mee and the soules which I have made How can soules faile the soule is an immortall substance and shall not faile for ever The soules of the damned shall be under everlasting Contendings and never faile they shall beare wrath for ever and not faile yea their bodyes shall not faile but through the power of God sustaining them under his Justice shall endure everlasting torments The meaning of that expression in the Prophet is the same with this in the Text Their heart will be made soft as yet they have strength faith and courage to beare these afflictions but if I continue them longer their spirit and strength their faith and patience will faile and be so worne out that they will not be able to abide it God would not Contend for ever lest as Job here complaines he should make their hearts soft And the Almighty troubleth mee That is his presence or his dispensations trouble me Deus in cujus potentia sufficientiaque divitiarum solatium meum esse debebat is me privavit omni solatio animam meam plane dejecit deserit me terret me Sanct wee see how much the spirit of Job was carryed out in the thing And he useth a word here that signifieth the power of God to comfort and refresh or God in his allsufficiency to comfort yet saith he this Almighty troubleth mee that is the thoughts or remembrance of him troubleth me He hath cast downe and grieved my soule already and I am much troubled with fearefull apprehensions of like severities from him againe These words the reader will easily perceive to be of the same minde and meaning with the 15th verse of this Chapter lately opened and therefore I shall not stay upon them but proceed to the last verse Vers 17. Because I was not cut off before the darknes neither hath he Covered the darknes from my face Here Job gives another reason of his being thus troubled at the presence of the Almighty It is saith he because I was not cut off before the darknes or because I dyed not by thick darknes so Mr Broughton we say because I was not cut off hee because I dyed not both meete in the same meaning For death is a cutting off and death will cut off or mow downe the strong yea the strongest as the sith doth eyther corne or grasse Thus spake Hezekiah in his sicknes Isa 38.10 I sayd in the
cutting off of my dayes that is when I thought I lay a dying Job was troubled because he was not cut off Before the darknes or from the face of darknes Death it selfe is darknes Quòd me non interemerit auferens a conspectu non tantam hanc caliginem tot mala Merc and yet Job would faine have dyed before the darknes There is a darknes of affliction and trouble spoken of often in this booke and elsewhere which is more bitter to man then death it selfe Some had rather be taken out of the world then endure the troubles of it This is the first part of the reason I am troubled why because I was not cut off before the darknes or before this trouble came As if he had sayd I should have been glad or it had been good for me if death had prevented these troubles this troubles mee that I dyed not that I went not to the grave before these troubles came upon mee Thus Job gives way againe to his passion hee broke out much in this straine or language at the third Chapter where at large he openeth his wish for death either that he had dyed before or presently after hee was borne into this world that hee might have been at rest and so out of the reach of those evills and calamities that did encamp against or beset him round about The reader may consult what hath been done upon that Chapter of which this verse is an Epitome and there finde the nature of this wish for death explained as also what lively desires Job had of death or as this text speakes that he had been cut off before the darknes I shall here onely take notice That to some the sorrowes of this life are much more bitter then death it selfe yea that God himselfe hath sometimes in a way of mercy and favour called some out of the world before he would let great troubles in There was a promise made to Josiah King of Judah that God being resolved to bring trouble upon that people yet he should be cut off before the darknes 2 Kings 22.20 Because thy heart was tender c. Behold therefore I will gather thee unto thy fathers and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace and thine eyes shall not see all the evill which I will bring upon this place And when Ahab had humbled himselfe before the Lord even he went not without a reward for it and his reward was this 1 Kings 21.29 I will not bring the evill in his dayes Hee shall be cut off before the darknes Jerom speaking of the troubles that came upon the Church Foelix Nepotianus qui haec non vidit Hier doth as it were applaud the death of Nepotian upon that Consideration Happy he that dyed before these troubles lived It hath somewhat of mercy in it to goe out of the world before extraordinary affliction comes in yet in these things wee must take heed of being our owne Carvers it is one thing to have a promise from God that the Cloud shall not breake in our time and another thing for us to wish and desire to be out of the world before the Cloud breakes The former argueth the tendernes and care of God towards us but the latter must needs argue eyther our unwillingnes to suffer eyther from or for God Or our distrust of his assistance and presence with us to support us in our sufferings If God will not cut us off by death before the darknes wee should be willing to live in the darkest darknes of outward calamity that ever fell upon this world Job adds a second reason of his troubled spirit in the last words of this verse and Chapter Neither hath he Covered the darknes from my face I am troubled because I have lived in troublesome dayes but though I have yet God could have hidden me from those troubles or those troubles from me but as hee hath let me live in the darknes of trouble so he hath not at all covered the darknes of ttouble from me I doe not onely live in troubles but I am alwayes looking troubles in the face Mr Broughton renders thus Nor he yet hideth gloomines from my face which he also paraphraseth in these words Because I finde neyther death nor ease of sicknes that I should not feele these afflictions So that as he complaines because he dyed not before the darknes came so because God did not hide the darknes from him when it came but let him have such sad visions of it This still imports that Job had not that fullnes of submission to the dispensations of God as duty called him to and for this Elihu reproves him yea God himselfe chid and rebuked him because he tooke upon him so often to give the rule and did not sit downe more quietly under his appoyntment and portion for him Though Jobs patience was great yet he had not all patience or all of patience And though I doubt not but his patience had a perfect worke yet he did not attaine to the perfection of patience This according to our translation is the sence and summe of these words concerning which many things have been spoken in the former part of the Booke whether I referre the reader yet before I passe them quite out of my hands I shall gather up some other Renderings of this verse and leave them to the readers Judgement and consideration First Thus when I was onely not Cut off by darknes Nam ubi tantum non excisus sum propter tenebras a facie mea se operit caligine Coc hee hath hid himselfe in darknes from my face This translation the Originall may beare with some little supplement which is usuall in like Cases when there is no straine upon the generall scope of the place and the meaning is clearely this Whereas I am onely not cut off by darknes that is whereas my troubles are such as have onely not extinguished my life when I am in this pitiful miserable plight Hee that is God hath hid himselfe from mee in darknes So that here he speakes of a twofold darknes or evill that was upon him first affliction upon his body secondly desertion upon his spirit and so the negative particle not is rendered by some onely not it is onely not death with mee ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã non ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Tantum non q. d. hoc effecit in me absconsio ejus ut non quidam exscinderer sed excisiom proximus essem Coc yet the Lord is pleased to hide his face from mee whereas wee say Hee hath not Covered the darknes from my face this translation saith Hee hath Covered his owne face with darknes or Covered himselfe with darknes from my face First thereby intimating that God doth often joyne spirituall troubles with corporall the hidings of his face with the troubles of our flesh Secondly that outward troubles are then most grievous to us when God hides or
a fitt or a convenient time implying that time in that notion is not hidden from God Isa 50.4 God hath given me the tongue of the learned that I might speake a word in season to him that is weary Which some translate thus That I might know the appointed time to the afflicted An afflicted soule must be watched and a season taken these times are not hidden from the Almighty he knoweth the opportunity and therefore can direct him that speakes to a wearyed soule as to speake proper and taking matter so to speake it in a proper and taking time when it shall be as welcome to the soule as raine to the dry and thirsty ground David saith to the Lord Psal 119.23 It is time Lord for thee to worke for they have made voide thy Law that is now is the season and opportunity for thee to work if ever thou wilt shew thy selfe doe it now And when David confessed Psal 31.15 My times are in thy hand He meanes that the seasons of his comforts Per tempora intelligit rerum vicissitudines divitias et pauperiem pacem bellum c. Theodoret and of his sorrowes all the turnings and changes of his life from one condition to another were cast and ordered by the power and wisdome of God Why seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty Doe they that know him not see his dayes Thus Job describes the persons that see not the dayes of God they are such as know him Which character as was shewed before belongs to every Godly man though it be more peculiar to some Hence note First Every Godly man knoweth God And none but the Godly know him indeed many ungodly men professe they know God and they may know him notionally but no ungodly man knoweth him truly experimentally or practically Many ungodly men have a forme of knowledge and of the truth in the Law as the Apostle speakes of the Jewes Rom. 2.20 but no ungodly man feeleth the power of knowledge and of the truth in the Law Pietas est cognitio scientiaque dei Trismeg And therefore the wicked are spoken of in Scripture as not knowing God Jere. 10.25 Powre out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not And when the Prophet describes the wickednesse of the Jewish State he saith Hos 4.1 There is no knowledge of God in the Land Which the Chalde Paraphrast renders thus Neither are there any who walke in the feare of God in the land where there is no knowledge of God there is no feare of God We neyther love nor feare him of whom we have no knowledge nor can we beleeve in or trust him whom we know not Psal 9.10 They that know thy name will put their trust in thee That is the truly godly will trust in thee for they know thy name but they that know thee not how can they trust upon thee and therefore the Prophet calls us to boast in the knowledge of God Jere. 9.23 Thus saith the Lord let not the wise man glory in his wisdome neither let the mighty man glory in his might let not the rich man glory in his riches but let him that glorieth glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me that I am the Lord whech exercise loving kindnesse judgement and righteousnesse in the earth for in these things I delight saith the Lord. There is nothing in this world worth the boasting in but the holy knowledge of a holy God or such a knowledge of God the fruit whereof is a godly life here and the end whereof is an eternall life hereafter Joh. 17.3 This is eternall life that they may know thee the onely true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent This knowledge of God doth not floate in the braine but sinkes into the heart and is rooted in the affections Thus the Apostle John argues 1 Epist Chap. 2. v. 3 4 5 6. Hereby we know that we know him if we keepe his Commandements he that sayth he knows him and keepeth not his commandement is a liar and the truth is not in him As if he had sayd The true knowledge of God is an obedientiall knowledge so that if any man sayth he knoweth God while his life is not sutable to what he knoweth this mans profession is vaine and himselfe is a lyar Whosoever keepeth his word in him verily is the love of God perfected that is he loveth God with a perfect or sincere love and the love of God is perfected towards him The scope of his whole discourse there is to shew that the true knowledge of God is the keeping of the word of God Many are so ignorant of God that they know not the word which they should keepe and all they who knowing the word keepe it not will at last be numbered among the ignorant or among those that know not God But their condition will be worse and their punishment greater then theirs who never knew God according to the teachings of his word Their estate will be bad enough who perish for want of the knowledge of God then what will their end be who perish in the neglect or abuse of plentifull knowledge From the second notion of the words they that know him as they intimate a sort of Godly men who have neerer acquaintance with and freer accesse to God then others Observe That as all godly men know God which the wicked doe not so some godly men have such a knowledge of God as many who are godly have not Though the knowledge of all godly men be of the same nature and kinde yet not of the same degree and height We reade of some who in old time were called Seers 1 Sam. 9.9 as if they onely had been endued with sight and all others were blinde in the things of God They were the onely seers yea they were fore-seers because God did often reveale himselfe and declare to them what he was about to doe in dreames and visions Now as in those times there were some men called seers so in these times some may be called knowers as if none knew any thing of God comparatively to them or as if other godly men were ignorant and understood nothing of him When God 1 Sam. 3. appeared to Samuel in a vision and revealed the doome of Elies house to him the Text sayth at the 7th verse Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord surely Samuel did know the Lord as other godly did in those times though he were but young yea it is said The childe Samuel ministred before the Lord and did not he know the Lord no doubt he did The meaning therefore is Samuel did not yet know the Lord by any speciall intimacy with him or particular revelation from him as afterward he did he became a knower of God at last though then he did not know God in this peculiar sence But God having revealed to him the secret what he would doe to Elies house then he knew God he
the fatherlesse they take the widows Ox for a pledge They turne the needy out of the way the poore of the earth hide themselves together IN the first verse of this Chapter it was shewed that they who know God that is godly men doe not in this world see his dayes that is the dayes of his judgement and vengeance upon the wicked In the following part of this Chapter Job proceeds to describe wicked men in severall acts of wickednesse and how they carry it on and have many faire dayes in the world while they are doing fowle and filthy worke They doe as much mischiefe as they can and they enjoy as much outward prosperity as they can desire to have or tell what to doe with it when they have it so that they seeme equally to abound in the practice of evill and in the possession of Good See what havocke they make in the words of this context Vers 2. Some remove the Land-marks they violently take away flocks and feed thereof Some remove Of whom Job spake in particular or of what particular time he spake is uncertaine Some referre it to the dayes before the Floud for that was a time wherein the world was filled with violence and that was the speciall sinne of that age set forth Gen. 6.11 The earth also was corrupt before God That is men dwelling upon the earth were corrupt morally corrupt corrupt in their manners Thus the earth was corrupt before God and he shews wherein that corruption did consist and the earth was filled with violence But as the character which Job gives of these men may wel suite those times so what times have not produced such a sort of men And though some times have been more tainted with and notorious for those sinnes then others yet all times have been tainted with them and therefore we may take the words generally as applicable to any age of the world Some remove the Land-markes That is those marks which are set up for the distinction or division of Lands that every man may know his owne and not entrench upon his neighbours inheritance These land-marks or bounds they remove ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã retigit apprehendit vis verbi ea est ut ita res attingatur quòâ apprehendatur peâtinet ad vim potentioris manuÌ inijcientis The Hebrew is they touch so 't is translated some touch the land-marks land-marks were sacred things they ought not to be touched nor medled with The Lord speaks of his holy people Psal 105.15 Touch not mine anointed and doe my Prophets no harme Another word is used in the Psalme but we may give the same emphasis here some touch the land-marks as if it were a fault so much as to handdle or meddle with them yet the word here used signifies both to touch and to take and so to take as violently to carry away Zech. 1.6 Did not my word take hold of your fathers that is did it not apprehend and seaze upon them yea remove them out of the land of the living Where the word of God toucheth it taketh away eyther to destruction or salvation And that word in the Prophet hath a double allusion either to the hunting of beasts or to fighting and contending with men the word followed your fathers it overtooke them it tooke them it laid hold on them as the hunter layeth hold upon his prey or as an enemy follows and over-takes a fleeing enemy did not my word take hold of your fathers yes it did and that to purpose The word is used Psal 40.12 Mine iniquities sayth David take hold of me so that I am not able to looke up they have dealt with me as with a fugitive that runneth away They have taken hold of me and they hold me fast my sinne hath apprehended me So that though this originall word signifies to touch yet it is so to touch as to offer violence to take away to remove as is expressed in those instances 1 Sam. 30.8 David inquired of the Lord saying shall I pursue after this troope shall I over-take them so 2 Sam. 15.14 David said to all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem arise let us flee for we shall not escape from Absolom make speed to depart least he overtake us suddenly In which places as this word is used so the use of it is about violent and forcible actings so that this touching is taking or removing they remove or pull up the land-marks to set them in some other place for their owne advantage This was their first sin the removing of land-marks which was upon the matter to take away propriety and to put all men out of possession There can be no possession without distinction Mira fuit in antiquis tum in constituendis tum in servandis limitibus fides atque religio naturall riches consist in lands and cattle both beare their owners mark The care and industry of the ancients was exceeding great and accurate about their land-marks both in setting them up and in observing them that every man might have his owne wherefore to remove the land-marks was indeed to take away the land Hence note That God hath given unto man a proper speciall and personall right in his lands and goods If it were not so then first it were no sinne to remove land-marks or a vaine thing to set them up if there be no distinction of inheritances by propriety what needs there be any distinction by marks or limits to shew this is such a mans land and that anothers No man may set a speciall marke where he hath not a speciall right Secondly if there were no propriety there could not be such a sinne as stealing and theeving that which is every mans any man may take and be blamelesse Thirdly if there were not propriety there would be but little industry If mens lands and goods were not their owne who would be found to take care of them or paines about them Fourthly to make all things common were to run all into confusion There is nothing more unequall then this kinde of equality If all had a like right in the things of the world all would thinke to have a like power in the government of the world Propriety and Magistracy must stand and fall together But some may object that practice of the primitive Church Acts 2.44 who had all things common And if all things with them were in a community where was propriety I answer First This practice of theirs was purely voluntary not at all imposed as appeares plainely from the words of Peter to Ananias Acts 5.4 While it remained was it not thine owne or more close to the Greek Remaining did it not remaine to thee that is it was properly thine before thou soldest it and thou mightest have kept thy interest in it No man compelled thee to sell or give and if thou hadst not sold it thou mightest still have held communion with the Church for all that But
of the way to give them place or they made the poore to keepe out of their sight for feare of them lest as they had already spoyled them of their estates so they should also abuse their persons Illis grassantibus nullis ne tenuis quidem sortis viatoribus tuta est via adeo ut deflectere a via publica et latebras quaerere passim cogantur Bez and make them slaves Thus they turned the poore out of the way that is they durst not come in sight for feare this suites well with the last clause of the verse The poore of the earth hide themselves together The word needy in the former part of the verse as was toucht before signifies one full of desires here the word which we render poore notes one that is humble meeke lowly not onely one low in estate but lowly in minde not onely him that is poore in purse but poore in spirit so 't is translated Zeph. 2.3 Seeke ye the Lord ye meeke of the earth even these poore of the earth hide themselves together Invisibiles fecerunt Author Cat wicked proud men make the poore seeke corners the poore have often had experience of their cruelty and rough dealing and therefore run together into holes and corners to hide themselves as desireing rather the society of wild beasts then of such beastly men Further the word which we render together may be translated alike They hide themselves alike that is one poore godly man as well as another they all fare alike they deale no better with one then with another none have hope to escape the hands of these unmercifull tyrants Thus it was in the time of that great oppression which the Israelites were under by the Philistims The Israelites hid themselves When Jonathan and his Armour-bearer got up and discovered themselves to the Garrison of the Philistims the Philistims said Behold the Hebrewes come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves 1 Sam. 14.11 The Author to the Hebrewes gives us a description of the poore Saints thus hiding themselves together Heb. 11.37 They wandred about in sheepe-skins and goate-skins being destitute afflicted and tormented they wandred in deserts and mountains in dens and caves of the earth The poore and meeke of the earth hid themselves together Thus we have had a large enumeration of those violences which Job had observed among men and men prospering in them First violence upon lands secondly upon cattle thirdly upon persons the needy and the poore are forced to run together into corners While The sin of some encreaseth the affliction of others must needes encrease Hence note Sinners know no bounds They who at first wrong men in their lands will not sticke to wrong them in their cattle and within a while they make no bones to fall upon their persons Secondly Note Those evills which are done to men immediately in their persons are more sinfull then those that are done to them in their goods cattle and estate Job shews the worst of their doings last 'T is bad enough to touch the goods of a poore man but to trouble his person or causelessely to make him hide his head is farre worse Thirdly Note That the promotion and exaltation of wicked men is the oppression and vexation of poore men especially of all of poore godly men It is a sad time with poore men most of all with poore godly men when the wicked are exalted Solomon gives us this note in expresse termes Prov. 28.28 When the wicked rise that is when they rise in power and authority men hide themselves that is good men hide themselves poore men hide themselves when the wicked rise but most of all such poore men as are godly The reigne of wicked men is the ruine of the godly Which is more plaine by the opposition made in the last clause of the verse When the wicked rise men hide themselves but when they perish the righteous increase In which Proverb rising is opposed to perishing but men and righteous are the same When the wicked perish those righteous men who before hid themselves appeare and shew themselves againe Some poore men are turbulent proud untractable seditious men of unquiet spirits if such be dealt with by justice and made to hide themselves they have their desert But the poore who are also humble meeke and of a quiet spirit as the word here imports are the aime of the wicked Such David found in his low estate and against them he prayed Psal 35.19 20. Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoyce over me neyther let them winke with the eye that is let them not have occasion to contemne and despise me of which winking with the eye was a token that hate me without a cause For they speake not peace but they devise deceitfull matters against them that are quiet in the land Lastly Note The poore goe by the worst and the weakest to the wall the needy are turned out of the way and the poore hide themselves And therefore saith God Psal 12.5 For the oppression of the poore and for the sighing of the needy now will I arise and set him in safety from him that puffeth at him Oppression may quickly empoverish the rich but usually the poore fall under oppression they that are full sigh when they are made needy and empty when all is taken from them but usually the needy and empty are made to sigh for the oppression of the poore will I arise saith the Lord. Rich and great men can defend themselves from oppression but the poore have no shelter rich men will purchase their right but the poore who hath nothing to give seldome finds a friend to deliver him and get him his right The storme falls upon the poore and most upon Gods poore they are most subject or lie most open to the evills of this world of whom this present evill world is not worthy and for whom the good of the next world is prepared And therefore they should fly to shelter while they are here get under covert run into the name of God for safety and protection they who are most subject to oppression need most protection Some are so poore that they have nothing to loose and so needy that they need not feare oppression They have neyther bread to eate nor cloathes to put onne These are no baite for covetousnes But they also are to be reckoned among the poore who have no more then will save them from poverty and they are among the needy who have onely so much as serves to supply their owne needs These poore and needy ones are game for the oppressors these the Wolves and Lyons of the earth make their prey The oppression and wickednes of these hath ascended three steps in the context now opened They are first Land-invaders secondly Cattel-takers thirdly men-troublers Job carrieth on the description of their wickednes yet further in the following parts of this Chapter JOB CHAP.
24. Vers 5 6 7 8. Behold as wilde asses in the desert goe they forth to their worke rising betimes for a prey the wildernes yieldeth food for them and for their Children They reap every one his Corne in the field and they gather the vintage of the wicked They cause the naked to lodge without Cloathing that they have no Covering in the Cold. They are wet with the showers of the mountaines and embrace the rock for want of a shelter JOb proceeds to enumerate the wickednesses of those men whom yet God spared and bare with he had set downe many of their sinfull wayes before they removed the land-marks they violently tooke away flocks they spared not the asse of the fatherles nor the widdows oxe They turned the needy out of the way so that the poore of the earth were forced to hide themselves together See now the further progresse of their wickednes even to admiration for so much the word Behold with which Job leads on his discovery of their vexatious practices doth import Vers 5. Behold as wilde asses in the desert they goe forth to their worke There is a difference in opinion among Interpreters about the subject of this verse whom wee are to understand under this description As wilde asses in the desert going forth to their worke Some of Note conceave that the poore are the subject of these words Exegesis praeordentis dicti de intoleranda inproborum sevâtia in pauperes quorum opera contra legem abutuntur Jun or the persons here intended And then they hold forth the hardship and misery to which they were reduced by those mercilesse tyrants Behold as wilde asses in the desert they goe forth to their worke Oppressors did so vex them and strip them out of all that they who heretofore had enough to live upon were constrained to goe forth to day-labour and worke for their living at the command or under the cruel bondage of those inhumane Taske-Masters Yet I conceive that wee may more clearly expound these words as carrying a continued series of the practices of wicked men who are here compared to wilde asses and there is a word in the 5th verse which gives a speciall reason why this should not be understood of the poore or oppressed but of the oppressor where it is sayd they rise betimes for a prey now that word which we render a prey cometh from a root which signifies to teare ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã carpsit discarpsit dilaceravit dentibus prâprium ferarum est to rend to pull assunder after the manner of wilde beasts and is of the same sound as well as significatioÌ with our English word teare therefore it should rather be understood of oppressors then of the oppressed for a man that goes forth to labour and worke for his living cannot properly be said to rise betimes for a prey for he goes forth to get his bread honestly now a prey is that which is got by violence and the word is never applyed to men but in allusion to ravenous and devouring beasts Jacob comparing his son Judah to a Lyons whelpe Gen. 49.9 saith From the prey my Sonn thou art gone up So Moses Deut. 33.20 And of Gad he said Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad hee dwelleth as a Lyon and teareth the Arme with the Crowne of the head And David praying to be delivered out of the hand of his enemy gives this reason Psal 7.2 Lest he teare my soule like a Lyon while there is none to deliver So that the word noting properly the act of a ravenous beast who lives upon spoyle and prey It is very improper to apply it to the worke of a labouring man who lives and earnes his bread with the sweat of his brows Yet I finde that word signifying food in generall Mal 3.10 Bring yee all the tythes into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house Which the interlineral renders that there may be a prey in mine house Vt sit praeda in domo mea Mont Vt sit quod rapitis c. Pâgna and another thus that there may be that which ye snatch in mine house Surely the Lord strikes at some misdemeanour while he expresseth the food of the Priests Levites by a word signifying that which is torne away by violence And I conceave it may either reflect upon the people who parted so hardly with the tythes which did belong to the Temple at that time that they were rather torne or pulled from them by a kinde of violence then freely payd or brought in according to the Law of God or it might reflect upon the extreme greedines of the Priests that did administer in the Temple as if they did look upon the tyths their portioÌ in them with as earnest desire as wild beasts hang over wait for a prey So that where this word is used to signifie food there is somewhat in the circumstance of the Text which leaves a touch of rapine and violence upon it And therefore it is not applicable to the earnings of honest labourers but to the cruel gettings of theeves and oppressors The mountaines of prey spoken of Psal 76.4 were eyther those places where conquering Armyes devided the spoyle after a victory obtained or where robbers preyed upon passengers And therefore I shall take the subject of this verse to be the oppressors of the poore not the poore oppressed Behold as wilde asses in the desert they goe forth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The particle of likenes as is not in the Hebrew nor yet the word Asses expressely And therefore Mr Broughton reads strictly to the Original Behold the wilde in the wildernes goe forth to their worke The word signifies wilde at large but because wilde asses are extreamely wilde therefore the word is specially applyed to them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ferus homo Thus the Angel sayd of Ishmael Gen. 16.12 And he will be a wilde man Behold as wilde asses in the desert The desert is the dwelling place of wilde asses Tame asses or asses brought to hand are about the house or in the enclosed pastures but wilde asses inhabit the desert The word that wee render desert comes from a roote that signifies to speake and the desert is so called by the figure of Contrary speaking ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Locutus est per antiphrasin quasi locus a sermone remotus because there is little or no speaking in deserts many words are heard onely in Cities or places where many people frequent It signifies also to lay wast because deserts are wast and barren places in comparison of drest and Enclosed grounds such is the place whether these spoylers goe forth as wilde asses To their worke But wild asses worke not onely tame asses are labouring asses So that the similitude runs not upon that poynt yet we may say wilde asses have a worke and 't is much like that which
troublesome unto others Sin and folly are more then like one another for they are the same They have no seasoning in them who have no Goodnesse in them Righteousnesse is the wisest and the most savory thing in the world in the account both of God and good men The wisedome which is from above sayth the Apostle James Chap. 3.17 is first pure then peaceable gentle and easie to be entreated full of mercy and good fruits without partiality towards men without hypocrisie towards God But the wisedome that is troublesome and vexatious rough and harsh to others is earthly sensuall devilish indeed down-right madnes absurdnes folly Solomon sayth Oppression makes a wise man mad but it will appeare at last that the wisest oppressors have been mad foolish saltlesse and brainlesse men Such use to flatter themselves and are often much flattered by others in their projects and policies for the onely wise men in the world but in the end they dye like fooles Observe Secondly God suffers oppressours to goe on long before he punisheth them and he suffers the oppressed to cry long before he releives them God is often pleased to winke while the wicked sin and he as often seemes to be asleepe while the righteous suffer Hence that sad complaint of the Church Psal 44.23 24. Awake why sleepest thou O Lord arise cast us not off for ever wherefore hidest thou thy face and forgettest our affliction and our oppression This also caused David to cry out Psal 13.1 How long wilt thou forget me O Lord for ever how long wilt thou hide thy face from mee how long shall mine enemies be exalted over mee What under the oppression of an enemy for ever while God assures his people in that parable of the importunate widdow and the unjust Judge Luk. 18. that he will deliver them yet he more then intimates that it may be very long before he doth it ver 6 7. And the Lord sayd heare what the unjust Judge saith and shall not God avenge his owne elect who cry to him night and day though he beare long with them that is though he exercise much patience towards those tyrants who oppresse his elect yea and much patience also towards his elect in regard of their doubts and despondencies of their feare and unbeleefe about his comming to avenge and helpe them against those Tyrants Further Folly imports not onely sin but the greatnes of sin so that when it is sayd God layeth not folly to them the sence according to this notion of the word folly is that though they sin greatly yet God makes no great matter of it or he doth not charge their sin upon them nor punish them for their sin answerably or in proportion to the greatnes of it Non ponit stultitiam i. e non imputat hoc iis tanquam graude peccatum hoc enim stultitia vocatur but passeth it by as if it were onely some infirmitie or small offence he doth not lay folly to them nor doth he let them feele what egregious fooles they have been The word folly is used often in Scripture in this sence to note a notorious sinne Gen. 34.7 when the sonnes of Jacob came out of the feild and heard how their sister had been dealt with they were exceedingly grieved and they were very wrath because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacobs daughter that is because he had committed a great wickednes in Israel We have the same sin so exprest againe by folly 2 Sam. 13.12 And she answered him nay my brother doe not force me for no such thing ought to be done in Israel doe not thou this folly As if she had sayd This is a grievous sin therefore doe it not And when the Lord would shew Jobs three friends the Greatnes of their error and mistake in their dispute with Job he calls it folly Job 42.9 My servant Job shall pray for you for him will I accept lest I deale with you according to your folly in that ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right like my servant Job Thus we see that great sins whether in practice or opinion come under this censure in Scripture onely we may note that the three texts mentioned expresse folly in another originall word then the present text doth There is folly enough great folly in every the least sin but Great sinnes deserve more to beare the name of folly in their foreheads Taking folly under this peculiar consideration We may observe That as The Lord in this life doth not punish any no not the worst of sinners according to the just demerit and dimension of their sinnes so he punisheth some whose sins are very great but very little Though he layeth their sinne to them yet he doth not lay it to them in the folly of it or as it is their folly He doth onely touch them with his little finger while it might be thought he would breake them with his iron rod. He doth but chastise them with whips while their sin calls for scorpions The Time will come when God will lay folly to every wicked man and make their sin appeare in the punishment of it what now it is in the nature of it out of measure sinfull Every impenitent sinner shall then finde that his sin is folly that is that his sin is very great Yet a late learned Expositer upon this Booke conceaves thar the sence is abated and diminished in the word folly as if it were Non ponit stultitam i. e. non dico scelera sed ne ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quidem aut faecta illepida insulsa iliis impatat Coc a terme of extenuation God doth not lay folly that is the least sinne to them he doth not so much as charge them to have done irrationally vainely childishly or unhandsomely he doth not onely not deale with them as if they had sinned haynously but he doth not deale with them as if they had done foolishly But whether we take the word Folly as implying the Greatnes or the littlenes of their sinne whether we expound it as a terme of diminution or of aggravation the sence of the text is not altered in which Job intends onely to shew that though men have done very wickedly yet God doth not presently render to them according to what they have done This is true in the first sence of the word if God doe not lay folly to them as it signifies a great sin and this is much more true if God doe not lay folly to them in the second sence as it signifies a little sin And this sence of this latter clause of the verse corresponds fully with the generall scope of the Chapter and of the whole Booke For Job argues with his friends thus Ye charge me with folly and wickednesse because I suffer yet God suffers the wicked and doth not charge them with folly Lastly Et tamen insulsitatem non designat deus Jun i.
e. pergere confirmari non sinit tam pravaÌ administrationem quae ideo insulsââacis nomine perstringitur quia nec deo nec hominibus bonis humanum alâquid sapienabus probatur id I shall onely represent another translation of these words which keepes strictly to the Hebrew in which those words To them as we render it are not found but supplyed And then the text runs onely thus And yet God doth not lay folly that is such things as are uncomely vaine and foolish As if Job had sayd Though I have made report to you of all these oppressive-wayes of wicked men yet I assure you God will not suffer these evill administrations to continue and be established but will at last beare his witnes against them and eminently shew his utter dislike of them as of that which is most foolish and unsavory not onely to himselfe but to all men who have any tast or sence of that which becommeth man Let men doe as foolishly and unrighteously as they will the purpose of God is to rule the world in righteousnesse and in wisedome The Kings strength as the Psalmist speaks Psal 99.4 that is the strength of Christ who is called The King of Kings Rev. 19.16 both because he excelleth all other Kings and ruleth all other Kings he I say loveth judgement or righteous dealings with all his strength and as it followeth in the same verse he establisheth equity he establisheth the rule by which others may doe equity and he establisheth the acts of equity which others doe For seeing Christ loveth judgement and also as we have it in the close of the same verse executeth judgement and righteousnesse in Jacob. He cannot but establish acts of equity which are nothing else but the execution of judgement and righteousnesse And therefore though he beare with unjust and unrighteous men a while in their vaine projectings and vainer actings yet he will not establish them in it He will not lay folly he will not lay it as a foundation for them to build and proceed upon Weake and small things have often been established by God but he will not long establish wicked and sinfull things JOB CHAP. 24. Vers 13 14. They are of those that rebell against the light they know not the wayes thâreof nor abide in the pathes thereof The murtherer rising with the light killeth the poore and needy and in the night is as a Theefe JOb having given many particular Instances of the wicked practices of evill men seemes in this 13th verse to give us a generall Character of them They are of those that rebell against the light As if he had sayd Would you know what these men are who commit such horrid wickednesses who oppresse the poore the fatherles the widdow who detaine the hire of the labourer and send them away hungry and thirsty when they have done their worke would you know what sort or kinde of men these are I will tell you They are of those that rebell against the light that 's their genius or their straine This generall sence of the words doth very well agree with and carry on the discourse which Job was upon Yet others conceive that in this 13th verse and so forward Job is describing another sort of wicked persons then those formerly mentioned As if he had sayd I have before spoken of those open sinners and sons of violence such as sin'd and cared not who saw them impudent sinners but now I will speake of a sort of close sinners or sons of deceit who doe their worke no whit more honestly yet more modestly then the former They are of those who rebell against the light they know not the wayes thereof nor abide in the pathes thereof The murtherer rising with the light killeth the poore and needy c. In which sense soever we take the context the difference is not much though I rather adhere unto the former They are of those that rebell against the light He doth not say they are of those who have not the light or they are of those to whom the light hath not shined he saith not they are of those who sit in darknes and in the valley of the shadow of death but they are of those that rebell against the light as implying the presence of the light with them and their contempt of it They rebell ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã rebellavit defecit This word is often used in Scripture for rebellion against any lawfull authority or power set over others to rule and governe them and that 's the Importance of it here they rebell and from this word Nimrod had his name who was the first noted rebell that ever was in the world Nimrod was a great Prince among men but he became so by rebellion against God Here Job discovers Nimrods or rebells against the light But what was the light against which they rebelled Light may be considered two wayes Either properly or figuratively wee may understand the text of light in a proper sence and some insist cheifly upon that They rebell against the light that is against the very light of he Sunne or the ordinary day-light as if he had said If it were in the power of these men they would even pull the Sunne out of the firmament of heaven that they might sin unseen I will not as some Interpreters doe fix the Exposition here though I grant this sence may be taken in wicked men love naturall darknes and hate even naturall light the light of the Sunne because it seldome serves but often hinders their occasions Secondly Take light figuratively for the light of knowledge so it is more true that wicked men rebell against it and that light in this notion should be here meant the words plainly imply For though some wicked men would be willing to be shut of the day light yet it is hard to say they rebell against it and those other passages not to know the wayes of it and not to abide in the pathes of it are not so proper and significant to set forth their desire and endeavour of avoyding naturall light So that the light rebelled against is rather an Internall light that light which shines into the soule then that which shines to the eye and There is a twofold internal light against which wicked men may be sayd to rebell First The light of nature or natural internal light There is a light of nature or as some call it a light of the natural conscience which every man carryeth about him concerning good and evill or what is to be done and what is to be left undone The Apostle is direct for this Rom. 2.14 The Gentiles having not the Law doe by nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law that is the law of God formally published to and pressed upon them are a law unto themselves that is they have the law of nature in common principles and notions of righteousnesse in themselves and
employments whether more private or publicke are wronged and suffer in his death Though that which cuts off a mans life cannot cut off his owne hope if he have a wel-grounded one for things to come yet it cuts off the hopes of all others depending upon him as an instrument in the hand of God for good things present Eighthly The murtherer takes away that from a man which no man can restore to him or repaire him in he takes away that which is Impossible for him to give againe He that tooke away a mans goods was bound by the law of God to restore it fourefold or fivefold or sevenfold according to the case and possibly he might restore it an hundredfold but he that takes away a mans life hath taken that which though he would he cannot restore so much as single The law of nature will not suffer the murderer to restore life for 't is like water which being spilt cannot by any humane power be gathered up againe and the law of God saith concerning the sin of murther that no satisfaction shall be taken for it and indeed none can For though some would commute and have by the sinfull indulgence and cruel pity of unjust Magistrates commuted for it yet none could ever satisfie for it And when Magistrates eyther through foule corruption or foolish compassion have not taken vengeance upon the murtherer in kinde but have suffered him to commute or compound for that sin eyther by paying a pecuniary penalty or by undergoing some punishment lesse then death God hath taken vengeance upon them for it and hath sayd to them in his providences as he sayd to Ahab by his Prophet for the sparing of Benhadad 1 Kings 20.42 Because ye have let goe out of your hand a man whom I had appointed to utter destruction therefore your life shall goe for his life and your people shall be cut off by the sword because your sword did not cut off the murderer Si magistratus cessent ab officio deus ipse injustas caedes fame peste bellis externis aut intestinis ulciscitur Merl. Whole nations have been filled with blood by this kinde of keeping backe the hand from blood Lastly The murtherer hurts others but he chiefely hurts himselfe Some expound Lamech confessing this with sorrow Gen. 4.23 while he said unto his wives Hearken unto my speech for I have slaine a man to my wounding and a young man to my hurt There are divers other Interpretations and readings of those words and we put in the Margin I would slay a man in my wound and a young man in my hurt As if he had boasted of his strength to his wives that though he were weake with wounds and hurts yet he would venture to fight with any man and doubted not to get victory over him kill him and so the words carry a sence like that speech of the Prophet Jer. 37.10 telling the Jewes that theirs were vaine confidences while they hoped to be delivered from the Caldeans who besieged them for saith he Though there remained but wounded men among them yet they should rise up every man in his tent and burne this City with fire But as to our reading I have slaine a man to my wounding Some expound it onely of a bodily wounding I have got a wound my selfe or I have hurt my selfe while I slew a man much more is this true of a spirituall wounding and hurt to the soule and Conscience for though a murtherer slay a man and come off with a whole skin yet he slayeth a man to his wounding and killeth him to his hurt The Rabbins have a tradition upon that place that Lamech having been a great hunter in his younger dayes being then growne old was led forth by his young man to take his pleasure in hunting and shooting at Deere and that while he was in this disport or exercise in the feild Cain passed by and the young man poynted him to Cain Lamech being dim-sighted shot at Cain and killed him in stead of a wild beast but soone after discovering that he had killed Cain turned to the young man his guide in a passionate anger and killed him also This relation they give as the reason why Lamech sayd I have slaine a man to my wounding and a young man to my hurt but I shall not stay upon that tradition of the Jewes and shall onely make so much use of Lamechs confession as at least to illustrate if not to prove the poynt in hand that he who slayeth a man doth it to his owne hurt and wounding often to the wounding of his body estate and honour alwayes to the wounding of his owne soule and conscience Every sin in some degree or other wounds the soule But the wounding of others to death is the chiefe sin of all sins against the body and outward concernments of man which woundeth a mans soule The murtherer at one blow strikes through the body of his neighbour and his owne soule Further we might observe from those words in the text riseing with the light That murderers and indeed any sort of wicked doers are diligent and laborious to doe the commands of their vilest lusts But I noted this at the 5th verse upon those words Rising betimes for a prey I shall not stay upon it here I onely adde this Let not us be sloathfull in doing good seeing the murderer is so diligent and early up for the doing of mischiefe And in the night is as a Thiefe These words may be taken two wayes For First The Particle as is by some conceived not to be a note of similitude but to carry on a direct predication He is as a thiefe that is Particula quasi non dicit similitudinem sed proprietatem He is a very thiefe We finde elsewhere in Scripture that a particle of likenes doth not onely note the likenes of one thing to another but the samenes of one thing with another Taking it thus here The meaning of the words is as if Job had said He riseth betimes in the morning to play the murtherer and in the night hee playe's the thiefe I have noted the same sence of the particle heretofore first from those words of the Evangelist concerning Christ Joh. 1.14 Wee saw his glory as the glory of the onely begotten Son of God for Christ was not onely like the onely begotten Son of God but he was really so as also from that of the Prophet Hosea 5.10 The Princes of Judah were as or like them that remove the bound that is they did remove the bound Secondly Others keepe to the similitude and say the meaning of Job is not that the murtherer doth turne theife or that he proceeds from killing in the day to stealing in the night Facere aliquid tanquam fur est proverbialis locutio quae importat secretam diligentemque abscensionem But say they this verse is quite through a description of the murtherer
as the next is of the Adulterer So that to say In the night he is as a Thiefe imports onely this That in the night he doth carry himselfe very closely and very secretly or that as a theife in the night is close and sudden in stealing so is he the murtherer in killing We have this similitude often used 1 Thess 5.2 The Coming of Christ shall be as a Theife in the night Read also 2 Pet. 3.10 Revel 16.15 in which the same similitude of a Theife in the night is applyed to Christs coming not as if we could hence conclude that Christ will come in the night time but that whensoever he comes it shall be as in the night that is suddenly and as to any antecedent appearances secretly upon the world it shall be unexpected to them they shall not know the time of it nor shall they be aware of it though when he is once come his comming shall be accompanyed with so much light and luster with so much splendour and power as shall not onely awaken but astonish all the world Thus it may be sayd of the murtherer In the night he is as a Theife And Hence it may be noted First That wicked men give themseâves wholly to watch opportunities of doing mischiefe The murtherer riseth early in the morning and in the night is as a Theife hee takes his advantages in the day and hee will not forbeare them in the night As it shewes the great assiduity of Saints in prayer when it is sayd They cry to God day and night Luk. 18.7 day and night reach the whole compasse of time So while Job tells us that the wicked are doing mischiefe betimes in the morning and that they are at it againe in the night if not all the night What can be sayd more for their watchfullnes and assiduity in doing mischiefe The Apostle Eph. 5.16 exhorteth Saints to redeeme the time because the dayes are evill but we see in the present example alledged by Job that wicked men will redeeme the time that they may doe evill We cannot possibly redeeme the time by recalling or bringing backe the time which is past but we may redeeme the time by our more diligent actings in the time present Now who can act more diligently in improving the time present then they who are at worke both day and night which two distinctions of time include and cary all time Let not the Godly be found Idling away the day while the wicked are found labouring at their worke such as it is in the very night Againe Wee may note That the murtherer doth his bloody buisines not onely diligently but closely He doth it as a theife in the night The murtherer who is at all times feirce and cruel will sometimes be subtle and cunning and this is the guise of other sinners too especially of the Adulterer whose secret conveyances and close contrivances for the attaining of his filthy delights are elegantly described in the words which follow JOB CHAP. 24. Vers 15 16 17. The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twi-light saying no eye shall see me and disguiseth his face In the darke they dig through houses which they have marked for themselves in the day time they know not the light For the morning is to them even as the shaddow of death if one know them they are in the terrours of the shaddow of death WEE have heard many wickednesses described in the former part of this Chapter and in the foregoing verse The murtherer rising with the light killeth the poore and needy and in the night is as a Theife Job proceeds to discover the practices of two other sorts of grosse sinners the Adulterer and the Theife Vers 15. The eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight Before I come to open the particular termes of this clause or to raise any observations from it I shall give in somewhat about Adultery in generall which is the speciall subject of the whole verse Adultery is the breach of the 7th Commandement And in that Commandement a twofold Adultery is forbidden First Mentall or the adultery of the minde secondly Corporall or the adultery of the body It was the former which Christ intended when he corrected the false glosse or exposition of the Pharisees about the 7th Commandement Math. 5.27 28. Yee have heard that it was said by them of old time Thou shalt not commit adultery but I say unto you whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart By which it appeares that the Pharisees who were the chiefe interpreters of the Law in those times limited the commandement against Adultery to the outward act but Christ the Law-giver who best knew the mind of the Law enlarged it to the prohibition of the internal act told them that there is a heart-adultery an adultery in thought occasion'd by a vaine or wanton glance and cast of the eye as wel as there 's an Adultery of the body or in the outward act The text in hand speakes onely of corporal Adultery though the other be not excluded as being the roote of it Latinae voces adulteri adulterae hanc vim habent ut adulter ad alteram adultera ad Aâterum se conferat Fest And This corporall adultery is taken in Scripture somtimes strictly when eyther man or woman to satisfie their lust with others break their conjugal Bond and is eyther that act of uncleanenesse which is committed by persons who are both engaged by marriage-covenant to mutuall faithfulnes or when at least one of them is under that engagement This latter is properly called single adultery the former is double Adultery or corporal Adultery in the highest and strictest sence of it Secondly Corporal Adultery is taken more largely or in a lower sence for fornication or bodyly uncleanenesse of any kinde between man and woman And so it is intended in the Commandement given against it Thou shalt not commit Adultery The foulenes and greatnes of this sin of adultery take it in eyther sence appeares many wayes The Apostle puts it in the front of the workes of the flesh Gal. 5.19 Now the workes of the flesh are manifest which are these Adultery fornication uncleannesse lasciviousnesse there is adultery with all its retinue and Col. 3.5 it is set as the first of our earthly members which are to be mortified mortifie therfore your members which are upon earth fornication uncleanenesse inordinate affection Whereas in other Scriptures fornication is included under adultery in this adultery is included under fornication Adultery strictly taken hath a speciall sinfullnesse in it First as it is the breach of a Covenant every sin hath in it a breach of Covenant in generall but there is a superadded breach of a speciall Covenant in this sin Hence Solomon saith of the Adulteresse Pro. 2.17 that shee forsaketh the guide of her youth One of the Rabbines expounds this woman mystically
the dust then it were no great matter how you did defile and abuse them but as God hath raised up the Lord so he will raise you up Seeing then God hath promised and you are such as professe faith in that promise that your bodyes shall be raised up out of the dust to put on glory as a Garment in the last day therefote in the meane time while your bodyes are in your keeping doe ye keepe your bodyes pure Thirdly He argues thus with the beleeving Corinthians v. 15th Know ye not that your bodyos are the members of Christ not onely is the soule of a beleever a member of Christ but his body too yet it is not properly eyther the body or the soule that is a member of Christ but the person for the union is made between Christ and the person of a beleever consisting of soule and body But thus the Apostle argues Know ye not that your bodyes are the members of Christ shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of an harlot God forbid What! will ye dispose the members of Christ to so base a use will ye who prefesse your selves joyned to Christ condiscend to such a base conjunction And hence he expostulates at the 16th and 17th verses What know ye not that he which is joyned to an harlot is one body for two saith he shall be one flesh They who abuse marriage are as the marryed The Adulterer and the harlot are one flesh as well as the husband and the wife but he that is joyned to the Lord by faith and love is one spirit He hath a neerer and a more noble union then that of flesh and therefore he ought to maintame the hight of honour and purity both in minde and body and as he is one Spirit with the Lord so to make it good that he is guided and governed by one Spirit and that The holy One. We have a fourth argument at the 18 âh verse Flee fornication why so The reason is added every sin that a man doth is without the body but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his owne body But are all other sins without the body I answer first other sinnes have the body as an instrument for the committing of them if a man steale the body is an instrument if a man commit murther the body is an instrument but in this sin the body is more instrumentall then in other sins the body is cheifely instrumentall in this sin so that comparatively to this every sin that a man doth is without the body And therefore this sin is more against the body then other sins are Againe secondly when the Apostle saith every sin is without the body he is to be understood of those sinnes which are externall otherwise every sin that a man commits is not without the body there are a thousand acts of sin that are done within the body or in the soule envy wrath malice are sinnes within the body being bred and acted in the Spirit But we may say of every sin which is externall about which the discourse there is that comparatively to this sin of adultery fornication it is without the body I answer thirdly The body is not onely the instrument of this sin but the object of it also for the uncleane person doth not onely sin with his body but he sins against his body Adultery leaves that blot and brand of ignominy and basenes upon the body which no other sin doth making it the member of a harlot as was toucht before and degrading it from that excellent honour whereunto God advanced it even in a Naturall consideration much more degrading it from that honour whereuntor God hath advanced it in a spirituall consideration And as that was the Apostles third Argument so upon another relation of the bodyes of beleevers he makes his 5th argument which is layd downe at the 19th verse What know you not that your body is the Temple of the Holy-Ghost which is in you which ye have of God and ye are not your owne As if he had sayd A Temple is a holy and sacred thing and will ye defile the Temple of the Holy-Ghost The Jewes how angry were they what an uproar did they make when they thought Paul had brought Greeks into the Temple who by the law were looked upon as prophane persons and so not to be admitted to come there they cry out This is the man that hath polluted this holy place Acts 21.28 Much more may it be urged upon Gospel-professors what commit such a sin as this what pollute the Temple of God Know ye not which every beleever is bound to know that your body is the Temple of the Holy-Ghost as well as the soule The last argument concludes the 19th verse and is prosecuted in the 20 h Ye are not your owne for ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods Redemption is a strong engagement ye are bought and dearely payd for ye are bought with a price ye are not your owne Some who take liberty in this sin would excuse themselves by the contrary argument Our bodyes say they are our owne and we may doe what we will with our owne No sayth the Apostle ye are bought with a price ye are not your owne ye have your bodies of God in their natural constitution It is he who hath made us in that capacity and not we our selves Psal 100.3 and ye are not your owne for ye are redeemed or bought with a price both body and soule Yee are bought out of your owne hands as well as out of the hand of divine justice and displeasure The Apostle speaks especially to beleevers For though it be a truth concerning all whether beleevers or unbeleevers that they are not their owne none of the sons of men are their owne God hath a right to them by creation as also by his continuall providence provision and preservation yet beleevers or the redeemed in a speciall manner are not their owne and therefore they ought above others to glorifie God in their body and in their spirit which are Gods Having thus opened several Scripture grounds and arguments to demonstrate the soulenes and filthines of this sin of Adultery which is the generall subject of this verse I shall now proceed in the exposition of particulars in it The eye also of the adulterer waiteth c. The word also referres to the murderer spoken of in the former verse implying that the Adulterer and he though their sins are very different yet agree much in taking their opportunities of sinning How contrary soever sinners are in their particular practice yet they have all one common principle and Spirit The Murderer and the Adulterer are alike desierous of privacy They both love darkenes rather then light or that which is neyther Twilight Jeb seemes to speake of a man that is no novice but of one long verst and practiced
sayth when he is in a right frame in reference to the wayes of holynes Psal 108.1 O God my heart is prepared or fixed A godly man doth not good upon a sudden or by chance as we say but he sets himselfe to it his heart is fixed or prepared and his face is set heaven-ward or for heavenly duties So Daniel spake of himselfe Dan. 9.3 I set my face unto the Lord God to seeke by prayer and supplications and as a godly man is in the wayes of God so the wayes of God are in him Thus David describes him Psal 84.5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee in whose heart are the wayes of them that is the wayes which Godly men walke in and they are the wayes of God Now as this is the true state of godlinesse when the heart is in it and prepared for it so the true state of wickednesse is when a mans heart is in it and prepared for it This is the proper character of a wicked man The eye of the Adulterer waiteth for the twilight Every word hath weight in it the twilight is the Adulterers season It is not sayd he waites for the night or for the day but he waiteth for the twilight which is neither day nor night but between both We have such a description of time in reference to the mixt and uncertaine state of things Zach. 14.6 7. And it shall come to passe in that day that the light shall not be cleare nor darke But it shall be one day which shall be knowne to the Lord not day nor night Such a thing is Twilight it is neyther cleare nor darke neyther day nor night but between both There is a twofold twilight first the morning twilight and secondly Diluculum CrepusculuÌ the evening twilight the morning twilight begins when the night ends the evening twilight begins when the day ends The Latines have two distinct words to expresse these distinct twilights by but our language is not so well stored and therefore we must distinguish them by the matter spoken of or the scope of the speaker Thus here when 't is sayd in the text he waiteth for the twilight we are to understand it of the evening twilight not for the morning twilight and the reason is because the morning twilight is not for the adulterers turne or purpose for then the light prevailes upon the darkness but it is the evening twilight for then darkness prevailes upon the light And that this is the Adulterers twilight is cleare Prov. 7. v. 6 7 8 9. Nox et tenebrae administrae sunt impijs suarum libidinum Ipsa nox alioquin caeca infandarum tamen libidinuÌ oculatus testis est At the window of my house saith Solomon I looked through the casement and behold among the simple ones I discerned among the youths a man voyd of understanding passing by the way to her house and he went neere her corner in the twilight in the evening or in the evening of the day in the blacke and darke night And behold there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot c. His eye waited for the twilight and in the twilight he was taken Hence note The doing of evill hath its proper seasons as well as the doing of good Though sin be never in season yet it hath some times which are more seasonable for it to sin is never in season as to the lawfullnesse of committing it but sin hath its seasons as to the conveniency of committing it The Adulterer takes his season he waiteth for the twilight Whence note secondly Evill men are very carefull to hit their seasons for the doing of evill It were desireable that the godly were as carefull to hit their seasons and take their times as the ungodly are To every thing saith the Preacher Eccl 3.1 there is a season and a time for every purpose under the Sunne And because it is so saith the same Preacher Eccl 8.6 The misery of man is great upon him But why doth this make the misery of man great upon him I answer The reason of this misery upon man is not because there is a season but because eyther of his ignorance or negligence to find it There are a thousand wayes to misse a season and but one to hit it And were there as many wayes to hit as to misse it were a thousand to one but man would misse rather then hit and therefore the misery of man is great upon him Because if once he misse his season it cannot be recovered and then he must needs be miserable Good men are miserable as to some cases because they are often so carelesse to hit their season of doing good and doe so often misse it notwithstanding all their care Wicked men are for ever miserable because they are so carefull not to misse their season of doing evill and doe so often hit it The eye of the Adulterer waiteth for the twilight and he seldome as to his own end waites in vaine But why is he so greedy for the twilight The next words say why where he brought in Saying no eye shall see me Where sayth he this he sayth it in his heart this is his discourse in his owne breast and to whom sayth he this he sayth it to himselfe there is a dialogue between the Adulterer and his owne heart and thus he concludes I will waite for the twilight and then no eye shall see me And when he sayth no eye shall see me his meaning is There is not any eye that shall see me Thus he playes the foole at All 's hid Yet further this no eye may have a threefold reference First No eye of common men shall see me I will doe this in secret I will have such a cover of darknesse over me that my neighbours and friends shall not be able to take any notice of mee Secondly No eye may referre to men in chiefe that is Verba quae sequuntur exigunt ut ista de Magistratus justitiaeque ministris intelligantur Bold Quisquis aut officio aut quovis alio modo super alios inspicit actusque eorum observat vocatur oculus no eye of the Magistrate nor of any Minister of Justice shall see me Magistrates are the eyes of a Nation they should overlooke all places eyther by themselves or their Officers to observe what is done As the adulterers eye watcheth so there should be an eye of Justice watching to catch Adulterers Some interpret this Text especially of the adulterers hope or selfe-perswasion that he shall escape the eye or knowledge of the Magistrate who is appointed to oversee the manners of that people over whom he is placed and to be a terror yea a Minister of vengeance to them that doe evill for he beareth not the sword in vaine Rom. 13.3 4. Magistrates should so much marke and eye the state of a people that they are called eyes in Scripture Isa 29.10 For the Lord
hath powred out upon you the spirit of deepe sleepe and hath closed your eyes what or who are those eyes the next words enforme us the Prophets and Rulers the seers hath he covered The Hebrew word which we render rulers is heads Rulers are the heads of a people and what is a head without eyes or having its eyes covered God did not cover the eyes which were in the peoples personal heads but he covered the eyes which were in their publicke heads He hath closed your eyes that is those that should be as heads and eyes to you your Prophets and your rulers Thus also say some Government is expressed by an eye Deut. 33.28 Israel then shall dwell in safety alone Fons vel oculus Jacob suum imperium habebit in terra Canaan Bold Apud persarum reges quidam fuerunt qui dicebantur oculi aures Zenoph the fountaine of Jacob shall be upon a land of corne and wine also his heaven shall drop dew That which we translate the fountaine of Jacob others render as well and as truely from the Original the eye of Jacob that is say they the Magistracy the ruling power as if he had sayd as the people of Israel in generall shall dwell in safety so their eye their government or their Governours in speciall shall be blessed with plenty they shall be upon a land of corne and wine It hath been observed also in antiquity that great Princes had certaine men in office whom they called their eyes Princes have their eyes and eares in every place that is their Officers Thus we may expound this Text the Adulterer sayth No eye shall see me The ruling or Magistraticall eye shall not see me and if what I doe be not seene by that eye let others see what they will and say what they please I shall not suffer at all for what I doe and then all 's well that 's as much as I care for And here we may note That As some Adulterers have their eyes abroad that is agents to espy out Beauties for them So most of them if not all are afraid of the eyes of others Thirdly No eye shall see me that is not the eye of God God himselfe shall not see me Thus the adulterer hopes to hide his sin from his eye who is indeed all eye Homines latere cupiens Dei oculum non timeus and whose eye is over all Thus the adulterer supposeth himselfe under such a vayl of darknes that he is free not onely from the eye of men on earth and from the eye of those who are gods upon earth but even from the eye of the God of heaven Hence observe First A sinner is full of vaine presumption He presumes that the sin which he commits against the light of his owne conscience shall never come to light he presumes that the sin which he commits in his owne eye shall not come to the eye of others I have elsewhere noted this ignorant confidence of carnal men and onely name it here Secondly Note It is not the act of sin but the discovery of it which a wicked man feareth He cares not what wickednesse he doth so he may goe unseene a godly man is afraid of doing evill though he could doe it with greatest secrecy or under the darkest cover he is afraid to doe evill because of the evill and unrighteousnesse of it because of the pollution and unanswerablenesse of it both to his owne duty and the goodnesse of God to him but it is the discovery not the iniquity of his worke which the hypocrite feareth Thirdly As the eye is taken for the eye of the Magistrate Observe That it is the punishment of sin at which a wicked man is troubled he is not troubled at the sin it selfe 'T is the consequence of sin not the nature of it the smart of sin and not the filth of it which the wicked would avoyd Lastly As no eye is exclusive also to the eye of God Note Wicked men presume that their sins are secret even to God himselfe They thinke sure God can see no further nor no better then man And so they have hopes to hide themselves not onely from the eyes of men but from the eyes of God as we may see plainly Jere. 23.23 Can any hide himselfe in secret places that I shall not see him saith the Lord This question can any shews that some had flattered themselves into such a conclusion that they could so hide themselves in secret places that God could not see them The holy Psalmist sayd Psal 139.12 The darknesse hideth not from thee but the night shineth as the day the darknesse and the light to thee are both alike But a wicked man sayth the darknesse hideth from thee the night is night to thee O what beggerly apprehensions have men of God! As if he whose eyes are ten thousand times brighter then the Sunne could not see without Sunlight or as if he could not see but in the light who made the light Vanus est qui purat se in tenebris esse tutum cum lucem vitare non possit quae lucet in tenebris tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt Ambros Naturalists say of those living creatures which have fiery eyes that they can see as well in the darke as in the light the reason is because they see not by taking in the species of the object into the eye but by sending out a light from their own eye upon the object God hath fiery eyes indeed he needs no outward light to see by who is nothing else but light Vaine sinner what can be darknes to him who is light and in whom there is no darkenes at all There is nothing doth more argue the blindnes of a sinner then this simple saying of his No eye seeth me unlesse it be that simple practice of his which he useth to the same purpose and which is discovered as his last shift in the last words of this verse And he disguiseth his face The Hebrew is He setteth his face into a secret he muffles himselfe he changeth his habit he puts on a visard harlots were wont to disguise themselves Gen. 39.14 when Tamar tooke upon her the habit of an harlot the Text saith She put on a disguise so here the Adulterer puts on a disguise he puts a cozzening face upon his face and then thinkes that though he be seene yet he cannot be discerned and that though some may see where he is yet none shall see who he is He disguiseth his face One would have thought that being in the twilight and the darkenes of the night ready to compasse him about that no eye could see him he should not need to have put on a visard or a muffler yet he doth so he puts a disguise upon his face Which may teach us That when a man doth ill he never thinks he is safe or secret enough When a mans conscience tells him he sins he would not
have any other tell him so too The Adulterer feares twilight is too light for him and therefore while the naturall darkenes is so imperfect he puts his face into perfect artificiall darkenes Job yet proceeds to shew this cowardly temper of sinners in their feare to be seene eyther by a further discovery of the same sort of sinners or of another sort in the same frame Vers 16. In the darke they dig through houses which they have marked for themselves in the day time they know not the light We have all along the words and the works of darknesse In the darke they dig through houses The question is who are here meant by these diggers some understand the verse of the adulterer And whereas he speaks here in the plurall number and before in the singular 't is frequent in Scripture say they to vary the number while the same subject is continued And that while he saith They the meaning is One and All of them are bent and apt enough to doe thus But is digging through houses the worke of an Adulterer In answer to this it hath been storyed and remembred that Adulterers have used such boysterous practices to come at their unlawfull pleasures Haec domorum perfossia non ad latrocinia nocturna sed ad turpes artes penetrandi in alienas domos manifestè pertinet Pined they have digged through houses to make private passages that they might not be discovered when they came to or when they departed from their lovers It hath been commonly sayd that hunger will break through stone walls and 't is a truth that wantonnes will doe so too Some have been so mad upon their lusts that if they could not finde a way they would make one to meete with their paramours Upon this consideration we may fayrely enterpret this verse as the former concerning the Adulterer But I rather conceive that this 16th verse containes a description of another sort of sinners Theeves or Robbers Because Ego libentius haec de latronibus quam de Adulteris caperem Quia hoc latrones saepe faciunt Adulteâi non nisi per quam raro Sanct though it be true that Adulterers doe sometimes digge through houses yet this is both more frequently and more properly the busienes of Theeves Another reason to perswade this understanding of the present Text may be because so we have a fuller and more particular enumeration of several sorts of sin and sinners In the darke they dig through houses To dig through houses is the worke of a theife And thus Christ speakes of the theife Luk. 12.39 And this know that if the good man of the house had knowne what houre the theife would have come he would have watched and not have suffered his house to have been broken through Jacob sayth of Simeon and Levi Gen. 49.6 In their anger they digged thorow a wall Some breake thorow walls for want or in covetousnesse to rob and steale others for anger and in wrath to kill and destroy They dig thorow houses Which they had marked for themselves in the day time See the method and cunning of these robbers here are three poynts of their sinfull skill First they marke houses the word signifies to marke with a seale as if they did put their seale upon other mens houses for their owne use Theeves goe abroad in the day time to espy where they may commit a robbery with best advantage and they set their marke upon such houses as they resolve to rob or which I rather take to be the meaning they diligently observe the strength of the house the wayes to the house what company is in the house where they may with most ease and advantage breake into the house All this they doe in the day by way of preparation and in the darke they put their purposes into execution In the darke they digge through houses which they had marked in the day Hence note Sinners would make sure worke they would not misse And therefore they eyther set their marke upon a house or exactly marke it O how witty and how cunning men are to doe mischiefe Secondly Whereas they went from Towne to Towne and any house they saw and liked they marked it for themselves Learne An unjust person makes every thing his owne if he can come by it if he can but get it He sayth of another mans house this is mine I will fill my own house with the spoyle and plunder of this Thirdly The theife marked houses In the day time He digged through them in the night but he made use of the day he would not breake open a house in the day but had somewhat to doe towards the breaking open of a house in the day he marked it in the day Hence note That time which suites not one wicked purpose may suite another The theife makes use of all times he makes use of the day to marke houses and of the night to digge them through He is carefull to take his time to doe the worke of the day upon the day and the worke of the night in the night They know not the light But why doth Job adde this sayd he not before that they marked houses for themselves in the day How then doth he say They know not the light Knowing is not meant of a bare act of knowledge as if they knew not when it was light and when it was darke or as if they knew not the nature of light what kinde of creature it is But not to know is not to affect They know not the light that is they care not they love not the light In which sence words of knowledge are often used in Scripture Nah. 1.7 The Lord knoweth the soule that trusteth in him The Lord knows those that doe not trust in him he knows those that are unbeleiveing as well as those that beleive in a way of discerning who they are but he knows the soule that trusteth in him in a way of loving and approveing him Non nosse lucem est non amaâe so here They know not the light that is they have no love to the light no delight in the light they care not for the light But it may be objected It should seeme these men cared for the light and liked it well for they made much use of it In the day they marked houses I answer When Job sayth They know not the light we may restraine it to one part of their busienes and that the maine Their digging through houses for this purpose which was their principall purpose they knew not the light that is they neyther loved nor liked the light darkenes was more welcome to them I shall not give any notes from these words here having before especially at the 12th verse where it is sayd They are such as rebel against the light they know not the wayes of it c. been somewhat large upon the same subject As also because the next verse is but
a further illustration and enforcement of these words Vers 17. For the morning is to them even as the shaddow of death if one know them they are in the terrours of the shaddow of death This verse gives a reason why these theives tooke the night for their worke or it is an exposition of what was last sayd They know not the light The text may be read thus out of the Original Vmbra mortis i. e. tam terribilis ut aliquem enecare potest Genitivus effecti Pisc Cum venit mane venit umbra dictum acutè propter speciem contradictionis As soone as it is morning the shaddow of death comes upon them This Hebraisme the shaddow of death hath been opened at the 5th verse of the third Chapter whether I referre the reader In this place it onely imports thus much in General That these wicked men did equally feare the morning as death it selfe they were surprised with feare as soone as surprised with light What is the reason of it why doth the adulterer feare the morning and why doth the theife feare the morning they doe so upon these three considerations First Lest they should be hindred in their wicked workes secondly lest their wicked workes should be discerned thirdly lest their wicked workes should be punished for these reasons they hate the light and the morning is to them as the shaddow of death Hence observe That good things even the best things are a trouble to wicked men Sin makes good things evill to us and pleasant things troublesome to us What a pleasant thing is the light How beautifull are the eyelids of the morning yet light is a trouble and the morning a burden to wicked men And if natural light be a trouble to them much more is moral and spirituall light How doe they hate the morning of truth the dawnings of divine knowledge These lights to life these enlivening lights are to them as the shaddow of death In how deplorable a condition are they to whom Good becomes evill and that which good men rejoyce in is to them an occasion of sorrow The whole course of nature is out of frame to us till we are set into a right frame by grace We put light for darkenes and darkenes for light till we our selves are brought out of darkenes into light Nothing is good to us till we are made good nor doth any thing please us except sin or that which we use sinfully till we please God The very morning which gives a new life to all is to some as the shadow of death If one know them they are in the terrours of the shaddow of death These words are but a further explication of the same thing if one that is if any one man woman or childe as we say know them that is take notice of them in their wickednesse or take notice of their wickednesse they are as we say dead in the nest Cum agnoscit alius alium Pisc Others render the words thus if they know one another that is if only so much of the light of the morning breakes forth as serves them to see one anothers faces they are afraid So this phrase is used Ruth 3.14 And shee lay at his feete untill the morning and she rose up before one could know another that is before there was light enough to discerne each other So these two readings if one know them or if they know one another meete in the same General sence their unwillingnes to be discovered at their worke if once there be light enough for these evill-workers to see themselves by they then know they may also be seene by others And if one any one know them They are in the terrours of the shaddow of death That is they are troubled like them who being ready to dye are yet unwilling to dye when death stands at a mans bed-side when death stands at his back ready to attach and apprehend him ready to carry him away while yet he is alltogether unwilling and unready to dye O in what a terrour is he Just thus it is saith Job with those wicked men they are not onely afraid to dye but the terrours of the shadow of death are upon them their terrour is such as men have when death over-shaddows them That 's the meaning of They are in the terrours of the shadow of death A shaddow in Scripture is taken two wayes First properly for that darknesse which is caused by the interposition of a thicke body between us and the Sunne Secondly improperly or metaphorically and so that is a shaddow which keepes off the heate of the Sunne or the violence of the raine and winde and so by a trope any thing of defence is called a shadow Judg. 9.9.15 Come trust under my shadow sayd the bramble that is put your selves under my protection And againe Isa 30.2 3. Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame and the trust in the shaddow or protection of Aegypt your confusion So Isa 49.2 In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me And Isa 51.16 I have covered thee in the shadow of my hand as birds cover or shelter their young ones with their wings and feathers Thus the Scripture speakes of a shadow But what is the shadow of death It is first the appearance of death secondly the power of death So the the meaning is as was touched before they are as much terrified as if death appeared to them as if the image of death passed before them in vision or as if the power of it had taken hold of them to bring them prisoners to the grave If one know them they are in the terrour of the shadow of death I have from the former words of this context as also at the 12th verse taken occasion to observe how troublesome both the light of the Sunne and the light of the minde are to evill men and therefore I shall not stay upon any Instructions of that kinde here Yet forasmuch as not onely the Murderer and Adulterer spoken of before but the Theife spoken of here are all for darkenes and concealement Observe First That sinners have a secret conviction upon themselves that what they doe is not good They draw up their own enditement and condemne themselves before God doth They would rocke conscience asleepe but they cannot they would blind it but they cannot This their delight in darknesse both outward and inward is a plaine demonstration that they know their deedes are evill Christ sayth as much Joh. 3.20 21. Every one that doth evill hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved No man feares his deeds will be reproved but he that suspects at least that his deeds are his faults and his actings his transgressings for as it followes He that doth truth that is who acts according to the truth cometh to the light He that doth good or truth indeed yea he who is but perswaded that he doth
sight nor sound of the curse for a long time As light is sowne for the righteous Psal 97.11 that is They shall have a crop of good things though it lye as seed doth a great while under the clods and as dead in the furrowes So darkenes is sowne for the wicked they perceive it not yet but they shall be wrapt up in it for ever yea while they perceive it not they are in it and they are by so much the more in it by how much the lesse they perceive it For this is ever true The portion of the wicked is Cursed in the Earth though they seeme compassed about with blessings I will Curse your blessings saith the Lord Mala. 2.2 yea I have cursed them already The wicked may be rich and yet cursed honourable and yet cursed successefull in busienes and yet cursed blessed and yet cursed God doth curse their blessings That which is a blessing in the kinde and matter of it is to some a curse in the use and issue of it So then as godlynes is profitable for all things and hath the promise of this life as well as of that which is to come 1 Tim. 4.8 Godlynes is compassed about and cloathed with promises of all sorts and seasons So ungodlynes is unprofitable for all things makes him that is so miserable in all things For it hath the curse of this life and of that which is to come if the promise doe not meet a godly man in this life or in the things of this life yet it will in the life to come and in the things of the life to come yea in all things so farre as concernes the life to come the blessing alwayes meetes him And if the curse doe not meet a wicked man in this life yet it will in the life to come and in the things of the life to come yea in all things so farre as concernes the life to come The curse alwayes meetes him Then see the folly of those who feare the Curse and are not afraid of sin as if a man should feare drowning and yet cast himselfe into the water or feare burning and yet throw himselfe into the fire thus doe they who love sin and feare the curse If the beauty of holynes doth not take upon the heart yet the curse that attends sin may deterre from medling with it And did men know the terror of the Lord as the Apostle speakes 2 Cor. 5.11 they would easily be perswaded to take heed of sin even of every sin for though usually great sins bring the curse yet the least sins may They who know what the curse of the Lord is cannot but know what the terror of the Lord is that is that the Lord is to sinners very terrible For the curse of the Lord abiding upon a sinner makes him every way and alwayes miserable There needs no more to be said to prove a man miserable then this that his portion is cursed or that he is under the curse For as the blessing of God makes us happy with any portion that 's enough the blessing being it selfe the best and most aboundant portion Every good thing is vertually in the blessing so the Curse is vertually every evill thing therefore that must needs make a man miserable When the Lord blesseth it is not an empty word but a power goes with it to make a man blessed And when the Lord curseth it is not an empty word but a power goes with it to make a mans portion cursed in the earth Job having layd downe this position gives a proofe of it in the last words of the verse Hee beholdeth not the way of the vineyards Some reade these as the former words Cohaerebit cum superioribus si haec sit quasi praecedentis expositio imprecationis Nullam habeat impius partem in agris locisque frugiferis ex quibus ullum fructum percipere possit Pined by way of imprecation Let his portion be cursed in the earth and let him not behold the way of the vineyards We translate assertively He beholdeth not c. But what is meant here by not beholding is it onely this he commeth not within the view or sight of them I conceave there is more in it then so and that when Job sayth he beholdeth not his meaning is he enjoyeth vineyards no more or he dwelleth no more in a fruitfull and pleasant land such as that land is which aboundeth in vineyards and so consequently with wine but he shall live miserably in a barren soyle So that we may now interrogate wicked men whether murtherers Adulterers or theeves as Paul doth every sinner Rom. 6.21 What fruit have ye of those things whereof ye are or ought to be ashamed have ye any fruit of the vine surely no For such behold not the way of the vineyards To behold is to enjoy the pleasantnes to tast the sweetnes of the fruit of the vineyards Wine which is the fruit of the vineyard is pleasant and delightfull it makes glad the heart of man Psal 104.15 And vineyards are here named to signifie all sorts of outward good things they being the Chiefe of outward good things For as sometimes bread signifieth all outward good things because that strengthens mans heart so Wine because that cheareth and comforteth the heart of man So that when Job saith He shall not behold the way of the vineyards It is as if he had sayd He shall not tast of or enjoy any good thing For Againe Those words he heholdeth not c. are not to be understood as if he did voluntarily refuse to behold or cared not to behold the way of the vineyards but as implying a force or constraint upon him by which he was kept or hindred from looking that way Whence take this briefe note The losse of good is a great misery as well as the enduring of evill It hath been questioned which is greater the punishment of losse or the punishment of paine but without all question losse is a very great punishment not to behold the way of the vineyards not to returne to house and land to wife and children is a sore affliction What will it then be never to behold the face of God but to be under a sentence of eternal banishment from his presence His portion is cursed in the earth here in this world who beholdeth not the way of the vineyards how then is his portion cursed in the next world who shall never behold the path or way of life There are yet several other readings and expositions of these words Abstinebit a via regia et frequeÌtia hominum ne cognoscatur Vatabl ita festinat fugere ut ne proprias quidem vineas olim tam gratas aspiciat Isidor First As if the meaning were to shew the wicked mans feare of being seene because of his guilt and that therefore he would not behold or come neere the way of the vineyards that is those places which many people
have occasion to frequent Secondly As if Job would here shew what hast men make to escape who are under guilt As if he had sayd The wicked man will be so set upon the run That he will not stay so much as to view or behold his owne vineyards formerly so delightfull and pleasant to him Thirdly It is conceaved to be a proverbiall speech according to which it was ironically sayd of Malefactors who were led forth to suffer death They Behold not the way of the vineyards No they behold onely the way to the Gibbet or place of execution Fourthly Others divide the word Cheramim which we translate Non refluet secundum consuetudinem Aliqrum ruât vineyards into two that is into Chi a particle of similitude or likenes and Ramim which signifyes eyther persâns or things that are high Hence Junius translates He shall not returne or flow backe againe he shall fall after the manner of things that are high And he expounds the sence of his owne translation He shall not returne to his former state as waters doe which ebbe and flow but as waters which fall from a high place cannot goe backe so shall he remaine cast downe for ever Water being a heavy body must have a descent it cannot ascend naturally therefore the water that falls from a high place is gone and commeth not againe The wicked man perisheth as waters that flow from a high place and returne no more Another following that division of the word renders the clause Non prospicit incessum sicut excelsorum i. e. non curabit incedere eo modo quo solent in cedere illi qui dignitate vel potentia alijs praesunt Bold thus He doth not looke to or provide for his way or his going as of the High ones that is he shall never goe in that pompe or equipage in which they goe who are above others in power and dignity As if he had sayd hee shall ever live in a low meane and miserable condition Hee shall no more behold the way of the high while he lives nor which the same Author cleaves to as the most genuine interpretation shall he take care or provide to be buryed according to the way custome or manner of the high ones when he dyeth But I shall not insist upon eyther of these rendrings though they all fall into one common channel with the former which is to set forth that the wicked man is under a curse or that his portion is cursed in the earth yea that a curse is his portion Nor shall I having often observed from other texts of this booke the wofull end of wicked men for this reason I say I shall not stay to give any further observations from this clause according to any of the rendrings of it of all which I most embrace that of our owne translaters He shall not behold the way of the vineyards not onely because most of the learned Hebricians render it so but first because it makes no division of nor puts any straine at all upon any of the Original words in the text And secondly because it carryes to my thoughts so fayre a correspondence with the words which follow in the two next verses JOB CHAP. 24 Vers 19 20. Drought and heate consume the snow waters so doth the grave these which have sinned The womb shall forget him and the worme shall feed sweetly on him he shall be no more remembred and wickednesse shall be broken as a tree THere are two different translations of the 19th verse I shall propose them and then explicate our owne First thus In the drought and heate they rob and in the snow water they sin to the grave Secondly to the same sense by way of similitude like as the dry earth and heate drinke up the snow water so they sin even to the grave Both these rendrings carry in them two things generally remarkable First The obstinacy and perseverance of wicked men in sin while they live Secondly Their impunity in sin untill death In the drought and heate they rob and in the snow water That is they rob and spoyle at all times or in all the seasons of the yeare in hard times in the hardest times in the extremity of drought and in the extremity of cold They never give over they sin to the grave This reading is much insisted upon by some and as the sence is usefull ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã rapuit vi apertè res aut personas so the text may beare it For the verb signifies to snatch a thing openly and forceably as well as to consume secretly and so may be rendred by robbing as well as by consuming In drought and heate they rob and in the snow waters First We may consider this drought and heate with the snow water as expressing those seasons which are very troublesome to the wicked man to doe his worke in to rob and spoyle extreame heate and extreame cold are great impediments to action yet in heate and snow they rob Whence observe A wicked man will breake through all difficulties to finde a way to his beloved sin Though he be in danger of melting with heate or of freezing with cold yet he will rob or doe any other mischiefe that his heart is set upon neyther heate nor cold neyther wett or dry shall keepe him in yea though an Angel with a drawne sword in his hand stand in his way as in the way of Balaam yet when he hath a minde he will goe on We may say of every bold and presumptuous sinner that he sins in heate and cold he sins in the sight of wrath and death The threatenings which are the portion of such have the extreamity of heate and cold in them The threatenings have sword and fire in them wrath and death in them yet the wicked sin in the face of them and upon the mââter dare them to doe their worst A godly man whose heart is bent and set heaven-ward will walke on his way though he must passe through heate and cold though he meete with dangers and difficulties though he meete many Lyons in his way yet he will not turne out of his way Paul saith of himselfe and his fellow-labourers 2 Cor. 6.4 In all things approving our selves as the Ministers of God in much patience in afflictions in necessities in distresses in stripes in imprisonments c. And a little after v. 8. By honour and dishonour by evill report and good report c. Here was working in heate and cold in fire and frost in all sorts of providences from God in all sorts of aspects from men Paul and his colleagues never minded what men did to them but what the minde of God was they should doe And thus every godly man workes or doth the worke of God For though every Godly man attaines not to such a degree of zeale and holy courage as Paul had yet he hath a truth of zeale and holy courage which
is no sinning in Gods account and comparatively to the sinning of others So they who are borne of the Devill as Christ saith those contradicting Jewes were Joh. 8.44 doe nothing but commit sin and sin so as if they and their like alone did sin For as no godly man sins as a wicked man doth so somâ wicked men sin at such a rate that it may be said they only sin eveÌ in respect of the generality of wicked men Thus also some Godly men doe so farre exceed and out-strip other Godly men in holynes and the acting of their Graces as if they onely were Godly as if they onely had the acting of those graces Abraham beleived as if he onely had been a beleever and Job was patient as if none had patience but he David was a man so upright as if onely he had been upright or a man after Gods owne heart There are Saints like Abraham and David none like them and there are sinners like Jeroboam and Ahab none like them So doth the grave those that have sinned Observe They who are extreamely sinfull make themselves sevenfold more subject to death then other men They who sin as if none did sin but they are so subject to death as if none were subject to death but they For if every sin the least sin doth put us into the hand or under the power of death then great sins multiplyed and continued in put us into the hand and under the power of death much more The Psalmist saith of wicked worldly men Psal 49.14 Like sheepe they are layd in the grave death shall feed on them and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling or as we put in the Margin the grave being an habitation to every one of them shall consume their beauty But some may object Is not this true of Godly men too are not they thus handled by death and the grave doth not death feed on them and doth not the grave consume their beauty I answer though it doth yet it doth not so feed upon nor consume them as it feedes upon and consumes wicked men For the Psalmist speakes here of death as it were triumphing over the wicked whereas the Godly triumph over death For first he saith The wicked are layd in the grave like sheepe They lived like Wolves or Lyons but they are layd in the grave like sheepe If it be asked why like sheepe I answer not for the innocency of their lives but for their impotency in death as if it had been sayd when once death took them in hand to lay them in the grave they could make no more resistance then a sheepe can against a Lyon or a Wolfe And when death hath thus layd them in the grave then secondly saith the Psalmist death shall feed on them as a Lyon doth upon a sheepe or any wild beast upon his prey which is a further degree of deaths triumph over the wicked And thirdly their beauty shall consume in the grave that is all their bodily and natural beauty and that is all the beauty which they have shall consume in the Grave whereas the Godly have a beauty and they count it their onely beauty which the grave cannot consume and that is the beauty of their graces the beauty of holynes the spirituall beauty of the inner man yea and the spirituall beauty of their outward holy actings shall not consume in the Grave For blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord for from henceforth saith the Spirit they rest from their labours and their workes follow them Rev. 14.13 that is their good workes follow them not to death but into life and will be both beauty and blessednes to them from the Lord for ever Whereas cursed are the dead that dye in their sins for from henceforth they shall be denyed rest for ever and none of their workes wherein they tooke pleasure in this world shall follow them into the next to give them any pleasure All their beauty and outward blessednes ends in the grave If in this life onely we have hope in Christ sayth the Apostle of beleevers 1 Cor. 15.19 we are of all men most miserable then how miserable are they who have no hope beyond this life or if they have both that and their present beauty consume together in the grave Thus it is plaine that though godly men dye yet death hath not such a hand over them as over the wicked And as wicked men are more under the hand of death then the Godly when they dye so they are continually more lyable unto death Sin which unfits men to dye comfortably fits them as it were to dye naturally The more sinfull any man is the sooner may death surprise him Holynes hath not onely a promise of eternall life hereafter but of a long life here Psal 34.12 13. And sin is not onely under a threat of eternal death hereafter but of a speedy death here Psal 55.23 But thou O Lord shalt bring them that is wicked men downe into the pit of destruction But when it may be long first the next words make answer Bloody and deceitfull men shall not live out halfe their dayes That is not halfe the dayes which as others doe so they naturally might live eyther the Justice of God or of man shall cut such men off in the midst of their dayes The grave gapes for those who have thus sinned So then though there are many spirituall reasons referring to eternal life which may move the sons of men to take heed of sin Pro sepalchruÌ est cur malim infernus aut inferi Nam sepulchâum rapit etiam bonos iâferi solos eos rapiunt qui peccaverunt i e. improbos Drus yet there is a strong motive from the concernments of this present temporal life and that not onely as to the comforts of it but also as to the very continuance of it They hasten themselves to the grave who make hast to sin and so at once endanger the hopes of the next life and the enjoyment of this Lastly Some because the Grave in a general sence consumes the Godly as wel as the sinner in the sence last expressed doe therefore restraine the word Sheol in this place to hell as it signifyes the place or state of the damned which is proper onely to those who have sinned and dye in their sinnes So the whole verse is thus rendred Vt terra torri da calor absumunt aquas invales ita infernus eos qui peccaverunt Tygur As dry earth and heate consume the snow waters so hell consumeth those that have sinned All that sin and turne not shall be turned to hell But shall hell consume them they shall ever be consuming but never consumed Hell shall consume them as to a comfortable being but it shall not consume them as to a being they shall be allwayes dying but never dead Hell is the portion and all the portion of all wicked men
or excommunicated from the society or communion of the faithfull and so no more to be remembred among the Saints or to have his name blotted out of the Church-records though he had been so great a planter and propagater of the Churches There are two Scriptures that speake of such writings or holy records Isa 4.3 It shall then come to passe that he that is left in Sion and he that remains in Jerusalem shall be called holy even every one that is written among the living or to life in Jerusalem Many might live in Jerusalem who were not written among the living or to life in Jerusalem Thus to be written to life or among the living is to be written in the Catalogue of those who are reckoned to have a life of Grace holynes and sanctification here as also to be heyres and expectants of a life of Glory hereafter Againe we have a like evidence of this Ezek. 13.9 My hand shall be upon the Prophets that see vanity and that divine lies they shall not be in the assembly of my people neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel As when the Lord brought the people of Israel out of Aegypt he commanded them to be mustered or numbred Num. 1.2 3. Thus also when they returned from the Babylonian Captivity they were numbred againe Ezr Chap. 2. Neh. Chap. 7. Now those records in which their names were written are conceaved to be the writings of the house of Israel mentioned in this 13th of Ezekiel as also the Booke of the living or to life in the fourth of Isaiah at least that both these Scriptures allude to those records And it was the custome of the Jewes that when any of them acted wickedly his name was rased out of those records as unworthy to be remembred among the people of God and was looked upon as a dead man yea as a damned man who hath no name in the booke of life so often mentioned in Scripture or whose name might be sayd to be blotted out of it From all which it appeares how great a curse it is to be no more remembred with respect and honour which Job affirmes shall be the condition of wicked men Which he further confirmes in the last clause of the verse And wickednesse shall be broken as a tree Here the abstract as elsewhere frequently in Scripture is put for the concrete That man who obstinately perseveres in sin is not onely wicked but wickednesse it selfe Psal 107.42 All iniquity shall stop her mouth that is such men as are full of iniquity shall have nothing to say or object against the righteous dealings of God but shall be silent in darkenes So Job 35.13 men extreamely vaine are called vanity and we usually call crafty men craft covetous men covetousnesse and proud men are called pride So a man much given to peace is in Scripture-language called peace Psal 120.7 I am peace or I peace but they make themselves ready for warre They who are much carryed to or in any thing are sometimes called by the name of that thing or they take the name of it upon themselves Thus David spake Ps 109.4 For my love they are my adversaries but I give my selfe to prayer The Hebrew is I prayer David was so much set upon prayer that he was prayer it selfe and a wicked man is so set upon wickednesse that he is wickednesse it selfe Wickednesse shall be broken as a tree What tree The text determines not but speakes indefinitely as a tree We may understand it first of a barren tree barren trees are broken and cut downe The word broken imports violence and so a violent breaking wicked men shall be broken violently Christ sayth of the Barren tree Luk. 13.8 Cut it downe why cumbereth it the ground Fruitfull trees adorne and beautifie the ground but barren trees doe onely burden and cumber it As good not to be as to be good for nothing The wicked shall be cut downe and broken as a barren tree secondly which provokes more to breaking they shall be broken as a tree that bringeth forth distastfull bitter poysonous fruite It is not good to let a tree live which brings forth evill and deadly fruit If they deserve to be broken who bring forth no fruit then much more they who bring forth none but noughty fruit Now as the wicked are alwayes barren of good fruit so they are alwayes bearing evill fruit nor can they beare any other Doe men gather grapes of thornes Thirdly they shall be broken as a tree that is rent and shivered both body and boughes with a tempest or storme of thunder and lightening Thus many tall and goodly trees are broken and thus the wicked shall be broken a storme a tempest from heaven shall breake them The downefall and destruction of wicked men hath been insisted upon from other passages of this booke and therefore I forbeare to adde any thing further here JOB CHAP. 24. Vers 21 22 23. Hee evill entreateth the barren that beareth not and doeth not good to the widdow Hee draweth also the mighty with his power hee riseth up and no man is sure of his life Though it be given him to be in safety whereon hee resteth yet his eyes are upon their wayes JOb having shewed the miserable conclusion of wicked men begins afresh to describe their further progress in wickednesse in the 21th and 22th verses Vers 21. Hee evill entreateth the barren Here 's another part of his wickednesse having robbed and murthered the innocent having committed adultery where he could have opportunity and admittance Nos putamus explicari non quid improbus faciat sed quibus supplicijs deus ipsorum posteros etsi ad tempus stare videantur deijciat Merl Consociat sc deus ei sterile non parituram viduam non afficit bono Jun Neque vivo ei neque mortuo uxorâ benedicit Jun Tollit deus sc è medio liberos ejus vel opibus potestate honore florentissimos Jun hee proceeds to afflict the barren and vexe the widdow The word which wee render to evill entreate hath severall significations and I finde Interpreters accordingly varying about the sence of the whole verse First The word signifies to associate or joyne together Thus Mr Broughton to whom others joyne renders it he adjoyneth the barren which hath not borne childe whereas our translation holds out the further actings of wicked men in sin this shews the further progress of God in punishing them for sin For the relative hee in the text is not referr'd to the wicked man but to God himselfe hee that is God joyneth the barren that hath not borne childe or that shall not beare and he doth no good to his widdow that is God sendeth him a barren wife and when he dyes his widdow shall live in misery This gloss Master Broughton gives upon his own translation God sendeth after him a barren wife that hee should have no helpe by Children and
the sinner purely to his owne election but it is a perswasion which hath an over-comming power going along with it God doth not draw us against our wills to Christ but hee drawes the will to Christ or makes us willing to come to Christ And the Lord drawes beleevers thus also after conversion to neerer converse with Christ The Church begged the putting forth of this powerfull drawing Cant. 1.3 Draw me and I will run after thee As the soule must have a drawing before we can come to Christ at all so after we are come to Christ wee need drawing still that we may follow hard after him This sence of the word may have place in the present text Wicked men have a power of drawing others after them though they doe not act any outward power Hee draweth the mighty by his power That is he allureth them to his side or to a complyance with him And he doth this sometimes as without any formal threatnings to exercise his power against them so without any formal promises of using his power for them As they usually draw the mighty by the power of perswasion so their power and example draw much without perswasion Secondly There is a drawing by an outward violence or a drawing by force And this I take to be most proper here Hee causeth the mighty to come in and stoope to his power though they have no mind at all to it Hee draweth the mighty That is first those that are mighty in courage secondly ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã est ingens 1 numero 2 motu 3 potentia those that are mighty in strength whether of body or estate Psal 76.5 The stout-hearted or mighty are spoyled they have slept their sleepe hee drawes the mighty the stout-hearted by his power There is a twofold power first of natural strength or activity secondly there is a power of civill strength or authority Rom. 13.1 The powers that bee are ordained of God That is the Authoritative or Magistraticall powers are ordained of God Wee may suppose the wicked man here spoken of cloathed with both these sorts of power and so as he tramples upon the poore the widow the barren and the weake so he keepes downe the mighty the rich the Great and in conclusion he so tyrannizeth and domineereth over all that all are over-awed to connive at him and stand as Neuters if not to joyne with him and be of his party He draweth the mighty by his power Hence observe Oppressors and Tyrants will reach men of all degrees and qualities When wicked men have undone the poore they will engage the mighty when they have done with the barren and with âhe widow they will have to doe with the most numerous and potent familyes Their oppression of the poore doth not satisfie but whet their appetites it doth not Extinguish but onely Encrease their desires of attempting greater persons and things As godly men proceed from lesser acts of holynes to greater from lower acts of faith to higher They goe from faith to faith and from strength to strength their path is like the morning light shining more and more unto the perfect day so the wicked goe on from lesser acts of wickednesse to greater from lust to lust from sin to sin their path is like the evening darkenes which darkneth more and more unto the perfect night As God addeth eniquity to their iniquity Psal 69.27 by way of punishment so they adde iniquity to their owne iniquity in a way of pleasure and care not to come into his righteousnesse Secondly Observe The rule by which wicked men act is their power They act according to their strength rather then according to righteousnesse or reason they will doe what they can not what they ought might serves their turne in stead of right and they thinke any thing is done well enough which they have power enough to doe Thus the Prophet Michah describes the oppressors of that age Chap. 2.1 They worke evill in their thoughts upon their beds when the morning is light they practise it because it is in the power of their hand So saith the present text They draw the mighty by their power Fourthly See here the powerfull man working upon the mighty man Hee drawes the mighty by his power Hence note Mighty men may not onely meet with their matches but be overmatched Mighty men thinke themselves safe or out of danger and while the poore are under oppression possibly they smile at their owne indemnity and applaud their owne happines yet it may soone come to the turne of the mighty to be overturned by might their power may quickly be overpowred as the might of God doth allwayes overmatch the might of man Luk. 1.56 Hee hath put downe the mighty from their seate so he often armes men sometimes the worst of men to pull downe the mighty from their seates The power of God is above all power he is higher then the highest And some men get so high that they are higher then all others who besides themselves are highest among the children of men The mighty may meet with their match and be overmatched Hee draweth the mighty by his power Hee riseth up and no man is sure of his life ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a radice ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã surrexit âd standum These words are a cleare description of the oppressor Hee riseth up the word signifyeth first onely to stand or so to rise as to stand which is common to all men in nature Secondly To rise up is to get higher to advance a mans selfe to further degrees of honour and power thirdly it signifyes to rise in a hostile manner to rise as an Enemy against another Psal 18.39 Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battell thou hast subdued under me those that rise up against me And againe Psal 44.5 Through thee will we push downe our enemies through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us The wicked oppressor in the text riseth up in all these sences He riseth up to stand or to settle and establish himselfe to take good footing and lay a good foundation for the perpetuating of his greatnesse secondly he riseth up to higher honour thirdly having thus setled and advanced himselfe he riseth up as an enemy to vexe all those who oppose him or stand in his way fourthly some give another sence of this action Hee riseth up or standeth What to doe even to make faire promises and to enter engagements what good he will doe and how good he will be when as he intends all these things to be but snares to catch others not at all to be as bonds to ty himselfe which suites and falls in fully with the last words of the verse and no man is sure of his life The Hebrew is plural No man is sure of his lives Non fidere vitae est ambigere de vita spe abjecta omnibus circuÌstantijs mortem
then at others yea at sometimes we have no assurance at all of our lives and we never have lesse hope to live or lesse hold of life then when The wicked man riseth up Hence observe The power of a wicked man is the danger of all good men yea all men are in danger when the wicked man is in power Hee riseth up and no man is sure of his life when the ungodly are in the hight of prosperity no man is in safety Pro. 11.10 11. When it goeth well with the righteous the City rejoyceth and when the wicked perish there is safety by the blessing of the upright the City is exalted but it is overthrowne by the mouth of the wicked that is by the mouth of those wicked men who are in power their rising is the fall of the righteous and with their fall the righteous rise When the wicked perish there is safety And againe Pro. 28.12 When righteous men doe rejoyce there is great glory That is when righteous men prosper the effect is put for the cause or the consequent for the antecedent joy follows prosperity when I say it is thus with righteous men there is great glory that is men appeare in their best both by words and actions The joy of the righteous is not alone many others rejoyce with bim yea are made joyfull by him So that when the righteous rise up in honour and authority all men set themselves out to the utmost and doe as it were cloath the dignity of righteous men with glory Then they are willing to shew what they have because they know they shall keepe what they have safely And the freenes of their glorying when the righteous rejoyce sheweth the freedome which they enjoy under the power of the righteous But saith Solomon in the same place when the wicked rise which is the word of the text a man is hidden Which may be expounded first thus The wicked when they rise doe scarse shew themselves to be men they are so inhumane and cruel which suites wel with the 15th verse of the same Chapter As a roaring Lion and a ranging Beare so is a wicked ruler over the poore people So that nothing of a man appeares in them when they are in power Secondly we may take the meaning more nere the present poynt thus When the wicked rise that is to greatnes and authority A man is hidden that is men keepe as close and private as they can as if they were affrayd to be seene and doubted they should be ruined by their rising When the wicked appeare most the godly run into holes for they instead of being a shield of protection and defence to the Godly are a snare a sword and vexation to all that are about them they use their power for destruction and not for Edification The Apostle 2 Cor. 13.7 speaking of the power given him by Christ in the Gospel saith It is for Edification not for destruction the designe of that power is to build up and not to throw downe So the great designe of all power in the hand of the Magistrate as well as of the Ministery is for Edification not for destruction destruction is that which comes but by accident by reason of the sin and wickednes that men doe the great busines of the Magistrate is to save to build up and to defend yet such is the wickednes of mans heart that many times when he hath power in his hand no man is sure of his life Hee is so farre from giving assurance protection and defence to all by his power that his power is every mans danger And hence Solomon concludes Prov. 29.2 When the righteous are in authority the people rejoyce but when the wicked beareth rule the people mourne It cannot but be sad with them who have nothing sure to them they must needes mourne who have neyther estate nor liberty nor life sure to them they must needes mourne who see nothing so sure to them as sorrow As to have our spirituall calling and eternal election made sure to us is the top of all joy to us in this world So to have nothing in this world sure to us no not so much as our life in the sence explained sure to us is the bottome and lowest of all that sorrow which concernes this present world And this sorrow the wicked mans exaltation brings upon all men He riseth up and no man is sure of his life But as it felloweth Vers 23. Though it be given him to be in safety wherein hee trusteth yet his Eyes are upon their wayes In this 23d verse Si quis ei donet ut tutus agere possit ac nitatur illi oculi ejus speculantur vias ad nocendum Tygur Solent boni dare impijs munera ut confidentèr hâbâtent inter illos at poslea infidiantur illis a quâbus munera acceperunâ Vatabl Job further describeth the state of wicked men in their prosperity wee may read the text thus If any one giveth to be in safety c. and so the sence of this verse falls in with the Interpretation of the words last opened If any one giveth to be in safety that is this man is so wicked that though any poore man or any who are in feare of him would bestow large gifts upon him to bribe him for his favour or stay his hand from oppression that they might live quietly by him and so should trust upon him that having received their money surely hee would let them alone and they should be quiet yet his eyes are upon their wayes that is hee is looking about him to pick holes in their Coate and finde some advantage against them to bring them into trouble For as his own Covenants cannot hold him so neyther can their curtesies but his eyes are severely and critically upon their wayes to discover some fault if any be or if none be yet to suggest somewhat as matter of accusation and so of proceeding against them This is a truth though a man buy his peace at a very deare rate of wicked men yet there is no assurance to be had bribeing and submission and flattery will not hold long many examples have proved that these things have not secured good men from the oppression of tyrants but they have quickly found out a way to ruine them that have been most liberal in rewards to gaine their favour and purchase their owne peace If any one give to be in safety and trusteth he shall be safe his trust will fayle him The more we trust God the safer we are but there is no safety to be had by trusting ungodly men This is a good sence yet rather according to our translation the words shew the Condition of the wicked man himselfe in his prosperity Though it be given him to be in safety wherein he resteth yet his eyes are upon their wayes That is though it be given him of God or though God give him this priviledge to be in
fayre yet she hath her spots But God is fayre without any spot and therefore the fayrenes of the Moone is no fayrenes at all to his There is another reading of the words Behold even to the Moon and it doth not extend its tents ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Et non expandit lumen suum in modum Tenâoââ Complut or doth not extend its light like a tent for when the light is spread first out it is like the spreading of a tent upon the mountaines To which the Prophet Joel seemeth to allude Chap. 2.2 in that phrase As the morning spread upon the mountaines Behold to the Moone and it doth not spread out its light nor extend its tents Our translation reacheth the sence fully It shineth not Yea the Starres are not pure in his sight The Starres are supposed higher and greater then the Moone The Starres are pure and splendid bodies as hath been shewed from other places of this booke So that when Bildad saith The Starres are not pure it is not an absolute denyall of their purity but as himselfe expounds it they are not pure in the sight of God The Starres have neyther those spots nor those changes which the Moone hath they are a more cleare and a more certaine light yet Even the Starres are not pure in his sight and wee may reckon the Sunne among the Starres too though sometimes they are spoken of distinctly Sunne Moone and Starres Thus Bildad pleads the excellency of God above the most excellent creatures how much more above man who is now cast much behind many of the creatures through the corruption of his nature and is not disparaged by being compared to the meanest of them Behold even to the Moone and it shineth not and the Starres are not pure in his sight Hence Observe The glory or beauty of the most glorious and beautifull Creatures is no glory no beauty compared with the glory and beauty of God Bildad instancing in the most beautifull Creatures takes in the beauty of all the creatures all which is but a ray a beame of his infinite light but a drop of his infinite Ocean their glory is but an effect of his and though the meanest of them are perfect in their state yet the best of them are not perfect in degree It was sayd anciently Looke upon the heavens they are beautifull looke upon the earth that also is beautifull but he that made heaven and earth is infinitely more beautifull then eyther of them both or then both of them When God had finished the worke of Creation it is sayd Gen. 1.31 And God saw all that he had made and behold it was very good How then is it sayd here that the Moone shineth not and that the Starres are not pure in his sigh I answer First as before all things which God made were good as creatures but nothing was as good as the Creator Secondly I answer the creature is not now so good as it was when first created the sin of man did not onely pollute and staine the glory of man but of the whole creation and therefore the Apostle sayth Rom. 8.20 21 22. That the creature was made subject to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope because the creature it selfe also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travelleth in paine together untill now From this illustrious context it appeares that God for mans sin hath put the whole creation to disgrace and suffering and that all creatures are fallen from their first perfection by the fall of the first man The very lights of heaven are made darke and the Starres impure by mans impurity Now if by the sin of man those creatures who in themselves are sinlesse even the Moone and Starres have contracted defilement and are not without blemish in the sight of God then how much lesse is man by whom they have taken this infection free from blemish or infection himselfe as Bildad inferres in the next words and close of the Chapter Vers 6. How much lesse man that is a worme and the son of man which is a worme As if he had sayd If the Sunne Moone and Starres are not pure in his sight how much lesse is man pure Nor is Bildad content to say how much less is man but he giveth a very debasing comparison of man How much lesse is man that is a worme Cum precedit sententia negativa particulae illae ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã commodè redduntur quanto minus Pisc and the son of man which is a worme How much lesse We may say also how much more is man impure in his sight So the original words are often rendred as the reader may see in those places Prov. 11.31 Prov. 15.11 Bildad layeth man as low as he can shewing that he is so farre below the Starres that hee is as low as a worme and if the Starres be impure in the sight of God how much more is man a worme What 's a worme what a darke dull thing is a worme to a Starre yet that is not so dull a thing to a Starre as a Starre is to God therefore if the Starres be not pure in his sight how much lesse man that is a worme A worme is one of the meanest Creatures and the word that is here used signifieth the meanest of wormes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã vermis parvus in carne aut caseo nascens properly and strictly those little wormes which breed in flesh or Cheese or in any other kinde of food when it is corrupted The word is used Exod. 16.24 where it is said of the Manna that was reserved contrary to the command of God That it bred wormes such a worme is man and Bildad is not content to say this once but he saith it againe And the son of man which is a worme Here is the same thing doubled And 't is doubled by Bildad to assure us of the truth and certainty of of it as if he had said I am not afraid to averr what I have spoken I have said it and I say it againe how much lesse man who is a worme and the son of man which is a worme The son of man that is any man high or low rich or poore learned or unlearned they who are at greatest distance in themselves meete all in this They are wormes To be called the son of man imports the meanenes of man and minds man of his weaknes and frailty Ezekiel the Prophet is often spoken to by the Lord in this stile Son of man the reason given by some is this because hee was a man often rapt up in the visions of God or had the visions of God sent downe to him hee was a man that lived so much in heaven that hee might even forget that hee was of the earth therefore the
to doe in a right manner we upon the matter doe not at all We may resolve these interrogations of the Text into negations How hast thou helped him that is without power is as much as this thou hast not helped him how savest thou the arme that hath no strength is indeed Thou hast not saved him how hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdome caryeth this meaning thou hast given him no counsell we use to say as good never a whit as never the better and how good soever any thing is that we doe if we doe it amisse it will be reckoned by God what reckoning soever men make of it as if we had done no such thing Moses said to the Lord under a temptation when he was troubled at the complaint of the people because the deliverance promised did not come on and they were not freed as was expected Lord wherefore hast thou so evill entreated this people why is it that thou hast sent me for since I came to Pharaoh to speake in thy name he hath done evill to this people neither hast thou delivered thy people at all Exod. 5.23 Is this a deliverance this is no deliverance we are apt to thinke the mercyes of God no mercyes unlesse he give us full and perfect mercyes unlesse we presently receave all that we looke for we looke upon it as if we had receaved nothing at all But how truely may the Lord say to the children of men when they performe duties slightly and negligently ye have not done them at all ye have neyther prayed nor heard nor fasted at all because ye have been negligent in and unprofitable under them The workes and dutyes of the best are not every way full but the workes and dutyes of some are alltogether empty and they doe nothing in all they doe Fourthly In these severall interrogations are here held forth the severall effects of holy advice given according to the word and minde of God how hast thou helped him that is without power saved the arme that hath no strength counselled him that hath no wisdome As if he had sayd thou indeed hast offered me counsell from God if thou hadst managed it right this would have been the fruit of it I who have no power should have been helped and I who am as an arme without strength should have been saved Hence observe That the word of God or divine truths are mighty in operation when duely administred The word of truth conveigheth strength to the weake wisdome to the simple comfort to the sorrowfull light to those who are in darkenes and life unto the dead The word lifts up the hands which hang downe and the feeble knees The law of the Lord that is every holy truth saith David Psal 19.7 8. is perfect and what can it doe the next words tell us converting or restoring the soule The testimony of the Lord is sure and what can that doe the next words tell us making wise the simple The statutes of the Lord are right and what can they doe even that which is most sweete where it is done reioycing the heart The commandement of the Lord is pure in it selfe and it worketh gloriously in us enlightning the eyes I may say also The word of the Lord is mighty and it giveth strength to those who have no might As it is mighty for the pulling downe of strong holds casting downe imaginations every thing that exalteth it selfe against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor 10.4 5. So it is as mighty for the raysing up of the weake for the lifting up of those who are cast downe and fallen below the knowledge of God through unbeliefe and for the bringing of poore soules out of captivity into that blessed liberty of faith in Christ What Great things the word rightly applyed and divine truths brought home with Authority have done and still can doe was shewed at the 4 âh Chapter of that booke verse 3d and 4th As also at the 25 âh verse of the sixth Chapter upon those words How forcible are right words Though we ought to helpe those who have no power by more then words yet words have holpen many who had no power as Job doth more then intimate while he reproves Bildad for his unskillfull wording it with him How hast thou helped c. And how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã unde Graecum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Appellatio a ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quod esse significat sapientia enim rerum omnium existentium prima praecipua est Drus That which we render The thing as it is is but one word in the Original and it hath a threefold signification First It is put for the essence substance or being of a thing The Greek word for substance is very neere this in sound and may possibly be a derivative from it Secondly It signifieth that working or operation which flowes from being Things first are and then they act and they are to little or no purpose unlesse they act Thirdly It signifieth counsell advice wisdome or sound wisdome Prov. 3.21 so Mr Broughton translates And makest advice knowne aboundantly Others taking up the same notion render How hast thou declared wisdome abundantly As if he had sayd Thou thinkest thou hast opened a treasure and declared store of wisdome and knovledge in this discourse or that thou hast made a very wise and learned discourse whereas indeed it will be found leane and short in it selfe as also impertinent to the poynt in hand ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ad multitudinem vel multiplicitèr Our translation takes it in the first sense How hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is that is how hast thou declared the substance of the thing or the solid truth in plenty or as the Hebrew phrase imports in great number and with much variety Hence note First Every thing ought to be declared as it is that is the naked truth ought to be declared It is our duty to speake of things as they are not to put colours upon them and so make them appeare what they are not or otherwise then they are truth is plaine and truth should be told plainely The naked truth or the thing as it is is most beautifull to the eye of the understanding And though Bildad did misreport what he spake of God yet he did not make a full report How hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is Secondly Hence note As we ought to speake the truth so to speake the truth out or all the truth Paul tells the Church of Eâhesus Acts 20.20 That he had kept nothing back that was profitable for them and sayth he ver 27. I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God Paul plentifully declared the thing as it was Bildad spake truth but not all the truth as to Jobs case
hee leaves that to be understood And what or whom can wee understand but God or the power of God by whom or whereby dead things are formed as well as living things for all things whether animate or inanimate receave their being and forme from him Dead things are formed from under the waters Hence note That all things are produced in their beings by the power of God Dead things as well as living things gold and silver minerals and gemms are formed by God as well as men or beasts And as they were of God in Creation at the beginning so there is a continuall putting forth of the power of God in the continuing or renewing of them God is dayly forming rich and rare things in the secret Cabinets of the earth and from under the waters And the inhabitants thereof That is as dead things are formed under the waters so are the inhabitants thereof or those living things that dwell in the water wee put in the Margin with the inhabitants who are they The inhabitants of the water are the fishes they are bred and abide in the water As if he had sayd Those precious stones and minerals called dead things are formed from under or in the waters as well as the fishes who are the proper inhabitants of the water Mr Broughton reades thus Dead things are formed under the waters and places neere them that is in the mountaines and hills in the clifts and rocks are these precious things formed But I rather take our reading and so the Text gives a further illustration of the power of God who as he formeth dead things under the waters so living things or the inhabitants of the water Hence note The power of God is great in forming the fishes of the Sea And the greatness of it will appeare if we consider three things about them First Their number as to us the fish of the Sea are infinite in number there is no sort of creatures that multiply so fast as fishes doe therefore when God created the inhabitants of the water we read Gen. 1.21 how emphatically their encrease is exprest And God created great Whales and every living creature that moveth which the waters brought forth aboundantly after their kinde The waters did not bring them forth by any power of their owne but they were brought forth in the waters by that power which God had planted in the waters for that purpose Now it is not onely sayd that the waters brought them forth but the waters brought them forth aboundantly implying that fish doe multiply and bring forth more then other creatures and therefore when the Spirit of God would shew a great increase of men 't is sayd They shall increase like fish Gen. 48.16 Jacob blessing the children of Joseph prayed thus Inter omnes bestias nihil est foecundius piscibus igitur traÌffertur ad multiplicationem immensum The Angel which redeemed mee from all evill blesse the ladds and let my name be named on them and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth The Originall is Let them grow or multiply like fishes into a multitude in the midst of the earth or let them be as numerous upon the land as fishes are in the Sea And we finde in the sacred History how the blessing and providence of God made good this history For of the sons of Joseph Manasseh and Ephraim were numbred eighty five thousand and two hundred men meete for warre Numb 26.34.37 which exceeded the encrease of any one Tribe beside How wonderfully doth the Lords power appeare not onely in those infinite sholes of lesser fishes but in the greater also Who is able to report the number of these Sea-inhabitants or of the fishes who people the Sea Secondly If wee consider their various kindes that also sheweth forth the great power of God Naturalists observe that there is no creature upon the earth but hath as I may say its representative in the Sea besides those that have nothing like them on the earth so various are their kindes Thirdly Many of these inhabitants of the waters are wonderfull for the vastnesse and greatnesse of their bodyes the greatest of all living creatures are in the Sea Psal 104.25 So is this great and wide Sea wherein are things creeping innumerable both small and great beasts The Psalmist calleth the fishes beasts and there are small beasts in the Sea and great beasts even of a stupendious greatnesse The greatest beasts of the earth are as nothing compared to them The Elephant is little to the Leviathan Naturalists have written much of this subject the numerousnes variousnes and vastnes of these water-Inhabitants So that wee may see much of the Majesty and power of God as in these things that are formed under the waters so in those that are formed in the waters Job descends lower yet in the next words Vers 6. Hell is naked before him and destruction hath no covering 'T is questioned what is here meant by hell Some expound hell of the lowest parts of the earth so Master Broughton The lowest earth is naked before him and the lost that is that which seemes to be lost and condemned as himselfe Glosseth it hath no covering Secondly Hel is often put for the grave Psal 16.10 Thou wilt not leave my soule that is me in hel that is in the grave nor wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption Thirdly It is most usually taken for that prison or place of torment where the Lord detaynes all those in hold that have rebelled against him and dyed impaenitently in that rebellion In this third sence we may interpret it here as I conceive most suitably to the scope and purpose of Job in this place Hell is naked before him That is it is fully discovered to him he sees who are there and what is done there he observes all passages there even in that bottomlesse pit of hel as wel as in heaven or upon the earth As if Job had sayd to Bildad You told me that God maketh peace in his high places I tell you God hath to doe in hell or in the lowest places The lowest hell is naked before him The Apostle speaketh in this phrase Heb 4.13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to doe The words are an allusion unto bodyes which being stript and uncloathed all see what they are there may be many deformities blemishes and scarrs yea ulcers upon the body undiscerned while 't is cloathed or covered but when naked nothing is hid All things are naked before God that is he as plainly discernes what they are as wee discerne what a body is that stands naked before us Hell is called darknesse and utter darknesse yet it is light to God And destruction hath no covering Here the same thing is againe repeated
Nesciah that is the land of forgetfulnesse as the grave so hell is called the land of forgetfulnesse where the wicked shall be remembred no more God will remember them no more to doe them any good and they are forgotten how much soever they are remembred who are not remembred for good And as God will not remember those in hell for good so they shall forget all the good they have had upon the earth or the remembrance which they have of it shall onely be to encrease their sorrow under present evills Abraham in the Parable Luk. 16.25 sayd to the rich man in hel Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and that remembrance of the good things which he once enjoyed was but an addition to all the evills and miseries which he then endured It is better never to have had any good thing then onely to remember that we have had it How miserable is their condition who shall neither be ââmembred for good nor remember any good but to make them more miserable Seventhly Hel is called Erets choscec that is a land of darknesse a region of darknesse there is nothing but darknesse in hell The wicked goe to the generation of their fathers where they shall never see light Psal 49.19 They loved darknesse here rather then light and they shall be punished with darkenes hereafter which hath no light Darknes was their choyce in this life and it shall be their curse in the next Eightly Hel is called Gehinon whence the Greeke Gehenna from the valley of Hinnon in which the Idolatrous Israelites imitating the abomination of the Heathens were wont to sacrifice their children with horrible cruelty And hence the Scripture often makes use of that word to signifie the place of torment or the torments of that place where the damned must abide separate for ever from the favourable presence and subjected under the wrath of God This Hel is naked before God and this destruction hath no covering Vers 7. He stretcheth out the North over the empty place and hangeth the earth upon nothing In this verse Job exalts God in his Almighty power upholding the mighty fabrick of heaven and earth His discourse mounts up from the earth from the waters and from hell as high as heaven it selfe and he speakes of heaven and of the earth in their conjunction together He stretcheth out the North over the empty place Bildad had spoken of the power of God in the heavens Dominion and feare are with him hee maketh peace in his high places is there any number of his armies and upon whom doth not his light arise Job also speaks of the power of God in the creation and disposition of these things He stretcheth out the North over the empty place The word is so rendred to signifie a gracious act of God to regardlesse men Prov. 1.24 I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded God stretcheth out his hand to smite and he stretcheth it out to save but man layeth it not to heart It is used also to signifie that powerfull act of God in preparing the heavens for himselfe Ps 104.2 Who coverest thy selfe with light as with a garment who stretchest out the heavens like a curtaine As wee draw or stretch out a curtaine so God stretcheth out the heavens But why doth Job say He stretcheth out the North I answer by the North he meaneth that part of heaven that is Northward or the northerne heavens Againe the North may be taken for the whole heavens by a Synechdoche and Job might speak of the North because the North-pole was neerest the climate where he dwelt He stretcheth out the North or the northerne heavens that is the whole heavens both the North and South East and West Hee stretcheth out the North over the empty place What is this empty place First By the empty place some understand the most remote and uninhabited places of the earth Hee over-spreads them with heavens and disposeth things there as well as here hee spreads the heavens over those parts where there is no man and so may be called Empty places because un-inhabited or not fill'd with men God causeth it to raine on the earth where no man is on the Wildernes where there is no man as he speaketh of himselfe to Job in the 38âh Chapter of this booke ver 26th Now as God raineth upon those in this sence empty places so he stretcheth out the heavens over these empty places that is he takes care of them as well as of those that are peopled or inhabited Secondly Rather by the empty place wee are to understand the ayre for in the natural disposition or systeame of the world the earth is lowest the water next the ayre is the third and the fire fourth over which God stretcheth out the heavens And because nothing is visible to us upwards on this side heaven but the ayre therefore it may wel be sayd that he stretcheth out the heavens immediately over the ayre or the empty place Super inane quod juxta communem opinioneÌ intelligi decet Vulgo enim totum spatium a terra usque ad coelum vacuum putatur quum plenum aere sit But is the ayre or that place which we call the ayre empty no the ayre is not empty there is no vacuity no empty place in nature and nature will put it selfe into strange courses to avoide a vacuity water will ascend to avoide vacuity and it will not descend to avoide vacuity but though the ayre be not empty or voide taking emptines strictly and philosophically for every place hath its filling yet as emptines is taken largely and vulgarly so the ayre may be called an empty place when wee come into a roome where there is no artificiall furniture wee say it is an empty roome so the space between us and the heavens in a vulgar sence is an empty place The Scripture speakes often of things according to the vulgar acceptation and understanding Mr Broughton translates thus He stretcheth out the North upon the empty And wee may conceave Job using this forme of speech the more to magnifie and shew forth the great power of God As if he had sayd The heavens have nothing to beare them up but an empty place what can the ayre beare the ayre will beare nothing yet the Lord useth no support for the whole heavens but this empty place Thirdly I conceave that this phrase may be expounded barely of the Creation For Moses sayth Gen. 1.1 2. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was without forme and voyd or empty It is the word Tohu used here in Job over this Tohu or empty place did God at the first stretch the heavens And as this was the worke of God at first in Creation so it is his worke still in providence and therefore the Lord speakes of it as of a continued worke Isa 44.24 Thus sayth the Lord thy
out the call of God but God hath chosen foolish things to confound the wise and God hath chosen the weake things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and base things of the world and things which are dispised hath God chosen yea and things which are not to bring to nought things that are that is those things which are so foolish and weake and base and despised they seeme to have no being or are accounted as nothing even these non-entityes these poore tooles doth God chuse and take up to doe great things by and to nullifie or bring those things to nought which are all in all among or in the estimations of men Therefore so God owne the worke the matter is not much I speake not in regard of lawfullnes but likelynes I say the matter is not much what the meanes is God can over-wit wise men by fooles he can over-power mighty men by those who are weake Thus God trivmphs over humane improbabilityes yea impossibilityes and would have no flesh eyther despayre because of the smalnes of meanes or glory in his sight because of the greatnes of it How glorious was Abrahams faith in the former Chapter who was so farre from despayring that he was strong in faith giving glory to God though he saw nothing but death upon all the meanes which tended to attaine the blessing promised Rom. 4.17 18 19. As it is written I have made thee a father of many Nations before him whom he beleeved even God who was it that Abraham beleeved it was God And under what notion did his faith eye God even as he who quickeneth the dead when God is closed with under this notion as quickning the dead what can be too hard for faith but there is more in it Abrahams faith eyed God not onely as quickning the dead but as he that calleth those things which be not as though they were that is as he who maketh something of nothing when once Abraham had these apprehensions of God then nothing stucke with him his faith could digest iron and therefore as it followeth he against hope beleeved in hope c. and being not weake in faith he considered not his owne body being now dead as to the procreation of children when he was about an hundred yeares old neyther yet the deadnesse as to conception of Sarahs wombe He staggered not at the promise of God through unbeliefe that is he never made any scruples or queries how the promise should be accomplished but was strong in faith giving glory to God that is gloryfying God by beleeving that he was able to make good the promise or that it was as easie for God to create a performance as to make the promise Thirdly Then feare not when God is a working but he will cary on his worke deficiencyes in the creature are no stop to his actings his immediate or sole power is enough who hangeth the earth upno nothing Where are the pillars that sustaine this mighty masse It hangeth fast by no fastning but the order of God And his order is strong enough to hang the greatest busienes that ever was in the world upon The Jewes have a saying in reverence of the written word of God That upon or at every Iota or the least title of the Law there hangeth a mountaine of sence and 't is as true in reference to his doings as his sayings God can hang mountaines upon mole-hils and turne mountaines into mole-hils for his peoples sake and safety It is rare that we are put to the actings of faith at so high a rate There is usually somewhat in sight to encourage the actings of our faith and dependance upon God they that are in the lowest condition have somewhat to looke to but if there be nothing to be seene then doe but remember that God hangeth the earth upon nothing and faith will say I have all Although the meale in the Barrell and the oyle in the Cruse should fayle Although the fig-tree shall not blossome neyther shall there be fruit in the Vines Although the labour of the Olive shall fayle and the fields shall yeild no meate c. yet the Lord fayleth not eyther in his power for us or compassions towards us and therefore the beleever can even then rejoyce in the Lord and joy in the God of his salvation For while there is nothing in appearance there is not onely some thing but all things are that are for our good in the promise Faith may make all sorts of comfortable Conclusions to and for it selfe and not build Castles in the ayre from this one Assertion That The earth hangeth in the ayre or to give it in the words of the text That God hangeth the earth upon nothing The Constitution or syntaxe of Nature wel considered is no small advantage to our hightning and strengthning in grace JOB CHAP. 26. Vers 8 9 10. He bindeth up the waters in his thicke clouds and the cloud is not broken under him He holdeth backe the face of his throane and spreadeth his cloud upon it He hath compassed the waters with bounds untill the day and night come to an end JOB having shewed how wonderfully God upholdeth the earth which is under us goeth on to shew no lesse a wonder in his binding up those waters in clouds which are above us Whatsoever God hath done or doth in heaven above or upon the earth beneath eyther as to creation and the first constitution of tâings or as to providence and the continuall motion of things is wonderfull and glorious Vers 8. He bindeth up the waters in his thicke clouds As our English word Bind ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Colligavit vinxit compressit so the Original implyeth a force upon the waters to keepe them within the cloud Water would not stay there but that it must whether it will or no It would rush downe presently and disorderly to the ruine of all below but God bindeth it to its good behaviour As the mouth of a sacke is tyed or bound about that the corne put into it fall not out Or which allusion comes neerest the text as barrels are bound with hoopes lest the liquor put into them should leake out thus God bindeth up the waters What waters There are two sorts of waters first upper waters or waters in the ayre of which the Psalmist speaketh when he sayth Psal 104.3 Hee layeth the beames of his chambers in the waters that is in those upper waters which are neerest the heaven called in Scripture The habitation of his holynes and of his glory Earthly Architects must have strong walls to lay the beames of their chambers upon but the Lord who made heaven and earth can make fluid waters beare up the beames of his chambers for ever Secondly theâe are lower waters or waters on the earth Which distinction Moses gave long before Aristotle Gen. 1.7 And God made the firmament and it divided the waters which were under the firmament
Acts 27.20 Tenere faciem throni est coelum occultare et obducere nubibus That neyther Sun nor Starrs in many dayes appeared here was a holding backe or covering of the face of the throne of God And thus our experiences have often found it held backe the face of heaven being masked or vayled over with naturall clouds and vapours Againe if we take the face of the throne of God for that eminent manifestation of himselfe as in heaven Thus also God holdeth backe the face of his throne by covering it with a Metaphoricall cloud as it is expressed Psal 97.1 2. The Lord reigneth c. clouds and darknesse are round about him that is we can see no more of his glory in reigning then we can see of a Kings throne which is covered with a Canopy and compassed about with curtaines Job gives this plainly for the interpretation of this former part of the verse in the latter part of it And spreadeth his cloud upon it That is upon the face of his throne Wee may take this cloud first properly thus God covers the heavens from the sight of our eyes Secondly improperly as clouds note onely secrecy and privacy Thus God spreadeth a cloud upon his throne to hide it from the eye of our understanding so that we can no more comprehend the glory of God in himselfe or in his wayes and workings towards man then we can see the Sunne Moone and Starres when muffled and wrapt up in thicke clouds Thus David speaketh of the Lord Psal 18.11 He made darkenes his secret place his pavilion round about him were darke waters and thicke clouds of the skyes But the Apostle saith 1 Tim. 6.16 That God dwelleth in light How then doth the Psalmist say there and elsewhere that he made clouds and darknes his secret place and his pavilion I answer As the Lord is light and hath no darkenes at all in him Joh 1.5 so as to himselfe he ever dwelleth in light and hath no clouds nor darkenes at all about him And therefore when it is sayd that he spreadeth a cloud upon his throne and maketh darkness his secret place or his secret place darke we are to understand it in reference to our selves for whensoever God hideth himselfe or the reason of his dealings and dispensations from us Then the cloud is spread upon his Throne When God is sayd to spread a cloud over us or any thing we have it noteth his care over us and his protection of us Isa 4.5 And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion and upon her assemblyes a cloud and smoake by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night what is meant both by this cloud and flaming fire is clearely expounded in the last words of the verse for upon all the glory shall be a defence or a covering Thus I say a cloud spread by God upon us implyeth that we are under his covert and defence But when God spreadeth a cloud upon or covereth himselfe with a cloud this implyeth all the Scripture over the hiding and concealing of himselfe and his workes from us And in this sence Job sayth He holdeth backe the face of his throne and spreadeth a cloud upon it Hence note First God hath a throne Kings have thrones much more hath God who is the King of kings King Solomon made himselfe a great throne of Ivory and overlayd it with the best Gold 1 Kings 10.18 Kings have formall Thrones God hath a real one Hee hath all power in his hand and this he administreth according to the pleasure of his owne will both in heaven and earth Note Secondly God manifesteth himselfe in heaven as Princes upon their thrones so heaven is the throne of God And where God acts most our affections should be most and our conversation most Where the Throne is thither the great resort is many flocke to the Court. As it will be our glory hereafter to be in heaven or about the throne of God for ever in person so it is our grace to be dayly there in Spirit while we are here The earth is Gods footestoole yet many make that their throne Heaven is Gods throne and many make that their footestoole They tread and trample upon the things of heaven while they set their hearts upon the things of the earth 'T is a sad mistake when men set their feete where they should set their hearts and prophane the throne of God not onely by levelling it with but by laying it lower then the ground Observe Thirdly God hideth his owne glory from the sight of man He holdeth backe the face of his throne he will not suffer the lustre of it to appeare but spreadeth a cloud upon it Indeed we are not able to beare the cleare discoveryes of divine Glory 1 Tim. 6.16 God dwelleth in light which no man can approach unto though he were permitted and offered the priviledge to approach unto it God dwelleth in and is possessed of that infinite perfection of light that no creature is capable of When Moses made that petition to God Exod 33.18 I beseech thee shew me thy glory The Lord answered v. 20. Thou canst not see my face for no man shall see me and live It seemes that while God spake with Moses his glory was overshadowed or that God to use Jobs language in the text held backe the face of his throne and spread a cloud upon it and therefore Moses begg'd the removall of it or that his glory might breake through it and shine unto him Wel sayth God thou canst not see my face as if he had sayd If I should grant thee that request thou art not able to enjoy it or make use of it for as my nature is altogether invisible so thou canst not beare the super-excelling brightnes which the cleare manifestations of my immediate presence would dart forth upon thee for that Glory of my presence is too great a weight for humane fraylety to stand under it would astonish rather then comfort thee and in stead of refreshing confound and make thee as a dead man No man shall see my face and live Man must dye before he can in that sence see the face of God and then he shall as the Apostle speakes 1 Cor 13.12 see face to face and know as he is knowne So that though we are much short of the happines of the next life while we see as through a glasse darkely and God holdeth backe the face of his throne yet it is a mercy to us while we are in this life that he doth so because we are not able to abide the sight of him face to face or to behold the face of his throne As Christ had many things to say to his Desciples which they were not able then to beare so Christ hath purchased such mercyes and priviledges for his people as they are not able to beare while they are on this side the grave Every state hath enjoyments suitable
and proper to it Further as God hideth his glory from man because he is not able to beare it all so he hideth much of that from him which he is able to beare both to make him hunger and thirst the more after it and to draw him into the greater reverence and estimation of it We usually esteeme that more which is veyled and under a cloud then that which is very cleare and openly revealed and according to our present state and frame that is most reverenced by us which is most concealed from us When a cloud hath dwelt a while upon the Sunne we desire the more to see the face of it and are the more affected with the sight of it God will not hold backe the face of his throne from us in glory nor will he ever spread a cloud upon it and yet we shall have fresh desires after it and high valuations of it everlastingly But while we dwel in this corrupt and corruptible flesh wee are apt to neglect that which is alwayes with us especially if it be alwayes alike with us And therefore as the wise and gracious God will not let us see his throne here at all in the full glory of it because we cannot beare it so he will not let us see that glory of it continually which we are able to beare lest we should grow eyther carelesse of it or unthankfull for it It is even best for us that we have but a darke and imperfect sight of God in this world both in reference to what he is and to what he doth or first in reference to himselfe in his nature and Excellencyes Secondly in reference to his wayes or workes in their speciall reasons and ends As our darkenes cannot at all comprehend the light of God so God is pleased to cover much of his own light with darkenes that we should not comprehend it How many glorious truths are there the face of which he holdeth backe from many of his precious servants how often doth he spread a cloud as upon the truths which he sendeth in his Word so upon the graces which he hath wrought in us by his Spirit so that the soule is not onely hindred from beholding what is without but what is within and is so farre from beholding the glorious perfection of God and his workes abroad that it cannot so much as discerne any of the gracious workes of God at home He spreadeth his cloud upon it Vers 10. He compasseth the waters with bounds untill the day and night come to an end Job having described marvaylous acts of divine power in the heavens descends againe to shew his marvayles in or about the Seas and mighty waters He compasseth the waters with bounds The word which we render to compasse Proprietas pecaliaris verbi ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã est lineam vel circulum describere quasi circino Forte etiam in dicatur eodem circumdandi verbo unum effici globuÌ ex terra et aqua atque unum idem utriusque elementi esse centrum Pined signifyeth properly to draw a line or make a circle as Mathematicians doe with a payre of Compasses so that it notes the shutting up or circumscribing any thing to a certaine place or measure beyond which it cannot move And thus God compasseth the waters At the 8th verse Job shewed how God compasseth the upper waters the waters in the ayre He bindeth up the waters in his thicke clouds Here he sheweth how God by the same almighty power compasseth about the lower waters the waters of the Sea The Hebrew is The face of the waters as in the former verse The face of his throne The face of the earth is the upper part of the earth Gen. 1.29 I have given you every herbe bearing or seeding seed which is upon the face of all the earth And so the face of the waters is the upper part of the waters because the upper part of the water as also of the earth lyeth open to the eye as the face of a man doth And it may therefore be sayd that he compasseth the face of the waters because though the whole body and bulke of the waters swel and rage yet the face or upper part of the waters is that which at any times breaketh over and overfloweth And therefore the face of the waters onely as to us is compassed about with bounds The word noteth a legal bound a statute or decree and is frequently used in Scripture especially in the 119th Psalme ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã stanuum constitutie dec câetum sign ficat praecepti constantiam durationem nam ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã est insculpere seu incidere lapidi ligno vel Metallo ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Septu for the Law or rule which God hath given man both for his worship and continuall course of life And hence the Prophet Jeremiah speaking to the Jewes about this thing useth another word to signifie the bound of the Sea and the word which here we render Bound is there rendred Decree Jer 5.22 Feare ye not me saith the Lord will ye not tremble at my presence which have placed the sand for the bound of the Sea by a perpetuall decree that it cannot passe it And there is so much of a Law or of an appoyntment in it that the word is applicable to any thing which is put under a certaine law or appoyntment So it is put for an appoynted time in the 14th Chapter of this booke v. 13th and for appoynted foode in the 23d Chapter of this booke v. 12th as here for an appoynted space or circle within which as within a wall or with gates and barrs the waters of the Sea are kept He compasseth the waters with bounds Hence Note First The Sea is bounded by the power of God As God hath given man understanding to provide a bit and a bridle for the mouth of the horse and mule which have no understanding lest they come neere unto him Psal 32.9 that is neerer to him then they should or neere to him not to serve him or be used by him but to kicke him or tread upon him Thus God himselfe who is infinite in understanding hath put a bit or bridle into the mouth of the Sea which is further from understanding then eyther Horse or mule lest it come neere to drowne and overwhelme us Neyther shoares nor sands neyther cliffs nor rockes are the bound and bridle of the Sea but the Decree and command of God Observe Secondly It is an unanswerable argument of the glorious power and soveraignetie of God that he is able to compasse the waters with bounds Who shut up the Sea with dores was Gods humbling Question to Job in the 38th Chapter of this booke v. 8.10 11. and sayd hitherto shalt thou come and no further here shall thy proud waves be stayed The Psalmist Ps 104. having shewed how at first Gen. 1 1. the whole earth was covered with the deep as
so for the probation or tryall of others Christ saith Math 10.35 I am come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter with her mother and the daughter in law against her mother in law and a mans enemies shall be they of his owne house Such divisions the Lord makes on the earth that it may appeare how strongly and immoveably his faithfull ones are united unto him As we are to ascribe our union so our divisions to God it is he that ordereth all these things though they flow from the corruption pride and selfeishnesse of men When there are divisions and emulations among us we shew our selves as the Apostle speakes 1 Cor 3.3 and walke as men But God sheweth himselfe righteous and acteth as God He divideth the Sea by his power And by his understanding he smiteth through the proud The dividing of the Sea was ascribed to the power of God in the former part of the verse ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã est ictu deprimere ut quum paxillus ictu corpori solido imprimitur and here his smiting through the proud is ascribed to his understanding The word signifies to strike so as to destroy or kill to strike dead Isa 30.26 Numb 24.8 God striketh home when he striketh the proud But who or what are the proud ones whom God smiteth through The word is Rahab as was toucht before in the generall interpretation of the verse signifies two things first strength so some render it here By his understanding he smiteth through strength that is those things which are strongest The very weakenesse of God is stronger then man and therefore there is nothing so strong but God can quickly smite it through or destroy it Secondly it signifyeth pride because men usually are proud of their strength whence that caution Jer. 9.23 Let not the mighty man glory in his might Any kinde of strength is apt to make man proud the strength of his estate and purse is a great temptation to pride strength of body strength of parts strength of wit and understanding which is the highest and noblest naturall strength puts on to pride yea so strange are the wayes and methods of temptation the very strength of grace or spirituall strength hath blowne up some with pride For though humility flow properly from the strength of grace and the more grace the more humility yet upon a presumption of the greatnesse and strength of their graces some have been proud and high-minded that is they have not lived in such dependance upon Christ as they ought Our strength lyes much in the sence of our weakenes because then we goe out of our selves to Christ for strength that is the meaning of the Apostles confession When I am weake then am I strong 2 Cor. 12.10 And they who are strong in themselves must needs be weake because the strength of God goeth out against them And therefore it will not be unprofitable for us before I come to the speciall explication of the proud here intended to meditate upon and make use of this Scripture in the full latitude compasse of the word For whosoever he is that is proud whether he be proud of his naturall or civill or supernaturall strength let him looke to himselfe God understandeth him and by his understanding he will smite through the proud The proud man is alwayes in danger of falling though because of his pride he least of all men eyther feareth or suspecteth a fall How can they be safe against whom God hath declared himselfe an enemy There 's no armour of proofe against the stroakes of God if God smite as an enemy he smiteth through and so he alwayes smiteth the proud Saul attempted more then once to smite David to the wall with his Javelin yet David avoyded his blow and got out of his furious presence But when God casteth his Javelin at the proud they shall not escape a smiting through and nayling to the wall By his understanding he smiteth through the proud But more distinctly who is the proud in the text whom God smiteth through First Some say the Devill He indeed is the proud one his pride was his fall from God and God hath smitten him through for his pride Secondly Others understand by the proud the whale in the Sea Et scientia stratus est cetus 70 i. e suo imperio subegit thus the seventy translate and by his knowledge he hath destroyed the Whale or Leviathan of whom the Lord saith in the 41th Chapter of this booke v. 34. He is a king over all the children of pride Intelligentia sia percussit Gigantus Targ Thirdly The Chaldee paraphrase sayth He hath smitten through the Giants Which whether it be meant of the Whales who are Giants among the fishes of the Sea or of Giants who are like Whales at land bigger and more formidable then the rest of men the sence is the same both agreeing in this that God can quickly destroy and subdue those who are greatest strongest and so proudest in this world But leaving all these suppositions I shall conclude Fourthly That by the proud we are rather to understand the strong and mighty waves and waters of the Sea in their greatest hight and pride This holdeth fayrest correspondence with the former part of the verse He divideth the sea by his power that is Percutit i. e. domat compescit superbiam maris Drus Sua potentia scânâit mara intelligentia sua compescit ejus ferociam Tygur Cum deus tranquillat mare percutere et âonculcare videtur superbum Pined He rayseth stormes and so divides the waters and when the Sea is in its greatest rage then by his understanding he smiteth through the proud the proud waves aad so maketh a calme The sea in it selfe especially in its swellings and stormings is a proud creature and that title or epethite of pride is often given to it we reade Psal 124.5 of proud waters and Job 38.11 of the proud waves at the 13th verse of the Epistle of Jude we reade of raging waves of the sea and Luke 21.25 of roring waves of the sea The Prophet Jer 12.5 speaketh of the swelling of Jordan so that when Job sayth by his understanding he smiteth through the proud we may clearely interpret him of the sea-waves then which nothing in appearance is more proud and swelling and therefore when God allayeth and guideth the high-growne waves of the Sea he may well be sayd to smite through the proud Hence note God knoweth how to bring downe the Sea in its greatest rage and pride God doth it by his understanding as wel as by his power As God hath power enough to divide the Sea and make it stormy so he hath understanding enough to calme and quiet it We read Math 8.23 24 25 26 27. That Christ being entred into a ship with his Disciples a great tempest arose insomuch that the ship was covered with the
a house for the comfort of our lives here who never deserved the meanest cottage how should we pray that he would Garnish our soules by the Spirit as a heaven for himselfe to dwell in or as the Apostle speakes Eph. 2.22 That we may be builded for an habitation of God through the Spirit God hath two houses an upper house and a lower house The heaven of heavens is his upper house and the heaven of an holy and humble heart is his lower God is every where but he dwelleth no where but in a heaven He dwelleth not in the heart of any man till that be made a heaven and that a heaven Garnished by the Spirit As the Sunne Moone and Starres are the garnishing of the naturall heaven so holy knowledge and the graces faith hope and love are the Garnishing of those spirituall heavens the hearts of the sons of men And untill their hearts be thus garnished they are not an heaven for God but a hell or habitation for the devill and he puts furniture and garnishings into them sutable to himselfe and fitting his owne entertainement We read in the Gospel Math 12.43 44. That when the uncleane Spirit is gone out of a man he walketh through dry places seeking rest and findeth none Then he saith I will returne into my house from whence I came out and when he is come he findeth it empty swept and garnished Lusts and corruptions unbeliefe pride wrath envy these are the Garnishings of Satans house And as he delighteth most to dwel there where he findeth most of these Garnishings so God delighteth most to dwel in that soule which is most Garnished with grace Then pray and pray earnestly that God who hath garnished the heavens by his Spirit for our use would also garnish our hearts by his Spirit for his owne use Thirdly As this should provoke us to pray that our hearts may be garnished as a house of delight that God may dwel in us So it should provoke us to garnish our lives that God may be honoured by us And as God hath not onely made a good world for us as to the matter but made it pleasant and adorn'd it for us so we should strive not onely to doe that which is good for the matter but to put ornaments upon it and make it pleasant to our utmost in the eyes of God We should garnish our workes as God hath garnished his God hath as it were polisht and engraven his workes for us by exquisite art and skill so that the workmanship is better then the matter and shall we satisfie our selves if we doe that which is good for the matter though we bestow no cost no holy skill and workmanship upon it shall we serve God onely with plaine worke when we see how curious and elaborate his workes are I grant plaine worke is best and most pleasing to God as plainenes is opposed to hypocrisie but plaine worke is not best as plainenes is opposed to exactnes God loves to see some lace and trimming in sincerity upon what we doe that is it pleaseth him when he seeth that we do our best and that we not onely doe good but garnish to his prayse the good we doe he would have us not onely walke in the truth but honour the truth by our walkings He would have us not onely obey the doctrine but as the Apostle speakes Tit 2.10 Adorne the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things or to use Jobs language Garnish it as he by his Spirit hath garnished the heavens And his hand hath formed the crooked Serpent His hand that is his power hands are ascribed to God in a figure or in allusion to men who doe all their externall workes by their hands The hand is a noble and most serviceable Organ or Instrument and therefore the Great things which God hath done especially the heavens are called the worke of his hands and his handy-worke Psal 19.1 yea the heavens are called the worke of his fingers Psal 8.3 Which notes I conceave the exactnes and curiosity of the worke for such are those things which are wrought by the fingers God being a Spirit invisible and incorporal hath no formal hands but he hath a vertuall hand That Executive power by which he performeth and bringeth about his will in every thing is his hand This hand Hath formed the crooked Serpent There are severall opinions about this crooked Serpent ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Serpentem vectem Pagn Serpentem fugacem Mont Serpentem oblongum Jun who or what it should be that Job here meaneth The Hebrew is The Sepent the barre That is The serpent which is like a barre or bolt of iron Some render the flying or running serpent because as the bolt or barre of a doore runneth from side to side so that from place to place Mr Broughton translates the long serpent But what is this serpent Divers interpretens connect the sence of these words with the former part of the verse and so place this crooked serpent in the heavens as belonging to the Garnishing of them or as if Job were giving a particular instance of what God hath done towards the garnishing of the heavens His hand hath formed the crooked serpent By which they understand the coelestiall circles or spheares which are wrapt and involved one within another as a serpent wrappeth or twineth himselfe in several rounds Another following the same sence expoundeth it of that which Astronomers call the milkey way which is a beauty in heaven It being as it were the coalition of a number of little starrs Vatablus viam lacteam intelligit which because they looke white and milkish are therefore called the milkey way Which also hath somewhat of the forme of a serpent as is evident to the eye of any diligent observer A third keeping still to that sence expoundeth it yet more particularly of that speciall constellation in the heavens knowne among Astronomers by the name of the dragon or serpent Which is supposed to be spoken of here by Job synecdochically putting a part for the whole or one for all the other Constellations with which the heavens are garnished As if it had been sayd His hand hath formed the crooked serpent that is all the Starres in their severall shapes and configurations among which one representeth the forme of a Lion another of a Beare another of a Ram and among many others one appeareth in the forme of a Dragon or Crooked Serpent shooting himselfe forth or forward like the bolt of a doore I finde a fourth sort who though they keepe the crooked serpent of the Text still in the heavens yet they bring it downe to a lower heaven that is from the starry heaven or from that heaven which is the Subject of the Starres to the ayery heaven which is the subject or shop in which the meteors of all sorts are bred and formed and among them there is a meteor called by Naturalists the flying serpent As
and can wound Leviathan the crooked Serpent He can put a hooke in his nose and bore his jaw through with a thorne And thus God can doe also with those who are Leviathans and crooked Serpents in a figure The Devill and all cruel-minded men who doe his worke and cary on his designe against the people of God as is expressed in that lately alledged Scripture Isa 27.1 In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish Leviathan the peircing Serpent that is those enemyes and persecuters of his people who seeme to be as strong and invincible as Leviathan and as subtle and dangerous as the most peircing stinging Serpent Thus the Lord assured his faithfull ones Isa 54.16 17. That no weapon formed against them should prosper for saith he I have created the Smith that bloweth the coales in the fire and that bringeth forth an Instrument for his worke and I have created the waster to destroy Therefore I can hinder the waster from destroying and make all his weapons edgelesse poyntlesse no more able to wound then a straw or a rush How soone can God blunt and abate the keenest spirits of men and weaken their strongest armes when he seeth they will but doe mischiefe with them He that causeth motion can stop it and he that giveth power can call it in or breake it where it is While God is on our side who made all we need not feare who are made against us Though they have teeth like Lyons and stings like Serpents we are safe The hand of God can kill and wound for His Hand hath formed the crooked Serpent Vers 14. Lo these are parts of his wayes but how little a portion is heard of him but the thunder of his power who can understand Thus Job concludes after he had given an enumeration or Induction of many particulars he doth as it were hold them forth in his hand to the view of all men Behold or lo these are parts of his wayes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã finem extremitatem denotat The word which we render parts signifyeth the end or extremity of a thing There is a twofold extremity first that which is utmost or furthest from us secondly that which is hithermost or neerest to us The word takes in both Ne me putetis omnia enarrasse vix enim extremam partem attigi Coc and is used for both in one text Psal 19.6 His going forth that is the going forth of the Sunne is from the end of the heaven and his circuit unto the ends of it As if he had sayd the Sunne compasseth the heaven round and visiteth both the hithermost and uttermost as to us extremityes of it In the present text of Job we are to understand it of the hithermost extremity or of that which is next us implying that there are many and much more glorious things to be spoken of God if we were able to comprehend them reach the uttermost end or extremity of them And that it is so to be understood here is plaine from the next words But how litle a portion is heard of him Ecce hae sunt orae viarum ejus Coc Licet quae dixi siensibus nostris et judicio maxima esse videantur et verè sint stupenda respectu tamen divinae potentiae non sunt nisi minutiae peripsemata minimaque particulae eorum quae fecit ac facere potest Bold Extrema viae erunt opera minora nostri captus Coc In complyance with which sence some render the text thus These are the edges or borders of his wayes as if Job had sayd I have shewed you onely the borders I have not led you into the heart of the Country or into the midst of the workes and wayes of God much lesse to the furthest extremity or outside of them I have indeed spoken of very great and wonderfull things yet all that I have sayd is but litle to what might be sayd or at least to what really is I have given you but as it were the parings and chipings of Gods workes I have not gone to the bottome nor reached the depth of them So that Job seemes to distinguish these effects and workes of God about which he had discoursed from some greater workes which he was not able to attaine unto nor make any discovery of There are not onely Celestiall but super-celestiall workes of God wee cannot well apprehend much lesse comprehend what he hath wrought under the heavens which are onely the outside of his workes much lesse those which are above the heavens For as none of the works of God appeare to us or have been found out by us in their fulnesse and utmost extent so God hath done some great works which doe not at all appeare to us And those things which appeare are but small parts or parcels in comparison of those which as yet doe not appeare to us Lo these are parts of his wayes The wayes of God are spoken of in Scripture under a twofold notion First As the wayes in which God would have us walke so the commandements and statutes of God are called the wayes of God Psal 119.33 Teach me O Lord the way of thy statutes and I shall keepe it unto the end Secondly The wayes of God are those wherein he comes and reveales himselfe to us Via dei illius opera sunt agendi rationes quibus ad nos ille venire dicitur quia in his prodit ad nos et progrediendo se magis magisque nostris sensibus accommodat Coc As that is a mans way wherein or whereby he is knowne so in whatsoever God manifesteth or maketh himselfe knowne to us that is the way of God Isa 55.8 My thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your wayes my wayes saith the Lord. That is my wayes of mercy are as farre above your wayes of mercy as your dutyes are below my wayes of holynes yea what are your wayes of sinfulnes in doing evill to my wayes of graciousnes in pardoning the evills which ye have done Man hath a vast and a large heart in sinning but the vastnes and largenes of mans heart in sinning is but scantnes and narrownes to the largenes and vastnes of Gods heart in pardoning We may understand the Lord speaking in eyther of or in both these sences My wayes are not as your wayes And in general the way of God is that wherein he acteth or revealeth himselfe towards us whether it be in mercy or in Judgement in love or terrour God hath some wayes which we may call foule and troublesome wayes such are his wayes of judgement he hath other wayes which we may call fayre and delightsome wayes such are all his wayes of mercy And as God comes to us continually in one or other of these wayes of providence so he came forth of old in the way of creation Prov 8.22 The Lord possessed mee in the beginning of his way
before his workes of old When God first came forth and appeared in making the world hee possessed me saith Wisedome that is from everlasting A way is that wherein we goe out and shew our selves openly or abroad And hence it is elegantly sayd that Creation was the beginning of Gods way for then God did as it were goe out from himselfe into his workes and in his workes he shewed himselfe openly who was before hidden in himselfe from Eternity God had infinite immanent or internal acts in himselfe before or rather God was one infinite eternal immanent Act before But the first external transient act of God or the first expression of himselfe who can never be expressed to the life as he is was by the worke of creation and therefore that was the beginning of his way And of this way the way of creation as also of those of providence Job speaketh when he sayth lo these are parts of his wayes Accommodatè ad subjectam materiam viae dei dici possunt teÌpestates na âque in hujusmodi mirabilibut aeris mutationibus ille vanire ad nos dicitur And hence the Scripture calleth stormes and tempests thunder and lightning in which God appeareth so terrible the wayes of God Nah 1.3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will not at all acquit the wicked The Lord hath his way in the whirlewind and in the storme and the clouds are the dust of his feete that is God declareth himselfe to be God by his judgements and angry dispensations which like boysterous windes and stormes which like clouds and darknes afflict the children of men loe these are parts of his wayes Hence note First All that we know of the workes of God is but a part As 't is sayd of Solomon 1 Kings 4.33 that he spake of trees from the Cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssope that springeth out of the wall He spake also of beasts and of fowl and of creeping things and of fishes so Job had been discoursing from the heights of heaven to the bottome of the Sea yea to the bottome of hel and yet he comes off and sayth loe these are parts of his wayes He that speaketh and knoweth many things yea he that speaketh all that he knoweth hath yet spoken onely a part of that which is knowable The Apostle sayth 1 Cor 13.9 10. We know in part and we prophecy in part Many know more then they utter or prophecy but no man can utter or prophecy more then he knoweth We know but a part of what is to be knowne and we know what wee know but in part and therefore when we have spoken our all we have spoken but a part Though every Godly man knoweth all things needfull for him to doe and beleeve yet the holyest man on earth doth not know all that God hath done God hath some reserved and secret wayes into which he doth not lead his people As the best of Saints see but the Back-parts of God in this life so they see but a part of the wayes of God in this life loe These are parts of his wayes Againe Taking the original word as it signifies not only a part but the outside or extreame of any thing Note That which wee know of the workes of God is not onely no more then a part of his workes but 't is indeed only the outside of his workes 'T is but as the hemme to a garment or the borders to a Continent When we have travelled as farre as we can and as we thinke into the very heart of the workes of God yet we have gone no further then the borders of them And it is as if a man comming to discover this Island should onely walke upon the shoare where he dis-embarkt and there viewing the cliffes and rockes the sands and neerest Marishes should take upon him to report the state of the whole Island what hath this man seene nothing but the extremity the border of the Land and can he make a compleate discovery of the whole he hath not seene the pleasant hills and vales the townes and Cities the forts and Castles the trade and riches the customes and manners of the people no man can know the chiefe things of a Nation or Country that stands onely upon the shoare All that we know of the workes of God is onely the shoare and outside of them we cannot reach the heart nor fathome the bottome of them The workes of the Lord are great Psal 111.2 Sought out of all them that have pleasure therein that is they who take pleasure in them doe their utmost to finde out the utmost of them A godly man is as industrious to understand the wayes and workes of God as he is to understand his word yet he cannot reach eyther fully And therefore that Psalme hath an excellent conclusion to satisfie us in our exclusion as yet from the perfect knowledge of these things The feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome a good understanding have all they that doe his commandements As if the Lord had sayd though while ye labour to seeke out my workes yet ye cannot finde them out to perfection be not discouraged as if ye were shortned in wisedome and knowledge for the feare of my name is wisedome enough for you and obedience to my commandements is the best understanding let this satisfie you while ye know but a part of my wayes And if wee know but a part and that the outside of the wayes and workes of God then surely we cannot know all of God himselfe as it followeth in the next words And how little a portion is heard of him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã pars paâticula murmur tenuis susurrus Susurrum verborum ejus Symmachâ ut deinceps cum ingenti toniâru comparet vix parvam stillam sermonis ejus audierimus Vulg Sept In Hebraeo tantum est paâluluÌ pauxillumvè sine ulla guttae sive stillae mentione ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quanta exiguitas The Original notes any thing which is little or a little portion of any thing Hence some render it a drop which is a little or the least portion of water So the vulgar and the Seventy Wee have hardly heard a little drop of his speech Others render it a whisper which is but a little portion of a voyce How little a whisper have we heard of him The workes of God are as it were a whisper concerning him all that we see or can say makes but a kinde of silent report of God in comparison to what he is or to what might be sayd of him And so the word whisper is opposed to thunder in the close of the verse But the thunder of his power who can understand As if Job had sayd All that I have spoken of God is but a whisper there is a Thunder of his power which I am neither able to utter nor to understand All creatures speake
layd up in the dust 241. The natural place of Gold should abate our desires after it 242. Gold the most excellent metal in five respects 382 Grace renders a man precious 383. The glory of grace is that it continueth 659 Greatest and strongest as easily cast downe by God as the least or weakest 665 Growth of Grace 397 H Hands purenes of hands what 290 Hardnes of heart in sin when the sinner can feed upon it 494. Hard heart trembles not at the reproofes of God 790 Heart lift up to heaven the worke of Grace 106. Laying up the word in the heart hath a twofold opposition 225. The heart of man is the Arke where the word of God must be layd up 227. Truth in the heart better to us then truth in the booke 228. Heart of man makes more false Gods then his hand ever made 128. The word to be hid in the heart 407. Soft heart what several sorts of it 457 Heathens confined their Gods to certain places 114 Heaven is the place of Gods speciall residence 105. 111. Two inferences given from it 106. Heaven and hel know no changes 779 Heavens what the garnishing of them is 804. Visible heavens are full of Beauty 807. Severall inferences from it 807 808 Hel in what sence it consumes those who are cast into it 624. What meant by hel in Scripture 746. Hel is destruction 747. Hel expressed by eight words in Scripture 751 Heresie like a flood yet bounded by God 777 Hiding the word of two sorts 227. Three ends of hiding the word in the heart 228 Hidings of God from his people 367 368. God hideth himselfe five wayes 368. God will be as hid to his people sometimes after the use of much meanes to finde him 371 High places of God what they are 684 Holynes the Lord takes pleasure in it three reasons why 22 23. Why we should be every where holy 113. Holynes hath boldnes with God 261 328. Holynes gives us weight and honour 602 Holy-Ghost sin against the Holy-Ghost what it it in general 557 Honour a threefold honour arising to God by the fall of the wicked 189 Houses God hath two speciall houses 808 Humble persons of two sorts 287. Humble persons under the speciall care of God 288 Hypocrites some not discovered in this world 330. Hypocrites feare the judgement of God or to be tryed by God 330. An hypocrite cannot rejoyce that God knoweth him shewed in three things 377. Hypocrites cannot hold out when they come to the tryall 384 I Jelousie guilt makes men full of it 642 Ignorance wicked men love it 554. A twofold ignorance 560 561 Imitation of God our duty 390 Impenitency under sin coÌmitted worse then the sin committed 44 Imprisonment when a cruelty 54 Inconstancy of a carnal man shewed two wayes 602 Industriousnesse of the wicked in sinning 517 518 Infinite what Nothing strictly infinite but God 40 Innocent oft charged with foulest crimes 83. Innocent taken two wayes in Scripture 192 Joy at the troubles which befall wicked men how lawfull 186 187. What kind of joy that is not and what it is 192 Judge God the most desireable Judge to the godly and sincere five grounds of it 429 430. A Godly man rests in the Judgement of God 336. God is every way fitted to be a righteous Judge 378. In a Judge two things specially needfull 378 Judging man apt to judge favourably of himselfe hardly of others 48. We must take heed of Judging upon suspition 48. What Judging of others forbidden 49 Judgement wicked ripe for judgement sometimes before ripe in years 143. Judgements of God have somewhat of mercy in them 168. Judgements of God upon the wicked how matter of Joy to the righteous 184. Why the Judgements of God upon the wicked are not visible 482 Jupiter Hammon why so called 618 Justice how blind and how seeing 124 Justice must be done for the example of others 182 183 Justice of God honoured by the fall of evill men 189 Justification selfe justification extreamely displeasing unto God 24. God hath no respect to our righteousnes in the busienes of Justification 29. Justification what it is 700. Man hath nothing of his owne to justifie him before God two grounds of it 702. A twofold Justification 703 K Keeping the way of God twofold 392 Knowers of God or they who know God who they are 473. Every Godly man is a knower of God 476. Some godly men know God much more then others who are godly too 478 Knowing and understanding taken two wayes 334. 372 Knowledge evill men will act against their owne knowledge 555. Knowledge of God how and what God knoweth 121. The most secret wayes of man even the way within him is knowne to God 373. A general inference from this knowledge of God 374. It is the Joy of the upright that God knowes their most secret wayes 374. That God knowes the wayes of a godly man assures him of three things 375. Nothing is hid from the eye or knowledge of God 749. All our knowledge of the wayes and workes of God is but in part 819 L Labourer not to be wronged 536. Nothing cheape but poore mens labours why sayd so 538. It may be a dangerous thing to be the labourers purse-bearer but for a night 539 Land-markes the removing of them very sinfull 489 Law of God the Elegancy of the Hebrew word whereby it is expressed opened 220. Law taken two wayes 222. To receive the Law what it is 225. God onely can give a Law to the conscience 224. Law how written in our hearts by God and how by our selves 226 Left-hand declining what it importeth 396 Levelling principles confuted by the naturall state of the creature 117 Leviathan or Whale the mighty power of God in forming the Leviathan 814. An inference from it 815 Liberty threefold where the Spirit is 262. Life of man in what sence it should alwayes hang in doubt to him 641. How no man is sure of his life 643 Light of God fourefold 695 Light God is with all men by a twofold light 157. Light threefold shining upon the wayes of a Godly man 282. Light twofold 550. Wicked love not the light neyther to see what good they should doe nor to be seene in the evill they doe 554. Light internall against which the wicked rebel twofold 550. Holy truth is light 551. How divine truth is like light shewed in severall resemblances 552. Sinning against light exceeding sinfull 557. Foure degrees of sinning against light 558 They who sin against light are ready for every sin 560 Looke of God twofold 652 Love true love to man will not easily conceave or nourish suspition 102 Love we cannot be constant in that which we doe not love or affect 561 Lusts and corruptions like a stormy Sea within us 801 802 Lyars men are made lyars two wayes 670. The worst that can be sayd of a man is that he is a lyar 672 Lye false doctrine is a lye 671
First we may expound it of persons The remnant of persons all that are left of their family their children and posterity their kindred and relations are taken away and consumed from off the face of the earth Secondly We may expound it of things the remnant of goods whatsoever remaines of their estate the odd ends the very gleanings and leavings of their great riches and worldly substance are all eaten up and brought to an end so that nothing of them or theirs remaineth Thirdly The remnant of them may be the remembrance of them A fire shall consume their name and memoriall they shall neveâ be thought of nor spoken of any more with honour ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã significat illud quo quis alium excellit ideo reliquiarum nomine impiorum excellentem supra cuÌctos mortales ingentem foelicitatem intelligo Pined Fourthly The word remnant as it signifieth in the Original any thing which remaineth so especially that which remaineth in way of excellency or eminency not as we say the fagge end of a thing but even the uppermost and best of it So that after this translation the remnant of them is the excellency of them that which they thought most durable and honourable that which they looked upon as most substantiall and intrinsecall to their greatnes that very thing the fire shall consume So the word is used Psal 17.14 Deliver my soule from men which are thy hand O Lord from men of the world c. whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasures they are full of children and leave the rest or as we supply the rest of their substance to their babes the rest that is the best their bellies are full of hid treasures while they live that is they have and use abundance of the things of this life themselves and they leave the rest he doth not meane the scraps or parings after they had filled their owne bellies but by the rest or the remnant t is the word of the text he meaneth the choicest of what they had even that they leave to their babes or children when themselves must be gone and leave the world Thus we may understand the word remnant in this place not for a poore pittance but for the best the choisest things for the flower and creame of all they had even these things the fire shall consume vengeance shall pursue and follow till all be turned into smoake and ashes I have in divers other passages of this booke met with Texts shewing the utter consumption of wicked men therefore I shall not stay upon it here onely take this briefe note That the Lord hath a different fire for the righteous and the wicked He hath a fire for his owne people but it is a purging fire a cleansing a refining fire Like that Mal. 3.3 He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver The Lord also hath a fire for the wicked but it is a consuming fire He kindles many fires upon them and himselfe is a consuming fire to them But it may be said that God is a consuming fire also to his owne people for the Apostle speaking of himselfe and other beleevers saith Heb. 12.29 Our God is a consuming fire I answer First T is true the God of Beleevers is a consuming fire but he is not a consuming fire to beleevers even the hearts of beleevers ought to be over-awed with a holy feare of that in God which they shall never feele from God Secondly God is sometimes a consuming fire to beleevers but it is onely to consume their corruptions or their corruptible comforts He will never consume eyther their Graces or spirituall interests These he will not consume whatsoever he consumes But the whole of a wicked man is as combustible matter before him There went up a smoake out of his nostrills fire out of mouth devoured Psal 18.8 That is God powred out wrath which devoured them like a fire Fire I meane naturall fire is a great devourer it hath a strong stomacke there 's nothing but pure Gold too hard for its digestion but mysticall fire the fire of divine wrath is infinitely a greater devourer Wrath kindles maây devouring fires but wrath it selfe is the most devouring fire who can stand before it who can abide the heate and flames of it This is the Tophet prepared of old for the wicked This fire is able to consume branch and rush the roote and top of the wicked in one day and yet it will continue consuming them to eternity The remnant of them the fire consumeth Eliphaz having thus farre prosecuted a description both of the unrighteousnes and of the ruine both of the sin and punishment of wicked men closely insinuating that Job was the man concern'd in all this large Discourse he in the latter part of this Chapter turnes his speech into a serious Exhortation to move Job to repent and seeke God giving him many assurances and promises that in case he did so it should not be in vaine JOB CHAP. 22. Vers 21 22. c. Acquaint now thy selfe with him and be at peace thereby good shall come unto thee Receive I pray thee the Law from his mouth and lay up his words in thine heart If though returne to the Almighty thou shalt be built up thou shalt-put away iniquity from thy Tabernacles c. ELiphaz having reproved Job for sin and prest him with the remembrance of the Judgements of God against sinners now turnes his speech into a serious Exhortation mooving him to seeke the favour of God and humble himselfe Acquaint now thy selfe with him and be at peace From this course and method in which Eliphaz deales with Job take this note That in dealing with sinners wee are not onely to threaten but to perswade and propose the promises of peace to them Daniel dealt so with Nebuchadnezzer yea though he had told him of a decree in heaven past against him Dan. 4.22.27 yet he gives him faithfull counsell and exhorts him to breake off his sins by righteousnesse and his iniquities by shewing mercy to the poore if it might be a lengthning of his tranquillity or as we put in the Margin a healing of his errour Hopes of mercy prevaile with many more then feare of wrath and they are sooner led then driven unto Christ Thus Eliphaz Acquaint now thy selfe with him and be at peace This 21 verse containes two generall Propositions First a Proposition concerning duty in the former part of the verse Acquaint now thy selfe c. Secondly Concerning mercy in the latter thereby good shall come unto thee This duty of acquainting himselfe with God Promissionibus invitat amplissimis quae in se verae sunt cum lege consentiunt non tamen perpetuae ut Eliphaz puât Merc. and being at peace with him is explained in the 22 verse Receive I pray thee the Law from his mouth and lay up his words in thine heart That 's a good Comment upon Acquaint now
thy selfe with him and be at peace The Proposition of mercy or the promises laid downe in the close of that verse are drawne out in all the following part of this Chapter in which Eliphaz by most ample Proposalls of good things doth provoke Job to turne from those sinnes of which he supposed him guilty and to returne to God Acquaint now thy selfe with him The Originall word which we render to acquaint hath some variety of significations As first to be familiar with another And so it is used by David Psal 139.3 to shew the Intimacie which God hath with all our wayes workes and thoughts O Lord saith David thou hast searched mee and knowne mee c. thou art acquainted with all my wayes As if he had said Lord thou knowest my wayes infinitely more clearely and distinctly then any of my neerest acquaintance who converse with me every day It is used 2dly to expresse the customary doing of a thing Numb 22.30 Balaams Asse spake thus by a miracle Was I ever wont to doe thus unto thee Hath it been my custome or have I familiarly served thee thus said the Asse when he thrust Balaam against the wall Thirdly To profit ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã profuit commodus aptus fuit Profice cum deo Rab. Mos one of the Rabbines translates the Text thus Profit with God as who should say thou hast been an unprofitable servant to God all this while be thou now profitable unto him serve him and his Providences advance his name and glory or thus rather Thou hast but played the truant hitherto be thou now a good proficient in the schoole of Divine doctrine and discipline under the holy precepts and various providences of God We finde it applyed to that fence at the second verse of this Chapter Can a man be profitable unto God as he that is wise may be profitable to himselfe Man cannot be profitable unto God or adde any advantage to him by what he doth but man may be profitable unto himselfe or doe himselfe good in doing the good will of God yea God reckons it and rewards man for it as if he had been profitable to him when he acts as becomes a faithfull servant to him So some expound it here be profitable unto God be a faithfull and industrious servant unto him having received his talents doe not lay them up in a napkin hide them not in the earth Thirdly Master Broughton read's thus Reconcile thee now unto him That 's Gospel language like that of Paul 2 Cor. 5.20 Now then we are Ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us wee pray you in Christs stead be ye reconciled to God So he conceives Eliphaz speaking here I pray thee now reconcile thy selfe unto God Master Beza reaches that sence fully Returne into his favour Redi cum ipso in gratiam Bez Accommoda te illi Tygur get into his heart againe God hath as it were lockt thee out of his heart and shut the doore upon thee now get in againe and the Tygurine reads very aptly Accommodate thy selfe to him that is every way suite thy selfe go ãâã thou hast heretofore been humorous or hast followed thine owne spirit and hast labour'd to please thy selfe now Accomodate thy selfe to him or comply with him in every thing be no more at thine owne but at his dispose All these renderings comply well both with the words and the generall scope of Eliphaz in this part of his discourse Our translation fully joynes with the first of them Assuesce cum eo Pagn Reg. Vatabl. Acquaint now thy selfe with him Get into a familiarity with God The word implyeth a likenes or a suitablenes between two in their wills and affections in their wayes and counsells for from likenesse in these familiarity or acquaintance doth arise So that Eliphaz here speaketh to Job as one that had estranged himselfe and departed from God as one who had broken off Communion with God and so he must needs have done had he run such a course of wickednes as Eliphaz charged him with in the former part of this Chapter Therefore upon that supposition he gives Job wholesome advice Acquaint not thy selfe with him Hence observe First That as man by nature is a stranger from God so every act of sin especially great and continued actings of sin breed a further estrangement from God We act the part of nature every time we sin and that in a proportion brings us back in some degree to what we were by nature strangers unto God A godly man who hath had acquaintance with God sinning puts back his acquaintance a distance grows between God and him Beleevers after great sins and follyes committed are not forward to come into the presence of God they have a kinde of listlesnes to duty a listlesnes to prayer and to all acts of communion with God And God himselfe appeares as if he did not much care for them when they come they have not those Communications from God which he usually vouchsafeth his God doth not give them the meeting as formerly they doe not finde the Lord presently though they seeke him earnestly So that both wayes there is an Estrangement sin separates between God and the soule not onely judicially but naturally If God should not depart from sinners or command them to depart from him yet they would of themselves depart from him It is not possible for one who willingly lives in sin to live willingly in the presence of God For as to be cast out of the presence of God is the extreamest punishment of wicked men so also is their being in his presence The same thing is both their desire and their punishment They are punished with a departure from God and they desire nothing more then to be out of his presence Acquaint thy selfe now with God Secondly Whereas Eliphaz exhorting Job to repentance counsells him to acquiant himselfe with God Observe That Repentance is the renewing of our Communion or acquaintance with God As sin is a turning from God so repentance is a returning to God 't is a change first of our minde and then of our way Impaenitency brings the soule into an acquaintance and unholy familiarity with Satan Repentance brings backe the soule into its former acquaintance and holy familiarity with God As the first conversion which is from a state of sin so the second and every renewed conversion which is from our falls into sin renewes our converse with the most high Thirdly take this generall observation A godly man is as we may say one of Gods Acquaintants or familiars God calleth Abraham his friend friendship cannot be without familiarity there must be acquaintance before there can be love if therefore there be friendship and love between God and man there must be Acquaintance we cannot love eyther persons or things while unknowne But it may be said how can wee who are at such a distance Acquaint our selves with God I
desire is a death to the desirer A godly mans desires are active desires they put him upon enquiry lead him to the meanes of enjoying the good desâered And though God be unexpectedly found of some that seeke him not yet no man can expect to finde God but he that seeketh him And indeed what should the Creature doe but be upon an enquiry after God there is a Naturality in it hee being the supream beeing that we who have our being from him should seeke after him And the Apostle tells us Act. 17.26 27. that this is the designe of God in making of one blood all Nations of men for to dwel on the face of the earth and in determining the times before appoynted and the bounds of their habitation namely That they should seeke the Lord if haply they might feel after him and finde him though he be not farre from every one of us for in him we live c. The Lord is neer all he hath a presence in all places with all persons but the Lord would have all seeke feele grope after him even such as have but a dim light of him as those have that doe not seeke so much with their eyes as with their hands they onely feele after the things which they would have There is a light in the spirits of all men that haply they may feele after God and finde him They who have not Scripture light Gospel light the highest light yet have some kinde or degree of light they have some glimmerings though no cleare discernings And that should put them on to seeke God much more should they seeke after him who have clearest light And where there is any heate of affection to God a little light will serve them to seeke after him they that are true desierers will be diligent seekers And they who seeking God have found him will seeke him yet againe yea they will seeke him more and more as long as there is any thing more of God to be found And there will alwayes be more of God to be found for here we know God but in part and therefore have found him but in part and hence it is that all the Saints in this life or on this side Glory even they of the highest forme and greatest proficiency in grace and knowledge are called Seekers this is the generation of them that seeke him Psal 24.6 not such seekers as we finde too many in these dayes who as if all were upon uncertainties in religion say they have as yet found nothing for as there is something wherein the most knowing and strongest Christians may be to seeke so there are many things yea all things necessary to salvation or without which we cannot be saved which the weakest may finde and know sufficiently though not sully And as they who desire to finde these things will be diligent in seeking them so they may know in themselves or be fully assured that they have found them and so even while they still continue to be seekers know that they are already Finders Lastly Observe God is every where yet especially some where to be found As there is a finding time so there is a finding place and finding meanes There is a finding time saith holy David Psal 32.6 For this shall every one that is godly pray to thee in a time when thou mayest be found The Hebrew is in a finding time though I would not give any one a stop from seeking God at any time yet I must say there is a speciall finding time And this the Apostle calls the Accepted time 2 Cor. 6.2 that is the time which we ought to lay hold upon or accept as also the time wherein we shall be acceptable or finde acceptation There is also a finding place there is a where as well as a when God specially is to be found I mean it not of a meere locality as if God were now to be found more in one place then in another for Paul saith 1 Tim. 6.8 I will that men every where lift up pure hands without wrath and doubting And Christ told the woman Joh. 4.21 The houre cometh when ye shall neyther in this Mountaine nor yet at Jerusalem worship the father not as if Christ had forbid the worship of the father in those places for the time coming but he enlargeth publick worship to all places or abrogates all differences of place under the Gospel as to the worship of the Father Yet if any man shall enquire where may I find God or say as Job here O that I knew where I might finde him I would answer First Seeke him in his promises search the Scriptures there you will finde God Secondly Look for him in his Ordinaces of prayer and preaching c. for there he hath promised to be present Where two or three are met together in my name there am I in the midst of them Math. 18.20 When the Church or Spouse in the Canticles Chap. 1.7 8. Askes the Question Tell me O thou whom my soule loveth where thou feedest where thou makest thy flocks to rest at Noone Christ her Beloved answers If thou know not O thou fayrest among Women goe thy way forth by the footesteps of the flocke and feed thy kids besides the Sheepherds tents That is follow the holy practices and examples of the Saints in all former ages which the Apostle calls walking in the steps of the faith of Abraham Rom. 4.12 And againe hearken to the voyce of faithfull Teachers who as Shepherds feed the flocke of God with knowledge and understanding Waite at these Shepherds tents saith Christ and there thou shalt finde a presence of God with thee and his blessing upon thee Thirdly And above all Seeke God in Christ The father is onely to be found in the Sonne Looke to Jesus Christ and in him you cannot but behold God for he is the brightnes of his glory and the expresse image of his person Heb. 1.3 and therefore as he that hath the Son hath the Father also so he that by an eye of faith and in the light of the Word and Spirit Beholdeth the Son beholdeth the Father also For the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is given us in the face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4.6 The light of the knowledge of the goodnesse of God of his mercy Justice holines which are his glory shineth forth from Jesus Christ that is in and by Christ it appeares gloriously that God is exceeding good mercifull just holy Therefore to every wearied soule complaining of the losse of God and crying out O that I knew where I might finde him The summe of all the Counsell that I can give or indeed that can be given is this Seek God in Christ and he will be found O that I knew where I might finde him That I might come even to his seat Some conceive these words as the issue of a distemperd spirit others tax Job with too much boldnes that
he being but dust and ashes should thus presse upon God and that he was afterwards reproved for it in the 38th Chapter of this Booke verse the first and second Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlewinde and said there he found him who is this that darkeneth Councell by words without knowledge gird up now thy loynes like a man for I will demand of thee and answer thou me And againe in the 40th Chap. ver 2d 3d 4th 5th Shall he that Contendeth with the Almighty instruct him he that reproveth God let him answer it Then Job answered the Lord and said Behold I am vile I will lay my hand upon my mouth Once have I spoken but I will not answer yea twice but I will proceed no further As if he had acknowledged his error and overboldnes in pressing upon God as in other places so also in this O that I might come even to his seate Yet I conceive that Job in this passage doth but put forth the nobler and higher actings of his faith and that he speaks this not as forgetting the distance of dust and ashes from the glory of God or from the glorious God but as remembring the promise and as insisting upon his priviledge as a beleever who is invited to come and to come with boldnes to the throane of Grace For though that promise was not given out as to the formality of it in those times yet the vertue of it was though in a lower degree then now To come with boldnes to the throne of grace ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã denetat loâum praeparatum a âadice ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In voce ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã puâo esse metotonymiam q d. vsque ad locuÌ in quo ipse proâptus paratusque est ad audiendum ubi sui copâam facit Coc. Representat deum tanquam supremum Judicem in solio excelso sedenteÌ jusque suum unicuique reddentem Bold sounds much like this to come even to his seate and this Job did not onely as emboldened by the clearnes of his conscience towards men but as by the freenes of the Grace of God in Christ towards him In pursuance whereof it is well conceived by a learned enterpreter that there is a metonymie in the word which signifies a prepared seate that is such a seate as whereon God presents himselfe to poore sinners prepared and ready to give them both admittance to himselfe and a gratious audience of their requests and suites The word which wee translate seate signifieth a prepared place a place fitted implying somewhat speciall and peculiar unto God Heaven is called the habitation of his holines and of his glory Esay 63.15 yet wheresoever the Lord is hee makes it a heaven Thus also he can make any place where he is a hell The wicked shall be punished with everlasting fire from the presence of the Lord 2 Thes 1.9 that is the very presence of the Lord shall be a hell and torment to them The Lord can be both terrible and gratious in his presence any where yet he is somewhere more gratiously some where more terribly present Some cannot beare those expressions The Throne of God the seat of God heaven and hell As if these were but the Imaginations fancies and fictions of mans braine But the Lord hath his seates and dwelling places whence and where he declares himselfe both in mercy and in judgement both in his holines and in his glory Isa 6.1 I saw also the Lord sitting upon his Throne high and lifted up Thus the Lord manifested himselfe in vision to the Prophet and David confesseth Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever Psal 45.6 that is thy Power and Soveraigntie David speakes not of a material Throne such as Kings have the Power and Soveraignty of God are his throne wheresoever he is and is pleased to declare himselfe in his soveraignty and power So that when Job saith O that I might come even to his seate or throane the meaning is O that I might come as neer him as possibly I may I would not stand at a distance or keepe aloofe off as a guilty malefactor but draw neere to him in a holy and well-grounded confidence Thus Job speakes in answer to that Charge of Eliphaz in the former Chapter Is not thy wickednes great and thine iniquities infinite Now saith Job you shall see what my sinnes are and what my guilt seing I dare venture even to the very throne of God where no hypocrite dares appeare While Job professeth That if God after the manner of men should sit in open Judgement there will be such a Judgement at the last day he would come neer to him and not be afraid he seemes fully assured of his owne integrity or of the goodnes of his cause as also that God would be good unto him Hence observe That true holines and uprightnes hath abundance of Confidence before God Adam having sinned and the guilt of his sin being upon him durst not come to the Seat to the Throne of God God came to him in the coole of the day to examine and question him about his sin but he hid himselfe among the trees of the garden he withdrew not daring to abide him and that 's the state of all sinners who have the guilt of sin upon them they hide they run from God when once their Consciences are awakened As sin in the act of it is a turning or departure from the holines of God so sin acted or sin in the guilt of it causeth not onely a departure but a running and a hiding from the justice of God Guilty sinners are so farre from coming up to his Seat that they cannot endure to come in his sight a malefactor hath little minde to come before the Judge or to the Bench where the Judge sitteth Solomon saith Prov. 20.8 A king that sitteth in the Throne of Judgement scattereth away all evill with his eyes Wee may understand it thus he scattereth evill actions and evill persons evill workes and evill workers with his eyes there 's not an evill man willing to appeare or that dares to appeare before him They who are selfe-condemned must needs be afraid that others will condemne them also Magistrates sitting in Judgement are terrible to guilty malefactors Or thus Hee scattereth the evill with his eyes that is he makes evill men reveale and scatter their most secret evills by his prying into them and industrious Examination of them that evill or wicked practice which they had bound up in their hearts and said none shall know it he scatters and discovers Solomons proverb carryes an experienced truth in it both wayes And we may argue from it That if an earthly King or Magistrate sitting on the Throne scattereth all evill with his eyes how much more doth God neither any evill matter nor any evill man can stand before him And seing the Lord discovers all the evill that is in the hearts and wayes of men what