of Heth. If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth such as these which are of the daughters of the Land what good shall my life do me Better be out of the world than see my sons miscarry These two sights to see children suffering or to see them sinning are a pain not only to the eyes but to the hearts of parents But to see them First Prosperous in their way Secondly Pious keeping the way of the Lord to have and see such children and childrens Children to the third and fourth generation how delightful is this The Apostle John professed 3 Epist ver 4. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth He means his spiritual children those whom he had converted to the faith and begotten to Christ in the ministery of the Word O what a joy was it to that holy Apostles heart to see them walk answerably to the profession of the Gospel and his expectation Now as that was so great a joy to him that he had no greater so 't is an unspeakable joy when godly parents see their natural children spiritual and walking in the truth To see children new born to see them gracious and to see them prosperous also what a blessed sight is this And this was the sight doubtless which Job had he saw his children His sons and his sons sons to the fourth generation His blessedness as to all without him in this life was at the highest when he saw the prosperity of his children both in soul and body Thus Job was blessed every way he was blessed with riches blessed with long life blessed in the multiplication of his family he was blessed also in his death as appeareth in the next and last words of this Chapter and Book Vers 17. So Job died being old and full of days As Solomon said Eccles 12.13 Hear the conclusion of the whole matter Fear God and keep his commandements So I may say now Hear the conclusion of all men To fear God and keep his commandements is the consumating end of our lives but to dye is the consuming end of all our lives and to a good man 't is an entrance into eternal life Such and so Job died The Lord having spoken of his life is not silent about his death The story the holy story brings Job to his grave and that could not but be a blessed death which was the close of a gracious life So Job died Death is the separation of the soul from the body 't is the sleep of the body in the grave and thâ— rest of their souls in heaven who dye in the Lord. There is no difficulty in these words take a note or two from them First Death takes all sooner or latter Job lived a long time but he did not out-live death Mors ultima clausula vitae Mors ultima linea rerum he enjoyed an hundred and forty years prosperity in this world yet he left the world He lived long yet a day came when he could not live a day longer 'T is said of all the long livers Gen. 5. They died Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years and he died Seth lived nine hundred and twelve years and he died Methuselah the longest liver in this world lived nine hundred sixty and nine years and he died Here Job lived an hundred and forty and so he dyed David put the question of all men Psal 89.48 What man is he that liveth and shall not see death How great or how good how rich or how wise how strong or how valiant soever any man living is he must dye How long soever any man hath lived in this world he must dye for the world must dye there must be a dissolution of all things and therefore a dissolution of all men Psal 82.6 7. I said ye are gods but ye shall dye like men Kings and Princes who have the priviledge to be called gods have not the priviledge of God not to dye like men This is a common theam I intend not to stay upon it only let me tell you death will overtake us all sooner or later upon a double account First Because it is appointed Secondly Because it is deserved It is appointed unto men once to dye Heb. 9.27 and all men have deserved to dye to dye eternally and therefore much more to dye naturally Rom. 5.12 As by one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death past upon all men for that all have sinned Now seing the condition of all men is a dying condition receive these four cautions First Prepare for death There is no avoiding it at the long run therefore be ready to entertain it at last and because we may dye at any time be preparing for death at all times How miserable are they who are so old that they cannot live and yet so unprepared that they are afraid to dye Job died and we must If so Is it not our wisdome to prepare for death Secondly Submit quietly to the arrest of death There is no striving with the decrees of God Our death is under a divine appointment Eccles 8.8 There is no discharge in that war no priviledge to be pleaded no exemption no prescription Your strength cannot stand against the assaults of death your prudence and policy cannot find any way of escape from it nor can your piety or godliness deliver you out of the hands of natural death As there is no work nor devise nor knowledge in the grave whither we are going Eccles 9.10 so there is no knowledg no device no wisdom can keep us from going into the grave no not our graces Grace is as salt to the soul preserving it from moral corruption for ever But it cannot keep the body from natural corruption in this world Mors est nobis nimis domestica utpote quam in viscaribus nostris circumserimâ— Plutarch in Consol ad Apoll. because our graces in this world are mingled with corruption Death is domestical to us that is we have the seed of it within our selves we carry it daily in our bowels and in our bosomes therefore submit quietly to it for there is no avoiding it Thirdly Seing all must dye get that removed which is the troubler of a death-bed and the sting of death get that removed which makes death bitter get that removed which makes death the King of terrours so terrible that is sin This should be our study all the days of our life to get rid of sin to be dying to sin daily because we must dye at last and may dye for all that we know or can assure our selves any day we live 1 Cor. 13.56 The sting of death is sin Whensoever or in what way soever we dye it will be well with us if the sting of death be first pulled out and whensoever we dye after never so long a life it will be miserable if we dye in our sins as Christ told the Jews in
the highest threat I go away and ye shall dye in your sins John 8.21 They that dye in their sins dye a double death at once a temporal and an eternal death together And to those who have got the sting of death pulled out that is the guilt of sin removed and washed off by the blood of Christ I would Fourthly Take this caution If you would have death easie to you dye more and more to sin daily Some who are dead to sin may find much life of sin remaining in them and they who have much of the life of sin in them will never dye easily they will find strong bands in their death which in another sense some wicked men find not Psal 73.4 While either sin or self or the world are lively in us death will be greivous to us Therefore let them who are dead to sin never think themselves dead enough to it while they live they who are most dead to sin and the world have the sweetest and most comfortable passage out of the world So Job dyed Being old It must needs be that Job was an old man when he had lived an hundred and forty years after all his changes before this change came Why then is it added he died being old or being an old man Surely to teach us this lesson Old age and death cannot be far asunder 'T is a truth young men and death are not very far asunder youth and death are at no great distance but when we see an old man we may conclude that death and he are very near neighbours While we see an old man with his staff in his hand we may say he carrieth a rapper in his hand by which at every step he knocks at the door of the grave There is no man not the youngest man that can reckon certainly upon one day beyond what he hath and therefore Solomon admonisheth us Prov. 27.1 Beast not of to-morrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth And the Apostle James checks those who would reckon upon a day he tells them upon the matter That they reckon without their hoast James 4.13 Go to now ye that say to day or to-morrow we will go into such a City and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain And then at the 14th verse Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow for saith he What is your life it is even a vapour that appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away They that are youngest have not a day nor an hour in their power to reckon upon what then have they that are old We may say of them They are even past their reckoning A woman near her time will sometimes say she hath but a day to reckon and some will say they have never a day to reckon old men may say so they have not a day to reckon Young men may dye old men must dye Then let old men be much in the meditation of death let them be often looking into their graves their gray hairs that do so are found in the way of wisdom Job dyed being old There was no longer staying for him in this world Once more Job dyed being old And full of days There is a twofold fullness First A fullness of satiety Secondly A fullness of satisfaction They are full in a way of satiety who loath that which they are filled with 't is burthensome to thâ—m They are full in a way of satisfaction who having enough are pleased and desire no more Some expound this Text of Job in the former sence he was full of days that is he had a fullness of satiety upon him he had lived so long that his life was a burden to him he had lived till he was weary of living his life was tedious and grievous to him It is said Revel 9.6 In those days shall men seek death and shall not find it and shall desire to dye and death shall flee from them That which most flee from some pursue and it fleeth from them None are so unfit to dye as they who upon the account spoken of in that Text seek death and desire to dye I do not conceive that Job was full of days in the former notion as the stomack may be full of meat and loath it or be burthened with it but as having had enough of it though well liked to the last morsel And I am sure he was not full of days when he dyed in the latter notion as one wearied with the troubles of his life for all his latter days were a blessing to him and he blessed in them all His last days in this world being his best days of worldly enjoyment he could have no reason upon any worldly account to desire a departure out of the world I grant a good man though he hath not lived many days may be full of days even to weariness by reason of his temptations corruptions and sins of which kind of weariness the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 5.2 In this earthly house of the body we grown earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven And upon this account possibly Job himself might be weary of his life and desire the death of his body that he might be delivered from the body of that death But Jobs worldly life was as sweet as it was long he was as full of blessings as he was of days and therefore doubtless he was only satisfied with living not tired with it He did not loath his natural life nor did he hunger after a longer life in this world he hungred after eternity not time He did not hunger after a longer life as they do who have their portion in this life how long soever they have lived A worldly man is never satisfied with living in the world he never hath his belly full of living here while he sees he may as Job might fill his belly with the good things of this life But as Job had lived very long and very well on earth so he knew there was a better life to be had in heaven and therefore was full of days both as having had many and as having no desire after more on earth As he was not which David deprecated Psal 102.24 taken away in the midst of his days so he was willing to come to the end of his days and for that reason might well be said to dye being old and full of days Secondly These words so Job died being old and full of days may note as his willingness to dye so the easiness of his death he was come to a full ripeness for death Fruit that is fully ripe is soon gathered and sometimes drops off alone from the tree Job was every way ripe for death his body was ripe he was full of days his soul was ripe he was full of grace surely then his was a spontaneous death a very sweet way of dying His natural strength was not much being old
without them but a foundation is of absolute necessity there cannot be continuing house without a foundation Fourthly The foundation is the support of the whole building that bears and upholds all the rest But some may say What are the foundations of the Earth I answer A foundation may be taken either properly or metaphorically formally or allusively The foundations of the Earth are not formal but metaphorical foundations 'T is a speech borrowed from men who must have a proper foundation for their buildings The Earth is not laid upon any formal but it hath a vertual foundation The Scripture saith sometimes that the Earth is founded upon the seas and established upon the floods Psal 24.2 yet in a proper sense the Sea is not the foundation of the Earth It 's said also Job 26.7 He hangeth the Earth upon nothing The whole bulk of Sea and Earth together are one Globe one Building formed and compacted together But the Earth may be said to have foundations and that God hath laid the foundations of it for this reason Because the Earth is set fast and firm it is like a house that hath foundations not only a foundation but foundations it stands most firm A house builded upon a rock Matth. 7.25 stands fast and immoveably in all weathers because built upon a sure foundation A house builded upon the sands falls it hath no sure foundation The Earth is made firm strong and sure as those houses or buildings that are raised upon rocks and is therefore said to have foundations Why is Heaven or the state of glory called a City having foundations Heb. 11.10 but because the state of glory or that glorious City is a firm state or as it is called in another place Chap. 13.14 a continuing City A City which shall it self continue for ever and whose Citizens without succession continue for ever Now though the Earth be but a moveable tent or weak cottage in comparison of Heaven or our heavenly state yet God in his infinite Wisdom and Power hath formed and established it so firmly for the habitation of man and all inferiour creatures upon its own center that the Lord may truly be said to have built it upon foundations or to have appointed foundations for it as 't is often expressed elsewhere Psal 102.25 Psal 104.5 Prov. 8.29 as well as here Where wast thou When I laid the foundations of the Earth The form of the words is considerable in opposition to that opinion of some of the Ancients Aquin. in loc who attributed the site of the Earth and of the other Elements not to any divine supernatural Power of the Maker but to the very Nature of the Earth or the necessity of the Matter according to which heavy things tend downward and light things rise high so according to that opinion the Earth being a heavy body falleth lowest or took its place of its self Now that this opinion may be consuted and shut out of doors the Lord compares his making of the World to the building of a house which is ordered according to the reason of the builder so that though it be a truth in Nature that heavy things fall lowest yet we are to ascribe all to the Wisdom of God the Disposer of them who hath done all things according to the pleasure of his own Will and that with such admirable contrivance that man is not able to comprehend it as the last words of the verse intimate Where wast thou when I laid the foundation of the Earth Declare if thou hast understanding But before I pass to those words in the latter part of the verse I shall gather up some observations from this former part of it Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth c. Hence Note First The time of man upon Earth compared with the Eternity of God is nothing Where wast thou David Psal 39.4 prayed that God would teach him how frail he was as to the duration of his life and he adds in the next verse Mine age is nothing before thee The age of man is nothing before God if we consider it as to its beginning or if we consider it as to its ending When began the age of the most aged man Are not all men of yesterday God had an eternity of Being before man was upon the face of the earth And what 's the age of man as to its continuance As it began but yesterday that is a very little while ago or but the day past so it may end to morrow that is within a few dayes to come yea possibly before the next day or the morrow cometh Boast not of to morrow Prov. 27.1 both because thou knowest not what a day may bring forth nor whether as to thee a to morrow shall be brought forth Death sweeps men suddenly from the face of the earth only the Lord alwayes is and is alwayes the same All things change but God is not changed He is himself and his years fails not Then what 's mans age compared to God Note Secondly God is the first Being Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth God alone was before all things yet he was not at all alone Anteomnia erat deus solus ipse sibi mundus locus tempus omnia Tertul. adversus Praxeam cap. 5. For as one of the Ancients saith He was to himself a world place and time and all things Thirdly God is an Eternal Being It 's possible for one to be first and not to be eternal One man may have a Being before another and not have a Being from eternity but God had an eternal Being before the world had a Being or man any Being in the world There are Things of three sorts First Such as have had a beginning and shall have an end and be no more Thus it is with all meer sensitive Creatures the Beasts of the Earth and Fowls of the Ayre they perish there 's an end of their being when they die or come to the end of their lives Secondly There are other things which have had a beginning yet shall have no end As Spirits Angels good or bad and the souls of men yea the bodies of men though they are subject to and are cut off by death yet they shall return again and having been sown in corruption shall be raised in incorruption and be clothed with immortality which is a piece of Eternity Thirdly There is a Being which is without beginning and without ending and that is Gods Being only or the Being of God who thus exprest himself to Moses I am and I am that I am Exod. 3.14 That word takes in all Time past present and to come yea past present and to come are all one in Gods Being Psal 90.1 Thou hast been our habitation from generation to generation That is We thy people have alwayes or in all revolutions of time dwelt or sheltered our selves in thee and then at the second
signifie say others nothing else but the grave or those lower parts of the earth in which mens bodies deceased are buried and laid up to rest till the resurrection When we that are earth in our constitution Per portas mortis intâ—lliguntur loca subterraneana eò quòd ibimortui se peliuntur Pisc Dicuntur portae mortis i. e. mortuorum go out of the world by dissolution our return is into the earth into the lower parts of the earth we sleep in the dust According to this sense it is as if the Lord had said Hast thou seen the state of the dead or how it fares with them that are gone to their graves Hast thou visited the courts and palaces of the King of terrors Thus the gates of death are the gates of the dead Fifthly We may understand by the gates of death in general An nosti quae fiunt in visceribus terrae Vatabl. whatsoever is most remote and farthest off from our sight and view As if the Lord who said before Hast thou entred into the springs of the sea had said here Hast thou entred into the bowels or deepest abysses of the earth which are dark and uncomfortable as the grave or like the very gates of death Knowest thou or canst thou tell me what is done or how things go there Portae mortis umbrae mortis sunt ea loca ad quae vivus non penetrat quae nulla lux â—â—radiat c. Coc. Or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death These words are of a like intendment with the former The gates of death and the doors of the shadow of death are the same thing under a little difference of expression What the shadow of death is hath been shewed chap. 3.5 as alâ—o câ—â—p 10.21 thither I refer the Reader Hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death Surely thou hast not Thou neither desirest nor darest visit the doors leading to those dismal shadows which no light can pierce or where as Job spake chap. 10.21 The light is as darkness The scope of both the queries in this verse is the same also with those in the former even to repulse Jobs curiosity in searching into the secrets of God or to convince him that God had secrets which were no more opened to him than the gates of death and which he could see no more than the doors of the shadow of death Hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death Taking death in a proper sense Note Fiâ—st Bodyly death hath gates and doors passages and entrances into it Deadly sicknesses and extream dangers are as was shewed in opening the words those gates and doors Many have been brought to those gates and have been stepping into those shadows who yet have been recalled and brought back again as David and Hezekiah were and as the Apostle Paul was who had the sentence of death in himself yet was delivered trusting in him who raiseth the dead 2 Cor. 1.9 10. And therefore in all such cases whenever we are brought to the gates of death and to the doors of the shadow of death let us have recourse to the living God to that God to whom belong the issues from death Psal 68.20 He that is our God is the God of salvation of eternal salvation and of temporal salvation of salvation from death by sickness and of salvation from death by danger and trouble our God is the God of salvation to him belong the issues from death As God openeth the gates of death to let man in so he can open the gates of death to let man out As there is a gate to go in unto so there is a gate to go out from or an out-gate from death As the ways to so the issues from death belong to God Davids heart was full of this when having said Psal 141.7 Our bones are scattered at the graves mouth as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth that is we are ready to be cut in pieces and perish by our enemies having I say said this he presently adds vers 8 9. But mine eyes are unto thee O God the Lord in thee is my trust leave not my soul destitute keep me from the snare which they have laid for me c. It is the royal priviledge of Jesus Christ to be key-keeper of the grave Rev. 1.18 I have the keys of hell and of death that is I have power to deliver over to and to deliver or keep from both hell and death The keys are an emblem of power and authority Stewards have the keys He that hath the keys of death can deliver from death Secondly Taking death properly note No living man knoweth how or in what way he shall die The gates of death are not revealed to any man he hath no certainty by what means he shall passe out of this world to the grave he cannot tell through what gate he shall go whether through the gate of a natural death or of a violent death as Christ spake to Peter John 21.18 When thou wast young thou girdest thy self and wentest whether thou wouldest but when thou shalt be old another shall gird thee and carry thee whether thou wouldst not this spake he signifying by what death he should glorifie God Peter did not know what death he should die whether a natural or a violent death till Christ signified it to him And if man knoweth not at what kind of gate he shall enter the house of death that is whether by sickness or violence then much less doth he know the particular sicknesse or violence by which as a gate he must pass into the house of death these things the Lord keeps in his own hand And seeing we know not these gates of death we should alwayes pray that we may know the path of life Psal 16.11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life was Davids assurance as a type of Christ And though Christ should not shew any man the gate of his own temporal death yet he sheweth every godly man the path of eternal life and that 's enough for us Thirdly Note God onely knoweth when how and in what way we shall die as also what the state and condition of the dead is Death is the darkest and obscurest thing in the world The grave is a gloomy place and filled not only with natural but metaphorical darkness yet all is light to God he knows the gates of death and the state of the dead Prov. 15.11 The grave and destruction are before the Lord how much more the hearts of the children of men Fourthly Taking the gates of death generally for any secret or hidden thing Note Man knoweth no more than God revealeth to him When God puts the question Have the gates of death been opened or revealed to thee it is as if he had said thou canst not know them unless they are opened to thee And who can open them if I my self do not As all the
it not been for sin nor had the sight of any creature been terrible to us had we not sinned When Adam had sinned then God was terrible to him then presently he hid himself O therefore be cast down at the sight of sin which hath made both God and many creatures a terror a casting down to us How terrible this creature Leviathan is to man appears further by what the Lord saith next Vers 10. None is so fierce that dare stir him up who then is able to stand before me The former part of this verse carrieth on the matter of the whole former verse None is so fierce that dare stir him up that is Leviathan is a creature so fierce so cruel that none how fierce soever dare provoke him no nor awaken him The words may be taken two wayes First None dare stir him up when he is asleep 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 crudelis saevus fevox immisericors Secondly No man dares challenge or provoke him when he is awake The word rendred fierce properly signifies cruel because cruelty makes men fierce or because fierce men are usually very cruel None is so fierce as to stir him up Hence note First There is no wisdom in provoking an enemy that is too strong for us Wise men though bold and possibly cruel too yet when attempts are exceeding dangerous will not venture Physicians will not stir some humours in the body for it would be like stirring of a fierce Lion that is asleep they dare not provoke them but do all they can to attemper and allay them to stir such a humour were to stir Leviathan He hath more rashness than courage who meddles with more than his match or as some say conjures up a spirit that he cannot lay again Secondly Saith the Lord none is so fierce or cruel that dare stir him up He means not cruel to Leviathan but to himself none is so cruel to himself as to go about to stir up Leviathan because there is so much danger in that attempt Whence Observe They who run themselves upon great dangers unadvisedly are cruel to themselves They are their own enemies and the greatest enemies to themselves How cruel then are sinners to their own souls who are so fierce as daily to stir up Leviathan Prov. 6.32 Whosoever committeth adultery with a woman hath no understanding he that doth it destroyeth his own soul surely then he is cruel to his own soul he seems to be very kind to his harlot but he is very unkind yea cruel to himself Pro. 8.36 He that sinneth against me saith Wisdom wrongeth his own soul all they that hate me love death 'T is Christ that speaks thus he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul he is cruel to himself Many when they sin do it to please themselves O what a good turn do they hope to do themselves when they venture upon unlawful pleasures or profits But he that doth so hateth me saith Christ and he that hateth me loves death How cruel is that man to his own life that is in love with death yet so in truth are they who love any sin by sining You may as was toucht before stir up and awaken a sleeppy conscience and conscience may be more terrible than Leviathan yea by sin you may awaken and stir up the sleeping vengeance of God who is more than a thousand Leviathans and consciences Once more remember that possibly by not stirring up your selves to take hold of God you may stir up God to be angry with you as 't is said Isa 64.6 7. Our iniquities like the wind have taken us away What follows And or for there is none that calleth upon thy name that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee Which words as I apprehend may be taken two ways First As shewing their sluggishness that though their iniquities that is the punishment of their iniquities carried them away or they were carried â—way as a punishment of their iniquities yet they did not stir up themselves to call upon the name of God nor to take hold of him Secondly As shewing the reason why their iniquities carried them away even because they did not stir up themselves to take hold of God Their not stirring up themselves to take hold of God stirred up God against them If we do not stir up our selves especially when at any time we are compassed about with sins and dangers or with dangers procured and brought upon us by our sins as with Leviathans we may stir up God against us as a Leviathan And therefore let us take heed lest we be found fierce and cruel against our own souls by sinning against God or by not stirring up our selves to take hold of God such neglects are full of provocations Hitherto we have had instruction concerning this Leviathan how great how stout how fierce and cruel he is now the Lord makes application He hath been diâ—coursing about a huge tremendous Sea-monster but what is all this for Surely for very great use And the Lord maketh use of it two ways First In this verse to shew his own irresistibleness If none can stand before Leviathan then who can stand before me Secondly In the 11th verse to shew his own independency that he hath no need of any creature Who hath prevented me that I should repay him And all this the Lord makes good by that great assertion for whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine this great Leviathan is mine to do what I will with him This is the sum of that two-fold Application which the Lord makes from the hitherto description of Lâ—viathan the first part whereof is expressed in the latter part of the 10th verse Who then is able to stand before me As is the Lord had said no man is able to stand before me If this creature Leviathan be so terrible that no man is able to stand before him then who can stand before me for all the strength and courage that Leviathan hath I have given him and 't is nothing to what I have 't is not so much to me as a drop of the bucket or a dust of the ballance to the whole world Can none stand before Leviathan Who then can stand before me One Translation saith Can you resist before my look Quis rasistere potent vultu meo Scult As God had said before one shall be cast down at the sight of him namely of Leviathan so here Can any man stand before me or at the sight of me Is any man able to abide my look the majesty of my eye Surely no. The sence is much the same with that of our reading Who then is able to stand before me Hence Observe Our inability to stand before mighty creatures should mind us of our utter inability to stand before the Almighty God This is the most proper use that ever was made of a doctrine The Lord made a promise and it was a very wonderful promise which the Lord made
in sickness as well as in health in disgrace with men as well as when most honoured and cryed up by them when naked as well as when cloathed as well in rags as in the richest array Hence that confident conclusion vers 38. I am perswaded that neither death nor life c. shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And if so then we see where our true interest lyeth Let us make sure of Christ he will never leave us all earthly friends may Friends are a great mercy but they are not a sure mercy Again Consider Jobs friends who came not at him when in that afflicted condition yet as soon as ever God turned his captivity and made him prosper in the world then they would own him then they came Hence note Thirdly Such as are no friends in adversity will readily shew themselves friendly in prosperity That they came then is an intimation if not a proof that they came not before but then they came What Christ spake in another case I may apply by way of allusion to this Where the carcase is thither will the Eagles be gathered together When Job was up his friends appear'd All are ready to worship the rising Sun When the face of things and times change with us then the faces of friends change towards us then they have other respects and countenances for us this spirit of the world hath been anciently observed Si fueris foelix multos numerabis amicos Tempora si fuerintnubila solus eris even by Heathens If you be happy or restored to happiness you shall number many friends though you had none before Such friends are like those birds that visit our coasts in Summer when 't is warm weather when every thing flourisheth and is green then some birds visit us who all the Winter when 't is cold frost and snow leave us Faâ—ther it may be conceived that several of Jobs friends left him not only upon the occasion of his poverty and want but upon the supposition of his hypocrisie and wickedness many of them might have the same opinion of him which those three had who particularly dealt with him that surely he was a bad man because the Lord brought so much evil upon him Now when the Lord restored Job they had another a better opinion of him the Lord also giving a visible testimony of his accepting Job Hence note Fourthly God will one time or other vindicate the integrity of his faithful servants and set them right in the opinion of others God suffered Jobs integrity to lie under a cloud of supposed hypocrisie but at last the Lord restored him to his credit as well as to his estate and made his unkind and not only suspicious but censorious friends acknowledge that he was upright and faithful The Lord promiseth Psalm 37.6 to bring forth the righteousness of his servants as the light and their judgement as the noon-day that is a right judgement in others concerning them as well as the rightness of their judgement in what they have done and been or his own most righteous judgement in favour of them They who had a wrong judgement and took a false measure of Job measuring him by the outward dispensations of God and judging of his heart by his state and of his spirit by the face of his affairs these were at last otherwise perswaded of him 'T is as the way so the sin and folly of many to judge upon appearance upon the appearance of Gods outward dealings they conclude men good or bad as their outward condition is good or bad and therefore the Lord to redeem the credit of his faithful servants that lye under such misapprehensions sends prosperity and manifests his gracious acceptance of them that men of that perverse opinion may be convinced and delivered out of their error Note Fifthly The Lords favouring us or turning the light of his countenance towards us can soon cause men to favour us and shine upon us See what a change the Lord made at that time both in the state of things and in the hearts of men when the Lord outwardly forsook Job friends forsook him children mockt him acquaintance despised him his very servants slighted him yet no sooner did the Lord return in the manifestations of his favour but they all returne desiring to ingratiate themselves with him and strive who shall engage him most God can quickly give us new friends or restore the old Expleâ—â— contumelias honoribus detrimenta muneribus execrationes precibus The hearts of all men are in the hand of the Lord who turns them from us or to us as he pleaseth When God manifests his favour he can command our favour with men Though that which is a real motive of the Lords favour to his people their holiness and holy walkings gets them many enemies and they are hated for it by many yet the Lord discovering or owning the graces of his servants by signal favours often gets them credit and sets them right in the opinion of men Thus it was with Job all his friends returned to him upon the Lords high respect to him in turning his captivity Again in that Jobs friends came to him Cui dominus favet ei omnia favent Observe Sixthly It is the duty of friends to be friendly to come to and visit one another It is a duty to do so in both the seasons or in all the changes of our life It is a duty to do so in times of prosperity when God shines upon our Tabernacle When any receive extraordinary mercies it is the duty of friends to shew them extraordinary courtesies and to bless God for them and with them When Elizabeths neighbours and cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her they rejoyced with her Luke 1.58 It is a duty to rejoyce with those that rejoyce and to come to them that we may rejoyce with them It is a duty also to visit those that mourn and to mourn with them Friendly visits are a duty in all the seasons of our lives Once more Then came all his brethren c. It was late e're they came but they came Hence Note It is better to perform a duty late than not at all They had a long time even all the time of his long affliction neglected or at least slackned this duty of visiting Job yet they did not reason thus with themselves It is in vain to visit him now or our visiting him now may be thought but a flattering with him or a fawning upon him No though they had neglected him before they would not add new to their old incivilities We say of repentance which is a coming to God Late repentance is seldom true yet true repentance is never too late None should think it too late to come to God though they have long neglected him nor should sinners who have long neglected God be discouraged Though
an hundred and ten years Gen 50. ult Job if we take in that common account of the antecedent part of his life lived longer than any of these even two hundred and ten years The fifth Commandement hath this promise Exod. 20.12 Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy dayes may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee And the Apostle calls that the first Commandement with promise Eph. 6.2 that is the first Commandement with an explicite promise all the Commandements have promises implyed to those that obey them Eliphaz assured Job of this blessing in case of his repentance Chap. 5.26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age like as a shock of Corn cometh in his season And in this he was a true Prophet Now that long life is a blessing I would shew briefly under these six considerations First It is a blessing to have a long opportunity of doing good of being useful and serviceable to our generation long life gives an advantage for that Secondly It is a blessing to have opportunity to gain experiences First of the various providences of God towards men whether in wayes of judgement or of mercy Secondly to get experiences of the manners of men of the vanity unfaithfulness and inconstancy of some men and of the goodness faithfulness and constancy of others Though we sometimes smart in getting our experiences yet it may be a great blessing to have them Thirdly It is a blessing to have an opportunity to hold forth the grace of God to us and the graces of God in us by a holy example The longer we live a natural life the more we may manifest the power of a spiritual life to those among whom we live Fourthly It is a blessing to have opportunity for improvement and growth in grace to attain the highest stature in and pitch of holiness This benefit we may make of long life even encrease in grace as our years encrease and grow better as we grow older Fifthly It is a blessing to have opportunity to bring up our children in the nurture and fear of God long life gives liberty for this Lastly it is a blessing to behold the blessing of God upon our posterity long life gives us opportunity for this blessing and this was Jobs blessing eminently In all these respects and many more might be added long life is a blessing Yet let me give this corrective Long life is but a common blessing it is no distinguishing blessing it is not a certain love-token from God to man Bad men have lived long as appears both in sacred and common Histories Old age is then a blessing and good indeed when we are old in goodness or grow old doing good Solomons conclusion reacheth this fully Prov. 16.31 The hoary head is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness And Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes Better is a child that will be ruled than an old and foolish King that will receive no counsel When we may say of any as the Lord said of some Ezek. 23.43 O ye that are old in adulteries when any are old in sin woe to such an old age Better to die young than live to old age and then die in sin To live to be old men the old man not dying in us O how sad To see sin young when the man is old how odious a sight is that Then only old age is good when we are good in old age They only die in a good old age as it is said of Abraham Gen. 25.8 who are good dying old The sinner of a hundred years old shall die accursed Isa 65.20 So then it is knowing not ignorant old age it is prudent not foolish old age it is gracious not vicious old age which is indeed the blessing and therefore though it be a blessing look upon it as a common blessing As riches are good to us our selves being good so is old age such is a life of many years in this world good only to those who are good and do good Secondly When it is said Job lived an hundred and forty years we are not to take his living for a bare continuance or indurance in life for so many years but we are to understand his life or living so long Vivere est valere with the cloathing of it with the good of it he lived that is he lived comfortably honourably peaceably this hundred and forty years We commonly say To live is to be well to live is to flourish Some live whose life is a kind of death As they who live in sinful pleasure are dead while they live so also are they who live in great worldly sorrow Job lived comfortably and contentedly all that long time of his latter life even an hundred and forty years Hence note Secondly Long life in health peace and prosperity is a blessing indeed To live long in the enjoyment of good is very good What man is he saith David Psal 34.12 that desireth life and loveth many dayes that he may see good Keep thy tongue from evil c. To live long and see good that is enjoy good is the utmost that can be desired in this life That 's the blessing or the good promised in the renewed state of Jerusalem Isa 65. where after the Lord had spoken of new heavens and new earth he adds at the 22d verse They shall not build and another inhabit they shall not plant and another eat for as the dayes of a tree are the dayes of my people and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands He doth not say they shall live long but they shall enjoy long that which they have built and planted none shall invade nor take away from them Some conceive this hath reference to the thousand years prophesied of Rev. 20. wherein the Church shall enjoy perfect felicity in this world To live long in the sweet enjoyments of health honour peace and plenty for soul and body is a full blessing I grant some good men live long who yet do not alwayes enjoy good their old age especially is accompanied and encumbered with many bodily distempers and grievous pains Though grace sets us above the decayes of nature and the troubles of this life yet grace doth not exempt nor give us priviledge from either so that greediness after many years is commonly a greediness only after many infirmities Isaac was a good old man yet 't is said of him that when he was old his eyes waxed dim so that he could not see Gen. 27.1 Old age and dim eyes and deaf ears shaking hands and palsied trembling joynts with manifold diseases are seldom found asunder Therefore Job had an extraordinary blessing to live long and free from all these evils and so have any who do so Barzillay was a good old man yet 2 Sam. 19.25 he was so benummed and his natural senses so enfeebled that he did not enjoy his life
our thoughts to the praise of God to sing and shout his praises Did the Stars take them properly and did the Sons of God the Angels rejoyce when the work first began and is not the work to be rejoyced in now 't is finished Though sin hath sullied the work yet the glory of God is still transparent in it the power goodness and wisdom of God are gloriously seen in the things that are made Rom. 1.20 not onely were they seen but they are â—een to this day The creatures are still a glass wherein we may â—â—hold the invisible things of God even his eternal Power and God-head so that they who glorifie him not in and for those works will be found and left without excuse They are a book a volume consisting of as many leaves and lines as there are distinct sorts of creatures wherein we may read the great God plainly described to us and if so let us remember our fault this day Is it not our sin and shame that we are so little in admiring God for this work which set all the Angels in heaven a singing a shouting a wondring There are several things in the Works of Creation which well considered will soon provoke us to singing and to shouting First The multitude of Creatures Secondly The various kinds of Creatures Thirdly The beauty and excellency that is in the Creatures Fourthly The profit and the usefulness of the Creatures These laid together should draw out our praises and cause us to exalt the power wisdom and goodness of God manifested in and by his Creatures Lastly Consider what was iâ— that caused the Angels to â—hout for jâ—y when they saw this woâ—k of God begun Surely it was the appearance or manifestation of God shining brightly in the Work of Creation Hence Observe The discoveries of the power wisdom and goodness of God should stir up and engage every man and cannot but effectually stir up and engage those who are wise and good to rejoyce in God Somewhat of God is stamped or there are certain lines of his transcendent perfections drawn upon every Creature here a line of wisdom and there a line of power here a line of goodness and there a line of mercy the sight of these should cause us to shout for joy especially that this God the Creator of the ends of the Earth is our God for ever and ever and will be our guide even unto death How many lines have we of God in the World which we have not read much less studied and commented upon In how many things is God visible and yet we see him not nor acknowledge him as we ought Take onely these two things by way of inference from the whole First To be of a praising of a rejoycing spirit iâ—â—o be of an excellent spirit of an angelical spirit Let us imitate â—he Angels in praising God The Angels are called the Sons of God because they imitate him let us imitate the Angels in praising God so shall we approve our selves the Sons of God too Secondly Consider The Angels rejoyced at the laying of the foundations of the Earth The Earth was made for man Heaven was the Angels habitation they were well provided for if there had never been an Earth they had been provided for yet they shouted for joy when God laid the foundations of the Earth for the use of man and beast Hence take this Inference It shews a good spirit to rejoyce at the good of others or to be pleased with that which is beneficial to others though it be no benefit to us This argues an excellent spirit an angelical spirit Some if they are well housed and provided for care not whether others are housed and provided for or no nor can they rejoyce at the good of others but as their own good is concern'd In glory we shall be like to the Angels our very bodies shall be like to the Angels living without food without sleep without marriage in Heaven we shall neither marry nor be given in marriage but shall be like the Angels O let us strive to be like the Angels in our minds now as we hope to have our bodies like the Angels hereafter even clothed as the Schoolmen call them with angelical endowments Unless our spirits are like the Angels here unless we have hearts like the hearts of Angels in this World we shall never have bodies like them hereafter or in the World to come JOB Chap. 38. Vers 8 9 10 11. 8. Or who shut up the Sea with doors when it brake forth as if it had issued out of the womb 9. When I made the Cloud the garment thereof and thick darkness a swadling band for it 10. And brake up for it my decreed place and set bars and doors 11. And said Hitherto shalt thou come but no further and here shall thy proud waves be stayed THe Lord having questioned Job about the Fabrick of the Earth and shewed the triumph and acclamations of Angels at it in the former Context He next leads him to the waters or carrieth him to the Sea there to consider his Works of wonder As Moses in the beginning of Genesis having summarily and in general spoken of the Creation of Heaven and Earth descendeth to particulars so here we have the Lord passing from one part of the Creation to another from the Creation of the Earth to that other great part of the Creation the Waters or the Sea Vers 8. Who shut up the Sea with doors c. In these words we have First The Creation of the Sea Secondly Its Constitution both set forth by most elegant Metaphors The Creation or Production of the Sea is shadowed by allusion to an Infant breaking forth out of the womb Vers 8. The Constitution or settlement of the Sea is carried on in suitable Metaphors to the end of the eleventh Verse Vers 8. Or who hath shut up the Sea with doors when it brake forth c. We have here First The Birth or Nativity of the Sea Secondly What God did with the Sea when it was born and issued out of the womb Then God shut it in with doors and prepared garments and swadling bands for it then he restrained the rage force and fury of it and held it as his prisoner or captive in bonds As soon as an Infant is born it is bound up and swadled and as soon as the Sea as I may say was born or come into the World God took order with it and to keep it in order he provided doors to shut it in and garments to bind it up with What the Scripture speaks of Gods coercing the Sea may be reduced to two heads First To that restraint which he laid upon the Sea presently upon its Creation some say the first others the third day of the Creation according to that Gen. 1.9 God said Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear and it was so Thus the
bones upon a wheel To be broken is to be utterly spoiled A broken heart is a great mercy Psal 51.17 but a broken arm notes a great misery This Scripture threatens the high arm with breaking yet it leaves us unresolved or faith nothing expresly about these three Queries First Whose high arm is here threatned with breaking Secondly By whom the high arm shall be broken Thirdly How or by what means or in what manner it shall be broken I answer to the first These terrible words are not levell'd nor intended against any high arm eo nomine upon that account because it is high God is not angry with the highness of men They who are highest and have the highest arm among men may be highly pleasing unto God The highest powers on earth are of Gods ordaining and appointing now God cannot be against his own ordinances and appointments therefore he never bâ—eaks the high arm because 't is high in power but because 't is high in wickedness So then we may be confident 't is only the high arm of the wicked which is here threatned to be broken To the second and third Queries I answer in a word It is God who breaks the high arm and he breaks it in what manner and by what means soever pleaseth him In which we may see a signal work of divine Providence which doth not suffer the difference of good and evil of right and wrong to pass long unobserved And in this passage possibly the Lord might intend a refutation of what Job said Chap. 10.3 That God shined upon the Counsels of the wicked For seeing the very light or life of the wicked is with-holden from them and their high arm broken doth not God declare and testifie that he loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity And if the ministration of Divine Justice lye in the dark at any time doth not the return of the light every day intimate that a day of the revelation of the righteous Judgment of God is at hand The high arm shall be broken Hence Note First Wicked men may grow high and have a very high and strong arm Therefore be not scandalized when 't is so The most high God often suffers it to be so The wicked man in the Text is he that hath the high arm Note Secondly As all men by nature are altogether wâ—cked in their state so some of them are extreamly wicked in their lives They sin with an high hand or with an high arm they sin as if they would dare God himself Not onely have wicked men been high in power and high in place but there they have sinned highly and stretched forth their hand against Heaven it self Note Thirdly Observa in voce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hoc versiculo v. 13. literam צ in Bibliis magnis â—â—empl emendatis suspensam esse i. e. non eodem tenore cum aliis scriptam sed supra caeteras sursum versas penderâ— hoc modo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod forsun mysterio non caret quasi lux impiis totus eorum splendor sit in suspenso non stabilis Merc. The wicked how high or how strong soever they are they shall be broken A learned Interpreter takes notice that in the larger Bibles and most correct Copies the Hebrew Word signifying the wicked both in this 15th verse and in the 13th verse hath one letter raised up higher than the rest and exceeding the ordinary form of writing as may be seen if the Reader please to cast his eye upon the quotation in the Margin This saith my Author is not possibly without a mistery even to intimate thus much that all the prosperity and outward splendor of the wicked hangs in suspence or is very tottering and unstable But whatever occasioned that irregularity in the Hebrew writing or whatever it may import this is a sure truth that the highest estate of the wicked is very unsure The Lord who as Solomon saith Eccl. 5.8 is higher than the highest on earth can quickly bring down the highest and break or crush the strong arm as one would break a reed or crush a moth Thus the Lord bespake Edom by his Prophet Jer. 49.16 O thou that dwellest in the clifts of the rock that holdest the height of the hill though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the Eagle I will bring thee down from thence saith the Lord. And thus the Lord spake by another Prophet concerning the Amorite Amos 2.9 His height was like the height of the Cedars and he was strong as the Oaks yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from beneath that is I utterly destroyed him Yea the very being of the wicked high and strong is an argument that they shall be brought low destroyed and broken to pieces When Babylons arm shall be in its highest height When she shall say in her heart I sit as a Queen that is on high and am no Widdow and shall see no sorrow When Babylon is thus prophecying all good of her self and promising all good to her self then shall her plague come in one day death and famine and mourning and she shall be utterly burnt with fire for strong is the Lord who judgeth her Rev. 18.7 8. He will break her high arm and break it when she thinks it highest and her self safest David whose arm God raised on high affirmed all this of wicked high ones in general or of all those who should be found high in wickedness Psal 92.7 8. When the wicked spring as grass and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish it is that they shall be destroyed for ever As if he had said that 's the meaning of their prosperity you may spell that our of it or make that interpretation of it they shall be destroyed for ever As the Lord remembers his people in their low estate because his mercy endureth for ever Psal 136.23 so he will take vengeance on the wicked in their high estate because his justice endureth for ever The least sin deserves a breaking but when the arm of sin is grown very high we may say the Lords arm cannot hold he must break such high arms The Prophet Jeremy chap. 6.6 speaking of Jerusalem saith This City is to be visited how visited There is a twofold visiting First In favour care and kindness Secondly In wrath and judgement Usually when the Scripture speaks of visiting a City or a Land it is meant in wrath and in judgement Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord Jer. 5.9 Surely I shall there is no avoiding my visitation What kind of visitation is meant the next woâ—ds evidence Shall not my soul be avenged on such a Nation as this To be visited with vengeance and wrath is a sad Visitation and so was Jerusalem to be visited But why was the City Jerusalem to be visited in wrath there 's no City whose inhabitants are so just and righteous but the Lord may visit them in
wrath but of this City the Lord said it is wholly oppression they are given up to oppression every one is oppressing and wronging his brother now when they sinned at this rate when their arm was thus high in wickedness then it was to be broken There is a righteous God that judgeth the earth and therefore the high arm of unrighteouness shall be broken JOB Chap. 38. Vers 16 17 18. 16. Hast thou entred the springs of the Sea or hast thou walked in the search of the depth 17. Have the gates of death been opened unto thee or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death 18. Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth declare if thou knowest 〈◊〉 all IN the former Context the Lord made a short dâ—gression from those questionings with which he had begun with Job concerning his Works the occasion whereof was the mentioning of the wicked who improved not but abused his works In this Context the Lord returns to his former way of interrogating Job and having questioned him about the birth or production of the Sea the bands and bounds of the Sea at the 8th 9th 10th and 11th verses he questions him here First About the depth of the unsearchable depth of the Sea vers 16 17. Secondly About the vast breadth of the Earth vers 18. Thereby to convince Job that he not being able to reach the depth of those mighty waters nor to comprehend the breadth of the earth was much less able to comprehend the depth of those counsels or the breadth of those ways of providence in which himself had been walking towards him That 's the general scope and sum of these three verses as also of all that follow as hath been shewed formerly The last thing about which the Lord put the question was the Light whereby hidden and secret things are discovered here the question is about things that lie out of the light about hidden and secret things all which yet are more plain and obvious to more open and naked before the eye of God with whom we have to do than the Noon-day light to us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Numquâ—d ingressus es vel penetrâ—stâ— Vers 16. Hast thou entred into the springs of the sea Hast thou Doubtless thou hast not nor hast thou any mind to enter into those springs Who hath Hast thou entred or penetrated the springs of the sea There is a twofold entring into the springs of the sea or into any thing that lies remote from us Fiâ—st A Local Secondly An Intellectual entring To be sure Job had not locally entred the springs of the sea and it was as sure that he was not able to make any perfect intellectual entrance thither When therefore the Lord asked Job this question Opartet judicem nosse ea de quiâ—us judicaâ—â—â— us est tu voâ—â— judicas de operibus mo is cum ea non noris â—atabl Hast thou entred into the springs of the sea it is as if he had said It becomes him that makes a judgement upon any matter to enter into it either locally to view it with the eye or intellectually to view it with his understanding but thou O Job hast neither of these ways entred into the springs of the sea and there dâ—scovered how the waters flow or rise up out of the earth how then canst thou make up a judgement about the waters and if not what judgment canst thou make up concerning my deep counsels concerning the secret springs of my judgements Hast thou entred into the springs of the sea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ad plorâ—ta i. e. lacrymas mâ—riâ— Drus There is an elegancy in the word rendred springs which some derive from a root which signifies to weep or shed tears Hast thoâ— entred among the tears oâ— weeping places of the sea The same word in the Hebrew signifies an eye Aliqui 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fluenta non a flendo sed a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 perplexâ—m esse deducunt Et reddunt perplexitates mâ—ris Sensus eodem recidit sed Grammatica magis quadrat ut a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 flevit destectatur Mâ—rc as also a spring or fountain because as the eye drops yea pours out tears David saith Rivers of tears run down mine eyes so springs pour out waters and are as it were weeping continually Others derive the word from a root which signifieth to be infolden or intangled and so they render it Hast thou entred into the perplexities or intricacies of the sea Pharaoh used that word in the Verb Exod. 14.3 concerning the people of Israel They are intangled or perplexed in the land he thought he had caught them in the briars and should have had his will or satisfied his lust on them The sense is much the same whether we read the springs or the perplexities and intricate places of the sea both tending to the same purpose to shew Job his utter incompetency and inability for such an adventure Hast thou entred into the springs Of the sea The sea is a consluence of many waters the great vessel which God prepared to hold the multitude of waters as was shewed before at the eighth verse onely take notice Mâ—re dicitur Jâ—mim voce deducta à Maiim transpositis quibusdam literis that the word which signifies the sea is composed of the same letters a little transposed with that which signifies the water The sea being the gathering together of waters and water being the substance of the Sea one word in substance serves them both in the Hebrew tongue Yet others say it alludes at least to a word signifying to make a noise or to roar seas and floods make a terrible noise and roaâ—ing David ascribes a voice to the floods Psal 93.3 The floods have lifted up O Lord the floods have lifted up their voices These grammatical criticisms about words have their use giving some light about the nature and qualities of things But to the Text Hast thou entred into the springs of the sea And hast thou walked in the search of the depth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 abyssus vorago altittulo expers fundi This latter part of the verse is of the same importance with the former The springs of the sea and the search of the depth have little if any difference and walking follows upon entring therefore the Lord having said Hast thou entred into the springs of the sea saith Hast thou walked c. But more distinctly what is the search and what the depth The depth is the sea where 't is deepest so deep that no bottom can be found by sounding The word rendred here search notes the last oâ— utmost of any thing and so the deepest of the depth which possibly may be called the search of the depth because how much or how long soever it is searched for it cannot be found out Mr. Broughton renders it The border of the sea the Vulgar Latine The last or
about to frame and O how many how exceeding many or innumerable are they yet God saw not onely some or many but every one of them It was said by one of the Ancients upon this place Profundum mâ—ris deuâ— ingreditâ—r quâ—ndo visitare mentes etiam pressâ—â— sceleribus non dedignatur Greg. l. 29. c. 7 God goes to the depth of the sea as often as he goeth into the depth of mans heart and beholds what is there And there â—e beholds not onely the great but small beasts as the Psalmist calls the fish of the sea that is not onely great but small lusts and foolish imaginations the huge multitudes and shoals of vain thoughts which swim and play in that wide sea of mans heart are distinctly seen and as distinctly judged as if but one were there Thirdly From the scope of this place note That seeing we cannot search into the depth of the sea it should stay our curiosity in searching into and stay us from discontent when we cannot find the depth of Gods Counsels concerning us and of his Providences towards us There is a dutiful search into the Works of God David speaks of it Psal 111.2 The works of the Lord are great sought out of all those that have pleasure in them They are sought out that is they who have pleasure in them do and will endeavour soberly to search them out as much as may be but let all take heed of searching them wantonly or presumptuously that is either to satisfie their curiosity or with an opinion that they can reach the depth of them The Lord would have us satisfie our selves in the ignorance or rather nescience of those natural things which he hath not made known to us Surely then which is as hath been said the scope of this Chapter we should be satisfied though we in some cases know not nor can perceive the reason of Gods providential dealings either towaâ—ds particular persons and families or his Church in general Will any wise or sober man vex and disquiet himself will he be angry and pettish because he knows not all the secrets of the earâ—h and sea as some say Aristotle the Philosopher was to death and drowning because he could not find out the reason why the sea in one place ebbed and slowed seven times in one day Why then should we be impatient because the reason of Gods proceedings with the sons of men or of the strange ebbings and slowings of things in the sea of this world is secreted and hidden fâ—om us And therefore when we are not able to enter into the springs of this sea nor to walk in the search of this depth let it not trouble us but humble us as it did Job to whom the Lord put these questions and proceeded to put more and more hard questions if harder can be in the next words Vers 17. Have the gates of death been opened or revealed unto thee Or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death Here is another strange question Who among the living hath had the gates of death opened to him Oâ— hath viewed the doors of the shadow of death We read often in Scripture of the gates of death Psal 9.13 Num illius profunda quae verè dixirim mortis regiam c. rimatus es Bez. Psal 107.18 and which is all one of the gates of the grave Isa 38.10 but who knows what these gates are yet we may say something towards the clearing of this question A gate in strict sense is that by which we are admitted into any place and so the gates of death are That whatsoever it is by which we enter into death or go into the black hall of the grave Again The gates of death are any great and eminent danger Then we may be said to be at the gates of death when our lives are in great hazard to be lost either by the violence of enemies or by any violent sickness In the former sense David spake in way of supplication Psal 9.13 Have mercy on me O Lord consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me thou that liftest me up from the gates of death that is from deadly danger In the latter he spake by way of narration in his elegant description of the sick Psal 107.18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat and they draw near unto the gates of death that is they are ready to die or sick unto death And thus said King Hezekiah upon his sick-bed and as he thought a little before upon his death-bed Isa 38.10 I shall go to the gates of the grave I am deprived of the residue of my years that is of those years which I might have reckoned upon as mine according to the common account of mans life or the usual course of nature These are the more general gates of death and about these all agree But there are several opinions what should be specially intended by the gates of death in this place Portae mortis sunt causae corruptionis quantum advirtutes corporum â—â—lestium Aquin. in loc First One riseth very high saying that by the gates of death we are to understand the visible heavens because the heavenly bodies send down sometimes malignant influences which have a mighty power to corrupt the bodies of men here below so causing death to carry them away Thus he imagins death issuing out of the clouds as out of opened gates upon men on earth But that 's a far fetcht interpretation Secondly Oâ—hers go to the utmost contrary point and say by the gates of death we are to understand Hell The Papists give a description of several receptacles for souls departed under the earth they make at least three distinctions First Limbus Patrum The place where they affiâ—m the souls of the Fathers were before Christ came in the flesh and had accomplished the work of our redemption here on earth Secondly Purgatory the place where the souls of all that die not in mortal sin as they distinguish are reserved to be purged by temporary punishments before they can get to heaven Thirdly The lowest of all is that which we call Hell the place of the damned whither all go say they and we too who die in sin without repentance This place of torment some take for the gates of death But seeing the Lord is here speaking of natural things not of moral actions not of the consequents of them rewards and punishments therefore though we may truly call Hell the gates or power of death yet that notion as well as the former is altogether heterogeneal in this Text. Thirdly Several expound the gates of death in connection with the former verse for the depth or bottom of the sea where many dead carcases lie rotting all such as are cast away by shipwracks or die at sea being usually thrown into the deep and therefore at last the sea shall give up her dead as well as the earth Fourthly The gates of death
mysteries of the Gospel are hidden from us till God is pleased to reveal them so in nature there are many things which are mysteries and secrets to us till God makes them known to us And there are some things which God will no more open to us than he hath the gates of death or the doors of the shadow of death And if so then as God will never blame us for not knowing those things which he hath hidden so we should not busie our selves with any enquiries about hidden things Though the secret of the Lord be with those that fear him Psal 25.14 yet they that fear him will not dare not meddle with nor search into the Lords secret Therefore Lastly Observe Whatsoever God is not pleased to reveal to us or is pleased to hide from us that we should be content not to know and be satisfied that it is hidden from us Deut. 29.29 The secret things belong unto the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong unto us and our children for ever It is both our duty and our interest to be content with our own share or to be satisfied with what belongs to us and not to invade Gods peculiars or reserves It was Jobs fault he would be entring into the secrets of God but saith God Have the gates of death been opened unto thee or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death if not then be not troubled that those things are not opened to thee which I have reserved to my self God hath not straitned us in any needful point of knowledge there is enough opened to us though the gates of death be not Is it not enough for us that in the glass of the Gospel God hath set before us the mysteries of eternal salvation unless he also acquaint us in the day of our trial which was Jobs case with all the whole mystery of his temporal dispensations The Lord having urged Job with these hard questions about the depth of the Sea and the gates of death seems now to offer him a more easie question in the next verse Vers 18. Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth Declare if thou knowest it all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. Sic terram elegantèr circumloquuntur nâ—m qui quid sub coelo â—â—reâ— terra est â—er terram ambit Drus The Septuagint render Hast thou perceived the breadth of that which is under the heavens Under the Cope or Canopy of the heavens Hast thou perceived how broad that is which is spanned or compassed about by the heavens that is as we translate the breadth of the earth That which is circled or suâ—rounded by the aereal heavens is the earth Hast thou perceived the breadth of that Though the earth be better known to man than the depth of the sea yet no man ever saw the whole earth Many parts of the earth are deserts and unpassable by man The best Writers say the whole compass of the earth is 21600 miles yet that is rather a supposition than a demonstration no man having ever visited or viewed the whole face of the earth We find Job 11.9 length ascribed to the earth and breadth to the sea But in this place the Lord having ascribed depth to the sea gives breadth to the earth We are not here to take the breadth of the earth according to the rules of Geography for so the length of the earth is from East to West Terrae latitudo hoc in locâ— est universus terrae ambitus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pluralis a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 latitudo In qualibet re major dimensâ—o vocâ—tur longitudo minor latitudo Aquiâ— and the breadth from North to South but breadth is here put sinecdochically for all the dimensions or the whole circumference of the Earth As it the Lord had said Dost thou know how big how spacious the Earth is The breadth of the Earth imports the largeness of it opposed to straitness or narrowness and to shew that here the breadth contains all dimensions the word is in the Plural Number Hast thou known the breadths of the Earth that is the whole compass of it how broad and how long and so how big the Earth is Hast thou perceived the breadth of the Earth Hence Note First The earth is a huge vast body That is very big whose bigness is not easily perceived if at all perceivable and such is the breadth or bigness of the earth Whence take this double Inference First If the earth be such a great thing that a man cannot perceive the breadth or dimensions of it then how great are the heavens The earth in comparison of the heavens is but as a point 't is as little as is imaginable O what a broad thing is heaven if the earth be such that we cannot reach the breadth of it Secondly If the earth be so great how great is God who made the heavens and the earth too That 's it which God would lead Job to the consideration of even of his own infinite greatness How great is God who made this great earth To him as the prophet Isaiah speaks chap. 40.15 16. The Nations the people of the earth are but as the drop of a bucket and as the dust of the ballance He weighs the mountains in scales and the hills in a ballance He holds the dust as one single grain in his hand What a nothing are all things to God seeing the earth is a nothing to the heavens God puts the question to Job Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth and we may put that question into this negative Proposition O Job Thou hast not perceived the breadth of the earth The wisest of men know not the breadth or bigness of the earth Some have undertaken to tell us how great the circle of the earth is but theirs are but guesses though somewhat may be said that way yet no man can give it exactly and therefore the Roman Orator attempting to write about the earth and the dimensions of it prefaceth or apologizeth thus for himself De Geographia dabo operam ut tibi satisfaciam sed nihil certi polliceor magnum opus est Cicero ad Atticum l. 2. ep 4. I will do my endeavour to satisfie thee about Geography or the dimensions of the earth but I promise nothing of certainty 't is a great work Hast thou known the breadth of the earth Declare if thou knowest it all As if the Lord had said I have put the question to thee come now answer me declare what thou knowest let me know what her thou knowest it all God provokes or challengeth Job to say his utmost We may refer these last words either strictly to the immediate question only or generally to all the questions before yet I conceive they are rather to be restrained to the last question concerning the breadth of the earth because they run in the singular number Declare if thou knowest it all
petitioner to the Lord for instruction having confessed his own ignorance and weakness And that he had formerly profited under the teachings of God and was now in a further way of profiting is evident by that which followeth Vers 5. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but now mine eye seeth thee Job had no sooner asked for teaching but God taught him though not formally and explicitely as he desired yet really and effectually as he needed For this verse seems to be a real answer to the petition he made in the former verse and in it Job asserts two things First That he had heard of God by the hearing of the ear Secondly That now his eye did see him There are two opinions about the general sense of this verse and I shall conclude in a third First Some conceive these discoveries of God to Job were only inward to his soul so that when he saith I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but now mine eye seeth thee we are not to understand him as if he had had any visible appearance of God but that these words may be taken First as a comparison between a slight hearing when the mind is not intent upon what the ear heareth and a serious hearing which brings the mind fully into the ear As if Job had formerly been a careless hearer but now an attentive one and so the knowledge which Job had of God formerly was little compared with his present knowledge He had a knowledge of God by hearing only before but his mind was not intent upon it he heard only with the hearing of his ear but his eye did not see that is he had not a clear sight or knowledge which is an intellectual sight of the things which he heard But doubtless Job was no slight hearer of the word in former times he did not hear the word in the dayes of his prosperity as if he had only as we say given it the hearing for had he not seriously hearkned to the voice of God in those dayes he had never obtained such a testimony as God gave of him towards the end of those dayes yea this very phrase I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear implyeth serious and attentive hearing Secondly Others who deny any visible manifestation of God to Job grant that the first part of the verse notes serious hearing and receiving of the word the latter more so that here say they is a comparison between that lesser light or knowledge which Job had of the will of God before and that fuller light which he got upon this discourse which the Lord had with him the former being but as of a matter heard this as of things seen The Scripture sometimes calls clear knowledge sight So that look how much that which we see with our bodily eyes is clearer to us than that whereof we have only heard the report by so much the knowledge which Job had now of the things of God especially about the whole mystery of Gods dealing with him was clearer and fuller than what he had before even as if he now saw what before he only heard As we say One eye-witness is better than ten ear-witnesses so one eying of the word of God the eye of the mind fully and distinctly taken in what is heard is better than ten earings of it that is when little or nothing is taken in at the ear but a sound of words For then only we may be said to know divine things by the seeing of the eye when we know them not only from without by the report of others but from experience within our selves The Apostle saith of those who took joyfully the spoyling of their goods for the truths sake They knew in themselves that they had in heaven a better and a more enduring substance Heb. 10.34 that is they had even got a sight of that heavenly enduring substance Hence in Scripture vision is applied to spiritual things heard and we are said to see the Word of God Jer. 2.31 O generation see ye the Word of the Lord have I been a wilderness c. As if the Lord had said Ye have heard it before but now see it Seeing notes the highest knowledge then we see what we hear when we fully understand what we have heard Thus they expound this Text who judge there was no outward vision at all but that Jobs seeing was only spiritual and intellectual Secondly Others affirm that Job had an outward apparition and that the eye of his sense was affected And concerning this First Some are so much of this opinion that they say Christ appeared in humane shape to Job as he did to many of the holy Patriarks and Prophets of old which apparitions are by the Ancients called preludes to his incarnation And some Jewish Writers tell us that Job upon this sight of God had a spirit of prophesie given him but they need not insist upon that for several have had apparitions who were no Prophets Secondly others say the appearance of God to Job was only in or by a cloud with the whirlwind But that he had a vision or sight of God one way or other is asserted as by many of the Jewish Writers so by most of the Christian Ancients And doubtless when the Lord spake to him out of the whirlwind he had a vision or an extraordinary manifestation of God even to his eye Not that God in himself can be seen No man hath seen God at any time 1 John 4.12 It is reported by the Jewish Writers that the Prophet Isaiah was sawn asunder by his own Nation for saying that he had seen the Lord Isa 6.1 I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up This they counted blasphemy and put him to death for it say some yet others say he was put to death for his plainness in reproving the Princes and people of Israel in those words Isa 1.10 Hear the word of the Lord ye Rulers of Sodom give ear to the Law of our God ye people of Gomorrah But of that by the way I say God in himself cannot be seen he is seen only by those visible demonstrations of his presence which he is pleased to make of himself as here he spake to Job out of the whirlwind I conceive we may take in both so that when Job speaketh of his hearing by the ear he intends that teaching which he had in former times by the Ministry of his Ancestors And that when he saith But now mine eye seeth thee he intends that teaching which he had from the present appearance of God to him for his instruction and humiliation I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but now mine eye seeth thee As if he had said Lord heretofore I heard of thee for I was religiously brought up I had Parents and Ancestors who declared to me who the Lord was and I heard many things of thee which
greater while against the Laws of piety ye have judged of a mans holiness by his outward unhappiness and have censured him as a bad man because he hath in this world endured so much evil This hath been your sin ye have in this dealt foolishly with my servant Job therefore hasten to him and do as I have said Lest I deal with you ac-according to your folly Hence note First Sin is folly And not only is it simple folly which a man committeth for want of wit or because he hath little understanding what a man doth for want of wit and understanding is simple folly but sin is wicked folly which is the abuse of wit and parts and gifts yea the overflowing of lust And though we cannot charge these men that they did intentionally use their wit and parts to grieve Job yet it proved so though it was not the end or design of them that spake yet it was the issue of their speech they did him a great deal of wrong and doubtless Satan stirred much or provoked them to use their parts and gifts to imbitter the spirit of the poor man and God left them to do it This was their folly and all such actings or speakings are no better nor do they deserve better or softer language This word folly is often applied in Scripture to sin especially to great sins Another word is used in the Proverbs of Solomon but in several other places sin is expressed by this Gen 34.7 When that great affliction fell upon Jacob the ravishing of Dinah her bretâ—â—â—â— came home very wroth saying He hath committed folly in â—â—â—â—â—l So Judges 19.23 Judges 20.6 the abusing of the Levites Concubine is called the committing of folly Whoredom is expressed by folly Deut. 22.21 And this word with reference I conceive to the sin of whoredom which is spoken of in that place is translated villany Jer. 29.23 All sin is folly especially any great sin is so For First It is a folly to hurt our selves No man can hurt us if we do not hurt our selves by sin The Apostle Peter saith 1 Epist 3.13 Who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good 'T is strange that any should Though it be true enough that many have had not only a will to harm them that follow good but have actually done them many and great outward harms yet this is a great truth none can indeed harm them that follow good because all harms turn to their good Nothing can hurt us but our sin Secondly Sin is folly for in sinning we strive with one that is too hard for us Do we saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 10.23 provoke the Lord to jealousie are we so simple are we stronger than he Thirdly It is folly to do that by which we can get no good that 's the part of a fool Rom. 6.21 What fruit have ye of those things whereof ye are now ashamed What have ye got by them have ye made any gains or earnings to boast of the end of those things is death is it not folly to begin that which ends in death and that a never-ending an eternal death Fourthly It is folly to sin for by that at best we run a hazard of our best portion for fading pleasures and perishing profits If we have any pleasure by sin it is but pleasure for a season and that a very short one too What a foolish thing is it to venture things that are incorruptable for perishing things It were a great folly for a man to venture gold against grass they do infinitely more foolishly who sin against the Lord for all that they can get by it is not so much to what they hazard as grass to gold Mat. 16.26 What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul As all flesh is grass so all that flesh lusteth after is no better What kind of Merchants what kind of Exchange-men are they that will traffick or truck away their souls for the profits or pleasures of sin and 't is for one of these that most if not all men traffick away their souls Secondly Observe When God dealeth mâ—st severely with sinners he dealeth justly with them What rod soever he layeth upon their backs what shame what poverty what sickness he affl cts them with It is but according to their folly they have but their own they have no reason to complain The Prophet told the people of Israel as one man when under grievous affl ctions Jerem. 4.18 Thy ways and thy doings have procured these things unto thee Thou hast no reason to complain for thy punishment is of thy own procurement that is thy sin is visible in thy punishment thou eatest but the fruit of thy own doings how bitter soever it is Another Scripture saith Num. 32.23 Your sin shall find you out that is you shall suffer according to what you have done and reap what ye have sowed And is it not folly to sow to the corrupt flesh when of the flesh we shall reap corruption Gal. 6.8 The flesh is a corrupt thing and can yield us no better a thing than it is the effect is like the cause corruption that is a miserable condition both here and hereafter now and for ever Thirdly Note The Lord will not pass by nor spare no not a godly man when he sinneth and repenteth not All this is included in the going of these men to Job As if the Lord had said I will punish you Eliphaz and Bildad and Zophar for your folly unless ye repent They that are in a state of grace cannot expect favour from the Lord unless they turn from their sin and give him glory by repenting and believing Good men doing evil may suffer for it as well as the worst of men The Lord will see a work of repentance and selâ—-humbling a work of faith looking to Christ the sacrifice else he will deal with them even with them as he threatned these good men according to their folly But what was the folly of Eliphaz and his two friends for which the Lord threatned to deal so severely with them The latter part of the verse tells us what God accounted and called their folly In that ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right The Lord had told them as much at the seventh verse My wrath is kindled against you because ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right Here the Loâ—d pointeth them to their sin again and layeth his finger afresh upon the soar But why doth he so Take these three reasons why Probably the Lord repeated these words First To shew that he was very sensible of their sin in speaking amiss of him and very angry with them for it They provoked the Lord much when they measured him as it were by themselves or by their own meet-wand in his ways of
is said ver 7. How much she hath glorified her self and lived deliciously so much torment and sorrow give her Now as no man can tell nor imagine how much she hath glorified her self nor how deliciously she hath lived so no man can tell how much torment and sorrow she shall have Yea we read not only of a double and quadruble but of a seven-fold reward of wrath for evil men Psal 79.12 Render unto our neighbours seven-fold into their bosome And surely that Scripture means bad neighbours Now as the Lord doth plentifully reward the proud and evil doers in a way of wrath so he will plentifully reward well-doers and well-sufferers whether under his own hand or the hand of man in ways of mercy And if so then First Fear not to lose by God and that in a two-fold respect First When he cometh to borrow of you for the poor He that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord Prov. 19.17 Every time we are asked to give to the poor upon due occasion God sends to borrow of us and he will surely repay what he hath borrowed therefore fear not to lose by God when he borrows of you for the poor Secondly Fear not to lose by God when he takes all from you and makes you poor Sometimes God doth not come a borrowing but he cometh a taking he will have all whether you will or no He will sometimes take all away by fire by losses at sea or land in these and such like cases fear not â—o be losers by God But First Trust him as Job did Secondly Be patient as Job was They that have an interest in God and a portion in the promise need not fear they shall lose a thread or a shoe-latchet by God though his providence takes all away and strips them as it did Job naked What God takes from his servants he keeps for them and will restore to them either in the same kind with much more as he did to Job at last or in some other kind which is much better as he did to Job at first While Job was deprived of his all worldly good things God gave him much patience at first so that when all was lost and gone he could say Naked came I out of my mothers womb and naked shall I return thither The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken blessed be the name of the Lord. While this frame of heart lasted it was better than all that he had lost and though through the extremity of his pains and temptations it was somewhat abated and his patience somewhat ruffled yet it was never wholly lost and when it was worst with him his faith failed not which was best of all Now what the Apostle spake concerning those troubles which befel the Israelites in the wilderness They happened for examples 1 Cor. 10.11 So all these troubles and takings away happened to Job as our example or which the Greek word signifieth as a type that we should be patient under the Lords hand in taking and remember for the encouragement of our faith the Lords bounty in restoring For this end the Apostle James calleth us to consider this dealing of God with Job Jam. 5.11 Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord. What is that to us may some say that Job was patient Yes all the matter is to us it was written for our example and admonition and saith the Apostle ye have not only heard of the patience of Job but have seen the end of the Lord. Here is an exercise of those two noble senses Hearing and Seeing mentioned and doubtless for great purposes both But why doth he adde ye have seen the end of the Lord Some interpret these words as a second instance the Apostle mentioning Job in the former words and Christ in these Ye have seen the end of the Lord that is how it was with Christ in his sufferings The Lord Jesus Christ was well rewarded for all that he suffered God highly exalted him Phil. 2.7 because he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross 'T is a truth if we take those latter words of the verse Ye have seen the end of the Lord for the issue of Christs sufferings But I rather conceive that the whole verse relateth unto Job and so the end of the Lord in the latter part is the end which the Lord made with Job As if the Apostle James had said Hath it not been set before your eyes what end the Lord made with him or how he gave him double in the end Be not afraid to lose by God either borrowing or taking for he is a bountiful rewarder Secondly As we should not be afraid to lose by God when he comes either to borrow a part or as the case was with Job to take all from us so let us not be afraid to lose for God which was toucht before together with the former Inference upon the 11th verse of the 41 Chapter We have no ground in the world of fear when all that we have in the world is taken from us for Gods sake that is for righteousness sake seeing God who here restored to Job double all that himself had taken from him hath also promised to give his faithful servants double for all that is taken from them upon his account by men or which they lose for him That 's the meaning of the Prophet Isa 61.7 For your shame ye shall have double that is ye having suffered shame or been put to shame for Gods sake or for doing that which is honourable and commendable in it self shall receive double What double As by shame we are to understand any evil suffered so by double any good promised as a reward for suffering that evil especially such good as stands in direct opposition to that evil As if it had been said ye shall have double honour for shame and double riches for poverty and double health for sickness and and double liberty for imprisonment and captivity 'T is much to have double reparation of any loss yet this doubling is a poor matter to what is promised in another place to those who lose for God We have Christs word with an asseveration for it Mat. 19.28 29. Verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel And every one that hath forsaken houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my name sake here are great sufferings but behold a greater reward followeth not like Jobs twofold but an hundred-fold so saith that Text shall receive an hundred-fold and which is ten-thousand-fold more than that shall inherit everlasting life Be not afraid to lose for God Job had double who lost by God and so may you but if ye lose
outward things God deals not with all alike but it is often so God gives them their best at last even in the things of this life As the Governour of the Feast said to the Bridegroom John 2. Thou hast kept the best wine till now So the Lord often keeps the best wine of outward comforts to the very last of our lives Bildad put it only as a supposition to Job Chap. 8.7 If thou wert pure and upright surely then he would awake for thee and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous though thy beginning was small yet thy latter end should greatly increase But we may resolve it as a Position concerning Job surely he was pure and upright for God did awake for him and made the habitation of his righteousness prosperous his beginning was comparatively small but his latter end did greatly encrease or he had a great encrease at his latter end And though this be not alwayes true as to outward things that the Lord blesseth the latter end of a good man more than his beginning yet it is always true as to spiritual things it is always true as to the best things The Lord gives his people their best soul-blessings at last though they have great good before yet greater good or their good in a greater measure then he gives them more grace more of his Spirit more of his comforts and their latter end is most blessed as it is the beginning of endless blessedness Abraham said to the rich man in the Parable Son remember thou hast had thy good things and Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented The Lord deals best with all his people at last one way or other to be sure all shall be well with them in the latter end Solomon saith Eccl. 7.8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning And he said so not because all things end better than they begin but because when things or persons end well it is then surely well with them whatever their beginning was That is well which ends well Hence let us be minded not to judge the work of God before the latter end The works of God seem cross many times to his people but he will set all right and make them amends for all at the latter end The Apostle James calls us to consider Job's latter end Chap. 5.11 Ye have heard of the patience of Job that is you have heard of his sufferings in the flesh and of his suffering spirit and ye have seen the end of the Lord that is what end the Lord made for him Some give another interpretation of these latter words as was shewed formerly but this I conceive most clear to the context Ye have seen the end of the Lord that is what end the Lord made for Job Though the middle part of his life was very grievous yet God changed the Scene of things and his end was very glorious David Psal 37.37 would have the end of upright men marked and well considered Mark the perfect man and behold the upright the end of that man is peace Possibly he hath had a great deal of trouble in his way but his end is peace Let not us be offended at the crosses which we meet with in the course of our lives but look to the promised crown at the conclusion of our lives Let us not stay in the death of Christ nor in the grave of Christ but look to the resurrection and the ascension of Christ You may see those who are Christs on the Cross and in the Grave but mark and you shall see their resurrection and ascension The two witnesses are represented slain yet raised and then ascending up to heaven in a cloud their enemies beholding them Rev. 11.11 12. Despise not the day of small things Zech. 4.10 the latter end may have a great encrease despond not in the day of sorrowful things for the latter end may be full of joy There are three things which should much comfort us in our afflictions First That they cannot last alwayes they will have an end Secondly That while they last or before theyh ave an end they are medicinal and healthful they are for our good while they continue upon us or we in them Thirdly which we have in the Text we may expect that as they shall surely have an end so that they will end comfortably No chastning for the present saith the Apostle Heb. 12.11 seemeth joyous but grievous nevertheless afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby God will not only bring our troubles to an end but he will give us sweet fruit at the end of them as a recompence for all our troubles God will not only bring our sufferings to an end but to such an end as will make us gainers by them Those are even desirable and lovely losses which issue in such advantages Secondly In that the Lord gave Job so great an advance in worldly things Observe The Lord sometimes gives his people much more of this world than they desire or ever looked after Job was far from praying for such an encrease he never desired that his earthly substance should be doubled in his latter end Indeed we find him once wishing that it were with him as in his beginning but he wished not for more Chap. 29.2 O that it were with me as in the months past as in the day when the Lord preserved me when his candle shined upon my head and by his light I walked through darkness Job wished that he were in as good a condition as he once had but he never wished that all might be doubled or that his latter end should be more than his beginning yet the Lord gave him more gave him double to his beginning God exceeded his prayers and his wishes As the Lord is able to do exceeding abundantly for us above all that we ask or think Eph. 3.20 so he often doth and usually therefore moderates the desires and askings of his people as to the things of this world that he may out-give their askings and out-do their desires Thirdly The Lord made Job the greatest man in the East in his beginning but he blessed his latter end more than his beginning Hence note How much soever the Lord gives at one time he can give more at another God gave Job good measure before but now according to that expression Luke 6.38 he gave him good measure heaped up pressed down and running over Let us not say when God hath given us much or done much for us he can give or do no more for us he hath more in his treasure of temporal good things and he hath more in his treasure of spiritual good things than he hath yet given out to any he can give more faith how much faith soever he hath given he can give more patience how much patience soever he hath given and so of every grace and good thing The
dew 223 224. A three-fold allusion of the dew 226 Disdain or despising who most apt to do it 780 Disposition two-fold 717 Divisions among good men very bad 736 Don the Spanish word for a Lord whence derived 68 Double what it signifies in Scripture 948 Drinking much in bruits is from their constitution not from their lusts 653 Duty God would have us do our best in every duty 38. Two things needful to it 38. Better do duty late than not at all 961 Dwellings appointed by God to every creature sutable to his nature 334 E Eagle what the Hebrew word imports 474. Exceeds any Hawk in three things 475. Two reasons why the Eagle mounts so high 476. Fâ—ur reasons why she makes her nest on high 480. What food she most delights in 484. The quickness of the Eagles eye-sight 485. How she tryeth her young ones 486. Eagles presage or smell a battel long before 488. The similitude between the Eagle and Christ in seven particulars 489 490. The similitude between an Eagle and a true Christian â—pened in seven things 491. Two wings of a greet Eagle are said to be given the Church 493 Earth how immoveable 51 52. The earths foundations 47 52 God the maker of the earth five inferences from it 53 54. Three things in the making of the earth should stir us up to praise God 56 57. The form and firmness of the earth set forth four ways 59 60. Measures of the earth different opinions about it 61 62. Five things admirable in the frame of the earth 65. Inferences from it to thankfulness and an exact frame of life on this earth so exactly framed for us 66 67. What are the garments or clothing of the earth 137. Breadth of the earth 157 158. Two inferences from the greatness of the earth 158 Eastwind much under the dominion of the Sun 199 200 Egypt why not looking to heaven for rain 207 Election of free grace not of fore-seen works 702 Elements their natural order 98 Elephant the manner of his eating grass described 618. Twelve things for which the Elephant is eminent above other beasts 627 628. Four inferences from it 630 Encrease in the field five things needful to produce it 378 Enemy no wisdom in provoking one too strong for us 691 Enemies to be prayed for and how 941 Entreaty the strong will not use entreaties 669 Equinox when 127 Error wise and good men may erre 869 Eternity three sorts of beings 49. God only absolutely eternal 49. Eternity what 50 Exacters of two sorts 339 340 Examples of two sorts recorded in Scripture 1036 Experience experimental knowledge best 793 Eye hath a great force upon the heart in three things 688 689. The Eye called the light of the body in two respects 740 F Face binding of it in secret what 590 Failings God overlooks them in his upright servants 178 Faith the only way of understanding the worlds creation 51. Faith is the eye of the soul 689. Only faith keeps down the prevailings of fear 756. All must be done in a two-fold faith 918. Faith and repentance must go together 943 Fault God will not charge any man beyond his fault 33 Favourites God shews favour to all good men yet some only are his favourites 891 Fear of two sorts 411. A due fear puts us upon the use of means for the â—reservation of our selves and others 412. Fear put for the thing feared 445. That which is not feared is usually derided 447. Fear what it is 733. Fear disturbs reason 755 756. The less natural fear the more perfection 777 Feasting moderate lawful 963. Seven cautions about it 663 Feathers goodly feathers the gift of God to birds 387. Three inferences from it 388. All birds are not of a feather 389 Folly sin is folly shewed four ways 906 907 Food God gives food to all creatures convenient to their nature 342 641 642. Forgetfulness we may be said to forget that which we never had as well as that which once we had 413 Forgiveness God is ready to forgive 882. We should be ready to forgive one another 887 888 Foundation of a building four Attributes of it 46. What the foundations of the earth are 47. Why the earth is said to have foundations 47. What the foundations of the earth are shewed further 52. A different word in the Hebrew signifying a foundation 68. Acclamations used at the laying of the foundation of great buildings 74 Freedom some creatures are free from others bound to service by Gods appointment 328. Inference from it 328. To be free from labour and service is but a low priviledge 329. To desire freedom from duty and service is very sinful 330. A mercy to be free from three yoakes or bonds 331. To be free to serve is better than to be free from service 332. To be forced is grievous 341 Friends their loss a great loss 957. In times of afflâ—ction worldly friends will leave us and godly friends may prove unkind to us 957. Two inferences from it 958. Friends should be friendly 961 Frost and Ice from God 228. Frost compared to ashes in three respects 228. The force of frost 229 230. A two-fold resemblance of frost and ice 231 232 Fruitfulness how the Wilderness will witness against unfruitful professors 215. What spiritual good fruits are 215 216 Fullness of two sorts 1028 G Garment natural what 725. Every creature hath some kind of garment or other 726. Christ and his graces the best garment 726 Gates of death what vid. death Gifts or endowments God gives not all to any one creature and why 421 Gifts or presents a duty to send them in some cases 973. Six sorts of gifts lawful a seventh utterly unlawful 973 Glory that which any creature eâ—cels in is his glory 440 567 569. Glory of God twofold 568 Goates the signification of the word both in the Hebrew and Latine 307. Seven things wherein wild goates resemble a godly man 308 309 God is present with his in troblous dispensations 20. The outward appearances of God very terrible when he intends nothing but mercy 20 21. God is the first being 49. God an eternal being 49. God is the fountain of all being 50. None like God 54. God the proprietor and possessor of all things Inferences from it 55. All creatures are at the command of God 262. Contendings with God See contending God hath terrible ways of revealing himself 530. God hath a mighty power 547. A three-fold gradation in expressing it 547 548. God is full of majesty beauty and glory 570. Inferences from it 571. 573. God terrible to sinners 690. No standing before God four ways 694 695. God is in no mans debt 698. God self-sufficient 700. All things are his by a four-fold title 705. The excellencies of God must not be concealed 722. God terrible 728 729 God is good at any work that is good 795. God is omnipotent 796. God hath right to do whatsoever he doth 799. Not a thought of