he opposeth Job stands as Defendant here his Freinds as Plaintifs therefore he endeavours to render their Charge weak and what they sayd sinnewlesse I have heard many such things as these Job doth not accuse his Freinds as giving out false and erroneous Doctrine for himselfe had heard and learned those things before but he accuseth them for bringing proofes which were not to the purpose or which were in sufficient to prove their purpose As if he sayd I expected when you would produce some stronger arguments to maintaine your opinion or clearer answers unto mine I waited for some new matter and to have heard somewhat that I had not heard before but you have deceived my expectation For I have heard many such things as these Hence Note First Some truths are of very common observation Who knoweth not such things as these Every Childe that hath been Catechised knowes them 'T is no disparagement to any truth that it hath been often heard and is commonly knowne The more common a truth is the more weighty it may be Yet Which gives us a second Observation Ordinary truths will not serve in extraordinary cases and that which every man knows and heares will not resolve us in those points which few men know or heare As Jobs Person was a Phaenix in the World his age afforded not his second There is none like him in the earth saith God himselfe to Satan Chap. 1.8 So Jobs condition was a Phaenix it had no second there was no man tryed like him in the whole earth and therefore his case eould not be measured by the common Standard or rule of Providence He had need heare that which was never heard before who beares and feeles that which was never borne nor felt before There are some temptations on afflictions as the Apostle speakes 1 Cor. 10.13 Which are common to man Common truths may comfort and satisfie the consciences of such But there are temptations such were Jobs which are not common to man we can hardly finde their paralell or a president of them in the Records of any Age Common truths will not comfort nor satisfie the consciences of such Every dispensation hath a doctrine suitable to it dispensations which are seldome seen call up doctrines which are seldome heard Secondly Job complaines that he heares onely those things which he had often heard Hence Observe It troubles a man in trouble to be often pressed with the same thing A man at ease is pained with unnecessary repetitions much more a man in paine and though they who like and love the things which they have heard doe both love and like to heare them often yet in some cases they may heare them too often Some indeed speak very prophanely what Job spake justly who when they would not put off submission to and attendance upon holy Doctrine say we know before we goe what he will say We know such things as the Preacher usually speaks what can he tell us that we have not heard before That 's the language of the prophane We know as much as he can teach us Though it be granted that a man knowes as much as the Preacher can tell him yet he ought to heare it againe Though the matter be knowne before yet to heare it often may work a better knowledge and leave a stronger impression upon the heart then ever 'T is profitable to write the same things therefore it cannot be unprofitable to heare them Phil. 3.1 Brethren to write the same things to me it is not greivous and to you it is profitable If to write then to speake the same things is profitable In the Story of the Acts of the Apostles when Paul had preached in the Synagogue the Jewes being gone the Gentiles besought him That those words might be preached the next Sabbath Acts 13.42 The repeating and inculcating the same thing is not alwayes blameable and it is sometimes desireable but when a man is under sore afflictions and temptations when he is burthened with many sorrows it is very greivous to have those things that have been often answered or assented to againe objected or asserted A weake stomack must have variety and change to entice the appetite and so must a troubled and distempered spirit I have heard many such things And hereupon he infers Miserable comforters are yee As if he had sayd This is a miserable way of comforting alway to be beating upon and inculcating the same thing Job calls his Freinds Physitians of no value Chap. 13.4 Here he expounds himselfe while he calls them Miserable comforters He is a Physitian of no value who in stead of curing increaseth the disease and he is a miserable comforter who in stead of abating our sorrow adds to it and heightens it Miserable comforters are yee It seems the Freinds of Job at least to his sense had forgotten the designe they proposed to themselves when they first undertook this visit Chap. 2.11 They made an appointment together to come and mourne with him and to comfort him That was the intendment of Jobs Freinds at their fiâ—st addresses Yet after so long a conference he makes this report Miserable comforters are yee yee rather vex then heale any soare you my Freinds have troubled me more then my wounds you have wounded my spirit more then Satan did my flesh Consolatores malorum i. e. malos potestâ—s consolari August Miserable comforters are yee One of the Ancients renders the words thus Yee are comforters of evill men or possibly you may comfort evill men but you cannot comfort me As that which is one mans meat is another mans poyson so that which is one mans comfort is another mans sorrow All good men cannot take in their comforts the same way but the way of comforting good and evill men differ as much as good and evill The words of flattery and falsehood will serve to comfort the one no words will comfort the other but those of sincerity and truth I dare not conceive Jobs Freinds such as would sow Pillows under the elbowes of evill men yet surely they put hard Stones under the sore and aking armes of this good man Consolatores Onerosi Vulg. The Vulgar translation speakes thus Yee are burden some comforters A comforter should take off burdens sorrow is a burden As the judgements that God threatned upon the Jewes and other Nations are represented in the Prophets under the name of burthens The burthen of Judah the burthen of Israel the burthen of Moab the burthen of Babylon the burthen of Idumea So any affliction upon a person is his burthen and the businesse of those who come to comfort a soule in affliction should be to take off his burthen at least to lighten it Jobs Freinds did indeed binde the burthen faster upon his spirit and therefore he might well call them Burthensome comforters False hearts count all truth a burthen The Land saith Amaziah is not able to beare his words Amos 7.10 yet his were
account as idle Now if unprofitable talke be sinfull and speeches that can doe no good then what is prophane talke and speeches which doe hurt infection gets quickly in at the eare defiling the minde and corrupting the manners of those that heare them The Apostle gives us the rule of speaking both in the negative and in the affirmative Ephes 4.29 Let no corrupt communications proceed out of your mouths but that which is good to the use of edifying which may administer grace to the hearer Againe Colos 4.6 Let your speeches be alwaies with grace that is such as testifieth that there is grace in your heart never speake a word but such as may stand with grace yea speake such words as may be a witnesse of grace wrought in your selves and a meanes of working grace in others Let your words be seasoned with salt the salt of our words is holinesse and truth prudence also is the salt of words good words and true spoken unseasonably may doe hurt Prudence teaches us the time when and the manner how to answer every man Belial ex 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod in hiphil significat prodesse ut denotet inutilem qui nec sibi nec alijs prodest Thirdly observe It is matter of just reproofe against every man to be unprofitable and to doe no good Every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewen downe and cast into the fire Matth. 3.10 Some conceive that the word Belial comes from Beli which in Hebrew signifies Not and the word Jagnal which here in the Text signifies to doe good Because a Belialist or a Son of Belial is such a one as neither doth good to himselfe nor to any other The unprofitable Servant who hid and did not improve his Talent shall be condemned And he who uses his talent unprofitably and vainely shall not escape Should he reason with unprofitable talke Thus farre we have seen Eliphaz reproving Job of folly in speaking unlike and below a wise man he proceeds to reprove him for acting unlike and below a godly man This he sets home with a particle of aggravation Vers 4. Yea thou castest off feare and restrainest Prayer before God As if he had said besides or above all this that thou hast uttered vaine knowledge words that cannot profit thou hast also cast off the feare of God c. The word which we translate to cast off signifies to make voyd to scatter to dissolve 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Labefactasti irritum fecisti dissolvisti fregisti to break in peices to make as nothing or to make nothing of It is often used in Scripture for breaking the Commandements of God imploying such a breach as makes the Commandements voyd which is the proper character of an evill heart A godly man may sin against the Commandements but a wicked man would sinne away the Commandements he would repeale the Law of God and enact his owne lusts Such is the force of the word here Thou castest off feare There is a naturall feare and a spirituall feare we are not to understand this Text of a naturall feare which is a trouble of spirit arising upon the apprehension of some approaching evill but of a spirituall Feare is here put alone but we are to take it with its best adjunct the feare of God for as the word sometimes is put alone to signifie the word of God as if there were no word but his and as the word Commandements is put alone to note the Commandements of God as if no Commandements deserved the name but onely the Commandements of God so feare is put alone by way of excellency for the feare of God as importing that his feare is excellent and no feare to be desired but his This Divine feare comes under a double notion First it is taken for the holy awe or reverence we beare to God in our spirits which is the worship of the first Commandement and the sanctifying of God in our hearts Secondly For the outward acts of Religion which is the worship of the second Commandement Their feare is taught by the precepts of men Isa 29.13 that is their outward worship and Religion is such as men have invented not such as God hath appointed Some take it here in the first sense onely thou castest off feare that is thou castest off that awe reverence and regard thou owest to the Name of God others understand it in the second Thou castest off feare that is the outward worship and service of God but I conceive we have that expressed in the next clause Timor hoc loco pro reverentia tremore potius quam pro religione cultu licet utrumque cohaereat Pined And restrainest prayer before God there he taxeth him with neglect of outward worship and here with neglect of inward Thou casteth off feare feare is as the bridle of the soule feare holds us in compasse it is the bank to the Sea feare keeps in the overflowing of sinne Thou casteth off feare But what cause had Job given Eliphaz to charge him with casting off the feare of the Lord we finde Eliphaz touching upon this point before and upbraiding Job Chap. 4.6 Is this thy feare Nullo pudore loquutus es coram Deo Symmach Is this thy confidence As if he had sayd Is all thy profession come to this here he chargeth him expresly thou hast cast off feare Job had not given him any just cause to speak or thinke thus hardly of him but Eliphaz might possibly ground this accusation upon those words Chap. 9. v. 23. This is one thing therefore I sayd it he destroyeth the perfect and the wicked c. Which Eliphaz did interpret as a casting off the feare of God hath he awfull and reverent thoughts of God who affirmeth that God laugheth at the afflictions and tryals of his people Againe Chap. 12.6 The Tabernacles of Robbers prosper and they that provoke God are secure into whose hands God bringeth abundantly Hath not this man cast off all feare of God who dares say the wicked prosper and are secure Is God become a freind to those that professe themselves enemies to him Others referre the ground of this to Chap. 13.21 22. where he seemes to speake boldly and as some have taxed him impudently Doe not two things to me withdraw thy hand from me c. Then call thou and I will answer or let me speake and answer thou me Hence Eliphaz concludes surely the man hath cast off the feare of God he speaks to God as if he were Gods fellow Speake thou and I will answer or let me speake and answer thou me are these words becomming the great God of Heaven and Earth art not thou growne over bold with God doest thou speake as becomes the distance that is betweene the Creator and the Creature the Greek translates to this sense Thou speakest to God without any modesty thou hast put on a brasen
freind possibly hath the comfort in his hand which we need and he may be willing to give it out unto us but he knowes not wherein we are pinched God tells Moses I have seen I have seen the afflictions of my people in Aegypt And as he knows how it is with us so we are ever within his reach he can lay his hand upon every joynt where wee are pained and put a Plaster upon every wound here is our happinesse Christ would take off his people from extraordinary cares about the things of the World by this argument Your Father knowes that ye have need of these things Matth. 6.32 your Father who carryes the purse knowes your want Fourthly Consider his Omnipotence he is able to comfort he can command yea create comforts he can bring his comforts through an army of sorrowes to a poore soule yea he can leade comfort through an Army of Devils and temptatioâ—s to a poore soule he is Almighty there is nothing too hard for him to doe nor is he hard to be entreated to doe that which gives ease unto his people Secondly Observe Consolations rightly administred by men are the consolations of God While man speakes God commands Comfort ye comfort ye my people speake comfortably to Jerusalem tell her that her warfare is accomplished and her sin pardoned Isa 40.1 As all the counsells reproofes and Doctrines which the Ministers of Christ dispense according to the forme of wholesome words delivered either in the Law or Gospel are the counsels instructions reproofs and Doctrins of God so also are their consolations And that 's the reason why God takes it so ill at the hands of men when his Messengers who bring either instruction or consolation are refused because himselfe is refused when they are and his consolations are disesteemed when theirs are Thirdly Observe To account the consolations of God small is a very great sinne Moses rebukes rebellious Korah and his confederates for undervaluing the priviledge which they as Levites had to be neer God in holy Services Numb 16.9 Seemeth it a small thing unto you that the God of Israel hath separated you from the Congregation of Israel to bring you neere to himselfe to doe the service of the Tabernacle c. If it were their sin to count it a small thing to be called neer to God in holy administrations how great a sin is it in any man to count it a small thing that God draws neer to him with heavenly consolations Though the consolations of God to us be small comparatively to what some others have yet we must not account any consolation of God small and that upon two grounds First because of our owne unworthinesse the least consolations are great considering how little we are as Jacob speaks Gen. 32.10 I am not worthy the least of all thy mercies Hee thought little mercies too big for him because he was little in his owne eyes They who have great yea any thoughts of their owne merits lessen the mercies of God but hee who sees he deserves nothing but ill sees abundance of mercy in the smallest good Secondly Smallest consolations are very great because they proceed from a great God As no sin is small though comparatively to another sin it may be small because it is committed against the great God so no consolation is small because it comes from the great God God puts an impresse of his owne greatnesse upon the least things that are done or given by him though he give but a peny yet it hath the image and superscription of him our infinite and eternall Caesar therefore see you slight it not As a good heart is carefull to performe the least duty and to avoyd the least sin or as a good heart calls no duty little which God enjoynes nor sin little which God forbids so a good heart is thankfull for the least mercy and calls no consolation small which God the great God sends Fourthly Observe That great afflictions take away the sense of tendered mercies Consolations for the matter were offered unto Job but his palate was so distempered with the gall and wormewood of his afflictions that he could not taste them Phineas his Wife regarded not the joyfull newes that shee had brought forth a Man Child while she was overwhelmed with sorrow that the Arke of God was taken While the Israelites were under hard Taske-Masters in Aegypt they could not attend to the voice of Moses and Aaron who told them of deliverance their troubles and burdens wert so heavy that they looked upon Moses as a trouble or as a burden when hee came to mediate their release And as the Idolatrous Israelites who sacrificed their Children to Moloch beat up Drumms and used loud-sounding-Instruments to drowne the cry of the poore Children that they might not be heard so some afflictions cry so loud and many cry so loud in their afflictions that they drowne the sweet melody and musick of those consolations that are sounded in their eares Great complaints render great consolations small Job was not without some blame in this for though his patience was great yet had it beene greater he might have missed this reproofe from his Friends Are the consolations of God small to thee And is there any secret thing with thee The meaning appeares thus Et verbum latens tecum Heb. Are the consolations of God which we have offered small unto thee because thou hast some secret hidden thing in thy breast This secret thing is opened three wayes First in reference to comfort as if he had said Hast thou some secret comfort besides what we have offered hast thou consolations of thy owne which cause thee to neglect the consolations of God As in the Gospell when the Disciples prayed Christ to eate he told them I have meat to eate that ye know not of John 4.31 32. Christ had secret bread Est ne apud te divinum aliquid recenditum in mente tua prae quo nostras consolationes Divinas contemnis Merc. Istae quas ab ipso Deo acceptas a ferrimus consolationes leviores sunt quam ut eas probare posses nimirum quod apud te quidpiam magis reconditum delitescat Bez. Aut aliquid abscondit eas apud te Jun. i. e. Ita perstringit oculos animi tui ut illas non percipias quai res involucris tectas Jun. Verba tua prava hoc prohibent Vulg. Apud te potius est incantatio mendacium etsi prae te veritatem seras Rab. Abr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Occulium malum incantationem vel mendacium denotat his work was his food My meat is to doe the will of him that sent me So here What hast thou meate which we know not of Some hidden Manna beyond what wee have told thee of that thou carest not for our provisions Secondly others give the meaning thus Hast thou some secret conceit of thy owne wisedome above ours Or is there some unknowne
words of truth and tended to peace Some truths may be burthensome at some times to a good heart Hard words are alwayes burthensome Job had store of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Consolatores laboris aut molestiae Heb. The letter of the Hebrew gives the sense thus Yee are comforters of trouble that is troublesome comforters As if he had sayd Yee doe not comfort me in my troubles but yee trouble me with your comforts Yee are comforters made up of trouble that 's the predominant Element which denominates your complexion and constitution yee are so troublesome that you seeme to be nothing but trouble Our rendering in the concrete is cleare to Jobs scope Miserable comforters are yee all Hence Observe Some while they goe about to act the part of comforters doe but add to their sorrow whom they pretend to comfort and in stead of comforters prove tormenters But when doth a man deserve this title A miserable comforter That which caused Job to charge his Freinds with this miscarriage of their paines with him will resolve the question and tell us when First They gave him little hope of good or they did not open to him a doone of hope wide enough 't is true they made some overtures that way which yet comparatively to what they ought were scarce considerable And Eliphaz who had been somewhat large upon the point in his first congresse with Job speakes nothing of it in his last For as if he thought his case desperate and had given him for a lost man he shuts up in the darke as we see in the close of the former Chapter where he thunders out the judgements of God upon Hypocrites and Bribe-takers without so much as one word of comfort to the penitent This is to be a Miserable comforter The song of comforters should at least be mixt like that of David to the Lord of mercy and of judgement Psal 101.1 A song of judgement alone or most of judgement to a heavy heart may be called like that of Jeremie A Lamentation but it is not a Consolation Secondly They as was toucht before tyred out his afflicted soule with tedious discourses and unpleasing repetitions they alwayes harped upon the same string and that makes no musicke to a disconsolate soule As God complaines of those prayers as unpleasing which are full of unnecessary repetitions so also those counsels are unpleasing to man which are made up of needlesse repetitions To presse the same point though true oft and oft is a wearinesse to the spirit and because it suggests this suspition that the hearer doth oppose or resist that truth it proves an upbraiding rather then a teaching or a comforting Comfort must be stolne in unawares by a holy sleight of hand it must not be beaten in with beetles as it were by force of hand Solomon tels us Prov. 25.12 As an earering of Gold Subrepere debet consolatio fucum facere affectibus Sen. and an ornament of fine Gold so is a wise reprover upon an obedient eare What he speakes of a reprover is as true of a comforter and he onely is fit to be a reprover who is skil'd or knowes how to be a comforter Hee that will open or launce a soare had need be acquainted with the meanes of healing it The spirit of God who is the Reprover John 16.8 is also the Comforter John 14.26 We may therefore take up Solomons Proverbe here As an earering of Gold and an ornament of fine Gold so is a wise comforter upon an obedient eare They who hang Jewels in their eares as it was the custome of those times and is to this day take that which is of great price and value yet of little weight No man hangs a Talent or a great lump of Gold in his eare Gold is precious but much Gold is ponderous and burdens rather then adornes the eare the bulke of it is more combersome then the beauty of it is conspicuous Esto correptio non levis pretii sed levis pâ—ndeâ—is So comfort which is the most pleasant Jewell of the eare should be pure and precious as the Gold of Ophir but yet it must be like an earering which though it be not light in regard of worth yet it is light in regard of weight We must not load but guide a man with counsell nor must we burden him with many but ease him with pertinent words of comfort Thirdly That which rendered them yet more miserable Comforters was their unkinde grating upon that string of his sinfulnesse and studyed hypocrisie Job acknowledged himselfe a sinner and that he could not be justified in the sight of God by any righteousnesse of his owne yet still his freinds were unsatisfied about his sincerity and still they presented him with suspicions of secret wickednesse as the cause of all his sufferings still they told him of the sad fate of Tyrants of Oppressours of unjust Judges of unsound and false-hearted Worshippers and though they did not apply these Parables personally to Job yet the generall discourse sounded as if they had sayd Thou art the man Now as the Apostle speaks concerning death 1 Cor. 15.56 so we may say concerning any affliction The sting of affliction is sin the sting of sicknesse the sting of poverty the sting of disgrace is sin when the least trouble is armed with sin the strongest tremble at the sight of it A godly man can easier beare the weight of all afflictions then the weight and burthen of one sin so long as he sees all cleare between God and his owne soule so long as he can looke up to God as having his sin pardoned and can approve his heart to God that he lives not in any knowne sin in this case though the Lord lay the heaviest burthen of affliction upon him he can goe lightly under it The spirit of a man will beare all these infirmities but if his spirit be wounded either with the guilt of sin or with the feare of the wrath of God how can hee beare it This afflicts more then all other afflictions This was it which caused Job to cry out Miserable comforters His Freinds ever upbraiding him with his sin his sin his sin as the root and therefore as the sting of all his troubles They applyed nothing but these corrasives to his wounded soule which called alowd for the balme of Gilead There are two sorts of miserable comforters First They who flatter the soule that lives in sin Secondly They who embitter and burden their soules who being under burdens of sorrow are also in bitternesse for their sin Some sow Pillowes under the elbowes of those who delight in sin and dawbe them up with untempered morter others thrust Swords and shoot arrowes into the bowels of those who mourne for sin and in stead of bringing well-tempered morter to binde and cement their soules lay hard stones under them which vex and gaul their soules Both are Miserable comforters They who
Eloquar an sileam Quid agam si locutus fuero c. Vulg. and therefore trembles out his Preface in such vvords as these Shall I speake or shall I be silent Shall I open my lips or shall I forbeare Jobs paine received no check vvhich way soever of these he tooke and therefore it seemed vaine to attempt either Though I speake That is If I stand up in my just defence to answer and take away your objections yet my greife is not answered Nunc eo res redierunt ut quo me vertam nesciam aut quid agam nam nec loquendo nec tacendo quicquam proficio Merc. that is as busie with me and as talkative as ever it was yea then you object my impatience under sufferings as an argument of my sin And though I forbeare That is If I byte in my paine and speake not if I stand mute as attentive to heare you speake yet my sorrow moves not yea then you judge my silence an argument of my secret guilt and that all is true which you have sayd against me because I say nothing for my selfe Thus What am I eased sayth the Text in our translation The Hebrew saith What goeth from me That is What of my paine what of my sorrow goeth away from me when I cease or forbeare to speake So that The generall sense of this Verse is to shew that his troubles were past hope of redresse they found no cure none by speech none by silence Griefe is sometimes eased by speaking sometimes by silence eyther our owne or others To say nothing is a medicine for some mens sorrow the sorrow of others cannot be medicin'd but by saying much A playster of words hath cured many a wound and the more words have been used the more some wounds have festered and the anguish of them hath increased Hence Observe There is no meanes of remedy left for that evill which is not remedyed by the use and tryall of contrary meanes If neyther speech nor silence ease a mans minde what can We finde such a kinde of arguing though in a different case used by Christ Matth. 11.16 17. Where when hee would shew how impossible or at least how extreamely difficult it was to please the Jewes they vvere a humourous people and let a man put himselfe in what posture he would they would finde some fault or have somwhat to object against him Wherunto saith Christ shall I liken this generation they vvere so untoward that Christ speakes as if he vvere straitned how to finde out a fit comparison for them or could scarse tell to vvhat they vvere like yet he tells us They are like unto Children sitting in the Markets and calling to their fellows saying Wee have piped and yee have not danced we have mourned to you and yee have not lamented When a man vvill neyther mourne vvith us nor rejoyce vvith us vvhat shall we doe vvith him How shall vve please him For vvhat company is he fit That such vvas the tendency of this similitude appeares plainely in the application vvhich Christ makes Vers 18. For John came neither eating nor drinking and they say he hath a Devill They did not like the mournefull austere course of John The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they sayd Behold a man gluttonous and a Wine-bibber a freind of Publicans and Sinners They did not like the free converse of Christ When a people are of this spirit or at this lock that neither a man vvho is affable and courteous ready both to receive and give civilities is welcome to them nor yet he who is austere and reserved close and strict in his way can give them any content who or what can content them When neyther piping nor mouring when neither dauncing nor sorrowing takes with us what can When we would describe a person whose troublesomenesse of spirit seemes unanswerable we say of him He is quiet neither full nor fasting that is he is never quiet or nothing can make him quiet Abraham saith to his Nephew Lot Gen. 13.8 9. Let there be no strife I pray thee betweene me and thee and betweene thy Herd-men and my Herd-men for we are brethren c. If thou wilt take the left hand then I will goe to the right or if thou depart to the right hand then I will goe to the left Now as it is an argument of the sweetest spirit and fayrest disposition when a man is ready to take eyther hand rather then breake the peace so it argues the sowrest spirit and most untractable disposition when a man will neyther goe to the right hand nor to the left when he will neither move forward nor backward when he will neither give nor take neyther buy nor sell there is no dealing with such a man for he wavâ—s all the wayes of dealing Thus also we conclude a people incorrigible who continue in their sins whether God smite or heale whether he deliver them from or deliver them up into the hand of judgements because these are the utmost bounds or the extreames of all those providentiall dispensations which God useth at any time to turne a people from their sin Againe Wee say they are unperswadeable whâ—m neyther faire meanes nor foule can reduce speake them faire they are naught speake them foule they are naught still promise them good they remaine evill threaten them with evill they will not be good You may carry it out in all experiments wheresoever you finde an evill frame of minde or body or of affaires which mends not or doth not alter for the better by the application of the other contrary when the former hath been applyed without successe you may write under it as to humane helpes This is a desperate case a distemper incurable Yet further Job in these words reflects upon his Freinds as if he had sayd Some men by complaining and opening their soares to those who visit them in their affliction finde their Freinds releeving them presently with sound counsell and powring the oyle of consolation into their wounded spirits but alasse it is not so with me for whether I speake or hold my peace it is all one yee are all against me and are neither perswaded by my speech nor by my silence to apply proper remedies for the asswaging of my griefe or the easing of my paines Hence Note It is the duty and should be the care of those who visit Freinds in affliction to pick somewhat out of what they say or at least to take occasion from their silence to administer consolation to their grieved mindes When the Servants of Benhadad came to Ahab to sue for their Masters life the Text saith 1 Kings 20.33 The men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him that is whether any word of hope would come from Ahab and they did hastily catch it And Ahab had no sooner sayd He is my Brother but they catcht at this as a word of comfort they had what
they lookt for and sayd Thy Brother Benhadad If thou ownest him as a Brother surely thou wilt not use him as an Enemy There is to the point in hand a holy cunning in catching up words which drop from the lips of men in affliction and 't is our wisedome to make improvement of them As for instance There was an ancient Professor as I have been informed in much distresse of conscience even to despaire he complaining bitterly of his miserable condition to a Freind let this word fall That which troubles me most is that God will be dishonoured by my fall This word was hastily catcht at and turned upon him to the asswaging of his griefe Art thou carefull of the honour of God and doest thou thinke God hath no care of thee and of thy salvation A soule for saken of God regards not what becomes of the honour of God Therefore be of good cheere if Gods heart were not towards thee thine could not be towards God or towards the remembrance of his name Thus words should be watcht yea and silence should be watcht for advantages to ease a distressed soule Lastly These words may referr to God as if Job had said Whether I speake or whether I forbeare God doth not come in to my helpe I finde no comfort from him he puts no stop to my paine nor doth he asswage the floods of griefe which are ready to swallow me up He gives me no ease at my complaining cryes nor doth he give me any at my patient silence The next Verse seemes most sutable to this exposition where Job applyes himselfe to God shewing what hee did to him both while he spake and while he held his peace he wearyed him still and left him in a wearyed condition Vers 7. But now he hath made me weary thou hast made desolate all my company We may see in this context that the spirit of Job vvas much troubled by the troublednesse of his speech At this seventh Verse he speakes in the third Person He hath made me weary and before he gets to the end of it he speakes in the second Person Thou hast made desolate In the eighth Verse Thou hast filled me with wrinkles In the ninth Verse He teareth me in his wrath The tenth Verse is Plurall They have gaped upon me Strange kinde of Grammar sometimes in the third Person sometimes in the second sometimes in the Singular sometimes in the Plurall number His minde was uneven or unsetled and so was his discourse We must not play the Criticks with the words of men in paine nor submit their sentences to a Deske of Grammarians Broken language and incongruities of speech doe well enough become broken hearts and wounded spirits God will not call his Schollers in the Schoole of affliction to the Ferula for such faults or false Latine falling from their mouthes either in prayer or conferences while their hearts are true and the language of their spirits pure But now he hath made me weary But Now Now is not here a Particle of time onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a specification of the season noting that then God eyther began or still continued to make him weary but it carryes also a strong asseveration or the certainety of the thing as in that promissory exhortation Hag. 2.4 Yet now be strong O Zerubbabell saith the Lord and be strong O Joshua Though you see things yet below expectation though this be a day of small things yet take heart and encourage your selves to carry on this reforming worke Yet now be strong even now when so many things might weaken both your hearts and hands and be yee assured that I will not reject your confidence but vvill cause you to prosper in it Nunc in principio dictionis quandam cordis dulcedinem connotare solet Bold And in promises besides the certainety of the thing promised and the speedy fulfilling of them it intimates much sweetnesse of affection in him that makes the promise On the contrary in threatnings and comminations besides the certainety and speed of them it notes the sharpnesse and severity of his spirit who gives those threats So Isa 5.5 And now goe to I will tell you what I will doe to my Vineyard Now goe too is chiding cheare As if the Lord had thus rated them What Have you served mee thus as sure as I formerly planted and hedged this Vineyard so surely will I now pull downe the hedge and root it up In this fulnesse of sense take it here But now he hath made me weary certainly or of a truth he hath I was once sweetly and strongly hedged about with mercy But now hee hath made mee weary and desolate He hath made me weary He is not expressed in the Hebrew and therefore there is a doubt who is meant by this He. Nunc autem oppressit me dolor meus Vulg. Some understand it of his griefe and sorrow and read it thus But now it hath made me weary my paine hath tyred me Secondly Others understand it of vvhat had been spoken by his Freinds your tedious discourses and severer censures have quite spent my spirits and made me weary Our translation leads us to a person and our Interpretation leads us to God He that is God hath made mee weary Job every where acknowledgeth that God vvas the Author and Orderer of all his sorrows Now he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non solum fatigationem denotat sed fastidium molestissimum tum animi tum corporis Hath made me weary Or He hath wearyed me it is but one word and it signifies not an ordinary wearinesse not such a wearinesse as comes upon us after a turne or two in the Feilds A man who walkes into the ayre to refresh himselfe may come home weary but it notes such wearinesse as vvee feele after long and tedious travell or after a hard journey yea it notes not onely wearinesse of body but the wearinesse of the minde It is possible for a man to weary his body and yet his minde remaine unmoved bare outward action stirres not the minde To ride to run to digg or thresh weary the body not the minde but those workes which with action have contention in them as to argue and dispute doe at once exercise and weary both minde and body The vvearinesse of the minde is the most painefull wearinesse Jobs wearinesse takes in both thou hast vvearied my body and vvearied my minde too I am full of soares vvithout and of sorrow within And such was that wearinesse spoken of by the Prophet Isa 47.13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels that is In going long journeys to aske counsell of thy adored wise men or Wizzards rather of Southsayers and Diviners In this pursuit thou hast laboured thy body and vexed thy soule but profited neither After all thy travels vvhat hast thou brought home but wearinesse Tyred flesh and a tyred spirit is all the fruit of our
God as he hath done by the Preaching of the Gospel turnes men from Idols to serve and worship him the living God then he famisheth those Gods When Idols lose their esteeme their leannesse riseth up and they goe downe Thus also it is with man his leannesse may be said to rise when his credit fals Further There is a twofold leannesse First Of the soule or inward man Secondly Of the body or outward man When the Jewes lusted in the Wildernesse and called for flesh to satisfie the flesh God saith the Text Psal 106.15 gave them their request but sent leannesse into their soule The soule in a proper sense is neither fat nor leane and therefore the soule in this place of the Psalme must be taken improperly or else the leannesse of it must The soule is put improperly for the body or for the whole man and so he sent leannesse into their soules is the curse of God caused them to pine secretly or he slew the fattest of them openly and smote downe the chosen men in Israel So this leannesse is expounded Psal 78.31 as if he had sayd God made them a thin and a leane company before he had done with them Yet besides this I conceive the Text doth intend some spirituall judgement and then the soule is taken in a proper sense but leannesse in an improper sense and so he sent leannesse into their soules is while they inordinately desired meat for their bodies God withheld the ordinary food of their soules He did not administer his grace and holy spirit which are the fatners of the soule while they were thus hungry after dainties for the flesh Jobs Freinds thought him a leane soule but he here confesses the leannesse of his body and in that his continuall sorrow the cause of it So the Prophet cryes out My leannesse my leannesse woe unto me Isa 24.16 My leannesse rising up Fatnesse riseth up and not leannesse when a man growes leane his flesh fals and abates skin and bone stick together Why then doth hee say My leannesse riseth up Though when a man is leane his flesh falls yet his bones rise A fat mans bones are as it were buried in flesh you can scase feele his ribs but when he growes leane his bones stick out and rise up That is the meaning here my leannesse rising up Maciei videtur dare personam ut paulo ante rugis Job ascribes a rationall act both to his wrinkles and to his leannesse as if both did speak and which is more give evidence concerning him he brings them forth as witnesses at the barr this speakes and that speakes he doubles it My wrinkles witnesse against me and my leannesse rising up witnesseth to my face When a witnesse is to give in his evidence in any cause before a Judge he riseth up or standeth forth that all may see him Job presents his leannesse in the proper posture of a witnesse rising up The Originall varies somewhat in the latter clause from the former we render both by vvitnessing but vve may read it thus Thou hast filled me with wrinkles that hath been or is a witnesse or as Master Broughton reads a proofe my leannesse rising up or vvhich riseth up against me answers or speaketh to my face The meaning is These outward evils are evidence enough to my Freinds that God is angry with me and that I am wicked against God Job grants that those wrinkles and this leannesse vvere witnesses of his afflictions he never questioned their testimony as to that point neither indeed could he Jonadab sayd to Amnon Why art thou being the Kings Son leane or thin from day to day wilt thou not tell me 2 Sam. 13.4 His leannesse told his Freind plaine enough that all was not vvell he read that in his face onely hee could not read the particular illnesse there Magnum certè peccatum quod tantum in florente illa aetate deformitatem senilem speciem induxit Putant tantas afflictiones testes esse magnae culpae irae Dei. Coc. If vve see a young man especially the Son of a Great man or of a King who is waited upon with all worldly delights vvrinkled and leane is it not a witnesse that he hath been sick or is overwhelmed vvith sorrow these testifie to his face he cannot conceale it But Jobs Freinds said these were vvitnesses of his sin they produced the wrinkles of his body as a vvitnesse of his vvrinkled soule and the leannesse of his outward man as an argument of his inward leannesse they sayd these testified plainely that he was not onely a great sinner but an Hypocrite And thus they argued all along this vvas their constant plea Job must needs be according to this opinion a man of an evill life because his life was filled with evills Thou hast filled mee with wrinkles which is a witnesse against me c. Hence Observe First Great afflictions leave their marks behinde them Little afflictions leave no wrinkles no leannesse behinde them vve recover out of them and nothing appeares of them as it is in sinning some sins leave no mark such are our daily infirmities and common failings but there are other sins which leave a mark behinde them you cannot get them off suddenly it may be you cannot claw off the marks of some sins as long as you live though the sin be fully pardoned yet the mark the vvrinkle the leannesse of it may remaine to your dying day David being defiled with adultery and murder prayes Cause the bones which thou hast broken to rejoyce Those two vvere such sins as broke his very bones they vvere to his soule as the breaking of a bone is to the body If a man break a bone though it be vvell Set yet it leaves a mark David carryed the skarr of those sins to his Grave Though God had forgiven those sins and did not remember them to impute them to David yet when God had occasion to speake of David to his highest commendation he could not forbeare the mention of those sins 1 Kings 15.5 David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the dayes of his life save onely in the matter of Vriah The vvrinkle or staine of that sin stuck upon Davids reputation when the guilt of it vvas quite removed and vvashed off from his person 'T is so with afflictions some afflictions leave no mark others goe deep Though all afflictions are light comparatively to the weight of glory as the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 4.17 For our light affliction which is but for a moment workes for us a farr more exceeding and eternall weight of glory Yet afflictions being compared among themselves some are light and some are heavy As a Cart that is heavy laden cuts deep into the earth and tells you where it hath gone so doth the vvheele of a heavy affliction drawne over body soule or state Secondly
Observe which is the naturall theologie of the Text. Wrinkles and leannesse in youth or strength of age are an argument of extraordinary sorrow Thirdly Take the words according to the sense of Jobs freinds which Job also hints as meeting with their objection They witnesse against me that is You use them you bring them as witnesses against me Then Note Great afflictions are looked on as proofes or witnesses of great sins We no sooner heare of or see a man under great afflictions but our first thought is surely he hath committed some great sin This is almost every mans suspicion but it is an ill grounded suspicion This point was spoken to Chap. 10.17 where Job tels the Lord Thou hast renewed thy witnesses against me c. There 't was shewed how afflictions are brought in by God and man as a vvitnesse and this was the greatest evidence and upon the matter all the evidence which the Freinds of Job brought against him his wrinkles and his leannesse I shall here onely add this caution Take heed of passing judgement upon the evidence of such vvitnesses as these wrinkles and leannesse for though every vvrinkle vvitnesse that a man is a sinner were it not for sin we should have remained ever in our body and outward condition as Beleevers shall be restored by Christ without a wrinkle yet they are not vvitnesses that a man is wicked I may say two things of these vvitnesses First They are alwayes doubtfull witnesses Secondly For the most part they are false witnesses It is a very questionable and uncertaine evidence which afflictions give against us For no man knowes love or hatred by all that is before him We can but guesse at the best by vvhat they say Rugae meae testimonium dicunt contra me suscitatur falsiloquus adversus faciem meam contradicens mihi Vulg. But usually they beare false witnesse against the innocent so they did against Job they witnessed that of him to his Freinds which was not right Therefore the Vulgar translates the latter branch though not well to the letter of the Originall yet well as to the sense A falâ—e witnesse is risen up against my face contradicting me that is Opposing or weakning all that I have said concerning my owne innocence Yea if we make affliction a witnesse we may rather make it a witnesse of sincerity and of grace a marke of adoption and sonship a mark of divine Favour and Fatherly love then of mans wickednesse or of Gods rejection and disfavour The word is cleere and expresse for this Heb. 12.6 7 8. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every Son whom he receiveth c. But if yee be without chastisement whereof all are partakers then are yee Bastards and not Sons So then our wrinkles and our leannesse may upon Scripture warrant be brought as witnesses for us but we have no warrant to conclude upon their witnesse either against our selves or others But it seemes Job had a higher witnesse against him if such witnesses might be allowed then a wrinkled skin or a leane face Behold now his torne flesh and his limbs rent in sunder as if not onely like Daniel he had been cast into a Lyons Den but as if which Daniel did not he had felt the worst of the Lyons teeth and pawes Vers 9. He teareth me in his wrath who hateth me he gnasheth upon me with his teeth mine enemy sharpeneth his eye upon me Strange language He teareth me in his wrath who hateth me Job gives us a description of the Lords dealing with him in allusion to the fury of wilde Beasts Lyons Tygers and Bears who gnash their teeth and sparkle with their eyes when they either fight one with another or fall upon their prey He teareth me in his wrath who hateth me 'T is doubted whom Job meaneth by this Tearer Some judge this Title applicable onely to the Devill and interpret Job speaking of him the Devill hateth me He teareth me in his wrath Job was delivered into the hand of the Devill Chap. 2. And this is the courtship of Hell He teareth Secondly Others understand it of his extreame paine and torturing disease that tore him like a savage Beast A third expounds it of his Freinds as if he compared them to wilde Beasts who in stead of comforting his spirit did upon the matter teare his flesh between their teeth Fourthly 'T is conceived he meanes those vaine ones of whom hee speakes Chap. 19. that came about him and troubled him But fifthly and most generally this Text is interpreted of God himselfe He teareth me in his wrath who hateth me For though Job speaks here distractedly discovering rather his griefe then his enemy or as a man wounded and smitten in the darke Ejusmodi querimoniae in neminem certo jactatae afflicti hominis propriae sunt he perceives he hath an enemy he feeles the smart and beares the blowes but he is not able to see who hurts him yet in this confusion of language his heart was still upon God who ordered and disposed all those armies of sorrow which assaulted him on every side He teareth me in his wrath The Hebrew word Taraph is neer in sound to our English Teare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ferarum praedam rapientium lacerantium proprium est and it signifieth to teare as a Lyon his prey Gen. 49.9 Judah is a Lyons whelpe from the prey my Son thou art gone up The same word in the Verbe notes Tearing and in the Nowne a prey because the prey is torne by the teeth or clawes of the Lyon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Est totis viribus adversari idem cum Satan unde Satanas dictus Ira sua rapit quasi odio intestino prosequatur me Jun. He teareth mee in his wrath Wilde Beasts teare not so much from wrath as for hunger they teare out of a desire to fill themselves rather then out of malice to destroy others But Job saith He teareth me in his wrath who hateth me The word signifies not an ordinary but an inward hatred and with the change of a letter it is the same by which the Devill is expressed Satan an adversary or the adversary so called because of his extreame hatred against mankinde yea against Christ himselfe Job speakes of God as if he bare such a hatred against him as Satan doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Frenduit dentibus est invidentium irascentium irridentium habitus Loquitur ad similitudinem bestiae quae homini comminando dentes contra ipsum parat Aquin. an inward perfect hatred Thus some translate He prosecutes me with inward hatred A hard expression of God Doth he teare a harmelesse soule and teare him in wrath Yet this is not all to make up the measure of this excessive language take two aggravations more He gnasheth upon me with his teeth Job pursues the allusion still Beasts as it were whet their teeth that they may devoure their
causing others to fall before them In so much that the very name of a Giant was dreadfull And when those unbeleeving Scarchers of Canaan brought up an evill report of that Land the worst which they could say of it to the discouragement of their Brethren was this Numb 13.33 And there we saw the Giants the Sons of Anak which came of the Giants and we were in our owne sight as Grasse-hoppers and so we were in theirs Men of strength and courage were as much afrayd at this story of Giants as Children are of Bug-beares and Fayries So then when Job sayd That God did run upon him as a Giant his intent was onely to shew with how much terrour God was pleased to cloath himselfe and how much strength he put forth while he thus contended with him The truth is God needs not lay out his strength to afflict man he can crush the strongest of men as a moth with the touch of his finger The weaknesse of God is stronger then man yet God in afflicting his people will sometimes personate a mighty man exercising his power to the utmost and arming himselfe from head to foot while he combates with an enemy which still confirmes the generall Observation That God doth not onely afflict such as he loves but he afflicts them sorely Doth he not so when he shaks them in peices Doth he not so when he sets them as his mark When a multitude of skilfull Archers compasse them about when he cleaves their reines asunder when he powres out their Gall upon the ground Doth he not so when he sets Engines of battery to make breach upon breach and then runs up as a Giant to the assault Thus God hath dealt with many precious soules and thus he dealt beyond his dealings with many with his precious Servant Job And as no man eyther in his estate or health either in his credit or comforts is so strong a wall but God by his Artillery can quickly make a breach upon him so who is able to stand in the breach or make it good when God comes up to the assault Can thine heart endure or can thine hands be strong in the dayes that I shall deale with thee saith the Lord Ezek. 22.14 When the Lord as a Giant runs upon man the strongest Giant among the sons of men is but as a Pigmie yea but as a Pismire he is but as the Chaffe before the winde or as the potters Vessell before the Iron Rod. But though flesh and blood cannot stand in the breach when God assaults yet Faith and patience can Moses by Faith stood in the breach and turned away the wrath of God when he came to destroy Israel Psal 106.23 Job by patience stood in the breaches which God made upon him when he seemed utterly to destroy him For what did Job to God when God did all this to him Did he oppose Did he strive with his Maker The two next Verses shew that prayers and teares were all the Weapons he used in this holy Warr with God JOB CHAP. 16. Vers 15.16 17. I have sowed sack-cloth upon my skin and defiled my horne in the dust My face is foule with weeping and on my eye-lids is the shadow of death Not for any injustice in my hands also my prayer is pure THE former words shewed in what manner Job was afflicted and because the manner of his afflictions did almost exceed words therefore he strained himselfe to the highest pitch of holy rhetorick to make his unkinde Freinds sensible of it And as there he told us what God had done to him so here he tells what he did or how he behaved himselfe under the hand of God he tells us how he took those tearings and those wounds how he received those showres of Arrows from the Almighties Bow Eliphaz taxed Job in the fifteenth Chapter with height and haughtinesse of spirit in his low estate Vers 12.13 Why doth thine heart carry thee away And what doth thine eyes winke at that thou turnest thy spirit against God and lettest such words goe out of thy mouth And Vers 25. he more then intimates that Job stretched out his hand against God and strengthened himselfe against the Almighty In both passages he is severely charged not onely with impatience under the hand of God which is bad enough but with opposition against the hand of God which is farre worse Job refutes these unfreindly censures and professeth another kinde both of spirit and practice in this Text. As if hee had sayd I am not so madd as thou takest me to be to runn upon God or to stretch out my hand against him while he smiteth me I have learned better then to shoot the arrowes of blasphemy against God whilst he shoots the arrows of calamity against me and if you desire to know what I have been doing seeing I deny that I have been doing what you suggest This is the account which I give of my selfe and of my behaviour Vers 15. I have sowed sack-cloth upon my skin and defiled my horne in the dust That is I have humbly submitted my selfe to receive and entertaine those saddest dispensations Hence Observe That the surest way to confute the censures and wipe off the aspersions which are cast upon us is to shew our selves doing contrary to what others are speaking of us A practicall answer is the strongest answer we may speak more for our selves by our hands then we can doe by our tongues in many cases The Papists mouths are stopt who call us Solifidians when they see Protestants forward in and zealous for good workes He that is accused of uncharitablenesse may best free himselfe from that charge by giving freely to the poore and he that is accused of injustice may soonest doe himselfe right by shewing that he hath done right to every man Bare denyals that we have done evill are nothing but when our doing of good appeares who can deny it The old Philosopher answered him that denyed motion by rising up and walking not by arguing Job answered Eliphaz who affirmed that he turned his spirit and stretched out his hand against God by falling downe and submitting to it I have sowed sack-cloth upon my skin c. And this Job offers as to remove and take away that objection of mis-behaviour towards God Hoc assert ut ad miserecordiam socios moveat paenitentiam sc suam humilitatem quod sese in his afflictionibus non extulerit Merc. so to move his Freinds to better behaviour even to compassion and pitty towards him He was in a sorrowfull case and he had acted the part of a sorrowfull man God had layd him low and hee layd himselfe low this might have taught them moderation why should they speake so harshly against him who had dealt but coursely with himselfe Sowing sack-cloth upon his skin and seeing he abased himselfe even to the defiling of his horne in the dust why should they abase him too It stirrs up pitty