secondly It noteth such a shout as is in an army where a King in person is leader or victour Thirdly The shout of a King is amongst them because the voice of a King should be as the sound of a trumpet or some loud instrument to enform and direct his people as also to enourage them From all we see this rejoycing is no ordinary joy It is a high a triumphant joy I will fill thy lips with rejoycing till thou shall sing VICTORIA over all thine enemies and calamities Further This also is in it a rejoycing with praise not a bare rejoycing in the blessings and deliverances but a rejoycing in the praises of God who hath given those blessings and wrought those deliverances The Septuagint translate it by rendring of thanks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. confessioâ—e laudis gratiarum actionis pro accepta resti tutaque soelicitate or a confession of praise I will not cast thee away till I have filled thy lips with rejoycing that is with my praises Thus David praies Psal 71.8 Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thine honour all the day long Praise filling the heart fils the mouth joy as well as sorrow pent up stifles the Spirit Hence we may observe First That as joy is the portion of the people of God so in good time they shall receive their portion He will not cast off a perfect man till he fill his mouth with joy and his lips with rejoycing Joy is their due and joy they shall have Hereafter they shall have their Masters joy Enter into your Masters joy will Christ say at last Now they shall have such a joy as befits them whilest they are in their Masters service And as rejoycing is the portion so the proper portion the peculiar of godly men Though laughing as it is a naturall act is common to all men yet in the sense we speak of laughter is appropriated unto godly and perfect men They only can laugh indeed who have mourned indeed Tibi ridet mihi non sibi A wicked man doth but feign a laugh He laughs to thee and to me but he doth not laugh to himself He hath no true laughter while he laughs His laughter is madnesse and proceeds from his ignorance not from his reason Besides other marks of difference which shall be put between the servants of God and their enemies this is one My servants shall rejoyce and ye shall be ashamed Isa 65.13 This joy arises two waies First From the greatnesse of the blessing which they receive for themselves We must rejoyce in the least mercy how greatly then in the greatest Our joyes take their measure by our mercies When Sarah had a Son she said God hath made me to laugh so that all that hear me shall laugh with me Gen. 21.6 Her mercy in receiving a sonne was so great that it would serve a whole world to make merry with The man that had found his lost sheep laid it on his shoulders rejoycing it was a pleasant burden to him and when he came home he called together his friends and neighbours saying Rejoyce with me Luk. 15.6 As some afflictions are so big that all our own sorrows are not large enough to weep and mourn over them so some blessings are so big that they call out more then our own affections to rejoyce over them Secondly This overflowing joy arises from the greatnesse of those judgements which are poured out upon the enemies of the Saints The overthrow of Pharaoh at the red sea of Jabin and Sisera at the brook Kishon filled all hearts and mouths with laughter and so shall the overthrow of Babylon Rev. 15. Thus when God doth great things for his people and great things against his enemies then it is time to rejoyce greatly Psal 126.1 The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we rejoyce say the captive Jews in the morning or first dawnings of their deliverance from Babylon and more then so Then was our mouth fill'd with laughter and our tongue with singing And there is cause of great rejoycing in those great things because then God fulfils his promises and makes his Name glorious in his providences Then God is greatly honoured when his people are greatly delivered then the blasphemies of wicked men are unanswerably confuted and their mouths for ever stopped From all these considerations the hearts of the Saints are filled with laughter and their mouths with rejoycing in a day when God works great things At such times joy and this degree of it is not only our priviledge but our duty When we carry a message of thanks to God we must not come with uncheerfull countenances or sowr faces It is a comely thing when our affections keep time and proportion with the dispensations of God When we cannot sing the songs of Sion or use our harps by the waters of Babylon and when we cannot but sing either in the restoring of Sion or in the ruines of Babylon Some may object those texts Woe to them that laugh c. Luk. 6.25 It seems laughter is the portion of wicked men for woe we are sure is their portion It 's true worldly laughter a laughter in corn and wine and oil a laughter in riches and honours and carnall pleasures as such is a laughter with a woe annexed But to laugh in the sense of the goodnesse of God giving us outward good things to expresse our selves joyfully when God expresses himself graciously is not only comely but holy When Gods heart comes out at his hand and is seen in his actions our hearts should come out at our mouths and be heard in our exultations Thus we have seen the effect of the goodnesse of God upon his own people See the effect of his justice upon wicked men Verse 22. They that hate thee shall be cloathed with shame and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought God resists or will not put forth his hand to evil doers then follows They shall be brought to shame Shame is opposite to laughing he that rejoyceth usually holds up his head and cares not who sees him but he that is ashamed holds down his head and endures not to be seen Some men laugh in their sleeves as we say but all men would be ashamed in their sleeves They that hate thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Odâ—o habuit contempsit Dicitur etiam aliquando peâ— comparationem alterius quod nagis amâ—â—ur non quod propriè odio habeatur Rab. Dav. in l. Rad. The word hath a double signification First It imports the putting forth of bitter hatred when a man sets himself maliciously against his brother Secondly It is taken comparatively for a lesser or more remisse putting forth of love He may be said to hate who wants a due heat and height of love In that sense Jacob was taxed for hating Leah Gen. 29.31 When the Lord saw that Leah was hated c. Take
the great Monarchs who were as the mountains and hils of the world bowed under the Lord. The word is used to the same sense Isa 49.23 where the Lord promiseth his people That Kings shall be their nursing Fathers and Queens their nursing Mothers they shall bow downe to thee with their face toward the earth and lick the dust of thy feet The Church shall have the honour to be honoured by the Kings and Princes of the world they being converted shall bow downe so low to the Scepter of Jesus Christ held forth by the Church as if they would lick up the very dust and shall employ their power and authority for the good and protection of the Church The speech of Israel Gen. 27.29 in his prophetick blessing upon Jacob Let thy mothers sons bow downe to thee and of Jacob in his upon Judah Gen. 49.8 Thy fathers children shall bow downe before thee note greatest honour and subjection to them both The meaning of all is plainly this That except the Lord himself suspend his own act and restrain his anger no power in heaven or earth how strong how proud how confident of successe soever is able to force him or to alter him Helpers shall not help themselves much lesse those to whose help they come against the minde and purpose of God Observe here first Those passions which are ascribed to God are fully under the command of God The passion of anger is ascribed to God yet the anger which we say is in God hath no power over God Mans anger usually masters him but God is alwaies master of his anger that is he can turn and with-draw his anger when he pleaseth There is no perturbation in God when he is offended he is not moved his motions are all without upon the creatures he hath none in his own bosom The passions of the Lord are his most serious counsels determinations and we therefore say he is angry because those counsels of his acted look like the effects of anger Secondly observe That It is not in the power of man to turn away the anger of God He doth not say except men by praier or other means stop the anger of God but Except the Lord with-draw his anger all help is vain Praier is said to appease the wrath of God and to stay his anger Moses stood in the gap and Aaron came out with incense to turn away his wrath yet it is an act of Gods will which turns away his anger not the force of our praier praier therefore prevails with God because he hath said it shall He is infinitely free when himself acknowledges that we laythe powerfullest restraint upon him when the Lord is turned by praier it is his will to be turned it was his counsell and is his command that praier should be made as a means to turn him and it is his promise that he will turn to us when we pray Then it appears to us that the Lord hath decreed to do a thing when he stirs up the hearts of his people to pray for the doing of it and that he is purposed to with-draw his anger when he draws out their hearts strongly to entreat his favour Thirdly observe That untill God be appeased towards a person or a people there is no remedy for them in the world The proud helpers shall stoop under him If the helpers themselves fall who can rise by these helpers if they are cast down how shall we be upheld by them What if the people of a provoking Nation associate themselves together or associate themselves with other Nations or call in help and aid from all that are round about them shall they therefore escape in their wickednesse they shall not escape Unlesse God help our helpers they are helplesse to us When many companies and great Commanders repaired to David at Ziklag David went out to meet them Chron. 12.17 and said If ye be come peaceably to help me mine heart shall be knit to you but if ye be come to betray me c. Amasai who was chief of the Captains answers v. 18. Thine are we David and on thy side thou son of Jesse peace peace be unto thee and peace be to thy helpers for thy God helpeth thee Our helpers cannot give us peace unlesse God give them peace our helpers must be helped by God before they can give us help The anger of God breaks all the staves we lean on and makes them as reeds which wound rather then support till God is quiet all is unquiet and when he is unpacified men shall be unpacified or their peace shall be to our losse As if he with-draw his anger enemies shall oppose in vain so except he with-draw his anger friends shall help in vain Lastly They who strive to deliver those whom God will destroy shall fall themselves before God If God be resolved upon the thing not only they that are helped but the helpers also shall stoop under him helpers cannot help themselves when he is angry they shall be like Idols which have eyes and see not hands and cannot act either to save themselves or those that trust upon them The greatest strength in the world without God it is no better then an Idol which is nothing in the world Strength cannot be strong for it self and help cannot help it self Our help stands in the Name of the Lord which made heaven and earth and not in the name of any creature under any part of heaven or upon the face of the whole earth JOB Chap. 9. Vers 14 15. How much lesse shall I answer him and chuse out my words to reason with him Whom though I were righteous yet would I not answer I would make supplication to my Judge JOB having in the former passages of this Chapter lifted up the glory and majesty of God in his power and justice and shewed the utter insufficiency of creatures to implead his justice or to rescue themselves out of the hand of his power he now draws his speech nearer home and calling his thoughts from those remoter journies up to the heavens and among the stars over the mountains and hils down to the depths of the sea and foundations of the earth about all which he had discoursed I say calling his thoughts from these remoter travels he comes now closer to the matter and from all those premisses deduces a conclusion iâ— the words of the Text to vindicate himself from that charge which his friends laid upon him as if he were a contender with the power or an accuser of the wisdome and justice of God From the folly and blasphemy of both which imputations he disasperseth himself in these two verses by an argument taken from the greater to the lesse and we may form it up thus He who is so strong wise and just that all the powers in heaven and earth are not able to oppose or stay him surely I I alone or single I a poor weak creature am not able to
When I pray I should believe but as my case stands I cannot believe clouds and darknesse are upon me Faith is the strength of praier Whatsoever ye ask in praier believing ye shall receive Mat. 21.22 Praier without faith it is like a Gun discharged without a bullet which makes a noise but doth no execution we may put out a voice in speaking but except we put out faith in speaking we doe but speak we doe not pray As the Word of God comming upon us doth us no good prevails not upon our hearts unlesse it be mixed with faith Heb. 4.2 The word preached did not profit them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it So the word that goes out from us the word of praier prevaileth not at all with God obtaineth nothing from him unlesse it be mixed with faith All the promises are made to believers All things are possible to them that believe Mar. 9.23 Ask in faith nothing wavering for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the winde and tossed Jam. 1.6 To ask in faith is to ask resting upon the power of God whereby he is able upon his truth whereby he is faithfull and upon his goodnes in Christ whereby he is ready to make good his promises He that asks thus doth not waver Few are without doubting but all sound believers are without wavering The Greek word signifies to question or dispute a thing a degree beyond doubting as when a man is at no certainty with himself being sometime of one minde sometime of another The judgement being so carried that the man is at variance with his own brest or is between two vvaies not knowing vvhich to take We translate the word in the 4th of the Romans vers 20. by staggering Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief The similitude vvhich the Apostle James uses illustrates this sense He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea vvhich by tempestuous vvindes is sometimes carried up to heaven and anon down to the deep A man vvho is tossed with such vvaves of unbelief staggers like a drunken man in his practice and profession he is now on this side to morrow on that he doth not only stagger or halt in his vvay but he staggers and halts between two vvaies and is therefore called vers 8th A double minded man The praiers of such a man are faithlesse praiers and therefore fruitlesse praiers Let not that man think he shall receive any thing unlesse a rebuke and a deniall of the Lord vers 7. There are no promises made to such and therefore no mercies convaied to such Believing praier is gaining praier yet they vvho believe least presume most Hence the Apostles check Let not that man thinke as if he had said I know such vvill flatter themselves into a perswasion of great matters They will have high thoughts but they shall receive nothing Observe Fourthly That how strongly soever a godly man acts faith for the answer of his praiers yet he hath no faith that his praier deserves an answer I would not believe that he had hearkned to my voice Christ calleth the Spouse to praier Can. 2.14 Let me see thy countenance let me hear thy voice for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance comely Christ loves praier The praiers of the Saints upon earth are musick in heaven That invitation to the Spouse Let me hear thy voice seems to be an allusion to those vvho loving musick call upon a friend vvho hath a good voice or exquisite skill to play upon an instrument Come sing us a song play us a lesson let us have a fit of mirth Thus I say Christ speaks to the Church Come let me hear thy voice 't is sweet I know thou hast a sweet one But the Saints judge their own voices harsh and unharmonicall they are apt to thinke their praiers jarrings and discords at the best but a rude noise not a composed air in the ear of God Faith makes our praiers melodious because it carries us out of our selves A believer lives not in the sound of his own praiers but of Christs intercession What are vve that vve should expect any acceptance upon our own account or say this We have gained this We have obtained thus God hath heard us or thus vve have vvrestled it out vvith God As when we have performed all our duties we must say We are unprofitable servants so when we have obtained all our sutes we must say We are unprofitable petitioners I will not believe that God had hearkned unto My voice What 's mans voice that God should hear it Observe Fifthly That a godly man sometimes cannot believe his praier is heard when it is heard Though he cals and God answers yet like Job he believes not that God hath hearkned to his voice He cannot think his praier is heard though one should come and tell him it is heard When the Jews returned from Babylon the mercy was so great Forsan hoc dicit quia saepe prae nimia laetitia non credimus verum esse quod maxime verum esse optamus Drus that they could not believe they had it when they had it When thou didst turn our captivity we were as them that dream Psal 126.2 The deliverance was incredible they could not thinke they vvere delivered Their return to Jerusalem was suspected for a dream of it in Babylon The Church praied vvithout ceasing for Peter vvhen he was in prison Act. 12.5 yet when the Lord brought him out of prison and he vvas knocking at the door of the house where they were assembled while they vvere knocking at the door of heaven for his deliverance yet they would not believe the report of the damosell who said he stood before the gate They tell her she is mad vvhen she affirmed it with sobriety as well as vehemency then they have another help for their unbelief It was not Peter but his Angel Thus it is to this day with the Saints in their great personall sutes and petitions both about spiritual things and temporal they are so overcome astonished and amazed at the goodnesse of God that though they see the thing done yet they can scarce believe it is done As if a Prince should send a message to a poor man by some great Lord and tell him he hath bestowed honour and favour upon him the poor man is ready to say I cannot believe it the blessing is too big for him to digest and let down into his narrow heart no saith he sure it is not so Though the people of God ever preserve a high respect and esteem of the works of God towards them yet their faith is often below his workings and they cannot receive or take in mercy so fast as it commeth faith widens the vessels of the soul to receive much but God can pour in faster then faith can widen the soul to receive Sixthly Observe Faith hath it's decaies Faith doth not keep
they cannot come alike to judgement A poor man cannot grapple with a rich man nor a mean man with the honourable Now if they who are of the same nature cannot come alike in judgment because of a disparity in their condition How shall they who differ not only in condition but in nature Can God and man Can poor wretched and miserable man come alike in judgement with the great and glorious God And so the meaning of Job may be thus conceived If I had only a man like my self to deal with then I would venture a triall with him at any seat of judgement or Court of Justice but he is not a man as I am much lesse such a man as I am How shall I set my self with him to be judged when as himself is the Judge of all and is himself judged of none Hence observe Man is not able to contend with God in judgement Who is like me and who will appoint me the time or nearer the letter who will convent me in judgement Who is that shepherd that will stand before me Isa 49.19 Man must come before God in judgement We must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ 2 Cor. 5.10 None shall escape his tribunall But man cannot stand before God in judgement The wicked cannot stand at all before him in judgement because they stand upon their own bottom The righteous dare not stand before him in judgement upon their own bottom if they should themselves and their cause would quickly fall together There are seven considerations which tell us that we cannot come together much lesse alike together with God in judgment 1. He is of such strength that none can wrest themselves out of his hand No power can daunt him 2. He is of such sincerity that bribes cannot corrupt him nor can gifts put out his eies 3. He is of such wisdom that none can over-reach him nor can our wit entangle him 4. He is so knowing that none of our sins and failings no not the least of them are secrets to or hidden from him 5. He is so holy that he cannot bear with the least sin and so just that he cannot but punish it unlesse he receive satisfaction for it 6. He cannot be a party in judgement for he is the supreme Judge and there is no appealing from his sentence 7. He is the last yea an everlasting Judge and therefore there is no repealing of his sentence Who is able to contend with him whom no power can daunt no bribes corrupt no wit over-reach who knows all our sins and will spare none of them from whose sentence there is no appealing and whose sentence cannot be repealed There is no Judge above God therefore we cannot appeal from him there is none to come after God therefore what he hath judged cannot be repealed Job having thus waved and professed against contending with God in judgement proceedeth in the thirty third verse to shew that there is none to whom his case might be referred for arbitration There are two waies by which controversies are ended First By the legall sentence of the publike Judge Secondly By the moderation of a private friend This later Job means when he saith Verse 33. Neither is there any Daies-man betwixt us that can lay his hand upon us both The Septuagint render these words as a wish or as a prayer * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. O that there were a Daies-man or a Mediatour betwixt God and me that might lay his hand upon us both But the originall bears it clearly in the negative Neither is there any Daies-man betwixt us The word which we translate Daies-man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arguere Heb. Non est arguens inter nos vel increpans commeth from a root which signifieth to argue or reprove and so some render it here Neither is there any Arguer or Reprover none to set the matter right between God and me none to state the question between us none to reprove the Lord if I should say or if by the common rules of justice it should appear he hath done me wrong The word is used in that sense Gen. 31.24 where Jacob tels his uncle Laban The Lord rebuked thee yesternight the Lord himself came as an umpire as a Daies-man betwixt Jacob and Laban and rebuked Laban for his hard and unjust thoughts of and intentions concerning Jacob Take heed saith God thou speak not unto Jacob either good or bad that is doe not threaten or perswade him to return thou wilt repent it if thou doest Thus also the Lord appeared as a Daies-man between his people of old and the great ones of the world Psal 105.14 He suffered no man to doe them wrong yea he rebuked Kings for their sakes God is alwaies able to and often doth interpose for and vindicate his people from the oppressions of men 'T is costly medling with the Saints Kings may get a rebuke for it Yea Kings may smart and Kingdoms shake for it Fere omnes interpretes hunc versum de Mediatore seu arbitro quem jurisconsulti vocant sequestrem intelligunt quasi Iob optasset ordinarium Iudicem praecedenti versiculo mediatorem vero seu arbi trum hoc versu What a Daies-man is is so plain and well known by the custom and usage of most places that it needs little explication We in our language sometimes call him an umpire sometimes an Arbitratour sometimes a Mediatour sometimes a Referree and in some Countreys with us when a question arises between neighbours concerning which they are unwilling to spend money and time in sutes of Law they say We will referre it unto men which kinde of speaking seems to allude to the title of Magistrates and Judges whom the Scripture calleth gods and when a businesse is brought before them it may be said to be referr'd or put to God In opposition to which when it is taken up by the umpiridge of friends it is said To be referred or put to men We in our English tongue call such Daies-men either because they bestowed a daies pains upon the ending of a businesse or because they were obliged to end it by a set day whereas Judges may take more liberty to themselves Yet some of the Greeks expresse all mans judgement by this word Ideo sequester appellatur quod ejus qui electus sit utraque pars fidem sequatur Gel. l. 20. c. 10. Sequester est qui errantibus medius intervenit qui aâ—ud Graecos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 d citur apud quem pignota deponi solent à sequendo dictas quod ejus fidem utraque pars sequatur Isidor l 10. Etymol Mans-day because certain daies were appointed for judicature The Apostle Paul uses the same phrase 1 Cor. 4.3 in opposition to the Lords-day the great day of judgment to which he there appeals from all the daies set for mans judgement in this world The Latins call
saw him languishing under such unparallel'd evils of punishment This moved him to pray Lord do not condemn me by making me an object of the worlds condemnation Again The words Doe not condemn me may have this meaning Lord * Permitto reruÌ„ aliarum â—jâ—cturam sed non possum non doâ—ene vehementer laesam meae sanctitatis innocentiae existimationem Pined Do what thou wilt with me only doe not condemn me His earnest deprecation of this may carry in it a willing submission to any thing besides this And 't is very usuall with men to do so we think we could bear any affliction but that or better then that which is upon us Yet Job had great reason to chuse any affliction rather then this He might well say I can through thy grace enabling me bear these or any other pains of my body and losses in my estate but I know not how to bear the losse of mine innocency or the reproach of being thrown out of thy favour The world and these my friends will be confirmed in their misapprehensions of me if thou doest not speedily deliver me and confute their rash jugement by some eminent mercy Condemnation hath three things in it which make it grievous First The penalty of the sentence Secondly The disfavour of the Judge Thirdly The stain of his integrity who is condemned To have but so much as a suspition or jealousie of the displeasure of God afflicts the spirit of a godly man more then all his other afflictions Though Job had a sure interest in the favour of God and was freed from the penalty of condemnation by his union with Christ yet sometimes clouds and darknesse came over him and the terrours of the Lord did fight against him which caused those sad lamentations in the sixth Chapter but here he is chiefly troubled at the stain of his integrity in the eye of the world who beholding his afflictions blotted him as a wicked man and esteemed him forsaken of God even utterly discarded and cast out of his sight Observe hence First That Great afflictions carry a charge of wickednesse upon the afflicted Paul having escaped death in a wreck at sea could not escape a hard censure at land when a viper was seen upon his hand This man say those Barbarians of Melita among themselves is no doubt a murderer whom though he hath escaped the sea yet vengeance suffereth not to live Act. 28.4 We finde also that those exemplary judgements which befell the Galileans whose bloud Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices it seems he caused them to be slain while they offered sacrifice and those upon whom the Tower of Siloe fell left them all under a charge of highest wickednesse else Christ had not taken it off saying Suppose ye that those Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things or those eighteen upon whom the Tower of Siloe fell thinke ye that they were sinners above all that dwelt in Jerusalem As if he had said I who know your thoughts know ye are ready to think so It is a very ill but it is a very common thing to judge both of persons and of causes by successe Doth a man gain and thrive in the world here 's a man sure whom God loves saith the world Though a Jeremy can say Why doth the way of the wicked prosper He can see them to be wicked thorow all their prosperity yet how often are they accounted righteous who prosper and good who enjoy good But doth a man wither and go down the winde in the world He 's a man sure whom God hates saith the world Man is apt to think them the worst who suffer worst and that they have sinned most who have most sorrow The Prophet Isa 53.4 5. fore-tels that Christ himself While he bore our griefs and carried our sorrows should be esteemed stricken smitten of God and afflicted Christ was esteemed a great sinner when God gave him up to be smitten for sinners therefore he adds but he was wounded for our transgressions c. Secondly observe The displeasure of God is more grievous to the Saints then all other pressures and sorrows whatsoever Job saith not Lord do not afflict me do not chasten me lay not thine hand upon me any more but Lord do not condemn me It is infinitely worse to be condemned then to be chastened yea then to be killed Condemnation carries in it an argument of disfavour and that makes it so burdensome As the love of God is better to us then all the good things of this life Psal 4.6 Many will say Who will shew us any good This is the great query of the world but what saith David Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us thou hast put gladnesse in my heart more than in the time that their corn and their wine encreased And as the favour of God is better to us then the good things of this life so then life which is better then all earthly goods Ps 63.3 Thy loving kindenesse is better then life Now I say as the love of God is better to us then the best things in the world so the displeasure of God is worser to us then the worst things that are in the world all the torments and racks all the sicknesses and distempers all the reproaches and contempts of men have not so much evil in them to us as one frown from God Hence as when two sore diseases suppose the gout and the stone both very painfull yet one much exceeding at once afflict the body the patient forgets the lesse so it is when inward and outward sorrows at once ceaze upon one man when the arrows of God are fastned in his spirit he forgets the arrow in his flesh The wounds of the spirit heal all the wounds of the flesh they make them as if they were no wounds or not worth the complaining of Thirdly observe To be accounted wicked is a sore affliction It is an affliction to have an ill name though we deserve it not and to be accounted wicked though we are not it is I grant far better to be censured then to be flattered It is very ill when others count us and worst of all when we account our selves better then we are yet it is no small evil to be accounted worse then we are especially to be accounted evil when we are good A wound in our honour is not a wound to be sleighted It was no small part of the sufferings of Christ that he was numbred with the transgressours in his death and called Beelzebub a friend of Publicans and sinners while he lived Fourthly observe from this Do not condemn me That condemnation is the adjudging of one to be wicked Condemnation supposeth a man guilty and leaveth him under a penalty As Justification is the adjudging and declaring of a person to be righteous or the accepting of him for righteous in another who is not righteous
me out of thine hand or pull me away from thee by strength or by entreaty I should wonder the lesse at thy severity God doth sometimes even bespeak the intercession of others and complains that none come in to deliver a people or a person out of his hand When he was about to destroy Sodom he tels it unto Abraham probably for that very end that Abraham might intercede for Sodom and at least get Lot out of his hand When God was about to execute his judgments upon Jerusalem Non est qui clamâ—t Deus optme re stringas gladium ne strictum exterdas â—n populum tuuÌ„ He saw and there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessour none to take him off from destroying that people Isa 59.16 The Prophet complains in words of the same importance chap. 64.7 There is none that calleth upon thy name that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee Friends seeing a father go out hastily to correct his child rise presently or stir up themselves to take hold of the father or to mediate for the childe Pray spare him for this time and hold your hand but saith the Prophet There is none that will stir up himself to take hold of God He is going out in wrath and no man puts him in minde of mercy with that cry of another Prophet O spare thy people and give not thine heritage to reproach When Abraham was ready to slay Isaac upon the altar when his hand was stretched out to fetch the fatall blow just then did the Angel take hold of his sword and delivered Isaac out of his hand God saith to Moses Exod. 32.10 Let me alone God was about to destroy that people Moses would not permit him he seeks to deliver Israel out of the revenging hand of God by that holy violence of praier and supplication Lastly Others look upon Job as breathing out a very heroick and magnanimous spirit in these words As if he had said Lord Thou knowest and thou shalt know that I am not wicked though none deliver or take me out of thine hand Thou shalt finde me holding mine integrity as long as I hold my life I am resolved to honour thee whatsoever thou doest with me And so he refutes the charge of Satan Satan said Touch his flesh and his bone and he will curse thee to thy face No saith Job though he taketh away my flesh and my bones yet I will not curse him to his face no nor speak an ill word of him behinde his back Though I should never be delivered yet God shall never be blasphemed Upon the whole observe That there is no means on earth can rescue us out of the hand of God I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand Deut. 32.39 Till God discharge us there 's no escaping none can force us out of his hand whatsoever is in theirs power cannot policy cannot riches cannot we cannot bribe our selves out of the sight or beyond the stroke of divine justice A golden key will not open Gods prison door Riches avail not in the day of wrath and in some daies of wrath prayer it self cannot prevail Then take heed how ye fall into the hands of God No wise man will run into his displeasure from whom there is no deliverance but at his own pleasure See more of this point Chap. 9.12 JOB Chap. 10. Vers 8 9 10 11 12 13. Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about and yet thou doest destroy me Remember I beseech thee that thou hast made me as the clay and wilt thou bring me into dust again Hast thou not poured me out as milk and crudled me like cheese Thou hast cloathed me with skin and flesh and hast fenced me with bones and sinews Thou hast granted me life and favour and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit And these things hast thou hid in thine heart I know that this is with thee AT the third verse of this Chapter we found Job questioning with the Lord Is it good for thee that thou shouldest oppresse That thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands In these words he insisteth upon and illustrateth that argument by fitting it to his own condition As if he had said Lord seeing thou wilt not despise the work of â—â—ine hands why shouldest thou despise me Am not I the work of thy hands Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about and yet thou dost destroy me The whole context argues out this point wherein we may observe 1. His forming or making set down in generall at the eighth verse Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about 2. The matter out of which he was formed and made at the ninth verse Remember I beseech thee that thou hast made me as the clay 3. His forming is drawn out in particulars Wherein we have First His conception at the tenth verse Hast not thou poured me out as milk and crudled me as cheese 2. The conjunction or setting together of his patts at the 11. verse Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh and hast fenced me with bones and sinews 3. The quickning of his parts thus joyned and set together at the 12. verse Thou hast granted me life 4. The preservation of his life in the same verse Thou hast given me life and not only so but favour and thy visitation doth preserve my spirit 5. Lastly We have Jobs strength of assurance or his assertion concerning all this at the 13. verse These things thou hast hid in thine heart I know that this is with thee as if he had said Lord Thou knowest all is truth which I have spoken There are three opinions concerning the connection or tie of these words with those that went before First Some conceive that Job persisteth in the same matter handled in the words immediately foregoing exalting the knowledge of God concerning man upon this ground because God made man Thou knowest that I am not wicked How did Job know that He must needs know what man is who made man Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about forasmuch as I am thy work a piece of thy framing surely thou knowest what thou hast framed thou who hadst knowledge enough to make me hast a perfect knowledge of what thou hast made me We may joyn it also with the later clause None can deliver out of thine hand Why Thine hands have made me and fashioned me Is it possible for the work to deliver it self out of the hand of him who wrought it Is that which is formed too strong for him that formed it when as the same hand which gave it form gave it strength We finde this argument as to the former part Psal 94.9 where from the work of God in our naturall constitution the holy pen-man proves the fulnesse of his knowledge concerning us in every
expression our labour in the Lord shall not only not be in vain but abundantly advantageous This of Job I will not lift up my head fals in sense below his expression for his meaning is I will abase my self before God I will be so farre from priding my self or walking as the daughters of Jerusalem are described by the Prophet Isaiah 3.16 with a stretched forth necke that I will rather hang downe my head Mâ—seri infoelâ—ces capite demisso in terram dejecto ambulant Sâ—nct To hang or hold down the head in Scripture noteth humbling and sorrow when Christ bids his people lift up their heads with joy because the time of their redemption was drawing nigh it implied that their heads would hang down with sorrow whâ—le that redemption was further off The Jewish fasts are described in part by this posture of sorrow Isa 58.5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen A day for a man to afflict his soul Is it to bow down his head as a bull-rush Times of fasting are times of mourning and then it seems they used to hang down the head as a sign of mourning Hence observe That a godly man how upright and holy soever he is walks humbly with God The more holinesse any soul hath the more humility it hath Humility is a great part of our holinesse much more then is it an argument of holinesse The Pharisee Luk. 18. who thought that he was righteous lifted up his head full high he would not lose an inch of his commendation and therefore commends himself He is his own reporter of what he had done and who he was but the poor Publican durst not lift up his eyes to heaven his spirit hung down as well as his head yet he was the righteous man and went home justified rather then the other It is the scope and design of the Gospel to make and keep us humble God hath set up the way of saving us by faith that he might take away boasting and that no flesh might glory in his sight Secondly If Job would not lift up his head though righteous what shall we judge of those who lift up and carry their heads so high though they are wicked There is no reason any man should be proud of his goodnes what a madnes then is it for wicked men to be proud of or in their naughtines Thirdly Though Job was very thankfull for and joyfull in yet he durst not lift up his head or be proud of the white robes and costly raiment of imputed righteousnesse What then shall we say of them who are proud of the dirty rags and filthy raiment of their own inherent righteousnesse A godly man walketh tremblingly lest he should offend therefore he saith If I am wicked woe unto me and he walketh humbly when he doth not offend therefore he saith though I am righteous yet I will not hold up my head Job hath often breathed out the humility of his soul in former passages therefore I shall not insist upon it here Saturitas haec respicit animae ventriculum qui tantam aerumnarum copiam vix potuit concoquere Pined I am full of confusion therefore see thou mine affliction I am full That is my minde is full The spirit hath a stomack or a capacious vessel for the receiving either of good or evil of joy or sorrow Jobs spirit had received in as much evil and sorrow as ever it could hold and more then he could well digest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quod est cremare ignominia enim efficit pudorem qui est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in corde in vuliu sicut ignis I am full of confusion The word signifies shame and burning heat because shame appeareth with a burning heat or blush in the face which is also called confusion of face Blushing puts the face into a flame Some take confusion here for shame rendering the text I am full of shame Erubescentes vultus habent flaÌ„mantes Sanc. or of ignominy which ignominy might arise two waies Either from that reproach which his friends cast upon him while they branded him for a wicked man and an hypocrite I am full of reproach so full that I might justly be ashamed yea confounded if I were such as they describe me Or from that reproach which his afflictions cast upon him Poverty is no shame to a beggar who was born poor but poverty is a shame to a man who hath been rich and lived in honour The originall word holds this forth most properly being opposed to that which signifies weightinesse and honour because honour is a weighty thing as this signifies lightnesse and shame because shame is a light thing or a thing of nought Our Translatours rendering the word confusion seem to intend somewhat else besides shame Confusion notes a disorder and an uncomposednesse of spirit When a man knows not what to do or whose counsel to follow When a man cannot make up his thoughts or bring them to any issue When the minde is like a skain of ravell'd silk which will neither winde nor draw then we are in confusion And this I conceive was it which Job chiefly intends when he saith I am full of confusion Hence observe Great sorrows distract the minde and bring a man to his wits end While we suffer much we scarce know what to doe Trouble upon the sensitive part troubles the understanding Confusion upon our estates makes a confusion in our mindes It is very hard to keep our spirits in order while our houses and businesse are out of order every affliction makes some confusion without us and it is exceeding rare if affliction make not much confusion within us I saith Job am full of confusion See thou mine affliction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Est imbecillitas maximè quae est a majore vi vim supprimente statuÌ„ miserum cum succumbentia notat There is a two-fold sight of affliction First By a bare intuition discerning it Secondly By a gracious compassion delivering us from it The former sight God alwaies hath of all our afflictions neither our sins nor our sorrows can be hidden from him The later he sometimes suspends and will not see what he cannot but see He will not see so as to relieve what he cannot but see so as to observe It is this second kinde of sight which Iob entreats and praies for here See thou my affliction that is pity me in my afflfction The word which we render affliction noteth weaknesse and casting down or that weaknesse which ariseth from casting down an oppressing affliction which like some great weight lies heavy upon us There are different readings some thus Videt vexationeÌ„ homo qui vexatur videt Deus qui eam respicit propitius est Druâ— I am filled with affliction and see my sorrows The Chaldee thus I will satiate my self with shame and I will see my affliction Man seeth his affliction by feeling it