it and have made that his businesse but hee had not a minde to doe it The bent of his spirit did not lye that way hee was all for Christ and the Gospell he was a Giant for the truth but an Infant a weakling as weake as water against it hee had neither an understanding to conceive nor a tongue to speake to the disservice of Jesus Christ It is a good observation of one of the Ancients upon this place Narrat justus quid facere potuit sed ne justitiam deserat quod facere potuit declinat Greg. A just man declares what he can doe but that hee may not desert Justice he forbeares to doe what he can The providence of God sets bounds to the power of a carnall man but the spirit of God sets bounds to the power of a holy man if a carnall man keep within compasse at any time it is because he is restrained but a godly man keeps within compasse because he is renewed Laban tels Jacob Gen. 31.29 It is in the power of my hand to doe thee hurt And vvhy did not Laban hurt Jacob Was it from any principle of love or righteousnesse in Labans breast The Text is silent in that and Laban himselfe seems to tell us whence it was in the same Verse The God of your Fathers spake unto me yesternight saying Take thou heede that thou speake not to Jacob c. And this his speaking to Laban Jacob cals Gods rebuking of Laban Vers 42. implying that if God had not stopt him he would have done him hurt It was more then once in the power of Davids hand to hurt yea to slay Saul and he was strongly moved by some of his great Officers to doe it yet he strongly refused to doe it or to suffer it to be done because it would have been sin in him to doe it himselfe being a private person and the way in which he had any opportunity to doe it being onely a private way when Saul was in the Cave covering his feet 1 Sam. 24.3 or in a Trench fast asleepe 1 Sam. 26.7 and therefore though he had strengthened himselfe against Saul with an Army and was ready upon his provocation to stretch forth his hand against him in Battell yet he saith Who can stretch forth his hand against the Lords annoynted and be guiltlesse David was not stopt from hurting Saul by a rebuke from God but by the rule and dictate of his owne conscience The thing might have been easily done but because it could not be innocently done therefore David could not doe it Secondly Observe more specially to the matter of this Text. A godly man when himselfe cannot be harsh and greivous to others though he have never so much advantage to be so His cannings are not for such uses What the Apostle saith of his Ministeriall power a gracious heart saith of all his power It is for edification not for destruction 2 Cor. 13.10 He designes his power for the helpe and comfort of all not for the hurt or greife of any A good man is mercifull to his Beast how then can he be unmercifull to his Brethren He pitieth a Beast fallen under a burthen how then can he be cruell to his Brother when he is under burthens Nature or common humanity abhorrs such actings much more doth Grace Paul gives this charge to Beleevers Beare yee one anothers burdens and so fulfill the Law of Christ Gal. 6.2 This Law of Christ is written in the heart of every man who is Christs and therefore he is farr from adding to another mans burden He that hath a fellow-feeling of his Brethrens sorrows will not encrease their sorrows no man will purposely encrease or add to that burden which himselfe must beare Could I speake as you doe Thus for the Negative what Job would not have done if their soule had been in his soules stead But What would he have done He tels us in the next Verse this is the course that I would take Vers 5. I would strengthen you with my mouth and the moving of my lips should asswage your griefe This is my designe and all the hurt I intend you These words in the substance of them have been opened Chap. 4.4 vvhere Eliphaz tels Job that he had done vvhat here he promised he would doe Thy words have upholden him that was falling and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees Thou hast instructed many and thou hast strengthened the weake hands Eliphaz had given testimony for Job that he had done what Job now professeth he vvas resolved to doe and vvould doe in case he vvere put into their condition and they into his I would strengthen you with my mouth that is With the vvords of my mouth and vvhich is the same the moving of my lips should asswage your griefe Here are the two parts of consolation and the two great duties of a comforter The first is to strengthen sorrowfull man The second is to abate the strength of his sorrows Job vvas resolved upon both Were they weake in faith and hope he vvould strengthen them were their feares and doubtings strong hee would endeavour to weaken them I would strengthen you with my mouth and the moving of my lips should asswage your greife The word Greife is not expressed in the Hebrew there it is onely thus Motio labiorum meorum prohiberet Heb. sc dolorem vestrum The moving of my lips should asswage be it what it will that greives you I would labour to asswage it I vvould asswage your feares your sorrowes your impatience your unbeleife vvhatever spirituall evill vvere upon you the moving of my lips should be for the removing of it Or as others render For the turning of it away For the word signifies First To abate in degree Secondly To turne away or to stop altogether My designe should be upon both I vvould study to the utmost of my power and parts not onely to mitigate but quite to remove whatsoever I should finde an affliction to you It hath been shewed Chap. 4.4 what power vvords have both to strengthen vveake faith and to asswage the strongest greife thither I referr the Reader onely take two breife notes from it First A good man doth not onely abstaine from the hurt that he might doe another but he labours to helpe him and to doe him good Not to heap words in anger upon them that are in misery not to shake the head at them in contempt is onely a Negative peice of charity and kindnesse 'T is our duty to use our utmost endeavour to refresh and comfort them Negative acts of kindnesse are not the fulfilling of the law of love it is not charity to the poor to say I will not make them poorer I will take nothing from them it is our duty to give them of what we have When a man is sorrowfull it is not enough to say I will not increase his griefe it is our duty to lessen it yea to
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
Doctrine is the purity of it and the sincerity of prayer is the purity of it Job did not boast his prayer pure without infirmity but he did professe it pure without hypocrisie Yet besides this casting out of hypocrisie there are diverse ingredients to be taken in towards the composition of a pure prayer of which I shall touch more distinctly by and by We read in the Institutes of the Ceremoniall Law of pure Myrrhe of pure Frankincense of pure Oyle of pure Incense all which concurred to pure worship among the Jewes and typed out all pure worship both among Jewes and Gentiles of the latter the Lord saith Mal. 1.11 From the rising of the Sun unto the going downe of the same my name shall be called upon among the Gentiles and in every place Incense shall be offered unto my name and a pure offering This pure offering Job intends when he saith My prayer is pure Under these two There is no injustice in my hand and my prayer is pure Job conteines the whole duty of man both to God and to man Here is Justice comprehending the dutyes of the second Table His duobus membris utramque tabulam complectitur Merc. and Prayer comprehending the duties of the first Table Thus Job was compleat in all the will of God and had respect to all his Commandements And thus he verified Gods testimony of him Chap. 1.1 and approved himselfe to be A man perfect and upright fearing God and eschewing evill which is the whole duty of man From the words in generall Observe First Man hath great support in bearing afflictions from the witnesse which his heart gives of his owne integrity 'T is matter of wonder that ever Job should beare so many burdens and endure breach upon breach till wee remember that though he had many breaches upon his body and estate yet he had none upon his conscience Indeed his spirit had breaches by way of tryall and temptation from God but it had none by way of disobedience against God The spirit of a man saith Solomon will sustaine his infirmities Prov. 18.14 There are two sorts of infirmities First Sinfull infirmities such are impatience doubtings deadnesse of heart and vanity of thoughts Secondly Penall or painefull infirmities such as are poverty sicknesse diseases or any outward crosse whatsoever These latter are the infirmities which Solomon meanes and these the spirit of a man will sustaine even while his flesh or body sinks under them Yet here spirit is not taken meerely in opposition to bodily or materiall flesh though the spirit under that Physicall notion is able to beare much more then the body can but as spirit is opposed to spirituall and sinfull flesh that is to a carnall corrupt minde The spirit of a man furnished with grace supported with the favour of God and the testimony of a good conscience will sustaine all his infirmities that is cause him to beare with much not onely patience but courage and cheerfulnesse the heaviest burdens of affliction which eyther the wisedome of God doth or the malice of man can lay upon him Holinesse makes the weake strong and the strong like Giants to endure all shocks of trouble and hardship A whole skin feeles no smart though you bath it with brine and if a man have a sound conscience if his spirit be not galled and raw he is able to stand at any time and sometimes to rejoyce in the saltest waters of worldly sorrow For though he be not as was shewed before senslesse of or without outward smart yet having no inward smart which is the worst smart hee is above it The paines and wants of the body are almost lost and swallowed up in the comforts and enjoyments of the minde A wounded spirit who can beare A spirit unwounded what can it not beare He that hath no injustice in his hands hath much peace in his heart and while our prayer is pure our spirits will not be much troubled in any of our troubles Secondly Observe It is possible to live without any knowne sin Job knew of no injustice in his hand nor was he conscious of any impurity in his prayer The Apostle John writes to Saints of all Ages and Statures under the title of His little Children not to sin 1 John 2.1 And in that he doth not only admonish them of what they ought not to doe but of what they might attain not to doe For though he that saith he hath no sin deceives himselfe and sins in saying so 1 Joh. 1.9 yet it may be sayd of some without sin and they in Jobs case may say it of themselves without sin that they sin not The best Saints have and know they have sin in their natures and sin in their lives yea and sometimes they fall into great sins yet such a degree of holinesse is attaineable in this life that a man may be sayd not to sin For then in a Gospell sense we are sayd not to sin when we cast off and are free from all grosse and scandalous sins and doe both carefully avoyd and make conscience of the least and the most secret sin Zacharie and Elizabeth Luke 1.16 were both righteous before God walking in all the Commandements and Ordinances of the Lord blamelesse that is They did not live in any open or knowne sin they lived so that no man could blame them or bring any just complaint against them eyther in matters of morality which seeme to be meant in the word Commandement or in matters of worship which seeme to be meant by the word Ordinance And when I speak of not living in any knowne sin I meane not onely that Saints may rise so high as not to live in any sin which the World takes notice of but they may yea and often doe arrive at that hight of holinesse not to live in any sin knowne to themselves if once a true Beleever discovers sin he cannot owne it much lesse live in it be it injustice or wrong towards men be it any fayling in the worship and service of God he will not suffer it to lodge with him He that hath grace in his heart cannot live with injustice in his hand there is an inconsistence between these two a life of grace and to live in sin Sin may be much alive in him that hath grace but he cannot live in sin he may be often tempted to the act of it and sometimes possibly overtaken with it yet he cannot live in it He cannot keep injustice in his hand nor frame an impure prayer in his heart A good man may doe an act of injustice but he continues not unjust he restores what he hath taken unjustly from men and repents before the Lord but usually he is not conscious to himselfe of doing unjustly towards men If a Laban one with whom hee hath had converse and dealing twenty yeares together should come and search his house he is able to say to him as honest Jacob did to his Uncle
to come while he saith My dayes are past My purposes are broken off 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cogitavit plerumque in malum ali quando in bonum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cujus singularis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod antiquitus legebant Zemma ferre scelus denotat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 autem quod ab eodem themate vocabulum est medium Drus Rupti sunt articuli cordis mei Sept. Convulsae sunt compages corporis mei Aug. The word which we translate Purposes signifies most usually an evill purpose or wicked designements yet it is used also as among the Rabbins so by the Penmen of Scripture in a good sense for a warrantable yea for a holy purpose In the Booke of Proverbs Chap. 1.4 Chap. 2.11 it is translated Discretion or Advisement proceeding from the teachings of wisedome which stirrs up gracious purposes in the soule towards God and every good My purposes are broken off The Septuagint render My heart strings are broken The heart-strings by a metaphor may be taken for purposes because purposes are as Bands or strings upon the heart and therefore when purposes are broken we may say the bands or strings of the heart are broken Another reads The bindings or fastnings of my body are loosned or torne asunder which translation as also the former taken literally notes onely his neernesse to death for when a man dyeth we say his heart-strings breake and his whole body is in a fit of convulsion My purposes are broken The word signifies a violent forcible breaking as if a Giant had broken them But what was it which broke his purposes The violence and continuance of his afflictions was this Breaker or his purposes were broken by the confused motions and troublesome representations of his owne fansie to which sick men are very subject Againe what were those purposes of his which were broken If they were evill purposes he had reason to rejoyce not to complaine if they were good purposes was it not his sin as well as his affliction that they were broken off I answer to that Purposes may be good and yet broken without the sin of the purposer if himselfe be not the cause of that breach and the impediment of their performance If our holiest purposes are broken off by the inevitable providence of God the holinesse of man receives no blemish by it The purposes of Job were good doubtlesse eyther spiritually good or civilly good and they may be taken eyther for those purposes of doing good which hee had before hee fell into trouble or for those which hee had layd up in his brest to doe when he should be againe restored and delivered out of trouble As if he had sayd I once had an expectation of life and I purposed with my selfe what to doe with or in my new life but now those purposes are all broken off for I see my life is ready to be broken off The next clause seemes to explaine this and in that wee shall see more fully what he meanes by these purposes Even the thoughts of my heart Every thought of the heart is not a purpose yet every purpose is a thought of the heart our thoughts are made up into purposes eyther what to doe or not to doe Hence it is usuall to say I thought to have done such or such a thing that is I purposed to doe it Therefore Job might well say My purposes are broken off even the thoughts of my heart because purposes are nothing else but a frame or pack of thougts there is an elegancie in that word which we translate Thoughts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Possessiones cordis a radice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cogitationes meae avulsae sunt quas possidere solebat animus meus Jun. The Hebrew is The possessions of my heart so we put it in the Margin of our Bibles A learned Translator renders it thus The thoughts which my minde was wont to possesse are puld or snatcht away he meanes it not of all his thoughts as if his power of thinking had been lost but of those speciall thoughts which he had or hopes which he nourished about his restoring to happy dayes these once possessed his heart but they were gone Thoughts are called the possessions of the heart two wayes Dicuntur cogitationes possideri a corde quid enim magis proprium aut innatum cordi quam suae ipsius cogitationes Drus Coc. First In a passive sense Secondly In an active sense Passively Because they are possessed by the heart the heart doth enclose and hold our thoughts The hear◠is the naturally proper vessell or receptacle of thoughts therefore they are called the possessions of the heart The heart is the soyle and seat of thoughts there they are planted and there they dwell Actively For as thoughts are possessed by the heart so thoughts possesse the heart thoughts are full of activity they trouble and they comfort the heart looke what our thoughts are such is the state of our hearts if our thoughts be quiet our hearts are quiet if our thoughts be unquiet our hearts are unquiet if our thoughts be joyful our hearts rejoice if our thoughts be sad our hearts are sorrowfull 'T is sayd in the Gospel L. 24.38 Why are ye troubled why do thoughts rise in your hearts that is Why doe troublesome and disconsolate thoughts rise in your hearts 'T is as natural for thoughts to rise in the heart as it is for water to rise in a spring therefore Christ did not chide them because thoughts but because such thoughts did rise in their hearts We cannot hinder our hearts from thinking no more then wee can hinder the fire from burning or water from wetting but 't is our duty to hinder our hearts from undue or discourageing thoughts and to check them for thinking so Thoughts rule the heart and put it into severall frames and formes according to their owne likenesse and therefore it is both our wisedome and our holinesse to put and keepe our thoughts in the best likenesse The heart in a figurative sense is nothing else but the frame of our thoughts and our thoughts in a proper sense are nothing else but the possessions of the heart Tabulae cordis Chald. Further The Chaldee Paraphrase saith The Tables of my heart are broken so it is an allusion to writing The Law was written at first in Tables of Stone and now a heart of flesh not a fleshly heart is the Tables of the Law our hearts are Tables both for our owne writing and for Gods Job had written many purposes upon those tables therefore he might well say as in this case My purposes or all that was written upon the Tables of my heart are broken In my thoughts I had written and set downe many particulars which I purposed to have done Scriptura cordis nunc litura est Pined but now those lines are crossed or quite blotted out God writes many of his owne thoughts in
AN EXPOSITION WITH Practicall Observations CONTINUED UPON The fifteenth sixteenth and seventeenth Chapters of the Book of JOB BEING The Summe of twenty three Lectures delivered at Magnus neer the Bridge LONDON By JOSEPH CARYL Preacher of the Word and Pastour of the Congregation there JAMES CHAP. 1. VERS 12. Blessed is the Man that endureth temptation for when he is tryed he shall receive the Crowne of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him LONDON Printed by Matthew Simmons and are to be sould by Thomas Eglesfeild at the Marigold and at the Brasen Serpent in Pauls Church-yard 1650. TO THE CHRISTIAN READER TO THOSE ESPECIALLY OF THIS City who have been the movers and continue the Promoters of this WORK SOLOMON who made Many Bookes tells us toward the end of one of them Eccl. 12.12 That of making many Books there is no end and that much study is a wearinesse to the flesh But while Solomon speakes thus doth he not at once blot those many Books which himselfe had written and discourage others from writing any more Though study be a wearinesse to the flesh yet 't is granted that 's no sufficient reason why we should desist the flesh must be wearied and hard wrought 't is good it should be so But there 's no colour of reason why we should begin that which eyther cannot be finisht and brought to an end or which is to no end when 't is brought to an end and finisht How then saith Solomon that of making many Books there is no end His scope cleares this scruple for having read his Son a Lecture upon the vanity of the Creature and having given him many excellent advices for the due steering of his course through this World he applyes all in the former part of this Verse And further by these my Son be admonished Let what is now written take upon thy heart and be accepted with thee For Vers 10. The Preacher sought to finde out acceptable words and that which was written was upright even words of truth Againe Vers 11. The words of the Wise are as Goads and as Nayles fastned by the Masters of Assemblies which are given from one Shepheard Therefore let these words like Goads put thee on and like Nayles fasten thee to the obedience of my counsels By these my Son be admonished As if he had sayd Let not this Booke which discovers the vanity of all worldly things be it selfe accounted vaine If this Book prevaile not with thee if it master not thy judgement and mannage not thy affections 't is to no end for me to make many Bookes seeing this is cloathed with as much compleatnesse of rule to direct as a Book of this Argument can be and is stampt with as much strength of Authority to command as any Book of any Argument can be And further why shouldest thou my Son put mee to the making of many Bookes What if I could make many with as much ease to my owne spirit as I have made this one which was given me in immediately by the spirit yet thou canst not study or as we put in the Margin read many Books without weaâ—inesse to thy flesh So then though Solomon might have just had ground to put the affectation both of writing and reading many Books upon the file of his observed vanities yet hee doth not disoblige from the study of necessary and serious Books nor at all condemne those many Monuments of profitable learning which industrious Pens have in any Age bequeathed to Posterity He indeed which yet is but a second designe if it be at all the designe of that place takes us off from vaine studies and censures those Bookes be they few as well as many which have no tendency to make any man eyther the wiser or the better by reading them Nor can those Books how many soever they are be to their disparagement called Many which center in and promote what is but one in every kinde any kinde of Truth cheifely that which we call Divine or Holy Truth Any One uselesse or erroneous Booke is too many Many usefull and Orthodox Bookes are but One. The five Bookes of Moses are but One Law The foure Bookes of the Birth Life and Death of our ever blessed Redeemer Jesus Christ are but One Gospell All the Bookes of both Testaments are but one Booke Vpon which account we may also say that All those many and many Bookes which faithfully interpret That one Booke are but one Booke And though of making many such Bookes there should as I conceive there will be no end till this World ends as End is taken for a ceasing to make them yet of making many such Bookes there is an end yea many noble ends as End is taken for the good or benefit which comes by making them The making of such Bookes is good and a benefit to the Reader as communicating to him those manifestations of the spirit which are given to every man to whom they are given to profit withall The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there used by the Apostle signifies such a profit as streameth out to community The making of such Bookes is also good and a benefit to the Maker as being an improvement of his Time and Talents to his owne peace and his Masters glory 'T is reward beyond all the World can give for any worke that God hath glory and man peace in doing it As this small peice of worke is directed to these last mentioned ends and as it ought principally to the first of them so that it may reach the former by adding a Mite or two to the Treasury of the Readers knowledge in the best things and by being his encouragement to walke in the best wayes is the hope and prayer and the reaching of it will be indeed a very rich reward and payment of Your affectionate Freind and Servant in this Worke of the Lord Joseph Caryl May 22. 1650. AN EXPOSITION Upon the Fifteenth sixteenth and seventeenth Chapters of the Book of JOB JOB Chap. 15. Vers 1 2 3 4 5 6. Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite and sayd Should a wise man utter vaine knowledge And fill his belly with the East winde Should be reason with unprofitable talke Or with speeches wherewith he can doe no good Yea thou castest off feare and restrainest prayer before God For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity and thou chusest the tongue of the crafty Thine owne mouth condemneth thee and not I Yea thine owne lips testifie against thee WEE are come to the second Session of this great dispute between Job and his three Freinds they have all spoken one turne and now they returne to speake Eliphaz who led the first charge leads the second and that with a very violent march against this sorrowfull man Yet we are not to conceive Eliphaz upon any designe to revile his person or to vex his spirit That were most unsuitable in any Freind much more such we suppose Eliphaz to
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
his Sons necke and kissed him So in heat of wrath an Enemy runs upon the neck of his Enemy and wicked men who are enmity against God run upon the neck of God Some conceive that this running upon the neck of God imports two things First That the wicked man imagines himselfe as having an equality of strength with God Erat paenae genus ut Magistratus si quem suo imperio parum obedientem viderit in collum invaderent intorquerent Liv. l. 4. And secondly That he hath authority above God or that he is Gods better and superiour This latter they ground upon an old custome among Magistrates who finding an offender contumacious were wont to command the Officer to take him by the neck and dragg him out of the Court to receive his punishment But I shall not insist upon that Criticisme especially considering the incongruity of it with the next words Even upon the thick bosses of his buckler Malefactors are never permitted to come armed before the Judge to their Arraignments The word which we translate Thicke signifies also Fat because fat is thick Hence the Vulgar Latine translates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In densitate altitudinum scutorum ejus in crassitiem corporum scutorum ejus Me c. Alludit ad pervetustum praeliandi modum cum clipeo in cujus medio erat prominentia quae dicitur umbo in quo erat cuspis quo cominus concertabatar Boâ—d He is armed with his fat neck But I passe that According to our reading which keeps closer to the Original Eliphaz describes the ancient and present forme of Bucklers which as they are defensive weapons so also offensive and therfore have not only Bosses for ornament but one especially in the center or middle with a sharpe pike in it for use For as the whole Buckler secured the body against the Arrow or Sword of the Adversary so if he pressed neer this high Bosse or Pike of the Buckler served to pierce and wound the Adversary So that while the wicked man is sayd to run upon God even upon the thick bosses of his Buckler it shewes the highest valiancy of a wicked man in opposing God he fights not onely afarr off but neer at hand and presses upon him though within the reach and danger of his Weapon Hence Observe There is no danger can keep a wicked man off from sin Like the Horse in this Book Chap. 39.22 He mocketh at feare and is not afrighted neither turneth away from the Sword hee swalloweth the ground with fiercenesse and rage he saith among the Trumpets Aha aha though God have a Buckler man will come upon him yea though God have a Bosse upon his Buckler to strike and wound him yet on he comes The Buckler of God is the Law or Word of God and the Bosses of this Buckler are the threatnings and curses of the Law Now when man sins notwithstanding the Law which is the Buckler by which God saves and protects his honour and his holinesse his name and glory from the wounds which sinfull man is ready to give him then man may be sayd to run upon his Buckler And when notwithstanding the sharpe threats and terrible curses of the Law which are the thick Bosses with which he wounds those who transgresse his Law when I say notwithstanding these man adventures to sin and transgresse the Law he may rightly be sayd To run upon the thicâ— bosses of his Bucklers God gave Adam a Law Of the Tree of knowledge of good and evill thou mayst not eate Here was the Buckler and when he added this threat In the daye thou eatest therâ—of thou shall surely dye Here was the Bosse God sent a word to Pharaoh Let my people goe this was a Buckler If thou refuse to let them goe I will slay thy first borne this was the Bosse Adam run upon the Bosse of the Buckler so did Pharoah and so doe all wilfull sinners A wicked heart will goe on sinning whatsoever God is speaking or doing Isa 57.17 I was wrath and smote him yet he went on frowardly in the way of his heart Neither the wrath of God nor their owne smart stopt their progresse though smitten yet they went on Saints sometimes goe on sinning though God be smiting they have run upon the Bosses of the Buckler to the wounding both of their soules and of their outward comforts wicked men will run upon them to the damning of their soules and bodies Though they see yea feele the bosses judgement not onely threatned but executed yet on they will and like wicked Ahaz in the time of their affliction sin more against the Lord. This is the height of sinfulnesse As it shewes the truth and height of holinesse in the Saints when they will not onely run to God in faire times when men approve but in the worst times when men oppose when they venture to doe their duty upon the Bucklers of men yea upon the Bosses of the Buckler extreamest danger So it shewes a like strength and height of wickednes when men venture upon the Bosses of the Buckler upon the point of the naked Sword of Gods displeasure they will venture let it cost what it will though the Lord set a flaming Sword in the way of lust as he did in the way of the Tree of life Gen. 3. though the Lord set an Angell with a drawn Sword in the way of lust as he did in Balams way when he was going to curse Israel yet on they will Till the heart be changed neither Swords nor Bucklers nor Bosses neither wrath threatned nor executed can cause a sinner to change his course This the Prophet complaines of Isa 9.13 The people turneth not to him that smiteth them neither doe they seek the Lord of Hoasts Their incorrigiblenesse under severest corrections is elegantly described by another Prophet enumerating five speciall stroakes or smitings to every one of which he subjoynes Yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord Amos 4.6 7 8. c. When the bellows were burnt and the lead consumed of the fire that is when all instruments and meanes of refining them were spent and worne out yet their drosse remained in them The Founder melted in vaine for the wicked that is their wickednesses or evill things were not plucked away Jer. 6.29 30. They went into the Furnace full of drosse and they came out as full of drosse as they went in The Founder blowed his fire till he burnt his bellows but their lusts had no sent of fire upon them his lead by which he seperates the drosse from the metall was all consumed and evaporated but the drosse of their corruptions wasted no more then the purest gold doth in the fire Hence the Lord resolved to wast no more of his judgements upon them Why should you be smitten any more ye will revolt more and more Isa 1.5 To revolt from God and to run upon him are sins of the same straine and they who
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
the vvords as a wish O that your soules were in my soules stead yet Job did not wish it for their hurt but that he might have an opportunity to shew how much hee would labour to bee their Servant in Love to doe them good Hence Note A good man doth not wish ill to those who have rewarded him with evill upon any other termes then a discovery of his owne goodnesse 'T is sin to wish that they who are in a comfortable condition might fall into our misery though they have been miserable comforters to us in our misery We may not in this case wish paine or sorrow to any sort of men except upon one of these two considerations First That vve may give them an experiment of our tendernesse towards them in doing them all the good vve can in their affliction Or secondly That God may give an experiment of his graciousnesse towards them in doing them good by their afflictions The Prophet Isaiah Chap. 14.10 foreshewes how they vvho had been vveakened by the power of Babylon should insult over vveakned Babylon All they shall speake and say unto thee Art thou also become weake as we Art thou become like unto us The people of God shall at last rejoyce in reference to the glory of God and publick good to see their destroyers destroyed and those weake who have weakned them But the people of God in reference to any private or personall interest cannot rejoyce at the destruction or in the weaknesse of any man much lesse can they wish them weake that they might have an opportunity to rejoyce over them Paul was a Prisoner and in bonds yet he did not wish the worst of his Enemies in Prison or in Bonds with him he onely wisht that they might enjoy the same liberty by Jesus Christ which himselfe enjoyed For when he had almost perswaded King Agrippa to become a Christian he sayd I would to God that not thou onely but also all that heare me this day were both almost and altogether such as I am except these bonds Acts 26.28 29. I would keep my chaines and troubles to my selfe I would have none of you know my sorrows but I would that all your soules were in as good a state as mine and knew my comforts A holy heart wisheth all well as well as it selfe and if at any time he wisheth that to the worst of his enemies which is penally evill he doth it with an eye both to their spirituall and eternall good Thus of the words as they are read in the forme of a wish We read them as a Supposition If your soules were in my soules stead And then the two latter branches must be interpreted as acts of unfreindlinesse shewing what Job could but would not doe as was toucht before I could heap up words against you That is I could make long speeches and enlarge my selfe in discourse I could speake terrour and thunder out whole volleys of threats against you I could deafe your eares with loud voyces and sad your hearts with heavy censures There is a figure in Rhetorick called Congeries or The Heape Many words to the same sense especially when there is little in them but words are called justly a heape of words Now saith Job Quassare caput apud authores Latinos gestus est hominis irati aut minantis aut lamentantis Drus .. Ridentes caput motitant Drus I could be as nimble at this figure as you and with my speech I could mix your action Shake my head at you Shaking the head notes scorne and threatning Psal 22.7 All they that seeme laugh me to scorne they shoot out the lip and shake the head saying He trusted on the Lord c. So the afflicted Church complaines Psal 44.14 Thou makest us a by-word among the Heathen a shaking of the head among the people We have this action joyned with two more which signifie the greatest contempt by lamenting Jeremiah Lam. 2.15 All that passe by clap their hands at thee they hisse and wag their head at the Daughter of Jerusalem saying Is this the City that men call the perfection of beauty the joy of the whole Earth Our blessed Saviour upon whom contempt and scorne was to vent it selfe all manner of wayes hee being to beare all that scorne as well as all that paine which was due to our sins our blessed Saviour I say was scorned this way Matth 27.39 And they that passed by reviled him wagging their heads So then to shake or wagg the head at a man in affliction speakes as sometimes our pity so most times our contempt and as it is usually accompanyed with audible mockings so it selfe is a visible mock Which being interpreted speakes thus to the person afflicted Thou evill-doer or thou hypocrite thou doest even well become thy sufferings all these miseries are well bestowed on thee c. In this sense Job seemes to speake here I could shake my head at you I have indeed been as one mocked of his Freind Chap. 12.4 and I could mock my Freinds I could laugh at your calamity and mocke when your feare commeth but my conscience beares witnesse with me that if it should come I would not Hence Note First A godly man hath a power to doe that evill which he hath no will to doe A carnall man hath a will to many evills for which hee hath no power or opportunity A godly man would not doe any evill how much power and opportunity soever he hath And indeed though he hath a naturall or civill yet hee hath not a morall power to doe any evill In which sense the Apostle speakes of a regenerate person 1 John 3.9 He that is borne of God cannot sin He hath a naturall power to sin any sin to lye to be drunk to be uncleane c. He may have a civill power to oppresse to deceive to wrong his Brother yet he cannot turne either his hand or his heart to such works as these are he hath learned better and is better He is borne of God his blood and pedigree is so high that hee cannot meddle nor trade in such low things Wisedome is too high for a foole saith Solomon Prov. 24.7 and folly is too low for a wisedome When Joseph was solicited by his Mistresse to commit folly with her he answers How can I doe this great wickednesse and sin against God Gen. 39.9 Joseph wanted neyther power nor opportunity to doe that wickednesse yet he saith How can I doe it Paul and his fellow-Apostles had wit and parts sufficient to oppose the truth yet he saith 2 Cor. 13.8 We can doe nothing against the truth but for the truth Paul was a great doer and he saith Phil. 4.13 I can doe all things through Christ strengthening of me but Paul could doe nothing to the dishonour of Christ Doubtlesse Paul could have maintained an argument and drive on an objection as farr as another man against the truth if he would have set himselfe to
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
up Zerubbabel and others of the Jewish line to reassume the Government of Judah But this Prophesie was chiefely intended and verified in a spirituall sense when God sent Jesus Christ A Governour proceeding from the midst of them of whom Zerubbabel was but a type for of him the Lord speakes chiefely in this admiring Question Who is this that engageth his heart to approach â—nto me Or who is this that with his heart that is with so much chearefulnesse and willingnesse hath put himselfe as a surety for this people with me to approach to me in their cause and to take upon him the dispatch of all their affaires and concernments with me in the Court of Heaven Who is this great this forward Engager but he who also sayd Loe I come to doe thy will O God What will came he to doe Even this To be a Surety and so a Sacrifice to God for sinners Heb. 10. Thus the whole businesse of our deliverance and the first motions to it lay quite without us God appointed and put in Christ our surety with him and Christ freely condiscended to be our surety knowing that the whole debt must lye upon his discharge Put me in a surety with thee But here it may be doubted how this notion of a Surety suites with this place seeing Jobs controversie was with man not with God and himselfe also had professed that all was cleare for him in Heaven I answer That although men accused Job yet their accusation reacht his peace with God for had he been such a one as they represented him he must needs have fallen under the divine displeasure more then he did under theirs And therefore while he pleaded Not-guilty to their charge he beggs further discoveries of the favour of God to him through the Mediatour by the remembrance of whose Suretiship his heart was confirmed in the pardon of all his sinfull faylings against God vvhereof he was guilty as well as his heart told him that hee was not guilty of those wilfull sins wherewith hee was accused by men When we lye under wrongfull accusations of which we indeed need no surety to acquit us it is good to view and renew our Interest in the Surety who will acquit us where there is need Job proceeeds to re-inforce the reason why he desired God to undertake or to provide a Surety for him Vers 4. Thou hast hid their heart from understanding therefore shalt thou not exalt them Or Thou hast hid understanding from their heart As if he had sayd Thou hast cast such a mist before the eyes of these men who mocke me and judge me wicked that they are unfit to be trusted with the determination of my cause for did they not want a due light of understanding they might quickly discerne my integrity and cleare me from their owne suspitions God sometimes as it were wraps or folds up the hearts of the Children of men in ignorance blindnesse and darknesse and so hides not onely understanding from their hearts but their hearts from understanding As God is sayd to circumcize the heart to open the eyes to take away the vaile when he gives the knowledge of his truth so he is sayd to blinde the eyes to cover the heart with fat and to cloud the understanding vvhen hee denyes or withholds the knowledge of the truth Thou hast hid their hearts from understanding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Est mens ratio intellectus dexteritas in agendâ— The vvord which we translate Vnderstanding signifies any of or all the intellectuall powers together with a readinesse or activity for dispatch in any service we are called unto Thou hast hid their heart from understanding therefore they doe but bungle at the businesse and cannot judge aright they cannot discerne the manner of thy dispensations towards me nor see the bottome of my condition Job did not censure his Freinds as fooles or ignorant as if they were witlesse or worthlesse men they were wise and learned yea honest and godly too But when Job saith Thou hast hid their heart from understanding we are to restraine it to the matter in hand or to his particular case As if he had sayd Thou hast hid the understanding of what thou hast done to me from their hearts thy providences are mysteries and riddles which they cannot unfold and as they know not the meaning of what thou dost so they know not my meaning when I sayd Chap. 9.17 He hath multiplyed my wounds without cause Nor vvhen I sayd Vers 22. He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked These sayings are secrets to my Freinds Now Lord for as much as these men have no true insight in this present controversie therefore I begg that thou wouldest undertake for me or put me in a surety with thee Further For the clearing of this Scripture it may be questioned First how God is sayd to hide the heart from understanding God doth this foure wayes First By speaking darkely or in such a manner as the understanding cannot easily finde a passage to the things that are spoken A Parable is a darke saying And when Christ Preached in Parables His Disciples came and sayd unto him Why speakest thou to them in Parables Matth. 13.10 Now among other reasons which Christ was pleased to give of that dispensation this was one Vers 14. In them is fulfilled the Prophesie of Isaiah which saith By hearing yee shall heare and shall not understand and seeing yee shall see and shall not perceive As if Christ had sayd These men have justly deserved to be punished with spirituall darknesse which is not Vnderstanding and therefore I have spoken to them in a darke way They did not heare to obey vvhat was plaine and easie to be understood and therefore now they shall heare what they cannot understand Secondly God hides the heart from understanding by denying or not giving light and that a twofold light First The outward light of his word Thus all those people are sayd to sit in darknesse that is To have no understanding in the things of God where the Gospell is not published Secondly By denying or not giving the inward light of his spirit though the light of the World abound For as a man may have the Sun shining in his face and yet be in the darke if he wants eyesight So as the Apostle speakes 2 Cor. 4.3 4. the Gospell is hid in the most glorious shining of it to those whose mindes the God of this World hath blinded Now every man is borne spiritually blinde or he is blinde by nature and he is blinded by the God of this Worlds till the God of all Worlds sends his spirit with the Word for the opening of his eyes Thirdly God hides the heart from understanding as by not giving so by vvithdrawing the light vvhich he hath given Many have forfeited their eye-sight and their light and God hath taken the forfeiture of them Which he doth first when men are proud of the
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Denotatur in illo verbo activa provocatio indignatio irritatio Caligavit ab indignatione oculus meus Vulg. or tropically for the understanding Some interpret Job of the eye of the minde and that hath complyance with the translation vvhich is also given of the latter clause as I shall shew vvhen I come thither But I rather take it literally for the eye of the body Mine eye that is That Organ of sight which is as the Glasse or light of the vvhole body even that is dim by reason of Sorrow The word signifies more then ordinary sorrow it signifies sorrow vvith indignation or from provocation Jobs sorrow had a touch of indignation and it stirred him up to some undue provocations Sorrow is taken two wayes Actively Passively Actively for the sorrow sorrowing Passively for the sorrow sorrowed Magna cogitatio obcaecat adducto intus visu in morbo comitiali aperti nihil cernunt animo caligante Plin. lib. 11. c. 37. de oculis lachrymis Sorrow is the affliction it selfe or sorrow is that passion vvhich moves in us vvhen vve are afflicted By reason of sorrow mine eye is dim Sorrow is a wast both to the vitall and visive powers Psal 6.7 Mine eye is consumed because of greife Againe Psal 31.9 10. Have mercy on me O Lord for I am in trouble mine eye is consumed with greife yea my soule and my belly This effect of greife hath been toucht before Chap. 16.16 Mine eye is dim by reason of sorrow And all my members are as a shadow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Formavit Members That is First all the members of my body Secondly the Hebrew beares it all the creatures and imaginations of my minde are as a shadow The same word is used Gen. 6.5 The thoughts of the imaginations of mans heart that is The figments Creata in◠ea quasiuinb a omnia Merc. Per creata alij membra alii cogitationes volunt Rab. Lev. Vocabulum illud quadrat in illa omnia quae externa figura aut interna cogitatione effigiantur hinc multi legunt cogitationes phantasias Pagn Reg. Vatabl. or features of things vvhich are formed up there are evill and onely evill continually Wee put All my thoughts in the Margine of our Translation As if he had sayd My minde is so enfeebled that I can scarse thinke or frame any solid notion my minde is so unsetled that I know not how to make up my thoughts or bring them to a rationall issue about any point Sorrow weakens the intellective part as vvell as the sensitive As if hee had sayd My minde which heretofore was apt to conceive and to bring forth the exactest Ideas and platformes of truth I who could shape and fashion excellent meditations am now so weak-headed that I can scarse put two thoughts together and all I doe is but a shadow to what I have been able to doe This is a faire sense yet considering the context I rather understand it of the members of his body vvhich vvere so decayed and poore that he look'd like a Skeleton or as vvee say of such an Anatomy nothing being left but skin and bone nothing but a pack of bones so that hee vvas rather the shadow and appearance of a man then a man Hence Observe The sorrowes of the minde breake the body as well as the minde This effect of sorrow hath been met with in other places and particularly Chap. 16.16 I shall onely add that although godly sorrow as was there shewed may worke deeply to the expence of bodily strength yet there is a very gracious promise Isa 58.11 that God will make the bones of such fat that is Fill them with marrow vvhich is the strength of the vvhole outward man And they who are weakned by the continuall exercises of godly sorrow here are in preparation to an estate vvhere they shall sorrow no more There will be no dimm eyes in Heaven nor members like a shadow Our vile body shall be fashioned like unto his glorious body and all teares and mourning shall flee away Perfect happinesse is inconsistent vvith a blubbered eye And though in Heaven a Saint may be called Adam because his body for the substance of it shall be the same that it was here on earth though extreamely refined and sublimated yea spiritualiz'd yet earth still now I say though a Saint in Heaven after the resurrection may in this sense be called Adam made of Earth yet no Saint can be there called Enosh that state being incapable of the least mixture of sorrow JOB CHAP. 17. Vers 8 9. Vpright men shall be astonied at this and the innocent shall stirr up himselfe against the Hypocrite The righteous also shall hold on his way and he that hath cleane hands shall be stronger and stronger IN the two former Verses Job shewed the greatnesse of his affliction from a twofold effect In these two Verses he shewes two reasons vvhy his afflictions vvere so great not as Eliphaz and his Associates had suggested because hee was a great sinner or had sinned beyond the common line of man but First That men even upright men might be astonied at the strangenesse of this dispensation of God and of his strength supporting a vveake creature under it and carrying him through it God will doe some things which shall at once teach and astonish his people and gives them not onely matter of instruction but cause of wonder Secondly That the innocent and righteous might be encouraged by my example to proceed vigorously in the vvayes of holinesse notwithstanding all the opposition they finde from men and the afflictions layd upon them by the hand of God for as much as the favour of God shines in upon mee through all these Clouds and I have no doubt of his love though I feele all this smart Naki non tam in conscientia purum a peccato quam ab omni passione humanoque respectu immunem virum hic significat Bold Vers 8. Vpright men shall be astonied at this Who is an upright man hath been opened before yet here the upright man is a man free from passion and prejudice as well as from hypocrisie and false-heartednesse The word which we translate Astonied signifies astonishment with admiration or such an admiration as leaves a man astonied and senselesse or puts him quite beside himselfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tacitu miratus est prae admiratione stupuit when naturall reason is much overpowred we act as if we had had no reason Vpright men shall be astonied Master Broughton reads it in the Imperative Mood Let upright men be astonied at this Hee carries the same forme to the end of the context Let upright men be astonished at this and let the innocent stirr up himselfe against the Hypocrite Let the righteous hold on his way and let him that hath cleane hands be stronger and stronger As if the words contained a use of exhortation or direction