past that vvhich vvas from the beginning and shall be to the end yea to that vvhich hath no end eternity is alwaies before him God is said to remember or to forget vvhen he acts like a man vvho remembers or forgets but there is no act either of forgetfulnesse or of remembrance in God Remembring implieth two things in God First A serious attention to the person and consideration of the thing vvhich he formerly seemed to slight or lightly to passe by We also remember by minding and thinking upon vvhat is present as well as by recalling what is past Secondly To remember notes a speedy supply of our wants or actuall deliverance out of dangers God remembers us when he favours us he remembers us when he pities us he remembers us when he relieves us Who remembred us in our low estate Psal 136.23 that is who brought us out of our low estate The needy shall not alway be forgotten Psal 9.18 not alway no nor at any time the Lord doth not at all forget any much lesse such needy ones as that Scripture intends The meaning is they shall not alway be undelivered their estate shall not lie for ever unconsidered and their cry unattended to God will not deal with them nor suffer others to deal with them as if he had forgotten them Hannah was long under that affliction of barrennesse and when the Lord gave her conception it is said He remembred Hannah 1 Sam. 1.19 his thoughts were ever upon her and upon her petition but when he granted her petition then he remembred her indeed As we then remember God when we obey his commands so God remembers us then when he fulfils our requests Remember I beseech thee As it is our duty to remember the Lord so it is our priviledge that we may put him in remembrance It is a priviledge and a very great one to be a remembrancer to the king of heaven The Prophet describes such an office Isa 62.6 Ye that make mention of the Lord or nearer the Hebrew Ye that are the Lords remembrancers keep not silence and give him no rest Great Princes have an officer called their Remembrancer and they need remembrancers It is at once their honour and their weaknesse to have them They cannot retain all businesses and preserve a record within themselves of all affairs within their Kingdoms It is an honour to God that he hath remembrancers but it is his greater honour that he hath no need of them Himself is the living record of all that hath been done or is to be done Knowledge is above memory and he that knows all things is above remembrancers God is willing we should speak to him after the manner of men but we must not conceive of him after the manner of men We must not think he hath forgotten us though we may beseech him to remember us There are four things which the Saints usually move the Lord to remember First His own mercies Remember O Lord thy tender mercies was Davids praier Psal 25.6 Hath God forgotten to be gracious was Davids question and infirmity Psal 77.9 yet God acts sometimes as if he had forgot his nature or had need to be minded to do what he is God can no more forget himself then deny himself no more forget to be gracious then cease to be yet he gives his people leave yea a charge to move him to do what he cannot but do what he is resolved yea what he is ready to do Mercy pleaseth God so much that he often appears displeased on purpose that we may remember him of his mercy He delights we should desire what he delights to grant Secondly The Saints usually minde God of his Covenant God is ever mindefull of his Covenant Psal 111.5 yet he loves to be minded of it His royall title is The God that keepeth Covenant for ever yet he loves to be desired not to break it Thus Jeremy begs for the Jews the Covenant-people of God Do not abhor us for thy name sake Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory remember break not thy Covenant with us Jer. 14.21 The Psalmist praies upon the same ground Have respect to the Covenant for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty As if he had said Lord Thou hast made a Covenant to preserve and protect thy people but now they are oppressed The dark places that is places full of ignorance and wickednesse which are spirituall darknesse are full of cruelty Holy knowledge hath no such enemy as ignorance Or the dark places are full c. may be thus understood there is no such obscure corner or by-place in the land but their malice searcheth it out for the vexation of thy people We are so far from having liberty to serve thee publikely in the light that we feel the cruelty of bloudy minded men though we do it secretly or in the dark Now Lord it is time for thee to remember thy Covenant Thirdly The Saints use to put God in remembrance of the rage and blasphemies of his and their enemies Thus the Church of the Jews cries unto the Lord Psal 137.7 Remember O Lord the children of Edom in the day of Ierusalem who said rase it rase it even to the foundation thereof When a man is wrong'd who intends revenge he will say to the party wronging him well Remember this or I shall remember you for this Revengefull men have strong memories so hath the God to whom vengeance belongeth He will certainly remember the sinfull revengefull cry of Edom against Jerusalem though the sins of Jerusalem did cry to him for vengeance The Psalmist is as earnest in another place urging the Lord to remember for his own interest as here for the interest of his Sion Psal 74.18 Remember this that the enemy hath reproached O Lord and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy Name As if he had said Pray Lord take a note of this make a memorandum of this That the enemy hath reproached thy Name God will remember it if any of his servants are reproached much more when himself is Fourthly The Saints remember God of their own frailty and that two-fold First Naturall Secondly Spirituall Remember how short my time is wherefore hast thou made all men in vain Psal 89.47 Man is a frail short-liv'd creature and it is some comfort to him that God knows he is so That which Job puts the Lord in remembrance of is his naturall frailty some understand it also of his spirituall Remember I beseech thee That thou hast made me as the clay The LXX reads it Thou hast made me clay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word signifies cement or morter which are mixt of earth water Thou hast made me as tempered clay When the originall of man is described Propriè significat cementum vel terram aqua mixtam it is said The Lord formed man dust out of the ground or
rottennesse of his spirit blisters upon his tongue in unsavoury speeches so those passions and affections of the heart joy and sorrow anger and heavinesse appear in the face and we may read the distempers of the heart in the disguisednesse of a look Cordis index vultus totusque homo est in facie Nomen faciei in Scriptura sâ—gnificat exteriorem hâ—bitum sicut facies terrae coeli reip Bold Latina vox facies significat non solum os ocutos genas sed formam omnem modum facturam totius corporis à faciendo dictaâ— Aul. Gel. The face is the Index of the heart that tels you how things goe within Therefore Job saith If I leave off my face meaning as we translate If I leave off heavinesse which is so evident in my face or which is as easie to be seen as my face If I resolve to appear chearfull and merry and will not let clouds darken my countenance any longer yet c. The face is put generally for the appearance or out-side of any thing as we say the face of the earth the face of the heavens the face of the Church or Common-wealth So that To leave off heavinesse or the face is to leave off all shew of heavinesse As Joseph left off his tears of joy Gen. 43.30 31. who having eased his heart of his joyfull sorrows by weeping secretly in his chamber Washed his face went out and refrained himself Thus Iob would have washed his mournfull tears from his face he attempted to refrain himself but he could not his sorrows were too strong for him and as he could not remove so he could not dissemble them For this leaving off is to be taken as the precedent act of forgetting for an affected resolved laying aside If I make it my businesse to be chearfull and leave off my heavinesse yet c. Observe hence Sorrow is not easily shaken off Sorrow sticks close It is very hard for a man to play the hypocrite with his sorrow or dissemble the sadnesse of his heart but it is farre harder to be really delivered of it Sorrow is a companion that will not be cast off with a word A man may more easily cover his sinne then his sorrow Many can put a visour of holinesse upon their faces when nothing but wickednesse is in their hearts but it is not easie to make a shew of comfort when nothing but sorrow is in the heart Grief will out Heavinesse in the heart is like the ointment in the right hand of vvhich Solomon speaks Prov. 27.16 that it bewraieth it self One said of a merry Atheist He laugheth to thee and to me that is he seems to laugh but he mourns to himself the mans heart is heavy If it be not so yet it may be so with all wicked men when they are merriest in the face they have reason to have sorrow even unto death in their hearts it is a hard thing I say to put sorrow out of the face much more to get it out of the heart when it is lodged there once it will not soon be dispossess'd The Apostle Heb. 12.1 exhorts To lay aside every weight and to cast off the sinne that doth so easily beset us he means it of the sinne of nature which we bear about us this sinne saith he doth easily beset us but let us cast it off that is let us study and strive to lay aside this heavinesse of sinne which is the truest cause of the heavinesse of sorrow One would thinke that a man needs not much perswasion when he hath an heavy burthen upon his shoulders to lay it aside yet so it is man can hardly be perswaded to lay aside this burthen and it is the businesse we have with your souls every day to perswade you to lay it aside It is a weight that easily besets us Now as we need much exhortation to cast off the weight of this sinne which is so pleasing so also of sorrow though it be unpleasant When sorrow besets us it leaves us without ease but sorrow easily besets us Iob found it a hard task to lay aside his burden Because his friends thought he fed too much upon his afflictions therefore he tried what he could doe but it would not doe If I say I will leave off my heavinesse I well comfort my self c. See the issue by and by I will comfort my self Comfort is the very life of our lives the spring of our year the light of our day the Sunne in our firmament the complement of mercy and therefore Christ gives his Church the summe of all mercy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that one promise of sending the Comforter The Hebrew word signifies to strengthen Roboravit confortavit vires collegit Sept. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because when a man is cast down with sorrows his spirit is weakned Comfort is the repair of strength If I say I will comfort that is corroborate and strengthen my self Psal 39.13 O spare me saith David that I may recover my strength or that I may a little comfort my self The Septuagint renders it That I may get my life again that I may be enlivened and re-insouled or fetch back my soul again Here if I say I will comfort my self Take heart at grasse as we say and play the man then my sorrows renew upon me But some may object How is it that Job takes upon him to comfort himself Is it any wonder if Job came short of comfort when he went to himself for comfort Comfort is not a commodity to be found in the hand or power of any creature the great God hath all that in his own hand if any man will have comfort he must trade to heaven for it It is the honour of God to be called The God of all comfort 2 Cor. 1.3 that is the God who hath all comfort at his dispose As some Kings have a denomination from the great staple commodities of their Kingdoms Our King is called The King of the wooll because wooll is the chief commodity and more plentifull here then in any Countrey of the world Another is called King of the wines and another of the flax Comfort is the staple commodity of heaven and God is called The God of all comfort not only because the chiefest and best comforts are in his hand but because there is not the least imaginable comfort to be had out of his hand He hath the monopoly of comfort or rather the solegift of comfort We can trouble and perplex our selves but God only can comfort us And he is the God of all comfort of all sorts and of all degrees of comfort the God not only of spirituall but of worldly comfort of temporall comfort as well as of eternall As the joyes of the holy Ghost are in his hand so are the joyes of civil relations the joy of meat and drinke the joy of riches and honour are in his hand also How then saith Job I
The superiour may ask the inferiour and call him to an account Every inferâ—our Judge and Court is accountable to those above that is the highest Court and he the highest Judge to whom no man can say What doest thou The Parliament of England is therefore the highest Judicatory in this Kingdom because their actions are not questionable in any other Court one Parliament may say to another What hast thou done This Parliament hath said to Parliaments that have gone before What have ye done in making such and such Laws No power of man besides their own can question some men much lesse can any man question God and say to him What doest thou He is supreme there is no appeal to any other higher Judge or higher Court. Hence observe Whatsoever God resolveth and determineth concerning us we must bear it and quietly submit No man may say unto him What doest thou Quicquid de nobis Deus statuit libenter ferendum est Why doe ye sit still saith the Prophet Jer. 8.14 Assemble your selves and let us enter into the defenced Cities and let us be silent there for the Lord hath put us to silence and given us waters of gall to drinke because we have sinned against him The Lord hath put us to silence that is the Lord hath done these things and we are not to question him about them or to ask him what he hath done or why he hath done thus Therefore let us be silent say they Let us not murmure at and complain over our own sufferings much lesse tax and charge God for his doings It becomes us to obey Gods suspension to be silent when he puts us to silence The Lord never silences any unlesse in wrath to those who would not hear from speaking in his name and publishing his vvord But he hath silenced all from speaking against his works and it will be ill with us if our passions how much soever God seems to act against us shall take off this suspension The Lord is uncontrollable in all his works When Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 4.35 came to himself and began to think and speak like a man after he had been among the beasts see what an humble acknowledgement he makes concerning God All the inhabitants of the earth saith he are reputed as nothing and he doth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him What doest thou Here we have both parts of Jobs speech none can stay his hand which is the former and none can say unto him What doest thou which is the later That great Monarch acknowledged he had no power to question God though he at that time had power to question all the men upon the earth Nebuchadnezzar speaks like Job A wicked man may make a true report of God Many speak right of the Lord whose hearts are not right with him Nebuchadnezzar was converted from beastlinesse but I finde not that he was converted to holinesse He came home to his own Court but I see no proof that he came home to the Church of God yet see how divinely he speaks and how humbly he walks not so much as offering to ask God who had chang'd him from a Commander of men to a companion of beasts What doest thou We may ask the Lord in one sense what he doth Yea the Lord doth nothing in the world but his Saints and servants are enquiring of him about it He invites them to petition for what they would have Ask of me things to come concerning my sons and concerning the work of my hands command ye me Isa 45.11 Though man cannot order or enjoyn the least thing upon God yet at the entreaty of his people he is as ready to doe as if he were at their command And as we are thus envited to ask things to come so we are not totally denied to ask about things already done We may ask him in an humble way for information not in a bold way of contradiction We may in zeal to his glory not in discontent with our own condition expostulate with him about what he hath done So Joshua Chap. 7.7 8. Alas O Lord God wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us Would to God we had been content and dwelt on the other side Jordan c. but how durst Joshua speak thus What if God vvould destroy them vvas it not his dury to bear it and let God alone Yes doubtlesse and such I doubt not vvas the frame of Joshuas spirit If Israel only had been to suffer Joshua had held his peace at least from such language but he saw a further matter in it the glory of God vvas like to suffer in their sufferings the close of his praier betraies this holy disposition of his heart vers 9. And what wilt thou doe unto thy great name As if he had said Lord the matter were not much though the name of Israel were blotted out from under heaven so thy Name were written in fairer characters But I fear a blow to Israel will be a blot to thy name and therefore I have taken upon me to pray this praier unto thee and I have praied rather for thee than to thee All praiers are made to God and yet some are made for him Not that he hath any want or is in any the remotest possibility of any danger but only for the promoting of his glory and that the world may not have occasion of a dishonourable thought of him whose honour never abates in it self or in the eyes of his own people Thus we may ask him what he hath done and why he hath brought such desolations upon his people But we may not ask him what he hath done either to question his right to doe it or to question his righteousnesse in doing of it No creature may put the question upon either of these terms What hast thou done much lesse conclude Thou hast done that which thou hast no right to do or thou hast been unrighteous in doing it Either of these is highest blasphemy for whatsoever the Lord doth he hath right to doe and whatsoever the Lord doth he is righteous in doing it Hence it followeth by way of corollary That The Lord is of absolute power He is the Soveraign Lord Lord over all there is no appeal from him no questioning of him Solomon speaketh of the power of a King in this language Eccles 8.4 Where the word of a King is there is power and who may say unto him What doest thou But is there nothing which a King doth about which it may be said unto him What dost thou And what is this word of a King The word of a King is the Law of his Kingdom all that a King doth or speaks besides the Law he speaks as a man not as a King and that 's the meaning of Solomons
7. And because ten righteous persons vvere not found in Sodome fire from heaven consumed it Gen. 18. God seeks for Saints many times to stand in the gap and save a Kingdome Ezek. 22.30 Jer. 5.1 and yet sometimes Kingdoms are not saved though many such stand in the gap Except the Lord turn away his anger these Porters of the world shall not support it these spirituall Atlasses shall faint and fall under him The Heathens had a fiction of a mighty Gigantine man vvhom they called Atlas him they fancied bearing up the frame of nature it is most true in a spirituall sense the Saints bear up the vvorld yet if the Lord turn not away his anger the vvorld must totter and fall too notwithstanding these helpers For the Saints doe not bear up the vvorld or save Kingdoms from vvrath by giving the least satisfaction to the justice of God that 's the sole Prerogative of Jesus Christ but onely by imploring the mercy of God Or they are therefore said to turn away the vvrath of God from a people because God vvill not pour out his vvrath upon that people vvhile his Saints are mingled vvith them The tares are let grow lest in pulling them up the vvheat should be pulled up also It is good for the vvorst to have the neighbourhood of those vvho are good Rab Sol. Ei succumbent conspiratores potentissiâ—â—i Illi scilicet qui cum arrogantia superbia alijs autcilium pollicentur Vâ—tabl Further More generally these proud helpers are supposed to be Kings and Common-wealths joyned in strongest confederacies and then the sense is If God come against a Nation though it joyn with other Nations though hand joyn in hand the hand of one King in the hand of another yet it shall not escape or go unpunished The proud helpers shall stoop under him There is yet another interpretation which restrains and limits the word Rahab particularly to Aegypt Superbi eoruâ— patroni Appellatur Aegyptâ—â— hoc nomine propter summam suam superbiam Vnlesse the Lord turn away his anger helpers out of Aegypt shall stoop under him or Aegypt helping shall stoop under him We finde frequently in the Scriptures of the old Testament that Aegypt is called Rahab And that name did well sute with Aegypt which was both a strong and a proud Kingdom Psal 87.4 We will remember Rahab and Babylon that is Aegypt and Babylon Aegypt and Babylon are matcht together for pride and for oppression persecuting the people of God And Isa 51.9 Art not thou it that hath cut Rahab and wounded the dragon That is Art not thou O Lord he that didst cut Aegypt in pieces when they opposed thy people and woundedst Pharaoh in the midst of the red sea In the 26th of this book of Job verse 12. some translate Rahab Aegypt Ex circumstantijs horum locorum non valde incongruum est hanc vocem sumi pro Aegypto prophaarone in mare demâ—rso Bold Rab. Sol. we render the Text thus He divideth the sea with his power and by his understanding he smiteth thorow the proud so we By his understanding he strikes thorow Rahab that is thorow Aegypt say others And so they make that Text and this an argument that the book of Job was penned after the deliverance of the people of Israel out of Aegypt and that in these passages Job had reference to the mighty work of God in destroying the Aegyptians at the red sea Taking the word thus the Text is Vnlesse the Lord turn away his anger Aegypt shall stoop under him as if he had said Doe you not remember a late instance of Gods power Aegypt thought to contend with God to hold his people in bondage whether he would or no when he had a minde to bring them forth but you know Aegypt stooped God brought down the pride and abated the strength of it And that other place Chap. 26.12 may be glossed thus He divided the sea by his power that is the red sea and by his understanding he struck thorow Rahab that is Loquitur propheticè Bold Adjuâ—ores Aegypti i. e. angeli ejuâ— gentis Vt in prophetiaâ— Danielis princeps Persidu Drus when the Aegyptians pursued his people he destroied them Which interpretation carries a very clear proof that Job alludes to the deliverance of Israel out of Aegypt and therefore lived after the time of that deliverance though others who grant the exposition deny the inference maintain that Job spake this prophetically not historically This we know that Aegypt was a place much sought to for help and therefore it is elegantly said If the Lord turn not away his anger Aegypt shall stoop that Nation which hath bin so often called out to help and relive other Nations that Nation which hath so often helped and relieved other Nations shall not be able to help Isa 31.1 They goe down to Aegypt for help as if Aegypt had been as a City of refuge or the place of common resort for help And Isa 30.7 The Aegyptians shall help in vain the Text is very appliable to this point we read it thus The Aegyptians shall helpe in vain and to no purpose therefore have I cried concerning this their strength is to sit still Their strength shall not deliver you they shall help in vain therefore I have warned you saith the Prophet to sit still to be quiet with your own strength and it is better to doe so than to go down thither for help But the word which we translate strength Superbia tantuÌ„ est quâ—esce fortasse vult dicere nihil aliud esse in ea quam superbiam is that in the Text Rahab and we may render the whole thus The Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose therefore I cried to them in this thing They are proud or only pride Therefore sit still As if he had said Will ye goe to Aegypt for help Ye go but to a proud people for help and ye had better have no helpers then proud helpers ye had better be quiet and sit still at home for they shall help you in vain So it is an elegant allusion to their nature and disposition The truth is proud helpers are very unsafe helpers for the Lord resisteth the proud and I wonder how they can help us to resist our enemies who are resisted by the Lord himself They will prove but ill friends to us who have the Lord for their enemy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They shall stoop under him Est valde dejici penitus humiliari hoc loco servilem potissimum conditionem designat The word is often used for worshipping it imports likewise any casting down or abasement because we in the worship of God ought to be exceedingly abased and humbled before him Psal 38.6 I am troubled I am bowed down greatly So Habak 3.6 The perpetuall hils did bow that is the power for it is conceived to be a continued Allegory of
way might be cleared to him Secondly observe A godly man may be long in the dark about the reason of Gods dealing with him He labours alwaies to give an account of his own heart and waies to God but he is seldom able to give an account of the waies of God toward him The way of God both in mercy and in judgement is in the sea and his foot-steps are not seen As there is much of the Word of God which a sincere heart after many praiers and much study is not able to give a reason of so also are there many of his works The text of both is dark to us till God make the Comment and he sees it best sometimes to make us call and call wait and wait before he makes it There was famine in the Land of Israel three years year after year and yet David knew not the cause doubtles he did often examine his own heart look into the Kingdom to see what might be a provocation there but saw nothing till after three years he enquired of the Lord who answered It is for Saul and for his bloudy house because he slew the Gibeonites 2 Sam. 21.1 It is more then probable that David had enquired of the Lord before that time A holy heart especially one so holy as Davids was can hardly let personall affliction be a day or an hour old without enquiring of the Lord about it And shall we think that David let this Nationall affliction grow three years old before he enquired of the Lord about it surely then this enquiry after the end of three years was that grand and most solemn enquiry by Vrim and Thummim appointed as the last resort to God in cases of greatest difficulty and concernment till David used this means he found no resolution of that case why the Lord contended with his Kingdom by famine year after year Neither had Iob got resolution when he thus complained why the Lord contended with him by sore diseases and mighty terrours day after day But because it might yet be wondered at by some how he durst adventure to put up such a request to God he argues further in the next verse that the state wherein he was seemed to necessitate him to it and to prompt or put that request into his mouth Ne cui mirum videatur istud a me postulari res ipsa huc me adegit absit enim a me ut tibi placere posse existimem vioâ—eÌ„tam cujuspiam oppressionem Bez. As if he had said My condition cries aloud to me that I should cry aloud to God Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me For farre be it from me to think that the Lord delighteth in oppression in breaking the work of his own hands or in maintaining the works of wicked men wicked Iudges use to doe so whom God will never encourage as with a light shining from heaven by his example Farre be it from me to thinke so dishonourably of God and therefore I am thus importunate to know the reason of his dealings with me and what his thoughts are concerning me Verse 3. Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppresse that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands and shine upon the counsel of the wicked Is it good c I am sure it is not it is not pleasing unto thee to oppresse to despise the work of thy hands thou delightest not to shine upon the counsel of the wicked Nequaquam probat alioâ—um iniquam vim multò minus ipse alios opprimit Sanct. Thou canst not endure any of these evils acted by man much lesse wilt thou act them thy self Thou who art just even justice it self canst not love oppression thou who art mercifull even mercy it self wilt not despise the work of thine hands thou who art holy even holinesse it self how shouldest thou delight in wicked men Thou art of purer eies then to behold iniquity and approve of it What blasphemy then is it to imagine that thou dost practise it Thy justice thy mercy thy holinesse are such as cannot admit the taint of these aspersions Omnes vias injustitiae quibus terreni julices corrumpi jus pervertere solent a Domino conator amoliri Merc. Interrogatio sensum reddit omninâ— contrarium me â—uaquaÌ„ probas c. Sanct. So then in this third and fourth verse Iob reckons up those waies by which earthly men corrupt ot pervert justice and he removes them all from the Lord. Some men do but God doth not oppresse Some men do but God doth not destroy the work of his hands Some men do but God never doth shine upon the counsel of the wicked Is it good to thee that thou doest oppresse c These interrogations we see are vehement negations they flatly and peremptorily deny what they seem doubtingly to enquire The sense is It is not good unto thee yea it is evil in thy sight to oppresse c. Thou hatest oppression Ab absurdis argumentatur quae in Deo minimè sunt tameÌ„ cogitari possunt ab infirmitate humana Jun. wrong dealing shall not dwell with thee Iob puts these questions not as if he questioned whether it were good to the Lord to oppresse or good to destroy the work of his hands and to shine upon the counsel of the wicked These were no points of controversie with him nor did he seek resolution about them Yea he therefore begs a reason of the Lord wherefore he was so oppressed becaase he knew it was not good unto Him that he should oppresse Is it good unto thee The Hebrew signifies three things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bonum triplex denotat 1. Vtile 2. Iucundum 3. Honestum First That which is profitable Secondly That which is pleasant Thirdly That which is just right or honourable any thing tendâ—ng to reputation And there may be this three-fold sense of it in this place 1. Is it good unto thee that is Numquid tibi proderit Vatab. comes there any advantage unto the Lord by oppressing Surely none What profit is there in our bloud 2. Is it good unto thee that is Is it pleasing or delightfull Is the Lord taken with the afflicting of his people I know he doth not willingly afflict the children of men 3. Is it good unto thee that is Doest thou reckon it thine honour to lay thy hand severely upon thy poor creatures No it is thy glory to passe by a transgression Now seeing it it not good unto thee any of these waies seeing thou hast no gain or profit by it no joy or delight in it no glory or honour from it Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me That 's still the burden of this mournfull Song Is it good unto thee That thou shouldest oppresse The word which we translate to oppresse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Significat opprimere aliqueÌ„ verbu aut factis Numquid loâ—uÌ„ tibi videtur si calumnieris me Vulg. signifies a