Exposition of Job 8-10

The word (green) signifies moist, juicy or sappy, proper to trees: So M ^r Broughton translates, He is juicefull before the Sun. And others, He is full of sap. In which sense the word is used, Chap. 24.8. of this book, They are wet with the showers of the mountains, or, moist and sappy, receiving in many showers from the mountains.

A tree green, juicy and full of sap, is in the height of his strength and beauty: Juice and sap is to the tree, as blood to the veins, and marrow to the bones of a man; and therefore as a young man in the prime and strength of his age is described by having his veins full of blood, and his bones full of marrow, so a tree is described in it's greatest verdure, by having his root and branches full of sap and moisture. The hypocrite may be such a flourishing tree, He is green before the Sun.

The Hebrew is, Before the face of the Sun. The word Shemesh (the Sun) signifieth a Minister or servant, because the Sun is the great servant of the world, and ministereth those benefits of light, heat, influence. This (by the way) should have kept the Nations from adoring it as a God, which both in name and nature was their servant. But what means this, Before the Sun?

1. Some take, before the Sun, to be only this, openly, conspicuously, and in the sight of all; for to do a thing before the Sun, is to do it without covert or secrecy, 2 Sam. 12.12. Thus the Lord threateneth David, after that sin of privacy committed with Bathsheba, Thou didst it secretly, but I will do this before all Israel, and before the Sun: So the hypocrite, is green before the Sun; that is, he flourisheth in the eye, view and sight of all men. He hath fair leaves and branches of outward profession in the Church, and of outward prosperity in the world.

2. Before the Sun, that is as a tree in Summer, when the Sun returns to us, or turns upon us. In the beginning of the spring the Sun returns: having travel'd furthest off from us, it comes to the vertical point, and turns about to us again. So that, before the Sun, or the Sun looking towards us, is a description of the spring. And so it is, as if he had said, As a tree when the Sun cometh towards it in the Spring, and shines hot upon it in the Summer, makes a fair show: So the hypocrite is very green, joyful, full of contentment, whilst he hath the Sun of prosperity shining upon him, whilst those warm rays of outward comforts, heat and nourish him, so long he is green and flourishing.

3. Before the Sun, that is (according to others) before the Sun shines too hot upon him, before the Sun scorches and withers him; as if he had said, The hypocrite is a green tree, till the heat comes upon him, till the Sun ariseth in his strength: but as soon as the heat of the day, or the year comes, this tree withers. An hypocrite cannot abide the extreme heat of the Sun, whereas the godly have such an everlasting supply of moisture and sap, that let the Sun shine as hot as it will upon them, they are green still. The ordinary heat of the Sun is put for prosperity: the extreme heat of the Sun, is put for persecution. So, the meaning may be this, He is green before the Sun, that is, before the Sun of trouble and persecution ariseth, or (as some render it) before God looks angerly upon him and scorcheth his leaves, till then, He is green and flourishing. Before refers both to time, and presence.

4. Others take it as a description of the hypocrites outward flourishing, which may be such sometimes as holds out before the Sun, that is, when the Sun is very hot upon him; And then this clause stands in opposition to the rush, which whilst it is yet in its greenness withereth before any other herb. If the Sun rise hot upon the rush, it withereth presently, where it wants outward moisture. But here Bildad seems to grant, or at least to suppose, that the hypocrite may possibly rise to such a flourishing estate, that he holds his greenness, even before the Sun, in a great deal of heat and trouble. Thus Before notes presence.

Either way the sense is good, He is green, before the Sun cometh with his heat, that is, he cannot endure the scorching time of trouble: or, he is green before the Sun; that is, before some trouble or scorching, before some heat of persecution, this hypocrite may stand, He is green before the Sun.

Branch.] The word which we translate branch is derived from a root which signifies a little sucking child, or an infant; and the reason is, because branches which come from a tree, draw moisture and sap from the tree, as an infant doth milk from the mothers breast: therefore we elegantly in our language, answering the Hebrew, call such branches suckers, and we cut them off where we see many sprouting from one fruit-bearing tree, because they draw too much from the tree, and hinder the fruit, that's the meaning of the Hebrew word, His suckers: So M. Broughton translates, His suckers sprout out over his orchard. By these branches we may understand either his children, or his honor, his relations, or his reputation, these shoot forth and show themselves as branches from a tree, His branches shoot forth in his garden.

That is, in that place which he hath fenced or taken in for himself; a garden is a plot separated and enclosed from those places which lie open and in common. So much the Hebrew word imports, coming from a root which signifies to protect or to fence a thing about, because gardens are places fenced, hedged, or walled in, Cant. 4.12. A garden enclosed is my beloved, Eccles. 2.5, 6. I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all (kind of) fruits, I made me pools of water to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees.

His branches shoot forth in his garden.] That is, he appears very beautiful and glorious, very green and flourishing in his state or condition, in his dignity and honor. He lives as in a garden or paradise: So the word is translated ( Gen. 2.8.) And the Lord God planted a paradise, or a garden of delight. The hypocrites garden is all that by which he preserves and keeps his worldly comforts, as we do plants and flowers of profit or delight in gardens. Thus the hypocrite grows as a goodly tree, and shooteth forth his branches.

This is the first part of the description of his flourishing estate. Hence note a point or two.

First, In general (which hath heretofore been observed, therefore I shall but touch it.) viz.

That a wicked man, an hypocrite may abound exceedingly in outward prosperity.

He is a tree, green before the Sun, and shooting forth his branches in his garden.

Secondly, Note, That the thriving of hypocrites, their greenness and flourishing, is only outward.

The tree is green before the Sun, but he is withered in his soul. Hypocrites do all before the Sun, to be seen, or in the sight of men. They are of those who rebel against the light, which would keep them from sin, and they say, No eye sees us, while they are sinning. But they love the light which shows any good they do; then they say, O that all eyes did see us. Pharisees pray in the markets, and blow a trumpet when they give alms, that the ears of all, as well as the bellies of the poor, may be filled with their charity. Come, see my zeal, saith Jehu. Moses was faithful, but he never said, Come, see my fidelity. Joshua was valiant in the battles of the Lord, yet he never said, Come, see my fortitude. The upright heart cares not to be thus before the Sun: He delights in secret holiness. His goodness is not less prized, or less pleasing to him, because it is hidden. He takes infinitely more content in being and doing good, then in being known to be or do good.

Thirdly, Taking, before the Sun, to note the extreme heat of the Sun, we may observe thus much from it,

That an hypocrite may endure trouble and persecution for his profession.

He is not like the rush which presently withereth, but he is sometimes like a tree that standeth it out before the Sun a great while. We know that many have not only performed outward acts of holiness, but they have sometimes suffered in a holy cause; they can be passive in obedience, as well as active, and yet have fallen away at the last. Before the Sun of prosperity the hypocrite will continue green very long; and before the Sun of persecution he may continue green a while. It is conceived by most that Alexander the Coppersmith, spoken of by Paul (2 Tim. 4.14.) as a man very grievous to him, Alexander the Coppersmith did me much evil, He opposed the Apostle, yet, I say, this Alexander is conceived to be the man of whom we read ( Act. 19.32.) that stood to Paul, when he was in that danger at Ephesus; there he had like to have lost his life for appearing on his side, the text saith, They dragged him out of the multitude to the market place. It is possible for an hypocrite to be green before the Sun of persecution, at least before some scorching beams of that Sun, though he is not able to bear it, when it comes to the utmost trial, to the extreme heat of the day.

Thus we see the hypocrites greenness in his branches, yet that is not all, for in the next verse we find his roots also, he is seemingly settled below, as well as beautiful above. And when a tree hath flourishing branches, and firm roots, what can be desired more? For, as when a tree is cut down root and branch, it is then utterly taken away; so when a tree flourisheth, root and branch, it is in best estate, and highest perfection. Both these meet here, not only doth he shoot forth his branches in his garden, But he wrappeth his roots about the heap, and seeth the place of stones.

The root of this hypocritical tree, is, that by which he fastens himself, any accommodation or strength which he hath in the world, credit, riches, friends, whatsoever strengthens a man, that's his root: it is as necessary to fasten a tree, as to moisten and feed a tree: Now (saith Bildad ) he spreads his roots, he hath not only excellent branches outwardly, but he lays his matter so, that he hath rooting also in the world; yea, he seems to have rooting in the Church too.

The word in the Hebrew signifies, to roll, or to bring things together, to put them up in a heap. Hence the Verb is used for that act of the soul in believing, whereby a Christian gathers himself together, and all that he hath, and lays it upon the Lord, Psal. 22.8. He trusted in the Lord; the Hebrew is, He rolled himself upon the Lord. Hence it is translated to signify; First, a tempest wherein the winds roll and are enfolded together. Secondly, a wave of the sea, which is a rolling water. Thirdly, as here a heap, because in a heap, a great many stones are gathered or rolled together. As Gen. 31.47. after that contest and debate of Laban with Jacob about his departure, Jacob said, Let us gather stones together, or roll stones together, and make an heap; and Laban gave it a name, he called it, J • ger-shahadutha, which is to say, A heap of witness, because these stones were rolled together for a witness.

Lastly (which sense is applied by some interpreters to this text) The word signifies a spring or a fountain, Josh. 15.19. because springs and fountains are as the gathering together of waters: The sea is called the gathering together of waters ( Gen. 1.) there waters are rolled, and laid as upon a heap: and so proportionably every spring, fountain and river, is a place wherein the waters are rolled or wrapped together. Some translate the word thus, His roots are wrapped about the water, or about the fountain. And that further sets forth the seemingly sure and steadfast estate of the hypocrite, as he hath goodly green branches above, so his roots are wrapped about the fountain, he looks as if he were planted by the waters side, as the flourishing tree described, Psal. 1. A godly man is as a tree planted by the rivers side; so the hypocrite seems to have his roots wrapped about the waters, as if he had an everlasting supply from an everliving fountain, as if his leaves should not wither, or his fruit fall off from him. That's one sense.

But most go with our translation, His roots are wrapped about the heap, they are intricated and folded about the heap of stones; and so the meaning of it may be gi • en three ways.

1. In that it is said, His roots are wrapped about the heap, the heap of stones; it notes his thriving against all opposition, here shadowed by heaps of stones. Heaps of stones are hindrances to the growing of a tree, to the rooting of it: therefore we set or plant trees in places free from stones; but to show that he may even overcome, conquer and subdue those difficulties which hinder his growth, he saith, His roots are wrapped about the stones. The seed that was cast in stony ground could not take root, the stones hindered it from a due depth of earth, Mat. 13.15. So that Bildad according to this sense magnifies the hypocrite, and speaks high of him, He wrappeth his root about the stones, he grows in places of greatest disadvantage. A wicked man may conquer oppositions, and prevail against the pull-backs which hinder his worldly, yea and his seeming spiritual estate; he may increase when he wants encouragements and means of increase, yea, he sometimes increases against stops and discouragements, he thrives among stones.

2. His roots are wrapped about the heap, notes, that he thrives, or will thrive, if he can, though it be to the hindrance and damage of others: for by the heap some understand the foundation of an house, where stones are artificially heaped or laid together, not a natural or accidental heap. Trees that grow near a house shoot their roots under or about the foundation of the house, and so may be dangerous to the whole structure. Thus the hypocrite will grow if he can, though he inwraps himself about the foundation of another man's house, raising or securing his estate upon his neighbors wrong or ruin.

Hypocrites care not whom they injure, so themselves may thrive, though they undermine the foundation of another man's house, and loosen his estate, to fasten their own.

3. His roots are wrapped about the heaps, may note the firmness, and the seeming strength of his standing. He is rooted, not in some loose and sandy earth, or in tougher clay, but his roots are wrapped about a heap of stones. As ( Mat. 7.) the house founded upon the sand could not continue when the storms came, but the house founded upon the rock did; so a tree that is rooted only in loose, sleight ground, cannot stand against a great tempest, we see such trees blown down; but that which is rooted among the stones, and wrapped about their heaps, that which interweaves and incorporates it s • lf (as it were) with a rock, this hath strength against all storms. Thus hypocrites pretend to Christ, and say they have wrapped themselves about, that rock; they will speak great words, and bid defiance to all the world can do, professing they have laid up a good foundation, and that the munition of rocks is their defense.

The words may be translated, He dwelleth, and he stayeth in the place of stones, or, He plants himself among the stones; and then it carries the same sense with the former clause: So M. Broughton, He platteth about the house of stone. The Septuagint thus, He shall live in the midst of the stones: And the Chaldee Paraphrast, He shall see with his eyes the place of stones. We are near that sense, And seeth the place of stones: That is (for all these renderings of the Hebrew will come to a fair agreement, and the result is this) he lives, abides, converses or dwells, even, where there seems to be the least probability of his stay, he stayeth in the place of stones.

The Hebrew is, house of stones; and house is taken either for that special place wherein men dwell, or generally for any place; so that, the house of stones, is either an house naturally built, Nature useth a kind of art; or an house artificially built, art is but an imitation of nature. He seeth, that is, he seems to abide or continue in that house of stones, he is very eminent or glorious in that place: The same word is read ( Dan. 8.5.) where Daniel speaking of his vision, saith, The Goat which he saw in the vision had a notable horn, the Chaldee is, a born of sight, he had a horn of sight, that is, a conspicuous or a notable horn: or, as others render it, he had a perplexed, enfolded, or enwrapped horn, a wreathed horn. So that the word signifies both the conspicuousnesse of a thing, and likewise the infoldednesse and complication of it.

A learned interpreter gives yet another sense, He looks into the house of stone; that is, he hinders the light, or darkens the house by perking up so proudly by, or near the windows; as if he had said, he anoyes his Masters house both below and above, at the foundation, and at the windows.

The state of the hypocrite thus settled and made firm among stones, is yet a tottering one, it will not be able to stand, the 18. verse shows this.

There is much difficulty in giving a clear sense of these words.

If he.] Who is that? Who is the Antecedent to this he?

There is no antecedent expressed in the Hebrew. Some understand it thus, If he, that is, if the Lord, if God come to take vengeance of this man, who seems to be a tree, so highly grown, and so deeply rooted.

Secondly, we may carry on the similitude thus, If he destroy him, that is, if the Gardener or the Husbandman; if the Master or owner of that ground or place, seeing a tree thus luxuriant, growing so near the foundation of his house, and so wrapped about the place of stones, hindering the light, darkening the windows of his house; if he come to destroy or cut him down, it shall deny him.

Or, thirdly, If he destroy him; that is, if the Sun destroy him: So M. Broughton translates, If the Sun root him up from his place. But can the Sun root a tree up from his place? Yes, the Sun roots up a tree, when the Sun, before which a tree flourishes a while, casts his beams so hot upon it, that it is scorched. Extreme heat draws out all the moisture of a tree and kills it. In that sense the Sun may be said to root up a tree, the Sun killing the tree, causeth it to be rooted up. Thus we see divers Antecedents answering the he, the agent in the Text.

The word which we translate destroy, signifies properly to swallow down, as a man swallows down meat and drink: And it signifies to swallow as a man swallows, when he is very hungry; a man that is very hungry eats his meat greedily; he throws it down whole into his throat rather then chews it. Now, because when meat is swallowed down, the meat is consumed and spent, and is destroyed and comes to nothing, therefore the Hebrews elegantly translate that word, which properly signifies to swallow up, to destroy; to destroy is to swallow up: And in that sense ( Isa. 28.7.) wine is said to swallow up a man, that is, to destroy and consume him. Intemperate persons swallow up wine, and at last wine swallows up them: The wine drinks up their estates, their wits, their healths, their lives, their all at last. It is a metaphor taken also from cruel and savage beasts, who devour men; as Jacob saith of Joseph, Surely a wild beast hath devoured, or swa •• owed him up: And ( Psal. 35.25.) we have that word, applied to wicked men, conspiring against the Saints, they say, We have swallowed him up, ah, so would we have it; that is, we have utterly destroyed him, this pleases, this goes well on our side.

Then the meaning is, Though the tree be in this state, yet if the husbandman come, he can quickly destroy it from his place: Yea, though it be thus fairly grown, and firmly rooted, the Sun is able to kill this tree, and to draw out all it's moisture, and so leave it dry and feared, fit only to be stubbed up for fuel. Or take it for an hypocrite to whom the similitude referreth, If God come to destroy him out of his place, to swallow him up, there's an end of him quickly, It shall deny him, saying, I have not seen him.

From this consideration, that the destruction of the tree is spoken of so immediately after the flourishing of it; That word, He is green &c. is no sooner out, but he adds, If he destroy him, &c. We may note,

That the destruction of hypocrites and wicked men cometh often upon them, in the height of their prosperity.

Even in the time of his greenness, he shall be destroyed, and when his roots are wrapped about the heap. Trees stand so long sometimes, that they wither of themselves, and then we cut them down for the fire, but this man shall be cut down like a tree in his prime, in his flourishing, when affliction and withering seem farthest off, when he thinks least of destruction, then it shall come upon him; when his estate is like Jonah's gourd, a very pleasant plant, and a great rejoicing to him, a worm smites the roots and kills it.

That of Job (Chap. 20.22.) is full to this point, In the fullness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: A strange thing that a man should be in straits, when he is in his greatest enlargement, that a man should be emptied when he is full, that a man should be nothing, when he hath all sufficiency about him, yet thus it shall be, In the fullness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits. As a godly man hath a sufficiency in his wants, yea a fullness of sufficiency in his wants: So on the other side, an hypocrite, whose heart is false with God, hath want in his sufficiency, yea want in the fullness of his sufficiency. Which may be understood two ways; either that his fullness in the greatest sufficiency of it is unsatisfying; or that his fullness in the greatest sufficiency of it, is upon decaying and abating. ( Psal. 78.13.) Whilest the meat was in their mouths, the wrath of God fell upon them; while meat is in the mouth, rich clothes upon the back, while store of money is in the purse, while the land brings forth abundance of increase, even in all these sufficiencies a man may be in straits. As it was with Agag (1 Sam. 15.) Surely (saith he) the bitterness of death is past; he thought himself safe, and that the storm was quite blown over, but then, in that nick of time comes Samuel, and cutteth him in pieces. The Apostle Paul saith (2 Cor. 1.9.) I had the sentence of death in myself; that is, I concluded, I could not survive those sufferings, I thought myself a lost man: yet the Lord delivered him, and fetched him from the grave. But when hypocrites (like Agag ) have the sentence, yea the sweetness of life in themselves; When they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes, as pain upon a woman in travel, and they shall not escape: God cuts them off. It follows,

If he destroy him from his place; what then? It shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.

Here is a further aggravation of his misery, when he is destroyed, It shall deny him; What shall deny him? Some read it thus, his place shall deny him. Can a place speak, affirm, or deny? No, it cannot; but it is usual in Scripture, by a Prosopopeia, a fiction of a person to ascribe speech to beasts, to trees and places too, things not only without reason, but without life. Such an elegancy is here, It shall deny him; that is, when he is destroyed, if any man shall ask the question, where is this man? Where is this goodly tree that stood here before? The place shall answer, He is not here now.

The Hebrew is, The place shall lie; the place shall feign and say, we have not seen him; we know not what is become of him: So men use to answer, when they are either afraid or ashamed to own one that is asked for.

Some understand it of a person, Then one may deny him: I see then no more, so M. Broughton. Suppose a traveler, who oftentimes past by, and saw this goodly tree, when he cometh to the place again, sees it no more, the tree is down: So he, who hath past by such a man's house, and beheld his goodly seat, when he comes another time, there is no such man there, the man is gone, It, or, he shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.

We have near the same words, Psal. 37.35, 36. where the flourishing estate of a wicked man is shadowed under the notion of a tree, I have seen the wicked flourish like a green bay-tree, &c. (yet) he past away, and he was not; as much as to say, if it be asked, what's become of him? A man shall answer, he hath not seen him; yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. Such a sense hath been shown ( Job 7.18.) upon those words, The place thereof shall know him no more; A clear riddance shall be made of all men out of the world, especially of wicked men. In that description ( Dan. 2.35.) of the four Monarchies, under the similitude of a great Image, whose head was of gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and thighs of brass, his legs of iron, and his feet of iron and clay; the text saith, Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the Summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them; or, as the Chaldee, They were found in no place: A time will come when all Monarchies and worldly Kingdoms, which have stood up in so much luster, which have dazzled the eyes of all beholders with their splendor, and kept all their neighbor nations under by their power (a time shall come) when this clay, and iron, and brass, and silver, and gold shall be all beaten to pieces, so that if a man ask, where are the four Monarchies? What's become of the pomp and state of those great Empires? The places of them shall know them no more; no man can tell where they are. There is such a meaning here, this green tree. This hypocrite shall have his branches so pulled off, his roots so stubbed up, that it will be hard to give an account what's become of him.

We find the happy and flourishing estate of the Church and people of God described, as if no place were large enough for them to dwell in ( Zech. 10.10.) I will bring them again out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria, &c. that is, I will gather my Saints, my Church together from all the parts of the world where they have lived (while they could not live, but sculking in corners) I will bring them together, so conspicuously, that there shall be no place found for them; that is, no place capacious enough to receive them and their families. We have the same promise of enlargement ( Isa. 49.) They shall say, The place is too strait for me, give place to me that I may dwell. Now, as the Saints shall be gathered together so eminently and abundantly, that no place shall be found big enough to hold them; so the hypocrite with all his greenness and verdure shall be so blasted and rooted up, that the place where he was shall not be visible, as his; he shall be so far from filling all places, that he shall fill none, The place where he dwelt shall spew him out, and by any remaining symptom it shall not be known, where that man was.

So then, the sum of all may be given thus, taking the comparison from the tree to this wicked man;

That as a tree highly grown and deeply rooted, may be so cut down and stubbed up, that it shall not be known whether ever it grew upon that place or no; so a wicked man though for a while he flourisheth and overcometh all impediments that hinder him, in the eye of the world, yet at last himself and his family shall be so clean removed and swept away, his name and memory so blotted out, that there shall not be any print or footstep of his being upon the face of the earth.

Whence note, That the memory of wicked men shall perish forever, none shall own them.

If they be asked about them, they shall say, We have not seen them. Peter in his temptation denied Christ, Mat. 27. when they asked him, saying, Art not thou one of his Disciples? No, saith he, I know not the man. As the Saints under temptation, and as hypocrites in their daily conversation deny Christ: so the time will come when hypocrites and wicked men shall be denied themselves, their places shall say, We know them no more. They shall be remembered only as Pilate is remembered in that, which is called the Apostles Creed, who stands there upon record for his wickedness, cowardice and injustice in condemning Christ, whom he knew to be innocent. Wicked men are either forgotten, or else remembered with a brand of disgrace. They who have been adored and flattered, and crept to like little gods, shall not be owned by the meanest men. Even their parasites who have hung about them, will fall off from them, and say, Who, we know them? we know no such men. It is prophesied ( Zech. 8.23.) of the Jews, who are now a despised and scattered people (yet still a people in the heart of Christ) that God will bring them forth at last, and they shall be a people so much honored, that ten men out of every Nation shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. The despised Saints, such as the world hath cast out, and said, We will not see or take notice of them, shall be honored or envied of all. Men will be glad to take hold of their skirts, and say, Come, let us go with you; O that we might have a part and a portion with you, for we know that God is with you! O that we had lived the lives, and might die the deaths of the righteous! O that our beginnings had been, and that our later ends might be like theirs! Likewise a time will come, when hypocrites and wicked men shall be despised by their admirers, and cast out, as not worth the looking on by their grossest flatterers. It was a great honor which the Orator gives Homer, a Heathen Poet, who was a man of such reputation, that many great Cities strove for him. One said, he was born here; another said, he was born there; a third, among us was the place of his birth. All desired to own him, because he was a man highly honored for his learning in those times: So on the other side, every place shall be ashamed of some men; this place shall say, we have nothing to do with him; and that place shall say, we have nothing to do with him; one shall disclaim him, and another shall disclaim him, all shall refuse him. It shall be the honor of Saints to be desired of all; and it shall be the shame and punishment of wicked men, to be cast out and disregarded by all. They who despise God, shall at last be lightly esteemed among men.

Bildad having thus enlarged his similitude, in all the parts of it, and at last laid the hypocrite as low as forgetfulness, so low that no man will own him, as he is always so low that God will not own him, he concludes tryumphantly against him.

Here's his conclusion.

This is the joy.] The word which we translate joy, signifies the highest joy, a kind of leaping for joy. It is an allusion to dogs or spaniels, who (you know) when their Masters come home, leap about them for joy, and in their language bid them welcome. Such a joy is here meant, a joy lifting up the heart, a leaping, an exulting joy. The word is often applied to the joy of the Saints, they rejoice, and (as it were) leap about Jesus Christ, they triumph in the favor of God. The leaping, the exulting joy, the best joy, all the joy which an hypocrite hath, is but this, which hath been described; Is it not a desirable joy? a goodly joy sure? the words are ironicall, This is the joy of his way.

Of his way.] Way is taken for the course, purpose and institution of a man's life, for the tenor of his conversation, which he holds in the world, This is the joy of his way: This is it. The particle is demonstrative, This is it which I have told you; as if he had said, cast up all the comfort and happiness of that flourishing tree, of the hypocrite, this is all that it comes to, his end is to be rooted up, and not so much as to be owned by those that knew him before.

There are three things which I should observe from this, This is the joy of his way.

First, That an hypocrite may have much joy in his way. He may rejoice much in his condition, and think all's well. False hopes can produce false joys. False faith brings forth a comfort like itself, a fading comfort, a shadow of comfort, as that is, but a shadow of faith. The fancy of faith is usually fuller of joy then true faith. Satan helps forward this joy, and God for a time will not hinder it. Faith (though feigned) gives the soul a sight of such things as are worth the rejoicing in, and a supposed title to them will move joy, as well as a real title doth. The stony ground received the word with joy. The promises are delicious to the sensitive and rational part, as well as to the spiritual and regenerate part. Hence ( Heb. 6.) they that fall away are said to have had tastes of the joys of the world to come. An hypocrite may think himself in heaven sometimes, and then like one in heaven, he cannot but rejoice. He may have a glimpse of heaven upon earth, all whose heaven is earth. This is his joy.

Secondly, This, may be demonstrative, and answers the question; what is his joy? It is this, His worldly comforts, his flourishing outward condition is his chiefest joy. Then note, The joy of hypocrites is chiefly bo • tomed upon outward things. It is not the joy of the Lord, no, nor joy in the Lord, Rejoice in the Lord, and again, I say rejoice, is the Gospel-command. An hypocrite cannot rejoice thus. When he rejoices in the Lord, somewhat besides the Lord causeth his joy. He rejoices in his green boughs, in his goodly branches, in his supposed strong root; but to rejoice in God as God he knows not how. David's joy was the opposite of this (Psal. 4.6.) Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me, and that will put gladness in my heart, more then in the time that their corn and wine increased. Let me have the Sun-shine of thy love, and then though I have nothing but darkness and clouds from the world, I shall rejoice. But what saith the hypocrite? let my corn and wine increase, let the Sun of outward prosperity shine warm upon me, let me have my greenness of creature-contentments, let me have credit and fair repute among men, these will put gladness in my heart. These glad his heart, when he hath not a dram of grace or goodness there.

Thirdly, The joy of an hypocrite is but for a moment. It is a perishing joy. This is the joy of his way; you see what it amounts to, how well it last. His greenness is turned into withering, his root rots, and his fruit falls off. This is his joy. He is like those spoken of in the Epistle of Jude (verse. 14.) Trees twice dead, and plucked up by the roots. That's the conclusion of the hypocrite: he hath a name to live, but he is dead, twice dead, naturally dead in sin, and judicially dead under wrath: he was born spiritually dead, and his whole life is a passage to eternal death. He hath rejoiced a while, but he must mourn forever. The portion of hypocrites is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mat. 24.51.) Their joy is but for a morning or a day, weeping comes at night, & that night hath no morning after it.

Some read, Out of the earth shall somewhat else, some other thing grow: We, out of the earth (when these are removed) other persons shall grow, who shall inherit the place, and possess the dwelling of these prosperous trees. For he follows the similitude of a tree, when, or where one is pulled up, another is planted and grows up in it's room. Or, others shall possess what he hath gotten. In which sense Job speaks (Chap. 27.16, 17. ) Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay, he may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver. Which words may be a Comment upon these, Out of the earth shall others grow; that is, others shall rise up, God will bring a new generation to enjoy his ill-gotten substance, and eat the sweet of all his labors. Solomon (Eccles. 2.18.) was much afflicted, because he knew not who should grow up after him. I hated (saith he) all my labor which I have taken under the Sun, because I shall leave it to a man, and I know not what he shall be, whether a wise man or a fool. It is a part of the vanity which lies upon man-kind, that after all a man's labor and pains, he must leave all unto somebody, he knows not certainly who. But there is a greater and sorer vanity upon the hypocrite; he seldom stays to take his part, He shall not roast that which he hath take • n in hunting (Pro. 12.) that is, he shall not have the benefit himself of what he hath, but others (unthought of) shall come out of the ground and grow in his place, This is the upshot or sum of all his misery, he hath labored for others in temporal things, and he hath got nothing for himself in spiritual things.

Further, the words may carry this sense. That

When wi • ked men are taken away, the righteous shall grow in their room.

Pull up the briars and thorns, and then vines and fig-trees, lilies and roses will grow the better. When wicked men are removed, good men will prosper.

Again, Out of the earth shall others grow; they were not worth the ground they went upon, though they were worth a great deal of ground, therefore out of the ground shall others grow. God will raise up a generation which shall be more faithful and serviceable unto him.

There is a fourth sense of this expression, Out of the earth shall others grow; that is, out of the meanest and lowest condition others shall grow: and so it carries an opposition between the condition of an hypocrite, and of a godly man. The hypocrite in his flourishing greenness shall be cut down to the ground, but they whose hearts are sincere and upright, though they are as low as the ground, though they are upon the earth, and are trodden down as mire in the streets, yet they shall grow up. They who were growing high shall be cut down, and they who were below shall grow up; such as they feared not, nor suspected, shall prevail over them. They who are lowest, even as low as the earth, shall be raised, built up and set on high in the world, when God speaks the word.

There is an Exposition of this whole context, about which (because many close with it) I shall give a brief account. Divers of the learned understand this third similitude, not as describing the state of an hypocrite, but as an instance in opposition to the state of an hypocrite, set forth by the rush and by the spider in the former verses.

Hence it is that the Italian version begins the sixteenth verse thus, But the perfect man is green before the Sun, &c. And so the sense may be given to this effect. As if Bildad had said, Though hypocrites wither like a rush, or like a flag, though they are suddenly swept down like a spiders web, yet a godly man is a green tree before the Sun; he is not like a rush without water, but like a tree planted by the rivers side, which is able to endure the heat of the Sun, yea the hottest Sun of persecution: [His branches shoot forth in his garden] he is no wild tree, no tree of the forest, or of the wilderness, he is a tree of the enclosed garden, which if it want the water from the clouds, the Gardener will take care to water it with his hand. Or [his roots are wrapped about the heap, about the fountain;] he is strongly set, and he hath water continually to feed and supply his branches; Thus the Church is so described by Balaam (Numb. 24.6.) How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! as the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the rivers sides, as the trees of Lign aloes, which the Lord hath planted, and as Cedar-trees besides the waters. Thus the godly man's roots are wrapped about the fountain, and there he is fruitful; though the Sun shine hot upon him, yet it cannot exhale his moisture faster then the river can supply him with more. And he seeth the place of stones, he will live upon a flint, having a lively root of faith continually sucking in refreshings from Christ, under whose protection and favor he remains strong and abounding in the work of the Lord. [But if he destroy him from his place, it shall deny him] that is, if the wicked of the world attempt to root the godly man up: the place, that is, the men of the place shall take part with them, own him, and deny to give him up into the hands of those who would destroy him. But if the place should not secure him, if the power and violence of the enemy destroy and pluck him up, yet this is his joy, a godly man may be destroyed, but none can destroy the joy of a godly man. [This is the joy of his way] he delights in persecution, he is as sorrowful, but always rejoicing, even in death itself, [And out of his earth shall others grow] He shall have a blessed posterity to stand up in his stead, in whom he shall live, when he is dead. Or, if the power of the adversary root him out of this earth, in which he lived, and drive him from this ground, from house and home, he shall grow in another earth (The original may bear that sense. ) If he be removed from this place, he shall grow in another place; if you take him from his own Country, he can grow in any Country, and if he be plucked from all Countries, he will grow up to, and in Heaven.

Thus the whole Context may be made out as a similitude of a godly man, in opposition to the hypocrite. But I rather acquiesse and settle in the interpretation before, that it is a third description of the condition of an hypocrite. The original and our translation fairly carry it so.

Bildad having thus far prosecuted the point, vindicated the justice of God, and illustrated his former proof by a threefold similitude, shuts up and states the point for God, that He is just, For he will not hurt the innocent, neither will he help the evil doers, &c.

Behold.] Is here a strong affirmation. This is a certain truth.

The strong God, or the puissant, will not cast away a perfect man. God hath infinite power, but he putteth none of it forth, to this purpose: he never lays out himself in opposing those who are perfect and righteous, The powerful God doth not cast away a perfect man.

The word which we translate, cast away, was opened at the 14 ^th verse of this Chapter, and in the fifth Chapter, verse. 9. There it was translated by despising, Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, cast not away, or cast not off the chastening of the Lord. And in the 14 ^th verse of this Chapter, The hypocrites hope shall be cut off, he shall cast away his hope, or his hope should cast away and abhor him, for so the word bears. The Seventy translate it to that sense, He will not cast off; that is, he will not reprobate, or disapprove, he will not reject or discountenance a perfect man. And M. Broughton, Loc, the omnipotent will not loath the perfect. Either of the senses are full enough to the Text.

Only take notice that in the words there is a figure; for when it is said, That God will not cast away a perfect man; this is not all the meaning, as if God made no other reckoning of perfect men then thus, that he would not cast them away; more is intended then expressed, namely, that the Lord doth highly esteem and prize righteous men; he lays them, as it were, in his bosom and next his heart: thus the Lord deals with the righteous, His not casting away, is a near embracing.

There is a twofold casting away; First, Temporal. Secondly, Eternal: and in neither of these senses doth God cast away a perfect man. Not only shall he not perish eternally, but not temporally. He doth not reject or cast him away for a moment; his love is an everlasting love, and there can be no breaches or gaps made in it, so as to cut off his love to the person, although he often signifies displeasure against his sin.

The word we had in the first Chapter, where it is used to express Jobs completeness in spirituals: A completeness, not in degrees, but in parts; sincerity filled up his soul, and so perfected all the limbs and members of his inward man. Observe hence,

First, A gracious soul shall never be rejected of God.

Whatsoever God doth in the world, he will never do this, Heb. 13.5. He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. If God doth not leave a perfect man, he will not cast him away. The Apostle puts the question, ( Rom. 11.1.) Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. God hath not cast away his people whom he fore-knew.

Perfect men are God's jewels, not the rubbish or off-scouring of the world, though the world count them so. A wise man will not cast away jewels.

Perfect men are God's servants, his faithful servants; all the willing service he hath done him in the world (on this side Angels) is done by these men. A wise man will not cast away such as are truly serviceable unto him.

Perfect men are God's children; they are borne of God, and sons of the most high. Natural love will not cast away a child.

Perfect men are God's portion, the lot of his inheritance, his revenue comes in, he hath his in-comes of glory, by them. A man will not despise his own glory, he will not reject his own inheritance.

Further, They who are perfect come to him in his Son; and he hath pawned his truth for it ( Joh. 6.37.) He that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out: As if he had said, this thing is furthest from my heart of anything in the world. God calls after many who go away from him, but he casts away none who come to him. None come to him till he draws them, therefore he will not drive them away who come.

Again, Perfect men have the Spirit of God, God cannot cast away, or stop his ears at the voice of his own Spirit. They have the earnest of his Spirit; if God should go about to put them off, or lay them aside, they will show God those tokens and pledges of his love, the earnest he hath given them to assure their hearts.

Lastly, He hath tied himself to them in the bond of a Covenant, they are fast to him in the everlasting bonds of his own love; therefore they cannot be cast off. So he promises his people ( Levite. 26.44.) though they should provoke him to afflict them, yet he would not reject them utterly; he might put them into the hands of their enemies, but he would never cease to be their friend, For all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away. (Many think when the Saints are cast into trouble, that God hath cast them away: no, there is no such matter, when they are in their enemies hand, God holds them still in his hand, yea, in his heart.) I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them to destroy them utterly, and to break my Covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. The Covenant holdeth God and his people so fast together, that they shall never part.

We find the Church complaining grievously, as if she were cast away (Psal. 44.9.) Thou hast cast us off, and put us to shame, and goest not forth with our Armies: and verse 23. the Church prays, Arise, O Lord, cast us not off forever. So ( Psal. 60.1.) O God, thou hast cast us off: and verse. 9. Who will bring me into the strong City? Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? God (to sense) casts off his own people, when he casteth them into dangers: but even then their faith takes hold of God, and God's love takes hold of them. Though all this be come upon us, yet have we not forgotten thee, nor dealt falsely in thy Covenant ( Psal. 44.17.) neither had God forgotten them, or dealt falsely in the Covenant: they were his people still, and as near unto him, as when they were furthest from those troubles.

God casts away some indeed, but they are such as he never had within the bonds of his Covenant. He casts away wicked men, as rubbish, as filth and dirt; such the Prophet speaks of ( Hos. 9.15.) My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him. These were imperfect, not perfect men. God cast these away, not from any interest they had in him, but because they never had any. Such as will not hearken unto the Word of God, God will cast away; why? They cast God away, when they cast the Word of God away. They cast the Covenant behind their backs ( Psal. 50.) no wonder God casts them behind his back; he throws them o • t of doors, when they throw his truth out of their hearts. Perfect men love the truth of God forever, and the God of truth loves them forever.

Secondly, (For, as was said, these words express less then is meant.) Observe,

That perfect men are highly esteemed by God.

He prizes them greatly, he delighteth in them, They that honor me, I will honor, saith God; not only will I not cast them away, or abhor them, but I will honor them. God esteems and prizes them, though the world disesteem and reject them. There is many a soul which the world tramples under their feet, as the mire in the streets, which at that time God lays in his bosom. Christ embraceth some in his arms, whom the world, yea, whom their brethren hate, and smite with their tongues (Isa. 66.5.) Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my Names sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified (Not only the wicked world may do this, but brethren, even those that are brethren indeed in the main, may possibly hate a perfect man, and cast him out) your brethren that hated you, and cast you out for my Names sake; but the Lord at that time loved them, as it follows, But he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.

And if God doth not only not cast away perfect ones, but esteem them, then take these three cautions.

First, Ye that are perfect, be sure ye keep close to God, do not cast him off; do not cast away the word, any one truth or command of God. Cast not the ways of God away, for he will never cast you away.

Secondly, Ye that are perfect, Cast not away your confidence, Heb. 10.35. The Apostle had shown how close God would stick to his people; now, saith he, if it be so, if he will bring his promises to pass, then cast not away your confidence. There is a great strength of engagement in it, when we read that God will not cast away his people, that they should not cast away their confidence in God, which hath great recompense of reward.

Thirdly to all, take heed of casting of casting off or slighting any perfect man; we should act towards men, and think of them as God doth. It is best to love where God loves, and to love most where he loves most. Negative promises, and negative threatenings have greatest force in them. God holds them fastest; and loves them dearest, of whom he saith, I will not cast them away. God will not cast away a perfect man. There's a negative promise. Now see the portion of the wicked, that's given out in a negative threatening: God saith not what he will do against them, but what he will not do for them, Neither will he help the evil doers.

Some read it, He will not put forth his hand to evil doers. So the letter of the Hebrew imports. And there may be a three-fold sense given of that reading. Putting forth the hand, notes, first, our taking men into society, fellowship and familiarity with us: when we would show a man how we love him at our hearts, we put forth a hand, and take him by the hand. Now (saith he) God will not take an evil doer by the hand, to welcome or entertain him, to countenance and respect him (Exod. 23.1.) Put not thy hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness: Be not of the same side, communion and fellowship with him, in giving witness.

Secondly, (As the Septuagint gives the sense) He will not put forth his hand; that is, to receive a gift or an offering from wicked men. When a gift or a present is brought, the receiver (if he would testify his liking and acceptance of it) puts forth his hand and receives it. Now (saith Bildad) God will not put forth his hand to receive any offering or gift from wicked men; the oblations of wicked men are an abomination unto the Lord, The good deeds of evil doers are evil in his sight. He had no respect to Cain and his offering. He did not put forth his hand to receive Cain's offering, but he put forth his hand to receive Abel's offering. This is a profitable sense.

Thirdly, It rather refers to God's not assisting wicked men. So M ^r Broughton renders it, He will not maintain the hand of the mischievous. To put forth or stretch out the hand, according to this Hebrew phrase, implies strong holding, or the taking of strong hold upon anything, so as by taking hold of it to strengthen and confirm it, to give it help and assistance. A man that would give assistance to another in any business or work, puts forth his hand to him. When we want help, we usually bespeak a friend, Pray lend me your hand. Now here, The Lord will not put forth his hand to evil doers; that is, the Lord gives them no assistance or help in their wickedness. If wicked men say, Lord, lend us thy hand: no, saith he, I will not lend you my hand. We find this phrase frequent in Scripture. That ( Gen. 19.16.) illustrates it fully; where Lot being warned to go out of Sodom (verse. 16.) while he lingered the men (that is, the Angels) laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful unto him, and they brought him forth, and set him without the City. They laid hold upon their hands: It is the word of the text. When the Lord sees wicked men, in any distress or danger (as Lot was in Sodom ) or when they want help and assistance in any business, he will not be merciful to them in taking them by the hand, or in laying his hand strongly upon them, either to pull them out of the danger, or to give them help in difficulties. The sin of Jerusalem is charged upon her in this language by the Prophet, in a parity with that of filthy Sodom. (Ezek. 16.49.) Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy: that is, she did not relieve, comfort or help them. The sin opposite to this is charged upon the false Prophets by Jeremy (Chap. 23.14.) They strengthen the hands of evil doers, either by counsel or by countenance, by flatteries or connivence. We read ( Nehem. 6.) how often the enemies sent false alarms to Nehemiah, and the people that were with him, to terrify and affright them: Nehemiah shows the enemies design in it, verse. 9. They all made us afraid, saying, their hands shall be weakened from the work that it be not done; therefore in the close Nehemiah prays, Lord, strengthen mine hands (it is this word) as if he had said, Lord, help me, put thine hands to mine. So (Isa. 35.3.) strengthen the weak hands, put your hands to their hands, Psal. 73.23. David acknowledging how he had almost fallen at the rising of the wicked, shows yet what kept him up, Nevertheless, I am continually with thee, thou hast holden me by my right hand: the hand of providence is the power of God upholding our being, as the hand of Creation was the power of God giving us our being, Isa. 42.6. I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and I will hold thine hand and help thee. So, Isa. 41.13. that is, by holding of thine hand I will help thee. The same word in the original is used for hardening the heart ( Exod. 9.12. ) because hardness of heart strengthens it to do evil. A hard heart is armed for any sin.

So then we see, when the Lord refuseth to put forth his hand, or to take strong hold (as the word imports) upon the hand of evil men, the meaning lies in one of these three things,

1. That he bears no favor to them, he doth not approve their cause or business.

2. That he gives them no assistance nor encouragement in their business.

3. That he will not deliver or rescue them out of their distresses; when they are sinking and falling he will not put forth his hand to hold them up, or to keep them from sinking. God is hot a Patron or a Protectour, an Adjutor or Aider of evil doers.

We must not take these evil doers for all and everyone that doth evil, for then whom would God help? We may then say (with reverence) God help us indeed: what a miserable condition were we then in, if God would not put forth his hand to help any that do evil? The evil doer is a man notoriously, professedly, studiously wicked, one that acts and devises evil against God and his ways. Everyone who doth evil is not to be reckoned an evil doer. A man doth evil in any one act: but one act doth not make him an evil doer. A Magistrate must count him an evil doer, who doth evil; and therefore he must take vengeance (in many cases) of him that doth evil (though but once) Rom. 13.4. and though he repent. The Angels were cast as evil doers for one act, and so was man in innocence: but now the evil doer is one who multiplies and continues in evil deeds; to such as these the Lord will not put forth his hand, or give them his help. Observe then,

First, That God is no friend, no assistant unto men in sinful ways.

He will not strengthen the hands, or help forward the work of wicked men. God is the punisher and judge of evil doers, therefore not their helper.

Evil doers oppose not only God's law, but his nature, therefore he will not help them. He cannot exercise one Attribute against another; his power will not work against his holiness, or against his will.

There is a twofold help which God giveth,

First, A common help.

Secondly, A special help.

We grant that God strengthens the hands even of evil doers in regard of a common help: For no man could put forth his hand to any evil, as a sinner, if God did not give him a general assistance, as a creature. In this sense the strength by which men rebel and sin against God, comes from God. But he doth not strengthen their hands, or give them help by any special assistance. In the doing of good, we have a common assistance to the act, as there is a natural motion in it, which God gives his people with the rest of the world: but this will not carry them out to do good completely. To bring forth any gracious act, they must have a special assistance. Hence Christ saith, Without me ye can do nothing; he means it not of that general support which Christ gives to man, by which all live and move, and have their being in him (in that sense no man is able to do anything without Christ, for in him all things cons st) but when he saith, Without me ye can do nothing, he means, without my special assistance and strength ye cannot perform holy and spiritual duties, acceptable unto God. So the Apostle, We have no sufficiency of ourselves, so much as to think a good thought. We have no sufficiency to think any thought without some assistance; but to think a good thought, we have not any sufficiency without a special assistance. Wicked men are not able to do evil, without a common assistance; but they have no special assistance from God to do evil. He doth neither stir up and excite then lusts to the act, nor supply their lusts while they are acting. Wicked men have assistance enough in both from their own hearts, and from Satan. Though man hath no sufficiency in himself to think one good thought, yet he hath a sufficiency in himself to think all evil thoughts; As he is a creature he acts, and as he is a corrupt creature he sins. Man hath full power and free-will to do evil therefore the Lord doth not put forth his hand to help the evil doer.

But it will be necessary for the understanding of this and other like Scripture, to consider somewhat more distinctly, what God doth in reference to evil acts, or the acts of evil doers. He concurs, but not with such a concurrence, as amounts to the helping of evil doers, or the strengthening of their hands.

The first help which God gives evil doers, is privative, or negative, the calling in, or not giving out of that power, by which they might do good, or avoid evil. Thus he departed from Saul and then Saul went on, worse and worse against David. God hath somewhat to do with evil doers, when he with-draws that help from them, by which they might be kept from doing evil. Or, when he doth not assist them against the evil of their own hearts, and the pollutions of the world. This deserting and leaving them unto themselves, lays them open to sin. Yet the sin which a man thus deserted commits, can no more be charged upon God, then the darkness of the night can be charged upon the Sun for going down; sin follows divine desertion, not as an effect doth the cause, but as a consequent doth it's antecedent.

Secondly, He delivers or gives them up, first, to Satan: And secondly, to their own counsels, to a reprobate mind and vile affections, Psal. 81.12. Rom. 1.24, 26. This tradition is an act beyond desertion; there is a greater spiritual judgment in it, when God makes a man's own wickedness active against him, then when he doth not make his Spirit or grace active in him. It were better to be put into the hands of all the tyrants in the world, yea, better be put into the hands of the devil, then into the hands of our own lusts and passions. God doth not give a reprobate mind or vile affections, but he gives up to them.

Thirdly, Evil doers in their doing evil are ordered by God. Wicked men (in every sinful act) run beyond the line of obedience, but they cannot run beyond the line of providence. God limits and circumscribes the acts of wicked men, for otherwise every wicked man would be a monster, a none-such in wickedness, if he could; everyone would be a Cain, an Ahab, a Nero, a Cal • gula, &c. The sinfulness of men would be, not only out of measure sinful intensive, in regard of the quality of it, but out of measure sinful extensive, in regard of the quantity of it, it would break all bounds, carry all down before it, did not the Lord order and direct the disorders and confusions of it. There is a sea of wickedness in the heart of a wicked man, which is as boisterous and unruly as the natural sea, and if the Lord did not set bounds to that sea of wickedness, and say, Hitherto shalt thou come and no further, it would overwhelm all. Thus far also God hath to do in the sinfulness of men, to limit and stay them, to restrain and keep them in compass, while they sin. Every sin goes without the compass of that law which God hath given, but no sin can get beyond the compass of that leave which God gives.

Fourthly, We may say, God assists the motions of sin, but not the motions to sin, or the sinfulness of the motion. The strength of a wicked man's hand, while he sins is from the Lord, but the Lord doth not strengthen his hand to sin. A sinner hath natural help from God, but he hath no moral help from God; he hath all that from himself, from his own wicked heart, or from Satan. To eat was a natural act in our first parents, this was from God; but to eat against the command was a moral act, and that was from man, and the serpent. As suppose that a Musician should touch or play upon a Lute that is out of tune, his touching the Lute is an artificial act, but the sounding of it comes from the nature of the instrument: the sounding of the instrument is from the hand of him that plays upon it, but, that it sounds untuneably, is, because the instrument is out of tune. So the Lord by natural assistance puts the hearts and hands of wicked men into motion, but that they move irregularly, that they make such harsh music, that there is so much discord in their actions, that's from the disorder and untuneablenesse of their own spirits, not from the hand of God. They have not any moral assistance from God in sin, but a natural only.

Or, take it negatively, God doth not help the evil doers.

First, He doth not help the evil doers, by instilling the least motion of evil into them. He casts in, or infuses holy thoughts and motions into the hearts of his own people, to prepare them for holy performances, but he never dropt the least motion of evil into the heart of man, to fit him for wickedness.

Secondly, The Lord doth not excite or stir up that natural inherent corruption that is in wicked men; he doth not provoke or blow up their lusts. He excites the graces of his own people, when they are to do any good: they have a principle of grace in them, and this God breaths upon, moving and acting it by fresh assistances. Neither of these ways doth the Lord assist evil doers.

Further, Taking the words (as they must) in a figure, when it is said, God doth not help the evil doers; the meaning is, he doth oppose and resist them. Hence observe,

Wicked men are resisted and opposed by God in their evil doings.

God is so far from giving them any help, that he sets himself against them. Understand this with a distinction.

There is a twofold resistance or opposition that God makes against the evil doings of men. There is,

• 1. A moral opposition.
• 2. A natural opposition.

Or there is,

• 1. A declarative resistance.
• 2. An operative resistance.

When it is said, that God doth resist (as this phrase imports or supposeth) wicked men in doing evil, we are to understand it, that he ever opposes them morally; that is, he ever lays a moral impediment in their way, and he ever opposes them declaratively, he declares his opposition in his Word. He never shows the least liking of wicked men in their ways. For when he saith, He that is filthy, let him be filthy still, and he that is unjust, let him be unjust still (Revel. 22.11.) he doth not at all approve, but threatens these sinners. This seeming admission is the highest rebuke of sin. But take it for a natural opposition, which is the bringing out of strength and power to stop men in the ways of sin: Thus the Lord doth not always resist evil doers. For if he did, it were impossible that any wicked man should move one hairs breadth in doing evil; if God would put forth his power against man, he could not stir to sin against God: but God doth not so, neither is he bound to lay a natural impediment in the ways of wicked men. It is enough to acquit him in his holiness, that he ever lays a moral impediment in their way. He declareth his law against, and his dislike of their sins: and in this sense he always resists them. All the sin of man is against the will of God, yet no man sins whether God will or no. The declarative will of God is often resisted, but his operative will cannot be resisted. As (which may illustrate this) in the civil State, the laws of this Kingdom lay a moral impediment in the way of thievery and robbery, &c. It is perpetually declared by the law, that no man ought to take another man's estate from him violently; but yet the Kingdom doth not ever set a natural impediment against, robbers, &c. That is, we do not place a power of men to guard all high ways or houses, to see that no passenger shall be robbed, or house broken open: So the Lord lays a moral impediment in the way of wicked men always, but he doth not always set his power against them, whereby he is able (if he please) to disable wicked men from doing evil. Thirdly, Observe,

When wicked men are going down, down they shall.

Why? God will not put forth his hand to help them; they, whom God will not assist or help, cannot stand long. They in the Psalm thought they had got the godly man at an advantage, Come (say they) let us persecute and take him, for God hath forsaken him, and there is none to deliver him; Now we may have our wills of this man, for God stands by and doth not own him. If God be a neuter, his friends cannot stand long, how then shall his enemies stand, when he is their opposer? We may conclude against wicked men, that they shall be destroyed, for God hath forsaken them, he will not own them; and as Haman's wife told him sadly, Est. 6.13. If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt surely fall before him. When a man is going down, nothing can stay him, if God do not: his hand must support a sinking and tottering person or Nation, or else either falls. When wicked enemies begin to fall, they shall fall and perish, for God will not put forth his hand to help the evil doers.

Now follows the effect of all. The effect first of God's gracious helping of the righteous, He will not cast away the righteous man; and is that all? Shall a righteous man be only not rejected? As man's duty ought not, so the mercy of God doth not stay in negatives. The Lord hath positive blessings in store for his people; the later part of the promise affirms this, He will not cast away the righteous man.

Till he fill thy mouth with laughing.] And is it but just till then? Will the Lord, when he hath set his people a laughing, leave them and help them no more? Will he, when he hath given them cause of joy, cast them off? His people had better never laugh at all, then laugh upon those terms. No man can laugh long, nor at all (upon any due ground) if God leave him.

We are not to understand this [Till] to be a terminative, or a determinative particle, as if the Lord's care and favor towards his people, should be only till he put them in a good estate, and then they must shift for themselves. God puts no such limits to his love. It cannot so much comfort the soul to know God loves us now, as it would trouble the soul, to think a time may come when he will not love us. The [till] here notes a continued act; it is as much as to say, He will never cast them off. The word [until] both in the Hebrew and Greek, often notes everlastingness. God makes a promise to Jacob in this form ( Gen. 28.19.) I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And would he leave him then? No, the meaning is, I will never leave thee ( Psa. 110.1.) Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Christ shall not be put from the right hand of God when his enemies are subdued under his feet, Christ shall sit there forever.

Thy mouth.] Observe here the change of the person: he spake before in the third person, The Lord will not east away the perfect man, now he brings it home and applies it unto Job, Till he fill thy mouth with laughing; as if he had said, That which I spake in the third person, I meant it as appliable unto thyself, that general truth may be made good to thy person, Till he fill thy mouth. I do not speak speculations or fleeing notions of things that shall never come to pass; If thou follow my counsel, thy own experience will quickly teach thee, That God will not cast thee off, till he fill thy mouth with laughing.

Laughter is an act of joy flowing from reason. To fill the mouth with laughing notes great joy, such an income of joy, so much matter of joy, that the heart cannot hold it, but out it must at the mouth: joy begins at the heart, there's the seat of it: and when the heart is so full of it that it cannot hold, then it runs over at the mouth and lips; that is, we express the inward joy of the heart by some outward sign or token, speech or gesture. So then to say, I will not cast thee away, till I have filled thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing, is as much as to say, I will not leave thee, till thou hast more comfort then thine heart can hold, so much, that thou must give it vent at thy lips, and be speaking of it.

The word for laughter signifies as well inward as outward joy, heart-laughter as well as face-laughter. Besides there is a twofold laughter.

First, A laughing of joy. And

Secondly, A laughing of scorn, called subsannation. With both these laughters the Lord will fill the mouths of his people.

First, With laughing for joy: for joy at their own comfortable and good estate, for joy that the Lord hath glorified himself in their deliverance. These things are great matter of joy to them. And then he will fill their mouths with a laughing of derision, they shall scorn their enemies who have scorned at them. God laughs at the proud opposers of his truth and people, Psal. 2. He that fitteth in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision. When the Lord hath confounded the plots of his enemies, he laugheth at them; his people also shall laugh, not insulting in the sins and miseries of men, but in the vengeance and disappointments which God poureth upon them. The derisions and scorns of the Saints have more holiness in them, then the devotions and prayers of wicked men. The word in the next clause is considerable.

We translate rejoicing, but the word properly signifies a joyful sound. So it is used (Psal. 89.15.) Blessed is the people that know the joyful found And it signifies to make a joyful sound, either with the mouth, which is a natural instrument, or with a trumpet or any other artificial instrument. Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound, that live within the sound of the silver trumpet which congregated the people of God, and gave notice of their solemn meetings for public worship. This word is applied sometimes to that rude sound, or confused noise, which soldiers make when they come on to charge in battle; they commonly make a great clamour, to strike the adversary with terror and amazement, and to encourage and raise their own spirits. The Greeks and Latins have their special terms to express it by, noted by the learned in the proprieties of those languages.

Again, That word is used for the confused noise of worsted or conquered enemies, when they flee and run away. So ( Judge. 7.31.) when Gideon had discomfited the host of the Amalekites, all the host ran and cried they made a doleful sound: so the word bears, as well as a joyful sound.

Thirdly, The word is chiefly used to note the sound or acclamation of soldiers after victory is obtained; a prevailing army shouts when the adverse forces are routed and overcome. Thus, in that famous instance ( Josh. 6.5.) Joshua gives command, that when they make a long blast with the rams horns, and when they heard the sound of the trumpet, all the people should shout with a great shout. Which shout is expressed by the word of the text, and in the tenth verse he charges that they should not shout or make a noise with their voice till the seventh day, because that was designed for the day of victory, the day when the wall should fall: You shall not shout nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouths, till the day I bid you shout, then shall ye shout. Balaam (Numb. 23.21.) confesses he could not curse Israel, because the shout of a King was amongst them. It is this word. That shout of a King may be understood three ways.

First, That it was such a shout as Kings used to have in their reception and coronation; Such a shout, saith he, there is among this people, as if a King were to be received and crowned. Thus when Samuel brought Saul out, whom he had anointed for King, and said, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the King, 1 Sam. 10.24.

Or secondly, It noteth such a shout as is in an army, where a King in person is leader or victor.

Thirdly, The shout of a King is amongst them, because the voice of a King should be as the sound of a trumpet, or some loud instrument, to enform and direct his people, as also to enourage them.

From all, we see this rejoicing is no ordinary joy; It is a high, a triumphant joy, I will fill thy lips with rejoicing, till thou shall sing VICTORIA over all thine enemies and calamities.

Further, This also is in it, a rejoicing with praise: not a bare rejoicing in the blessings and deliverances, but a rejoicing in the praises of God, who hath given those blessings, and wrought, those deliverances. The Septuagint translate it by rendering of thanks, or a confession of praise, I will not cast thee away, till I have filled thy lips with rejoicing; that is, with my praises. Thus David prays ( Psal. 71.8.) Let my mouth be filled with thy praise, and with thine honor all the day long. Praise filling the heart fills the mouth; joy as well as sorrow pent up, stifles the Spirit. Hence we may observe,

First, That as joy is the portion of the people of God, so in good time they shall receive their portion.

He will not cast off a perfect man, till he fill his mouth with joy, and his lips with rejoicing. Joy is their due, and joy they shall have. Hereafter they shall have their Masters joy, Enter into your Masters joy, will Christ say at last. Now they shall have such a joy as befits them, whilst they are in their Masters service. And as rejoicing is the portion, so the proper portion, the peculiar of godly men. Though laughing, as it is a natural act, is common to all men, yet in the sense we speak of, laughter is appropriated unto godly and perfect men: They only can laugh indeed who have mourned indeed. A wicked man doth but feign a laugh. He laughs to thee and to me, but he doth not laugh to himself: He hath no true laughter, while he laughs. His laughter is madness, and proceeds from his ignorance, not from his reason. Besides other marks of difference which shall be put between the servants of God and their enemies, this is one, My servants shall rejoice, and ye shall be ashamed (Isa. 65.13.) This joy arises two ways.

First, From the greatness of the blessing, which they receive for themselves. We must rejoice in the least mercy, how greatly then in the greatest? Our joys take their measure by our mercies. When Sarah had a Son, she said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear me shall laugh with me, Gen. 21.6. Her mercy in receiving a son was so great, that it would serve a whole world to make merry with. The man that had found his lost sheep, laid it on his shoulders, rejoicing (it was a pleasant burden to him) and when he came home, he called together his friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me (Luk. 15.6.) As some afflictions are so big, that all our own sorrows are not large enough to weep and mourn over them: so some blessings are so big, that they call out more then our own affections to rejoice over them.

Secondly, This overflowing joy arises from the greatness of those judgments, which are poured out upon the enemies of the Saints. The overthrow of Pharaoh at the red sea, of Jabin and Sisera at the brook Kishon, filled all hearts and mouths with laughter, and so shall the overthrow of Babylon, Rev. 15.

Thus, when God doth great things for his people, and great things against his enemies, then it is time to rejoice greatly ( Psal. 126.1.) The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we rejoice, say the captive Jews in the morning or first dawnings of their deliverance from Babylon; and more then so, Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. And there is cause of great rejoicing in those great things, because then God fulfils his promises, and makes his Name glorious in his providences. Then God is greatly honored, when his people are greatly delivered; then the blasphemies of wicked men are unanswerably confuted, and their mouths forever stopped. From all these considerations the hearts of the Saints are filled with laughter, and their mouths with rejoicing in a day when God works great things. At such times joy, and this degree of it, is not only our privilege, but our duty. When we carry a message of thanks to God, we must not come with uncheerfull countenances, or sour faces. It is a comely thing, when our affections keep time and proportion with the dispensations of God. When we cannot sing the songs of Zion, or use our harps by the waters of Babylon, and when we cannot but sing either in the restoring of Zion, or in the ruins of Babylon.

Some may object those texts, Woe to them that laugh, &c. ( Luk. 6.25.) It seems laughter is the portion of wicked men, for woe (we are sure) is their portion. It's true, worldly laughter, a laughter in corn, and wine, and oil, a laughter in riches, and honors, and carnal pleasures, as such, is a laughter with a woe annexed. But to laugh in the sense of the goodness of God, giving us outward good things to express ourselves joyfully, when God expresses himself graciously, is not only comely, but holy. When God's heart comes out at his hand, and is seen in his actions, our hearts should come out at our mouths, and be heard in our exultations.

Thus we have seen the effect of the goodness of God upon his own people. See the effect of his justice upon wicked men.

God resists, or will not put forth his hand to evil doers, then follows, They shall be brought to shame. Shame is opposite to laughing: he that rejoiceth, usually holds up his head, and cares not who sees him; but he that is ashamed, holds down his head, and endures not to be seen. Some men laugh in their sleeves (as we say) but all men would be ashamed in their sleeves.

The word hath a double signification.

First, It imports the putting forth of bitter hatred, when a man sets himself maliciously against his brother.

Secondly, It is taken comparatively for a lesser or more remiss putting forth of love. He may be said to hate, who wants a due heat and height of love. In that sense Jacob was taxed for hating Leah, Gen. 29.31. When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, &c. Take hatred in the common notion, and then surely Jacob was not a man so forgetful of a husbands duty, as to hate his wife: the meaning then is only this, The Lord saw that Leah had a less portion of love than Rachel had, or less then her conjugal relation called for. Jacob did not love her with that strength of affection with which he loved Rachel. Which exposition is clear (verse. 30.) and he (namely Jacob) loved Rachel more then Leah; then, Leah was loved, yet Jacob's loving of Rachel more then Leah, is called, hating of Leah. Not to love another in that degree we ought, is a degree of hatred. And in this sense we may take it here; for though such as maliciously, and professedly set themselves against the righteous are chiefly intended and fitted for this vesture of shame; yet it is cut out also for them, who do not love and esteem the righteous, who do not prize and rejoice in them, as the beauty and dignity which Christ hath put upon them, invites them to do. These haters shall be clothed with shame; according to the degree of their hatred shall be the degree of their shame.

To be ashamed at all is a great punishment; what is it then to be clothed with shame? To be clothed with shame is a great punishment, and most proper for those who are proud of their clothing.

Shame is the fruit of sin. When there was no sin in the world, there was no shame in the world, The man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed. Innocency knew no shame, and glory shall know none. It is good to be ashamed when we have done evil, but it is best to do no evil, whereof to be ashamed. Shame is a perturbation or trouble of mind, expressed outwardly by holding down the head, or by blushing in the face. And it ariseth three ways.

1. From doing somewhat against common light: though every act of evil hath matter of shame in it, yet a man is not naturally ashamed of it, unless it be done against the light of nature. Not to be ashamed of such sins, is to put out the light of nature. Such men are grown down into beasts. The impudence of Jerusalem is set forth in sinning against the light of Scripture without blushing, Isa. 3.9. Were they at all ashamed? Some are so modest, that they are ashamed to hear of, much more to be praised for the good which they have done: Others are so impudent, that they are not ashamed to hear of, no, nor to be reproved for, the evil which they have done, Were they at all ashamed? As if he had said, what a boldness or impudence is this people come to, they are not ashamed of those things, which are clearly forbidden in the Word. A good man is ashamed of anything he hath done against the light of Scripture. Every man is ashamed of what he doth against the light of nature.

2. Shame arises from long delay, or detainments much beyond expectation. When Moses staid long in the Mount, the people were ashamed (Exod. 32.1.) So Judge. 3.25. when Eglon staid long in the inner parlor, the text saith, his servants, who waited without, were ashamed.

3. Shame ariseth from utter disappointments. If hope deferred causeth shame, then much more hope destroyed. When a man sees his hopes quite cut off, so that he can no way reach the thing he looked for, shame takes hold of him strongly. David prays (Psal. 119.116.) Uphold me according to thy word, that I may live, and let me not be ashamed of my hope; that is, let me not lose my hope, for then I shall be ashamed; my enemies will rejoice and hoot at me, where's the word upon which you trusted to be upholden? Read Isa. 19.9. Psal. 27.6. Psal. 119.116. In all which Scriptures we find shame following the total frustration and disappointment of hope.

Evil doers shall be ashamed upon these three grounds, they have done things against common light. They shall stay waiting and gaping long for what they desire. They shall see themselves totally disappointed and defeated in their desires; hence shame shall fill their faces, and they shall be covered with it as with a garment.

Here is more then bare shame waiting upon them, the text saith, They shall be clothed with shame. To be clothed is applied both to ornament and dishonor. There are three degrees of expression in Scripture about shame.

1. Barely to be ashamed, that's the lowest.

2. To have the face covered with shame; Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake. Because for thy sake I have born reproach, shame hath covered my face (Psal. 69.6, 7.) The Prophet complains, that his face was covered with shame; his enemies endeavored to blot and asperse him, they poured contempt and reproaches upon his face, that is, upon his reputation in the world (to do so, is to cover the face with shame) therefore he prays, Let not those that wait on thee be confounded for my sake. Lord, they have covered me with shame, but do thou vindicate my reputation and mine honor; let not them that wait on thee be ashamed for my sake, because I have had shame upon me for thy sake: that is, let not any be discouraged in thy service, through my sufferings. The Apostle feared some would faint, because of his tribulations, Eph. 3.13.

3. To be clothed with shame, which implies the whole man under a covering of disgrace. Some are so clothed with sin, that their very clothes are ashamed of them, being unwilling to touch or hide such sins. Job speaks that sense in the ninth Chapter ( verse. 31.) concerning his own righteousness in justification, If I wash myself with snow-water, and make my hands never so clean, yet thou wilt plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall a • horre me; that is, if I should set myself up in my own righteousness; my own clothes would be doth to cover such a piece of spiritual pride, as that act would witness me to be.

To be clothed with shame notes four things.

First, The extent or abundance of it. To be clothed with honor, is to have much honor. To be clothed with humility, is to be very humble (1 Pet. 5.5.) He that is clothed is covered all over with his clothing.

Secondly, The publikenesse of it, that shame cannot be hid. A man cannot go abroad but his cloathingis seen: the filthiness which lies underneath may be hid, but his clothing cannot. Their shame shall clothe them, they shall not put their shame under their clothes, their shame shall be in sight.

Thirdly, They shall be clothed with shame, may be understood thus, Shame shall be their reward. They have been doing the business of Satan, he set them a work, now see what livery they shall have at last, into what suit the devil will put them. They shall go in a livery of dishonor. Servants are clothed by their Masters; Satan clothes his servants, and this is their clothing, they shall be clothed with shame. Samson was to give thirty change of garments to the Philistines for a reward, if they could declare his riddle ( Judge. 14.12. ) Satan gives liveries and garments of shame to those who study out his riddles, and do his drudgery.

Fourthly, If we take the letter of the Hebraism, to be clothed with shame implies thus much, that when a man hath done a thing of which he is ashamed; he (as it were) sends forth blood into the face, in a blush, to cover that foul act, he puts out a red garment, or a scarlet veil to hide his filthiness. Thus he is clothed with shame. Modesty commands nature, and (where it is but honestly natured) prevails with it to cast this covering over all uncomelines in speech or practice; and though this blush appears only in the face, yet the whole body is dipt and died with the same color.

Hence also they who are ashamed, either hold their hands before their faces to cover them, or hold their heads down that they may not be discovered. Observe,

That which evil men glory in, will be matter of their abasement.

The Apostle saith, They glory in their shame (Phil. 3.19.) not formally, but materially. No man can glory in anything under the notion of shame, but many glory in that which is in itself shameful, and will be their shame. The Hebrew expresses an Idol, by a word that signifies shame, or a shameful thing (and it is the root of that in the text) because Idols, first or last, make their worshippers ashamed, Jer. 11.13. According to the number of thy Cities were thy gods, O Judah, ye have set up altars to that shameful thing. Idolaters shall see at last how foolish they have been in worshipping a stock or a stone, in adoring the inventions of their own brains, which can do them no good in an evil day: every Idol is a shameful thing, because it deceiveth it's worshippers: so every sinful act will be like an Idol, matter of shame, because every sin is a deceit, Isa. 26. They shall be ashamed for their envy at my people: They shall see their envy against the people of God was unreasonable, groundless and fruitless, therefore they shall be ashamed; and if they shall be ashamed of their envy against the people of God, how shall they be ashamed of their opposition and injuries, of their oppression and injustice, Isa. 41.11. Behold all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed. The Churches enemies glory in their own shame, and the Church shall glory in the shame of her enemies; therefore she is called to behold it, as a piece of her glory.

Observe further, They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame, then, wicked men are haters of the righteous. They are haters of God, therefore they must be haters of those who have the Image of God upon them. As he that loves, so he that hates him that begets, hates him also that is begotten. Natural men are such haters of holiness, that they hate that which is but the image, the Idol of holiness, hypocrisy, they cannot endure a man, who doth but seem religious. It is said of the Panther, that he bears such hatred against man, that if he see but the picture of a man, he will tear it to pieces. Many men have such an hatred against true, real goodness, that they cannot abide the shadow or appearance of it.

We have met many passages to this purpose. Dwelling place in the Hebrew is a tabernacle, because they were wont to dwell in tabernacles. And when he saith, His tabernacle shall be brought to naught, The meaning is, His whole estate shall be brought to naught, not only the walls of his house shall be overthrown, but all his goods, his riches, his honors, his titles, his children, his relations, whatsoever is dear to him shall be brought to naught; the Hebrew is, It shall not be; it shall be, as if such a thing had never been in the world. God will at last make an utter consumption of wicked men. None who have tabernacles in the world, shall long have a tabernacle in the world. But the fall of these men's tabernacles shall not be according to the condition of mortality only. As Moses speaks of Corah, Dathan, &c. These men shall not die the common death of all men, a remarkable judgment shall overtake them. Some take tabernacle, to note their religious duties, their worship and service of God, and so their spiritual estate. Wicked men will serve God outwardly, they have their tabernacles as well as the Saints, they pray and hear, &c. But, be it a civil, or be it a religious tabernacle, down it must, all their riches and all their religion shall come to naught.

IN the former Chapter Bildad gave a three-fold advice to Job.

First, To think aright of the justice and judgments of God.

Secondly, To humble himself and seek unto God.

Thirdly, (Which is implied in both the former) To forbear complaining of his own troubled life, or desiring the end of it by death.

To these three heads of Bildads advice or reproof, Job shapes his answer in this 9 ^th , and in the 10 ^th Chapter.

First, He opens his thoughts about, and highly magnifies the justice of God, to the 21. verse.

Secondly, He renounces his own righteousness, and proves that no man is to be judged by the present dealings of God with him, from the 21. verse to the end of the Chapter.

Thirdly, He renews and justifies his complaint against his life, and his wishes for death, by many arguments, in the tenth Chapter.

In most of these points he answers exactly, according to the strict laws and rules of disputation.

First, Repeating his Opponents argument, and then yielding what was true, denying what was false, and distinguishing about what was doubtful. Which he doth with so much acuteness and vigor, with so much strength and clearness both of reason and judgment, that one of the Ancients cries out upon the whole matter of his answer in these Chapters, O how much Philosophy (I may say, how much logic) hath Job shown in this reply to the argument of Bildad!

Bildads argument speaks to this effect; God who hath punished thee is just, therefore thou art unjust. Job in answer, grants the antecedent, but denies the consequent. His grant of the antecedent appears in the two first verses of the Chapter, I know it is so of a truth (I yield this) but how should man be just with God? He proves and confirms that God is just, in the fourth verse, by a double medium.

First, From his wisdom, He is wise in heart. And

Secondly, From his power, He is mighty in strength. What force there is in these two Attributes to hold up the justice of God, we shall see afterwards.

The fourth verse is likewise a concession unto the second part of Bildads advice, namely, that Job should humble himself. As if Job had said, You advise me to humble myself, and to seek unto God, it is most becoming I should do so, for, he is wise in heart and mighty in strength; Who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered? There is no standing out against God, and therefore I yield, I fall down and abase myself before him.

That, God is thus powerful and wise, he goes on to prove in the following parts of the Chapter to the 22. verse, by the enumeration of many particular acts and effects, both of his power and wisdom.

The other part of his argument, namely, the consequent, that therefore Job was unjust and wicked, he denies, and more, refutes it strongly. His negation and refutation begin at the 22 ^th verse. This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the righteous and the wicked. As if he had said, This is no argument, that I am a wickedman, because God hath destroyed my estate, and my children; for God (in this sense) destroyeth both the righteous and the wicked. It cannot be proved that I am wicked, because God hath afflicted me; or, that God hath afflicted me for my wickedness: I know another way how to acquit the justice of God, and to declare him righteous, though I do not join with you in condemning and judging myself (in your notion) unrighteous.

This is the sum of his answer contained in the ninth Chapter.

In the tenth he renews his complaint, as before in the sixth, and showeth (after he had given God glory under all his sufferings) what great reason he had to be sensible under the pain and smart of his sufferings.