ance of the lesser and younger Jacob. Here the battle is about religion, faith, sentiments, spiritual experience and feelings, and, in a word, wholly about such things as pertain unto God; on account of which also a carnal war is raised and carried on, while the ungodly most pertinaciously establish their own opinions and tenets, and most impetuously persecute and condemn those of the godly. Here, properly, is the struggle of the two infants in the womb of Rebecca, so that even the mother herself is terrified, and says, "If it must be thus, why did I conceive? This encounter is most fierce. Such as this, was the encounter of the apostles against the Jews and false prophets and teachers, of the martyrs against the religious ones and worshippers of idols, and of the true teachers against the heretics; and such ever has and ever will be the encounter of the humble against the proud in mind and heart. Here the ungodly surpass all in multitude and power, and in the mighty, the wise, the self-righteous, who all stand firmly by them. This we may clearly see in the Arian heresy. And moreover, the sense of the flesh and general opinion, all combine to strengthen their forces, and they are in every respect fully armed. Whereas, the godly have nothing more than their confession, which is unto salvation: besides this, they have hardly any thing. They are few in number, simple, fools and sinners, and these are the only characters that stand by them. And as those things which they say are beyond all the sense, opinion, and comprehension of the commor.alty, they appear by their very words, whenever they speak, to betray their being conquered; and, in a word, they are ridiculed and contemptible. And here the ungodly, relying upon the applause and opinion of the multitude and the great, and being puffed up with all that, fulfil that of Psalm xiv. 6, " Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge." So far, therefore, the just give way and are conquered, at least to all appearance, until the Lord's opportunity' arrive. But when the godly have persevered in this confes sion unto salvation; whether, in the mean time, they die or suffer, the Lord comes in his " opportunities;" saying, Not so the elder shall serve the younger;' that is, the present conqueror shall yield to the conquered. As I said just before, in adducing that passage of Isaiah xxxiii. 1, "When thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee." So the Lord saith, and so it cometh to pass. For," He saith and it cometh to pass." And these things then come to pass when, (as the Psalmist will hereafter show,) the Lord shall be known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.' For by the revelation of the truth it is known, as it is said above, ver. 5, Thou hast rebuked the nations, and the wicked is perished.' For the wicked are not turned by our preaching, but by God rebuking, executing judgment, and giving increase. When, therefore, the ungodly are thus changed by those who were before apparently conquered, then is fulfilled that which is written," The heathen are sunk down in the destruction that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken." For this "destruction," and this "net" which they laid for the godliness of the just, that they might destroy it, their ungodliness has fallen into, and is itself destroyed. They have not, however, perished with the same kind of destruction that they planned, but with a destruction like it because the destruction of godliness and of ungodliness are very different, though the form or appearance is the same. Hence, this verse may be understood from the Apostle, Rom. v. 14, where he saith that Adam was the (form of) figure of Christ: whereas, the former was the author of sin, the latter of righteousness. But a true form is that which is of the same origin, not of similar things. And so here, the ungodly are sunk down and drowned in the destruction which they made for the godly: whereas, the destruction of the godly, is, to become ungodly, and the destruction of the ungodly, to become godly: the form is the same, but the thing itself is far different. These two paraphrases, are perhaps those signs mentioned, Rev. xiii. where it is said of those that fight with one of the beasts, ver. 10, "This is the patience and faith of the saints;" but with those that fight with the other, ver. 18, "This is wisdom." But there are some, who understand this altogether figuratively considering, that to be sunk down into the destruction which they have made, signifies, the conscience being ensnared and taken in the sins which they have committed. Others, again, more subtlely, understand it as signifying, the heretics and ungodly being taken and entrapped in their own words. For as a liar cannot always be correct in memory, so neither can he be sufficiently prudent: whence it comes to pass, that he is easily snared and taken by those things which he before said: as David slew Goliath with his own sword. And so also, Christ binding the strong man, divideth the spoils in which he trusted. And indeed, we see that the Jews, the heretics, and the proud, were, and are all taken in this manner. And so also, Jonathan, 1 Sam. xiv. 89, took it to himself as a sign of future victory, if they should go up against the Philistines, being called by them; but the contrary, if the Philistines should come to them. For all those who are skilled in military matters make this a general rule,-that the war is not to be put off until the enemy shall have besieged the gates, but that he is to be met while he is at a distance, or rather, while he is yet delaying in his own land. And such was generally the case in those wars that David waged against the nations. And so also, the Romans could not conquer Hannibal in Italy; and Hannibal could not conquer in Africa. And what does the divine power mean by all these modes of expression and ways of setting things forth, but that which is here said, that the enemy can be best and most safely conquered by his own powers, his own arms, his own arts, his own attempts to defend himself? Nay, in the same manner, Christ conquered death by death itself and the powers of death, and condemned sin through sin; even as also he overcame the curse by the curse, and gave us power over the devil, the world, and the flesh, which were to be conquered in no other way but in their own devices, by our being endued with faith and patience, and thus strengthened and rendered invincible against all their power and craft. This is a very beautiful view of the matter, though I know not whether it exactly accords with, and is applicable to this verse. For the former sense seems to be the more simple, that is, to understand it as speaking of the fall of the ungodly and ungodliness, and their sinking down into that destruction which they made for the godly and godliness: whether you understand it in a way of goodness, or of severity, or of both; for both are the judgment and work of the Lord, as we have shown above; but that judgment and work do not operate to the same end in all, because the designs of the Lord in them are different. But now, let us come to the force and meaning of the words, which we see to be entirely allegorical: and whereby (as we have said Psalm ii.) the Spirit intends to set forth an allegorical thing. For one thing is done in reality, though another seems to be done, as to appearance, when the ungodly attack the godly, either in a carnal or a spiritual war: for they seem to be conquerors and superiors, but, in reality, they are conquered and made to serve the inferior. Which allegory is beautifully commended to us in these words, The elder shall serve the younger!' The elder and the younger here, are only so in appearance: that is, the victory of the one, and the servitude of the other, are what is externally seen. But the real servitude, which God sees to be such, does not appear; it is declared by the Word, and received by faith only. Here then, you see, that it is the spirit that is to be observed in the Word more than the letters. And I wish that all those under tribulation, would keep this word continually in memory, as it were a proverb, that they might thereby be comforted, and be accustomed to say, against all sins, or any other sufferings, The elder shall serve the younger :' which stands equally true in all victories to come, as well as in those which are already obtained, and therefore it may be to present advantage, profit, and comfort: for all those who are our elders, that is, who persecute us, shall find, that their tyranny which they intended for our hurt, shall be only our servitude unto our good. Thus, the judgment of God and the judgment of men are very far different from each other. The expression "sunk down," seems to be taken from the Egyptians, Exod. xv. 5, where it is said, "They sank into the bottom as a stone." And indeed the whole verse is nearly a parallel to that same history. For as the Egyptians, when endeavouring to destroy Israel, were made to appear far greater and above them, and yet perished in that very attempt; so the ungodly perishes, in persecuting the spiritual Israel. And this 'sinking down,' or being fixed,' implies their perpetual destruction, from whence they are never delivered, whether you understand it in a way of severity or in a way of goodness. For the damned shall not be recalled, and those that are converted shall not return to their vomit to all eternity for between both these, is a great gulph fixed, so that there is no passing from the one to the other. In this same way also, David has expressed it, Psalm vii. 15, above, though in different words and of a different weight: "He hath made a pit and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made." It is more terrible to fall into the pit, than to suffer the pit which is made. And so here, "They are sunk down (or fixed) in the destruction which they made :" and it is more terrible to be sunk down into the destruction, than to suffer the destruction prepared. As if David had said, the evils whereby the ungodly attack the godly, seem to be the fall and destruction of the latter; but, in reality, they are only a certain preparation for, and appearance of fall and destruction, and a being tempted by them: for the godly are tempted with death and all other evils, but they still live and prosper. As it is written, Psalm exviii. 13, "Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall; but the Lord helped me." Whereas, on the other hand, the ungodly seem to be lifted up, exalted, and established, |