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12 are gone: So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens [be] no more, till the end of all things, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep, as they now are; therefore let me 13 enjoy a little ease and rest while here. O that thou wouldst hide me in the grave, that thou wouldst keep me secret from all these scenes of sorrow, which seem to be the effects of thy anger, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldst appoint me a set time, and remember me to raise me up again! He then adds, with a'sur14 prise of faith and pleasure, If a man die, shall he live [again ?] shall it indeed be so? then all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come; all the days of my warfare as 15 the word signifies, till death remove me hence; after that Thou shalt call me out of the grave, and I will answer thee with joy and triumph; springing up at thy call, and coming forth to a new life; thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands; thou will not leave the work of thy hands to perish in the grave. But though 16 it shall be so well with me then, yet now it is otherwise, For now thou numberest my steps, all my wrong steps: dost thou not 17 watch over my sin, to punish me for it? My transgression [is]

sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity, all ready to be produced against me; thou takest care that none shall be lost. 18 And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, gradually 19 wasteth away, and the rock is removed out of his place. The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow [out] of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man; so thou deprivest me of all hope of ever returning 20 into this world again. Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth out of this world by death: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away; a beautiful and striking 21 allusion to the paleness and blackness of a corpse. His sons come to honour, and he knoweth [it] not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth [it] not of them; his knowledge of this world is lost, and he is no way affected by what happens to his family. 22 But his flesh upon him, that is, while his flesh is upon him, he shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn, particularly when he is in the agonies of death. These various circumstances are thrown together to vindicate his desire of death, and in the mean time to obtain an alleviation of his grief.

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REFLECTIONS.

E have here an affecting and instructive view of human life. It is short, and full of trouble; frail, as a flower, hasty, as a moving shadow. Let us expect our share of trouble, and not sink under it when it comes. Let young persons set out in life with low expectations from this world; for every day will bring some toil and trouble and sorrow with it. Let us endeavour to bring our minds to our condition; and secure a peaceful conscience and the divine favour, which is the best, the only support under it.

2. Here is an instructive view of death. It is a removal out of this world, and there is no recovery, like that of a plant, which may grow again it is a great and awful change; the body changes its appearance when sick, especially when it has been a little while dead. The soul removes to a new world, to new work, new company, and has no more concern with what is done on earth. Let us think of this change, get ready for it, wait patiently till it comes, and in a word, so live, that it may be a happy and glorious change

to us.

3. We have an instructive view of the grave. It is an hiding place to God's people; a shelter from every storm. When oppressed with calamity, or when God foresees distress coming, then he sends them away, lodges them safe in the grave, locks them up there, and hides them from thousands of sins, sorrows and distresses, which they foresaw not. The grave is a chamber of repose to the saints. It is God's work to hide men there. Let this reconcile good men to an abode in the grave; and teach them silence and submission when their pious friends are lodged there. Once more,

4. We have here an instructive view of the resurrection. Man lieth down and riseth not, till the heavens are no more; then he shall rise. God calls, and each of his servants answer, readily and joy fully, "Here I am." God will have regard to the work of his grace in the heart, and the work of his hands on the bodies of his saints, and will awake them again to a new and immortal life. The well grounded expectation of this, is very comfortable to the saints under all the afflictions of life, and in the near views of death. Let us all be thankful for the gospel, which throws such light on these important and interesting subjects; and seeing we expect such things, let us daily and seriously consider what manner of persons, we ought to be, in all holy conversation and godliness.

CHAP. XV.

Eliphaz in this chapter reproves Job for his folly, impiety, and arrogance; and describes the case of prosperous sinners, secretly glancing at the case of Job.

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HEN answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said, Should a wise man, as thou pretendest to be, utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? utter vain words, and satisfy his mind with pernicious sentiments and vehement ex3 pressions? Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good? with such weak argu4ments as are unable to prove the point in question? Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God; thou art a 5 man of great impiety, or thou couldst never talk thus. For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, it is evident from thy own words,

and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty; covereat thy im2 pious principles and opinions with fair pretences of piety and re6 spect to God. Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee; it is not our surmise, 7 but thy own words that prove this. [Art] thou the first man [that] was born? or wast thou made before the hills? that thou 8 thinkest so highly of thyself? Hast thou heard the secret of God?. art thou of his cabin ́t counsel? and dost thou restrain wisdom to 9 thyself? is all wisdom in thee? What knowest thou that we know not? (what] understandest thou, which [is] not in us? 10 retorting Job's words upon him, chap. xiii. 2. With us [are] both the grey headed and very aged men, much elder than thy father, and therefore, by thy own argument, they should know more 11 than thou. [Are] the consolations of Gorl small with thee? the consolations which we offer thee and thou despisest? is there any secret thing with thee? any secret comfort which nobody else 12 knows, and for which thou rejectest these comforts of God? Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink 13 at, in a manner so conceited and contemptuous, That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest [such] words go out of thy mouth? that thou speakest against God with so much anger and 14 pride? What [is] man that he should be clean? and [he which is] born of a woman, that he should be righteous? thou forget15 test thine original, or thou wouldst not talk thus. Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; he employs them, but puts no such con◄ fidence in them as if they were unspotted and infallible; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight; the heavenly inhabitants are not 16 absolutely pure. How much more abominable and filthy [is] man which drinketh iniquity like water? eagerly and greedily, 17 and without any concern. I will show thee, hear me; and that

[which] I have seen will I declare, which therefore may be de18 pended upon: Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid [it] from their children, but have declared as a matter 19 of great certainty and importance: Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them; these wise men and their fathers were persons of great authority, power, and 20 wealth in the plates of their abode. The wicked man travaileth with pain all [his] days, he is continually uneasy, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor; he knows not how long he shall live, and enjoy his prosperous estate, and so is in continual 21 fear of a change. A dreadful sound [is] in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him; his guilt makes him 22 timorous and suspicious. He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness; like thee, he is dispirited and thinks he cannot escape, and shall never come out of trouble, and he is waited for of the sword; the sword is as it were looking for him, to fall im 23 mediately upon him. He wandereth abroad for bread, [saying,] Where [is it?] he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand; at length the judgment of God shall come upon him, and he shall be ready to beg his bread, and expect every day that death VOL. IV.

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24 shall surprise him. Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid } they shall prevail against him as a king ready to the battle, whe surrounds the enemy with a numerous force, and leaves no way to escape. Nor can we wonder at his punishment when we view his 25 crime, For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty, desperately opposes God in 26 all things. He runneth upon him, [even] on [his] neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers, or on the spikes of it, which enter into his heart. To this daring impiety he is encouraged by his 27 prosperity, and that luxury to which he is accustomed: Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on 28 [his] flanks. And he dwelleth in desolate cities, [and] in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps; he is glad to shelter in desolate places, even in those which his own tyranny and oppression have made desolate. For it is certain that 29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth; he shall lose every thing that he gloried and prided himself in ; and 30 when his misfortunes are come upon him He shall not depart out of darkness, he shall never get out of trouble; the flame shall dry up his branches, his children, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away; the tempest he shall raise shall quite carry him 31 away. Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity, the greatest height of fortune; for vanity shall be his recompense; he shall meet with nothing but disappointment, one vanity after another, 32 and all vexatious. It shall be accomplished before his time, before he expected it, and his branch shall not be green, his pros33 perity shall end before his life. He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive; his children, his substance, his projects, shall all wither, and not come 34 to maturity. For the congregation of hypocrites, that is, all the partners of his iniquity, [shall be] desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery, the houses he built by fraud and injus35 tice. They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit; they plot mischief against others, but it comes upon themselves; their projects, when they come to the birth, bring forth the ruin of the projectors.

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REFLECTIONS.

E here see a beautiful specimen of the ill language which disputants, often give one another. Instead of attending to the merits of the argument, they charge each other with folly and conceit; commend themselves, and plead that reason and antiquity, the fathers and doctors of the church, are all on their side. This is a common case, and should teach us, whenever we are arguing with others, especially when pleading what we think the cause of God and truth, to keep our spirits calm, and see that our words be peaceable, as well as pure.

2. We see that a source and sign of wickedness is casting off fear, and restraining prayer before God. The fear of God is the most needful principle, and prayer the most needful practice; for there is no religion where there is no fear of God, and no fear of God where there is no prayer to him. Restraining prayer is a strong expression. Prayer is so natural, there are so many circumstances which do as it were extort it, that the man must do violence to his own mind who restrains it. It is extremely bad indeed, when those who have been used to pray leave it off; it is a sign that they have lost all sense of goodness, and are in the high way to utter destruction.

3. The consolations of God are not small, and should never be thought so by us. They are rich, and great, and various; suitable to every distressed case. It is an affront to God, and an injury to ourselves, to despise them and neglect to seek them. Some secret thing is too often put in their stead; the wealth or pleasures of the world. But these never satisfy the soul; and when their help will be most wanted, their emptiness will be most apparent. Happy they, who value and seek divine comforts! for in the multitude of their thoughts within them, those comforts will delight their souls.

4. Let us entertain serious thoughts of the majesty and purity of God, and the meanness and sinfulness of man. He is infinitely pure and perfect; the heavens are not clean in his sight. Angels and glorified saints are comparatively unrighteous, and not to be trusted; he needs not their services, and is exalted above all their blessing and praise. On the contrary, man is unclean, and loves iniquity, swallows it eagerly, and commits it with greediness. These are good reasons why we should think most highly of God, and most humbly of ourselves; why we should be patient under affiictions, and labour to be pure and holy, that we may be like God, and the objects of his favour and love.

5. The miserable condition of wicked men, however prosperous, should make us dread their character. Here is a most beautiful description of the continued tossing, uneasiness and disquiet, that there is in a sinner's heart. He is full of inward fears and alarms, perpetually uneasy, apprehending danger where there is none, and fearing much, where there is little to be feared; and though he endeavours to drive away his fears and troubles, they rush upon him with greater force. Oftentimes the judgments of God bring shame, poverty, pain, and misery, upon him in this world; yet all this is but the beginning of sorrow. Attend then to that weighty lesson in v. 31, let not him that is deceived trust in vanity, in his amusements, or his wealth, especially when that is ill gotten, for it will yield him no satisfaction, but expose him to a thousand vexations, and sink him into that darkness, trouble, and anguish, from which he shal never return.

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