326 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS between God himself and the sinner; one of them must be the principal cause of all this misery ; for there is no other to cast it upon ; and God disclaims it ; he will not take it upon him : and the wicked disclaim it usu- ally, and they will not take it upon them. And this is the controversy which is here carried on in my text. The Lord complains of the people ; and the people think it is the fault of God. They say, ver. 10. If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how shall we then live? As if they should say, If we must die, how can we help it ? As if we were not their fault, but God's. But God, in my text, clears himself of it, and tells them how they may help it if they will, and persuades them to use the means ; and if they will not be persuaded, he lets them know that it is their own fault ; and if this will not satisfy them, he will not therefore forbear to punish them. It is he that will be the judge ; and he will judge them according to their ways: they are no judges of him or of themselves, as wanting authority, and wisdom, and impartiality : nor is it the cavilling with God, that shall serve their turn, or save them from the execution ofjustice. The words of this verse contain, 1. God's clearing of himself from the blame of their destruction. This he does not by disowning his law, that the wicked shall die ; nor by disowning his execution according to that law, or giving them any hope that the law shall not be executed ; but by professing that it is not their death that he takes pleasure in, but their returning rather, that they may live: and this he confirm to them by his oath. -2. An express exhortation to the wicked to re- turn ; wherein God does not only command, but per- suade, and condescend also to reason the case with them. Why will they die? The direct end of this ex- hortation is, That they may turn, and live. The secon- dary ends, upon supposition that this is not attained, are these two : First, to convince them, that it is not the fault of God if they be miserable. Secondly, to convince them, for their manifest wilfulness in reject- ing all his commands and persuasions, that it is their own fault; and they die, even because they will die.
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