256 Verf. 6. AnExpofition upon the Bookof J O B. Chap. 2. engin to torture Jobs body, in that he mixt the rack and the wheel, the fword and the faw, the fiery gridiron and the boyling oyle ; Thepaine ofa thoufand deaths was heightn'd in that ma- lignant difemper. Secondly, he is in thine hand, butfave his life, faith God. , The matter wherein Satan is limited is life; then note, That li f e and deatb.are in the handofGod. It is truth, that all we have is in the hand of God; but God keeps our life in his hand last of all, and he hath that in his hand in a fpecial manner.SoDa.. videxprefi'es it, Thou holdeft nyfoule in life; though the foule con - Ptal.66.9. tinue, life may not continue; there is the foul , when there isnot life;life is that which is the unionof foul and body;Thou holdeft my foul in life , that is, thou holdefi foul and body together, So Daniel defcribes God toBelfhazzar, Dan.5.23. The God in whole hand thybreath is , and rvhofe are all thy wayes haft thou not glo- rified. The breathofPrinces is in the hand ofGod; and the fame hand holds the breath ofthe meaneft Subject;Thismay bematter of comfort to us in fuch times as thefe are ; times of danger, and timesof death; when the hand of man is lifted up to take thy life, remember thy life is held in the hand of God: And as God laid here to Satan,aThiE,f the body ofJob, but fave his Iife; fo God faith 'till to bloudy wretches,who areas the limbs ofSatan, The bodies ofInch and fuch are in your hands,thecuates of fuch and fuel) are in your hands,but lave their lives. The life of a man is never at the mercy ofa creature; though it bea common fpcech ofmen, when they have a man under them, Now I haveyouat my mercy; though fome brag as Laban did to Jacob It is in thepower ofmy hand to do you hurt; yet God often checks them (as he did Laban) from fomuch as Ipeaking hurt, Gen.3 i .29. But the God ofyour Fathers fakeunto meyrfter-night, flying, Take thou heed, that thoufpeak not to Jacob either goodor bad. Creatures though full oflove cannot fpeak gocd , and though full ofmalice they cannot (peak bad , if God forbid :.then much lcfs can they do us hurt, and leafs ofall hurt our lives, if God with- hold.Davidtriumphs in his inter u in fuch a God, Pf4.68.20. Our God is the Godoffalvation (that is,of deliverance, ofoutward deliverance ( for that is efpecially there meant) and to God the Lordbelong the i,Juesfromdeath,or the go- ings out from death,that is,God hath all wayes that lead out from death in his own keeping, he keepeth thekey of the door,that lets us out from death ; when a man is in the valley of the shadow of
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