Chap:3.. AnExpo.fition upon the Bookof J O B. Verl. 8. 433 Lord ? Chrift will ànfwer as in the Gófpel, (Mat-25. ) Inafmuch asyou have fpoken againft any one (and you have fpoken againft many) of the leaft of thefe my brethren, ye have fpoken againft me. To howmany of my brethren have you laidmany times, Where á1 nowyour God? To howmany have youlaid,as they (Pfal.22.9.) - in that Prophefie ofChrift, You trufted on the Lordthat he would deliver you, let him deliveryou ?. To howmany have you laid, Where are your ,prayers and fallings ? where is your Parliament ? avhere areyour hopes ?Thefe arc hard fpeeches. This voycè of the oppreffor cuts the heart of the poor prifoner ; he canwith more cafedye,'thenhear-such blafphcmiesand reproaches.` The wicked (Mal. 3. i3.) bluffer and fpeak big againft God himfelf ; Your words have bon float againft me , faith the Lord : If 'wickedmen . will fpeak itoutly againft God, the"highGod, how fioutly will they fpeak against a poor oppreffed captive, that lies under their feet? Seeing then it is (itch a wound and a terrour to be under the power of insulting oppreffors, who-will not only ftrike with the fword, but ftrike with every word : Let us pity and pray for our :brethren<that are under the hands, yea, let, and which is worfe, .under the tongues of filch drivers pitty them, in regard of the wants`-which they feel, and of the words they hear every day. And let us betimes harken to another voyce , that we may not-at lafi come to hear this voyce, 0 that my people had harkened unto me, (faith God, Pfalm8r .) If we would harken to the voyce of God, we shouldnot hear the voyce offuch men. It is the pu- nifhment "which God lays upon a people (and it is a fuicable-pu- nifhment) for not hearing his voyce, thnt he gives them up to hear this voyce : When a Nation will not hear the voyce of the Prophets, then they mutt hear the voyce of Opprejf-rs. Let us hatentohear thevoyce,the fweet voyce,thepleafant voyce ofour God in his Minifters of the Gospel, left webe given up to hear the dreadful, grating, cutting voycé of such milcreants, who yet are theMiniffers.of Gods jufi difpleafure againft a dilobedient people. If we, like the deaf Adder ,, stop our ears at the voyce of the Charmer, charm he never fo wifely, (Pfal. 58.5.) doub refs t-he Lord will (yea he hath done it in part already) fend Serpents and Cockatrices among us, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite us, (with bitter and (harp words,) Jer. 8.17. Let us therefore fo hear the voyce of the Word, that we may be delivered from K k .k this
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