111 3 hap. 3a. .itn Expeftion ctpon the ,Book, of J o s. Verf.'gö, Vuetimes andfeafoes offfìeakingmullbeobférvedandtaken. ( Ecclefiafles 3. 7. ) There is a time; to f freak., and a time to keepfilence. The providences raf God po, nt wife men to both.. And ufually times of flence fit us for times of,fpeaking ; Every thing is beautifull in its feafon; words fpoken.in their feafon, are not only more erfeauall, but more beautiful!, they are like apples ofgold in pielores of /dyer. And therefore as the wife nungives us caution, ( Ecclef. 5. a.) Nit to be t'afh withourmouths to ot- ter any. thing before God; Sn we fhould not be raai with our mouths.to utter any thing before men, but well toconfider what we have to fay, and Waite our timeso,fay ir. The Apollto ames ((hap. r r 9.) would haveusfor' to heare, flow to fpea ; and probably, theflower we. are to fpeak, the fuser we fpeake; Hall, fpeaking 'lath given menmore dangerous flumbles andfalls, then e- ver hafty going did. The Prophet reprefents our Lord Jefas Chiifi thus befpeaking his. Father as to his preparationand furni- ture for the exercife of his Propheticall, yeaof his whole Media- toriall office (Ifa. 50. 4.) Thou haft given me the tongue of the: learned that 1 might know how tofpeake a. wordin feafon. As there is muchfdome in hitting the matter what to fpeak, and the manner-a fpeaking, how to cloath and dreíffe the-matter of our fpeech ; fo there is much wifdome in-hitting the time and feafon when to fpeake. And as to time a thing well in acting, fo to time it well in fpeaking, is the better halfe of it. Elihx waited till fob, had fpoken.' WhatIhave now touched, may be one reafonof his waiting ; But the fpeciall reafon ofit follows in the text. Becaufe they were elder then Pie; and good reafon that he fhould wane upon-his elders. .npi fgnificat The Hebrew is, They wereelder for dayes ; they werenot only non tannin fe- old men for layes, but cider for dayes then he ; The word, ílriCily non' fedferia taken,importsa man more then old, even one that is wornwith confetlam, e Further, it denotes a two-fold elderfhip Firft anelder- :fun tantum fe- ; in p Went etate fed (hip time, dayes or yeares. Secondly,an-eldership in wifdome, fápieuia.. andunderfianding. They are,our elders indeed, who are wi fer then we; elderfhip in time defervesrefpeth, bat elderfhip in wifdome com- mands it. And as fuel are expreíf by this word in the Hebrew,. fo both the, Grecians and Romans exprefl'e their wife men by a
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