ap. 36. ii Éxp® ion ttpon the Boo{¿ o f Jo 8, 'erf i o. 2 3 3 our iniquity. Secondly, we take (peaking or laying in the highefl firaine, Hefpeaks by commanding, he :fpeaks authoritatively ; Thus we render, He commandeth. The canmandof God is two- fold ; Firfi, formal or exprefs, when Godgives the rule in fo ma- ny words. Secondly,vertual. The commandof God (1 conceive) is here to be undetflood in this latter fnfe, When the Lard af- fïið the righteous, he vertually commands,or fends out his E- die ,chat they returnfrom their tupity.T,he wo:d return,implyes them formerly followin Tome iniquity,&gone far from the Lord: This returning is repenting all the Scripture over. I need fay no more of that. As by fin we turn fromGod, foby repentance, we return from iniquity ; and as the Lord at all times commands the righteous by his word,fo theyeven force him_fometimes to com- mand them by his rod, which is called difcipline in the former part of the verle, becaufe fianers feel paine ; and findmatter co learn, all at once. Hecowmaodorb that they return' from imquity. Theword rendred inignity,fignifies a vain,empty thing,a thing i haherfg: of nought : fo the Chaldee paraphrafeth it here,He.commands thatnificationo n they return from their evil works , which are like tovanity, and tttbtli. thing ofnought. What is fin, but a kind ofnothing ? we look for , ai g f g o bzarfurs malr, meat matters from fin,but it is a vanity,it is (likean Idol)nothingque (mina sn the world, that is , ie is not fuch a thing as it doth import, or asPunt vaniteti it promifeth, or as the opinionof men make is to be ; Iniquity is Q/7 nihito. no fuch thing as it pretended': , or as is pretended. The LordChalci commandeth that they return from iniquity;that is, from doing that whichwill profit them nothingat all, or no more than a vaine thing, a thing of nothingcan. And yet though iniquity be norhint; good or profitable, yet'tisall things evil and hurtfully nor had any thingever hurt us or been evil tous, had it not been fc: quity, He commandeth that they return frominiquity, Hence Note Fitt , A,fflition bath avoyce; God fpeaks loudly toiii by a F4o,; He fpeáks to us as loud in his works, as he doth in his <word ; he trumpets to us, he thunders to us in his works : God peaks a- loud, but fweetly,ta us inhis works of mercy, he fpeaks a' e but terribly,to us in his works of judgement. H h Secondly,
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