573 Verf. t9. pin Expoftion upon the Book of ,J o B. Chap. 37. Cannot order ourfpeech by rearmofdauhnefs. The word here rendred co order may have a double allufion Firff, To a Military ; Secondly, To a Judiciary ordering. Itis an allufion to the Military ordering of anArmy or Camp, becaufe words in fpeech ought to be put into goodorder, to be duely ranked and drawn out as fouldiers to "batted. They alto that have rodo inauCes and Courts ofJuficeought toorder their words aright, c ey muff not fpeak at random, or what comes next, but theymuff weigh the plea they make, and putevery thing in its due place. Thus faith "Elibee here, We cannot arder ourfpeech, we-cannot tell how to drawup our reafons, we are over-matcht in this bufinefs, we know not how to plead before God in thy cafe, nor what defence_ to make for thee ; thoupre- tendea tobe able tocontend with him, butwe are not, we cannot srder our fpeech. why not ? By reafon ofdarknefs. It is darknefs that dually hinders the putting of things inorder: Darknefs in the Airdorh fo, much more darknefs of the Under- finding. There mua be light of one kind or other for the order- ing of every matter. Where darknefs is there mua needs be con- fufion t and thereforeElibza gives a very good account, why they could not order their fpeech, when he faith, we cannot doit by reafon&of darknefs. What darknefs ? there is a twofold darknefs, Firff, There is darknefs proper, or natural. Ooce there was darknefs, becaufelight was not come or created ; of that c1tofes fpeaks ( Gen. r. 3, 4.) Darknefs was rayon theface ofthe deep. Now there is darknefsevey nighr,caufed by the departure of light, or the going down of theSun ; asalfo fometimes by the Eclipfe of the Sun (Matth. 27..q.á.) rherewasdarknefs over all the land, when Chria was crucified. It was not chit kind of darknefs, that hindredElihu fromordering his fpeech ; for a man may order his fpeech though he have neither Sun-light nor Candle-light ; a man needs noether light-, but that of Reafon and Underaanding toor- derhis fpeech by. Secondly, Darknefs in Scripture is taken improperly and me- taphorically ; and fo we are tounderfland it here, We cannot order car
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