sjo Chap. 38. eÁ n Expoftion upon the Book,of 3 o B. Verf. 2,6, Lord will take care even of thofe who are unworthy. What have the beans defervcd at the hand of God , that he fhould provide for them ? Yea, the Lord doth noc onely give food to thofe that are of no defert, as the beaf s, but to chafe that are of ill defert, he gives rain to thofe who are but beaus in the fhape of men , men of 'beatify fpirits. The Lord feeds the Lions and the Bears, the Tygers and the Swine of the World, that is, men likethem; gatius eß pro- he caufeth his rain to fall upon the jull and unjuR (Match. 5, drtemau ser 45.) He will rather give good tothe bad , for the goods fake, Prop" boner that be wanting to the good , becaufe of the wickednefs of the deelfepropter bad ; and therefore the rain comes not onely upon the jel},, but Liatos,Sen. de upon the unjufl too. senef. lib. 4. This is true alfo ina fpiritual way ; The Lord fends his rain cap: as, upon the wildernefs , he bath done fo, and he bath protarifed to do fo (}ill ; that is, he hash fent, and will fend the rain of the Go- fpel upon the Heathen. Some Nations are a wildernefs; as they live in a wildernefs , fo they are themfelves a wildernefs, ade- fert ; and we have a promife that the Lord will caufe the rain, fpiritual rain , to fall upon this wildernefs (Ifa. 35$ r, z,) The wildernefs and thefolitaryplaces /hell be glad for them (for whom ? for the Church, and for the fending forth of the Gofpel by them) and the defert (hall rejoyce and blcffom ets the rofe ; it (hall 6lofone Abundantly, and rejoyce even with joy andfining ; the gloryofLe- banen¡hallbegiven to it, the excellency ofCarmel and of Sharon. That is, it fhill be fertile and fruitful in fpirituals,as thofe places, Lebanon, Carmel, andSharon (which was the glory and excel- lencyof them) were in temporals. But how fhould the wilder- nefs and folitary places attain this glory ? That's (hewed at the fixth and feventh verfes; for in the wildernefs ¡hall waters break eat, and fireams in the defert ; and the parched ground ¡hall become apool,and the thirfty land (pringsofwater.This Prophefiecontains a promife of fending the Gofpel, and with that the Holy Spirit (who is often compared in Scripture towater) to tholewho were or are in their foul-Bate as a dry heath,oras abarrenwildernefs.' This prophet doth not only hold out alikepromife in the fame Metaphors, but explains it thus (Ifa. 44. 3, 4, 5,) Iwill pour water uponhim that is thirfty, and floods upon the dry ground; what is meant by water, and floods we may learn from thenext words; /will poser my fpmt upon thy feed, dle andmy ngupon thins
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