Chap. 5. An Expofition upon the Book of J o B. Vert. 6. 221 thydeftrufion fromme ; l'n me u thy help; in both the heart of man failes equally, we are ready to fay, that the good we have comes from our Rives, that our help and comforts are from ourown power and wifdom, and fo offer facriflces to our own nets,ar if by them our portion were fat : but for evil and deftruc` ion we afiign it wholly over,fometime to men,and fo are angry ; fometime to God, and fo blafpheme. Ire naturally decline what retellsfhame upon our felves, or fpeal s usguilty. From our tranflation, Although affíiltion, &c. Obferve. Firfk, Every affiillionbath a caufe. The Proverb carries that fenfe,in everycommon und'erftanding. Our of iEtions have a caufe a certain caufe,they come not by hap- hazard, or by accident. Many things are cafual, but nothing is without a caufe. Many things are not fore-teen by man, but all things are fore- ordained by God, The Prophet Amos(Chap. 3 6.) fets forth this by an elegant frmilitude,Can a birdfall inajuare up on the earth,where noginne Ufor him? As if he should fay,is a bird taken in a fnare bychance,where nonehave prepared,fet or indu- ffrioufly laid a fnare or a ginne to take him ? The bird faw not the fnare, but the fnare was let for the Bird. Snares fall not on the ground at adventure, theygrow not out of the earth of them- felves : but the fowler, by his art and induftry,invents and frames them on purpofe to catch the bird : Thus, the calamity and trou- bles in which men are caught and lime - twig'd, infnared and fink- led in theworld, come not out of the ground, They are not ac`ir of chance, but of providence : The wife and holy God lets fuch fijares, to take and hold foolifh, and unruly men, like filly birds, gaping after the baits of worldly pleafures, Whichmeaning isclear from the fcope and tendency of the whole Chapter ; but the next gçrcftion refolves.it in the letter, Is there any evil in a City an.l the Lord bath not done it ? Thofe words are both the conclufion and explication of the former fimilitude. S'econdly', obferve, Aiílien i not from the power ofany creature. As it comes not by chance or without a caufe, fo not by the power of creatures; they arenot the caufe ; duff and theground, are oppofed toHea- ven or to a divine power: Creatures(in this fenfe)can'neither do good, nor doevil, Ike world would be asfull of trouble, as it is of fin, iffinful men could make 'trouble : It is not in thecompafs of a creature, no not of all the creatures in Heaven or Earth, to forme or to make out one afliiáion; without the concurs ll: f 3. sense
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