/98 Chap.' 2. An Expo f tion upon the Poo(ofJ )!3.Verf 2®.. "counfels are receivedupon the good efteem wehave ofthe per- fon. We muff look to the matter, not to the man, both in the things of God, and in the things of men ; there is neither wif- dom nor fafety in taking any thing upon trutt , efpecially when we hear that God in judgment removes away thefpeech ofthe trufty. Whofoever fpeaks, ifhe fpeaks truth,it ought to be em- braced. And though an Achitophel an Oracle ofwifdoni on earth, or Angel from heaven fpeakwhat is falfe, 'tis our duty to reject it. Thewifeft menare not alwayes wife , neither do the prudent always underftand their way. The holieft men are not holy in all things, neither do they who are real friends to truth, fpeak all truth. Paul (Gal.&.) found Peter faultering in his fpeech', and giving not only counfel, but example that was not right. The ancient Fathers, men ofprofound judgment and un deritanding in the Scriptures,have erred , and mifdelivered the mindof God. Whole Councils (which are a colle&ion of wife and learned men)have had their miftakes. Wemay conclude as the Prophet doth\(Ifa.2.22.) Ceafeyefromman whofebreath . is inhis noftrils, for wherein is he to be accountedof ? The honeft and the wife, the.holy and the juif, the eloquent and the fruity ,. are not always tobe trufted, For, Godremoveth away thefpeech, edge trstfty, who (pofibly) maybe all thefe. ?op' Jéneí esfnd tak¿eth away the underftanding of the aged. tentes Understanding is fo proper to the aged, or menor years, that manna liter an underftandin g young man deferedly draws upon himfelf fiat javenes, pr opterea quod . the honour and account ofmány years ; as an oldman .very foo fapientia ut- lilt) isyoung-old, fo &young man very wife is old-young. Plurimum in fe Age ordinarilyheightens understanding; and experience ma- tttbtu Day. tar. turates and improves natural parts, as was (hewed at the twelfth iab. Das. p P verfe : yet they whofe underflandings have had the greateft =y advantages of experience, may a&without ut:dcrftanding yea significat ga against, not onlyexperience, but reason. Some mens underftand- flare, ìndecog- ings are enfeebledwith age,And themfelves are old ch;ldren rather nofcere judic4- then old men, that's the judgement which this text holds out unto re , tttretapbora us a fe animum. Theword which werender underflandiug, fi nifies to tafle, or sad the fenfe of tafting, and it is frequently tranflated from the fenfe to the underitanding, becaule (as was hhewed at the lath. verfe) the understanding mites a doétrine,or a propofition, whether it be
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