Chap. 3' An Expoftionupon the Book ofJoB. Verf. a T. 4.03 Firtt, There is an excellency in the Being of God ; creatures have a being, but not fuch a being as God bath. For, r. The Beingof God isof himfelf. All creatures have their being of him and from him. Creatures have a derivative be- ing ; God is Original Being, thefarnI Being. Here is the excel- lency of his Being. It is faid (Habak;I.7) of the Chaldeans,that their judgement and their dignity , or (it is the word of the text) their excellencyflhall proceed ofthemfelves.Bat is any man the foun- tain of his own happinefs, excellency or greatnefs ?,Can it be faidof any in the world thathis excellency íhall proceed of him- felf ? In one refpeEt the excellency of force doth : In another re- fpet"t it doth not, it cannot. It cannot be faid ofany excellency in creatures, ftric`tly, that itproceedeth from themfelves, all comes from God. But take a creature in its reference to any, or all other creatures, and fo the excellency of force proceedeth from themfelves, and not from other creatures. Such is the meaning of that place, Their judgement and their excellency [hall proceed of themfelves, that is, they íhall not depend upon other perfons or nations, they íhall not impe out their wings withother .mens fea- thers, nor íhall they Thine with a borrowed glory. Some King- doms do glorious things, but their glory proceeds from neigh- bouring affitances. But the Chaldean needed not to confederate with any. Thus a creatures excellency mayproceed from himfelf, not from other creatures, but all proceeds from God : and the excellency only of God in his Being is from himfelf alone, inde- pendent upon the creature. s. God's Being is to himfelfas well as from hirnfelf ; and thus alfó he excelle-h man , whofe being is not tohimfelf, but to another ; for all things are and were created unto God. No creaturewas made to it felt. Thedignity of God is to himfelf alone: he indeed doth give out himfelf voluntarily, and fo his Being is for the good of others, but he bath this prerogative, to keep all his Being tohimfelf : As it is the holinefs of man to put forth his being for God , fo it is the holinefs of God that his Beeing is for himfelf ; he doth and may doall things for his own glory, as manought to do all for the glory of God. 3, Gods Being is an unchangeable Being: Man is in motion every day, either inhis increafe, or inhis decreafe ; he is either growing, or he is decaying, bothin his natural and civil Bate. Man hath-no confi{tency , while he ff he 2 ontinueth notwhat hhe
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