488 Chap. 13. AnExpofitio'ti upon the lioakof JÓB. Verf. 21 laid upon him the iniquities of us all. Now,faith fob, Remove thine hand awayfromme : thou feemeít to ac`t towards me as if thou Wert angry, or didit intend to pronounce a fentence of con- demnation againft me; Odo not deal thus with me; how (hail - I treat with thee, whilft thou feemeft to have fach hard thoughts of me? ThereforeWithdraw thine hand awayfromme. Bat, what was it that lay upon Job as the hand of God ? I Mewedbefore, that it was his affliaion, which though in it felf it be no argument tl t Godcondemns,yet in theopinion of Tome men it is ; and jobAffiends did-therefore think God condemned him,becaufe they faw he afflicted him. So then, the removing of thofe affliaions, in reference towhich hisfriends pronounced him condemned by God, would be as the withdrawing of the hand from the head of an offender, a fign ofhis acquitting and abfolution. HenceNote, Firft, 4ffüîhons are grievous to thefenfitive_part of the heft and holiefl men. Evena fob prayeth, withdraw thine hand awayfromme. There is no afflicl.ion for the prefent that is joyous but grievous ; and as it is grievous to. natural men, fo it is grievous to the natural part of fpiritual men. It is nothing elfe but grievous untocar- nal men, they find no comfort, no fweet at all in it: theSaints do, their inward manhath joy and refrefhing in their forrows, but'theiroutward man feels fmart, therefore, Remove thineband awayfrom me. Secondly, Obferve, while aff2iïtions are fharpuntous, it is hard tocompofe thefpirit to think, of, orfpeak, aright to God. This difcovers their folly whoput off the great bufineffes about which they are to treat with God to a fick bed. Job faith toGod, take away.thinejiand and then Iwill fpeak: thefe fay I will fpeak to God when his hand is upon us.,; wewill look to the health of our fouls when our bodies are lick: But how rare is it to find a fickbody and a quiet mind together! jobcould not argue with God about his innocency while he.wasgreatly aíflicted,how then 'hall others about the fetlingof their eternal peace and the par- donof their fins ? We are more prone co impatience than to re- pentance iu the dayofour diitrefs. Thirdly, Obferve. It is lawfulto pray for the removingof afitlions. With,
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