24.8 Chap.' 6. An Expofitionupon the Book,of .J OB. VVerC7 area fort ofafllidions which firike suite through body and .foul ; as old Simeon tells the Virgin Mary, a Sword (hallpierce through thyfoul (Luke - 2..35. ) or as the Pfalmitt (peaks of ,Jotph (Pfal. ío5.18.) according to the letter ofthe Hebrew, Wbofefeet they hurt with fetters, hitfoul came into Iron or the iron entred intohisfoul : Such affli&ions are like theRoll fpo- kenof by the. Prophet Ezek; (Chap. 2.) Writtenwith lam en- tationr, mourning, and woe,within and witbout;Some woes are written only without, Come woes are written onely with- in, others are written without and within. Their Ohara- ders are legible upon the fleth ; and their cffedsdefcend and fink into the fpirit. lobsafiidions wereof this extenfion, he was fmitten all over, and written quite through with woes -and lamentations. Thirdly, As the word reacheth the diftemperofthe .brain. Obferve. Some afflieliens do not only affliCh,but unfettle the mind. Theyunfettle not only the comforts, but the powers and faculties ofit a man under Come afhidions can fcarce fpeak fence while heads faith, or do rationally while he lives gra. cionfly. A foul that bathgrace, yea much grace, may appear much fcanted in the ufeof reafon : as opprefon ( frommen) ?oaks a wife manmad, Ecclef. 7. 7. And the more wife a man is, the more mad it makes him c Fools can bear oppref ion, andnot be troubled much, becaufe they do not underftand what juflice and right meanes ; and thats the reafon why in thole parts of the world where Tyrants reign, they love to keep the people ignorant , . poor and low,for fuch are not much fenfìble of their oppreffions, but opprefiìon is very grievous to an ingenious, wife, and underftanding man, and therefore 'tis laid tomake himmad ; The pureft intelefluals have the quickeff fenfe ofinjuries. Thus alto fome alidions from the hand of God may, in a degree, make a godly wife manmad, and put him for a prefent plunge beyond the command of his underftanding. It is the confef lion of holy David (Pfal. 73. 22.) 1 was evenas a beaft before thee, f ö f.'olifh was J and ignorant;lfDavid agodly man aded below reafon; when he law the profperity of the- wicked how much more may a godly man as below reafon, under the feel-
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