Chap. 22. ,mn Expofition upon the Book of J OB. Ver{: 28 275_ ThouJhalt decree a thing. TheHebrew is, Thou¡halt decreea word; it is ufuall in that tan- Ve,bi rn pro re guage to put word for thing. And when he faith, Tbcu (halt de- f equenterper tree a thin we are not to underftand it at Iar g e, as ifwharfoever icnymiaYn a.junífi. were decreed g (hould be eftablifhed,but the meat,ing is,thou (halt decree that which is right and good in it felfe, and good for they. For the decree being made by a godly man, we cannot fuppofe that he f could decree any thing but that which is uft and good; and fo the fgnificationof the former word is wel applyed to this, ThouJbals decree, that is, thou having by deliberation and feria:us difcuflìon confidered what is right, and having cut off all evill from thy fentence,thou decreeing fuch a thing, it ¡hall be eflabli, flied unto thee. There are yet two opinions concerning this decree, as it is an expofitionor the former promifes,Thou(halt be heard, and, thou Poterit effe Jl alt pay thy vowel, that is,what thou fueft for by prayer on earth, P(aredentis fhall be decreed for thee inheaven. That is, thy prayer (hall cer -' J'a'tif e'YpG ¡,tis taint be performed, thy prayers fhall not be loft, no, They "erne :,Gffrs Y P , Y P 5 Y re va'ranee:" A ! dest thall beas the Statutes anddecrees ofheaver). It is laid ofEliah isla rata of ci (t ICi>,g.r 1 7, i.) what he decreed was done ? and what .was his °r, vet rata decree ? his decree was his prayer Seehow he (peaks as ifhe hadf""' er junket the command of heaven and e.zrth, as if he had carryed the keyes vP1ba. tined. ofthe Clouds at his girdle. As the Lord gcd of I1rael liveth be- fore wham I fÈand, there that! nor be dew nor raine there yeares, but accordifrg to sexy word. But what was this word of Elijah? the A pof(le ?alms expounds that for us, he tellethus what this word was, when Eliah faid, it Jhall beaccording to my svord(Jam. 5.17.) Eli,st was a manJubjetl to the likepato:as as we are, and be pray- ed earne/l1y that it might not raine, and it rained not en the earth, for the ¡pace ofthree_pares andfix rnoneths : Asad be prayed .'rain and the heavens gave raine, andthe eAreh brought forth her fruit., The Avílle explains, what the word ofElijah was, even a Pray- er-word, he prayed and fought theLord in that thing, and his prayer was as certainlyperformed to him, as if he had the whole power ofdecreeingwhat he would have. Thus here, thou (bait powre out a prayer, & thy prayer (hall be as a decree eftabli(hed with God. So we read (Gen. 32. 24.) in the report of 7acobs wafflingwith the Angel, that the wordof7acob was as a decree, N. n 2 d
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=