Chap. 23. Q,/fn Expofition upon the Boer, of J O L. Verf. i 6. 459 are wake and unable to beareany weight.So that ?obs fof ,,e(s of heart was his weaknes to beare ; And he gives this as an account Tereritatem& why h ° wat afraidofthe power ofGod in any new fufferings: 0 t no?tillitatern (faith he) God bath made myheart foft ; that is,I begin to faint, I a e t,:en, ad eo finde ray felfe drooping, I have not that frength of fpirit (and on,,,tporenriana though I am not a coward, yet) I have not that courage, that ejur. ]uu, hardneffe, or bardineffe offpirit which I have hadhereto ore. He queried indeed (Cb. 6. I2.) Is myftrength theftrengtb offtones,er ùmy fffh braffe ? He had much ftrength, but not theflrength of tones, nor was hehard as braffe.Now he faith plainly, my heart, is made loft, it melteth like wax at the fire,I am fo little like brais or tones in ftrengch or hardnes, that I am altogether like wax or water. I am fo far from having a minde to ftrive with, or rife up againft God, that 1 know not how to fand before him, if he (which he feems to intend) (houid fill goe on toafflifî me. I am growne weake and unable to beare, yet my burden rem aines, and will probably be made yet more heavy. This interpretation carri- eth a diftin& fence in it, and that which is molt genuine to the fcope ofthe place. MrBroughton tranflation ofthe latter claufe of the verle, fuites this expofition ofthe former with much clear- nes ; For the Omnipotent halofoftned my heart, and the Allmighty bath made mefbrinke, Whereas wefay the Allmighty troubletb not, he faith, The eA7rnighty bath made mefhrinke : For fo a man commonly doth who eyther feares or feeler that which he is not well ableto beare. HenceNote. The heart ofa godly man,even ofthe m.ft Godly,may befo weak nedunder long continuedfufferings, that he mayfinde himfelfe utterly unable to beare them any longer. Wickedmen labour to frengthen and harden themfelves all they can, to bear,inoppofition to God,and Saints would ftreng- then and harden themfelves all they can to beare in fubmiflion to God. Pharoabhardned his heart to oppofe God friking him ; he had_ffroake after froake, and Judement after Judgement, yet he would not yeeld : but at IA Godmide his heart loft in one fenfe, though heha, dned it in another. God appeared at laft too hard for Pharaoh, he could holdout no longer. And we finde the Lord fpeaking-thus by Ezekiel to bis people, who (it fumes by the languagewhich Godufeth concerning them) had, Eel n n 2 as
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