92 Chap. 30. A;, Expofition upon the Booke of J o Z. Verf.II ber,in the heart,which is the moii retired and darkfome roome in man,yet there he ought not to fpeak evil! ofPrinces;and befides the finfullnefs offuck thought.curfes,there is danger in thcm.He that takes liberty to curfe his betters, efpecially Princes in his thoughts, will hardly be able to rellraine himfelfe from curling them with his tongue. That which is much in our thoughts, is quickly out in words; The tongue can hardly hold that which the heart delights to hold ; And therefore ?obi enemies having their hearts fo full ofcontempt againft him, could not containe themfelves, but mull let loofe the bridle of their tongues before him. But what made them thus bold with their Unbridled tongues ?. Surely they hadcaft off anotherbridle before they did call off this ; And that dire&s me to the ocher interpretation of thefe words, They have leofed thebridle before me ; that is, Secondly The Bridle ofhis M giftracy; As if he had fayd, 2'either my power nor my pretence, neither my iluthoritie nor my real-in have any weight with them, Iwere eat g.cd fay nothing as fpeake; They have throwne off thebridle, and are nomore a fccietie, but a rout or unruly multitude of men. David admonifheth un- governed men (Tfal. 32. 19.) Be ye not as the horfe or as the mule, which have no underftanding : whofe mouthmuß be held in with bit and bridle , leli they come mere unto thee. Molt men are like the horfe and mule, were not abit and bridle put into their mouches, they would never bridle themfelves, there would be no living neare them ; and many are apt to take any occafioo to let bofe the bridle, and put the bit out of their mouches, which is put into theme evill men throw off fubjeétionboth toGod and man. O how few would gee right, or doe right, were it not they find themfelves under the command or checke of a Bridle. We read indeed of a bridle ufed to another end, ( I /a. 3 o.28, ) vend therejhall be a bridle in the jawes of thepeople, caufing therm to erre. The power of the Affyrian and Babylonian Monarchs, was this bridle in the jawes of the Nations, who being an erring, power,ufed their power to snake others erre in idolatrous wayes; yet there, I conceive, the meaning of the Prophet is, that the Affyrian power caufed the people to erre, or wander like cap- tives from their own Country. There is a captivatingbridle,and there is a governingbridle; There is a bridt caufing co erre, and Non FcIanr a nle ampGus fr.ena'rt, five authoritate, fiue eloquentia Qry argutnenú.. Y:oc. Ferrai equis auriga, nec au d:r rurrus ha. benes. Virg. t , Georg.
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