Chap.31. An expo/it/0a upon the Book of f o B. Vert. 9. vigour and flower of his youth. To he victorious againft fuch attempts, is not every rr ans honour. Oneof the Ancients faith ;Inter or,nio That among all ba, tels we molt hardly overcome in thofe which certmnina ax afault chaftity : Conflicts with luilfull temptation are frequent, t-iorafuntprstia. but the cor Tad} ofthem few ard rare. Solomon having (hewed caffitatu, ubi at large how the filly young man was captivated by a ftrang.e g 4 i? ana r afta woman, concludes with an awakning admonition ( `Pro. 7 -57 vt!`t0714. All. 36. ) Let not thine heart decline to her :~ayes, goe not affray toher guff. Srr.25e.. parties,for fheebath ca,/f downe many wounded,yea manyftrong men de Tetnp. have beenßaine by her. Her wayes of deceit are many, and, one way or other, not a few have been over -come by her. To be a. conqueror ofa tingle woman in this fence,is a greater glory then to conquer anArmy of men. Chan lob wore the crowneofthis gracious conqueft ; no whorifh woman could ever take that Fort, or Caille, that Citadel! ofhis heart. t..Wyheart ( faithhe) bath not been deceived by a woman. Thewoman here intended is not a woman at large, but a liar- 4e tzfxt,xti, lot, and (bee anothers mans wife ; fo the Septuagint expreffe it, ow i xaFd Ifmy heartbath followed the wife ofanother. Yob fpakeof unman ¡-o yun txe tied women, maids, or virgins, at the fir(# verle; I made a cove. £T£ ?x srl`ot- nant withmy eyes, why thenfh.old I thinke upon t maid; and here ::07 eft cor rae- muGerero,. yob made a covenant with his heart, that it fllouldnot be dacci viri ai,er<xs, lied by a woman, or another mans wife. Sept, Hence ®bferve. Fitft The heart, which kthe great deceiver, to often[et upon to be deceived. While lob faith his heart had not been deceived, he intimates that many a time it had been attempted by thofe deceavers. Who bath not found, by fad experience, the truth of that Tefti ¢pony which the holy Prophet gives againft the heart of man. (ler. 17.9,) The heart le deceitful! above all things, and defpe- rarely wicked, who canknow it?The heart of man is a mifchievous piece, even a piece of mifchiefe ; 'Tis wily,fraudalent, full of im- pofture.prone to fupplant ; 'Tis alwayes plotting and contriving mifchiefe, to infnare it felfe, or twine others; 'cis like a crooked way fall of turnings and windings, a very labyrinth ; There is no- thing; 383
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