464 , Deathprevented, or, Parts of the Test. Stranger, but an enemy ; and this went deep, that even Mercy it felf feemed cruel, andKindnefs founkind andharfh. But what was his behaviour underall thefe? For the geñeral,fweetand heasenly; For fome particulars, fad and weak ; when faith did work he was above all his florins. In the deepen calanilty, faith can fettle and compofethe foul, and fill it f with the fveetcft comforts. tt hen fence and nature didwork, then he was much impatient, and the wind had the better over him : In the one he !hews himfelf a Chriftian,ln the other a man t In the onefob is beyond himfelf,in the otherbefow himfelf; According to the time and mannetof there feveralworkint s, he is like or unlike himfelf. Thus it is with the heft, whofe outward chaste dotii riot triore vary ; but their inward carriage cloth as much change. At length Job after many difputcs with his friends; and confli&swithhimfclf, concentcratcshis thoughts in twomain Points. I. One was frill te, truft inGod, let him be what he will, and let him do' what he will ; though he fhould continue his prefcnt trials; yea_aiid exceed them ; .tlìough he fhould kill me, yet faith he ( Chap: i . t5,) though he flay nae, Iwillirufl in bim, i and there he difpofeth of hisfoul. z. Another was to prepare for death ; all the dayes ofmyappointed,tüne I will wait tilrmy change come, and there hedifpofeth of his body. Many arguments he layeth down in this Chapter which did occafion him to there thoughts and refolu- Lions. The firft is the brevity ofmans lite : Vert. r. z. Manthat is born ofa :3 omanis of few dayes, he cometh forth likea Flower, andis cut down ; he flieth alfo as a /hadow, andeontinteethatoe: He iahh not ycas,nor months, norwefks, but c1ayes, ätldthere t dayes not many but.fevr, and theft few dayes,nöt long,bttt fhort,as quickly Petas- he thadow,as quickly croptas the flower: ' Secondly, the mifery of that short life, in thefame place, andfaalloftrouble;. asif every Articleof lifewere replenifhed withforrow, even as every veinof the body is with blood : this hisown experiencecould tellhim. Thirdly, the certainty ofDeath. The Sun hash his appointed race,which ira the winter is short, in the Summer long, but in both it bath a certain time of letting ; fo the race ofmans life, to force it maybefhorter, to force longer,but the night avill'; come, and all muff be doled up in Death, verf, 5. His dayes are determined, the number of them , they are with thee, thou hall appointed his bounds which he cannot paj; and if fo, then high 'time for ,yob to think of it, and prepare.for lt. Death beganin a manner to feize on him already in feveral parts; in his feet,. fori his wealth was gone ; in his loyns, havingloft his children; inhis heart, Lis friends leavinghim ; in his bofome, for his wife was a difcomforter; nay, in his very Heir; fclf,fo much as was rapt p in the outward part ofhis body, for that was difeafed; inhis fpeechand fpirits, they grow hoarfe and faint, all theft were the harbingers ofi a futuredifrolution. Well therefore mightJob conclude; everI muff not live, and long I cannot live : therefore though in much mifery, and in bad dayes, I will think of Death, and fit my felffor a good end, and apply my fell ferioufly, and wifely for a- good work.- eifll the dayei.ofmyappointed time will l waittill my change come. Whichwords contain icithema two parts. Firft, his futurediffolution, which hecalls a change, and a change that is coming uponhim,as ifhehadbeen the next man,rill mycharsge came. Secondly, his prefect difpofition, Dill wait, he thinks ofdeath, before death, and prepares to die , while yet he lives. Neither was this a death-pang, a fit, a humour which beganquickly,and expired fuddenly. Nay, he will make it a ferions bufiacfs, as if this should be his every dayeswork ; .411 the dayes of my appointed timewill Iwait. Some read it ofmyappointed warfare, and othersofmyappoin- ted labour ; they all intimate that he means by his appointed tine, his appointed life ; the leale or term of breathing, which God hadallotted, allowed, and de- creed. There
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