Part I. ME T A p H 0 R s FROM LIGHT. Pfal. xiii. 3· L ighten mine E)'es, left I j/eep the Sleep of Death. He prays for the Li<>ht of heavenly Wifdom from the Word of God, alfo the Light of Watchfulnefs and Circumfpeftion, whereby he may avoid the Snares of the Adverfary. He alludes to human Sleep which eafily overcomes thofe that lit in Darknefs, or fhut their Eyes, whereas if the Light fhines in our Eyes we can hardly fieep. Pfal. xix. 8. '!'he Comn.and•:unt of the Lord is pure, enli!{htming_ the E)'eS, that is, the Mind, by givmg Underftandrng and Knowledge as well ot the Drvme Will, as of our own Corruption, and Prudence m the Management of Affarrs, that a Man may not be like a Brute, which is void of rational lntelleCl:uals; Pfal. xxxiv. 6. '!'hey looked on him and were enlightened, that is, Believers were made glad by the Lord by his graci– ous and faving Deliverance, Jell: they fhould be dejeCl:ed and derided by the Wicked. See Prov. iv. I8, I9· Eccl. viii. 1. with 2 Cor. iii. I8. !fa. lx. 5· ]ohn vii. 37, 38, 39· John i. 9· '!'hat (viz. Chrifi:) was the true L ight, which lightcth every Man that cometh (or coming) into the World: Upon thefe Words Erafmus very fairly paraphrafes. In this Darknefs of the World, Men eminent for Holinefs jhined, as little Stars in the thick Obfcurity of Night, and as it were through a Cloud jhewcd fome Light, but only to the Jews and the adjacent Parts. But this true Light imparted its Splendor not to a.fingle Nation only but to all Men, that come into this dark World. He came that by a Gojpel Faith he jhottld jhine in and give Light to the Hearts ofall Men in the World. No Scythian, no Jew, no Spaniard, no Goth, 110 Briton, is excluded, neithtr King nor Servant. '!'here is a Suf– ficiency of Light for all, and if they remain in Darknefs, it is 110t the Light's Fault bttt their own, who perverfely love Darknefs and abhor the Light. He jhines to all, left any one jhould have a Pretext of Excufe; for if they perifh, they do it wilfully and knowingly, ai if om would dijpute againjl the Sunjhine at Noon, and will not lift up his Eyes to be con. fitted, &c. 2 Cor. iv. 6. There is an eminent Defcription offpiritual Illumination. See Eph. iii. 8, 9· To Light by Way of Privation is oppofed fometimes a SHADOW, which is Light hindered from a total fhining, by the lnterpofi.tion of fome Body. This metaphorically fignifies ProteCl:ion and Defence againft Adverfaries of any Sort, as a Shade defends from the Sun's intemperate and fcorching Heat, Jfi•. xvi. 3· xxx. 2, 3· Lam. iv. 20. &c. For fo it is attributed to God as before, Chap. viii .. towards the End. But where the Ceremonies and Types of the old Tefl:ament are called ShaJows with' RefpeCl: to Chrijl, Col. ii. I7. Heb. x. 1. it is not to be underftood that they are natu1'a/ly fo, but artificially and like a Picture, for Painters firfl: draw a Shadow or an um– bratile Kind of Delineation, and afterwards perfe<'l: their PiCl:ure 'vith lively Cr·lors,– the former vanifhing out of ~ight. So it was with the Sacrifices and Ceremonies of the Ancients, which figured Chrift, and ceafed when he came, which Explication is evident by the Oppofition of Shadows, and the very Image of Things, Heb. x. I. Sometimes, Mijls, Fogs, and Darknefs are oppofed to Light, which hide the Spfendor and Beauty of Things, and hinder Men from making a right Difi:inCl:ion, Separation or Definition of ObjeCl:s, begetting Difi:urbance and Confufion in the Mind, and contain in themfelves nothing pleafing or laudable, and therefore lignify Evil in Scripture; But becaufe there is the fame Reafon of Contraries, (which mutually anfwer each other) we fhall be able by the Conlideration of Light to pafs a Judgment upon its Oppofite. 1. As Light fignifies Life, (o Darknefs and a Shadow metaphorically denote Death;· Job x. 21. Before I go, whence I jhall not return, to the Land of Darknefs, and the Sha– dow of Death, Verfe 22. A Land of Darknefs,· as the Gloominefs of the Shadow ofDeath, and without Order and it jhimth asDarknefs. This is a Periphrafis of Death and the Grave. Pfal. lxxxviii. Iz. Shall thy Wonders !Te knou•11 in the Dark? See Verfe x. I 1. ]ob xxviii. 3· 2. As Light figni fics Projperity and ]oy; fo Darknefs denotes Evils, Unhappinefs and Calamity, and confequently that Sorrow, Mourning, and Grief that follows. See ]ob v. 14. xv. 22. xvii. I2. and xviii. 5, b. Pfal. xliv. I9· lxxxviii. 18. and cxliii. 3If"· .v. 30. xlvii. 5· I. to. and lix. 9· Jer. viii. 21. and xiii. 16. Lam. iii. 2, 6. E zek. xxx11. 8. ]oel ii. 2. and rii. iv. .Amos v. I8. Micah vii. 8. Nahum i. 8. Zeph. i. I5· &c. E c
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