!08 METAPHORS FROM F!Rll. Book I. but in the Singular·to bim (or it.) But others expound this •Text better thus *[To the Law mzd tbe 'lCjlimony J that is, Recourfe mufl: be had thrrher, for the Law and Tdli. mony muft be ~onfulterl according ro the Will of God, [otherwife] (that is, ~f they do not fpeak the 1 ruth of Drvrnc Grace there) [let them fpeak,J an zrontca!Concdlron jorned . With Indrgnatwn: Let them[peak, becaufe they will not do otherwrfe, though fcriounv and frequently admonifhed, let them[peak, I fay, according to this Word, v:z. [in which there is no Morning] that is, no Light of Divim: Grace or Comfon, Verfe 21. And let bim p~Js tbrough it (the Earth) ha.vdly bejtead and hungry, the Singular for the Plural, and zt foal! come to pafs, that whm they foal! be hungr;·, they foal/ fret themfelves, ar.d foal! wrft their King and th~ir God, &c. Now whereas the ·Prophet calls this Speech of that wicked People, (viz. that they were to feek Counfel of them that had familiar Spirits, &c. and not of the Law and Tefl:imony) a Word without a Morning, or void of the Light of Divine Grace and Con– folation, it certainly follows according eo the Jntention of the Prophet, that that Morn– ing of Grace and Comfort is eo be found in roar Word of the L aw and Tdtimony alone, with fure and fafe Counft! in Tribulations and Afllitlions, which to difl:reffed Minds is like the Morning Sweernefs, or the Pleafure of a lovely Day-lpring. Such as neglect or reject this Word, walk in Darknefs, and are involved in Errors, and periih cverlafl:ingly. The other Interpretation in Subfl:ance agrees with this. · NOON is taken for Things mofl: e1Jident, Deut. xxviii. 29. The Latins have a Pro– verb, mr:ridiena lux, Noon-light, which is put for a mofr clear and evident '"J'hing. There is a Comparilon with theNoon-time, when there is Mention made of the Liaht and Splendor of Felicity, Job xi. I7· And (thy) Time foal/ arife above the Noo11-day, (fo the Hebrew) that is, thy moll: illufirious Glory fhall fhine all round or about thee. See Pfal. xxxvii. 6. The EVENING is elegantly oppofet! to the MORNING, when the Speech is of the Viciffitude of Calamities and Comforts which God obfcrves in Believers, Pfa!. xxx. 5· Weeping may endure for a Night, or as the Hebrew, [may lodgefor an Evening] bucJoy (comerh) in the Morning: that is, the Godly arc compelled to weep in the Darknefs of the Crols and Sufferings, but the mol1: joyful Morning and Light of Divine Help will come again. Sec John xvi. 20, 22. Pfal. cxxvi. 5, 6. So the \¥ord Vefperafcens drawing towards an Evening, is ufed for ccafJng, Ifa. xxiv. It . The Sun-felling in the Evening leaves the Darknefs of Night to fucceed it, fo when Joy ceafes, it leaves Cala– mity and Mourning. To the Day is oppolcd NIGHT, by the lame Reafon almofi as Darknefs is, which in a moonlefs Night and cloudy Sky invades us, Jobxvii. 12. They change the Night into Day: The Light (they laid) is near becaufe ofDarkncfs; he fpeaks of his Thoughts, which Verle I I, he called the Pojfejjions of his Heart, becaule of his Hope and Expec– tation of Good asChriit commands us, Lukexxi. tg. In Patience (and Hope) to poffefs our Souls. Therefore he fa id that his Thoughts or Poffeffions of his Heart were broken oft~ denoting that all Hope of Good perifhed; and then adds that the fame Co– gitations turned Night into Day, and that Light was near , (with Refpcct to thofe dark Difpenfations) that is, he certainly hoped that ·thofe Calamities, (which he compares to an obfcure Night) fhould be turned into Profperity, which he fhews by the Word Day, and that the Light of long expected Peace is near. This Explication agrees with what follows, Verfe 13· If I wait, the Grave is mine Houfe, &c. Verfe 1 S· And where is now my Hope? As for my Hope wbo foal/ fee it? Verli: I 6. They foal/ go dowil to the Bars of the Pit, when (our) Re/1 together is in the Dujl: As if he had faid , my expeCted Hopes together with my Body fhall ere long be carried to the Grave, and expire with this Life, Job xxxv. IO. But he faid not where is God thy Maker.< Who giveth S611gs in the Night; that is, who in Adveruty giveth Help and Deliverance, for which Praife and Glory becomes due to him. See Micah iii. 6, &c. Sometimes the Night fignifies the Heign or Dominion of Jmpiety and Hell, Rom. xiii. I 2. but what we find, t 'Ihef! v. 7. For they that jleep, j/eep in the Night, and thq that • That this is the ExplicatiJn of the '·Id.lfew 1\xr, which is Word for ,.Vord 3S here_Englifh.ed. are
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