Part I. METAPHORS FROM WATER. IIg are noted, and alfo their Shortnefs. For thefe Torrents or Streams quickly pafs away, beoaufe they have not their Source from a la!ting Fountain, but from Showers and Snow : And therefore it JS added, Therefore jha/1 he lift up the Head, that Js, he !hall be a!oriouOy delivered from Death and Paffion or Suffering, and !hall moll: eminently triu~ph in the Refurrecrio~. And the Prol'het fafs, that Chrifl.!hould drink [in the WaY] by which the Courfe of thJS earthly L1fe 1s lign1fied, wh1ch lS called .the pay of the Flejh Heb. v. 7· Elias when bam!hed and perfecuted, and dwelhng m a Defart drank of the Brook by the Command of God, I Kings xvii. 4, 6. Chrilt in his Paffion was placed as it were in a wide Wildernefs, and fpiritually drank of the greate!l: 'l'orrent of all Tribulations and Dolors, which by his paffing over the Brook Kidron, (which had its Name from its Blacknefs and Darknefs,) is no;ed, John xviii. 1. So much of that. Sometimes a Stream or Brook is taken metaphorically in a good Senfe, either becaufe of the Abundance of Waters, which are transferred to Plenty of good Things, Job xx. '7· By the Brooks of Honey and Butter (to which Rivers and Floods are added) is fianified a Conflnence of profperous, pleafant and delirable Things, even to full Sa· ti;facrion. Pjal. xxxvi. 8. God is faid to make Believers drink of Jhe Rivers (or Brook.). of his Pleafures, that is, to beftow a Plenty of blelfed, fweet, and heavenly Good upon them, which is that Life and Overplus (or more than Abundance) which Chri!l: pro· mifed ro his .Sheep, John x. 1o. Prov. xviii. 4· '{he Well-Jpring of Wifdom, is called a flowing Brook, that is, the Mourh of a wife Man does largely and abundantly utter and communicate Wifdom. See Ifa.lxvi. t2. A>nos v. 24. where there are exprefs Comparifons. Or dfe the Reafon of their being taken in a good Senfe is becaufe in dry and unwarered Countries, the Inundation of Brooks are very feafonable and profitable, Jfa. xxxv. 6. In, the Wildernefs Waters jha/1 break out, and Streams in the Defart: He adds, Vcrfe 7· And the parched GroundJhall become a Pool, and the thir.fty Land Springs ofWater. This is a metaphorical Defcription of the Bleffings of Chri!l:'s Kmgdom, and with Re– fpecr to their Sweemefs and Abundance. A RIVER, if raken in an evil Senfe, fignines the frequent Irruptions and Invafi: ons of En ·mies, Ifa. xviii. 2. A Nation whoft Land the Rivers have fpoiled. Here is Divine Vengeance foretold upon the wicked Ethiopians, by armed Enemies, who (like mighry Currents which none can relift) were to overwhelm their Land. Some rake this properly, becat1fe there are· frequent Inundations in Ethiopia, a Country full of Rivers. Others metonymically under!l:and it of Enemies, who by the Rivers would in– vade rhe Country, ~s the 'l'urks often do Hungary upon the Danube. See Jfa. viii. 7· If it be taken in a good Senfe, it denotes the Favor and Bleffing of God, Pfal. xlvi. 4· '!'here is a River, the Streams whereof jball make glad tbe City of God. The holy Habitation which God placed in that City, is intimated to be like a moll: fweec and pleafant River, whofe Rivulets or Streams exhilarate and rejoice the whole City; and therefore it is added, '!'he holy of the 'l'abernac/es of the Mo.ft High. By RIVER Jehovah himfelf (by his Grace and ProteCtion inhabiting there) may aptly be underftood; and his Streams are the fpecial Bleffings or Benefits we receive from his Divine Protec'l:ion, which flow from his Grace as Rivulets from a River. Neither would it be any Error, if it fhould be referred ro rhe Word of God, for where that is purely taught and flourilhes, God himfelf cannot but be graciou!ly prefent there, &c. lfa. xli. 18. I will open Rivers in high Places, and Fountains in the Mid.ft oftheVa/.. lies, I will make the Wildernefs a Pool of Water, and the dry Land Springs of Water. This is a metaphorical Defcriprion of the Kingdom of Chri!l:. Brentius upon the Place: By this Metaphor of the Defarr, Waters, Fountains and Trees, Verfe 19. is under!l:ood; that God was ro give the Gentiles, who are called by the Name of dry Ground and Defart, a moll: large and capacious Fountain, that is, the Preaching of his Word in great Plenty, that they who are thirfty may drink of the Fountain, that is, Chri!l: and eternal Blelfednefs. John vii. 38. He that believetb on me, as the Scripture faith, out of his Belly jhalljlow Rivers of living Water. Chri!l: fpeaking of his being to give the Spirit to his believ- . ~
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