AN ANT HR 0 P 0 PATH Y. Book I. • By NUMBERING the mo!t exatl: Care and Providence of God is noted, as Men .keep Accounts of Affairs that concern them much, Pfal. lvi. 8. 'Thou tellefl my Wan– derings, put thou my 'Tears into thy Bottle, are they not in thy Book? Matth. x. 30. But .the very Hairs ofyour Head are numbere~. Alfo his mo!t exact Knowiedge of Things ,that are mnumerable to us, Pfal. cxlvit. 4· He telleth the Number of the Stars, he cal/eth them all by tbcir Names. Ifa , xl. 26.-He bringeth out their Hofl by Number, he calleth them ·all by their Names, by the Greatnefs of his JV!ight, &c. , By the Term SELLING a Delivery into the Power of the Enemy', by an offended God is noted, as Things that are fold by Men, are transferred into the Right, Power, and Property of another, as Deut. xxxii. 30. How Jhould one chafe a 'Ihoufand and two put ten 'fhoufand to Flight, except their Rock had fold them, Judg. ii. 14. And the Anger of the Lord was hot againjl Ifrael, and he delivered them illtO the Hands of Spoilers, that JPoiled them, and he fold them into the Hands of their Enemies roulld about, &c. and Chap. iv. 9· '!'he Lord jhall fell Siftra into the Hand of a Woman, &c. See Pfal. xliv. 12, Ifa. I. I. Ezek. xxx. 12, &c. . By the TermBUYING is fignified Redemption by and through Chrijl, as I Cor. vi. 20. For ye are bought with a Price, therefore glorify God, &c. and I Cor. vii. 23. Teart bought with a Pri,·e, be ye not the Servants of Mm. So Gal. iii. 13 · and iv. 5· 2 Pet. ii, r. Re·v. xiv. 3, 4· The Price which purchafes this myfiical Buying is the Blood, Death, Paffion, and Merit of our Bleffed Savior. The fecond Kind ofAftioltS, which are proper to the Hands, are either general or Jpecial. In general there is afcribed to God by an Allthropopdthy, · LABOR, in the Work of the Creation. So Job calls himfelf the Labor of his Hands, Job x. 3· that is, fafhioned and formed him in his Mother's Womb, of which he emphatically [peaks in Verfe 8. '!'hine Hands have made me, and fajhioned me'together. round about. The Hebrew Word 'J1:l>)l properly fignifies the forming of a Thing with great Labor, Art, and Diligence: In other Places it denotes Anxiety, Griet; and Trouble; fetting forth the exceeding Wifdom of God in tlie Creation, or forming of Man, which is expounded in the 10th and tuh Verfes, with more fpecial and em– phatical Words, HPjt thou not poured me out as Milk, and curdled me like Cheeje-'fhou haft cloathed me with Skin and Flejh, and hajl fenced me with Bones and Sinews, &c. Pfa/, cxxxix. 13, q., ' 5· This Divine Work is fpoken of, 'l'hou hajl covered me in my Mother's Womb-[ will praift thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvel!rnts are thy Works, and that my Soul knoweth right well-My Subjlance was not hid from thee, when I was made in fecret, and curioujly wrought in the lowejl P .rts of the Earth, Uc The Hebrew ClPI trannatecl [curioujly wrought] is very emphatical, for it properly fignifies J:O paint '7.t'ith a Needle, or the Texture or weaving various Figures and PiCtures, in Arras orCJ'apejlry I-Iangings, or Garments interwoven or wrought ·with many curious Colors. . The Formation of Man is therefore compared to fuch a Work, becaufe* of its marvellous Order, Symmetry, and Contextme of various Members, Veins, Arteries, Bones, Flefh, Skin, &c. In the Work of Redemption, the Paffion, and Death of Chrifi is called L abor, as lfa. xliii. 24. 'I'hou hajl made me tabor in thine Iniquities (fo the H ebrew) Hejhall f<e the Labor (or Travail) of hiJ Soul. !Ja.liii. I I. This comes to pafs in a two-fold Refpetl:, which attends Labor, as (I.) Anxiety and 'foil: Then (z .) The Utility and Profit that follows, for the Word comprehends both, according to that Saying, Gen. iii. '9· In the Sweat of thy Facejhalt thou eat Bread, where the To1l and Profit are joined. The Toil and Anxiety of Chrijl in the Work of our Redemp– tion is largely defcribed by the Evangclijls; and how great the Profit and Benefit of it (with Refped to the unfpeakable Bleffing it brought to poor Mankind) is evident to every Soul that has ta!ted of his Grace. ·· Ta
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