940 :THE LIFE OF MAN coMPARED To A SHADOW. Book IV. 2. By civil Shadow we underll:and ProteCtion, Defence or Safety, lfa. xlv. 25, 3· Spiritual Shadow is taken for a dark and imperfc{t Reprcfemarion of divine Things. So at! the Ceremonies of the Law of Mofts are called Shadows. The whole Life of Man is but as a Shadpw. Jvfy Days are ./ike a Shadow that de– {lineth, Col. ii. 17. fJ<b. viii. 5· and x. 9· Pfa!. cii. 11. P A R A L L E L S. I. A Shadow is next to nothing_; what is there in .a natural Shadow? So what is the Ltfe of Man? he rather leems to ltve, than ltves. A Shadow you know is op– pofed to a Subftance. ll. A Shadow is a very uncertain Thing: So is the Life of Man. The Shadow, a Man may be under now, may, bdore he is aware, be gone. A Shadow is as fleeting and uncertain a Thing, os any Thing in the World. Our Days 011 Earth are as the Sha– dow, r Chra1z. xxix. 15. How is it there is 110 abidi11g, no certainty of our Lives? III. ASl1adow is very f\vift in Motion; what flies more f\viftly than a Shadow, a~ ~ommon Experience fhews ! So the Life of Man is gone in a Moment, like Lighten– ing, a Dre;tm, a Bubble, the Fl9wer of the Field or a !lying Sbadow. Our Days OR Earth are as a Shadow; that is, they fly fwiftly away like as a Shadow, and there is no abiding. A Vapor is much of the Nature of 2 Shadow. N F E R E N C E S. FIRST, From all thefe SimiliUJdes we may inter, that the Life of Man is very , fh0 rt, his pays iwiftly pafs away. . Man that is bom of a Woman is of few Days, &c. He comes up like a Flower, and is cut down; he jlieth as a Sbedow, and contiiluelh not : .IIis Life is like Wind, like a Clouder 1/apor, &c. J\11 fwifr and fleeting Things. Behold thou hajl made my Days as an fiand.breadth, Pfal. xxxix. 5· The largefl: Ex– tent of the Breadth of an Hand is but a Span; the ldfer Extent only four Fingers. To which the Meafure of Man's Life is compared. I. Man's Life is fhort in comparifQn of thofe who lived before the Flood; fame then Jlv.ed near a thoufand Years. II. Much fhorter when compared with the Life of God, who is from Everlafting, without Beginning and without Ending. Secondly, This may fl:ir us all up, or be a great Motive to us to improve and redeem Qu,r Ti n1e. 'Ibis, I jil)•, Brethren, the 'J'ime is Jhort . . I. Be perfuaded your Days are few. It is ealy to fay it, but hard to believe it, anr;l live in the Senfe of ir. The Child hopes to be a Man; a Man h~pes to be an old Man; 4nd he that is very old hopes to live yet many Days. II. Be pocfuaded thy Days are uncertain ; when thou liefl: down, thou knowefl: not whether thou G1alt rife any more or no; when. thou goefl: out, tho~ knowefl: not whether ·thou fhalt return any more or no. What a fmall Thing may take away thy Life ! Ill. Learn from hence to get a true Meafure of yam Days. David delired a Meafure of his Days, that he might know hov: frail he was. Some do not meafure their Days by the Kino-'s Stancjard; they mealure their Days by the Life of their Progenimrs. My Fa– ther and my Grand-father, faith one, lived fo long, and why may not llive as long as they did? Others meafure their Days by their prefent Health and Strength: Others by t)le Sound and healthy Confl:itution of their Bodies. Now thefe Things are nor a fit nor lawful Meafure of your Days, but rather thofe Things of which you have heard, viz. ·the Weaver's Shuttle, the Morning Dew, the Flower of the Field, the early Cloud, the Shadow and Vapor that flieth away. . . IV. This may reprove and fhew the Folly of many wtcked Men, who hke the rich Man in the Gofpd, fay in their Hearts, We have Goads laid up for many rears, take your Eaft, eat, drink, and be merry, &c. Luke xix. zo. '!'heir inward '!'bought is, that their Houfes foal/ continue for ever, and their Dwelling-places to all Generations, Pfa/. xlix. 11. · V. It may tend to fl:rengthen the Godly under AffliCtions. Let them fl:ri~e to bear ttp with Patience. All their .Days are bm few, and therefore the Days of Sorrow 3 VI. It ,cannot be many.
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