day" from themselves15, as though the cup of bitterness should never be put into their hands. But the pro- phet denounces against them the heavy judgments of God : " Woe to them that are at ease in Zion ! " It is my intention from these words, to shew you, I. The evil which is here reproved —
We are not to suppose that the mere circumstance of a person's being " at ease" is sinful : on the con- trary, it is the privilege of God's people to enjoy that very state, and that, too, in relation both to their temporal and spiritual concerns. In reference to temporal matters, God has said, " Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and be quiet from fear of evil0." And in the book of Job, Eliphaz states this point at large : " He shall deliver thee in six troubles ; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. In famine, he shall redeem thee from death ; and in war, from the power of the sword. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue ; neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh. At destruc- tion and famine thou shalt laugh ; neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth : for thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field ; and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee : and thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peaced." Nor is spiritual peace a whit less the portion of the godly : for it is expressly said, " What man is he that feareth the Lord ? His soul shall dwell at ease0"
Yet, that there is a sinful kind of ease, is evident, from the woe denounced against it. The state, then, that is here condemned, is a state,
1. Of carnal confidence —
["Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria ! " Both Judah and Israel were ready to place an undue confidence in the capitals of their respective countries, as being well fortified both by nature and art : and when they had been made to see how weak such fortresses were, when defended only by an arm of flesh, they would " say in the pride and stoutness of their hearts, The bricks are
b ver. 2, 3. c Prov. i. 33.
d Job v. 19—24. e Ps. xxv. 12, 13.