&:: (up. KXVIIL J | ing, and of vaſt Experience, as having lived nigh a thouſand years, and made it their great buſineſs in that time to ſearch out the depths of this Divine Wiidom in the Adminiſtration of the World. g We know ir only by flight and uncertain rumours, but not fully and perfettly. 22 God h underſtandeth the way thereof z, and he knoweth the place thereof &. | h ji.c+ God alone; as appears by the denial of it to all other things i Either the way how it1s to be obtained : Or rather, the methods or courſes which it takes in the management of all Affairs in th2 World, together with its grounds and ends in them, k Where ir dwells, which is only in his own Breaſt and Mind, and in the beſt of Men,but in part,and only as far as it pleaſeth him to afford ir. 24 For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and feerh
under the whole heaven 7.
I He, and he only knows it, becauſe his Providence, and that only, is infinite and univerſal, reaching to all places,and times,and things, paſt, preſent, and to come ; Whereas the moſt accute and knowing Men have narrow underſtandings, and ſee but very few things, and ſmall parcels of the Works of God, and therefore are very unfit to paſs a Judgment vpon them, becauſe the Wiſdom, and Juſtice, and Beauty of God's Works, is not clearly nor fully ſeen till all the partsof them be laid together. ;
25 To make the weight for the winds », and he
weigheth » the waters o by meaſure p.
2» Which of themſelves are moſt light, and without any weight, and inconſtant, and ſuch as no Creature can order or govern them: But God manageth them all by weight, appointing to every;/Wind that blows, its teaſon, its proportion, its bounds and limits, when, and where, and how much, and how long each Wind ſhall blow, and for what ends, whether for Mercy, as to refreſh men in hor ſeaſons with its gentle gales, to cheriſh the Fruits of the Earth, to wafc Ships oa the Sea to their defired Havens, &c- or whether for Judgment, as to corrupt the Air, and thereby the Bodies of Men, and Fruits of the Earth, to blow down Houſes upon their Inhabi- tants, as he was pleaſed ro deal with my poor unhappy Chuldren. He only doth all theſe things, and he on:y knows'why he doth them. He inſtanceth but in ſome few of God's Works, and thoſe which ſeem to-be moſt trivial, and caſual, and uncertain, that theroby he might more ſtrongly imply and prove that God doth the ſaine in other things which are more conſiderable, and are ma= naged by more conftant Cauſes, and certain Methods; that he doth all things in the 'moſt exa& order, and weighr, and mealure. » But it ſecms a very improper ſpeech, zo weigh things by meaſure, and therefore this word may more fitly be otherwite rendred, he examineth, or diſpoſeth, ou fitteth, or direfteth, for ſo this Verb is eli: where uſed, as 1 Sam 2. 3. Pſalm 715. 3- Prov. 16, 2- and 21.2. o Towir, theRain-waters, as appears from the next Verle, which Goo layeth up in his Srore-houſes, or Bot:les the Clouds, and thence draws t:cm forth, and ſends them down upon the Earth in ſuch times and propo: tions as he thinks fir, and as may ſerve his ſeveral deſign- and ends p For liquid things are examined by meaſure, as other things are by weight: And here is both Weight and Meaſure. to tignific with what exa& and perfe& Wiſdom God doth govern the World. :
26 When ne made q a decree for the rain r, and a
way « for the lightning, of the thunder.
Which was either from Eternity, or at the firſt Creation, when he ſerrled that courſe and order which ſhould afterwards be conti- nued. Or, When he maketh : But our Tranſlation ſeems beſt ro ſuit with tix then in the next Verſe, where che ſenſe is compleated. r An appointment, ans! as it were a Statute Law,that it thould fail upcn the Earth, and thar in ſuch rimes, ad places, and proporti- ons, and manner, as he ſhould think fit, cither for corret#:on, or for mercy, as Elihu ſpeaks, Job 37 3. 5s Or, Path, how it ſhould ger out of the thick Cloud in which it was thur vp, and as 1t were im- pritoned . Or, 4 courſe, which ſhoula for the furure be obſcrved, as to the time, and meaſure, and ends, and other circumſtances be- longing ro it. ;
[Or mm. 27 Then t did heſee it «, and ||declare it x ; he pre- bois, .paredit y, yea, and ſearched it our z.
t Either from Eternity, when he decreed what he would do, or when he firſt created them. « i. e. Wiſdom, wnich is he tubjeCt matter of the preſent Diſcourſe. This «od Jaw not abroad, bur within himſelf; he looked or refle&ed up-n it in his own mind, as | the Rule by which he would proceed in the Creation and Govein-
' ment of all things managing them in ſuch ways and methods as were moſt agreeable ro his own molt wie and uiſearchab'e Coun- -| ſels, which no human or created Wit can reach or pierc. into. + oY he [aw it, toasto declare it, asit follows; So as to make it viſible , and manifeſt in ſome meaſure to his Creatures. Or. he Jaw it, i, e- heenjoyed it, Seeing being oft put for Enjoying, as Pſalm. 27. ' 13. and 34, 12. Eccleſ. 3.13. and 2. 1- Compare Prov. 8 22. Xx1.c. , He made itevident, he diſcovered his deep Wiſdom which lay hid | before in his own breaſt ; or he laid the foundation of that Ditcove- | ry of it, which then was, or afterward ſhculd be maveto Ange's | and Men, as the H-avens did in themlielves declare the glory of God, Pſal. |
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