x Or, M1 theſe things ; of which I have berediſcourſed. » I have- diligenty examined and found all this to be true. z By the help of thar ſingular Wiſdom which God had given me. 4 I determined within my felf that I would by all pollible- means ſeek to attain per- fection of wiſdom,and Iperſwaded my ſelf that I fhould artain to it. bI found my ſelf grearly diſappointed, and the more I knew, the
1Kin.$ 46« - | 2Chr 6:36 Prov:20 C 1 Joh 1:8
morel {aw minie owni folly and ar
_T u Tf By $ | 54 © Tanzt
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28. 24 *Thatwhich is far off and exceeding: deep, who % can find itoutc? wa - ; No humane Wit can attain to perfect Wiſdom, or to the exact knowledge of Gods Counſels and Works,and the reaſons of them, be- cauſe they are unſearchably deep, and far above our fight,. ſome of them being long ſince paſc,and therefore utterly unknown to us and others yet tocome which we cannot foreknow. 25 | * I appliedmine heart d to know, and to ſearch, "7. and to {ek out e wiſdom,and|| the reaſon «f things f,and ro know the wickedneſs of folly g,cven of fooliſbneſs
. and madneſs. | 4 1 was not diſcouraged, but provoked by the difficulty of the
work to undertake it:which is an argument of a great and generous f, fo Soul. « He uſeth three words ſignifying the ſame thing,to intimate his vehement deſire, and vigorous, and unwearied endeavour after it. f Both of Gods various Providences,& ofthe differing and con- trary counſels and courſes of men. g That I might clearly and ful- ly underſtand the gteat evil of ſin,and all that wickedneſs,and folly or madneſs which is bound up in the hearts of all men by Nature, and which diſcovers it ſelf in the courſe of their Lives.
rOV-22 man & whoſe heart is ſnares and nets /,and her hands mz
eb. be 2c bands ». + Whoſo pleaſeth God 0 ſhal eſcape from
#8 her p ; but the ſinner 9 ſhal be taken-r by hers. e God: þ By my own ſad experience: Which $9l9men here records. partly as an inſtance of thatfolly and madneſs which he expreſled in gene=-
ral. v; 25, and partly as a teſtimony of his trueRepentance, for his
foul miſcarriages,for which he was willing to take ſhame to him- ſel£,nor only from the preſent, bur from all ſucceeding generations,
; More vexatious & pernicious as producing thoſe horrors of Con- ſcience, thoſe reproaches, and diſcaſes, and other plagues,both tem-
poral and ſpiritual,from God, which are far worſe than ſimpledeath
and, after all thzſe, everlaſting deſtruftion- k The ſtrange woman,
of whom he ſpeaks ſo muck in the Proverbs. ! Who being /ubrile of
heart, Prov. 7+ 10. is full of crafty devices to inſnare men. » Either byGGifts,or rather by laſcivious Affions.n Wherewith ſhe holds them
faſt in cruel bondage, ſo rhat they have neither Power nor Will to forſak2 her,notwithanding all the dangers & miſchiefs which rhey kaow do attend upon ſach prafices. 0 Heb, be that is good before
God, either 1. whom God loves and favours. Or rather 2. Who is
g20d lincerely,or in the judgment of God who cannot be deceived; whereas Hyp»crites are frequeatly good in the eyes or opinions of mn. Which ſenſe ſeems to be confirmed from the oppoſition of the ſonner ro him,both here, and Ecclef; 2+ 26, Hereby he intimates that neither a good temper of mind, nor great diſcretion,ner good Edu- cacion fa, Inſtruction, nor any ocrher thing,except GodsGrace,is a ſufficient preſervative from the dominion of this Luft, pShal be prevented from falling into that ſin, or, if by ſurpriſal or ſtrong tzmpration he be drawn to it, he ſhal be recovered * out of it by
true Repentance. q The wilful and obſtinate {inner,who gives hime ſclfup to the common practice of this or other ſins;he who is's /x-
ner before the Lord, as the Sodomites are called, Gen: 13: 13,who is fire
1y oppoſed to him that is good before Godzhe in whom there is not a dram of true goodneſs:for otherwiſe all men are ſinnzrs,as was ſaid
wv: 20. r Shall be intangled and kept faſt in her chains, as is implyed, becauſe this is oppoſed to eſcap:ngfom her. * Or,veigh 2+ Behold s,this have I ound ( faith the Preacher t )
ng || counting one by one «, tofind out the account x.
Kd 5 Ir is a ſtrange thing, and worthy of your ſerious obſervation, : Or, the penitent, who ſpeaks what he hath learned, both by deep Study, and coſtly Experiences % Conſidering things or perſons ve= ry exactly and diftirictly, one after another; and not only in gene= ral and confuſ:d'y,in which caſe a man may very eaſily be miſtake; and comparing them together, whereby I was inabled to make rhe truer judgment of them. x That Imighr make a true and juſt eſti= mate in this matter, Or, asit isin the Margent, and was rendred w: 25: thereaſon, to wit, of that which Iam about to ſay. I conſide= red the perſons ſevera!ly and critically, that from thencet might underſtand thereaſon of the thing.
28 Which yer my ſoul ſecketh y, but T find not £:one man among a thouſand 5 have I found, but a woman
c among all thoſe 4 haveI not found. zIc ſeemed ſo wonderfalto me that] ſufpected I had not made a ſufe ficient enquiry, and therefore I returned to ſearchagain with more earneſtneis and accuratenels. z Thar it was ſo he found out, as he now ſaid, v: 27.but che whole truth and reaſon ofthe thing he could not find out, s One worthy of the Name ofa Man;a wile and vir= ruous Man. Man is put fora worthy or good Man, as Vame is pur for azoed name, above v. 1. and Wife for a good Wifr, a5 wasnored before. b With whom I have converſed. H# is ſuppoitd to menti- on this Number 4a alluſion ro his Thouſand Wives and Concubi= nes, as they are numbred by parcels 1 Kings 11.3» c One wor- . thy of that Name 5 one who 15 not a diſhonour to her kind and Sex who is not brutiſh in her diſpoſicion and converſation, & In that Thouſand whom I have taken into intimate ſociety with my {clF. Whereby he alſo paſleth a ſevere cenſure upon himielf that he had ſociated himſelf with ſuch Perſons,and not with the virtuons Wo. men; which doubtleſs there were in his time,as appears fromProv.31. Ge11;27 Ic is not Solomons deſign to diſparage this Sex,norto make a genera) compariſon between men and women in all Places, and Ages, but ooly to ſuggeſt his own experience concerning it.
29 Lo, this only havel found e, * -thas God . hath
ny inventions 7.