lating to them. : | 15 Then ſhall it be fora man to burn: for he will take thereof and warm himſelf : yea he kindleth it,and | baketh bread ; yea, he maketh a god ; and worſhip- ' peth i# ; he maketh a graven image, and falleth down ' thereto . | u Having related the praQices of Idolaters, he now diſcovers the van ty and folly of ! hem, that he makerh his fire and his god of the ſame Materials, diſtinguithed only by the Art of Man. ' 16 He burneth part thereof in the fire : with part thereof he eateth fleſh x : he roſteth roſt. and is ſatisfi- ed ; yea, he warmeth himſelf, and ſaith, Aha, I am warm, TI have ſeen the fire y. 17 And the relidue thereof he maketh a god, ever ; his graven image : he fallecrh down unto jt, and wor- ſnippeth iz, and prayeth unto it, and faith, Deliver me, | for thou art my god.
x He dreſſeth Fleſh for his eating. » I have fe!t the warmth of it. Seeing is oft put tor o: her Senſes, as Feeling, Hearing, &c; as
hath been ofr obſerved before.
| 18 * They have not known, nor underſtood z 5 for « cp, ' he a hath + (but their eyes, that they cannot ſee ; and 45. 20. their hearts, that they cannot underſtand, t Heb.
z This ſheweth, That they want commecn diſcretion, and have daubed, not the underſtanding of a Man in them @ To wit, God ; who is ealily underſtood, and is ofrexprefſed by this pronoun, He, and ro whom this very att is frequently aſcribed in other places of Scripe ture: And therefore Men nced not to be ſhy in aſcribing it to God here. Which yer is to be ſoberly underſtood , not as if God did make Men wicked, but only permits them fo to be, and orders,and over-rules their Wickedneſs to his own glorious Ends. And ſuch _ paſſages as theſe are added in ſuch caſes, to give an account of the prodigious madneſs of Sinners herein ; becauſe, as they wilfully thut their own Eyes, and harden their own Hearts, ſo God judici- ally blinds and hardens them, and ſends ſtrong deluſionsupon them, and gives them up to believe Lies, and then it is no wonder if they fall inro ſuch dotages. Ce. :
19 And none Þ conſidereth in his heart b, neither is :
| ; ) Heb.ſets there knowledge nor underſtanding to ſay, T have burnt ,,;s ;» ji: part of it in the fire, yea, alſo I have baked bread upon jear:. the coals thereof: I have roſted feth and eaten ir, and ſhall I make the reſidue thereof-an abomination ? (ball I fall down to Þ+ the ſtock of a tree ?
6 Whereby he implies, That the true Cauſe of this, as well as 0- other abſurd and brutiſh praQtices of Sinners, is the negle& of ſeri-. ous and impartial Contideration of things.
20 He feedeth of athesc : * a deceived heart 4 hath , Ha turned him aſide e, that he cannot deliver his ſoul f, nor ©: ay, 1s there nota lie in || my right hand g ? |
c Which is an unſavoury, unprofitable, and pernicious Food,and no leſs unſatistying,uncomftortable,& miſchievous is the worſhip of Idols. d A Mind corrupted and deceived by long cuſtom, deep pre- ; judice.groſs errour,&'eſpcially by his own Luſts. e From the way | of Truth,from the knowledge and. worſhip of the gy 5 =
utl
+Heb.thet which comes of tree.
WM Q s by J $5.4 : ts A >
*Pſ. 96 11, 12. Ch. 42. 10, & 4 13.Jer>5 48.
i Heb.
Waſts,
'Ch.50.1
*2Chr.36 22, 23. Ezra. 1. 1 Oc, Cha, 45. 13,
Lo 2
VU
ed at
XLIV. I $ A brutich Holatry. f From-the ſnares and dangers of Idolatry.This
cans is to be underſtood morally, ſo as to note the great difficulty, but not the utter imyoflibility ofir ; for if Idolaters would conſt- der things, they migit be convinced of, and turned from that groſs '* way of Wickedn-(:, as is implied from the foregoing Verſe. gWhat is this Idol, which [ have made with my right Hand, z. e. with all my *rength, as was ſaid before; the right Hand being the ſtrongeſt and rhe chi:f inſtrument of this and other a&ions; which I ſet at my riyht Hand, as the true God is faid in Scripture to be a# the right hand of his People, Pſal. 16. 8. & 109. 31. & 120. 5. Which - I highly honour, for the moſt honourable place was on the right Hand, as is known ; to which, I look and truſt for reliefand afſift- ance, which Godin Scripture is ſaid to affoord to his People, by
Chap:
being at and holaing of their right hand,Pſal. 73. 23. & 110. 5, Whar, I fay, is this Idol? Is it not a lie, which though it ſeems and pre- tends to be ſomething, and to be a god, yet in truth 1s nothing but vanity and falſhood, deceiving all that put their truſt an it?
21 Remember theſe þ, O Jacob and Iſrael ; for thon art my ſervant ; I have formed thee, thou art my ſfer-
vant : O Iſrael, thou ſhalt not be forgorten of me z ?
þ Either theſe Men: Or, which comes to one, theſe things, the deep ignorance and ſtupidity of Idelaters; which may be a warn- ing to thee. 7 I will not forget nor forſake thee; and therefore thou ſhalt have no need of 1do!s : Or, as the ancient Interpreters and divers others render it, 40 net forget me ; what Iam,and whar I have done, and can and will do for Thee ; the forgetting whereof 1s the ready way to Idolatry.
22 ] have blotted out as a thick cloud & thy tranl-
oreflions,and as a cloud,thy ſins: return 1 unto me,for I
have redeemed thee m.
k As the Sun commonly diflolveth, or the Wind ſcattereth the thickeſt and blackeſt Cloud, ſo as there is no remnant, nor appear= ance of it left. {From thine 1alatry, and other wicked prattices:; - Therefore thou art mine, and obliged to return and adhere to me,
23 *Sing, O ye heavens ; for the LORD hath done
*Pſ. 96: - — it : ſhout ye lower parts ofthe earth 3 break forth into Ch. 42: ſinging ye mountains, O forreſt, and every tree therein mw #2 z: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified 8 5 himſelf in 1ſrael. » By ſuch invitations to the ſenſeleſs Creatures to praiſe God with and for his People, he ſignifies the tranſcendent greatneſs of . this Mercy and Deliverance, ſufficient to make even the Stones, if it were poſſible, to break forth into God's praiſes ; and withal, that as the brute Creatures were Sufferers by Man's fall, ſo they ſhould - reccive benefit by Man's Redemption. ' Jae? 1. 24 Thus faich the LORD thy redeemer, and * he Pſ 16-4 that formed thee from the womb 's, I am the LORD, Ch. 4o. that maketh all zhings, * chat ſtretcheth forth the hea-
22.0 42. yens alone,that ſpreadeth abroad the earth by my elf p:
5. &' 45. o Of which Phraſe ſee above on ver. 2. p And therefore I can
12: & SI. Save thee without the help of any other gods or men.