ther preach, fo as to diſtinguiſh good and bad Men one from ano- ther, then God would contirue him as his Prophet, to ſpeak 1n his .Name unto the people. w He chargeth the Prophet to keep his ground, and not to go over unto wicked Men, but to uſe his endeayour to reduce them to that Obedierice which he yielded co him. 20 AndI will make thee unto this people a fenced, chica
brazen * wall x, and they ſhall fight againſt thee, gong
me not away in thy long-ſuffering y: know, that for
bur * they ſhall not prevail againſt thee y, for I am ,, with thee, to ſave thee and to deliver thee, ſaith * Ch. 20.
thy ſake I have ſuffered rebuke z.
4 Either thou knoweſt my fincerity, how faithfully I have re- vealed thy Will; lo P/al. 139. 1, 23-Or thou knowelt my Suffer- ins, how wickedly they deal with me 3 or zhou hnoweſt what thou haſt to do, what is in thy purpoſe and reſolution to do, I will tay no more unto thee; only for my own fake I beg. x That I may not be out of thy Thoughts, nor withour the Vi- firations of thy Love, while this People is under the Viſitations of thy Wrath, Nehemiah 5. 19, and 13+ 14. Chap.18. 20. Xx Thou haſt commanded me not to avenge my ſelf, Lord ! do thouavenge me upon my Perlecutors: ( See the Notes on Chap. 11- 20. a0 17. 18. how the Prophet could thus pray againſt n1s Enemies. ) 3 Confirm thy Word, let me not be taken away into Captivity 3 though I be a Sinner, yetexerciſe toward me patience and Jong- ſuffering. + Lord, remember that my Reproach, and all that I ſuffer, is for thy ſake, becauſe 1 have faithfully publiſhed thy
the LORD =. IT, 12.
x Thoſe Words are expotinded by thoſe that follow. y Look as Men may throw Stones or ſtrike at a brazen Wall, but do ic no hurt, ſo ſaith God, though thou ſhalt have Enemies that will be offering at thee, yer if thou continueft ſteady in the doing of thy Duty, they ſhall do thee no harm. 4 For thou ſhalt have my _ engaged tor thee, to deliver and fave thee from their malice.
21 AndI will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked 4a, and I will redeem thee our of the hand of the terrible h.
a The wicked Fews. b And the power of the terrible Chal- deans, in whoſe hands thou ſhalt come, but be preſerved from any harm, by the Workings of my Providence for thee.
Rs. ne
Truth, and maintained and defended thine Honour and Glory. 16 Thy words were found 4, and I did * eat them
b and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing
a Either the Words which from time to time thou didfſt reveal to me, were by me b greedily digeſted, and m though ſome of them were dreadful and terrible Words, yet becauſe they proceed- ed irom chee, I was g'ad to hear them, and to be thy Inſtrument eo communicate them to thy People, or, ( which better pleaſeth the Learned Author ot our Engliſh Annotations, an poſſibly may be more the Senle of the place ) thy Word of Commiſhion, ( of which fee Chap. 1.) by which I was made thy Prophet, was at firſt very grateful and pleaſing to me. I was glad at the heart when thou at any time didſt reveal thy Will ro me. m Thou art the Lord of Hoſts, and ſo able to protea thy Meſſengers, Lord ] am called by thy Name ; I became a Prophet by thy Authority, theretore do thou own, protect, and defend me.
17 *] ſat not inthe aſſembly of the mockers, nor
rejoiced 9: I fat alone becauſe of thy hand, for thou
haſt filled me with indignation p.
o tome, and thoſe the moſt, interpret theſe Words, as an Argu- ment the Prophet uſeth with God to obtain his Favour; becauſe though the Country was full of wicked Men, ſuch as ſcoffed at the Denouncings of God's Judgments, yet he had no ſhare with them,therefore he defires he might have no ſhare with thoſe wicked Men, in whoſe Company he had had no Delight,and in whoſe pro- fane contempt of God he had no ſhare : But the Learned Author of our Erglifh Annotations thinks ( and that very probably, if we conſider what follows) that the Words ſhould rather be Trania- red thus, T ſat not in the Aſſemblies of thoſe that made merry ; inti- mating, that though he rejoiced in his Heart when God gave him Commiſion to be his Prophet, yet God had all along filled his Mouth with ſuch dreadful Meſſages to be delivered to his Poople, that his whole Prophetical Lite had been to him a time of Monrn- ing and Solitude, p a time when he ſate alone, mourning and weeping 1n ſecret tor the Wrath of God revealed to him againſt his Pcopie, and by him to be revealed unto the People.
18 Why is iny * pain perpetual ? and my wound incurable, which refuſeth, ro be healed q ? wilt thou be alr gether to me * as a liar, and as waters | that fail r.
q The Wordsare judged to be the Words of Jeremiah, and that with relation to himielt,complaining of the hard Task which God had put upon him, continually filling his mouth with ſuch bitter Words of Evil againſt the People, as expoſed him to their moſt implacab!e Rage againſt and perſecution of him, tfoas his Miſery | ſeemed likea Pain and a Wound,for which was no remedy but Pa- tience. r Feremiah, though a great Prophet of the Lord,was (as Elj.
jab) a Man ſubject to like Paſſions with other Men; he here charg- eth God with Unfaithfulneſs,as if he had deceived his expettations, and had been to ,him as a Pit of Waters that promiſed fair, but failed a Manwhen he had moſt need of them. The Servants of God have ſometimes been ſurprized with ſuch Paſſions and Temprati- ons, I Sam. 27.1. Pſal. 77.7, 9. It is an hard thing not to ſee, and yet believe. | :
19 T Therefore thus faith the LORD, * if thou return, then I will bring thee again /, 47d thou ſhalt ſtand before mer: and if thou * take forth the pre- cious from the vile, thou ſhalt be as my mouth x : let them return unto thee, but return not thou unto
them w.
{ At the firſt reading of theſe Words, one would take them to be 2 Promiſe of God to reſtore this People to their former ſtate, it they would reform ; but upon a more nice and diligent Con- {deration of what follows, both in this and in the tollowing Verle, they ſeem rather God's Words unto the Prophet, rebuking his Diffidence and Diſtruſt in God, and promiſing him, that it he did return from that his Difidence and Diftruſt in God's Pro- miſe and Providence, t he would reſtore him to the former Fa- vonr he had had with him, and he ſhould be his Prophet to re- veal his Mind to the People. u And if he would ſeparate the
CHAP. XVI.