command and manage them, as a man may wield his sword, or move his hand.
Wilt thou suffer thine own sword, thine own hand, to destroy thine own
servant?— J. Howe
Verse 14 ( first clause ). How wonderful are the dispensations of the
providence of God, who can use even the wicked to promote the present
happiness and the final salvation of his saints!— J. Edwards, M.A., 1856.
Verse 14. "Men of the world, which have their portion in this life."
Time and this lower world, bound all their hopes and fears. They have no
serious believing apprehensions of anything beyond this present life;
therefore, have nothing to withhold them from the most injurious violence,
if thou withhold them not; men that believe not another world, are the ready
actors of any imaginable mischiefs and tragedies in this.— John Howe.
Verse 14. "Men which are thy hand," etc. What shall we say then?
Because God maketh use of thy sins, art thou excused? Is not thine evil
evil, because he picketh good out of it? Deceive not thyself therein. When
thou hast done such service to thy Master and Maker, though seven and seven
years, as Jacob did service to Laban, thou shalt lose thy wages and thy
thanks too. Oh, well were thou if thou didst but lose, for thou shalt also
gain a sorrowful advantage. It is unprofitable, nay, miserable service
which thou hast thus bestowed. Babylon shall be the hammer of the Lord a
long time to bruise the nations, himself afterwards bruised; Asshur his rod
to scourge his people, but Asshur shall be more scourged. These hammers,
rods, axes, saws, other instruments, when they have done their offices,
which they never meant, shall be thrown themselves into the fire, and burnt
to ashes. Satan did service to God, it cannot be denied, in the afflicting
of Job, winnowing of Peter, buffeting of Paul, executing of Judas, and God
did a work in all these either to prove patience, or to confirm faith, or to
try strength, or to commend justice; yet is Satan "reserved in chains under
darkness, to the retribution of the great day." Judas did service to God,
in getting honour to his blessed name for the redemption of mankind, whilst
the worlds endureth, yet was his wages an alder-tree to hang himself upon,
and, what is worse, he hangeth in hell for eternal generations. He had his
wages, and lost his wages. That which the priest gave him, he lost, and
lost his apostleship, but gained the recompense of everlasting unhappiness,
and lies in the lowest lake, for the worm and death to gnaw upon without
ceasing.— John King.
Verse 14. "Thy hand." The hand of God, his correcting or cherishing
hand, sometimes is an immediate, and sometimes a mediate hand. Sometimes it
is immediate, when God by himself doth chasten, or punish, or afflict, when
no second cause doth appear or intervene. So it may seem Satan means, when
he saith (Job 1:11), "Put forth thy hand," that is, do it thine own self,
let no other have the handling of Job but thyself. God doth send such
immediate afflictions; a man is afflicted in his body, in his estate, and
many other ways, and he cannot find anything in the creature whence it
should come; it is an immediate stroke of God, he cannot see how, or which
way, or at what door this evil came in upon him; therefore it is called a
creating of evil. Isaiah 45:7. "I make peace, and create evil." Now
creation is out of nothing, there is nothing out of which it is wrought. So
many times God bringeth evil upon a people or person when there is no
appearance of second cause, no matter out of which it is made, but it comes
as a creature, formed by the only hand of God. Sometimes likewise it is
called God's hand, when it is the hand of a creature; it is God's hand in a
creature's hand; God's hand when it is the hand of wicked men, God's hand
when it is Satan's hand. So that place is translated (Psalm 17:13,14),
"Deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword: from men which are
thy hand:" so that "thy hand" may be understood of an instrument; Satan
himself is God's hand to punish in that sense, as wicked men here are said
to be God's hand: "from men which are thy hand," though there be other
readings of that place; some read it, deliver me from men by thy hand; and
others, deliver me from men of thy hand; but our translation may very well
carry the sense of the original in it, "from men which are thy hand;" as
Nebuchadrezzar, that wicked king, is called God's servant (Jeremiah
43:10), "I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar my servant:" God speaks of him
as his servant, or as his hand in the thing.— Joseph Caryl.
Verse 14. "Men of the world, which have their portion in this life."
The large portion of the wicked in the things of this world, may tell the
righteous of how little value this is, in the account of God; in that these
things are often given to his enemies plentifully, when denied in such a
measure to his children. Now this cannot be because he loves or favours his
enemies most; but because these lower things, given them in what degree
soever, are so mean in his account, as that his chosen may learn by his
distribution of them, to regard them as he does; namely, as no part of their
felicity, but as common favours to all his creatures, good or bad, enemies
or friends.— Daniel Wilcox.
Verse 14. "Men which have their portion in this life." God gives
wicked men a portion here to show unto them what little good there is in all
these things, and to show the world what little good there is in all the
things that are here below in the world. Certainly if they were much good
they should never have them; it is an argument there is no great excellency
in the strength of body, for an ox hath it more than you; an argument there
is no great excellency in agility of body, for a dog hath it more than you;
an argument of no great excellency in gay clothes, for a peacock hath them
more than you; an argument there is not great excellency in gold and silver,
for the Indians that know not God have them more than you; and if these
things had any great worth in them, certainly God would never give them to
wicked men—a certain argument. As it is an argument that there is no
great evil in affliction in this world, because that the saints are so much
afflicted; so no great argument there is any great good in this world, for
the wicked they enjoy so much of it. Luther hath such an expression as this
in his comment upon Genesis, saith he, "The Turkish empire, as great as it
is, is but a crumb, that the Master of the family, that God, casts to dogs:"
the whole Turkish empire, such an esteem had Luther of it; and indeed, it is
no more. All the things of the world, God in giving of them to Turks and
wicked ones, his enemies, shows there is not much excellency and good in
them: God therefore will cast them promiscuously up and down in the world,
because he looks upon them as worthless things; God doth not so much regard
whether men be prepared to give him the glory of them, yea or no, they shall
have them; however he is content to venture them. Indeed, when God comes
into his choice mercies in Christ, there he looks to have glory from them,
and he doth never give them to any, but first he prepares them, that they
may give him the glory of those mercies. But it is otherwise with others;
as, suppose you see a man gathering of crabs, although swine be under the
tree, he cares not much to drive them away; they are but crabs, let them
have them; but if he were gathering any choice and precious fruit, if any
swine should come under, he drives them away. As for outward things, crabs,
the Lord suffers the swine of the world to come grunting and take them up;
but when he comes to his choice mercies in his Christ, there he makes a
distinction. Oh, this is precious fruit! A blacksmith that is working upon
iron, though a great many cinders and little bits of iron fly up and down,
he regards them not; but a goldsmith that is working upon gold, he preserves
every rag, and every dust of gold; and a lapidary that is working upon
precious stones, every little bit he will be sure to preserve; a carpenter
that is only hewing of timber, he regards it not much if chips fly up and
down; but it is not so with a lapidary. So these outward things are but as
the chips and cinders, and such kind of things as those are, and therefore
God ever gives a portion to wicked men out of them.— Jeremiah Burroughs.
Verse 14. "Men which have their portion in this life." I have read of
Gregory, that being advanced to preferment, professed that there was no
Scripture that went so to his heart, that struck such a trembling into his
spirit, that daunted him so much, as this Scripture did:—"Here you have
your reward, son; in your lifetime you have had your pleasure." Oh, this
was a dreadful Scripture that sounded in his ears continually, as Hierom
speaks of that Scripture, "Arise ye dead, and come to judgment;" night and
day he thought that Scripture sounded in his ears: so Gregory:—"Here you
have your reward; in this life you have had your pleasure." This was the
Scripture that night and day sounded in his ears. O that it might please
God to assist so far, to speak out of this Scripture to you, that I might
make this Scripture ring in your ears even when you lie upon your beds,
after the sermon is done; that yet you may think this Scripture rings in
your ears: "Men of this world, who have their portion in this life." — Jeremiah Burroughs.
Verse 14. "Which have their portion in this life." The earth and the
commodities thereof God distributeth without respect of persons, even to
them that are his children by creation only, and not by adoption. But yet
there is a difference between the prosperity of the one and the other; for
the one is but with anxiety of heart (even in laughter their heart is
heavy); the others' is with cheerfulness and joy in the Spirit; the one's is
a pledge of the greater preferment in the world to come, the others' is
their whole portion, and as if God should say, "Let them take that and
look for no more." The one's is with the blessing of the people, who wish
they had more; the others' with their curse and hatred, who are grieved that
they have so much.— Miles Smith.
Verse 14. "Their portion in this life." The good man's best, and the
bad man's worst, lie in shall be's (Isaiah 3:10, 11), in reversion. Here
Dives had nothing but his "good things," but hereafter he had no good thing.
Here Lazarus had all his "evil things," but afterwards no evil thing. The
good man when he dies, takes his leave of, and departs from, all evil; and
the evil man when he dies, takes his leave of, and departs from, all his
goods, which was all the good he had. "Now he is comforted, but thou art
tormented." Luke 16:25. Oh! 'tis a sad thing to have one's portion of
good only in this life.— Ralph Venning's "Helps to Piety," 1620-1673.
Verse 14. "This life." There is yet another thing to be seen far more
monstrous in this creature; that whereas he is endued with reason and
counsel, and knoweth that this life is like unto a shadow, to a dream, to a
tale that is told, to a watch in the night, to smoke, to chaff which the
wind scattereth, to a water-bubble, and such-like fading things; and that
life to come shall never have end; he yet nevertheless setteth his whole
mind most carefully upon this present life, which is to-day, and to-morrow
is not; but of the life which is everlasting he doth not so much as think.
If this be not a monster, I know not what may be called monstrous.— Thomas Tymme.
Verse 14. What wicked men possess of this world is all that ever they can
hope for: why should we grudge them filled bags, or swelling titles! it is
their whole portion; they now receive their good things. Hast thou food and
clothing? that is children's fare; envy not ungodly men, who flaunt it in
the gallantry of the world: they have more than you; but it is all they are
like to have: the psalmist gives us an account of their estate. They are
the men of this world, which have their portion in this life, and whose
bellies God filleth with his hid treasure. Whereas thou, O Christian, who
possessest nothing, art heir-apparent of heaven, co-heir with Jesus Christ,
who is the heir of all things, and hast an infinite mass of riches laid up
for thee; so great and infinite, that all the stars of heaven are too few to
account it by: you have no reason to complain of being kept short; for all
that God hath is yours, whether prosperity ar adversity, life or death, all
is yours. What God gives is for your comfort; what he denies or takes away
is for your trial: it is for the increase of those graces which are far more
gracious than any temporal enjoyment. If, by seeing wicked and ungodly men
flow in wealth and ease, when thou art forced to struggle against the
inconveniences and difficulties of a poor estate, thou hast learnt a holy
contempt and disdain of the world, believe it, God hath herein given thee
more than if he had given thee the world itself.— Ezekiel Hopkins.
Verse 14. To show that wicked men have often the greatest portion in