A03620:514
Certain comfortable expositions of the constant martyr of Christ, M. John Hooper, Bishop of…Certeine comfortable expositions of the constant martyr of Christ, M. Iohn Hooper, Bishop of…
Certain comfortable expositions of the constant martyr of Christ, M. John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester and Worcester written in the time of his tribulation and imprisonment, upon the XXIII. LXII. LXXIII. and LXXVII. Psalms of the prophet David.Certeine comfortable expositions of the constant martyr of Christ, M. Iohn Hooper, Bishop of Glocester and Worcester written in the time of his tribulation and imprisonment, vpon the XXIII. LXII. LXXIII. and LXXVII. Psalmes of the prophet Dauid.
London: printed by Henry Middleton, 1580London: printed by Henrie Middleton, 1580
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Commentary Psalm 77 › Body of exposition › Part 4 (verses 10-20): ¶The fourth part.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
The learning touching God is,1 that he worketh his will, and useth his creatures, as it seemeth unto his wisdom inscrutable most meet and convenient: ⟨image 122⟩as here he troubleth and altereth the condition of the seas and waters.2 These waters were appointed by God, in the third day of the creation, to be in one place, and was called The Sea, a pleasant element, and a beautiful thing to see: and God said, It was good, as the effect thereof showeth in deed: for it nourisheth the earth with necessary moisture, by privy veins and secrete passages, secretly passing through the earth. And when the floods, that do moisture the earth, have done their office, they return into their old lodging, the Sea again: from whence riseth the matter of showers and rain to moisture from above, that floods beneath cannot be conveyed unto. And it serveth for transporting the necessaries of one realm to the other, quietly suffering the ships of pass with great gain & pleasure. These and many more commodities God worketh by this insensible creature, when it is calm and navigable: but when he moveth it with his winds and tempests, it is so horrible in it self, that no man may, without peril and death, travel within it, so raging and fearful is that pleasant element of tho water, when God moveth it. It hath (by Gods appointment) his time of calm, and time of storm: time to profit men,3 and time to undo men: time to be a refuge for men in the days of peril, and time to be a grave and sepulchre for men: time to conjoin strange nations together, and time to separate them again: as it pleaseth the creator Almighty God to appoint and direct it.
The learning touching God is,1 that he worketh his will, and vseth his creatures, as it séemeth vnto his wisedome inscrutable most méete and conuenient: ⟨image 122⟩as here he troubleth and altereth the condition of the seas and waters.