An exposition with practical observations continued upon the eighth, ninth and tenth chapters of…An exposition with practicall observations continued upon the eighth, ninth and tenth chapters of…

Both parts of the verse meet in the same sense.¹ The word (Darash) in the later, being often applied as the former to a judiciary search. Yet some distinguish them strictly thus: the former to signify an enquiry by recalling to memory, or the examining of our selves, Thou enquirest after mine iniquity, that is, thou askest thy self whether thou hast not observed some iniquity in me, Thou doest (as it were) rub up thy memory, and take an account of what is laid up there concerning me. Memory is the store-house or treasury, the record or register of the soul. Books are a memory without us, and memory is a book within us. Then the other word signifies searching by examination of the suspected party in either of those ways before explained. The Lord tells the Jews (whose wickedness was grown immodest, and rose a step beyond hypocrisy) that he needed not search after their sins, In thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of poor innocents, I have not not found it by secret search, Jer. 2.34. as noting, that the Lord doth sometimes make a secret search, and that there are some who hide their sins, some who sit close upon, and cover them, as Rachel did the stolen Idols, when Laban came to search ⟨p. 468⟩Jacobs stuff: that there are some who make excuses and apologies for them: to these the Lord comes with a secret search for their iniquity. The word in Jeremiah signifies digging; I have not found it by digging: some put their sins under ground; only deep digging can find these out: Job enquires of the Lord, why he made such a searching after his iniquities, why he was so curious in looking into every corner,² and behind every door to find out the rubbish of his life, seeing the closest sin is as open to his eye as the Sun at noon-day; and besides, God knew that Job had no close sins, no darling beloved sin in his bosom, no sweet morsels of any forbidden fruit under his tongue. He tells the Lord as much in plain terms in the next words, Thou knowest that I am not wicked. As we use to say to a man that makes a busy search after any thing, either in a place or about a person, where there is no probability that it should be found; or when we suppose the party searching cannot have the least ground of persuasion, that the thing is there, or with him; In such a case (I say) a man will answer, why do ye make such a search?