An exposition with practical observations continued upon the thirty-fifth, thirty-sixth, and thirty-seventh chapters of…

There is no reason he should answer their cry, (though they have reason enough to cry) who will not answer his call, his command; let such cry and cry, tear the air, and rend their throats with crying, they shall not be answered. Job saith of the hypocrite, (Chap. 27.9.) Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him? No, he will not. Solomon leaves the contemners of wisdoms counsel under the same doom, (Pro. 1.28.) Then shall they call, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me. But when was this Then in which they called, and the Lord would not answer? The 27th verse tells us, The when or time of this rejection, it was when they had most need of hearing and acceptation, even when their fear (that is, the thing feared, or at least which made them afraid) came upon them, as desolation, and their destruction as a whirlwind; when those sad Messengers came they sought God early, that is, earnestly and diligently, but could not find him: But what was the reason of this refusal? They hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord, (v. 29.) They had been wicked, and nought, before trouble came, and when trouble was come they were no better, therefore the Lord regarded not either their persons or their cries. The Lord (saith the Apostle preaching to the Athenians, Acts 17.27.) is not far from every one of us; yet 'tis said (Pro. 15.29.) The Lord is far from the wicked, but he heareth the prayer of the righteous: He is far, that is, far from hearing and answering, far from helping and relieving the wicked when they pray. The ⟨p. 90⟩Lord is not far from any of us as men, for in him we live, move, and have our being, (v. 28.) and he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things, for the support of life and natural being; but he is far from all proud men, as to any complacency in their persons, and as to the hearing of their prayers. He is far from hearing them, and he knows them a far off, (Psal. 138.6.) that is, he deals with them as with men at a distance. Thus the Lord told the impenitents among his own people by the Prophet, (