A35537:609
An exposition with practical observations continued upon the thirty-fifth, thirty-sixth, and thirty-seventh chapters of…
An exposition with practical observations continued upon the thirty-fifth, thirty-sixth, and thirty-seventh chapters of the book of Job being the substance of thirty-five lectures / by Joseph Caryl ...
London: printed by M. Simmons, 1664
AN EXPOSITION WITH Practical Observations UPON The Thirty-fifth, Th… › Chapter 36 › Verses 5-6
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 great God is no enemy to greatness.
The great God is no enemy to greatnesse.
God doth not despise the mighty, the Kings and Princes of the Earth, as they are such; he hath no antipathy in him against greatness, nor doth he reject any man because he is great; if he doth at any time reject a great man, it is because of the abuse of his greatness: God dislikes no mans just power, but the unjust exercise of that power. The Authority and Power of man over man is of God, therefore God doth not despise men because they are in power. He ordaineth Powers, There is no Power but of God, the Powers that be, 1are ordained (or as our Margin hath it, ordered of God.) He puts power into the hands of men, and disposeth of their power. God cannot despise his own Ordination. 'Tis the abuse of Power, and not the Power it self, which the Lord sets himself against, and that indeed he doth set himself against; he despiseth the most mighty and powerful Princes of the World, when they instead of governing, are only vexing others with their Power: This causeth him to pour contempt upon Princes (Psal. 107.40.) and renders him terrible to the Kings of the Earth (Psal. 76.12.) Yet the Lord is never so angry with, nor doth he so aggravate the faults of those that are in Power, as to make Power it self faulty. Indeed, when great and mighty men turn their Power into oppression, then the Lord speaks as if he had conceived a displeasure against all great and mighty men, yet he is not displeased with their greatness, but with the mis-improvement of their greatness, and mal-administration of their Power. The Prophet puts the Question (Hab. •.8.) Was the Lord displeased against the Rivers? was thine anger against the Rivers? was thy wrath against the Sea? What was the reason why God turned the River of Nilus in Egypt, into blood? What was the reason why God divided the Red Sea? Was he wrath with the River, or with the Sea? No, he was wrath with the great Ones of Egypt, his wrath was against Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Such an expression we have (