A35538:1402
An exposition with practical observations continued upon the thirty-eighth, thirty-ninth, fortieth, forty-first, and forty-second,…
An exposition with practical observations continued upon the thirty-eighth, thirty-ninth, fortieth, forty-first, and forty-second, being the five last, chapters of the book of Job being the substance of fifty-two lectures or meditations / by Joseph Caryl ...
London: printed by M. and S. Simmons, 1666
Title page typeset from the transcription.
AN EXPOSITION WITH Practical Observations UPON The Thirty-eighth, T… › Chapter 39 › Verse 5-8
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.
Hence note; Nature is content with a little.
They have always enough, who desire no more. A cottage is as ⟨p. 336⟩good as a Palace, and a barren Land as good as a fruitful one, to a contented mind. Yet I cannot approve either their principle or practice, who have a kind of ambition (possibly they call it self-denial, and reckon it a high piece of their Religion) to dwell, as the wild Ass, in the wilderness; such are those popish votaries, called Hermits, from the wilderness where they dwell: These in devotion (such as it is) make the wilderness their house, and the barren Land their dwelling, that they may be free from the cares and temptations of this world; these retire themselves utterly from converse with man, that they may more freely converse with God (an excellent end, but that way to it is no where commanded by God) Let such remember, that God hath not appointed the wilderness and desert places for mans dwelling, but for the dwelling of wild beasts:1 Let them also remember, that they who have the wilderness for their house, may yet have the City in their hearts. It was said by one of the Ancients, concerning such retirements, What doth it advantage us to have a solitary place for our bodies, whilst our souls are in the thickest throngs of the world.
They have alwayes enough, who desire no more. A cottage is as ⟨p. 336⟩good as a Palace, and a barren Land as good as a fruitful one, to a contented mind. Yet I cannot approve either their principle or practice, who have a kind of ambition (possibly they call it self-denial, and reckon it a high piece of their Religion) to dwell, as the wilde Ass, in the wilderness; such are those popish votaries, called Hermites, from the wilderness where they dwell: These in devotion (such as it is) make the wilderness their house, and the barren Land their dwelling, that they may be free from the cares and temptations of this world; these retire themselves utterly from converse with man, that they may more freely converse with God (an excellent end, but that way to it is no where commanded by God) Let such remember, that God hath not appointed the wilderness and desert places for mans dwelling, but for the dwelling of wilde beasts: