An exposition with practical observations continued upon the thirty-eighth, thirty-ninth, fortieth, forty-first, and forty-second,…

Again, These words, That the wicked may be shaken out of it, are by some expounded actively; The day-spring taketh hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked may shake (sc. themselves) out of it. For when the light cometh, wicked men do, as it were, shake themselves out of the earth; that is, they hide themselves, and run their heads into a corner. They who in the night and darkness go abroad doing mischief, following wicked purposes, ⟨p. 133⟩when the light appears, dis-appear, with-draw, and play (as we say) least in sight (Job 24.13.) The wicked are they that rebel against the light, they hate it, cannot endure it, they are like the wild beasts of the earth, that raven in the night, but in the day couch in their dens and coverts, no man can tell where to find them (Psal. 104.20, 21, 22.) Thou makest darkness, and it is night, wherein all the beasts of the forrest do creep forth, &c. The Sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens. Thus the wild beasts are shaken out of the earth, when the light appears, and so are wicked beast-like men (John 3.20.) Every one that doth evil, hateth the light. And as such hate the spiritual light of the Gospel, so they do not very well like the natural light of the day. Wicked men decline the light, and are called darkness, and their works are called the works of darkness; and therefore when the Sun ariseth, thieves, robbers, and all of those wicked trades, may be said to shake themselves out of the earth. He that doth evil, hates the light, he looks upon light as an enemy.

Again, These words, That the wicked may be shaken out of it, are by some expounded actively; The day-spring taketh hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked may shake (sc. themselves) out of it. For when the light cometh, wicked men do, as it were, shake themselves out of the earth; that is, they hide themselves, and run their heads into a corner. They who in the night and darkness go abroad doing mischief, following wicked purposes, ⟨p. 133⟩when the light appears, dis-appear, with-draw, and play (as we say) least in sight (