1. It were vain, i. e. little other than a show, a mere shadow, a semblance of Being. We must indeed, in the present case, even abstract him from himself, and consider him only as a mortal dying thing; and as to that of him which is so, what a contemptible nothing is he! There is an appearance of somewhat; but search a little, and enquire into it, and it vanishes into a mere nothing▪ is found a lye, a piece of falsehood, as if he did but feign a being, and were not. And so we may suppose the Psalmist speaking, upon the view of his own, and ⟨p. 17⟩the common case of man, how fast all were hastening out of life; and laying down the being which they rather seemed to have assumed and borrowed, than to possess and own: Lord, why hast thou made Man such a fictitious thing? given him such a mock-being? Why hast thou brought forth into the light of this world such a sort of Creatures, that rather seem to be, than are? That have so little of solid and substantial being? and so little deserve to be taken for realities? that only serve to cheat one another into an opinion of their true existence, and presently vanish and confess their falsehood? What hovering shadows, what uncertain Entities are they? In a moment they are and are not. I know not when to say I have seen a man. It seems as if there were some such things before my eyes; I persuade my self that I see them move and walk to and fro, that I talk and converse with them; But instantly my own sense is ready to give my sense the lye: They are on the sudden dwindled ⟨p. 18⟩away, and force me, almost, to acknowledge a Delusion. I am but mocked with a show; and what seemed a reality, proves an Imposture. Their pretence to being, is but fiction, and falsehood; a cozenage of over-credulous unwary sense, They only personate what, they are thought to be; and quickly put off their very selves, as a disguise. This is agreeable to the language of Scripture elsewhere. Surely men of low degree are vanity, 1and men of high degree are a lye, &c.
1. It were vain, i. e. little other than a shew, a meer shadow, a semblance of Beeing. We must indeed, in the present case, even abstract him from himself, and consider him only as a mortal dying thing; and as to that of him which is so, what a contemptible nothing is he! There is an appearance of somewhat; but search a little, and enquire into it, and it vanishes into a meer nothing▪ is found a lye, a piece of falshood, as if he did but feign a beeing, and were not. And so we may suppose the Psalmist speaking, upon the view of his own, and ⟨p. 17⟩the common case of man, how fast all were hastning out of life; and laying down the beeing which they rather seemed to have assumed and borrowed, than to possess and own: Lord, why hast thou made Man such a fictitious thing? given him such a mock-beeing? Why hast thou brought forth into the light of this world such a sort of Creatures, that rather seem to be, than are? That have so little of solid and substantial beeing? and so little deserve to be taken for realities? that only serve to cheat one another into an opinion of their true existence, and presently vanish and confess their falshood? What hovering shadows, what uncertain Entities are they? In a moment they are and are not. I know not when to say I have seen a man. It seems as if there were some such things before my eyes; I perswade my self that I see them move and walk to and fro, that I talk and converse with them; But instantly my own sense is ready to give my sense the lye: They are on the sudden dwindled ⟨p. 18⟩away, and force me, almost, to acknowledg a Delusion. I am but mockt with a shew; and what seem'd a reality, proves an Imposture. Their pretence to beeing, is but fiction, and falshood; a cozenage of over-credulous unwary sense, They only personate what, they are thought to be; and quickly put off their very selves, as a disguise. This is agreeable to the language of Scripture elsewhere. Surely men of low degree are vanity, 1and men of high degree are a lye, &c.
- 12. 9.
