Job 21

REFLECTIONS UPON CHAP. XXI.—Those who are once engaged in hot disputes often lose their way, through want of attention to their opponents. But what a mercy it is that saints have a gracious God to complain to when their friends refuse to hear what they say, or to regard their distress! And, though the present dispensations of providence sometimes stagger the faith and hope of the best of men, the last judgment will make all clear and plain. What a certain fact, and often a sad stumbling-block to the godly, is the prosperity of wicked men! It often hardens them in presumptuous impiety, to their own destruction. But it will never reconcile a tender saint to their manner of life. It entails upon themselves and families at last the greatest misery. And, however different their lot on earth, or the manner of their death, or pompous their burial, everlasting punishment in hell shall be their final portion. Let therefore their heart, their counsel, their practice, be far from me. And, while I adore the high sovereignty of God in his providence, let me never comfort myself with vain words! Where there is no truth there can be no solid comfort