John Trapp on Haggai 1:6

Verſe 6. Ye have ſown much and bring in little] This was viſible to them: and they are called upon to conſider it. The Philoſopher affimes that man is therefore the wiſeſt of creatures, becauſe he alone can compute and conſider. And yet how little doth man reſpect this priviledge, without which he were to be ſorted with beaſts, or mad men? God harkened and heard, but no man ſpake adviſedly, no man repented of his wickedneſſe ſaying, what have I done? Jer. 8.6. no man humbled himſelf under the mighty hand of God, though god thruſt him down, as it were, with a thump upon the back. Moſt mens minds are as ill ſet as their eyes are; neither of them look inwards. Lord, ſaith the Prophet, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not ſee, but they ſhall ſee &c. Eſay 26.11. So, when Gods rods call for reformation, they will not heare it and who hath appointed it, but they ſhall heare Iob 33.15. Conſcience, their domeſticall Chaplaine, ſhall ring this peale in their cares, Conſider your wayes: Ye have ſowed much but brought in little &c. Omnia fuiſtis & nihil profuit, you have tried all wayes to live, and 'twill not be, laboured all night, and taken nuthing, laboured in the very fire, and wearied your ſelves for very vanity Hab. 2.13. as thoſe that ſeek after the Philoſophers ſtone, the moſt they can look for is their labour for their paines. Either vanity or violence hath exhauſted you, as Zach. 8.10. and Gods vengeance is viſible enough in thoſe ſecret iſſues and draines of expence at which your eſtates run out, becauſe he puts not his holy finger on the hole in the bottome of the bag. For it is his bleſſing alone that maketh rich Prov. 10 23. and except he build the houſe, they labour in vaine that build it Pſal. 127.1. There is a curſe upon unlawfull practiſes, though men be never ſo induſtrious, as in Iehojachim. Ier. 22. And all their policies without dependance upon him for direction and ſucceſſe, are but Arena ſine calce ſand without lime; they will not hold together, when we have moſt need of them, but fall alunder, like untempered morter. Hence the Pſalmiſt aſſureth us, that Promotion comes neither from the Eaſt, Pſal. 75.6. nor from the Weſt, nor yet from the South where the warme ſunſhine is, but from the Lord: he putteth down one, and ſetteth up another. So Hannah, The Lord, ſaith ſhe, maketh po[illegible: 1 letter]r, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up 1 Sam. 2.7. And albeit no man knowes either love or hatred by all that is before them, becauſe all things come alike to all Eccleſ. 9.1, 2. (God maketh a ſcatter as it were, of theſe outward commodities: good men gather them, bad men ſcramble for them) yet if he blow upon a mans eſtate, and by loſſes and croſſes ſo beat him down with his own bare hand (as here in the text) that either he hath not to eat, or dare not cat his fill, for feare of wanting another day, or if he do cat, yet the ſtaff of bread being broken, and for want of Gods concurrence, he eats and is not ſatisfied &c. he hath but priſoners pittance, which will neither keep him alive, nor yet ſuffor him to dye, he is to be very ſenſible of it, to conſider his wayes, and looking upon his penury (as a peece of the curſe for neglect of Gods ſervice Levit. 26.14. &c.) to deprecate that laſt and worſt of miſeries, the judgement of pining away in their iniquities Verſe 39. This is worſe then any ſcarcity, then any bulimy or doggiſh appetite, a diſeaſe common in times of famine. The righteous cateth to the ſatisfying of his ſoule: but the belly of the wicked ſhall want Prov. 14.25. As his belly prepareth deceit Iob 15.35. ſo it ſuffers deceit; mpoſturam faciunt & patiuntur, as the Emperour ſaid of them, that ſold glaſſe for pearles. Fumos vendidi[illegible: 1 letter], fumo pereat, as Another. Ye looked for much and loe it came to little, as it followeth verſe 9. and why? but becauſe they thought every little too much for God, and all well ſaved that was kept from him, Mal. 3.9, 10, 11. See the Notes there. The Popiſh Commentators upon this text call upon the people, (if ever they meane to thrive) to keep holydayes; to heare Maſſes &c. yea ſome Prieſts in Gerſons time publiquely preached to the people,Non crit caecus, nec ſubito morietur, nec carebit ſufficienti ſuſtentatione. that whoſoever would hear a Maſſe, he ſhould not fall blind on that day, nor be taken away by ſuddain death, nor want ſufficient ſuſtenance &c. This was more then they had good warrant to promiſe; and yet they are beleeved. Shall not we learn to live by faith, to truſt in the Lord and doe good? ſo ſhalt thou dwelt in the land, and verily thou ſhalt be fed, Pſal. 37.3. The wicked in the fulneſſe of their ſufficiency are in ſtraits. Jeb. 20.22. Contrarily, the godly, in the fulneſſe of their ſtraits are in a ſufficiency: and this is the gain of godlineſſe. 1 Tim. 6.6. Piety is never without a well-contenting ſufficiency, it hath treaſure that ſaileth not, bags that wax not old, Luke 12.33. And ſhall have hereafter riches without ruſt, wealth without want, ſtore without ſore, beauty without blemiſh, mirth without mixture &c.