John Trapp on Haggai 1:9

Verſe 9. Ye looked for much, and loe it came to little] Spes in oculis, luctus in manibus, as Hierome here. The hope of unjuſt men periſheth Prov. 11.7. etiam ſpes valentiſſima his likelyeſt hope, as ſome render it: he thinks himſelf ſure, as Eſau did of the bleſſing, but he only thinks ſo: God cuts off the meate from his mouth Ioel 1.16. takes away his corn in the time thereof Hoſ. 2.9. confutes him in his confidences, which prove like the brookes of Tema. Iob. 6.17. and ſerve him, as Abſaloms mule did her maſter: his high hopes hop beadleſſe, as One phraſeeh it. It falleth out with him as with thoſe perverſe Iſraelites in the wilderneſſe made to tack about two and forty times, after that they thought themſelves ſure of the promiſed land.

I did blow upon it] i. e. I diſperſed it with caſe. By a like phraſe (for ſenſe) God is ſaid Eſa. 25.11. to ſpread forth his hands in the middeſt of his enemies, as he that ſwimmeth ſpreadeth forth his hands to ſwim: and to bring down their pride, together with the ſpoiles of their hands, with greateſt facility. The motion in ſwimming is eaſy, not ſtrong: for ſtrong violent ſtrokes in the water would rather ſink then ſupport. In like ſort God blaſted their treaſure, or blew their hoards hither and thither, he conſumed their ſubſtance and curſed their bleſſings, as Mal. 2.2. See the Note there.

why ſaith the Lord of hoſts? becauſe of mine houſe that is waſt &c.] Their ſin of preferring their own private intereſts and ſelf-reſpects before Gods work and ſervice is here repeated, and exaggerated, as the ground and cauſe of all their calamities: And all little enough to bring them to a ſound and ſerious ſight and hatred of their ſins. Such a deep kind of drowſineſſe hath ſurprized us, for moſt part, that whereas every judgement of God ſhould be a warning-peale to repent, we be like the ſmiths dog, who the harder the anvile is beaten on, lyeth by and ſlecpeth the ſounder: Or like the ſilly hen, which loſeth her chickens, one by one by the devouring kite, and yet as altogether inſenſible of her loſſe, continues to pick up what lieth before her. This is to ſwelter and pine away in iniquity, as if nothing could awaken men Lev. 26.39. and it is threatened laſt of all, as worſe then all their loſſes, captivities &c. A lethargy is no leſſe deadly then the moſt tormenting diſeaſe. Let miniſters therefore, by ſuch forcible and quick queſtions as this in the Text, and otherwiſe, arrouſe their hearers (as they once did here their deare friends in the ſweating ſickneſſe, who, if ſuffered to ſleep, dyed certainely) that they may awake, and recover themſelves out of the ſnare of the devill &c. It is well obſerved by One, that the devils particula[illegible: 1 letter] ſin is not once mentioned in Geneſis, becauſe he was not to be reſtored by repentance: But the ſin of Man is enlarged in all the circumſtances. And why this? but that he might be ſenſible, aſhamed, and penitent for his ſin. They ſay in philoſophy, that the foundation of naturall life is feeling; no feeling, no life. And that the more quick and nimble the ſenſe of feeling is in a man, the better is his conſtitution. Think the ſame of life ſpirituall, and of that hidden man of the heart, as St. Peter calles him.

and ye run every man unto his own houſe] Or, ye take pleaſure every man in his own houſe. q. d. Ye are all ſelf-ſeekers, private-ſpirited perſons, ye are all for your own intereſts: like the ſnaile that ſeldome ſtirrs abroad, and never, without his houſe upon his back: or like the Eagle, which when he flies higheſt, hath ſtill an eye downward to the prey, that he minds to ſeize. In parabola ovis capras ſuas querunt. Rom. 16. They ſerve not the Lord Jeſus Chriſt but their own bellyes: or if they ſerve Chriſt, it is for gaine, as Children will not ſay their prayers, unleſſe we promiſe them their breakfaſts. In ſerving him, they do but ſerve themſelves upon him; as thoſe carnall Capernaites did Ioh. 6. Well might the Apoſtle complaine as Philip. 2.21. And Another ſince, that it is his Pleaſures. his Profit, and his Preſerment, that is the naturall mans Trinity: and his carnall ſelf that is theſe in Unity. May he be but warm in his own ſeathers, he little regards the dangers of the houſe. He is totus in ſe, wholy drawn up into himſelf, and inſenſible of either the publike good, or common danger: though the water-pot and ſpeare be taken from the bolſter, yet he ſtirrs not. Farr enough from St. Pauls frame of ſpirit or ſpeech, Who is offended, and I burn not? farr enough from his care and cumber, anxiety and ſolicitude for the houſe of God, and proſperity of his people 2 Cor. 11.28. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Nothing like they are to Ambroſe, who was more troubled for the ſtate of the Church, then for his own dangers? Nothing like Melanethon, of whom it is ſaid, that the ruines of Gods houſe, and the miſeries of his people made him almoſt neglect the death of his moſt beloved children. True goodneſſe is publike-ſpirited though to private diſadvantage: as Nature will venture its own particular good for the generall, ſo will grace much more. Heavy things will aſcend to keep out vacuity, and preſerve the Univerſe. A ſtone will fall down to come to its own place, though it break it ſelf in twenty pieces. It is the ingenuity of ſaints, in all their deſires and deſignes to ſtudy Gods ends more then their own: to build Gods houſe with neglect of their own, as Solomon did: to drown all ſelf-reſpects in his glory, and the publike good, as Nehemiah did: of whom it might be more truely ſaid, then the Heathen Hiſtorian did of Cato, Di[illegible: 1 letter]. Lucan. that he did [non-Latin text not transcribed], over-love the Common-wealth, and that he did — toti genitum ſe credere mundo, beleeve himſelf born for the benefit of man-kind.