John Trapp on Hosea 14:9

Verſe 9. Who is wiſe and he ſhall underſtand theſe things,] A patheticall percloſe,Concluſio gnomica. Exclamatio emphatica. whereby the Prophet (Oratour-like) would leave a ſting in the hearts of his hearers, and ſo ſeal up, and fet on all that he had ſaid before. Who is wiſe,] q. d. I could wiſh there were more: but I ſee there are not many. Store there are of fools, Stultorum plena ſunt omnia, ſuch duſt-heaps there are in every corner to be found, not a few, that either know not the will of God, or ſtumble at it. But who hath known the mind of the Lord? Who amongst you will give ear to this? Who hath believed our report?1 Cor. 2.16. Eſay 42.23. Eſay 53.1. Jer. 9.12. Juven. ſat. 13. Jer. 8.9. Pſal. 119.98, 99. or to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Who is the wiſe man that may underſtand this? Lucernâ accenſa hominem quaerebat Aeſopus. Jeremy was bidden run to and fro to finde a man that ſought the truth, chap. 5.1. Rari quippe boni. Not many wiſe, wiſe I mean to ſalvation, 2 Tim. 3.15. that make ſure work for their ſouls, and draw their wiſdom from Gods holy word, from the Mine of the Myſtery of Chriſt. All others are fooliſh people, ſottiſh children: they have no underſtanding, be they never ſo ſhrewd and of deep reach for the world,Jer. 4.22. be they never ſo wiſe in their generation; the fox is ſo in his, and the devil in his,1 Cor. 9.24. for when he was but young, he out-witted our firſt Parents, who yet were no babies, ſimple and weak in underſtanding, as the Socinians affirm them to have been, or elſe they would not (ſay they) have ſo ſinned. A fond conceit, and without footing in Gods holy word; where we finde, that they were created in Gods image,Epheſ. 4. which conſiſteth in knowledge, righteouſneſſe and holineſſe, as ſaith the Apoſtle.

And he ſhall underſtand theſe things,] which none of the Princes of this world know, 2 Cor. 2.8. becauſe their learning hangs in their light; and like Moles, they dig dexterouſly under ground, but are blinde above ground. Sapiens eſt cui res ſapiunt prout ſunt, ſaith Bernard. He is the wiſe man that ſavoureth things as they are. And herein lieth the whole wiſdom of a man, ſaith Lactantius, ut Deum cognoſcat, & colat, Lib. 3. cap. 30. that he know and worſhip God aright, that with a practicall judgement, he ponder the word and wayes of God,Ariſt. Rbst. cap. 11. Metap. lib. 1. cap. 10. Ethic. l. 6. c. 7. & lib. 6. c. 5. Xenoph. de dict. & fact. Soc[illegible: 1 letter]at. in order to ſalvation. This is that wiſdom that dwelleth with prudence, Prov. 8.12. Ariſtotle in many places of his works, diſtinguiſheth between Wiſdom and Prudence. Wiſdom he maketh to be a right apprehending of truths in generall: Prudence, an applying them to particular caſes, and uſes. But Socrates ſaid, that there was no ſuch difference: ſith He that knoweth good things to do them, and evil things to avoid them, is to be held a wiſe man, and none elſe. They may ſeem here, to be put for one and the ſame: ſith the wiſe man is ſaid, not to know, but to underſtand, judge, and pouder, and the prudent to know: teaching us, that God calls for a prudent wildom, and a wiſe prudence, directing the ſoul to an orderly carriage, and an holy care, that godlineſſe, (which is the onely wiſdom) may run thorow our whole lives, as the woof doth thorow the web.

For the wayes of the Lord are right,] Underſtand it not ſo much of the wayes of Predeſtination, providence, &c. wherein God walks toward us (which yet are all right and equall) as of thoſe wayes of his Will, Word, and Worſhip, wherein he requireth us to walk towards Him. Theſe are called the way of God, Matth. 22.16. and the way of ſalvation, Acts 16.17. and the way of truth, 2 Pet. 2.2. and the right way, verſe 15. and the way of righteouſneſſe, verſe 21. Right theſe wayes are called, or ſtrait. Firſt, becauſe they are conform to the Will of a righteous God, which is the menſura menſurans, Non ſolum recta, ſed & regula. the firſt rule of right, the ſtandard. Secondly, becauſe the matter of it is holy, and juſt, and good, a doctrine of righteouſneſſe, that teacheth us to give God his due, and men theirs. It is alſo pat for every purpoſe, Pſal. 19 7, 8. Prov. 30.5. Of the Book of Pſalms, Athanaſius hath obſerved, that they are ſo penned, that every man may well think they ſpeak de ſe, in re ſua, of himſelf, and to his own particular neceſſities. Thirdly, becauſe it rectifieth us, and transformeth us into the ſame image: it maketh ſuch as deliver up themſelves thereunto, to walk as patterns of the rule, as a tranſcript of the word, that dwelleth richly in them, and worketh effectually, as a ſeed of immortallity. Fourthly,Pſal. 125.5. Jer. becauſe it carrieth us on in a ſtrait line unto a right end, without crooking, or compaſſing about, Pſal. 19.8. and 25.4. Has vias qui teru, non terit. Pray therefore as David did, Pſal. 13.29. leſt breaking out into by-wayes (all which are high-wayes to hell) or but ſtepping over the hedge, to avoid a piece of foul way, we bruſh and bruiſe our ſelves to get in again, break our bones with David, &c.

And the juſt ſhall walk in them:] Such as are juſt with a double righteouſneſſe, Imputed, and [illegible: 1 letter]mparted; that of Juſtification, and this of Sanctification: theſe will chooſe the way of truth, Pſal. 119.30. and 25.12. and be willing to walk honeſtly, Heb. 13.18. orderly and by rule, Gal. 5.25. accurately, [non-Latin text not transcribed] and to the utmoſt, Epheſ. 5.15. directly, and diſtinctly, eyeing the mark, and propounding to themſelves the higheſt pitch, and the beſt patterns: often comparing themſelves with the rule, laying their lives by the line, and reforming their outſtraies, Pſal. 119.59, 60. making it the main of their endeavour, that all their deeds may be wrought in God, Joh 3.21. Lo this is the juſt mans practiſe: and it is [illegible: 1 letter]er[illegible: 1 letter] [illegible: 1 letter]opounded for a preſident.

But the tranſgreſſours ſhall fall therein.] They periſh from the way, Pſal. 2.12. they ſtumble at the word and fall into perdition, as the Chaldee here hath it: and ſo ſhew themſelves to be tranſgreſſours, traytours, rebels, yea reprobates. See 1 Pet. 2.8. they ſtumble at the word, being aiſobedient, whereunto alſo they were appoiinted. O fearfull! A bridge is made (ſaith a Reverend Divine) to give us a ſafe paſſage over a river, but he who ſtumbleth on the bridge is in danger to fall into the river. The Word is given us as a means to carry us over hell to heaven: but he who ſtumbleth and quarrelleth at this means, ſhall fall in thither, from whence otherwiſe he had been delivered by it. Neither may we think the worſe of the Word for this accidentall effect of it upon tranſgreſſours; ſith the fault is meerly in themſelves: As when a lame man ſtumbleth in a plain path, the fault is not in the way, but in the foot. Blear eyes cannot abide the light; nor children endure honey, when they have ſore mouthes. The ſame Sun makes flowers ſmell ſweet, but carrions ſtink loathſomely. Moſes ſaved the Iſraelite, killed the Egyptian: and Abigail's voice, pacified David, but made Nabal's heart die within him as a ſtone. Oecumenius telleth us,Columbam vegetat, ſcarabaeum necat. De mirab. auſcul. that the fragrancy of precious ointments is wholeſome for Doves, but kills the Beetle. And Ariſtotle affirmeth, that oyl of roſes is deadly to Vultures, who hunt after onely dead mens carcaſſes. Chriſt himſelf, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, was ſet for the fall and riſing again of many in Iſrael, and for a ſigne to be ſpoken againſt, Luke 2.34. for a But-mark, againſt whom his enemies ſhould ſhoot the ſhafts of their gainſayings. To the Jews he became a ſtumbling-block, and unto the Gentiles fooliſhneſſe, 1 Cor. 1.23. Let them alone (ſaith He,Mat. 15.14. concerning the Phariſees, who were offended at his ſayings) Let them ſtumble, and fall, and be broken, and ſnared, and taken, Eſay 8.15. Chriſt in his Ordinances, is to reprobates a rock of offence, 2 Pet. 2.8. but ſuch a rock as that, Judg. 6.21. out of which goeth fire and conſumeth them. For if any love not the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, he is Anathema Maranatha, 1 Cor. 16.22. Behold they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wiſdom is in them? Jer. 8.9.

Linea ducta mihi eſt, gratia, Chriſte, tibi.