John Trapp on Hosea 6:4

Verſe 4. O Ephraim, what ſhall I do unto thee, &c?] See how ſoon the Prophet changeth his note. Hitherto he had ſet forth their repentance, in ſenſe of mercy: now all on the ſudden, he upbraideth and threatneth them for their incorrigibleneſſe, and inconſtancy. Miniſters muſt turn themſelves, as it were, into all ſhapes and faſhions, both of ſpeech and ſpirit, to win people to God. Aarons bels muſt be wiſely rung, ſaith One. Sometimes the Treble of Mercy ſounds well.M. Neh. Rog. At other times the Tenour of Judgement, or Counter-tenour of reproof ſounds better: and it oft falls out that the Mean of Exhortation ſoundeth beſt of all. It is his wiſdom to obſerve circumſtances, and know how to curſe as well as bleſſe, chide as well as comfort, and ſpeak warre to a rebell, as well as peace to a friend. And herein indeed lieth the wiſdom and faithfulneſſe of a Teacher. Then, and onely then ſhall he prove himſelf ſincere, and unpartiall, when he holds this courſe. What ſhall I do unto unto thee? It is, as if God ſhould ſay, I have done mine utmoſt, as Eſay 5.5. Mich. 5.3. and now am at a ſtand, and can ſcarce tell what to do more. See the like expoſtulatory complaints, Ier. 2.30, 31. & Chap. 5.3. Amos 4.6. Eſay 26.10. Matth. 11.16, 17, 18. & 23.37. I would, but thou wouldeſt not. As the loving hen is alwayes caring for her chickens, and calling them about her, that ſhe may gather and guard them from the miſchief of all vermin: but they will needs be ſtragling, and ſo periſh. So if Gods people will not hearken to his voice, if Iſrael will none of him: what can he do leſſe then give them up to their own hearts luſts, Pſal. 81.12. yea give them up to the devil, to be further hardened to their juſt deſtruction, ſaying, That which will die, let is die? All that God can do is, as here, to mourn for their obſtinacy, and fool-hardineſſe in rejecting his grace, as he wept over Jeruſalem, Luke 19.42. We ſhould alſo do the like,Eſay 24.16. Jer. 4.19. Rom 9.2. Acts 2.40. crying out with Eſay, My leanneſſe, my leanneſſe! and with Jeremy, My bowels, my bowels! and with Paul, I have great heavineſſe and continuall ſorrow in my heart, for my perverſe Countrey-men. Peter calleth them, an untoward generation: ſuch crooked pieces that there was no working upon them. A cunning Carver can cut the ſimilitude of any creature, yet not on a crooked or rotten ſtick. Where lieth the fault? ſurely in the crookedneſſe of the ſtick, and not in the Carvers cunning: ſo is it here. When men wreſtle with God, as Deut. 32.5. ſhift him off, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. as the Apoſtles word ſignifieth, Heb. 12.25. take up the bucklers againſt the ſword of his Spirit, leſt it ſhould prick them at heart, as Acts 2.37. and let out the life-blood of their luſts, that they might live; what can the Lord do in this caſe, more then pity their unhappineſſe, and puniſh them for their ſtubbornneſſe, as the Judge pitieth a malefactour, as he is a man, but yet condemneth him as a thief or murtherer? Tell me not here, that God could have done more for Ephraim and Iudah then the did;Matt. 8.2. and they might have ſaid in anſwer to Gods queſtion here, as that Leper in the Goſpel did. Why? Lord if thou wilt thou canſt make me clean. Hence it is, God by his abſolute power can make iron ſwim, rocks ſtream forth water, ſtones to yeeld children to Abraham: he can do whatſoever he pleaſeth; ſave without means, &c. But it is his actuall power that man muſt look to. And ſo he (having tied the end and the means together) cannot (ſay Divines) becauſe hee will not, bring men to the end, without their uſing thoſe means which tend unto the end: for that is the ordinary courſe which he hath decreed to uſe, and which he will not alter, but upon ſpeciall occaſion, as our Saviour noteth in the cure of Naaman, and in the feeding of the widow of Sarepta, Luke 4.26.27.

for your goodneſſe is as the morning cloud, &c.] This people hearing God ſay, What ſhall I do unto you? might poſſibly reply; why? what ſhould you do, but rain down righteouſneſſe upon us, and load us with loving-kindneſſes? for we are good all over, we have returned and done right in thy ſight, as it is ſaid of thoſe hypocrites, Ier. 34.15, 16. and as Peter ſaith of ſome Apoſtates in his time, that they were clean eſcaped from them who live in errour: and (for matter of practiſe) they had alſo eſcaped the pollutions of the world; knew the way of [illegible: 1 letter]ighteouſneſſe, and ſeemed very forward in it; were as the fore-horſes in a Teem, [illegible: 1 letter]ing-leaders of good exerciſes, &c. who yet afterwards fell off to the world, tur[illegible: 1 letter] [illegible: 1 word] from the holy commandements, and returned with the dog, to their vomit, and with the waſhed ſow to her wallowing again in the mire. And this is that which the Lord here upbraideth this people with, (and ſo ſtops their mouthes) viz. that their goodneſſe, or mercifulneſſe, their piety toward God, and charity toward men, [illegible: 1 letter]as nothing elſe but a morning-cloud, Jude ver. 12. a waterleſſe cloud, as Jude hath it, a meer flaunt, or flaſh, an out-ſide onely, an empty ſound, a vain pretence; It was alſo as the morningdew, which is ſoon dried up by the Sun-beams: In a word, they were both falſe and fickle, unſteady and unſtable, conſtant onely in their inconſtancy. Hence this patheticall complaint of them; God knew not where to have them, and therefore not what to do with them. Theſe were never right with God, becauſe not ſtedfaſt in his covenant, Pſal. 78.36, 37. they are unſtable as water, therefore they ſhall not excell, Gen. 49.4. they never were a willing people in the day of Chriſts power, Pſal. 110 3. his power was never put forth upon them, to ſubdue their wils to Gods will. They never yet attained to that ſpirit of power, of love, and of a ſound minde, 2 Tim. 1.7. Inconſtancy comes from weakneſſe. The ſtrength of Iſrael repenteth not, 1 Sam. 15.29.