John Trapp on Jeremiah 1:6-8

Ver. 6. Then ſaid I, Ah Lord God] Verbum anguſtiae: The old Latin hath it A, A, A, whereby is noted (ſay ſome) a threefold defect ſc. of age, of knowledge, and of eloquence: but that's more ſubtil then ſolid. True worth is ever modeſt: and the more fit any man is for whatſoever vocation, the leſs he thinketh himſelf: forwardneſſe argueth inſufficiency.

Behold I cannot ſpeak] Heb. I know not to ſpeak, i. e. a right, and as I ought. Tanto negotio tam inſtructum oratorem me non agnoſco. Jeremy was an excellent Speaker, as well appeareth by theſe enſuing Homilies of his, which ſhew that he was ſuaviter gravis, & graviter ſuavis (as One ſaith of Baſil) a grave and ſweet Preacher; one that could deliver his mind fitly, and durſt do it freely. Hence ſome of the Jews judged our Saviour to have been Jeremiah propter dicendi agendique gravitatem & Parrheſian, for his gravity and freedom of ſpeech. Nevertheleſſe Jeremy, in his own opinion, cannot ſpeak: that is, was no way fit to ſpeak. So Moſes is at it with his Who am I? Exod. 3. when as none in all Egypt was comparably fit for ſuch an Embaſſage. It was an uſual ſaying of Luther, Etſi jam ſenex, & in concionando exercitus ſum, &c. Although I am now an old man, and an experienced Preacher, yet I tremble as oft as I go up into the pulpit.

For I am a child] Epiphanius ſaith, that Jeremy was not now above fourteen or fifteen when he began to Prophecy. Samuel alſo and Daniel began very young. So did Timothy, Origen, Cornelius Mus a famous Preacher, ſay his fellow Jeſuites, at eleven years of age. Arch Biſhop Ʋſher was converted at ten years old,His life and death by D. Bern. preached betime, and ſo continued to do for ſixty years or near upon. Mr. Beza was likewiſe converted at ſixteen years old (for the which, as for a ſpecial mercy, he giveth God thanks in his laſt Will and Teſtament) and lived a Preacher in Geneva to a very great age.

God loveth not Quaeriſts, but Curriſts, did Luther. Ver. 7. Say not I am a child] Plead no excuſes, caſt no perils; never diſpute but diſpatch; never reaſon but run, depending for direction and ſucceſs upon God alone, in whom are all our freſh ſprings, and from whom is all our ſufficiency, &c. Paul was a moſt unlikely peice of wood to make what he was afterwards called, a Mercury, Act. 14.11. yet God made uſe of him, Act. 9.13, 14.

For thou ſhalt go to all that I ſhall ſend thee] Whether Kings or Captives, Lords or Loſels. He preached before Jehoiachim, concerning the office of a King: and threatened him with the burial of an aſſe, chap. 22. and 36. he dealt plainly with the Princes who beat him, and with the Prieſts who ſtockt him, with all ſorts to his great coſt: he was of an heroical and unexpugnable ſpirit: ſo are not many in theſe times, Verbi Dei truncatores & emaſculatores, men-pleaſing Preachers.

Act. & Mon.Ver. 8. Be not afraid of their faces] Look they never ſo big, as did Henery 8. upon Latimer, and upon Lambert, who yet told him his own: as did Stephen Gardiner upon Dr. Taylour Martyr, but had as good as he brought. The majeſty of a man, as alſo his wrath ſheweth itſelf in his countenance: and young men eſpecially are apt to be baffled and daſht with fierce looks.

For I am with thee, to deliver thee] On one ſort or another: thy crown (be ſure) no man ſhall take from thee; thy perpetual triumph thou ſhalt not loſe.