John Trapp on Job 3:23

Verſe 23. Why is light given to a man whoſe way is hid?] i.e. Why is the light of life continued to him who is in a maze or labyrinth of miſeries, whereof he can ſee no cauſe, and whereout he can deſcry no iſſue? no hope at all appeareth of ever either mending or ending. Therefore Vale lumen amicum, as he in Saint Hierome ſaid, ſweet light adieu; Quin morere ut merita es, as ſhee in the Poet, Be thine owne deathſ-man. Seneca counts it a mercy to a man in miſery, that he may by laying hands on himſelf, ſet out his life when he will; and this he calls valour and man-hood. But we have no ſo learned Chriſt, neither may we leave our ſtation till called for by our Captaine, but muſt ſtand to our arms, and as good Souldiers of Jeſus Chriſt, ſuffer hardſhip, 2 Tim. 2.4. His word to us is the ſame as the Kings was to his Sonne the Black-Prince, Speed. either vanquiſh or dye: and as ſhe in the ſtory ſaid to her ſon when ſhee gave him his Target, See that thou either bring this back with thee, or elſe be thou brought back dead upon it out of the battel. [non-Latin text not transcribed] It troubled Job that he could not ſee his way, and that God had hedged him in, viz. with a thorn-hedge of afflictions, Lam. 3.7, 9. Hoſ. 2.6. ſo that he could find no way out. But what if he could not, nor any man alive? yet the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, 2 Pet. 2.9. He hath his way in the whirlewind, and his judgements are a great deepe, Pſal. 36.6. Sometimes ſecret they are, but ever juſt. Surely it had beene more meete for Job to have ſaid unto God, That which I ſee not, teach thou mee, &c. yea,Job. 34.31. in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have I waited for thee; the deſire of my ſoul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee, Iſa. 26.8.