John Trapp on Job 33:29

Verſe 29. Lo all theſe things worketh God oftentimes] Heb. Twice, thrice, ſuch is his patience, that he tryeth all concluſions, as it were, and beateth long with mens evil manners: one while caſting them down, and making them believe he will pitch them into hell; and another while raiſing them up again, and reſtoring them, that if nothing will do he may pay them all at once for the new and the old, as he did ha[illegible: 1 letter], and Pharaoh, and Nineveh, becauſe they deſpiſed the riches of his goodneſs; and forbearance, and long-ſuffering, not knowing, or not weighing, that the goodneſs of God ſhould have led them to repentance. Rom. 2.4, 5. Wo be to him, that will not be warned at the firſt, ſecond or third time. See Am. 1.3. and 2.1. &c. with the Notes. R. Solomon would thence infer, That God pardoneth a man only thrice, and then if he take not warning, to hell he muſt: and this he thinketh to be Elihu's meaning [illegible: 1 letter]here. But this is to limit the Holy One of Iſrael, who [illegible: 2 letters]ltiplyeth pardo[illegible: 1 letter], as we multiply ſinne, Iſai. 55.7. and further addeth, for our comfort, verſ. 8. That his thoughts are not our thoughts, nor his wayes our wayes; but as the heavens are higher then the earth, &c. We are apt to meaſure God by our models, to caſt him into a diſhonourable [illegible: 2 letters]ould, and to think him like our ſelves in Mercy, Power, and other of his Attri [illegible: 2 letters]tes. Xen[illegible: 1 letter]phanes was wont to ſay, that if the creatures were put to paint the Creator, they would ſurely conceit him to be like themſelves, becauſe a creature cannot think of any thing higher then a creature. So deal[illegible: 1 letter] we for the moſt part with Almighty God. But he is God and not man: he is Jehovah that changeth not, neither is there any God like unto him for pardoning iniquity, not once but often, Micah 7.8 9. See the Note there. He who commandeth us to forgive an offending brother ſeventy times ſeven times in a day, if he ſay, It repenteth me; What will not himſelf do in ſuch a caſe?