John Trapp on Proverbs 16:3-4

Verſ. 3. Commit thy works unto the Lord] Depend upon him alone for direction and ſucceſs; this is the readieſt way to an holy ſecurity and ſound ſettlement. Hang not in doubtful ſuſpenſe, as Meteors do in the ayr, Luke 12.29. Neither make diſcourſes in the ayr (ſo one renders it) as thoſe uſe to do, whoſe hearts are haunted with carking cares. Let not your thoughts bee diſtracted about theſe things. So the Syriack hath it. But caſt your burden upon the Lord, Pſal. 55.22. by a Writ of remove, as it were. Yea caſt all your care upon God, for hee careth for you, 1 Pet. 5.7. I will bee Careleſs according to my name, ſaid John Careleſs Martyr. Commit the matter to God, and hee will effect it, Pſal. 37.5.

And thy thoughts ſhall bee eſtabliſhed] Never is the heart at reſt till it repoſe upon God; till then it flickers up and down, as Noahs Dove did upon the face of the Flood, and found no footing, till ſhee returned to the Ark. This is certain (ſaith a Revered Divine,Mr. Caſe. yet living) ſo far as a ſoul can ſtay on, and truſt in God, ſo far it injoyes a ſweet ſettlement and tranquillity of ſpirit; Perfect truſt is bleſſed with a perfect peace: A famous inſtance for this we have in our Saviour, Now is my ſoul troubled, and what ſhall I ſay? Father ſave me from this hour; but for this cauſe came I to this hour, Father glorifie thy name, Joh. 12.27, 28. All the while the eye of his humanity was fixed upon deliverance from the hour of temptation, there was no peace nor reſt in his ſoul; becauſe there hee found not onely incertainty, but impoſſibility; For this cauſe came I to this hour. But when hee could come to this, Father glorifie thy name, when hee could wait on, acquieſce in, and reſign to the will of his Father; wee never hear of any more objection, fear, or trouble. Thus hee.

Plato finem bujus mandi bonitatem Dei eſſe affirmavis.Verſ. 4. The Lord hath made all things for himſelf] that is, for his own glory, which hee ſeeks in all his works; and well hee may; for firſt, hee hath none higher than himſelf, to whom to have reſpect: And ſecondly, hee is not in danger (as wee ſhould bee in like caſe) of being puffed up or deſirous of vain-glory. Or thus, Hee hath made all things for himſelf, that is, for the demonſtration of his goodneſs,De Doctr. Chriſtiana. according to that of Auguſtine, Quiabonus eſt Deus ſumus; & in quantum ſumus, boni ſumus. Wee owe both our being and well-being, and the glory of all to God alone, Rom. 1[illegible: 1 letter]. ult.

Bern. The wicked alſo for the day of evil] i. e. of deſtruction. Hereof Dei voluntas eſt ratio rationum; nec tantum recta ſed regula. Howbeit, whereas Divines make two parts of the decree of Reprobation, viz. Preterition and Predamnation; All agree for the latter (ſaith a learned Interpreter) that God did never determine to damn any man for his own pleaſure, but the cauſe of his Perdition was his own ſin. And there is a reaſon for it. For God may (to ſhew his Sovereignty) annihilate his creature, but to appoint a reaſonable creature to an eſtate of endleſs pain, without reſpect of his deſert, cannot agree to the unſpotted juſti[illegible: 1 letter]e of God. And for the other part of paſſing over, and forſaking a great part of men for the glory of his Juſtice, the exacteſt Divines do not attribute that to the meer will of God, but hold, that God did firſt look upon thoſe men as ſinners, at leaſt in the general corruption brought in by the Fall; For all men have ſinned by Adam, and are guilty of high Treaſon againſt God.