Having discovered their carnal presumption, he now
disproveth it by two arguments: -
(1.) The casualties of the next day;
(2.) The uncertainty of their own lives. Both which give a notable check to
such fond confidence.
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.
- As if he had said, You talk of a long time, and you know not what shall
happen the next day. Every day bringeth new providences and events with it. But
you will say, Is it simply unlawful to provide for the morrow, or for time to
come? I answer - No; Solomon biddeth us learn of the ant, Prov. vi. 6-8,
'Consider her ways, and be wise; she provideth her meat in summer, and
gathereth her food in harvest;' so Prov. xxx. 25. It is but a wise foresight to
secure ourselves against visible inconveniences. Joseph is commended for laying
up food in the cities against the years of famine, Gen. xli. 35. And it was the
practice of the apostles to lay up in store for the brethren at Jerusalem
against the famine foretold by Agabus, Acts xi. 29. Only remember this must be
done with caution; such provision must not arise from distrust, or a thought
prejudicial to the care of providence, Mat. vi. 30. It must not hinder us from
the great care of our lives, provision for heaven, Mat vi. 35. It must be with
submission to God. God may soon disappoint all; and after we have caught in
hunting, we may not roast
For what is your life? It is even a vapour. -
Brevity of life is set forth by many comparisons in scripture: by the flower of
the field, Isa. xl. 6, 7; by the wind, Job vii. 7; a leaf before the wind, Job
xiii. 25; by a shadow, Job xiv. 2. There is a heap of similitudes, Job ix. 25,
'Now my days are swifter than a post; they flee away, and see no good; they
pass away as swift ships; as the eagle hasteth to the prey.' The word useth the
more similitudes, that by every fleeting and decaying object we might be
remembered of our own mortality; as also to check those proud desires which are
in man of an eternal abode and lasting happiness in this life. In that place of
Job there is a monument of man's frailty set forth in all the elements: go to
the land, and there is a post; go to the sea, and there is a swift ship; look
to the air, and there is an eagle. The heathen poets are much in deciphering
the frail estate of man. Aeschylus saith, man's life is kapnou skia, the shadow
of smoke; and Pindarus, skias onar, the dream of a shadow. The similitude used
here is that of a vapour. It were to trifle to show the resemblance in other
things; it is brought only to show the swift passage of it, and because man's
life is but a little warm breath tunned in and out by the nostrils; a narrow
passage, and soon stopped, Isa. ii. 22.
Observe out of the whole verse
two points:-
Obs. 1. That we have no assurance of our lives and comforts,
and the events of the next day. It is a common argument; heathens are much in
it. Well, then, let every day's care be enough for itself, and live every day
as the last day. Petrarch telleth of one who, being invited to dinner the next
day, answered, Ego a multis annis crastinum non habui - I have not had a morrow
for these many years. And Ludovicus Capellus telleth us of one Rabbi Eleazer,
that advised men to repent but one day before their death, that is, presently;
it may be the next before the last. It is a sad thing to promise ourselves many
years, and to have our souls taken away that night; to measure out our time and
years by our carnal projects, and of a sudden we and all our 'white thoughts
perish,' Ps. cxlvi. 4. Godly men wait for their change; upon others it cometh
unexpected. It is observable, that of bad men it is said their souls are not
resigned, but 'taken away,' Job xxvii. 8, 'What hope hath the hypocrite, when
God shall take away his soul?' So Luke xii. 20, 'This night shall they take
away thy soul.' Wicked men would dwell longer in the body; their carnal
projects are never at an end, but of a sudden God cometh and snatcheth away
their souls.
Obs. 2. Man's life is very short; it is a vapour that soon
appeareth and disappeareth, dispersed as soon as raised: Ps. xxxix., 'Surely
every man walketh in a vain show.' Though they toss to and fro, yet the whole
course of their lives is but as a flying shadow; a little spot of time between
two eternities. Austin doubteth whether to call it a dying life or a living
death. (1.) This checketh those that pass away their time rather than redeem
it; prodigal of their precious time, as if they had too much of it. Our season
is short, and we make it shorter. It is time for all of us to say, 'The time
past is more than enough to have wrought the wills of the flesh,' 1 Peter iv.
3, or as it is, Rom. xiii. 13, 'It is high time to awake out of sleep,'
&c., which was the scripture that converted Austin. (2.) If life be short,
then moderate your worldly cares and projects; do not cumber yourselves with
too much provision for a short voyage. The ship goes the swifter the less it is
burdened; men take in too much lading for a mere passage. (3.) Be more in
spiritual projects, that you may lay up a foundation for a longer life than you
have to live here; do much work in a little time. Shall we lose any part of
that which is so short? or in a short life make way for a long misery? The
apostle saith, 2 Peter i. 13, 'I will put you in remembrance, knowing that
shortly I must put off this tabernacle.' We are all shortly to divest ourselves
of the upper garment of the flesh; let us do all the good that we can. Christ
lived but thirty-two years, or thereabouts; therefore he 'went about doing
good, and healing every sickness, and every disease.' Ministers pack their
matter close when they have but a little time; so should you; you have but a
short time, be the more diligent.
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