groaning, or roaring under afflictions. A man may sigh, and groan,
hearts should stoop low; when he hath the rod in his hand, he looks
that we should have tears in our eyes, as you may see by comparing
of these scriptures together, Ps. 55:2, 38:6, Job 30:26–32. Good men
weep easily, saith the Greek poet; and the better any are, are more
inclining to weeping, especially under affliction: as you may see in
David, whose tears, instead of gems, were the common ornaments of
his bed, Jonathan, Job, Ezra, Daniel, &c. How, saith one, shall God
wipe away my tears in heaven, if I shed none on earth? And how
shall I reap in joy, if I sow not in tears? I was born with tears, and I
shall die with tears; and why then should I live without them in this
valley of tears?
There is as well a time to weep, as there is a time to laugh; and a time
to mourn, as well as a time to dance, Eccles. 3:4. The mourning
garment among the Jews was the black garment, and the black
garment was the mourning garment: Ps. 43:2, 'Why go ye
mourning?' The Hebrew word Kedur signifies black. Why go ye in
black? Sometimes Christians must put off their gay ornaments, and
put on their black, their mourning garments, Exod. 33:3–6. But,
6. Sixthly, A gracious, a prudent silence doth not exclude sighing,
groaning, or roaring under afflictions. A man may sigh, and groan,
and roar under the hand of God, and yet be silent. It is not sighing,
but muttering; it is not groaning, but grumbling; it is not roaring, but
murmuring, that is opposite to a holy silence: Exod. 2:23, 'And the
children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage.' Job 3:24, 'For my
sighing cometh before I eat,' (or, as the Hebrew hath it) 'before my