Exposition of Ezekiel 6-13, Commentary on Ezechiel · Chapter 11 · Verse 19 · Textual commentary 12
Diſcoveries of this tenderneſſe.
1. Its affected with, and mournes for, that hardneſſe remaines in it, that it is not more tender and wrought upon by the mercies, Ordinances, judgements of God. David was ſenſible of his hardneſſe and deadneſſe, and therefore cryes oft to God for quickning, Pſal. 119.154. Quicken me according to thy word. 156. Quicken me according to thy judgements. 159. Quicken me according to thy loving kindneſſe.
2. It feeles the leaſt ſins and ryſings of corruptio…; as ſome bodies are ſo tender that they diſcerne any diſtempers ſtirre in them preſently, others are hardy and diſcerne little, till it come to ſome dangerous diſeaſe: Its not ſo here, a heart ſpiritually tender is ſenſible of the leaſt ſinne,Davids heart ſmote him for cutting off, &c. the leaſt moat in the eye, crumme in the windpipe, are troubleſome to them, and ſo the ryſing of corruption, the very being of ſin in the heart is troubleſome to a tender heart, Paul ſaw and felt the Law in his members warring againſt, &c.
3. It hearkens and yeilds to reproofes; Salt will not enter into a ſtone but into fleſh, ſeaſons it, and makes it ſavory: Reproofes are Salt, they enter into fleſhy and tender hearts, Prov. 17.10. A reproofe entereth more into a wiſe man, then an hundred ſtripes into a foole: Vatablus hath it, Deſcendit in cordatum increpatio, his heart is tender, and a reproofe preſently makes impreſſion, the doore opens and it goes in, whereas the heart of a foole will not be beat open with many ſtripes; Nec credit, nec cedit, but the tender hearted, wiſe, and godly, beleeve, and yeild; David, Pſal. 141.5. Let the righteous ſmite me, it ſhall be a kindneſſe, and let him reprove me, it ſhall be an excellent oyle: Reproofes ſoften tender hearts, harden ſtony ones, Proverbs 29.1.
4. It hath a lively ſenſe of Gods diſhonour, and the Saints wrong.
1. Of Gods diſhonour, Pſal. 119.136. Rivers of water run downe mine eyes, becauſe they keepe not thy Law: When David ſaw Gods worſhip corrupted, heard his name blaſphemed, beheld his Law openly violated, his tender heart bled with…n him, melted into teares, and wept abundantly, that the infinite, holy, glorious, great God ſhould be ſo diſhonoured by ſinfull duſt and aſhes: And Pſal. 69.9. The reproaches of them that reproached thee, are fallen upon me: David reproved men that reproached God by their lips and lives, and they reproached him for it: Lots righteous ſoule was vexed at the filthy, &c. 2 Pet. 2.7.
2. The Saints wrong, and Churches ſuffering, 2 Cor. 11.29. Who is offended, and I burne not? When any member of the Church ſuffered, Paul was afflicted, grieved, as a man burnt with fire, and the more tender the fleſh is, the greater is the paine; and ſo in the heart, the tenderer that is, the greater ſenſe and paine hath it of others ſufferings, eſpecially the Churches, read the 79. and 80. Pſalmes, and you ſhall ſee how greatly Aſaph was afflicted for the miſeries of the Church, the Saints ſuffered m…ch without, and he ſuffered much within; they were broken in their ſtates and comforts, and he was broken in his heart and ſpirit: ſo Jer. 9.1. O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountaine of teares, that I might weep day and night for the ſlaine of the daughter of my people, Acts 12.5. When Peter, &c. As Chriſt was tender of the Sain s, when perſecuted by Saul, Acts 9. So every member of Chriſt participating of his tenderneſſe, feeles in his degree the injuries done to the reſt.
5. It trembles at the word of God, Iſa. 66.2. Contrition of ſpirit, and trembling at the word doe goe together, there is ſuch Majeſtie, authoritie, holyneſſe, ſeveritie, and glory, in the word, that a tender heart trembleth at it, 2 Chron. 34.27. Joſiahs heart was tender, he trembled and humbled himſelfe before the Lord, when the Law was read before him: And thoſe in Ezra trembled at the words of the God of Iſrael; Chap. 9.4.
6. Its obedient unto the call and will of God, its Cor …equax & morem gerens domino, let the Lord call, it ſaith, here I am, what wilt thou have me to doe, whether ſhall I goe I am ready for it; Abraham had a tender heart, and when God cal'd for his Iſaac and bad him goe and offer him upon mount Moriah, Gen, 22. he had a tractable heart, he yeilded preſently, to the Lord, without any diſpute or delay, a tender heart is an obedientiall heart; J ſiah was tender he…rted, and he did the will of God moſt throughly of any of the Kings of Judah: none of them did reforme ſo as he did, 2 Chron, 35.18. David was a man of a tender ſpirit, and he fullfil…'d all the wills of God; Acts 13.22.
7. Its tender towards o he…s; a tender heart hath a tender tongue, and a tender hand; the man hath ſuch an heart ſpeaks evill of none, doth harme to none; ſuch an one is mercifull to his Beaſt, much more to men, he pities thoſe are in a periſhing way, and would pull them out of the fire; ahe Law of kindneſſe is in his lips, and actions of love are in his hands: Jobs heart was ſoft, Job 23.16. and you may finde what his words and actions were, Chap. 29, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16. When the eare heard me, then it bleſſed me; he ſpake ſuch comfortable words to them, gave them ſuch good counſell, that they bleſſed him for it, and his actions were delivering the poor and fatherleſſe, helping the blind and lame, and making the Widowes heart to rejoyce. Tenderneſſe of heart breeds tenderneſſe towards others: Its ſayd of Eſau, he was red all over, like a hairy Garment, Gen. 25.25. hee was red and rough, bloody and bitter, it were well there were no Sons of Eſau in our days, men bloody and bitter, ſeeking the ruine of plaine hearted Jacobs. If others by their rough ſpeeches, and dealings, doe ſhew the hardneſſe of their hearts; let us by the ſoftneſſe of our tongues, and bounty of our hands, ſhew the tenderneſſe of our heart…, Epheſ. 4.32. Be kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Chriſts ſake hath forgiven you.
8. It enterteines and reteines the motions, and truths of Gods ſpirit; a tender heart will not ſuffer the ſpirit to knock long at the doore,Bereans received tke word with all readineſſe, of minde. Acts 17.11. and then goe away grieved, but it opens quickly, and receives the meſſage: When the ſpirit came to Peter, Acts 10.19, 20. and bade him goe to Cornelius, and Preach Chriſt unto him, he went immediately: When the Goſpell was Preached to the Theſſalonians, in demonſtration of the ſpirit, its ſayd, They received it with joy of the holy Ghoſt: That joy of the holy Ghoſt, may as well referre to the holy Ghoſt it ſelfe, who rejoyced at their ſpeedy receiving the word and ſpirit in it, as to the Theſſalonians, who had joy wrought in them by receiving of the word, 2 Cor. 3.3. the Corinthians had fleſhy hearts, and they are cald the Epiſtle of Chriſt, and why? becauſe the ſpirit had writ the Goſpell in them with eaſe, Moſes had much adoe to write the Law in the Tables of ſtone, but the ſpirit did it eaſily in the fleſhy Tables of their hearts, thoſe truths are written in the heart, are held ſo faſt, that men will rather looſe their lives, then looſe them.
Obſer. 1.A Tender heart is a choice and great mercy; where this is the underſtanding is apprehenſive of Divine things; the Lord Chriſt who was without ſin, and ſo nothing but tenderneſſe was quick of underſtanding, Iſa. 11.3. and the more free from ſin our hearts are, the quicker our underſtandings will be, Mat. 13.15. Where there is a groſſe and hard heart, there is an un-underſtanding heart, an unperceiving heart, Mark 8.17. On the contrary where a tender heart is, there is the cleareſt underſtand…ng.
The will is plyable to the truth of the Goſpel, Rom. 6.1…. Yee have obeyed from the heart, that forme of Doctrine which was delivered you, and into which yee were delivered.
The conſcience is awake and will not indure the guilt of any ſin to lye upon it; Peter had ſin'd but he goes out and weepes bitterly.
The affections are lively and ſtir much towards God, David had a tender heart, and how ſtrongly did his affections ſtir after God, Pſal. 42.1.2. As the heart panteth after the water brooks, ſo panteth my ſoule after thee O God, my ſoule thirſteth for God, for the living God, when ſhall I come and appeare before God, Pſa. 63.8. My ſoule followeth hard after thee: and the zeale of thy houſe &c.
Its that the Lord intends to write his whol will in, Jer. 31.33. I will put my Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, firſt he will make them ſoft, and then write in the Law and Goſpell.
It receives diſcipline, correction, Jer. 5 3. Thou haſt ſtricken them, but they have refuſed to receive correction, they have made their faces harder, &c. An hard heart doth not receive correction, but a tender one doth
2. It is the gift of God, he gives this tender heart unto us: we can harden our hearts through ſining, but we cannot ſoften them, being once hardned, by any meanes we uſe: Tenderneſſe of heart is a ſpeciall grace, ſo i… oneneſſe of heart, newneſſe of ſpirit, and all theſe are from God, who is ſtiled, The God of all grace, 1 Pet. 5.10. There is not any grace but what is from God, he is the author of it: In this caſe of an heart of fleſh, he puts his hand into the heart and pulls out the ſtone, and puts in tenderneſſe. He that can turne ſtones into children, Mat. 3.9. is he that turnes ſtony hearts into fleſh and this he doth freely, there is no motive of his will, Phil. 2.13. His working is of his good pleaſure, James 1.18. Of his owne will begat he us. Not the pleaſure of man, or his will, appeares in this worke, God conſults not with man about it, but doth the work himſelf, I will take away the ſtone, &c. It is excluſive, and ſhuts out all:Iſa. 44.3. I will poure floods upon dry ground. hence thoſe ſweet promiſes, Iſa. 41.18. I will open Rivers in high places, and Fountaines in the mid'dſt of the Valeys; I will make the Wild…rneſſe a poole of water, and the dry Land ſprings of water, I will plant in the winderneſſe the Cedar, the ſhittah trees the mertle and the oyle tree, I will ſet in the deſart the firre tree, the pine and the boxe tree together, that they may ſee, know, conſider, underſtand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this: and the holy one of Iſrael hath created it.
God ſoftens the heart by dropping his word upon it, Deut. 32.2. My doctrine ſhall drop at the raine, &c. By the blood of Chriſt, by revealing his free grace, &c.