X. 10. Timothy was of a crazy frame, weakly and

sickly, 1 Tim. v. 23. And there is a yet far more considerable crook in the lot of the lame, the blind, the deaf, and the dumb. Some are wesk to a de- gree in their intellectuals ; and it is the crook in the lot of several bright gouIs to be overcast with clouds, notably Demisted and darkened, from the erazy bodies they are lodged in ; an eminent in- stance whereof we have in the grave, wise, and patient Job, ^' going mourning without the sun ; *•' yea standing up and crying iathe congTegation," Job xxx. 28.
Secondly^ It may fall on the honorai'ij part. There is lui honour due to ail men, the small as AveU as the great, 1 Pet. ii. 17. And that upon the groimd of the original constitution of human na- ture, as It was framed in the image of God. But in the sovereign disposal of holy providence, the crook in the let of some falls here ; they are ne- glected and slighted \ their credit is still kept low ; ihey go through the Vrorld under a cloud, being put into an ill name, their reputation sunk. This jometinies is the native consequence of their own foolish and sinful conduct ; as, in the case of Di- nah, who, by gadding abroad to satisfy her youth- ful curiosity, regardless of, and therefore not wait- ing for a providential call, brought a lasting stain on her honour. Gen. xxxiv. But where the Lord intends a crook of this kind in one's lot, innocence v/ill not be able to ward it off in an ill-natured world \ neither will true merit be able to make C
26 The Creek in the Lol.
head against it, to make- one's lot stand straight in that part. Thus David represents his case, PRal. xxxi. 11, 12, 13. " They that did see me without, " fled from me : I am forgotten as a dead man out ^* of mind : I am like a broken vessel. Fpr I hava " heard the slander of many."
Tbird/y^ It may fall in tht vocational part. Whatever is man's calling or station in the world, be it sacred or civil, the crook in their lot may take its place therein. Isaiah was an eminent pro- phet, but most unsuccessful, Isa. liii. 1. Jeremiah met with such a strain of discouragements and ill usage, in the exercise of his sacred function, that he was well near giving it up, saying, " I v/ill not " make mention of him, nor speak any more in his " name," Jer. xx. 0. The Psalmist observes this crook oftan to be made in the lot of some men ve- ry indvistrious in their civil business, who .•■:cw tin fields — and at times, " God blesseth them— and " 3ufFereth not their cattle to decrease :" B'lt a- gain, " they are diminished and brought low *^ through oppression, affliction, and sorrow," Psalm cvii. 37, 38, 39. Such a crook was mude in Job's lot after he had long stood even. Some manage their employments jvith all care and dili- gence ; the husbandman carefully labouring his ground; the sbcep -master " diligent to know the *' state of his flocks, and looking well to his *' herds ;" the tradesman, early and late at his bu- siness: the merchant, diligently plying his w-atch- ing and falling in v/ith the most fair and promis- ing opportunities ; but there is such a crook in that part of their lot, as all they are able to do can by no means even. For why ? The most pro- per means used for compassing an end are insij^ nificant, without a word of divine appointrnti.t
The Crook in the Lo.U ^
commanding their success. " Who is he that *' saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord " commandeth it not?" Lam. iii. 37. People ply their business with skill and industry, but the wind turns in their face, Providence crosseth their en- terprises, disconcerts their measures, frustrates their hopes and expectations, renders their endea- vours unsuccessful, and so puts and keeps them still in straitning circumstances. " So the race is *' not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nei- " ther yet bread to the wise,*' Eccl. ix. 12. Pro- vidence interposing crooks and measures which human prudence and industry had laid straight to- wards the respective ends; so the swift lose the race, and the Strang the battle, and the wise miss of bread ; while, in the mean time, some one or other provideotiiil incident, supplying the defect of human wisdom, conduct, and ability, the slow gain the race, and carry the prize ; the weak win the battle, and enrich themselves with the spoil j and the bread falls into the lap of the fool.
Lastly^ It may fall in the relational part. Rela- tion« are the joints of society; and there the crook in the lot may take place, one's smartest pain be- ing often felt in these joints. They are in their nature the springs of man's comforts ; yet, they often turn the greatest bitterness to him. Some- times this crook is occasioned by the loss of rela- tions. Thus a crook was made in the let of Ja- cob, by means of the death of Rachel, his beloved wife, and the loss of Joseph, his son and darling, which had like to have made him go halting to the grave. Job laments this crook in his lot, chap. xvi. 7. " Thou hast made desolate all my compa- *' ny;" meaning his dear children, every one of %vhom he laid in the grave, not so much as one son or daughter left him. Again, sometimes it is
2S The Crook in the Lot-
made through the afflicting- hand of God lyirtg hea\y on them ; the which, in virtue of the rela- tion, recoils on the party, as is feelingly expressed by that believing woman, Mat. xv. 22. ** Have " mercy on me^ O Lord ; my daughter is griev- *^' ously vexed." Ephraim felt the smart of^^ course of afflictions, " when he called his son's '* name Beriah, because it went evil with his " house," 1 Chron. %^ii. 23. Since all is not only vanity, but vexation of spirit, it can hardly miss, but the more- of these springs of comfort are open- ed to a man, he must, at one time or other, find he has but the more sources of sorrow to gush out and spring in upon hiiTi ; the sorrow always pro- portioned to the comfort found in them, or expect- ed from them. And, finally, the ci-ook is some- times made by their proving incomfortable through the disagreeableness uf their temper, disposition, and way. There was a crook in Job's lot, by means of an undutiful, ill-natured wife. Job xix. 17. In Abigail's, by means of a surly, ill-tempered hus- band, 1 Sam. xxv. 25. In Eli's, through the per- verseness and obstinacy of hi« children, chap« ii. 25. In Jonathan's, through the furious temper ci his father, chap. xx. 30, 33. So do men often- times find tlieir greatest crosS, where they expect- ed their greatest comfort. Sin hath unhinged th? whole creation, and made every relation suscepti- ble of the crook. In the family arc found masters hard and unjust, servants froward and unfaithful ; in a neighbourhood, men selfish and uneasy ; in the church, ministers unedifying, and offensive in their walk, and people contemptuous and disorder ly, a burden to the spirits of ministers ; in the state, magistrates oppressive and discountenancers of that which is good, and subjects turbulent ann
Tlie Crook in the Lot. 29
sedi: pus j alLthese cause crooks ia the lot of their relatives. And thus far of the crook itself.