And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Ver. 5. And ye have forgot the exhortation] Or, have ye forgot the consolation? a Are the consolations of God small unto you? Job 15:11. Do ye, instead of wrestling with God, wrangle with him, refusing to be comforted (as Rachel), out of the pettishness of your spirits, as he, Psa 77:2 ? Will ye not, as children, eat your milk, because you have it not in the golden dish? Will ye be like the hedgehog, of which Pliny reporteth, that being laden with nuts and fruits, if the least filbert fall off, will fling down all the rest in a pettish humour, and beat the ground with her bristles.
Despise not thou the chastening] See my Love Tokens, p. 37. Count it not a light matter, a common occurrence, such as must be borne by head and shoulders, and when things are at worst, they will mend again. This is not patience but pertinacy, strength but stupidity, "the strength of stone, and flesh of brass," Job 6:12. When Gallienus the emperor had lost the kingdom of Egypt, What? said he, Sine lino Egyptio esse non possumus? cannot we be without the hemp of Egypt? but shortly after he was slain with the sword. When the Turks had taken two castles in Chersonesus, and so first got footing in Europe, the proud Greeks said that there was but a hog's sty lost, alluding to the name of the castle. But that foolish laughter was turned within a while into most bitter tears. When Calais was lost under Queen Mary, those of the faction strove to allay the Queen's grief, saying that it was only a refuge for runaway heretics, and that no Roman Catholic ought to deplore, but rather rejoice, at the damage:
At regina gravi iamdudum saucia cura,
Vulnus alit venis-
Nor faint when thou art rebuked] If we faint in the day of adversity, our strength is small, saith Solomon, Proverbs 24:10; and it is, Non quia dura, sed quia molles patimur, saith Seneca; not for that we suffer hard things, but because we are too soft that suffer them. As is the man, so is his strength, said they to Gideon,Judges 8:21. Joseph's bow abode in strength, even when the iron entered into his soul, Genesis 49:24; and Job's stroke was heavier than his groaning, Job 23:2. Invalidum omne natura querelum, saith Seneca: It is a weakness to be ever whining. See my Love Tokens.
a Legenda haec sunt cum interrogatione. Pisc.