And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
Ver. 40. And if any man sue thee at the law and lake away thy coat] Rather remit of thy right, and sit down by the loss, than suffer the trouble of a vexatious lawsuit: quiet is to be sought above profit: therefore Isaac removed his dwelling so often, when the spiteful Philistines strove with him about the wells he had digged. Not but that we may take the benefit of the law, and crave the help of the magistrate, for preventing or punishing of wrong done us; as Paul sent to the chief captain, and appealed to Caesar, Acts 23:17; Acts 25:10 .
" Lis legem genuit, legum lis filia; vivi
Nec sine lite solet, nec sine lege potest. "
(Owen, Epigr.)
But this must be done neither with a vindictive nor a covetous mind, as the manner is. Therefore after, "Who made me a judge?" our Saviour presently addeth, "Take heed of covetousness." He that complaineth of another to the magistrate, must, 1. Love his enemies. 2. Prosecure with continual respect to God's glory and the public good. 3. Use the benefit of the law with charity and mercy, without cruelty and extremity. 4. Use it as an utmost remedy, when it cannot otherwise be; lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, and thy labours be in the house of a lawyer, and thou mourn at last (with Solomon's fool) when thine estate is consumed upon him: there being but few such as Servius Sulpitius, of whom Cicero reports, that he was not more a lawyer than a peace maker, referring all things to moderation and equity, and not stirring up suits, but composing them. Sordida poscimus; nummia quidam haud inepte quosdam iurisconsultos vocat; latrocinia intra moenia exercent. Columella. Legulatorum faeces praesertim decem drachmariae. Philip. ix.