No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.
Ver. 16. No man putteth a piece, &c.] Austerities of religion are not to be pressed upon new beginners. God would not carry the people to Canaan through the Philistines' country (though it were the nearest way) for discouraging them at first setting out. Our Saviour spake as the disciples could hear, Mark 4:33. Discretion is to be used, and Christ's lambs handled with all tenderness.