But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
] This man and his family were the only exception to the general
apostasy; God always reserves some, in the worst of times, for
himself; there is a remnant, according to the election of grace;
it was but a small one, and that now appeared; and this was owing
to the grace of God, and his choice upon that, and not to the
merits of the creature. This grace, which Noah found and shared
in, was the favour and good will of God; Noah was grateful and
acceptable to him; he was well pleased with him in Christ; his
person, services, and sacrifices, were acceptable to him through
the Beloved; though he might not be acceptable in the eyes of
men, who derided him for his piety and devotion, and especially
for his prediction of the flood, and making an ark to save him
and his family from it; yet he was very acceptable in the eyes of
the Lord, and grateful in his sight, and was favoured with grace
from him, who is the God of all grace, and with all the supplies
of it: the Jerusalem Targum is, he
``found grace and mercy;''the grace he found was not on account of his own merit, but on account of the mercy of God: and this shows that he was not without sin, or he would have stood in no need of the mercy and grace of God to save him; and as he found grace and favour in things spiritual, so in things temporal; he found favour with God, and therefore he and his family were spared, when the whole world of the ungodly were destroyed; he found favour with God, and therefore was directed by him to build an ark, for the saving of himself and his; he found favour with him, and therefore he had the honour of being the preserver of mankind, and the father of a new world.
