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Job Chapter
Ten
Job 10
Chapter Contents
Job complains of his hardships. (1-7) He pleads with God
as his Maker. (8-13) He complains of God's severity. (14-22)
Commentary on Job 10:1-7
(Read Job 10:1-7)
Job
being weary of his life
resolves to complain
but
he will not charge God with unrighteousness. Here is a prayer that he might be
delivered from the sting of his afflictions
which is sin. When God afflicts
us
he contends with us; when he contends with us
there is always a reason;
and it is desirable to know the reason
that we may repent of and forsake the
sin for which God has a controversy with us. But when
like Job
we speak in
the bitterness of our souls
we increase guilt and vexation. Let us harbour no
hard thoughts of God; we shall hereafter see there was no cause for them. Job
is sure that God does not discover things
nor judge of them
as men do;
therefore he thinks it strange that God continues him under affliction
as if
he must take time to inquire into his sin.
Commentary on Job 10:8-13
(Read Job 10:8-13)
Job seems to argue with God
as if he only formed and
preserved him for misery. God made us
not we ourselves. How sad that those
bodies should be instruments of unrighteousness
which are capable of being
temples of the Holy Ghost! But the soul is the life
the soul is the man
and
this is the gift of God. If we plead with ourselves as an inducement to duty
God made me and maintains me
we may plead as an argument for mercy
Thou hast
made me
do thou new-make me; I am thine
save me.
Commentary on Job 10:14-22
(Read Job 10:14-22)
Job did not deny that as a sinner he deserved his
sufferings; but he thought that justice was executed upon him with peculiar
rigour. His gloom
unbelief
and hard thoughts of God
were as much to be
ascribed to Satan's inward temptations
and his anguish of soul
under the
sense of God's displeasure
as to his outward trials
and remaining depravity.
Our Creator
become in Christ our Redeemer also
will not destroy the work of
his hands in any humble believer; but will renew him unto holiness
that he may
enjoy eternal life. If anguish on earth renders the grave a desirable refuge
what will be their condition who are condemned to the blackness of darkness for
ever? Let every sinner seek deliverance from that dreadful state
and every
believer be thankful to Jesus
who delivereth from the wrath to come.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Job》
Job 10
Verse 1
[1] My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint
upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
Shall I — Shall I give over complaining?
Verse 2
[2] I will say unto God
Do not condemn me; shew me
wherefore thou contendest with me.
Condemn — Or
pronounce me not to be a wicked man
neither deal
with me as such
as I confess thou mightest do in rigorous justice: O discover
my integrity by removing this stroke
for which my friends condemn me.
Wherefore — For what ends and reasons
and
for what sins; for I am not conscious to myself of any peculiar sins by which I
have deserved to be made the most miserable of all men. When God afflicts
he
contends with us: when he contends with us
there is always a reason for it.
And it is desirable to know
what that reason is
that we may forsake whatever
he has a controversy with us for.
Verse 3
[3] Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress
that
thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands
and shine upon the counsel of
the wicked?
Good — Dost thou take any pleasure in it? Far be it from Job
to think that God did him wrong. But he is at a loss to reconcile his
providences with his justice. And so other good men have often been
and will
be
until the day shall declare it.
Verse 4
[4] Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?
Eyes of faith — No. Eyes of flesh cannot see in
the dark: but darkness hideth not from God. Eyes of flesh are but in one place
at a time
and can see but a little way. But the eyes of the Lord are in every
place
and run to and fro thro' the whole earth. Eyes of flesh will shortly be
darkened by age
and shut up by death. But the eyes of God are ever the same
nor does his sight ever decay.
As man — Man sees the outside only
and judges by appearances:
but thou seest mine heart.
Verse 5
[5] Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man's
days
Man's — Man's time is short and uncertain
and therefore he
must improve it
and diligently search out the crimes of malefactors
lest by
death he lose the opportunity of doing justice: but thou art eternal
and seest
at one view all mens hearts
and all their actions present and to come; and
therefore thou dost not need to proceed with me in this manner
by making so
long a scrutiny into my heart and life.
Verse 6
[6] That thou enquirest after mine iniquity
and searchest
after my sin?
Searchest — Keeping me so long upon the rack
to compel me to accuse myself.
Verse 7
[7] Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none
that can deliver out of thine hand.
Wicked — An hypocrite
as my friends account me.
Deliver — But thou art the supreme ruler of the world; therefore
I must wait thy time
and throw myself on thy mercy
in submission to thy
sovereign will.
Verse 9
[9] Remember
I beseech thee
that thou hast made me as the
clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?
Clay — As a potter makes a vessel of clay; so this may note
both the frailty of man's nature
which of itself decays and perishes
and doth
not need such violent shocks to overthrow it; and the excellency of the Divine
artifice commended from the meanness of the materials; which is an argument why
God should not destroy it.
Again — I must die by the course of nature
and therefore
while I do live
give me some ease and comfort.
Verse 10
[10] Hast thou not poured me out as milk
and curdled me like
cheese?
As milk — Thus he modestly and accurately describes God's
admirable work in making man out of a small and liquid
and as it were milky
substance
by degrees congealed and condensed into that exquisite frame of
man's body.
Verse 11
[11] Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh
and hast
fenced me with bones and sinews.
Clothed — Covered my inward and more noble parts; which are
first formed. So he proceeds in describing man's formation gradually.
Bones — The stay and strength of the body; and some of them
as the skull and ribs
enclose and defend its vital parts.
Verse 12
[12] Thou hast granted me life and favour
and thy visitation
hath preserved my spirit.
Life — Thou didst not only give me a curious body
but also a
reasonable soul: thou didst at first give me life
and then maintain it in me;
both when I was in the womb (which is a marvellous work of God) and afterward
when I was unable to do anything to preserve my own life.
Favour — Thou didst not give mere life
but many other favours
such as nourishment by the breast
education
knowledge
and instruction.
Visitation — The care of thy providence
watching over me for my good
and visiting me in mercy.
Preserved — My life
which is liable to
manifold dangers
if God did not watch over us every day and moment. Thou hast
hitherto done great things for me
given me life
and the blessings of life
and daily deliverances: and wilt thou now undo all that thou hast done? And
shall I who have been such an eminent monument of thy mercy
now be a spectacle
of thy vengeance.
Verse 13
[13] And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know
that this is with thee.
Hid — Both thy former favours and thy present frowns. Both
are according to thy own will
and therefore undoubtedly consistent
however
they seem. When God does what we cannot account for
we are bound to believe
there are good reasons for it hid in his heart. It is not with us
or in our
reach to assign the cause; but I know this is with thee.
Verse 14
[14] If I sin
then thou markest me
and thou wilt not acquit
me from mine iniquity.
Markest — If I am a wicked man
I cannot hide it from thee; and
thou wilt punish me for it.
Verse 15
[15] If I be wicked
woe unto me; and if I be righteous
yet
will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine
affliction;
Wicked — An hypocrite
as my friends esteem me.
Righteous — An upright man; so whether good
or bad
all comes to one.
Yet — Yet I have no comfort
or hopes of any good.
Confusion — I am confounded within myself
not knowing what to say or do. Let my extremity move thee to pity
and help me.
Verse 16
[16] For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and
again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.
Lion — Which hunteth after his prey with great eagerness
and
when he overtakes it
falls upon it with great fury.
Returnest — The lion tears its prey speedily
and so ends its torments; but thou renewest my calamities again and again
and
makest my plagues wonderful both for kind and extremity
and continuance.
Verse 17
[17] Thou renewest thy witnesses against me
and increasest
thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.
Witnesses — Thy judgments
which are the
evidences both of my sins
and of thy wrath.
Indignation — My miseries are the effects of
thine anger.
Army — Changes may denote the various kinds
and an army the
great number of his afflictions.
Verse 20
[20] Are not my days few? cease then
and let me alone
that
I may take comfort a little
Cease — My life is short
and of itself hastens to an end
there is no need that thou shouldest grudge me some ease for so small a moment.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Job》
10 Chapter 10
Verses 1-22
Verse 1
My soul is weary of my life.
On the causes of men’s being weary of life
A sentiment which surely
if any situation can justify it
was
allowable in the case of Job. Let us examine in what circumstances this feeling
may be deemed excusable; in what it is to be held sinful; and under what
restrictions we may
on any occasion
be permitted to say
“My soul is weary of
my life.”
I. As the
sentiment of a discontented man. With whom it is the effusion of spleen
vexation
and dissatisfaction with life
arising from causes neither laudable
nor justifiable.
1. This weariness of life is often found among the idle. They have so
many vacant hours
and are so much at a loss how to fill up their time
that
their spirits utterly sink. The idle are doomed to suffer the natural
punishment of their inactivity and folly.
2. Among the luxurious and dissipated
such complaints are still more
frequent. They have run the whole race of pleasure
but they have run it with
such inconsiderate speed that it terminates in weariness and vexation of
spirit. Satiated
weary of themselves
the complaint bursts forth of odious
life and a miserable world. Their weariness is no other than the judgment of
God overtaking them for their vices and follies. Their complaints of misery are
entitled to no compassion. They are the authors of their own misery.
3. Then there are those who have embittered life to themselves by the
consciousness of criminal deeds. There is no wonder that such persons should
lose their relish for life. To the complaints of such persons no remedy can be
furnished
except what arises from the bitterness of sincere and deep
repentance.
II. As the
sentiment of those in situations of distress. These are so variously multiplied
in the world
and are often so oppressive
that assuredly it is not uncommon to
hear the afflicted complain that they are weary of life. Their complaints
if
not always allowable
yet certainly are more excusable than those which flow
from the sources of dissatisfaction already mentioned. They are sufferers
not
so much through their own misconduct
as through the appointment of Providence;
and therefore to persons in this situation it may seem more needful to offer
consolation than to give admonition. However
as the evils which produce this
impatience of life are of different sorts
a distinction must be made as to the
situations which can most excuse it.
1. The exclamation may be occasioned by deep and overwhelming grief.
As of bereavement.
2. Or by great reverses of worldly fortune. To persons under such
calamities
sympathy is due.
3. Continuance of long and severe disease. In this case Job’s complaint
may assuredly be forgiven more than in any other.
III. As the
sentiment of those who are tired of the vanity of the world. Tired of its
insipid enjoyments
and its perpetually revolving circle of trifles and
follies. They feel themselves made for something greater and nobler. In this
view the sentiment of the text may sometimes be that of a devout man. But
however sincere
their devotion is not altogether of a rational and chastened
kind. Let us beware of all such imaginary refinements as produce a total
disrelish of our present condition. They are for the most part grafted on
disappointed pursuits
or on a melancholy and splenetic turn of mind. This life
may not compare with the life to come
but such as it is
it is the gift of
God. One great cause of men’s becoming weary of life is grounded on the
mistaken views of it which they have formed
and the false hopes which they
have entertained from it. They have expected a scene of enjoyment
and when
they meet with disappointments and distresses
they complain of life as if it
had cheated and betrayed them. God ordained no such possession for man on earth
as continued pleasure. For the wisest purposes He designed our state to be
chequered with pleasure and pain. As such let us receive it
and make the best
of what is doomed to be our lot. (Hugh Blair
D. D.)
Weariness of life and its remedies
There is a love of life which depends not upon ourselves at all
and which we cannot help feeling at all times. It is the pure instinct of our
mortal nature. And life is well worthy of our estimation and care. And yet
there is such a thing as weariness of life. Men may be ready to say
“My soul
is weary of my life.”
I. From their own
sinful abuse of life and its blessings. Mankind usually expect too much from
the present life. Some try to find this unwarranted enjoyment in earthly
things
by carrying every gratification to excess
by giving themselves wholly
to the love of present pleasures. They of course experience disappointment in
this vain and sinful pursuit
as God intended they should do. They become weary
of themselves and weary of life; and all this purely owing to their own folly
in perverting their way
and abusing the good gifts of God. Others desire only
lawful gratifications
and seek them in an orderly manner. They propose even to
themselves to be useful in life. They plan very wisely
and proceed very
commendably in all respects but one
and that one is
that they are merely
looking to the creature
and leaving God
in great measure
out of view. They
seek their happiness more in the enjoyment of His gifts
than in making it
their aim to please the gracious Bestower of them all. These also are
disappointed. Their schemes misgive; or
if they succeed
they themselves do
not find in them anything like satisfaction to their immortal nature. They
begin to blame this world
to blame their fellow creatures
and to become weary
even of life. So did Solomon
Ahab
and Haman. This weariness of life would not
be blamable if it was seen to have the good effect of checking men’s immoderate
expectations from present enjoyments. But it does not usually serve such
salutary purposes. This weariness is one of man’s own creating. Men try to make
the animal part of their nature supply the wants also of their spiritual part.
II. From their
sorrows in life and from their loss or want of its blessings. When the objects
of our care and affection are suffering distress
or are taken away from us
we
must sorrow severely
and we are not forbidden to do so. But we are cautioned
against being “overcome of much sorrow
” and there is danger of indulging even
excusable griefs
till we become ready to say
“My soul is weary of my life.”
Then “we” show that we are forgetting the use of these afflictions and sorrows
and we defeat the very end of these sorrows. The furnace of affliction is the
refining of our souls.
III. From their
inability to enjoy the blessings of life. Bodily pains
diseased and decaying
health
not only cause distress to our natural feelings
they also disable us
from discharging those duties in which we might find relief from many griefs
and troubles of mind. In extreme agonies of pain
life cannot be felt as
anything else than a burden. Many
though free from excessive bodily tortures
are nevertheless made to possess “months of vanity
” and have “wearisome
nights.” To bear such trials without being weary of life is no easy duty. But
it never can become anyone to express weariness of that life which God
in His
wisdom
sees meet to prolong. The continued sufferer may have much to do
and
much to learn. Be not weary of life while you are in the way of acquiring
greater meetness for heaven.
IV. From spiritual
desires of a better life and its better blessings. There is a weariness of life
that flows from a powerful feeling of religion itself
which we are too much
inclined to excuse
or even desirous to indulge. It is found in emotional young
persons under first serious impressions; and in those who are occasionally
visited with high satisfactions of a spiritual nature; and in those oppressed
with the power of an evil nature
and witnessing much of the wickedness of the
world. They are defeated in the good which they wished to accomplish
and they
are distressed by the prevalence in their own hearts of the evil which they
wished to overcome. They are ready to say with the Psalmist
“Oh that I had
wings like a dove! then would I flee away
and be at rest.” But it is
unwarrantable to prefer heaven to earth
merely for the sake of your own ease
and gratification. To do so is more a token of selfishness than sanctification
of spirit. (J. Brewster.)
Great music uncomplaining
In a charming essay on music
a recent writer has gathered up a
great deal in one telling sentence. He speaks of the various moods of the
world’s masterpieces of music--the romance
the sorrow
the aspiration
the
joy
the sublimity expressed in them
and he adds that there is only one mood
forever unrepresented
for
“Great music never complains.” At first
this seems
too sweeping. We remember so many minor keys
so many tragic chords
in the
best music. But
as we think over it longer
it becomes truer and truer. Great
music has its minor keys
its pathetic passages
its longing
yearning notes;
but they always lead on to aspiration
to hope
or to resignation and peace.
Mere complaint is not in them. The reason
after all
is simple. Complaint is
selfish
and high music
like any other great art
forgets self in larger
things. The complaining note has no possible place in noble harmonies
even
though they be sad. So
if we want to make music out of our lives
we must
learn to omit complaint. Some young people think it rather fine and noble to be
discontented
to complain of narrow surroundings
to dwell on the minor notes.
But it is well to remember that the one thing to avoid in singing is a whine in
the voice; and whining is perilously close to any form of pathos. “Great music
never complains.” That is a good motto to hang up on the wall of one’s mind
over our keyboard of feeling
so to speak. The harmonies of our lives will be
braver and sweeter the more we follow this thought. Without it
fret and
discord will come
and mar the music that might be
and that is meant to be. (Christian
Age.)
Verse 2
Do not condemn me.
The cry of penitence
I. This is the
language of a sincere penitent. It expresses a dread of condemnation
and a
fear of future punishment. This impression is awakened by--
1. The recollection of past sins.
2. By a sense of present suffering.
II. It implies that
there are some persons whom God will certainly condemn. The sentence to
“depart” will be pronounced by the righteous Judge
and it will be addressed
especially to three classes of individuals. To the prayerless
the
self-righteous
and those who live in the habitual practice of sin.
III. It directs us
to the means by which this final sentence may be averted.
1. You must justify the character and conduct of God.
2. Make humble and sincere acknowledgment of your sinfulness.
3. Cheerfully acquiesce in the method of Divine mercy.
IV. It suggests
some important motives to produce in our minds true and evangelical repentance.
1. The first class of motives is addressed to our fears.
2. From the strivings of the Spirit.
3. From the glorious dispensation under which we live. (Essex
Congregational Remembrancer.)
Shew me wherefore Thou
contendest with me.
The sweet uses of adversity
It needs but a short sight for us to discover that if God
contendeth with man
it must be a contention of mercy. There must be a design
of love in this. Address--
I. The child of
God. Sometimes to question God is wicked. But this is a question that may be
asked.
1. My first answer on God’s part is this: it may be that God is
contending with thee
that He may show His own power in upholding thee. He
loves to hear His saints tried
that the whole world may see that there is none
like them on the face of the earth. What noble work is this
that while God is
casting down His child with one hand
He should be holding him up with the
other. This is why God contends with thee; to glorify Himself by showing to
angels
to men
to devils
how He can put such strength into poor
puny man
that he can contend with his Maker
and become a prevailing prince like Israel
who as a prince had power with God and prevailed.
2. The Lord is doing this to develop thy graces. There are some of
thy graces that would never be discovered if it were not for thy trials. Thy
faith never looks so grand in summer weather as it does in winter. Love is too
often like a glow worm
that showeth but little light
except it be in the
midst of surrounding darkness. Hope itself is like a star
not to be Seen in
the sunshine of prosperity
and only to be discovered in the night of
adversity. It is real growth that is the result of these trials. God may take
away your comforts and your privileges
to make you the better Christians.
3. It may be that the Lord contends with thee because thou hast some
secret sin which is doing thee sore damage. Trials often discover sins--sins
which we should never have found out if it had not been for them. The houses in
Russia are very greatly infested with rats and mice. Perhaps a stranger would
scarcely notice them at first
but the time when you discover them is when the
house is on fire--then they pour out in multitudes. And so doth God sometimes
burn up our comforts to make our hidden sins run out; and then He enables us to
knock them on the head
and get rid of them. That may be the reason of your
trial
to put an end to some long-festered sin; or to prevent some future sin.
4. We must have fellowship with Christ in His sufferings
being made
conformable unto His death. Hast thou never thought that none can be like the
Man of Sorrow
unless they have sorrows too? Think not that thou canst be like
the thorn-crowned head
and yet never feel the thorn. God is chiselling
you--you are but a rough block--He is making you into the image of Christ; and
that sharp chisel is taking away much which prevents your being like Him. Sweet
is the affliction which gives us fellowship with Christ.
5. It may be that the Lord contendeth with thee to humble thee. We
are all too proud. We shall have many blows before we are brought down to the
right mark; and it is because we are so continually getting up
that God is so
continually putting us down again.
II. Address the
seeking sinner. Who may be wondering that he has found no peace or comfort.
Perhaps--
1. God is contending with you for awhile
because as yet you are not
thoroughly awakened. Christ will not heal your wound until He has probed it to
its very core.
2. God may be contending with you to try your earnestness.
3. Perhaps you are harbouring some sin.
4. Perhaps you do not thoroughly understand the plan of salvation. (C.
H. Spurgeon.)
The design of God in affliction
Good men who have excelled in a particular virtue have sometimes
lamentably failed in its exercise--e.g.
Moses
Peter
Job. The text
refers to a season of heavy affliction. The spirit of Job was oppressed; his
mind was harassed; it was full of confusion; and we wonder not that his
language betrays the perplexity which he felt.
I. A good man has
converse with God. In all circumstances
whether of ease or pain
of health or
sickness
he thinks of his God
and highly estimates communion with Him. In
affliction we speak to ourselves; we speak to our friends; but our best
employment is converse with God. In our approaches to Him
He permits us to
utter whatever interests our minds
to express the inmost feelings of our hearts.
II. A good man
deprecates an evil. “Do not condemn me.” Job refers probably to the sentiment
of his friends. They mistook his character. Job says to God
“Do not Thou
condemn me.” No doubt Job had low views of himself in the sight of God. This
applies to ourselves. Do we merit condemnation from God? What shall we plead in
arrest of judgment? Nothing less than the mediation of Christ.
III. A good man
solicits a favour. “Shew me wherefore Thou contendest with me.” “Afflictest” is
a better word here than “contendest.” It is a warrantable request
a prayer
full of propriety. Affliction is from God
and He has some design in it
which
it is important for us to ascertain. Affliction is sent to convince of sin; to
prevent sin; as a test of principles; to promote holiness; to advance our
usefulness. What then do you know of converse with God
and how is the
privilege improved? (T. Kidd.)
Verses 3-17
Is it good unto Thee that Thou shouldest oppress?
Job’s mistaken views of his sufferings
I. As inconsistent
with all his ideas of his Maker.
1. As inconsistent with His goodness. “Is it good unto Thee that Thou
shouldest oppress
that Thou shouldest despise the work of Thine hands?” I
thought Thee benevolent and merciful
but in my suffering I feel Thee to be
malign. There is a strong tendency in all men under suffering to regard the
Almighty as anything but good.
2. With His justice. “And shine upon the counsel of the wicked.” Job
saw wicked men around him
strong and hale in body
buoyant in animal spirits
and prosperous in worldly affairs
whilst he who was in his deepest heart in
sympathy with right
and the God of right
was reduced to the utmost distress.
He failed to see justice in this.
3. With His greatness. “Hast Thou eyes of flesh
” etc. I cannot
reconcile the sufferings with which Thou dost afflict an insignificant creature
like me with Thine omniscience and eternity.
II. As an
unrighteous display of arbitrary power. “Thou knowest that I am not wicked
”
etc. Job does not regard himself as absolutely holy. The Omniscient One knew he
was not guilty of that hypocrisy with which his friends had charged him. Where
then
is the righteousness of his afflictions?
III. As contrary to
what the Divine organisation and preservation of his existence led him to
expect. In the eighth and two following verses he ascribes the formation of his
body to God. He ascribes his sustentation as well. He seemed astonished that
the God who thus produced and supported him should thus mar his beauty
destroy
his health
and overwhelm him with misery. This is
in truth
a perplexity to
us as well as to Job.
IV. As baffling all
attempts to understand. “And these things Thou hast hid in Thine heart.” If
there is a reason
it is in Thy heart shut up and hid from me
and I cannot
reach it. The more he thought
the more was Job embarrassed with the mysteries
of his being. Conclusion--
1. The greatness of man’s capability for suffering. To what
inexpressible wretchedness and agony was Job now reduced
both in soul and in
body.
2. The absoluteness of God’s power over us. We are in His bands
all
of us.
3. The value of Christianity as an interpreter of suffering. Job’s
great “confusion” in his suffering seemed to arise from the idea that unless a
man was a great sinner there was no reason for great suffering. Afflictions to
good men are disciplinary
not punitive. (Homilist.)
That Thou shouldest
despise the work of Thine hands.
Man is the work of God
Job alludes to artificers who
having made an excellent piece
will not destroy or break it in pieces; they are very tender of their work
yea
they are apt to boast and grow proud of it. Man was the masterpiece of the
whole visible creation. The Lord needs not to be ashamed of
neither doth He
despise any part of His work
much less this
which is the best and noblest
part of it. As the body
so the soul of man is the work of God’s hand. His
power and wisdom wrought it
and work mightily in it. In regard of bodily substance
the most inferior creatures claim kindred of man
and he may be compared to the
beast that perisheth; but in regard of the soul
man transcends them all
and
may challenge a nearness
if not an equality with the angels. Take three
cautions.
1. Be not proud of what ye are
all is the work of God. How beautiful
or comely
how wise or holy soever ye are
it is not of yourselves.
2. Despise not what others are or have; though they are not such
exact pieces
though they have not such excellent endowments as yourselves
yet
they are what the hand of God hath wrought them
and they have what the hand of
God hath wrought in them.
3. Despise not what yourselves are; to do so is a sin
and a sin very
common. Men are ashamed to be seen as God hath made them; few are ashamed to be
seen what the devil hath made them. Many are troubled at small defects of the
outward man. They who come after God to mend His work
lest they should be
despised
will but make themselves more despicable. (Joseph Caryl.)
Verse 8
Thine hands have made me.
Creation
the pledge of God’s guardianship
Though Job reached a wrong conclusion
he was arguing on a
right principle. The patriarch’s argument is this--As we are the creatures
the
workmanship of Almighty God
we may expect Him to take care of us
and that as
God
any opposite conduct may justly excite surprise
and be thought at
variance with the acknowledged fact that the Divine hands have “made us and
fashioned us together round about.” This argument is susceptible of being
wrought out into many and instructive shapes. The remembrance of our creation
should animate us to expect supplies of grace and instruction. To the
benevolence and goodness of God must be referred the production of the
multiplied tribes of living things. God caused life to pervade immensity
because
as He Himself is everywhere
He would that everywhere there should be
objects of His bounty
beings with capacity and provision for enjoyment. Every
creature may trace its origin to the benevolence of God
and therefore every
creature might infer
from its having been formed
that its Maker was ready to
satisfy its wants
yea
to fulfil its desires
so far as those desires might be
lawfully entertained. What is creation to me
but a register of the carefulness
of the Almighty in providing for my happiness during my sojourn here below?
Shall I think it unlikely that God would take measures for my good in reference
to that eternity on which I must enter at death? Job seems to reason that
in
place of destroying him
God who had made might have been expected to save him.
It is an argument from what had been done for him in his natural capacity
to
what might have been looked for in his spiritual capacity. And Job’s reason is
every way accurate. (Henry Melvill
B. D.)
Verses 12-16
Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.
Acknowledgment of and appeal to God
Job addresses God as his Creator
Preserver
and Benefactor; he
seems to ask
why
knowing his frailty
He laid upon him such burdens as those
which he was called upon to bear. He appears to have felt some difficulty in
reconciling the past mercies of God with His present afflicting dispensations.
Yet
amidst all
he acknowledges that his Creator doubtless had wise
though to
him unknown
reasons for His dispensations. “These things
” said he
“Thou hast
hid in Thine heart.” They were planned in Thine infinitely wise
holy
and
beneficent
though unsearchable counsels. “I know this is with Thee.” To me
indeed
it is a source of trouble and perplexity; but to Thee it is plain. And
then
as though glancing at the righteousness of God’s law
on the one hand
and
on the other
at the sinfulness of mankind generally
and in particular at
his own personal transgressions
with a sense of the imperfection of his best
obedience
he adds
“If I be wicked
woe unto me; and if I be righteous
yet
will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see mine
affliction
for it increaseth.”
I. First
then
we
have Job’s acknowledgment of his infinite obligations to God. “Thou hast
granted me life and favour
and Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.”
1. The blessing of creation. “Thou hast granted me life.” He does not
attribute his existence to chance
or necessity; but speaks of it expressly as
a grant from the Almighty; a grant bestowed for the most wise
benevolent
and
momentous purposes. Practical atheism is at all times too common
even among
many who profess and call themselves Christians. How few
comparatively
are
accustomed
like Job
constantly to refer their being to God; with a deep
impression of what they owe to Him; with a practical conviction that they are
not their own; and with a due sense of their obligation to live to His glory.
Yet it is certain that an habitual feeling of reverence towards God as our
Creator
though not the whole of religion
is a necessary and indispensable
part of it. The Gospel of Christ
in pointing out to us other truths
essential
to be known by us as fallen and guilty creatures
does not overlook
but on the
contrary uniformly takes for granted and displays this first natural and
unalterable bond of union between the Creator and His creatures. The grant of
life was the first benefit we were capable of enjoying
and it opened the way
to all that followed.
2. But to the benefit of creation Job adds that of preservation. “Thy
visitation hath preserved my spirit.” The same Almighty hand that formed and
animated the human frame
sustains it amidst the perils to which it is every
moment exposed. We do not live by chance
any more than we were at first formed
by chance. One moment’s absence of that Divine visitation which preserves our
spirit
would suffice to plunge us back--we know not whither; all our
capacities for happiness
all our hopes for this world
and those brighter
expectations which
as Christians
we cherish beyond the grave
would be
utterly extinguished. This powerful and unceasing visitation of the Creator
preserves all things in their appointed rank and order; and to it we are
indebted for our continued capacity for partaking of the blessings to which our
creation introduced us.
3. To sum up the whole
Job adds the mention of that Divine “favour”
without which our creation and preservation had been but the commencement and
prolongation of misery. How thickly
how interminably do His benefits cluster
around us! By night and by day
in infancy and in manhood
in childhood and old
age
in our personal and social relations
in our families and in the world
in
sickness not less than in health
in adversity not less than in prosperity
He
pours into our cup blessings infinitely beyond our deservings. And here opens
before us the most wonderful of all proofs of His favour. Here beams upon us
the stupendous revelation of the redemption that is in Christ. Here we behold
why even the sinner
to whom
as a sinner
no Divine approbation can be
exhibited
is yet spared and crowned with so many benefits
in order that he
may turn to the God whom he had forsaken
seek the mercy which he had despised
and be won by the long-suffering which he had perhaps profanely made a motive
for a continuance in his sins. Whether we consider the awful magnitude of our
guilt
or the costly nature of the sacrifice made to atone for it
or the
freeness and amplitude of the pardon bestowed upon us; we shall see that this
was indeed the climax of Divine favour; to which our creation and preservation
were but preparative; and the issue of which
to all who humbly avail
themselves of it
will be an eternity of happiness in the world to come.
II. Consider the
judicial relation in which he describes himself as standing towards him and his
conscious guilt and confusion at the prospect. We might have supposed that his
expressive description of God’s past mercies would have been succeeded by the
warmest language of hope and confidence. And thus would it have been
had no
obstacle interposed. The angels in heaven
in reviewing the benefits conferred
upon them by their beneficent Creator
blend with their emotions of love and
gratitude no symptoms of apprehension or alarm. They are not “full of
confusion
” while they survey the mercies of Him who “granted them existence
and favour
and whose visitation preserves their spirit.” The past
manifestations of God’s overflowing bounty are to them a pledge for the
present; and the present for the future. But not so with man
when duly
conscious of the ungrateful return which he has made for the bounties of his
Almighty Benefactor. For every relationship involves certain duties; and most
of all
the relationship of a creature to his Creator. The very bond of this
relationship
on the side of man
was perfect love
confidence
and obedience.
He had a law given him to obey
and he was bound by every tie to obey it. A
creature
if guiltless
would not tremble for the consequences of his own
conduct under such a law; but what are the actual circumstances of man? Job seems
to exhibit them
in the text
under a threefold view. Supposing
first
a case
which may be considered as the ordinary average of human character
“If I sin”;
next
a case of peculiar atrocity
“If I be wicked”; thirdly
a case of unusual
moral rectitude
“If I be righteous”--and in all these he shows the condition
in which we stand before God.
1. “If I sin
Thou markest me and Thou wilt not acquit me from mine
iniquity.” No extraordinary degree of profligacy seems to be here supposed;
nothing more is stated than what we all acknowledge to be applicable to
ourselves; for who is he that sinneth not? Yet how stands our condition under
this aspect? First we learn that God “marks us”; His omniscient eye is upon all
our ways. “Thou wilt not acquit me.” How fearful the condition of a creature
thus exposed by his own sinful conduct to the just wrath of his Creator! Well
might Job exclaim
“I am full of confusion.” For who shall stand before God
when He is displeased? Who shall stay His hand when it is stretched out to
inflict punishment?
2. “If I be wicked
woe unto me.” The degree of guilt marked by this
expression seems to be more flagrant than that implied in the former. The
conclusion in this case is therefore most clear; for if every sin is marked
if
no iniquity is followed by acquittal
then woe indeed to the hardened
the
deliberate transgressor!
3. “If I be righteous
yet will I not lift up my head.” Job cannot
here refer to perfect and unerring holiness of heart and conduct--for to such a
degree of sanctity no human being can lay claim; if he could
he might justly
lift up his head; but he doubtless speaks comparatively
taking man at his best
estate; selecting the most moral
the most upright; then
in this most
favourable case
showing the utter incompetence of man to stand justified in
the sight of his Creator. So imperfect are our best actions
so mixed are our
purest motives
that
far from challenging the rewards of merit
we must
acknowledge ourselves
on an impartial survey
to deserve the punishment of our
aggravated disobedience. At best we are unprofitable servants. “To us belongeth
shame and confusion of face.” The friends of Job thought that he wished to try
this experiment; that he justified himself before God; but his affliction had
taught him a lesson more suitable to his frail and fallen condition: so that
instead of lifting up his head
his language was
“Whom
though I were
righteous
I would not answer; but I would make supplication to my Judge”; or
in the corresponding sentiment of the text
“See Thou mine affliction
for it
increaseth.”
III. consider his
humble appeal to God to have compassion upon him. He claims no merit; he
proffers no gift. He had acknowledged God’s mercies to him; and confessed his
inability to stand before His justice. What
then
is his hope of escape? It is
in substance the language of the publican
and of every true penitent in every
age
“God
be merciful to me
a sinner.” His affliction was increasing; nothing
but despair lay before him; but in his extremity he applies
where none ever
rightly applied in vain
to the infinite Source of mercy and compassion. “See
Thou mine affliction.” How excellent is the example which he here sets before
us! In every exigency of life
or when weighed down with the burden of our sins
before God
let us betake ourselves to Him who will compassionate our weakness
assuage our sorrows
and forgive our transgressions. Happy is it for us that He
is not a God afar off
but is at all times
as it were
within reach of our
humble petitions. Let us thus approach Him with the language of Job; with
fervent acknowledgments of His goodness
and of our own ingratitude; of His
infinite justice
and our own unrighteousness; with self-condemnation on the
one hand
and a humble trust in His mercy in Christ Jesus on the other--and
then will He look with pity upon our affliction
then will He pardon all our
iniquities. For no sooner had Job practically acquired this just view of
himself and of God; no sooner had he said
“I have heard of Thee by the hearing
of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee: wherefore I abhor myself
and repent
in dust and ashes”; than it is added
“The Lord turned the captivity of Job.”
And thus will He continue to be gracious to every sincere penitent
through the
infinite merits of His beloved Son. (Christian Observer.)
The Divine visitation
This is the grateful acknowledgment of Job amidst his accumulated
trials. There were sentiments of gratitude intermingled with the expressions of
grief. The use which Job made of the Divine protection was to plead with God
for a continuance of His mercy
and to pray for the vindication of his own
integrity.
I. It is by the
visitation of the Lord that our natural lives and temporal blessings are
preserved to us. The continuance of all things is of God
to whom belong the
issues from death. By His providence our various circumstances are appointed to
us.
II. To the
visitation of God we owe all our spiritual life. By the Holy Spirit the
immortal soul is enlightened
regenerated
and preserved unto the heavenly
kingdom. These gracious visitations act upon our inner nature in various ways
and through a diversified instrumentality. Afflictions
means of grace
are
Divine visitations. God’s judgments and mercies are efficient only as He by His
Spirit and blessing shall make them so.
III. The use to make
of this doctrine.
1. It is a doctrine full of godly consolation and encouragement. Our
salvation does not depend on our own unaided powers.
2. The subject has a dark as well as a bright side. It is of alarming
import to the careless. If He withdraw His grace
what will become of their
resolutions? Be it yours then to “know the day of visitation.” (Anon.)
Living by the visitation of God
You have all heard the phrase
generally used by juries at a
coroner’s inquest
when a man has died suddenly
“Died by the visitation of
God.” No doubt some do thus die; but I want you to live by the visitation of
God. That is a very different thing
and that is the only way in which we truly
can live
by God’s visiting us from day to day
so preserving our spirit from
the dangers that surround us. Live
then
by the visitation of God. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
Three blessings of the heavenly charter
It is well sometimes to sit down
and take a grateful review of
all that God has done for us
and with us
from our first day until now. We
must not be like hogs under the oak
that eat the acorns
but never thank the
tree
or the Lord who made it to grow. Here is poor Job
covered with sore
boils
sitting on a dunghill
scraping himself with a bit of a broken pot
with
his children dead
his property destroyed
and even his wife not giving him a
word of comfort
and his friends acting in a most unfriendly manner. Now it is
that he talks to his God
and says
“Thou hast granted me life and favour
and
Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.” You are very ill; think of the time
when you were well. You are poor; remember when you washed your feet in milk
and your steps with butter
and had more than heart could wish. Only begin to
praise God
and you will find that he who praises God for mercy will never be
long without a mercy for which to praise Him! The first blessing of this
heavenly charter is life: “Thou hast granted me life.”
1. Well
I think that we ought to thank God that we have lived at
all. I know the pessimist version of the psalm of life is that
“‘Tis something
better not to be.” Perhaps it would have been something better if that
gentleman had not been
better
I should think
for his wife and family if they
had not had to live with such a miserable creature. But the most of us thank
God for our being
as well as for our well-being. We count it something not to
be stones
or plants
or “dumb
driven cattle.” We are thankful to be
intelligent beings
with powers of thought
and capable of mental and spiritual
enjoyment.
2. But we also thank God that we have lived on in spite of many
perils.
3. I am addressing some from whom our text asks for gratitude because
they are alive notwithstanding constitutional weakness. Perhaps from a child
you were always feeble.
4. Now think of the sin which might have provoked God to make an end
of such a guilty life. “Thou hast granted me life.” But if we can say this in a
higher sense
“Thou hast granted me life
” spiritual life
how much greater should
our gratitude be! I could not even feel the guilt of sin
I was so dead; but
Thou hast granted me life to repent.
II. The second
blessing of this heavenly charter is Divine favour: “Thou hast granted me life
and favour.” Have you ever thought of the many favours that God has bestowed
upon you
even upon some of you who as yet have never tasted of His grace?
1. What a favour it is to many to be sound in body!
2. I cannot help reminding you here of the great favour of God in the
matter of soundness of mind.
3. I speak to many here to whom God has also given a comfortable lot
in life.
4. Some here
too
some few
at any rate
have been favoured with
much prosperity.
5. And I may say tonight that
in this congregation
God has given
you the favour of hearing the Gospel; no mean favour
let me remind you.
6. Still
putting all these things together
they do not come up to
this last point
that many of us have received the favours of saving grace:
“Thou hast granted me life and favour.”
III. The last
blessing of the charter
upon which I shall be a little longer
is Divine
visitation: “Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.” Does God ever come to
man? Does He not? Yes; but it is a great wonder: “What is man
that Thou art
mindful of him? And the son of man that Thou visitest him?”
1. He visited you
first
with an arousement and conviction of sin.
2. After that first experience
there came visitations of
enlightenment and conversion.
3. Perhaps since then you have had visitations of another kind. You
have had chastisement
or you have had affliction in the house. God’s
visitations are sometimes very unwelcome.
4. But then
we hate had other visitations
visitations of revival
and restoration. Do you not sometimes get very dull and dead?
5. The best of all is
when the Lord visits us
and never goes away;
but stays with us always
so that we walk in the light of His countenance
and
go from strength to strength
singing always
“Thy visitation never ended
daily continued
preserves my spirit.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A song and a solace
You see that Job is appealing to the pity of God
and this is the
form of his argument: “Thou art my Creator; be my Preserver. Thou hast made me;
do not break me. Thou art dealing very hardly with me
I am almost destroyed
beneath the pressure of Thy hand; yet remember that I am Thine own creature.
Weak and frail as I am
I am the creation of Thy hand; therefore
despise not
Thine own work. Whatever I am
with the exception of my sin
Thou hast made me
what I am; ‘tis Thou who hast brought me into my present condition; consider
then
O God
what a poor
frail thing I am
and stay Thy hand
and do not
utterly crush my spirit.” This is a wise prayer
a right and proper argument
for a creature to use with the Creator; and when Job goes further still
and
in the language of our text
addresses God not only as his Creator
but as his
Benefactor
and mentions the great blessings that he had received from God
his
argument still holds good: “Do not
Lord
change Thy method of dealing with me;
Thou hast given me life
Thou hast shown me special favour
Thou hast hitherto
preserved me; cast me not away from Thy presence
dismiss me not from Thy
service
let not Thy tender mercies fail
but do unto me now and in days to
come according as Thou hast done unto me in the days that are past.” I. First
then
let us use the former part of our text as a song for bright days: “Thou
hast granted me life and favour
and Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.”
Whatever we have received that is good
has come to us from God as a matter of
pure favour. Now
then
ye joyful ones
unite with me while we first bless God
for granting us life. To a Christian man
life is a blessing; in itself
considered alone
it is a blessing; but to the ungodly man it may turn out to
be a curse
for it would have been better for that man if he had never been
born. But to a godly man like Job
it is a great mercy even to have an
existence. I find that
in the Hebrew
this word “life” is in the plural: “Thou
hast granted me lives”; and blessed be God
we who believe in Jesus have not
only this natural life
which we share in common with all men
but the Holy
Spirit has begotten in the hearts of believers a new life infinitely higher
than mere natural life
a life which makes us akin to Christ
joint heirs with
Him of the eternal inheritance which He is keeping for us in heaven. Let us
praise God
then
for life
and especially for this higher life if it is ours.
What a joy it is to live in this respect! Next
we have to praise God for
granting us favour. I should be quite unable to tell you to the full all that
is wrapped up in that word “favour.” Favour from God! It is a great word in the
original
a word big with meaning
for it means the love of God. God loves
immeasurably. The force and extent of true love never can be calculated; it is
a passion that cannot be measured by degrees as the temperature can be recorded
on the thermometer; it is something that exceedeth and overfloweth all
measurement
for a man giveth all his heart when he truly loveth. So is it with
God; He setteth no bound to His love. We might rightly paraphrase Job’s words
and say
“Thou hast granted me life and love.” Oh
what wondrous words to put
together
life and love! Life without God’s love is death; but put God’s love
with it
and then what a song we ought to send up to His throne if we feel that
He has given us both spiritual life and infinite love. The word “favour
”
however
means not only love; but
as we ordinarily use it
it means some
special form of grace and goodness. If
at this hour
any one of you is a child
of God
it is because God has done more for you than He has done for others. If
there be a difference between you and others
somebody made that difference;
and whoever made it ought to be honoured and praised for it. By the word
“favour” is also meant grace in all the shapes which it assumes
so Job’s words
might be rendered
“Thou hast granted me life and grace.” Now let us dwell
for
a minute or two
on the third blessing of this Divine grant: “and Thy
visitation hath preserved my spirit.” There is a wonderful range of meaning in
those words
but Job no doubt first refers to the providence of God by which He
makes
as it were
a visitation of all the world
and especially of His own
people. Some of us have had very special providential deliverances; we will not
mention them tonight
because they are too many. It has been well said
“He
that watches providence shall never be without a providence to watch.” Oh
but
that is only the beginning of the meaning of Job’s words
“Thy visitation hath
preserved my spirit.” God hath visited those of us who are His people in other
ways besides the watching of His providence. Let me mention some of them. He
has visited some of us with correction
and we do not like that form of
visitation. There are some
whom God will yet permit to be rich
who would not
have been capable of managing so much money
to the Lord’s honour and glory if
they had not for a while had to live on short commons. The very thing we regret
most in providence will probably be that in which we shall rejoice most in
eternity. There are other visitations
however
such as the visitations of
consolation. Oh
how sweet those are to the soul when in trouble! Once more
how sweet are the visitations of God in communion!
II. A solace for
dark nights: “And these things hast Thou hid in Thine heart: I know that this
is with Thee.” There is another interpretation of this verse
quite different
from the one that I am going to give you
but I do not think that Job ever
could have meant what some people think he did. I believe that
when he said
“These things”--that is
life
favour
and God’s gracious visitation
--“These
things hast Thou hid in Thine heart: I know that this is with Thee
” that he
meant
first
that God remembers what He has done
and will not lose His pains.
“‘Thou hast granted me life and favour’; Lord
Thou hast not forgotten that;
Thou hast hidden that in Thine heart
Thou rememberest it well. Since Thou hast
done this for me
and Thou dost remember that Thou hast done it
therefore Thou
wilt continue Thy mercy to me
and not lose all the grace and goodness which
Thou hast already bestowed upon me.” Even if you have forgotten all that God
has done for you
God has not forgotten it. Many children forget all the
kindness and love of their mother
but the mother remembers all that she did
for her children in the days of their helplessness
and she loves them all the
more because of what she did for them. “Having loved His own which were in the
world
He loved them unto the end.” But
next
I think that the words
“And
these things hast Thou hid in Thine heart: I know that this is with Thee
” have
this meaning
that God sometimes hides His favour and love in His heart
yet
they are there still. At times
it may be that you get no glimpse of His face
or that you see no smile upon it. The Lord is gracious
and full of compassion;
therefore
O tried child of God
learn what Job here teaches us
that these
things are still hidden in the heart of God
and that eternal love holdeth fast
to the objects of its choice. “I know that this is with Thee
” said Job
so the
last thing I want you to learn from his words is that God would have His people
strong in faith to know this truth. Job says
“I know that this is with Thee.”
I speak to many persons who say that they are Christians
and who perhaps are
believers in the Lord Jesus Christ
and one of their clearest evidences is that
they are very happy. True religion makes people happy
it is a perennial fountain
of delight. But do not set too much store by your emotions of delight
because
they may be taken from you
and then where will your evidences be? God’s people
sometimes walk in darkness
and see no light. There are times when the best and
brightest of saints have no joy. If your religion should not
for a time
yield
you any joy
cling to it all the same. You see
God does not give you faith in
order that you may merely run about in the meadows with it all among the fair
spring flowers. I will tell you for what purpose He gives you faith; it is that
you may put on your snow shoes
and go out in the cold wintry blasts and glide
along over the ice and the snow. Only have faith in Him
and say
“My God
Thy
will towards me to give me life
and favour
and preservation
may be hidden
but it is still in Thine heart
‘I know that this is with Thee.’“ Now I must
leave these things with you. You who know and love the Lord will seek a renewal
of His visitations tonight; and as for you who do not know Him
oh
how I wish
that you did! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verses 18-22
Oh that I had given up the ghost!
The effects of Job’s sufferings
The patriarch had already in the previous verses expressed
to the Almighty that his sufferings were--
I. A sense of
duty. Sense of obligation to the Supreme is an instinct as universal as man
as
deep as life itself; but the patriarch
in wishing that he had never been
or
that his first breath had been extinguished
had lost all feeling in relation
to the wonderful mercies which his Creator had conferred upon him during the
past years of his existence.
What were those mercies?
1. Great material wealth.
2. Great domestic enjoyment.
3. Immense social influence.
II. A love of life.
Seldom do we find
even amongst the most miserable of men
one who struggles
not to perpetuate his existence. But this instinct Job now seems to have lost
if not its existence
its power. Existence has become so intolerable that he
wishes he had never had it
and yearns for annihilation. Two thoughts are here
suggested.
1. There may be something worse for man than annihilation.
2. This annihilation is beyond the reach of creatures.
III. Hope of a
hereafter. Hope for future good is another of the strongest instincts of our
nature. “Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.” Indeed
it is one of those powers within us that
like a mainspring
keeps every wheel
in action. Man never is but always to be blest. Job seems to have lost this
now. Hence his description of the future. “Before I go whence I shall not
return
even to the land of darkness
and the shadow of death; a land of
darkness
as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death
without any order
and
where the light is as darkness.” He saw a future
but what was it?
1. Darkness. A starless
moonless midnight
a vast immeasurable
abyss--“the land of darkness.” His hereafter was black
not a ray of light
streamed from the firmament.
2. Confusion. “Without any order.” Small and great
young and old
all together in black chaos.
Conclusion--
1. That great suffering in this world in the case of individuals does
not mean great sin.
2. The power of the devil over man.
3. The value of the Gospel. This man had no clear revelation of a
blessed future. Hence one scarcely wonders at his frequent and impassioned
complaints. How different our life to his! (Homilist.)
A good man’s distempers
This passage teaches--
1. Saints’ highest fits of passion will not last
but mercy will
reclaim them
and give them a cool of that fever.
2. As the fevers and distempers of saints may come to a very great
height
so
ordinarily
that height or excess of them proves the step next to
their cool.
3. Humble
sober prayer is a notable evidence and mean in calming
distempered spirits; it is as the shower to allay that poisonous wind.
4. As man’s life is but uncertain and short
so the thoughts of this
should make men employ their time well
and to be very needy and pressing after
God
and proofs of Him.
5. Such as are excited with much trouble
and have their exercises
blessed to them
will be sober
and esteem much of little ease
to get leave to
breathe
or to comfort and refresh themselves a little
with a sight of God
or
of His grace in them
and not their own passions which they ought to abhor.
6. The least ease
breathing
or comfort
under trouble
cannot be
had but of God’s indulgence.
7. It is the duty of men to acquaint themselves with death
beforehand; and especially in times of trouble they should study it in its true
colours.
8. Death and the grave in themselves
and when Christ’s victory over
them is not studied
and men are hurried away to them in a tempest of trouble
are very terrible
and an ugly sight
as bringing an irreparable loss as to any
restitution in this life.
9. The consideration of the ugliness of death and the grave
doth
call upon all to provide somewhat before they lie down in that cold bed
wherein they will continue so long
and somewhat that may light them through
that dark passage. (George Hutcheson.)
Verse 22
And the shadow of death
without any order.
Death without order
While Job was under the bereaving hand of God
his thoughts were
naturally turned upon the frailty of man
the shortness of life
and the gloomy
scenes of mortality. The truth stated here is this--God discovers no order in
calling men out of the world by death.
I. God discovers
no order in sending death among mankind. Job believed that there is perfect
order in the Divine Mind
respecting death
as well as every other event. In
relation to God death is perfectly regular; but this regularity He has seen
proper to conceal from the view of man. Though God has passed a sentence of
mortality upon all mankind
yet He never discovers any order in the execution
of it.
1. He sends death without any apparent respect to age.
2. Without any regard to men’s bodily strength or weakness.
3. Without any apparent respect to the place of their dying.
4. There is no order apparent in the means of death.
5. God pays no visible regard to the characters of men
in calling
them off the stage of life.
6. God appears to pay no regard to the circumstances of men
in
putting an end to their days.
7. Nor does He appear to consult the feelings of men.
II. Why does God
send death through the world without any discernible order?
1. To make men sensible that He can do what He pleases
without their
aid or instrumentality.
2. To make them know that He can dispose of them according to the
counsel of His own will.
3. To convince man that he can do nothing without Him.
4. By concealing the order of death
God teaches mankind the
propriety and importance of being constantly prepared for it.
Learn--If death is coming to all men
and coming without any
order
then it equally concerns all to live a holy and religious life. And
since God discovers no order in death
it becomes the bereaved and afflicted to
submit to His holy and absolute sovereignty. This subject admonishes all to
prepare without delay for their great and last change. (N. Emmons
D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》