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Job Chapter
Thirty
Job 30
Chapter Contents
Job's honour is turned into contempt. (1-14) Job a burden
to himself. (15-31)
Commentary on Job 30:1-14
(Read Job 30:1-14)
Job contrasts his present condition with his former
honour and authority. What little cause have men to be ambitious or proud of
that which may be so easily lost
and what little confidence is to be put in
it! We should not be cast down if we are despised
reviled
and hated by wicked
men. We should look to Jesus
who endured the contradiction of sinners.
Commentary on Job 30:15-31
(Read Job 30:15-31)
Job complains a great deal. Harbouring hard thoughts of
God was the sin which did
at this time
most easily beset Job. When inward
temptations join with outward calamities
the soul is hurried as in a tempest
and is filled with confusion. But woe be to those who really have God for an
enemy! Compared with the awful state of ungodly men
what are all outward
or
even inward temporal afflictions? There is something with which Job comforts
himself
yet it is but a little. He foresees that death will be the end of all
his troubles. God's wrath might bring him to death; but his soul would be safe
and happy in the world of spirits. If none pity us
yet our God
who corrects
pities us
even as a father pitieth his own children. And let us look more to
the things of eternity: then the believer will cease from mourning
and
joyfully praise redeeming love.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Job》
Job 30
Verse 1
[1] But
now they that are younger than I have me in derision
whose fathers I would
have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.
Younger —
Whom both universal custom
and the light of nature
taught to reverence their
elders and betters.
Whose fathers —
Whose condition was so mean
that in the opinion
of the world
they were
unworthy to be my shepherds the companions of my dogs which watch my flocks.
Verse 3
[3] For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in
former time desolate and waste.
Solitary —
Although want commonly drives persons to places of resort for relief
yet they
were so conscious of their own guilt
that they shunned company
and for fear
or shame fled into
and lived in desolate places.
Verse 4
[4] Who
cut up mallows by the bushes
and juniper roots for their meat.
Who cut —
Bitter herbs
which shews their extreme necessity.
Juniper —
Possibly the word may signify some other plant
for the Hebrews themselves are
at a loss for the signification of the names of plants.
Verse 7
[7]
Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.
Brayed —
Like the wild asses
for hunger or thirst.
Thorns —
Under which they hide themselves
that they might not be discovered when they
are sought out for justice.
Verse 10
[10] They abhor me
they flee far from me
and spare not to spit in my face.
Spit —
Not literally
for they kept far from him
but figuratively
they use all
manner of reproachful expressions
even to my face. Herein
also we see a type
of Christ
who was thus made a reproach of men
and despised of the people.
Verse 11
[11]
Because he hath loosed my cord
and afflicted me
they have also let loose the
bridle before me.
He — God.
Cord —
Hath slackened the string of my bow
and so rendered my bow and arrows useless;
he hath deprived me of my strength or defence.
Let loose —
They cast off all former restraints of humanity
or modesty
and do those
things before mine eyes
which formerly they trembled lest they should come to
my ears.
Verse 12
[12] Upon
my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet
and they raise up against
me the ways of their destruction.
Right hand —
This was the place of adversaries or accusers in courts of justice.
The youth —
Heb. young striplings
who formerly hid themselves from my presence
chap. 29:8.
Push —
Metaphorically
they endeavour to overwhelm me.
Ways —
Cause-ways
or banks: so it is a metaphor from soldiers
who cast up banks
against the city which they besiege.
Destruction — To
destroy me.
Verse 13
[13] They
mar my path
they set forward my calamity
they have no helper.
Mar — As
I am in great misery
so they endeavour to stop all my ways out of it.
Set forward —
Increasing it by their invectives
and censures.
Even they —
Who are themselves in a forlorn and miserable condition.
Verse 14
[14] They
came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled
themselves upon me.
Waste place — In
the waste place; in that part of the bank which was broken down.
They rolled — As
the waters
come rolling in at the breach.
Verse 15
[15]
Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare
passeth away as a cloud.
Terrors — If
he endeavoured to shake them off
they turned furiously upon him: if he
endeavoured to out run them
they pursued his soul
as swiftly and violently as
the wind.
Verse 20
[20] I
cry unto thee
and thou dost not hear me: I stand up
and thou regardest me
not.
I stand — I
pray importunately and continually.
Verse 21
[21] Thou
art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.
Turned — As
if thou hadst changed thy very nature
which is kind
and merciful
and
gracious.
Verse 22
[22] Thou
liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it
and dissolvest my
substance.
Thou —
Thou exposest me
to all sorts of storms and calamities; so that I am like
chaff or stubble lifted up to the wind
and violently tossed hither and thither
in the air.
Substance — By
which
my body is almost consumed
and my heart is melted within me.
Verse 23
[23] For
I know that thou wilt bring me to death
and to the house appointed for all
living.
House appointed —
The grave is a narrow
dark
cold house
but there we shall rest and be safe.
It is our home
for it is our mother's lap
and in it we are gathered to our
fathers. It is an house appointed for us
by him that has appointed the bounds
of all our habitations. And it is appointed for all living. It is the common
receptacle for rich and poor: we must all be brought thither
and that shortly.
Verse 24
[24]
Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave
though they cry in his
destruction.
To the grave —
The hand of God's wrath will not follow me beyond death; I shall then be safe
and easy: Tho' men cry in his destruction: tho' most men cry and are
affrighted
while they are dying
while the body is sinking into destruction;
yet I desire it
I have nothing to fear therein
since I know that my redeemer
liveth.
Verse 25
[25] Did
not I weep for him that was in trouble was not my soul grieved for the poor?
Did not I —
Have I now judgment without mercy
because I afforded no mercy to others in
misery? No; my conscience acquits me from this inhumanity: I did mourn over
others in their miseries.
Verse 26
[26] When
I looked for good
then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light
there
came darkness.
Upon me —
Yet trouble came upon myself
when I expected it not.
Verse 27
[27] My
bowels boiled
and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.
Affliction —
Came upon me suddenly
and unexpectedly
when I promised myself peace and
prosperity.
Verse 28
[28] I
went mourning without the sun: I stood up
and I cried in the congregation.
Without the sun —
Heb. black
not by the sun. My very countenance became black
tho' not by the
sun
but by the force of my disease.
Verse 29
[29] I am
a brother to dragons
and a companion to owls.
A brother — By
imitation of their cries: persons of like qualities are often called brethren.
Dragon —
Which howl and wail mournfully in the deserts.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Job》
30 Chapter 30
Verses 1-31
But now they that are
younger than I have me in derision.
Job’s social disabilities
Man’s happiness as a
social being is greatly dependent upon the kind feeling and respect which is
shown to him by his contemporaries and neighbours. The social insolence from
which he suffers
and of which he complains
was marked by the following
circumstances:--
I. It came from
the most contemptible characters. He regarded them as despicable in their
ancestry. “Whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my
flock.” “They were driven from among men
and people cried after them as after
a thief.” “Among the bushes they brayed.” These were the creatures amongst whom
the patriarch now lived
and whose insolence he had to endure. They had no
faculty to discern or appreciate his moral worth
and so utterly destitute of
any power to compassionate distress that they treated him with a heartless
cruelty and revolting insolence. Men may say that a man of his high character
ought not to have allowed himself to have been pained with the conduct of such
wretches. But who has ever done so? Even Christ Himself felt the reproaches of
sinners
and was not indifferent to their revilings and their sneers. “He
endured their contradictions.”
II. It was
manifested in personal annoyances. “Now I am their song
” he says
“I am their
byword.”
III. It was shown to
him on account of his providential reverses. Not because he had become
contemptible in character
or morally base and degraded. Only because his
circumstances were changed
great prosperity had given way to overwhelming
adversity. Learn--
1. The worthlessness of mere social fame. What is it worth? Nothing.
Its breath of favour is more fickle than the wind.
2. The moral heroism of the world’s Redeemer. Christ came into a
social position far more heartless and insolent than that which the patriarch
here describes. “Of the people there was none with Him
He was despised and
rejected of men.”
3. The importance of habitual reliance on the absolute. Do not trust
in man. (Homilist.)
Verse 12
Upon my right hand rise the youth.
The prospects of life
I. The prospects
of life are generally bright. Young people are full of buoyancy
animal
spirits
ardent desire
sanguine expectation
high hope: all that is before
them takes a colouring from themselves. There is little or no experience of
life
by the use of which exaggerated views may be modified
and a correct
estimate of the future ensured. Youthful hope often anticipates long life
and
it fills up that life with many visions of success and happiness.
II. The prospects
of life
to which hope gives such a colouring are often illusive. A fine
morning often ends in a wet and stormy day. Projects begun under favourable
auspices frequently come to nought. Young people live in a realm of illusions.
The young are liable to misapprehension
and need to be prepared for some
measure of disappointment. Men at fifty often find that they have failed to
reach the height to which at twenty they aspired. Often the secret of failure
has been lack of ability
or of perseverance
or of character.
III. A few counsels.
1. The present is a season of preparation for the future. Life is
very much what we make it. Then sow now the seeds that shall grow up
and
blossom
and fruiten into a good and blessed future.
2. Prepare for the future by the exercise of fidelity to yourself and
to God in the present.
3. You need physical preparation for the future. A man’s body has
much to do with his mind and character. Courage and fortitude derive much
support from a healthy physical constitution.
4. You need mental preparation for the future. I have had many
opportunities of seeing what men lose for want of education and mental culture
and what they gain by their possession. Increase your knowledge by reading and
observation. Strengthen your mental powers by use.
5. Moral and spiritual preparation. Set before yourself a noble
object in life. Form a purpose
and seek to fulfil it. Place yourself under the
teaching and government of conscience. Have right and fixed principle to guide
you. Consecrate yourselves to God
and commit your life to His care. Have faith
in Him. (W. Waiters.)
The days of affliction
have taken hold upon me.
Physical pain
In these verses the
patriarch sketches his great corporeal sufferings
his physical anguish.
Probably man’s capability of bodily suffering is greater than that of any other
animal existence. His nerves are more tender
his organisation is more
exquisite and complicated.
I. It tends to
stimulate intellectual research. “Pain
” says a modern author
“has been the
means of our increasing our knowledge
our skill
and our comforts. Look to the
discoveries made in science--in botany
in chemistry
in anatomy: what a
knowledge have we gained of the structures and uses of plants
while we were
seeking some herb to soothe pain or cure disease! What a knowledge have we
gained of drugs
and salts
and earths
useful for agriculture
or for the fine
arts
while we have been seeking only to find an ointment or a medicine! We
have sought a draught to allay the burning thirst of a fever
and we have found
a dozen delicious beverages to drink for our pleasure or relief. We studied
anatomy to find out the seat of disease
and how to attack it
and we found
what we did not seek--a thousand wonderful works of God
a thousand most
curious contrivances
most admirable delights! We found a model for the ribs of
a ship; we found the pattern of a telescope in the eye; we found joints and
straps
strutting and valves
which have been copied into the workshop of the
mechanic and the study of the philosopher. Yes
we may thank our liability to
pain for this--for if pain had not existed
who can tell whether these things
would have been so soon
if at all discovered.”
II. It tends to
heighten man’s estimate of Divine goodness. The physical sufferings of men
however aggravated and extensive
are not the law of human life
but the
exception. They are but a few discordant notes in the general harmony of his
existence
a few stormy days and nights in his voyage through life. We
appreciate the dawning of the morning
because we have struggled fiercely with
difficulties in the night. We appreciate the full flow of health because we
have felt the torture of disease. Inasmuch
therefore
as human suffering
which is an exception in the general life of mankind
helps to heighten our
estimate of God’s goodness to our race
it is anything but an unmitigated evil.
Nay
it is a blessing in disguise.
III. It tends to
improve our spiritual nature. Physical sufferings have led many a man to a
train of spiritual reflections that have resulted in the moral salvation of the
soul. As by the chisel the sculptor brings beauty out of the marble block; as
by the pruning knife the gardener brings rich clusters from the vine; as by the
bitter drug the physician brings health to his patient; as by the fire the
refiner brings pure gold out of the rough ore--so by suffering the great Father
brings spiritual life
beauty
and perfection into the soul. “Affliction
” says
quaint old Adams
“is a winged chariot
that mounts up the soul toward heaven.”
(Homilist.)
The use of afflictions
As opposite colours in a
picture contribute to the beauty of the scenery or figures portrayed on the
canvas by the artist
so God makes contrary things to promote His glory
and
equally develop grace and character in us. There could be no vocal or musical
harmony if all the voices and sounds were exactly alike in a concert. There is
no real beauty in a painting that has no shades blending with the bright
sunlight. As a foil is adapted to make the lustre of a diamond more conspicuous
to the eye of the observer
so the contrary things and afflictions of this life
God will use to make His love more illustrious and convey His grace with more
agreeable sensations to our souls. (R. Venting.)
Verse 20
I cry unto Thee
and Thou dost not hear me.
Unanswered prayer
1. There is no state so low but a godly man may have a freedom with
God in prayer. Though a poor soul be in the mire
though he be but dust and
ashes
yet he hath access to the throne of grace.
2. It is our duty to pray most
and usually we pray best
when it is
worst with us; when we are nigh the mire and dust
prayer is not only most
seasonable
but most pure.
3. Affliction provokes a soul to pray to the utmost
to pray not only
in sincerity
but with fervency
not only to pray with faith
but with a holy
passion
or passionately.
4. When prayer is sent out with a cry to God in affliction
it is a
wonder if it be not presently heard.
5. Not to be heard in a day of trouble and affliction is more troublesome
to a gracious heart than all his afflictions. Job thought he was not heard
because he had not present deliverance; and in that sense
indeed
he was not
heard. And thus many of the saints may pray and not be heard; that is
they may
pray
and not have present deliverance. How may we know that we are heard at
any time?
Thou art become cruel to me.
Job’s grievance against God
He says that God
who formerly had been kind to him
was now
become cruel in His actings and dispensations toward him; and whereas He was
wont to support him
He did now employ His power
as an enemy
in opposition to
him. Job
in expressing his sorrow and resentments
is too pathetic
and
expresseth much passion and weakness
for which he is reproved by Elihu.
Considering this complaint in itself
it teacheth--
1. It is the way of God’s people to take up God as their chief party
in all their troubles.
2. God may seem
for a time
not only not to hear godly supplicants
but even to be a severe foe to them. “Thou art become cruel.”
3. It is a character of a godly man
that he is sadly afflicted with
any sign of God’s indignation
or even with the want of an evidence of God’s
favour and affection in trouble. Wicked men look rather to their lot in itself
without minding God’s favour
or anger
in it.
4. Whether the wicked think of God’s favour
who never knew it
yet
the want of it will be sad to the godly
who have tasted by experience how sweet
it is.
5. As God’s power
when He lets it forth in effects
is irresistible
and unsupportable for any creature to endure it
however fools do harden
themselves
so godly men will soon groan under the apprehension thereof. It is
indeed a characteristic of godly men that they are sensible of their own
weakness
and therefore are soon made to stoop under the mighty hand of God.
Learn--
(1)
All
men by nature are apt to have hard thoughts of God in trouble.
Misunderstanding God
The only safe
sure way of avoiding this terrible peril is to
study reverently and carefully what He has told us about Himself. It is a
common temptation to accept the statements of others when they have the
semblance of authority
and are asserted stoutly
as if they must be true. We may
and we ought
each of us
to become personally acquainted with our Heavenly
Father. But our only hope of learning to know Him lies in patiently
lovingly
studying His character as revealed to us in Jesus Christ. His providences
too
often are such that we misunderstand them. Few of us are allowed to walk only
in the light of conscious
joyous peace. Most of us sometimes are at a loss how
to interpret the Divine dealings with us. There are occasions in some lives
when God Himself seems to render it almost impossible to obey Him. Undoubtedly
the object of such trying experiences is to develop a mightier faith. There
must be always one possible next step forward in the path of duty; or
if there
be actually none
this must be because the time to take it has not come
and
patient
prayerful waiting is the present duty. We may misunderstand the
meaning of what is ordained for us
but we need not misunderstand its purpose.
Those who have a faith strong enough to feel that behind the tangled scheme of
human affairs God sits calmly directing all things
are wisest and happiest.
His providences are meant to teach this
at the least. When the last analysis
has been worked out it becomes apparent that the great central
fundamental
evil which we most need to guard against
is this of misunderstanding our
Heavenly Father. If we can learn to see things from His point of view
to look
upon life
duty
pleasure
eternity
as He looks upon them
we shall be assured
of safety and peace. Otherwise we never can be. (Christian Age.)
To the house appointed for all living.
The house appointed for all living
What were the definite grounds on which Job formed this
conclusion?
1. What he saw around him on every side.
2. Job’s bodily sufferings intimated also the same result. These
increased and accumulated
and plainly tended
unless arrested
in the
providence of God
to dissolution.
3. Creation around him impressed on him the same conclusion.
4. Job learned the lesson from Divine teaching. Learn who is the
dispenser of death. We are prone to attribute all to second causes. Notice
Job’s personal application and appropriation to the truth in the text. We must
translate Christianity from the impersonal to the personal. We have a
description of that change of which the patriarch was thus personally assured.
He calls it “death
” and the “house appointed for all living.” Death is the
child of sin
though grace has made it the servant of Jesus. It is not
annihilation. There is nothing natural or desirable in death itself. This is
the only house that may be called the house of humanity. It is a dark house
a
solitary house
a silent house
an ancient house. Even this house has a sunlit
side. It is not an eternal prison house
but a resting place
a cemetery or
sleeping place. (John Cumming
D. D.)
Variety in the conduct of men at death
1. Consider those whom we esteem pious. Of these
in the time of
death
there are three classes
widely differing from each other in their dying
experiences. Some are agitated by terror
doubts
and apprehensions. Some are
exulting and triumphant. Some
without any extraordinary raptures
have a sweet
calm and tranquillity of spirit
a filial confidence and trust in their
Redeemer. We refer
of course
only to those whose rational powers are
unimpaired. We are not to judge of the future state of a man merely by his
death-bed exercises. This is an error to which we are far too prone; an error
that in its consequences is most pernicious.
2. The deathbeds of those who have lived impenitent and unbelieving
without God
and without Christ in the world. Here we find similar diversity.
Some are filled with agony and horror
some have a false joy
and an
unwarranted exultation; and some are stupid
insensible
and unconcerned. (H.
Kollock
D. D.)
Death universal
Man’s life is a stream
running into death’s devouring deeps.
Doctrine--All must die. There is an unalterable statute of death
under which
men are concluded. This is confirmed by daily observation. The human body
consists of perishable materials. We have sinful souls
and therefore have
dying bodies; death follows sin
as the shadow follows the body.
1. Man’s life is a vain and empty thing. Our life
in the several
parts of it
is a heap of vanities.
2. Man’s life is a short thing; a short-lived vanity.
3. Man’s life is a swift thing; a flying vanity. Having thus
discoursed of death
let us improve it in discerning the vanity of the world in
bearing up
with Christian contentment and patience
under all troubles and
difficulties in it; in mortifying our lusts; in cleaving unto the Lord with
full purpose of heart at all hazards
and in preparing for death’s approach. (T.
Boston
D. D.)
The certainty of death
The certainty of death. “All must die.”
1. There is an unalterable statute of death
under which men are
included.
2. If we consult daily observation. Everyone seeth that “wise men
die
likewise the fool and brutish person.”
3. The human body consists of perishing principles.
4. We have sinful souls
and therefore have dying bodies.
5. Man’s life in this world is but a few degrees removed from death.
Scripture represents it as vain and empty
short in continuance
and swift in
its passage.
Improvement--
1. Let us hence
as in a glass
behold the vanity of the world; look
into the grave
and listen to the doctrine of death.
(1)
This
world is a false friend
who leaves a man in time of greatest need.
2. It may serve as a storehouse for Christian contentment and
patience under worldly crosses and losses.
3. It may serve as a bridle to curb all manner of lust.
The mission of death
Since we know assuredly that God will bring us to death
consider--
I. The certainty
of its approaching soon. All the works of nature
in this inferior system
seem
only made to be destroyed. Man is not exempted. Our life is forever on the
wing
although we mark not its flight. Even now death is doing its work. If
death be certainly approaching
let us learn the value of life. If death be at
hand
then certainly time is precious.
II. The time and
manner of the arrival of death. Death is called in Scripture “the land without
any order.” And without any order the king of terrors makes his approaches in
the world. He wears a thousand forms
marking out the unhappy man for their
prey.
III. The change
which death introduces. When we pass from the living world to the dead
what a
sad picture do we behold! The periods of human life passing away
the certainty
of the dissolution that awaits us
and the frequent examples of mortality which
continually strike our view
lead us to reflect with seriousness upon the house
appointed for all living. Death is the great teacher of mankind. (J. Logan
F. R. S. E.)
Death and the grave our common inheritance
The Coptic version reads thus:--“I know now that death will
destroy me
for the earth is the house of all the dead.” We have in the text
two personifications. “Death will destroy me.” “The grave is the house for all
the dead.” The power to wound and the pleasure of victory are figuratively
ascribed to death and the grave. Death is said to be the extinction of life
but that neither defines nor explains it. We know death by its results. Life!
Is it important to us
and wherein is its value and importance? The importance
of life to every one of us is for our virtue
religion
happiness
and
usefulness among our fellowmen
and to determine the character of our
responsibility
our afterlife
our destiny. Life
as connected with this world
only
is the precious time for the discipline of the passions and affections
the elevation of our nature
the accumulations of virtue
the influence
principles
and power of religion
the happiness that ordinarily accompanies
them
and the usefulness suggested and sustained by them. Our virtue
our
religious character
the state of our hearts
veiled and unveiled
and the
actions of our lives
will determine our everlasting destiny. Our
responsibility relates to the honest convictions of our minds and hearts. (R.
Ainslie.)
Death
I. The divinity of
death. “I know that Thou wilt bring me to death.” Men ascribe death to one of
three causes--disease
accident
or age; but the Bible ascribes it to God.
“Thou wilt bring me to death.”
1. Nothing else can bring me to death unless Thou wilt. My existence
depends every moment on Thy will.
2. Nothing else can prevent me from dying if Thou wiliest that I
should depart; all is with Thee. “Thou turnest man to destruction. Thou
changest his countenance and sendest him away.” There are no premature deaths.
II. The ordination
of death. “The house appointed.” Death is no chance matter. “It is appointed
unto all men once to die.”
1. This appointment is very natural; all organic life dies: all
sublunary life finds the “house” of mortality. To this “house” all plants
reptiles
insects
birds
fishes
beasts direct their steps.
2. This appointment is very settled. This appointment is kept as
immutably as the ordinances of heaven or any of the laws of nature.
III. The
universality of death. “For all living.” Men
when living
have houses of
various shapes
sizes
value
according to their tastes and means
but in dying
they have only one “house.” All go to one place. What a “house” is this grave!
ancient--desolate--spacious--crowded. (Homilist.)
Relieving thoughts concerning death
The text suggests some thoughts of Job concerning his own death.
I. There will be
nothing unnatural in my death. It is “appointed” as the death of every other
kind of organised life on earth: it is the natural law of all organised bodies
to wear out
decay
dissolve. As the earth takes back to itself all the
elements that have entered into the composition of vegetables and animals
why
should I refuse or dread the demand? I may rest assured that kind nature will
make a benign and beneficent use of all the elements that have entered into my
corporeal existence. Let me be ready to yield them up unreluctantly
ungrudgingly
thanking the Infinite for their use.
1. It is dishonest for me to object to this; for my body was only
borrowed property
a temporary loan
nothing more.
2. It is ungrateful for me to object to this. Though I never had a
claim to such a boon
it has been of great service to my spiritual nature.
3. It is unphilosophic for me to object to this. Whatever my
objections and resistance
it must come.
II. There will he
nothing uncommon in my death. “The house appointed for all living.” Were I one
of a few
amongst the millions of the race
singled out for such a destiny
I
might complain; but since all
without any exception
must die
who am I that I
should complain?
III. There will be
nothing accidental in my death. “I know that Thou wilt bring me to death.” (Homilist.)
Concerning death
Job suffered from a terrible sickness
which filled him with pain
both day and night. He says in the eighteenth verse
“By the great force of my
disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.”
When our God by our affliction calls upon us to number our days
let us not
refuse to do so. Yet Job made a mistake in the hasty conclusion which he drew
from his grievous affliction. Under depression of spirit he felt sure that he
must very soon die. But he did not die at that time. He was fully recovered
and God gave him twice as much as he had before. It is a pity for us to pretend
to predict the future
for we certainly cannot see an inch before us. It is the
part of a brave man
and especially of a believing man
neither to dread death
nor to sigh for it; neither to fear it nor to court it. Job made a mistake as
to the date of his death
but he made no mistake as to the fact itself. He
spake truly when he said
“I know that Thou wilt bring me to death.” “Oh
”
saith one
“but I do not feel called upon to think of it.” Why
the very season
of the year calls you to it. Each fading leaf admonishes you. Oh! you that are
youngest
you that are fullest of health and strength
I lovingly invite you
not to put away this subject from you. Remember
the youngest may be taken
away.
I. I call your
attention to a piece of personal knowledge: “I know that Thou wilt bring me to
death
and to the house appointed for all living.” A general truth here
receives a personal application.
1. Job knew that he should be brought to the grave
because he
perceived the universality of that fact in reference to others.
2. He knew it also because he had considered the origin of mankind.
We were taken out of the earth
and it is only by a prolonged miracle that this
dust of ours is kept from going back to its kindred. If we had come from heaven
we might dream that we should not die. Thus we have affinities which call us
back to the dust.
3. Further
Job had a recollection of man’s sin
and knew that all
men are under condemnation on account of it. Does he not say that the grave is
a “house appointed for all living”? It is appointed simply because of the penal
sentence passed upon our first parent
and in him upon the whole race.
4. Once more
Job arrived at this personal knowledge through his own
bodily feebleness. Those who die daily will die easily. Those who make themselves
familiar with the tomb will find it transfigured into a bed: the charnel will
become a couch. The man who rejoices in the covenant of grace is cheered by the
fact that even death itself is comprehended among the things which belong to
the believer.
II. Having thus
discoursed upon a piece of personal knowledge
I now beg you to see in my text
the shining of holy intelligence. Job
even in his anguish
does not for a
moment forget his God. He speaks of Him here: “I know that Thou wilt bring me
to death.”
1. He perceives that he will not die apart from God. He does not say
his sore boils or his strangulation will bring him to death; but
“Thou wilt
bring me to death.” He does not trace his approaching death to chance
or to
fate
or to second causes; no
he sees only the hand of the Lord. Let us
rejoice that in life and death we are in the Lord’s hands.
2. The text seems to me to cover another sweet and comforting
thought
namely
that God will be with us in death. “I know that Thou wilt
bring me to death.” He will bring us on our journey till He brings us to the
journey’s end: Himself our convoy and our leader.
3. It may not be in the text
but it naturally follows from it
that
if God brings us to death
He will bring us up again.
III. I pass on to
notice the quiet expectation which breathes in this text. I want to reason with
those disciples of our Lord Jesus who are in bondage from fear of death. What
are the times when men are able to speak of death quietly and happily?
1. Sometimes they do so in periods of great bodily suffering. I have
on several occasions felt everything like fear of dying taken from me simply by
the process of weariness.
2. The growing infirmities of age work in the same way
beloved
without falling into sickness.
3. By being filled with an entire submission to the will of God.
Delight in God is the cure for dread of death.
4. Next
I believe that great holiness sets us free from the love of
this world
and makes us ready to depart.
5. Another thing that will make us look at death with complacency is
when we have a full assurance that we are in Christ
and that
come what may
nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Live in such a way that any day would make a suitable topstone for life. Let me
add that there are times when our joys run high
when the big waves come
rolling in from the Pacific of eternal bliss; then we see the King in His
beauty by the eye of faith
and though it be but a dim vision
we are so
charmed with it that our love of Him makes us impatient to behold Him face to
face.
IV. I conclude by
saying that this subject affords us sacred instruction. “I know that Thou wilt
bring me to death
and to the house appointed for all living.”
1. Let us prepare for death.
2. Live diligently.
3. Next to that
let us learn from the general assembly in the house
appointed for all living to walk very humbly. A common caravansary must
accommodate us all in the end; wherefore let us despise all pride of birth
rank
or wealth.
4. Be prompt
for life is brief.
5. Men and women
project yourselves into eternity; get away from
time
for you must soon be driven away from it. You are birds with wings; sit
not on these boughs forever blinking in the dark like owls; bestir yourselves
and mount like eagles. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Did I not weep for him that was in trouble.
Tears for the oppressed
By noticing the care with which Job throws back the insinuation of
Eliphaz
how much he valued the character of charity
and how he esteemed it
his bounden duty to contribute to the wants and necessities of others. Our text
is a pathetic appeal
displaying the truly compassionate character of the
patriarch. What are the tears which we may imagine fell from the eyes of Job
and which do fall from the eyes of every compassionate man that witnesses
suffering and sorrow? They were tears of grief
of sincerity
of
self-condemnation. But the compassionate man
like Job
may pour forth tears of
indignation. For whom did compassionate Job thus weep? Lit. for “him in a hard
day.” He that was suffering from privation. I now have to plead for such
for
men who are suffering from over-toil and over-exertion. Special reference may
be made to the “late-hour system.” (J. M’Connell Hussey
B. A.)
Christian sympathy
In endeavouring to justify the ways of God
Job’s three friends
came to the harsh conclusion that he would not have been so severely afflicted
if he had not been a very great sinner. Among other accusations against the
afflicted patriarch
Eliphaz the Temanite had the cruelty to lay this at his
door
“Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink
and thou hast
withholden bread from the hungry.” Richly did the three miserable comforters
deserve the burning rebuke of their slandered friend
“Ye are forgers of lies
ye are physicians of no value. O that ye would altogether hold your peace and
it shall be your wisdom.”
I. Human sympathy
its commendations.
1. We may say of it
first
that even nature dictateth that man
should feel a sympathy for his kind. Humanity
had it remained in its unfallen
estate
would have been one delightful household of brothers and sisters. Alas!
for us
when Adam fell he not only violated his Maker’s laws
but in the fall
he broke the unity of the race
and now we are isolated particles of manhood
instead of being what we should have been
members of one body
moved by one
and the same spirit. Called with a nobler calling
let us exhibit as the result
of our regenerate nature a loftier compassion for the suffering sons of men.
2. Further
we may remark that the absence of sympathy has always
been esteemed
in all countries
and in all ages
one of the most abominable of
vices. In old classic history who are the men held up to everlasting
execration? Are they not those who had no mercy on the poor?
3. Sympathy is especially a Christian’s duty.
4. Remember the blessed example of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
that
though He was rich
yet
for our sakes He became poor
that we through His poverty might be rich.”
5. Sympathy is essential to our usefulness.
6. Here I must supplement that thought with another; sympathy may
often be the direct means of conversion.
7. And I shall say here
that this sympathy is sure to be a great
blessing to yourselves. If you want joy--joy that you may think upon at nights
and live upon day after day
next to the joy of the Lord
which is our
strength
is the joy of doing good. The selfish man thinks that he has the most
enjoyment in laying out his wealth upon himself. Poor fool!
II. The hindrances
to Christian sympathy.
1. One of the great impediments to Christian sympathy is our own
intense selfishness. We are all selfish by nature
and it is a work of grace to
break this thoroughly down
until we live to Christ
and not to self any
longer. How often is the rich man tempted to think that his riches are his own.
2. Another hindrance lies in the customs of our country. We still
have amongst us too much of caste and custom. The exclusiveness of rank is not
readily overcome.
3. Much want of sympathy is produced by our ignorance of one another.
We do not know the sufferings of our fellows.
4. No doubt the abounding deception which exists among those who seek
our help has checked much liberality.
III. The fruits of
Christian sympathy.
1. The fruit of Christian sympathy will be seen in a kindly
association with all Christians: we shall not shun them nor pass them by.
2. It will be seen next
in a kindly encouragement of those who want
aid
constantly being ready to give a word of good advice
and good cheer to
the heart which is ready to faint.
3. Show it
also
whenever you hear the good name of any called into
doubt. Stand up for your brethren. ‘Tis an ill bird that fouls its own nest
but there are some such birds.
4. But still
there is no Christian sympathy in all this if it does
not
when needed
prove itself by real gifts of our substance. Zealous words
will not warm the cold; delicate words will not feed the hungry; the freest
speech will not set free the captive
or visit him in prison. (C. H.
Spurgeon.).
──《The Biblical Illustrator》