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Job Chapter
Thirty-one
Job 31
Chapter Contents
Job declares his uprightness. (1-8) His integrity. (9-15)
Job merciful. (16-23) Job not guilty of covetousness or idolatry. (24-32) Job
not guilty of hypocrisy and violence. (33-40)
Commentary on Job 31:1-8
(Read Job 31:1-8)
Job did not speak the things here recorded by way of
boasting
but in answer to the charge of hypocrisy. He understood the spiritual
nature of God's commandments
as reaching to the thoughts and intents of the
heart. It is best to let our actions speak for us; but in some cases we owe it
to ourselves and to the cause of God
solemnly to protest our innocence of the
crimes of which we are falsely accused. The lusts of the flesh
and the love of
the world
are two fatal rocks on which multitudes split; against these Job
protests he was always careful to stand upon his guard. And God takes more
exact notice of us than we do of ourselves; let us therefore walk
circumspectly. He carefully avoided all sinful means of getting wealth. He
dreaded all forbidden profit as much as all forbidden pleasure. What we have in
the world may be used with comfort
or lost with comfort
if honestly gotten.
Without strict honestly and faithfulness in all our dealings
we can have no
good evidence of true godliness. Yet how many professors are unable to abide this
touchstone!
Commentary on Job 31:9-15
(Read Job 31:9-15)
All the defilements of the life come from a deceived
heart. Lust is a fire in the soul: those that indulge it
are said to burn. It
consumes all that is good there
and lays the conscience waste. It kindles the
fire of God's wrath
which
if not quenched by the blood of Christ
will
consume even to eternal destruction. It consumes the body; it consumes the
substance. Burning lusts bring burning judgments. Job had a numerous household
and he managed it well. He considered that he had a Master in heaven; and as we
are undone if God should be severe with us
we ought to be mild and gentle
towards all with whom we have to do.
Commentary on Job 31:16-23
(Read Job 31:16-23)
Job's conscience gave testimony concerning his just and
charitable behaviour toward the poor. He is most large upon this head
because
in this matter he was particularly accused. He was tender of all
and hurtful
to none. Notice the principles by which Job was restrained from being
uncharitable and unmerciful. He stood in awe of the Lord
as certainly against
him
if he should wrong the poor. Regard to worldly interests may restrain a
man from actual crimes; but the grace of God alone can make him hate
dread
and shun sinful thoughts and desires.
Commentary on Job 31:24-32
(Read Job 31:24-32)
Job protests
1. That he never set his heart upon the
wealth of this world. How few prosperous professors can appeal to the Lord
that they have not rejoiced because their gains were great! Through the
determination to be rich
numbers ruin their souls
or pierce themselves with
many sorrows. 2. He never was guilty of idolatry. The source of idolatry is in
the heart
and it corrupts men
and provokes God to send judgments upon a
nation. 3. He neither desired nor delighted in the hurt of the worst enemy he
had. If others bear malice to us
that will not justify us in bearing malice to
them. 4. He had never been unkind to strangers. Hospitality is a Christian
duty
1 Peter 4:9.
Commentary on Job 31:33-40
(Read Job 31:33-40)
Job clears himself from the charge of hypocrisy. We are
loth to confess our faults
willing to excuse them
and to lay the blame upon
others. But he that thus covers his sins
shall not prosper
Proverbs 28:13. He speaks of his courage in what
is good
as an evidence of his sincerity in it. When men get estates unjustly
they are justly deprived of comfort from them; it was sown wheat
but shall
come up thistles. What men do not come honestly by
will never do them any
good. The words of Job are ended. They end with a bold assertion
that
with
respect to accusation against his moral and religious character as the cause
for his sufferings
he could appeal to God. But
however confident Job was
we
shall see he was mistaken
Job 40:4
5; 1 John 1:8. Let us all judge ourselves; wherein
we are guilty
let us seek forgiveness in that blood which cleanseth from all
sin; and may the Lord have mercy upon us
and write his laws in our hearts!
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Job》
Job 31
Verse 1
[1] I
made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
I made — So
far have I been from any gross wickedness
that I have abstained from the least
occasions and appearances of evil.
Verse 2
[2] For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the
Almighty from on high?
For —
What recompence may be expected from God for those who do otherwise.
Above —
How secretly soever unchaste persons carry the matter
so that men cannot
reprove them
yet there is one who stands upon an higher place
whence he seeth
in what manner they act.
Verse 5
[5] If I
have walked with vanity
or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
Walked —
Dealt with men.
Vanity —
With lying
or falsehood.
Deceit — If
when I had an opportunity of enriching myself
by wronging others
I have
readily and greedily complied with It.
Verse 6
[6] Let
me be weighed in an even balance
that God may know mine integrity.
Let me — I
desire nothing more than to have my heart and life weighed in just balances
and searched out by the all-seeing God.
That God —
Or
and he will know; (upon search he will find out: which is spoken of God
after the manner of men:) Mine integrity - So this is an appeal to God to be witness
of his sincerity.
Verse 7
[7] If my step hath turned out of the way
and mine heart walked after mine
eyes
and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
Heart — If
I have let my heart loose to covet forbidden things
which mine eyes have seen:
commonly sin enters by the eye into the heart.
A blot —
Any unjust gain.
Verse 8
[8] Then
let me sow
and let another eat; yea
let my offspring be rooted out.
Increase —
All my plants
and fruits
and improvements.
Verse 10
[10] Then
let my wife grind unto another
and let others bow down upon her.
Then —
Not as if Job desired this; but that if God should give up his wife to such
wickedness
he should acknowledge his justice in it.
Verse 11
[11] For
this is an heinous crime; yea
it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.
This —
Adultery.
It is —
Heb. an iniquity of the judges; which belongs to them to take cognizance of
and to punish
even with death; and that not only by the law of Moses
but even
by the law of nature
as appears from the known laws and customs of the Heathen
nations.
Verse 12
[12] For
it is a fire that consumeth to destruction
and would root out all mine
increase.
Destruction —
Lust is a fire in the soul; it consumes all that is good there
the
convictions
the comforts; and lays the conscience waste. It consumes the body
consumes the substance
roots out all the increase. It kindles the fire of
God's wrath
which if not quenched by the blood of Christ
will burn to the
lowest hell.
Verse 16
[16] If I
have withheld the poor from their desire
or have caused the eyes of the widow
to fail;
If I —
Denied them what they desired of me.
To fail —
With tedious expectation of my justice or charity. Job is most large upon this
head
because in this matter Eliphaz had most particularly accused him.
Verse 18
[18] (For
from my youth he was brought up with me
as with a father
and I have guided
her from my mother's womb;)
Youth — As
soon as I was capable of managing mine own affairs.
With me —
Under my care.
A father —
With all the diligence and tenderness of a father.
Her —
The widow mentioned verse 16.
From —
From my tender years; ever since I was capable of discerning good and evil.
Verse 19
[19] If I
have seen any perish for want of clothing
or any poor without covering;
Perish —
When it was in my power to help them.
Verse 21
[21] If I
have lifted up my hand against the fatherless
when I saw my help in the gate:
When —
When I saw I could influence the judges to do what I pleased.
Verse 23
[23] For
destruction from God was a terror to me
and by reason of his highness I could
not endure.
For — I
stood in awe of God and of his judgments.
I could not — I
knew myself unable either to oppose his power
or to bear his wrath. Even good
men have need to restrain themselves from sin
with the fear of Destruction
from God. Even when salvation from God is a comfort to us
yet destruction from
God should be a terror to us. Adam in innocency was awed by a threatning.
Verse 26
[26] If I
beheld the sun when it shined
or the moon walking in brightness;
I — This place speaks of
the worship of the host of heaven
and especially of the sun and moon
the most
eminent and glorious of that number
which was the most ancient kind of
idolatry
and most frequent in the eastern countries.
Shined — In
its full strength and glory.
Verse 27
[27] And
my heart hath been secretly enticed
or my mouth hath kissed my hand:
Kissed — In
token of worship
whereof this was a sign.
Verse 28
[28] This
also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the
God that is above.
The judge —
The civil magistrate; who being advanced and protected by God
is obliged to
maintain and vindicate his honour
and consequently to punish idolatry.
Denied God —
Not directly but by consequence
because this was to rob God of his
prerogative
by giving to the creature
that worship which is peculiar to God.
Verse 29
[29] If I
rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me
or lifted up myself when evil
found him:
Lift up —
Heb. stirred up myself to rejoice and insult over his misery.
Verse 31
[31] If
the men of my tabernacle said not
Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be
satisfied.
If — My domesticks and
familiar friends.
His flesh —
This is farther confirmation of Job's charitable disposition to his enemy.
Although all who were daily conversant with him
and were witnesses of his and
their carriage
were so zealous in Job's quarrel
that they protested they
could eat their flesh
and could not be satisfied without. Yet he restrained
both them and himself from executing vengeance upon them.
Verse 33
[33] If I
covered my transgressions as Adam
by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:
As Adam — As
Adam did in Paradise.
Verse 34
[34] Did
I fear a great multitude
or did the contempt of families terrify me
that I
kept silence
and went not out of the door?
Did I fear —
No: all that knew Job knew him to be a man of resolution
that boldly appeared
spoke and acted
in defence of religion and justice. He durst not keep silence
or stay within
when called to speak or act for God. He was not deterred by the
number
or quality
or insults of the injurious
from reproving them
and doing
justice to the injured.
Verse 35
[35] Oh
that one would hear me! behold
my desire is
that the Almighty would answer
me
and that mine adversary had written a book.
Had written —
Had given me his charge written in a book or paper
as the manner was in
judicial proceedings. This shews that Job did not live
before letters were in
use. And undoubtedly the first letters were those wrote on the two tables
by
the finger of God. He wishes
his friends
who charged him with hypocrisy
would draw up the charge in writing.
Verse 36
[36]
Surely I would take it upon my shoulder
and bind it as a crown to me.
Take it — As
a trophy or badge of honour.
Verse 37
[37] I
would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto
him.
Him — My
judge
or adversary.
My steps —
The whole course of my life.
A prince —
With undaunted courage and confidence.
Verse 38
[38] If
my land cry against me
or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;
Cry —
Because I have gotten it by fraud or violence.
Verse 39
[39] If I
have eaten the fruits thereof without money
or have caused the owners thereof
to lose their life:
Without money —
Either without paying the price for the land
or by defrauding my workmen of
their wages.
Life —
Killing them that I might have undisturbed possession of it
as Ahab did
Naboth.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Job》
31 Chapter 31
Verses 1-40
I
made a covenant with mine eyes.
Guard the
senses
Set a
strong guard about thy outward senses: these are Satan’s landing places
especially the eye and the ear. (W. Gurnall.)
Methods of
moral life
Let
us look at the kind of life Job says he lived
and in doing so let it be
remarked that all the critics concur in saying that this chapter contains more
jewels of illustration
of figure or metaphor
than probably any other chapter
in the whole of the eloquent book. Job is therefore at his intellectual best.
Let him tell us the kind of life he lived: whilst he boasts of it we may take
warning by it; the very things he is clearest about may perhaps awaken our
distrust. Job had tried a mechanical life--“I made a covenant with mine eyes”
(verse 1). The meaning of “a mechanical life” is a life of regulation
penance
discipline; a life all marked out like a map; a kind of tabulated life
every
hour having its duty
every day its peculiar form or expression of piety. Job
smote himself; he set before his eyes a table of negations; he was not to do a
hundred things. He kept himself well under control; when he burned with fire
he plunged into the snow; when his eyes wandered for a moment
he struck them
both
and blinded himself in his pious indignation. He is claiming reward for
this. Truly it would seem as if some reward were due. What can a man do more
than write down upon plain paper what he will execute
or what he will forbear
doing
during every day of the week? His first line tells what he will do
or
not do
at the dawn; he will be up with the sun
and then he will perform such
a duty
or crucify such and such a passion he will live a kind of military
life; he will be a very soldier. Is this the true way of living? Or is there a
more excellent way? Can we live from the outside? Can we live by chart
and
map
and schedule
and printed regulation? Can the race be trained in its
highest faculties and aspects within the shadow of Mount Sinai? Or is the life
to be regulated from within? Is it the conduct that is to be refined
or the
motive that is to be sanctified and inspired? Is life a washing of the hands
or a cleansing of the heart? The time for the answer is not now
for we are
dealing with an historical instance
and the man in immediate question says
that he tried a scheduled life. He wrote or printed with his own hand what he
would do
and what he would not do
and he kept to it; and though he kept to
it
some invisible hand struck him in the face
and lightning never dealt a
deadlier blow. Job then says he tried to maintain a good reputation amongst
men--“If I have walked with vanity
or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; let me
be weighed in an even balance
that God may know mine integrity. If my step
hath turned out of the way
and mine heart walked after mine eyes
and if any
blot hath cleaved to mine hands; then let me sow
and let another eat; yea
let
my offspring be rooted out” (verses 5-8). That was a public challenge. There
were witnesses; let them stand forth: there was a public record kept; let it be
read aloud. This man asks for no quarter; he simply says
read what I have done
let the enemy himself read it
for even the tongue of malice cannot pervert the
record of honesty. Will not this bring a sunny providence? Will not this tempt
condescending heaven to be kind
and to give public coronation to so faithful a
patron? Is there no peerage for a man who has done all this? Nay
is he to be
displaced from the commonalty and thrust down
that he may be a brother to
dragons and a companion to owls? All this has he done
and yet he says
“My
skin is black upon me
and my bones are burned with heat. My harp also is
turned to mourning
and my organ into the voice of them that weep” (Job 30:30-31). This is not what we have thought of Providence. We have said
Who lives best in the public eye will be by the public judgment most honourably
and cordially esteemed: the public will take care of its servants; the public
will stand up for the man who has done all he could in the interests of the
public; slave
man or woman
will spring to the master’s rescue
because of
remembered kindnesses. Is Job quite sure of this? Certainly
or he would not
have used such imprecations as flowed from his eloquent lips:--If I have done
thus
and so
then let me sow
and let another eat; yea
let my offspring be
rooted out: let my wife grind servilely unto another: let mine arm fall from my
shoulder blade
and mine arm be broken from the bone. So then Job himself is
speaking earnestly. Yet
he says
though I have done all this
I am cast into
the mire
and I am become like dust and ashes: though I have done all this
God
is cruel unto me
and He does not hear me: I stand up
and He regardeth me not:
with His strong hand He opposeth Himself against me: He has lifted me up to the
wind
and He has driven me away with contempt: He has not given me time to
swallow down my spittle: I
the model man of my day
have been crushed like a
venomous beast. Job
therefore
does not modify the case against God. He misses
nothing of the argument and withholds nothing of the tragic fact. He makes a
long
minute
complete
and urgent statement. And this statement is found in
the Bible! Actually found in a Book which is meant to assert eternal providence
and justify the ways of God to man! It is something that the Bible could hold
within its limits the Book of Job. It is like throwing one’s arms around a
furnace; it is as if a man should insist upon embracing some ravenous beast
and accounting him as a member of the household. These charges against
Providence are not found in a book written in the interests of what is called
infidelity or unbelief; this impeachment is part of God’s own book. (Joseph
Parker
D. D.)
Verse 14
What
then shall I do when God riseth up?
The great
question
1. Job’s mind was deeply impressed with a sense of his own
responsibility. There is a natural inclination in the mind of man to diminish
the sense of responsibility. In most transactions of life men frequently evince
a desire to escape as much as possible from personal responsibility. There are
responsibilities arising out of the very conformation of the society in which
we live
that cannot be avoided. It never can be a matter of choice with us
whether we shall be responsible to God
and in the sight of God. The very
nature of our relation to God implies responsibility
and the very character of
God
in reference to that relationship
also implies responsibility. The
responsibility of man to God reaches to the whole of man’s moral being.
2. Job’s conviction that there is a day coming in which God will
arise. As a Sovereign
making inquisition
and holding a grand assize in which
the universe should be concerned. And God will “visit.” That term is often used
in the sense of visitation for the purpose of punishment. God will arise as the
legislator of the universe--as the promulgator of a law which has been
universally violated
and which has not exercised its restraining influence
upon the hearts of men because their allegiance had departed. Of necessity
there must be vindication. Either the justice of God must fail
or there must
be a vindication. As the law of God reaches to the minutest details of human
existence and of human conduct
the vindication must reach every personal
interest
the details of every individual life. And the Lord must visit as an
avenger; for vindication implies vengeance. The God whose own arm hath brought
salvation
shall be the God who shall visit in the way of vengeance. Job asks
“When He visiteth
what shall I answer Him?” Should not we ask the same
question? What will the man of this world
of pleasure
and of gain
answer?
Realise the necessity for finding some answer. There is but one answer. There
is nothing to do but to cling to the Cross of Jesus. (George Fish
LL. B.)
The great
account
The
subject brought before us here is our personal responsibility; that everyone
must give account of himself to God. Nothing is hid from the all-seeing eye of
Jehovah
that searcheth the heart and the reins
and looketh at the motive
the
object
the spirit
in which the man acts.
I. Man’s responsibility. We must all give account to God
not merely
masters
but servants also; and we must give account in all the transactions of
everyday life. Every man has time
talents
opportunities
gifts; every man has
a certain station
every man has a certain amount of influence; and we are all
responsible for the right use before God. Not one of you can help this
influence going forth upon those around you; not one of you can avoid the
things you do
telling
in one way or another
upon those with whom you have
intercourse. You must do good
or you must do evil. This responsibility “we
need to face
for it is one that presses always.
II. The way of meeting this responsibility. Two things are spoken of
here.
1. What shall we do? Regarding ourselves as responsible to God
what
shall we do when He rises in judgment? Shall we not fear to face a holy God?
Shall we hide ourselves from God
in order to elude His searching eye? That
surely is a vain consideration. Shall we resist His summons? Surely that too is
vain.
2. What shall we answer? Shall we say that we have not broken one of
God’s commandments? Shall we
like the Pharisee
compare ourselves with others?
Shall we “begin to make excuse”? Shall we plead God’s mercy? The careless
cannot meet God. Nor can the formalist; nor the hypocrite and pretender. The
two great things we require to be experimentally acquainted with
are
repentance and faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ. “Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ
” and you are delivered at once from the power of the law
and all the
accusations of Satan
because Jesus has conquered him
and you also win the
victory through faith in Him. (John W. Reeve
M. A.)
The final
judgment and ground of acquittal
I. The certainty of a day of visitation and reckoning.
1. This is indicated by the testimony of conscience. Conscience is
the vicegerent of the Almighty. It discriminates between virtue and vice
attaching to either their respective awards.
2. By a reference to the moral economy of man
or the economy of
God’s dealings towards man.
3. The certainty of a day of visitation is fully unfolded in the Book
of God.
II. The ground upon which an answer is to be prepared to the question
in our text. Classify the Christian community into four compartments.
1. There are some who have no answer prepared. This is a fact of
undoubted certainty.
2. Others prepare an answer on a self-righteous principle. They plead
obedience to the requirements of God’s law.
3. Others confide in the uncovenanted mercy of God.
4. But some take higher ground
and are preparing their answer in
reference to the righteousness of Christ Jesus our Lord. This is the only plea
which will bear inspection
the only foundation for the exercise of mercy. (Adam
Gun
A. M.)
The day of
visitation
Although
Job appears to have taken an undue estimate of his own righteousness
and
certainly adhered to his own integrity with a blamable tenacity
yet his
scrupulous conscientiousness is greatly to be admired. The smallest act of
injustice or oppression
nay
even of neglect
towards the meanest slave or
household servant
was viewed by Job as a sin against God
and one for which
God would hereafter call him to account!
I. The occasion contemplated. “When God will rise up
and when He
will visit” in judgment.
1. He appears now
as it were
indifferent to the affairs of men.
2. A day is coming when He will arise and visit. It is the day of
death. It is the day of punishment. It is the day of judgment.
3. The certainty of its approach. Accountability seems almost an
instinct in man. The day of judgment must come--there is no escape from it.
4. Yet most persons believe and act as if they believed it not. How
surprising is the indifference of professed believers!
II. The important inquiry respecting this solemn event. “When He
visiteth
what shall I answer Him?”
1. There is individuality in this question; it is the soul’s
soliloquy. Not what shall this man do; but what shall I do?
2. It is
what shall I do? But the time for action is then over. Can
I escape and hide myself? Can I evade or deceive? Can I contend with Him?
3. It is
what shall I answer? Various are the excuses with which men
satisfy their consciences now
but they will avail nothing then. The following
will have nothing to answer
--vicious men and dissipated. Men who have
neglected their souls. Self-satisfied formalists. The spiritual professor who
has not departed from secret sin. There will be one who can answer--the poor
penitent
humble
believing disciple of Jesus. (F. Close
A. M.)
Verse 15
Did
not He that made me in the womb make him?
God the
universal Creator
I. Illustrate the doctrine here conveyed. Both high and low
rich and
poor
all sorts and conditions of men
have one common Creator.
1. The unity of creation
Men’s tastes
habits
abodes
and
appearances differ
but men are one family.
2. The high position of the Divine Being. There are none to divide
His praise
none to claim His position.
3. The harmony of God’s providential dealings. He can cause one event
to fit in with another
one person to assist and help his fellow
and out of
the apparently diverse elements to make one perfect
harmonious
and beautiful
whole.
II. Apply the subject to our own improvement. We are taught from the
fact stated by Job. If we see another sin
our language should be
“Did not He
that made me make him?” And we should bear with him tenderly. If we see another
in want or poverty our thoughts should be
“Did not He that made me make him?”
And we should afford our best relief.
1. Some suggestions for our duty towards God. He is our Creator. As
our supreme Benefactor and Maker we should manifest our sense of His authority
over us and our dependence on His care.
2. Some reflections on our duty one to another. (Homilist.)
Man’s common
rights
Had
we not one and the same Creator
and have we not consequently the same nature?
We may observe in regard to this sentiment--
1. That it indicates a very advanced state of view in regard to man.
The attempt has been always made by those who wish to tyrannise over others
or
who aim to make slaves of others
to show that they are of a different race
and that in the design for which they were made
they are wholly inferior.
Arguments have been derived from their complexion
from their supposed
inferiority of intellect
and the deep degradation of their condition
often
little above that of brutes
to prove that they were originally inferior to the
rest of mankind. On this the plea has been often urged
and oftener felt than
urged
that it is right to reduce them to slavery. Since this feeling so early
existed
and since there is so much that may be plausibly said in defence of
it
it shows that Job had derived his views from something more than the
speculations of men and the desire of power
when he says that he regarded all
men as originally equal
and as having the same Creator. It is
in fact
a
sentiment which men have been practically very reluctant to believe
and which
works its way very slowly even yet on the earth.
2. This sentiment
if fairly embraced and carried out
would soon
destroy slavery everywhere. If men felt that they were reducing to bondage those
who were originally on a level with themselves
--made by the same God
with the
same faculties
and for the same end; if they felt that in their very origin
in their nature
there was that which could not be made mere property
it would
soon abolish the whole system. It is kept up only where men endeavour to
convince themselves that there is some original inferiority in the slave which
makes it proper that he should be reduced to servitude
and be held as
property. But as soon as there can be diffused abroad the sentiment of Paul
that” God hath made of one blood all nations of men
” that moment the shackles
of the slave will fall
and he will be free. (Albert Barnes.)
Verse 19
If
I have seen any perish for want of clothing.
A good man’s
righteousness
These
words do in general set forth the practice of a good man in the acts of mercy
and righteousness
which do
above all others
declare him a follower of our
blessed Lord. But chiefly they do imply something concerning the nature
manner
and object of those acts. In vulgar practice indeed men care not much
for any acquaintance with the needy
and are all for doing kindnesses to them
whose fortunes do not require it
or who can return the same again; but the
good man’s behaviour is like that of Job. If we care not to approve ourselves
to God
by doing all the good we can to our brethren
we are so far sunk into
the miserable state of hell. To prevent this misery we must be watchful over
our minds
that they do not fall into a covetous humour
which is a stain to
the soul
that can hardly be got out. Covetousness ever presses upon the
sinner
and leaves no room for a sober or a relenting thought. Mankind seem to
be distinguished into higher and lower ranks by Divine wisdom and providence
in order to the exercise of an universal charity. Such a charity as sweetens
men’s spirits
and from being rough and sour
makes them kind and affable to
the meanest person
ready to oblige everyone with a gentle and humble
compliance. Such a charity as envies no man
but is pleased at the prosperity
of others
is made better by their health
and rejoices at seeing them
cheerful. Such a charity as never domineers
but scorns that usual insolence
which is the spring of many disorders
and of much contempt of the poor. Such a
charity as doth never demean itself haughtily or with reproach in words or
gestures
but calmly debates all matters
that it may not behave itself
unseemly. In fine
such a charity as thinks nothing too great to undertake
or
too hard to undergo
for the good of mankind. Now if this kind of charity did
but get ground in the world
it would very much better the condition and the
manners of it. A thorough reformation must be expected only from them who make
others better
by their counsel
and by their example. The best arguments for
our giving of alms are
that it is the only course we can take.
1. To be like our blessed Saviour.
2. To do services acceptable to God.
3. To save our souls forever. Wherefore
if ye know these things
happy are ye if ye do them. (John Hartcliffe
B. D.)
The poor man’s
plea heeded
Some
one expressed surprise to Eveillon
Canon and Archdeacon of Angers
that none
of his rooms were carpeted. He answered
“When I enter my house in wintertime
the floors do not tell me that they are cold; but the poor
who are trembling
at my gate
tell me they want clothes.”
Verses 24-28
If I have made gold my hope.
On the love of money
How universal is it among those who are in pursuit of wealth to
make gold their hope; and
among those who are in possession of wealth
to make
fine gold their confidence! Yet we are here told that this is virtually as
complete a renunciation of God as to practise some of the worst charms of
idolatry. We recoil from an idolater as from one who labours under a great
moral derangement
in suffering his regards to be carried away from the true
God to an idol. But is it not just the same derangement
on the part of man
that he should love any created good
and in the enjoyment of it lose sight of
the Creator--that
thoroughly absorbed with the present and the sensible
gratification
there should be no room left for the movements of duty
or
regard to the Being who furnished him with the materials
and endowed him with
the organs of every gratification? There is an important distinction between
the love of money
and the love of what money purchases. Either of these
affections may equally displace God from the heart. But there is a malignity
and an inveteracy of atheism in the former which does not belong to the latter
and in virtue of which it may be seen that the love of money is
indeed
the
root of all evil. A man differs from an animal in being something more than a
sensitive being. He is also a reflective being. He has the power of thought
and inference
and anticipation. And yet it will be found
in the case of every
natural man
that the exercise of those powers
so far from having carried him
nearer
has only widened his departure from God
and given a more deliberate
and wilful character to his atheism than if he had been without them
altogether. In virtue of the powers of mind which belong to him
he can carry
his thoughts beyond the present desires and the present gratification. He can
calculate on the visitations of future desire
and on the means of its
gratification. But the reason of man
and the retrospective power of man
still
fail to carry him
by an ascending process
to the first cause. He stops at the
instrumental cause
which
by his own wisdom and his own power
he has put into
operation. In a word
the man’s understanding is overrun with atheism
as well
as his desires. To look no further than to fortune as the dispenser of all the
enjoyments which money can purchase
is to make that fortune stand in the place
of God. It is to make sense shut out faith. We have the authority of that Word
which has been pronounced a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart
that it cannot have two masters
or that there is not in it room for two great
and ascendant affections. Covetousness offers a more daring and positive
aggression on the right and territory of the Godhead
than even infidelity. The
latter would only desolate the sanctuary of heaven; the former would set up an
abomination in the midst of it. When the liking and the confidence of men are
toward money
there is no direct intercourse
either by the one or the other of
these affections towards God; and in proportion as he sends forth his desires
and rests his security on the former
in that very proportion does he renounce
God as his hope
and God as his dependence. (T. Chalmers
D. D.)
The worship of wealth
What is the true idea of property--something to be left behind
when we die
or something which may be interwoven with our immortal nature
and
so will last us for eternity? Money
jewels
lands
houses
books
decorations
of all sorts and kinds
must be taken leave of at the bed of death. But there
are things that last. Habits are wrought into the intellect and will--the love
of God and of man
sincerity
purity
disinterestedness
these things live
and
are really property
for death cannot touch them. Most men regard civilisation
as mere material progress; but true human improvement must be an improvement of
the man himself. And man himself is not what he owns and can handle
nor even
his bodily frame
but he is a spirit clothed in a bodily form. His real
improvement consists in that which secures the freedom and the supremacy of the
noblest part of his nature. A true civilisation is that which shall promote
this upon a great scale in human society. What do we see every year as the
London season draws near
but a bevy of mothers
like generals
set out on a
campaign
prepared to undergo any amount of fatigue if only they can marry
their daughters
not necessarily to high-souled
virtuous men
but in any ease
to a fortune! What do we see but a group of young men
thinking
after perhaps
a career of dissipation
that the time has arrived for settling respectably in
life
and looking
each one of them
not for a girl who has the graces and
character which will make her husband and children happy
but for somebody who
has a sufficient dowry to enable him to keep up a large establishment! Who can
wonder
when the most sacred of all human relations
the union of hearts for
time and for eternity
is thus prostituted to the brutal level of an affair of
cash
that such transactions are quickly followed by months or years of
misery--misery which
after seething long in private
is at last paraded before
the eyes of the wondering world amid the unspeakable shame and degradation of
the Divorce Court! (Canon Liddon.)
If I have covered my transgressions as Adam
by hiding mine
iniquity in my bosom.
Hiding and confessing sin
To cover and hide sin is sin: it is the adding of sin to sin. Sin
is the disease of the soul
and there is no such way to increase and make a
disease desperate as to conceal it. Silence feeds and cherishes the diseases of
the body; and so it doth the diseases of our souls. Sin increaseth two ways
by
concealment or hiding.
1. In the guilt of it. The obligation to punishment takes stronger
hold upon the soul
and every man is bound the faster with those chains of
darkness by how much the more he labours to keep his sins in the dark. The
longer a sin remains upon the conscience unpardoned
the more doth the guilt of
it increase. Now all the while sin is hid
all the while sin is artificially
and intentionally covered
it remains unpardoned; and therefore the guilt of it
must needs increase upon the soul.
2. Sin being thus covered
increaseth in the filth and contagion of
it
in the strength and power of it
it gains more upon the soul
it grows more
master and more masterly; lust begins to rage
rave
it commands and carries
all before it
while we are so foolish as to keep it close and covered. If any
say
Surely it is not so sinful to cover and hide sin
for doth not Scripture
condemn those that did not hide it? I answer
that there is a two-fold not
hiding of sin.
1. A confession of the fact
or the thing done (Joshua 7:19).
2. A confession of the fault; that is
that in doing so we have done
amiss
or done sinfully and foolishly.
3. There is in confession not only an acknowledgment of the fact and
fault
but a submission to the punishment. Confession is a judging of ourselves
worthy of death. True confession is a submitting to the sentence of the Judge
yea
a judging of ourselves
and a justifying of God in all
even in His
sharpest and severest dispensations. Some may say
Is there a necessity to make
such a confession of sin
seeing that God is already acquainted with and knows
our sins
with all the circumstances and aggravations of them? But we do not
confess to inform God of what He knows not
but to give glory to God in that
which He knows. We are also called to an acknowledgment and confession of our
sins to God
that we ourselves may be more deeply affected with them. The
knowledge which God hath of sin in and by Himself may be a terror to sinners
His knowing of them by us is only a ground of comfort; God hath nowhere
promised to pardon sin because He knows it
but He hath if we make it known.
Nothing is known properly to God in that capacity as He pardons and forgives
but that which is acknowledged by us. The acknowledgment of sin is--
Sin should be confessed feelingly
sincerely
with
self-abhorrence
and believingly. (Joseph Caryl)
The words of Job are ended.
Job’s final position
Running like a golden thread through all this vehement and
passionate language
we have seen a vein of thought which has given this
half-rebellious questioner a claim upon our sympathy
and which even had the
book ended here
would have prevented thoughtful men from joining his
opponents
and from abandoning the solitary and tortured sufferer to the
reproaches of his friends
and to the condemnation of the future readers of
this great controversy. His soul
ripened by the hot blast of cruel affliction
is being prepared for a step
a long step forward
in that progressive
revelation of God Himself to man
given us in Holy Scripture. He sickens at the
sight and sense of wrong
and clinging to the conviction that
in spite of all
appearances
God must be just--juster than his friends
or his own creed
or
his own experience have declared Him to be--he struggles to be true
at once to
himself
to his conscience
and his God. He yearns for a clearer sight of
and
a nearer approach to the Divine Being against whom
as seen in the insufficient
light given him
he has launched so vehement an indictment
so terrible a flood
of fervid and poetic wrath. And while he has no sure and certain hope of a life
beyond the grave
such as was revealed to the world in Christ
yet his pathetic
moans at the finality of death give place
once to a dim aspiration
and once
and again to a more loud assertion of his conviction--bursting forth like a
flash of light from his darkest mood--that even if he is to die
die in his
misery and desolation
God will yet be his Goel
his Vindicator; that somehow
he knows not how
he shall even after the shock of death have sight of God
and
have his wrongs redressed; and therefore that he who has once been so dear to
Him
and who has fallen so low in this life
will not be left to be “of all men
most miserable.” And we have noticed how
in his description of his early life
he moves in a serene and lofty atmosphere
puts before us a moral standard of
practice and even of thought which a Christian might be thankful to attain and
realise And now
he and his friends are alike silent
silent but unconvinced.
Neither the one side nor the other have won the adhesion of those against whom
they argue. They cannot point to any guilt on Job’s part. He cannot convince
them of his innocence. Neither one side nor the other have
we cannot but feel
laid their hands upon the whole truth. Yet each has exhausted his store of
arguments
shot his arrows
and emptied his quiver. And deep as is the hold
which Job has gained upon our interest and sympathy
yet “the light and shade
has been so graduated that those sympathies are not entirely confined to one
side.” (Dean Bradley.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》