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   Title: Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of
   Solomon)
   Creator(s): Henry, Matthew
   Print Basis: 1706-1721
   Rights: Public domain. May be copied and distributed freely.
   CCEL Subjects: All; Bible; Classic; Proofed
   LC Call no: BS490.H4
   LC Subjects:

   The Bible

   Works about the Bible
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Matthew Henry's

                         Commentary on the Whole Bible

    Unabridged


  Volume III

Job to Song of Solomon
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P R E F A C E

Job to Song of Solomon
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   These five books of scripture which are contained in this third volume
   and which I have here endeavoured, according to the measure of the gift
   given to me, to explain and improve, for the use of those who desire to
   read them, not only with understanding, but to their
   edification--though they have the same divine origin, design, and
   authority, as those that went before, yet, upon some accounts, are of a
   very different nature from them, and from the rest of the sacred
   writings, such variety of methods has Infinite Wisdom seen fit to take
   in conveying the light of divine revelation to the children of men,
   that this heavenly food might have (as the Jews say of the manna)
   something in it agreeable to every palate and suited to every
   constitution. If every eye be not thus opened, every mouth will be
   stopped, and such as perish in their ignorance will be left without
   excuse. We have piped unto you, and you have not danced, we have
   mourned unto you, and you have not lamented, Matt. xi. 17.

   I. The books of scripture have hitherto been, for the most part, very
   plain and easy, narratives of matter of fact, which he that runs may
   read and understand, and which are milk for babes, such as they can
   receive and digest, and both entertain and nourish themselves with. The
   waters of the sanctuary have hitherto been but to the ankles or to the
   knees, such as a lamb might wade in, to drink of and wash in; but here
   we are advanced to a higher form in God's school, and have books put
   into our hands wherein are many things dark and hard to be understood,
   which we do not apprehend the meaning of so suddenly and so certainly
   as we could wish, the study of which requires a more close application
   of mind, a greater intenseness of thought, and the accomplishing of a
   diligent search, which yet the treasure hid in them, when it is found,
   will abundantly recompense. The waters of the sanctuary are here to the
   loins, and still as we go forward we shall find the waters still risen
   in the prophetical books, waters to swim in (Ezek. xlvii. 3-5), not
   fordable, nor otherwise to be passed over--depths in which an elephant
   will not find footing, strong meat for strong men. The same method is
   observable in the New Testament, where we find the plain history of
   Christ and his gospel placed first in the Evangelists and the Acts of
   the Apostles; then the mystery of both in the Epistles, which are more
   difficult to be understood; and, lastly, the prophesies of things to
   come in the apocalyptic visions. This method, so exactly observed in
   both the Testaments, directs us in what order to proceed both in
   studying the things of God ourselves and in teaching them to others; we
   must go in the order that the scripture does; and where can we expect
   to find a better method of divinity and a better method of preaching?

   1. We must begin with those things that are most plain and easy, as,
   blessed be God, those things are which are most necessary to salvation
   and of the greatest use. We must lay our foundation firm, in a sound
   experimental knowledge of the principles of religion, and then the
   super-structure will be well reared and will stand firmly. It is not
   safe to launch out into the deep at first, nor to venture into points
   difficult and controverted until we have first thoroughly digested the
   elements of the oracles of God and turned them in succum et
   sanguinem--into juice and blood. Those that begin their Bible at the
   wrong end commonly use their knowledge of it in the wrong way. And, in
   training up others, we must be sure to ground them well at first in
   those truths of God which are plain, and in some measure level to their
   capacity, which we find they comprehend, and relish, and know how to
   make use of, and not amuse those that are weak with things above them,
   things of doubtful disputation, which they cannot apprehend any
   certainty of nor advantage by. Our Lord Jesus spoke the word to the
   people as they were able to hear it (Mark iv. 33) and had many things
   to say to his disciples which he did not say because as yet they could
   not bear them, John xvi. 12, 13. And those whom St. Paul could not
   speak to as unto spiritual--though he blamed them for their
   backwardness, yet he accommodated himself to their weakness, and spoke
   to them as unto babes in Christ, 1 Cor. iii. 1, 2.

   2. Yet we must not rest in these things. We must not be always children
   that have need of milk, but nourished up with that, and gaining
   strength, we must go on to perfection (Heb. vi. 1), that having, by
   reason of use, our spiritual senses exercised (Heb. v. 14), we may come
   to full age, and put away childish things, and, forgetting the things
   which are behind, that is, so well remembering them (Phil. iii. 13)
   that we need not be still poring over them as those that are ever
   learning the same lesson, we may reach forth to the things which are
   before. Though we must never think to learn above our Bible, as long as
   we are here in this world, yet we must still be getting forward in it.
   You have dwelt long enough in this mountain; now turn and take your
   journey onward in the wilderness towards Canaan. Our motto must be Plus
   ultra--Onward. And then shall we know if thus, by regular steps (Hos.
   vi. 3), we follow on to know the Lord and what the mind of the Lord is.

   II. The books of scripture have hitherto been mostly historical, but
   now the matter is of another nature; it is doctrinal and devotional,
   preaching and praying; and in this way of writing, as well as in the
   former, a great deal of excellent knowledge is conveyed, which serves
   very valuable purposes. It will be of good use to know not only what
   others did that went before us, and how they fared, but what their
   notions and sentiments were, what their thoughts and affections were,
   that we may, with the help of them, form our minds aright. Plutarch's
   Morals are reputed as a useful treasure in the commonwealth of learning
   as Plutarch's Lives, and the wise disquisitions and discourses of the
   philosophers as the records of the historians; nor is this divine
   philosophy (if I may so call it), which we have in these books, less
   needful, nor less serviceable, to the church, than the sacred history
   was. Blessed be God for both.

   III. The Jews make these books to be given by a divine inspiration
   somewhat different from that both of Moses and the prophets. They
   divided the books of the Old Testament into the Law, the Prophets and
   the ktwbym--Writings, which Epiphanius emphatically translates
   grapheia--things written, and these books are more commonly called
   among the Greeks Hagiographa--Holy writings: the Jews attribute them to
   that distinct kind of inspiration which they call rwh hqds--The Holy
   Spirit. Moses they supposed to write by the Spirit in a way above all
   the other prophets, for with him God spoke mouth to mouth, even
   apparently (Num. xii. 8) knew him, that is, conversed with him face to
   face, Deut. xxxiv. 10. He was made partaker of divine revelation (as
   Maimonides distinguishes, De Fund. Legis, c. 7) per vigiliam--while
   awake, [1] whereas God manifested himself to all the other prophets in
   a dream or vision: and he adds that Moses understood the words of
   prophecy without any perturbation or astonishment of mind, whereas the
   other prophets commonly fainted and were troubled. But the writers of
   the Hagiographa they suppose to be inspired in a degree somewhat below
   that of the other prophets, and to receive divine revelation, not as
   they did by dreams, and visions, and voices, but (as Maimonides
   describes it, More Nevochim--part 2 c. 45) they perceived some power to
   rise within them, and rest upon them, which urged and enabled them to
   write or speak far above their own natural ability, in psalms or hymns,
   or in history or in rules of good living, still enjoying the ordinary
   vigour and use of their senses. Let David himself describe it. The
   Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and his word was in my tongue; the God
   of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, 2 Sam. xxiii. 2, 3.
   This gives such a magnificent account of the inspiration by which David
   wrote that I see not why it should be made inferior to that of the
   other prophets, for David is expressly called a prophet, Acts ii. 29,
   30. But, since our hand is in with the Jewish masters, let us see what
   books they account Hagiographa. These five that are now before us come,
   without dispute, into this rank of sacred writers, and the book of the
   Lamentations is not unfitly added to them. Indeed the Jews, when they
   would speak critically, reckon all those songs which we meet with in
   the Old Testament among the Hagiographa; for though they were penned by
   prophets, and under the direction of the Holy Ghost, yet, because they
   were not the proper result of a visum propheticum--prophetic vision,
   they were not strictly prophecy. As to the historical books, they
   distinguish (but I think it is a distinction without a difference);
   some of them they assign to the prophets, calling them the prophetae
   priores--the former prophets, namely, Joshua, Judges, and the two books
   of the Kings; but others they rank among the Hagiographa, as the book
   of Ruth (which yet is but an appendix to the book of Judges), the two
   books of Chronicles, with Ezra, Nehemiah, and the book of Esther, which
   last the rabbin have a great value for, and think it is to be had in
   equal esteem with the law of Moses itself, that it shall last as long
   as that lasts, and shall survive the writings of the Prophets. And,
   lastly, they reckon the book of Daniel among the Hagiographa, [2] for
   which no reason can be given, since he was not inferior to any of the
   prophets in the gift of prophecy; and therefore the learned Mr. Smith
   thinks that their placing him among the Hagiographical writers was
   fortuitous by mistake. [3] Mr. Smith, in his Discourse before quoted,
   though he supposes this kind of divine inspiration to be more "pacate
   and serene than that which was strictly called prophecy, not acting so
   much upon the imagination, but seating itself in the higher and purer
   faculties of the soul, yet shows that it manifested itself to be of a
   divine nature, not only as it always elevated pious souls into strains
   of devotion, or moved them strangely to dictate matters of true piety
   and goodness, but as it came in abruptly upon the minds of those holy
   men, and transported them from the temper of mind they were in before,
   so that they perceived themselves captivated by the power of some
   higher light than that which their own understanding commonly poured
   out upon them; and this, says he, was a kind of vital form to that
   light of divine and sanctified reason which they were perpetually
   possessed of and that constant frame of holiness and goodness which
   dwelt in their hallowed minds." We have reason to glorify the God of
   Israel who gave such power unto men and has here transmitted to us the
   blessed products of that power.

   IV. The style and composition of these books are different from those
   that go before and those that follow. Our Saviour divides the books of
   the Old Testament into the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luke
   xxiv. 44), and thereby teaches us to distinguish those books that are
   poetical, or metrical, from the Law and the Prophets; and such are all
   these that are now before us, except Ecclesiastes, which yet, having
   something restrained in its style, may well enough be reckoned among
   them. They are books in verse, according to the ancient rules of
   versifying, though not according to the Greek and Latin prosodies. Some
   of the ancients call these five books the second Pentateuch of the Old
   Testament, [4] five sacred volumes which are as the satellites to the
   five books of the law of Moses. Gregory Nazianzen [5] (carm. 33, p. 98)
   calls these hai sticherai pente--the five metrical books; first Job (so
   he reckons them up), then David, then the three of
   Solomon-Ecclesiastes, the Song, and Proverbs. Amphilochius, bishop at
   Iconium, in his iambic poem to Seleucus, reckons them up particularly,
   and calls them sticheras pente Biblos--the five verse-books. Epiphanius
   (lib. de ponder. et mensur. p. 533) pente stichereis--the five
   verse-books. And Cyril. Hierosol. Collect. 4, p. 30 (mihi--in my copy),
   calls these five books ta stichera--books in verse. Polychronius, in
   his prologue to Job, says that as those that are without call their
   tragedies and comedies poietika--poetics, so, in sacred writ, those
   books which are composed in Hebrew metre (of which he reckons Job the
   first) we call stichera biblia--books in verse, written kata
   stichon--according to order. What is written in metre, or rhythm, is so
   called from metros--a measure, and arithmos--a number, because
   regulated by certain measures, or numbers of syllables, which please
   the ear with their smoothness and cadency, and so insinuate the matter
   the more movingly and powerfully into the fancy. Sir William Temple,
   [6] in his essay upon poetry, thinks it is generally agreed to have
   been the first sort of writing that was used in the world, nay, that,
   in several nations, poetical compositions preceded the very invention
   or usage of letters. The Spaniards (he says) found in America many
   strains of poetry, and such as seemed to flow from a true poetic vein,
   before any letters were known in those regions. The same (says he) is
   probable of the Scythians and Grecians: the oracles of Apollo were
   delivered in verse. Homer and Hesiod wrote their poems (the very
   Alcoran of the pagan daemonology) many ages before the appearing of any
   of the Greek philosophers or historians; and long before them (if we
   may give credit to the antiquities of Greece), even before the days of
   David, Orpheus and Linus were celebrated poets and musicians in Greece;
   and at the same time Carmenta, the mother of Evander, who was the first
   that introduced letters among the natives of Greece, was so called `a
   carmine--from a song, because she expressed herself in verse. And in
   such veneration was this way of writing among the ancients that their
   poets were called vates--prophets, and their muses were deified. But,
   which is more certain and considerable, the most ancient composition
   that we meet with in scripture was the song of Moses at the Red Sea
   (Exod. xv.), which we find before the very first mention of writing,
   for that occurs not until Exod. xvii. 14, when God bade Moses write a
   memorial of the war with Amalek. The first, and indeed the true and
   general end of writing, is a help of memory; and poetry does in some
   measure answer that end, and even in the want of writing, much more
   with writing, helps to preserve the remembrance of ancient things. The
   book of the wars of the Lord (Num. xxi. 14), and the book of Jasher
   (Josh. x. 13; 2 Sam. i. 18), seem to have been both written in poetic
   measures. Many sacred songs we meet with in the Old Testament,
   scattered both in the historical and prophetical books, penned on
   particular occasions, which, in the opinion of very competent judges,
   "have in them as true and noble strains of poetry and picture as are
   met with in any other language whatsoever, in spite of all
   disadvantages from translations into such different tongues and common
   prose, [7] nay, are nobler examples of the true sublime style of poetry
   than any that can be found in the Pagan writers; the images are so
   strong, the thoughts so great, the expressions so divine, and the
   figures so admirably bold and moving, that the wonderful manner of
   these writers is quite inimitable." [8] It is fit that what is employed
   in the service of the sanctuary should be the best in its kind.

   The books here put together are poetical. Job is an heroic poem, the
   book of Psalms a collection of divine odes or lyrics, Solomon's Song a
   pastoral and an epithalamium; they are poetical, and yet sacred and
   serious, grave and full of majesty. They have a poetic force and flame,
   with out poetic fury and fiction, and strangely command and move the
   affections, without corrupting the imagination or putting a cheat upon
   it; and, while they gratify the ear, they edify the mind and profit the
   more by pleasing. It is therefore much to be lamented that so powerful
   an art, which was at first consecrated to the honour of God, and has
   been so often employed in his service, should be debauched, as it has
   been, and is at this day, into the service of his enemies--that his
   corn, and wine, and oil should be prepared for Baal.

   V. As the manner of the composition of these books is excellent, and
   very proper to engage the attention, move the affections, and fix them
   in the memory, so the matter is highly useful, and such as will be
   every way serviceable to us. They have in them the very sum and
   substance of religion, and what they contain is more fitted to our
   hand, and made ready for use, than any part of the Old Testament, upon
   which account, if we may be allowed to compare one star with another in
   the firmament of the scripture, these will be reckoned stars of the
   first magnitude. All scripture is profitable (and this part of it in a
   special manner) for instruction in doctrine, in devotion, and in the
   right ordering of the conversation. The book of Job directs us what we
   are to believe concerning God, the book of Psalms how we are to worship
   him, pay our homage to him, and maintain our communion with him, and
   then the book of the Proverbs shows very particularly how we are to
   govern ourselves en pase anastrophe--in every turn of human life; thus
   shall the man of God, by a due attention to these lights, be perfect,
   thoroughly furnished for every good work. And these are placed
   according to their natural order, as well as according to the order of
   time; for very fitly are we first led into the knowledge of God, our
   judgments rightly formed concerning him, and our mistakes rectified,
   and then instructed how to worship him and to choose the things that
   please him. We have here much of natural religion, its principles, its
   precepts--much of God, his infinite perfections, his relations to man,
   and his government both of the world and of the church; here is much of
   Christ, who is the spring, and soul, and centre, of revealed religion,
   and whom both Job and David were eminent types of, and had clear and
   happy prospects of. We have here that which will be of use to enlighten
   our understandings, and to acquaint us more and more with the things of
   God, with the deep things of God--speculations to entertain the most
   contemplative, and discoveries to satisfy the most inquisitive and
   increase the knowledge of those that are most knowing. Here is that
   also which, with a divine light, will bring into the soul the heat and
   influence of a divine fire, will kindle and inflame pious and devout
   affections, on which wings we may soar upwards until we enter into the
   holiest. We may here be in the mount with God, to behold his beauty;
   and when we come down from that mount, if we retain (as we ought) the
   impressions of our devotion upon our spirits and make conscience of
   doing that good which the Lord our God here requires of us, our faces
   shall shine before all with whom we converse, who shall take occasion
   thence to glorify our Father who is in heaven, Matt. v. 16. Thus great,
   thus noble, thus truly excellent, is the subject, and thus capable of
   being improved, which gives me the more reason to be ashamed of the
   meanness of my performance, that the comment breathes so little of the
   life and spirit of the text. We often wonder at those that are not at
   all affected with the great things of God, and have no taste nor relish
   of them, because they know little of them; but perhaps we have more
   reason to wonder at ourselves, that conversing so frequently, so
   intimately, with them, we are not more affected with them, so as even
   to be wholly taken up with them, and in a continual transport of
   delight in the contemplation of them. We hope to be so shortly; in the
   mean time, though like the three disciples that were the witnesses of
   Christ's transfiguration upon the mount we are but dull and sleepy, yet
   we can say, Master, it is good to be here; here let us make
   tabernacles, Luke ix. 32, 33.

   I have nothing here to boast of--nothing at all, but a great deal to be
   humbled for, that I have not come up to what I have aimed at in respect
   of fulness and exactness. In the review of the work, I find many
   defects, and those who are critical, perhaps, will meet with some
   mistakes in it; but I have done it with what care I could, and desire
   to be thankful to God who by his grace has carried me on in his work
   thus far: let that grace have all the glory (Phil. ii. 13), which works
   in us both to will and to do whatever we will or do that is good or
   serves any good purpose. What is from God will, I trust, be to him,
   will be graciously accepted by him, according to what a man has, and
   not according to what he had not, and will be of some use to his
   church; and what is from myself (that is, all the defects and errors)
   will, I trust, be favourably passed by and pardoned. That prayer of St.
   Austin is mine, Domine Deus, quaecunque dixi in his libris de tuo,
   agnoscant et tui; et quae de meo, et tu ignosce et tui--Lord God,
   whatever I have maintained in these books correspondent with what is
   contained in thine grant that thy people may approve as well as
   thyself; whatever is but the doctrine of my book forgive thou, and
   grant that thy people may forgive it also. I must beg likewise to own,
   to the honour of our great Master, that I have found the work to be its
   own wages, and that the more we converse with the word of God the more
   it is to us as the honey and the honeycomb, Ps. xix. 10. In gathering
   some gleaning of this harvest for others we may feast ourselves; and,
   when we are enabled by the grace of God to do so, we are best qualified
   to feed others. I was much pleased with a passage I lately met with of
   Erasmus, that great scholar and celebrated wit, in an epistle
   dedicatory before his book De Ratione Concionandi, where, as one weary
   of the world and the hurry of it, he expresses an earnest desire to
   spend the rest of his days in secret communion with Jesus Christ,
   encouraged by his gracious invitation to those who labour and are heavy
   laden to come unto him for rest (Matt. xi. 28), and this alone is that
   which he thinks will yield him true satisfaction. I think his words
   worth transcribing, and such as deserve to be inserted among the
   testimonies of great men to serious godliness. Neque quisquam facile
   credat qu`am misere animus jamdudum affectet ab his laboribus in
   tranquillam otium secedere, quodque superest vitae (superest autem vix
   brevis palmus sive pugillus), solum cum eo solo colloqui, qui clamavit
   olim (nec hodie mutat vocem suam), "Venite ad me, omnes qui laboratis
   et onerati estis, ego reficiam vos;" quandoquidem in tam turbulento, ne
   dicam furente, saeculo, in tot molestiis quas vel ipsa tempora publice
   invehunt, vel privatim adfert oetas ac valetudo, nihil reperio in quo
   mens mea libentius conquiescat qu`am in hoc arcano colloquio--No one
   will easily believe how anxiously, for a long time past, I have wished
   to retire from these labours into a scene of tranquility, and, during
   the remainder of life (dwindled, it is true, to the shortest span), to
   converse only with him who once cried (nor does he now retract), "Come
   unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh
   you," for in this turbulent, not to say furious, age, the many public
   sources of disquietude, connected with the infirmities of advancing
   age, leave no solace to my mind to be compared with this secret
   communion. In the pleasing contemplation of the divine beauty and
   benignity we hope to spend a blessed eternity, and therefore in this
   work it is good t o spend as much as may be of our time.

   One volume more, containing the prophetical books, will finish the Old
   Testament, if the Lord continue my life, and leisure, and ability of
   mind and body for this work. It is begun, and I find it will be larger
   than any of the other volumes, and longer in the doing; but, as God by
   his grace shall furnish me for it and assist me in it (without which
   grace I am nothing, less than nothing, worse than nothing), it shall be
   carried on with all convenient speed; and sat cito, si sat bene--if
   with sufficient ability, it will be with sufficient speed. I desire the
   prayers of my friends that God would minister seed to the sower and
   bread to the eaters (Isa. lv. 10), that he would multiply the seed sown
   and increase the fruits of our righteousness (2 Cor. ix. 10), that so
   he who sows and those who reap may rejoice together (John iv. 36); and
   the great Lord of the harvest shall have the glory of all.

            M. H.
               Chester,
         May 13, 1710.
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   [1] See Mr. Smith's Discourses on Prophecy, c. 11.

   [2] Hil. Megil. c. 2, S: 11.

   [3] Vid. Hottinger. Thesaur. lib. 2, cap. 1, S: 3.

   [4] Damascen. Orthod. Fid. l. 4, cap. 18.

   [5] Vid. Suicer. Thesaur. in stichera.

   [6] Miscell, part 2.

   [7] Sir W. Temple, p. 329.

   [8] Sir R. Blackmore's preface to Job.
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Job
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   AN

EXPOSITION,

W I T H   P R A C T I C A L   O B S E R V A T I O N S,

OF THE BOOK OF

J O B.
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   This book of Job stands by itself, is not connected with any other, and
   is therefore to be considered alone. Many copies of the Hebrew Bible
   place it after the book of Psalms, and some after the Proverbs, which
   perhaps has given occasion to some learned men to imagine it to have
   been written by Isaiah or some of the later prophets. But, as the
   subject appears to have been much more ancient, so we have no reason to
   think but that the composition of the book was, and that therefore it
   is most fitly placed first in this collection of divine morals: also,
   being doctrinal, it is proper to precede and introduce the book of
   Psalms, which is devotional, and the book of Proverbs, which is
   practical; for how shall we worship or obey a God whom we know not? As
   to this book,

   I. We are sure that it is given by inspiration of God, though we are
   not certain who was the penman of it. The Jews, though no friends to
   Job, because he was a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, yet, as
   faithful conservators of the oracles of God committed to them, always
   retained this book in their sacred canon. The history is referred to by
   one apostle (James v. 11) and one passage (ch. v. 13) is quoted by
   another apostle, with the usual form of quoting scripture, It is
   written, 1 Cor. iii. 19. It is the opinion of many of the ancients that
   this history was written by Moses himself in Midian, and delivered to
   his suffering brethren in Egypt, for their support and comfort under
   their burdens, and the encouragement of their hope that God would in
   due time deliver and enrich them, as he did this patient sufferer. Some
   conjecture that it was written originally in Arabic, and afterwards
   translated into Hebrew, for the use of the Jewish church, by Solomon
   (so Monsieur Jurieu) or some other inspired writer. It seems most
   probable to me that Elihu was the penman of it, at least of the
   discourses, because (ch. xxxii. 15, 16) he mingles the words of a
   historian with those of a disputant: but Moses perhaps wrote the first
   two chapters and the last, to give light to the discourses; for in them
   God is frequently called Jehovah, but not once in all the discourses,
   except ch. xii. 9. That name was but little known to the patriarchs
   before Moses, Exod. vi. 3. If Job wrote it himself, some of the Jewish
   writers themselves own him a prophet among the Gentiles; if Elihu, we
   find he had a spirit of prophecy which filled him with matter and
   constrained him, ch. xxxii. 18.

   II. We are sure that it is, for the substance of it, a true history,
   and not a romance, though the dialogues are poetical. No doubt there
   was such a man as Job; the prophet Ezekiel names him with Noah and
   Daniel, Ezek. xiv. 14. The narrative we have here of his prosperity and
   piety, his strange afflictions and exemplary patience, the substance of
   his conferences with his friends, and God's discourse with him out of
   the whirlwind, with his return at length to a very prosperous
   condition, no doubt is exactly true, though the inspired penman is
   allowed the usual liberty of putting the matter of which Job and his
   friends discoursed into his own words.

   III. We are sure that it is very ancient, though we cannot fix the
   precise time either when Job lived or when the book was written. So
   many, so evident, are its hoary hairs, the marks of its antiquity, that
   we have reason to think it of equal date with the book of Genesis
   itself, and that holy Job was contemporary with Isaac and Jacob; though
   not coheir with them of the promise of the earthly Canaan, yet a
   joint-expectant with them of the better country, that is, the heavenly.
   Probably he was of the posterity of Nahor, Abraham's brother, whose
   first-born was Uz (Gen. xxii. 21), and in whose family religion was for
   some ages kept up, as appears, Gen. xxxi. 53, where God is called, not
   only the God of Abraham, but the God of Nahor. He lived before the age
   of man was shortened to seventy or eighty, as it was in Moses's time,
   before sacrifices were confined to one altar, before the general
   apostasy of the nations from the knowledge and worship of the true God,
   and while yet there was no other idolatry known than the worship of the
   sun and moon, and that punished by the Judges, ch. xxxi. 26-28. He
   lived while God was known by the name of God Almighty more than by the
   name of Jehovah; for he is called Shaddai--the Almighty, above thirty
   times in this book. He lived while divine knowledge was conveyed, not
   by writing, but by tradition; for to that appeals are here made, ch.
   viii. 8; xxi. 29; xv. 18; v. 1. And we have therefore reason to think
   that he lived before Moses, because here is no mention at all of the
   deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, or the giving of the law. There is
   indeed one passage which might be made to allude to the drowning of
   Pharaoh (ch. xxvi. 12): He divideth the sea with his power, and by his
   understanding he smiteth through Rahab, which name Egypt is frequently
   called by in scripture, as Ps. lxxxvii. 4; lxxxix. 10; Isa. li. 9. But
   that may as well refer to the proud waves of the sea. We conclude
   therefore that we are here got back to the patriarchal age, and,
   besides its authority, we receive this book with veneration for its
   antiquity.

   IV. We are sure that it is of great use to the church, and to every
   good Christian, though there are many passages in it dark and hard to
   be understood. We cannot perhaps be confident of the true meaning of
   every Arabic word and phrase we meet with in it. It is a book that
   finds a great deal of work for the critics; but enough is plain to make
   the whole profitable, and it was all written for our learning.

   1. This noble poem presents to us, in very clear and lively characters,
   these five things among others:--(1.) A monument of primitive theology.
   The first and great principles of the light of nature, on which natural
   religion is founded, are here, in a warm, and long, and learned
   dispute, not only taken for granted on all sides and not the least
   doubt made of them, but by common consent plainly laid down as eternal
   truths, illustrated and urged as affecting commanding truths. Were ever
   the being of God, his glorious attributes and perfections, his
   unsearchable wisdom, his irresistible power, his inconceivable glory,
   his inflexible justice, and his incontestable sovereignty, discoursed
   of with more clearness, fulness, reverence, and divine eloquence, than
   in this book? The creation of the world, and the government of it, are
   here admirably described, not as matters of nice speculation, but as
   laying most powerful obligations upon us to fear and serve, to submit
   to and trust in, our Creator, owner, Lord, and ruler. Moral good and
   evil, virtue and vice, were never drawn more to the life (the beauty of
   the one and the deformity of the other) than in this book; nor the
   inviolable rule of God's judgment more plainly laid down, That happy
   are the righteous, it shall be well with them; and Woe to the wicked,
   it shall be ill with them. These are not questions of the schools to
   keep the learned world in action, nor engines of state to keep the
   unlearned world in awe; no, it appears by this book that they are
   sacred truths of undoubted certainty, and which all the wise and sober
   part of mankind have in every age subscribed and submitted to. (2.) It
   presents us with a specimen of Gentile piety. This great saint
   descended probably not from Abraham, but Nahor; or, if from Abraham,
   not from Isaac, but from one of the sons of the concubines that were
   sent into the east-country (Gen. xxv. 6); or, if from Isaac, yet not
   from Jacob, but Esau; so that he was out of the pale of the covenant of
   peculiarity, no Israelite, no proselyte, and yet none like him for
   religion, nor such a favourite of heaven upon this earth. It was a
   truth therefore, before St. Peter perceived it, that in every nation he
   that fears God and works righteousness is accepted of him, Acts x. 35.
   There were children of God scattered abroad (John xi. 52) besides the
   incorporated children of the kingdom, Matt. viii. 11, 12. (3.) It
   presents us with an exposition of the book of Providence, and a clear
   and satisfactory solution of many of the difficult and obscure passages
   of it. The prosperity of the wicked and the afflictions of the
   righteous have always been reckoned two as hard chapters as any in that
   book; but they are here expounded, and reconciled with the divine
   wisdom, purity, and goodness, by the end of these things. (4.) It
   presents us with a great example of patience and close adherence to God
   in the midst of the sorest calamities. Sir Richard Blackmore's most
   ingenious pen, in his excellent preface to his paraphrase on this book,
   makes Job a hero proper for an epic poem; for, says he, "He appears
   brave in distress and valiant in affliction, maintains his virtue, and
   with that his character, under the most exasperating provocations that
   the malice of hell could invent, and thereby gives a most noble example
   of passive fortitude, a character no way inferior to that of the active
   hero," &c. (5.) It presents us with an illustrious type of Christ, the
   particulars of which we shall endeavour to take notice of as we go
   along. In general, Job was a great sufferer, was emptied and humbled,
   but in order to his greater glory. So Christ abased himself, that we
   might be exalted. The learned bishop Patrick quotes St. Jerome more
   than once speaking of Job as a type of Christ, who for the job that was
   set before him endured the cross, who was persecuted, for a time, by
   men and devils, and seemed forsaken of God too, but was raised to be an
   intercessor even for his friends and had added affliction to his
   misery. When the apostle speaks of the patience of Job he immediately
   takes notice of the end of the Lord, that is, of the Lord Jesus (as
   some understand it), typified by Job, James v. 11.

   2. In this book we have, (1.) The history of Job's sufferings, and his
   patience under them (ch. i., ii., not without a mixture of human
   frailty, ch. iii. (2.) A dispute between him and his friends upon them,
   in which, [1.] The opponents were Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. [2.] The
   respondent was Job. [3.] The moderators were, First, Elihu, ch.
   xxxii.-xxxvii. Secondly, God himself, ch. xxxviii.-xli. (3.) The issue
   of all in Job's honour and prosperity, ch. xlii. Upon the whole, we
   learn that many are the afflictions of the righteous, but that when the
   Lord delivers them out of them all the trial of their faith will be
   found to praise, and honour, and glory.
     __________________________________________________________________

J O B

  CHAP. I.

   The history of Job begins here with an account, I. Of his great piety
   in general (ver. 1), and in a particular instance, ver. 5. II. Of his
   great prosperity, ver. 2-4. III. Of the malice of Satan against him,
   and the permission he obtained to try his constancy, ver. 6-12. IV. Of
   the surprising troubles that befel him, the ruin of his estate (ver.
   13-17), and the death of his children, ver. 18, 19. V. Of his exemplary
   patience and piety under these troubles, ver. 20-22. In all this he is
   set forth for an example of suffering affliction, from which no
   prosperity can secure us, but through which integrity and uprightness
   will preserve us.

    Job's Character and Possessions. (b. c. 1520.)

   1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man
   was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
   2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.   3 His
   substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and
   five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great
   household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the
   east.

   Concerning Job we are here told,

   I. That he was a man; therefore subject to like passions as we are. He
   was Ish, a worthy man, a man of note and eminency, a magistrate, a man
   in authority. The country he lived in was the land of Uz, in the
   eastern part of Arabia, which lay towards Chaldea, near Euphrates,
   probably not far from Ur of the Chaldees, whence Abraham was called.
   When God called one good man out of that country, yet he left not
   himself without witness, but raised up another in it to be a preacher
   of righteousness. God has his remnant in all places, sealed ones out of
   every nation, as well as out of every tribe of Israel, Rev. vii. 9. It
   was the privilege of the land of Uz to have so good a man as Job in it;
   now it was Arabia the Happy indeed: and it was the praise of Job that
   he was eminently good in so bad a place; the worse others were round
   about him the better he was. His name Job, or Jjob, some say, signifies
   one hated and counted as an enemy. Others make it to signify one that
   grieves or groans; thus the sorrow he carried in his name might be a
   check to his joy in his prosperity. Dr. Cave derives it from Jaab--to
   love, or desire, intimating how welcome his birth was to his parents,
   and how much he was the desire of their eyes; and yet there was a time
   when he cursed the day of his birth. Who can tell what the day may
   prove which yet begins with a bright morning?

   II. That he was a very good man, eminently pious, and better than his
   neighbours: He was perfect and upright. This is intended to show us,
   not only what reputation he had among men (that he was generally taken
   for an honest man), but what was really his character; for it is the
   judgment of God concerning him, and we are sure that is according to
   truth. 1. Job was a religious man, one that feared God, that is,
   worshipped him according to his will, and governed himself by the rules
   of the divine law in every thing. 2. He was sincere in his religion: He
   was perfect; not sinless, as he himself owns (ch. ix. 20): If I say I
   am perfect, I shall be proved perverse. But, having a respect to all
   God's commandments, aiming at perfection, he was really as good as he
   seemed to be, and did not dissemble in his profession of piety; his
   heart was sound and his eye single. Sincerity is gospel perfection. I
   know no religion without it. 3. He was upright in his dealings both
   with God and man, was faithful to his promises, steady in his counsels,
   true to every trust reposed in him, and made conscience of all he said
   and did. See Isa. xxxiii. 15. Though he was not of Israel, he was
   indeed an Israelite without guile. 4. The fear of God reigning in his
   heart was the principle that governed his whole conversation. This made
   him perfect and upright, inward and entire for God, universal and
   uniform in religion; this kept him close and constant to his duty. He
   feared God, had a reverence for his majesty, a regard to his authority,
   and a dread of his wrath. 5. He dreaded the thought of doing what was
   wrong; with the utmost abhorrence and detestation, and with a constant
   care and watchfulness, he eschewed evil, avoided all appearances of sin
   and approaches to it, and this because of the fear of God, Neh. v. 15.
   The fear of the Lord is to hate evil (Prov. viii. 13) and then by the
   fear of the Lord men depart from evil, Prov. xvi. 6.

   III. That he was a man who prospered greatly in this world, and made a
   considerable figure in his country. He was prosperous and yet pious.
   Though it is hard and rare, it is not impossible, for a rich man to
   enter into the kingdom of heaven. With God even this is possible, and
   by his grace the temptations of worldly wealth are not insuperable. He
   was pious, and his piety was a friend to his prosperity; for godliness
   has the promise of the life that now is. He was prosperous, and his
   prosperity put a lustre upon his piety, and gave him who was so good so
   much greater opportunity of doing good. The acts of his piety were
   grateful returns to God for the instances of his prosperity; and, in
   the abundance of the good things God gave him, he served God the more
   cheerfully. 1. He had a numerous family. He was eminent for religion,
   and yet not a hermit, not a recluse, but the father and master of a
   family. It was an instance of his prosperity that his house was filled
   with children, which are a heritage of the Lord, and his reward, Ps.
   cxxvii. 3. He had seven sons and three daughters, v. 2. Some of each
   sex, and more of the more noble sex, in which the family is built up.
   Children must be looked upon as blessings, for so they are, especially
   to good people, that will give them good instructions, and set them
   good examples, and put up good prayers for them. Job had many children,
   and yet he was neither oppressive nor uncharitable, but very liberal to
   the poor, ch. xxxi. 17, &c. Those that have great families to provide
   for ought to consider that what is prudently given in alms is set out
   to the best interest and put into the best fund for their children's
   benefit. 2. He had a good estate for the support of his family; his
   substance was considerable, v. 3. Riches are called substance, in
   conformity to the common form of speaking; otherwise, to the soul and
   another world, they are but shadows, things that are not, Prov. xxiii.
   5. It is only in heavenly wisdom that we inherit substance, Prov. viii.
   21. In those days, when the earth was not fully peopled, it was as now
   in some of the plantations, men might have land enough upon easy terms
   if they had but wherewithal to stock it; and therefore Job's substance
   is described, not by the acres of land he was lord of, but, (1.) By his
   cattle--sheep and camels, oxen and asses. The numbers of each are here
   set down, probably not the exact number, but thereabout, a very few
   under or over. The sheep are put first, because of most use in the
   family, as Solomon observes (Prov. xxvii. 23, 26, 27): Lambs for thy
   clothing, and milk for the food of thy household. Job, it is likely,
   had silver and gold as well as Abraham (Gen. xiii. 2); but then men
   valued their own and their neighbours' estates by that which was for
   service and present use more than by that which was for show and state,
   and fit only to be hoarded. As soon as God had made man, and provided
   for his maintenance by the herbs and fruits, he made him rich and great
   by giving him dominion over the creatures, Gen. i. 28. That therefore
   being still continued to man, notwithstanding his defection (Gen. ix.
   2), is still to be reckoned one of the most considerable instances of
   men's wealth, honour, and power, Ps. viii. 6. (2.) By his servants. He
   had a very good household or husbandry, many that were employed for him
   and maintained by him; and thus he both had honour and did good; yet
   thus he was involved in a great deal of care and put to a great deal of
   charge. See the vanity of this world; as goods are increased those must
   be increased that tend them and occupy them, and those will be
   increased that eat them; and what good has the owner thereof save the
   beholding of them with his eyes? Eccles. v. 11. In a word, Job was the
   greatest of all the men of the east; and they were the richest in the
   world: those were rich indeed who were replenished more than the east,
   Isa. ii. 6. Margin. Job's wealth, with his wisdom, entitled him to the
   honour and power he had in his country, which he describes (ch. xxix.),
   and made him sit chief. Job was upright and honest, and yet grew rich,
   nay, therefore grew rich; for honesty is the best policy, and piety and
   charity are ordinarily the surest ways of thriving. He had a great
   household and much business, and yet kept up the fear and worship of
   God; and he and his house served the Lord. The account of Job's piety
   and prosperity comes before the history of his great afflictions, to
   show that neither will secure us from the common, no, nor from the
   uncommon calamities of human life. Piety will not secure us, as Job's
   mistaken friends thought, for all things come alike to all; prosperity
   will not, as a careless world thinks, Isa. xlvii. 8. I sit as a queen
   and therefore shall see no sorrow.

    Job's Solicitude for His Children. (b. c. 1520.)

   4 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and
   sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
     5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about,
   that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning,
   and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for
   Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their
   hearts. Thus did Job continually.

   We have here a further account of Job's prosperity and his piety.

   I. His great comfort in his children is taken notice of as an instance
   of his prosperity; for our temporal comforts are borrowed, depend upon
   others, and are as those about us are. Job himself mentions it as one
   of the greatest joys of his prosperous estate that his children were
   about him, ch. xxix. 5. They kept a circular feast at some certain
   times (v. 4); they went and feasted in their houses. It was a comfort
   to this good man, 1. To see his children grown up and settled in the
   world. All his sons were in houses of their own, probably married, and
   to each of them he had given a competent portion to set up with. Those
   that had been olive-plants round his table were removed to tables of
   their own. 2. To see them thrive in their affairs, and able to feast
   one another, as well as to feed themselves. Good parents desire,
   promote, and rejoice in, their children's wealth and prosperity as
   their own. 3. To see them in health, no sickness in their houses, for
   that would have spoiled their feasting and turned it into mourning. 4.
   Especially to see them live in love, and unity, and mutual good
   affection, no jars or quarrels among them, no strangeness, no shyness
   one of another, no strait-handedness, but, though every one knew his
   own, they lived with as much freedom as if they had had all in common.
   It is comfortable to the hearts of parents, and comely in the eyes of
   all, to see brethren thus knit together. Behold, how good and how
   pleasant it is! Ps. cxxxiii. 1. 5. It added to his comfort to see the
   brothers so kind to their sisters, that they sent for them to feast
   with them; for they were so modest that they would not have gone if
   they had not been sent for. Those brothers that slight their sisters,
   care not for their company, and have no concern for their comfort, are
   ill-bred, ill-natured, and very unlike Job's sons. It seems their feast
   was so sober and decent that their sisters were good company for them
   at it. 6. They feasted in their own houses, not in public houses, where
   they would be more exposed to temptations, and which were not so
   creditable. We do not find that Job himself feasted with them.
   Doubtless they invited him, and he would have been the most welcome
   guest at any of their tables; nor was it from any sourness or
   moroseness of temper, or for want of natural affection, that he kept
   away, but he was old and dead to these things, like Barzillai (2 Sam.
   xix. 35), and considered that the young people would be more free and
   pleasant if there were none but themselves. Yet he would not restrain
   his children from that diversion which he denied himself. Young people
   may be allowed a youthful liberty, provided they flee youthful lusts.

   II. His great care about his children is taken notice of as an instance
   of his piety: for that we are really which we are relatively. Those
   that are good will be good to their children, and especially do what
   they can for the good of their souls. Observe (v. 5) Job's pious
   concern for the spiritual welfare of his children,

   1. He was jealous over them with a godly jealousy; and so we ought to
   be over ourselves and those that are dearest to us, as far as is
   necessary to our care and endeavour for their good. Job had given his
   children a good education, had comfort in them and good hope concerning
   them; and yet he said, "It may be, my sons have sinned in the days of
   their feasting more than at other times, have been too merry, have
   taken too great a liberty in eating and drinking, and have cursed God
   in their hearts," that is, "have entertained atheistical or profane
   thoughts in their minds, unworthy notions of God and his providence,
   and the exercises of religion." When they were full they were ready to
   deny God, and to say, Who is the Lord? (Prov. xxx. 9), ready to forget
   God and to say, The power of our hand has gotten us this wealth, Deut.
   viii. 12, &c. Nothing alienates the mind more from God than the
   indulgence of the flesh.

   2. As soon as the days of their feasting were over he called them to
   the solemn exercises of religion. Not while their feasting lasted (let
   them take their time for that; there is a time for all things), but
   when it was over, their good father reminded them that they must know
   when to desist, and not think to fare sumptuously every day; though
   they had their days of feasting the week round, they must not think to
   have them the year round; they had something else to do. Note, Those
   that are merry must find a time to be serious.

   3. He sent to them to prepare for solemn ordinances, sent and
   sanctified them, ordered them to examine their own consciences and
   repent of what they had done amiss in their feasting, to lay aside
   their vanity and compose themselves for religious exercises. Thus he
   kept his authority over them for their good, and they submitted to it,
   though they had got into houses of their own. Still he was the priest
   of the family, and at his altar they all attended, valuing their share
   in his prayers more than their share in his estate. Parents cannot give
   grace to their children (it is God that sanctifies), but they ought by
   seasonable admonitions and counsels to further their sanctification. In
   their baptism they were sanctified to God; let it be our desire and
   endeavour that they may be sanctified for him.

   4. He offered sacrifice for them, both to atone for the sins he feared
   they had been guilty of in the days of their feasting and to implore
   for them mercy to pardon and grace to prevent the debauching of their
   minds and corrupting of their manners by the liberty they had taken,
   and to preserve their piety and purity.


   For he with mournful eyes had often spied,

   Scattered on Pleasure's smooth but treacherous tide,

   The spoils of virtue overpowered by sense,

   And floating wrecks of ruined innocence.

   Sir R. Blackmore.

   Job, like Abraham, had an altar for his family, on which, it is likely,
   he offered sacrifice daily; but, on this extraordinary occasion, he
   offered more sacrifices than usual, and with more solemnity, according
   to the number of them all, one for each child. Parents should be
   particular in their addresses to God for the several branches of their
   family. "For this child I prayed, according to its particular temper,
   genius, and condition," to which the prayers, as well as the
   endeavours, must be accommodated. When these sacrifices were to be
   offered, (1.) He rose early, as one in care that his children might not
   lie long under guilt and as one whose heart was upon his work and his
   desire towards it. (2.) He required his children to attend the
   sacrifice, that they might join with him in the prayers he offered with
   the sacrifice, that the sight of the killing of the sacrifice might
   humble them much for their sins, for which they deserved to die, and
   the sight of the offering of it up might lead them to a Mediator. This
   serious work would help to make them serious again after the days of
   their gaiety.

   5. Thus he did continually, and not merely whenever an occasion of this
   kind recurred; for he that is washed needs to wash his feet, John xiii.
   10. The acts of repentance and faith must be often renewed, because we
   often repeat our transgressions. All days, every day, he offered up his
   sacrifices, was constant to his devotions, and did not omit them any
   day. The occasional exercises of religion will not excuse us from those
   that are stated. He that serves God uprightly will serve him
   continually.

    Satan before God; Satan Permitted to Afflict Job. (b. c. 1520.)

   6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves
   before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.   7 And the Lord said
   unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said,
   From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
     8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job,
   that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man,
   one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?   9 Then Satan answered the
   Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?   10 Hast not thou made a
   hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on
   every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance
   is increased in the land.   11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch
   all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.   12 And the Lord
   said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon
   himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence
   of the Lord.

   Job was not only so rich and great, but withal so wise and good, and
   had such an interest both in heaven and earth, that one would think the
   mountain of his prosperity stood so strong that it could not be moved;
   but here we have a thick cloud gathering over his head, pregnant with a
   horrible tempest. We must never think ourselves secure from storms
   while we are in this lower region. Before we are told how his troubles
   surprised and seized him here in this visible world, we are here told
   how they were concerted in the world of spirits, that the devil, having
   a great enmity to Job for his eminent piety, begged and obtained leave
   to torment him. It does not at all derogate from the credibility of
   Job's story in general to allow that this discourse between God and
   Satan, in these verses, is parabolical, like that of Micaiah (1 Kings
   xxii. 19, &c.), and an allegory designed to represent the malice of the
   devil against good men and the divine check and restraint which that
   malice is under; only thus much further is intimated, that the affairs
   of this earth are very much the subject of the counsels of the unseen
   world. That world is dark to us, but we lie very open to it. Now here
   we have,

   I. Satan among the sons of God (v. 6), an adversary (so Satan
   signifies) to God, to men, to all good: he thrust himself into an
   assembly of the sons of God that came to present themselves before the
   Lord. This means either, 1. A meeting of the saints on earth.
   Professors of religion, in the patriarchal age, were called sons of God
   (Gen. vi. 2); they had then religious assemblies and stated times for
   them. The King came in to see his guests; the eye of God was on all
   present. But there was a serpent in paradise, a Satan among the sons of
   God; when they come together he is among them, to distract and disturb
   them, stands at their right hand to resist them. The Lord rebuke thee,
   Satan! Or, 2. A meeting of the angels in heaven. They are the sons of
   God, ch. xxxviii. 7. They came to give an account of their negotiations
   on earth and to receive new instructions. Satan was one of them
   originally; but how hast thou fallen, O Lucifer! He shall no more stand
   in that congregation, yet he is here represented, as coming among them,
   either summoned to appear as a criminal or connived at, for the
   present, though an intruder.

   II. His examination, how he came thither (v. 7): The Lord said unto
   Satan, Whence comest thou? He knew very well whence he came, and with
   what design he came thither, that as the good angels came to do good he
   came for a permission to do hurt; but he would, by calling him to an
   account, show him that he was under check and control. Whence comest
   thou? He asks this, 1. As wondering what brought him thither. Is Saul
   among the prophets? Satan among the sons of God? Yes, for he transforms
   himself into an angel of light (2 Cor. xi. 13, 14), and would seem one
   of them. Note, It is possible that a man may be a child of the devil
   and yet be found in the assemblies of the sons of God in this world,
   and there may pass undiscovered by men, and yet be challenged by the
   all-seeing God. Friend, how camest thou in hither? Or, 2. As enquiring
   what he had been doing before he came thither. The same question was
   perhaps put to the rest of those that presented themselves before the
   Lord, "Whence came you?" We are accountable to God for all our haunts
   and all the ways we traverse.

   III. The account he gives of himself and of the tour he had made. I
   come (says he) from going to and fro on the earth. 1. He could not
   pretend he had been doing any good, could give no such account of
   himself as the sons of God could, who presented themselves before the
   Lord, who came from executing his orders, serving the interest of his
   kingdom, and ministering to the heirs of salvation. 2. He would not own
   he had been doing any hurt, that he had been drawing men from the
   allegiance to God, deceiving and destroying souls; no. I have done no
   wickedness, Prov. xxx. 20. Thy servant went nowhere. In saying that he
   had walked to and fro through the earth, he intimates that he had kept
   himself within the bounds allotted him, and had not transgressed his
   bounds; for the dragon is cast out into the earth (Rev. xii. 9) and not
   yet confined to his place of torment. While we are on this earth we are
   within his reach, and with so much subtlety, swiftness, and industry,
   does he penetrate into all the corners of it, that we cannot be in any
   place secure from his temptations. 3. He yet seems to give some
   representation of his own character. (1.) Perhaps it is spoken proudly,
   and with an air of haughtiness, as if he were indeed the prince of this
   world, as if the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them were his
   (Luke iv. 6), and he had now been walking in circuit through his own
   territories. (2.) Perhaps it is spoken fretfully, and with discontent.
   He had been walking to and fro, and could find no rest, but was as much
   a fugitive and a vagabond as Cain in the land of Nod. (3.) Perhaps it
   is spoken carefully: "I have been hard at work, going to and fro," or
   (as some read it) "searching about in the earth," really in quest of an
   opportunity to do mischief. He walks abut seeking whom he may devour.
   It concerns us therefore to be sober and vigilant.

   IV. The question God puts to him concerning Job (v. 8): Hast thou
   considered my servant Job? As when we meet with one that has been in a
   distant place, where we have a friend we dearly love, we are ready to
   ask, "You have been in such a place; pray did you see my friend there?"
   Observe, 1. How honourably God speaks of Job: He is my servant. Good
   men are God's servants, and he is pleased to reckon himself honoured in
   their services, and they are to him for a name and a praise (Jer. xiii.
   11) and a crown of glory, Isa. lxii. 3. "Yonder is my servant Job;
   there is none like him, none I value like him, of all the princes and
   potentates of the earth; one such saint as he is worth them all: none
   like him for uprightness and serious piety; many do well, but he
   excelleth them all; there is not to be found such great faith, no, not
   in Israel." Thus Christ, long after, commended the centurion and the
   woman of Canaan, who were both of them, like Job, strangers to that
   commonwealth. The saints glory in God--Who is like thee among the gods?
   and he is pleased to glory in them--Who is like Israel among the
   people? So here, none like Job, none in earth, that state of
   imperfection. Those in heaven do indeed far outshine him; those who are
   least in that kingdom are greater than he; but on earth there is not
   his like. There is none like him in that land; so some good men are the
   glory of their country. 2. How closely he gives to Satan this good
   character of Job: Hast thou set thy heart to my servant Job? designing
   hereby, (1.) To aggravate the apostasy and misery of that wicked
   spirit: "How unlike him are thou!" Note, The holiness and happiness of
   the saints are the shame and torment of the devil and the devil's
   children. (2.) To answer the devil's seeming boast of the interest he
   had in this earth. "I have been walking to and fro in it," says he,
   "and it is all my own; all flesh have corrupted their way; they all sit
   still, and are at rest in their sins," Zech. i. 10, 11. "Nay, hold,"
   saith God, "Job is my faithful servant." Satan may boast, but he shall
   not triumph. (3.) To anticipate his accusations, as if he had said,
   "Satan, I know thy errand; thou hast come to inform against Job; but
   hast thou considered him? Does not his unquestionable character give
   thee the lie?" Note, God knows all the malice of the devil and his
   instruments against his servants; and we have an advocate ready to
   appear for us, even before we are accused.

   V. The devil's base insinuation against Job, in answer to God's
   encomium of him. He could not deny but that Job feared God, but
   suggested that he was a mercenary in his religion, and therefore a
   hypocrite (v. 9): Doth Job fear God for nought? Observe, 1. How
   impatient the devil was of hearing Job praised, though it was God
   himself that praised him. Those are like the devil who cannot endure
   that any body should be praised but themselves, but grudge the just
   share of reputation others have, as Saul (1 Sam. xviii. 5, &c.) and the
   Pharisees, Matt. xxi. 15. 2. How much at a loss he was for something to
   object against him; he could not accuse him of any thing that was bad,
   and therefore charged him with by-ends in doing good. Had the one half
   of that been true which his angry friends, in the heat of dispute,
   charged him with (ch. xv. 4, xxii. 5), Satan would no doubt have
   brought against him now; but no such thing could be alleged, and
   therefore, 3. See how slyly he censured him as a hypocrite, not
   asserting that he was so, but only asking, "Is he not so?" This is the
   common way of slanderers, whisperers, backbiters, to suggest that by
   way of query which yet they have no reason to think is true. Note, It
   is not strange if those that are approved and accepted of God be
   unjustly censured by the devil and his instruments; if they are
   otherwise unexceptionable, it is easy to charge them with hypocrisy, as
   Satan charged Job, and they have no way to clear themselves, but
   patiently to wait for the judgment of God. As there is nothing we
   should dread more than being hypocrites, so there is nothing we need
   dread less that being called and counted so without cause. 4. How
   unjustly he accused him as mercenary, to prove him a hypocrite. It was
   a great truth that Job did not fear God for nought; he got much by it,
   for godliness is great gain: but it was a falsehood that he would not
   have feared God if he had not got this by it, as the event proved.
   Job's friends charged him with hypocrisy because he was greatly
   afflicted, Satan because he greatly prospered. It is no hard matter for
   those to calumniate that seek an occasion. It is not mercenary to look
   at the eternal recompence in our obedience; but to aim at temporal
   advantages in our religion, and to make it subservient to them, is
   spiritual idolatry, worshipping the creature more than the Creator, and
   is likely to end in a fatal apostasy. Men cannot long serve God and
   mammon.

   VI. The complaint Satan made of Job's prosperity, v. 10. Observe, 1.
   What God had done for Job. He had protected him, made a hedge about
   him, for the defence of his person, his family, and all his
   possessions. Note, God's peculiar people are taken under his special
   protection, they and all that belong to them; divine grace makes a
   hedge about their spiritual life, and divine providence about their
   natural life, so they are safe and easy. He had prospered him, not in
   idleness or injustice (the devil could not accuse him of them), but in
   the way of honest diligence: Thou hast blessed the work of his hands.
   Without that blessing, be the hands ever so strong, ever so skilful,
   the work will not prosper; but, with that, his substance has
   wonderfully increased in the land. The blessing of the Lord makes rich:
   Satan himself owns it. 2. What notice the devil took of it, and how he
   improved it against him. The devil speaks of it with vexation. "I see
   thou hast made a hedge about him, round about;" as if he had walked it
   round, to see if he could spy a single gap in it, for him to enter in
   at, to do him a mischief; but he was disappointed: it was a complete
   hedge. The wicked one saw it and was grieved, and argued against Job
   that the only reason why he served God was because God prospered him.
   "No thanks to him to be true to the government that prefers him, and to
   serve a Master that pays him so well."

   VII. The proof Satan undertakes to give of the hypocrisy and
   mercenariness of Job's religion, if he might but have leave to strip
   him of his wealth. "Let it be put to this issue," says he (v. 11);
   "make him poor, frown upon him, turn thy hand against him, and then see
   where his religion will be; touch what he has and it will appear what
   he is. If he curse thee not to thy face, let me never be believed, but
   posted for a liar and false accuser. Let me perish if he curse thee
   not;" so some supply the imprecation, which the devil himself modestly
   concealed, but the profane swearers of our age impudently and daringly
   speak out. Observe, 1. How slightly he speaks of the affliction he
   desired that Job might be tried with: "Do but touch all that he has, do
   but begin with him, do but threaten to make him poor; a little cross
   will change his tone." 2. How spitefully he speaks of the impression it
   would make upon Job: "He will not only let fall his devotion, but turn
   it into an open defiance--not only think hardly of thee, but even curse
   thee to thy face." The word translated curse is barac, the same that
   ordinarily, and originally, signifies to bless; but cursing God is so
   impious a thing that the holy language would not admit the name: but
   that where the sense requires it it must be so understood is plain form
   1 Kings xxi. 10-13, where the word is used concerning the crime charged
   on Naboth, that he did blaspheme God and the king. Now, (1.) It is
   likely that Satan did think that Job, if impoverished, would renounce
   his religion and so disprove his profession, and if so (as a learned
   gentleman has observed in his Mount of Spirits) Satan would have made
   out his own universal empire among the children of men. God declared
   Job the best man then living: now, if Satan can prove him a hypocrite,
   it will follow that God had not one faithful servant among men and that
   there was no such thing as true and sincere piety in the world, but
   religion was all a sham, and Satan was king de facto--in fact, over all
   mankind. But it appeared that the Lord knows those that are his and is
   not deceived in any. (2.) However, if Job should retain his religion,
   Satan would have the satisfaction to see him sorely afflicted. He hates
   good men, and delights in their griefs, as God has pleasure in their
   prosperity.

   VIII. The permission God gave to Satan to afflict Job for the trial of
   his sincerity. Satan desired God to do it: Put forth thy hand now. God
   allowed him to do it (v. 12): "All that he has is in thy hand; make the
   trial as sharp as thou canst; do thy worst at him." Now, 1. It is a
   matter of wonder that God should give Satan such a permission as this,
   should deliver the soul of his turtle-dove into the hand of the
   adversary, such a lamb to such a lion; but he did it for his own glory,
   the honour of Job, the explanation of Providence, and the encouragement
   of his afflicted people in all ages, to make a case which, being
   adjudged, might be a useful precedent. He suffered Job to be tried, as
   he suffered Peter to be sifted, but took care that his faith should not
   fail (Luke xxii. 32) and then the trial of it was found unto praise,
   and honour, and glory, 1 Pet. i. 7. But, 2. It is a matter of comfort
   that God has the devil in a chain, in a great chain, Rev. xx. 1. He
   could not afflict Job without leave from God first asked and obtained,
   and then no further than he had leave: "Only upon himself put not forth
   thy hand; meddle not with his body, but only with his estate." It is a
   limited power that the devil has; he has no power to debauch men but
   what they give him themselves, nor power to afflict men but what is
   given him from above.

   IX. Satan's departure from this meeting of the sons of God. Before they
   broke up, Satan went forth (as Cain, Gen. iv. 16) from the presence of
   the Lord; no longer detained before him (as Doeg was, 1 Sam. xxi. 7)
   than till he had accomplished his malicious purpose. He went forth, 1.
   Glad that he had gained his point, proud of the permission he had to do
   mischief to a good man; and, 2. Resolved to lose no time, but speedily
   to put his project in execution. He went forth now, not to go to and
   fro, rambling through the earth, but with a direct course, to fall upon
   poor Job, who is carefully going on in the way of his duty, and knows
   nothing of the matter. What passes between good and bad spirits
   concerning us we are not aware of.

    The Calamities Brought on Job; The Death of Job's Children. (b. c. 1520.)

   13 And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and
   drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:   14 And there came a
   messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses
   feeding beside them:   15 And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them
   away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and
   I only am escaped alone to tell thee.   16 While he was yet speaking,
   there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from
   heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed
   them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.   17 While he was yet
   speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out
   three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea,
   and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am
   escaped alone to tell thee.   18 While he was yet speaking, there came
   also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and
   drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:   19 And, behold, there
   came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of
   the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I
   only am escaped alone to tell thee.

   We have here a particular account of Job's troubles.

   I. Satan brought them upon him on the very day that his children began
   their course of feasting, at their eldest brother's house (v. 13),
   where, he having (we may suppose) the double portion, the entertainment
   was the richest and most plentiful. The whole family, no doubt, was in
   perfect repose, and all were easy and under no apprehension of the
   trouble, now when they revived this custom; and this time Satan chose,
   that the trouble, coming now, might be the more grievous. The night of
   my pleasure has he turned into fear, Isa. xxi. 4.

   II. They all come upon him at once; while one messenger of evil tidings
   was speaking another came, and, before he had told his story, a third,
   and a fourth, followed immediately. Thus Satan, by the divine
   permission, ordered it, 1. That there might appear a more than ordinary
   displeasure of God against him in his troubles, and by that he might be
   exasperated against divine Providence, as if it were resolved, right or
   wrong, to ruin him, and not give him time to speak for himself. 2. That
   he might not have leisure to consider and recollect himself, and reason
   himself into a gracious submission, but might be overwhelmed and
   overpowered by a complication of calamities. If he have not room to
   pause a little, he will be apt to speak in haste, and then, if ever, he
   will curse his God. Note, The children of God are often in heaviness
   through manifold temptations; deep calls to deep; waves and billows
   come one upon the neck of another. Let one affliction therefore quicken
   and help us to prepare for another; for, how deep soever we have drunk
   of the bitter cup, as long as we are in this world we cannot be sure
   that we have drunk our share and that it will finally pass from us.

   III. They took from him all that he had, and made a full end of his
   enjoyments. The detail of his losses answers to the foregoing inventory
   of his possessions.

   1. He had 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 she-asses, and a competent number
   of servants to attend them; and all these he lost at once, v. 14, 15.
   The account he has of this lets him know, (1.) That it was not through
   any carelessness of his servants; for then his resentment might have
   spent itself upon them: The oxen were ploughing, not playing, and the
   asses not suffered to stray and so taken up as waifs, but feeding
   beside them, under the servant's eye, each in their place; and those
   that passed by, we may suppose, blessed them, and said, God speed the
   plough. Note, All our prudence, care, and diligence, cannot secure us
   from affliction, no, not from those afflictions which are commonly
   owing to imprudence and negligence. Except the Lord keep the city, the
   watchman, though ever so wakeful, wakes but in vain. Yet it is some
   comfort under a trouble if it found us in the way of our duty, and not
   in any by-path. (2.) That is was through the wickedness of his
   neighbours the Sabeans, probably a sort of robbers that lived by spoil
   and plunder. They carried off the oxen and asses, and slew the servants
   that faithfully and bravely did their best to defend them, and one only
   escaped, not in kindness to him or his master, but that Job might have
   the certain intelligence of it by an eye-witness before he heard it by
   a flying report, which would have brought it upon him gradually. We
   have no reason to suspect that either Job or his servants had given any
   provocation to the Sabeans to make this inroad, but Satan put it into
   their hearts to do it, to do it now, and so gained a double point, for
   he made both Job to suffer and them to sin. Note, When Satan has God's
   permission to do mischief he will not want mischievous men to be his
   instruments in doing it, for he is a spirit that works in the children
   of disobedience.

   2. He had 7000 sheep, and shepherds that kept them; and all those he
   lost at the same time by lightning, v. 16. Job was perhaps, in his own
   mind, ready to reproach the Sabeans, and fly out against them for their
   injustice and cruelty, when the next news immediately directs him to
   look upwards: The fire of God has fallen from heaven. As thunder is his
   voice, so lightning is his fire: but this was such an extraordinary
   lightning, and levelled so directly against Job, that all his sheep and
   shepherds were not only killed, but consumed by it at once, and one
   shepherd only was left alive to carry the news to poor Job. The devil,
   aiming to make him curse God and renounce his religion, managed this
   part of the trial very artfully, in order thereto. (1.) His sheep, with
   which especially he used to honour God in sacrifice, were all taken
   from him, as if God were angry at his offerings and would punish him in
   those very things which he had employed in his service. Having
   misrepresented Job to God as a false servant, in pursuance of his old
   design to set Heaven and earth at variance, he here misrepresented God
   to Jacob as a hard Master, who would not protect those flocks out of
   which he had so many burnt-offerings. This would tempt Job to say, It
   is in vain to serve God. (2.) The messenger called the lightning the
   fire of God (and innocently enough), but perhaps Satan thereby designed
   to strike into his mind this thought, that God had turned to be his
   enemy and fought against him, which was much more grievous to him than
   all the insults of the Sabeans. He owned (ch. xxxi. 23) that
   destruction from God was a terror to him. How terrible then were the
   tidings of this destruction, which came immediately from the hand of
   God! Had the fire from heaven consumed the sheep upon the altar, he
   might have construed it into a token of God's favour; but, the fire
   consuming them in the pasture, he could not but look upon it as a token
   of God's displeasure. There have not been the like since Sodom was
   burned.

   3. He had 3000 camels, and servants tending them; and he lost them all
   at the same time by the Chaldeans, who came in three bands, and drove
   them away, and slew the servants, v. 17. If the fire of God, which fell
   upon Job's honest servants, who were in the way of their duty, had
   fallen upon the Sabean and Chaldean robbers who were doing mischief,
   God's judgments therein would have been like the great mountains,
   evident and conspicuous; but when the way of the wicked prospers, and
   they carry off their booty, while just and good men are suddenly cut
   off, God's righteousness is like the great deep, the bottom of which we
   cannot find, Ps. xxxvi. 6.

   4. His dearest and most valuable possessions were his ten children;
   and, to conclude the tragedy, news if brought him, at the same time,
   that they were killed and buried in the ruins of the house in which
   they were feasting, and all the servants that waited on them, except
   one that came express with the tidings of it, v. 18, 19. This was the
   greatest of Job's losses, and which could not but go nearest him; and
   therefore the devil reserved it for the last, that, if the other
   provocations failed, this might make him curse God. Our children are
   pieces of ourselves; it is very hard to part with them, and touches a
   good man in as tender a part as any. But to part with them all at once,
   and for them to be all cut off in a moment, who had been so many years
   his cares and hopes, went to the quick indeed. (1.) They all died
   together, and not one of them was left alive. David, though a wise and
   good man, was very much discomposed by the death of one son. How hard
   then did it bear upon poor Job who lost them all, and, in one moment,
   was written childless! (2.) They died suddenly. Had they been taken
   away by some lingering disease, he would have had notice to expect
   their death, and prepare for the breach; but this came upon him without
   giving him any warning. (3.) They died when they were feasting and
   making merry. Had they died suddenly when they were praying, he might
   the better have borne it. He would have hoped that death had found them
   in a good frame if their blood had been mingled with their feast, where
   he himself used to be jealous of them that they had sinned, and cursed
   God in their hearts--to have that day come upon them unawares, like a
   thief in the night, when perhaps their heads were overcharged with
   surfeiting and drunkenness--this could not but add much to his grief,
   considering what a tender concern he always had for his children's
   souls, and that they were now out of the reach of the sacrifices he
   used to offer according to the number of them all. See how all things
   come alike to all. Job's children were constantly prayed for by their
   father, and lived in love one with another, and yet came to this
   untimely end. (4.) They died by a wind of the devil's raising, who is
   the prince of the power of the air (Eph. ii. 2), but it was looked upon
   to be an immediate hand of God, and a token of his wrath. So Bildad
   construed it (ch. viii. 4): Thy children have sinned against him, and
   he has cast them away in their transgression. (5.) They were taken away
   when he had most need of them to comfort him under all his other
   losses. Such miserable comforters are all creatures. In God only we
   have a present help at all times.

    Job's Sorrow and Submission. (b. c. 1520.)

   20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell
   down upon the ground, and worshipped,   21 And said, Naked came I out
   of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave,
   and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.   22 In
   all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

   The devil had done all he desired leave to do against Job, to provoke
   him to curse God. He had touched all he had, touched it with a witness;
   he whom the rising sun saw the richest of all the men in the east was
   before night poor to a proverb. If his riches had been, as Satan
   insinuated, the only principle of his religion now that he had lost his
   riches he would certainly have lost his religion; but the account we
   have, in these verses, of his pious deportment under his affliction,
   sufficiently proved the devil a liar and Job an honest man.

   I. He conducted himself like a man under his afflictions, not stupid
   and senseless, like a stock or stone, not unnatural and unaffected at
   the death of his children and servants; no (v. 20), he arose, and rent
   his mantle, and shaved his head, which were the usual expressions of
   great sorrow, to show that he was sensible of the hand of the Lord that
   had gone out against him; yet he did not break out into any
   indecencies, nor discover any extravagant passion. He did not faint
   away, but arose, as a champion to the combat; he did not, in a heat,
   throw off his clothes, but very gravely, in conformity to the custom of
   the country, rent his mantle, his cloak, or outer garment; he did not
   passionately tear his hair, but deliberately shaved his head. By all
   this it appeared that he kept his temper, and bravely maintained the
   possession and repose of his own soul, in the midst of all these
   provocations. The time when he began to show his feelings is
   observable; it was not till he heard of the death of his children, and
   then he arose, then he rent his mantle. A worldly unbelieving heart
   would have said, "Now that the meat is gone it is well that the mouths
   are gone too; now that there are no portions it is well that there are
   no children:" but Job knew better, and would have been thankful if
   Providence had spared his children, though he had little of nothing for
   them, for Jehovah-jireh--the Lord will provide. Some expositors,
   remembering that it was usual with the Jews to rend their clothes when
   they heard blasphemy, conjecture that Job rent his clothes in a holy
   indignation at the blasphemous thoughts which Satan now cast into his
   mind, tempting him to curse God.

   II. He conducted himself like a wise and good man under his affliction,
   like a perfect and upright man, and one that feared God and eschewed
   the evil of sin more than that of outward trouble.

   1. He humbled himself under the hand of God, and accommodated himself
   to the providences he was under, as one that knew how to want as well
   as how to abound. When God called to weeping and mourning he wept and
   mourned, rent his mantle and shaved his head; and, as one that abased
   himself even to the dust before God, he fell down upon the ground, in a
   penitent sense of sin and a patient submission to the will of God,
   accepting the punishment of his iniquity. Hereby he showed his
   sincerity; for hypocrites cry not when God binds them, ch. xxxvi. 13.
   Hereby he prepared himself to get good by the affliction; for how can
   we improve the grief which we will not feel?

   2. He composed himself with quieting considerations, that he might not
   be disturbed and put out of the possession of his own soul by these
   events. He reasons from the common state of human life, which he
   describes with application to himself: Naked came I (as others do) out
   of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither, into the lap of
   our common mother--the earth, as the child, when it is sick or weary,
   lays its head in its mother's bosom. Dust we were in our original, and
   to dust we return in our exit (Gen. iii. 19), to the earth as we were
   (Eccl. xii. 7), naked shall we return thither, whence we were taken,
   namely, to the clay, ch. xxxiii. 6. St. Paul refers to this of Job, 1
   Tim. vi. 7. We brought nothing of this world's goods into the world,
   but have them from others; and it is certain that we can carry nothing
   out, but must leave them to others. We come into the world naked, not
   only unarmed, but unclothed, helpless, shiftless, not so well covered
   and fenced as other creatures. The sin we are born in makes us naked,
   to our shame, in the eyes of the holy God. We go out of the world
   naked; the body does, though the sanctified soul goes clothed, 2 Cor.
   v. 3. Death strips us of all our enjoyments; clothing can neither warm
   nor adorn a dead body. This consideration silenced Job under all his
   losses. (1.) He is but where he was at first. He looks upon himself
   only as naked, not maimed, not wounded; he was himself still his own
   man, when nothing else was his own, and therefore but reduced to his
   first condition. Nemo tam pauper potest esse quam natus est--no one can
   be so poor as he was when born.--Min. Felix. If we are impoverished, we
   are not wronged, nor much hurt, for we are but as we were born. (2.) He
   is but where he must have been at last, and is only unclothed, or
   unloaded rather, a little sooner than he expected. If we put off our
   clothes before we go to bed, it is some inconvenience, but it may be
   the better borne when it is near bed-time.

   3. He gave glory to God, and expressed himself upon this occasion with
   a great veneration for the divine Providence, and a meek submission to
   its disposals. We may well rejoice to find Job in this good frame,
   because this was the very thing upon which the trial of his integrity
   was put, though he did not know it. The devil said that he would, under
   his affliction, curse God; but he blessed him, and so proved himself an
   honest man.

   (1.) He acknowledged the hand of God both in the mercies he had
   formerly enjoyed and in the afflictions he was now exercised with: The
   Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. We must own the divine
   Providence, [1.] In all our comforts. God gave us our being, made us,
   and not we ourselves, gave us our wealth; it was not our own ingenuity
   or industry that enriched us, but God's blessing on our cares and
   endeavours. He gave us power to get wealth, not only made the creatures
   for us, but best owed upon us our share. [2.] In all our crosses. The
   same that gave hath taken away; and may he not do what he will with his
   own? See how Job looks above instruments, and keeps his eye upon the
   first Cause. He does not say, "The Lord gave, and the Sabeans and
   Chaldeans have taken away; God made me rich, and the devil has made me
   poor;" but, "He that gave has taken;" and for that reason he is dumb,
   and has nothing to say, because God did it. He that gave all may take
   what, and when, and how much he pleases. Seneca could argue thus,
   Abstulit, sed et dedit--he took away, but he also gave; and Epictetus
   excellently (cap. 15), "When thou art deprived of any comfort, suppose
   a child taken away by death, or a part of thy estate lost, say not
   apolesa auto--I have lost it; but apedoka--I have restored it to the
   right owner; but thou wilt object (says he), kakos ho aphelomenos--he
   is a bad man that has robbed me; to which he answers, ti de soi
   melei--What is it to thee by what hand he that gives remands what he
   gave?"

   (2.) He adored God in both. When all was gone he fell down and
   worshipped. Note, Afflictions must not divert us from, but quicken us
   to, the exercises of religion. Weeping must not hinder sowing, nor
   hinder worshipping. He eyed not only the hand of God, but the name of
   God, in his afflictions, and gave glory to that: Blessed be the name of
   the Lord. He has still the same great and good thoughts of God that
   ever he had, and is as forward as ever to speak them forth to his
   praise; he can find in his heart to bless God even when he takes away
   as well as when he gives. Thus must we sing both of mercy and judgment,
   Ps. ci. 1. [1.] He blesses God for what was given, though now it was
   taken away. When our comforts are removed from us we must thank God
   that ever we had them and had them so much longer than we deserved.
   Nay, [2.] He adores God even in taking away, and gives him honour by a
   willing submission; nay, he gives him thanks for good designed him by
   his afflictions, for gracious supports under his afflictions, and the
   believing hopes he had of a happy issue at last.

   Lastly, Here is the honourable testimony which the Holy Ghost gives to
   Job's constancy and good conduct under his afflictions. He passed his
   trials with applause, v. 22. In all this Job did not act amiss, for he
   did not attribute folly to God, nor in the least reflect upon his
   wisdom in what he had done. Discontent and impatience do in effect
   charge God with folly. Against the workings of these therefore Job
   carefully watched; and so must we, acknowledging that as God has done
   right, but we have done wickedly, so God has done wisely, but we have
   done foolishly, very foolishly. Those who not only keep their temper
   under crosses and provocations, but keep up good thoughts of God and
   sweet communion with him, whether their praise be of men or no, it will
   be of God, as Job's here was.
     __________________________________________________________________

J O B

  CHAP. II.

   We left Job honourably acquitted upon a fair trial between God and
   Satan concerning him. Satan had leave to touch, to touch and take, all
   he had, and was confident that he would then curse God to his face;
   but, on the contrary, he blessed him, and so he was proved an honest
   man and Satan a false accuser. Now, one would have thought, this would
   be conclusive, and that Job would never have his reputation called in
   question again; but Job is known to be armour of proof, and therefore
   is here set up for a mark, and brought upon his trial, a second time.
   I. Satan moves for another trial, which should touch his bone and his
   flesh, ver. 1-5. II. God, for holy ends, permits it, ver. 6. III. Satan
   smites him with a very painful and loathsome disease, ver. 7, 8. IV.
   His wife tempts him to curse God, but he resists the temptation, ver.
   9, 10. V. His friends come to condole with him and to comfort him, ver.
   11-13. And in this that good man is set forth for an example of
   suffering affliction and of patience.

    Satan Again Permitted to Afflict Job. (b. c. 1520.)

   1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves
   before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself
   before the Lord.   2 And the Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest
   thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in
   the earth, and from walking up and down in it.   3 And the Lord said
   unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none
   like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth
   God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity,
   although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.   4
   And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a
   man hath will he give for his life.   5 But put forth thine hand now,
   and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
   6 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save
   his life.

   Satan, that sworn enemy to God and all good men, is here pushing
   forward his malicious prosecution of Job, whom he hated because God
   loved him, and did all he could to separate between him and his God, to
   sow discord and make mischief between them, urging God to afflict him
   and then urging him to blaspheme God. One would have thought that he
   had enough of his former attempt upon Job, in which he was so
   shamefully baffled and disappointed; but malice is restless: the devil
   and his instruments are so. Those that calumniate good people, and
   accuse them falsely, will have their saying, though the evidence to the
   contrary be ever so plain and full and they have been cast in the issue
   which they themselves have put it upon. Satan will have Job's cause
   called over again. The malicious, unreasonable, importunity of that
   great persecutor of the saints is represented (Rev. xii. 10) by his
   accusing them before our God day and night, still repeating and urging
   that against them which has been many a time answered: so did Satan
   here accuse Job day after day. Here is,

   I. The court set, and the prosecutor, or accuser, making his appearance
   (v. 1, 2), as before, ch. i. 6, 7. The angels attended God's throne and
   Satan among them. One would have expected him to come and confess his
   malice against Job and his mistake concerning him, to cry, Pecavi--I
   have done wrong, for belying one whom God spoke well of, and to beg
   pardon; but, instead of that, he comes with a further design against
   Job. He is asked the same question as before, Whence comest thou? and
   answers as before, From going to and fro in the earth; as if he had
   been doing no harm, though he had been abusing that good man.

   II. The judge himself of counsel for the accused, and pleading for him
   (v. 3): "Hast thou considered my servant Job better than thou didst,
   and art thou now at length convinced that he is a faithful servant of
   mine, a perfect and an upright man; for thou seest he still holds fast
   his integrity?" This is now added to his character, as a further
   achievement; instead of letting go his religion, and cursing God, he
   holds it faster than ever, as that which he has now more than ordinary
   occasion for. He is the same in adversity that he was in prosperity,
   and rather better, and more hearty and lively in blessing God than ever
   he was, and takes root the faster for being thus shaken. See, 1. How
   Satan is condemned for his allegations against Job: "Thou movedst me
   against him, as an accuser, to destroy him without cause." Or, "Thou in
   vain movedst me to destroy him, for I will never do that." Good men,
   when they are cast down, are not destroyed, 2 Cor. iv. 9. How well is
   it for us that neither men nor devils are to be our judges, for perhaps
   they would destroy us, right or wrong; but our judgment proceeds from
   the Lord, whose judgment never errs nor is biassed. 2. How Job is
   commended for his constancy notwithstanding the attacks made upon him:
   "Still he holds fast his integrity, as his weapon, and thou canst not
   disarm him--as his treasure, and thou canst not rob him of that; nay,
   thy endeavours to do it make him hold it the faster; instead of losing
   ground by the temptation, he gets ground." God speaks of it with
   wonder, and pleasure, and something of triumph in the power of his own
   grace; Still he holds fast his integrity. Thus the trial of Job's faith
   was found to his praise and honour, 1 Pet. i. 7. Constancy crowns
   integrity.

   III. The accusation further prosecuted, v. 4. What excuse can Satan
   make for the failure of his former attempt? What can he say to palliate
   it, when he had been so very confident that he should gain his point?
   Why, truly, he has this to say, Skin for skin, and all that a man has,
   will he give for his life. Something of truth there is in this, that
   self-love and self-preservation are very powerful commanding principles
   in the hearts of men. Men love themselves better than their nearest
   relations, even their children, that are parts of themselves, will not
   only venture, but give, their estates to save their lives. All account
   life sweet and precious, and, while they are themselves in health and
   at ease, they can keep trouble from their hearts, whatever they lose.
   We ought to make a good use of this consideration, and, while God
   continues to us our life and health and the use of our limbs and
   senses, we should the more patiently bear the loss of other comforts.
   See Matt. vi. 25. But Satan grounds upon this an accusation of Job,
   slyly representing him, 1. As unnatural to those about him, and one
   that laid not to heart the death of his children and servants, nor
   cared how many of them had their skins (as I may say) stripped over
   their ears, so long as he slept in a whole skin himself; as if he that
   was so tender of his children's souls could be careless of their
   bodies, and, like the ostrich, hardened against his young ones, as
   though they were not his. 2. As wholly selfish, and minding nothing but
   his own ease and safety; as if his religion made him sour, and morose,
   and ill-natured. Thus are the ways and people of God often
   misrepresented by the devil and his agents.

   IV. A challenge given to make a further trial of Job's integrity (v.
   5): "Put forth thy hand now (for I find my hand too short to reach him,
   and too weak to hurt him) and touch his bone and his flesh (that is
   with him the only tender part, make him sick with smiting him, Mic. vi.
   13), and then, I dare say, he will curse thee to thy face, and let go
   his integrity." Satan knew it, and we find it by experience, that
   nothing is more likely to ruffle the thoughts and put the mind into
   disorder than acute pain and distemper of body. There is no disputing
   against sense. St. Paul himself had much ado to bear a thorn in the
   flesh, nor could he have borne it without special grace from Christ, 2
   Cor. xii. 7, 9.

   V. A permission granted to Satan to make this trial, v. 6. Satan would
   have had God put forth his hand and do it; but he afflicts not
   willingly, nor takes any pleasure in grieving the children of men, much
   less his own children (Lam. iii. 33), and therefore, if it must be
   done, let Satan do it, who delights in such work: "He is in thy hand,
   do thy worst with him; but with a proviso and limitation, only save his
   life, or his soul. Afflict him, but not to death." Satan hunted for the
   precious life, would have taken that if he might, in hopes that dying
   agonies would force Job to curse his God; but God had mercy in store
   for Job after this trial, and therefore he must survive it, and,
   however he is afflicted, must have his life given him for a prey. If
   God did not chain up the roaring lion, how soon would he devour us! As
   far as he permits the wrath of Satan and wicked men to proceed against
   his people he will make it turn to his praise and theirs, and the
   remainder thereof he will restrain, Ps. lxxvi. 10. "Save his soul,"
   that is, "his reason" (so some), "preserve to him the use of that, for
   otherwise it will be no fair trial; if, in his delirium, he should
   curse God, that will be no disproof of his integrity. It would be the
   language not of his heart, but of his distemper." Job, in being thus
   maligned by Satan, was a type of Christ, the first prophecy of whom was
   that Satan should bruise his heel (Gen. iii. 15), and so he was foiled,
   as in Job's case. Satan tempted him to let go his integrity, his
   adoption (Matt. iv. 6): If thou be the Son of God. He entered into the
   heart of Judas who betrayed Christ, and (some think) with his terrors
   put Christ into his agony in the garden. He had permission to touch his
   bone and his flesh without exception of his life, because by dying he
   was to do that which Job could not do--destroy him that had the power
   of death, that is, the devil.

    Job Smitten with Disease; The Affliction of Job. (b. c. 1520.)

   7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with
   sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.   8 And he took
   him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the
   ashes.   9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine
   integrity? curse God, and die.   10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest
   as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at
   the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job
   sin with his lips.

   The devil, having got leave to tear and worry poor Job, presently fell
   to work with him, as a tormentor first and then as a tempter. His own
   children he tempts first, and draws them to sin, and afterwards
   torments, when thereby he has brought them to ruin; but this child of
   God he tormented with an affliction, and then tempted to make a bad use
   of his affliction. That which he aimed at was to make Job curse God;
   now here we are told what course he took both to move him to it and
   move it to him, both to give him the provocation, else he would not
   have thought of it: thus artfully in the temptation managed with all
   the subtlety of the old serpent, who is here playing the same game
   against Job that he played against our first parents (Gen. iii.),
   aiming to seduce him from his allegiance to his God and to rob him of
   his integrity.

   I. He provokes him to curse God by smiting him with sore boils, and so
   making him a burden to himself, v. 7, 8. The former attack was
   extremely violent, but Job kept his ground, bravely made good the pass
   and carried the day. Yet he is still but girding on the harness; there
   is worse behind. The clouds return after the rain. Satan, by the divine
   permission, follows his blow, and now deep calls unto deep.

   1. The disease with which Job was seized was very grievous: Satan smote
   him with boils, sore boils, all over him, from head to foot, with an
   evil inflammation (so some render it), an erysipelas, perhaps, in a
   higher degree. One boil, when it is gathering, is torment enough, and
   gives a man abundance of pain and uneasiness. What a condition was Job
   then in, that had boils all over him, and no part free, and those as of
   raging a heat as the devil could make them, and, as it were, set on
   fire of hell! The small-pox is a very grievous and painful disease, and
   would be much more terrible than it is but that we know the extremity
   of it ordinarily lasts but a few days; how grievous then was the
   disease of Job, who was smitten all over with sore boils or grievous
   ulcers, which made him sick at heart, put him to exquisite torture, and
   so spread themselves over him that he could lie down no way for any
   ease. If at any time we be exercised with sore and grievous distempers,
   let us not think ourselves dealt with any otherwise than as God has
   sometimes dealt with the best of his saints and servants. We know not
   how much Satan may have a hand (by divine permission) in the diseases
   with which the children of men, and especially the children of God, are
   afflicted, what infections that prince of the air may spread, what
   inflammations may come from that fiery serpent. We read of one whom
   Satan had bound many years, Luke xiii. 16. Should God suffer that
   roaring lion to have his will against any of us, how miserable would he
   soon make us!

   2. His management of himself, in this distemper, was very strange, v.
   8.

   (1.) Instead of healing salves, he took a potsherd, a piece of a broken
   pitcher, to scrape himself withal. A very sad pass this poor man had
   come to. When a man is sick and sore he may bear it the better if he be
   well tended and carefully looked after. Many rich people have with a
   soft and tender hand charitably ministered to the poor in such a
   condition as this; even Lazarus had some ease from the tongues of the
   dogs that came and licked his sores; but poor Job has no help afforded
   him. [1.] Nothing is done to his sore but what he does himself, with
   his own hands. His children and servants are all dead, his wife unkind,
   ch. xix. 17. He has not wherewithal to fee a physician or surgeon; and,
   which is most sad of all, none of those he had formerly been kind to
   had so much sense of honour and gratitude as to minister to him in his
   distress, and lend him a hand to dress or wipe his running sores,
   either because the disease was loathsome and noisome or because they
   apprehended it to be infectious. Thus it was in the former days, as it
   will be in the last days, men were lovers of their own selves,
   unthankful, and without natural affection. [2.] All that he does to his
   sores is to scrape them; they are not bound up with soft rags, not
   mollified with ointment, not washed or kept clean, no healing plasters
   laid on them, no opiates, no anodynes, ministered to the poor patient,
   to alleviate the pain and compose him to rest, nor any cordials to
   support his spirits; all the operation is the scraping of the ulcers,
   which, when they had come to a head and began to die, made his body all
   over like a scurf, as is usual in the end of the small-pox. It would
   have been an endless thing to dress his boils one by one; he therefore
   resolves thus to do it by wholesale--a remedy which one would think as
   bad as the disease. [3.] He has nothing to do this with but a potsherd,
   no surgeon's instrument proper for the purpose, but that which would
   rather rake into his wounds, and add to his pain, than give him any
   ease. People that are sick and sore have need to be under the
   discipline and direction of others, for they are often but bad managers
   of themselves.

   (2.) Instead of reposing in a soft and warm bed, he sat down among the
   ashes. Probably he had a bed left him (for, though his fields were
   stripped, we do not find that his house was burnt or plundered), but he
   chose to sit in the ashes, either because he was weary of his bed or
   because he would put himself into the place and posture of a penitent,
   who, in token of his self-abhorrence, lay in dust and ashes, ch. xlii.
   6; Isa. lviii. 5; Jonah iii. 6. Thus did he humble himself under the
   mighty hand of God, and bring his mind to the meanness and poverty of
   his condition. He complains (ch. vii. 5) that his flesh was clothed
   with worms and clods of dust; and therefore dust to dust, ashes to
   ashes. If God lay him among the ashes, there he will contentedly sit
   down. A low spirit becomes low circumstances, and will help to
   reconcile us to them. The LXX. reads it, He sat down upon a dunghill
   without the city (which is commonly said, in mentioning this story);
   but the original says no more than that he sat in the midst of the
   ashes, which he might do in his own house.

   II. He urges him, by the persuasions of his own wife, to curse God, v.
   9. The Jews (who covet much to be wise above what is written) say that
   Job's wife was Dinah, Jacob's daughter: so the Chaldee paraphrase. It
   is not likely that she was; but, whoever it was, she was to him like
   Michal to David, a scoffer at his piety. She was spared to him, when
   the rest of his comforts were taken away, for this purpose, to be a
   troubler and tempter to him. If Satan leaves any thing that he has
   permission to take away, it is with a design of mischief. It is his
   policy to send his temptations by the hand of those that are dear to
   us, as he tempted Adam by Eve and Christ by Peter. We must therefore
   carefully watch that we be not drawn to say or do a wrong thing by the
   influence, interest, or entreaty, of any, no, not those for whose
   opinion and favour we have ever so great a value. Observe how strong
   this temptation was. 1. She banters Job for his constancy in his
   religion: "Dost thou still retain thy integrity? Art thou so very
   obstinate in thy religion that nothing will cure thee of it? so tame
   and sheepish as thus to truckle to a God who is so far from rewarding
   thy services with marks of his favour that he seems to take a pleasure
   in making thee miserable, strips thee, and scourges thee, without any
   provocation given? Is this a God to be still loved, and blessed, and
   served?"


   Dost thou not see that thy devotion's vain?

   What have thy prayers procured but woe and pain?

   Hast thou not yet thy int'rest understood?

   Perversely righteous, and absurdly good?

   Those painful sores, and all thy losses, show

   How Heaven regards the foolish saint below.

   Incorrigibly pious! Can't thy God

   Reform thy stupid virtue with his rod?

   Sir R. Blackmore.

   Thus Satan still endeavours to draw men from God, as he did our first
   parents, by suggesting hard thoughts of him, as one that envies the
   happiness and delights in the misery of his creatures, than which
   nothing is more false. Another artifice he uses is to drive men from
   their religion by loading them with scoffs and reproaches for their
   adherence to it. We have reason to expect it, but we are fools if we
   heed it. Our Master himself has undergone it, we shall be abundantly
   recompensed for it, and with much more reason may we retort it upon the
   scoffers, "Are you such fools as still to retain your impiety, when you
   might bless God and live?" 2. She urges him to renounce his religion,
   to blaspheme God, set him at defiance, and dare him to do his worst:
   "Curse God and die; live no longer in dependence upon God, wait not for
   relief from him, but be thy own deliverer by being thy own executioner;
   end thy troubles by ending thy life; better die once than be always
   dying thus; thou mayest now despair of having any help from thy God,
   even curse him, and hang thyself." These are two of the blackest and
   most horrid of all Satan's temptations, and yet such as good men have
   sometimes been violently assaulted with. Nothing is more contrary to
   natural conscience than blaspheming God, nor to natural sense than
   self-murder; therefore the suggestion of either of these may well be
   suspected to come immediately from Satan. Lord, lead us not into
   temptation, not into such, not into any temptation, but deliver us from
   the evil one.

   III. He bravely resists and overcomes the temptation, v. 10. He soon
   gave her an answer (for Satan spared him the use of his tongue, in
   hopes he would curse God with it), which showed his constant resolution
   to cleave to God, to keep his good thoughts of him, and not to let go
   his integrity. See,

   1. How he resented the temptation. He was very indignant at having such
   a thing mentioned to him: "What! Curse God? I abhor the thought of it.
   Get thee behind me, Satan." In other cases Job reasoned with his wife
   with a great deal of mildness, even when she was unkind to him (ch.
   xix. 17): I entreated her for the children's sake of my own body. But,
   when she persuaded him to curse God, he was much displeased: Thou
   speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. He does not call her a
   fool and an atheist, nor does he break out into any indecent
   expressions of his displeasure, as those who ar sick and sore are apt
   to do, and think they may be excused; but he shows her the evil of what
   she said, and she spoke the language of the infidels and idolaters,
   who, when they are hardly bestead, fret themselves, and curse their
   king and their God, Isa. viii. 21. We have reason to suppose that in
   such a pious household as Job had his wife was one that had been well
   affected to religion, but that now, when all their estate and comfort
   were gone, she could not bear the loss with that temper of mind that
   Job had; but that she should go about to infect his mind with her
   wretched distemper was a great provocation to him, and he could not
   forbear thus showing his resentment. Note, (1.) Those are angry and sin
   not who are angry only at sin and take a temptation as the greatest
   affront, who cannot bear those that are evil, Rev. ii. 2. When Peter
   was a Satan to Christ he told him plainly, Thou art an offence to me.
   (2.) If those whom we think wise and good at any time speak that which
   is foolish and bad, we ought to reprove them faithfully for it and show
   them the evil of what they say, that we suffer not sin upon them. (3.)
   Temptations to curse God ought to be rejected with the greatest
   abhorrence, and not so much as to be parleyed with. Whoever persuades
   us to that must be looked upon as our enemy, to whom if we yield it is
   at our peril Job did not curse God and then think to come off with
   Adam's excuse: "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me persuaded me
   to do it" (Gen. iii. 12), which had in it a tacit reflection on God,
   his ordinance and providence. No; if thou scornest, if thou cursest,
   thou alone shalt bear it.

   2. How he reasoned against the temptation: Shall we receive good at the
   hand of God, and shall we not receive evil also? Those whom we reprove
   we must endeavour to convince; and it is no hard matter to give a
   reason why we should still hold fast our integrity even when we are
   stripped of every thing else. He considers that, though good and evil
   are contraries, yet they do not come from contrary causes, but both
   from the hand of God (Isa. xlv. 7, Lam. iii. 38), and therefore that in
   both we must have our eye up unto him, with thankfulness for the good
   he sends and without fretfulness at the evil. Observe the force of his
   argument.

   (1.) What he argues for, not only the bearing, but the receiving of
   evil: Shall we not receive evil, that is, [1.] "Shall we not expect to
   receive it? If God give us so many good things, shall we be surprised,
   or think it strange, if he sometimes afflict us, when he has told us
   that prosperity and adversity are set the one over against the other?"
   1 Pet. iv. 12. [2.] "Shall we not set ourselves to receive it aright?"
   The word signifies to receive as a gift, and denotes a pious affection
   and disposition of soul under our afflictions, neither despising them
   nor fainting under them, accounting them gifts (Phil. i. 29), accepting
   them as punishments of our iniquity (Lev. xxvi. 41), acquiescing in the
   will of God in them ("Let him do with me as seemeth him good"), and
   accommodating ourselves to them, as those that know how to want as well
   as how to abound, Phil. iv. 12. When the heart is humbled and weaned,
   by humbling weaning providence, then we receive correction (Zeph. iii.
   2) and take up our cross.

   (2.) What he argues from: "Shall we receive so much good as has come to
   us from the hand of God during all those years of peace and prosperity
   that we have lived, and shall we not now receive evil, when God thinks
   fit to lay it on us?" Note, The consideration of the mercies we receive
   from God, both past and present, should make us receive our afflictions
   with a suitable disposition of spirit. If we receive our share of the
   common good in the seven years of plenty, shall we not receive our
   share of the common evil in the years of famine? Qui sentit commodum,
   sentire debet et onus--he who feels the privilege, should prepare for
   the privation. If we have so much that pleases us, why should we not be
   content with that which pleases God? If we receive so many comforts,
   shall we not receive some afflictions, which will serve as foils to our
   comforts, to make them the more valuable (we are taught the worth of
   mercies by being made to want them sometimes), and as allays to our
   comforts, to make them the less dangerous, to keep the balance even,
   and to prevent our being lifted up above measure? 2 Cor. xii. 7. If we
   receive so much good for the body, shall we not receive some good for
   the soul; that is, some afflictions, by which we partake of God's
   holiness (Heb. xii. 10), something which, by saddening the countenance,
   makes the heart better? Let murmuring therefore, as well as boasting,
   be for ever excluded.

   IV. Thus, in a good measure, Job still held fast his integrity, and
   Satan's design against him was defeated: In all this did not Job sin
   with his lips; he not only said this well, but all he said at this time
   was under the government of religion and right reason. In the midst of
   all these grievances he did not speak a word amiss; and we have no
   reason to think but that he also preserved a good temper of mind, so
   that, though there might be some stirrings and risings of corruption in
   his heart, yet grace got the upper hand and he took care that the root
   of bitterness might not spring up to trouble him, Heb. xii. 15. The
   abundance of his heart was for God, produced good things, and
   suppressed the evil that was there, which was out-voted by the better
   side. If he did think any evil, yet he laid his hand upon his mouth
   (Prov. xxx. 32), stifled the evil thought and let it go no further, by
   which it appeared, not only that he had true grace, but that it was
   strong and victorious: in short, that he had not forfeited the
   character of a perfect and upright man; for so he appears to be who, in
   the midst of such temptations, offends not in word, Jam. iii. 2; Ps.
   xvii. 3.

    Job Visited by His Friends. (b. c. 1520.)

   11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come
   upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite,
   and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an
   appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.   12
   And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they
   lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle,
   and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.   13 So they sat
   down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none
   spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.

   We have here an account of the kind visit which Job's three friends
   paid him in his affliction. The news of his extraordinary troubles
   spread into all parts, he being an eminent man both for greatness and
   goodness, and the circumstances of his troubles being very uncommon.
   Some, who were his enemies, triumphed in his calamities, ch. xvi. 10;
   xix. 18; xxx. 1, &c. Perhaps they made ballads on him. But his friends
   concerned themselves for him, and endeavoured to comfort him. A friend
   loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Three of them
   are here named (v. 11), Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. We shall
   afterwards meet with a fourth, who it should seem was present at the
   whole conference, namely, Elihu. Whether he came as a friend of Job or
   only as an auditor does not appear. These three are said to be his
   friends, his intimate acquaintance, as David and Solomon had each of
   them one in their court that was called the king's friend. These three
   were eminently wise and good men, as appears by their discourses. They
   were old men, very old, had a great reputation for knowledge, and much
   deference was paid to their judgment, ch. xxxii. 6. It is probable that
   they were men of figure in their country-princes, or heads of houses.
   Now observe,

   I. That Job, in his prosperity, had contracted a friendship with them.
   If they were his equals, yet he had not that jealousy of them--if his
   inferiors, yet he had not that disdain of them, which was any hindrance
   to an intimate converse and correspondence with them. to have such
   friends added more to his happiness in the day of his prosperity than
   all the head of cattle he was master of. Much of the comfort of this
   life lies in acquaintance and friendship with those that are prudent
   and virtuous; and he that has a few such friends ought to value them
   highly. Job's three friends are supposed to have been all of them of
   the posterity of Abraham, which, for some descents, even in the
   families that were shut out from the covenant of peculiarity, retained
   some good fruits of that pious education which the father of the
   faithful gave to those under his charge. Eliphaz descended from Teman,
   the grandson of Esau (Gen. xxxvi. 11), Bildad (it is probable) from
   Shuah, Abraham's son by Keturah, Gen. xxv. 2. Zophar is thought by some
   to be the same with Zepho, a descendant from Esau, Gen. xxvi. 11. The
   preserving of so much wisdom and piety among those that were strangers
   to the covenants of promise was a happy presage of God's grace to the
   Gentiles, when the partition-wall should in the latter days be taken
   down. Esau was rejected; yet many that came from him inherited some of
   the best blessings.

   II. That they continued their friendship with Job in his adversity,
   when most of his friends had forsaken him, ch. xix. 14. In two ways
   they showed their friendship:--

   1. By the kind visit they paid him in his affliction, to mourn with him
   and to comfort him, v. 11. Probably they had been wont to visit him in
   his prosperity, not to hunt or hawk with him, not to dance or play at
   cards with him, but to entertain and edify themselves with his learned
   and pious converse; and now that he was in adversity they come to share
   with him in his griefs, as formerly they had come to share with him in
   his comforts. These were wise men, whose heart was in the house of
   mourning, Eccl. vii. 4. Visiting the afflicted, sick or sore,
   fatherless or childless, in their sorrow, is made a branch of pure
   religion and undefiled (Jam. i. 27), and, if done from a good
   principle, will be abundantly recompensed shortly, Matt. xxv. 36.

   (1.) By visiting the sons and daughters of affliction we may contribute
   to the improvement, [1.] Of our own graces; for many a good lesson is
   to be learned from the troubles of others; we may look upon them and
   receive instruction, and be made wise and serious. [2.] Of their
   comforts. By putting a respect upon them we encourage them, and some
   good word may be spoken to them which may help to make them easy. Job's
   friends came, not to satisfy their curiosity with an account of his
   troubles and the strangeness of the circumstances of them, much less,
   as David's false friends, to make invidious remarks upon him (Ps. xli.
   6-8), but to mourn with him, to mingle their tears with his, and so to
   comfort him. It is much more pleasant to visit those in affliction to
   whom comfort belongs than those to whom we must first speak conviction.

   (2.) Concerning these visitants observe, [1.] That they were not sent
   for, but came of their own accord (ch. vi. 22), whence Mr. Caryl
   observes that it is good manners to be an unbidden guest at the house
   of mourning, and, in comforting our friends, to anticipate their
   invitations. [2.] That they made an appointment to come. Note, Good
   people should make appointments among themselves for doing good, so
   exciting and binding one another to it, and assisting and encouraging
   one another in it. For the carrying on of any pious design let hand
   join in hand. [3.] That they came with a design (and we have reason to
   think it was a sincere design) to comfort him, and yet proved miserable
   comforters, through their unskilful management of his case. Many that
   aim well do, by mistake, come short of their aim.

   2. By their tender sympathy with him and concern for him in his
   affliction. When they saw him at some distance he was so disfigured and
   deformed with his sores that they knew him not, v. 12. His face was
   foul with weeping (ch. xvi. 16), like Jerusalem's Nazarites, which had
   been ruddy as the rubies, but were now blacker than a coal, Lam. iv. 7,
   8. What a change will a sore disease, or, without that, oppressing care
   and grief, make in the countenance, in a little time! Is this Naomi?
   Ruth i. 19. So, Is this Job? How hast thou fallen! How is thy glory
   stained and sullied, and all thy honour laid in the dust! God fits us
   for such changes! Observing him thus miserably altered, they did not
   leave him, in a fright or loathing, but expressed so much the more
   tenderness towards him. (1.) Coming to mourn with him, they vented
   their undissembled grief in all the then usual expressions of that
   passion. They wept aloud; the sight of them (as is usual) revived Job's
   grief, and set him a weeping afresh, which fetched floods of tears from
   their eyes. They rent their clothes, and sprinkled dust upon their
   heads, as men that would strip themselves, and abase themselves, with
   their friend that was stripped and abased. (2.) Coming to comfort him,
   they sat down with him upon the ground, for so he received visits; and
   they, not in compliment to him, but in true compassion, put themselves
   into the same humble and uneasy place and posture. They had many a
   time, it is likely, sat with him on his couches and at his table, in
   his prosperity, and were therefore willing to share with him in his
   grief and poverty because they had shared with him in his joy and
   plenty. It was not a modish short visit that they made him, just to
   look upon him and be gone; but, as those that could have had no
   enjoyment of themselves if they had returned to their place while their
   friend was in so much misery, they resolved to stay with him till they
   saw him mend or end, and therefore took lodgings near him, though he
   was not now able to entertain them as he had done, and they must
   therefore bear their own charges. Every day, for seven days together,
   at the house in which he admitted company, they came and sat with him,
   as his companions in tribulation, and exceptions from that rule, Nullus
   ad amissas ibit amicus opes--Those who have lost their wealth are not
   to expect the visits of their friends. They sat with him, but none
   spoke a word to him, only they all attended to the particular
   narratives he gave of his troubles. They were silent, as men astonished
   and amazed. Curae leves loquuntur, ingentes stupent--Our lighter griefs
   have a voice; those which are more oppressive are mute.


   So long a time they held their peace, to show

   A reverence due to such prodigious woe.

   Sir R. Blackmore.

   They spoke not a word to him, whatever they said one to another, by way
   of instruction, for the improvement of the present providence. They
   said nothing to that purport to which afterwards they said
   much--nothing to grieve him (ch. iv. 2), because they saw his grief was
   very great already, and they were loth at first to add affliction to
   the afflicted. There is a time to keep silence, when either the wicked
   is before us, and by speaking we may harden them (Ps. xxxix. 1), or
   when by speaking we may offend the generation of God's children, Ps.
   lxxiii. 15. Their not entering upon the following solemn discourses
   till the seventh day may perhaps intimate that it was the sabbath day,
   which doubtless was observed in the patriarchal age, and to that day
   they adjourned the intended conference, because probably then company
   resorted, as usual, to Job's house, to join with him in his devotions,
   who might be edified by the discourse. Or, rather, by their silence so
   long they would intimate that what they afterwards said was well
   considered and digested and the result of many thoughts. The heart of
   the wise studies to answer. We should think twice before we speak once,
   especially in such a case as this, think long, and we shall be the
   better able to speak short and to the purpose.
     __________________________________________________________________

J O B

  CHAP. III.

   "You have heard of the patience of Job," says the apostle, Jam. v. 11.
   So we have, and of his impatience too. We wondered that a man should be
   so patient as he was (ch. i. and ii.), but we wonder also that a good
   man should be so impatient as he is in this chapter, where we find him
   cursing his day, and, in passion, I. Complaining that he was born, ver.
   1-10. II. Complaining that he did not die as soon as he was born, ver.
   11-19. III. Complaining that his life was now continued when he was in
   misery, ver. 20-26. In this it must be owned that Job sinned with his
   lips, and it is written, not for our imitation, but our admonition,
   that he who things he stands may take heed lest he fall.

    Job Curses His Day. (b. c. 1520.)

   1 After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.   2 And Job
   spake, and said,   3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the
   night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.   4 Let
   that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the
   light shine upon it.   5 Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it;
   let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.   6
   As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined
   unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the
   months.   7 Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come
   therein.   8 Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to
   raise up their mourning.   9 Let the stars of the twilight thereof be
   dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the
   dawning of the day:   10 Because it shut not up the doors of my
   mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.

   Long was Job's heart hot within him; and, while he was musing, the fire
   burned, and the more for being stifled and suppressed. At length he
   spoke with his tongue, but not such a good word as David spoke after a
   long pause: Lord, make me to know my end, Ps. xxxix. 3, 4. Seven days
   the prophet Ezekiel sat down astonished with the captives, and then
   (probably on the sabbath day) the word of the Lord came to him, Ezek.
   iii. 15, 16. So long Job and his friends sat thinking, but said
   nothing; they were afraid of speaking what they thought, lest they
   should grieve him, and he durst not give vent to his thoughts, lest he
   should offend them. They came to comfort him, but, finding his
   afflictions very extraordinary, they began to think comfort did not
   belong to him, suspecting him to be a hypocrite, and therefore they
   said nothing. But losers think they may have leave to speak, and
   therefore Job first gives vent to his thoughts. Unless they had been
   better, it would however have been well if he had kept them to himself.
   In short, he cursed his day, the day of his birth, wished he had never
   been born, could not think or speak of his own birth without regret and
   vexation. Whereas men usually observe the annual return of their
   birth-day with rejoicing, he looked upon it as the unhappiest day of
   the year, because the unhappiest of his life, being the inlet into all
   his woe. Now,

   I. This was bad enough. The extremity of his trouble and the
   discomposure of his spirits may excuse it in part, but he can by no
   means be justified in it. Now he has forgotten the good he was born to,
   the lean kine have eaten up the fat ones, and he is filled with
   thoughts of the evil only, and wishes he had never been born. The
   prophet Jeremiah himself expressed his painful sense of his calamities
   in language not much unlike this: Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast
   borne me! Jer. xv. 10. Cursed be the day wherein I was born, Jer. xx.
   14, &c. We may suppose that Job in his prosperity had many a time
   blessed God for the day of his birth, and reckoned it a happy day; yet
   now he brands it with all possible marks of infamy. When we consider
   the iniquity in which we were conceived and born we have reason enough
   to reflect with sorrow and shame upon the day of our birth, and to say
   that the day of our death, by which we are freed from sin (Rom. vi. 7),
   is far better. Eccl. vii. 1. But to curse the day of our birth because
   then we entered upon the calamitous scene of life is to quarrel with
   the God of nature, to despise the dignity of our being, and to indulge
   a passion which our own calm and sober thoughts will make us ashamed
   of. Certainly there is no condition of life a man can be in in this
   world but he may in it (if it be not his own fault) so honour God, and
   work out his own salvation, and make sure a happiness for himself in a
   better world, that he will have no reason at all to wish he had never
   been born, but a great deal of reason to say that he had his being to
   good purpose. Yet it must be owned, if there were not another life
   after this, and divine consolations to support us in the prospect of
   it, so many are the sorrows and troubles of this that we might
   sometimes be tempted to say that we were made in vain (Ps. lxxxix. 47),
   and to wish we had never been. There are those in hell who with good
   reason wish they had never been born, as Judas, Matt. xxvi. 24. But, on
   this side hell, there can be no reason for so vain and ungrateful a
   wish. It was Job's folly and weakness to curse his day. We must say of
   it, This was his infirmity; but good men have sometimes failed in the
   exercise of those graces which they have been most eminent for, that we
   may understand that when they are said to be perfect it is meant that
   they were upright, not that they were sinless. Lastly, Let us observe
   it, to the honour of the spiritual life above the natural, that though
   many have cursed the day of their first birth, never any cursed the day
   of their new-birth, nor wished they never had had grace, and the Spirit
   of grace, given them. Those are the most excellent gifts, above life
   and being itself, and which will never be a burden.

   II. Yet it was not so bad as Satan promised himself. Job cursed his
   day, but he did not curse his God--was weary of his life, and would
   gladly have parted with that, but not weary of his religion; he
   resolutely cleaves to that, and will never let it go. The dispute
   between God and Satan concerning Job was not whether Job had his
   infirmities, and whether he was subject to like passions as we are
   (that was granted), but whether he was a hypocrite, who secretly hated
   God, and if he were provoked, would show his hatred; and, upon trial,
   it proved that he was no such man. Nay, all this may consist with his
   being a pattern of patience; for, though he did thus speak unadvisedly
   with his lips, yet both before and after he expressed great submission
   and resignation to the holy will of God and repented of his impatience;
   he condemned himself for it, and therefore God did not condemn him, nor
   must we, but watch the more carefully over ourselves, lest we sin after
   the similitude of this transgression.

   1. The particular expressions which Job used in cursing his day are
   full of poetical fancy, flame, and rapture, and create as much
   difficulty to the critics as the thing itself does to the divines: we
   need not be particular in our observations upon them. When he would
   express his passionate wish that he had never been, he falls foul upon
   the day, and wishes,

   (1.) That earth might forget it: Let it perish (v. 3); let it not be
   joined to the days of the year, v. 6. "Let it be not only not inserted
   in the calendar in red letters, as the day of the king's nativity useth
   to be" (and Job was a king, ch. xxix. 25), "but let it be erased and
   blotted out, and buried in oblivion. Let not the world know that ever
   such a man as I was born into it, and lived in it, who am made such a
   spectacle of misery."

   (2.) That Heaven might frown upon it: Let not God regard it from above,
   v. 4. "Every thing is indeed as it is with God; that day is honourable
   on which he puts honour, and which he distinguishes and crowns with his
   favour and blessing, as he did the seventh day of the week; but let my
   birthday never be so honoured; let it be nigro carbone notandus--marked
   as with a black coal for an evil day by him that determines the times
   before appointed. The father and fountain of light appointed the
   greater light to rule the day and the less lights to rule the night;
   but let that want the benefit of both." [1.] Let that day be darkness
   (v. 4); and, if the light of the day be darkness, how great is that
   darkness! how terrible! because then we look for light. Let the
   gloominess of the day represent Job's condition, whose sun went down at
   noon. [2.] As for that night too, let it want the benefit of moon and
   stars, and let darkness seize upon it, thick darkness, darkness that
   may be felt, which will not befriend the repose of the night by its
   silence, but rather disturb it with its terrors.

   (3.) That all joy might forsake it: "Let it be a melancholy night,
   solitary, and not a merry night of music and dancing. Let no joyful
   voice come therein (v. 7); let it be a long night, and not see the
   eye-lids of the morning (v. 9), which bring joy with them."

   (4.) That all curses might follow it (v. 8): "Let none ever desire to
   see it, or bid it welcome when it comes, but, on the contrary, let
   those curse it that curse the day. Whatever day any are tempted to
   curse, let them at the same time bestow one curse upon my birth-day,
   particularly those that make it their trade to raise up mourning at
   funerals with their ditties of lamentation. Let those that curse the
   day of the death of others in the same breath curse the day of my
   birth." Or those who are so fierce and daring as to be ready to raise
   up the Leviathan (for that is the word here), who, being about to
   strike the whale or crocodile, curse it with the bitterest curse they
   can invent, hoping by their incantations to weaken it, and so to make
   themselves master of it. Probably some such custom might there be used,
   to which our divine poet alludes. "Let it be as odious as the day
   wherein men bewail the greatest misfortune, or the time wherein they
   see the most dreadful apparition;" so bishop Patrick, I suppose taking
   the Leviathan here to signify the devil, as others do, who understand
   it of the curses used by conjurors and magicians in raising the devil,
   or when they have raised a devil that they cannot lay.

   2. But what is the ground of Job's quarrel with the day and night of
   his birth? It is because it shut not up the doors of his mother's womb,
   v. 10. See the folly and madness of a passionate discontent, and how
   absurdly and extravagantly it talks when the reins are laid on the neck
   of it. Is this Job, who was so much admired for his wisdom that unto
   him men gave ear, and kept silence at his counsel, and after his words
   they spoke not again? ch. xxix. 21, 11. Surely his wisdom failed him,
   (1.) When he took so much pains to express his desire that he had never
   been born, which, at the best was a vain wish, for it is impossible to
   make that which has been not to have been. (2.) When he was so liberal
   of his curses upon a day and a night that could not be hurt, or made
   any the worse for his curses. (3.) When he wished a thing so very
   barbarous to his own mother as that she had not brought him forth when
   her full time had come, which must inevitably have been her death, and
   a miserable death. (4.) When he despised the goodness of God to him in
   giving him a being (such a being, so noble and excellent a life, such a
   life, so far above that of any other creature in this lower world), and
   undervalued the gift, as not worth the acceptance, only because transit
   cum onere--it was clogged with a proviso of trouble, which now at
   length came upon him, after many years' enjoyment of its pleasures.
   What a foolish thing it was to wish that his eyes had never seen the
   light, that so they might not have seen sorrow, which yet he might hope
   to see through, and beyond which he might see joy! Did Job believe and
   hope that he should in his flesh see God at the latter day (ch. xix.
   26), and yet would he wish he had never had a being capable of such a
   bliss, only because, for the present, he had sorrow in the flesh? God
   by his grace arm us against this foolish and hurtful lust of
   impatience.

    Job's Complaint of Life. (b. c. 1520.)

   11 Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I
   came out of the belly?   12 Why did the knees prevent me? or why the
   breasts that I should suck?   13 For now should I have lain still and
   been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,   14 With
   kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for
   themselves;   15 Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses
   with silver:   16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as
   infants which never saw light.   17 There the wicked cease from
   troubling; and there the weary be at rest.   18 There the prisoners
   rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.   19 The small
   and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.

   Job, perhaps reflecting upon himself for his folly in wishing he had
   never been born, follows it, and thinks to mend it, with another,
   little better, that he had died as soon as he was born, which he
   enlarges upon in these verses. When our Saviour would set forth a very
   calamitous state of things he seems to allow such a saying as this,
   Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the paps
   which never gave suck (Luke xxiii. 29); but blessing the barren womb is
   one thing and cursing the fruitful womb is another! It is good to make
   the best of afflictions, but it is not good to make the worst of
   mercies. Our rule is, Bless, and curse not. Life is often put for all
   good, and death for all evil; yet Job here very absurdly complains of
   life and its supports as a curse and plague to him, and covets death
   and the grave as the greatest and most desirable bliss. Surely Satan
   was deceived in Job when he applied that maxim to him, All that a man
   hath will he give for his life; for never any man valued life at a
   lower rate than he did.

   I. He ungratefully quarrels with life, and is angry that it was not
   taken from him as soon as it was given him (v. 11, 12): Why died not I
   from the womb? See here, 1. What a weak and helpless creature man is
   when he comes into the world, and how slender the thread of life is
   when it is first drawn. We are ready to die from the womb, and to
   breathe our last as soon as we begin to breathe at all. We can do
   nothing for ourselves, as other creatures can, but should drop into the
   grave if the knees did not prevent us; and the lamp of life, when first
   lighted, would go out of itself if the breasts given us, that we should
   suck, did not supply it with fresh oil. 2. What a merciful and tender
   care divine Providence took of us at our entrance into the world. It
   was owing to this that we died not from the womb and did not give up
   the ghost when we came out of the belly. Why were we not cut off as
   soon as we were born? Not because we did not deserve it. Justly might
   such weeds have been plucked up as soon as they appeared; justly might
   such cockatrices have been crushed in the egg. Nor was it because we
   did, or could, take any care of ourselves and our own safety: no
   creature comes into the world so shiftless as man. It was not our
   might, or the power of our hand, that preserved us these beings, but
   God's power and providence upheld our frail lives, and his pity and
   patience spared our forfeited lives. It was owing to this that the
   knees prevented us. Natural affection is put into parents' he arts by
   the hand of the God of nature: and hence it was that the blessings of
   the breast attended those of the womb. 3. What a great deal of vanity
   and vexation of spirit attends human life. If we had not a God to serve
   in this world, and better things to hope for in another world,
   considering the faculties we are endued with and the troubles we are
   surrounded with, we should be strongly tempted to wish that we had died
   from the womb, which would have prevented a great deal both of sin and
   misery.


   He that is born to-day, and dies to-morrow,

   Loses some hours of joy, but months of sorrow.

   4. The evil of impatience, fretfulness, and discontent. When they thus
   prevail they are unreasonable and absurd, impious and ungrateful. To
   indulge them is a slighting and undervaluing of God's favour. How much
   soever life is embittered, we must say, "It was of the Lord's mercies
   that we died not from the womb, that we were not consumed." Hatred of
   life is a contradiction to the common sense and sentiments of mankind,
   and to our own at any other time. Let discontented people declaim ever
   so much against life, they will be loth to part with it when it comes
   to the point. When the old man in the fable, being tired with his
   burden, threw it down with discontent and called for Death, and Death
   came to him and asked him what he would have with him, he then
   answered, "Nothing, but to help me up with my burden."

   II. He passionately applauds death and the grave, and seems quite in
   love with them. To desire to die that we may be with Christ, that we
   may be free from sin, and that we may be clothed upon with our house
   which is from heaven, is the effect and evidence of grace; but to
   desire to die only that we may be quiet in the grave, and delivered
   from the troubles of this life, savours of corruption. Job's
   considerations here may be of good use to reconcile us to death when it
   comes, and to make us easy under the arrest of it; but they ought not
   to be made use of as a pretence to quarrel with life while it is
   continued, or to make us uneasy under the burdens of it. It is our
   wisdom and duty to make the best of that which is, be it living or
   dying, and so to live to the Lord and die to the Lord, and to be his in
   both, Rom. xiv. 8. Job here frets himself with thinking that if he had
   but died as soon as he was born, and been carried from the womb to the
   grave, 1. His condition would have been as good as that of the best: I
   would have been (says he, v. 14) with kings and counsellors of the
   earth, whose pomp, power, and policy, cannot set them out of the reach
   of death, nor secure them from the grave, nor distinguish theirs from
   common dust in the grave. Even princes, who had gold in abundance,
   could not with it bribe Death to overlook them when he came with
   commission; and, though they filled their houses with silver, yet they
   were forced to leave it all behind them, no more to return to it. Some,
   by the desolate places which the kings and counsellors are here said to
   build for themselves, understand the sepulchres or monuments they
   prepared for themselves in their life-time; as Shebna (Isa. xxii. 16)
   hewed himself out a sepulchre; and by the gold which the princes had,
   and the silver with which they filled their houses, they understand the
   treasures which, they say, it was usual to deposit in the graves of
   great men. Such arts have been used to preserve their dignity, if
   possible, on the other side death, and to keep themselves from lying
   even with those of inferior rank; but it will not do: death is, and
   will be, an irresistible leveller. Mors sceptra ligonibus aequat--Death
   mingles sceptres with spades. Rich and poor meet together in the grave;
   and there a hidden untimely birth (v. 16), a child that either never
   saw light or but just opened its eyes and peeped into the world, and,
   not liking it, closed them again and hastened out of it, lies as soft
   and easy, lies as high and safe, as kings and counsellors, and princes,
   that had gold. "And therefore," says Job, "would I had lain there in
   the dust, rather than to lie here in the ashes!" 2. His condition would
   have been much better than now it was (v. 13): "Then should I have lain
   still, and been quiet, which now I cannot do, I cannot be, but am still
   tossing and unquiet; then I should have slept, whereas now sleep
   departeth from my eyes; then had I been at rest, whereas now I am
   restless." Now that life and immortality are brought to a much clearer
   light by the gospel than before they were placed in good Christians can
   give a better account than this of the gain of death: "Then should I
   have been present with the Lord; then should I have seen his glory face
   to face, and no longer through a glass darkly." But all that poor Job
   dreamed of was rest and quietness in the grave out of the fear of evil
   tidings and out of the feeling of sore boils. Then should I have been
   quiet; and had he kept his temper, his even easy temper still, which he
   was in as recorded in the two foregoing chapters, entirely resigned to
   the holy will of God and acquiescing in it, he might have been quiet
   now; his soul, at least, might have dwelt at ease, even when his body
   lay in pain, Ps. xxv. 13. Observe how finely he describes the repose of
   the grave, which (provided the soul also be at rest in God) may much
   assist our triumphs over it. (1.) Those that now are troubled will
   there be out of the reach of trouble (v. 17): There the wicked cease
   from troubling. When persecutors die they can no longer persecute;
   their hatred and envy will then perish. Herod had vexed the church,
   but, when he became a prey for worms, he ceased from troubling. When
   the persecuted die they are out of the danger of being any further
   troubled. Had Job been at rest in his grave, he would have had no
   disturbance from the Sabeans and Chaldeans, none of all his enemies
   would have created him any trouble. (2.) Those that are now toiled will
   there see the period of their toils. There the weary are at rest.
   Heaven is more than a rest to the souls of the saints, but the grave is
   a rest to their bodies. Their pilgrimage is a weary pilgrimage; sin and
   the world they are weary of; their services, sufferings, and
   expectations, they are wearied with; but in the grave they rest from
   all their labours, Rev. xiv. 13; Isa. lvii. 23. They are easy there,
   and make no complaints; there believers sleep in Jesus. (3.) Those that
   were here enslaved are there at liberty. Death is the prisoner's
   discharge, the relief of the oppressed, and the servant's manumission
   (v. 18): There the prisoners, though they walk not at large, yet they
   rest together, and are not put to work, to grind in that prison-house.
   They are no more insulted and trampled upon, menaced and terrified, by
   their cruel task-masters: They hear not the voice of the oppressor.
   Those that were here doomed to perpetual servitude, that could call
   nothing their own, no, not their own bodies, are there no longer under
   command or control: There the servant is free from his master, which is
   a good reason why those that have power should use it moderately, and
   those that are in subjection should bear it patiently, yet a little
   while. (4.) Those that were at a vast distance from others are there
   upon a level (v. 19): The small and great are there, there the same,
   there all one, all alike free among the dead. The tedious pomp and
   state which attend the great are at an end there. All the
   inconveniences of a poor and low condition are likewise over; death and
   the grave know no difference.


   Levelled by death, the conqueror and the slave,

   The wise and foolish, cowards and the brave,

   Lie mixed and undistinguished in the grave.

   Sir R. Blackmore.

   20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the
   bitter in soul;   21 Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig
   for it more than for hid treasures;   22 Which rejoice exceedingly, and
   are glad, when they can find the grave?   23 Why is light given to a
   man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?   24 For my sighing
   cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.
   25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which
   I was afraid of is come unto me.   26 I was not in safety, neither had
   I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

   Job, finding it to no purpose to wish either that he had not been born
   or had died as soon as he was born, here complains that his life was
   now continued and not cut off. When men are set on quarrelling there is
   no end of it; the corrupt heart will carry on the humour. Having cursed
   the day of his birth, here he courts the day of his death. The
   beginning of this strife and impatience is as the letting forth of
   water.

   I. He thinks it hard, in general, that miserable lives should be
   prolonged (v. 20-22): Wherefore is light in life given to those that
   are bitter in soul? Bitterness of soul, through spiritual grievances,
   makes life itself bitter. Why doth he give light? (so it is in the
   original): he means God, yet does not name him, though the devil had
   said, "He will curse thee to thy face;" but he tacitly reflects on the
   divine Providence as unjust and unkind in continuing life when the
   comforts of life are removed. Life is called light, because pleasant
   and serviceable for walking and working. It is candle-light; the longer
   it burns the shorter it is, and the nearer to the socket. This light is
   said to be given us; for, if it were not daily renewed to us by a fresh
   gift, it would be lost. But Job reckons that to those who are in misery
   it is doron adoron--gift and no gift, a gift that they had better be
   without, while the light only serves them to see their own misery by.
   Such is the vanity of human life that it sometimes becomes a vexation
   of spirit; and so alterable is the property of death that, though
   dreadful to nature, it may become desirable even to nature itself. He
   here speaks of those, 1. Who long for death, when they have out-lived
   their comforts and usefulness, are burdened with age and infirmities,
   with pain or sickness, poverty or disgrace, and yet it comes not;
   while, at the same time, it comes to many who dread it and would put it
   far from them. The continuance and period of life must be according to
   God's will, not according to ours. It is not fit that we should be
   consulted how long we would live and when we would die; our times are
   in a better hand than our own. 2. Who dig for it as for hidden
   treasures, that is, would give any thing for a fair dismission out of
   this world, which supposes that then the thought of men's being their
   own executioners was not so much as entertained or suggested, else
   those who longed for it needed not take much pains for it, they might
   soon come at it (as Seneca tells them) if they are pleased. 3. Who bid
   it welcome, and are glad when they can find the grave and see
   themselves stepping into it. If the miseries of this life can prevail,
   contrary to nature, to make death itself desirable, shall not much more
   the hopes and prospects of a better life, to which death is our
   passage, make it so, and set us quite above the fear of it? It may be a
   sin to long for death, but I am sure it is no sin to long for heaven.

   II. He thinks himself, in particular, hardly dealt with, that he might
   not be eased of his pain and misery by death when he could not get ease
   in any other way. To be thus impatient of life for the sake of the
   troubles we meet with is not only unnatural in itself, but ungrateful
   to the giver of life, and argues a sinful indulgence of our own passion
   and a sinful inconsideration of our future state. Let it be our great
   and constant care to get ready for another world, and then let us leave
   it to God to order the circumstances of our removal thither as he
   thinks fit: "Lord, when and how thou pleasest;" and this with such an
   indifference that, if he should refer it to us, we would refer it to
   him again. Grace teaches us, in the midst of life's greatest comforts,
   to be willing to die, and, in the midst of its greatest crosses, to be
   willing to live. Job, to excuse himself in this earnest desire which he
   had to die, pleads the little comfort and satisfaction he had in life.

   1. In his present afflicted state troubles were continually felt, and
   were likely to be so. He thought he had cause enough to be weary of
   living, for, (1.) He had no comfort of his life: My sighing comes
   before I eat, v. 24. The sorrows of life prevented and anticipated the
   supports of life; nay, they took away his appetite for his necessary
   food. His griefs returned as duly as his meals, and affliction was his
   daily bread. Nay, so great was the extremity of his pain and anguish
   that he did not only sigh, but roar, and his roarings were poured out
   like the waters in a full and constant stream. Our Master was
   acquainted with grief, and we must expect to be so too. (2.) He had no
   prospect of bettering his condition: His way was hidden, and God had
   hedged him in, v. 23. He saw no way open of deliverance, nor knew he
   what course to take; his way was hedged up with thorns, that he could
   not find his path. See ch. xxiii. 8; Lam. iii. 7.

   2. Even in his former prosperous state troubles were continually
   feared; so that then he was never easy, v. 25, 26. He knew so much of
   the vanity of the world, and the troubles to which, of course, he was
   born, that he was not in safety, neither had he rest then. That which
   made his grief now the more grievous was that he was not conscious to
   himself of any great degree either of negligence or security in the day
   of his prosperity, which might provoke God thus to chastise him. (1.)
   He had not been negligent and unmindful of his affairs, but kept up
   such a fear of trouble as was necessary to the maintaining of his
   guard. He was afraid for his children when they were feasting, lest
   they should offend God (ch. i. 5), afraid for his servants lest they
   should offend his neighbours; he took all the care he could of his own
   health, and managed himself and his affairs with all possible
   precaution; yet all would not do. (2.) He had not been secure, nor
   indulged himself in ease and softness, had not trusted in his wealth,
   nor flattered himself with the hopes of the perpetuity of his mirth;
   yet trouble came, to convince and remind him of the vanity of the
   world, which yet he had not forgotten when he lived at ease. Thus his
   way was hidden, for he knew not wherefore God contended with him. Now
   this consideration, instead of aggravating his grief, might rather
   serve to alleviate it. Nothing will make trouble easy so much as the
   testimony of our consciences for us, that, in some measure, we did our
   duty in a day of prosperity; and an expectation of trouble will make it
   sit the lighter when it comes. The less it is a surprise the less it is
   a terror.
     __________________________________________________________________

J O B

  CHAP. IV.

   Job having warmly given vent to his passion, and so broken the ice, his
   friends here come gravely to give vent to their judgment upon his case,
   which perhaps they had communicated to one another apart, compared
   notes upon it and talked it over among themselves, and found they were
   all agreed in their verdict, that Job's afflictions certainly proved
   him to be a hypocrite; but they did not attack Job with this high
   charge till by the expressions of his discontent and impatience, in
   which they thought he reflected on God himself, he had confirmed them
   in the bad opinion they had before conceived of him and his character.
   Now they set upon him with great fear. The dispute begins, and it soon
   becomes fierce. The opponents are Job's three friends. Job himself is
   respondent. Elihu appears, first, as moderator, and at length God
   himself gives judgment upon the controversy and the management of it.
   The question in dispute is whether Job was an honest man or no, the
   same question that was in dispute between God and Satan in the first
   two chapters. Satan had yielded it, and durst not pretend that his
   cursing his day was a constructive cursing of his God; no, he cannot
   deny but that Job still holds fast his integrity; but Job's friends
   will needs have it that, if Job were an honest man, he would not have
   been thus sorely and thus tediously afflicted, and therefore urge him
   to confess himself a hypocrite in the profession he had made of
   religion: "No," says Job, "that I will never do; I have offended God,
   but my heart, notwithstanding, has been upright with him;" and still he
   holds fast the comfort of his integrity. Eliphaz, who, it is likely,
   was the senior, or of the best quality, begins with him in this
   chapter, in which, I. He bespeaks a patient hearing, ver. 2. II. He
   compliments Job with an acknowledgment of the eminence and usefulness
   of the profession he had made of religion, ver. 3, 4. III. He charges
   him with hypocrisy in his profession, grounding his charge upon his
   present troubles and his conduct under them, ver. 5, 6. IV. To make
   good the inference, he maintains that man's wickedness is that which
   always brings God's judgments, ver. 7-11. V. He corroborates his
   assertion by a vision which he had, in which he was reminded of the
   incontestable purity and justice of God, and the meanness, weakness,
   and sinfulness of man, ver. 12-21. By all this he aims to bring down
   Job's spirit and to make him both penitent and patient under his
   afflictions.

    The Address of Eliphaz. (b. c. 1520.)

   1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,   2 If we assay to
   commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself
   from speaking?   3 Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast
   strengthened the weak hands.   4 Thy words have upholden him that was
   falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.   5 But now it is
   come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art
   troubled.   6 Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the
   uprightness of thy ways?

   In these verses,

   I. Eliphaz excuses the trouble he is now about to give to Job by his
   discourse (v. 2): "If we assay a word with thee, offer a word of
   reproof and counsel, wilt thou be grieved and take it ill?" We have
   reason to fear thou wilt; but there is no remedy: "Who can refrain from
   words?" Observe, 1. With what modesty he speaks of himself and his own
   attempt. He will not undertake the management of the cause alone, but
   very humbly joins his friends with him: "We will commune with thee."
   Those that plead God's cause must be glad of help, lest it suffer
   through their weakness. He will not promise much, but begs leave to
   assay or attempt, and try if he could propose any thing that might be
   pertinent, and suit Job's case. In difficult matters it becomes us to
   pretend no further, but only to try what may be said or done. Many
   excellent discourses have gone under the modest title of Essays. 2.
   With what tenderness he speaks of Job, and his present afflicted
   condition: "If we tell thee our mind, wilt thou be grieved? Wilt thou
   take it ill? Wilt thou lay it to thy own heart as thy affliction or to
   our charge as our fault? Shall we be reckoned unkind and cruel if we
   deal plainly and faithfully with thee? We desire we may not; we hope we
   shall not, and should be sorry if that should be ill resented which is
   well intended." Note, We ought to be afraid of grieving any, especially
   those that are already in grief, lest we add affliction to the
   afflicted, as David's enemies, Ps. lxix. 26. We should show ourselves
   backward to say that which we foresee will be grievous, though ever so
   necessary. God himself, though he afflicts justly, does not afflict
   willingly, Lam. iii. 33. 3. With what assurance he speaks of the truth
   and pertinency of what he was about to say: Who can withhold himself
   from speaking? Surely it was a pious zeal for God's honour, and the
   spiritual welfare of Job, that laid him under this necessity of
   speaking. "Who can forbear speaking in vindication of God's honour,
   which we hear reproved, in love to thy soul, which we see endangered?"
   Note, It is foolish pity not to reprove our friends, even our friends
   in affliction, for what they say or do amiss, only for fear of
   offending them. Whether men take it well or ill, we must with wisdom
   and meekness do our duty and discharge a good conscience.

   II. He exhibits a twofold charge against Job.

   1. As to his particular conduct under this affliction. He charges him
   with weakness and faint-heartedness, and this article of his charge
   there was too much ground for, v. 3-5. And here,

   (1.) He takes notice of Job's former serviceableness to the comfort of
   others. He owns that Job had instructed many, not only his own children
   and servants, but many others, his neighbours and friends, as many as
   fell within the sphere of his activity. He did not only encourage those
   who were teachers by office, and countenance them, and pay for the
   teaching of those who were poor, but he did himself instruct many.
   Though a great man, he did not think it below him (king Solomon was a
   preacher); though a man of business, he found time to do it, went among
   his neighbours, talked to them about their souls, and gave them good
   counsel. O that this example of Job were imitated by our great men! If
   he met with those who were ready to fall into sin, or sink under their
   troubles, his words upheld them: a wonderful dexterity he had in
   offering that which was proper to fortify persons against temptations,
   to support them under their burdens, and to comfort afflicted
   consciences. He had, and used, the tongue of the learned, knew how to
   speak a word in season to those that were weary, and employed himself
   much in that good work. With suitable counsels and comforts he
   strengthened the weak hands for work and service and the spiritual
   warfare, and the feeble knees for bearing up the man in his journey and
   under his load. It is not only our duty to lift up our own hands that
   hang down, by quickening and encouraging ourselves in the way of duty
   (Heb. xii. 12), but we must also strengthen the weak hands of others,
   as there is occasion, and do what we can to confirm their feeble knees,
   by saying to those that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, Isa. xxxv.
   3, 4. The expressions seem to be borrowed thence. Note, Those should
   abound in spiritual charity. A good word, well and wisely spoken, may
   do more good than perhaps we think of. But why does Eliphaz mention
   this here? [1.] Perhaps he praises him thus for the good he had done
   that he might make the intended reproof the more passable with him.
   Just commendation is a good preface to a just reprehension, will help
   to remove prejudices, and will show that the reproof comes not from ill
   will. Paul praised the Corinthians before he chided them, 1 Cor. xi. 2.
   [2.] He remembers how Job had comforted others as a reason why he might
   justly expect to be himself comforted; and yet, if conviction was
   necessary in order to comfort, they must be excused if they applied
   themselves to that first. The Comforter shall reprove, John xvi. 8.
   [3.] He speaks this, perhaps, in a way of pity, lamenting that through
   the extremity of his affliction he could not apply those comforts to
   himself which he had formerly administered to others. It is easier to
   give good counsel than to take it, to preach meekness and patience than
   to practise them. Facile omnes, cum valemus, rectum consilium aegrotis
   damus--We all find it easy, when in health, to give good advice to the
   sick.--Terent. [4.] Most think that he mentions it as an aggravation of
   his present discontent, upbraiding him with his knowledge, and the good
   offices he had done for others, as if he had said, "Thou that hast
   taught others, why dost thou not teach thyself? Is not this an evidence
   of thy hypocrisy, that thou hast prescribed that medicine to others
   which thou wilt not now take thyself, and so contradictest thyself, and
   actest against thy own know principles? Thou that teachest another to
   faint, dost thou faint? Rom. ii. 21. Physician, heal thyself." Those
   who have rebuked others must expect to hear of it if they themselves
   become obnoxious to rebuke.

   (2.) He upbraids him with his present low-spiritedness, v. 5. "Now that
   it has come upon thee, now that it is thy turn to be afflicted, and the
   bitter cup that goes round is put into thy hand, now that it touches
   thee, thou faintest, thou art troubled." Here, [1.] He makes too light
   of Job's afflictions: "It touches thee." The very word that Satan
   himself had used, ch. i. 11, ii. 5. Had Eliphaz felt but the one-half
   of Job's affliction, he would have said, "It smites me, it wounds me;"
   but, speaking of Job's afflictions, he makes a mere trifle of it: "It
   touches thee and thou canst not bear to be touched." Noli me
   tangere--Touch me not. [2.] He makes too much of Job's resentments, and
   aggravates them: "Thou faintest, or thou art beside thyself; thou
   ravest, and knowest not what thou sayest." Men in deep distress must
   have grains of allowance, and a favourable construction put upon what
   they say; when we make the worst of every word we do not as we would be
   done by.

   2. As to his general character before this affliction. He charges him
   with wickedness and false-heartedness, and this article of his charge
   was utterly groundless and unjust. How unkindly does he banter him, and
   upbraid him with the great profession of religion he had made, as if it
   had all now come to nothing and proved a sham (v. 6): "Is not this thy
   fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways? Does
   it not all appear now to be a mere pretence? For, hadst thou been
   sincere in it, God would not thus have afflicted thee, nor wouldst thou
   have behaved thus under the affliction." This was the very thing Satan
   aimed at, to prove Job a hypocrite, and disprove the character God had
   given of him. When he could not himself do this to God, but he still
   saw and said, Job is perfect and upright, then he endeavoured, by his
   friends, to do it to Job himself, and to persuade him to confess
   himself a hypocrite. Could he have gained that point he would have
   triumphed. Habes confitentem reum--Out of thy own mouth will I condemn
   thee. But, by the grace of God, Job was enabled to hold fast his
   integrity, and would not bear false witness against himself. Note,
   Those that pass rash and uncharitable censures upon their brethren, and
   condemn them as hypocrites, do Satan's work, and serve his interest,
   more than they are aware of. I know not how it comes to pass that this
   verse is differently read in several editions of our common English
   Bibles; the original, and all the ancient versions, put thy hope before
   the uprightness of thy ways. So does the Geneva, and most of the
   editions of the last translation; but I find one of the first, in 1612,
   has it, Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, the uprightness of thy
   ways, and thy hope? Both the Assembly's Annotations and Mr. Pool's have
   that reading: and an edition in 1660 reads it, "Is not thy fear thy
   confidence, and the uprightness of thy ways thy hope? Does it not
   appear now that all the religion both of thy devotion and of thy
   conversation was only in hope and confidence that thou shouldst grow
   rich by it? Was it not all mercenary?" The very thing that Satan
   suggested. Is not thy religion thy hope, and are not thy ways thy
   confidence? so Mr. Broughton. Or, "Was it not? Didst thou not think
   that that would be thy protection? But thou art deceived." Or, "Would
   it not have been so? If it had been sincere, would it not have kept
   thee from this despair?" It is true, if thou faint in the day of
   adversity, thy strength, thy grace, is small (Prov. xxiv. 10); but it
   does not therefore follow that thou hast no grace, no strength at all.
   A man's character is not to be taken from a single act.

   7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where
   were the righteous cut off?   8 Even as I have seen, they that plow
   iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.   9 By the blast of God
   they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.   10
   The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the
   teeth of the young lions, are broken.   11 The old lion perisheth for
   lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.

   Eliphaz here advances another argument to prove Job a hypocrite, and
   will have not only his impatience under his afflictions to be evidence
   against him but even his afflictions themselves, being so very great
   and extraordinary, and there being no prospect at all of his
   deliverance out of them. To strengthen his argument he here lays down
   these two principles, which seem plausible enough:--

   I. That good men were never thus ruined. For the proof of this he
   appeals to Job's own observation (v. 7): "Remember, I pray thee;
   recollect all that thou hast seen, heard, or read, and give me an
   instance of any one that was innocent and righteous, and yet perished
   as thou dost, and was cut off as thou art." If we understand it of a
   final and eternal destruction, his principle is true. None that are
   innocent and righteous perish for ever: it is only a man of sin that is
   a son of perdition, 2 Thess. ii. 3. But then it is ill applied to Job;
   he did not thus perish, nor was he cut off: a man is never undone till
   he is in hell. But, if we understand it of any temporal calamity, his
   principle is not true. The righteous perish (Isa. lvii. 1): there is
   one event both to the righteous and to the wicked (Eccl. ix. 2), both
   in life and death; the great and certain difference is after death.
   Even before Job's time (as early as it was) there were instances
   sufficient to contradict this principle. Did not righteous Abel perish
   being innocent? and was he not cut off in the beginning of his days?
   Was not righteous Lot burnt out of house and harbour, and forced to
   retire to a melancholy cave? Was not righteous Jacob a Syrian ready to
   perish? Deut. xxvi. 5. Other such instances, no doubt, there were,
   which are not on record.

   II. That wicked men were often thus ruined. For the proof of this he
   vouches his own observation (v. 8): "Even as I have seen, many a time,
   those that plough iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap accordingly; by
   the blast of God they perish, v. 9. We have daily instances of that;
   and therefore, since thou dost thus perish and art consumed, we have
   reason to think that, whatever profession of religion thou hast made,
   thou hast but ploughed iniquity and sown wickedness. Even as I have
   seen in others, so do I see in thee."

   1. He speaks of sinners in general, politic busy sinners, that take
   pains in sin, for they plough iniquity; and expect gain by sin, for
   they sow wickedness. Those that plough plough in hope, but what is the
   issue? They reap the same. They shall of the flesh reap corruption and
   ruin, Gal. vi. 7, 8. The harvest will be a heap in the day of grief and
   desperate sorrow, Isa. xvii. 11. He shall reap the same, that is, the
   proper product of that seedness. That which the sinner sows, he sows
   not that body that shall be, but God will give it a body, a body of
   death, the end of those things, Rom. vi. 21. Some, by iniquity and
   wickedness, understand wrong and injury done to others. Those who
   plough and sow them shall reap the same, that is, they shall be paid in
   their own coin. Those who are troublesome shall be troubled, 2 Thess.
   i. 6; Josh. vii. 25. The spoilers shall be spoiled (Isa. xxxiii. 1),
   and those that led captive shall go captive, Rev. xiii. 10. He further
   describes their destruction (v. 9): By the blast of God they perish.
   The projects they take so much pains in are defeated; God cuts asunder
   the cords of those ploughers, Ps. cxxix. 3, 4. They themselves are
   destroyed, which is the just punishment of their iniquity. They perish,
   that is, they are destroyed utterly; they are consumed, that is, they
   are destroyed gradually; and this by the blast and breath of God, that
   is, (1.) By his wrath. His anger is the ruin of sinners, who are
   therefore called vessels of wrath, and his breath is said to kindle
   Tophet, Isa. xxx. 33. Who knows the power of his anger? Ps. xc. 11.
   (2.) By his word. He speaks and it is done, easily and effectually. The
   Spirit of God, in the word, consumes sinners; with that he slays them,
   Hos. vi. 5. Saying and doing are not two things with God. The man of
   sin is said to be consumed with the breath of Christ's mouth, 2 Thess.
   ii. 8. Compare Isa. xi. 4; Rev. xix. 21. Some think that in attributing
   the destruction of sinners to the blast of God, and the breath of his
   nostrils, he refers to the wind which blew the house down upon Job's
   children, as if they were therefore sinners above all men because they
   suffered such things. Luke xiii. 2.

   2. He speaks particularly of tyrants and cruel oppressors, under the
   similitude of lions, v. 10, 11. Observe, (1.) How he describes their
   cruelty and oppression. The Hebrew tongue has five several names for
   lions, and they are all here used to set forth the terrible tearing
   power, fierceness, and cruelty, of proud oppressors. They roar, and
   rend, and prey upon all about them, and bring up their young ones to do
   so too, Ezek. xix. 3. The devil is a roaring lion; and they partake of
   his nature, and do his lusts. They are strong as lions, and subtle (Ps.
   x. 9; xvii. 12); and, as far as they prevail, they lay all desolate
   about them. (2.) How he describes their destruction, the destruction
   both of their power and of their persons. They shall be restrained from
   doing further hurt and reckoned with for the hurt they have done. An
   effectual course shall be taken, [1.] That they shall not terrify. The
   voice of their roaring shall be stopped. [2.] That they shall not tear.
   God will disarm them, will take away their power to do hurt: The teeth
   of the young lions are broken. See Ps. iii. 7. Thus shall the remainder
   of wrath be restrained. [3.] That they shall not enrich themselves with
   the spoil of their neighbours. Even the old lion is famished, and
   perishes for lack of prey. Those that have surfeited on spoil and
   rapine are perhaps reduced to such straits as to die of hunger at last.
   [4.] That they shall not, as they promise themselves, leave a
   succession: The stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad, to seek for
   food themselves, which the old ones used to bring in for them, Nah. ii.
   12. The lion did tear in pieces for his whelps, but now they must shift
   for themselves. Perhaps Eliphaz intended, in this, to reflect upon Job,
   as if he, being the greatest of all the men of the east, had got his
   estate by spoil and used his power in oppressing his neighbours, but
   now his power and estate were gone, and his family was scattered: if
   so, it was a pity that a man whom God praised should be thus abused.

   12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a
   little thereof.   13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when
   deep sleep falleth on men,   14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which
   made all my bones to shake.   15 Then a spirit passed before my face;
   the hair of my flesh stood up:   16 It stood still, but I could not
   discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was
   silence, and I heard a voice, saying,   17 Shall mortal man be more
   just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?   18 Behold, he
   put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
   19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation
   is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?   20 They are
   destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any
   regarding it.   21 Doth not their excellency which is in them go away?
   they die, even without wisdom.

   Eliphaz, having undertaken to convince Job of the sin and folly of his
   discontent and impatience, here vouches a vision he had been favoured
   with, which he relates to Job for his conviction. What comes
   immediately from God all men will pay a particular deference to, and
   Job, no doubt, as much as any. Some think Eliphaz had this vision now
   lately, since he came to Job, putting words into his mouth wherewith to
   reason with him; and it would have been well if he had kept to the
   purport of this vision, which would serve for a ground on which to
   reprove Job for his murmuring, but not to condemn him as a hypocrite.
   Others think he had it formerly; for God did, in this way, often
   communicate his mind to the children of men in those first ages of the
   world, ch. xxxiii. 15. Probably God had sent Eliphaz this messenger and
   message some time or other, when he was himself in an unquiet
   discontented frame, to calm and pacify him. Note, As we should comfort
   others with that wherewith we have been comforted (2 Cor. i. 4), so we
   should endeavour to convince others with that which has been powerful
   to convince us. The people of God had not then any written word to
   quote, and therefore God sometimes notified to them even common truths
   by the extraordinary ways of revelation. We that have Bibles have there
   (thanks be to God) a more sure word to depend upon than even visions
   and voices, 2 Pet. i. 19. Observe,

   I. The manner in which this message was sent to Eliphaz, and the
   circumstances of the conveyance of it to him. 1. It was brought to him
   secretly, or by stealth. Some of the sweetest communion gracious souls
   have with God is in secret, where no eye sees but that of him who is
   all eye. God has ways of bringing conviction, counsel, and comfort, to
   his people, unobserved by the world, by private whispers, as powerfully
   and effectually as by the public ministry. His secret is with them, Ps.
   xxv. 14. As the evil spirit often steals good words out of the heart
   (Matt. xiii. 19), so the good Spirit sometimes steals good words into
   the heart, or ever we are aware. 2. He received a little thereof, v.
   12. And it is but a little of divine knowledge that the best receive in
   this world. We know little in comparison with what is to be known, and
   with what we shall know when we come to heaven. How little a portion is
   heard of God! ch. xxvi. 14. We know but in part, 1 Cor. xiii. 12. See
   his humility and modesty. He pretends not to have understood it fully,
   but something of it he perceived. 3. It was brought to him in the
   visions of the night (v. 13), when he had retired from the world and
   the hurry of it, and all about him was composed and quiet. Note, The
   more we are withdrawn from the world and the things of it the fitter we
   are for communion with God. When we are communing with our own hearts,
   and are still (Ps. iv. 4), then is a proper time for the Holy Spirit to
   commune with us. When others were asleep Eliphaz was ready to receive
   this visit from Heaven, and probably, like David, was meditating upon
   God in the night-watches; in the midst of those good thoughts this
   thing was brought to him. We should hear more from God if we thought
   more of him; yet some are surprised with convictions in the night, ch.
   xxxiii. 14, 15. 4. It was prefaced with terrors: Fear came upon him,
   and trembling, v. 14. It should seem, before he either heard or saw any
   thing, he was seized with this trembling, which shook his bones, and
   perhaps the bed under him. A holy awe and reverence of God and his
   majesty being struck upon his spirit, he was thereby prepared for a
   divine visit. Whom God intends to honour he first humbles and lays low,
   and will have us all to serve him with holy fear, and to rejoice with
   trembling.

   II. The messenger by whom it was sent--a spirit, one of the good
   angels, who are employed not only as the ministers of God's providence,
   but sometimes as the ministers of his word. Concerning this apparition
   which Eliphaz saw we are here told (v. 15, 16), 1. That it was real,
   and not a dream, not a fancy. An image was before his eyes; he plainly
   saw it; at first it passed and repassed before his face, moved up and
   down, but at length it stood still to speak to him. If some have been
   so knavish as to impose false visions on others, and some so foolish as
   to be themselves imposed upon, it does not therefore follow but that
   there may have been apparitions of spirits, both good and bad. 2. That
   it was indistinct, and somewhat confused. He could not discern the form
   thereof, so as to frame any exact idea of it in his own mind, much less
   to give a description of it. His conscience was to be awakened and
   informed, not his curiosity gratified. We know little of spirits; we
   are not capable of knowing much of them, nor is it fit that we should:
   all in good time; we must shortly remove to the world of spirits, and
   shall then be better acquainted with them. 3. That it puts him into a
   great consternation, so that his hair stood on end. Ever since man
   sinned it has been terrible to him to receive an express from heaven,
   as conscious to himself that he can expect no good tidings thence;
   apparitions therefore, even of good spirits, have always made deep
   impressions of fear, even upon good men. How well it is for us that God
   sends us his messages, not by spirits, but by men like ourselves, whose
   terror shall not make us afraid! See Dan. vii. 28; x. 8, 9.

   III. The message itself. Before it was delivered there was silence,
   profound silence, v. 16. When we are to speak either from God or to him
   it becomes us to address ourselves to it with a solemn pause, and so to
   set bounds about the mount on which God is to come down, and not be
   hasty to utter any thing. It was in a still small voice that the
   message was delivered, and this was it (v. 17): "Shall mortal man be
   more just than God, the immortal God? Shall a man be thought to be, or
   pretend to be, more pure than his Maker? Away with such a thought!" 1.
   Some think that Eliphaz aims hereby to prove that Job's great
   afflictions were a certain evidence of his being a wicked man. A mortal
   man would be thought unjust and very impure if he should thus correct
   and punish a servant or subject, unless he had been guilty of some very
   great crime: "If therefore there were not some great crimes for which
   God thus punishes thee, man would be more just than God, which is not
   to be imagined." 2. I rather think it is only a reproof of Job's
   murmuring and discontent: "Shall a man pretend to be more just and pure
   than God? more truly to understand, and more strictly to observe, the
   rules and laws of equity than God? Shall Enosh, mortal and miserable
   man, be so insolent; nay, shall Geber, the strongest and most eminent
   man, man at his best estate, pretend to compare with God, or stand in
   competition with him?" Note, It is most impious and absurd to think
   either others or ourselves more just and pure than God. Those that
   quarrel and find fault with the directions of the divine law, the
   dispensations of the divine grace, or the disposals of the divine
   providence, make themselves more just and pure than God; and those who
   thus reprove God, let them answer it. What! sinful man! (for he would
   not have been mortal if he had not been sinful) short-sighted man!
   Shall he pretend to be more just, more pure, than God, who, being his
   Maker, is his Lord and owner? Shall the clay contend with the potter?
   What justice and purity there is in man, God is the author of it, and
   therefore is himself more just and pure. See Ps. xciv. 9, 10.

   IV. The comment which Eliphaz makes upon this, for so it seems to be;
   yet some take all the following verses to be spoken in vision. It comes
   all to one.

   1. He shows how little the angels themselves are in comparison with
   God, v. 18. Angels are God's servants, waiting servants, working
   servants; they are his ministers (Ps. civ. 4); bright and blessed
   beings they are, but God neither needs them nor is benefited by them
   and is himself infinitely above them, and therefore, (1.) He puts no
   trust in them, did not repose a confidence in them, as we do in those
   we cannot live without. There is no service in which he employs them
   but, if he pleased, he could have it done as well without them. He
   never made them his confidants, or of his cabinet-council, Matt. xxiv.
   36. He does not leave his business wholly to them, but his own eyes run
   to and fro through the earth, 2 Chron. xvi. 9. See this phrase, ch.
   xxxix. 11. Some give this sense of it: "So mutable is even the
   angelical nature that God would not trust angels with their own
   integrity; if he had, they would all have done as some did, left their
   first estate; but he saw it necessary to give them supernatural grace
   to confirm them." (2.) He charges them with folly, vanity, weakness,
   infirmity, and imperfection, in comparison with himself. If the world
   were left to the government of the angels, and they were trusted with
   the sole management of affairs, they would take false steps, and
   everything would not be done for the best, as now it is. Angels are
   intelligences, but finite ones. Though not chargeable with iniquity,
   yet with imprudence. This last clause is variously rendered by the
   critics. I think it would bear this reading, repeating the negation,
   which is very common: He will put no trust in his saints; nor will he
   glory in his angels (in angelis suis non ponet gloriationem) or make
   his boast of them, as if their praises, or services, added any thing to
   him: it is his glory that he is infinitely happy without them.

   2. Thence he infers how much less man is, how much less to be trusted
   in or gloried in. If there is such a distance between God and angels,
   what is there between God and man! See how man is represented here in
   his meanness.

   (1.) Look upon man in his life, and he is very mean, v. 19. Take man in
   his best estate, and he is a very despicable creature in comparison
   with the holy angels, though honourable if compared with the brutes. It
   is true, angels are spirits, and the souls of men are spirits; but,
   [1.] Angels are pure spirits; the souls of men dwell in houses of clay:
   such the bodies of men are. Angels are free; human souls are housed,
   and the body is a cloud, a clog, to it; it is its cage; it is its
   prison. It is a house of clay, mean and mouldering; an earthen vessel,
   soon broken, as it was first formed, according to the good pleasure of
   the potter. It is a cottage, not a house of cedar or a house of ivory,
   but of clay, which would soon be in ruins if not kept in constant
   repair. [2.] Angels are fixed, but the very foundation of that house of
   clay in which man dwells is in the dust. A house of clay, if built upon
   a rock, might stand long; but, if founded in the dust, the uncertainty
   of the foundation will hasten its fall, and it will sink with its own
   weight. As man was made out of the earth, so he is maintained and
   supported by that which cometh out of the earth. Take away that, and
   his body returns to its earth. We stand but upon the dust; some have a
   higher heap of dust to stand upon than others, but still it is the
   earth that stays us up and will shortly swallow us up. [3.] Angels are
   immortal, but man is soon crushed; the earthly house of his tabernacle
   is dissolved; he dies and wastes away, is crushed like a moth between
   one's fingers, as easily, as quickly; one may almost as soon kill a man
   as kill a moth. A little thing will destroy his life. He is crushed
   before the face of the moth, so the word is. If some lingering
   distemper, which consumes like a moth, be commissioned to destroy him,
   he can no more resist it than he can resist an acute distemper, which
   comes roaring upon him like a lion. See Hos. v. 12-14. Is such a
   creature as this to be trusted in, or can any service be expected from
   him by that God who puts no trust in angels themselves?

   (2.) Look upon him in his death, and he appears yet more despicable,
   and unfit to be trusted. Men are mortal and dying, v. 20, 21. [1.] In
   death they are destroyed, and perish for ever, as to this world; it is
   the final period of their lives, and all the employments and enjoyments
   here; their place will know them no more. [2.] They are dying daily,
   and continually wasting: Destroyed from morning to evening. Death is
   still working in us, like a mole digging our grave at each remove, and
   we so continually lie exposed that we are killed all the day long. [3.]
   Their life is short, and in a little time they are cut off. It lasts
   perhaps but from morning to evening. It is but a day (so some
   understand it); their birth and death are but the sun-rise and sun-set
   of the same day. [4.] In death all their excellency passes away;
   beauty, strength, learning, not only cannot secure them from death, but
   must die with them, nor shall their pomp, their wealth, or power,
   descend after them. [5.] Their wisdom cannot save them from death: They
   die without wisdom, die for want of wisdom, by their own foolish
   management of themselves, digging their graves with their own teeth.
   [6.] It is so common a thing that nobody heeds it, nor takes any notice
   of it: They perish without any regarding it, or laying it to heart. The
   deaths of others are much the subject of common talk, but little the
   subject of serious thought. Some think the eternal damnation of sinners
   is here spoken of, as well as their temporal death: They are destroyed,
   or broken to pieces, by death, from morning to evening; and, if they
   repent not, they perish for ever (so some read it), v. 20. They perish
   for ever because they regard not God and their duty; they consider not
   their latter end, Lam. i. 9. They have no excellency but that which
   death takes away, and they die, they die the second death, for want of
   wisdom to lay hold on eternal life. Shall such a mean, weak, foolish,
   sinful, dying creature as this pretend to be more just than God and
   more pure than his Maker? No, instead of quarrelling with his
   afflictions, let him wonder that he is out of hell.
     __________________________________________________________________

J O B

  CHAP. V.

   Eliphaz, in the foregoing chapter, for the making good of his charge
   against Job, had vouched a word from heaven, sent him in a vision. In
   this chapter he appeals to those that bear record on earth, to the
   saints, the faithful witnesses of God's truth in all ages, ver. 1. They
   will testify, I. That the sin of sinners is their ruin, ver. 2-5. II.
   That yet affliction is the common lot of mankind, ver. 6, 7. III. That
   when we are in affliction it is our wisdom and duty to apply to God,
   for he is able and ready to help us, ver. 8-16. IV. That the
   afflictions which are borne well will end well; and Job particularly,
   if he would come to a better temper, might assure himself that God had
   great mercy in store for him, ver. 17-27. So that he concludes his
   discourse in somewhat a better humour than he began it.

    The Address of Eliphaz. (b. c. 1520.)

   1 Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the
   saints wilt thou turn?   2 For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy
   slayeth the silly one.   3 I have seen the foolish taking root: but
   suddenly I cursed his habitation.   4 His children are far from safety,
   and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.
     5 Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the
   thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.

   A very warm dispute being begun between Job and his friends, Eliphaz
   here makes a fair motion to put the matter to a reference. In all
   debates perhaps the sooner this is done the better if the contenders
   cannot end it between themselves. So well assured is Eliphaz of the
   goodness of his own cause that he moves Job himself to choose the
   arbitrators (v. 1): Call now, if there be any that will answer thee;
   that is, 1. "If there be any that suffer as thou sufferest. Canst thou
   produce an instance of any one that was really a saint that was reduced
   to such an extremity as thou art now reduced to? God never dealt with
   any that love his name as he deals with thee, and therefore surely thou
   art none of them." 2. "If there be any that say as thou sayest. Did
   ever any good man curse his day as thou dost? Or will any of the saints
   justify thee in these heats or passions, or say that these are the
   spots of God's children? Thou wilt find none of the saints that will be
   either thy advocates or my antagonists. To which of the saints wilt
   thou turn? Turn to which thou wilt, and thou wilt find they are all of
   my mind. I have the communis sensus fidelium--the unanimous vote of the
   faithful on my side; they will all subscribe to what I am going to
   say." Observe, (1.) Good people are called saints even in the Old
   Testament; and therefore I know not why we should, in common speaking
   (unless because we must loqui cum vulgo--speak as our neighbours),
   appropriate the title to those of the New Testament, and not say St.
   Abraham, St. Moses, and St. Isaiah, as well as St. Matthew and St.
   Mark; and St. David the psalmist, as well as St. David the British
   bishop. Aaron is expressly called the saint of the Lord. (2.) All that
   are themselves saints will turn to those that are so, will choose them
   for their friends and converse with them, will choose them for their
   judges and consult them. See Ps. cxix. 79. The saints shall judge the
   world, 1 Cor. vi. 1, 2. Walk in the way of good men (Prov. ii. 20), the
   old way, the footsteps of the flock. Every one chooses some sort of
   people or other to whom he studies to recommend himself, and whose
   sentiments are to him the test of honour and dishonour. Now all true
   saints endeavour to recommend themselves to those that are such, and to
   stand right in their opinion. (3.) There are some truths so plain, and
   so universally known and believed, that one may venture to appeal to
   any of the saints concerning them. However there are some things about
   which they unhappily differ, there are many more, and more
   considerable, in which they are agreed; as the evil of sin, the vanity
   of the world, the worth of the soul, the necessity of a holy life, and
   the like. Though they do not all live up, as they should, to their
   belief of these truths, yet they are all ready to bear their testimony
   to them.

   Now there are two things which Eliphaz here maintains, and in which he
   doubts not but all the saints concur with him:--

   I. That the sin of sinners directly tends to their own ruin (v. 2):
   Wrath kills the foolish man, his own wrath, and therefore he is foolish
   for indulging it; it is a fire in his bones, in his blood, enough to
   put him into a fever. Envy is the rottenness of the bones, and so slays
   the silly one that frets himself with it. "So it is with thee," says
   Eliphaz, "while thou quarrellest with God thou doest thyself the
   greatest mischief; thy anger at thy own troubles, and thy envy at our
   prosperity, do but add to thy pain and misery: turn to the saints, and
   thou wilt find they understand their interest better." Job had told his
   wife she spoke as the foolish women; now Eliphaz tells him he acted as
   the foolish men, the silly ones. Or it may be meant thus: "If men are
   ruined and undone, it is always their own folly that ruins and undoes
   them. They kill themselves by some lust or other; therefore, no doubt,
   Job, thou hast done some foolish thing, by which thou hast brought
   thyself into this calamitous condition." Many understand it of God's
   wrath and jealousy. Job needed not be uneasy at the prosperity of the
   wicked, for the world's smiles can never shelter them from God's
   frowns; they are foolish and silly if they think they will. God's anger
   will be the death, the eternal death, of those on whom it fastens. What
   is hell but God's anger without mixture or period?

   II. That their prosperity is short and their destruction certain, v.
   3-5. He seems here to parallel Job's case with that which is commonly
   the case of wicked people. 1. Job had prospered for a time, seemed
   confirmed, and was secure in his prosperity; and it is common for
   foolish wicked men to do so: I have seen them taking root--planted,
   and, in their own and others' apprehension, fixed, and likely to
   continue. See Jer. xii. 2; Ps. xxxvii. 35, 36. We see worldly men
   taking root in the earth; on earthly things they fix the standing of
   their hopes, and from them they draw the sap of their comforts. The
   outward estate may be flourishing, but the soul cannot prosper that
   takes root in the earth. 2. Job's prosperity was now at an end, and so
   has the prosperity of other wicked people quickly been. (1.) Eliphaz
   foresaw their ruin with an eye of faith. Those who looked only at
   present things blessed their habitation, and thought them happy,
   blessed it long, and wished themselves in their condition. But Eliphaz
   cursed it, suddenly cursed it, as soon as he saw them begin to take
   root, that is, he plainly foresaw and foretold their ruin; not that he
   prayed for it (I have not desired the woeful day), but he
   prognosticated it. He went into the sanctuary, and there understood
   their end and heard their doom read (Ps. lxxiii. 17, 18), that the
   prosperity of fools will destroy them, Prov. i. 32. Those who believe
   the word of God can see a curse in the house of the wicked (Prov. iii.
   33), though it be ever so finely and firmly built, and ever so full of
   all good things; and they can foresee that the curse will, in time,
   infallibly consume it with the timber thereof, and the stones thereof,
   Zech. v. 4. (2.) He saw, at length, what he had foreseen. He was not
   disappointed in his expectation concerning him; the event answered it;
   his family was undone, and his estate ruined. In these particulars he
   plainly and very invidiously reflects on Job's calamities. [1.] His
   children were crushed, v. 4. They thought themselves safe in their
   eldest brother's house, but were far from safety, for they were crushed
   in the gate. Perhaps the door or gate of the house was highest built,
   and fell heaviest upon them, and there was none to deliver them from
   perishing in the ruins. This is commonly understood of the destruction
   of the families of wicked men, by the execution of justice upon them,
   to oblige them to restore what they have ill-gotten. They leave it to
   their children; but the descent shall not bar the entry of the rightful
   owners, who will crush their children, and cast them by due course of
   law (and there shall be none to help them), or perhaps by oppression,
   Ps. cix. 9, &c. [2.] His estate was plundered, v. 5. Job's was so. The
   hungry robbers, the Sabeans and Chaldeans, ran away with it, and
   swallowed it; and this, says he, I have often observed in others. What
   has been got by spoil and rapine has been lost in the same way. The
   careful owner hedged it about with thorns, and then thought it safe;
   but the fence proved insignificant against the greediness of the
   spoilers (if hunger will break through the stone walls, much more
   through thorn hedges), and against the divine curse, which will go
   through the thorns and briers, and burn them together, Isa. xxvii. 4.

   6 Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth
   trouble spring out of the ground;   7 Yet man is born unto trouble, as
   the sparks fly upward.   8 I would seek unto God, and unto God would I
   commit my cause:   9 Which doeth great things and unsearchable;
   marvellous things without number:   10 Who giveth rain upon the earth,
   and sendeth waters upon the fields:   11 To set up on high those that
   be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.   12 He
   disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot
   perform their enterprise.   13 He taketh the wise in their own
   craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.   14
   They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in
   the night.   15 But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their
   mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.   16 So the poor hath hope, and
   iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

   Eliphaz, having touched Job in a very tender part, in mentioning both
   the loss of his estate and the death of his children as the just
   punishment of his sin, that he might not drive him to despair, here
   begins to encourage him, and puts him in a way to make himself easy.
   Now he very much changes his voice (Gal. iv. 20), and speaks in the
   accents of kindness, as if he would atone for the hard words he had
   given him.

   I. He reminds him that no affliction comes by chance, nor is to be
   attributed to second causes: It doth not come forth of the dust, nor
   spring out of the ground, as the grass doth, v. 6. It doth not come of
   course, at certain seasons of the year, as natural productions do, by a
   chain of second causes. The proportion between prosperity and adversity
   is not so exactly observed by Providence as that between day and night,
   summer and winter, but according to the will and counsel of God, when
   and as he thinks fit. Some read it, Sin comes not forth out of the
   dust, nor iniquity of the ground. If men be bad, they must not lay the
   blame upon the soil, the climate, or the stars, but on themselves. If
   thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it. We must not attribute our
   afflictions to fortune, for they are from God, nor our sins to fate,
   for they are from ourselves; so that, whatever trouble we are in, we
   must own that God sends it upon us and we procure it to ourselves: the
   former is a reason why we should be very patient, the latter why we
   should be very penitent, when we are afflicted.

   II. He reminds him that trouble and affliction are what we have all
   reason to expect in this world: Man is brought to trouble (v. 7), not
   as man (had he kept his innocency he would have been born to pleasure),
   but as sinful man, as born of a woman (ch. xiv. 1), who was in the
   transgression. Man is born in sin, and therefore born to trouble. Even
   those that are born to honour and estate are yet born to trouble in the
   flesh. In our fallen state it has become natural to us to sin, and the
   natural consequence of that is affliction, Rom. v. 12. There is nothing
   in this world we are born to, and can truly call our own, but sin and
   trouble; both are as the sparks that fly upwards. Actual transgressions
   are the sparks that fly out of the furnace of original corruption; and,
   being called transgressors from the womb, no wonder that we deal very
   treacherously, Isa. xlviii. 8. Such too is the frailty of our bodies,
   and the vanity of all our enjoyments, that our troubles also thence
   arise as naturally as the sparks fly upwards--so many are they, so
   thick and so fast does one follow another. Why then should we be
   surprised at our afflictions as strange, or quarrel with them as hard,
   when they are but what we are born to? Man is born to labour (so it is
   in the margin), is sentenced to eat his bread in the sweat of his face,
   which should inure him to hardness, and make him bear his afflictions
   the better.

   III. He directs him how to behave himself under his affliction (v. 8):
   I would seek unto God; surely I would: so it is in the original. Here
   is, 1. A tacit reproof to Job for not seeking to God, but quarrelling
   with him: "Job, if I had been in thy case, I would not have been so
   peevish and passionate as thou art. I would have acquiesced in the will
   of God." It is easy to say what we would do if we were in such a one's
   case; but when it comes to the trial, perhaps it will be found not so
   easy to do as we say. 2. Very good and seasonable advice to him, which
   Eliphaz transfers to himself in a figure: "For my part, the best way I
   should think I could take, if I were in thy condition, would be to
   apply to God." Note, We should give our friends no other counsel than
   what we would take ourselves if we were in their case, that we may be
   easy under our afflictions, may get good by them, and may see a good
   issue of them. (1.) We must by prayer fetch in mercy and grace from
   God, seek to him as a Father and friend, though he contend with us, as
   one who is alone able to support and succour us. His favour we must
   seek when we have lost all we have in the world; to him we must address
   ourselves as the fountain and Father of all good, all consolation. Is
   any afflicted? let him pray. It is heart's-ease, a salve for every
   sore. (2.) We must by patience refer ourselves and our cause to him: To
   God would I commit my cause; having spread it before him, I would leave
   it with him; having laid it at his feet, I would lodge it in his hand.
   "Here I am, let the Lord do with me as seemeth him good." If our cause
   be indeed a good cause, we need not fear committing it to God, for he
   is both just and kind. Those that would seek so as to speed must refer
   themselves to God.

   IV. He encourages him thus to seek to God, and commit his cause to him.
   It will not be in vain to do so, for he is one in whom we shall find
   effectual help.

   1. He recommends to his consideration God's almighty power and
   sovereign dominion. In general, he doeth great things (v. 9), great
   indeed, for he can do any thing, he doth do every thing, and all
   according to the counsel of his own will--great indeed, for the
   operations of his power are, (1.) Unsearchable, and such as can never
   be fathomed, can never be found out from the beginning to the end,
   Eccl. iii. 11. The works of nature are mysterious; the most curious
   searches come far short of full discoveries and the wisest philosophers
   have owned themselves at a loss. The designs of Providence ar much more
   deep and unaccountable, Rom. xi. 33. (2.) Numerous, and such as can
   never be reckoned up. He doeth great things without number; his power
   is never exhausted, nor will all his purposes ever be fulfilled till
   the end of time. (3.) They are marvellous, and such as never can be
   sufficiently admired; eternity itself will be short enough to be spent
   in the admiration of them. Now, by the consideration of this, Eliphaz
   intends, [1.] To convince Job of his fault and folly in quarrelling
   with God. We must not pretend to pass a judgment upon his works, for
   they are unsearchable and above our enquiries; nor must we strive with
   our Maker, for he will certainly be too hard for us, and is able to
   crush us in a moment. [2.] To encourage Job to seek unto God, and to
   refer his cause to him. What more encouraging than to see that he is
   one to whom power belongs? He can do great things and marvellous for
   our relief, when we are brought ever so low.

   2. He gives some instances of God's dominion and power.

   (1.) God doeth great things in the kingdom of nature: He gives rain
   upon the earth (v. 10), put here for all the gifts of common
   providence, all the fruitful seasons by which he filleth our hearts
   with food and gladness, Acts xiv. 17. Observe, When he would show what
   great things God does he speaks of his giving rain, which, because it
   is a common thing, we are apt to look upon as a little thing, but, if
   we duly consider both how it is produced and what is produced by it, we
   shall see it to be a great work both of power and goodness.

   (2.) He doeth great things in the affairs of the children of men, not
   only enriches the poor and comforts the needy, by the rain he sends (v.
   10), but, in order to the advancing of those that are low, he
   disappoints the devices of the crafty; for v. 11 is to be joined to v.
   12. Compare with Luke i. 51-53. He hath scattered the proud in the
   imagination of their hearts, and so hath exalted those of low degree,
   and filled the heart with good things. See,

   [1.] How he frustrates the counsels of the proud and politic, v. 12-14.
   There is a supreme power that manages and overrules men who think
   themselves free and absolute, and fulfils its own purposes in spite of
   their projects. Observe, First, The froward, that walk contrary to God
   and the interests of his kingdom, are often very crafty; for they are
   the seed of the old serpent that was noted for his subtlety. They think
   themselves wise, but, at the end, will be fools. Secondly, The Froward
   enemies of God's kingdom have their devices, their enterprises, and
   their counsels, against it, and against the loyal faithful subjects of
   it. They are restless and unwearied in their designs, close in their
   consultations, high in their hopes, deep in their politics, and
   fast-linked in their confederacies, Ps. ii. 1, 2. Thirdly, God easily
   can, and (as far as is for his glory) certainly will, blast and defeat
   all the designs of his and his people's enemies. How were the plots of
   Ahithophel, Sanballat, and Haman baffled! How were the confederacies of
   Syria and Ephraim against Judah, of Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek,
   against God's Israel, the kings of the earth and the princes against
   the Lord and against his anointed, broken! The hands that have been
   stretched out against God and his church have not performed their
   enterprise, nor have the weapons formed against Sion prospered.
   Fourthly, That which enemies have designed for the ruin of the church
   has often turned to their own ruin (v. 13): He takes the wise in their
   own craftiness, and snares them in the work of their own hands, Ps.
   vii. 15, 16; ix. 15, 16. This is quoted by the apostle (1 Cor. iii. 19)
   to show how the learned men of the heathen were befooled by their own
   vain philosophy. Fifthly, When God infatuates men they are perplexed,
   and at a loss, even in those things that seem most plain and easy (v.
   14): They meet with darkness even in the day-time: nay (as in the
   margin), They run themselves into darkness by the violence and
   precipitation of their own counsels. See ch. xii. 20, 24, 25.

   [2.] How he favours the cause of the poor and humble, and espouses
   that. First, He exalts the humble, v. 11. Those whom proud men contrive
   to crush he raises from under their feet, and sets them in safety, Ps.
   xii. 5. The lowly in heart, and those that mourn, he advances,
   comforts, and makes to dwell on high, in the munitions of rocks, Isa.
   xxxiii. 16. Sion's mourners are the sealed ones, marked for safety,
   Ezek. ix. 4. Secondly, He delivers the oppressed, v. 15. The designs of
   the crafty are to ruin the poor. Tongue, and hand, and sword, and all,
   are at work in order to this; but God takes under his special
   protection those who, being poor and unable to help themselves, being
   his poor and devoted to his praise, have committed themselves to him.
   He saves them from the mouth that speaks hard things against them and
   the hand that does hard things against them; for he can, when he
   pleases, tie the tongue and wither the hand. The effect of this is (v.
   16), 1. That weak and timorous saints are comforted: So the poor, who
   began to despair, has hope. The experiences of some are encouragement
   to others to hope the best in the worst of times; for it is the glory
   of God to send help to the helpless and hope to the hopeless. 2. That
   daring threatening sinners are confounded: Iniquity stops her mouth,
   being surprised at the strangeness of the deliverance, ashamed of its
   enmity against those who appear to be the favourites of Heaven,
   mortified at the disappointment, and compelled to acknowledge the
   justice of God's proceedings, having nothing to object against them.
   Those that domineered over God's poor, that frightened them, menaced
   them, and falsely accused them, will not have a word to say against
   them when God appears for them. See Ps. lxxvi. 8, 9; Isa. xxvi. 11;
   Mic. vii. 16.

   17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not
   thou the chastening of the Almighty:   18 For he maketh sore, and
   bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.   19 He shall
   deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch
   thee.   20 In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from
   the power of the sword.   21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the
   tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
   22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be
   afraid of the beasts of the earth.   23 For thou shalt be in league
   with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at
   peace with thee.   24 And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be
   in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.   25
   Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring
   as the grass of the earth.   26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full
   age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.   27 Lo this, we
   have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.

   Eliphaz, in this concluding paragraph of his discourse, gives Job (what
   he himself knew not how to take) a comfortable prospect of the issue of
   his afflictions, if he did but recover his temper and accommodate
   himself to them. Observe,

   I. The seasonable word of caution and exhortation that he gives him (v.
   17): "Despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty. Call it a
   chastening, which comes from the father's love and is designed for the
   child's good. Call it the chastening of the Almighty, with whom it is
   madness to contend, to whom it is wisdom and duty to submit, and who
   will be a God all-sufficient (for so the word signifies) to all those
   that trust in him. Do not despise it;" it is a copious word in the
   original. 1. "Be not averse to it. Let grace conquer the antipathy
   which nature has to suffering, and reconcile thyself to the will of God
   in it." We need the rod and we deserve it; and therefore we ought not
   to think it either strange or hard if we feel the smart of it. Let not
   the heart rise against a bitter pill or potion, when it is prescribed
   for our good. 2. "Do not think ill of it; do not put it from thee (as
   that which is either hurtful or at least not useful, which there is not
   occasion for nor advantage by) only because for the present it is not
   joyous, but grievous." We must never scorn to stoop to God, nor think
   it a thing below us to come under his discipline, but reckon, on the
   contrary, that God really magnifies man when he thus visits and tries
   him, ch. vii. 17, 18. 3. "Do not overlook and disregard it, as if it
   were only a chance, and the production of second causes, but take great
   notice of it as the voice of God and a messenger from heaven." More is
   implied than is expressed: "Reverence the chastening of the Lord; have
   a humble awful regard to this correcting hand, and tremble when the
   lion roars, Amos iii. 8. Submit to the chastening, and study to answer
   the call, to answer the end of it, and then you reverence it." When God
   by an affliction draws upon us for some of the effects he has entrusted
   us with we must honour his bill by accepting it, and subscribing it,
   resigning him his own when he calls for it.

   II. The comfortable words of encouragement which he gives him thus to
   accommodate himself to his condition, and (as he himself had expressed
   it) to receive evil at the hand of God, and not despise it as a gift
   not worth the accepting.

   1. If his affliction was thus borne, (1.) The nature and property of it
   would be altered. Though it looked like a man's misery, it would really
   be his bliss: Happy is the man whom God correcteth if he make but a due
   improvement of the correction. A good man is happy though he be
   afflicted, for, whatever he has lost, he has not lost his enjoyment of
   God nor his title to heaven. Nay, he is happy because he is afflicted;
   correction is an evidence of his sonship and a means of his
   sanctification; it mortifies his corruptions, weans his heart from the
   world, draws him nearer to God, brings him to his Bible, brings him to
   his knees, works him for, and so is working for him, a far more
   exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Happy therefore is the man whom
   God correcteth, Jam. i. 12. (2.) The issue and consequence of it would
   be very good, v. 18. [1.] Though he makes sore the body with sore
   boils, the mind with sad thoughts, yet he binds up at the same time, as
   the skilful tender surgeon binds up the wounds he had occasion to make
   with his incision-knife. When God makes sores by the rebukes of his
   providence he binds up by the consolations of his Spirit, which
   oftentimes abound most as afflictions do abound, and counterbalance
   them, to the unspeakable satisfaction of the patient sufferers. [2.]
   Though he wounds, yet his hands make whole in due time; as he supports
   his people, and makes them easy under their afflictions, so in due time
   he delivers them, and makes a way for them to escape. All is well
   again; and he comforts them according to the time wherein he afflicted
   them. God's usual method is first to wound and then to heal, first to
   convince and then to comfort, first to humble and then to exalt; and
   (as Mr. Caryl observes) he never makes a wound too great, too deep, for
   his own cure. Una eademque manus vulnus opemque tulit--The hand that
   inflicts the wound applies the cure. God tears the wicked and goes
   away; let those heal that will, if they can (Hos. v. 14); but the
   humble and penitent may say, He has torn and he will heal us, Hos. vi.
   1. This is general, but,

   2. In the following verses Eliphaz addresses himself directly to Job,
   and gives him many precious promises of great and kind things which God
   would do for him if he did but humble himself under his hand. Though
   then they had no Bibles that we know of, yet Eliphaz had sufficient
   warrant to give Job these assurances, from the general discoveries God
   had made of his good will to his people. And, though in every thing
   which Job's friends said they were not directed by the Spirit of God
   (for they spoke both of God and Job some things that were not right),
   yet the general doctrines they laid down expressed the pious sense of
   the patriarchal age, and as St. Paul quoted v. 13 for canonical
   scripture, and as the command v. 17 is no doubt binding on us, so these
   promises here may be, and must be, received and applied as divine
   promises, and we may through patience and comfort of this part of
   scripture have hope. Let us therefore give diligence to make sure our
   interest in these promises, and then view the particulars of them and
   take the comfort of them.

   (1.) It is here promised that as afflictions and troubles recur
   supports and deliverances shall be graciously repeated, be it ever so
   often: In six troubles he shall be ready to deliver thee; yea, and in
   seven, v. 19. This intimates that,as long as we are here in this world,
   we must expect a succession of troubles, that the clouds will return
   after the rain. After six troubles may come a seventh; after many, look
   for more; but out of them all will God deliver those that are his, 2
   Tim. iii. 11; Ps. xxxiv. 19. Former deliverances are not, as among men,
   excuses from further deliverances, but earnests of them, Prov. xix. 19.

   (2.) That, whatever troubles good men may be in, there shall no evil
   touch them; they shall do them no real harm; the malignity of them, the
   sting, shall be taken out; they may hiss, but they cannot hurt, Ps.
   xci. 10. The evil one toucheth not God's children, 1 John v. 18. Being
   kept from sin, they are kept from the evil of every trouble.

   (3.) That, when desolating judgments are abroad, they shall be taken
   under special protection, v. 20. Do many perish about them for want of
   the necessary supports of life? They shall be supplied. "In famine he
   shall redeem thee from death; whatever becomes of others, thou shalt be
   kept alive, Ps. xxxiii. 19. Verily, thou shalt be fed, nay, even in the
   days of famine thou shalt be satisfied, Ps. xxxvii. 3, 19. In time of
   war, when thousands fall on the right and left hand, he shall redeem
   thee from the power of the sword. If God please, it shall not touch
   thee; or if it wound thee, if it kill thee, it shall not hurt thee; it
   can but kill the body, nor has it power to do that unless it be given
   from above."

   (4.) That, whatever is maliciously said against them, it shall not
   affect them to do them any hurt, v. 21. "Thou shalt not only be
   protected from the killing sword of war, but shalt be hidden from the
   scourge of the tongue, which, like a scourge, is vexing and painful,
   though not mortal." The best men, and the most inoffensive, cannot,
   even in their innocency, secure themselves from calumny, reproach, and
   false accusation. From these a man cannot hide himself, but God can
   hide him, so that the most malicious slanders shall be so little heeded
   by him as not to disturb his peace, and so little heeded by others as
   not to blemish his reputation: and the remainder of wrath God can and
   does restrain, for it is owing to the hold he has of the consciences of
   bad men that the scourge of the tongue is not the ruin of all the
   comforts of good men in this world.

   (5.) That they shall have a holy security and serenity of mind, arising
   from their hope and confidence in God, even in the worst of times. When
   dangers are most threatening they shall be easy, believing themselves
   safe; and they shall not be afraid of destruction, no, not when they
   see it coming (v. 21), nor of the beasts of the field when they set
   upon them, nor of men as cruel as beasts; nay, at destruction and
   famine thou shalt laugh (v. 22), not so as to despise any of God's
   chastenings or make a jest of his judgments, but so as to triumph in
   God, in his power and goodness, and therein to triumph over the world
   and all its grievances, to be not only easy, but cheerful and joyful,
   in tribulation. Blessed Paul laughed at destruction when he said, O
   death! where is thy sting? when, in the name of all the saints, he
   defied all the calamities of this present time to separate us from the
   love of God, concluding that in all these things we are more than
   conquerors, Rom. viii. 35, &c. See Isa. xxxvii. 22.

   (6.) That, being at peace with God, there shall be a covenant of
   friendship between them and the whole creation, v. 23. "When thou
   walkest over thy grounds thou shalt not need to fear stumbling, for
   thou shalt be at league with the stones of the field, not to dash thy
   foot against any of them, nor shalt thou be in danger from the beasts
   of the field, for they shall all be at peace with thee;" compare Hos.
   ii. 18, I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field.
   This implies that while man is at enmity with his Maker the inferior
   creatures are at war with him; but tranquillus Deus tranquillat
   omnia--a reconciled God reconciles all things. Our covenant with God is
   a covenant with all the creatures that they shall do us no hurt but be
   ready to serve us and do us good.

   (7.) That their houses and families shall be comfortable to them, v.
   24. Peace and piety in the family will make it so. "Thou shalt know and
   be assured that thy tabernacle is and shall be in peace; thou mayest be
   confident both of its present and its future prosperity." That peace is
   thy tabernacle (so the word is); peace is the house in which those
   dwell who dwell in God, and are at home in him. "Thou shalt visit"
   (that is, enquire into the affairs of) "thy habitation, and take a
   review of them, and shalt not sin." [1.] God will provide a settlement
   for his people, mean perhaps and movable, a cottage, a tabernacle, but
   a fixed and quiet habitation. "Thou shalt not sin," or wander; that is,
   as some understand it, "thou shalt not be a fugitive and a vagabond"
   (Cain's curse), "but shalt dwell in the land, and verily, not
   uncertainly as vagrants, shalt thou be fed." [2.] Their families shall
   be taken under the special protection of the divine Providence, and
   shall prosper as far as is for their good. [3.] They shall be assured
   of peace, and of the continuance and entail of it. "Thou shalt know, to
   thy unspeakable satisfaction, that peace is sure to thee and thine,
   having the word of God for it." Providence may change, but the promise
   cannot. [4.] They shall have wisdom to govern their families aright, to
   order their affairs with discretion, and to look well to the ways of
   their household, which is here called visiting their habitation.
   Masters of families must not be strangers at home, but must have a
   watchful eye over what they have and what their servants do. [5.] They
   shall have grace to manage the concerns of their families after a godly
   sort, and not to sin in the management of them. They shall call their
   servants to account without passion, pride, covetousness, worldliness,
   or the like; they shall look into their affairs without discontent at
   what is or distrust of what shall be. Family piety crowns family peace
   and prosperity. The greatest blessing, both in our employments and in
   our enjoyments, is to be kept from sin in them. When we are abroad it
   is comfortable to hear that our tabernacle is in peace; and when we
   return home it is comfortable to visit our habitation with satisfaction
   in our success, that we have not failed in our business, and with a
   good conscience, that we have not offended God.

   (8.) That their posterity shall be numerous and prosperous. Job had
   lost all his children; "but," says Eliphaz, "if thou return to God, he
   will again build up thy family, and thy seed shall be many and as great
   as ever, and thy offspring increasing and flourishing as the grass of
   the earth (v. 25), and thou shalt know it." God has blessings in store
   for the seed of the faithful, which they shall have if they do not
   stand in their own light and forfeit them by their folly. It is a
   comfort to parents to see the prosperity, especially the spiritual
   prosperity, of their children; if they are truly good, they are truly
   great, how small a figure soever they may make in the world.

   (9.) That their death shall be seasonable, and they shall finish their
   course, at length, with joy and honour, v. 26. It is a great mercy,
   [1.] To live to a full age, and not to have the number of our months
   cut off in the midst. If the providence of God do not give us long
   life, yet, if the grace of God give us to be satisfied with the time
   allotted us, we may be said to come to a full age. That man lives long
   enough that has done his work and is fit for another world. [2.] To be
   willing to die, to come cheerfully to the grave, and not to be forced
   thither, as he whose soul was required of him. [3.] To die seasonably,
   as the corn is cut and housed when it is fully ripe; not till then, but
   then not suffered to stand a day longer, lest it shed. Our times are in
   God's hand; it is well they are so, for he will take care that those
   who are his shall die in the best time: however their death may seem to
   us untimely, it will be found not unseasonable.

   3. In the last verse he recommends these promises to Job, (1.) As
   faithful sayings, which he might be confident of the truth of: "Lo,
   this we have searched, and so it is. We have indeed received these
   things by tradition from our fathers, but we have not taken them upon
   trust; we have carefully searched them, have compared spiritual things
   with spiritual, have diligently studied them, and been confirmed in our
   belief of them from our own observation and experience; and we are all
   of a mind that so it is." Truth is a treasure that is well worth
   digging for, diving for; and then we shall know both how to value it
   ourselves and how to communicate it to others when we have taken pains
   in searching for it. (2.) As well worthy of all acceptation, which he
   might improve to his great advantage: Hear it, and know thou it for thy
   good. It is not enough to hear and know the truth, but we must improve
   it, and be made wiser and better by it, receive the impressions of it,
   and submit to the commanding power of it. Know it for thyself (so the
   word is), with application to thyself, and thy own case; not only "This
   is true," but "this is true concerning me." That which we thus hear and
   know for ourselves we hear and know for our good, as we are nourished
   by the meat which we digest. That is indeed a good sermon to us which
   does us good.
     __________________________________________________________________

J O B

  CHAP. VI.

   Eliphaz concluded his discourse with an air of assurance; very
   confident he was that what he had said was so plain and so pertinent
   that nothing could be objected in answer to it. But, though he that is
   first in his own cause seems just, yet his neighbour comes and searches
   him. Job is not convinced by all he had said, but still justifies
   himself in his complaints and condemns him for the weakness of his
   arguing. I. He shows that he had just cause to complain as he did of
   his troubles, and so it would appear to any impartial judge, ver. 2-7.
   II. He continues his passionate wish that he might speedily be cut off
   by the stroke of death, and so be eased of all his miseries, ver. 8-13.
   III. He reproves his friends for their uncharitable censures of him and
   their unkind treatment, ver. 14-30. It must be owned that Job, in all
   this, spoke much that was reasonable, but with a mixture of passion and
   human infirmity. And in this contest, as indeed in most contests, there
   was fault on both sides.

    Job's Reply to Eliphaz. (b. c. 1520.)

   1 But Job answered and said,   2 Oh that my grief were thoroughly
   weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!   3 For now it
   would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are
   swallowed up.   4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the
   poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set
   themselves in array against me.   5 Doth the wild ass bray when he hath
   grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?   6 Can that which is
   unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of
   an egg?   7 The things that my soul refused to touch are as my
   sorrowful meat.

   Eliphaz, in the beginning of his discourse, had been very sharp upon
   Job, and yet it does not appear that Job gave him any interruption, but
   heard him patiently till he had said all he had to say. Those that
   would make an impartial judgment of a discourse must hear it out, and
   take it entire. But, when he had concluded, he makes his reply, in
   which he speaks very feelingly.

   I. He represents his calamity, in general, as much heavier than either
   he had expressed it or they had apprehended it, v. 2, 3. He could not
   fully describe it; they would not fully apprehend it, or at least would
   not own that they did; and therefore he would gladly appeal to a third
   person, who had just weights and just balances with which to weigh his
   grief and calamity, and would do it with an impartial hand. He wished
   that they would set his grief and all the expressions of it in one
   scale, his calamity and all the particulars of it in the other, and
   (though he would not altogether justify himself in his grief) they
   would find (as he says, ch. xxiii. 2) that his stroke was heavier than
   his groaning; for, whatever his grief was, his calamity was heavier
   than the sand of the sea: it was complicated, it was aggravated, every
   grievance weighty, and all together numerous as the sand. "Therefore
   (says he) my words are swallowed up;" that is, "Therefore you must
   excuse both the brokenness and the bitterness of my expressions. Do not
   think it strange if my speech be not so fine and polite as that of an
   eloquent orator, or so grave and regular as that of a morose
   philosopher: no, in these circumstances I can pretend neither to the
   one nor to the other; my words are, as I am, quite swallowed up." Now,
   1. He hereby complains of it as his unhappiness that his friends
   undertook to administer spiritual physic to him before they thoroughly
   understood his case and knew the worst of it. It is seldom that those
   who are at ease themselves rightly weigh the afflictions of the
   afflicted. Every one feels most from his own burden; few feel from
   other people's. 2. He excuses the passionate expressions he had used
   when he cursed his day. Though he could not himself justify all he had
   said, yet he thought his friends should not thus violently condemn it,
   for really the case was extraordinary, and that might be connived at in
   such a man of sorrows as he now was which in any common grief would by
   no means be allowed. 3. He bespeaks the charitable and compassionate
   sympathy of his friends with him, and hopes, by representing the
   greatness of his calamity, to bring them to a better temper towards
   him. To those that are pained it is some ease to be pitied.

   II. He complains of the trouble and terror of mind he was in as the
   sorest part of his calamity, v. 4. Herein he was a type of Christ, who,
   in his sufferings, complained most of the sufferings of his soul. Now
   is my soul troubled, John xii. 27. My soul is exceedingly sorrowful,
   Matt. xxvi. 38. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Matt. xxvii.
   46. Poor Job sadly complains here, 1. Of what he felt The arrows of the
   Almighty are within me. It was not so much the troubles themselves he
   was under that put him into this confusion, his poverty, disgrace, and
   bodily pain; but that which cut him to the heart and put him into this
   agitation, was to think that the God he loved and served had brought
   all this upon him and laid him under these marks of his displeasure.
   Note, Trouble of mind is the sorest trouble. A wounded spirit who can
   bear! Whatever burden of affliction, in body or estate, God is pleased
   to lay upon us, we may well afford to submit to it as long as he
   continues to the use of our reason and the peace of our consciences;
   but, if in either of these we be disturbed, our case is sad indeed and
   very pitiable. The way to prevent God's fiery darts of trouble is with
   the shield of faith to quench Satan's fiery darts of temptation.
   Observe, He calls them the arrows of the Almighty; for it is an
   instance of the power of God above that of any man that he can with his
   arrows reach the soul. He that made the soul can make his sword to
   approach to it. The poison or heat of these arrows is said to drink up
   his spirit, because it disturbed his reason, shook his resolution,
   exhausted his vigour, and threatened his life; and therefore his
   passionate expressions, though they could not be justified, might be
   excused. 2. Of what he feared. He saw himself charged by the terrors of
   God, as by an army set in battle-array, and surrounded by them. God, by
   his terrors, fought against him. As he had no comfort when he retired
   inward into his own bosom, so he had none when he looked upward towards
   Heaven. He that used to be encouraged with the consolations of God not
   only wanted those, but was amazed with the terrors of God.

   III. He reflects upon his friends for their severe censures of his
   complaints and their unskilful management of his case. 1. Their
   reproofs were causeless. He complained, it is true, now that he was in
   this affliction, but he never used to complain, as those do who are of
   a fretful unquiet spirit, when he was in prosperity: he did not bray
   when he had grass, nor low over his fodder, v. 5. But, now that he was
   utterly deprived of all his comforts, he must be a stock or a stone,
   and not have the sense of an ox or a wild ass, if he did not give some
   vent to his grief. He was forced to eat unsavoury meats, and was so
   poor that he had not a grain of salt wherewith to season them, nor to
   give a little taste to the white of an egg, which was now the choicest
   dish he had at his table, v. 6. Even that food which once he would have
   scorned to touch he was now glad of, and it was his sorrowful meat, v.
   7. Note, It is wisdom not to use ourselves or our children to be nice
   and dainty about meat and drink, because we know not how we or they may
   be reduced, nor how that which we now disdain may be made acceptable by
   necessity. 2. Their comforts were sapless and insipid; so some
   understand v. 6, 7. He complains he had nothing now offered to him for
   his relief that was proper for him, no cordial, nothing to revive and
   cheer his spirits; what they had afforded was in itself as tasteless as
   the white of an egg, and, when applied to him, as loathsome and
   burdensome as the most sorrowful meat. I am sorry he should say thus of
   what Eliphaz had excellently well said, ch. v. 8, &c. But peevish
   spirits are too apt thus to abuse their comforters.

   8 Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the
   thing that I long for!   9 Even that it would please God to destroy me;
   that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!   10 Then should I
   yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not
   spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.   11 What is
   my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should
   prolong my life?   12 Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my
   flesh of brass?   13 Is not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite
   from me?

   Ungoverned passion often grows more violent when it meets with some
   rebuke and check. The troubled sea rages most when it dashes against a
   rock. Job had been courting death, as that which would be the happy
   period of his miseries, ch. iii. For this Eliphaz had gravely reproved
   him, but he, instead of unsaying what he had said, says it here again
   with more vehemence than before; and it is as ill said as almost any
   thing we meet with in all his discourses, and is recorded for our
   admonition, not our imitation.

   I. He is still most passionately desirous to die, as if it were not
   possible that he should ever see good days again in this world, or
   that, by the exercise of grace and devotion, he might make even these
   days of affliction good days. He could see no end of his trouble but
   death, and had not patience to wait the time appointed for that. He has
   a request to make; there is a thing he longs for (v. 8); and what is
   that? One would think it should be, "That it would please God to
   deliver me, and restore me to my prosperity again;" no, That it would
   please God to destroy me, v. 9. "As once he let loose his hand to make
   me poor, and then to make me sick, let him loose it once more to put an
   end to my life. Let him give the fatal stroke; it shall be to me the
   coup de grace--the stroke of favour," as, in France, they call the last
   blow which dispatches those that are broken on the wheel. There was a
   time when destruction from the Almighty was a terror to Job (ch. xxxi.
   23), yet now he courts the destruction of the flesh, but in hopes that
   the spirit should be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Observe,
   Though Job was extremely desirous of death, and very angry at its
   delays, yet he did not offer to destroy himself, nor to take away his
   own life, only he begged that it would please God to destroy him.
   Seneca's morals, which recommend self-murder as the lawful redress of
   insupportable grievances, were not then known, nor will ever be
   entertained by any that have the least regard to the law of God and
   nature. How uneasy soever the soul's confinement in the body may be, it
   must by no means break prison, but wait for a fair discharge.

   II. He puts this desire into a prayer, that God would grant him this
   request, that it would please God to do this for him. It was his sin so
   passionately to desire the hastening of his own death, and offering up
   that desire to God made it no better; nay, what looked ill in his wish
   looked worse in his prayer, for we ought not to ask any thing of God
   but what we can ask in faith, and we cannot ask any thing in faith but
   what is agreeable to the will of God. Passionate prayers are the worst
   of passionate expressions, for we should lift up pure hands without
   wrath.

   III. He promises himself effectual relief, and the redress of all his
   grievances, by the stroke of death (v. 10): "Then should I yet have
   comfort, which now I have not, nor ever expect till then." See, 1. The
   vanity of human life; so uncertain a good is it that it often proves
   men's greatest burden and nothing is so desirable as to get clear of
   it. Let grace make us willing to part with it whenever God calls; for
   it may so happen that even sense may make us desirous to part with it
   before he calls. 2. The hope which the righteous have in their death.
   If Job had not had a good conscience, he could not have spoken with
   this assurance of comfort on the other side death, which turns the
   tables between the rich man and Lazarus. Now he is comforted, and thou
   art tormented.

   IV. He challenges death to do its worst. If he could not die without
   the dreadful prefaces of bitter pains and agonies, and strong
   convulsions, if he must be racked before he be executed, yet, in
   prospect of dying at last, he would make nothing of dying pangs: "I
   would harden myself in sorrow, would open my breast to receive death's
   darts, and not shrink from them. Let him not spare; I desire no
   mitigation of that pain which will put a happy period to all my pains.
   Rather than not die, let me die so as to feel myself die." These are
   passionate words, which might better have been spared. We should soften
   ourselves in sorrow, that we may receive the good impressions of it,
   and by the sadness of the countenance our hearts, being made tender,
   may be made better; but, if we harden ourselves, we provoke God to
   proceed in his controversy; for when he judgeth he will overcome. It is
   great presumption to dare the Almighty, and to say, Let him not spare;
   for are we stronger than he? 1 Cor. x. 22. We are much indebted to
   sparing mercy; it is bad indeed with us when we are weary of that. Let
   us rather say with David, O spare me a little.

   V. He grounds his comfort upon the testimony of his conscience for him
   that he had been faithful and firm to his profession of religion, and
   in some degree useful and serviceable to the glory of God in his
   generation: I have not concealed the words of the Holy One. Observe, 1.
   Job had the words of the Holy One committed to him. The people of God
   were at that time blessed with divine revelation. 2. It was his comfort
   that he had not concealed them, had not received the grace of God
   therein in vain. (1.) He had not kept them from himself, but had given
   them full scope to operate upon him, and in every thing to guide and
   govern him. He had not stifled his convictions, imprisoned the truth in
   unrighteousness, nor done any thing to hinder the digestion of this
   spiritual food and the operation of this spiritual physic. Let us never
   conceal God's word from ourselves, but always receive it in the light
   of it. (2.) He had not kept them to himself, but had been ready, on all
   occasions, to communicate his knowledge for the good of others, was
   never ashamed nor afraid to own the word of God to be his rule, nor
   remiss in his endeavours to bring others into an acquaintance with it.
   Note Those, and those only, may promise themselves comfort in death who
   are good, and do good, while they live.

   VI. He justifies himself, in this extreme desire of death, from the
   deplorable condition he was now in, v. 11, 12. Eliphaz, in the close of
   his discourse, had put him in hopes that he should yet see a good issue
   of his troubles; but poor Job puts these cordials away from him,
   refuses to be comforted, abandons himself to despair, and very
   ingeniously, yet perversely, argues against the encouragements that
   were given him. Disconsolate spirits will reason strangely against
   themselves. In answer to the pleasing prospects Eliphaz had flattered
   him with, he here intimates, 1. That he had no reason to expect any
   such thing: "What is my strength, that I should hope? You see how I am
   weakened and brought low, how unable I am to grapple with my
   distempers, and therefore what reason have I to hope that I should
   out-live them, and see better days? Is my strength the strength of
   stones? Are my muscles brass and my sinews steel? No, they are not, and
   therefore I cannot hold out always in this pain and misery, but must
   needs sink under the load. Had I strength to grapple with my distemper,
   I might hope to look through it; but, alas! I have not. The weakening
   of my strength in the way will certainly be the shortening of my days,"
   Ps. cii. 23. Note, All things considered, we have no reason to reckon
   upon the long continuance of life in this world. What is our strength?
   It is depending strength. We have no more strength than God gives us;
   for in him we live and move. It is decaying strength; we are daily
   spending the stock, and by degrees it will be exhausted. It is
   disproportionable to the encounters we may meet with; what is our
   strength to be depended upon, when two or three days' sickness will
   make us weak as water? Instead of expecting a long life, we have reason
   to wonder that we have lived hitherto and to feel that we are hastening
   off apace. 2. That he had no reason to desire any such thing: "What is
   my end, that I should desire to prolong my life? What comfort can I
   promise myself in life, comparable to the comfort I promise myself in
   death?" Note, Those who, through grace, are ready for another world,
   cannot see much to invite their stay in this world, or to make them
   fond of it. That, if it be God's will, we may do him more service and
   may get to be fitter and riper for heaven, is an end for which we may
   wish the prolonging of life, in subservience to our chief end; but,
   otherwise, what can we propose to ourselves in desiring to tarry here?
   The longer life is the more grievous will its burdens be (Eccl. xii.
   1), and the longer life is the less pleasant will be its delights, 2
   Sam. xix. 34, 35. We have already seen the best of this world, but we
   are not sure that we have seen the worst of it.

   VII. He obviates the suspicion of his being delirious (v. 13): Is not
   my help in me? that is, "Have I not the use of my reason, with which, I
   thank God, I can help myself, though you do not help me? Do you think
   wisdom is driven quite from me, and that I am gone distracted? No, I am
   not mad, most noble Eliphaz, but speak the words of truth and
   soberness." Note, Those who have grace in them, who have the evidence
   of it and have it in exercise, have wisdom in them, which will be their
   help in the worst of times. Sat lucis intus--They have light within.

   14 To him that is afflicted pity should be showed from his friend; but
   he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.   15 My brethren have dealt
   deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away;
   16 Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is
   hid:   17 What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they
   are consumed out of their place.   18 The paths of their way are turned
   aside; they go to nothing, and perish.   19 The troops of Tema looked,
   the companies of Sheba waited for them.   20 They were confounded
   because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.   21 For
   now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid.

   Eliphaz had been very severe in his censures of Job; and his
   companions, though as yet they had said little, yet had intimated their
   concurrence with him. Their unkindness therein poor Job here complains
   of, as an aggravation of his calamity and a further excuse of his
   desire to die; for what satisfaction could he ever expect in this world
   when those that should have been his comforters thus proved his
   tormentors?

   I. He shows what reason he had to expect kindness from them. His
   expectation was grounded upon the common principles of humanity (v.
   14): "To him that is afflicted, and that is wasting and melting under
   his affliction, pity should be shown from his friend; and he that does
   not show that pity forsakes the fear of the Almighty." Note, 1.
   Compassion is a debt owing to those that are in affliction. The least
   which those that are at ease can do for those that are pained and in
   anguish is to pity them,--to manifest the sincerity of a tender concern
   for them, and to sympathize with them,--to take cognizance of their
   case, enquire into their grievances, hear their complaints, and mingle
   their tears with theirs,--to comfort them, and to do all they can to
   help and relieve them: this well becomes the members of the same body,
   who should feel for the grievances of their fellow-members, not knowing
   how soon the same may be their own. 2. Inhumanity is impiety and
   irreligion. He that withholds compassion from his friend forsakes the
   fear of the Almighty. So the Chaldee. How dwells the love of God in
   that man? 1 John iii. 17. Surely those have no fear of the rod of God
   upon themselves who have no compassion for those that feel the smart of
   it. See Jam. i. 27. 3. Troubles are the trials of friendship. When a
   man is afflicted he will see who are his friends indeed and who are but
   pretenders; for a brother is born for adversity, Prov. xvii. 17; xviii.
   24.

   II. He shows how wretchedly he was disappointed in his expectations
   from them (v. 15): "My brethren, who should have helped me, have dealt
   deceitfully as a brook." They came by appointment, with a great deal of
   ceremony, to mourn with him and to comfort him (ch. ii. 11); and some
   extraordinary things were expected from such wise, learned, knowing
   men, and Job's particular friends. None questioned but that the drift
   of their discourses would be to comfort Job with the remembrance of his
   former piety, the assurance of God's favour to him, and the prospect of
   a glorious issue; but, instead of this, they most barbarously fall upon
   him with their reproaches and censures, condemn him as a hypocrite,
   insult over his calamities, and pour vinegar, instead of oil, into his
   wounds, and thus they deal deceitfully with him. Note, It is fraud and
   deceit not only to violate our engagements to our friends, but to
   frustrate their just expectations from us, especially the expectations
   we have raised. Note, further, It is our wisdom to cease from man. We
   cannot expect too little from the creature nor too much from the
   Creator. It is no new thing even for brethren to deal deceitfully (Jer.
   ix. 4, 5; Mic. vii. 5); let us therefore put our confidence in the rock
   of ages, not in broken reeds-in the fountain of life, not in broken
   cisterns. God will out-do our hopes as much as men come short of them.
   This disappointment which Job met with he here illustrates by the
   failing of brooks in summer.

   1. The similitude is very elegant, v. 15-20. (1.) Their pretensions are
   fitly compared to the great show which the brooks make when they are
   swollen with the waters of a land flood, by the melting of the ice and
   snow, which make them blackish or muddy, v. 16. (2.) His expectations
   from them, which their coming so solemnly to comfort him had raised, he
   compares to the expectation which the weary thirsty travellers have of
   finding water in the summer where they have often seen it in great
   abundance in the winter, v. 19. The troops of Tema and Sheba, the
   caravans of the merchants of those countries, whose road lay through
   the deserts of Arabia, looked and waited for supply of water from those
   brooks. "Hard by here," says one, "A little further," says another,
   "when I last travelled this way, there was water enough; we shall have
   that to refresh us." Where we have met with relief or comfort we are
   apt to expect it again; and yet it does not follow; for, (3.) The
   disappointment of his expectation is here compared to the confusion
   which seizes the poor travellers when they find heaps of sand where
   they expected floods of water. In the winter, when they were not
   thirsty, there was water enough. Every one will applaud and admire
   those that are full and in prosperity. But in the heat of summer, when
   they needed water, then it failed them; it was consumed (v. 17); it was
   turned aside, v. 18. When those who are rich and high are sunk and
   impoverished, and stand in need of comfort, then those who before
   gathered about them stand aloof from them, those who before commended
   them are forward to run them down. Thus those who raise their
   expectations high from the creature will find it fail them when it
   should help them; whereas those who make God their confidence have help
   in the time of need, Heb. iv. 16. Those who make gold their hope will
   sooner or later be ashamed of it, and of their confidence in it (Ezek.
   vii. 19); and the greater their confidence was the greater their shame
   will be: They were confounded because they had hoped, v. 20. We prepare
   confusion for ourselves by our vain hopes: the reeds break under us
   because we lean upon them. If we build a house upon the sand, we shall
   certainly be confounded, for it will fall in the storm, and we must
   thank ourselves for being such fools as to expect it would stand. We
   are not deceived unless we deceive ourselves.

   2. The application is very close (v. 21): For now you are nothing. They
   seemed to be somewhat, but in conference they added nothing to him.
   Allude to Gal. ii. 6. He was never the wiser, never the better, for the
   visit they made him. Note, Whatever complacency we may take, or
   whatever confidence we may put, in creatures, how great soever they may
   seem and how dear soever they may be to us, one time or other we shall
   say of them, Now you are nothing. When Job was in prosperity his
   friends were something to him, he took complacency in them and their
   society; but "Now you are nothing, now I can find no comfort but in
   God." It were well for us if we had always such convictions of the
   vanity of the creature, and its insufficiency to make us happy, as we
   have sometimes had, or shall have on a sick-bed, a death-bed, or in
   trouble of conscience: "Now you are nothing. You are not what you have
   been, what you should be, what you pretend to be, what I thought you
   would have been; for you see my casting down and are afraid. When you
   saw me in my elevation you caressed me; but now that you see me in my
   dejection you are shy of me, are afraid of showing yourselves kind,
   lest I should thereby be emboldened to beg something of you, or to
   borrow" (compare v. 22); "you are afraid lest, if you own me, you
   should be obliged to keep me." Perhaps they were afraid of catching his
   distemper or of coming within smell of the noisomeness of it. It is not
   good, either out of pride or niceness, for love of our purses or of our
   bodies, to be shy of those who are in distress and afraid of coming
   near them. Their case may soon be our own.

   22 Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your
   substance?   23 Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me
   from the hand of the mighty?   24 Teach me, and I will hold my tongue:
   and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.   25 How forcible are
   right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?   26 Do ye imagine to
   reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as
   wind?   27 Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your
   friend.   28 Now therefore be content, look upon me; for it is evident
   unto you if I lie.   29 Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity;
   yea, return again, my righteousness is in it.   30 Is there iniquity in
   my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?

   Poor Job goes on here to upbraid his friends with their unkindness and
   the hard usage they gave him. He here appeals to themselves concerning
   several things which tended both to justify him and to condemn them. If
   they would but think impartially, and speak as they thought, they could
   not but own,

   I. That, though he was necessitous, yet he was not craving, nor
   burdensome to his friends. Those that are so, whose troubles serve them
   to beg by, are commonly less pitied than the silent poor. Job would be
   glad to see his friends, but he did not say, Bring unto me (v. 22), or,
   Deliver me, v. 23. He did not desire to put them to any expense, did
   not urge his friends either, 1. To make a collection for him, to set
   him up again in the world. Though he could plead that his losses came
   upon him by the hand of God and not by any fault or folly of his
   own,--that he was utterly ruined and impoverished,--that he had lived
   in good condition, and that when he had wherewithal he was charitable
   and ready to help those that were in distress,--that his friends were
   rich, and able to help him, yet he did not say, Give me of your
   substance. Note, A good man, when troubled himself, is afraid of being
   troublesome to his friends. Or, 2. To raise the country for him, to
   help him to recover his cattle out of the hands of the Sabeans and
   Chaldeans, or to make reprisals upon them: "Did I send for you to
   deliver me out of the hand of the mighty? No, I never expected you
   should either expose yourselves to any danger or put yourselves to any
   charge upon my account. I will rather sit down content under my
   affliction, and make the best of it, than sponge upon my friends." St.
   Paul worked with his hands, that he might not be burdensome to any.
   Job's not asking their help did not excuse them from offering it when
   he needed it and it was in the power of their hands to give it; but it
   much aggravated their unkindness when he desired no more from them than
   a good look, and a good word, and yet could not obtain them. It often
   happens that from man, even when we expect little, we have less, but
   from God, even when we expect much, we have more, Eph. iii. 20.

   II. That, though he differed in opinion from them, yet he was not
   obstinate, but ready to yield to conviction, and to strike sail to
   truth as soon as ever it was made to appear to him that he was in an
   error (v. 24, 25): "If, instead of invidious reflections and
   uncharitable insinuations, you will give me plain instructions and
   solid arguments, which shall carry their own evidence along with them,
   I am ready to acknowledge my error and own myself in a fault: Teach me,
   and I will hold my tongue; for I have often found, with pleasure and
   wonder, how forcible right words are. But the method you take will
   never make proselytes: What doth your arguing reprove? Your hypothesis
   is false, your surmises are groundless, your management is weak, and
   your application peevish and uncharitable." Note, 1. Fair reasoning has
   a commanding power, and it is a wonder if men are not conquered by it;
   but railing and foul language are impotent and foolish, and it is no
   wonder if men are exasperated and hardened by them. 2. It is the
   undoubted character of every honest man that he is truly desirous to
   have his mistakes rectified, and to be made to understand wherein he
   has erred; and he will acknowledge that right words, when they appear
   to him to be so, though contrary to his former sentiments, are both
   forcible and acceptable.

   III. That, though he had been indeed in a fault, yet they ought not to
   have given him such hard usage (v. 26, 27): "Do you imagine, or
   contrive with a great deal of art" (for so the word signifies), "to
   reprove words, some passionate expressions of mine in this desperate
   condition, as if they were certain indications of reigning impiety and
   atheism? A little candour and charity would have served to excuse them,
   and to put a better construction upon them. Shall a man's spiritual
   state be judged of by some rash and hasty words, which a surprising
   trouble extorts from him? Is it fair, is it kind, is it just, to
   criticize in such a case? Would you yourselves be served thus?" Two
   things aggravated their unkind treatment of him:--1. That they took
   advantage of his weakness and the helpless condition he was in: You
   overwhelm the fatherless, a proverbial expression, denoting that which
   is most barbarous and inhuman. "The fatherless cannot secure themselves
   from insults, which emboldens men of base and sordid spirits to insult
   them and trample upon them; and you do so by me." Job, being a
   childless father, thought himself as much exposed to injury as a
   fatherless child (Ps. cxxvii. 5) and had reason to be offended with
   those who therefore triumphed over him. Let those who overwhelm and
   overpower such as upon any account may be looked upon as fatherless
   know that therein they not only put off the compassions of man, but
   fight against the compassions of God, who is, and will be, a Father of
   the fatherless and a helper of the helpless. 2. That they made a
   pretence of kindness: "You dig a pit for your friend; not only you are
   unkind to me, who am your friend, but, under colour of friendship, you
   ensnare me." When they came to see and sit with him he thought he might
   speak his mind freely to them, and that the more bitter his complaints
   to them were the more they would endeavour to comfort him. This made
   him take a greater liberty than otherwise he would have done. David,
   though he smothered his resentments when the wicked were before him,
   would probably have given vent to them if none had been by but friends,
   Ps. xxxix. 1. But this freedom of speech, which their professions of
   concern for him made him use, had exposed him to their censures, and so
   they might be said to dig a pit for him. Thus, when our hearts are hot
   within us, what is ill done we are apt to misrepresent as if done
   designedly.

   IV. That, though he had let fall some passionate expressions, yet in
   the main he was in the right, and that his afflictions, though very
   extraordinary, did not prove him to be a hypocrite or a wicked man. His
   righteousness he holds fast, and will not let it go. For the evincing
   of it he here appeals, 1. To what they saw in him (v. 28): "Be content,
   and look upon me; what do you see in me that bespeaks me either a
   madman or a wicked man? Nay, look in my face, and you may discern there
   the indications of a patient and submissive spirit, for all this. Let
   the show of my countenance witness for me that, though I have cursed my
   day, I do not curse my God." Or rather, "Look upon my ulcers and sore
   boils, and by them it will be evident to you that I do not lie," that
   is, "that I do not complain without cause. Let your own eyes convince
   you that my condition is very sad, and that I do not quarrel with God
   by making it worse than it is." 2. To what they heard from him, v. 30.
   "You hear what I have to say: Is there iniquity in my tongue? that
   iniquity that you charge me with? Have I blasphemed God or renounced
   him? Are not my present arguings right? Do not you perceive, by what I
   say, that I can discern perverse things? I can discover your fallacies
   and mistakes, and, if I were myself in an error, I could perceive it.
   Whatever you think of me, I know what I say." 3. To their own second
   and sober thoughts (v. 29): "Return, I pray you, consider the thing
   over again without prejudice and partiality, and let not the result be
   iniquity, let it not be an unrighteous sentence; and you will find my
   righteousness is in it," that is, "I am in the right in this matter;
   and, though I cannot keep my temper as I should, I keep my integrity,
   and have not said, nor done, nor suffered, any thing which will prove
   me other than an honest man." A just cause desires nothing more than a
   just hearing, and if need be a re-hearing.
     __________________________________________________________________

J O B

  CHAP. VII.

   Job, in this chapter, goes on to express the bitter sense he had of his
   calamities and to justify himself in his desire of death. I. He
   complains to himself and his friends of his troubles, and the constant
   agitation he was in, ver. 1-6. II. He turns to God, and expostulates
   with him (ver. 7, to the end), in which, 1. He pleads the final period
   which death puts to our present state, ver. 7-10. 2. He passionately
   complains of the miserable condition he was now in, ver. 11-16. 3. He
   wonders that God will thus contend with him, and begs for the pardon of
   his sins and a speedy release out of his miseries, ver. 17-21. It is
   hard to methodize the speeches of one who owned himself almost
   desperate, ch. vi. 26.

    Job's Reply to Eliphaz. (b. c. 1520.)

   1 Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days
   also like the days of a hireling?   2 As a servant earnestly desireth
   the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work:   3
   So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are
   appointed to me.   4 When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and
   the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the
   dawning of the day.   5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of
   dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.   6 My days are swifter
   than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.

   Job is here excusing what he could not justify, even his inordinate
   desire of death. Why should he not wish for the termination of life,
   which would be the termination of his miseries? To enforce this reason
   he argues,

   I. From the general condition of man upon earth (v. 1): "He is of few
   days, and full of trouble. Every man must die shortly, and every man
   has some reason (more or less) to desire to die shortly; and therefore
   why should you impute it to me as so heinous a crime that I wish to die
   shortly?" Or thus: "Pray mistake not my desires of death, as if I
   thought the time appointed of God could be anticipated: no, I know very
   well that that is fixed; only in such language as this I take the
   liberty to express my present uneasiness: Is there not an appointed
   time (a warfare, so the word is) to man upon earth? and are not his
   days here like the days of a hireling?" Observe, 1. Man's present
   place. He is upon earth, which God has given to the children of men,
   Ps. cxv. 16. This bespeaks man's meanness and inferiority. How much
   below the inhabitants of yonder elevated and refined regions is he
   situated! It also bespeaks God's mercy to him. He is yet upon the
   earth, not under it; on earth, not in hell. Our time on earth is
   limited and short, according to the narrow bounds of this earth; but
   heaven cannot be measured, nor the days of heaven numbered. 2. His
   continuance in that place. Is there not a time appointed for his abode
   here? Yes, certainly there is, and it is easy to say by whom the
   appointment is made, even by him that made us and set us here. We are
   not to be on this earth always, nor long, but for a certain time, which
   is determined by him in whose hand our times are. We are not to think
   that we are governed by the blind fortune of the Epicureans, but by the
   wise, holy, and sovereign counsel of God. 3. His condition during that
   continuance. Man's life is a warfare, and as the days of a hireling. We
   are every one of us to look upon ourselves in this world, (1.) As
   soldiers, exposed to hardship and in the midst of enemies; we must
   serve and be under command; and, when our warfare is accomplished, we
   must be disbanded, dismissed with either shame or honour, according to
   what we have done in the body. (2.) As day-labourers, that have the
   work of the day to do in its day and must make up their account at
   night.

   II. From his own condition at this time. He had as much reason, he
   thought, to wish for death, as a poor servant or hireling that is tired
   with his work has to wish for the shadows of the evening, when he shall
   receive his penny and go to rest, v. 2. The darkness of the night is as
   welcome to the labourer as the light of the morning is to the watchman,
   Ps. cxxx. 6. The God of nature has provided for the repose of
   labourers, and no wonder that they desire it. The sleep of the
   labouring man is sweet, Eccl. v. 12. No pleasure more grateful, more
   relishing, to the luxurious than rest to the laborious; nor can any
   rich man take so much satisfaction in the return of his rent-days as
   the hireling in his day's wages. The comparison is plain, the
   application is concise and somewhat obscure, but we must supply a word
   or two, and then it is easy: exactness of language is not to be
   expected from one in Job's condition. "As a servant earnestly desires
   the shadow, so and for the same reason I earnestly desire death; for I
   am made to possess, &c." Hear his complaint.

   1. His days were useless, and had been so a great while. He was wholly
   taken off from business, and utterly unfit for it. Every day was a
   burden to him, because he was in no capacity of doing good, or of
   spending it to any purpose. Et vitae partem non attigit ullam--He could
   not fill up his time with any thing that would turn to account. This he
   calls possessing months of vanity, v. 3. It very much increases the
   affliction of sickness and age, to a good man, that he is thereby
   forced from his usefulness. He insists not so much upon it that they
   are days in which he has no pleasure as that they are days in which he
   does not good; on that account they are months of vanity. But when we
   are disabled to work for God, if we will but sit still quietly for him,
   it is all one; we shall be accepted.

   2. His nights were restless, v. 3, 4. The night relieves the toil and
   fatigue of the day, not only to the labourers, but to the sufferers: if
   a sick man can but get a little sleep in the night, it helps nature,
   and it is hoped that he will do well, John xi. 12. However, be the
   trouble what it will, sleep gives some intermission to the cares, and
   pains, and griefs, that afflict us; it is the parenthesis of our
   sorrows. But poor Job could not gain this relief. (1.) His nights were
   wearisome, and, instead of taking any rest, he did but tire himself
   more with tossing to and fro until morning. Those that are in great
   uneasiness, through pain of body or anguish of mind, think by changing
   sides, changing places, changing postures, to get some ease; but, while
   the cause is the same within, it is all to no purpose; it is but a
   resemblance of a fretful discontented spirit, that is ever shifting,
   but never easy. This made him dread the night as much as the servant
   desires it, and, when he lay down, to say, When will the night be gone?
   (2.) These wearisome nights were appointed to him. God, who determines
   the times before appointed, had allotted him such nights as these.
   Whatever is at any time grievous to us, it is good to see it appointed
   for us, that we may acquiesce in the event, not only as unavoidable
   because appointed, but as therefore designed for some holy end. When we
   have comfortable nights we must see them also appointed to us and be
   thankful for them; many better than we have wearisome nights.

   3. His body was noisome, v. 5. His sores bred worms, the scabs were
   like clods of dust, and his skin was broken; so evil was the disease
   which cleaved fast to him. See what vile bodies we have, and what
   little reason we have to pamper them or be proud of them; they have in
   themselves the principles of their own corruption: as fond as we are of
   them now, the time may come when we may loathe them and long to get rid
   of them.

   4. His life was hastening apace towards a period, v. 6. He thought he
   had no reason to expect a long life, for he found himself declining
   fast (v. 6): My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, that is, "My
   time is now but short, and there are but a few sands more in my glass,
   which will speedily run out." Natural motions are more swift near the
   centre. Job thought his days ran swiftly because he thought he should
   soon be at his journey's end; he looked upon them as good as spent
   already, and he was therefore without hope of being restored to his
   former prosperity. It is applicable to man's life in general. Our days
   are like a weaver's shuttle, thrown from one side of the web to the
   other in the twinkling of an eye, and then back again, to and fro,
   until at length it is quite exhausted of the thread it carried, and
   then we cut off, like a weaver, our life, Isa. xxxviii. 12. Time
   hastens on apace; the motion of it cannot be stopped, and, when it is
   past, it cannot be recalled. While we are living, as we are sowing
   (Gal. vi. 8), so we are weaving. Every day, like the shuttle, leaves a
   thread behind it. Many weave the spider's web, which will fail them,
   ch. viii. 14. If we are weaving to ourselves holy garments and robes of
   righteousness, we shall have the benefit of them when our work comes to
   be reviewed and every man shall reap as he sowed and wear as he wove.

   7 O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good.   8
   The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are
   upon me, and I am not.   9 As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away:
   so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.   10 He shall
   return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.
     11 Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish
   of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.   12 Am I a
   sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?   13 When I say, My
   bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;   14 Then thou
   scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:   15 So that
   my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.   16 I
   loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are
   vanity.

   Job, observing perhaps that his friends, though they would not
   interrupt him in his discourse, yet began to grow weary, and not to
   heed much what he said, here turns to God, and speaks to him. If men
   will not hear us, God will; if men cannot help us, he can; for his arm
   is not shortened, neither is his ear heavy. Yet we must not go to
   school to Job here to learn how to speak to God; for, it must be
   confessed, there is a great mixture of passion and corruption in what
   he here says. But, if God be not extreme to mark what his people say
   amiss, let us also make the best of it. Job is here begging of God
   either to ease him or to end him. He here represents himself to God,

   I. As a dying man, surely and speedily dying. It is good for us, when
   we are sick, to think and speak of death, for sickness is sent on
   purpose to put us in mind of it; and, if we be duly mindful of it
   ourselves, we may in faith put God in mind of it, as Job does here (v.
   7): O remember that my life is wind. He recommends himself to God as an
   object of his pity and compassion, with this consideration, that he was
   a very weak frail creature, his abode in this world short and
   uncertain, his removal out of it sure and speedy, and his return to it
   again impossible and never to be expected--that his life was wind, as
   the lives of all men are, noisy perhaps and blustering, like the wind,
   but vain and empty, soon gone, and, when gone, past recall. God had
   compassion on Israel, remembering that they were but flesh, a wind that
   passeth away and cometh not again, Ps. lxxviii. 38, 39. Observe,

   1. The pious reflections Job makes upon his own life and death. Such
   plain truths as these concerning the shortness and vanity of life, the
   unavoidableness and irrecoverableness of death, then do us good when we
   think and speak of them with application to ourselves. Let us consider
   then, (1.) That we must shortly take our leave of all the things that
   are seen, that are temporal. The eye of the body must be closed, and
   shall no more see good, the good which most men set their hearts upon;
   for their cry is, Who will make us to see good? Ps. iv. 6. If we be
   such fools as to place our happiness in visible good things, what will
   become of us when they shall be for ever hidden from our eyes, and we
   shall no more see good? Let us therefore live by that faith which is
   the substance and evidence of things not seen. (2.) That we must then
   remove to an invisible world: The eye of him that hath here seen me
   shall see me no more there. It is hades--an unseen state, v. 8. Death
   removes our lovers and friends into darkness (Ps. lxxxviii. 18), and
   will shortly remove us out of their sight; when we go hence we shall be
   seen no more (Ps. xxxix. 13), but go to converse with the things that
   are not seen, that are eternal. (3.) That God can easily, and in a
   moment, put an end to our lives, and send us to another world (v. 8):
   "Thy eyes are upon me and I am not; thou canst look me into eternity,
   frown me into the grave, when thou pleasest."


   Shouldst thou, displeased, give me a frowning look,

   I sink, I die, as if with lightning struck.

   Sir R. Blackmore.

   He takes away our breath, and we die; nay, he but looks on the earth
   and it trembles, Ps. xiv. 29, 30. (4.) That, when we are once removed
   to another world, we must never return to this. There is constant
   passing from this world to the other, but vestigia nulla
   retrorsum--there is no repassing. "Therefore, Lord, kindly ease me by
   death, for that will be a perpetual ease. I shall return no more to the
   calamities of this life." When we are dead we are gone, to return no
   more, [1.] From our house under ground (v. 9): He that goeth down to
   the grave shall come up no more until the general resurrection, shall
   come up no more to his place in this world. Dying is work that is to be
   done but once, and therefore it had need be well done: an error there
   is past retrieve. This is illustrated by the blotting out and
   scattering of a cloud. It is consumed and vanisheth away, is resolved
   into air and never knits again. Other clouds arise, but the same cloud
   never returns: so a new generation of the children of men is raised up,
   but the former generation is quite consumed and vanishes away. When we
   see a cloud which looks great, as if it would eclipse the sun and drawn
   the earth, of a sudden dispersed and disappearing, let us say, "Just
   such a thing is the life of man; it is a vapour that appears for a
   little while and then vanishes away." [2.] To return no more to our
   house above ground (v. 10): He shall return no more to his house, to
   the possession and enjoyment of it, to the business and delights of it.
   Others will take possession, and keep it till they also resign to
   another generation. The rich man in hell desired that Lazarus might be
   sent to his house, knowing it was to no purpose to ask that he might
   have leave to go himself. Glorified saints shall return no more to the
   cares, and burdens, and sorrows of their house; nor damned sinners to
   the gaieties and pleasures of their house. Their place shall no more
   know them, no more own them, have no more acquaintance with them, nor
   be any more under their influence. It concerns us to secure a better
   place when we die, for this will no more own us.

   2. The passionate inference he draws from it. From these premises he
   might have drawn a better conclusion that this (v. 11): Therefore I
   will not refrain my mouth; I will speak; I will complain. Holy David,
   when he had been meditating on the frailty of human life, made a
   contrary use of it (Ps. xxxix. 9, I was dumb, and opened not my mouth);
   but Job, finding himself near expiring, hastens as much to make his
   complaint as if he had been to make his last will and testament or as
   if he could not die in peace until he had given vent to his passion.
   When we have but a few breaths to draw we should spend them in the holy
   gracious breathings of faith and prayer, not in the noisome noxious
   breathings of sin and corruption. Better die praying and praising than
   die complaining and quarrelling.

   II. As a distempered man, sorely and grievously distempered both in
   body and mind. In this part of his representation is he is very
   peevish, as if God dealt hardly with him and laid upon him more than
   was meet: "Am I a sea, or a whale (v. 12), a raging sea, that must be
   kept within bounds, to check its proud waves, or an unruly whale, that
   must be restrained by force from devouring all the fishes of the sea?
   Am I so strong that there needs so much ado to hold me? so boisterous
   that no less than all these mighty bonds of affliction will serve to
   tame me and keep me within compass?" We are very apt, when we are in
   affliction, to complain of God and his providence, as if he laid more
   restraints upon us that there is occasion for; whereas we are never in
   heaviness but when there is need, nor more than the necessity demands.
   1. He complains that he could not rest in his bed, v. 13, 14. There we
   promise ourselves some repose, when we are fatigued with labour, pain,
   or traveling: "My bed shall comfort me, and my couch shall ease my
   complaint. Sleep will for a time give me some relief;" it usually does
   so; it is appointed for that end; many a time it has eased us, and we
   have awaked refreshed, and with new vigour. When it is so we have great
   reason to be thankful; but it was not so with poor Job: his bed,
   instead of comforting him, terrified him; and his couch, instead of
   easing his complaint, added to it; for if he dropped asleep, he was
   disturbed with frightful dreams, and when those awaked him still he was
   haunted with dreadful apparitions. This was it that made the night so
   unwelcome and wearisome to him as it was (v. 4): When shall I arise?
   Note, God can, when he pleases, meet us with terror even where we
   promise ourselves ease and repose; nay, he can make us a terror to
   ourselves, and, as we have often contracted guilt by the rovings of an
   unsanctified fancy, he can likewise, by the power of our own
   imagination, create us much grief, and so make that our punishment
   which has often been our sin. In Job's dreams, though they might partly
   arise from his distemper (in fevers, or small pox, when the body is all
   over sore, it is common for the sleep to be unquiet), yet we have
   reason to think Satan had a hand, for he delights to terrify those whom
   it is out of his reach to destroy; but Job looked up to God, who
   permitted Satan to do this (thou scarest me), and mistook Satan's
   representations for the terror of God setting themselves in array
   against him. We have reason to pray to God that our dreams may neither
   defile nor disquiet us, neither tempt us to sin nor torment us with
   fear, that he who keeps Israel, and neither slumbers nor sleeps, may
   keep us when we slumber and sleep, that the devil may not then do us a
   mischief, either as an insinuating serpent or as a roaring lion, and to
   bless God if we lie down and our sleep is sweet and we are not thus
   scared. 2. He covets to rest in his grave, that bed where there are no
   tossings to and fro, nor any frightful dreams, v. 15, 16. (1.) He was
   sick of life, and hated the thoughts of it: "I loathe it; I have had
   enough of it. I would not live always, not only not live always in this
   condition, in pain and misery, but not live always in the most easy and
   prosperous condition, to be continually in danger of being thus
   reduced. My days are vanity at the best, empty of solid comfort,
   exposed to real griefs; and I would not be for ever tied to such
   uncertainty." Note, A good man would not (if he might) life always in
   this world, no, not though it smile upon him, because it is a world of
   sin and temptation and he has a better world in prospect. (2.) He was
   fond of death, and pleased himself with the thoughts of it: his soul
   (his judgment, he thought, but really it was his passion) chose
   strangling and death rather than life; any death rather than such a
   life as this. Doubtless this was Job's infirmity; for though a good man
   would not wish to live always in this world, and would choose
   strangling and death rather than sin, as the martyrs did, yet he will
   be content to live as long as pleases God, not choose death rather than
   life, because life is our opportunity of glorifying God and getting
   ready for heaven.

   17 What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou
   shouldest set thine heart upon him?   18 And that thou shouldest visit
   him every morning, and try him every moment?   19 How long wilt thou
   not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
   20 I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men?
   why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to
   myself?   21 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take
   away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt
   seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

   Job here reasons with God,

   I. Concerning his dealings with man in general (v. 17, 18): What is
   man, that thou shouldst magnify him? This may be looked upon either, 1.
   As a passionate reflection upon the proceedings of divine justice; as
   if the great God did diminish and disparage himself in contending with
   man. "Great men think it below them to take cognizance of those who are
   much their inferiors so far as to reprove and correct their follies and
   indecencies; why then does God magnify man, by visiting him, and trying
   him, and making so much ado about him? Why will he thus pour all his
   forces upon one that is such an unequal match for him? Why will he
   visit him with afflictions, which, like a quotidian ague, return as
   duly and constantly as the morning light, and try, every moment, what
   he can bear?" We mistake God, and the nature of his providence, if we
   think it any lessening to him to take notice of the meanest of his
   creatures. Or, 2. As a pious admiration of the condescensions of divine
   grace, like that, Ps. viii. 4; cxliv. 3. He owns God's favour to man in
   general, even when he complains of his own particular troubles. "What
   is man, miserable man, a poor, mean, weak creature, that thou, the
   great and glorious God, shouldst deal with him as thou dost? What is
   man," (1.) "That thou shouldst put such honour upon him, shouldst
   magnify him, by taking him into covenant and communion with thyself?"
   (2.) "That thou shouldst concern thyself so much about him, shouldst
   set thy heart upon him, as dear to thee, and one that thou hast a
   kindness for?" (3.) "That thou shouldst visit him with thy compassions
   every morning, as we daily visit a particular friend, or as the
   physician visits his patients every morning to help them?" (4.) "That
   thou shouldst try him, shouldst feel his pulse and observe his looks,
   every moment, as in care about him and jealous over him?" That such a
   worm of the earth as man is should be the darling and favourite of
   heaven is what we have reason for ever to admire.

   II. Concerning his dealings with him in particular. Observe,

   1. The complaint he makes of his afflictions, which he here aggravates,
   and (as we are all too apt to do) makes the worst of, in three
   expressions:--(1.) That he was the butt to God's arrows: "Thou hast set
   me as a mark against thee," v. 20. "My case is singular, and none is
   shot at as I am." (2.) That he was a burden to himself, ready to sink
   under the load of his own life. How much delight soever we take in
   ourselves God can, when he pleases, make us burdens to ourselves. What
   comfort can we take in ourselves if God appear against us as an enemy
   and we have not comfort in him. (3.) That he had no intermission of his
   griefs (v. 19): "How long will it be ere thou cause thy rod to depart
   from me, or abate the rigour of the correction, at least for so long as
   that I may swallow down my spittle?" It should seem, Job's distemper
   lay much in his throat, and almost choked him, so that he could not
   swallow his spittle. He complains (ch. xxx. 18) that it bound him about
   like the collar of his coat. "Lord," says he, "wilt not thou give me
   some respite, some breathing time?" ch. ix. 18.

   2. The concern he is in about his sins. The best men have sin to
   complain of, and the better they are the more they will complain of it.
   (1.) He ingenuously owns himself guilty before God: I have sinned. God
   had said of him that he was a perfect and an upright man; yet he says
   of himself, I have sinned. Those may be upright who yet are not
   sinless; and those who are sincerely penitent are accepted, through a
   Mediator, as evangelically perfect. Job maintained, against his
   friends, that he was not a hypocrite, not a wicked man; and yet he
   owned to his God that he had sinned. If we have been kept from gross
   acts of sin, it does not therefore follow that we are innocent. The
   best must acknowledge, before God, that they have sinned. His calling
   God the observer, or preserver, of men, may be looked upon as designed
   for an aggravation of his sin: "Though God has had his eye upon me, his
   eye upon me for good, yet I have sinned against him." When we are in
   affliction it is seasonable to confess sin, as the procuring cause of
   our affliction. Penitent confessions would drown and silence passionate
   complaints. (2.) He seriously enquires how he may make his peace with
   God: "What shall I do unto thee, having done so much against thee?" Are
   we convinced that we have sinned, and are we brought to own it? We
   cannot but conclude that something must be done to prevent the fatal
   consequences of it. The matter must not rest as it is, but some course
   must be taken to undo what has been ill done. And, if we are truly
   sensible of the danger we have run ourselves into, we shall be willing
   to do any thing, to take a pardon upon any terms; and therefore shall
   be inquisitive as to what we shall do (Mic. vi. 6, 7), what we shall do
   to God, not to satisfy the demands of his justice (that is done only by
   the Mediator), but to qualify ourselves for the tokens of his favour,
   according to the tenour of the gospel-covenant. In making this enquiry
   it is good to eye God as the preserver or Saviour of men, not their
   destroyer. In our repentance we must keep up good thoughts of God, as
   one that delights not in the ruin of his creatures, but would rather
   they should return and live. "Thou art the Saviour of men; be my
   Saviour, for I cast myself upon thy mercy." (3.) He earnestly begs for
   the forgiveness of his sins, v. 21. The heat of his spirit, as, on the
   one hand, it made his complaints the more bitter, so, on the other
   hand, it made his prayers the more lively and importunate; as here:
   "Why dost thou not pardon my transgression? Art thou not a God of
   infinite mercy, that art ready to forgive? Hast not thou wrought
   repentance in me? Why then dost thou not give me the pardon of my sin,
   and make me to hear the voice of that joy and gladness?" Surely he
   means more than barely the removing of his outward trouble, and is
   herein earnest for the return of God's favour, which he complained of
   the want of, ch. vi. 4. "Lord, pardon my sins, and give me the comfort
   of that pardon, and then I can easily bear my afflictions," Matt. ix.
   2; Isa. xxxiii. 24. When the mercy of God pardons the transgression
   that is committed by us the grace of God takes away the iniquity that
   reigns in us. Wherever God removes the guilt of sin he breaks the power
   of sin. (4.) To enforce his prayer for pardon he pleads the prospect he
   had of dying quickly: For now shall I sleep in the dust. Death will lay
   us in the dust, will lay us to sleep there, and perhaps presently, now
   in a little time. Job had been complaining of restless nights, and that
   sleep departed from his eyes (v. 3, 4, 13, 14); but those who cannot
   sleep on a bed of down will shortly sleep in a bed of dust, and not be
   scared with dreams nor tossed to and fro: "Thou shalt seek me in the
   morning, to show me favour, but I shall not be; it will be too late
   then. If my sins be not pardoned while I live, I am lost and undone for
   ever." Note, The consideration of this, that we must shortly die, and
   perhaps may die suddenly, should make us all very solicitous to get our
   sins pardoned and our iniquity taken away.
     __________________________________________________________________

J O B

  CHAP. VIII.

   Job's friends are like Job's messengers: the latter followed one
   another close with evil tidings, the former followed him with harsh
   censures: both, unawares, served Satan's design; these to drive him
   from his integrity, those to drive him from the comfort of it. Eliphaz
   did not reply to what Job had said in answer to him, but left it to
   Bildad, whom he knew to be of the same mind with himself in this
   affair. Those are not the wisest of the company, but the weakest
   rather, who covet to have all the talk. Let others speak in their turn,
   and let the first keep silence, 1 Cor. xiv. 30, 31. Eliphaz had
   undertaken to show that because Job was sorely afflicted he was
   certainly a wicked man. Bildad is much of the same mind, and will
   conclude Job a wicked man unless God do speedily appear for his relief.
   In this chapter he endeavours to convince Job, I. That he had spoken
   too passionately, ver. 2. II. That he and his children had suffered
   justly, ver. 3, 4. III. That, if he were a true penitent, God would
   soon turn his captivity, ver. 5-7. IV. That it was a usual thing for
   Providence to extinguish the joys and hopes of wicked men as his were
   extinguished; and therefore that they had reason to suspect him for a
   hypocrite, ver. 8-19. V. That they would be abundantly confirmed in
   their suspicion unless God did speedily appear for his relief, ver.
   20-22.

    The Address of Bildad. (b. c. 1520.)

   1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,   2 How long wilt thou
   speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a
   strong wind?   3 Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty
   pervert justice?   4 If thy children have sinned against him, and he
   have cast them away for their transgression;   5 If thou wouldest seek
   unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty;   6 If
   thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and
   make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.   7 Though thy
   beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.

   Here, I. Bildad reproves Job for what he had said (v. 2), checks his
   passion, but perhaps (as is too common) with greater passion. We
   thought Job spoke a great deal of good sense and much to the purpose,
   and that he had reason and right on his side; but Bildad, like an eager
   angry disputant, turns it all off with this, How long wilt thou speak
   these things? taking it for granted that Eliphaz had said enough to
   silence him, and that therefore all he said was impertinent. Thus (as
   Caryl observes) reproofs are often grounded upon mistakes. Men's
   meaning is not taken aright, and then they are gravely rebuked as if
   they were evil-doers. Bildad compares Job's discourse to a strong wind.
   Job had excused himself with this, that his speeches were but as wind
   (ch. vi. 26), and therefore they should not make such ado about them:
   "Yea, but" (says Bildad) "they are as strong wind, blustering and
   threatening, boisterous and dangerous, and therefore we are concerned
   to fence against them."

   II. He justifies God in what he had done. This he had no occasion to do
   at this time (for Job did not condemn God, as he would have it thought
   he did), or he might at least have done it without reflecting upon
   Job's children, as he does here. Could he not be an advocate for God
   but he must be an accuser of the brethren? 1. He is right in general,
   that God doth not pervert judgment, nor ever go contrary to any settled
   rule of justice, v. 3. Far be it from him that he should and from us
   that we should suspect him. He never oppresses the innocent, nor lays a
   greater load on the guilty than they deserve. He is God, the Judge; and
   shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Gen. xviii. 25. If there
   should be unrighteousness with God, how should he judge the world? Rom.
   iii. 5, 6. He is Almighty, Shaddai--all sufficient. Men pervert justice
   sometimes for fear of the power of others (but God is Almighty, and
   stands in awe of none), sometimes to obtain the favour of others; but
   God is all-sufficient, and cannot be benefited by the favour of any. It
   is man's weakness and impotency that he often is unjust; it is God's
   omnipotence that he cannot be so. 2. Yet he is not fair and candid in
   the application. He takes it for granted that Job's children (the death
   of whom was one of the greatest of his afflictions) had been guilty of
   some notorious wickedness, and that the unhappy circumstances of their
   death were sufficient evidence that they were sinners above all the
   children of the east, v. 4. Job readily owned that God did not pervert
   judgment; and yet it did not therefore follow either that his children
   were cast-aways or that they died for some great transgression. It is
   true that we and our children have sinned against God, and we ought to
   justify him in all he brings upon us and ours; but extraordinary
   afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins, but
   sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces; and, in our judgment of
   another's case (unless the contrary appears), we ought to take the more
   favourable side, as our Saviour directs, Luke xiii. 2-4. Here Bildad
   missed it.

   III. He put Job in hope that, if he were indeed upright, as he said he
   was, he should yet see a good issue of his present troubles: "Although
   thy children have sinned against him, and are cast away in their
   transgression (they have died in their own sin), yet if thou be pure
   and upright thyself, and as an evidence of that wilt now seek unto God
   and submit to him, all shall be well yet," v. 5-7. This may be taken
   two ways, either, 1. As designed to prove Job a hypocrite and a wicked
   man, though not by the greatness, yet the by the continuance, of his
   afflictions. "When thou wast impoverished, and thy children were
   killed, if thou hadst been pure and upright, and approved thyself so in
   the trial, God would before now have returned in mercy to thee and
   comforted thee according to the time of thy affliction; but, because he
   does not so, we have reason to conclude thou art not so pure and
   upright as thou pretendest to be. If thou hadst conducted thyself well
   under the former affliction, thou wouldst not have been struck with the
   latter." Herein Bildad was not in the right; for a good man may be
   afflicted for his trial, not only very sorely, but very long, and yet,
   if for life, it is in comparison with eternity but for a moment. But,
   since Bildad put it to this issue, God was pleased to join issue with
   him, and proved his servant Job an honest man by Bildad's own argument;
   for, soon after, he blessed his latter end more than his beginning. Or,
   2. As designed to direct and encourage Job, that he might not thus run
   himself into despair, and give up all for gone; there might yet be hope
   if he would take the right course. I am apt to think Bildad here
   intended to condemn Job, yet would be thought to counsel and comfort
   him. (1.) He gives him good counsel, yet perhaps not expecting he would
   take it, the same that Eliphaz had given him (ch. v. 8), to seek unto
   God, and that betimes (that is, speedily and seriously), and not to be
   dilatory and trifling in his return and repentance. He advises him not
   to complain, but to petition, to make his supplication to the Almighty
   with humility and faith, and to see that there was (what he feared had
   hitherto been wanting) sincerity in his heart ("thou must be pure and
   upright") and honesty in his house--"that must be the habitation of thy
   righteousness, and not filled with ill-gotten goods, else God will not
   hear thy prayers," Ps. lxvi. 18. It is only the prayer of the upright
   that is the acceptable and prevailing prayer, Prov. xv. 8. (2.) He
   gives him good hopes that he shall yet again see good days, secretly
   suspecting, however, that he was not qualified to see them. He assures
   him that, if he would be early in seeking God, God would awake for his
   relief, would remember him and return to him, though now he seemed to
   forget him and forsake him--that if his habitation were righteous it
   should be prosperity. When we return to God in a way of duty we have
   reason to hope that he will return to us in a way of mercy. Let not Job
   object that he had so little left to being the world with again that it
   was impossible he should ever prosper as he had done; no, "Though thy
   beginning should be ever so small, a little meal in the barrel and a
   little oil in the cruse, God's blessing shall multiply that to a great
   increase." This is God's way of enriching the souls of his people with
   graces and comforts, not per saltum--as by a bound, but per
   gradum--step by step. The beginning is small, but the progress is to
   perfection. Dawning light grows to noonday, a grain of mustard seed to
   a great tree. Let us not therefore despise the day of small things, but
   hope for the day of great things.

   8 For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to
   the search of their fathers:   9 (For we are but of yesterday, and know
   nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)   10 Shall not they
   teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?   11 Can
   the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?   12
   Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth
   before any other herb.   13 So are the paths of all that forget God;
   and the hypocrite's hope shall perish:   14 Whose hope shall be cut
   off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web.   15 He shall lean upon
   his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall
   not endure.   16 He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth
   forth in his garden.   17 His roots are wrapped about the heap, and
   seeth the place of stones.   18 If he destroy him from his place, then
   it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.   19 Behold, this is
   the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.

   Bildad here discourses very well on the sad catastrophe of hypocrites
   and evil-doers and the fatal period of all their hopes and joys. He
   will not be so bold as to say with Eliphaz that none that were
   righteous were ever cut off thus (ch. iv. 7); yet he takes it for
   granted that God, in the course of his providence, does ordinarily
   bring wicked men, who seemed pious and were prosperous, to shame and
   ruin in this world, and that, by making their prosperity short, he
   discovers their piety to be counterfeit. Whether this will certainly
   prove that all who are thus ruined must be concluded to have been
   hypocrites he will not say, but rather suspect, and thinks the
   application is easy.

   I. He proves this truth, of the certain destruction of all the hopes
   and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to antiquity and the concurring
   sentiment and observation of all wise and good men; and an undoubted
   truth it is, if we take in the other world, that, if not in this life,
   yet in the life to come, hypocrites will be deprived of all their
   trusts and all their triumphs: whether Bildad so meant or no, we must
   so take it. Let us observe the method of his proof, v. 8-10.

   1. He insists not on his own judgment and that of his companions: We
   are but of yesterday, and know nothing, v. 9. He perceived that Job had
   no opinion of their abilities, but thought they knew little. "We will
   own," says Bildad, "that we know nothing, are as ready to confess our
   ignorance as thou art to condemn it; for we are but of yesterday in
   comparison, and our days upon earth are short and transient, and
   hastening away as a shadow. And hence," (1.) "We are not so near the
   fountain-head of divine revelation" (which then for aught that appears,
   was conveyed by tradition) "as the former age was; and therefore we
   must enquire what they said and recount what we have been told of their
   sentiments." Blessed be God, now that we have the word of God in
   writing, and are directed to search that, we need not enquire of the
   former age, nor prepare ourselves to the search of their fathers; for,
   though we ourselves are but of yesterday, the word of God in the
   scripture is as nigh to us as it was to them (Rom. x. 8), and it is the
   more sure word of prophecy, to which we must take heed. If we study and
   keep God's precepts, we may by them understand more than the ancients,
   Ps. cxix. 99, 100. (2.) "We do not live so long as those of the former
   age did, to make observations upon the methods of divine providence,
   and therefore cannot be such competent judges as they in a cause of
   this nature." Note, The shortness of our lives is a great hindrance to
   the improvement of our knowledge, and so are the frailty and weakness
   of our bodies. Vita brevis, ars longa--life is short, the progress of
   art boundless.

   2. He refers to the testimony of the ancients and to the knowledge
   which Job himself had of their sentiments. "Do thou enquire of the
   former age, and let them tell thee, not only their own judgment in this
   matter, but the judgment also of their fathers, v. 8. They will teach
   thee, and inform thee (v. 10), that all along, in their time, the
   judgments of God followed wicked men. This they will utter out of their
   hearts, that is, as that which they firmly believe themselves, which
   they are greatly affected with and desirous to acquaint and affect
   others with." Note, (1.) For the right understanding of divine
   Providence, and the unfolding of the difficulties of it, it will be of
   use to compare the observations and experiences of former ages with the
   events of our own day; and, in order thereto, to consult history,
   especially the sacred history, which is the most ancient, infallibly
   true, and written designedly for our learning. (2.) Those that would
   fetch knowledge from the former ages must search diligently, prepare
   for the search, and take pains for the search. (3.) Those words are
   most likely to reach to the hearts of the learners that come from the
   hearts of the teachers. Those shall teach thee best that utter words
   out of their heart, that speak by experience, and not by rote, of
   spiritual and divine things. The learned bishop Patrick suggests that
   Bildad being a Shuhite, descended from Shuah one of Abraham's sons by
   Keturah (Gen. xxv. 2), in this appeal which he makes to history he has
   a particular respect to the rewards which the blessing of God secured
   to the posterity of faithful Abraham (who hitherto, and long after,
   continued in his religion) and to the extirpation of those eastern
   people, neighbours to Job (in whose country they were settled), for
   their wickedness, whence he infers that it is God's usual way to
   prosper the just and root out the wicked, though for a while they may
   flourish.

   II. He illustrates this truth by some similitudes.

   1. The hopes and joys of the hypocrite are here compared to a rush or
   flag, v. 11-13. (1.) It grows up out of the mire and water. The
   hypocrite cannot gain his hope without some false rotten ground or
   other out of which to raise it, and with which to support it and keep
   it alive, any more than the rush can grow without mire. He grounds it
   on his worldly prosperity, the plausible profession he makes of
   religion, the good opinion of his neighbours, and his own good conceit
   of himself, which are no solid foundation on which to build his
   confidence. It is all but mire and water; and the hope that grows out
   of it is but rush and flag. (2.) It may look green and gay for a while
   (the rush outgrows the grass), but it is light and hollow, and empty,
   and good for nothing. It is green for show, but of no use. (3.) It
   withers presently, before any other herb, v. 12. Even while it is in
   its greenness it is dried away and gone in a little time. Note, The
   best state of hypocrites and evil-doers borders upon withering; even
   when it is green it is going. The grass is cut down and withers (Ps.
   xc. 6); but the rush is not cut down and yet withers, withers before it
   grows up (Ps. cxxix. 6): as it has no use, so it has no continuance. So
   are the paths of all that forget God (v. 13); they take the same way
   that the rush does, for the hypocrite's hope shall perish. Note, [1.]
   Forgetfulness of God is at the bottom of men's hypocrisy, and of the
   vain hopes with which they flatter and deceive themselves in their
   hypocrisy. Men would not be hypocrites if they did not forget that the
   God with whom they have to do searches the heart and requires truth
   there, that he is a Spirit and has his eye on our spirits; and
   hypocrites would have no hope if they did not forget that God is
   righteous, and will not be mocked with the torn and the lame. [2.] The
   hope of hypocrites is a great cheat upon themselves, and, though it may
   flourish for a while, it will certainly perish at last, and they with
   it.

   2. They are here compared to a spider's web, or a spider's house (as it
   is in the margin), a cobweb, v. 14, 15. The hope of the hypocrite, (1.)
   Is woven out of his own bowels; it is the creature of his own fancy,
   and arises merely from a conceit of his own merit and sufficiency.
   There is a great deal of difference between the work of the bee and
   that of the spider. A diligent Christian, like the laborious bee,
   fetches in all his comfort from the heavenly dews of God's word; but
   the hypocrite, like the subtle spider, weaves his out of a false
   hypothesis of his own concerning God, as if he were altogether such a
   one as himself. (2.) He is very fond of it, as the spider of her web;
   pleases himself with it, wraps himself in it, calls it his house, leans
   upon it, and holds it fast. It is said of the spider that she takes
   hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces, Prov. xxx. 28. So does a
   carnal worldling hug himself in the fulness and firmness of his outward
   prosperity; he prides himself in that house as his palace, fortifies
   himself in it as his castle, and makes use of it as the spider of her
   web, to ensnare those he has a mind to prey upon. So does a formal
   professor; he flatters himself in his own eyes, doubts not of his
   salvation, is secure of heaven, and cheats the world with his vain
   confidences. (3.) It will easily and certainly be swept away, as the
   cobweb with the besom, when God shall come to purge his house. The
   prosperity of worldly people will fail them when they expect to find
   safety and happiness in it. They seek to hold fast their estates, but
   God is plucking them out of their hands; and whose shall all those
   things be, which they have provided? or what the better they will be
   for them? The confidences of hypocrites will fail them. I tell you, I
   know you not. The house built on the sand will fall in the storm, when
   the builder most needs it and promised himself the benefit of it. When
   a wicked man dies his expectation perishes. The ground of his hopes
   will prove false; he will be disappointed of the thing he hoped for,
   and his foolish hope with which he buoyed himself up will be turned
   into endless despair; and thus his hope will be cut off, his web, that
   refuge of lies, swept away, and he crushed in it.

   3. The hypocrite is here compared to a flourishing and well-rooted
   tree, which, though it do not wither of itself, yet will easily be cut
   down and its place no it no more. The secure and prosperous sinner may
   think himself wronged when he is compared to a rush and a flag; he
   thinks he has a better root. "We will allow him his conceit," says
   Bildad, "and give him all the advantage he can desire, and bring him in
   suddenly cut off." He is here represented as Nebuchadnezzar was in his
   own dream (Dan. iv. 10) by a great tree. (1.) See this tree fair and
   flourishing (v. 16) like a green bay-tree (Ps. xxxvii. 35), green
   before the sun, it keeps its greenness in defiance of the scorching
   sun-beams, and his branch shoots forth under the protection of his
   garden-wall and with the benefit of his garden-soil. See it fixed, and
   taking deep root, never likely to be overthrown by stormy winds, for
   his roots are interwoven with the stones (v. 17); it grows in firm
   ground, not, as the rush, of mire and water. Thus does a wicked man,
   when he prospers in the world, think himself secure; his wealth is a
   high wall in his own conceit. (2.) See this tree felled and forgotten
   notwithstanding, destroyed from his place (v. 18), and so entirely
   extirpated that there shall remain no sign or token where it grew. The
   very place say, I have not seen thee; and the standers by shall say the
   same. I sought him, but he could not be found, Ps. xxxvi. 36. He made a
   great show and a great noise for a time, but he is gone of a sudden,
   and neither root nor branch is left him, Mal. iv. 1. This is the joy
   (that is, this is the end and conclusion) of the wicked man's way (v.
   19); this is that which all his joy comes to. The way of the ungodly
   shall perish, Ps. i. 6. His hope, he thought, would in the issue be
   turned into joy; but this is the issue, this is the joy. The harvest
   shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow, Isa. xvii.
   11. This is the best of it; and what then is the worst of it? But shall
   he not leave a family behind him to enjoy what he has? No, out of the
   earth (not out of his roots) shall others grow, that are nothing akin
   to him, and shall fill up his place, and rule over that for which he
   labored. Others (that is, others of the same spirit and disposition)
   shall grow up in his place, and be as secure as ever he was, not warned
   by his fall. The way of worldlings is their folly, and yet there is a
   race of those that approve their sayings, Ps. xlix. 13.

   20 Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help
   the evil doers:   21 Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips
   with rejoicing.   22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame;
   and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.

   Bildad here, in the close of his discourse, sums up what he has to say
   in a few words, setting before Job life and death, the blessing and the
   curse, assuring him that as he was so he should fare, and therefore
   they might conclude that as he fared so he was. 1. On the one hand, if
   he were a perfect upright man, God would not cast him away, v. 20.
   Though now he seemed forsaken of God, he would yet return to him, and
   by degrees would turn his mourning into dancing (Ps. xxx. 11) and
   comforts should flow in upon him so plentifully that his mouth should
   be filled with laughing, v. 21. So affecting should the happy change
   be, Ps. cxxvi. 2. Those that loved him would rejoice with him; but
   those that hated him, and had triumphed in his fall, would be ashamed
   of their insolence, when they should see him restored to his former
   prosperity. Now it is true that God will not cast away an upright man;
   he may be cast down for a time, but he shall not be cast away for ever.
   It is true that, if not in this world, yet in another, the mouth of the
   righteous shall be filled with rejoicing. Though their sun should set
   under a cloud, yet it shall rise again clear, never more to be clouded;
   though they go mourning to the grave, that shall not hinder their
   entrance into the joy of their Lord. It is true that the enemies of the
   saints will be clothed with shame when they see them crowned with
   honour. But it does not therefore follow that, if Job were not
   perfectly restore to his former prosperity, he would forfeit the
   character of a perfect man. 2. On the other hand, if he were a wicked
   man and an evil-doer, God would not help him, but leave him to perish
   in his present distresses (v. 20), and his dwelling-place should come
   to nought, v. 22. And here also it is true that God will not help the
   evil-doers; they throw themselves out of his protection, and forfeit
   his favour. He will not take the ungodly by the hand (so it is in the
   margin), will not have fellowship and communion with them; for what
   communion can there be between light and darkness? He will not lend
   them his hand to pull them out of the miseries, the eternal miseries,
   into which they have plunged themselves; they will then stretch out
   their hand to him for help, but it will be too late: he will not take
   them by the hand. Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed. It is
   true that the dwelling-place of the wicked, sooner or later, will come
   to nought. Those only who make God their dwelling-place are safe for
   ever, Ps. xc. 1; xci. 1. Those who make other things their refuge will
   be disappointed. Sin brings ruin on persons and families. Yet to argue
   (as Bildad, I doubt, slyly does) that because Job's family was sunk,
   and he himself at present seemed helpless, therefore he certainly was
   an ungodly wicked man, was neither just nor charitable, as long as
   there appeared no other evidence of his wickedness and ungodliness. Let
   us judge nothing before the time, but wait till the secrets of all
   hearts shall be made manifest, and the present difficulties of
   Providence be solved to universal and everlasting satisfaction, when
   the mystery of God shall be finished.
     __________________________________________________________________

J O B

  CHAP. IX.

   In this and the following chapter we have Job's answer to Bildad's
   discourse, wherein he speaks honourably of God, humbly of himself, and
   feelingly of his troubles; but not one word by way of reflection upon
   his friends, or their unkindness to him, nor in direct reply to what
   Bildad had said. He wisely keeps to the merits of the cause, and makes
   no remarks upon the person that managed it, nor seeks occasion against
   him. In this chapter we have, I. The doctrine of God's justice laid
   down, ver. 2. II. The proof of it, from his wisdom, and power, and
   sovereign dominion, ver. 3-13. III. The application of it, in which, 1.
   He condemns himself, as not able to contend with God either in law or
   battle, ver. 14-21. 2. He maintains his point, that we cannot judge of
   men's character by their outward condition, ver. 22-24. 3. He complains
   of the greatness of his troubles, the confusion he was in, and the loss
   he was at what to say or do, ver. 25-35.

    Job's Reply to Bildad. (b. c. 1520.)

   1 Then Job answered and said,   2 I know it is so of a truth: but how
   should man be just with God?   3 If he will contend with him, he cannot
   answer him one of a thousand.   4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in
   strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
   5 Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth
   them in his anger.   6 Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and
   the pillars thereof tremble.   7 Which commandeth the sun, and it
   riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.   8 Which alone spreadeth out the
   heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.   9 Which maketh
   Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.   10
   Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without
   number.   11 Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also,
   but I perceive him not.   12 Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder
   him? who will say unto him, What doest thou?   13 If God will not
   withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.

   Bildad began with a rebuke to Job for talking so much, ch. viii. 2. Job
   makes no answer to that, though it would have been easy enough to
   retort it upon himself; but in what he next lays down as his principle,
   that God never perverts judgment, Job agrees with him: I know it is so
   of a truth, v. 2. Note, We should be ready to own how far we agree with
   those with whom we dispute, and should not slight, much less resist, a
   truth, though produced by an adversary and urged against us, but
   receive it in the light and love of it, though it may have been
   misapplied. "It is so of a truth, that wickedness brings men to ruin
   and the godly are taken under God's special protection. These are
   truths which I subscribe to; but how can any man make good his part
   with God?" In his sight shall no flesh living be justified, Ps. cxliii.
   2. How should man be just with God? Some understand this as a
   passionate complaint of God's strictness and severity, that he is a God
   whom there is no dealing with; and it cannot be denied that there are,
   in this chapter, some peevish expressions, which seem to speak such
   language as this. But I take this rather as a pious confession of man's
   sinfulness, and his own in particular, that, if God should deal with
   any of us according to the desert of our iniquities, we should
   certainly be undone.

   I. He lays this down for a truth, that man is an unequal match for his
   Maker, either in dispute or combat.

   1. In dispute (v. 3): If he will contend with him, either at law or at
   an argument, he cannot answer him one of a thousand. (1.) God can ask a
   thousand puzzling questions which those that quarrel with him, and
   arraign his proceedings, cannot give an answer to. When God spoke to
   Job out of the whirlwind he asked him a great many questions (Dost thou
   know this? Canst thou do that?) to none of which Job could give an
   answer, ch. xxxviii., xxxix. God can easily manifest the folly of the
   greatest pretenders to wisdom. (2.) God can lay to our charge a
   thousand offences, can draw up against us a thousand articles of
   impeachment, and we cannot answer him so as to acquit ourselves from
   the imputation of any of them, but must, by silence, give consent that
   they are all true. We cannot set aside one as foreign, another as
   frivolous, and another as false. We cannot, as to one, deny the fact,
   and plead not guilty, and, as to another, deny the fault, confess and
   justify. No, we are not able to answer him, but must lay our hand upon
   our mouth, as Job did (ch. xl. 4, 5), and cry, Guilty, guilty.

   2. In combat (v. 4): "Who hath hardened himself against him and hath
   prospered?" The answer is very easy. You cannot produce any instance,
   from the beginning of the world to this day, of any daring sinner who
   has hardened himself against God, has obstinately persisted in
   rebellion against him, who did not find God too hard for him and pay
   dearly for his folly. Such transgressors have not prospered or had
   peace; they have had no comfort in their way nor any success. What did
   ever man get by trials of skill, or trials of titles, with his Maker?
   All the opposition given to God is but setting briers and thorns before
   a consuming fire; so foolish, so fruitless, so destructive, is the
   attempt, Isa. xxvii. 4; Ezek. xxviii. 24; 1 Cor. x. 22. Apostate angels
   hardened themselves against God, but did not prosper, 2 Pet. ii. 4. The
   dragon fights, but is cast out, Rev. xii. 9. Wicked men harden
   themselves against God, dispute his wisdom, disobey his laws, are
   impenitent for their sins and incorrigible under their afflictions;
   they reject the offers of his grace, and resist the strivings of his
   Spirit; they make nothing of his threatenings, and make head against
   his interest in the world. But have they prospered? Can they prosper?
   No; they are but treasuring up for themselves wrath against the day of
   wrath. Those that roll this will find it return upon them.

   II. He proves it by showing what a God he is with whom we have to do:
   He is wise in heart, and therefore we cannot answer him at law; he is
   mighty in strength, and therefore we cannot fight it out with him. It
   is the greatest madness that can be to think to contend with a God of
   infinite wisdom and power, who knows every thing and can do every
   thing, who can be neither outwitted nor overpowered. The devil promised
   himself that Job, in the day of his affliction, would curse God and
   speak ill of him, but, instead of that, he sets himself to honour God
   and to speak highly of him. As much pained as he is, and as much taken
   up with his own miseries, when he has occasion to mention the wisdom
   and power of God he forgets his complaints, dwells with delight, and
   expatiates with a flood of eloquence, upon that noble useful subject.
   Evidences of the wisdom and power of God he fetches,

   1. From the kingdom of nature, in which the God of nature acts with an
   uncontrollable power and does what he pleases; for all the orders and
   all the powers of nature are derived from him and depend upon him.

   (1.) When he pleases he alters the course of nature, and turns back its
   streams, v. 5-7. By the common law of nature the mountains are settled
   and are therefore called everlasting mountains, the earth is
   established and cannot be removed (Ps. xciii. 1) and the pillars there
   of are immovably fixed, the sun rises in its season, and the stars shed
   their influences on this lower world; but when God pleases he can not
   only drive out of the common track, but invert the order and change the
   law of nature. [1.] Nothing more firm than the mountains. When we speak
   of removing mountains we mean that which is impossible; yet the divine
   power can make them change their seat: He removes them and they know
   not, removes them whether they will or no; he can make them lower their
   heads; he can level them, and overturn them in his anger; he can spread
   the mountains as easily as the husbandman spreads the molehills, be
   they ever so high, and large, and rocky. Men have much ado to pass over
   them, but God, when he pleases, can make them pass away. He made Sinai
   shake, Ps. lxviii. 8. The hills skipped, Ps. cxiv. 4. The everlasting
   mountains were scattered, Hab. iii. 6. [2.] Nothing more fixed than the
   earth on its axletree; yet God can, when he pleases, shake the earth
   out of its place, heave it off its centre, and make even its pillars to
   tremble; what seemed to support it will itself need support when God
   gives it a shock. See how much we are indebted to God's patience. God
   has power enough to shake the earth from under that guilty race of
   mankind which makes it groan under the burden of sin, and so to shake
   the wicked out of it (Job xxxviii. 13); yet he continues the earth, and
   man upon it, and does not make it, as once, to swallow up the rebels.
   [3.] Nothing more constant than the rising sun, it never misses its
   appointed time; yet God, when he pleases, can suspend it. He that at
   first commanded it to rise can countermand it. Once the sun was told to
   stand, and another time to retreat, to show that it is still under the
   check of its great Creator. Thus great is God's power; and how great
   then is his goodness, which causes his sun to shine even upon the evil
   and unthankful, though he could withhold it! He that made the stars
   also, can, if he pleases, seal them up, and hide them from our eyes. By
   earthquakes and subterraneous fires mountains have sometimes been
   removed and the earth shaken: in very dark and cloudy days and nights
   it seems to us as if the sun were forbidden to rise and the stars were
   sealed up, Acts xxvii. 20. It is sufficient to say that Job here speaks
   of what God can do; but, if we must understand it of what he has done
   in fact, all these verses may perhaps be applied to Noah's flood, when
   the mountains of the earth were shaken, and the sun and stars were
   darkened; and the world that now is we believe to be reserved for that
   fire which will consume the mountains, and melt the earth, with its
   fervent heat, and which will turn the sun into darkness.

   (2.) As long as he pleases he preserves the settled course and order of
   nature; and this is a continued creation. He himself alone, by his own
   power, and without the assistance of any other, [1.] Spreads out the
   heaven (v. 8), not only did spread them out at first, but still spreads
   them out (that is, keeps them spread out), for otherwise they would of
   themselves roll together like a scroll of parchment. [2.] He treads
   upon the waves of the sea; that is, he suppresses them and keeps them
   under, that they return not to deluge the earth (Ps. civ. 9), which is
   given as a reason why we should all fear God and stand in awe of him,
   Jer. v. 22. He is mightier than the proud waves Ps. xciii. 4; lxv. 7.
   [3.] He makes the constellations; three are named for all the rest (v.
   9), Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and in general the chambers of the
   south. The stars of which these are composed he made at first, and put
   into that order, and he still makes them, preserves them in being, and
   guides their motions; he makes them to be what they are to man, and
   inclines the hearts of man to observe them, which the beasts are not
   capable of doing. Not only those stars which we see and give names to,
   but those also in the other hemisphere, about the antarctic pole, which
   never come in our sight, called here the chambers of the south, are
   under the divine direction and dominion. How wise is he then, and how
   mighty!

   2. From the kingdom of Providence, that special Providence which is
   conversant about the affairs of the children of men. Consider what God
   does in the government of the world, and you will say, He is wise in
   heart and mighty in strength. (1.) He does many things and great, many
   and great to admiration, v. 10. Job here says the same that Eliphaz had
   said (ch. v. 9), and in the original in the very same words, not
   declining to speak after him, though now his antagonist. God is a great
   God, and doeth great things, a wonder-working God; his works of wonder
   are so many that we cannot number them and so mysterious that we cannot
   find them out. O the depth of his counsels! (2.) He acts invisibly and
   undiscerned, v. 11. "He goes by me in his operations, and I see him
   not, I perceive him not. His way is in the sea," Ps. lxxvii. 19. The
   operations of second causes are commonly obvious to sense, but God does
   all about us and yet we see him not, Acts xvii. 23. Our finite
   understandings cannot fathom his counsels, apprehend his motions, or
   comprehend the measures he takes; we are therefore incompetent judges
   of God's proceedings, because we know not what he does or what he
   designs. The arcana imperii--secrets of government, are things above
   us, which therefore we must not pretend to expound or comment upon.
   (3.) He acts with an incontestable sovereignty, v. 12. He takes away
   our creature-comforts and confidences when and as he pleases, takes
   away health, estate, relations, friends, takes away life itself;
   whatever goes, it is he that takes it; by what hand so ever it is
   removed, his hand must be acknowledged in its removal. The Lord takes
   away, and who can hinder him? Who can turn him away? (Margin, Who shall
   make him restore?) Who can dissuade him or alter his counsels? Who can
   resist him or oppose his operations? Who can control him or call him to
   an account? What action can be brought against him? Or who will say
   unto him, What doest thou? Or, Why doest thou so? Dan. iv. 35. God is
   not obliged to give us a reason of what he does. The meanings of his
   proceedings we know no now; it will be time enough to know hereafter,
   when it will appear that what seemed now to be done by prerogative was
   done in infinite wisdom and for the best. (4.) He acts with an
   irresistible power, which no creature can resist, v. 13. If God will
   not withdraw his anger (which he can do when he pleases, for he is Lord
   of his anger, lets it out or calls it in according to his will), the
   proud helpers do stoop under him; that is, He certainly breaks and
   crushes those that proudly help one another against him. Proud men set
   themselves against God and his proceedings. In this opposition they
   join hand in hand. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the
   rulers take counsel together, to throw off his yoke, to run down his
   truths, and to persecute his people. Men of Israel, help, Acts xxi. 28;
   Ps. lxxxiii. 8. If one enemy of God's kingdom fall under his judgment,
   the rest come proudly to help that, and think to deliver that out of
   his hand: but in vain; unless he pleases to withdraw his anger (which
   he often does, for it is the day of his patience) the proud helpers
   stoop under him, and fall with those whom they designed to help. Who
   knows the power of God's anger? Those who think they have strength
   enough to help others will not be able to help themselves against it.

   14 How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason
   with him?   15 Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer,
   but I would make supplication to my judge.   16 If I had called, and he
   had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my
   voice.   17 For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my
   wounds without cause.   18 He will not suffer me to take my breath, but
   filleth me with bitterness.   19 If I speak of strength, lo, he is
   strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?   20 If I
   justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am
   perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.   21 Though I were perfect,
   yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.

   What Job had said of man's utter inability to contend with God he here
   applies to himself, and in effect despairs of gaining his favour, which
   (some think) arises from the hard thoughts he had of God, as one who,
   having set himself against him, right or wrong, would be too hard for
   him. I rather think it arises from the sense he had of the imperfection
   of his own righteousness, and the dark and cloudy apprehensions which
   at present he had of God's displeasure against him.

   I. He durst not dispute with God (v. 14): "If the proud helpers do
   stoop under him, how much less shall I (a poor weak creature, so far
   from being a helper that I am very helpless) answer him? What can I say
   against that which God does? If I go about to reason with him, he will
   certainly be too hard for me." If the potter make the clay into a
   vessel of dishonour, or break in pieces the vessel he has made, shall
   the clay or the broken vessel reason with him? So absurd is the man who
   replies against God, or thinks to talk the matter out with him. No, let
   all flesh be silent before him.

   II. He durst not insist upon his own justification before God. Though
   he vindicated his own integrity to his friends, and would not yield
   that he was a hypocrite and a wicked man, as they suggested, yet he
   would never plead it as his righteousness before God. "I will never
   venture upon the covenant of innocency, nor think to come off by virtue
   of that." Job knew so much of God, and knew so much of himself, that he
   durst not insist upon his own justification before God.

   1. He knew so much of God that he durst not stand a trial with him, v.
   15-19. He knew how to make his part good with his friends, and thought
   himself able to deal with them; but, though his cause had been better
   than it was, he knew it was to no purpose to debate it with God. (1.)
   God knew him better than he knew himself and therefore (v. 15), "Though
   I were righteous in my own apprehension, and my own heart did not
   condemn me, yet God is greater than my heart, and knows those secret
   faults and errors of mine which I do not and cannot understand, and is
   able to charge me with them, and therefore I would not answer." St.
   Paul speaks to the same purport: I know nothing by myself, am not
   conscious to myself of any reigning wickedness, and yet I am not hereby
   justified, 1 Cor. iv. 4. "I dare not put myself upon that issue, lest
   God should charge that upon me which I did not discover in myself." Job
   will therefore wave that plea, and make supplication to his Judge, that
   is, will cast himself upon God's mercy, and not think come off by his
   own merit. (2.) He had no reason to think that there was anything in
   his prayers to recommend them to the divine acceptance, or to fetch in
   an answer of peace, no worth or worthiness at all to which to ascribe
   their success, but it must be attributed purely to the grace and
   compassion of God, who answers before we call and not because we call,
   and gives gracious answers to our prayers, but not for our prayers (v.
   16): "If I had called, and he had answered, had given the thing I
   called to him for, yet, so weak and defective are my best prayers, that
   I would not believe he had therein hearkened to my voice; I could not
   say that he had saved with his right hand and answered me" (Ps. lx. 5),
   "but that he did it purely for his own name's sake." Bishop Patrick
   expounds it thus: "If I had made supplication, and he had granted my
   desire, I would not think my prayer had done the business." Not for
   your sakes, be it known to you. (3.) His present miseries, which God
   had brought him into notwithstanding his integrity, gave him too
   sensible a conviction that, in the ordering and disposing of men's
   outward condition in this world, God acts by sovereignty, and, though
   he never does wrong to any, yet he does not ever give full right to all
   (that is, the best do not always fare best, nor the worst fare worst)
   in this life, because he reserves the full and exact distribution of
   rewards and punishments for the future state. Job was not conscious to
   himself of any extraordinary guilt, and yet fell under extraordinary
   afflictions, v. 17, 18. Every man must expect the wind to blow upon him
   and ruffle him, but Job was broken with a tempest. Every man, in the
   midst of these thorns and briers, must expect to be scratched; but Job
   was wounded, and his wounds were multiplied. Every man must expect a
   cross daily, and to taste sometimes of the bitter cup; but poor Job's
   troubles came so thickly upon him that he had no breathing time, and he
   was filled with bitterness. And he presumes to say that all this was
   without cause, without any great provocation given. We have made the
   best of what Job said hitherto, though contrary to the judgment of many
   good interpreters; but here, no doubt, he spoke unadvisedly with his
   lips; he reflected on God's goodness in saying that he was not suffered
   to take his breath (while yet he had such good use of his reason and
   speech as to be able to talk thus) and on his justice in saying that it
   was without cause. Yet it is true that as, on the one hand, there are
   many who are chargeable with more sin than the common infirmities of
   human nature, and yet feel no more sorrow than that of the common
   calamities of human life, so, on the other hand, there are many who
   feel more than the common calamities of human life and yet are
   conscious to themselves of no more than the common infirmities of human
   nature. (4.) He was in no capacity at all to make his part good with
   God, v. 19. [1.] Not by force of arms. "I dare not enter the lists with
   the Almighty; for if I speak of strength, and think to come off by
   that, lo, he is strong, stronger than I, and will certainly overpower
   me." There is no disputing (said one once to Caesar) with him that
   commands legions. Much less is there any with him that has legions of
   angels at command. Can thy heart endure (thy courage and presence of
   mind) or can thy hands be strong to defend thyself, in the days that I
   shall deal with thee? Ezek. xxii. 14. [2.] Not by force of arguments.
   "I dare not try the merits of the cause. If I speak of judgment, and
   insist upon my right, who will set me a time to plead? There is no
   higher power to which I may appeal, no superior court to appoint a
   hearing of the cause; for he is supreme and from him proceeds every
   man's judgment, which he must abide by."

   2. He knew so much of himself the he durst not stand a trial, v. 20,
   21. "If I go about to justify myself, and to plead a righteousness of
   my own, my defence will be my offence, and my own mouth shall condemn
   me even when it goes about to acquit me." A good man, who knows the
   deceitfulness of his own heart, and is jealous over it with a godly
   jealousy, and has often discovered that amiss there which had long lain
   undiscovered, is suspicious of more evil in himself than he is really
   conscious of, and therefore will by no means think of justifying
   himself before God. If we say we have no sin, we not only deceive
   ourselves, but we affront God; for we sin in saying so, and give the
   lie to the scripture, which has concluded all under sin. "If I say, I
   am perfect, I am sinless, God has nothing to lay to my charge, my very
   saying so shall prove me perverse, proud, ignorant, and presumptuous.
   Nay, though I were perfect, though God should pronounce me just, yet
   would I not know my soul, I would not be in care about the prolonging
   of my life while it is loaded with all these miseries." Or, "Though I
   were free from gross sin, though my conscience should not charge me
   with any enormous crime, yet would I not believe my own heart so far as
   to insist upon my innocency nor think my life worth striving for with
   God." In short, it is folly to contend with God, and our wisdom, as
   well as duty, to submit to him and throw ourselves at his feet.

   22 This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect
   and the wicked.   23 If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the
   trial of the innocent.   24 The earth is given into the hand of the
   wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and
   who is he?

   Here Job touches briefly upon the main point now in dispute between him
   and his friends. They maintained that those who are righteous and good
   always prosper in this world, and none but the wicked are in misery and
   distress; he asserted, on the contrary, that it is a common thing for
   the wicked to prosper and the righteous to be greatly afflicted. This
   is the one thing, the chief thing, wherein he and his friends differed;
   and they had not proved their assertion, therefore he abides by his: "I
   said it, and day it again, that all things come alike to all." Now, 1.
   It must be owned that there is very much truth in what Job here means,
   that temporal judgments, when they are sent abroad, fall both upon good
   and bad, and the destroying angel seldom distinguishes (though once he
   did) between the houses of Israelites and the houses of Egyptians. In
   the judgment of Sodom indeed, which is called the vengeance of eternal
   fire (Jude 7), far be it from God to slay the righteous with the
   wicked, and that the righteous should be as the wicked (Gen. xviii.
   25); but, in judgments merely temporal, the righteous have their share,
   and sometimes the greatest share. The sword devours one as well as
   another, Josiah as well as Ahab. Thus God destroys the perfect and the
   wicked, involves them both in the same common ruin; good and bad were
   sent together into Babylon, Jer. xxiv. 5, 9. If the scourge slay
   suddenly, and sweep down all before it, God will be well pleased to see
   how the same scourge which is the perdition of the wicked is the trial
   of the innocent and of their faith, which will be found unto praise,
   and honour, and glory, 1 Pet. i. 7; Ps. lxvi. 10.


   Against the just th' Almighty's arrows fly,

   For he delights the innocent to try,

   To show their constant and their Godlike mind,

   Not by afflictions broken, but refined.

   Sir R. Blackmore.

   Let this reconcile God's children to their troubles; they are but
   trials, designed for their honour and benefit, and, if God be pleased
   with them, let not them be displeased; if he laugh at the trial of the
   innocent, knowing how glorious the issue of it will be, at destruction
   and famine let them also laugh (ch. v. 22), and triumph over them,
   saying, O death! where is thy sting? On the other hand, the wicked are
   so far from being made the marks of God's judgments that the earth is
   given into their hand, v. 24 (they enjoy large possessions and great
   power, have what they will and do what they will), into the hand of the
   wicked one (in the original, the word is singular); the devil, that
   wicked one, is called the god of this world, and boasts that into his
   hands it is delivered, Luke iv. 6. Or into the hand of a wicked man,
   meaning (as bishop Patrick and the Assembly's Annotations conjecture)
   some noted tyrant then living in those parts, whose great wickedness
   and great prosperity were well known both to Job and his friends. The
   wicked have the earth given them, but the righteous have heaven given
   them, and which is better--heaven without earth or earth without
   heaven? God, in his providence, advances wicked men, while he covers
   the faces of those who are fit to be judges, who are wise and good, and
   qualified for government, and buries them alive in obscurity, perhaps
   suffers them to be run down and condemned, and to have their faces
   covered as criminals by those wicked ones into whose hand the earth is
   given. We daily see that this is done; if it be not God that does it,
   where and who is he that does it? To whom can it be ascribed but to him
   that rules in the kingdoms of men, and gives them to whom he will? Dan.
   iv. 32. Yet, 2. It must be owned that there is too much passion in what
   Job here says. The manner of expression is peevish. When he meant that
   God afflicts he ought not to have said, He destroys both the perfect
   and the wicked; when he meant that God pleases himself with the trial
   of the innocent he ought not to have said, He laughs at it, for he doth
   not afflict willingly. When the spirit is heated, either with dispute
   or with discontent, we have need to set a watch before the door of our
   lips, that we may observe a due decorum in speaking of divine things.

   25 Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no
   good.   26 They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that
   hasteth to the prey.   27 If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will
   leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:   28 I am afraid of all my
   sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.   29 If I be
   wicked, why then labour I in vain?   30 If I wash myself with snow
   water, and make my hands never so clean;   31 Yet shalt thou plunge me
   in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.   32 For he is not a
   man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in
   judgment.   33 Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay
   his hand upon us both.   34 Let him take his rod away from me, and let
   not his fear terrify me:   35 Then would I speak, and not fear him; but
   it is not so with me.

   Job here grows more and more querulous, and does not conclude this
   chapter with such reverent expressions of God's wisdom and justice as
   he began with. Those that indulge a complaining humour know not to what
   indecencies, nay, to what impieties, it will hurry them. The beginning
   of that strife with God is as the letting forth of water; therefore
   leave it off before it be meddled with. When we are in trouble we are
   allowed to complain to God, as the Psalmist often, but must by no means
   complain of God, as Job here.

   I. His complaint here of the passing away of the days of his prosperity
   is proper enough (v. 25, 26): "My days (that is, all my good days) are
   gone, never to return, gone of a sudden, gone ere I was aware. Never
   did any courier that went express" (like Cushi and Ahimaaz) "with good
   tidings make such haste as all my comforts did from me. Never did ship
   sail to its port, never did eagle fly upon its prey, with such
   incredible swiftness; nor does there remain any trace of my prosperity,
   any more than there does of an eagle in the air or a ship in the sea,"
   Prov. xxx. 19. See here, 1. How swift the motion of time is. It is
   always upon the wing, hastening to its period; it stays for no man.
   What little need have we of pastimes, and what great need to redeem
   time, when time runs out, runs on so fast towards eternity, which comes
   as time goes! 2. How vain the enjoyments of time are, which we may be
   quite deprived of while yet time continues. Our day may be longer than
   the sun-shine of our prosperity; and, when that is gone, it is as if it
   had not been. The remembrance of having done our duty will be pleasing
   afterwards; so will not the remembrance of our having got a great deal
   of worldly wealth when it is all lost and gone. "They flee away, past
   recall; they see no good, and leave none behind them."

   II. His complaint of his present uneasiness is excusable, v. 27, 28. 1.
   It should seem, he did his endeavour to quiet and compose himself as
   his friends advised him. That was the good he would do: he would fain
   forget his complaints and praise God, would leave off his heaviness and
   comfort himself, that he might be fit for converse both with God and
   man; but, 2. He found he could not do it: "I am afraid of all my
   sorrows. When I strive most against my trouble it prevails most over me
   and proves too hard for me!" It is easier, in such a case, to know what
   we should do than to do it, to know what temper we should be in than to
   get into that temper and keep in it. It is easy to preach patience to
   those that are in trouble, and to tell them they must forget their
   complaints and comfort themselves; but it is not so soon done as said.
   Fear and sorrow are tyrannizing things, not easily brought into the
   subjection they ought to be kept in to religion and right reason. But,

   III. His complaint of God as implacable and inexorable was by no means
   to be excused. It was the language of his corruption. He knew better,
   and, at another time, would have been far from harbouring any such hard
   thoughts of God as now broke in upon his spirit and broke out in these
   passionate complaints. Good men do not always speak like themselves;
   but God, who considers their frame and the strength of their
   temptations, gives them leave afterwards to unsay what was amiss by
   repentance and will not lay it to their charge.

   1. Job seems to speak here, (1.) As if he despaired of obtaining from
   God any relief or redress of his grievances, though he should produce
   ever so good proofs of his integrity: "I know that thou wilt not hold
   me innocent. My afflictions have continued so long upon me, and
   increased so fast, that I do not expect thou wilt ever clear up my
   innocency by delivering me out of them and restoring me to a prosperous
   condition. Right or wrong, I must be treated as a wicked man; my
   friends will continue to think so of me, and God will continue upon me
   the afflictions which give them occasion to think so. Why then do I
   labour in vain to clear myself and maintain my own integrity?" v. 29.
   It is to no purpose to speak in a cause that is already prejudged. With
   men it is often labour in vain for the most innocent to go about to
   clear themselves; they must be adjudged guilty, though the evidence be
   ever so plain for them. But it is not so in our dealings with God, who
   is the patron of oppressed innocency and to whom it was never in vain
   to commit a righteous cause. Nay, he not only despairs of relief, but
   expects that his endeavour to clear himself will render him yet more
   obnoxious (v. 30, 31): "If I wash myself with snow-water, and make my
   integrity ever so evident, it will be all to no purpose; judgment must
   go against me. Thou shalt plunge me in the ditch" (the pit of
   destruction, so some, or rather the filthy kennel, or sewer), "which
   will make me so offensive in the nostrils of all about me that my own
   clothes shall abhor me and I shall even loathe to touch myself." He saw
   his afflictions coming from God. Those were the things that blackened
   him in the eye of his friends; and, upon that score, he complained of
   them, and of the continuance of them, as the ruin, not only of his
   comfort, but of his reputation. Yet these words are capable of a good
   construction. If we be ever so industrious to justify ourselves before
   men, and to preserve our credit with them,--if we keep our hands ever
   so clean from the pollutions of gross sin, which fall under the eye of
   the world,--yet God, who knows our hearts, can charge us with so much
   secret sin as will for ever take off all our pretensions to purity and
   innocency, and make us see ourselves odious in the sight of the holy
   God. Paul, while a Pharisee, made his hands very clean; but when the
   commandment came and discovered to him his heart-sins, made him know
   lust, that plunged him in the ditch. (2.) As if he despaired to have a
   fair hearing with God, and that were hard indeed. [1.] He complains
   that he was not upon even terms with God (v. 32): "He is not a man, as
   I am. I could venture to dispute with a man like myself (the potsherds
   may strive with the potsherds of the earth), but he is infinitely above
   me, and therefore I dare not enter the lists with him; I shall
   certainly be cast if I contend with him." Note, First, God is not a man
   as we are. Of the greatest princes we may say, "They are men as we
   are," but not of the great God. His thoughts and ways are infinitely
   above ours, and we must not measure him by ourselves. Man is foolish
   and weak, frail and fickle, but God is not. We are depending dying
   creatures; he is the independent an immortal Creator. Secondly, The
   consideration of this should keep us very humble and very silent before
   God. Let us not make ourselves equal with God, but always eye him as
   infinitely above us. [2.] That there was no arbitrator or umpire to
   adjust the differences between him and God and to determine the
   controversy (v. 33): Neither is there any days-man between us. This
   complaint that there was not is in effect a wish that there were, and
   so the LXX. reads it: O that there were a mediator between us! Job
   would gladly refer the matter, but no creature was capable of being a
   referee, and therefore he must even refer it still to God himself and
   resolve to acquiesce in his judgment. Our Lord Jesus is the blessed
   days-man, who has mediated between heaven and earth, has laid his hand
   upon us both; to him the Father has committed all judgment, and we
   must. But this matter was not then brought to so clear a light as it is
   now by the gospel, which leaves no room for such a complaint as this.
   [3.] That the terrors of God, which set themselves in array against
   him, put him into such confusion that he knew not how to address God
   with the confidence with which he was formerly wont to approach him, v.
   34, 35. "Besides the distance which I am kept at by his infinite
   transcendency, his present dealings with me are very discouraging: Let
   him take his rod away from me." He means not so much his outward
   afflictions as the load which lay upon his spirit from the
   apprehensions of God's wrath; that was his fear which terrified him.
   "Let that be removed; let me recover the sight of his mercy, and not be
   amazed with the sight of nothing but his terrors, and then I would
   speak and order my cause before him. But it is not so with me; the
   cloud is not at all dissipated; the wrath of God still fastens upon me,
   and preys on my spirits, as much as ever; and what to do I know not."

   2. From all this let us take occasion, (1.) To stand in awe of God, and
   to fear the power of his wrath. If good men have been put into such
   consternation by it, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
   (2.) To pity those that are wounded in spirit, and pray earnestly for
   them, because in that condition they know not how to pray for
   themselves. (3.) Carefully to keep up good thoughts of God in our
   minds, for hard thoughts of him are the inlets of much mischief. (4.)
   To bless God that we are not in such a disconsolate condition as poor
   Job was here in, but that we walk in the light of the Lord; let us
   rejoice therein, but rejoice with trembling.
     __________________________________________________________________

J O B

  CHAP. X.

   Job owns here that he was full of confusion (ver. 15), and as he was so
   was his discourse: he knew not what to say, and perhaps sometimes
   scarcely knew what he said. In this chapter, I. He complains of the
   hardships he was under (ver. 1-7), and then comforts himself with this,
   that he was in the hand of the God that made him, and pleads that, ver.
   8-13. II. He complains again of the severity of God's dealings with him
   (ver. 14-17), and then comforts himself with this, that death would put
   an end to his troubles, ver. 18-22.

    Job's Reply to Bildad. (b. c. 1520.)

   1 My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I
   will speak in the bitterness of my soul.   2 I will say unto God, Do
   not condemn me; show me wherefore thou contendest with me.   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?   4
   Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?   5 Are thy days
   as the days of man? are thy years as man's days,   6 That thou
   enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?   7 Thou
   knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of
   thine hand.

   Here is, I. A passionate resolution to persist in his complaint, v. 1.
   Being daunted with the dread of God's majesty, so that he could not
   plead his cause with him, he resolves to give himself some ease by
   giving vent to his resentments. He begins with vehement language: "My
   soul is weary of my life, weary of this body, and impatient to get
   clear of it, fallen out with life, and displeased at it, sick of it,
   and longing for death." Through the weakness of grace he went contrary
   to the dictates even of nature itself. We should act more like men did
   we act more like saints. Faith and patience would keep us from being
   weary of our lives (and cruel to them, as some read it), even when
   Providence has made them most wearisome to us; for that is to be weary
   of God's correction. Job, being weary of his life and having ease no
   other way, resolves to complain, resolves to speak. He will not give
   vent to his soul by violent hands, but he will give vent to the
   bitterness of his soul by violent words. Losers think they may have
   leave to speak; and unbridled passions, as well as unbridled appetites,
   are apt to think it an excuse for their excursions that they cannot
   help them: but what have we wisdom and grace for, but to keep the mouth
   as with a bridle? Job's corruption speaks here, yet grace puts in a
   word. 1. He will complain, but he will leave his complaint upon
   himself. He would not impeach God, nor charge him with unrighteousness
   or unkindness; but, though he knew not particularly the ground of God's
   controversy with him and the cause of action, yet, in the general, he
   would suppose it to be in himself and willingly bear all the blame. 2.
   He will speak, but it shall be the bitterness of his soul that he will
   express, not his settled judgment. If I speak amiss, it is not I, but
   sin that dwells in me, not my soul, but its bitterness.

   II. A humble petition to God. He will speak, but the first word shall
   be a prayer, and, as I am willing to understand it, it is a good
   prayer, v. 2. 1. That he might be delivered from the sting of his
   afflictions, which is sin: "Do not condemn me; do not separate me for
   ever from thee. Though I lie under the cross, let me not lie under the
   curse; though I smart by the rod of a Father, let me not be cut off by
   the sword of a Judge. Thou dost correct me; I will bear that as well as
   I can; but O do not condemn me!" It is the comfort of those who are in
   Christ Jesus that, though they are in affliction, there is no
   condemnation to them, Rom. viii. 1. Nay, they are chastened of the Lord
   that they may not be condemned with the world, 1 Cor. xi. 32. This
   therefore we should deprecate above any thing else, when we are in
   affliction. "However thou art pleased to deal with me, Lord, do not
   condemn me; my friends condemn me, but do not thou." 2. That he might
   be made acquainted with the true cause of his afflictions, and that is
   sin too: Lord, show me wherefore thou contendest with me. When God
   afflicts us he contends with us, and when he contends with us there is
   always a reason. He is never angry without a cause, though we are; and
   it is desirable to know what the reason is, that we may repent of,
   mortify, and forsake the sin for which God has a controversy with us.
   In enquiring it out, let conscience have leave to do its office and to
   deal faithfully with us, as Gen. xlii. 21.

   III. A peevish expostulation with God concerning his dealings with him.
   Now he speaks in the bitterness of his soul indeed, not without some
   ill-natured reflections upon the righteousness of his God.

   1. He thinks it unbecoming the goodness of God, and the mercifulness of
   his nature, to deal so hardly with his creature as to lay upon him more
   than he can bear (v. 3): Is it good unto thee that thou shouldst
   oppress? No, certainly it is not; what he approves no in men (Lam. iii.
   34-36) he will not do himself. "Lord, in dealing with me, thou seemest
   to oppress thy subject, to despise thy workmanship, and to countenance
   thy enemies. Now, Lord, what is the meaning of this? Such is thy nature
   that this cannot be a pleasure to thee; and such is thy name that it
   cannot be an honour to thee. Why then dealest thou thus with me? What
   profit is there in my blood?" Far be it from Job to think that God did
   him wrong, but he is quite at a loss how to reconcile his providences
   with his justice, as good men have often been, and must wait until the
   day shall declare it. Let us therefore now harbour no hard thoughts of
   God, because we shall then see there was no cause for them.

   2. He thinks it unbecoming the infinite knowledge of God to put his
   prisoner thus upon the rack, as it were, by torture, to extort a
   confession from him, v. 4-6. (1.) He is sure that God does not discover
   things, nor judge of them, as men do: He has not eyes of flesh (v. 4),
   for he is a Spirit. Eyes of flesh cannot see in the dark, but darkness
   hides 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 through the whole earth. Many things are hidden from
   eyes of flesh, the most curious and piercing; there is a path which
   even the vulture's eye has not seen: but nothing is, or can be, hidden
   from the eye of God, to which all things are naked and open. Eyes of
   flesh see the outward appearance only, and may be imposed upon by a
   deceptio visus--an illusion of the senses; but God sees every thing
   truly. His sight cannot be deceived, for he tries the heart, and is a
   witness to the thoughts and intents of that. Eyes of flesh discover
   things gradually, and, when we gain the sight of one thing, we lose the
   sight of another; but God sees every thing at one view. Eyes of flesh
   are soon tired, must be closed every night but the keeper of Israel
   neither slumbers nor sleeps, nor does his sight ever decay. God sees
   not as man sees, that is, he does not judge as man judges, at the best
   secundum allegata et probata--according to what is alleged and proved,
   as the thing appears rather than as it is, and too often according to
   the bias of the affections, passions, prejudices, and interest; but we
   are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth, and that he
   knows truth, not by information, but by his own inspection. Men
   discover secret things by search, and examination of witnesses,
   comparing evidence and giving conjectures upon it, wheedling or forcing
   the parties concerned to confess; but God needs not any of these ways
   of discovery: he sees not as man sees. (2.) He is sure that as God is
   not short-sighted, like man, so he is not short-lived (v. 5): "Are thy
   days as the days of man, few and evil? Do they roll on in succession,
   or are they subject to change, like the days of man? No, by no means."
   Men grow wiser by experience and more knowing by daily observation;
   with them truth is the daughter of time, and therefore they must take
   time for their searches, and, if one experiment fail, must try another.
   But it is not so with God; to him nothing is past, nothing future, but
   every thing present. The days of time, by which the life of man is
   measured, are nothing to the years of eternity, in which the life of
   God is wrapped up. (3.) He therefore thinks it strange that God should
   thus prolong his torture, and continue him under the confinement of
   this affliction, and neither bring him to a trial nor grant him a
   release, as if he must take time to enquire after his iniquity and use
   means to search after his sin, v. 6. Not as if Job thought that God did
   thus torment him that he might find occasion against him; but his
   dealings with him had such an aspect, which was dishonourable to God,
   and would tempt men to think him a hard master. "Now, Lord, if thou
   wilt not consult my comfort, consult thy own honour; do something for
   thy great name, and do not disgrace the throne of thy glory," Jer. xiv.
   21.

   3. He thinks it looked like an abuse of his omnipotence to keep a poor
   prisoner in custody, whom he knew to be innocent, only because there
   was none that could deliver him out of his hand (v. 7): Thou knowest
   that I am not wicked. He had already owned himself a sinner, and guilty
   before God; but he here stands to it that he was not wicked, not
   devoted to sin, not an enemy to God, not a dissembler in his religion,
   that he had not wickedly departed from his God, Ps. xviii. 21. "But
   there is none that can deliver out of thy hand, and therefore there is
   no remedy; I must be content to lie there, waiting thy time, and
   throwing myself on thy mercy, in submission to thy sovereign will."
   Here see, (1.) What ought to quiet us under our troubles--that it is to
   no purpose to contend with Omnipotence. (2.) What will abundantly
   comfort us--if we are able to appeal to God, as Job here, "Lord, thou
   knowest that I am not wicked. I cannot say that l am not wanting, or I
   am not weak; but, through grace, I can say, I am not wicked: thou
   knowest I am not, for thou knowest I love thee."

   8 Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet
   thou dost destroy me.   9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made
   me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?   10 Hast thou
   not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?   11 Thou hast
   clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and
   sinews.   12 Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation
   hath preserved my spirit.   13 And these things hast thou hid in thine
   heart: I know that this is with thee.

   In these verses we may observe,

   I. How Job eyes God as his Creator and preserver, and describes his
   dependence upon him as the author and upholder of his being. This is
   one of the first things we are all concerned to know and consider.

   1. That God made us, he, and not our parents, who were only the
   instruments of his power and providence in our production. He made us,
   and not we ourselves. His hands have made and fashioned these bodies of
   ours and every part of them (v. 8), and they are fearfully and
   wonderfully made. The soul also, which animates the body, is his gift.
   Job takes notice of both here. (1.) The body is made as the clay (v.
   9), cast into shape, into this shape, as the clay is formed into a
   vessel, according to the skill and will of the potter. We are earthen
   vessels, mean in our original, and soon broken in pieces, made as the
   clay. Let not therefore the thing formed say unto him that formed it,
   Why hast thou made me thus? We must not be proud of our bodies, because
   the matter is from the earth, yet not dishonour our bodies, because the
   mould and shape are from the divine wisdom. The formation of human
   bodies in the womb is described by an elegant similitude (v. 10, Thou
   hast poured me out like milk, which is coagulated into cheese), and by
   an induction of some particulars, v. 11. Though we come into the world
   naked, yet the body is itself both clothed and armed. The skin and
   flesh are its clothing; the bones and sinews are its armour, not
   offensive, but defensive. The vital parts, the heart and lungs, are
   thus clothed, not to be seen--thus fenced, not to be hurt. The
   admirable structure of human bodies is an illustrious instance of the
   wisdom, power, and goodness of the Creator. What a pity is it that
   these bodies should be instruments of unrighteousness which are capable
   of being temples of the Holy Ghost! (2.) The soul is the life, the soul
   is the man, and this is the gift of God: Thou hast granted me life,
   breathed into me the breath of life, without which the body would be
   but a worthless carcase. God is the Father of spirits: he made us
   living souls, and endued us with the power of reason; he gave us life
   and favour, and life is a favour--a great favour, more than meat, more
   than raiment--a distinguishing favour, a favour that puts us into a
   capacity of receiving other favours. Now Job was in a better mind than
   he was when he quarrelled with life as a burden, and asked, Why died I
   not from the womb? Or by life and favour may be meant life and all the
   comforts of life, referring to his former prosperity. Time was when he
   walked in the light of the divine favour, and thought, as David, that
   through that favour his mountain stood strong.

   2. That God maintains us. Having lighted the lamp of life, he does not
   leave it to burn upon its own stock, but continually supplies it with
   fresh oil: "Thy visitation has preserved my spirit, kept me alive,
   protected me from the adversaries of life, the death we are in the
   midst of and the dangers we are continually exposed to, and blessed me
   with all the necessary supports of life and the daily supplies it needs
   and craves."

   II. How he pleads this with God, and what use he makes of it. He
   reminds God of it (v. 9): Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made
   me. What then? Why, 1. "Thou hast made me, and therefore thou hast a
   perfect knowledge of me (Ps. cxxxix. 1-13), and needest not to examine
   me by scourging, nor to put me upon the rack for the discovery of what
   is within me." 2. "Thou hast made me, as the clay, by an act of
   sovereignty; and wilt thou by a like act of sovereignty unmake me
   again? If so, I must submit." 3. "Wilt thou destroy the work of thy own
   hands?" It is a plea the saints have often used in prayer, We are the
   clay and thou our potter, Isa. lxiv. 8. Thy hands have made me and
   fashioned me, Ps. cxix. 73. So here, Thou madest me; and wilt thou
   destroy me (v. 8), wilt thou bring me into dust again? v. 9. "Wilt thou
   not pity me? Wilt thou not spare and help me, and stand by the work of
   thy own hands? Ps. cxxxviii. 8. Thou madest me, and knowest my
   strength; wilt thou then suffer me to be pressed above measure? Was I
   made to be made miserable? Was I preserved only to be reserved for
   these calamities?" If we plead this with ourselves as an inducement to
   duty, "God made me and maintains me, and therefore I will serve him and
   submit to him," we may plead it with God as an argument for mercy: Thou
   hast made me, new--make me; I am thine, save me. Job knew not how to
   reconcile God's former favours and his present frowns, but concludes
   (v. 13), "These things hast thou hidden in thy heart. Both are
   according to the counsel of thy own will, and therefore undoubtedly
   consistent, however they seem." When God thus strangely changes his
   way, though we cannot account for it, we are bound to believe there are
   good reasons for it hidden in his heart, which will be manifested
   shortly. It is not with us, or in our reach, to assign the cause, but I
   know that this is with thee. Known unto God are all his works.

   14 If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from
   mine iniquity.   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;   16 For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a
   fierce lion: and again thou showest thyself marvellous upon me.   17
   Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine
   indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.   18 Wherefore
   then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up
   the ghost, and no eye had seen me!   19 I should have been as though I
   had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
   20 Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take
   comfort a little,   21 Before I go whence I shall not return, even to
   the land of darkness and the shadow of death;   22 A land of darkness,
   as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and
   where the light is as darkness.

   Here we have,

   I. Job's passionate complaints. On this harsh and unpleasant string he
   harps much, in which, though he cannot be justified, he may be excused.
   He complained not for nothing, as the murmuring Israelites, but had
   cause to complain. If we think it looks ill in him, let it be a warning
   to us to keep our temper better.

   1. He complains of the strictness of God's judgment and the rigour of
   his proceedings against him, and is ready to call it summum
   jus--justice bordering on severity. That he took all advantages against
   him: "If I sin, then thou markest me, v. 14. (1.) If I do but take one
   false step, misplace a word, or cast a look awry, I shall be sure to
   hear of it. Conscience, thy deputy, will be sure to upbraid me with it,
   and to tell me that this gripe, this twitch of pain, is to punish me
   for that." If God should thus mark iniquities, we should be undone; but
   we must acknowledge the contrary, that, though we sin, God does not
   deal in extremity with us. (2.) That he prosecuted those advantages to
   the utmost: Thou wilt not acquit me from my iniquity. While his
   troubles he could not take the comfort of his pardon, nor hear that
   voice of joy and gladness; so hard is it to see love in God's heart
   when we see frowns in his face and a rod in his hand. (3.) That,
   whatever was his character, his case at present was very uncomfortable,
   v. 15. [1.] If he be wicked, he is certainly undone in the other world:
   If I be wicked, woe to me. Note, A sinful state is a woeful state. This
   we should each of us believe, as Job here, with application to
   ourselves: "If I be wicked, though prosperous and living in pleasure,
   yet woe to me." Some especially have reason to dread double woes if
   they be wicked. "I that have knowledge, that have made a great
   profession of religion, that have been so often under strong
   convictions, and have made so many fair promises--I that was born of
   such good parents, blessed with a good education, that have lived in
   good families, and long enjoyed the means of grace--if I be wicked,
   woe, and a thousand woes, to me." [2.] If he be righteous, yet he dares
   not lift up his head, dares not answer as before, ch. ix. 15. He is so
   oppressed and overwhelmed with his troubles that he cannot look up with
   any comfort or confidence. Without were fightings, within were fears;
   so that, between both, he was full of confusion, not only confusion of
   face for the disgrace he was brought down to and the censures of his
   friends, but confusion of spirit; his mind was in a constant hurry, and
   he was almost distracted, Ps. lxxxviii. 15.

   2. He complains of the severity of the execution. God (he thought) did
   not only punish him for every failure, but punish him in a high degree,
   v. 16, 17. His affliction was, (1.) Grievous, very grievous,
   marvellous, exceedingly marvellous. God hunted him as a lion, as a
   fierce lion hunts and runs down his prey. God was not only strange to
   him, but showed himself marvellous upon him, by bringing him into
   uncommon troubles and so making him prodigy, a wonder unto many. All
   wondered that God would inflict and that Job could bear so much. That
   which made his afflictions most grievous was that he felt God's
   indignation in them; it was this that made them taste so bitter and lie
   so heavy. They were God's witnesses against him, tokens of his
   displeasure; this made the sores of his body wounds in his spirit. (2.)
   It was growing, still growing worse and worse. This he insists much
   upon; when he hoped the tide would turn, and begin to ebb, still it
   flowed higher and higher. His affliction increased, and God's
   indignation in the affliction. He found himself no better, no way
   better. These witnesses were renewed against him, that, if one did not
   reach to convict him, another might. Changes and war were against him.
   If there was any change with him, it was not for the better; still he
   was kept in a state of war. As long as we are here in this world we
   must expect that the clouds will return after the rain, and perhaps the
   sorest and sharpest trials may be reserved for the last. God was at war
   with him, and it was a great change. He did not use to be so, which
   aggravated the trouble and made it truly marvellous. God usually shows
   himself kind to his people; if at any time he shows himself otherwise,
   it is his strange work, his strange act, and he does in it show himself
   marvellous.

   3. He complains of his life, and that ever he was born to all this
   trouble and misery (v. 18, 19): "If this was designed for my lot, why
   was I brought out of the womb, and not smothered there, or stifled in
   the birth?" This was the language of his passion, and it was a relapse
   into the same sin he fell into before. He had just now called life a
   favour (v. 12), yet now he calls it a burden, and quarrels with God for
   giving it, or rather laying it upon him. Mr. Caryl gives this a good
   turn in favour of Job. "We may charitably suppose," says he, "that what
   troubled Job was that he was in a condition of life which (as he
   conceived) hindered the main end of his life, which was the glorifying
   of God. His harp was hung on the willow-trees, and he was quite out of
   tune for praising God. Nay, he feared lest his troubles should reflect
   dishonour upon God and give occasion to his enemies to blaspheme; and
   therefore he wishes, O that I had given up the ghost! A godly man
   reckons that he lives to no purpose if he do not live to the praise and
   glory of God." If that was his meaning, it was grounded on a mistake;
   for we may glorify the Lord in the fires. But this use we may make of
   it, not to be over-fond of life, since the case has been such
   sometimes, even with wise and good men, that they have complained of
   it. Why should we dread giving up the ghost, or covet to be seen of
   men, since the time may come when we may be ready to wish we had given
   up the ghost and no eye had seen us? Why should we inordinately lament
   the death of our children in their infancy, that are as if they had not
   been, and are carried from the womb to the grave, when perhaps we
   ourselves may sometimes wish it had been our own lot?

   II. Job's humble requests. He prays, 1. That God would see his
   affliction (v. 15), take cognizance of his case, and take it into his
   compassionate consideration. Thus David prays (Ps. xxv. 18), Look upon
   my affliction and my pain. Thus we should, in our troubles, refer
   ourselves to God, and may comfort ourselves with this, that he knows
   our souls in adversity. 2. That God would grant him some ease. If he
   could not prevail for the removal of his trouble, yet might he not have
   some intermission? "Lord, let me not be always upon the rack, always in
   extremity: O let me alone, that I may take comfort a little! v. 20.
   Grant me some respite, some breathing-time, some little enjoyment of
   myself." This he would reckon a great favour. Those that are not duly
   thankful for constant ease should think how welcome one hour's ease
   would be if they were in constant pain. Two things he pleads:--(1.)
   That life and its light were very short: "Are not my days few? v. 20.
   Yes, certainly they are, very few. Lord, let them not be all miserable,
   all in the extremity of misery. I have but a little time to live; let
   me have some comfort of life while it does last." This plea fastens on
   the goodness of God's nature, the consideration of which is very
   comfortable to an afflicted spirit. And, if we would use this as a plea
   with God for mercy ("Are not my days few? Lord, pity me"), we should
   use it as a plea with ourselves, to quicken us to duty: "Are not my
   days few? Then it concerns me to redeem time, to improve opportunities,
   what my hand finds to do to do it with all my might, that I may be
   ready for the days of eternity, which shall be many." (2.) That death
   and its darkness were very near and would be very long (v. 21, 22):
   "Lord, give me some ease before I die," that is, "lest I die of my
   pain." Thus David pleads (Ps. xiii. 3), "Lest I sleep the sleep of
   death, and then it will be too late to expect relief; for wilt thou
   show wonders to the dead?" Ps. lxxxviii. 10. "Let me have a little
   comfort before I die, that I may take leave of this world calmly, and
   not in such confusion as I am now in." Thus earnest should we be for
   grace, and thus we should plead, "Lord, renew me in the inward man;
   Lord, sanctify me before I die, for otherwise it will never be done."
   See how he speaks here of the state of the dead. [1.] It is a fixed
   state, whence we shall not return ever again to live such a life as we
   now live, ch. vii. 10. At death we must bid a final farewell to this
   world. The body must then be laid where it will lie long, and the soul
   adjudged to that state in which it must be for ever. That had need be
   well done which is to be done but once, and done for eternity. [2.] It
   is a very melancholy state; so it appears to us. Holy souls, at death,
   remove to a land of light, where there is no death; but their bodies
   they leave to a land of darkness and the shadow of death. He heaps up
   expressions here of the same import to show that he has as dreadful
   apprehensions of death and the grave as other men naturally have, so
   that it was only the extreme misery he was in that made him wish for
   it. Come and let us look a little into the grave, and we shall find,
   First, That there is no order there: it is without any order, perpetual
   night, and no succession of day. All there lie on the same level, and
   there is no distinction between prince and peasant, but the servant is
   there free from his master, ch. iii. 19. No order is observed in
   bringing people to the grave, not the eldest first, not the richest,
   not the poorest, and yet every one in his own order, the order
   appointed by the God of life. Secondly, That there is no light there.
   In the grave there is thick darkness, darkness that cannot be felt
   indeed, yet cannot but be feared by those that enjoy the light of life.
   In the grave there is no knowledge, no comfort, no joy, no praising
   God, no working out our salvation, and therefore no light. Job was so
   much ashamed that others should see his sores, and so much afraid to
   see them himself, that the darkness of the grave, which would hide them
   and huddle them up, would upon that account be welcome to him. Darkness
   comes upon us; and therefore let us walk and work while we have the
   light with us. The grave being a land of darkness, it is well we are
   carried thither with our eyes closed, and then it is all one. The grave
   is a land of darkness to man; our friends that have gone thither we
   reckon removed into darkness, Ps. lxxxviii. 18. But that it is not so
   to God will appear by this, that the dust of the bodies of the saints,
   though scattered, though mingled with other dust, will none of it be
   lost, for God's eye is upon every grain of it and it shall be
   forth-coming in the great day.
     __________________________________________________________________

J O B

  CHAP. XI.

   Poor Job's wound's were yet bleeding, his sore still runs and ceases
   not, but none of his friends bring him any oil, any balm; Zophar, the
   third, pours into them as much vinegar as the two former had done. I.
   He exhibits a very high charge against Job, as proud and false in
   justifying himself, ver. 1-4. II. He appeals to God for his conviction,
   and begs that God would take him to task (ver. 5) and that Job might be
   made sensible, 1. Of God's unerring wisdom and his inviolable justice,
   ver. 6. 2. Of his unsearchable perfections, ver. 7-9. 3. Of his
   incontestable sovereignty and uncontrollable power, ver. 10. 4. Of the
   cognizance he takes of the children of men, ver. 11, 12. III. He
   assures him that, upon his repentance and reformation (ver. 13, 14),
   God would restore him to his former prosperity and safety (ver. 15-19);
   but that, if he were wicked it was in vain to expect it, ver. 20.

    The Address of Zophar. (b. c. 1520.)

   1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,   2 Should not the
   multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be
   justified?   3 Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou
   mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?   4 For thou hast said, My
   doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.   5 But oh that God
   would speak, and open his lips against thee;   6 And that he would show
   thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know
   therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.

   It is sad to see what intemperate passions even wise and good men are
   sometimes betrayed into by the heat of disputation, of which Zophar
   here is an instance. Eliphaz began with a very modest preface, ch. iv.
   2. Bildad was a little more rough upon Job, ch. viii. 2. But Zophar
   falls upon him without mercy, and gives him very bad language: Should a
   man full of talk be justified? And should thy lies make men hold their
   peace? Is this the way to comfort Job? No, nor to convince him neither.
   Does this become one that appears as an advocate for God and his
   justice? Tantaene animis coelestibus irae?--In heavenly breasts can
   such resentment dwell? Those that engage in controversy will find it
   very hard to keep their temper. All the wisdom, caution, and resolution
   they have will be little enough to prevent their breaking out into such
   indecencies as we here find Zophar guilty of.

   I. He represents Job otherwise than what he was, v. 2, 3. He would have
   him thought idle and impertinent in his discourse, and one that loved
   to hear himself talk; he gives him the lie, and calls him a mocker; and
   all this that it might be looked upon as a piece of justice to chastise
   him. Those that have a mind to fall out with their brethren, and to
   fall foul upon them, find it necessary to put the worst colours they
   can upon them and their performances, and, right or wrong, to make them
   odious. We have read and considered Job's discourses in the foregoing
   chapters, and have found them full of good sense and much to the
   purpose, that his principles are right, his reasonings strong, many of
   his expressions weighty and very considerable, and that what there is
   in them of heat and passion a little candour and charity will excuse
   and overlook; and yet Zophar here invidiously represents him, 1. As a
   man that never considered what he said, but uttered what came
   uppermost, only to make a noise with the multitude of words, hoping by
   that means to carry his cause and run down his reprovers: Should not
   the multitude of words be answered? Truly, sometimes it is no great
   matter whether it be or no; silence perhaps is the best confutation of
   impertinence and puts the greatest contempt upon it. Answer not a fool
   according to his folly. But, if it be answered, let reason and grace
   have the answering of it, not pride and passion. Should a man full of
   talk (margin, a man of lips, that is all tongue, vox et praeterea
   nihil--mere voice) be justified? Should he be justified in his
   loquacity, as in effect he is if he be not reproved for it? No, for in
   the multitude of words there wanteth not sin. Should he be justified by
   it? Shall many words pass for valid pleas? Shall he carry the day with
   the flourishes of language? No, he shall not be accepted with God, or
   any wise men, for his much speaking, Matt. vi. 7. 2. As a man that made
   no conscience of what he said--a liar, and one that hoped by the
   impudence of lies to silence his adversaries (should thy lies make men
   hold their peace?)--a mocker, one that bantered all mankind, and knew
   how to put false colours upon any thing, and was not ashamed to impose
   upon every one that talked with him: When thou mockest shall no man
   make thee ashamed? Is it not time to speak, to stem such a violent tide
   as this? Job was not mad, but spoke the words of truth and soberness,
   and yet was thus misrepresented. Eliphaz and Bildad had answered him,
   and said what they could to make him ashamed; it was therefore no
   instance of Zophar's generosity to set upon a man so violently who was
   already thus harassed. Here were three matched against one.

   II. He charges Job with saying that which he had not said (v. 4): Thou
   hast said, My doctrine is pure. And what if he had said so? It was true
   that Job was sound in the faith, and orthodox in his judgment, and
   spoke better of God than his friends did. If he had expressed himself
   unwarily, yet it did not therefore follow but that his doctrine was
   true. But he charges him with saying, I am clean in thy eyes. Job had
   not said so: he had indeed said, Thou knowest that I am not wicked (ch.
   x. 7); but he had also said, I have sinned, and never pretended to a
   spotless perfection. He had indeed maintained that he was not a
   hypocrite as they charged him; but to infer thence that he would not
   own himself a sinner was an unfair insinuation. We ought to put the
   best construction on the words and actions of our brethren that they
   will bear; but contenders are tempted to put the worst.

   III. He appeals to God, and wishes him to appear against Job. So very
   confident is he that Job is in the wrong that nothing will serve him
   but that God must immediately appear to silence and condemn him. We are
   commonly ready with too much assurance to interest God in our quarrels,
   and to conclude that, if he would but speak, he would take our part and
   speak for us, as Zophar here: O that God would speak! for he would
   certainly open his lips against thee; whereas, when God did speak, he
   opened his lips for Job against his three friends. We ought indeed to
   leave all controversies to be determined by the judgment of God, which
   we are sure is according to truth; but those are not always in the
   right who are most forward to appeal to that judgment and prejudge it
   against their antagonists. Zophar despairs to convince Job himself, and
   therefore desires God would convince him of two things which it is good
   for every one of us duly to consider, and under all our afflictions
   cheerfully to confess:--

   1. The unsearchable depth of God's counsels. Zophar cannot pretend to
   do it, but he desires that God himself would show Job so much of the
   secrets of the divine wisdom as might convince him that they are at
   least double to that which is, v. 6. Note, (1.) There are secrets in
   the divine wisdom, arcana imperii--state-secrets. God's way is in the
   sea. Clouds and darkness are round about him. He has reasons of state
   which we cannot fathom and must not pry into. (2.) What we know of God
   is nothing to what we cannot know. What is hidden is more than double
   to what appears, Eph. iii. 9. (3.) By employing ourselves in adoring
   the depth of those divine counsels of which we cannot find the bottom
   we shall very much tranquilize our minds under the afflicting hand of
   God. (4.) God knows a great deal more evil of us than we do of
   ourselves; so some understand it. When God gave David a sight and sense
   of sin he said that he had in the hidden part made him to know wisdom,
   Ps. li. 6.

   2. The unexceptionable justice of his proceedings. "Know therefore
   that, how sore soever the correction is that thou art under, God
   exacteth of thee less than thy iniquity deserves," or (as some read
   it), "he remits thee part of thy iniquity, and does not deal with thee
   according to the full demerit of it." Note, (1.) When the debt of duty
   is not paid it is justice to insist upon the debt of punishment. (2.)
   Whatever punishment is inflicted upon us in this world we must own that
   it is less than our iniquities deserve, and therefore, instead of
   complaining of our troubles, we must be thankful that we are out of
   hell, Lam. iii. 39; Ps. ciii. 10.

   7 Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the
   Almighty unto perfection?   8 It is as high as heaven; what canst thou
   do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?   9 The measure thereof is
   longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.   10 If he cut off,
   and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?   11 For he
   knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider
   it?   12 For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild
   ass's colt.

   Zophar here speaks very good things concerning God and his greatness
   and glory, concerning man and his vanity and folly: these two compared
   together, and duly considered, will have a powerful influence upon our
   submission to all the dispensations of the divine Providence.

   I. See here what God is, and let him be adored.

   1. He is an incomprehensible Being, infinite and immense, whose nature
   and perfections our finite understandings cannot possibly form any
   adequate conceptions of, and whose counsels and actings we cannot
   therefore, without the greatest presumption, pass a judgment upon. We
   that are so little acquainted with the divine nature are incompetent
   judges of the divine providence; and, when we censure the dispensations
   of it, we talk of things that we do not understand. We cannot find out
   God; how dare we then find fault with him? Zophar here shows, (1.) That
   God's nature infinitely exceeds the capacities of our understandings:
   "Canst thou find out God, find him out to perfection? No, What canst
   thou do? What canst thou know?" v. 7, 8. Thou, a poor, weak,
   short-sighted creature, a worm of the earth, that art but of yesterday?
   Thou, though ever so inquisitive after him, ever so desirous and
   industrious to find him out, yet darest thou attempt the search, or
   canst thou hope to speed in it? We may, by searching find God (Acts
   xvii. 27), but we cannot find him out in any thing he is pleased to
   conceal; we may apprehend him, but we cannot comprehend him; we may
   know that he is, but cannot know what he is. The eye can see the ocean
   but not see over it. We may, by a humble, diligent, and believing
   search, find out something of God, but cannot find him out to
   perfection; we may know, but cannot know fully, what God is, nor find
   out his work from the beginning to the end, Eccl. iii. 11. Note, God is
   unsearchable. The ages of his eternity cannot be numbered, nor the
   spaces of his immensity measured; the depths of his wisdom cannot be
   fathomed, nor the reaches of his power bounded; the brightness of his
   glory can never be described, nor the treasures of his goodness
   reckoned up. This is a good reason why we should always speak of God
   with humility and caution and never prescribe to him nor quarrel with
   him, why we should be thankful for what he has revealed of himself and
   long to be where we shall see him as he is, 1 Cor. xiii. 9, 10. (2.)
   That it infinitely exceeds the limits of the whole creation: It is
   higher than heaven (so some read it), deeper than hell, the great
   abyss, longer than the earth, and broader than the sea, many parts of
   which are to this day undiscovered, and more were then. It is quite out
   of our reach to comprehend God's nature. Such knowledge is too
   wonderful for us, Ps. cxxxix. 6. We cannot fathom God's designs, nor
   find out the reasons of his proceedings. His judgments are a great
   deep. Paul attributes such immeasurable dimensions to the divine love
   as Zophar here attributes to the divine wisdom, and yet recommends it
   to our acquaintance. Eph. iii. 18, 19, That you may know the breadth,
   and length, and depth, and height, of the love of Christ.

   2. God is a sovereign Lord (v. 10): If he cut off by death (margin, If
   he make a change, for death is a change; if he make a change in
   nations, in families, in the posture of our affairs),--if he shut up in
   prison, or in the net of affliction (Ps. lxvi. 11),--if he seize any
   creature as a hunter his prey, he will gather it (so bishop Patrick)
   and who shall force him to restore? or if he gather together, as tares
   for the fire, or if he gather to himself man's spirit and breath (ch.
   xxxiv. 14), then who can hinder him? Who can either arrest the sentence
   or oppose the execution? Who can control his power or arraign his
   wisdom and justice? If he that made all out of nothing think fit to
   reduce all to nothing, or to their first chaos again,--if he that
   separated between light and darkness, dry land and sea, at first,
   please to gather them together again,--if he that made unmakes, who can
   turn him away, alter his mind or stay his hand, impede or impeach his
   proceedings?

   3. God is a strict and just observer of the children of men (v. 11): He
   knows vain men. We know little of him, but he knows us perfectly: He
   sees wickedness also, not to approve it (Hab. i. 13), but to animadvert
   upon it. (1.) He observes vain men. Such all are (every man, at his
   best estate, is altogether vanity), and he considers it in his dealings
   with them. He knows what the projects and hopes of vain men are, and
   can blast and defeat them, the workings of their foolish fancies; he
   sits in heaven, and laughs at them. He takes knowledge of the vanity of
   men (that is, their little sins; so some) their vain thoughts and vain
   words, and unsteadiness in that which is good. (2.) He observes bad
   men: He sees gross wickedness also, though committed ever so secretly
   and ever so artfully palliated and disguised. All the wickedness of the
   wicked is naked and open before the all-seeing eye of God: Will he not
   then consider it? Yes, certainly he will, and will reckon for it,
   though for a time he seem to keep silence.

   II. See here what man is, and let him be humbled, v. 12. God sees this
   concerning vain man that he would be wise, would be thought so, though
   he is born like a wild ass's colt, so sottish and foolish, unteachable
   and untameable. See what man is. 1. He is a vain creature--empty; so
   the word is. God made him full, but he emptied himself, impoverished
   himself, and now he is raca, a creature that has nothing in him. 2. He
   is a foolish creature, has become like the beasts that perish (Ps.
   xlix. 20, lxxiii. 22), an idiot, born like an ass, the most stupid
   animal, an ass's colt, not yet brought to any service. If ever he come
   to be good for any thing, it is owing to the grace of Christ, who once,
   in the day of his triumph, served himself by an ass's colt. 3. He is a
   wilful ungovernable creature. An ass's colt may be made good for
   something, but the wild ass's colt will never be reclaimed, nor regards
   the crying of the driver. See Job xxxix. 5-7. Man thinks himself as
   much at liberty, and his own master, as the wild ass's colt does, that
   is used to the wilderness (Jer. ii. 24), eager to gratify his own
   appetites and passions. 4. Yet he is a proud creature and
   self-conceited. He would be wise, would he thought so, values himself
   upon the honour of wisdom, though he will not submit to the laws of
   wisdom. He would be wise, that is, he reaches after forbidden wisdom,
   and, like his first parents, aiming to be wise above what is written,
   loses the tree of life for the tree of knowledge. Now is such a
   creature as this fit to contend with God or call him to an account? Did
   we but better know God and ourselves, we should better know how to
   conduct ourselves towards God.

   13 If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;
     14 If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not
   wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.   15 For then shalt thou lift up
   thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:
     16 Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters
   that pass away:   17 And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday;
   thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.   18 And thou
   shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee,
   and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.   19 Also thou shalt lie down,
   and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.
   20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape,
   and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.

   Zophar, as the other two, here encourages Job to hope for better times
   if he would but come to a better temper.

   I. He gives him good counsel (v. 13, 14), as Eliphaz did (ch. v. 8),
   and Bildad, ch. viii. 5. He would have him repent and return to God.
   Observe the steps of that return. 1. He must look within, and get his
   mind changed and the tree made good. He must prepare his heart; there
   the work of conversion and reformation must begin. The heart that
   wandered from God must be reduced--that was defiled with sin and put
   into disorder must be cleansed and put in order again--that was
   wavering and unfixed must be settled and established; so the word here
   signifies. The heart is then prepared to seek God when it is determined
   and fully resolved to make a business of it and to go through with it.
   2. He must look up, and stretch out his hands towards God, that is,
   must stir up himself to take hold on God, must pray to him with
   earnestness and importunity, striving in prayer, and with expectation
   to receive mercy and grace from him. To give the hand to the Lord
   signifies to yield ourselves to him and to covenant with him, 2 Chron.
   xxx. 8. This Job must do, and, for the doing of it, must prepare his
   heart. Job had prayed, but Zophar would have him to pray in a better
   manner, not as an appellant, but as a petitioner and humble suppliant.
   3. He must amend what was amiss in his own conversation, else his
   prayers would be ineffectual (v. 14): "If iniquity be in thy hand (that
   is, if there be any sin which thou dost yet live in the practice of)
   put it far away, forsake it with detestation and a holy indignation,
   stedfastly resolving not to return to it, nor ever to have any thing
   more to do with it. Ezek. xviii. 31; Hos. xiv. 9; Isa. xxx. 22. If any
   of the gains of iniquity, any goods gotten by fraud or oppression, be
   in thy hand, make restitution thereof" (as Zaccheus, Luke xix. 8), "and
   shake thy hands from holding them," Isa. xxxiii. 15. The guilt of sin
   is not removed if the gain of sin be not restored. 4. He must do his
   utmost to reform his family too: "Let not wickedness dwell in thy
   tabernacles; let not thy house harbour or shelter any wicked persons,
   any wicked practices, or any wealth gotten by wickedness." He suspected
   that Job's great household had been ill-governed, and that, where there
   were many, there were many wicked, and the ruin of his family was the
   punishment of the wickedness of it; and therefore, if he expected God
   should return to him, he must reform what was amiss there, and, though
   wickedness might come into his tabernacles, he must not suffer it to
   dwell there, Ps. ci. 3, &c.

   II. He assures him of comfort if he took this counsel, v. 15, &c. If he
   would repent and reform, he should, without doubt, be easy and happy,
   and all would be well. Perhaps Zophar might insinuate that, unless God
   did speedily make such a change as this in his condition, he and his
   friends would be confirmed in their opinion of him as a hypocrite and a
   dissembler with God. A great truth, however, is conveyed, That, the
   work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness
   quietness and assurance for ever, Isa. xxxii. 17. Those that sincerely
   turn to God may expect,

   1. A holy confidence towards God: "Then shalt thou lift up thy face
   towards heaven without spot; thou mayest come boldly to the throne of
   grace, and not with that terror and amazement expressed," ch. ix. 34.
   If our hearts condemn us not for hypocrisy and impenitency, then have
   we confidence in our approaches to God and expectations from him, 1
   John iii. 21. If we are looked upon in the face of the anointed, our
   faces, that were dejected, may be lifted up--that were polluted, being
   washed with the blood of Christ, may be lifted up without spot. We may
   draw near in full assurance of faith when we are sprinkled from an evil
   conscience, Heb. x. 22. Some understand this of the clearing up of his
   credit before men, Ps. xxxvii. 6. If we make our peace with God, we may
   with cheerfulness look our friends in the face.

   2. A holy composedness in themselves: Thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt
   not fear, not be afraid of evil tidings, thy heart being fixed, Ps.
   cxii. 7. Job was now full of confusion (ch. x. 15), while he looked
   upon God as his enemy and quarrelled with him; but Zophar assures him
   that, if he would submit and humble himself, his mind would be
   composed, and he would be freed from those frightful apprehensions he
   had of God, which put him into such an agitation. The less we are
   frightened the more we are fixed, and consequently the more fit we are
   for our services and for our sufferings.

   3. A comfortable reflection upon their past troubles (v. 16): "Thou
   shalt forget thy misery, as the mother forgets her travailing pains,
   for joy that the child is born; thou shalt be perfectly freed from the
   impressions it makes upon thee, and thou shalt remember it as waters
   that pass away, or are poured out of a vessel, which leave no taste or
   tincture behind them, as other liquors do. The wounds of thy present
   affliction shall be perfectly healed, not only without a remaining
   scar, but without a remaining pain." Job had endeavoured to forget his
   complaint (ch. ix. 27), but found he could not; his soul had still in
   remembrance the wormwood and the gall: but here Zophar puts him in a
   way to forget it; let him by faith and prayer bring his griefs and
   cares to God, an leave them with him, and then he shall forget them.
   Where sin sits heavily affliction sits lightly. If we duly remember our
   sins, we shall, in comparison with them, forget our misery, much more
   if we obtain the comfort of a sealed pardon and a settled peace. He
   whose iniquity is forgiven shall not say, I am sick, but shall forget
   his sickness, Isa. xxxiii. 24.

   4. A comfortable prospect of their future peace. This Zophar here
   thinks to please Job with, in answer to the many despairing expressions
   he had used, as if it were to no purpose for him to hope ever to see
   good days again in this world: "Yea, but thou mayest" (says Zophar)
   "and good nights too." A blessed change he here puts him in hopes of.

   (1.) That though now his light was eclipsed it should shine out again,
   and more brightly than ever (v. 17),--that even his setting sun should
   out-shine his noon-day sun, and his evening be fair and clear as the
   morning, in respect both of honour and pleasure.--that his light should
   shine out of obscurity (Isa. lviii. 10), and the thick and dark cloud,
   from behind which his sun should break forth, would serve as a foil to
   its lustre,--that it should shine even in old age, and those evil days
   should be good days to him. Note, Those that truly turn to God then
   begin to shine forth; their path is as the shining light which
   increases, the period of their day will be the perfection of it, and
   their evening to this world will be their morning to a better.

   (2.) That, though now he was in a continual fear and terror, he should
   live in a holy rest and security, and find himself continually safe and
   easy (v. 18): Thou shalt be secure, because there is hope. Note, Those
   who have a good hope, through grace, in God, and of heaven, are
   certainly safe, and have reason to be secure, how difficult soever the
   times are through which they pass in this world. He that walks
   uprightly may thus walk surely, because, though there are trouble and
   danger, yet there is hope that all will be well at last. Hope is an
   anchor of the soul, Heb. vi. 19. "Thou shalt dig about thee," that is,
   "Thou shalt be as safe as an army in its entrenchments." Those that
   submit to God's government shall be taken under his protection, and
   then they are safe both day and night. [1.] By day, when they employ
   themselves abroad: "Thou shalt dig in safety, thou and thy servants for
   thee, and not be again set upon by the plunderers, who fell upon thy
   servants at plough," ch. i. 14, 15. It is no part of the promised
   prosperity that he should live in idleness, but that he should have a
   calling and follow it, and, when he was about the business of it,
   should be under the divine protection. Thou shalt dig and be safe, not
   rob and be safe, revel and be safe. The way of duty is the way of
   safety. [2.] By night, when they repose themselves at home: Thou shalt
   take thy rest (and the sleep of the labouring man is sweet) in safety,
   notwithstanding the dangers of the darkness. The pillar of cloud by day
   shall be a pillar of fire by night: "Thou shalt lie down (v. 19), not
   forced to wander where there is no place to lay thy head on, nor forced
   to watch and sit up in expectation of assaults; but thou shalt go to
   bed at bedtime, and not only shall non hurt thee, but none shall make
   thee afraid nor so much as give thee an alarm." Note, It is a great
   mercy to have quiet nights and undisturbed sleeps; those say so that
   are within the hearing of the noise of war. And the way to be quiet is
   to seek unto God and keep ourselves in his love. Nothing needs make
   those afraid who return to God as their rest and take him for their
   habitation.

   (3.) That, though now he was slighted, yet he should be courted: "Many
   shall make suit to thee, and think it their interest to secure thy
   friendship." Suit is made to those that are eminently wise or reputed
   to be so, that are very rich or in power. Zophar knew Job so well that
   he foresaw that, how low soever this present ebb was, if once the tide
   turned, it would flow as high as ever; and he would be again the
   darling of his country. Those that rightly make suit to God will
   probably see the day when others will make suit to them, as the foolish
   virgins to the wise, Give us of your oil.

   III. Zophar concludes with a brief account of the doom of wicked people
   (v. 20): But the eyes of the wicked shall fail. It should seem, he
   suspected that Job would not take his counsel, and here tells him what
   would then come of it, setting death as well as life before him. See
   what will become of those who persist in their wickedness, and will not
   be reformed. 1. They shall not reach the good they flatter themselves
   with the hopes of in this world and in the other. Disappointments will
   be their doom, their shame, their endless torment. Their eyes shall
   fail with expecting that which will never come. When a wicked man dies
   his expectation perishes, Prov. xi. 7. Their hope shall be as a puff of
   breath (margin), vanished and gone past recall. Or their hope will
   perish and expire as a man does when he gives up the ghost; it will
   fail them when they have most need of it and when they expected the
   accomplishment of it; it will die away, and leave them in utter
   confusion. 2. They shall not avoid the evil which sometimes they
   frighten themselves with the apprehensions of. They shall not escape
   the execution of the sentence passed upon them, can neither out-brave
   it nor outrun it. Those that will not fly to God will find it in vain
   to think of flying from him.
     __________________________________________________________________

J O B

  CHAP. XII.

   In this and the two following chapters we have Job's answer to Zophar's
   discourse, in which, as before, he first reasons with his friends (see
   ch. xiii. 19) and then turns to his God, and directs his expostulations
   to him, from thence to the end of his discourse. In this chapter he
   addresses himself to his friends, and, I. He condemns what they had
   said of him, and the judgment they had given of his character, ver.
   1-5. II. He contradicts and confronts what they had said of the
   destruction of wicked people in this world, showing that they often
   prosper, ver. 6-11. III. He consents to what they had said of the
   wisdom, power, and sovereignty of God, and the dominion of his
   providence over the children of men and all their affairs; he confirms
   this, and enlarges upon it, ver. 12-25.

    Job's Reply to Zophar. (b. c. 1520.)

   1 And Job answered and said,   2 No doubt but ye are the people, and
   wisdom shall die with you.   3 But I have understanding as well as you;
   I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
   4 I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he
   answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.   5 He that is
   ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him
   that is at ease.

   The reproofs Job here gives to his friends, whether they were just or
   no, were very sharp, and may serve for a rebuke to all that are proud
   and scornful, and an exposure of their folly.

   I. He upbraids them with their conceitedness of themselves, and the
   good opinion they seemed to have of their own wisdom in comparison with
   him, than which nothing is more weak and unbecoming, nor better
   deserves to be ridiculed, as it is here. 1. He represents them as
   claiming the monopoly of wisdom, v. 2. He speaks ironically: "No doubt
   you are the people; you think yourselves fit to dictate and give law to
   all mankind, and your own judgment to be the standard by which every
   man's opinion must be measured and tried, as if nobody could discern
   between truth and falsehood, good and evil, but you only; and therefore
   every top-sail must lower to you, and, right or wrong, we must all say
   as you say, and you three must be the people, the majority, to have the
   casting vote." Note, It is a very foolish and sinful thing for any to
   think themselves wiser than all mankind besides, or to speak and act
   confidently and imperiously, as if they thought so. Nay, he goes
   further: "You not only think there are none, but that there will be
   none, as wise as you, and therefore that wisdom must die with you, that
   all the world must be fools when you are gone, and in the dark when
   your sun has set." Note, It is folly for us to think that there will be
   any great irreparable loss of us when we are gone, or that we can be
   ill spared, since God has the residue of the Spirit, and can raise up
   others, more fit than we are, to do his work. When wise men and good
   men die it is a comfort to think that wisdom and goodness shall not die
   with them. Some think Job here reflects upon Zophar's comparing him (as
   he thought) and others to the wild ass's colt, ch. xi. 12. "Yes," says
   he, "we must be asses; you are the only men." 2. He does himself the
   justice to put in his claim as a sharer in the gifts of wisdom (v. 3):
   "But I have understanding (a heart) as well as you; nay, I fall not
   lower than you;" as it is in the margin. "I am as well able to judge of
   the methods and meanings of the divine providence, and to construe the
   hard chapters of it, as you are." He says not this to magnify himself.
   It was no great applause of himself to say, I have understanding as
   well as you; no, nor to say, "I understand this matter as well as you;"
   for what reason had either he or they to be proud of understanding that
   which was obvious and level to the capacity of the meanest? "Yea, who
   knows not such things as these? What things you have said that are true
   are plain truths, and common themes, which there are many that can talk
   as excellently of as either you or I." But he says it to humble them,
   and check the value they had for themselves as doctors of the chair.
   Note, (1.) It may justly keep us from being proud of our knowledge to
   consider how many there are that know as much as we do, and perhaps
   much more and to better purpose. (2.) When we are tempted to be harsh
   in our censures of those we differ from and dispute with we ought to
   consider that they also have understanding as well as we, a capacity of
   judging, and a right of judging for themselves; nay, perhaps they are
   not inferior to us, but superior, and it is possible that they may be
   in the right and we in the wrong; and therefore we ought not to judge
   or despise them (Rom. xiv. 3), nor pretend to be masters (Jam. iii. 1),
   while all we are brethren, Matt. xxiii. 8. It is a very reasonable
   allowance to be made to all we converse with, all we contend with, that
   they are rational creatures as well as we.

   II. He complains of the great contempt with which they had treated him.
   Those that are haughty and think too well of themselves are commonly
   scornful and ready to trample upon all about them. Job found it so, at
   least he thought he did (v. 4): I am as one mocked. I cannot say there
   was cause for this charge; we will not think Job's friends designed him
   any abuse, nor aimed at any thing but to convince him, and so, in the
   right method, to comfort him; yet he cries out, I am as one mocked.
   Note, We are apt to call reproofs reproaches, and to think ourselves
   mocked when we are but advised and admonished; this peevishness is our
   folly, and a great wrong to ourselves and to our friends. Yet we cannot
   but say there was colour for this charge; they came to comfort him, but
   they vexed him, gave him counsels and encouragements, but with no great
   opinion that either the one or the other would take effect; and
   therefore he thought they mocked him, and this added much to his grief.
   Nothing is more grievous to those that have fallen from the height of
   prosperity into the depth of adversity than to be trodden on, and
   insulted over, when they are down; and on this head they are too apt to
   be suspicious. Observe,

   1. What aggravated this grievance to him. Two things:--(1.) That they
   were his neighbours, his friends, his companions (so the word
   signifies), and the scoffs of such are often most spitefully given, and
   always most indignantly received. Ps. lv. 12, 13, It was not an enemy
   that reproached me; then I would have slighted it, and so borne it; but
   it was thou, a man, my equal. (2.) That they were professors of
   religion, such as called upon God, and said that he answered them: for
   some understand that of the persons mocking. "They are such as have a
   regard to heaven, and an interest in heaven, whose prayers I would
   therefore be glad of and thankful for, whose good opinion I cannot but
   covet, and therefore whose censures are the more grievous." Note, It is
   sad that any who call upon God should mock their brethren (Jam. iii. 9,
   10), and it cannot but lie heavily on a good man to be thought ill of
   by those whom he thinks well of, yet this is no new thing.

   2. What supported him under it. (1.) That he had a God to go to, with
   whom he could lodge his appeal; for some understand those words of the
   person mocked, that he calls upon God and he answers him; and so it
   agrees with ch. xvi. 20. My friends scorn me, but my eye poureth out
   tears to God. If our friends be deaf to our complaints, God is not; if
   they condemn us, God knows our integrity; if they make the worst of us,
   he will make the best of us; if they give us cross answers, he will
   give us kind ones. (2.) That his case was not singular, but very
   common: The just upright man is laughed to scorn. By many he is laughed
   at even for his justice and his uprightness, his honesty towards men
   and his piety towards God; these are derided as foolish things, which
   silly people needlessly hamper themselves with, as if religion were a
   jest and therefore to be made a jest of. By most he is laughed at for
   any little infirmity or weakness, notwithstanding his justice and
   uprightness, without any consideration had of that which is so much his
   honour. Note, It was of old the lot of honest good people to be
   despised and derided; we are not therefore to think it strange (1 Pet.
   iv. 12), no, nor to think it hard, if it be our lot; so persecuted they
   not only the prophets, but even the saints of the patriarchal age
   (Matt. v. 12), and can we expect to fare better than they?

   3. What he suspected to be the true cause of it, and that was, in
   short, this: they were themselves rich and at ease, and therefore they
   despised him who had fallen into poverty. It is the way of the world;
   we see instances of it daily. Those that prosper are praised, but of
   those that are going down it is said, "Down with them." He that is
   ready to slip with his feet and fall into trouble, though he has
   formerly shone as a lamp, is then looked upon as a lamp going out like
   the snuff of a candle, which we throw to the ground and tread upon, and
   is accordingly despised in the thought of him that is at ease, v. 5.
   Even the just upright man, that is in his generation as a burning and
   shining light, if he enter into temptation (Ps. lxxiii. 2) or come
   under a cloud, is looked upon with contempt. See here, (1.) What is the
   common fault of those that live in prosperity. Being full, and easy,
   and merry themselves, they look scornfully upon those that are in want,
   pain, and sorrow; they overlook them, take no notice of them, and study
   to forget them. See Ps. cxxiii. 4. The chief butler drinks wine in
   bowls, but makes nothing of the afflictions of Joseph. Wealth without
   grace often makes men thus haughty, thus careless of their poor
   neighbours. (2.) What is the common fate of those that fall into
   adversity. Poverty serves to eclipse all their lustre; though they are
   lamps, yet, if taken out of golden candlesticks, and put, like
   Gideon's, into earthen pitchers, nobody values them as formerly, but
   those that live at ease despise them.

   6 The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are
   secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.   7 But ask now the
   beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they
   shall tell thee:   8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee:
   and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.   9 Who knoweth not
   in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?   10 In whose
   hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
     11 Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat?

   Job's friends all of them went upon this principle, that wicked people
   cannot prosper long in this world, but some remarkable judgment or
   other will suddenly light on them: Zophar had concluded with it, that
   the eyes of the wicked shall fail, ch. xi. 20. This principle Job here
   opposes, and maintains that God, in disposing men's outward affairs,
   acts as a sovereign, reserving the exact distribution of rewards and
   punishments for the future state.

   I. He asserts it as an undoubted truth that wicked people may, and
   often do, prosper long in this world, v. 6. Even great sinners may
   enjoy great prosperity. Observe, 1. How he describes the sinners. They
   are robbers, and such as provoke God, the worst kind of sinners,
   blasphemers and persecutors. Perhaps he refers to the Sabeans and
   Chaldeans, who had robbed him, and had always lived by spoil and
   rapine, and yet they prospered; all the world saw they did, and there
   is no disputing against sense; one observation built upon matter of
   fact is worth twenty notions framed by an hypothesis. Or more
   generally, All proud oppressors are robbers and pirates. It is supposed
   that what is injurious to men is provoking to God, the patron of right
   and the protector of mankind. It is not strange if those that violate
   the bonds of justice break through the obligations of all religion, bid
   defiance even to God himself, and make nothing of provoking him. 2. How
   he describes their prosperity. It is very great; for, (1.) Even their
   tabernacles prosper, those that live with them and those that come
   after them and descend from them. It seems as if a blessing were
   entailed upon their families; and that is sometimes preserved to
   succeeding generations which was got by fraud. (2.) They are secure,
   and not only feel no hurt, but fear none, are under no apprehensions of
   danger either from threatening providences or an awakened conscience.
   But those that provoke God are never the more safe for their being
   secure. (3.) Into their hand God brings abundantly. They have more than
   heart could wish (Ps. lxxiii. 7), not for necessity only, but for
   delight--not for themselves only, but for others--not for the present
   only, but for hereafter; and this from the hand of Providence too. God
   brings plentifully to them. We cannot therefore judge of men's piety by
   their plenty, nor of what they have in their heart by what they have in
   their hand.

   II. He appeals even to the inferior creatures for the proof of
   this--the beasts, and fowls, and trees, and even the earth itself;
   consult these, and they shall tell thee, v. 7, 8. Many a good lesson we
   may learn from them, but what are they here to teach us?

   1. We may from them learn that the tabernacles of robbers prosper (so
   some); for, (1.) Even among the brute creatures the greater devour the
   less and the stronger prey upon the weaker, and men are as the fishes
   of the sea, Hab. i. 14. If sin had not entered, we may suppose there
   would have been no such disorder among the creatures, but the wolf and
   the lamb would have lain down together. (2.) These creatures are
   serviceable to wicked men, and so they declare their prosperity. Ask
   the herds and the flocks to whom they belong, and they will tell you
   that such a robber, such an oppressor, is their owner: the fishes and
   fowls will tell you that they are served up to the tables, and feed the
   luxury, of proud sinners. The earth brings forth her fruits to them
   (ch. ix. 24), and the whole creation groans under the burden of their
   tyranny, Rom. viii. 20, 22. Note, All the creatures which wicked men
   abuse, by making them the food and fuel of their lusts, will witness
   against them another day, Jam. v. 3, 4.

   2. We may from them learn the wisdom, power, and goodness of God, and
   that sovereign dominion of his into which plain and self-evident truth
   all these difficult dispensations must be resolved. Zophar had made a
   vast mystery of it, ch. xi. 7. "So far from that," says Job, "that what
   we are concerned to know we may learn even from the inferior creatures;
   for who knows not from all these? v. 9. Any one may easily gather from
   the book of the creatures that the hand of the Lord has wrought this,"
   that is, "that there is a wise Providence which guides and governs all
   these things by rules which we are neither acquainted with nor are
   competent judges of." Note, From God's sovereign dominion over the
   inferior creatures we should learn to acquiesce in all his disposals of
   the affairs of the children of men, though contrary to our measures.

   III. He resolves all into the absolute propriety which God has in all
   the creatures (v. 10): In whose hand is the soul of every living thing.
   All the creatures, and mankind particularly, derive their being from
   him, owe their being to him, depend upon him for the support of it, lie
   at his mercy, are under his direction and dominion and entirely at his
   disposal, and at his summons must resign their lives. All souls are
   his; and may he not do what he will with his own? The name Jehovah is
   used here (v. 9), and it is the only time that we meet with it in all
   the discourses between Job and his friends; for God was, in that age,
   more known by the name of Shaddai--the Almighty.

   IV. Those words--(v. 11), Doth not the ear try words, as the mouth
   tastes meat? may be taken either as the conclusion to the foregoing
   discourse or the preface to what follows. The mind of man has as good a
   faculty of discerning between truth and error, when duly stated, as the
   palate has of discerning between what is sweet and what is bitter. Job
   therefore demands from his friends a liberty to judge for himself of
   what they had said, and desires them to use the same liberty in judging
   of what he had said; nay, he seems to appeal to any man's impartial
   judgment in this controversy; let the ear try the words on both sides,
   and it would be found that he was in the right. Note, The ear must try
   words before it receives them so as to subscribe to them. As by the
   taste we judge what food is wholesome to the body and what not, so by
   the spirit of discerning we must judge what doctrine is sound, and
   savoury, and wholesome, and what not, 1 Cor. x. 15; xi. 13.

   12 With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.
   13 With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
     14 Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he
   shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.   15 Behold, he
   withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and
   they overturn the earth.   16 With him is strength and wisdom: the
   deceived and the deceiver are his.   17 He leadeth counsellors away
   spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.   18 He looseth the bond of
   kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.   19 He leadeth princes
   away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.   20 He removeth away the
   speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
   21 He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the
   mighty.   22 He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth
   out to light the shadow of death.   23 He increaseth the nations, and
   destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again.
     24 He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth,
   and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.   25
   They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger
   like a drunken man.

   This is a noble discourse of Job's concerning the wisdom, power, and
   sovereignty of God, in ordering and disposing of all the affairs of the
   children of men, according to the counsel of his own will, which none
   dares gainsay or can resist. Take both him and them out of the
   controversy in which they were so warmly engaged, and they all spoke
   admirably well; but, in that, we sometimes scarcely know what to make
   of them. It were well if wise and good men, that differ in their
   apprehensions about minor things, would see it to be for their honour
   and comfort, and the edification of others, to dwell most upon those
   great things in which they are agreed. On this subject Job speaks like
   himself. Here are no passionate complaints, no peevish reflections, but
   every thing masculine and great.

   I. He asserts the unsearchable wisdom and irresistible power of God. It
   is allowed that among men there is wisdom and understanding, v. 12. But
   it is to be found only with some few, with the ancient, and those who
   are blessed with length of days, who get it by long experience and
   constant experience; and, when they have got the wisdom, they have lost
   their strength and are unable to execute the results of their wisdom.
   But now with God there are both wisdom and strength, wisdom to design
   the best and strength to accomplish what is designed. He does not get
   counsel or understanding, as we do, by observation, but he has it
   essentially and eternally in himself, v. 13. What is the wisdom of
   ancient men compared with the wisdom of the ancient of days! It is but
   little that we know, and less that we can do; but God can do every
   thing, and no thought can be withheld from him. Happy are those who
   have this God for their God, for they have infinite wisdom and strength
   engaged for them. Foolish and fruitless are all the attempts of men
   against him (v. 14): He breaketh down, and it cannot be built again.
   Note, There is no contending with the divine providence, nor breaking
   the measures of it. As he had said before (ch. ix. 12), He takes away,
   and who can hinder him? so he says again. What God says cannot be
   gainsaid, nor what he does undone. There is no rebuilding what God will
   have to lie in ruins; witness the tower of Babel, which the undertakers
   could not go on with, and the desolations of Sodom and Gomorrah, which
   could never be repaired. See Isa. xxv. 2; Ezek. xxvi. 14; Rev. xviii.
   21. There is no releasing those whom God has condemned to a perpetual
   imprisonment; if he shut up a man by sickness, reduce him to straits,
   and embarrass him in his affairs, there can be no opening. He shuts up
   in the grave, and none can break open those sealed doors--shuts up in
   hell, in chains of darkness, and none can pass that great gulf fixed.

   II. He gives an instance, for the proof of this doctrine in nature, v.
   15. God has the command of the waters, binds them as in a garment
   (Prov. xxx. 4), holds them in the hollow of his hand (Isa. xl. 12); and
   he can punish the children of men either by the defect or by the excess
   of them. As men break the laws of virtue by extremes on each hand, both
   defects and excesses, while virtue is in the mean, so God corrects them
   by extremes, and denies them the mercy which is in the mean. 1. Great
   droughts are sometimes great judgments: He withholds the waters, and
   they dry up; if the heaven be as brass, the earth is as iron; if the
   rain be denied, fountains dry up and their streams are wanted, fields
   are parched and their fruits are wanted, Amos iv. 7. 2. Great wet is
   sometimes a great judgment. He raises the waters, and overturns the
   earth, the productions of it, the buildings upon it. A sweeping rain is
   said to leave no food, Prov. xxviii. 3. See how many ways God has of
   contending with a sinful people and taking from them abused, forfeited,
   mercies; and how utterly unable we are to contend with him. If we might
   invert the order, this verse would fitly refer to Noah's flood, that
   ever memorable instance of the divine power. God then, in wrath, sent
   the waters out, and they overturned the earth; but in mercy he withheld
   them, shut the windows of heaven and the fountains of the great deep,
   and then, in a little time, they dried up.

   III. He gives many instances of it in God's powerful management of the
   children of men, crossing their purposes and serving his own by them
   and upon them, overruling all their counsels, overpowering all their
   attempts, and overcoming all their oppositions. What changes does God
   make with men! what turns does he give them! how easily, how
   surprisingly!

   1. In general (v. 16): With him are strength and reason (so some
   translate it), strength and consistency with himself: it is an elegant
   word in the original. With him are the very quintessence and extract of
   wisdom. With him are power and all that is; so some read it. He is what
   he is of himself, and by him and in him all things subsist. Having this
   strength and wisdom, he knows how to make use, not only of those who
   are wise and good, who willingly and designedly serve him, but even of
   those who are foolish and bad, who, one would think, could be made no
   way serviceable to the designs of his providence: The deceived and the
   deceiver are his; the simplest men that are deceived are not below his
   notice; the subtlest men that deceive cannot with all their subtlety
   escape his cognizance. The world is full of deceit; the one half of
   mankind cheats the other, and God suffers it to be so, and from both
   will at last bring glory to himself. The deceivers make tools of the
   deceived, but the great God makes tools of them both, wherewith he
   works, and none can hinder him. He has wisdom and might enough to
   manage all the fools and knaves in the world, and knows how to serve
   his own purposes by them, notwithstanding the weakness of the one and
   the wickedness of the other. When Jacob by a fraud got the blessing the
   design of God's grace was served; when Ahab was drawn by a false
   prophecy into an expedition that was his ruin the design of God's
   justice was served; and in both the deceived and the deceiver were at
   his disposal. See Ezek. xiv. 9. God would not suffer the sin of the
   deceiver, nor the misery of the deceived, if he knew not how to set
   bounds to both and bring glory to himself out of both. Hallelujah, the
   Lord God omnipotent thus reigns; and it is well he does, for otherwise
   there is so little wisdom and so little honesty in the world that it
   would all have been in confusion and ruin long ago.

   2. He next descends to the particular instances of the wisdom and power
   of God in the revolutions of states and kingdoms; for thence he fetches
   his proofs, rather than from the like operations of Providence
   concerning private persons and families, because the more high and
   public the station is in which men are placed the more the changes that
   befal them are taken notice of, and consequently the more illustriously
   does Providence shine forth in them. And it is easy to argue, If God
   can thus turn and toss the great ones of the earth, like a ball in a
   large place (as the prophet speaks, Isa. xxii. 18), much more the
   little ones; and with him to whom states and kingdoms must submit it is
   surely the greatest madness for us to contend. Some think that Job here
   refers to the extirpation of those powerful nations, the Rephaim, the
   Zuzim, the Emim, and the Horites (mentioned Gen. xiv. 5, 6; Deut. ii.
   10, 20), in which perhaps it was particularly noticed how strangely
   they were infatuated and enfeebled: if so, it is designed to show that
   whenever the like is done in the affairs of nations it is God that does
   it, and we must therein observe his sovereign dominion, even over those
   that think themselves most powerful, politic, and absolute. Compare
   this with that of Eliphaz, ch. v. 12, &c. Let us gather up the
   particular changes here specified, which God makes upon persons, either
   for the destruction of nations and the planting of others in their room
   or for the turning out of a particular government and ministry and the
   elevation of another in its room, which may be a blessing to the
   kingdom; witness the glorious Revolution in our own land twenty years
   ago, in which we saw as happy an exposition as ever was given of this
   discourse of Job's. (1.) Those that were wise are sometimes strangely
   infatuated, and in this the hand of God must be acknowledged (v. 17):
   He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, as trophies of his victory over
   them, spoiled of all the honour and wealth they have got by their
   policy, nay, spoiled of the wisdom itself for which they have been
   celebrated and the success they promised themselves in their projects.
   His counsel stands, while all their devices are brought to nought and
   their designs baffled, and so they are spoiled both of the satisfaction
   and of the reputation of their wisdom. He maketh the judges fools. By a
   work on their minds he deprives them of their qualifications for
   business, and so they become really fools; and by his disposal of their
   affairs he makes the issue and event of their projects to be quite
   contrary to what they themselves intended, and so he makes them look
   like fools. The counsel of Ahithophel, one in whom this scripture was
   remarkably fulfilled, became foolishness, and he, according to his
   name, the brother of a fool. See Isa. xix. 13, The princes of Zoan have
   become fools; they have seduced Egypt, even those that are the stay of
   the tribes thereof. Let not the wise man therefore glory in his wisdom,
   nor the ablest counsellors and judges be proud of their station, but
   humbly depend upon God for the continuance of their abilities. Even the
   aged, who seem to hold their wisdom by prescription, and think they
   have got it by their own industry and therefore have an indefeasible
   title to it, may yet be deprived of it, and often are, by the
   infirmities of age, which make them twice children: He taketh away the
   understanding of the aged, v. 20. The aged, who were most depended on
   for advice, fail those that depended on them. We read of an old and yet
   foolish king, Eccl. iv. 13. (2.) Those that were high and in authority
   are strangely brought down, impoverished, and enslaved, and it is God
   that humbles them (v. 18): He looseth the bond of kings, and taketh
   from them the power wherewith they ruled their subjects, perhaps
   enslaved them and ruled them with rigour; he strips them of all the
   ensigns of their honour and authority, and all the supports of their
   tyranny, unbuckles their belts, so that the sword drops from their
   side, and then no marvel if the crown quickly drops from their head, on
   which immediately follows the girding of their loins with a girdle, a
   badge of servitude, for servants went with their loins girt. Thus he
   leads great princes away spoiled of all their power and wealth, and
   that in which they pleased and prided themselves, v. 19. Note, Kings
   are not exempt from God's jurisdiction. To us they are gods, but men to
   him, and subject to more than the common changes of human life. (3.)
   Those that were strong are strangely weakened, and it is God that
   weakens them (v. 21) and overthrows the mighty. v. 19. Strong bodies
   are weakened by age and sickness; powerful armies moulder and come to
   nothing, and their strength will not secure them from a fatal
   overthrow. No force can stand before Omnipotence, no, not that of
   Goliath. (4.) Those that were famed for eloquence, and entrusted with
   public business, are strangely silenced, and have nothing to say (v.
   20): He removeth away the speech of the trusty, so that they cannot
   speak as they intended and as they used to do, with freedom and
   clearness, but blunder, and falter, and make nothing of it. Or they
   cannot speak what they intended, but the contrary, as Balaam, who
   blessed those whom he was called to curse. Let not the orator therefore
   be proud of his rhetoric, nor use it to any bad purposes, lest God take
   it away, who made man's mouth. (5.) Those that were honoured and
   admired strangely fall into disgrace (v. 21): He poureth contempt upon
   princes. He leaves them to themselves to do mean things, or alters the
   opinions of men concerning them. If princes themselves dishonour God
   and despise him, if they offer indignities to the people of God and
   trample upon them, they shall be lightly esteemed, and God will pour
   contempt upon them. See Ps. cvii. 40. Commonly none more abject in
   themselves, nor more abused by others when they are down, than those
   who were haughty and insolent when they were in power. (6.) That which
   was secret, and lay hidden, is strangely brought to light and laid open
   (v. 22): He discovers deep things out of darkness. Plots closely laid
   are discovered and defeated; wickedness closely committed and artfully
   concealed is discovered, and the guilty are brought to condign
   punishment--secret treasons (Eccl. x. 20), secret murders, secret
   whoredoms. The cabinet-councils of princes are before God's eye, 2
   Kings vi. 11. (7.) Kingdoms have their ebbings and flowings, their
   waxings and wanings; and both are from God (v. 23): He sometimes
   increases their numbers, and enlarges their bounds, so that they make a
   figure among the nations and become formidable; but after a while, by
   some undiscerned cause perhaps, they are destroyed and straitened, made
   few and poor, cut short and many of them cut off, and so they are
   rendered despicable among their neighbours, and those that were the
   head become the tail of the nations. See Ps. cvii. 38, 39. (8.) Those
   that were bold and courageous, and made nothing of dangers, are
   strangely cowed and dispirited; and this also is the Lord's doing (v.
   24): He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people, that were
   their leaders and commanders, and were most famed for their martial
   fire and great achievements; when any thing is to be done they are
   heartless, and ready to flee at the shaking of a leaf. Ps. lxvi. 5.
   (9.) Those that were driving on their projects with full speed are
   strangely bewildered and at a loss; they know not where they are nor
   what they do, are unsteady in their counsels and uncertain in their
   motions, off and on, this way and that way, wandering like men in a
   desert (v. 24), groping like men in the dark, and staggering like men
   in drink, v. 25. Isa. lix. 10. Note, God can soon nonplus the deepest
   politicians and bring the greatest wits to their wits' end, to show
   that wherein they deal proudly he is above them.

   Thus are the revolutions of kingdoms wonderfully brought about by an
   overruling Providence. Heaven and earth are shaken, but the Lord sits
   King for ever, and with him we look for a kingdom that cannot be
   shaken.
     __________________________________________________________________

J O B

  CHAP. XIII.

   Job here comes to make application of what he had said in the foregoing
   chapter; and now we have him not in so good a temper as he was in then:
   for, I. He is very bold with his friends, comparing himself with them,
   notwithstanding the mortifications he was under, ver. 1, 2. Condemning
   them for their falsehood, their forwardness to judge, their partiality
   and deceitfulness under colour of pleading God's cause (ver. 4-8), and
   threatening them with the judgments of God for their so doing (ver.
   9-12), desiring them to be silent (ver. 5, 13, 17), and turning from
   them to God, ver. 3. II. He is very bold with his God. 1. In some
   expressions his faith is very bold, yet that is not more bold than
   welcome, ver. 15, 16, 18. But, 2. In other expressions his passion is
   rather too bold in expostulations with God concerning the deplorable
   condition he was in (ver. 14, 19, &c.), complaining of the confusion he
   was in (ver. 20-22), and the loss he was at to find out the sin that
   provoked God thus to afflict him, and in short of the rigour of God's
   proceedings against him, ver. 23-28.

    Job's Reply to Zophar. (b. c. 1520.)

   1 Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood
   it.   2 What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto
   you.   3 Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason
   with God.   4 But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no
   value.   5 O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be
   your wisdom.   6 Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of
   my lips.   7 Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for
   him?   8 Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?   9 Is it
   good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do
   ye so mock him?   10 He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly
   accept persons.   11 Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his
   dread fall upon you?   12 Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your
   bodies to bodies of clay.

   Job here warmly expresses his resentment of the unkindness of his
   friends.

   I. He comes up with them as one that understood the matter in dispute
   as well as they, and did not need to be taught by them, v. 1, 2. They
   compelled him, as the Corinthians did Paul, to commend himself and his
   own knowledge, yet not in a way of self-applause, but of
   self-justification. All he had before said his eye had seen confirmed
   by many instances, and his ear had heard seconded by many authorities,
   and he well understood it and what use to make of it. Happy are those
   who not only see and hear, but understand, the greatness, glory, and
   sovereignty of God. This, he thought, would justify what he had said
   before (ch. xii. 3), which he repeats here (v. 2): "What you know, the
   same do I know also, so that I need not come to you to be taught; I am
   not inferior unto you in wisdom." Note, Those who enter into
   disputation enter into temptation to magnify themselves and vilify
   their brethren more than is fit, and therefore ought to watch and pray
   against the workings of pride.

   II. He turns from them to God (v. 3): Surely I would speak to the
   Almighty; as if he had said, "I can promise myself no satisfaction in
   talking to you. O that I might have liberty to reason with God! He
   would not be so hard upon me as you are." The prince himself will
   perhaps give audience to a poor petitioner with more mildness,
   patience, and condescension, than the servants will. Job would rather
   argue with God himself than with his friends. See here, 1. What
   confidence those have towards God whose hearts condemn them not of
   reigning hypocrisy: they can, with humble boldness, appear before him
   and appeal to him. 2. What comfort those have in God whose neighbours
   unjustly condemn them: if they may not speak to them with any hopes of
   a fair hearing, yet they may speak to the Almighty; they have easy
   access to him and shall find acceptance with him.

   III. He condemns them for their unjust and uncharitable treatment of
   him, v. 4. 1. They falsely accused him, and that was unjust: You are
   forgers of lies. They framed a wrong hypothesis concerning the divine
   Providence, and misrepresented it, as if it did never remarkably
   afflict any but wicked men in this world, and thence they drew a false
   judgment concerning Job, that he was certainly a hypocrite. For this
   gross mistake, both in doctrine and application, he thinks an
   indictment of forgery lies against them. To speak lies is bad enough,
   though but at second hand, but to forge them with contrivance and
   deliberation is much worse; yet against this wrong neither innocency
   nor excellency will be a fence. 2. They basely deceived him, and that
   was unkind. They undertook his cure, and pretended to be his
   physicians; but they were all physicians of no value, "idol-physicians,
   who can do me no more good than an idol can." They were worthless
   physicians, who neither understood his case nor knew how to prescribe
   to him--mere empirics, who pretended to great things, but in conference
   added nothing to him: he was never the wiser for all they said. Thus to
   broken hearts and wounded consciences all creatures, without Christ,
   are physicians of no value, on which one may spend all and be never the
   better, but rather grow worse, Mark v. 26.

   IV. He begs they would be silent and give him a patient hearing, v. 5,
   6. 1. He thinks it would be a credit to them if they would say no more,
   having said too much already: "Hold your peace, and it shall be your
   wisdom, for thereby you will conceal your ignorance and ill-nature,
   which now appear in all you say." They pleaded that they could not
   forbear speaking (ch. iv. 2, xi. 2, 3); but he tells them that they
   would better have consulted their own reputation if they had enjoined
   themselves silence. Better say nothing than nothing to the purpose or
   that which tends to the dishonour of God and the grief of our brethren.
   Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is accounted wise, because
   nothing appears to the contrary, Prov. xvii. 28. And, as silence is an
   evidence of wisdom, so it is a means of it, as it gives time to think
   and hear. 2. He thinks it would be a piece of justice to him to hear
   what he had to say: Hear now my reasoning. Perhaps, though they did not
   interrupt him in his discourse, yet they seemed careless, and did not
   much heed what he said. He therefore begged that they would not only
   hear, but hearken. Note, We should be very willing and glad to hear
   what those have to say for themselves whom, upon any account, we are
   tempted to have hard thoughts of. Many a man, if he could but be fairly
   heard, would be fairly acquitted, even in the consciences of those that
   run him down.

   V. He endeavours to convince them of the wrong they did to God's
   honour, while they pretended to plead for him, v. 7, 8. They valued
   themselves upon it that they spoke for God, were advocates for him, and
   had undertaken to justify him and his proceedings against Job; and,
   being (as they thought) of counsel for the sovereign, they expected not
   only the ear of the court and the last word, but judgment on their
   side. But Job tells them plainly, 1. That God and his cause did not
   need such advocates: "Will you think to contend for God, as if his
   justice were clouded and wanted to be cleared up, or as if he were at a
   loss what to say and wanted you to speak for him? Will you, who are so
   weak and passionate, put in for the honour of pleading God's cause?"
   Good work ought not to be put into bad hands. Will you accept his
   person? If those who have not right on their side carry their cause, it
   is by the partiality of the judge in favour of their persons; but God's
   cause is so just that it needs no such methods for the support of it.
   He is a God, and can plead for himself (Judg. vi. 31); and, if you were
   for ever silent, the heavens would declare his righteousness. 2. That
   God's cause suffered by such management. Under pretence of justifying
   God in afflicting Job they magisterially condemned him as a hypocrite
   and a bad man. "This" (says he) "is speaking wickedly" (for
   uncharitableness and censoriousness are wickedness, great wickedness;
   it is an offence to God to wrong our brethren); "it is talking
   deceitfully, for you condemn one whom yet perhaps your own consciences,
   at the same time, cannot but acquit. Your principles are false and your
   arguings fallacious, and will it excuse you to say, It is for God?" No,
   for a good intention will not justify, much less will it sanctify, a
   bad word or action. God's truth needs not our lie, nor God's cause
   either our sinful policies or our sinful passions. The wrath of man
   works not the righteousness of God, nor may we do evil that good may
   come, Rom. iii. 7, 8. Pious frauds (as they call them) are impious
   cheats; and devout persecutions are horrid profanations of the name of
   God, as theirs who hated their brethren, and cast them out, saying, Let
   the Lord be glorified, Isa. lxvi. 5; John xvi. 2.

   VI. He endeavours to possess them with a fear of God's judgment, and so
   to bring them to a better temper. Let them not think to impose upon God
   as they might upon a man like themselves, nor expect to gain his
   countenance in their bad practices by pretending a zeal for him and his
   honour. "As one man mocks another by flattering him, do you think so to
   mock him and deceive him?" Assuredly those who think to put a cheat
   upon God will prove to have put a cheat upon themselves. Be not
   deceived, God is not mocked. That they might not think thus to jest
   with God, and affront him, Job would have them to consider both God and
   themselves, and then they would find themselves unable to enter into
   judgment with him.

   1. Let them consider what a God he is into whose service they had thus
   thrust themselves, and to whom they really did so much disservice, and
   enquire whether they could give him a good account of what they did.
   Consider, (1.) The strictness of his scrutiny and enquiries concerning
   them (v. 9) "Is it good that he should search you out? Can you bear to
   have the principles looked into which you go upon in your censures, and
   to have the bottom of the matter found out?" Note, It concerns us all
   seriously to consider whether it will be to our advantage or no that
   God searches the heart. It is good to an upright man who means honestly
   that God should search him; therefore he prays for it: Search me, O
   God! and know my heart. God's omniscience is a witness of his
   sincerity. But it is bad to him who looks one way and rows another that
   God should search him out, and lay him open to his confusion. (2.) The
   severity of his rebukes and displeasure against them (v. 10): "If you
   do accept persons, though but secretly and in heart, he will surely
   reprove you; he will be so far from being pleased with your censures of
   me, though under colour of vindicating him, that he will resent them as
   a great provocation, as any prince or great man would if a base action
   were done under the sanction of his name and under the colour of
   advancing his interest." Note, What we do amiss we shall certainly be
   reproved for, one way or other, one time or other, though it be done
   ever so secretly. (3.) The terror of his majesty, which if they would
   duly stand in awe of they would not do that which would make them
   obnoxious to his wrath (v. 11): "Shall not his excellency make you
   afraid? You that have great knowledge of God, and profess religion and
   a fear of him, how dare you talk at this rate and give yourselves so
   great a liberty of speech? Ought you not to walk and talk in the fear
   of God? Neh. v. 9. Should not his dread fall upon you, and give a check
   to your passions?" Methinks Job speaks this as one that did himself
   know the terror of the Lord, and lived in a holy fear of him, whatever
   his friends suggested to the contrary. Note, [1.] There is in God a
   dreadful excellency. He is the most excellent Being, has all
   excellencies in himself and in each infinitely excels any creature. His
   excellencies in themselves are amiable and lovely. He is the most
   beautiful Being; but considering man's distance from God by nature, and
   his defection and degeneracy by sin, his excellencies are dreadful. His
   power, holiness, justice, yea, and his goodness too, are dreadful
   excellencies. They shall fear the Lord and his goodness. [2.] A holy
   awe of this dreadful excellency should fall upon us and make us afraid.
   This would awaken impenitent sinners and bring them to repentance, and
   would influence all to be careful to please him and afraid of offending
   him.

   2. Let them consider themselves, and what an unequal match they were
   for this great God (v. 12): "Your remembrances (all that in you for
   which you hope to be remembered when you are gone) are like unto ashes,
   worthless and weak, and easily trampled on and blown away. Your bodies
   are like bodies of clay, mouldering and coming to nothing. Your
   memories, you think, will survive your bodies, but, alas! they are like
   ashes which will be shovelled up with your dust." Note, the
   consideration of our own meanness and mortality should make us afraid
   of offending God, and furnishes a good reason why we should not despise
   and trample upon our brethren. Bishop Patrick gives another sense of
   this verse: "Your remonstrances on God's behalf are no better than
   dust, and the arguments you accumulate but like so many heaps of dirt."

   13 Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me
   what will.   14 Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my
   life in mine hand?   15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but
   I will maintain mine own ways before him.   16 He also shall be my
   salvation: for a hypocrite shall not come before him.   17 Hear
   diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears.   18 Behold
   now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.   19
   Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I
   shall give up the ghost.   20 Only do not two things unto me: then will
   I not hide myself from thee.   21 Withdraw thine hand far from me: and
   let not thy dread make me afraid.   22 Then call thou, and I will
   answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.

   Job here takes fresh hold, fast hold, of his integrity, as one that was
   resolved not to let it go, nor suffer it to be wrested from him. His
   firmness in this matter is commendable and his warmth excusable.

   I. He entreats his friends and all the company to let him alone, and
   not interrupt him in what he was about to say (v. 13), but diligently
   to hearken to it, v. 17. He would have his own protestation to be
   decisive, for none but God and himself knew his heart. "Be silent
   therefore, and let me hear no more of you, but hearken diligently to
   what I say, and let my own oath for confirmation be an end of the
   strife."

   II. He resolves to adhere to the testimony his own conscience gave of
   his integrity; and though his friends called it obstinacy that should
   not shake his constancy: "I will speak in my own defence, and let come
   on me what will, v. 13. Let my friends put what construction they
   please upon it, and think the worse of me for it; I hope God will not
   make my necessary defence to be my offence, as you do. He will justify
   me (v. 18) and then nothing can come amiss to me." Note, Those that are
   upright, and have the assurance of their uprightness, may cheerfully
   welcome every event. Come what will, bene praeparatum pectus--they are
   ready for it. He resolves (v. 15) that he will maintain his own ways.
   He would never part with the satisfaction he had in having walked
   uprightly with God; for, though he could not justify every word he had
   spoken, yet, in the general, his ways were good, and he would maintain
   his uprightness; and why should he not, since that was his great
   support under his present exercises, as it was Hezekiah's, Now, Lord,
   remember how I have walked before thee? Nay, he would not only not
   betray his own cause, or give it up, but he would openly avow his
   sincerity; for (v. 19) "If hold my tongue, and do not speak for myself,
   my silence now will for ever silence me, for I shall certainly give up
   the ghost," v. 19. "If I cannot be cleared, yet let me be eased, by
   what I say," as Elihu, ch. xxxii. 17, 20.

   III. He complains of the extremity of pain and misery he was in (v.
   14): Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth? That is, 1. "Why do I
   suffer such agonies? I cannot but wonder that God should lay so much
   upon me when he knows I am not a wicked man." He was ready, not only to
   rend his clothes, but even to tear his flesh, through the greatness of
   his affliction, and saw himself at the brink of death, and his life in
   his hand, yet his friends could not charge him with any enormous crime,
   nor could he himself discover any; no marvel then that he was in such
   confusion. 2. "Why do I stifle and smother the protestations of my
   innocency?" When a man with great difficulty keeps in what he would
   say, he bites his lips. "Now," says he, "why may not I take liberty to
   speak, since I do but vex myself, add to my torment, and endanger my
   life, by refraining?" Note, It would vex the most patient man, when he
   has lost every thing else, to be denied the comfort (if he deserves it)
   of a good conscience and a good name.

   IV. He comforts himself in God, and still keeps hold of his confidence
   in him. Observe here,

   1. What he depends upon God for--justification and salvation, the two
   great things we hope for through Christ. (1.) Justification (v. 18): I
   have ordered my cause, and, upon the whole matter, I know that I shall
   be justified. This he knew because he knew that his Redeemer lived, ch.
   xix. 25. Those whose hearts are upright with God, in walking not after
   the flesh but after the Spirit, may be sure that through Christ there
   shall be no condemnation to them, but that, whoever lays any thing to
   their charge, they shall be justified: they may know that they shall.
   (2.) Salvation (v. 16): He also shall be my salvation. He means it not
   of temporal salvation (he had little expectation of that); but
   concerning his eternal salvation he was very confident that God would
   not only be his Saviour to make him happy, but his salvation, in the
   vision and fruition of whom he should be happy. And the reason why he
   depended on God for salvation was because a hypocrite shall not come
   before him. He knew himself not to be a hypocrite, and that none but
   hypocrites are rejected of God, and therefore concluded he should not
   be rejected. Sincerity is our evangelical perfection; nothing will ruin
   us but the want of that.

   2. With what constancy he depends upon him: Though he slay me, yet will
   I trust in him, v. 15. This is a high expression of faith, and what we
   should all labour to come up to--to trust in God, though he slay us,
   that is, we must be well pleased with God as a friend even when he
   seems to come forth against us as an enemy, ch. xxiii. 8-10. We must
   believe that all shall work for good to us even when all seems to make
   against us, Jer. xxiv. 5. We must proceed and persevere in the way of
   our duty, though it cost us all that is dear to us in this world, even
   life itself, Heb. xi. 35. We must depend upon the performance of the
   promise when all the ways leading to it are shut up, Rom. iv. 18. We
   must rejoice in God when we have nothing else to rejoice in, and cleave
   to him, yea, though we cannot for the present find comfort in him. In a
   dying hour we must derive from him living comforts; and this is to
   trust in him though he slay us.

   V. He wishes to argue the case even with God himself, if he might but
   have leave to settle the preliminaries of the treaty, v. 20-22. He had
   desired (v. 3) to reason with God, and is still of the same mind. He
   will not hide himself, that is, he will not decline the trial, nor
   dread the issue of it, but under two provisos:--1. That his body might
   not be tortured with this exquisite pain: "Withdraw thy hand far from
   me; for, while I am in this extremity, I am fit for nothing. I can make
   a shift to talk with my friends, but I know not how to address myself
   to thee." When we are to converse with God we have need to be composed,
   and as free as possible from every thing that may make us uneasy. 2.
   That his mind might not be terrified with the tremendous majesty of
   God: "Let not thy dread make me afraid; either let the manifestations
   of thy presence be familiar or let me be enabled to bear them without
   disorder and disturbance." Moses himself trembled before God, so did
   Isaiah and Habakkuk. O God! thou art terrible even in thy holy places.
   "Lord," says Job, "let me not be put into such a consternation of
   spirit, together with this bodily affliction; for then I must certainly
   drop the cause, and shall make nothing of it." See what a folly it is
   for men to put off their repentance and conversion to a sick-bed and a
   death-bed. How can even a good man, much less a bad man, reason with
   God, so as to be justified before him, when he is upon the rack of pain
   and under the terror of the arrests of death? At such a time it is very
   bad to have the great work to do, but very comfortable to have it done,
   as it was to Job, who, if he might but have a little breathing-time,
   was ready either, (1.) To hear God speaking to him by his word, and
   return an answer: Call thou, and I will answer; or, (2.) To speak to
   him by prayer, and expect an answer: Let me speak, and answer thou me,
   v. 22. Compare this with ch. ix. 34, 35, where he speaks to the same
   purport. In short, the badness of his case was at present such a damp
   upon him as he could not get over; otherwise he was well assured of the
   goodness of his cause, and doubted not but to have the comfort of it at
   last, when the present cloud was over. With such holy boldness may the
   upright come to the throne of grace, not doubting but to find mercy
   there.

   23 How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my
   transgression and my sin.   24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and
   holdest me for thine enemy?   25 Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and
   fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?   26 For thou writest bitter
   things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.
     27 Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto
   all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.   28 And
   he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.

   Here, I. Job enquires after his sins, and begs to have them discovered
   to him. He looks up to God, and asks him what was the number of them
   (How many are my iniquities?) and what were the particulars of them:
   Make me to know my transgressions, v. 23. His friends were ready enough
   to tell him how numerous and how heinous they were, ch. xxii. 5. "But,
   Lord," says he, "let me know them from thee; for thy judgment is
   according to truth, theirs is not." This may be taken either, 1. As a
   passionate complaint of hard usage, that he was punished for his faults
   and yet was not told what his faults were. Or, 2. As a prudent appeal
   to God from the censures of his friends. He desired that all his sins
   might be brought to light, as knowing they would then appear not so
   many, nor so mighty, as his friends suspected him to be guilty of. Or,
   3. As a pious request, to the same purport with that which Elihu
   directed him to, ch. xxxiv. 32. That which I see not, teach thou me.
   Note, A true penitent is willing to know the worst of himself; and we
   should all desire to know what our transgressions are, that we may be
   particular in the confession of them and on our guard against them for
   the future.

   II. He bitterly complains of God's withdrawings from him (v. 24):
   Wherefore hidest thou thy face? This must be meant of something more
   than his outward afflictions; for the loss of estate, children, health,
   might well consist with God's love; when that was all, he blessed the
   name of the Lord; but his soul was also sorely vexed, and that is it
   which he here laments. 1. That the favours of the Almighty were
   suspended. God hid his face as one strange to him, displeased with him,
   shy and regardless of him. 2. That the terrors of the Almighty were
   inflicted and impressed upon him. God held him for his enemy, shot his
   arrows at him (ch. vi. 4), and set him as a mark, ch. vii. 20. Note,
   The Holy Ghost sometimes denies his favours and discovers his terrors
   to the best and dearest of his saints and servants in this world. This
   case occurs, not only in the production, but sometimes in the progress
   of the divine life. Evidences for heaven are eclipsed, sensible
   communications interrupted, dread of divine wrath impressed, and the
   returns of comfort, for the present, despaired of, Ps. lxxvii. 7-9;
   lxxxviii. 7, 15, 16. These are grievous burdens to a gracious soul,
   that values God's loving-kindness as better than life, Prov. xviii. 14.
   A wounded spirit who can bear? Job, by asking here, Why hidest thou thy
   face? teaches us that, when at any time we are under the sense of God's
   withdrawings, we are concerned to enquire into the reason of them--what
   is the sin for which he corrects us and what the good he designs us.
   Job's sufferings were typical of the sufferings of Christ, from whom
   not only men hid their faces (Isa. liii. 3), but God hid his, witness
   the darkness which surrounded him on the cross when he cried out, My
   God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? If this were done to these
   green trees, what shall be done to the dry? They will for ever be
   forsaken.

   III. He humbly pleads with God his own utter inability to stand before
   him (v. 25): "Wilt thou break a leaf, pursue the dry stubble? Lord, is
   it for thy honour to trample upon one that is down already, or to crush
   one that neither has nor pretends to any power to resist thee?" Note,
   We ought to have such an apprehension of the goodness and compassion of
   God as to believe that he will not break the bruised reed, Matt. xii.
   20.

   IV. He sadly complains of God's severe dealings with him. He owns it
   was for his sins that God thus contended with him, but thinks it hard,

   1. That his former sins, long since committed, should now be remembered
   against him, and he should he reckoned with for the old scores (v. 26):
   Thou writest bitter things against me. Afflictions are bitter things.
   Writing them denotes deliberation and determination, written as a
   warrant for execution; it denotes also the continuance of his
   affliction, for that which is written remains, and, "Herein thou makest
   me to possess the iniquities of my youth," that is, "thou punishest me
   for them, and thereby puttest me in mind of them, and obligest me to
   renew my repentance for them." Note, (1.) God sometimes writes very
   bitter things against the best and dearest of his saints and servants,
   both in outward afflictions and inward disquiet; trouble in body and
   trouble in mind, that he may humble them, and prove them, and do them
   good in their latter end. (2.) That the sins of youth are often the
   smart of age both in respect of sorrow within (Jer. xxxi. 18, 19) and
   suffering without, ch. xx. 11. Time does not wear out the guilt of sin.
   (3.) That when God writes bitter things against us his design therein
   is to make us possess our iniquities, to bring forgotten sins to mind,
   and so to bring us to remorse for them as to break us off from them.
   This is all the fruit, to take away our sin.

   2. That his present mistakes and miscarriages should be so strictly
   taken notice of, and so severely animadverted upon (v. 27): "Thou
   puttest my feet also in the stocks, not only to afflict me and expose
   me to shame, not only to keep me from escaping the strokes of thy
   wrath, but that thou mayest critically remark all my motions and look
   narrowly to all my paths, to correct me for every false step, nay, for
   but a look awry or a word misapplied; nay, thou settest a print upon
   the heels of my feet, scorest down every thing I do amiss, to reckon
   for it; or no sooner have I trodden wrong, though ever so little, than
   immediately I smart for it; the punishment treads upon the very heels
   of the sin. Guilt, both of the oldest and of the freshest date, is put
   together to make up the cause of my calamity." Now, (1.) It was not
   true that God did thus seek advantages against him. He is not thus
   extreme to mark what we do amiss; if he were, there were no abiding for
   us, Ps. cxxx. 3. But he is so far from this that he deals not with us
   according to the desert, no, not of our manifest sins, which are not
   found by secret search, Jer. ii.34. This therefore was the language of
   Job's melancholy; his sober thoughts never represented God thus as a
   hard Master. (2.) But we should keep such a strict and jealous eye as
   this upon ourselves and our own steps, both for the discovery of sin
   past and the prevention of it for the future. It is good for us all to
   ponder the path of our feet.

   V. He finds himself wasting away apace under the heavy hand of God, v.
   28. He (that is, man) as a rotten thing, the principle of whose
   putrefaction is in itself, consumes, even like a moth-eaten garment,
   which becomes continually worse and worse. Or, He (that is, God) like
   rottenness, and like a moth, consumes me. Compare this with Hos. v. 12,
   I will be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as
   rottenness; and see Ps. xxxix. 11. Note, Man, at the best, wears fast;
   but, under God's rebukes especially, he is soon gone. While there is so
   little soundness in the soul, no marvel there is so little soundness in
   the flesh, Ps. xxxviii. 3.
     __________________________________________________________________

J O B

  CHAP. XIV.

   Job had turned from speaking to his friends, finding it to no purpose
   to reason with them, and here he goes on to speak to God and himself.
   He had reminded his friends of their frailty and mortality (ch. xiii.
   12); here he reminds himself of his own, and pleads it with God for
   some mitigation of his miseries. We have here an account, I. Of man's
   life, that it is, 1. Short, ver. 1. 2. Sorrowful, ver. 1. 3. Sinful,
   ver. 4. 4. Stinted, ver. 5, 14. II. Of man's death, that it puts a
   final period to our present life, to which we shall not again return
   (ver. 7-12), that it hides us from the calamities of life (ver. 13),
   destroys the hopes of life (ver. 18, 19), sends us away from the
   business of life (ver. 20), and keeps us in the dark concerning our
   relations in this life, how much soever we have formerly been in care
   about them ver. 21, 22. III. The use Job makes of all this. 1. He
   pleads it with God, who, he thought, was too strict and severe with him
   (ver. 16, 17), begging that, in consideration of his frailty, he would
   not contend with him (ver. 3), but grant him some respite, ver. 6. 2.
   He engages himself to prepare for death (ver. 14), and encourages
   himself to hope that it would be comfortable to him, ver. 15. This
   chapter is proper for funeral solemnities; and serious meditations on
   it will help us both to get good by the death of others and to get
   ready for our own.

    Brevity and Frailty of Human Life. (b. c. 1520.)

   1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.   2
   He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a
   shadow, and continueth not.   3 And dost thou open thine eyes upon such
   an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?   4 Who can bring a
   clean thing out of an unclean? not one.   5 Seeing his days are
   determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed
   his bounds that he cannot pass;   6 Turn from him, that he may rest,
   till he shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day.

   We are here led to think,

   I. Of the original of human life. God is indeed its great original, for
   he breathed into man the breath of life and in him we live; but we date
   it from our birth, and thence we must date both its frailty and its
   pollution. 1. Its frailty: Man, that is born of a woman, is therefore
   of few days, v. 1. This may refer to the first woman, who was called
   Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Of her, who being
   deceived by the tempter was first in the transgression, we are all
   born, and consequently derive from her that sin and corruption which
   both shorten our days and sadden them. Or it may refer to every man's
   immediate mother. The woman is the weaker vessel, and we know that
   partus sequitur ventrem--the child takes after the mother. Let not the
   strong man therefore glory in his strength, or in the strength of his
   father, but remember that he is born of a woman, and that, when God
   pleases, the mighty men become as women, Jer. li. 30. 2. Its pollution
   (v. 4): Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? If man be born
   of a woman that is a sinner, how can it be otherwise than that he
   should be a sinner? See ch. xxv. 4. How can he be clean that is born of
   a woman? Clean children cannot come from unclean parents any more than
   pure streams from an impure spring or grapes from thorns. Our habitual
   corruption is derived with our nature from our parents, and is
   therefore bred in the bone. Our blood is not only attainted by a legal
   conviction, but tainted with an hereditary disease. Our Lord Jesus,
   being made sin for us, is said to be made of a woman, Gal. iv. 4.

   II. Of the nature of human life: it is a flower, it is a shadow, v. 2.
   The flower is fading, and all its beauty soon withers and is gone. The
   shadow is fleeting, and its very being will soon be lost and drowned in
   the shadows of the night. Of neither do we make any account; in neither
   do we put any confidence.

   III. Of the shortness and uncertainty of human life: Man is of few
   days. Life is here computed, not by months or years, but by days, for
   we cannot be sure of any day but that it may be our last. These days
   are few, fewer than we think of, few at the most, in comparison with
   the days of the first patriarchs, much more in comparison with the days
   of eternity, but much fewer to most, who come short of what we call the
   age of man. Man sometimes no sooner comes forth than he is cut
   down--comes forth out of the womb than he dies in the cradle--comes
   forth into the world and enters into the business of it than he is
   hurried away as soon as he has laid his hand to the plough. If not cut
   down immediately, yet he flees as a shadow, and never continues in one
   stay, in one shape, but the fashion of it passes away; so does this
   world, and our life in it, 1 Cor. vii. 31.

   IV. Of the calamitous state of human life. Man, as he is short-lived,
   so he is sad-lived. Though he had but a few days to spend here, yet, if
   he might rejoice in those few, it were well (a short life and a merry
   one is the boast of some); but it is not so. During these few days he
   is full of trouble, not only troubled, but full of trouble, either
   toiling or fretting, grieving or fearing. No day passes without some
   vexation, some hurry, some disorder or other. Those that are fond of
   the world shall have enough of it. He is satur tremore--full of
   commotion. The fewness of his days creates him a continual trouble and
   uneasiness in expectation of the period of them, and he always hangs in
   doubt of his life. Yet, since man's days are so full of trouble, it is
   well that they are few, that the soul's imprisonment in the body, and
   banishment from the Lord, are not perpetual, are not long. When we come
   to heaven our days will be many, and perfectly free from trouble, and
   in the mean time faith, hope, and love, balance the present grievances.

   V. Of the sinfulness of human life, arising from the sinfulness of the
   human nature. So some understand that question (v. 4), Who can bring a
   clean thing out of an unclean?--a clean performance from an unclean
   principle? Note, Actual transgressions are the natural product of
   habitual corruption, which is therefore called original sin, because it
   is the original of all our sins. This holy Job here laments, as all
   that are sanctified do, running up the streams to the fountain (Ps. li.
   5); and some think he intends it as a plea with God for compassion:
   "Lord, be not extreme to mark my sins of human frailty and infirmity,
   for thou knowest my weakness. O remember that I am flesh!" The Chaldee
   paraphrase has an observable reading of this verse: Who can make a man
   clean that is polluted with sin? Cannot one? that is, God. Or who but
   God, who is one, and will spare him? God, by his almighty grace, can
   change the skin of the Ethiopian, the skin of Job, though clothed with
   worms.

   VI. Of the settled period of human life, v. 5.

   1. Three things we are here assured of:-- (1.) That our life will come
   to an end; our days upon earth are not numberless, are not endless, no,
   they are numbered, and will soon be finished, Dan. v. 26. (2.) That it
   is determined, in the counsel and decree of God, how long we shall live
   and when we shall die. The number of our months is with God, at the
   disposal of his power, which cannot be controlled, and under the view
   of his omniscience, which cannot be deceived. It is certain that God's
   providence has the ordering of the period of our lives; our times are
   in his hand. The powers of nature depend upon him, and act under him.
   In him we live and move. Diseases are his servants; he kills and makes
   alive. Nothing comes to pass by chance, no, not the execution done by a
   bow drawn at a venture. It is therefore certain that God's prescience
   has determined it before; for known unto God are all his works.
   Whatever he does he determined, yet with a regard partly to the settled
   course of nature (the end and the means are determined together) and to
   the settled rules of moral government, punishing evil and rewarding
   good in this life. We are no more governed by the Stoic's blind fate
   than by the Epicurean's blind fortune. (3.) That the bounds God has
   fixed we cannot pass; for his counsels are unalterable, his foresight
   being infallible.

   2. These considerations Job here urges as reasons, (1.) Why God should
   not be so strict in taking cognizance of him and of his slips and
   failings (v. 3): "Since I have such a corrupt nature within, and am
   liable to so much trouble, which is a constant temptation from without,
   dost thou open thy eyes and fasten them upon such a one, extremely to
   mark what I do amiss? ch. xiii. 27. And dost thou bring me, such a
   worthless worm as I am, into judgment with thee who art so quick
   sighted to discover the least failing, so holy to hate it, so just to
   condemn it, and so mighty to punish it?" The consideration of our own
   inability to contend with God, of our own sinfulness and weakness,
   should engage us to pray, Lord, enter not into judgment with thy
   servant. (2.) Why he should not be so severe in his dealings with him:
   "Lord, I have but a little time to live. I must certainly and shortly
   go hence, and the few days I have to spend here are, at the best, full
   of trouble. O let me have a little respite! v. 6. Turn from afflicting
   a poor creature thus, and let him rest awhile; allow him some breathing
   time, until he shall accomplish as a hireling his day. It is appointed
   to me once to die; let that one day suffice me, and let me not thus be
   continually dying, dying a thousand deaths. Let it suffice that my
   life, at best, is as the day of a hireling, a day of toil and labour. I
   am content to accomplish that, and will make the best of the common
   hardships of human life, the burden and heat of the day; but let me not
   feel those uncommon tortures, let not my life be as the day of a
   malefactor, all execution-day." Thus may we find some relief under
   great troubles by recommending ourselves to the compassion of that God
   who knows our frame and will consider it, and our being out of frame
   too.

    Death Anticipated. (b. c. 1520.)

   7 For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout
   again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.   8 Though
   the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the
   ground;   9 Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth
   boughs like a plant.   10 But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man
   giveth up the ghost, and where is he?   11 As the waters fail from the
   sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:   12 So man lieth down, and
   riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be
   raised out of their sleep.   13 O that thou wouldest hide me in the
   grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that
   thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!   14 If a man
   die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I
   wait, till my change come.   15 Thou shalt call, and I will answer
   thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

   We have seen what Job has to say concerning life; let us now see what
   he has to say concerning death, which his thoughts were very much
   conversant with, now that he was sick and sore. It is not unseasonable,
   when we are in health, to think of dying; but it is an inexcusable
   incogitancy if, when we are already taken into the custody of death's
   messengers, we look upon it as a thing at a distance. Job had already
   shown that death will come, and that its hour is already fixed. Now
   here he shows,

   I. That death is a removal for ever out of this world. This he had
   spoken of before (ch. vii. 9, 10), and now he mentions it again; for,
   though it be a truth that needs not be proved, yet it needs to be much
   considered, that it may be duly improved.

   1. A man cut down by death will not revive again, as a tree cut down
   will. What hope there is of a tree he shows very elegantly, v. 7-9. If
   the body of the tree be cut down, and only the stem or stump left in
   the ground, though it seem dead and dry, yet it will shoot out young
   boughs again, as if it were but newly planted. The moisture of the
   earth and the rain of heaven are, as it were, scented and perceived by
   the stump of a tree, and they have an influence upon it to revive it;
   but the dead body of a man would not perceive them, nor be in the least
   affected by them. In Nebuchadnezzar's dream, when his being deprived of
   the use of his reason was signified by the cutting down of a tree, his
   return to it again was signified by the leaving of the stump in the
   earth with a band of iron and brass to be wet with the dew of heaven,
   Dan. iv. 15. But man has no such prospect of a return to life. The
   vegetable life is a cheap and easy thing: the scent of water will
   recover it. The animal life, in some insects and fowls, is so: the heat
   of the sun retrieves it. But the rational soul, when once retired, is
   too great, too noble, a thing to be recalled by any of the powers of
   nature; it is out of the reach of sun or rain, and cannot be restored
   but by the immediate operations of Omnipotence itself; for (v. 10) man
   dieth and wasteth, away, yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
   Two words are here used for man:--Geber, a mighty man, though mighty,
   dies; Adam, a man of the earth, because earthy, gives up the ghost.
   Note, Man is a dying creature. He is here described by what occurs,
   (1.) Before death: he wastes away; he is continually wasting, dying
   daily, spending upon the quick stock of life. Sickness and old age are
   wasting things to the flesh, the strength, the beauty. (2.) In death:
   he gives up the ghost; the soul leaves the body, and returns to God who
   gave it, the Father of spirits. (3.) After death: Where is he? He is
   not where he was; his place knows him no more; but is he nowhere? So
   some read it. Yes, he is somewhere; and it is a very awful
   consideration to think where those are that have given up the ghost,
   and where we shall be when we give it up. It has gone to the world of
   spirits, gone into eternity, gone to return no more to this world.

   2. A man laid down in the grave will not rise up again, v. 11, 12.
   Every night we lie down to sleep, and in the morning we awake and rise
   again; but at death we must lie down in the grave, not to awake or rise
   again to such a world, such a state, as we are now in, never to awake
   or arise until the heavens, the faithful measures of time, shall be no
   more, and consequently time itself shall come to an end and be
   swallowed up in eternity; so that the life of man may fitly be compared
   to the waters of a land-flood, which spread far and make a great show,
   but they are shallow, and when they are cut off from the sea or river,
   the swelling and overflowing of which was the cause of them, they soon
   decay and dry up, and their place knows them no more. The waters of
   life are soon exhaled and disappear. The body, like some of those
   waters, sinks and soaks into the earth, and is buried there; the soul,
   like others of them, is drawn upwards, to mingle with the waters above
   the firmament. The learned Sir Richard Blackmore makes this also to be
   a dissimilitude. If the waters decay and be dried up in the summer, yet
   they will return again in the winter; but it is not so with the life of
   man. Take part of his paraphrase in his own words:--


   A flowing river, or a standing lake,

   May their dry banks and naked shores forsake;

   Their waters may exhale and upward move,

   Their channel leave to roll in clouds above;

   But the returning water will restore

   What in the summer they had lost before:

   But if, O man! thy vital streams desert

   Their purple channels and defraud the heart,

   With fresh recruits they ne'er will be supplied,

   Nor feel their leaping life's returning tide.

   II. That yet there will be a return of man to life again in another
   world, at the end of time, when the heavens are no more. Then they
   shall awake and be raised out of their sleep. The resurrection of the
   dead was doubtless an article of Job's creed, as appears, ch. xix. 26,
   and to that, it should seem, he has an eye here, where, in the belief
   of that, we have three things:--

   1. A humble petition for a hiding-place in the grave, v. 13. It was not
   only a passionate weariness of this life that he wished to die, but in
   a pious assurance of a better life, to which at length he should arise.
   O that thou wouldst hide me in the grave! The grave is not only a
   resting-place, but a hiding-place, to the people of God. God has the
   key of the grave, to let in now and to let out at the resurrection. He
   hides men in the grave, as we hide our treasure in a place of secresy
   and safety; and he who hides will find, and nothing shall be lost. "O
   that thou wouldst hide me, not only from the storms and troubles of
   this life, but for the bliss and glory of a better life! Let me lie in
   the grave, reserved for immortality, in secret from all the world, but
   not from thee, not from those eyes which saw my substance when first
   curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth," Ps. cxxxix. 15,
   16. There let me lie, (1.) Until thy wrath be past. As long as the
   bodies of the saints lie in the grave, so long there are some remains
   of that wrath which they were by nature children of, so long they are
   under some of the effects of sin; but, when the body is raised, it is
   wholly past--death, the last enemy, will then be totally destroyed.
   (2.) Until the set time comes for my being remembered, as Noah was
   remembered in the ark (Gen. viii. 1), where God not only hid him from
   the destruction of the old world, but reserved him for the reparation
   of a new world. The bodies of the saints shall not be forgotten in the
   grave. There is a time appointed, a time set, for their being enquired
   after. We cannot be sure that we shall look through the darkness of our
   present troubles and see good days after them in this world; but, if we
   can but get well to the grave, we may with an eye of faith look through
   the darkness of that, as Job here, and see better days on the other
   side of it, in a better world.

   2. A holy resolution patiently to attend the will of God both in his
   death and his resurrection (v. 14): If a man die, shall he live again?
   All the days of my appointed time will I wait until my change come.
   Job's friends proving miserable comforters, he set himself to be the
   more his own comforter. His case was now bad, but he pleases himself
   with the expectation of a change. I think it cannot be meant of his
   return to a prosperous condition in this world. His friends indeed
   flattered him with the hopes of that, but he himself all along
   despaired of it. Comforts founded upon uncertainties at best must needs
   be uncertain comforts; and therefore, no doubt, it is something more
   sure than that which he here bears up himself with the expectation of.
   The change he waits for must therefore be understood either, (1.) Of
   the change of the resurrection, when the vile body shall be changed
   (Phil. iii. 21), and a great and glorious change it will be; and then
   that question, If a man die, shall he live again? must be taken by way
   of admiration. "Strange! Shall these dry bones live! If so, all the
   time appointed for the continuance of the separation between soul and
   body my separate soul shall wait until that change comes, when it shall
   be united again to the body, and my flesh also shall rest in hope." Ps.
   xvi. 9. Or, (2.) Of the change at death. "If a man die, shall he live
   again? No, not such a life as he now lives; and therefore I will
   patiently wait until that change comes which will put a period to my
   calamities, and not impatiently wish for the anticipation of it, as I
   have done." Observe here, [1.] That it is a serious thing to die; it is
   a work by itself. It is a change; there is a visible change in the
   body, its appearance altered, its actions brought to an end, but a
   greater change with the soul, which quits the body, and removes to the
   world of spirits, finishes its state of probation and enters upon that
   of retribution. This change will come, and it will be a final change,
   not like the transmutations of the elements, which return to their
   former state. No, we must die, not thus to live again. It is but once
   to die, and that had need be well done that is to be done but once. An
   error here is fatal, conclusive, and not again to be rectified. [2.]
   That therefore it is the duty of every one of us to wait for that
   change, and to continue waiting all the days of our appointed time. The
   time of life is an appointed time; that time is to be reckoned by days;
   and those days are to be spent in waiting for our change. That is,
   First, We must expect that it will come, and think much of it.
   Secondly, We must desire that it would come, as those that long to be
   with Christ. Thirdly, We must be willing to tarry until it does come,
   as those that believe God's time to be the best. Fourthly, We must give
   diligence to get ready against it comes, that it may be a blessed
   change to us.

   3. A joyful expectation of bliss and satisfaction in this (v. 15): Then
   thou shalt call, and I will answer thee. Now, he was under such a cloud
   that he could not, he durst not, answer (ch. ix. 15, 35; xiii. 22); but
   he comforted himself with this, that there would come a time when God
   would call and he should answer. Then, that is, (1.) At the
   resurrection, "Thou shalt call me out of the grave, by the voice of the
   archangel, and I will answer and come at the call." The body is the
   work of God's hands, and he will have a desire to that, having prepared
   a glory for it. Or, (2.) At death: "Thou shalt call my body to the
   grave, and my soul to thyself, and I will answer, Ready, Lord,
   ready--Coming, coming; here I am." Gracious souls can cheerfully answer
   death's summons, and appear to his writ. Their spirits are not forcibly
   required from them (as Luke xii. 20), but willingly resigned by them,
   and the earthly tabernacle not violently pulled down, but voluntarily
   laid down, with this assurance, "Thou wilt have a desire to the work of
   thy hands. Thou hast mercy in store for me, not only as made by thy
   providence, but new-made by thy grace;" otherwise he that made them
   will not save them. Note, Grace in the soul is the work of God's own
   hands, and therefore he will not forsake it in this world (Ps.
   cxxxviii. 8), but will have a desire to it, to perfect it in the other,
   and to crown it with endless glory.

    Complainings of Job. (b. c. 1520.)

   16 For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?
   17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine
   iniquity.   18 And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and
   the rock is removed out of his place.   19 The waters wear the stones:
   thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth;
   and thou destroyest the hope of man.   20 Thou prevailest for ever
   against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest
   him away.   21 His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they
   are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.   22 But his flesh
   upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.

   Job here returns to his complaints; and, though he is not without hope
   of future bliss, he finds it very hard to get over his present
   grievances.

   I. He complains of the particular hardships he apprehended himself
   under from the strictness of God's justice, v. 16, 17. Therefore he
   longed to go hence to that world where God's wrath will be past,
   because now he was under the continual tokens of it, as a child, under
   the severe discipline of the rod, longs to be of age. "When shall my
   change come? For now thou seemest to me to number my steps, and watch
   over my sin, and seal it up in a bag, as bills of indictment are kept
   safely, to be produced against the prisoner." See Deut. xxxii. 34.
   "Thou takest all advantages against me; old scores are called over,
   every infirmity is animadverted upon, and no sooner is a false step
   taken than I am beaten for it." Now, 1. Job does right to the divine
   justice in owning that he smarted for his sins and transgressions, that
   he had done enough to deserve all that was laid upon him; for there was
   sin in all his steps, and he was guilty of transgression enough to
   bring all this ruin upon him, if it were strictly enquired into: he is
   far from saying that he perishes being innocent. But, 2. He does wrong
   to the divine goodness in suggesting that God was extreme to mark what
   he did amiss, and made the worst of every thing. He spoke to this
   purport, ch. xiii. 27. It was unadvisedly said, and therefore we will
   not dwell too much upon it. God does indeed see all our sins; he sees
   sin in his own people; but he is not severe in reckoning with us, nor
   is the law ever stretched against us, but we are punished less than our
   iniquities deserve. God does indeed seal and sew up, against the day of
   wrath, the transgression of the impenitent, but the sins of his people
   he blots out as a cloud.

   II. He complains of the wasting condition of mankind in general. We
   live in a dying world. Who knows the power of God's anger, by which we
   are consumed and troubled, and in which all our days are passed away?
   See Ps. xc. 7-9, 11. And who can bear up against his rebukes? Ps.
   xxxix. 11.

   1. We see the decays of the earth itself. (1.) Of the strongest parts
   of it, v. 18. Nothing will last always, for we see even mountains
   moulder and come to nought; they wither and fall as a leaf; rocks wax
   old and pass away by the continual beating of the sea against them. The
   waters wear the stones with constant dropping, non vi, sed saepe
   cadendo--not by the violence, but by the constancy with which they
   fall. On this earth every thing is the worse for the wearing. Tempus
   edax rerum--Time devours all things. It is not so with the heavenly
   bodies. (2.) Of the natural products of it. The things which grow out
   of the earth, and seem to be firmly rooted in it, are sometimes by an
   excess of rain washed away, v. 19. Some think he pleads this for
   relief: "Lord, my patience will not hold out always; even rocks and
   mountains will fail at last; therefore cease the controversy."

   2. No marvel then if we see the decays of man upon the earth, for he is
   of the earth, earthy. Job begins to think his case is not singular, and
   therefore he ought to reconcile himself to the common lot. We perceive
   by many instances, (1.) How vain it is to expect much from the
   enjoyments of life: "Thou destroyest the hope of man," that is,
   "puttest an end to all the projects he had framed and all the prospects
   of satisfaction he had flattered himself with." Death will be the
   destruction of all those hopes which are built upon worldly confidences
   and confined to worldly comforts. Hope in Christ, and hope in heaven,
   death will consummate and not destroy. (2.) How vain it is to struggle
   against the assaults of death (v. 20): Thou prevailest for ever against
   him. Note, Man is an unequal match for God. Whom God contends with he
   will certainly prevail against, prevail for ever against so that they
   shall never be able to make head again. Note further, The stroke of
   death is irresistible; it is to no purpose to dispute its summons. God
   prevails against man and he passes away, and lo he is not. Look upon a
   dying man, and see, [1.] How his looks are altered: Thou changest his
   countenance, and this in two ways:--First, By the disease of his body.
   When a man has been a few days sick what a change is there in his
   countenance! How much more when he has been a few minutes dead! The
   countenance which was majestic and awful becomes mean and
   despicable--that was lovely and amiable becomes ghastly and frightful.
   Bury my dead out of my sight. Where then is the admired beauty? Death
   changes the countenance, and then sends us away out of this world,
   gives us one dismission hence, never to return. Secondly, By the
   discomposure of his mind. Note, The approach of death will make the
   strongest and stoutest to ch