mh_parser/vol_split/18 - Job/Chapter 28.xml

<div2 id="Job.xxix" n="xxix" next="Job.xxx" prev="Job.xxviii" progress="13.67%" title="Chapter XXVIII">
<h2 id="Job.xxix-p0.1">J O B</h2>
<h3 id="Job.xxix-p0.2">CHAP. XXVIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Job.xxix-p1">The strain of this chapter is very unlike the rest
of this book. Job forgets his sores, and all his sorrows, and talks
like a philosopher or a virtuoso. Here is a great deal both of
natural and moral philosophy in this discourse; but the question
is, How does it come in here? Doubtless it was not merely for an
amusement, or diversion from the controversy; though, if it had
been only so, perhaps it would not have been much amiss. When
disputes grow hot, better lose the question than lose our temper.
But this is pertinent and to the business in hand. Job and his
friends had been discoursing about the dispensations of Providence
towards the wicked and the righteous. Job had shown that some
wicked men live and die in prosperity, while others are presently
and openly arrested by the judgments of God. But, if any ask the
reason why some are punished in this world and not others, they
must be told it is a question that cannot be answered. The
knowledge of the reasons of state in God's government of the world
is kept from us, and we must neither pretend to it nor reach after
it. Zophar had wished that God would show Job the "secrets of
wisdom" (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.6" parsed="|Job|11|6|0|0" passage="Job 11:6"><i>ch.</i> xi. 6</scripRef>).
No, says Job, "secret things belong not to us, but things
revealed," <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.29.29" parsed="|Deut|29|29|0|0" passage="De 29:29">Deut. xxix. 29</scripRef>.
And here he shows, I. Concerning worldly wealth, how industriously
that is sought for and pursued by the children of men, what pains
they take, what contrivances they have, and what hazards they run
to get it, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.1-Job.28.11" parsed="|Job|28|1|28|11" passage="Job 28:1-11">ver. 1-11</scripRef>.
II. Concerning wisdom, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.12" parsed="|Job|28|12|0|0" passage="Job 28:12">ver.
12</scripRef>. In general, the price of it is very great; it is of
inestimable value, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.15-Job.28.19" parsed="|Job|28|15|28|19" passage="Job 28:15-19">ver.
15-19</scripRef>. The place of it is very secret, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.14 Bible:Job.28.20 Bible:Job.28.22" parsed="|Job|28|14|0|0;|Job|28|20|0|0;|Job|28|22|0|0" passage="Job 28:14,20,22">ver. 14, 20, 22</scripRef>. In
particular, there is a wisdom which is hidden in God (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.23-Job.28.27" parsed="|Job|28|23|28|27" passage="Job 28:23-27">ver. 23-27</scripRef>) and there is a wisdom
which is revealed to the children of men, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.28" parsed="|Job|28|28|0|0" passage="Job 28:28">ver. 28</scripRef>. Our enquiries into the former must
be checked, into the latter quickened, for that is it which is our
concern.</p>
<scripCom id="Job.xxix-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Job.28" parsed="|Job|28|0|0|0" passage="Job 28" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Job.xxix-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.1-Job.28.11" parsed="|Job|28|1|28|11" passage="Job 28:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.28.1-Job.28.11">
<h4 id="Job.xxix-p1.11">Extent of Human Discoveries. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xxix-p1.12">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xxix-p2">1 Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a
place for gold <i>where</i> they fine <i>it.</i>   2 Iron is
taken out of the earth, and brass <i>is</i> molten <i>out of</i>
the stone.   3 He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth
out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of
death.   4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; <i>even
the waters</i> forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are
gone away from men.   5 <i>As for</i> the earth, out of it
cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.   6
The stones of it <i>are</i> the place of sapphires: and it hath
dust of gold.   7 <i>There is</i> a path which no fowl
knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen:   8 The
lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by
it.   9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he
overturneth the mountains by the roots.   10 He cutteth out
rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.
  11 He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and <i>the thing
that is</i> hid bringeth he forth to light.   12 But where
shall wisdom be found? and where <i>is</i> the place of
understanding?   13 Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither
is it found in the land of the living.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxix-p3">Here Job shows, 1. What a great way the wit
of man may go in diving into the depths of nature and seizing the
riches of it, what a great deal of knowledge and wealth men may, by
their ingenious and industrious searches, make themselves masters
of. But does it therefore follow that men may, by their wit,
comprehend the reasons why some wicked people prosper and others
are punished, why some good people prosper and others are
afflicted? No, by no means. The caverns of the earth may be
discovered, but not the counsels of heaven. 2. What a great deal of
care and pains worldly men take to get riches. He had observed
concerning the wicked man (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.27.16" parsed="|Job|27|16|0|0" passage="Job 27:16"><i>ch.</i>
xxvii. 16</scripRef>) that he <i>heaped up silver as the dust;</i>
now here he shows whence that silver came which he was so fond of
and how it was obtained, to show what little reason wicked rich men
have to be proud of their wealth and pomp. Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxix-p4">I. The wealth of this world is hidden in
the earth. Thence the silver and the gold, which afterwards they
refine, are fetched, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.1" parsed="|Job|28|1|0|0" passage="Job 28:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>. There they lay mixed with a great deal of dirt and
dross, like a worthless thing, of no more account than common
earth; and abundance of them will so lie neglected, till the earth
and all the works therein shall be burnt up. Holy Mr. Herbert, in
his poem called <i>Avarice,</i> takes notice of this, to shame men
out of the love of money:—</p>
<verse id="Job.xxix-p4.2">
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxix-p4.3">Money, thou bane of bliss, thou source of woe,</l>
<l class="t2" id="Job.xxix-p4.4">Whence com'st thou, that thou art so fresh and
fine?</l>
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxix-p4.5">I know thy parentage is base and low;</l>
<l class="t2" id="Job.xxix-p4.6">Man found thee poor and dirty in a mine.</l>
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxix-p4.7"/>
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxix-p4.8">Surely thou didst so little contribute</l>
<l class="t2" id="Job.xxix-p4.9">To this great kingdom which thou now hast got</l>
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxix-p4.10">That he was fain, when thou wast destitute,</l>
<l class="t2" id="Job.xxix-p4.11">To dig thee out of thy dark cave and grot.</l>
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxix-p4.12"/>
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxix-p4.13">Man calleth thee his wealth, who made thee rich,</l>
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxix-p4.14">And while he digs out thee falls in the ditch.</l>
</verse>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxix-p5">Iron and brass, less costly but more
serviceable metals, are <i>taken out of the earth</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.2" parsed="|Job|28|2|0|0" passage="Job 28:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), and are there found in
great abundance, which abates their price indeed, but is a great
kindness to man, who could much better be without gold than without
iron. Nay, <i>out of the earth comes bread,</i> that is,
bread-corn, the necessary support of life, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.5" parsed="|Job|28|5|0|0" passage="Job 28:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. Thence man's maintenance is
fetched, to remind him of his own original; he is of the earth, and
is hastening to the earth. <i>Under it is turned up as it were
fire,</i> precious stones, that sparkle as fire—brimstone, that is
apt to take fire—coal, that is proper to feed fire. As we have our
food, so we have our fuel, out of the earth. There the sapphires
and other gems are, and thence gold-dust is digged up;, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.6" parsed="|Job|28|6|0|0" passage="Job 28:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. The wisdom of the
Creator has placed these things, 1. Out of our sight, to teach us
not to set our eyes upon them, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.23.5" parsed="|Prov|23|5|0|0" passage="Pr 23:5">Prov.
xxiii. 5</scripRef>. 2. Under our feet, to teach us not to lay them
in our bosoms, nor to set our hearts upon them, but to trample upon
them with a holy contempt. See how full the <i>earth is of God's
riches</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.24" parsed="|Ps|104|24|0|0" passage="Ps 104:24">Ps. civ. 24</scripRef>)
and infer thence, not only how great a God he is <i>whose the earth
is</i> and <i>the fulness thereof</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.24.1" parsed="|Ps|24|1|0|0" passage="Ps 24:1">Ps. xxiv. 1</scripRef>), but how full heaven must needs
be of God's riches, which is the city of the great King, in
comparison with which this earth is a poor country.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxix-p6">II. The wealth that is hidden in the earth
cannot be obtained but with a great deal of difficulty. 1. It is
hard to be found out: there is but here and there <i>a vein for the
silver,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.1" parsed="|Job|28|1|0|0" passage="Job 28:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>.
The precious stones, though bright themselves, yet, because buried
in obscurity and out of sight, are called <i>stones of darkness and
the shadow of death.</i> Men may search long before they light on
them. 2. When found out it is hard to be fetched out. Men's wits
must be set on work to contrive ways and means to get this hidden
treasure into their hands. They must with their lamps <i>set an end
to darkness;</i> and if one expedient miscarry, one method fail,
they must try another, till they have <i>searched out all
perfection,</i> and turned every stone to effect it, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.3" parsed="|Job|28|3|0|0" passage="Job 28:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. They must grapple with
subterraneous waters (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.4 Bible:Job.28.10 Bible:Job.28.11" parsed="|Job|28|4|0|0;|Job|28|10|0|0;|Job|28|11|0|0" passage="Job 28:4,10,11"><i>v.</i>
4, 10, 11</scripRef>), and force their way through rocks which are,
as it were, the roots of the mountains, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.9" parsed="|Job|28|9|0|0" passage="Job 28:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. Now God has made the getting of
gold, and silver, and precious stones, so difficult, (1.) For the
exciting and engaging of industry. <i>Dii laboribus omnia
vendunt—Labour is the price which the gods affix to all
things.</i> If valuable things were too easily obtained men would
never learn to take pains. But the difficulty of gaining the riches
of this earth may suggest to us what violence the kingdom of heaven
suffers. (2.) For the checking and restraining of pomp and luxury.
What is for necessity is had with a little labour from the surface
of the earth; but what is for ornament must be dug with a great
deal of pains out of the bowels of it. To be fed is cheap, but to
be fine is chargeable.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxix-p7">III. Though the subterraneous wealth is
thus hard to obtain, yet men will have it. He that loves silver is
not satisfied with silver, and yet is not satisfied without it; but
those that have much must needs have more. See here, 1. What
inventions men have to get this wealth. They <i>search out all
perfection,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.3" parsed="|Job|28|3|0|0" passage="Job 28:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. They have arts and engines to dry up the waters, and
carry them off, when they break in upon them in their mines and
threaten to drown the work, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.4" parsed="|Job|28|4|0|0" passage="Job 28:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. They have pumps, and pipes, and canals, to clear
their way, and, obstacles being removed, they tread <i>the path
which no fowl knoweth</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.7-Job.28.8" parsed="|Job|28|7|28|8" passage="Job 28:7,8"><i>v.</i>
7, 8</scripRef>), unseen by the vulture's eye, which is piercing
and quick-sighted, and untrodden by the lion's whelps, which
traverse all the paths of the wilderness. 2. What pains men take,
and what vast charge they are at, to get this wealth. They work
their way through the rocks and undermine the mountains, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.10" parsed="|Job|28|10|0|0" passage="Job 28:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. 3. What hazards they
run. Those that dig in the mines have their lives in their hands;
for they are obliged to <i>bind the floods from overflowing</i>
(<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.11" parsed="|Job|28|11|0|0" passage="Job 28:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), and are
continually in danger of being suffocated by damps or crushed or
buried alive by the fall of the earth upon them. See how foolish
man adds to his own burden. He is sentenced to eat bread in the
sweat of his face; but, as if that were not enough, he will get
gold and silver at the peril of his life, though the more is gotten
the less valuable it is. In Solomon's time silver was as stones.
But, 4. Observe what it is that carries men through all this toil
and peril: <i>Their eye sees every precious thing,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.10" parsed="|Job|28|10|0|0" passage="Job 28:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. Silver and gold are
precious things with them, and they have them in their eye in all
these pursuits. They fancy they see them glittering before their
faces, and, in the prospect of laying hold of them, they make
nothing of all these difficulties; for they make something of their
toil at last: <i>That which is hidden bringeth he forth to
light,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.11" parsed="|Job|28|11|0|0" passage="Job 28:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>.
What was hidden under ground is laid upon the bank; the metal that
was hidden in the ore is refined from its dross and brought forth
pure out of the furnace; and then he thinks his pains well
bestowed. Go to the miners then, thou sluggard in religion;
consider their ways, and be wise. Let their courage, diligence, and
constancy in seeking the wealth that perisheth shame us out of
slothfulness and faint-heartedness in labouring for the true
riches. <i>How much better is it to get wisdom than gold!</i> How
much easier and safer! Yet gold is sought for, but grace neglected.
Will the hopes of <i>precious things</i> out of the earth (so they
call them, though really they are paltry and perishing) be such a
spur to industry, and shall not the certain prospect of truly
precious things in heaven be much more so?</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xxix-p7.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.12-Job.28.19" parsed="|Job|28|12|28|19" passage="Job 28:12-19" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.28.12-Job.28.19">
<h4 id="Job.xxix-p7.9">The Excellency of Wisdom. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xxix-p7.10">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xxix-p8">14 The depth saith, It <i>is</i> not in me: and
the sea saith, <i>It is</i> not with me.   15 It cannot be
gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed <i>for</i> the
price thereof.   16 It cannot be valued with the gold of
Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.   17 The gold
and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it <i>shall
not be for</i> jewels of fine gold.   18 No mention shall be
made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom <i>is</i>
above rubies.   19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it,
neither shall it be valued with pure gold.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxix-p9">Job, having spoken of the wealth of the
world, which men put such a value upon and take so much pains for,
here comes to speak of another more valuable jewel, and that is,
<i>wisdom and understanding,</i> the knowing and enjoying of God
and ourselves. Those that found out all those ways and means to
enrich themselves thought themselves very wise; but Job will not
own theirs to be wisdom. He supposes them to gain their point, and
to bring to light what they sought for (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.11" parsed="|Job|28|11|0|0" passage="Job 28:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), and yet asks, "<i>Where is
wisdom?</i> for it is not here." This their way is their folly. We
must therefore seek it somewhere else, and it will be found nowhere
but in the principles and practices of religion. There is more true
knowledge, satisfaction, and happiness, in sound divinity, which
shows us the way to the joys of heaven, than in natural philosophy
or mathematics, which help us to find a way into the bowels of the
earth. Two things cannot be found out concerning this wisdom:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxix-p10">I. The price of it, for that is
inestimable; its worth is infinitely more than all the riches in
this world: <i>Man knows not the price thereof</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.13" parsed="|Job|28|13|0|0" passage="Job 28:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), that is, 1. Few put a
due value upon it. Men know not the worth of it, its innate
excellency, their need of it, and of what unspeakable advantage it
will be to them; and therefore, though they have many a price in
their hand to get this wisdom, yet they <i>have no heart to it,</i>
<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.17.16" parsed="|Prov|17|16|0|0" passage="Pr 17:16">Prov. xvii. 16</scripRef>. The cock in
the fable knew not the value of the precious stone he found in the
dunghill, and therefore would rather have lighted on a barley-corn.
Men know not the worth of grace, and therefore will take no pains
to get it. 2. None can possibly give a valuable consideration for
it, with all the wealth this world can furnish them with. This Job
enlarges upon <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.15-Job.28.19" parsed="|Job|28|15|28|19" passage="Job 28:15-19"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>, &amp;c., where he makes an inventory of the <i>bona
notabilia—the most valuable treasures</i> of this world. Gold is
five times mentioned; silver comes in also; and then several
precious stones, the onyx and sapphire, pearls and rubies, and the
topaz of Ethiopia. These are the things that are highest prized in
the world's markets: but if a man would give, not only these, heaps
of these, but all the substance of his house, all he is worth in
the world, for wisdom, it would utterly be contemned. These may
give a man some advantage in seeking wisdom, as they did to
Solomon, but there is no purchasing wisdom with these. It is a gift
of <i>the Holy Ghost,</i> which <i>cannot be bought with money,</i>
<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.8.20" parsed="|Acts|8|20|0|0" passage="Ac 8:20">Acts viii. 20</scripRef>. As it does
not run in the blood, and so come to us by descent, so it cannot be
got for money, nor does it come to us by purchase. Spiritual gifts
are conferred without money and without price, because no money can
be a price for them. Wisdom is likewise a more valuable gift to him
that has it, makes him richer and happier, than gold or precious
stones. It is <i>better to get wisdom than gold.</i> Gold is
another's, wisdom our own; gold is for the body and time, wisdom
for the soul and eternity. Let that which is most precious in God's
account be so in ours. See <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.3.14-Prov.3.20" parsed="|Prov|3|14|3|20" passage="Pr 3:14-20">Prov.
iii. 14</scripRef>, &amp;c.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxix-p11">II. The place of it, for that is
undiscoverable. <i>Where shall wisdom be found?</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.12" parsed="|Job|28|12|0|0" passage="Job 28:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. He asks this, 1. As
one that truly desired to find it. This is a question we should all
put. While the most of men are asking, "Where shall money be
found?" we should ask, <i>Where may wisdom be found?</i> that we
may seek it and find it, not vain philosophy, or carnal policy, but
true religion; for that is the only true wisdom, that is it which
best improves our faculties and best secures our spiritual and
eternal welfare. This is that which we should cry after and dig
for, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.2.3-Prov.2.4" parsed="|Prov|2|3|2|4" passage="Pr 2:3,4">Prov. ii. 3, 4</scripRef>. 2. As
one that utterly despaired of finding it any where but in God, and
any way but by divine revelation: <i>It is not found in</i> this
<i>land of the living,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.13" parsed="|Job|28|13|0|0" passage="Job 28:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>. We cannot attain to a right understanding of God and
his will, of ourselves and our duty and interest, by reading any
books or men, but by reading God's book and the men of God. Such is
the degeneracy of human nature that there is no true wisdom to be
found with any but those who are born again, and who, through
grace, partake of the divine nature. As for others, even the most
ingenious and industrious, they can tell us no tidings of this lost
wisdom. (1.) Ask the miners, and by them <i>the depth will say, It
is not in me,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.14" parsed="|Job|28|14|0|0" passage="Job 28:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>. Those who dig into the bowels of the earth, to rifle
the treasures there, cannot in these dark recesses find this rare
jewel, nor with all their art make themselves masters of it. (2.)
Ask the mariners, and by them <i>the sea will say, It is not in
me.</i> It can never be got either by trading on the waters or
diving into them, can never be <i>sucked from the abundance of the
seas or the treasures hidden in the sand.</i> Where there is a vein
for the silver there is no vein for wisdom, none for grace. Men can
more easily break through the difficulties they meet with in
getting worldly wealth than through those they meet with in getting
heavenly wisdom, and they will take more pains to learn how to live
in this world than how to live for ever in a better world. So blind
and foolish has man become that it is in vain to ask him, <i>Where
is the place of wisdom,</i> and which is the road that leads to
it?</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xxix-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.20-Job.28.28" parsed="|Job|28|20|28|28" passage="Job 28:20-28" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.28.20-Job.28.28">
<h4 id="Job.xxix-p11.6">The Wisdom Hidden from Man; The Wisdom
Revealed to Man. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xxix-p11.7">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xxix-p12">20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where
<i>is</i> the place of understanding?   21 Seeing it is hid
from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the
air.   22 Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame
thereof with our ears.   23 God understandeth the way thereof,
and he knoweth the place thereof.   24 For he looketh to the
ends of the earth, <i>and</i> seeth under the whole heaven;  
25 To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by
measure.   26 When he made a decree for the rain, and a way
for the lightning of the thunder:   27 Then did he see it, and
declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.   28 And
unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that <i>is</i>
wisdom; and to depart from evil <i>is</i> understanding.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxix-p13">The question which Job had asked (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.12" parsed="|Job|28|12|0|0" passage="Job 28:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>) he asks again here;
for it is too worthy, too weighty, to be let fall, until we speed
in the enquiry. Concerning this we must seek till we find, till we
get some satisfactory account of it. By a diligent prosecution of
this enquiry he brings it, at length, to this issue, that there is
a twofold wisdom, one <i>hidden in God,</i> which is secret and
<i>belongs not to us,</i> the other made known by him and revealed
to man, which <i>belongs to us and to our children.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxix-p14">I. The knowledge of God's secret will, the
will of his providence, is out of our reach, and what God has
reserved to himself. It <i>belongs to the Lord our God.</i> To know
the particulars of what God will do hereafter, and the reasons of
what he is doing now, is the knowledge Job first speaks of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxix-p15">1. This knowledge is hidden from us. It is
high, we cannot attain unto it (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.21-Job.28.22" parsed="|Job|28|21|28|22" passage="Job 28:21,22"><i>v.</i> 21, 22</scripRef>): <i>It is hid from the
eyes of all living,</i> even of philosophers, politicians, and
saints; it is <i>kept close from the fowls of the air;</i> though
they fly high and in the open firmament of heaven, though they seem
somewhat nearer that upper world where the source of this wisdom
is, though their eyes behold afar off (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.29" parsed="|Job|39|29|0|0" passage="Job 39:29"><i>ch.</i> xxxix. 29</scripRef>), yet they cannot
penetrate into the counsels of God. No, man is <i>wiser than the
fowls of heaven,</i> and yet comes short of this wisdom. Even those
who, in their speculations, soar highest, and think themselves,
like the fowls of the air, above the heads of other people, yet
cannot pretend to this knowledge. Job and his friends had been
arguing about the methods and reasons of the dispensations of
Providence in the government of the world. "What fools are we"
(says Job) "to fight in the dark thus, to dispute about that which
we do not understand!" The line and plummet of human reason can
never fathom the abyss of the divine counsels. Who can undertake to
give the rationale of Providence, or account for the maxims,
measure, and methods of God's government, those <i>arcana
imperii—cabinet counsels</i> of divine wisdom? Let us then be
content not to know the future events of the Providence until time
discover them (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.1.7" parsed="|Acts|1|7|0|0" passage="Ac 1:7">Acts i. 7</scripRef>) and
not to know the secret reasons of Providence until eternity
discover them. God is now a God that hideth himself (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.45.15" parsed="|Isa|45|15|0|0" passage="Isa 45:15">Isa. xlv. 15</scripRef>); <i>clouds and
darkness are round about him.</i> Though this wisdom be hidden from
all living, yet <i>destruction and death say, We have heard the
fame of it.</i> Though they cannot give an account of themselves
(for there is <i>no wisdom, nor device, nor knowledge at all in the
grave,</i> much less this), yet there is a world on the other side
death and the grave, on which those dark regions border, and to
which we must pass through them, and there we shall see clearly
what we are now in the dark about. "Have a little patience," says
Death to the inquisitive soul: "I will fetch thee shortly to a
place where even this wisdom will be found." When <i>the mystery of
God shall be finished</i> it will be laid open, and we shall know
as we are known; when the veil of flesh is rent, and the
interposing clouds are scattered, we shall know what God does,
though we know not now, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:John.13.7" parsed="|John|13|7|0|0" passage="Joh 13:7">John xiii.
7</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxix-p16">2. This knowledge is hidden in God, as the
apostle speaks, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Eph.3.9" parsed="|Eph|3|9|0|0" passage="Eph 3:9">Eph. iii. 9</scripRef>.
<i>Known unto God are all his works,</i> though they are not known
to us, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.15.18" parsed="|Acts|15|18|0|0" passage="Ac 15:18">Acts xv. 18</scripRef>. There
are good reasons for what he does, though we cannot assign them
(<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.23" parsed="|Job|28|23|0|0" passage="Job 28:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>): <i>God
understands the way thereof.</i> Men sometimes do they know not
what, but God never does. Men do what they did not design to do;
new occurrences put them upon new counsels, and oblige them to take
new measures. But God does all according to the purpose which he
purposed in himself, and which he never alters. Men sometimes do
that which they cannot give a good reason for, but in every will of
God there is a counsel: he knows both what he does and why he does
it, the whole series of events and the order and place of every
occurrence. This knowledge he has in perfection, but keeps to
himself. Two reasons are here given why God must needs understand
his own way, and he only:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxix-p17">(1.) Because all events are now directed by
an all-seeing and almighty Providence, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.24-Job.28.25" parsed="|Job|28|24|28|25" passage="Job 28:24,25"><i>v.</i> 24, 25</scripRef>. He that governs the
world is, [1.] Omniscient; <i>for he looks to the ends of the
earth,</i> both in place and time; distant ages, distant regions,
are under his view. We do not understand our own way, much less can
we understand God's way, because we are short-sighted. How little
do we know of what is doing in the world, much less of what will be
done? But <i>the eyes of the Lord are in every place;</i> nay, they
<i>run to and fro through the earth.</i> Nothing is, or can be,
hidden from him; and therefore the reasons why some wicked people
prosper remarkably and others are remarkably punished in this
world, which are secret to us, are known to him. One day's events,
and one man's affairs, have such a reference to, and such a
dependence upon, another's, that he only to whom all events and all
affairs are naked and open, and who sees the whole at one entire
and certain view, is a competent Judge of every part. [2.] He is
omnipotent. He can do every thing, and is very exact in all he
does. For proof of this Job mentions the winds and waters,
<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.25" parsed="|Job|28|25|0|0" passage="Job 28:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. What is
lighter than the wind? Yet God hath ways of poising it. He knows
how <i>to make the weight for the winds,</i> which he <i>brings out
of his treasuries</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.135.7" parsed="|Ps|135|7|0|0" passage="Ps 135:7">Ps. cxxxv.
7</scripRef>), keeping a very particular account of what he draws
out, as men do of what they pay out of their treasuries, not at
random, as men bring out their trash. Nothing sensible is to us
more unaccountable than the wind. We <i>hear the sound of it, yet
cannot tell whence it comes, nor whither it goes;</i> but God gives
it out by weight, wisely ordering both from what point it shall
blow and with what strength. The waters of the sea, and the
rain-waters, he both weighs and measures, allotting the proportion
of every tide and every shower. A great and constant communication
there is between clouds and seas, the waters above the firmament
and those under it. Vapours go up, rains come down, air is
condensed into water, water rarefied into air; but the great God
keeps an exact account of all the stock with which this trade is
carried on for the public benefit and sees that none of it be lost.
Now if, in these things, Providence be so exact, much more in
dispensing frowns and favours, rewards and punishments, to the
children of men, according to the rules of equity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxix-p18">(2.) Because all events were from eternity
designed and determined by an infallible prescience and immutable
decree, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.26-Job.28.27" parsed="|Job|28|26|28|27" passage="Job 28:26,27"><i>v.</i> 26,
27</scripRef>. When he settled the course of nature he foreordained
all the operations of his government. [1.] He settled the course of
nature. Job mentions particularly <i>a decree for the rain</i> and
<i>a way for the thunder and lightning.</i> The general manner and
method, and the particular uses and tendencies, of these strange
performances, both their causes and their effects, were appointed
by the divine purpose; hence God is said to <i>prepare lightnings
for the rain,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.135.7 Bible:Jer.10.13" parsed="|Ps|135|7|0|0;|Jer|10|13|0|0" passage="Ps 135:7,Jer 10:13">Ps. cxxxv.
7; Jer. x. 13</scripRef>. [2.] When he did that he laid all the
measures of his providence, and drew an exact scheme of the whole
work from first to last. Then, from eternity, did he see in
himself, and declare to himself, the plan of his proceedings. Then
he prepared it, fixed it, and established it, set every thing in
readiness for all his works, so that, when any thing was to be
done, nothing was to seek, nor could any thing unforeseen occur, to
put it either out of its method or out of its time; for all was
ordered as exactly as if he had studied it and searched it out, so
that, whatever he does, <i>nothing can be put to it nor taken from
it,</i> and therefore <i>it shall be for ever,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.14" parsed="|Eccl|3|14|0|0" passage="Ec 3:14">Eccl. iii. 14</scripRef>. Some make Job to speak
of wisdom here as a person, and translate it, <i>Then he saw her
and showed her,</i> &amp;c., and then it is parallel with that of
Solomon concerning the essential wisdom of the Father, the eternal
Word, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.8.22-Prov.8.31" parsed="|Prov|8|22|8|31" passage="Pr 8:22-31">Prov. viii. 22</scripRef>,
&amp;c. <i>Before the earth was, then was I by him,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p18.5" osisRef="Bible:John.1.1-John.1.2" parsed="|John|1|1|1|2" passage="Joh 1:1,2">John i. 1, 2</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxix-p19">II. The knowledge of God's revealed will,
the will of his precept, and this is within our reach; it is level
to our capacity, and will do us good (<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.28" parsed="|Job|28|28|0|0" passage="Job 28:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>): <i>Unto man he said, Behold,
the fear of the Lord that is wisdom.</i> Let it not be said that
when God concealed his counsels from man, and forbade him that tree
of knowledge, it was because he grudged him any thing that would
contribute to his real bliss and satisfaction; no, he let him know
as much as he was concerned to know in order to his duty and
happiness; he shall be entrusted with as much of his sovereign mind
as is needful and fit for a subject, but he must not think himself
fit to be a privy-counsellor. He said to <i>Adam</i> (so some), to
the first man, in the day in which he was created; he told him
plainly it was not for him to amuse himself with over-curious
searches into the mysteries of creation, nor to pretend to solve
all the phenomena of nature; he would find it neither possible nor
profitable to do so. No less wisdom (says archbishop Tillotson)
than that which made the world can thoroughly understand the
philosophy of it. But let him look upon this as his wisdom, to fear
the Lord and to depart from evil; let him learn that, and he is
learned enough; let this knowledge serve his turn. When God forbade
man the tree of knowledge he allowed him the tree of life, and this
is that tree, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.3.18" parsed="|Prov|3|18|0|0" passage="Pr 3:18">Prov. iii. 18</scripRef>.
We cannot attain true wisdom but by divine revelation. <i>The Lord
giveth wisdom,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.2.6" parsed="|Prov|2|6|0|0" passage="Pr 2:6">Prov. ii.
6</scripRef>. Now the matter of that is not found in the secrets of
nature or providence, but in the rules for our own practice. Unto
man he said, not, "Go up to heaven, to fetch happiness thence;" or,
"Go down to the deep, to draw it up thence." No, <i>the word is
nigh thee,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.30.14" parsed="|Deut|30|14|0|0" passage="De 30:14">Deut. xxx.
14</scripRef>. <i>He hath shown thee, O man!</i> not what is great,
but <i>what is good,</i> not what the Lord thy God designs to do
with thee, but what he <i>requires of thee,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.8" parsed="|Mic|6|8|0|0" passage="Mic 6:8">Mic. vi. 8</scripRef>. <i>Unto you, O men! I call,</i>
<scripRef id="Job.xxix-p19.6" osisRef="Bible:Prov.8.4" parsed="|Prov|8|4|0|0" passage="Pr 8:4">Prov. viii. 4</scripRef>. Lord, what is
man that he should be thus minded, thus visited! Behold, mark, take
notice of this; he that has ears let him hear what the God of
heaven says to the children of men: <i>The fear of the Lord, that
is the wisdom.</i> Here is, 1. The description of true religion,
pure religion, and undefiled; it is to <i>fear the Lord and depart
from evil,</i> which agrees with God's character of Job, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p19.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.1.1" parsed="|Job|1|1|0|0" passage="Job 1:1"><i>ch.</i> i. 1</scripRef>. The <i>fear of the
Lord</i> is the spring and summary of all religion. There is a
slavish fear of God, springing from hard thoughts of him, which is
contrary to religion, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p19.8" osisRef="Bible:Matt.25.24" parsed="|Matt|25|24|0|0" passage="Mt 25:24">Matt. xxv.
24</scripRef>. There is a selfish fear of God springing from
dreadful thoughts of him, which may be a good step towards
religion, <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p19.9" osisRef="Bible:Acts.9.5" parsed="|Acts|9|5|0|0" passage="Ac 9:5">Acts ix. 5</scripRef>. But
there is a filial fear of God, springing from great and high
thoughts of him, which is the life and soul of all religion. And,
wherever this reigns in the heart, it will appear by a constant
care to <i>depart from evil,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxix-p19.10" osisRef="Bible:Prov.16.6" parsed="|Prov|16|6|0|0" passage="Pr 16:6">Prov.
xvi. 6</scripRef>. This is essential to religion. We must first
cease to do evil, or we shall never learn to do well. <i>Virtus est
vitium fugere—Even in our flight from vice some virtue lies.</i>
2. The commendation of religion: it is <i>wisdom</i> and
<i>understanding.</i> To be truly religious is to be truly wise. As
the wisdom of God appears in the institution of religion, so the wisdom
of man appears in the practice and observance of it. It is
understanding, for it is the best knowledge of truth; it is wisdom,
for it is the best management of our affairs. Nothing more surely
guides our way and gains our end than being religious.</p>
</div></div2>