mh_parser/vol_split/18 - Job/Chapter 31.xml

<div2 id="Job.xxxii" n="xxxii" next="Job.xxxiii" prev="Job.xxxi" progress="15.07%" title="Chapter XXXI">
<h2 id="Job.xxxii-p0.1">J O B</h2>
<h3 id="Job.xxxii-p0.2">CHAP. XXXI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Job.xxxii-p1">Job had often protested his integrity in general;
here he does it in particular instances, not in a way of
commendation (for he does not here proclaim his good deeds), but in
his own just and necessary vindication, to clear himself from those
crimes with which his friends had falsely charged him, which is a
debt every man owes to his own reputation. Job's friends had been
particular in their articles of impeachment against him, and
therefore he is so in his protestation, which seems to refer
especially to what Eliphaz had accused him of, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.22.6-Job.22.9" parsed="|Job|22|6|22|9" passage="Job 22:6-9"><i>ch.</i> xxii. 6</scripRef>, &amp;c. They had
produced no witnesses against him, neither could they prove the
things whereof they now accused him, and therefore he may well be
admitted to purge himself upon oath, which he does very solemnly,
and with many awful imprecations of God's wrath if he were guilty
of those crimes. This protestation confirms God's character of him,
that there was none like him in the earth. Perhaps some of his
accusers durst not have joined with him; for he not only acquits
himself from those gross sins which lie open to the eye of the
world, but from many secret sins which, if he had been guilty of
them, nobody could have charged him, with, because he will prove
himself no hypocrite. Nor does he only maintain the cleanness of
his practices, but shows also that in them he went upon good
principles, that the reason of his eschewing evil was because he
feared God, and his piety was at the bottom of his justice and
charity; and this crowns the proof of his sincerity. I. The sins
from which he here acquits himself are, 1. Wantonness and
uncleanness of heart, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.1-Job.31.4" parsed="|Job|31|1|31|4" passage="Job 31:1-4">ver.
1-4</scripRef>. 2. Fraud and injustice in commerce, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.4-Job.31.8" parsed="|Job|31|4|31|8" passage="Job 31:4-8">ver. 4-8</scripRef>. 3. Adultery, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.9-Job.31.12" parsed="|Job|31|9|31|12" passage="Job 31:9-12">ver. 9-12</scripRef>. 4. Haughtiness and
severity towards his servants, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.13-Job.31.15" parsed="|Job|31|13|31|15" passage="Job 31:13-15">ver. 13-15</scripRef>. 5. Unmercifulness to the
poor, the widows, and the fatherless, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.16-Job.31.23" parsed="|Job|31|16|31|23" passage="Job 31:16-23">ver. 16-23</scripRef>. 6. Confidence in his worldly
wealth, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.24-Job.31.25" parsed="|Job|31|24|31|25" passage="Job 31:24,25">ver. 24, 25</scripRef>. 7.
Idolatry, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.26-Job.31.28" parsed="|Job|31|26|31|28" passage="Job 31:26-28">ver. 26-28</scripRef>.
8. Revenge, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.29-Job.31.31" parsed="|Job|31|29|31|31" passage="Job 31:29-31">ver. 29-31</scripRef>.
9. Neglect of poor strangers, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.32" parsed="|Job|31|32|0|0" passage="Job 31:32">ver.
32</scripRef>. 10. Hypocrisy in concealing his own sins and
cowardice in conniving at the sins of others, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.33-Job.31.34" parsed="|Job|31|33|31|34" passage="Job 31:33,34">ver. 33, 34</scripRef>. 11. Oppression, and the
violent invasion of other people's rights, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.38-Job.31.40" parsed="|Job|31|38|31|40" passage="Job 31:38-40">ver. 38-40</scripRef>. And towards the close, he
appeals to God's judgment concerning his integrity, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p1.13" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.35-Job.31.37" parsed="|Job|31|35|31|37" passage="Job 31:35-37">ver. 35-37</scripRef>. Now, II. In all this
we may see, 1. The sense of the patriarchal age concerning good and
evil and what was so long ago condemned as sinful, that is, both
hateful and hurtful. 2. A noble pattern of piety and virtue
proposed to us for our imitation, which, if our consciences can
witness for us that we conform to it, will be our rejoicing, as it
was Job's in the day of evil.</p>
<scripCom id="Job.xxxii-p1.14" osisRef="Bible:Job.31" parsed="|Job|31|0|0|0" passage="Job 31" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Job.xxxii-p1.15" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.1-Job.31.8" parsed="|Job|31|1|31|8" passage="Job 31:1-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.31.1-Job.31.8">
<h4 id="Job.xxxii-p1.16">Job's Vindication of
Himself. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xxxii-p1.17">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xxxii-p2">1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then
should I think upon a maid?   2 For what portion of God <i>is
there</i> from above? and <i>what</i> inheritance of the Almighty
from on high?   3 <i>Is</i> not destruction to the wicked? and
a strange <i>punishment</i> to the workers of iniquity?   4
Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?   5 If I have
walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;   6
Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine
integrity.   7 If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine
heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine
hands;   8 <i>Then</i> let me sow, and let another eat; yea,
let my offspring be rooted out.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p3">The lusts of the flesh, and the love of the
world, are the two fatal rocks on which multitudes split; against
these Job protests he was always careful to stand upon his
guard.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p4">I. Against the lusts of the flesh. He not
only kept himself clear from adultery, from defiling his
neighbour's wives (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.9" parsed="|Job|31|9|0|0" passage="Job 31:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>), but from all lewdness with any women whatsoever. He
kept no concubine, no mistress, but was inviolably faithful to the
marriage bed, though his wife was none of the wisest, best, or
kindest. From the beginning it was so, that a man should have but
one wife and cleave to her only; and Job kept closely to that
institution and abhorred the thought of transgressing it; for,
though his greatness might tempt him to it, his goodness kept him
from it. Job was now in pain and sickness of body, and under that
affliction it is in a particular manner comfortable if our
consciences can witness for us that we have been careful to
preserve our bodies in chastity and to possess those vessels in
sanctification and honour, pure from the lusts of uncleanness. Now
observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p5">1. What the resolutions were which, in this
matter, he kept to (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.1" parsed="|Job|31|1|0|0" passage="Job 31:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>): <i>I made a covenant with my eyes,</i> that is, "I
watched against the occasions of the sin; <i>why then should I
think upon a maid?</i>" that is, "by that means, through the grace
of God, I kept myself from the very first step towards it." So far
was he from wanton dalliances, or any act of lasciviousness, that,
(1.) He would not so much as admit a wanton look. <i>He made a
covenant with his eyes,</i> made this bargain with them, that he
would allow them the pleasure of beholding the light of the sun and
the glory of God shining in the visible creation, provided they
would never fasten upon any object that might occasion any impure
imaginations, much less any impure desires, in his mind; and under
this penalty, that, if they did, they must smart for it in
penitential tears. Note, Those that would keep their hearts pure
must guard their eyes, which are both the outlets and inlets of
uncleanness. Hence we read of <i>wanton</i> eyes (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.16" parsed="|Isa|3|16|0|0" passage="Isa 3:16">Isa. iii. 16</scripRef>) and <i>eyes full of
adultery,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:2Pet.2.14" parsed="|2Pet|2|14|0|0" passage="2Pe 2:14">2 Pet. ii.
14</scripRef>. The first sin began in the eye, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.3.6" parsed="|Gen|3|6|0|0" passage="Ge 3:6">Gen. iii. 6</scripRef>. What we must not meddle with we
must not lust after; and what we must not lust after we must not
look at; not the forbidden wealth (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.23.5" parsed="|Prov|23|5|0|0" passage="Pr 23:5">Prov. xxiii. 5</scripRef>), not the forbidden wine
(<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Prov.23.31" parsed="|Prov|23|31|0|0" passage="Pr 23:31">Prov. xxiii. 31</scripRef>), not the
forbidden woman, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Matt.5.28" parsed="|Matt|5|28|0|0" passage="Mt 5:28">Matt. v.
28</scripRef>. (2.) He would not so much as allow a wanton thought:
"<i>Why then should I think upon a maid</i> with any unchaste fancy
or desire towards her?" Shame and sense of honour might restrain
him from soliciting the chastity of a beautiful virgin, but only
grace and the fear of God would restrain him from so much as
thinking of it. Those are not chaste that are not so in spirit as
well as body, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.7.34" parsed="|1Cor|7|34|0|0" passage="1Co 7:34">1 Cor. vii.
34</scripRef>. See how Christ's exposition of the seventh
commandment agrees with the ancient sense of it, and how much
better Job understood it than the Pharisees, though they sat in
Moses's chair.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p6">2. What the reasons were which, in this
matter, he was governed by. It was not for fear of reproach among
men, though that is to be considered (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.6.33" parsed="|Prov|6|33|0|0" passage="Pr 6:33">Prov. vi. 33</scripRef>), but for fear of the wrath and
curse of God. He knew very well, (1.) That uncleanness is a sin
that forfeits all good, and shuts us out from the hope of it
(<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.2" parsed="|Job|31|2|0|0" passage="Job 31:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): <i>What
portion of God is there from above?</i> What blessing can such
impure sinners expect from the pure and holy God, or what token of
his favour? What inheritance of the Almighty can they look for from
on high? There is no portion, no inheritance, no true happiness,
for a soul, but what is in God, in the Almighty, and what comes
from above, from on high. Those that wallow in uncleanness render
themselves utterly unfit for communion with God, either in grace
here or in glory hereafter, and become allied to unclean spirits,
which are for ever separated from him; and then what portion, what
inheritance, can they have with God? No unclean thing shall enter
into the New Jerusalem, that holy city. (2.) It is a sin that
incurs divine vengeance, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.3" parsed="|Job|31|3|0|0" passage="Job 31:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. It will certainly be the sinner's ruin if it be not
repented of in time. <i>Is not destruction,</i> a swift and sure
destruction, <i>to</i> those <i>wicked</i> people, <i>and a strange
punishment to the workers of</i> this <i>iniquity?</i> Fools make a
mock at this sin, make a jest of it; it is with them a peccadillo,
a trick of youth. But they deceive themselves with vain words, for
because of these things, how light soever they make of them, the
wrath of God, the unsupportable wrath of the eternal God, <i>comes
upon the children of disobedience,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Eph.5.6" parsed="|Eph|5|6|0|0" passage="Eph 5:6">Eph. v. 6</scripRef>. There are some sinners whom God
sometimes out of the common road of Providence to meet with; such
are these. The destruction of Sodom is a strange punishment. <i>Is
there not alienation</i> (so some read it) <i>to the workers of
iniquity?</i> This is the sinfulness of the sin that it alienates
the mind from God (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Eph.4.18-Eph.4.19" parsed="|Eph|4|18|4|19" passage="Eph 4:18,19">Eph. iv. 18,
19</scripRef>), and this is the punishment of the sinners that they
shall be eternally set at a distance from him, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Rev.22.15" parsed="|Rev|22|15|0|0" passage="Re 22:15">Rev. xxii. 15</scripRef>. (3.) It cannot be hidden from
the all-seeing God. A wanton thought cannot be so close, nor a
wanton look so quick, as to escape his cognizance, much less any
act of uncleanness so secretly done as to be out of his sight. If
Job was at any time tempted to this sin, he restrained himself from
it, and all approaches to it, with this pertinent thought
(<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.4" parsed="|Job|31|4|0|0" passage="Job 31:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), <i>Doth not
he see my ways;</i> as Joseph did (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Gen.39.9" parsed="|Gen|39|9|0|0" passage="Ge 39:9">Gen.
xxxix. 9</scripRef>), <i>How can I do it, and sin against God?</i>
Two things Job had an eye to:—[1.] God's omniscience. It is a
great truth that God's eyes are <i>upon all the ways of men</i>
(<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p6.9" osisRef="Bible:Prov.5.20-Prov.5.21" parsed="|Prov|5|20|5|21" passage="Pr 5:20,21">Prov. v. 20, 21</scripRef>); but
Job here mentions it with application to himself and his own
actions: <i>Doth not he see my ways? O God! thou hast searched me
and known me.</i> God sees what rule we walk by, what company we
walk with, what end we walk towards, and therefore what ways we
walk in. [2.] His observance. "He not only sees, but takes notice;
he <i>counts all my steps,</i> all my false steps in the way of
duty, all my by-steps into the way of sin." He not only sees our
ways in general, but takes cognizance of our particular steps in
these ways, every action, every motion. He keeps account of all,
because he will call us to account, will bring every work into
judgment. God takes a more exact notice of us than we do of
ourselves; for who ever counted his own steps? yet God counts them.
Let us therefore walk circumspectly.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p7">II. He stood upon his guard against the
love of the world, and carefully avoided all sinful indirect means
of getting wealth. He dreaded all forbidden profit as much as all
forbidden pleasure. Let us see,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p8">1. What his protestation is. In general, he
had been honest and just in all his dealings, and never, to his
knowledge, did any body any wrong. (1.) He never <i>walked with
vanity</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.5" parsed="|Job|31|5|0|0" passage="Job 31:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>),
that is, he never durst tell a lie to get a good bargain. It was
never his way to banter, or equivocate, or make many words in his
dealings. Some men's constant walk is a constant cheat. They either
make what they have more than it is, that they may be trusted, or
less than it is, that nothing may be expected from them. But Job
was a different man. His wealth was not acquired by vanity, though
now diminished, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.13.11" parsed="|Prov|13|11|0|0" passage="Pr 13:11">Prov. xiii.
11</scripRef>. (2.) He never <i>hasted to deceit.</i> Those that
deceive must be quick and sharp, but Job's quickness and sharpness
were never turned that way. He never made haste to be rich by
deceit, but always acted cautiously, lest, through inconsideration,
he should do an unjust thing. Note, What we have in the world may
be either used with comfort or lost with comfort if it was honestly
obtained. (3.) His <i>steps never turned out of the way,</i> the
way of justice and fair dealing; from that he never deviated,
<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.7" parsed="|Job|31|7|0|0" passage="Job 31:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. He not only
took care not to walk in a constant course and way of deceit, but
he did not so much as take one step out of the way of honesty. In
every particular action and affair we must closely tie ourselves up
to the rules of righteousness. (4.) His heart did not <i>walk after
his eyes,</i> that is, he did not covet what he saw that was
another's, nor wish it his own. Covetousness is called the <i>lust
of the eye,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:1John.2.16" parsed="|1John|2|16|0|0" passage="1Jo 2:16">1 John ii.
16</scripRef>. Achan saw, and then took, the accursed thing. That
heart must needs wander that walks after the eyes; for then it
looks no further than the things that are seen, whereas it ought to
be in heaven whither the eyes cannot reach: it should follow the
dictates of religion and right reason: if it follow the eye, it
will be misled to that for which <i>God will bring men into
judgment,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11.9" parsed="|Eccl|11|9|0|0" passage="Ec 11:9">Eccl. xi. 9</scripRef>.
(5.) That <i>no blot had cleaved to his hands,</i> that is, he was
not chargeable with getting any thing dishonestly, or keeping that
which was another's, whenever it appeared to be so. Injustice is a
blot, a blot to the estate, a blot to the owner; it spoils the
beauty of both, and therefore is to be dreaded. Those that deal
much in the world may perhaps have a blot come upon their hands,
but they must wash it off again by repentance and restitution, and
not let it <i>cleave to their hands.</i> See <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.15" parsed="|Isa|33|15|0|0" passage="Isa 33:15">Isa. xxxiii. 15</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p9">2. How he ratifies his protestation. So
confident is he of his own honesty that, (1.) He is willing to have
his goods searched (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.6" parsed="|Job|31|6|0|0" passage="Job 31:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>): <i>Let me be weighed in an even balance,</i> that
is, "Let what I have got be enquired into and it will be found to
weigh well"—a sign that it was not obtained by vanity, for then
<i>Tekel</i> would have been written on it—<i>weighed in the
balance and found too light.</i> An honest man is so far from
dreading a trial that he desires it rather, being well assured that
God knows his integrity and will approve it, and that the trial of
it will be to his praise and honour. (2.) He is willing to forfeit
the whole cargo if there be found any prohibited or contraband
goods, any thing but what he came honestly by (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.8" parsed="|Job|31|8|0|0" passage="Job 31:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): "<i>Let me sow, and let another
eat,</i>" which was already agreed to be the doom of oppressors
(<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.5.5" parsed="|Job|5|5|0|0" passage="Job 5:5"><i>ch.</i> v. 5</scripRef>), "and
<i>let my offspring,</i> all the trees that I have planted, <i>be
rooted out.</i>" This intimates that he believed the sin did
deserve this punishment, that usually it is thus punished, but that
though now his estate was ruined (and at such a time, if ever, his
conscience would have brought his sin to his mind), yet he knew
himself innocent and would venture all the poor remains of his
estate upon the issue of the trial.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xxxii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.9-Job.31.15" parsed="|Job|31|9|31|15" passage="Job 31:9-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.31.9-Job.31.15">
<p class="passage" id="Job.xxxii-p10">9 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman,
or <i>if</i> I have laid wait at my neighbour's door;   10
<i>Then</i> let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down
upon her.   11 For this <i>is</i> a heinous crime; yea, it
<i>is</i> an iniquity <i>to be punished by</i> the judges.  
12 For it <i>is</i> a fire <i>that</i> consumeth to destruction,
and would root out all mine increase.   13 If I did despise
the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they
contended with me;   14 What then shall I do when God riseth
up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?   15 Did
not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion
us in the womb?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p11">Two more instances we have here of Job's
integrity:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p12">I. That he had a very great abhorrence of
the sin of adultery. As he did not wrong his own marriage bed by
keeping a concubine (he did not so much as think upon a maid,
<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.1" parsed="|Job|31|1|0|0" passage="Job 31:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), so he was
careful not to offer any injury to his neighbour's marriage bed.
Let us see here, 1. How clear he was from this sin, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.9" parsed="|Job|31|9|0|0" passage="Job 31:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. (1.) He did not so much
as covet his neighbour's wife; for even <i>his heart was not
deceived by a woman.</i> The beauty of another man's wife did not
kindle in him any unchaste desires, nor was he ever moved by the
allurements of an adulterous woman, such as is described, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.6-Prov.7.21" parsed="|Prov|7|6|7|21" passage="Pr 7:6-21">Prov. vii. 6</scripRef>, &amp;c. See the
original of all the defilements of the life; they come from a
deceived heart. Every sin is deceitful, and none more so than the
sin of uncleanness. (2.) He never compassed or imagined any
unchaste design. He never <i>laid wait at his neighbour's door,</i>
to get an opportunity to debauch his wife in his absence, when the
good man was not at home, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.19" parsed="|Prov|7|19|0|0" passage="Pr 7:19">Prov. vii.
19</scripRef>. See <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.24.15" parsed="|Job|24|15|0|0" passage="Job 24:15"><i>ch.</i> xxiv.
15</scripRef>. 2. What a dread he had of this sin, and what
frightful apprehensions he had concerning the malignity of it—that
it was a <i>heinous crime</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.11" parsed="|Job|31|11|0|0" passage="Job 31:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), one of the greatest vilest
sins a man can be guilty of, highly provoking to God, and
destructive to the prosperity of the soul. With respect to the
mischievousness of it, and the punishment it deserved, he owns
that, if he were guilty of that heinous crime, (1.) His family
might justly be made infamous in the highest degree (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p12.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.10" parsed="|Job|31|10|0|0" passage="Job 31:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>Let my wife grind
to another.</i> Let her be a <i>slave</i> (so some), a
<i>harlot,</i> so others. God often punishes the sins of one with
the sin of another, the adultery of the husband with the adultery
of the wife, as in David's case (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p12.8" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.12.11" parsed="|2Sam|12|11|0|0" passage="2Sa 12:11">2
Sam. xii. 11</scripRef>), which does not in the least excuse the
treachery of the adulterous wife; but, how unrighteous soever she
is, God is righteous. See <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p12.9" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.13" parsed="|Hos|4|13|0|0" passage="Ho 4:13">Hos. iv.
13</scripRef>, <i>Your spouses shall commit adultery.</i> Note,
Those who are not just and faithful to their relations must not
think it strange if their relations be unjust and unfaithful to
them. (2.) He himself might justly be made a public example: <i>For
it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges;</i> yea, though
those who are guilty of it are themselves judges, as Job was. Note,
Adultery is a crime which the civil magistrate ought to take
cognizance of and punish: so it was adjudged even in the
patriarchal age, before the law of Moses made it capital. It is an
evil work, to which the sword of justice ought to be a terror. (3.)
It might justly become the ruin of his estate; nay, he knew it
would be so (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p12.10" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.12" parsed="|Job|31|12|0|0" passage="Job 31:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>): <i>It is a fire.</i> Lust is a fire in the soul:
those that indulge it are said to burn. It consumes all that is
good there (the convictions, the comforts), and lays the conscience
waste. It kindles the fire of God's wrath, which, if not
extinguished by the blood of Christ, will burn to the lowest hell.
It will <i>consume</i> even <i>to</i> that eternal
<i>destruction.</i> It consumes the body, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p12.11" osisRef="Bible:Prov.5.11" parsed="|Prov|5|11|0|0" passage="Pr 5:11">Prov. v. 11</scripRef>. It consumes the substance; it
<i>roots out all the increase.</i> Burning lusts bring burning
judgments. Perhaps it alludes to the burning of Sodom, which was
intended for an example to those who should afterwards, in like
manner, live ungodly.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p13">II. That he had a very great tenderness for
his servants and ruled them with a gentle hand. He had a great
household and he managed it well. By this he evidenced his
sincerity that he had grace to govern his passion as well as his
appetite; and he that in these two things has the rule of his own
spirit is <i>better than the mighty,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.16.32" parsed="|Prov|16|32|0|0" passage="Pr 16:32">Prov. xvi. 32</scripRef>. Here observe, 1. What were
Job's condescensions to his servants (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.13" parsed="|Job|31|13|0|0" passage="Job 31:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): He did not <i>despise the
cause of his man-servant,</i> no, nor of his <i>maid-servant, when
they contended with him.</i> If they contradicted him in any thing,
he was willing to hear their reasons. If they had offended him, or
were accused to him, he would patiently hear what they had to say
for themselves, in their own vindication or excuse. Nay, if they
complained of any hardship he put upon them, he did not browbeat
them, and bid them hold their tongues, but gave them leave to tell
their story, and redressed their grievances as far as it appeared
they had right on their side. He was tender of them, not only when
they served and pleased him, but even when they contended with him.
Herein he was a great example to masters, to <i>give to their
servants that which is just and equal;</i> nay, to do the same
things to them that they expect from them (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Col.4.1 Bible:Eph.6.9" parsed="|Col|4|1|0|0;|Eph|6|9|0|0" passage="Col 4:1,Eph 6:9">Col. iv. 1, Eph. vi. 9</scripRef>), and not to
rule them with rigour, and carry it with a high hand. Many of Job's
servants were slain in his service (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.1.15-Job.1.17" parsed="|Job|1|15|1|17" passage="Job 1:15-17"><i>ch.</i> i. 15-17</scripRef>); the rest were unkind
and undutiful to him, and despised his cause, though he never
despised theirs (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.19.15-Job.19.16" parsed="|Job|19|15|19|16" passage="Job 19:15,16"><i>ch.</i> xix.
15, 16</scripRef>); but he had this comfort that in his prosperity
he had behaved well towards them. Note, When relations are either
removed from us or embittered to us the testimony of our
consciences that we have done our duty to them will be a great
support and comfort to us. 2. What were the considerations that
moved him to treat his servants thus kindly. He had, herein, an eye
to God, both as his Judge and their Maker. (1.) As his Judge. He
considered, "If I should be imperious and severe with my servants,
<i>what then shall I do when God riseth up?</i>" He considered that
he had a Master in heaven, to whom he was accountable, who will
rise up and will visit; and <i>we</i> are concerned to consider
<i>what we shall do in the day of his visitation</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p13.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.3" parsed="|Isa|10|3|0|0" passage="Isa 10:3">Isa. x. 3</scripRef>), and, considering that we
should be undone if God should then be strict and severe with us,
we ought to be very mild and gentle towards all with whom we have
to do. Consider what would become of us if God should be extreme to
mark what we do amiss, should take all advantages against us and
insist upon all his just demands from us—if he should visit every
offence, and take every forfeiture—if he should always chide, and
keep his anger for ever. And let not us be rigorous with our
inferiors. Consider what will become of us if we be cruel and
unmerciful to our brethren. The cries of the injured will be heard;
the sins of the injurious will be punished. Those that showed no
mercy shall find none; and what shall we do then? (2.) As his and
his servants' Creator, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p13.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.15" parsed="|Job|31|15|0|0" passage="Job 31:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>. When he was tempted to be harsh with his servants,
to deny them their right and turn a deaf ear to their reasonings,
this thought came very seasonably into his mind, "<i>Did not he
that made me in the womb make him?</i> I am a creature as well as
he, and my being is derived and depending as well as his. He
partakes of the same nature that I do and is the work of the same
hand: <i>Have we not all one Father?</i>" Note, Whatever difference
there is among men in their outward condition, in their capacity of
mind, or strength of body, or place in the world, he that made the
one made the other also, which is a good reason why we should not
mock at men's natural infirmities, nor trample upon those that are
in any way our inferiors, but, in every thing, do as we would be
done by. It is a rule of justice, <i>Parium par sit ratio—Let
equals be equally estimated and treated;</i> and therefore since
there is so great a parity among men, they being all made of the
same mould, by the same power, for the same end, notwithstanding
the disparity of our outward condition, we are bound so far to set
ourselves upon the level with those we deal with as to do to them,
in all respects, as we would they should do to us.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xxxii-p13.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.16-Job.31.23" parsed="|Job|31|16|31|23" passage="Job 31:16-23" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.31.16-Job.31.23">
<h4 id="Job.xxxii-p13.9">Job's Compassion to the
Poor. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xxxii-p13.10">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xxxii-p14">16 If I have withheld the poor from <i>their</i>
desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;   17 Or
have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not
eaten thereof;   18 (For from my youth he was brought up with
me, as <i>with</i> a father, and I have guided her from my mother's
womb;)   19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or
any poor without covering;   20 If his loins have not blessed
me, and <i>if</i> he were <i>not</i> warmed with the fleece of my
sheep;   21 If I have lifted up my hand against the
fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:   22 <i>Then</i>
let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken
from the bone.   23 For destruction <i>from</i> God <i>was</i>
a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not
endure.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p15">Eliphaz had particularly charged Job with
unmercifulness to the poor (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.22.6-Job.22.9" parsed="|Job|22|6|22|9" passage="Job 22:6-9"><i>ch.</i> xxii. 6</scripRef>, &amp;c.): Thou hast
<i>withholden bread from the hungry, stripped the naked of their
clothing,</i> and sent <i>widows away empty.</i> One would think he
could not have been so very positive and express in his charge
unless there had been some truth in it, some ground, for it; and
yet it appears, by Job's protestation, that it was utterly false
and groundless; he was never guilty of any such thing. See
here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p16">I. The testimony which Job's conscience
gave in concerning his constant behaviour towards the poor. He
enlarges most upon this head because in this matter he was most
particularly accused. He solemnly protests,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p17">1. That he had never been wanting to do
good to them, as there was occasion, to the utmost of his ability.
He was always compassionate to the poor, and careful of them,
especially the widows and fatherless, that were destitute of help.
(1.) He was always ready to grant their desires and answer their
expectations, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.16" parsed="|Job|31|16|0|0" passage="Job 31:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>. If a poor person begged a kindness of his, he was
ready to gratify him; if he could but perceive by the widow's
mournful craving look that she expected an alms from him, though
she had not confidence enough to ask it, he had compassion enough
to give it, and <i>never caused the eyes of the widow to fail.</i>
(2.) He put a respect upon the poor, and did them honour; for he
took the fatherless children to eat with him at his own table: they
should fare as he fared, and be familiar with him, and he would
show himself pleased with their company as if they had been his
own, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.17" parsed="|Job|31|17|0|0" passage="Job 31:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. As it
is one of the greatest grievances of poverty that it exposes to
contempt, so it is none of the least supports to the poor to be
respected. (3.) He was very tender of them, and had a fatherly
concern for them, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.18" parsed="|Job|31|18|0|0" passage="Job 31:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>. He was a father to the fatherless, took care of
orphans, brought them up with him under his own eye, and gave them,
not only maintenance, but education. He was a guide to the widow,
who had lost the guide of her youth; he advised her in her affairs,
took cognizance of them, and undertook the management of them.
Those that need not our alms may yet have occasion for our counsel,
and it may be a real kindness to them. This Job says he did <i>from
his youth, from his mother's womb.</i> He had something of
tenderness and compassion woven in his nature; he began betimes to
do good, ever since he could remember; he had always some poor
widow or fatherless child under his care. His parents taught him
betimes to pity and relieve the poor, and brought up orphans with
him. (4.) He provided food convenient for them; they ate of the
same morsels that he did (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.17" parsed="|Job|31|17|0|0" passage="Job 31:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>), did not eat after him, of the crumbs that fell from
his table, but with him, of the best dish upon his table. Those
that have abundance must not eat their morsels alone, as if they
had none but themselves to take care of, nor indulge their appetite
with a dainty bit by themselves, but take others to share with
them, as David took Mephibosheth. (5.) He took particular care to
clothe those that were without covering, which would be more
expensive to him than feeding them, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.19" parsed="|Job|31|19|0|0" passage="Job 31:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. Poor people may perish for
want of clothing as well as for want of food—for want of clothing
to lie in by night or to go abroad in by day. If Job knew of any
that were in this distress, he was forward to relieve them, and
instead of giving rich and gaudy liveries to his servants, while
the poor were turned off with rags that were ready to be thrown to
the dunghill, he had good warm strong clothes made on purpose for
them of <i>the fleece of his sheep</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p17.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.20" parsed="|Job|31|20|0|0" passage="Job 31:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>), so that their <i>loins,</i>
whenever they girt those garments about them, <i>blessed him;</i>
they commended his charity, blessed God for him, and prayed God to
bless him. Job's sheep were burned with fire from heaven, but this
was his comfort that, when he had them, he came honestly by them,
and used them charitably, fed the poor with their flesh and clothed
them with their wool.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p18">2. That he had never been accessory to the
wronging of any that were poor. It might be said, perhaps, that he
was kind here and there to a poor orphan that was a favourite, but
to others he was oppressive. No, he was tender to all and injurious
to none. He never so much as <i>lifted up his hand against the
fatherless</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.21" parsed="|Job|31|21|0|0" passage="Job 31:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>), never threatened or frightened them, or offered to
strike them; never used his power to crush those that stood in his
way or squeeze what he could out of them, though he <i>saw his help
in the gate,</i> that is, though he had interest enough, both in
the people and in the judges, both to enable him to do it and to
bear him out when he had done it. Those that have it in their power
to do a wrong thing and go through with it, and a prospect of
getting by it, and yet do justly, and love mercy, and are firm to
both, may afterwards reflect upon their conduct with much comfort,
as Job does here.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p19">II. The imprecation with which he confirms
this protestation (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.22" parsed="|Job|31|22|0|0" passage="Job 31:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>): "If I have been oppressive to the poor, <i>let my
arm fall from my shoulder-blade and my arm be broken from the
bone,</i>" that is, "let the flesh rot off from the bone and one
bone be disjointed and broken off from another." Had he not been
perfectly clear in this matter, he durst not thus have challenged
the divine vengeance. And he intimates that it is a righteous thing
with God to break the arm that is lifted up against the fatherless,
as he withered Jeroboam's arm that was stretched out against a
prophet.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p20">III. The principles by which Job was
restrained from all uncharitableness and unmercifulness. He durst
not abuse the poor; for though, with his help in the gate, he could
overpower them, yet he could not make his part good against that
God who is the patron of oppressed poverty and will not let
oppressors go unpunished (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.23" parsed="|Job|31|23|0|0" passage="Job 31:23"><i>v.</i>
23</scripRef>): "<i>Destruction from God was a terror to me,</i>
whenever I was tempted to this sin, and <i>by reason of his
highness I could not endure</i> the thought of making him my
enemy." He stood in awe, 1. Of the majesty of God, as a God above
him. He thought of his highness, the infinite distance between him
and God, which possessed him with such a reverence of him as made
him very circumspect in his whole conversation. Those who oppress
the poor, and pervert judgment and justice, forget that <i>he who
is higher than the highest regards,</i> and <i>there is a higher
than they,</i> who is able to deal with them (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.5.8" parsed="|Eccl|5|8|0|0" passage="Ec 5:8">Eccl. v. 8</scripRef>); but Job considered this. 2. Of the
wrath of God, as a God that would certainly be against him if he
should wrong the poor. <i>Destruction from God,</i> because it
would be a certain and an utter ruin to him if he were guilty of
this sin, was a constant terror to him, to restrain him from it.
Note, Good men, even the best, have need to restrain themselves
from sin with the fear of destruction from God, and all little
enough. This should especially restrain us from all acts of
injustice and oppression that God himself is the avenger thereof.
Even when salvation from God is a comfort to us, yet destruction
from God should be a terror to us. Adam, in innocency, was awed
with a threatening.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xxxii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.24-Job.31.32" parsed="|Job|31|24|31|32" passage="Job 31:24-32" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.31.24-Job.31.32">
<h4 id="Job.xxxii-p20.4">Job's Abhorrence of
Idolatry. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xxxii-p20.5">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xxxii-p21">24 If I have made gold my hope, or have said to
the fine gold, <i>Thou art</i> my confidence;   25 If I
rejoiced because my wealth <i>was</i> great, and because mine hand
had gotten much;   26 If I beheld the sun when it shined, or
the moon walking <i>in</i> brightness;   27 And my heart hath
been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:   28
This also <i>were</i> an iniquity <i>to be punished by</i> the
judge: for I should have denied the God <i>that is</i> above.
  29 If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or
lifted up myself when evil found him:   30 Neither have I
suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.   31
If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh!
we cannot be satisfied.   32 The stranger did not lodge in the
street: <i>but</i> I opened my doors to the traveller.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p22">Four articles more of Job's protestation we
have in these verses, which, as all the rest, not only assure us
what he was and did, but teach us what we should be and do:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p23">I. He protests that he never set his heart
upon the wealth of this world, nor took the things of it for his
portions and happiness. He had gold; he had fine gold. His
<i>wealth was great,</i> and he <i>had gotten much.</i> Our wealth
is either advantageous or pernicious to us according as we stand
affected to it. If we make it our rest and our ruler, it will be
our ruin; if we make it our servant, and an instrument of
righteousness, it will be a blessing to us. Job here tells us how
he stood affected to his worldly wealth. 1. He put no great
confidence in it: he did not <i>make gold his hope,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.24" parsed="|Job|31|24|0|0" passage="Job 31:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. Those are very unwise
that do, and enemies to themselves, who depend upon it as
sufficient to make them happy, who think themselves safe and
honourable, and sure of comfort, in having abundance of this
world's goods. Some make it their hope and confidence for another
world, as if it were a certain token of God's favour; and those who
have so much sense as not to think so yet promise themselves that
it will be a portion for them in this life, whereas the things
themselves are uncertain and our satisfaction in them is much more
so. It is hard to have riches and not to trust in riches; and it is
this which makes it so difficult for <i>a rich man to enter into
the kingdom of God,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.19.23 Bible:Mark.10.23" parsed="|Matt|19|23|0|0;|Mark|10|23|0|0" passage="Mt 19:23,Mk 10:23">Matt.
xix. 23; Mark x. 24</scripRef>. 2. He took no great complacency in
it (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.25" parsed="|Job|31|25|0|0" passage="Job 31:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>): <i>If I
rejoiced because my wealth was great</i> and boasted that <i>my
hand had gotten much.</i> He took no pride in his wealth, as if it
added any thing to his real excellency, nor did he think that his
might and the power of his hand obtained it for him, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.17" parsed="|Deut|8|17|0|0" passage="De 8:17">Deut. viii. 17</scripRef>. He took no pleasure in
it in comparison with the spiritual things which were the delight
of his soul. His joy did not terminate in the gift, but passed
through it to the giver. When he was in the midst of his abundance
he never said, <i>Soul, take thy ease</i> in these things, <i>eat,
drink, and be merry,</i> nor blessed himself in his riches. He did
not inordinately rejoice in his wealth, which helped him to bear
the loss of it so patiently as he did. The way to <i>weep as though
we wept not</i> is to <i>rejoice as though we rejoiced not.</i> The
less pleasure the enjoyment is the less pain the disappointment
will be.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p24">II. He protests that he never gave the
worship and glory to the creature which are due to God only; he was
never guilty of idolatry, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.26-Job.31.28" parsed="|Job|31|26|31|28" passage="Job 31:26-28"><i>v.</i> 26-28</scripRef>. We do not find that
Job's friends charged him with this. But there were those, it
seems, at that time, who were so sottish as to worship the sun and
moon, else Job would not have mentioned it. Idolatry is one of the
old ways which wicked men have trodden, and the most ancient
idolatry was the worshipping of the sun and moon, to which the
temptation was most strong, as appears <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.4.19" parsed="|Deut|4|19|0|0" passage="De 4:19">Deut. iv. 19</scripRef>, where Moses speaks of the danger
which the people were in of being driven to worship them. But as
yet it was practised secretly, and durst not appear in open view,
as afterwards the most abominable idolatries did. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p25">1. How far Job kept from this sin. He not
only never bowed the knee to Baal (which, some think, was designed
to represent the sun), never fell down and worshipped the sun, but
he kept his eye, his heart, and his lips, clean from this sin. (1.)
He never so much as beheld the sun or the moon in their pomp and
lustre with any other admiration of them than what led him to give
all the glory of their brightness and usefulness to their Creator.
Against spiritual as well as corporal adultery he made a covenant
with his eyes; and this was his covenant, that, whenever he looked
at the lights of heaven, he should by faith look through them, and
beyond them, to the Father of lights. (2.) He kept his heart with
all diligence, that that should not be secretly enticed to think
that there is a divine glory in their brightness, or a divine power
in their influence, and that therefore divine honours are to be
paid to them. Here is the source of idolatry; it begins in the
heart. Every man is tempted to that, as to other sins, when he is
<i>drawn away by his own lust and enticed.</i> (3.) He did not so
much as put a compliment upon these pretended deities, did not
perform the least and lowest act of adoration: <i>His mouth did not
kiss his hand,</i> which, it is likely, was a ceremony then
commonly used even by some that yet would not be thought idolaters.
It is an old-fashioned piece of civil respect among ourselves, in
making a bow, to kiss the hand, a form which, it seems, was
anciently used in giving divine honours to the sun and moon. They
could not reach to kiss them, as <i>the men that sacrificed kissed
the calves</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.13.2 Bible:1Kgs.19.18" parsed="|Hos|13|2|0|0;|1Kgs|19|18|0|0" passage="Ho 13:2,1Ki 19:18">Hos. xiii. 2,
1 Kings xix. 18</scripRef>); but, to show their good will, they
kissed their hand, reverencing those as their masters which God has
made servants to this lower world, to hold the candle for us. Job
never did it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p26">2. How ill Job thought of this sin,
<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.28" parsed="|Job|31|28|0|0" passage="Job 31:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>. (1.) He
looked upon it as an affront to the civil magistrate: It <i>were an
iniquity to be punished by the judge,</i> as a public nuisance, and
hurtful to kings and provinces. Idolatry debauches men's minds,
corrupts their manners, takes off the true sense of religion which
is the great bond of societies, and provokes God to give men up to
a reprobate sense, and to send judgments upon a nation; and
therefore the conservators of the public peace are concerned to
restrain it by punishing it. (2.) He looked upon it as a much
greater affront to the God of heaven, and no less than high treason
against his crown and dignity: For <i>I should have denied the God
that is above,</i> denied his being as God and his sovereignty as
God above. Idolatry is, in effect, atheism; hence the Gentiles are
said to be <i>without God (atheists) in the world.</i> Note, We
should be afraid of every thing that does but tacitly deny the God
above, his providence, or any of his perfections.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p27">III. He protests that he was so far from
doing or designing mischief to any that he neither desired nor
delighted in the hurt of the worst enemy he had. The forgiving of
those that do us evil, it seems, was Old-Testament duty, though the
Pharisees made the law concerning it of no effect, by teaching,
<i>Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thy enemy,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.5.43" parsed="|Matt|5|43|0|0" passage="Mt 5:43">Matt. v. 43</scripRef>. Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p28">1. Job was far from revenge. He did not
only not return the injuries that were done him, not only not
destroy those who hated him; but, (1.) He did not so much as
rejoice when any mischief befel them, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.29" parsed="|Job|31|29|0|0" passage="Job 31:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>. Many who would not wilfully
hurt those who stand in their light, or have done them a
diskindness, yet are secretly pleased and laugh in their sleeve (as
we say) when hurt is done them. But Job was not of that spirit.
Though Job was a very good man, yet, it seems, there were those
that hated him; but evil found them. He saw their destruction, and
was far from rejoicing in it; for that would justly have brought
the destruction upon him, as it is intimated, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.24.17-Prov.24.18" parsed="|Prov|24|17|24|18" passage="Pr 24:17,18">Prov. xxiv. 17, 18</scripRef>. (2.) He did not so
much as wish in his own mind that evil might befel them, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p28.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.30" parsed="|Job|31|30|0|0" passage="Job 31:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>. He never <i>wished a
curse to his soul</i> (curses to the soul are the worst of curses),
never desired his death; he knew that, if he did, it would turn
into sin to him. He was careful <i>not to offend with his
tongue</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p28.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.39.1" parsed="|Ps|39|1|0|0" passage="Ps 39:1">Ps. xxxix. 1</scripRef>),
would not <i>suffer his mouth to sin,</i> and therefore durst not
imprecate any evil, no, not to his worst enemy. If others bear
malice to us, that will not justify us in bearing malice to
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p29">2. He was violently urged to revenge, and
yet he kept himself thus clear from it (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.31" parsed="|Job|31|31|0|0" passage="Job 31:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>): <i>The men of his
tabernacle,</i> his domestics, his servants, and those about him,
were so enraged at Job's enemy who hated him, that they could have
eaten him, if Job would but have set them on or given them leave.
"<i>O that we had of his flesh!</i> Our master is satisfied to
forgive him, but <i>we cannot be so satisfied.</i>" See how much
beloved Job was by his family, how heartily they espoused his
cause, and what enemies they were to his enemies; but see what a
strict hand Job kept upon his passions, that he would not avenge
himself, though he had those about him that blew the coals of his
resentment. Note, (1.) A good man commonly does not himself lay to
heart the affronts that are done him so much as his friends do for
him. (2.) Great men have commonly those about them that stir them
up to revenge. David had so, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p29.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.24.4 Bible:1Sam.26.8 Bible:2Sam.16.9" parsed="|1Sam|24|4|0|0;|1Sam|26|8|0|0;|2Sam|16|9|0|0" passage="1Sa 24:4,26:8,2Sa 16:9">1 Sam. xxiv. 4; xxvi. 8; 2 Sam. xvi.
9</scripRef>. But if they keep their temper, notwithstanding the
spiteful insinuations of those about them, afterwards it shall be
no grief of heart to them, but shall turn very much to their
praise.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p30">IV. He protests that he had never been
unkind or inhospitable to strangers (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p30.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.32" parsed="|Job|31|32|0|0" passage="Job 31:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>): <i>The stranger lodged not in
the street,</i> as angels might lately have done in the streets of
Sodom if Lot alone had not entertained them. Perhaps by that
instance Job was taught (as we are, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p30.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.13.2" parsed="|Heb|13|2|0|0" passage="Heb 13:2">Heb. xiii. 2</scripRef>) not to be forgetful to
entertain strangers. He that is at home must consider those that
are from home, and put his soul into their soul's stead, and then
do as he would be done by. Hospitality is a Christian duty,
<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p30.3" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.4.9" parsed="|1Pet|4|9|0|0" passage="1Pe 4:9">1 Pet. iv. 9</scripRef>. Job, in his
prosperity, was noted for good house-keeping: <i>He opened his door
to the road</i> (so it may be read); he kept the street-door open,
that he might see who passed by and invite them in, as Abraham,
<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p30.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.18.1" parsed="|Gen|18|1|0|0" passage="Ge 18:1">Gen. xviii. 1</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xxxii-p30.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.33-Job.31.40" parsed="|Job|31|33|31|40" passage="Job 31:33-40" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.31.33-Job.31.40">
<h4 id="Job.xxxii-p30.6">Job's Protestation of His
Integrity. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xxxii-p30.7">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xxxii-p31">33 If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by
hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:   34 Did I fear a great
multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept
silence, <i>and</i> went not out of the door?   35 Oh that one
would hear me! behold, my desire <i>is, that</i> the Almighty would
answer me, and <i>that</i> mine adversary had written a book.
  36 Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, <i>and</i> bind
it <i>as</i> a crown to me.   37 I would declare unto him the
number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.   38
If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof
complain;   39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without
money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:  
40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of
barley. The words of Job are ended.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p32">We have here Job's protestation against
three more sins, together with his general appeal to God's bar and
his petition for a hearing there, which, it is likely, was intended
to conclude his discourse (and therefore we will consider it last),
but that another particular sin occurred, from which he thought it
requisite to acquit himself. He clears himself from the charge,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p33">I. Of dissimulation and hypocrisy. The
general crime of which his friends accused him was that, under the
cloak of a profession of religion, he had kept up secret haunts of
sin, and that really he was as bad as other people, but had the art
of concealing it. Zophar insinuated (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p33.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.20.12" parsed="|Job|20|12|0|0" passage="Job 20:12"><i>ch.</i> xx. 12</scripRef>) that he <i>hid his
iniquity under his tongue.</i> "No," says Job, "I never did
(<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p33.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.33" parsed="|Job|31|33|0|0" passage="Job 31:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>), <i>I never
covered my transgression as Adam,</i> never palliated a sin with
frivolous excuses, nor made fig-leaves the shelter of my shame, nor
ever <i>hid my iniquity in my bosom,</i> as a fondling, a darling,
that I could by no means part with, or as stolen goods which I
dreaded the discovery of." It is natural to us to cover our sins;
we have it from our first parents. We are loth to confess our
faults, willing to extenuate them and make the best of ourselves,
to devolve the blame upon others, as Adam on his wife, not without
a tacit reflection upon God himself. But <i>he that</i> thus
<i>covers his sins shall not prosper,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p33.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.28.13" parsed="|Prov|28|13|0|0" passage="Pr 28:13">Prov. xxviii. 13</scripRef>. Job, in this protestation,
intimates two things, which were certain evidences of his
integrity:—1. That he was not guilty of any great transgression
or iniquity, inconsistent with sincerity, which he had now
industriously concealed. In this protestation he had dealt fairly,
and, while he denies some sins, was not conscious to himself that
he allowed himself in any. 2. That what transgression and iniquity
he had been guilty of (<i>Who is there that lives and sins
not?</i>) he had always been ready to own it, and, as soon as ever
he perceived he had said or done amiss, he was ready to unsay it
and undo it, as far as he could, by repentance, confessing it both
to God and man, and forsaking it: this is doing honestly.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p34">II. From the charge of cowardice and base
fear. His courage in that which is good he produces as an evidence
of his sincerity in it (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p34.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.34" parsed="|Job|31|34|0|0" passage="Job 31:34"><i>v.</i>
34</scripRef>): <i>Did I fear a great multitude, that I kept
silence?</i> No, all that knew Job knew him to be a man of
undaunted resolution in a good cause, that boldly appeared, spoke,
and acted, in defence of religion and justice, and did not fear the
face of man nor was ever threatened or brow-beaten out of his duty,
but set his face as a flint. Observe, 1. What great conscience Job
had made of his duty as a magistrate, or a man of reputation, in
the place where he lived. He did not, he durst not, keep silence
when he had a call to speak in an honest cause, or keep within
doors when he had a call to go abroad to do good. The case may be
such that it may be our sin to be silent and retired, as when we
are called to reprove sin and bear our testimony against it, to
vindicate the truths and ways of God, to do justice to those who
are injured or oppressed, or in any way to serve the public or to
do honour to our religion. 2. What little account Job made of the
discouragements he met with in the way of his duty. He valued not
the clamours of the mob, feared not a great multitude, nor did he
value the menaces of the mighty: <i>The contempt of families never
terrified him.</i> He was not deterred by the number or quality,
the scorns or insults, or the injurious from doing justice to the
injured; no, he scorned to be swayed and biassed by any such
considerations, nor ever suffered a righteous cause to be run down
by a high hand. He feared the great God, not the multitude, and his
curse, not the contempt of families.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p35">III. From the charge of oppression and
violence, and doing wrong to his poor neighbours. And here
observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p36">1. What his protestation is—that the
estate he had he both got and used honestly, so that his
<i>land</i> could not <i>cry out against him nor the furrows
thereof complain</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p36.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.38" parsed="|Job|31|38|0|0" passage="Job 31:38"><i>v.</i>
38</scripRef>), as they do against those who get the possession of
them by fraud and extortion, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p36.2" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.9-Hab.2.11" parsed="|Hab|2|9|2|11" passage="Hab 2:9-11">Hab.
ii. 9-11</scripRef>. The whole creation is said to groan under the
sin of man; but that which is unjustly gained and held cries out
against a man, and accuses him, condemns him, and demands justice
against him for the injury. Rather than his oppression shall go
unpunished the very ground and the furrows of it shall witness
against him, and be his prosecutors. Two things he could say safely
concerning his estate:—(1.) That he <i>never ate the fruits of it
without money,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p36.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.39" parsed="|Job|31|39|0|0" passage="Job 31:39"><i>v.</i>
39</scripRef>. What he purchased he paid for, as Abraham for the
land he bought (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p36.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.23.16" parsed="|Gen|23|16|0|0" passage="Ge 23:16">Gen. xxiii.
16</scripRef>), and David, <scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p36.5" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.24.24" parsed="|2Sam|24|24|0|0" passage="2Sa 24:24">2 Sam.
xxiv. 24</scripRef>. The labourers that he employed had their wages
duly paid them, and, if he made use of the fruits of those lands
that he let out, he paid his tenants for them, or allowed it in
their rent. (2.) That he never caused the owners thereof to lose
their life, never got an estate, as Ahab got Naboth's vineyard, by
killing the heir and seizing the inheritance, never starved those
that held lands of him nor killed them with hard bargains and hard
usage. No tenant, no workman, no servant, he had, could complain of
him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p37">2. How he confirms his protestation. He
does it, as often before, with a suitable imprecation (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p37.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.40" parsed="|Job|31|40|0|0" passage="Job 31:40"><i>v.</i> 40</scripRef>): "If I have got my
estate unjustly, <i>let thistles grow instead of wheat,</i> the
worst of weeds instead of the best of grains." When men get estates
unjustly they are justly deprived of the comfort of them, and
disappointed in their expectations from them. They sow their land,
but they sow not that body that shall be. God will give it a body.
It was sown wheat, but shall come up thistles. What men do not come
honestly by will never do them any good. Job, towards the close of
his protestation, appeals to the judgment-seat of God concerning
the truth of it (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p37.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.35-Job.31.37" parsed="|Job|31|35|31|37" passage="Job 31:35-37"><i>v.</i>
35-37</scripRef>): <i>O that he would hear me,</i> even <i>that the
Almighty would answer me!</i> This was what he desired and often
complained that he could not obtain; and, now that he had drawn up
his own defence so particularly, he leaves it upon record, in
expectation of a hearing, files it, as it were, till his cause be
called.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p38">(1.) A trial is moved for, and the motion
earnestly pressed: "<i>O that one,</i> any one, <i>would hear
me;</i> my cause is so good, and my evidence so clear, that I am
willing to refer it to any indifferent person whatsoever; but my
desire is that the Almighty himself would determine it." An upright
heart does not dread a scrutiny. He that means honestly wishes he
had a window in his breast, that all men might see the intents of
his heart. But an upright heart does particularly desire to be
determined in every thing by the judgment of God, which we are sure
is according to the truth. It was holy David's prayer, <i>Search
me, O God! and know my heart;</i> and it was blessed Paul's
comfort, <i>He that judgeth me is the Lord.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p39">(2.) The prosecutor is called, the
plaintiff summoned, and ordered to bring in his information, to say
what he has to say against the prisoner, for he stands upon his
deliverance: "<i>O that my adversary had written a book</i>—that
my friends, who charge me with hypocrisy, would draw up their
charge in writing, that it might be reduced to a certainty, and
that we might the better join issue upon it." Job would be very
glad to see the libel, to have a copy of his indictment. He would
not hide it under his arm, but <i>take it upon his shoulder,</i> to
be seen and read of all men, nay, he would <i>bind it as a
crown</i> to him, would be pleased with it, and look upon it as his
ornament; for, [1.] If it discovered to him any sin he had been
guilty of, which he did not yet see, he should be glad to know it,
that he might repent of it and get it pardoned. A good man is
willing to know the worst of himself and will be thankful to those
that will faithfully tell him of his faults. [2.] If it charged him
with what was false, he doubted not but to disprove the
allegations, that his innocency would be cleared up as the light,
and he should come off with so much the more honour. But, [3.] He
believed that, when his adversaries came to consider the matter so
closely as they must do if they put the charge in writing, the
accusations would be trivial and minute, and every one that saw
them would say, "If this was all they had to say against him, it
was a shame they gave him so much trouble."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p40">(3.) The defendant is ready to make his
appearance and to give his accusers all the fair play they can
desire. He will <i>declare unto them the number of his steps,</i>
<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p40.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.37" parsed="|Job|31|37|0|0" passage="Job 31:37"><i>v.</i> 37</scripRef>. He will let
them into the history of his own life, will show them all the
stages and scenes of it. He will give them a narrative of his
conversation, what would make against him as well as what would
make for him, and let them make what use they pleased of it; and so
confident he is of his integrity that as a prince to be crowned,
rather than a prisoner to be tried, he would <i>go near to him,</i>
both to his accuser to hear his charge and to his judge to hear his
doom. Thus the testimony of his conscience was his rejoicing.</p>
<verse id="Job.xxxii-p40.2">
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxxii-p40.3">Hic murus aheneus esto, nil conscire sibi—</l>
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxxii-p40.4"/>
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxxii-p40.5">Be this thy brazen bulwark of defence,</l>
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxxii-p40.6">Still to preserve thy conscience innocence.</l>
</verse>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p41">Those that have kept their hands without
spot from the world, as Job did, may lift up their faces without
spot unto God, and may comfort themselves with the prospect of his
judgment when they lie under the unjust censures of men. <i>If our
hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxii-p42">Thus <i>the words of Job are ended;</i>
that is, he has now said all he would say in answer to his friends:
he afterwards said something in a way of self-reproach and
condemnation (<scripRef id="Job.xxxii-p42.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.4-Job.40.5 Bible:Job.42.2-Job.42.6" parsed="|Job|40|4|40|5;|Job|42|2|42|6" passage="Job 40:4,5,42:2-6"><i>ch.</i> xl.
4, 5, xlii. 2</scripRef>, &amp;c.), but here ends what he had to
say in a way of self-defence and vindication. If this suffice not
he will say no more; he knows when he has said enough and will
submit to the judgment of the bench. Some think the manner of
expression intimates that he concluded with an air of assurance and
triumph. He now keeps the field and doubts not but to win the
field. <i>Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It
is God that justifies.</i></p>
</div></div2>