mh_parser/vol_split/18 - Job/Chapter 33.xml

<div2 id="Job.xxxiv" n="xxxiv" next="Job.xxxv" prev="Job.xxxiii" progress="16.25%" title="Chapter XXXIII">
<h2 id="Job.xxxiv-p0.1">J O B</h2>
<h3 id="Job.xxxiv-p0.2">CHAP. XXXIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Job.xxxiv-p1">Pompous prefaces, like the teeming mountain, often
introduce poor performances; but Elihu's discourse here does not
disappoint the expectations which his preface had raised. It is
substantial, and lively, and very much to the purpose. He had, in
the foregoing chapter, said what he had to say to Job's three
friends; and now he comes up close to Job himself and directs his
speech to him. I. He bespeaks Job's favourable acceptance of what
he should say, and desires he would take him for that person whom
he had so often wished for, that would plead with him, and receive
his plea on God's behalf, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.1-Job.33.7" parsed="|Job|33|1|33|7" passage="Job 33:1-7">ver.
1-7</scripRef>. II. He does, in God's name, bring an action against
him, for words which he had spoken, in the heat of disputation,
reflecting upon God as dealing hardly with him, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.8-Job.33.11" parsed="|Job|33|8|33|11" passage="Job 33:8-11">ver. 8-11</scripRef>. III. He endeavours to convince
him of his fault and folly herein, by showing him, 1. God's
sovereign dominion over man, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.12-Job.33.13" parsed="|Job|33|12|33|13" passage="Job 33:12,13">ver.
12, 13</scripRef>. 2. The care God takes of man, and the various
ways and means he uses to do his soul good, which we have reason to
think he designs when he lays bodily afflictions upon him,
<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.14" parsed="|Job|33|14|0|0" passage="Job 33:14">ver. 14</scripRef>. (1.) Job had
sometimes complained of unquiet dreams, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.7.14" parsed="|Job|7|14|0|0" passage="Job 7:14"><i>ch.</i> vii. 14</scripRef>. "Why," says Elihu, "God
sometimes speaks conviction and instruction to men by such dreams,"
<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.15-Job.33.18" parsed="|Job|33|15|33|18" passage="Job 33:15-18">ver. 15-18</scripRef>. (2.) Job
had especially complained of his sicknesses and pains; and, as to
these, he shows largely that they were so far from being tokens of
God's wrath, as Job took them, or evidences of Job's hypocrisy, as
his friends took them, that they were really wise and gracious
methods, which divine grace took for the increase of his
acquaintance with God, to work patience, experience, and hope,
<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.19-Job.33.30" parsed="|Job|33|19|33|30" passage="Job 33:19-30">ver. 19-30</scripRef>. And,
lastly, he concludes with a request to Job, either to answer him or
give him leave to go on, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.31-Job.33.33" parsed="|Job|33|31|33|33" passage="Job 33:31-33">ver.
31-33</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Job.xxxiv-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Job.33" parsed="|Job|33|0|0|0" passage="Job 33" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Job.xxxiv-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.1-Job.33.7" parsed="|Job|33|1|33|7" passage="Job 33:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.33.1-Job.33.7">
<h4 id="Job.xxxiv-p1.11">The Address of Elihu. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xxxiv-p1.12">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xxxiv-p2">1 Wherefore, Job, I pray thee, hear my speeches,
and hearken to all my words.   2 Behold, now I have opened my
mouth, my tongue hath spoken in my mouth.   3 My words
<i>shall be of</i> the uprightness of my heart: and my lips shall
utter knowledge clearly.   4 The Spirit of God hath made me,
and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.   5 If thou
canst answer me, set <i>thy words</i> in order before me, stand up.
  6 Behold, I <i>am</i> according to thy wish in God's stead:
I also am formed out of the clay.   7 Behold, my terror shall
not make thee afraid, neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p3">Several arguments Elihu here uses to
persuade Job not only to give him a patient hearing, but to believe
that he designed him a good office, and to take it kindly, and be
willing to receive the instructions he was now about to give him.
Let Job consider, 1. That Elihu does not join with his three
friends against him. He has, in the foregoing chapter, declared his
dislike of their proceedings, disclaimed their hypothesis, and
quite set aside the method they took of healing Job. "<i>Wherefore,
Job, I pray thee, hear my speech,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.1" parsed="|Job|33|1|0|0" passage="Job 33:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. They were all in the same song,
all spoke in the same strain; but I am trying a new say,
<i>therefore hearken to all my words,</i> and not to some of them
only;" for we cannot judge of a discourse unless we take it entire
and hearken to it all. 2. That he intended to make a solemn
business of it, not to put in a word by the by, or give a short
repartee, to show his wit: after long silence he <i>opened his
mouth</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.2" parsed="|Job|33|2|0|0" passage="Job 33:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>),
with deliberation and design. Upon mature consideration he had
already begun to speak, and was prepared to go on if Job would
encourage him by his attention. 3. That he was resolved to speak as
he thought and not otherwise (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.3" parsed="|Job|33|3|0|0" passage="Job 33:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): "<i>My words shall be of the
uprightness of my heart,</i> the genuine product of my convictions
and sentiments." There was reason to suspect that Job's three
friends did not think, in their consciences, that Job was so bad a
man as they had in their discourses, merely for the support of
their hypothesis, represented him to be; and that was not fair. It
is a base thing to condemn those with our tongues, to serve a turn,
whom at the same time we cannot but in our consciences think well
of. Elihu is an honest man, and scorns to do so. 4. That what he
said should be easy, and not dark and hard to be understood: <i>My
lips shall utterly knowledge clearly.</i> Job shall readily
comprehend his meaning, and perceive what he aims at. Those that
speak of the things of God should carefully avoid all obscurity and
perplexedness both of notion and expression, and speak as plainly
and clearly as they can; for by that it will appear that they do
themselves understand what they speak of, that they mean honestly,
and design the edification of those they speak to. 5. That he
would, in his discourse, make the best use he could of the reason
and understanding God had given him, that life, that rational soul
which he received from <i>the Spirit of God</i> and <i>the breath
of the Almighty,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.4" parsed="|Job|33|4|0|0" passage="Job 33:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. He owns himself unfit to enter into the lists with
his seniors, yet he desires they will not despise his youth, for
that he is God's workmanship as well as they, made by the same
hand, endued with the same noble powers and faculties, and designed
for the same great end; and therefore why may not the God that made
him make use of his as an instrument of good to Job? With this
consideration also we should quicken ourselves (and perhaps Elihu
made that use of it) to do good in our places according to our
capacity. God has made us, and given us life, and therefore we
should study to use our life to some good purpose, to spend it in
glorifying God and serving our generation according to his will,
that we may answer the end of our creation and it may not be said
that we were made in vain. 6. That he would be very willing to hear
what Job could object against what he had to say (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.5" parsed="|Job|33|5|0|0" passage="Job 33:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): "<i>If thou canst,
answer me.</i> If thou hast so much strength and spirit left thee,
and art not quite spent with the distemper and the dispute, <i>set
thy words in order,</i> and they shall have their due
consideration." Those that can speak reason will hear reason. 7.
That he had often wished for one that would appear for God, with
whom he might freely expostulate, and to whom, as arbitrator, he
might refer the matter, and such a one Elihu would be (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.6" parsed="|Job|33|6|0|0" passage="Job 33:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>I am, according to
thy wish, in God's stead.</i> How pathetically had Job wished
(<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.16.21" parsed="|Job|16|21|0|0" passage="Job 16:21"><i>ch.</i> xvi. 21</scripRef>), <i>O
that one might plead for a man with God!</i> and (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.22.3" parsed="|Job|22|3|0|0" passage="Job 22:3"><i>ch.</i> xxii. 3</scripRef>), <i>O that I knew
where I might find him!</i> Only he would make it his bargain that
<i>his dread should not make him afraid,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p3.9" osisRef="Bible:Job.13.21" parsed="|Job|13|21|0|0" passage="Job 13:21"><i>ch.</i> xiii. 21</scripRef>. "Now," says Elihu,
"look upon me, for this once, as in God's stead. I will undertake
to plead his cause with thee and to show thee wherein thou hast
affronted him and what he has against thee; and what appeals or
complaints thou hast to make to God make them to me." 8. That he
was not an unequal match for him: "<i>I also am formed out of the
clay.</i> I also, as well as the first man (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p3.10" osisRef="Bible:Gen.2.7" parsed="|Gen|2|7|0|0" passage="Ge 2:7">Gen. ii. 7</scripRef>), I also as well as thou." Job had
urged this with God as a reason why he should not bear hard upon
him (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p3.11" osisRef="Bible:Job.10.9" parsed="|Job|10|9|0|0" passage="Job 10:9"><i>ch.</i> x. 9</scripRef>),
<i>Remember that thou hast made me as the clay.</i> "I," says
Elihu, "am <i>formed out of the clay</i> as well as thou,"
<i>formed of the same clay,</i> so some read it. It is good for us
all to consider that we are formed out of the clay; and well for us
it is that those who are to us in God's stead are so, that he
speaks to us by men like ourselves, according to Israel's wish upon
a full trial, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p3.12" osisRef="Bible:Deut.5.24" parsed="|Deut|5|24|0|0" passage="De 5:24">Deut. v. 24</scripRef>.
God has wisely deposited the treasure in earthen vessels like
ourselves, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p3.13" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.4.7" parsed="|2Cor|4|7|0|0" passage="2Co 4:7">2 Cor. iv. 7</scripRef>. 9.
That he would have no reason to be frightened at the assault he
made upon him (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p3.14" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.7" parsed="|Job|33|7|0|0" passage="Job 33:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>): "<i>My terror shall not make thee afraid,</i>" (1.)
"As thy friends have done with their arguings. I will not reproach
thee as they have done, nor draw up such a heavy charge against
thee, Nor," (2.) "As God would do if he should appear to reason
with thee. I stand upon the same level with thee, and am made of
the same mould, and therefore cannot impose that terror upon thee
which thou mayest justly dread from the appearance of the divine
Majesty." If we would rightly convince men, it must be by reason,
not by terror, by fair arguing, not by a heavy hand.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xxxiv-p3.15" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.8-Job.33.13" parsed="|Job|33|8|33|13" passage="Job 33:8-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.33.8-Job.33.13">
<p class="passage" id="Job.xxxiv-p4">8 Surely thou hast spoken in mine hearing, and I
have heard the voice of <i>thy</i> words, <i>saying,</i>   9 I
am clean without transgression, I <i>am</i> innocent; neither <i>is
there</i> iniquity in me.   10 Behold, he findeth occasions
against me, he counteth me for his enemy,   11 He putteth my
feet in the stocks, he marketh all my paths.   12 Behold,
<i>in</i> this thou art not just: I will answer thee, that God is
greater than man.   13 Why dost thou strive against him? for
he giveth not account of any of his matters.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p5">In these verses,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p6">I. Elihu particularly charges Job with some
indecent expressions that had dropped from him, reflecting upon the
justice and goodness of God in his dealings with him. He does not
ground the charge upon report, but was himself an ear-witness of
what he here reproves him for (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.8" parsed="|Job|33|8|0|0" passage="Job 33:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): "<i>Thou hast spoken it in my
hearing,</i> and in the hearing of all this company." He had it not
at second hand; if so, he would have hoped it was not so bad as it
was represented. He did not hear it from Job in private
conversation, for then he would not have been so ill-bred as to
repeat it thus publicly; but Job had said it openly, and therefore
it was fit he should be openly reproved for it. <i>Those that sin
before all rebuke before all.</i> When we hear any thing said that
tends to God's dishonour we ought publicly to bear our testimony
against it. What is said amiss in our hearing we are concerned to
reprove; for <i>you are my witnesses, saith the Lord,</i> to
confront the accuser. 1. Job had represented himself as innocent
(<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.9" parsed="|Job|33|9|0|0" passage="Job 33:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): Thou hast
said, <i>I am clean without transgression.</i> Job had not said
this <i>totidem verbis—in so many words;</i> nay, he had owned
himself to have sinned and to be impure before God; but he had
indeed said, <i>Thou knowest that I am not wicked, my righteousness
I hold fast,</i> and the like, on which Elihu might ground this
charge. It was true that Job was a perfect and an upright man and
not such a one as his friends had represented him; but he ought not
to have insisted so much upon it, as if God had therefore done him
wrong in afflicting him. Yet, it should seem, Elihu did not deal
fairly in charging Job with saying that he was clean and innocent
from all transgression, when he only pleaded that he was upright
and innocent from the great transgression. But those that speak
passionately and unwarily must thank themselves if they be
misunderstood; they should have taken more care. 2. He had
represented God as severe in marking what he did amiss and taking
all advantages against him (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.10-Job.33.11" parsed="|Job|33|10|33|11" passage="Job 33:10,11"><i>v.</i> 10, 11</scripRef>), as if he sought
opportunity to pick quarrels with him. <i>He findeth occasions
against me,</i> which supposes seeking them. To this purport Job
had spoken, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.14.16-Job.14.17" parsed="|Job|14|16|14|17" passage="Job 14:16,17"><i>ch.</i> xiv. 16,
17</scripRef>, <i>Dost thou not watch over my sin? He counteth me
for his enemy;</i> so he had expressly said, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.13.24 Bible:Job.19.11" parsed="|Job|13|24|0|0;|Job|19|11|0|0" passage="Job 13:24,19:11"><i>ch.</i> xiii. 24; xix. 11</scripRef>. "<i>He
putteth my feet in the stocks,</i> that, as I cannot contend with
him, so I may not be able to flee from him;" this he had said,
<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.13.27" parsed="|Job|13|27|0|0" passage="Job 13:27"><i>ch.</i> xiii. 27</scripRef>. <i>He
marketh all my paths;</i> so he had said, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.13.27" parsed="|Job|13|27|0|0" passage="Job 13:27"><i>ch.</i> xiii. 27</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p7">II. He endeavours to convince him that he
had spoken amiss in speaking thus, and that he ought to humble
himself before God for it, and by repentance to unsay it (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.12" parsed="|Job|33|12|0|0" passage="Job 33:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>Behold, in this
thou art not just. Here thou art not in the right,</i> so some read
it. See; the difference between the charge which Elihu exhibited
against Job and that which was preferred against him by his other
friends; they would not own that he was just at all, but Elihu only
says, "In this, in saying this, thou art not just." 1. "Thou dost
not deal justly with God." To be just is to render to all their
due; now we do not render to God his due, nor are we just to him,
if we do not acknowledge his equity and kindness in all his
dispensations of his providence towards us, that he is righteous in
all his ways, and that, however it be, yet he is good. 2. "Thou
dost not speak the language of a righteous man. I do not deny but
thou art such a one, but in this thou dost not make it to appear."
Many that are just yet, in some particular instances, do not speak
and act like themselves; and as, on the one hand, we must not fail
to tell even a good man wherein he mistakes and does amiss, nor
flatter him in his errors and passions, for in that we are not kind,
so on the other hand we must not draw men's characters, nor pass a
judgment on them, from one instance, or some few misplaced words,
for in that we are not just. <i>In many things we all offend,</i>
and therefore must be candid in our censures. Two things Elihu
proposes to Job's consideration, to convince him that he had said
amiss:—(1.) That God is infinitely above us, and therefore it is
madness to contend with him; for if he plead against us with his
great power we cannot stand before him. <i>I will answer thee,</i>
says Elihu, in one word, which carries its own evidence along with
it, <i>That God is greater than man;</i> no doubt he is, infinitely
greater. Between God and man there is no proportion. Job had
himself said a great deal, and admirably well, concerning the
greatness of God, his irresistible power and incontestable
sovereignty, his terrible majesty and unsearchable immensity.
"Now," said Elihu, "do but consider what thou thyself hast said
concerning the greatness of God, and apply it to thyself; if he is
greater than man, he is greater than thou, and thou wilt see reason
enough to repent of these ill-natures, ill-favoured, reflections
upon him, and to blush at thy folly, and tremble to think of thy
own presumption." Note, There is enough in this one plain
unquestionable truth, <i>That God is greater than man,</i> if duly
improved, for ever to put to silence and to shame all our
complaints of his providence and our exceptions against his
dealings with us. He is not only more wise and powerful than we
are, and therefore it is to no purpose to contend with him who will
be too hard for us, but more holy, just, and good, for these are
the transcendent glories and excellencies of the divine nature; in
these God is greater than man, and therefore it is absurd and
unreasonable to find fault with him, for he is certainly in the
right. (2.) That God is not accountable to us (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.13" parsed="|Job|33|13|0|0" passage="Job 33:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): <i>Why dost thou strive
against him?</i> Those that complain of God strive against him,
implead him, impeach him, bring an action against him. And why do
they do so? For what cause? To what purpose? Note, It is an
unreasonable thing for us, weak, foolish, sinful, creatures, to
strive with a God of infinite wisdom, power, and goodness. Woe to
the clay that strives with the potter; <i>for he gives no account
of any of his matters.</i> He is under no obligation to show us a
reason for what he does, neither to tell us what he designs to do
(in what method, at what time, by what instruments) nor to tell us
why he deals thus with us. He is not bound either to justify his
own proceedings or to satisfy our demands and enquiries; his
judgments will certainly justify themselves. If we do not satisfy
ourselves in them, it is our own fault. It is therefore daring
impiety for us to arraign God at our bar, or challenge him to show
cause for what he doeth, to say unto him, <i>What doest thou?</i>
or, <i>Why doest thou so? He gives not account of all his
matters</i> (so some read it); he reveals as much as it is fit for
us to know, as follows here (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.14" parsed="|Job|33|14|0|0" passage="Job 33:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), but still there are secret
things, which belong not to us, which it is not for us to pry
into.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xxxiv-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.14-Job.33.18" parsed="|Job|33|14|33|18" passage="Job 33:14-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.33.14-Job.33.18">
<p class="passage" id="Job.xxxiv-p8">14 For God speaketh once, yea twice, <i>yet
man</i> perceiveth it not.   15 In a dream, in a vision of the
night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the
bed;   16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their
instruction,   17 That he may withdraw man <i>from his</i>
purpose, and hide pride from man.   18 He keepeth back his
soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p9">Job had complained that God kept him wholly
in the dark concerning the meaning of his dealings with him, and
therefore concluded he dealt with him as his enemy. "No," says
Elihu, "he speaks to you, but you do not perceive him; so that the
fault is yours, not his; and he is designing your real good even in
those dispensations which you put this harsh construction upon."
Observe in general, 1. What a friend God is to our welfare: <i>He
speaketh to us once, yea, twice,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.14" parsed="|Job|33|14|0|0" passage="Job 33:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. It is a token of his favour
that, notwithstanding the distance and quarrel between us and him,
yet he is pleased to speak to us. It is an evidence of his gracious
design that he is pleased to speak to us of our own concerns, to
show us what is our duty and what our interest, what he requires of
us and what we may expect from him, to tell us of our faults and
warn us of our danger, to show us the way and to lead us in it.
This he does once, yea, twice, that is, again and again; when one
warning is neglected he gives another, not willing that any should
perish. <i>Precept must be upon precept, and line upon line;</i> it
is so, that sinners may be left inexcusable. 2. What enemies we are
to our own welfare: <i>Man perceives it not,</i> that is, he does
not heed it or regard it, does not discern or understand it, is not
aware that it is the voice of God, nor does he receive the things
revealed, for they are foolishness to him; he stops his ear, stands
in his own light, rejects the counsel of God against himself, and
so is never the wiser, no not for the dictates of wisdom itself.
God speaks to us by conscience, by providences, and by ministers,
of all which Elihu here discourses at large, to show Job that God
was both telling him his mind and doing him a kindness, even now
that he seemed to keep him in the dark and so treat him as a
stranger, and to keep him in distress and so treat him as an enemy.
There was not then, that we know of, any divine revelation in
writing, and therefore that is not here mentioned among the ways by
which God speaks to men, though now it is the principal way.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p10">In <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.14-Job.33.18" parsed="|Job|33|14|33|18" passage="Job 33:14-18">these
verses</scripRef> he shows how God teaches and admonishes the
children of men by their own consciences. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p11">I. The proper season and opportunity for
these admonitions (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.15" parsed="|Job|33|15|0|0" passage="Job 33:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>): <i>In a dream, in slumberings upon the bed,</i>
when men are retired from the world and the business and
conversation of it. It is a good time for them to retire into their
own hearts, and commune with them, when they are upon their beds,
solitary and still, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.4.4" parsed="|Ps|4|4|0|0" passage="Ps 4:4">Ps. iv.
4</scripRef>. It is the time God takes for dealing personally with
men. 1. When he sent angels, extraordinary messengers, on his
errands, he commonly chose that time for the delivery of their
messages, when by deep sleep falling on men the bodily senses were
all locked up and the mind more free to receive the immediate
communications of divine light. Thus he made his mind known to the
prophets by visions and dreams (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Num.12.6" parsed="|Num|12|6|0|0" passage="Nu 12:6">Num.
xii. 6</scripRef>); thus he warned Abimelech (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.3" parsed="|Gen|20|3|0|0" passage="Ge 20:3">Gen. xx. 3</scripRef>), Laban (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.31.24" parsed="|Gen|31|24|0|0" passage="Ge 31:24">Gen. xxxi. 24</scripRef>), Joseph (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Matt.1.20" parsed="|Matt|1|20|0|0" passage="Mt 1:20">Matt. i. 20</scripRef>); thus he made known to Pharaoh
and Nebuchadnezzar things that should come to pass hereafter. 2.
When he stirred up conscience, that ordinary deputy of his, in the
soul, to do its office, he took that opportunity, either when deep
sleep fell on men (for, though dreams mostly come from fancy, some
may come from conscience) or in slumberings, when men are between
sleeping and waking, reflecting at night upon the business of the
foregoing day or projecting in the morning the business of the
ensuing day; then is a proper time for their hearts to reproach
them for what they have done ill and to admonish them what they
should do. See <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p11.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.21" parsed="|Isa|30|21|0|0" passage="Isa 30:21">Isa. xxx.
21</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p12">II. The power and force with which those
admonitions come, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.16" parsed="|Job|33|16|0|0" passage="Job 33:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>. When God designs men's good by the convictions and
dictates of their own consciences, 1. He gives them admission, and
makes them to be heeded: <i>Then he opens the ears of men,</i>
which were before shut against the voice of this charmer, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.58.5" parsed="|Ps|58|5|0|0" passage="Ps 58:5">Ps. lviii. 5</scripRef>. He opens the heart, as
he opened Lydia's, and so opens the ears. He takes away that which
stopped the ear, so that the conviction finds or forces its way;
nay, he works in the soul a submission to the regimen of conscience
and a compliance with its rules, for that follows upon God's
opening the ear, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.50.5" parsed="|Isa|50|5|0|0" passage="Isa 50:5">Isa. l. 5</scripRef>.
<i>God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious.</i> 2. He gives
them a lodgment in the heart and makes them to abide: <i>He sealeth
their instruction,</i> that is, the instruction that is designed
for them and is suited to them; this he makes their souls to
receive the deep and lasting impression of, as the wax of the seal.
When the heart is delivered into divine instructions, as into a
mould, then the work is done.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p13">III. The end and design of these
admonitions that are sent. 1. To keep men from sin, and
particularly the sin of pride (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.17" parsed="|Job|33|17|0|0" passage="Job 33:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>). <i>That he may withdraw man
from his purpose,</i> that is, from his evil purposes, may change
the temper of his mind and the course of his life, his disposition
and inclination, or prevent some particular sin he is in danger of
falling into, that he may withdraw man from his work, may make him
leave off man's work, which is working for the world and the flesh,
and may set him to work the work of God. Many a man has been
stopped in the full career of a sinful pursuit by the seasonable
checks of his own conscience, saying, <i>Do not this abominable
thing which the Lord hates.</i> Particularly, God does, by this
means, <i>hide pride from man,</i> that is, hide those things from
him which are the matter of his pride, and take his mind off from
dwelling upon them, by setting before him what reason he has to be
humble. That he may <i>take away pride from man</i> (so some read
it), that he may pluck up that root of bitterness which is the
cause of so much sin. All those whom God has mercy in store for he
will humble and hide pride from. Pride makes people eager and
resolute in the prosecution of their purposes; they will have their
way, therefore God withdraws them from their purposes, by
mortifying their pride. 2. To keep men from ruin, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.18" parsed="|Job|33|18|0|0" passage="Job 33:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. While sinners are
pursuing their evil purposes, and indulging their pride, their
souls are hastening apace to the pit, to the sword, to destruction,
both in this world and that to come; but when God, by the
admonitions of conscience, withdraws them from sin, he thereby
<i>keeps back</i> their souls <i>from the pit,</i> from the
bottomless pit, and saves them from perishing by <i>the sword</i>
of divine vengeance, so iniquity shall not be their ruin. That
which turns men from sin saves them from hell, <i>saves a soul from
death,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.20" parsed="|Jas|5|20|0|0" passage="Jam 5:20">James v. 20</scripRef>. See
what a mercy it is to be under the restraints of an awakened
conscience. Faithful are the wounds, and kind are the bonds, of
that friend, for by them the soul is kept from perishing
eternally.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xxxiv-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.19-Job.33.28" parsed="|Job|33|19|33|28" passage="Job 33:19-28" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.33.19-Job.33.28">
<p class="passage" id="Job.xxxiv-p14">19 He is chastened also with pain upon his bed,
and the multitude of his bones with strong <i>pain:</i>   20
So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.  
21 His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his
bones <i>that</i> were not seen stick out.   22 Yea, his soul
draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.  
23 If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a
thousand, to show unto man his uprightness:   24 Then he is
gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the
pit: I have found a ransom.   25 His flesh shall be fresher
than a child's: he shall return to the days of his youth:   26
He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he
shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his
righteousness.   27 He looketh upon men, and <i>if any</i>
say, I have sinned, and perverted <i>that which was</i> right, and
it profited me not;   28 He will deliver his soul from going
into the pit, and his life shall see the light.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p15">God has spoken once to sinners by their own
consciences, to keep them from the paths of the destroyer, but they
perceive it not; they are not aware that the checks their own
hearts give them in a sinful way are from God, but they are imputed
to melancholy or the preciseness of their education; and therefore
God speaks twice; he speaks a second time, and tries another way to
convince and reclaim sinners, and that is by providences,
afflictive and merciful (in which he speaks twice), and by the
seasonable instructions of good ministers setting in with them. Job
complained much of his diseases and judged by them that God was
angry with him; his friends did so too: but Elihu shows that they
were all mistaken, for God often afflicts the body in love, and
with gracious designs of good to the soul, as appears in the issue.
This part of Elihu's discourse will be of great use to us for the
due improvement of sickness, in and by which God speaks to men.
Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p16">I. The patient described in his extremity.
See what work sickness makes (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.19-Job.33.21" parsed="|Job|33|19|33|21" passage="Job 33:19-21"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>, &amp;c.) when God sends it
with commission. <i>Do this, and doeth it.</i> 1. The sick man is
full of pain all over him (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.19" parsed="|Job|33|19|0|0" passage="Job 33:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>): <i>He is chastened with pain upon his bed,</i> such
pain as confines him to his bed, or so extreme the pain is that he
can get no ease, no, not on his bed, where he would repose himself.
Pain and sickness will turn a bed of down into a bed of thorns, on
which he that used to sleep now tosses to and fro till the dawning
of the day. The case, as here put, is very bad. Pain is borne with
more difficulty than sickness, and with that the patient here is
chastened, not a dull heavy pain, but strong and acute; and
frequently the stronger the patient the stronger the pain, for the
more sanguine the complexion is the more violent, commonly, the
disease is. It is not the smarting of the flesh that is complained
of, but the aching of the bones. It is an inward rooted pain; and
not only the bones of one limb, but <i>the multitude of the
bones,</i> are thus chastened. See what frail, what vile bodies we
have, which, though receiving no external hurt, may be thus pained
from causes within themselves. See what work sin makes, what
mischief it does. Pain is the fruit of sin; yet, by the grace of
God, the pain of the body is often made a means of good to the
soul. 2. He has quite lost his appetite, the common effect of
sickness (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.20" parsed="|Job|33|20|0|0" passage="Job 33:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>):
<i>His life abhorreth bread,</i> the most necessary food, <i>and
dainty meat,</i> which he most delighted in, and formerly relished
with a great deal of pleasure. This is a good reason why we should
<i>not</i> be <i>desirous of dainties, because they are deceitful
meat,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.23.3" parsed="|Prov|23|3|0|0" passage="Pr 23:3">Prov. xxiii. 3</scripRef>. We
may be soon made as sick of them as we are now fond of them; and
those who live in luxury when they are well, if ever they come, by
reason of sickness, to loathe dainty meat, may, with grief and
shame, read their sin in their punishment. Let us not inordinately
love the taste of meat, for the time may come when we may even
loathe the sight of meat, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.107.18" parsed="|Ps|107|18|0|0" passage="Ps 107:18">Ps. cvii.
18</scripRef>. 3. He has become a perfect skeleton, nothing but
skin and bones, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p16.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.21" parsed="|Job|33|21|0|0" passage="Job 33:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>. By sickness, perhaps a few days' sickness, <i>his
flesh,</i> which was fat, and fair, <i>is consumed away,</i> that
it cannot be seen; it is strangely wasted and gone: <i>and his
bones,</i> which were buried in flesh, now <i>stick out;</i> you
may count his ribs, may tell all his bones. The soul that is well
nourished with the bread of life sickness will not make lean, but
it soon makes a change in the body.</p>
<verse id="Job.xxxiv-p16.7">
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxxiv-p16.8">"He who, before, had such a beauteous air,</l>
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxxiv-p16.9">And, pampered with the ease, seemed plump and fair</l>
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxxiv-p16.10">Doth all his friends (amazing change!) surprise</l>
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxxiv-p16.11">With pale lean cheeks and ghastly hollow eyes;</l>
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxxiv-p16.12">His bones (a horrid sight) start through his skin,</l>
<l class="t1" id="Job.xxxiv-p16.13">Which lay before, in flesh and fat, unseen."</l>
</verse>
<attr id="Job.xxxiv-p16.14">Sir <span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xxxiv-p16.15">R.
Blackmore</span>.</attr>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p17">4. He is given up for gone, and his life
despaired of (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.22" parsed="|Job|33|22|0|0" passage="Job 33:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>): <i>His soul draws near to the grave,</i> that is,
he has all the symptoms of death upon him, and in the apprehension
of all about him, as well as in his own, he is a dying man. The
pangs of death, here called <i>the destroyers,</i> are just ready
to seize him; they compass him about, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.116.3" parsed="|Ps|116|3|0|0" passage="Ps 116:3">Ps. cxvi. 3</scripRef>. Perhaps it intimates the very
dreadful apprehensions which those have of death as a destroying
thing, when it stares them in the face, who, when it was at a
distance, made light of it. All agree when it comes to the point,
whatever they thought of it before, that it is a serious thing to
die.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p18">II. The provision made for his instruction,
in order to a sanctified use of his affliction, that, when God in
that way speaks to man, he may be heard and understood, and not
speak in vain, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.23" parsed="|Job|33|23|0|0" passage="Job 33:23"><i>v.</i>
23</scripRef>. He is happy <i>if there be a messenger with him</i>
to attend him in his sickness, to convince, counsel, and comfort
him, <i>an interpreter</i> to expound the providence and give him
to understand the meaning of it, <i>a man of wisdom</i> that knows
the voice of the rod and its interpretation; for, when God speaks
by afflictions, we are frequently so unversed in the language, that
we have need of an interpreter, and it is well if we have such a
one. The advice and help of a good minister are as needful and
seasonable, and should be as acceptable, in sickness, as of a good
physician, especially if he be well skilled in the art of
explaining and improving providences; he is then <i>one of a
thousand,</i> and to be valued accordingly. His business at such a
time is <i>to show unto man his uprightness,</i> that is, God's
uprightness, that in faithfulness he afflicts him and does him no
wrong, which it is necessary to be convinced of in order to our
making a due improvement of the affliction: or, rather, it may mean
man's uprightness, or rectitude. 1. The uprightness that <i>is.</i>
If it appear that the sick person is truly pious, the interpreter
will not do as Job's friends had done, make it his business to
prove him a hypocrite because he is afflicted, but on the contrary
will show him his uprightness, notwithstanding his afflictions,
that he may take the comfort of it, and be easy, whatever the event
is. 2. The uprightness, the reformation, that <i>should be,</i> in
order to life and peace. When men are made to see the way of
uprightness to be the only way, and a sure way to salvation, and to
choose it, and walk in it accordingly, the work is done.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p19">III. God's gracious acceptance of him, upon
his repentance, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.24" parsed="|Job|33|24|0|0" passage="Job 33:24"><i>v.</i>
24</scripRef>. When he sees that the sick person is indeed
convinced that sincere repentance, and that uprightness which is
gospel perfection, are his interest as well as his duty, then he
that waits to be gracious, and shows mercy upon the first
indication of true repentance, <i>is gracious unto him,</i> and
takes him into his favour and thoughts for good. Wherever God finds
a gracious heart he will be found a gracious God; and, 1. He will
give a gracious order for his discharge. He says, <i>Deliver
him</i> (that is, let him be delivered) <i>from going down to the
pit,</i> from that death which is the wages of sin. When
afflictions have done their work they shall be removed. When we
return to God in a way of duty he will return to us in a way of
mercy. Those shall be delivered from going down to the pit who
receive God's messengers, and rightly understand his interpreters,
so as to subscribe to his uprightness. 2. He will give a gracious
reason for this order: <i>I have found a ransom,</i> or
propitiation; Jesus Christ is that ransom, so Elihu calls him, as
Job had called him his Redeemer, for he is both the purchaser and
the price, the priest and the sacrifice; so high was the value put
upon souls that nothing less would redeem them, and so great the
injury done by sin that nothing less would atone for it than the
blood of the Son of God, who <i>gave his life a ransom for
many.</i> This is a ransom of God's finding, a contrivance of
Infinite Wisdom; we could never have found it ourselves, and the
angels themselves could never have found it. It is <i>the wisdom of
God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom,</i> and such an invention as
is and will be the everlasting wonder of those principalities and
powers that desire to look into it. Observe how God glories in the
invention here, <b><i>heureka, heureka</i></b>—"<i>I have found, I
have found, the ransom;</i> I, even I, am he that has done it."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p20">IV. The recovery of the sick man hereupon.
Take away the cause and the effect will cease. When the patient
becomes a penitent see what a blessed change follows. 1. His body
recovers its health, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.25" parsed="|Job|33|25|0|0" passage="Job 33:25"><i>v.</i>
25</scripRef>. This is not always the consequence of a sick man's
repentance and return to God, but sometimes it is; and recovery
from sickness is a mercy indeed when it arises from the remission
of sin; then it is in love to the soul that the body is
<i>delivered from the pit of corruption</i> when God <i>casts our
sins behind his back,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.38.17" parsed="|Isa|38|17|0|0" passage="Isa 38:17">Isa.
xxxviii. 17</scripRef>. That is the method of a blessed recovery.
<i>Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee;</i> and then,
<i>Rise, take up thy bed, and walk,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.9.2 Bible:Matt.9.6" parsed="|Matt|9|2|0|0;|Matt|9|6|0|0" passage="Mt 9:2,6">Matt. ix. 2, 6</scripRef>. So here, interest him in the
ransom, and then <i>his flesh shall be fresher than a child's</i>
and there shall be no remains of his distemper, but <i>he shall
return to the days of his youth,</i> to the beauty and strength
which he had then. When the distemper that oppressed nature is
removed how strangely does nature help itself, in which the power
and goodness of the God of nature must be thankfully acknowledged!
By such merciful providences as these, which afflictions give
occasion for, God speaketh once, yea, twice, to the children of
men, letting them know (if they would but perceive it) their
dependence upon him and his tender compassion of them. 2. His soul
recovers it peace, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.26" parsed="|Job|33|26|0|0" passage="Job 33:26"><i>v.</i>
26</scripRef>. (1.) The patient, being a penitent, is a supplicant,
and has learned to pray. He knows God will be sought unto for his
favours, and therefore <i>he shall pray unto God,</i> pray for
pardon, pray for health. <i>Is any afflicted, and sick? Let him
pray.</i> When he finds himself recovering he shall not then think
that prayer is no longer necessary, for we need the grace of God as
much for the sanctifying of a mercy as for the sanctifying of an
affliction. (2.) His prayers are accepted. God <i>will be
favourable to him,</i> and be well pleased with him; his anger
shall be turned away from him, and the light of God's countenance
shall shine upon his soul; and then it follows, (3.) That he has
the comfort of communion with God. He shall now see the face of
God, which before was hid from him, and he shall see it with joy,
for what sight can be more reviving? See <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.33.10" parsed="|Gen|33|10|0|0" passage="Ge 33:10">Gen. xxxiii. 10</scripRef>, <i>As though I had seen the
face of God.</i> All true penitents rejoice more in the returns of
God's favour than in any instance whatsoever of prosperity or
pleasure, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p20.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.4.6-Ps.4.7" parsed="|Ps|4|6|4|7" passage="Ps 4:6,7">Ps. iv. 6, 7</scripRef>.
(4.) He has a blessed tranquility of mind, arising from the sense
of his justification before God, who <i>will render unto this man
his righteousness.</i> He shall receive the atonement, that is, the
comfort of it, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p20.7" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.11" parsed="|Rom|5|11|0|0" passage="Ro 5:11">Rom. v. 11</scripRef>.
Righteousness shall be imputed to him, and peace thereupon spoken,
the joy and gladness of which he shall then be made to hear though
he could not hear them in the day of his affliction. God will now
deal with him as a righteous man, with whom it shall be well. He
shall <i>receive the blessing from the Lord, even
righteousness,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p20.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.24.5" parsed="|Ps|24|5|0|0" passage="Ps 24:5">Ps. xxiv.
5</scripRef>. God shall give him grace to go and sin no more.
Perhaps this may denote the reformation of his life after his
recovery. As he shall pray unto God, whom before he had slighted,
so he shall render to man his righteousness, whom before he had
wronged, shall make restitution, and for the future do justly.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p21">V. The general rule which God will go by in
dealing with the children of men inferred from this instance,
<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.27-Job.33.28" parsed="|Job|33|27|33|28" passage="Job 33:27,28"><i>v.</i> 27, 28</scripRef>. As
sick people, upon their submission, are restored, so all others
that truly repent of their sins shall find mercy with God. See
here, 1. What sin is, and what reason we have not to sin. Would we
know the nature of sin and the malignity of it? It is the
perverting of that which is right; it is a most unjust unreasonable
thing; it is the rebellion of the creature against the Creator, the
usurped dominion of the flesh over the spirit, and a contradiction
to the eternal rules and reasons of good and evil. It is
<i>perverting the right ways of the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.10" parsed="|Acts|13|10|0|0" passage="Ac 13:10">Acts xiii. 10</scripRef>), and therefore the ways of sin
are called <i>crooked ways,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.125.5" parsed="|Ps|125|5|0|0" passage="Ps 125:5">Ps.
cxxv. 5</scripRef>. Would we know what is to be got by sin? <i>It
profiteth us not.</i> The works of darkness are unfruitful works.
When profit and loss come to be balanced all the gains of sin, put
them all together, will come far short of countervailing the
damage. All true penitents are ready to own this, and it is a
mortifying consideration. <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.6.21" parsed="|Rom|6|21|0|0" passage="Ro 6:21">Rom. vi.
21</scripRef>, <i>What fruit had you then in those things whereof
you are now ashamed?</i> 2. See what repentance is, and what reason
we have to repent. Would we approve ourselves true penitents? We
must then, with a broken and contrite heart, confess our sins to
God, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p21.5" osisRef="Bible:1John.1.9" parsed="|1John|1|9|0|0" passage="1Jo 1:9">1 John i. 9</scripRef>. We must
confess the fact of sin (<i>I have sinned</i>) and not deny the
charge, or stand upon our own justification; we must confess the
fault of sin, the iniquity, the dishonesty of it ( <i>have
perverted that which was right</i>); we must confess the folly of
sin—"so foolish have I been and ignorant, for <i>it profited me
not;</i> and therefore what have I to do any more with it?" Is
there not good reason why we should make such a penitent confession
as this? For, (1.) God expect it. <i>He looks upon men,</i> when
they have sinned, to see what they will do next, whether they will
go on in it or whether they will bethink themselves and return. He
hearkens and hears whether any say, <i>What have I done?</i>
<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p21.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.8.6" parsed="|Jer|8|6|0|0" passage="Jer 8:6">Jer. viii. 6</scripRef>. He looks upon
sinners with an eye of compassion, desiring to hear this from them;
for he has no pleasure in their ruin. He looks upon them, and, as
soon as he perceives these workings of repentance in them, he
encourages them and is ready to accept them (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p21.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.32.5-Ps.32.6" parsed="|Ps|32|5|32|6" passage="Ps 32:5,6">Ps. xxxii. 5, 6</scripRef>), as the father went forth
to meet the returning prodigal. (2.) It will turn to our
unspeakable advantage. The promise is general. If any humble
himself thus, whoever he be, [1.] He shall not come into
condemnation, but be saved from the wrath to come: <i>He shall
deliver his soul from going into the pit,</i> the pit of hell;
iniquity shall not be his ruin. [2.] He shall be happy in
everlasting life and joy: <i>His life shall see the light,</i> that
is, all good, in the vision and fruition of God. To obtain this
bliss, if the prophet had bidden us do some great thing, would we
not have done it? How much more when he only says unto us, <i>Wash
and be clean,</i> confess and be pardoned, repent and be saved?</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xxxiv-p21.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.29-Job.33.33" parsed="|Job|33|29|33|33" passage="Job 33:29-33" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.33.29-Job.33.33">
<p class="passage" id="Job.xxxiv-p22">29 Lo, all these <i>things</i> worketh God
oftentimes with man,   30 To bring back his soul from the pit,
to be enlightened with the light of the living.   31 Mark
well, O Job, hearken unto me: hold thy peace, and I will speak.
  32 If thou hast any thing to say, answer me: speak, for I
desire to justify thee.   33 If not, hearken unto me: hold thy
peace, and I shall teach thee wisdom.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxxiv-p23">We have here the conclusion of this first
part of Elihu's discourse, in which, 1. He briefly sums up what he
had said, showing that God's great and gracious design, in all the
dispensations of his providence towards the children of men, is to
save them from being for ever miserable and bring them to be for
ever happy, <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.29-Job.33.30" parsed="|Job|33|29|33|30" passage="Job 33:29,30"><i>v.</i> 29,
30</scripRef>. <i>All these things God is working with the children
of men.</i> He deals with them by conscience, by providences, by
ministers, by mercies, by afflictions. He makes them sick, and
makes them well again. All these are his operations; he has <i>set
the one over the other</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.7.14" parsed="|Eccl|7|14|0|0" passage="Ec 7:14">Eccl. vii. 14</scripRef>), but his hand is in all;
it is he that performs all the things for us. All providences are
to be looked upon as God's workings with man, his strivings with
him. He uses a variety of methods to do men good; if one affliction
do not do the work, he will try another; if neither do, he will try
a mercy; and he will send a messenger to interpret both. He often
works such things as these twice, thrice; so it is in the original,
referring to <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.14" parsed="|Job|33|14|0|0" passage="Job 33:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>.
He <i>speaks once, yea, twice;</i> if that prevail not, he works
twice, yea, thrice; he changes his method (<i>we have piped, we
have mourned</i>) returns again to the same method, repeats the
same applications. Why does he take all this pains with man? It is
<i>to bring back his soul from the pit,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.30" parsed="|Job|33|30|0|0" passage="Job 33:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>. If God did not take more care
of us than we do of ourselves, we should be miserable; we would
destroy ourselves, but he would have us saved, and devises means,
by his grace, to undo that by which we were undoing ourselves. The
former method, by dream and vision, was to <i>keep back the soul
from the pit</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p23.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.18" parsed="|Job|33|18|0|0" passage="Job 33:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>), that is, to prevent sin, that we might not fall
into it. This, by sickness and the word, is to bring back the soul,
to recover those that have fallen into sin, that they may not lie
still and perish in it. With respect to all that by repentance are
brought back from the pit, it is that they may be <i>enlightened
with the light of the living,</i> that they may have present
comfort and everlasting happiness. Whom God saves from sin and
hell, which are darkness, he will bring to heaven, the inheritance
of the saints in light; and this he aims at in all his institutions
and all his dispensations. <i>Lord, what is man, that thou shouldst
thus visit him!</i> This should engage us to comply with God's
designs, to work with him for our own good, and not to counter-work
him. This will render those that perish for ever inexcusable, that
so much was done to save them and they would not be healed. 2. He
bespeaks Job's acceptance of what he had offered and begs of him to
<i>mark it well,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p23.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.31" parsed="|Job|33|31|0|0" passage="Job 33:31"><i>v.</i>
31</scripRef>. What is intended for our good challenges our regard.
If Job will observe what is said, (1.) He is welcome to make what
objections he can against it (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p23.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.32" parsed="|Job|33|32|0|0" passage="Job 33:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>): "<i>If thou hast any thing to
say</i> for thyself, in thy own vindication, <i>answer me;</i>
though I am fresh, and thou art spent, I will not run thee down
with words: <i>Speak, for I, desire to justify thee,</i> and am not
as thy other friends that desired to condemn thee." Elihu contends
for truth, not, as they did, for victory. Note, Those we reprove we
should desire to justify, and be glad to see them clear themselves
from the imputations they lie under, and therefore give them all
possible advantage and encouragement to do so. (2.) If he has
nothing to say against what is said, Elihu lets him know that he
has something more to say, which he desires him patiently to attend
to (<scripRef id="Job.xxxiv-p23.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.33" parsed="|Job|33|33|0|0" passage="Job 33:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>): <i>Hold
thy peace, and I will teach thee wisdom.</i> Those that would both
show wisdom and learn wisdom must hearken and keep silence, be
swift to hear and slow to speak. Job was wise and good; but those
that are so may yet be wiser and better, and must therefore set
themselves to improve by the means of wisdom and grace.</p>
</div></div2>