mh_parser/vol_split/18 - Job/Chapter 11.xml

<div2 id="Job.xii" n="xii" next="Job.xiii" prev="Job.xi" progress="6.07%" title="Chapter XI">
<h2 id="Job.xii-p0.1">J O B</h2>
<h3 id="Job.xii-p0.2">CHAP. XI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Job.xii-p1">Poor Job's wound's were yet bleeding, his sore
still runs and ceases not, but none of his friends bring him any
oil, any balm; Zophar, the third, pours into them as much vinegar
as the two former had done. I. He exhibits a very high charge
against Job, as proud and false in justifying himself, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.1-Job.11.4" parsed="|Job|11|1|11|4" passage="Job 11:1-4">ver. 1-4</scripRef>. II. He appeals to God for
his conviction, and begs that God would take him to task (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.5" parsed="|Job|11|5|0|0" passage="Job 11:5">ver. 5</scripRef>) and that Job might be made
sensible, 1. Of God's unerring wisdom and his inviolable justice,
<scripRef id="Job.xii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.6" parsed="|Job|11|6|0|0" passage="Job 11:6">ver. 6</scripRef>. 2. Of his
unsearchable perfections, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.7-Job.11.9" parsed="|Job|11|7|11|9" passage="Job 11:7-9">ver.
7-9</scripRef>. 3. Of his incontestable sovereignty and
uncontrollable power, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.10" parsed="|Job|11|10|0|0" passage="Job 11:10">ver.
10</scripRef>. 4. Of the cognizance he takes of the children of
men, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.11-Job.11.12" parsed="|Job|11|11|11|12" passage="Job 11:11,12">ver. 11, 12</scripRef>. III.
He assures him that, upon his repentance and reformation (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.13-Job.11.14" parsed="|Job|11|13|11|14" passage="Job 11:13,14">ver. 13, 14</scripRef>), God would restore
him to his former prosperity and safety (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.15-Job.11.19" parsed="|Job|11|15|11|19" passage="Job 11:15-19">ver. 15-19</scripRef>); but that, if he were wicked
it was in vain to expect it, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.20" parsed="|Job|11|20|0|0" passage="Job 11:20">ver.
20</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Job.xii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Job.11" parsed="|Job|11|0|0|0" passage="Job 11" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Job.xii-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.1-Job.11.6" parsed="|Job|11|1|11|6" passage="Job 11:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.11.1-Job.11.6">
<h4 id="Job.xii-p1.12">The Address of Zophar. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xii-p1.13">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xii-p2">1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
  2 Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should
a man full of talk be justified?   3 Should thy lies make men
hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee
ashamed?   4 For thou hast said, My doctrine <i>is</i> pure,
and I am clean in thine eyes.   5 But oh that God would speak,
and open his lips against thee;   6 And that he would show
thee the secrets of wisdom, that <i>they are</i> double to that
which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee <i>less</i> than
thine iniquity <i>deserveth.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p3">It is sad to see what intemperate passions
even wise and good men are sometimes betrayed into by the heat of
disputation, of which Zophar here is an instance. Eliphaz began
with a very modest preface, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.2" parsed="|Job|4|2|0|0" passage="Job 4:2"><i>ch.</i>
iv. 2</scripRef>. Bildad was a little more rough upon Job,
<scripRef id="Job.xii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.8.2" parsed="|Job|8|2|0|0" passage="Job 8:2"><i>ch.</i> viii. 2</scripRef>. But
Zophar falls upon him without mercy, and gives him very bad
language: <i>Should a man full of talk be justified? And should thy
lies make men hold their peace?</i> Is this the way to comfort Job?
No, nor to convince him neither. Does this become one that appears
as an advocate for God and his justice? <i>Tantæne animis
coelestibus iræ?—In heavenly breasts can such resentment
dwell?</i> Those that engage in controversy will find it very hard
to keep their temper. All the wisdom, caution, and resolution they
have will be little enough to prevent their breaking out into such
indecencies as we here find Zophar guilty of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p4">I. He represents Job otherwise than what he
was, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.2-Job.11.3" parsed="|Job|11|2|11|3" passage="Job 11:2,3"><i>v.</i> 2, 3</scripRef>. He
would have him thought idle and impertinent in his discourse, and
one that loved to hear himself talk; he gives him the lie, and
calls him <i>a mocker;</i> and all this that it might be looked
upon as a piece of justice to chastise him. Those that have a mind
to fall out with their brethren, and to fall foul upon them, find
it necessary to put the worst colours they can upon them and their
performances, and, right or wrong, to make them odious. We have
read and considered Job's discourses in the foregoing chapters, and
have found them full of good sense and much to the purpose, that
his principles are right, his reasonings strong, many of his
expressions weighty and very considerable, and that what there is
in them of heat and passion a little candour and charity will
excuse and overlook; and yet Zophar here invidiously represents
him, 1. As a man that never considered what he said, but uttered
what came uppermost, only to make a noise with the multitude of
words, hoping by that means to carry his cause and run down his
reprovers: <i>Should not the multitude of words be answered?</i>
Truly, sometimes it is no great matter whether it be or no; silence
perhaps is the best confutation of impertinence and puts the
greatest contempt upon it. <i>Answer not a fool according to his
folly.</i> But, if it be answered, let reason and grace have the
answering of it, not pride and passion. <i>Should a man full of
talk</i> (margin, <i>a man of lips,</i> that is all tongue, <i>vox
et præterea nihil—mere voice</i>) <i>be justified?</i> Should he
be justified in his loquacity, as in effect he is if he be not
reproved for it? No, for <i>in the multitude of words there wanteth
not sin.</i> Should he be justified by it? Shall many words pass
for valid pleas? Shall he carry the day with the flourishes of
language? No, he shall not be accepted with God, or any wise men,
<i>for his much speaking,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.6.7" parsed="|Matt|6|7|0|0" passage="Mt 6:7">Matt. vi.
7</scripRef>. 2. As a man that made no conscience of what he
said—a liar, and one that hoped by the impudence of lies to
silence his adversaries (<i>should thy lies make men hold their
peace?</i>)—a mocker, one that bantered all mankind, and knew how
to put false colours upon any thing, and was not ashamed to impose
upon every one that talked with him: <i>When thou mockest shall no
man make thee ashamed?</i> Is it not time to speak, to stem such a
violent tide as this? Job was not mad, but spoke the words of truth
and soberness, and yet was thus misrepresented. Eliphaz and Bildad
had answered him, and said what they could to make him ashamed; it
was therefore no instance of Zophar's generosity to set upon a man
so violently who was already thus harassed. Here were three matched
against one.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p5">II. He charges Job with saying that which
he had not said (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.4" parsed="|Job|11|4|0|0" passage="Job 11:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>): <i>Thou hast said, My doctrine is pure.</i> And what
if he had said so? It was true that Job was sound in the faith, and
orthodox in his judgment, and spoke better of God than his friends
did. If he had expressed himself unwarily, yet it did not therefore
follow but that his doctrine was true. But he charges him with
saying, <i>I am clean in thy eyes.</i> Job had not said so: he had
indeed said, <i>Thou knowest that I am not wicked</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.10.7" parsed="|Job|10|7|0|0" passage="Job 10:7"><i>ch.</i> x. 7</scripRef>); but he had also
said, <i>I have sinned,</i> and never pretended to a spotless
perfection. He had indeed maintained that he was not a hypocrite as
they charged him; but to infer thence that he would not own himself
a sinner was an unfair insinuation. We ought to put the best
construction on the words and actions of our brethren that they
will bear; but contenders are tempted to put the worst.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p6">III. He appeals to God, and wishes him to
appear against Job. So very confident is he that Job is in the
wrong that nothing will serve him but that God must immediately
appear to silence and condemn him. We are commonly ready with too
much assurance to interest God in our quarrels, and to conclude
that, if he would but speak, he would take our part and speak for
us, as Zophar here: <i>O that God would speak!</i> for he would
certainly <i>open his lips against thee;</i> whereas, when God did
speak, he opened his lips for Job against his three friends. We
ought indeed to leave all controversies to be determined by the
judgment of God, which we are sure <i>is according to truth;</i>
but those are not always in the right who are most forward to
appeal to that judgment and prejudge it against their antagonists.
Zophar despairs to convince Job himself, and therefore desires God
would convince him of two things which it is good for every one of
us duly to consider, and under all our afflictions cheerfully to
confess:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p7">1. The unsearchable depth of God's
counsels. Zophar cannot pretend to do it, but he desires that God
himself would show Job so much of the secrets of the divine wisdom
as might convince him that <i>they are at least double to that
which is,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.6" parsed="|Job|11|6|0|0" passage="Job 11:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>.
Note, (1.) There are secrets in the divine wisdom, <i>arcana
imperii—state-secrets.</i> God's way is in the sea. Clouds and
darkness are round about him. He has reasons of state which we
cannot fathom and must not pry into. (2.) What we know of God is
nothing to what we cannot know. What is hidden is more than double
to what appears, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.3.9" parsed="|Eph|3|9|0|0" passage="Eph 3:9">Eph. iii.
9</scripRef>. (3.) By employing ourselves in adoring the depth of
those divine counsels of which we cannot find the bottom we shall
very much tranquilize our minds under the afflicting hand of God.
(4.) God knows a great deal more evil of us than we do of
ourselves; so some understand it. When God gave David a sight and
sense of sin he said that he had <i>in the hidden part made him to
know wisdom,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.51.6" parsed="|Ps|51|6|0|0" passage="Ps 51:6">Ps. li.
6</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p8">2. The unexceptionable justice of his
proceedings. "Know therefore that, how sore soever the correction
is that thou art under, <i>God exacteth of thee less than thy
iniquity deserves,</i>" or (as some read it), "he <i>remits thee
part of thy iniquity,</i> and does not deal with thee according to
the full demerit of it." Note, (1.) When the debt of duty is not
paid it is justice to insist upon the debt of punishment. (2.)
Whatever punishment is inflicted upon us in this world we must own
that it is less than our iniquities deserve, and therefore, instead
of complaining of our troubles, we must be thankful that we are out
of hell, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.3.39 Bible:Ps.103.10" parsed="|Lam|3|39|0|0;|Ps|103|10|0|0" passage="La 3:39,Ps 103:10">Lam. iii. 39; Ps.
ciii. 10</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.7-Job.11.12" parsed="|Job|11|7|11|12" passage="Job 11:7-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.11.7-Job.11.12">
<p class="passage" id="Job.xii-p9">7 Canst thou by searching find out God? canst
thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?   8 <i>It is</i>
as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst
thou know?   9 The measure thereof <i>is</i> longer than the
earth, and broader than the sea.   10 If he cut off, and shut
up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?   11 For he
knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then
consider <i>it?</i>   12 For vain man would be wise, though
man be born <i>like</i> a wild ass's colt.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p10">Zophar here speaks very good things
concerning God and his greatness and glory, concerning man and his
vanity and folly: these two compared together, and duly considered,
will have a powerful influence upon our submission to all the
dispensations of the divine Providence.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p11">I. See here what God is, and let him be
adored.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p12">1. He is an incomprehensible Being,
infinite and immense, whose nature and perfections our finite
understandings cannot possibly form any adequate conceptions of,
and whose counsels and actings we cannot therefore, without the
greatest presumption, pass a judgment upon. We that are so little
acquainted with the divine nature are incompetent judges of the
divine providence; and, when we censure the dispensations of it, we
talk of things that we do not understand. We cannot find out God;
how dare we then find fault with him? Zophar here shows, (1.) That
God's nature infinitely exceeds the capacities of our
understandings: "<i>Canst thou find out God, find him out to
perfection?</i> No, <i>What canst thou do? What canst thou
know?</i>" <scripRef id="Job.xii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.7-Job.11.8" parsed="|Job|11|7|11|8" passage="Job 11:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7,
8</scripRef>. Thou, a poor, weak, short-sighted creature, a worm of
the earth, that art but of yesterday? Thou, though ever so
inquisitive after him, ever so desirous and industrious to find him
out, yet darest thou attempt the search, or canst thou hope to
speed in it? We may, by searching find God (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.17.27" parsed="|Acts|17|27|0|0" passage="Ac 17:27">Acts xvii. 27</scripRef>), but we cannot find him out in
any thing he is pleased to conceal; we may apprehend him, but we
cannot comprehend him; we may know that he is, but cannot know what
he is. The eye can see the ocean but not see over it. We may, by a
humble, diligent, and believing search, find out something of God,
but cannot find him out to perfection; we may know, but cannot know
fully, what God is, nor find out his work <i>from the beginning to
the end,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.11" parsed="|Eccl|3|11|0|0" passage="Ec 3:11">Eccl. iii. 11</scripRef>.
Note, God is unsearchable. The ages of his eternity cannot be
numbered, nor the spaces of his immensity measured; the depths of
his wisdom cannot be fathomed, nor the reaches of his power
bounded; the brightness of his glory can never be described, nor
the treasures of his goodness reckoned up. This is a good reason
why we should always speak of God with humility and caution and
never prescribe to him nor quarrel with him, why we should be
thankful for what he has revealed of himself and long to be where
we shall see him as he is, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.13.9-1Cor.13.10" parsed="|1Cor|13|9|13|10" passage="1Co 13:9,10">1 Cor.
xiii. 9, 10</scripRef>. (2.) That it infinitely exceeds the limits
of the whole creation: <i>It is higher than heaven</i> (so some
read it), <i>deeper than hell,</i> the great abyss, <i>longer than
the earth, and broader than the sea,</i> many parts of which are to
this day undiscovered, and more were then. It is quite out of our
reach to comprehend God's nature. <i>Such knowledge is too
wonderful for us,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.139.6" parsed="|Ps|139|6|0|0" passage="Ps 139:6">Ps. cxxxix.
6</scripRef>. We cannot fathom God's designs, nor find out the
reasons of his proceedings. His judgments are a great deep. Paul
attributes such immeasurable dimensions to the divine love as
Zophar here attributes to the divine wisdom, and yet recommends it
to our acquaintance. <scripRef id="Job.xii-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Eph.3.18-Eph.3.19" parsed="|Eph|3|18|3|19" passage="Eph 3:18,19">Eph. iii. 18,
19</scripRef>, <i>That you may know the breadth, and length, and
depth, and height, of the love of Christ.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p13">2. God is a sovereign Lord (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.10" parsed="|Job|11|10|0|0" passage="Job 11:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>If he cut off</i>
by death (margin, <i>If he make a change,</i> for death is a
change; if he make a change in nations, in families, in the posture
of our affairs),—if he <i>shut up</i> in prison, or in the net of
affliction (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.66.11" parsed="|Ps|66|11|0|0" passage="Ps 66:11">Ps. lxvi.
11</scripRef>),—if he seize any creature as a hunter his prey, he
will gather it (so bishop Patrick) and who shall force him to
restore? or if he <i>gather together,</i> as tares for the fire, or
<i>if he gather to himself man's spirit and breath</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.34.14" parsed="|Job|34|14|0|0" passage="Job 34:14"><i>ch.</i> xxxiv. 14</scripRef>), <i>then who
can hinder him?</i> Who can either arrest the sentence or oppose
the execution? Who can control his power or arraign his wisdom and
justice? If he that made all out of nothing think fit to reduce all
to nothing, or to their first chaos again,—if he that separated
between light and darkness, dry land and sea, at first, please to
gather them together again,—if he that made unmakes, <i>who can
turn him away,</i> alter his mind or stay his hand, impede or
impeach his proceedings?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p14">3. God is a strict and just observer of the
children of men (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.11" parsed="|Job|11|11|0|0" passage="Job 11:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>): <i>He knows vain men.</i> We know little of him,
but he knows us perfectly: <i>He sees wickedness also,</i> not to
approve it (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Hab.1.13" parsed="|Hab|1|13|0|0" passage="Hab 1:13">Hab. i. 13</scripRef>),
but to animadvert upon it. (1.) He observes vain men. Such all are
(<i>every man, at his best estate, is altogether vanity</i>), and
he considers it in his dealings with them. He knows what the
projects and hopes of vain men are, and can blast and defeat them,
the workings of their foolish fancies; he sits in heaven, and
laughs at them. He takes knowledge of the vanity of men (that is,
their little sins; so some) their vain thoughts and vain words, and
unsteadiness in that which is good. (2.) He observes bad men: <i>He
sees</i> gross <i>wickedness also,</i> though committed ever so
secretly and ever so artfully palliated and disguised. All the
wickedness of the wicked is naked and open before the all-seeing
eye of God: <i>Will he not then consider it?</i> Yes, certainly he
will, and will reckon for it, though for a time he seem to keep
silence.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p15">II. See here what man is, and let him be
humbled, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.12" parsed="|Job|11|12|0|0" passage="Job 11:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. God
sees this concerning vain man that he <i>would be wise,</i> would
be thought so, <i>though he is born like a wild ass's colt,</i> so
sottish and foolish, unteachable and untameable. See what man is.
1. He is a vain creature—<i>empty;</i> so the word is. God made
him full, but he emptied himself, impoverished himself, and now he
is <i>raca,</i> a creature that has nothing in him. 2. He is a
foolish creature, has become <i>like the beasts that perish</i>
(<scripRef id="Job.xii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.49.20 Bible:Ps.73.22" parsed="|Ps|49|20|0|0;|Ps|73|22|0|0" passage="Ps 49:20,73:22">Ps. xlix. 20, lxxiii.
22</scripRef>), an idiot, born like an ass, the most stupid animal,
an ass's colt, not yet brought to any service. If ever he come to
be good for any thing, it is owing to the grace of Christ, who
once, in the day of his triumph, served himself by an ass's colt.
3. He is a wilful ungovernable creature. An ass's colt may be made
good for something, but the wild ass's colt will never be
reclaimed, nor regards the crying of the driver. See <scripRef id="Job.xii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.5-Job.39.7" parsed="|Job|39|5|39|7" passage="Job 39:5-7">Job xxxix. 5-7</scripRef>. Man thinks himself
as much at liberty, and his own master, as the wild ass's colt
does, that is <i>used to the wilderness</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.24" parsed="|Jer|2|24|0|0" passage="Jer 2:24">Jer. ii. 24</scripRef>), eager to gratify his own
appetites and passions. 4. Yet he is a proud creature and
self-conceited. He <i>would be wise,</i> would he thought so,
values himself upon the honour of wisdom, though he will not submit
to the laws of wisdom. He would be wise, that is, he reaches after
forbidden wisdom, and, like his first parents, aiming to be wise
above what is written, loses the tree of life for the tree of
knowledge. Now is such a creature as this fit to contend with God
or call him to an account? Did we but better know God and
ourselves, we should better know how to conduct ourselves towards
God.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xii-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.13-Job.11.20" parsed="|Job|11|13|11|20" passage="Job 11:13-20" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.11.13-Job.11.20">
<p class="passage" id="Job.xii-p16">13 If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out
thine hands toward him;   14 If iniquity <i>be</i> in thine
hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy
tabernacles.   15 For then shalt thou lift up thy face without
spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:   16
Because thou shalt forget <i>thy</i> misery, <i>and</i> remember
<i>it</i> as waters <i>that</i> pass away:   17 And
<i>thine</i> age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt
shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.   18 And thou shalt
be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig <i>about
thee, and</i> thou shalt take thy rest in safety.   19 Also
thou shalt lie down, and none shall make <i>thee</i> afraid; yea,
many shall make suit unto thee.   20 But the eyes of the
wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope
<i>shall be as</i> the giving up of the ghost.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p17">Zophar, as the other two, here encourages
Job to hope for better times if he would but come to a better
temper.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p18">I. He gives him good counsel (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.13-Job.11.14" parsed="|Job|11|13|11|14" passage="Job 11:13,14"><i>v.</i> 13, 14</scripRef>), as Eliphaz did
(<scripRef id="Job.xii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.5.8" parsed="|Job|5|8|0|0" passage="Job 5:8"><i>ch.</i> v. 8</scripRef>), and
Bildad, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.8.5" parsed="|Job|8|5|0|0" passage="Job 8:5"><i>ch.</i> viii. 5</scripRef>.
He would have him repent and return to God. Observe the steps of
that return. 1. He must look within, and get his mind changed and
the tree made good. He must <i>prepare his heart;</i> there the
work of conversion and reformation must begin. The heart that
wandered from God must be reduced—that was defiled with sin and
put into disorder must be cleansed and put in order again—that was
wavering and unfixed must be settled and established; so the word
here signifies. The heart is then prepared to seek God when it is
determined and fully resolved to make a business of it and to go
through with it. 2. He must look up, and <i>stretch out his hands
towards God,</i> that is, must stir up himself to take hold on God,
must pray to him with earnestness and importunity, striving in
prayer, and with expectation to receive mercy and grace from him.
To <i>give the hand to the Lord</i> signifies to yield ourselves to
him and to covenant with him, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.30.8" parsed="|2Chr|30|8|0|0" passage="2Ch 30:8">2 Chron.
xxx. 8</scripRef>. This Job must do, and, for the doing of it, must
prepare his heart. Job had prayed, but Zophar would have him to
pray in a better manner, not as an appellant, but as a petitioner
and humble suppliant. 3. He must amend what was amiss in his own
conversation, else his prayers would be ineffectual (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p18.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.14" parsed="|Job|11|14|0|0" passage="Job 11:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): "<i>If iniquity be in
thy hand</i> (that is, if there be any sin which thou dost yet live
in the practice of) <i>put it far away,</i> forsake it with
detestation and a holy indignation, stedfastly resolving not to
return to it, nor ever to have any thing more to do with it.
<scripRef id="Job.xii-p18.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.31 Bible:Hos.14.9 Bible:Isa.30.22" parsed="|Ezek|18|31|0|0;|Hos|14|9|0|0;|Isa|30|22|0|0" passage="Eze 18:31,Ho 14:9,Isa 30:22">Ezek. xviii. 31;
Hos. xiv. 9; Isa. xxx. 22</scripRef>. If any of the gains of
iniquity, any goods gotten by fraud or oppression, be in thy hand,
make restitution thereof" (as Zaccheus, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p18.7" osisRef="Bible:Luke.19.8" parsed="|Luke|19|8|0|0" passage="Lu 19:8">Luke xix. 8</scripRef>), "and <i>shake thy hands from
holding them,</i>" <scripRef id="Job.xii-p18.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.15" parsed="|Isa|33|15|0|0" passage="Isa 33:15">Isa. xxxiii.
15</scripRef>. The guilt of sin is not removed if the gain of sin
be not restored. 4. He must do his utmost to reform his family too:
"<i>Let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles;</i> let not thy
house harbour or shelter any wicked persons, any wicked practices,
or any wealth gotten by wickedness." He suspected that Job's great
household had been ill-governed, and that, where there were many,
there were many wicked, and the ruin of his family was the
punishment of the wickedness of it; and therefore, if he expected
God should return to him, he must reform what was amiss there, and,
though wickedness might come into his tabernacles, he must not
suffer it to dwell there, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p18.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.101.3-Ps.101.8" parsed="|Ps|101|3|101|8" passage="Ps 101:3-8">Ps. ci.
3</scripRef>, &amp;c.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p19">II. He assures him of comfort if he took
this counsel, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.15-Job.11.20" parsed="|Job|11|15|11|20" passage="Job 11:15-20"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>, &amp;c. If he would repent and reform, he should,
without doubt, be easy and happy, and all would be well. Perhaps
Zophar might insinuate that, unless God did speedily make such a
change as this in his condition, he and his friends would be
confirmed in their opinion of him as a hypocrite and a dissembler
with God. A great truth, however, is conveyed, That, <i>the work of
righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness
quietness and assurance for ever,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.17" parsed="|Isa|32|17|0|0" passage="Isa 32:17">Isa. xxxii. 17</scripRef>. Those that sincerely turn to
God may expect,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p20">1. A holy confidence towards God: "<i>Then
shalt thou lift up thy face towards heaven</i> without spot; thou
mayest come boldly to the throne of grace, and not with that terror
and amazement expressed," <scripRef id="Job.xii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.9.34" parsed="|Job|9|34|0|0" passage="Job 9:34"><i>ch.</i>
ix. 34</scripRef>. If our hearts condemn us not for hypocrisy and
impenitency, then have we confidence in our approaches to God and
expectations from him, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:1John.3.21" parsed="|1John|3|21|0|0" passage="1Jo 3:21">1 John iii.
21</scripRef>. If we are looked upon in the face of the anointed,
our faces, that were dejected, may be lifted up—that were
polluted, being washed with the blood of Christ, may be lifted up
without spot. We may <i>draw near in full assurance of faith</i>
when we are <i>sprinkled from an evil conscience,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Heb.10.22" parsed="|Heb|10|22|0|0" passage="Heb 10:22">Heb. x. 22</scripRef>. Some understand this of
the clearing up of his credit before men, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.37.6" parsed="|Ps|37|6|0|0" passage="Ps 37:6">Ps. xxxvii. 6</scripRef>. If we make our peace with God,
we may with cheerfulness look our friends in the face.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p21">2. A holy composedness in themselves:
<i>Thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear,</i> not <i>be afraid
of evil tidings,</i> thy heart being fixed, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.112.7" parsed="|Ps|112|7|0|0" passage="Ps 112:7">Ps. cxii. 7</scripRef>. Job was now full of confusion
(<scripRef id="Job.xii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.10.15" parsed="|Job|10|15|0|0" passage="Job 10:15"><i>ch.</i> x. 15</scripRef>), while
he looked upon God as his enemy and quarrelled with him; but Zophar
assures him that, if he would submit and humble himself, his mind
would be composed, and he would be freed from those frightful
apprehensions he had of God, which put him into such an agitation.
The less we are frightened the more we are fixed, and consequently
the more fit we are for our services and for our sufferings.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p22">3. A comfortable reflection upon their past
troubles (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.16" parsed="|Job|11|16|0|0" passage="Job 11:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>):
"<i>Thou shalt forget thy misery,</i> as the mother forgets her
travailing pains, for joy that the child is born; thou shalt be
perfectly freed from the impressions it makes upon thee, and
<i>thou shalt remember it as waters that pass away,</i> or are
poured out of a vessel, which leave no taste or tincture behind
them, as other liquors do. The wounds of thy present affliction
shall be perfectly healed, not only without a remaining scar, but
without a remaining pain." Job had endeavoured to forget his
complaint (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.9.27" parsed="|Job|9|27|0|0" passage="Job 9:27"><i>ch.</i> ix.
27</scripRef>), but found he could not; his soul <i>had still in
remembrance the wormwood and the gall:</i> but here Zophar puts him
in a way to forget it; let him by faith and prayer bring his griefs
and cares to God, an leave them with him, and then he shall forget
them. Where sin sits heavily affliction sits lightly. If we duly
remember our sins, we shall, in comparison with them, forget our
misery, much more if we obtain the comfort of a sealed pardon and a
settled peace. He whose iniquity is forgiven shall <i>not say, I am
sick,</i> but shall forget his sickness, <scripRef id="Job.xii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.24" parsed="|Isa|33|24|0|0" passage="Isa 33:24">Isa. xxxiii. 24</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p23">4. A comfortable prospect of their future
peace. This Zophar here thinks to please Job with, in answer to the
many despairing expressions he had used, as if it were to no
purpose for him to hope ever to see good days again in this world:
"Yea, but thou mayest" (says Zophar) "and good nights too." A
blessed change he here puts him in hopes of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p24">(1.) That though now his light was eclipsed
it should shine out again, and more brightly than ever (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.17" parsed="|Job|11|17|0|0" passage="Job 11:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>),—that even his
setting sun should out-shine his noon-day sun, and his evening be
fair and clear as the morning, in respect both of honour and
pleasure.—that his light should shine <i>out of obscurity</i>
(<scripRef id="Job.xii-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.10" parsed="|Isa|58|10|0|0" passage="Isa 58:10">Isa. lviii. 10</scripRef>), and the
thick and dark cloud, from behind which his sun should break forth,
would serve as a foil to its lustre,—that it should shine even in
old age, and those evil days should be good days to him. Note,
Those that truly turn to God then begin to shine forth; their path
is as the shining light which increases, the period of their day
will be the perfection of it, and their evening to this world will
be their morning to a better.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p25">(2.) That, though now he was in a continual
fear and terror, he should live in a holy rest and security, and
find himself continually safe and easy (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.18" parsed="|Job|11|18|0|0" passage="Job 11:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <i>Thou shalt be secure,
because there is hope.</i> Note, Those who have a good hope,
through grace, in God, and of heaven, are certainly safe, and have
reason to be secure, how difficult soever the times are through
which they pass in this world. He that walks uprightly may thus
walk surely, because, though there are trouble and danger, yet
there is hope that all will be well at last. Hope is <i>an anchor
of the soul,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xii-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.6.19" parsed="|Heb|6|19|0|0" passage="Heb 6:19">Heb. vi.
19</scripRef>. "<i>Thou shalt dig about thee,</i>" that is, "Thou
shalt be as safe as an army in its entrenchments." Those that
submit to God's government shall be taken under his protection, and
then they are safe both day and night. [1.] By day, when they
employ themselves abroad: "<i>Thou shalt dig in safety,</i> thou
and thy servants for thee, and not be again set upon by the
plunderers, who fell upon thy servants at plough," <scripRef id="Job.xii-p25.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.1.14-Job.1.15" parsed="|Job|1|14|1|15" passage="Job 1:14,15"><i>ch.</i> i. 14, 15</scripRef>. It is no
part of the promised prosperity that he should live in idleness,
but that he should have a calling and follow it, and, when he was
about the business of it, should be under the divine protection.
Thou shalt dig and be safe, not rob and be safe, revel and be safe.
The way of duty is the way of safety. [2.] By night, when they
repose themselves at home: <i>Thou shalt take thy rest</i> (and
<i>the sleep of the labouring man is sweet</i>) <i>in safety,</i>
notwithstanding the dangers of the darkness. The pillar of cloud by
day shall be a pillar of fire by night: "<i>Thou shalt lie down</i>
(<scripRef id="Job.xii-p25.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.19" parsed="|Job|11|19|0|0" passage="Job 11:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>), not forced
to wander where there is no place to lay thy head on, nor forced to
watch and sit up in expectation of assaults; but thou shalt go to
bed at bedtime, and not only shall non hurt thee, but none shall
make thee afraid nor so much as give thee an alarm." Note, It is a
great mercy to have quiet nights and undisturbed sleeps; those say
so that are within the hearing of the noise of war. And the way to
be quiet is to seek unto God and keep ourselves in his love.
Nothing needs make those afraid who <i>return to God as their
rest</i> and take him for their habitation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p26">(3.) That, though now he was slighted, yet
he should be courted: "<i>Many shall make suit to thee,</i> and
think it their interest to secure thy friendship." Suit is made to
those that are eminently wise or reputed to be so, that are very
rich or in power. Zophar knew Job so well that he foresaw that, how
low soever this present ebb was, if once the tide turned, it would
flow as high as ever; and he would be again the darling of his
country. Those that rightly make suit to God will probably see the
day when others will make suit to them, as the foolish virgins to
the wise, <i>Give us of your oil.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xii-p27">III. Zophar concludes with a brief account
of the doom of wicked people (<scripRef id="Job.xii-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.20" parsed="|Job|11|20|0|0" passage="Job 11:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): <i>But the eyes of the wicked
shall fail.</i> It should seem, he suspected that Job would not
take his counsel, and here tells him what would then come of it,
setting death as well as life before him. See what will become of
those who persist in their wickedness, and will not be reformed. 1.
They shall not reach the good they flatter themselves with the
hopes of in this world and in the other. Disappointments will be
their doom, their shame, their endless torment. Their eyes shall
fail with expecting that which will never come. <i>When a wicked
man dies his expectation perishes,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xii-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.11.7" parsed="|Prov|11|7|0|0" passage="Pr 11:7">Prov. xi. 7</scripRef>. <i>Their hope shall be as a puff
of breath</i> (margin), vanished and gone past recall. Or their
hope will perish and expire as a man does when he gives up the
ghost; it will fail them when they have most need of it and when
they expected the accomplishment of it; it will die away, and leave
them in utter confusion. 2. They shall not avoid the evil which
sometimes they frighten themselves with the apprehensions of. They
shall not escape the execution of the sentence passed upon them,
can neither out-brave it nor outrun it. Those that will not fly to
God will find it in vain to think of flying from him.</p>
</div></div2>