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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J O B</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXXVII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Elihu here goes on to extol the wonderful power of God in the meteors
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and all the changes of the weather: if, in those changes, we submit to
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the will of God, take the weather as it is and make the best of it, why
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should we not do so in other changes of our condition? Here he observes
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the hand of God,
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I. In the thunder and lightning,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. In the frost and snow, the rains and wind,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:6-13">ver. 6-13</A>.
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III. He applies it to Job, and challenges him to solve the phenomena of
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these works of nature, that confessing his ignorance in them, he might
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own himself an incompetent judge in the proceedings of divine
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Providence,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:14-22">ver. 14-22</A>.
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And then,
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IV. Concludes with his principle, which he undertook to make out, That
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God is great and greatly to be feared,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:23,24">ver. 23, 24</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Job37_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job37_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job37_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job37_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job37_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Address of Elihu.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1520.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of his
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place.
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2 Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound <I>that</I>
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goeth out of his mouth.
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3 He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning
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unto the ends of the earth.
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4 After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his
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excellency; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard.
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5 God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things
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doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Thunder and lightning, which usually go together, are sensible
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indications of the glory and majesty, the power and terror, of Almighty
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God, one to the ear and the other to the eye; in these God leaves not
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himself without witness of his greatness, as, in the rain from heaven
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and fruitful seasons, he leaves not himself without witness of his
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goodness
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+14:17">Acts xiv. 17</A>),
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even to the most stupid and unthinking. Though there are natural causes
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and useful effects of them, which the philosophers undertake to account
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for, yet they seem chiefly designed by the Creator to startle and
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awaken the slumbering world of mankind to the consideration of a God
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above them. The eye and the ear are the two learning senses; and
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therefore, though such a circumstance is possible, they say it was
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never known in fact that any one was born both blind and deaf. By the
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word of God divine instructions are conveyed to the mind through the
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ear, by his works through the eye; but, because those ordinary sights
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and sounds do not duly affect men, God is pleased sometimes to astonish
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men by the eye with his lightnings and by the ear with his thunder. It
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is very probable that at this time, when Elihu was speaking, it
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thundered and lightened, for he speaks of the phenomena as present;
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and, God being about to speak
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:1"><I>ch.</I> xxxviii. 1</A>),
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these were, as afterwards on Mount Sinai, the proper prefaces to
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command attention and awe. Observe here,
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1. How Elihu was himself affected, and desired to affect Job, with the
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appearance of God's glory in the thunder and lightning
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:1,2"><I>v.</I> 1, 2</A>):
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"For my part," says Elihu, "<I>my heart trembles</I> at it; though I
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have often heard it, often seen it, yet it is still terrible to me, and
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makes every joint of me tremble, and my heart beat as if it would move
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<I>out of its place.</I>" Thunder and lightning have been dreadful to
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the wicked: the emperor Caligula would run into a corner, or under a
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bed, for fear of them. Those who are very much astonished, we say, are
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<I>thunder-struck.</I> Even good people think thunder and lightning
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very awful; and that which makes them the more terrible is the hurt
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often done by lightning, many having been killed by it. Sodom and
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Gomorrah were laid in ruins by it. It is a sensible indication of what
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God could do to this sinful world, and what he <I>will do,</I> at last,
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by the fire to which it is reserved. Our hearts, like Elihu's should
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tremble at it for fear of God's judgments,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:120">Ps. cxix. 120</A>.
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He also calls upon Job to attend to it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>Hear attentively the noise of his voice.</I> Perhaps as yet it
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thundered at a distance, and could not be heard without listening: or
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rather, Though the thunder will be heard, and whatever we are doing we
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cannot help attending to it, yet, to apprehend and understand the
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instructions God thereby gives us, we have need to hear with great
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attention and application of mind. Thunder is called <I>the voice of
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the Lord</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+29:3-9">Ps. xxix. 3</A>,
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&c.), because by it God speaks to the children of men to fear before
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him, and it should put us in mind of that mighty word by which the
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world was at first made, which is called thunder.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+104:7">
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Ps. civ. 7</A>,
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<I>At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away,</I> namely, the
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waters, when God said, <I>Let them be gathered into one place.</I>
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Those that are themselves affected with God's greatness should labour
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to affect others.
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2. How he describes them.
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(1.) Their original, not their second causes, but the first. God
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directs the thunder, and the lightning is his,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Their production and motion are not from chance, but from the counsel
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of God and under the direction and dominion of his providence, though
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to us they seem accidental and ungovernable.
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(2.) Their extent. The claps of thunder roll <I>under the whole
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heaven,</I> and are heard far and near; so are the lightnings darted to
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<I>the ends of the earth;</I> they come out of the one part under
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heaven and shine to the other,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+17:24">Luke xvii. 24</A>.
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Though the same lightning and thunder do not reach to all places, yet
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they reach to very distant places in a moment, and there is no place
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but, some time or other, has these alarms from heaven.
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(3.) Their order. The lightning is first directed, and <I>after it a
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voice roars,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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The flash of fire, and the noise it makes in a watery cloud, are really
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at the same time; but, because the motion of light is much quicker than
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that of sound, we see the lightning some time before we hear the
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thunder, as we see the firing of a great gun at a distance before we
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hear the report of it. The thunder is here called <I>the voice of God's
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excellency,</I> because by it he proclaims his transcendent power and
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greatness. <I>He sends forth his voice and that a mighty voice,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+68:33">Ps. lxviii. 33</A>.
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(4.) Their violence. <I>He will not stay them,</I> that is, he does not
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need to check them, or hold them back, lest they should grow unruly and
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out of his power to restrain them, but lets them take their course,
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says to them, <I>Go, and they go--Come, and they come--Do this, and
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they do it.</I> He will not stay the rains and showers that usually
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follow upon the thunder (which he had spoken of,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+36:27,29"><I>ch.</I> xxxvi. 27, 29</A>),
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so some, but will pour them out upon the earth <I>when his voice is
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heard.</I> Thunder-showers are sweeping rains, and for them he <I>makes
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the lightnings,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+135:7">Ps. cxxxv. 7</A>.
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(5.) The inference he draws from all this,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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Does God thunder thus marvellously with his voice? We must then
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conclude that his other works are great, and such as we cannot
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comprehend. From this one instance we may argue to all, that, in the
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dispensations of his providence, there is that which is too great, too
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strong, for us to oppose or strive against, and too high, too deep, for
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us to arraign or quarrel with.</P>
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<A NAME="Job37_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job37_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job37_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job37_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job37_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job37_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job37_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job37_13"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>6 For he saith to the snow, Be thou <I>on</I> the earth; likewise to
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the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.
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7 He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know
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his work.
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8 Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places.
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9 Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the
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north.
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10 By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the
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waters is straitened.
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11 Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth
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his bright cloud:
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12 And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may
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do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in
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the earth.
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13 He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his
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land, or for mercy.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The changes and extremities of the weather, wet or dry, hot or cold,
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are the subject of a great deal of our common talk and observation; but
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how seldom do we think and speak of these things, as Elihu does here,
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with an awful regard to God the director of them, who shows his power
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and serves the purposes of his providence by them! We must take notice
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of the glory of God, not only in the thunder and lightning, but in the
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more common revolutions of the weather, which are not so terrible and
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which make less noise. As,</P>
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<P>
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I. In the snow and rain,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Thunder and lightning happen usually in the summer, but here he takes
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notice of the winter-weather. Then <I>he saith to the snow, Be thou on
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the earth;</I> he commissions it, he commands it, he appoints it, where
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it shall light and how long it shall lie. He speaks, and it is done: as
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in the creation of the world, <I>Let there be light,</I> so in the
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works of common providence, <I>Snow, be thou on the earth.</I> Saying
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and doing are not two things with God, though they are with us. When he
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speaks the word <I>the small rain</I> distils and <I>the great rain</I>
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pours down as he pleases--<I>the winter-rain</I> (so the LXX.), for in
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those countries, when the winter was past, the rain was over and gone,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+2:11">Cant. ii. 11</A>.
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The distinction in the Hebrew between the small rain and the great rain
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is this, that the former is called a shower of <I>rain,</I> the latter
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of <I>rains,</I> many showers in one; but all are the showers <I>of his
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strength:</I> the power of God is to be observed as much in the small
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rain that soaks into the earth as in the great rain that batters on the
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house-top and washes away all before it. Note, The providence of God
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is to be acknowledged, both by husbandmen in the fields and travellers
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upon the road, in every shower of rain, whether it does them a kindness
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of a diskindness. It is sin and folly to contend with God's providence
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in the weather; if he send the snow or rain, can we hinder them? Or
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shall we be angry at them? It is as absurd to quarrel with any other
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disposal of Providence concerning ourselves or ours. The effect of the
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extremity of the winter-weather is that it obliges both men and beasts
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to retire, making it uncomfortable and unsafe for them to go abroad.
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1. Men retire to their houses from their labours in the field, and keep
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within doors
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>He seals up the hand of every man.</I> In frost and snow, husbandmen
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cannot follow their business, nor some tradesmen, nor travellers, when
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the weather is extreme. The plough is laid by, the shipping laid up,
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nothing is to be done, nothing to be got, that men, being taken off
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from their own work, <I>may know his work,</I> and contemplate that,
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and give him the glory of that, and, by the consideration of that work
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of his in the weather which seals up their hands, be led to celebrate
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his other great and marvellous works. Note, When we are, upon any
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account, disabled from following our worldly business, and taken off
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from it, we should spend our time rather in the exercises of piety and
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devotion (in acquainting ourselves with the works of God and praising
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him in them) than in foolish idle sports and recreations. When our
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hands are sealed up our hearts should be thus opened, and the less we
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have at any time to do in the world the more we should thereby be
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driven to our Bibles and our knees.
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2. <I>The beasts</I> also <I>retire to</I> their <I>dens and remain in
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their</I> close <I>places,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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It is meant of the wild beasts, which, being wild, must seek a shelter
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for themselves, to which by instinct they are directed, while the tame
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beasts, which are serviceable to man, are housed and protected by his
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care, as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+9:20">Exod. ix. 20</A>.
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The ass has no den but his master's crib, and thither he goes, not only
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to be safe and warm, but to be fed. Nature directs all creatures to
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shelter themselves from a storm; and shall man alone be unprovided with
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an ark?</P>
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<P>
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II. In the winds, which blow from different quarters and produce
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different effects
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
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<I>Out of the hidden place</I> (so it may be read) <I>comes the
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whirlwind;</I> it turns round, and so it is hard to say from which
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point it comes but it comes from <I>the secret chamber,</I> as the word
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signifies, which I am not so willing to understand of the <I>south,</I>
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because he says here
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>)
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that the wind out of the south is so far from being a whirlwind that it
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is a warming, quieting, wind. But at this time, perhaps, Elihu saw a
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whirlwind-cloud coming out of the south and making towards them, out of
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which the Lord spoke soon after,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:1"><I>ch.</I> xxxviii. 1</A>.
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Or, if turbulent winds which bring showers come out of the south, cold
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and drying blasts come out of the north to scatter the vapours and
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clear the air of them.</P>
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<P>
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III. In the frost,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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See the cause of it: It <I>is given by the breath of God,</I> that is,
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by the word of his power and the command of his will; or, as some
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understand it, by the wind, which is the breath of God, as the thunder
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is his voice; it is caused by the cold freezing wind out of the north.
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See the effect of it: <I>The breadth of the waters is straitened,</I>
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that is, the waters that had spread themselves, and flowed with
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liberty, are congealed, benumbed, arrested, bound up in crystal
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fetters. This is such an instance of the power of God as, if it were
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not common, would be next to a miracle.</P>
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<P>
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IV. In the clouds, the womb where all these watery meteors are
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conceived, of which he had spoken,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+36:28"><I>ch.</I> xxxvi. 28</A>.
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Three sorts of clouds he here speaks of:--
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1. Close, black, thick clouds, pregnant with showers; and these with
|
|
watering <I>he wearies</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, they spend themselves, and are exhausted by the rain into
|
|
which they melt and are dissolved, pouring out water till they are
|
|
weary and can pour out no more. See what pains, as I may say, the
|
|
creatures, even those above us, take to serve man: the clouds water the
|
|
earth till they are weary; they spend and are spent for our benefit,
|
|
which shames and condemns us for the little good we do in our places,
|
|
though it would be to our own advantage, for <I>he that watereth shall
|
|
be watered also himself.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. Bright thin clouds, clouds without water; and these <I>he
|
|
scattereth;</I> they are dispersed of themselves, and not dissolved
|
|
into rain, but what becomes of them we know not. The bright cloud, in
|
|
the evening, when the sky is red, is scattered, and proves an earnest
|
|
of a fair day,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+16:2">Matt. xvi. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. Flying clouds, which do not dissolve, as the thick cloud, into a
|
|
close rain, but are carried upon the wings of the wind from place to
|
|
place, dropping showers as they go; and these are said to be <I>turned
|
|
round about</I> by his counsels,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
The common people say that the rain is determined by the planets, which
|
|
is as bad divinity as it is philosophy, for it is guided and governed
|
|
by the counsel of God, which extends even to those things that seem
|
|
most casual and minute, <I>that they may do whatsoever he commands
|
|
them;</I> for the stormy winds, and the clouds that are driven by them,
|
|
fulfil his word; and by this means he <I>causes it to rain upon one
|
|
city and not upon another,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:7,8">Amos iv. 7, 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thus his will is done <I>upon the face of the world in the earth,</I>
|
|
that is, among the children of men, to whom God has an eye in all these
|
|
things, of whom it is said that he <I>made them to dwell on the face of
|
|
the earth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+17:26">Acts xvii. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
The inferior creatures, being incapable of doing moral actions, are
|
|
incapable of receiving rewards and punishments: but, among the children
|
|
of men, God causes the rain to come, either for the correction of his
|
|
land or for a mercy to it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Rain sometimes turns into a judgment. It is a scourge to a sinful
|
|
land; as once it was for the destruction of the whole world, so it is
|
|
now often for the correction or discipline of some parts of it, by
|
|
hindering seedness and harvest, raising the waters, and damaging the
|
|
fruits. Some have said that our nation has received much more prejudice
|
|
by the excess of rain than by the want of it.
|
|
|
|
(2.) At other times it is a blessing. It is <I>for his land,</I> that
|
|
this may be made fruitful; and, besides that which is just necessary,
|
|
he gives <I>for mercy,</I> to fatten it and make it more fruitful. See
|
|
what a necessary dependence we have upon God, when the very same thing,
|
|
according to the proportion in which it is given, may be either a great
|
|
judgment or a great mercy, and without God we cannot have either a
|
|
shower or a fair gleam.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job37_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job37_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job37_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job37_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job37_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job37_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job37_20"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>14 Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the
|
|
wondrous works of God.
|
|
15 Dost thou know when God disposed them, and caused the light
|
|
of his cloud to shine?
|
|
16 Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous
|
|
works of him which is perfect in knowledge?
|
|
17 How thy garments <I>are</I> warm, when he quieteth the earth by
|
|
the south <I>wind?</I>
|
|
18 Hast thou with him spread out the sky, <I>which is</I> strong,
|
|
<I>and</I> as a molten looking glass?
|
|
19 Teach us what we shall say unto him; <I>for</I> we cannot order
|
|
<I>our speech</I> by reason of darkness.
|
|
20 Shall it be told him that I speak? if a man speak, surely he
|
|
shall be swallowed up.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Elihu here addresses himself closely to Job, desiring him to apply what
|
|
he had hitherto said to himself. He begs that he would hearken to this
|
|
discourse
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
that he would pause awhile: <I>Stand still, and consider the wondrous
|
|
works of God.</I> What we hear is not likely to profit us unless we
|
|
consider it, and we are not likely to consider things fully unless we
|
|
stand still and compose ourselves to the consideration of them. The
|
|
works of God, being wondrous, both deserve and need our consideration,
|
|
and the due consideration of them will help to reconcile us to all his
|
|
providences. Elihu, for the humbling of Job, shows him,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. That he had no insight into natural causes, could neither see the
|
|
springs of them nor foresee the effects of them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:15-17"><I>v.</I> 15-17</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Dost thou know</I> this and know that which are <I>the wondrous
|
|
works of him who is perfect in knowledge?</I> We are here taught,
|
|
|
|
1. The perfection of God's knowledge. It is one of the most glorious
|
|
perfections of God that he is perfect in knowledge; he is omniscient.
|
|
His knowledge is intuitive: he <I>sees,</I> and does not know by
|
|
report. It is intimate and entire: he knows things truly, and not by
|
|
their colours--thoroughly, and not by piecemeal. To his knowledge there
|
|
is nothing distant, but all near--nothing future, but all
|
|
present--nothing hid, but all open. We ought to acknowledge this in all
|
|
his wondrous works, and it is sufficient to satisfy us in those
|
|
wondrous works which we know not the meaning of that they are the works
|
|
of one that knows what he does.
|
|
|
|
2. The imperfection of our knowledge. The greatest philosophers are
|
|
much in the dark concerning the powers and works of nature. We are a
|
|
paradox to ourselves, and every thing about us is a mystery. The
|
|
gravitation of bodies, and the cohesion of the parts of matter, are
|
|
most certain, and yet unaccountable. It is good for us to be made
|
|
sensible of our own ignorance. Some have confessed their ignorance,
|
|
and those that would not do this have betrayed it. But we must all
|
|
infer from it what incompetent judges we are of the divine politics,
|
|
when we understand so little even of the divine mechanics.
|
|
|
|
(1.) We know not what orders God has given concerning the clouds, nor
|
|
what orders he will give,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
That all is done by determination and with design we are sure; but what
|
|
is determined, and what designed, and when the plan was laid, we know
|
|
not. God often <I>causes the light of his cloud to shine,</I> in the
|
|
rainbow (so some), in the lightning (so others); but did we foresee, or
|
|
could we foretel, when he would to it? If we foresee the change of
|
|
weather a few hours before, by vulgar observation, or when second
|
|
causes have begun to work by the weather-glass, yet how little do these
|
|
show us of the purposes of God by these changes!
|
|
|
|
(2.) We know not how the clouds are poised in the air, the
|
|
<I>balancing</I> of them, which is one of the wondrous works of God.
|
|
They are so balanced, so spread, that they never rob us of the benefit
|
|
of the sun (even the cloudy day is day), so balanced that they do not
|
|
fall at once, nor burst into cataracts or water-spouts. The rainbow is
|
|
an intimation of God's favour in balancing the clouds so as to keep
|
|
them from drowning the world. Nay, so are they balanced that they
|
|
impartially distribute their showers on the earth, so that, one time or
|
|
other, every place has its share.
|
|
|
|
(3.) We know not how the comfortable change comes when the winter is
|
|
past,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
[1.] How the weather becomes warm after it has been cold. We know how
|
|
our garment came to be warm upon us, that is, how we come to be warm in
|
|
our clothes, by reason of the warmth of the air we breathe in. Without
|
|
God's blessing we should clothe ourselves, yet not be warm,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:6">Hag. i. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
But, when he so orders it, the clothes are warm upon us, which, in the
|
|
extremity of cold weather, would not serve to keep us warm.
|
|
|
|
[2.] How it becomes calm after it has been stormy: <I>He quiets the
|
|
earth by the south wind,</I> when the spring comes. As he has a
|
|
blustering freezing north wind, so he has a thawing, composing, south
|
|
wind; the Spirit is compared to both, because he both convinces and
|
|
comforts,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+4:16">Cant. iv. 16</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. That he had no share at all in the first making of the world
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Hast thou with him spread out the sky?</I> Thou canst not pretend
|
|
to have stretched it out without him, no, nor to have stretched it out
|
|
in conjunction with him; for he was far from needing any help either in
|
|
contriving or in working." The creation of the vast expanse of the
|
|
visible heavens
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:6-8">Gen. i. 6-8</A>),
|
|
|
|
which we see in being to this day, is a glorious instance of the divine
|
|
power, considering,
|
|
|
|
1. That, though it is fluid, yet it is firm. It <I>is strong,</I> and
|
|
has its name from its stability. It still is what it was, and suffers
|
|
no decay, nor shall the ordinances of heaven be altered till the lease
|
|
expires with time.
|
|
|
|
2. That, though it is large, it is bright and most curiously fine: It
|
|
is a <I>molten looking-glass,</I> smooth and polished, and without the
|
|
least flaw or crack. In this, as in a looking-glass, we may <I>behold
|
|
the glory of God</I> and the wisdom of <I>his handy work,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+19:1">Ps. xix. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
When we look up to heaven above we should remember it is a mirror or
|
|
looking-glass, not to show us our own faces, but to be a faint
|
|
representation of the purity, dignity, and brightness of the upper
|
|
world and its glorious inhabitants.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. That neither he nor they were able to speak of the glory of God in
|
|
any proportion to the merit of the subject,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:19,20"><I>v.</I> 19, 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. He challenges Job to be their director, if he durst undertake the
|
|
task. He speaks it ironically: "<I>Teach us,</I> if thou canst, <I>what
|
|
we shall say unto him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thou hast a mind to reason with God, and wouldst have us to contend
|
|
with him on thy behalf; teach us then what we shall say. Canst thou
|
|
see further into this abyss than we can? If thou canst, favour us with
|
|
thy discoveries, furnish us with instructions."
|
|
|
|
2. He owns his own insufficiency both in speaking to God and in
|
|
speaking of him: <I>We cannot order our speech by reason of
|
|
darkness.</I> Note, The best of men are much in the dark concerning the
|
|
glorious perfections of the divine nature and the administrations of
|
|
the divine government. Those that through grace know much of God, yet
|
|
know little, yea, nothing, in comparison with what is to be known, and
|
|
what will be known, when that which is perfect shall come and the veil
|
|
shall be rent. When we would speak of God we speak confusedly and with
|
|
great uncertainly, and are soon at a loss and run aground, not for want
|
|
of matter, but for want of words. As we must always begin with fear and
|
|
trembling, lest we speak amiss (<I>De Deo etiam vera dicere periculosum
|
|
est</I>--<I>Even while affirming what is true concerning God we incur
|
|
risk</I>), so we must conclude with shame and blushing, for having
|
|
spoken no better. Elihu himself had, for his part, spoken well on God's
|
|
behalf, and yet is so far from expecting a fee, or thinking that God
|
|
was beholden to him for it, or that he was fit to be standing counsel
|
|
for him, that
|
|
|
|
(1.) He is even ashamed of what he has said, not of the cause, but of
|
|
his own management of it: "<I>Shall it be told him that I speak?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Shall it be reported to him as a meritorious piece of service, worthy
|
|
his notice? By no means; let it never be spoken of," for he fears that
|
|
the subject has suffered by his undertaking it, as a fine face is
|
|
wronged by a bad painter, and his performance is so far from meriting
|
|
thanks that it needs pardon. When we have done all we can for God we
|
|
must acknowledge that we are unprofitable servants and have nothing at
|
|
all to boast of. He is afraid of saying any more: <I>If a man
|
|
speak,</I> if he undertake to plead for God, much more if he offer to
|
|
plead against him, <I>surely he shall be swallowed up.</I> If he speak
|
|
presumptuously, God's wrath shall soon consume him; but, if ever so
|
|
well, he will soon lose himself in the mystery and be over powered by
|
|
the divine lustre. Astonishment will strike him blind and dumb.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job37_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job37_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job37_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job37_24"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>21 And now <I>men</I> see not the bright light which <I>is</I> in the
|
|
clouds: but the wind passeth, and cleanseth them.
|
|
22 Fair weather cometh out of the north: with God <I>is</I> terrible
|
|
majesty.
|
|
23 <I>Touching</I> the Almighty, we cannot find him out: <I>he is</I>
|
|
excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he
|
|
will not afflict.
|
|
24 Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any <I>that are</I>
|
|
wise of heart.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Elihu here concludes his discourse with some short but great sayings
|
|
concerning the glory of God, as that which he was himself impressed,
|
|
and desired to impress others, with a holy awe of. He speaks concisely,
|
|
and in haste, because, it should seem, he perceived that God was about
|
|
to take the work into his own hands.
|
|
|
|
1. He observes that God who has said that he will <I>dwell in the thick
|
|
darkness</I> and <I>make that his pavilion</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+6:1,Ps+18:11">2 Chron. vi. 1, Ps. xviii. 11</A>)
|
|
|
|
is in that awful chariot advancing towards them, as if he were
|
|
preparing his throne for judgment, surrounded with <I>clouds and
|
|
darkness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+97:2,9">Ps. xcvii. 2, 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
He saw the cloud, with a whirlwind in the bosom of it, coming out of
|
|
the south; but now it hung so thick, so black, over their heads, that
|
|
they could none of them <I>see the bright light which</I> just before
|
|
<I>was in the clouds.</I> The light of the sun was now eclipsed. This
|
|
reminded him of the darkness by reason of which he could not speak
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
and made him afraid to go on,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thus the disciples <I>feared when they entered into a cloud,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:34">Luke ix. 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
Yet he looks to the north, and sees it clear that way, which gives him
|
|
hope that the clouds are not gathering for a deluge; they are covered,
|
|
but not surrounded, with them. He expects that <I>the wind will
|
|
pass</I> (so it may be read) <I>and cleanse them,</I> such a wind as
|
|
passed over the earth to clear it from the waters of Noah's flood
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:1">Gen. viii. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
in token of the return of God's favour; and then <I>fair weather will
|
|
come out of the north</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>)
|
|
|
|
and all will be well. God will not always frown, nor contend for ever.
|
|
|
|
2. He hastens to conclude, now that God is about to speak; and
|
|
therefore delivers much in a few words, as the sum of all that he had
|
|
been discoursing of, which, if duly considered, would not only clench
|
|
the nail he had been driving, but make way for what God would say. He
|
|
observes,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That <I>with God is terrible majesty.</I> He is a God of glory and
|
|
such transcendent perfection as cannot but strike an awe upon all his
|
|
attendants and a terror upon all his adversaries. <I>With God is
|
|
terrible praise</I> (so some), for he is <I>fearful in praises,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+15:11">Exod. xv. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That when we speak <I>touching the Almighty</I> we must own that
|
|
<I>we cannot find him out;</I> our finite understandings cannot
|
|
comprehend his infinite perfections,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
Can we put the sea into an egg-shell? We cannot trace the steps he
|
|
takes in his providence. <I>His way is in the sea.</I>
|
|
|
|
(3.) That <I>he is excellent in power.</I> It is the excellency of his
|
|
power that he can do whatever he pleases in heaven and earth. The
|
|
universal extent and irresistible force of his power are the excellency
|
|
of it; no creature has an arm like him, so long, so strong.
|
|
|
|
(4.) That he is not less excellent in wisdom and righteousness, <I>in
|
|
judgment and plenty of justice,</I> else there would be little
|
|
excellency in his power. We may be sure that he who can do every thing
|
|
will do every thing for the best, for he is infinitely wise, and will
|
|
not in any thing do wrong, for he is infinitely just. When he executes
|
|
judgment upon sinners, yet there is plenty of justice in the execution,
|
|
and he inflicts not more than they deserve.
|
|
|
|
(5.) That <I>he will not afflict,</I> that is, that he will not afflict
|
|
willingly; it is no pleasure to him to grieve the children of men, much
|
|
less his own children. He never afflicts but when there is cause and
|
|
when there is need, and he does not overburden us with affliction, but
|
|
considers our frame. Some read it thus: "<I>The Almighty, whom we
|
|
cannot find out, is great in power, but he will not afflict in
|
|
judgment, and with him is plenty of justice,</I> nor is he extreme to
|
|
mark what we do amiss."
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(6.) He values not the censures of those who are wise in their own
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conceit: <I>He respecteth them not,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
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He will not alter his counsels to oblige them, nor can those that
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prescribe to him prevail with him to do as they would have him do. He
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regards the prayer of the humble, but not the policies of the crafty.
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No, the foolishness of God is wiser than men,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+1:15">1 Cor. i. 15</A>.
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(7.) From all this it is easy to infer that, since God is great, he is
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greatly to be feared; nay, because he is gracious and will not afflict,
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<I>men do therefore fear him,</I> for <I>there is forgiveness with him,
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that he may be feared,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+130:1-8">Ps. cxxx.</A>
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4. It is the duty and interest of all men to fear God. <I>Men shall
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fear him</I> (so some); sooner or later they shall fear him. Those that
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will not fear the Lord and his goodness shall for ever tremble under
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the pourings out of the vials of his wrath.</P>
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