mh_parser/vol_split/18 - Job/Chapter 23.xml

<div2 id="Job.xxiv" n="xxiv" next="Job.xxv" prev="Job.xxiii" progress="11.96%" title="Chapter XXIII">
<h2 id="Job.xxiv-p0.1">J O B</h2>
<h3 id="Job.xxiv-p0.2">CHAP. XXIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Job.xxiv-p1">This chapter begins Job's reply to Eliphaz. In
this reply he takes no notice of his friends, either because he saw
it was to no purpose or because he liked the good counsel Eliphaz
gave him in the close of his discourse so well that he would make
no answer to the peevish reflections he began with; but he appeals
to God, begs to have his cause heard, and doubts not but to make it
good, having the testimony of his own conscience concerning his
integrity. Here seems to be a struggle between flesh and spirit,
fear and faith, throughout this chapter. I. He complains of his
calamitous condition, and especially of God's withdrawings from
him, so that he could not get his appeal heard (<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.2-Job.23.5" parsed="|Job|23|2|23|5" passage="Job 23:2-5">ver. 2-5</scripRef>), nor discern the meaning of God's
dealings with him (<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.8-Job.23.9" parsed="|Job|23|8|23|9" passage="Job 23:8,9">ver. 8,
9</scripRef>), nor gain any hope of relief, <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.13-Job.23.14" parsed="|Job|23|13|23|14" passage="Job 23:13,14">ver. 13, 14</scripRef>. This made deep impressions
of trouble and terror upon him, <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.15-Job.23.17" parsed="|Job|23|15|23|17" passage="Job 23:15-17">ver. 15-17</scripRef>. But, II. In the midst of
these complaints he comforts himself with the assurance of God's
clemency (<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.6-Job.23.7" parsed="|Job|23|6|23|7" passage="Job 23:6,7">ver. 6, 7</scripRef>), and
his own integrity, which God himself was a witness to, <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.10-Job.23.12" parsed="|Job|23|10|23|12" passage="Job 23:10-12">ver. 10-12</scripRef>. Thus was the light of
his day like that spoken of, <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Zech.14.6-Zech.14.7" parsed="|Zech|14|6|14|7" passage="Zec 14:6,7">Zech.
xiv. 6, 7</scripRef>, neither perfectly clear nor perfectly dark,
but "at evening time it was light."</p>
<scripCom id="Job.xxiv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.23" parsed="|Job|23|0|0|0" passage="Job 23" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Job.xxiv-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.1-Job.23.7" parsed="|Job|23|1|23|7" passage="Job 23:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.23.1-Job.23.7">
<h4 id="Job.xxiv-p1.10">The Reply of Job to Eliphaz; Job Appeals
from Man to God. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xxiv-p1.11">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xxiv-p2">1 Then Job answered and said,   2 Even to
day <i>is</i> my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my
groaning.   3 Oh that I knew where I might find him!
<i>that</i> I might come <i>even</i> to his seat!   4 I would
order <i>my</i> cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
  5 I would know the words <i>which</i> he would answer me,
and understand what he would say unto me.   6 Will he plead
against me with <i>his</i> great power? No; but he would put
<i>strength</i> in me.   7 There the righteous might dispute
with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxiv-p3">Job is confident that he has wrong done him
by his friends, and therefore, ill as he is, he will not give up
the cause, nor let them have the last word. Here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxiv-p4">I. He justifies his own resentments of his
trouble (<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.2" parsed="|Job|23|2|0|0" passage="Job 23:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>):
<i>Even to day,</i> I own, <i>my complaint is bitter;</i> for the
affliction, the cause of the complaint, is so. There are
<i>wormwood and gall in the affliction and misery; my soul has them
still in remembrance</i> and is embittered by them, <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.3.19-Lam.3.20" parsed="|Lam|3|19|3|20" passage="La 3:19,20">Lam. iii. 19, 20</scripRef>. <i>Even to day is
my complaint</i> counted <i>rebellion</i> (so some read it); his
friends construed the innocent expressions of his grief into
reflections upon God and his providence, and called them
<i>rebellion.</i> "But," says he, "I do not complain more than
there is cause; <i>for my stroke is heavier than my groaning.</i>
Even today, after all you have said to convince and comfort me,
still the pains of my body and the wounds of my spirit are such
that I have reason enough for my complaints, if they were more
bitter than they are." We wrong God if our groaning be heavier than
our stroke, like froward children, who, when they cry for nothing,
have justly something given them to cry for; but we do not wrong
ourselves though our stroke be heavier than our groaning, for
little said is soon amended.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxiv-p5">II. He appeals from the censures of his
friends to the just judgment of God; and this he thought was an
evidence for him that he was not a hypocrite, for then he durst not
have made such an appeal as this. St Paul comforted himself in
this, that <i>he that judged him was the Lord,</i> and therefore he
valued not man's judgment (<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.4.3-1Cor.4.4" parsed="|1Cor|4|3|4|4" passage="1Co 4:3,4">1 Cor. iv.
3, 4</scripRef>), but he was willing to wait till the appointed day
of decision came; whereas Job is impatient, and passionately wishes
to have the judgment-day anticipated, and to have his cause tried
quickly, as it were, by a special commission. The apostle found it
necessary to press it much upon suffering Christians patiently to
expect the Judge's coming, <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.7-Jas.5.9" parsed="|Jas|5|7|5|9" passage="Jam 5:7-9">Jam. v.
7-9</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxiv-p6">1. He is so sure of the equity of God's
tribunal that he longs to appear before it (<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.3" parsed="|Job|23|3|0|0" passage="Job 23:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>O that I knew where I might
find him!</i> This may properly express the pious breathings of a
soul convinced that it has by sin lost God and is undone for ever
if it recover not its interest in his favour. "O that I knew how I
might recover his favour! How I might come into his covenant and
communion with him!" <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.6-Mic.6.7" parsed="|Mic|6|6|6|7" passage="Mic 6:6,7">Mic. vi. 6,
7</scripRef>. It is the cry of a poor deserted soul. "<i>Saw you
him whom my soul loveth? O that I knew where I might find him!</i>
O that he who has laid open the way to himself would direct me into
it and lead me in it!" But Job here seems to complain too boldly
that his friends wronged him and he knew not which way to apply
himself to God to have justice done him, else he would go even to
his seat, to demand it. A patient waiting for death and judgment is
our wisdom and duty, and, if we duly consider things, that cannot
be without a holy fear and trembling; but a passionate wishing for
death or judgment, without any such fear and trembling, is our sin
and folly, and ill becomes us. Do we know what death and judgment
are, and are we so very ready for them, that we need not time to
get readier? <i>Woe to those that</i> thus, in a heat, <i>desire
the day of the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Amos.5.18" parsed="|Amos|5|18|0|0" passage="Am 5:18">Amos v.
18</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxiv-p7">2. He is so sure of the goodness of his own
cause that he longs to be opening it at God's bar (<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.4" parsed="|Job|23|4|0|0" passage="Job 23:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): "<i>I would order my
cause before him,</i> and set it in a true light. I would produce
the evidences of my sincerity in a proper method, and would <i>fill
my mouth with arguments</i> to prove it." We may apply this to the
duty of prayer, in which we have <i>boldness to enter into the
holiest</i> and to come even to the footstool of the throne of
grace. We have not only liberty of access, but liberty of speech.
We have leave, (1.) To be particular in our requests, <i>to order
our cause before God,</i> to speak the whole matter, to lay before
him all our grievances, in what method we think most proper; we
durst not be so free with earthly princes as a humble holy soul may
be with God. (2.) To be importunate in our requests. We are
allowed, not only to pray, but to plead, not only to ask, but to
argue; nay, to <i>fill our mouths with arguments,</i> not to move
God (he is perfectly apprized of the merits of the cause without
our showing), but to move ourselves, to excite our fervency and
encourage our faith in prayer.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxiv-p8">3. He is so sure of a sentence in favour of
him that he even longed to hear it (<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.5" parsed="|Job|23|5|0|0" passage="Job 23:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): "<i>I would know the words
which he would answer me,</i>" that is, "I would gladly hear what
God will say to this matter in dispute between you and me, and will
entirely acquiesce in his judgment." This becomes us, in all
controversies; let the word of God determine them; let us know what
he answers, and understand what he says. Job knew well enough what
his friends would answer him; they would condemn him, and run him
down. "But" (says he) "<i>I would</i> fain <i>know what God would
answer me;</i> for I am sure his judgment is according to truth,
which theirs is not. I cannot understand them; they talk so little
to the purpose. But what he says I should understand and therefore
be fully satisfied in."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxiv-p9">III. He comforts himself with the hope that
God would deal favourably with him in this matter, <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.6-Job.23.7" parsed="|Job|23|6|23|7" passage="Job 23:6,7"><i>v.</i> 6, 7</scripRef>. Note, It is of
great use to us, in every thing wherein we have to do with God, to
keep up good thoughts of him. He believes, 1. That God would not
overpower him, that he would not deal with him either by absolute
sovereignty or in strict justice, not with a high hand, nor with a
strong hand: <i>Will he plead against me with his great power?</i>
No. Job's friends pleaded against him with all the power they had;
but will God do so? No; his power is all just and holy, whatever
men's is. Against those that are obstinate in their unbelief and
impenitency God will <i>plead with his great power;</i> their
destruction will come <i>from the glory of his power.</i> But with
his own people, that love him and trust in him, he will deal in
tender compassion. 2. That, on the contrary, he would empower him
to plead his own cause before God: "<i>He would put strength in
me,</i> to support me and bear me up, in maintaining my integrity."
Note, The same power that is engaged against proud sinners is
engaged for humble saints, who prevail with God by strength derived
from him, as Jacob did, <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.12.3" parsed="|Hos|12|3|0|0" passage="Ho 12:3">Hos. xii.
3</scripRef>. See <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.68.35" parsed="|Ps|68|35|0|0" passage="Ps 68:35">Ps. lxviii.
35</scripRef>. 3. That the issue would certainly be comfortable,
<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.7" parsed="|Job|23|7|0|0" passage="Job 23:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. There, in the
court of heaven, when the final sentence is to be given, <i>the
righteous might dispute with him</i> and come off in his
righteousness. Now, even the upright are often <i>chastened of the
Lord,</i> and they cannot dispute against it; integrity itself is
no fence either against calamity or calumny; but in that day
<i>they shall not be condemned with the world,</i> though God may
afflict by prerogative. <i>Then you shall discern between the
righteous and the wicked</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.18" parsed="|Mal|3|18|0|0" passage="Mal 3:18">Mal.
iii. 18</scripRef>), so vast will be the difference between them in
their everlasting state; whereas now we can scarcely distinguish
them, so little is the difference between them as to their outward
condition, for all things come alike to all. Then, when the final
doom is given, <i>"I shall be delivered for ever from my
Judge,</i>" that is, "I shall be saved from the unjust censures of
my friends and from that divine sentence which is now so much a
terror to me." Those that are delivered up to God as their owner
and ruler shall be for ever delivered from him as their judge and
avenger; and there is no flying from his justice but by flying to
his mercy.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xxiv-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.8-Job.23.12" parsed="|Job|23|8|23|12" passage="Job 23:8-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.23.8-Job.23.12">
<h4 id="Job.xxiv-p9.7">Mystery of Providence. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xxiv-p9.8">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xxiv-p10">8 Behold, I go forward, but he <i>is</i> not
<i>there;</i> and backward, but I cannot perceive him:   9 On
the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold <i>him:</i>
he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see <i>him:</i>
  10 But he knoweth the way that I take: <i>when</i> he hath
tried me, I shall come forth as gold.   11 My foot hath held
his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.   12 Neither
have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed
the words of his mouth more than my necessary <i>food.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxiv-p11">Here, I. Job complains that he cannot
understand the meaning of God's providences concerning him, but is
quite at a loss about them (<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.8-Job.23.9" parsed="|Job|23|8|23|9" passage="Job 23:8,9"><i>v.</i> 8, 9</scripRef>): <i>I go forward, but he is
not there,</i> &amp;c. Eliphaz had bid him acquaint himself with
God. "So I would, with all my heart," says Job, "If I knew how to
get acquainted with him." He had himself a great desire to appear
before God, and get a hearing of his case, but the Judge was not to
be found. Look which way he would, he could see no sign of God's
appearing for him to clear up his innocency. Job, no doubt,
believed that God is every where present; but three things he seems
to complain of here:—1. That he could not fix his thoughts, nor
form any clear judgment of things in his own mind. His mind was so
hurried and discomposed with his troubles that he was like a man in
a fright, or at his wits' end, who runs this way and that way, but,
being in confusion, brings nothing to a head. By reason of the
disorder and tumult his spirit was in he could not fasten upon that
which he knew to be in God, and which, if he could but have mixed
faith with it and dwelt upon it in his thoughts, would have been a
support to him. It is the common complaint of those who are sick or
melancholy that, when they would think of that which is good, they
can make nothing of it. 2. That he could not find out the cause of
his troubles, nor the sin which provoked God to contend with him.
He took a view of his whole conversation, turned to every side of
it, and could not perceive wherein he had sinned more than others,
for which he should thus be punished more than others; nor could he
discern what other end God should aim at in afflicting him thus. 3.
That he could not foresee what would be in the end hereof, whether
God would deliver him at all, nor, if he did, when or which way. He
saw not his signs, nor was there any to tell him how long; as the
church complains, <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.74.9" parsed="|Ps|74|9|0|0" passage="Ps 74:9">Ps. lxxiv.
9</scripRef>. He was quite at a loss to know what God designed to
do with him; and, whatever conjecture he advanced, still something
or other appeared against it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxiv-p12">II. He satisfies himself with this, that
God himself was a witness to his integrity, and therefore did not
doubt but the issue would be good.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxiv-p13">1. After Job had almost lost himself in the
labyrinth of the divine counsels, how contentedly does he sit down,
at length, with this thought: "Though <i>I</i> know not the way
that he takes (for <i>his way is in the sea and his path in the
great waters,</i> his thoughts and ways are infinitely above ours
and it would be presumption in us to pretend to judge of them), yet
<i>he knows the way that I take,</i>" <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.10" parsed="|Job|23|10|0|0" passage="Job 23:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. That is, (1.) He is acquainted
with it. His friends judged of that which they did not know, and
therefore charged him with that which he was never guilty of; but
God, who knew every step he had taken, would not do so, <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.139.3" parsed="|Ps|139|3|0|0" passage="Ps 139:3">Ps. cxxxix. 3</scripRef>. Note, It is a great
comfort to those who mean honestly that God understands their
meaning, though men do not, cannot, or will not. (2.) He approves
of it: "He knows that, however I may sometimes have <i>taken a
false step,</i> yet I have still <i>taken a good way,</i> have
<i>chosen the way of truth,</i> and therefore he knows it," that
is, he accepts it, and is well pleased with it, as he is said to
<i>know the way of the righteous,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.6" parsed="|Ps|1|6|0|0" passage="Ps 1:6">Ps. i. 6</scripRef>. This comforted the prophet, <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.3" parsed="|Jer|12|3|0|0" passage="Jer 12:3">Jer. xii. 3</scripRef>. <i>Thou hast tried my
heart towards thee.</i> From this Job infers, <i>When he hath tried
me I shall come forth as gold.</i> Those that <i>keep the way of
the Lord</i> may comfort themselves, when they are in affliction,
with these three things:—[1.] That they are but tried. It is not
intended for their hurt, but for their honour and benefit; <i>it is
the trial of their faith,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.1.7" parsed="|1Pet|1|7|0|0" passage="1Pe 1:7">1 Pet. i.
7</scripRef>. [2.] That, when they are sufficiently tried, they
shall come forth out of the furnace, and not be left to consume in
it as dross or reprobate silver. The trial will have an end. <i>God
will not contend for ever.</i> [3.] That they shall come forth as
gold, pure in itself and precious to the refiner. They shall come
forth as gold approved and improved, found to be good and made to
be better. Afflictions are to us as we are; those that go gold into
the furnace will come out no worse.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxiv-p14">2. Now that which encouraged Job to hope
that his present troubles would thus end well was the testimony of
his conscience for him, that he had lived a good life in the fear
of God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxiv-p15">(1.) That God's way was the way he walked
in (<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.11" parsed="|Job|23|11|0|0" passage="Job 23:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): "<i>My
foot hath held his steps,</i>" that is, "held to them, adhered
closely to them; the steps he takes. I have endeavoured to conform
myself to his example." Good people are followers of God. Or, "I
have accommodated myself to his providence, and endeavoured to
answer all the intentions of that, to follow Providence step by
step." Or, "His steps are the steps he has appointed me to take;
the way of religion and serious godliness—that way I have kept,
and have not declined from it, not only not turned back from it by
a total apostasy, but not turned aside out of it by any wilful
transgression." His holding God's steps, and keeping his way,
intimate that the tempter had used all his arts by fraud and force
to draw him aside; but, with care and resolution, he had by the
grace of God hitherto persevered, and those that will do so must
hold and keep, hold with resolution and keep with watchfulness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxiv-p16">(2.) That God's word was the rule he walked
by, <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.12" parsed="|Job|23|12|0|0" passage="Job 23:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. He
governed himself by <i>the commandment of God's lips,</i> and would
not go back from that, but go forward according to it. Whatever
difficulties we may meet with in the way of God's commandments,
though they lead us through a wilderness, yet we must never think
of going back, but must press on towards the mark. Job kept closely
to the law of God in his conversation, for both his judgment and
his affection led him to it: <i>I have esteemed the words of his
mouth more than my necessary food;</i> that is, he looked upon it
as his necessary food; he could as well have lived without his
daily bread as without the word of God. <i>I have laid it up</i>
(so the word is), as those that lay up provision for a siege, or as
Joseph laid up corn before the famine. Eliphaz had told him to
<i>lay up God's words in his heart,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.22.22" parsed="|Job|22|22|0|0" passage="Job 22:22"><i>ch.</i> xxii. 22</scripRef>. "I do," says he, "and
always did, <i>that I might not sin against him,</i> and that, like
the good householder, I might bring forth for the good of others."
Note, The word of God is to our souls what our necessary food is to
our bodies; it sustains the spiritual life and strengthens us for
the actions of life; it is that which we cannot subsist without,
and which nothing else can make up the want of: and we ought
therefore so to esteem it, to take pains for it, hunger after it,
feed upon it with delight, and nourish our souls with it; and this
will be our rejoicing in the day of evil, as it was Job's here.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xxiv-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.13-Job.23.17" parsed="|Job|23|13|23|17" passage="Job 23:13-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.23.13-Job.23.17">
<h4 id="Job.xxiv-p16.4">Job's Comfort in His
Integrity. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xxiv-p16.5">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xxiv-p17">13 But he <i>is</i> in one <i>mind,</i> and who
can turn him? and <i>what</i> his soul desireth, even <i>that</i>
he doeth.   14 For he performeth <i>the thing that is</i>
appointed for me: and many such <i>things are</i> with him.  
15 Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am
afraid of him.   16 For God maketh my heart soft, and the
Almighty troubleth me:   17 Because I was not cut off before
the darkness, <i>neither</i> hath he covered the darkness from my
face.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxiv-p18">Some make Job to complain here that God
dealt unjustly and unfairly with him in proceeding to punish him
without the least relenting or relaxation, though he had such
incontestable evidences to produce of his innocency. I am loth to
think holy Job would charge the holy God with iniquity; but his
complaint is indeed bitter and peevish, and he reasons himself into
a sort of <i>patience per force,</i> which he cannot do without
reflecting upon God as dealing hardly with him, but he must bear it
because he cannot help it; the worst he says is that God deals
unaccountably with him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxiv-p19">I. He lays down good truths, and truths
which were capable of a good improvement, <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.13-Job.23.14" parsed="|Job|23|13|23|14" passage="Job 23:13,14"><i>v.</i> 13, 14</scripRef>. 1. That God's counsels
are immutable: <i>He is in one mind, and who can turn him? He is
one</i> (so some read it) or <i>in one;</i> he has no counsellors
by whose interest he might be prevailed with to alter his purpose:
he is one with himself, and never alters his
mind, never alters his measures. Prayer has prevailed to change
God's way and his providence, but never was his will or purpose
changed; for <i>known unto God are all his works.</i> 2. That his
power is irresistible: <i>What his soul desires</i> or designs
<i>even that he does,</i> and nothing can stand in his way or put
him upon new counsels. Men desire many things which they may not
do, or cannot do, or dare not do. But God has an incontestable
sovereignty; his will is so perfectly pure and right that it is
highly fit he should pursue all its determinations. And he has an
uncontrollable power. <i>None can stay his hand. Whatever the Lord
pleased that did he</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.135.6" parsed="|Ps|135|6|0|0" passage="Ps 135:6">Ps. cxxxv.
6</scripRef>), and always will, for it is always best. 3. That all
he does is according to the counsel of his will (<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.14" parsed="|Job|23|14|0|0" passage="Job 23:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>He performs the thing that
is appointed for me.</i> Whatever happens to us, it is God that
performs it (<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.57.2" parsed="|Ps|57|2|0|0" passage="Ps 57:2">Ps. lvii. 2</scripRef>),
and an admirable performance the whole will appear to be when the
mystery of God shall be finished. He performs all that, and that
only, which was appointed, and in the appointed time and method.
This may silence us, for what is appointed cannot be altered. But
to consider that, when God was appointing us to eternal life and
glory as our end, he was appointing to this condition, this
affliction, whatever it is, in our way, this may do more than
silence us, it may satisfy us that it is all for the best; though
what he does we know not now, yet we shall know hereafter. 4. That
all he does is according to the custom of his providence: <i>Many
such things are with him,</i> that is, He does many things in the
course of his providence which we can give no account of, but must
resolve into his absolute sovereignty. Whatever trouble we are in
others have been in the like. Our case is not singular; the same
<i>afflictions are accomplished in our brethren,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.5.9" parsed="|1Pet|5|9|0|0" passage="1Pe 5:9">1 Pet. v. 9</scripRef>. Are we sick or sore,
impoverished and stripped? Are our children removed by death or our
friends unkind? This is what <i>God has appointed for us, and many
such things are with him. Shall the earth be forsaken for
us?</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xxiv-p20">II. He makes but a bad use of these good
truths. Had he duly considered them, he might have said, "Therefore
am I easy and pleased, and well reconciled to the way of my God
concerning me; therefore will I rejoice in hope that my troubles
will issue well at last." But he said, <i>Therefore am I troubled
at his presence,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.15" parsed="|Job|23|15|0|0" passage="Job 23:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>. Those are indeed of troubled spirits who are
troubled at the presence of God, as the psalmist, who <i>remembered
God and was troubled,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.77.3" parsed="|Ps|77|3|0|0" passage="Ps 77:3">Ps. lxxvii.
3</scripRef>. See what confusion poor Job was now in, for he
contradicted himself: just now he was troubled for God's absence
(<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.8-Job.23.9" parsed="|Job|23|8|23|9" passage="Job 23:8,9"><i>v.</i> 8, 9</scripRef>); now he
is troubled at his presence. <i>When I consider, I am afraid of
him.</i> What he now felt made him fear worse. There is indeed that
which, if we consider it, will show that we have cause to be afraid
of God—his infinite justice and purity, compared with our own
sinfulness and vileness; but if, withal, we consider his grace in a
Redeemer, and our compliance with that grace, our fears will vanish
and we shall see cause to hope in him. See what impressions were
made upon him by the wounds of his spirit. 1. He was very fearful
(<scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.16" parsed="|Job|23|16|0|0" passage="Job 23:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>): <i>The
Almighty troubled him,</i> and so <i>made his heart soft,</i> that
is, utterly unable to bear any thing, and afraid of every thing
that stirred. There is a gracious softness, like that of Josiah,
whose heart was tender, and trembled at the word of God; but this
is meant of a grievous softness which apprehends every thing that
is present to be pressing and every thing future to be threatening.
2. He was very fretful, peevish indeed, for he quarrels with God,
(1.) Because he did not die before his troubles, that he might
never have seen them (<i>Because I was not cut off before the
darkness,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xxiv-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.17" parsed="|Job|23|17|0|0" passage="Job 23:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>), and yet if, in the height of his prosperity, he had
received a summons to the grave, he would have thought it hard.
This may help to reconcile us to death, whenever it comes, that we
do not know what evil we may be taken away from. But when trouble
comes it is folly to wish we had not lived to see it and it is
better to make the best of it. (2.) Because he was left to live so
long in his troubles, and the darkness was not covered from his
face by his being hidden in the grave. We should bear the darkness
better than thus if we would but remember that to the upright there
sometimes arises a marvellous light in the darkness; however, there
is reserved for them a more marvellous light after it.</p>
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