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Job Chapter
Thirty-three
Job 33
Chapter Contents
Elihu offers to reason with Job. (1-7) Elihu blames Job
for reflecting upon God. (8-13) God calls men to repentance. (14-18) God sends
afflictions for good. (19-28) Elihu entreats Job's attention. (29-33)
Commentary on Job 33:1-7
(Read Job 33:1-7)
Job had desired a judge to decide his appeal. Elihu was
one according to his wish, a man like himself. If we would rightly convince
men, it must be by reason, not by terror; by fair argument, not by a heavy
hand.
Commentary on Job 33:8-13
(Read Job 33:8-13)
Elihu charges Job with reflecting upon the justice and
goodness of God. When we hear any thing said to God's dishonour, we ought to
bear our testimony against it. Job had represented God as severe in marking
what he did amiss. Elihu urges that he had spoken wrong, and that he ought to
humble himself before God, and by repentance to unsay it. God is not
accountable to us. It is unreasonable for weak, sinful creatures, to strive
with a God of infinite wisdom, power, and goodness. He acts with perfect
justice, wisdom, and goodness, where we cannot perceive it.
Commentary on Job 33:14-18
(Read Job 33:14-18)
God speaks to us by conscience, by providences, and by
ministers; of all these Elihu discourses. There was not then, that we know of,
any Divine revelation in writing, though now it is our principal guide. When
God designs men's good, by the convictions and dictates of their own
consciences, he opens the heart, as Lydia's, and opens the ears, so that
conviction finds or forces its way in. The end and design of these admonitions
are to keep men from sin, particularly the sin of pride. While sinners are
pursuing evil purposes, and indulging their pride, their souls are hastening to
destruction. That which turns men from sin, saves them from hell. What a mercy
it is to be under the restraints of an awakened conscience!
Commentary on Job 33:19-28
(Read Job 33:19-28)
Job complained of his diseases, and judged by them that
God was angry with him; his friends did so too: but Elihu shows that God often
afflicts the body for good to the soul. This thought will be of great use for
our getting good from sickness, in and by which God speaks to men. Pain is the
fruit of sin; yet, by the grace of God, the pain of the body is often made a
means of good to the soul. When afflictions have done their work, they shall be
removed. A ransom or propitiation is found. Jesus Christ is the Messenger and
the Ransom, so Elihu calls him, as Job had called him his Redeemer, for he is
both the Purchaser and the Price, the Priest and the sacrifice. So high was the
value of souls, that nothing less would redeem them; and so great the hurt done
by sin, that nothing less would atone for it, than the blood of the Son of God,
who gave his life a ransom for many. A blessed change follows. Recovery from
sickness is a mercy indeed, when it proceeds from the remission of sin. All
that truly repent of their sins, shall find mercy with God. The works of
darkness are unfruitful works; all the gains of sin will come far short of the
damage. We must, with a broken and contrite heart, confess our sins to God, 1 John 1:9. We must confess the fact of sin; and
not try to justify or excuse ourselves. We must confess the fault of sin; I
have perverted that which was right. We must confess the folly of sin; So
foolish have I been and ignorant. Is there not good reason why we should make
such a confession?
Commentary on Job 33:29-33
(Read Job 33:29-33)
Elihu shows that God's great and gracious design toward
the children of men, is, to save them from being for ever miserable, and to
bring them to be for ever happy. By whatever means we are kept back from the we
shall bless the Lord for them at least, and should bless him for them though
they be painful and distressing. Those that perish for ever are without excuse,
for they would not be healed.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Job》
Job 33
Verse 3
[3] My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart: and my
lips shall utter knowledge clearly.
My words — I will not speak passionately or partially, but from a
sincere desire to do thee good.
Clearly — What I speak will be plain, not hard to be understood.
Verse 4
[4] The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the
Almighty hath given me life.
Life — I am thy fellow creature, and am ready to discourse
with thee upon even terms, according to thy desire.
Verse 6
[6] Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead: I
also am formed out of the clay.
Behold — I will plead with thee in God's name and stead, which
thou hast often wished, and I am God's creature like thyself.
Verse 9
[9] I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither
is there iniquity in me.
Clean — Not absolutely, for he often confesses himself to be a
sinner, but no such transgression, as might give God just occasion to punish
him so severely, as is implied, where he blames God for finding occasions
against him, implying that he had given him none by his sins. And thus far
Elihu's charge was just, and herein it differs from the charge of Job's three
friends, who often accuse him, for asserting his own innocency; although they
did it, because they thought him an hypocrite, whereas Elihu does it upon other
grounds, even because Job's justification of himself was accompanied with
reflections upon God.
Verse 11
[11] He putteth my feet in the stocks, he marketh all my paths.
Marketh — He narrowly prys into all my actions, that he may find
matter against me.
Verse 12
[12] Behold, in this thou art not just: I will answer thee,
that God is greater than man.
Not just — Thou art in the wrong.
Greater — Not only in power and majesty, but also in justice,
and wisdom, and goodness, and therefore thou dost foolishly, in censuring his
judgments, thou castest off that awe and reverence which thou shouldest
constantly maintain towards thy sovereign Lord.
Verse 13
[13] Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not
account of any of his matters.
He — Useth not to give an account to his creatures of the
grounds and reasons of his judgments or dispensations as being the supreme
governor of all persons and things, in whose will it becometh all men to
acquiesce.
Verse 14
[14] For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it
not.
Yet — Although he doth not give men an account of his
matters, yet he doth that which is sufficient for them.
Twice — When once speaking doth not awaken men, God is
graciously pleased to give them another admonition: though he will not gratify
men's curiosity in enquiring into his hidden judgments, yet he will acquaint
them with their duty. God speaks to us by conscience, by providence, and by
ministers, of all which Elihu here treats at large, to shew Job, that God was
now telling him his mind, and endeavouring to do him good. He shews first, how
God admonishes men by their own consciences.
Verse 16
[16] Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,
Sealeth — He imprints those instructions upon their minds.
Verse 17
[17] That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide
pride from man.
Pride — And God by this means is said to hide pride from man,
because by these glorious representations of his Divine majesty to man, he
takes him off from the admiration of his own excellency, and brings him to a
sight of his own weakness, and to an humble and ready submission to his will.
Verse 18
[18] He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from
perishing by the sword.
Keepeth — By his gracious admonitions whereby he leads him to
repentance.
Verse 19
[19] He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the
multitude of his bones with strong pain:
Pain — The second way whereby God instructs men and excites
them to repentance.
Verse 22
[22] Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life
to the destroyers.
The destroyers — The pangs of death, here called
the destroyers, are just ready to seize him.
Verse 23
[23] If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one
among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:
A messenger — A prophet or teacher. To expound
the providence, and point out the design of God therein.
One, … — A person rightly qualified for this great and hard
work, such as there are but very few.
To shew — To direct him to the right way how he may please God,
and procure that mercy which he thirsts after; which is not by quarrelling with
God, but by an humble confession. and supplication for mercy through Christ the
redeemer.
Verse 24
[24] Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him
from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.
He — God.
A ransom — Although I might justly destroy him, yet I will spare
him, for I have found out a way of ransoming sinners from death, which is the
death of my son, the redeemer of the world, and with respect to which I will
pardon them that repent and sue for mercy. Observe how God glories in the
invention! I have found, I have found a ransom; a ransom for poor, undone
sinners! I, even I am he that hath done it.
Verse 26
[26] He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto
him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his
righteousness.
Render — He will deal with him as with one reconciled to him
through the mediator, and turning from sin to righteousness.
Verse 28
[28] He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and
his life shall see the light.
Life — His life which was endangered, shall be restored and
continued. Yea, farther, God shall Deliver his soul from going into the pit of
hell: and his life shall see the light, all good, in the vision and fruition of
God.
Verse 29
[29] Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man,
Lo — All these ways God uses to convince, and save sinners.
Verse 30
[30] To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened
with the light of the living.
To bring — That he may save men from being forever miserable, and
make them forever happy. "Lord, what is man, that thou shouldest thus
visit him? This should engage us, to comply with God's designs, to work with
him for our own good, and not to counter-work him. And this will render those
that perish inexcusable, that, so much was done to save them, and they would
not he healed." So Mr. Henry. Excellent words! But how much did God do to
save them? Did he ever do any thing to save them? Did he ever design to save
them? If not, how does that which was never done, no nor designed, "render
them inexcusable?"
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Job》
33 Chapter 33
Verses 1-33
Verses 1-7
Wherefore, Job, I pray thee, hear my speeches.
Personal applications of truth
Here is the great failure in the case of the three friends and
Elihu: they speak broad generalities; they are sure the doctrine is right. With
these, as mere utterances, we have no fault to find; but where was the wisdom
which could apply the doctrine to the individual case? Where the holy skill
that could touch the wound without aggravating it? Where that learned and
eloquent tongue that could speak a word in season to him that is weary, and
speak as if he were singing? Who could utter himself without making any noise;
who could declare a judgment without perpetrating a violence? Such condolence
is the very balm of heaven, but such comfort was never associated with bald
generalities, rough, vague statements of truths, however profound; such
condolence, such solace, can only be applied out of the heart that has itself
become rich in experience, and learned through many a long school day to suffer
and be strong. Common places, however profound and beautiful, cannot touch the
agony of life. By “common places” is here meant statements which may for their
truthfulness pass without challenge; they have become amongst the established
truths of the world; they are accepted; the Church listens to them as to
falling rain; they excite no surprise; they come and operate as by a gracious
necessity. But what we want is particular application, study of every
individual case; each heart has its own history, each spirit knows its own
want. So, in listening to great broad declarations from the pulpit, we must
each receive these declarations according to our individual need: they cease to
be merely general when they become definitely and personally applied. (Joseph
Parker, D. D.)
Verse 4
The Spirit of God hath made me.
On the general dispensation of the Holy Spirit with respect to the
new creation
The Holy Spirit completed the work of creation in all its parts.
With respect to the new creation, the work is threefold.
I. His rich and
copious influences and operations. The dispensation of the Spirit with respect
to the new creation may be considered as follows:--
1. The plentiful effusion of the Spirit’s influences.
2. The ministry of the Spirit, in the Gospel, is called the ministry
of the Spirit by way of eminence.
3. In the Gospel the Spirit is promised to all ranks and degrees of
men.
4. Our Lord teaches all His disciples to pray for the Spirit (Luke 11:13).
5. The chief comfort which our Lord left to His disciples at His
departure was the Spirit.
II. The work of the
Spirit with respect to the human nature of Christ, the head of the new
creation.
1. Spirit miraculously formed our Lord’s human nature, soul and body,
in the womb of the Virgin.
2. He filled the human nature of our Lord with holiness; He
sanctifies the new nature of the believer.
3. He carried on the progressive work of grace in our Lord’s soul and
body; He carries on the sanctification of the believer unto perfection.
4. He anointed our Lord with all extraordinary powers necessary for
the discharge of His offices; He anoints the believer for the discharge of
every duty
5. He enabled our Lord to work miracles. He enables the believer to
conquer sin and Satan: and are not these great miracles?
6. He directed and comforted our Lord in all His troubles. He directs
and comforts believers in all their troubles.
7. He enabled our Lord to offer Himself without spot to God. He
enables the believer to meet death in peace and purity.
8. He preserved our Lord’s dead body that it saw no corruption. He
will gather the remains of the believer’s body, wherever they are.
9. He raised our Lord from the dead. He will raise the believer at
the last day.
10. He glorified our Lord’s human nature. He will glorify the
believer, when raised from the tomb.
II. He has borne
witness concerning our Lord ever since He raised Him from the dead. He will
write the name of the believer in the Book of Life.
III. The work of the
Spirit upon the members of Christ’s mystical body. (J. Kidd, D. D.)
The breath of the Almighty
hath given me life.--
The value of life
There are two conflicting theories of the origin of man. One
brings him upward from the brute, the other downward from God.
1. Life, in its origin, is infinitely important. The birth of a babe
is a mighty event. The Scandinavians have a very impressive allegory of human
life. They represent it as a tree, the “Igdrasil,” or tree of existence, whose
roots grow deep down in the soil of mystery; the trunk reaches above the
clouds; its branches spread out over the globe. At the foot of it sit the past,
present, and future, watering the roots. Its boughs, with their unleafing,
spread out through all lands and all time; every leaf of the tree is a
biography, every fibre a word, a thought, or a deed; its boughs are the histories
of nations; the rustle of it is the noise of human existence onwards from of
old; it grows amid the howling of the hurricane--it is the great tree of
humanity.
2. Human life is transcendently precious from the services it may
render to God in the advancement of His glory. Man was not created as a piece
of guess work, flung into existence as a waif. There is purpose in the creation
of every human being. What is the purpose of life? Man was created to be happy,
to be holy! That is the double aim of life--duty first, then happiness as the
consequence. The highest style of manhood and womanhood is to be attained by
consecration to the Son of God.
3. Life is infinitely valuable from the eternal consequences flowing
from it. This world is a solemn vestibule of eternity.
Practical thoughts--
1. How careful we ought to be to husband life.
2. What a stupendous crime wanton war becomes!
3. How short life is, yet infinite in its reach and retribution! What
sort of life are you living? (T. L. Cuyler, D. D.)
Verse 6-7
Behold, I am according to thy wish in God’s stead.
The philosophy of mediation
The words mediation and intercession present fundamentally the
same idea--a coming between, to bridge over a gulf, or to avert a stroke. Some
being to stand between him and God, and to be the interpreter of God’s dealing
with him, and of his thought about God, was what Job’s heart yearned after. The
one question which man demands to have answered, as the condition of his peace,
is this--Is there any being, having prevailing power with God, who can be
touched as a brother with the feeling of our infirmities, and who can bear the
feeling of our infirmities with him in all his transactions with God on our
behalf? Intercession rests on the fact that there is a complete humanity in
God. There is already the human within the orb of the Divine nature. The
thought of the creature acting upon God except through a Mediator who is God,
destroys that which is most essential in the idea of God. We talk of the love
of God in Christ as though it were born when Christ took on Himself the burden
of our sins and cares. He but drew forth and revealed, so that every eye could
see it, that which had been there from all eternity. Here is the true deep
ground of all intercession. We have not to create anything, we have not to
change anything, we have but to draw forth what is already waiting to be drawn
forth from the Divine heart. Then what need is there of the Mediator? There was
a Divine necessity that God should be self-revealed as the Mediator, that this
God-like form of God should take shape and appear in our world. Creation is the
Divine thought clothing itself in visible form; and it comes forth into form
because to give Himself forth is the most God-like act of God. But there were
depths in the Divine nature, secret things of the Divine counsels, which no
material creation was full enough or rich enough to draw forth into expression.
In the Mediator we see the infinite riches of grace and mercy, compassion and
tenderness, which had else remained pent-up within God’s heart. What must be
the form of the Mediator to fulfil the conditions, and to satisfy, not the
longings of the human heart only, but the necessities of the human life?
1. According to our wish in God’s stead. God only can stand in the
stead of God. There is that absolute difference between God and every creature,
that the only being who can make known God is God Himself.
2. “I also,” says Elihu, laying down the conditions of a Mediator’s
nature and work, “am formed out of the clay.” Is there one who knows both,--the
things of God and the things of a man, by interior knowledge, in whom the two
experiences meet? Yes, is the answer of revelation. There is one God: there can
be but one God-man. The Word made flesh. Receiving Him as our Mediator who is
able to stand in the stead of God, and yet wears the form of clay by our side,
we see--
1. That He is our peace.
2. He is here to explain and to justify our discipline.
3. He is here to fulfil our largest and loftiest hope.
He is made like unto us on earth, that we may be made like unto
Him in heaven, that we may behold His glory, and, beholding, share. (J.
Baldwin Brown, B. A.)
God’s dealings with man
Turn attention first on those operations of the Holy Ghost through
which, as we believe, God acts on man, urging him to righteousness, and warning
him against iniquity. There is much of mystery around these operations; we
recognise them by their effects. These operations are not only hidden from
others, they are hidden from the very party himself, within whose breast they
are making themselves felt. The operations of the Spirit are not to be
altogether separated from the actings of one’s own mind. If it can be shown that
in acting on us through the operations of His Spirit, God makes use of a
created instrumentality, there would be little difficulty in proving, from this
very circumstance, that He deals with us in tenderness and compassion There
have been many who have supposed that Elihu is none other than the Redeemer
Himself; but without supposing this, it cannot be denied that the language of
our text would be wondrously appropriate on the lips of the Mediator, and,
indeed, that in the largest significance it cannot be justly used by any other.
It is of great importance to assign its just worth to each part of the scheme
of redemption, in order not to dwell upon anyone to the comparative
forgetfulness of any other. That the Mediator died for us is not the whole of the
Gospel: that He ever lives for us is to the full as important an announcement.
Elihu certainly assumes the character of a messenger sent from God, and under
this character there is much that is emphatic and interesting in his words. (Henry
Melvill, B. D.)
Verse 12-13
God is greater than man.
Why dost thou strive with Him?
Man’s contentions, with God
The mysterious meeting place of the Divine and human wills. Unknown
by us and undiscoverable. Both wills are operative, and can only be reconciled
by filial acquiescence. Man has two prerogatives to choose, and to complain.
Our complainings rebuked.
I. The nature of
man’s contentions with God.
1. Man complains of his lot. The inevitable taken stoically. The
inevitable kicked against. The Israelites murmured in the desert. A crook in
every lot.
2. Men strive against the commandments of God. God speaks not only by
circumstances, but by His Word. Yet men complain. Another law within them. The
commandments are not adapted to human life. Religion too theoretical. Not
fitted for tried and tempted man. In business, the shop window lies when man
admires the truth. A low moral tone induced in society. Slippery ways
fashionable. God’s law politely bowed out of the house and the world, and
sometimes the Church.
3. Men contend with the promises of God. Too good to be true. Afraid
to appropriate them. Men dare not believe.
II. The folly of
resisting God and the consequent wisdom of yielding to him.
1. Such strivings do not advance our best spiritual interests. They
do not make us happy. Fret and fume hinder growth. Quietness necessary. The
tree strikes root where it is.
2. Such contentions impeach the wisdom of God. Religion is practical.
God made man. He knows what is in man. His Son became man. Religious men have
been practical men.
3. The success of such contentions would be fatal to us. Such strife
not directed against power of God. He could crush us. We have liberty of moral
action; but prophecy and revelation to warn us. Our joy and duty to fall into
the hands of God. “In all thy ways,” etc. “Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart, and lean not to thine own understanding.” God is greater than man. In
wisdom, goodness, and love. This greatness is communicated to those who trust
in Him. (Samuel Pearson, M. A.)
Verse 14
For God speaketh once.
Elihu’s first discourse
Elihu says, God does speak to men in various ways. It is not true
that He gives no account of Himself, and of His dealings with men. Two or three
of God’s ways Elihu specifies.
1. God quickens men to thought and moral emotion in the silence and
slumber of the night; deep religious intuitions and yearnings take form in
visions. One method of Divine approach is through the Gate of Dreams. By such
solemn visitations God has in all ages “uncovered the ear” of men otherwise
deaf to their instructions, and sealed or stamped on their minds the special
admonition of which they stood in need; or--for this may be the force of the
image--conveyed to them, in this sealed and private way, the confidential hint
or warning He wished them to receive.
2. God speaks to men by pain, when he corrects and chastens them
through suffering. In expounding this, Elihu certainly has Job in his eye. Is
there no hope even for such a sufferer as this? There is no school in which men
learn so much, or so fast, as in the school of suffering; there is no
experience by which the soul is so purged and chastened as by the experience of
pain and loss. The Divine rebuke is as the ploughing up of the hardened and
weed-stained soil, that it may bring forth more and better fruit.
3. If even these fail God sends a messenger--man or spirit--to
interpret their thoughts and emotions to them. As he describes this third way,
it may be that Elihu, who has already generalised the experience of Job and
Eliphaz, turns his eye upon himself. For he himself had been moved and taught
by God. The deep “conviction” to which he was now giving utterance, was, as he
more than once insists, an “inspiration” from above. And this inspiration, this
new interpretation of the facts of human life, probably came to him through one
of the thousand messengers whom God employs to “show man what is right.” But
while he claims a Divine teaching and inspiration for himself, Elihu does not
claim to be favoured above his fellows. God’s messengers come to all, and come
with the same end in view--to show us what is right, and to pour the light and
peace of heaven on our darkened and distracted hearts. Even grave and sober
commentators, however, have found in these verses the whole mystery of
redemption. In the “angel” of verse 23, they see “the Angel of the presence,”
the “Angel Jehovah”; and in the “ransom” of verse 24, “the Sacrifice of the
Cross”; and hence they attribute to Elihu at least some “provision” of the
“great mystery of godliness.” Such a method of interpretation is, in my
judgment, forced and unnatural. (Samuel Cox, D. D.)
Divine communications
Here it is said that God sometimes addresses men without
their perceiving it,--not certainly from any want of clearness in the
communication, but because they are wanting in reverence. Three ways in which
we may believe the Deity to hold communications with His children. One is
through the visible world around us; another, by direct communion with the
human Spirit; and yet another, by commissioned interpreters of His mind and
will.
I. In the works of
nature. There can be no direct intercourse of mind with mind. The only way that
I can intimate to another what is passing in my mind, is by pointing to some
other visible object, which shall represent to him the unseen thought. Language
consists of images either naturally suggestive of certain thoughts and
emotions, or appropriated to that purpose, which are brought up before us by
letters or sounds differing according to the dialect of the country. Since this
is the language of nature, we might suppose that God would communicate with His
children in this way; and most certainly He does, to a far greater extent than
is generally understood. There must be very few who, in looking on the natural
world, have not been conscious of strong impressions made upon them at times.
We ought then to regard the natural world as a medium of communication.
II. By direct
action on the spirit of man. This is reasonable; but it cannot be proved to the
satisfaction of anyone who doubts it, for the same reason that we cannot
demonstrate any of our sentiments and emotions. Still, this unseen
communication of the Spirit of God with our spirits is believed by every
religious mind. It is true the measure of such communications cannot be
ascertained, nor can they be distinguished, as a rule, from the operation of
our own minds. We should extend our faith, and believe this to be common, and
in the usual order of providence, and not a mysterious and unusual thing. To
those who can see God in all things where His agency is present, the moral
world becomes more deeply interesting, more sublime and beautiful, than the
visible.. We can look through human nature up to the God of nature.
III. Through the
scriptures, written by commissioned interpreters of His mind and
will,--particularly those who have recorded the life and character of Jesus
Christ. In Him the Divine was blended with the human, so as to present at once
the perfection of Divine and human character, giving us a living image of that
union which we could not otherwise understand. It may be asked, “Why should God
address men again? Is not the voice of nature clear enough?” It was not the
defect of God’s previous communications, but the faithlessness of men to their
destiny, their worldliness and corruption, which darkened their spiritual
vision, and made it necessary to give new light from on high. It was, as the
Bible teaches, in concession to human sin, not on account of the want of other
original means of light, that the Christian revelation was made. It is not
everyone who understands how God communicates with us through the Scriptures.
It is not by the letter alone. To this must be added the suggestions which they
give, the trains of thought which they awaken. The direct information which the
words convey to us, seems to be of little worth compared with the life-giving
power of the Spirit which works through the Word. (W. B. O. Peabody.)
Verses 15-18
In a dream.
A hard case
How persevering is Divine love. God has voices which He uses in
such a way that men must and shall hear.
I. So, then,
first, let us begin with what is a very humbling consideration, namely, that
man is very hard to influence for good. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or
the leopard his spots?” According to the text, before God Himself can save men,
He has to open their ears: “Then He openeth the ears of men.” Towards God,
men’s ears are often stopped. Original sin engenders in men great carelessness
about Divine things. How quickly they are aroused by talk about politics! Their
ears are stopped by carelessness. Often, too, there is another form of
stopping, which is very hard to get out of the ear; that is, worldliness. “I am
too busy to attend to religion!” In some cases the ear is stopped by prejudice.
It would be a foolish thing for a man to prejudice himself into rags and
beggary; but it is far worse when a man prejudices himself out of life eternal
into everlasting woe. With a great many more the ear seems to be doubly sealed
up by unbelief. They will not believe that which God Himself has spoken. It may
also be stopped by self-sufficiency; when a man has enough in himself to
satisfy him, he wants nothing of Christ. Then there is another difficulty. If
we get through the ear, and the man is influenced to listen, his heart does not
retain that which is good, he so soon forgets it. Hence the text says of the
Lord, “He openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction.” Ah! we think
the child, the man, the woman, has learned that truth at last; but it is much
as if we had written it on a blackboard, it is soon wiped out. How shall men be
saved? We cannot impress them; or, if we do impress them, how often it ends in
nothing! Another difficulty must be noticed: that is, the purpose of so many men;
indeed, the secret purpose of all men; and from this purpose men have to be
withdrawn. The purpose of most men is to seek after happiness, and their notion
is that they will find it by having their own way. Ay, and there is one thing
more which is, perhaps, the greatest barrier of all. It is not merely their
deafness of ear, and their unretentiveness of spirit, and their resoluteness of
purpose; but it is their pride of heart. Oh, this is like adamant; where shall
we find the diamond that can cut a thing so hard as man’s pride? God save us
from that sin! It needs God to do so, for only He can “hide pride from man.”
II. Now, secondly,
though man is hard to influence, God knows how to come at him, and He does it
in many ways. According to the text, He sometimes does it “in a dream, in a
vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men in slumberings upon the
bed.” I have no doubt that many, many times, men’s sleeping thoughts have been
the beginnings of better things for them. You see, reason holds the helm of the
vessel when we are awake, and as a consequence it keeps conscience down in the
hold, and will not let him speak; but in our dreams, reason has quitted the
helm, and then, sometimes, conscience comes up, and in his own wild way he
begins to sound such an alarm that the man starts up in the night. Did you ever
notice how God aroused Nebuchadnezzar, that greatest man, perhaps, of his age?
Why, in a dream! God gets at other men in a different way, namely, by
affliction, or by the death of others. So have I known men aroused by strange
providences. If God does not come at men by strange providences, how often He
does it by singular words from the preacher! Then God has a way of coming to
men’s hearts by personal visitations, without dream, without speech, without
voice.
III. When God does
get at men He accomplishes great purposes. His purpose is, first, to withdraw
man from his own purpose. “That He may withdraw man from his purpose.”
Sometimes a man has proposed at a certain moment to commit a sin, and God stops
him from doing it. He also withdraws men from their general purpose of
continuing in sin. I find the translation may be, that God withdraweth man from
his work, from that which has been his life work; from the whole run and tenor
of his conversation, God withdraws him. A man goes out after having received
the Word of the Lord, and he is a different man from that hour. Then what else
does God do? He hides pride from man. That is a very strange expression,
certainly, to “hide pride from man.” Did none of you ever hide away a knife
from a child? Have you never hidden away fruit from your little children when
they have had enough, and they would have eaten more if they could find it? God
often hides pride from men because, if man can find anything to be proud of, he
will be. Then lastly, He thus secures man’s salvation from destruction. “He
keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.”
How wonderfully has God kept some of us back from what would have been our
destruction if we had gone on! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Dreams-their philosophy and use
All dream, and each knows what a dream is better than he can be
told.
I. Their
philosophy.
1. What originates a dream? Probably it has more causes than one, and
different kinds of dreams have different causes. The cause of some may be found
in the state of body at the time. The cause of others may be found in something
that has made more than ordinary impression on the mind. “A dream,” says the
wise man, “cometh from a multitude of business.”
2. Why do thoughts take such grotesque forms in dreams? The reason
may be this,--the mind in sleep is left uncontrolled by the will. If the
thought is of an unnatural kind, it will go on producing the unnatural and the
monstrous. In dreams the mind is like a vessel without a rudder. The laws of
association heave her about in all directions.
II. Their uses.
1. They serve to throw some light on our spiritual constitution.
2. They are sometimes the organs of Divine communication. The subject
teaches that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Homilist.)
Verses 19-30
He is chastened also with pain upon his bed.
Sanctified affliction
Two chapters in the hook of human life are hard to understand--the
prosperity of the wicked, and the afflictions of the righteous. The Book of Job
is a luminous commentary on both. Carefully studied, these verses furnish a
chain of reason which will make clear to reverent minds the source and meaning
of earthly affliction.
I. The Lord
Jehovah is a sovereign (verse 13). “He giveth not account of any of His
matters.” It is from this point that the problem of human evil in all its forms
must begin to be solved. And if our inquiries should end where they begin, with
the absolute sovereignty of God, there would be no just ground of complaint.
God has all power and right in His own universe. He is not bound to justify any
single act of His to human reason. The first treatment of all affliction, is to
give it welcome. It is the uttered will of God. It is to be taken without any
reason, not because there is none, but because we have no right to be shown it.
But while God is a sovereign, and does His pleasure, it is not His pleasure to
afflict men willingly nor hastily, for--
II. He speaks again
and again before He strikes (verses 14-18). These verses are a picture of the
patience of God in His dealings with men. He will exhaust every form of warning
and every tone of voice. When men in their waking hours are dull to the voices
of God, then He invades their sleep.
III. Suffering under
the government of God is often added to instruction and entreaty (verses
19-22). The discipline of suffering is not confined to any one part of man’s
nature. It ranges freely through body, mind, and spirit. It appears in
disordered nerves; in the failure of natural desires; or the very sources of
health become choked and deranged; with many the joy of living is clouded with
the shadow of an ever-present death. All this we recognise as the faithful
picture of many a human life, and wonder at it. We call it a mystery; but the
mystery ceases when we look at these things from the right angle of vision.
Suffering under the government of God is a necessity of Divine benevolence. It
is the last device of love. We have to learn that this world is not our real
home. Nothing but suffering, in most lives, can work this healthful conviction.
It is among the first laws of a successful life that the kingdom of Christ and
its righteousness must stand before the kingdom of self and its pride. How do
men learn this? The great mass of men are made perfect in this wisdom by means
of suffering. They must be bitterly disappointed in their struggle after the
lower things before they learn to put the first last and the last first.
Failure is the keen knife that pierces their pride.
IV. Earthly
afflictions cease when three results are attained when men understand their
purpose (verse 23). When men turn to God with prayer (verse 26). And when they repent
of their sins (verse 27). Understanding, prayer, penitence,--look at these
conditions of relief for a moment. Affliction can do us no good till we bow to
its meaning. The ends of all God’s acts are moral ends. As a result of
affliction, how natural, as a condition of relief, how indispensable is prayer!
The twin grace of prayer is penitence. Neither can survive the other. Neither
can exist without the other. These three are the first fruits of sanctified
trial. Only the doctrine of Divine providence, ruling the world for moral ends,
has ever riven the dark clouds of human suffering, and drawn the blessing of
their spring rain upon the hearts of men. (Sermons by Monday Club.)
The mission of sickness
I. The great
incidency of human nature to sickness and bodily diseases. The best of men are
not exempt from them. This incidency to sickness and bodily diseases is founded
partly in the frame of our natures, partly the common accidents of life, but
especially the great inlet to all calamity, namely, sin, and our fatal apostasy
from God. Then what reasons we have for thankfulness, for every moment’s
enjoyment or continuance of health. And as we should be thankful for health, we
should be also submissive in sickness.
II. Sickness and
bodily diseases have a great deal of instruction in them. It pleases God
frequently to inflict them for this very end; that men might thereby be brought
to the knowledge of themselves, and their duty towards Him. This may appear--
1. From a consideration of God, who has all along made it plain in
the revelations of His Word, that He has that love and goodwill to mankind, He
never afflicts them for affliction’s sake.
2. From a consideration of the calamity itself. By diseases and
sickness we are taught the absolute vanity and uncertainty of this world, with
all the comforts of it; the beauty of all vanisheth before us upon a sick bed.
By sickness we gain an easier insight into our own guilt, and all the
unreasonable provocations we have given the Almighty, throughout the whole
course of our lives. Sometimes the sin is read in the very distemper itself.
III. What an allay
to so great a calamity it is to have a messenger or interpreter. Some
understand here the ministry of an angel. The value of such a messenger may be
seen--
1. In our indisposedness to do anything oft good purpose for
ourselves.
2. The great mistakes we are apt to fall into.
3. A mediator is of further advantage, to implore God on our behalf.
Learn to live under a wise expectation of such a calamity. Let us not despise
at such times the help of God’s ministers. (Nathanael Resbury, D. D.)
The right improvement of sickness and other distress
I. A case of
distress supposed. The words lead our thoughts to a very common spectacle--that
of a person suffering under pain and dangerous illness, and oppressed at the
same time by much darkness and anxiety of mind. These things very frequently go
together. “Without are fightings, within are fears.”
II. It will be well
to call in a competent adviser. Let him that is grieved with sickness send for
his proper spiritual counsellor.
III. The text
suggests what, in general, such an adviser will have to do. He must show unto
the afflicted person God’s righteousness. In proportion as he shall be able to
do this, through Divine grace, he will prove “one of a thousand” to him who is
in want of guidance and consolation.
IV. They declare
the consequences, through the Divine mercy, if sound counsel be faithfully
followed. If the patient has a docile, sincere and childlike disposition of
mind, the truth delivered will be blessed to him, and the fruits will show it.
(E. Bather, M. A.)
Verse 23-24
If there be any messenger with him, an interpreter.
How to visit the sick
It is not man’s torment or ruin that God desires, but his
reformation and amendment. To this end He speaks to men in dreams. When that
will not do, by afflictions. To make those afflictions more intelligible and
effectual, He sends a messenger, either an angel, by office, not by nature; or
an interpreter--of the mind and will of God. Doctrine--That the seasonable
instruction of sick and languishing persons is a work, as of great advantage,
so of great skill and difficulty.
I. It is of great
advantage. Some are apt to think that sick bed applications are in a manner
useless and ineffectual. Observe--
1. That the instruction of sick persons is God’s institution.
2. God’s mercy is proposed by Himself, and may be offered by
ministers, even to languishing persons.
3. Sick bed repentance is not wholly impossible, though it be hard.
Sickness is one means that God useth to work repentance.
II. It is of great
difficulty.
1. It is a work which God hath put into the hands of His chief
officers, His ministers, who ought to be the most accomplished persons.
2. It is not every minister who is fit for this work. How ministers
or Christian friends may and ought to apply themselves to sick persons for
their good, and the discharge of their own consciences.
Uses--
1. To ministers. Learn the great difficulty of ministerial work. What
angelical abilities doth it require! Acuteness, to discern the sick man’s
temper; knowledge, to understand the nature of all spiritual diseases; wisdom,
to make suitable applications. A minister had need know all things, understand
all persons, discern the subtleties of men’s hearts, and not be ignorant of the
wiles of the devil.
2. To people. Is it of such difficulty? Oh, labour you to do your
work in health, while time and strength last, before the evil days come. (Matthew
Poole, A. M.)
The Gospel preached by Elihu
Though the words of the text are taken out of the oldest book in
the Bible, they contain the elements and breathe the spirit of the Gospel.
Scarcely less uniform is the experience of God’s people in every age. Consider
the words as a Divinely inspired description of the way of salvation intended
for the instruction of a true believer then under the deepest afflictions, but
equally designed for the edification of those who in these last times are
feeling the burden of their sins. We discover six states of the sinner.
1. A state of impending ruin. “His soul draweth near to the grave.”
2. A state of grace. “If there be a messenger with him,” etc.
3. A state of justification. “I have found a ransom.”
4. A state of sanctification. “He shall return to the days of his
youth.”
5. A state of peace with God. “He will be favourable unto him.”
6. A state of glory. “He shall see His face with joy.”
The text closes with a brief recurrence to the gracious cause of
all this progressive advancement from repentance to glory. (C. A. Hulbert,
M. A.)
Footsteps of mercy
I. When God has,
in the way of providence, prepared any human heart for a work of grace, one of
the first means of blessing the chosen man is to send Him a messenger. I
suppose the passage before us may be primarily referred to Christian ministers,
who become, through God the Holy Ghost, interpreters to men’s souls. But I
prefer to believe, with many expositors, that the full meaning of these words
will never be found in ministers of mortal race; we must rather refer it to the
Great Messenger of the covenant, the Great Interpreter between God and man,
whose presence to the sin-sick soul is a sure prophecy of mercy. Another
description that belongs to Him, as I believe, is an interpreter. Jesus Christ
is indeed a blessed interpreter. An interpreter must understand two languages.
Our Lord Jesus understands the language of God. He knows how to speak with God
as the fellow of God, co-equal and co-eternal with Him. He can make out the
sighs and cries and tears of a poor sinner, and He can take up the meaning, and
interpret them all to God. Moreover, Jesus understands our language, for He is
a man like ourselves, touched with a feeling of our infirmities, and smarting
under our sicknesses. This messenger, then, this interpreter, is He not “One
among a thousand”? O peerless Jesus! who among the sons of the mighty can be
compared with Thee?
II. Now, secondly,
wherever this Divine messenger comes, according to the text, He reveals God’s
uprightness.
III. The third stage
is this--“Then He is gracious unto him.” God deals with convinced sinners in a
way of grace. Every word here is weighty. “Then He is gracious unto him.” Mark
the time--then! God is gracious to a man when, Christ having come to him as a
messenger and an interpreter, he is led to discern his own sin and God’s
uprightness. The way as well as the time demands your notice. It is through the
messenger that God is gracious. Then--that is when the messenger comes. When
Jesus interposes then God is gracious.
IV. Let us proceed
to the next stage--God delivers the sinner. “He saith, Deliver him from going
down into the pit.”
V. The last thing
is that God explains to the sinner whom He delivers the reason of his
deliverance. “Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom.”
“I have found a ransom”--a covering. You notice these words, “I have found a
ransom.” You do not find it for yourselves. You could not ever have discovered
it, much less have brought it into the world. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
I have found a ransom.--
The finding of the ransom
These words were from the lips of Elihu, the companion and
counsellor of Job. The men of that day had but dim visions of Him that was to
come; they had to look through, the type to the antitype; through the symbol to
the thing signified. “I have found a ransom.” This indicates in the man who
spake it--
I. A knowledge of
man’s state. A ransom signifies the price of redemption from captivity. Before
we apply for a ransom we must feel that we are involved. Sensibility to our
suffering condition is the very foundation work of an appeal to Jesus. Man by
nature is in bondage; he is taken captive by Satan at his will.
II. The means of
man’s deliverance. “I have found a ransom.” The prisoner finds a ransom--where?
In the offers of the worldly-wise? In the counsellings and suggestions of self?
Nay; no man ever breathed this assurance until his eyes were fixed on the
atoning sacrifice of Jesus. To what else could he turn?
III. The acquisition
of this knowledge. That is, a knowledge of your own heart in a state of nature,
and a knowledge of the ransom that is provided for you in the dispensations of
grace. Both the one and the other proceed immediately from the Spirit of God.
He convinces of sin, and He alone. “I have found a ransom” implies that the
ransom was sought for; and this seeking is a course of humble, diligent, and
persevering prayer. (T. J. Judkin, A. M.)
The ransom found
I. Man’s perilous
state. He was “going down to the pit.”
1. Man in his fallen and debased condition. Crown fallen from his
head; fallen from holiness, dignity, dominion, happiness, etc.; into guilt,
depravity, and misery.
2. It denotes man’s passage to the grave. Sin introduced disease and
death.
3. It represents our exposedness to the pit of destruction. The
tendency of the sinner was towards perdition. His sin had doomed him to it. And
sin also was ripening him for it. His steps were downwards towards the gates of
perdition, the regions of endless woe. What a dreadful state!
II. Displayed His
gracious regards towards him. Now God’s interposition on his behalf must have
been altogether gracious.
1. Deity was entirely independent of man. He could easily have
blotted out the human race, and have formed creatures every way more worthy of
His regards.
2. Man had nothing to interest Jehovah in his welfare. No moral
excellency; no reasonable apologies for his crime; no possibility of giving a
return.
3. Jehovah had every reason to punish. Justice was injured, holiness
insulted, goodness abused, etc., yet mercy prevailed.
III. To the means of
deliverance provided. “I have found a ransom.”
1. The source of our deliverance. “I” have found, etc. Man did not
find, nor yet angels, but God found a ransom. Oh yes! God alone possessed
stores of wisdom sufficient for the great and mighty undertaking.
2. The instrument of our deliverance was a ransom. That ransom was
His own Son. “He gave His Son,” “Spared not His own Son,” etc. The price of our
ransom was “the precious blood of Christ.”
3. The mode of our ransom. This was done by assuming our nature;
obeying the law; dying for sin; overcoming the powers of hell; rising from the
grace, etc. (Isaiah 53:4-11; Romans 4:15; Colossians 1:20).
Learn--
1. What ruin and misery sin has produced.
2. What Divine mercy has provided.
3. What the Saviour’s merits hath procured.
4. The necessity of feeling ourselves personally interested in the
blessings of redeeming grace. “He that hath the Son, hath life.”
5. The grateful return we Should render for the loving kindness and
redeeming mercy of God. (J. Burns, D. D.)
Deliverance from the pit
Let it never be forgotten that, in all that God does, He acts from
good reasons. You observe that the text, speaking of the sick man, represents
God as saying, “Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.”
If I understand the passage as relating solely to a sick man, and take the
words just on the natural common level where some place them, I would still say
that the Lord here gives a reason why He suspends the operations of pain and
disease, and raises up the sufferer: “I have found a ransom.” There is always a
reason for every act of grace which God performs for man. So let each one of us
think, “If I have been raised from sickness, if my life, which was almost gone,
has been spared, I may not know why God has done it, but certainly He has done
it in infinite wisdom and compassion.” There is such a thing as sickness of the
soul, which is, in God’s esteem, far worse than disease of the body; and there
is such a thing as recovery from soul-sickness.
I. Now, coming to
our text, I shall ask you, first, to look with me upon a man in great peril.
This is his peril: he is “going down to the pit.” That phrase describes his
whole life, going down, down.
1. Notice, first, that this is a daily and common danger. If we are
unconverted, if we are unrenewed by Divine grace, every one of us is in danger
of going down into the pit of woe.
2. Further, there are some who, of set purpose, are going down to the
pit. In this chapter Elihu said of some that God sends sickness to them that He
may withdraw them from their purpose.
3. There are some, also, who are going down to the pit through their
pride.
4. There are others who feel some present apprehension of coming
judgment.
5. If you add to all this the fact that the man, as Elihu describes
him, was suffering from a fatal sickness, so that he dreaded the actual
nearness of death, you have indeed an unhappy case before you.
II. Now let us
notice, in the second place, a new principle in action: “Then He is gracious
unto him.” What does that mean?
1. Well, “grace” means, first, free favour.
2. But grace has another meaning in Holy Scripture; it means saving
interference, a certain Divine operation by which God works upon the wills and
affections of men, so as to change and renew them.
III. This brings me
to my third point, which is concerning how this grace operates. It operates by
a word of power. This man was going down to the pit, but God said, “Deliver
him.” To whom is this command spoken?
1. It appears to be addressed to the messengers of Divine justice.
2. More than that, the man was not only bound by justice, but he was
fettered by his sin. His sins held him captive, and they were dragging him down
to the pit. There was drunkenness, for instance, which held him as in a vice,
so that he could not stir hand or foot to set himself free.
3. I see this same man, in after life, attacked by his old sins.
IV. I finish by
noticing that, in this case, God supplies us with His reason for delivering a
soul, and it is an argument of love: “Deliver him from going down to the pit: I
have found a ransom.” Observe that the text says, “I have found a ransom.”
1. This ransom is an invention of Divine wisdom. I do not think it
would ever have occurred to any mind but the mind of God Himself to save
sinners by the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. Notice, next, that God has
not only invented a way of deliverance, but He has found a ransom
2. So that it is a gift of Divine love: “Deliver him from going down
to the pit.” It does not say, “because there is a ransom,” or “I will accept
one if he finds it and brings it”; but the Lord Himself says, “I have found a
ransom.” It is the man who sinned, but it is God who found the ransom.
3. And is there not something very wonderful in the assurance of this
truth? This is God’s “Eureka! I have found a ransom. I did not look for a
ransom among the angels, for I knew they were too weak to furnish it. I looked
not for it among the sons of men, for I knew it was not to be found there, they
were too fallen and guilty. The sea said, ‘It is not in me.’ All creation
cried, ‘It is not in me.’” (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verse 25
He shall return to the days of his youth.
The autumn crocus
If the snowdrop may be called the morning star that ushers in the
dawn of the floral year, the crocus may be said to be its sunrise. So much is
the crocus associated with the showers and the sunbeams of April, that it
requires a special mental effort, even when the fact is known, to realise that
it also blooms in the fading light and amid the withering foliage of September.
There are well-known species of crocus that flower only during the autumnal
months. In Switzerland the sandy meadows along the banks of the Alpine streams
are covered with myriads of autumn crocuses, whose exquisitely pure and
delicate amethystine hue in the glowing sunshine is a feast of colour of which
the eye never wearies. Every one is familiar with the pale violet saffron
crocus, which blooms according to soil and position from the end of September
to the beginning of November. If the yellow spring crocus is the golden sunrise
of the floral year, the lilac autumn crocus is its sunset. The autumn crocus is
a type of one of the most interesting phenomena of nature and of human life. In
many departments there are numerous instances of the recurrence at a later
period of something that belongs to an earlier time. The crimson and gold of
the sunrise is repeated in the splendour of sunset. The older one grows, the
more pathetic does the tender grace of each spring become. So much of what we
loved and lost never comes back, that the beauty of the spring touches us like
the brightness of a perfect day, when the grave is closing over dear eyes that
shall never more behold it. Why should the inferior things of nature return,
and those for whose use they were all made, lie unconscious in the dust? The
aged live in the springs of the past and their life goes forward to another and
brighter spring in the eternal world, of which the springs of earth are only
fleeting types and shadows. But though the bright flame of their spring crocus
has burnt down to the socket, and only the green monotonous leaves remain behind,
is there no re-kindling in the withered plot of their life of the autumn
crocus, whose more sober hue befits the sadder character of the season? Yes,
man’s life, too, has its Indian summer and its autumn crocus. The season of
decay brings to him also reminiscences of the bright season of renewal. Often,
where others see only withered leaves, the heart feels the springing of vernal
flowers. Job, describing the happiness which he had in former years, and
longing for its return, says, “Oh that I were as I was in the days of my
youth!” This phrase literally means the vintage season, the time of fruit
gathering; and the authorised version, adopting another translation which the
phrase also bears, unwittingly expresses the subtle connection between youth
and age, the spring and the autumn, the blossoming and the fruit time of life.
The true days of Job’s youth was the period when his life became young again
through the maturity of his powers, and the consummation of his hopes. It was
in the autumn of his life that he enjoyed all those blessings of prosperity
whose loss he deplores. The legitimate symbolic use of autumn is as the season
of ripeness--fulness of power, not of decay. That there are days and signs of
youth in the time of the harvest and vintage of life everyone can testify. The
autumn fields are “happy” with the flowers that tell of spring, with the
remembrance of days that are no more. True, indeed, the autumn crocus is not
the same flower as the spring crocus. It has hues deeper and more intense. It speaks
of change and decay. So the joys of our early life, which we recall in late
years, are not the same as when they stirred our young blood; we colour them
with the deeper and tenderer hues of our own spirit. In the physical sphere of
man there are numerous instances of the spring crocus blooming again in the
autumn. The cutting of new teeth, and the growth of young hair, in old age, are
by no means so infrequent as we might suppose. The eagle’s power of
self-renewal has been manifested by many an aged form. In the mental sphere the
growth of the autumn crocus is much more common than in the physical, and much
more precious and beautiful. How numerous and splendid are the examples of
intellect disclosing its fullest powers at the very close of life! As an old
man Cute learnt Greek. Goethe was fourscore years old when he completed the
second part of Faust. Literary men have often recorded the peculiar
delight with which in their later years they have returned to the studies of
their youth. The Chinese encourage their students to persevere in their mental
pursuits to extreme old age, by bestowing the golden button of the successful
candidate upon a man when he is eighty years old, although he has failed in all
his previous examinations. But it is in the sphere of the soul that the autumn
crocus blooms most beautifully. The rejuvenescence of the soul, the renewal of
the spiritual life, may be the experience of all. This youthful
victoriousness--the inward man being renewed more and more while the outward
man is decaying--is the glory of every true Christian’s old age. Only the fire
that comes down from heaven can preserve the youth of the spirit amid all the
changes and sorrows of life. Religion really lived keeps the heart always
young, always tender. It teaches us that nothing beautiful or good once
possessed is wholly lost to us; that there is a deeper truth in the words, “A
thing of beauty is a joy forever,” than even its poet knew. (Hugh Macmillan,
D. D.)
Verse 27-28
He looketh upon men.
A penitential spirit
The text--
I. Presents to us
the extent of the Divine inspection. “He looketh upon men.” God’s omniscience
ought to make us adore and tremble. He watches over men’s actions, and there is
no darkness or shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide
themselves from His eye. He looks upon men universally. He sees them all at one
glance, in one view.
II. Unfolds the
language of unfeigned repentance. Here God fixes His eyes upon one who says, “I
have sinned.” The man who makes a confession like this is far better in the
sight of God than he who says he has no sin, and deceives himself. Here is--
1. A confession of having by sin offended against God. Wherever the
Spirit of God has begun to work upon the soul, there will be this sense of
unworthiness, this conviction of sin.
2. A confession of having abused the best of blessings. “I have
perverted that which was right.” That is, Thy holy providence gave me many and
peculiar favours, which I employed to a bad purpose, or entirely neglected.
3. A confession of having experienced disappointment in the ways of
sin. “I have done all this, and it profiteth me not.” Every penitent can
testify that the way of transgressors is hard.
III. Discovers the
triumph of retaking grace. This humble penitent who looks to the Redeemer,
obtains grace in His sight; for the Lord--
1. prevents his soul from enduring eternal perdition.
2. Raises him to the everlasting enjoyment of Divine illumination.
Learn--
Repentance
Three points arising out of the text.
I. The fact that
God looketh upon man. This is the doctrine of God’s omniscience. Go wheresoever
we may, whether in the crowd or in solitude, we can never escape from the eye
of God. He sees the very thoughts of our hearts; He reads the motives from
which actions spring. This is a very marvellous truth--it almost baffles our
comprehension. The eye of God is not only upon us, it is upon the entire
universe. This must be a necessary attribute of God. How should God govern the
world if He were not able at one glance to scan the thoughts and actions of all
mankind?
II. The character
of a true penitent. This includes--
1. The personal consciousness of sin. Sin brought home to the
individual, sin acknowledged--sin confessed as a burden resting upon the
individual himself; not merely a burden shared in common with others.
2. The absence of all self-excusing. “I have perverted that which was
right.” An insincere penitent will always endeavour rather to palliate his
fault than otherwise; to extenuate his trespass, The true penitent is rather
ready to aggravate than to extenuate the sins of which he is conscious.
3. Hopeless dissatisfaction. “It profiteth me not.” Every
transgressor of God must be brought, at one time or another, to exclaim, “It
profiteth me not.” Sin always comes with the offer of profit. The temptation to
transgress would fall powerless if it were not accompanied with the bribe of
some prospective advantage.
III. The blessed
effects following true repentance. Two things--
1. Deliverance from condemnation “He will deliver his soul from going
into the pit.” This speaks of full and complete forgiveness.
2. Translation to reward. “His life shall see the light.” He shall be
translated to everlasting life. (Bishop Boyd Carpenter.)
God looking upon men
Whether God visits with affliction, with adversity, or prosperity,
yet all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, to bring back his soul
from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.
I. He looketh upon
man. As a Creator. As the Governor of the world. As a holy Being. As the Judge
of men. As a compassionate parent looks upon his family.
II. The penitent
man looking up to God.
1. “I have sinned.” This supposes reflection. “I thought on my ways.”
This supposes self-abhorrence. “Woe is me, for I am undone.” This supposes
godly sorrow, sorrow for sin. I have sinned. My sin has brought misery and evil
upon myself, and exposed me to future punishment.
2. “And perverted that which was right.” These words may be
considered in reference to the dispensations of providence, whether prosperous
or adverse. They are perverted by man. Man perverteth his way as to opinion; as
to moral practice; for interest or gain, as well as pleasure.
III. The merciful
determination of God in behalf of the penitent. “He will deliver his soul from
going down to the pit, and his life shall see the light.” These expressions are
sometimes used for deliverance from natural death to life and health. Sometimes
these expressions are used figuratively for deliverance from distress, and
restoration to happiness. God will hear our cry, and deliver us out of all our
troubles. (J. Walker, D. D.)
The penitent pardoned
True repentance begins in conviction, awakens contrition, leads to
confession, and ends in conversion. Many encouragements are given to sinners to
repent.
I. God sees the
conduct of penitent sinners.
1. God looks upon men universally. Our power of vision is limited.
God sees all things.
2. God looks upon men individually. No man can hide from God.
II. God hears the
confession of penitent sinners. Many have sinned who do not admit their
sinfulness; many confess their sins who do not forsake them.
1. The true penitent confesses his sins. The penitent’s confession is
full, free, and sincere.
2. The true penitent acknowledges his folly. We have perverted our
spiritual blessings.
3. The true penitent admits his disappointment. Sin is a great
blunder. There is no satisfaction in sin.
III. God delivers
the soul of penitent sinners. God knows the backwardness of the trembling
penitent, and seeks to encourage him with the fullest assurance of pardon.
1. God saves the penitent from eternal death.
2. God rewards the penitent with eternal life. (J. T. Woodhouse.)
The penitent’s creed
There is the whole philosophy of penitence in the text.
I. The creed of
penitence.
1. An absolute good and evil, right and wrong. There are those in
whose sight the burden of a guilty conscience is but a bad form of
hypochondria. While the world lasts, the penitent’s creed will express the
conviction and reefing of mankind.
2. I have perverted that which is right. This is the second article
of the penitent’s confession of faith. No man knows what “I” means, but the man
who has felt himself isolated from God by transgression. According to the
pantheistic philosophy, there is, strictly speaking, no such thing as sin. Man
sins like a sullen dog, or a vicious horse.
3. And it profited me not. “The wages of sin is death.” If any other
confession than this of the text were possible for a sinner in the long run,
and after full experience of an evil way, it would simply mean that the
righteous God had ceased to be the ruler of the world.
II. The confession
of penitence. “If any say, I have sinned.” That implies fundamentally that evil
is not of God. God has made a being capable of sin, but God has not made sin.
Saying to God, “I have sinned,” is essential to complete forgiveness; on what
ground of reason does this necessity rest? If a man is convinced, is not that
sufficient? God demands confession.
1. Confession alone makes the penitence complete.
2. Confession alone re-establishes that filial relation, without
which the penitence can have no lasting fruits,
III. The fruits of
confession through the abounding mercy and love of God. The fruits here set
forth are two fold. He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his
life shall see the light. A glory shall gild its path, even through this weary
wilderness of discipline. (J. Baldwin Brown, B. A.)
Jehovah’s look of love
I. God’s merciful
regard to man. “He looketh upon man.” The looking upon man is not of a general
kind; it is expressive of that kind, benignant attention which has immediate
respect to the welfare of its objects. It is not the scrutinising look of a
hard and rigorous taskmaster, who feels a pleasure in finding out a fault; it
is the look of a Father, who, though when He sees evil may not and cannot
suffer it to pass unnoticed, desires to behold nothing but what is right, and
affectionately fixes His eyes upon the least sign of a favourable kind in the
conduct of His child.
II. What God
expects from man. He looks to discover a humbled, penitent state of heart. All
morality, and all that is called religion which is not founded on a sense of
guilt, and which does not rise from humiliation for sin, is but a splendid
delusion, a mere form, and shadow, and mockery of piety. There must be the
full, open, frank acknowledgment of guilt. Confession is the first, proper,
natural language of repentance. When your minds are deeply humbled, you will
not only confess that you have sinned, but you will feel and acknowledge too
that it “profited you not.”
III. The blessings
which God imparts to those who comply with this demand. “He will deliver his
soul from going down into the pit, and his life shall see the light.” It is not
certain Elihu meant more than that humiliation before God would he the means of
preserving Job’s life, and of restoring him to his former peace and prosperity.
We can have no difficulty in giving to the language a much wider and more
general meaning. Beyond the grave there is a deeper and more awful pit. But
there is now no condemnation to the humble and believing penitent. (Stephen
Bridge, M. A.)
God waiting to discover repentance, and to accept the penitent
1. God’s eye is fixed upon every individual of the family of man. The
very opposite sentiment, the negation of this truth, was maintained by some of
the most eminent heathen philosophers. Their notions of the Deity were such as
led them to conceive it impossible that He should be in any way concerned with
the things of this our world.
2. What God specially looks for is a full confession of sin.
3. Such penitent confession shall turn to our unspeakable advantage.
Learn then to view the confession of sin as a duty of the first importance. The
language of confession in our text every living being has reason to make his
own. (Robert Eden, M. A.)
The unprofitableness of sin in this life an argument for
repentance
The great folly and perverseness of human nature is in nothing
more apparent than in this, that when in all other things men are generally led
and governed by their interests, and can hardly be imposed on by any art, or
persuaded by any solicitation, to act plainly contrary to it; yet, in matter of
their sin and duty, they have little or no regard to it. Of this every sinner,
when he comes to himself and considers what he hath done, is abundantly
convinced. In these words is a great blessing and benefit promised on God’s
part, and a condition required on our part.
1. A penitent confession of our sins to God.
2. A true contrition for our sin; not only for fear of the pernicious
consequences of sin, but from a just sense of the evil nature of sin, and the
fault and offence of it against God.
3. Here is a description of the evil nature of sin--it is a
perverting of that which is right. Sin is a perverting of the constitution and
appointment of God, and of the nature and order of things. When we do that
which is right, we act agreeably to the design and frame of our beings; we do
what becomes us; but sin perverts the nature of things and puts them out of
course.
4. An acknowledgment of the mischievous and pernicious consequences
of sin. This is not only true as to the final issue and event of an evil course
in the other world, but even in respect of this world and the present life, the
practice of some sins is plainly mischievous to the temporal interests of men;
that others are wholly unprofitable.
Reflections--
1. What has been said upon this argument ought particularly to move
those who have so great a consideration of this present life, and the temporal
happiness of it, that the practice of all virtues is a friend to their temporal
as well as eternal welfare, and all vice is an enemy to both.
2. This likewise takes off all manner of excuse from sin and vice. It
pretends not to serve the soul, and to profit our future happiness in another
world; and if it be an enemy also to our present welfare in this world, what is
there to be said for it?
3. All the arguments used to convince men of the folly of a wicked
course, are so many strong and unanswerable reasons for repentance. Men make
mistakes about repentance. Some make the great force and virtue of it to
consist, not so much in the resolution of the penitent, as in the absolution of
the priest. Some make repentance to consist in the bare resolution of
amendment, though it never has its effect. (J. Tillotson, D. D.)
Verse 29-30
Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man.
Divine providence
He who believes in the being of a God, must logically
believe in the doctrine of Divine providence. That providence is over all
things--a general providence--must imply a particular providence, for all
generals are made up of particulars. And to God nothing can be great or small.
We cannot understand the mysteries of Divine providence, any more than we can
perfectly comprehend the mysteries of the work of creation. God’s government is
truly paternal. He cares for His children, and more especially for their higher
interests. Nothing can happen to us by chance, for everything is ordered and
regulated by His wisdom and power and goodness. By various ways the discipline
of Divine providence may be exercised upon us, and we may gather illustrations
of its purpose from various sources.
1. We perceive the moral purpose of Divine providence in overruling
the original curse. That which has fallen upon our whole race as a dark cloud
brought upon us by sin, has yet its edges fringed with silvery light, and we
learn that there is hope for men even in the midst of the curse.
2. In the usual consequences of vice and virtue, of holiness and sin.
All observation and testimony makes it clear that God is on the side of virtue,
and against vice; that no crimes pass unnoticed by His eye. Although there are
not such uniform consequences following transgression or virtue as to make us
think that in this life the whole judgment is complete, yet there is enough to
tell us that there is verily a God that judgeth in the earth; that while there
is a good deal yet wrong, there is a day coming when God will judge men
according to the Gospel. The sins of the flesh are punished in the flesh. The
sins of the spirit are punished in the spirit. Where there is reformation, the
immediate consequences of men’s sins are not obviated in every instance, and
yet it is a step in the right direction.
3. This arrangement of Divine providence is strongly marked in the
inherent vanity which is stamped on all earthly good. Why do I but pursue that
which flits before me, and eludes my grasp like a shadow? This is intended to
teach man this great lesson, that out of God Himself man shall not be happy; no
earthly good can be man’s end and rest.
4. Another illustration may be found in the special dispensations of
Divine providence. God has reserves of wisdom, of goodness, and of severity.
Learn from this view of the providence of God that providences are paternal, moral,
and remedial. But the entire scheme of God’s providence rests upon the scheme
of God’s redemption and mercy. (Francis A. West.)
God’s work with man
The summing up and practical application of Elihu’s defence of
Job’s character, and vindication of God’s dealings with him. Turning from Job
to the entire race he says; “Lo, all these”--
I. The subject of
the Divine operations. “Man.”
1. An intelligent being. God can work with him and expend upon him
the resources of His wisdom, love, and power (Job 32:8).
2. Fallen and depraved. Man needs the Divine operations and without
them he must perish (Genesis 1:16; Genesis 6:5; Romans 8:7).
3. Redeemed. God works for man’s recovery through Christ (John 5:17), but does not supersede the
necessity of human effort (Philippians 2:12-13).
II. The means of
the Divine operations. “Lo, all these”--
1. Dreams and visions of the night (verse 15). The effects of some
dreams prove that the soul has listened to the voice of God.
2. The secret and silent inspirations of the spirit (verse 16). The
dream leads to alarm and enquiry, then the spirit opens the avenues of the
soul, pours in the light, and a permanent impression is produced
3. Afflictions (verses 19-22). A mournful picture, correction to
prevent destruction (2 Chronicles 33:12-13; Psalms 119:67).
4. Efforts of friends (verses 23, 24). The parent, minister, friend,
who as the God-sent “interpreter” leads the afflicted to God’s favour is
esteemed as “one of a thousand.”
5. The frequency of the Divine operations. “Oftentimes.” When one
means fails God employs another.
III. The design of
the Divine operations (verse 30).
1. To save “from the pit.” Metaphors teach truth. Hell is a dreadful
reality. The unsaved are on their way to it. God looked into Himself and “found
a ransom” that man might not “go down into the pit”; and all the means His love
can devise are adopted to secure this purpose.
2. To make life bright and happy. “Enlightened with the light of the
living,” read from verse 25. (Samuel Wesley.)
Trials sent of God to save the soul
Everybody knows the story of Job. The several steps in the ladder
of God’s purposes appear as follows:--
1. Earthly worries are heavenly blessings, not curses. Coming from
the oldest book in the Bible, we behold in Job the representative man of
trouble. The fact that afflictions were sent upon him, only proves that God had
not let go of him yet. Darkness was but a proof of light, just as the shadow on
the sundial proves the existence of the sun. These disturbances of our times
only show that God does care what becomes of us. The best friend the Alpine
climber can have is the faithful guide, who arouses him from fatal drowsiness
by blows, harsh and painful.
2. The second step is, God’s rule in visiting sorrows upon us is
purpose, not simply permission. He does not merely permit troubles to come upon
us, He sends them. Any other idea implies that somebody is stronger than God.
If anyone chastises us, let it be our Heavenly Father.
3. God worketh. The heathen have a god, Brahma, who rests in an
eternal sleep. We have a God that worketh. He saves us as the surgeon, by
earnest, resolute work--cutting off a limb, or taking away an eye. Caught in
the grip of providence, we can say nothing. The fountain cannot be constructed
without demolishing much that is beautiful; the grass, the soil upheaved, the
unsightly debris, are all processes of necessary work. At last all is put back
again, the green soil is restored, and a fountain is the result. So is it with
the fountain of the new life.
4. The range of the omnipotent eye is over all the world at once. He
subdues us by concerted processes, and persistent ones. “I could have taken a
hurt,” says one, “but to be utterly overthrown is more than I deserved,” which
shows the heart still in rebellion.
5. The fifth step indicates God’s aim to be the full redemption of
man. It is from the pit tie saves him. God means business; He means at whatever
cost to save souls.
6. We have God’s promise to give perfect light out of darkness, hope
instead of unbelief, Heaven instead of the pit. By and by we realise that it is
after all better that things should be as they are, that intelligence guides
the universe.
In view of this, one of two things you can do--
1. You can resist this purpose. But no man ever prospered who
resisted God’s will; or,
2. You accept this will, and adjust your purposes accordingly. If you
yield, He will cease His chastisements. And this is natural, easy, and proper.
(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
An old-fashioned conversion
I. The matter in
hand is to compare an old-fashioned conversion with those of the present time,
and the first note we shall strike is this: it is quite certain from the
description given in this thirty-third chapter of Job that the subjects of
conversion were similar, and men in the far-gone ages were precisely like men
in these times. Reading the passage over, we find that men in those times
needed converting; for they were deaf to God’s voice (verse 14); they were obstinate
in evil purposes (verse 17), and puffed up with pride. They needed chastening
to arouse them to thought, and required sore distress to make them cry out for
mercy (verses 19-22). They were very loth to say, “I have sinned,” and were not
at all inclined to prayer. Salvation was only wrought by the gracious
influences of God’s Spirit in the days of Job, and it is only so accomplished
at this present hour. Man has not outgrown his sins.
II. The second note
we shall strike is this, that in those olden times the worker of conversion was
the same,--“all these things God worketh.” The whole process is by Elihu
ascribed to God, and every Christian can bear witness that the Lord is the
great worker now; He turns us, and we are turned.
III. The most
interesting point to you will probably be the third: the means used to work
conversion in those distant ages were very much the same as those employed now.
There were differences in outward agencies, but the inward modus operandi was
the same. There was a difference in the instruments, but the way of working was
the same. Kindly turn to the chapter, at the fifteenth verse; you find there
that God first of all spoke to men, but they regarded Him not, and then He
spoke to them effectually by means of a dream: “In a dream, in a vision of the
night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed.” Now,
this was an extraordinary means of grace, seldom used now. It is much more
profitable for you to have the word in your houses which you can read at all
times, and to have God’s ministers to proclaim clearly the gospel of Jesus,
than it would be to be dependent upon visions of the night. The means,
therefore, outwardly, may have changed, but still, whether it be by the dream
at night, or by the sermon on the Sabbath, the power is just the same: namely,
in the word of God. God speaks to men in dreams; if so, He speaks to them all
nothing more and nothing different from what He speaks in the written word.
Now, observe, that in addition to the external coming of the word, it seems
from the chapter before us, in the sixteenth verse, that men were converted by
having their ears opened by God. Note the next sentence, He “sealeth their
instruction.” That was the means of conversion in the olden times. God brought
the truth down upon the soul as you press a seal upon the wax: you bear upon
the seal to make the impress, and even thus the power of God pressed home the
word. By sealing is also sometimes meant preserving and setting apart, as we
seal up documents or treasures of great value, that they may be secure. In this
sense the Gospel needs sealing up in our hearts. We forget what we hear till
God the Holy Ghost seals it in the soul, and then it is pondered and treasured
up in the heart: it becomes to us a goodly pear], a Divine secret, a peculiar
heritage. This sealing is a main point in conversion. It appears, also, that
the Lord, in those days, employed providence as a help towards conversion--and
that providence was often of a very gentle kind, for it preserved men from death.
Read the eighteenth verse: “He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life
from perishing by the sword.” Many a man has had the current of his life
entirely changed by an escape from imminent peril. But further, it seems that,
as Elihu puts it, sickness was a yet more effectual awakener in the common run
of cases. Observe the nineteenth verse, “He is chastened also with pain upon
his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain: so that his life
abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.” In addition to this sickness, the
person whom God saved was even brought to be apprehensive of death--“Yea, his
soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.” It were
better for you to be saved so, as by fire, than not to be saved at all. But
now, notice that all this did not lead the person into comfort; although he was
impressed by the dream and sickness, and so on, yet the ministry of some
God-sent ambassador was wanted. “If there be a messenger with him,” that is a
man sent of God--“an interpreter,” one who can open up obscure things and
translate God’s mind into man’s language--“one among a thousand,” for a true
preacher, expert in dealing with souls, is a rare person “to show unto man his
uprightness, then he is gracious unto him.” God could save souls without
ministers, but He does not often do it.
IV. Fourthly, the
objects aimed at in the old conversions were just the same as those that are
aimed at nowadays. Will you kindly look at the seventeenth verse. The first
thing that God had to do with the man was to withdraw him from his purpose. He
finds him set upon sin, upon rebellion. The next object of the Divine work was
to hide pride from man, for man will stick to self-righteousness as long as he
can. Another great object of conversion is to lead man to a confession of his
sin. Hence we find it said in the twenty-seventh verse, “He looketh upon man,
and if any say, I have sinned and perverted that which was right, and it
profited me not, he will deliver his soul from going into the pit.” Man hates
confession to his God; I mean humble, personal, hearty confession.
V. Fifthly, the
process of conversion in days of yore exactly resembled that which is wrought
in us now as to its shades.” The shadowy side wore the same sombre hues as now.
First of all, the man refused to hear; God spake once yea twice, and man
regarded Him not: here was obstinate rebellion.
VI. But now,
sixthly, the lights are the same, even as the shades were the same. You will
note in Elihu’s description that the great source of all the light was this:
“Deliver him from going down to the pit, for I have found a ransom.” There is
not a gleam of light in the case till you come to that Divine word,--and is it
not so now? Then this precious gospel being announced to the sinner, the
comfort of it enters his soul in the exercise of prayer: “He shall pray unto
God, and He will be favourable unto him.” Next, it appears that the soul
obtains comfort because God gave it His righteousness--“for He will render unto
man His righteousness.” And then the man being led to a full confession of his
sin in the twenty-seventh verse, the last cloud upon his spirit is blown away,
and he is at perfect peace. God was gracious to the man described by Elihu. God
Himself became his light and his salvation, and he came forth into joy and
liberty. There is nothing more full of freshness and surprise than the joy of a
new convert.
VII. And last of
all, which is the seventh point, the results are the same, for I think I hardly
know a better description of the result of regeneration than that, which is
given in the twenty-fifth verse: “His flesh shall be fresher than a child’s, he
shall return to the days of his youth” “Old things have passed away, behold all
things are become new!” And with this change comes back joy. See the
twenty-sixth verse: “He shall see His face with joy; for He will render unto
man His righteousness”; and the thirtieth verse: “To bring back his soul from
the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》