| Back to Home Page | Back
to Book Index |
Job Chapter
Thirty-six
Job 36
Chapter Contents
Elihu desires Job's attention. (1-4) The methods in which
God deals with men. (5-14) Elihu counsels Job. (15-23) The wonders in the works
of creation. (24-33)
Commentary on Job 36:1-4
(Read Job 36:1-4)
Elihu only maintained that the affliction was sent for
his trial; and lengthened because Job was not yet thoroughly humbled under it.
He sought to ascribe righteousness to his Maker; to clear this truth, that God
is righteous in all his ways. Such knowledge must be learned from the word and
Spirit of God, for naturally we are estranged from it. The fitness of Elihu's
discourse to the dispute between Job and his friends is plain. It pointed out
to Job the true reason of those trials with which he had been pointed out to
Job the true reason of those trials with which he had been visited. It taught
that God had acted in mercy towards him, and the spiritual benefit he was to
derive from them. It corrected the mistake of his friends, and showed that
Job's calamities were for good.
Commentary on Job 36:5-14
(Read Job 36:5-14)
Elihu here shows that God acts as righteous Governor. He
is always ready to defend those that are injured. If our eye is ever toward God
in duty, his eye will be ever upon us in mercy, and, when we are at the lowest,
will not overlook us. God intends, when he afflicts us, to discover past sins
to us, and to bring them to our remembrance. Also, to dispose our hearts to be
taught: affliction makes people willing to learn, through the grace of God
working with and by it. And further, to deter us from sinning for the future.
It is a command, to have no more to do with sin. If we faithfully serve God, we
have the promise of the life that now is, and the comforts of it, as far as is
for God's glory and our good: and who would desire them any further? We have
the possession of inward pleasures, the great peace which those have that love
God's law. If the affliction fail in its work, let men expect the furnace to be
heated till they are consumed. Those that die without knowledge, die without
grace, and are undone for ever. See the nature of hypocrisy; it lies in the
heart: that is for the world and the flesh, while perhaps the outside seems to
be for God and religion. Whether sinners die in youth, or live long to heap up
wrath, their case is dreadful. The souls of the wicked live after death, but it
is in everlasting misery.
Commentary on Job 36:15-23
(Read Job 36:15-23)
Elihu shows that Job caused the continuance of his own
trouble. He cautions him not to persist in frowardness. Even good men need to
be kept to their duty by the fear of God's wrath; the wisest and best have
enough in them to deserve his stroke. Let not Job continue his unjust quarrel
with God and his providence. And let us never dare to think favourably of sin,
never indulge it, nor allow ourselves in it. Elihu thinks Job needed this
caution, he having chosen rather to gratify his pride and humour by contending
with God, than to mortify them by submitting, and accepting the punishment. It
is absurd for us to think to teach Him who is himself the Fountain of light,
truth, knowledge, and instruction. He teaches by the Bible, and that is the
best book; teaches by his Son, and he is the best Master. He is just in all
proceedings.
Commentary on Job 36:24-33
(Read Job 36:24-33)
Elihu endeavours to fill Job with high thought of God,
and so to persuade him into cheerful submission to his providence. Man may see
God's works, and is capable of discerning his hand in them, which the beasts
are not, therefore they ought to give him the glory. But while the worker of
iniquity ought to tremble, the true believer should rejoice. Children should
hear with pleasure their Father's voice, even when he speaks in terror to his
enemies. There is no light but there may be a cloud to intercept it. The light
of the favour of God, the light of his countenance, the most blessed light of
all, even that light has many a cloud. The clouds of our sins cause the Lord to
his face, and hinder the light of his loving-kindness from shining on our
souls.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Job》
Job 36
Verse 3
[3] I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe
righteousness to my Maker.
Afar — From remote times, and places, and things. I will not
confine my discourse to thy particular case, but wilt justify God by declaring
his great and glorious works of creation and providence both in the heaven and
in the earth, and the manner of his dealing with men in other parts and ages of
the world.
Ascribe — I will clear and maintain this truth, that God is
righteous in all his ways.
Verse 4
[4] For truly my words shall not be false: he that is
perfect in knowledge is with thee.
He, … — Thou hast to do with a God of perfect knowledge, by
whom all thy words and actions are weighed.
Verse 5
[5] Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is
mighty in strength and wisdom.
Despiseth — His greatness doth not make him
(as it doth men) despise, or oppress the meanest.
Wisdom — His strength is guided by wisdom, and therefore cannot
do any thing unbecoming God, or unjust to his creatures.
Verse 6
[6] He preserveth not the life of the wicked: but giveth
right to the poor.
But — He will certainly in his time deliver his oppressed
ones.
Verse 7
[7] He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous: but with
kings are they on the throne; yea, he doth establish them for ever, and they
are exalted.
He — Never ceases to care for and watch over them.
Exalted — They continue to be exalted; they are not cast down
from their dignity, as the wicked commonly are.
Verse 8
[8] And if they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords
of affliction;
If — Through the vicissitude of worldly affairs, they are
brought from their throne into a prison, as sometimes hath been done.
Verse 9
[9] Then he sheweth them their work, and their
transgressions that they have exceeded.
Work — Their evil works, by these afflictions he brings them
to a sight of their sins.
Exceeded — That they have greatly sinned by abusing their power
and prosperity; which even good men are too prone to do.
Verse 10
[10] He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth
that they return from iniquity.
Openeth — He inclines them to hearken to what God speaks by the
rod.
Verse 13
[13] But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath: they cry not
when he bindeth them.
Cry not — Unto God for help.
Bindeth — With the cords of affliction.
Verse 14
[14] They die in youth, and their life is among the unclean.
Die — They provoke God to cut them off before their time.
Unclean — Or, Sodomites; to whose destruction, he may allude.
They shall die by some exemplary stroke of Divine vengeance. Yea, and after
death, their life is among the unclean, the unclean spirits, the devil and his
angels, for ever excluded from the new Jerusalem, into which no unclean thing
shall enter.
Verse 15
[15] He delivereth the poor in his affliction, and openeth
their ears in oppression.
Openeth — Causeth them to hear, and understand, and do, the will
of God.
Verse 16
[16] Even so would he have removed thee out of the strait
into a broad place, where there is no straitness; and that which should be set
on thy table should be full of fatness.
He would — If thou hadst opened thine ear to God's counsels.
Into — A state of ease and freedom.
Verse 17
[17] But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked: judgment
and justice take hold on thee.
The judgment — Or, the sentence, thou hast
justified the hard speeches which wicked men utter against God.
Therefore — Therefore the just judgment of
God takes hold on thee. Thou hast maintained their cause against God, and God
passes against thee the sentence of condemnation due to wicked men.
Verse 18
[18] Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away
with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.
Wrath — Conceived by God against thee.
Then — If once God's wrath take hold of thee, no ransom will
be accepted for thee.
Verse 19
[19] Will he esteem thy riches? no, not gold, nor all the
forces of strength.
Thy riches — If thou hadst as much of them as
ever.
Forces — The strongest forces.
Verse 20
[20] Desire not the night, when people are cut off in their
place.
The night — The night of death, which Job had
often desired, for then, thou art irrecoverably gone: take heed of thy foolish
and often repeated desire of death, lest God inflict it upon thee in anger.
Verse 21
[21] Take heed, regard not iniquity: for this hast thou
chosen rather than affliction.
Chosen — Thou hast chosen rather to quarrel with God, and
censure his judgments, than quietly to submit to them.
Verse 22
[22] Behold, God exalteth by his power: who teacheth like
him?
Behold — God is omnipotent; and therefore can, either punish
thee far worse, or deliver thee, if thou dost repent. He is also infinitely
wise; and as none can work like him, so none can teach like him. Therefore do
not presume to teach him how to govern the world. None teacheth with such
authority and convincing evidence, with such condescension and compassion, with
such power and efficacy as God doth, he teaches by the bible, and that is the
best book; by his son, and he is the best master.
Verse 24
[24] Remember that thou magnify his work, which men behold.
Remember — Call to mind this thy duty.
Magnify — Every work which he doth; do not condemn any of his
providential works, but adore them as done with admirable wisdom, and justice.
Behold — With admiration and astonishment.
Verse 25
[25] Every man may see it; man may behold it afar off.
It — The power, and wisdom, and greatness of God are so
manifest in all his works, that all who are not stupid, must see and
acknowledge it.
Afar off — The works of God are so great and conspicuous, that
they may be seen at a great distance. Hence Elihu proceeds to give some
instances, in the works of nature and common providence. His general aim is to
shew, 1. That God is the first cause and supreme director of all the creatures;
whom therefore we ought with all humility and reverence to adore, 2. That it is
presumption in us to prescribe to him in his special providence toward men,
when the operations even of common providence about the meteors, are so
mysterious and unaccountable.
Verse 26
[26] Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can
the number of his years be searched out.
Neither — He is eternal, as in his being, so in all his
counsels; which therefore must be infinitely above the comprehension of
short-lived men.
Verse 27
[27] For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down
rain according to the vapour thereof:
For — Having affirmed that God's works are incomprehensibly
great and glorious, he now proves it from the most common works of nature and
providence. And hence he leaves it to Job to consider how much more deep and
inconceivable the secret counsels of God must be.
Water — He orders matters so wisely, that the waters which are
in the clouds, do not fall down at once in spouts, which would be pernicious to
the earth and to mankind; but by degrees, and in drops.
According — According to the proportion of
vapours which the heat of the sun hath drawn up by the earth or sea. So it
notes that great work of God by which the rain is first made of vapours, and
afterwards resolved into vapours, or into the matter of succeeding vapours, by
a constant rotation.
Verse 29
[29] Also can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, or
the noise of his tabernacle?
Understand — Whence it comes to pass, that a
small cloud, no bigger than a man's hand, suddenly spreads over the whole
heavens: how the clouds come to be suddenly gathered, and so condensed as to
bring forth thunder and lightning.
Noise — The thunder produced in the clouds, which are often
called God's tent or tabernacle.
Verse 30
[30] Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth the
bottom of the sea.
Light — The lightning; fitly God's light, because God only can
light it.
It — Upon the cloud, which is in a manner the candlestick
in which God sets up this light.
The sea — The lightning spreads far and wide over all the parts
of the sea, and pierceth deep, reaching even to the bottom of it.
Verse 31
[31] For by them judgeth he the people; he giveth meat in
abundance.
Judgeth — By thunder and lightning, and rain from the clouds, he
executes his judgments against ungodly people.
Meat — Giveth meat. By the same clouds, he provides plentiful
showers dropping fatness on the earth.
Verse 32
[32] With clouds he covereth the light; and commandeth it not
to shine by the cloud that cometh betwixt.
Clouds — With thick and black clouds spread over the whole
heavens.
Light — The sun.
The cloud — Which God interposes as a veil
between the sun and earth.
Verse 33
[33] The noise thereof sheweth concerning it, the cattle also
concerning the vapour.
The noise — The thunder gives notice of the
approaching rain.
Also — And as the thunder, so also the cattle sheweth,
concerning the vapour, concerning the coming of the rain, by a strange instinct,
seeking for shelter, when a change of weather is near.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Job》
36 Chapter 36
Verses 1-33
Verses 1-4
Elihu also proceeded and said.
The portrait of a true preacher
I. The side he has
to take. “I have yet to speak on God’s behalf.” Sin is a controversy with God.
The true preacher has to take the side of God in the discussion.
1. He has to defend the procedure of God. He has to justify the ways
of heaven.
2. He has to vindicate the character of God. The true preacher has to
clear his Maker of all ungodly accusations.
3. He has to enforce the claims of God. His claims to their supreme
love and constant obedience.
4. He has to offer the redemption of God. To show forth the wonderful
mercy of God in Christ Jesus.
II. The knowledge
he has to communicate. “I will fetch my knowledge from afar.” Literally, the
true preacher has to fetch his “knowledge from afar.”
1. “From afar” in relation to the intuitions of men. The facts of the
Gospel lie far away from the inbred sentiments of the human soul.
2. “From afar” in relation to the philosophical deductions of men.
Human reason could never discover the essential truths of the Gospel.
3. “From afar” in relation to the natural spirit of men.
III. The purpose he
has to maintain. “I will ascribe righteousness unto my Maker.” Elihu’s purpose
seemed to be, to demonstrate to Job that God was righteous in all His ways, and
worthy of his confidence. With this conviction he will show--
1. That no suffering falls on any creature more than he deserves.
2. That no work is demanded of any creature more than he can render.
IV. The
faithfulness he has to exhibit. “Truly my words shall not be false: He that is
perfect in knowledge is with thee.” (Homilist.)
Verse 5
Behold, God is mighty and despiseth not any.
The law of reverence
Contempt, whether of men or of things, is a feeling that is alien
to God. With Him there is no littleness; He neither spurns, nor slights, nor
disregards. And the reason is that He is so mighty.
I. God is great in
intelligence and despiseth not. How great that intelligence is, in its reach,
in its grasp, in its certainty, the Scriptures keep continually before us. He
whom we worship is the “Only Wise.” God sees things not only in themselves, but
in their connections, sources, and results; sees them with all those secret
accompaniments that make matters that are apparently trivial really significant
and momentous. Therefore, though man may be careless, he cares; what man holds
lightly, he esteems. We argue from the inerrancy of the Divine judgment. We
found on the comprehensiveness of the Divine mind. God is great in knowledge
and despiseth not, depreciating neither person nor tiring.
II. God is great in
holiness and despiseth not. He is so pure and exalted a moral Being Himself, He
must needs hold everything of importance into which the moral element enters.
Take the minutest moral deflection. He cannot think lightly of that. Sin is
sin, whatsoever its scale. He cannot think lightly of the least moral
aspiration. The feeblest of our longings, the stretching of a hand, the
breathing of a sigh, the dropping of a tear, are matters of interest and
importance to Him whose kingdom is a kingdom of uprightness, and who longs for
that kingdom to come in the hearts and lives of men. The righteous Lord loveth
righteousness. His very purity is a sure guarantee that the yearnings and the
strivings of a sin-weary heart will always be precious in His sight. Then
beware of contempt. Do not belittle the moral realities. Do not belittle sin.
Too often we meet goodness with a spirit of levity.
III. God is great in
His love and despiseth not.
1. The greatness of God’s love is a pledge that He will not despise
the least or the lowliest disciples. He is not the God of the strong merely, He
is the God of the weak.
2. The greatness of God’s love is a pledge that He does not despise
the least or the lowliest needs.
3. The greatness of God’s love is a pledge that He will not despise
the least and lowliest services. Whatsoever love offers, love will value, love
will store up, and love will reward. Two practical lessons.
“He despiseth not any”
It is a poor result of vast wealth or great learning, or
cultivated taste, when a man affects superiority and despises others. True
wisdom should make us humble, not haughty. God is mighty. Yet His power is the
omnipotence of right, and truth, and love. God’s infinite might has co-existent
with it, infinite right and infinite love. This wonderful combination in the
Divine character is now before us.
1. Behold this combination in the lower orders of creation. The
minutest insects are as well provided for as the cattle on a thousand hills.
Compared with man, what are they? Yet God despiseth them not.
2. In the revelation of His Word. All language does but poorly
express the great thoughts of God. Yet He condescends to all degrees of
thought, The old philosophers concealed their thoughts from common people.
3. In the subjects of the Divine regard. Men are in danger of
despising each other. God despiseth not any.
4. In the incarnate life of Christ, how near He seems to come to men!
It would not be difficult to survey Hebrew society, and pick out the despised
classes--lepers, lost women, publicans. Jesus came very near to the weak and
weary, the reviled and persecuted, and they found recovery and rest in Him.
5. In the agencies He employs, God does not pass by His own best
materials among men; but He uses the humble prayer of a desolate widow, or the
effort of some silent worker, who speaks a word for the Master in quiet places
of the city. In the moral world there is no need to despise the day of small
things.
6. In the sacrificial atonement of Christ. The magnet of the Cross
meets all conditions of men, all types of character, all degrees of education,
all depths of ignorance, all forces of rebellion and self-will.
7. In the great gathering of the redeemed. There the rich and the
poor, the master and the servant, meet together. Jesus is Lord and brother of
men. Deity is linked with humanity in the marks and memories of the manger, the
carpenter’s home, and the Cross. Many who have had scant mercy from man, will
enjoy there the triumphs of the mercy of God in Christ. (W. M. Statham.)
None overlooked
You can buy complete sets of all the flowers of the Alpine
district at the hotel near the foot of the Rosenlaui glacier, very neatly
pressed and enclosed in cases. Some of the flowers are very common, but they
must be included, or the fauna would not be completely represented. The
botanist is as careful to see that the common ones are there, as he is to note
that the rarer specimens are not excluded. Our blessed Lord will be sure to
make a perfect collection of all the flowers of His field, and even the
ordinary believer, the everyday worker, the common convert, will not be
forgotten. To Jesus’ eye, there is beauty in all His plants, and each one is
needed to perfect the fauna of paradise. May I be found among His flowers, if
only as one Out of myriad daisies, who with sweet simplicity shall look up and
wonder at His love forever. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
God’s reverence for man
No one renders a better service to his fellows than he who leads
them to a true conception of the character and purpose of God. No one has been
so grievously misunderstood, caricatured, and aspersed as God. Men have looked
at Him with sceptical eyes, melancholy eyes, sin-damaged eyes, tear-filled
eyes, and many of their readings have been grotesque, unsatisfactory, and
mischievous. How much misery has resulted froth the thought that God is
impersonal--that the throne of the universe is without a King, that we are in
the hands of a remorseless fate, that blind forces are evermore giving us
shape, that we are accountable to no authority beyond ourselves! How much
misery has resulted from the thought that God is cruel! Some have imagined God
a merciless monster, an infinite detective, a harsh taskmaster, a vindictive
gaoler. How much evil has been caused by the thought that God is
exclusive--that only a select number are His children, that for the rest He has
no love, no care, no blessing! How much evil has been caused by the thought
that God is indifferent, that He dwells in splendid isolation, too
self-absorbed to heed man’s anguish, to ease his woes, redress his wrongs!
Here, then, is our thought--God has a profound reverence for man; and this is
so because of His unequalled greatness. This we know runs counter to our
general way of thinking. We think of greatness as isolating, separating, and
not as uniting men. We think contempt a proper sort of thing, and not often do
we see greatness and gentleness going together. Our great teacher John Ruskin
says “One of the signs of high breeding in men generally will be their kindness
and mercifulness.” And Shakespeare says: “Mockery is the fume of little
hearts.” Now, whatever we may find in men, we see that the greatness of God is
not aloofness, not high disdain, not proud contempt, but infinite love, eternal
compassion, omnipotent tenderness, absolute devotion to man’s interests.
Behold, God is mighty--so mighty that we are awed as we think of Him. But He
despiseth not, for in Him might and mercy are combined. This is an oft-recurring
note of the Bible. “I will sing of Thy power,” says the Psalmist, but he adds,
“Yea, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy.” And again, “He telleth the number of the
stars, He calleth them all by their names.” But what says the context: “He
healeth the broken in heart; He bindeth all their wounds.” Oh, beautiful
juxtaposition of power and tenderness, knowledge and grace. God does not
despise any person. No human soul is valueless in the eye of God; it is more
than all else to Him--the jewel of priceless value, the gem of peerless worth.
Disparagement of man has been a note of all times, and not least of our own.
Man’s contempt for man finds luxuriant expression, and all its signs are ugly.
Sometimes we see men despising others because of their poverty. Not for this
reason does God despise men. Among the indigent He has found His princeliest
souls, His most faithful servants. The ban of poverty is nothing to Him.
Sometimes we see men despising others because they are commonplace. The world
swarms with the colourless, the insignificant, the inept, the failing. Not so
does God regard men. The colourless are full of suggestions to Him; the
commonplace all have a place in His great heart. He does not measure men
superficially, but radically. He takes note, not of the accidental, but of the
essential. God is willing to take in hand the inept, the unbrilliant, the
unpromising, and to bring their lives to an undreamt-of glory and greatness.
Sometimes we see men despising their fellows because of their sinfulness. Man
never appears so mean and worthless as when his sin is obvious. He, to whom sin
is most offensive; He, whom it has cost more than anyone, despiseth not any
sinner. He loves the sinner in spite of his sin, for love sees what nothing
else can see. It is in Jesus Christ we see this truth best illustrated. He went
straight to the worst. He touched the outcast, and he became a denizen of God’s
Kingdom. More than comforting is the precious truth that no soul is
God-despised. He who despiseth not any person does not despise our desires. How
often we despise ourselves because of the paucity of our good desires, or else
on account of their feebleness. Well, we may sit in stern judgment on
ourselves, and it is well, perhaps, we do so, but God despiseth not any desire.
And God does not despise any service. Sometimes we disparage our services. We
think them slight, imperfect, obscure. God never overlooks the quiet, obscure
workers. Do not despise yourself. Are you poor? So have been earth’s noblest
children, so have been the peers of piety. Are you sinful? Thank God for the
consciousness of your sin; it is a stepping-stone to salvation. Remember, the
Church is made up of transmuted failures. God gives to men a second chance, and
He delighteth in mercy. Do not despise your fellows. Moreover, it is ours to
make it as easy as possible for every prodigal son of our Father to come home.
Do not despise God. The adjuration is not unnecessary. Alas! this is the fatal
fault of men; they disesteem their Maker, Redeemer, Friend. The Apostle asks:
“Despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and long-suffering,
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” (J.
Pearce.)
Verse 9
Then He sheweth them their work, and their transgression that they
have exceeded.
Showing up our transgressions
I. General remarks
on the text.
1. Sin is properly attributable to man. It is “their work.” If God
suffers moral evil to exist, He is not the author of it. Satan may tempt, but
cannot constrain to the commission of sin. The whole guilt of it lies upon the
offender. It first exists as simple apprehension, is then approved, and, being
conceived in the heart, it brings forth actual transgression, until it is
finished in death.
2. It is the prerogative of God effectually to convince men of sin;
or, “to show unto them their work.” No man ever saw his sinfulness in a proper
light until it was thus discovered to him.
3. The Lord frequently imparts this knowledge in a season of
affliction: “then” it shows unto men their work. It was in deep adversity that
Job was made to possess the iniquities of his youth, to recollect what had been
long forgotten, and to feel the burden of his guilt.
4. The knowledge of our sinfulness is necessary to true repentance,
and to our believing in Christ for eternal life. Sorrow for sin, confessing and
forsaking it, will be the immediate effect. An irreconcilable hatred to sin,
and an earnest desire to have it mortified and subdued, will be the necessary
consequence of a true conviction of its evil nature.
II. In what
respects the Lord may be said to “show unto men their transgressions.”
1. He makes known to them the fact that they are sinners, and that
their transgressions are their own.
2. The Lord convinces them not only of the fact, but also of the evil
of sin, and causes them to repent of that, as well as of its consequences.
3. When persons are truly convinced Of sin, the Lord not only shows
them their work end their transgression, but also” that they have exceeded.”
They are made to see that they have sinned with a high hand. God employs
various means, and accompanies them with various effects. God often renews the
discovery of sin in our later experience. (B. Beddom,, M. A.)
Verse 10
He openeth their ear to discipline.
Discipline
1. Notice the discipline which God uses in His family. Many of us are
froward children and need discipline. Job needed it, and had it; we are not
told why, except that God meant to try his graces, and bring them into
exercise. Paul was disciplined, and if he had not been well-disciplined, he
would never have been such a scholar. The first feature in God’s discipline for
His family is what Paul calls, “apprehending them.” A laying fast hold of
conscience. Has Jesus apprehended you? This apprehending is sometimes very
severe discipline. The next feature of discipline is translation. He translates
the poor sinner out of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son. There shall
be transformation as well as translation. The discipline which our God
exercises in His Church is for the express purpose of exercising all the graces
that He imparts to the soul. By discipline Jehovah nourishes His own life in
the souls of His children. By this discipline, decision of character is
effected.
2. The obedience to be effected. “He openeth their ears to
discipline.” Jehovah opens the ears of His people to discipline in such wise as
that they shall oven wait and listen for more discipline--more of the exercise
of Divine wisdom and power, to carry out His wise purposes and designs. The
teaching of Jehovah goes on thus blessedly in the experience of His people: for
it is written, “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall
be their peace.” (Joseph Irons.)
The advantages of affliction
It is assumed in the text that the righteous may experience
painful changes, severe afflictions--great calamities may overtake them. Some
of the advantages of these afflictions we consider.
1. Afflictions tend to promote self-knowledge by leading to serious
and faithful self-examination.
2. Afflictions tend to soften and humble the mind, and dispose us to
confess, to bewail, and to forsake our transgressions.
3. Afflictions tend to promote our instruction in righteousness.
4. Afflictions tend to promote our entire sanctification, and, if
patiently endured, will issue in everlasting glory. But afflictions are not
necessarily salutary. Sometimes they are not improved; and when they are not
improved, instead of being a blessing they are indeed a curse. (Robert
Alder.)
Verse 16
Out of the strait into a broad place.
An invitation to straitened souls
What is literally straitness? The word “strait” means “narrow.”
The place between two mountains or two seas is a strait or narrow passage. A
strait implies a difficulty of choice. “I am in a strait betwixt two.” We say
of a man, when he cannot pay his debts, that he is in straitened circumstances.
Other countries have similar terms. In Scotland they say “pinched,” or
“hampered,” in America that “he has a hard row to hoe,” alluding to the hoeing
of sugar or corn. We say a man is in a strait when he has a large family and a
small income. As strait places are unpleasant in temporal circumstances, they
are also unpleasant in spiritual affairs. Then pray “Bring me out of a strait
place tonight.”
1. One reason is, that the grand design of Christ may be answered.
2. Another reason is, that our heavenly Father wants to take us into
a broad place.
3. His desire is, that we should be contented with all our
circumstances. “Contentment is great gain.” (J. Caughey.)
Verse 18
Because there is wrath.
The wrath of God
The language of the text may be spoken to every impenitent
and unbelieving sinner of the human race.
I. The actual.
“There is wrath.”
1. This wrath is Divine. By virtue of God’s perfection He is in the
possession of an emotional nature, He has the attribute of wrath. Instead of
this property being inconsistent with the other attributes of God, it is
absolutely necessary to constitute Him morally perfect. This wrath is
undoubtedly a great reality.
2. This wrath is merited. Sin merits wrath. Sin is the wrong act of a
moral substance, a substance in the possession of free-will. In this act there
are rebellion, robbery, and ingratitude. Hence sin merits the Divine
indignation. Hence, wherever there is sin there is also suffering.
3. This wrath is impartial. It has been revealed from heaven against
angels and against men, without respect of person. It has been revealed against
every sinful act of every sinful being.
II. The probable.
There may be destruction. “Beware lest He take thee away with His stroke.”
1. He hath power to do it.
2. He has threatened to do so.
3. Some who were as near saved as you have been lost.
III. The impossible.
There cannot be deliverance. “Then a great ransom cannot deliver thee,”
literally, “cannot turn thee aside.” Deliverance is impossible--
1. By a great ransom of material wealth. Though we could give mines
of gems, oceans of pearls, worlds of gold and silver, yet such a ransom price
could not deliver us.
2. By a great ransom of animal life.
3. By the ransom of the Highest, Christ Jesus. “Christ gave Himself a
sacrifice for us.” (Homilist.)
Divine anger
1. There is “wrath” in the government of God.
2. This “wrath” may overtake the sinner any moment.
3. When it overtakes him in this way, he has no means of deliverance.
(Homilist.)
Solemn warning
Whether these words were suited to the ease of Job or not, they
are certainly applicable to all impenitent sinners, and contain--
I. An important
assertion. “Because there is wrath.” From this declaration it is evident that
it has been known from the earliest ages that God is displeased with sin, and
has often revealed His anger against the ungodliness of men.
1. This assertion must be explained. The anger, hatred, and wrath of
God are not impure passions in Him, as they are in man. All who violate the
precepts of His law become obnoxious to its awful penalties, and justly incur
the punitive wrath of the Divine Lawgiver (Romans 2:3-9).
2. This assertion must be confirmed. This is evident from the
Scriptures, which assure us that the Lord is “angry with the wicked.”
II. An affectionate
admonition.
1. The exercise of caution. “Beware!” Deeply consider your state and
character before God--remember your awful responsibility, and the intimate
connection which subsists between a state of mortal probation and eternal
retribution (Galatians 6:7-8); be wise, and know the
day of your visitation.
2. The pursuit of salvation. An apprehension of Divine wrath should
induce a diligent use of the means appointed for our deliverance; this is the
only way of being rescued from sin and ruin.
III. An impressive
argument; “Lest He take thee away,” etc.
1. The sinner’s punishment is inevitable. “Lest He take thee away
with His stroke.” Incorrigible impenitence leads to unavoidable ruin (Romans 6:21); sin will surely find us
out, “for the wicked shall not go unpunished.” His stroke signifies a sudden
calamity or awful judgment. Such was the deluge--the overthrow of Sodom and
Gomorrah--the punishment of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram--the death of Herod,
Ananias, and Sapphira, etc. (Genesis 7:1-24; Genesis 19:27; Numbers 16:31-33; Acts 5:1-10; Acts 12:20-23).
2. The sinner’s punishment is irremediable. “Then a great ransom
cannot deliver thee.” To ransom is to deliver, either by price or by power. The
present life is the only day of salvation. There is no Redeemer for the finally
lost. They have nothing to offer for their ransom, nor can any possible price
purchase, or power rescue them from interminable perdition. What, then, is our
present state? (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
Verse 21
Take heed; regard not iniquity; for this hast thou chosen rather
than affliction.
Affliction better than sin
Elihu rebukes Job with a becoming dignity, for some rash and
unadvised speeches which the severity of his other friends, and the sharpness
of his own anguish, had drawn from him, and particularly cautions him in the
passage before us. Illustrate and prove the general proposition, that there can
be no greater folly than to seek to escape from affliction by complying with
the temptations of sin. That the greater part of mankind are under the
influence of a contrary opinion, may be too justly referred from their
practice. How many have recourse to sinful pleasures to relieve their inward
distress. In order to evade sufferings for righteousness’ sake, thousands make
shipwreck of faith and a good conscience, through sinful compliances with the
manners of the world.
1. Sin separates us from God, the only source of real felicity. That
man is not sufficient to his own happiness is a truth confirmed by the
experience of all who have candidly attended to their own feelings. This makes
men seek resources from abroad, and fly to pleasures and amusements of various
kinds, to fill up the blanks of time, and divert their uneasy reflections. God
alone can be the source of real happiness to an immortal soul. Sin bereaves the
soul of man of this its only portion. Afflictions are often the means of
bringing the soul nearer to Him.
2. Affliction may not only consist with the love of a father, but may
even be the fruit of it. “Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.” A good man may
even glory in tribulation. But sin is always both evil in its nature, and
pernicious in its effects.
3. Sin is evil whether we feel it or not, and worst when we are most
insensible of it. To be past feeling, in this respect, is the worst woe we can
possibly bring upon ourselves. Affliction, though a bitter, is a salutary
medicine. It is the discipline by which we are trained to glory, honour, and
virtue. The greatest error we can fall into, is that of taking this world for
the place of our rest. To cure this fatal mistake, God visits us with
affliction.
4. In afflictions we are commonly passive, but always active in sin.
The one is left to our choice, the other is not. When we suffer in the cause of
virtue, we are in the hand of our most faithful and everlasting friend; but
when we sin, in order to avoid suffering, we commit ourselves into the hands of
that malicious and cunning enemy, who goeth about seeking whom he may devour.
5. The evil of affliction is of short duration, but that of sin
perpetual. (R. Walker.)
Caution against losing the crown through fear of the cross
Three things to be observed in Job’s case.
1. Job, before his afflictions, is called a man “perfect and
upright,” one that feared God, and eschewed evil: that is, both a moral man and
a pious man. Before anyone may suppose that the lamentations of Job suit his
case, he must be clear that he has lived like Job.
2. A great part of Job’s complaints are made in answer to the three
friends. Whatever Job’s sin was, it was not hypocrisy. No wonder that when
accused, Job should break out in strong cries of grief, defend his innocence,
and hold fast his integrity.
3. Some of Job’s complaints are absolutely sinful; they are
murmurings of self-righteousness and rebellion. Job would not submit to the
chastisement of God. The other three had accused Job falsely, but Elihu accused
him justly. If any take comfort from reading these sinful complaints of Job, and
think that, because Job complained in the way he did, they may do the like,
they are greatly mistaken. And if any go further and think that because, like
Job, they utter sinful complaints, like him too they shall be pardoned and
accepted in the end, they are yet more mistaken. Unless they are brought, like
the penitent patriarch, to see and confess with self-abhorrence the sinfulness
of their murmurs, those complaints will be the ruin of their souls, even though
they may be expressed in simple language. It is owned that it is hard to bear
affliction. A wounded spirit is tempted to breathe hard sayings against God.
But a child of God will not indulge such a temper. He will know the wickedness
of it. There are many, however, who do not murmur against God’s dealings with
them, who may still be accused of choosing iniquity rather than affliction. In
truth, it may be charged against all unconverted men. There is an affliction
which all who live in a careless, unconverted state must suffer before they can
have any hope of salvation. To everyone whose conscience tells him that he has
not yet been brought to a sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, the word of
the Lord is, “Take heed.” It would be a false and unscriptural representation
of Christ and religion, to make it appear a light or an easy thing to be His
disciple. And he who does not find it a life of constant struggle and
watchfulness, of difficulty and self-denial, may be certain that he is
altogether mistaken if he thinks he is a believer. Let no man flatter himself
that the way to glory is a path strewed with flowers, one in which he may take
his fill of pleasure and indulge his indolence. The true profession of
Christianity is inseparable from suffering. It would be well for all those who
are living in security, who have no fear for the safety of their souls, if they
would examine the grounds of their confidence, and ask themselves in what way
they bear their cross daily? What afflictions of the righteous fall to their
lot? If they find that they really are not bearing the cross; that they are
suffering none of the “afflictions of the righteous,” they may be sure that
their confidence is not the assurance of faith, but the presumption of
ignorance . . . It generally happens that a believer’s comforts and spiritual
consolations rise higher in proportion to his trials and conflicts. (R. W.
Dibdin, M. A.)
Verse 22
Who teacheth like Him?
--Like whom? you ask. Like Him who is the great Teacher and Enlightener of the
Church--even God, the Holy Spirit. This question is a sort of challenge to us
to point out any teacher equal to the Lord. In what points does the teaching of
God the Holy Spirit exceed all other teaching? Consider
I. The nature of
His instructions. There are many valuable things, no doubt, which man’s wisdom
has to teach. But look--
1. At the amazing nature of the facts which the Spirit has revealed
to us. This mystery, that God so loved the world as to send His Son to shed His
blood for it; nothing is worthy of the name of wonderful and glorious compared
with this mystery, that God was manifest in the flesh, and died for me upon the
Cross.
2. Who is like this glorious Teacher in the holiness of His
instructions? The Holy Bible is the Spirit’s lesson book. It is there that all
His glorious precepts are embodied.
3. And the Holy Spirit’s lessons are indispensable. The instructions
which man’s wisdom gives may be useful and important in their way. But we can
get to heaven without them. The Spirit teaches us the only way that leads
there.
II. The way in
which He gives these instructions. Note the variety of instruments which He
employs, and through which He gives instruction to the heart. His chief
instrument is the Written Word. Here is doctrine, reproof, correction,
instruction in righteousness. He teaches also by the living voices of His
ministers; and, through them, what a multiplicity of arguments does He employ!
And He teaches by His providence; by afflictions; by humbling providences; by
mercies and loving kindnesses. Are they looking to the world for happiness and
satisfaction? He makes that world so bitter to them by its crosses and
vexations that they are forced to learn the lesson of its emptiness and vanity.
He further enlightens the eyes of their understandings.
III. The results of
His instructions. Let the Holy Spirit preach, and then the man’s faith, and the
man’s practice, both are changed. They pray that God the Holy Ghost will
vouchsafe to be your teacher and your guide, that He will illuminate the eyes
of your understanding, and that He will reveal Christ unto your hearts. (A.
Roberts, M. A.)
God’s teaching, our example
The God of the Bible is represented to us under different names
and views peculiar to Himself. He is represented to us as the source and
comprehension of all truth, goodness, happiness, and glory. When we try to
reduce our conception of God to a finite form, the best conception we can form
of Him is the highest combination of all the attributes that are good, pure,
and glorious. We now view Him as our Divine Teacher.
I. The teaching
character of the Divine order. The teaching intention is seen everywhere in the
established economy of the whole arrangement of the constitution of the
universe. It is not an arrangement to be noticed here and there, but a matter
of law and universality, unchangeable and regular. The whole range and laws of
nature, the whole animal economy--providence, revelation, Christianity, and the
whole works of God as known to us--have a teaching commission. All have their
science to make known to men; all have their influence in the moulding of human
character. Everything has its message; everything is backed by Divine law and
authority. This order is intended, in its teaching power, to lead and reunite
us with the source and end of our life, and thus to realise the chief good of
our being.
1. The supreme order of which we are subjects is one of universal
relation and dependence. Illustration: relation of parent and child. One is
made to teach, and the other to be taught.
2. As a teaching power, the order of which we are subjects is one of
advancement. The whole is intended to advance. The order of God is ever
forward.
3. The order under which we live is one of universal and unending
obligation. A condition of dependence is one of obligation. To our obligation
there is neither limit nor end. All we have are things to fulfil our obligation
with, and the degree of our possession is the limit of our obligation.
4. The order in which we are established is one of useful purpose in
its laws and provisions. The high design is to fit all its dependent creatures
for the end of their being. The order of God intends to economise all its gifts
and talents. No talent is to be buried, no power is to lie dormant, no plot
uncultivated, and no opportunity unemployed. All are fitted for themselves, for
one another, and all to show the praise of the great teacher Himself.
5. The teaching order of God has fit and sufficient resources to meet
its requirements, and fulfil its designs. Everything is an educational link to
some higher development. The order of God has everything in itself to make it
complete. He requires no foreign element. All perfect order precludes the
possibility of deficiency, or any goodness outside itself.
II. God’s teaching
is our pattern to follow. All men require much teaching themselves before they
are competent to teach others. Teaching is Divine.
1. God’s teaching is our pattern in the kindness of its execution.
There is nothing harsh and oppressive in the teachings of God. He allures by
promises, and leads on by the cords of tenderness and love; giving us a pattern
how to teach those who are under our care and our charge.
2. The teaching of God is one of repeated application. God repeats
His calls and applications. If one way and means are not effectual, He tries
and uses others.
3. The Divine teaching is one of rule and order. Every period has its
work, every work has its laws, and every act its certain and fit results.
Constancy is one rule. Attention to small points is another. Earnest action is
another. Every power must act its part.
4. The teaching of God is one of gradual advancement. Our wants and
capacities, in the order of being, keep pace with each other. When one is small,
the other is not great; and as one increases the other advances. God suits His
teaching to our wants and powers.
5. God’s teaching contains in it hard lessons for us in our present
state and condition.
6. God teaches, by suitable means, to accomplish the end He has in
view.
III. The aim and end
of Divine teaching. Wisdom is right in the end in view, and the means used to
obtain it. One end is--to teach us self-insufficiency and trust in Him.
Another, to teach us the evil of disobedience and sin. Another, to educate our
nature in its highest powers, to its highest possible capacity. That we should
understand the law of His order, and respect it. To fit us for the precise work
intended to be done by us. To lead us to Himself, and to make us fit for all His
will and purpose. Conclusion--The obligation on our part which the Divine
administration of teaching involves. (T. Hughes.)
The being and agency of God
I. His being, as
here presented. Elihu points our attention to three great facts concerning this
Great Being.
1. He is mighty. “Behold, God exalteth by His power.”
2. He is independent. “Who hath enjoined Him His way?” He is amenable
to no one beyond Himself.
3. He is righteous. “Who can say, Thou hast wrought iniquity?”
4. He is adorable. “Remember that thou magnify His work, which men
behold.” Man is here called upon to adore Him in His works, which are visible
to all.
5. He is incomprehensible.
II. His agency as
here presented. His agency both in the mental and the material domains is here
referred to.
1. His agency in the mental realm. He is a Teacher. “Who teacheth
like Him?” He is an incomparable Teacher.
(a) By symbols. All the works of nature are the symbols, the
hieroglyphics He employs. “The heavens declare Thy glory,” etc.
(b) By example. “He bowed the heavens and came down,” and He acted out
His grand lessons in the life of a wonderful Man--the Man Christ Jesus.
2. His agency in the material realm. Four ideas are suggested here
concerning His agency in nature. It is--
Verse 26-27
God is great, and we know Him not.
The knowledge of God
These words recall the supreme questions which divide hostile
philosophies. Even Christian apologists have maintained that God is
inaccessible to human thought, and that our highest knowledge of Him can have
only a relative truth. Many who are antagonistic to the. Christian faith
maintain that man’s knowledge is necessarily limited to the universe of
phenomena, and that all attempts to pass beyond it are the result of an
ambitious discontent with the eternal limitations of our intellectual power.
The words of the text cannot mean that God is absolutely unknown. We know God,
and therefore we worship Him; but there is infinitely more to know. His
greatness passes beyond the widest limits, not only of our actual knowledge,
but of all knowledge possible to us. This truth is pressed upon us in whatever
direction thought may travel.
1. Our hearts should be filled with awe when we meet to worship Him.
2. That God is great, and we know Him not, should encourage the
largest and freest confidence in His ability and willingness to meet and to
satisfy all the exigencies of our personal life.
3. It is the infinite greatness of God--a greatness that can never be
defined or exhausted by created thought--which alone enables us to accept
calmly, and without dread, the gift of immortality.
4. If this is the strength and joy of those who are conscious that
through His infinite mercy their sins are forgiven, and they are restored to
the light and blessedness of His love, it is full of terror to all with whom He
is not at peace, and who are exposed to His eternal condemnation. (R. W.
Dale, D. D. , LL. D.)
The unknowable God
Unknown, unknowable--truly; yet not on that account unusable and
unprofitable. That is a vital distinction. The master of science humbly avows
that he has not a theory of magnetism; does he, therefore, ignore it, or
decline to inquire into its uses? Does he reverently write its name with a big
M, and run away from it, shaken and whitened by a great fear? Verily, he is no
such fool. He actually uses what he does not understand. I will accept his
example, and bring it to bear upon the religious life. I do not,
scientifically, know God; the solemn term does not come within the analysis
which is available to me; God is great, and I know Him not; yet the term has
its practical uses in life, and into those broad and obvious uses all men may
inquire. What part does the God of the Bible play in the life of the man who
accepts Him and obeys Him with all the inspiration and diligence of love? Any
creed that does not Come down easily into the daily life to purify and direct
it, is by so much, imperfect and useless. I cannot read the Bible without seeing
that God (as there revealed) ever moved His believers in the direction of
courage and sacrifice. These two terms are multitudinous, involving others of
kindred quality, and spreading themselves over the whole space of the upper
life. In the direction of courage--not mere animal courage, for then the
argument might be matched by gods many, yet still gods, though their names be
spelt without capitals; but moral courage, noble heroism, fierce rebuke of
personal and national corruption, sublime and pathetic judgment of all good and
all evil. The God-idea made mean men valiant soldier-prophets; it broadened the
piping voice of the timid inquirer into the thunder of the national teacher and
leader; for brass it brought gold; and for iron, silver; and for wood, brass;
and for stones, iron; instead of the thorn it brought up the fir tree, and
instead of the brier the myrtle tree, and it made the bush burn with fire.
Wherever the God-idea took complete possession of the mind, every faculty was
lifted up to a new capacity, and borne on to heroic attempts and conquests. The
saints who received it “subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire; out of
weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies
of the aliens.” Any idea that so inspired in man life and hope, is to be
examined with reverent care. The quality of the courage determines its value
and the value of the idea which excited and sustained it. What is true of the
courage is true also of the sacrifice which has ever followed the acceptance of
the God-idea. Not the showy and fanatical sacrifice of mere blood letting: many
a Juggernaut, great and small, drinks the blood of his devotees; but spiritual
discipline, self-renunciation, the esteeming of others better than one’s self,
such a suppression of the self-thought as to amount to an obliteration of every
motive and purpose that can be measured by any single personality--such are the
practical uses of the God-idea. It is not a barren sentiment. It is not a
coloured vapour or a scented incense, lulling the brain into partial stupor or
agitating it with mocking dreams; it arouses courage; it necessitates
self-sacrifice; it touches the imagination as with fire; it gives a wide and
solemn outlook to the whole nature; it gives a deeper tone to every thought; it
sanctifies the universe; it makes heaven possible. Unknown--unknowable! Yes;
but not therefore unusable or unprofitable. Say this God was dreamed by human
genius. Be it so. Make Him a creature of fancy. What then? The man who made, or
dreamed, or otherwise projected such a God, must be the author of some other
Work of equal or approximate importance. Produce it! That is the sensible reply
to so bold a blasphemy. Singular if man has made a Jehovah, and then has taken
to the drudgery of making oil paintings and ink poems, and huts to live in.
Where is the congruity? A man says he kindled the sun, and when asked for his
proof, he strikes a match which the wind blows out! Is the evidence sufficient?
Or a man says that he has covered the earth with all the green and gold of
summer, and when challenged to prove it, he produces a wax flower which melts
in his hands! Is the proof convincing? The God of the Bible calls for the
production of other gods--gods wooden, gods stony, gods ill-bred, gods well
shaped, and done up skilfully for market uses: from His heavens He laughs at
them, and from His high throne He holds them in derision. He is not afraid of
competitive gods. They try to climb to His sublimity, and only get high enough
to break their necks in a sharp fall. Again and again I demand that the second
effort of human genius bear some obvious relation to the first. The sculptor
accepts the challenge, so does the painter, so does the musician--why should
the Jehovah-dreamer be an exception to the common rule of confirmation and
proof? We wait for the evidence. We insist upon having it; and that we may not
waste our time in idle expectancy, we will meanwhile call upon God, saying,
“Our leather which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy
will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven.” (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
The greatness of God
I. The greatness
of God infinitely surpasses our knowledge of Him. “Behold, God is great, and we
know Him not.” Consider how imperfect our knowledge is--l. Of the Divine
nature. We are greatly to seek in the first notion of God, that He is a Spirit;
then, that He is a Trinity in Unity.
2. Of the Divine decrees and counsels. We must conjecture uncertainly
about His decrees, because we are so distant and so incompetent in all our
speculations about the Divine nature.
3. Of the Divine work in creation and providence.
II. Useful
inferences.
1. What an inestimable treasure the Holy Scriptures ought to be
esteemed by us.
2. How reasonable a thing it is for us to love one another in some
differences of opinion and thought while we are on this side heaven.
3. How justly the wise and the good mind may be longing after that
state where their knowledge of God may be advanced to such unspeakable degrees,
suitably both to the nature of God and the capacious nature of our souls. (Nathanael
Resbury, A. M.)
For He maketh small the
drops of water.--
God’s greatness in small things
We lose God in His greatness, and it is well for us to be told
that the great God can do small things, and that small things are often the
illustrations of His greatness.
I. God illustrates
His greatness in doing small things. Illustrate from the statesman, who can
find time to contribute to the literature of his country; the great builder,
who cares for minute ornament. Or from God’s attention in creation to every
detail. Or from the ritualism of the old dispensation, which included the
elaborate and minute. It is to reduce God to our littleness, to suppose that He
measures all things by our scale. He does not even measure time by our
computation. Great and small are terms which have not the same meaning with God
as with man. How can anything be great to Him but Himself? He regulates the
ripples on the sea of human life, caused by trivial circumstances, as well as
the lifting up of the floods, when the angry waves threaten us with shipwreck.
God is great, and He is so great that He is gentle; there are no hands so
strong, and none so tender. God does great things, but He does them silently.
The greatest forces operate without bustle and noise. Gentleness is the
perfection of strength.
II. Christ, the
manifested God, does all things beautifully, small as well as great things. He
comes, as all the race come, by birth. “He grew in wisdom and stature.” No one
but a teacher, “in whom were hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,”
could have discoursed with such beautiful simplicity on the highest themes, The
doctrine of providence tie brings down to the little things of daily life. What
a Gospel He gives us in a few words. His conduct to childhood illustrates the
singular beauty with which He did everything.
III. The way to
greatness is to do small things. Men who have obtained greatness have begun
with the beginning of things. Great men have always been men of detail--great
works are done by careful attention to little things. To overlook the
importance of small things, is to forget that these give birth to great things.
Life, to a great extent, is made up of small things. It is with small things we
build up character. (H. J. Bevis.)
God’s incomprehensible greatness illustrated by little things
I. Man cannot
comprehend it. “God is great, and we know Him not, neither can the number of
His years be searched out.”
1. Man cannot comprehend His nature. Great in Himself. All His
attributes transcend our understanding.
2. Man cannot comprehend His history. “Neither can the number of His
years be searched out.” In the presence of His greatness--
II. Little things
illustrate it. “For He maketh small the drops of water”; or, as some render it,
“He draweth up the drops of water.” Elihu seems to connect God’s greatness with
His attention to the drops of water.
1. The greatness of His wisdom is seen in the small. Take the
microscope and examine life in its minutest form, and what wonderful skill you
discover in the organisation: as much wisdom as the telescope will show you
amongst the rolling worlds of space.
2. The greatness of His goodness is seen in the small.
3. The greatness of His taste is seen in the small. Take the wing of
the smallest insect, or the smallest grain of ore, and what exquisite forms and
what beautiful combinations of colour.
4. The greatness of His power is seen in the small (Homilist.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》