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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
J O B
CHAP. XXXI.
Job had often protested his integrity in general; here he does it in
particular instances, not in a way of commendation (for he does not
here proclaim his good deeds), but in his own just and necessary
vindication, to clear himself from those crimes with which his friends
had falsely charged him, which is a debt every man owes to his own
reputation. Job’s friends had been particular in their articles of
impeachment against him, and therefore he is so in his protestation,
which seems to refer especially to what Eliphaz had accused him of,
&c. They had produced no witnesses against him, neither could they
prove the things whereof they now accused him, and therefore he may
well be admitted to purge himself upon oath, which he does very
solemnly, and with many awful imprecations of God’s wrath if he were
guilty of those crimes. This protestation confirms God’s character of
him, that there was none like him in the earth. Perhaps some of his
accusers durst not have joined with him; for he not only acquits
himself from those gross sins which lie open to the eye of the world,
but from many secret sins which, if he had been guilty of them, nobody
could have charged him, with, because he will prove himself no
hypocrite. Nor does he only maintain the cleanness of his practices,
but shows also that in them he went upon good principles, that the
reason of his eschewing evil was because he feared God, and his piety
was at the bottom of his justice and charity; and this crowns the proof
of his sincerity.
I. The sins from which he here acquits himself are,
1. Wantonness and uncleanness of heart,
2. Fraud and injustice in commerce,
3. Adultery,
4. Haughtiness and severity towards his servants,
5. Unmercifulness to the poor, the widows, and the fatherless,
6. Confidence in his worldly wealth,
7. Idolatry,
8. Revenge,
9. Neglect of poor strangers,
10. Hypocrisy in concealing his own sins and cowardice in conniving at
the sins of others,
11. Oppression, and the violent invasion of other people’s rights,
And towards the close, he appeals to God’s judgment concerning his
integrity,
Now,
II. In all this we may see,
1. The sense of the patriarchal age concerning good and evil and what
was so long ago condemned as sinful, that is, both hateful and hurtful.
2. A noble pattern of piety and virtue proposed to us for our
imitation, which, if our consciences can witness for us that we conform
to it, will be our rejoicing, as it was Job’s in the day of evil.
| Job’s Vindication of Himself. | B. C. 1520. |
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1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think
upon a maid?
2 For what portion of God is there from above? and what
inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3 Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange
punishment to the workers of iniquity?
4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
5 If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to
deceit;
6 Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine
integrity.
7 If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked
after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
8 Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring
be rooted out.
The lusts of the flesh, and the love of the world, are the two fatal
rocks on which multitudes split; against these Job protests he was
always careful to stand upon his guard.
I. Against the lusts of the flesh. He not only kept himself clear from
adultery, from defiling his neighbour’s wives
(v. 9),
but from all lewdness with any women whatsoever. He kept no concubine,
no mistress, but was inviolably faithful to the marriage bed, though
his wife was none of the wisest, best, or kindest. From the beginning
it was so, that a man should have but one wife and cleave to her only;
and Job kept closely to that institution and abhorred the thought of
transgressing it; for, though his greatness might tempt him to it, his
goodness kept him from it. Job was now in pain and sickness of body,
and under that affliction it is in a particular manner comfortable if
our consciences can witness for us that we have been careful to
preserve our bodies in chastity and to possess those vessels in
sanctification and honour, pure from the lusts of uncleanness. Now
observe here,
1. What the resolutions were which, in this matter, he kept to
(v. 1):
I made a covenant with my eyes, that is, “I watched against the
occasions of the sin; why then should I think upon a maid?” that
is, “by that means, through the grace of God, I kept myself from the
very first step towards it.” So far was he from wanton dalliances, or
any act of lasciviousness, that,
(1.) He would not so much as admit a wanton look. He made a covenant
with his eyes, made this bargain with them, that he would allow
them the pleasure of beholding the light of the sun and the glory of
God shining in the visible creation, provided they would never fasten
upon any object that might occasion any impure imaginations, much less
any impure desires, in his mind; and under this penalty, that, if they
did, they must smart for it in penitential tears. Note, Those that
would keep their hearts pure must guard their eyes, which are both the
outlets and inlets of uncleanness. Hence we read of wanton eyes
and eyes full of adultery,
2 Pet. ii. 14.
The first sin began in the eye,
What we must not meddle with we must not lust after; and what we must
not lust after we must not look at; not the forbidden wealth
not the forbidden wine
not the forbidden woman,
(2.) He would not so much as allow a wanton thought: “Why then
should I think upon a maid with any unchaste fancy or desire
towards her?” Shame and sense of honour might restrain him from
soliciting the chastity of a beautiful virgin, but only grace and the
fear of God would restrain him from so much as thinking of it. Those
are not chaste that are not so in spirit as well as body,
See how Christ’s exposition of the seventh commandment agrees with the
ancient sense of it, and how much better Job understood it than the
Pharisees, though they sat in Moses’s chair.
2. What the reasons were which, in this matter, he was governed by. It
was not for fear of reproach among men, though that is to be considered
(Prov. vi. 33),
but for fear of the wrath and curse of God. He knew very well,
(1.) That uncleanness is a sin that forfeits all good, and shuts us out
from the hope of it
(v. 2):
What portion of God is there from above? What blessing can such
impure sinners expect from the pure and holy God, or what token of his
favour? What inheritance of the Almighty can they look for from on
high? There is no portion, no inheritance, no true happiness, for a
soul, but what is in God, in the Almighty, and what comes from above,
from on high. Those that wallow in uncleanness render themselves
utterly unfit for communion with God, either in grace here or in glory
hereafter, and become allied to unclean spirits, which are for ever
separated from him; and then what portion, what inheritance, can they
have with God? No unclean thing shall enter into the New Jerusalem,
that holy city.
(2.) It is a sin that incurs divine vengeance,
v. 3.
It will certainly be the sinner’s ruin if it be not repented of in
time. Is not destruction, a swift and sure destruction,
to those wicked people, and a strange punishment to
the workers of this iniquity? Fools make a mock at this sin,
make a jest of it; it is with them a peccadillo, a trick of youth. But
they deceive themselves with vain words, for because of these things,
how light soever they make of them, the wrath of God, the unsupportable
wrath of the eternal God, comes upon the children of
disobedience,
Eph. v. 6.
There are some sinners whom God sometimes out of the common road of
Providence to meet with; such are these. The destruction of Sodom is a
strange punishment. Is there not alienation (so some read it)
to the workers of iniquity? This is the sinfulness of the sin
that it alienates the mind from God
and this is the punishment of the sinners that they shall be eternally
set at a distance from him,
(3.) It cannot be hidden from the all-seeing God. A wanton thought
cannot be so close, nor a wanton look so quick, as to escape his
cognizance, much less any act of uncleanness so secretly done as to be
out of his sight. If Job was at any time tempted to this sin, he
restrained himself from it, and all approaches to it, with this
pertinent thought
(v. 4),
Doth not he see my ways; as Joseph did
How can I do it, and sin against God? Two things Job had an eye
to:–
[1.] God’s omniscience. It is a great truth that God’s eyes are upon
all the ways of men
but Job here mentions it with application to himself and his own
actions: Doth not he see my ways? O God! thou hast searched me and
known me. God sees what rule we walk by, what company w walk with,
what end we walk towards, and therefore what ways we walk in.
[2.] His observance. “He not only sees, but takes notice; he counts
all my steps, all my false steps in the way of duty, all my
by-steps into the way of sin.” He not only sees our ways in general,
but takes cognizance of our particular steps in these ways, every
action, every motion. He keeps account of all, because he will call us
to account, will bring every work into judgment. God takes a more exact
notice of us than we do of ourselves; for who ever counted his own
steps? yet God counts them. Let us therefore walk circumspectly.
II. He stood upon his guard against the love of the world, and
carefully avoided all sinful indirect means of getting wealth. He
dreaded all forbidden profit as much as all forbidden pleasure. Let us
see,
1. What his protestation is. In general, he had been honest and just in
all his dealings, and never, to his knowledge, did any body any wrong.
(1.) He never walked with vanity
(v. 5),
that is, he never durst tell a lie to get a good bargain. It was never
his way to banter, or equivocate, or make many words in his dealings.
Some men’s constant walk is a constant cheat. They either make what
they have more than it is, that they may be trusted, or less than it
is, that nothing may be expected from them. But Job was a different
man. His wealth was not acquired by vanity, though now diminished,
(2.) He never hasted to deceit. Those that deceive must be quick
and sharp, but Job’s quickness and sharpness were never turned that
way. He never made haste to be rich by deceit, but always acted
cautiously, lest, through inconsideration, he should do an unjust
thing. Note, What we have in the world may be either used with comfort
or lost with comfort if it was honestly obtained.
(3.) His steps never turned out of the way, the way of justice
and fair dealing; from that he never deviated,
v. 7.
He not only took care not to walk in a constant course and way of
deceit, but he did not so much as take one step out of the way of
honesty. In every particular action and affair we must closely tie
ourselves up to the rules of righteousness.
(4.) His heart did not walk after his eyes, that is, he did not
covet what he saw that was another’s, nor wish it his own. Covetousness
is called the lust of the eye,
1 John ii. 16.
Achan saw, and then took, the accursed thing. That heart must needs
wander that walks after the eyes; for then it looks no further than the
things that are seen, whereas it ought to be in heaven whither the eyes
cannot reach: it should follow the dictates of religion and right
reason: if it follow the eye, it will be misled to that for which
God will bring men into judgment,
Eccl. xi. 9.
(5.) That no blot had cleaved to his hands, that is, he was not
chargeable with getting any thing dishonestly, or keeping that which
was another’s, whenever it appeared to be so. Injustice is a blot, a
blot to the estate, a blot to the owner; it spoils the beauty of both,
and therefore is to be dreaded. Those that deal much in the world may
perhaps have a blot come upon their hands, but they must wash it off
again by repentance and restitution, and not let it cleave to their
hands. See
2. How he ratifies his protestation. So confident is he of his own
honesty that,
(1.) He is willing to have his goods searched
(v. 6):
Let me be weighed in an even balance, that is, “Let what I have
got be enquired into and it will be found to weigh well”–a sign that
it was not obtained by vanity, for then Tekel would have been
written on it–weighed in the balance and found too light. An
honest man is so far from dreading a trial that he desires it rather,
being well assured that God knows his integrity and will approve it,
and that the trial of it will be to his praise and honour.
(2.) He is willing to forfeit the whole cargo if there be found any
prohibited or contraband goods, any thing but what he came honestly by
(v. 8):
“Let me sow, and let another eat,” which was already agreed to
be the doom of oppressors
(ch. v. 5),
“and let my offspring, all the trees that I have planted, be
rooted out.” This intimates that he believed the sin did deserve
this punishment, that usually it is thus punished, but that though now
his estate was ruined (and at such a time, if ever, his conscience
would have brought his sin to his mind), yet he knew himself innocent
and would venture all the poor remains of his estate upon the issue of
the trial.
9 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have
laid wait at my neighbour’s door;
10 Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow
down upon her.
11 For this is a heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to
be punished by the judges.
12 For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and
would root out all mine increase.
13 If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my
maidservant, when they contended with me;
14 What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he
visiteth, what shall I answer him?
15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not
one fashion us in the womb?
Two more instances we have here of Job’s integrity:–
I. That he had a very great abhorrence of the sin of adultery. As he
did not wrong his own marriage bed by keeping a concubine (he did not
so much as think upon a maid,
v. 1),
so he was careful not to offer any injury to his neighbour’s marriage
bed. Let us see here,
1. How clear he was from this sin,
v. 9.
(1.) He did not so much as covet his neighbour’s wife; for even his
heart was not deceived by a woman. The beauty of another man’s wife
did not kindle in him any unchaste desires, nor was he ever moved by
the allurements of an adulterous woman, such as is described,
&c. See the original of all the defilements of the life; they come from
a deceived heart. Every sin is deceitful, and none more so than the
sin of uncleanness.
(2.) He never compassed or imagined any unchaste design. He never
laid wait at his neighbour’s door, to get an opportunity to
debauch his wife in his absence, when the good man was not at home,
See
2. What a dread he had of this sin, and what frightful apprehensions he
had concerning the malignity of it–that it was a heinous crime
(v. 11),
one of the greatest vilest sins a man can be guilty of, highly
provoking to God, and destructive to the prosperity of the soul. With
respect to the mischievousness of it, and the punishment it deserved,
he owns that, if he were guilty of that heinous crime,
(1.) His family might justly be made infamous in the highest degree
(v. 10):
Let my wife grind to another. Let her be a slave (so
some), a harlot, so others. God often punishes the sins of one
with the sin of another, the adultery of the husband with the adultery
of the wife, as in David’s case
which does not in the least excuse the treachery of the adulterous
wife; but, how unrighteous soever she is, God is righteous. See
Your spouses shall commit adultery. Note, Those who are not just
and faithful to their relations must not think it strange if their
relations be unjust and unfaithful to them.
(2.) He himself might justly be made a public example: For it is an
iniquity to be punished by the judges; yea, though those who are
guilty of it are themselves judges, as Job was. Note, Adultery is a
crime which the civil magistrate ought to take cognizance of and
punish: so it was adjudged even in the patriarchal age, before the law
of Moses made it capital. It is an evil work, to which the sword of
justice ought to be a terror.
(3.) It might justly become the ruin of his estate; nay, he knew it
would be so
(v. 12):
It is a fire. Lust is a fire in the soul: those that indulge it
are said to burn. It consumes all that is good there (the convictions,
the comforts), and lays the conscience waste. It kindles the fire of
God’s wrath, which, if not extinguished by the blood of Christ, will
burn to the lowest hell. It will consume even to that
eternal destruction. It consumes the body,
It consumes the substance; it roots out all the increase.
Burning lusts bring burning judgments. Perhaps it alludes to the
burning of Sodom, which was intended for an example to those who should
afterwards, in like manner, live ungodly.
II. That he had a very great tenderness for his servants and ruled them
with a gentle hand. He had a great household and he managed it well. By
this he evidenced his sincerity that he had grace to govern his passion
as well as his appetite; and he that in these two things has the rule
of his own spirit is better than the mighty,
Prov. xvi. 32.
Here observe,
1. What were Job’s condescensions to his servants
(v. 13):
He did not despise the cause of his man-servant, no, nor of his
maid-servant, when they contended with him. If they contradicted
him in any thing, he was willing to hear their reasons. If they had
offended him, or were accused to him, he would patiently hear what they
had to say for themselves, in their own vindication or excuse. Nay, if
they complained of any hardship he put upon them, he did not browbeat
them, and bid them hold their tongues, but gave them leave to tell
their story, and redressed their grievances as far as it appeared they
had right on their side. He was tender of them, not only when they
served and pleased him, but even when they contended with him. Herein
he was a great example to masters, to give to their servants that
which is just and equal; nay, to do the same things to them that
they expect from them
and not to rule them with rigour, and carry it with a high hand. Many
of Job’s servants were slain in his service
(ch. i. 15-17);
the rest were unkind and undutiful to him, and despised his cause,
though he never despised theirs
but he had this comfort that in his prosperity he had behaved well
towards them. Note, When relations are either removed from us or
embittered to us the testimony of our consciences that we have done our
duty to them will be a great support and comfort to us.
2. What were the considerations that moved him to treat his servants
thus kindly. He had, herein, an eye to God, both as his Judge and their
Maker.
(1.) As his Judge. He considered, “If I should be imperious and severe
with my servants, what then shall I do when God riseth up?” He
considered that he had a Master in heaven, to whom he was accountable,
who will rise up and will visit; and we are concerned to
consider what we shall do in the day of his visitation
(Isa. x. 3),
and, considering that we should be undone if God should then be strict
and severe with us, we ought to be very mild and gentle towards all
with whom we have to do. Consider what would become of us if God should
be extreme to mark what we do amiss, should take all advantages against
us and insist upon all his just demands from us–if he should visit
every offence, and take every forfeiture–if he should always chide,
and keep his anger for ever. And let not us be rigorous with our
inferiors. Consider what will become of us if we be cruel and
unmerciful to our brethren. The cries of the injured will be heard; the
sins of the injurious will be punished. Those that showed no mercy
shall find none; and what shall we do then?
(2.) As his and his servants’ Creator,
When he was tempted to be harsh with his servants, to deny them their
right and turn a deaf ear to their reasonings, this thought came very
seasonably into his mind, “Did not he that made me in the womb make
him? I am a creature as well as he, and my being is derived and
depending as well as his. He partakes of the same nature that I do and
is the work of the same hand: Have we not all one Father?” Note,
Whatever difference there is among men in their outward condition, in
their capacity of mind, or strength of body, or place in the world, he
that made the one made the other also, which is a good reason why we
should not mock at men’s natural infirmities, nor trample upon those
that are in any way our inferiors, but, in every thing, do as we would
be done by. It is a rule of justice, Parium par sit ratio–Let
equals be equally estimated and treated; and therefore since there
is so great a parity among men, they being all made of the same mould,
by the same power, for the same end, notwithstanding the disparity of
our outward condition, we are bound so far to set ourselves upon the
level with those we deal with as to do to them, in all respects, as we
would they should do to us.
| Job’s Compassion to the Poor. | B. C. 1520. |
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16 If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have
caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
17 Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless
hath not eaten thereof;
18 (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a
father, and I have guided her from my mother’s womb;)
19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor
without covering;
20 If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not
warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I
saw my help in the gate:
22 Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine
arm be broken from the bone.
23 For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by
reason of his highness I could not endure.
Eliphaz had particularly charged Job with unmercifulness to the poor
&c.): Thou hast withholden bread from the hungry, stripped the naked
of their clothing, and sent widows away empty. One would
think he could not have been so very positive and express in his charge
unless there had been some truth in it, some ground, for it; and yet it
appears, by Job’s protestation, that it was utterly false and
groundless; he was never guilty of any such thing. See here,
I. The testimony which Job’s conscience gave in concerning his constant
behaviour towards the poor. He enlarges most upon this head because in
this matter he was most particularly accused. He solemnly protests,
1. That he had never been wanting to do good to them, as there was
occasion, to the utmost of his ability. He was always compassionate to
the poor, and careful of them, especially the widows and fatherless,
that were destitute of help.
(1.) He was always ready to grant their desires and answer their
expectations,
If a poor person begged a kindness of his, he was ready to gratify him;
if he could but perceive by the widow’s mournful craving look that she
expected an alms from him, though she had
not confidence enough to ask it, he had compassion enough to give it,
and never caused the eyes of the widow to fail.
(2.) He put a respect upon the poor, and did them honour; for he took
the fatherless children to eat with him at his own table: they should
fare as he fared, and be familiar with him, and he would show himself
pleased with their company as if they had been his own,
As it is one of the greatest grievances of poverty that it exposes to
contempt, so it is none of the least supports to the poor to be
respected.
(3.) He was very tender of them, and had a fatherly concern for them,
He was a father to the fatherless, took care of orphans, brought them
up with him under his own eye, and gave them, not only maintenance, but
education. He was a guide to the widow, who had lost the guide of her
youth; he advised her in her affairs, took cognizance of them, and
undertook the management of them. Those that need not our alms may yet
have occasion for our counsel, and it may be a real kindness to them.
This Job says he did from his youth, from his mother’s womb. He
had something of tenderness and compassion woven in his nature; he
began betimes to do good, ever since he could remember; he had always
some poor widow or fatherless child under his care. His parents taught
him betimes to pity and relieve the poor, and brought up orphans with
him.
(4.) He provided food convenient for them; they ate of the same morsels
that he did
(v. 17),
did not eat after him, of the crumbs that fell from his table, but with
him, of the best dish upon his table. Those that have abundance must
not eat their morsels alone, as if they had none but themselves to take
care of, nor indulge their appetite with a dainty bit by themselves,
but take others to share with them, as David took Mephibosheth.
(5.) He took particular care to clothe those that were without
covering, which would be more expensive to him than feeding them,
Poor people may perish for want of clothing as well as for want of
food–for want of clothing to lie in by night or to go abroad in by
day. If Job knew of any that were in this distress, he was forward to
relieve them, and instead of giving rich and gaudy liveries to his
servants, while the poor were turned off with rags that were ready to
be thrown to the dunghill, he had good warm strong clothes made on
purpose for them of the fleece of his sheep
(v. 20),
so that their loins, whenever they girt those garments about
them, blessed him; they commended his charity, blessed God for
him, and prayed God to bless him. Job’s sheep were burned with fire
from heaven, but this was his comfort that, when he had them, he came
honestly by them, and used them charitably, fed the poor with their
flesh and clothed them with their wool.
2. That he had never been accessory to the wronging of any that were
poor. It might be said, perhaps, that he was kind here and there to a
poor orphan that was a favourite, but to others he was oppressive. No,
he was tender to all and injurious to none. He never so much as
lifted up his hand against the fatherless
(v. 21),
never threatened or frightened them, or offered to strike them; never
used his power to crush those that stood in his way or squeeze what he
could out of them, though he saw his help in the gate, that is,
though he had interest enough, both in the people and in the judges,
both to enable him to do it and to bear him out when he had done it.
Those that have it in their power to do a wrong thing and go through
with it, and a prospect of getting by it, and yet do justly, and love
mercy, and are firm to both, may afterwards reflect upon their conduct
with much comfort, as Job does here.
II. The imprecation with which he confirms this protestation
(v. 22):
“If I have been oppressive to the poor, let my arm fall from my
shoulder-blade and my arm be broken from the bone,” that is, “let
the flesh rot off from the bone and one bone be disjointed and broken
off from another.” Had he not been perfectly clear in this matter, he
durst not thus have challenged the divine vengeance. And he intimates
that it is a righteous thing with God to break the arm that is lifted
up against the fatherless, as he withered Jeroboam’s arm that was
stretched out against a prophet.
III. The principles by which Job was restrained from all
uncharitableness and unmercifulness. He durst not abuse the poor; for
though, with his help in the gate, he could overpower them, yet he
could not make his part good against that God who is the patron of
oppressed poverty and will not let oppressors go unpunished
(v. 23):
“Destruction from God was a terror to me, whenever I was tempted
to this sin, and by reason of his highness I could not endure
the thought of making him my enemy.” He stood in awe,
1. Of the majesty of God, as a God above him. He thought of his
highness, the infinite distance between him and God, which possessed
him with such a reverence of him as made him very circumspect in his
whole conversation. Those who oppress the poor, and pervert judgment
and justice, forget that he who is higher than the highest
regards, and there is a higher than they, who is able to
deal with them
(Eccl. v. 8);
but Job considered this.
2. Of the wrath of God, as a God that would certainly be against him if
he should wrong the poor. Destruction from God, because it would
be a certain and an utter ruin to him if he were guilty of this sin,
was a constant terror to him, to restrain him from it. Note, Good men,
even the best, have need to restrain themselves from sin with the fear
of destruction from God, and all little enough. This should especially
restrain us from all acts of injustice and oppression that God himself
is the avenger thereof. Even when salvation from God is a comfort to
us, yet destruction from God should be a terror to us. Adam, in
innocency, was awed with a threatening.
| Job’s Abhorrence of Idolatry. | B. C. 1520. |
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24 If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold,
Thou art my confidence;
25 If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because
mine hand had gotten much;
26 If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in
brightness;
27 And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath
kissed my hand:
28 This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge:
for I should have denied the God that is above.
29 If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or
lifted up myself when evil found him:
30 Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse
to his soul.
31 If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his
flesh! we cannot be satisfied.
32 The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my
doors to the traveller.
Four articles more of Job’s protestation we have in these verses,
which, as all the rest, not only assure us what he was and did, but
teach us what we should be and do:–
I. He protests that he never set his heart upon the wealth of this
world, nor took the things of it for his portions and happiness. He had
gold; he had fine gold. His wealth was great, and he had
gotten much. Our wealth is either advantageous or pernicious to us
according as we stand affected to it. If we make it our rest and our
ruler, it will be our ruin; if we make it our servant, and an
instrument of righteousness, it will be a blessing to us. Job here
tells us how he stood affected to his worldly wealth.
1. He put no great confidence in it: he did not make gold his
hope,
v. 24.
Those are very unwise that do, and enemies to themselves, who depend
upon it as sufficient to make them happy, who think themselves safe and
honourable, and sure of comfort, in having abundance of this world’s
goods. Some make it their hope and confidence for another world, as if
it were a certain token of God’s favour; and those who have so much
sense as not to think so yet promise themselves that it will be a
portion for them in this life, whereas the things themselves are
uncertain and our satisfaction in them is much more so. It is hard to
have riches and not to trust in riches; and it is this which makes it
so difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God,
Matt. xix. 23; Mark x. 24.
2. He took no great complacency in it
(v. 25):
If I rejoiced because my wealth was great and boasted that my
hand had gotten much. He took no pride in his wealth, as if it
added any thing to his real excellency, nor did he think that his might
and the power of his hand obtained it for him,
He took no pleasure in it in comparison with the spiritual things which
were the delight of his soul. His joy did not terminate in the gift,
but passed through it to the giver. When he was in the midst of his
abundance he never said, Soul, take thy ease in these things,
eat, drink, and be merry, nor blessed himself in his riches. He
did not inordinately rejoice in his wealth, which helped him to bear
the loss of it so patiently as he did. The way to weep as though we
wept not is to rejoice as though we rejoiced not. The less
pleasure the enjoyment is the less pain the disappointment will be.
II. He protests that he never gave the worship and glory to the
creature which are due to God only; he was never guilty of idolatry,
We do not find that Job’s friends charged him with this. But there were
those, it seems, at that time, who were so sottish as to worship the
sun and moon, else Job would not have mentioned it. Idolatry is one of
the old ways which wicked men have trodden, and the most ancient
idolatry was the worshipping of the sun and moon, to which the
temptation was most strong, as appears
where Moses speaks of the danger which the people were in of being
driven to worship them. But as yet it was practised secretly, and durst
not appear in open view, as afterwards the most abominable idolatries
did. Observe,
1. How far Job kept from this sin. He not only never bowed the knee to
Baal (which, some think, was designed to represent the sun), never fell
down and worshipped the sun, but he kept his eye, his heart, and his
lips, clean from this sin.
(1.) He never so much as beheld the sun or the moon in their pomp and
lustre with any other admiration of them than what led him to give all
the glory of their brightness and usefulness to their Creator. Against
spiritual as well as corporal adultery he made a covenant with his
eyes; and this was his covenant, that, whenever he looked at the lights
of heaven, he should by faith look through them, and beyond them, to
the Father of lights.
(2.) He kept his heart with all diligence, that that should not be
secretly enticed to think that there is a divine glory in their
brightness, or a divine power in their influence, and that therefore
divine honours are to be paid to them. Here is the source of idolatry;
it begins in the heart. Every man is tempted to that, as to other sins,
when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed.
(3.) He did not so much as put a compliment upon these pretended
deities, did not perform the least and lowest act of adoration: His
mouth did not kiss his hand, which, it is likely, was a ceremony
then commonly used even by some that yet would not be thought
idolaters. It is an old-fashioned piece of civil respect among
ourselves, in making a bow, to kiss the hand, a form which, it seems,
was anciently used in giving divine honours to the sun and moon. They
could not reach to kiss them, as the men that sacrificed kissed the
calves
(Hos. xiii. 2, 1 Kings xix. 18);
but, to show their good will, they kissed their hand, reverencing those
as their masters which God has made servants to this lower world, to
hold the candle for us. Job never did it.
2. How ill Job thought of this sin,
(1.) He looked upon it as an affront to the civil magistrate: It
were an iniquity to be punished by the judge, as a public
nuisance, and hurtful to kings and provinces. Idolatry debauches men’s
minds, corrupts their manners, takes off the true sense of religion
which is the great bond of societies, and provokes God to give men up
to a reprobate sense, and to send judgments upon a nation; and
therefore the conservators of the public peace are concerned to
restrain it by punishing it.
(2.) He looked upon it as a much greater affront to the God of heaven,
and no less than high treason against his crown and dignity: For I
should have denied the God that is above, denied his being as God
and his sovereignty as God above. Idolatry is, in effect, atheism;
hence the Gentiles are said to be without God (atheists) in the
world. Note, We should be afraid of every thing that does but
tacitly deny the God above, his providence, or any of his
perfections.
III. He protests that he was so far from doing or designing mischief to
any that he neither desired nor delighted in the hurt of the worst
enemy he had. The forgiving of those that do us evil, it seems, was
Old-Testament duty, though the Pharisees made the law concerning it of
no effect, by teaching, Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thy
enemy,
Matt. v. 43.
Observe here,
1. Job was far from revenge. He did not only not return the injuries
that were done him, not only not destroy those who hated him; but,
(1.) He did not so much as rejoice when any mischief befel them,
Many who would not wilfully hurt those who stand in their light, or
have done them a diskindness, yet are secretly pleased and laugh in
their sleeve (as we say) when hurt is done them. But Job was not of
that spirit. Though Job was a very good man, yet, it seems, there were
those that hated him; but evil found them. He saw their destruction,
and was far from rejoicing in it; for that would justly have brought
the destruction upon him, as it is intimated,
(2.) He did not so much as wish in his own mind that evil might befel
them,
He never wished a curse to his soul (curses to the soul are the
worst of curses), never desired his death; he knew that, if he did, it
would turn into sin to him. He was careful not to offend with his
tongue
(Ps. xxxix. 1),
would not suffer his mouth to sin, and therefore durst not
imprecate any evil, no, not to his worst enemy. If others bear malice
to us, that will not justify us in bearing malice to them.
2. He was violently urged to revenge, and yet he kept himself thus
clear from it
(v. 31):
The men of his tabernacle, his domestics, his servants, and
those about him, were so enraged at Job’s enemy who hated him, that
they could have eaten him, if Job would but have set them on or given
them leave. “O that we had of his flesh! Our master is satisfied
to forgive him, but we cannot be so satisfied.” See how much
beloved Job was by his family, how heartily they espoused his cause,
and what enemies they were to his enemies; but see what a strict hand
Job kept upon his passions, that he would not avenge himself, though he
had those about him that blew the coals of his resentment. Note,
(1.) A good man commonly does not himself lay to heart the affronts
that are done him so much as his friends do for him.
(2.) Great men have commonly those about them that stir them up to
revenge. David had so,
2 Sam. xvi. 9.
But if they keep their temper, notwithstanding the spiteful
insinuations of those about them, afterwards it shall be no grief of
heart to them, but shall turn very much to their praise.
IV. He protests that he had never been unkind or inhospitable to
strangers
(v. 32):
The stranger lodged not in the street, as angels might lately
have done in the streets of Sodom if Lot alone had not entertained
them. Perhaps by that instance Job was taught (as we are,
not to be forgetful to entertain strangers. He that is at home must
consider those that are from home, and put his soul into their soul’s
stead, and then do as he would be done by. Hospitality is a Christian
duty,
Job, in his prosperity, was noted for good house-keeping: He opened
his door to the road (so it may be read); he kept the street-door
open, that he might see who passed by and invite them in, as Abraham,
| Job’s Protestation of His Integrity. | B. C. 1520. |
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33 If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine
iniquity in my bosom:
34 Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of
families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of
the door?
35 Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the
Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a
book.
36 Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as
a crown to me.
37 I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince
would I go near unto him.
38 If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise
thereof complain;
39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have
caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of
barley. The words of Job are ended.
We have here Job’s protestation against three more sins, together with
his general appeal to God’s bar and his petition for a hearing there,
which, it is likely, was intended to conclude his discourse (and
therefore we will consider it last), but that another particular sin
occurred, from which he thought it requisite to acquit himself. He
clears himself from the charge,
I. Of dissimulation and hypocrisy. The general crime of which his
friends accused him was that, under the cloak of a profession of
religion, he had kept up secret haunts of sin, and that really he was
as bad as other people, but had the art of concealing it. Zophar
insinuated
that he hid his iniquity under his tongue. “No,” says Job, “I
never did
(v. 33),
I never covered my transgression as Adam, never palliated a sin
with frivolous excuses, nor made fig-leaves the shelter of my shame,
nor ever hid my iniquity in my bosom, as a fondling, a darling,
that I could by no means part with, or as stolen goods which I dreaded
the discovery of.” It is natural to us to cover our sins; we have it
from our first parents. We are loth to confess our faults, willing to
extenuate them and make the best of ourselves, to devolve the blame
upon others, as Adam on his wife, not without a tacit reflection upon
God himself. But he that thus covers his sins shall not
prosper,
Prov. xxviii. 13.
Job, in this protestation, intimates two things, which were certain
evidences of his integrity:–
1. That he was not guilty of any great transgression or iniquity,
inconsistent with sincerity, which he had now industriously concealed.
In this protestation he had dealt fairly, and, while he denies some
sins, was not conscious to himself that he allowed himself in any.
2. That what transgression and iniquity he had been guilty of (Who
is there that lives and sins not?) he had always been ready to own
it, and, as soon as ever he perceived he had said or done amiss, he was
ready to unsay it and undo it, as far as he could, by repentance,
confessing it both to God and man, and forsaking it: this is doing
honestly.
II. From the charge of cowardice and base fear. His courage in that
which is good he produces as an evidence of his sincerity in it
(v. 34):
Did I fear a great multitude, that I kept silence? No, all that
knew Job knew him to be a man of undaunted resolution in a good cause,
that boldly appeared, spoke, and acted, in defence of religion and
justice, and did not fear the face of man nor was ever threatened or
brow-beaten out of his duty, but set his face as a flint. Observe,
1. What great conscience Job had made of his duty as a magistrate, or
a man of reputation, in the place where he lived. He did not, he durst
not, keep silence when he had a call to speak in an honest cause, or
keep within doors when he had a call to go abroad to do good. The case
may be such that it may be our sin to be silent and retired, as when we
are called to reprove sin and bear our testimony against it, to
vindicate the truths and ways of God, to do justice to those who are
injured or oppressed, or in any way to serve the public or to do honour
to our religion.
2. What little account Job made of the discouragements he met with in
the way of his duty. He valued not the clamours of the mob, feared not
a great multitude, nor did he value the menaces of the mighty: The
contempt of families never terrified him. He was not deterred by
the number or quality, the scorns or insults, or the injurious from
doing justice to the injured; no, he scorned to be swayed and biassed
by any such considerations, nor ever suffered a righteous cause to be
run down by a high hand. He feared the great God, not the multitude,
and his curse, not the contempt of families.
III. From the charge of oppression and violence, and doing wrong to his
poor neighbours. And here observe,
1. What his protestation is–that the estate he had he both got and used
honestly, so that his land could not cry out against him nor
the furrows thereof complain
(v. 38),
as they do against those who get the possession of them by fraud and
extortion,
The whole creation is said to groan under the sin of man; but that
which is unjustly gained and held cries out against a man, and accuses
him, condemns him, and demands justice against him for the injury.
Rather than his oppression shall go unpunished the very ground and the
furrows of it shall witness against him, and be his prosecutors. Two
things he could say safely concerning his estate:–
(1.) That he never ate the fruits of it without money,
v. 39.
What he purchased he paid for, as Abraham for the land he bought
and David,
The labourers that he employed had their wages duly paid them, and, if
he made use of the fruits of those lands that he let out, he paid his
tenants for them, or allowed it in their rent.
(2.) That he never caused the owners thereof to lose their life, never
got an estate, as Ahab got Naboth’s vineyard, by killing the heir and
seizing the inheritance, never starved those that held lands of him nor
killed them with hard bargains and hard usage. No tenant, no workman,
no servant, he had, could complain of him.
2. How he confirms his protestation. He does it, as often before, with
a suitable imprecation
(v. 40):
“If I have got my estate unjustly, let thistles grow instead of
wheat, the worst of weeds instead of the best of grains.” When men
get estates unjustly they are justly deprived of the comfort of them,
and disappointed in their expectations from them. They sow their land,
but they sow not that body that shall be. God will give it a body. It
was sown wheat, but shall come up thistles. What men do not come
honestly by will never do them any good. Job, towards the close of his
protestation, appeals to the judgment-seat of God concerning the truth
of it
(v. 35-37):
O that he would hear me, even that the Almighty would answer
me! This was what he desired and often complained that he could not
obtain; and, now that he had drawn up his own defence so particularly,
he leaves it upon record, in expectation of a hearing, files it, as it
were, till his cause be called.
(1.) A trial is moved for, and the motion earnestly pressed: “O that
one, any one, would hear me; my cause is so good, and my
evidence so clear, that I am willing to refer it to any indifferent
person whatsoever; but my desire is that the Almighty himself would
determine it.” An upright heart does not dread a scrutiny. He that
means honestly wishes he had a window in his breast, that all men might
see the intents of his heart. But an upright heart does particularly
desire to be determined in every thing by the judgment of God, which we
are sure is according to the truth. It was holy David’s prayer,
Search me, O God! and know my heart; and it was blessed Paul’s
comfort, He that judgeth me is the Lord.
(2.) The prosecutor is called, the plaintiff summoned, and ordered to
bring in his information, to say what he has to say against the
prisoner, for he stands upon his deliverance: “O that my adversary
had written a book–that my friends, who charge me with hypocrisy,
would draw up their charge in writing, that it might be reduced to a
certainty, and that we might the better join issue upon it.” Job would
be very glad to see the libel, to have a copy of his indictment. He
would not hide it under his arm, but take it upon his shoulder,
to be seen and read of all men, nay, he would bind it as a crown
to him, would be pleased with it, and look upon it as his ornament;
for,
[1.] If it discovered to him any sin he had been guilty of, which he
did not yet see, he should be glad to know it, that he might repent of
it and get it pardoned. A good man is willing to know the worst of
himself and will be thankful to those that will faithfully tell him of
his faults.
[2.] If it charged him with what was false, he doubted not but to
disprove the allegations, that his innocency would be cleared up as the
light, and he should come off with so much the more honour. But,
[3.] He believed that, when his adversaries came to consider the matter
so closely as they must do if they put the charge in writing, the
accusations would be trivial and minute, and every one that saw them
would say, “If this was all they had to say against him, it was a shame
they gave him so much trouble.”
(3.) The defendant is ready to make his appearance and to give his
accusers all the fair play they can desire. He will declare unto
them the number of his steps,
v. 37.
He will let them into the history of his own life, will show them all
the stages and scenes of it. He will give them a narrative of his
conversation, what would make against him as well as what would make
for him, and let them make what use they pleased of it; and so
confident he is of his integrity that as a prince to be crowned, rather
than a prisoner to be tried, he would go near to him, both to
his accuser to hear his charge and to his judge to hear his doom. Thus
the testimony of his conscience was his rejoicing.
| Hic murus aheneus esto, nil conscire sibi–
Be this thy brazen bulwark of defence, Still to preserve thy conscience innocence. |
Those that have kept their hands without spot from the world, as Job
did, may lift up their faces without spot unto God, and may comfort
themselves with the prospect of his judgment when they lie under the
unjust censures of men. If our hearts condemn us not, then have we
confidence towards God.
Thus the words of Job are ended; that is, he has now said all he
would say in answer to his friends: he afterwards said something in a
way of self-reproach and condemnation
&c.), but here ends what he had to say in a way of self-defence and
vindication. If this suffice not he will say no more; he knows when he
has said enough and will submit to the judgment of the bench. Some
think the manner of expression intimates that he concluded with an air
of assurance and triumph. He now keeps the field and doubts not but to
win the field. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect?
It is God that justifies.
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