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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
J O B
CHAP. XXXVI.
Elihu, having largely reproved Job for some of his unadvised speeches,
which Job had nothing to say in the vindication of, here comes more
generally to set him to rights in his notions of God’s dealings with
him. His other friends had stood to it that, because he was a wicked
man, therefore his afflictions were so great and so long. But Elihu
only maintained that the affliction was sent for his trial, and that
therefore it was lengthened out because Job was not, as yet, thoroughly
humbled under it, nor had duly accommodated himself to it. He urges
many reasons, taken from the wisdom and righteousness of God, his care
of his people, and especially his greatness and almighty power, with
which, in this and the following chapter, he persuades him to submit to
the hand of God. Here we have,
I. His preface,
II. The account he gives of the methods of God’s providence towards the
children of men, according as they conduct themselves,
III. The fair warning and good counsel he gives to Job thereupon,
IV. His demonstration of God’s sovereignty and omnipotence, which he
gives instances of in the operations of common providence, and which is
a reason why we should all submit to him in his dealings with us,
This he prosecutes and enlarges upon in the following chapter.
| The Address of Elihu. | B. C. 1520. |
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1 Elihu also proceeded, and said,
2 Suffer me a little, and I will show thee that I have yet to
speak on God’s behalf.
3 I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe
righteousness to my Maker.
4 For truly my words shall not be false: he that is perfect
in knowledge is with thee.
Once more Elihu begs the patience of the auditory, and Job’s
particularly, for he has not said all that he has to say, but he will
not detain them long. Stand about me a little (so some read it),
v. 2.
“Let me have your attendance, your attention, awhile longer, and I will
speak but this once, as plainly and as much to the purpose as I can.”
To gain this he pleads,
1. That he had a good cause, and a noble and very fruitful subject:
I have yet to speak on God’s behalf. He spoke as an advocate for
God, and therefore might justly expect the ear of the court. Some
indeed pretend to speak on God’s behalf who really speak for
themselves; but those who sincerely appear in the cause of God, and
speak in behalf of his honour, his truths, his ways, his people, shall
be sure neither to want instructions (it shall be given them in that
same hour what they shall speak) nor to lose their cause or their
fee. Nor need they fear lest they should exhaust their subject. Those
that have spoken ever so much may yet find more to be spoken on God’s
behalf.
2. That he had something to offer that was uncommon, and out of the
road of vulgar observation: I will fetch my knowledge from afar
(v. 3),
that is, “we will have recourse to our first principles and the highest
notions we can make use of to serve any purpose.” It is worth while to
go far for this knowledge of God, to dig for it, to travel for it; it
will recompense our pains, and, though far-fetched, is not dear-bought.
3. That his design was undeniably honest; for all he aimed at was to
ascribe righteousness to his Maker, to maintain and clear this truth,
that God is righteous in all his ways. In speaking of God, and speaking
for him, it is good to remember that he is our Maker, to call him so,
and therefore to be ready to do him and the interests of his kingdom
the best service we can. If he be our Maker, we have our all from him,
must use our all for him, and be very jealous for his honour. That his
management should be very just and fair
(v. 4):
“My words shall not be false, neither disagreeable to the thing
itself nor to my own thoughts and apprehensions. It is truth that I am
contending for, and that for truth’s sake, with all possible sincerity
and plainness.” He will make use of plain and solid arguments and not
the subtleties and niceties of the schools. “He who is perfect or
upright in knowledge is now reasoning with thee; and therefore let him
not only have a fair hearing, but let what he says be taken in good
part, as meant well.” The perfection of our knowledge in this world is
to be honest and sincere in searching out truth, in applying it to
ourselves, and in making use of what we know for the good of
others.
5 Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is
mighty in strength and wisdom.
6 He preserveth not the life of the wicked: but giveth right to
the poor.
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.
8 And if they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords
of affliction;
9 Then he showeth them their work, and their transgressions
that they have exceeded.
10 He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that
they return from iniquity.
11 If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in
prosperity, and their years in pleasures.
12 But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword, and
they shall die without knowledge.
13 But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath: they cry not when
he bindeth them.
14 They die in youth, and their life is among the unclean.
Elihu, being to speak on God’s behalf, and particularly to ascribe
righteousness to his Maker, here shows that the disposals of divine
Providence are all, not only according to the eternal counsels of his
will, but according to the eternal rules of equity. God acts as a
righteous governor, for,
I. He does not think it below him to take notice of the meanest of his
subjects, nor does poverty or obscurity set any at a distance from his
favour. If men are mighty, they are apt to look with a haughty disdain
upon those that are not of distinction and make no figure; but God
is mighty, infinitely so, and yet he despises not any,
v. 5.
He humbles himself to take cognizance of the affairs of the meanest, to
do them justice and to show them kindness. Job thought himself and his
cause slighted because God did not immediately appear for him. “No,”
says Elihu, God despises not any, which is a good reason why we
should honour all men. He is mighty in strength and wisdom, and
yet does not look with contempt upon those that have but a little
strength and wisdom, if they but mean honestly. Nay, for this reason he
despises not any, because his wisdom and strength are incontestably
infinite and therefore the condescensions of his grace can be no
diminution to him. Those that are wise and good will not look upon any
with scorn and disdain.
II. He gives no countenance to the greatest, if they be bad
(v. 6):
He preserves not the life of the wicked. Though their life may
be prolonged, yet not under any special care of the divine Providence,
but only its common protection. Job had said that the wicked live,
become old, and are mighty in power,
ch. xxi. 7.
“No,” says Elihu: “he seldom suffers wicked men to become old. He
preserves not their life so long as they expected, nor with that
comfort and satisfaction which are indeed our life; and their
preservation is but a reservation for the day of wrath,”
III. He is always ready to right those that are any way injured, and to
plead their cause
(v. 6):
He gives right to the poor, avenges their quarrel upon their
persecutors and forces them to make restitution of what they have
robbed them of. If men will not right the injured poor, God will.
IV. He takes a particular care for the protection of his good subjects,
v. 7.
He not only looks on them, but he never looks off them: He withdraws
not his eyes from the righteous. Though they may seem sometimes
neglected and forgotten, and that befals them which looks like an
oversight of Providence, yet tender careful eye of their heavenly
Father never withdraws from them. If our eye be ever towards God in
duty, his eye will be ever upon us in mercy, and, when we are at the
lowest, will not overlook us.
1. Sometimes he prefers good people to places of trust and honour
(v. 7):
With kings are they on the throne, and every sheaf is
made to bow to theirs. When righteous persons are advanced to places of
honour and power, it is in mercy to them; for God’s grace in them will
both arm them against the temptations that attend preferment and enable
them to improve the opportunity it gives them of doing good. It is also
in mercy to those over whom they are set: When the righteous bear
rule the city rejoices. If the righteous be advanced, they are
established. Those that in honour keep a good conscience stand upon
sure ground, and high places are not such slippery ground to them as
they are to others. But, because it is not often that we see good men
made great men in this world, this may be supposed to refer to the
honour to which the righteous shall rise when their Redeemer shall
stand at the latter day upon the earth; for then only they shall
be exalted for ever, and established for ever; then shall they all
shine forth as the sun, and be made kings and priests to our God.
2. If at any time he bring them into affliction, it is for the good of
their souls,
Some good people are preferred to honour and power, but others are in
trouble. Now observe,
(1.) The distress supposed
(v. 8):
If they be bound in fetters, laid in prison as Joseph was, or
holden in the cords of any other affliction, confined by
pain and sickness, hampered by poverty, bound in their counsels, and,
notwithstanding all their struggles, held long in this distress. This
was Job’s case; he was caught, and kept fast, in the cords of
anguish (as some read it); but observe,
(2.) The design God has, in bringing his people into such distresses as
these; it is for the benefit of their souls, the consideration of which
should reconcile us to affliction and make us think well of it. Three
things God intends when he afflicts us:–
[1.] To discover past sins to us, and to bring them to our remembrance.
Then he shows them that amiss in them which before they did not see. He
discovers to them the fact of sin: He shows them their work. Sin
is our own work. If there be any good in us, it is God’s work; and we
are concerned to see what work we have made by sin. He discovers the
fault of sin, shows them their transgressions of the law of God,
and withal the sinfulness of sin, that they have exceeded, and
have been beyond measure sinful. True penitents lay a load upon
themselves, do not extenuate, but aggravate, their sins, and own that
they have exceeded in them. Affliction sometimes answers to the sin;
it serves, however, to awaken the conscience and puts men upon
considering.
[2.] To dispose our hearts to receive present instructions: Then he
opens their ear to discipline,
v. 10.
Whom God chastens he teaches
(Ps. xciv. 12),
and the affliction makes people willing to learn, softens the wax, that
it may receive the impression of the seal; yet it does not do this of
itself, but the grace of God working with and by it; it is he that
opens the ear, that opens the heart, who has the key of David.
[3.] To deter and draw us off from iniquity for the future. This is the
errand on which the affliction is sent; it is a command to return
from iniquity, to have no more to do with sin, to turn from it with
an aversion to it and a resolution never to return to it any more,
3. If the affliction do its work, and accomplish that for which it is
sent, he will comfort them again, according to the time that he has
afflicted them
(v. 11):
If they obey and serve him,–if they comply with his design and
serve his purpose in these dispensations,–if, when the affliction is
removed, they continue in the same good mind that they were in when
they were under the smart of it and perform the vows they made
then,–if they live in obedience to God’s commands, particularly those
which relate to his service and worship, and in all instances make
conscience of their duty to him,–then they shall spend their days
in prosperity again and their years in true
pleasures. Piety is the only sure way to prosperity and
pleasure; this is a certain truth, and yet few will believe it. If we
faithfully serve God,
(1.) We have the promise of outward prosperity, 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?
(2.) We have the possession of inward pleasures, the comfort of
communion with God and a good conscience, and that great peace which
those have that love God’s law. If we rejoice not in the Lord always,
and in hope of eternal life, it is our own fault; and what better
pleasures can we spend our years in?
4. If the affliction do not do its work, let them expect the furnace to
be heated seven times hotter till they are consumed
(v. 12):
If they obey not, if they are not bettered by their afflictions,
are not reclaimed and reformed, they shall perish by the sword of God’s
wrath. Those whom his rod does not cure his sword will kill; and the
consuming fire will prevail if the refining fire do not; for when God
judges he will overcome. If Ahaz, in his distress, trespass yet more
against the Lord, this is that king Ahaz that is marked for ruin,
Jer. vi. 29, 30.
God would have instructed them by their afflictions, but they received
not instruction, would not take the hints that were given them; and
therefore they shall die without knowledge, ere they are aware,
without any further previous notices given them; or they shall die
because they were without knowledge notwithstanding the means of
knowledge which they were blessed with. Those that die without
knowledge die without grace and are undone for ever.
V. He brings ruin upon hypocrites, the secret enemies of his kingdom
(such as Elihu described,
v. 12),
who, though they were numbered among the righteous whom Elihu had
spoken of before, yet did not obey God, but, being children of
disobedience and darkness, become children of wrath and perdition;
these are the hypocrites in heart, who heap up wrath,
v. 13.
See the nature of hypocrisy: it lies in the heart, which is for the
world and the flesh when the outside seems to be for God and religion.
Many that are saints in show and saints in word are hypocrites in
heart. That spring is corrupt, and there is an evil treasure there.
See the mischievousness of hypocrisy: hypocrites heap up wrath.
They are doing that every day which is provoking to God, and will be
reckoned with for it all together in the great day. They treasure
up wrath against the day of wrath,
Rom. ii. 5.
Their sins are laid up in store with God among his treasures,
Deut. xxxii. 34. Compare Jam. v. 3.
As what goes up a vapour comes down a shower, so what goes up sin, if
not repented of, will come down wrath. They think they are heaping up
wealth, heaping up merits, but, when the treasures are opened, it will
prove they were heaping up wrath. Observe,
1. What they do to heap up wrath. What is it that is so provoking? It
is this, They cry not when he binds them, that is, when they are
in affliction, bound with the cords of trouble, their hearts are
hardened, they are stubborn and unhumbled, and will not cry to God nor
make their application to him. They are stupid and senseless as stocks
and stones, despising the chastening of the Lord.
2. What are the effects of that wrath? They die in youth, and their
life is among the unclean,
v. 14.
This is the portion of hypocrites, whom Christ denounced many woes
against. If they continue impenitent,
(1.) They shall die a sudden death, die in youth, when death is
most a surprise, and death (that is, the consequence of it) is always
such to hypocrites; as those that die in youth die when they hoped to
live, so hypocrites, at death, go to hell, when they hoped to go to
heaven. When a wicked man dies his expectations shall perish.
(2.) They shall die the second death. Their life, after death
(for so it comes in here), is among the unclean, among the
fornicators (so some), among the worst and vilest of sinners,
notwithstanding their specious and plausible profession. It is among
the Sodomites (so the margin), those filthy wretches, who
going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering
the vengeance of eternal fire,
Jude 7.
The souls of the wicked live after death, but they live among the
unclean, the unclean spirits, the devil and his angels, forever
separated from the new Jerusalem, into which no unclean thing shall
enter.
15 He delivereth the poor in his affliction, and openeth their
ears in oppression.
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.
17 But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked: judgment
and justice take hold on thee.
18 Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away
with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.
19 Will he esteem thy riches? no, not gold, nor all the
forces of strength.
20 Desire not the night, when people are cut off in their
place.
21 Take heed, regard not iniquity: for this hast thou chosen
rather than affliction.
22 Behold, God exalteth by his power: who teacheth like him?
23 Who hath enjoined him his way? or who can say, Thou hast
wrought iniquity?
Elihu here comes more closely to Job; and,
I. He tells him what God would have done for him before this if he had
been duly humbled under his affliction. “We all know how ready God is
to deliver the poor in his affliction
(v. 15);
he always was so. The poor in spirit, those that are of a broken and
contrite heart, he looks upon with tenderness, and, when they are in
affliction, is ready to help them. He opens their ears, and
makes them to hear joy and gladness, even in their
oppressions; while he does not yet deliver them he speaks to
them good words and comfortable words, for the encouragement of their
faith and patience, the silencing of their fears, and the balancing of
their griefs; and even so
(v. 16)
would he have done to thee if thou hadst submitted to his providence
and conducted thyself well; he would have delivered and comforted thee,
and we should have had none of these complaints. If thou hadst
accommodated thyself to the will of God, thy liberty and plenty would
have been restored to thee with advantage.”
1. “Thou wouldst have been enlarged, and not confined thus by thy
sickness and disgrace: He would have removed thee into a broad place
where is no straitness, and thou wouldst no longer have been
cramped thus and have had all thy measures broken.”
2. “Thou wouldst have been enriched, and wouldst not have been left in
this poor condition; thou wouldst have had thy table richly spread, not
only with food convenient, but with the finest of the wheat” (see
“and the fattest of the flesh.” Note, It ought to silence us under our
afflictions to consider that, if we were better, it would be every way
better with us: if we had answered the ends of an affliction, the
affliction would be removed; and deliverance would come if we were
ready for it. God would have done well for us if we had conducted
ourselves well;
Ps. lxxxi. 13, 14; Isa. xlviii. 18.
II. He charges him with standing in his own light, and makes him the
cause of the continuance of his own trouble
(v. 17):
“But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked,” that is,
“Whatever thou art really, in this thing thou hast conducted thyself
like a wicked man, hast spoken and done like the wicked, hast gratified
them and served their cause; and therefore judgment and justice
take hold on thee as a wicked man, because thou goest in company with
them, actest as if thou wert in their interest, aiding and abetting.
Thou hast maintained the cause of the wicked; and such as a
man’s cause is such will the judgment of God be upon him;” so bishop
Patrick. It is dangerous being on the wrong side: accessaries to
treason will be dealt with as principals.
III. He cautions him not to persist in his frowardness. Several good
cautions he gives him to this purport.
1. Let him not make light of divine vengeance, nor be secure, as if he
were in no danger of it
(v. 18):
“Because there is wrath” (that is, “because God is a righteous
governor, who resents all the affronts given to his government, because
he has revealed his wrath from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, and because thou hast reason to fear that thou
art under God’s displeasure) therefore beware lest he take thee
away suddenly with his stroke, and be so wise as to make thy
peace with him quickly and get his anger turned away from thee.” A
warning to this purport Job had given his friends
(ch. xix. 29):
Be you afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishment of the
sword. Thus contenders are apt, with too much boldness, to bind one
another over to the judgment of God and threaten one another with his
wrath; but he that keeps a good conscience needs not fear the impotent
menaces of proud men. But his was a friendly caution to Job, and
necessary. Even good men have need to be kept to their duty by the
fear of God’s wrath. “Thou art a wise and good man, but beware lest he
take thee away, for the wisest and best have enough in them to deserve
his stroke.”
2. Let him not promise himself that, if God’s wrath should kindle
against him, he could find out ways to escape the strokes of it.
(1.) There is no escaping by money, no purchasing a pardon with silver,
or gold, and such corruptible things: “Even a great ransom cannot
deliver thee when God enters into judgment with thee. His justice
cannot be bribed, nor any of the ministers of his justice. Will he
esteem thy riches, and take from them a commutation of the
punishment? No, not gold,
v. 19.
If thou hadst as much wealth as ever thou hadst, that would not ease
thee, would not secure thee from the strokes of God’s wrath, in the day
of the revelation of which riches profit not,”
See
(2.) There is no escaping by rescue: “If all the forces of
strength were at thy command, if thou couldst muster ever so many
servants and vassals to appear for thee to force thee out of the hands
of divine vengeance, it were all in vain; God would not regard it.
There is none that can deliver out of his hand.”
(3.) There is no escaping by absconding
(v. 20):
“Desire not the night, which often favours the retreat of a
conquered army and covers it; think not that thou canst so escape the
righteous judgment of God, for the darkness hideth not from
him,”
See
“Think not, because in the night people retire to their place, go up to
their beds, and it is then easy to escape being discovered by them,
that God also ascends to his place, and cannot see thee. No; he
neither slumbers nor sleeps. His eyes are open upon the children
of men, not only in all places, but at all times. No rocks nor
mountains can shelter us from his eye.” Some understand it of the night
of death; that is the night by which men are cut off from their
place, and Job had earnestly breathed for that night, as the
hireling desires the evening,
“But do not do so,” says Elihu; “for thou knowest not what the night of
death is.” Those that passionately wish for death, in hopes to make
that their shelter from God’s wrath, may perhaps be mistaken. There are
those whom wrath pursues into that night.
3. Let him not continue his unjust quarrel with God and his providence,
which hitherto he had persisted in when he should have submitted to the
affliction
(v. 21):
“Take heed, look well to thy own spirit, and regard not
iniquity, return not to it (so some), for it is at thy peril if
thou do.” Let us never dare to think a favourable thought of sin, never
indulge it, nor allow ourselves in it. Elihu thinks Job had need of
this caution, he having chosen iniquity rather than affliction,
that is, having chosen rather to gratify his own pride and humour in
contending with God than to mortify it by a submission to him and
accepting the punishment. We may take it more generally, and observe
that those who choose iniquity rather than affliction make a very
foolish choice. Those that ease their cares by sinful pleasures,
increase their wealth by sinful pursuits, escape their troubles by
sinful projects, and evade sufferings for righteousness’ sake by sinful
compliances against their consciences, make a choice they will repent
of; for there is more evil in the least sin than in the greatest
affliction. It is an evil, and only evil.
4. Let him not dare to prescribe to God, nor give him his measures
(v. 22, 23):
“Behold, God exalteth by his power,” that is, “He does, may, and
can set up and pull down whom he pleases, and therefore it is not for
thee nor me to contend with him.” The more we magnify God the more do
we humble and abase ourselves. Now consider,
(1.) That God is an absolute sovereign: He exalts by his own
power, and not by strength derived from any other. He exalts
whom he pleases, exalts those that were afflicted and cast down, by the
strength and power which he gives his people; and therefore who has
enjoined him his way? Who presides above him in his way? Is there
any superior from whom he has his commission and to whom he is
accountable? No; he himself is supreme and independent. Who puts him
in mind of his way? so some. Does the eternal Mind need a
remembrancer? No; his own way, as well as ours, is ever before him. He
has not received orders or instructions from any
nor is he accountable to any. He enjoins to all the creatures their
way; let not us then enjoin him his, but leave it to him to govern the
world, who is fit to do it.
(2.) That he is an incomparable teacher: Who teaches like him?
It is absurd for us to teach him who is himself the fountain of light,
truth, knowledge, and instruction. He that teaches man
knowledge, and so as none else can, shall not he know?
Ps. xciv. 9, 10.
Shall we light a candle to the sun? Observe, When Elihu would give
glory to God as a ruler he praises him as a teacher, for rulers must
teach. God does so. He binds with the cords of a man. In this, as in
other things, he is unequalled. None so fit to direct his own actions
as he himself is. He knows what he has to do, and how to do it for the
best, and needs no information nor advice. Solomon himself had a
privy-council to advise him, but the King of kings has none. Nor is any
so fit to direct our actions as he is. None teaches with such authority
and convincing evidence, with such condescension and compassion, nor
with such power and efficacy, as God does. He teaches by the Bible, and
that is the best book, teaches by his Son, and he is the best Master.
(3.) That he is unexceptionably just in all his proceedings: Who can
say, Thou hast wrought iniquity? Not, Who dares say it?
(many do iniquity, and those who tell them of it do so at their peril),
but Who can say it? Who has any cause to say it? Who can say it
and prove it? It is a maxim undoubtedly true, without limitation, that
the King of kings can do no wrong.
24 Remember that thou magnify his work, which men behold.
25 Every man may see it; man may behold it afar off.
26 Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can
the number of his years be searched out.
27 For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain
according to the vapour thereof:
28 Which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly.
29 Also can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, or
the noise of his tabernacle?
30 Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth the
bottom of the sea.
31 For by them judgeth he the people; he giveth meat in
abundance.
32 With clouds he covereth the light; and commandeth it not to
shine by the cloud that cometh betwixt.
33 The noise thereof showeth concerning it, the cattle also
concerning the vapour.
Elihu is here endeavouring to possess Job with great and high thoughts
of God, and so to persuade him into a cheerful submission to his
providence.
I. He represents the work of God, in general, as illustrious and
conspicuous,
His whole work is so. God does nothing mean. This is a good reason why
we should acquiesce in all the operations of his providence concerning
us in particular. His visible works, those of nature, and which concern
the world in general, are such as we admire and commend, and in which
we observe the Creator’s wisdom, power, and goodness; shall we then
find fault with his dispensations concerning us, and the counsels of
his will concerning our affairs? We are here called to consider the
work of God,
Eccl. vii. 13.
1. It is plain before our eyes, nothing more obvious: it is what men
behold. Every man that has but half an eye may see it, may behold
it afar off. Look which way we will, we see the productions of God’s
wisdom and power; we see that done, and that doing, concerning which we
cannot but say, This is the work of God, the finger of God; it
is the Lord’s doing. Every man may see, afar off, the heaven and all
its lights, the earth and all its fruits, to be the work of
Omnipotence; much more when we behold them nigh at hand. Look at the
minutest works of nature through a microscope; do they not appear
curious? The eternal power and godhead of the Creator are clearly
seen and understood by the things that are made,
Rom. i. 20.
Every man, even those that have not the benefit of divine revelation,
may see this; for there is no speech or language where the voice
of these natural constant preachers is not heard,
Ps. xix. 3.
2. It ought to be marvellous in our eyes. The beauty and excellency of
the work of God, and the agreement of all the parts of it, are what we
must remember to magnify and highly to extol, not only justify it as
right and good, and what cannot be blamed, but magnify it as wise and
glorious, and such as no creature could contrive or produce. Man may
see his works, and is capable of discerning his hand in them (which the
beasts are not), and therefore ought to praise them and give him the
glory of them.
II. He represents God, the author of them, as infinite and
unsearchable,
The streams of being, power, and perfection should lead us to the
fountain. God is great, infinitely so,–great in power, for he
is omnipotent and independent,–great in wealth, for he is
self-sufficient and all-sufficient,–great in himself,–great in all
his works,–great, and therefore greatly to be praised,–great, and
therefore we know him not. We know that he is, but not what he
is. We know what he is not, but not what he is. We know in part, but
not in perfection. This comes in here as a reason why we must not
arraign his proceedings, nor find fault with what he does, because it
is speaking evil of the things that we understand not and answering a
matter before we hear if. We know not the duration of his existence,
for it is infinite. The number of his years cannot possibly
be searched out, for he is eternal; there is no number of them.
He is a Being without beginning, succession, or period, whoever was,
and ever will be, and ever the same, the great I AM. This is a
good reason why we should not prescribe to him, nor quarrel with him,
because, as he is, such are his operations, quite out of our reach.
III. He gives some instances of God’s wisdom, power, and sovereign
dominion, in the works of nature and the dispensations of common
providence, beginning in this chapter with the clouds and the rain that
descends from them. We need not be critical in examining either the
phrase or the philosophy of this noble discourse. The general scope of
it is to show that God is infinitely great, and the Lord of all, the
first cause and supreme director of all the creatures, and has all
power in heaven and earth (whom therefore we ought, with all
humility and reverence, to adore, to speak well of, and to give honour
to), and that it is presumption for us to prescribe to him the rules
and methods of his special providence towards the children of men, or
to expect from him an account of them, when the operations even of
common providences about the meteors are so various and so mysterious
and unaccountable. Elihu, to affect Job with God’s sublimity and
sovereignty, had directed him
to look unto the clouds. In
he shows us what we may observe in the clouds we see which
will lead us to consider the glorious perfections of their Creator.
Consider the clouds,
1. As springs to this lower world, the source and treasure of its
moisture, and the great bank through which it circulates–a very
necessary provision, for its stagnation would be as hurtful to this
lower world as that of the blood to the body of man. It is worth while
to observe in this common occurrence,
(1.) That the clouds above distil upon the earth below. If the heavens
become brass, the earth becomes iron; therefore thus the promise of
plenty runs, I will hear the heavens and they shall hear the
earth. This intimates to us that every good gift is from above,
from him who is both Father of lights and Father of the rain, and it
instructs us to direct our prayers to him and to look up.
(2.) That they are here said to distil upon man
(v. 28);
for, though indeed God causes it to rain in the wilderness where no
man is
(ch. xxxviii. 26, Ps. civ. 11),
yet special respect is had to man herein, to whom the inferior
creatures are all made serviceable and from whom the actual return of
the tribute of praise is required. Among men, he causes his rain to
fall upon the just and upon the unjust,
Matt. v. 45.
(3.) They are said to distil the water in small drops, not in
spouts, as when the windows of heaven were opened,
Gen. vii. 11.
God waters the earth with that with which he once drowned it, only
dispensing it in another manner, to let us know how much we lie at his
mercy, and how kind he is, in giving rain by drops, that the benefit of
it may be the further and the more equally diffused, as by an
artificial water-pot.
(4.) Though sometimes the rain comes in very small drops, yet, at other
times, it pours down in great rain, and this difference between one
shower and another must be resolved into the divine Providence which
orders it so.
(5.) Though it comes down in drops, yet it distils upon man
abundantly
(v. 28),
and therefore is called the river of God which is full of water,
Ps. lxv. 9.
(6.) The clouds pour down according to the vapour that they draw
up,
So just the heavens are to the earth, but the earth is not so in the
return it makes.
(7.) The produce of the clouds is sometimes a great terror, and at
other times a great favour, to the earth,
When he pleases by them he judges the people he is angry with.
Storms, and tempests, and excessive rains, destroying the fruits of the
earth and causing inundations, come from the clouds; but, on the other
hand, from them, usually, he gives meat in abundance; they drop fatness
upon the pastures that are clothed with flocks, and the valleys that
are covered with corn,
Ps. lxv. 11-13.
(8.) Notice is sometimes given of the approach of rain,
The noise thereof, among other things, shows concerning
it. Hence we read
of the sound of abundance of rain, or (as it is in the margin)
a sound of a noise of rain, before it came; and a welcome
harbinger it was then. As the noise, so the face of the sky, shows
concerning it,
The cattle also, by a strange instinct, are apprehensive of a change in
the weather nigh at hand, and seek for shelter, shaming man, who will
not foresee the evil and hide himself.
2. As shadows to the upper world
(v. 29):
Can any understand the spreading of the clouds? They are spread
over the earth as a curtain or canopy; how they come to be so, how
stretched out, and how poised, as they are, we cannot understand,
though we daily see they are so. Shall we then pretend to understand
the reasons and methods of God’s judicial proceedings with the children
of men, whose characters and cases are so various, when we cannot
account for the spreadings of the clouds, which cover the light?
v. 32.
It is a cloud coming betwixt,
v. 32; ch. xxvi. 9.
And this we are sensible of, that, by the interposition of the clouds
between us and the sun, we are,
(1.) Sometimes favoured; for they serve as an umbrella to shelter us
from the violent heat of the sun, which otherwise would beat upon us. A
cloud of dew in the heat of harvest is spoken of as a very great
refreshment.
(2.) Sometimes we are by them frowned upon; for they darken the earth
at noon-day and eclipse the light of the sun. Sin is compared to a
cloud
because it comes between us and the light of God’s countenance and
obstructs the shining of it. But though the clouds darken the sun for a
time, and pour down rain, yet (post nubila Phoebus—the sun
shines forth after the rain), after he has wearied the cloud, he
spreads his light upon it,
v. 30.
There is a clear shining after rain,
2 Sam. xxiii. 4.
The sunbeams are darted forth, and reach to cover even the
bottom of the sea, thence to exhale a fresh supply of vapours, and
so raise recruits for the clouds,
In all this, we must remember to magnify the work of God.
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