Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 3.djvu/54

46 was a perfect and an upright man; yet he says of himself, I have sinned. Those may be upright who yet are not sinless; and those who are sincerely penitent are accepted, through a Mediator, as evangelically perfect. Job maintained, against his friends, that he was not a hypocrite, not a wicked man; and yet owns to his God, that he had sinned. If we have been kept from gross acts of sin, it does not, therefore, follow that we are innocent. The best must acknowledge, before God, that they have sinned. His calling God the Observer, or Preserver, of men, may be looked upon as designed for an aggravation of his sin; "Though God has had his eye upon me, his eye upon me for good, yet I have sinned against him." When we are in affliction, it is seasonable to confess sin, as the procuring cause of our affliction. Penitent confessions would drown and silence passionate complaints.

(2.) He seriously inquires how he might make his peace with God; "What shall I do unto thee, having done so much against thee?" Are we convinced that we have sinned, and are we brought to own it? We cannot but conclude that something must be done, to prevent the fatal consequences of it. The matter must not rest as it is, but some course must be taken, to undo what has been ill done. And, if we are truly sensible of the danger we have run ourselves into, we shall be willing to do any thing; to take a pardon upon any terms; and therefore shall be inquisitive as to what we shall do, (Mic. vi. 6, 7.) what we shall do to God, not to satisfy the demands of his justice, (that is done only by the Mediator,) but to qualify ourselves for the tokens of his favour, according to the tenor of the gospel covenant. In making this inquiry, it is good to eye God as the Preserver or Saviour of men, not the Destroyer. In our repentance, we must keep up good thoughts of God, as one that delights not in the ruin of his creatures, but would rather they should return and live. "Thou art the Saviour of men; be my Saviour, for I cast myself upon thy mercy."

(3.) He earnestly begs for the forgiveness of his sins, v. 21. The heat of his spirit, as, on the one hand, it made his complaints the more bitter, so, on the other hand, it made his prayers the more lively and importunate; as here, "Why dost thou not pardon my transgression? Art not thou a God of infinite mercy, that art ready to forgive? Hast not thou wrought repentance in me? Why then dost thou not give me the pardon of my sin, and make me to hear the voice of that joy and gladness?" Surely he means more than barely the removing of his outward trouble, and is herein earnest for the return of God's favour, which he complained of the want of, ch. vi. 4. "Lord, pardon my sins, and give me the comfort of that pardon, and then I can easily bear my afflictions," Matth. ix. 2. Isa. xxxiii. 24. When the mercy of God pardons the transgression that is committed by us, the grace of God takes away the iniquity that reigns in us. Wherever God removes the guilt of sin, he breaks the power of sin.

(4.) To enforce his prayer for pardon, he pleads the prospect he had of dying quickly; For now shall I sleep in the dust; death will lay us in the dust, will lay us to sleep there, and perhaps now in a little time. Job had been complaining of restless nights, and that sleep departed from his eyes; (v. 3, 4, 13, 14.) but those who cannot sleep in a bed of down, will shortly sleep in a bed of dust, and not be scared with dreams, nor tossed to and fro. "Thou shalt seek me in the morning, to show me favour, but I shall not be, it will be too late then. If my sins be not pardoned while I live, I am lost and undone for ever." Note, The consideration of this, that we must shortly die, and perhaps may die suddenly, should make us all very solicitous to get our sins pardoned, and our iniquity taken away.

CHAP. VIII.

Job's friends are like Job's messengers; those followed one another close with evil tidings, these with harsh censures: both, unawares, served Satan's design; those to drive him from his integrity, these to drive him from the comfort of it. Eliphaz did not reply to what Job had said in answer to him, but left it to Bildad, whom he knew to be ofthe same mind with himself in this affair. Those are not the wisest of the company, but the weakest rather, who covet to have all the talk. Let others speak in their turn, and let the first keep silence, 1 Cor. xiv. 30,31. Eliphaz had undertaken to show, that, because Job was sorely afflicted, he was certainly a wicked man; Bildad is much of the same mind, and will conclude Job a wicked man, unless God do speedily appear for his relief. In this chapter, he endeavours to convince Job, I. That he had spoken too passionately, v. 2. II. That he and his children had suffered justly, v. 3, 4. III. That, if he were a true penitent, God would soon turn his captivity, v. 5..7. IV. That it was a usual thing for Providence to extinguish the joys and hopes of wicked men, as his were extinguished; and therefore that they had reason to suspect him for a hypocrite, v. 8..19. V. That they should be abundantly confirmed in their suspicion, unless God did speedily appear for his relief, v. 20..22.

HEN answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, 2. How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind? 3. Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice? 4. If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression; 5. If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty; 6. If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous. 7. Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.

Here,

I. Bildad reproves Job for what he had said; (v. 2.) checks his passion, but perhaps, (as is too common,) with greater passion. We thought Job spake a great deal of good sense, and much to the purpose, and that he had reason and right on his side; but Bildad, like an eager angry disputant, turns it all off with this, How long wilt thou speak these things? taking it for granted that Eliphaz had said enough to silence him, and that therefore all he said was impertinent. Thus (as Caryl observes) reproofs are often grounded upon mistakes. Men's meaning is not taken aright, and then they are gravely rebuked, as if they were evil-doers. Bildad compares Job's discourse to a strong wind. Job had excused himself with this, that his speeches were but as wind, (ch. vi. 26.) and therefore they should not make such ado about them; "Yea, but" (says Bildad) "they are as a strong wind, blustering and threatening, boisterous and dangerous, and therefore we are concerned to fence against them."

II. He justifies God in what he had done. This he had no occasion to do at this time, for Job did not condemn God, as he would have it thought he did: and this he might have done, without reflecting upon Job's children, as he does here. Could not he be an advocate for God, but he must be an accuser of his brethren?