Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 3.djvu/64

56 think that God did him wrong, but he is quite at a loss how to reconcile his providences with his justice, as good men have often been, and must wait until the day shall declare it. Let us, therefore, now harbour no hard thoughts of God, because we shall then see there was no cause for them.

2. He thinks it unbecoming the infinite knowledge of God to put a prisoner thus upon the rack, as it were, by torture, to extort a confession from him, v. 4··6.

(1.) He is sure that God does not discover things, nor judge of them, as men do; he has not eyes of flesh, (v. 4.) for he is a Spirit. Eyes of flesh cannot see in the dark, but darkness hides not from God. Eyes of flesh are but in one place at a time, and can see but a little way; but the eyes of the Lord are in every place, and run to and fro through the whole earth. Many things are hid from eyes of flesh, the most curious and piercing; there is a path which even the vulture's eye hath not seen: but nothing is, or can be, hid from the eye of God, to which all things are naked and open. Eyes of flesh see the outward appearance only, and may be imposed upon, a deceptio visus—an illusion of the senses; but God sees every thing truly; his sight cannot be deceived, for he tries the heart, and is a Witness to the thoughts and intents of that. Eyes of flesh discover things gradually, and when we gain the sight of one thing, we lose the sight of another, but God sees every thing at one view. Eyes of flesh are soon tired, must be closed every night, that they may be refreshed, and will shortly be darkened by age, and shut up by death, but the Keeper of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps, nor does his sight ever decay. God sees not as man sees; that is, he does not judge as man judges, at the best secundum allegata et probata—according to what is alleged and proved, as the thing appears, rather than as it is, and too often according to the bias of the affections, passions, prejudices, and interest; but we are sure thai the judgment of God is according to truth, and that he knows truth, not by information, but by his own inspection. Men discover secret things by search, and examination of witnesses, comparing evidence and giving conjectures upon it, wheedling or forcing the parties concerned to confess. But God needs not any of these ways of discovery, he sees not as man sees.

(2.) He is sure that, as God is not short-sighted, like man, so he is not short-lived; (v. 5.) "Are thy days as the days of man, few and evil? Do they roll on in succession, or are they subject to change, like the days of man? No, by no means." Men grow wiser by experience, and more knowing by daily observation; with them, truth is the daughter of time, and therefore they must take time for their searches, and, if one experiment fail, must try another; but it is not so with God, to him nothing is past, nothing future, but every thing present. The days of time, by which the life of man is measured, are nothing to the years of eternity, in which the life of God is wrapt up.

(3.) He therefore thinks it strange that God should thus prolong his torture, and continue him under the confinement of this affliction, and neither bring him to a trial, nor grant him a release: as if he must take time to inquire after his iniquity, and use means to search after his sin, v. 6. Not as if Job thought that God did thus torment him, that he might find occasion against him; but his dealings with him had such an aspect, which was dishonourable to God, and would tempt men to think him a hard master. "Now, Lord, if thou wilt not consult my comfort, consult thine own honour; do something for thy great name, and do not disgrace the throne of thy glory," Jer. xiv. 21.

3. He thinks it looked like an abuse of his omnipotence, to keep a poor prisoner in custody, whom he knew to be innocent, only because there was none that could deliver him out of his hand; (v. 7.) Thou knowest that I am not wicked. He had already owned himself a sinner, and guilty before God, but he here stands to it, that he was not wicked, not devoted to sin, not an enemy to God, not a dissembler in his religion, that he had not wickedly departed from his God, Ps. xviii. 21. "But there is none that can deliver out of thy hand, and therefore there is no remedy; I must be content to lie there, waiting thy time, and throwing myself on thy mercy, in submission to thy sovereign will." Here see, (1.) What ought to quiet us under our troubles; that it is to no purpose to contend with Omnipotence. (2.) What will abundantly comfort us, if we are able to appeal to God, as Job here, "Lord, thou knowest that I am not wicked. I cannot say that I am not wanting, or I am not weak; but, through grace, I can say, I am not wicked: thou knowest I am not, for thou knowest I love thee."

8. Thy hands have made me, and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me. 9. Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again? 10. Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? 11. Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. 12. Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. 13. And these things hast thou hid in thy heart: I know that this is with thee.

In these verses, we may observe,

1. How Job eyes God as his Creator and Preserver, and describes his dependence upon him as the Author and Upholder of his being. This is one of the first things we are all concerned to know and consider.

(1.) That God made us: he, and not our parents, who were only the instruments of his power and providence in our production. ''He made us, and not we ourselves. His hands have made and fashioned these bodies of ours, and every part of them; (v. 8.) and they are fearfully and wonderfully made''. The soul also, which animates the body, is his gift. He takes notice of both here. [1.] The body is made as the clay, (v. 9.) cast into shape, into this shape, as the clay is formed into a vessel, according to the skill and will of the potter. We are earthen vessels: mean in our original, and soon broken in pieces, made as the clay; let not, therefore, the thing formed say unto him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? We must not be proud of our bodies, because the matter is from the earth, yet not dishonour our bodies, because the mould and shape are from the Divine Wisdom. The formation of human bodies in the womb is described by an elegant similitude, (v. 10.) Thou hast poured me out like milk, which is coagulated into cheese; and by an induction of some particulars, (v. 11.) Though we come into the world naked, yet the body is itself both clothed and armed; the skin and flesh are its clothing; the bones and sinews are its armour, not offensive, but defensive. The vital parts, the heart and lungs, are thus clothed, not to be seen; thus fenced, not to be hurt. The admirable structure of human bodies is an illustrious instance of the wisdom, power, and goodness, of the Creator. What pity is it that these