Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 3.djvu/65

Rh bodies should be instruments of unrighteousness, which are capable of being temples of the Holy Ghost! [2.] The soul is the life, the soul is the man, and this is the gift of God; Thou hast granted me life, breathed into me the breath of life, without which the body would be but a worthless carcase. God is the Father of spirits: he made us living souls, and endued us with the powers of reason; he gave us life and favour; and life is a favour, a great favour, more than meat, more than raiment; a distinguishing favour, a favour that puts us into a capacity of receiving other favour. Now Job was in a better mind than he was when he quarrelled with life as a burthen, and asked, Why died I not from the womb? Or, by life and favour may be meant life and all the comforts of life, referring to his former prosperity. Time was, when he walked in the light of the divine favour, and thought, as David, that through that favour his mountain stood strong.

(2.) That God maintains us: having lighted the lamp of life, he does not leave it to burn upon its own stock, but continually supplies it with fresh oil; "Thy visitation has preserved my spirit, kept me alive, protected me from the adversaries of life, the death we are in the midst of, and the dangers we are continually exposed to; and blessed me with all the necessary supports of life, and the daily supplies it needs and craves."

2. How he pleads this with God, and what use he makes of it. He reminds God of it; (v. 9.), Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me. What then?

(1.) "Thou hast made me, and therefore thou hast a perfect knowledge of me, (Ps. cxxxix. 1··13.) and needest not to examine me by scourging, nor to put me upon the rack for the discovering of what is within me."

(2.) "Thou hast made me, as the clay, by an act of sovereignty; and wilt thou, by a like act of sovereignty, unmake me again? If so, I must submit."

(3.) "Wilt thou destroy the work of thine own hands?" It is a plea the saints have often used in prayer; We are the clay, and thou our potter, Isa. lxiv. 8. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me, Ps. cxix. 73. So here, Thou madest me; and wilt thou destroy me? v. 8. Wilt thou bring me into dust again?"again? [sic] - as per 1811 London edition}} v. 9. "Wilt thou not pity me? Wilt thou not spare and help me, and stand by the work of thine own hands? Ps. cxxxviii. 8. Thou madest me, and knowest my strength; wilt thou then suffer me to be pressed above measure? Was I made to be made miserable? Was I preserved only to endure these calamities?" If we plead this with ourselves as an inducement to duty, "God made me and maintains me, and therefore I will serve him and submit to him," we may plead it with God as an argument for mercy, Thou hast made me, new make me; I am thine, save me. Job knew not how to reconcile God's former favours and his present frowns, but concludes, (v. 13.) "These things hast thou hid in thine heart; both are according to the counsel of thine own will, and, therefore, undoubtedly consistent, however they seem." When God thus strangely changes his way, though we cannot account for it, we are bound to believe there are good reasons for it hid in his heart, which will be manifested shortly. It is not with us, or in our reach, to assign the cause, but I know that this is with thee. Known unto God are all his works.

14. If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity. 15. If I be wicked, wowoe - as per 1811 London edition [sic] unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction; 16. For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion; and again thou showest thyself marvellous upon me. 17. Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me. 18. Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me! 19. I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. 20. Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little, 21. Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; 22. A land of darkness, as darkness itself: and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.

Here we have, I. Job's passionate complaints. On that harsh and unpleasant string he harps much, in which, though he cannot be justified, he may be excused. He complained not for nothing, as the murmuring Israelites, but had cause to complain. If we think it looks ill in him, let it be a warning to us to keep our temper better.

1. He complains of the strictness of God's judgment, and the rigour of his proceedings against him, and is ready to call it Summum jus—Justice bordering on severity. (1.) That he took all advantages against him; "If I sin, then thou markest me; (v. 14.) if I do but take one false step, misplace a word, or cast a look awry, I shall be sure to hear of it. Conscience, thy deputy, will be sure to upbraid me with it, and to tell me, that this gripe, this twitch of pain, is to punish me for that." If God should thus mark iniquities, we are undone; but he does not thus mark them; though we sin, God does not deal in extremity with us. (2.) That he prosecuted those advantages to the utmost; Thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity. While his troubles continued, he could not take the comfort of his pardon, nor hear that voice of joy and gladness; so hard is it to see love in God's heart, when we see frowns in his face, and a rod in his hand. (3.) That, whatever was his character, his case, at present, was very uncomfortable, v. 15. [1.] If he be wicked, he is certainly undone in the other world; If I be wicked, woe to me. Note, A sinful state is a woeful state. This we should each of us believe, as Job here, with application to ourselves; "If I be wicked, though prosperous, and living in pleasure, yet woe to me." Some especially have reason to dread double woes if they be wicked; "I that have knowledge, that have made a great profession of religion, that have been so often under strong convictions, and have made so many fair promises; I that was born of such good parents, blessed with a good education, that have lived in good families, and long enjoyed the means of grace, If I be wicked, woe, and a thousand woes, to me." [2.] If he be righteous, yet he dares not lift up his head; dares not answer as before, ch. ix. 15. He is so oppressed and overwhelmed with his troubles, that he cannot look up with any comfort or confidence. Without were fightings, within were fears; so that, between both, he was full of confusion: not only confusion of face, for the disgrace he was brought down to, and the censures of his friends,