_My soul is weary of my life._ ON THE CAUSES OF MEN’S BEING WEARY OF LIFE A sentiment which surely, if any situation can justify it, was allowable in the case of Job. Let us examine in what circumstances this feeling may be deemed excusable; in what it is to be held sinful; and under what restrict... [ Continue Reading ]
_Do not condemn me._ THE CRY OF PENITENCE I. This is the language of a sincere penitent. It expresses a dread of condemnation, and a fear of future punishment. This impression is awakened by-- 1. The recollection of past sins. 2. By a sense of present suffering. II. It implies that there are so... [ Continue Reading ]
_Is it good unto Thee that Thou shouldest oppress?_ JOB’S MISTAKEN VIEWS OF HIS SUFFERINGS I. As inconsistent with all his ideas of his Maker. 1. As inconsistent with His goodness. “Is it good unto Thee that Thou shouldest oppress, that Thou shouldest despise the work of Thine hands?” I thought T... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thine hands have made me._ CREATION, THE PLEDGE OF GOD’S GUARDIANSHIP Though Job reached a wrong conclusion, he was arguing on a right principle. The patriarch’s argument is this--As we are the creatures, the workmanship of Almighty God, we may expect Him to take care of us, and that as God, any o... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit._ ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF AND APPEAL TO GOD Job addresses God as his Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor; he seems to ask, why, knowing his frailty, He laid upon him such burdens as those which he was called upon to bear. He appears to have felt some difficulty in... [ Continue Reading ]
_Oh that I had given up the ghost! _ THE EFFECTS OF JOB’S SUFFERINGS The patriarch had already in the previous verses expressed to the Almighty that his sufferings were-- (1) Too great to render any efforts at self-consolation effective, (2) Too deserved to justify any hope of relief, (3) Too o... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the shadow of death, without any order._ DEATH WITHOUT ORDER While Job was under the bereaving hand of God, his thoughts were naturally turned upon the frailty of man, the shortness of life, and the gloomy scenes of mortality. The truth stated here is this--God discovers no order in calling m... [ Continue Reading ]