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Though the words of the text are taken out of the oldest book in the Bible, they contain the elements and breathe the spirit of the Gospel. Scarcely less uniform is the experience of God's people in every age. Consider the words as a Divinely inspired description of the way of salvation intended for the instruction of a true believer then under the deepest afflictions, but equally designed for the edification of those who in these last times are feeling the burden of their sins. We discover six states of the sinner.

1. A state of impending ruin. "His soul draweth near to the grave."

2. A state of grace. "If there be a messenger with him," etc.

3. A state of justification. "I have found a ransom."

4. A state of sanctification. "He shall return to the days of his youth."

5. A state of peace with God. "He will be favourable unto him."

6. A state of glory. "He shall see His face with joy."The text closes with a brief recurrence to the gracious cause of all this progressive advancement from repentance to glory.

(C. A. Hulbert, M. A.)

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KJV: If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:

WEB: "If there is beside him an angel, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man what is right for him;