Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Sermons
I. SUFFERINGS MISUNDERSTOOD. One might suppose, he argues, from these intense oppressions, that he was some dangerous creature, who could not be chained down too closely nor be watched too narrowly (ver. 12) - one to whom not a moment's rest must be given, that he may not in his freedom commit some terrible injury. But is he such a being? is he a sea, or a living monster of the deep, to be so sharply tormented and guarded by God? Just so, he says (Job 13:20, "Thou puttest my feet in the stocks, and watchest narrowly all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet." Not even in sleep can he find rest - weakest and least dangerous of creatures though he be (vers. 13, 14). II. RASH RESOLVES OF DESPAIR. (Vers. 15, 16.) He will rather be stifled, or in any way court death, than longer carry about this living skeleton, this wretched body which consists only of bones (comp. Job 19:20). He has a disgust for life, will not live for ever, for he has already lived too long. III. APPEAL TO THE JUSTICE OF GOD (Vers. 17-21.) After a renewed and passionate demand (ver. 16) that God may give him at least a moment's rest, since his life is already as good as vanished, and cannot abide, his language becomes somewhat more tranquil and contemplative. 1. Questionings: the insignificance of man as an object of Divine regard. (Vers. 17-19.) We may compare the question of the psalmist (Isaiah 8:4). It is there suggested by the magnificence of the mighty heavens: what is man in comparison with that vast and brilliant aggregate of constellations? Here the question is suggested by the greatness of the sufferers misery. What worth can he possess either for good or for evil, that he should be made the object of this incessant Divine attention? The answer to these obstinate questionings is found in the gospel. There man learns that it is the greatness and the value of the soul which makes him the object of the Divine pursuit; and then he learns, above all, that that pursuit is not inspired by the vengeance of an irritated adversary, or the caprice of an unjust tormentor, but by the love of an eternal Father, who chastises men for their profit, that they may be partakers of his holiness. 2. Consciousness of guilt. (Vers. 20, 21.) For the first time there is a reference on the part of Job to the concealed cause of suffering - sin. But it is only a general consciousness of infirmity, and an admission that possibly there may have been unwitting error on his part. He cannot confess a special sin of which his friends suppose him guilty, but of which his conscience is free. The words are rendered by some, "If I failed in that which I do unto thee, Preserver of men, why," etc.? Thus deeper than the sense of sin, deepest conviction of all in his heart, is: 3. Instinctive trust in the goodness of God. His reasoning is as follows: It may be necessary that God should punish man for guilt; but is this to hold so strictly that every slightest omission is severely scrutinized and sorely punished by God? Surely man is neither so strong for resistance to error, nor so dangerous, that he should be treated so harshly and jealously? Why, if there has been some fault in the conduct of Job, as seen by those all-penetrating eyes, does God loose all his arrows against him like a hunter aiming at a fixed mark (comp. Job 6:4; Job 16:12), shooting at him the poisonous darts of disease and suffering till he can no longer endure himself? Why does not God rather pardon him before it is too late, as, alas! according to all appearance, it now is, as Job sees nothing before him but the grave? This is no conflict of an infidel or rebellious spirit against its Maker. It is the pleading of a true child with its Father in heaven. It is the struggle of the soul against the iron pressure of that which we have learned to call natural law. The individual suffers, is sometimes crushed by natural law, while the mass are benefited. But above law is God. And out of this long picture of troubled thought the truth will presently flash into splendour, that in that loving and holy will of a Father the soul, emancipated from the troubles of time, shall find its eternal rest. - J.
Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? I. THE NATURE OF THE FACT WHICH IS HERE AFFIRMED.1. That the existence of man will be terminated by death. When sin was committed, the order and harmony of the universe was disturbed, and then the solemn and awful sentence was pronounced. What is the world itself, but a vast charnel house, to be filled with the ashes of innumerable dead? 2. The existence of man is confined to a narrow compass. There has been a serious abridgment of the average length of life. All the Scripture representations describe the extreme brevity of human life. We are pushed on by the hand of time, from the various objects we meet with in our course, wondering at the swiftness with which they are taken from our vision, and astonished at the destiny which winds up the scene and ratifies our doom. 3. The existence of man is, as to its precise duration, uncertain and unknown. We know not the day of our departure. There is an impervious gloom about our final departure which no man can penetrate. But all is well known to the wisdom of God. With Him all is fixed — to us, all is uncertain. 4. Our departure from this world is for the purpose of our mingling in scenes which are beyond the grave. We do not depart and sink into the dulness of annihilation. This life is but the threshold of eternity; we are placed here as probationers for eternity. II. THE FEELINGS WHICH ARISE FROM THE CONTEMPLATION OF IT. There is a universal inclination to avoid these truths; they are regarded in general as merely professional; and there is much in the world to counteract their influence. All this can only be removed by the Spirit of God. 1. We ought to make our final departure the subject of habitual contemptation. 2. We should be induced to moderate our attachment to the world, from which we shall so soon be separated. 3. You should be induced to seek an interest in that redeeming system by which you may depart in peace, with the prospect of eternal happiness. 4. We should be induced to pursue with Christian diligence those great employments which the Gospel has proposed. (James Parsons.) (J. Holmes.) 1. First, then, God's determination governs the time of human life.(1) We shall all acknowledge this as to its commencement. Not without infinite wisdom did any infant's life commence there and then, for no man is the offspring of chance. Who would wish to have first seen the light at the era when our naked forefathers sacrificed to idols? Our presence on earth in this day of grace was a matter altogether beyond our control, and yet it involves infinite issues; therefore let us with deepest gratitude bless the Lord, who has cast our lot in such an auspicious season.(2) The continuance of life is equally determined of God. He who fixed our birth has measured the interval between the cradle and the grave, and it shall not be a day longer or a day shorter than the Divine decree.(3) So, too, has He fixed life's termination. "Is there not an appointed time for man upon earth?" a time in which the pulse must cease, the blood stagnate, and the eye be closed. Moreover, how consoling is this truth; for, if the Father of our Lord Jesus arranges all, then our friends do not die untimely deaths. The beloved of the Lord are not cut off before their time; they go into Jesus' bosom when they are ready to be received there. 2. But we must now consider the other translation of our text. It is generally given in the margin of the Bibles. "Is there not an appointed warfare to man upon earth?" which teaches us that God has appointed life to be a warfare. To all men it will be so, whether bad or good. Every man will find himself a soldier under some captain or another. Alas for those men who are battling against God and His truth, they will in the end be clothed with dishonour and defeat. No Christian is free to follow his own devices; we are all under law to Christ. A soldier surrenders his own will to that of his commander. Such is the Christian's life — a life of willing subjection to the wilt of the Lord Jesus Christ. In consequence of this we have our place fixed and our order arranged for us, and our life's relative positions are all prescribed. A soldier has to keep rank and step with the rest of the line. As we have a warfare to accomplish, we must expect hardships. A soldier must not reckon upon ease. If life be a warfare, we must look for contests and struggles. The Christian man must not expect to go to heaven without opposition. It is a warfare, for all these reasons, and yet more so because we must always be upon the watch against danger. In a battle no man is safe. Blessed be God that the text says "Is there not an 'appointed' warfare?" Then, it is not our warfare, but one that God has appointed for us, in which He does not expect us to wear out our armour, or bear our own charges, or find our own rations, or supply our own ammunition. The armour that we wear we have not to construct, and the sword we wield we have not to fabricate. 3. The Lord has also determined the service of our life. All men are servants to some master or another, neither can any of us avoid the servitude. The greatest men are only so much the more the servants of others. If we are now the servants of the Lord Jesus, this life is a set time of a labour and apprenticeship to be worked out. I am bound by solemn indentures to my Lord and Master till my term of life shall run out, and I am right glad to have it so. Now, a servant who has let himself out for a term of years has not a moment that he can call his own, nor have any of us, if we are God's people. We have not a moment, no, not a breath, nor a faculty, nor a farthing that we may honestly reserve. You must expect to toil in His service till you are ready to faint, and then His grace will renew your strength. A servant knows that his time is limited. If it is weekly service, he knows that his engagement may be closed on Saturday; if he is hired by the month, he knows how many days there are in a month, and he expects it to end; if he is engaged by the year, he knows the day of the year when his service shall be run out. As for us, we do not know when our term will be complete. The hireling expects his wages; that is one reason for his industry. We, too, expect ours — not of debt truly, but of grace, yet still a gracious reward. God does not employ servants without paying them wages, as many of our merchants now do. II. Secondly, THE INFERENCES TO BE DRAWN FROM THIS FACT. 1. First, there is Job's inference. Job's inference was that as there was only an appointed time, and he was like a servant employed by the year, he might be allowed to wish for life's speedy close, and therefore he says, "As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work." Job was right in a measure, but not altogether so. There is a sense in which every Christian may look forward to the end of life with joy and expectancy, and may pray for it. At the same time, there are needful modifications to this desire to depart, and a great many of them; for, first, it would be a very lazy thing for a servant to be always looking for Saturday night, and to be always sighing and groaning because the days are so long. The man who wants to be off to heaven before his life's work is done does not seem to me to be quite the man that is likely to go there at all. Besides, while our days are like those of a hireling, we serve a better master than other servants do. 2. I will tell you the devil's inference. The devil's inference is that if our time, warfare, and service are appointed, there is no need of care, and we may cast ourselves down from the pinnacle of the temple, or do any other rash thing, for we shall only work out our destiny. "Oh," say they, "we need not turn to Christ, for if we are ordained to eternal life we shall be saved." Yes, sirs, but why will you eat at meal time today? Why, sirs, nothing in the world more nerves me for work than the belief that God's purposes have appointed me to this service. Being convinced that the eternal forces of immutable wisdom and unfailing power are at my back, I put forth all my strength as becometh a "worker together with God." 3. I will now give you the sick man's inference. "Is there not an appointed time to men upon earth? Are not his days also like the days of an hireling?" The sick man, therefore, concludes that his pains will not last forever, and that every suffering is measured out by love Divine. Therefore, let him be patient, and in confidence and quietness shall be his strength. 4. Next comes the mourner's inference — one which we do not always draw quite so readily as we should. It is this: "My child has died, but not too soon. My husband is gone; ah, God, what shall I do? Where shall my widowed heart find sympathy? Still he has been taken away at the right time. The Lord has done as it pleased Him, and He has done wisely." 5. Furthermore, let us draw the healthy man's inference. I have no end of business — too much, a great deal; and I resolved "I will get, all square and trim as if I were going off, for perhaps I am." You are a healthy man, but be prepared to die. 6. Lastly, there is the sinner's inference. "My time, my warfare, and my service are appointed, but what have I done in them? I have waged a warfare against God, and have served in the pay of the devil; what will the end be?" Sinner, you will run your length, you will fulfil your day to your black master; you will fight his battle and earn your pay, but what will the wages be? ( C. H. Spurgeon.) People JobPlaces UzTopics Anguish, Bitter, Bitterness, Complain, Distress, Mouth, Outcry, Pain, Refrain, Restrain, Shut, Silent, Soul, Speak, Spirit, Talk, WithholdOutline 1. Job excuses his desire of death.12. He complains of his own restlessness, and reasons with God. Dictionary of Bible Themes Job 7:11 5567 suffering, emotional Library December 4 EveningI would not live alway.--JOB 7:16. And I said, O that I had wings like a dove, for then would I fly away, and be at rest. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest. In this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.--Having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better. … Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path January 12 Evening "Am I a Sea, or a Whale?" Of Resisting Temptation Pursues the Same Matter. Whether the Aureole is the Same as the Essential Reward which is Called the Aurea? Whether the Souls who are in Heaven or Hell are Able to Go from Thence? Of the Lack of all Comfort And what Members of the Holy Body, which is the Church... The Consolation "Now the God of Hope Fill You with all Joy and Peace in Believing," &C. The Eternity and Unchangeableness of God. What Now Shall I Say Concerning the Very Carefulness and Watchfulness against Sin? "Who... The Value of this Doctrine Confession of Sin --A Sermon with Seven Texts "And we all do Fade as a Leaf, and Our Iniquities, Like the Wind, have Taken us Away. " The Sinner Stripped of his Vain Pleas. Letter Xlvi (Circa A. D. 1125) to Guigues, the Prior, and to the Other Monks of the Grand Chartreuse The Worst Things Work for Good to the Godly Job Links Job 7:11 NIVJob 7:11 NLT Job 7:11 ESV Job 7:11 NASB Job 7:11 KJV Job 7:11 Bible Apps Job 7:11 Parallel Job 7:11 Biblia Paralela Job 7:11 Chinese Bible Job 7:11 French Bible Job 7:11 German Bible Job 7:11 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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