Job makes a suitable reflection on the almightiness of Jehovah, seen in his control over the visible world. The lofty and deep-seated mountains, the very types of might and stability, he "removeth" without their knowing, and "overturneth in his wrath." He "shaketh" the whole "earth out of her place," and maketh the "pillars thereof to tremble." In the high heavens "he commandeth the sun, and it riseth not;" and "the stars" he "sealeth up" in darkness. The earth and the heavens obey him; and he "treadeth upon the waves of the sea." He doeth hidden and numberless things, and none can hinder him. Job, in view of this, and with a lowly recognition of his own powerlessness before the Lord of all, bows himself down in the attitude most becoming to the feeble, afflicted, and sinful child of man. It is -
I. AN ATTITUDE OF LOWLY HUMILITY. How becoming! How just! Let the creature bow low before the Creator. Let the feeble thing of a day humble himself before the Eternal and the Almighty. Let him who is powerless before the mountains and the sea, who cannot touch the stars, take his place in the dust, whence he is, in presence of him who by his power setteth fast the mountains; who by his word Created the heavens and the earth, and upholdeth all by his own unaided strength. Lowliness will be followed by -
II. AN ATTITUDE OF SELF-DISTRUST. Knowing himself as he only can who reflects on the greatness of the Most High, the wise, afflicted one will not trust to an arm of strength; but, in the painful consciousness of his own weakness, will commit himself to the strong Lord who is over all. Job knows, as every afflicted one, that his suffering holds him as in a net, from which he cannot break loose. He has no power. He is chained, held down. His own flesh triumphs over him. He is a prisoner to disease. In his helplessness, with self-distrustfulness he casts himself into the arms of God. He would not pretend to make answer, or to "choose out words to reason with him." His self-distrust is followed by -
III. PENITENCE - the one attitude of all the most becoming to man. In penitence he acknowledges his unrighteousness. And so deep is that penitence, that he declares, "Though I were able to establish my righteousness, yet I could not presume to answer." Penitence is the pathway to heaven's gate. He who lowly walks, walks surely. And God lifteth up them who thus bow themselves down. But he rises -
IV. TO THE ATTITUDE OF PRAYER. He lifts his voice to God. He makes his "supplication." He who is led to pray is led to the feet of him who casts away no needy suppliant. It is his high prerogative to hear prayer. Therefore all flesh, in their want, their sorrow, their sin, or with their songs of praise, come to him. Man's safety is here. The lowly, self-distrustful, humble penitent cannot raise his voice on high without the gracious response of the Divine mercy reaching him. To this men are driven
(1) by their sense of impotence;
(2) by the consciousness of sin;
(3) by the assurance of the Divine mercy.
Happy he who thus learns! - R.G.
Yet would I not believe that He had hearkened unto my voice.
It is hard to believe in that, some faint earnest of which we do not find in our own souls. A man cannot believe facts which are in the very teeth of his instinctive affinities and dispositions. The head hunters of Borneo would necessarily treat as fables the thousand and one humane institutions which are the products of Christian civilisation. A race of colour-blind barbarians, if such a race existed, would ridicule the idea of finding out the elements of which distant stars are fashioned by observing the bands and lines of colours disclosed by the spectroscope. There must be the beginning of vision in us if we are to receive the fairy tales of the microscopist and the astronomer. God can be made known to us only in these aspects in which we desire, however faintly, to be like Him.
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Allow, Bitter, Bitterness, Bitternesses, Breath, Catch, Fill, Filleth, Fills, Full, Grief, Misery, Overwhelm, Permitteth, Refresh, Saturates, Spirit, Suffer, SufferethOutline
1. Job acknowledges God's justice22. Man's innocence is not to be condemned by afflictionsDictionary of Bible Themes
Job 9:16-18 8723 doubt, results of
Library
March 16 Morning
What is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.--JAS. 4:14. My days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good. They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.--Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep . . . in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up: in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.--Man that is born of a woman …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily PathThe Cause and Cure of Earthquakes
"O come hither, and behold the works of the Lord; what destruction he hath brought upon the earth!" Ps. 46:8. Of all the judgments which the righteous God inflicts on sinners here, the most dreadful and destructive is an earthquake. This he has lately brought on our part of the earth, and thereby alarmed our fears, and bid us "prepare to meet our God!" The shocks which have been felt in divers places, since that which made this city tremble, may convince us that the danger is not over, and ought …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions
Washed to Greater Foulness
Turning to my text, let me say, that as one is startled by a shriek, or saddened by a groan, so these sharp utterances of Job astonish us at first, and then awake our pity. How much are we troubled with brotherly compassion as we read the words,--"If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean; yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me!" The sense of misery couched in this passage baffles description. Yet this is but one of a series, in which sentence …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 32: 1886
A Blow at Self-Righteousness
The sermon of this morning is intended to be another blow against our self-righteousness. If it will not die, at least let us spare no arrows against it; let us draw the bow, and if the shaft cannot penetrate its heart, it may at least stick in its flesh and help to worry it to its grave. I. Endeavouring to keep close to my text, I shall start with this first point--that THE PLEA OF SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS CONTRADICTS ITSELF. "If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me." Come, friend, thou who …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 7: 1861
"Wash You, Make You Clean, Put Away the Evil of Your Doings from Before Mine Eyes; Cease to do Evil,"
Isaiah i. 16.--"Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil," &c. If we would have a sum of pure and undefiled religion, here it is set down in opposition to this people's shadow of religion, that consisted in external ordinances and rites. We think that God should be as well-pleased with our service as we ourselves, therefore we choose his commands which our humour hath no particular antipathy against and refuse others. But the Lord will not …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning
The Power of God
The next attribute is God's power. Job 9:19. If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong.' In this chapter is a magnificent description of God's power. Lo, he is strong.' The Hebrew word for strong signifies a conquering, prevailing strength. He is strong.' The superlative degree is intended here; viz., He is most strong. He is called El-shaddai, God almighty. Gen 17:7. His almightiness lies in this, that he can do whatever is feasible. Divines distinguish between authority and power. God has both. …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity
The Wisdom of God
The next attribute is God's wisdom, which is one of the brightest beams of the Godhead. He is wise in heart.' Job 9:9. The heart is the seat of wisdom. Cor in Hebraeo sumitur pro judicio. Pineda. Among the Hebrews, the heart is put for wisdom.' Let men of understanding tell me:' Job 34:44: in the Hebrew, Let men of heart tell me.' God is wise in heart, that is, he is most wise. God only is wise; he solely and wholly possesses all wisdom; therefore he is called, the only wise God.' I Tim 1:17. All …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity
That the Self-Existent Being must be All-Powerful.
The self-existent being, the supreme cause of all things, must of necessity have infinite power.--This proposition is evident, and undeniable. For since nothing (as has been already proved,) can possibly be self-existent, besides himself; and consequently all things in the universe were made by him, and are entirely dependent upon him; and all the powers of all things are derived from him, and must therefore be perfectly subject and subordinate to him; it is manifest that nothing can make any difficulty …
Samuel Clarke—A Discourse Concerning the Being and Attributes of God
"We have no Might. " 2 Chron. xx. 12
YET WE NEED IT VERY MUCH. We are in great weakness, and we need power, for there is a great multitude come against us. It is not the wisest policy to ignore the strength of our enemy. Jehoshaphat did not. It is well for us to know the strength of our foes, but let it not lead us to despair. Who shall number the host of the foes against whom we must fight? They come to rob us of our inheritance, and if we submit, we shall be enslaved. WE have no might, but WE KNOW WHO HAS. The pious king said …
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread
Whether it is Lawful for a Man to Confess a Sin which He Has not Committed?
Objection 1: It would seem that it is lawful for a man to confess a sin which he has not committed. For, as Gregory says (Regist. xii), "it is the mark of a good conscience to acknowledge a fault where there is none." Therefore it is the mark of a good conscience to accuse oneself of those sins which one has not committed. Objection 2: Further, by humility a man deems himself worse than another, who is known to be a sinner, and in this he is to be praised. But it is lawful for a man to confess himself …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica
Whether Negligence Can be a Mortal Sin?
Objection 1: It would seem that negligence cannot be a mortal sin. For a gloss of Gregory [*Moral. ix. 34] on Job 9:28, "I feared all my works," etc. says that "too little love of God aggravates the former," viz. negligence. But wherever there is mortal sin, the love of God is done away with altogether. Therefore negligence is not a mortal sin. Objection 2: Further, a gloss on Ecclus. 7:34, "For thy negligences purify thyself with a few," says: "Though the offering be small it cleanses the negligences …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica
Whether Doubts Should be Interpreted for the Best?
Objection 1: It would seem that doubts should not be interpreted for the best. Because we should judge from what happens for the most part. But it happens for the most part that evil is done, since "the number of fools is infinite" (Eccles. 1:15), "for the imagination and thought of man's heart are prone to evil from his youth" (Gn. 8:21). Therefore doubts should be interpreted for the worst rather than for the best. Objection 2: Further, Augustine says (De Doctr. Christ. i, 27) that "he leads a …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica
God Holy, Just, and Sovereign. Job 9:2-10.
God holy, just, and sovereign. Job 9:2-10. How should the sons of Adam's race Be pure before their God? If he contend in righteousness, We fall beneath his rod. To vindicate my words and thoughts I'll make no more pretence; Not one of all my thousand faults Can bear a just defence. Strong is his arm, his heart is wise; What vain presumers dare Against their Maker's hand to rise, Or tempt th' unequal war? [Mountains, by his almighty wrath, From their old seats are torn; He shakes the earth from …
Isaac Watts—The Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts
The King's Highway
'And straightway Jesus constrained His disciples to get into a ship, and to go before Him unto the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. 24. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. 25. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26. And when the disciples saw Him walking …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
Whether Man Can Know that He Has Grace?
Objection 1: It would seem that man can know that he has grace. For grace by its physical reality is in the soul. Now the soul has most certain knowledge of those things that are in it by their physical reality, as appears from Augustine (Gen. ad lit. xii, 31). Hence grace may be known most certainly by one who has grace. Objection 2: Further, as knowledge is a gift of God, so is grace. But whoever receives knowledge from God, knows that he has knowledge, according to Wis. 7:17: The Lord "hath given …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica
Opposition to Messiah in Vain
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision. T he extent and efficacy [effects] of the depravity of mankind cannot be fully estimated by the conduct of heathens destitute of divine revelation. We may say of the Gospel, in one sense, what the Apostle says of the Law, It entered that sin might abound (Romans 5:20) . It afforded occasion for displaying the alienation of the heart of man from the blessed God, in the strongest light. The sensuality, oppression and …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2
Christ's First and Last Subject
IT SEEMS from these two texts that repentance was the first subject upon which the Redeemer dwelt, and that it was the last, which, with his departing breath, he commended to the earnestness of his disciples. He begins his mission crying, "Repent," he ends it by saying to his successors the apostles, "Preach repentance and remission of sins among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." This seems to me to be a very interesting fact, and not simply interesting, but instructive. Jesus Christ opens his …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860
The Preface to the Commandments
And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God,' &c. Exod 20: 1, 2. What is the preface to the Ten Commandments? The preface to the Ten Commandments is, I am the Lord thy God.' The preface to the preface is, God spake all these words, saying,' &c. This is like the sounding of a trumpet before a solemn proclamation. Other parts of the Bible are said to be uttered by the mouth of the holy prophets (Luke 1: 70), but here God spake in his own person. How are we to understand that, God spake, …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments
Christian Standing and Christian Progress
PHILIPPIANS iii. 12-16 Christian exultation--Christian confidence--"Not in the flesh"--"In Jesus Christ"--The prize in view--No finality in the progress--"Not already perfect"--The recompense of reward--What the prize will be In a certain sense we have completed our study of the first section of the third chapter of the Epistle. But the treatment has been so extremely imperfect, in view of the importance of that section, that a few further remarks must be made. Let us ponder one weighty verse, …
Handley C. G. Moule—Philippian Studies
The Value of this Doctrine
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). "Doctrine" means "teaching," …
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God
Its Meaning
Deliverance from the condemning sentence of the Divine Law is the fundamental blessing in Divine salvation: so long as we continue under the curse, we can neither be holy nor happy. But as to the precise nature of that deliverance, as to exactly what it consists of, as to the ground on which it is obtained, and as to the means whereby it is secured, much confusion now obtains. Most of the errors which have been prevalent on this subject arose from the lack of a clear view of the thing itself, and …
Arthur W. Pink—The Doctrine of Justification
Necessity of Contemplating the Judgment-Seat of God, in Order to be Seriously Convinced of the Doctrine of Gratuitous Justification.
1. Source of error on the subject of Justification. Sophists speak as if the question were to be discussed before some human tribunal. It relates to the majesty and justice of God. Hence nothing accepted without absolute perfection. Passages confirming this doctrine. If we descend to the righteousness of the Law, the curse immediately appears. 2. Source of hypocritical confidence. Illustrated by a simile. Exhortation. Testimony of Job, David, and Paul. 3. Confession of Augustine and Bernard. 4. Another …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion
The Sinner Arraigned and Convicted.
1. Conviction of guilt necessary.--2. A charge of rebellion against God advanced.--3. Where it is shown--that all men are born under God's law.--4. That no man hath perfectly kept it.--5. An appeal to the reader's conscience on this head, that he hath not.--6. That to have broken it, is an evil inexpressibly great.--7. Illustrated by a more particular view of the aggravations of this guilt, arising--from knowledge.--8. From divine favors received.--9. From convictions of conscience overborne.--10. …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul
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