The Thinker Job 27:9-10 Will God hear his cry when trouble comes on him?… I. HE HAS NO REFUGE IN TROUBLE. When "trouble cometh upon him" he cannot cry unto God with any hope of being heard and answered (ver. 9). What shall we think of the man who, in the ordering of his life, does not take trouble into his account? He is like the captain who sets sail upon the sea without readiness for a storm, or the general who goes out into the open unprepared to meet the enemy. To be unprovided for it is to be cruelly negligent of one of our greatest needs. But what refuge has the godless man in trouble? Can he hide himself in God as in a sure rock? To the godly man the nearness (Psalm 23:4), the sympathy (Psalm 31:7; Psalm 103:13, 14; Heb. v. 15), and the delivering grace of God (Psalm 91:15; Psalm 138:7) are of priceless value. But the godless man only remembers God to be troubled by the thought that, having forsaken Him in prosperity, he cannot claim His succour on the dark day of adversity. Yet is there here one qualifying truth. It may be that trouble brings the unholy man to God in penitence, to Jesus Christ in faith and self-surrender. Then he may cry, and he will most surely be heard; but then he is a "godless" man no longer. II. HE HAS NO HOPE IN DEATH. What is his hope "when God taketh away his soul"? As there is uncertainty as to the measure and the character of our trouble, so is there also as to the time of our death. But there is no uncertainty as to the fact of its coming. III. HE HAS NO JOY IN GOD. "Will he delight himself in the Almighty?" Job evidently thinks that the true man might and should do that. It is an advanced and elevated thought. To delight in God — not merely to look for favours from Him, but to find our heritage in Him, in all that He is in Himself and in all that He is to us; in — (1) Our sense of His near presence with us; in(2) Our realisation of His close relationship to us as our Divine Father; in(3) Our keen appreciation of His watchful care of us, and of His acceptance of our every act of obedience and submission; in(4) Our joy in the fellowship we have with Him in His glorious work of redeeming love. Of course the godless man misses this mark entirely. He has no conception of it, much less any participation in it. IV. HE LIVES WITHOUT THE PRIVILEGE OF PRAYER. Will the godless man "call upon God at all times"? The value of prayer is two fold. 1. It is a constant source of blessing to our heart and life. To live in daily, even hourly communion with God must be a spiritual condition charged with highest good, must exert an elevating and purifying influence upon us of the finest order and of the greatest strength. 2. It is our one resource in special need. How great is the destitution of that man's spirit, who, when his heart is breaking, cannot go unto Him who binds up the broken heart, and heals the wounded spirit! In the face of all these privations, what a poor thing is "the gain" of the godless. (The Thinker.) Parallel Verses KJV: Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him? |
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