Know thou it for thy good— Attend thou, therefore, diligently; [לךֶ דע dang lak;] know thou it for thyself; make application of it to thy own case;—know the original of the drawing. Heath.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, Eliphaz, confident in the goodness of his cause, defies Job to contradict his assertions.
1. He bids him appeal to God or man, and he will be silenced; call now to God, if there be any that will answer thee, and see if he will confute the vision that I have related; or call now to all the holy men of old, if there be any whose case corresponds with thine, so afflicted and yet innocent, and not a parallel will be found. And to which of the saints, or angels, wilt thou turn? either the celestial beings, who would reject his appeal of integrity, or the saints upon earth, whose circumstances and sentiments resembled his own; therefore the charge he brought must be true, that his insincerity was the cause of his sufferings. Note; (1.) There are in every age some living saints, sanctified by God's word and spirit; and, though the world use the word as a term of derision, it is a title of the highest honour, and true of every real believer, who is called to be a saint as much as Paul or John. (2.) It were indeed a strong proof of the badness of our state and temper, if we had the experience of all God's saints against us; but the experience of the saints is often pleaded by those who have it least on their side.
2. He asserts the ruin of the wicked as a truth that himself had often been witness to. Wrath killeth the foolish, or wicked, man; the wrath of God is revealed against him, or his own hasty spirit urges him on to his ruin; and this notwithstanding his momentary prosperity. I have seen the foolish taking root, but destruction awaited him. Suddenly I cursed his habitation, not wished him evil, but foresaw the curse impending over him: his children, the staff of his age, are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, buried in the ruins of their desolate houses, neither is there any to deliver them, neither God nor man interests himself in their behalf; whose harvest the hungry eateth up, so that their substance is consumed, and taketh it even out of the thorns, leaves none behind, even so much as a handful at the hedge-side; or though fenced in with thorns, break through and plunder it, and the robber swalloweth up their substance. In this description of the ruin of the foolish man, there is drawn an evident invidious parallel with Job's case, whose sudden afflictions, the death of his children, and the ruin of his substance by the robbers, Eliphaz would insinuate as a proof that he shared with the wicked in their afflictions, because he had joined them in their sins. Note; (1.) The indulgence of our vile passions often proves fatal to ourselves. (2.) The wrath of God, in time and eternity, assuredly rests on the sinner's head, however prosperous his circumstances may appear. (3.) The wicked man must be a silly one; how could he else, for the sake of a momentary pleasure, rush into everlasting pain.
2nd, It was the intention of Eliphaz, not to sink Job into despair, but first to lay bare his wound, and then apply the healing balm, suggesting arguments for resignation, and how to bear his burden profitably.
1. He directs him to the origin and cause of all his trouble: Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground, as things fortuitous and accidental, or owing merely to second causes operating independent of God's agency (for no creature acts but under his providence and over-ruling power): yet man is born to trouble; since sin entered, the curse entered, and close as our shadow afflictions follow us; as the sparks fly upward, numerous as these, and the natural consequence of our fallen state; and this should reconcile us to suffering, and engage us to be humble for the sin which is the cause of it. Note; (1.) Fortune and chance are the creatures of heathenism and infidelity: we are assured, in God's word, that not a hair of our head falls to the ground without the divine knowledge, and the appointment or sufferance of God. (2.) The more we are acquainted with the sinfulness of our nature, the less reason shall we have to murmur under any affliction, since we must then acknowledge it to be less than our iniquity deserves.
2. He gives him advice how to behave himself: I would seek unto God, or, doubtless I do seek unto God; it is the method I myself take in my trials, and would recommend to you as doubtless the most proper and seasonable: and unto God would I, or do I commit my cause, in humble prayer and patient resignation, and then rest in hope. Note; We may safely commend what we have proved by experience to be good; and people of every age have found, that patient hope and believing prayer will not fail at last of bringing an answer of peace.
3. He enforces his admonition by considerations drawn from God's sovereign dominion, power, and equity: which doeth great things in the works of creation and providence; and unsearchable, beyond the deepest penetration of the wisest sages; marvellous things that excite our astonishment, and exceed our comprehension; and these without number; earth, air, and sea teem with wonders; every day new works of providence awaken our admiration; and the more we attempt to reason, the more we are lost in depths of wisdom unfathomable. How foolish then to dispute against God, and how much wiser to refer ourselves to him, who can do such wonders, and will do ever wisely! By his gracious providence, he sendeth the rain to water the earth; the poor and mourners, whose faces were black as it were with famine, see plenty restored, and themselves exalted from their low estate: such merciful assistance may they expect who wait upon him. But the crafty are disappointed in their schemes; their enterprizes prove abortive; their own snares entangle them, as birds in an evil net, and their precipitate counsels hurry them on to ruin. In the plainest circumstances they become infatuated, and fall from the meridian of prosperity into the deepest darkness of affliction, while the helpless servants of God, against whom their tongues were maliciously let loose, and whom their arm cruelly oppressed, are delivered, to the great disappointment of iniquity, and to the encouragement of the hope of the poor, who never trust in him and are confounded. The inference that Eliphaz would draw from hence is evident; that if Job thus humbly trusted in God, he would experience a like deliverance. Note; (1.) The wisest become fools, when they turn from God to trust in their own understanding. (2.) The deepest laid plots of men, or devils, need not trouble God's people; there is one who sitteth in the heavens that laughs them to scorn. (3.) They who have their tempers in lowliness conformed to their circumstances, will find him near at hand who will lift them up, and restore comfort to the mourners. (4.) In the worst of times we should never quit our hope in God; for he is faithful that hath promised. (5.) Though the mouth of malignity is now open, and the hand of the oppressors heavy on God's people, their arm shall soon be broken, and their lips sealed up in everlasting silence.
3rdly, Eliphaz draws his speech to a conclusion, and closes it with a view of the great and precious promises that would attend Job, if his mind were but conformed to his circumstances.
1. He warns him not to despise the chastening of the Almighty; though the draught be bitter, it must not be rejected, because it is the means of health: it is the rod of the Almighty, before which he may not proudly disdain to bow: it is lifted up with the most gracious design of fatherly correction, therefore not to be slighted, but submitted to with patience, heard with reverence, Micah 6:9 and the cup of affliction to be drank with cheerfulness. Note; In every affliction, our chief concern should be, not the removal, but the due improvement of it.
2. He supports his advice by stating the blessed effects which would flow from it. Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth by his word, or providences; it is the proof of his regard, and designed to work eminently for our good; it serves to wean the heart from earth, and urge the soul to seek more diligently the true and abiding joys of glory. The same hand also that wounds can heal, and will, no doubt, when the design of his visitation is answered. The length or repetition of our troubles should not discourage us; for out of them all God will deliver his servants; and in them preserve the souls of his saints from evil, that the wicked one touch them not. Though pale famine stalk ghastly through the land, or horrid war with garments rolled in blood spread desolations around; though wild beasts of the desart howl and threaten to devour, or men more savage than these beasts bite with malignant teeth, and, with the scourge of the tongue, poisonous as the serpent's sting, strive to infuse their baneful calumnies, God will preserve his faithful people; they shall be fed in the time of dearth, and covered from danger under the wing of the Almighty; the creatures shall be in league with them not to hurt them; and, secure, they shall mock at the impotent malice of their foes: their houses shall be in peace; their families united in love, and defended from the evil of sin and trouble; they shall go in and out under the divine blessing, and piety and prosperity crown all their labours; their posterity shall be great and numerous; and, after beholding them fixed in comfort and affluence, they shall go down to their graves crowned with length of days, riches, and honour; and, ripe for glory as the sheaf is in the day of harvest, be gathered into the bosom of God's everlasting love. Note; (1.) When God wounds his faithful people, he heals, binds up their hearts with present divine consolations, and opens a way for them to escape out of every temptation; no wound so deep which he cannot cure. (2.) They who have God for their confidence may defy their foes, and triumph even in the jaws of death. (3.) A peaceable abode is a signal mercy; but the distinguishing blessing is, to be kept from sin. (4.) It is a comfort to gracious parents, to see their children's prosperity in the world, but most of all to behold their piety, for that alone can insure the abiding good. (5.) Age is ripening us for the grave; are we also ripening for glory, filled with grace as with years, full of good fruits, and bending with cheerfulness into the hands of the harvest-man, as ready for the storehouse of God?
3. He begs Job's serious consideration: Lo! attend to what I have spoken, as the result of sound and deep experience; this we have searched, it is our joint sentiments, and so it is approved by the concurring testimony of all God's people: hear it then with reverence and submission, and know thou it for thy good, or thyself, apply it to thine own case, and receive the blessing which this discourse was intended to convey. Note; Great truths deserve solemn attention; and from every sermon that we hear, our future conduct should make our profiting manifest.