He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
Ver. 8. He hath fenced up my way, &c.] Here Job, carried away, as it were, with a torrent of grief, amplifieth his miseries by many other comparisons. And first of a traveller, whom nothing so much troubleth in his journey as hedges and darkness. God, saith Job, hath every way hedged me out of content and comfort, so that, though I seek it never so, I cannot find it. God's people are oft brought into greatest straits, as David, Psa 31:1-24 and Psalms 142:1,7, Israel at the Red Sea, Jehoshaphat, 2 Chronicles 20:1,29, that they may learn to depend upon the Divine providence, &c.
And he hath set darkness in my paths] I am benighted, and know not whither to go or how to get out. Darkness is full of error and terror. A child of light may walk in darkness, Isaiah 50:10; yea, in the valley of the shadow of death, Psalms 23:4; yet he is never without some spark of faith, which guideth him in the deepest darkness, until he behold the Sun of righteousness. Light is sown for the righteous, &c.; heaviness may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning, Psalms 30:5. And as before the day breaks the darkness is greatest; so here.