Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?
Ver. 10. Will he delight himself in the Almighty?] viz. When trouble cometh upon him, as in the former verse. No, this is Christianorum propria virtus, a practice that none can skill of but God's people, saith Jerome, to rejoice in tribulation, and then to continue instant in prayer, Romans 12:12, for deliverance, with some confidence grounded upon former experience. Crux enim iis inuncta est, saith Bernard. Together with the cross, they have an unction from the Father; anointed they are with that oil of gladness, the Spirit of glory and of God, which resteth upon them, 1 Peter 2:14, and refresheth them amidst all their sorrows and sufferings; and hence their delight in the Almighty, yea, though he frown and lay upon them, as he did upon Job, with his own bare hand. Not so the hypocrite; for what reason? he hateth God in his heart, as doth every evildoer, John 3:20. Est enim talium poena Deus, utpote qui lux est: et quid talibus tam invisum? (Bernard.) God is light, and therefore hated as a punishment to such inauspicate night birds. He is holiness, but the hypocrite filthiness, as his name also importeth. How then can he delight himself in the Almighty? What complacence can there be, where is such an utter contrariety? They that love the Lord hate evil, Psalms 31:23, but so doth not any hypocrite; leave it he may, but not loathe it. Part with it he may (as Jacob did with Benjamin, lest otherwise he should starve; or as Phaltiel with Michal, lest he should lose his head), but his heart is glued to it still; he hath a month's mind to be doing, if he dare. Finally, he is without faith, and therefore without joy and peace of conscience. And as for his spider web of hope, a little wind bloweth it down. The world hath his heart, and so the love of the Father cannot be in him, 1 John 2:15. He leaneth upon the Lord, and saith, Is not the Lord among us? Micah 3:11, yet is he rooted in the delights of life. Like as the apricot tree leaneth against the wall, but is fast rooted in the earth.
Will he always call upon God?] Heb. In every time? No, nor scarce at any time. Indeed, as beggars have learned to cant, so have some hypocrites to pray; Isaiah 26:16, "They have poured forth a charm when thy chastening was upon them." "When he slew them, then they sought him, and they returned and inquired after God," Psalms 78:34. But this was only a prayer of the flesh for ease, and not of the Spirit for grace. They spoke God fair (as the devil did Christ) only to be rid of him. Thus Pharaoh, when on the rack, roared out a confession, and called for a prayer. Joab, in danger of death, hangs on the horns of the altar. The captivated Jews fasted and prayed for seventy years, to get off their chains rather than their sins, Zechariah 7:5, which Daniel therefore reckoned lost labour, Job 9:13. But many wicked men, though in prosperity they have some short winded wishes (such as was that of Balaam, Numbers 23:10, wherewith compare that of David, Psalms 26:9, and see a difference), or perhaps are able by strength of wit and memory to pray handsomely; yet in adversity they set their mouths against heaven, as hunger bitten wolves, and howl upward; they curse their king and their God, and look upward, saith Isaiah, Isaiah 8:21; they murmur and mutiny, as the Israelites in the wilderness; they ban and blaspheme, as did that Israelitish woman's son, Leviticus 14:11, and Micah's mother, Judges 17:2. A parrot may be taught to talk like a man (histories tell us of one at Rome that could repeat the whole creed), but let him be but beaten, and he returns to his own natural harsh voice. So a hypocrite, while all goes well with him, may seem very devout at his orisons, but lay thy hand upon him (saith Satan to God concerning Job, presuming thereby to prove him a hypocrite), and he will curse thee to thy face, Job 2:5. But say he be somewhat better conditioned, as they call it, and for a while pray to God for ease and help; yet he will not pray always, he will not persevere in prayer, follow on to pray, wait upon God for an answer, and be content to want it, if God see good to deny it. He cannot draw nigh to God "with a true heart" (such a heart as is well satisfied, if God may be glorified, though himself be not gratified) "in full assurance of faith," Hebrews 10:22; which is, saith Brentius, Orationis medulla, the marrow of prayer. Hence St James calleth it "the prayer of faith," Job 5:15. Afflictions cause a saint to seek out God's promise, the promise to seek faith, faith to seek prayer, and prayer to find God; to find him at length, for he is a God that hideth himself, Isaiah 45:15. But what saith faith? "I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him," Isaiah 8:17. See this exemplified in the woman of Canaan, who fetched Christ out of his retiring room by the force of her faith, Mark 7:24, and prayed on, though denied. She would not be said nay, or set down either with silence or sad answers, but showed herself a woman of a well knit resolution, such as could credere invisibilia, sperare dilata, et amare Deum se ostendentem contrarinm, as Luther speaketh: Believe things invisible, hope for things deferred, and love God when he shows himself most angry and opposite. Now this the hypocrite (who is an infidel) cannot skill of. He is short spirited, and cannot hold out in prayer, cannot, as our Saviour taught by that parable, Luke 18:1, always pray, and not faint, εκκακειν, shrink back, as sluggards do in work, or cowards in war. Oratio est res ardua, et magni laboris, saith Luther. Prayer is a hard work, and a man must tug at it and stick to it, as Jacob did, who wrestled and raised dust, as the Hebrew word signifieth; he held fast, and hung on, yea, he held with his hands when his thigh was lamed. Let me go, saith God, bespeaking his own liberty. No, thou shalt not, saith Jacob, until thou bless me. Lo, such is the generation of them that seek God in sincerity, of them that seek thy face; this is Jacob, Psalms 24:6. "One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that I will seek after," saith David, Psalms 27:4. If his suit had not been honest, he would never have begun it; but being so, he will never give it over till he hath prevailed; he will pray till he faint, and then to it again, Psalms 119:81,82. "Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer," Romans 12:12. So doth not the hypocrite, for want of an inward principle. If God come not at a call, he is out of patience, and ready to say, with that profane prince, 2 Kings 6:33, "Behold, this evil is of the Lord; and what should I wait for the Lord any longer?" Away to the witch of Endor, to the god of Ekron. Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo. This Job would not do, and therefore no hypocrite.