I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.
Ver. 26. I was not in safety] i.e. I counted not myself simply the safer and happier man, because of creature comforts; but knowing their uncertainty, I held at a distance, and hung loose to them all.
Neither had I rest] I set not up my rest here, as did Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 4:4, and that rich fool, Luke 12:20, and the purple whore, who sitteth and saith, I shall see no sorrow. Once indeed Job said (but not so well), "I shall die in my nest, and multiply my days as the sand," Job 29:18. And so (by a like error, which was quickly confuted) David said in his prosperity, "I shall never be moved," Psalms 30:6,7. But for the main and the most part Job was otherwise minded. A godly man may be master of and busied about these paltrements of this present world, but not satisfied in them as adequate objects: he looks upon them all in their greatest lustre, as Hiram did on the cities Solomon had given him, which he called Chabul, that is, land of dirt. He minds the things above most of all.
Yet trouble came] Although I ever kept myself within the bounds of humility and modesty, and so took the safest and wisest course to secure that I had, and to gain a settled estate; yet all is gone, and I am left a mirror of misery. What can any one make of this? This is a riddle to me; here I am gravelled and benighted.