The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 223

to be u valuelees and as ee.sily efi'Roed as similitudes traced upon the duet; "and your ramparts," i.e. the Rrguments behind which ye entrench yourselves, "ahall be ramparts of clay," as easily broken throup;h 88 mud walls. IL THE vo10E OF OUTRAGED INTEGRITY. 1. .An appeal,from, man to God. "Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason ,vith God I" (ver. 3). So David, when the mouth of the wicked and the tongue of the deceitful opened against him, eddrelll!ed himself t-0 God in prayer (Ps. cix. 2-4). Christ also, when his enemies gaped upon him with their mouths, souiz:ht refuge against their calumnies in holy intercounoe with God (Ps. xxii. 2-21; Matt. :uvii. 39--46; John :xi. 42). The example of both is commended to saints when similarly circumstanced (Ps. Iv. 22; xci. 16 • Phil. iv. 6; 1 Pet.. v. 7), and has been frequently followed. Many who have been denied justice at the hands of their fellows have been -constrained to appeal to the tribunal of the skies. It is a great mercy that such a court exists for suffering men, and that its door is never closed against the suit of a distressed saint (Ps. :x:xxiv. 16; 1 Pet. iii. 12 ; Luke xviii. 7, 8). On the contrary, God's people aro invited to repair to him in every time of trouble (Ps. 1. 16; lxii. 8; Rom. xii. 12; Heb. iv. 16), when burdened by affliction, when overtaken by spiritual anxiety, when misunderstood by men. If we ma.v not maintain our sinlessness before God (Ps. lxix. 6), we can at least uphold our integrity (eh. x. 7 ; John :x:xi. 15, 16; Rom. i. 9). But whatever be our case, it will be by him both exactly appreciated and tenderly sympathized with. 2. ..t request for non-interference on the part of l'l'lan. "Oh that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom" (ver. 5); " Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak" (ver. 13). Job advances two reasons for desiderating silence on the part of his friends. (l) It would greatly enhance their reputation for wi~dom (cf. Prov. :x:vii. 28). It is one mark of wisdom to know when to be silent; and it is better to he always silent than to utter heartless sophistries and pointless platitudes like those of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. (2) It would greatly facilitate his converse with God. In the soul's supreme moments of spiritual distress, few things are more irksome than the well-meant but almost always irritating admonitions and advices of good people. The ordins.ry mind fails to see that, as there is a joy, so also there·is a sorrow, with which no stranger can intermeddle (Prov. xiv. 10). Besides, the great controversy between God and the human soul must be fought out in solitude and in silence, like the struggle at the ford of J abbok between the an)!el and Jacob (Gen. :xx:x:ii 24). 3..•A determi'T/,(lr tum to defend hi.s cause with God. (1) At all hazards. Job is prepared to go forward, "let cowe on him what will;"" to take his flesh in his teeth, and put his life in his hand; " to undergo death it.self if need be. "Behold I he may slay me : I entertain no hope," i.e. of any other issue to the conflict: "yet will I maintain my ways before him." However this verse be translated ('uide Exposition), it contains a threefold testimony- t-0 Job's deeply seated conscionsness of his own pen;onal integrity; to Job's clear moral honesty, since a hypocrite would never have proposed to invite the Divine inspection of himself and his ways; and t-0 Job's exalted heroism, which would rather brave death than dishonour, clinging to God with invincible fidelity in spite of overwhelming temporal dill&l!ter and meuta.! anxiety; yea, iil the face of death and dissolution--,.& sublime refutation of the Satanic calumny (eh. ii 5). (2) Yet not without hope. Job was inwardly persuaded that the ultimate result of his venture would be triumphant vindication and salvation. Th.is conviction wae grounded on the fact of his intense inward longing t-0 stand face to face with God. His reasoning takes the form of a 11yllogism. It iB impossible that a man conscious of hypocrisy should desire an inter- view with God. But snch desire is the all-absorbing passion of my soul. Therefore I indulge the hope that I am not a hypocrite, and that he who now seems to be my .Adversary will eventually prove my Salvation. Learn : 1. It ill the delight of a good man, the sign of a wise man, and the duty of all men, t.o study the way11 and works of God. 2. It is no sin t.o vindicate one's chsmcter when that is wrongly aspereed. a. It requires a good cause to enable a weak man to speak with Abe .Almigh1y. 4. It is not a fault in mannel'!I to reprove good men when they tell lies. 6. It is a fault in good men when they depart from the truth evffll by a hair's breadth. 6. It ill infinitely wiser not to talk at all than to talk like a fool. 7. It is dangero1111 to swnmon allies from the devil's camp, even when fighting in the Lord's battles. 8. It is an insult to God to suppose that light and darkness, truth and OJI, xm. 1--2B.] THE' BOOK OF JOB. 231