The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 382

eeek~r after God. 2..A mlln may be getting: nearer God, though a(1. outward ei<rtte appear to proclaim the rereree. 3. The gospel has for over rendered Job's prayer unnecessl\ty. 4,, lf a man (ails .to find God, he must be seeking for him in the wrong quarter or the wrong way. o. 'rhey who come to God's throne in earnest will find Jl\81'cy to pardon, and grace to help in every time of need. Ver. a.__'._.A great question answered. I. '!'HI!: RECORDED QUESTION. "Oh that I knew WQorc I might llnd him I" 1. Necessary; since man does not naturally under- stand either where or how to find God (Rom. i. 28; 1 Cor. i. 21; Eph. iv. 18). 2. Jniportant; since only in the finding and knowing God lies the secret of true hoppiness (eh. nii. 21) and the pathway to eternal life (John xvii. 3). 3. Personal,; since no man can find God for his neighbour, but every individual for himself alone (Eccles. xi. 9; Born. ii. 6; Gal. vi. 5). 4. Urgent; since the present is the only moment a soul can c~unt upon fi;>r putting su'ch a question. (Prov: xxvii. 1; 2 Cor. vi. 2). 1 II. THE UNW'BITTEN ANSWER, God 1s to be found: 1. In the Person of Jesus Christ ( 2 Cor. v; 19), as opposed to the temple of nature, wl\.ich may speak of God (Ps. xix. 1 . Rom. i.. 20), but does not unveil his presence like the Incarnation. 2. In the shrine o} the hutnan' spirit {John iv. 23, 24), as opposed to definite localities. For the truly spi'iit'ualwors):iipper .ever:y- spot of ground on which he stands is _consecrated. 3. In the' 'contrite heart (Isa. 1vi..I. 15), as op_posed to the soul of the unbeliever. Learn: : •1. '.['he ;ne~esstty of earnestness In seeking God. 2. The certainty of finding God, if sought in faith. • Vets.. 8_;_12.-Job ,to Elipliaz :' 2. A chi1d of light walking in darkness. I. THE CHILD bF LIGHT. That Job was entitled to be so described will appear from a con- ~ideration.· of: 1. The creed he professed. It is obvious that Job believed in: (1) The existence of God. He was not one of those fools who in their hearts say," No God!" (~s. xiv. 1). Throughout this, as throughout his previous discourses, the personality of.God· is assumed, an:d indeed is frequently referred to without being named. (2) The ptovid(ince of God.. .As little was the patriarch one of those practical atheists to whom h.e himself had alluded ( eh. xxi. 14).. Eliphaz insinuated such a charge against the suffer- ing $afot whom he pretended to comfort. But Job implicitly repelled the imputation by recogrizing that God's presence, if unseen, was still around him, and God's hand, thoµgh ever veiled, was always working. (3) The authority of God. Job recognized that the supreme Lawgiver for man was this invisible but omnipresent and continually working Deity, the commandment of whose lip and the word of whose mouth was the perpetually and universally binding rule of life and obedience, rather than the inward resolves, purposes, determinations of the individual, as is commonly but mistakenly supposed by t)le natural heart (eh, :ixi. 15; Exod. v. 2; Jer. :x.viii. 12; Luke :x.ix. H). (4) The omniscience of God .. ~ob believed not simply that God exercised a. general superinteiidt;,ii.ce over mundane affairs, but that his iuspection of the world embraced a knowledge of pe.i-ticlilars. Like Hagar in the wilderness, he could say, "Thou God seest me I" (Gen. xvi. 13). Like David, he could sing, "I am poor and needy, yet t)1e Lord .thinketh upon me" (Ps, :x.l. 17). Like Jeremiah, he could pray, "Lord, th\m knowest aU their counsel against me" (xviii. 23). Like- Peter, he could pro- test, "Lord, thou kb.owest all things; thou knowest that I love thee" ( Jolin xxi. 17). Job regarded his whole lifo as lying continuillly beneath the eye of God : "He knowetb.the way that is with me." So God's eyes are always upon the ways of man (eh. :x.xxiv. 21), and in particular of the rigbteous (Ps. i. 6). It is the part of a good man to walk before God (Gen. xvii. 1), and to rejoice that he can say, "All my ways arc before thee" (Ps. cxix. 168). 2. The character he maintained. Besides beiug an intellectual believer in God, Job was: (1) An earnest seeker after God. Not content with !mowing that God's presence filled the universe around him, and that God's hand was constantly working beside him in the mysterious phenomena of nature and providence (c~. ix. 11), Job_ desired a visib)e m~nifest~tion _of and a personal acquaint- ance with this unseen Deity. Many believe m Gods existence, character, and work who never seek to know God himself, or make the slightest effort to secure his favour. Such a visible manifestation of God as J0b craved,and afterwardsobtaiued (ch.xxxviii. 1), has been vouchsnfeL1 to wen iu Christ, the Image of the invisible Gou (2 Cor. iv.  896 THE -,OK OF JOB. [OR, :nm. 1-17,