The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 437

Vere. 13-23,'-Tll, rew/U'd <If 1'nl(fuity. Job's eye had been oJlffl) t.o behold the ways of God with men.' 'He b&d seen the effects of righteous living &nd of wickedness, His own aufferlng, coupled with hie consciousness of integrity, would quicken his inquiries r.nd hie ohl!orviitlons on the rel&tive reimlts of these two methodR of living. He nbw pronounces hie Jadgment on the fruits of ungodly living : "Thi~ i~ the portion of a wicked m&n." Whatever may be the terri:poraTJ prosperity of the wicked (and of such prosperity'Job had already spoken), yet it lacks permanence, and it is IU!sociated ,vith·tt1uch 111orrow, 'Ha traccR the sorrow in the following particulars. ,.r. AFFUctroN UPON IIIB FAMILY. A curRe is upon his home. The sword, the famine, the pestilence, carry off hie children, even if they be multiplied. II. lNBEOURITY ·OP HIS WEAlll'II. Yea, "though he heap up silver as the dust." The Divine retributions are everywhere acknowledgerl to extend to. ill-gotten gain. Job is speaking of "the wicked man" and of "oppressors." They have an earthly ".heritage," bu_t there is a God that judgetb in the earth, and there is a. "heritage " also which they shall receive of the .Almighty. III. THE INSTA11ILITY OP HIB HOU'SE. That in which man takes eo great a pride. To establish a name in the earth, to be distinguished as a family, a house, is a. marked aim on the part of most men. Th_e effort and hope of the wicked are cut off. This very '' name of the wicked shall i:ot." IV. HE IS 'l'IIE. VICTIM OP SORROW, UNBAPPINEB~, .AND FEAB. That which sustain11 ~be rigbteouir'in'his afflictions, viz. his conscious integrity, is wanting in the wicked, and he becomes filled with fear. V. HE Is"'tINALLY UPROOTED AND <iABT AWAY. He leaves no permanent memorial. His name,· his works, his memory, are not cherished by any. "The east wind carrieth him away,_" and he is hurled "out of his place." He is judged of God; he is despised of man (vere; 22, 23), This, in Job's view, is the lot of the ungodly ; and though he himself ha:s·suffered many things at the hand.q of the Lord, he is conscious of his right• eousness, and has confident ho:Ji>e of final vindication,-R. G. Vers. ,1-4;...;..Moral honesty. Job now almost loses sight of his vexatious friends as he breaks out into a long discourse. His first thought is to assert his integrity, without filncbing before the charges that have been. so recklessly flung at him. He will not confess sins of which he is not guilty. It required some courage for him to tak;e this' stand, for he was sorely pressed to yield to insincerity. I. ·THE TEMPTATIOJf TO INSINCERITY. This is many-sided, springing from various sources. 1. The desi1'e ·to conciliate God. Job is persuaded: that it is the Almighty who has vexed his soµ!.·· If he will abase himself and confess his utter unworthiness, it would seem that perhaps God would be propitiated. 2. The persuasive 'U,rgency of 'others. Each of the three friends bad set before Job the same picture, and bad snggested that the only security, the only l).opc, lay in abject penitence. It is difficult to hold to our course w,hen it is resisted and· reprobated by our friends. 3. The tr-ue hwmility of a good man.· Job knew ·that he was a frai[ creature, and that he was as nothing before the might and holiness of ·God '(eh. vii. 1--8). Good men are more or Iese conscious of their own littleness. It seems a mark of modesty to depreciate one?s self, Job must have beeri deeply pained at the unfairness that drove him to take the opposite course and viadic1tte his own uprightness. We are all tempted to insincere confession of guilt whi_ch 'fe do not feel in order to please God or men, or as a sign of humility. II. THE WEAKNESS OF YIELDmG TO THIS TEMPTATION. .All the inducements that may be brought to urge a person to insincerity are just temptations to sin. They are attacks upon tbe' conscience. To yield to thero. is a sign of weakness. Tbe important point is that insincerity is always wrong, even when it is in the direction of self. humiliation. '!'here lnay be a hypocritical penitence as well as a hypocritical pride. We cannot be too deeply humble; when the thought of our sin dawns upon us we cannot grieve over the guilt and shame of it too intensely. But if we do not feel this profound penitence it is nothing but falsehood and empty pretence to make a confession of it with our lips. For the language of penitence to exceed the feeling of it is not a m~rk of real humility. .Any insincerity is injurious to the conscience and wrong in the sight of God, and the fact that it tends to self-depreciation rather than to self. exaltation does not alter its essential character.  '1'HE BOOX OF J'OB. [on. nm. 1-98, ------------- ----·--------- III. Tm: IIOBAL BONBRTY OF REl!IB'I'ING Tin: 1'1hll"l'A'l'IOII ll'O INBmOERITY, We 1