The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 490

(Oox), It was the calm, clear, deliberate conviction that such wickedness could not escBpo the just and righteously allotted punishment of Eloah, and that sooner or later if ha should enter on such a course of impiety, he would find himself overwhelmoo. by some strange, stnrtling, intolerable calamity; nny, that ho should deserve to be so o•er- whelmecl (vers. 2, 3). Job was manifestly no ruilk-and-water moralist, like somo of the nineteenth century, who regard fornication and seduction as indiscretions, and uncleanness generally ne an infirmity rather than a sin. Instead of being leniently judged and softly scolded, if not lovingly caressed, as, alas! is too frequently his por- tion and inheritance from modem society, the violator of virgin innocence, in Job's estimntion, was a monster of iniquity, who deRervecl to be castigated by some horrible and degrading punishment, and who, ho believed, would ultimately get his cleservi»gs. Nor was Job too spiritual, on the other hand, to admit that this formed one of the Mgt1- ments which drove him to strict watchfulness over his heart and eyes. Ile was afraid of thejustjudgment of Almighty God upon them that committed such appalling wicked- ness; and accordingly he acted on the principle of resisting its first beginnin~s. So St. •Paul, knowing the terror of the Lord, persuaded men (2 Cor. v. 11); and Christ coun- selled his apostles to foar him who could destroy both soul and body in hell (Luke xii. 5). If not the highest motive for leading a chaste and virtuous life, it is still a sound aud good one, and the only one by which many are capable of being impressed. (2) Respect for the Divine omniscience. Job knew that, thongh it might be possible to elude the utmost vigilance of man, he could not evade him who Lebeld all his ways, and counted all his steps (ver. 4). Tbe Divine omniscience is not depcudent on, but co-ordinate with, the Divine omnipresence. God's minute and universal knowledge of mundane affairs, aud in particular of all that enters into the complicated texture of a human life, frequently denied by the ungodly (eh. xxii. 13), and sometimes forgotten by the pious (Isa. xl. 27), is emphatically as:;erted in Scripture (1 Kings viii. 39; Ps. xi. 4; cxxxix. 1-4), and nowhere more so than in this book (eh. xxf. 22; xxiiL 10; :xxiv. 1, 23; :xxviii. 24 ; xxxiv. 21, 22, 25). Rightly viewed, it operates as a powerful deterrent from sin, not only by proving the certainty of detection, and therefore the impossibility of escaping punishment, but also by filling the mind with a constant sense of the Divine presence, forgetfulness of which is perhaps one of the most frequent causes of sin. II. WITH REBPEOT TO THE LAW OF JUSTICE, (Vere. 5-8.) 1. An explicit declara- tion. Hypothetical in form, Job's language amounts to e. vehement assertion that his life was as unimpeachable with regard to equity as with regard to chastity. With falsehood in every shape and guise he had lived at open war. With deceit and imposi- tion in either word or deed he had had no dealings whatever. From the straight path of integrity he had never turned aside. Never once under the dominion of secret avarice had he suffered his heart to be beguiled into hankering arter his neighbour's property, as .Ahab coveted the vineyard of Naboth (1 Kings xxi. 2). Not so much as a speck of defilement cleaved to his palm after any transaction in which he had been engaged. No living man could accuse him of underhand dealings or extortionate practices. So Samuel called his countrymen (1 Sam. xii. 3), and St. Paul challenged the elders of Miletus (Acts xx. 33-36), to attest his personal integrity, So are Christ's people exhorted to renounce the hidden things of dishonesty (2 Cor. iv. 2), to provide things honest in the sight of all men (2 Cor, viii. 21), and to carefully maintain a good con- science, in all things willing to live honestly (Heh. xiii. 18). 2. A solemn invocation. So confident does Job feel that he has not swerved a hair's breadth from the law of equity, that he does not hesitate to appeal to God, challenging Eloah, as few men besides would have done (Pa. cxxx. 3), to weigh him in an even balance, literally, in the scales of righteousness, when his integrity, or moral perfection, would become apparent. If Job meant this absolutely, ii was presumption and self-righteousness; but the proba- bility is he understood, by p1eferring such a claim, no more than God himself did when he declared Job to be perfect and upright; though the vehemence with which he asserted and protested hi~ blamelessness insensibly obscured his vision of the truth which ho at other times acknowledged, that in God's sight no flesh living could be ju~titied. 3. A dreadful imprecation. Not content with calmly submitting the question of b i,i Innocence to the severe and impartial arbitrament of Heaven, he invokes upon himself , ourse of extreme severity. If by legal chicanery or violent extortion he has robbed  'I'lll: BbOK OF JOB.