The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 496

HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. • Vera. 1-40....,...Solemn assuranc~s of innocence. • Job can discover no connection between his present sufferings and those well-founded hopes of his former life to which he-ha.a .been _reforring; bu_t there rem a.ins the assumption of his guilt as an explanation. Jn his inten~e longing fqr redemption he is led, in. conclusion, to affirm in the most solemn.and sacr!3d manner his innocence, invoking the sorest punishments upon him- self if bis words ,ate, untrue.. Thus, in effect, he makes a. final appeal to God as his Judge. lq. this _solemn assurance of innocence, he begins with that which is the root e.nd source. of sin-:-evil lust; he then touches on the sins proceedi:ig from it, and l'Xplains the rule of life and the disposition of heart which rendered him incapable of the commission of such sins . ., I. LusT RESISTED! THE J'[EART GIVEN TO VIRTUE. (Vers. 1-4.) 1. He had governed. th~ ey.e 'and re_s'trained its lust. He had guarded that noble organ, which i;nay be either th,e avenµ~ of purest pleasures or the tempter to most shameful vice. He bad prescriped to the eye its conduct and its law. The eye t:eems almost as much the receptacle ,and .11eat of our ,pas~ions; appetites, and inclinations as the mind itself; a.t Jeast.i~- is. the ,outward poi:ta.l to introduce them to the mind within, or rather the ClOm_tp.on ,.,th_oroughrare to. let .our affections pass in and out. Love, anger, pride, ava.rjC;C, ~Uvisibly,.move in. those little orbs (Addison). It is not enough to watch over .the heart•. the .inner citadel of the man, but all its a.venues-the eye, the ear, tli11 hand, t~ii' foot-,-,m_ust pe ·guarded ll,ga.inst the approach of sin. 2. He had referred hiII!se)f in tpis to the._judgmeut an~ the all-seeing eye of God (compare Joseph, Gen. ii:::uix. 9; and l'~. cXXXIX. 2,, sqg_.). The. ,thought of men's knowledge is often a more powerft,il deterrent, from actual crime; it is the thought of God which alone can sanctify and keep in s11fety the _heart. Job rises above the mere commandments of the Law. Law forbids the desire of others' goods (Exod. xx. 17; Deut. v. 21)-a. negative virtue; Christ ce,rries us dir,ectly to God, and bid~ us be pure in heart that we may behold him. To live consciously in the eye of God is to have a pure and right direction for our own. II. FIRST PROTESTATION: EVIL DESIRES HAVF. NOT BEEN YIELDED TO. (Vers. 5-8.) He did not "go about with falsehood," nor did his foot hasten to deceit. May God, he ~a.ys, pausing, weigh him in a just balance, and, instead. of being found wanting like Belshazza.r (Dan. v. 27), may bis integrity be known and proved! Among the Greeks, .'l'hemis, or Dike, held the scales symbolical of judgment; the Arabs speak of judgment as the "balance of works." Every man's work, every man's character, ,hall final\y bQ tried, provetl, ma.de known ; and many that a.re last ~hall be first, and the first last. R:s steps had not turned out of the right way, the way marked out and appoint~d by God; no stain of ill-gotten wealth had_ cleaved to his hands (Ps. ci. 5; Deut. xi,i.i.17)... ,Another imprecation, ratifying his assurances of innocence: "Then let me sow,. and 'let· another' eat ''-:iet another enjoy the fruit of his ill-spent, dishonest toil (cqp1p. eh: xxvii. 1_6, 17; Lev. xxvi. 16; Deut; xxviii. 33; Amos v, 11); and let his shoots--tbe plants of t4e earth which he has set-be rooted out I III. His rURE AND BIGHT CONDUOT lN DO:MESTI(1 LIFE, (Vers, 9-15.) 1. Hia 512 THE BOOK OF JOB. [dJt, XXXI, 1-40,