The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 538

unjustly. He knom exaotly e11ch m11n'e him. (On the sin of "turning bll.ck," see powers, oop&0itiee, temperament, tempt11tions, 2 Kings xvii. 15, 16; Prov. nvi. 11; 2 Pet. cil'('nmstancee. He oan eXBOtly m011sure ii. 22.) And wonlcl not oon1ider &DJ of hil eneh man's due, and will assuredly mete it waya(oomp. Pe. xxviii. 5; Isa. v. 12). The out to ea.oh without parti11olity or prejudice. folly and wickedueee of euoh conduot is Yer. 22.-There is no darkneBB, nor reproved by Solomon in the strongest terms, IBhadow of death, where the workers of •• Becl\use I have called, and ye refused ; I iniquity may hide themaelve1. "All things have stretched out my hand, and no man &!'I' naked 11,nd opened unto the eyes of him regarded; but ye have set at nou~ht all with whom we h11,ve to do" (Heb. iv. 13). my counsel, and would none of my reproof: Howe,er careful wicked men may be to I also will laugh at your calamity ; I will ooncesl their misdeeds by "waiting for the mock when your fear cometh; when your twilight" (eh. u:iv. 15), or doing them" in fear cometh as desolation, and your destruc- the <lsrk" (oh. xxi,. 16), they will :find it tion cometh e.s a whirlwind ; when distress quite impossible to escape the all-seeing eye and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall of the Almighty, which is as clear-sighted they call npon me, but I will not answer ; in the deepest d11ork,1ess as in the brightest they shall seek me enrly, but they shall not light (" Yea, the darln1ess is no darkneBB find me: for that they bnted knowledge, and with thee, but the night is e.s clear a.s the did not choose the fear of the Lord: they day ; the darkness and light to thee are would none of my counsel : they despised llOth alike," Ps. cx:uix. 11, Prayer-book all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat Version). the fruit of their own we.y, and be :filled with Ver. 23.-For he will not lay upon man their own devices. For the turning away or more than right ; rather, for he neuletli not the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity further to consider a man (see the Revised of fools shall destroy them" (Prov. i. 24- Version). He ha.s no need to consider any 32). man's case twice; he sees it at the first glance, Ver. 28.-Bo that they oause the ory of and judges it infallibly. That he should the poor to come unto him. Elihu views enter into judgment with God. Were it not the wicked man as almost certainly an eo, a man might perhaps claim to have a oppressor, whose misdeeds "cause the cry of second trial, and, pleading in his own the poor to come before God," and provoke defenoe, might " enter inf;o jndgment with God, the Avenger of the poor and needy, to God," or (accordiug to others) "go before visit him with che.stisement. And he heareth God in judgment; " but God's absolute the cry of the a.fllioted ( comp. Exod. ii. 23, omniscience precludes this. 24; x.rii. 23, 24; Pe. xii. 5, etc.). God's Ver. 24.-He shall brea.k in pieoes mighty ea.re are ever open to the cry of the oppi'eesed, men without number ; rather, in ways that and his band ie ever heavy upon those who are unsearchabk, or in ways past finding out "afflict" the weak and defenceless (Is11. i. 24; (see the Rerued Version). And set others ill. 12-15; Amoe v. 11, 12; Micah iii. 1- in their stead (comp. 1 Sam. ii. 7; Ps. Ixxv. 4 ; Bab. i. 13). 7 ; Do.n. ii. 21 ). Ver. 29.-When he giveth quietness, who Ver. 25.-Therefore (i.e. to that end, or then can make trouble 1 literally, Who then tDith that object in mew) he lmoweth (rather, can condemn? The sentiment is the same taket.Ji knouJT.edge of) their workB. Ail God e.s that of St. Paul in the Epistle to the governs the world, and governs it, t.o a large Romane, "If God be for us, who can be extent, by exe.lting some men and depress- against ue? . . . Who shall lay anything to ing others, he ie bound to take strict account the charge of God's elect? It is God that of their conduct, that he may exe.lt the justifieth. Who is he that condemnetb?" worthy and depress the unworthy. And he (Rom. viii. 31-34), And when he hideth overturneth them in the night (comp. ver. his faoe, who then can behold him 1 When 20). So that they are deatroyed; literally, God bideth away his fe.oe, then all flesh is crushed. God's judgment.s full on men troubled (Ps. civ. 29); man shrinks into eu<ldenly, either "in the night," or as •• in himself, and despairs of happiness; nature the night," i.e. suddenly, unexpectedly, when itself seems to fail and fade, None oan be- they are quite unprepared ; and fall on them hold him when he bides himself; none can with "crushing" force, with a might that do more than deprecate bis anger, and pray, ie wholly irresistible. "Lord, lift thou up the light of thy Ver. 26.-Re striketh them as wioked countenance upon U8" (Ps. iv. 6). Whether men ; i.e. W! open and e.cknowledged male- it be done against a nation, or against a fEiCtore. In the open sight of others; lite- man only. The result.a are similar, whether rally, in the place of beholder• 1 ie. publicly, God withdraws the light of his countenance openly, where 1;heir fate is an example to from a nation or from an individual. lo others. either case, there is no help from without; V«. 27.---ue t.hey t1U'l18d bull: from ru.iD &lld deiitruct.ion follow.  'l'lIE BOOK OF JO'B.