The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 553

dwells, the society in which he moves, the individuals with whom he comes in contact. The ungodly mnn mny be compared to a walking pestilence. On the other hand," the fruit of the rigMeous is a tree of life" (Prov. xi. 30). However humble the positi,,n he ocoupies or the talents he possesses, the good man, whose breast is the scat of fervent pkty, is a distinct gain to the world and the age (Matt. v. 13, 14). 2. AJ(l,llaci-o'WJ deduction, Correct enough in thinking that a man might make his fellow a debtor by his goodness, or incur towards his fellow obligations in consequence of damage done hy his wickedness, Job was utterly at fault in inferrin~ that the same relations could exist between man nml God. "If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him? If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?" (vers. 6, 7). That is, human piety cannot add to the blessedness of God in such a way as to make God the debtor of .bis creature, and lay him under obligation to make tbe good man happy; neither can man's impiety so diminish the Divine felicity as to require God to protect himself against the machinations of the wicked by always entailing on them misery as the recompense of their wickedneBS (vide homiletics on eh. xxii. 2--4). If God makes a good man happy, he does so of grace and favour; if he allows him to pass his life in m,isery, he does not thereby commit an act of injustice. 3. A complete refufotion. Elihµ disposes of Jnb's bad logic by reminding him first of the lofty elevation of the heavens (ver..5),. an.d a fortiori of the infinite exaltation of him who d,vells above the heavens .beyond the highest and purest creature on the earth. Since God thus transcends even the best of men, it is clearly impossible to suppose that he can be .tried by p.urely human standards. III.. Jon's MISTAKES INDICATED. 1. Dwelling too exclusively upon the greatness of his misery. • «By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry ;·" or they, i.e. the oppressed, raise a cry: " they cry out by reason of the arm," {e. violence,·" of the mighty" (ver. 9). So Job had complained (eh. xxiv. 12), anim- adverting severely on th.e seeming indifference of God to what he could not but be ·cognizant of, viz. man·s inhumanity.to man; and to this Elihu now alludes with the vie:w of suggesting to the mind of Job the direction in which to look for an explanation of this remarkable phenomenon-God's silence in the presence of human sorrow. 'l'he cry which rises from the oppressed is in no sense a believing appeal to the Creator for assistance. It is..simply a .groan of anguish. Instead of turning with hope and exrec- tation to their Maker, they :fix their thoughts upon their misery and raise a shout. It is impossible not. to think that, in holding up such a mirror before the mind of Job, Elihu designed. the patriarch to catch a refl.eetion of himself. Had not he too been crying out under the severity. of the stroke which had fallen on him, rather than anticipating the hour of deliverance when. God would· fill his mouth with rejoicing? The mistake of magnifying one's troubles, and dwelling too exclusively upon them, is one which even Christians, no less than Job, are not careful to avoid. Besides springing from unbelief, it has, a tendency to hinder their beneficent design, and commonly obscures the soul's discernment of the source as well as. of the first approaches of relief. 2. Neglecting to repair to God/or succour. "None saith, Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night?" Instead of giving way to wailing, the victim of oppression (and such Job deemed himself to be) ought to turn in believing confidence and with hopeful expectation, not to his fellows, like Asa the King of Israel (2 Chron. xvi. 12), or to false gods, like Ahaziah the son of Ahab (2 Kings i. 2), or to any form of creature~help whatsoever (Ps. cxlvi. 2), but like David to the living God (Ps. cxxi. 2), remembering (1) who God is in himself-Eloah, the all-powerful and all-sufficient One; (2) the relation in which he stands to the sufferer, that of Maker; and (3) the gracious character in which he delights to present himself to his creatures, viz. as a God "who giveth songs in the night," i.e. who, by granting deliverance to afl:licted sufferers in the night of. tribulation, gives them occasion to celebrate his praise in anthems of gratitude and joy. Such nights of sorrow and tribulatiou occur in all men's lives (eh. v. 7), but especially in the lives of saints (Acts xiv. 22). Yet no night is too dark for God to tum the shadow of death into the morning (Amos v. S). God, who caused Israel to sing upon the shores of the Red Sea (Exod. xv. 1), :md Da.vid nfter escaping from the hands of Saul (2 Sam. xxii. 1), and Paul and Silas in prison at Philippi (Acts xvi. 25), can cause the most despairing sufierer to shout "llalldujah l,.  'rRE 1300:K OF .ton. [Cu. :nt.l', 1---18,