The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 558

Vere. 3, 4.-I, gooaness profitabu 1 I. A NATURAL QUESTION. Job is driven to put this question; or, rather, Elihu ooncludes that Job's langua~e shows that the patriarch is debe.ting it within himself. Satan ha.d sneered at the notion of disinterested good- ness, and had asked," Doth Job fear God for naught?" (eh. i. 9). Now Job is begin- ning to see that the profits of goodness, as they a.re commonly believed in, do not accrue, for good men suffer a.s much as other men, if not more. The utilitarian question crops up in practice, whatever ethical theory we may have adopted. People will ask-What is the advantage of religion? Why should they deny their passions ? What will they be the better for refraining from evil? The inquiry is natural for two reasons. 1. We naturally dem,re to see result.. Men wish to know that some good end is to be reached. They are not satisfied with a good road; they must know where it leads to. 2. We ,iaturally desire our own adtJantage. The instincts implanted in us encourage such a desire. In itself it is not be.d, but natural. Evil comes from the abuse or the supremacy of it. IL A SUl'EBFLuous QUESTION. Although the question is natural, we ought to be able to rise above it. .After all, our chief concern is not with results, but with duty. Our part is to do the right, whether it leads to failure or to success. Obedience is our sphere; results are with God. We sow and water; he it is who gives the increase. U is difficult to learn this lesson, for we all gravitate to selfish and material ends unless we a.re lifted out of ourselves. Still, the lesson must be learnt. If a man is only virtuous on account of the rewards of virtue, he is not really virtuous at all. He who does not steal simply because he is persuaded that" honesty is the best policy," is a thief at heart. Conscience is independent of advantage, and true goodness is only that which rests on conscience. IIL AB .AliBWERAl!LE QUESTION. Elihu is ready with his reply. Perhaps it is not quite so simple a matter as he assumes, for he is one of those fearless talkers who handle the most difficult problems with jaunty confidence. Still, he helps us towards a reply. Goodness is not ignored by God. Thie Elihu show, in three ways. 1. God, u too g,mt to unjustly deprive men of the rewards of their deeds. 'l'hese may not come &t once ; but God. can have no conceivable motive for withholding them (vers. ~ ) . 2. The absence of immediau blessings u no proof of Divine negligence. While com- plaining that their rewards a.re not given them, men may not be treating God aright, and so not deserving his blessing (vers. 9-13). 3. God's watchfulness ensures his righteous trt.aiment of hu creaturu. (Vers. 14---16.) Thus according to Elihu goodness is ultimately for the advantage of its possessor. But may we not go further, and say that even if it brings no ultimate reward it is infinit.ely better than sin, for goodness is in it.self a blessing? Few of us can be great, or rich, or very successful. But it is better to be good tban to be great, or rich, or successful ; for to be good is to be like Christ, like God.-W. F. A. Vera. 6--8.-God', i n ~ of man. I. GoD IB NOT DEPENDENT ON IIUN18 OONDOCT. We must agree in the main with what Elihu here states. God is self- sufficient, and he owns all things. " '!'he cattle upon a thousand hills are his." If he were hungry he would not need to tell us. Our most active service is not necessary to God, our most virulent malignity cannot really touch him. He dwells in the fulneBI aD<l serenitJ of his own perfeetion. OB, XXXV, 1-16.] THE BOOK OF JOB.