The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 656

Vers. 1, 2.-The ro11fe11swn of God's supremacy. At last the end hae come to the discipline of Job. Be is brou~ht to more than resignation-to a clear perception of the supremacy of God, and to a humble submission to it. I. Tm: FACT OF GoD's BUPBEHACY. This is what Job has now come to see. God is supreme both in power and in wisdom. L In power. 'l'here is no resisting his might. He does as he will with the children of men. Even "the king of the children of pride" is one of his creatures, endowed with the might he has given, and subject to the laws he has imposed. All rebellion against God's will must be futile. It can be no better than dashing one's self against a granite cliff. But if God is so powerful when opposed to us, he is equally powerful as our Saviour. He uses his might to further what is good as well as to thwart what is evil. If he can cast the mighty down, he can lift the help- less up. 2. In lcnowl,edge. There is thought in all the work of God. But God's thought also penetrates to all that we do. No excuses or subterfuges can enable us to elnde his searching glance. He knows the hidden sin. But he also knows the hidden sorrow; and the misjudged sufferer is quite understood by God. Friends may calum- niate, a.s they calumniated Job; but God knows all. II. THE KNOWLEDGE OF THIS FACT. Job is now brought to see that God is supreme in power and knowledge. He may have admitted the truth in words all along. But he did not appreciate it until the end of his long trial. In his very natural but very foolish complaints he was virtually ignoring the great truth which he is now con- fessini!, How, then, has he come at length to perceive it as by the flash of a new revelation? 1. Thrwgh 11Ufft!'t'i11g. Many lessons are being taught by the strange experience of Job; among them some are for bis owe benefit. Suffering opens our eyes to our own littleness and to the greatness of God. 2. By means of the works of ,-,.ature. The great theophany, wherein God called to Job out of the whirlwind, led to a display of some of the grandest works of God, first in the physical forces of the univeil!e, and then in the most wondt-rful creatures of the animal world. A study of nature should lead us to perceive both the power and the wisdom. of God. III. THE ccn.'l"E88ION. It is one thing for God to be supreme, and another thing for man w know that he is. Yet a third stage is reached when the truth is frankly admitted and openly confeased.. It is our duty to confess the supremacy of God. 1. For the glor'!J ff God, We rob him of hil own whe11 we ignore bis great power and wisdom, CR. XL!!. 1-17.] THE BOOK OF ,JOB. 8'i3