Job 10

Job 10:8-13

Job musts that he is full of confusion, ver. 15. and as he is, he is his disgrace. 1. He complaint of his hardships, ver. 1—7. And then comfort himself that he was in the hand of the God that made him, ver. 8—13. 2. He complains again of the severity of God’s dealing with him, ver. 14—17. And then comfort himself, that dumb would put an end to his troubles, ver. 18—22.

MY soul is “weary of my life, I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2. I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contended with me. 3. Is it good unto thee, that thou shouldst oppress? that thou shouldst despise the work of thine hands, and thine upon the counsel of the wicked? 4. Hath thou eyes of flesh? or feed thou as man forth? 5. Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man’s days, 6. That thou enquireth after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin? 7. Thou knowest that “I am not wicked, and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.

9. 1—7. Though in general Job acknowledged himself a sinner, and unable to shud the severity of God’s judgment, yet, when he considered his own integrity in general, and the uncommon weight of his afflictions, he seemed to feel an argument for impatient complaint, and charges God foolishly.

10. He repeats his passionate wish for death; My soul is weary of my life, burdened with afflictions, and longing to be rid of them in the grave. I will leave my complaint upon myself; I must complain, though I lay the blame on myself: such anguish cannot be suppressed, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. Note, To be weary of life before God sends a discharge, as to be unfaithful to the poft he hath given us to maintain.

11. He resolves to enquire of God the cause of his sufferings. I will say unto God, Do not condemn me, or account me wicked, deal with him as if he really was such as his friends, and who, whilst his troubles continued, would be confirmed in their suspicions. Shew me wherefore thou contended with me; I conscious he was not of having wilfully offended, and therefore can would know the design God proposed in the heaviness and continuance of his calamities. Note, (1.) It becomes us in suffering times to enquire into their cause, that we may answer their end. The we may have nothing of anybless, particularly to condemn us, he that justly do is the Lord, who sees what we overlook, and whose ways and thoughts are as much above ours, as the heaven is higher than the earth. (2.) When we suffer the rod of correction, we need especially pray to be saved from the condemnation of sin. Every other burden is supportable, that intolerable.

12. He precludes to expostulate with God on his case. Is it good unto thee, that thou shouldst oppress? can it be agreeable to thy perfections to take pleasure in tormenting me? that thou shouldst despise the work of thine hand, and be indifferent to my sorrows, though thy creature by nature, by grace thy servant too? and shew upon the benefit of the wicked, prosper their devices against the righteous, or, by the continuance of his afflictions, seem to approve the hard censures of the world and his friends. Half this eye of flesh? or feed thou as man forth? Looking no farther than outward appearances, they condemn me; with thou do like them, who feed the secrets of the heart, and knowest my innocence? or doft thou regard me with an evil eye, envying my prosperity, as the world did? Are thy days as the days of man, whose life is short, his purposes mutable, and his researches after truth, through the imperfection of his faculties, tedious? that thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin? continuing his anguish, as if to draw out of him a confession of his guilt, as from a person under the torture; which seemed to Job severe and needless, persuaded of God’s all-being eye, and unerring wisdom, and assured of his own uprightness before him. Thou knowest that I am not wicked, chargeable with open or allowed iniquity, nor hypocritical in my professions; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand. No power could refuse him from God’s hand, and therefore he need not be bound with these cooks of affliction, as if to prevent his escape. Note, (1.) It is difficult under extraordinary troubles to be silent, and not impeach, by murmuring, God’s goodness or his righteousness. (2.) The feuds of God’s omniscience should ever fill our minds with reverence and godly fear before him. Who will not dread the sin that darkness promises to cover, when God’s eye

Before Chod 1 (10) is there? (3.) Resistance against God is vain; to struggle against his corrections, is but to torment our own souls.

Phil. cit. 71. Heb. Took poise about me. 1 Cor. v. 1. Phil. recess. 14. And. Heb. Hodged.

8. • Thine hands have made me, and fashioned me together round about; yet thou doft destroy me. 9. Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay, and wilt thou bring me into duft again? 10. * Hatt thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheele? 11. Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast g fenced me with bones and finews. 12. Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my Spirit. 13. And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee.

Having called himself the work of God’s hands, ver. 3. he here enlarges on that consideration; begs God to remember his own past favours and his frailty, as a reason against the feverity of those sufferings which threatened to destroy him. Thou haud have made me and fashioned me together round about, yet thou doft destroy me, for under these troubles I must quickly look. Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me at the clay, thou art my potter, I am moulded at thy will, bristle as the clay, remember it, for I cannot stand under such strokes of convictions, but must be broken to pieces. And with thou bring me to the duft again? delight to make and unmake me, give me a momentary existence, only to bring me to a miserable end? especially after being so fearfully and wonderfully made. Hott thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me as cheele? when at my conception in the womb the embryo first appeared: thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and fenced me with bones and finews, carried on the formation of my body till I breathed vital air: thou hast granted me life, and with it numberless mercies and favours, thy gifts of nature, and the better portion of thy grace: and thy visitation hath preserved my Spirit, help me long amidst the dangers that surrounded me, and supported and perceived the life thou doft bestow; and these things hast thou hid in thine heart; amidst all the apparent mercies in thy secret countless lay concealed the miseries to which I was ordained. I know that this is with thee, thou alone can’t account for the reasons of thy conduct, which to me appears strange and mysterious, or I know that this was thy eternal purpose thou so afflict me. Note, (1.) The curious structure and formation of the human body, should lead us to an admiration of the hand that made it. (2.) All our mercies of nature, providence, and grace, are derived from God, and he should be acknowledged by us in all with thankfulness, and the grateful return made to him in bounden love and service. (3.) Though sometimes we cannot reconcile God’s former dealings or his promises with our present afflictive dispensation, he will appear at last righteous in his word, and just in all his works.

Phil. recess. 1. 1 Cor. v. 1.