Job 5:8

Therefore (as affliction is ordered by God, on account of sin), "I would" have you to "seek unto God" (Isa 8:19; Amo 5:8; Jer 5:24).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

8. I would seek unto God] Rather, But I would seek; i. e. in humility, and for help and light.

8–27. Eliphaz, in Job’s place, would seek unto God, all whose ways are marked by one purpose, to do good, and whose chastisements, therefore, but open the way to a richer blessing

The passage attaches itself to the picture of man’s evil nature just given, and suggests where man should find refuge from himself, even in God. Eliphaz in Job’s place would seek unto God for help—God who is so great in power, and wonderful in His ways (Job_5:8-9). His ways are not only surpassingly wonderful, but one purpose of goodness runs through them, for even the thirsty wilderness where no man dwells He satisfies with rain, and sets the humble on high (Job_5:10-11). So on the other hand He disappoints the devices of the crafty and delivers the poor from their hand, and the end is reached towards which all His working tends: the poor hath hope, and evil, ashamed, shuts her mouth (Job_5:12-16).

And under this general purpose of universal goodness fall even the chastisements of God, and in this light happy should Job consider himself in being afflicted, for God afflicts only that He may be able the more richly to bless (Job_5:17-18). And, anticipating that his afflictions will “yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness,” Eliphaz draws a brilliant picture of Job’s restoration and happy future,—the divine protection (Job_5:18-19), the plenty and security (Job_5:20-23), the peaceful homestead (Job_5:24), the offspring numerous as the grass (Job_5:25), and the ripe and peaceful end of all (Job_5:26).

The passage like the preceding section has two divisions, Job_5:8-16 describing the purpose of goodness running through all God’s ways; and Job_5:17-26 applying this to Job’s calamities and painting his restoration; to which is added a concluding verse, in which Eliphaz beseeches Job to ponder his words (Job_5:27).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 5:8 I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:

Ver. 8. Surely I would seek unto God] Not let fly at him, as thou hast done, cursing thy birthday, and wishing thyself out of the world. Assure thyself, this that thou takest is not the way to get off with comfort, but rather to return by repentance unto him that smiteth thee, and to seek the Lord of hosts, Isa 9:12, since else his anger will not turn away, but his hand will be stretched out still (as the prophet there hath it); for is it fit that he should lay down the bucklers first? or that we should stand upon terms, and capitulate with him, and not stoop unto him by a humble yieldance? especially since,

- Deus crudelius urit

Quos videt invitos succubuisse sibi (Tibul. Eleg. i. 8).

God burns more severely those he sees to have laid themselves down in envy. The way to disarm God’s heavy indignation, is to submit to his justice, and to implore his mercy, Hos 5:14, to flee from his anger to his grace. Blood letting is a cure for bleeding, and a burn a cure against a burn; and running to God is the way to escape him; as to close and get in with him that would strike you doth avoid the blow: and this is the thing I would do, were I in thy case, saith Eliphaz here. He doth not vaunt (as Olympiodorus mistaketh his meaning), but advise Job to humble himself, and confess his sins, and sue for pardon of sin and release of punishment; to kiss the rod, and not to bite it; to drink from God’s cup willingly and at first, when it is full (as Mr Bradford, martyr, hath it), lest if he linger, he drink at length of the dregs with the wicked.

And unto God] The righteous judge, as the word importeth, who πασι δικαια νεμει, μηδε κρισιν ες χαριν ελκει (Phocyl.), neither hateth nor feareth any man (as it was said of Trajan the emperor, but more truly of God): he proceedeth according to truth, not according to opinion or appearance, and greatly scorneth to look at displeasure, revenge, or recompense.

Would I commit my cause] Put my case and condition, by self resignation, and humble supplication. This David did notably, 2Sa 15:25-26 Psa 142:2, and counsels all to do accordingly, Psa 55:22. Cast thy burden (or thy request) upon the Lord by virtue of this writ or warrant.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job_5:8-9

I would seek unto God.

Marvels and prayer

Nothing could be better than the counsel proffered in the text, nothing more certain than the grounds on which he rests his counsel. To seek unto God, and spread out ones cause before Him, that must be the best thing to do in any emergency. Does not the wonderful actually take place often in human life? Is it only in the great world that marvels occur, unexpected and great elevations, turnings, unfoldings, light, and help? Is it not mere blindness that refuses to see the marvellous in our own sphere, and seeks it far away in old times, or on foreign shores? If we believe that God encompasses and pervades all human life, shall we not see Gods hand in all these things, and learn to look to Him with expectation, what, ever our circumstances may be?

I. Why, then, do we not expect marvellous things from God?

1. One reason is that we go too much by past experience. We have difficulty in rising above the familiar.

2. Some think too much of law. The idea of law pervading all things, not only facts and phenomena of nature, but thought and feeling, soul and heart, has wrought itself deep into many minds. There seems no room for the strange, the marvellous. Men forget two things, freedom and God. A spirit is something not included in the rigid system of law. A spirit is itself a cause, and originates. It produces. That lies in the very nature of a moral being; and God is infinitely free, and deals with the soul in ways unsearchable.

3. Men think only of their own working, and not of Gods. Consequently they settle down into small expectations.

4. We fear to lessen our own diligence by the expectation of great and marvellous things being done for us.

II. Some reasons why we should cherish the expectation of the great and marvellous. Such an expectation is essential to the praying spirit. Prayer expects great things. Could it not breathe courage and joy into us in our own individual sphere, if we could live habitually in the belief that God may do astonishing things for us--raising us out of difficulties, opening a way for us where none appears? (J. Leckie, D. D.)

Refer all to God

Zachary Macaulay and Wilberforce, the friends of slaves, lived near to each other and were great friends. The latter had such a high opinion of the learning of the former that when he wanted information about any matter he would cry jokingly, Come, let us look it out in Macaulay. To compare small things with great, this is just what we ought to do when in a moral difficulty. Come, we should say, let us look it out in Christ: what would He wish us to say or do in this matter? It is chiefly because the Bible tells us the mind of God as revealed in Jesus Christ that it is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. (Quiver.)

Which doeth great things and unsearchable.

The great God as viewed by an enlightened natural religionist

He regarded Him as--

I. A trustworthy God. Four things demonstrate the trustworthiness of the Almighty.

1. His love. We could not trust an unloving God. Before we commit our cause, our interest, our all to any being, we must be assured of his love to us.

2. His truthfulness. Truthfulness lies at the foundation of trustworthiness. It is, alas, too true that we trust the false, but we trust them believing that they are true. God is true in Himself. He is truth. He is the One Great Reality in the universe. God is true in His revelations. It is impossible for Him to lie.

3. His capacity. Capability of realising what we expect and need in the object in which we confide is essential to trustworthiness.

4. His constancy. Constancy is essential to trustworthiness.

II. That he regarded Him as a wonder working God. His God was not merely a trustworthy, but an active God.

1. Eliphaz refers to His works in general, which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number, or as the margin has it, till there be no number--passing beyond the bounds of arithmetical calculation. To all His numerous works he applies the epithets great, unsearchable, marvellous. His works in the material universe are wonderful. Go through all the scientific cyclopaedias in the libraries of the world, and you will only have a few specimens of His marvellous achievements. Take the microscope, and you may, like Leeuwenhoek, discover a thousand million animalculae, whose united bulk will not exceed the size of a grain of sand, and all having distinct, formations, with all the array of functions essential to life. Take the telescope: and survey the milky way, and you will find the central suns of a million systems all larger than the solar economy to which our little planet belongs. His works in the spiritual world are even more wonderful.

2. Eliphaz refers to His works in particular.

(1) He refers to the vegetable sphere. Who giveth rain upon the earth: and sendeth waters upon the fields. What a blessed thing is rain! In seasons of drought its value is deeply felt. Our little sages ascribe rain to certain laws: they point us to the shifting of winds and changing of temperatures as the causes of rain. But this old sage of Teman referred the showers to God. He giveth rain upon the earth. This is inspired philosophy.

(2) He refers to the human sphere. He sees God in human history. In Gods conduct towards mankind he sees two things. He favours the good. He confounds the evil. (Homilist.)

God a great worker

The works of God answer the style or attributes of God. He is a great God, and His are great works. The works of God speak a God. And here are four things spoken in this one verse, of the works of God, which speak aloud: this is the finger of God. I will first bundle them together, and then both take and weigh them asunder.

1. Great things,

2. Unsearchable.

3. Wonderful.

4. Innumerable; or without number.

No works of man or angel are capable of such a fourfold stamp as this; no, nor any one work of all the creatures put together. Man may fathom the works of man, his closest ways are not past finding out. More directly. First, He doth great things. There is a greatness upon everything God doth: the great God leaves, as it were, the print of His own greatness even upon those things which we account little: little works of Nature have a greatness in them considered as done by God; and little works of Providence have a greatness in them, considered as done by God: if the thing which God doth be not great in itself, yet it is great because He doth it. Again, when it is said God doth great things we must not understand it as if God dealt not about little things, or as if He let the small matters of the world pass, and did not meddle with them: great in this place is not exclusive of little, for, He doth not only great, but small, even the smallest things. The heathens said their Jupiter had no leisure to be present at the doing of small things, or it did not become him to attend them. God attendeth the doing of small things, and it is His honour to do so. You will say, What is this greatness, and what are these great things? I shall hint an answer to both, for the clearing of the words. There is a two-fold greatness upon the works of God. There is (so we may distinguish)--First, the greatness of quantity. Secondly, the greatness of quality or virtue. And as these works of creation, so the works of providence are great works: when God destroys great enemies, the greatness of His work is proclaimed. So, great works of mercy and deliverance to His people are cried up with admiration, and hath given us such a deliverance as this, saith Ezr_9:13. The spiritual works of God are yet far greater; the work of redemption is called a great salvation. It is the property of God to do great things: and because it is His property He can as easily do great things as small things. And if it be the property of God to do great things, then it is a duty in us to expect great things.

1. He that doth great works ought to have great praises.

2. Seeing God doth great works for us, let us show great zeal (J. Caryl.)great love unto the Lord.

Unsearchable.--

The works of God unsearchable

And these works are unsearchable, two ways. First, in regard of the manner of doing: we cannot find out the ways and contrivances of Gods work. His ways are in the deep, and His footsteps are not known. Secondly, His works are unsearchable in their causes or ends; what it is which God aims at or intends, what moves or provokes Him to such a course is usually a secret. He doth such things us no man can give an account of, or render a reason why. If the works of God are unsearchable, then, we are to submit unto the dispensations of God, whatsoever they are; though we are not able, according to reason, to give an account of them. (J. Caryl.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 5:8. I would seek unto God, &c. — If I were in thy condition, instead of accusing the dispensations of Divine Providence, and repining under them, I would apply to God, by a full and free confession of those sins which have drawn this sad calamity upon me, and by sincere repentance, humiliation, and submission to his will: to God, who is able to do wonders, (as he presently adds,) and who can and will restore thee to thy former happy state, if he sees that thou art penitent for thy past transgressions, and hast reformed thy conduct. For this is the whole purport of the following part of his speech, namely, to give him hopes of a happy turn to his condition, if he would do what he thought was absolutely necessary to be done in this case; make a frank confession of those crimes which had brought down this severe chastisement upon him. See Peters and Dodd. And unto God would I commit my cause — Would resign myself and all my concerns to him, and humbly hope for relief from him. And let my cause be what it would, and my own opinion of it ever so favourable, I would commit it wholly to him, and leave him to judge and determine it.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Fourth double strophe — GOD’S MORAL GOVERNMENT, Job_5:8-16.

First strophe — His government is as beneficent in the moral as in the natural world, Job_5:8-11.

8. I would seek — Literally, But I, I would seek. As for me, whatever others may do, I would seek unto God. He proposes to go, not to saints or angels, or through the medium of saints or angels, but directly to God himself.

God — The first name of God is El, the second Elohim. The first designation of God presents him as the mighty one; the second, as “God in the totality of his variously manifested nature.” He turns with strongest aversion from the thought of Job’s outcries of despair, in like manner as afterward (Job_22:18) from the spectacle of successful antediluvian sinners, and betakes himself to God.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:8 To go to God meant lodging a formal appeal with God for assistance, counsel, or vindication, sometimes by way of repentance (Amos 5:4, 6) and possibly through a prophetic oracle (Gen 25:22; 1 Sam 9:9; 1 Kgs 22:8). • Job wanted to present his case to God (Job 13:3, 15, 18; 23:3-8), and later he attempted to do so (29:1–31:40).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

If I suffered as thou doest, I would seek unto God.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 8. I would seek unto God] Were I in your place, instead of wasting my time, and irritating my soul with useless complaints, I would apply to my Maker, and, if conscious of my innocence, would confidently commit my cause to him.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

I would seek unto God,.... Or "truly" (e), "certainly, doubtless, I do seek unto God", verily I do so; for so the words are introduced in the original text, and express what Eliphaz had done when under afflictions himself; for he was not without them, though he had not them to such a degree as Job had; and when he was under them, this was the course he took; he sought unto God by prayer to support him under them, to sanctify them to him, and to deliver him out of them; and this he proposes for Job's imitation, and suggests, that if he was in his case, this would be the first step he should take; and good advice this is, nothing more proper for a man, especially a saint, than, when afflicted of God, to seek unto him, to seek his face and his favour, to entreat his gracious presence, and the discoveries of his love, that he may see that it is not in wrath, but in love, he afflicts him; to submit unto him, humble himself before him, acknowledge his sins, and implore his pardoning grace and mercy; to entreat him to help him, in this time of need, to exercise the graces of faith and patience, and every other; to desire counsel and advice how to behave under the present trial, and to be made acquainted with the reasons, ends, and uses of the dispensation, as well as to beg for strength to bear up under it, and in his own time to grant deliverance from it:

and unto God would I commit my cause; or "direct my word or speech" (f) to him; that is, in prayer, as Sephorno adds; I would, as if he should say, make known my case to him, tell him the whole of it, and pour out my soul before him; and then I would leave it with him, and not wrangle, quarrel, and contend with him, but say, "here am I, let him do what seemeth good unto him": some render the words, "truly", or "indeed I shall discourse concerning God, and order my speech about Deity" (g); I shall no longer insist on this subject, but drop it, and hereafter treat of God, his nature, being, and perfections, and particularly his works; though these are rather observed in the following verses, as so many arguments to engage Job to seek the Lord, and leave his case and cause to him.

(e) "profecto", Junius & Tremellius; "enimvero", Piscator, Cocceius, Schultens; "certe", Mercerus, Vatablus, Beza; "verum, enimvero", Schmidt, Michaelis; so Broughton. (f) "ponam eloquium meum", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus; "deponerem verba mea, i.e. dirigerem", Vatablus; "dirigerem sermonem meum", Beza, Michaelis; "dispose my talk unto God", Broughton. (g) "Enucleatius disseram de Deo, et de Numine instruam sermocinationem meam", Schultens.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I would seek unto God - Our translators have omitted here the adversative particle אוּלם 'ûlâm but, yet, nevertheless, and have thus marred the connection. The meaning of Eliphaz, I take to be, “that since affliction is ordered by an intelligent Being, and does not spring out of the ground, therefore he would commit his cause to God, and look to him.” Jerome has well expressed it, Quam ob rem ego deprecabor Dominum. Some have understood this as meaning that Eliphaz himself was in the habit of committing his cause to God, and that he exhorted Job to imitate his example. But the correct sense is that which regards it as counsel given to Job to look to God because afflictions are the result of intelligent design, and because God had shown himself to be worthy of the confidence of people. The latter point Eliphaz proceeds to argue in the following verses.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

I will, or if I were in your place, I would sue for pardon. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "I would seek unto God," (Haydock) under affliction. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

If I were in thy condition; and therefore I would advise thee to the same course.

Seek unto God, to wit, by prayer, and humiliation, and submission, imploring his pardon, and favour, and help, and not repine at him, and accuse his providence, as thou dost.

Would I commit my cause, i.e. commend my afflicted condition to him by fervent prayer, and resign myself and all my concerns to him, and humbly hope for relief from him. Or, propound my matters, i.e. make known my afflictions and requests to him; or, put or dispose my words, i.e. pray to him, and pour out my complaints before him.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

I would seek unto God; rather, as in the Revised Version; but as for me, I would seek"etc.; i.e. if the case were mine, if I were afflicted as thou art, I would not betake myself to any of the angels (see ver. 1), but would cast myself wholly upon God. It is necessarily implied that Job had not done so. And unto God would I commit my cause. (comp. Pro_16:3)

"I would seek unto God.

Wisely did Eliphaz urge his friend to seek refuge in the only true and safe resort. "Under his feathers shalt thou trust." In the midst of all sorrows is the Refuge of his saints, When storms of sharp distress invade; Ere we can offer our complaints, Behold him present with his aid." To seek this Refuge men are encouraged by

I THE GREATNESS OF THE DIVINE POWER. He "doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number." Of these beautiful illustrations are to be found on every hand in heaven, earth, the deep seas, in the processes of nature, in the government of men.

II THE DIVINE BENEFICENCE. His rich gifts made freely to the seas of men. "He giveth rain upon the earth which is at once a precious gift and a symbol of all blessings in its abundance, diffusion, preciousness, freeness to all. "He is kind to the evil and the unthankful, and sendeth rain upon the just and the unjust.

III THE DIVINE CONTROL OVER MEN. Especially illustrated in his dealing with the wicked. He takes compassion on the needy. "He setteth on high those that be low." He brings down the haughtiness of the foolish. He "disappointeth the devices of the crafty taketh the wicked in their own deceit.

IV THE DIVINE PITIFULNESS FOR THE POOR is a further encouragement to men to find their Refuge in God. He guardeth the poor and the feeble. He sayeth him from the sword of their mouth, their cruel words"and from the hand of the mighty. The Divine Help of the poor, men have sung in all ages. "So the poor hath hope; The poor committeth himself unto thee." In this Refuge he is safe. The day of his trouble passes away. A Divine hand, unseen, upholds him while the pressure is heavy. Of the poor, as of the sparrows, it must be said, "God feedeth them." If men knew the loving-kindness of the Lord, and his great pitifulness, they would put their trust in him more willingly, and would find help and comfort. R.G.

Vers. 8-16. Eliphaz to Job: 4. The saint"s confidence in God.

I THE SAINT"S CHARACTER DESCRIBED.

1. Negatively. By way of contrast to the ungodly, who are depicted as

(1) crafty, i.e. persons who cunningly concoct schemes against either God, Christ, or their neighbours; (Psa_2:2 Act_4:25-28)

(2) strong, i.e. violent, ferocious sinners, who use their swords as wild beasts their mouths, for devouring, eating up, God"s people as bread. (Psa_14:4)

2. Positively. Exhibiting them as

(1) humble (ver. 11), i.e. depressed or cast down, prostrated by affliction and, in consequence, dejected in spirit a common experience with God"s people;

(2) mourning (ver. 11), i.e. going in squalid garments, expressive of penitential sorrow and self-abasement, and wherever grace exists it excites such emotions in the heart;

(3) poor (ver. 16), i.e. weak, feeble, thin, slender, too destitute of strength to be able, and too gentle and patient to care, to resist the assaults of the ungodly. The three above-mentioned characteristics may be compared with the persons specified in the first three Beatitudes the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek. (Mat_5:3-5)

II THE SAINT"S GOD EXTOLLED.

1. As a God of power.

(1) Essentially great; El (ver. 8) denoting God as the Strong or Mighty One, and suggesting a contrast to the feebleness of the saint, and the violence of the saint"s oppressor above alluded to.

(2) Perpetually active; the omnipotence of God being not merely a potential ability residing in his infinite nature, but a vital energy continually proceeding forth in active operation. (Joh_5:17)

(3) Endlessly diversified; the plural Elohim (ver. 8) pointing out the totality of his variously manifested nature, and his wonders being declared to be beyond computation a statement whose correctness not even the discoveries of science have disproved.

(4) Infinitely marvellous are the great things he performs, transcending the highest efforts of the human intellect to explain, understand, or even compute. (Job_9:10 Job_11:7 Job_36:26 Psa_145:3)

2. As a God of benevolence. Operating:

(1) In the realm of nature; e.g by sending rain upon the earth a miracle of Divine power and wisdom (Job_28:26) to water the face of the thirsty soil, and cause the rivers to overflow their banks upon the pasture-grounds, to render them fruitful a miracle of Divine goodness; (Psa_68:9 Jer_5:24 Act_14:7) that he might deliver men from dismal apprehensions as to prospective failure in the promised harvest, and convert their doleful vaticinations into triumphant hallelujahs a miracle of grace and compassion. (Psa_147:8)

(2) In the sphere of humanity; e.g. by

(a) confounding the crafty, exploding their schemes, neutralizing their actions, outwitting their cunning, precipitating their purposes, so causing their best-concocted devices to appear structures of consummate folly, and themselves to look like stupid bunglers, as helpless and perplexed as men stumbling in the darkness of night; (examples: the tower-builders of Babel, Gen_11:1-9; Potiphar"s wife, Gen_39:1-23; Ahithophel, 2Sa_15:31; Haman, Est_7:10)

(b) rescuing the peer, delivering them from the hands of their enemies, (e.g. the Israelites from Egypt, Exo_18:10; St. Peter from Herod, Act_12:11; St. Paul from Nero, 2Ti_4:17) inspiring them with hope, and not only silencing their calumniators and oppressors, but sometimes striking them dumb with horror and amazement at God"s manifest interposition on behalf of his suffering servants.

III THE SAINT"S CONFIDENCE DECLARED.

1. Emphatically. "Nevertheless I would" do so and so. As Eliphaz delicately insinuated that Job was a fool, so here he does not hesitate to propose himself as the perfect model of a wise man. No doubt this resulted from want of modesty on the part of Eliphaz; but still, overlooking this, the bold, unhesitating character of his avowal is not altogether unworthy of imitation. God"s saints and Christ"s followers should never be ashamed to confess their confidence in God, or avow their attachment to Christ. (Mat_5:16 Mat_10:32 Rom_1:16)

2. Sincerely. "But I I would seek unto God; unto God would I commit my cause." The speaker signifies that his trust in God was no mere lip-profession, but a heart-emotion which would lead him, if circumstanced as Job was, to have recourse to God, and to commit his cause to the Godhead in prayer and in the exercise of faith. And certainly, if God should be sought for at all times, (1Ch_16:11) he should specially be resorted to in time of trouble (Psa_50:15) counsel and direction in it; for comfort and support under it; for grace to glorify God

3. Hopefully. Though not affirmed at the outset, it is clearly expressed at the end. "So," i.e. by going to God and committing one"s cause to him, "the poor hath hope; "God having revealed himself as the Hearer, and therefore as the Answerer, of prayer; (Exo_22:27 Job_12:4 Job_22:27 Psa_34:17 Psa_37:5 Mat_21:22 Php_4:6) and this being sufficient ground for the saint"s confident expectation that God will interpose for his succour and salvation.

Learn:

1. It is not enough to simply reprove those whom we believe to have erred; we must likewise instruct them how to amend.

2. The best thing to do with trouble of any sort is to carry it to the throne of grace, and leave it there.

3. There is no God like the saint"s God, the saint"s enemies themselves being judges.

4. God has given men and saints the highest reason to trust him: the first, the wonders of nature; the second, the marvels of grace.

5. The weakness of God is stronger than men, while the foolishness of God is wiser than men.

6. If God can turn the daylight into darkness round his enemies, he can also turn the darkness into light round himself and his people.

7. God can rescue his people from the greatest perils, from the mouth of the grave, and from the jaws of hell.

8. It is no vain thing to hope in God, since we are saved by hope, and God loveth them that hope in his mercy.

9. The tongues of wicked men, however they may now blaspheme the Name and revile the children of God, will yet be effectually put to silence.

10. When Christ comes at last to save his poor ones, the ungodly world will stand speechless and self-condemned.

I WHAT IT PRESUPPOSES.

1. Belief in the existence of God. (Heb_11:6)

2. Consciousness of need. (Jam_1:5)

3. Desire for Divine assistance. (Psa_63:1)

II WHAT IT IMPLIES.

1. A realization of God"s nearness to the soul. (Psa_145:18)

2. A solicitation of God"s help for the soul. (Mat_7:7 Heb_4:16)

3. An acceptation of God"s provisions for the soul. (Mat_5:6)

III WHAT IT PRODUCES.

1. Inward composure. (Isa_26:3)

2. Hopeful expectation. (Psa_42:11)

3. Ultimate salvation. (Psa_37:5 Pro 16:3Jo Pro_22:27)

Learn:

1. The grace of God in permitting men to seek him.

2. The wisdom of men in availing themselves of this permission.

HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 8-27. Refuge from trouble in the thought of God.

Conclusion of Eliphaz"s address. His language suddenly changes into a gentler strain. It is like the clearing of a dark sky, revealing once more the deep blue; or the bend of a stream which has been flowing through a stern gorge, now broadening out into a sunlit lake.

I THE GREATNESS AND BENEFICENCE OF GOD. (Vers. 8-16) Let men turn to him for comfort and for strength. It is a bright gem of description.

1. God is the Supreme. (Ver. 8) Let men look no lower than to the Highest. With him is the final appeal. He is Judge of all the earth. Clouds and darkness are round about him; but justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne.

2. He is the great Worker. His scale and sphere of operation is vast, immeasurable, unsearchable (ver. 9). His mode of operation is wonderful, past finding out. "His way is in the sea, his path in the great waters, his footsteps who has known?" The grandeur and marvel of his deeds are seen:

(1) In nature. (Ver. 10) One phenomenon is mentioned only as typical, in all important respects, of all the other tokens of his power in nature. It is the blessed gift of rain. For nothing in an Oriental clime speaks more powerfully to the senses and the feelings than this inestimable boon. Many other Scriptures witness this. First He gives the early and the latter rain;" "comes down like rain upon the mown grass," and "as showers that water the earth." "Tis he who causes the refreshing showers to fall upon the fields of both the just and the unjust. The French peasants say, as they watch the rain failing on their vineyards, "Voici le vin qui descend du ciel!" "Here comes down the wine from heaven!" But what good things do not come down from heaven in the rain from the ever-blessing God?

(2) In human life. In this broad field, common experience gains many a lesson of the same kind. Not one of the traits in this exquisite description of which the intelligent observer cannot say, "This is true to life!" He is seen to be the Exalter of the lowly and the sorrowful (ver. 11). Who has not had brought home to him in many an instance the sense of this truth in the course of life? What tales of obscure and lowly worth rising into eminence; of deserted widows and orphans finding springs of help and succour marvellously opened to them in the hour of need can we not all tell? And we take delight in these narratives because they convince us that the constitution of life is not the mere mindless machinery which godless thinkers would make it out to be. We see that selfish craft and cunning are in the end disappointed and baffled (ver. 12). Lies and cheats do not prosper long. The proverbs of the world bear their witness; common experience stamps them with the mark of truth. And this, too, is no accident, but the result of the righteous operation of God. We see that men overreach themselves and fall by their own snares (ver. 13). "Vaulting ambition doth o"erleap itself, and falls on t"other side." And the sight gives us a deep pleasure, whatever pity we may feel for the victim of his conceit and folly, because here again we receive a communication of the will of God. We see self-confident men plunged into perplexity, infatuated, unable to steer their path aright, though the light is lull and clear about them (ver. 14). There is a judicial blindness to be observed in certain cases; so that those who, in the pursuit of passion or interest, have extinguished conscience, become at last unable to see even their own interest, and make suicidal mistakes. Here, too, is the finger of a higher Power.

3. The object of Divine operation. (Vers. 15, 16) In both nature and human life it is one to lessen suffering, to protect innocence, to deliver from violence and persecution.

II THE BLESSING OF DIVINE CHASTISEMENT. (Vers. 17-27) From the general evidences of the beneficence of God, we come down to one special and peculiar form of it, He is good to us in our pains as well as in our pleasures. His power is exercised to purify and chasten as well as to destroy. The recognition of this truth is one of the leading features of Scripture revelation. How different from the gloomy creed of the most enlightened heathen concerning suffering sent from heaven! He felt the wrath of his gods, but he never knew their blows as signs of a secret and remedial love. Where there is no belief in supreme righteousness, suffering must always be without relief. The blessedness here described is both internal and external.

1. Internal. The man is blessed

(1) who recognizes his sufferings as corrections. Then their worst bitterness passes; despondency is cheered; hope dawns in the heart. He is blessed

(2) who rejects not the warnings which they bring. He willingly takes the medicine, and submits to the direction of the heavenly Physician. But they aggravate their sufferings and inflame their ills who know they are being corrected, yet refuse to take the Divine hint for amendment; who are like the stubborn horse or ass chafing at the bit, resisting the guidance of the rein. He is blessed

(3) who yields himself up implicitly to the Divine treatment, suffers his evils to be expelled, his follies to be plucked up by the roots. He is blessed

(4) because he is thus brought into the deeper knowledge and fellowship of God. To know God as the Almighty Benefactor is one step in religion; to know him as the Almighty Chastiser is another and a higher. And this is never reached except through suffering, the deeper consciousness of sin, struggles with self, a higher purity, and a deeper peace.

2. External. The man at peace with himself and with God seems to bear a charmed life (ver. 19).

(1) Be defended from outward evils. (Vers. 20-22) He passes through seas of trouble, and rides upon the crest of each advancing wave; passes through fire, and it hurts him not. The greatest outward calamities are mentioned, only to show how he rises superior to them all. "Famine." The histories of Elijah, of the widow of Zarephath, of the temptation of Jesus Christ, all illustrate the grand truth that man"s strength is derived, not from bread alone, but directly from the Word and will of God. The truth is a general one. It is that expressed by St. Paul that, though the outward man perish, the inward man may be renewed day by day. "The power of the sword," "devastation," "famine," "wild beasts," form the catalogue of the ills most common and most dreaded in ancient times. None of these can harm the man who is reconciled to God. The truth again is general, and admits of a twofold application. In the first place, history is full of the providential escapes of good men, in which every discerning mind will see the hand of God. But there are exceptions. No law of nature is set aside. The sword of the foe, the tooth of the lion, is not blunted, nor is the body hardened against hunger. Good men, like others, perish from these causes. But here the truth applies in another way. The souls of the martyrs flee to the altar of heaven. (Rev_6:9) or are borne from the scene of suffering to that of rest, as Lazarus to the besom of Abraham. In either case they are unharmed and happy in God. But another evil, more keenly felt in more civilized times, is the "scourge of the tongue." Slander"Whose edge is sharper than the sword; whose tongue Outvenoms all the worms of Nile; whose breath Rides on the posting winds, and doth belie All comers of the world kings, queens, and states, Maids, matrons nay, the secrets of the grave This viperous slander enters.

From this fearful scourge the blessed man is hidden, protected. Good men are often attacked, but cannot be destroyed, by slander. They do not feel it as do the consciously guilty. They, in the beautiful words of the psalm, are kept "secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues." The slanderer does service to the upright man in the end by forcing him into a position of self-defence, or of silent dignity, which brings the true qualities of his character into a clearer light.

(2) He is favoured with outward good. (Vers. 23-27) The stones that afflict the fields with barrenness, the devouring beasts, seem to be in secret pact with him and refuse to do him harm. This is poetry wrapping up truth. We are reminded of the beautiful ode of the Roman poet (Horace, 1:22), where, dwelling on the theme that innocence is its own protection, its own arms, he tells as of the weft that fled from him all unarmed in the Sabine wood. The whole picture is that of the quiet pastoral life which we love to associate with innocence and the protection of Heaven. There is comfort in his tent; when he visits his pastures, no head of cattle is missing (for this is perhaps the true meaning of the latter clause of ver. 24). Children and children"s children spring up around him; till he comes to his end crowned with silver hair, like the ripe sheaf carried home to the garner. With this description compare the noble ninety-first psalm. Eliphaz emphatically declares (ver. 27) this to have been his experience. It was a picture drawn from life. We cannot doubt that it was realized in numberless instances in those early conditions of life; nay, it is so still. It hardly comes within the scope of such poetry to recognize the actual or seeming exceptions. And if we do not see the universal truth of the description of the good man"s career, we must recollect that life is a far more complicated and many sided affair with us. It is far more difficult to trace the connection of cause anti effect in the various courses of men. And we have this immense advantage over this early teacher that we have a clearer view, a firmer belief of the extension of man"s career into eternity. All that appears exceptional and opposed to the laws of life laid down by Eliphaz, we doubt not, will be compensated and redressed in a future state. J.

Vers. 8-16. Seeking unto God.

As usual, the advice of Eliphaz is excellent in the abstract. The error is in the particular way of applying it to Job. Here is the sting of it. But its general truth is always instructive. This is certainly the case with the recommendation to "seek unto God.

I INQUIRE WHAT IT IS TO SEEK UNTO GOD.

1. It begins with remoteness from God. We have lost God if we have to seek him, as we need not think of finding what we already possess and enjoy. God is lost by sin; but the sense of God"s presence is often deadened by the oppression of sorrow and by the intrusion of worldly scenes.

2. It means an earnest effort of the soul. We are not to wait for God to come to us, but to "seek unto" him. This requires the mind and will. We have to be watchful to note any indications of his presence, and active in pressing forward towards him.

3. It implies that God can be found. It is useless to seek for that which is hopelessly lost or absolutely unattainable. If we seek, we must expect to find. This process would be folly in the eyes of the Agnostic. Now, the encouragement is that others have sought and found God. They have seen him, not with bodily vision, indeed, but with true spiritual experience. Job himself did seek God, and he found him at last; for he exclaimed, in a magnificent burst of thankful gladness, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee". (Job_42:5)

4. It leads to confidence. It is useless to seek God out of mere curiosity. We have much to do with him when we find him. But first of all we must place entire confidence in him, confessing to him our sin and our sore need.

II CONSIDER THE ENCOURAGEMENTS THAT INVITE US TO SEEK UNTO GOD. The author of the Book of Job is a great lover of nature. Scenes from the physical world, more especially in its majesty and grandeur, fill his spacious canvass in later stages. Here we come upon the first burst of that glory of nature which shines out with ever-increasing volume as we proceed through the book. This leads on to the wonderful.

(1) The greatness great things;

(2) the mystery unsearchable;" and

(3) the variety of God"s works in nature things without number" (ver. 9).

Therefore he must be able to help us all in all kinds of trouble.

1. The graciousness of God in his milder works. This is illustrated by the phenomenon of rain (ver. 10). "He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass". (Psa_72:6) Therefore "the bruised reed will he not break," etc. (Isa_42:3)

2. God"s goodness to the lowly. He sets up on high those that be low (ver. 11). Therefore to be humiliated is to have a special reason for expecting his help.

3. His judgments in defeating the crafty (vers. 12-14). His very wrath brings mercy to the oppressed. The poor man cannot escape from his unjust oppressor; but God can bring deliverance. With him is the final court of appeal, and there right is always rendered, there the rich have no favour and the cunning no opportunity of cheating justice.

4. God"s deliverance of the poor and helpless. He is "a just God and a Saviour and he delights to reveal himself in the activity of grace redeeming and recovering his suffering children. With such manifestations of the power and goodness of God in nature and providence the troubled soul may well seek unto him for deliverance. W.F.A.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I would - If I were in thy condition. Seek - By prayer, and humiliation, and submission, imploring his pardon, and favour.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

In these verses, Eliphaz continues his speech from Job 4:01. The writer continues to use parallelism in each verse, conveying a single idea using two different statements to emphasize that Job needs to plead his case to God who does wonderful things. (See: Parallelism)

great and unsearchable things, marvelous things without number

"great things that cannot be understood, wonders that cannot be counted"

unsearchable things

This refers to things that mankind cannot understand. (See: Metaphor)

great and unsearchable things

Here the writer uses two independent words connected by "and" to emphasize the greatness of God's actions. AT: "greatly profound things" (See: Hendiadys)

marvelous things

"wonderful things" or "wonders"

translationWords

turn

God

amazed

earth

water

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

But I would seek of God If these pains came over me, I would appeal to the Holy One, blessed be He, with prayer and supplication, and if I would commit my cause to a request.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.