Holy Bible

Then answered Zophar the Naamathite. Job 11:1-6 The attitude of Job's friends Dean Bradley. In this chapter Zophar gives his first speech, and it is sharper toned than those which went before. The three friends have now all spoken. Your sympathies perhaps are not wholly on their side. Yet do not let us misjudge them, or assail them with the invectives which Christian writers hurled against them for centuries. Do not say, as has been said by the great Gregory , that these three men are types of God's worst enemies, or that they scarcely speak a word of good, except what they have learned from Job. Is it not rather true that their words, taken by themselves, are far more devout, far more fit for the lips of pious, we may even say, of Christian men, than those of Job? Do they not represent that large number of good and God-fearing men and women, who do not feel moved or disturbed by the perplexities of life; and who resent as shallow, or as mischievous, the doubts to which those perplexities give rise in the minds of others, of the much afflicted, or the perplexed, or of persons reared in another school than their own, or touched by influences which have never reached themselves? So Job's friends try in their own way to "justify the ways of God to man" — a noble endeavour, and in doing this, they have already said much which is not only true, but also most valuable. They have pleaded on their behalf the teaching, if I may so speak, of their Church, the teaching handed down from antiquity, and the experiences of God's people. They have a firm belief, not only in God's power, but in His unerring righteousness. They hold also the precious truth that He is a God who will forgive the sinner, and take back to His favour him who bears rightly the teaching of affliction. Surely, so far, a very grand and simple creed. We shall watch their language narrowly, and we shall still find in it much to admire, much with which to sympathise, much to treasure and use as a storehouse of Christian thought. We shall see also where and how it is that they misapplied the most precious of truths, and the most edifying of doctrines; turned wholesome food to poison; pressed upon their friend half truths, which are sometimes the worst of untruths. We shall note also no less that want of true sympathy, of the faculty of entering into the feelings of men unlike themselves, and of the power of facing new views or new truths, which has so often in the history of the Church marred the character and impaired the usefulness of some of God's truest servants. We shall see them, lastly, in the true spirit of the controversialist, grow more and more embittered by the persistency in error, as they hold it, of him who opposes them. The true subject of this sacred drama is unveiling itself before our eyes. Has he who serves God a right to claim exemption from pain and suffering? Is such pain a mark of God's displeasure, or may it be something exceedingly different? Must God's children in their hour of trial have their thoughts turned to the judgment that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah, or shall they fix them on "the agony and bloody sweat" of Him whose coming in the flesh we so soon commemorate? ( Dean Bradley. ) Questionable reproving and necessary teaching Homilist. I. QUESTIONABLE REPROOF. Reproof is often an urgent duty. It is the hardest act of friendship, for whilst there are but few men who do not at times merit reprehension, there are fewer still who will graciously receive, or even patiently endure a reproving word, and "Considering," as John Foster has it, "how many difficulties a friend has to surmount before he can bring, himself to reprove me, I ought to be much obliged to him for his chiding words." The reproof which Zophar, in the first four verses, addressed to Job suggests two remarks. 1. The charges he brings against Job, if true, justly deserve reproof. What does he charge him with?(1) Loquacity. "Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should not a man full of talk be justified?" As the tree with the most luxuriant leafage is generally least fruitful, so the man "full of talk" is, as a rule, most empty. It is ever true that in the "multitude of words there wanteth not sin," and "every man should be swift to hear and slow" to speak. He charges him(2) With falsehood. "Should thy lies make men hold their peace?" For "lies," in the margin we have "devices." Zophar means to say that much of what Job said was not according to truth, not fact, but the ungrounded inventions or fancies of his own mind. He charges him(3) With irreverence. "And when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?"(4) With hypocrisy. "But thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in mine eyes." 2. The charges, if true, could not justify the spirit and style of the reproof. Considering the high character and the trying circumstances of Job, and the professions of Zophar as his friend, there is a heartlessness and an insolence in his reproof most reprehensible and revolting. There is no real religion in rudeness; there is no Divine inspiration in insolence. Reproof, to be of any worth, should not merely be deserved, but should be given in a right spirit, a spirit of meekness, tenderness, and love. "Reprehension is not an act of butchery, but an act of surgery," says Seeker. There are those who confound bluntness with honesty, insolence with straightforwardness. The true reprover is of a different metal, and his words fall, not like the rushing hailstorm, but like the gentle dew. II. NECESSARY TEACHING. These words suggest that kind of teaching which is essential to the well-being of every man. 1. It is intercourse with the mind of God. "Oh that God would speak, and open His lips against thee." The great need of the soul is direct communication with God. All teachers are utterly worthless unless they bring God in contact with the soul of the student. If this globe is to be warmed into life the sun must do it. 2. It is instruction in the wisdom of God. "And that He would show thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is!" God's wisdom is profound; it has its "secrets." God's wisdom is "double," it is many folded; fold within fold, without end. 3. It is faith in the forbearing love of God. "Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth." ( Homilist. ) Multitudinous words J. Landor. I have always a suspicion of sonorous sentences. The full shell sounds little, but shows by that little what is within. A bladder swells out more with wind than with oil. ( J. Landor. ) Canst thou by searching find out God? Job 11:7 The unsearchableness of God P. B. Power, M. A. You are not to suppose that your God is to be utterly unknown, and that because your faculties cannot pierce the inmost recesses of His being, therefore you are discharged from the duty of thinking about Him at all. Your faculties were given you for use, and the highest exercise of which they are capable is thought on God. 1. The duty of searching into Divine things is one recognised and acted out by very few. Let your own observations convince you of this. It is only by a knowledge of God's character that we can hope to keep His law. 2. The proper objects of the search. Such as God's mind about you. God in His dispensations and His ways. This is practical; and it is far more profitable to spend our energies on such considerations as these, than on speculations which are too deep for us, at least while we are on this side the grave, and in the flesh. To know God's mind about Himself, I invite even the man that would study the character of the Most High, and would "know the Lord." 3. What measure of success in such study may we expect? Success will not be limited to improvement. It will bring consolation. ( P. B. Power, M. A. ) God incomprehensible by His creatures N. Emmons, D. D. That there is a first and supreme cause, who is the Creator and Governor of the universe, is a plain and obvious truth which forces itself upon every attentive mind; so that many have argued the existence of God, from the unanimous consent of all nations to this great and fundamental truth. But though we may easily conceive of the existence of the Deity, yet His nature and perfections surpass the comprehension of all minds but His own. I. GOD IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE IN RESPECT TO THE GROUND OF HIS EXISTENCE. God owes His existence to Himself, yet we are obliged to suppose there is some ground or reason of His existing, rather than not existing. We cannot conceive of any existence which has no ground or foundation. The ground or reason of God's existence must be wholly within Himself. What that something in Himself is, is above the comprehension of all created beings. II. GOD IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE IN RESPECT TO MANY OF HIS PERFECTIONS. 1. Eternity. God is eternal. He never had a beginning. We can conceive of a future, but not of a past eternity. That a being should always exist without any beginning is what men will never be able to fathom, either in this world, or that which is to come. 2. Omnipresence. The immensity of the Divine presence transcends the highest conceptions of created beings. God is equally present with each of His creatures, and with all His creatures at one and the same instant. 3. Power. God can do everything. His power can meet with no resistance or obstruction. Who can stay His hand? The effects of Divine power are astonishing. 4. Knowledge. That knowledge takes in all objects within the compass of possibility. Such knowledge is wonderful; it is high; we cannot attain unto it. 5. The moral perfections of God in extent and degree surpass our limited views. III. GOD IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE IN HIS GREAT DESIGNS. None of the creatures of God can look into His mind and see all His views and intentions as they lie there. His counsels will of necessity remain incomprehensible, until His Word or providence shall reveal them to His intelligent creatures. IV. HE IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE IN HIS WORKS. Their nature, number, and magnitude stretch beyond the largest views of creatures. No man knows how second causes produce their effects; nor how the material system holds together and hangs upon nothing. V. HE IS UNSEARCHABLE IN HIS PROVIDENCE. Whatever God has done, He always intended to do; but we do not know at present all the reasons of His conduct, nor all the consequences that will flow from it. Respecting future events, God has drawn over them an impenetrable veil. Improve and apply the subject. 1. In a very important sense God is truly infinite. To be incomprehensible is the same as to be infinite. 2. The incomprehensible nature of the Supreme Being does by no means preclude our having clear and just conceptions of His true character. 3. If God be incomprehensible by His creatures, we have no reason to deny our need of a Divine revelation. 4. If God is incomprehensible in His nature and perfections, then it is no objection against the Divinity of the Bible that it contains some incomprehensible mysteries. 5. Then it is very unreasonable to disbelieve anything which He has been pleased to reveal concerning Himself, merely because we cannot comprehend it. 6. Ministers ought to make it their great object in preaching, to unfold the character and perfections of the Deity. ( N. Emmons, D. D. ) The incomprehensibleness of God Richard Lucas, D. D. Job, in the foregoing chapter, carried the justification of his integrity so far that he seemed to entrench somewhat rudely on the justice of providence. Zophar, therefore, to repress this insolence, and vindicate the Divine honour, lays before him the incomprehensibleness and majesty of God. I. ASSERT AND ILLUSTRATE THE DOCTRINE OF THE TEXT. That God is incomprehensible. If in the Godhead we gaze and pry too boldly into eternal generation and procession, and the ineffable unity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, it will but dazzle and confound our weak faculties. All the attributes of God are infinite in their perfection, and whosoever goes about to fathom what is infinite, is guilty of the folly of that countryman, in the poem, who sitting on the bank side, expects to see the stream run quite away, and leave its channel dry; but that runs on, and will do so to all ages. We cannot comprehend the whole extent of God's moral attributes. Though God were so far discoverable by the light of reason, as served to render the idolatry and wickedness of the pagan world inexcusable ( Romans 1 ), yet God being infinite, and His perfections a vast abyss, there are therefore mysteries in the Godhead which human reason cannot penetrate, heights which we cannot soar. II. REFLECTIONS UPON THIS PROPOSITION. Use it — 1. To let out the tumour of self-conceit. 2. To justify our belief of mysteries. 3. To vindicate the doctrine of providence. The incomprehensibleness of God solves all the difficulties that clog the doctrine of providence. ( Richard Lucas, D. D. ) God incomprehensible G. Burder. That there is a God is almost the universal belief of mankind. There are few absolute atheists. Zophar reproves Job for pretending to a perfect knowledge of God. The charge implies that God is incomprehensible. We cannot perfectly understand His works, His ways, His Word, or His attributes — such as His eternity, power, wisdom, and knowledge, holiness, justice, goodness. Practical lessons — 1. We should learn to be humble. 2. Infer how base a thing is idolatry, or image worship. 3. If God is incomprehensibly glorious, how should we admire and adore Him! 4. Let us calmly submit to all His dispensations in providence. 5. Seeing that the nature of God is so wonderfully glorious, let us study to know Him. 6. Learn the reasonableness of faith. 7. This subject should render the heavenly state exceedingly desirable; for in that state "we shall know even as we are known." ( G. Burder. ) The incomprehensibleness of God J. Tillotson, D. D. This term or attribute is a relative term, and speaks a relation between an object and a faculty, between God and a created understanding. God knows Himself, but He is incomprehensible to His creatures. Give the proof of the doctrine — I. BY WAY OF INSTANCE OR INDUCTION OF PARTICULARS. 1. Instances on the part of the object. The nature of God, the excellency and perfection of God, the works and ways of God, are above our thoughts and apprehensions. We can only understand God's perfections as He communicates them, and not as He possesses them. We must not frame notions of them contrary to what they are in the creature, nor must we limit them by what they are in the creature. The ways of God's providence are not to be traced. We take a part from the whole, and consider it by itself, without relation to the whole series of His dispensations. 2. Instances on the part of the subject, or the persons capable of knowing, God in any measure. The perfect knowledge of God is above a finite creature's understanding. Wicked men are full of false apprehensions of God. And good men have some false apprehensions. The angels do not arrive at perfect knowledge of Him. II. BY WAY OF CONVICTION. If the creature be unsearchable, is not the Creator much more unsearchable. He possesses all the perfections which He communicates, and many which cannot be communicated to a creature. III. THE CLEAR REASON OF IT. Which is this — the disproportion between the faculty and the object; the finiteness of our understandings, and the infiniteness of the Divine nature and perfections. Apply this doctrine — 1. It calls for our admiration, and veneration, and reverence. 2. It calls for humility and modesty. 3. It calls for the highest degree of our affection. ( J. Tillotson, D. D. ) Doctrine of Trinity not a contradiction to reason H. Melvill, B. D. The doctrine of the Trinity is not at all more incomprehensible than others to which no opposition is offered. A man can comprehend the Trinity as well as he can the eternity of God, or the omnipresence of God. 1. Certain considerations from which you will infer the presumption of expecting that the nature of God should be either discernible or demonstrable by reason. If we would but observe how little way our reason can make when labouring amongst things with which we are every day conversant, we should be prepared to expect that when applied to the nature of the Deity, it would be found altogether incompetent to the unravelling and comprehending of it. We are to ourselves a mystery. There is a presumption which outweighs language in expecting that we can apprehend what is God, and how He subsists. A revelation from God may be expected to contain much which must overmatch all but the faith of mankind. We are continually in the habit of admitting things on the testimony of experience, which without such experience we should reject as incredible. We may assert this in respect to many of those operations of nature which are going on daily and hourly around us, e.g. , husbandry. We do not, in regard of the things of this lower creation, measure what we believe by what we can demonstrate. Where then is the justice and the reasonableness of our carrying up to the highest investigations of God a rule which, if applied to the facts or phenomena of nature, would make us doubt the one half, and disbelieve the other? If we reject one property of God, because incomprehensible, we must, if consistent, reject almost every other. This is not sufficiently observed. It is customary to fasten on the mystery of the Trinity as the great incomprehensible in God, and to speak of it as tasking our reason in a measure far higher than the rest. We admit that whilst the whole of a revelation may be above our reason, there may be parts which seem contrary to it; and if there exists a repugnance between reason and revelation, we do right in withholding our assent. If it could be shown that the received doctrine of the Trinity did violence to the conclusions of reason, there would be good ground for rejecting that doctrine and regarding the Bible as wrongly interpreted. 2. There is no repugnance to reason in the doctrine of the Trinity. It is above reason, but not contrary to reason. The sense in which God is three, is not the sense in which God is one. The doctrine stated with simplicity, the doctrine that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are so distinct as not to be one with the other, and so united as to be one God, carries nothing on its front to convict it of absurdity. There is no contradiction in three being one, unless it be said that the three are one in the same respect. We are not now endeavouring to establish the fact that Scripture teaches the doctrine of the Trinity; we only show that there is nothing in the doctrine which reason can prove impossible. The testimonies of Scripture to the Divinity of Father, Son, and Spirit, are numerous and explicit; the declarations that there is only one God rival these in amount and clearness. You will be told that this doctrine is a speculative thing; that even if it is true, it is not fundamental; and that, whatsoever place it may fill in scholastic theology, it is of little or no worth in practical Christianity. Remember one truth. If the doctrine of the Trinity be a false doctrine, your Redeemer, Jesus Christ, was nothing more than a man. The Divinity of Christ stands or falls with the Trinity or Unity. ( H. Melvill, B. D. ) Feelings after God David Swing. When the Creator formed man He placed within him a religious sentiment, a sense of a superior existence, and this being the nature of the subjective mind, the outer realm became at once peopled with supernatural creatures. The religious feeling in the soul, in the first years of its strivings, saw gods in every storm, and in every ray of sunshine, and in all the shadows of the night. Paul says God so made the rational world, that they should "seek the Lord, if haply they may feel after Him, and find Him." All the mythological and theological phenomena of the past are manifestations of this feeling after the true God. Christ stands the nearest of all alleged divinities to any historical fact. There have been claims to Divine honours set up by others. Christ stands farthest from myth, and nearest to reality. Think of the less questionable elements in this historic fact. 1. It was a great gain to our race that at last the search for an Incarnation came up to a real, visible being. Man had gone about as far as he could upon a theology of legend and absurdity. There was no valuable religious faith in the world at the time of the Advent. The Roman Empire had all forms of greatness except religious faith. Mankind will always exchange legend for history. The development of reason works against myth and in favour of the actual. Examine further the quality of this Christ idea. It was the first incarnation lying within the field of evidence. How far was this Christ an-incarnation of the Divine? 2. It should soften our judgment that we do not know the nature of Deity. There is every reason for supposing that man was created in the intellectual likeness of God, and hence for God to become manifest in Christ was only a filling to the full of a cup partly filled in the creation of man. Man himself held a part of the Divine image. Christ held it all. The picture of Jesus Christ is the best picture conceivable of a mingling of the earthly and the heavenly. The whole scene is above life and below the infinite. It was God brought down, and man lifted up. ( David Swing. ) How can I know there is a God Charles Leach, D. D. ? — A knowledge of God is necessary. It is important to have strong faith in God. I. I KNOW THERE IS A GOD, BECAUSE HE HAS REVEALED HIMSELF TO MEN. In all ages God has spoken to men, and given them a knowledge of Himself. All along the ages God was constantly speaking to men, and revealing Himself to His people. As large numbers of these men gave their lives as witnesses for God's revelation, I believe their testimony, and am aided in searching to know God for myself. II. BECAUSE HE HAS REVEALED HIMSELF TO ME. In three ways — 1. In His Holy Word. 2. In the world in which I live. 3. In my own heart, and soul, and life. III. BECAUSE HE MADE THE WORLD. It could not have made itself. IV. BECAUSE I CAN SEE HIS WISDOM IN THE HARMONY AND DESIGN WHICH EXIST IN THE WORLD. Wherever you see design, you may be sure there has been a designer. Things do not happen by chance. V. I AM CONFIRMED IN MY KNOWLEDGE OF GOD WHEN I LEARN THAT MEN EVERYWHERE HAVE BELIEVED IN GOD. Go wherever you will, you will find men who believe in God. Rather than be without God, men will make one. The universal failure of man has not been to have no God, but to have too many. ( Charles Leach, D. D. ) Searching after God Homilist. I. This is a RIGHTEOUS occupation. 1. It agrees with the profoundest instincts of our souls. "My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God." It is the hunger of the river for the ocean — every particle heaves towards it, and rests not until it finds it. 2. It is stimulated by the manifestations of nature. His footprints are everywhere, and they invite us to pursue His march. 3. It is encouraged by the declarations of the Bible. "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him whilst He is near." 4. It is aided by the manifestations of Christ. "Christ is the brightness of His Father's glory," etc. II. This is a USEFUL occupation. 1. There is no occupation so spirit-quickening. The idea of God to the soul is what the sunbeam is to nature. No other idea has such a life-giving power. 2. There is no occupation so spirit-humbling. 3. There is no occupation so spirit-ennobling. When the soul feels itself before God, the majesty of kings, and the splendour of empires are but childish toys. III. This is an ENDLESS occupation. "Canst thou by searching find out God?" Never fully. The finite can never comprehend the Infinite. 1. This endless work agrees with the inexhaustible powers of our nature. Searching after anything less than the Infinite would never bring out into full and vigorous action the immeasurable potentialities within us. 2. This endless work agrees with the instinct of mystery within us. The soul wants mystery. Without mystery there is no inquisitiveness, no wonder, no adoration, no self-abnegation. ( Homilist. ) The Divine nature incomprehensible James Roe, M. A. Mankind supremely desire knowledge. In the pursuit of it every encouragement should be given. Yet there is a sort of knowledge which some busy and unsatisfied tempers are too inquisitive after. It is out of this arrogant deceit that they take upon them to be so well acquainted with the Divine nature, and to fathom all the deep things of God. As the term God must imply in it every perfection that is conceivable of a power infinitely superior to us, the very idea of such a Being must be sufficient to make us stand in awe and keep our distance. What ought effectually to deter and discourage too bold researches into the Divine nature is — I. THAT IT SEEMS TO BE A SIN TO ATTEMPT TO FIND IT OUT. Our lust after knowledge should be put under restraint. It was a forbidden curiosity that ruined the first members of our race. Certain it is that we are under limitations; and it must be very unadvised to pretend to find out God to perfection. And — II. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ACCOMPLISH IT. Neither prophets nor apostles were capable of comprehending all knowledge: at least they were not thought fit to be entrusted with more important discoveries. Some things angels even might not look into. Will reason supply the deficiency? The immensity of the Divine nature, and the weakness of human capacities, will be perpetual discouragements to such a rash experiment. It is true that the eternal power and Godhead of the Creator are so easily deducible from the things that are made, that those are pronounced without excuse that do not discern them, and act agreeably to their conviction. But what is man that he should with so much impatience covet to know the hidden things of God before the time? Secret things belong unto God. Highly then does it concern us to cheek that petulant and wanton desire of prying into things which God hath industriously concealed from us. We may know quite enough to make us religious here, and happy hereafter. It is not unreasonable to believe that it will be one of the beatitudes of good men to have their understandings enlarged at the great day of the manifestation of all things. Let no one fancy he is injured, or that God's ways are not equal, in not suffering us at present to see Him as He is; since He never intended that this life should be a state of perfection in any kind. Let us be thankful that God has graciously revealed to us the way of salvation, and not be dissatisfied that He hath not given us to understand all mysteries and all knowledge. ( James Roe, M. A. ) The incomprehensibleness of the Divine nature and perfection H. Groves. 1. We can apprehend that God is a being of all possible perfection. He is the first, or self-existent being. What has no cause for its existence, we naturally think can have no bounds. 2. We cannot find God out to perfection. Were He less perfect, the attempt might not be so utterly impossible. That we cannot perfectly know God may be argued from the narrowness of our faculties, and from the great disadvantages for knowing God which we lie under in the present state. Moreover God is infinite, and all created understandings are but finite. We cannot fathom infinite perfection with the short line of our reason; or soar to boundless heights with our feeble wing; or stretch our thoughts till they are commensurate to the Divine immensity. Consider some particular perfections — eternity, immensity, omniscience, and omnipotence. Consider the moral attributes of God His holiness, goodness, justice, truth. Practical reflections — 1. Let us adore this incomprehensible Being. It is the grandeur, the infinity of His perfections which makes Him a proper object of adoration. 2. Whenever we are thinking or speaking of God, let us carry this in our minds, that He is incomprehensible. This will influence us to think and speak honourably of Him. 3. This will help us to form a more raised conception of the happiness of the heavenly state. ( H. Groves. ) The incomprehensibleness of God H. Groves. I. AS TO THE CREATION. That work of God is perfect, with regard to the ends for which it was designed. But our wisdom is not sufficient always to trace out the Divine. 1. We cannot perfectly understand the production and disposal of things at the beginning. Creation is of two kinds: out of nothing, and out of pre-existent matter. Of creation out of nothing, it is not possible that we should form the least conception. Of creation out of preexistent matter we can have some idea, but only an inadequate one. 2. We cannot perfectly understand the causes of things in the stated course of nature. A thousand questions might be started, about which the wisest philosophers can only offer their conjectures. The way of God is too deep and winding for us to find out. We have no reason to boast of our knowledge of the works of God, since what we know not is much more considerable than what we know. 3. We cannot perfectly understand the reasons and ends for which all things are what they are, and their exact adjustment and correspondence to these ends. The general and ultimate end of all things is the glory of God. And we can perceive that things are admirably fitted to answer this end. Yet we do not clearly understand in what manner each thing contributes to this purpose. We should be cautioned against censuring any of the works of God in our thoughts, because we are not able to tell what good they answer. II. AS TO PROVIDENCE. We can easily demonstrate that there is a providence, and this, in all its dispensations, consonant to the perfections of God, but we can by no means fathom all the depths of it. Some instances may be given in which the unsearchableness of the ways of providence appears. Such as — 1. God's manner of dealing with the race of mankind, especially in suffering it to be in a state so full of sin and confusion, of imperfection and misery. 2. The providence of God, as exercised over His Church, is beyond our deciphering. Why is the Church so small; and why has it been so overrun with errors and corruptions? 3. The providence of God in weighing out the fates of kingdoms, nations, and families. Baffled as we are in our attempts to solve a thousand perplexing difficulties which present themselves to our minds, we should inquire with modesty, judge with caution, and always remember that God is not bound to give us any account of His matters. 4. The providence of God in relation to particular persons will be forever inexplicable. Some reasons why the ways of providence are inscrutable may be given. We have not a thorough insight into the nature of man. God governs man according to the nature He has given. The ends of providence are unknown to us, or known very imperfectly; therefore they appear to us so perplexed and intricate. 5. Only a small part of providence comes under our notice and observation. How then can we know the beauty of the whole? The subject teaches the greatest resignation both of mind and heart. ( H. Groves. ) Difficulties concerning God's providence R. Fiddes. Zophar reproved Job as if he had replied against God in order to justify himself. The argument upon which Zophar proceeds is this, That after all our inquiries concerning the nature or attributes of God, and the reasons of His conduct, we are still to seek, and shall never be able perfectly to comprehend or account for them. But we may upon a modest and pious search have a true notion of God's attributes, and justify His providential dispensation. Difficulties — I. IN RELATION TO THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES. By our strongest efforts we cannot know what the essential properties are of a Being infinitely perfect. By the attributes of God, we are to understand the several apprehensions we have of Him according to the different lights wherein our minds are capable of beholding Him, or the different subjects upon which He is pleased to operate. 1. With respect to God's power. That power is a perfection will not be disputed. How shall we form to ourselves any perfect idea of infinite power? Especially if we consider Omnipotence as operating on mere privation, and raising almost an infinite variety of beings out of nothing. And if creation implies only the disposing of existing things into a beautiful and useful order, this equally gives us a sublime idea of power. 2. With respect to God's eternity. Who can distinctly apprehend how one single and

Benson Commentary Job 11:1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, Job 11:1 . Then answered Zophar the Naamathite — How hard is it to preserve calmness in the heat of disputation! Eliphaz began modestly: Bildad was a little rougher: but Zophar falls upon Job without mercy. “Those that have a mind to fall out with their brethren, and to fall foul upon them, find it necessary to put the worst colours they can upon them and their performances, and, right or wrong, to make them odious.” Zophar, highly provoked that Job should dare to call in question a maxim so universally assented to as that urged by his friends, immediately charges him home with secret wickedness. He tells him that he makes not the least doubt, were the real state of his heart laid open, that it would be found God had dealt very gently with him, Job 11:2-7 . That he was highly blameworthy to pretend to fathom the depths of divine providence, a task to which he was utterly unequal: that, however his wickedness might be concealed from me, yet it was open and bare to God’s all-seeing eye; could he therefore imagine that God would not punish the wickedness he saw? Job 11:7-11 . It would surely be far more becoming in him to submit, and give glory to God, by making an ample confession and full restitution. In that case, indeed, he might hope for a return of God’s goodness to him; but the way he was in at present was the common road of the wicked, whose only hope was annihilation, Job 11:12-20 . — Heath and Dodd. Job 11:2 Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified? Job 11:2 . Should not the multitude of words be answered? — Truly, sometimes it should not. Silence is the best confutation of impertinence, and puts the greatest contempt upon it. Zophar means, Dost thou think to carry thy cause by thy long, tedious discourses, consisting of empty words, without weight or reason? And should a man full of talk be justified? — Shall we, by our silence, seem to approve of thy errors? Or, shall we think thy cause the better because thou usest more words than we do? Job 11:3 Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed? Job 11:3 . Should thy lies — That is, thy false opinions and assertions, both concerning thyself and thy own innocence, and concerning the counsels and ways of God, make men hold their peace ? — As if thy arguments were unanswerable. And when thou mockest — Both God and us, and our friendly and faithful counsels; shall no man make thee ashamed? — By discovering thy errors and follies. Job 11:4 For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes. Job 11:4 . Thou hast said, My doctrine — Concerning God and his providence; is pure — That is, true and certain. The word ???? , likchi, according to R. Levi, signifies consuetudo mea, et dispositio mea, my way and manner of life; the same that St. Paul calls ? ?????? ??? ; my way of life. See Chappelow. And I am clean in thine eyes — I am innocent before God: I have not sinned either by my former actions or by my present expressions. But Zophar aggravates and perverts Job’s words; for he did not deny that he was a sinner in God’s sight; but only that he was a hypocrite or ungodly man, as they thought him to be. Job 11:5 But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee; Job 11:5 . O that God would speak — Plead with thee according to thy desire: he would soon put thee to silence. We are commonly ready, with great assurance, to interest God in our quarrels. But they are not always in the right who are most forward to appeal to his judgment, and prejudge it against their antagonists. Job 11:6 And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth . Job 11:6 . That he would show thee the secrets of wisdom — The unsearchable depths of his wisdom in dealing with his creatures. That they are double to that which is — That they are far greater (the word double being used indefinitely for manifold, or plentiful) than that which is manifested. The secret wisdom of God is infinitely greater than that which is revealed to us by his word or works: the greatest part of what is known of God is the least part of those perfections that are in him. And therefore thou art rash in judging so harshly of his proceedings with thee, because thou dost not comprehend the reasons of them, and in judging thyself innocent, because thou dost not see thy sins: whereas, the all-knowing God sees innumerable sins in thee, for which he may utterly destroy thee. God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth — Or, as the Hebrew, ???? ?????? , jashe magnavoneka, may be rendered, gives, or forgives thee part of thine iniquity; doth not deal with thee according to the full demerit of it, but remits thee a part of the punishment due to thee: which he affirms, on an ungrounded persuasion that Job was an ungodly hypocrite. “Strange presumption, says Dr. Dodd, “thus to pronounce positively upon a point of which he could not possibly be a judge. But it happened here, as usual, that this speaker, who sets out with the greatest heat, is the first whose arguments are spent. For, after this vehement speech, he makes but one reply, and it is over with him.” We may however, so far agree with Zophar, as to allow that when, and so far as the debt of duty is not paid, it belongs to justice to insist on the debt of punishment; and that whatever punishment is inflicted upon us in this world, it is less than our iniquities deserve, and that, therefore, instead of complaining of our troubles, we ought to be thankful that we are out of hell. Job 11:7 Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? Job 11:7-8 . Canst thou by searching find out God? — That is, discover all the depths of his wisdom, and the reasons of all his actions. It is as high as heaven — Thou canst not measure the heights of the visible heavens, much less of the divine perfections; what canst thou do? — Namely, to find him out. Deeper than hell; what canst thou know? — Concerning him and his ways, which are far out of thy sight and reach. God is unsearchable. The ages of his eternity cannot be numbered, nor the spaces of his immensity measured; the depths of his wisdom cannot be fathomed, nor the extent of his power bounded: the brightness of his glory can never be described, nor the treasures of his goodness counted. This is a good reason why we should always speak of God with humility and caution, and never prescribe to him, or quarrel with his dispensations; why we should be thankful for what he has revealed of himself, and long to be there where we shall see him as he is. Job 11:8 It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? Job 11:9 The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. Job 11:9 . The measure thereof is longer than the earth — From one end to the other. And broader than the sea — Called the great and wide sea, Psalm 104:25 . It infinitely exceeds the limits of the whole creation. Examine the earth in its utmost dimensions: consider all the beauties and excellences belonging to it. Having done this, compare it with the vast, unbounded wisdom of God, and thou wilt soon be sensible how small and inconsiderable the one will be in proportion to the other. The sea, how wide and broad soever it may seem to be; though, at first view, it may appear to be immeasurable; yet, should you examine it in the scale with the divine perfections, the whole ocean, in its utmost extent, would be only as the drop of a bucket, and the waters thereof such as he could measure in the hollow of his hand. Job 11:10 If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him? Job 11:10 . If he cut off — Namely, a person or family; and shut up — In prison, or in the hands of an enemy, or in the net of affliction and trouble, Psalm 66:11 . Or gather together — Make our condition strait and narrow, as some interpret it; or, gather together as tares to the fire, or gather to himself man’s breath and spirit, Job 34:14 . Then who can hinder him? — From doing what he pleaseth with his creatures? Who can either arrest the sentence, or oppose the execution? Who can control his power or arraign his wisdom and justice? If he, who made all out of nothing, think fit to reduce all to nothing; if he that separated between light and darkness, dry land and sea, at first, please to gather them together again; if he that made, think proper to unmake, ?? ??????? , mi jeshibennu, who can turn him; alter his mind, or stay his hand, impede or impeach his proceedings? Job 11:11 For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it ? Job 11:11 . For he knoweth vain men — Though men know but little of God, and therefore are very unfit judges of his counsels and actions, yet God knows man exactly. He knoweth that every man in the world is guilty of much vanity and folly, and therefore seeth sufficient reason for his severity against the best men. He seeth wickedness also — He perceiveth the wickedness of evil men, though it be covered with the veil of religion. Will he not then consider — Shall he only see it as an idle spectator, and not observe it as a judge to punish it? Job 11:12 For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt. Job 11:12 . For, or, yet, vain man would be wise — Man, who since the fall is void of all true wisdom, pretends to be wise, and able to pass a censure upon all God’s ways and works. Born like a wild ass’s colt — Ignorant, and dull, and stupid, as to divine things, and yet heady and untractable. Such is man by his birth; this evil is now natural and hereditary, and therefore common to all men: of consequence it is not strange, if Job partake of the common distemper. Job 11:13 If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him; Job 11:13 . If thou prepare thy heart — Thy business, O Job, is not to quarrel with thy Maker, or his works; but to address thyself to him by prayer and supplication, sincerely repenting of all thy hard speeches, and other sins against God, and seeking him with a pure and upright heart; without which thy prayers will be in vain. Job 11:14 If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles. Job 11:14 . If iniquity be in thy hand — If thou hast in thy hand, or possession, any goods gotten by injustice or oppression, as it seems they supposed he had; or, he means, more generally, if thou allowest thyself in any sinful practices, the hand being put for action, whereof it is the instrument; put it far away — Keep thyself at a great distance, not only from such actions, but also from the very occasions and appearances of them. Let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles — That is, in thy habitation, either in thyself or in thy family; whose sins Job was obliged, as far as he could, to prevent or reform, as it seems he had done, Job 1:5 . He saith, tabernacles, because anciently the habitations of great men consisted of several tents or tabernacles. Job 11:15 For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear: Job 11:15 . For then shalt thou lift up thy face — With cheerfulness and holy boldness. Without spot — Having a clear and unspotted conscience. Yea, thou shalt be steadfast — Shalt have a strong and comfortable assurance of God’s favour, and shalt be settled, without any fear of losing thy happiness. Job 11:16 Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away: Job 11:16 . Because thou shalt forget thy misery — Thy happiness shall be so great that it shall blot out the remembrance of thy past miseries; and remember it as waters that pass away — Thou shalt remember it no more than men remember either a land-flood, which, as it comes, so it goes away suddenly, and leaves few or no marks or memorials behind it; or the waters of a river, which pass by in constant succession. Job 11:17 And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning. Job 11:17 . And thine age shall be clearer than the noon-day — The remainder of thy life in this world shall be more glorious than the sun at noon. Hebrew, ???? , jakum, shall arise above the noon-day, or above the sun at noon-day, when it is at its greatest height, as well as in its greatest glory. Thou shalt shine forth — Thy light shall arise out of obscurity, and thou shalt be prosperous and happy; thou shalt be as the morning — Thy night of trouble shall certainly and speedily be followed with the morning of deliverance and comfort, which, like the morning light, shall shine brighter and brighter till the perfect day. Light, in the Scripture, commonly signifies prosperity and glory. Job 11:18 And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety. Job 11:18-19 . Thou shalt be secure, because there is hope — Thy mind shall be quiet and free from terrors, because thou shalt have a firm and well-grounded confidence in God. Thou shalt dig — Either to fix thy tents, which, after the manner of the Arabians, were removed from place to place; or, to plough thy ground, as he had done, Job 1:14 , or to make a fence about thy dwelling Thou shalt take thy rest in safety — Free from dangers and the fear of them; because of God’s fatherly providence watching over thee, when thou canst not watch over thyself. And none shall make thee afraid — Thou shalt be in perfect peace, and none shall disquiet thee; yea, many shall make suit unto thee — Desiring thy favour and friendship, because of thy great power and riches, and eminent felicity. Job 11:19 Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee. Job 11:20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost. Job 11:20 . The eyes of the wicked shall fail — Either through grief and tears for their sore calamities, or with long looking for what they shall never attain. Failing of the eyes is one of those expressions in Scripture to be admired for its beauteous simplicity. It represents a very eager and passionate desire to obtain that which we are in pursuit of: and, at the same time, the great uneasiness which must unavoidably follow from a disappointment. One of the appeals which Job makes, in vindication of his integrity, is, that he had not caused the eyes of the widow to fail, chap. Job 31:16 ; that he had not frustrated her expectations when she applied to him for relief and assistance in her distress. The psalmist writes, Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God, Psalm 69:3 . They shall not escape — Hebrew, ????? ??? , manos abad, flight perishes from them, or safety leaves them. This is another of those elegant Scripture phrases which suggests to us the strongest efforts made by a guilty person to escape punishment; but fainting and sinking by the way, through fatigue and weariness, and failing of attaining his purpose. The Prophet Jeremiah uses the same phraseology with regard to the shepherds, or principal men among the Jews, Jeremiah 25:35 ; which is literally, Flight shall perish from the shepherds. Compare Amos 2:14 , where the exact and literal translation of the Hebrew is given: Flight shall perish from the swift. Their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost — Shall be as vain and desperate as the hope of life is in a man when he is at the very point of death. Shall be as a puff of breath, as the margin reads it; gone in a moment without any hope of recovery. Or their hope shall perish, as a man doth with respect to this world, when he gives up the ghost; it will fail them when they have most need of it; and, when they expected the accomplishment of it, it will die away and leave them in utter confusion. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Job 11:1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, XI. A FRESH ATTEMPT TO CONVICT Job 11:1-20 ZOPHAR SPEAKS THE third and presumably youngest of the three friends of Job now takes up the argument somewhat in the same strain as the others. With no wish to be unfair to Zophar we are somewhat prepossessed against him from the outset; and the writer must mean us to be so, since he makes him attack Job as an empty babbler:- "Shall not the multitude of words be answered? And shall a man of lips be justified? Shall thy boastings make people silent, So that thou mayest mock on, none putting thee to shame?" True it was, Job had used vehement speech. Yet it is a most insulting suggestion that he meant little but irreligious bluster. The special note of Zophar comes out in his rebuke of Job for the mockery, that is, sceptical talk, in which he had indulged. Persons who merely rehearse opinions are usually the most dogmatic and take most upon them. Nobody reckons himself more able to detect error in doctrine, nobody denounces rationalism and infidelity with greater confidence, than the man whose creed is formal, who never applied his mind directly to the problems of faith, and has but a moderate amount of mind to apply. Zophar, indeed, is a man of considerable intelligence; but he betrays himself. To him Job’s words have been wearisome. He may have tried to understand the matter, but he has caught only a general impression that, in the face of what appears to him clearest evidence, Job denies being any way amenable to justice. He had dared to say to God, "Thou knowest that I am not wicked." What? God can afflict a man whom He knows to be righteous! It is a doctrine as profane as it is novel. Eliphaz and Bildad supposed that they had to deal with a man unwilling to humble himself in the way of acknowledging sins hitherto concealed. By pressure of one kind or another they hoped to get Job to realise his secret transgression. But Zophar has noted the whole tendency of his argument to be heretical. "Thou sayest, My doctrine is pure." And what is that doctrine? Why, that thou wast clean in the eyes of God, that God has smitten thee without cause. Dost thou mean, O Job! to accuse the Most High of acting in that manner? Oh that God would speak and open His lips against thee! Thou hast expressed a desire to state thy case to Him. The result would be very different from thy expectation. Now, beneath any mistaken view held by sincere persons there is almost always a sort of foundation of truth; and they have at least as much logic as satisfies themselves. Job’s friends are religious men; they do not consciously build on lies. One and all they are convinced that God is invariable in His treatment of men, never afflicting the innocent, always dealing out judgment in the precise measure of a man’s sin. That belief is the basis of their creed. They could not worship a God less than absolutely just. Beginning the religious life with this faith they have clung to it all along. After thirty or forty years’ experience they are still confident that their principle explains the prosperity and affliction, the circumstances of all human beings. But have they never seen anything that did not harmonise with this view of providence? Have they not seen the good die in youth, and those whose hearts are dry as summer dust burn to their sockets? Have they not seen vile schemes prosper, and the schemers enjoy their ill-gotten power for years? It is strange the old faith has not been shaken at least. But no! They come to the case of Job as firmly convinced as ever that the Ruler of the world shows His justice by dispensing joy and suffering in proportion to men’s good and evil deeds, that whenever trouble falls on any one some sin must have been committed which deserved precisely this kind and quantity of suffering. Trying to get at the source of the belief we must confess ourselves partly at a loss. One writer suggests that there may have been in the earlier and simpler conditions of society a closer correspondence between wrong doing and suffering than is to be seen nowadays. There may be something in this. But life is not governed differently at different epochs, and the theory is hardly proved by what we know of the ancient world. No doubt in the history of the Hebrews, which lies behind the faith attributed to the friends of Job, a connection may be traced between their wrong doing as a nation and their suffering as a nation. When they fell away from faith in God their obedience languished, their vigour failed, the end of their existence being lost sight of, and so they became the prey of enemies. But this did not apply to individuals. The good suffered along with the careless and wicked in seasons of national calamity. And the history of the people of Israel would support such a view of the Divine government so long only as national transgression and its punishment were alone taken into account. Now, however, the distinction between the nation and the individual has clearly emerged. The sin of a community can no longer explain satisfactorily the sufferings of a member of the community, faithful among the unbelieving. But the theory seems to have been made out rather by the following course of argument. Always in the administration of law and the exercise of paternal authority, transgression has been visited with pain and deprivation of privilege. The father whose son has disobeyed him inflicts pain, and, if he is a judicious father, makes the pain proportionate to the offence. The ruler, through his judges and officers, punishes transgression according to some orderly code. Malefactors are deprived of liberty; they are fined or scourged, or, in the last resort, executed. Now, having in this way built up a system of law which inflicts punishment with more or less justice in proportion to the offence imputed, men take for granted that what they do imperfectly is done perfectly by God. They take for granted that the calamities and troubles He appoints are ordained according to the same principle, with precisely the same design, as penalty is inflicted by a father, a chief, or a king. The reasoning is contradicted in many ways, but they disregard the difficulties. If this is not the truth, what other explanation is to be found? The desire for happiness is keen; pain seems the worst of evils: and they fail to see that endurance can be the means of good. Feeling themselves bound to maintain the perfect righteousness of God they affirm the only theory of suffering that seems to agree with it. Now, Zophar, like the others full of this theory, admits that Job may have failed to see his transgression. But in that case the sufferer is unable to distinguish right from wrong. Indeed, his whole contention seems to Zophar to show ignorance. If God were to speak and reveal the secrets of His holy wisdom, twice as deep, twice as penetrating as Job supposes, the sins he has denied would be brought home to him. He would know that God requires less of him than his iniquity deserves. Zophar hints, what is very true, that our judgment of our own conduct is imperfect. How can we trace the real nature of our actions, or know how they look to the sublime wisdom of the Most High? Job appears to have forgotten all this. He refuses to allow fault in himself. But God knows better. Here is a cunning argument to fortify the general position. It could always be said of a case which presented difficulties that, while the sufferer seemed innocent, yet the wisdom of God, "twofold in understanding" ( Job 11:6 ) as compared with that of man, perceived guilt and ordained the punishment. But the argument proved too much, for Zophar’s own health and comfort contradicted his dogma. He took for granted that the twofold wisdom of the Almighty found nothing wrong in him. It was a naive piece of forgetfulness. Could he assert that his life had no flaw? Hardly. But then, why is he in honour? How had he been able to come riding on his camel, attended by his servants, to sit in judgment on Job? Plainly, on an argument like his, no man could ever be in comfort or pleasure, for human nature is always defective, always in more or less of sin. Repentance never overtakes the future. Therefore God who deals with man on a broad basis could never treat him save as a sinner, to be kept in pain and deprivation. If suffering is the penalty of sin we ought all, notwithstanding the atonement of Christ, to be suffering the pain of the hour for the defect of the hour, since "all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." At this rate man’s life-again despite the atonement-would be continued trial and sentence. From all which it is evident that the world is governed on another plan than that which satisfied Job’s friends. Zophar rises to eloquence in declaring the unsearchableness of Divine wisdom. "Canst thou find the depths of Eloah? Canst thou reach to the end of Shaddai? Heights of heaven! What canst thou do? Deeper than Sheol! What canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, Broader is it than the sea." Here is fine poetry; but with an attempt at theology the speaker goes astray, for he conceives God as doing what he himself wishes to do, namely, prove Job a sinner. The Divine greatness is invoked that a narrow scheme of thought may be justified. If God pass by, if He arrest, if He hold assize, who can hinder Him? Supreme wisdom and infinite power admit no questioning, no resistance. God knoweth vain or wicked men at a glance. One look and all is plain to him. Empty man will be wise in these matters "when a wild ass’s colt is born a man." Turning from this, as if in recollection that he has to treat Job with friendliness, Zophar closes like the other two with a promise. If Job will put away sin, his life shall be established again, his misery forgotten or remembered as a torrent of spring when the heat of summer comes. Thou shalt forget thy misery; Remember it as waters that have passed by; And thy life shall rise brighter than noonday; And if darkness fall, it shall be as the morning. Thou shalt then have confidence because there is hope; Yea, look around and take rest in safety, Also lie down and none shall affray thee, And many shall make suit unto thee. But the eyes of the wicked fail; For them no way of escape. And their hope is to breathe out the spirit. Rhetoric and logic are used in promises given freely by all the speakers. But not one of them has any comfort for his friend while the affliction lasts. The author does not allow one of them to say, God is thy friend, God is thy portion now; He still cares for thee. In some of the psalms a higher note is heard: "There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased." The friends of Job are full of pious intentions, yet they state a most unspiritual creed, the foundation of it laid in corn and wine. Peace of conscience and quiet confidence in God are not what they go by. Hence the sufferer finds no support in them or their promises. They will not help him to live one day, nor sustain him in dying. For it is the light of God’s countenance he desires to see. He is only mocked and exasperated by their arguments; and in the course of his own eager thought the revelation comes like a star of hope rising on the midnight of his soul. Though Zophar fails like the other two, he is not to be called a mere echo. It is incorrect to say that, while Eliphaz is a kind of prophet and Bildad a sage, Zophar is a commonplace man without ideas. On the contrary, he is a thinker, something of a philosopher, although, of course, greatly restricted by his narrow creed. He is stringent, bitter indeed. But he has the merit of seeing a certain force in Job’s contention which he does not fairly meet. It is a fresh suggestion that the answer must lie in the depth of that penetrating wisdom of the Most High, compared to which man’s wisdom is vain. Then, his description of the return of blessedness and prosperity, when one examines it, is found distinctly in advance of Eliphaz’s picture in moral colouring and gravity of treatment. We must not fail to notice, moreover, that Zophar speaks of the omniscience of God more than of His omnipotence; and the closing verse describes the end of the wicked not as the result of a supernatural stroke or a sudden calamity, but as a process of natural and spiritual decay. The closing words of Zophar’s speech point to the finality of death, and bear the meaning that if Job were to die now of his disease the whole question of his character would be closed. It is important to note this, because it enters into Job’s mind and affects his expressions of desire. Never again does he cry for release as before. If he names death it is as a sorrowful fate he must meet or a power he will defy. He advances to one point after another of reasserted energy, to the resolution that, whatever death may do, either in the underworld or beyond it, he will wait for vindication or assert his right. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.