1And Job made answer and said, 2Even today my outcry is bitter; his hand is hard on my sorrow. 3If only I had knowledge of where he might be seen, so that I might come even to his seat! 4I would put my cause in order before him, and my mouth would be full of arguments. 5I would see what his answers would be, and have knowledge of what he would say to me. 6Would he make use of his great power to overcome me? No, but he would give attention to me. 7There an upright man might put his cause before him; and I would be free for ever from my judge. 8See, I go forward, but he is not there; and back, but I do not see him; 9I am looking for him on the left hand, but there is no sign of him; and turning to the right, I am not able to see him. 10For he has knowledge of the way I take; after I have been tested I will come out like gold. 11My feet have gone in his steps; I have kept in his way, without turning to one side or to the other. 12I have never gone against the orders of his lips; the words of his mouth have been stored up in my heart. 13But his purpose is fixed and there is no changing it; and he gives effect to the desire of his soul. 14For what has been ordered for me by him will be gone through to the end: and his mind is full of such designs. 15For this cause I am in fear before him, my thoughts of him overcome me. 16For God has made my heart feeble, and my mind is troubled before the Ruler of all. 17For I am overcome by the dark, and by the black night which is covering my face.
Matthew Henry's Commentary
Job complains that God has withdrawn. (1-7) He asserts his own integrity. (8-12) The Divine terrors. (13-17) 1-7 Job appeals from his friends to the just judgement of God. He wants to have his cause tried quickly. Blessed be God, we may know where to find him. He is in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself; and upon a mercy-seat, waiting to be gracious. Thither the sinner may go; and there the believer may order his cause before Him, with arguments taken from his promises, his covenant, and his glory. A patient waiting for death and judgment is our wisdom and duty, and it cannot be without a holy fear and trembling. A passionate wishing for death or judgement is our sin and folly, and ill becomes us, as it did Job. 8-12 Job knew that the Lord was every where present; but his mind was in such confusion, that he could get no fixed view of God's merciful presence, so as to find comfort by spreading his case before him. His views were all gloomy. God seemed to stand at a distance, and frown upon him. Yet Job expressed his assurance that he should be brought forth, tried, and approved, for he had obeyed the precepts of God. He had relished and delighted in the truths and commandments of God. Here we should notice that Job justified himself rather than God, or in opposition to him, ch. #32:2|. Job might feel that he was clear from the charges of his friends, but boldly to assert that, though visited by the hand of God, it was not a chastisement of sin, was his error. And he is guilty of a second, when he denies that there are dealings of Providence with men in this present life, wherein the injured find redress, and the evil are visited for their sins. 13-17 As Job does not once question but that his trials are from the hand of God, and that there is no such thing as chance, how does he account for them? The principle on which he views them is, that the hope and reward of the faithful servants of God are only laid up in another life; and he maintains that it is plain to all, that the wicked are not treated according to their deserts in this life, but often directly the reverse. But though the obtaining of mercy, the first-fruits of the Spirit of grace, pledges a God, who will certainly finish the work which he has began; yet the afflicted believer is not to conclude that all prayer and entreaty will be in vain, and that he should sink into despair, and faint when he is reproved of Him. He cannot tell but the intention of God in afflicting him may be to produce penitence and prayer in his heart. May we learn to obey and trust the Lord, even in tribulation; to live or die as he pleases: we know not for what good ends our lives may be shortened or prolonged.