The Spirit of God, at this time, seems to have powerfully wrought on the mind of Job. Here he
witnessed a good confession; declared the soundness of his faith, and the assurance of his hope.
Here is much of Christ and heaven; and he that said such things are these, declared plainly that he
sought the better country, that is, the heavenly. Job was taught of God to believe in a living
Redeemer; to look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come; he comforted
himself with the expectation of these. Job was assured, that this Redeemer of sinners from the yoke
of Satan and the condemnation of sin, was his Redeemer, and expected salvation through him; and
that he was a living Redeemer, though not yet come in the flesh; and that at the last day he would
appear as the Judge of the world, to raise the dead, and complete the redemption of his people.
With what pleasure holy Job enlarges upon this! May these faithful sayings be engraved by the
Holy Spirit upon our hearts. We are all concerned to see that the root of the matter be in us. A
living, quickening, commanding principle of grace in the heart, is the root of the matter; as necessary
to our religion as the root of the tree, to which it owes both its fixedness and its fruitfulness. Job
and his friends differed concerning the methods of Providence, but they agreed in the root of the
matter, the belief of another world.
Chapter 20
Chapter Outline
Zophar speaks of the short joy of the (1–9)
wicked.
The ruin of the wicked. (10–22)
The portion of the wicked. (23–29)Verses 1–9
Zophar's discourse is upon the certain misery of the wicked. The triumph of the wicked and the
joy of the hypocrite are fleeting. The pleasures and gains of sin bring disease and pain; they end in
remorse, anguish, and ruin. Dissembled piety is double iniquity, and the ruin that attends it will be
accordingly.
Verses 10–22
The miserable condition of the wicked man in this world is fully set forth. The lusts of the flesh
are here called the sins of his youth. His hiding it and keeping it under his tongue, denotes
concealment of his beloved lust, and delight therein. But He who knows what is in the heart, knows
what is under the tongue, and will discover it. The love of the world, and of the wealth of it, also
is wickedness, and man sets his heart upon these. Also violence and injustice, these sins bring God's
judgments upon nations and families. Observe the punishment of the wicked man for these things.
Sin is turned into gall, than which nothing is more bitter; it will prove to him poison; so will all
unlawful gains be. In his fulness he shall be in straits, through the anxieties of his own mind. To