Verses 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.
Verses 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.
Verses 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.
Chapter 24
Chapter Outline