Matthew Henry Commentary Job 6
Matthew Henry Commentary
Job 6
Matthew Henry Commentary
Job 6
"Then Job answered and said, Oh that my vexation were but weighed, And all my calamity laid in the balances! For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas: Therefore have my words been rash. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, The poison whereof my spirit drinketh up: The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me. Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? Or loweth the ox over his fodder? Can that which hath no savor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? My soul refuseth to touch [them]; They are as loathsome food to me." — Job 6:1-7 (ASV)
Job still justifies himself in his complaints. In addition to outward troubles, the inner sense of God's wrath took away all his courage and resolution. The feeling of God's wrath is harder to bear than any outward afflictions.
What then did the Savior endure in the garden and on the cross, when He bore our sins, and His soul was made a sacrifice to divine justice for us! Whatever burden of affliction, in body or material well-being, God is pleased to lay upon us, we may well submit to it as long as He allows us to retain the use of our reason and the peace of our conscience; but if either of these is disturbed, our case is very pitiable.
Job reflects on his friends for their censures. He complains he had nothing offered for his relief but what was in itself tasteless, loathsome, and burdensome.
"Oh that I might have my request; And that God would grant [me] the thing that I long for! Even that it would please God to crush me; That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off! And be it still my consolation, Yea, let me exult in pain that spareth not, That I have not denied the words of the Holy One. What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is mine end, that I should be patient? Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass? Is it not that I have no help in me, And that wisdom is driven quite from me?" — Job 6:8-13 (ASV)
Job had desired death as the welcome end to his miseries. Eliphaz had reproved him for this, but Job asks for it again with more vehemence than before.
It was very rash to speak this way of God destroying him. Who, for one hour, could endure the wrath of the Almighty, if He let loose His hand against him? Let us rather say with David, O spare me a little.
Job bases his comfort on the testimony of his conscience, that he had been, in some degree, serviceable to the glory of God. Those who have grace in them, who have the evidence of it and actively exercise it, have wisdom in them, which will be their help in the worst of times.
"To him that is ready to faint kindness [should be showed] from his friend; Even to him that forsaketh the fear of the Almighty. My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, As the channel of brooks that pass away; Which are black by reason of the ice, [And] wherein the snow hideth itself: What time they wax warm, they vanish; When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place. The caravans [that travel] by the way of them turn aside; They go up into the waste, and perish. The caravans of Tema looked, The companies of Sheba waited for them. They were put to shame because they had hoped; They came thither, and were confounded. For now ye are nothing; Ye see a terror, and are afraid. Did I say, Give unto me? Or, Offer a present for me of your substance? Or, Deliver me from the adversary`s hand? Or, Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors? Teach me, and I will hold my peace; And cause me to understand wherein I have erred. How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what doth it reprove? Do ye think to reprove words, Seeing that the speeches of one that is desperate are as wind? Yea, ye would cast [lots] upon the fatherless, And make merchandise of your friend. Now therefore be pleased to look upon me; For surely I shall not lie to your face. Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice; Yea, return again, my cause is righteous. Is there injustice on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern mischievous things?" — Job 6:14-30 (ASV)
In his prosperity, Job formed great expectations from his friends, but now was disappointed. This he compares to the failing of brooks in summer. Those who rest their expectations on the creature will find it fail when it should help them; whereas those who make God their confidence have help in the time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Those who make gold their hope will sooner or later be ashamed of it and of their confidence in it. It is our wisdom to cease from man.
Let us put all our confidence in the Rock of ages, not in broken reeds; in the Fountain of life, not in broken cisterns. The application is very close: For now ye are nothing. It would be well for us if we always had such convictions of the vanity of the creature as we have had, or will have, on a sick-bed, a death-bed, or in trouble of conscience. Job upbraids his friends with their hard usage.
Though in want, he desired no more from them than a good look and a good word. It often happens that, even when we expect little from man, we have less; but from God, even when we expect much, we have more. Though Job differed from them, yet he was ready to yield as soon as it was shown that he was in error. Though Job had been at fault, yet they ought not to have given him such hard usage.
His righteousness he holds fast, and will not let it go. He felt that there had not been such iniquity in him as they supposed. But it is best to commit our characters to Him who keeps our souls; in the great day every upright believer will have praise of God.
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