Job thoroughly humbles himself before God, 1-6. God reproves his friends, for whom Job intercedes, and God accepts them, 7-9. God blesses and restores Job to his prosperity, 10-15. His age and death, 16, 17.

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2 I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. 3 Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew

not.

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Genesis xviii. 14; Matt. xix. 26; Mark x. 27; xiv. 36; Luke xviii. 27. Or, no thought of thine can be hindered.

NOTES ON CHAPTER XLII.

Verse 5. But now mine eye seeth thee-"It is Verse 2. I know thou canst do every thing-Job || plain," says Dr. Dodd, "that there is some privihere subscribes to God's unlimited power, know-lege intended here that Job had never enjoyed beledge, and dominion, to prove which was the scope fore, and which he calls a sight of God. He had of God's discourse out of the whirlwind. And his heard of him by the hearing of the ear, or the judgment being convinced of these, his conscience tradition delivered down from his forefathers; but also was convinced of his own folly in speaking so he had now a clear and sensible perception of his irreverently concerning him. No thought can be being and divine perfections; some light thrown in withholden from thee-No thought of ours can be upon his mind, which carried its own evidence with withholden from thy knowledge. And there is no it; and which to him had all the certainty and clearthought of thine which thou canst be hindered ness even of sight itself." Poole thus paraphrases from bringing into execution. his words: "The knowledge which I had of thy nature, perfections, and counsels, was hitherto grounded chiefly upon the instructions of men; but now it is clear and certain, as being immediately inspired into my mind by this thy glorious appearance and revelation, and by the operation of thy Holy Spirit, which makes these things as evident to me as if I saw them with my bodily eyes." "When," adds Henry, "the mind is enlightened by the Spirit of God, our knowledge of divine things as far exceeds what we had before, as knowledge by ocular demonstration exceeds that by common fame."

Verse 3. Who is he that hideth counsel ?-What am I, that I should be guilty of such madness? Therefore have I uttered that I understood notBecause my mind was without knowledge, therefore my speech was ignorant and foolish; things which I knew not-I have spoken foolishly and unadvisedly of things far above my reach. "The recollection of Job," says Dr. Dodd, "in this and the two following verses, is inimitably fine, and begins the catastrophe of the book, which is truly worthy of what precedes. The interrogatory clause in the beginning of this verse is a repetition of what Jehovah had said; the latter part of this verse, and the fourth and fifth verses, are Job's conclusions." Verse 4. Hear, I beseech thee-Hear and accept my humble and penitent confession. I will demand of thee-Hebrew, ws, eshaleka, interrogabo te, I will inquire, ask, or make my petition to thee. I will no more dispute the matter with thee, but beg information from thee. The words which God had uttered to Job by way of challenge, Job returns to him in the way of submission.

Verse 6. Wherefore I abhor myself, &c.-The more we see of the glory and majesty of God, the more we shall see of the vileness and odiousness of sin, and of ourselves because of sin; and the more we shall abase and abhor ourselves for it; and repent in dust and ashes-Namely, sitting in dust and ashes. Job's afflictions had brought him to the ashes, chap. ii. 8, He sat down among the ashes ; but now a sense of his sins brought him thither. Observe, reader, true penitents mourn for their sins

God reproves the

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A. M. 2484. spoken these words unto Job, the LORD || locks and seven rams, and go to my said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy || a burnt-offering; and my servant Job shall pray two friends for ye have not spoken of me for you: for 2 him will I accept: lest I deal with the thing that is right, as my servant Job you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken hath. of me the thing which is right, like my servant

as heartily as ever they did for any outward af- down as a certain maxim, that all (without excepflictions; for they are brought to see more evil in || tion) who were afflicted with such grievous calamitheir sins than in their troubles; and even those ties as Job was, must needs be under the wrath of who have no gross enormities to repent of, yet || God, as being guilty of some notorious crime; and ought to be greatly distressed in their souls for the that all who passed through life in prosperity must workings of pride, self-will, peevishness, discontent, needs be accounted as righteous in the sight of God: and anger, within them, and for all their hasty, unad- whereas God wills that we should know he does not vised speeches; for these they ought to be pricked in judge of men according to their condition in this their hearts, and in bitterness, like Job. Observe, life, but according to their spirit and conduct; and also, that self-loathing is always the companion of should always be assured that he is averse to the wicktrue repentance. They shall loathe themselves for || ed, however prosperous they may be, and always apthe evils they have committed, Ezek. vi. 9. It is proves of and regards the righteous, whatever afflicnot sufficient that we be angry at ourselves for the tions they may suffer; because the divine wisdom wrong and damage we have, by sin, done to our and goodness often see most wise reasons, which own souls; but we must abhor ourselves, as having, we cannot comprehend, why the righteous should by sin, made ourselves odious to the pure and holy struggle with adversities even all their life long, and God, who cannot look upon iniquity but with ab- the wicked have every outward and temporal good horrence. If sin in general be truly an abomina- through the whole course of their lives. As my tion to us, sin in ourselves will especially be so; the servant Job hath-What Job said may be reduced nearer it is to us, the more loathsome it will appear to three principal heads: 1st, He maintained that he to be, and the more we shall loathe ourselves on ac- was innocent, that is, that he was guilty of no flacount of it. We shall conclude our observations on grant crime, which should be the cause of his being the poetical part of this book with Dr. Young's ex- afflicted more grievously than others; and this was cellent paraphrase on the four preceding verses: nothing more than the truth. 2d, He maintained that though God often inflicted exemplary punish"Thou canst accomplish all things, Lord of might; ment on the wicked, and remarkably prospered the And every thought is naked to thy sight. righteous; yet sometimes he suffered the righteous But, O! thy ways are wonderful, and lie to be in affliction and trouble, and the wicked to Beyond the deepest reach of mortal eye. flourish; which cannot be denied to be often the Oft have I heard of thine almighty power; case. 3d, We find Job, notwithstanding his great But never saw thee till this dreadful hour. afflictions, still holding fast and professing his confiO'erwhelm'd with shame, the Lord of life I see, dence in the divine goodness. These, then, being Abhor myself, and give my soul to thee. the assertions which Job had made, and these not Nor shall my weakness tempt thine anger more; being repugnant to, but according with, the ways of Man was not made to question, but adore." divine providence, God approved of them rather Verse 7. After the Lord had spoken these words than of what his friends had advanced, who were in unto Job-Jehovah, having confounded all the false an error as to their notions of God's counsels and disreasonings of Job, and sufficiently humbled his pensations. However, we are not to conclude from pride, now proceeds to the condemnation of the this expression that God approved of all that Job principle upon which his three friends had pro- had said; for, without doubt, being too sensibly afceeded in all their speeches, which principle he de- fected with the severity of his afflictions, particu clares not to be right. The Lord said to Eliphaz larly when the false and uncharitable surmises of the Temanite-God addresses him, because he was his friends were added to them, he sometimes had the eldest of the three, had spoken first, and by his spoken less reverently of God than he ought to have example had led the rest into the same mistake done, and for this the Lord had severely reproved which he himself had committed; My wrath is him. kindled against thee, and against thy two friends -Elihu is not here reproved, because he had dealt more mercifully with Job than these three had done, and had not condemned his person, but only rebuked his sinful expressions; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right-Because they had laid it

Verse 8. Therefore take now seven bullocks, &c. To make an atonement for what you have said amiss. It seems they were each of them to bring seven bullocks and seven rams, which were to be wholly offered up to God as a burnt-offering; for before the law of Moses, all sacrifices, even those

The Lord blesses the

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latter end of Job. A. M. 2484. 9 ¶ So Eliphaz the Temanite and || every man also gave him a piece of A. M. 2484. Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the money, and every one an ear-ring of Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD gold. commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job. 12 So the LORD blessed the latter end of 10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job more than his beginning: for he had Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses.

LORD 'gave Job * twice as much as he had before. || 11 Then came there unto him 'all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him:

of atonement, appear to have been wholly burned, and therefore were called burnt-offerings. They thought, doubtless, that they had spoken wonderfully well, and had done a righteous act in pleading God's cause; but they are told quite the contrary, that God was displeased with them, required a sacrifice from them, and threatened, if they did not bring it, he would deal with them according to their folly. Many times is God angry at that in us which we ourselves are ready to be proud of; and sees much amiss in that which we think was well done. And go to my servant Job-Whom, though you condemned him as a hypocrite, I own for my faithful servant. And offer up a burnt-offeringBy the hand of Job, whom I hereby constitute your priest, to pray and sacrifice for you. Lest I deal with you after your folly-Lest my just judgment take hold of you for your false and foolish speeches.

Verse 9. So Eliphaz, &c., did as the Lord commanded-Showing their repentance by their submission to God, and to Job for God's sake, and by taking shame to themselves. The Lord also accepted Job-Both for his friends and for himself, as the next verse explains it. And as Job prayed and offered sacrifice for those who had grieved and wounded his spirit, so Christ prayed and died for his persecutors, and ever lives making intercession || for transgressors.

Verse 10. And the Lord turned the captivity of Job-Brought him out of that state of bondage in which he had so long been held by Satan, and out of all his distresses and miseries. The words may be rendered, The Lord brought back Job's cap tivity; that is, as some understand it, the persons and things that had been taken from him; not, indeed, the very same which he had lost, but others equivalent to them, and that with advantage. But the meaning seems principally to be, that all his bodily distempers were thoroughly healed, and probably in a moment; his mind was calmed; his peace returned; and the consolations of God were not small with him. When he prayed for his friends-Whereby he manifested his obedience to

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God, and his true love to them, in being so ready to forgive them, and heartily to pray for them; for which God would not let him lose his reward. Also the Lord gave Job twice as much, &c.-He not only gave him as much as he lost, but double to it.

Verse 11. Then came unto him all his brethren"The author here presents us with a striking view of human friendship. His brethren, who in the time of his affliction kept at a distance from him; his kinsfolks, who ceased to know him; his familiar friends, who had forgotten him; and his acquaintance, who had made themselves perfect strangers to him; those, to whom he had shown kindness, and who yet had ungratefully neglected him; on the return of his prosperity, now come and condole with him, desirous of renewing their former familiarity, and, according to the custom of the eastern countries, where there is no approaching of a great man without a present, each brings him, noop, kesitah, (a piece of money, with the stamp, or 'impress, of a lamb upon it, as the original word signifies,) and each a jewel of gold. The word, nezem, signifies properly a nose-jewel, which is commonly worn in the East to this day."-Dodd.

Verse 12. So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job-Not only with spiritual, but also with temporal blessings. For he had fourteen thousand sheep, &c.-Just double to what they were, chap. i. 3.

This is a remarkable instance of the extent of the divine providence to things that seem minute as this, the exact number of a man's cattle: as also of the harmony of providence, and the reference of one event to another: for known unto God are all his works, from the beginning to the end.

Verse 14. And he called the name of the first, Jemima-Which the LXX., and Vulgate, as derived from O, jom, interpret day. The Targum is Her beauty was like that of the day. The name of the second, Kezia-Because she was precious like cassia, says the Targum. The meaning probably is, Pleasant as cassia, or fine spices. And the name of the third, Keren-happuch-Which the LXX. render, Aμa2baias kepas, Amalthea's horn, or, The horn of plenty. The Targum, however, says

THE

BOOK OF PSALMS.*

ARGUMENT.

We have now before us one of the choicest parts of the Old Testament, wherein there is so much of Christ and his gospel, as well as of God and his law, that it has been called the summary of both Testaments. The history of Israel, which we were long upon, instructed us in the knowledge of God. The book of Job gave us profitable disputations concerning God and his providence. But this book brings us into the sanctuary, draws us off from converse with men, with the philosophers or disputers of this world, and directs us into communion with God. In the original it is entitled, , sepher tehillim, that is, The Book of Hymns, or Praises; because, though it likewise contains prayers, complaints, histories, and descriptions, yet the principal part of it is taken up with the praises of God. The Greeks call them Yahuo, Psalms, which word signifies properly, composi tions set, or sung, to music. St. Peter styles it, The Book of Psalms, Acts i. 20. It is a collection of Psalms, of all the Psalms that were divinely inspired, composed at different times, on several occasions, and here put together in one volume, without any dependance on each other. According to the Jewish tradition this was done by Ezra, after the return of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon, who also placed the volume among the canonical books. Thus they were preserved from being scattered and lost, and kept in readiness for the service of the church. One of these is expressly said to be The Prayer of Moses. That some of them were penned by Asaph, is intimated 2 Chronicles xxix. 36, where the people are said to praise the Lord in the words of David and Asaph, who is there called a seer or prophet. And some of them seem to have been penned long after, even during, or subsequent to, the time of the Babylonish captivity. But the far greater part were undoubtedly written by David, who was raised up for establishing the ordinance of singing Psalms and Hymns in the church of God, as Moses and Aaron were for settling the ordinance of sacrifice. Theirs is superseded, but this remains, and will remain, till it be swallowed up in the songs of eternity.

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are an

The Psalms are all written in a poetical style; though it is difficult, if not impossible, to tell of what particular kind the poetry of the Hebrews was. They abound, however, with sublime and figurative expressions, sufficient to denominate them truly poetical. As the style of them is forcible and elevated, so is it calculated most powerfully to touch the human mind, and to excite therein the most noble and elevated conceptions; on which account this book has always been held in the greatest veneration; insomuch that, in the earlier ages of the Christian Church, the bishops, priests, and all the religious, were expected to have it by heart. Melancthon says of it, that it is the most elegant work extant in the world: and St. Basil tells us, that in it may be found a complete body of divinity. "The Psalms," says Dr. Horne, in his preface to his commentary on them, epitome of the Bible, adapted to the purposes of devotion. They treat occasionally of the creation and formation of the world; the dispensations of Providence, and the economy of grace; the transactions of the patriarchs; the exodus of the children of Israel; their journey through the wilderness, and settlement in Canaan; their law, priesthood, and ritual; the exploits of their great men, wrought through faith; their sins and captivities; their repentances and restorations; the sufferings and victories of David; the peaceful and happy reign of Solomon; the advent of Messiah, with its effects and consequences; his incarnation, birth, life, passion, death, resurrection, ascension, kingdom, and priesthood; the effusion of the Spirit; the conversion of the nations; the rejection of the Jews; the establishment, increase, and perpetuity of the Christian Church; the end of the world; the general judgment; the condemnation of the wicked, and the final triumph of the righteous with their Lord and King. These are the subjects here presented to our meditations. We are instructed how to conceive of them aright, and to express the different affections which, when so conceived of, they must excite in our minds. They are, for this purpose, adorned with the figures, and set off with all the graces, of poetry; and poetry itself is designed yet further to be recommended by the charms of music, thus consecrated to the service of God; that so delight may prepare the way for improvement, and pleasure become the handmaid of wisdom, while every

* Luke xx. 42; Acts 1. 20.