Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Job
Book: Job
Chapter: 20
Overview:
Zophar speaks of the short joy of the wicked.
(1-9) The ruin
of the wicked.
(10-22) The portion of the wicked.
(23-29)
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.
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
be led
By the sanctifying
Grace of
God to restore what was
unjustly gotten, as
Zacchaeus was, is a great
Mercy. But to be
forced to restore
By the horrors of a despairing
Conscience, as
Judas was, has
No benefit and comfort attending it.
23-29 Zophar, having described the vexations which attend
wicked practices, shows their ruin from
God's wrath. There is
No
Fence against this, but in
Christ, who is the only Covert from
the storm and tempest, Isa 32:2. Zophar concludes, "This is
the portion of a wicked
Man from
God;" it is allotted him. Never
was any doctrine better explained, or worse applied, than this
By Zophar, who intended to prove
Job a
Hypocrite. Let us receive
the good explanation, and make a better application, for warning
to ourselves, to stand in awe and
Sin not. One view of
Jesus,
directed
By the Holy
Spirit, and
By him suitably impressed upon
our souls, will quell a thousand
Carnal reasonings about the
suffering of the
Faithful.