381 And Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, 2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; and I will demand of thee, and inform thou me.
4 Where wast thou when I founded the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding. 5 Who set the measures thereof—if thou knowest? or who stretched a line upon it? 6 Whereupon were the foundations thereof sunken? or who laid its corner-stone, 7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8 And who shut up the sea with doors, when it burst forth, issuing out of the womb? 9 When I made the cloud its garment, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it; 10 When I cut out for it my boundary, and set bars and doors, 11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
12 Hast thou since thy days commanded the morning? hast thou caused the dawn to know its place, 13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked might be shaken out of it? 14 It is changed like the signet-clay; and [all things] stand forth as in a garment: 15 And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the uplifted arm is broken. 16 Hast thou entered as far as the springs of the sea? and hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep? 17 Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? and hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death? 18 Hath thine understanding compassed the breadths of the earth? Declare if thou knowest it all. 19 Where is the way to where light dwelleth? and the darkness, where is its place, 20 That thou shouldest take it to its bound, and that thou shouldest know the paths to its house? 21 Thou knowest, for thou wast then born, and the number of thy days is great!
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Job 38:1-21
Commentary on Job 38:1-3
(Read Job 38:1-3)
Job had silenced, but had not convinced his friends. Elihu had silenced Job, but had not brought him to admit his guilt before God. It pleased the Lord to interpose. The Lord, in this discourse, humbles Job, and brings him to repent of his passionate expressions concerning God's providential dealings with him; and this he does, by calling upon Job to compare God's being from everlasting to everlasting, with his own time; God's knowledge of all things, with his own ignorance; and God's almighty power, with his own weakness. Our darkening the counsels of God's wisdom with our folly, is a great provocation to God. Humble faith and sincere obedience see farthest and best into the will of the Lord.
Commentary on Job 38:4-11
(Read Job 38:4-11)
For the humbling of Job, God here shows him his ignorance, even concerning the earth and the sea. As we cannot find fault with God's work, so we need not fear concerning it. The works of his providence, as well as the work of creation, never can be broken; and the work of redemption is no less firm, of which Christ himself is both the Foundation and the Corner-stone. The church stands as firm as the earth.
Commentary on Job 38:12-24
(Read Job 38:12-24)
The Lord questions Job, to convince him of his ignorance, and shame him for his folly in prescribing to God. If we thus try ourselves, we shall soon be brought to own that what we know is nothing in comparison with what we know not. By the tender mercy of our God, the Day-spring from on high has visited us, to give light to those that sit in darkness, whose hearts are turned to it as clay to the seal, 2 Corinthians 4:6. God's way in the government of the world is said to be in the sea; this means, that it is hid from us. Let us make sure that the gates of heaven shall be opened to us on the other side of death, and then we need not fear the opening of the gates of death. It is presumptuous for us, who perceive not the breadth of the earth, to dive into the depth of God's counsels. We should neither in the brightest noon count upon perpetual day, nor in the darkest midnight despair of the return of the morning; and this applies to our inward as well as to our outward condition. What folly it is to strive against God! How much is it our interest to seek peace with him, and to keep in his love!