381 Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind, 2 “Who is this who darkens counsel
by words without knowledge? 3 Brace yourself like a man,
for I will question you, then you answer me!
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Declare, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measures, if you know?
Or who stretched the line on it? 6 Whereupon were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8 “Or who shut up the sea with doors,
when it broke forth from the womb, 9 when I made clouds its garment,
and wrapped it in thick darkness, 10 marked out for it my bound,
set bars and doors, 11 and said, ‘Here you may come, but no further.
Here your proud waves shall be stayed?’
12 “Have you commanded the morning in your days,
and caused the dawn to know its place; 13 that it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
and shake the wicked out of it? 14 It is changed as clay under the seal,
and stands forth as a garment. 15 From the wicked, their light is withheld.
The high arm is broken. 16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea?
Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep? 17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? 18 Have you comprehended the earth in its breadth?
Declare, if you know it all. 19 “What is the way to the dwelling of light?
As for darkness, where is its place, 20 that you should take it to its bound,
that you should discern the paths to its house? 21 Surely you know, for you were born then,
and the number of your 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!