381 And Jehovah answereth Job out of the whirlwind, and saith:— 2 Who 'is' this—darkening counsel, By words without knowledge? 3 Gird, I pray thee, as a man, thy loins, And I ask thee, and cause thou Me to know.
4 Where wast thou when I founded earth? Declare, if thou hast known understanding. 5 Who placed its measures—if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched out upon it a line? 6 On what have its sockets been sunk? Or who hath cast its corner-stone? 7 In the singing together of stars of morning, And all sons of God shout for joy, 8 And He shutteth up with doors the sea, In its coming forth, from the womb it goeth out. 9 In My making a cloud its clothing, And thick darkness its swaddling band, 10 And I measure over it My statute, And place bar and doors, 11 And say, 'Hitherto come thou, and add not, And a command is placed On the pride of thy billows.'
12 Hast thou commanded morning since thy days? Causest thou the dawn to know its place? 13 To take hold on the skirts of the earth, And the wicked are shaken out of it, 14 It turneth itself as clay of a seal And they station themselves as clothed. 15 And withheld from the wicked is their light, And the arm lifted up is broken. 16 Hast thou come in to springs of the sea? And in searching the deep Hast thou walked up and down? 17 Revealed to thee were the gates of death? And the gates of death-shade dost thou see? 18 Thou hast understanding, Even unto the broad places of earth! Declare—if thou hast known it all. 19 Where 'is' this—the way light dwelleth? And darkness, where 'is' this—its place? 20 That thou dost take it unto its boundary, And that thou dost understand The paths of its house. 21 Thou hast known—for then thou art born And the number of thy days 'are' many!
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!