75. When God Riseth Up (4)

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Hymns: RHC 311 Does Jesus Care?, 329 We Have an Anchor, 355 Day by Day 

Job 31:16-23

16If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; 17Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof; 18(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother’s womb;) 19If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering; 20If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; 21If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate: 22Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone. 23For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure. 

When God Riseth Up (4)

OUTLINE

  • Sought Preventive by Covenant (v1-2)
  • Sought Purity Understanding God’s Judgment for Sin (v3-4)
  • Sought Truthfulness and Fleeing Deceit (v5-6)
  • Sought Indictment rather than living in Hypocrisy (v7-8)
  • Sought Indictment for Adultery (v9-12)
  • Sought Indictment for Oppressing Servants (v13-15)
  • Sought Indictment for Oppressing the Poor (v16-23)

Continuing…

Job recounted the days of his strength when he showed compassion to help those in need. For Job, his life is examplified by real love. As one writer puts it, “Real love is helping someone for Jesus’ sake who can never return the favour.” His example jolts God’s people to learn from him for as another writer puts it, “Too many christians conduct their lives on the cafeteria plan; self-service only.” 

 7When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street! 8The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up. 9The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth. 10The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. 11When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: 12Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. 13The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. 14I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. 15I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. 16I was a father to the poor: and the cause whichI knew not I searched out.

Our Lord Jesus sets the example in Matthew 9:35-36 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

Matthew described by two verbs, Jesus “saw” and “moved with compassion”. Jesus is able to read the hearts to see the burdens in the hearts of the multitude. There was sorrow, grief, affliction, trouble, sin that was in the heart of these. He was not think about Himself and His interest but He had in mind their interest and welfare. 

The word literally means “bowels” or intestines, to have the viscera moved, lungs, heart, and liver, which are considered to be the seat of the feelings, such as love, pity, etc. We may say, “his heart was stirred.”

This moving with compassion proved that His heart was ever filled with merciful kindness and feelings of pity for the distressed of every description. Whenever and wherever suffering and sorrow of body or soul met His eyes, His heart was moved with compassion. The compassion of Jesus is one of the deepest, richest, most comforting of all his Saviour qualities. “

He felt for them so much, it is as if it affected his physical inner being and it moved Him to action. That’s God’s love, the agape-type, sacrificial, unconditional.

Jesus is able to read the hearts to see the burdens in the hearts of the multitude. There was sorrow, grief, affliction, trouble, sin that was in the heart of these. 

He was not thinking about Himself and His interest but He had in mind their interest and welfare. 

In this verse, we see the great value of lost souls in the heart of our Lord. 

They fainted – to physically become weary or exhausted, give out, to lose heart and become discouraged.

They fainted and were scattered abroad. 

These are two-word pictures – two perfect participles used as adjectives; their tense describes a present condition as resulting from a past action.

The first word – they fainted, the word literally meant, “having been flayed,” or milder, “having the skin torn,” as this happens to sheep wandering among brambles and sharp rocks. 

The second word translated, “they were scattered abroad”. It comes from root word which means, “thrown down prone and helpless“, exhausted, totally drained of energy. 

This verb is used with reference to corpses lying prostrate on the ground. 

Both participles are made vivid by the comparison: “like sheep not having a shepherd.” They looked abject, torn and exhausted, a sight to rend the heart, most pitiful sight.

As He saw their lost estate, it drove Him into action. What follows shows that Jesus was thinking of the spiritual condition of the people.

Their souls received no wholesome spiritual food and care, for, as far as that was concerned, they were left to shift for themselves. 

Material and physical destitution moves man deeply to provide humanitarian aid, but Jesus’s care goes beyond the physical for He saw even their spiritual distress?

In this verse, we see the great value of lost souls in the heart of our Lord. 

As He saw their lost estate, it drove Him into action. Jesus felt deeply for them. He is the good Shepherd who cared for His sheep.

This unconditional and sacrificial love is God’s power flowing in the life of God’s children. It comes as an overflow of the Holy Spirit’s power in the believer’s heart. It comes because the child of God has been touched by God’s love. Jesus demonstrated the greatness of this love in His ministry on earth. For us who are saved, it is a love that flow out of gratitude and indebtedness. We have been forgiven much, though undeserved. Unless we realize our lost estate and experienced in our hearts the reconciliation with God by the finished work of Christ on the cross, we cannot live out this love. It keeps us humble and loving.

Jonathan Goforth, missionary to China, often sang this chorus as a prayer as he reflected on his ministry. He desired that God keep his heart burning for lost souls.

LORD Crucified, Give me a heart like Thine:

Teach me to love the dying souls of men.

Oh, Keep my heart in close touch with Thee;

And give me love-pure Calvary love to bring the lost to Thee

Job testified that he lived a life of thoughtfulness – Matthew 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

(7)Sought Indictment for Oppressing the Poor (v16-23)

16If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; 17Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

Matthew Henry observed well, “Eliphaz had particularly charged Job with unmercifulness to the poor (Job 22:6-9): Thou hast withholden bread from the hungry, stripped the naked of their clothing,and sent widows away empty.

One would think he could not have been so very positive and express in his charge unless there had been some truth in it, some ground, for it; and yet it appears, by Job’s protestation, that it was utterly false and groundless; he was never guilty of any such thing. The testimony which Job’s conscience gave is concerning his constant behaviour towards the poor. He solemnly protests, that he had never been wanting to do good to them, as there was occasion, to the utmost of his ability. He was always compassionate to the poor, and careful of them, especially the widows and fatherless, that were destitute of help.”

Matthew Henry further observed well, “If a poor person begged a kindness of his, he was ready to gratify him; if he could but perceive by the widow’s mournful craving look that she expected an alms from him, though she had not confidence enough to ask it, he had compassion enough to give it, and never caused the eyes of the widow to fail.He put a respect upon the poor, and did them honour; for he took the fatherless children to eat with him at his own table: they should fare as he fared, and be familiar with him, and he would show himself pleased with their company as if they had been his own (v17). As it is one of the greatest grievances of poverty that it exposes to contempt, so it is none of the least supports to the poor to be respected. He had something of tenderness and compassion woven in his nature; he began betimes to do good, ever since he could remember; he had always some poor widow or fatherless child under his care. His parents taught him betimes to pity and relieve the poor, and brought up orphans with him. He provided food convenient for them; they ate of the same morsels that he did (v17), did not eat after him, of the crumbs that fell from his table, but with him, of the best dish upon his table.”

18(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother’s womb;) 

He was very tender of them, and had a fatherly concern for them. He was a father to the fatherless, took care of orphans, brought them up with him under his own eye, and gave them, not only maintenance, but education. He was a guide to the widow, who had lost the guide of her youth; he advised her in her affairs, took cognizance of them, and undertook the management of them. Those that need not our alms may yet have occasion for our counsel, and it may be a real kindness to them. This Job says he did from his youth, from his mother’s womb.[Matthew Henry]

 19If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;

He took particular care to clothe those that were without covering, which would be more expensive to him than feeding them (v19). Poor people may perish for want of clothing as well as for want of food for want of clothing to lie in by night or to go abroad in by day. [Matthew Henry]

 20If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; 21If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate: 22Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone. 23For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure. 

If Job knew of any that were in this distress, he was forward to relieve them, and instead of giving rich and gaudy liveries to his servants, while the poor were turned off with rags that were ready to be thrown to the dunghill, he had good warm strong clothes made on purpose for them of the fleece of his sheep(v20), so that their loins,whenever they girt those garments about them, blessed him;they commended his charity, blessed God for him, and prayed God to bless him. Job’s sheep were burned with fire from heaven, but this was his comfort that, when he had them, he came honestly by them, and used them charitably, fed the poor with their flesh and clothed them with their wool. [Matthew Henry]