`Let the day perish wherein I was born' and ends `I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet

trouble came' (Job 3:3 and 26).

As this last verse stands, its relation with the general tenor of both the chapter and the book as a whole may not

appear too obvious, but after examining the actual words employed, the comment of Dr. Samuel Lee, appears to

point to their true intention:

`If I rightly apprehend the drift of the context here, Job means to have it understood, that he is conscious of no

instance in which he relaxed from his religious obligations; or of no season in which his fear and love of God

waxed weak; on this account, it was the more perplexing that such a complication of miseries had befallen him.

The best answer to all which is, the matter found in the two preceding chapters'.

Job complains:

`Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?' (Job 3:23).

Have we never in some periods of our pilgrimage cried out in a similar way? Yet, upon examination, it appears

that Job was misreading the true meaning of some of his experiences. True he was suffering an unparalleled attack

and being kept in ignorance of his real enemy, yet he would be but adding to his misery if it should so turn out, that

like Francis Thompson in `The Hound of Heaven', he mistook the shadow of the outstretched wing for the

withdrawal of favour. If for reasons known to the Lord it is best and safest to be kept for a while in the shade, is it

not folly to clamour for a light? During the Great War none liked the `black-out' and many rebelled against its

impositions, but many lives were spared by its observance nevertheless. Of course, in the case of the `black-out',

with all our grumbling we did know that there was an enemy, but Job was not so informed, and we must be very

careful when judging him. The words `why is light given' are in italics in the A.V. and are rightly brought over

from verse 20, verses 21 and 22 being parenthetical.

The word translated `hid' is the Hebrew sathar, and Proverbs 22:3 suggests that to `hide' when evil is foreseen is

but an act of prudence. There is moreover an element of `mystery' about the word, as Job himself knew (Job 14:13).

Those who came after Job, and had read Scriptures which Job never saw, often used the word sether to speak of

the Lord's protection:

`In the secret (sether) of His tabernacle shall He hide (sathar) me' (Psa. 27:5).

`Thou shalt hide them in the secret (sether) of Thy presence from the pride of man' (Psa. 31:20).

`I will trust in the covert (sether) of Thy wings' (Psa. 61:4).

`He that dwelleth in the secret (sether) place of the most High' (Psa. 91:1).

Had Job and his friends but known, the shadow that had fallen over his life was but the shadow of the

outstretched wing! The enemy is a very real menace, and only the power of God saved Job and brought him through

to a triumphant end.

`Hedge'. Here too, Job complained that God had hedged him in, yet sakak, the Hebrew word so used, is

employed to speak of the `covering' of the mercy seat (Exod. 25:20), and of the protective `covering' with His

feathers (Psa. 91:4). Satan had no two thoughts as to the gracious nature of this `hedge' saying, when challenged,

`Hast not Thou made an hedge about him?' (Job 1:10). The whole of the ages is one of conflict, even as man's brief

encounter through life is spent on a battlefield with austerity, want, and frustration as companions. This must be so

if such an enemy as Satan is our foe, and if there is perpetual enmity between the two seeds. These things unknown

or at least only slightly known to Job are more fully revealed to us today. If Job, who had no Scripture, is

commended for his `patience' how patient we should be who have the complete record of redeeming love, while

letting patience have its perfect work!

The reader of the book of Job knows, by reading the last chapter, that the three friends of Job had not spoken the

thing that was right - but how many of us, deprived of that expression of judgment would have been so sure but that