What "comfort of the Scriptures" many of us have found in pondering the words of

Job quoted above. There must be few, very few, readers of The Berean Expositor who

are not passing through periods of trial at this time, and some may feel that such words of

trust and confidence are not for them. It is for our joy that the Scriptures give such

faithful records as they do, and it will be found that the context of this statement shows

Job to be after all a man "of like infirmity as ourselves". This discovery will not make

his trust and confidence the less--it will make the link with ourselves the stronger. Job is

found uttering words in the verses that come before verse 10 that do not savour so

strongly of calm and restful trust, his complaint is bitter, his stroke heavier than his

groaning (verse 2). God seemed to be hidden from His servant, and Job say, "Oh that I

might know where I might find Him" (verse 3). His reason for desiring to find God is

that he felt that he could lay such a good case before the Lord as to establish his

righteousness and obtain relief (verses 4-7). But such was not his experience. "Behold"

he says:--

Here we see Job baffled at every turn, forward, backward, right hand, or left hand, Job

could not perceive, behold or see, all was darkness and perplexity. Job's own feelings

caused him to utter words that he afterwards confessed were wrong (42: 1-6).

Then come the words of faith. Although I cannot see Him, He knoweth the way that I

take. The infirmity of the flesh causes the believer many sorrows, and causes him to give

utterance to words that do not really express his real and deep convictions. David,

anointed by God, believing fully that the Lord would surely fulfil His pleasure, yet under

the pressure of circumstances cried out in his infirmity, "I shall one day perish at the hand

of Saul". If one had approached David and had said, Do you really think that God will

fail you? Do you think that Saul would ever be allowed to thwart the purpose of the

Almighty?, he would immediately have said, No, what I said was in my haste, and out of

the bitterness of my spirit--I do trust Him, and I know He will not fail. So with Job,

although he gave expression to his feelings, and seemed to charge the Lord with injustice;

although he confessed that on every hand was perplexity and a hiding of the Lord's hand,

yet faith rises and overcomes, and out of the depths of his sorrow he cries, "But He

knoweth the way that I take".

In that confidence he could rest. A very close and interesting parallel is found in

Rom. 8:, "We know not what we should pray for. . . . we know that all things work