Sermons from Job - 13. Job among the Ashes - Job 42,5, 6

Extract

Sermons from Job – C. H. Spurgeon

13. Job among the Ashes
“I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” Job 42:5, 6.
Jehovah had spoken, Job had trembled. The Lord had revealed himself, Job had seen him. Truly, God did but display the skirts of his robe, and unveil a part of his ways; but therein there was so much of ineffable glory, that Job laid his hand upon his mouth in token of his silent consent to the claims of the Everlasting One. God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind concerning the greatness of his power, the wonders of his workings, the splendour of his skill, the infinity of his wisdom. Carefully read that wonderful speech of the Most High to the trembling patriarch. I dare not call it poetry; for it rises as much above human poetry as the sublimest poetry stands above the poorest prose. It is simply a statement of facts, and these are mentioned in language of the simplest kind; but the overpowering glory of the utterance lies in the facts themselves. These sublime stanzas are spoken in the idiom of God. Those only know the peculiar style of the living God who have become familiar with the sacred Word in Spirit and in Truth, and such persons can at once distinguish the speech of Jehovah from that of men. Read the divine address, that you may see how Jehovah caused the afflicted patriarch to feel him near.

In the confession which now lies before us, Job acknowledges God’s boundless power; for he exclaims, “I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.” He felt that whatever the Lord chose to think or desire he could at once accomplish. Job had a glimpse of that omnipotence of which the height and depth no mind can ever measure.

Job sees his own folly. He speaks like a man in a maze or a muse, and he says, “Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge?” Look at the second verse of chapter thirty-eight, and you will see that he is quoting what God had said to him. The …