The Sorrowful Man's Question

Job’s case was such that life itself became irksome. He wondered why he should be kept alive to suffer. Could not mercy have permitted him to die out of hand? Light is most precious, yet we may come to ask why it is given. See the small value of temporal things, for we may have them and loathe them; we may have the light of life and prefer the darkness of death under the sorrowful conditions which surround us. Hence Job asks, “Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul; which long for death, but it comes not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures?”

We hope that our hearers are not in Job’s condition; but if they are, we desire to comfort them.

I. THE CASE WHICH RAISES THE QUESTION,—“A man whose way is hid, and whom God has hedged in.” He has the light of life, but not the light of comfort

1. He walks in deep trouble, so deep that he cannot see the bottom of it. Nothing prospers, either in temporals or in spirituals. He is greatly depressed in spirit. He can see no help for his burden, or alleviation of his misery. He cannot see any ground for comfort either in God or in man. “His way is hid.”

2. He can see no cause for it. No special sin has been committed. No possible good appears to be coming out of it. When we can see no cause we must not infer that there is none. Judging by the sight of the eyes is dangerous.

3. He cannot tell what to do in it. Patience is hard, wisdom is difficult, confidence scarce, and joy out of reach, while the mind is in deep gloom. Mystery brings misery.

4. He cannot see the way out of it. He seems to hear the enemy say. “They are entangled in the land, the wilderness has shut them in”: Exodus 14:3. He cannot escape through the hedge of thorn, nor see an end to it: his way is straitened as well as darkened. Men in such a case feel their griefs intensely, and speak too bitterly.

   • If we were in such misery, we, too, might raise the question; therefore let us consider,—

II. THE QUESTION ITSELF: “Why is light given?” etc.

This inquiry, unless prosecuted with great humility and child-like confidence, is to be condemned:—

1. It is an unsafe one. It is an undue exaltation of human judgment. Ignorance should shun arrogance. What can we know?

2. It reflects upon God. It insinuates that his ways need explanation, and are either unreasonable, unjust, unwise, or unkind.

3. There must be an answer to the question; but it may not be one intelligible to us. The Lord has a “therefore” in answer to every “wherefore”; but he does not often reveal it; for “he gives not account of any of his matters”: Job 33:13.

4. It is not the most profitable question. Why we are allowed to live in sorrow is a question which we need not answer. We might gain far more by inquiring how to use our prolonged life.

III. ANSWERS WHICH MAY BE GIVEN TO THE QUESTION.

1. Suppose the answer should be, “God wills it” Is not that enough? “I opened not my mouth; because you did it”: Psalm 39:9.

2. To an ungodly man sufficient answers are at hand.

   • It is mercy which, by prolonging the light of life, keeps you from worse suffering. For you to desire death is to be eager for Hell. Be not so foolish.
   • It is wisdom which restrains you from sin, by hedging up your way, and darkening your spirit It is better for you to be downcast than dissolute.
   • It is love which calls you to repent Every sorrow is intended to whip you Godward.

3. To the godly man there are yet more apparent reasons. Your trials are sent,—

   • To let you see all that is in you. In deep soul-trouble we discover what we are made of.
   • To bring you nearer to God. The hedges shut you up to God; the darkness makes you cling close to him. Life is continued that grace may be increased.
   • To make you an example to others. Some are chosen to be monuments of the Lord’s special dealings; a sort of lighthouse to other mariners.
   • To magnify the grace of God. If our way were always bright we could not so well exhibit the sustaining, consoling, and delivering power of the Lord.
   • To prepare you for greater prosperity. Without your life being preserved, you could not reach that halcyon period which is reserved for you; nor would you be fitted for it if you were not disciplined by previous trials.
   • To make you like your Lord Jesus, who lived in affliction. For him death was no escape from his burdens: he said, “It is finished,” before he gave up the Spirit.
   • Be not too ready to ask unbelieving questions.
   • Be sure that life is never too long.
   • Be prepared of the Holy Spirit to keep to the way even when it is hid, and to walk on between the hedges when they are not hedges of roses, but fences of briar.

Suggestions

When it is asked why a man is kept in misery on earth, when he would be glad to be released by death, perhaps the following among others may be the reasons, (1.) Those sufferings may be the very means which are needful to develop the true state of his soul. Such was the case with Job. (2.) They may be the proper punishment of sin in the heart, of which the individual was not fully aware, but which may be distinctly seen by God. There may be pride, and the love of ease, and self-confidence, and ambition, and a desire of reputation. Such appear to have been some of the besetting sins of Job. (3.) They are needful to teach true submission, and to show whether a man is willing to resign himself to God. (4.) They may be the very things which are necessary to prepare the individual to die. At the same time that men often desire death, and feel that it would be a relief, it might be to them the greatest possible calamity. They may be wholly unprepared for it. For a sinner, the grave contains no rest; the eternal world furnishes no repose. One design of God in such sorrows may be to show to the wicked how intolerable will be future pain, and how important it is for them to be ready to die. If they cannot bear the pains and sorrows of a few hours in this short life, how can they endure eternal sufferings? If it is so desirable to be released from the sorrows of the body here,—if it is felt that the grave, with all that is repulsive in it, would be a place of repose, how important is it to find some way to be secured from everlasting pains! The true place of release from suffering, for a sinner, is not the grave; it is in the pardoning mercy of God, and in that pure Heaven to which he is invited through the blood of the cross. In that holy Heaven is the only real repose from suffering and from sin; and Heaven will be all the sweeter in proportion to the extremity of pain which is endured on earth.—Barnes.