Job Twenty Three

by Dr. Henry M. Morris

(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)

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Job 23:1 Then Job answered and said,

Job 23:2 Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.

Job 23:3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!

where I might find. This poignant cry is bound to be answered eventually, even though it seems long delayed, for God “is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Job 23:4 I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

Job 23:5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.

Job 23:6 Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.

Job 23:7 There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.

Job 23:8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

Job 23:9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

he hath tried me. Job's faith is still strong and, by this time, he is beginning to sense that his sufferings somehow are being used by God as a test of his faith—as, indeed, they were!

Job 23:11 My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

the commandment. See note on Job 22:22; also Genesis 26:5. Although it is now lost to us, God had given early man some kind of law code, long before Moses. Whatever this was, it was eventually superseded by the Mosaic laws and the rest of the Scriptures as we now have them.

necessary food. Job loved and esteemed the words of God, in whatever form he may have had them. God's Word as our spiritual sustenance, is frequently compared to physical food (Psalm 19:10; Matthew 4:4; Hebrews 5:13-14; 1 Peter 2:2-3).

Job 23:13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

Job 23:14 For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Job 23:15 Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.

Job 23:16 For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:

Job 23:17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.