Chapter 11

The second general head: The cases in which God leaves his own children to this darkness. First, three extraordinary cases.

Having dispatched the efficient causes of this darkness — the physical causes — I now proceed to the cases in which, and the ends for which, God leaves his children to such a condition — the moral causes. The cases were the second general head I proposed to handle, and they are either extraordinary or ordinary.

First, extraordinary; as:

First, out of his prerogative.

Second, in case he means to make a man eminently wise and able to comfort others.

Third, in case of extraordinary comforts and revelations.

First, what if God will exercise his absoluteness and prerogative in his dealing with his child, and proceed therein according to no settled rule or precedent? This he may do, and it is thought he did so in Job's case. Job is thought by some to be set up as a type among the Gentiles of Christ at his crucifixion, who was to be left by his apostles and forsaken by God. And though Job's desertion began only with his estate, children, and body, yet it pierced further in the end and seized upon his spirit — not so far as to make him question God's love for him; we read nothing of that — yet seen in God's withdrawing the comfort of his presence and Satan's making him a target for his arrows. And though the Lord had cause enough against him, yet no cause is pleaded; it is resolved into an extraordinary dealing in which God took a liberty to glorify himself by singling out one of his stoutest and most valiant champions and setting him hand to hand to wrestle with the powers of darkness. Because Satan was, as it were, not strong enough for him, God turned adversary himself (Job 13:24). None had been more just than Job before; the Lord himself glories in him; none ever led a stricter life (see chapter 31); no man kept himself more in awe, and that by fearing such a desertion beforehand — which was the only way to prevent it, for what a man fears he prays much against. This Job expresses when complaining he says that though he feared it, yet it came (chapter 4:25), implying that it was not ordinary, nor indeed is it so. And though Job justifies himself too far, yet this was what made him so boldly plead his own cause — that he could find no precedent, no settled case of like dealing. Therefore Elihu, who took both God's part and Job's and stepped up as a moderator and as one in God's stead to decide the matter, resolves it most of all into God's prerogative, though not without Job's desert — yet not such as according to which God ordinarily proceeds, nor so severely with others — as appears in chapter 34. Thus God himself, when he came to contend with Job about it and show him a reason for it, only tells him how great a God he is and therefore might do as he pleased, using no other arguments in chapters 38-41. God indeed never lacks a cause, nor deals thus where sin is not; yet as it is said of the young man that he was born blind not for his sin nor his parents' (though not without it) but for the glory of God — it was an act of God's prerogative — so here. God had higher ends of glorifying himself in the patience and conquest of such a champion as Job was, and of confuting the devil who accused him of serving God for nothing. To demonstrate the falsehood of this charge, God tried the matter with him; also to refute the opinion generally received in those days that godly men prosper and flourish outwardly according to their godliness. Yet Elihu gives Job this good and seasonable counsel: to make this use of it, to search into his sins (chapter 34:31-32). And God could well take liberty to deal thus with Job, because he could make him amends — as afterward he did, restoring double to him. Indeed it was but the concealing for a while of his love, as many parents love to do with their children, yet to show it the more in real effects, as God even then did in making him more than a conqueror.

A second extraordinary case is when God intends to make a man a wise, capable, skillful, and strong Christian — wise, namely in this, which is the greatest learning and wisdom in the world: to comfort others from experience.

This may seem to be the reason for God's dealing with Heman. Heman was brought up in this school of temptation and kept in this condition of desertion from his youth (Psalm 88:15). He was put to it early, and so deep were the lessons set him that he was nearly out of his mind, as he says there. Yet in the end, when God raised him up again, this Heman — who lived around the time of David and Solomon — is reckoned among the wisest men of his time and one of the four who were next to Solomon (1 Kings 4:31). So that great apostle Paul was a man exposed to the same conflicts that others were — buffeted by Satan (2 Corinthians 12), filled with inward terrors as well as those from without. What was this for? Not so much for any personal cause of his own as to make him able to comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:4-5). For that comfort which answers a temptation in one man's heart will answer the same in another's — the same key will unlock twenty locks that have the same wards. So when temptations have the same wards, the key that unlocked one man's bolts will serve to answer another's. It is not every word that will comfort a weary soul, but only a word in season — that is, one fitted to the person's case. And who are those who have such apt and seasonable considerations to comfort such a person, but those who have had the same temptations and like distresses? This art of speaking peace and comfort and words in season is the greatest wisdom in the world, and not learned except in Heman's school. Temptation was one of Luther's masters. Therefore, of the abilities of the ministry, Christ in this chapter (Isaiah 50) instances this and calls the tongue of him who is able to speak seasonably to weary souls 'the tongue of the learned.' And in Job 33:23, to raise up one whose soul draws near the grave is said to be the work of 'one among a thousand' — which is easily granted if you consider the danger of such distress. In Scripture it is called the breaking of bones (Psalm 51), because the strength of a man's spirit that should uphold him as bones do the body sinks within him. Now to be a bone-setter is not every man's skill; it requires special art and cunning and a gentle hand — that is, meekness and pity — which are never truly natural except when we have tasted the like or may fear the like. The apostle commands that those who are spiritual restore such a one (Galatians 6:1) — the word means to set back in joint — lest you also be tempted. It requires skill to get out every splinter, to meet with every scruple, and to set all straight again. It is also called the wounding of the spirit: 'A wounded spirit, who can bear?' (Proverbs 18:14). As the power of sin wounds, so also its guilt; and the one is as incurable as the other. And it being the spirit of a man that is wounded, that which must heal it must be something dropped into the heart to reach the spirit. There must be particular selected remedies to heal these wounds, because they are usually of a differing nature. For some objections Satan has devised that the most learned men never met with in books, and Satan has devised methods of tempting deserted souls (Ephesians 6) which he uses again and again. A man shall not know those depths and fathom them unless he has been in the depths himself, as Heman speaks. Then he shall see such wonders of God in those depths as none else ever saw, and thereby gain such wisdom as to be able to encourage others by his example to trust in God and call upon him — as David did in Psalm 32:5-6.

The third extraordinary case: God does desert when a man has had or is to have from God an abundance of revelations and comforts.

First, in case he has already had an abundance of revelations from God. As after that glorious testimony given to Christ at his baptism — 'This is my beloved Son' (Matthew 3) — then Jesus was led aside to be tempted (Matthew 4:1). The text points out this timing to this very purpose. In like manner does God often deal with the members of Christ regarding the season and time of their desertion and temptation. This was also the great apostle's case (2 Corinthians 12:7): 'Lest I should be exalted above measure through abundance of revelations, a messenger of Satan was sent to buffet me.' What he calls there 'the thorn in the flesh' that pricked him is meant, I think, rather of a desertion and leaving him to distress of spirit than of a lust — for his purpose is to glory in his afflictions (verses 9-10), and if it had been a lust it would not have been something to glory in. Again, it was 'a messenger of Satan' — therefore something external — and it buffeted him; he was a mere patient in it, as a man who is buffeted is. In the exercise of lusts our spirits are active. Besides, he prayed that it might depart, which phrase seems to indicate something external. God had taken him aside into heaven and spoken wonderful things to him, and when he came down again Satan must take him to task and batter him. The flesh would have grown proud had it not been beaten black and blue. He had been in heaven and heard the language of angels and saints — things not to be uttered — and he must hear from devils the language of hell. This buffeting I take to be by satanic injections.

Second, before God dispenses great revelations and comforts, he sometimes deserts. And as before great distresses which he means to lead his children into, he fills their hearts with unspeakable and glorious joy to strengthen them against the approaching conflict — thus God, to hearten his Son against that great agony in the garden and combat on the cross, transfigured him on the Mount first — so on the contrary, sometimes before great revelations and comforts, to make them sweet and the more welcome, God withdraws himself most at that very time, thereby preparing the heart for them as physicians prepare the body for cordials. The greatest spring tide of comfort comes in upon the lowest ebb of distress. Distress enlarges the heart and makes it gasp and thirst after comfort the more, and so is made more capable of consolation — for the rule is true: 'As sufferings abound, so comforts shall abound also' (2 Corinthians 1:5).

The second main topic: the circumstances in which God leaves His own children in this darkness. First, three extraordinary circumstances.

Having dealt with the efficient causes of this darkness — the physical causes — I now move to the circumstances in which, and the purposes for which, God leaves His children in such a condition — the moral causes. The circumstances were the second main topic I proposed to address, and they are either extraordinary or ordinary.

First, the extraordinary, such as:

First, out of His sovereign prerogative.

Second, when He intends to make a person exceptionally wise and able to comfort others.

Third, in the case of extraordinary comforts and revelations.

First: what if God chooses to exercise His sovereignty and prerogative in dealing with His child, proceeding in a way that follows no settled pattern or precedent? This He may do, and it is thought He did so in Job's case. Some consider Job among the Gentiles to be a type of Christ at His crucifixion — Christ who was to be abandoned by His apostles and forsaken by God. Though Job's desertion began only with his estate, children, and body, it eventually pierced further and seized upon his spirit — not so far as to make him question God's love for him; we read nothing of that — yet showing itself in God's withdrawal of the comfort of His presence and in Satan's making Job the target of his arrows. And though God had cause enough in Job's case, no cause is actually pleaded; it resolves into an extraordinary dealing in which God took the liberty to glorify Himself by singling out one of His bravest and most valiant champions and setting him hand to hand against the powers of darkness. Because Satan was, as it were, not strong enough for Job, God himself became the adversary (Job 13:24). No one had been more upright than Job before; the Lord Himself glories in him; no one had ever lived more strictly (see chapter 31); no man kept himself in greater awe — and he did so precisely by fearing such a desertion beforehand, which was the only way to prevent it, for what a man fears he prays hard against. Job expresses this when he complains that, though he had dreaded this, yet it came (chapter 4:25) — implying that it was not ordinary, nor indeed is it. And though Job vindicates himself too confidently at points, this is what made him plead his own case so boldly: he could find no precedent, no settled pattern of such treatment. Therefore Elihu, who took both God's side and Job's and stepped in as a mediator — speaking as one in God's place to settle the matter — resolves it most fully into God's sovereign prerogative, though not without acknowledging Job's failings — yet not such as God ordinarily acts upon, nor does He treat others so severely — as appears in chapter 34. When God Himself came to contend with Job about it and show him the reason for it, He only demonstrated how great He is and that He could therefore do as He pleased — using no other argument through chapters 38-41. God never lacks cause, nor deals this way where there is no sin; yet as it was said of the man born blind — that he was blind not for his own sin or his parents', though not without sin, but for the glory of God — that was an act of God's sovereign prerogative — so here. God had higher purposes in glorifying Himself through the patience and triumph of such a champion as Job, and in disproving the devil's charge that Job served God only for what he got. To demonstrate the falseness of that charge, God tested the matter; and also to refute the widely held belief of that era that godly people necessarily prosper outwardly in proportion to their godliness. Yet Elihu gives Job this sound and timely counsel: to use the occasion to search out his sins (chapter 34:31-32). And God could well take this liberty with Job because He was able to make full amends — as He afterward did, restoring to him double of what he had lost. Indeed, it was only the concealing of His love for a time, as many parents love to do with their children, while showing it all the more powerfully in real effects — as God even then was doing by making Job more than a conqueror.

A second extraordinary circumstance is when God intends to make a person a wise, capable, skilled, and mature Christian — wise in this way, which is the greatest learning and wisdom in the world: the ability to comfort others from personal experience.

This appears to be the reason for God's dealing with Heman. Heman was schooled in this kind of trial and kept in this condition of desertion from his youth (Psalm 88:15). He was put to it early, and the lessons set him were so deep that he was nearly out of his mind, as he himself says there. Yet in the end, when God raised him up, this Heman — who lived around the time of David and Solomon — is counted among the wisest men of his age, one of the four who came next to Solomon himself (1 Kings 4:31). So the great apostle Paul was exposed to the same conflicts others faced — buffeted by Satan (2 Corinthians 12), filled with inward terrors as well as outward ones. What was this for? Not so much for any personal sin of his own as to make him able to comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:4-5). For the comfort that answers a temptation in one person's heart will answer the same in another's — the same key will unlock twenty locks that have the same tumblers. When temptations have the same character, the key that opened one person's chains will serve to unlock another's. It is not every word that comforts a weary soul, but only a word in season — one fitted to the person's specific situation. And who are better placed to offer such apt and timely comfort than those who have passed through the same temptations and similar distress? This art of speaking peace, comfort, and words in season is the greatest wisdom in the world, and it is not learned except in Heman's school. Temptation was one of Luther's teachers. Therefore, among the abilities of the ministry, Christ in this chapter (Isaiah 50) singles out this very gift and calls the tongue of one who can speak with fitting gentleness to weary souls 'the tongue of the learned.' And in Job 33:23, to lift up a soul that has drawn near the grave is said to be the work of 'one among a thousand' — which is easy to understand when you consider the danger of such distress. In Scripture it is called the breaking of bones (Psalm 51), because the strength of spirit that should hold a person up as bones hold up the body fails within them. To be a bone-setter is not every person's skill; it requires special art and delicacy and a gentle hand — that is, tenderness and compassion — which are never truly natural unless we have ourselves tasted or feared the same. The apostle commands those who are spiritual to restore such a person (Galatians 6:1) — the word means to set back in joint — lest they themselves be tempted. It requires skill to draw out every splinter, to address every doubt, and to set everything right again. It is also called the wounding of the spirit: 'A wounded spirit, who can bear?' (Proverbs 18:14). As the power of sin wounds, so does its guilt — and the one is as hard to heal as the other. And since it is the spirit of a person that is wounded, what heals it must be something that penetrates to the spirit. There must be specific and carefully chosen remedies for these wounds, because they are typically of different kinds. For some objections Satan has devised that even the most learned have never encountered in books; and he has developed methods of tempting deserted souls (Ephesians 6) that he uses again and again. A person will not know those depths or be able to sound them unless he has himself been in the depths, as Heman describes. Then he will see such wonders of God in those depths as no one else has ever seen, and will thereby gain the wisdom to encourage others by his example to trust in God and call upon Him — as David did in Psalm 32:5-6.

The third extraordinary circumstance: God deserts when a person has had or is about to receive from God an abundance of revelations and comforts.

First, in the case of someone who has already received an abundance of revelations from God. After that glorious testimony given to Christ at His baptism — 'This is My beloved Son' (Matthew 3) — Jesus was then led away to be tempted (Matthew 4:1). The text draws attention to this timing precisely for this purpose. In the same way God often deals with the members of Christ regarding the season and timing of their desertion and temptation. This was also the great apostle's experience (2 Corinthians 12:7): 'To keep me from exalting myself because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a messenger of Satan was given to me to torment me.' What he calls there 'a thorn in the flesh' that pricked him refers, I think, to a desertion and being left in distress of spirit rather than to a sinful lust — for his purpose is to glory in his weaknesses (verses 9-10), and if it had been a lust it would not have been something to glory in. Again, it was 'a messenger of Satan' — therefore something external — and it buffeted him; he was entirely passive in it, as a person being struck is. In the exercise of lusts our spirits are active. Besides, he prayed that it would depart — a phrase that suggests something external. God had taken him apart into heaven and spoken wonderful things to him; and when he came down again, Satan was given permission to take him to task and batter him. His flesh would have grown proud had it not been beaten black and blue. He had been in heaven and heard the language of angels and saints — things not lawful to be spoken — and he must hear from devils the language of hell. This buffeting I take to consist of satanic injections.

Second, before God dispenses great revelations and comforts, He sometimes deserts first. Just as, before great trials He intends to lead His children into, God fills their hearts with inexpressible and glorious joy to strengthen them against the coming conflict — so God, to encourage His Son for the great agony in the garden and the combat on the cross, first transfigured Him on the Mount — so on the other side, sometimes before great revelations and comforts, God withdraws Himself precisely at that time, thereby preparing the heart for those comforts, as physicians prepare the body before administering a restorative. The greatest flood tide of comfort comes in upon the lowest ebb of distress. Distress enlarges the heart and makes it gasp and thirst for comfort all the more, and so becomes more capable of receiving it — for the principle is true: 'As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our comfort also abounds through Christ' (2 Corinthians 1:5).