Psalms 24
KingCommentsPsalms 24:1
The Purpose of Oppression
Now it may still be so, that righteous people are bound and caught by affliction (Job 36:8). They cannot free themselves from it and cannot get away from it. They are, as it were, bound in fetters and cords (cf. Lamentations 3:7). Although it seems as if God is targeting them, it is precisely His loving concern for them. He acts with them because He is merciful and wants to make them realize this.
He thereby makes their work known to them (Job 36:9). He lets them know what they are doing, but that they do not involve Him in it. A situation has arisen in which the transgressions have “magnified themselves”. If transgressions have taken over, that means that God, by denouncing Him, no longer stands in the first place. Job has transgressed by blaming God for his misery. To return from evil means here: to acknowledge that God has the right to do with him according to His own wise purposes, even if he does not understand them.
Through the affliction that comes upon them, He wants to open their ear to His instruction or discipline (Job 36:10; cf. Job 33:16). Affliction aims to make man repent, to make him reflect on his former life, and to wonder why all this happens to him. Elihu does not look at the cause of the instruction – the friends did – but at its purpose. God speaks to them through the trial. Through what He brings to the righteous, He says that they must “return from evil”. That evil is that they do not involve Him in their life.
First the positive result of God’s instruction is presented (Job 36:11). If the righteous listen to God’s voice in the trial, it will be seen in serving Him (again). God will get the first place again in the heart. As a result, they will enjoy prosperity for the remaining days of their lives. They will become “years in pleasures”, years full of everything that is pleasant. Job will experience this (Job 42:12; 17). This is what the grace of God has in mind with trials.
But if people do not hear, they shall perish (Job 36:12). These are people who appear to be righteous but are not. When they are tested, they do not submit to God’s will, but resist Him. They do not accept His instruction, which He brings upon them by means of discipline to draw them to Himself, but reject it. They perish “by the sword,” that is to say, they are taken away by sudden death.
They pass away without having submitted their spirit to God. Without knowledge of the ways God has gone with them and the discipline He has brought upon them for their sake, they die. In all that God has brought upon them, they have never seen a purpose from on high. They never thought deeply about the usefulness of what happened to them. Job did. He did not understand God, but he did seek Him.
Nor is Job a man with a godless or hypocritical heart (Job 36:13). People with a hypocritical heart sin continuously. In their dissatisfaction they accumulate anger in their hearts; their anger about the course of events increases more and more. But there is no cry from them to God for help if He brings misery upon them and binds them with it. Instead of turning to God, they rebel against Him. Job has constantly called for help in his affliction. This proves that Elihu does not mean him, but speaks of people who hold to a form of Godliness, but deny its power (2 Timothy 3:5; Matthew 15:6-9).
Such people will not live long, for they will die young (Job 36:14). This is in contrast to the blessing given to the righteous who hear and serve God (Job 36:11). They will also die an extraordinarily shameful death. In their death they will receive no honor, which they claimed for themselves in their hypocrisy during their life. The way their life ends fits the way they have lived. They lived in depravity and that will also mark their end.
On the other hand, the afflicted in their affliction are delivered by God (Job 36:15). Job will experience this when he comes face to face with God. God will open his ear in the affliction in which he finds himself. He will make His purpose known to him, so that he will understand why all this suffering has come upon him. God does not deliver the afflicted out of the affliction – which He will do later – but in the affliction. It means that God comes to him and supports him in his affliction and gives him comfort and strength to persevere. He delivers him from doubt, fear, and unbelief by turning his heart to Him.
Psalms 24:2
The Purpose of Oppression
Now it may still be so, that righteous people are bound and caught by affliction (Job 36:8). They cannot free themselves from it and cannot get away from it. They are, as it were, bound in fetters and cords (cf. Lamentations 3:7). Although it seems as if God is targeting them, it is precisely His loving concern for them. He acts with them because He is merciful and wants to make them realize this.
He thereby makes their work known to them (Job 36:9). He lets them know what they are doing, but that they do not involve Him in it. A situation has arisen in which the transgressions have “magnified themselves”. If transgressions have taken over, that means that God, by denouncing Him, no longer stands in the first place. Job has transgressed by blaming God for his misery. To return from evil means here: to acknowledge that God has the right to do with him according to His own wise purposes, even if he does not understand them.
Through the affliction that comes upon them, He wants to open their ear to His instruction or discipline (Job 36:10; cf. Job 33:16). Affliction aims to make man repent, to make him reflect on his former life, and to wonder why all this happens to him. Elihu does not look at the cause of the instruction – the friends did – but at its purpose. God speaks to them through the trial. Through what He brings to the righteous, He says that they must “return from evil”. That evil is that they do not involve Him in their life.
First the positive result of God’s instruction is presented (Job 36:11). If the righteous listen to God’s voice in the trial, it will be seen in serving Him (again). God will get the first place again in the heart. As a result, they will enjoy prosperity for the remaining days of their lives. They will become “years in pleasures”, years full of everything that is pleasant. Job will experience this (Job 42:12; 17). This is what the grace of God has in mind with trials.
But if people do not hear, they shall perish (Job 36:12). These are people who appear to be righteous but are not. When they are tested, they do not submit to God’s will, but resist Him. They do not accept His instruction, which He brings upon them by means of discipline to draw them to Himself, but reject it. They perish “by the sword,” that is to say, they are taken away by sudden death.
They pass away without having submitted their spirit to God. Without knowledge of the ways God has gone with them and the discipline He has brought upon them for their sake, they die. In all that God has brought upon them, they have never seen a purpose from on high. They never thought deeply about the usefulness of what happened to them. Job did. He did not understand God, but he did seek Him.
Nor is Job a man with a godless or hypocritical heart (Job 36:13). People with a hypocritical heart sin continuously. In their dissatisfaction they accumulate anger in their hearts; their anger about the course of events increases more and more. But there is no cry from them to God for help if He brings misery upon them and binds them with it. Instead of turning to God, they rebel against Him. Job has constantly called for help in his affliction. This proves that Elihu does not mean him, but speaks of people who hold to a form of Godliness, but deny its power (2 Timothy 3:5; Matthew 15:6-9).
Such people will not live long, for they will die young (Job 36:14). This is in contrast to the blessing given to the righteous who hear and serve God (Job 36:11). They will also die an extraordinarily shameful death. In their death they will receive no honor, which they claimed for themselves in their hypocrisy during their life. The way their life ends fits the way they have lived. They lived in depravity and that will also mark their end.
On the other hand, the afflicted in their affliction are delivered by God (Job 36:15). Job will experience this when he comes face to face with God. God will open his ear in the affliction in which he finds himself. He will make His purpose known to him, so that he will understand why all this suffering has come upon him. God does not deliver the afflicted out of the affliction – which He will do later – but in the affliction. It means that God comes to him and supports him in his affliction and gives him comfort and strength to persevere. He delivers him from doubt, fear, and unbelief by turning his heart to Him.
Psalms 24:3
The Application to Job
Elihu will now apply to Job the general principles of the government of God he has just described. Through the disasters that have come upon Job, God has enticed him “from the mouth of distress” (Job 36:16; cf. Hosea 2:13). God has taken everything away from him in order to bring him to “a broad place with no constraint”. Now that Job has lost everything, God is free to do His work in Job. Job is physically depleted, but God presents him with food on his table that is full of fatness. Perhaps here we can think of a table in a spiritual sense. A table symbolizes fellowship. God wants that fellowship with Job, full fellowship.
Job is not there yet (Job 36:17). He is still “full” of something else, namely “full of judgment on the wicked”. This trial and the justice dominate his thoughts, making him incapable of hearing God’s voice. In this way he behaves like a wicked person who does not listen to God’s voice either. Elihu did not say that Job was a wicked man, but warned him not to behave like one.
He warns him not to get so angry that he comes to scoff at God (Job 36:18). If he does not bow down, he can come to that. If he cannot control it and commits this evil, even a great ransom will not be able to avert the punishment that will then be his portion. He will then have to bear the consequences of his intransigence.
Job should not think that his riches gave him a certain protection toward God (Job 36:19). He may – rightly – have seen his wealth as a proof of God’s goodness. He has also worked hard for it, and that hard work has been blessed by God. But did he not rely somewhat on his wealth and strength in the process? Has he seen it as a merit of his own rather than a favor from God? Has the thought occurred to him that God was also obliged to give him his riches?
Now that he has lost everything, he has not yet lost confidence in himself. But because he has lost everything and feels that he has lost God as well, he longs for the night (Job 36:20). By this he means that God must take him away. He has expressed this longing once before (Job 7:15). Elihu tells him not to do that anymore. Otherwise, he will fare like the nations who are driven out of their land and taken into exile.
Let Job take care that he does not resort to evil, whether he commits it himself or joins those who commit evil (Job 36:21). It may offer a prospect of forgetting the misery, but over time it will become clear how much he has made a mistake. It is always a wrong choice to follow our natural tendencies instead of repenting and bowing before God (Job 36:16). And so Job is at a crossroads. What choice will he make?
Psalms 24:4
The Application to Job
Elihu will now apply to Job the general principles of the government of God he has just described. Through the disasters that have come upon Job, God has enticed him “from the mouth of distress” (Job 36:16; cf. Hosea 2:13). God has taken everything away from him in order to bring him to “a broad place with no constraint”. Now that Job has lost everything, God is free to do His work in Job. Job is physically depleted, but God presents him with food on his table that is full of fatness. Perhaps here we can think of a table in a spiritual sense. A table symbolizes fellowship. God wants that fellowship with Job, full fellowship.
Job is not there yet (Job 36:17). He is still “full” of something else, namely “full of judgment on the wicked”. This trial and the justice dominate his thoughts, making him incapable of hearing God’s voice. In this way he behaves like a wicked person who does not listen to God’s voice either. Elihu did not say that Job was a wicked man, but warned him not to behave like one.
He warns him not to get so angry that he comes to scoff at God (Job 36:18). If he does not bow down, he can come to that. If he cannot control it and commits this evil, even a great ransom will not be able to avert the punishment that will then be his portion. He will then have to bear the consequences of his intransigence.
Job should not think that his riches gave him a certain protection toward God (Job 36:19). He may – rightly – have seen his wealth as a proof of God’s goodness. He has also worked hard for it, and that hard work has been blessed by God. But did he not rely somewhat on his wealth and strength in the process? Has he seen it as a merit of his own rather than a favor from God? Has the thought occurred to him that God was also obliged to give him his riches?
Now that he has lost everything, he has not yet lost confidence in himself. But because he has lost everything and feels that he has lost God as well, he longs for the night (Job 36:20). By this he means that God must take him away. He has expressed this longing once before (Job 7:15). Elihu tells him not to do that anymore. Otherwise, he will fare like the nations who are driven out of their land and taken into exile.
Let Job take care that he does not resort to evil, whether he commits it himself or joins those who commit evil (Job 36:21). It may offer a prospect of forgetting the misery, but over time it will become clear how much he has made a mistake. It is always a wrong choice to follow our natural tendencies instead of repenting and bowing before God (Job 36:16). And so Job is at a crossroads. What choice will he make?
Psalms 24:5
The Application to Job
Elihu will now apply to Job the general principles of the government of God he has just described. Through the disasters that have come upon Job, God has enticed him “from the mouth of distress” (Job 36:16; cf. Hosea 2:13). God has taken everything away from him in order to bring him to “a broad place with no constraint”. Now that Job has lost everything, God is free to do His work in Job. Job is physically depleted, but God presents him with food on his table that is full of fatness. Perhaps here we can think of a table in a spiritual sense. A table symbolizes fellowship. God wants that fellowship with Job, full fellowship.
Job is not there yet (Job 36:17). He is still “full” of something else, namely “full of judgment on the wicked”. This trial and the justice dominate his thoughts, making him incapable of hearing God’s voice. In this way he behaves like a wicked person who does not listen to God’s voice either. Elihu did not say that Job was a wicked man, but warned him not to behave like one.
He warns him not to get so angry that he comes to scoff at God (Job 36:18). If he does not bow down, he can come to that. If he cannot control it and commits this evil, even a great ransom will not be able to avert the punishment that will then be his portion. He will then have to bear the consequences of his intransigence.
Job should not think that his riches gave him a certain protection toward God (Job 36:19). He may – rightly – have seen his wealth as a proof of God’s goodness. He has also worked hard for it, and that hard work has been blessed by God. But did he not rely somewhat on his wealth and strength in the process? Has he seen it as a merit of his own rather than a favor from God? Has the thought occurred to him that God was also obliged to give him his riches?
Now that he has lost everything, he has not yet lost confidence in himself. But because he has lost everything and feels that he has lost God as well, he longs for the night (Job 36:20). By this he means that God must take him away. He has expressed this longing once before (Job 7:15). Elihu tells him not to do that anymore. Otherwise, he will fare like the nations who are driven out of their land and taken into exile.
Let Job take care that he does not resort to evil, whether he commits it himself or joins those who commit evil (Job 36:21). It may offer a prospect of forgetting the misery, but over time it will become clear how much he has made a mistake. It is always a wrong choice to follow our natural tendencies instead of repenting and bowing before God (Job 36:16). And so Job is at a crossroads. What choice will he make?
Psalms 24:6
The Application to Job
Elihu will now apply to Job the general principles of the government of God he has just described. Through the disasters that have come upon Job, God has enticed him “from the mouth of distress” (Job 36:16; cf. Hosea 2:13). God has taken everything away from him in order to bring him to “a broad place with no constraint”. Now that Job has lost everything, God is free to do His work in Job. Job is physically depleted, but God presents him with food on his table that is full of fatness. Perhaps here we can think of a table in a spiritual sense. A table symbolizes fellowship. God wants that fellowship with Job, full fellowship.
Job is not there yet (Job 36:17). He is still “full” of something else, namely “full of judgment on the wicked”. This trial and the justice dominate his thoughts, making him incapable of hearing God’s voice. In this way he behaves like a wicked person who does not listen to God’s voice either. Elihu did not say that Job was a wicked man, but warned him not to behave like one.
He warns him not to get so angry that he comes to scoff at God (Job 36:18). If he does not bow down, he can come to that. If he cannot control it and commits this evil, even a great ransom will not be able to avert the punishment that will then be his portion. He will then have to bear the consequences of his intransigence.
Job should not think that his riches gave him a certain protection toward God (Job 36:19). He may – rightly – have seen his wealth as a proof of God’s goodness. He has also worked hard for it, and that hard work has been blessed by God. But did he not rely somewhat on his wealth and strength in the process? Has he seen it as a merit of his own rather than a favor from God? Has the thought occurred to him that God was also obliged to give him his riches?
Now that he has lost everything, he has not yet lost confidence in himself. But because he has lost everything and feels that he has lost God as well, he longs for the night (Job 36:20). By this he means that God must take him away. He has expressed this longing once before (Job 7:15). Elihu tells him not to do that anymore. Otherwise, he will fare like the nations who are driven out of their land and taken into exile.
Let Job take care that he does not resort to evil, whether he commits it himself or joins those who commit evil (Job 36:21). It may offer a prospect of forgetting the misery, but over time it will become clear how much he has made a mistake. It is always a wrong choice to follow our natural tendencies instead of repenting and bowing before God (Job 36:16). And so Job is at a crossroads. What choice will he make?
Psalms 24:7
The Application to Job
Elihu will now apply to Job the general principles of the government of God he has just described. Through the disasters that have come upon Job, God has enticed him “from the mouth of distress” (Job 36:16; cf. Hosea 2:13). God has taken everything away from him in order to bring him to “a broad place with no constraint”. Now that Job has lost everything, God is free to do His work in Job. Job is physically depleted, but God presents him with food on his table that is full of fatness. Perhaps here we can think of a table in a spiritual sense. A table symbolizes fellowship. God wants that fellowship with Job, full fellowship.
Job is not there yet (Job 36:17). He is still “full” of something else, namely “full of judgment on the wicked”. This trial and the justice dominate his thoughts, making him incapable of hearing God’s voice. In this way he behaves like a wicked person who does not listen to God’s voice either. Elihu did not say that Job was a wicked man, but warned him not to behave like one.
He warns him not to get so angry that he comes to scoff at God (Job 36:18). If he does not bow down, he can come to that. If he cannot control it and commits this evil, even a great ransom will not be able to avert the punishment that will then be his portion. He will then have to bear the consequences of his intransigence.
Job should not think that his riches gave him a certain protection toward God (Job 36:19). He may – rightly – have seen his wealth as a proof of God’s goodness. He has also worked hard for it, and that hard work has been blessed by God. But did he not rely somewhat on his wealth and strength in the process? Has he seen it as a merit of his own rather than a favor from God? Has the thought occurred to him that God was also obliged to give him his riches?
Now that he has lost everything, he has not yet lost confidence in himself. But because he has lost everything and feels that he has lost God as well, he longs for the night (Job 36:20). By this he means that God must take him away. He has expressed this longing once before (Job 7:15). Elihu tells him not to do that anymore. Otherwise, he will fare like the nations who are driven out of their land and taken into exile.
Let Job take care that he does not resort to evil, whether he commits it himself or joins those who commit evil (Job 36:21). It may offer a prospect of forgetting the misery, but over time it will become clear how much he has made a mistake. It is always a wrong choice to follow our natural tendencies instead of repenting and bowing before God (Job 36:16). And so Job is at a crossroads. What choice will he make?
Psalms 24:8
The Application to Job
Elihu will now apply to Job the general principles of the government of God he has just described. Through the disasters that have come upon Job, God has enticed him “from the mouth of distress” (Job 36:16; cf. Hosea 2:13). God has taken everything away from him in order to bring him to “a broad place with no constraint”. Now that Job has lost everything, God is free to do His work in Job. Job is physically depleted, but God presents him with food on his table that is full of fatness. Perhaps here we can think of a table in a spiritual sense. A table symbolizes fellowship. God wants that fellowship with Job, full fellowship.
Job is not there yet (Job 36:17). He is still “full” of something else, namely “full of judgment on the wicked”. This trial and the justice dominate his thoughts, making him incapable of hearing God’s voice. In this way he behaves like a wicked person who does not listen to God’s voice either. Elihu did not say that Job was a wicked man, but warned him not to behave like one.
He warns him not to get so angry that he comes to scoff at God (Job 36:18). If he does not bow down, he can come to that. If he cannot control it and commits this evil, even a great ransom will not be able to avert the punishment that will then be his portion. He will then have to bear the consequences of his intransigence.
Job should not think that his riches gave him a certain protection toward God (Job 36:19). He may – rightly – have seen his wealth as a proof of God’s goodness. He has also worked hard for it, and that hard work has been blessed by God. But did he not rely somewhat on his wealth and strength in the process? Has he seen it as a merit of his own rather than a favor from God? Has the thought occurred to him that God was also obliged to give him his riches?
Now that he has lost everything, he has not yet lost confidence in himself. But because he has lost everything and feels that he has lost God as well, he longs for the night (Job 36:20). By this he means that God must take him away. He has expressed this longing once before (Job 7:15). Elihu tells him not to do that anymore. Otherwise, he will fare like the nations who are driven out of their land and taken into exile.
Let Job take care that he does not resort to evil, whether he commits it himself or joins those who commit evil (Job 36:21). It may offer a prospect of forgetting the misery, but over time it will become clear how much he has made a mistake. It is always a wrong choice to follow our natural tendencies instead of repenting and bowing before God (Job 36:16). And so Job is at a crossroads. What choice will he make?
Psalms 24:9
Exalt God’s Work
Elihu returns to his starting point (Job 36:5) and points out to Job the high exaltation that God has by His power. He is the Almighty God, Who holds everything under His control and controls everything according to His counsel. As far above man, He bends down to that puny man to teach him. He does so in an inimitable way. No one is equal to Him as a Teacher.
God teaches His teaching in creation and in the lives of individuals. Elihu here says to Job, as it were, that God teaches him lessons in the exercise of His power. In all that God has brought over Job, He shows that He wants to tell Job Who He is and who Job is. Job receives private lessons from God, because God is deeply interested in Job personally and caring about him.
God composes His lessons for Job, and every man, Himself (Job 36:23). No one prescribes them to Him. Nobody tells Him how He should teach, what practical exercises He should have performed. No one can say to Him that He adds injustice in the material He has for each person. He composes the package with the care that is proper to Him. He never commands anyone more than he or she can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). He knows us through and through and knows exactly what we need to learn and attunes the lessons accordingly. All His works are special lessons for us.
Therefore, it is fitting for Job that he exalts God’s work (Job 36:24) rather than complaining about it. God’s deeds invite us to sing about them. People have done this throughout the ages and it is fitting for us as well. That is why we have been created. Because of sin people don’t do that anymore. If we are saved by the blood of Christ, we have all the more reason to sing of God’s work in redemption.
“All men”, without exception, see the sun, the moon, and the stars; they see the storms, the rain, and the lightning (Job 36:25). In it they can perceive His exalted might. All men also see His work in the lives of other people when He brings them into trial, or in disasters in nature. In contrast, man is null and void. Elihu therefore speaks of “man”, i.e. mortal man. He stands by it, beholds it, and stands at a great, incalculable distance from it.
That distance is literally when it comes to celestial bodies. That distance is spiritual when it comes to what can strike a person personally. The friends saw the suffering of Job from afar (Job 2:12). The distance in kilometers did not remain, because they sat down with him. But the spiritual distance with respect to understanding Job’s suffering has remained.
Psalms 24:10
Exalt God’s Work
Elihu returns to his starting point (Job 36:5) and points out to Job the high exaltation that God has by His power. He is the Almighty God, Who holds everything under His control and controls everything according to His counsel. As far above man, He bends down to that puny man to teach him. He does so in an inimitable way. No one is equal to Him as a Teacher.
God teaches His teaching in creation and in the lives of individuals. Elihu here says to Job, as it were, that God teaches him lessons in the exercise of His power. In all that God has brought over Job, He shows that He wants to tell Job Who He is and who Job is. Job receives private lessons from God, because God is deeply interested in Job personally and caring about him.
God composes His lessons for Job, and every man, Himself (Job 36:23). No one prescribes them to Him. Nobody tells Him how He should teach, what practical exercises He should have performed. No one can say to Him that He adds injustice in the material He has for each person. He composes the package with the care that is proper to Him. He never commands anyone more than he or she can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). He knows us through and through and knows exactly what we need to learn and attunes the lessons accordingly. All His works are special lessons for us.
Therefore, it is fitting for Job that he exalts God’s work (Job 36:24) rather than complaining about it. God’s deeds invite us to sing about them. People have done this throughout the ages and it is fitting for us as well. That is why we have been created. Because of sin people don’t do that anymore. If we are saved by the blood of Christ, we have all the more reason to sing of God’s work in redemption.
“All men”, without exception, see the sun, the moon, and the stars; they see the storms, the rain, and the lightning (Job 36:25). In it they can perceive His exalted might. All men also see His work in the lives of other people when He brings them into trial, or in disasters in nature. In contrast, man is null and void. Elihu therefore speaks of “man”, i.e. mortal man. He stands by it, beholds it, and stands at a great, incalculable distance from it.
That distance is literally when it comes to celestial bodies. That distance is spiritual when it comes to what can strike a person personally. The friends saw the suffering of Job from afar (Job 2:12). The distance in kilometers did not remain, because they sat down with him. But the spiritual distance with respect to understanding Job’s suffering has remained.