Those are not always in the right who are most forward to express their judgment and to conclude that if God should speak, He would agree with them. We should seek to put the best possible construction upon the words and actions of our brethren that they will bear, lest we add to their afflictions.
Job 11
1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
2 Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?
3 Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?
4 For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.
5 But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;
6 And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.
7 Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?
8 It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
9 The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
10 If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?
11 For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?
12 For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.
13 If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;
14 If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.
15 For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:
16 Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:
17 And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.
18 And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.
19 Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.
20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.
Job 11:1-3 – J. Vernon McGee
Job 11:4-6 – J. Vernon McGee
Job 11:7-20 – J. Vernon McGee
Job 11 – “Canst Thou by Searching Find out God?”
Zophar waxes vehement as he censures Job’s self-justification and his refusal to acknowledge the guilt which his friends attribute to him. There is some truth in his allegations, though it was cruel to goad Job with them, notwithstanding his repeated protestations.
It is quite true that many of us are filled with self-complacency, because we judge our best by others’ worst. It may be also that we have a very poor conception of what God is and asks. It is best for us to strike our breasts with the publican and to confess ourselves the chief of sinners.
What a magnificent challenge is that of Job 11:7-12! Canst thou reach God’s depths, or His perfections, or His heights? But, oh my soul, remember that through all His unsearchable depths God is love. Job had said he could not lift up his face, Job 10:15, but when sin is put away, we may exchange glances with our Father. —Through the Bible Day by Day
Job 11:7—Canst thou by searching find out God?
There is but one answer to that question. No one can. The very angels veil their faces before the insufferable glory of His face.
The firstborn sons of light
Desire in vain His depths to see;
They cannot reach the mystery,
The length, and breadth, and height.
Do not be surprised, then, if there should be matters in the Bible, in your own life, and in the Providential government of the world, which baffle your thought. Remember you are only a little child in an infant class, and it is not likely that you can comprehend the whole system of your instructor. God would cease to be God to us, if we by searching could find Him out.
But though we cannot find out God by the searching of the intellect, we may know Him by love. “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 4:8). There is a way of knowing God, which is hidden from the wise and prudent, and revealed to babes. Seek to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. Let Christ dwell deep in your heart by faith. Take care to obey all His commandments, and then the Holy God will come into you, and abide. He will give you Himself, and you will know Him as a little child knows its parent, whom it cannot grasp with its mind, but loves and trusts and knows with its heart. We cannot find out God by searching, but we can by loving.
We can also find Him in the character and life of Jesus. He that hath seen Him hath seen the Father; why then ask to be shown the Father? “What is Thy name, O mystery of strength and beauty?” “Shiloh, Rest-Giver,” is the deep response. —Our Daily Homily