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Morning Bible Reading - Job 16

  1 Then Job answered and said,  2 I have heard many such things: miserable comforters [are] ye all.  3 Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?  4 I also could speak as ye [do]: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.  5 [But] I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage [your grief].  6 Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and [though] I forbear, what am I eased?  7 But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.  8 And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, [which] is a witness [against me]: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.  9 He teareth [me] in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.  10 They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.  11 God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.  12 I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken [me] by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.  13 His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.  14 He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant.  15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust.  16 My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids [is] the shadow of death;  17 Not for [any] injustice in mine hands: also my prayer [is] pure.  18 O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.  19 Also now, behold, my witness [is] in heaven, and my record [is] on high.  20 My friends scorn me: [but] mine eye poureth out [tears] unto God.  21 O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man [pleadeth] for his neighbour!  22 When a few years are come, then I shall go the way [whence] I shall not return.

Matthew Henry Commentary:   0-999 Chapter Outline Job reproves his friends. (1-5) He represents his case as deplorable. (6-16) Job maintains his innocency. (17-22)

Matthew Henry Commentary:   1-5 Eliphaz had represented Job|s discourses as unprofitable, and nothing to the purpose; Job here gives his the same character. Those who pass censures, must expect to have them retorted; it is easy, it is endless, but what good does it do? Angry answers stir up men|s passions, but never convince their judgments, nor set truth in a clear light. What Job says of his friends is true of all creatures, in comparison with God; one time or other we shall be made to see and own that miserable comforters are they all. When under convictions of sin, terrors of conscience, or the arrests of death, only the blessed Spirit can comfort effectually; all others, without him, do it miserably, and to no purpose. Whatever our brethren|s sorrows are, we ought by sympathy to make them our own; they may soon be so.

Matthew Henry Commentary:   6-16 Here is a doleful representation of Job|s grievances. What reason we have to bless God, that we are not making such complaints! Even good men, when in great troubles, have much ado not to entertain hard thoughts of God. Eliphaz had represented Job as unhumbled under his affliction: No, says Job, I know better things; the dust is now the fittest place for me. In this he reminds us of Christ, who was a man of sorrows, and pronounced those blessed that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Matthew Henry Commentary:   17-22 Job|s condition was very deplorable; but he had the testimony of his conscience for him, that he never allowed himself in any gross sin. No one was ever more ready to acknowledge sins of infirmity. Eliphaz had charged him with hypocrisy in religion, but he specifies prayer, the great act of religion, and professes that in this he was pure, though not from all infirmity. He had a God to go to, who he doubted not took full notice of all his sorrows. Those who pour out tears before God, though they cannot plead for themselves, by reason of their defects, have a Friend to plead for them, even the Son of man, and on him we must ground all our hopes of acceptance with God. To die, is to go the way whence we shall not return. We must all of us, very certainly, and very shortly, go this journey. Should not then the Saviour be precious to our souls? And ought we not to be ready to obey and to suffer for his sake? If our consciences are sprinkled with his atoning blood, and testify that we are not living in sin or hypocrisy, when we go the way whence we shall not return, it will be a release from prison, and an entrance into everlasting happiness.

A Commentary By J Vernon MCgee For Job 16:1-999 

A Commentary By J Vernon MCgee For Job 16:4-999 

A Commentary By J Vernon MCgee For Job 16:12-999 

A Commentary By J Vernon MCgee For Job 16:18-999 


Morning Bible Reading - Job 17

  1 My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves [are ready] for me.  2 [Are there] not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?  3 Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who [is] he [that] will strike hands with me?  4 For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt [them].  5 He that speaketh flattery to [his] friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.  6 He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.  7 Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members [are] as a shadow.  8 Upright [men] shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.  9 The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.  10 But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find [one] wise [man] among you.  11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off, [even] the thoughts of my heart.  12 They change the night into day: the light [is] short because of darkness.  13 If I wait, the grave [is] mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.  14 I have said to corruption, Thou [art] my father: to the worm, [Thou art] my mother, and my sister.  15 And where [is] now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?  16 They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when [our] rest together [is] in the dust.

Matthew Henry Commentary:   0-999 Chapter Outline Job appeals from man to God. (1-9) His hope is not in life, but in death. (10-16)

Matthew Henry Commentary:   1-9 Job reflects upon the harsh censures his friends had passed upon him, and, looking on himself as a dying man, he appeals to God. Our time is ending. It concerns us carefully to redeem the days of time, and to spend them in getting ready for eternity. We see the good use the righteous should make of Job|s afflictions from God, from enemies, and from friends. Instead of being discouraged in the service of God, by the hard usage this faithful servant of God met with, they should be made bold to proceed and persevere therein. Those who keep their eye upon heaven as their end, will keep their feet in the paths of religion as their way, whatever difficulties and discouragements they may meet with.

Matthew Henry Commentary:   10-16 Job|s friends had pretended to comfort him with the hope of his return to a prosperous estate; he here shows that those do not go wisely about the work of comforting the afflicted, who fetch their comforts from the possibility of recovery in this world. It is our wisdom to comfort ourselves, and others, in distress, with that which will not fail; the promise of God, his love and grace, and a well-grounded hope of eternal life. See how Job reconciles himself to the grave. Let this make believers willing to die; it is but going to bed; they are weary, and it is time that they were in their beds. Why should not they go willingly when their Father calls them? Let us remember our bodies are allied to corruption, the worm and the dust; and let us seek for that lively hope which shall be fulfilled, when the hope of the wicked shall be put out in darkness; that when our bodies are in the grave, our souls may enjoy the rest reserved for the people of God.

A Commentary By J Vernon MCgee For Job 17:1-999 


Morning Bible Reading - Job 18

  1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,  2 How long [will it be ere] ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.  3 Wherefore are we counted as beasts, [and] reputed vile in your sight?  4 He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?  5 Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.  6 The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.  7 The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.  8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.  9 The gin shall take [him] by the heel, [and] the robber shall prevail against him.  10 The snare [is] laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.  11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.  12 His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction [shall be] ready at his side.  13 It shall devour the strength of his skin: [even] the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.  14 His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.  15 It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because [it is] none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.  16 His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.  17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.  18 He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.  19 He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.  20 They that come after [him] shall be astonied at his day, as they that went before were affrighted.  21 Surely such [are] the dwellings of the wicked, and this [is] the place [of him that] knoweth not God.

Matthew Henry Commentary:   0-999 Chapter Outline Bildad reproves Job. (1-4) Ruin attends the wicked. (5-10) The ruin of the wicked. (11-21)

Matthew Henry Commentary:   1-4 Bildad had before given Job good advice and encouragement; here he used nothing but rebukes, and declared his ruin. And he concluded that Job shut out the providence of God from the management of human affairs, because he would not admit himself to be wicked.

Matthew Henry Commentary:   5-10 Bildad describes the miserable condition of a wicked man; in which there is much certain truth, if we consider that a sinful condition is a sad condition, and that sin will be men|s ruin, if they do not repent. Though Bildad thought the application of it to Job was easy, yet it was not safe nor just. It is common for angry disputants to rank their opponents among God|s enemies, and to draw wrong conclusions from important truths. The destruction of the wicked is foretold. That destruction is represented under the similitude of a beast or bird caught in a snare, or a malefactor taken into custody. Satan, as he was a murderer, so he was a robber, from the beginning. He, the tempter, lays snares for sinners wherever they go. If he makes them sinful like himself, he will make them miserable like himself. Satan hunts for the precious life. In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare for himself, and God is preparing for his destruction. See here how the sinner runs himself into the snare.

Matthew Henry Commentary:   11-21 Bildad describes the destruction wicked people are kept for, in the other world, and which in some degree, often seizes them in this world. The way of sin is the way of fear, and leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present terrors of an impure conscience are earnests, as in Cain and Judas. Miserable indeed is a wicked man|s death, how secure soever his life was. See him dying; all that he trusts to for his support shall be taken from him. How happy are the saints, and how indebted to the lord Jesus, by whom death is so far done away and changed, that this king of terrors is become a friend and a servant! See the wicked man|s family sunk and cut off. His children shall perish, either with him or after him. Those who consult the true honour of their family, and its welfare, will be afraid of withering all by sin. The judgments of God follow the wicked man after death in this world, as a proof of the misery his soul is in after death, and as an earnest of that everlasting shame and contempt to which he shall rise in the great day. The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot, Pr 10:7. It would be well if this report of wicked men would cause any to flee from the wrath to come, from which their power, policy, and riches cannot deliver them. But Jesus ever liveth to deliver all who trust in him. Bear up then, suffering believers. Ye shall for a little time have sorrow, but your Beloved, your Saviour, will see you again; your hearts shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh away.

A Commentary By J Vernon MCgee For Job 18:1-999 

A Commentary By J Vernon MCgee For Job 18:9-999 


Evening Bible Reading - Acts 9

  1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,  2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.  3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:  4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?  5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: [it is] hard for thee to kick against the pricks.  6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord [said] unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.  7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.  8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought [him] into Damascus.  9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.  10 And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I [am here], Lord.  11 And the Lord [said] unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for [one] called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,  12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting [his] hand on him, that he might receive his sight.  13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:  14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.  15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:  16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.  17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, [even] Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.  18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.  19 And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus.  20 And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.  21 But all that heard [him] were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?  22 But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.

Matthew Henry Commentary:   1-9 So ill informed was Saul, that he thought he ought to do all he could against the name of Christ, and that he did God service thereby; he seemed to breathe in this as in his element. Let us not despair of renewing grace for the conversion of the greatest sinners, nor let such despair of the pardoning mercy of God for the greatest sin. It is a signal token of Divine favour, if God, by the inward working of his grace, or the outward events of his providence, stops us from prosecuting or executing sinful purposes. Saul saw that Just One, ch. 22:14; 26:13. How near to us is the unseen world! It is but for God to draw aside the veil, and objects are presented to the view, compared with which, whatever is most admired on earth is mean and contemptible. Saul submitted without reserve, desirous to know what the Lord Jesus would have him to do. Christ|s discoveries of himself to poor souls are humbling; they lay them very low, in mean thoughts of themselves. For three days Saul took no food, and it pleased God to leave him for that time without relief. His sins were now set in order before him; he was in the dark concerning his own spiritual state, and wounded in spirit for sin. When a sinner is brought to a proper sense of his own state and conduct, he will cast himself wholly on the mercy of the Saviour, asking what he would have him to do. God will direct the humbled sinner, and though he does not often bring transgressors to joy and peace in believing, without sorrows and distress of conscience, under which the soul is deeply engaged as to eternal things, yet happy are those who sow in tears, for they shall reap in joy.

Matthew Henry Commentary:   10-22 A good work was begun in Saul, when he was brought to Christ|s feet with those words, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And never did Christ leave any who were brought to that. Behold, the proud Pharisee, the unmerciful oppressor, the daring blasphemer, prayeth! And thus it is even now, and with the proud infidel, or the abandoned sinner. What happy tidings are these to all who understand the nature and power of prayer, of such prayer as the humbled sinner presents for the blessings of free salvation! Now he began to pray after another manner than he had done; before, he said his prayers, now, he prayed them. Regenerating grace sets people on praying; you may as well find a living man without breath, as a living Christian without prayer. Yet even eminent disciples, like Ananias, sometimes stagger at the commands of the Lord. But it is the Lord|s glory to surpass our scanty expectations, and show that those are vessels of his mercy whom we are apt to consider as objects of his vengeance. The teaching of the Holy Spirit takes away the scales of ignorance and pride from the understanding; then the sinner becomes a new creature, and endeavours to recommend the anointed Saviour, the Son of God, to his former companions.

A Commentary By J Vernon MCgee For Acts 9:1-22 

A Commentary By J Vernon MCgee For Acts 9:7-22 

A Commentary By J Vernon MCgee For Acts 9:13-22 

A Commentary By J Vernon MCgee For Acts 9:17-22