Bible Commentaries

THE HOUSE APPOINTED FOR ALL LIVING

‘For I know that Thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.’

Job 30:23

I. The reflections suggested.—(a) Death and the grave are the lot of all. (b) Each of us should think of his individual liability—‘I know that Thou wilt bring me.’ (c) The hand of God is to be owned—‘Thou wilt bring me to death.’ (d) The certainty of all this, ‘I know that Thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.’

II. The lessons we should learn.—(a) To moderate our attachment to earthly things; not to be unduly elated by the joys, or unduly depressed by the sorrows of life, (b) Diligently to apply ourselves to our proper work—‘Work while it is day, for the night cometh when no man can work.’ (c) To direct our thoughts onward and upward, (d) To make sure of our union to Him who is the Resurrection and the Life—for ‘Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, they rest from their labours and their works do follow them.’

Illustration

‘Job’s description of his pain is very touching. His pains prevent his rest; his disease clings to him like a garment; God seems to have removed far away. The most pitiful thing was, that, though he had always helped those who were in similar trouble, for him there was no help found. But out of all this sorrow he was enriching the world for ever with the priceless juice of the crushed grapes of his life, for it is only that which we have acquired in suffering that becomes the true help of other souls.’