Bible Commentaries

Job 38:6-7

The earth might have been regarded by the angels in reference either to its future inhabitants, or to God, or to the evil which had already found its way into the universe.

I. In reference to its future inhabitants, it was to be the house of a great family and the school of a great character.

II. It was destined to be a temple of God, from every corner of which should ascend to Him continually the incense of praise, where He should signally manifest His glory and develop His perfections.

III. The earth might have been viewed by the angels in reference to the strife with evil which had even then commenced in heavenly places. They saw the end from the beginning; they looked through the perplexities and the entanglements of Providence, and saw judgment through all gradually brought forth unto victory. The principalities and powers who shouted for joy at the foundation of the earth look down even now from their glory thrones upon the contest of which it is the field. Nay, rather should we think of them as encamped among us, and waging an invisible war, of which we ourselves are the subject.

E. M. Goulburn, Sermons, p. 401.

Reference: Job 38:16.—Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 251.

Job 38:22

Snow is my text, written in letters of white. "Hast thou"—have you, boy or girl—"entered into the treasures of the snow?" How pure it is; how soft it is; how strong it is; how silent it is; how useful it is.

I. Think of the purity of the snow. What a wonderful white it is! You can get no other white like it. If you would learn the lesson of purity, never say an impure word. You cannot help the thought coming into your mind, but do not cherish the thought.

II. Then think of two things about the snow which we do not often think of connecting together. One is silentness, and the other is power. The strongest things in the world are the most silent. The snow is strong. You say you can take it in your hands and melt it; but when all the flakes have drifted together, an engine cannot break it. It will get so strong that it will come down from the mountains and then, rushing down along the mountainside, crush hundreds of houses. It is strong and silent. Your lives would be stronger if they were silent.

III. Another thing about snow is that it joins together two things not always together—beauty and usefulness. The snow, which we talk of as cold, is the thing that keeps the life and warmth in the roots in the earth. It keeps out of the earth the cold east wind, and keeps in the moisture. It is therefore not only beautiful in giving beauty to others, but it is useful.

IV. When you see the snow in the streets, you can say, "O God, for Jesus' sake make my heart and my life even purer than that white snow." And then think of its use and say, "If it be Thy will, O God, make my life a little use to some, and make it beautiful, not with any earthly beauty, but with the beauty of faith and holiness."

T. T. Shore, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. i., p. 94.

References: Job 38:25-27.—G. Dawson, Sermons on Daily Life and Duty, p. 297; Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Genesis to Proverbs, p. 141. Job 38:31.—Ibid., Sermons, vol. xiv., No. 818; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 81; H. Macmillan, Bible Teaching in Nature, p. 1. Job 38:35.—T. Kelly, Pulpit Trees, p. 9; A. W. Momerie, Defects of Modern Christianity, p. 150. Job 38-42—S. Cox, Expository Essays and Discourses, p. 126. 38-42:6—Ibid., Expositor, 1st series, vol. xii., pp. 1, 143, and 199; Ibid., Commentary on Job, p. 489. Job 40:2.—E. Monro, Practical Sermons, vol. i., p. 53. Job 40:3, Job 40:4.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii., No. 83. Job 40:4.—Ibid., Morning by Morning, p. 158.