The Divine Response
by James B Chapman
Chapter 11 - The Quandry Of The Unassured
That philosophy which would make of man an eternal seeker after truth and reality is, when stripped of its verbosity, but an application of pessimism to the most precious phase of human interest. To say that one must seek on, even in the face of the conviction that he will never find, is to entirely ignore the limitations of human interest and persistence. Jesus was unequivocal in asserting, "Every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened" (Luke 11:10). The justice and mercy of God stand .squarely against the idea that God would create a craving for himself in the hearts of His creatures and not provide a way for the satisfying of that craving or that He would inspire His creatures to look up and call upon Him when He had no intention of responding. To believe in a God as callous as that were worse than to have no faith at all. Our God is a good God. Even though it is not always possible to see the rainbow in the cloud, our confidence in Him is to the effect that somewhere the sun still shines, and that God still lives and answers prayer.
It is the unassured who are in quandary. At one point in his experience, Job is a good example of such a state. In his preface to the Book of Job, Adam Clarke, the noted commentator, says, "This is the most singular book in the whole of the sacred code, though written by the same inspiration, and in reference to the same end, the salvation of men, it is so different from every other book of the Bible, that it seems to possess nothing in common with them, for even the language, in its construction, is dissimilar from that of the Law, the Prophets, and the historical books. But on all hands it is accounted a work that contains 'the highest morality, the sublimest philosophy, the simplest ritual, and the most majestic creed.'"
In a later paragraph, Dr. Clarke says, "As to the Book of Job, it is evidently a poem, and a poem of the highest order; dealing with subjects the most grand and sublime; using imagery the most chaste and appropriate; described by language the most happy and energetic; conveying instruction, both in divine and human things, the most ennobling and useful; abounding in precepts the most pure and exalted, which are enforced by arguments the most strong and conclusive, and illustrated by examples the most natural and striking.
"All these points will appear in the strongest light to every attentive reader of the book, and to such its great end will be answered: they will learn from it, that God has a way everywhere: that the wicked, though bearing rule for a time, can never be ultimately prosperous and happy; and that the righteous, though oppressed with sufferings and calamities, can never be forgotten by Him in whose hands are His saints, and with whom their lives are precious; that in this world neither are the wicked ultimately punished, nor the righteous ultimately rewarded; that God's judgments are a great deep, and His ways past finding out; but the issues of all are to the glory of His wisdom and grace, and to the eternal happiness of those who trust in Him. This is the grand design of the book, and this design will be strikingly evident to the simplest and most unlettered reader, whose heart is right with God, and who is seeking instruction in order that he may glorify his Maker, by receiving and doing good."
We have made this lengthy quotation in order to set it clearly before all that we are not attempting an analysis of this wonderful book nor attempting in this instance an appraisal of its principal character. Rather, we present Job as an example of the quandary in which the unassured consistently find themselves. We do this the more freely because of the fact that the quandary does not represent the finale for Job. But during the process, and while yet unassured, Job cried, "Oh that I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me. Will he plead against me with his great power? No, but he would put strength in me. There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered forever from my judge. Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him; on the left hand where he doth work, but I cannot behold him; he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: but he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. But he is in one mind, who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doth. For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him. Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him. For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me: Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face" (Job 23:3-17).
Job's so-called friends, calling attention to his misery and want of external evidence of acceptance with God, pushed Job into the fruitless task of all the divine mysteries involved in God's dealings with men. In this sphere Job could not succeed. He had to close his arguments, as all have to close theirs who seek to know God as one might know another man. He could not arrive, for he was on a dead end street. He could not know, for he was reaching out with the head more than with the heart.
Job found a better day, and of this we shall have occasion to speak at another time. But just now he stands before us as a striking example of the quandary of all who are as yet unassured, and who seek to know God by means of material and mathematical evidences. Having shared the experience of the old patriarch from Uz thus far, let us follow his example in going on into that full assurance that enabled him to say, "I know my Redeemer liveth"; for whoever does that is saved from the fears and misgivings of the unassured.