The first day of Lent, commonly
called
Ash Wednesday.
The Collect.
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LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost
forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and
contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and
forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said every day in Lent, after the Collect appointed for the day, until Palm Sunday.
1 Elihu spake moreover, and said, 2 Thinkest
thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God's? 3 For
thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I
have, if I be cleansed from my sin? 4 I will answer thee, and thy
companions with thee. 5 Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold
the clouds which are higher than thou. 6 If thou sinnest, what
doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou
unto him? 7 If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what
receiveth he of thine hand? 8 Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou
art; and thy righteousness may profit the son of man. 9 By reason
of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by
reason of the arm of the mighty. 10 But none saith, Where is God my
maker, who giveth songs in the night; 11 Who teacheth us more than
the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven? 12 There
they cry, but none giveth answer, because of the pride of evil men. 13 Surely
God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it. 14 Although
thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust
thou in him. 15 But now, because it is not so, he hath visited in
his anger; yet he knoweth it not in great extremity: 16 Therefore
doth Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplieth words without knowledge. (Job
35:1-16)
The whole kernel of truth being shown in this, and related, chapters is this:
If we are righteous in the eyes of God (and Job has been), that righteousness
is not our own righteousness but is that which is imputed through the propitious
sacrifice of Christ. When we, as Job does, boast of our own righteousness, we
have just lost that righteousness for we have no innate righteousness. So in
our boasting, we have rejected that righteousness we had in the eyes of God.
Before God can deal with our sin, He must shed us of our pride and
self-righteousness. Thus we often suffer needless trials because we refuse to
surrender that golden wedge of Achan (Joshua 7:20), but thanks be to God, He is
long-suffering and patient for those whom He has claimed from before the
foundation of the world. If we surrender at the very beginning of hostilities,
the battering rams and siege engines of God will take a far less toll on our
walls and ramparts than if we hopelessly wage war with the powers of heaven and
it's Omnipotent Sovereign. An early surrender may preclude the destruction of
our entire city walls. If we will pause to hear the gentle voice of God in the
heart-born winds of our conscience, perhaps we will forego a further skirmish.
But if we stubbornly hold to our own merits, and deny in the very face of God
our guilt before Him, what choice can His sense of justice provide but a
devastating war of attrition until we are brought to the terms of unconditional
surrender, though our defense lie in ruins? This has been Job's problem and
Elihu has charged Job, not for a permanent indictment, but a temporary
adjudication of Job's boastful pride. Until Job realizes his shortcoming, he
cannot set his sails for true course. If we encounter a man such as Elihu in
our lives, it will be for our own profit and not for our eternal condemnation.
This chapter might be divided into three parts: 1) (verses 1_8) Elihu
addresses Job's complaints that his living righteously have resulted in no
corresponding blessings from God; 2) (verses 9-14) Elihu reveals to Job that
unanswered prayers are the result of asking amiss, or for the wrong things; and
3) (verses 15-16) Elihu condemns – not Job, but – Job's arrogance and
presumption in his "multitudes of words without knowledge." It is the
epitome of ignorance and brashness to disagree with, or argue with, God. Job
learns this, as do all who undertake the same course, the hard way.
1 Elihu spake moreover, and said, 2 Thinkest
thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more
than God's? The very thought of such arrogance drives chill bumps
up my neck. Yet, it is almost a certainty that both you and I have done the
same perhaps to a less overt manner. But the consequences can cause us to sit
on the ash pile scrapping our sores with potsherds (like Job). 3 For
thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall
I have, if I be cleansed from my sin? It is difficult to
believe that a learned man such as Job speaks these words; however, we must
remember that Job lacks the truth and revelation of the Gospels and Apostles
from which to learn that we have benefit of. It is still a very offensive
remark for a man to speak against his Creator, for Job KNEW that God was His
Maker! The profit of being washed from our sins is all profit and no loss. The
loss of NOT being cleansed of our sins is all loss and no profit!
4 I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee.
5 Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which
are higher than thou. The clouds are so very low compared to the
height of God's Heaven, yet they are far above the heads of men - including
Job; so God is so very far above our heads that the distance cannot be
measured. Elihu now asked questions of Job regarding his importance compared to
the Power and Might of God. The foregone conclusion is this: God does not NEED
man; neither can man lift a finger against God. But it is God's love for us,
not our ability to help or hinder, that makes us of great worth to God. 6 If
thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be
multiplied, what doest thou unto him? 7 If thou be
righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand? 8 Thy
wickedness may hurt a man as thou art; and thy righteousness may
profit the son of man. But our wickedness can do no dent on the
Person of God. Though our righteousness may help our fellow man, it does not
increase the storehouse of wealth in heaven except in this wise: God loves His
Creation (including every man, woman, and child; every beast of the field and
fowl of the air; and every daisy, edelweiss and tree.) When we treat our fellow
man and God's Creation with righteous responsibility, God is made to be pleased
with us. God observes an ancient Arab principle in relations: "If you are
the friend of God's friends, you are a friend of God; but if you are a friend
of God's enemies, so are you an enemy of God."
Elihu now condemns the arrogance and false pride of Job. You may say:
"Wait, Elihu is judging, and that is wrong." No, it is NOT wrong. God
gave us faculties of mind and judgment to compare behaviors with His Holy word.
Those sins of arrogance and self-righteousness which we condemn with our mouths
have already been condemned by God in His Holy word. That which God has
pronounced sin we only echo when we judge with righteous judgment. Judge not according to the appearance, but judge
righteous judgment. (John 7:24) 9 By
reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry:
they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty. It has ever been
the common characteristic of the powerful to oppress the poor and weak. It is
often done with such a sense of arrogance that the offending party believes
they are just in treating the poor with contempt because they feel them to be
less worthy. Invariably, the opposite is true. It may be that Job has been
guilty of this very thing, but has never had it brought to his realization
until now. 10 But none saith, Where is God my
maker, who giveth songs in the night; Tragically, the oppressed
often omit the appeal t5o God when they are caused to suffer unjustly. Lack of
faith, either rich or poor, renders BOTH as poor. 11 Who
teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the
fowls of heaven? It is truly amazing in my thinking, that God,
having created man in His own image and with faculties far above those of every
other member of Creation, is the only member of Creation that is able to fathom
the existence of God and His moral laws; however, it is mostly man who violates
those laws with seeming impunity and seeks the dark corridors more than the
highways of Light. 12 There they cry, but none
giveth answer, because of the pride of evil men. "They cry proudly
against God, rather than humbly to God. So, as the design of affliction
is to humble the sufferer, there can be no answer until "pride" gives
place to humble, penitent prayer (Psalms 10:4 & Jeremiah 13:17).—Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible
Commentary
The long, sophisticated prayer publicly uttered in pride does not reach the
ears of God, but settle only on those low ears of the same nature. 13 Surely
God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it. 14 Although
thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him;
therefore trust thou in him. Truly what man says does not matter an
iota with God. But what God says matters supremely to man whether he is willing
to admit it or not. In this last verse, Elihu clenches the very missing element
in Job's argument – Trust of the Lord. Our National Motto is "In God We
Trust." How many untrusting souls have uttered those words in vanity, or
repeated the Pledge of Allegiance with vanity where "Under God" is
stated? How many times have we recited to the Lord's Prayer without giving a thought
to the Sovereign Lord to whom it is addressed, or the petition for His Will to
be done without truly proving our words by our living five minutes later? Let it be so in the lives and hearts of
our readers that they believe in God and earnestly seek to serve Him in every way.
