Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 38:7

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 38:7. When the morning stars sang together — This must refer to some intelligent beings who existed before the creation of the visible heavens and earth: and it is supposed that this and the following clause refer to the same beings; that by the sons of God, and the morning stars, the angelic host is meant; as they are supposed to be first, though perhaps not chief, in the order of creation.

For the latter clause the Chaldee has, "All the troops of angels." Perhaps their creation may be included in the term heavens, Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." These witnessed the progress of the creation; and, when God had finished his work, celebrated his wisdom and power in the highest strains.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

38:1-42:17

GOD’S ANSWER

Control of the natural world (38:1-38)

Possibly an approaching storm was what prompted Elihu’s poetic praise of the God of nature (see 36:27-37:5). If so, that storm now broke, and through it the voice of God spoke to Job. Job had repeatedly challenged God to a contest. God now accepts (38:1-3).
In his reply, God asks Job questions that he cannot answer, in order to show him how little he knows of the mind and activity of the Almighty. God begins his ironical questioning of Job with a poetic description of his work in creating the world, something that he did long before Job or any other human being was born. Only angels witnessed his work (4-7). God separated the waters in the atmosphere from the waters on the earth and caused dry land to appear (8-11).
God asks Job if he is able to make the sun rise, so that those who rely on darkness to do evil are exposed. They are ‘shaken’ out of their hiding places as insects are shaken out of clothing (12-13). Can Job use the rays of the rising sun to create beautiful patterns and colours on the earth’s surface (14-15)? Has Job been to the depths of the sea or the ends of the earth? Does he know where the sun dwells so that he can make it rise each morning and take it to its resting place each evening? He should, if he has such great knowledge as he claims (16-21).
Does Job know how God controls the weather (22-24)? Who is it that makes snow, hail, wind, rain and lightning (25-30)? Can Job control the stars (31-33)? Can he send floods or create drought as he wishes (34-38)?

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

GOD ANSWERS JOB FROM THE WHIRLWIND (Job 38-41)
THE FIRST PORTION OF GOD'S RESPONSE: THE PROBLEM

GOD ANSWERS JOB

"Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel By words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; And I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou hast understanding. Who determined the measurements thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched the line upon it? Whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the cornerstone thereof? When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy."

The most perplexing problem in the whole book of Job is in these two verses. Of whom is God speaking in Job 38:2? The question is not, "To whom does God speak"? That is clear enough. He spoke to Job. But the question is, "Of whom does he speak"? Scholars are sharply divided on the question. "Some commentators have applied Job 38:2 to Job, others to Elihu."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 441. It is the conviction of this writer that the words cannot possibly apply to anyone other than Elihu. The reasons behind this conviction are:

(1)    Applying the words to Job is a contradiction of Job 42:7-8. The advocates of that interpretation, however, are not bothered by the contradiction, "Because they assign the entire Epilogue to a different author from the poetic Dialogue, making it an argument for multiple authorship of Job."Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 13, p. 273 (footnote). Although we have interpreted the Epilogue and the Prologue as the work of Moses, who was inspired of God, we cannot believe that his inspired approval of Job's words regarding God would have been given if God indeed had said in Job 38:2, here, that those words were `without knowledge.'

(2)    The verse is profoundly true as an evaluation of the Elihu speeches, as we have frequently noted in the preceding notes.

(3)    The application of these words to Job leaves the entire six chapters of the Elihu speeches dangling without any response whatever from any person whomsoever, thus supporting the affirmation that the six chapters are an interpolation. Our acceptance of the unity of Job, as regards the whole of it, except the Prologue and the Epilogue forbids that explanation.

(4)    It cannot be denied that God interrupted and terminated Elihu's tirade. God by that action indicated the same evaluation of Elihu's words that Job 38:2 declares; and if Job 38:2 were placed in a parenthesis, that fact would be clearly indicated by the punctuation. The punctuation of the Holy Bible is the work of men, not of God; and where punctuation can be made to harmonize or explain difficult passages, it should be utilized for that purpose.

We shall not take the space to line up scholars on both sides of the question. The alleged problem disappears if we apply the words as God's parenthetical and derogatory dismissal of everything Elihu said.

The big thing here is that Almighty God appeared to Job in one of the most remarkable theophanies in the Bible. What did that mean? It meant that God approved of Job, that Job's integrity was established in the only place where it mattered, namely, with God Himself. In Job 31:5, Job had pleaded with God to answer him; and here God did so. That is the colossal fact of these concluding chapters; and it dramatically establishes the truth that God approved of Job, and that God loved him. God honored him as few men in the history of the world were honored; and the undeniable corollary of this is that Job 38:2 was in no sense whatever addressed to Job, but to Elihu.

May the Almighty answer me (Job 31:35), Job had pleaded; "And now God really answers, and indeed out of a storm."C. F. Keil, Keil-Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), Vol. 4b, p. 311.

God would at this point speak repeatedly to Job, asking many questions about many different things. The great truth that shines like the sun at perihelion here is not so much related to the particular things about which God questioned Job as it is to the incredible and glorious truth that Almighty God Himself was here carrying on a conversation with a mortal man! How, beyond all imagination, is the character of such a man elevated and glorified by this most astonishing event, unparalleled by anything else in the history of mankind, Jesus Christ himself alone standing any higher in such a relationship than did Job.

"Then Jehovah answered Job" God's answer, however, is a surprise. He did not answer any of Job's questions, except in the implications of this reply. "This was not because the questions have no answers."Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, op. cit., p. 269. He answered Job with a barrage of counter-questions concerning the mysteries of the entire sidereal creation; and it is evident that this brought healing, comfort and satisfaction to Job.

God's not giving specific answers to Job's questions suggests that: (1) It is not possible for man to know all the answers and that, (2) It is enough to know that God loves him (as evidenced to Job in the very fact of God's speaking to him). (3) Also, by God's not giving Job a list of his transgressions, there is the dramatic affirmation that Job's misfortunes did not come as punishment for his wickedness; and yet God did not reveal to Job the real secret of what had happened, namely, that exchange between God and Satan in the Prologue. (4) In this, there is another key discernment, i. e, that it is best for man not to know the reasons why this or that occurs in his life.

"Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind" Job's troubles started when a great wind killed his children; and now in a whirlwind Job began his return to happiness and prosperity. This is not the storm that might have been described by Elihu in the previous chapter; because the final paragraph there, "Appears to describe the calm as the storm abates."Ibid., p. 273. The glorious light mentioned in that paragraph indicated the cessation of the storm.

The relation between a theophany and violent weather appears often in the Bible, as for example in Psalms 18:8-16, and in Exodus 19:16.

"Gird up now thy loins like a man" The word here rendered 'man' is translated by Pope as `hero.' "Gird your loins like a hero."The Anchor Bible (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1982), Job, p. 247. Here is the true picture of God's estimate of Job. In fact, Job is here invited to do the very thing he had longed to do, that is, to plead his case before God; and there is the implication that God considers Job worthy to do such a thing. This, God would most certainly not have done, if he had just finished saying that Job's words without knowledge were darkening counsel.

All of the questions God asked were not for the purpose of humiliating Job, or mocking him. In this loving and gentle admonition God was leading Job into the knowledge that the specific answers he sought were impossible for mortal men to know. Note also, that God did not criticize Job for his tearful and aggressive search for such answers. The very questions that God asked constitute a heavenly endorsement of humanity's ceaseless and diligent pursuit of every possible answer to the perplexing, nagging questions of all the mysteries that confront mankind in our earthly sojourn.

In the light of these considerations, we do not think that it is necessary to investigate all of these questions one by one. In the aggregate the answers to all of them were impossible for Job to know; and mankind today is no more able to answer all the questions than was he. Every great mystery that science has solved proves not to be the ultimate reality. Every door which the intelligence of men has unlocked has failed to disclose the Great Truth; but, conversely, has opened upon a corridor reaching into infinity with many doors remaining yet to be unlocked. Indeed, the Great Truth may not be any fact or formula whatever, but the Great Person, God Himself. This was the marvelous answer that came to Job. Knowing God and being loved and known by Him - that is the Great Answer, the Great Truth, the Great Joy, the Great Salvation, Eternal Life!

"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth,… when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" The mysteries of the sidereal creation are the theme here. Not Job, nor any other man, was present when such great things were done. As a matter of fact, man himself was relatively a late-arrival upon earth. "The sons of God" are here the angels, because man was last in the Creation.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

When the morning-stars - There can be little doubt that angelic beings are intended here, though some have thought that the stars literally are referred to, and that they seemed to unite in a chorus of praise when another world was added to their number. The Vulgate renders it, astra matutina, morning-stars; the Septuagint, ὅτε ἐγενήθηναι ἄστρα hote egenēthēnai astra - “ when the stars were made:” the Chaldee, “the stars of the zephyr,” or “morning” - צפר כוכבי. The comparison of a prince, a monarch, or an angel, with a star, is not uncommon; compare the notes at Isaiah 14:0. The expression “the morning-stars” is used on account of the beauty of the principal star which, at certain seasons of the year, leads on the morning. It is applied naturally to those angelic beings that are of distinguished glory and rank in heaven. That it refers to the angels, seems to be evident from the connection; and this interpretation is demanded in order to correspond with the phrase “sons of God” in the other member of the verse.

Sang together - United in a grand chorus or concert of praise. It was usual to celebrate the laying of a cornerstone, or the completion of an edifice, by rejoicing; see Zechariah 4:7; Ezra 3:10.

And all the sons of God - Angels - called the sons of God from their resemblance to him, or their being created by him.

Shouted for joy - That is, they joined in praise for so glorious a work as the creation of a new world. They saw that it was an event which was fitted to honor God. It was a new manifestation of his goodness and power; it was an enlargement of his empire; it was an exhibition of benevolence that claimed their gratitude. The expression in this verse is one of uncommon, perhaps of unequalled beauty. The time referred to is at the close of the creation of the earth, for the whole account relates to the formation of this world, and not of the stars. At that period, it is clear that other worlds had been made, and that there were holy beings then in existence who were of such a rank as appropriately to be called “morning-stars” and “sons of God.” It is a fair inference therefore, that the “whole” of the universe was not made at once, and that the earth is one of the last of the worlds which have been called into being.

No one can demonstrate that the work of creation may not now be going on in some remote part of the universe, nor that God may not yet form many more worlds to be the monuments of his wisdom and goodness, and to give occasion for augmented praise. Who can tell but that this process may be carried on forever, and that new worlds and systems may continue to start into being, and there be continually new displays of this inexhaustible goodness and wisdom of the Creator? When this world was made, there was occasion for songs of praise among the angels. It was a beautiful world. All was pure, and lovely, and holy. Man was made like his God, and everything was full of love. Surveying the beautiful scene, as the world arose under the plastic hand of the Almighty - its hills, and vales, and trees, and flowers, and animals, there was occasion for songs and rejoicings in heaven. Could the angels have foreseen, as perhaps they did, what was to occur here, there was also occasion for songs of praise such as would exist in the creation of no other world. This was to be the world of redeeming love; this the world where the Son of God was to become incarnate and die for sinners; this the world where an immense host was to be redeemed to praise God in a song unknown to the angels - the song of redemption, in the sweet notes which shall ascend from the lips of those who shall have been ransomed from death by the great work of the atonement.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? tell me, if you have understanding. Who has laid the measures of it, tell me if you know? or who has stretched the line upon it? Where are the foundations fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy? ( Job 38:1-7 )

God is now talking to Job about the creation of the earth, about nature. Pointing out that Job knows so little about nature. "Job, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? What did I fasten the foundations upon? When the morning stars sang together."

Now, the morning stars, the word star oftentimes refers to the angels. You remember in the book of Revelation, chapter 13, when the dragon was cast out of heaven, he took a third part of the stars with him. Referring to the angels that fell with Satan. Now can you let your mind go back and we see God as He is bringing the earth into existence and the angels, the morning stars, are singing together and all the sons of God are shouting for joy. The sons of God referring again to angels. Now Jesus is referred to as the only begotten Son of God. Special classification. But the angels are referred to as sons of God. In the first chapter of Job the sons of God were presenting themselves to God, and Satan also came with them. In the New Testament, we are referred to as sons of God. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God. It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know when He shall appear we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" ( 1 John 3:2 ). But Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. What a glorious scene that must have been when God created the earth and the angels, the morning stars, sang together.

Who shut up the sea with the doors, when it broke forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and the thick darkness a swaddlingband for it ( Job 38:8-9 ),

God is talking about the earth now, His creation of the earth. "Who put the bounds for the seas, when I allowed the water to gush forth, as a child out of the womb? When I made the cloud a garment of the earth, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it."

And I broke it up for in my decreed place, I set the bars and doors, and said to the seas, This far you shall come, but no further: and here shall your proud waves be stayed? Have you commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place; That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it? It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment. And from the wicked their light is withheld, and the high arm shall be broken. Have you entered into the springs of the sea? or have you walked in the search of the depth? Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? ( Job 38:10-17 )

Now go back to verse Job 38:2 : "Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?" God is rebuking Job for talking about things that he doesn't know anything about. "Have the gates of death been opened to you? Have you been beyond them? Do you know what is there?" You see, Job was saying, "Oh, I wish that I were dead, where all is silent, where there is no memory, where there is no thought. Oh, I wish I were in the oblivion of death. Where man is at rest, where everything is at peace." And God said, "Job, have you been there? Have the gates of death been opened to you? You're talking about these things, Job, but you don't know anything about them."

That is why it is wrong to use the scriptures out of Job to try to prove the doctrine of soul sleep. That when a person dies he is in an unconscious state of waiting, that there is no consciousness or awareness or anything else. That is wrong to conclude those doctrines out of the book of Job, which they usually find their proof scriptures in Job or in Ecclesiastes. And when we get to Ecclesiastes, we'll show why it's wrong to use Ecclesiastes for proof text. These were things that Job was saying, but God is rebuking him for saying them.

Have you perceived the breadth of the earth? tell it if you know it all. Where is the way where light dwells? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof ( Job 38:18-19 ),

Where does light dwell? Tell me this: where did the darkness go when they turned on the lights tonight? Where is the darkness hiding? Now it's around here someplace. And it's very close. All we have to do is flip off the lights and it moves right back in. But where is it lurking? I don't know. But God is questioning Job and saying, "Where is the place where light dwells? Where is the place where darkness dwells?"

That you should take it to the bound thereof, that you should know the paths to the house thereof? Do you know it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great? Have you entered into the treasures of the snow? or have you seen the treasures of the hail ( Job 38:20-22 ),

Beautiful treasures in every snowflake. Have you seen the pictures of snowflakes magnified? The beautiful geometric designs, and no two of them alike. Talk about a God of variety. You see a snowstorm, I don't know how many flakes of snow fall in a single storm, but it can blanket large areas of the United States. And you take those snowflakes and put them under a microscope and you'll see beautiful treasures of intricate, beautiful, geometric designs. Perfect geometrical patterns, and no two of them alike. Now how did Job know that when this book was written? "Have you entered into the treasures of the snow or the hail?"

But then He says something even more interesting:

Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war? ( Job 38:23 )

What do you mean you've reserved the snow or ice for the day of war? During World War II, as we were seeking to supply the Allies with Trinitrotoluene (TNT), one of our ships was blown up because TNT is a very volatile type of explosive and, jarred, it'll go off. In fact, that's the way you set off TNT is by putting a dynamite cap in it and the dynamite cap, when it explodes, it sets off the whole Trinitrotoluene. But at any rate, Weissman discovered that by packing TNT in ice, they could transport it safely. After some of the ships and all had been blown to smithereens trying to transport TNT, this Jewish scientist discovered that if they would pack it in ice that that way they could transport it, store it and all without any dangers. Here God declared that He had reserved ice for the day of war and trouble. "I've reserved it for that." Man didn't come to the discovery of God's reservation until 1916 or so, but God had reserved it all that time for the day of battle and war.

By what way is the light parted ( Job 38:24 ),

"How is light divided?" God said. Now, we know that now we can divide light. We have developed the spectroscope and we can actually divide light into compartments. God was speaking about the dividing of light before man ever knew that light could be divided. It can be divided into definite areas through the spectroscope. God is challenging Job about this, thousands of years before we even discovered the spectroscopes.

Who hath divided the watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; or the wilderness, where there is no man; To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? ( Job 38:25-27 )

God said, "Who waters the wilderness, Job, causing the wilderness to bring forth grass and flowers and all?"

Has the rain a father? or who has begotten the drops of dew? Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of the heaven, who hath gendered it? ( Job 38:28-29 )

How are these things formed, Job?

The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. Can you bind the sweet influence of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Can you bring forth the Mazzaroth in his season? or can you guide Arcturus with his sons? ( Job 38:30-32 )

The Pleiades is a constellation that is most commonly mistaken by amateur stargazers as the Little Dipper. It is a winter constellation and it comes up just about in the middle of the winter skies. And it's a little cluster of stars that does look something like a dipper, but it is the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters. Now the North Star is actually a part of Little Dipper and the Big Dipper. Of course, the pointer stars always point to the North Star, but it takes a good clear night in the mountains or out in the desert to actually see the Little Dipper, so it is accepted for people to make the mistake and to point at the Pleiades as the Little Dipper, but don't you make that mistake. In the winter constellations, then, of course, you get up early in the morning now and you can see the Pleiades is starting to come up early in the morning as we're moving into the fall equinox. But it is a part of the winter constellations, comes up in the center of the sky, small little cluster, Seven Sisters, the Pleiades.

Now, God said, "Can you bind the sweet influence of the Pleiades?" Astronomers now believe that the Pleiades actually is the center of the gravitational forces in our Milky Way Galaxy. Pretty well accepted now that it is the center of the gravity and the gravitational forces within the Milky Way Galaxy. Here God is telling Job, "Can you bind the sweet influence of the Pleiades?" Hinting actually, to what the astronomers have discovered, that this actually is the center of the gravitational forces in the Milky Way Galaxy.

Then God said, "How about, Job, how would you like the job of guiding Arcturus?" Arcturus is known as the runaway star. Now how did Job know this? It travels at about 125,000 miles per second. Now God said to Job, "How would you like the job of steering that thing through the sky?" Get this steering wheel and this large mass. Arcturus is larger than our sun, guiding that thing at 125,000 miles a second through the sky, dodging these stars and so forth so you don't have a major collision in our universe here. No thanks. You go ahead, God, and You keep Your hand on it.

Do you know the ordinances of the heaven? can you set the dominion thereof in the earth? Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that the abundance of water may cover thee? Can you send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are? ( Job 38:33-35 )

Can you order the lightning?

Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? or who has given understanding to the heart? ( Job 38:36 )

Where did you get your knowledge? Where did you get understanding? Where does it come from? Who put it there? Who gave you the capacity? Who put the DNA there? Who created the memory cells? You know, God is just speaking of the marvels of His creation. Pointing to Job the marvels of His creative genius. And surely as David said, "We are fearfully and wonderfully made" ( Psalms 139:14 ), and we live in a marvelous universe.

Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven, When the dust grows into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together? Will you hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, when they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait? Who provides for the raven his food? ( Job 38:37-41 )

Who is overseeing the universe? Who's taking care of the animals, the ravens?

when the young ones are crying unto God, they wander for the lack of meat ( Job 38:41 ).

Here God saying these little ravens in the nest are squawking, they are actually crying unto Him.

"

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

When the morning stars sang together,.... Either all the stars in a literal sense; for though, strictly speaking, there is but one morning star, yet all may be called so, because early created in the morning of the world; and are all stars of light, shine till the morning; and it is observed by some, that the nearer the morning the brighter they shine: and these in their way sing the praises of God, and set forth the glory of his perfections, and occasion songs of praise in men; see Psalms 148:3. Or figuratively, either angels, as most interpret them, comparable to stars for their glory, purity, and light, for their constancy, permanency, and numbers: or good men, particularly ministers of the word, and angels of the churches; who are stars in Christ's right hand, Revelation 1:20; but the principal morning star is Christ himself, Revelation 22:16;

and all the sons of God shouted for joy; which are usually understood of angels also, so the Targum; who are the sons of God, not by birth, as Christ, nor by adoption, as saints; but by creation, as Adam, Luke 3:38. And because they bear some likeness to God, as holy spirits, and honour and obey him in doing his will; though the character of sons of God, as distinct from the children of men, given to professors of religion, obtained before the times of Job; see Genesis 6:2; and who might be said to sing together, and shout for joy, when they met for social worship; see Job 1:6; and especially when any fresh discoveries were made to them of the Messiah, and salvation by him. Thus Abraham, one of these sons of God, saw Christ's day and was glad, and shouted for joy, John 8:56. For these words are not necessarily to be restrained to the laying of the foundation and cornerstone of the earth, as our version directs; though indeed the angels then might be present, being created as soon as the heavens were, and with the stars, as Capellus on this place observes; and rejoiced, when the foundations of the earth were laid, on beholding such a display of the power, wisdom, and goodness of God therein; and which may be said of them, in allusion to what is done at the laying of the foundation of any building of note; see Ezra 3:10; for it may be repeated from

Job 38:4; "where wast thou when the morning stars", &c. and so may refer to any rejoicing, whether of angels or men, before the times of Job, at which he was not present.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.   5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?   6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;   7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?   8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?   9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,   10 And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,   11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

      For the humbling of Job, God here shows him his ignorance even concerning the earth and the sea. Though so near, though so bulky, yet he could give no account of their origination, much less of heaven above or hell beneath, which are at such a distance, or of the several parts of matter which are so minute, and then, least of all, of the divine counsels.

      I. Concerning the founding of the earth. "If he have such a mighty insight, as he pretends to have, into the counsels of God, let him give some account of the earth he goes upon, which is given to the children of men."

      1. Let him tell where he was when this lower world was made, and whether he was advising of assisting in that wonderful work (Job 38:4; Job 38:4): "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Thy pretensions are high; canst thou pretend to his? Wast thou present when the world was made?" See here, (1.) The greatness and glory of God: I laid the foundations of the earth. This proves him to be the only living and true God, and a God of power (Isaiah 40:21; Jeremiah 10:11; Jeremiah 10:12), and encourages us to trust in him at all times, Isaiah 51:13; Isaiah 51:16. (2.) The meanness and contemptibleness of man: "Where wast thou then? Thou that hast made such a figure among the children of the east, and settest up for an oracle, and a judge of the divine counsels, where was thou when the foundations of the earth were laid?" So far were we from having any hand in the creation of the world, which might entitle us to a dominion in it, or so much as being witnesses of it, by which we might have gained an insight into it, that we were not then in being. The first man was not, much less were we. It is the honour of Christ that he was present when this was done (Proverbs 8:22-31; John 1:1; John 1:2); but we are of yesterday and know nothing. Let us not therefore find fault with the works of God, nor prescribe to him. He did not consult us in making the world, and yet it is well made; why should we expect then that he should take his measures from us in governing it?

      2. Let him describe how this world was made, and give a particular account of the manner in which this strong and stately edifice was formed and erected: "Declare, if thou hast so much understanding as thou fanciest thyself to have, what were the advances of that work." Those that pretend to have understanding above others ought to give proof of it. Show my thy faith by thy works, thy knowledge by thy words. Let Job declare it if he can, (1.) How the world came to be so finely framed, with so much exactness, and such an admirable symmetry and proportion of all the parts of it (Job 38:5; Job 38:5): "Stand forth, and tell who laid the measures thereof and stretched out the line upon it." Wast thou the architect that formed the model and then drew the dimensions by rule according to it? The vast bulk of the earth is moulded as regularly as if it had been done by line and measure; but who can describe how it was cast into this figure? Who can determine its circumference and diameter, and all the lines that are drawn on the terrestrial globe? It is to this day a dispute whether the earth stands still or turns round; how then can we determine by what measures it was first formed? (2.) How it came to be so firmly fixed. Though it is hung upon nothing, yet it is established, that it cannot be moved; but who can tell upon what the foundations of it are fastened, that it may not sink with its own weight, or who laid the corner-stone thereof, that the parts of it may not fall asunder? Job 38:6; Job 38:6. What God does, it shall be for ever (Ecclesiastes 3:14); and therefore, as we cannot find fault with God's work, so we need not be in fear concerning it; it will last, and answer the end, the works of his providence as well as the work of creation; the measures of neither can never be broken; and the work of redemption is no less firm, of which Christ himself is both the foundation and the corner-stone. The church stands as fast as the earth.

      3. Let him repeat, if he can, the songs of praise which were sung at that solemnity (Job 38:7; Job 38:7), when the morning-stars sang together, the blessed angels (the first-born of the Father of light), who, in the morning of time, shone as brightly as the morning star, going immediately before the light which God commanded to shine out of darkness upon the seeds of this lower world, the earth, which was without form and void. They were the sons of God, who shouted for joy when they saw the foundations of the earth laid, because, though it was not made for them, but for the children of men, and though it would increase their work and service, yet they knew that the eternal Wisdom and Word, whom they were to worship (Hebrews 1:6), would rejoice in the habitable parts of the earth, and that much of his delight would be in the sons of men,Proverbs 8:31. The angels are called the sons of God because they bear much of his image, are with him in his house above, and serve him as a son does his father. Now observe here, (1.) The glory of God, as the Creator of the world, is to be celebrated with joy and triumph by all his reasonable creatures; for they are qualified and appointed to be the collectors of his praises from the inferior creatures, who can praise him merely as objects that exemplify his workmanship. (2.) The work of angels is to praise God. The more we abound in holy, humble, thankful, joyful praise, the more we do the will of God as they do it; and, whereas we are so barren and defective in praising God, it is a comfort to think that they are doing it in a better manner. (3.) They were unanimous in singing God's praises; they sang together with one accord, and there was no jar in their harmony. The sweetest concerts are in praising God. (4.) They all did it, even those who afterwards fell and left their first estate. Even those who have praised God may, by the deceitful power of sin, be brought to blaspheme him, and yet God will be eternally praised.

      II. Concerning the limiting of the sea to the place appointed for it, Job 38:8; Job 38:8, c. This refers to the third day's work, when God said (Genesis 1:9), Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and it was so. 1. Out of the great deep or chaos, in which earth and water were intermixed, in obedience to the divine command the waters broke forth like a child out of the teeming womb,Job 38:8; Job 38:8. Then the waters that had covered the deep, and stood above the mountains, retired with precipitation. At God's rebuke they fled,Psalms 104:6; Psalms 104:7. 2. This newborn babe is clothed and swaddled, Job 38:9; Job 38:9. The cloud is made the garment thereof, with which it is covered, and thick darkness (that is, shores vastly remote and distant from one another and quite in the dark one to another) is a swaddling-band for it. See with what ease the great God manages the raging sea; notwithstanding the violence of its tides, and the strength of its billows, he manages it as the nurse does the child in swaddling clothes. It is not said, He made rocks and mountains its swaddling bands, but clouds and darkness, something that we are not aware of and should think least likely for such a purpose. 3. There is a cradle too provided for this babe: I broke up for it my decreed place,Job 38:10; Job 38:10. Valleys were sunk for it in the earth, capacious enough to receive it, and there it is laid to sleep; and, if it be sometimes tossed with winds, that (as bishop Patrick observes) is but the rocking of the cradle, which makes it sleep the faster. As for the sea, so for every one of us, there is a decreed place; for he that determined the times before appointed determined also the bounds of our habitation. 4. This babe being made unruly and dangerous by the sin of man, which was the original of all unquietness and danger in this lower world, there is also a prison provided for it; bars and doors are set,Job 38:10; Job 38:10. And it is said to it, by way of check to its insolence, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further. The sea is God's for he made it, he restrains it; he says to it, Here shall thy proud waves be stayed,Job 38:11; Job 38:11. This may be considered as an act of God's power over the sea. Though it is so vast a body, and though its motion is sometimes extremely violent, yet God has it under check. Its waves rise no higher, its tides roll no further, than God permits; and this is mentioned as a reason why we should stand in awe of God (Jeremiah 5:22), and yet why we should encourage ourselves in him, for he that stops the noise of the sea, even the noise of her waves, can, when he pleases, still the tumult of the people, Psalms 65:7. It is also to be looked upon as an act of God's mercy to the world of mankind and an instance of his patience towards that provoking grace. Though he could easily cover the earth again with the waters of the sea (and, methinks, every flowing tide twice a day threatens us, and shows what the sea could do, and would do, if God would give it leave), yet he restrains them, being not willing that any should perish, and having reserved the world that now is unto fire,2 Peter 3:7.