Yet the righteous will hold to his way. He who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
Parallel Translations
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Yet the righteous will hold to his way. He who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
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The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.
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Yet the righteous holdeth on his way, and he that hath clean hands waxeth stronger and stronger.
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to Job 17:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light that shines more and more until the perfect day.
- Isaiah 1:15-16 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves. Make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil.
- Job 22:30 He will even deliver him who is not innocent. Yes, he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
- Psalms 84:7 They go from strength to strength. Every one of them appears before God in Zion.
- Proverbs 14:16 A wise man fears and shuns evil, but the fool is hot headed and reckless.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me. Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, and in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong.
- Genesis 20:5 Didn’t he tell me, ‘She is my sister’? She, even she herself, said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.”
- Isaiah 40:29-31 He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might. Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall; but those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
- Psalms 26:6 I will wash my hands in innocence, so I will go about your altar, Yahweh,
- Psalms 73:13 Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence,
- Isaiah 35:8-10 A highway will be there, a road, and it will be called “The Holy Way”. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it will be for those who walk in the Way. Wicked fools shall not go there. No lion will be there, nor will any ravenous animal go up on it. They will not be found there; but the redeemed will walk there. Then Yahweh’s ransomed ones will return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”
- Psalms 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully.
- Psalms 84:11 For Yahweh God is a sun and a shield. Yahweh will give grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly.
- Mark 7:2 Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is unwashed, hands, they found fault.
- 1 Peter 1:5 who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
- 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, will not be discouraged, considering that the…
That is, will not be discouraged, considering that the godly are punished as well as the wicked.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 17:9 The righteous also shall hold on his…
Job 17:9 The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.
Ver. 9. The righteous also shall hold on his way] Stumble he may for a time at his own calamity, and worse, men’s felicity; but as he that stumbleth, and yet falleth not, gets ground, so fareth it with the righteous in this case. Once David said, "Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence; for all the day long have I been plagued," when bad men have been prospered. Hence he began to repent of his repentance, and to miscensure the generation of God’s children as thrice miserable, Psa 73:13-15; but after a while, and upon better consideration, he said, "This is mine infirmity"; yea, he fooled and beasted himself, Psa 73:22, for so saying. And the like will all those at length do that belong to God; though for the present offended at God’s proceedings, and by their passions miscarried to their cost, yet they return to their right minds; forwards they may fall sometimes, but not backwards, for that were far more dangerous. "Lord, to whom should we go," saith Peter, since "thou alone hast the words of eternal life?" Joh 6:68. Neither know we where to mend ourselves, by gadding about, to change our way, Jer 2:36. The righteous shall hold on his way, mordicus tenebit, he shall hold it toughly, hold it as with tooth and nail, not going aside a nail’s breadth; ανθεξεται, he shall stick to it, as the Greek hath it.
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And he that hath clean hands] Upright, innocent, righteous, clean handed, these all are the good man’s adjuncts and titles of honour, far beyond those of the world’s greatest magnificent.
Shall be stronger and stronger] Heb. Shall add strength. Not only shall he hold his own, but get more grace; not only persevere, but proceed and make progress. He shall take boldness, Sumet audaciam, say the Septuagint, and (by a holy antiperistasis) {Opposition or contrast of circumstances; the force of contrast or contrariness; resistance or reaction roused against any action.} get heart of grace, as they call it, from the evil attempts of others against him; the more outrageous they the more courageous he; like as by St Paul’s bonds many waxed confident, Php 1:14, and as the primitive Christians, the more they were killed up the more numerous they became. Plures efficimur quoties metimur (Tertul.). True zeal is of a most masculine and courageous nature; it is enkindled by quench coals, quickened by rubs and remoras. Baruch repaired earnestly, bursting out into heat, Neh 3:20. Shall such a man as I flee? said that heavenly spark, Job 6:11. Shall I change my opinion, because hoc Ithacus velit? Remit my diligence, because of a frown or a trump? because such a persecutor threateneth me? Oh that I might enjoy those wild beasts prepared for my death! said Ignatius. Oh that I might have the maidenhead of that kind of suffering for Christ, said that martyr to Bonner, threatening to whip him, &c.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Shall hold on his way, i.e. shall persist in…
Shall hold on his way, i.e. shall persist in that good way into which he hath entered, and not be turned from it by any afflictions which may befall himself or any other good men, nor by any contempt or reproach cast upon them by the ungodly by reason thereof.
He that hath clean hands, i.e. whose life and the course of his actions is holy and righteous; which is a sign that his heart also is pure and perfect.
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Shall be stronger and stronger; shall not be shaken and discouraged by the grievous afflictions of the godly, nor by the bitter censures and reproaches of hypocrites or wicked men, cast upon them for that cause; but will be continued thereby, and made more constant and resolute in cleaving to God, and his ways and people, in spite of all difficulties and miseries.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The righteous also shall hold on his way,.... He…
The righteous also shall hold on his way,.... He that is righteous, not in appearance but really, not in a legal but in an evangelic sense; who is justified by the righteousness of Job's living Redeemer, who lives by faith on his righteousness, and in consequence of that in holiness of life and conversation; such an one being in Christ the way of righteousness and salvation, and walking in the paths of faith, holiness, and truth, and in all the tracks of religious worship, private and public, he will persevere therein, and will not on any account depart out of the right way into which he has been led and directed. This is opposed to a going back, as some do, and to a turning to the right hand or the left, as others, and to a standing still, being stumbled, offended, and discouraged; and it supposes a progress, a going forward in the way, so as not to be moved out of it by their own, or the afflictions of others, by the reproaches and persecutions of men, the temptations of Satan, the snares, riches, honours, and pleasures of the world, or through darkness, desertion, and unbelief; they may indeed have many slips and falls, and be almost, but not altogether, out of the way, and never finally or to perdition; which is owing not to their conduct and care, might and strength, but to the power of God, and the supplies of his grace, to Christ and his strength, and to the Spirit and his influence, guidance, and direction:
and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger; or "add strength" (u); increase in it. This character is opposed to one of an immoral life and conversation, and describes one that is not guilty of any notorious crime, that does not live in any known sin, but in the general course of his life is upright and sincere, holy, harmless, and inoffensive; such a man as he is already a partaker of spiritual grace and strength, and so, as he wants more, it is given him; his spiritual strength is renewed, he goes from one degree of it to another, and even while walking in the way of God he finds an increase of it; yea, that itself is strength unto him; as his day is his strength is, to assist him in religious services, to enable him to resist his enemies, and endure afflictions, and continue in the good ways of God.
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(u) "addet fortitudinem", Pagninus, Montanus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. The righteous also shall hold on his…
Verse 9. The righteous also shall hold on his way] There shall be no doubt concerning the dispensations of the Divine providence. My case shall illustrate all seemingly intricate displays of God's government. None shall be stumbled at seeing a godly man under oppression, knowing that God never permits any thing of the kind but for the good of the subject, and the manifestation of his own mercy, wisdom, and love. Therefore whatever occurs to the righteous man, he will take it for granted that all is well and justly managed, and that the end will be glorious.
Shall be stronger and stronger.] He shall take encouragement from my case, stay himself on the Lord, and thus gain strength by every blast of adversity. This is one grand use of the book of Job. It casts much light on seemingly partial displays of Divine providence: and has ever been the great text-book of godly men in a state of persecution and affliction. This is what Job seems prophetically to declare.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Job 17:9. The righteous shall hold on his way…
Job 17:9. The righteous shall hold on his way — Shall persevere in that good way upon which he hath entered, and not be turned from it by any afflictions which may befall himself, or any other good men; nor by any contempt or reproach cast upon them by the ungodly, by reason thereof. And he that hath clean hands — Whose life, and the course of whose actions, is righteous and holy; which is a sign that his heart also is upright and pure from the love of sin; shall be stronger and stronger — Shall not be shaken and discouraged by the afflictions and distresses of the godly, nor by the bitter censures and reproaches of hypocrites or wicked men; but will be confirmed thereby, and made more constant and resolute in cleaving to God, his ways, and people.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The righteous also shall hold on his way -…
The righteous also shall hold on his way - The meaning of this verse is plain; but the connection is not so apparent. It seems to me that it refers to “Job himself,” and is a declaration that “he,” a righteous man, who had been so grievously calumniated, would hold on his way, and become stronger and stronger, while “they” would sink in the public esteem, and be compelled to abandon their position. It is the expression of a confident assurance that “he” would be more and more confirmed in his integrity, and would become stronger and stronger in God. Though Job intended, probably, that this should be applied to himself, yet he has expressed it in a general manner, and indeed the whole passage has a proverbial cast; and it shows that even then it was the settled belief that the righteous would persevere. As an expression of the early faith of the pious in one of the now settled doctrines of Christianity, “the perseverance of the saints,” this doctrine is invaluable. It shows that that doctrine has traveled down from the earliest ages. It was one of the elementary doctrines of religion in the earliest times. It became a proverb; and was admitted among the undisputed maxims of the wise and good, and it was such a sentiment as was just adapted to the circumstances of Job - a much tried and persecuted man. He was in all the danger of apostasy to which the pious are usually exposed; he was tempted to forsake his confidence in God; he was afflicted for reasons which he could not comprehend; he was without an earthly friend to sustain him, and he seemed to be forsaken by God himself; yet he had the fullest conviction that he would be enabled to persevere. The great principle was settled, that if there was true religion in the heart, it would abide; that if the path of righteousness had been entered, he who trod it would keep on his way.
And he that hath clean hands - The innocent; the friend of God; the man of pure life; see the notes at Job 9:30; compare Psa 24:4. “Clean hands” here, are designed to denote a pure and holy life. Among the ancients they were regarded as indicative of purity of heart. Porphyry remarks (de antro Nympharum) that in the “mysteries,” those who were initiated were accustomed to wash their hands with honey instead of water, as a pledge that they would preserve themselves from every impure and unholy thing; see Burder, in Rosenmuller’s Alte u. neue Morgenland, in loc.
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Shall be stronger and stronger - Margin, as in Hebrew add strength. He shall advance in the strength of his attachment to God. This is true. The man of pure and blameless life shall become more and more established in virtue; more confirmed in his principles; more convinced of the value and the truth of religion. Piety, like everything else, becomes stronger by exercise. The man who speaks truth only, becomes more and more attached to truth; the principle of benevolence is strengthened by being practiced; honesty, the more it is exhibited, becomes more the settled rule of the life; and he who prays, delights more and more in his appoaches to God. The tendency of religion in the heart is to grow stronger and stronger; and God intends that he who has once loved him, shall continue to love him forever.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain The strength of religious principle is heightened by misfortune.…
The strength of religious principle is heightened by misfortune. The pious shall take fresh courage to persevere from the example of suffering Job. The image is from a warrior acquiring new courage in action (Isa 40:30-31; Phi 1:14).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 9. Hold on — Lay fast hold of.
9. Hold on — Lay fast hold of.
Clean hands — The hand was no less the symbol of human action than of power and strength: clean hands represented purity of action.
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Be stronger and stronger — Margin, Shall add strength. A pure life is a source of strength to man’s entire being. Body, mind, soul, all testify to its reflex influence. Laws of habit unite with laws of grace to assure the good man that he shall ever “renew his strength.” (Isa_40:31.) Affliction facilitates soul-growth. God makes it the touchstone of spiritual strength. The fierce blast either uproots or strengthens the tree. The storm passes by, and the pious soul has struck deeper its roots into that which is eternal. “It is said of the Lacedemonian republic, that whereas all other States were undone by war, Sparta alone grew rich and was bettered by it; and we may say, that whereas all hypocrites and worldly men are undone by affliction, true believers thrive under it.” (KITTO, Bib. Illus. in loc.)
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. The righteous also shall hold on] Or, But…
9. The righteous also shall hold on] Or, But the righteous shall hold on. The righteous will not allow themselves to be misled from the path of rectitude by these moral wrongs which they see prevail in God’s rule of the world, they will cling in spite of them to their righteous life. Nay such obscurities and wrongs will but make the joy which they possess in righteousness the dearer and deeper, and instead of faltering they will be (rather, will wax) stronger and stronger. Though Job speaks here in the name of the “righteous” and “clean of hands” it is his own sentiments and resolution that he gives expression to, and the passage is perhaps the most surprising and lofty in the Book. In ch. Job_19:25 Job, conscious of his innocence and assured by his heart that he is a God-fearing man, is enabled to reach out his hand to grasp what must yet in the future be the solution of the riddle of his present life. And, no doubt, a similar thought precedes the present passage (ch. Job_16:18 seq.). It does not appear, however, that this thought is present to his mind here. Rather he is again completely enveloped in the darkness of his present life, the awful problem of which confounds him and all religious men. But no mysteries or wrongs shall make him falter in the way of righteousness. And the human spirit rises to the height of moral grandeur, when it proclaims its resolution to hold on the way of righteousness independently both of men and God.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The righteous also; rather, yet the righteous. A strong…
The righteous also; rather, yet the righteous. A strong opposing clause. Notwithstanding all the afflictions that befall him, and all the further afflictions which he anticipates, yet the truly righteous man shall hold on his way; i.e. maintain his righteous course, neither deviating from it to the right hand nor to the left, but holding to the strict line of rectitude without. wavering. Job is not thinking particularly of himself, but bent on testifying that righteous men generally act as they do, not from any hope of reward, but from principle and the bent of their characters. And he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. Not only will the just man maintain his integrity, but, as time goes on, his goodness will be more and more firmly established (comp. Aristotle"s "Theory of Habits").
HOMILIES BY R. GREEN Ver. 9. Progress in virtue.
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A later book declares "the path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day." So here the stability and progressive character of the righteous is assured.
I PROGRESS IN VIRTUE IMPLIES A CAREFUL CHOOSING OF A GOOD WAY. It is characteristic of a righteous man that he has committed himself to a carefully chosen way. It is "his way." It describes a path and manner of life. It embraces his entire "conversation." He is not driven as with a wind and tossed from one course to another. One only path is before him, narrow it may be, and often hidden as a rugged mountain-path, demanding toil and watchfulness and effort to find it and to keep it. But this "his way" is chosen, and to it he has committed himself: He follows the path whithersoever it may lead him.
II Progress in virtue on the part of a righteous man implies that HE PERSEVERES IN HIS CHOSEN AND WELL-SELECTED PATH. Fickleness and vacillation are not qualities of true righteousness; but patience in well-doing always marks the truly righteous one. The high character of virtue, the gravity of the interests involved in the practice of virtue, the strong motives of virtuous principle, together with the apprehension of the rewards of righteous doing, are all motives to perseverance" whilst to them is added the ministry of Divine grace. God helps the good and obedient and striving soul. Thus the inward principle of virtue, and the support which it gathers to itself, alike help to secure a steady progress. But steady progress in the path of virtuous living must issue in growth and perfectness of virtuous character.
III Steady progress in virtue is MARKED BY INCREASING STRENGTH OF CHARACTER AND CONVICTION. The righteous man waxes "stronger and stronger." Holy principles gain a firmer hold upon his convictions. His life settles into a definiteness and stability of habit. He has greater power to resist evil; he has greater power over his own heart; he exerts a greater power over others around him. He is not moved from his integrity either by the fierce onslaughts of temptation or by the severities of trial. His life is pledged to a course of obedient living to purity, truth, goodness. More and more he is established in his goings. He rises to greater brightness as the sun to greater strength. He gathers strength even from his afflictions. Deeper and deeper principles of holy living strike their firm roots into his whole spirit. He pursues his chosen and holy way undeterred by the many forms of temptation that assail him. In his righteousness he can "hold on his way," and with his "clean hands" he waxes "stronger and stronger" day by day. R.G.
Holding on and growing stronger.
This is a cheering thought breaking out of Job"s doleful despair Job is rising from pessimism to hope and confidence. He gives us a double picture the righteous holding on his way, the man with clean hands growing stronger and stronger.
I HOLDING ON. We see the righteous man quietly going forward, not turned aside by any obstacle, not cast down by any opposition, nor rushing madly forward, but not hanging back in fear, weariness, or indolence like Goethe"s star, "unhasting and unresting.
1. Pursuing a continuous coarse. The righteous man has a way, and it is to this that he holds on. We must have a purpose if our life is not to be broken and become a failure.
2. Keeping to the course. The idea is that of holding on to the one right course. Here is persistency and perseverance. The way being right must not be forsaken on account of any difficulties.
3. Overcoming opposition. There may be no brilliant victory. But the righteous man succeeds in holding on his way. That is enough. That secures his success. The constantly flowing stream cuts through the granite cliff and scoops a huge valley out of the mountain-side. Patient perseverance wins in the end.
4. Walking in a right character. It is the righteous man of whom Job makes the glad assertion. The bad man may hold on for a time, when he does not meet with serious opposition; but he is not upheld by principle, and he is doomed to a final overthrow; for though his mad is broad and popular, it leads to destruction. Only a true moral and spiritual character has strength to hold on continuously when severely tried; only this character will be blessed by being allowed by God to go on to victory. Time is the great test of character. Weak and unworthy people may do brilliant things, and achieve temporary triumphs. It is the character of true worth that is" faithful unto death," and that holds on to the end. Many vessels that leave the port make shipwreck on their course; only those that are sound and well steered reach their desired haven.
II GROWING STRONGER. The second thought is more emphatic. The progress is of the best kind.
1. With increase. The Christian course is more than a race; it is an ascent; it is a growth. God"s servant is not set to a treadmill. His walk is not a weary round. There is no monotony in the true Christian life. As he endures, so he is enlarged and enriched.
2. In strength. This is the special kind of increase to which Job refers. No doubt he was already beginning to feel it. He had lost wealth, but he had gained strength. Already the blows of adversity had begun to weld together tough fibres in his soul. He was stronger now than when all men bowed to him as the most powerful emir of the East. Here is the fruit of the victory won by overcoming opposition. Battle strengthens the hero. Climbing the "Hill Difficulty" develops the Pilgrim"s muscles. Now, God looks for energy in his servants. It is not enough that he shelters them in trouble. He gives them strength with which to hear it. "To them that have no might he increaseth strength". (Isa_40:29)
3. On condition of purity. The strength is for the man with clean hands. Sin enervates. Innocence is strong. The sinner may recover strength when his sin is forgiven and his heart purged. Therefore our business is to resist sin and cultivate purity of life; then God will give ever-increasing strength. W.F.A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The righteous also shall hold on his way, and…
Job_17:9
The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.
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The way of the righteous
It may seem a work of supererogation to say anything upon such a subject as righteousness. But the subject labours under some obscurity. Many seem to think that righteousness in the Old Testament means something entirely different from righteousness in the New. We are enabled by the New Testament distinctly to recognise that which is in itself eternal truth in the Old Testament as well as the New. The righteousness of faith is grounded in the loyalty of the soul to God, and consists in the manifestation of this loyalty in words, in thoughts, and in deeds. Here, cleanness of hands is spoken of--singleness of intent, perfect simplicity of motive, There is no righteousness without this to some extent. The text speaks of the perseverance of such a man. He shall hold on his way. Still, all promises concerning the moral nature must necessarily be conditional. It does not follow with a mechanical certainty that every righteous soul shall hold on his way. He has a way. It is not everyone in this world that has a way in the sense of the text. Some have no definite aim or way. Others have a way, but it is a wrong way. The righteous shall hold on his way. His way is before him, clear and plain, though steep. He has nothing to do but to keep on day by day in the Divinely appointed path, for every step brings him nearer to the goal. And the strength here spoken of is moral strength. It springs from energy of conviction, and grasp of faith, and fervour of resolution, and depth of emotion. They are of the new life, the sense of Divine life in the soul. If you will believe in God, do the right, and leave everything to Him, you also shall find that the righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger. (J. A. Picton, M. A.)
The laws of spiritual progress
Weakness of all kinds is painful, inconvenient, and humiliating. So much indeed is power valued by us, that not a little of the worlds hero worship has been the ardent adoration of strength in some one of its three principal manifestations, of either physical, or intellectual, or moral might. And all three have a glory, though not an equal glory. Intellectual power, by comparison with spiritual power, has had a large, and on the whole, a growing share of glory assigned to it. But physical force has had the most extensive sway in the world, and the longest reign. Look--
I. At the kind of strength and progress that is promised in the text to the righteous. Our text speaks of a strength whose greatest triumphs in this world are still future, as Christs greatest triumphs in and over men are still future. It is a benign strength this that lies calmly resting on the sure promises and unchanging faithfulness of God. This kind of strength is moral and spiritual might, active, aggressive, victorious goodness. The strength of our text is the strength of right in vanquishing wrong, the strength of moral goodness in overcoming moral evil, both in its possessor and around him. This spiritual strength is counted weakness by the world, because its triumphs are not only like itself, spiritual, but they are often not immediate. Men who walk by sense, seeing not the things which are invisible, cannot wait Gods time and way. And yet to conquer sin and self is mans best and greatest triumph. Every mans noblest battlefield lies within, not without himself; lies within, not without his fellow man. In harmony with the worlds prevailing false idea of greatness, the idol gods, and the human heroes that men have made or chosen for themselves, have for the most part been powerful, but not goad. Look at the gods of the heathen. Superhuman in power always, but human, and almost infra-human, in character often. It is not moral and spiritual power, but grosser forms of power, that most people admire most. The suffering attitude of Jesus seemed to His contemporaries, and still seems to the eye of the natural man, the weakest of all Divine displays of power. And yet this in truth is not only the highest kind of power, but it is the mightiest in moral result. For the Cross of Christ is the very power of God unto salvation. Here in the Cross of Christ we see more of the peculiar power of God who is love, than anywhere else. Here lies the power of the Gospel. It is the revelation of Gods rich grace and love to the evil. God instructs us to seek as our best personal attainment, the possession of a goodness so strong, and pure, and lofty, that evil from within, us and from without us shall flee away ashamed and vanquished before its overcoming and subduing power. This strength needs to be all the more diligently cultivated by us because it is not natural to us. In our fallen state we are spiritually weak. But this best kind of strength may be obtained. It is the life of God in the soul of man, and it re-creates in Gods image the soul that it enters, and its presence becomes in part visible. The men in whom this life not only exists, but is abundant, by their very presence, both at rest and in action, exert a beneficent moral power and influence. These are the men from whose moral being a felt virtue goes forth that good men seek, and bad men shun. For there are men, every movement of whose mind creates currents of healthful, healing, spiritual influence, and such God-inspired men are strong. The text holds before us the encouraging prospect, that the really good man shall, by the inherent laws of goodness, go on his way, and become stronger and stronger in goodness, more and more successful in gaining victories over evil. Intellectual greatness we ought all profoundly to revere as one of Gods best gifts to man; but we ought not to dishonour the Holy God and His moral image in man by an unholy worship of intellect as disjoined from goodness. How much even in the service of religion is talent often exalted above grace! View the text as a Divine direction, and also as a positive promise of success, to every renewed soul that is trying to make progress in the Divine life, and asks by what means he may become strong. An answer to this inquiry is much needed.
II. Who are they that obtain the strength promised in the text? All do not. The man who would be strong and hold on his way must be in Gods sense righteous, and keep his hands clean.
1. The righteous,--the upright, honest, virtuous, pious. Our obligations to God and man not only lie near together, but at many points intersect and overlap each other. Righteousness is a name which covers over and enters into the whole web of human duty. The Bible name righteous denotes a well-defined class of men who are not now what they once were, but have been born again. Our text does not speak of any man in his natural unrenewed state; but it speaks of man when under a supernatural tuition, of man the subject of Divine grace. Life comes before strength, and is more important. Get life, and strength will fellow.
III. The laws that regulate this growth of strength. The reasons why the righteous grow stronger are both natural and supernatural. Note--
1. The operation of the natural law that the exercise of our faculties strengthens them. This is a law of the mind as well as a law of the body. The religion of the Bible perfectly harmonises with all Divine law. It is a reasonable service which yet rises above reason. Mature piety is ordinarily the ripened product of years well spent.
2. The righteous man who has clean hands holds on his way, and ever grows stronger through the ordinary operation of the great law of habit. Habit makes all things castor, and among others the most difficult Christian duties. The law of habit comes into action in favour of duty as well as in favour of sin.
3. The righteous man, and of clean hands, holds on his way, and waxes stronger and stronger by the teachings of experience.
4. The righteous man holds on his way, because religion is a life of which Christ is the source. But all life is much affected by food, climate, and exercise; and so is this higher life. Divine truth is the fit food of this life.
5. The great reason is that the righteous mans God and Father holds him up and strengthens him. And He is the living God. When others stumble and fall, the righteous man rises and stands upright, because God strengthens and upholds him. Clean hands, and such alone can lay a firm hold upon God, and lovingly constrain Him in His visits to leave a blessing behind Him. Polluted hands have no such power. The man who seeks and finds this Helper must hold on his way and grow stronger. The whole atmosphere of Scripture is strongly provocative of robust spiritual health. The Godward attitude continued in makes weak men to become strong, and strong men to become stronger and stronger. (J. C. Macintosh.)
The nature of the doctrine of the saints final perseverance
I. A character spoken of. Righteous. As persons who are taught to discard their own righteousness, and are clothed upon with the righteousness of another. Clad in that righteousness, they are taught to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present evil world.
II. These righteous ones are described as on their way. There is but one way, and Jesus is that way--the way of acceptance with God, the way in which alone we can walk so as to please God. It is the only way of happiness, and may be a way of self-denial.
III. The promise. Shall hold on. It is as positive as language can express it. He shall do it. Discouragements he may have, and shall have; trial of his patience, his hope, and his love--this he stands continually in need of, day by day, and hour by hour; through want of watchfulness he may slumber; through want of diligence he may stumble; withholding prayer, he ceases to fight; through self-confidence he may fall; but the righteous shall hold on his way. It is the mouth of the Lord that hath spoken it. (J. H. Evans, M. A.)
The hope of Job
What does righteous mean? We understand by it one in whom there is something more than a moral life; more than convictions of sin; more than religious impressions; more than sensations of joy arising from the Word of God; more even than one on whose mind there are certain influences of the Spirit; for the grace of God may enlighten the understanding, arouse the conscience, and move the affections, and yet with all this, the will may be unsubdued, and there may be no full and complete surrender of the heart to God. By the righteous, then, we understand one who believes with the heart in Jesus. Nor is there any essential difference between the Old Testament and the New in this; for the righteous under the first dispensation, believed in a Saviour to come. The righteous now believe in a Saviour already come. A righteous man is one who trusts in a Redeemer; who, in a special sense, belongs to Christ, and in Christ to God. Of such an one the text speaks. It is a difficult way on which he holds his way. The word his refers to the righteous man, and yet it is Gods way. The way which God has marked out for him; the way into which God has led him. It is no easy way. It is so narrow that you cannot carry the world with you along it; so steep, that if self-indulgent, you will never get up it; so rough, that if faint-hearted, you will fear the labour; and so long, that it requires much perseverance. But it is a happy way, the only happy way. It is a wonderful thing to see the righteous hold on his way; to see him out of weakness made strong, defeat changed into victory, his soul restored, his strength renewed. How are we to account for this triumph? The secret lies not in himself, but in God the Father who loved him, the Son who redeemed him, the Spirit who sanctifies him. (George Wagner.)
The saints perseverance
The Christian is frequently compared to a traveller; but no traveller reaches his journeys end merely by starting upon the road. If it should be a journey of seven weeks length, if he shall sit down after journeying six weeks, he certainly will not reach the goal of his desires. It is necessary, if I would reach a certain city, that I should go every mile of the road; for one mile would not take me there; nor if the city be a hundred miles distant, would ninety-nine miles bring me to its streets. I must journey all the length if I would reach the desired place. Frequently, in the New Testament, the Christian is compared to a runner--he runs in a race for a great prize; but it is not by merely starting, it is not by making a great spurt, it is not by distancing your rival for a little time, and then pulling up to take breath, or sauntering to either side of the road, that you will win the race: we must never stop till we have passed the winning post; there must be no loitering throughout the whole of the Christian career, but onward, like the Roman charioteer, with glowing wheels, we must fly more and more rapidly till we actually obtain the crown. The Christian is sometimes, by the apostle Paul, who somewhat delights to quote from the ancient games, compared to the Grecian wrestler, or boxer. But it is of little avail for the champion to give the foe one blow or one fall: he must continue in the combat until his adversary is beaten. Our spiritual foes will not be vanquished until we enter where the conquerors receive their crowns, and therefore we must continue in fighting attitude. It is in vain for us to talk of what we have done or are doing just now, he that continueth to the end, the same shall be saved, and none but he. The believer is commonly compared to a warrior--he is engaged in a great battle, a holy war. Like Joshua, he has to drive out the Canaanites, that have chariots of iron, before he can fully take possession of his inheritance; but it is not the winning of one battle that makes a man a conqueror: nay, though he should devastate one province of his enemies territories, yet, if he should be driven out by-and-by, he is beaten in the campaign, and it will yield him but small consolation to win a single battle, or even a dozen battles, if the campaign as a whole should end in his defeat. It is not commencing as though the whole world were to be cleared by one display of fire and sword, but continuing, going from strength to strength, from victory to victory, that makes the man the conqueror of his foe. The Christian is also called a disciple or scholar. But who does not know that the boy by going to school for a day or two does not therefore become wiser? If the lad should give himself most diligently to his grammar for six months, yet he will never become a linguist unless he shall continue perseveringly in his classic studies. The great mathematicians of our times did not acquire their science in a single year; they pressed forward with aching brow; they burnt the midnight oil and tortured their brains; they were not satisfied to rest, for they could never have become masters of their art if they had lingered on the road. The believer is also called a builder, but you know of whom it was said, This man began to build, but was not able to finish. The digging out of the foundation is most important, and the building up of stone upon stone is to be carried on with diligence; but though the man should half finish the walls, or even complete them, yet if he do not roof in the structure, he becomes a laughing stock to every passer-by. A good beginning, it is said, is more than half, but a good ending is more than the whole. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Christians persistency
That master allegorist, John Bunyan, has not pictured Christian as carried to heaven while asleep in an easy chair. He makes Christian lose his burden at the cross foot, he ascribes the deliverance of the man from the burden of his sin, entirely to the Lord Jesus; but he represents him as climbing the Hill Difficulty--ay, and on his hands and knees too. Christian has to descend into the Valley of Humiliation, and to tread that dangerous pathway through the gloomy horrors of the Shadow of Death. He has to be urgently watchful to keep himself from sleeping in the Enchanted Ground. Nowhere is he delivered from the necessities incident to the way, for even at the last he fords the black river, and struggles with its terrible billows. Effort is used all the way through, and you that are pilgrims to the skies will find it to be no allegory, but a real matter of fact: your soul must gird up her loins; you need your pilgrims staff and armour, and you must foot it all the way to heaven, contending with giants, fighting with lions, and combating Apollyon himself. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Completing the good work
The present life is the only scene of probation of man; if he should fail in the scene in which he is now placed, he fails forever. How encouraging, then, to be assured that he who has begun the good work will carry it on amid all the perils of our present state, until we reach the state where no danger can arrive.
I. The character of those who are here introduced. They have already commenced the course of the Christian life. The expression clean hands denotes their freedom from those pollutions which are connected with human nature in its unconverted state. The language further suggests an open and honest profession of their attachment to the ways of God and righteousness. The man who partakes of this character will necessarily be concerned that he may hold on his way, and wax stronger and stronger.
II. The considerations which led you to separate yourself from the world and to devote yourself to God. All these claims are now at hand, and possess all the claim they ever possessed. Hold on your way, and look to the exercise of that cleanness of spirit which every honest mind will be concerned to possess. Look to the exercise of purity of intention, to the testimony which God has connected with His Word, that it may come home to your heart, and work mightily there. (R. Vaughan.)
Clean-handed righteousness
I. The persons spoken of. The righteous are those who have clean hands. The former term describes their state, the latter their character. Righteous is a forensic term. There can only be two ways of being righteous--either by never having sinned, or by being delivered, in some way or other, from the condemnation due to sin. The former applies to the angels. For fallen man another kind of righteousness must be devised, which is, the imputation of Christs righteousness unto him.
II. What is said concerning them? Shall hold on his way. They are going onward in the way to heaven; in this way they meet many obstacles--as from false brethren, false teachers, false waymarks. There are obstacles both in the way of faith and of conduct. Nevertheless, they shall hold on their way. This must necessarily follow.
1. From a consideration of the character of God. He is faithful and immutable.
2. From a consideration of the death of Christ. He died for us, not leaving it doubtful what effects would be produced by His death.
3. From a consideration of the nature and constitution of the covenant of grace. It is Gods will that saints should have strong consolation, upon the ground of their final perseverance.
4. From a consideration of the nature of real conversion, and the work of God the Holy Spirit.
5. From a consideration of the intercession of Christ, which must be ever prevalent.
6. From a consideration of the nature of that principle which is implanted within them. It is an immortal principle; an incorruptible seed. (John Davies.)
The godly man
Consider the character in the text.
I. He is righteous. The character in the text is right with God. Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
II. He is holy. He has clean hands. The hand is the instrument of action; it is moved by the heart--the pulsations of which are right, and so he can lift them up to God without wrath or doubting. He is not afraid for God to see them, nor for Him to know the principles whence these actions emanate. A man has just as much religion in his business as he has in his closet; the same in the counting house as he has on his knees. There is no reason why labour should not be a psalm, and commerce a ritual in the best sense of the word. The time shall come when holiness to the Lord shall be written upon the bells of the horses; and then, whether men eat or drink, or whatever they do, they do all for the glory of God.
III. He is persistent. He shall hold on, etc. At an important period of his existence, Gibbon said of his prospects, All is dark and doubtful. Of this characters future, all is bright and hopeful--Glory, honour, immortality, eternal life, are in the future. He shall hold on his way. The wind, and tide, and sea may be against the steamers which reach your port, but through the power of the steam within, they hold on their way. Outward circumstances may appear to be all against the character of the text; but by the power of the principle within he holds on his way. This is a moral duty. Final perseverance is an article for the code, rather than for the creed. This is a law of the Divine life. The leaven is put in to leaven the whole lump. You must go on, or recede; you cannot stand still. The purest water that ever fell from heaven will corrupt if it be stagnant.
IV. He is growing. The Bible beckons you on to better things, and urges you to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is also confirmed by experience. There is also a power in the habit of goodness. The more you exercise faith, the easier you can do so. The more you do for God, the more delightful becomes the exercise. In every conflict with hell in which you conquer, you learn the tactics of war, and become mightier for further engagements. What a bright vista opens before the soul which is morally right! (G. Warner.)
The penitence of perfect Job
(verse 9, with Job_42:5-6):--
1. It is not possible to set out the salient features of Jobs strength with even a slight approximation to completeness, without taking into account the immense energy he derived from his burning consciousness of unimpeachable integrity. Not that Job made no mistakes. He made many. He misconceived Gods methods, misjudged Gods heart, flung censures to right of him and censures to left of him, spoke rashly and petulantly. But never did he sink into an insincerity, or clothe himself with a sham; but maintained an unbroken consciousness of integrity of spirit and purity of heart. Integrity is power. Sincerity is a high form of human energy. Righteousness as a passion of the heart, and an element in character and life, is a manifest and undeniable source of imperial force. Wickedness is, in spite of seeming strength, actual imbecility.
2. Nevertheless, the closing picture of this hero, Job, is not that of a conqueror, but a confessor; not of an enthroned prince, but a kneeling penitent. This is not what we expected. The language of genuine sorrow and deep self-abasement loads his lips, and his far-shining integrity is not worth a moments lip defence by the side of his failure to keep the law of God. Sincerity is good, but it is not sinlessness. Indisputable integrity of purpose, and inflexible honesty of heart, are jewels of unspeakable worth, but they will not atone for rash speech, misjudgment of God, and hatred of weak and faulty men. Be true, by all means; but think of Jobs penitence, and remember that the heroic virtue of integrity and wholeness, superlatively good as it is, is not enough.
3. It is the special charm of Jobs story that it exhibits this high-strung and strenuous integrity dwelling in the same spirit with the acutest penitence and throbbing self-loathing. We can recognise these qualities apart, and appreciate them in their singleness, but that they should blend in the same life, tenant the same spirit, and be sources of power to the same character, conflicts with our habitual thought. Yet the minds of culminating power in the vast brotherhood of the worlds workers and redeemers, have not been more deeply marked by their persistent devotion to purity of thought, uncompromising fidelity to fact, and aspiration after perfection, than by their quivering sensitiveness to the smallness of their achievements, acute sense of personal fault, and prevailing consciousness--often attended by spasms of weakening pain--of absolute failure. The righteous Job in his penitence anticipates the Church of the first-born in heaven. It is fidelity to the clearest laws of advancing human life which marries in one and the same progressive spirit, inflexible consecration to reality and right, and deep and true penitence for failure and sin.
4. Whence came this penitential mood? What induced this change of feeling? The unexpected revolution is effected by the revelation of God to the eye of the soul. Mine eye seeth Thee. He passes out of the realm of mere hearsays about God, to that of inward experience and actual communion. The eyes give fuller and clearer knowledge than the ear. Job knows God as he did not know Him before. The character of his knowledge is changed, heightened, vitalised, intensified, personalised.
5. Was not Job led to this renewing sight of God by the voice that addressed, startled, and overwhelmed him out of the whirlwind, forcing in upon his mind an oppressive and overwhelming conception of the creative and administrative power of the Almighty? Is not the ear the way to the spiritual eye, as surely as the sight of God is the way to repentance, and repentance the way to life?
6. Here, then, is one signal value of the knowledge of God, even of His immense power and greatness. It is the ground and spring of a true conception of ourselves, of our limitations and possibilities, our actual condition and ethical ideal.
7. Such God-inspired penitence swiftly vindicates itself in the pure sincerity and holy brotherliness it creates, and the reconciliations it effects between man and man, and man and his lot. Sin divides; repentance unites. Humbled before the Lord, Job becomes a priest. Set the tree of penitence in such a Divine soil, and it must bear this kind of fruit. (J. Clifford, D. D.)
The righteous holding on his way
I remind you that while final perseverance is necessary, it is extremely difficult. The way itself renders if so. The way to heaven is no smooth-shaven lawn.
1. It is a rough road, up hill, down dale, across rivers, and over mountains.
2. Moreover, the road is long. It is a life-long road.
3. Besides that, the road is so contrary to fallen nature. It is a way of faith. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Job continues to speak.
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will keep to his way
This is an idiom. AT: "will continue to live in a righteous way" (See: Idiom)
he who has clean hands
This speaks of a person being innocent as having clean hands. AT: "he who does what is right" or "he who is innocent" (See: Metaphor)
will grow stronger and stronger
This does not refer only to physical strength but also to the strength of a person's will and emotions.
you all
Job is speaking to Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.
come on now
Job invites his friends to debate what he has said. AT: "come on now, argue with me again" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
righteous
clean
wise
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.