6 Don't blame fate when things go wrong - trouble doesn't come from nowhere. 7 It's human! Mortals are born and bred for trouble, as certainly as sparks fly upward. What a Blessing When God Corrects You! 8 "If I were in your shoes, I'd go straight to God, I'd throw myself on the mercy of God. 9 After all, he's famous for great and unexpected acts; there's no end to his surprises. 10 He gives rain, for instance, across the wide earth, sends water to irrigate the fields. 11 He raises up the down-and-out, gives firm footing to those sinking in grief. 12 He aborts the schemes of conniving crooks, so that none of their plots come to term. 13 He catches the know-it-alls in their conspiracies - all that intricate intrigue swept out with the trash! 14 Suddenly they're disoriented, plunged into darkness; they can't see to put one foot in front of the other. 15 But the downtrodden are saved by God, saved from the murderous plots, saved from the iron fist. 16 And so the poor continue to hope, while injustice is bound and gagged.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Job 5:6-16
Commentary on Job 5:6-16
(Read Job 5:6-16)
Eliphaz reminds Job, that no affliction comes by chance, nor is to be placed to second causes. The difference between prosperity and adversity is not so exactly observed, as that between day and night, summer and winter; but it is according to the will and counsel of God. We must not attribute our afflictions to fortune, for they are from God; nor our sins to fate, for they are from ourselves. Man is born in sin, and therefore born to trouble. There is nothing in this world we are born to, and can truly call our own, but sin and trouble. Actual transgressions are sparks that fly out of the furnace of original corruption. Such is the frailty of our bodies, and the vanity of all our enjoyments, that our troubles arise thence as the sparks fly upward; so many are they, and so fast does one follow another. Eliphaz reproves Job for not seeking God, instead of quarrelling with him. Is any afflicted? let him pray. It is heart's ease, a salve for every sore. Eliphaz speaks of rain, which we are apt to look upon as a little thing; but if we consider how it is produced, and what is produced by it, we shall see it to be a great work of power and goodness. Too often the great Author of all our comforts, and the manner in which they are conveyed to us, are not noticed, because they are received as things of course. In the ways of Providence, the experiences of some are encouragements to others, to hope the best in the worst of times; for it is the glory of God to send help to the helpless, and hope to the hopeless. And daring sinners are confounded, and forced to acknowledge the justice of God's proceedings.