6 For affliction doesn’t come forth from the dust,
neither does trouble spring out of the ground; 7 but man is born to trouble,
as the sparks fly upward. 8 “But as for me, I would seek God.
I would commit my cause to God, 9 who does great things that can’t be fathomed,
marvelous things without number; 10 who gives rain on the earth,
and sends waters on the fields; 11 so that he sets up on high those who are low,
those who mourn are exalted to safety. 12 He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
So that their hands can’t perform their enterprise. 13 He takes the wise in their own craftiness;
the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong. 14 They meet with darkness in the day time,
and grope at noonday as in the night. 15 But he saves from the sword of their mouth,
even the needy from the hand of the mighty. 16 So the poor has hope,
and injustice shuts her mouth.
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.