[Here we continue a reprint of a small portion of Joseph Caryl’s study in Job. Mr. Caryl
wrote twelve volumes on the book of Job. His study is a great example of how deep one can
dig into the truths of the Bible.]
A Study by Joseph Caryl (1644)
Job 1:21-22, pt. 2 -
The Lord Hath Given, the Lord Hath Taken Away
Naked came I out of my mother's womb,
and naked shall I return thither:
The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord.
22
In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. (KJV).
Job
said:
“The
Lord
gave,
and
the
Lord
hath
taken
away”
(vs.
21).
This
is
the
second
argument
which
Job
uses
to
both
the
former
purposes;
and
it
is
a
more
spiritual
and
sublime
argument
than
the
former
[“Naked
came
I…
and
naked
return.”]
.
A
man
who
has
nothing
in
him
but
nature,
may
say
as
much
as
Job
did
before,
though
he
could
never
say
it
with
Job’s
spirit;
for
though
godly
persons
use
natural
arguments
and
common
reasons,
yet
being
concocted
in
their
spirits,
they
become
heavenly
and
spiritual.
Natural
men
(I
say)
or
heathens
have
taken
up
such
an
argument
as
that,
as
when
word
was
brought
to
a
heathen
philosopher,
that
his
son
was
dead,
“I
knew”
(said
he),
“that
I
begot
a
son
mortal,
and
subject
to
death”;
he
did
but
look
back
to
the
common
condition
of
man
and
supported
himself.
But
now
I
say
this
second
argument
is
higher;
it
is
not
an
argument
bottomed
upon
the
frailty
of
nature,
but
upon
the
sovereignty
of
God.
This
argument
is
grounded
upon
the
equity
of
divine
providence
and
dispensations.
“The
Lord”
(said
Job)
“hath
given and the Lord hath taken away.”
“The Lord hath given”
“Every
good
gift
and
every
perfect
gift
is
from
above”
(James
1:17).
What
gifts
doth
Job
here
mean?
He
means
good
and
perfect
gifts
in
their
kind;
but
not
the
best
and
most
perfect
kind
of
gifts.
The
Lord
once
gave
me
those
oxen,
those
sheep,
all
these
outward
things
that
now
I
am
stripped
of,
“The
Lord
hath
given.”
A
gift
is
any
good
freely
bestowed;
when
we
receive
a
thing,
which
another
was
not
engaged
to
bestow,
that
is
a
gift.
Now
God
does
not
only
give
us
those
transcendents,
grace
and
glory,
faith
in
Christ
here
and
for
fruition
of
Christ
here
after:
not
only
are
these
gifts,
I
say,
sent
in
from
God
and
undeserved
by
us;
but
outward
things,
riches
and
honor,
children
and
servants,
houses
and
lands,
these
are
the
gifts
of
God
likewise;
we
have
not
the
least
creature-comfort
of
our
own,
we
have
nothing
of
our
own
but
sin.
What
hast
thou,
that
thou
hast
not
received?
is
a
truth
concerning
everything;
we
have
even
to
a
hoof
or
a
shoe-latchet.
We
are
indebted
unto
God
for
our
spirituals,
for
our
temporals,
for
all.
We
must
say
of
all
little
or
much, great or small,
The Lord hath given.
How did the Lord give Job all his riches and estate?
The
Lord
gives
either
immediately
or
mediately.
When
Job
said,
The
Lord
hath
given
,
we
are
not
to
understand
it,
as
if
the
Lord
had
brought
such
a
present
to
him
and
said,
here,
take
this
estate,
take
these
cattle,
these
servants.
But
God
gave
them
mediately
by
blessing
the
labors
of
Job.
So
when
the
Lord
prospers
us
in
our
honest
endeavors
and
labors
and
callings,
then
that
is
how
the
Lord
gives
us
outward
things.
The
Lord
hath
given.
Job
does
not
say,
by
my
strength
and
diligence,
my
policy
and
prudence,
I
have
got
this
estate;
as
the
Assyrian
said:
“By
the
strength
of
my
hand
have
I
done
this,
and
by
my
wisdom,
for
I
am
prudent”
(Isa.
10:13).
Job
takes
no
notice
of
himself;
he
was
not
idle,
yet
he
speaks
as
if
he
had
done
nothing,
The
Lord hath given.
This
should
teach
us
in
the
first
place
to
acknowledge
the
Lord
as
the
fountain
and
donor
of
all
our
outward
comforts.
When
you
get
wealth,
do
not
say,
this
I
have gotten (such language is barbarous in divinity),
but
say,
this
the
Lord
hath
given.
We
find
an
express
caution
to
this
purpose,
given
by
Moses
from
God,
not
only
against
the
former
language
of
the
tongue,
but
of
the
heart,
when
the
Jews
should
come
to
Canaan
and
should
grow
rich
and
great
there:
“When
thou
hast
eaten
and
art
full,
then
thou
shalt
bless
the
Lord.
Beware
thou
forget
not
the
Lord
thy
God
for
the
good
land
which
he
hath
given
three…
And
say
in
thy
heart,
my
power
and
the
might
of
my
hand
hath
gotten
me
this
wealth,
but
thou
shalt
remember
the
Lord
thy
God,
for
it
is
he
that
giveth
thee
power
to
get
wealth:
It
is
he that giveth thee power”
(Deut. 8:10-11,17-18).
Many
who
are
persuaded
that
God
gives
them
grace,
that
God
gives
heaven
and
salvation,
are
hardly
persuaded,
or
at
least
do
not
so
well
consider
it,
that
God
gives
riches,
etc.
Their
hearts
are
yet
ready
to
say,
that
they
have
gotten
this
wealth,
they
have
gotten
this
honor.
It
is
a
sweet
thing,
when
a
man
looks
upward
for
these
lower
things,
and
can
say
on
good
grounds
that
his
earth
has
dropped
down
to
him
from heaven.
The Lord hath given.
Further,
when
Job
said,
The
Lord
hath
given
,
it
is
an
argument
of
his
own
justice
and
equity
in
getting.
Job
did
not
enrich
himself
by
wrong,
by
grinding
the
faces
of
the
poor
.
If
he
had
done
so,
he
could
not
have
said,
The
Lord
hath
given.
So
much
as
we
get
honestly,
we
may
look
upon
as
a
fruit
of
God’s
bounty.
Look
into
your
estates
and
whatsoever
you
have
go
by
wrong
dealing,
take
heed
of
saying,
this
is
of
God’s
giving,
for
so
you
make
God
himself
a
partner
in
your
sins.
God
sometimes
gives
when
we
use
no
means,
but
he
never
gives
when
we
use
unlawful
means.
What
God
said
concerning
the
setting-up
of
those
kings:
“They
have
set
up
kings,
but
not
by
me”
(Hos.
8:4).
He
says
of
all
who
enrich
themselves
by
wrong,
They
have
gotten
riches,
but
not
by
me.
When
men
leave
the
rule
of
justice,
God
leaves
them.
And
though
unlawful
acts
are
under
the
eye
of
God’s
providence,
yet
they
are
not
under
the
influence
of
his
blessing.
Wicked
men
thrive
often,
but
they
are
never blessed. Their prosperity is their own.
Thirdly,
it
is
observable,
that
when
Job
would
support
himself
in
the
loss
of
his
estate,
he
calls
to
mind
how
he
came
by
his
estate;
and
finding
it
all
given
in
by
the
blessing
of
God
upon
his
honest
labors
and
endeavors,
he
is
satisfied.
Note:
What
we
get
honestly,
that
we
can
part
with
contentedly
.
He
that
has
gotten
his
estate
by
injustice,
can
never
leave
it
with
patience.
Honesty
in
getting
causes
quietness
of
spirit
in
losing
outward
things.
Keep
a
good
conscience
in
getting
the
world,
and
you
shall
have
peace
when
you
cannot
keep
the
world.
Whereas,
a
wrongdoer
and
a
wrong-dealer
is
in
such
a
day
under
a
double
affliction:
he
is
afflicted
with
his
present loss, and he ought to be afflicted for his former gain.
Fourthly,
the
words,
The
Lord
hath
given
,
being
rightly
handled,
will
be
as
a
sword
to
cut
off
four
monsters
or
monstrous
lusts,
which
annoy
all
the
world,
or
as
a
medicine
to
cure
four
diseases
about
worldly
things.
Two
of
these
lusts
are
strongest
in
the
rich,
and
the
other
pair
assault
the
poor.
The
poor
pine
either
with
discontent,
because
they
have
so
little;
or
with
envy,
because
others
have
so
much.
The
rich
swell
with
pride,
because
they
have
abundance,
or
they
are
filled
with
contempt
of
those
that
are
in
want.
Let
the
rich
seriously
weigh
this
speech,
it
will
cure
them
of
pride.
“Charge
them
that
are
rich
that
they
be
not
high-minded”
(1
Tim.
6:17).
You
see
how
subject
rich
men
are
to
this
inflammation
of
pride.
But
with
what
does
he
prick
this
bladder?
It
is
with
this
thought
that
God
gives
all
riches,
Let
them
trust
in
the
living
God,
who
giveth
us
all
things
richly
to
enjoy.
That
argument
is
of
the
Apostle,
in
1
Cor.
4:7.
If
thou
hast
received
it,
why
dost
thou
boast?
This
applies
as
strong
and
as
true
in
regard
of
temporals,
as
of
spirituals.
Consider
seriously
that
your
estates
are
the
gift
of
God,
and
drown
false
pride.
If
you
come
honestly
by
them,
they
are
the
gifts
of
God.
If
you
come
dishonestly
by
them,
they
are
the
gifts
of
Satan,
and
you
ought
to
be
ashamed
of
them
and
restore
them,
not
to
boast
or
be
proud of them.
Then
secondly,
it
will
cure
the
rich
of
all
contempt
of
others;
what
the
Apostle
James
observed
and
censured
in
the
rich
people
of
those
times,
is
found
by
too
much
experience
among
the
rich
at
this
day,
“You
have
despised
the
poor”
(James
2:6).
Consider
it
is
the
Lord
who
gave,
and
he
gave
as
a
Lord
freely,
he
might
have
given
your
estate
to
that
poor
man,
and
have
left
you
in
that
condition,
which
you
so
despise
in
your
brother.
God
gave
him
as
much
as
his
wisdom
through
fit;
and
it
seems
he
had
given
you
more
than
you
are
fit
for.
In
despising
him,
you
cast
aspersions
on
the
dispensation
of
God,
and
while
you
wound
him
in
his
poverty,
you
wound
God
in
his
providence.
Consider
it
is
the
Lord
that
gives,
and
then
be
unconvinced,
if
you
can,
that
while
you
treat
with
contempt
a
man
in
his
wants,
you
also
question
God
in
his
wisdom.
Busy
yourself
hereafter
in
praising
him
who
gives all, and leave despising him, who has received less.
Then
likewise
let
the
poor
look
upon
this
text,
and
it
will
cure
them
of
two
diseases
into
which
they
often
fall,
and
by
which
they
are
much
endangered,
even
in
the
vitals
of
grace:
discontent
and
envy.
It
is
the
Lord
that
giveth,
that
shapes
and
cuts
out
your
condition,
why
then
should
you
not
be
contented
with
his
allowance,
and
be
thankful
in
your
lot?
If
your
estates
be
proportioned
from
above,
you
ought
to
be
content
with
your
portion.
Ignorance
or
inadvertency
from
whom
we
receive,
causes
murmuring
at
what
we
have.
Do
not
think
you
have
love
from
God,
because
you
have
a
less
allowance
from
God.
The
power
of
God
is
as
much
acted
in
making
a
fly,
as
in
making
an
elephant;
and
his
love
may
be
as
much,
and
is
often
more
acted
in
giving
a
penny,
than
in
giving
a
talent.
Know
this,
you
who
is
a
child
of
God,
if
your
portion
be
but
a
penny,
it
has
upon
it
the
image
and
superscription
of
a father’s love, which is better than life.
This
also
will
cure
the
poor
of
envy;
many
times
the
poor
have
an
evil
eye
of
envy
at
the
rich;
they
cannot
bear
it
that
others
have
so
much
and
they
so
little.
Consider
that
it
is
the
Lord
that
giveth
.
This
argument
Christ
uses
in
Matt.
15:20,
to
him
who
was
angry
that
they
who
came
at
the
latter
end
of
the
day
had
as
much
as
he:
“May
not
I
do
with
mine
own
what
I
will?
Is
thine
eye
evil,
because
mine
is
good?”
The
envious
eye
is
an
evil
eye;
envy
is
a
disease
of
the
eyes.
This
text
is
one
of
the
best
medicines
that
ever
was
prescribed.
Will
you
be
sick
because
another
is
in
health,
and
make
your
brother’s
happiness
the
ground
of
your
misery?
Do
not
think
that
all
is
lost
which
is
not
cast
into
your
lap;
or
that
your
estate
is
less
or
worse,
because
you
see
one
having
a
greater
or
a
better.
Must
God
ask
you
leave,
or
ask
your
council,
how
and
in
what
measure
to
distribute
his
favors.
Were
all
but
well
catechised
in
this
one
principle,
that
God
gives
all
,
it
would
soon
dispel
this
malignant
vapor,
and
all
would
rest
satisfied,
not
because
they
or
others
have
received thus or thus; but because God has thus
disposed to all
.
Observe one thing more,
If
the
Lord
gives
us
all,
then
we
should
be
willing
to
give
back
somewhat
unto
the
Lord
again.
And
this
consideration
that
God
gives
us
will
make
us
willing
to
give
unto
God.
What
is
the
reason
that
many
are
so
unwilling
to
give
somewhat
unto
God?
It
is
because
they
will
not
understand
that
they
are
beholden
to
God
for
all.
If
they
were
persuaded
of
their
receipts
from
him,
a
little
oratory
might
persuade
a
gift
from
them,
in
the
cause
of
God,
especially
when
God
entreats
them,
who
may
of
right command them.
God
himself,
who
fills
and
enjoys
all
things,
has
sometimes
(in
a
sense)
need
of
your
estates.
Christ
who
is
Lord
of
Heaven
and
Earth
is
sometimes
in
want
of
a
penny.
Christ
tells
you
of
his
wants
and
poverty
(see
Matt.
25),
and
shows
how
and
when
he
is
relieved.
And
as
Christ
wants
in
a
member,
some
particular
believer,
so
he
often
wants
in
his
whole
body,
which
is
the
Church
and
whole
company
of
believers.
If
you
have
any
spiritual
wisdom
to
discern
times
and
season,
you
may
know,
that
now
Christ
has
want
of
money
(as
I
have
explained).
Now
God
(in
his
cause)
has
need.
He
goes
about
(in
those
who
solicit
his
cause)
and
asks
a
relief
at
every
one
of
your
doors.
Now
then
do
but
consider,
when
anything
is
asked
for
the
Lord’s
sake,
that
the
Lord
gave
all;
this
will
be
a
key
to
unlock
your
chests;
this
will
at
once untie your hearts and your purses.
Will
you
let
Christ
want,
shall
the
cause
of
God
want,
while
you
have
it,
whereas
what
you
have,
God
gave?
It
is
expressed
concerning
Nabal,
that
this
was
the
reason
why
he
would
not
part
with
a
loaf
of
bread
to
relieve
David
and
his
army:
“Shall
I
take
my
bread
and
my
water,
and
my
flesh
that
I
have
killed
for
my
shearers,
and
send
them
to
a
fellow
I
know
not
who?”
(1
Sam.
25:11).
You
see
the
man
was
all
in
his
possessives,
my
bread,
and
my
water
,
and
my
flesh
;
he
never
thought
that
God
had
any
share
or
interest
in
his
estate,
that
God
gave
it,
therefore
he
would
not
give
to
a
servant of God.
You
shall
see
on
the
other
hand,
how
David’s
munificence
and
that
of
the
nobles
with
him
(in
2
Chron.
29)
sprung
from
this
root,
the
acknowledgement
that
nothing
was
their
own;
it
came
in
all
from
God,
when
they
had
offered
so
willingly
and
bountifully
towards
the
building
of
the
Temple.
David
shows
the
mine
which
yielded
so
much
treasure,
even
which
they
dug
in
all
this
while,
“All
things
come
of
thee,
and
of
thine
own
we
have
given
thee”
(2
Chron.
29:15).
They
confessed
that
all
came
of
God;
they
were
but
stewards;
he
was
the
owner,
and
his
own
they
could
not
withhold
from
him.
God
gives
us
the
use
of
the
creature,
but
he
keeps
the
right
to
them
in
his
own
hand,
when
we
have
the
possession
of
them,
he
has
the
property.
Wherefore
let
the
consideration
that
God
gives
all
to
make
us
ready
and
open handed to give unto God, when he calls and requires it at our hands.
“And the Lord hath taken away.”
When
God
gives
it
is
an
act
of
bounty,
and
when
he
takes
it
is
an
act
of
justice,
for
he
is
Lord,
sovereign
Lord
in
both.
But
why
does
Job
here
charge
this
upon
God,
The
Lord
hath
taken?
Was
it
not
told
him
by
the
messengers,
that
the
Chaldeans
and
Sabeans
came
and
took
away
his
cattle,
plundered
and
pillaged
his
estate?
They
told
him
that
the
fire
consumed
his
sheep
,
and
the
wind
blew
down
the
house
upon
his
children:
Why
does
Job
say,
The
Lord
hath
taken?
What?
Will
Job
charge
all
those
robberies
upon
God
himself?
Does
not
this
look
like
the
blasphemy
that
the
devil
hoped would come out of Job’s mouth?
I
answer,
when
Job
said,
The
Lord
hath
taken,
it
does
but
set
forth
the
supreme
power
and
sovereignty
of
God
in
ordering
all
things;
and
(as
we
opened
before)
we
know
that
God
gave
the
commission
to
Satan,
or
leave
to
spoil
Job,
or
else
Satan
could
not
have
touched
one
of
the
dogs
of
his
flock.
Job
knew
that
God
had
all
men
and
devils,
fire
and
wind,
all
creatures
in
his
hand.
He
said,
The
Lord
hath
taken,
because
none
could
take
but
by
the
will
of
God,
and
he
was
satisfied,
that
God
willed
that
in
righteousness
and
in
judgment,
which
they
acted
with
so
much
cruelty
and
injustice.
“Is
there
any
evil
in
the
city,
and
the
Lord
hath
not
done
it?”
(Amos
3:6).
Every
evil
of
affliction
or
of
trouble
is
said
to
be
the
Lord’s
doing,
because
it
cannot
be
done
without
the
Lord.
Wicked
men
in
all
their
plots,
and
in
all
their
successes,
are
either
the
rod
of
God,
to
chasten
his
people
for
their
sins,
or
else
they
are
as
God’s
furnace
to
try
his
people’s
graces,
and
purge
them
from
their
sins.
Thus the hand of the Lord is in all our sorrows,
The Lord,
said
Job, hath taken away.
We should from hence learn:
In
all
our
afflictions
to
look
beyond
the
creature.
In
all
the
evils
we
either
feel
or
fear,
let
our
hearts
be
carried
up
unto
God.
As
then
we
rightly
enjoy
outward
blessings,
when
those
blessings
carry
us
up
unto
God,
when
upon
creatures
our
hearts
are
raised
up
to
heaven:
So
then
we
make
a
right
use
of
afflictions,
of
crosses
and
troubles,
when
we
are
led
by
crosses
(in
our
meditations)
unto
God.
Job
does
not
say,
The
Lord
hath
given
and
the
Chaldeans
have
taken
away;
the
Lord
hath
enriched
me,
and
Satan
hath
robbed
me,
but
as
if
he
had
never
heard
any
mention
of
Satan
or
Chaldeans,
of
fire
or
wind,
he
said,
The
Lord
hath
given
and
the
Lord
hath
taken.
He
does
not
fall
out
with
man
or
complain
of
the
devil;
he
is
not
angry
with
chance
or
fortune,
with
stars
or
constellations.
Many
in
the
troublesome
evils
which
they
suffer
are
apt
to
fly
out
upon
all
creatures
and
upon
all
causes,
rather
than
to
cast
an
eye
upon
God:
whereas
indeed
we
should
not
take
either
good
or
evil
out
of
the
hand of any creature.
There
were
some
of
old,
Marcion
and
his
followers,
who
could
not
relish
this
doctrine,
nor
endure
that
we
should
carry
our
evils,
and
lay
them
before
God’s
door,
and
say,
The
Lord
hath
done
this.
Therefore
they
found
out
two
beginnings,
that
is
two
Gods
rather
than
they
would
make
the
same
God
the
author
of
such
extremes
(as
they
thought)
of
good
and
evil.
They
said,
There
was
one
God
that
was
a
good
God,
and
another
an
evil
God;
the
one
a
giving
God,
the
other
a
taking
God;
the
one
a
loving
God,
a
merciful
God,
the
other
an
angry
God,
a
severe
God.
Many
of
the
heathen
taught
better
divinity
than
those
heretics.
For
they
feigned
that
their
Jupiter
had
two
great
vessels,
placed
at
the
entrance
of
his
palace,
whereof
the
one
was
filled
with
good,
and
the
other
with
evil.
These
he
dispensed
according
to
the
dictate
of
his
own
will
among
the
sons
of
men.
And
they
painted
fortune
in
two
forms,
with
two
faces
of
contrary
colors,
the
foremost
white,
the
hindermost
black,
to
signify
that
good
and
evil
,
which
they
shadowed
under
white
and
black
,
came
both
from
goddess
fortune.
This
comes
near
that
language
in
Isaiah:
“I
form
the
light
and
create
darkness,
I
make
peace
and
create
evil”
(Isa.
45:7).
And
we
are
taught
to
look
upon
the
same
God,
as
the
spring
and
fountain
of
all
good,
and
of
all
this
sort
of
evil.
Though
it
be
a
truth
(as
the
Apostle
speaks)
that
the
same
fountain
cannot
send
forth
bitter
water
and
sweet,
taken
in
a
natural
or
moral
sense;
yet
the
same
fountain
may
send
forth
bitter
and
sweet,
taken
in
a
civil
sense;
that
is,
the
same
may
be
the
author
of
outward
corrections
and
of
outward
favors
.
God
is
not
the
fountain
of
good
and
of
evil
in
a
moral
sense,
so
nothing
but
good
flows
from
him:
but
we
must
take
it
in
a
civil sense, and so both
good
and
evil
,
bitter
and
sweet
come from the same fountain.
Consider
the
words
as
they
are
an
argument,
and
then
see
their
strength
to
the
purposes,
for
which
Job
does
especially
here
apply
them.
First,
the
acquitting
or
justifying
of
God.
Second,
the
supporting
and
comforting
of
himself.
And
so
we
may note from them:
First,
That
the
absolute
sovereignty
of
the
Lord
over
us
is
enough
to
acquit
him
from
doing
us
any
wrong,
whatsoever
he
does
with
us.
Job
said
only
this:
The
Lord
hath
given
and
the
Lord
hath
taken.
He
is
the
sovereign
Lord,
therefore
I
have
no
reason
to
complain.
He
does
it
upon
whom
I
have
laid
no
engagement,
upon
whom
I
have
no
tie
at
all,
to
do
this
or
that
for
me.
He
does
it
who
may
resolve
the
reason
of
all
his
actions
into
his
own
will:
He
is
the
Lord.
God
cannot
injure
his
creature;
therefore
the
Apostle
had
recourse
to
that
only
in
Rom.
9
for
the
answer
of
all
cavils
and
objections
against
God’s
dealing
with
man,
“Hath
not
the
potter
power
over
the
clay?”
(Rom.
9:21).
The
sovereignty
and
supremacy
of
the
Lord
is
enough
to
bear
him
out
whatsoever
he
does
with,
or
to
his
creatures.
“O
man,
who
art
thou
that
replieth against God?”
(Rom. 9:20).
Then
again,
it
is
as
strong
for
the
second
end,
for
the
support
of
the
soul
in
bearing
evil,
consider
that
it
is
the
Lord
that
giveth
and
the
Lord
that
takes
.
The
thought
of
God’s
sovereignty
over
us
and
over
ours,
may
quiet
our
spirits
in
all
that
he
does
unto
us
or
ours.
As
it
does
justify
God,
so
it
should
quiet
us.
Hear
David,
in
Ps.
39:9:
“I
was
dumb,”
said
he,
“and
opened
not
my
mouth,
because
thou
didst
it.”
He
did
not
say,
I
was
contented
because
you
dealt
thus
and
thus
with
me,
but
“I
was
dumb,
I
opened
not
my
mouth,
because
thou
didst
it,”
that
it
was
the
act
of
God,
the
sovereign
Lord
satisfied
him;
he
had
not
a
word
to
say,
because
God
did
it.
So
Job
here,
The
Lord
hath
taken
away,
is
as
if
he
had
said,
I
could
not
have
borne
this
at
the
hands
of
any
creature,
but
at
the
hands
of
my
sovereign
Lord
that
may
dispose
of
me
and
mine,
and
do
what
he
pleases,
at
this
hands
I
not
only
bear
it,
but
take
it
well.
Joseph
had
not
a
word
of
discontent
to
vent
against
his
brothers,
being
thus
resolve:
“It
was
not
you
that
sent
me
hither
here
but
God”
(Gen.
45:8).
And
David
lays
aside
all
revenge
against
railing
Shimei
on
this
ground:
“So
let
him
curse,
because
the
Lord
hath
said
unto
him,
‘Curse
David,’”
(2
Sam.
16:10).
A
godly
man
cannot
be
angry
at
the
doing
or
speaking
of
that
which
pleases
God,
that
it
should
be done or spoken. And it takes away all complaining,
that the Lord hath taken away.
“Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
The
Septuagint,
and
so
the
vulgar
from
them
insert
here
another
sentence
between
these
two;
the
Lord
hath
taken
away,
blessed
be
the
name
of
the
Lord,
reading
it
thus,
The
Lord
hath
given
and
the
Lord
hath
taken
away,
as
it
pleaseth
the
Lord,
so
commeth
things
to
pass,
blessed
be
the
name
of
the
Lord;
but
we
have
no
more
in
the
Hebrew, than our own translation gives us.
“Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
This
is
the
triumphant
conclusion
which
flows
from
the
former
propositions;
this
is
the
issue
and
result
of
them
both.
A
conclusion
as
opposite
to
Satan’s
design
as
the
two
poles
of
the
heavens
are
one
against
the
other.
Satan
waited
to
hear
Job
conclude
with
blaspheming
the
name
of
the
Lord,
and
now
he
hears
Job
conclude
with
blessing
the
name
of
the
Lord.
How
did
this
vex
and
sting
Satan?
This
one
word
of
Job
did
wound
Satan
more
than
all
the
afflictions
which
Satan
procured
wounded
Job.
Though
I return naked
, though
all be taken from me, yet blessed be the name of the Lord
.
“Blessed be the Name of the Lord”
– The name of God in Scripture is taken:
First
,
for
God
himself.
The
name
of
a
thing
it
is
put
for
the
thing
named:
“Through
thee
will
we
push
down
our
enemies,
through
thy
name
we
will
tread
them
down
that
rise
up
against
us”
(Ps.
44:5).
Through
thy
name,
that
is,
through
thee.
Through
thee
and
through
thy
name
are
the
same.
“According
to
thy
name
so
is
thy
praise”
(Ps.
48:10),
that
is,
Thou
art
or
ought
to
be
praised
by
thy
people
:
The
name
is
put
for
the
person.
You
have
it
clearly:
“The
number
of
names
together
were
about
a
hundred
and
twenty”
(Acts
1:15),
that
is,
the
number
of
persons,
so
many
persons, because numbered by their names.
Secondly,
the name of God is often in scripture put for the attributes of God.
Thirdly
,
the
name
of
God
is
put
for
his
ordinances
or
worship:
“Go
ye
now
to
my
place
which
was
in
Shiloh,
where
I
set
my
name
at
the
first”
(Jer.
7:12),
that
is,
where
I
first
set
up
my
public
worship;
because
as
a
man
is
known
by
his
proper
name,
so
is
God
by
his
proper
worship.
And
therefore,
false
worship
is
the
setting
up of a
strange god.
When we mistake the name, we mistake the person.
Fourthly
,
the
name
of
God
is
that
reverence,
esteem
and
honor,
which
angels
and
men
give
unto
God.
As
we
know
amongst
us,
that
the
report
and
reputation
that
a
man
has
among
men
is
a
man’s
name.
When
men
speak
of
a
man,
that
is
his
name.
So-and-so
has
a
good
name,
we
say;
so-and-so
has
an
ill
name;
that
is,
men
speak
or
think
well
or
ill
of
such
persons.
So
in
Gen.
6:4,
when
Moses
describes
the
giants,
he
said,
“They
were
men
of
renown.”
The
Hebrew
is,
They
were
men
of
name
,
because
the
name
of
a
man
is
the
opinion
he
had
amongst
men;
as
a
man
is
esteemed,
so
his
name
is
carried,
and
himself
is
accepted
in
the
world.
So
the
name
of
God
is
that
high
esteem,
those
honorable
apprehensions,
which
angels
and
men
have
of
God.
Just
as
the
thoughts
and
speeches
of
men
are
for
the
celebration
of
God’s
glory
and
praise, such is his name in the world,
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
By blessing God, we are to understand first what we express in word concerning
God. God is blessed by his creatures, when his goodness, and greatness, and mercy,
and bounty, and faithfulness, and justice are published with thanksgiving and
praise. Or God is blessed likewise, when we have high and great and glorious
thoughts of God: when we inwardly fear and reverence, and love, and honor God,
then we bless God. The one is to bless with the tongue; the other to bless with the
heart. The tongue blessing without the heart is but a tinkling cymbal. The heart
blessing without the tongue makes sweet, but still music, both in concert make that
harmony which fills and delights heaven and earth. When Job said here, Blessed be
the name of the Lord, we are to understand it both ways, that Job speaks out the
blessing of God with his mouth, and likewise he had high and reverent thoughts of
God. His heart and tongue met at this work and word.
This article is taken from: Caryl, Joseph. An Exposition with Practical Observations
upon the Book of Job. London: G. Miller, 1644. A PDF file of this book can be
downloaded, free of charge, at
http://www.ClassicChristianLibrary.com
© 1994-2020, Scott Sperling
[Here we continue a reprint of a small portion of Joseph
Caryl’s study in Job. Mr. Caryl wrote twelve volumes on
the book of Job. His study is a great example of how deep
one can dig into the truths of the Bible.]
A Study by Joseph Caryl (1644)
Job 1:21-22, pt. 2 -
The Lord Hath Given, the Lord Hath
Taken Away
Naked came I out of my mother's womb,
and naked shall I return thither:
The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord.
22
In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God
foolishly. (KJV).
Job
said:
“The
Lord
gave,
and
the
Lord
hath
taken
away”
(vs.
21).
This
is
the
second
argument
which
Job
uses
to
both
the
former
purposes;
and
it
is
a
more
spiritual
and
sublime
argument
than
the
former
[“Naked
came
I…
and
naked
return.”]
.
A
man
who
has
nothing
in
him
but
nature,
may
say
as
much
as
Job
did
before,
though
he
could
never
say
it
with
Job’s
spirit;
for
though
godly
persons
use
natural
arguments
and
common
reasons,
yet
being
concocted
in
their
spirits,
they
become
heavenly
and
spiritual.
Natural
men
(I
say)
or
heathens
have
taken
up
such
an
argument
as
that,
as
when
word
was
brought
to
a
heathen
philosopher,
that
his
son
was
dead,
“I
knew”
(said
he),
“that
I
begot
a
son
mortal,
and
subject
to
death”;
he
did
but
look
back
to
the
common
condition
of
man
and
supported
himself.
But
now
I
say
this
second
argument
is
higher;
it
is
not
an
argument
bottomed
upon
the
frailty
of
nature,
but
upon
the
sovereignty
of
God.
This
argument
is
grounded
upon
the
equity
of
divine
providence
and
dispensations.
“The
Lord”
(said Job)
“hath given and the Lord hath taken away.”
“The Lord hath given”
“Every
good
gift
and
every
perfect
gift
is
from
above”
(James
1:17).
What
gifts
doth
Job
here
mean?
He
means
good
and
perfect
gifts
in
their
kind;
but
not
the
best
and
most
perfect
kind
of
gifts.
The
Lord
once
gave
me
those
oxen,
those
sheep,
all
these
outward
things
that
now
I
am
stripped
of,
“The
Lord
hath
given.”
A
gift
is
any
good
freely
bestowed;
when
we
receive
a
thing,
which
another
was
not
engaged
to
bestow,
that
is
a
gift.
Now
God
does
not
only
give
us
those
transcendents,
grace
and
glory,
faith
in
Christ
here
and
for
fruition
of
Christ
here
after:
not
only
are
these
gifts,
I
say,
sent
in
from
God
and
undeserved
by
us;
but
outward
things,
riches
and
honor,
children
and
servants,
houses
and
lands,
these
are
the
gifts
of
God
likewise;
we
have
not
the
least
creature-comfort
of
our
own,
we
have
nothing
of
our
own
but
sin.
What
hast
thou,
that
thou
hast
not
received?
is
a
truth
concerning
everything;
we
have
even
to
a
hoof
or
a
shoe-latchet.
We
are
indebted
unto
God
for
our
spirituals,
for
our
temporals,
for
all.
We
must
say
of
all
little
or
much,
great or small,
The Lord hath given.
How did the Lord give Job all his riches and estate?
The
Lord
gives
either
immediately
or
mediately.
When
Job
said,
The
Lord
hath
given
,
we
are
not
to
understand
it,
as
if
the
Lord
had
brought
such
a
present
to
him
and
said,
here,
take
this
estate,
take
these
cattle,
these
servants.
But
God
gave
them
mediately
by
blessing
the
labors
of
Job.
So
when
the
Lord
prospers
us
in
our
honest
endeavors
and
labors
and
callings,
then that is how the Lord gives us outward things.
The
Lord
hath
given.
Job
does
not
say,
by
my
strength
and
diligence,
my
policy
and
prudence,
I
have
got
this
estate;
as
the
Assyrian
said:
“By
the
strength
of
my
hand
have
I
done
this,
and
by
my
wisdom,
for
I
am
prudent”
(Isa.
10:13).
Job
takes
no
notice
of
himself;
he
was
not
idle,
yet
he
speaks
as
if
he
had
done
nothing,
The Lord hath given.
This
should
teach
us
in
the
first
place
to
acknowledge
the
Lord
as
the
fountain
and
donor
of
all
our
outward
comforts.
When
you
get
wealth,
do
not
say,
this
I
have
gotten
(such
language
is
barbarous
in
divinity),
but
say,
this
the
Lord
hath
given.
We
find
an
express
caution
to
this
purpose,
given
by
Moses
from
God,
not
only
against
the
former
language
of
the
tongue,
but
of
the
heart,
when
the
Jews
should
come
to
Canaan
and
should
grow
rich
and
great
there:
“When
thou
hast
eaten
and
art
full,
then
thou
shalt
bless
the
Lord.
Beware
thou
forget
not
the
Lord
thy
God
for
the
good
land
which
he
hath
given
three…
And
say
in
thy
heart,
my
power
and
the
might
of
my
hand
hath
gotten
me
this
wealth,
but
thou
shalt
remember
the
Lord
thy
God,
for
it
is
he
that
giveth
thee
power
to
get
wealth:
It
is
he
that
giveth
thee
power”
(Deut.
8:10-11,17-18).
Many
who
are
persuaded
that
God
gives
them
grace,
that
God
gives
heaven
and
salvation,
are
hardly
persuaded,
or
at
least
do
not
so
well
consider
it,
that
God
gives
riches,
etc.
Their
hearts
are
yet
ready
to
say,
that
they
have
gotten
this
wealth,
they
have
gotten
this
honor.
It
is
a
sweet
thing,
when
a
man
looks
upward
for
these
lower
things,
and
can
say
on
good
grounds
that
his
earth
has
dropped
down
to
him
from
heaven.
The Lord hath given.
Further,
when
Job
said,
The
Lord
hath
given
,
it
is
an
argument
of
his
own
justice
and
equity
in
getting.
Job
did
not
enrich
himself
by
wrong,
by
grinding
the
faces
of
the
poor
.
If
he
had
done
so,
he
could
not
have
said,
The
Lord
hath
given.
So
much
as
we
get
honestly,
we
may
look
upon
as
a
fruit
of
God’s
bounty.
Look
into
your
estates
and
whatsoever
you
have
go
by
wrong
dealing,
take
heed
of
saying,
this
is
of
God’s
giving,
for
so
you
make
God
himself
a
partner
in
your
sins.
God
sometimes
gives
when
we
use
no
means,
but
he
never
gives
when
we
use
unlawful
means.
What
God
said
concerning
the
setting-up
of
those
kings:
“They
have
set
up
kings,
but
not
by
me”
(Hos.
8:4).
He
says
of
all
who
enrich
themselves
by
wrong,
They
have
gotten
riches,
but
not
by
me.
When
men
leave
the
rule
of
justice,
God
leaves
them.
And
though
unlawful
acts
are
under
the
eye
of
God’s
providence,
yet
they
are
not
under
the
influence
of
his
blessing.
Wicked
men
thrive
often,
but
they are never blessed. Their prosperity is their own.
Thirdly,
it
is
observable,
that
when
Job
would
support
himself
in
the
loss
of
his
estate,
he
calls
to
mind
how
he
came
by
his
estate;
and
finding
it
all
given
in
by
the
blessing
of
God
upon
his
honest
labors
and
endeavors,
he
is
satisfied.
Note:
What
we
get
honestly,
that
we
can
part
with
contentedly
.
He
that
has
gotten
his
estate
by
injustice,
can
never
leave
it
with
patience.
Honesty
in
getting
causes
quietness
of
spirit
in
losing
outward
things.
Keep
a
good
conscience
in
getting
the
world,
and
you
shall
have
peace
when
you
cannot
keep
the
world.
Whereas,
a
wrongdoer
and
a
wrong-dealer
is
in
such
a
day
under
a
double
affliction:
he
is
afflicted
with
his
present
loss,
and
he
ought to be afflicted for his former gain.
Fourthly,
the
words,
The
Lord
hath
given
,
being
rightly
handled,
will
be
as
a
sword
to
cut
off
four
monsters
or
monstrous
lusts,
which
annoy
all
the
world,
or
as
a
medicine
to
cure
four
diseases
about
worldly
things.
Two
of
these
lusts
are
strongest
in
the
rich,
and
the
other
pair
assault
the
poor.
The
poor
pine
either
with
discontent,
because
they
have
so
little;
or
with
envy,
because
others
have
so
much.
The
rich
swell
with
pride,
because
they
have
abundance,
or
they
are
filled
with
contempt
of
those
that
are
in
want.
Let
the
rich
seriously
weigh
this
speech,
it
will
cure
them
of
pride.
“Charge
them
that
are
rich
that
they
be
not
high-minded”
(1
Tim.
6:17).
You
see
how
subject
rich
men
are
to
this
inflammation
of
pride.
But
with
what
does
he
prick
this
bladder?
It
is
with
this
thought
that
God
gives
all
riches,
Let
them
trust
in
the
living
God,
who
giveth
us
all
things
richly
to
enjoy.
That
argument
is
of
the
Apostle,
in
1
Cor.
4:7.
If
thou
hast
received
it,
why
dost
thou
boast?
This
applies
as
strong
and
as
true
in
regard
of
temporals,
as
of
spirituals.
Consider
seriously
that
your
estates
are
the
gift
of
God,
and
drown
false
pride.
If
you
come
honestly
by
them,
they
are
the
gifts
of
God.
If
you
come
dishonestly
by
them,
they
are
the
gifts
of
Satan,
and
you
ought
to
be
ashamed
of
them
and
restore
them,
not
to
boast
or
be
proud of them.
Then
secondly,
it
will
cure
the
rich
of
all
contempt
of
others;
what
the
Apostle
James
observed
and
censured
in
the
rich
people
of
those
times,
is
found
by
too
much
experience
among
the
rich
at
this
day,
“You
have
despised
the
poor”
(James
2:6).
Consider
it
is
the
Lord
who
gave,
and
he
gave
as
a
Lord
freely,
he
might
have
given
your
estate
to
that
poor
man,
and
have
left
you
in
that
condition,
which
you
so
despise
in
your
brother.
God
gave
him
as
much
as
his
wisdom
through
fit;
and
it
seems
he
had
given
you
more
than
you
are
fit
for.
In
despising
him,
you
cast
aspersions
on
the
dispensation
of
God,
and
while
you
wound
him
in
his
poverty,
you
wound
God
in
his
providence.
Consider
it
is
the
Lord
that
gives,
and
then
be
unconvinced,
if
you
can,
that
while
you
treat
with
contempt
a
man
in
his
wants,
you
also
question
God
in
his
wisdom.
Busy
yourself
hereafter
in
praising
him
who
gives
all,
and
leave despising him, who has received less.
Then
likewise
let
the
poor
look
upon
this
text,
and
it
will
cure
them
of
two
diseases
into
which
they
often
fall,
and
by
which
they
are
much
endangered,
even
in
the
vitals
of
grace:
discontent
and
envy.
It
is
the
Lord
that
giveth,
that
shapes
and
cuts
out
your
condition,
why
then
should
you
not
be
contented
with
his
allowance,
and
be
thankful
in
your
lot?
If
your
estates
be
proportioned
from
above,
you
ought
to
be
content
with
your
portion.
Ignorance
or
inadvertency
from
whom
we
receive,
causes
murmuring
at
what
we
have.
Do
not
think
you
have
love
from
God,
because
you
have
a
less
allowance
from
God.
The
power
of
God
is
as
much
acted
in
making
a
fly,
as
in
making
an
elephant;
and
his
love
may
be
as
much,
and
is
often
more
acted
in
giving
a
penny,
than
in
giving
a
talent.
Know
this,
you
who
is
a
child
of
God,
if
your
portion
be
but
a
penny,
it
has
upon
it
the
image
and
superscription
of
a
father’s
love,
which
is
better
than
life.
This
also
will
cure
the
poor
of
envy;
many
times
the
poor
have
an
evil
eye
of
envy
at
the
rich;
they
cannot
bear
it
that
others
have
so
much
and
they
so
little.
Consider
that
it
is
the
Lord
that
giveth
.
This
argument
Christ
uses
in
Matt.
15:20,
to
him
who
was
angry
that
they
who
came
at
the
latter
end
of
the
day
had
as
much
as
he:
“May
not
I
do
with
mine
own
what
I
will?
Is
thine
eye
evil,
because
mine
is
good?”
The
envious
eye
is
an
evil
eye;
envy
is
a
disease
of
the
eyes.
This
text
is
one
of
the
best
medicines
that
ever
was
prescribed.
Will
you
be
sick
because
another
is
in
health,
and
make
your
brother’s
happiness
the
ground
of
your
misery?
Do
not
think
that
all
is
lost
which
is
not
cast
into
your
lap;
or
that
your
estate
is
less
or
worse,
because
you
see
one
having
a
greater
or
a
better.
Must
God
ask
you
leave,
or
ask
your
council,
how
and
in
what
measure
to
distribute
his
favors.
Were
all
but
well
catechised
in
this
one
principle,
that
God
gives
all
,
it
would
soon
dispel
this
malignant
vapor,
and
all
would
rest
satisfied,
not
because
they
or
others
have
received
thus
or
thus;
but
because
God
has
thus
disposed to all
.
Observe one thing more,
If
the
Lord
gives
us
all,
then
we
should
be
willing
to
give
back
somewhat
unto
the
Lord
again.
And
this
consideration
that
God
gives
us
will
make
us
willing
to
give
unto
God.
What
is
the
reason
that
many
are
so
unwilling
to
give
somewhat
unto
God?
It
is
because
they
will
not
understand
that
they
are
beholden
to
God
for
all.
If
they
were
persuaded
of
their
receipts
from
him,
a
little
oratory
might
persuade
a
gift
from
them,
in
the
cause
of
God,
especially
when
God
entreats them, who may of right command them.
God
himself,
who
fills
and
enjoys
all
things,
has
sometimes
(in
a
sense)
need
of
your
estates.
Christ
who
is
Lord
of
Heaven
and
Earth
is
sometimes
in
want
of
a
penny.
Christ
tells
you
of
his
wants
and
poverty
(see
Matt.
25),
and
shows
how
and
when
he
is
relieved.
And
as
Christ
wants
in
a
member,
some
particular
believer,
so
he
often
wants
in
his
whole
body,
which
is
the
Church
and
whole
company
of
believers.
If
you
have
any
spiritual
wisdom
to
discern
times
and
season,
you
may
know,
that
now
Christ
has
want
of
money
(as
I
have
explained).
Now
God
(in
his
cause)
has
need.
He
goes
about
(in
those
who
solicit
his
cause)
and
asks
a
relief
at
every
one
of
your
doors.
Now
then
do
but
consider,
when
anything
is
asked
for
the
Lord’s
sake,
that
the
Lord
gave
all;
this
will
be
a
key
to
unlock
your
chests;
this
will
at
once
untie
your
hearts and your purses.
Will
you
let
Christ
want,
shall
the
cause
of
God
want,
while
you
have
it,
whereas
what
you
have,
God
gave?
It
is
expressed
concerning
Nabal,
that
this
was
the
reason
why
he
would
not
part
with
a
loaf
of
bread
to
relieve
David
and
his
army:
“Shall
I
take
my
bread
and
my
water,
and
my
flesh
that
I
have
killed
for
my
shearers,
and
send
them
to
a
fellow
I
know
not
who?”
(1
Sam.
25:11).
You
see
the
man
was
all
in
his
possessives,
my
bread,
and
my
water
,
and
my
flesh
;
he
never
thought
that
God
had
any
share
or
interest
in
his
estate,
that
God
gave
it,
therefore
he
would
not
give
to
a servant of God.
You
shall
see
on
the
other
hand,
how
David’s
munificence
and
that
of
the
nobles
with
him
(in
2
Chron.
29)
sprung
from
this
root,
the
acknowledgement
that
nothing
was
their
own;
it
came
in
all
from
God,
when
they
had
offered
so
willingly
and
bountifully
towards
the
building
of
the
Temple.
David
shows
the
mine
which
yielded
so
much
treasure,
even
which
they
dug
in
all
this
while,
“All
things
come
of
thee,
and
of
thine
own
we
have
given
thee”
(2
Chron.
29:15).
They
confessed
that
all
came
of
God;
they
were
but
stewards;
he
was
the
owner,
and
his
own
they
could
not
withhold
from
him.
God
gives
us
the
use
of
the
creature,
but
he
keeps
the
right
to
them
in
his
own
hand,
when
we
have
the
possession
of
them,
he
has
the
property.
Wherefore
let
the
consideration
that
God
gives
all
to
make
us
ready
and
open
handed
to
give
unto
God,
when
he
calls
and
requires it at our hands.
“And the Lord hath taken away.”
When
God
gives
it
is
an
act
of
bounty,
and
when
he
takes
it
is
an
act
of
justice,
for
he
is
Lord,
sovereign
Lord
in
both.
But
why
does
Job
here
charge
this
upon
God,
The
Lord
hath
taken?
Was
it
not
told
him
by
the
messengers,
that
the
Chaldeans
and
Sabeans
came
and
took
away
his
cattle,
plundered
and
pillaged
his
estate?
They
told
him
that
the
fire
consumed
his
sheep
,
and
the
wind
blew
down
the
house
upon
his
children:
Why
does
Job
say,
The
Lord
hath
taken?
What?
Will
Job
charge
all
those
robberies
upon
God
himself?
Does
not
this
look
like
the
blasphemy
that
the
devil
hoped
would come out of Job’s mouth?
I
answer,
when
Job
said,
The
Lord
hath
taken,
it
does
but
set
forth
the
supreme
power
and
sovereignty
of
God
in
ordering
all
things;
and
(as
we
opened
before)
we
know
that
God
gave
the
commission
to
Satan,
or
leave
to
spoil
Job,
or
else
Satan
could
not
have
touched
one
of
the
dogs
of
his
flock.
Job
knew
that
God
had
all
men
and
devils,
fire
and
wind,
all
creatures
in
his
hand.
He
said,
The
Lord
hath
taken,
because
none
could
take
but
by
the
will
of
God,
and
he
was
satisfied,
that
God
willed
that
in
righteousness
and
in
judgment,
which
they
acted
with
so
much
cruelty
and
injustice.
“Is
there
any
evil
in
the
city,
and
the
Lord
hath
not
done
it?”
(Amos
3:6).
Every
evil
of
affliction
or
of
trouble
is
said
to
be
the
Lord’s
doing,
because
it
cannot
be
done
without
the
Lord.
Wicked
men
in
all
their
plots,
and
in
all
their
successes,
are
either
the
rod
of
God,
to
chasten
his
people
for
their
sins,
or
else
they
are
as
God’s
furnace
to
try
his
people’s
graces,
and
purge
them
from
their
sins.
Thus
the
hand
of
the
Lord
is in all our sorrows,
The Lord,
said
Job, hath taken away.
We should from hence learn:
In
all
our
afflictions
to
look
beyond
the
creature.
In
all
the
evils
we
either
feel
or
fear,
let
our
hearts
be
carried
up
unto
God.
As
then
we
rightly
enjoy
outward
blessings,
when
those
blessings
carry
us
up
unto
God,
when
upon
creatures
our
hearts
are
raised
up
to
heaven:
So
then
we
make
a
right
use
of
afflictions,
of
crosses
and
troubles,
when
we
are
led
by
crosses
(in
our
meditations)
unto
God.
Job
does
not
say,
The
Lord
hath
given
and
the
Chaldeans
have
taken
away;
the
Lord
hath
enriched
me,
and
Satan
hath
robbed
me,
but
as
if
he
had
never
heard
any
mention
of
Satan
or
Chaldeans,
of
fire
or
wind,
he
said,
The
Lord
hath
given
and
the
Lord
hath
taken.
He
does
not
fall
out
with
man
or
complain
of
the
devil;
he
is
not
angry
with
chance
or
fortune,
with
stars
or
constellations.
Many
in
the
troublesome
evils
which
they
suffer
are
apt
to
fly
out
upon
all
creatures
and
upon
all
causes,
rather
than
to
cast
an
eye
upon
God:
whereas
indeed
we
should
not
take
either good or evil out of the hand of any creature.
There
were
some
of
old,
Marcion
and
his
followers,
who
could
not
relish
this
doctrine,
nor
endure
that
we
should
carry
our
evils,
and
lay
them
before
God’s
door,
and
say,
The
Lord
hath
done
this.
Therefore
they
found
out
two
beginnings,
that
is
two
Gods
rather
than
they
would
make
the
same
God
the
author
of
such
extremes
(as
they
thought)
of
good
and
evil.
They
said,
There
was
one
God
that
was
a
good
God,
and
another
an
evil
God;
the
one
a
giving
God,
the
other
a
taking
God;
the
one
a
loving
God,
a
merciful
God,
the
other
an
angry
God,
a
severe
God.
Many
of
the
heathen
taught
better
divinity
than
those
heretics.
For
they
feigned
that
their
Jupiter
had
two
great
vessels,
placed
at
the
entrance
of
his
palace,
whereof
the
one
was
filled
with
good,
and
the
other
with
evil.
These
he
dispensed
according
to
the
dictate
of
his
own
will
among
the
sons
of
men.
And
they
painted
fortune
in
two
forms,
with
two
faces
of
contrary
colors,
the
foremost
white,
the
hindermost
black,
to
signify
that
good
and
evil
,
which
they
shadowed
under
white
and
black
,
came
both
from
goddess
fortune.
This
comes
near
that
language
in
Isaiah:
“I
form
the
light
and
create
darkness,
I
make
peace
and
create
evil”
(Isa.
45:7).
And
we
are
taught
to
look
upon
the
same
God,
as
the
spring
and
fountain
of
all
good,
and
of
all
this
sort
of
evil.
Though
it
be
a
truth
(as
the
Apostle
speaks)
that
the
same
fountain
cannot
send
forth
bitter
water
and
sweet,
taken
in
a
natural
or
moral
sense;
yet
the
same
fountain
may
send
forth
bitter
and
sweet,
taken
in
a
civil
sense;
that
is,
the
same
may
be
the
author
of
outward
corrections
and
of
outward
favors
.
God
is
not
the
fountain
of
good
and
of
evil
in
a
moral
sense,
so
nothing
but
good
flows
from
him:
but
we
must
take
it
in
a
civil
sense,
and
so
both
good
and
evil
,
bitter
and
sweet
come from the same fountain.
Consider
the
words
as
they
are
an
argument,
and
then
see
their
strength
to
the
purposes,
for
which
Job
does
especially
here
apply
them.
First,
the
acquitting
or
justifying
of
God.
Second,
the
supporting
and
comforting of himself. And so we may note from them:
First,
That
the
absolute
sovereignty
of
the
Lord
over
us
is
enough
to
acquit
him
from
doing
us
any
wrong,
whatsoever
he
does
with
us.
Job
said
only
this:
The
Lord
hath
given
and
the
Lord
hath
taken.
He
is
the
sovereign
Lord,
therefore
I
have
no
reason
to
complain.
He
does
it
upon
whom
I
have
laid
no
engagement,
upon
whom
I
have
no
tie
at
all,
to
do
this
or
that
for
me.
He
does
it
who
may
resolve
the
reason
of
all
his
actions
into
his
own
will:
He
is
the
Lord.
God
cannot
injure
his
creature;
therefore
the
Apostle
had
recourse
to
that
only
in
Rom.
9
for
the
answer
of
all
cavils
and
objections
against
God’s
dealing
with
man,
“Hath
not
the
potter
power
over
the
clay?”
(Rom.
9:21).
The
sovereignty
and
supremacy
of
the
Lord
is
enough
to
bear
him
out
whatsoever
he
does
with,
or
to
his
creatures.
“O
man,
who art thou that replieth against God?”
(Rom. 9:20).
Then
again,
it
is
as
strong
for
the
second
end,
for
the
support
of
the
soul
in
bearing
evil,
consider
that
it
is
the
Lord
that
giveth
and
the
Lord
that
takes
.
The
thought
of
God’s
sovereignty
over
us
and
over
ours,
may
quiet
our
spirits
in
all
that
he
does
unto
us
or
ours.
As
it
does
justify
God,
so
it
should
quiet
us.
Hear
David,
in
Ps.
39:9:
“I
was
dumb,”
said
he,
“and
opened
not
my
mouth,
because
thou
didst
it.”
He
did
not
say,
I
was
contented
because
you
dealt
thus
and
thus
with
me,
but
“I
was
dumb,
I
opened
not
my
mouth,
because
thou
didst
it,”
that
it
was
the
act
of
God,
the
sovereign
Lord
satisfied
him;
he
had
not
a
word
to
say,
because
God
did
it.
So
Job
here,
The
Lord
hath
taken
away,
is
as
if
he
had
said,
I
could
not
have
borne
this
at
the
hands
of
any
creature,
but
at
the
hands
of
my
sovereign
Lord
that
may
dispose
of
me
and
mine,
and
do
what
he
pleases, at this hands I not only bear it, but take it well.
Joseph
had
not
a
word
of
discontent
to
vent
against
his
brothers,
being
thus
resolve:
“It
was
not
you
that
sent
me
hither
here
but
God”
(Gen.
45:8).
And
David
lays
aside
all
revenge
against
railing
Shimei
on
this
ground:
“So
let
him
curse,
because
the
Lord
hath
said
unto
him,
‘Curse
David,’”
(2
Sam.
16:10).
A
godly
man
cannot
be
angry
at
the
doing
or
speaking
of
that
which
pleases
God,
that
it
should
be
done
or
spoken.
And
it
takes
away
all
complaining,
that
the
Lord
hath
taken
away.
“Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
The
Septuagint,
and
so
the
vulgar
from
them
insert
here
another
sentence
between
these
two;
the
Lord
hath
taken
away,
blessed
be
the
name
of
the
Lord,
reading
it
thus,
The
Lord
hath
given
and
the
Lord
hath
taken
away,
as
it
pleaseth
the
Lord,
so
commeth
things
to
pass,
blessed
be
the
name
of
the
Lord;
but
we
have
no
more
in
the
Hebrew, than our own translation gives us.
“Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
This
is
the
triumphant
conclusion
which
flows
from
the
former
propositions;
this
is
the
issue
and
result
of
them
both.
A
conclusion
as
opposite
to
Satan’s
design
as
the
two
poles
of
the
heavens
are
one
against
the
other.
Satan
waited
to
hear
Job
conclude
with
blaspheming
the
name
of
the
Lord,
and
now
he
hears
Job
conclude
with
blessing
the
name
of
the
Lord.
How
did
this
vex
and
sting
Satan?
This
one
word
of
Job
did
wound
Satan
more
than
all
the
afflictions
which
Satan
procured
wounded
Job.
Though
I
return
naked
,
though
all be taken from me, yet blessed be the name of the Lord
.
“Blessed
be
the
Name
of
the
Lord”
–
The
name
of
God in Scripture is taken:
First
,
for
God
himself.
The
name
of
a
thing
it
is
put
for
the
thing
named:
“Through
thee
will
we
push
down
our
enemies,
through
thy
name
we
will
tread
them
down
that
rise
up
against
us”
(Ps.
44:5).
Through
thy
name,
that
is,
through
thee.
Through
thee
and
through
thy
name
are
the
same.
“According
to
thy
name
so
is
thy
praise”
(Ps.
48:10),
that
is,
Thou
art
or
ought
to
be
praised
by
thy
people
:
The
name
is
put
for
the
person.
You
have
it
clearly:
“The
number
of
names
together
were
about
a
hundred
and
twenty”
(Acts
1:15),
that
is,
the
number
of
persons,
so
many
persons,
because numbered by their names.
Secondly,
the
name
of
God
is
often
in
scripture
put
for the attributes of God.
Thirdly
,
the
name
of
God
is
put
for
his
ordinances
or
worship:
“Go
ye
now
to
my
place
which
was
in
Shiloh,
where
I
set
my
name
at
the
first”
(Jer.
7:12),
that
is,
where
I
first
set
up
my
public
worship;
because
as
a
man
is
known
by
his
proper
name,
so
is
God
by
his
proper
worship.
And
therefore,
false
worship
is
the
setting
up
of
a
strange
god.
When
we
mistake
the
name,
we mistake the person.
Fourthly
,
the
name
of
God
is
that
reverence,
esteem
and
honor,
which
angels
and
men
give
unto
God.
As
we
know
amongst
us,
that
the
report
and
reputation
that
a
man
has
among
men
is
a
man’s
name.
When
men
speak
of
a
man,
that
is
his
name.
So-and-so
has
a
good
name,
we
say;
so-and-so
has
an
ill
name;
that
is,
men
speak
or
think
well
or
ill
of
such
persons.
So
in
Gen.
6:4,
when
Moses
describes
the
giants,
he
said,
“They
were
men
of
renown.”
The
Hebrew
is,
They
were
men
of
name
,
because
the
name
of
a
man
is
the
opinion
he
had
amongst
men;
as
a
man
is
esteemed,
so
his
name
is
carried,
and
himself
is
accepted
in
the
world.
So
the
name
of
God
is
that
high
esteem,
those
honorable
apprehensions,
which
angels
and
men
have
of
God.
Just
as
the
thoughts
and
speeches
of
men
are
for
the
celebration
of
God’s
glory
and
praise,
such
is
his name in the world,
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
By blessing God, we are to understand first what we
express in word concerning God. God is blessed by his
creatures, when his goodness, and greatness, and
mercy, and bounty, and faithfulness, and justice are
published with thanksgiving and praise. Or God is
blessed likewise, when we have high and great and
glorious thoughts of God: when we inwardly fear and
reverence, and love, and honor God, then we bless
God. The one is to bless with the tongue; the other to
bless with the heart. The tongue blessing without the
heart is but a tinkling cymbal. The heart blessing
without the tongue makes sweet, but still music, both in
concert make that harmony which fills and delights
heaven and earth. When Job said here, Blessed be the
name of the Lord, we are to understand it both ways,
that Job speaks out the blessing of God with his
mouth, and likewise he had high and reverent
thoughts of God. His heart and tongue met at this
work and word.
This article is taken from: Caryl, Joseph. An Exposition
with Practical Observations upon the Book of Job. London:
G. Miller, 1644. A PDF file of this book can be
downloaded, free of charge, at
http://www.ClassicChristianLibrary.com
