Job 38:25 Commentary and Bible Study

The illustration is again from the earth’s weather systems and watering of the earth, but there is a further lesson here for Job. God, whose supervision is so extensive, cannot possibly overlook the affairs of his children, for they are precious to him, and it is for their sake that the world continues to exist. It is a picture of times of prosperity and leanness among his people. Every part of the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, and he gives vast consideration to many things of which man is not even aware. He satisfies the desolate and waste ground, the most remote regions, where no one will witness his wonderful works. He causes the flowers to blossom and flourish in obscure corners of the wilderness; they show their beauty without anyone to appreciate it. Why this exuberant provision? Why this extensive care? Why does God do works which no one will ever see? To teach man that he is at work far beyond the creature’s capacity to understand and to monitor, so that we learn that our God exceeds all our imagination in his power and wisdom and bounty. He does not just work within the compass of what we know, but his work greatly exceeds that small part which we are aware of; we have to do with a God who is far greater than we can imagine, and he certainly receives no assistance or instruction from man. The nature of the argument here tells us that without a belief in God’s creation and providence, so many lines of reasoning are lost to us.If this is how God works, then how can Job conclude that God has mismanaged his case, that he is treated unfairly, or that his needs have been ignored? God does not neglect any part of what he has made but fulfils his promise to sustain all things. If God particularly delights to sustain the most obscure parts, the desert waste, how will he forget the more familiar parts, and how in particular will he overlook the needs of his servant Job, whose needs as a beloved child of God are so close to his heart? Therefore, although Job does not understand what is happening to him, God expects him to continue to trust and to conclude that there must be a powerful reason known to God for what is happening to him. God does not explain all his thinking to his children. They must learn to trust him in things they cannot understand, and to conclude from what they know that he cannot overlook anything, especially when it concerns his dear children. ‘Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows’ (Matthew 10:31).