The Soul's Inquiry After a Personal God
T. Hughes. Job 23:1-6 Then Job answered and said,… It is characteristic of man to ask questions. Question asking proceeds from personal need, curiosity, or love of knowledge, either for its own sake or its relative usefulness. We feel that we are dependent upon others for some direction or solution of difficulties; hence we ask for direction or instruction, because the limited character of our nature, and our dependence upon one another demand it. There are questions man asks himself, in his secret communion and examination with and of himself; there are some he asks of the universe; but the greatest and gravest are those he asks direct of God in sighs and supplications both by night and day. The sentence of the text is a question which the soul, in its search after God, continually asks; which is one of the greatest questions of life. I. THE NEED OF THE SOUL OF A PERSONAL GOD. The human soul ever cries for God. It never ceases in its cry, and is weary in its search and effort in seeking the absolute reality and good of life. The soul needs an object to commune with, and this it finds in a Divine personality, and nowhere else. The soul asks, Where is the living One? The soul needs security, and that is not to be found according to the language of conviction but in a personal God. The soul seeks unity, hence it seeks a personal God. II. THE SOUL IN SEARCH AFTER A PERSONAL GOD. So near is the relation between conviction of the need of God, and the search after Him, that in the degree one is felt, the other is done. The soul is not confined to one place, or one mode of means in the search. III. THE PERPLEXITY OF THE SOUL IN ITS SEARCH FOR THE PERSONAL GOD. The perplexity arises partly from the mystery of the object of search. IV. THE SECRET CONFIDENCE OF THE SOUL IN THE PERSONAL GOD WHOM IT SEEKS. There is a general confidence in God's mercy and in His all-sufficiency. (T. Hughes.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then Job answered and said, WEB: Then Job answered,