The reply of Satan is noteworthy. He does not need to ask, "Which
Job?" or, "Where does he live?" He had considered GOD'S servant, and
evidently knew all about him. How came it that he was so well
acquainted with this faithful man of GOD? It may have come about in
this way: those subordinate spirits of evil who are evidently under
the control of Satan had in vain tried ordinary means of temptation
with the patriarch. Probably reporting their want of success to some
of the principalities and powers of evil, these likewise had essayed
their diabolical arts, but had not succeeded in leading Job to swerve
from his integrity. Last of all, the great arch-enemy himself had
found all his own efforts ineffectual to harass and lead astray GOD'S
beloved servant. He found a hedge around him, and about his servants,
and about his house, and about all that he had on every side--an
entrenchment so strong that he had been unable to break through, so
high that, going about as a roaring lion, he had been unable to leap
over, or to bring disaster within the GOD-protected circle.
How blessed it must have been to dwell so protected! The work of
Job's hands was prospered--his substance increased in the land, and
he became the greatest as well as the best of all the men of the
East, for in that day GOD manifested His approval largely, though not
solely, by the bestowal of temporal blessings.
Is there no analogous spiritual blessing to be enjoyed now-a-days?
Thank GOD, there is. Every believer may be as safely kept and as
fully blessed, though, perhaps, not in the same way, as Job--may be
delivered from the power of the enemy, and preserved in a charmed
circle of perfect peace. The conditions are simple, and are given us
by the Apostle Paul in the 4th chapter of Philippians, v. 4-7,
"Rejoice in the LORD always ... Let your moderation [your gentleness,
or yieldingness] be known unto all men. The LORD is at hand." Not
your power of resistance of evil, and of "maintaining your own
rights;" but your spirit of yieldingness, believing that the LORD
will maintain for you all that is really for your good; and that in
any case, He is at hand, and will soon abundantly reward fidelity to
His command. And lastly, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be
made known unto GOD. And the peace of GOD, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through CHRIST JESUS."
How is it that believers so often fail to enjoy this promised
blessing? Is it not that we fail to be anxious for nothing, and to
bring everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving before
GOD? We may bring nine difficulties out of ten to Him, and try to
manage the tenth ourselves, and that one little difficulty, like a
small leak that runs the vessel dry, is fatal to the whole; like a
small breach in a city wall, it gives entrance to the power of the
foe. But if we fulfil the conditions, He is certainly faithful, and
instead of our having to keep our hearts and minds--our affections
and thoughts--we shall find them kept for us. The peace, which we can
neither make nor keep, will itself, as a garrison, keep and protect
us, and the cares and worries will strive to enter in vain.