He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light.
Job is answering Zophar, listing what God does to rulers, nations and the wise. Then he says God drags into daylight what darkness had swallowed — but does he see that this applies to himself?
The argument Job is making
Job aims this list of reversals at the theory his three friends keep repeating. One writer reads the whole run of verses as a picture of constant upheaval. That knocks the ground out from under their case.
William KellyThere are all kinds of change. There is nothing, then, that shows the settled judgment of God. Everything among men is in a state of flux — a constant flow and change. So nothing could be more foolish than the foundation the three friends built on in their attack on Job.
A truth Job stated but never applied
Job had just watched God strip the powerful of their dignity. The same God also lifts the cover off hidden things. One commentator notes the irony: what Job describes was the very thing he needed for himself. Older translations render "deep darkness" here as "the shadow of death."
Leslie M. GrantJob was experiencing the pangs of darkness. He himself could not uncover deep things from the darkness, nor bring light from the shadow of death. But he realised God can do this. Could He not do it in Job's case? Yes indeed, and He did so before long.
Only one half of the picture
Everything Job says here is true, yet his suffering has coloured how he says it. Set beside a settled word of faith, the difference in tone is obvious.
Samuel RidoutIt is indeed a great but very sombre picture of omnipotence. We can only shudder at the awful sight. Job's misery has thrown a gloomy light over all God's greatness. How different is the language of faith: "God is our refuge and strength... therefore we will not fear... Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46).
The same writer traces where that gloom leads. Job's survey of God's power over judges, kings, princes and priests leaves something out.
Samuel RidoutAll — judges, kings, princes and priests — are held up to contempt by this Almighty One. Truly this is right, if they deserve it, but Job omits that side (vers. 14-21).
Why no rule can be laid over God's dealings
If God can pull secrets out of the dark, no one can predict Him from the outside. That is the deeper reason the friends' system fails. One writer puts it as a principle about God Himself.
William KellyNo doubt experience has its place. Each of us has his own measure of discernment, and that should grow with the years. But no law binds God: none can be discovered, and none could even exist. In Him alone is perfect wisdom and power in providence. He has stamped laws on everything above our eyes, below our feet, and around us. But the highest and truest law of all — if we should call it a law — is that God is free, not bound, to act. He acts as and when He will.
Where the verse finally lands
What Job says about God is not limited to nations and kings. It reaches every human secret.
J. N. DarbyMan can keep nothing secret, though it may seem so, and he can conceal nothing. Everything must come into the light. God must have the upper hand, and light shall prevail.
And the exposure runs both ways. Good comes out of hiding as surely as evil does.
A. PridhamGood and evil will alike come forth from their present obscurity. God will then sift the doubtful motives of this life and appraise them with righteousness... All secret acts of goodness will also come to view at last. Words and works that were meant only for the ear and eye of God — God will then own them, with open praise.
Summary
- Darkness — Job argues that human affairs are in constant flux. Nothing in them shows God's settled judgment, so his friends' attack has no foundation.
- God alone — The uncovering is God's work, not man's. Job could not pull his own case out of the dark; he could only say that God can.
- Blind spot — He states the truth but never turns it on himself. One writer points out that God did this very thing for him before long.
- Freedom — No law binds God. He alone has perfect wisdom and power in providence, and He acts as and when He wills.
- Light wins — No secret stays hidden. God will sift every doubtful motive, and He will bring out the quiet good done for His eyes alone and praise it.