Job 21:11

Job describes the wicked in prosperity in strong terms. "Their offspring are established in their presence, and their descendants before their eyes." It is not merely that you have one here and there; the wicked really take root in the world, they are at home there. "Their houses are safe from fear, and no rod of God is upon them." They come under no special chastening… "They send out their little boys like a flock, and their children dance." It is they who enjoy the world, if you leave out God and take man's appreciation of present life. There is no disputing that this is the fact, account for it or not, if one looks at the world as it is.

He looks at the other side, at the case of the prosperous wicked, and reminds Zophar that evil men often go on unchecked. They live to old age and become mighty in power… His children — in sad contrast to the now childless speaker — are like a group of lambs skipping about the home, and you hear the sound of tambourine and lyre and pipe there.

It is a serious thing to find all that in such bad company — a solemn warning for those who are given up… "They say to God, Depart from us." Job's words are far more solemn and more true than the violent Zophar had painted. "For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we get if we pray to Him?" It is not meant that they say that to man, but that is what their conduct says to God.

Their children enjoy life with its music and dancing, and they spend their days in prosperity… In other words, they know nothing of Job's painful experiences all through their life. Then they die without suffering. Asaph observed this also, as he records in Psalm 73:3-9. In verses 16-17 he added, "But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end." He learned that God's accounts are not settled in this life: there is a future to be considered.

He presses the point that the present world is no expression of God's moral government. But he acknowledges that in the middle of men's seeming prosperity a divine blow falls on them. In a moment their candle goes out. So he does allow for exceptional dealings. There was another kind of dealing that he did not yet see. This was what he had to learn. God works among His own by chastening, trial, or discipline. He does this just as surely as He may lay His hand on the wicked in solemn judgment.

What a description we get of the world in Job: "They sing to the tambourine and the lyre and rejoice to the sound of the pipe. They spend their days in prosperity… Therefore they say to God, 'Depart from us, for we do not desire the knowledge of your ways'" (ch. 21:12-14)! And can you, dear reader, feel happy in making one of such a company? How true it is for a believer seeking his amusement in such a way, "Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief." Prov. 14:13.