Will he take delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times?
Job's friends have called him a hypocrite, and here he answers by describing what a hypocrite really looks like. His question is a test anyone can apply: does this person take pleasure in God, and does he keep praying when the answer is slow?
The Argument Job Is Making
Job's friends had insisted his suffering proved he was a fraud. He answers by asking what a fraud looks like when life collapses.
Leslie M. GrantJob's friends had accused him of hypocrisy, but he asks them about the hypocrite's end. Though he gained much in this world, what can he do when God takes away his life? "Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him?" (v.9). In fact, would a hypocrite delight himself in God to such an extent as to call upon God Himself? (v.10). It is not the character of such an evil man to really call on God, yet it was evident to Job's friends that Job was crying out to God in his affliction.
Job's Own Life As The Answer
The question is not theoretical. Job is pointing at himself: both marks were true of him in his worst distress.
William Kelly"Will he delight himself in the Almighty?" That is what Job did. "Will he always call upon God?" He called upon God even in that terrible distress… "You know very well that I have been clinging to God; you have heard my confession, and why do you charge me with something like hypocrisy?"
Two Things Sincerity Can Do
Affliction shows the difference between a sincere believer and a pretender. It shows it in two ways.
Hamilton SmithSincerity lets the Christian do two things in affliction that the hypocrite cannot — speak good of God, and expect good from God.
Praying At All Times
Anyone can pray now and then. Job asks about calling on God "at all times" — older translations say "always." That is where pretence breaks down, especially when the answer is slow.
Hamilton Smith"Will he always call upon God?" (Job 27:10). The hypocrite is often exposed here. An unsound heart will dabble with prayer now and then, but grows weary of the work at last, especially if he is made to wait a long time for an answer. Saul prays to God, and because he hears nothing from Him, he finally goes to seek the devil.
The other side of the test is why a real believer cannot stop.
Hamilton SmithFaith enables the soul to persevere in prayer. "Will the hypocrite always call upon God?" (Job 27:10). No, he prays himself weary of praying; sooner or later something will make him quarrel with what he never really liked. But the sincere believer has something in him that makes it impossible for him to give up praying altogether, unless he also gives up believing. Prayer is the very breath of faith; stop a man's breath, and where is he then?
Crying Out When It Is Too Late
Job's earlier question in verse 9 sets up verse 10. The person who never called on God while he could will call on Him when it no longer helps.
Samuel RidoutJob now turns to the end of the wicked. What hope has he when God cuts him off and takes away his soul? What shall be the end of the man to whom God says, "Fool! This night your soul is required of you"? Will God hear his cry when it is too late? Or has He not given the solemn warning, "I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you" (Prov. 1:26)? Is it too late to call upon God when the present opportunities have been put off for a "more convenient season" — which never comes?
When A Believer Cannot Feel Like Praying
Satan still turns this question against sincere people. A believer in a dark season, whose prayers feel dry, can read it as a verdict against himself.
Charles StanleyThis is still a painful temptation from Satan. When the soul is going through darkness, it often seems as if it could not pray — so different from what it once was. "There now," says Satan, "isn't that proof that you are nothing but a wicked person? Surely you must be a hypocrite." "For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery." "The wicked man writhes in pain all his days." "Oh dear," says the believer, "that is exactly how it is with me. I do not enjoy prayer as I once did. I am filled with pain."
Summary
- Delight — The first mark of a real relationship with God is pleasure in Him. Job says a pretender has no such taste, and points to his own clinging to God as proof.
- Prayer — The second mark is calling on God. It is not in a hypocrite's character to call on God, yet Job's friends could see him crying out in his affliction.
- At All Times — The test is not whether a person prays, but whether he keeps praying when the answer is slow. Pretence gets weary of the work; faith cannot stop, because prayer is its breathing.
- Too Late — The one who postpones God until a more convenient season will cry out at the end, when the opportunity is gone.
- Assurance — Dryness in prayer is not the same as hypocrisy. Satan turns this question into an accusation, but a believer in the dark need not accept his verdict.