September 16, Evening

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"Am I a sea, or a whale, that Thou settest a watch over me?" — Job 7:12 · KJV

This was a strange question for Job to ask of the Lord. He felt too insignificant to be so strictly watched and chastened, and he hoped he was not so unruly as to need such restraint. The question was natural from a man surrounded by such unbearable misery; but it is capable of a very humbling answer. True, man is not the sea, but he is even more troublesome and unruly. The sea obediently respects its boundary, and though it be but a belt of sand, it does not overleap the limit; mighty as it is, it hears the divine "thus far," and even when raging with tempest it respects the word. But self-willed man defies heaven and oppresses earth, and there is no end to his rebellious rage. The sea, obedient to the moon, ebbs and flows with ceaseless regularity, rendering an active as well as a passive obedience; but man, restless beyond his sphere, sleeps within the lines of duty, idle where he should be busy. He will neither come nor go at the divine command, but sullenly prefers to do what he should not, and to leave undone what is required of him. Every drop in the ocean, every beaded bubble and yeasty flake of foam, every shell and pebble, feels the power of law and yields or moves at once. Oh, that our nature were but a thousandth part as conformed to the will of God! We call the sea fickle and false, yet how constant it is! Since our fathers' days, and the old time before them, the sea is where it was, beating on the same cliffs to the same tune; we know where to find it, it forsakes not its bed, nor changes its ceaseless boom. But where is man — vain, fickle man? Can the wise man guess by what folly he will next be lured from his obedience? We need more watching than the billowy sea, and are far more rebellious. Lord, rule us for Your own glory. Amen.