Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
God » Trust in » Unsearchable
“The Almighty—we cannot find Him;
He is exalted in power
And He will not do violence to [nor disregard] justice and abundant righteousness.
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become tired or grow weary;
There is no searching of His understanding.
For who has known the mind and purposes of the Lord, so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ [to be guided by His thoughts and purposes].
Who does great and unsearchable things,
Marvelous things without number.
“Can you discover the depths of God?
Can you [by searching] discover the limits of the Almighty [ascend to His heights, extend to His widths, and comprehend His infinite perfection]?
“Why do you complain against Him?
That He does not answer [you with] all His doings.
He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.
Verse Concepts
and I saw all the work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though man may labor in seeking, he will not discover; and [more than that], though a wise man thinks and claims he knows, he will not be able to find it out.
For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?
Verse Concepts
Philosophy » Philosophical inductions and deductions relating to God and his providence
As for me, I would seek God and inquire of and require Him, and to God would I commit my cause -- " Who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number, Who gives rain upon the earth and sends waters upon the fields, read more.
So that He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn He lifts to safety. He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise or anything of [lasting] worth. He catches the [so-called] wise in their own trickiness, and the counsel of the schemers is brought to a quick end. In the daytime they meet in darkness, and at noon they grope as in the night. But [God] saves [the fatherless] from the sword of their mouth, and the needy from the hand of the mighty. So the poor have hope, and iniquity shuts her mouth. Happy and fortunate is the man whom God reproves; so do not despise or reject the correction of the Almighty [subjecting you to trial and suffering]. For He wounds, but He binds up; He smites, but His hands heal. He will rescue you in six troubles; in seven nothing that is evil [for you] will touch you. In famine He will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.
So that He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn He lifts to safety. He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise or anything of [lasting] worth. He catches the [so-called] wise in their own trickiness, and the counsel of the schemers is brought to a quick end. In the daytime they meet in darkness, and at noon they grope as in the night. But [God] saves [the fatherless] from the sword of their mouth, and the needy from the hand of the mighty. So the poor have hope, and iniquity shuts her mouth. Happy and fortunate is the man whom God reproves; so do not despise or reject the correction of the Almighty [subjecting you to trial and suffering]. For He wounds, but He binds up; He smites, but His hands heal. He will rescue you in six troubles; in seven nothing that is evil [for you] will touch you. In famine He will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.
I will say to God, Do not condemn me [do not make me guilty]! Show me why You contend with me. Does it seem good to You that You should oppress, that You should despise and reject the work of Your hands, and favor the schemes of the wicked? Have You eyes of flesh? Do You see as man sees? read more.
Are Your days as the days of man, are Your years as man's [years], That You inquire after my iniquity and search for my sin -- " Although You know that I am not wicked or guilty and that there is none who can deliver me out of Your hand? Your hands have formed me and made me. Would You turn around and destroy me? Remember [earnestly], I beseech You, that You have fashioned me as clay [out of the same earth material, exquisitely and elaborately]. And will You bring me into dust again? Have You not poured me out like milk and curdled me like cheese? You have clothed me with skin and flesh and have knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and favor, and Your providence has preserved my spirit. Yet these [the present evils] have You hid in Your heart [for me since my creation]; I know that this was with You [in Your purpose and thought]. If I sin, then You observe me, and You will not acquit me from my iniquity and guilt. If I am wicked, woe unto me! And if I am righteous, yet must I not lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and the sight of my affliction. If I lift myself up, You hunt me like a lion and again show Yourself [inflicting] marvelous [trials] upon me. You renew Your witnesses against me and increase Your indignation toward me; I am as if attacked by a troop time after time. Why then did You bring me forth out of the womb? Would that I had perished and no eye had seen me! I should have been as though I had not existed; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. Are not my days few? Cease then and let me alone, that I may take a little comfort and cheer up Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death,
Are Your days as the days of man, are Your years as man's [years], That You inquire after my iniquity and search for my sin -- " Although You know that I am not wicked or guilty and that there is none who can deliver me out of Your hand? Your hands have formed me and made me. Would You turn around and destroy me? Remember [earnestly], I beseech You, that You have fashioned me as clay [out of the same earth material, exquisitely and elaborately]. And will You bring me into dust again? Have You not poured me out like milk and curdled me like cheese? You have clothed me with skin and flesh and have knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and favor, and Your providence has preserved my spirit. Yet these [the present evils] have You hid in Your heart [for me since my creation]; I know that this was with You [in Your purpose and thought]. If I sin, then You observe me, and You will not acquit me from my iniquity and guilt. If I am wicked, woe unto me! And if I am righteous, yet must I not lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and the sight of my affliction. If I lift myself up, You hunt me like a lion and again show Yourself [inflicting] marvelous [trials] upon me. You renew Your witnesses against me and increase Your indignation toward me; I am as if attacked by a troop time after time. Why then did You bring me forth out of the womb? Would that I had perished and no eye had seen me! I should have been as though I had not existed; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. Are not my days few? Cease then and let me alone, that I may take a little comfort and cheer up Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death,
The dwellings of robbers prosper; those who provoke God are [apparently] secure; God supplies them abundantly [who have no god but their own hands and power]. For ask now the animals, and they will teach you [that God does not deal with His creatures according to their character]; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you; Or speak to the earth [with its other forms of life], and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare [this truth] to you. read more.
Who [is so blind as] not to recognize in all these [that good and evil are promiscuously scattered throughout nature and human life] that it is God's hand which does it [and God's way]? In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. Is it not the task of the ear to discriminate between [wise and unwise] words, just as the mouth distinguishes [between desirable and undesirable] food? With the aged [you say] is wisdom, and with length of days comes understanding. But [only] with [God] are [perfect] wisdom and might; He [alone] has [true] counsel and understanding. Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be built again; He shuts a man in, and none can open. He withholds the waters, and the land dries up; again, He sends forth [rains], and they overwhelm the land or transform it. With Him are might and wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are His [and in His power]. He leads [great and scheming] counselors away stripped and barefoot and makes the judges fools [in human estimation, by overthrowing their plans]. He looses the fetters [ordered] by kings and has [the] waistcloth [of a slave] bound about their [own] loins. He leads away priests as spoil, and men firmly seated He overturns. He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment and discretion of the aged. He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong [disabling them, bringing low the pride of the learned]. He uncovers deep things out of darkness and brings into light black gloom and the shadow of death. He makes nations great, and He destroys them; He enlarges nations [and then straitens and shrinks them again], and leads them [away captive]. He takes away understanding from the leaders of the people of the land and of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no path.
Who [is so blind as] not to recognize in all these [that good and evil are promiscuously scattered throughout nature and human life] that it is God's hand which does it [and God's way]? In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. Is it not the task of the ear to discriminate between [wise and unwise] words, just as the mouth distinguishes [between desirable and undesirable] food? With the aged [you say] is wisdom, and with length of days comes understanding. But [only] with [God] are [perfect] wisdom and might; He [alone] has [true] counsel and understanding. Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be built again; He shuts a man in, and none can open. He withholds the waters, and the land dries up; again, He sends forth [rains], and they overwhelm the land or transform it. With Him are might and wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are His [and in His power]. He leads [great and scheming] counselors away stripped and barefoot and makes the judges fools [in human estimation, by overthrowing their plans]. He looses the fetters [ordered] by kings and has [the] waistcloth [of a slave] bound about their [own] loins. He leads away priests as spoil, and men firmly seated He overturns. He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment and discretion of the aged. He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong [disabling them, bringing low the pride of the learned]. He uncovers deep things out of darkness and brings into light black gloom and the shadow of death. He makes nations great, and He destroys them; He enlarges nations [and then straitens and shrinks them again], and leads them [away captive]. He takes away understanding from the leaders of the people of the land and of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no path.
I reply to you, Behold, in this you are not just; God is superior to man. Why do you contend against Him? For He does not give account of any of His actions. [Sufficient for us it should be to know that it is He Who does them.] For God [does reveal His will; He] speaks not only once, but more than once, even though men do not regard it [including you, Job]. read more.
[One may hear God's voice] in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men while slumbering upon the bed, Then He opens the ears of men and seals their instruction [terrifying them with warnings], That He may withdraw man from his purpose and cut off pride from him [disgusting him with his own disappointing self-sufficiency]. He holds him back from the pit [of destruction], and his life from perishing by the sword [of God's destructive judgments]. [God's voice may be heard by man when] he is chastened with pain upon his bed and with continual strife in his bones or while all his bones are firmly set, So that his desire makes him loathe food, and even dainty dishes [nauseate him]. His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out. Yes, his soul draws near to corruption, and his life to the inflicters of death (the destroyers). [God's voice may be heard] if there is for the hearer a messenger or an angel, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man what is right for him [how to be upright and in right standing with God], Then [God] is gracious to him and says, Deliver him from going down into the pit [of destruction]; I have found a ransom (a price of redemption, an atonement)! [Then the man's] flesh shall be restored; it becomes fresher and more tender than a child's; he returns to the days of his youth. He prays to God, and He is favorable to him, so that he sees His face with joy; for [God] restores to him his righteousness (his uprightness and right standing with God -- "with its joys). He looks upon other men or sings out to them, I have sinned and perverted that which was right, and it did not profit me, or He did not requite me [according to my iniquity]! [God] has redeemed my life from going down to the pit [of destruction], and my life shall see the light! [Elihu comments] Behold, God does all these things twice, yes, three times, with a man, To bring back his life from the pit [of destruction], that he may be enlightened with the light of the living.
[One may hear God's voice] in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men while slumbering upon the bed, Then He opens the ears of men and seals their instruction [terrifying them with warnings], That He may withdraw man from his purpose and cut off pride from him [disgusting him with his own disappointing self-sufficiency]. He holds him back from the pit [of destruction], and his life from perishing by the sword [of God's destructive judgments]. [God's voice may be heard by man when] he is chastened with pain upon his bed and with continual strife in his bones or while all his bones are firmly set, So that his desire makes him loathe food, and even dainty dishes [nauseate him]. His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out. Yes, his soul draws near to corruption, and his life to the inflicters of death (the destroyers). [God's voice may be heard] if there is for the hearer a messenger or an angel, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man what is right for him [how to be upright and in right standing with God], Then [God] is gracious to him and says, Deliver him from going down into the pit [of destruction]; I have found a ransom (a price of redemption, an atonement)! [Then the man's] flesh shall be restored; it becomes fresher and more tender than a child's; he returns to the days of his youth. He prays to God, and He is favorable to him, so that he sees His face with joy; for [God] restores to him his righteousness (his uprightness and right standing with God -- "with its joys). He looks upon other men or sings out to them, I have sinned and perverted that which was right, and it did not profit me, or He did not requite me [according to my iniquity]! [God] has redeemed my life from going down to the pit [of destruction], and my life shall see the light! [Elihu comments] Behold, God does all these things twice, yes, three times, with a man, To bring back his life from the pit [of destruction], that he may be enlightened with the light of the living.