Morning Bible Study: Job 24:18-25

18 They float on the surface of the water.

Their section of the land is cursed,

so that they never go to their vineyards.

19 As dry ground and heat snatch away the melted snow,

so Sheol steals those who have sinned.

20 The womb forgets them;

worms feed on them;

they are remembered no more.

So injustice is broken like a tree.

21 They prey on the childless woman who is unable to conceive,

and do not deal kindly with the widow.

22 Yet God drags away the mighty by his power;

when he rises up, they have no assurance of life.

23 He gives them a sense of security, so they can rely on it,

but his eyes watch over their ways.

24 They are exalted for a moment, then gone;

they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else.

They wither like heads of grain.

25 If this is not true, then who can prove me a liar

and show that my speech is worthless?

Commentary

(the following is from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, 1706 -- www.christianity.com) 

"Sometimes how gradual is the decay, how quiet the departure of a wicked person, how is he honored, and how soon are all his cruelties and oppressions forgotten! There will often appear much to resemble the wrong view of Providence Job takes in this chapter. But we are taught by the word of inspiration, that these notions are formed in ignorance, from partial views. 

The providence of God, in the affairs of men, is in every thing a just and wise providence. Let us apply this whenever the Lord may try us. He cannot do wrong. The unequalled sorrows of the Son of God when on earth, unless looked at in this view, perplex the mind. But when we behold him, as the sinner's Surety, bearing the curse, we can explain why he should endure that wrath which was due to sin, that Divine justice might be satisfied, and his people saved."

Morning Bible Study: Job 24:13-17

13 The wicked are those who rebel against the light.
They do not recognize its ways
or stay on its paths.
14 The murderer rises at dawn
to kill the poor and needy,
and by night he becomes a thief.
15 The adulterer’s eye watches for twilight,
thinking, “No eye will see me,”
and he covers his face.
16 In the dark they break into houses;
by day they lock themselves in,
never experiencing the light.
17 For the morning is like darkness to them.
Surely they are familiar with the terrors of darkness!

Commentary
(the following is from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, 1706 -- www.christianity.com) 

"Shame came in with sin, and everlasting shame is at the end of it. See the misery of sinners; they are exposed to continual frights: yet see their folly; they are afraid of coming under the eye of men, but have no dread of God's eye, which is always upon them: they are not afraid of doing things which they are afraid of being known to do."