Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
All Commentaries on Job 23:12 Go To Job 23
Gregory The Dialogist
AD 604
43. As servants that serve well are ever intent upon their masters’ countenances, that the things they may bid they may hear readily, and strive to fulfil; so the minds of the righteous in their bent are upon Almighty God, and in His Scripture they as it were fix their eyes on His face, that whereas God delivers therein all that He wills, they may not be at variance with His will, in proportion as they learn that will in His revelation. Whence it happens, that His words do not pass superfluously through their ears, but that these words they fix in their hearts. Hence it is here added;
I have hid the words of His mouth in my breast.
44. For we ‘hide the words of His mouth in the bosom of our heart,’ when we hear His commandments not in a passing way, but to fulfil them in practice. Hence it is that of the Virgin Mother herself it is written, But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. Which same words even when they come forth to the practising lie hidden in the recesses of the heart, if through that which is done without, the mind of the doer be not lifted up within. For when the word conceived is carried on to the deed, if human praise is aimed at herein, the word of God assuredly is not ‘hidden in the bosom of the mind.’ But I would know, O blessed man, wherefore thou examinest thyself with so much earnestness, wherefore thou takest thyself to task with so much anxiety?
