He withdraws not his eyes from the righteous: but with kings they are on the throne; yea, he does establish them forever, and they are exalted.
All Commentaries on Job 36:7 Go To Job 36
Gregory The Dialogist
AD 604
“God does not reject the mighty, though he himself is mighty.” … Great is that temporal power that, from being well administered, has its special reward from God, and yet sometimes, from being preeminent over others, it swells with pride of thought. All things for its use are at its service, while its commands are speedily fulfilled according to its wish and while all its subjects praise its good deeds. If there are any who do not oppose its evil doings with any authority, then they too will commonly praise them, even that which they ought to blame. The mind, being led astray by those things that are beneath it, is raised above itself, and while it is encircled with unbounded applause outside, it is bereft of truth inside.… “But he does not save the wicked and gives judgment to the poor.” Holy Scripture is frequently prone to call the humble, “poor.” Hence they are mentioned in the Gospel with the addition “spirit” when it is said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Riches visibly manifest the powerful; those are poor in their own sight, who are not puffed up in their minds. But he calls those “wicked” who are either cut off from the piety of the faith or who contradict themselves by their wicked habits, in that which they faithfully believe.…
“He will not withdraw his eyes from the righteous but establishes kings on the throne forever, and there they are exalted.” But holy people are properly termed “kings,” in the language of Scripture, because having been raised above all the motions of flesh, at one time they control the appetite of lust; at another they moderate the heat of avarice; at one time they bow down the boastfulness of pride; at another they crush the suggestions of envy; at another they extinguish the fire of passion. They are “kings” then, because they have learned not to give way to the motions of their temptations by consenting to them but to gain mastery by ruling over them. Since, therefore, they pass from this power of authority to the power of retribution, let it be rightly said, “He establishes kings on the throne forever.” They are wearied for a time by ruling themselves, but they are placed forever on the throne of the kingdom of eternal elevation; and there they receive the power of justly judging others, just as they are here unskilled in unjustly sparing themselves.
