Job 39:19 - Meaning and Application

God has already shown his power in creatures that are strong and untamed. Here he shows it in one that is almost as strong, yet very gentle and useful to people, the horse, especially the horse prepared for battle. This was a noble breed in Job’s land, and Job likely kept many, even though horses are not listed among his goods. In that region, animals used for farming were valued more than horses, because horses were kept mainly for war and display.

Think about the great horse, that proud and stately animal. He has great strength and boldness, but he does not get them from man. God gave him his power, since God is the source of all natural strength, yet God does not take special delight in the horse’s strength (Psalm 147:10). Scripture also says a horse is not a sure ground of safety (Psalm 33:17). For running, pulling, and carrying, no common servant of man has so much strength. He is also brave and hard to scare, and yet he can still be led by a child without rebelling against his master. Still, no one should trust in a horse’s strength for protection (Hosea 14:3; Psalm 20:7; Isaiah 31:1, Isaiah 31:3).

His appearance is impressive too. His neck is “clothed with thunder,” meaning his long flowing mane gives him a majestic and frightening look. His nostrils are glorious when he snorts, throws up his head, and flings foam around, and that makes him look terrible in battle (Job 39:20). It may be that horses in that time and place were finer and more stately than any we see now.

He is also fierce in battle, charging ahead without fear even when his life is in danger. He is playful and eager, pawing in the valley as if he hardly notices the ground beneath him (Job 39:21). He seems proud of his strength, and in his case that pride is fitting, since he uses that strength in man’s service, under man’s direction. That is very different from the wild donkey, which uses its strength in stubborn resistance to man (Job 39:8).

He rushes forward to meet armed men, and what drives him is not the justice of the cause or any hope of honor. He is stirred only by the trumpet, the shouts of captains, and the cries of soldiers, which seem to fan his natural courage into flame. It is remarkable how well God has fitted brute creatures for the tasks they were made for, and how ready they are to do them (Job 39:25).

He is also fearless. He laughs at fear, and does not retreat when he hears the sword, the quiver, or the spear. These threats do not drive him back, and instead he seems to give courage to the man who rides him (Job 39:22). He charges with such force and heat that he seems to swallow the ground as he runs, full of rage and power (Job 39:24). High spirit is a fitting praise for a horse, though fierceness and rage are never fitting for a man.

This picture of the war horse helps explain the behavior of proud sinners. Scripture says, “Every one turns to his own course, as a horse rushes into battle” (Jeremiah 8:6). When a person is fully set on evil, driven by sinful desires and passions, he is not easily scared by the wrath of God or by the ruin that sin brings. Even if his conscience sets before him the curse of the law, the death sin pays, and the terrors of the Almighty in battle, he laughs at that fear and keeps going. Even when ministers warn him loudly, he may refuse to believe the warning is real. But the end of such a course is easy to see.