Job 15:12

Why doth thine heart carry thee away?

Impulsiveness

Elihu means to say, Why dost thou allow thy feelings to carry thee beyond the boundaries of reason? The vast masses of mankind are the victims of ungoverned impulses. See this--

1. In the formation of friendships. Such impulses often bring the sexes together in a fellowship which does but issue in mutual irritation and disappointment.

2. In the history of religion. The religion of the people is not unfrequently directed by ungoverned impulses, excited by the impassioned appeals of enthusiasts and fanatics.

3. In the current of politics. A few red-hot demagogues and effective stump orators will often turn the whole current of a nation’s politics. “Why doth thine heart carry thee away?” Why act from ungoverned impulse?

I. It is unnatural. Man’s constitution shows that he was made, not to act from blind instinct, but intelligent motive. And that these motives should be formed by an understanding duly enlightened with a knowledge of the fundamental principles of moral obligation. In fact his constitution shows--

1. That all his passions should be governed by his intellect.

2. That his intellect should be governed by his conscience.

3. That his conscience should be governed by the revealed laws of heaven.

II. It is immoral Man is a responsible being, amenable to his Maker for all the operations of his existence, bound evermore to give an account of himself. When he acts from impulse, he acts as a brute, not as a man; and acting thus he sins against his Maker. That man is responsible is proved--

1. By his own consciousness. He condemns himself when he does not act from the enlightened conviction of duty.

2. By the Word of God. Everywhere, by distinct statements as well as by implications, the Bible holds forth the doctrine of men’s responsibility.

III. It is ruinous. A man, or a community of men--whether the community be commercial, political, or religious--who act from ungoverned impulse, is like a vessel tossed on the ocean in a tempest without chart, compass, or pilot to direct it. (Homilist.)