The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 34

tninly thnt is one f<lrm of trinl, through which Job ha.d passed, gaining noble instmc- liort. But it is n 'form of temptation for more severe tO' be cast down suddenly fmm previous Influence and wealth, than to be suddenly raised to it. Our instinctive sym- pathy o.bd pity towo.rds those who have thus suffered teach us that it is so. And yet this is the trial for the chosen of God, for the selected specimens of bis grace, the vessels of hie holy fashioning. Ho will rebut and discomfit the slanders of the adversary and of all his followers, who love to scoff at the reality of goodness1 to discount and depreciate and deny every human excellence, by subjecting his faithful ones to the la~t intensity of the furnace, that the truth and eternal_ reality of his work in the soul may be manifest to the eyes of all, both of the good ancl the evil. V. LIFE; THEN, 11! DIVINELY DELIVERED TO TRIAL. This is the teaching of this passage; it is the teaching of all Scripture. There is a precise permission from the sovereign will for evil to wreak its malice upon the good man. There is a distinction between the way in which good and evil respectively come upon us from the Divine hand. Good comee immediately, directly, fresh from the heart and love of him who is all goodness. But ·evil comes indirectly, through the dark anrl devious channels of evil and hostile wills, In blessing, in joy, God vi~its us in Person, his sunshine pierces through the windows of the soul unsought. But evil is only a licensed visitor to our dwelling, to our heart. And it is difficult to recognize behind the gloomy shape a controlling hand, a. solicitous and loving eye. But it is one of the deep lessons of piety that we have all to learn-to say in affliction, "God permits this," as well a., in joy, "God sends this." It may he learnt. In the low_-stooping thunderous clourl, in the bursting rain and hail over our heads, we may feel the nearness of God, know his hand to be laid upon our conscience, his voice to be appealing to the inmost sens~ of our relation to him, which had perhaps slumbered beneath the bright and cloudless blue. VI. GOD DOES NOT DELIVER LIFE TO DESTRUCTION, THOUGH HE JIUY DEL1VEB. IT FOB -A TIME TO THE POWER OF EVIL. "He bath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation." Jehovah says to Satan, "All that he bath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand." Let .us fix our attention on this antithesis: what a man has and what a man-is. The stoic Epictetus dwelt, in his noble exhorta- tions, on this contrast. There are tbiaga he says which are "within us," within our power, within the scope of our choice and control; other things which are" not within our power," over which our will- -has little or no controL The important matter, then, in self~government, is to be master of this inward sphere of thought, feeling, purpose. Then outward changes can work us no real harm. One who had duly imbibed these lessons said of his persecutors," They may kill me, but they cannot hurt me." But the aspect of this truth in the light of the Christian rev.elation is more winning than the cold and haughty self-reliance of stoicism. He who has given himself up to the love and guidance of a heavenly Father knows that bis soul is safe, whatever the disease of his body or the sufferings of his mind. Cast down he may be, destroyed he cannot be, Mo long as he is held by the hand that sustains the world. "Wherefore let them that suffer in well-doing commit their souls unto him, as unto a faithful Creator." VII. '!'his passage shows us that THERE Is LIGHT IN REAVEN WHILE THERE IS DARKNESS UPON EARTH. There is the silver lining behind the cloud of every earthly affliction ; for the presence of eternal wisdom and love is there. All was soon to be darkness, dismay, and doubt for the mind of Job; but to him who sees the end from the beginning all was clear and full of meaning. The machinations of the devil will only serve to bring out the fidelity and patience of his chosen servant, who will live to see the "end of the Lord," that be is very pitiful and of tender mercy. Let us lift up our thoughts, in every season of personal or national depression, in every time of discouragement, when wickedness a.bounds, when the devil seems to be advancing his kinadom and the li@:ht of faith is waning, to that eternal, unquenchable light of the wisdom that co.nnot ,err, the will that evil w~ver oan defeat. Let us never forget that "Blessing, not cursing, rules above, And that in it we live nnd move." J.,,-· Vere. 13--22.-The invasion of trouble, and its first effect on Job. The lessons on which we have been dwelling, and on which Job had doubtless deeply rueditated in the  THE BOOK OF JOB. [on. x. 1-22.