HOMILIES 13Y VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-10.-.Renewed assaults and temptatiom of tlie adversary. The first scene in this drama of affliction bas clo,,ed, and a fresh one opens, bringing, however, no happy change, no alleviation, but rather an aggravation of the hero's woe. A second time the adversary of mankind appears in the heavenly court to launch his ,malicious, shafts of accusation against the servant of God. His purpose is now more intent, his aim more deadly, than ever. But we, as spectators, can see a bright light still steadily shining above the cloud in that unfailing favour and kindness of the Eternal, whe cannot, will not, desert his own. Looking more closely to the particulars, we see- L '.l'mi: PITY OF GoD FOR ms BUFFERING SERVANTS. (Vera. 1-3.) Jehovah looks down and beholds '' his servant Job," as he stands unshaken amidst a very hurricane of- calamity, holding to his integrity as something dearer than life; and he condescends to expostulate with the accuser. Has not the trial gone far enough? Is not the test that Job has already undergone sufficient to satisfy the most sceptical observer of his truth? Must the furnace be heated still another degree r But the adversary is not content; and it would appear that, if further trial is demanded, the demand is not to be resisted., according to the laws of heaven. The moral government of the world may require: this. Thus, while the pity of God would relieve from further suffering, his righteous- neas--whlch is his adherence to fixed law-may require its continuance, until every doubt concerning a particular character be solved. But the language ascribed to the heavenly Father is, meanwhile, full of the tenderest compassion. There is indi- vidualizing regard. . '.I.'here is recognition of integrity and innocence. There is pro- found sympathy. We are reminded of the touching word.a of Ps. ciii., "He knows our frame ; be remembers that we are dust." II. In opposition to this, we observe THE IULIGl!iANT PBRIIBVERANCE OF THE DEVILi 1. His specwus ilea ago,in,t; Job. (Vers. 4, 5.) In the form of a. proverb he launches a keen iusinuation: "Skin for skin;" like after like; one thing after another will a man give for dear life. Job has only made a ban.er aft.er all. He lo888 all his property; bot OH, U. 1-18.] THE BOOK OF JOB. 43
than he hae that left which outweighs all the rest. The loss of goods Miaches him to prize the health which is left. He feels the greatness of this blessing as he never felt it before. Any circumstance which teac;hes us the worth of a common blessing is so far an advantago to us. An eminent living man has said that, given health, we have no right to complain of anything in the world. Job, then, has only been half tempted after nil; and the trial will only run its full course when it has assailed this last great, chief blessing-his health of body and of mind. Such is the" case" of the devilish prosecutor against Job. 2. The final test permitted. (Vers. 6---8.) The All-disposer grants the permission: "He is in thy power; but spare his life! " And then a sudden poison strikes through the sufferer's blood ; he becomes from head to foot a mass of disease anu loathsomeness, sits in ashes, scraping himself with a potsherd, to allay the fearful irritation of his malady. His mind is, of course, deeply affected by the illness of bis body. Natural hope is extinct. It is a life in ruins. Yet that Divine anu immortal principle we call the soul is still intact, still glimmers like a bright spark amidst the embers of a dying fire. III. TEMPTATION IN THE GUISE OF AFFECTION, (Vers. 9, 10.) And now what remains of conscious life is to know one further shock; and the hand of woman, the voice of a wife, is employed to urge the tottering sufferer over the brink on wbich he sits, into despair and total renunciation of faith and God. Then his wife said to him," Dost thou still hold fast to thine innocence? Say farewell to God, and die ! " 1. This is a second signal instance in which, in the Old Te~tament, woman plays the part of the tempter. There is instruction in this pointed fact. Woman is the weaker vessel, in mind as iu body. She has less firmness of intellectual texture. Her weakness as well as her strength lies in feeling. She is quick in impulses, both of good a.nd of evil. She represents passion, a.rid ma.n represents strength. On the whole, she is less capable of strong, profound, patient convictions, less able to take a large view of questions, to look beyond the present and immediate aspects of things. Here is the picture of a lively temper, quick to_ Jee! resentment at pain or gratitude for good; but a shallow under- i;t;;.nding, unused to meditation and reflection on the deeper meanings of life. Her h1,guage is that of haste and passion. But this serves to bring out by contrast the calm, reflective piety, the convictions established by lifelong thought and experience of her husband. 2. The rebuke of Job to his wife. (1) "Thou speakest as one of the foolisl). women;" that is, thy language is like that of a heathen, not of one who has been trained in the knowledge and worship of the true God. The heathen turn fickly from one god to another _as pleasure and pa.in or the caprice of fancy may: suggest. For their gods are but idols, creatures of their own imagination, which they take up and cast down as children with their toys. But there is only one God for me I And that God, the eternally Wise and Good in all that he gives, in all that he with- holds I (2) There are two sides of life, and tbe one must be takeu along with the other. Here, too, the language of manly reasonableness and of intelligent piety speaks out. Life is a garment woven of both pleasure and pain, of seeming good and evil. The one conditions the other. All experience teaches that constant happiness is the lot of none. Why, then, should I expect to be an exception? Surely we are but crude scholars in life's great school, so long as we think we are entitled to immunity from any particular form of suffering. We arc still children who think thq have a right to their own way, and are astonished to find tbemsel ves withstood. "Who told thee thou hadst a right to be happy? Art thou a vulture screaming for thy food? " "Couldst thou, Pausanias, lea.rn How deep o. fo.ult is this I Couldst thou but once discern 'Thou hast no right to bliss I" Here, then, the weakness of distrust and the folly of despair in the human heart, represented by Job's wife, stand opposed to the nobleness and grandeur of a. fathom- less confidence in the Eternal. God is the Author at last of all we suffer. Is that, a reason for forsaking God? No, replies faith; it is a reason for reF,sing more entirely upon his everlasting arms, ' If my bark sinks, 'tis to another sea. '-J.
Vera. 11-13.-A picture of friendship. In this short section we have a beautiful « THE BOOR. OF J013. [on. n. 1-..18,