picture of true friendship in it~ prompt sympathy, its ready offio88. The three intimate friends of Job, on hearing of his troubles, arrange t.o visit him and offer the comfort of their presence and condolence. We 11re reminded- I. OF TRE BLESSIN0 OF FRIENDSHIP. Sympathy is the lndispeMable need of the he11rt. It deepens the colour of all our pleftl!nres; it throws a gleam of light athwart our deepe~t gloom. "Rejoice with them that do rejoice; and weep with them that "·eep." Our joys do not burst into flower till they feel the warm atmosphere of friend- ship. Our heaviest griefs only cease to be crushing when ,ve have poured our tale into the ear of one we love. One of the humblest, yet best offices a friend can render to a. sufferer is to be a good listener. Draw him out; get him to talk; movement and change of mind are what he needs. Exertion, if only the exertion of speech, will do him good. Do not pour upon him a. cataract of well-meaning but stunning common- places. Imitate the kindness of Job's friends, but not their want of tact and per- ception. Let him only feel that in your presence he can relieve himself of all that is on his mind, and will not fail to be kindly understood. II. SEASONABLE SILEKCE IN THE PRESEK0E OF SORROW. On the arrival of the friends, seeing the heart-rending condition of the noble chieftain, whom they had last seen in the height of his health and prosperity, now sitting in the open air, banished by disease from his dwelling, defaced by that disease beyond recognition, an utterly broken man, they express their grief by all the significant gestures of Eastern manners -weepin!1'., rending their clothes, sprinkling dust upon their heads. They then take their places by his side, and keep a profound and mournful silence for a week, as Ezekiel did when he visited his countrymen captives by the river Chebar. What exquisite manners are taught us in the Bible I And the great superiority of its teach- ing in this respect over the common teaching of the world is that it founds all manners upon the heart. It is truth, love, sympathy, which can alone render us truly polite, refined, and delicate in our relations to others, teaching us always to put ourselves in thought in the other's place. "There is a time to keep silence." In great grief we recognize the hand of God, and he bids us be still and own him. Our smaller feelings bubble, our deeper ones are dumb. There are times when reverence demands silence, and a single word is too much. Leave the sufferer alone at first. Let him collect him- self; let him ask what God has t.o say to him in the still, small voice that comes after the earthquake and the storm. "Sacred silence, thou that art offspring of the deeper heart, frost of the mouth, and thaw of the mind I " Sit by your friend's side, clasp his hand, say simply, "God comfort you, my brother I" In the earlier stage of a fresh and sudden grief this will be enough. We cannot doubt that the wounded heart of Job was greatly comforted by the silent presence of his sympathizing friends. It was better than ell their spoken attempts at consolation. Let us thank God for friendship and for true friends; they are messengers from him. "God, who comforteth them that are cast down, comforted me by the coming of Titus I "-J.
Vers. l-10.-2'7ie severer tests of faith. Job has triumphed in the severe ordeal. His possessions, bis servants, his family, have been torn from him. In the bitterness of his sorrow he has "rent bis mantle," and shown the signs of his humiliation by cutting off the hair of his head. But in the paroxysms _of his grief he has " held fast his integrity;" he "sinned not, nor charged God foolishly." So far he has passed through the fire unscathed, and belied the false accusations of the adversary, But further trials are at hand. It is in accordance with the spirit and purpose of the book to represent the lowest condition of human sorrows. Besides loss of possessions and loss of his beloved children, Job must needs be subjected to the lose of health-to a dire and painful and loathsome disease. All ~hi_s i~ aggravate~ by the unwise _taunts a11:d advice of his wife, and the prolonged aud 1rntatrng accusations and false views o~ his friends. It is a condition of extreme suifering unrelieved by any human consolat10ns. Job is alone in his sufferings, llll6Uetained, his pain even increased by the very voices that should have bJought comfort to him. Up to the time of his friends' visit Job has remained unmoved in his -uncomplaining integrity. "In all this did not Job sin with his lips." The test to which he was subjected by the severe and reproachful and unhelpful words of his friends is presented in its detailed relation throughout tho book. Weleam- <lll, II, 1-18.] THE BOOK OF JOB. 46
I. THAT IT 18 POBBIBLE l!'OB EVEN THE BIGHTEOIJB MAN TO BUFl'ER IN THE EXTREMl!:BT DEGREE. It ie one part of the purpose of the book to illustrate this truth for sufferers in all time, to make known that "many" may be "the afflictions of the righteous." II. '!'HAT THE PURPOSE OF THESE EXTREME AFFLICTIONS IS THE TESTING AND PERFECTING OF VIRTUE, which, even in the case of the righteous, is necessarily imperfect. Ree.ding through thie book, it would appear that the work of Satan is to test virtue. Satan is called" the agent of probation." He displays a malignant and antagonistic spirit. But whatever may seem to be the motives on the one side, it is obviously the Divine purpose to make the testing an occasion of blessing to him who is tested. "When he is tried he shall receive a. crown of life." Satan must be considered as a servant of the most high God, whose agency is employed in the spiritual discipline of the righteous. The conditions of temptation to evil a.re so intimately identified with all those of the human life, that we can only think of them as a necessary part of the present constitution under which human life is held. By it virtue is exposed to injury; but in its fires virtue is purified and perfected. III. THA.T THE TRIUMPH OF VIRTUE IN RESISTING TEMPTATION TO EVIL A:-ID TO IMPATIENCE UNDER THE OPPRESSION OF PAIN, IS THE UTMOST TRIUMPH OF THE HUMAN SOUL, AND ENSURES THE HIGHEST REWARD. He who subjects the delicate life to the fierce blast of evil will not so expose it as needlessly to endanger its highest interests. Temptation does not appeal to the virtue of the heart, but to its remaining faultiness, which it exposes for destruction, e.nd so proves its own beneficent action. IV. In the history of Job we further learn that EVEN LOFTY VIRTUE MAY BE BOWED DOWN, AND SHOW SIGNS OF WEAKNESS BEFORE FINALLY TRIUMPHING. V. We also learn THE WISDOM OF PATIENTLY SUBMITTING TO THE TRIALS OF LIFE, HOWEVER SEVERE. Rebelliousness brings no ease to the troubled spirit. The only alternative offered to Job was, "Curse God, and die." The better course is to retain integrity, to sin not, nor charge God foolishly.-R. G.