Such a sentiment, Rgain, ie common to the expetience of aufl'er1u8 hearts, ie deeply embedded in the poetry of the world. But how far more common and frequent the he.ppy, hee.lthy mood which find11 & 11;est and relish in the mere sense of existence, in the simple, nature.I pleasures of every day I 'l'lte longing for the rest of the grave is the mood of intense weariness and disee.se; and It is counteracted by the mood of J'1111tored health, which longs for activity, even in hee.ven. Well .b.aa that poet, who haa entered so deeply into all the phases of modern sadness, sung- • Whatever crazy Sorrow saith, No life that breathes with hume.n broe.th He.th ever truly longed for dee.th. 'Tie life whereof our nerves ue scant; Oh, life, not death, for which we pe.nt; More life and fuller, that we want." III. l:r-.""TERROGATION OF LlFE's MYSTERrns. (Vers. 20-26.) Once more, from longing for deat~, th_e <;iis!ressed mi~_d of the sufferer passes to impatient questioning. Why should hfe, 1f 1t 1s to be given to any, be given to sufferers who desire death? why should it be given to him who can find no rest, who is ever in dread of fresh woes? This complaint, again, is nature.I, but it is not wise. ,v e are impatient of pain; we should otherwise he.ve no quarrel with the mystery of being. But pain is a great fact in the constitution of the world; it is there; it is there evidently by Divine appointment; it cannot be glozed over nor explained away. The wisdom' of piety is in reconciling ourselves to it as the dispensation of God, in submitting to it as hie will, supporting it with patience. Then, "though no affliction for the present be joyous, but grievous, yet afterward it will yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness'.' (Heh. xii. 11). In hope let us- • "Strain through years To catch the far-off interest of tea.re." To the question of Job the answer is-Suffering is the signet of a majestic being. Tbe light of eternity, falling athwart our tears, forms a rainbow prophetic of our glorious destiny. But the fiual and most significant of all answers is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is the union of highest life with extremest suffering. Born to suffer, and by suffering to be made perfect, the Lord Jesus Christ supplies for them that trust in him a power by which they can rise out of the mysterious darkness of pain, believing that what is tried, even as by fire, shall be found unto praise e.nd honour and glory at his appearing. The study of this paroxysm of extreme pain· of mind,11ill be instructive if it help us to govem any similar moods which may a.rise in our own minds. LESS01'"&. 1. There is a natural and precious relief from mental_pain in words. •• Poor breathing orators of miseries I Let them have scope; thongh what they do impart Help nothing else, yet they do ew:ie the heart." 2. God, our gracious Fe.ther, is not offended by our sincerity. Greater than our hearts, he knows all things. This book and many of the psalms teach us a childlike piety by repeating words in which sufferers poured forth all their complaints as well as thanksgivings into the ear of him who misunderstands nothing. 8. There is e.n exaggeration in all the moods of depression. We are prone to overstate the ills of life, and to forget the numberless hours of joy in which we have instinctively thanked God for the blessing of existence. 4. The very intensity and exaggeration of suoh moods point forward to a reaction. They will not continue long in the course of nature. God ha.I! mercifully so constructed this :fine mechanism of body and mind that these extremes bring their own remedy. Patience, then. The hour is darkest that is nearest the dawn. .. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."-J.
Vere. 1-12.-Human" infirmity revealed in deep ajftiction. Frail is the bee.rt of man. With all iu. heroism, its end•rrance and power, yet the stout heart yields and tbe bra.ve spirit jg cowed. The strongest bends beneath the heavy pressure. But if t.he b.urnau life ill io be truthfully pre~eated, its failures as well as its excellences OB, 111, 1-26,] THE BOOK OF JOB. 61
must be sot forth. It is Rn evidence that the writer is Rttempting 11.n impartial statement, and in the midst of his poetical representntions is not led away to mere extravagance and exaggeration in depicting the qu11.lities of the righteous man. Job's strength of henrt receives e. shock. He is in the whirlpvol of suffering and sorrow. Ho will recover himself in time; but for the present he is as one who has lost his balance. Let it not bo forgotten how severe the strain upon him is. His possessions have been torn from him; his family stricken down by death; his body is the seat of a fierce and foul disease; bis friends are powerless to help him. No wonder that "his grief was very great." Out of that grief springs his wail of complaint-the cry of a spirit overburdened. 'l.'his is an instance of what may escape from the lips of a strong and good man under the pressure of unusual affliction. In judging the cry of sorrow or forming our estimate of the character of him who raises it, we must remember- !. THAT IT DOES NOT ACCURATELY REPRESENT THE UTTERANCE OF A CALM UNBIASSED JUDGMENT, 'l.'he sufferer is so liable to be unmanned at such an hour. 'fhere is too vivid a perception of the pains of life for the cry to be an accurate judgment on life itself. JI. THAT IT IS THE EXPRESSTON OF THE SOUL'S FEELINGS IN THE (EXTREMITY OF ITS 0IR0UMBTANCEB, And although the true test of strength is in an ability to bear the heaviest pressure, yet that perfection of virtue by which the severest !strain can be borne with calmness is only an uncommon experience; if, indeed, it can ever be folllld but in the Perfect One. III. 'l'HE INHERENT IIUMAN FRAILTY. In this instance Job, "the perfect man and upright," falls behind the one ,absolute Example of patient endurance of the severest sufferings. Job, judged by the ordinary standard of human)ife, must be pronounced a model of patient endurance. The inherent weakness, the true mark of humanity, is npparent here. The world needed one "greater than Job" as its typical Example of patience. IV. But in all we may also learn THE USELESSNESS OF THAT CRY OF BOB.ROW WHICH DEMANDS THE IMPOSSIBLE. In quietness and self-composure Job would not have cried thus. Reason is not always supreme. In moments of great suffering her authority is assailed, impaired, even sometimes lost. In our judgment upon the cries of our frail brethren, we must, therefore, extend our utmost charity, make every allowance for the extreme conditions of which they are the expressions ; and in our own habit of life accustom ourselves so to receive our minor afflictions that we may be tutored to comport ourselves rightly under the extremest pressure.-R. G.