to the agitation of the eoul in preeen1:e of the Unseen. There ia a trembling and quivering of the whole frame in every limb. The hair stands on end. A materialistic philosophy, which either denies or ignores man's relation to the U nsecn, can never explain sway these phenomena. They are involuntary witnesses to the reality of that power which besets us behind and before, which i;; "closer to us than our breathing, nearer than hands and feet," from which we cannot flee. IV. 'fHE APPARITION. (Vere. 15, 16.) It is well to note in what. vague anrl awful touches the presence of the Divine is hinted. A spirit passes before the slee1,cr-it stands still-but its form, its features, cannot be exactly discerned. There is the like vagueness iu Moses' vision, and in that of Isaiah in the temple. For no man can look upon the face of God, no man can receive aught but the dimmest anrl faintest impres- sion_ of that inexpressible form. These descriptions yield us lessons as public teachers. They remind us that a tone of reserve, a simplicity of description, not overpassing the reverential bvunds of Scripture, the suggestion of a va.st background of mystery, should accompany all that we venture to speak to men concerning God. V. THE ORACLE. (Vers.17-21.) It is a solemn rebuke to that spirit which Eliphaz thought he discerned in his friend-the assumption of innocence and righteonsness in the presence of God. "For there is not a just man upon earth, which doeth good and sinneth not" (Eccles. vii. 20). Its contents may be summed up m the words of the psalm (cxliii. 2), "In thy sight shall no man living be justified." Its meauing is echoed in such words as these: "Righteous, 0 God, art thou in thy judgments" (Jer. xii. I); "Let God be true, and every man a. liar, as it is written, That thou migh test be justifiea in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged" (Rom. iii. 4). There is no privilege of question, of criticism, of reproach, or complaint when man approaches the works of God. His part is to understand and to submit. The right of criticism implies some equality of knowledge; but how can this subsist between the creature and the Creator? "Who a.rt thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?" (Rom. ix. 20). Criticism is silenced in the presence of overwhelming superiority. There are a. few great works even of human a.rt before which the tongue of cavil and fault-fiuding is hushed. Who dares to sit in judgment on the sculptures of a Phidias, or the paintiugs of a Raphael, or the poems of a. Shakespeare? Admiration, study, have here alone place. At least, in these mere human works, the presumption ever is that the master is right and the critic is a. fool. How much more must this be so in the relation between the ignorant creature and the omniscient Crea.tor? But in the oracle, this great truth is supported, not by a comparison of ignorant man with great geniuses, but by a. comparison of men with angels. They a.re the immediate servants of the Most High ; they stand nearer to him than man. Yet they are imperfect, unworthy of the full confidence of their Divine Lord, liable to error and mistake. How much more so man, who is conscious of sin as they a.re not-sin that disturbs bis judgment, that clouds his perceptions! Again, the angels enjoy a life ever vigorous and young, that knows not decay nor death ! But man inhabits a house of clay, an- earthly tabernacle; be wears a. "muddy vesture of decay," and lives on" this dim spot of earth." He is an ephemeral creature, living from dawn to sunset; easily crushed like a moth; living in dense ignorance, amid which death suddenly surprises him. This, it is true, is not the only aspect of hum= life. All is comparison. If man's spiritual nature be contrasted with the shortness of his life and the feebleness of his powers, it rises into grandeur by the comparison. But if bis mere intellect be brought into contrast with the Infinite Intelligence, then be must needs sink into insignificance. A true comparison will either tea.eh us faith and hope, or humility; and both lessons are derived from the nearer view of the pro- founder knowledge of the greatness of God. VI. INFERENCES FROM THE ORACLE. 1. The idleness of complaints against God. (Cb. v. 1.) For the very angels, should Job apply to one of them, would in the conscious- ness of their relation to the Supreme, adopt no complaint of the kind. 2. Such complain- ing spirit is tM sign of a fatal folly. (Vers. 2, 3.) 'Tisa sin which, if indulged, will slay the sinner. And here follows another powerful picture of the dread fatality attending upon the fool• -upon him who would in thought and life nourish a quarrel with Heaven. He may for a time appear prosperous and firmly rooted, but the doom will fall up0n him and bis house. " I knew such a case," says Elipbaz, with emphasis. 78 T'.lnl OOOK O'F .tOB. (011. IV. l--'--91.
"Not blinded by the outward dazzle of his futnro, I, in abhorrence of hie oharaoter, predicted hie downfall; 1tnd it has come to pass. Hie 110na, feeling all the weight of a father's guilt, are thrust aside, and can obtain no justice at the handa of their fellows (ver. 4). 'l'hose whom the faLher had oppressed seize, ae in the hunger and thirst of the 'wild justice' _of revenge, upon the property of the sons; they ravage and despoil, and snatch the ,·arnly guarded harvest even from among the thorns" (ver. 6). CoNCLUDn<G LESSON. There is a cause of every human suffering, and that ca11118 is not exfRT-n.al, but internal (vere. 6, 7). Not external. Not accidental. Not like the weed that springi; from the earth, and which can be rooted out at will. But int.imal. Thi' cause of man's sufferings is deeply seated in his nature. He is born to suffer. He is a native of the territory of woe. As certain this as any physical law-as that sparks should fly upward, and that stones should fa.11. Vain, then, these murmurs against the course and constitution of things. Whatever is, is best. If sorrow be a great part of our destiny, resignation is our wisdom and our duty. And be who has learned calmly to bow before the inentable, and to submit to law, is prepared to listen to those sweet consolatiom which Elipbaz proceeds to unfold from the nature of him whose will is to bless, not curse; who follows out, by the very means of pain and sorrow, the ·eternal counsels of love.-J. - - '" ,