ln fact, so conoem hlmeelf, and a little re- Or cim I mo.ke compenHtion in the fnture ? fleotion is enough to show us tho.t the op- Neither seems to Job to be possible. 0 thou posite view, instead of exalting, ro11,lly de- Presener of men; rather, tho•~ Ob,erner of gmdee God. To bring conscious, sentient men. A continuation of the complaint that beings into the world-beings c11,p11,ble of God's eye is always upon him. Why hut the intensest ho.ppinesR or misery, a.ml then thou set me as a mark against thee f " A to leo.ve thom wholly to thomselves, to hnve mark" (1mi1:1) is either" a butt,"" R tuget no further co.re or thought of them, would for arrows,·• or else " an obstacle," " a be the part, not of e. grand, glorious, and stumbling-block," which God, hy repeated adorable Being, but of one destitute of any blows, is rAmoving out of hie way. The latter claim to our admiration. And that thou meaning is preferred by Schultens and Pro- shouldeat set thine heart upon him 1 This fessor Lee; the former by RosAnmiiller and strong expression is not used of God else- our Revisers. So that I am a burden to where. But it well expresses the extreme myself (comp. Ps. :uxviii. 4). tenderness nnd considero.tion thnt God has Ver. 21.-And why dost thou not pardon for mo.n, and the deep love from which that my transgreaaion, and take away mine ini- tenderness and consideration spring. quity 1 Job feels that, if he has sinned, Ver. 18.-And tho.t thou ehouldeet visit which he is ready to admit as possible, him every morning, and try him every mo- though he has certainly no deep conviction ment 1 Our whole lire is a probation, not of sin (eh. vi. 24, 29, 30; vii. 19), at a.ny merely particular po.rte of it. God " tries rate he has not sinned greatly, heinously; us every moment," if not with o.fllictions, and therefore he cannot understand why he then with blessings; if not with pains, then has not been forgiven. The idea that the with plee.snres. He is with us aU the da.y Almighty cannot forgive sin except npon long, and all our life long, equally in his conditions, is unknown to him. Believing meroies and iu his ohastisements. Dut Job God to be a God of mercy, he regards him wo.s probably thinking only of the latter. also, just as Nehemiah did, as a" God of Ver. 19.-How long wilt thou not depart pardons" (Neh. ix. 17)-a belief which from me 1 rather, Wilt thou not look away seems to have been instinctive with men of from me f (see the Revised Version). Job all nations. And it appears to him unac- does not go so fa.r as to ask that God should countable. that· pardon has not been ex- "depart from " him. He knows, doubtless, tended to himself. Like his "comforters," tho.t that would be the extreme of calamity. he makes the mi~take of supposing thnt all But he would ho.ve God sometimes turn his afflictions have been pen;il, are signs of awo.y hie eyes from him, and not nlways re- God's displeasure, and intende<l to crush and gard him so intently. There is something destroy him. He has not woke up to the of the so.me tone of complaint in the psalm- difference between God's punishments and ist's utterance, " Thou nrt about my path, his chastisements. Apparently, he does not and about my bed, and spiest out all my know that " whom the Lord loveth he chas- ways" (Ps. oxxxix. 3, Praver-bookVersion). teneth," or that men are "made perfect Nor let me alone till I swallow down my through sufferings" (Heb. ii. 10). P'or now spittle 1 Even, i.e., for the shortest space of shall I sleep in the duet. Now it is too late time possible. A proverbial expression. for pardon to avail anything. Death is nigh Ver. 20.-I have sinned. This is not so at hand. The final blow must soon be much a confession as a ooncession, equiva- struok. And thou ahalt seek me in the lent to " Granting that I have sinned," or, morning, but I sho.11 not be. The idea "Suppose that I have sinned." In that seems to be-God will relent at lust ; he co.so, What shall I do unto thee1 or, What will seek to alleviate my sufferings ; he will can I do for thee 1 How is it in my power search for me diligently-hot I shall have to do anything? Can I undo the past? ceased to be
HOMILETICS. V crs. 1-10.-Job to God: I. The soliloquy of sorrow. I. A PATH.l'l'I'IC HEPHRBENTA- TION OF HUMAN LIFE. In contrast to the fascinating picture sketched by E1iphaz (eh. v. 17-27), Job depicts human life in general, and his own sorrowful existence in particular, as: 1. .A term of hard service. "Is there not an appointed time [literally, 'J 'a warfare, a term of hard service on the earth?" like that of II mercenary soldier hired out for military purposes to a foreign despot; and "are not his days like the days of an hireling?" i.e. e. hired Rle.ve who has been let out to some pitiless taskmaster; both of whom, the soldier and the slave, "pant for the shadow" on the dial, and "long for their wages," to give them a release from their heavy toils. The language suggests : (1) That the period of human lifo is in every instance fixed, the Almighty having no, 'l'llE BOOlt OF JOB. [ott. VIt 1-21,