Vers. l-6.-17ie days of the hireling. Job speaks from the depth of suffering, and as yet he has no clear light upon the Divine purpose concerning him. God, who is his true Refuge, appears to be his Enemy; and he likens his miserable days to those of_ the oppressed slave. This he urges as a justification of the longing for rest which he has expressed. For him there is no prospect of tha.t rest but in the grave. It is the cry of bitt.er subjection. . 1. THE COJO'AlilBON OF HU1IU.N LIFE TO THAT OF THE filRELING. It is an appointed lot. It iii a lot of subjection. It is a life of toil and weariness. In Job's case the comparison is most apt. But his thought is especially upon the longing of the hireling for the close of the day. For this the toil, the heat, the weariness, prepare him. Job's condition is one of hard toil. He is weary even of his life. Aud his longing for the rest which death alone can bring is the precise point of his comparison. How often does life present no brighter or more beauteous aspect! Its many cares, its disappoint- meuts, its multiplied sorrows and keen, penetrating pa.ins make life to many to be as the hard drudgery of the hireling. How many long for dea.th as the hireling for night I Jn a true sense life is the life of a hireling, and the good ]\faster who has sent us into his vineyard to toil will reward the faithful labourer with his sufficient hire. II. THE AGGRAVATIONS OF Joa's LOT. He is to his own view as one whose toil is a grievous one. He is more than weary ; and his longing for the shadows of evening is justified by wha.t seems to him tc be the hardness of his taskmaster. Earnestly he "desireth the shadow;" for long " months of vanity" he is " made to possess," and "weari"i;ome nights are appointed" to him. When the tired la.bourer lies down to rest in unconacioWI sleep, and to gain streng:th for the toil of the morrow, Job is "full of tossings to and fro." 'l'he dawn brings him no refreshment, The fevered night leBNu him t.o encounter W1,prepa.red the enemy of the day, His poor mt. vlr. 1-21.J THE BOOK: OF ,JOB. 133
nlflicted body preeents the SFlddest picture; "worms and clods of dt1st" clothe it. Hie "skin is broken;" his sores make his flesh "loathsome'' to him, and his "days are spent without hope." From euch a sufferer comes the word of complaining. It is little to be wondered nt by one who remembers his own frailty. Tbe picture of Job is n lesson for us, nnd, turning our thoughts from our own healthy life to the sufferings of the o.filicted, let us leo.rn our duty, and cherish : 1. The pitifulness of spirit which is due to nil sufferers. 2. Their claim upon our help and sympathy. 3. The forbear- ance with which we should hear their complainings. 4. We also may, in our turn, become the sufferers, and necrl the comfort we now give to others. Thus may each mau see himself in every sufferer, and learn to give that consolation he himself so soon may need.-R. G. Vere. 1-6.-The weariness of sorrow. Expressing itself- I. IN A DESIRE FOR THE CLOSE OF LIFE. (Ver. 2.) II. As A CONTINUOUS DISAPPOINTMENT. (Ver. 3.) III. As A OEASELESB RESTLF.llSNESS. (Ver. 4.) IV. As A REVOLT FROM THE PAINFULNESS 011' ITS OIRCUMSTANCEI!. (Ver. 5.) V. As A CONDITION OF HOPELESSNESS. (Ver. 6.)---R. G.
Vers. 6-9.-The speedy flight of life. In the multitude of his thoughts within him, Job glances at many of the painful aspects of life. His view is influenced by the condition of his spirit. With a longing for the grave, he nevertheless mourns over the rapid flight of his few days upon earth. Such a reflection every one may wisely make. Consider the expressive similes in which Job sees bis hasty life represented. 1. His days are swifter than the weaver's-shuttle (ver. 6). 2. They are as the wind (ver. 7). 3. They are as the glance of the eye (ver. 8). 4. They are as the cloud which is con- •Sumed, and which vanisheth awny (ver. 9). To what course of conduct should such 1, reflection lead? Ir life-be so swi1tly passed, can anything be done to abate its apparent evil? What is becoming to him whose days thus flee away? 1. A diligent and careful use e.nd husbanding of time; 2. A concentration of attention on life's essential work, avoiding all frivolous occupations of time which rob the soul of its days anrl leave no residuum of blessing or benefit. 3. A careful guard against confining the pursuits of life to those things which can be attained only in this present worlJ. 4. A juet estimate of the value of immortality, and a due attention to the interests that relate to it. 5. A patient endurance of life's sorrows, seeing they will soon close ; and a moderate absorption -in life's pleasures, for they speedily pass away. Life is very brief, but it is long enough to enable every one to lay hold on eternal life, to prepare himself for that eternal life, and to do work that hereafter may be reflected upon with pleasure.-R. G.
Vere. 11~16.-The cry of despair. Job is in the depth of his suffering. His heart is sore broken. He bursts forth with his loud complaint, which he can no longer restrain. His spirit seeks relief in its cry. Every cry is supposed to give relief. But the bitter cry of despair, coming up from the depths of excruciating sorrow, often marks the turning-point in the history of suffering. Its vanity and uselessness being made apparent, the soul returns to a calmer and more collected state. I. THE CRY OF DESPAIR IS WRUNG FROM THE HEART ONLY IN ITS EXTREMEST SUFFER- INGS, Brave aud strong as the human spirit may be under suffering, there comes a moment when its strength fails. It reaches a climax of pain and anguish. It can hold out no more; and, in the passionate haste for relief, seeks it ia. its wild cry of despair. "I will speak in the anguish of my spirit." II. THE ORY OF DESPAIR IS VAIN. It fails to give ease to the suffering flesh, and, thoul(h an expression of the soul's anguish, in itself it is powerless to relieve that anguish. It is liable to excite but to rebelliousness. It is as the struggle of one enclosed in a strong net; or as the folly of a child, in wild passion, kicking with bare foot age.inst the stony rock. Ill. ']'HE CRY OF DESPAIR, BEING OFTEN, AB HERE, A ORY OF DEFIANT COMPLAINT, TENDS TO BOUSE THE SOUL TO WIOKED REBELLIOUSNESS. 'rhere is no restraint put upon the agitated soul, It is ltt loose in unrestricted freedom to declare, not its co.Im 134 THE BOOK OF lOB. [011. vn. 1-21.·