The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 207

:rhilo~ophy, are eerred up with the air of, and made to do duty for, original discoveries. Yet it i6 proper to remember that truth once apprehended by the mind docs not deteriorate, or become less ,·11luable, by Rge. Besides, it is of more consequence that a doctrine i;hould be true than that it should be new. Still, new truth, or, what is often rni~taken for euoh, new aspects of old truths, possess a singular fascination for vigorous and independent minds. II. UNni,n BEHAVIOUR RESE1'"TED. 1. Its charactM" described. "I am as one mocked of his neigh hour;" "The just upright man is laughed to scorn." By serving up snch t.rite pl11tit.udes 11e Job had listened to, they had simply been convertin" him nnd hie calRmities into a laughing-stock, brcause they sa1v him st:mding on the ;harp edge of ruin, as a traveller might cast away "a despised l11mp,'' of which he had no further need. To make a man the subject of laughter, the butt of ridicule, the object of scornful wit on account of either personal 11ppearance (Gen. xxi. 9), bodily infirmity (2 Kings ii. 23), providential adversity (Lam. ii. 15), or religious character (Pa. xiii. 3), is severely reprehended by the Word of God (Prov. iii. 34; xvii. 6; xxx. 17). Yet good men may expect to receive such treatment at the hands of worldly unbelievers and nominal professors, sjnce the like was meted out to Christ (Matt. xxvi. 67, 68; xxvii. 27-31; Luke xxiii. 35), David (Ps. xxii. 7; xx:r.v. 16; lxix. 11, 12), and the apostles (Acts ii. 13), to Old 'l'estament saints (2 Chron. xxx. 10; 1 Kings xxii. 24; Heh. xi. 36), and New Testament preachers (Acts xvii. 32) and disciples (Jude 18). 2. Iu aggravatiom recited. These were twofold. (1) Job, who had been subjected to this scornful laceration, had been (a) a good man, personally just and upright, and therefore such & one as saints should not have ridiculed; (b) one who had enjoyed confidential. communications with Heaven-& man of prayer, who had called upon God and been answered by him-and therefore not a parson to be lightly spoken of or to; and (c) &miserable sufferer overtaken by adversity--0ne who was "ready t'> 11lip with his feet," and on that account all the more requiring to be comforted inste11d of scorned. (2) They who had scorned him had been (a) his neighbours, his friends, at whose hands he should rather have received pity (eh. vi. 14); and (b) were themselves in the enjoyment of ease, wl,ich might have kindled in their flinty bosoms a spark of sympathy for his misfortunes. 3. Its extenuation stated. It was common, "Contempt for the weak, who totter and fall on slippery paths, is the habitual impulse of those who stand firmly on the firm ground of security, and see no reason why other men should 1Jot be as vigorous and 'resolute' and prosperous as themselves" (Cox). 'l'he world worships success; failure is its unpardonable sin. ,vhen fortune smiles upon a person he is known of all; when adversity engulfs him, he is forgotten by all (eh. viii. 18). Recall the language of Buckingham on Lis way to execution: "This from a dying man receive as certain," etc. (' Kiug Henry VIIL,' act ii. sc. 1); and Mark A.1Jtony's address over C111sa.r's dead body: "But ye~rday," etc. (' Julius C111sar,' act iii. SC, 2). Learn: 1. If adversity has its uses, prosperity has its dangerB, being prone to engender self-conceit, arrogance, lack of sympathy, and contempt for others, 2. Wisdom is the noblest excellence of man; ye~of wisdom no man cnjoye a monopoly. 3. ] t is no dispa1 agement to truth to be styled commonplace, since precisely ns it becomes commonplace does it accomplish its mission. 4. As prayer will not alwaye hinder per,:ecutioL.., so neither should persecution by either friends or foes be allowed to extinguish prayer. 5. Few faults of men a.re so completely bad that no sort of extenuation can be discovered for them. Vers. 5--13.-Job to Zopha,r: 2. The dogma of tMjriends demoZisl1ed. I. BY TBE FACTS OF EXPERIENCE. 1. The adverse fortune, of the good. Exemplified in Job's own case, which showed (1) that a man might be upright and yet fall into misfortune; (2) that a person enjoying confidential relations with Heaven, calling upon God and receiving answers, might sink so low in the mire of adversity as to become a scorn and a byword, and be regarded as a sort of infidel and outcast; and (3) that the largest aod heaviest portion of a good man's affliction might even come from the good them- Selves, from those who enjoyed the reputation at least of being religious, from his wi~bbours and friends, who were th.em.selves sitting in .the sunsh.iue of prosperity. .AIJd the entire veracity of these deductions is abnndantlr COllfirmed br tb11 COllQQf• 011. xn. 1-28,] THE BOOK OF JOB. 213