11 ' 'Tis but &n hour &go elace it we.e nine: And o.fter one hour more, 'twill be eleven ; And eo, from hour to hour, we ripe o.nd ripe, And then, from hour to hour, we rot o.nd rot." (' As You Like It,' act ii. eo. 5.) 8. The intense severity of hwm/J,'11, sorroUJ. Besides being of few days, wom:\n-bom mnn is full of trouble, literally, "full of unreRt," of in ward commotion and of outward motion, its inevitable sequence and result. Though perhaps it is not true of any that their existence on earth 1s so completely" satiated with sorrow," that no interludes of joy remain, it is yet true of most that affliction forms a principal ingredient in their cup (eh. v. 7), while of all it may be said that a considerable portion of their troubles springs from the spirit of unrest with which they are surcharged, and of which the primal cause is sin. "A few seem favourites of fate, in pleasure's lap caressed," though even these are not " likewise truly blest" in the highest sense of the expression. "But oh I who.t orowds in every land AJ:e wretched o.nd forlorn," through bodily disease, mental anxiety, domestic sorrow, through" man's inhumanity to man," through the fierce raging of inward passion, through the terrible canker- worm of sin I 4. The inherited corruption of man's moral nature. "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one?" (ver. 4). Read as a wish, "Oh that a pure one could come from an impure!" (Delitzsch), the idea is the same, that purity is impossible to man .because of his origin. Descended from woman, be brings with him into life a legacy of physical frailty, and, what is worse, of uncleanness. The language may perhaps be regarded as giving enunciation to the doctrine of original sin, i.e. of the hereditary corruption of bum.an nature-a doctrine pervading Scripture (Gen. v. 3; .vi. 5; viii. 21; Ps. Ii. 5; 1 Cor. XY. 22; Rom. v. 12-20; Eph. ii. 3); involved in the universal prevalence of sin (eh. xi. 12; Ps. !viii. 3; Prov. xxii.15); presupposed in the necessity of regeneration (John iii. 6); confirmed by the experience of God's people ( eh. xl. 4; Ps. Ii. 5 ; Isa. vi. 5 ; Rom. vii. 14) ; and harmonizing with the all-pervading law of nature that like beget,s like. II. THE APPEAL OF HUMANITY TO THE HEART OF Gon. 1. Depecating judgment. •• And dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?" (ver. 3). A favourite idea with Job that the very frailty and sinfulness of man should have been his protection against the Divine inspection and judicial visitation, that it was scarcely worthy of the Divine Majesty to set a watch upon a creature so insignificant and feeble as man, or consistent with equity to arraign at his bar .a being whose weakness was constitutional and hereditary. But that original sin or hereditary weakness does not destroy the consciousness of individual responsi- bility, is proclaimed by Scripture (Gen. iv. 7; Exod. xxxii. 33; eh. mi. 3; Ezek. xviii. 4), attested by conscience, and believed by society. And, though man is frail, he is neither powerless for evil, nor unimportant as a factor in the history 01 earth. Hence he cannot safely be overlooked. NGither is he unjustly brought into judgment. Still God allows himself to be moved to compassionate forbearance by both a contemplation of man's frailty (Ps. ciii. 14), and a consideration of his inherited corruption (Gen. vi. 3, 5). 2. Supplicating mere1J, "Turn from him [literally, • look away from him'], that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day" (ver. 6). Considering that man has only a short day to live, Job entreats that that day may be mercifully exempted from such special sufferings as spring from a Divine marking and punishing of sin, in order that man, the poor hireling, may be nble to perform his appointed task. On human life as a term of bard service, and man as a miserable hired drudge, see eh. vii. 1 (homiletics). The prayer tells us that no man can adequately execute the tasks assigned him by God on earth whose body is racked by pain and whose mind is tormented by spiritual fear. The soul that cannot look on God as a Friend, or upon whom God seems to look as an enemy, can never be at perfect re8t (Isa. !vii. 21). Ilut he from whom God averts his face in the sense of not marking iniquity (PN. xxxii. 1), and much more upon whom God makes his face to shine in loving favour (eh. x.xxiii. 26; Ps. lxxxix. 15; John xvi. 22; Acts ii. 28). 248 THE BOOK OF JOB. [OIi, XIV, 1-22,
l)()sse&Bell the true secret of happiness, and the noblest inspiration for Ohrietian work. lu Christ the face of God is turned mercifully away from human sin, and compassion- ately towards human sorrow. Learn : 1. There is no room for pride of ancestry in man, eince all alike are woman- born. 2. The lowly origin of man_sh?uld impress the heart with humility. 3. Siuce man's days are so full of trouble, 1t 1s a mercy they are few; and since they are so fe"l"I", man should study to be patient under trouble. 4. '1.'he swift a~proach of de11th should stimulate to__diligence and promote heavenly-mindedness. 6. 'Ihe heart of God ~n be to_ucb_ed "l"l"ith a feeling of ?nr infirmities. 6._ God will never open his eyes to Judge their srns who first open their eyes to behold bis mercy. 7, One special reason of our requiring mercy is our inherited corruption, since it proves that we are, root nnd branch, depraved.
Ver. 2.-Man as ajwwer. I. IN HIS ORIGIN. He springeth from the ground. II. IN HIS CONSTITUTION. He is composed of dust. III. lN ms STRUCTURE. His physical organism is as beautiful and delicate as that of a flower. IT. IN BIS FRAILTY. He is as easily destroyed as a flower. V. IN ms EVA~""ESCENCE. He is as short-Jived as a flower. VI. IN ms EKD. Like a flower, be returns to the dust. LESSONS. 1. Lowly thoughts of self. 2. Care of the body. 8. Preparation for the eud.