The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 249

what they would have cboeen for themselves. Still, if the thought of duty is foremoat, all may see that there is something that duty calls them to do. It gives ue a great i:en~e of confidence to clisoover this, and to fling all wild fancies Mlde In the single desire to accomplish our true lire-task. Often the only rule is " Do the next thing;" and if we will but do it, that is just the one task God ha.s called us to. JII. MAN HAS A DAY FOR HIS woRK. 1, A full day. There is the opportunity. God can never require what man is unable to perform. He does not seek the work of eternity from the creature of a day. 2. Only a day. 'l'here is no time to be lost. ·we have but one day for our day's work. If we waste the morning we shall have no ~econrl opportunity. This short sea.son should be well filled. If the work is hard it is not interminable. Diligence and patience are becoming in a man who has but one short life for his work. IV. ~A~ 18 EXPECTED TO AOOOMPLISH HIS WOBK. His business is not merely to sway his lunbs and exercise his muscles, but to do something effective, to produce. We should all aim at a definite end in our life's work. The village blacksmith can enjoy his rest because " Something attempted, something done, Has earned a night's repose." A busy life may be & fruitless one. But no life need fail of fruitfnlness, inasmuch as the work to which 'We are all called is designed to lead to useful ends.· • · V. MAN CANNOT ACCOMPLISH HIS WORK WITHOUT GOD'S CO-OPERATION. Job prays that God will not hinder him. If, indeed, God did oppose a man in bis life's work, that man would be certainly doomed to failure. It is hard enough to succeed in any case; it is im})Ossible to do so when God is frustrating our efforts. No one can defeat Providence. But it is not enough to be Jet alone. Job desires that God will look away from him, for the look of anger blasts and withers. But we may pray that God will look upon us in favour end helpfulness. The greatest success in the world was aocompli.sbed by men who wer-e "fellow-workers with God" (2_ Cor. vi.).-W. F. A. V ers. 7-14.-Is there a life beyoml the grave 1 We have here one of the dim Old 'l'est&ment speculations on the life beyond, that stand out in startling contrast to the prevalent obscurity and apparent indifference of ancient Hebrew thought in regard to the great futnre. This serves as a good starting-point from which to approach the more full Christian light on the resurrection. I. 'l'HE CRAVING FOB IMHOBTALITY IB INSTINOTIVE. The craving may be. hidden by more pressing desires of the moment ; it may even be crushed by despair. But it is not the less natural and instinctive. For when we come to ourselves and calmly reflect on life and its iBBues, we cannot be satisfied that death should end all. Then there wakes up in us a deep, insatiable hunger for life. 'The essential characteristic of this desire is its craving for more than the repose of a future that is rescued from the turmoil of this present time; its object is life. It is not enough for us that an end may come to our present troubles. That is all Job desired at first (see eh. iii.), but new. a deeper thought stirs in his breast, and he _thinks of the possibility of living again. Surely it is a miserable degradation of this instinct of immortality that represents the future blessedness as chiefly consisting in indolent repose. II. NATURE DOES NOT HATIBFY THE CRAVING FOB riwoBTALITY. Job turns to the analogies of nature. They are obscure and contradictory. The tree that has been cut down will sprout again from its roots. Bot is this life the fate of man? "Man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?" Has he any root remaining that can be quickened at the scent of water? Then if the tree sprouts again, there are other things in nature that cease altogether, e.g. the stream that is entirely dried up. May not man's fate be like these temporal things that come to an end? We look for analogies in the awakening spring, in the emerging of the butterfly from the chrysalis, in the return of day after, night. These analogies afford but faint suggestions, little more than fanciful illustrations. Nature does point to the existence of an unaeen universe, but she gives WI little, if any, hints as to our share in the life beyond the present and the seen. Ill. CHlWIT &A.Tilll'IBB TD OBAYD!IG :FOB Illll0BTALITY, He has brought" life and CJK, XIV, 1-22.] THE BOOK 011' JOB. 269