erosion. A emall trickling stream oute through a gree.t·hill, and me.kes a deep winding valley. We.ter oonatRntly flowing over gre.nite rocks IIIJlootha the he.rd atone e.nd wears It a.way, eating its oourse through the most 110lid cliffs. The falls of Niagara. are receding, and in front of them is seen an ever-lengthening chasm as the river continunlly cuts away the rock over which it ponrs. 'l.'his process is compared by Job to the friction of time and trouble. 1. From appa.rently feebk ca""~es. The water does not eeem capable of effeding the marvellous results that :ire attributed to it. Slight causes may have great i~sues. 2. By sl,ow d,egrees. The worst and the best things a.re both produced slowly. We cannot jndge of the process by its immediate effects. 3. With irresistibl, /01-ce,. We cannot resist time. The slow course of providence is e. river the.t cuts throuO'h e.11 opposition. It is impossible for man to sttcceed when be opposes God; for tht1 ve~y rock is worn by the waters that wash over it. Thus ve.in hopes perish. The worst troubles are not sudden blows, but wearing anxieties and gnawing griefs. II. ITS LESSONS. Job drew from the process only a conclusion of despair, or at best an expostulation with God for bringing bis irresistible might to bear on so feeble a creature as man. But other and wider conclusions ma.y be inferred. 1. It is foolish to tro.st in our own hopes. They may be solid as granite, and yet time and disappointment may wear them away. The robustness of the hopes is no guarantee of their perma- nence. The sanguine man ie not kept secure by his self-confidence. 2. We shquld examine the character of owr hopes. Low hopes fail first. The stream runs through the valley, sparing the crags on the mountain-top, though these are exposed to all the fury of the gale, and only wearing those that lie in its sunken course. There is safety in elevation of character. 3. Tire failure of earthl,y hopes is designed to turn our mind to lteavenly hop68, God does not frustrate every hope of man. Job's idea is the fruit of his deBpair. Foolish hopes are destroyed, and even innocent hopes, in some cases, in order that we may build higher a.ad found our true hopes on the immovable rock of God's truth. The Rock of Ages is never worn by the waters of time or trouble. 4. The destroying process carries away much that we are glad to lose. It does not select the rich treasures and pleasant experiences of life. Job thought that God carefully sealed up his sin in a bag (ver. 17), while he destroyed his hope as with the waters tha* wear the stones. But when a man truly repents, God washes away his sins, and give!' him a good and enduring hope. Many troubles are worn away by tho slow but sure erosion of the waters of time. Even while we fear them they are being lessened for us, God's destructive agencies are all directed by his supreme goodness. We need not fear the wearing we.ters if we are reconciled to the God who directs their course, and se.ys to the flood, "Hitherto she.It thou come, and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed."-W. F. A.
, 6EOTI011 llL OlL xv.-XXL SEoom> CoLLOQUY BETWEEN JoB AND ms FBIENn11•.
EXPOSITION.
CHAPTER XV. proof of Job for presnmption e.nd impiety (vers. 1-6); (2) e. sarcastic reflection on The second colloquy between Job and his him for conceit and e.rrogance (vers. 7- friends is, like the first (eh. ili.-xiv.), one 16): (3) an exposition of God's ways with in which a.11 of them take part, and the man, based upon the experience of ancieni same order of J!Jl&kers lll maintained. Job sages (vers. 17-35). answers each !!pea.ker in tum; .Eliphaz at some length (eh. xvL, xvii.), the other two Vere. 1, 2.-Then B.J11Wered Eliphu the more briefly. The present chapter con• Temanita, and aid, Should a wise man ta.ins the second speech of Elipha.z. Com- utter vain knowledge 1 literally, knowledge of wind-knowledge, i.e., which is vain, pared with the first, it lll harsh and violent idle, inflated, without solidity or S11bst0,1JCO, in t.one, e.11Suming Job's guilt, and reproach- Job, as setting up t.o be "a wise man," ing him fiercely and rudely. It naturally should not bave indulged in suoh empty divides i.nt.o thl'ee portiona : (1) a direct re- and foolish speaking. It is observable Ula$ <Jli. xt. 1-36.) 'rHE BOOK OF JOB. 2G1