against himself by means of three striking figures, in which he represents God as (1) a mighty Hunter, with wrathful soul and gnashing teeth and flaming eyes (ver. 9) pursning a poor frail, timid creature with a pack of fierce and yelping curs (ver. 10), to which the prey when caught Id mercilessly thrown (var. 11); (2) a gi_C(antic Wrestler, strong in thew and sinew, seizing his antagonist by the neck, triumphantly holding him aloft in his clenched fist, and then furiously dashing him to the ground (ver. 12); nnd (3) a skilful Archor, who, tying up his helpless enemy to a post, makes his arrows whistle for n time round the wretch's head, so as to fill him with consternation without inflicting mortal injury, and thon, having sported with him for a while, as a tiger might do with its prey, sends a shaft into a vital part (on the emptying of the gall-bladder, consult the Exposition), so that the miserable victim writhes in mortal agony. 4. Their degradation, 'fhe abject humiliation to which Job had been reduced by his suffel'inis is set forth in four particulars, (1) The sewing of sackcloth upon his loins. Sackcloth, the symbol of mourning (Gen, xxxvii. 34; 1 Chron. xxi. 16; Pa. xxxv. 13; Jonah iii. 5, 6), is hero represented as not only put upon the patriarch's person, but sewed upon his skin; partly, perhaps, because of the ulcerous condition of his body, but partly also, it is probable, to indicate the depth of Job's abasement. (2) The defiling of bis horn with dust; the horn being the emblem of personal dignity and soda.I honour (Ps. cxxxii. 17), and the meaning being that all Job's glory was completely tarnisbeJ and laid low. This is one of the expressly designed results of affliction; and they who defile their horns in the dust beforo God when overtaken by his chastisements have taken the first step towards the final exaltation of their horns (Ps. lxx.xix. 17). (3) The reddening of the eyes with weeping. Great grief makes strong men weep. Yet weeping for a sufficient cause is not unmanly. Examples: Abraham (Gen. x..x:xii. 2), Joseph (Gen. xliii. 30), David (2 Sam. xviii. 33), Hezekiah (2 Kings :xx. 3), St. Paul (Phil. iii. 13), Jesus (Luke xix. 41; John xi. 35). (4) The shadiog of the eyelids with gloom; an indication of approaching death. Death makes the eyelid droop, and wraps tho eye itself in darkness. It was an aggravation of Job's misery that it had brought him to the confines of the grave. III. WHOLLY UNDESERVED. 1. Eis life had not been wicked. There had been no injustice, wrong, or evil deed of any kind in his hand, as his friends asserted. The hand being the instrument of action, clean hands a.re the symbol of an upright life (eh. xvii. 9; Ps. :x:xiv. 4). Where the hands are not clean the heart cannot be pure. 2. His devotions had 11ot been insincere. Notwithstanding the imputations of his friends to the contrary (eh. :xv. 4), his conscience told him that his prayer was pure. Genuine sincerity is one of the first requisites of devotion. "When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites a.re" (Matt. vi. 5). Learn: 1. That the same God who makes a saint weak and weary beneath life's burdens can also impart strength and cheerfulness to bear them. 2. That one of the hardest works faith has to do is to oppose those representations of the Divine character and providence that are given by sense. 3. That, while the saint's calamities a.re not always sent in punishment of sin, they are mostly designed to produce within the saint a spirit of self-humiliation. 4. That God never abandons a saint to the ungodly, though he will yet deliver over the ungodly to perdition. 5. That, next to the comfortable shining of God's face upon a human soul, which Job at this time wanted, the best lodestar, while struggling over and through a sea of trouble, is the 1 ineradicable conviction of one's own sincerity, the testimony of a good conscience • before God. Ver. 17.-.Acceptable prayer. I. WHEN ADDRESSED TO THE RIIJHT OBJECT. Go,i (Pa. lxv. 2). Not, however, the God of our imaginations, or the God of nature ~imply; but the God of revelation and the God of grace, the God who hath manifested forth his glory in the Person of Jesus Christ. II. WHEN PRESENTED THROUGH THE RIGHT MEDIUM. Jesus Christ, the one Mediator between God and man (1 Tim, ii. 6), the one Advocate for sinful 01en (1 John ii. 1), the one High Priest over the house of God (Heh. vii. 25), the Daysmau for whom Job lonaeu (eh. ix. 33), the Redeemer to whom he looked forward (eh. xix. 25). III. WHEN OFFERED IN THE RIGHT SPIRIT. 1. Sincerely (Isa. xxix. 13; Matt. xv. tl), 2, l!uIAbly (G~p! x.:xg.ii, 10 i lsa. lxvi, 2; Lu~e :xviii. l3). 3, Believi..r..gly (Matt. 286 TRl!; BOO'K OF JOB. [on. xh 1-99.
xxi. 22; Heb. xi. 6; Jas. i. 6). 4.. Holilv (1 Tim. ii. 8); i.e. With renunciation of eib. (Prov. xv. 8; xxi. 27; xxviii, 9; Ps. lxvi. 18), and with kind and forgiving dil!• positionR (Mark xi. 25). IV. WHEN ASKING FOR THE RTGHT THINGS. Things cont.ained within the promises. These give to prayer a scope at once ample and sufficient. 1. Ample; since the promises are exceeding great and precious in their variety (2 Pet. i. 4). 2. Sufficient· since they cont.<1in all things pertaining to life and godliness. '