Ver. 6 . - I ~ grief. Job does not know what to do; neither speech nor silence will &Sllu.&ge his grief. It appears to be incurable. I. GREAT GRIEF SEEMS INCURABLE TO THE SUFFl!RER. 1. It CQ,11,not be mea,.~ured, Feeling destroys the sense of proportion. Every ooe who suffers much is tempted to think himself the greatest of sufferers. .A passion of emotion sweeps n.wa-y all standards of comparison. The stormy sea appears to be unfathomable. 2, it ea;cludea the thought of Q/11,ythf.ng but itBe7/. The black cloud shuts out the heavens and narrows the horizon, The world of sorrow i11 shrunken to the range of present, personal experience, 'l'hus in overwhelming grief iliere is no room or power in the soul to conceive of a means of ucape. The abeorbing ioterest of pa.in will not allow a riv1tl consciousness. 8. It ia 011. XVI. 1-22,] THE BOOK OF JOB. 291 ------------------------------- -·- found to be irresisti'ble. If ,. man thought he could conquer his grief or esce.tie from it, surely ho Would not tamely submit to his torments unless be were a fanatic or ascoticism. ·But if tho pnin cannot be set aside at once, it is difficult to believe that it will nol,,endure for ever, for agony destroys the sense of time. II. GnBAT' GRIEF MAY NOT BE CURABLE BY MAN. Thero are diseases that no medicine c,m honl, and sorrows that no human aid can touch. Grief naturally tends to endure by Hs own creation of a habit of grieving. "Sorrow, like 11, heavy-hanging bell, Onco eot on ringing, with hie o,vn weight goes: Then little strength rings out the doleful knell." (Sbakespea.re.) Some sorrows are evidently incurable by man, 1. ·The loss of those greatly beloved. No human comforter could bring back Job's seven sons and three daughters from the dead. What word or work of man could touch his sorrow of utter bP.reavement? We know only too well that nothing on earth can make up for our greatest losses by death. 2. The discovery of a wasted life. When the old man comes to himself aod finds that he has been living in a delusion, when he sees with bitter remorse that he has been squandering his years in folly and sin, what can man do to comfort him? The past can never be recovered. 3. The despair of guilt. If this is soothed by :flattery and falsehood, a fatal mischief is do1te. But if the conscience is fairly roused, it cannot be thus soothed. To man sin-is incurable. III.• GRIEF THAT AP-l'EARS TO BE INCURABLE MAY YET BE ALL CURED BY Goo. No child of .God should despair, for infinite love and almighty energy can know of no impossibility. -The gospel of Chris.t offers complete cure. 1. Present peace. (1) If the trouble is from siri, the peace is in pardon. All sin is curable by Clirist, for "he ia able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him" (Ileb. vii. 25). (2) If the trouble. is from any other cause, the peace is in the love of God. This love, which also brings the peace of forgiveness, is itself an infinite consolation. It is better to be Lazarus ·with God than Dives with purple and fine linen. 2. Future blessedness 'l'he dead will not return to us. But we shall go to them. Christ promises to hi,i people a home in the great.house of God. · There" G,od shall wipe away all tears from their eyes'' (Rev. vii. 17). 'l'he old wasted life cannot be given back in its pristine innocence; But the renewed soul may live a new life in God's eternity.-W. F. A.
Ver. 12.-Shattered when at ease. This was Job's awful fate. All was calm when the thunderbolt fell and dashed him lo the ground. L Goo GIVES TIMES OF EASE. This should be acknowledged even in the hours of ijUffering. Take life as a whole; and the intervals of ease are with most people much longer than the periods of.trouble, Yet we are tempted to neglect them when giving the story of our life, and, like Jacob, to describe our days as "few and evil" (Gen. xlvii. 9). Quiet times come from God quite as much as troublous times. It is an unjust view of'-providence to suppose that our ease comes from ourselves and the world, and only.our trouble from God. II. TIMES OF EASE WILL ,NOT ENDURE FOB EVER. It is needless to be anticipating future trouble. Christ bids us not be anxious for the morrow. But we should be prepared for trouble. The man who has insured his house against a fire need not be always dreaming that it is in flames. Having made a proper provision, he can set aside e.11 thoughts of danger. We require to have just so much perception of the uncertainty of life as to lead us to make the requisite provision for a reverse of fortune. The storm may come. Where she.II we be when it is upon us? Ill. TIMES OF EASE ARE NOT IN THEMSELVES SECURITIES AGAINST TIMES 01' TROUBLE, As they may give place to very different times, they cannot ward off the unacceptable succession. 'l'he great temptation of the rich man is to trust in his wee.Ith for what it can never purchase. Seeing that its range is wide, he is in danger of missing its limits. So the prosperous man iii tempted to trust to his good fortune, as though the mere occurrence of what is agreeable were a cause of the same iu the future. But trouble comes from outside a man's circumstances, or from his own heart, which may be bankrupt while bis estate is perfectly souwi. THE BOOR. OF JO13. [on. xvr, 1-22,
IV, TrMEB OF EASE SHOULD HELP U8 TO P'REPA'RB FOB TIMBS 01' TBOUDLB, Joseph laid up stores during the seven ye&l'I! of plenty in preparation for the coming se:en years of famine. The prud~nt man will always try to put something by for a ramy day. Old age must be provided for by the forethought of earlier years. Thrift is a duty a man owes to his family whom he ought to support, and to his neighbours to whom he ought not. to become a burden. Higher considerations require the same method of conduct. 'l'hese present oalm days afford us good opportunities for spiritual preparation. It is rare indeed that a m1i.n has power and disposition to enter into tho deeper rcli~ious experiences on his death-bed if he has not made himself acquainted v.-ith them during the days of health and strength. Then death may surprise us at an:, time, and the only safety is in being always ready. A good use of the long, quiet, prosperous summer-time of life should leave us prepared to meet whatever wintry ~torms it may please God to send us. If we have the peace of God in our hearts the most shattering blows will not destroy it, and that peace even in trouble will b~ far more precious to us than the times of ease of the lotus-eaters, with whom it was- "always afternoon," but who knew not the deeper blessedness of peace in sorrow, -W.F.A.