The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 288

pious would be 11sl;oniehed at RO mysterious a dispensation; as arterwards they were at Christ (Isa. Hi. 14), and might e;oen be led, like David (PR. xxXV'ii. 7), Asaph (Ps. lu:iii. 8), and Jeremiah (xii, 1), to envy the lot of the ungo<lly, who, notwithstanding their im11iety, are 1tllowed to prosper. This danger ie hardly possible under the go~pel, which has made it patent, first in Obrist, and then in his people, that a righteous servant of God may be a sufferer, Still the suretyship of God in Christ for man has established moral distinctions on a firmer basis than they ever were before (Rom, iii. 31). IV. EXULTING IN FINAL VICTORY. Job's life is seemingly about to expire in gloom. Job himself, nevertheless, avows hls confident expectation that the righteous and pure- handed man, like himself, shell be ultimately vindicated (ver. 9), The words suggest: t. The purity of the righteous. '!'hey are a people who have" clean hands." Not tbat they are righteous or justified because of their clean hands. Even Job (eh. ix. 2), as well as David (Pa. cxliii. 2) and St. Paul (Gal. Ii. 16), proclaimed that a man could not be justified by works before God, Bnt clean hands are evidence of a pure heart. And holiness is a sure mark of faith. Nay, if purity of life be absent, the spirit of piety is not present. Faith without works is dead. Hence we are justifie,1 (as to the sincerity of our faith) by works; · hence also " without holiness no man shall see the Lord." 2. The progress of the righteous, · They shall "wax stronger and stronger;" "They shall go from strength to strength." They shall progress: (1) Certainly. Wherever life is there must be growth. The soul possessed of grace cannot remain stagnam. A Christian n·ot advancing towards the stature of a perfect man is unhealthy and unnatural. (2) Gradually. 'l'he full measure of their advancement will not be attained at once. From stage to stage ·go the heavenward pilgrims. First the blade, then the ear, a.fter that the full corn in the ear, is the law according to which the seed of the Word, no less than the seed of the field, ripens. First the new-born babe, then the youth, and after that the mature m'an, is the order of development for life spiritual as well as life physical. (3) Proportionately. They shall grow in such a way as to wax stronger and stronger. That is, they shall advance in all the parts and properties of the Christian life in brightness and tenacity of faith, in depth and sincerity of penitence, in ripeness and beauty of outward holiness, in warmth and fulness of love, in cheerfulness ancl. joyousness of hope. 3. The perseverance of the righteous. They shall hold on their way (1) in spite of every sort of difficulty-the accusations of conscience, the power of indwelling corruption, the feebleness of faith, the pressure of affliction, the opposition of the world, the misreprescmtalions of friends, the wiles of the devil; (2) with willing determina- tion, whatever else may be helpful to their progress, the co-operation of their own per- sonal faith, inteiligence, pu.r.pose, will, being absolutely indispensable, and these never failing entirely in the case of those who a.re truly upright in their hearts ; (3) by the help of Divine grace, since, a.fter all," it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps," neither is it by man's unaided strength alone, but rather by the power of God, that he is kept unto salvation; and (4) to the journey's end, for it is written of God's pilgrims that they shall all come to Zion, and of Christ's sheep that they shall never perish. V. PLUNGING AGAIN INTO DARKNESS. Descending from the lofty altitude upon which his faith had for a moment stood, the patriarch a second time takes his stand beside' the opened tomb, and finishes his requiem where he began it, by contemplating: 1. The approach of death, as: (1) 'l'he ending of his da.ys,-"My days are past" (ver.11); which it is to every one-the finishing of life's years and moments, the termination of days pleasant and prosperous as well as of days miserable and adverse, of days of toil and days of rest, days of suffering and days of rejoicing, days of sinning and days of praying, alas I also days of grace and days of discipline. (2) The interrupting of his thoughts,-" My purposes are broken off, even the thoughts," or cherished possessions, "of my heart" (ver. 11); which a.gain is true of all, of good and bad, of wise and foolish, of rich and poor alike, death's ha.ud remorselessly arresting the subtle thoughts of the busy brain, be it of philosopher or poet, statesman or merchant, and marring with equal unconcern the projects of the pious and the plots of the ungodly, the schemes of the tradesman and the intrigues of the diplomatist, the ambitious enterprises of the rich and the modest plans of the poor. (3) The disappointing of his hopes of life, the utter extinction of that expectation which his friends had so often urged him to cherish, viz. tlie hope of a return to prosperity ou this side the grave, but which he had never aerioualy entertained, and which, if he had entertained it, was now completely shattered,  800 THE BOOK OF JOB. [oH. xvn. 1-16.