II. Bonrow SHOULD Ll:AD us TO EXERCISE FAITH, What if the eye be dim? We are not dependen\ on eight. Our part ie to walk by faith. Too clear a landscape excludes the sense of mystery, and absorbs our attention in connection with thinga oarthLy an<l visible, It is w~Il to feel our littleness, our darknesR, our limitation, '!'hen our eorro}". really enlarges our lives, by leading us to look at the things which are not seen, but which aro eternal (2 Cor. iv. 18). III. -Somrnw MAY OPEN oun EYES TO NEW TRUTHS. The tears which blind ue may also purge our vision. Shutting out the familiar sight of common scenes, they may open to ue ~ new eight of heavenly truths. There have been revelations in sorrow. Jacob saw heaven opened when he w11s II fugitive for his life; .Jo~eph interpreted dreams in prison, and Daniel in exile; Moses saw the bum in~ hush i II the wilderness; ,John beheld hie great apocalypse when he was banished to Patmos, Poets learn in sorrow what they teach in song. ' IV. IT 1B oRiEL TO DE llABBH WITH THOSE WHOSE BLINnNEsg COll'.ES FROM sonnow. We must leam 'to distinguish this blindness from the lack of understanding which springs from a perverse heart, like that of the three friends (ver. 4). Sinful and reckless scepticism deserves a severe rebuke. But this is very different from the doubt which is born of sorrow. In the hour of deepest grief it may be that all the heavens seem blurred and confused, The old landmarks are washed away in the deluge. We cannot see God, and his love is lost eight of. Even Christ in his bitter agony exclaimed," My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" V. ULTIMATELY Goo WILL GIVE CLEAB VISION TO THE BOBROW-BLINDED EYE. When he wipes away the tears he will restore the sight. The burden of the;mystery will not be borne for ever. We have only to walk for a season in the darkness. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (Ps. xxx. 5). Then the very background of old troubles will throw up the new joys with the more intense splendour, and the previous blindness will make the new vision the more vivid and gladsome.-W. F. A. • Ver. 9.-Holding on and growing stronger. This iB a cheering thought breaking out of Job's doleful despair. Job is rising from pessimism to hope and confidence. He gives us a double picture-the righteous holding on his way, the man with clean hands growing stronger and stronger. I. HOLDING ON. We see the righteous man quietly going forward, not turned aside by any obstacle, not cast down by any opposition, nor rushing madly forward, but not hanging back in fear, weariness, or indolence-like Goethe's star, "unhasting and unri,sting." 1. Pursuing a continuous course. The righteous man has a way, and it is to this that he holds on. We must have a purpose if our life is not to be broken and become a failure. 2. Keeping to the course. The idea is that of holding on to the one right course. Here is persistency and perseverance. The way being right must not be forsaken on account of any difficulties. 3. Overcoming oppolrit-ion. There may be no brilliant victory. But the righteous man succeeds in holding on his way. That is enough. '!'hat secures his success. The constantly flowing stream cuts through the granite cliff and scoops e. huge valley out of the mountain-side. Patient perseverance wins in the end. 4. Walking in a right character. It is the righteous man of whom Job makes the glad assertion. The bad man may hold on for a time, when he does not meet with serious opposition; but he is not upheld by principle, and he is doomed to a final overthrow; for though his road is broad and popular, it leads to destruction. Only a true moral and spiritual character has strength to hold on continuously when severely tried; only this character will be blessed by being allowed by God to go on to victory. Time is the great test of character. Weak nod unworthy people may do brilliant things, and achieve temporary triumphs. It is the character of true worth that is '' faithful unto death," and that holds on to the end. Me.ny vessels that leave the port make shipwreck on their course; only those that are sound and well steered reach their desired haven. II. GROWING STRONGER. The second thought is more emphatic. The progress is of the best kind. 1. With increase, The Chriijtie.n course is more than a race ; it is a.n ascent, it is a growth. God's servant is not set to a treadmill. His walk is not a weary ;oµnd. There is no monotqny in the true Christian lif!l. As he endures, eo he 10a. ~ II08 THI: BOOK OF JOB. rCJR. xnr, 1-18.
hi enlarged and enriohed. 2. In mength. This ls the 11pecial kind of incroa0e to whioh Job refen. No doubt ·he was already beginning to feel it. He ht\d lost wealth• but he had gained strength. Already the blows of advenity had begun to weld llogether tough fibres in his aoul. He wM stronger now than when all men bowed to him as the most powerful emir of the E&et. Here is the fruit of the victory won by overcoming opposition. Battle strengthens the hero. Climbing the "Hill Difficulty" develops the Pilgrim's muecles. Now, God looks for energy in hie servants. It is not enough that he shelters them in trouble. He gives them strength with which to bear it. "To them that have no might he increaseth strength" (Isa. xl. 29). 3. On conditio• of purity. The strength is for the man with clean hands. Sin enervates. Innocence is ~trong. The sioner may recover strength ·when his sin is forgiven and bis heart purged. Therefore our business is to resist sin and cultivate purity of life; then God will give ever-increasing strength.-W. F. A.