The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 323

service than any the path that has been stopped pointed to. Meanwhile let us not CQ-onplsin thst our way is hopelessly fenced up till we are quite brought to 11, standstiU. Our fears are premnt,ure. The Norwegisn fiord seems to be completely locked in by the mountains, and the ship appeam to be making straight for the cliffs till a point is reached which suddenly reveals a new expanse of water. We must proceed with the duty within our power, and then the future will open out as we approach it.-W. F. A. Ver. 21.-7btu:hed 1,y the hand of God. Job appealed to the commiseration of his friends. His was no ordinary trouble coming from external circumstances, The hand of God was upon him. Thrrefore his cl\lle was most pitiable. I. THE HU"'D OF Gon MAY HURT. His hand holds his children even in the depths of trouble (Ps. cxxxix. 10). It is a creative, sustaining, blessing hand. Yet it may also_be u_sed to smite and bruis~. Th~ ~ming of God is not always for t!1e.happiness of his children. He must chast1~e their sm and folly. Then the trouble lS irresistible and overwhelming. It is the contemplation of the Divine source of his irouble that makes Job a.pp~al to his friends as from the depths of an unfathomable misery. II. GREAT EFFECTS ARE PRODUCED BY THE MEBE TOUCH OF Goo's HAND. Job does not say that God's hand had stricken him ; he only complains that it bad touched him. But that was enough to plunge him into an agony of soul. A touch of the "Traveller unknown" put Jacob's thigh out of joint (Gen. xxxii. 25). God is so strong and great that his slightest -action is irresistible, and pregnant with tremendous consequences. But if his touch is so powerfnl, bow terrible must be his wrathful smiting! A man could not exist for one moment if God Teally roused himself in anger against him. III. THE TOUCH OF GoD's HAND SHOULD ROUSE OUR COMPASSION, The trouble is so great that all thoughts of blame should be swallowed up in a deep feeling of sympathy. Job here seems t-0 reverse hie previous conduct. Before this he bad appealed from the unfairness of man to the justice of God. Now be appeals from the heavy hand of God io the brotherly compassion of a fellow-creature. Even if the contention of the three friends had been well founded, and Job had been the great sinner they assumed him to be, his sufferings were now so severe that all other thoughts should have been swallowed up in commiseration for them. It is only human to feel sympathy with suffering. The censure that hardens itself against the distresses that it regards as the just pun:ishtnent of sin is harsh and cruel, and unworthy of any disciple of Jesus Christ. • • IV. Tim HAND THAT BUBTS HEALS. Even the touch of chastisement is meant in love, and if it is received in a right i;pirit, it will be followed by quite another tou·cb; We ought not to be afraid of the hand of God. As it has sheltered us from the first, so it will protect and save us at last. Job was ultimately blessed by the band of God. We have God with 118 in Christ, and Christ's hands bear the· nail-prints that tell of love unto death. When he touches us it is with a pierced hand. We may feel pain, but he felt more for us, and the record of hie suffering is the pledge of the saving grace which he extends to all who truly seek him. When John was dismayed at his vision of the glorified Christ, the Lord laid his hand on him, and that gracious touch of sympathy dispelled his fears (Rev. i. 17). The healing touch of Christ is with us now, and it really comes from the BSme hand as that which hurts in our trouble. God only hurts to heal.-W. F. A. Ver. 23.- Writtffl words. Job is supposed to sigh for the very thing that the po,:t ha.~ done for him. His words are written, and they have acquired a permanence and a publicity of which the patriarch could have bad no conception. . I. THE DESIRE FOB WRITTEN WORDS. Job is about to set forth a great conviction. He thinks it so important that he would have it recorded in the state chronicle, even chiselled and leaded in the face of the rock, like some great historic inscription. L Conviction of truth. Job would not want a lie to be recorded against him for ever: It is natural to desire that the truth which we hold sboulu be maintained. 2. Weight and impori,a,nu. Many true words are but of limited and temporary interest. The ordinary talk of social intercourse certainly neither needs nor merits a permanent record. It is natural for it to disappear like the successive waves that break on the beach. But weighty words lhould endure. There are truths the discovery of which OH, XIX, 1-20,] THE BOOK OF JOB. 837