looking down upon it In monunaental effigy; (5) that even in the grave they suffer no disadvantage in comparison with other men, "the clods of the valley" bein" aR "sweet h unto them (ver. 83) as to the pious, which may be true so far as the insen"sate dust is concerned, though of course it is only an imagination that the tenants of the tomb can foel either pain or pleasure (Eccles. ix. 5, 6), but implies nothing a11 to the condition of their souls, which we know to ho after death in a situation widely different from that of the righteous (Luke xvi. 23); and (6) that, in so far as death itself may be accounted an evil, it is 0110 which they share in common with the rest of the race, every one in his turn coming after, as innumerable multitudes have already gone before, them (ver. 33). III. THE APPLICATION OF Joe's. REPLY, 1. The consolation of his friends was vain. (1) It was inefficacious. It did not soothe him in his sorrow or help him to vear his burden, but very m11ch the opposite. (2) It was insincere. It was not really aimed a,t the comfort of the patriarch at all, but at his condemnation. It exhorted him to penitence. instead of aiding him with friendly sympathy. (3) It was fallacious. It was based on wholly erroneous principles. This Joh explicitly asserts. 2. The a'l\swers of his friends were wicked .. (1) They were untrue. They misrepresented God by a.scribing to him principles of government which he palpably repudiated; and they calumniated him, Job, by imputing to him sins of which he was innocent. Hence to that· extent (2) they were ,also sinful. They were perfidious attempts to blacken the character of their suffering friend, and to curry favour with the King of heaven. •.. Learn: 1. That a good, man should never weary in contending for the cause of God and trutp.', 2. That a man who has God and truth upon his side has the best possible allies in debate. 3. That they who ba.ve no difficulties in their creeds are not the most Likely to be possessed of truth. 4. That the best souls on earth a.re not necessarily those who have no hard proble~s to solve. 5. That on the whole continuous prosperity is less desirable as an earthly portion than perpetual adversity. 6. 'l'ha.t God confers many of his best gifts upon the worst of men-families and flocks upon tyrants, Christ and salva_tion upon sinners, 7. That great wealth is prone to separate the soul from God. 8. That God's people should shun the counsel, avoid the company, and abhor the conduct of wicked men. 9. That wicked men's "Depart from us," will yet be answered by C_hrist's "Depart from me.". 10. That it is better to be God's wheat than the devil's chaff, sinc'e though the former may be bruised, the latter shall be blown away. 11. That the God who is able to judge angels is not likely to prove incapable of judging men. 12. That the wicked man's glory upon earth is little better than the _paraphernalia of a funeral procession. 13. That God's ever-watchful eye is a better guardian of a saint's dust than gilded mausoleums and monumental columns.
HOMILIES BY VA.RIO US AUTHORS. Vers. 1-34.-Diverse interpretations of life. The friends of Job remain entrenched in the one firm position, as they think it., which they have from the first taken up. No appeals on his pa.rt have availed to soften their hearts, or induce a reconsi~.eration of the rigid theory of suffering which they have adopted. But he now, no longer coufining himself to the assertion of his personal innocence, makes an att,ick upon their position: He dwells upon the great enigma of life-the prosperity of the wicked through. the whole of life,: in contrast to the misery and persecution which often fall to the lot of. the righteous: In face of these contradictions, it is wrong and malicious of his friends to desire to fix guilt upon him because he suffers. I. lN'l'RODUCTORY ·ADDil.li:ss TO THE FRIENDS. (Vers. 1-6.) He asks for a patient hearing, because he is not about to complain of man, but of a terrible enigma which may welL excite the aniazcment, the dread wonder of men, as being beyond their power tci unravel. He speaks as one the very foundations of whose faith are shaken, as .he thinks of this painful and perplexing "riddle of the earth." "Because reason can'not comprehend the mystery of the cross, and why Goel deals often so hardly with his children, bit.ter thoughts will arise from time to time in devout hearts, and criuse them to tremblo in great ,l,istuay" (Zeyss). (See Ps. xx.xvii. 1; lxxiii. 12; Jer. xii. 1.) The solid columns of our 1'eason, so to speak, are shaken by doubts of the justice of God's government of the world. 862 [ott. xxr; 1-......al.