of prosperity, 11nd In visible enjoyment of the Divine favour, So good people are often puzzled to tmdcret11nd why, in the providence of God, they should have been reserved for this or that particul11r calamity; and why, being what they a.re, 9incere and humble followers of God, they should be treated with ae much severity ae if they were his foes, But thie, of course, results from imperfect knowledge of the special design and gracious benefits of nffHction. 4. A deficiency of faith. Otherwise interpreted, the lnnguage of Job ;(ver. 17) asserts that. what confounds him is. not the external darkness covering his face, surroundi11g him on ev!)ry side, and threatening to engulf him, but the inward thought that God is against him. And just here Job evinces a lack of genuine trust, or spiritual confidence, in God. Had Job been as honest towards God as he was just towards himself, had he given God as full credit for sincerity a.a he claimed tor himself, he would never have accused God of dealing with him as an enemy, but, rather than impeach God's immutable love towards his faithful followers, would have sought ano~her solution for the.mystery of his sufferings. Learn: I. The· proper study of mankind is God. 2. The immutability of God is as full of comfort to God's people as it is of terror to Goil's adversaries. 3. When God's purposes have. been revealed, whether in providence or in grace, they should not be resisted, bat received with meelmess and submission. 4. Only one Beiag in the universe, viz. God, can do what his soul desireth; every other is dependent upon God's will. 5. No. man can be truly said to be the architect of his own future, since every man's lot is assigned him l>y God. 6 .. When a saint is afraid of God's presence, he has either fa.lien into sin, like Adam (Gen. ill. 10) and like David (Ps. :x:xx. 7), or has mis- construed the cho.racter of that appearance, like the apostles (John vi. 19). 7. The breaking or the bruising of a sinner's heart is a work for which only God is competent. 8. There a.re worse calamj.tie~ than death to a good man; e.g. the loss, or supposed loss, of the Divine favour, 9. Whatever befalls a child of God on earth, he should never part with faith in hi~_ heav~nly Father's love. Ver. 13;-The unchariging God. "He is: in one mind" with regard to- I. THE PLAN OF. THE_ :UNIVERSE. -1. There is such a plan. "Known unto Gorl are all his works from the beginning of We world" (Acts xv. 18; Eph. i. 11). 2. This plan is so perfect that it never requires subsequent m"odification (eh. mvi. 4; xxxvii. 16;. Ps. civ. 24; Prov. iii.19; Isa, xl. 13). 3. This plan is efficiently carried out in its minutest, d~tail. (Num,b. xi. 23; 2 Chron. ·.xx. 6; .Job xlii. 2, Ps. =xiii. 9; Isa. xiv. 24). . .._ , •. . • • • - II. THE. sm _OF ·MAI!'; , 1. That it.is an abocilination in his sight (Deut. xxv.16; Ps. v. 4 ; Prov.• xv. 9 ;· J"er: xliv, 4; Zech. viii. 17; Luke xvi 15). 2. That it is infinitely dangcr_ous to man (Numb. xvi. 38; Deut. xxix. 18; eh. v. 2; Prov. i. 31; Eph. v. 6). .. • III. '1'~ SCHEME OF SALVATION. "There is none other Name under heaven given among nieri whereby W!J must be saved·" (Acts iv. 12). From the Fall downwards, the gospel of the grace of God has been substantially the same--salvation. 1. In antedi- luvian times, through faith in the woman's Seed (Gen. iii. 15; iv. 4). 2. In patriarchal times, through faith in Abraham's promised Child (Gen. xii. 3; xv. 6). 3. In Mosaic times, through faith in the sacrificial Lamb, of which the Levitical offerings were the shadows and the types (Heh. ix. 8-10; x. 3). 4. In the times of the monarchy, through faith-in David's Son (2 Sam. vii. 15). 5. In the times of Isaiah, through faith in the suffering Servant of Jehovah (Isa. liii. 1). 6. In the fulness of the times, through faith in him who was the woman's Seed, Abra.ham'8 Descendant, David's Son, the suffering Servant of Jehovah, and the world's Paschal Lamb, all in one. IV. THE PUnPOSE •OF AFFLICTION, Ever since God's mercy came to this fallen world, aud. that was immedio.t,·ly upon Adam's transgression, the design aimed at in life's discipline he.a been not to punish man, but to convert and save, to purify and perfect him (Gen. iii. 23; Dent. viii. 5; eh. v. 17; Ps. xciv. 12; Ezek. xx. 37; John xv. 2; Acts xiv. 22; Rou1. v. 3; 1 Cor. xi. 32; Heh. xii. 7). V. THE DESTmY OF ms PEOPLE, Though not as clearly understood or revealed in pre-Christian times as now under the gospel dispensation, it was still the same "better country, even an heavenly," to which saints in all ages have looked forward. Cf. Abraham (Heb. xi. io), David (Ps. x,vii. 15), Paul (Phil. i. 23; 2 Tim. iv. 8). 400 THE BOOK OF JOB. [OH, XXIII, 1-17,
CoNOLUBION, "Who oan turn him?" l, Oonsolation to the saint.. 2. Oondem• nntion to the wicked.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 1-oh. xxiv. 25.-Seroggles <f faith with doobt. To this long e.nd severe acc11S11tion of Eliphaz the sufferer returns no reply. He comes back to the wish he has already exprel!lled more than onoe, the.t God will e.ppce.r e.s Witness and Judge of his innocence, and so put an end to this long embroilment (see eh. ix. and xiii.). He is distressed by the doubt that God has withdrawn himself from him, and left him to drain the cup of suffering to the dregs. And, age.in, many examples occur to him of wicked men who lived in happiness to e. good old age, even to death; and he dwells on these pictures with a kind of pleasure, thinking to establish his position: the incom- prehensibility of the Divine government.-J.