Vers.14-17.-,-Thehumbledand overwmlmed sufferer. The position of Job is one of confusion and unexplained mystery. He is in the hands of the Almighty. His punish- ment, e.s some affirm it to be, is very heavy. It at times seems to be greater than he can bear. Yet he is uncondemned within. He holds fast to his integrity, Like his friends, he interprets sufferings into punishments for sin. Yet he is not conscious of sin, certainly not of sin to such a degree as to merit such heavy judgment. He is confounded. He can but yield. He believes in the Divine justice, although his faith in it is tried by the con- flicting oonvictions of his mind and his inability to interpret the Divine ways. That his own righteousness will shine out ultimately he is persuaded. "'When he bath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." In the mean while he is overpowered. The struggltJ is severe; the strain upon his faith is very great. It is the uninterpreted mystery, the apparent confliction of. the Divine dealiugs, that bows Job to the earth. He is troubled at the Divine presence; when he thinks of God he is afraid, and his heart is dejected, Tl\is picture of tho humbled, overwhelmed servaut of God holding fast his faith in the consciousness of integrity, declares the true causes of the support which Job experienced ~~ 2» TH'E BOOK OF JOil. [<llI, XltIII, 1-17,
in bis overwhelming afflictions to be (1) a comitnOt1,S11ess of integrity: (2) faith in the Divine Name; (3) patient anticipation elf final vindication. I. Without THE ASSURANCE oF PERSONAL INTE0RITY Job could not be free from the Borrows which come (If condemnation. The t.estimony of consoienco to the wrongness and disobedience of lire is the keenest and most penetrative of afflictions. It reaches to the very core of the spirit.. The utmost sensibility of the soul is aroused. No outward calm can allay this inner agitation. But if there is peace within• if the soul i~ not at war with itself; if there is the inestimable consciousness of 'personal freedom from condemna.tion, the !!Olli may writhe in its pain, but it is upheld by tho as~urance tba.t the affliction comes not weighted with the burden of retribution. II. It is through tbis freedom from self-reproach and self-condemnation alone that TRUE FAITH IN Goo can be sustained. Job may be overwhelmed at the thought of God bat be lacks not fa.ith in him; and there is no sense of buried wrong weakening hi; trust, or impairing the comfort that comes from a belief in the deep, if hidden, Divine approval. . III. And it is this which supports him in THE HOPE OF A FINAL VINDICATION. The unjustly co1:1dcmned may wait. Trouble may overshao.ow him, he may be heavily burdened, !us heart may quake and fear, bat he knows he shall at last rise superior to a.II aspersions of evil-doing. Herein lies the secret of a. sustaining peace in the midst of the severest of earth's trials; this is the true ground of hope, this the encoura.ae- ment to sustaining faitb.-R. G. "
Ver. 2.-The bitter C0711,pl,a,int. Job's comforters have failed. Their many w~rds ha,·e not light.cned his troubles. On the contrary, they have aggravated them. 'J.'o external disaster has been added cruel misunderstanding and false acousation. Of a.11 this Job naturally complains most bitterly. Many troubles are softened with time. H is not so with his. The a&me melancholy despondency, the same cry of agony, the same grievous complaining, are still with him. I. IT IS NATURAL TO GIVE EXPllESSION TO GRIEF. In the East this is done with great demonstration, and even ostentation. .AJJy extravagance i.s foolish; self-restraint is certainly more manly than a wild abandonment to sorrow. Yet it is neither necessa,ry nor desirable to suppress all signs of feeling. God, who has made the fountain of tears, cannot require it to be always sealed. 'fhere is a relief in the natural expression of sorrow. To hide it in the bosom is to injure the soul Extreme reserve and self- restraint may lead to insanity. We are more likely to think unjust thoughts of God when we brood over our wrongs in secret than when we venture to give l\ll external expression to them. II. THE GREATEST GB.IEP' EXCEEDS EXPRESSION. Job feels that this is the case with his sorrow. Bitter as his complaint is, his stroke is heavier than his groaning. We are t.cmpted to exaggerate the smaller troubles of life; but we cannot find adequate expression for the grea.tel' ones. They who have never suffered from those troubles cannot understand how keenly they a.re felt. It is, therefore, unjust to judge of the complaining spirit of other men, as the three friends did of Job's, On the other hand, inexpressible grief is perfectly understood by God. It is no drawback to his sympathy that men cannot give full expression to their feelings, because he reads the heart. III. THE DITTER COMPLAINT OF GRmF SHOULD LEAD TO PRAYER. This is the case with Job; and after one brief utterance of hie burdened soul, the suffering man turns at once to God (see ve.r. 2). Then he must do more than give expression to grief. While God listens patiently to the complaints of his suffering children, it 1is not a worthy tLing on their part only to burden him with those complaints. Submission, obedience, and trust should have a part in the utterance to God. IV. No BUMAN GRIEF 0AN EQUAL THAT OF CHRIST'S SORBOWS. JoVs sufi'erings seemed to be unique. But they were fearfully surpassed by what Christ endured. To know that 110me one has suffered more is not to lighten the present sufferer's load. On the contrary, thls fact only makes the world look the darker and the more miserable. But there a.re characteristics of Christ's sufferings that should help other sufferers. He shows Ill! how to bear suffering. More than that, his Buffering brings healing to others. "With his ..tripes we are healed" (Isa. liii. 5). Thus the sufferer may look for saving delivera.nce from his own trouble to the Christ who suffered for him.-W. F. A. OH. XXIII, 1-17.] THE BOOK OF JOB.