The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 417

HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-14.-Job to Bi1dad. another BlfT'mon on the foregoing text. I. THE PREPAOE TO THl!l BlmMON; OR, THE DISOOUBSE OP BILDAD CRITIOIZED. In Job's estimation it was: 1. Wholly unserviceable. With stinging irony Job, according to our view, represents it ne hnving been extremely helpful to him in hie feebleness, as having imparted strength to his powerless arm and wisdom to hie ignorant mind (vers. 2, 3); meaning, of course, the opposite-that in these respects the brief but pompous harangue to which he had listenP.d had been of no use whatever to him in the way of assisting him either to bear his own misfortunes or to nnderstand the mysterious enigma of Divine providence. Not only should a good man by his words, and a Christian minister by his sermons, always aim at the edification of his hearers (1 Cor. xiv. 3), but the same duty is incumbent upon all (Epb. iv. 29), The world and the Church are full of sorrowful hearts requiring comfort, and ignorant minds in need of counsel. It is sad when neither the disconsolate can find a word of cheer nor the uninstructed hear a note of rlirection, to help them on in life's battle. The lips of the wise should disperse knowledge (Prov. xv. 7), and the tongue of the wise should prove health to the feeble and diseased (Prov. xii. 18). 2. Extremely superficial. Bildad had plenti- fully declared the thing as it was (ver. 3); i.e. while imagining he had dived into the heart of a great subject, he had merely skimmed along its surface. Yet superficial and shallow views of men and things are Dot to be despised. To the mass of man- kind, 'who are themselves commonplace in their capacities, only commonplace ideas are of use. What is called profound or oliginal thinking belongs to another sphere from that which they usually inhabit. Hence to the extent to which it is unfamiliar to their minds it fails to make an adequate impression on their hearts. Still, superficial views of truth cannot satisfy souls of nobler faculty than the uneducated crowd possess; neither can they fully represent the deep things of God on the subject either of religion or of providence. It is, however, doubtful whether all men's thoughts, those of a Job no less than of a Bildad, are not, in comparison with the unfathomable profundity of Divine truth, at the best superficial. 3. Utterly irrelevant. Correct enough in them- selves so far as they went, Bildad':; views were inappropriate to the theme under dis- cussion, were in truth so little pertinent to the great subject by which the thoughts of Job were engrossed, that Job felt constrained to ask to whom they had been addressed (ver. 4). Bildad is not the only person against whom the charge of irrelevant talking can be advanced. Modern controversialists, lecturers, preachers, orators, writers, are as prone to commit this fault as were their brethren of antiquity. Discoursing wide of the mark, whether in the pulpit, at the bar, or on the bench, in Parliament, or in common life, usually results from ignorance, want of capacity, lack of preparation, too great fluency in speech or composition, or from deliberate design. Fitness is a higher excellence in speech or writing than eloquence or elegance (1 Cor. xiv. 19). " The heart of the righteous studieth to answer" (Prov. xv. 28); and "a word spoken in due season, how good it is!" (Prov. xv. 23). "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver" (Prov. x.xv. 11). 4. Entirely second-hand. Whatever Job was, he was always original; whereas Ililrlad could only cite proverbs and quote traditionary ma.rims. Here Job rather wickedly asks him from whom he had borrowed his last brief oration (ver. 4). Since it could not be from God-Bildad always swore by the fathers-it must have been either from him (Job) or from Eliphaz, both of whom had already twice descanted on the subject of man's insignificance as contrasted with the majesty of God. It is not wrong to borrow good thoughts or to repeat them to others, provided their authorship be carefully acknowledged. Good thoughts at second hand are distinctly better than poor thou~hts at first hand. Still, ministers and preachers should aim to set forth their own views of Divine truth rather than those of other men. A clergyman who has no ideas of bis own to set forth has mistaken his calling. Much can be done by earnest study and prayer to improve the feeblest capacity, and to enable it to look at truth for itself. II. THE BODY OF THE SERMON; OR, THE MAJESTY OF Goo EXTOLLED. Catching up the anthem which Ilildad had commenced (eh. xxv. 2), Job continues in a strain of lofty adoration to dilate upon the transcendent greatness of God as absolute and universal  432 THE BOOK OF JOB. [on. :n.vt, 1-1'-