The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 467

Ver. 14.-0fothed wit'h righf.eomness. I. RJGHTEOUBNEl!B OJ,OTHEII A MAN AB WITH 4 GARlltENT. 1. J"r ~ot•&l's. If e. me.n hlls but a good :Character, we can pe.rJoh much' olse iu bitn. He may be wee.k, fool~bh, un~ortun~te. ll'.e may'.be.ve failed i9,th~W:o~ld,,p.nd he.ve cC1me do1vn to poverty. ): et he 1s not m rl\gb. A roye.l robe covers lllrn, and, in the eyes of those who can e.pprecie.te true worth, this Is the one thing seen about him. 2. It protects. The garment is to keep off the' chill winds and damping tnists and llCorchi11g sun. Righteousness is mote than a stout garment. It is a piece of armoµr- a brrnstplate, protecting the bee.rt (Eph. vi. 14). When once a man is assured of the int~grity of his cause he can look the whole world in the face ; he can dare to go through fire and ·water; he is strong and safe where one with an evil conscience may v,ell tremble and co1ver. 3. It adoi·ns. This righteousness is not only decent and comforting, like a thick, warm, home·spun garment; it is more beautiful than a king's clothing of purple and silk and gold embroidery. There is no beauty so fair a.s that of goodness. 4. It cannot be hidden. It is not e. secret confined to the heart. It must be there first, it nrnst spring from the heart. But it is not hidden within. • Character is visible, like e. ge.rment worn in the street. .: . II. THE RIGHTEousi..""Ess WHTCH THUS CLOTHES MUST BE REAL. It is only the.,per~ versity of e.n erroneous theology that could ever me.ke it necessary to utter so obvious a sentence as this. There is a way of referring to the imputed righteousness of Christ as though this d ispenscd with the necessity of our being ourselves righteous. Sur'ely such a doctrine would be immoral. In what respects could this so-called robe of.righteousness be distinguished from the hypocrite's cloak? If Christ's righteousness '_were only to hide our unrighteousness without curing it, not only would a gree.t deception: be practised, but no ree.1 good would be done. The result would be an unmitigated· evil. For what is our curse and our ruin? Is it not our sin? If so, nothing can benefit us that does not destroy that sin. Therefore an .attempt· to cover it np and leave it ·unaltered will do us no good, but will injure us by drugging our conscience e.nd giving us a false asS'UI'ance. In Eastern cities an open drain runs down the .TDiddle of the etreet, and is not so otfensive as one might think, because it is e.lways being oxidized and purified by the fresh air. We cover over our drains, but make ventilating hqles in our streets, through whlch gases of concentrated foulness, 1:1nmixed with· pure air, are continually rising among the passers-by. Have we ·.gained much? . , •.. III. 0:KLY CHRIST CAN CLOTHE ue 'wrrH BIGHTEousNEss. . Self-righteousness ",is _a. delusion. We cannot me.ke ourselves righteous, nor can any lnw put us right with God. St. Paul demonstrated this in the opening chapters of his Epistle to the Romans. But he also showed that God had given us Tigbteousness in Christ (Ro!D. iii, 21, 22); Now, this comes first of all in forgiveness. We are then put in a right re.lation with God, before we he.ve overcome e.11 the sin that dwells within us. Christ is the ,proinise of our future righteousness. In this we.y his rigl).teousness means much to us. God cannot be taken in by e.ny fiction. He can only regard us just a.s we are. But he can treat llS for Christ's se.ke better than wo deserve. So through Christ we are placed in ri.,.<>ht relation-a with God, and those right relations are the channels through w_qich real rightei:'.usness comes into us.-W. F. A. _ Ver. 18.-The phrenix. Accepting the rendering that is now adopted by most of the abler comment?.tors-tbat which is given in the margin of the Reviserl Version-we see Job comparing himself in bis earlier days to the phreni.x, which, "accordiag to the Egyptian legend, lived five hundred years, and then, setting fire to its nest, renewect its ytuth in the funeral pyre." Youth cannot believe in death, unless, iadeed, it falls i¥to a sentimental mood, or is startled by the ugly fact itself. Naturally, when health is unbroken, aud all g088 wel'l, life seems to open up an endless vista· of days to the young mai This view contains both a foolish delusion and a Divine truth. I. Tm: FOOLISH DELUSION. The phrenix was only a fabulous bird ; no such creature exists in nature. No one has ever found the elixir of life. The idea that life is !orig ii! a delusion of youth. It springs in part from the freshness of things, and in part from the overflowing vitality of youth. In his address to a butterfly, Wor~worta aays- • -• "Bit nee.r us on tbe bough ! We'11 ta.lk of sunshine and of song,  'fHEl BOOK OF JOB. 183