The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 499

villaii;e. The man went to the village of Nimra hard by, where he was taken in. The next morning a lake was fo,md where the neighbonl"ing village had Btood, The conditions of mod(lm life are different.. Tb.e place of hospitality in the scale of social duties is changed. But for all who have enough and to spare of this world's goods there remains open a wide field of Christian beneficenoe and of refined culture in th~ practice of a sincere and discriminating llospitality. The moJ.el lesson on this subject is in Luke xiv. H is a deep lesson that 110 man is poorer for all the expense of love. It is the habit of needless hoarding that empties the heart. When the affections are centred on the granar,·, or the counting-house, or the bank, or the fields, the man's wealth is imag-inary, not real. Real wealth lies in the power of self-sufficiency for our outward con- ditiun, and of having something over for, others. "Use hospitality without grudging;" "(Tod loveth a cheerful giver." "The world teaches me that it is madness to leave what I ma~· carry with me; Christianity teaches me that what I chatitably give while I live 1 may carry with me after death; eKperience teaches me that what I leave behind I lose. I will carry with me by giving away that treaaure which the worldling loses by keeping; and thus, while hi.s corpse shall carry nothing but a winding-sheet to his grave, I shall be richer underground than I was above it" (Bishop Hall). 4. Hypo- crisy and ro11=lment of sins. (Vers. 33---40.) The way of man (or of" .A.dam") is to hide guilt, and bea.r a hypocritical front. The motive of such concealment is suggested in ver. 34-the fear of the -great multitude, or of the nobler families who were one's equals and associates. So may a guilty conscience lay a weight upon the tongue; .as in Plntarch's story of Demosthenes, who, hHing taken a bribe, refused to speak in the assembly, appearing there with his throat muffled up, and complaining of a quinsy; whereupon one cried out," He is not suffering from a throat-quinsy but from a money-quinsy." .-" Garments once rent are liable, to be _tom on .every nail and every brier, and glasses once cracked a.re soon broken; such is a good man's name, once tainted with just reproach. Next to the approbation of God, and the testimony ofmy .own conscience, I will seek for a good reputation among men; not by concealing faults lest they should bCJ known to my shame, but by avoiding all sins that r may not deserve it. It is difficult to do good, unless we be reputed good" (Bishop Hall);. 5. Renewed protestatirm.,. Would tbat he had one to hear this his assurance of innocence! He is thinking of God, and he desires his judicial interference in his favour. "Behold, there is my handwriting; let the .A.lmightyaDSwer me." As if he should say, "Here is the original of my justification, with my signature attacned. This is my documentary defence; let the Almighty try it, and let his judgment be given.",.· On the other hand, would that he had the accusation, the.statement as it were of the. ptosecution-against hi.In .(ver. 35). He here thinks of God as his Accuser, and longs to know what he has against him! Had he this docnment,he would bea.r it like a mark of. honour. upon ·his shoulder (for the idea, comp. Isa. :iL 4; :uii. 22), or like & diadem· for his head.· Such· is the tri- umphant consciousness of innocence. He would .declare :to .God the number of his steps -would conceal nothing, but confess all to .him. He would approach him like a prince, with st,ately step and unabashed port, as becomes one whose conscience is clear (veJ:'.. 37). Lastly, by some additional light of memory now flashing on his mind at the close. of his protestation, he gives a special example of his freedom from the guilt of blood. His had been no life contain.mg deeds like tbat·of .Ahab to Na.both (1 Kings xxi. 1). No such fearful crime was the cause of his sufferings. "If my land cries against me "-for revenge, because of some crime against a former poli&eSIIOr--" and its furrows weep; if I have wasted its power, its fruit and ,produce, without payment, and blasted the life of its possessor," by violence, "instead .of wheat let. thorns spring forth, and instead of barley stinking weeds." That consciousness of God's omniscience, which strike!\ terror into the secret sinner, is a comfort t.o the heart of the 11iucere child 9f God, T~e_ ~a.y- break frightens the robber, but cheers .t;b.e lionest traveller. Thou that an sincere, Gud sees that sincerity in thee which others cannot discem; yea, he often sees more sincerity in thy heart than thou canst <liscem thyself. This may uph~ld tJie drooping spiri~s q_f. a disconsolate soul when the black mouths of men, steeled with 1gnor11,nce and preJu,d1ce, shall be opened in hard speeches against hir;n. How ll8Verely, though blindly, do they judge of men's hearts! But here the s~re soul may comfort itself when ,o~ .the one ~d it can reflect upon its own integtjty, an~ on th~ othe~ upon God's infinite infal- lible knowledge, and say, "Indeed, Itlen cha.rge Qle with thlB ;i.nd this, a, fa.]Jie-hearted on. x:ni1, 1--4D.] THE·1BOOE. OD' JOB. 515