EXPosunE. Some men are r.o sunken in wickedness that they are beneath Rhame so familiRr with disgrace that they da not .feeUt. No doubt it would be a step upw~rd for such men to awake to a consciousness of their abject condition. But for those who are not lost to all sense of public decency, it cerfafoly is well to ho able to stand out bpldly before the world and 1'.1Qt dread ,investigation. Yet even when this can be done there may be ·misunderstandings that lead to false acensa.tions, or there may be worldly sine that our fellow-men do not condemn. Therefore he who remembers that he has .to,.give account of himself to God will not be satisfied with winning the approval of his fellows, nor cast down to despair if he loses it, so long as he has the smile-of his supreme Master. When a man's conscience is clear towards Heaven, he need fear no public exposure. He may meet· with social contempt, like the martyrs. Dut though this may be painful to him, he can be calm and patient, knowing that in t~e end God will vindicate the right .....:..w. F. A. "Ver. 35.-77ie indictment. Job desires something like a legal indictment. His experience suggests confusion, uncertainty, irregularity. He eets "his mark," and now he wants his Adversary-who, to Job's thought, can be none other th~n his Judge, God-to draw up an indictment that he may know once for all what charges are brought against him. . I. MAN 0AJ:<NOT UNDERSTAND Goo's DE.ALmos WITH llIM. This thought repeat- edly recurs in the Book of Job; it is one of the great lessons of the poem. We can now se~ that Job .,vas alµio~t;as.much misjudging God as the three friendM were mis- ju.dging Job. But a.t the time it was not possible for the patriarch to comprehend the Divine purpose in hie sulforings. Had he known all, much of the gracious design of his trial would have-been frustrated. The very obscurity was a necessary condition for the testing of faith. While we a.re enduring trial we can rarely see the issue of it. Our view is almost limited to the immediate present. Moreover, there are future con- s~quences of God's present treatment of us which we could not truly comprehend if they were visible to us. The child is not capable of valuing his education and appre- ciating the good results. of it. The patient is. not. able to understand the medical or'surgical treatment he•is made to undergo. While we walk by faith, we must learn to .expect di'spensa.tions of providence that are quite beyond our comprehension. IL IT IS NATURAL ·To DESIRE AN EXPLANATION OF Gon's TREATMk:----r OF MA..."'i. 1: That doubts may /)e removed.· Jt is difficult not to distrust God "hen he seems to be dealing hardly with us. If only he would roll back the clouds we shou 1d be a.t rest. 2. For our own· guidance. Is God accusing us of sin? Are we to take his chastisements as punishments? 'fhen what are the sins in us that he most dis- approves of? III. Goo DOES NOT PUNISH WITHOUT .ALLOWING us TO SEE THE GROUKDS OF RIB ACTION. Job craved an indictment; He wanted to see the charges against him in black and whHe. 1. When we are guilty conscience will reveal the fact. It would be monstrous to condemn arid punish the criminal without even letting him know of the offence with which he is charged. We dare not a~cribe such injustice to God. He has implanted within us a.n accusing voice that echoes his accusations. If we seek for light and the guidance of conscience, we must be able to see how we have sinned and come under the wrath of God. 2. When no consciousness of guilt is to be found, the suffering cannot be for the punishment of sin. We are all conscious of sin, but sin may be forgiven; we may not be railing away from God, but cleavin'..'. to him-though with weakness and sin in our hearts, still with faiti,ful adhesion. Then God will not punish. II~ therefore, the blow falls, it is for some other th~n a penal reason. Con- sequently, we need not soarch about anxiously for some unseen and unsuspected wicked- ness. Job made a mistake in asking for an indictment. There was none, simply because. there was not an] ground for one. Over-scrupulous consciences suspect the wrath of Hea1en when the gracious purging of the fruitful branch is really a. sign of the husbandman's appreciation of it.-W. F. A. 620 THE BOOK. OF JOB.
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