The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 579

mny be our anlvntion. 2. By inducing thought. We let the happy hour~ glide hy in ce,relese ensc, drenming life awo.y. Trouble arouses us with e. trumpet-blMt. It ciiee "Awnke I Think I" 3, By revealing sin. In onr humility e.nd our reflectiveness w; nre led too. consciousness of sin. 4. By drivin,q us to God. We neerl most of all to be delivered from oureel ves e.nd to be brougb t be.ck to God. The utter helplessness of great trouble urges us in this direction. IV. AFFl,IOTION DELIVERS FROM ITSELF. It is its own deliverer when it is rightly received. 1. Tlie right reception of it overcomes itB bitterne98. There is no such victory over pain as the ce.pncity to endure it with equanimity. We are more delivered from an evil when the thing we have regarded as evil ceases to hurt us than wheri we only escape from its clutches. 2. The patient endurance of it brings it to an ~nd. When God sees that his scholar has learnt the desired lesson, he can close the book. No more of the scorching lines need be spelt out with tearful eyes. The student has graduated. Henceforth he is free from the old <lrudger_y. Therefore the true way to escape from dreaded suffering which God sends as <liscipline is not to murmur ag:i.inst it, but to make the beet use of it, in order that, being purified by fire, we may become vessels fit for the King's uee.-W. F. A. Ver. 16.-" .A broad place. n Elihu tells Joh that it is the work of affliction to "lure" him out of a strait into a -broad place. I. LIFE IS IN DANGER OF BECOMING NARROW. Various influences combine to narrow it. 1. Selfishness. 'fhe disposition to think m,uch of ourselves dwarfs the world to us. But when we are thus living chiefly for our own ends, we are shut into a small circle of personal, private interests, and, the great world being ignored, we ourselves shrink into littleness, 2. Worldliness. When we are absorbed in things of this world, the other and larger world is lost to view. The consequence is that we become short-sighted, and thought and interest are shut in to the domain of the visible and temporal. 3. C'onventionaWy. '\Ve lose the courage of personal conviction, and fall back on the ideas and practices of our neighbours, 4. Routine. Since all goes smoothly, the mill grinds on in a dreamy atmosphere of changeless indifference. Then our lives miss the • stimulus of a rousing call to arduous service. II. Goo DELIVERS FROM NARROWNESS BY MEANS OF AFFLICTION. 1. .A Divine work. Seeing how hurtful the narrowness is, and desiring us to escape from it, he puts forth his hand to draw us out of the imprisonment it involves. It is difficult for one who has fallen into a mountain gorge, and who lies among the stoneo bruised and battered, to lift himself up and climb the steep and treacherous crags. He who has fallen into a strait in life needs the strong arm of God to draw him out. 2. .Accomplished through ajftiction. God comes to the rescue of his straitened serv,int. But the method of deliverance is strange and unexpected. Affliction is itself a strait; it seems to press on the soul, to hamper and limit its activity. Yet this is the very instrument employed in delivering the victim of narrowness. Narrowness of circumstances may deliver from narrowness of soul. The very pressure of this new strait rouses us and bids us exert ourselves. Then, as it cures our errors, it leads us out of its own constraints. HI. Goo's DELIVERAKOE SETS us IN A BROAD PLACE. First there is a fresh strait, a hard pressure of trouble on the right hand and on the left, with no door of escape. But when the affliction bas accomplished its work there is deliverance. 1. Liberty of action. "The truth shall make you free" (John viii. 32). God desires his people to serve - willingly and ·lovingly, not with fetters on their ankles. The freedom is of a soul "at leisnre from itself." There is a large place with great scope for work, which can only be enjoyed in unselfishness and unworldliness. 2. B,-eadth of view. It is wonderful bow the vision is broadened by the experience of sorrow. Although at first it may be cramped and confined to the immediate present by the absorbing influence of pain, when deliverance comes, this is followed by a wonderful mental expansion. No one knows the depth and breadth of life who has not been through the waters of affliction. 8. Largeness of foy. The broad place is open to the fresh air and the bright sunshine. Delivered froni dank and dreary narrow regions, we can rejoice in our God-given liberty. '!'his bliss is partly enjoyed on earth i it will be perfect in heavep., the large place of life and liberty,-W. F. A. JOB. ~ Q 594 THR BOOK OF Jon. (en. xx.xvr. 1-83,