but he has not really understood what he bas been talking about. Such words have not helped lo the explanation of things; on the contrary, they he.ve been miijleacling de.rkening counsel instead of throwin~ light upon it. Now, until Job perceives this' he ce.nnot be. led to a vision of reassuring truth. While we think we know, 0 ~ ignorance is invincible. So long as we are satisfied with ourselves, we cannot receive the deliverance of God, The first lesson must reveal our ignorance and bumble oar pride, II. MYSTERY MUST DE MANFULLY ll'A0ED, Job had lain groaning on bis e.sh-hee.p, Let him now gird up bis loins like e. me.n, Humility should not be thought to exclude courage. We are most brave when we think least of ourselves, Now, a courageous facing of difficulty is necesse.ry if we would conquer it. It is useless to rave against the mystery of life. Let us go up to it and confront it calmly. This is the second step to the conquest of moral and intellectual difficulties. But there may be a touch of irony in God's words to Job-merciful and not bitter, kindly meant, to complete his lesson of humility. Can the patrie.rch face the mystery? Let him try. If he fails in the honest attempt, he will be in the very condition for receiving the help of a Divine revelation. ·: III. THOUGHT MUST BE DOUSED AND STIMULATED. Job had been questioning God; .God will now question Job. God's first answer to Job is to request an answer from the patriarch. It is easy to put questions. We should be wiser if we listened to those that a.re addressed to us. The method of the reply to Job out of the whirlwind was .fitted to awaken the thinking of the patriarch. We must learn to approach the wysteries of God, with an open and an active mind. No help can come to us so long as we remain inert. Perhaps one effect of the awakening of thought will he to reveal our own littleness by the side of the awful greatness of God. This is what God's answer to Job seems·designed to produce in his hearer. Then we can be no longer perplexed at mystery. We see we must expect it. At the same time, the greatness and goodness of God in his works teach us to trust him and not despair at the mystery. -W.F.A. Ver. 1.-The song of creation. I. A GLAD SONG. This highly poetic picture describes the joy of creation. When the world was made God saw that it was good (Gen. i. 10). There is no Maiiichiean pessimism in the Bible. Nature is full of gladness. This we should expect when we know the character of God, for he whose uame is love must take J?leasure in the joy of his creatures. We may see the same truth in the con- struction of the world .. It is beautiful, and made to minister to the happiness of the myriads of living creatures that inhabit it. We may find it hard to catch the echoes of the song of creation, yet even amid the toils. and caxes of life it is cheering to be reminded of its rare and ravishing melody. II. A BONG OF PBAISE. This was more than gladness. The Creator's glory is cele- brated cin the joyful recognition of the greatness and beauty of bis works. Nature- worsbip always-tends to grovel in the mire, twining itself most closely about the lowest thing in nature. Wordsworth W!lB a prophet of nature of the highest order, because he saw more than nature, and because he took nature as a mirror of the spiritual world. 'l'he glad praises of the sons of the morning begin the history of the world with a hymn to God. III. A HOPEFUL SONG, It was sung by morning stars, in view of the new day of creation. It sprang out of the fresh youth of the world. We praise God for what he has done since that first psalm was sung. Yet we too can sing· in hope, for God still lights up the future with glory. There is always something melancholy in a song of memory. The right attitude of the sons of God is the forward gaze. IV. A HARMONIOUS SONG. The morning stars sang together. Plato discovered the music of the spheres in their rhythmic movements. There is no music in wax, con- fusion, or selfishness. The joy of heaven is the gladness of love. Sympathy tunes the sweetest musio the heart can utter. If we would emulate the joyous prais:is of the angels, we must follow their willing obedience, and live in that heavenly atmosphere of Jove which is their home. V. AN ANCIENT BONG. Vastly more ancient than any one imagined in the days of Job, The brain grows dizzy in the vain attempt to form some idea of the immeasurable 628 THE BOOK OF J013. [elf. n:xvtn. 1 ...... 41,
nntiq\lit,I' th&t is opened up to us by the wonderful story of goology. Before all thM cnme t.he firat ~ong of Cl'('Btion. 'l'his thought dwarfs the life of man. Job had cl'!n• ~idered of the brevity of life from another point of view, and with reg11.rd to the melan- choly prospect of it-s termin11.tion. Now he is to look be.ck and see how recent wall bis origin. This wBB to check dogmatic Msumptions. How can the creature of Ii day enter into the e.ge-long oouneels of God? VI. AK ETERNAL BONG. The far-off antiquity WllB joyous in the light and love of Goo. But the Divine light and love have not faded out of the world. God is etill creatinz. Every fresh spring is a new birth from God, every day has its dawning ('rery child its glRdsome youth. The theory of evolution suggests even more joyou~ creRtions in the future. But bett.er than them all is the second creation, the regeneration of souls, for which there is joy in the presence of the angels of God (Luke xv. 10). The joy of creation is the angels' joy; that of redemption is "in the presence of the angels." F~r this greater joy does not first arise in them; it springs_from the very heart of God.-W. F. A.