B.C. cir. 1520. "Which way, child?" supposing he had seen some one. "You look like gods." forgot to look up to the sky, to see if God was noticing you." The father felt this reproof of the child so much, that he left the corn, returned home, and never again ventured to steal; remembering the truth his child had taught him—that the eye of God always beholds us. -Decker. e Whitecross. he promises comfort if he be innocent a Pr. xxviii. 1, xiv. 26; Ps. cxii. 6-8, cxix. 6. b Ge. xli. 15; Is. liv. 4, lxv. 16. c Pr. iv. 18; Ps. xxvii. 6, cxii. 4. b 15-17. (15) left.. spot, stain of sin. steadfast,a molten; i.e. firm as metal cast by melting in the furnace: all. to furnace of affliction. (16) waters.. away, see on vi. 15-17. (17) age, life, not "old age." clearer.. noonday, as the sun rising out of morning mists to the brightness of noon. thou.. morning, with the bright day before: whose clouds are dispersed. Past sorrows and trials forgotten.-I. Let these thoughts be viewed in relation to the events of Providence-1. When great sufferings and calamities are prosperous events; 2. When painful occurrences are seen as subservient to interesting and joyous results. II. The text may be illustrated in reference to the work of grace-1. When the burden of guilt and the bitterness of repentance are succeeded by the joy of pardon; 2. When doubt and depression are followed by strong faith and delight in God; 3. When the emancipation of the soul shall be fully realised. Learn peated afflic--What a glorious privilege to have a special interest in the God tions come, not of providence. as lightning on the scathed tree, d Mal. iv. 2; Lu. ii. 32. I feel that re basting it yet more and more, but as the strokes of the sculptor on the marble block, forming it into the image of beauty and Joveliness. Let but the Divine presence be felt, and no ot is Rain trenches around tents (v. 18).—These words taken in connection may, we think, be explained by a practice commonly resorted to in Eastern countries, when there is expectation of rain. A tent, as is well known, is supported by ropes fastened to pegs, which are firmly driven into the ground. This dwellingplace is far more secure than might be supposed in time of wind, and will stand many a severe gale; but in seasons of rain it is not so safe. The pegs are apt to get loosened in the damp earth, and the tent must of necessity be liable to fall. A lady long resident in the East, and much accustomed to life under canvas, relates how, when the wind blows cool from afar, bearing the sound of abundance of rain, the Lascars will immediately commence digging outside the tent-pegs. The ground is hard as iron with the long drought, but they persevere till they have completed trenches of at least half a foot deep round all the tents Sickness, when in an encampment. The rain soon falls in torrents, the trenches sanctified, teaches us four are filled; but the ground on which the tents are erected is comthings: the va-paratively dry. It is natural to suppose that in earlier days, when nity of the world, living in tents was so common, this custom was common also sin, the helpless-and it is not at all improbable that Zophar the Naamathite alluded ness of man, and to it when, in likening the forgetting of misery to waters which the preciousness pass away, he added, "Thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety." but see His hand, and no event is unwelcome. the vileness of of Christ. and adds the promise of peace and safety a Le. xxvi. 5; Pr. iii. 26; Ps. iii. 5. 6 Pr. xi. 7; Am. ix. 1. v.18. Dr. N. Marshall, ii, 1. a 18-20. (18) secure, confident. dig, i.e. search: i.e. for grounds of alarm. (19) lie.. afraid, thy nights shall be peaceful. shall.. thee, caress thee: lit. stroke thy face. (20) eyes.. fail, when they look for relief. they.. escape, the justice of God. hope.. ghost, it shall depart as the soul of one dying. The deceitful hope (v. 20).-It is like giving up the ghost, forI. It is giving up that which is very dear. II. Yet, dear as it is, dangers as well it must be given up. III. Yes, it must be given up, and that Affliction has its suddenly. IV. Depend upon it, the giving up must be soon. V. Time speeds away-away-away: Drop like the life-blood from our hearts; Time speeds away-away-away: He undermines the stately tower, The friends that loved-the friends that blessed, Time speeds away-away-away: B.C. cir. 1520. prosperity. The one is ยู smooth sea with rocks beneath the shining surface. The other is & troubled ocean, in a dark and stormy night. "The hours of a wise man аге lengthened by his ideas, as those of a fool are by his passions. The time of the one is long, because he does not know what to do with it; so is that of the other because he distinguishes every moment of it with useful or amusing thoughts; or, in other words, because the one is always wishing it away, and the other always enjoying it."--Addi son. c Knox. CHAPTER THE TWELFTH. 1-3. (2) no doubt, ironical. ye.. people, the only wise men in the world. (3) understanding, lit. heart. I.. you, in power to quote and apply proverbs. yea.. these, these proverbs are so far fr. being original that every one knows them. Independency of thought in religion (vv. 1-5).-That this is man's prerogative appears from the following considerations. I. From the capacity of the soul. 1. Man has a capacity to form conceptions of the cardinal principles of religion; 2. And a capacity to realise the practical force of these conceptions. II. From the despotism of corrupt religion. It always seeks to crush this independency of the individual soul. III. From the necessary means of personal religion. It begins in individual think ing. IV. From the condition of moral usefulness. V. From the teachings of the Bible. Men are commanded to use their reason. VI. From the transactions of the judgment. Men will have to give an account of their thoughts and words as well as deeds.d The wisdom of the wise.-The people of the East take great pleasure in irony, and some of their satirical sayings are very cutting. When a sage intimates that he has superior wisdom, or when he is disposed to rally another for his meagre attainments, he says, "Yes, yes, you are the man!" "Your wisdom is like the "You found it in dreams." "When you die, whither will wisdom go?" "You have all wisdom! "When gone, alas! sea. ין B.C. cir. 1520. e Roberts. he reproves them for shallow judgments a Ps. xxii. 7, 8; Ma. xxvii. 29; Heb. xi. 36. 6 Ps. xxxvii. 35, lxxiii. 12; Mal. iii. 15. c "Who has no god but his own hand, or weapon."-Spk. Com. d C. Simeon. vv. 6-25. 4. Fuller, Wks. 509. There goes a rumour that 1 am to be banish ed. And let it come if God so will. The other side of the water ground as well is my Father's as this side. e Roberts. he directs them to nature as a teacher a Pr. vi. 6; Is. i. 3; Je. viii. 7 b 1 Sa. ii. 7. c Da. v. 23; Ps. civ. 29, 30. vv. 7-10. J. Doughty, Ten Disc.; J. Styles, i. 273; D. W. Garrow, 371. d Dr. Thomas. "You unfolded its what will become of wisdom?" "O the Nyani ! O the philosopher! "e 4-6. (4) I.. neighbour," the sense is obscure. Prob. Job meant that he felt himself as a butt for his neighbours' scorn. who.. him, God's treatment was so dif. from man's. (5) he.. feet, i.e. the man in adversity. lamp, etc., either broken and of no use; or, about to be extinguished. (6) into.. abundantly, lit. who bringeth God in his hand. b A want of sympathy condemned (v. 5).—To mark the precise import of Job's expressions, I will set before you-I. The evil complained of. Notice-1. The terms in which the evil is expressed; 2. The evil itself. This evil prevailing so generally, I will endeavour to show-II. The state of mind which it betrays. Certainly it denotes-1. A wa of Christian knowledge; 2. A want of Christian experie ; 3. A want of Christian feeling. Behold then-(1) The benefit of affliction; (2) The excellency of the Gospel.d A despised lamp (v. 5).—D'Oyley and Mant quote from Caryl and Poole as follows :-"A de pised lamp is of the same signification with a smoking firebra d; which last is a proverb for that which is almost spent, and therefore despised and thrown away as useless." In view of these observations, it is worthy of notice that of a man who is much despised, or who is very contemptible, it is said, "That fellow is like the half-consumed firebrand of the funeral pile." Job, by his enemies was counted as a despised lamp. When a person is sick unto death, it is said, “His lamp is going out." After death, "His lamp has gone out." When a person is indisposed, should a lamp give a dim light, the people of the house will become much alarmed, as they think it a bad sign. A lamp, therefore, which burns dimly (as did that of Job) will be lightly esteemed. 7-10. (7) but.. beasts, etc.," so far fr. these three friends having a monopoly of wisdom, all creation was full of illustrations of Divine wisdom, and capable of instructing them. teach.. till, etc., that God does not deal with His creatures acc. to their character. (8) earth, perh. in ref. to noxious plants thriving as well as useful ones. fishes, of whom the mighty prey on the weak. (9) who.. these, etc., i.e. by all these: i.e. by these things the great truths of Divine sovereignty and power may be learned. Lord, the word Jehovah occurs here only in Job's addresses, and those of his friends. (10) soul, life. every.. mankind, all are subject to the rule of one sovereign God. God's treatment of man in this world not according to human character. Three things show this. I. The experience of human have life. The prosperity of the wicked is-1. One of the most common marked the facts in human experience; 2. One of the most perplexing spring as it has facts in human experience; 3. One of the most predictive facts mantle, and hung in human experience.d-The history of inferior life.-The creatures it gracefully on of God may be studied in two aspects. I. As a revelation of God: the shoulders of His wisdom, goodness, superintending care. II. As a revelation spread its gifts of duty: they teach us by their conduct how we should act. 1. of flowers on the They act in harmony with the laws of their nature, so should we; lap of the grate-2. They seek their pleasure from the true source, so should we; ful earth; that is a manifestation 3. They answer the ends of their existence, so should we. the hills, and of God's all- The earth as a teacher.-To the attentive ear all the earth is B.O. cir. 1520. transforming power. You have marked the blustering winter, as that verdant robe, and blown out the floral is a display of lights; that, too, God's all-changing power."-Dr. it has torn off J. Parker. Thy might is self-creative, and Thy works, immortal, temporal, destructible, are ever in Thy sight and blessed there. The heavens are Thy bosom, and Thine eye is high o'er all existence; yea, the worlds are but Thy shining footprints upon space."Bailey. noblest eloquent; to the reflecting mind all nature is symbolical. Each object has a voice which reaches the inner ear, and speaks lessons of wise and solemn import. The streams murmur unceasingly its secrets; the sybilline breeze in mountain glens and in lonely forests sings forth its oracles. The face of nature is everywhere written over with Divine characters, which he who runs may read. But beside the most obvious lessons which lie, as it were, on the surface of the earth, and which suggest themselves to us often, when we are least disposed for inquiry or reflection, there are more recondite lessons which she teaches to those who make her structure and arrangements their special study, and who penetrate to her secret arcana. She has loud tones for the careless and superficial, and low suggestive whispers to those who hear with an instructive and attentive mind. She has beautiful illustrations to fascinate the childish, and solemn earnest truths in severe forms to teach the wise; and those who read her great volume, admiring with the poet and lover of nature the richly coloured and elaborate frontispieces and illustrations, but not arrested by these passing on, leaf after leaf, to the quiet and sober chapters of the interior-will find in these internal details revelations of the deepest interest. As we step over the threshold, and penetrate into the inner chambers of nature's temple, we may leave behind us the beauty of the gardens and ornamental parterres, but we shall find new objects to compensate us-cartoons more wonderful than those of Raphael adorning the walls, friezes grander than those of the Pantheon, sculptures more awe-"The inspiring than those which have been disinterred from the mind the best temples of Karnac and Assyria. In descending into the crust of contentment the earth we lose sight of the rich robe of vegetation which has."-Spenser. adorns the surface, the beauties of tree and flower, forest, hill, and river, and the ever-changing splendours of the sky; but we shall observe enough to make up for it all in the extraordinary relics of ancient worlds strewn around us and beneath our feet. 11-13. (11) doth.. words, man has the faculty of attending to the voices of men and nature, and discriminating sense and sound. mouth, palate. (12) ancient, aged. wisdom, etc., this would be more likely at a time when knowledge was gained by experience and observation. (13) with him, i.e. with God. The maxims of philosophic life (v. 11).-There is something like a syllogism in this verse. I. That the more the mind exercises itself upon moral questions the more capable it is to pro-b Dr. Thomas. nounce a correct judgment. II. That the ancients did greatly exercise their minds on these subjects, and therefore their judgment is to be taken.-Job's address concerning God (vv. 13-25). -Probably Job uses this lofty language concerning God for two reasons. I. To show that he could speak as grandly of the Eternal as his friends had spoken. They had often given to him sublime descriptions of the nature and operations of their Maker; and peradventure they had done this to impress the patriarch with their mental superiority. Job here shows that he can match them in this respect; his strains are as lofty as theirs, and his ideas as philosophic and grand. II. To show that he had as correct and extensive a view of God's agency as they had. He gives them to understand that he sees God working everywhere.-Job's ideas of the Divine agency.-I. That it is active both in the mental and moral world. II. That it is destructive as well as restorative. Hugh Macmil lan. he refers them to the 10; Ja. i. 5; Col. c Ibid. "Although tho living members of Christ be never without trouble in this al world, but yet the cause and consideration why God will have them thus exercised, is either for the honour and glory of His own name, or the profit, B.C. cir. 1520. commoditie, and exceeding benefit of them whom He thus afflicteth, or for both these considera tions together." -T. Timme. III. That it extends to individuals as well as to communities. IV. That it is absolutely sovereign and resistless. V. That it operates in the unseen as well as in the visible. VI. That it in no case appears to recognise moral distinctions among men.< Pursuit of knowledge (v. 11).-Some years ago an effort was made to collect all the chimney sweepers in the city of Dublin, for the purpose of education. Among others came a little fellow, who was asked if he knew his letters. "Oh, yes," was the reply. "Do you spell?" "Oh, yes," was again the answer. "Do you "He that would read?" "Oh, yes." "And what book did you learn from?" make a real pro-"Oh, I never had a book in my life, sir." "And who was your "Oh, I never was at school." Dr. Thomas. d schoolmaster?" gress in knowledge must dediHere was a rate his age as singular case; a boy could read and spell without a book or a well as youth master. But what was the fact? Why, another little sweep, a the latter-growth little older than himself, had taught him to read by showing first-fruits at him the letters over the shop doors which they passed as they the altar of went through the city. His teacher, then, was a little sweep like truth."-Bishop himself, and his book the sign-boards on the houses. What may Berkeley. not be done by trying! as well as the he asserts that power and wisdom 14-16. (14) he.. down, cities, houses, personal estates. and.. again, except He permit. he.. man, in poverty, are with God sorrow, etc. (15) waters, rain, springs. (16) deceived.! his, lit. are to Him: i.e. subservient to the working out of His plans. a Mal. i. 4. b Je. xiv. 22; Na. 1. 4; Ja. v. 17, 18. c Ez. xiv. 9; 1 Ki. xxii. 21-23. "God uses not the rod, where He means to use the sword." Bishop Hall. and that He confounds the wise and mighty с He comThen he The power of God (v. 15).—King Canute, a Danish conqueror of Britain, was one day flattered by his courtiers on account of his power. Then he ordered his throne to be placed by the sea-side. The tide was rolling in, and threatened to drown him. manded the waves to stop. Of course, they did not. said to his flatterers, "Behold, how small is the might of kings!" -The power of God.-The Thracians had a very striking emblem expressive of the almighty power of the Deity. It was a sun with three beams-one shining upon a sea of ice, and dissolving it; another upon a rock and melting it; and a third upon a dead man, and putting new life into him. How admirably may all this be used to illustrate the Gospel, which an inspired Apostle calls, "The power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth it !" It melts the hardest heart into uniform obedience to the Divine will, and raises those who were dead in trespasses and sins to a life of righteousness. 17, 18. (17) counsellors, great and wise men; also politic schemers. spoiled, stripped of office and power. maketh.. fools, in human estimation, by the overthrow of their plans. (18) he.. kings, with which they hold others in bondage. a 2 Sa. xvii. 14; and.. girdle, that they be led in captivity themselves. Is. xix. 12, xxix. 14; 1 Co. i. 19, 20. Omnipotence of God.-The omnipotency or infinity of His power consisteth in an ability to act, perform, and produce whatsoever can be acted and produced, without any possibility of impediment or resistance, and in this respect He is represented to us as an "Almighty God." And, therefore, such an omnipotency we ascribe unto Him, which is sufficiently delivered in the Scriptures. First, by the testimony of an angel, "For with God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke i. 37). Secondly, by the testimony of Christ Himself, who said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible" (Mark x. 27). Now He, to whom all things are possible, and to whom nothing is impossible, |