country, and not in town." The poor negro said this in the CHAPTER THE TWENTY-FIRST. B.C. cir. 1520. are persons whose aid may contribute to the advancement of Bruyère. his future."-La e R. T. S. he craves leave to speak 1-3. (1) Job answered, Zophar had only spoken in general Job's reply terms, but Job felt that he meant to apply his words to his case. So Job's answer had to be a vindication. (2) diligently, lit. hear, O hear. Serious matters call for double or diligent hearing. this.. consolations, i.e. you will find listening better than such talk a their boasted consolations Job felt to be more like aggravations. (3) suffer me, do not interrupt. mock on, begin again your mockings." The speech of the pulpit (v. 3).-I. Suffer me to speak-1. Of human depravity; 2. Of Christ's atonement; 3. Of God's invitations; 4. Of Divine long-sufferance; 5. Of tender mercies; 6. Of God's promises; 7. Of threatenings; 8. Of rewards; 9. Of punishments. II. The liberty granted. "Now I have spoken," etc. 1. If your understandings will permit; 2. If you are rejecters of the Bible; 3. If you despise the counsels of heaven. But if you will not "mock on," then-(1) Forget not; (2) Pray for help; (3) Reduce knowledge to practice; (4) Think of the end of life; (5) Persevere to the end; (6) Labour to promote the glory of God.c a The LXX. trans. "Let not such be your consolations." Job xvii. 2. "Listen atten tively, instead of speaking with words, which you intend for consolations, but which are tumelies."Wordsworth. con "The whole of Zophar's last speech must have left the im of a bitter sarcasm, and has dealt him pression on Job the freshest, deepest blow."--Delitzsch. c W. Stevens. complaining, even to man, he may well be troubled Rule for preachers." I was conversing with one of the first advocates in America. He said, the difficulty which preachers find in making themselves understood is, that they do not repreat enough. Says he, 'In addressing a jury, I always expect that whatever I wish to impress upon their minds, I shall have to repeat at least twice, and often I repeat it three or four times, and even more. Otherwise, I do not carry their minds along with me, so that they can feel the force of what comes after-d Finney. wards.' If a jury, under oath, called to decide on the common affairs of this world, cannot apprehend an argument unless there is so much repetition, how is it to be expected that men will understand the preaching of the Gospel without it?" d 4-6. (4) my complaint, Vulg. my disputation.a to man, as if I expected satisfactory answers to my questionings from him. why, etc., since man can give so little explanation. troubled, marg. shortened, sorrow being said to contract the heart.c Be impatient, unable to hold out any longer. (5) be astonished, Job intended to say some intense things. lay mouth, attitude of silent awe and wonder.d (6) trembling, at the mystery and apparent inequality of the Divine dealings. Opinions about preaching.-What is preaching? is a question to which there would probably be as many replies as to what is e a Comp. Job vii. 13, ix, 27, x. 1, Job xvi. 20. xxiii. 2. b c The same Heb. word is variously trans. in Nu. xxi. 4; Ju. x. 16, xvi. 16; Mic. ii. 7; Pr. xiv. 29; Ex. vi. 9. d Ps. xxxix. 9; Pr. xxx. 32. B.C cir. 1520. e Comp. David, Ps.cxix. 120; and Habakkuk iii. 16. "The heathen god of with his hand upon his mouth." -Fausset. "He who desires according to Paul to be apt to teach, must first himself be taught of God."-Eras mus. truth? Almost every minister, and almost every man, has his own taste, and his own standard, and his own weight, and his own measure on this subject. One man thinks that to preach means accurately to divide a given topic, logically to illustrate it, and to observe a perfect but cold propriety through the various steps This is the mechanical plan of and stages of the discourse. silence was pictured preaching. Another imagines preaching to be the exposition of a particular passage of Scripture, bring out from it all that is in it, and nothing more. This is the textual idea of preaching. Another cares not a straw for a sermon if it do not contain a train of rigid argumentation, diversified by occasional bursts of party rage, and strong squirts of the odium theologicum. This is the polemical idea of preaching. Another likes no preaching but what contains a string of appeals, and queries, and adjurations unconnected with principles, unsupported by reasonings, and "Those are the loose as a rope of sand. This is called, though falsely, practical best preachers to the common preaching. Another wants a sermon to be a series of electrical people, who shocks-one burst from beginning to end; the clouds returning teach with the after the rain, and no cotton so thick, and no conscience so hard simplicity of a child."-Luther. as to exclude or resist the perpetual tumult. This is the claptrap idea of preaching. Another wants flowers; whether natural or fresh from the soil, or artificial and faded, it does not matter; ther absolutely if he do but get flowers, and hear them rustling above his ears, ment, nor inde- in the breeze of brilliant declamation, he is quite satisfied, whether cently clothed they keep him languishingly awake, or lull him into dreamy with it."-Augus- repose. This is the florid and Corinthian idea of preaching. "It requires all Another is content with exclamations; he is not pleased unless our learning to every other sentence begin with Oh: the interjection Ah has to make things him a peculiarly pathetic sound; it seems to melt into his midriff plain."-Usher. Preachers are like snow; and that preacher would be his Magnus Apollo, to feed the who would say, "Oh, we remark in the next place." This is the people, not with interjectional idea of preaching. Another desiderates chiefly and gay tulips, delivery: no minister is a favourite unless his voice be musical, but with the and his attitude smack of the boards; unless he indulge in a probread of life, fusion of studied declamation, pointing to the four winds when and medicinal he names them, and laying his hand gently on the heart, when plants springing from the he wishes to indicate that interesting organ. This is the margin of the material or anthropomorphic idea of preaching. Another judges fountain of salva- of a sermon by its length, and likes it, either because it is an tion."-J. Taylor. hour, or because it is only the half of the time. This is the arithmetical idea of preaching. "Let your disCourses be nei without orna tine. useless daffodils f Gilfillan. he marvels at the prosperity of the wicked a Comp. Asaph's Hab. i. 12-17; JW. T. Hamilton, M.A. v. 7. 7-9. (7) wicked live," this difficulty the friends had shirked, dwelling only on the fact that wickedness was punished in this life, in order to prove that Job must have sinned.' (8) seed is established, Job was bitterly thinking of the loss of his own children; and the unqualified statements of both Bildad," and Zophar. (9) safe from fear, lit. peace from fear; i.e. peace itself, far removed from fear. Job's house had been broken up by calamities. rod of God, with which He smites in punishment. God uses outward evils. Why the wicked are suffered to live (v. 7).-I. To prolong their opportunity for becoming reconciled to God. II. For the benefit of others. III. That they may contribute to mature the Dr. T. piety, elevate the character, and heighten the future felicity of the saints. IV. That they may exhibit the loveliness of the Divine character. V. That they may furnish evidence of the Amory, i. 117. by, which God : 66 B.C. cir. 1520. patiently enthe ab dures sence of a good that is loved, desired, and hoped for, and the presence of an evil that is hated; and which spares sinners, not only that He may through them execute the judi cial acts of His mercy and justice, but that He may likewise lead them to repunish with the greater equity and more grievmacious."-Armiously, the contu pentance; or may g J. A. James. they are wealthy and seem to be happy future state of retribution. VI. That they may furnish decisive evidence of the justice of God in His final disposal of them./ Treasures of the wicked.-Every man is treasuring up stores for eternity the good are laying up treasures in heaven, where moth doth not corrupt; the evil and impenitent are treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath." What an idea is this! Treasures of wrath! Whatever the impenitent man is doing, he is treasuring up wrath. He may be getting wealth; but he is treasuring up wrath. He may be getting fame; but he is treasuring up wrath. He may be forming pleasing connections; but he is also treasuring up wrath: every day adds something to the heap. Every oath the swearer utters, there is something gone to the heap of wrath. Every lie the liar tells, every licentious act the lewd man commits, adds something to the treasure of wrath. The sinner has a weightier treasure of wrath to-day than he had yesterday; he will have a weightier to-morrow than he has to-day. When he lies down at night he is richer in vengeance than when he arose in the morning. He is continually deepening and darkening his eternal portion. Every neglected Sabbath increases his store of wrath every forgotten sermon adds something to the weight of punishment. All the checks of conscience, nius. all the remonstrances of friends, all the advice and prayers of parents, will be taken into the account, and all will tend to increase the treasures of wrath laid up against the day of wrath.g 10-13. (10) gendereth.. calveth, these were things beyond the immediate control of man, yet even in these things God blessed the wicked. (11) they, the wicked, v. 7. like a flock," to their sports, like a joyful flock sent to the pastures. dance, the common sign of joyousness and freedom from fear. (12) they, the fathers. timbrel, Heb. toph: French, tambourin: "Not formal an instrument that is struck. harp, Heb. cinnor,d an instru- dances, but skip, ment having strings. organ, Heb. ugab,e a wind instrument, like lambs, in the pipe of reeds, or flute, used by shepherds. (13) wealth, play."-Fausset. joyous healthful good, or prosperity. in a moment, without long sickness.9 c Trans. tabret in Frivolous amusements.-Attending places of vain and fashion- Ge. xxxi. 27. able amusement tends to stifle all serious reflection, and cherishd Ge. iv. 21, xxxİ. a vain and airy temper, and to promote an idle and dissolute 27; 1 Sa. x. 5. life. It tends to make young people forget that they are sinners, and that they must die and come to judgment. tends to render them deaf to all inward warnings of God's Spirit, and to the checks of their own consciences, and deaf to all the outward calls of the Gospel, the counsels of their ministers, their parents and other spiritual friends."-Recreation allowable.They who look with a severe and indignant eye upon all the recreations by which the cares of men are relieved, and the union of society is cemented, are, in two respects, injurious to religion. First, they exhibit it to others under a forbidding form, by clothing it with the garb of so much unnecessary austerity and next, they deprive the world of the benefit which their example might afford, in drawing the line between innocent and dangerous pleasures. By a temperate participation of those which are innocent they might successfully exert that authority which a virtuous and respectable character always possesses, in restraining undue excess. They would show the young and unwary at what point they ought to stop. They would have it in their power to regulate, in some degree, the : It a Ps. xvii. 14. e Ge. iv. 21. Vulg., LXX., and f Organ in the A. V. is the double flute, or, rather, the Pandean pipe."-Spk. Com. g Ps. lxxiii. 4. h Bellamy. "Sweet recrea tion barr'd, what doth ensue, but moody and dull melancholy, kinsman to grim and comfortless despair; and at their heels, a huge infectious troop of pale distemperature and B.C. cir. 1520. foes to life." i Blair. public manners, to check extravagance, to humble presumption, and put vice to the blush. But, through injudicious severity, Shakespeare. they fall short of the good they might perform. By an indiscriminate censure of all amusement they detract from the weight of their reproof, when amusement becomes undoubtedly sinful. By totally withdrawing themselves from the circle of cheerful life, they deliver up the entertainments of society into the hands of the loose and the corrupted, and permit the blind power of fashion, uncontrolled, to establish its own standards, and to exercise its dangerous sway over the world.i they foster pride in their prosperity a Ps. x. 4; 2 Ti. iv. 3; Ro. i. 28; viii. 7; Jno. iii. 19. b Ex. v. 2; Mal. iii. 14. c 1 Ti. iv. 8. d Or, may it be far from me!-Schultens, Ewald, etc. "Be it far from me that so I should speak, according to their way of thinking, with which, on the contrary, I disavow all fel lowship.". Delitzsch. M.A. v. 14. W. Fenner, Wks. ii.; J. F. Os tervald, 333; B. Beddome, vii. 123. v. 15. Bp. Moore, a 14-16. (14) therefore, better, and yet. desire not, the expression of natural enmity. Knowing God's will checks self-indulgence. (15) what.. Almighty, what His special claims? The language of pride and independence." profit, seeing they have all outward good, what is to be got by religion ? if we pray, Heb. if we meet Him: i.e. in the way of prayer. (16) not in their (own) hand, but in God's. They do not make it themselves. Therefore there must be some mystery in God's dealings beyond your comprehension. far from me, however brilliant it may look, Job yet will not choose it, but will cleave to God. The utility of prayer (v. 15).—I. It is adapted in its own nature to improve all the powers and properties of the human soul. II. Its influence is counteracting to whatever tends to injure the character. III. Its influence is efficacious on other tendencies that are favourable to the soul's welfare, as-1. Reading; 2. preaching, etc. IV. It has an influence upon the mind and conduct of God Himself.e-Man's dislike of a present God.-In our text we have worldliness versus God. It is the worldly man TH. Skinner, that is here speaking out. How is this? I. Not because God has injured him. II. Not because God has hated him. III. Not because God has interfered with his prosperity. It is because of the love of the world. This prompts men to try to get quit of God. I. They try to get quit of Himself. II. They try to get quit of His Christ. III. They try to get quit of His Spirit. IV. They try to get quit of His book. V. They try to get quit of His law! Effects of prayer.—A young man, who was employed in a large manufactory, was frequently made the butt of ridicule by his companions because he would not join in their drinking parties and Sunday frolics. Among these persons, the foreman was most 61; Dr. J. Lang-prominent. One day, as the youthful Christian was at prayer, he was overheard by this foreman, who found that he was himself the subject of his supplications. He was presenting to God the darkness and infidelity of his heart, and earnestly imploring for him the blessings of repentance and faith. The foreman, who had never known anything of the true nature of prayer before, was deeply impressed with what he heard, and wondered at the eloquence and fervour with which his own unhappy case had been pleaded before God. "I never," said he to himself, "thus prayed to God for myself." The next day he entreated the instructions of the young man, and earnestly begged his prayers for him. They knelt down together, cried to the God of all grace, and found acceptance with Him. From that day they were bosom friends, went together to the house of God, and frequently united in their prayers and thanksgivings. Their conversation adorned their profession, and the mocker became a confessor of the grace which he had so often abused and turned into ridicule. i. 319; Bp. Small ridge, 11; Abp. Sharp, iv. 102; Dr. B. Ibbot, ii. 172; J. Hoole, i. 49: R. Farrington, 217; J. Orton, ii. horne. i. 113; Dr. G. Gregory, 69; S. Charters, ii. f Dr. H. Bonar. A little boy, whose conduct made his mother say that she feared he did not "Yes, I do, I pray every night, that God will make you and pa like my ways better." pray, replied, 17, 18. (17) how oft,a on these words the stress of Job's question lies. He admits that the wicked are punished in this life, but how oft? candle, reverting to Bildad's figure, Ch. xviii. 5, 6. sorrows, lit. cords," which lightning in its twining motion resembles." Snares, in the sense of ensnaring destinies." Before this sentence read, you say, for Job is taking up the words of the friends. (18) stubble, chopped straw, broken by the threshing almost our chaffe B.C. cir. 1520. yet their life is uncertain and frail the a Gesenius sup- rendered how oft, may even be interpreted as equivalent to seldom. b Job xxix. 3; Ps. xviii. 28; Pr. xxiv. 20. Fausset. The end of the wicked.—Their frail vessels, though built of the best materials, yet corrupted by the worm of sin, being conveyed by the ebb of time down the smooth river of life, are now hurried beyond the bar of death into the fiery and unfathomable sea of Divine wrath. In this most tempestuous ocean, tossed by the furious winds of Almighty indignation upon the raging billows of insupportable torment, they suffer a speedy and an eternal d Delitzsch. shipwreck. Dashed upon the rocks of ruin, or swallowed up ine Is. v. 24; Mat. the gulf of despair, they are entirely lost, and not one broken iii. 12. piece of holiness or happiness remains, nor so much as a single "Though we plank of hope upon which they may expect, though after millions seem grieved at of ages, to escape to some land of rest. But 66 The hopeless soul, Bound to the bottom of the flaming pool, Though loath, and ever loud blaspheming, owns the shortness of life in general, we are wishing every period of it at an end. The minor longs to be at age; then to be a man of business, then to make up an estate; then arrive at honours; then to retire." fJ. Benson. his wickedvisited on his children ness is And now they have no sleepy opiates to make them forget for one moment their misery; no amusement to divert their atten- (Addison. tion from their intolerable pain; and no consolation left to lighten, in any degree, the dreadful weight of their sufferings./ 19-21. (19) layeth up, reserveth. iniquity, the punishment of it. for his children, the friends maintained that the punishments of wickedness fell either on the man himself, or on his immediate offspring." rewardeth, metes out to him the a Job v. 4, xx. due reward of his wickedness. know, in sense of feel it. (20) 10; see also Ex. see, in his own lifetime. drink, God's wrath is represented as xx. 5; Is. xiv. 21. in a cup. (21) what pleasure, etc., i.e. how can it be b Hos. ix. 7. punishment to a man for his children to suffer when he is gone?c Ps. xi. 6, lxxv. cut off, prematurely. 8; Je. xxv. 15, 16; Oba. 16; Re. xiv. 10. his children, but in his own body, during life." The triumph of the wicked.-How short is the triumph of the wicked! When they begin to crow, God stoppeth their breath; d"If the godless and judgment seizeth upon them when they think no danger receives the renear them. So, when Belshazzar was in his mirth with his ward of his nobles, the fearful hand wrote his doom upon the wall, and pre-receive it not in deeds, he should sently his mirth was changed into sadness, that he became as one that was stricken with a palsy; so, while Herod vaunted himself and the people honoured him like a god, the angel of God smote him upon his throne, and immediately he was devoured of worms in the face of them which honoured him; so, while the Philis- Comp. Eccl.iii.22. Secretary Waltines were triumphing and banqueting, Samson pulled the temple singham wrote to upon their heads; so, while the men of Ziklag were feasting and Lord Burleigh: dancing, David came upon them and slew them; when the "We have lived long enough to Israelites were at their manna and quails, even while the meat our fortunes (saith David) was yet in their mouths, God took away their lives; Delitzsch. to our country, to |