Surely I would speak to the Almighty. Job 13:3, 4 Man speaking to God Homilist. There is a great deal of human speaking that has to do with God. Most speak about God, many speak against God, and some speak to God. Of these there are two classes — Those who occasionally speak to Him under the pressure of trial; those who regularly speak to Him as the rule of their life. These last are the true Christ-like men. I. SPEAKING TO GOD SHOWS THE HIGHEST PRACTICAL RECOGNITION OF THE DIVINE PRESENCE. It indicates — 1. A heart belief in the fact of the Divine existence. 2. A heart belief in the personality of the Divine existence. What rational soul would speak to a vain impersonality? Man may justly infer the personality of God from his own personality. 3. A heart belief in the nearness of the Divine existence. It feels that He is present. 4. A heart belief in the impressibility of the Divine existence. It has no question about the Divine susceptibility. II. SPEAKING TO GOD SHOWS THE TRUEST RELIEF OF OUR SOCIAL NATURE. Social relief consists principally in the free and full communication to others of all the thoughts and emotions that must affect the heart. Before a man will fully unbosom his soul to another, he must be certified of three things — 1. That the other feels the deepest interest in him. Who has such an interest in us as God? 2. That the other will make full allowance for the infirmities of his nature. Who is so acquainted with our infirmities as God? 3. That the other will be disposed and able to assist in our trials. Who can question the willingness and capability of God? III. SPEAKING TO GOD SHOWS THE MOST EFFECTIVE METHOD OF SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE. 1. The effort of speaking to God is most quickening to the soul. 2. The effort of speaking to God is most humbling to a soul. 3. The effort of speaking to God is most spiritualising to the soul. It breaks the spell of the world upon us; it frees us from secular associations; it detaches us from earth; and it makes us feel that there is nothing real but spirit, nothing great but God, and nothing worthy of man but assimilation to and fellowship with the Infinite. IV. SPEAKING TO GOD SHOWS THE HIGHEST HONOUR OF A CREATED SPIRIT. The act implies a great capacity. What can show the greatness of the human soul so much as this exalted communion? ( Homilist. ) But ye are forgers of lies. Lies easily forged J. Teasdale. Lying is so easy that it is within the capacity of everyone. It is proverbially easy. "It is as easy as lying," says Hamlet, when speaking of something not difficult. You can do it as you work or as you walk. You can do it as you sit in your easy chair. You can do it without any help, even in extreme debility. You lie, and it does not blister your tongue or give you a headache. It is not attended with any wear and tear of constitution. It does not throw you into a consumption — not even into a perspiration. It is the cheapest of sins. It requires no outlay of money to gratify this propensity. There is no tax to pay. The poorest can afford it, and the rich do not despise it because it is cheap. Neither does it cost any expenditure of time. After the hesitancy of the first few lies you can make them with the greatest ease. You soon get to extemporise them without the trouble of forethought. The facilities for committing this sin are greater than for any other. You may indulge in it anywhere. You cannot very well steal on a common, or swear in a drawing room, or get drunk in a workhouse; but in what place or at what time can you not lie? You have to sneak, and skulk, and look over your shoulders, and peep, and listen, before you can commit many sins; but this can be practised in open day, and in the market place. You can look a man in the face and do it. You can rub your hands and smile and be very pleasant whilst doing it. ( J. Teasdale. ) Will ye speak wickedly for God and talk deceitfully for Him? Job 13:7 Special religious pleaders R. A. Watson, D. D. Job finds them guilty of speaking falsely as special pleaders for God, in two respects. They insist that he has offended God, but they cannot point to one sin which he has committed. On the other hand, they affirm positively that God will restore prosperity if confession is made. But in this, too, they play the part of advocates without warrant. They show great presumption in daring to pledge the Almighty to a course in accordance with their idea of justice. The issue might be what they predict; it might not. They are venturing on ground to which their knowledge does not extend. They think their presumption justified because it is for religion's sake. Job administers a sound rebuke, and it extends to our own time. Special pleaders for God's sovereignty and unconditional right, and for His illimitable good nature, alike have warning here. What justification have men in affirming that God will work out His problems in detail according to their views? He has given to us the power to apprehend the great principles of His working. There are certainties of our consciousness, facts of the world and of revelation, from which we can argue. Where these confirm we may dogmatise, and the dogma will strike home. But no piety, no desire to vindicate the Almighty, or to convict and convert the sinner, can justify any man in passing beyond the certainty which God has given him to that unknown which lies far above human ken. ( R. A. Watson, D. D. ) Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him Job 13:15 A misinterpreted verse, and a misapprehended God J. Halsey. How often have these words been the vehicle of a sublime faith in the hour of supreme crisis! It is always matter of regret when one has to take away a cherished treasure from believing hearts. Now this verse, properly translated and rightly understood, means something quite different from what it has ordinarily been considered to mean. You will find in the Revised Version a rendering differing from the accepted one — "Though He slay me, yet will I wait for Him," it reads. So that instead of being the utterance of a resigned soul, submissively accepting chastisement, it is rather the utterance of a soul that, conscious of its own integrity, is prepared to face the worst that Providence can inflict, and resolved to vindicate itself against any suggestion of ill desert." Behold, He will slay me. Let Him. Let Him do His worst. I wait for Him in the calm assurance of the purity of my motives and the probity of my life. I await His next stroke. I know that I have done nothing to deserve this punishment, and am prepared to maintain my innocence to His face. I will accept the blow, because I can do no other, but I will assert my blamelessness." It is a lesson, not in the blind submissiveness of a perfect trust, but in the unconquerable boldness of conscious rectitude. There is nothing cringing or abject in this language. And this is in harmony with the whole tenor of the context, which is in a strain of self-vindication throughout. But, in order to understand the real sentiment underlying this exclamation, we must have a correct conception of the theory of the Divine action in the world common to that age. Job is thinking of Jehovah as the men of his time thought of Him, as the God who punished evil in this world, and whose chastisements were universally regarded as the evidence of moral transgression on the part of the sufferer. It is a false theory of Providence and of Divine judgment against which the patriarch so vehemently protests. He has the sense of punishment without the consciousness of transgression, and this creates his difficulty. "If my sufferings are to be regarded as punishment, I demand to know wherein I have transgressed." It is the attitude of a man who writhes under the stigma of false accusation, and who is prepared to vindicate his reputation before any tribunal. The struggle represented for us with so much dramatic power and vividness in this poem is Job's struggle for reconciliation between the God of the theologians of his day and the God of his own heart. And is not this a modern as well as an ancient struggle? Does not our heart often rise within us to resent and repel the representations of Deity that the current theology gives? Job had to answer to himself, Which of these two Gods is the true one? If the God of the theological imagination Were the true God, he was prepared to hold his own before Him. This Divine despot, as the stronger, might visit him with His castigations, but in his conscious integrity, Job would not blench. "Behold, He will slay me; I will wait for Him. I will maintain my cause before Him." Now, is this a right or a wrong attitude in presence of the Eternal Righteousness? Is there blasphemy in a man's maintaining his conscious innocence before God? As there was a conventional God in Job's day, a God who was a figment of the human fancy, dressed up in the judicial terrors of an oriental despot, so is there a conventional God in our own day, the God of Calvinistic theologians, in whose presence men are taught that nothing becomes them but servile submission and abject self-vilification. But is that view compatible, after all, with what the Scripture tells us, that man is created in the very image, breathing the very breath of God? We have been taught to imagine that we are honouring God when we try to make ourselves out as bad as bad can be. What are the strange phenomena produced by this conventional conception? Why, that you will hear holy men in prayer, men of inflexible rectitude and spotless character, describing themselves to God in terms that would libel a libertine. This was Bildad's theology. By a strange logic he fancied he was glorifying God by disparaging God's handiwork. He declares ( Job 25:5 ) that the very stars are not pure in God's sight though God made them, and then falls into what I may call the vermicular strain of self-depreciation. "How much less man, that is a worm and the son of man who is a worm?" We have to judge theologies by our own innate sense of right and justice; and any theology which requires us to defame ourselves, and say of ourselves evil things not endorsed by our own healthy consciousness, is a degrading theology, one dishonouring alike to man and to God his Maker. Job's inward sense of substantial rectitude, both in intention and in conduct, revolted against this God of his contemporaries who was always requiring him to put himself in the wrong whether he felt so or not. And Job obeyed a true instinct in taking up that attitude. God does not want us to tell Him lies about ourselves in our prayers and hymns. But I will venture to say that any attitude that is not truly manly is not truly Christian or religious. "Stand upon thy feet," said the angel to the seer. The fact is, the conscience of good or evil is the God within us, and supreme. What my conscience convicts me of, let me confess to; but let me confess nothing wherein my conscience does not condemn me, out of deference to an artificial deity. Let us dare to follow our own thoughts of God, interpreting His relation and providence towards us through our own best instincts and aspirations. This is what Jesus taught us to do. He revealed and exemplified a manly and man making faith, as far removed as possible from that slavish spirit which is so characteristic of much pietistic teaching. Christ said, Find the best in yourselves and take that for the reflection of God. Reason from that up to God, He says. "How much more shall your heavenly Father!" Bildad and the theologians of his school transferred to their conception of Deity all their own pettinesses and foibles, and consequently conceived of Him as a being greedy of the adulation of His creatures, jealous of a monopoly of their homage. One who could not bear that anybody should be praised but Himself, and who was pleased when they unmanned themselves and wriggled like worms at His feet. To think thus of God is at once to degrade Him and ourselves. Let us not be afraid of our own better thoughts of God, assured that He must be better than even our best thoughts. I say Job was the victim of a false theology. When he was left to his own healthier instincts he took another tone. In the early chapters of this book he is represented to us as one of the sublimest heroes of faith. Under a succession of the most appalling and overwhelming calamities that stripped him of possessions and bereaved him of almost all that he loved in the world, he rises to that supreme resignation to the Divine will which found expression in perhaps the noblest utterance that ever broke from a crushed heart, "The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." It is difficult to believe that it is the same man who rose to this sublime degree of submission who now adopts the semi-defiant tone of the words of my text — "Behold, He will slay me. I will wait for Him; I will maintain my cause before Him." The fact is that while it is the same mane it is not the same God. The God of the earlier chapters is the God of his own unsophisticated heart. In Him he could trust as doing "all things well." But the God of this later part of the story is the God of perverse human invention; not the Creator of all things, but one created by the imaginations of men who fashioned an enlarged image of themselves and called that "God." Job would not have wronged God if he had not had the wrong God presented to him. It was his would be monitors who had thought that God "was altogether such an one as themselves," who were guilty of this crime. And again, had Job himself been a Christian, had he possessed the ethical sense, and judged himself by the ethical standards that the teaching of Jesus created, he would not have adopted this attitude of proud self-vindication. For then, though his outward life might have been exemplary, and his social obligations scrupulously fulfilled, he would have understood that righteousness is a matter of the thoughts and motives, as well as of the outward behaviour. Judging himself by the moral standards of his time, he felt himself immaculate. It is pleasant to know from the last chapter, that before the drama closes Job comes to truer thoughts of God and a more spiritual knowledge of himself. He perceives that his heart, in its blind revolt, has been fighting a travesty of God and not the real God. Then, so soon as he sees God as He is, and himself as he is, his tone changes again. She accent of revolt is exchanged for that of adoring recognition, and the note of defiance sinks into a strain of penitential confession. "Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." ( J. Halsey. ) A trustful resolution B. Bailey. Such was the determinate resolution of the venerable and pious Job. In the history of this good man three things are evident. 1. That all things are under the Divine control. 2. Piety and integrity do not exempt from trials. 3. All things eventually work together for good to them that love God. I. THE SITUATION IN WHICH JOB WAS PLACED. 1. A great change had taken place in his worldly concerns. The day of adversity had come upon him. 2. But still Job's case was not yet hopeless nor comfortless. There was still the same kind Providence which could bless his future life. There were his children. News comes that they are all killed. 3. Where now shall we look for any comfort for Job? Well, he has his health. But now this is taken away. 4. There was one person from whom Job might expect comfort and sympathy — his wife. Yet the most trying temptation Job ever had came from his wife. 5. Still Job had many friends. But those who came to help him proved "miserable comforters." Every earthly prop had given way. II. JOB'S DETERMINATION. 1. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." 2. Job might confidently trust in the Lord, because he had not brought his sufferings upon himself by his own neglect or imprudence. 3. Job's trust or faith was of the right kind. Trust in God implies that the depending person has an experimental knowledge of His power, wisdom, and goodness. Trust in God includes prayer, patience, and a reconciliation to the Divine will. Remarks — 1. What a wonderful example of patience and resignation we have in Job. 2. What decision of character and manly firmness are exemplified in the conduct of this good man. 3. How well it was for Job that he trusted and patiently waited to see the salvation of God. ( B. Bailey. ) Perfect trust in extreme trial Samuel Martin. To most persons there is some affliction which they account the extreme of trouble. The estimate of "particular troubles changes, however, with circumstances. I. JOB'S MEANING. Trust in God is built on acquaintance with God. It is an intelligent act or habit of the soul. It is a fruit of religious knowledge. It is begotten of belief in the representations which are given of God, and of faith in the promises of God. It is a fruit of reconciliation with God. It involves, in the degree of its power and life, the quiet assurance that God will be all that He promises to be, and will do all that He engages to do; and that, in giving and withholding, He will do that which is perfectly kind and right. The development of trust in God depends entirely upon circumstances. In danger, it appears as courage and quietness from fear; in difficulties, as resolution and as power of will; in sorrow, as sub. mission; in labour, as continuance and perseverance; and in extremity, it shows itself as calmness. II. IS JOB'S STRONG CONFIDENCE JUSTIFIABLE? We may not think all Job thought, or speak always as Job spoke; yet we may safely copy this patient man. 1. God does not afflict willingly. 2. God has not exhausted Himself by any former deliverance. 3. In all that affects His saints, God takes a living and loving interest. 4. Circumstances can never become mysterious, or complicated, or unmanageable to God. We must in our thoughts attach mysteriousness only to our impressions: we must not transfer it to God. 5. God has in time past slain His saints, and yet delivered them. III. THE EXAMPLE JOB EXHIBITS. Job teaches us that it is well sometimes to imagine the heaviest possible affliction happening to us. This is distinct from the habitual imagination of evil, which we should avoid, and which we deprecate. Job teaches as that the perfect work of patience is the working of patience to the uttermost — that is, down to the lowest depths of depression, and up to the highest pitch of anguish. He teaches that the extreme of trial should call forth the perfection of trust. Our principles are most wanted in extremity. Job shows that the spirit of trust is the spirit of endurance. We may also learn that to arm ourselves against trial, we must increase our confidence. True trust respects all events, and all Divine dispensations. All — not a particular class, but the whole. All that happens to us is part of God's grand design and of God's great plan respecting us: Let me commend to you Job's style of speech. To say, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." will involve an effort, but there is no active manifestation of true godliness without exertion. Even faith is a fight. It is one of the simplest things in spiritual life to trust, but often that which involves a desperate struggle. Ignorance of God's intentions may sometimes say to us, "distrust Him"; and unbelief may suggest, "distrust Him"; and fear may whisper, "distrust Him"; but, in spite of all your foes, say to yourself, "I will trust Him." The day will come when such confidence in God, as that which you are now required to exercise, will no longer be needed. In that day God will do nothing painful to you. He will not move in a mysterious way, even to you, and you will chiefly be possessed by a spirit of love; but until that day dawns, God asks you to trust Him. ( Samuel Martin. ) Absolute faith J. Peters. Faith, like all Christian graces, is a thing of growth, and therefore capable of degree. I. FAITH IS DIRECT KNOWLEDGE. It is a kind of intuition. 1. It does not depend, like scientific knowledge, on the testimony of the senses. 2. It does not rest, like judicial decisions, on the truthfulness of witnesses, and the consistency of evidence. 3. It is not founded, like mathematical convictions, on logical demonstration. 4. Intellect combines these together to reveal the soul to itself. 5. Faith thus perceives the wants of the soul, and the fitness of revealed truth to satisfy them. II. FAITH ACTS ON A PERSON. Its object is God — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 1. A person is more complex than any proposition, and offers to the soul an immense number of points of contact. It is an undeveloped universe. 2. A person is a profounder reality than a doctrine. Character is more steadfast than a theory. 3. God is the universe, and can sympathise with every soul. God in Christ is a universe of mercy to the sinner. III. IT CONCERNS THE WEIGHTIEST DESTINIES OF THE SOUL AND IS ATTESTED BY CONSCIENCE. 1. It does not tolerate indifference. 2. It arouses the faculties to their utmost. 3. It comes in contact with revealed holiness. The soul cannot rest in evil. It requires truth and justice.Without these it is a lever without a fulcrum. 1. Faith gives rest without indifference. 2. It provides happiness without delusion. ( J. Peters. ) Faith's ultimatum This is one of the supreme sayings of Scripture. It rises, like an Alpine summit, clear above all ordinary heights of speech, it pierces the clouds, and glistens in the light of God. If I were required to quote a selection of the sublimest utterances of the human mind, I should mention this among the first, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." Methinks I might almost say to the man who thus spoke what our Lord said to Simon Peter when he had declared Him to be the Son of the Highest, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee." Such tenacious holding, such immovable confidence, such unstaggering reliance, are not products of mere nature, but rare flowers of rich almighty grace. It is well worthy of observation that in these words Job answered both the accusations of Satan and the charges of his friends. Though I do not know that Job was aware that the devil had said, "Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast Thou not set a hedge about him and all that he hath?" yet he answered that base suggestion in the ablest possible manner, for he did in effect say, "Though God should pull down my hedge, and lay me bare as the wilderness itself, yet will I cling to Him in firmest faith." The arch-fiend had also dared to say that Job had held out under his first trials because they were not sufficiently personal. "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath, will he give for his life. But put forth Thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse Thee to Thy face." In the brave words before us Job most effectually silences that slander by, in effect, saying, "Though my trial be no longer the slaying of my children, but of myself, yet will I trust in Him." He thus in one sentence replies to the two slanders of Satan; thus unconsciously doth truth overthrow her enemies, defeating the secret malice of falsehood by the simplicity of sincerity. Job's friends also had insinuated that he was a hypocrite. They inquired of him, "Who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?" They thought themselves quite safe in inferring that Job must have been a deceiver, or he would not have been so specially punished. To this accusation Job's grand declaration of his unstaggering faith was the best answer possible, for none but a sincere soul could thus speak. Will a hypocrite trust in God when He slays him? Will a deceiver cling to God when He is smiting him? Assuredly not. Thus were the three miserable comforters answered if they had been wise enough to see it. Our text exhibits a child of God under the severest pressure, and shows us the difference between him and a man of the world. A man of the world under the same conditions as Job would have been driven to despair, and in that desperation would have become morosely sullen, or defiantly rebellious! Here you see what in a child of God takes the place of desperation. When others despair, he trusts in God. When he has nowhere else to look, he turns to his Heavenly Father; and when for a time, even in looking to God, he meets with no conscious comfort, he waits in the patience of hope, calmly expecting aid, and resolving that even if it did not come he will cling to God with all the energy of his soul. Here all the man's courage comes to the front, not, as in the case of the ungodly, obstinately to rebel, but bravely to con. fide. The child of God is courageous, for he knows how to trust. His heart says, "Ay, Lord, it is bad with me now, and it is growing worse, but should the worst come to the worst, still will I cling to Thee, and never let Thee go." In what better way can the believer reveal his loyalty to his Lord? He evidently follows his Master, not in fair weather only, but in the foulest and roughest ways. He loves his Lord, not only when He smiles upon him, but when He frowns. His love is not purchased by the largesses of his Lord's golden hand, for it is not destroyed by the smitings of His heavy rod. Though my Lord put on His sternest looks, though from fierce looks He should go to cutting words, and though from terrible words He should proceed to cruel blows, which seem to beat the very life out of my soul, yea, though He take down the sword and threaten to execute me therewith, yet is my heart steadfastly set upon one resolve, namely, to bear witness that He is infinitely good and just. I have not a word to say against Him, nor a thought to think against Him, much less would I wander from Him; but still, though He slay me, I would trust in Him. What is my text but an Old Testament version of the New Testament, "Quis separabit" — Who shall separate? Job does but anticipate Paul's question. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation," etc. Was not the same spirit in both Job and Paul? Is He also in us? If so, we are men indeed, and our speech is with power, and to us this declaration is no idle boast, no foolish bravado, though it would be ridiculous, indeed, if there were not a gracious heart behind it to make it good. It is the conquering shout of an all-surrendering faith, which gives up all but God. I want that we may all have its spirit this morning, that whether we suffer Job's trial or not we may at any rate have Job's close adherence to the Lord, his faithful confidence in the Most High. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) Peace and joy and chastisement J. H. Newman, B. D. This sentiment is founded on the belief that God is our sole strength and refuge; that if good is in any way in store for us, it lies with God; if it is attainable, it is attained by coming to God. Inquirers seeking the truth, prodigals repentant, saints rejoicing in the light, saints walking in darkness — all of them have one word on their lips, one creed in their hearts. "Trust ye in the Lord forever." There is another case, in which it is equally our wisdom and duty to stay ourselves upon God; that of our being actually under punishment for our sins. Men may be conscious that they have incurred God's displeasure, and conscious that they are suffering it; and then their duty is still to trust in God, to acquiesce, or rather to concur in His chastisements. Scripture affords us some remarkable instances of persons glorifying, or called on to glorify God when under His hand. See Joshua's exhortation to Achan. The address of Jonah to God from the fish's belly. It should not be difficult to realise the state of mind described in the text, and yet some find difficulty in conceiving how Christians can have hope without certainty, sorrow and pain without gloom, suspense with calmness and confidence. I proceed then to describe this state of mind. Suppose a good man, who is conscious of some deliberate sin or sins in time past, some course of sin, or in later life has detected himself in some secret and subtle sin, what will be his state when the conviction of his sin, whatever it is, breaks upon him? Will he think himself utterly out of God's favour? He will not despair. Will he take up the notion that God has forgiven him? He has two feelings at once — one of present enjoyment, and another of undefined apprehension, and on looking on to the day of judgment, hope and fear both rise within him. ( J. H. Newman, B. D. ) Trustfulness P. E. Paget, M. A. Job endured, as seeing Him who is invisible; he had that faith which has realised to itself the conviction that, somehow or other, all things are working together for good to them that love God, and which calmly submits itself without anxiety to whatever God sees fit to lay upon it. Faith comprehends trustfulness. It is the larger term of the two. None of us can have lived any length of time in the world without having, as part of our appointed trial, been visited with pain and sickness, with the loss of friends, and with more or less of temporal misfortune. How these chastisements have been borne by us, has depended upon how far we have taught ourselves to look upon them as a precious legacy from Christ our Saviour, as a portion of His Cross, as a token of His love. Looking back upon what, at the time, you considered the great misfortunes of your life, can you not now see the gracious designs with which they were sent? In this is there not a powerful argument in favour of trustfulness, and a most satisfactory evidence that "in quietness and confidence" will be our strength? In proportion as we have the Spirit of Christ, will be our desire to be made like unto Him in all things; and this resemblance can never be attained without a following of Him in the path of suffering, and a submission and trustfulness like His as we pass along it. There is, however, the danger of our endeavouring, by any movement of impatience, to lighten the burden which our Heavenly Father has laid on us; of taking matters, as it were, into our own hands, and so thwarting or making of none effect the merciful designs of providence towards us. We must take care that our passiveness and silence are the result of Christian principles. There is a silence which arises from sullenness, and a passiveness which comes from apathy or despair. Trials are sent us in order that when we feel their acuteness, we may raise our thoughts to Him who alone can lighten them, and bless them to us. We ought to feel that it is sin to doubt the gracious purposes of God towards us, or to receive them in any other than a thankful spirit. How mercifully we are dealt with we shall be the more ready to acknowledge, the more we reflect upon the manner of God's visitations towards us. But it is not in personal and domestic trials only that this spirit of trustfulness will be our safeguard and support. In all those perplexities which arise from our own position in the Church, and the Church's position in the world, and which would otherwise bewilder us, our trustfulness will come to our refuge. And there never was greater need of a trustful spirit among Churchmen than at the present time. ( P. E. Paget, M. A. ) Fortitude under trial Edward Garbett, M. A. Trust in God is one of the easiest of all things to express, and one of the hardest to practise. There is no grace more necessary, and when attained there is no grace more blessed and comforting. But if blessed when attained, it is difficult of attainment. It is no spontaneous growth of the natural mind, but implies a work of grace which the Holy Ghost can alone accomplish. It requires a deep realisation of the Divine presence, of the Divine wisdom, and of the Divine love. On our side there must be an active effort, and an utter renunciation of all trust on that effort, that simple looking out of ourselves which it is indeed most difficult to reconcile with the active instincts of the mind. I. IT IS AMID SORROW AND TRIAL THAT TRUST CAN ALONE BE EXERCISED. No time here on earth is free from temptation and danger, and therefore no time here on earth can we cease to rely upon God. The very meaning of trust implies doubt within and danger without, the man who trusts, if we already knew everything, where would be faith? If we already possessed everything, where would be hope? II. THIS SURE CONFIDENCE IS NOT THE ATTRIBUTE OF ANY TRUST WHICH WE MAY PLACE IN ANY OBJECT. It is, indeed, the nature of trust to operate in times of difficulty; but yet the success with which it can do this depends ever upon the nature of that which is trusted — the foundation on which the house of trust

Benson Commentary Job 13:1 Lo, mine eye hath seen all this , mine ear hath heard and understood it. Job 13:1 . Lo, mine eye hath seen all this — All this which either you or I have discoursed concerning the infinite power and wisdom of God, I know, both by seeing it, by my own observation and experience, and by hearing it from my ancestors. Job 13:2 What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you. Job 13:3 Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God. Job 13:3 . Surely I would speak to the Almighty — I had rather debate the matter with God than with you. I am not afraid of presenting my person and cause before him, who is a witness of my integrity, and would not deal so unmercifully with me as you do. Job 13:4 But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value. Job 13:4-5 . Ye are forgers of lies — That is, authors of false doctrine, namely, that great afflictions are peculiar to hypocrites and wicked men. All physicians of no value — Unfaithful and unskilful; prescribing bad remedies: and misapplying good ones. O that ye would altogether hold your peace — The best proof of your wisdom would be never to say a word more of these matters; for then your ignorance and folly would be concealed, which are now made manifest by your speaking concerning what you do not understand. Thus Solomon, Proverbs 17:28 , “Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.” Job 13:5 O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom. Job 13:6 Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips. Job 13:6-8 . Hear now my reasoning — Attend to it, and consider it more seriously than you have done; and hearken to the pleadings of my lips — That is, to the arguments which I shall produce. Will ye speak wickedly for God? — Will you utter falsehoods upon pretence of pleasing God, or of maintaining God’s honour or righteousness? Doth he need such defences? Will ye accept his person? — Not judging according to the right of the cause, but the quality of the person, as corrupt judges do. Will ye contend with God? — Or, will ye plead, as the word, ?????? , teribun, is rendered, Jdg 6:31 . He means, is his cause so bad as to call for your assistance to defend it? Will you plead for him, as one person pleads for another, making use of little arts and subtle contrivances in his defence? He wants no such crafty, unprincipled advocates. “Job here convicts his friends of wickedness, in taking upon them to defend God in an improper manner, as if he needed their rash censures to vindicate the ways of his providence. This was such a fault, as they had but too much reason to fear might one time or other draw down his severe chastisements on their own heads.” See Peters. Job 13:7 Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him? Job 13:8 Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God? Job 13:9 Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him? Job 13:9-10 . Is it good that he should search you out? — Will it be to your credit and comfort, that he should narrowly examine your hearts and discourses, whether you have uttered truth or falsehood, and whether your speeches have proceeded from true zeal for the glory of God, or from your own prejudices and passions? Do ye so mock him? — By covering your uncharitableness and corrupt affections with pretences of piety, as if God could not discern your artifices; or, by pleading his cause with weak and foolish arguments, which is a kind of mockery of him, and an injury to his cause; or, by seeking to flatter him with false praises, as if he distributed the things of this world with exact justice, prospering only the good, and severely afflicting none but wicked men. He will surely reprove you — Hebrew, ???? ???? , hocheach, jocheach, redarguendo redarguet, in confuting, he will confute you; that is, he will surely confute, or punish you, as the word often means. “He will severely chastise you, for designing to gratify him by condemning me.” — Bishop Patrick. If ye do secretly accept persons — Though it be concealed in your own breasts, and no eye see it; yea, though your own minds and consciences, through ignorance or inadvertency, do not perceive it; yet he, who is greater than your consciences, sees and knows it. Job 13:10 He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons. Job 13:11 Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you? Job 13:11-12 . Shall not his excellency — His infinite wisdom, which sees your secret falsehood, and his justice and power, which can and will punish you for it; make you afraid? — Of speaking rashly or falsely of his ways and counsels. Your remembrances — Hebrew, ??????? , zichronechem, your memorials; or, as Chappelow translates it, memorabilia vestra, your remarkable things, your discourses, and arguments, and memorable actions; are like unto ashes — Contemptible and unprofitable, Hebrew, ????? ??? , mishle epher, are parables or speeches of dust or ashes, mouldering, as it were, and coming to nothing. All that is most excellent and memorable in you; your wealth, and dignity, and wit, and reputation, or whatsoever it is for which you expect to be remembered, it is all but poor despicable dust and ashes; for, your bodies are like to bodies of clay — Though they be not full of sores and biles as mine is, yet they are but dust, and to dust they shall return, as well as mine. The consideration of our mortality should make us afraid of offending God. Job 13:12 Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay. Job 13:13 Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will . Job 13:13 . Hold your peace — Do not now interrupt me in my discourse; which, peradventure, he observed by their gestures, some of them were now attempting; let me alone, that I may speak — That I may freely utter my whole mind; let come on me what will — Whatever the event may be, I am determined to speak in my own defence. My friends may put an unfavourable construction upon it, and think the worse of me for it; but I hope God will not make my necessary defence to be my offence, as they do: he will justify me, ( Job 13:18 ,) and then nothing can come amiss to me. Those that are upright, and have the assurance of their uprightness, may cheerfully welcome every event. Come what will, they are ready for it. Job 13:14 Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand? Job 13:14 . Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, &c. — The sense, according to some commentators, is, Why do I torment myself? Why do I grieve so immoderately, like those persons who, in their afflictions, rend their garments, and are ready to tear their very flesh? But Bishop Patrick’s paraphrase seems to accord better with the context, namely, “I am so conscious to myself of my innocence, that I must still wonder why I suffer such enraging miseries, and am exposed to so many dangers.” Henry speaks to nearly the same purpose: “Why do I suffer such agonies? I cannot but wonder that God should lay so much upon me, when he knows I am not a wicked man. He was ready, not only to rend his clothes, but even to tear his flesh, through the greatness of his affliction; and saw himself at the brink of death, and his life in his hand; yet his friends could not charge him with any enormous crime, nor could he himself discover any; no marvel then he was in such confusion.” The phrase of having his life in his hand, denotes a condition extremely dangerous. Thus Jephthah tells the Ephraimites, I put my life in my hands and passed over against the children of Ammon, Jdg 12:3 . That is, I exposed my life to the greatest danger. Thus Jonathan speaks of David: He put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, 1 Samuel 19:5 . The words, says Poole, may imply “a reason of his ardent desire of liberty of speech, because he could hold his tongue no longer, but must needs tear himself to pieces, if he had not some vent for his grief.” In which sense the LXX. seem to have understood him. Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. Job 13:15 . Though he slay me — But though God should yet more and more increase my torments, so that I could bear them no longer, but should perceive myself to be at the point of death, without any hope of recovery; yet will I trust in him — Or, more exactly according to the Hebrew text, Shall I not trust in him? Shall I despair? No; I will not, I know he is a just, a faithful, and merciful God; and he knows that my heart is upright before him, and that I am no hypocrite. But I will maintain mine own ways — Though I trust in him, yet I will humbly expostulate the matter with him. Hebrew, I will argue, prove, or demonstrate my ways; that is, I will make a free and full confession of the whole course of my life, and I will boldly, though submissively, assert my own integrity, which he also, I doubt not, will acknowledge. And, what I have done amiss, I will as freely confess, and make supplication to my Judge for the pardon of it. Before him — Hebrew, ?? ???? , el panaiv, before his face, in his presence, or before his tribunal, for I desire no other judge but him. Job 13:16 He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him. Job 13:16 . He also shall be my salvation — I rest assured that he will save me out of these miseries, sooner or later, one way or other, if not with a temporal, yet with an eternal salvation after death; of which he speaks Job 19:25 . For a hypocrite — Or, rather, But a hypocrite shall not come before him — If I were a hypocrite, as you allege, I durst not present myself before him to plead my cause with him, as now I desire to do, nor could I hope for any salvation from or with him in heaven. Job 13:17 Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears. Job 13:17 . Hear diligently my speech — This he desired before, ( Job 13:6 ,) and now repeats, either, because they manifested some dislike of his speech, and some desire to interrupt him; or, because he now comes more closely to the question; the foregoing verses being mostly in the way of preface to it. And my declaration — That is, the words whereby I declare my mind. Job 13:18 Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified. Job 13:18-19 . Behold, now, I have ordered my cause — Namely, in my own mind. I have seriously considered the state of my case, what can be said, either for me or against me, and am ready to plead my cause. I know that I shall be justified — Acquitted by God of that hypocrisy and wickedness wherewith you charge me, and declared a righteous person, human infirmities excepted. Who is he that will plead with me? — Let who will come and accuse me, I am ready to answer. If I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost — My grief would break my heart, if I did not give vent to it. Job 13:19 Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost. Job 13:20 Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee. Job 13:20-22 . Let me only beg, O great Judge of all, that thou wilt forbear to make use of two things against me. Then will I not hide myself from thee — Then will I appear confidently to plead my cause before thee. Withdraw thy hand from me — Suspend my torments during the time of my pleading with thee, that my mind may be at liberty. And let not thy dread make me afraid — Do not present thyself to me in terrible majesty, neither deal with me in rigorous justice. Then call thou, and I will answer — Then choose thy own method: either do thou charge me with hypocrisy, or more than common guilt, and I will defend myself. Or let me speak, &c. — I will argue with thee concerning thy extraordinary severity toward me; and do thou show me the reasons of it. This proposal savours of self-confidence, and of irreverence toward God; for which, and the like speeches, he is reproved by God, Job 38:2-3 ; Job 40:2 . Job 13:21 Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid. Job 13:22 Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me. Job 13:23 How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin. Job 13:23-24 . How many are my sins? — That I am a sinner, I confess; but not that I am guilty of such crimes as my friends suppose; if it be so, do thou, O Lord, discover it. Wherefore hidest thou thy face? — Withdrawest thy favour and help, which thou hast been wont to afford me; and holdest me for thine enemy? — That is, dealest as sharply with me as if I were thy professed enemy. Job 13:24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy? Job 13:25 Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble? Job 13:25 . Wilt thou break a leaf? &c. — Doth it become thy infinite and excellent majesty to use thy might to crush such a poor, impotent, and frail creature as I am, that can no more resist thy power than a leaf or a little dry straw can resist the fury of the wind or fire? Thus, whatever was irreverent or unbecoming in Job’s expressions, as recorded in Job 13:22 , is greatly alleviated, as Dr. Dodd has observed, from Peters, by the humility and self- abasement manifested in these last three verses. Scarcely ever were the feelings of the human heart, burdened with an extraordinary load of grief, expressed in a more natural, or less blameable way. He first wishes that God would discover to him the particular sins, if there were any, for which he thus afflicted him, intimating his readiness to deplore them, and to correct his errors for the future. Secondly, he accounts it the greatest of his calamities, that God should hide his face from him, and deal with him as an enemy; on whose friendship and favour he had always set the highest value; had endeavoured to preserve it by the integrity of his life, and was resolved never to depart from that integrity. Lastly, he confesses his own meanness, or rather nothingness, in comparison of God; and that in a manner so ingenuous and simple, as to show that his complaints, however passionate and moving, did not proceed from pride or stubbornness of spirit. Job 13:26 For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth. Job 13:26 . For thou writest — That is, thou appointest; bitter things against me — A terrible sentence, or most grievous punishments. It is a metaphor taken from the custom of princes or judges, who anciently used to write their sentences, or decrees, concerning persons or causes brought before them. And makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth — Dost now, at once, bring upon me the punishment of all my sins, not excepting those of my youth, which were committed before I well knew what I did. Job 13:27 Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet. Job 13:27 . Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks — Thou encompassest me with thy judgments, so that I have no way or possibility to escape. And lookest narrowly unto all my paths — Makest a strict and diligent search into all the actions of my life, that thou mayest find matter for which to condemn me. Thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet — Thou followest me close at the heels, either to observe my actions, or to pursue me with thy judgments; insomuch, that thou dost often, as it were, tread upon my heels, and leave the prints of thy footsteps upon them. Bishop Patrick’s paraphrase here is, “I can no more escape than a malefactor, whose feet are in the stocks, who is encompassed with a vigilant guard, and cannot stir a foot from the place where he is.” Heath thinks there is an allusion, in these words, to the custom of putting a clog on the feet of fugitive slaves, that they might be tracked and found. Job 13:28 And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten. Job 13:28 . And he, as a rotten thing — That is, man, as some commentators suppose, thinking that Job speaks of himself in the third person, and that the sense is, this poor frail creature, this carcass, or body of mine; consumeth — Or wasteth away, and is destroyed; as a garment eaten by moths — Others, however, interpret the words thus: He, that is, God, consumeth me (understanding the verb ???? , jiblee, actively) as rottenness consumeth that in which it is, or, as a rotten thing is consumed, &c. Houbigant’s translation of the verse is, So that I am become like a thing consumed with rottenness; like a garment eaten up by the moth. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Job 13:1 Lo, mine eye hath seen all this , mine ear hath heard and understood it. XII. BEYOND FACT AND FEAR TO GOD Job 12:1-25 ; Job 13:1-28 ; Job 14:1-22 Job SPEAKS ZOPHAR excites in Job’s mind great irritation, which must not be set down altogether to the fact that he is the third to speak. In some respects he has made the best attack from the old position, pressing most upon the conscience of Job. He has also used a curt positive tone in setting out the method and principle of Divine government and the judgment he has formed of his friend’s state. Job is accordingly the more impatient, if not disconcerted. Zophar had spoken of the want of understanding Job had shown, and the penetrating wisdom of God which at a glance convicts men of iniquity. His tone provoked resentment. Who is this that claims to have solved the enigmas of providence, to have gone into the depths of wisdom? Does he know any more, he himself, than the wild ass’s colt? And Job begins with stringent irony- "No doubt but ye are the people And wisdom shall die with you. The secrets of thought, of revelation itself are yours. No doubt the world waited to be taught till you were born. Do you not think so? But, after all, I also have a share of understanding, I am not quite so void of intellect as you seem to fancy. Besides, who knoweth not such things as ye speak? Are they new? I had supposed them to be commonplaces. Yea, if you recall what I said, you will find that with a little more vigour than yours I made the same declarations. "A laughing stock to his neighbours am I, I who called upon Eloah and He answered me, - A laughing stock, the righteous and perfect man." Job sees or thinks he sees that his misery makes him an object of contempt to men who once gave him the credit of far greater wisdom and goodness than their own. They are bringing out old notions, which are utterly useless, to explain the ways of God; they assume the place of teachers; they are far better, far wiser now than he. It is more than flesh can bear. As he looks at his own diseased body and feels again his weakness, the cruelty of the conventional judgment stings him. "In the thought of him that is at ease there is for misfortune scorn; it awaiteth them that slip with the foot." Perhaps Job was mistaken, but it is too often true that the man who fails in a social sense is the man suspected. Evil things are found in him when he is covered with the dust of misfortune, things which no one dreamed of before. Flatterers become critics and judges. They find that he has a bad heart or that he is a fool. But if those very good and wise friends of Job are astonished at anything previously said, they shall be more astonished. The facts which their account of Divine providence very carefully avoided as inconvenient Job will blurt out. They have stated and restated, with utmost complacency, their threadbare theory of the government of God. Let them look now abroad in the world and see what actually goes on, blinking no facts. The tents of robbers prosper. Out in the desert there are troops of bandits who are never overtaken by justice; and they that provoke God are secure, who carry a god in their hand, whose sword and the reckless daring with which they use it make them to all appearance safe in villainy. These are the things to be accounted for; and, accounting for them, Job launches into a most emphatic argument to prove all that is done in the world strangely and inexplicably to be the doing of God. As to that he will allow no question. His friends shall know that he is sound on this head. And let them provide the defence of Divine righteousness after he has spoken. Here, however, it is necessary to consider in what way the limitations of Hebrew thought must have been felt by one who, turning from the popular creed, sought a view more in harmony with fact. Now-a-days the word nature is often made to stand for a force or combination of forces conceived of as either entirely or partially independent of God. Tennyson makes the distinction when he speaks of man: "Who trusted God was love indeed And love creation’s final law, Though nature, red in tooth and claw With ravin, shrieked against the creed," and again when he asks- "Are God and nature then at strife That nature lends such evil dreams, So careful of the type she seems, So careless of the single life?" Now to this question, perplexing enough on the face of it when we consider what suffering there is in the creation, how the waves of life seem to beat and break themselves age after age on the rocks of death, the answer in its first stage is that God and nature cannot be at strife. They are not apart; there is but one universe, therefore one Cause. One Omnipotent there is whose will is done, whose character is shown in all we see and all we cannot see, the issues of endless strife, the long results of perennial evolution. But then comes the question, What is His character, of what spirit is He who alone rules, who sends after the calm the fierce storm, after the beauty of life the corruption of death? And one may say the struggle between Bible religion and modern science is on this very field. Cold heartless power, say some; no Father, but an impersonal Will to which men are nothing, human joy and love nothing, to which the fair blossom is no more than the clod, and the holy prayer no better than the vile sneer. On this, faith arises to the struggle. Faith warm and hopeful takes reason into counsel, searches the springs of existence, goes forth into the future and forecasts the end, that it may affirm and reaffirm against all denial that One Omnipotent reigns who is all-loving, the Father of infinite mercy. Here is the arena; here the conflict rages and will rage for many a day. And to him will belong the laurels of the age who, with the Bible in one hand and the instruments of science in the other, effects the reconciliation of faith with fact. Tennyson came with the questions of our day. He passes and has not given a satisfactory answer. Carlyle has gone with the "Everlasting Yea and No" beating through his oracles. Even Browning, a later athlete, did not find complete reason for faith. "From Thy will stream the worlds, life, and nature, Thy dread sabaoth." Now return to Job. He considers nature; he believes in God; he stands firmly on the conviction that all is of God. Hebrew faith held this, and was not limited in holding it, for it is the fact. But we cannot wonder that providence disconcerted him, since the reconcilation of "merciless" nature and the merciful God is not even yet wrought out. Notwithstanding the revelation of Christ, many still find themselves in darkness just when light is most urgently craved. Willing to believe, they yet lean to a dualism which makes God Himself appear in conflict with the scheme of things, thwarted now and now repentant, gracious in design but not always in effect. Now the limitation of the Hebrew was this, that to his idea the infinite power of God was not balanced by infinite mercy, that is, by regard to the whole work of His hands. In one stormy dash after another Job is made to attempt this barrier. At moments he is lifted beyond it, and sees the great universe filled with Divine care that equals power; for the present, however, he distinguishes between merciful intent and merciless, and ascribes both to God. What does he say? God is in the deceived and in the deceiver; they are both products of nature, that is, creatures of God. He increaseth the nations and destroyeth them. Cities arise and become populous. The great metropolis is filled with its myriads, "among whom are six-score thousand that cannot discern between their right hand and their left." The city shall fulfil its cycle and perish. It is God. Searching for reconciliation Job looks the facts of human existence right in the face, and he sees a confusion, the whole enigma which lies in the constitution of the world and of the soul. Observe how his thought moves. The beasts, the fowls of the air, the fishes of the sea, all living beings everywhere, not self-created, with no power to shape or resist their destiny, bear witness to the almightiness of God. In His hand is the lower creation; in His hand also, rising higher, is the breath of all mankind. Absolute, universal is that power, dispensing life and death as it broods over the ages. Men have sought to understand the ways of the Great Being. The ear trieth words as the mouth tasteth meat. Is there wisdom with the ancient, those who live long, as Bildad says? Yes: but with God are wisdom and strength; not penetration only, but power. He discerns and does. He demolishes, and there is no rebuilding. Man is imprisoned, shut up by misfortune, by disease. It is God’s decree, and there is no opening till He allows. At His will the waters are dried up; at His will they pour in torrents over the earth. And so amongst men there are currents of evil and good flowing through lives, here in the liar and cheat, there in the victim of knavery; here in the counsellors whose plans come to nothing; there in the judges who sagacity is changed to folly; and all these currents, and cross currents, making life a bewildering maze, have their beginning in the will of God, who seems to take pleasure in doing what is strange and baffling. Kings take men captive; the bonds of the captives are loosed, and the kings themselves are bound. What are princes and priests, what are the mighty to Him? What is the speech of the eloquent? Where is the understanding of the aged when He spreads confusion? Deep as in the very gloom of the grave the ambitious may hide their schemes; the flux of events brings them out to judgment, one cannot foresee how. Nations are raised up and destroyed; the chiefs of the people are made to fear like children. Trusted leaders wander in a wilderness; they grope in midnight gloom; they stagger like the drunken. Behold, says Job, all this I have seen. This is God’s doing. And with this great God he would speak; he, a man, would have things out with the Lord of all. { Job 13:3 } This impetuous passage, full of revolution, disaster, vast mutations, a phantasmagoria of human struggle and defeat, while it supplies a note of time and gives a distinct clue to the writer’s position as an Israelite, is remarkable for the faith that survives its apparent pessimism. Others have surveyed the world and the history of change, and have protested with their last voice against the cruelty that seemed to rule. As for any God, they could never trust one whose will and power were to be found alike in the craft of the deceiver and the misery of the victim, in the baffling of sincere thought and the overthrow of the honest with the vile. But Job trusts on. Beneath every enigma, he looks for reason; beyond every disaster, to a Divine end. The voices of men have come between him and the voice of the Supreme. Personal disaster has come between him and his sense of God. His thought is not free. If it were, he would catch the reconciling word, his soul would hear the music of eternity. "I would reason with God." He clings to God-given reason as his instrument of discovery. Very bold is this whole position, and very reverent also, if you will think of it; far more honouring to God than any attempt of the friends who, as Job says, appear to hold the Almighty no better than a petty chief, so insecure in His position that He must be grateful to any one who will justify His deeds. "Poor God, with nobody to help Him." Job uses all his irony in exposing the folly of such a religion, the impertinence of presenting it to him as a solution and a help. In short, he tells them, they are pious quacks, and, as he will have none of them for his part, he thinks God will not either. The author is at the very heart of religion here. The word of reproof and correction, the plea for providence must go straight to the reason of man, or it is of no use. The word of the Lord must be a two-edged sword of truth, piercing to the dividing asunder even of soul and spirit. That is to say, into the centre of energy the truth must be driven which kills the spirit of rebellion, so that the will of man, set free, may come into conscious and passionate accord with the will of God. But reconciliation is impossible unless each will deal in the utmost sincerity with truth, realising the facts of existence, the nature of the soul and the great necessities of its discipline. To be true in theology we must not accept what seems to be true, nor speak forensically, but affirm what we have proved in our own life and gathered in utmost effort from Scripture and from nature. Men inherit opinions as they used to inherit garments, or devise them, like clothes of a new fashion, and from within the folds they speak, not as men but as priests, what is the right thing according to a received theory. It will not do. Even of old time a man like the author of Job turned contemptuously from school-made explanations and sought a living word. In our age the number of those whose fever can be lulled with a working theory of religion and a judicious arrangement of the universe is rapidly becoming small. Theology is being driven to look the facts of life full in the face. If the world has learned anything from modern science, it is the habit of rigorous research and the justification of free inquiry, and the lesson will never be unlearned. To take one error of theology. All men are concluded equally under God’s wrath and curse; then the proofs of the malediction are found in trouble, fear, and pain. But what comes of this teaching? Out in the world, with facts forcing themselves on consciousness, the scheme is found hollow. All are not in trouble and pain. Those who are afflicted and disappointed are often sincere Christians. A theory of deferred judgment and happiness is made for escape; it does not, however, in the least enable one to comprehend how, if pain and trouble be the consequences of sin, they should not be distributed rightly from the first. A universal moral order cannot begin in a manner so doubtful, so very difficult for the wayfaring man to read as he goes. To hold that it can is to turn religion into an occultism which at every point bewilders the simple mind. The theory is one which tends to blunt the sense of sin in those who are prosperous, and to beget that confident Pharisaism which is the curse of church life. On the other hand, the "sacrificed classes," contrasting their own moral character with that of the frivolous and fleshly rich, are forced to throw over a theology which binds together sin and suffering, and to deny a God whose equity is so far to seek. And yet, again, in the recoil from all this men invent wersh schemes of bland goodwill and comfort, which have simply nothing to do with the facts of life, no basis in the world as we know it, no sense of the rigour of Divine love. So Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar remain with us and confuse theology until some think it lost in unreason. "But ye are patchers of lies, Physicians of nought are ye all. Oh that ye would only keep silence, And it should be your wisdom". { Job 13:4-5 } Job sets them down with a current proverb-"Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise." He begs them to be silent. They shall now hear his rebuke. "On behalf of God will ye speak wrong? And for Him will ye speak deceit? Will ye be partisans for Him? Or for God will ye contend?" Job finds them guilty of speaking falsely as special pleaders for God in two respects. They insist that he has offended God, but they cannot point to one sin which he has committed. On the other hand, they affirm positively that God will restore prosperity if confession is made. But in this too they play the part of advocates without warrant. They show great presumption in daring to pledge the Almighty to a course in accordance with their idea of justice. The issue might be what they predict; it might not. They are venturing on ground to which their knowledge does not extend. They think their presumption justified because it is for religion’s sake. Job administers a sound rebuke, and it extends to our own time. Special pleaders for God’s sovereign and unconditional right and for His illimitable good nature, alike have warning here. What justification have men in affirming that God will work out His problems in detail according to their views? He has given to us the power to apprehend the great principles of His working. He has revealed much in nature, providence, and Scripture, and in Christ; but there is the "hiding of His power," "His path is in the mighty waters, and His judgments are not known." Christ has said, "It is not for you to know times and seasons which the Father hath set within His own authority." There are certainties of our consciousness, facts of the world and of revelation from which we can argue. Where these confirm, we may dogmatise, and the dogma will strike home. But no piety, no desire to vindicate the Almighty or to convict and convert the sinner, can justify any man in passing beyond the certainty which God has given him to that unknown which lies far above human ken. "He will surely correct you If in secret ye are partial. Shall not His majesty terrify you, And His dread fall upon you?" { Job 13:10-11 } The Book of Job, while it brands insincerity and loose reasoning, justifies all honest and reverent research. Here, as in the teaching of our Lord, the real heretic is he who is false to his own reason and conscience, to the truth of things as God gives him to apprehend it, who, in short, makes believe to any extent in the sphere of religion. And it is upon this man the terror of the Divine majesty is to fall. We saw how Bildad established himself on the wisdom of the ancients. Recalling this, Job flings contempt on his traditional sayings. "Your remembrances are proverbs of ashes, Your defences, defences of dust." Did they mean to smite him with those proverbs as with stones? They were ashes. Did they intrench themselves from the assaults of reason behind old suppositions? Their ramparts were mere dust. Once more he bids them hold their peace, and let him alone that he may speak out all that is in his mind. It is, he knows at the hazard of his life he goes forward; but he will. The case in which he is can have no remedy excepting by an appeal to God, and that final appeal he will make. Now the proper beginning of this appeal is in the twenty-third verse ( Job 13:23 ), with the words: "How many are mine iniquities and my sins?" But before Job reaches it he expresses his sense of the danger and difficulty under which he lies, interweaving with the statement of these a marvellous confidence in the result of what he is about to do. Referring to the declarations of his friends as to the danger that yet threatens if he will not confess sin, he uses a proverbial expression for hazard of life. "Why do I take my flesh in my teeth, And put my life in my hand?" Why do I incur this danger, do you say? Never mind. It is not your affair. For bare existence I care nothing. To escape with mere consciousness for a while is no object to me, as I now am. With my life in my hand I hasten to God. "Lo! He will slay me: I will not delay- Yet my ways will I maintain before Him". { Job 13:15 } The old Version here, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him," is inaccurate. Still it is not far from expressing the brave purpose of the man- prostrate before God, yet resolved to cling to the justice of the case ashe apprehends it, assured that this will not only be excused by God, but will bring about his acquittal or salvation. To grovel in the dust, confessing himself a miserable sinner more than worthy of all the sufferings he has undergone, while in his heart he has the consciousness of being upright and faithful-this would not commend him to the Judge of all the earth. It would be a mockery of truth and righteousness, therefore of God Himself. On the other hand, to maintain his integrity which God gave him, to go on maintaining it at the hazard of all, is his only course, his only safety. "This also shall be my salvation, For a godless man shall not live before Him." The fine moral instinct of Job, giving courage to his theology, declares that God demands "truth in the inward parts" and truth in speech-that man "consists in truth"-that "if he betrays truth he betrays himself," which is a crime against his Maker. No man is so much in danger of separating himself from God and losing everything as he who acts or speaks against conviction. Job has declared his hazard, that he is lying helpless before Almighty Power which may in a moment crush him. He has also expressed his faith, that approaching God in the courage of truth he will not be rejected, that absolute sincerity will alone give him a claim on the infinitely True. Now turning to his friends as if in new defiance, he says:- "Hear diligently my speech, And my explanation with your ears. Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified. Who is he that will contend with me? For then would I hold my peace and expire." That is to say, he has reviewed his life once more, he has considered all possibilities of transgression, and yet his contention remains. So much does he build upon his claim on God that, if any one could now convict him, his heart would fail, life would no more be worth living; the foundation of hope destroyed, conflict would be at an end. But with his plea to God still in view he expresses once more his sense of the disadvantage under which he lies. The pressure of the Divine hand is upon him still, a sore enervating terror which bears upon his soul. Would God but give him respite for a little from the pain and the fear, then he would be ready either to answer the summons of the Judge or make his own demand for vindication. We may suppose an interval of release from pain or at least a pause of expectancy, and then, in verse twenty-third ( Job 13:23 ), Job begins his cry. The language is less vehement than we have heard. It has more of the pathos of weak human life. He is one with that race of thinking, feeling, suffering creatures who are tossed about on the waves of existence, driven before the winds, of change like autumn leaves. It is the plea of human feebleness and mortality we hear, and then, as the "still sad music" touches the lowest note of wailing, there mingles with it the strain of hope. "How many are mine iniquities and sins? Make me to know my transgression and my sin." We are not to understand here that Job confesses great transgressions, nor, contrariwise, that he denies infirmity and error in himself. There are no doubt failures of his youth which remain in memory, sins of desire, errors of ignorance, mistakes in conduct such as the best men fall into. These he does not deny. But righteousness and happiness have been represented as a profit and loss account, and therefore Job wishes to hear from God a statement in exact form of all he has done amiss or failed to do, so that he may be able to see the relation between fault and suffering, his faults and his sufferings, if such relation there be. It appears that God is counting him an enemy ( Job 13:24 ). He would like to have the reason for that. So far as he knows himself he has sought to obey and honour the Almighty. Certainly there has never been in his heart any conscious desire to resist the will of Eloah. Is it then for transgressions unwittingly committed that he now suffers-for sins he did not intend or know of? God is just. It is surely a part of His justice to make a sufferer aware why such terrible afflictions befall him. And then-is it worthwhile for the Almighty to be so hard on a poor weak mortal? Wilt thou scare a driven leaf- Wilt thou pursue the dry stubble- That thou writest bitter judgments against me, And makest me to possess the faults of my youth, And puttest my feet in the stocks, And watchest all my paths, And drawest a line about the soles of my feet- One who as a rotten thing is consuming, As a garment that is moth eaten? The sense of rigid restraint and pitiable decay was perhaps never expressed with so fit and vivid imagery. So far it is personal. Then begins a general lamentation regarding the sad fleeting life of man. His own prosperity, which passed as a dream, has become to Job a type of the brief vain existence of the race tried at every moment by inexorable Divine judgment; and the low mournful words of the Arabian chief have echoed ever since in the language of sorrow and loss. "Man that is born of woman, Of few days is he and full of trouble. Like the flower he springs up and withers; Like a shadow he flees and stays not. Is it on such a one Thou hast fixed Thine eye? Bringest Thou me into Thy judgment? Oh that the clean might come out of the unclean! But there is not one." Human frailty is both of the body and of the soul; and it is universal. The nativity of men forbids their purity. Well does God know the weakness of His creatures; and why then does He expect of them, if indeed He expects, a pureness that can stand the test of His searching? Job cannot be free from the common infirmity of mortals. He is born of woman. But why then is he chased with inquiry, haunted and scared by a righteousness he cannot satisfy? Should not the Great God be forbearing with a man? "Since his days are determined, The number of his moons with Thee, And Thou hast set him bounds not to be passed. Look Thou away from him that he may rest, At least fulfil as a hireling his day," Men’s life being so short, his death so sure and soon, seeing he is like a hireling in the world, might he not be allowed a little rest? might he not, as one who has fulfilled his day’s work, be let go for a little repose ere he die? That certain death, it weighs upon him now, pressing down his thought. For even a tree hath hope; If it be hewn down it will sprout anew, The young shoot thereof will not fail. If in the earth its root wax old, Or in the ground its stock should die Yet at the scent of water it will spring, And shoot forth boughs like a new plant. But a man: he dies and is cut off; Yea, when men die, they are gone. Ebbs away the water from the sea, And the stream decays and dries: So when men have lain down they rise not; Till the heavens vanish they never awake, Nor are they roused from their sleep. No arguments, no promises can break this deep gloom and silence into which the life of man passes. Once Job had sought death; now a desire has grown within him, and with it recoil from Sheol. To meet God, to obtain his own justification and the clearing of Divine righteousness, to have the problem of life explained-the hope of this makes life precious. Is he to lie down and rise no more while the skies endure? Is no voice to reach him from the heavenly justice he has always confided in? The very thought is confounding. If he were now to desire death it would mean that he had given up all faith, that justice, truth, and even the Divine name of Eloah had ceased to have any value for him. We are to behold the rise of a new hope, like a star in the firmament of his thought. Whence does it spring? The religion of the Book of Job, as already shown, is, in respect of form, a natural religion; that is to say, the ideas are not derived from the Hebrew Scriptures. The writer does not refer to the legislation of Moses and the great words of prophets. The expression "As the Lord said unto Moses" does not occur in this book, nor any equivalent. It is through nature and the human consciousness that the religious beliefs of the poem appear to have come into shape. Yet two facts are to be kept fully in view. The first is that even a natural religion must not be supposed to be a thing of man’s invention, with no origin further than his dreams. We must not declare all religious ideas outside those of Israel to be mere fictions of the human fancy or happy guesses at truth. The religion of Teman may have owed some of its great thoughts to Israel. But, apart from that, a basis of Divine revelation is always laid wherever men think and live. In every land the heart of man has borne witness to God. Reverent thought, dwelling on justice, truth, mercy, and all virtues found in the range of experience and consciousness, came through them to the idea of God. Every one who made an induction as to the Great Unseen Being, his mind open to the facts of nature and his own moral constitution, was in a sense a prophet. As far as they went, the reality and value of religious ideas, so reached, are acknowledged by Bible writers themselves. "The invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even His everlasting power and divinity." God has always been revealing Himself to men. "Natural religion" we say: and yet, since God is always revealing Himself and has made all men more or less capable of apprehending the revelation, even the natural is supernatural. Take the religion of Egypt, or of Chaldaea, or of Persia. You may contrast any one of these with the religion of Israel; you may call the one natural, the other revealed. But the Persian speaking of the Great Good Spirit or the Chaldaean worshipping a supreme Lord must have had some kind of revelation; and his sense of it, not clear indeed, far enough below that of Moses or Isaiah, was yet a forth reaching towards the same light as now shines for us. Next we must keep it in view that Job does not appear as a thinker building on himself alone, depending on his own religious experience. Centuries and ages of thought are behind these beliefs which are ascribed to him, even the ideas which seem to start up freshly as the result of original discovery. Imagine a man thinking for himself about Divine things in that far away Arabian past. His mind, to begin with, is not a blank. His father has instructed him. There is a faith that has come down from many generations. He has found words in use which hold in them religious ideas, discoveries, perceptions of Divine reality, caught and fixed ages before. When he learned language the products of evolution, not only psychical, but intellectual and spiritual, became his. Eloah, the lofty one, the righteousness of Eloah, the word of Eloah, Eloah as Creator, as Watcher of men, Eloah as wise, unsearchable in wisdom, as strong, infinitely mighty, -these are ideas he has not struck out for himself, but inherited. Clearly then a new thought, springing from these, comes as a supernatural communication and has behind it ages of spiritual evolution. It is new, but has its root in the old; it is natural, but originates in the over nature. Now the primitive religion of the Semites, the race to which Job belonged, to which also the Hebrews belonged, has been of late carefully studied; and with regard to it certain things have been established that bear on the new hope we are to find struck out by the Man of Uz. In the early morning of religious thought among those Semites it was universally believed that the members of a family or tribe, united by blood relationship to each other, were also related in the same way to their God. He was their father, the invisible head and source of their community, on whom they had a claim so long as they pleased him. His interest in them was secured by the sacrificial meal which he was invited and believed to share with them. If he had been offended, the sacrificial offering was the means of recovering his favour; and communion with him in those meals and sacrifices was the inheritance of all who claimed the kinship of that clan or tribe. With the clearing of spiritual vision this belief took a new form in the minds of the more thoughtful. The idea of communion remained and the necessity of it to the life of the worshipper was felt even more strongly when the kinship of the God with his subject family was, for the few at least, no longer an affair of physical descent and blood relation. ship, but of spiritual origin and attachment. And when faith rose from the tribal god to the idea of the Heaven-Father, the one Creator and King communion with Him was felt to be in the highest sense a vital necessity. Here is found the religion of Job. A main element of it was communion with Eloah, an ethical kinship, with Him, no arbitrary or merely physical relation but of the spirit. That is to say, Job has at the heart of his creed the truth as to roans origin and nature. The author of the book is a Hebrew; his own faith is that of the people from whom we have the Book of Genesis; but he treats here of man’s relation to God from