But now they that are younger than I have me in derision. Job 30:1-15 Job's social disabilities Homilist. Man's happiness as a social being is greatly dependent upon the kind feeling and respect which is shown to him by his contemporaries and neighbours. The social insolence from which he suffers, and of which he complains, was marked by the following circumstances: — I. It came from the MOST CONTEMPTIBLE CHARACTERS. He regarded them as despicable in their ancestry. "Whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock." "They were driven from among men, and people cried after them as after a thief." "Among the bushes they brayed." These were the creatures amongst whom the patriarch now lived, and whose insolence he had to endure. They had no faculty to discern or appreciate his moral worth, and so utterly destitute of any power to compassionate distress that they treated him with a heartless cruelty and revolting insolence. Men may say that a man of his high character ought not to have allowed himself to have been pained with the conduct of such wretches. But who has ever done so? Even Christ Himself felt the reproaches of sinners, and was not indifferent to their revilings and their sneers. "He endured their contradictions." II. It was manifested in PERSONAL ANNOYANCES. "Now I am their song," he says, "I am their byword." III. IT WAS SHOWN TO HIM ON ACCOUNT OF HIS PROVIDENTIAL REVERSES. Not because he had become contemptible in character, or morally base and degraded. Only because his circumstances were changed, great prosperity had given way to overwhelming adversity. Learn — 1. The worthlessness of mere social fame. What is it worth? Nothing. Its breath of favour is more fickle than the wind. 2. The moral heroism of the world's Redeemer. Christ came into a social position far more heartless and insolent than that which the patriarch here describes. "Of the people there was none with Him, He was despised and rejected of men." 3. The importance of habitual reliance on the absolute. Do not trust in man. ( Homilist. ) Upon my right hand rise the youth. Job 30:12 The prospects of life W. Waiters. I. THE PROSPECTS OF LIFE ARE GENERALLY BRIGHT. Young people are full of buoyancy, animal spirits, ardent desire, sanguine expectation, high hope: all that is before them takes a colouring from themselves. There is little or no experience of life, by the use of which exaggerated views may be modified, and a correct estimate of the future ensured. Youthful hope often anticipates long life, and it fills up that life with many visions of success and happiness. II. THE PROSPECTS OF LIFE, TO WHICH HOPE GIVES SUCH A COLOURING ARE OFTEN ILLUSIVE. A fine morning often ends in a wet and stormy day. Projects begun under favourable auspices frequently come to nought. Young people live in a realm of illusions. The young are liable to misapprehension, and need to be prepared for some measure of disappointment. Men at fifty often find that they have failed to reach the height to which at twenty they aspired. Often the secret of failure has been lack of ability, or of perseverance, or of character. III. A FEW COUNSELS. 1. The present is a season of preparation for the future. Life is very much what we make it. Then sow now the seeds that shall grow up, and blossom, and fruiten into a good and blessed future. 2. Prepare for the future by the exercise of fidelity to yourself and to God in the present. 3. You need physical preparation for the future. A man's body has much to do with his mind and character. Courage and fortitude derive much support from a healthy physical constitution. 4. You need mental preparation for the future. I have had many opportunities of seeing what men lose for want of education and mental culture, and what they gain by their possession. Increase your knowledge by reading and observation. Strengthen your mental powers by use. 5. Moral and spiritual preparation. Set before yourself a noble object in life. Form a purpose, and seek to fulfil it. Place yourself under the teaching and government of conscience. Have right and fixed principle to guide you. Consecrate yourselves to God, and commit your life to His care. Have faith in Him. ( W. Waiters. ) The days of affliction have taken hold upon me. Job 30:16-20 Physical pain Homilist. In these verses the patriarch sketches his great corporeal sufferings, his physical anguish. Probably man's capability of bodily suffering is greater than that of any other animal existence. His nerves are more tender, his organisation is more exquisite and complicated. I. It tends to stimulate INTELLECTUAL RESEARCH. "Pain," says a modern author, "has been the means of our increasing our knowledge, our skill, and our comforts. Look to the discoveries made in science — in botany, in chemistry, in anatomy: what a knowledge have we gained of the structures and uses of plants, while we were seeking some herb to soothe pain or cure disease! What a knowledge have we gained of drugs, and salts, and earths, useful for agriculture, or for the fine arts, while we have been seeking only to find an ointment or a medicine! We have sought a draught to allay the burning thirst of a fever, and we have found a dozen delicious beverages to drink for our pleasure or relief. We studied anatomy to find out the seat of disease, and how to attack it, and we found what we did not seek — a thousand wonderful works of God, a thousand most curious contrivances, most admirable delights! We found a model for the ribs of a ship; we found the pattern of a telescope in the eye; we found joints and straps, strutting and valves, which have been copied into the workshop of the mechanic and the study of the philosopher. Yes, we may thank our liability to pain for this — for if pain had not existed, who can tell whether these things would have been so soon, if at all discovered." II. It tends to heighten man's ESTIMATE OF DIVINE GOODNESS. The physical sufferings of men, however aggravated and extensive, are not the law of human life, but the exception. They are but a few discordant notes in the general harmony of his existence, a few stormy days and nights in his voyage through life. We appreciate the dawning of the morning, because we have struggled fiercely with difficulties in the night. We appreciate the full flow of health because we have felt the torture of disease. Inasmuch, therefore, as human suffering, which is an exception in the general life of mankind, helps to heighten our estimate of God's goodness to our race, it is anything but an unmitigated evil. Nay, it is a blessing in disguise. III. IT TENDS TO IMPROVE OUR SPIRITUAL NATURE. Physical sufferings have led many a man to a train of spiritual reflections that have resulted in the moral salvation of the soul. As by the chisel the sculptor brings beauty out of the marble block; as by the pruning knife the gardener brings rich clusters from the vine; as by the bitter drug the physician brings health to his patient; as by the fire the refiner brings pure gold out of the rough ore — so by suffering the great Father brings spiritual life, beauty, and perfection into the soul. "Affliction," says quaint old Adams, "is a winged chariot, that mounts up the soul toward heaven." ( Homilist. ) The use of afflictions R. Venting. As opposite colours in a picture contribute to the beauty of the scenery or figures portrayed on the canvas by the artist, so God makes contrary things to promote His glory, and equally develop grace and character in us. There could be no vocal or musical harmony if all the voices and sounds were exactly alike in a concert. There is no real beauty in a painting that has no shades blending with the bright sunlight. As a foil is adapted to make the lustre of a diamond more conspicuous to the eye of the observer, so the contrary things and afflictions of this life God will use to make His love more illustrious and convey His grace with more agreeable sensations to our souls. ( R. Venting. ) I cry unto Thee, and Thou dost not hear me. Job 30:20 Unanswered prayer Joseph Caryl. 1. There is no state so low but a godly man may have a freedom with God in prayer. Though a poor soul be in the mire, though he be but dust and ashes, yet he hath access to the throne of grace. 2. It is our duty to pray most, and usually we pray best, when it is worst with us; when we are nigh the mire and dust, prayer is not only most seasonable, but most pure. 3. Affliction provokes a soul to pray to the utmost, to pray not only in sincerity, but with fervency, not only to pray with faith, but with a holy passion, or passionately. 4. When prayer is sent out with a cry to God in affliction, it is a wonder if it be not presently heard. 5. Not to be heard in a day of trouble and affliction is more troublesome to a gracious heart than all his afflictions. Job thought he was not heard, because he had not present deliverance; and in that sense, indeed, he was not heard. And thus many of the saints may pray and not be heard; that is, they may pray, and not have present deliverance. How may we know that we are heard at any time?(1) By the quietness of our spirits.(2) Though we receive not the mercy presently, yet if we receive fresh strength to bear the want of it, that is an answer.(3) We are answered when, though the evil be not removed, yet we have faith and patience to wait and tarry the Lord's leisure for the removal of it.(4) He is answered in prayer that is more heavenly, or more in heaven after prayer. He that is edified in his holy faith, hath certainly prayed in the Holy Ghost, and, sure enough, every such prayer is heard. Godly men are always heard of God, yet they often think that they are not heard. ( Joseph Caryl. ) Thou art become cruel to me. Job 30:21 Job's grievance against God George Hutcheson. He says that God, who formerly had been kind to him, was now become cruel in His actings and dispensations toward him; and whereas He was wont to support him, He did now employ His power, as an enemy, in opposition to him. Job, in expressing his sorrow and resentments, is too pathetic, and expresseth much passion and weakness, for which he is reproved by Elihu. Considering this complaint in itself, it teacheth — 1. It is the way of God's people to take up God as their chief party in all their troubles. 2. God may seem, for a time, not only not to hear godly supplicants, but even to be a severe foe to them. "Thou art become cruel." 3. It is a character of a godly man, that he is sadly afflicted with any sign of God's indignation, or even with the want of an evidence of God's favour and affection in trouble. Wicked men look rather to their lot in itself, without minding God's favour, or anger, in it. 4. Whether the wicked think of God's favour, who never knew it, yet the want of it will be sad to the godly, who have tasted by experience how sweet it is. 5. As God's power, when He lets it forth in effects, is irresistible and unsupportable for any creature to endure it, however fools do harden themselves, so godly men will soon groan under the apprehension thereof. It is indeed a characteristic of godly men that they are sensible of their own weakness, and therefore are soon made to stoop under the mighty hand of God. Learn —(1) All men by nature are apt to have hard thoughts of God in trouble.(2) Temptation may overdrive, even such as are truly godly, to speak that which is unbecoming, yea, worse than they think.(3) When godly men are ready to complain of God without cause, or to give credit to sense, they will readily find their complaints grow upon their hand. ( George Hutcheson. ) Misunderstanding God Christian Age. The only safe, sure way of avoiding this terrible peril is to study reverently and carefully what He has told us about Himself. It is a common temptation to accept the statements of others when they have the semblance of authority, and are asserted stoutly, as if they must be true. We may, and we ought, each of us, to become personally acquainted with our Heavenly Father. But our only hope of learning to know Him lies in patiently, lovingly, studying His character as revealed to us in Jesus Christ. His providences, too, often are such that we misunderstand them. Few of us are allowed to walk only in the light of conscious, joyous peace. Most of us sometimes are at a loss how to interpret the Divine dealings with us. There are occasions in some lives when God Himself seems to render it almost impossible to obey Him. Undoubtedly the object of such trying experiences is to develop a mightier faith. There must be always one possible next step forward in the path of duty; or, if there be actually none, this must be because the time to take it has not come, and patient, prayerful waiting is the present duty. We may misunderstand the meaning of what is ordained for us, but we need not misunderstand its purpose. Those who have a faith strong enough to feel that behind the tangled scheme of human affairs God sits calmly directing all things, are wisest and happiest. His providences are meant to teach this, at the least. When the last analysis has been worked out it becomes apparent that the great central, fundamental evil which we most need to guard against, is this of misunderstanding our Heavenly Father. If we can learn to see things from His point of view, to look upon life, duty, pleasure, eternity, as He looks upon them, we shall be assured of safety and peace. Otherwise we never can be. ( Christian Age. ) To the house appointed for all living. Job 30:23 The house appointed for all living John Cumming, D. D. What were the definite grounds on which Job formed this conclusion? 1. What he saw around him on every side. 2. Job's bodily sufferings intimated also the same result. These increased and accumulated, and plainly tended, unless arrested, in the providence of God, to dissolution. 3. Creation around him impressed on him the same conclusion. 4. Job learned the lesson from Divine teaching. Learn who is the dispenser of death. We are prone to attribute all to second causes. Notice Job's personal application and appropriation to the truth in the text. We must translate Christianity from the impersonal to the personal. We have a description of that change of which the patriarch was thus personally assured. He calls it "death," and the "house appointed for all living." Death is the child of sin, though grace has made it the servant of Jesus. It is not annihilation. There is nothing natural or desirable in death itself. This is the only house that may be called the house of humanity. It is a dark house, a solitary house, a silent house, an ancient house. Even this house has a sunlit side. It is not an eternal prison house, but a resting place, a cemetery or sleeping place. ( John Cumming, D. D. ) Variety in the conduct of men at death H. Kollock, D. D. 1. Consider those whom we esteem pious. Of these, in the time of death, there are three classes, widely differing from each other in their dying experiences. Some are agitated by terror, doubts, and apprehensions. Some are exulting and triumphant. Some, without any extraordinary raptures, have a sweet calm and tranquillity of spirit, a filial confidence and trust in their Redeemer. We refer, of course, only to those whose rational powers are unimpaired. We are not to judge of the future state of a man merely by his death-bed exercises. This is an error to which we are far too prone; an error that in its consequences is most pernicious. 2. The deathbeds of those who have lived impenitent and unbelieving without God, and without Christ in the world. Here we find similar diversity. Some are filled with agony and horror, some have a false joy, and an unwarranted exultation; and some are stupid, insensible, and unconcerned. ( H. Kollock, D. D. ) Death universal T. Boston, D. D. Man's life is a stream, running into death's devouring deeps. Doctrine — All must die. There is an unalterable statute of death, under which men are concluded. This is confirmed by daily observation. The human body consists of perishable materials. We have sinful souls, and therefore have dying bodies; death follows sin, as the shadow follows the body. 1. Man's life is a vain and empty thing. Our life, in the several parts of it, is a heap of vanities. 2. Man's life is a short thing; a short-lived vanity. 3. Man's life is a swift thing; a flying vanity. Having thus discoursed of death, let us improve it in discerning the vanity of the world in bearing up, with Christian contentment and patience, under all troubles and difficulties in it; in mortifying our lusts; in cleaving unto the Lord with full purpose of heart at all hazards, and in preparing for death's approach. ( T. Boston, D. D. ) The certainty of death T. Hannam. The certainty of death. "All must die." 1. There is an unalterable statute of death, under which men are included. 2. If we consult daily observation. Everyone seeth that "wise men die, likewise the fool and brutish person." 3. The human body consists of perishing principles. 4. We have sinful souls, and therefore have dying bodies. 5. Man's life in this world is but a few degrees removed from death. Scripture represents it as vain and empty, short in continuance, and swift in its passage.Improvement — 1. Let us hence, as in a glass, behold the vanity of the world; look into the grave, and listen to the doctrine of death. (1) This world is a false friend, who leaves a man in time of greatest need. (2) That hold as fast as thou canst, thou shalt be forced to let go thy hold. 2. It may serve as a storehouse for Christian contentment and patience under worldly crosses and losses. 3. It may serve as a bridle to curb all manner of lust. (1) To remit our inordinate care of the body. (2) To abate our pride. (3) It may check our worldly lust. (4) And our worldly-mindedness. (5) It may serve as a spur to incite us to prepare for death. ( T. Hannam. ) The mission of death J. Logan, F. R. S. E. Since we know assuredly that God will bring us to death, consider — I. THE CERTAINTY OF ITS APPROACHING SOON. All the works of nature, in this inferior system, seem only made to be destroyed. Man is not exempted. Our life is forever on the wing, although we mark not its flight. Even now death is doing its work. If death be certainly approaching, let us learn the value of life. If death be at hand, then certainly time is precious. II. THE TIME AND MANNER OF THE ARRIVAL OF DEATH. Death is called in Scripture "the land without any order." And without any order the king of terrors makes his approaches in the world. He wears a thousand forms, marking out the unhappy man for their prey. III. THE CHANGE WHICH DEATH INTRODUCES. When we pass from the living world to the dead, what a sad picture do we behold! The periods of human life passing away, the certainty of the dissolution that awaits us, and the frequent examples of mortality which continually strike our view, lead us to reflect with seriousness upon the house appointed for all living. Death is the great teacher of mankind. ( J. Logan, F. R. S. E. ) Death and the grave our common inheritance R. Ainslie. The Coptic version reads thus: — "I know now that death will destroy me, for the earth is the house of all the dead." We have in the text two personifications. "Death will destroy me." "The grave is the house for all the dead." The power to wound and the pleasure of victory are figuratively ascribed to death and the grave. Death is said to be the extinction of life, but that neither defines nor explains it. We know death by its results. Life! Is it important to us, and wherein is its value and importance? The importance of life to every one of us is for our virtue, religion, happiness, and usefulness among our fellowmen, and to determine the character of our responsibility, our afterlife, our destiny. Life, as connected with this world only, is the precious time for the discipline of the passions and affections, the elevation of our nature, the accumulations of virtue, the influence, principles, and power of religion, the happiness that ordinarily accompanies them, and the usefulness suggested and sustained by them. Our virtue, our religious character, the state of our hearts, veiled and unveiled, and the actions of our lives, will determine our everlasting destiny. Our responsibility relates to the honest convictions of our minds and hearts. ( R. Ainslie. ) Death Homilist. I. THE DIVINITY OF DEATH. "I know that Thou wilt bring me to death." Men ascribe death to one of three causes — disease, accident, or age; but the Bible ascribes it to God. "Thou wilt bring me to death." 1. Nothing else can bring me to death unless Thou wilt. My existence depends every moment on Thy will. 2. Nothing else can prevent me from dying if Thou wiliest that I should depart; all is with Thee. "Thou turnest man to destruction. Thou changest his countenance and sendest him away." There are no premature deaths. II. The ORDINATION of death. "The house appointed." Death is no chance matter. "It is appointed unto all men once to die." 1. This appointment is very natural; all organic life dies: all sublunary life finds the "house" of mortality. To this "house" all plants, reptiles, insects, birds, fishes, beasts direct their steps. 2. This appointment is very settled. This appointment is kept as immutably as the ordinances of heaven or any of the laws of nature. III. The UNIVERSALITY of death. "For all living." Men, when living, have houses of various shapes, sizes, value, according to their tastes and means, but in dying they have only one "house." All go to one place. What a "house" is this grave! ancient — desolate — spacious — crowded. ( Homilist. ) Relieving thoughts concerning death Homilist. The text suggests some thoughts of Job concerning his own death. I. There will be nothing UNNATURAL in my death. It is "appointed" as the death of every other kind of organised life on earth: it is the natural law of all organised bodies to wear out, decay, dissolve. As the earth takes back to itself all the elements that have entered into the composition of vegetables and animals, why should I refuse or dread the demand? I may rest assured that kind nature will make a benign and beneficent use of all the elements that have entered into my corporeal existence. Let me be ready to yield them up unreluctantly, ungrudgingly, thanking the Infinite for their use. 1. It is dishonest for me to object to this; for my body was only borrowed property, a temporary loan, nothing more. 2. It is ungrateful for me to object to this. Though I never had a claim to such a boon, it has been of great service to my spiritual nature. 3. It is unphilosophic for me to object to this. Whatever my objections and resistance, it must come. II. There will he nothing UNCOMMON in my death. "The house appointed for all living." Were I one of a few, amongst the millions of the race, singled out for such a destiny, I might complain; but since all, without any exception, must die, who am I that I should complain? III. There will be nothing ACCIDENTAL in my death. "I know that Thou wilt bring me to death." ( Homilist. ) Concerning death Job suffered from a terrible sickness, which filled him with pain both day and night. He says in the eighteenth verse, "By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat." When our God by our affliction calls upon us to number our days, let us not refuse to do so. Yet Job made a mistake in the hasty conclusion which he drew from his grievous affliction. Under depression of spirit he felt sure that he must very soon die. But he did not die at that time. He was fully recovered, and God gave him twice as much as he had before. It is a pity for us to pretend to predict the future, for we certainly cannot see an inch before us. It is the part of a brave man, and especially of a believing man, neither to dread death nor to sigh for it; neither to fear it nor to court it. Job made a mistake as to the date of his death, but he made no mistake as to the fact itself. He spake truly when he said, "I know that Thou wilt bring me to death." "Oh," saith one, "but I do not feel called upon to think of it." Why, the very season of the year calls you to it. Each fading leaf admonishes you. Oh! you that are youngest, you that are fullest of health and strength, I lovingly invite you not to put away this subject from you. Remember, the youngest may be taken away. I. I call your attention to a piece of PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE: "I know that Thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living." A general truth here receives a personal application. 1. Job knew that he should be brought to the grave, because he perceived the universality of that fact in reference to others. 2. He knew it also because he had considered the origin of mankind. We were taken out of the earth, and it is only by a prolonged miracle that this dust of ours is kept from going back to its kindred. If we had come from heaven we might dream that we should not die. Thus we have affinities which call us back to the dust. 3. Further, Job had a recollection of man's sin, and knew that all men are under condemnation on account of it. Does he not say that the grave is a "house appointed for all living"? It is appointed simply because of the penal sentence passed upon our first parent, and in him upon the whole race. 4. Once more, Job arrived at this personal knowledge through his own bodily feebleness. Those who die daily will die easily. Those who make themselves familiar with the tomb will find it transfigured into a bed: the charnel will become a couch. The man who rejoices in the covenant of grace is cheered by the fact that even death itself is comprehended among the things which belong to the believer. II. Having thus discoursed upon a piece of personal knowledge, I now beg you to see in my text the shining of HOLY INTELLIGENCE. Job, even in his anguish, does not for a moment forget his God. He speaks of Him here: "I know that Thou wilt bring me to death." 1. He perceives that he will not die apart from God. He does not say his sore boils or his strangulation will bring him to death; but, "Thou wilt bring me to death." He does not trace his approaching death to chance, or to fate, or to second causes; no, he sees only the hand of the Lord. Let us rejoice that in life and death we are in the Lord's hands. 2. The text seems to me to cover another sweet and comforting thought, namely, that God will be with us in death. "I know that Thou wilt bring me to death." He will bring us on our journey till He brings us to the journey's end: Himself our convoy and our leader. 3. It may not be in the text, but it naturally follows from it, that if God brings us to death, He will bring us up again. III. I pass on to notice the QUIET EXPECTATION which breathes in this text. I want to reason with those disciples of our Lord Jesus who are in bondage from fear of death. What are the times when men are able to speak of death quietly and happily? 1. Sometimes they do so in periods of great bodily suffering. I have on several occasions felt everything like fear of dying taken from me simply by the process of weariness. 2. The growing infirmities of age work in the same way, beloved, without falling into sickness. 3. By being filled with an entire submission to the will of God. Delight in God is the cure for dread of death. 4. Next, I believe that great holiness sets us free from the love of this world, and makes us ready to depart. 5. Another thing that will make us look at death with complacency is when we have a full assurance that we are in Christ, and that, come what may, nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Live in such a way that any day would make a suitable topstone for life. Let me add that there are times when our joys run high, when the big waves come rolling in from the Pacific of eternal bliss; then we see the King in His beauty by the eye of faith, and though it be but a dim vision, we are so charmed with it that our love of Him makes us impatient to behold Him face to face. IV. I conclude by saying that this subject affords us SACRED INSTRUCTION. "I know that Thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living." 1. Let us prepare for death. 2. Live diligently. 3. Next to that, let us learn from the general assembly in the house appointed for all living to walk very humbly. A common caravansary must accommodate us all in the end; wherefore let us despise all pride of birth, rank, or wealth. 4. Be prompt, for life is brief. 5. Men and women, project yourselves into eternity; get away from time, for you must soon be driven away from it. You are birds with wings; sit not on these boughs forever blinking in the dark like owls; bestir yourselves, and mount like eagles. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) Did I not weep for him that was in trouble. Job 30:25 Tears for the oppressed J. M'Connell Hussey, B. A. By noticing the care with which Job throws back the insinuation of Eliphaz, how much he valued the character of charity, and how he esteemed it his bounden duty to contribute to the wants and necessities of others. Our text is a pathetic appeal, displaying the truly compassionate character of the patriarch. What are the tears which we may imagine fell from the eyes of Job, and which do fall from the eyes of every compassionate man that witnesses suffering and sorrow? They were tears of grief, of sincerity, of self-condemnation. But the compassionate man, like Job, may pour forth tears of indignation. For whom did compassionate Job thus weep? Lit. for "him in a hard day." He that was suffering from privation. I now have to plead for such, for men who are suffering from over-toil and over-exertion. Special reference may be made to the "late-hour system." ( J. M'Connell Hussey, B. A. ) Christian sympathy In endeavouring to justify the ways of God, Job's three friends came to the harsh conclusion that he would not have been so severely afflicted if he had not been a very great sinner. Among other accusations against the afflicted patriarch, Eliphaz the Temanite had the cruelty to lay this at his door, "Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry." Richly did the three miserable comforters deserve the burning rebuke of their slandered friend, "Ye are forgers of lies, ye are physicians of no value. O that ye would altogether hold your peace and it shall be your wisdom." I. HUMAN SYMPATHY, ITS COMMENDATIONS. 1. We may say of it, first, that even nature dictateth that man should feel a sympathy for his kind. Humanity, had it remained in its unfallen estate, would have been one delightful household of brothers and sisters. Alas! for us, when Adam fell he not only violated his Maker's laws, but in the fall he broke the unity of the race, and now we are isolated particles of manhood, instead of being what we should have been, members of one body, moved by one and the same spirit. Called with a nobler calling, let us exhibit as the result of our regenerate nature a loftier compassion for the suffering sons of men. 2. Further, we may remark that the absence of sympathy has always been esteemed, in all countries, and in all ages, one of the most abominable of vices. In old classic history who are the men held up to everlasting execration? Are they not those who had no mercy on the poor? 3. Sympathy is especially a Christian's duty. 4. Remember the blessed example of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich." 5. Sympathy is essential to our usefulness. 6. Here I must supplement that thought with another; sympathy may often be the direct means of conversion. 7. And I shall say here, that this sympathy is sure to be a great blessing to yourselves. If you want joy — joy that you may think upon at nights, and live upon day after day, next to the joy of the Lord, which is our strength, is the joy of doing good. The selfish man thinks that he has the most enjoyment in laying out his wealth upon himself. Poor fool! II. THE HINDRANCES TO CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY. 1. One of the great impediments to Christian sympathy is our own intense selfishness. We are all selfish by nature, and it is a work of grace to break this thoroughly down, until we live to Christ, and not to self any longer. How often is the rich man tempted to think that his riches are his own. 2. Another hindrance lies in the customs of our country. We still have amongst

Benson Commentary Job 30:1 But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock. Job 30:1 . But now, &c. — Job having, in the foregoing chapter, described the honour of his former condition, goes on here, by way of contrast, to describe the vileness of his present state. They that are younger than I — Whom both universal custom and the light of nature taught to reverence their elders and betters; have me in derision — Make me the object of their contempt and scoffs: thus my glory is turned into shame. Whose fathers I would have disdained — Or, rather, might have disdained; that is, whose condition was so mean and vile, that in the opinion, and according to the custom of the world, they were unworthy to be my shepherds, and the companions of my dogs, which watch my flocks. This and the seven following verses are an exaggerated description of the vileness of those to whom he was now become a derision, notwithstanding all his former authority. Job 30:2 Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished? Job 30:2 . Yea, whereto might their hands profit me? — Nor was it strange that I did, or might refuse to take them into any of my meanest services, being utterly impotent and unfit for any business; in whom old age was perished — Who were grown no wiser for being old. Or, rather, who had so wasted their strength and spirits by their evil courses, that when they came to old age they were debilitated, feeble, and useless for any labour. Accordingly, Houbigant interprets the clause, When all their health or strength was worn out; and others render it, In whom vigorous age was perished; that is, who were grown useless for service. For the word ??? , chelach, here rendered old age, is used only here and Job 5:26 , where also it may be so rendered, Thou shalt come to thy grave in a vigorous, or mature age, having the vigour of youth even in thy old age, and until thy death, as Moses had. And if this word do signify old age, yet it signifies not every, but only a flourishing and healthful old age; as the Hebrews note, and the word may seem to imply; whence the LXX. also render it perfection, namely, of age, and of the endowments belonging to age. Job 30:3 For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste. Job 30:3 . For want and famine — Brought upon them either by their own sloth or wickedness, or by God’s just judgment. Hebrew, ???? , becheser, In want and famine, which aggravates their following solitude. They were solitary, &c. — Although want commonly draws persons to places of resort and company for relief, yet they were so conscious of their own guilt, and contemptibleness, and hatefulness to all persons, that they shunned all company, and for fear or shame fled into and lived in desolate places. Job 30:4 Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat. Job 30:4 . Who cut up mallows — Or, bitter herbs, as the word seems to import, which shows their extreme necessity; by the bushes — Or, by the shrubs, nigh unto which they grew. Or, with the bark of trees, as the Vulgate Latin renders it; and juniper-roots — Possibly the word may signify some other plant, for the Hebrews themselves are at a loss for the signification of the names of plants. Job 30:5 They were driven forth from among men , (they cried after them as after a thief;) Job 30:5-6 . They were driven forth from among men — As unworthy of human society; and for their beggary and dishonesty, suspected and avoided of all men; they cried after them as after a thief — Giving one another warning of their danger from them. Job 30:6 To dwell in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks. Job 30:7 Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together. Job 30:7 . Among the bushes they brayed — Like the wild asses, ( Job 6:5 ,) for hunger or thirst. They brayed, seems to be an improper translation here; because, though ??? , nahak, signifies to bray, when applied to an ass, yet when spoken of men in difficult circumstances, as in this verse, we should rather say with the Targum and LXX., they sighed, cried out, or made their moan. So Heath and Houbigant render it. Under the nettles they were gathered — The word ???? , charul, here rendered nettles, is by some translated thorns, or thistles, the nettle being too small a plant, as Bochart observes, for men to gather themselves under. Dr. Waterland, however, renders it, Among the nettles were they tormented, or burned. The meaning is, that they hid themselves under the thorns, or among the nettles, that they might not be discovered when they were sought out for justice. Job 30:8 They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth. Job 30:8-10 . They were children of fools, &c. — They were children of base, obscure parents; viler than the earth upon which they trod. Houbigant translates the verse: Foolish men and inglorious, they were driven out of the country in which they lived. And now am I their song — The matter of their song and derision. They now rejoice in my calamities, because I formerly used my authority to punish such vagrants. They flee far from me — In contempt of my person, and loathing of my sores; and spare not to spit in my face — Not literally, for they kept far from him, as he now said, but figuratively; that is, they use all manner of contemptuous and reproachful expressions toward me, not only behind my back, but even to my face. Houbigant reads, They abominate me; they hold me in the utmost abhorrence; and fear not to spit in my face. Here we may see in Job a type of Christ, who was thus made a reproach of men, and despised of the people. Job 30:9 And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword. Job 30:10 They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face. Job 30:11 Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me. Job 30:11 . Because he — That is, God; hath loosed my cord — Hath slackened the string of my bow, and so rendered it and my arrows useless; that is, he hath deprived me of my strength and defence: so understood, this expression is opposed to that used Job 29:20 , My bow is renewed, &c. But the phrase may mean, He hath taken away from me that power and authority wherewith, as with a cord, I bound them to their good behaviour, and kept them within proper bounds. A similar expression is used in this sense Job 12:18 . As, however, the word ??? , jether, here rendered cord, also means excellence, and is so translated Genesis 49:3 ; Job 4:21 , and in other places, the sense here may be, He hath loosed, broken, or destroyed my excellence: or, as Schultens translates it, He hath stripped me of my glory. And afflicted me — When they perceived that God, who had been my faithful friend and constant defender, had forsaken me and was become mine enemy, they presently took this advantage of showing their malice against me. They have also let loose the bridle — They have cast off all former restraints of law, humanity, or modesty, and have given themselves full liberty to speak or act what they pleased against me: and this before me — For they now dare to do those things before mine eyes which they would formerly have trembled lest they should come to my ears. Job 30:12 Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction. Job 30:12 . Upon my right hand — The place of adversaries or accusers in courts of justice, Psalm 109:6 ; Zechariah 3:1 . Or this may be observed to show their boldness and contempt of him, in that they dared to place themselves on his right hand; rise the youth — Hebrew, young striplings. Those who formerly hid themselves from my presence, ( Job 29:8 ,) now rise up, in the way of contempt and opposition, or to accuse and reproach me. They push away my feet — Either, 1st, Properly, they trip up my heels; or, rather, 2d, Metaphorically, they endeavour utterly to overthrow my goings, and to cast me down to the ground. And they raise up against me the ways of their destruction — That is, causeways or banks, alluding to soldiers who cast up banks against the city which they besiege. The meaning is, they prepare, contrive, and use several methods to destroy me. Heath renders the verse, On my right hand their brood start up; they trip up my heels. Their troops of destruction throw up an intrenchment round me. Job 30:13 They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper. Job 30:13 . They mar my path — Or, rather, dig up my path. As I am in great misery, so they endeavour to stop all my ways out of it, and to frustrate all my counsels and methods for obtaining relief and comfort. The allusion to a place besieged is still carried on; the besiegers of which strive to cut off all communication of the besieged with the country around. Or, the sense may be, they pervert all my ways, putting perverse and false constructions on them, censuring my conscientious discharge of my duty to God and men as nothing but craft and hypocrisy. They set forward my calamity — Increasing it by bitter taunts, invectives, and censures. But ????? , jognilu, may be rendered, They profit by, or are pleased with, my calamity. Heath reads this and the next clause, They triumph in my calamity: there is none who helpeth me against them. Job 30:14 They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters : in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me . Job 30:14 . They came as a wide breaking in of waters — As fiercely and violently as a river doth when a great breach is made in the bank which kept it in. Hebrew, ???? ??? , cheperetz rachab, as at a wide breach, as a besieging army, having made a breach in the walls of the city, do suddenly and forcibly rush into it. The word waters, the reader will observe, is not in the Hebrew. In the desolation they rolled themselves upon me — As the waters or soldiers come tumbling in at the breach, they poured themselves upon me, that they might utterly destroy and make me desolate. Job 30:15 Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud. Job 30:15 . Terrors are turned upon me — Many terrible things from God, who sets himself against me, and in some sort joins his forces with these miscreants, are directed against me, to whom they seem not to belong, as being the portion of wicked men. They pursue my soul — Hebrew, ????? , nedibathi, my principal, or excellent one; that is, my soul, which is properly so called, as being the chief part of man, and which was the proper seat and object of divine terrors, as his body was of his outward pains and ulcers; as the wind — That is, speedily, vehemently, and irresistibly; and my welfare — All the happiness and comfort of my life; passeth away as a cloud — Which is quickly dissolved into rain, or dissipated by the sun, or driven away with the wind. Job 30:16 And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me. Job 30:16-17 . My soul is poured out upon me — Or within me, as the particle ??? , gnali, is elsewhere used. All the strength and powers of my soul are melted, faint, and die away. My bones are pierced — Or rather, it, namely, the terrors or affliction last mentioned, hath pierced my bones. This is no slight and superficial, but a most deep wound, that reaches to my very heart, bones, and marrow. Nothing in me is so secret but it reaches it; nothing so hard and solid but it feels the weight and burden of it. In the night season — When others and I should receive some rest and refreshment; and my sinews take no rest — The flesh of my body, which covereth the sinews and is mixed with them. So he signifies that neither his bones nor his flesh rested. Job 30:17 My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest. Job 30:18 By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat. Job 30:18-19 . By the great force of my disease, &c. — The words, of my disease, are not in the Hebrew, neither do they seem to be rightly supplied, but rather to obscure the sense of the clause, which, without any supplement, is literally rendered, With great force my garment is changed, for so this verb ?????? , jithchappesh, is used, 1 Kings 22:30 . Thus the sense is, I cannot shift or put off my garment without great difficulty; the reason whereof is given in the following words: It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat — It cleaveth fast to me, being glued by that purulent matter which issues from my sores. He seems to allude to the fashion of the eastern outward garments, which were all of a piece, and had a strait mouth at the top, which was brought over the head and fastened close about the neck. Some, however, understand the clause figuratively, thus: By the great force, that is, the power of God, is my garment changed, that is, my condition is wholly altered; it bindeth me about, &c. — I am straitly bound in on every side with my sorrows and afflictions, as it were, with a collar; every part of me, from head to foot, is, as it were, wrapped round with pains; and all my limbs are, in a manner, bound with them. He hath cast me into the mire, &c. — I am reduced to the lowest and filthiest condition possible. Houbigant, who thinks that the idea here is taken from a man struggling with another, laying hold on his garment, and casting him into the mire, renders these two verses, With great force he layeth hold on my garment, and infolds me by the collar of my robe: He hath cast me into the mire, &c. Job 30:19 He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes. Job 30:20 I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not . Job 30:20-21 . Thou dost not hear me — Namely, so as to answer or help me. I stand up — Namely, before thee: I pray importunately and continually, as thou requirest; and thou regardest me not — Notwithstanding all my griefs and cries, thou dost not pity and help me, but rather seemest to take pleasure in beholding my calamities, as the following words imply; Thou art become cruel to me — Hebrew, ????? , tehapheck, Thou art turned to be cruel, as if thou hadst changed thy very nature; which is kind, merciful, and gracious; and such thou hast formerly been in thy carriage to me; but now thou art grown severe, rigorous, and inexorable. Thou opposest thyself against me — Thy power, wherewith I expected that thou wouldest have supported me under my troubles, thou usest against me. Job 30:21 Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me. Job 30:22 Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it , and dissolvest my substance. Job 30:22-23 . Thou liftest me up to the wind — Thou exposest me to all sorts of storms and calamities, so that I am like chaff or stubble lifted up to the wind, and violently tossed hither and thither in the air. And dissolvest my substance — By which my body is almost consumed, and my heart is melted within me. I know that thou wilt bring me to death — Rather, I verily know, or am persuaded, that by these lingering and painful disorders thou art gradually bringing me to death; the house appointed for all living — The grave, to which all living men are hastening. The grave is a narrow, dark, cold house, but there we shall rest and be safe. It is our home, for it is our mother’s lap, and in it we are gathered to our fathers. It is a house appointed for us by him that has appointed the bounds of all our habitations. And it is appointed for all living. It is the common receptacle for rich and poor; we must all be brought thither, and that shortly. Job 30:23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living. Job 30:24 Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction. Job 30:24 . He will not stretch out his hand to the grave — This verse is judged by commentators to be very obscure. The sense of it probably is, Notwithstanding I earnestly wished for the grave as a place of rest, thou wilt not indulge me so far as to stretch out thy hand and give me my death- wound: or, thy hand (that is, the hand of God’s wrath) will not follow me beyond death and the grave: I shall then be safe and easy. Though they cry in his destruction — In the destruction brought on them by death; that is, though most men cry out and are affrighted while they are dying, while the body is sinking into destruction, yet I desire it; I have nothing to fear therein, since I know that my Redeemer liveth. Job 30:25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor? Job 30:25-26 . Did not I weep for him that was in trouble — Have I now judgment without mercy, because I afforded no mercy or pity to others in misery? No; my conscience acquits me from this inhumanity: I did mourn over others in their misery. Was not my soul grieved for the poor? — The negative particle not, which is not in the Hebrew, seems to be here improperly supplied. The sense will be stronger and more emphatical to understand the second part of the verse as containing an answer to the first, and to render it, My soul was grieved for the poor; that is, I not only wept, but my very soul was grieved for them; yea, even for those who were so necessitous as to be incapable of requiting my kindness in case of their recovery from affliction. When I looked for good, then evil came — Yet trouble came upon myself when I expected it not. Job 30:26 When I looked for good, then evil came unto me : and when I waited for light, there came darkness. Job 30:27 My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me. Job 30:27-28 . My bowels boiled — Namely, with the violence of my disorder; and rested not — Hebrew, ??? ??? , velo damu, and were not silent. The days of affliction prevented me — Came upon me suddenly and unexpectedly, when I promised myself peace and prosperity. I went mourning without the sun — Hebrew, ??? ????? , koder hillacti, I walked black, not by the sun. My very countenance became black, but not by the sun, which makes many other persons black, but by the force of my disease. I stood up, I cried in the congregation — I was not able to lie still, nor to refrain from cries in the greatest assemblies. Job 30:28 I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation. Job 30:29 I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. Job 30:29 . I am a brother — By imitation of their cries; to dragons — Which howl and wail mournfully in the deserts, ( Micah 1:8 ,) either through hunger and thirst, or when they fight with, and are beaten by, the elephant. Persons of like qualities are often called brethren. And a companion to owls — Whose doleful noises are well known: or, ostriches, as Dr. Waterland renders the word; the females of which are also remarkable for their mournful cry, and which have their habitation in desolate places. Job 30:30 My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat. Job 30:30-31 . My skin is black upon me, &c. — “The boiling heat of my body hath so parched me that my skin looks black, and the marrow in my bones, and all my vital moisture, are dried up.” My harp also is turned to mourning — “To say no more, all mirth is banished my house: the musical instruments are laid aside, and nothing but mourning and weeping come in their room.” — Bishop Patrick. All my joy is gone, my condition entirely changed, and I have nothing now but wo and misery. Job 30:31 My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Job 30:1 But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock. XXIV. AS A PRINCE BEFORE THE KING Job 29:1-25 ; Job 30:1-31 ; Job 31:1-40 Job SPEAKS FROM the pain and desolation to which he has become inured as a pitiable second state of existence, Job looks back to the years of prosperity and health which in long succession he once enjoyed. This parable or review of the past ends his contention. Honour and blessedness are apparently denied him forever. With what has been he compares his present misery and proceeds to a bold and noble vindication of his character alike from secret and from flagrant sins. In the whole circle of Job’s lamentations this chant is perhaps the most affecting. The language is very beautiful, in the finest style of the poet, and the minor cadences of the music are such as many of us can sympathise with. When the years of youth go by and strength wanes, the Eden we once dwelt in seems passing fair. Of those beyond middle life there are few who do not set their early memories in sharp contrast to the ways they now travel, looking back to a happy valley and long bright summers that are left behind. And even in opening manhood and womanhood the troubles of life often fall, as we may think, prematurely, coming between the mind and the remembered joy of burdenless existence. How changed are they!-how changed am I! The early spring of life is gone, Gone is each youthful vanity, - But what with years, oh what is won? I know not-but while standing now Where opened first the heart of youth, I recollect how high would glow Its thoughts of Glory, Faith, and Truth- "How full it was of good and great, How true to heaven, how warm to men. Alas! I scarce forbear to hate The colder breast I bring again." First in the years past Job sees by the light of memory the blessedness he had when the Almighty was felt to be his preserver and his strength. Though now God appears to have become an enemy he will not deny that once he had a very different experience. Then nature was friendly, no harm came to him; he was not afraid of the pestilence that walketh in darkness nor the destruction that wasteth at noon day, for the Almighty was his refuge and fortress. To refuse this tribute of gratitude is far from the mind of Job, and the expression of it is a sign that now at length he is come to a better mind. He seems on the way fully to recover his trust. The elements of his former happiness are recounted in detail. God watched over him with constant care, the lamp of Divine love shone on high and lighted up the darkness, so that even in the night he could travel by a way he knew not and feel secure. Days of strength and pleasure were those when the secret of God, the sense of intimate fellowship with God, was on his tent, when his children were about him, that beautiful band of sons and daughters who were his pride. Then his steps were bathed in abundance, butter provided by innumerable kine, rivers of oil which seemed to flow from the rock, where terrace above terrace the olives grew luxuriantly and yielded their fruit without fail. Chiefly Job remembers with gratitude to God the esteem in which he was held by all about him. Nature was friendly and not less friendly were men. When he went into the city and took his seat in the "broad place" within the gate, he was acknowledged chief of the council and court of judgment. The young men withdrew and stood aside, yea the elders, already seated in the place of assembly, stood up to receive him as their superior in position and wisdom. Discussion was suspended that he might hear and decide. And the reasons for this respect are given. In the society thus with idyllic touches represented, two qualities were highly esteemed-regard for the poor and wisdom in counsel. Then, as now, the problem of poverty caused great concern to the elders of cities. Though the population of an Arabian town could not be great, there were many widows and fatherless children, families reduced to beggary by disease or the failure of their poor means of livelihood, blind and lame persons utterly dependent on charity, besides wandering strangers and the vagrants of the desert. By his princely munificence to these Job had earned the gratitude of the whole region. Need was met poverty relieved, justice done in every case. He recounts what he did, not in boastfulness, but as one who rejoiced in the ability God had given him to aid suffering fellow creatures. Those were indeed royal times for the generous-hearted man. Full of public spirit, his ear and hand always open, giving freely out of his abundance, he commended himself to the affectionate regard of the whole valley. The ready way of almsgiving was that alone by which relief was provided for the destitute, and Job was never appealed to in vain. "The ear that heard me blessed me, The eye that saw bare witness to me, Because I delivered the poor that cried, And the fatherless who had no helper. The blessing of him that was ready to die came upon me, And I caused the widow’s heart to sing with joy." So far Job rejoices in the recollection of what he had been able to do for the distressed and needy in those days when the lamp of God shone over him. He proceeds to speak of his service as magistrate or judge. "I put on righteousness and it indued itself with me, My justice was as a robe and a diadem; I was eyes to the blind And feet was I to the lame." With righteousness in his heart so that all he said and did revealed it and wearing judgment as a turban, he sat and administered justice among the people. Those who had lost their sight and were unable to find the men that had wronged them came to him and he was as eyes to them, following up every clue to the crime that had been committed. The lame who could not pursue their enemies appealed to him and he took up their cause. The poor, suffering under oppression, found him a protector, father. Yea, "the cause of him that I knew not I searched out." On behalf of total strangers as well as of neighbours he set in motion the machinery of justice. "And I brake the jaws of the wicked And plucked the spoil from his teeth." None were so formidable, so daring and lion-like, but he faced them, brought them to judgment, and compelled them to give up what they had taken by fraud and violence. In those days, Job confesses, he had the dream that as he was prosperous, powerful, helpful to others by the grace of God, so he would continue. Why should any trouble fall on one who used power conscientiously for his neighbours? Would not Eloah sustain the man who was as a god to others? "Then I said, I shall die in my nest, And I shall multiply my days as the Phoenix; My root shall spread out by the waters, And the dew shall be all night on my branch: My glory shall be fresh in me, And my bow shall be renewed in my hand." A fine touch of the dream life which ran on from year to year, bright and blessed as if it would flow forever. Death and disaster were far away. He would renew his life like the Phoenix, attain to the age of the antediluvian fathers, and have his glory or life strong in him for uncounted years. So illusion flattered him, the very image he uses pointing to the futility of the hope. The closing strophe of the chapter proceeds with even stronger touch and more abundant colour to represent his dignity. Men listened to him and waited. Like a refreshing rain upon thirsty ground-and how thirsty the desert could be!-his counsel fell on their ears. He smiled upon them when they had no confidence, laughed away their trouble, the light of his countenance never dimmed by their apprehensions. Even when all about him were in dismay his hearty hopeful outlook was unclouded. Trusting God, he knew his own strength and gave freely of it. "I chose out their way, and sat as a chief, And dwelt as a king in the crowd, As one that comforteth the mourners." Looked up to with this great esteem, acknowledged leader in virtue of his overflowing goodness and cheerfulness, he seemed to make sunshine for the whole community. Such was the past. All that had been is gone, apparently forever. How inexpressibly strange that power so splendid, mental, physical, and moral strength used in the service of less favoured men should be destroyed by Eloah! It is like blotting out the sun from heaven and leaving a world in darkness. And most strange of all is the way in which low men assist the ruin that has been wrought. The thirtieth chapter begins with this. Job is derided by the miserable and base whose fathers he would have disdained to set with the dogs of his flock. He paints these people, gaunt with hunger and vice, herding in the wilderness where alone they are suffered to exist, plucking mallows or salt wort among the bushes and digging up the roots of broom for food. Men hunted them into the desert, crying after them as thieves, and they dwelt in the clefts of the wadies, in caves and amongst rocks. Like wild asses they brayed in the scrub and flung themselves down among the nettles. Children they were of fools, base-born, men who had dishonoured their humanity and been whipped out of the land. Such are they whose song and by word Job is now become. These, even these abhor him and spit in his face. He makes the contrast deep and dreadful as to his own experience and the moral confusion that has followed Eloah’s strange work. For good there is evil, for light and order there is darkness. Does God desire this, ordain it? One is inclined to ask whether the abounding compassion and humaneness of the Book of Job fail at this point. These wretched creatures who make their lair like wild beasts among the nettles, outcasts, branded as thieves, a wandering base-born race, are still men. Their fathers may have fallen into the vices of abject poverty. But why should Job say that he would have disdained to set them with the dogs of his flock? In a previous speech (chapter 24) he described victims of oppression who had no covering in the cold and were drenched with the rain of the mountains, clinging to the rock for shelter; and of them he spoke gently, sympathetically. But here he seems to go beyond compassion. Perhaps one might say the tone he takes now is pardonable, or almost pardonable, because these wretched beings, whom he may have treated kindly once, have seized the occasion of his misery and disease to insult him to his face. While the words appear hard, the uselessness of the pariah may be the mare point. Yet a little of the pride of birth clings to Job. In this respect he is not perfect; here his prosperous life needs a check. The Almighty must speak to him out of the tempest that he may feel himself and find "the blessedness of being little." These outcasts throw off all restraint and behave with disgraceful rudeness in his presence. Upon my right hand rise the low brood, They push away my feet, And cast up against me their ways of destruction; They mar my path, And force on my calamity- They who have no helper. They come in as through a wide breach, In the desolation they roll themselves upon me. The various images, of a besieging army, of those who wantonly break up paths made with difficulty, of a breach in the embankment of a river, are to show that Job is now accounted one of the meanest, whom any man may treat with in dignity. He was once the idol of the populace; "now none so poor to do him reverence." And this persecution by base men is only a sign of deeper abasement. As a horde of terrors sent by God he feels the reproaches and sorrows of his state. "Terrors are turned upon me; They chase away mine honour as the wind. And my welfare passeth as a cloud. And now my soul is poured out in me The days of affliction have taken hold upon me." Thought shifts naturally to the awful disease which has caused his body to swell and to become black as with dust and ashes. And this leads him to his final vehement complaint against Eloah. How can He so abase and destroy His servant? I cry unto Thee and Thou dost not hear me; I stand up, and Thou lookest at me. Thou art turned to be cruel unto me: With the might of Thine hand Thou persecutest me. Thou liftest me up to the wind, Thou causest me to ride on it; And Thou dissolvest me in the storm. For I know that Thou wilt bring me to death, And to the house appointed for all living. Yet in overthrow doth not one stretch out his hand? In destruction, doth he not because of this utter a cry? Standing up in his wretchedness he is fully visible to the Divine eye, still no prayer moves Eloah the terrible from His purpose. It seems to be finally appointed that in dishonour Job shall die. Yet, destined to this fate, his hope a mockery, shall he not stretch out his hand, cry aloud as life falls to the grave in ruin? How differently is God treating him from the way in which he treated those who were in trouble! He is asking in vain that pity which he himself had often shown. Why should this be? How can it be, and Eloah remain the Just and Living One? Pained without and within, unable to refrain from crying out when people gather about him, a brother to jackals whose howlings are heard all night, a companion to the grieving ostrich, his bones burned by raging fever, his harp turned to wailing and his lute into the voice of them that weep, he can scarce believe himself the same man that once walked in honour and gladness in the sight of earth and heaven. Thus the full measure of complaint is again poured out, unchecked by thought that dignity of life comes more with suffering patiently endured than with pleasure. Job does not know that out of trouble like his a man may rise more human, more noble, his harp furnished with new strings of deeper feeling, a finer light of sympathy shining in his soul. Consistently, throughout, the author keeps this thought in the background, showing hopeless sorrow, affliction, unrelieved by any sense of spiritual gain, pressing with heaviest and most weary weight upon a good man’s life. The only help Job has is the consciousness of virtue, and that does not check his complaint. The antinomies of life, the past as compared with the present, Divine favour exchanged for cruel persecution, well doing followed by most grievous pain and dishonour, are to stand at the last full in view. Then He who has justice in His keeping shall appear. God Himself shall declare and claim His supremacy and His design. This purpose of the author achieved, the last passage of Job’s address-chapter 31-rings bold and clear like the chant of a victor, not serene indeed in the presence of death, for this is not the Hebrew temper and cannot be ascribed by the writer to his hero, yet with firm ground beneath his feet, a clear conscience of truth lighting up his soul. The language is that of an innocent man before his accusers and his judge, yea of a prince in presence of the King. Out of the darkness into which he has been cast by false arguments and accusations, out of the trouble into which his own doubt has brought him, Job seems to rise with a new sense of moral strength and even of restored physical power. No more in reckless challenge of heaven and earth to do their worst, but with a fine strain of earnest desire to be clear with men and God, he takes up and denies one by one every possible charge of secret and open sin. Is the language he uses more emphatic than any man has a right to employ? If he speaks the truth, why should his words be thought too bold? The Almighty Judge desires no man falsely to accuse himself, will have no man leave an unfounded suspicion resting upon his character. It is not evangelical meekness to plead guilty to sins never committed. Job feels it part of his integrity to maintain his integrity; and here he vindicates himself not in general terms but in detail, with a decision which cannot be mistaken. Afterwards, when the Almighty has spoken, he acknowledges the ignorance and error which have entered into his judgment, making the confession we must all make even after years of faith. I. From the taint of lustful and base desire he first clears himself. He has been pure in life, innocent even of wandering looks which might have drawn him into uncleanness. He has made a covenant with his eyes and kept it. Sin of this kind, he knew, always brings retribution, and no indulgence of his ever caused sorrow and dishonour. Regarding the particular form of evil in question he asks:- "For what is the portion from God above, And the heritage of the Almighty from on high? Is it not calamity to the unrighteous And disaster to them that work iniquity?" Grouped along with this "lust of the flesh" is the "lust of the eyes," covetous desire. The itching palm to which money clings, false dealing for the sake of gain, crafty intrigues for the acquisition of a plot of ground or some animal-such things were far from him. He claims to be weighed in a strict balance, and pledges himself that as to this he will not be found wanting. So thoroughly is he occupied with this defence that he speaks as if still able to sow a crop and look for the harvest. He would expect to have the produce snatched from his hand if the vanity of greed and getting had led him astray. Returning then to the more offensive suspicion that he had laid wait treacherously at his neighbour’s door, he uses the most vigorous words to show at once his detestation of such offence and the result he believes it always to have. It is an enormity, a nefarious thing to be punished by the judges. More than that, it is a fire that consumes to Abaddon, wasting a man’s strength and substance so that they are swallowed as by the devouring abyss. As to this, Job’s reading of life is perfectly sound. Wherever society exists at all, custom and justice are made to bear as heavily as possible on those who invade the foundation of society and the rights of other men. Yet the keenness with which immorality of the particular kind is watched fans the flame of lust. Nature appears to be engaged against itself; it may be charged with the offence, it certainly joins in bringing the punishment. II. Another possible imputation was that as a master or employer he had been harsh to his underlings. Common enough it was for those in power to treat their dependants with cruelty. Servants were often slaves; their rights as men and women were denied. Regarding this, the words put into the mouth of Job are finely humane, even prophetic:- "If I despised the cause of my man-servant or maid When they contended with me What then shall I do when God riseth up? And when He visiteth what shall I answer Him? Did not He that made me in the womb make him? And did not One fashion us in the womb?" The rights of those who toiled for him were sacred, not as created by any human law which for so many hours’ service might compel so much stipulated hire, but as conferred by God. Job’s servants were men and women with an indefeasible claim to just and considerate treatment. It was accidental, so to speak, that Job was rich and they poor, that he was master and they under him. Their bodies were fashioned like his, their minds had the same capacity of thought, of emotion, of pleasure and pain. At this point there is no hardness of tone or pride of birth and place. These are well doing people to whom as head of the clan Job stands in place of a father. And his principle, to treat them as their inheritance of the same life from the same Creator gave them a right to be dealt with, is prophetic, setting forth the duties of all who have power to those who toil for them. Men are often used like beasts of burden. No tyranny on earth is so hateful as many employers, driving on their huge concerns at the utmost speed, dare to exercise through representatives or underlings. The simple patriarchal life which brought employer and employed into direct personal relations knew little of the antagonism of class interests and the bitterness of feeling which often menaces revolution. None of this will cease till simplicity be resumed and the customs which keep men in touch with each other, even though they fail to acknowledge themselves members of the one family of God. When the servant who has done his best is, after years of exhausting labour, dismissed without a hearing by some subordinate set there to consider what are called the "interests" of the employer-is the latter free from blame? The question of Job, "What then shall I do when God riseth up, and when He visiteth what shall I answer Him?" strikes a note of equity and brotherliness many so-called Christians seem never to have heard. III. To the poor, the widow, the fatherless, the perishing, Job next refers. Beyond the circle of his own servants there were needy persons whom he had been charged with neglecting and even oppressing. He has already made ample defence under this head. If he has lifted his hand against the fatherless, having good reason to presume that the judges would be on his side-then may his shoulder fall from the shoulder blade and his arm from the collar bone. Calamity from God was a terror to Job, and recognising the glorious authority which enforces the law of brotherly help he could not have lived in proud enjoyment and selfish contempt. IV. Next he repudiates the idolatry of wealth and the sin of adoring the creature instead of the Creator. Rich as he was, he can affirm that he never thought too much of his wealth, nor secretly vaunted himself in what he had gathered. His fields brought forth plentifully, but he never said to his soul, Thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. He was but a steward, holding all at the will of God. Not as if abundance of possessions could give him any real worth, but with constant gratitude to his Divine Friend, he used the world as not abusing it. And for his religion: true to those spiritual ideas which raised him far above superstition and idolatry, even when the rising sun seemed to claim homage as a fit emblem of the unseen Creator, or when the full moon shining in a clear sky seemed a very goddess of purity and peace, he had never, as others were wont to do, carried his hand to his lips. He had seen the worship of Baal and Ishtar, and there might have come to him, as to whole nations, the impulses of wonder, of delight, of religious reverence. But he can fearlessly say that he never yielded to the temptation to adore anything in heaven or earth. It would have been to deny Eloah the Supreme. Dr. Davidson reminds us here of a legend embodied in the Koran for the purpose of impressing the lesson that worship should be paid to the Lord of all creatures, "whose shall be the kingdom on the day whereon the trumpet shall be sounded." The Almighty says: "Thus did we show unto Abraham the kingdom of heaven and earth, that he might become of those who firmly believe. And when the night overshadowed him he saw a star, and he said, This is my Lord; but when it set he said, I like not those that set. And when he saw the moon rising he said, This is my Lord; but when he saw it set he said, Verily, if my Lord direct me not, I shall become one of the people who go astray. And when he saw the rising sun he said, This is my Lord; this is the greatest; but when it set he said, O my people, verily I am clear of that which ye associate with God; I direct my face unto Him who hath created the heavens and the earth." Thus from very early times to that of Mohammed monotheism was in conflict with the form of idolatry that naturally allured the inhabitants of Arabia. Job confesses the attraction, denies the sin. He speaks as if the laws of his people were strongly against sun worship, whatever might be done elsewhere. V. He proceeds to declare that he has never rejoiced over a fallen enemy nor sought the life of any one with a curse. He distinguishes himself very sharply from those who in the common Oriental way dealt curses without great provocation, and those even who kept them for deadly enemies. So far was this rancorous spirit from him that friends and enemies alike were welcome to his hospitality and help. Job 31:31 means that his servants could boast of being unable to find a single stranger who had not sat at his table. Their business was to furnish it every day with guests. Nor will Job allow that after the manner of men he skilfully covered transgressions. "If, guilty of some base thing, I concealed it, as men often do, because I was afraid of losing caste, afraid lest the great families would despise me" Such a thought or fear never presented itself to him. He could not thus have lived a double life. All had been above board, in the clear light of day, ruled by one law. In connection with this it is that he comes with princely appeal to the King. "Oh that I had one to hear me!- Behold my signature-let the Almighty answer me. And oh that I had my Opponent’s charge! Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, I would bind it unto me as a crown. I would declare unto Him the number of my steps, As a prince would I go near unto Him." The words are to be defended only on the ground that the Eloah to whom a challenge is here addressed is God misunderstood, God charged falsely with making unfounded accusations against His servant and punishing him as a criminal. The Almighty has not been doing so. The vicious reasoning of the friends, the mistaken creed of the age make it appear as if He had. Men say to Job, You suffer because God has found evil in you. He is requiting you according to your iniquity. They maintain that for no other reason could calamities have come upon him. So God is made to appear as the man’s adversary; and Job is forced to the demonstration that he has been unjustly condemned. "Behold my signature," he says: I state my innocence; I set to my mark; I stand by my claim: I can do nothing else. Let the Almighty prove me at fault. God, you say, has a book in which His charges against me are written out. I wish I had that book! I would fasten it upon my shoulder as a badge of honour; yea, I would wear it as a crown. I would show Eloah all I have done, every step I have taken through life by day and night. I would evade nothing. In the assurance of integrity I would go to the King; as a prince I would stand in His presence. There face to face with Him whom I know to be just and righteous I would justify myself as His servant, faithful in His house. Is it audacity, impiety? The writer of the book does not mean it to be so understood. There is not the slightest hint that he gives up his hero. Every claim made is true. Yet there is ignorance of God, and that ignorance puts Job in fault so far. He does not know God’s action though he knows his own. He ought to reason from the misunderstanding of himself and see that he may fail to understand Eloah. When he begins to see this he will believe that his sufferings have complete justification in the purpose of the Most High. The ignorance of Job represents the ignorance of the old world. Notwithstanding the tenor of his prologue the writer is without a theory of human affliction applicable to every case, or even to the experience of Job. He can only say and repeat, God is supremely wise and righteous, and for the glory of His wisdom and righteousness He ordains all that befalls men. The problem is not solved till we see Christ, the Captain of our salvation, made perfect by suffering, and know that our earthly affliction "which is for the moment worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory." The last verses of the chapter may seem out of place. Job speaks as a landowner who has not encroached on the fields of others but honestly acquired his estate, and as a farmer who has tilled it well. This seems a trifling matter compared with others that have been considered. Yet, as a kind of afterthought, completing the review of his life, the detail is natural. "If my land cry out against me, And the furrows thereof weep together, If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, Or have caused the owners to lose their life: Let thistles grow instead of wheat And cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended." A farmer of the right kind would have great shame if poor crops or wet furrows cried against him, or if he could otherwise be accused of treating the land ill. The touch is realistic and forcible. Still it is plain at the close that the character of Job is idealised. Much may he received as matter of veritable history; but on the whole the life is too fine, pure, saintly for even an extraordinary man. The picture is clearly typical. And it is so for the best reason. An actual life would not have set the problem fully in view. The writer’s aim is to rouse thought by throwing the contradictions of human experience so vividly upon a prepared canvas that all may see. Why do the righteous suffer? What does the Almighty mean? The urgent questions of the race are made as insistent as art and passion, ideal truth and sincerity, can make them. Job lying in the grime of misery, yet claiming his innocence as a prince before the Eternal King, demands on behalf of humanity the vindication of providence, the meaning of the world scheme. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.