XXXIX.

The Land of Uz.

Behold, we count them happy which endure.-JAS. v. 11.

IT is a hard saying.

And often the endurance seems to

be called for in the hardest way.

'When sorrows come, they come not single spies,

But in battalions!'

And if the whole battalion fell on us at once, that would be easier-sometimes we think; while instead there is a steady, persistent succession, that tries men's nerves like the ceaseless blowing of a cyclone.

I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.-JOB iii. 26.

-Came, and swept all away. Oxen, and asses, and servants, and sheep, and servants, and camels, and servants,-not a handful of each, but

of

Seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke oxen, aud five hundred she-asses, and a very great household.-JOB i. 3.

Seven

-And before Job had caught his breath after these announcements, another blast told him that he was childless. sons and three daughters, dead suddenly at one stroke. still Job held his peace. The greatest of all the men of the

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And

East' at sunrise; anxious only lest in his vast family some word or thought might offend the Lord; and at sunset alone in the midst of ruin. And Job 'fled for refuge,' and found 'strong consolation.' He had had nothing—and the Lord had given; he had had much-and the Lord had taken. But it was all the Lord. And Job 'fell down and worshipped,' and blessed the name of him who can never make a mistake.

It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.-1 SAM. iii. 18.

I will bless the Lord at all times.-Ps. xxxiv. 1.

Giving thanks always, for all things.-EPH. v. 20.

-Job knew-as well as Satan-that the Lord had 'made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he had;' but now that the hedge was thrown down, he uttered no complaint.

In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.--JOB i. 22.

-Charge him? the Lord? With what, then, do we ever venture to charge him? With mistakes?

I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.-ISA. xlvi. 9, 10.

He is the rock; his work is perfect.-DEUT. xxxii. 4.

-Only, to get the comfort of that, you must go farther, and say with David :

He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.-Ps. xcii. 15. -With forgetfulness?

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path.-Ps. cxlii. 3.

-With unkindness?

In all their affliction he was afflicted.-ISA. lxiii. 9.

-So that it comes to this at last, and the very heart is nonresistant:

Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?-JOHN Xviii. 11.

In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.' For

The wise shall understand.-DAN. xii. 10.

-There came then a new trouble. The strong physical health which had been such a help to the mental, was suddenly broken; and pain and weakness and disgust filled all Job's days. It seemed as if, when he tried to tell, words failed him to describe his misery.

The arrows of the Almighty are within me.-JOB vi. 4.
He breaketh me with a tempest.-JOB ix. 17.

-Grief heavier than the sands of the sea was upon him (Job vi. 3). He was 'terrified with visions,' 'scared with dreams,' he was a burden to himself.'

Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.-JOB ii. 9, 10.

-And I am ready to doubt whether ever he would, but for his miserable comforters.'

At first, indeed, they were perfectly quiet, overawed by the magnitude of his sorrow :

They sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him.-JOB ii. 13.

-But all this would have been better done elsewhere, not with him, but by themselves. For they went through all the motions.

They lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.-JOB ii. 12.

-And to have three people set themselves down to watch over one's distress, would drive a woman to distraction. It was too much for even the patience of Job.

After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day.-JOB iii. 1.

-After the old fashion of marking days as good or bad, Job said of his birthday, Let it be blotted out.

Two things you may notice in all Job's long sorrow; and first, so deep and dear an appreciation of the Lord's power and grace and working, that there breaks out every now and then the hurt feeling of a neglected or forsaken child. 'Hedged about' still the devil knew him to be; but Job thought himself now 'hedged in.' So we blunder, dazed with the storm.

Yet

And at this first outburst, this first cry of bewildered pain, the calm spectators roused up in virtuous indignation. they spoke some sensible things, which we may well heed.

Now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest,-said Eliphaz.-JOB iv. 5.

-Yes, we that have comforted others, should remember our own words.

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth. and bindeth up.-JOB v. 17, 18.

-And the word 'happy,' and the calm admonition, jarred the overstrung nerves into another cry.

Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed !-JOB vi. 2.

-Yet still he clings to the thought of God.

Oh that God would grant me the thing that I long for! even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would loose his hand, and cut me off!— JOB vi. 8, 9.

-And through all his passion of longing and grief, Job shows the second strong point: a thorough knowledge of his comforters.

What doth your arguing reprove?—JOB vi. 25.

-It was all beside the case.

And presently Job forgets

them, and reaches forth his hands again to the Lord.

I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men?JOB Vii. 20.

-And that stirred up Bildad. It is so easy to see to the bottom of other people's misfortunes!

If thou wert pure and upright, he said. Thy children have sinned against him. . . . Can the rush grow up without mire ?-JOB viii. 6, 4, 11.

-And broadly hinting that Job himself was a hypocrite,