_But now they that are younger than I have me in derision._ JOB’S SOCIAL DISABILITIES 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 com... [ Continue Reading ]
_Upon my right hand rise the youth._ THE PROSPECTS OF LIFE 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 o... [ Continue Reading ]
_The days of affliction have taken hold upon me._ PHYSICAL PAIN 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 organisatio... [ Continue Reading ]
_I cry unto Thee, and Thou dost not hear me._ UNANSWERED PRAYER 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 usu... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou art become cruel to me._ JOB’S GRIEVANCE AGAINST GOD 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 expressi... [ Continue Reading ]
_To the house appointed for all living._ THE HOUSE APPOINTED FOR ALL LIVING 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,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Did I not weep for him that was in trouble._ TEARS FOR THE OPPRESSED 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... [ Continue Reading ]