with her, and in my doings I was exact: I stretched forth my hands to the heaven above, and bewailed my ignorances of her. I directed my soul unto her, and I found her in pureness: I have had my heart joined with her from the beginning, therefore shall I not be forsaken. My heart was troubled in seeking her therefore have I gotten a good possession. The Lord hath given me a tongue for my reward, and I will praise him therewith. 23 Draw near unto me, ye unlearned, and dwell in the house of learning. Wherefore are ye slow, and what say ye of these things, seeing your souls are very thirsty? I opened my mouth without money. 26 Put your neck under the yoke, and let your soul receive instruction: she is hard at hand to find. Behold with your eyes, how that I have had but little labour, and have gotten unto me much rest. Get learning with a great sum of money, and get much gold by her. Let your soul rejoice in his mercy, and be not ashamed of his praise. 23 To the unlearned, that wisdom is free which maketh wise unto salcation: therefore, the poor have no excuse for neglecting religion.— without price." (Is. lv. i.) "Come, buy, without money, and Work your work betimes, and said, Buy her for yourselves 26" For my yoke," saith the Lord of life, "is easy; and my burden light." 30 Work the work which God hath and in his time he will give given thee to do; fulfil thy religious you your reward. and social duties faithfully; be not deterred from thy faithfulness by any trials through which thou mayest pass: nor let a sense of thine own unworthiness keep thee back from a work so arduous; seek that spirit of holiness and strength, which is to correct your infirmities and relieve your weaknesses; seek its aid, and follow its guidance, and rejoice in its consolations-then, be sure that when this painful life shall be ended, the just and merciful Judge will, for Christ's sake, give you your rich reward in a life of rest, and joy, and glory, for ever. 1 EVENING. THERE was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. And there were born daughters. 3 His substance JOB i. 1 Uz was in Arabia. Job is called perfect, not absolutely, but relatively-the term indicates his willing and careful endeavour to obey the perfect law of God. (See Matt. v. 48.) unto him seven sons and three 3 It is not the possession of riches also was seven thousand which destroys the soul, but the sheep, and three thousand abuse of them, and the trust in them. camels, and five hundred (Mark x. 24.) yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great houshold; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east. 4 And his sons I went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; 4 It was customary among the Persians to celebrate their birth-day with great rejoicings. and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. 5 The Patriarch wished to sanctify his family to make them holy, by due acts of worship. So now, let family worship be thy daily sacrifice. and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. 6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present Satan came also among them. 7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect, and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? 10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD. And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house and there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: and the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone 6 The angels stood before the throne; awaiting the Almighty's pleasure. themselves before the LORD, and 7 Satan-the enemy-is always restless. Indeed, when are the wicked ever other than ill at ease; tossed to and fro, and never at rest! Turmoil is their element. 10 We owe all our blessings and comforts to the superintending Providence of God. to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: 19 and, behold, there 19 What a succession of calamities! wave after wave they roll in, and destroy every comfort, save that, which storm and tempest cannot reach-the peace of God. came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Never was Job so eminently great-so truly noble-as now : no, not even when in earthly possessions," he was the greatest of all the men of the East." (ver. 2.) Stripped of all his worldly goods, he stands, unshaken as a rock amid the waters of affliction. His hope is anchored on his God. Reader, art thou a child of affliction?—Remember, that the Patriarch's God is thy God. 1 St. Simon and St. Jude. MORNING. WHY, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days? Some remove 3 JOB Xxiv, XXV. It is strange, that since God is confessedly supreme, men should not see that he hath placed in his own hands a future day of recompense. hearted, and cruel. 3 Wickedness is always selfish, hard poor of the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof. They drive away the ass of the fatherless, and they take the widow's ox for a pledge. They turn the needy out of the the way: the earth hide themselves together. 5 Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising 5 The wild asses are proverbially of untameable fierceness: so these wicked ones are of uncontrolled passions. betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children. They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked. They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in 17 8 These expressions picture the sad state of the naked and oppressed. No exaction is too severe for them to practise. 12 The oppressed cry; and God often delayeth to charge the oppressor with his sin. But punishment is sure, though delayed. 13 66 If ye had not known me," saith Christ, "ye had not known sin." not the ways thereof, nor abide 14 The awful progress of sin is most powerfully depicted in this and the following verses. breast, and take a pledge of the poor. They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry; which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst. 12 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them. 13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know in the paths thereof. "The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief. The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me and disguiseth his face. In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light. For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death. 18 He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards. Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned. The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree. He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow. He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life. Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways. They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as 17 The wicked shun the day. Light exposes their evil deeds. Strange! that men dare do that in God's sight, which it would shame and overwhelm them to do in the presence of their fellow-creatures! 18 The wicked shall be removed. Quickly as the rapid stream, shall he pass away; and mingle with the great ocean of eternity. (ver. 24.) the tops of the ears of corn. And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth? The perfections of the Almighty, and the nothingness of fallen man, are here strikingly contrasted. THEN answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places. Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise? How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Behold not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm? 4 Man is indeed "far gone from original righteousness-born in sin," and by nature, "a child of wrath." even to the moon, and it shineth 6 EVENING. Compared with God, all is vanity. It must be so. What can the thing created be, but immeasurably below the perfections of the Creator? JOB xlii. The Almighty had deigned to reply to Job's false reasoning. The Patriarch humbles himself. THEN Job answered the LORD, and said, I know that thou canst do every thing, and that from thee. 3 Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I ut no thought can be withholden 3 Ever let us exalt God, and humble ourselves. The more clearly we see God spiritually-in his works of Providence and grace-the more shall we feel self-abased. tered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak : I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. 5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. "Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. 'Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven 6 A noble heart is ever most humble in its prosperity. 8 The prayer of the righteous availeth much. rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept : lest I deal with you after your folly, in that |