(Section 3.-Self manifested-Continued from December].

2.-Present shame (chap. 30).

Dwell upon the past as long he may, Job is at last forced to turn to the present with its wretched contrast. This portion may be divided into seven parts, giving the thought of complete misery, which thus exceeds his former greatness.

(1) His wretched mockers (vers. 1-8).

(2) Their scorn (vers. 9-12).

(3) Their persecution (vers. 13-15).

(4) His sufferings (vers. 16-19).

(5) No help from God (vers. 20-23).

(6) The triumph of misery (vers. 24-27).

(7) Complete woe (vers. 28-31).

(i) Job's words as to his former greatness were in description of his beneficent pity for the wretched outcasts to whom he ministered comfort and cheer. Passing into the present, he seems to have changed places with these, or those like them, and in turn speaks of them not with the language of sympathy but of deepest contempt. Pride speaks of them- "whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock." Their elders were beneath his contempt, and now the younger have him in derision. The verses following describe these wretched persons who now exalt themselves above him. They are weak and unprofitable-as decrepit old age. Withered up from hunger, they gnaw the roots of weeds growing in the waste which for long has ceased to yield true food for man. The mallows, or salt wort, and the sedge, or juniper, have become their food. These are the contemptible wretches which mock him who once was so great. Driven from men as thieves, their habitation in valleys and dark holes, croaking or braying as beasts-these outcasts pour their contempt upon him !It is a hideous picture, reminding us of One who in a far different spirit said, " I was the song of the drunkards" (Ps. 69:12).But in Job there is no turning to God in such unjust treatment. Evidently the wound to his pride, in having such a rabble mock him, is the deepest of his mental sufferings. He had previously described persons like these (chap. 24) as illustrating the unequal lot that comes upon men and as showing the oppression of the prosperous wicked. But he is not here the advocate of these downtrodden men; his own soul is writhing under their contempt. It is a sad picture of pride, which grows bitter as it dwells upon its wrongs.

(2) Scorn them as he may, Job is compelled to acknowledge that he is mocked by them, their song and their by word. We can but compare his anger at their taunts with the meekness of Him "who when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not."All through life our Lord had the shadows of man's rejection falling upon Him, but in His darkest hour-"your hour and the power of darkness "-they poured out their maledictions and their taunts. But He, as One that heard not, "gave His back to the smiters and His cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting" (Isa. 50:6). Who is it that said this ? Not a man lamenting over former grandeur, but one who had voluntarily relinquished His glory in love for His enemies, who could at any moment have delivered Himself from His troubles by an appeal to His Father or by the putting forth of His own power. "But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be?" (Matt. 26:54). We need only to meditate upon such words to see the pitiful petulance of Job in painful contrast. In all his sufferings Job felt, as he had frequently declared, the hand of God upon him, and he connects this with the scorn of these abject men who took advantage of God's dealings to vent their hatred upon him. "God hath forsaken him:persecute and take him." The "rabble" (as the word has been rendered) press upon his right hand, they thrust his feet away from their only standing-place, and lift up their own destructive ways. We can only again remark how unlike Job was to our blessed Lord in similar circumstances.

(3) The scorn and mockery, which we have seen increasing in violence, now bursts out in a storm of persecution. These puny, helpless men turn now in violence upon him; they tear down his path- destroy the way of one whose footsteps had "well-nigh slipped." They would contribute to his overthrow. They burst upon him like a flood breaking through restraining banks; they roll over him with the deafening noise of their tramp. "The floods of ungodly men made me afraid." Like a pack of cowardly wolves they pounce upon the fallen man, whose soul, or rather "nobility," is swept aside as by a fierce hurricane; " Like a cloud my prosperity passed away." This is beautiful poetry, abounding in bold images; but Job does not show himself to advantage. The weakness of his spirit is seen in the lack of dignity with which he undergoes his misfortunes. Evidently his faith is in eclipse. This is apparent in what follows.

(4) His soul is poured out, and days of suffering are his portion. The nights are no better, for the gnawing disease does not sleep as it bares his bones out of his very flesh. His garment is no longer an adornment, but clings to his emaciated body, as his collar discloses the poor bony neck. It is all vivid as a picture, and as repulsive. All this Job ascribes to God. It is His great force which has thus emaciated him and laid his honor in the dust. He has brought him into the mire and made him as worthless as the dust and ashes in which he sits. Do we hear him taking counsel with his soul in this time of suffering ?-"Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God:for I shall yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance, and my God " (Ps. 42:n).No; instead of encouraging himself thus, he accuses his Maker.

(5) He cries to Him for help, but no answer comes from above. He stands in all his wretchedness before God, who looks upon him but does not pity. This is the force of ver. 20., It is not merely "Thou regardest me not;" the negative is not in the original; God does regard him, in the sense of looking upon him and remaining unmoved by his woes. "Thou changest Thyself to a cruel being toward me." Oh, if Job had but known the tender love which would have spared him from all this suffering, but for his own good! He knows not that "the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy." That will come when he sees "the end of the Lord"- the purpose that is in view (Jas. 5:n). Now he can only see that strong hand reached out to make war against him. It is this stormy wind which lifts up the frail sufferer as chaff and drives him along to vanish in the warring storm. Beautiful poetry indeed, but wretched unbelief this is. Job sees nothing before him but death, the house appointed for all living. His faith seems to have suffered a great eclipse. May we not see the reason of this in that self-occupation which marks these two chapters and the next ?

(6) His misery is complete; it rises over all other thoughts. Verse 24-whose meaning is obscure in the A. V.-has been rendered:'' No prayer availeth when He stretcheth out His hand; though they cry when He destroyeth." That is, it is useless to cry to Him for pity, for He will not regard the prayer of those upon whose destruction He is bent. It is a most hopeless view of God, of which Job has shown he is quite capable. Delitzsch, however, renders it as though Job is explaining his cries. Is it not natural for one to reach forth his hand for help? So he translates:" Doth not one, however, stretch out the hand in falling; doth he not raise a cry for help on that account, in his ruin ? " This suits with what follows:he is only asking what he had shown to others in their time of stress-he has wept for those in trouble and grieved for the needy He sums up his misery in verses 26, 27. In his prosperity he had looked forward for good all his days; instead of that, misery had overtaken him, darkness instead of the wished-for light. Instead of a heart at rest, his inner man was a seething caldron of anguish-" Days of misery met me."

(7) At last we reach the end of the wail-the last of those laments which pierce the heart. He pictures himself as a lonely wanderer in the dark, a companion of beasts and birds which shun the face of man. He might well hide from them, for his skin drops off his putrid flesh; his very bones are parched and dry. Such misery must surely appeal to the most stolid. Must these friends not listen to such woe, and have pity ? Job has sounded all the depths of his suffering and grief; his harp has no notes but the sad wail of mourning; his pipe leads in no dance, it is turned alone to notes of sorrow.

Thus the wail ends in a threnody of sadness, without a note of faith. Oh, let us thank our God that Another has lifted His voice out of deeper darkness than all that pressed upon Job with words of sweet assurance, "The cup which my Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit" (Jno. 18:11; Luke 23:46). To Him-our Saviour, our Lord, our all-We turn, and learn in our grief to say, "Thy will be done."

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look, not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen:for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:17, 18). S. R.

(To be continued.)