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can use which shall sufficiently describe it. He is awfully struck by the arrows of the Almighty and he is made to cry out for help. There is no hypocrisy in him then he calls for spiritual help"Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner." So Job argues with his friends in the bitterness of his heart, and tells them he should not complain did he not feel hungry, thirsty, weary, and desirous of that which they could not supply. "Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass, or loweth the ox over his fodder? Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg ? The things which my soul refused to touch are my sorrowful meat. Oh, that I might have my request, and that God would grant me the thing that I long for even that it would please God to destroy me that He would let loose His hand and cut me off: then should I yet have comfort. I would harden myself in sorrow: let Him not spare, for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One." His soul longed for death-it longed to flee away and be at rest-but it pleased God to let him endure his suffering on purpose that we all might have the experience of his wisdom. So convinced is Job of his requiring true pity and compassion from those who fear God that he adds, "To him that is afflicted, pity should be showed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty!" From this it is evident that no man who has not the fear of the Almighty before him, and is not possessed of divine wisdom, can be any comfort to a mau whose soul is sick within him.

We may and ought to exercise the offices of humanity towards those who are afflicted in body; and it

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is a duty incumbent upon us all not to see bodily suffering without attempting to relieve it; but if the body hunger, so does the soul: if the body thirst, so will the soul if the body is diseased, how diseased is the soul which, in the first instance, became corrupt before the body could be afflicted with disease and death? 66 Every sin a man doeth is without the body” (1 Cor. vi. 18). The soul does it-in fact, the soul makes the body sin, let the transgression be what it will. The lust of the soul, which looks through the eye, destroys its singleness and makes the body full of darkness. How requisite is it, then, that the soul should be spiritualized, that it may learn to think and do those things that be right! If your souls are afflicted by reason of your sins, then it has pleased God to give you that godly sorrow which worketh salvation not to be repented of. You are, as Job was, visited with His arrows, and the terrors of God do set themselves in array against you: you are made to possess wearisome nights and days, and your friends scarcely know what to do with you: in a word, you are made to see that it is an eternity of blight and darkness; and the dread of endless night, the horror of your soul being extinguished for ever, makes you anxious to feel after that light which is to guide you to the Sun of Righteousness.

This is so plain, so evident, a doctrine of the dealings of the Divine, that no man can open his Bible and read without being assured that it must be so. No sinner can see his salvation without this conviction-that God works in him, this true, sincere, and contrite heart, which is alarmed for its preservation ―aye, more than any man could possibly be for his

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safety when he sees the rocks and shoals before him, and the ship steering directly upon them. Would you then cry to man—" Deliver me from the enemy's hand, or redeem me from the hand of the mighty ?" Every day teaches men that they may call on Mammon for deliverance and he cannot help them. He has but little power, indeed, to stay the fury of a storm or turn away his enemies from pursuing him ; but the Lord his God can do it. Job never sought such aid at the hands of his friends, and I trust that no man afflicted can imagine that any man on earth can do the same for his soul. It was not likely that the man who could say "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth "-could apply to any man to redeem his soul or deliver it. Neither can you; but when you are afflicted, when your wicked enemy pursues you, when you are worn down with sorrow, when the whole world as it were throws its back upon you, you can then say to God-" Deliver me from the enemy's hand: redeem me from the hand of the mighty." All this address is intended to teach you so to do; and should any of you have that longing desire for salvation which Job had, may it please God to send to your consolation a Christian minister who shall be able to fulfil his office and direct your soul to God!

The apostle James seems fully to enter into the spirit of this wisdom when he exhorts his Christian converts after this manner, showing how soul and body are relieved by prayer—“ Is any among you afflicted, let him pray." Why is he to pray, but that his affliction-that weight of grief, that heaviness of soul, which seems, and really is what it seems,

more weighty than the sand upon the sea shore-may be taken off? To God must your prayer be made: on God must your burthen be cast-yes, the whole weight thereof must be, as it truly was laid, on Him who "bore our griefs and carried our sorrows." We must pray to Him who alone can heal a wounded spirit, and pour in the balm of Gilead, the consolation of the word of God. "Is any merry, let him sing psalms" (James v. 13). This word merry does not mean noisy voluptuous mirth: it has a reference to that animated cheerfulness which all Christians at times experience; that liveliness of the soul which, either in the performance of works of faith, or in the anticipated joy of heavenly happiness to come, is indeed to be glad. As David contemplates his God in sorrow, and says, "Why art thou so heavy, O, my soul, and why art thou so disquieted within me! O, put thy trust in God"-so does he in joy exclaim -"O, come let us sing unto the Lord, let us heartily rejoice in God my Saviour! Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and show ourselves glad in Him with psalms." And this is what St. James means when he says:-" Is any merry, let him sing psalms." But he says more, and in strict conformity with that which the pious Job required, and which all Christians some time or other will feel the need of" Is any sick among you, let him call for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him, and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him."

If Job had met with a Christian minister who like himself, knew the Redeemer; if his friends

with him had but fulfilled the advice given by the apostle, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed:" instead of meeting with reproof without pity and words without wisdom, he would have found that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, and he would have experienced that divine comfort which it is the Christian minister's greatest privilege to convey and the afflicted souls greatest joy to receive-the salvation of God.

Oh, my brethren, assured that the enemy of souls will not long let you rest, but be ready to attack you, ever on the watch to undermine your faith and turn you from the path of righteousness and peace, let me this day direct your thoughts in prayer and faith to God in the words of Job:-" Deliver me, O Lord, from the enemy's hand: redeem me from the hand of the mighty!" Deliverance can only be through Christ; for there is none other name but His only through whom you can receive health and salvation. Redemption can only be in Christ; for your souls are not, and cannot be, redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but by the precious blood of Christ.

May the Almighty continue to enlighten us all with that light which shall lighten our darkness and enliven our souls with the prospect of eternal life! Should He see fit to let the arrows of His spirit pierce your souls, oh, may you find the Spirit of God, the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, at hand, to lift your soul in prayer, saying, "Good Lord, deliver us!" And if the desire of redemption should visit you, and you should cry unto Him, "Redeem us from

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