St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-12-15

Shuttle, who gives the invalid q roun
scolding and calls him garrulous IN
practically tells him that be deserve
all that he got. and that il he had b
haved himself Alright he would nc
have lost his house or his children q
his estate. He practically says: "Jol
will tell you what il the matter wit
you. You are bad; you are q hyp<
critic; you are now getting paid 70
your wickedness." No wonder tina
there came from Job an outburst O
indignation which calls out the othe
quondam friend, Zorhar the Mas
mathite, who begins denouncing Jo
by calling him liar, and keeps O
the discourse until Job responds to q
three of them in the sarcastic words
NO doubt but We are the people, an
wisdom shall die with you"
Oh, what friends Job had! Heavel
deliver us from having one sucl
friend, to say nothing of having thre
of them. 1t was for such friends tina
Job prayed, and was it q religious tn
umph for him to do SO? Would you
the very best of you. be in very devou
mood and capable Of making interces
sion for people who had come to 20,
in q day Of trouble and said: "Goot
for you. You ought to be chastised
You are being taken in hand by eter
nal justice. II you had behaved your
self Alright you would not have beer
sick or prosecuted or impoverished OF
made childiess." Oh, no, my friend
you would not have felt like Job wher
he prayed for his friends, but more
like Job when he cursed the day Of hi.
nativity:
Notice that this hagellation by the
three friends was premeditated. They
did not merely happen in and come
suddenly upon the trouble for which
they could not offer compound. The
Bible says: "They had made an ap.
pointment together" The interview
was prearranged. They had agreed
as to what they would say to the sick
man. You can see that their remarks
were not extemporaneous. What they
said was sublimely poetic. They rose
in style into what in later times we
would call the Homeric or Dantesquc.
But Job was not in need Of poetry so
much as a salve for his eruptive dis
order. He was not dying for lack of
a paragraph in blank verse. He was
not so much in need Of a didactic lee
ture about the justice of God as an
assurance CT the Divine mercy. Some
pious rustic OF the land of Uz not able
to put three grammatical sentences
together could have said something
more consolatory.
The meaEness of the attack of these
religious critics was augmented by
the fact that they had the sufferer in
their power. When we are we'll and
we do not like what one is saying we
can get up and 60 away. But Job
was too i'll to get up and go away.
First he endured the seven days and
seven nights Of silence, and then he
endured their arraignment OF his mo-
tives and character, and after their
cruel campaign was ended by q sub
lime effort of soul, which this day up
hold for imitation, he tr:GzRphed in
prayer for his tantalizers. In oil his
tory there is nothing equal to it ex-
cept the memorable imploration by
Christ of His enemies. No wonder
that after that prayer Of Job was
once uttered thrill OF recovery shot
through every nerve and vein of his
tortured body and every passion Of his
great soul, and God answered it by
adding nearly a century and half to
his lifetime, and whitened the hills
with flocks Of sheep, and filed the air
with the lowing Of cattle, and wax
.ned the silent nursery Of his home
with the swift feet and the laughing
7oices OF childhood-seven sons and
.hree daughters celebrated for their
the daughters to refine the
IONS, the sons to defend the daugh-
ers. There is nothing tina. pays so
veil as prayer, and the more difficult |
he prayer to make the greater the re.
ward for making it.
Let us all make similar attempt to
,ray for those who vex and misrep-
esent and tantalize US. You may be
cry popular in the city or neighbor-
lood where you live. but warrant
[ you are in active life there are those
Who wish you the opposite of wishing
on we'll. Are you benevolent? They /
ay it is on your part Q matter Of per-
onal display. Are you eloquent or
They declare you are
verrated and that what you say
r write is Of no Importance. Do
on try to make yourself effect
re in church or hospital or board
( directors? They call you officious.
re you well dressed? They say you
re proud. Does q false report start
, the community against your char
cter? They believe it all and add an
Their story to the fabrication. Some
I them pretend to be. friends, but
hey have the cudgels all ready fer
the Temanite. Bildad the
huhite, Zophar the Naamathite.
ow, pray for them. ''Oh," you say,
cannot do that" I thought you
ould not. But you will grow in grace
ntil you can do it a. easily and as
ell rs did Job pray for his exas-
orators. You ought to pity them. for
efamers and detractors and the en- /
Gus and jealous are not happy. They
urt themselves more than they hurt
,u. Better be the pursued than the
1rsuer. Better be the infant Christ /,
ian Herod, the robber of the Beth |
hem cradles. You want to be bet
r man. You want to be . better !
oman. Then scale this height Of tri-
nphant prayer. and you will be ten
mes more OF Christian than you |
er have been. 1t will prolong your
e, as it prolonged Jobs life. You
i'll feel a glorious reaction that will /
st through all time and all eternity. +,
will steady your nerves. It will re- {
ice your spleen. It will regulate the I
llsation Of your heart.
Prayer is what some one has called
he slender nerve that moveth the b