The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-11-23

tlCQOe Ol QeleuSe against the lecturer.
Then comes Bildad the Shuttle, who
gives the invalid a round scolding and
calls him ~garrulous Z practically
tells him that he deserved all that he
got and that If he had behaved him
self Alright he would not " lost his
house or his children Or his estate. He
practically says: Job, I will tell You
what is the matter with you. You are
bad; you are a hypocrite; you are now
getting paid for your wickedness." No
wonder that there came from Job an
outburst of indignation which calls
out til other Quondam friend, Zophar
the Naamethite, who begins denounc-
ing Job by calling him a liar and keeps
on the discourse until Job responds to
all three Of them in the sarcastic words
w doubt but We are the people, and
wisdom shall die with you"
Oh, what friends Job had Heaven
deliver US from having n such friend
to say nothing of having three Of them.
1t was for such friends that Job prayed
and was il not a religious triumph for
him so to do? Would you, the very
best Of you, be in very devout mood
ard capable Of making intercession for
people who had come to you in a day
of trouble and said: Good for you.
You ought to be chastised. You are
being taken in hand by eternal justice.
If you had behaved yourself Alright,
you would not have been sick or perse-
cuted or impoverished or made child
ish." oh, no, my friend, you would
not have felt like Job when he prayed
for his friends, but more like Job when
he cursed the day of his nativity!
THE TRIAL OF JOB.
Notice that this flagellation by the
three friends was premeditated. They
did not merely happen in and come
suddenly upon trouble for which they
nnvIld mot nfar Tl--
Bible says, They had made an ap-
appointment together" The interview
was pr-earranged. They had agreed as
to what they you'd 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 Dantesque.
But JOB was not in need of poetry so
much as a slave for his eruptive disor-
der. He was not dying for lack of a
paragraph in plank verse. He was
not so much in need of a didactic lee
ture about the justice of God as an as
of the divine mercy. Some
pious rustic of the land of w not able
to put three grammatical sentences to-
gether could have said something more
cOnSolatory.
The of the attack of these
religious cities was augmented by the
IdSl LID Iicy Hdu Tie SulleItI III lHelT
power. When we are we'll and we do
not like what one is saying, we can
get up and go away. But Job was too
i'll to get up and go away. First he
endured the sever days n sever
nights of silence, and then he endured
their arrangement of his motives and
character, and after their cruel cam
paign was ended by a sublime effort
of soul, which l this day uphold for
imitation, he triumphed in prayer for
| his tantaliZers. In all history there
is nothing equal to it except the mem
orable i~mploration by Christ for his
| No wonder that after that
prayer of Job was once uttered a 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 a half to his lifetime, n
whitened he hills with f1ockS of sheep,
and filled the air with the lowing of
| cattle, and Weakened the silent nursery
of his home with the swift feet and the
laughing voices of childhood-seven
sons and three daughters celebrated
for their beauty, the daughters to re-
fine the sons, the sons to defend the
daughters. There is nothing that pay
so we'll as prayer, and the more diff
cult the prayer to make the greater
the reward for making it.
Let us all make similar attempt to
pray for those who yex and miSrepre~
sent and tantalize us. You may be
very popular in the city or neighbour
hood where you live, but / warrant if
you are in active life there 80 those
who wish you the opposite of wishing
you we'll. Are you benevolent? They
say it is on your part a matter of per-
Sonal display. Are you Ieloquent or
learned? They declare you are over
rated and that what you say or write
is of no Importance. Do you try to
mak yourself effective in chruch or
hospital or board of directors? They
call you officious. Are you we'll dress
ed? They say o are proud. Does a
false report start in the community
against your character? They believe
it all and add another story to the
fabrication. Some of them prentend
to be friends, but they have the cud-
gels all ready for you-Eliphaz the
Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar
the N~aamathite. Now, pray for them.
oh" you say, 81 cannot do that" I
thought you could not. But you will
grow in grace until you can do 1T as
easily and as we'll as did Job pray for
his eXaSperatorS. You ought to pity
them, for defamerS n detractors n
the envious and jealous are not happy.
They hurt themselves more than they
hurt you. Better be the pursued than
| the purSuer. Better be the infant
Christ than Herod the robber of the
4 DSIllSueUl CIdulcS. 1Ou Wdll " NC
a better man. You want to be a bet
ter woman. Then scale this height OF
triumphant prayer, and you will be
ten times more of a Christian than you
ever have been. 1t will prolong your
life, as it prolonged Jobs life. You
will feel a glorious reaction that will
last through all time and all eternity.
1t will steady your nerves. 1t will 10
luce your spleen. 1t will regulate -
p~ulSation of your heart.
USELESSNESS OF ANGER.
Nothing is so unhealthy as to get
mad. 1t is a shock to the whole physi-
cal organization as we'll as to your
mental and moral condition. 1t is no
unusual thing for people to drop down
dead in a fit of anger. You people Who
weigh over 200 pounds avoirdupoiS
had better never lose your temper, for
at such times apoplexy is not far off.
Get the e%quipoise of Job in the text
and it will help you in business direc-
lions. Praying for all offenders you
will have more nerve for large UNI
lrr&oI;nrc will 1Soro q hoffor