Verse 18. For he maketh sore and bindeth up; he woundeth, and his hands make whole.' "Here is God as a judge wounding, and as an all-sufficient friend binding up; as if the very act by which God smites, had an influence upon the healing, and a tendency to restore his afflicted ones.

"This verse shows why we should not despise the chastening of the Almighty. If you will not allow that a man is happy when he is sore, will you not allow that he is happy when bound up by such an hand? If you will not grant that a man is happy when wounded, you cannot deny that he is happy when thus healed. It is true of God, above all others, that one and the same hand smites and cures.

"Observe, 1st, That when God wounds, it is preparatory to his healing his people.

"2d, That however deep wounds God inflicts on his own servants, he never makes a wound too deep for his own cure; yea, he can heal the deepest wound which the malice and power of man can make.

"Eliphaz speaks this in general; but he now addresses Job in particular; and, in prosecuting his argument, gives a promise of deliver

ance.

"Verse 19. He shall deliver thee in six troubles, yea in seven there shall no evil touch

thee.'

"To deliver, notes the snatching of a man out of the hand of an enemy, out of the mouth of danger, out of every strait, which is the meaning of the word trouble here.

"In seven there shall no evil touch thee. The evil of sin shall not pollute thee; thy trouble shall purge, not defile thee; and he shall preserve thee from the evil of punishment. To be kept from the evil of trouble, is a deliverance from trouble, even while we endure it. It is as if Eliphaz had said, I will descend to particulars, and reckon up the greatest outward evils that befall the sons of men or the children of God, and I affirm that the Lord will deliver thee. *

"Verse 20. In famine he shall redeem thee from death, and in war from the the sword.'

power of

"This may not only refer to a deliverance from famine, by a supply of provisions, but a rejoicing in God in the absence of earthly supplies; like Hab. iii. 17, who triumphs in God while he supposes the world starving; he sees and enjoys all things in God, though the world should afford nothing. That person is well fed and taught, who can rejoice while starving.

"And in the second evil, war, when surrounded with instruments of death, in the hands of infuriated men, worse than wild beasts, God can put a covering on the head, and protect those that trust in him. But though the servants of Christ should fall by these common calamities, yet he knows how to distinguish his

*The six and seven troubles intimate, that we may expect a succession of troubles after many look for more, but God will deliver his own out of them all. Former deliverances are earnests of farther deliveran

ces.

children when sword and famine do not; and if they are not delivered from them, they are delivered by them, and when overcome by one instrument of death they conquer all.

"Verse 21. Thou shalt be hid from the Scourge of the tongue, neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.'

"To detract, traduce, or slander, is the same to the credit of a man that a scourge is to the back. The tongue of an open slanderer, is compared to an arrow by day, and to a serpent that comes behind, when it is done secretly.

"It is said a bishop must be no striker; but the apostle could hardly think that sons of violence should be so much as admitted to a probation about that office, but it may signify striking with the tongue: therefore let not a bishop be a striker with his tongue in passion, much less in spleen or for self ends. The tongue is a terrible engine. It is a sad thing when the people of God are wounded by the tongues of wicked men, but it is much worse when the people of God scourge one another. It is a great mercy to be preserved from the scourge of the tongue, Psa. xxxi. 20; let all learn to bridle the tongue, for they that smite with the tongue, shall perish with the tongue.

"Destruction means a confluence of all kinds of evil meeting together; but when it comes thou shalt have this privilege, not to be afraid of it. *

The most inoffensive men cannot secure themselves from calumny, reproach, and false accusation ;

"Verse 22. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh.' But is it not sinful to laugh at these? there is a sinful laughter which arises from unbelief, Gen. xviii. 12; from contempt and slighting of counsel, 2 Chron. xxx. 10, 'But they laugh them to scorn.'

Commendable laughter springs from faith, Gen. xvii. 17; from holy courage and wellgrounded confidence; from an assurance of shelter and protection from, or support under, the greatest dangers, even in famine and destruction. This can only be obtained, by fixing on such a promise as Psa. xxxvii. 19, They shall not be ashamed in the evil day, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.' Hence the apostle says, We glory in tribulations; and are more than conquerors; and when speaking of the last enemy, he brings in the believing soul in a holy triumph, laughing at, and even jeering death, O death! where is thy sting? &c.

Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. Thou shalt not be afraid of the natural cruelty, the casual hurtfulness, or the judiciary rage of beasts, when sent by God to punish the beastliness of men. How it comes to pass that beasts of the earth hurt not godly men, is expressed in the next verse.

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"Verse 23. For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field.' The promise was

from these a man cannot hide himself, but God can hide him, so that the most malicious slanders should not disturb his peace, and make them to be so little heeded by others, as not to blemish his reputation.

to be delivered from the fear of beasts, but to certify thee of it, God will not suffer so much as a stone to do thee hurt. God can do us good by any thing, and nothing can do us good without him; and God can produce our comforts out of impossibilities to nature; even when Stephen was killed by stones, he might be said to be in league with them, God turned these stones into bread for him, and made every stone a glorious diamond in his crown of martyrdom.

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And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.' That is, by the power of God they shall be made peaceable to thee. This is the same in proportion with being in league with stones. It was the privilege of man by creation to have power over the beasts; and it is the ordinary privilege of every believer to be at peace with them, and the most flourishing state of the church is represented under this notion, Isa. xi. 6.

"Observe, That every creature by sin is made dangerous and hurtful to man; but when God becomes our friend, he can quickly make all other things friendly to us; also he can make men who have as little sense as stones, and less reason than beasts, to be peaceful and useful to his people.

"At verse 19, we had a promise of deliverance even in six or seven troubles. From verse 24-27, we have the result of all, an assurance of a fourfold blessing, every one confirmed as a truth in itself, and brought home to Job, verse 27.

K