Homilist Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away… I. THE LIFE OF THE TRUE HAS THE ORDINARY VICISSITUDES. Job had received children, cattle, and property from the Lord, and all had been now "taken away." In the life of all men there is a constant receiving and losing. Health, pleasure, friendship, fame, property, these come and go. How much that we all once had has been taken away from us. The freshness of childhood, the buoyancy of youth, the circles of early friendships. These vicissitudes of life — 1. Remind us that this world is not our rest. 2. Urge us to rest on the Unchangeable. II. THE LIFE OF THE TRUE HAS AN ENNOBLING CREED. Job felt that God was in all the receivings and losings of his life. "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away." Some trace their vicissitudes to chance, and some to necessity, but Job to God. He recognised God in all the events of his life. This creed is — 1. Reasonable. If there be a God, He must be concerned in everything — the small as well as the great. 2. Scriptural. The Bible is full of it. Not a sparrow falleth to the ground without His notice. 3. Dignifying. It brings God in conscious proximity to man in his everyday life. III. THE LIFE OF THE TRUE HAS A MAGNANIMOUS RELIGIOUSNESS. "Blessed be the name of the Lord." The language is that of pious exultation. This spirit is something more than submission to the Divine will under suffering — even something more than an acquiescence in the Divine will in suffering. It is exultation in the manifestation of the Divine will in all the events of life. It amounts to the experience of Paul, who said, "We glory in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, patience, experience," etc. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. |
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