'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.'--JOB i. 21.
This book of Job wrestles with the problem of the meaning of the
mystery of sorrow. Whether history or a parable, its worth is the
same, as tortured hearts have felt for countless centuries, and will
feel to the end. Perhaps no picture that was ever painted is grander
and more touching than that of the man of Uz, in the antique wealth
and happiness of his brighter days, rich, joyful, with his children
round him, living in men's honour, and walking upright before God.
Then come the dramatic completeness and suddenness of his great
trials. One day strips him of all, and stripped of all he rises to a
loftier dignity, for there is a majesty as well as an isolation in his
sorrow.
How many spirits tossed by afflictions have found peace in these
words! How many quivering lips have tried to utter their grave, calm
accents! To how many of us are they hallowed by memories of times when
they stood between us and despair!
They seem to me to say everything that can be said about our trials
and losses, to set forth the whole truth of the facts, and to present
the whole series of feelings with which good men may and should be
exercised.