Bible Commentaries

The Assaults of Satan

Job 2:13

There are silent friends.—We must not suppose that all our friends are human.—Oftentimes the greatest friend a man can have in sorrow is silent yet ever-eloquent Nature.—The mountain can do more for some men than can be done by the most elaborate controversy. God himself called upon Jacob to look up and behold the host of heaven, and draw lessons from that great army of stars.—The Psalmist also was accustomed to turn his eyes in the same direction that he might learn great life-lessons and be soothed and comforted by the quietness of Nature.—But these were men who came to Job , and they showed their wisdom by their silence.—What can words do in the supreme agony of life?—Do not let a man suppose that he is useless because he cannot talk largely and fluently.—Men may imagine that if they could go forth well-armed with arguments and gifted with high eloquence they would soothe and bless the world. Nothing of the kind.—Never forget the potency of silence, the magic of wordless sympathy.—There is a touch of the hand that conveys impressions to the mind which no words could convey. There are also deeds so subtle and delicate and far-reaching in their meaning that they comfort the heart without disturbing the ear or calling for any audible reply. It is a blessed experience to be forced to silence.—Silent prayer is sometimes the most effectual of all.—So long as we can express ourselves fluently in words our fluency may but represent the shallowness of our feeling.—Only those should speak who know what to say.—The best-meant word, if uttered in a wrong tone, may exasperate the sorrow it was intended to soothe.—How good are right words! How pleasant and useful is divinely-inspired speech!—Sometimes a man is encouraged by seeing his friends overwhelmed by the grief which he bears: it touches his own sense of heroism; he feels that he has to exemplify certain virtues and graces which are supposed to characterise religious life.—Yet there is a time to speak.—If we cannot speak directly to the grief we would comfort, we may speak generally, and so include the one specific object with the necessities of the whole world.—Men may not like to be addressed directly and personally, yet they may not object to listen to a general appeal which includes their own particular case.—When grief silences men, oppression should never take away their speech, nor should wrong-doing of any kind.—We are never to sit down beside the sin of the world silently because we see that the sin is very great; the greatness of the sin should stir us into protest, denunciation, and then to gospel-preaching.—The majesty of God should be treated with silent reverence, yet there must be breaks in that silence, for we cannot withhold the hymn of praise, the ascription of adoration, and the declaration of filial trust and faithfulness.—"The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him,"—there is a period when silence is the best worship, but there is also a period when speech is an imperative duty.—What self-humiliation a man must experience who has allowed an opportunity to pass away without denouncing wrong, protesting against evil, and making declaration of the right under trying circumstances.—In addressing grief, we can never be wrong in adopting spiritual language.—Always have recourse to the holy Book for words of sympathy and condolence; they are venerable, they are lofty, they are full of reverence and tenderness, and they have been well tested in many generations.—We should at least begin with the language which we find in the Bible; if by-and-by we care to add a word of our own, or enlarge the meaning of the divine word, so be it; but every human heart responds in the hour of its agony to the solemn eloquence of Holy Writ.—The Bible was written for men who are in grief; it approaches the soul without intruding upon us; it is eloquent without being noisy; it is majestic without being overpowering.—In the darkest hours of our life the Bible is the best witness to its own inspiration.