81 And Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, 2 How long wilt thou speak these things? and the words of thy mouth be a strong wind? 3 Doth God pervert judgment, and the Almighty pervert justice? 4 If thy children have sinned against him, he hath also given them over into the hand of their transgression. 5 If thou seek earnestly unto God, and make thy supplication to the Almighty, 6 If thou be pure and upright, surely now he will awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous; 7 And though thy beginning was small, yet thine end shall be very great.
8 For inquire, I pray thee, of the former generation, and attend to the researches of their fathers; 9 For we are [but] of yesterday, and know nothing, for our days upon earth are a shadow. 10 Shall not they teach thee, [and] tell thee, and utter words out of their heart? 11 Doth the papyrus shoot up without mire? doth the reed-grass grow without water? 12 Whilst it is yet in its greenness [and] not cut down, it withereth before any [other] grass. 13 So are the paths of all that forget God; and the profane man's hope shall perish, 14 Whose confidence shall be cut off, and his reliance is a spider's web. 15 He shall lean upon his house, and it shall not stand; he shall lay hold on it, but it shall not endure. 16 He is full of sap before the sun, and his sprout shooteth forth over his garden; 17 His roots are entwined about the stoneheap; he seeth the place of stones. 18 If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him: I have not seen thee! 19 Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the dust shall others grow.
20 Behold, God will not cast off a perfect man, neither will he take evil-doers by the hand. 21 Whilst he would fill thy mouth with laughing and thy lips with shouting, 22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked be no more.
91 And Job answered and said, 2 Of a truth I know it is so; but how can man be just with God? 3 If he shall choose to strive with him, he cannot answer him one thing of a thousand. 4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and had peace? 5 Who removeth mountains, and they know it not, when he overturneth them in his anger; 6 Who shaketh the earth out of its place, and the pillars thereof tremble; 7 Who commandeth the sun, and it riseth not, and he sealeth up the stars; 8 Who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the high waves of the sea; 9 Who maketh the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south; 10 Who doeth great things past finding out, and wonders without number. 11 Lo, he goeth by me, and I see [him] not; and he passeth along, and I perceive him not. 12 Behold, he taketh away: who will hinder him? Who will say unto him, What doest thou? 13 +God withdraweth not his anger; the proud helpers stoop under him:
14 How much less shall I answer him, choose out my words [to strive] with him? 15 Whom, though I were righteous, [yet] would I not answer; I would make supplication to my judge. 16 If I had called, and he had answered me, I would not believe that he hearkened to my voice,— 17 He, who crusheth me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause. 18 He suffereth me not to take my breath, for he filleth me with bitternesses. 19 Be it a question of strength, lo, [he is] strong; and be it of judgment, who will set me a time? 20 If I justified myself, mine own mouth would condemn me; were I perfect, he would prove me perverse. 21 Were I perfect, [yet] would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.
22 It is all one; therefore I said, he destroyeth the perfect and the wicked. 23 If the scourge kill suddenly, he mocketh at the trial of the innocent. 24 The earth is given over into the hand of the wicked [man]; he covereth the faces of its judges. If not, who then is it?
25 And my days are swifter than a runner: they flee away, they see no good. 26 They pass by like skiffs of reed; as an eagle that swoops upon the prey. 27 If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my [sad] countenance, and brighten up, 28 I am afraid of all my sorrows; I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent. 29 Be it that I am wicked, why then do I labour in vain? 30 If I washed myself with snow-water, and cleansed my hands in purity, 31 Then wouldest thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes would abhor me. 32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him; that we should come together in judgment. 33 There is not an umpire between us, who should lay his hand upon us both. 34 Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his terror make me afraid, 35 [Then] I will speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.
101 My soul is weary of my life: I will give free course to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2 I will say unto +God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou strivest with me. 3 Doth it please thee to oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thy hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked? 4 Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth? 5 Are thy days as the days of a mortal? are thy years as a man's days, 6 That thou searchest after mine iniquity, and inquirest into my sin; 7 Since thou knowest that I am not wicked, and that there is none that delivereth out of thy hand?
8 Thy hands have bound me together and made me as one, round about; yet dost thou swallow me up! 9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as clay, and wilt bring me into dust again. 10 Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? 11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews; 12 Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy care hath preserved my spirit; 13 And these things didst thou hide in thy heart; I know that this was with thee.
14 If I sinned, thou wouldest mark me, and thou wouldest not acquit me of mine iniquity. 15 If I were wicked, woe unto me! and righteous, I will not lift up my head, being [so] full of shame, and beholding mine affliction;— 16 And it increaseth: thou huntest me as a fierce lion; and ever again thou shewest thy marvellous power upon me. 17 Thou renewest thy witnesses before me and increasest thy displeasure against me; successions [of evil] and a time of toil are with me. 18 And wherefore didst thou bring me forth out of the womb? I had expired, and no eye had seen me. 19 I should be as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. 20 Are not my days few? cease then and let me alone, that I may revive a little, 21 Before I go, and never to return,—to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; 22 A land of gloom, as darkness itself; of the shadow of death, without any order, where the light is as thick darkness.
26 But [the] angel of [the] Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Rise up and go southward on the way which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza: the same is desert. 27 And he rose up and went. And lo, an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a man in power under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to worship at Jerusalem, 28 was returning and sitting in his chariot: and he was reading the prophet Esaias. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, Approach and join this chariot. 30 And Philip, running up, heard him reading the prophet Esaias, and said, Dost thou then know what thou art reading of? 31 And he said, How should I then be able unless some one guide me? And he begged Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 And the passage of the scripture which he read was this: He was led as a sheep to slaughter, and as a lamb is dumb in presence of him that shears him, thus he opens not his mouth. 33 In his humiliation his judgment has been taken away, and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. 34 And the eunuch answering Philip said, I pray thee, concerning whom does the prophet say this? of himself or of some other? 35 And Philip, opening his mouth and beginning from that scripture, announced the glad tidings of Jesus to him. 36 And as they went along the way, they came upon a certain water, and the eunuch says, Behold water; what hinders my being baptised? 37 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop. And they went down both to the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptised him. 39 But when they came up out of the water [the] Spirit of [the] Lord caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no longer, for he went on his way rejoicing. 40 And Philip was found at Azotus, and passing through he announced the glad tidings to all the cities till he came to Caesarea.
(Read Acts 8:26-40)
Philip was directed to go to a desert. Sometimes God opens a door of opportunity to his ministers in very unlikely places. We should study to do good to those we come into company with by travelling. We should not be so shy of all strangers as some affect to be. As to those of whom we know nothing else, we know this, that they have souls. It is wisdom for men of business to redeem time for holy duties; to fill up every minute with something which will turn to a good account. In reading the word of God, we should often pause, to inquire of whom and of what the sacred writers spake; but especially our thoughts should be employed about the Redeemer. The Ethiopian was convinced by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, of the exact fulfilment of the Scripture, was made to understand the nature of the Messiah's kingdom and salvation, and desired to be numbered among the disciples of Christ. Those who seek the truth, and employ their time in searching the Scriptures, will be sure to reap advantages. The avowal of the Ethiopian must be understood as expressing simple reliance on Christ for salvation, and unreserved devotion to Him. Let us not be satisfied till we get faith, as the Ethiopian did, by diligent study of the Holy Scriptures, and the teaching of the Spirit of God; let us not be satisfied till we get it fixed as a principle in our hearts. As soon as he was baptized, the Spirit of God took Philip from him, so that he saw him no more; but this tended to confirm his faith. When the inquirer after salvation becomes acquainted with Jesus and his gospel, he will go on his way rejoicing, and will fill up his station in society, and discharge his duties, from other motives, and in another manner than heretofore. Though baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, with water, it is not enough without the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Lord, grant this to every one of us; then shall we go on our way rejoicing.
