June 8

1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.

2 And the LORD said unto Satan, I from whence comes thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Has thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him to the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and eighteenth evil? and and he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea all that a man hath will be give for his life.

5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand, but save his life.

7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.

9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.

10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

There are bitter mercies and sweet mercies; some mercies God gives in wine, some in wormwood.

"Ah! what are we that we should set ourselves against any dealing that it may please our blessed Father to visit upon us? Suppose our expectations are all unrealized; suppose our life does seem well nigh to be obliterated like the track of a caravan on the desert; suppose our cherished hopes are all crumbled and shriveled, like paper in the flame, and destroyed—what then? Has God taken from you those whom you love? Has He taken the lamp out of your house? Has He taken the delight out of your days? Has He taken the satisfaction out of your years? What then? Are you too good to suffer? Have you a warrant which would clear you from the experience which has belonged to all men that have lived since the first birth on earth, and which will belong to all men that will live hereafter? Christ was a man of sorrows, and was continually acquainted with grief. He was the great Sufferer; and can you stand and look upon Him, and say: 'I do not deserve to suffer; I ought not thus to be grieved and disappointed?'—H. W. Beecher.

Closet Promise.—Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.—Heb. xii. 6.

"Greatest proof of love is this, that I press near the inmost heart of Him I love, and am permitted with Him to bear some of His own heart's sorrow. I can be called by His name when I drink the cup with Him, and sorrow for sin with Him.

"Bitter is it? Yes, bitter; yet not so bitter as to be denied His presence. Sweet is pain itself when it knits into closer sympathy my Love and me! Oh, the unfolding, the uniting, the ennobling, the transforming power of love! Eternity will discover nothing better than this. God the Father, when He searched for His best gift to offer to His children, gave them Love."