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GOD
THE
BEST
FRIEND
IN
TROUEZ
E:
573.
der
the Old
Testament
spiritual
promises
were.
ex
pressed.
in
earthly metaphors
;
so,
frequently
God
bestowed earthly:
blessings,
together
with
spiritual
ones
;
and, both
in
the
literal and
mystical sense,
promises
were
often-.accom-
plished, and
temporal
blessings
were often
pledges
of
eternal
ones. And with
regard
to
this
says
Job, "
Do
not
thou
condemn
me
;
Do
not
only
pardon the guilt.
which
thine
eye
beholds
in
me,
but
deliver
me
from
present
troubles, and thereby free me
from
theunjust
charges
of
men
;
that
though
my
friends
accuse
me.of
hypocrisy because thou
afflictest me,
yet let
my
innocency
appear
from,
the
haud of
God,
by
finishing
.my
sorrows
and
restoring
me
again
to peace."
This
may
be
the
prayer of Job, that
God's removing
his afflictions
from
him
might
be
a
good
ground, both
to
vindicate
his
up-
rightness
before
men,
'and
to
hope
that
God
would
never
condemn
him
in
this,
nor
in
the other
world.
But
in
this time
of
the
New
Testament,
I
shall insist
only
on
the
first
thing implied,
"
Do not condemn
me,
mark not
iniquity, let
me
have
thy
pardoning
mercy,
and
then
I
.shall
be
glad to
know
why
thou contendest
with
me.
From the
first
part of
these words
I
will
raise several
doctrines,
and
as
I
go
along
endeavour
to
apply
them to
our
use.
If
we
compare. this verse
with
the
preceding,
we
find
he
would
speak
in
the bitterness
of
his soul,
and the first
thing
he will say
to
God
is,
"
Do not
condemn
me
;"
whence
thé
first
doctrine
may be
inferred,
wiz.
.
Doc 'raI
N
E
I.
When the soul
is
f
ïcll
of
bitterness and
wants
vent.
or
it
sorrows. God
is
the
fittest friend
to
break
them
to.."
In
the
bitterness
of
my
soul
I
would
speak.".
Perhaps
should
bur
full
sorrows
find
a vent
before
men,
we
might
be
apt
to run into
violent speeches to
our
friends,
but
if
we
speak
to
God
.himself
there must
be
a
greater
awe
upon
our
spirits;
besi4les
God
alone can
remove our
.afflictions,
and quiet
the
spirit under
them.
It
is
God
alone
can
speak peace
by
taking away the occa-
sion
of
trouble,
or
giving a calm spirit.
Let
this then
be
our.
practice. Learn
by
this
exam-
ple,-
whatever
troubles
we
are under,
to make
our
first
1