Holding on and growing stronger.
This is a cheering thought breaking out of Job's doleful despair Job is rising from pessimism to hope and confidence. He gives us a double picture—the righteous holding on his way, the man with clean hands growing stronger and stronger.
I. HOLDING ON. We see the righteous man quietly going forward, not turned aside by any obstacle, not cast down by any opposition, nor rushing madly forward, but not hanging back in fear, weariness, or indolence—like Goethe's star, "unhasting and unresting."
1. Pursuing a continuous coarse. The righteous man has a way, and it is to this that he holds on. We must have a purpose if our life is not to be broken and become a failure.
2. Keeping to the course. The idea is that of holding on to the one right course. Here is persistency and perseverance. The way being right must not be forsaken on account of any difficulties.
3. Overcoming opposition. There may be no brilliant victory. But the righteous man succeeds in holding on his way. That is enough. That secures his success. The constantly flowing stream cuts through the granite cliff and scoops a huge valley out of the mountain-side. Patient perseverance wins in the end.
4. Walking in a right character. It is the righteous man of whom Job makes the glad assertion. The bad man may hold on for a time, when he does not meet with serious opposition; but he is not upheld by principle, and he is doomed to a final overthrow; for though his mad is broad and popular, it leads to destruction. Only a true moral and spiritual character has strength to hold on continuously when severely tried; only this character will be blessed by being allowed by God to go on to victory. Time is the great test of character. Weak and unworthy people may do brilliant things, and achieve temporary triumphs. It is the character of true worth that is" faithful unto death," and that holds on to the end. Many vessels that leave the port make shipwreck on their course; only those that are sound and well steered reach their desired haven.
II. GROWING STRONGER. The second thought is more emphatic. The progress is of the best kind.
1. With increase. The Christian course is more than a race; it is an ascent; it is a growth. God's servant is not set to a treadmill. His walk is not a weary round. There is no monotony in the true Christian life. As he endures, so he is enlarged and enriched.
2. In strength. This is the special kind of increase to which Job refers. No doubt he was already beginning to feel it. He had lost wealth, but he had gained strength. Already the blows of adversity had begun to weld together tough fibres in his soul. He was stronger now than when all men bowed to him as the most powerful emir of the East. Here is the fruit of the victory won by overcoming opposition. Battle strengthens the hero. Climbing the "Hill Difficulty" develops the Pilgrim's muscles. Now, God looks for energy in his servants. It is not enough that he shelters them in trouble. He gives them strength with which to hear it. "To them that have no might he increaseth strength" (Isaiah 40:29).
3. On condition of purity. The strength is for the man with clean hands. Sin enervates. Innocence is strong. The sinner may recover strength when his sin is forgiven and his heart purged. Therefore our business is to resist sin and cultivate purity of life; then God will give ever-increasing strength.—W.F.A.