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Job is assured by faith that God will ultimately vindicate his innocence; but meanwhile his horrible disease is eating into his very life, so that he fears he may not live to see the end when all shall be made clear. Therefore he prays for a pledge of the future liberation from calumny and vindication of his character. In other experiences we crave a pledge of the fulfilment of our most choice hopes. Let us consider what pledges God offers to us, and their significance.

I. OBSERVE THE MANY KINDS OF PLEDGE WHICH GOD GIVES TO US.

1. In nature. Nature is full of promise. She is eloquent with prophecy. Her parabolic significance points to the spiritual and the eternal. The messages of God's goodness in spring flowers and autumn fruits are real pledges from the hand of God, earnests of his greater goodness.

2. In instinct. God has implanted in our breasts ineradicable desires - thirst for truth, hunger for love, yearning for holiness. The very existence of these instincts are pledges of the satisfaction of them, for God would not mock his children and torment them with delusive hopes. We may all have some delusive hopes, indeed; but not by nature as original instincts.

3. In revelation. God reveals himself in nature and in instinct, but more explicitly in the utterances of inspired human teachers. The Bible is a Divine pledge. Its self-evidencing inspiration confirms his truthfulness. God will not, cannot lie. Therefore the promises of Scripture, and even its precepts, carry with them pledges of the future when what is then portrayed will be seen in experience.

4. In Christ. He is the great Pledge from God. By giving us his Son God has confirmed his Word. He has not only fulfilled Messianic prophecy; he has given-a token of his changeless purpose of love, and an earnest of his future redemption of the race. Christ is the one greatest Pledge from God.

II. CONSIDER THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DIVINE PLEDGE.

1. To reveal truth

(1) A pledge of pardon. Christ is to us a sign that God is willing to forgive sin and to welcome his penitent children. We are not left to vague surmises; we have a definite assurance in the mission and work of Christ.

(2) A pledge of love. The root from which the pardon comes is love. Christ is the Proof that God loves us.

(3) A pledge of character. The new Christian life is first seen in the Person of Christ. He lived it, and his experience is the pledge of what it will be when it is perfectly followed by his disciples.

(4) A pledge of hope. Nature, instinct, and revelation point vaguely to the immortality of which Christ is the sure Pledge. He is the Firstfruits of the resurrection, the Pledge of eternal life to. his people.

2. To confirm faith. Job longed for a pledge from God. We have received pledges, and one of them of highest worth. The supply of what Job desired should have a great effect upon us. We are unreasonable if we disregard the pledge of God, and turn aside from it to plunge into despairing scepticism. Like Moses, we can see the promised land. We have a better assurance than Gideon's fleece, in Christ and his resurrection Therefore our attitude should be one of calm, unflinching faith. It must be only o! faith, however; for we have not the inheritance as yet, but only a pledge of it. Still God's pledge is an absolutely safe security. - W.F.A.

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KJV: Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?

WEB: "Now give a pledge, be collateral for me with yourself. Who is there who will strike hands with me?