In The Word
Read: Job 30-31
Job’s Present State Is Humiliating
30 “But now those who are younger than I mock me,
Whose fathers I refused to put with the dogs of my flock.
2 Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me?
Vigor had perished from them.
3 From poverty and famine they are gaunt,
They who gnaw at the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,
4 Who pluck saltweed by the bushes,
And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.
5 They are driven from the community;
They shout against them as against a thief,
6 So that they live on the slopes of ravines,
In holes in the ground and among the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they cry out;
Under the weeds they are gathered together.
8 Worthless fellows, even those without a name,
They were cast out from the land.
9 “And now I have become their taunt,
And I have become a byword to them.
10 They loathe me and stand aloof from me,
And they do not refrain from spitting in my face.
11 Because He has undone my bowstring and afflicted me,
They have cast off the bridle before me.
12 On the right hand their mob arises;
They push aside my feet and pile up their ways of destruction against me.
13 They break up my path,
They promote my destruction;
No one restrains them.
14 As through a wide gap they come,
Amid the storm they roll on.
15 Sudden terrors are turned upon me;
They chase away my dignity like the wind,
And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.
16 “And now my soul is poured out within me;
Days of misery have seized me.
17 At night it pierces my bones within me,
And my gnawing pains do not rest.
18 By a great force my garment is distorted;
It ties me up like the collar of my coat.
19 He has thrown me into the mire,
And I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.
21 You have become cruel to me;
With the strength of Your hand You persecute me.
22 You lift me up to the wind and make me ride it;
And You dissolve me in a storm.
23 For I know that You will bring me to death,
And to the house of meeting for all living.
24 “Yet does one in a heap of ruins not reach out with his hand,
Or in his disaster does he not cry out for help?
25 Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard?
Was my soul not grieved for the needy?
26 When I expected good, evil came;
When I waited for light, darkness came.
27 I am seething within and cannot rest;
Days of misery confront me.
28 I go about mourning without comfort;
I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.
29 I have become a brother to jackals,
And a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin turns black on me,
And my bones burn with fever.
31 Therefore my harp is turned to mourning,
And my flute to the sound of those who weep.
Job Asserts His Integrity
31 “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
How then could I look at a virgin?
2 And what is the portion of God from above,
Or the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3 Is it not disaster to the criminal,
And misfortune to those who practice injustice?
4 Does He not see my ways,
And count all my steps?
5 “If I have walked with deception,
And my foot has hurried after deceit,
6 Let Him weigh me with accurate scales,
And let God know my integrity.
7 If my step has turned from the way,
Or my heart followed my eyes,
Or if any spot has stuck to my hands,
8 Let me sow and another eat,
And let my crops be uprooted.
9 “If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
Or I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway,
10 May my wife grind grain for another,
And let others kneel down over her.
11 For that would be a lustful crime;
Moreover, it would be wrongdoing punishable by judges.
12 For it would be fire that consumes to Abaddon,
And would uproot all my increase.
13 “If I have rejected the claim of my male or female slaves
When they filed a complaint against me,
14 What then could I do when God arises?
And when He calls me to account, how am I to answer Him?
15 Did He who made me in the womb not make him,
And the same one create us in the womb?
16 “If I have kept the poor from their desire,
Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 Or have eaten my morsel alone,
And the orphan has not shared it
18 (But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,
And from my infancy I guided her),
19 If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
Or that the needy had no covering,
20 If his waist has not thanked me,
And if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
21 If I have lifted up my hand against the orphan,
Because I saw I had support in the gate,
22 May my shoulder fall from its socket,
And my arm be broken off at the elbow.
23 For disaster from God is a terror to me,
And because of His majesty I can do nothing.
24 “If I have put my confidence in gold,
And called fine gold my trust,
25 If I have gloated because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had obtained so much;
26 If I have looked at the sun when it shone,
Or the moon going in splendor,
27 And my heart was secretly enticed,
And my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,
28 That too would have been a guilty deed calling for judgment,
For I would have denied God above.
29 “Have I rejoiced at the misfortune of my enemy,
Or become excited when evil found him?
30 No, I have not allowed my mouth to sin
By asking for his life in a curse.
31 Have the people of my tent not said,
‘Who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat’?
32 The stranger has not spent the night outside,
For I have opened my doors to the traveler.
33 Have I covered my wrongdoings like a man,
By hiding my guilt in my shirt pocket,
34 Because I feared the great multitude
And the contempt of families terrified me,
And I kept silent and did not go out of doors?
35 Oh that I had one to hear me!
Here is my signature;
Let the Almighty answer me!
And the indictment which my adversary has written,
36 I would certainly carry it on my shoulder,
I would tie it to myself like a garland.
37 I would declare to Him the number of my steps;
Like a prince, I would approach Him.
38 “If my land cries out against me,
And its furrows weep together;
39 If I have eaten its fruit without money,
Or have caused its owners to lose their lives,
40 May the thorn-bush grow instead of wheat,
And stinkweed instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
We see in today’s reading the weight of Job’s difficult situation pressing down hard on him. He begins with “But now” as the good memories he states in chapter 29 are tarnished by his present, painful reality. Job goes on in chapter 31 to declare that he does not deserve the difficulties because he was a godly man, and he lists all of the things he could have done wrong, but did not. He even challenges God to speak and prove his statements wrong (31:35-37)!
When we go through difficult times, it can be easy to think of all of the reasons why we do not deserve to have bad things happen to us. We can even question “I have been a good person, so why is this happening to me?”
You may be going through something difficult right now and are questioning why it is happening. It is good to seek God to make sure that you have not done anything to create the difficult situation. Yet, no matter the reason for the difficulty, the incorrect response is to tell God that we do not deserve the situation. And we certainly should not challenge God! Rather, we should declare by faith that we know God is with us in the trial, that God can use the difficult situation to help us grow in Christ, and pray for God’s strength to give us the ability to handle the issue in a Christ-like manner.