JOB 8:1-11:20
1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-28
PSALM 38:1-22
PROVERBS 21:28-29
Job 9:33 If only there were someone to mediate between us,
someone to bring us together,
34 someone to remove God’s rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.
35 Then I would speak up without fear of him,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.
When I read this I thought of Jesus and how fortunate we are to have someone who is a mediator between us and the Father. How he takes away the rod of judgement for our sins.
Job 10:1 “I loathe my very life;
therefore I will give free rein to my complaint
and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.
Job is always a convicting book for me to read. I see all that Job has been through and I can understand why he cries out the way he does. But it also convicts me when I read what his friends say to him. What they are saying sounds like good advice even wise council but we know that it is not the truth because we know the behind-the-scenes story. I am convicted that sometimes I need to just listen. Not try to give some kind of advise or share some wise biblical truth with someone who is suffering. I am grateful for our mediator and intercessor Jesus because when I am in those situations I will often cry out for discernment. Sometimes I ask for the right words and something comes to mind quickly. Other times I am crying out over and over again "What do I say? What do I say?" And I get nothing, so I just listen. It has taken many years for me to get to the point that I pray first in those situations, and I can tell you that I don't remember it every time. But the times that I do I trust that the Lord will guide me. Job felt he could not speak up without fear of God and wanted a mediator. Perhaps it would have been better if his friends listened and prayed for him instead of giving advice.
Psalm 38:5 My wounds fester and are loathsome
because of my sinful folly.
6 I am bowed down and brought very low;
all day long I go about mourning.
7 My back is filled with searing pain;
there is no health in my body.
8 I am feeble and utterly crushed;
I groan in anguish of heart.
David cries out to God as Job did. This sounds so much like what Job could say as well but Job knew that he did not sin. That is even more reason to have sympathy for Job. But like Job even in his suffering David knows who God is and trusts Him.
Proverbs 21:28 A false witness will perish,
but a careful listener will testify successfully.
29 The wicked put up a bold front,
but the upright give thought to their ways.
I love how all the books of poetry in today's reading go so well together. Job's friends were like false witnesses to him. It would have been better if they had been careful listeners not just to Job but to seek God and listen to him for how to respond to Job. Job and David both were upright in God's eyes and gave thought to their ways. I guess that is why Job's story and the writings of David are in the bible.
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