Category: Job

Job 32:6 “So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said: “I am young in years, and you are old; that is why I was fearful, not daring to tell you what I know.”

What a scene: we are at the ash-heap at the edge of town. Job, who has lost everything, including his health, is reduced to scraping pus with pot shards, sitting in the ashes. His friends are livid because they know he must have unrepented sins that are causing his misery. To them the answer is simple: repent, turn back to God, and God will turn His face towards you again.

Job 32:7 “I thought, ‘Age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom.’”

But Job won’t play their game. He is steadfast in his story that there is no hidden sin in his life and if God would only listen, he would plead his case. And now Elihu joins the fray—a young upstart who thinks he knows everything, though we have no idea what he knows because “it takes him twenty-four verses to say, ‘Look out! I’m going to speak!’” (according to commentary).

Job 32:8 “But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.”

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for the wisdom that I have no idea what I don’t know, what I don’t understand. Help me to live a life of compassion, Lord. When others are hurting, help me to be a source of comfort and hope and not a source of self-righteousness and empty words. Draw me closer to You. Help me to shine Your light. Always. Amen.

Job 32:9 “It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right.”

Have a blessed day.

Job 30:15 “Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud.”

Job continues to be hard for me because it takes me back to 2017 and all the loss and emotional turmoil of that time. I remember, vividly, questioning God, railing against God, so angry, so sad, so at loose ends because the blows just kept coming. I remember wondering where God was in the middle of it all, why He seemed so silent when I needed Him so desperately.

Job 30:16 “And now my life ebbs away; days of suffering grip me.”

I had absolutely come to the end of myself, to the end of my understanding of God, Whom I thought I knew. I was at a terribly frightening crossroads where I had to decide if I believed in the sovereign, loving God that I professed to believe in. If so, then that meant that even in this horrible time with blow after blow, loss after loss, even when He seemed utterly silent, entirely absent, even when I could not feel His presence at all, if He is who He says He is, that means He is still with me, still loves me, is still working all things for my good and His glory, even then. 

Job 30:20 “I cry out to You, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.”

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. The hardest thing I have ever done is come to the end of myself and the end of my understanding of You and to keep moving forward on blind faith and trust that You are who You say You are. Thank You for the understanding that I do not know You fully, will never know You fully on this side of the veil, but that every step I take in faith, every time I seek Your face, You will reveal a little more of who You are, draw me just a bit closer. Thank You for always walking with me, even when I can’t feel Your presence. Thank You for the faith that You are there. Amen.

Job 30:31 “My lyre is tuned to mourning, and my pipe to the sound of wailing.”

Have a blessed day.

Job 29:1-2 Job continued his discourse: “How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me….”

I get the feeling in this chapter that Job is lamenting most of all the loss of his closeness with God. He used to feel God’s presence keenly in his life. Now it feels like God is silent, distant. Job laments all that he’s lost in this season, but this chapter focuses on that lost connection, which Job feels deeply.

Job 29:3 “…when His lamp shone on my head and by His light I walked through darkness!”

Verse 4 mentions “God’s intimate friendship.” I love that phrase. I truly feel like God wants an intimate connection with each of us. He doesn’t just want to be the lifeline when we are falling apart. He doesn’t just want to celebrate with us when times are good. We are His beloved children. His love for us is fierce and deep. He wants a close connection, the kind where words aren’t even needed, the kind where just being present with each other is enough. I want that, too.

Job 29:4-5 “Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house, when the Almighty was still with me….”

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for Your fierce love and Your desire for an intimate friendship with each of Your children. Help us to connect with You on that level, Lord—not just when times are tough, not just when times are good, but. All. The. Time. Draw us closer. Amen.

Job 29:6 “…when my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.”

Have a blessed day.

Job 28:11 But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell?

According to commentary, there is much disagreement about this chapter and whether it is really Job or perhaps the storyteller inserting himself into the story. Personally, I could totally see this as Job. He has railed against God and argued with his “friends” for chapter upon chapter. His life is still in shambles. Nothing makes sense. I could see a more subdued reflection here.

Job 28:14 The deep says, “It’s not in me”; the sea says, “It is not with me.”

I could see an emotionally exhausted Job (and anger can definitely exhaust a person) contemplating the nature of wisdom. It can be hard to find (Job’s friends proved that). It can be expensive (Job’s losses prove that). It can be elusive (Job’s continued mental struggle shows that). Job has maintained throughout that God could help him make sense of this senselessness. This chapter seems to support that.

Job 28:15 It cannot be bought for the finest gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. We don’t know what we don’t know. Forgive us. We rail against You and others in an attempt to makes sense of the senseless. Forgive us. May we follow Job’s example of clinging to You—Your truth, Your wisdom, Your sovereignty—no matter what. May we face the trials of life with a grace that can only come from You. Draw us closer. Amen.

Job 28:23 God understands the way to it and He alone knows where it dwells….

Have a blessed day.

Job 27:1-2 And Job continued his discourse: “As surely as God loves, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made my life bitter….”

After twenty seven chapters, Job still knows his own heart. He will not admit to something he has not done. The “friends” (who seem more like antagonists at this point because of their insistence that he must have some secret, unconfessed sin to bring all this on him) will not convince him otherwise.

Job 27:3-4 “…as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not say anything wicked and my tongue will not utter lies.”

At this point, I really admire Job’s confidence in his own mind and heart. If I put myself in his shoes, sitting in ashes, scraping sores off my skin, my “friends” are hounding me, insisting that all that I’ve lost is because of unconfessed sin that, if I would confess and repent, God would turn His face toward me again, I seriously think I might have convinced myself by now that they must be right. What other explanation could there be? But not Job. He knows his heart. He knows his mind. He doesn’t know why he’s suffering, but he knows God understands and he knows he needs to draw closer to God.

Job 27:5 “I will never admit you are right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity.”

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for this chapter and for the book of Job. Help me not to be swayed by the voices of this world. Help me to know my own heart. Help me to seek, to trust, and to listen to only You. Draw me closer. Amen.

Job 27:6 “I will maintain my innocence and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.”

Have a blessed day.

Job 26:1-3 Then Job replied: “How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the arm that is feeble! What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great insight you have displayed!”

Job, clearly, has had enough. The beginning of this chapter, ostensibly a response to Bildad, is dripping with sarcasm and seems squarely aimed at all three “friends” and their “wisdom.” They aren’t helpful. At. All. He’s through with them and their rubbish advice.

Job 26:13 “By His breath the skies became fair; His hand pierced the gliding serpent.”

In this same passage, Job continues to exalt God, His sovereignty and  majesty. God is able to see all, know all, contain all, even things we can’t wrap our heads around. Verse 14 seems to reinforce that ultimate hope in God’s goodness and sovereignty in Job’s life that we have seen throughout. Job seems to be saying, “The things that we know of God show that He is the ruler of the universe, and these things are but the ‘outer fringes of His works.’” The implication is that God is still sovereign in Job’s life, too. Even now.

Job 26:14a “And these are but the outer fringe of His works; how faint the whisper we hear of Him!”

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for the example of Job’s faith in You and his honesty with You in his suffering. Thank You for the reminder that You are in control, even when everything seems to be spinning out of control. Help me to cling to You always. Grant me Your hope and peace. Amen.

Job 26:14b “…Who then can understand the thunder of His power?”

Have a blessed day.

Job 25:1-2 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied: “Dominion and awe belong to God; He establishes order in the heights of heaven.”

These six verses are the sum total of Job 25, Bildad’s last speech and the last time we hear from the three “friends.” One commentator calls it a “disgusting and hopeless note” on which to end the friends’ dialogue. Ending with comparisons like maggot and worm to humans, it certainly doesn’t qualify as cheerful. And I’m left wondering why.

Job 25:3 “Can His forces be numbered? On whom does His light not rise?”

Why is this argument still going on between Job and his friends? Why is Job still wallowing in his misery, railing at God over the unfairness? Truthfully, why hasn’t God, the ultimate parent, just jerked a knot in everyone and put a stop to the whole sorry affair? Perhaps it is because there are things beyond our comprehension to understand? Perhaps we have to get to the end of ourselves, our arguments and excuses, before we can clearly hear our Maker’s voice?

Job 25:4 “How then can a mortal be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure?”

Lord, I don’t understand. And when I don’t understand, I tend to wallow and rail, overthink, over analyze, over share. I want life to make sense, so I try to shove it in neat little boxes of understanding. Forgive me, Lord. Help me to lean into You and to trust You. Always. Help me to accept that there are things I will never understand on this side of the veil, and that’s ok because You are sovereign. Draw me closer. Amen.

Job 25:5-6 “If even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in His eyes, how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—a human being, who is only a worm!”

Have a blessed day.

Job 24:1 “Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know Him look in vain for such days?”

Lord, I am weary of Job’s questioning. It seems to border on disrespect. But I also see Job’s faith in You, even as he struggles with the fact that he doesn’t understand Your ways. He knows that You are ultimately just, but he’s struggling with immediate justice verses eternal justice, with Your ultimate goals as Lord of creation, with the way he thinks justice and life should work verses the way they do.

Job 24:12 “The groans of the dying rise up from the city, and the souls of the wounded cry out for help. But God charges no one with wrongdoing.”

Lord, I know that I have these same struggles in my own life. Things that feel horribly unfair, people who seem to get away with behavior that I think they shouldn’t, justice that isn’t meted out according to my measure. Forgive me.

Job 24:24 “For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.”

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Forgive me when my earthly judgement angers me even though I can’t see Your eternal plans. Forgive me when my emotions cause me to rail unfairly at You. Help me, always, to cling to the hope that can only come from You. Draw me closer. Amen.

Job 24:25 “If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?”

Have a blessed day.

Job 23:3 “If only I knew where to find Him; if only I could go to His dwelling.”

Psalm 139 came strongly to mind as I read this chapter—not because they are so similar, but because they are so diametrically opposed. In Psalm 139, God is ever-present. There is no hiding from Him. In Job 23, Job says he has search everywhere seeking God’s face and can’t find Him.

Job 23:8 “But if I go to the East, He is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find Him.”

Job feels a great distance between himself and God. He wants to be in God’s presence. He wants to state his case, to understand the why of what is happening to him. And here is the bit I’m clinging to—even though Job feels the distance, even though he knows that what he’s enduring is not because of some hidden sin, even though he is seeking God’s presence and can’t seem to find it, verse 17 shows that he has not lost hope—hope in God’s presence, hope in God’s sovereignty and love, hope in his own upright walk with God. Even though he has every right (based on the chaos in his life) to turn his back and walk away, he continues to hold fast to God. He does not let the darkness engulf him.

Job 23:16 “God had made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me.”

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for the light and hope I can discern in the book of Job during this study. Help me, like Job, to keep seeking You, keep searching for You, keep hoping in You, no matter my present circumstances. Draw me closer. Amen.

Job 23:17 “Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.”

Have a blessed day.