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.