Suffering does not always follow sin in this life, and blessing does not always follow piety. Regardless of the circumstances, we know that God does right and will do right.

The friends affirm that bad things happen to bad people. Bad things have happened to Job, therefore Job is a bad person—or so they say. But Job maintains his innocence before God and knows that God is his only hope of vindication.

Job knows God exercises His sovereignly over all creation in ways that are not easily explained by human wisdom. But he pleads with God for the opportunity to present his case for vindication, since it appears God has turned His face away from him. Life is short, but God is able to raise the dead to live before Him.

God does not pervert justice, but Job rejects the idea that he could adequately answer God for the injustice he feels. Though Job recognizes God's power in creation, he wonders why it appears his Creator no longer cares for him.

Job knows he has spoken rashly but he speaks out of his suffering. He regards his friends as treacherous comforters and asks God to end his brief, painful life. But Job's desire to be crushed by God foreshadows the Lord Christ who was crushed for our iniquities so we could be forgiven.

God created male and female in His image, but some are confused about or even rebel against this reality. He has given us the message and method to help one another appreciate His design and submit to His decrees regarding human sexuality.

Job's friends thought that suffering follows sin—Job was suffering, therefore Job had sinned. Satan's accusation against God was that piety follows blessing—that Job only worshiped God because of the material blessings. But God is good, right, and just in all things and He is worthy of worship in Himself.

After the calamities fell upon him, Job endured in great pain. His friends sought to comfort him, but he expresses the anguish of his soul and his desire for death to end his suffering.

We may not claim to know better than God, therefore we should, like Job, trust the Lord to give and take for His good purposes.

Job had blessed God after the loss of his children and worldly possessions, but Satan alleges that striking his body would surely result in him cursing God. His life must be spared, but his response will show how his knowledge and fear of God will carry him through the pain.