Today is the second part of Job’s final defence of his innocence before God.

1 “But now they mock me, those who are younger than I,
whose fathers I disdained too much
to put with my sheep dogs.
2 Moreover, the strength of their hands—
what use was it to me?
Those whose strength had perished,
3 gaunt with want and hunger,
they would roam the parched land,
by night a desolate waste.
4 By the brush they would gather herbs from the salt marshes,
and the root of the broom tree was their food.
5 They were banished from the community—
people shouted at them
as they would shout at thieves—
6 so that they had to live
in the dry stream beds,
in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.
7 They brayed like animals among the bushes
and were huddled together under the nettles.
8 Sons of senseless and nameless people,
they were driven out of the land with whips.

9 “And now I have become their taunt song;
I have become a byword among them.
10 They detest me and maintain their distance;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Because God has untied my tent cord and afflicted me,
people throw off all restraint in my presence.
12 On my right the young rabble rise up;
they drive me from place to place
and build up siege ramps against me.
13 They destroy my path;
they succeed in destroying me
without anyone assisting them.
14 They come in as through a wide breach;
amid the crash they come rolling in.
15 Terrors are turned loose on me;
they drive away my honor like the wind,
and as a cloud my deliverance has passed away.

16 “And now my soul pours itself out within me;
days of suffering take hold of me.
17 Night pierces my bones;
my gnawing pains never cease.
18 With great power God grasps my clothing;
he binds me like the collar of my tunic.
19 He has flung me into the mud,
and I have come to resemble dust and ashes.
20 I cry out to you, but you do not answer me;
I stand up, and you only look at me.
21 You have become cruel to me;
with the strength of your hand you attack me.
22 You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it;
you toss me about in the storm.
23 I know that you are bringing me to death,
to the meeting place for all the living.

24 “Surely one does not stretch out his hand
against a broken man
when he cries for help in his distress.
25 Have I not wept for the unfortunate?
Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came;
when I expected light, then darkness came.
27 My heart is in turmoil unceasingly;
the days of my affliction confront me.
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun;
in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.
29 I have become a brother to jackals
and a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin has turned dark on me;
my body is hot with fever.
31 My harp is used for mourning
and my flute for the sound of weeping.

REFLECTIONS

Job’s descent from yesterday’s passage to today’s is shocking. Yesterday, Job remembered his extraordinary life of honour and blessing. He used to be given the highest place of honour at the city gate, and even the most important elders and nobles would stay silent in his presence (29:7-10). Today, he laments how he has plunged from those heights to the deepest depths of humiliation, rejection, and agony. Now, even the “sons of senseless and nameless people” who have been banished from society won’t have anything to do with him. He has “become their taunt song” and they spit in his face (30:1-10). And Job knows that God is allowing all this.

Job’s descent from glory to humiliation reminded me of the even greater descent of Jesus in Philippians 2:6-8 – from glory in the presence of his Father to taking human form, becoming a slave, and going to the shame and agony of death on a cross.

But the big difference between Job’s descent and that of Jesus is that Jesus chose to take that path from glory to humiliation and agony … for us, to redeem us and bring glory to his Father. He descended, and then was raised to the highest place, so that by clinging to him by faith, we can know that we will be raised from the shame of sin and the agony of death to share in his glory. Remember that with thankfulness today.

Today we will listen as Job starts to speak again – a new speech that will last 3 chapters. But this time, he is not debating with his friends (they won’t speak again in the book). He has been longing for a chance to have his day in court with God – to defend himself against whatever charges God has against him. Now, over these 3 chapters, he will present his formal defence of his innocence to God. He doesn’t know whether God will grant him a hearing, but he will make his statement anyway, and then wait.

1 Then Job continued his speech:
2 “O that I could be as I was
in the months now gone,
in the days when God watched over me,
3 when he caused his lamp
to shine upon my head,
and by his light
I walked through darkness;
4 just as I was in my most productive time,
when God’s intimate friendship was experienced in my tent,
5 when the Almighty was still with me
and my children were around me;
6 when my steps were bathed with butter
and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil!
7 When I went out to the city gate
and secured my seat in the public square,
8 the young men would see me and step aside,
and the old men would get up and remain standing;
9 the chief men refrained from talking
and covered their mouths with their hands;
10 the voices of the nobles fell silent,
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

11 “As soon as the ear heard these things, it blessed me,
and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me;
12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,
and the orphan who had no one to assist him;
13 the blessing of the dying man descended on me,
and I made the widow’s heart rejoice;
14 I put on righteousness and it clothed me;
my just dealing was like a robe and a turban;
15 I was eyes for the blind
and feet for the lame;
16 I was a father to the needy,
and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;
17 I broke the fangs of the wicked,
and made him drop his prey from his teeth.

18 “Then I thought, ‘I will die in my own home,
my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
19 My roots reach the water,
and the dew lies on my branches all night long.
20 My glory will always be fresh in me,
and my bow ever new in my hand.’

21 “People listened to me and waited silently;
they kept silent for my advice.
22 After I had spoken, they did not respond;
my words fell on them drop by drop.
23 They waited for me as people wait for the rain,
and they opened their mouths as for the spring rains.
24 If I smiled at them, they hardly believed it;
and they did not cause the light of my face to darken.
25 I chose the way for them
and sat as their chief;
I lived like a king among his troops;
I was like one who comforts mourners.

REFLECTIONS

Reminiscing about the past can be sweet or painful. It depends what direction your life has taken since the “old days.” In Job’s case, it is as bitter and painful as it can be. His life really was gloriously good and beautifully blessed. But now… well, it has all fallen apart (as we’ll hear tomorrow).

If you can relate to Job’s painful reminiscing, it’s comforting to know that those feelings are normal and understandable. But I was reminded today that it’s also important to guard against allowing that pain to fester as anger – anger against God or against other people. At times, we will all need immense help from God’s Spirit to find healing from bitterness and anger. And that help will come by remembering God’s faithfulness, his love and grace to you in the death of Jesus, and his promise that Jesus will return.

Yesterday, the chaotic debate between Job and his friends came to an end. Today marks a complete change in tone. I understand this as a calm, reflective poem from the narrator. It’s a chance to catch our breath before the next stage in Job’s struggle.

1 “Surely there is a mine for silver
and a place where gold is refined.
2 Iron is taken from the ground,
and rock is poured out as copper.
3 Man puts an end to the darkness;
he searches the farthest recesses
for the ore in the deepest darkness.
4 Far from where people live he sinks a shaft,
in places travelers have long forgotten,
far from other people he dangles and sways.
5 The earth, from which food comes,
is overturned below as though by fire;
6 a place whose stones are sapphires
that contain dust of gold;
7 a hidden path no bird of prey knows—
no falcon’s eye has spotted it.
8 Proud beasts have not set foot on it,
and no lion has passed along it.
9 On the flinty rock man has set to work with his hand;
he has overturned mountains at their bases.
10 He has cut out channels through the rocks;
his eyes have spotted every precious thing.
11 He has searched the sources of the rivers,
and what was hidden he has brought into the light.

12 “But wisdom—where can it be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
13 Mankind does not know its place;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, ‘It is not with me.’
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
16 It cannot be measured out for purchase with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx or sapphires.
17 Neither gold nor crystal can be compared with it,
nor can a vase of gold match its worth.
18 Of coral and jasper no mention will be made;
the price of wisdom is more than pearls.
19 The topaz of Cush cannot be compared with it;
it cannot be purchased with pure gold.

20 “But wisdom—where does it come from?
Where is the place of understanding?
21 For it has been hidden
from the eyes of every living creature,
and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed.
22 Destruction and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.’
23 God understands the way to it,
and he alone knows its place.
24 For he looks to the ends of the earth
and observes everything under the heavens.
25 When he made the force of the wind
and measured the waters with a gauge,
26 when he imposed a limit for the rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
27 then he looked at wisdom and assessed its value;
he established it and examined it closely.
28 And he said to mankind,
‘The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

REFLECTIONS

I love this chapter of Job. It’s such a beautiful, creative poem, but it’s also beautifully simple. It starts by admiring mankind’s amazing ability to mine the earth, to explore the hidden places, to seek and uncover precious gems and treasures. But there is one treasure that is beyond our powers of discovery: true wisdom. Complete wisdom. Only God has total mastery of wisdom.

And yet, there is a kind of wisdom open to us – a much humbler kind: the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is not mere terror at God’s power. It is knowing both his terrifying power and his gracious character, which leads us to continually turn away from evil. It is humbly accepting your proper place before him.

Spend time coming before him by faith in his Son now.

1 And Job took up his discourse again:
2 “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,
the Almighty, who has made my life bitter—
3 for while my spirit is still in me,
and the breath from God is in my nostrils,
4 my lips will not speak wickedness,
and my tongue will whisper no deceit.
5 I will never declare that you three are in the right;
until I die, I will not set aside my integrity!
6 I will maintain my righteousness
and never let it go;
my conscience will not reproach me
for as long as I live.

7 “May my enemy be like the wicked,
my adversary like the unrighteous.
8 For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off,
when God takes away his life?
9 Does God listen to his cry
when distress overtakes him?
10 Will he find delight in the Almighty?
Will he call out to God at all times?
11 I will teach you about the power of God;
what is on the Almighty’s mind I will not conceal.
12 If you yourselves have all seen this,
Why in the world do you continue this meaningless talk?
13 This is the portion of the wicked man
allotted by God,
the inheritance that evildoers receive
from the Almighty.
14 If his children increase—it is for the sword!
His offspring never have enough to eat.
15 Those who survive him are buried by the plague,
and their widows do not mourn for them.
16 If he piles up silver like dust
and stores up clothing like mounds of clay,
17 what he stores up a righteous man will wear,
and an innocent man will inherit his silver.
18 The house he builds is as fragile as a moth’s cocoon,
like a hut that a watchman has made.
19 He goes to bed wealthy, but will do so no more.
When he opens his eyes, it is all gone.
20 Terrors overwhelm him like a flood;
at night a whirlwind carries him off.
21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;
it sweeps him out of his place.
22 It hurls itself against him without pity
as he flees headlong from its power.
23 It claps its hands at him in derision
and hisses him away from his place.

REFLECTIONS

Yesterday we heard Bildad’s very short and aggressive final speech, and Job’s reply. Zophar’s final speech should have come next, but he doesn’t say anything at all. That’s why Job 27:1 starts, “And Job took up his discourse again” – Job had paused to give Zophar a chance to have his say, but Zophar has decided that Job isn’t worth wasting breath on. So Job continues with the very last speech in the debate.

But it gets weirder, because in the last section of his speech (verses 7-23), Job sounds more like he’s saying what Zophar would have said if he wasn’t sulking – that the godless and wicked cannot escape God’s judgment. It all seems a bit confusing!

But there’s one thing that is crystal-clear. In verses 1-6, Job still insists that in his own case, God has denied him justice (v2). The friends have been pressuring Job to say, “OK, OK, you win: I’m really am an evil and godless man, I’ve been hiding my sin, and God is absolutely right to punish me like this.” But Job cannot even tell that “little” lie to get his friends off his back! That is how strong his integrity is: He says, “my tongue will whisper no deceit.”

Once again, that reminds me of Jesus. When Jesus was arrested, the religious leaders pressured him, under the threat of torture and death, to confess that he was a blasphemer. But Peter tells us: “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. … Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:22-23).

Pray that God would give us the same unshakeable integrity with our words. But even more, thank God for Jesus’ perfect integrity, which meant he was able to “bear our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24).

Today we will read both Bildad’s speech and Job’s reply in the final round of the debate.

25:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “Dominion and awesome might belong to God;
he establishes peace in his heights.
3 Can his armies be numbered?
On whom does his light not rise?
4 How then can a human being be righteous before God?
How can one born of a woman be pure?
5 If even the moon is not bright,
and the stars are not pure as far as he is concerned,
6 how much less a mortal man, who is but a maggot—
a son of man, who is only a worm!”

26:1 Then Job replied:
2 “How you have helped the powerless!
How you have saved the person who has no strength!
3 How you have advised the one without wisdom,
and abundantly revealed your insight!
4 To whom did you utter these words?
And whose spirit has come forth from your mouth?

5 “The dead tremble—
those beneath the waters
and all that live in them.
6 The underworld is naked before God;
the place of destruction lies uncovered.
7 He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;
he suspends the earth on nothing.
8 He locks the waters in his clouds,
and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them.
9 He conceals the face of the full moon,
shrouding it with his clouds.
10 He marks out the horizon on the surface of the waters
as a boundary between light and darkness.
11 The pillars of the heavens tremble
and are amazed at his rebuke.
12 By his power he stills the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster to pieces.
13 By his breath the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
14 Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways!
How faint is the whisper we hear of him!
But who can understand the thunder of his power?”

REFLECTIONS

Here’s a quick tip on pastoral care for beginners: If someone is suffering, perhaps don’t go for Bildad’s method of telling them they’re a maggot. Just a suggestion.

More seriously, this is where we see the debate properly break down. Bildad’s final speech is only five venom-filled verses – which will be five more verses than Zophar says! The reason it has broken down is because the friends, in their arrogance, have been blind to the truth that sometimes God’s ways are beyond our understanding, which means that sometimes the godly really do suffer.

But Job seems to be drawing slowly closer to true, deep wisdom. Today, he simply declares God’s complete sovereignty and control over all things – both things in the natural world, like rain and day and night, and the supernatural forces of the world, like the grave (or the underworld, v.6). Verses 12 & 13 describe that truth in terms of some images the people of Job’s time used to think about things like death and Satan – “Rahab the great sea monster” and the serpent. God is Lord over all those things, and God himself will use similar pictures when he finally answers Job, in chapter 41.

At any rate, I suspect Job is describing God’s control over the natural and supernatural world simply because he is in terror of God. But that fear of the holy, untamable, invincible God is also the beginning of wisdom. It will be the theme of the second half of the book. All Job needs, for it to become the beautiful biblical concept of “the fear of the Lord”, is that final, enduring, overwhelming assurance that this God is not against him. Instead, this God is fiercely and forever for him.

Jesus is that assurance for us (Romans 8:31-32)! Rejoice in that as you reflect on God’s awe-inspiring sovereignty today.

Today is the second half of Job’s first speech in the final round.

1 “Why are times not appointed by the Almighty?
Why do those who know him not see his days?
2 Men move boundary stones;
they seize the flock and pasture them.
3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey;
they take the widow’s ox as a pledge.
4 They turn the needy from the pathway,
and the poor of the land hide themselves together.
5 Like wild donkeys in the wilderness,
they go out to their labor seeking diligently for food;
the arid rift valley provides food for them and for their children.
6 They reap fodder in the field
and glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
7 They spend the night naked because they lack clothing;
they have no covering against the cold.
8 They are soaked by mountain rains
and huddle in the rocks because they lack shelter.
9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast;
the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge.
10 They go about naked, without clothing,
and go hungry while they carry the sheaves.
11 They press out the olive oil between the rows of olive trees;
they tread the winepresses while they are thirsty.
12 From the city the dying groan,
and the wounded cry out for help,
but God charges no one with wrongdoing.
13 There are those who rebel against the light;
they do not know its ways,
and they do not stay on its paths.
14 Before daybreak the murderer rises up;
he kills the poor and the needy;
in the night he is like a thief.
15 And the eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight,
thinking, ‘No eye can see me,’
and covers his face with a mask.
16 In the dark the robber breaks into houses,
but by day they shut themselves in;
they do not know the light.
17 For all of them, the morning is to them like deep darkness;
they are friends with the terrors of darkness.

18 You say, ‘He is foam on the face of the waters;
their portion of the land is cursed
so that no one goes to their vineyard.
19 The drought as well as the heat
snatch up the melted snow;
so the grave snatches up the sinner.
20 The womb forgets him,
the worm feasts on him,
no longer will he be remembered.
Like a tree, wickedness will be broken down.
21 He preys on the barren and childless woman
and does not treat the widow well.
22 But God drags off the mighty by his power;
when God rises up against him, he has no faith in his life.
23 God may let them rest in a feeling of security,
but he is constantly watching all their ways.
24 They are exalted for a little while, and then they are gone;
they are brought low like all others and gathered in,
and like a head of grain they are cut off.’

25 “If this is not so, who can prove me a liar
and reduce my words to nothing?”

REFLECTIONS

Job’s final few speeches have some confusing parts. At times, he seems to be repeating things that the friends have said – like the last part of this chapter, where he says that God will “drag off the mighty by his power” and bring down the proud (verses 18-25). Didn’t he argue against that before? But I suspect this is part of Job’s slow growth in hope. Just like he came to a point of assurance that God would redeem him after death (chapter 19), here he knows that God will judge the wicked after all. But Job knows that it will not be straight away. God’s kingdom will come – eventually.

The first part of the chapter also echoes the friends’ words. Job describes the terrible way in which rich and powerful people oppress orphans, widows, and the poor – those who are powerless and vulnerable. But Job’s friends were using that fact as a weapon against Job. Job is simply expressing his genuine grief and sadness over their plight.

For today, spend time praying for the millions around the world who are hungry, cold, exploited, and trodden down. Father, may your kingdom come – Come, Lord Jesus!

Today we will hear the first half of Job’s first response in the final round of the debate.

1 Then Job answered:
2 “Even today my complaint is still bitter;
his hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3 O that I knew where I might find him,
that I could come to his place of residence!
4 I would lay out my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know with what words he would answer me
and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me with great power?
No, he would only pay attention to me.
7 There an upright person
could present his case before him,
and I would be delivered forever from my judge.

8 “If I go to the east, he is not there,
and to the west, yet I do not perceive him.
9 In the north when he is at work,
I do not see him;
when he turns to the south,
I see no trace of him.
10 But he knows the pathway that I take;
if he tested me, I would come forth like gold.
11 My feet have followed his steps closely;
I have kept to his way and have not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my allotted portion.
13 But he is unchangeable, and who can change him?
Whatever he has desired, he does.
14 For he fulfills his decree against me,
and many such things are his plans.
15 That is why I am terrified in his presence;
when I consider, I am afraid because of him.
16 Indeed, God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me.
17 Yet I have not been silent because of the darkness,
because of the thick darkness
that covered my face.

REFLECTIONS

At some point in these seemingly endless speeches, you might have asked yourself: “Why do they go on for so long? They’re going around in circles. What’s the point?” Christopher Ash, in his commentary, has a helpful suggestion. He says part of the reason is that long-term suffering often doesn’t have quick and easy “answers.” Why does God allow some people suffer so much more than others, when it’s not their fault? Those who are suffering will wrestle over and over with that question – and we all need to learn to sit with them through that long journey. We need to resist the urge to “move on” and leave those who are suffering behind.

One thought from Job’s agonised wrestling today. Job looks to the east, west, north, and south, but says, “I see no trace of God” (v. 8-9). Often God and his ways are hidden to us, and that can be a struggle for us. But that’s why it’s such a comfort to know about Jesus and his death and resurrection. The weakness of the cross of Jesus is where God has put on display all his power, glory, love, and wisdom. As Paul says, the message of Christ crucified is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). Even when you can’t see all God’s ways in your own circumstances, keep looking to the cross of Jesus – you will always find God there.

Today Eliphaz will open the third and final round of the debate.

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “Is it to God that a strong man is of benefit?
Is it to him that even a wise man is profitable?
3 Is it of any special benefit to the Almighty
that you should be righteous,
or is it any gain to him
that you make your ways blameless?
4 Is it because of your piety that he rebukes you
and goes to judgment with you?
5 Is not your wickedness great
and is there no end to your iniquity?

6 “For you took pledges from your brothers
for no reason,
and you stripped the clothing from the naked.
7 You gave the weary no water to drink
and from the hungry you withheld food.
8 Although you were a powerful man, owning land,
an honored man living on it,
9 you sent widows away empty-handed,
and the arms of the orphans you crushed.
10 That is why snares surround you,
and why sudden fear terrifies you,
11 why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.

12 “Is not God on high in heaven?
And see the lofty stars, how high they are!
13 But you have said, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such deep darkness?
14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us,
as he goes back and forth
in the vault of heaven.’
15 Will you keep to the old path
that evil men have walked—
16 men who were carried off before their time,
when the flood was poured out
on their foundations?
17 They were saying to God, ‘Turn away from us,’
and, ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’
18 But it was he who filled their houses
with good things—
yet the counsel of the wicked
was far from me.
19 The righteous see their destruction and rejoice;
the innocent mock them scornfully, saying,
20 ‘Surely our enemies are destroyed,
and fire consumes their wealth.’

21 “Reconcile yourself with God,
and be at peace with him;
in this way your prosperity will be good.
22 Accept instruction from his mouth
and store up his words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up;
if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent,
24 and throw your gold in the dust—
your gold of Ophir
among the rocks in the ravines—
25 then the Almighty himself will be your gold,
and the choicest silver for you.
26 Surely then you will delight yourself in the Almighty
and will lift up your face toward God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows to him.
28 Whatever you decide on a matter,
it will be established for you,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 When people are brought low and you say,
‘Lift them up!’
then he will save the downcast;
30 he will deliver even someone who is not innocent,
who will escape through the cleanness of your hands.”

REFLECTIONS

Eliphaz’s closing call for Job to repent would, in the right context, be beautiful and powerful. It’s a call to delight in God the Almighty more than in all the world’s gold – Amen! Except that Eliphaz has just doubled down on his baseless condemnation of Job, and accused him with zero evidence of the most terrible crimes, like crushing the arms of orphans (v. 9). His harsh judgment means his call to repent is spiritually abusive.

There is a deep irony in the final two verses, though. He tries to encourage Job by saying, “If you repent, God might even use you to intercede for someone else who is guilty.” That is exactly what will happen in the last chapter of the book, as Job intercedes for guilty Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar.

Lord, please save us from an arrogant and judgmental heart!

Today’s passage is the final speech in the second round of the debate.

1 Then Job answered:
2 “Listen carefully to my words;
let this be the consolation you offer me.
3 Bear with me and I will speak,
and after I have spoken you may mock.
4 Is my complaint against a man?
If so, why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me and be appalled;
put your hands over your mouths.
6 For, when I think about this, I am terrified
and my body feels a shudder.

7 “Why do the wicked go on living,
grow old, even increase in power?
8 Their children are firmly established in their presence,
their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe and without fear;
and no rod of punishment from God is upon them.
10 Their bulls breed without fail;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11 They allow their children to run like a flock;
their little ones dance about.
12 They sing to the accompaniment of tambourine and harp,
and make merry to the sound of the flute.
13 They live out their years in prosperity
and go down to the grave in peace.
14 So they say to God, ‘Turn away from us!
We do not want to know your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What would we gain
if we were to pray to him?’
16 But their prosperity is not their own doing.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!

17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished?
How often does their misfortune come upon them?
How often does God apportion pain to them in his anger?
18 How often are they like straw before the wind
and like chaff swept away by a whirlwind?
19 You may say, ‘God stores up a man’s punishment for his children!’
Instead let him repay the man himself
so that he may be humbled!
20 Let his own eyes see his destruction;
let him drink of the anger of the Almighty.
21 For what is his interest in his home
after his death,
when the number of his months
has been broken off?
22 Can anyone teach God knowledge,
since he judges those that are on high?

23 “One man dies in his full vigor,
completely secure and prosperous,
24 his body well nourished,
and the marrow of his bones moist.
25 And another man dies in bitterness of soul,
never having tasted anything good.
26 Together they lie down in the dust,
and worms cover over them both.

27 “Yes, I know what you are thinking,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
28 For you say,
‘Where now is the nobleman’s house,
and where are the tents in which the wicked lived?’
29 Have you never questioned those who travel the roads?
Do you not recognize their accounts—
30 that the evil man is spared
from the day of his misfortune,
that he is delivered
from the day of God’s wrath?
31 No one denounces his conduct to his face;
no one repays him for what he has done.
32 And when he is carried to the tombs
and watch is kept over the funeral mound,
33 the clods of the torrent valley are sweet to him;
behind him everybody follows in procession,
and before him goes a countless throng.
34 So how can you console me with your futile words?
Nothing is left of your answers but deception!”

REFLECTIONS

Life before Jesus comes back in glory isn’t neat and simple. The reality is complicated: some faithful believers live in comfort, while others suffer; and the same goes for the ungodly.

What strikes me from today’s passage is how both self-righteousness and self-pity make us oversimplify our perception of the world. Job’s friends are self-righteous: their lives are comfortable, and they think it is due to their own cleverness and goodness. So they think, “It’s all the bad people who are suffering – they deserve it.” Job, as he wallows in misery and self-pity, ends up oversimplifying in the other direction: “It’s all the bad people who are living the good life – what did I do to deserve this?”

The first thing the gospel does to give us a more realistic view of life in this world is to teach us that our relationship with God has nothing to do with deserving anything! “Grace” means we deserve nothing from God, yet God has freely chosen to pour out his love and kindness on us through Jesus, by forgiving all our sin and giving us the sure promise of everlasting joy with him.

Whatever your present situation, ask God to fill your mind with thankfulness for his grace in Jesus, and to cure you of both self-righteousness and self-pity.

Today we will hear Job’s third friend, Zophar, give his speech in the second round of the debate.

1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
2 “This is why my troubled thoughts bring me back—
because of my feelings within me.
3 When I hear a reproof that dishonors me,
then my understanding prompts me to answer.

4 “Surely you know that it has been from old,
ever since humankind was placed on the earth,
5 that the elation of the wicked is brief,
the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.
6 Even though his stature reaches to the heavens
and his head touches the clouds,
7 he will perish forever, like his own excrement;
those who used to see him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8 Like a dream he flies away, never again to be found,
and like a vision of the night he is put to flight.
9 People who had seen him will not see him again,
and the place where he was
will recognize him no longer.
10 His sons must recompense the poor;
his own hands must return his wealth.
11 His bones were full of his youthful vigor,
but that vigor will lie down with him in the dust.

12 “If evil is sweet in his mouth
and he hides it under his tongue,
13 if he retains it for himself
and does not let it go,
and holds it fast in his mouth,
14 his food is turned sour in his stomach;
it becomes the venom of serpents within him.
15 The wealth that he consumed he vomits up,
God will make him throw it out of his stomach.
16 He sucks the poison of serpents;
the fangs of a viper kill him.
17 He will not look on the streams,
the rivers that are the torrents
of honey and butter.
18 He gives back the ill-gotten gain
without assimilating it;
he will not enjoy the wealth from his commerce.
19 For he has oppressed the poor and abandoned them;
he has seized a house which he did not build.
20 For he knows no satisfaction in his appetite;
he does not let anything he desires escape.
21 Nothing is left for him to devour;
that is why his prosperity does not last.
22 In the fullness of his sufficiency,
distress overtakes him.
The full force of misery will come upon him.
23 While he is filling his belly,
God sends his burning anger against him
and rains down his blows upon him.
24 If he flees from an iron weapon,
then an arrow from a bronze bow pierces him.
25 When he pulls it out and it comes out of his back,
the gleaming point out of his liver,
terrors come over him.
26 Total darkness waits to receive his treasures;
a fire that has not been kindled
will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.
27 The heavens reveal his iniquity;
the earth rises up against him.
28 A flood will carry off his house,
rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath.
29 Such is the lot God allots the wicked,
and the heritage of his appointment from God.”

REFLECTIONS

With friends like these, who needs enemies, right? Like the others, Zophar uses general truths from God’s word (like, “God punishes the wicked”) to attack the wrong person at the wrong time. Zophar focuses on God’s punishment of greedy and rich people who oppress the poor, those whose appetite for wealth and power is never satisfied. He clearly has decided that Job must be one of those people. We will hear in chapter 29 that the opposite is true: part of Job’s blamelessness was that he rescued the poor and the orphan when they cried for help.

One other thing caught my attention today. In verses 2-3, Zophar says he is answering Job because of his “feelings” – because he feels Job’s criticism “dishonoured” him. I wonder if that explains why he is so cruel and spiteful in the way he misuses God’s word against Job? I think there’s a helpful lesson in there: The time to apply God’s word to someone’s life is not when you’re feeling hurt and offended by them, but when you’re filled with love, compassion and a genuine desire for their good.