The suffering believer's past and present
Text Job 29-30 Time 22/06/03 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church
When we come to the matter of true religion it is very important that we remember that at its heart is a personal relationship with God. It is not first and foremost a matter of believing certain things or living in a certain way, although that, of course, comes into it. Higher than that is the fact that true religion involves living your life in the conscious presence of God and relating to him through revelation and prayer.
I say this to begin because as we come to the final part of Job’s speech to his three friends, it is important to notice something. Job is no longer speaking to the friends as such. Rather he is speaking before God and to God. In 30:20 he says I cry out to you, O God. His speech is a little like a barrister summing up his case at the end of a long and dramatic court case. Just as the barrister addresses the jury so here Job focuses on God. In what we call Chapter 29 Job speaks about his past happiness and in Chapter 30 about his present troubles and sorrow. In the final Chapter (31) which we will look at again he once more protests his innocence.
What Job has to say is of great interest to all Christians who are in trouble - and we all fall into trouble at some point or other. First, we see how to look at the past and then how to look at the present. So we say
When we come to the matter of true religion it is very important that we remember that at its heart is a personal relationship with God. It is not first and foremost a matter of believing certain things or living in a certain way, although that, of course, comes into it. Higher than that is the fact that true religion involves living your life in the conscious presence of God and relating to him through revelation and prayer.
I say this to begin because as we come to the final part of Job’s speech to his three friends, it is important to notice something. Job is no longer speaking to the friends as such. Rather he is speaking before God and to God. In 30:20 he says I cry out to you, O God. His speech is a little like a barrister summing up his case at the end of a long and dramatic court case. Just as the barrister addresses the jury so here Job focuses on God. In what we call Chapter 29 Job speaks about his past happiness and in Chapter 30 about his present troubles and sorrow. In the final Chapter (31) which we will look at again he once more protests his innocence.
What Job has to say is of great interest to all Christians who are in trouble - and we all fall into trouble at some point or other. First, we see how to look at the past and then how to look at the present. So we say
1. The suffering believer, consider his past. Avoid enervating nostalgia; seek worthwhile thanksgiving.
There’s a saying ‘You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone’. There are many things we take for granted.
1. Consider the nearness and blessing of God
There’s a saying ‘You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone’. There are many things we take for granted.
1. Consider the nearness and blessing of God
Job begins his discourse (2, 3) How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me, when his lamp shone upon my head and by his light I walked through darkness! Of course, God was still watching over Job then, still guiding him. But he had lost the sense of it and that’s why he speaks as he does. He knew that in whatever he did God was observing him, the Lord was gazing down on him. You know how potholers and miners have lamps fixed to their helmets so that even in pitch darkness they can see where they are going. Job says that God was like that with him. At that times there were troubles but every one of them disappeared. It was not like that now.
He goes on (4, 5a) 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. Again, we must say that God was still with Job, still his friend, but he had lost the sense of it. What close friendship is possible between God and man - and Job knew it to the full. Job walked with Almighty God. On his deathbed many tried to comfort John Wesley with promises but he responded, it is said, ‘Yes, all these promises are true but best of all, God is with us.’ Job had the greatest gift of all God with us – Immanuel. But it didn’t feel like that now.
Besides all this, not only was the Almighty … still with me but my children were around me, too. It was a time when (6) Job could say my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil. You remember how blessed Job had been materially – many animals and many servants. He was a rich man with a large and prospering family. He describes it powerfully here as having his path drenched with cream and olive oil pouring from the rock for him. But all that had been taken from him. He was to gain much more we know from the end of the book, but Job didn’t know that.
Here are some lessons then
He goes on (4, 5a) 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. Again, we must say that God was still with Job, still his friend, but he had lost the sense of it. What close friendship is possible between God and man - and Job knew it to the full. Job walked with Almighty God. On his deathbed many tried to comfort John Wesley with promises but he responded, it is said, ‘Yes, all these promises are true but best of all, God is with us.’ Job had the greatest gift of all God with us – Immanuel. But it didn’t feel like that now.
Besides all this, not only was the Almighty … still with me but my children were around me, too. It was a time when (6) Job could say my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil. You remember how blessed Job had been materially – many animals and many servants. He was a rich man with a large and prospering family. He describes it powerfully here as having his path drenched with cream and olive oil pouring from the rock for him. But all that had been taken from him. He was to gain much more we know from the end of the book, but Job didn’t know that.
Here are some lessons then
1 Do you have any sense of God watching over your every move and guiding you through the darkness by his light? Do you have his friendship and blessing? Then be thankful to him. Don’t take it for granted.
2 Have you known it in the past? Be thankful for that too. Though it’s not there in the same way now it may come again and if you have faith you can realise that God is watching you, guiding you, near you and blessing you even though you have little sense of it or evidence for it at present. And one day in heaven you will see the Lord himself.
3 If you have never had a sense of this then be assured that it can be known. If you trust in Christ, you will have God watching over your every move. He will guide you through the darkness of this world with his light. Jesus will be your friend and many blessings will follow. It would be a lie to say you can guarantee riches or other blessings in this life but it is God’s usual way to bless in every way. Realise that. Do no hold back from faith in Christ.
2. Consider the honour and respect of people around you
2. Consider the honour and respect of people around you
Job had not only known God’s nearness and blessing on the vertical but also blessings on the horizontal. He describes how it was for him in verses 7-12. He remembers going to the gate of the city where the elders sat to make their decisions and taking his seat in the public square. He remembers how the young men saw him and stepped aside and the old men rose to their feet; the chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands; the voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths. What great respect they all showed. Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me. Rich men we know were often disrespected in those days as they often made their fortunes in wicked ways. At the root of the honour and respect shown to this rich man was the fact that Job rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him. But, alas, all that was now gone.
Again there are lessons for us
Again there are lessons for us
1 Do you have any respect from others? Are you honoured in any way? Then be thankful to God. Don’t take it for granted. Not everyone has the honour and respect you have. Not all deserve it.
2 Have you known this in the past? Be thankful for that too. For some reason you feel it’s not there now but it may come again. God still sees your integrity as he saw Job’s. And never forget that one day in heaven you will reign with Christ, if you are truly his.
3 If you feel have never been shown respect or honour it may be that you don’t deserve it. It doesn’t come easy. Even those who deserve it sometimes miss out. If you trust in Christ, God will deal with all that. You do not have to worry about it. A day of judgement is coming when all honour and all respect will be paid as due.
3. Consider the help and blessing of the needy
3. Consider the help and blessing of the needy
In verses 13-17 Job elaborates on his rescuing of the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him. He says The man who was dying blessed me; I made the widow’s heart sing. Using the picture of clothing he says (14) I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban. He continues with what could sound like boasting but is in fact the accurate memory of a now broken man (15-17) I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth. Job was a champion of the needy, disadvantaged and oppressed. He strove for justice and did all he could to provide for the forgotten and neglected in his society. This is how Job used the advantages that his wealth brought to him.
What a challenge such a litany is! Okay, we may not be as rich as Job was but we all have some resources. How are we using them? Do we care about the homeless and poor; the elderly, single mothers, fatherless children, unborn babies, the deprived and needy in our society? Have you ever made a poor woman’s heart sing? Have you ever done anything to help the disabled or the immigrant, legal or illegal? Have you done anything to help those in need of justice? If we can think of anything that we have been able to do, then we ought to be thankful to God that he has used us in such ways. If we feel that we are restricted in what we can do now because of our present circumstances, as with Job, then we must be determined to make better use of any future opportunities we may have. Part of being a Christian is receiving the will and the strength to live in such ways – putting on the topcoat of righteous working, the baseball cap of justice.
4. Consider the expectation of future blessing
What a challenge such a litany is! Okay, we may not be as rich as Job was but we all have some resources. How are we using them? Do we care about the homeless and poor; the elderly, single mothers, fatherless children, unborn babies, the deprived and needy in our society? Have you ever made a poor woman’s heart sing? Have you ever done anything to help the disabled or the immigrant, legal or illegal? Have you done anything to help those in need of justice? If we can think of anything that we have been able to do, then we ought to be thankful to God that he has used us in such ways. If we feel that we are restricted in what we can do now because of our present circumstances, as with Job, then we must be determined to make better use of any future opportunities we may have. Part of being a Christian is receiving the will and the strength to live in such ways – putting on the topcoat of righteous working, the baseball cap of justice.
4. Consider the expectation of future blessing
Verses 18-20 are very poignant. Job describes how he used to think before disaster came upon him. I thought, I shall die in my own house, my days as numerous as the grains of sand. My roots will reach to the water, and the dew will lie all night on my branches. My glory will remain fresh in me, the bow ever new in my hand. Job never guessed what was going to happen. He assumed things would carry on as they always had. He expected a long life, continued blessing, lasting strength. But that was not the way it turned out, as we know.
Haven’t we all thought the same sort of thing? Yet there is no guarantee of any of it. No-one wants to die young. We all want to have good health, peace of mind and dignity. We need to learn that these are all gifts from God and just as he gives so he can take away.
Haven’t we all thought the same sort of thing? Yet there is no guarantee of any of it. No-one wants to die young. We all want to have good health, peace of mind and dignity. We need to learn that these are all gifts from God and just as he gives so he can take away.
Calvin says
"If God sends us any prosperity, let us not be too sleepy but let us consider this mortal life is subject to all the changes we can devise … And although the whole world seem to favour us and that we have a hundred thousand shoulders to bear us up yet must we nevertheless think that there is no settledness here below but that all things are transitory, so as all things are changed in the turning of a hand … For there is nothing easier with a man than to make himself believe that he shall always continue in a happy state when he is once in it."
5. Consider the expectation and confidence of others
"If God sends us any prosperity, let us not be too sleepy but let us consider this mortal life is subject to all the changes we can devise … And although the whole world seem to favour us and that we have a hundred thousand shoulders to bear us up yet must we nevertheless think that there is no settledness here below but that all things are transitory, so as all things are changed in the turning of a hand … For there is nothing easier with a man than to make himself believe that he shall always continue in a happy state when he is once in it."
5. Consider the expectation and confidence of others
What added to Job’s confidence about the future was the positive vibe he got from everyone else. Verses 21-25 Men listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel. After I had spoken, they spoke no more; my words fell gently on their ears. They waited for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain. When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them. I chose the way for them and sat as their chief; I dwelt as a king among his troops; I was like one who comforts mourners. Everyone thought Job was wise. They all knew he was morally upright. Everyone looked to him. It gave them confidence just to think that Job was there as their leader. There are people like that aren’t there? You think to yourself, well as long as he’s there, then we can be confident. But then God removes them in some way. I remember feeling like that about the late Bob Sheehan (of Welwyn) who died a few years ago. He was a great man but God chose to take him while he was still young. Sometimes it’s not death but illness, as in Job’s case. When everyone looks up to you and is confident in you, it is easy to suppose that you are invincible. Job fell into that trap. We must not. No-one is indispensable. No-one is invincible. We can all be brought down in a moment. We should remember that.
Are you in trouble? Be thankful for past blessings. Do not let nostalgia overcome you. Are things well? Be very thankful. Realise all your blessings are from God and can be removed in a moment.
2. The suffering believer, consider his present. Avoid gnawing despair but do face everyday reality.
Although the things that Job recalls from the past are all good, what makes them a problem to him is the fact that, as far as he is concerned, they are all gone now. As we have suggested, Job is overstating the case but it is fair to say that when we have had something good and then lose it there is a poignancy, a heartbreaking quality that is so much greater. Which child will cry most, the one who doesn’t get an ice cream or the one who does but it drops in the sand? It is important when we are suffering to see this and not let the Devil take advantage. As for suffering itself, there are many things to consider.
1. Consider the derision from others
Are you in trouble? Be thankful for past blessings. Do not let nostalgia overcome you. Are things well? Be very thankful. Realise all your blessings are from God and can be removed in a moment.
2. The suffering believer, consider his present. Avoid gnawing despair but do face everyday reality.
Although the things that Job recalls from the past are all good, what makes them a problem to him is the fact that, as far as he is concerned, they are all gone now. As we have suggested, Job is overstating the case but it is fair to say that when we have had something good and then lose it there is a poignancy, a heartbreaking quality that is so much greater. Which child will cry most, the one who doesn’t get an ice cream or the one who does but it drops in the sand? It is important when we are suffering to see this and not let the Devil take advantage. As for suffering itself, there are many things to consider.
1. Consider the derision from others
One of the most hurtful things for Job about his change of situation was the way he lost his dignity in the eyes of many. 1-8 But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs. He describes such men, Of what use was the strength of their hands to me, since their vigour had gone from them? Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed the parched land in desolate wastelands at night. (Like animals) In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food was the root of the broom tree. They were banished from their fellow-men, shouted at as if they were thieves. They were forced to live in the dry stream beds, among the rocks and in holes in the ground. They brayed among the bushes and huddled in the undergrowth. A base and nameless brood, they were driven out of the land. And yet the sons of these very people were deriding Job and mocking him. Now not everyone who suffers in the ways Job suffered suffers like this but it can happen. Sometimes it is not open like this. Sometimes it is imagined rather than real. However, what we must avoid doing in such a situation is letting it drag us down further. Yes, people will mock openly or secretly, intentionally or sometimes unintentionally, but we must bear it. Isn’t this what happened to the Lord himself? On the other hand, there is, of course, never any place to mock the afflictions of others and we must be careful not to.
2. Consider the contempt from others
2. Consider the contempt from others
Job goes on (9-15) And now their sons mock me in song; I have become a byword among them. They detest me and keep their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face. Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence. Whereas they once would have held back, now they are full of contempt. On my right the tribe attacks; they lay snares for my feet, they build their siege ramps against me. They break up my road; they succeed in destroying me - without anyone’s helping them. They advance as through a gaping breach; amid the ruins they come rolling in. Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud. It is as though they have launched a military assault against poor Job. He feels besieged, beset by foes, under attack at every point. We little consider just how much worse a situation can be made by our thoughtless or devil-inspired contempt for a person. Some of you can identify with Job here. Your bow has been unstrung and everything is loose. You feel afflicted. The walls are down and you feel overwhelmed with terrors. Dignity is gone; any sense of security you once had has vanished. What makes that sense of indignity so much worse is the real or perceived contempt of others. Again, we must not let such thoughts drag us down further. Even if people do hold us in contempt, we must bear it. Again this is just what happened to the Lord himself. Again, there is, of course, never any place to show contempt to others or to deny them their dignity and we must be careful not to.
3. Consider the suffering at God’s hands
3. Consider the suffering at God’s hands
Job elaborates further on his sufferings in verses 16-23. He is not only mocked and afflicted, trapped and attacked, overwhelmed with terror and robbed of his dignity. He goes on (16,17) And now my life ebbs away; days of suffering grip me. Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never rest. What makes this so hard to take for Job is not simply the derision and contempt of others but the fact that it is God who has brought this suffering on him. 18, 19 In his great power God becomes like clothing to me; he binds me like the neck of my garment. He throws me into the mud, and I am reduced to dust and ashes. Job uses powerful metaphors - he is entwined and swathed by God’s grip on him; thrown down in the mud, crushed and burnt to dust and ashes. Verse 20 I cry out to you, O God, he says but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me. Isn’t that the most distressing thing for the Christian who suffers? You pray, but there seems to be no answer. He says to God (21-23) You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me. You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; you toss me about in the storm. I know you will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living. Job feels like he is being threshed and winnowed like grain and God doesn’t care. I think there are four things to note here.
1 Trust in God will in some ways make our situation worse. Job’s wife told him at the beginning to curse God and die. He refused to. In one sense, that made his situation worse. Why does God let him suffer so?
2 Keep speaking honestly to God. Job hasn’t stopped praying. We must never do that. Whatever doubts we have about God’s ways with us we must still look to him. Didn’t Jesus even when forsaken?
3 We don’t know the whole story. Job was sure he was going to die in this state. He was wrong. God restored him. We are very ignorant about many things. We must recognise this and humble ourselves.
4 Often in suffering we grow stronger without even realising it. As the husbandman prunes the vine branches so they are enabled to produce more fruit.
4. Consider the unjust disappointment and anguish
1 Trust in God will in some ways make our situation worse. Job’s wife told him at the beginning to curse God and die. He refused to. In one sense, that made his situation worse. Why does God let him suffer so?
2 Keep speaking honestly to God. Job hasn’t stopped praying. We must never do that. Whatever doubts we have about God’s ways with us we must still look to him. Didn’t Jesus even when forsaken?
3 We don’t know the whole story. Job was sure he was going to die in this state. He was wrong. God restored him. We are very ignorant about many things. We must recognise this and humble ourselves.
4 Often in suffering we grow stronger without even realising it. As the husbandman prunes the vine branches so they are enabled to produce more fruit.
4. Consider the unjust disappointment and anguish
Finally, Job protests against the injustice of it all. Perhaps I should say the apparent injustice. Why would God treat a man like this? 24-26 Surely no-one lays a hand on a broken man when he cries for help in his distress. It is unfair surely to treat such a broken man like this, especially in light of his past uprightness. Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor? Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness. Isn’t that what makes inexplicable human suffering so difficult. Why pick on me? What have I done to deserve this? It seems to me that the more good you do, the more you suffer. Such thoughts are most understandable. They are to be expected. However, they are not helpful. Better to think of the suffering of Christ first and recall that as meaningless and pointless as it may have seemed it is what saves all who trust in him. There is some purpose for my suffering and yours too we can be sure, though we cannot see it.
Finally, we see Job suffering. He describes it in verses 27-31 The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me. He is in mental anguish. I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. There is no-one to help, it seems. I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of owls. How lonely he feels. My skin grows black and peels; my body burns with fever. There was the physical suffering too, of course, let’s not forget that. My harp is tuned to mourning, and my flute to the sound of wailing. We are so used to seeing films about people with a musical soundtrack that people talk sometimes today about the soundtrack to their lives. For Job it was the most mournful music. It was his faith in God that made it so. But there is something about the minor key, don’t you think? How stirring such music can be. We must see that this is the Christian life too and produces music that praises God. Apart from anything else it brings us near to the cross which is at the heart of the gospel.
Finally, we see Job suffering. He describes it in verses 27-31 The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me. He is in mental anguish. I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. There is no-one to help, it seems. I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of owls. How lonely he feels. My skin grows black and peels; my body burns with fever. There was the physical suffering too, of course, let’s not forget that. My harp is tuned to mourning, and my flute to the sound of wailing. We are so used to seeing films about people with a musical soundtrack that people talk sometimes today about the soundtrack to their lives. For Job it was the most mournful music. It was his faith in God that made it so. But there is something about the minor key, don’t you think? How stirring such music can be. We must see that this is the Christian life too and produces music that praises God. Apart from anything else it brings us near to the cross which is at the heart of the gospel.
