Job 23:1-27:23, 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11, Psalms 41:1-13, Proverbs 22:5-6
Today is the 27th day of August, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian and it is a pleasure to be here with you today as we move into the back toward the end of another week, and as we find ourselves here taking the next step forward in our week, in our year, and in the Scriptures, So, we’ll continue moving along in the book of Job and it’s nothing short of fascinating to watch what’s happening in the book of Job, the…the discussions…and there closer the arguments…that are happening between Job and his friends and then we’ll move our way into second Corinthians when we get to the New Testament. We’re reading from the Voice Translation this week. Job chapters 23 through 27 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, we’re continuing forward in the book of Job, one of the beautiful pieces of literature, most beautiful pieces of literature that the world has ever known. And it’s this existential argument between Job and his friends. And, so, in the conversation today Job does a lot of talking and he’s passionate about it. He’ describing what he has seen of God’s movements in the world and his experience and then his friends are like attempting to explain why God did what He did. But it’s the “why” God did what he did questions that aren’t working for Job because he knows that they don’t know anything more than he knows and he knows he doesn’t know…if that makes sense. Like he knows he can’t get the answers that he’s looking for because they are beyond human understanding and his friends, no matter how well wishing or how much they needed to be right, they didn’t know because Job himself didn’t know and they’ve already shared their insights and he already knows this stuff and he’s like regurgitating things we already know. So, for Job nobody could answer the question…the questions except God, which is what Job had been staying all along. He wants an audience with God. And, so, we’re just moving in a big circle, basically. Job wants answers but he needs to get them from God himself, but he can’t find God. Job’s friends keep trying to tell Job that only a righteous person can ever find God. And since Job can’t find the answers and can’t find God, then Job must not be righteous as he believes that he is. But then…but then Job would respond like, “there is no possible way I’m letting go of my innocence. Like I am not gonna declare myself unrighteous and been guilty just so you can feel good, like you’ve gotten through to me finally. I don’t believe I’m guilty. I need to find God.” And we’ll remember what Job said a couple days ago, “if I find Him, even if he kills me, I’m still gonna hope in Him. So, Job is basically saying, “I’m going to search for God and if that search is hopeless, still I will hope.” And, so, that leads us leads us right back into some of the things that we’ve been contemplating as we move through the book of Job the whole way, like our own posture, our own attitudes, the way our own hearts are aimed toward God when we’re asking “why” questions or when we’re…we’re in a place of hardship or suffering or why are we looking for God. Is it about making life easier? Is it so that the struggle will go away? Is it because He will appease us with an answer? What we have to wrestle with through the book of Job is, “what if He doesn’t do what we want Him to do? Like what if our expectations…what if…what if we realized we have no right to any expectations? We’re talking about the most I God here. What if He doesn’t do what we want Him to do? What if we wake up one day and realize He’s not Santa Claus, that He is not a servant of ours, we are a servant of His. These are the things Job is leading us to wrestle with today.
Prayer:
Father we’re beginning to understand that it’s You we seek not for what we’re going to get but because there is no life outside of You. We love You. We trust You in it all, in spite of it all no matter what it looks like. We don’t know the whole story, but we love You. And, so, we just…we want this to be true. We want to be in Your presence for no other reason than we are in love with You, not for what You’re going to do for us or what You’re going to take away or what enemy You’re going to vanquish, it’s to be together. This is our hearts desire. Whether we can acknowledge that right now or not, this is ultimately what we are after, a union with You that makes our lives whole because You make life whole. And sometimes we don’t understand the process of that, and we become estranged because…because You’re not being Santa Claus. And, so, we wrestle today with “what if You don’t do what we want You to do?” That forces us to challenge ourselves about “who’s in authority here? Are we submitted to You and Your ways and Your will or are we trying to impose our own will upon You to try to get You to manipulate circumstances in our favor?” Come into those questions today, we pray, Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.
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