Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Job (2)
Pray Psalm 88.1-3.
O LORD, God of my salvation,
I have cried out day and night before You.
Let my prayer come before You;
Incline Your ear to my cry.
For my soul is full of troubles,
And my life draws near to the grave.
Sing Psalm 88.1-3.
(Picardy: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent)
LORD of my salvation, hear me, as I cry by night and day!
Hear my plea, O LORD, bend near me; O, receive me when I pray!
For my soul is weak and weary, and my life draws near the grave.
Read Job 3.1-26; meditate on verses 23-26.
Preparation
1. What did Job wish?
2. What is the nature of his “Why?”?
Meditation
We can scarcely imagine the depths of Job’s suffering. Remember: Job didn’t know what we do concerning why this is happening. He did not suppress his sorrow nor act as if what he was undergoing was no big deal. Nor did he keep the depths of his suffering to himself.
Job’s outcry has two parts to it. In the first, verses 1-19, he expressed his outrage and deepest pain, going so far as to wish he’d never been born. In the second part, verses 20-26, he sought understanding, a reason for his torment. This is natural, of course, but Job would never receive it; and his persistence in demanding an explanation ultimately led to a scathing rebuke from the Lord (chs. 38-41).
The simple fact is that even the righteous—indeed, the most righteous—must expect to know pain, suffering, and sorrow in this sin-pervaded world. And at such times, we may, and probably should, freely express our pain and cry out against the injustice of it all.
But then we must learn to lay our burden on the Lord and rest it with Him. We can’t always expect to understand why the righteous suffer. But we can know that our sufferings are not outside the scope of our Father’s care for us. Jesus modeled the proper response to suffering, crying out from the depths of His anguish because the Father had “forsaken” Him (Matt. 27.46) and, at the same time, rolling His great burden onto the Lord (Lk. 23.46).
Job shows us that the righteous will suffer. Jesus bore the worst of our suffering by carrying the burden of our sins in His own body on the cross. Because of this, we know the joy of the Lord, which is sufficient to bear us up under any and every trial.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162.
Job said, “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me” (Job 3.25). And we, like Job, do this to some extent. We fear losing loved ones, struggling in poverty, or being stricken with a terminal disease.
Imagine, though, knowing for sure everything that would take place in your life. Knowing with certainly all the sorrows, betrayals, sicknesses, difficulties and sadnesses that will happen. And then, knowing the means of your death. How would that effect your joy? How would that determine your love? How would you navigate the now, knowing the future?
God doesn’t intend for us to know. We could not handle it.
But Jesus, our Savior and King, knew His whole life what He would experience. All those years He showed Judas love and concern, taught him about the Kingdom, about salvation and righteous living, all that time, Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him. And yet, He loved him.
All the occasions Jesus told His disciples that He would suffer, be killed, and be raised from the dead, knowing they would all desert Him. And yet, He loved them.
All the years of ministry, serving, feeding, healing, teaching, and loving others, He knew that most of those folks would be screaming to crucify Him. And yet, He loved them.
We were His enemies…and yet, He loved us (Rom. 5.8).
And all the travels He took heading straight into the jaws of His heinous death, He continued, steadfastly to pursue. Knowing: “For the LORD God will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed. He is near who justifies Me…” (Is. 50.7, 8).
“Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem…His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem” (Lk. 9.51, 53). And yet, He pressed on.
Although God has not entrusted us with information that He knows we cannot handle; He also does not want us to live in fear of death. In fact, Jesus warns us not to worry about these things (Matt. 6.25). He does however, encourage us to worry about fearing the right Person: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10.28).
Jesus also died for us so that we do not have to fear the wrong things. He died, that through His death “He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2.14, 15).
Job shared his troubled and questioning heart; and we are thankful he did. But we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and he wasn’t. He was filled with hope of the Promise to come; and through his repaired relationship with God, he was majestically victorious over his fears, trials, and sufferings.
But Paul teaches us a better way. In his suffering he was able to say:
“For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer
and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed,
but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1.19-21).
Jesus’ perfect courage and love surpass all understanding. And yet, we imitate Him, through His power, to press on—the cry of the righteous.
Reflection
1. Does the Lord mind if we complain to Him about our various sufferings? Explain.
2. How does bearing up under trials help us to grow in the Lord?
3. What should we do to make sure we will bear up when we need to?
Let it be our constant care to get ready for another world, and then leave it to God to order our removal thither as he thinks fit. Grace teaches us in the midst of life’s greatest comforts, to be willing to die, and in the midst of its greatest crosses, to be willing to live. Matthew Henry (1642-1714), Commentary on Job 3.20-26
Pray Psalm 88.4-18.
Job’s suffering was pitiable, but his honesty was refreshing. He knew to come before the Lord and to bare his heart. What struggles are you facing? What temptations, trials, or disappointments? “Take them to the Lord in prayer.”
Sing Psalm 88.4-18.
(Picardy: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent)
Like a person suff’ring and dying, like a man whose strength is gone;
like one with the slain now lying, like a dead and buried one.
For Your mercy I am sighing, cut off from Your hand and gone.
In the lowest pit You have set me, in a deep and darkening place.
All Your holy wrath has beset me, overwhelming me in waves.
All my former friends forget me; on me now they look with hate.
All day long I cry in vain, LORD, as my eye is wasting away.
Can a dead man sing Your praise, LORD? Can I testify from the grave?
Will I tell Your love again, LORD? Will I sing Your pow’r and grace?
Morning comes and, LORD, I am crying: Why do You my soul reject?
From my youth have I been dying; pain and terrors sore afflict.
Fear and anger, sorely trying, overwhelm, destroy, reject.
All day long my foes surround me, like a threat’ning, rising flood.
Circling round they sought and found me, taking from me all that is good.
Friend and lover gone, they hound me—all my friends in darkness stood.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
