Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Job 7:11 says, Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.  Though his friends were telling Job that he should just quietly repent, he said that he would not be silent.  Matthew Henry points out that even in great suffering, we would be better off praising God than complaining about our condition.  We can be sure that Satan will use every bit of pain and suffering in life to attempt to get people to deny God.  Verse twelve adds, Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?  I believe Job was asking if he had been so powerful that he had to suffer so greatly to be brought down from his pride.  Job may have felt that he was being punished because he had become too powerful in his eyes, and maybe in the eyes of the world, but he recognized his weakness in the eyes of God.  We will never be so powerful or successful that we are any threat to God, nor so weak that we are still not precious to Him.  Verse thirteen continues, When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;  Job said that his bed and couch should have offered comfort, but they didn't.  We look to our bed to bring us restful peace, but often if we are sick it is only a place to toss and turn.  Verse fourteen states, Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:  Even when Job was looking for rest in sleep, his dreams and visions terrified him.  Satan had been given free rein to torment Job, and he didn't give up with just the physical.  He tormented Job even in his sleep.  Hopefully we will never know a full-scale attack from Satan, but if we do, we only have to keep our faith in God to defeat him.  Verse fifteen adds, So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.  Job was ready, even to his soul, for death to come.  We do know that when this life is over that the spirit lives on, and we should be ready to glorify God for this reason.  No matter how bad things get here, we are assured of an everlasting life with God if we only accept the salvation that He has made available to us through Christ.  Verse sixteen continues, I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.  Job said he loathed, or hated his days as they were vanity, or nothing.  All he could do was simply stay alive.  We may have days when we feel the same way, that we are just existing without real purpose, but we need to remember that as followers of Christ, the Holy Spirit is always with us to strengthen and guide us.  Verse seventeen asks, What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?  We might well ask what man is that God sets him in such high regard, but we know the answer is that man is God's creation, created with a purpose to love and serve God.  Verse eighteen adds, And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?  Just like Job, we can be sure that no matter how bad life may seem, if we are truly followers of Christ, God will never abandon us.  He will be with us morning, night and every second of the day.  Verse nineteen continues further, How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?  I believe Job was asking why God wouldn't leave him to die.  Job was seeing his life only from his view, and not God's view.  Verse twenty says, I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?  Job had been declared righteous by God and Job had declared his innocence in relationship to his suffering, but here he declared that he had sinned.  No matter how righteous a person may be, all are sinners who can only be restored to God through faith in Christ.  We cannot save ourselves or make ourselves acceptable to God by our own abilities.  Verse twenty-one adds, And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.  Job asked why God could not just forgive him and let him die.  Hopefully, we will never reach that state in life, but even if we do, we must remember that through Christ we are already forgiven.

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