Lectio Divina – Job, Part Three
Posted by Greg on October 29, 2008
Scripture
21 For you have now become nothing;
you see my calamity and are afraid.
22 Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?
Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?
23 Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand’?
Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless’?
24 “Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have gone astray (ESV).
Observation
Job here seems to be challenging his friends who have come to sympathize with him. He says, “For you have become nothing; you see my calamity and are afraid.”
Is Job calling out his friends and asking them to be brave alongside, or for for him? Job then asks a series of questions regarding delivery from evil.
In verse 24, Job calls out to God, and he seems to be asking for vindication. “Teach me, and I will be silent, make me understand how I have gone astray.”
Application
Job’s words here remind me to be brave in the face of tough times. We are not to shrink back in the face of opposition, rather we are to allow ourselves to be taught. One other note, I think it is interesting that Job calls on God to show him where he has gone astray. Perhaps this also should be part of our response to difficulties.
