Lectio Divina – Job, Part Four

Scripture

Job 10:1-3

1 “I loathe my life;
I will give free utterance to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, Do not condemn me;
let me know why you contend against me.
3 Does it seem good to you to oppress,
to despise the work of your hands
and favor the designs of the wicked? (ESV)

Observation

Job is here being very honest with the state of his life, and he decides to give free reign to his complaints. It was from the bitterness of his soul that his complaints came forth.

He is again asking God to not condemn him, and he asks why God is contending against him.

Job also challenges God, in effect calling him out, suggesting that God enjoys oppressing and despising his creation – and that he favors the wicked!

Application

I wonder if Job as a book is included in the scriptures to remind us that God values straight talk, that he wants us to speak honestly with him. Job’s words border on insolence. He speaks from a bitter soul. Perhaps later in the book God will set Job in his place. But for now, Job is speaking with a firmness that reflects a frustration over his circumstances.

Lectio Divina – Job, Part Four

Scripture

Job 7:20-21

20 If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?
Why have you made me your mark?
Why have I become a burden to you?
21 Why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in the earth;
you will seek me, but I shall not be” (ESV).

Observation

Job here asks some direct questions of the almighty.

He starts by asking, “really, what do I matter to you? I am small, you are big.”

Job then asks why God has made him his mark and why he has become a burden to God.

Finally, Job asks God why he won’t forgive his iniquities.

Application

I chose these verses this morning because there are times when God seems terribly silent, when we cry out for answers and none seem to come. We sometimes may feel that we are being targeted for some reason. And then we may feel that in our asking for relief and for answers, we become a burden to God.

Prayer

Lord, I pray believing that you will hear me. I want to be a believer in your goodness and in your desire to give us the best life, the one that will be most honorable to you. Please hear me, and respond by showing us in a tangible way that you care about us. Amen.

Lectio Divina – Job, Part Three

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.

Lectio Divina – Job, Part Two

Scripture

Job 3:1

“After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.”

(ESV)

Observation

Right on the heels of Job’s, “…blessed be the name of the Lord” in chapter 1, Satan again comes before the Lord and declares that the only reason Job has maintained his integrity is because the Lord has not allowed Satan to attack his physical body. God then agreed to allow Satan to inflict Job, only withholding Satan’s right to kill him. According to Job 2:7 “…Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.” And according to Job 2:12 When his friends “saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven.”

After this come the words of 3:1 and then a chapter full of his words cursing his birth.

Application

Here is a man from whom everything has been taken. And here he is cursing the day he was born. And God allowed it! Satan came before God and, in effect, challenged him to a dual. God presented one of his saints, allowing Satan to anything short of taking his life. Job honestly struggled with God’s goodness in the face of his circumstances.

I am honestly not sure how to apply this book at this point. For now, I will take Job’s honest statement of his feeling to heart. God is capable, and willing to hear difficult words that come from an honest soul.

Prayer

Lord, there are many times in life where we don’t understand the injustices of life. We don’t understand why things happen the way they do. At this point, I am holding on to Job’s honesty as an example for me. I commit to giving you my whole heart, frustrations and all when I pray. Amen.

Lectio Divina – Job, Part One

Scripture: Job 1:8 & 21

8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”

21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

(ESV)

Observation

Job is an interesting book in many ways. It is an interesting study in the interplay of good and evil. It will be good for me to consider the book in light of current circumstances, and in light of the loss of my father over the summer.

Job was a righteous man, with great wealth and children who apparently weren’t so righteous.

One day, “the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.” The Lord asks him where he has come from, and after Satan answers, he asks him to consider his servant Job, whom he knows to be righteous. Satan accepts God’s challenge and causes calamity to befall Job’s household. Everything that would seem to be important to Job from an earthly standpoint is taken from him.

In verse 21, Job responds to the calamities with faith: All that has been given to him is of the Lord anyway. “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Application

There are a lot of ways to apply these verses. First, I see the Lord suggesting Job to Satan. There are a lot of theological questions that one could get into here, but that would take a lot longer that I want to take just now. For my purposes in this post, I am going to concentrate on the righteousness of Job. The Lord obviously had confidence in the righteousness of Job. I suppose this confidence had  been built over a long period of time. Job had demonstrated his willingness to walk in obedience to his God.

In verse 21, I see Job choosing to trust God in even the most difficult of circumstances. Job’s faith in the goodness of God was rooted in his not finding his worth in his worldly possessions, and in his understanding that all gifts come from God anyway, and so if possessions are taken away, God does not change, nor should our view of him change.

Prayer

Lord, I do not understand Job, or the verses I have recorded. I do not understand God giving Job’s circumstances over someone whom he knew would bring destruction into his life. I do have some sense of Job’s response to the turmoil in his life. He held loosely to his possessions, and to his family (not sure how to thing about this point). His response at this point points toward a deep commitment to the goodness of God that supercedes the circumstances of his life. Job held onto past experiences of God’s goodness to give him faith for future grace. Job’s faith transcended his circumstances.

Lord, in the the midst of my time of loss, please remind me often of your goodness and help me to stay rooted in the believe that you want the best for me, no matter my current circumstances, and help me to believe always in your goodness.

Amen