Job 31

go in a sense quiet for a while and then we'll see Elihu comes in or Elihu however way you want to pronounce it and then finally

Job comes in I mean God comes in at the end and that will be that'll take us to the end of the book in chapter 42.

So for this morning let's just read the the whole chapter 31 and remember he has been speaking for a number of chapters not that he had the thought of speaking in chapters but pretty much he's covered everything that they have his friends have brought before him and he's mixed in some of his own understanding of the things the great things of God and certainly we read that in the early chapters so chapter 31 is not disconnected from what he had said and he says this

I have made a covenant with my eyes why then should I look upon a young woman what is the allotment of God from above and the inheritance of the almighty from on high is it not destruction for the wicked and disaster for the workers of iniquity does he not see my ways and count all my steps if I have walked with falsehood or if my foot has hastened to deceit let me be wait excuse me let me be weighed in a just balance that God may know my integrity if my step has turned from the way or my heart walked after my own eyes or if any spot adheres to my hands then let me sow and another eat yes let my harvest be rooted out if my heart has been enticed by a woman or if I have lurked at my neighbor's door then let my wife grind for another let others bow down over her for that would be wickedness yes it would be iniquity worthy of judgment but that would be a fire that consumes to destruction and would root out all my increase if I despise the cause of my manservant or my maidservant when they complained against me when they said

I do when they shall what shall I do when God rises up when he punishes how shall

I answer him did he not did not he who made me in the womb make them did not the same one fashion us in the womb if I've kept the poor from their desire or caused the eye of the widow to fall or eaten my muscle by myself so that the fatherless may not eat of it but from my mouth

I reared him as a father and from my mother's womb I guided the widow if I've seen anything anyone perish for lack of clothing or any poor man without covering if his heart has not been blessed by me and if he has not warmed with the fleece of my sheep if I've raised my hand against the fatherless when

I saw I had helped in the gate then let my arm fall from my shoulder let my arm be torn from the socket but destruction from God is a terror to me and because of his magnificence

I could not endure if I made gold my hope was said to find gold you are my confidence if I rejoice because my wealth is great and because my hand had gained much if I have observed the sun when it shines or the moon moving in its brightness so that my heart has been secretly enticed and my mouth has kissed my hand this also would be an iniquity worthy of judgment for I had

I would have denied God who is above if I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me or lifted myself up when evil found him indeed

I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for a curse on his soul if the men of my tent have not said who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat but no sojourner had to lodge in the street for I have opened my doors to the traveler if I've covered my transgressions as Adam by hiding iniquity in my bosom because I feared the great multitude and dreaded the contempt of families so that I kept silent and did not go out to the door oh that I had one to hear me here is my mark oh that the almighty would answer me that my prosecutor had written a book surely

I would carry it on my shoulder and bind it on me like a crown I would declare to him the number of my steps like a prince

I would approach him if my lamb cries out against me if its furrows weep together if I've eaten the fruit of it without money or cause its owners to lose their lives then let thistles grow instead of wheat and weeds instead of barley the words of Job are ended so as as I said it's not disconnected from what went before friends but in this chapter he just seems to go through from one thing to another thing to another thing and almost if you will just reminding all those that are have listened to him and all those that have watched him that he has examined himself in so many different ways and again the real big issue is of course that the accusation against Job is he has no integrity and and I do think what he's doing here is he's excuse me he's just continually going through it and showing and seeking to prove that he does have integrity and that his integrity is if you will the defense that he has what

I want to do as we look at the chapter consider it there are so many different things if you have noticed how many times like in verse five if I have and then if you look down verse seven if my step and verse nine if my heart and he continually follows that course verse 13 if I have despised in verse 16 if I have kept the poor and on and on and on if I've seen anyone perish in verse 19 if his heart has not been blessed by me in verse 24 if I've made gold my hope see you see you get the idea he keeps going through these different things in his life and examining himself and what's the worth let's just think about it for a minute

I don't know where my own hair is let's just think about it what's the worth of examining yourself is that let's put it this way is there worth in examining yourself in considering the the cost of your life is that a good thing to do or is that something we ought to avoid no it's a good thing okay what is what's the profit that could come out of that it keeps us obedient for one thing okay or it can keep us obedient I guess okay these things are like shovels okay obedience it does tend to lead us down the path of knowing where we deviate from from being obedient what else would you agree that self -examination leads to if you will

I'll just put it this way in a sense rest what I mean by that is in other words you look at your life and and and you consider the different things that enter into your life and how you've handled them there should be a sense of peace shouldn't there or sometimes there's there's this agree sometimes guilt comes out of it um

I'm not so sure the world is that thrilled about self -examination and the reason why

I said as you hear people say well you shouldn't shouldn't get on yourself too much you shouldn't shouldn't be too hard on yourself that is not really

I don't really believe that that's a biblical thing do you that we shouldn't be hard on us because really what are you saying when people say that don't be too hard on yourself um sometimes what it means is that I don't worry about it and should we worry and I don't mean worry in the sense of the wrong time but should we be concerned about the way we live our life should we be concerned about the things that we say the things that we don't say the things that we do the way we interact with other people sure um surely

I would think that we would agree that those things are important um maybe not to everyone but certainly in the in the realm of being before God because what's the reality is

God sees us anyway there's two areas too to consider and I'm going to try to show it to you in these verses as we move through it that Job looks at his internal actions and his external that pretty much covers it all right in other words should we just examine how we act outwardly or should we also examine how we think inwardly

I think these two are most important because again um now some people will say well this doesn't really matter because it's just between me but is not the truth and the reality it's not just between you because again is

God concerned only with this or is God certainly concerned about this right and if you think about even when

Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and from where comes all these things that happen adulteries and murders and fornications and all those things they come from where in the heart so when you think about it you think about a proverb like proverb four proverbs four where it says keep your what keep your heart with all diligence for out of it flows the issues of life so think about that am

I just to make sure that that this is this is in check or should

I realize that everything and anything if you will is before God so so some of these verses he to me and again just my understanding like from verse 1 through verse 15 and we'll just talk about it for a little bit

I think he's dealing with things that are internal and then from verse 16 through verse 23 and we'll we'll cut through it again real quick but I think now then he moves to the external and then verses 24 to 28 to me he goes back into internal things and that carries on in verse 29 to 32 and then from verse 38 to 40 he kind of again moves back into the external so I think it's essential for us in our lives to consider both aspects and that you and I need to be as diligent um let me put it to you this way how many of us would not say when we gather together like this morning that we're not if you will very cautious about external things um that we're careful how we speak to one another right we're careful how we deport ourselves we're careful about what people will observe but let me ask you a question how many of us are just as concerned about what we think

I don't think you can do the people you can do the external without the internal but if you do the internal and not and just if you don't do one if you don't do the internal and the external that's all you're trying to do that you're trying to be a people pleaser you're trying to you're you could be a hypocrite right or you could be legalistic if you're just trying to do external types of things yeah and and James tells us to examine ourselves in the mirror hey you look yourself in the mirror michael jackson right i'm not michael jackson but i'm just saying you tell this too right yeah i mean if you think about it which one is if you had to think about it which one is more difficult any thoughts which one is harder to control this or this we can act anyway we're pretty good actors right i think i think the fact that we can act anyway that limits us on what we say and do or whatever right but in my opinion you tell me if i'm wrong the internal can greatly dictate the external it absolutely does and that's that's the point right that's why what jesus said he that looks on a woman with lust has already committed adultery in his heart right or vice versa i mean again so just so people don't think it doesn't have an impact on women but my whole point is that i do believe that this is the one this is the one that gives us the most trouble and to your point if we have this in check will that not follow more than likely this follows this rather than this following that you started out by saying self -examination i think self -examination relates to the internal a lot more than it does the external yeah yeah um and remember what paul peter says he says examine yourself paul says it right examine yourself to see what see whether you're in the faith prove your own self know you're not that christ is in you lest you be reprobate so think about it as we go through this in that he kind of job job maintains what's going on inside because certainly what's going outside and job what's going on outside of job's life is is a bunch of mess right i mean he and remember now as we've been working through this this this didn't just come up one night and leave the next night this has been months job has been suffering in this condition for a long time and you would think that as time goes on and then his friends will come in against him and they've said many cruel things in that way that you would think that he could very easily be worn down and again if we maintain this then this becomes easy to control so so let's look at it a little bit and and just let me read the first that's all i really want to do this morning let me just read the eyes why then should i look upon a young woman now that certainly is something that you would think is controlled where i would say internally right and uh and again it can make it can apply in many other areas but job makes a point of saying that i have made a couple of miles why then should i look upon a young woman for what is the allotment of god from above and the inheritance of the almighty on high do you remember um how it says that we should always be ravished with the wife that god gave us if you will and and that also includes the other way around that the wife should be always uh thrilled with uh the husband that god has given her right baby just think about it when job says this he's gone far past what his friends have made accusations to and and he kind of says uh look look at him verse four does he not see my ways and all my steps and again that's the thought of this self -examination and i don't want to say um being too critical but being non -critical is dangerous isn't it in other words you just let your thoughts run rampant and and again you say things like uh um well it's just my thoughts and i think i've probably mentioned this before i know i have but i remember there was one incident when i was working and we would go out to dinner a lot because we were traveling and and there would be all kinds of people from uh presidents of companies to salesmen to operators to just sometimes there would even be uh um drivers involved in the meetings but i remember one time we were we it was a big group guys and we're sitting around and we're eating dinner and and if i hope you understand when men get together sometimes they really and i'm not going to excuse women but i i've been in situations where men get together and all of a sudden they become very uh bravado all of a sudden they're like you know they're the things that they talk about the things the way they they uh function changes a little bit when they get in groups and i can remember specifically one time that uh some woman walked by and everybody's head went like that i mean everybody's and you know and then all of a sudden the the silly stuff starts coming coming out of the hearts of people and the mouths of people and i remember and because i i knew i was putting myself a little bit in jeopardy and i said something in the way of you're not to look at women with with a lustful eye and i can remember and i think was one of the vice presidents or whatever of i don't know if he's a customer of my company anyway he said to me hey we're just window shopping and i thought you're just window shopping so so so as long as you control this this is cool right is that the case no it's not the case and again whether you and i are um willing to admit it god sees the very thoughts and intents of our hearts therefore we ought to give them more diligence and i think joe is stating that that he has in that particular area he has sought to maintain his integrity before god integrity before god is what really matters isn't it because really um we're not going to be fully understood by other people how many times do we find ourselves in a situation where we think that people are not really understanding what we're trying to say or trying to do the real issue again is what's going on in our hearts and so he says that and again in verse five if i've walked with falsehood or if my foot has hastened to deceit let me be weighed in the just balance that god may know my integrity again um not always something that can be discerned outwardly but certainly something that we ought to consider inwardly if i my foot is hastened to deceit now you think about that and just stop for a minute about that is there anyone here that would would be willing to say they've never been deceitful we all admit we're guilty okay i'm just i know you're so um taken up by all this and that's why you can't even speak but how many of us would have to admit there's been times in our life when we've been deceitful and nobody else has known it like we've kind of maneuvered things around whether it be in the way we did something or the way we said something and we've kind of tried to manipulate a situation and again where does that really take its cue from internal right and then it spills out externally so as he says this again to me what he's saying is that he has maintained his integrity in his heart if my verse 7 if my step has turned from the way or my heart walked after my eyes if any spot adheres to my hands let me know then let me so and another eat let my harvest be rooted out again job is really very um he examines himself and that doesn't mean he finds himself to be sinless right we're not talking about perfection right because there's no one that can maintain that um let me ask you a question ever been bothered by the thought you think to a point where you almost want to say go away that you get to the point where you're thinking about something and you're thinking about something and you want it to go away and for all of that many times what doesn't go away and you try to almost shut it out and maybe you can shut it off and then next thing you know it's back there and so sometimes it um it's easy to in a sense get upset with yourself and so he says this if i've really been that way then then let me show in another eat let my harvest be rooted out if my verse nine if my heart has been enticed by a woman or if i've lurked at my neighbor's door then let my wife grind for another as if he's saying god if i have not followed your law then then let me suffer the consequences and let it be that um let it come on me as it as it ought to because he says that in verse that would be wickedness yeah it would be iniquity and worthy of judgment for that would be a fire that consumes to destruction and would root out all my increase i don't really want to deal too much on this one thought but just to finish it up how many how many marriages have been destroyed by a lustful eye just think about it how many how many families have been completely torn apart because of unfaithfulness in the marriage covenant right and i would venture to take a leap and say every one of us know a situation where someone we know has been ruined on that according to that principle whether it be um and sometimes in our own families we've seen the results of something like that and again um that's why i he says it would be fire that consumes to destruction and would root out all my increase you and i need to really think about these things as we consider job's plight if you will and then he goes on and he says if i've despised the cause of my manservant or my maidservant when they complained against me and again the the whole idea of being responsible for what we have been given in a sense and being responsible for how we've treated others and many times again well often that could be seen in externals but again i think it proceeds from here you know i think about the thing in um you had brought up james right remember the section in james where it says someone comes into the into the church basically and they're dressed in a three -piece suit and what's the what's the response sometimes that comes out of it hey you look at you come sit up front right and then some somebody comes in and they got raggedy clothes on and and all of a sudden we're like oh no you're in the back right and that kind of a thing it breeds um it breeds all manner of evils that will proceed out of it one of the things i like about going to set free with those guys that are there is those guys are what they are whether they they don't try to put on an air of being something else and and i think that you can almost at times pick up when someone's not being genuine and and i think it's easier to to relate and interact with someone who is what they're who is what they are whether good or bad whether good or bad but you at least you know where you stand just think about it i don't want to get into a conversation because i know where it only is but but one of the things that people will many people say they like donald trump for is because you see what you see is what you get right and and now for any of us to think that he's not deceitful at times would be foolish right but there is a there is um and again i'm not trying to tell you uh what to think but there is a reality in which he pretty much shoots his mouth off and you're pretty much getting what what it is and and sometimes that's better right to me it is rather than someone who's just looking at you smiling while they're cursing you at the same time or just trying to figure out how to stab you at the same time what do you think about that do you think that we should be we should be complete what people see should be what we really are and again that's certainly that was the thing about christ right that jesus never varied he was a sinless man and it worked its way out in every situation of life and again that's not easy for us to do and as joe goes through this that's what i think he's trying to set forth and look at verse just verse 16 if i've kept back the poor from their desire or cause the eyes of the widow to fail or eaten my muscle by myself so that the fatherless may not eat of it but from my youth i read him as a father and again what i think he's trying to say is i have maintained as best i could my manner of life can we say that before god and it definitely matters it definitely matters if you think about it um in in that sense you can go into the gospels and we could see one how jesus uh spoke about that because remember when he taught about entering into the kingdom and he said well done thou good and faithful servant what was the what was behind that when i was hungry you what you fed me when i was lonely you visited me and those things that you did you did unto me because when you did it to those who love me therefore you did it to me and again if you think about these things these are important ways for us even how we view people um kids have sometimes kids are cruel wouldn't you agree um kids will say pretty much anything um and then as you begin to to hopefully grow up and get a little better understanding you start realizing that you're not as perfect as you think you are and that making fun of that don't we have that problem when in society even when people kids especially in schools um they're being bullied by others right and they're being picked on by others and now it's come to the point where because of all the availability of it that it's it's caused at times even others to take their own life or supposedly take their own life for that reason but again all these things go on um and job has pretty much covered almost everything verse 19 if i've seen anyone perish for lack of clothing or any poor man without covering if his heart has not been blessed by me if he's not been worn with the fleece of my sheep if i've raised my hand against the fatherless when i saw i had helped in the gate then let my arm fall from my shoulder again um we're not our own and we're responsible and we're responsible before god which therefore makes us at some in some ways responsible for others you think about the good samaritan right what was the with the priest boy he was he was all clean and sharp and he crossed the street and then the levi he didn't do much better right it wasn't till that samaritan came by and saw that man in his condition do we seek to remedy other people's situations are we are we those that really want to help or are we those that just really want to be left alone again that's uh these are not easy things to answer again you could write it off just say uh yeah it don't really matter it does really matter then he goes on and i'm just trying to get through we just got a minute or so left then jumps in verse 24 about his his desire if i've made gold my hope or said to find gold you are my confidence if i rejoice because my wealth was great and because my hand had gained much if i've observed the sun when it shines and the moon moving in its brightness so that my heart has been secretly enticed and my mouth has kissed my hand this would be an iniquity worthy of judgment for i would have denied god who was above again how many people in their hearts internally have the great desire to have as many other people have great wealth great notoriety great power great this great that and have it to the point where it actually controls you are we can are we able to say god gives god takes away god has given me whatever he's given me for a very specific purpose and that i should be content doesn't mean i should be um inactive but it should mean that i don't rejoice because um i just have a lot how many people do we meet like that do you ever meet people that um they have a lot and they want you to know that they have a lot they want you to be fully aware that um we watch house hunters sometimes and it always gets me where that's the one huh there's nothing else on yeah there's nothing else on anyway you'll see people in um especially when sometimes we'll watch buying an island where you can actually buy an island and you know the realtor they'll do the beginning out with the realtor and say well what are you looking for and what's your budget and i can remember some people will say you know seven and a half we can't go above seven and a half million that's their heart yeah exactly yeah let me see if i got any change for you um and and you can almost tell as the and as these shows go on that the people are really happy with themselves and they're happy with and again i'm not saying it's wrong to have desires and to be if you can fulfill your desires that's great isn't but when it becomes um a stumble block and then it's not right if i've rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me well that's a lot there's a lot in that verse isn't there verse 29 if i have rejoiced in the destruction of him who hated me or lifted myself up when evil found him how many of us would say that's not a struggle that goes on here internally where we secretly want to see other people if not get destroyed we'd like to see them get knocked down a little bit again these are issues of the heart brothers and sisters and and it's interesting to me that joe in a sense ends his words with in this area where he's talking not only about the things that have gone outside in his life but the things that have gone on inside in his heart so um when we continue now if you want read ahead if you want read chapters 32 and 33 and just see how