“Then...and Now” – FBC Morning Light (1/25/24)

What a good Thursday morning to you. Today in our chronological reading through the Bible, we're in chapters 29 through 31 of the book of Job, and we're coming to a place where Job says, I'm done. His words are ended.

The Contrast Between Job’s Former Glory and Present Affliction

But before we get there, let's look at chapters 30 and 31 in a very summary fashion. In chapter 30, Job points out how much brighter and the glimmer of the glory days seems when we're going through great difficulty and hardship.

You see this as he points out the way things used to be. He says, I used to have plenty, I used to have the respect of people, people would listen to me when I spoke, people would stand up when I walked in the room, and all of that kind of thing.

And this is the way things used to be, and how much brighter that seems when you contrast that with the way things are now. So in chapter 29, he's looking at the glory of the way things used to be, and it was great, it was bright, it was wonderful.

Chapter 30, though, he repeats the but now or and now expression three different times, and now things aren't so great. He says in verse 1 of chapter 30, now they mock at me, men younger than I. In verse 9, he says, and now I am their taunting song.

Yes, I am their byword, I used to have their respect, and now I'm their taunting song. And in verse 16, he says, and now my soul is poured out because of my plight, the days of affliction take hold of me.

I didn't have those afflictions in the glory days, but now I do. And truly, I'm sure you've experienced this as well, when you're going through a time of great difficulty, you can look back at times of relative prosperity, and they seem all the more bright and glorious, those days gone by.

Job’s Integrity, Self-Discipline, and Compassion in Chapter 31

But then in chapter 31, as Job wraps up his argument against his three friends, he just shows that the ways of suffering are all the more incongruous under these different circumstances. So he talks about his own life, the way he's lived his life.

He's lived in a way that whereby he practiced godly self-discipline. In chapter 31, verse 1, he says, I've made a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I look upon a young woman? In other words, he's saying, I've made a covenant that I'm not going to give myself to visual lust.

He's practiced godly self-discipline. In verse 5, he says, I've walked with honesty. And he does this, he goes through this list with a bunch of if-then statements. He says, if I have walked with falsehood, let me be weighed on honest scales that God may know my integrity.

He's saying, I have lived an honest life. In verses 9 and following, he says he's been, meritally, he's been faithful. He says, if my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I've looked at my neighbor's door, let my wife grind for another.

He says, I've been faithfully faithful to my wife. In verses 13 and then 16 to 21, he says, my life has been marked by compassion. He says, if I have despised the cause of my male or female servant when they complained against me, and so forth.

And in verse 16, he says, if I have kept the poor from their desire, or caused the eyes of the widow to fail, and so on and so forth. And basically he's saying, I haven't done any of those things. I've taken care of my servants.

I have been compassionate and generous with the poor. And in verses 24 through 27, he says, not to boast, but I practiced humility. Verse 24, he says, if I have made gold my hope, or said to find gold, you are my confidence.

If I've rejoiced because my wealth was great. No, he hasn't lifted his heart up in pride because of his possessions. He says in verse 26, if I observed the sun when it shines, the moon moving in brightness, so that my heart has been secretly enticed and my mouth has kissed my hand.

In other words, he hasn't lifted his heart up in pride and arrogance over how prosperous his life was. And then in verse 29, he says, if I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted myself up when evil found him.

If the men of my tent have not said, who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat, and so on and so forth. If I have covered my transgressions as Adam by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, because I feared the great multitude.

He's recounting the fact that he has lived his life in a humble fashion. Though God has prospered him, he hasn't lifted his heart up in pride over his possessions. He hasn't looked down on those who were his enemies and tried to destroy them, or rejoiced at their destruction when it came.

He hasn't withheld his goods, his provision from other people. He's been a generous man. And he says all that to suggest how all the more incongruous is all this suffering. If I hadn't lived like this, then you could understand why I'm going through what I'm going through.

Trusting God When the Righteous Suffer

And when he comes right down to it, he says, I don't know what more to say. The words of Job are ended at the end of chapter 31. Well, maybe you have felt like Job. Maybe you have looked at your life, and you admit, I haven't been perfect.

Obviously, who is? But basically, I've lived my life in a way that I thought was pleasing to the Lord. I've been generous. I've been compassionate. I haven't been stingy. I haven't been arrogant. I haven't been proud.

I haven't rejoiced when people that I know are my enemies have hurt and suffered. So why am I going through this? I don't understand this. Well, this is where we have to come back to what Job said in a statement of faith much earlier.

He knows the way that I take, and when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Well, I trust that you have come to that understanding as well. And don't look at the glory days in light of the present circumstances and say, what in the world?

Why am I going through this present stuff when I had it so good? And don't look at the virtues of your life and say, well, because I've been so virtuous, why do I have to, why do I have to deal with this hard stuff?

No, instead turn to the Lord and trust in him and know that when you have been refined, you'll come forth as gold. So our Father and our God, give us the faith to think like this and then to act in this way.

And this we pray in Jesus name and for his sake. Amen. All right. Well, listen, I hope the Lord gives you a good rest of your day. May he bless you in it richly. Good day.