Job 5

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And I don't think we'll deal with every single verse, but we'll look at it in maybe little bitty chunks.
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But remember where we've been.
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So the last two chapters, and again, as it's broken out in chapters, but the last two chapters have been the first speech of Eliphaz.
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And remember how Eliphaz, if you will, like Bildad and Zophaz, as we'll see, they seek to comfort Job.
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But as we will see it, Job actually looks at them and he says, you're miserable comforters.
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Basically, he's saying, you're of no use to me.
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As a matter of fact, you're actually making things worse rather than better.
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And I want to ask us to think about, well, let me ask us to, let's read the text.
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That's probably the best way to start.
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So Job chapter 6.
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Then Job answered and said, oh, that my grief was fully weighed and my calamity laid with it in the balances.
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For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea.
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Therefore, my words have been rash, for the arrows of the Almighty are within me.
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My spirit drinks in their poison.
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The terrors of God are arrayed against me.
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Does the wild donkey bray when it has grass? Or does the ox low over its father? Can flavorless food be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? My soul refuses to touch them.
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They are loathsome food to me.
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Oh, that I might have my request that God would grant me the thing that I long for, that it would please God to crush me, that he would loose his hand and cut me off, and then I would still have comfort, though in anguish I would exalt.
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Let him not spare, for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
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What strength do I have that I should hope? And what is the end that I should prolong my life? Is my strength the strength of stones? Is my flesh bronze? Is my help not within me? And is success driven from me? To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
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My brothers have dealt deceitfully like a brook, like the streams of the brooks that pass away, which are dark.
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Because of the ice and into which the snow vanishes when it is warm, they cease to flow.
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When it is hot, they vanish from their place.
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The paths of their way turn aside.
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They go nowhere and perish.
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The caravans of Timah look, and the travelers of Sheba hope for them, and they are disappointed, because they were confident they came there and are confused, for now you are nothing.
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You see terror and are afraid.
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Did I ever say, bring something to me, or offer a bribe for me from your wealth, or deliver me from the enemy's hands, or redeem me from the hand of the oppressors? Teach me and I will hold my tongue.
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Cause me to understand wherein I have erred, how forceful are right words, but what does your arguing prove? Do you intend to reprove my words and the speeches of a desperate one, which are as wind? Yes, you overwhelm the fatherless.
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You undermine the friend.
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Now therefore be pleased and look at me, for I would never lie to your face.
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Turn now, let there be no injustice.
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Yes, turn again, my righteousness shall stand.
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Is there any injustice on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern the unsavory? So, and a couple things before we look at the details of some of this.
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Remember that this is written kind of with poetic thought, and so sometimes it appears as if, what is he saying? What is he trying to get at? And the whole book really is written in that way in many places, except as we looked at in the beginning when it was more of a narrative, and at the end, we'll see the narrative again.
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But I want us to also think about this.
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I'm gonna ask you a question.
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If we had not looked at chapter one and chapter two in the book of Job, which told us what? What were we told in chapter one and chapter two? We were told that, if you will, the curtain was pulled back and we saw the scene in heaven, and we saw Satan come before the Lord and make an accusation against Job, and God gave him permission to touch him first in his wealth, and then even in his family, and then he comes back in chapter two, and he still accuses Job, and God says, you could touch his life now, but you can't take it.
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I wanna ask you a question.
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If you and I had not read that, if those two chapters were at the end of the book, do you not think that we would have a different outlook on what we read in the first 40 chapters? In other words, we kind of have been given in the very beginning of the book the reality of what's taking place.
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And his friends come, they never read chapter one and chapter two, right? Neither did Job read chapter one and chapter two.
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So you can imagine how puzzling the situation is.
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We sit here, and again, we know what, it's almost like knowing the end from the beginning.
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And I would think, if you and I were to watch a movie, and we already knew the ending, or we already knew the reason why, it really would change the outlook as we walked through the details, and as the movie unfolded.
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So I wanted us to think about that, because I've been thinking about that, and I've been thinking about, his friends are really miserable comforters, and we'll deal with that as we continue along.
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But Job is also very, very perplexed.
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And I wanted to make that application, just in the beginning, do we have the ending given to us in our own lives? Like in other words, do we get the chapter one, chapter two part? Uh-oh, one no, one sort of, and seven I don't knows.
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Or I ain't answering one or the other.
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Just think about it now.
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Do we get the answer, do we get the finality, and the final scene of our own lives ahead of time? How it ends, but I mean, or when, but from a biblical standpoint, if we're in Christ, we kinda know that part of it, you know? But we have the, Okay, so if you will, would you not all agree that we have this, and this being the veil, right? This being this world, and this being that world.
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We do have the end, don't we? And what is the end? God is faithful.
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He who began a good work in us will continue it until the day of Christ.
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We're sure of victory, we're sure of the outcome, right? The war is over, but here's the thing, and this is where the issue really lies, right? Is the war is over, but the battles aren't.
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And so you and I are kinda in between this, aren't we? We know the end, we just don't always know the means to the end.
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So just as Job is in this situation, and Job, remember now, Job does not lose his faith.
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He complains, he murmurs, he's depressed, and we'll look at all these different things, but you could not find anywhere in the book of Job where Job doesn't understand the end.
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Because remember, he makes those great statements.
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Though he slay me, what? Yet I will trust him.
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I will see my Redeemer in that day.
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So you and I can relate to this, or should be able to relate to this, in that sense that we know the ending, we just don't know how the scenes are gonna unfold to get to that end, right? And also, this should be something that, and as we'll see as we go through this, this should be something that causes us great pause or great cautions in making judgments.
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And what I mean by that, Job's friends basically, what are they basing their argument on? What are they basing their words to Job on? What's currently happening to him? Right, they're basing it on, aren't they? They're basing it on what they see.
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They're basing it on the fact that Job was wealthy, healthy, admired, considered by many, and now they see Job.
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Remember, when they first came to Job, they didn't even wanna get close to him.
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They didn't even recognize him.
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So they're basing it on sight, and they're also basing it on, as we've been saying, and we'll see again, over and over, the sown-reap principle.
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They are forcing on Job what they perceive is the reality, that Job has sinned.
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The evidence is overwhelming.
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We see it, Job.
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Therefore, you've sown, and guess what? You get to reap.
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And you and I need to think about that, because I think many times in our lives, we make judgments of other people and other people's situation, and we base it on, right? But should we not remember that if we're gonna make a perception of something, that we should base it on this, that God is going to make sure every one of His come to Him? So we ought to be careful when we make these judgments, and I'm going to say, every one of us makes judgments.
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Every one of us makes a perception of things, and many times, our perception is faulty because it's based on that, and then from there, we go to this, right? Well, just look at their lives, and that's an evidence of what they're like.
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Somebody once said that extraordinary afflictions are not always a sign of extraordinary sins.
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Let me say that again.
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Extraordinary afflictions are not always a true sign of extraordinary sins.
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You understand what that's saying? In other words, we make these determinations, and because we are so geared to the things of this world, and the senses that we have, that we assume if someone is greatly afflicted, that's because they have greatly done something wrong, and that's not a true principle.
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If that was a true principle, then what would we think of the apostles who suffered great, or Paul, who suffered the, and he describes it, of all the afflictions that came upon Paul.
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If we would've just judged that way, wouldn't we say, man, Paul must be some sort of hypocrite, some sort of liar? So just think about that as we go through it, and you can almost understand, in part, how these three friends, they come to Job, and basically, they're gonna base all their thoughts on the things of this world, and the principle of sowery, that's their premise.
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We gotta be careful what our premise is.
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Our premise oughta be that God is working in each and every one of his own to sanctify them, and again, the sanctification part is on God's part, isn't it? Like, in other words, how God moves you is not any indication of how God's gonna move the other person, right? And so again, we make perceptions based on us.
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We oughta make perceptions based on God's word, and God's word says that he is faithful in bringing each and every one of us to himself, some by the fire, some by the flood, some through great trial, what's the last part of it? But all through the blood.
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Some by the fire, some by the flood, some through great trial, but all through the blood.
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So you think about that, and as we get into this, and you begin to understand how Job, Job's getting angry.
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Eliphaz has said some really harsh things.
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One of the things he said we found in chapter four where he goes on and he tells Job, hey, you know what? You've done a lot of good things, but now it comes on you and you can't handle it.
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And that's basically what's, I think, has put a fire in Job's belly in the midst of all his sufferings.
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Imagine that now.
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You're in bad shape, I'm in bad shape.
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Something has happened in my life, and you come over to visit me, and you say, hi, Andy, how are you? Well, if you weren't such a sinner, this wouldn't have happened.
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I mean, which one of us wouldn't say, hey, man, you see the door? You're gone, right? Or we would at least think that, right? We might be too kind to say it.
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So let's walk through a couple of these verses and just keep that in mind.
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Extraordinary afflictions are not always a true sign of extraordinary sins.
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All right, so Job answered in verse one.
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Job answered and said, oh, that my grief will fully weigh to my calamity laid in the balances.
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For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea.
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Just stop there and think about it.
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Job's response to Eliphaz is, I think he's basically saying, you don't know how hard this has been.
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You have no clue, Eliphaz, what has happened in my life.
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I know you see the things that are outward, but you do not understand my calamity and my grief.
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And if you would just weigh it out, if you would just consider me for a moment, Eliphaz and Zophaz and Bildad, because they're sitting there listening and they're loading their guns for their turn.
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He says, if my calamity was weighed out, you wouldn't be talking the way you do.
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And in verse three, he says, for then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea.
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And he says, therefore my words have been rash.
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I think what Job is saying is, I know I have spoken wrong.
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Because remember that's what we read in chapter three and chapter four.
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That Job was complaining about what? The day he was born and why did the light ever come upon me and why was I ever weaned by my mother and I should have just died before birth and all those different things.
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So I think what Job is saying is he understands that his life has, his words have been rash.
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His words are not the choicest words that he should have spoken.
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But he's basically putting it on a scale and saying, well, you know, if you only weighed my problems against my situation, you would have a different outlook because my situation is totally grievous.
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And again, let us not forget, he's lost everything, right? We were just talking with Mary, right? Still living in a situation till you can get back into your abode, right? And it puts you out.
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It definitely puts us all out.
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Man, a light bulb goes out and we're set aside.
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Don't take, it don't take much to ruffle our edges, if you will.
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But you just think about it.
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And Job's saying, yeah, I know I shouldn't have said some of the things I said, but at the same time, you don't fully understand how this has gone and fallen out to me.
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And that's why he says in verse four, and it's interesting what he says.
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He says, for the arrows of the Almighty are within me.
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And my spirit drinks in their poison.
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And the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
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Now, those are interesting.
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It's an interesting thought if you think about it.
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Do you, would you say that Job is complaining against God? It's also an illustration of what's happening.
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Excellent, right, that's exactly it.
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There's two parts to this.
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One, he is, he's looking at a situation and because of that situation, see, Job's not much better than his friends at this point.
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His friends have done that very thing, right? And the very thing that they've done now, Job has taken on himself.
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And I thought about this when he says, the terrors of God are against me.
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And again, I wanna go back to the fact that we know what happened in the beginning.
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Remember chapter one, chapter two? Were the terrors of the Almighty within him? I think he assumes that God has forcefully done this to him.
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Now, I wanna be careful because I don't wanna get into, too much into who did it because ultimately who does everything? God, right? Yeah, but if you think about it, it really, this really is the working of who? The evil ones, right? He's the one that came before God and said, hey, let me work on him and you'll see what he'll do.
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He'll curse you to your face.
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By the way, Job doesn't curse God.
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Cursing God and complaining against God are two different things.
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But it really isn't God that's, this is where you can get into that discussion, right? It really isn't God, but it is God, isn't it? Because God sits over everything.
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Remember, Satan, evil one, is a creature, right? Not omniscient, not omnipotent, not boundless, not unequaled.
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Everything is subject to the permission of God.
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And I know we could have this long discussion on whether God decrees or God permits and that's a good discussion, but maybe not for now.
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But Job makes this statement because as I said, Job hasn't read chapter one and chapter two.
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So when he says this, my spirit drinks in their poison and the terrors of God are read against me.
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Can you imagine the confusion in the heart of Job? Because Job maintains his integrity.
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Have you not, have we not all at times questioned why God does what he does? Anyone here not ever questioned God's working? Good morning.
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No, all of us would have to say that we have questioned the outworking of God in our lives.
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Right? And some of us do it for extended periods and that's where sometimes it's almost like I won't forget this.
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I'm gonna hold on to this.
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It could be a root of bitterness.
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It could be where we begin to grudge things and hold things.
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And then we begin to blame not only God but we blame other people too, right? Because we say, well, God did this and God used this one and we begin to make accusations.
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And again, none of these things are really healthy for us.
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New Job chapter six, bro.
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So when he says in verse 40, arrows of the Almighty are within me and my spirit drinks in their poison and the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
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You and I just got to keep that in mind that Job doesn't fully understand his own situation.
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And certainly how could his friends understand his situation fully? And if only they had known what had gone on behind the curtain, but they don't.
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So then he says this in verse five.
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He says, does the wild donkey bray when it has grass? But does the ox low over its father? Now, just think about it.
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What do you think he's getting at there? He's satisfied, he's not complaining.
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I mean, I don't know if that's what it's saying but it sounds like it's saying that.
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Yeah, I think that that's partially true.
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I think what he's driving at is, hey, listen, if I was still in my previous condition, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.
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The wild donkey bray when it has grass? No, I don't do that, why? Because it's satisfied, it's full, it's enjoying itself.
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Same thing with the ox.
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And so what he's basically saying is, not only do you not understand Eliphaz, what has taken place, and not only do I admit that I have spoken rash words, but God has struck me and I would not be making these statements if that had not happened.
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And again, goes to the point of, we can't excuse Job, right? Don't excuse Job.
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Just try to understand what's, if you will, what's working in his heart.
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And if you think about it, as we move through the book, how great it's gonna be at the end when God comes and he answers Job, right? And Job says, all right, you stand up, I'm gonna ask you questions and you're gonna answer me.
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And it's not till the end, and that's why I think this book is pretty cool.
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We get the end in the beginning, or we get the scene in the beginning and then we get the scene at the end.
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And in between is all the, if you will, minutiae of life.
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And that's, again, where we are, right? We're there in spirit, we're here in life, and we know there's no problems here, and we know there's a lot of problems here.
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So you and I have this, if you will, and that's what Paul says, I'm in a straight between the two, right? He says, I'd rather be with Christ, which is what? Far better.
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But he also realizes, and then he says, but to be with you, to be here now is expedient for you, and he's talking to the church.
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So you and I, again, have to think about this.
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Listen, God is using all of us to accomplish many, many things, not just in our own lives, but in other people's lives.
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As you think about that, that's an important thought.
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We don't live to ourselves and we don't die to ourselves.
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We are the Lord's and the Lord is dealing with us, and so our situations are truly our situations.
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But at the same time, we've got to believe that God, who is beyond comprehension, is not just using our individual situations to train us, to teach us, to help us, but to actually, if you will, work, it's like the workings of an orchestra, right? The violinist plays, and yeah, sometimes they might get a solo, but really they get swallowed up in what? In the orchestra, right? They get swallowed up in the whole movement, right? And sometimes we have a tendency to just isolate ourselves and say, you know what? Woe is me, for I am undone, and that might actually be the case for a time or a season or for life, but not when you think about what God is doing ultimately to gather us, and that's what he says, right? He's gathering us all together in that day of Christ, right? So heaven's not just an individual place.
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You know, I heard a preacher one time said that he believed, I don't know how he got there.
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He believed that everybody gets 75 acres in heaven.
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That's what he said, and he measured it.
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He tried to do it.
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You know, in Revelation where it says that the size of the city, it was four, it was square, and then there was this size and that size, and then he, I don't know how he got to how many children of God there are, but somehow he did a division, and he said everybody had 75 acres, and then he had the nerve to say, and you stay out of my acreage.
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Anyway, so, and he was the preacher too.
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So verse five, does the wild donkey bray when it has grass, or does the ox low over its fodder? And then he says these two words, these two things in verses six and seven.
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Can flavorless food be eaten without salt, or is there any taste in the white of the egg? And my soul refuses to touch them, and they are loathsome food to me.
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And I struggled with that a little bit on what he was trying to say, but I've read some others on this, and I think it makes sense that what he's saying is your words are like tasteless food to me.
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Basically, what you're doing to me and for me is not doing anything for me.
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It's like eating the white of an egg.
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Now, you might like the white of an egg, but if I gotta eat the white of an egg, I'm putting salt on it.
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And I'm gonna put some pepper on it too.
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I'm gonna even put some hot sauce on it.
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I'm gonna do something to flavor that thing up, because it's true, right? There is no taste in the white of an egg.
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And I think that's what he's saying.
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He's saying your words are like an egg yolk, man, or not the yolk, the white.
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You don't do nothing for me.
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You basically are making my situation worse, and my soul refuses, I'm not even gonna listen.
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I'm not gonna deal with this, because it's of no real use.
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And I think sometimes we, that's the kind of advice and the kind of comfort we give one another.
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Sometimes the things that we say are really of no use.
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We're better off not saying something than saying something that has no flavor to it.
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That's what I was gonna say.
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Most of the time, it's boring or excuse-less.
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Yeah, yeah, the use of our words is very important, and yet, I would say, all of us at times struggle with the use of our words.
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It's like somebody just had their leg removed.
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I know it's probably a crude example.
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Somebody just had their leg cut off, and you say, hey, at least you got another leg.
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I mean, it's like, what? There's no flavor in that, right? That's just not the thing to say.
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So I think that's what he's getting at.
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He's basically looking at Eliphaz and saying, not only do you not understand my situation, not only have I been afflicted, not only am I basically down, stripped to nothing, you come, and your words just did not help him, man.
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And then he says in verse eight, oh, that I might have my request that God would grant me the thing that I long for.
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Now, Job is in such a state, he's really longing to end it.
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And I don't think he's talking about suicide.
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And there's certain places in here where people have construed that Job was thinking about taking his own life.
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I don't believe that's what he's saying.
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I mean, you could have a whole conversation around suicide, but that's probably too big for now.
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But what I think he's saying is that in light of the situation that I'm in, and the fact that I don't believe, I think Job is at a point now, he doesn't think he's coming out of this.
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He thinks this is his condition forever.
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Sir? On earth anymore.
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Yeah, and there's no hope of restoration.
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I've lost my family, I've lost my wealth, I've lost my health, I've lost everything.
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I'm not coming back.
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God, why don't you just end it right now? And I wonder if we've ever gotten to that kind of a place.
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Never want to admit that, but we have to.
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Yeah, I think all of us, and maybe not to the fullest extent, and again, because we're all so different, but I think each one of us and every one of us at a certain point in certain times in our life, under certain circumstances, almost want to say, Lord, just take me.
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Just, let's just, I know that I'll be with you, and I know it's a greater place, and I know it's wonderful, and I know there's no sorrow, and I know there's no tears, and I know there's nothing but joy and happiness in your presence.
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Lord, why don't we just close the curtain? And we need to be careful and remember that God fully is aware of that, by the way, right? And God has a purpose for us, and until God is done in that purpose, we're not going nowhere.
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So we can kick, we can complain, we can moan and groan.
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Remember Paul says, do all things without what? Murmuring and disputing.
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And we're pretty good at murmuring and disputing, right? But we have to understand, as Job says this, even in verse nine, that it would please God to crush me, that he would lose his hand and cut me off.
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Then in verse 10 he says, then I would still have comfort, though in anguish I would exalt.
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See, again, I don't believe Job ever loses his faith in God, but Job does lose, in that sense, I think his faith in life, as he sees it.
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His spirit is broken, absolutely, and you can understand that, right? At least if we can't understand how Job is feeling now, something's not right in us.
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Because like I said, you get the slightest thing happen to you, and me and Mike were talking about this this morning, this light is going dim, and I'm like, oh, wow, it's dark in here.
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It's not really dark in here.
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Again, we make big things out of little things, right? Especially when it's ours, right? We're good at telling other people it ain't no big thing, but it is.
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So he says, let him not spare, in verse 10, for I have not concealed, and this is important, I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
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Now, remember what I said to you last week? When you see the Holy One, sometimes it's used as a description or a definition of God, and sometimes it's used as a definition of men, and when you see it capitalized, I think what it's getting to us, and so when Job says, I have not concealed the words of the Holy One, I think what he's saying is, listen, you can make all the accusations you want against me.
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I have not dishonored God, right? I have retained my integrity before God.
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Now, that doesn't mean that Job is saying he's sinless, but isn't that where we ought to be in our life, where we would say, I've sinned, but I'm striving to please God.
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I'm striving to glorify God.
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I'm striving to be what God would have me to be, and I can say, and this is where we should all seek to get to, that, was it Augustine that said, though he wasn't what he used to be? He said, I'm not what I ought to be, and I'm not what I wanna be, but thank God I'm not what I used to be.
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And so you and I, you can relate to this when he says, I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
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I've maintained, because remember they're charged.
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They're saying, when you saw the widow, you didn't help her.
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When you saw the orphan, you didn't help her, Job.
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When you saw the fatherless, you didn't do nothing.
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When people needed help financially, you didn't do nothing, Job, and Job has stood on the ground that he did.
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So again, extraordinary.
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Absolutely, yeah, but if you would, his situation is dragging away at it, right? He's got that hope, but again, hope deferred brings sorrow, right? And so when you think about that, as much as our situation, as much as we know the end, the now many times takes advantage of us.
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Those are the devices of the evil one to try to, if you will, steal our joy, right? Remember what it says in Nehemiah, it says the joy of the Lord is what? Our strength, and so again, many things can rob us, and this is one of the key statements in Job, where he says, I've not concealed the words of the Holy One.
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Okay, a couple more thoughts.
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What strength, in verse 11, what strength do I have that I should hope, and what is my end that I should prolong my life? And again, he's going back and he's looking at himself and saying, man, it's like running into a wall here.
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There's nothing left for me.
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Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze? Is my help not within me, and is success driven? Job is pretty much at wit's end.
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And again, this is part of the situation that God has permitted, or God has decreed in Job's life.
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And again, God's not the author of evil.
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God's not the author of sin.
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Satan has desired to, if you will, sift Job, even as Satan desired to sift Peter.
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Remember what Jesus said, I prayed for you that your faith would not fail.
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But the weight on Job at this point is extremely heavy.
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And again, his comforters are comfortless, right? And this is gonna be a theme that he constantly brings up.
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He basically said, I can't deal with this no more.
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I just can't take it, and did you ever get to that? I confess, I went to the beach yesterday, and my eye was really bothering me.
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And I turned around, and I said to Candy, man, this thing is so frustrating.
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And my wife, she didn't say a word.
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She wasn't good about it.
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But she should have said, stop complaining.
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Right? And again, we all get like that.
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And again, sometimes it's in the simplest things that we turn into these mountains.
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And sometimes they're real mountains.
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And again, where are we going to find our comfort? And so he continues through this, and in verse 14, for the next number of verses, he goes back, and he kinda throws it back and elephazes his face.
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And he says, to him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
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And my brothers have dealt deceitfully like a brook, like the streams of the brook that pass away, which are dark because of the ice, and into which the snow vanishes, and when it's warm, it ceases to flow, and when it's hot, they vanish out of their place.
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I think what he's saying, basically, is, listen, you guys are here today, gone tomorrow.
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You know, one day, it's like the ice.
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One day you can walk on the ice, and the next day, once it melts, you walk on the ice and you're dead, right? You go under.
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And what I think he's saying to them is, you know, you're just no help.
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And what good is it that you have come to me? Because again, he calls them, he says they should be shown, kindness should be shown by his friend, and we've all heard that saying, right? With friends like this, who needs enemies? Friends ought to be friends.
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Friends ought to be true friends.
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Friends ought to be friends, and always friends.
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And again, we can always look up and say that the Lord Jesus is the friend that sticks closer than a brother.
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See, that's the difference, right? He would never do that.
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He would not.
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God, it says in the Psalms, I forgot what Psalm is, it says God does not afflict willingly.
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God doesn't just put us through things in our life because in that sense, there's any kind of enjoyment in that.
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God has no pleasure in, even what it says in Ezekiel, right? God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, does he? He says, but that the wicked would turn and live.
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And so we gotta think about that in our life.
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The things that God puts us through, the things that God allows, the things that God decrees, in whatever way you wanna understand it, because basically, at the end of the day to me, it's all under the power of God, right? There's no such thing as serendipity and chance and all, you know, just the way things work out.
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But you and I have to realize this purpose, it's not just, you know, and I've said this a number of times it's not just like the tapestry, you know, how you used to, I never did needlepoint, so I don't get that idea.
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But you ever see how they do needlepoint? My daughters used to do it.
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You put that ring around the cloth and you keep putting the threads in.
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And if you think about it, if you look, it all depends on what side you look at, right? Because if you look at the side where the threads are just hanging, it looks like a mess.
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Matter of fact, it is a mess.
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And many times that's the way we see things.
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All we see is a mess.
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You don't see the beauty of it until what? You turn the tapestry over and then you see the design.
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And so you and I have to think about that.
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God has designed for Job.
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Remember, Job's end is better than his beginning.
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And your end and my end is better than our beginning.
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And so we're gonna meet along the way some that will help us and some that will harm us.
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But our trust ultimately is in the Lord.
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Were you gonna say something, brother? Yeah.
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I'm different a little bit.
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Say it's not so.
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From that last statement, which is why.
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Okay.
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Having been through some stuff like this where it's like, okay, at the seeming height of, I'll put it like this.
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In the position to do and be everything that you know to do and be and you walk with the Lord, and then the worst thing that you could possibly imagine, not that she possibly could imagine or he could possibly, but that you could possibly imagine happens to you.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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In the midst of walking in that relationship with God.
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So this, Job's responses have a lot to do with his reputation.
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It's how he thinks other people see him.
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I'm not saying he didn't hurt, he wasn't in pain.
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I'm not saying that at all.
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He was definitely in pain, of course.
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But again, if God was in pain, really, and I'm convinced that God, the Father restrained the devil in what he could afflict Job with.
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Yeah, sure.
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He said he touches everything but his life.
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Right, but even still, in the course of that affliction, the devil chose boy.
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Oh, absolutely.
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Yeah.
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He didn't choose cancer.
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He didn't choose leprosy.
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He didn't choose any of the other things that might have caused Job to say, punk, you got him out of here.
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Yeah, no, I understand that.
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And remember I said, he's lost everything and part of what he's lost is his reputation.
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Right.
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Yeah, because he's lost his status.
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Exactly.
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Right, because his three friends, if we're right, his three friends, they were all kind of royal friends.
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They all were the ritzy class, if you will.
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So yeah, he's lost everything and God has touched everything and you and I have to think about that because you're right.
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What I lose might not be as important as what you lose.
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Right.
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I might have a different set of principles that work in me and God is driving that out of you and he's driving that out of me.
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And again, that's why God's the great sanctifier.
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Okay, we gotta go.
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Let's pray.
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Lord, thank you for this day.
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Lord, thank you for your truth.
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There's so many things that we can consider but Lord, help us to consider our own lives in light of your word.
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Help us to be good friends.
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Help us to be friends that comfort and not hurt.
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And Lord, just bless us as we continue to worship you today and may we love you and may we love one another in Jesus' name, amen.
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Thank you, Dan.