 “My spirit is broken; my days are extinct;
the graveyard is ready for me. 2 Surely there are mockers about me, and my eye dwells on their provocation. 3 “Lay down a pledge for me with you; who is there who will put up security for me? 4 Since you have closed their hearts to understanding, therefore you will not let them triumph. 5 He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property-- the eyes of his children will fail. 6 “He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom men spit. 7 My eye has grown dim from vexation, and all my members are like a shadow. 8 The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless. 9 Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger. 10 But you, come on again, all of you, and I shall not find a wise man among you. 11 My days are past; my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart. 12 They make night into day: ‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’ 13 If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness, 14 if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’ 15 where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? 16 Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?” Meditation Christian hope centers on the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. Believers see all of life through the grace and truth offered through the life and death of Jesus. Job sees death as rescue from his life of suffering and relief from his horrible counselors as highlighted by death bookending today’s reading. The possibility of the grave’s readiness to receive Job (1) and the prospect of looking forward to “Sheol,” the grave (13-14), is emphasized. Job’s spirit is broken and he hopes in the wrong thing for relief. The weight of life is too much for Job as we watch him move from heartache to hopelessness. There is no one reliable left in his life (3-5), society now spits in his face (6-7), and his sense of abandonment by God leads him to appeal to any righteous person who may remain (8-9). In despair, Job sees his days as past and his plans for life futile (10-11). Job’s only “hope” is for the grave to be his home, but this is not hope at all (12-16). Jesus is the righteous One who delivers true hope during dark days of despair. Through Christ’s work, believers have strength in our suffering because we know our struggles are not the end of the story. Standing by the grave of His friend Lazarus, Jesus declares, “I AM the resurrection and the life!” (John 11) In our groaning, Jesus helps us see glory. Jesus Himself entered into suffering so we have strength to endure ours. Jesus died and rose from the grave so Christians can have true hope! Richly Dwelling -What stands out to you from today’s reading? -Where do you identify with Job? -How does the finished work of Jesus give you a greater hope, seeing how God redeems suffering to further His story of glory? God’s sovereign grace gives us perspective to rejoice in suffering (Romans 5:2-5). Key Verses 13 If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness, 14 if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’ 15 where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? Comments are closed.
|