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JOB 16:1-19:29 | 1 CORINTHIANS 16:1-24 | PSALM 40:1-10 | PROVERBS 22:1
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After having heard the wisdom from all three of his friends, Job has had enough. Well-meaning as they might be, his friends are anything but comforting. May it be that we might be cautious to never become like Job’s friends, but rather emulate Job in how he handles his misfortunes throughout. Job says these words to them in response:
2 “I have heard many things like these;
you are miserable comforters, all of you!
3 Will your long-winded speeches never end?
What ails you that you keep on arguing?
4 I also could speak like you,
if you were in my place;
I could make fine speeches against you
and shake my head at you.
5 But my mouth would encourage you;
comfort from my lips would bring you relief.
Job’s misery is indeed great, and if there be any loss of memory on what exactly his state of affairs are, he gives a summary of his misfortunes here:
13 “He has alienated my family from me;
my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
14 My relatives have gone away;
my closest friends have forgotten me.
15 My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner;
they look on me as on a stranger.
16 I summon my servant, but he does not answer,
though I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife;
I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even the little boys scorn me;
when I appear, they ridicule me.
19 All my intimate friends detest me;
those I love have turned against me.
20 I am nothing but skin and bones;
I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
And yet, the great hope that lies within him is a remarkable one. Despite the odds, Job knows that his misfortune is only for a season, and that this too shall pass. He refuses to give up hope, and continues to trust in the Lord for deliverance. These words of his makes this quite clear:
25 I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
Turning now to our reading in the first book of Corinthians, we arrive at the last chapter of the book wherein Paul is attending to a few personal requests concerning those who may visit them, i.e., the church during his absence, and gives an indication of his own travel plans.
And before he wraps up the letter, he gives one small but very clear exhortation which would behoove us all to emulate: 13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 14 Do everything in love.
Next, we turn to our psalm for the day, and find a psalm filled with praise, hope, and thanksgiving to the Almighty. One cannot help but draw parallels to the story of Job in how we will soon find Job also giving similar praise. I quote the psalm in its entirety here, in the view that reflection on it will serve us well in our own times of distress and darkness:
1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the LORD
and put their trust in him.
4 Blessed is the one
who trusts in the LORD,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.
5 Many, LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done,
the things you planned for us.
None can compare with you;
were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
they would be too many to declare.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—
but my ears you have opened—
burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.
7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll.
8 I desire to do your will, my God;
your law is within my heart.
9 I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips, LORD,
as you know.
10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.
I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness
from the great assembly.
Finally, one verse from the book of Proverbs that would do us well to have it invisibly inscribed on our hearts and heads:
1 A good name is more desirable than great riches;
to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.
May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.
Kheer and Halwa: Classic Endnotes to a Suvai Meal
“Mommy, I wish you’d be the one to walk me every day!”
“Mommy, I love that Daddy lets me sit on the couch!”
Excellent Morning Reminder at the McDonald’s Drive-Through
JOB 12:1-15:35 | 1 CORINTHIANS 15:29-58 | PSALM 39:1-13 | PROVERBS 21:30-31
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Job’s dark days are not yet over, and today we find that after he listens to his friends’ long speeches, Job wishes to share his thoughts as well. Unlike his friends who tend to lean toward a self-righteous tone in their sympathies, Job doesn’t resort to the typical laments. Job apparently has pondered these things, and these are some of his thoughts on the omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence of the Almighty. He says:
13 “To God belong wisdom and power;
counsel and understanding are his.
14 What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;
those he imprisons cannot be released.
15 If he holds back the waters, there is drought;
if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.
16 To him belong strength and insight;
both deceived and deceiver are his.
17 He leads rulers away stripped
and makes fools of judges.
18 He takes off the shackles put on by kings
and ties a loincloth around their waist.
19 He leads priests away stripped
and overthrows officials long established.
20 He silences the lips of trusted advisers
and takes away the discernment of elders.
21 He pours contempt on nobles
and disarms the mighty.
22 He reveals the deep things of darkness
and brings utter darkness into the light.
23 He makes nations great, and destroys them;
he enlarges nations, and disperses them.
24 He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;
he makes them wander in a trackless waste.
25 They grope in darkness with no light;
he makes them stagger like drunkards.
Job is unwilling to accept the views of his friends who imply either directly or indirectly that Job has brought this upon himself. He is certain that he is not being punished for wrongdoing, and even if he is, Job is willing to accept the hand of God in meting out to him whatever he receives, and however unjust. Job tells his friends, referencing God: 15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.
Eliphaz is Job’s third friend, and it is now his turn to offer Job his own words of wisdom, which actually turn out to be more of the same that the first two friends have already said.
Turning next to our reading in the first book of Corinthians, we find Paul still addressing the problem of countering prevalent theories about the resurrection. Paul wishes to be forceful in exhorting his readers against being taken by this view of disbelief in the resurrection.
He says, 33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
He goes on to explain the difference between an earthly body and a heavenly body in this verses: If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
Furthermore, Paul is skilled at painting a picture of how the resurrection might actually occur.
He says, 50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
And in the most triumphant outcome of the resurrection, every believer might boldly ask these questions:
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
And the answer would most definitely be:
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Turning next to the psalm of the day, we find, just like yesterday, the psalmists’ words to be an echo of what Job has also uttered in his darkest hour. David, like Job, says this:
7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you.
8 Save me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the scorn of fools.
9 I was silent; I would not open my mouth,
for you are the one who has done this.
10 Remove your scourge from me;
I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
11 When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin,
you consume their wealth like a moth—
surely everyone is but a breath.
12 “Hear my prayer, LORD,
listen to my cry for help;
do not be deaf to my weeping.
Finally, two verses from the book of Proverbs in which Solomon, the wise king of Israel, is conveying and reiterating the utter dependence on God that all mere mortals are subject to. He says:
30 There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan
that can succeed against the LORD.
31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
but victory rests with the LORD.
May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.
JOB 8-11:20; 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-28; PSALM 38:1-22; PROVERBS 21:28-29
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We continue with the story of Job, and today, we find Bildad, one of Job’s friends trying to console him with encouraging words. Job has lost everything already, and sounds almost resigned to his fate. It is quite interesting how accepting he appears to be with respect to the misery that he is mired in.
It would be almost natural to bear some sort of a grudge toward a God who appears to not care for a devotee of Job’s caliber—a man so righteous and upright that even God himself had pointed to Job as an example of exemplary mettle. And yet, Job cannot bring himself to speak out against God. He certainly pities himself, but is far from pointing fingers at God. He says, instead, referring to God in these verses:
32 “He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him,
that we might confront each other in court.
33 If only there were someone to mediate between us,
someone to bring us together,
34 someone to remove God’s rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.
35 Then I would speak up without fear of him,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.
This is a man in great distress and utter sorrow. Job says this of himself:
18 “Why then did you bring me out of the womb?
I wish I had died before any eye saw me.
19 If only I had never come into being,
or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!
Zophar is another of Job’s friends who tries to console him by suggesting that it isn’t too late for Job to make amends to the Almighty—perhaps there is some hidden sin in Job that needs addressing? So much for supportive friends! It is to be seen what might happen to Job in the days to come.
In the meantime, we’ll turn to our reading in the first book of Corinthians, and find Paul offering a summary of the gospel message, regardless of who preaches it. Just to be clear, he seems to say, let’s not forget what exactly this gospel message is.
In case there are any doubts, this is what it is: 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
He then goes on to say what he has frequently said at other times: that he is the least among the apostles—a trademark of the immense humility that Paul is endowed with.
He says, 9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Following this, Paul also wishes to refute some apparent theories that must have been circulating at the time concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul says this about the fundamental belief that is the cornerstone of the Christian faith.
He says, 12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
And in case there is still any doubt, Paul goes on to say this: 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
Turning now to our reading from the psalms, we find in Psalm 38, an uncanny echo of Job in David’s words:
9 All my longings lie open before you, Lord;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart pounds, my strength fails me;
even the light has gone from my eyes.
11 My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;
my neighbors stay far away.
Like David, and Job before him, even we might have cause to feel this way about our life at times. There is a strange comfort in knowing that these emotions are timeless and universal, and very much human and natural. It is even more comforting to know that in the final analysis, both these men—Job and David—despite the terrible conditions that they were ensconced in, were able to come out of their dark and difficult situations not just unharmed, but having had every material blessing restored to them manifold.
Such are the mercies of the Almighty toward them that love him! It is possible that at some time we might have also cried out like David, or will cry out like he did in his darkest hour:
17 For I am about to fall,
and my pain is ever with me.
18 I confess my iniquity;
I am troubled by my sin.
19 Many have become my enemies without cause;
those who hate me without reason are numerous.
20 Those who repay my good with evil
lodge accusations against me,
though I seek only to do what is good.
21 LORD, do not forsake me;
do not be far from me, my God.
22 Come quickly to help me,
my Lord and my Savior.
Finally, two verses from the book of Proverbs which are worthy of record and rumination:
28 A false witness will perish, but a careful listener will testify successfully.
29 The wicked put up a bold front, but the upright give thought to their ways.
May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.
