Job 32:1-33:18
“Understanding”
comes from “the breath of the Almighty” (Job 32:8). “God does speak –
now, one way, now another – though man may not perceive it” (Job 33:14).
We thank You, Lord, that You have spoken to us through Your Word. You
still speak to us through Your Word. It’s Your Spirit who brings Your
Word to us. We do not always understand what You are saying to us. There
is always more than we can take in. When, Lord, we feel that we’re out
of our depth, help us to keep on listening, to keep on believing – and
to pray for “understanding” that will lead to new life; a life that is
grounded in the Scriptures, a life that is centred on the Saviour, a
life that is filled with the Spirit, a life that brings glory to You.
Job 33:19-34:20
When things
are going well, help us to remember to say, “Thank You, Lord.” When
things start going badly, help us to remember that You are still with us
– and You haven’t stopped loving us. You haven’t left us on our own.
You’re there beside us, every step of the way. In all of life – our
times of suffering as well as our times of blessing, draw us, Lord,
closer to Yourself and give us this powerful testimony; “He redeemed my
soul from going down to the pit, and I shall live to enjoy the light”
(Job 33:28-30).
Job 34:21-35:16
“If you have
sinned” (Job 35:6). Help us, Lord, to think about Job, about Jesus, and
about ourselves. “Job feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1). Job
wasn’t being singled out for special punishment, because he was much
more sinful than anyone else – but this doesn’t mean that he had never
sinned (Job 7:21; Job 13:26). Help us, Lord, to look beyond Job to
Jesus. He did not sin (Hebrews 4:14-16) – but He did suffer: “He
suffered for us … He bore our sins … He died for us … He died for our
sins” (1 Peter 2:21-24; Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3). Thank You,
Lord, for Jesus, our Saviour. When we sin, help us to come to Jesus. He
is our “Redeemer” (Job 19:25). He gives us “quietness” and “songs in the
night” (Job 34:29; Job 35:10). Help us, Lord, to “be still and know
that You are our God.” Help us to “shout for joy to You” (Psalm 46:10;
Psalm 98:4).
Job 36:1-33
“God is
mighty, and does not despise any” (Job 36:5). Lord, You are great in
power. You are great in love. How sad it would be if You had great love
for us, but did not have the power to save us. How terrifying it would
be if You had great power, but had no love, in Your heart, for us. What a
joy it is to know that You are both the God of great power and the God
of great love. You are “abundant in power.” You “heal the broken-hearted
and … lift up the downtrodden.” We think, Lord, about Your great power
and Your great love, and we say, “Praise the Lord!” We “sing to You with
thanksgiving.” We “make melody to You.” We “sing praises to You” (Psalm
147:1-7).
Job 37:1-24
“The
Almighty is great in power and … He does not oppress” (Job 37:23). Lord,
Your power is loving power. Your love is powerful love. We see Your
power in Jesus – “He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to
God through Him” (Hebrews 7:25). We see Your love in Jesus – “I will
never turn away any one who comes to Me” (John 6:37). In the world, we
see the love of power. It’s a very destructive thing. In Jesus, we see
the power of love. He uses His power to show us His love. He shows us
His love when, through His mighty power, He saves us. Thank You, Lord,
for Jesus. What a great Saviour He is!
Job 38:1-38
Lord, we do
an awful lot of talking about ourselves, and not very much listening to
You. When it seems to us that our problems are bigger than Your power,
help us to start listening to what Your Word is saying to us. There are
many questions for which we have no answers – Why has this happened to
us? Why did it turn out this way? Why this? Why that? When, Lord, it
seems to be all questions and no answers, help us to remember this: “I
lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help
comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2).
Job 38:39-40:14
“I am unworthy – how can I reply to You? I put my hand over my
mouth … I have no answer … I will say no more” (Job 40:3-5). When, Lord,
You speak to us about sin – “All have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God”, we have nothing to say in our own defence: “every mouth
is silenced” (Romans 3:23,19). We thank You, Lord, that, when You speak
to us about our sin, You also speak to us of Your love, the death of
Christ for our sins, the forgiveness of our sins and the cleansing of
our hearts and lives (Romans 5:8; 1 John 1:7-10).
Job 40:15-41:34
“Who can
stand before Me?” (Job 41:10). Lord, You put this question to every one
of us. There are two answers to this question. The first speaks to us of
our sin. The second speaks to us of our Saviour. When, Lord, You speak
to us of our sin, it’s bad news: “There is no-one righteous, not even
one” (Romans 3:10). When You speak to us of our Saviour, it’s Good News.
Jesus is “without sin.” He is “Your beloved Son with whom You are well
pleased.” He has “died for our sins” (Hebrews 4:14-16; Matthew 3:16-17; 1
Corinthians 15:3). Thank You, Lord, for Jesus – Your beloved Son, our
wonderful Saviour.
Job 42:1-17
We read, Lord, about Job being brought close to You, his ‘friends’ being
forgiven by You and everyone being happy about the way things turned
out for Job (Job 42:5-11). We wonder, “Is there always a happy ending?”
In this earthly life, we will never reach a stage where there will be no
more problems, and everything will be just fine. Help us, Lord, to look
beyond this earthly life. Help us to catch a glimpse of the “salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time.” Our suffering will be for “a
little while.” We thank You, Lord, that Your salvation will be forever
(1 Peter 1:5-7).
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