Job 9-10 - The Need For A Mediator

Then Job replied:
2 “Indeed, I know that this is true.
    But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?
3 Though they wished to dispute with him,
    they could not answer him one time out of a thousand.
4 His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.
    Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?...
 10 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
    miracles that cannot be counted...
13 God does not restrain his anger;
    even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.
14 “How then can I dispute with him?
    How can I find words to argue with him?
15 Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;
    I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.
16 Even if I summoned him and he responded,
    I do not believe he would give me a hearing.
17 He would crush me with a storm
    and multiply my wounds for no reason.
18 He would not let me catch my breath
    but would overwhelm me with misery.
19 If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!
    And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him?
20 Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;
    if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.
21 “Although I am blameless,
    I have no concern for myself;
    I despise my own life.
22 It is all the same; that is why I say,
    ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’...
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
    I will change my expression, and smile,’
28 I still dread all my sufferings,
    for I know you will not hold me innocent.
29 Since I am already found guilty,
    why should I struggle in vain?...
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.
10 (1)  “I loathe my very life;
    therefore I will give free rein to my complaint
    and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I say to God: Do not declare me guilty,
    but tell me what charges you have against me.
3 Does it please you to oppress me,
    to spurn the work of your hands,
    while you smile on the plans of the wicked?...
7 though you know that I am not guilty
    and that no one can rescue me from your hand?
8 “Your hands shaped me and made me.
    Will you now turn and destroy me?...
12 You gave me life and showed me kindness,
    and in your providence watched over my spirit.
13 “But this is what you concealed in your heart,
    and I know that this was in your mind:
14 If I sinned, you would be watching me
    and would not let my offense go unpunished.
15 If I am guilty—woe to me!
    Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,
for I am full of shame
    and drowned in my affliction...
19 If only I had never come into being,
    or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!
20 Are not my few days almost over?
    Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy
21 before I go to the place of no return,
    to the land of gloom and utter darkness,
Job 9-10

Job's problem is that he has no way to examine God, and that is what he goes on to state in very eloquent terms. He says that God's wisdom is beyond man: "How can you get hold of a God like that to debate with Him the issues that are causing the pain of life? What can I do? How can I get at this whole problem?" Job asks.

Out of the deep darkness that surrounds this suffering saint, a ray of light breaks through. It is the first break in Job's gloom. "What is needed is a mediator, an arbitrator who can come between us, who understands us both and brings us together," Job says. For the first time in this book we begin to see what God is producing in this man, why he is putting him through this protracted trial. For now Job begins to feel, deep in his bones, the nature of reality: the terrible gulf between man and God that must be bridged by another party.

We who live in the full light of the New Testament know that he is crying out and feeling deep within the need for just such a mediator as Jesus himself. Job is laying the foundation here in his own understanding for the tremendous revelation that comes in the New Testament when God becomes man. God takes our place, lives as we live, feels as we feel, solves the great problem between us and God, and brings the two—God and man—together. For the first time in Job, we begin to sense what God is driving at.

Psalm 119:71 says, "It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees." You can learn theology from a book, and you can study it and get it clear in your mind, but until you go through the hurts and difficulties and trials of life, you never really understand what the truth is. It takes suffering to get a clear vision of what God is saying to us, and that is what the book of Job is all about.

Prayer: Lord, I am so grateful that You sent Your Son as a mediator. Thank You that He understands us both and brings us together through His own sacrifice on the cross. I will never understand the tremendous gulf that lies between You and me. Thank You Jesus for bridging that gulf with Your very life. I love You! In Your name I pray, Amen.

Life Application: Job's suffering helped his understanding of God. The New Testament reveals far more of who God is. Do we see pain as opportunity to experience what we know?

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Job 8 - True But Wrong

Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2 “How long will you say such things?
    Your words are a blustering wind.
3 Does God pervert justice?
    Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
4 When your children sinned against him,
    he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
5 But if you will seek God earnestly
    and plead with the Almighty,
6 if you are pure and upright,
    even now he will rouse himself on your behalf
    and restore you to your prosperous state...
11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?
    Can reeds thrive without water?
12 While still growing and uncut,
    they wither more quickly than grass.
13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
    so perishes the hope of the godless...
20 “Surely God does not reject one who is blameless
    or strengthen the hands of evildoers.
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
    and your lips with shouts of joy.
22 Your enemies will be clothed in shame,
    and the tents of the wicked will be no more.”

Job 8

When you read Bildad's arguments, you have to ask, "What is wrong with this? It sounds so true and right." It is an argument you hear repeated many times today. What Bildad says is true and logical and supported by plausible argument both from the experience of the past and from the testimony of much of Scripture as well. What, then, is wrong?

I see three things wrong with Job's friends' approaches. First, they answer Job's words without trying to find out what produces those words. They are zeroing in on what he says without understanding his agony. Job himself has admitted that he speaks rashly, but he says it is because of the unceasing torment he is going through. Those of us who have gone through deep, unrelenting pain know how this can try the spirit to the utmost, and we become testy and sharp. And because Job says certain things that sound extreme, his friends leap upon his words and try to analyze them. They make no attempt to identify with Job's hurt in their approaches to him.

The second thing is that these friends' theology was right as far as it went, but it was very incomplete. They always spoke with the utmost confidence that what they were saying was the final word on the subject. There was no apparent understanding that perhaps there were aspects of God and dimensions to His Word that they had not yet seen. Their narrow, limited vision said that difficulties in a person's life are always caused by sin. Many of the problems of life are caused by sin; therefore, it is impossible to say that these men are wrong. Nevertheless, they do not see that there are other reasons God brings us into suffering.

I am reminded of the famous story of the blind men and the elephant. They gather around this huge animal and by feeling it, try to identify what an elephant is like. One, grabbing the trunk, said an elephant is like a snake. Another, feeling the leg, said an elephant is like a tree. Still another, feeling the side of the animal, said that an elephant is like a wall. A fourth, grabbing the tail, said an elephant is like a rope. Thus they argued back and forth. All of them were right, and all of them were wrong, because they did not see the whole picture.

The third thing that is wrong with these friends is that they never seem to refer to God for help for themselves in understanding Job's problem. They never pray with Job. They never ask God to open their minds and illuminate their understanding so that they can help their friend. The book of Job is filled with prayers, but they are all the prayers of Job crying out to God in the midst of his sufferings. His friends never seem to feel the need for further illumination on the subject. What a testimony to us for the need to speak cautiously when we deal with the deep hurts and problems of life.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, Teach me to reach out to others who are suffering and pray with them in a spirit of compassion. Open my mind to understand what they are going through and give me Your words of encouragement and wisdom to share with them according to Your plan. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Life Application: Christ-like compassion will be quite different from that of Job's friends. How can we avoid being self-righteous, insensitive, and over-bearing when comforting others?

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Job 6 & 7 - Lord, Let Me Alone!

Then Job replied:
2 “If only my anguish could be weighed
    and all my misery be placed on the scales!
3 It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas—
    no wonder my words have been impetuous.
4 The arrows of the Almighty are in me,
    my spirit drinks in their poison;
    God’s terrors are marshaled against me...
8 “Oh, that I might have my request,
    that God would grant what I hope for,
9 that God would be willing to crush me,
    to let loose his hand and cut off my life!
10 Then I would still have this consolation—
    my joy in unrelenting pain—
    that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 “What strength do I have, that I should still hope?
    What prospects, that I should be patient?...
14 “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend
    forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,...
 21 Now you too have proved to be of no help;
    you see something dreadful and are afraid...
24 “Teach me, and I will be quiet;
    show me where I have been wrong.
25 How painful are honest words!
    But what do your arguments prove?...
28 “But now be so kind as to look at me.
    Would I lie to your face?
29 Relent, do not be unjust;
    reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.
7(1) “Do not mortals have hard service on earth?
    Are not their days like those of hired laborers?...
7 Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;
    my eyes will never see happiness again...
11 “Therefore I will not keep silent;
    I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit,
    I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep,
    that you put me under guard?
13 When I think my bed will comfort me
    and my couch will ease my complaint,
14 even then you frighten me with dreams
    and terrify me with visions,
15 so that I prefer strangling and death,
    rather than this body of mine.
16 I despise my life; I would not live forever.
    Let me alone; my days have no meaning.
17 “What is mankind that you make so much of them,
    that you give them so much attention,
18 that you examine them every morning
    and test them every moment?
19 Will you never look away from me,
    or let me alone even for an instant?
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you,
    you who see everything we do?
Why have you made me your target?
    Have I become a burden to you?
21 Why do you not pardon my offenses
    and forgive my sins?
For I will soon lie down in the dust;
    you will search for me, but I will be no more.”
Job 6-7

Job turns to God and complains about the difficulty of his present experience. He has given up. He thinks he will never see any relief and that he will go on like this to the end. And out of that meaningless suffering and hopeless darkness, he cries out in honest despair.

Have you ever felt that way? "Lord, leave me alone. I've had enough! Why are You so intent on making life miserable for me? Why don't You just let me go?" Job cries out in baffled bewilderment. Now, even at this point in the book, there are some things that we must constantly remember. One is that we know something about this scene that Job does not know. We see some purpose in this that he has not yet seen that is also true about the sufferings we go through. In every time of trial there are two purposes in view: Satan has his purpose, and God has His.

Satan's purpose here was to use the pain of Job's illness to afflict his body; to use the priggish, well-intentioned comfort of his friends to irritate his soul; and to use the silence of God to assault his spirit and break his faith. But God's purpose is to teach Job some truths that he never knew before, to deepen his theology and help him understand God much better. God's truth was to answer Satan in the eyes of all the principalities and powers of the whole universe and to prove him wrong in his philosophy of life. God's purpose was also to provide a demonstration for all sufferers in all the ages that would follow that He knows what He is doing. As the book of Job unfolds, we will see how this is gradually brought to light.

What an encouragement to those of us who must go through some times of suffering to understand that it is not always because we are sinful. Sometimes suffering is the result of our sin, and we will know it when it is. But if, like Job, you know of nothing you have done that you have not dealt with and still the suffering goes on, look behind the curtain of God's purposes, and you will see that great and eternal events are hanging upon the outcome of the struggle.

Prayer: Our Father, what marvelous lessons Job's sufferings teach me about my own sufferings. Help me to know more truth than Job knew and, therefore, realize that I have far less reason to give up than he did. Thank you for Your promise that You work all things together for good for those who love You, for those who are called according to Your purposes. In Jesus name, Amen.

Life Application: When pressures in life become unbearable, do we collapse into despair, or do we choose to trust God's wisdom, and put all that we have and are into His hands?

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Job 4 & 5 - When the Righteous Suffer

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 “If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
    But who can keep from speaking?
3 Think how you have instructed many,
    how you have strengthened feeble hands.
4 Your words have supported those who stumbled;
    you have strengthened faltering knees.
5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;
    it strikes you, and you are dismayed.
6 Should not your piety be your confidence
    and your blameless ways your hope?
7 “Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
    Where were the upright ever destroyed?
8 As I have observed, those who plow evil
    and those who sow trouble reap it.
9 At the breath of God they perish;
    at the blast of his anger they are no more...
17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
    Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?
18 If God places no trust in his servants,
    if he charges his angels with error,
19 how much more those who live in houses of clay,
    whose foundations are in the dust,
    who are crushed more readily than a moth!...
 3 I myself have seen a fool taking root,
    but suddenly his house was cursed.
4 His children are far from safety,
    crushed in court without a defender.
5 The hungry consume his harvest,
    taking it even from among thorns,
    and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
6 For hardship does not spring from the soil,
    nor does trouble sprout from the ground.
7 Yet man is born to trouble
    as surely as sparks fly upward.
8 “But if I were you, I would appeal to God;
    I would lay my cause before him.
9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
    miracles that cannot be counted...
15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth;
    he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
16 So the poor have hope,
    and injustice shuts its mouth.
17 “Blessed is the one whom God corrects;
    so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
18 For he wounds, but he also binds up;
    he injures, but his hands also heal...
27 “We have examined this, and it is true.
Job 4-5

At this point we get the first of the replies of Job's three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. These friends all come with the same solution to the problem, but they approach it in three distinct ways, according to their personalities. As I considered their responses, I dubbed them in terms that describe the approach each takes: "Eliphaz the Elegant," "Bildad the Brutal," and "Zophar the Zealous."

Eliphaz is the first speaker, evidently the oldest, for there is a smoothness about him and a courtesy (at least at the beginning) that indicates that he has learned to say unpleasant things in gracious ways. His argument is this: The righteous are never punished; only the unrighteous suffer. "Where did you ever see an innocent man perish?" he asks Job. "Where did you ever see an unrighteous man succeed?" His argument is, clearly, that Job's problem is caused by his own willful sin, something that Job is hiding. And this will be the basic argument all through the book: "There is something wrong, Job. If you will only admit it, you'll be all right."

I remember years ago picking up a Christian magazine that specialized in attacking men in public ministry, such as Billy Graham. The editor of the magazine said of Dr. Graham, who had just had a certain illness, that it was a judgment of God on him because he associated with the wrong kinds of people. But what fascinated me was that in the next issue the editor announced that he himself had fallen and broken his leg! His explanation was that Satan was attacking him, trying to stop his God-given ministry! This is so characteristic of humanity. We all see clearly that the suffering of others is caused by their sin, while our suffering is always caused by something else.

Eliphaz argues that if you just cast yourself on God's mercy, He will forgive you and restore you, and everything will be fine. You can be confident that you will be protected and kept, even to a ripe old age. Of course this is not the truth. Anyone who has lived a few years at all knows that you can find godly people who are not protected from troubles and who still go through times of trial and peril and suffering. Though his arguments sound like good theology, Eliphaz does not take in all the facts. That is why Job is given to us, that we might learn to correct our theology and to understand that sin is not the only reason for suffering.

Prayer: Father, thank You for the sufferings of Job. Help me to view my own sufferings in the light of the revelation of this book. Grant to me Lord, strength to stand in the midst of pressure. Help us to trust in Your perfect plan for our lives, especially when we don't understand what You are doing. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Life Application: Suffering is both universal and personal. When we meet this reality, where do we go for understanding? Do we have godly wisdom to offer others in their time of trial?

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Job 3 - Is It Better To Die?

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 He said:
3 “May the day of my birth perish,
    and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’
4 That day—may it turn to darkness;
    may God above not care about it;
    may no light shine on it...
10 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me
    to hide trouble from my eyes.
11 “Why did I not perish at birth,
    and die as I came from the womb?
12 Why were there knees to receive me
    and breasts that I might be nursed?
13 For now I would be lying down in peace;
    I would be asleep and at rest...
16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,
    like an infant who never saw the light of day?
17 There the wicked cease from turmoil,
    and there the weary are at rest...
20 “Why is light given to those in misery,
    and life to the bitter of soul,
21 to those who long for death that does not come,...
24 For sighing has become my daily food;
    my groans pour out like water.
25 What I feared has come upon me;
    what I dreaded has happened to me.
26 I have no peace, no quietness;
    I have no rest, but only turmoil.”
Job 3

In this chapter we find that Job asks three very poignant questions. The first one is, "Why was I ever born?" Job hopes his birthday will be forgotten. He is looking back to the day of his birth, and, although he cannot change it, he is saying, "May its anniversary be ignored. Let it be a day that is darkened; let no one rejoice in it. Let it be a day of cursing instead of blessing." The reason for Job's outcry is this was the day he was born, the day that produced him. You can see at this point how his life has become so miserable that he longs for death. Even all that he has enjoyed in the past seems of no value in the face of this tremendous anguish that he must endure.

Although Job comes very close to cursing God, he never does. He does curse the day of his birth, and he curses what God has allowed to happen. You can see how the pressure is increasing, and Job is beginning to break and crumble under it, as this unceasing, unexplained anguish goes on.

I do not think anything is harder for us to bear than unexplained trouble. If we could see some reason for what we have to go through, we could endure it much more easily. But when trouble seems to be pointless, it is a terrible strain on the soul. This is what Job is experiencing, so he cries out, "Why was I ever born?"

His second question is, "Having been born, why didn't I die at birth?" He says, "My life has been totally meaningless. It would have been better to have died when I was born." Job views death as a time of rest, a period of solitude and quiet after the tumult and trouble of life. I think many people see death that way. These verses indicate that Job's understanding of life after death needs to be enlightened a great deal, and that is one of the reasons this suffering came into his life. At the end of the book, Job's view of death is quite different than it was at the beginning.

Job's third question is, "Why can't I die now?" Job's argument is, "What's the purpose of my life? Of what use is a life that is so filled with misery that you can do nothing but suffer and feel anguish? My life produces only fear and trouble, so it would be better to end it now." Many people feel that way. I do not think Job is thinking of suicide--he is asking God to take him home. There is no purpose to life, he says, when it is not enjoyable. That is a very common argument, and one of the reasons we have been given this book is to help us understand that life can still have a great deal of meaning, even when it looks absolutely useless.

Prayer: I thank You, Lord, that though I can't always see the reason for my suffering, You are at work through it. Thank you for the life of Job as it teaches us so many truths that the world would never teach. Help us to hear what You have to say to us through the life of Job. In Jesus' name, our suffering Savior, Amen.

Life Application: Do we see our lives as giving us the right to demand our own self-centered agenda, or do we receive Life thankfully, as a gift? How do we bear unexplained trouble?

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Job 2 - Accepting What God Gives

His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”
He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.
Job 2:9-13

Job's rebuke is a very gentle one. He did not say, "You foolish woman!" He said, "You are talking like a foolish woman." He is not attacking her; rather, he is suggesting that this is a temporary lapse of faith on her part and that, for the moment, she has begun to repeat the words of stupid, foolish women who have no knowledge of the grace and glory of God. In that gentle rebuke you can see something of the sturdiness and tenderness of Job's faith. In this great sentence, he again reasserts the sovereignty of God: "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" Job's wife had the philosophy that life ought to be pleasant, and if it were not, there was no use living it.

That philosophy is widespread in our own day, and a mounting suicide rate testifies to the universal acceptance of it. But this book is given to show us that life is not to be lived on those terms. The reason we are here is not necessarily to have a good time. There are meaningful objectives to be attained in life, even when it all turns sour. When the pressure comes, when living is no longer fun, life is still worth living.

A philosophy that wants to abandon everything as soon as things become unpleasant is a shallow, mistaken, distorted view of life. Job reaffirms that. "Shall we not take both good and trouble from the hand of God?" We take His joy and His pleasure, the pleasant things of life, with gladness and gratitude. If God chooses to send something that is difficult, shall we then abandon that gratitude and begin to curse Him in protest because life is suddenly different than we thought it would be?

The reason we are here is not merely that we might have a good time, and this is taught everywhere in the Scriptures. God, in His grace and glory, does give us many hours of joy and gladness and pleasure and delight, and it is right for us to give thanks. But do not abandon that when the time of pressure comes, because that is what Satan wants us to do. He wants us to begin to complain and protest to God; to get upset and angry and resentful; to stop going to church or to reading the Bible. That is what Satan's whole attack on our lives is aimed at doing.

Prayer: Father, strengthen my faith in You, that I can accept from Your hand both good and trouble. Thank You that Your purposes for me, though sometimes painful, are always good. In Jesus name, who showed me how eternal good can come out of unspeakably horrible trouble, I pray, Amen.

Life Application: Sometimes meaning and purpose for our lives gets out of focus. Do we then give in to despair? When we choose to trust God, then we can offer His comfort to others.

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Job 2 - Divine Limitation

1 On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
4 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
6 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.  Job 2:1-8

Once again there is a divine limitation to Satan's power, but this time God moves the boundaries closer. He says, "You can touch him." In fact, when Satan uses the phrase, "strike his flesh and bones," he asks for access to the total humanity of Job. We still use that phrase today to speak of the totality of our humanity—not only our physical body but also our emotional life, our conscious and subconscious thinking and reacting, and our soul and spirit. Satan is asking for access to Job to touch him in body, soul, and spirit—and he proceeds in that order. He thinks that if he can get at Job in every part of his being, he can shake Job's faith and cause him to turn from his trust and confidence in God and curse Him to His face.

Once when I finished preaching a message on the first chapter of Job, two young men came up and challenged me. They would not accept the story of Job as an historical event, and they could not believe there ever was a man named Job who endured so many trials. I asked them why not. Their reply was, "If that story is true, then God is unconcerned about human life. It pictures God as ruthless. Job's whole family was taken from him. We can't accept this as historical record." In talking with them, I realized that they were struggling with the same feelings that many people struggle with today. They see God as nothing more than a being who thinks and acts and has no more rights than a man. They thought that if a man dealt with another person as God dealt with Job, he would be justifiably charged with murder and cruelty. It did not occur to them that God could not be charged with these things, because in His hand is all of life. He determines the length of life for everyone.

That is why we have the book of Job, to show us that there are reasons for and purposes in these trials and sufferings that we do not see. Job could not see what was going on behind the scenes, and neither can we. And yet God knows. He has a purpose, and it is a proper and right purpose that will end up manifesting more fully the love and compassion of His heart. The test of every trial is always to this end.

Father, I see something of the pain and tears with which life can confront me, yet I will still be in Your will and Your hand, guarded and guided by Your love. Help me to always remember that Your thoughts are not my thoughts neither are Your ways, my ways O Lord. I love you and rest in Your plan for my life and the lives of those I love. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Life Application: Sometimes the pressures of life threaten to crush us. Are we willing to let God be God? Are we learning to trust in His perfect will and timeless wisdom?

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Job 1 - The Test

1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East...One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” 8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” 12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”...18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” 20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Job 1

This book will help us more than any other book in the Bible to catch a glimpse of the greatness and majesty of God. We will see what we desperately need to see—that God is not just another man, great in power and authority, whom we call, influence, and command. God is not a heavenly bellboy, ready to run at our command. No, God is in charge, and He will always be in charge. If we are going to deal realistically with life, this is the way we must see Him.

We sometimes hear that this book of Job is the record of a great battleground between God and Satan and that Job is caught in between. Though there are aspects of this in the book, is this not a strange war, in which one side must get permission from the other before it attacks? What kind of battle is that?

Can you imagine a German commander during World War II stepping up to General Patton, saluting him, and saying, "Here, General, we would like permission to bomb your troops, destroy your tanks, and wreck all your plans!" I'm sure General Patton's reply would have been unprintable and unrepeatable!

And yet that is the situation in this book of Job. Satan comes to God and asks permission to do something against Job. Now that is not a battle; it is not warfare; it is a test. That is what we need to see. Job's faith is the subject of a very rigorous test. Satan is the one who brings it about, but God permits it.

You may be thinking, "I wonder what's going on behind the scenes about me? I wonder what Satan is saying about me now and if he's asking permission to get me!" If that is what you are thinking, my advice is, "Do not worry; live one day at a time." For the thing this book tells us is that if Satan had his way, every one of us would always be in this kind of difficulty. Satan would tear us apart all the time if he could--not because he is angry with us but because he wants to get at God, whom we serve. But God's protecting hand has been over us. If we can sit here in any degree of peace and enjoyment, it is because the hand of God has been like a hedge about us, protecting us and giving us great and wonderful things. Therefore, the attitude of every human heart ought to be, "Thank God for what I've got! Thank God for where I am now. What the future may hold, only He knows."

And if it holds some kind of testing like this, it is only because, as Paul has reminded us in 1 Corinthians, "He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear" (1 Corinthians 10:13).

He knows what you can bear, and He will not put you to the test so severely that it will destroy your faith. But there are implications in every test that go far beyond the superficial aspects of the situation. That is what we need to remember. And as this remarkable book unfolds, we will see some of the things that God brought to the attention of Job.

Prayer: Lord, thank You that You have placed a hedge about me and that with every test comes the strength to endure. Help me to keep my eyes focused on You in the storms and trials of life. In Jesus- name, Amen.

Life Application: Our faith may be tested in many ways. When we are stretched by circumstances, do we give thanks and rest in the enduring strength from the indwelling life of Christ?

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Who Are You Listening To?

Many people toss the term “fake news” across our screens these days. News media, politicians, conspiracy theorists, skeptics, even our president. It takes a tremendous amount of time, research and insight to make heads or tails of what we are told. Often, we are at the mercy of those more “in the know” to only tell us what they want us to hear.

This is where the comfort of the Word of God catapults into the fray of the fearful and confusing. “Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you,” (Acts 13:41). What is Paul saying? The works of God, the truth of the times, the most newsworthy tales are spiritually discerned. The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see a bigger picture.

Paul is actually quoting from the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah. “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19). What was this new thing? The rescue of His people from their enemies through the salvation of the promised deliverer- Jesus!

Look more fully at His promise:

But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
    he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
    Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
4 Because you are precious in my eyes,
    and honored, and I love you,

God is doing a new thing- we can ask for spiritual insight to understand it, or we can listen to all of the conflicting voices meant to incite us. And what are they attempting to stir up within us?

Fear
Anger
Hate
Judgment
Pride


Look closely at who Paul’s enemies intentionally targeted: “But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing…” (Acts 13:50).

We must guard our minds and hearts if we long to be Spirit led. We must ask for spiritual perception and discernment. God intends to give it to those of us who ask. Where are we focusing our time to gather our information?


PRAYER: LORD JESUS give us spiritual eyes to discern the truth amidst all of the information presented to us. May our first source of information be the source of all life: YOU! May we fervently ask for discernment to see what YOU are doing at this time. We do not need to fear the schemes of our enemy, because You are sovereign in all things and no one can snatch us from your hand. We do need to be mindful of our enemy’s attempts to incite us. In these strange times, help us to perceive what You are doing. Give us a glimpse of your glory, LORD, so we willingly walk in surrender and obedience to your will and your Word. We long to be people of resolute faith in the midst of the confusing. You are the One who rescues us, and we put our trust in You! In Your Name we pray, Amen.

Taken from Every Life Ministries www.ericawiggenhorn.com

Psalm 95 - Hearken to His Voice!

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; 
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. 
Let us come before Him with thanksgiving 
and extol Him with music and song. 
For the LORD is the great God, 
the great King above all gods. 
In His hand are the depths of the earth, 
and the mountain peaks belong to Him. 
The sea is His, for He made it, 
and His hands formed the dry land. 
Come, let us bow down in worship, 
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; 
for He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, 
the flock under His care. 
Today, if only you would hear His voice, 
“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, 
where your ancestors tested Me; they tried Me, 
though they had seen what I did. 
For forty years I was angry with that generation; 
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, 
and they have not known My ways.’ 
So I declared on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”
Psalm 95

God speaks to us in this Psalm to tell us what it is that He essentially wants in worship, what makes worship true worship. It is that today we would listen to His voice! That is what He wants. He wants us to heed his voice--not just come together.

It is commendable for people to come to a church service, but the value of it soon vanishes if all we do is sit while our thoughts are elsewhere. The central fact of worship is to listen to the Word of God, the voice of God. That is why the exposition of Scripture must be the central thing in public worship. Those churches that have departed from this are making a travesty of worship. Worship must include listening to the voice of God, hearing what He has to say, and letting His Word correct our attitudes and our reactions. I wish it were possible for each of you to watch people during the hour of worship. Externally it looks as though you are all paying attention. You sit there quietly, with rapt, turned-up faces, your eyes open and staring straight ahead, apparently attracted by what the Word of God is saying. But having sat there myself, I know it is not always true. Some of you are playing golf. Others of you are rehearsing a business deal. Some of you are planning a trip. Some are going over a conversation you had two days ago. It would be fascinating at the end of a service to know where everybody has been! But God is desirous that whatever else you may do in a service, when His Word is speaking, listen! And not only listen, hearken! Hearken means to heed the Word, to do something about it, to let it really change you.

Hardening the heart is the exact opposite of hearkening to His voice. If you hearken to His voice, you are not hardening your heart. If you harden your hearts you are not hearkening to His voice. The two are mutually exclusive. He gives us an example of what He means by "hardening the heart." It occurred shortly after the Israelites had come through the Red Sea and had journeyed only a week or two into the wilderness beyond. They came to a place where there was no water, and they all became thirsty. They had hardly had time to become very thirsty when the leaders of the people came to Moses and began to complain. "What are you doing? Leading us out into this wilderness to perish? Where is this God that is supposed to be taking care of us? Why hasn't He provided water for us?" They demanded that God prove Himself again.

That, says God, is what it means to harden your heart. This is the problem God has with us. It disturbs God that people can come week after week and hear stirring and glowing reports of what He is doing in many lives and see the evident change that has come to many and experience the release and freedom He is bringing about in many hearts, and still, the minute anything goes wrong with them, they are ready to fall apart.

Prayer: Lord, we pray that You will help us to hearken, to not be like the fathers of old who resisted You, vexed you, and grieved you for forty years. When we hear Your Word may we do something about it; may it change us. Thank you for Your Word and Your love and Your incredible patience with us. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Life Application: Besides church, are we purposefully seeking quiet times and spaces when we can pay attention and hearken to God's word letting Him speak peace into our souls?

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Psalm 95 - Why Give Thanks?

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
    let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before Him with thanksgiving
    and extol Him with music and song.
For the Lord is the great God,
    the great King above all gods.
In His hand are the depths of the earth,
    and the mountain peaks belong to Him.
The sea is His, for He made it,
    and His hands formed the dry land.
Psalm 95:1-5

The psalmist is giving the basic reasons everyone should give thanksgiving and praise to God. They apply not only to believers but also to all people. Each person has a responsibility to praise God, for all are creatures of His hands. In Romans 1, the apostle Paul points out that one of the charges God brings against people is that "although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him" (Romans 1:21). They did not recognize their relationship to Him.

It is a constant source of amazement to me that people can be so blind to the fact that they are not, as they often imagine themselves to be, independent creatures making their own way through life. We take for granted all the forces that keep us alive and boastfully talk about being self-made people. We strut through life as if there were no one else we need to recognize as the source of our strength and power.

Dr. H. A. Ironside used to tell of an experience he once had at a restaurant. He ordered his meal, and just as he was about to eat, a man walked up to his table and said, "Do you mind if I sit down with you?" Dr. Ironside said that it was quite all right, so the man sat down. As was his custom, Dr. Ironside bowed his head and said a silent word of thanksgiving to the Lord before he ate. When he lifted up his head, the man said to him, "Do you have a headache?"

Ironside said, "No, I don't."

The man said, "Well, is there anything wrong with your food?"

Ironside said, "No, why?"

"Well," the man said, "I saw you sitting there with your head down, and I thought you must be sick, or there was something wrong with your food."

Ironside replied, "No, I was simply returning thanks to God as I always do before I eat."

The man said, "Oh, you're one of those, are you? Well, I never give thanks. I earn my money by the sweat of my brow, and I don't have to give thanks to anybody when I eat. I just start right in!"

Dr. Ironside said, "Yes, you're just like my dog. That's what he does, too!"

That little story suggests that when people will not give thanks to God, they are acting like irrational animals. Such is the basis of this appeal by the psalmist: no matter how we may feel or what our attitude toward God may be, we are bound, as creatures dependent upon His love and grace, at least to give thanks to Him as our Creator.

Psalm 96:8 says, "Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name." God is always worthy of our thanksgiving, not just when we feel like giving it. We should do it for His name's sake. Doubtless it would make a great difference in our worship if we would remember that praise is not something that merely reflects our transient feelings but is something we ought to do simply because God made us, and we cannot live a moment without Him.

Prayer: Lord, I give thanks to You because You are so worthy of glory. Forgive me for taking You and all that You do for granted. I love you Jesus! It's in Your name I pray, Amen.

Life Application: Does our thankfulness move beyond TGIF - Thank God It's Friday? Does God's character and goodness stir us to deep gratitude for His mercy and love toward us?

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Psalm 84 - The Secret of Usefulness

How lovely is your dwelling place,
    Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
    Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
    they are ever praising you.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
    they make it a place of springs;
    the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
    till each appears before God in Zion.
Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
    listen to me, God of Jacob.
Look on our shield, O God;
    look with favor on your anointed one.
Better is one day in your courts
    than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
    from those whose walk is blameless.
Lord Almighty,
    blessed is the one who trusts in you.
Psalm 84

Here the secret of usefulness is set forth. "Blessed are those whose strength is in you."

Many of you have been Christians for a long time. When you get in difficulties or troubles or pressures, where is your strength? Have you found that your strength is in God, that He is the One who makes a difference?

One Saturday night I came home after a day away from my church responsibilities, and I was very tired. My wife told me some of the things that had been happening, some of the pressures that had come that day from the church and from the family. They were the kind of things I would normally want to lay before the Lord and pray about. But I didn't feel like praying. I was tired, and I wanted to go to bed. I thought to myself, "What's the use of praying, anyway? I'm so tired that my prayers wouldn't have any power."

Then it struck me: What a thing to say! What difference does it make how I feel? My reliance isn't upon my prayers but upon God's power. It always bothers me to hear Christians talk about "the power of prayer." There isn't any power in prayer. There is power in the God who answers prayer. I was rebuked in my own spirit by the remembrance that it makes no difference how tired I happen to be. So I prayed--very briefly, because the power of prayer doesn't lie in the length of it, either. Charles Spurgeon used to speak of those who had the idea that the power of the ministry lay in the lungs of the preacher. But it doesn't lie there, either. Power lies in the God who is behind prayer. "Blessed are those whose strength is in you."

Prayer: Lord, You are the strength of my life. When I am weak and weary, let me turn to You for the power I need. Help me to realize that the power is not in my prayers but in You alone, Whom I pray to. I love you! In Jesus' name, Amen

Life Application: Are we missing the wonder of the divine invasion, which is Christ-in-you? Do we place the full weight of our weakness and weariness on that powerful Resource?

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Look to Me and be Saved

"Look to Me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth; 
for I am God, and there is no other."
Isaiah 45:22

Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth: This simple but powerful statement shows the plan of salvation.

1) It shows the simplicity of salvation: all we must do is look. “One can read may books on theology which expound all kinds of things in an attempt to show how man can reach God, but these theories are far from the truth. The Holy Spirit needs exactly four letters, two of them the same, to tell us what to do: l-o-o-k. That is all. It is the simplest, basic thing any person can do, yet the most difficult to do in daily living.” (Redpath)

2) It shows the focus of salvation: we must look to God, and never to ourselves or to anything else of man. “Look unto ME, is His Word, which means looking away from the church because that will save nobody; away from the preacher because he can disappoint and disillusion you; away from all outward form and ceremony. You must look off from all this to the throne and there, in your heart, see the risen, reigning Lord Jesus Christ.” (Redpath)

3) It shows the love behind salvation: God pleads with man, “Look to Me.”

4) It shows the assurance of salvation: and be saved.

5) It shows the extent of God’s saving love: all you ends of the earth!

Look to Me: In Numbers 21, the people of Israel were stricken by deadly snake bites, and Moses lifted up the image of a bronze serpent, raised on a pole, and the people who looked to it lived. The people were saved not by doing anything, but by simply looking to the bronze serpent. They had to trust that something as seemingly foolish as looking at such a thing would be sufficient to save them, and surely, some perished because they thought it too foolish to do such a thing!

So it says here in Isaiah: Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! We might be willing to do a hundred things to earn our salvation, but God commands us to only trust in Him – to look to Him!

On Sunday, January 6, 1850, a young man not quite sixteen years of age was walked through a village street in a little town some fifty miles from London, England. On the bitterly cold day the snow fell heavily; but he was more concerned to find a church, because he was deeply conscious of his need of God, and of the breakdown, sin, and failure of his life even at that young age. As he made his way through the street with the snow falling, he felt it was too far to go to the church which he had intended to visit, so he walked down a back lane and entered a little Methodist chapel. He sat down on a seat near the back, and it was as cold inside as it was out! There were only about thirteen people there.

Five minutes after the service was due to begin at eleven o’clock, the regular preacher for the morning hadn’t come. He had been delayed by the weather. So one of the deacons came to the rescue and began conducting the service, and after a little while announced his text: ‘Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.’ The deacon didn’t know much, so he only spoke for about ten minutes.

Charles Spurgeon himself tells what happened: “I had been wandering about, seeking rest, and finding none, till a plain, unlettered, lay preacher among the Primitive Methodists stood up in the pulpit, and gave out this passage as his text: ‘Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.’ He had not much to say, thank God, for that compelled him to keep on repeating his text, and there was nothing needed – by me, at any rate, – except his text. I remember how he said, ‘It is Christ that speaks. “I am in the garden in an agony, pouring out my soul unto death; I am on the tree, dying for sinners; look unto me! Look unto me!” That is all you have to do. A child can look. One who is almost an idiot can look. However weak, or however poor, a man may be, he can look; and if he looks, the promise is that he shall live.’ Then, stopping, he pointed to where I was sitting under the gallery, and he said, ‘That young man there looks very miserable.’ I expect I did, for that is how I felt. Then he said, ‘There is no hope for you, young man, or any chance of getting rid of your sin, but by looking to Jesus;’ and he shouted, as I think only a Primitive Methodist can, ‘Look! Look, young man! Look now!’ And I did look; and when they sang a hallelujah before they went home, in their own earnest way, I am sure I joined in it. It happened to be a day when the snow was lying deep and more was falling; so, as I went home, those words of David kept ringing through my heart, ‘Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow;’ and it seemed as if all nature was in accord with that blessed deliverance from sin which I had found in a single moment by looking to Jesus Christ.”

Somehow in a very strange and amazing way that young man looked from the depths of his soul into the very heart of God. He went out from the church, and he tells that as he walked through the streets, his burden had been lifted, never to return again. He walked with a new spring in his step, a new joy in his face, a new sense of peace in his heart. He had looked and lived.

Taken from the online Bible commentary of David Guzik at Enduring Word

Psalm 8 - Man and God

LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! 

You have set Your glory in the heavens. 

Through the praise of children and infants 

You have established a stronghold against your enemies, 

to silence the foe and the avenger. 

When I consider Your heavens, the work of your fingers, 

the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, 

what is mankind that you are mindful of them, 

human beings that you care for them? 

You have made them a little lower than the angels

and crowned them with glory and honor. 

You made them rulers over the works of Your hands; 

You put everything under their feet: 

all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 

the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, 

all that swim the paths of the seas. 

LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8 

Imagine the scene. Here is young David out under the stars at night watching his sheep. The air at that time and place was not darkened with smog or polluted with the irritants that fill the atmosphere today. The stars were brilliant, and the moon, in its full phase, was crossing the heavens. He felt, as we have all felt as we have stood under the stars at night, something of mingled mystery and awe as he looked up into the star-spangled heavens. He considered the beauty of nature and its silent witness to the wisdom of God. All the breath-taking beauty of this scene broke upon his eyes as the sun set. He was astonished at the greatness of a God who could create such things.

Thirty centuries after David wrote these words, we feel the same awe when we consider the starry heavens. Astronauts have been physically able to walk on the same moon that David could observe only from a distance, yet all the knowledge that has been gained about the universe in which we live only serves to deepen our impression of the tremendous wisdom and power of God. How vast is the universe in which we live! These billions of galaxies whirl in their silent courses through the deepness of space. How tremendous is the power that sustains it all and keeps it operating as one harmonious unit! That is what impressed this psalmist.

Then he faces the inevitable question that comes to those who contemplate God's greatness. "'What is man," he asks, "in the sight of a God who could make a universe like this?" You will recognize that this is the question that cries for an answer in our day. What are humans? Where did they come from? What is their purpose here? Why do they exist on this small planet in this vast universe? These are the questions that are being asked more and more.

The psalmist goes on to answer his own question: "You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor" (Psalm 8:5). Man has a unique relationship to God. He was made to be a little less than God. What is included in that remarkable expression is the revelation of God's purpose for man. According to the Bible, God made man to be the expression of God's life, the human vehicle of the divine life, the means by which the invisible God would be made visible to His creatures. Man was to be the instrument by which God would do His work in the world and the expression of the character and being of God. He is the creature nearest to God. There is none other nearer, for God Himself was to live in man. That is the revelation of the Bible. Man is such a unique being, such a remarkable being, that God Himself intends to live in Him to be the glory of man's life.

Prayer: We thank You, Father, that in You we find our true worth and identity. Thank You that You live in us through Your Holy Spirit. Thank You that Jesus took on the very nature of man so that He could identify with us and take our punishment for our sins and give us His salvation. In His name we pray, Amen.

Life Application: God created human beings to be fully alive in union with Him. Are we allowing God to restore that union with the risen Christ to be fully alive in and through us?

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Psalm 77 - From Despair to Victory

You are the God who performs miracles;
    you display your power among the peoples.
With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
    the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
Psalm 77:14-15

Psalm 77 has tremendous value for anyone who has ever faced life's serious questions: Is there a dependable God? Are there absolute values in life? Is there meaning to life; is there any purpose to this existence? Here is a man who finds his way from the despairing conclusion expressed in verse 10, "And I say, 'It is my grief that the right hand of the Most High has changed"(Psalm 77:10 RSV) to the triumphant declaration of verse 13: "Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God?"

He does it by meditating on the deeds of the Lord. He thinks long and hard about certain actions of God in history--certain concrete, stubborn facts that cannot be forgotten or explained away, which have been witnessed by thousands and even millions of people, and the results of which have permanently altered the course of history.

The events of the Exodus were redemptive. What was God doing down there in Egypt with these people, bringing plagues upon the Egyptians, sweeping through the land in terrible judgments, eventually taking in death the firstborn of the land? What are these? Miracles, yes, but designed to buy back a people. Here they come, bought back and brought out of the bondage of Egypt. All this is to picture for all time the purpose of God's activity. All the miracles of both the Old Testament and the New Testament have this quality about them.

What does it mean to redeem? It means to restore to usefulness something that has been rendered useless. When I was a seminary student, I spent three years as a summer intern in two different churches in Pasadena, CA. And, probably like seminary students yet today, when I arrived in Pasadena in the spring of each year I arrived penniless, with nothing to hold me over until the first paycheck came. The first time this problem happened, I discovered a way of solving it that I then used every year that I was a summer intern. As soon as I arrived in Pasadena, I took my typewriter down to the pawnshop and hocked it. That carried me over until I got my first paycheck. Then, when the first paycheck came, I would take the necessary money and go down and redeem the typewriter. When that typewriter was in the pawnshop, it was absolutely useless. I could not use it; the pawnbroker could not use it; no one had the right to use that typewriter. It was rendered utterly useless to anybody. It was only when it was redeemed that it was put back into functional service.

That is what redemption does, and that is God's special work. Everything He does in human life is aimed in this direction. These mighty activities of God, recorded as miracles, are all redemptive in character. They serve to buy us back. They restore us. They chip away at all the harmful build-ups of years of wrong living, wrongful habits, and hurtful attitudes and strip them off to restore us to useful functioning again.

Prayer: Father, thank You for Your special work of redemption in the history of Israel and in my own life as well. Thank You that by Your work You give purpose and turn me from despair to victory. In Christ's name I pray, Amen.

Life Application: How do God's redemptive miracles help us answer life's tough questions? Are we amazed how God's redeeming grace moves us from inefficacy to absolute victory?

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Psalm 77 - The Correct Focus

I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will consider all your works
    and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”
Your ways, God, are holy.
    What god is as great as our God?

Psalm 77:11-12

The crucial words in these verses are "I will." They indicate that the psalmist has caught hold of himself. He is no longer the victim of his feelings, and that is the point. The control of his life shifts from his heart to his head, and that is the way God intended it to be. He sees that the place to begin is not with himself, as he has been doing, or with his circumstances, but with God. And the proper order is not with prayer and then meditation, but the reverse: to begin with meditating about God, which leads to petition based on an understanding of who God is.

That is the way out, and it points up the trouble this man has had before. He began his prayer with himself at the center. You can see that in his words. This problem that has brought him to God occupies his mind. This man's whole thought is, "What is happening to me? Look how I cry and nothing happens."

The result of that is always the same. When self is at the center, then the heart takes over, and the mind is governed by the feelings. We then find ourselves limited to what the Bible calls "natural thinking," or thinking on a limited narrow plane, which does not take into consideration all the facts. Here is a picture of a man who is giving way to his feelings, allowing them to drive him into increasing distress and despair. He finds himself attempting to be logical, but only on this one plane of thought, related to self. That is why he misses the point so completely.

The heart is a powerful factor in human thinking. When the heart, the emotions, and feelings get hold of us, and control our thinking, then we discover that we are helpless to reason properly. But when something stops us, then the head and the will can assert themselves and take over.

What is wrong with beginning with myself? The answer is obvious. People are limited beings, so when you begin with the person, your thinking is necessarily limited. But when you start with God, you are starting with the great fact that includes all other facts. You have broadened your vision to take in every aspect of truth. Someone has described that kind of thinking as "cubical thinking." Truth is not a single level of thought; it is a cube. It has sides, other aspects, which need to be considered. All truth is related to other truth. You will discover that as you relate a fact to other truths that touch it on every side of the "cube," you see this fact in a different light from when you consider it by itself.

Have you begun to learn how to handle the temptations to doubt that come to you; how to systematically, thoughtfully, and carefully begin where God wants you to begin and work through from that basis? Have you risen above the limitations of natural thinking and begun to think spiritually?

Prayer: Father, teach me to start not with me and my own limited understanding, but with You. When I begin with meditating about You, Lord God, this leads to petition based on an understanding of who You are. Please help me, Holy Spirit, to take my eyes off myself and put them on You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Life Application: We lose heart when our thoughts are self-focused and mired in life's problems. We will find the picture changes when God is the starting point of our meditation.

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Psalm 77 - A Crisis of Faith

I cried out to God for help;
    I cried out to God to hear me.
When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
    at night I stretched out untiring hands,
    and I would not be comforted.
I remembered you, God, and I groaned;
    I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.
You kept my eyes from closing;
    I was too troubled to speak.
I thought about the former days,
    the years of long ago;
I remembered my songs in the night.
    My heart meditated and my spirit asked:
“Will the Lord reject forever?
    Will he never show his favor again?
Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
    Has his promise failed for all time?
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
    Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”
Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
    the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.
Psalm 77:1-10

Here is a man who is really trying to be honest. He says, "I have analyzed my situation: I tried prayer all night long. In the past I have been given help, but no help has come now. God has made my heart to sing in the past, but it is empty, barren, and cheerless now. Why is this? I have thought about it: I searched my own life, my own heart, and these questions have come to me, and I cannot answer them. My conclusion must be that I have misjudged God. I have thought that God was changeless, that He would always respond every time I came to Him, but He has not. Therefore, I am driven to the irresistible conclusion that He is like a man, and you cannot count on Him."

This psalmist is facing the possibility of losing his faith. All that he once rested on, which has been such a comfort to him, which has strengthened him and given him character and power among men, seems to be nothing but a crumbling foundation that is disappearing fast. Soon he must lose all that he has held onto in the past. This is the "day of [his] trouble" and his present distress. Is that not the hidden problem with many of us? I have lost track of the times people have called me up and said, "I just don't know what to do. I've tried prayer, I've tried reading my Bible, I've tried to think through, but nothing seems to help. I don't know what to do. What's happening to me?"

Apparent unresponsiveness from God is not unusual. All of God's saints have experienced this from time to time. This is part of the standard program God has for disciplining and training His own. "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear" (1 Corinthians 10:13a). The faithfulness of God is deliberately put into contrast with the statement, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man" because every one of us tends to suffer from the feeling that what is happening to us is unique. But many have experienced similar temptations if they are seeking to live the life of faith.

The prophet Isaiah declares the reason this is true. Isaiah reveals what God says. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" (Isaiah 55:8). That is, God says, "My reason is above yours. You understand so little of life compared to what I see in it. My thoughts are not your thoughts"; therefore, you can expect there will come times when you will not understand but will be perplexed. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts; as the heavens are above the earth, so much greater is His vision of what reality is. If we are limited then to the tiny section of life that we can grasp with our puny understanding, it is only to be expected that there will come times when we do not understand what God is doing. So do not be troubled by these times of perplexity. They are normal experiences coming to all in the life of faith.

Prayer: Our Father, I am so grateful that the things Your Word talks about are not remote from my experience, that You are the God who is interested in life. When I cannot understand, teach me to trust in You. When I can't see Your hand may I trust Your heart and rest on You. In Your son's precious name, Amen.

Life Application: When we lessen our trust in God, the object of our faith, our faith is weakened. Have we grasped the need to re-focus on God's character revealed in Christ Jesus?

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