SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 11/24/2011 9:55:23 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: “Job Looks Back at Life’s Joys”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Job 29
Message
of the verses: We begin a new
chapter in the book of Job and also in Warren Wiersbe’s commentary, “Be Patient” and he entitles this
chapter “I Rest My Case” which will
cover Job 29-31. I have mentioned before
that Wiersbe usually gives a kind of a preview at the beginning of his chapters
to let his readers know what will be covered in the chapter and he does so in
this chapter to which I wish to quote part of it so that we can understand
where he is going with it.
He begins by saying that it looks
like Job had given Zophar another chance to speak and must have waited for him
to do so, but he declined so Job began his discourse again after some kind of a
pause.
“In these three chapters, Job
recalled the blessings of the past (Job 29), lamented the sufferings of the present
(Job 30), and challenged God to vindicate him in the future (job 31). He climaxed his speech with sixteen ‘if I have…’ statements and put himself
under oath, challenging God either to condemn him or vindicate him. It was as though Job were saying, ‘We’ve
talked long enough! I really don’t care
what you three men think, because God is my Judge; and I rest my case with
Him. Now, let Him settle the matter one
way or another, once and for all.’”
Job
looks back at life’s joys (Job 29): “1 Job continued his discourse: 2 "How
I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me, 3 when
his lamp shone upon my head and by his light I walked through darkness! 4 Oh,
for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my
house, 5 when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
6 when my path was drenched with cream
and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.
“7 "When I went to the gate of the
city and took my seat in the public square, 8 the young men saw me and stepped
aside and the old men rose to their feet; 9 the chief men refrained from
speaking and covered their mouths with their hands; 10 the voices of the nobles
were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths. 11 Whoever
heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me, 12 because I
rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist
him. 13 The man who was dying blessed me; I made the widow’s heart sing. 14 I
put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban. 15 I
was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. 16 I was a father to the needy; I
took up the case of the stranger. 17 I broke the fangs of the wicked and
snatched the victims from their teeth.
“18 "I thought, ‘I shall die in my own
house, my days as numerous as the grains of sand. 19 My roots will reach to the
water, and the dew will lie all night on my branches. 20 My glory will remain
fresh in me, the bow ever new in my hand.’ 21 “Men listened to me expectantly,
waiting in silence for my counsel. 22 After I had spoken, they spoke no more;
my words fell gently on their ears. 23 They waited for me as for showers and
drank in my words as the spring rain. 24 When I smiled at them, they scarcely
believed it; the light of my face was precious to them. 25 I chose the way for
them and sat as their chief; I dwelt as a king among his troops; I was like one
who comforts mourners.’” (NIV)
“1 ¶
І Йов далі вів мову свою та й сказав: 2
О, коли б я був той, як за місяців давніх, як за днів тих, коли боронив
мене Бог, 3 коли над головою моєю
світився світильник Його, і при світлі його я ходив в темноті, 4 як був я за днів тих своєї погожої осени,
коли Божа милість була над наметом моїм, 5
коли Всемогутній зо мною ще був, а навколо мене мої діти, 6 коли мої кроки купалися в маслі, а скеля
оливні струмки біля мене лила!…
7 ¶
Коли я виходив до брами при місті, і ставив на площі сидіння своє,
8 як тільки вбачали мене юнаки то
ховались, а старші вставали й стояли, 9
зверхники стримували свою мову та клали долоню на уста свої, 10 ховався тоді голос володарів, а їхній язик
приліпав їм був до піднебіння… 11 Бо яке
ухо чуло про мене, то звало блаженним мене, і яке око бачило, то свідкувало за
мене, 12 бо я рятував бідаря, що про
поміч кричав, і сироту та безпомічного. 13
Благословення гинучого на мене приходило, а серце вдовиці чинив я
співаючим! 14 Зодягавсь я у праведність,
і вона зодягала мене, немов плащ та завій було право моє. 15 Очима я був для сліпого, а кривому ногами я
був. 16 Бідарям я був батьком, суперечку
ж, якої не знав, я досліджував. 17 Й я торощив
злочинцеві щелепи, і виривав із зубів його схоплене.
18 ¶
І я говорив: Умру я в своєму
гнізді, і свої дні я помножу, немов той пісок: 19 для води був відкритий мій корень, а роса
зоставалась на вітці моїй… 20 Моя слава
була при мені все нова, і в руці моїй лук мій відновлював силу. 21 Мене слухалися й дожидали, і мовчали на раду
мою. 22 По слові моїм уже не говорили, і
падала мова моя на них краплями. 23 І
чекали мене, як дощу, і уста свої відкривали, немов на весінній той дощик…
24 Коли я, бувало, сміявся до них, то не
вірили, та світла обличчя мого не гасили. 25
Вибирав я дорогу для них і сидів на чолі, і пробував, немов цар той у
війську, коли тішить засмучених він!
(Ukraine) I hope that someone who
has been reading my blog will understand this translation.
We remember that when Job began his
first speech that he said that he wished that he had not been born, and now
near the end of his speeches he recalls the good times that he had. As believers we all go through good times and
times that are not good and so it is good to remember that life is usually a
series of ups and downs, but the Lord is in control and with us every step of
the way even though at times it seems that he is a long way from us. The Psalmist wrote the following in Psalm
72:10-11 “10 Then I said, "It is my
grief, That the right hand of the Most High has changed." 11 I shall remember the deeds of the LORD;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.”
We see that Job mentions that the
happiest moments of his life were “the
presence of the Lord,” which is found in verses 2-6. This shows that Job’s heart was surely right
with the Lord as he has been saying all along.
Dr. Wiersbe points out that Job did
wish that he were back in the prime of his life and then goes onto write the
following: “If we focus so must on the glories of the past that we ignore the
opportunities of the present, we may end up unprepared to meet the future. That future will come whether we like it or
not. Few people eagerly anticipate old
age and the special problems that it brings, but we can’t avoid it. It’s a proven fact that those who have the
most birthdays live the longest, and those who live the longest become the
oldest; and the old people eventually die.”
Henry Amiel wrote “To know how to
grow old is the master work of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters
in the great art of living.” I can say
that this is statement is becoming more true to me each and every day.
In verses 7-11 Job mentioned the
respect that he received when he would walk through the city. His third source of joy came as he ministered
to others and this is seen in verses 12-17.
We must remember that Eliphaz had accused Job of not helping those who
were in need of help, and now Job is talking of all the help that he gave to those
in need.
Job speaks about his confidence in
the future in verses 18-20 as the Lord was blessing him before the calamites
came upon him. Job thought that this
would last forever, but it did not and as written about above we all go through
the ups and downs of life.
We will speak briefly on Job’s final
source of joy that is seen in verses 21-25 and that is his privilege of
speaking words of encouragement and help to others. There is a NT character that fits this
description and his name is Barnabas who is called the “son of encouragement” in Acts 4:36.
We conclude by saying that Job
enjoyed a rich and rewarding life, but at present this was all gone from him.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I suppose
that all believers have gone through times which I will call “Job moments” and
perhaps they have not been as severe as what Job went through at the time they
were very difficult times.
In my life I have gone through some
difficult times and I have learned that God is faithful, His Word is faithful
and even though at times He seems distant to me He has promised never to leave
me nor forsake me.
I believe that God has a plan for
our lives and the end result of that plan is seen in Romans 8:29 where Paul
writes “For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to
be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers.” (KJV)
“Бо кого Він передбачив, тих і
призначив, щоб були подібні до образу Сина Його, щоб Він був перворідним поміж
багатьма братами.” (UKRAINE)
As we look at the book of Job we
will see that God never did give an explanation to Job as far as why all of
this happened to him, for God is sovereign and does not have to give reasons
for why He does things, but God is also good and love so we can trust Him in
those difficult times of our lives. Paul
went through some difficult times too as he writes about in 2Cor. 11 and
12. He makes a statement in chapter
twelve that has always been a comfort to me: “"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in
weakness." Most gladly,
therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ
may dwell in me. Therefore I am well
content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with
difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1.
Be thankful
to the Lord for all of His wonderful blessings for today is “Thanksgiving.”
2.
Continue to learn contentment from all of the
ups and downs of life.
11/24/2011
11:31:56 AM
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