“Behold, God will not cast away the blameless, Nor will He uphold the evildoers. He will yet fill your mouth with laughing, And your lips with rejoicing. Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, And the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing” (Job 8:20-22).
Heavenly Father, we come to You in the Name which is above every name! We pray that Your mercies will be poured out upon the world. People are searching and hoping for a peace that seems to be eluding them. Some are wondering if they will ever feel safe again. So please Lord, open our ears to hear, and our hearts to feel Your love that is reaching out to remind us, that You are here, and that You care. In the Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
In our last devotional, we heard the beginning of Bildad’s speech; very scathing and heartless. If Job’s story had not begun describing Eliphaz and Bildad, as Job’s friends, we would immediately have considered them his enemies! After their seven days and nights of silence sitting with him on the floor, and shedding tears, their words and demeanor changed drastically!
Their behavior overwhelmed and undermined their friend. As if that was not enough their ungodly behavior was done, in the name of the Lord.
Now, let us listen to Bildad as He speaks of the justice of God,
“Behold, God will not cast away the blameless, Nor will He uphold the evildoers. He will yet fill your mouth with laughing, And your lips with rejoicing. Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, And the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing” (Job 8:20-22).
Is he talking about the same God, that had, “cast [Job’s children] away for their transgression[?]” (4).
It is in situations like these that the message of a God of love is distorted, and causes confusion. Is this the way God treats His children? Can we trust this God with our pain? Does He pass judgment on us without reasoning with us?
You see, when people speak with such authority about what they believe is happening in our lives, without hearing our side of the story, we may begin to doubt God’s love, lose faith in His promises, and become filled with fear! Hopefully we will remember that He has given us a very effective antidote against fear that consists of, “power, love, and a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). Let us use it!
Have their words caused Job to doubt that God is just? Could this be what is happening to Job as he sits there and listens to his “friends?” Let us listen to his response:
“I am afraid of all my sufferings; I know that You will not hold me innocent. If I am condemned, Why then do I labor in vain? If I wash myself with snow water, And cleanse my hands with soap, Yet You will plunge me into the pit, And my own clothes wil abhor me. “For He is not a man, as I am, That I may answer Him, And that we should go to court together. Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both. Let Him take His rod away from me, And do not let dread of Him terrify me. Then I would speak and not fear Him, But it is not so with me” (Job 9:28-35, emphasis supplied).
Did you hear Job’s feeling of defeat? “Why even try?” ‘You will not hold me innocent.’ ‘Why then do I labor in vain?‘ “No matter what I do,” ‘You will plunge me into the pit.‘ ‘[D]o not let dread of Him terrify me.‘
I must keep going back to the message in Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue[.]” Our words can kill hope, destroy dreams, weaken resolve, make of no effect God’s promises in other people’s minds, as well as in ours. As words do their damaging work on the life of others, they can also destroy us.
In our next devotional Job will go directly to God with his complaints.
Note: Some changes have been made to this devotional.