O gracious God and most merciful Father,
you have given us the rich and precious jewel of your holy Word.
Assist us with your Spirit, that it may be written in our hearts
to our everlasting comfort,
to reform us, to renew us according to your own image,
to build us up into the perfect building of Christ,
and to increase us in all heavenly virtues.
Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the same Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.
Elihu gives the final human speech. I find it funny and slightly annoying how long it takes him to get started (e.g. after he has spoken for a bit without saying anything, he says, “I’m about to open my mouth; the words are on the tip of my tongue.”) When he finally does start, he speaks words that are foolish, but they often reflect the things we say. 36:5-12 sounds like advice we might hear today, but something is missing. These words stand in stark contrast to Job’s in 27:1-6. I find I am often less comfortable with Job’s words, even though they are true. I have to keep going back to one of Job’s original statements: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” So many questions to ponder, and then God asks in 40:8, “Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?” Then in 42:7 God defends Job against his friends.
The first time I seriously read Job I was so eager to hear God’s response to Job’s questions. I got to the end and thought I missed it. I re-read the whole book. Then I realized – God never directly answers Job. Instead he peppers him with unanswerable questions. God is who he is, and he is good. Job never finds out about the deal with Satan. Apparently that is not the point. Job trusts God and worships God, and God never lets go of Job.
No comments:
Post a Comment