September 11, 2011
PRAYER IN DESPAIR
Job 13:20-14:22
During the past three weeks or so different ones of us have faced various things in life. Fred has been diagnosed with cancer. As far as I know, the word “cancer” had never been linked to Fred Bundy until about three weeks ago. Barb went to Las Cruces to have another surgery on her eye. Though she had hope going into the surgery, she knew there were significant risks. She didn’t know whether she would come out seeing or not. Phyllis Methot suffered a stroke this past week and continues to battle a serious blood disease.
I must confess that I have never faced anything like what my brother and sisters faced these past couple of weeks. Nor have I been confronted with the kind of suffering with which Job was afflicted. It is difficult for me to understand the mind of Job, because I find it very difficult to identify with him. Some of you have experienced continual pain day after day, even as Job did, but I certainly have not. I have never had to wonder why God was allowing such terrible things to happen to me. As I think about these things, I am reminded that I need to be very careful about judging Job. While we can certainly say that he was not doing well, that his discouragement didn’t come from God, most of us cannot say with confidence how we would handle the situation. The best we can do is speak of how we should deal with such difficulties.
Perhaps this would be a good time to remember two statements that occur after the 14th chapter of Job. First of all, when God finally takes his turn to speak in the book of Job, He utters these words in 42:7, "And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath." Though Job may not be excused for some of the things he said, the Lord Himself commends Job far above his friends. We need to keep that in mind. Then in the New Testament we have one reference to Job. It is in James 5:11, "Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." Most of us have heard people speak of “the patience of Job.” Well, this is where it comes from. The word might be better translated “patient endurance.” It is the noun form of the word that is translated “endure” earlier in the verse. If we are not regarding Job as a man of patient endurance, we best do two things. First of all, don’t be too hard on Job, considering the kind of affliction that he is enduring. Secondly, remember that we are only in chapter 14. We still have a ways to go.
This morning we come to the gut-wrenching prayer of Job. After hearing the vicious attack of Zophar (on top of the rebukes of Eliphaz and Zophar), Job defended himself. We have looked at that defense in 12:1-13:19. Now Job turns directly to God and speaks to Him, the desire he had expressed back in 13:3. This prayer fills the rest of chapter 13 and all of chapter 14. We can learn much about a person by listening to his heartfelt prayer. This morning let’s hear Job. If you want to give this message a title, it would simply be “Prayer in Despair.”
I. Come, Let Us Reason Together (13:20-28)
Some of you are familiar with the words God spoke to His people in the days of Isaiah. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Is. 1:18). The people of Israel were careful to maintain the outward forms of worship and sacrifice, but their hearts were cold and resistant to the Lord. So He called them to sit down and think together with Him, to hear what He had to say to them. In this last section of chapter 13, it’s as if Job is saying to the Lord, “Come, let us reason together.” Job has dealt long enough with his “friends;” now he longs to have a hearing before God Himself. We know He is now talking to God because of the change in pronouns. In verse 16, Job said, “He also is my salvation,” speaking to Zophar about God. But notice in verse 21, “Withdraw Your hand far from me…” Job is obviously now speaking directly to God.
Let’s read it in Job 13:20-28…
Only two things do not do to me, Then I will not hide myself from You: 21 Withdraw Your hand far from me, And let not the dread of You make me afraid. 22 Then call, and I will answer; Or let me speak, then You respond to me. 23 How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin. 24 Why do You hide Your face, And regard me as Your enemy? 25 Will You frighten a leaf driven to and fro? And will You pursue dry stubble? 26 For You write bitter things against me, And make me inherit the iniquities of my youth. 27 You put my feet in the stocks, And watch closely all my paths. You set a limit for the soles of my feet. 28 "Man decays like a rotten thing, Like a garment that is moth-eaten.
Job pictures himself as hiding from God. He feels like God has driven him into hiding by bringing so much suffering upon him. So Job has a suggestion: “Lord, I will stop hiding from you, if you will do two things for me.” The two things are closely related, but stated separately. First, Job asks God to withdraw His hand from him, His hand of affliction and grief. Remember that Job is well aware that ultimately everything comes from God. Though Satan is the one who is directly attacking him, Job doesn’t know that. Nevertheless, he is right in seeing God as the One who is behind all things. If God decides that Job’s trouble will end, they will end. His second request is simple enough: “And let not the dread of You make me afraid.” Job has become so terrified of God that He dreads coming before Him. We see how closely these two requests are related, for if God will withdraw His hand of affliction, then there will be no reason for Job to be afraid. Job’s desire is to cease hiding from God and to come and reason with Him.
If God will do these two things, then when He calls, Job says that he will answer (22). Some translations render it, “Summon me” (NIV; New Living), continuing with the context of a court appearance. Job longed for the Lord to assemble His heavenly court so that he could get a hearing before the Almighty. If God will not do so, then Job will convene his own court. That seems to be the force of verse 22, “Then call, and I will answer. Or, let me speak, then You respond to me.” Whether God’s initiative or his own, Job longs to hear the verdict from God.
Now the question of verse 23, “How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin.” Again, we see that Job does not claim to be sinless. Rather, the idea is something like this: “Lord, are my sins great enough to deserve all this? Show me what my sins are. Then maybe I will be able to accept my suffering or to repent and change. But I need to know the nature of my wrongdoing.” Now 24, “Why do You hide Your face and regard me as Your enemy?” We see some confusion on Job’s part. In verse 20 he said that he himself is the one hiding from God; now he says that God is hiding from him. He certainly believes that the nature of his treatment proves that God sees him as an enemy.
In the rest of this section Job details how God is treating him like an enemy. Job pictures himself as no more than a leaf or a piece of dry stubble, being driven about like the wind. In other words, Job is no match for God. So why does God keep pursing him, always examining him and testing him? He accuses God of keeping a record of his wrongdoing. Surely God is rewarding him for the sins that he committed years ago as a youth. He feels like God is treating him like a criminal with a long record. God so confines him that it’s like his feet are in stocks and he can’t move. When he does, the Lord is constantly watching his every move, only allowing him to go where He allows. He closes the section with the words of verse 28, “Man decays like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.” Now he speaks of man in general. Before what seems to Job to be such harsh treatment from God, man rots and decays.
So Job is beginning to make his case before God. To say the least, Job believes that God is unfair in that the Lord pursues him but will not tell him what he has done wrong. Even in our messed-up system of justice we have a principle which says that the accused has a right to know the charges against him. Job is demanding that right before God.
II. I Don’t Have a Chance (14:1-6)
Now we come to chapter 14, verses 1-6. We might title this section, “I don’t have a chance.” If you get the idea that Job was discouraged and depressed, you would be right. Let’s read 14:1-6…
Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. 2 He comes forth like a flower and fades away; He flees like a shadow and does not continue. 3 And do You open Your eyes on such a one, And bring me to judgment with Yourself? 4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one! 5 Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass. 6 Look away from him that he may rest, Till like a hired man he finishes his day.
Job is now speaking of man in general. Knowing that mankind has sinned against his Creator, he acknowledges that we who are born into this world will live a short life and that life will be full of trouble. Doesn’t it remind you of the prayer of Moses in Psalm 90, especially 90:10, "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." As Job puts it here in verse 2, “He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue.” Again, this is a principle that is found throughout the scripture.
One thing we must note is that Job is contradicting his friends. They are claiming that the greatest sinners are the ones who experience great troubles in this life. Job maintains that these things are true of all people. No matter how righteous a person may be, his life is still short and full of troubles. While it is true that some have far greater troubles than others, we know from the rest of scripture that the severity of affliction and tribulation isn’t directly related to the greatness of one’s sin, contrary to what his three friends were continually telling him.
Out of this truth comes Job’s question in verse 3-4, “And do You open Your eyes on such a one and bring me to judgment with Yourself. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one!” Perhaps Job is asking if after being judged in this world, will God also bring him into His presence for a heavenly judgment? Facing such judgment, Job asks God how anyone can bring a pure thing out of an impure thing. This is where I see Job expressing the idea that he doesn’t have a chance. Since he has been a sinner from the beginning, how can he hope to stand before God, the righteous Judge?
Job concludes this section by emphasizing that since God has ordained man’s few days full of trouble, it would be right for Him to turn His face away from man for a while. Job accepts God’s sovereignty over the length of a man’s life. He knows that God is the one who has set the limit of how long each of us will live, but surely man should be able to have a few days of rest before this life is over. As a hired hand must labor and toil until the day is done, so Job feels the drudgery of life under the gaze of the Almighty. He longs for God to give him a little break.
III. Better to Be a Tree (14:7-12)
Now Job uses an illustration to focus on how hopeless is the situation of mortals like us. Let’s read it in 14:7-12…
For there is hope for a tree, If it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And that its tender shoots will not cease. 8 Though its root may grow old in the earth, And its stump may die in the ground, 9 Yet at the scent of water it will bud And bring forth branches like a plant. 10 But man dies and is laid away; Indeed he breathes his last And where is he? 11 As water disappears from the sea, And a river becomes parched and dries up, 12 So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, They will not awake Nor be roused from their sleep.
In his frustration and discouragement, Job suggests that it would be better if a man were a tree. Why? Because “there is hope for a tree.” A tree can appear absolutely dead, but give it a little bit of water, and then watch what happens. It will bud and bring forth branches. Even when it appears to be just a dead stump, there is still hope for it. There may still be life down in the ground, just waiting for a little water to bring it forth. Verse 10, “But man dies and is laid away. Indeed, he breathes his last, and where is he?” When I die, you will not take my body and store it in a safe place, waiting for me to come to life. Oh yes, I will rise, but not with this body. Job says that man’s death is like water that has evaporated and is no more.
If Job had lived here last winter, his illustration could have been ever better. When the temperature got down to around -10 (a little warmer or colder, depending upon the exact location), we did lose some trees. However, many of those trees that were thought dead came back to life, and we are thankful. Though they didn’t appear to have any life, we found out that there was hope for those trees. An unsuspecting human being wouldn’t have a chance if his naked body were exposed to such elements, but there is hope for a tree. In Job’s eyes, better to be a tree.
Now verse 12, “So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep.” Now we see Job’s viewpoint of death and life at this time in his pilgrimage. He states flatly that when a man dies, he will not rise. He will not rise from death. It seems that Job pictures death as an unconscious state that is preferable to a life of suffering and grief. This is why he has repeatedly expressed the desire to die.
IV. What Wishful Thinking (14:13-17)
As we turn to the next section in 14:13-17, we will be confronted with a very intriguing question from the lips of Job. Before we look at it directly, let’s read the section. 14:13-17…
Oh, that You would hide me in the grave, That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me! 14 If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change comes. 15 You shall call, and I will answer You; You shall desire the work of Your hands. 16 For now You number my steps, But do not watch over my sin. 17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag, And You cover my iniquity.
Job expresses a wish in verse 13, a very strong desire: “O that You would hide me in the grave, that You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, that You would appoint a set time and remember me!” First of all, we must remember that Job believes God is pouring out His wrath upon Him. For example, Job 6:4, "For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me." Was he right? Was God pouring out His wrath upon Job? We may not understand why all these things were happening to him, but it was not God’s wrath. Job came to this conclusion because of all his affliction, and to some extent he was influenced by the thinking of his friends. He was right that everything came from God, but he was wrong to interpret them as God’s wrath.
Pause with me for a just a second. Regardless of what comes our way, it is ultimately from God. However, it does not follow that the person suffering greatly is being punished by God. Look at Joseph. He suffered unjustly and God certainly was behind all of it, but it was not a demonstration of His wrath. How do we know? Because right in the middle of Joseph’s problems we read that God was with him (Gen. 39:3,23). Instead of his troubles being an expression of God’s wrath, they were the demonstration of God’s love. Joseph would be raised to the number two position in all of Egypt, and through his God-given wisdom all of his family would be delivered from famine and death. So we must understand that Job’s conclusion that God’s wrath was upon him was false.
Now back to Job’s wish. He could wish that God would hide him in the grave and then wake him up much later after His wrath had passed. How wonderful that would be. Job wanted to suspend time for a while. Just let him die and then wake him up when God was in a better mood. But wait. Job realizes that for such a thing to happen, it would mean being raised from death. So he asks the question in verse 14, “If a man dies, shall he live again?” What a question! If that is a question you have never asked, you need to ask it. Can a person die and then live again?
Now I must tell you that these words and the verses that follow have been subjected to different interpretations. The basic question is this: “How does Job answer this question?” The answer is found in the words that follow. Do they say, “Yes, a man will die and rise again”? Or, do they say, “No, it will not happen.” I will not be dogmatic at this point, but I think Job answers like this: “No, it is a wonderful thought, but it’s just wishful thinking.” The two different interpretations are expressed by different translations. I believe the ESV gives us the idea that Job wished to express. Please allow me to read from the ESV verses 13-17… [As I read it, notice that ESV substitutes the word would for the will of the NKJV. Keil and Delitsch, who major on the Hebrew grammar, contend that this is the best translation of the Hebrew.]
13 Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! 14 If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come. 15 You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands. 16 For then you would number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin; 17 my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity.
So Job believes that if it were true that a man could die and then rise again, he would simply wait in the grave until the time of his renewal. Then God would call to him and he would answer. After a time, God would longingly look to Job, for after all he is the work of the Creator’s hands. Then God would number Job’s steps. He would watch over Job’s sin and carefully seal up his transgressions in a bag, covering over all his iniquity. In other words, the time would come when he would be reconciled to God, when God would no longer be angry with him.
This interpretation fits best with what follows in verse 18-19 (ESV), “But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed… so you destroy the hope of man.” Notice the “but.” Those words don’t make much sense, if Job is expressing hope that he will live again. It makes perfect sense, if he is saying that such a hope is just wishful thinking. “If a man dies and lives again, then You would call and I would answer, etc…, but all that is just wishful thinking. The reality is that you destroy the hope of man.”
V. I’m Still in Despair (14:18-22)
So now let’s come to that last section, which we might entitle “I’m still in despair.” Let’s read it… 18-22
But as a mountain falls and crumbles away, And as a rock is moved from its place; 19 As water wears away stones, And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth; So You destroy the hope of man. 20 You prevail forever against him, and he passes on; You change his countenance and send him away. 21 His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; They are brought low, and he does not perceive it. 22 But his flesh will be in pain over it, And his soul will mourn over it.
Job begins his prayer back in 13:20 with a ray of hope, for at the end of his defense against Zophar, he said, “Though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him” (13:15). But he ends his prayer in deep despair. He was eager to lay out his case before God, but now he concludes that God is still the enemy who destroys any hope that he had. He pictures the power of the Lord’s crushing work as persistent waters that finally wear the stones away, as floods that violently erode the soil. Job sees this as an accurate picture of the way God’s flood of suffering has worn him down to nothing. Yes, the world will continue on as it has for centuries, while men like Job have little hope.
Job continues in verse 20 by saying that the Lord prevails against a man forever, and the man dies. Yes, God changes his countenance and sends him away. Death does something irreversible to the body. The gleam of life is gone from the eye. The Lord sends him away. He no longer has contact with the living. If his children do well, he will never know it. If they are disgraced, it remains unknown to him. The words “over it” in verse 22 of the NKJV might be taken to mean that the one who has died might be in pain over what happens to his children, but surely that isn’t the way it is intended. Better, as most other translations render it, “He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns only for himself” (ESV).
Yes, Job has prayed a prayer from his heart, but clearly he ends in despair… again. He began by inviting God to come and reason with him. From his perspective, God hasn’t come. So Job reasons himself into deep and dangerous despair.
Conclusion
I want to conclude by borrowing three suggestions from Steve Lawson’s little commentary on Job. When we are tempted to be discouraged and to despair, here are three things that are worth remembering. Before I mention those three, let me remind us that none of us are immune to such despair. Don’t conclude that you will never be there. Though you may be an optimistic person by nature, though you may be rejoicing in the Lord, don’t think you are invincible. I remind you that perhaps you haven’t yet tasted the severe afflictions that Job endured. So let’s think on these 3 truths…
1. All suffering is temporary.
If you are a child of God, your affliction and suffering has a certain end. I must say that there is no such promise for the person who is separated from God and is under His wrath. But for the child of God, suffering will soon cease. Let me read again II Cor. 4:17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Rom. 8:18, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Suffering will be swallowed up with the glory of God, when we meet our Lord face to face. When you suffer, preach it to yourself: “This is only temporary. Very soon I will be in the presence of my Lord.”
2. All suffering is useful.
God uses our suffering to advance His kingdom. Nothing is wasted. The Lord will not put you through anything unnecessarily. Our suffering is used to advance our kingdom and to conform us to the image of Christ. Rom. 8:28-29, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 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 brethren.” As a hammer and chisel molds a stone until it is a beautiful statue, so God uses our suffering to instill His character in us.
3. All suffering is Christlike.
Understand that we are looking at suffering from a personal view. When I suffer, it is Christlike for me to do so. According to Isaiah 53, what kind of man was Jesus? He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Is. 53:3). Should I not be like my Lord? Paul prayed, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Phil. 3:10). When I suffer for Jesus’s sake, I am experiencing a unique fellowship with my Lord who suffered for me. There is a sense in which nothing identifies us so closely with Christ as suffering in His name. That is why, after being beaten and threatened not to speak in Jesus’ name, His apostles went out rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name (Acts 5:41).
Let’s end by meditating on these simple words from Phil. 1:29, "For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake." We are fond of saying that faith in Christ is a gift from God, and so it is. But according to the clear words of scripture, suffering on His behalf is equally a gift from God. May we receive it as such, all the while rejoicing in our Lord Jesus.
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