#643 Just Pray For Me

“How long will you say these things,

and the words of your mouth be a great wind?

3 Does God pervert justice?

Or does the Almighty pervert the right?

4 If your children have sinned against him,

he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.

5 If you will seek God

and plead with the Almighty for mercy,

6 if you are pure and upright,

surely then he will rouse himself for you

and restore your rightful habitation.

7 And though your beginning was small,

your latter days will be very great.

8 “For inquire, please, of bygone ages,

and consider what the fathers have searched out.

9 For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,

for our days on earth are a shadow.

10 Will they not teach you and tell you

and utter words out of their understanding?

11 “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?

Can reeds flourish where there is no water?

12 While yet in flower and not cut down,

they wither before any other plant.

13 Such are the paths of all who forget God;

the hope of the godless shall perish.

14 His confidence is severed,

and his trust is a spider's web.[a]

15 He leans against his house, but it does not stand;

he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.

16 He is a lush plant before the sun,

and his shoots spread over his garden.

17 His roots entwine the stone heap;

he looks upon a house of stones.

18 If he is destroyed from his place,

then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’

19 Behold, this is the joy of his way,

and out of the soil others will spring.

20 “Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,

nor take the hand of evildoers.

21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,

and your lips with shouting.

22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,

and the tent of the wicked will be no more.” Job 8 ESV

"Job, you are full of hot air," the next friend affirming that Job's plight is his own making, and his grief is of no consequence. "Let me put this in context for you, Job, God doesn't make mistakes, He is just and does what is right. If you are in this present situation, it is because you have sinned against God." Well, God is just and He is within His right, on that much I agree with Bildad, but his logic also assumes that the greatness of the circumstance is in relation to the greatness of Job's sin. This is why debaters are poor comforters, they are listening, but only for what they will address next. They are listening, but so much caught up in the preparation of what their own words will be, how they will sound, that they are not hearing. We heard the dark conversation, the most frightening exchange that occurred before all of this, we know that God delighted in His servant Job. 

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways. 12Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.…1 Corinthians 13: 11-13

He takes a swipe at the loss of his children, like it is a small thing. If we all suffered so that we could appreciate the suffering of others, but no, the loss of my dog would be more than the loss of your child. We are disgusting creatures, ours is the only pain worthy of expression. Now in verse 5, this is a grand call, a righteous call by measure of the words. Seek God, pray Job, humble yourself and repent. Surely that is not bad advice, "humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." Job, just walk uprightly now, behave yourself man, whatever it is you did, confess and start doing the right thing. It is also prophetic, for God is always chastening His children, but not only that, Job is being set aside for great honor. He should seek the Lord for mercy for there is none in his present company. They should be leading Job in prayer, uttering what he may not have the strength or clarity to say. I remember when I was about 12 or 13 and went to the beach with some friends; I neglected to apply much sun screen and later fell asleep in the sun. It was truly painful, but I remember stopping at this old woman's house, where she had let us work and play on her goat farm. She saw me and very compassionately and carefully, removed my shirt, blended up fresh aloe and applied. This was soothing and the sort of thing that Job's friends could be good for, but they were more about their words now than his comfort. We are to tell the truth but in love, and we are to bear each other's burdens. Sometimes I can't hear you over the grumbling of my stomach.

Search history Job, what did the father's say, you know of the oral tradition, look back and you will verify my words. He then throws in a measure of humility, that he is not the ancestors, I am not Adam or Noah, for I was born yesterday compared to them and my days are like shadows. I think Bildad should take his own advice, look back at the time of the first murder, as some have pointed out. What was it that Abel did to deserve the wrath of Cain? He obeyed God, and honored Him in his sacrifice, a life for a life, and sin leads to death. Abel was the more righteous of the two, so was God unjust in not intervening, letting the blood of righteous Abel cry out? "Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?" Now he is a plant that requires a lot of water, it can't grow on dry ground, it only flourishes in plenty, and this is how he sees Job, you are a frail flower, easily blown over. You only liked God in times of plenty, so you never truly loved Him. This is your true self, you have fallen from grace for something that you did, and now God is warning you through drought and pain, and the enlightened words of your friends, repent of what you did. If you are blameless you wouldn't be here, for God will not reject a blameless man, so become blameless Job, then you may laugh again. It is still all cause and effect, and the one who claims it doesn't seem to acknowledge the original cause, that all men are bound by. He does not evaluate from the whole counsel of God, the stories of the ancients, the curse that all men are under, and that yes, God is just and righteous, so it is only by grace that any of us remain. They do not even begin to entertain the possibility that Job suffers unto righteousness, that there is this spiritual side that they cannot see, a place that requires faith to walk in. He cannot imagine that his friend will come to count this present suffering as mercy, his prior riches as nothing, his ignorance as time lost, and God's glory as gain.


36As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,…Romans 8: 36-38