#658 Gold

Then Job answered and said:

2 “Today also my complaint is bitter;

my hand is heavy on account of my groaning.

3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him,

that I might come even to his seat!

4 I would lay my case before him

and fill my mouth with arguments.

5 I would know what he would answer me

and understand what he would say to me.

6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?

No; he would pay attention to me.

7 There an upright man could argue with him,

and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.

8 “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,

and backward, but I do not perceive him;

9 on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;

he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.

10 But he knows the way that I take;

when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.

11 My foot has held fast to his steps;

I have kept his way and have not turned aside.

12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;

I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

13 But he is unchangeable,[b] and who can turn him back?

What he desires, that he does.

14 For he will complete what he appoints for me,

and many such things are in his mind.

15 Therefore I am terrified at his presence;

when I consider, I am in dread of him.

16 God has made my heart faint;

the Almighty has terrified me;

17 yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,

nor because thick darkness covers my face. Job 23 ESV

Job is a man of God, this is the most sacred relationship, his bitterness, not the sores anymore, but the loss of communion with God. It is more crushing to feel left, forgotten, to not be able to make your case before the One Who could see that you are telling the truth. These other physicians have treated you for cancer when you don't have cancer. They cannot hear, there is still no comfort, so you cry Abba, but whimpering and low, where has He gone?

“In Job’s uttermost extremity he cried after the Lord. The longing desire of an afflicted child of God is once more to see his Father’s face. His first prayer is not, ‘Oh that I might be healed of the disease which now festers in every part of my body!’ nor even, ‘Oh that I might see my children restored from the jaws of the grave, and my property once more brought from the hand of the spoiler!’ but the first and uppermost cry is, ‘Oh that I knew where I might find HIM — who is my God! that I might come even to his seat!’” (Spurgeon)

He has not stopped looking for God in all this, and this is wise, for we are so much in our own eyes that we refuse to seek even though we are promised to find, to knock and have the door opened. We are not given a time frame for this search, nor told how many times to knock, but we are told to repent and believe. This is the heat of day that withers most away, but Job seems to be on the rise, to hold his case as good, his hope has not completely fallen away. He says, when He hath tried me I will come forth as gold. That is more than a small hope, why, because Job has had a relationship with God, he knows that God is still aware of Him, that God is sovereign, and this will be over. He must hold fast, and make way for the apostle when he writes that all things work together for the good, he must love God, not for all the things that He let Job tend for Him, but for Who He is. This is refining fire, proofing, the scales, what faith is there that would be considered so great or remarkable, yet untested? Hold on dearest Job, God is honoring you where men would only see dishonor. Jesus said, even as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up. Faith without works is dead.

Job is confident that his feet have followed after God, he has tried to put his sandal within those footprints as best he could, even in the dark, so he is ever hopeful, yet knowing that God cannot be moved by any man, he is in awe. It is a fearful thing, the thought of facing someone that you want to see, yet cannot begin to fathom. It is all the more precious being able to read this and every other Word that God has given us, faith comes by such hearing, hearing the Word of God. 

32For the pagans strive after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.…Matthew 6: 32-34