In the darkness of suffering, holding on to God (From The Book Of Job: Chapters 22-24)

In Job 22, Eliphaz charges in with harsh words of accusation - “Aren’t you really very wicked? Is there no end to your wrongdoing?” (Job 22:5). He persists with his probing, heartless questions - “Are you following the old path that wicked people have taken?” (Job 22:15). In general terms, the words of Eliphaz were …

A Spiritual Journey (10): Job 38

This is the tenth post in a series of ten posts. You may be wondering why this spiritual journey is ending in Job 38. If you read the post, you will see that this spiritual journey isn't ending in Job 38. It's ending in Romans 8:38-39, "Nothing will be able to separate us from the …

Responding to God’s Word (15): Up from the grave He arose / He lives within my heart.

I know that my redeemer lives (Job 19:25). Here, we begin with Job, but we do not remain with Job. The words of Job direct our attention to our Saviour, Jesus Christ, the risen Lord. Whenever we think of the living Lord, we do not begin with Jesus, living in us: "Christ lives in me" …

Our words will have power when we keep our eyes on the Lord.

In Job 22, Eliphaz charges in with harsh words of accusation - “Aren’t you really very wicked? Is there no end to your wrongdoing?” (Job 22:5). He persists with his probing, heartless questions - “Are you following the old path that wicked people have taken?” (Job 22:15). In general terms, the words of Eliphaz were …

Whatever happens to us

"The Lord gave me everything I had, and they were his to take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21). Whatever happens to us, let us join, with Job, in saying, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." These words of Job made me think of the words of the chorus, "Turn your …

From Good Friday to Easter Sunday (1): Out of darkness into light – Death is swallowed up in victory.

Throughout this day - between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, I will be posting Bible Readings and notes every half-hour. There are 25 posts. If you would like to read more of these notes in one post, here's the link to the "Out of darkness into light" notes (From Good Friday to Easter Sunday, 1-6): …

What are we learning from COVID-19? – God is in control.

Patrick Smith - preaching for Sandyford-Henderson Memorial Church Glasgow Scotland https://youtu.be/XqAxGs4E93U

Learning From The Book Of Job: Chapters 38-42

In His speech, the Lord asks many questions. They underline the fact that God is God, and none can even begin to compare with Him: “Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind” (Job 38:36). Wisdom and understanding come from the Lord. In his response (Job 42:1-6), Job humbles himself before …

Holding On To God In The Darkness Of Suffering

In Job 18, Bildad, the Shuhite, shows his lack of spiritual stature. In his description of “the wicked” (Job 18:5), he implies that all that he says applies to Job. His speech ends with the summarizing words: “This is what happens to the homes of wicked people and to those who do not know God” …

From Great Distress To Triumphant Faith

In Job 6-7, Job replies. There is real pain in Job’s words. He speaks of his “grief” and “misery” (Job 6:2). There is a real longing for God to answer his prayer. Sadly, his prayer has become a cry of despair: “that God would finally be willing to crush me, that He would reach out …

From the dark place to the place of abundant blessing

"I loathe my very life" (Job 10:1). "Are not my few days almost over? Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy before I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and utter darkness,  to the land of deepest night, of utter darkness and disorder, where even …

Attacked And Accused

With God’s permission, “Satan, the accuser” attacks Job (Job 1:8). The attack is ferocious, May the Name of the Lord be praised! Through all this, Job did not sin or blame God for doing anything wrong” (Job 1:21-22). Satan’s attack on Job is really a challenge to God. The Lord is in control of the …

God’s Wisdom? or Our Wisdom?

In Job 11, we hear from Zophar. So far, so good - That’s what we can say about the basic principles of his message: “God’s wisdom is higher than heaven” (Job 11:8); “If you want to set your heart right, then pray to Him. If you’re holding on to sin, put it far away” (Job …

When things go badly wrong, the Lord is there for us.

Job 30:1-32:22; Matthew 22:15-46; Psalm 18:16-24 There were hypocrites trying to condemn Job. There were “hypocrites … trying to trap” Jesus (Matthew 22:18). In both cases, they had to give up – “they had found no way to refute Job” (Job 32:3); “No-one could say a word in reply” to Jesus (Matthew 22:46). The testimony …

Jesus – our living Saviour

"I know that my Redeemer lives" (Job 19:25). We read these words of faith and hope, and our thoughts move forward, from Job to Jesus. As we think of Jesus' resurrection from the dead, we recall the words of the angelic messenger: "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here. …

On Our Way To Full Salvation

In Job 8, we have the first speech of Bildad. Its theme is very straightforward. Sin leads to suffering (Job 8:4). Obedience leads to prosperity (Job 8:5-7). This teaching is presented in a heavy-handed way. In Job 8:20, we have an attack on Job’s character: “Certainly, God does not reject a person of integrity or …

On to eternal life

"I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes – I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!" (Job 19:25-27) When we're going through a hard time - …

Job thinks that God has it in for him.

Job thinks that God has it in for him (Job 19:6-11). When we start thinking like this, how do we get out of this way of thinking? We go back to Job 1. We remember that there is a devil, and we take our stand against him in the name and the power of Christ …

The Day Of Salvation Will Come!

In Job 8, we have the first speech of Bildad. Its theme is very straightforward. Sin leads to suffering (Job 8:4). Obedience leads to prosperity (Job 8:5-7). This teaching is presented in a heavy-handed way. In Job 8:20, we have an attack on Job’s character: “Certainly, God does not reject a person of integrity or …

Job was a godly man. Job suffered.

Job 1-2Job was a godly man. Job suffered. Did these things just happen to him – by chance? No! There was much more to it than that. There was a spiritual dimension. There was the attack from Satan. There was the control of God. Satan had plenty of power – but he could only do …

When Doubts Fill Your Mind

Job 32:1–33:18 When doubts fill your mind - remember this: "God does speak ... though man may not perceive it"! ‘The Bible is the Word of God’ - What do we mean when we say this? Two statements from Elihu may help us to think about this question. (a) ‘Understanding’ comes from ‘the breath of …

Seek Wisdom From God. Speak Wisely For God.

In Job 11, we hear from Zophar. So far, so good - That’s what we can say about the basic principles of his message: “God’s wisdom is higher than heaven” (Job 11:8); “If you want to set your heart right, then pray to Him. If you’re holding on to sin, put it far away” (Job …

Listen to God before you claim to speak for Him.

In Job 4-5, we have the first speech of Eliphaz. On the pretext of bringing comfort to Job, Eliphaz brings a message of accusation. However much Eliphaz claims to be bringing God’s Word to Job, we can be sure that he is not God’s messenger. Why? It’s because his message conflicts with God’s understanding of …

Sometimes, life can seem like an obstacle course.

Sometimes, life can seem like an obstacle course. Things don't turn out the way we thought they would. There are many surprises along the way - and they're not, always, good surprises. As I was thinking about the twists and turns that life takes, I found my thoughts turning to the words of Job 23:10 …

The long and winding road

"The long and winding road that leads me to your door" (Lennon and McCartney): This phrase came to mind, as I was thinking about life and where it's leading us. As we're traveling through life, there are many things that make us think. We look back over the things that have happened to ourselves and …

Suffering and faith

In Job's story, we read about suffering - and we, also, read about faith: "I know that my Redeemer lives" (Job 19:25). Without his suffering, would Job's faith have grown so strong? Prior to his suffering, Job's faith had never really been put to the test. Our faith is put to the test so that, …

What’s this all about?

"Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face" (1 Corinthians 13:12). While we are here on earth, our understanding is very incomplete - but that's not the whole story of our life! God is calling us on to greater things. He's calling us on to the glory of his eternal presence. …

Can we ever get to the bottom of human suffering?

“We have examined this, and it is true” (Job 5:27).It’s one thing to say, “It is true.” It’s another thing to speak the truth of God. Where did Eliphaz and the other ‘comforters’ get their ideas from? – “We have investigated this.” What about revelation? Were their thoughts given to them by God? or Did …

Looking beyond the things that are happening to us now – to the glory which is yet to come

Job 1:1-3:26; Matthew 18:10-35; Psalm 16:1-11 In the life of faith, we will face many difficulties. For Job, there was great suffering. For Jesus’ disciples, there was the pain of loss when Jesus was taken from them. For all of God’s people, there is something better still to come: “You will fill me with joy …

Words From God? or Words From Satan?

In Job 20, we hear, again, the voice of Zophar - the ‘so far, so good’ man. His principles concerning the judgment of God on the wicked are all right as far as they go. The problem is that they are general. They are floating over the specific case of Job, without really coming to …

God has a question for us.

"Can you fathom the mysteries of God?" (Job 11:7). As we think about God, we are brought to the limits of our human understanding. We are reminded of this in Deuteronomy 29:29 - "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, …

Wisdom and power – from God to us

"To God belong wisdom and power" (Job 12:13). We need God. We need His wisdom. We need His power. How does God help us? How does He make our life better? He gives us His wisdom - to understand how He wants us to live. He gives us His power - to live the way …

We must humble ourselves before Almighty God. He is God and He knows what He is doing (Learning From The Book Of Job: Chapters 20-21).

In Job 20, we hear, again, the voice of Zophar - the ‘so far, so good’ man. His principles concerning the judgment of God on the wicked are all right as far as they go. The problem is that they are general. They are floating over the specific case of Job, without really coming to …

When our hearts are breaking

Job 4:1-7:21; Matthew 19:1-15; Psalm 17:1-5 Bereavement, hardship, divorce – the Word of God speaks of these difficulties in Job and in the words of Jesus. These things can bring on deep depression. We see this in Job’s reaction to his bereavement and hardship. In such circumstances, we must take our thoughts to the Lord, …

When Satan is hurling his accusations at us (Praying Through God’s Word: Job 11-20)

Job 11:1-12:25  We read, Lord, about Job – “a righteous and blameless man! (Job 12:4). He was suffering, and he was confused. Was He being punished by You? That’s what Zophar was telling him – Job must have done  something pretty awful to deserve this. You, Lord, were saying something very different – “My servant Job” (Job …

We don’t have the right to expect everything to be going great all the time.

Job 11:1-14:22; Matthew 2):1-9; Psalm 17:6-12 Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) teaches us that all that we have, apart from our sin, is received from God as a gift of His grace. We must remember this when, like Job, we are going through hard times. We don’t have the right to …

When we face difficult circumstances

Job 8;1-10:22; Matthew 19:16-30; Proverbs 3:11-20 When we face difficult circumstances, as Job did and as the Lord’s disciples did (Matthew 19:29), we must never forget that the Lord’s purpose is good and His long-term goal is our good –  “eternal life” (Matthew 19:29). What is to be our attitude to suffering? – “My son, …

Learning From The Book Of Job: Chapters 1-2

With God’s permission, “Satan, the accuser” attacks Job (Job 1:8). The attack is ferocious, May the Name of the Lord be praised! Through all this, Job did not sin or blame God for doing anything wrong” (Job 1:21-22). Satan’s attack on Job is really a challenge to God. The Lord is in control of the …

God doesn’t abandon us when we’re suffering.

Job 15:1-18:21; Matthew 20:20-34; Psalm 17:13-15 God doesn’t abandon us when we’re suffering. When Jesus asked His disciples, ”Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” (Matthew 20:22), He was teaching them that there would be suffering. There’s a great difference between the way in which worldly people and godly people react to suffering. ”Men of …

When we can’t understand what’s going on: Look past the critics to the cross (Learning From The Book Of Job: Chapters 15-17).

In Job 15, we have another speech from Eliphaz. He charges in with all the subtlety of an elephant on the rampage: “you destroy the fear of God, and diminish devotion to God” (Job 15:4). He continues in the same vein, getting bolder and brasher in his word of accusation: “Your sin teaches you what …

When it seems like there are no answers to our questions

Job 3-7   In Job 3, we see Job in a state of deep depression. At this stage, there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. He is in desperate need of the Lord’s sustaining strength. Where will the Lord’s help come from? When will his time of suffering come to …

I know that my Redeemer lives.

Job 19:1-21:34; Matthew 21:1-17; Psalm 18:1-6 Among Job’s many words of anguish, there are these tremendous words – “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes …

Learning From The Book Of Job: Chapters 8-10

In Job 8, we have the first speech of Bildad. Its theme is very straightforward. Sin leads to suffering (Job 8:4). Obedience leads to prosperity (Job 8:5-7). This teaching is presented in a heavy-handed way. In Job 8:20, we have an attack on Job’s character: “Certainly, God does not reject a person of integrity or …

“My heart fails inside me”, “I know that my Redeemer lives” (Learning From The Book Of Job: Chapters 18-19).

In Job 18, Bildad, the Shuhite, shows his lack of spiritual stature. In his description of “the wicked” (Job 18:5), he implies that all that he says applies to Job. His speech ends with the summarizing words: “This is what happens to the homes of wicked people and to those who do not know God” …

Is there always a happy ending? (Job 40:15-42:17).

Job 40:15-41:34  -  ‘Who can stand before Me?’ (41:10). God puts this question to every one of us. God’s Word gives two answers to this question. The first answer speaks to us of our sin. The second answer speaks to us of our Saviour.  The first thing God says to us is this: ‘There is …

Job 37:1-40:14

Job 37:1-24  -  ‘The Almighty is great in power and...He does not oppress’ (23). God’s power is loving power. His love is powerful love. In Jesus Christ, we see God’s power - ‘He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God through Him’ - and God’s love - ‘I will never …

Job 33:19-36:33

Job33:19-34:20  -  Things are going well. We say, ‘Thank You, God’. We rejoice in the Lord. We give praise to His Name. Everything seems to be going so well - but we need to take care! In the good times, our praise and thanksgiving can go stale. We take God’s blessing for granted. Our rejoicing …

Job 25-28

Job 25:1-27:6  -  Job’s ‘comforters’ are no friends to him. They fail to discern the presence and purpose of God in Job’s life. Job responds to them with biting sarcasm - ‘How you have helped him who has no power! How you have saved the arm that has no strength!’ (26:2). They’re hopeless - no …

Job 21-24

Job 21:1-34  -  Job has listened to his ‘comforters’, and he is not impressed: ‘How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood’ (34). Job can’t make sense of all that is happening to him. He doesn’t understand what it all means. In all his confusion, …

Job 8-12

Job 8:1-9:19  -  Bildad speaks as a ‘know-it-all’. He sees what has happened to Job, and he thinks, ‘Job must have forgotten God’. If Bildad had not been blinded by his own ideas of how things must be, he would have noticed that Job had not forgotten God and he would have realized that bad …

Where is God? Who is God?

When we're suffering, we ask, "Where is God?" There's another question, we should ask - "Who is God?" "Workman of God! O lose not heart, but learn what God is like, and, in the darkest battle-field, thou shalt know where to strike." In our darkest times, God is with us, teaching us that he cares …

Job 18-20

Job 18:1-19:7  -  Job listens to Bildad’s harsh words. He answers with a question: ‘How long will you torment me, and break me in pieces with words?’ (19:2). Job couldn’t make much sense of what was going on in his life. He was sure of one thing. His ‘friends’ were missing the point of it …

Job 13-17

Job 13:1-14:22  -  When you don’t really know what you’re talking about, it’s a case of the less said the better. That’s how Job feels about his ‘friends’ - ‘Oh that would you keep silent, and it would be your wisdom!’ (13:5). They are  no help to him. What does he do next? He takes …

Job 4:12-7:21

Job 4:12-6:7  -  Eliphaz sounds so ‘spiritual’. He speaks of  ‘a word’ being ‘brought’ to him. He speaks of  ‘visions in the night’ (4:12-13). Sadly, there is, in Eliphaz, a lot of pride and not much love. There’s no suggestion, from Eliphaz, that Satan might be behind Job’s suffering. ‘It’s all your own fault’ - …

Job 1:1-4:11

Job 1:1-2:13  -  Satan is very busy - ‘going to and fro on the earth...walking up and down on it’. Why is Satan ‘roaming through the earth’? - ‘Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour’ (1:7; 1 Peter 5:8). If, like Job, you ‘fear God and turn …

“He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).

Proverbs 3:19-35 ‘You will walk on your way securely... for the Lord will be your confidence’ (Proverbs 3:23,26). Trusting in the Lord, we are to say, ‘He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold’ (Job 23:10). Our faith is under threat. There is the danger …

Job 29:1-33:18

Job 29:1-30:31  -  Don’t forget to remember! In his time of darkness, Job remembers: ‘when His lamp shone upon my head, and by His light I walked through darkness’. When God seems so far away, Job remembers: ‘when the friendship of God was upon my tent; when the Almighty was yet with me’ (29:4-5). What …

Praying Through God’s Word: Job 32-42

Job 32:1-33:18 “Understanding” comes from “the breath of the Almighty” (Job 32:8). “God does speak – now, one way, now another – though man may not perceive it” (Job 33:14). We thank You, Lord, that You have spoken to us through Your Word. You still speak to us through Your Word. It’s Your Spirit who brings …

God is in control – not Satan!

With God’s permission, “Satan, the accuser” attacks Job (Job 1:8). The attack is ferocious, May the Name of the Lord be praised! Through all this, Job did not sin or blame God for doing anything wrong” (Job 1:21-22). Satan’s attack on Job is really a challenge to God. The Lord is in control of the …

When we’ve said all that we have to say

"Job's words are ended" (Job 31:40). "Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind" (Job 38:1). When we've said all that we have to say, God has more to say to us. From the whirlwind - from the Lord - come a long series of questions. This is God's way of showing us how little we …