Psalms teach us how to worship;
Proverbs, how to behave;
Job, how to suffer;
Song of Solomon, how to love;
and Ecclesiastes, how to live.
J.I. Packer
There was a man in the country of Uz named Job. He was a man of complete integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil. He had seven sons and three daughters. His estate included seven thousand sheep and goats, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east.
Job 1:1-3 CSB
His sons used to take turns having banquets at their homes. They would send an invitation to their three sisters to eat and drink with them. Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.
Job 1:4-5
Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, saying:
Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will leave this life.
The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.
Job 1:20-22 CSB
“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.
Job 2:10 CSB
After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born.
Job 3:1 CSB
Look, I waited for your conclusions;
I listened to your insights
as you sought for words.
I paid close attention to you.
Yet no one proved Job wrong;
not one of you refuted his arguments.
So do not claim, “We have found wisdom;
let God deal with him, not man.”
Job 32:11-13 CSB
Surely you have spoken in my hearing,
and I have heard these very words:
“I am pure, without transgression;
I am clean and have no iniquity.
But he finds reasons to oppose me;
he regards me as his enemy.
He puts my feet in the stocks;
he stands watch over all my paths.”
But I tell you that you are wrong in this matter,
since God is greater than man.
Job 33:8-12 CSB
Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind. He said:
Who is this who obscures my counsel
with ignorant words?
Get ready to answer me like a man;
when I question you, you will inform me.
Job 38:1-3 CSB
The Lord answered Job:
Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who argues with God give an answer.
Then Job answered the Lord:
I am so insignificant. How can I answer you?
I place my hand over my mouth.
I have spoken once, and I will not reply;
twice, but now I can add nothing.
Job 40:1-5 CSB
Then Job replied to the Lord:
I know that you can do anything
and no plan of yours can be thwarted.
You asked, “Who is this who conceals my counsel with ignorance?”
Surely I spoke about things I did not understand,
things too wondrous for me to know.
You said, “Listen now, and I will speak.
When I question you, you will inform me.”
I had heard reports about you,
but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore, I reject my words and am sorry for them;
I am dust and ashes.
After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. Now take seven bulls and seven rams, go to my servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. Then my servant Job will pray for you. I will surely accept his prayer and not deal with you as your folly deserves. For you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” Then Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
Job 42:1-9 CSB
So the Lord blessed the last part of Job’s life more than the first. He owned fourteen thousand sheep and goats, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.
Job 42:12 CSB
Blessed – to praise… implying a positive disposition or kind actions toward the recipient.
Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will leave this life.
The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Job 1:21 CSB
One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”
“From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered him, “and walking around on it.”
Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.”
Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Haven’t you placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
“Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, do not lay a hand on Job himself.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.
Job 1:6-12 CSB
One day the sons of God came again to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before the Lord. The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”
“From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered him, “and walking around on it.”
Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited me against him, to destroy him for no good reason.”
“Skin for skin!” Satan answered the Lord. “A man will give up everything he owns in exchange for his life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
“Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “he is in your power; only spare his life.”
Job 2:1-6 CSB
Satan is not God’s equal.
We are not Satan’s enemy.
Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.
1 Peter 5:8-9 CSB
With all his hatred of God and spite against His people, he cannot emancipate himself from that sovereign control, which binds him to God’s service. In all his blasphemous designs he is, in spite of himself, doing the work of God. In his rebellious efforts to dethrone the Most High, he is actually paying Him submissive homage.
William Henry Green
You are not alone in your suffering.
Your suffering has a purpose you may never see this side of eternity.
Don’t just resign yourself that you’re never going to learn why you suffer; embrace it. See that you need not to know…There can’t be an answer to the why question give to you, or you will never become the kind of person suffering can make you.
Tim Keller
