|
|
Job 9 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
The description of God’s power in verses 5-9 is breathtaking. I like the HCSB version…
God is wise and all-powerful. Who has opposed Him and come out unharmed? 5 He removes mountains without their knowledge, overturning them in His anger. 6 He shakes the earth from its place so that its pillars tremble. 7 He commands the sun not to shine and seals off the stars. 8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. 9 He makes the stars: the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the constellations of the southern sky.
Job 9:4-9 HCSB
Job builds up God’s strength and power only to reflect on it with these humble words…
How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him? 15 Even if I were in the right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.
Job 9:14-15 HCSB
Job is articulating two very great truths that he cannot reconcile in his mind. God is over all things, and for whatever reason, allowing his suffering. But on the other hand, God is his only hope for this suffering to subside. We tend to fall in the latter category of thinking God should always step in and put at end to suffering. But the reality is, sometimes He doesn’t.
In his mind, Job seems to be exploring deep truths but abandoning them when they become too big for him to understand. He then jumps to another thought which, again, is promptly abandoned. He reasons that God is just, wise, and strong but he wrestles with whether or not God is fair.
It is all the same. Therefore I say, “He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.”
Job 9:22 HCSB
Have you ever been there? I have. Faith tells us God is fair all the time, but our flesh struggles. In the end, we know that He will do exactly what He wants, and that it will be right. But many times, it’s not our version of “right.”
It’s moments like these I am thankful I have an advocate in Jesus Christ because if right and wrong were left to me, I would fail miserably. The most faithful and joyful Christians I know are the ones who trust God in their darkest hour. They believe His will is perfect and they submit everything in their life over to Him.