December 11 Daily Discovery- Read Job Chapter 6

This passage below is from the King James Version (ekjv.org).  

Remarks from the Berean Fellowship follow the passage below.

[1] But Job answered and said,
[2] Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!
[3] For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.
[4] For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
[5] Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?
[6] Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
[7] The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat.
[8] Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
[9] Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
[10] Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
[11] What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life?
[12] Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass?
[13] Is not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me?
[14] To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
[15] My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away;
[16] Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid:
[17] What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
[18] The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish.
[19] The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.
[20] They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.
[21] For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid.
[22] Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?
[23] Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?
[24] Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
[25] How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?
[26] Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?
[27] Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.
[28] Now therefore be content, look upon me; for it is evident unto you if I lie.
[29] Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it.
[30] Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?

An Appeal for Pity

To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.

~ Job 6:14

Job's friends were doing their best, I think, but they failed to bring comfort to Job.  Their erroneous accusations only added to his misery.

If we are afflicted, our friends should “pity” us.  To pity is to feel sorrow and show compassion towards another.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. ~ Psalm 34:19

The Righteous Suffer Afflictions

MANY are the afflictions that the RIGHTEOUS experience.

It is sadly a part of the human condition to think that because someone is suffering they deserve it.  Our default position is to believe that if things are going badly for someone, surely God is judging or correcting them for something that they have done.

Of course, we know that this is not true, because we have the book of Job.

Job was the best man on the earth when he was living.

God was allowing Job to be TESTED.  Job was NOT being punished by God.  He was being afflicted by the devil by divine permission.

Job Did Not Have the Book of Job

What did Job have?  Job is actually the oldest book of the Bible.  Job was contemporary with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, called the “patriarchs”.

Likely, all he knew of God was from oral tradition and his own experience.

During that period of time, if one lived a righteous life before God, he should have expected material blessings, and Job had received them.

He was wealthy and had a large, happy family.  God had blessed Job because of his faithfulness to Him.

Life is a TEST

Take this phrase: "Life is a ..." and fill in the blank.  You could say many things and they all could be partly true.  Life is an adventure.  Life is a bore.  Life is a struggle.  Life is a joy.  Life is a question.  Life is a journey ...

But I think life is mostly a TEST.

God wanted to TEST Job.

We read in the first chapter of Job that some of God's counsel (called Sons of God) came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan (the adversary) came among them.

The LORD spoke directly to Satan and asked him what he had been doing.  Satan answered God that he had been going all across the earth, to and fro and up and down in it.

God knows all things, so He knew that Satan had been trying to attack Job.  He asked Satan, "What do you think about my man, Job?  He is  perfect and upright and loves me and denies evil.

Satan said, "Yeah, but who wouldn't in Job's place.  You bless everything he does.  He is healthy and wealthy and happy.  He doesn't serve you for nothing, you know.  If you took away the blessings that you have given him, he will curse you to your face."

God gave Satan permission to destroy those things as a TEST for Job.  Would he still love and serve and obey God even without those physical blessings?

We know that Job PASSED this TEST!  (Job 1:20-21)

He continued to bless God anyway.

We Don't Know God's Purposes

We truly cannot know WHY someone may be suffering, but we do know what we should do: show pity upon them and do our best to console and comfort them.

Let's not make the same mistake that Job's friends made.  They did not have the book of Job either.  We do!

--------------

Continue Your Search

Do you see any: Commands to Obey, Warnings to Heed, Promises to Claim, Examples to Follow, Vices to Avoid, Praises to Emulate, Prayers to Use, Principles by which to Live, Questions to Ask or Actions to Take?

See: Berean Fellowship Bible Study Method