Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Wednesday, January 20th: Job 9-11 ~ Nathan

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Job 9-11

I want to mainly focus on chapter 9, where Job starts out basically asking who can compete with God and win?

4. "His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?"
Job goes on in the following verses to give examples of God's greatness.  He then hints a few times how he feels innocent (verses 15, 20, 21) but right away follows that up with a "but who am I to question God"  attitude. 

14 & 15 “How then can I dispute with him? How can I find words to argue with him?  Though I were innocent, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy."

I found from reading this chapter that Job shows a little confusion over why he's being put through this agony,  but does not want to question God. Job realizes that he is just a man, and God is all powerful and in charge. God is deserving of great respect and way above Job.

32. "He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court."

Do I treat God with the respect He deserves? Do I honor Him with the honor He deserves?  I have no problem taking my hat off for O Canada before a hockey game, do I show that same kind of respect plus more for God?

Do I show Him His due respect by taking the time to pray and study His word properly?  Or just rush through and get on with my busy day. This is a challenge for me,  and I've found that spending time with God as soon as I'm up and before heading to work, works best for me. 

The point is, I want to do better at honouring God by truly focusing on Him while studying His word and throughout the day as things come up, and not leaving Him only for my leftover time periods.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Job 12-14


5 comments:

Conrad said...

I found in chapter 9 that Job shows some recognition to how great God is. While reading, this verse stood out to me:

who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; - Job 9:7

To know that God can command the sun to not rise and it will obey, is a power that I cannot fully comprehend. God is mighty and powerful, but do I give Him the challenges in my life and lean on His strength?

Funker said...

When reflecting on the calamities in his life, Job succumbs to despair. That is not to say he sinned in his lament. David wrote Psalms with the same theme, though Psalms 13 resonates with me.

Psalms 13:1-3
How long, O Lord.
Will you forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart day after day?
How long will my enemy exalt himself and triumph over me?
Consider me and answer, O Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death.


Job understands that "all our deeds of righteousness are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). He is no position to defend himself and "could only plead with my Judge for mercy"(Job 9:15).

Job's raw expression of sorrow is not something to rebuke, but that is what happens in chapter 11 thanks to Zophar.

Pamela said...

There's that saying that the teacher is always silent during the test. Tomorrow is spelling test day for my Grade 1 friends and it wouldn't be right to swoop in and "save" them when they aren't sure of what letter goes where. The test is an indication of what they know right now. God wants to see what Job knows right now.

danae said...

Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens - what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave - what can you know? ~ Job 11:7-8

So true...try as we might, we can't ever fully understand God's reasoning for why/how things happen on this earth

Tammy said...

Job 10:11 You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews.

This reminded me of Psalm 134. God's creative power - at times incredibly intimate, and at times incredibly vast - is amazing.