Hope in God's Righteous Judgment

Job 23:1-17 

1 Then Job answered and said:

2 "Even today my complaint is bitter;
My hand is listless because of my groaning.

3 Oh, that I knew where I might find Him,
That I might come to His seat!

4 I would present my case before Him,
And fill my mouth with arguments.

5 I would know the words which He would answer me,
And understand what He would say to me.

6 Would He contend with me in His great power?
No! But He would take note of me.

7 There the upright could reason with Him,
And I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

8 "Look, I go forward, but He is not there,
And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;

9 When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him;
When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.

10 But He knows the way that I take;
When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

11 My foot has held fast to His steps;
I have kept His way and not turned aside.

12 I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;
I have treasured the words of His mouth
More than my necessary food.

13 "But He is unique, and who can make Him change?
And whatever His soul desires, that He does.

14 For He performs what is appointed for me,
And many such things are with Him.

15 Therefore I am terrified at His presence;
When I consider this, I am afraid of Him.

16 For God made my heart weak,
And the Almighty terrifies me;
17 Because I was not cut off from the presence of darkness,
And He did not hide deep darkness from my face.

We do not know the ways God takes, but He certainly knows the way we take.  Job’s complaints were from bitterness, having done his best to follow God and His word, yet finding himself in such painful circumstances.  He wanted to approach God where He dwells on high to present his case and find justice in that judgment, hoping for God’s answers to be understanding and with a personal understanding, not in the great power of His wrath of sentencing.  Job trusted the LORD to be fair and give him His ear, but he could not seem to find Him; looking ahead and behind, God was not to be seen in the midst of Job’s suffering.  When God worked to the left or right, Job could not tell where He was.  But he did know that God understood the way Job went, and that the testing of trials he endured would see him go through these and emerge from them as gold - precious and incorruptible in God’s sight.  Job therefore kept his feet following God’s commands, valuing each of them as priceless.  He even valued God’s word above the food required to sustain his life!  He realized how God is unique, incorruptible and immutable.  His sovereign will was absolute, determining and ordaining all that was to happen in his life and in all creation.  These predetermined or predestined things made Job understand that God did these things or allowed them in His plan, being fully aware and in control at all times.  Nothing Job did could change that.  This put the fear of God in Job, knowing He had allowed the dark times of adversity he was going through as part of His predetermined will.  Such thoughts of predestination on God’s part of sovereign actions in our own lives can either terrify us or comfort us, depending on how we understand the grace and goodness of God on our behalf (Romans 8:28).  Do we trust His goodness in our adversity, or join the adversary in blaming God as Job’s friends led him to believe?  May we therefore go to His word as our daily food to rely on His character and working in the past and future as well.  We rest in Christ’s work and promises on behalf of our Father in heaven by the assurance and guidance of His Spirit living within us (Isaiah 30:21, Romans 8:14, 18, 26-28).  God’s righteous judgment is immersed in grace, and we can trust His goodness even as darkness surrounds us (2 Corinthians 4:6, Colossians 1:13, Psalm 42:9, 11)!