Our Need for a Mediator

Job 9:1-14

1 Then Job answered and said:

2 "Truly I know it is so,
But how can a man be righteous before God?

3 If one wished to contend with Him,
He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.

4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.
Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?

5 He removes the mountains, and they do not know
When He overturns them in His anger;
6 He shakes the earth out of its place,
And its pillars tremble;

7 He commands the sun, and it does not rise;
He seals off the stars;

8 He alone spreads out the heavens,
And treads on the waves of the sea;
9 He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
And the chambers of the south;

10 He does great things past finding out,
Yes, wonders without number.

11 If He goes by me, I do not see Him;
If He moves past, I do not perceive Him;

12 If He takes away, who can hinder Him?
Who can say to Him, 'What are You doing?'

13 God will not withdraw His anger,
The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.

14 "How then can I answer Him,
And choose my words to reason with Him?

In his great suffering, Job reasoned about his plight and the causes which might have brought him there.  He knew that he needed a mediator with His Creator, for it is impossible to be truly righteous by God’s standards.  Neither he nor anyone else ever born could answer God when arguing with Him about His creation or His will or Himself.  Man does not have that ability, wisdom, or understanding as God possesses.  It is therefore futile to argue with or accuse God.  He had all wisdom and strength, against which nobody can stand for even a split second.  There is no way to win an argument or striving against God.  If you look at the creation, notice how the mountains stand firm at His word, or move as He wishes, then you realize that this is beyond our ability to imitate.  If you realize how He can command an earthquake and how it shakes the foundation out from under your feet, you see just how mighty God is.  The sun and other stars hang perfectly in the heavens at His word, an infinite undertaking which we still struggle to comprehend, let alone see fully.  He lets us see just how much of the vast universe that He wants to, and we are still in awe as we see more and more of its wonders.  He truly does “great things past finding out,” as it is written here.  These innumerable works of His mighty hand shape burning balls of fire in the sky and the softest cotton out of the dirt beneath.  It is difficult to imagine, because as Job says here, we cannot even see Him as He does all these wonderful things.  We don’t even sense He is near as He works, so how can we interrupt or stop Him.  How dare we question His working (Romans 9:20) or ask why when He has told us enough in His word as well?  We trust in awe.  We realize we need Him as our mediator because of His anger against our pride which questions His word and work.  As Job said, how can we answer Him in these things or find the words to reason with God, knowing His omnipotence and omniscience?  May we stop and consider the fact of His creation of us in His vast creation and humbly listen and trust.  A mediator is of no use to us apart from that faith to trust His working for effectual deliverance of us from His anger for our disbelief and willful disobedience of all He does and all He is.  Great is His name, and greatly to be praised (Psalm 145:3)!