King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Saturday, January 11, 2020
Chapters: Job 27-31
Message: I Trust In Thee
Hello My Friend,
More often then we care to add to our trials in life comes the need to defend ourselves. As faithful, saved, born again, Christians, we not only find ourselves defending our faith, rights, and integrity to Satan himself, but also to friends and family. As I was praying this morning something occurred to me, well, God brought it to my attention, the reason many of us who are faithful do not like to receive help from anyone is because either most of them seem to have an agenda behind it or it comes with some kind of cost. Then God just reminded me of something else, we cannot live in fear and be afraid to let people in our lives, they are all blessings from God, even the difficult people. “I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel. For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life. But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God.” – Psalm 31:11-14.
“But I trusted in thee, O LORD:” We may never understand why we face so much suffering, but we can understand that God’s hand is in every single thing that comes our way, and if we trust Him He will find a purpose for it. Job is about had it with the accusations from his friends, he speaks in a parable for the next five chapters. He wants them to know that even though God had taken away his judgment, they will not take away his integrity.
“As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul; All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live. Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous. For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him? Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God? I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal. Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?” – Job 27:2-12.
“who hath taken away my judgment;” Judgment; The spirit of wisdom and prudence, enabling a person to discern right and wrong, good and evil. The doctrines of the Gospel. Job feels as though God has taken away his ability to reason or come to a conclusion as to why he is suffering so much, he even sees his friends accusations as part of the suffering. “till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.” Integrity; The entire, unimpaired state of any thing, particularly of the mind; moral soundness or purity; uncorrupt; uprightness; honesty. While Job does not understand why he is suffering, he will not admit to wrongdoing that he has not done. “For what is the hope of the hypocrite,” He is saying, “If I am a hypocrite as you accuse me of, then what would I have to gain when I die?” God’s faithful know there is no profit in gaining the whole world as their souls are what God requires at the end of their lives. “For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.” – Luke 9:25-27.
“till they see the kingdom of God.” In this life we see some amazing things, and God gives us the talents to do some incredible things, but there are some things on this earth that cannot be explained, things that only, by our faith in God can we understand. Job was never as concerned about knowing why he was suffering, it was about knowing that God was in His life. As he contemplates all the amazing things that God has created, he finds himself coming to the conclusion of what true understanding is.
“There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen: The lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living. Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder: Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out. And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” – Job 28:7-8,12-13,21-28.
“There is a path which no fowl knoweth,” Think about all the mountains, trees, and seas, how much of it has never been seen or touched. In fact, this is why new species and new lands are discovered, there is just too much for both man and beast to explore. “and he weigheth the waters by measure.” Think about how God designed every single thing, the weight of the water, how we react to the water, how our bodies sink to the bottom in the lakes, but float in the seas. Of course, with wisdom we learn that we can swim and float to the top, but to truly know the properties of the water, that is only wisdom that God has. “the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;” This is exactly what Solomon said. Of all the treasures in the world, wisdom is by far the most precious, and the greatest wisdom of all comes as we fear God. And fearing God means to love and worship Him as not only our Creator, but our God. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” – Ecclesiastes 12:13-14.
“For God shall bring every work into judgment,” Everything we do in this life has an impact on our relationship with God, He does not expect that we will never sin, but He does expect faithfulness, and that includes confessing sin. Some people are blessed to be provided for without working for them, most people have to work hard to get them. I imagine Job worked very hard to get the things he had, to see it all gone must have been heartbreaking, not to mention all his friends harping on him. Discouraged and distraught, Job begins to think about all the things he had that lost. “Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness; As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle; When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me; When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil; When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!” – Job 29:2-7.
“as in the days when God preserved me;” God never stops blessing us, if we are saved, we are one of His forever, that means we are preserved with eternal life and nothing can change that. However, Job feels like God has left him and basically fed him to the wolves, he wonders why He just does not take him away from it all.
“Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud. And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me. He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes. I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not. Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me. Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance. For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living. Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction. Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor? When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.” – Job 30:15-16,19-26.
“I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me:” There is not one faithful Christian that does not wonder if God is listening when they cry out to Him, sometimes after months of no relief from their suffering. Unless we are murmuring or coming to Him out of hatred, God does hear us, He will not listen to us if we charge at Him, demanding that He change things. You would not want to help someone that does that to you either. “then evil came unto me:” The longer I suffer the more I start to feel like there is no end to it, that perhaps I did do something wrong, and I too wonder why God will not end it. Job starts to question himself, was there something he did that he was not aware of.
“For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much; If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above. If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom: Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door? Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book. Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.” – Job 31:2-4,24-28,33-36.
“and that mine adversary had written a book.” Job thinks that God sees him as an adversary, or an enemy, and wants a book to show him exactly how He wants him to be, and assures Him that he will follow it. Oh, how sad is it that we do have God’s written Word, and so many Christians disregard it. Nevertheless, we who are faithful find it to be the most valuable possess we have. There is a commercial that says, “I don’t keep track of regrets.” and it bothers me everytime I hear it. Regret is another word for repentance, it is feeling deep sorrow over wrong decisions made that resulted in the suffering. Saved, born again Christians ought to have no regrets, our sins are forgiven, and while we always a work in progress until the day God brings us home, our past does not define us. So, we cannot keep going back to our past, thinking that it is what is causing our suffering, if anything, it is our failure to move on that keeps us suffering. “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” – Philippians 3:13-15.
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for life, and the life You have given me. And thank Your for eternal life, and for the great sacrifice You made in saving my soul from death and hell. I do not always understand the suffering I go through, but I do understand that Your hand is in them, and that You will show me the way out through my faith and trust in You. I know that I mess up and make some wrong decisions because I just do not understand or are too impatient to wait for You to answer me. Lord, lead me and guide me, give me the strength I need to endure the suffering You allow in my life, let me not look, the right, left, or behind, but straight toward You, and the prize awaiting me. I know that as long as I trust You that You will not only help me endure, the pain will end, and I will see blessings unfold. I ask these tings in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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