JOB 42 - Job’s reply to the Lord 

NOTES BY VERSE

Note: each ** comment in this document is listed in numerical order according to the verse(s) from this chapter

** People call hotlines hoping for help to a situation; we can call on God who can do all things and we can actually become thankful in the midst of our trouble!  <C31>

WORRY ABOUT NOTHING

• When we worry we replace God with ourselves, relying on ourselves for solutions to our problems

• Worry grows when we focus on the problem and our inability to solve

• Depression, discouragement helplessness, hopelessness increases as a result

• Note: genuine concern is not the same thing as worry, for concern often leads to prayer which is contrary to worry

• We have a choice what we are going to do — whether to worry or not

PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING

• In everything by prayer and petition make our requests known to God

• Prayer reflects how much we love God and our decision how we spend our time reflects how much we care for Him

• Deep relationship with Him reflects our desire to include Him in all of life moments (good and bad) and trust Him for the results

• Be specific in our prayers because it is for our benefit (act of trusting God), not because He does not know what we need

• It’s ok to pray for everything: ourselves, others, monumental events and small detail

BE THANKFUL FOR ANYTHING

• A thankful attitude recognizes that God is in control and our lack of control, moving us further from self and closer to God

• A byproduct of thankfulness is a peace amidst the surrounding difficult raging circumstances

• There are no promises that our prayers will be answered the way we want, but we can experience peace because our omniscient God knows best

• We don't have to know or agree with the answers to prayer in order to have peace because we often only know part of the story — but God knows the whole story

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV

[6] Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Job 42:2 NIV

[2] “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

** Job, still in a distressed condition, confessed and repented even though he did not know why he suffered.  Without answers to his questions, he was done complaining, questioning and challenging God’s wisdom and justice.

Job was reduced to such humility, crushed beneath the weight of God’s greatness, that all he could do was repent for his indolence of charges he raised against God. Job had a new understanding of God through a renewed faith, for he now grasped God’s  greatness, majesty, sovereignty and independence.  <M130>

Job 42:2-6 NIV

[2] “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. [3] You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. [4] “You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.' [5] My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. [6] Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

Isaiah 14:24 NIV

[24] The Lord Almighty has sworn, “Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen.

Isaiah 46:8-11 NIV

[8] “Remember this, keep it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. [9] Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. [10] I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.' [11] From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do.

** Before God’s revelation of wisdom and rule of moral order, Job could do nothing but repent  <R1795>

• True, Job had lived a blameless life, but he had been wrong to even think of God as unjust

• Repentance is not a negative in the Bible, even though people tend to think of it as somewhat shameful

• To repent is to change one’s mind or direction

• Job now admitted that he had been wrong about God

Job 42:4-6 NIV

[4] “You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.' [5] My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. [6] Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

** When Job saw himself in the presence of his three miserable friends, he vindicated himself. But when he stood in the presence of God, he was a broken man; and he spoke as a broken man. He saw himself in all the hideousness of his sin; and he saw God in all the holiness of His glorious majesty. Then he said, "Behold I am vile! I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes!" There is no pride and egotism here, no haughtiness, no self-vindication. Once Job had seen the Lord--he was broken, he loathed himself and blamed himself. Once Job saw the Lord--he honored God and vindicated Him. The truly broken heart will always vindicate God, no matter the cost.

This brokenness can be produced in proud, stubborn, sinful men and women--only by the saving revelation of Christ in our hearts. Brokenness is found at the cross--only at the cross. Have you been to the cross? Have you had the crucified Christ revealed in your heart? Has your heart been broken by the knowledge of the Lord? O Lord, evermore break our hearts before You!  <F67>

Job 42:4-6 NIV

[4] “You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.' [5] My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. [6] Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

Psalm 51:17 NIV

[17] My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

** The religion of the true believer is experimental — it is the religion of the heart. He has no dealings with an unknown, imaginary God.

He does not know God from the hearing of the ear, or from the reading of books, or from the religious conversation of others merely; but he knows Him from personal acquaintance, from heartfelt experience, from close and constant dealings.

There has been a manifestation of God in Christ to his soul, and with Job he can say, "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You!"

And with the converted Samaritans, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world." John 4:42

Oh to be a true, an experimental Christian!

The religion of the ear, or of the eye, or of the imagination, or of the intellect — will not, and cannot bring the soul to Heaven! The abodes of endless woe are peopled with souls who went down to its regions of despair with no better religion than this!

Oh, give me the:

• Sincere humility of the publican

• Trembling faith of the diseased woman

• Flowing tears of the penitent Magdalene

• Last petition of the dying thief

rather than the most intellectual religion or the most gorgeous ceremonial that the mind ever invented, or the eye ever beheld.  <W211>

Job 42:5 NIV

[5] My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.

John 4:42 NIV

[42] They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

** The more I see of Jesus, the more He opens to me His loving heart — the deeper is my sorrow for sin. I lie down in the dust at His feet closer than ever I did before. I can truly say I abhor myself in dust and ashes before Him.

My heart seems ready to melt into contrition in view of the ten thousand thousand sins, willful and aggravating that I have committed against Him who loved me with an everlasting love, and with loving kindness drew me to Himself.

So eternal and deep, so sovereign and boundless is the love of Jesus, that angels cannot fathom it! He is nothing but sincere, constant, and unabating love — to the weakest and most unworthy of all His little flock.

I feel such a weariness of this world that nothing here gives me anything more than a momentary, passing pleasure, and it is gone at a glance.  <W216>

Job 42:5-6 NIV

[5] My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. [6] Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

** God rebuked Job’s friends for their folly, and had them sacrifice and ask Job to pray for them

Job 42:7-9 NIV

[7] After the Lord had said these things to Job , he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. [8] So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” [9] So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job's prayer.

** God blessed Job after this testing

Job 42:10-13,16-17 NIV

[10] After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. [11] All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. [12] The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. [13] And he also had seven sons and three daughters. [16] After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. [17] And so Job died, an old man and full of years.

James 5:11 NIV

[11] As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.