Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Job+042
CHAPTER 42 (ESV)
1 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
2 “I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 ‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.’
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.”…
10 And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold. 12 And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning…
16 And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations. 17 And Job died, an old man, and full of days.
REFLECTION:
Throughout the Book of Job, Job’s friends persuade him to confess his sins and ask for forgiveness. Finally, Job saw God with his own eyes and repented in the dust and ashes. However, Job’s confession was not the kind his friends said. He did not ask for forgiveness for secret sins. Instead he asked for forgiveness for his attitude of self-righteousness in questioning God’s sovereignty. When we ask angrily, “If God is in power, how He can let this happen?” we have sinned. We are constrained by time and space. We cannot see what happened today, and we cannot know why everything happened. If God did not restore Job’s former blessing, would the message of the Book of Job change? Of course not, because God is in power anyway. Our reward, whether material or spiritual, is not necessarily the same as Job’s. Our reward may not be realized in this world, but it will be realized because God loves us and He is just. God will not only restore what we have lost, but He will give us far more blessings than we can imagine when we are with Him in eternity. Hold on to your faith when you go through all the trials of your life. If you endure to the end, God will receive you to His eternal glory.
PRAYER:
God, just as Job said, “I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You,” so does my heart echo. Throughout my years of knowing and following You, I have experienced Your faithfulness and love. I have known the peace beside still waters and green pastures, as well as the attacks of enemies and the solitude of the valley of the shadow of death. Yet, in every circumstance, You have been with me, and Your rod and staff have comforted me. I do not know the way of tomorrow, but I know You hold tomorrow in Your hands, and I also know that You are guiding me by the hand. One day, You will bring me into Your eternal glory.
HYMN:
Though You Slay Me – m.youtube.com/watch?v=l57NdQel69w
