Let's turn back to Job 3. We were there a couple of weeks ago, looking at verses 1-10, and we'll finish with verses 11-26 tonight. So Job 3, page 530 in the Pew Bible. We'll just pick up the reading where we left off last week and start in verse 11. And as we give attention to the public reading of Scripture, Job continues his lamentation and says, "'Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? Why did the knees receive me? For why the breasts that I should nurse?' For then I would have lain down and been quiet. I would have slept. Then I would have been at rest with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves, or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light? There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. There the prisoners are at ease together. They hear not the voice of the taskmaster. The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master. Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, who longs for death, but it comes not? and dig for it more than for hidden treasures, who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they find the grave. Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden from God, whom God has hedged in? For my sighing comes instead of my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water. For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet. I have no rest, but trouble comes." So there's the rest of Job 3. Well, let's pray, shall we? Father, we are thankful for Your Word. We're thankful for how frank and forthright it is, we see that as a testimony to its truthfulness, and we ask, O Lord, that you administer this word of lowliness to each of us, that you might then see fit in grace and for the sake of Christ to deliver us from misery and to exalt us into the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, in whom every spiritual blessing is found. So make it so, oh God, as you alone can, and make it so we pray as we so desperately need. According to your will and in Jesus' name, amen. Well, beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in his book, Leviathan, which is essentially a work on societal structure and human government, Thomas Hobbes, who was a 17th century English philosopher, famously wrote that the life of man in nature is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. That's quite the observation, isn't it? Especially from a pagan. I mean, it's trenchant, it's pithy, it's spot on when it comes to life under the sun if we only see things horizontally. Along those same lines, one author in a newly published book said, death and irrelevance are coming for all of us. It might seem like that's true, it's not, of course. From a Christian perspective, that's not true, even if it might sometimes seem that way. Well, here in Job chapter three, I would venture to guess that Job is probably inclined to agree with Thomas Hobbes, that life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. After all, like the sermon title says, Job hits rock bottom. Although, bit of a spoiler alert, maybe chapter 40 is an equally low point because there, Job is rendered speechless. At least here, he has something to say. Either way, since suffering, congregation, is the common experience for all human beings in this life. This is a fallen world, after all, and it's under God's curse, and we all feel the weight of that. Since that's so, I think we can all identify with Job in his sufferings, right? We can appreciate the burden that Job is under, because suffering is miserable to endure. especially when it's heavy, and chronic, and confusing, and personal, and life-threatening, not to mention when it's out of the blue, when it's unexpected, and when it blindsides us. And all of that pretty well describes Job's trial, doesn't it? I can almost promise you that Job didn't see any of this coming. In his words here in chapter three, You know what we hear? We hear His hurt. Remember though, remember for Job's sake and remember for your own sake, when you suffer affliction, here's the important key. Personal suffering isn't necessarily caused by personal sins. Personal suffering isn't necessarily caused by personal sin. Because just as in Job's case, God might have something bigger picture-wise in view for us, like he had in view for Job. He puts Job through this trial, allowing Satan to do his dirty work in order to prove Job's integrity, in order to prove the genuineness of Job's faith, of his life, and of his service to the Lord. God may very well put us through trials, congregation, in order to prove those exact same things for us, in order to test us unto the strengthening and refining of our faith, of our commitment and dependence to and upon Him through suffering. All, of course. while glorifying himself as our sustainer, as our defender, and as our upholder for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. So let's keep some of that in mind as we finish Job 3 off tonight. If you have one of the inserts, you can see the sermon theme there, Having Endured. Tremendous affliction, a true believer hits rock bottom. And we see that Job does that here in the second place tonight with a list of questions in verses 11 to 26. So as we continue from last time, this list of questions that we find in the second half of the chapter, it really is something powerful to read through and think through. We're not gonna be able to look in extensive detail at some of the imagery and comparisons that Job uses. You can see those for yourself as you look at things, but we'll handle these verses this way. In the first place, if you look at the passage, notice that the word why shows up six times throughout these verses. Other translations have different numbers of how often they translate the word why into the English, but the ESV has six of them for us. And look at the specific questions that Job asks. They're really quite something. They're stunning, they're startling, and they are heart-stopping. I mean, look at his verse 11. Why did I not die at birth? Verse 12, why did the knees receive me? Verse 12, why did the breasts, or why the breasts that I should nurse? Verse 13, 12 rather has two of them. Verse 20, why is light given to him who is in misery? And then it says also at the beginning of verse, 23, why is light given to a man whose way God has hedged in? I mean, if you looked up the word melancholy in the dictionary, you'd probably see Job's picture there, right? But notice as well how he finishes things off in verses 24 to 26. What we have there in those closing three verses of the chapter, this is why. Job asks these why questions. So as far as the multiple uses of the word why in this chapter goes, those mark off the specific questions that Job asks throughout this. And so the word why, it sort of, it frames the structure and it provides the style and the format of the passage. And here's the key with all of these questions that Job is asking. He wants to know the reason about and the reason for all of his trouble. Why have these things come upon me? I mean, chapter one, with the loss of his servants, the loss of his possessions, and the loss of his children, and then chapter two, with the severe suffering and the sores that came upon him as Satan touched his very skin and bones. Why? Why didn't I just die before any of this took place? Well, let's pause for a minute, and this is important. The why question, congregation, is sometimes a question that we'll never have answered in this life. And it's not that we should fault Job for asking the why question, but we can learn from his state here, and we can learn from his lament that has been recorded for us in Scripture. I know throughout my life I'm as superficial, I suppose, as anybody else, but I can remember as a child thinking, why aren't I six foot two with a 200-pound frame? I remember looking at class pictures, I always got put in the front row because I was smaller than everybody else, and I hated it. I hated looking at my class pictures. It doesn't bother me so much anymore. Others have questions, maybe, why don't I have the same ability this other person has? Why can't I play a musical instrument like they do? Why don't I have more talent with athletics? Or why aren't I smarter than I wish I was? smarter than I am. And maybe another person says, why doesn't my family have what that family has? How come I don't have my own smartphone like my friends at school, says the budding teenager? How come my computer is old and out of date when my friend has a brand new one in their house? How come my video game system isn't the latest and greatest like the guy next door? Another person says, why don't we have the money like they have? How come we don't have two or three cars like they have? How come our house isn't new like that house? How come we don't go on fancy vacations or take a month off like so-and-so does? How come I don't have in my family the same kind of health blessings that this other family has? It always seems like we're suffering with something. Even somebody might say, why did COVID-19 have to derail everything? Why are the markets down and the economy sluggish? Why is there uncertainty about the future in so many ways? I mean, when it comes to the why question, whether it's Job or us, I mean, it's not just that the list is seemingly endless, the list is endless. There is no end to the number of why questions that we can ask. So here's the pastoral counsel, free advice, like my dad used to say, if at all possible, for all of us, myself included, let's either, A, avoid the rabbit hole that is the why question and not go there to begin with, or B, if we can't do that, fair enough if we can't, but if we can't avoid the why question and we're plagued by it, Well, then let's take that why question, if it persists, and let's give it over to the Lord in prayer. Because then, if we do that, we'll learn, in principle, what the Apostle Paul had come to know in Philippians chapter four, that in whatever state he is, he has learned to be content. If we're in a state of abundance, then we have a thankful contentedness. But if we're in a state of suffering, God calls us to have a patient contentedness, so that in either case, whether raised up or brought down, like Lord's Day 10 teaches us, we acknowledge God's providence, we look to Him for guidance and strength and grace along the way, and that we have good confidence, good confidence as we look to the future, knowing that nothing, no matter how severe it is, will separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now back to the passage for a minute. As far as the specific questions that Job asks in those verses, basically all of the questions here in chapter three are various versions of one single question. They all repeat this theme. Are you ready? Why was I born? And why am I still alive? I mean, talk about being in a pit, right? And the fact that there are numerous questions along that same line, that emphasizes the depth of Job's distress. It's like a lyric from my youth said in a song about a character in a song who had been manipulated into committing all of these atrocities and wound up in a mental institution. The character said, how many times must I live this tragedy? How many lies will they tell me? All I want is the same as everyone. Why am I here, and for how long? Let me ask this. Looking at chapter three here in the book of Job, what are your thoughts about Job now? Do you think less of him? Because you see, not only does he have feet of clay, but that clay is melting, and he can't stand on his own. Or does Job suddenly seem more relatable because he's a lot more like you and me than we ever thought previously? In other words, do we look upon Job with judgmentalism or do we look upon Job with sympathy and compassion? Because the way we look upon Job in his lamentation is the way we will look upon others in their lamentations. Let me ask this, how would you counsel Job if you were one of his three friends? What would you say? You sit together in silence for seven days, nobody says anything. Finally, Job pours out this huge monster complaint. How do you respond? Do you accuse and come down on him like his friends did? Or do you offer words of comfort and encouragement and not pretend to have all of the answers, but promise to pray. I mean, look how Eliphaz opens up. He begins in chapter four, more or less, by saying, you know how to counsel others, but you can't give yourself any words of wisdom? I mean, talk about insensitive, right? Look at the opening of chapter four. If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? Yet who can keep from speaking? Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands. Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have made firm the feeble knees. But now it has come to you, and you are impatient. It touches you, and you are dismayed. You can dispense medicine, Job, but you can't take it now? I've got a word for Eliphaz, but I don't think it's probably appropriate from the pulpit. Here's the real question. for all of us to consider. Have you ever asked the kind of questions that Job asks here? In other words, have you ever lamented the fact of your life? Anybody here ever wish they were never born? Anybody here ever think about suicide? And for the record, I'm not saying that Job is contemplating suicide, although verse 11 is pretty dark. I'm just asking if any of us have that struggle. I'll use a double negative. I can't say that I've never thought about suicide. And what I love about dogs is that there's no pretending with a dog. They'll wag their tail when they're happy and they'll cower when they know they've done something wrong. You can read a dog like a book. There's no pretense. There's just openness, just honesty, just innocence. We could probably all learn from a dog and maybe use a little bit of openness when it comes to the difficulties of life. If you said yes to any of those previous questions, have you lamented the fact of your life? Do you ever wish you were never born? Have you ever thought about suicide? If you said yes to any of those questions, well, guess what? Welcome to the show. Welcome to the struggle that is the Christian life. You're not the first person to answer yes to any of those things, and I can promise you that you won't be the last. You do know that, right? Just because we think we're good Dutch Reformed folk who've got it all figured out on the outside and that's how we like to present the self to the world. It's not actually the way it is, probably for any of us, when you get inside the heart. But there are others who've had those same struggles and those same questions who have gone ahead of you into that drear, into that darkness. and the fact that they are here today, safe and sound, if yet wounded and weary, is a testimony to God's faithfulness to them and it's an opportunity for us maybe to seek out those we know who have struggled with these sorts of things and ask them for counsel, ask them for encouragement, ask them the kind of guidance that God provided in the midst of the darkness, ask them the sorts of reminders of the hope, the sure, sure, sure hope that's given to everyone who belongs to Jesus Christ by faith. Not the hope of a futile death, but the hope of resurrection life. After all, Congregation Jesus is the answer to Job 3. He's the one that keeps us, even if we have those thoughts, from pursuing those thoughts. Jesus is the light of the world. And so He shines the grace of mercy into our darkness. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, like we heard a little bit about this morning. And so He comforts us when we're ready to pass through that veil of death in God's time, not something premature that we bring about. Jesus is the bread of life as well. And so He nourishes us and gives us strength so that we don't fade away and fall away. Here's a principle. While we walk in this life, even as Christian people, we live and move through and because of Jesus. and we will still encounter frustrations despite belonging to our Lord. That's something we all have to remember, and that's something we have to understand and be prepared for. Like somebody put it, some things can stand alone. A mountain can feel no desire, but a heart isn't made out of stone. In other words, we're flesh and blood. We have feet that are made of clay and flimsy. We are mere creatures who all have many cases of much casualty. But here's the thing, here's the key. God calls us to fight against despair, here it is, by remembering his promises. That's how the shield of faith functions. That's how the shield of faith extinguishes the fiery darts of the evil one. I'll say it like this. Don't let the darkness roost, because pretty soon you'll find that the darkness will rule. Don't let the darkness roost, because pretty soon you'll find that the darkness will rule. And if, when, or as things threaten, like they did in coming against Job, we take them to Christ in prayer. We ask God the Father to uphold us in the midst of them. And we know that the Holy Spirit, according to the promise of the gospel, will never leave us nor forsake us. If we remember that and are armed with that, we will see the evidence of God's faithfulness in preserving us. Maybe I say it too much, and I'm not sure it's possible, But maybe I do say it too much. Like 1 Peter 5 verse 8 says, cast all of your cares upon the Lord Jesus, knowing that He cares for you. I mean, let that light drive away the drear and the darkness of the valley. Now, I understand there's more to coming out of a state like Job is in. There's more to that than simply meditating on scriptures. There might be medical or other psychiatric aspects of a person's condition that need to be addressed. But there's certainly not less than starting with Scripture as the springboard to making progress, coming out of the darkness and into the light. I would say that's where it begins. Let's begin to wind things down a little bit like this by looking at verses 24 to 26. I mean, Job has quite a finish to his lamentation here, doesn't he? And basically, with these closing three verses, we're given insight as to why Job asks this why. In other words, Job states here very plainly the reason he offers all of these questions up. So what's the reason? What does he say? Simply this, and I'll paraphrase these three verses. This weight is too heavy. I'm getting crushed. My worst fears are coming true. I mean, like he says, for my sighing comes instead of my bread. and my groanings are poured out like water. For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet. I have no rest, but trouble comes." Now, if that's not an honest, heartfelt word, I don't know what is. But you know what else the end of Job chapter three is? It's a gospel word, or at least it's a word that opens the door to help us see the gospel. Because once more, Job's real suffering provides us with a picture, with a preview, and with a pointer of Jesus Christ and His even greater redemptive suffering. I mean, either take the notes real quick or listen to the sermon later and make the scripture connections. Go read Psalm 22. It starts off, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? I mean, listen to Psalm 69, verses 2 and 3. I sink in deep mire where there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying out. My throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. And of course, Psalm 88, it ends by saying, my companions have become darkness. Those passages are almost as dark as Job 3, probably every bit so. And guess what? Psalm 22, Psalm 69, Psalm 88, elsewhere, Jesus speaks through the psalmist in the depth of his burden and lamentation, and he speaks to the church, and he speaks for the church, a word of suffering that's followed three days later by a word of triumph and victory. So should we consider Job personally? You bet. That's why the book is there. But we should consider Jesus even more so, congregation. Listen, He already endured the darkness of night. He already entered into the grave, and He has emerged from it in the power and triumph of a resurrection. And now He holds the keys of death and hell, and He gives eternal life and safety to everyone who believes in Him and who belongs to Him, so that even when we do die, That is now turned into our entrance into eternal, everlasting life. That's why the gospel message points us always and only to Jesus, to look to Him, to believe in Him, to trust Him from the heart, and to receive the promise of forgiving grace and of God's free blessings. That's a solid rock, congregation, upon which each of us can stand and be secure. Let me close with a devotion. This was from this past Tuesday, I believe, maybe Wednesday. The devotion is called, he lowers in order to raise. 1 Samuel 2 verse 7, the Lord makes poor and makes rich. He brings low and lifts up. And here's what the devotion says. All of my changes come from him who never changes. If I had grown rich, I should have seen His hand in it, and I should have praised Him. Let me equally see His hand if I am made poor, and let me as heartily praise Him. In any case, the Lord has done it, and it is well. It seems that Jehovah's way is to lower those whom He means to raise, and to strip those whom He intends to clothe. If I am now enduring the bringing low, I may well rejoice because I see in it the preface to the lifting up. The more we are humbled by grace, the more we shall be exalted in glory. Lord Jesus, you have taken me down of late and made me feel my insignificance and sin. It is not a pleasant experience, but I pray that you would make it a profitable experience for me. Amen. Let's pray, shall we? Heavenly Father, make this word come to us that we have heard in the power of grace, and in the moment to be one that announces mercy for sufferers. Spare us, O Lord, from being overcome by all of our difficulties and troubles, and remind us what your word teaches so clearly that the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. Help us to remember that one thing that we might press on to the end and trust you along the way, for Jesus' sake, amen. Let's turn to number 460, 4-6-0, and we'll sing the stanzas together.