All right, my phone says 901 so we can go ahead and we'll get started. I'm gonna pray real quick We're gonna be in Job if you want to go ahead and turn there and be ready, but I'll pray to get us started Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for your day and the day to read your word and to worship with your people. We pray that you would illuminate your word by your spirit as we look at it. We pray that you would sanctify us in your word and that you would make us wiser and make us love you more and make us rest in your character as we look at the book of Job. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, good morning. So last week, you'll remember we looked at the book of Ruth. This was the first book in the third thematic grouping of books of the Old Testament we looked at called the writings. And so to recap, the first group that we looked at is the law. The second grouping was the prophets. And this third grouping that we started last week is the writings. The Psalms actually come after Ruth according to the Hebrew canonical order that we're following, but we're actually stepping out of order and covering Job today. And we're doing this because we wanted Colin to teach the Psalms to us, and he'll start that next week. So today we're looking at Job, and just by way of introduction to wisdom literature, like Ruth, Job is a narrative of actual events, but instead of primarily supplementing and reinforcing covenantal or redemptive realities, It supplements our understanding of the character of God, the weakness of man, and how the believer is to live. Specifically, how to live in a world where awful things happen. And I insert the caveat of primarily before covenantal or redemptive realities, because there are certainly redemptive realities and themes throughout Job, it's just not the primary emphasis that we see. So Job is included in what many refer to as the Bible's wisdom literature, and these books, as the name would suggest, are dedicated to imparting wisdom to the reader either by teaching general universal principles or how to navigate life when we encounter exceptions to these general principles. So this section of wisdom literature includes the Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Lamentations. And as we consider what it is when we talk about wisdom, what we're talking about, this is a helpful description that I recently read, and it's this, that comprehensive wisdom, so wisdom at the highest level, seeks to know reality as a whole, as it truly is, and to know all that it demands. And in the book of Job, God actually gives us a description of wisdom, and this is in chapter 28, verse 28, where he says, behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding. And according to the writer of the textbook that we're following, wisdom literature is a genre within the writings which clarifies those hoping in God's kingdom and how those hoping in God's kingdom were to live. In short, they were to embody in every setting the life of wisdom, waiting, and worship, grounded in God's word that was to characterize the messianic king. So as we look at what the wisdom that is imparted to us in the wisdom literature, we can ultimately see that all of these wisdoms, this wisdom is most illustrated in the life of Christ, that he was perfectly wise. So with all of this introduction, let's now turn to consider Job. Job is timeless in more than one way. First, because it's applicable to us in exactly the same way today that it was applicable to the original audience, and second, because we don't actually know when it took place or when it was written down. It seems to take place in the time of Abraham or even before, based on how Job lives, how he measures wealth and so forth, but the use of the covenant name Yahweh, for God by the narrator, suggests the story was actually compiled after the Exodus when God gave his people his covenant name. So as we read Job, there's really these two elements. There's when it took place and when it was written down. And the narration, when it was written down, That is inspired. So any comments that the narrator makes are correct because they are inspired by the Holy Spirit. So Job is a book that we don't need to fit neatly into a chronology of outside events. It's a literary masterwork, the wisdom of which is independent of where you live, what your cultural background is, and whether you are living under the old or new covenant. So in form, the Book of Job begins with a prose introduction or prologue from the narrator, followed by a series of poetic dialogues and monologues, and ends with a prose conclusion or epilogue. So what is Job about? It's 42 chapters, what is it about? Most fundamentally, the Book of Job is about asking some of life's most difficult questions. Questions like why do the righteous suffer in the same way as the unrighteous? The wicked seem to go unpunished and many upright people suffer. How do we explain that as believers? And perhaps more importantly, how should the righteous conduct themselves when they suffer or when those around them are suffering? So you can tell as we ask these questions, there are two things that are assumed. One is that God is sovereign, ordaining everything that comes to pass. And two, that God is good, loving what is right and hating what is evil. The book of Job, much like the book of Ruth that we saw last week, addresses the gap between what our circumstances seem to say about God and the reality we find in his word of who he is. So when we look at life around us, it may seem that God either isn't in control or he doesn't actually care. but Job is about understanding how we can trust a good and sovereign God in the midst of unexplained suffering. And notice I didn't say that the book of Job explains why these things happen. The book is useful partly because it explains why bad things happen to Job, but Job never finds that out. Instead, the book is about how we can trust a good and sovereign God despite the nature of our circumstances. So Job is ultimately a book about trust. not about perfect explanation. It's about considering the evidence we have to justify an intellectually honest leap of faith to trust God in difficult situations, even when we know we will never find out this side of heaven, why these circumstances come to pass. So we can summarize Job with a simple theme statement, which we find in your handout, and it is this. that God is completely sovereign over all the affairs of his universe for his own glory, but often his motives, reasons, and goals behind what he does are not revealed to us. yet we find in his character and in our Redeemer reason to trust in his care. So these are issues that need to be dealt with seriously, soberly, humbly, and reverently, but in the book of Job, these issues are dealt with. We're not left without any answers. So we're gonna cover the book under three headings, and these three headings correspond to what we just saw in that theme statement, but there are three pieces of wisdom the book of Job communicates to us. First, we'll observe that we as humans often suffer, Second, that we only sometimes understand our suffering. And lastly, that we can always trust God through our sufferings. So we often suffer, we sometimes understand, and we can always trust. So the first section, we often suffer. This is gonna be pulled from chapters one and two. We're gonna spend a little bit of time here because it really sets up the rest of the book. So the first two chapters form the prose prologue of the book in which Job is introduced to us. Satan is given permission from God to test Job, and Satan takes Job's property, children, and his health. When we first meet Job, we see that he is a righteous man, chapter one, verse one. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. Not only was Job righteous, but he was also wealthy, verses two and three, and wise, as we see in verse five. And in all, as we see in verse three, Job is described as the greatest of all the people of the east. So he's not a nobody, he's someone who is wise and wealthy and righteous. And then in verses 6 through 12, we see a conversation between God and Satan. And in this conversation, God actually points Job out to Satan as an example of an upright man and asks Satan if he has considered him. And Satan begins answering in verse 9. Then Satan answered the Lord and said, does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have increased in the land. but stretch out your hand and touch all that he has and he will curse you to your face. And the Lord said to Satan, behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. So then eight verses chronicle Job's descent into utter ruin. From verse 13 to 19, we read a description of these repeated reports coming to Job all in the course of a very short period of time. These reports communicate that Job has lost his ox, donkey, sheep, and camel herds, the servants that were protecting those herds, and all of his children, seven sons and three daughters. Everything he had spent his life building up was wiped out in one day. But Job's response to this incredible and sudden loss is recorded in verses 20 through 22, where we read that Job worships and blesses the Lord. And the narrator makes a point to say that he did not sin. And remember, the narration is inspired, so we know that this is true. Job did not sin in this situation. Satan then returns to God and gets permission to test him even further. And so Satan then takes Job's health from him and inflicts horrible sores on his entire body. His situation is now so miserable that even Job's wife advises him to simply curse God and die. And Job responds to her in verse 10 where he says, you speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil? Again, in all this, Job did not sin with his lips. So this sets up the rest of the book of Job. And it's very important to remember that Job is not aware of the conversation between Satan and God. He has simply lost everything very suddenly. He suffers greatly, and this suffering is the subject of the majority of the rest of the book. I say the majority because God will eventually show up, speak to Job, and properly reorient things to himself. But suffering is universal. Each of us suffers as an effect of the fall. And Job is a good example of someone who suffers and deals honestly with his sufferings. Remember that in his two responses in the midst of his sufferings, the narrator specifies Job did not sin. In the first two chapters, we see Job's great suffering. And while I would never compare any measure of suffering that I've experienced to what we read described of Job here, I've suffered, and so have each of you. We've all suffered. So we can relate to Job in some measure, and it's wise to recognize that each of us will suffer in some measure. So that's our first piece of wisdom we can pull from the book of Job, is we each will suffer. So I want to pause there for a second and ask you, why is it wise to recognize that we suffer? Why is that wise? I think of Psalm 10.6 where it says, the wicked says in his heart, I shall not be moved throughout all generations. I shall not meet adversity. He's not only wicked, but he's foolish. He thinks he will never face adversity. And also 1 Peter 4, 12 through 13. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. So, and this is, as each of you pointed out, I think it's wise to recognize that we will suffer because it enables us to be prepared for suffering, and that means a lot of things. It properly identifies ourselves as finite and ignorant creatures, we don't have all the information, and distinguishes us from God. And it motivates us to be grateful to God for every day, week, or year that he protects us from suffering. So then the second piece of wisdom we're going to look at is that we only sometimes understand that suffering. And this is really, we're gonna look at the whole book here kind of in a big picture way. So the second statement that summarizes Job's wisdom for us is that we sometimes understand. And this is really what most of the book is about. So we're gonna give a brief overview of the rest of the book. It's outlined on the back of your handout, so you can kinda read along through the specifics there. At the end of chapter two, where we just left Job and his state of suffering, Three friends come to comfort him and they sit with him in silence for a whole week. We should stop there and probably think that we maybe don't give these guys enough credit, that they showed up and they didn't immediately start correcting Job, but they sit with him in his suffering for a whole week. Finally, in chapter three, Job is actually the one that breaks the silence. He pours out his complaint and even says that he wishes he'd never been born. And then chapters four through 41, all but the last chapter, are a series of dialogues. Chapters 4 through 31 contain three cycles of dialogues that are kind of like three sections of dialogues between Job and his friends. Their names are Eliaphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. In cycles 1 and 2, Eliaphaz speaks, and Job responds. Then Bildad speaks, and Job responds. Then Zophar speaks, and Job responds. And really, each of the speakers makes the same point, that Job is suffering because Job has sinned. And this kind of has a cumulative effect in the sense that as Job responds to them, they say, your initial suffering was due to sin and you are continuing to sin because you're denying what we're saying. But Job denies having committed any sin for which this great calamity should have come upon him. And at the end of the third cycle, Job makes his final protest. He almost demands for God to show up and to explain his suffering. But at that point, instead of God, we hear from a young man named Elihu, who appears in chapter 32 and speaks all the way to chapter 37. Elihu says that he has been listening for some time but hasn't said anything because he's younger and doesn't want to disrespect his elders. But he's not happy with anybody, according to chapter 32, verse three, where it says he burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God. He burned with anger also at Job's three friends because they had found no answer, although they declared Job to be in the wrong. So then he proceeds to give four monologues on the greatness of God's justice and mercy, which are beyond human understanding. He challenges Job to consider that his sufferings might in some way be the deliberate acts of a loving God, and he concludes in chapter 37 verses 23 through 24 by saying, the Almighty, we cannot find him. He is great in power, justice, and abundant righteousness he will not violate. Therefore men fear him. He does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit. And then finally, in chapter 38, God himself enters the discussion and criticizes those who have darkened counsel with words without knowledge, chapter 38, verse 2. In one of the Bible's most remarkable passages, God paints a picture for Job and the others of his unique and sovereign power. He says at one point, who has put wisdom in the inward parts or given understanding to the mind? Chapter 38, verse 36. God looks at the natural world and considers the many things he has made from seas to stars, from ostriches to oxen. And then in chapter 40, God asks Job directly, shall a fault finder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it. To which Job's response is simple. Behold, I am of small account. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once and I will not answer. Twice, but I will proceed no further. And God continues, he says, will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? Have you an arm like God and can you thunder with a voice like his? Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity. Clothe yourself with glory and splendor. Pour out the overflowings of your anger and look on everyone who is proud and abase him. And in the remainder of chapters 40 and 41, God continues to instruct Job and the others about who he is. Who then is he who can stand before me? In chapter 41. Who is first given to me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. And in chapter 42, the last chapter, Job makes his final confession. This is in verses five and six, where Job says, I had heard of you, speaking of the Lord, by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. The story ends here in chapter 42 with God telling Eliaphaz, Bildad, and Zophar that they have been wrong. He says what Job has said about God is true, then he restores Job's fortunes and gives him twice as much as he had before. There are some interesting things that God does not say, but we'll get to those in a moment. And that is an overall summary of the book. Now to jump back to our second piece of wisdom we introduced earlier, which is that we sometimes understand. And I think it's important to elucidate that a little bit, to say that wisdom means we have to acknowledge the limits of what we can know as humans. Job's friends maintained that we can always understand why we suffer. Their arguments can basically be summarized this way. Job, what's happened to you is really bad. You must have sinned in a most extraordinary way because God is just. And though you deny having sinned, we know you must have because there can be no other explanation. And every time, Joe basically responds, no, this can't be because of my sin. Not that he's never sinned, but that no great hidden sin has marked his life that would have called for such total calamity. But Job's friends keep coming back to the basic idea that you get what you deserve. And really, their response is similar to the response of Jesus' disciples in John 9, where they ask Jesus, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind, in 9 verse 2. And they were every bit as right as his disciples, that is, Job's three friends. And we can kind of sympathize with them. They wanted to know why this would have happened to their friend Job. They didn't deny the reality of the material world, like Peter mentioned, or like a Buddhist would say, and that in essence suffering isn't even real. And they couldn't abandon their orthodoxy by rejecting God's justice or his sovereignty, and so this is what they were left with. How can an innocent Job suffer in the world of a God who is both sovereign and just? Logically, something has to give, and Job's innocence would seem to be the weakest of those pillars. Now, in our world, most people give up on all three of these pillars that we just described. Some deny the reality of suffering, as we talked about. Some think God is well-intentioned, but actually unable to protect us. And others deny his goodness or his justice. But only the religion of the Bible has the audacity to maintain that all four of these things can be true. Suffering, God's control, God's goodness, and Job's innocence. And we all have similar tendencies to Job's friends. I think we all assume at some level the right to understand what God is doing through suffering. So when we ask the question why in suffering, we tend not to do it humbly. We tend to do it in anger, or at least I know I do. We might say, how dare God do this to us since we followed him so faithfully? Or despair by thinking, I guess my trust in God didn't work out for me. But that's the point of Job. Perhaps more than anything else, Job teaches us that we don't have all the facts, and it's actually impossible for us to have all the information required to answer all of our questions. In a moment, we're gonna look at the interchange between God and Satan from chapter one that explains why Job suffered. But remember, Job never knew that. God never explains it to him in the book of Job. Job's friends didn't understand why Job suffered, and neither did Job. We understand, but only because God has told us. So the Book of Job isn't about understanding why evil happens or why suffering happens. Rather, it's simply telling us that only sometimes we're able to understand, but a lot of the time we're not. So let's pause again. Why is that wise? Why is it wise to recognize that we only sometimes understand our own suffering or, by extension, the suffering of others? Why is that wise to understand? Yeah, I think going back to that description of wisdom that I read in the beginning, that wisdom seeks to know reality as it is. That means to recognize things we don't know and not to lie and say that we do and to act as if we do. Some verses that came to mind in regard to that, Psalm 103, 15 through 16. As for man, his days are like grass. He flourishes like a flower of the field, for the wind passes over it and it is gone, and this place knows it no more. This isn't specifically about knowledge, but knowing our finitude, our only... our difference from God, that we are the creation and not the creator. And then a specific thing that God says in the book of Job in chapter 40, verses seven through eight, where he says, dress for action like a man, I will question you and you make it known to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? So God kind of ironically asks Job a lot of questions that it's impossible for Job to answer, and Job quickly learns I don't know all these things, but God does. And then finally, Romans 11, 33 through 36. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord? Who has been his counselor? Or who has given to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever, amen. So we can recognize the things that we do know, we know God's character, but we don't always know God's purposes. So any other thoughts before we move on about that, about the limits of our knowledge gap? So we don't get what Job wanted very often, which is an explanation. And if we don't get that, how can we continue to live faithful lives? Which brings us to our third piece of wisdom. So the first was often we suffer, second was sometimes we understand, and third, we can always trust. So faith exists because understanding doesn't. If we insist on living only according to our own understanding and completely apart from trust, then we can't be Christians. We need to know how to trust. And the good news is that we have a basis for that trust in God's power. In some of the most beautiful poetry that has ever been written or you will ever read, the book of Job displays the power of God, the one we're called to trust. And like the other great Old Testament books that grapple with this problem of suffering, we never find a firm explanation. But we do understand more of who God is. And in that knowledge of our Lord, we find the evidence we need on which to base our trust. We see his creation of all things. We consider his power and his ultimate competency. We observe his providence and caring for everything and everyone who he has created, and especially his care for us as believers. And we know that he is the one who can be trusted ultimately. This is the piece that Paul commends to the Philippian church in Philippians 4, four through seven. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. So as I said, Job never understands why he suffered. All that he's given is knowledge about God, which results in his trust. But we're even more blessed than Job in our knowledge of who the Lord is, because first, in the book of Job, God lets us peek behind the scenes to see and understand why Job suffered, which is the heavenly court scene in chapter one. And so let's go back to that scene for a second, really to point out that Satan was actually wrong in his assertion. He says that, he accuses Job of serving God for his own selfish ends in chapter one, nine through 11. He says that Job serves God because he's wealthy. God knows that Satan's wrong, but he allows Satan to take away Job's wealth. And guess what? With all his wealth gone, Job continues to worship God. Satan was wrong. But Satan has never been one to be put off just because he's wrong. And so then he accuses Job of serving God only because his health remains. And guess what, even as Job's body wastes away, he still worships God. Job's changing circumstances reveal that as wealthy as he is, he's not worshiping God because of his wealth. As healthy as he is, he's not worshiping God because of his health. True worship is a response to who God is, the character of God, regardless of our circumstances. So what does this mean for us? It means we don't trust God because we're clever or holy, but because his character is trustworthy. That was the only basis for trust that Job was ever given. He never read Job chapter one. He was only shown Job's character. Essentially, God says, Job, look out the window at the beauty of my creation, and let that be enough information about my goodness and power to enable you to trust me while your world falls apart. And Job trusted. But think about how much more we know about God's character even than Job, how much more evidence we have to trust God. Skip from his vantage point to ours. In the Gospels, we read of the greatest injustice ever perpetrated in the history of the universe, the murder of the innocent son of God. And we see how God used it for the greatest good ever conceived, his glory through the salvation of mankind from his sins. So statements about suffering in the New Testament can point back to this pivotal event. If God can use even this for the greatest good, how much more confidence do we have in his good purposes for our own suffering? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? That's Romans 8.32. So the pattern set in Job is what we get throughout the Bible. How does the suffering of God's people jive with his sovereignty and mercy? There's no explanation, but we're given a call to trust in who God is. And yet, through the centuries, we get more and more compounding evidence on which to base that trust, culminating in the suffering of Christ and his glory. So at times, God does graciously allow us to see how he's used difficult situations for our good. And surely we should thank him for the consolation of such moments and of such understanding, but there's danger in assuming that he must give us such understanding or that he owes it to us. What will follow is a counterfeit trust, a trust in our own abilities to figure out God's purposes within any trial, rather than trust in God and in his character. So as an example of how we can't insist on knowing the reasons behind our suffering, we have only to think of Job. What was the immediate reason that Job was targeted by Satan? Anyone recall? Why did God point to him? But what was the evidence that God said? He said he is an example of a righteous man. So it's actually Job's virtue that causes all of his suffering, not his sin, which is a cruel irony for his friends. This is the opposite of what his friends are insisting, but if we zoom out even another level, Job didn't suffer just so that God could win an argument with Satan. Rather, Job suffered so that God might record himself proving Satan wrong in scripture for our benefit. And during the course of Job's life, he had no idea that thousands of years later, he would be here today, studying a book about the calamity that he faced. So we can trust God because, as Job said, for I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last, he will stand upon the earth. That's chapter 19, verse 25. How would Job's Redeemer redeem? By living more righteously and perfectly than Job ever could. and by taking upon himself more suffering than Job ever knew. Job's patience amid suffering was finally meant to point to the genuinely perfect righteousness and wholly undeserved suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross. Through his death on the cross and his resurrection on the third day, Christ would defeat the powers of sin and death. God promises to forgive everyone who repents of their sins and trusts in Christ, and they too, along with Job, will stand with their Redeemer in the end. So if we think back to last week, if we recall the book of Ruth, think of the example of Naomi. The book opens and she's in calamity. Her husband and sons are dead, but by the end, the Lord has provided a child to her. Remember the women at the end say, a son has been born to Naomi. And the prophet Habakkuk, when we looked at the book of the 12, his book opens with a complaint to the Lord about the seemingly hopeless state of Judah and the amount of sin that he sees, but he gets a vision of the future from the Lord and is told, if it seems slow, wait for it. It will surely come. It will not delay. So let's park here again. Why is it wise to recognize that we can always trust in the Lord through all circumstances? Why is that wise? Yeah, it's wise to know that we can trust him because it's true, right? It's real. Any other thoughts? Exactly, that's the argument that God presents before Job. Look at you and look at me. There's a vast gulf of difference between us, yeah. I think of 1 Peter 1, six through seven, where he writes, in this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. That all of our trials, all of our griefs have a purpose, and that we can rely on that. Likewise, Hebrews 12, 10 through 11, for our earthly fathers disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. And then James 1, 2 through 4, count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. And I find this really interesting that he just, he talks about trials and producing steadfastness, this is in chapter 1 of James. And then we actually read this passage last Sunday during the worship hour, and at the end of the book of James, chapter five, 10 through 11, he writes, as an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. That's the only reference to Job by name in the New Testament. And it's saying that he's an example of steadfastness to us. When we read through the book of Job, he certainly speaks rashly, he's corrected by God, and yet he is ultimately steadfast because of God. God upholds him. The Lord is compassionate and merciful, James says. And then the last scripture here I have is 1 Corinthians 1, 8 through 9. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia, for we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Sounds like Job. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, but that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. We always have that reason to rely on God and to rely on ourselves less. Any other thoughts about that, about trusting the Lord through all circumstances? Any other scriptures that come to mind or anything? Yeah, certainly. And how kind of the Lord not to just give us the story of Job, but to give us that opening scene. Any other thoughts before we move into the conclusion? Okay. I mentioned earlier the story of the disciples asking Jesus regarding a blind man, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? And apparently they were asking the wrong question, because Jesus said it was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. So we can rest assured, again as we trust in God's character, we can trust in His purposes, that God intends to display His glory in your life and the lives of everyone around you. You can be certain of this. How he specifically intends to do this would take us into other books of the Bible, but in the context of Job, we can see clearly that he intends to display his glory in the lives of his children as they continue to serve him in the middle of life's trials. And if you are God's child reconciled to him through Christ, realize that your suffering can majestically display the glory of God as you serve and worship him in a way that defies the world's comprehension and abilities. If you, Christian, are presently enduring a season of suffering, it may be that God is sitting in heaven right now and saying to the heavenly host about him, have you considered my servant? So, we often suffer, we only sometimes understand, and by God's grace, we can always trust. Let's go ahead and pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the book of Job and the way that it ministers to our finite hearts. Our prayer is that in meditating upon your character and the sufferings of Job, we are sanctified in the truth of your justice, mercy, wisdom, and providence. We ask that you would equip us for suffering, that you would strengthen the shield of our faith, which extinguishes the flaming darts of Satan. Equip us also to give wise, godly counsel to our brothers and sisters through their sufferings. And in all things, Lord, let us trust in the finished work of Christ so that your peace, which surpasses all understanding, might dwell richly in us while we await his coming. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.