and to argue my case with God.
4 You, however, smear me with lies;
you are worthless physicians, all of you!
5 If only you would be altogether silent!
For you, that would be wisdom...
9 Would it turn out well if he examined you?
Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal?...
11 Would not his splendor terrify you?
Would not the dread of him fall on you?...
13 “Keep silent and let me speak;
then let come to me what may...
15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;
I will surely defend my ways to his face.
16 Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,
for no godless person would dare come before him!
17 Listen carefully to what I say;
let my words ring in your ears.
18 Now that I have prepared my case,
I know I will be vindicated.
19 Can anyone bring charges against me?
If so, I will be silent and die.
20 “Only grant me these two things, God,
and then I will not hide from you:
21 Withdraw your hand far from me,
and stop frightening me with your terrors.
22 Then summon me and I will answer,
or let me speak, and you reply to me.
23 How many wrongs and sins have I committed?
Show me my offense and my sin...
14 (1) “Mortals, born of woman,
are of few days and full of trouble.
2 They spring up like flowers and wither away;
like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.
3 Do you fix your eye on them?
Will you bring them before you for judgment?
4 Who can bring what is pure from the impure?
No one!
5 A person’s days are determined;
you have decreed the number of his months
and have set limits he cannot exceed...
10 But a man dies and is laid low;
he breathes his last and is no more...
13 “If only you would hide me in the grave
and conceal me till your anger has passed!
If only you would set me a time
and then remember me!
14 If someone dies, will they live again?
All the days of my hard service
I will wait for my renewal to come.
15 You will call and I will answer you;
you will long for the creature your hands have made.
16 Surely then you will count my steps
but not keep track of my sin.
17 My offenses will be sealed up in a bag;
you will cover over my sin.
18 “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles
and as a rock is moved from its place,
19 as water wears away stones
and torrents wash away the soil,
so you destroy a person’s hope.
20 You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;
you change their countenance and send them away.
Job 13-14
Here we have in Job a vivid expression of what is wrong with our view of life. Job is looking at life as a natural man, and he sees it as the world sees it, that everything is for now. This life is the wholly important thing, and the reason you were brought into existence is to make something out of this present experience--you never get another chance. We are reminded of that on television: "You only go around once! If you are going to live, live with gusto." We are constantly exhorted by the world, with its distorted understanding of life, to seize the present moment--you will never get another one. "If you don't make it now, it will be too late. "This is one of the major reasons even Christian couples are divorcing, sometimes after twenty-five or thirty years of marriage. People begin to feel the force of this argument, and they believe it. They think the only thing left, if there is to be any pleasure and enjoyment in life, is to seize the present moment. "I have not been able to put it all together in all this time, so I'm going to leave and start over." Many a marriage is broken on that rock.
What God is teaching Job in this book is that living for today is not what it is all about. This is not why human existence is given to us; this is but the school time, a time of preparation to get ready for the real life that lies ahead. Compare Job's view of life with the revelation of the New Testament and the view of New Testament writers as to what lies beyond death, and you see a stark and vivid contrast. They look forward to something so beautiful and grand and glorious breaking upon them that they could hardly wait to seize it! But here you get only the idea that everything must be done now.
I think this is why we get upset with ourselves and with life at times. We feel life has been put together backwards. You have to make all the major decisions at the time when you know practically nothing, when you are so callow and uninformed that you can hardly even see things right. You have to choose the wife of your youth at a time when you are not able to judge yourself, let alone anyone else. This is what Job is feeling here; there is no way back.
Prayer: Lord, thank You that though now I see only in part, the day will come when I will see clearly that all You do is for my good and Your glory. Help me to have eyes to look to the future and a heart that trusts Your promises to me. In Jesus' name, the One who set His hope firmly on the future with joy, Amen.
Life Application: Are we seduced by the world's philosophy about seizing each moment for our own selfish pleasure? Do we live in frantic subservience to the pressure of illusory time?
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