September 13

Job and the Problem of Suffering (Continued) - Job 18:1-21, 19:1-29, 20:1-29, 21:1-34

"I know that my Redeemer lives,

and that in the end He will stand upon the earth.

And after my skin has been destroyed,

yet in my flesh I will see God;

I myself will see Him

with my own eyes -- I, and not another.

How my heart yearns within me!"

Job 19:25-27

While he suffers, Job praises. He doesn't wait to see suffering through to praise. He is confident of the outcome. He knows what we still questions: that the Lord will take care of him even though the events of the moment would suggest otherwise. He even seeks a deeper relationship with the being that is ultimately responsible for his situation. Would I? Do we seek God even in our blessing?

Again here is story of suffering in the Bible written as poetry. Why? I'm sure there are some cultural/ancient literary reasons. Perhaps in the artifice of poetry, we carefully consider the emotions of the moment. We bring meaning and purpose and insight to life in poetry. It is not really what was said - for I doubt even the best of friends in even the most important of gatherings speak in in verse - but what the meaning of what was said.

Lord knows.