Year B, Proper 25 (Complete).

Job 42:1-6, Job 42:10-17, Psalm 34:1-8, Psalm 34:19-22, Jeremiah 31:7-9, Psalm 126, Hebrews 7:23-28, Mark 10:46-52.

A). A NEW VISION OF GOD, AND THE RESTORATION OF JOB.

Job 42:1-6; Job 42:10-17.

The prose narrative bookends of the epic poem which is the Book of Job provide us at either end with the same judgment of Job’s character.

Twice in the first two chapters the LORD taunts Satan with the integrity of Job (Job 1:8; Job 2:3). Twice Satan questions the motive for Job’s integrity. Twice the LORD gives a controlled permission for Satan to do his worst!

Job thereafter lost property, family, servants, health, and the support of his grieving wife (who mocks him for keeping his integrity, Job 2:9). At first Job was supported in the silence of his companions on the ash-heap, but then he was subjected to accusations and taunts which can only have added to his anguish. Yet ultimately the LORD is the only judge to whom the integrity of man must answer, and His verdict is announced to the astonished friends: despite all of Job’s complaints and questions, he is the one who has spoken of the LORD “the things that are right” (Job 42:7-8).

There are times when it seems that the LORD is far off, that He has withdrawn Himself from us. Sometimes this is on account of sin, as Job’s friends seemed convinced was the case with Job. Yet, as Jesus taught His disciples in the case of the man born blind, that is not always the cause (John 9:1-3).

Our sense of separation from God is only possible because we have a relationship with Him. In the case of Adam and Eve, it was God who, in His grace, came seeking after them (Genesis 3:8-9). In the case of the prodigal son, the young man first came to his senses, set out back to his father’s house - and found his father running out to greet him (Luke 15:20).

In the case of Job, he was pained and grieved that God seemed so evidently to have withdrawn from Him ‘without a cause’ (Job 2:3). Yet Job poured out his complaint to the LORD, questioned, bitterly complained, and cried out in his sense of desolation. The patriarch struggled to make sense of his bitter experience, that bad things happen to good people – but at no point did he blame anyone else, and neither did he cease to reach out towards the LORD his redeemer.

At length, Job received a new vision of God (Job 42:5), prayed for his friends, and was restored (Job 42:10).

Job was a good man, and could easily have complained that he did not deserve all the evil that befell him. Loss of possessions was followed by loss of children. Loss of children was followed by loss of health. Job even seemed to lose the support of his wife. Job’s ‘friends’ sought to ‘comfort’ him with cruel accusing words. Had God left him? At the end Job was reassured of God’s continuing good opinion of him, experienced answered prayer, and had everything restored to him: health and wealth, a new family, and length of days (Job 42:10-17).

B). WHO TRUSTS IN HIM IS BLESSED.

Psalm 34:1-8; Psalm 34:19-22.

David was ‘on the run’ from king Saul. Mistakenly thinking that he might find refuge with the Philistines, he only escaped from their clutches by feigning madness (1 Samuel 21:10-15). Then he hid in a cave.

Knowing that David was in this place, his family came to encourage him. A company of some four hundred men in humbling circumstances also resorted to him (1 Samuel 22:1-2). The fugitive’s response was a combination of thanksgiving, witness, evangelism, and wisdom teaching (Psalm 34).

Psalm 34:1. For us to “bless the LORD” is to tell forth His goodness. What we say reflects Whose we are. What we speak about should reflect who we are in Him. To “bless the LORD” is to bow the knee in worship and praise.

The words which we speak effect our attitudes and behaviour. When we speak positively about the things of the LORD, good things can happen. The converse is also true: when we ‘speak up’ bad things, that’s often just what we get! David determined that the praises of the LORD should constantly be in his mouth.

Psalm 34:2. The ‘sweet Psalmist of Israel’ sought to honour God in what amounted to a public act of praise. This Psalm is not addressed to the LORD, but to the congregation. They are “the humble”: the poor, the lowly, the weak, and the afflicted. “Those in distress, those in debt, and the discontented” (1 Samuel 22:2).

Psalm 34:3. David’s testimony calls for a response, and participation.

Psalm 34:4. This encourages the once-fearful. “The LORD delivered me from all my fears.” Negative fears are the opposite of faith, and destructive to our peace and well-being.