“My spirit is crushed,
and my life is nearly snuffed out.
The grave is ready to receive me.
2 I am surrounded by mockers.
I watch how bitterly they taunt me.
3 “You must defend my innocence, O God,
since no one else will stand up for me.
4 You have closed their minds to understanding,
but do not let them triumph.
5 They betray their friends for their own advantage,
so let their children faint with hunger.
6 “God has made a mockery of me among the people;
they spit in my face.
7 My eyes are swollen with weeping,
and I am but a shadow of my former self.
8 The virtuous are horrified when they see me.
The innocent rise up against the ungodly.
9 The righteous keep moving forward,
and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger."
Verse 3: Everyone else has turned their back on Job. The only one left that he has to rely upon is God Himself! Wow, has Job's statue, both physically and emotionally changed or what? He says he's a shadow of his former self. That's a pretty important/significant picture to keep in mind to understand just how hard Job's been hit by all of these things.
Verses 10-16:
though I still won’t find a wise man among you.
11 My days are over.
My hopes have disappeared.
My heart’s desires are broken.
12 These men say that night is day;
they claim that the darkness is light.
13 What if I go to the grave
and make my bed in darkness?
14 What if I call the grave my father,
and the maggot my mother or my sister?
15 Where then is my hope?
Can anyone find it?
16 No, my hope will go down with me to the grave.
We will rest together in the dust!”
And here is that important verse that I referenced when talking about hope. Remember? Job, here, is saying that he's lost nearly all hope! If he puts his hope in the grave/death, then that's not even hope! I love Job's advice to his friends in verse 10, although I bet the tension levels here would be rising now, if they haven't been already! What do you guys see?
"Father thank You for Jesus! Thank You for giving us Your Son to put our hope in! I ask that You would strengthen us when we feel week and that we would turn to You in times of trouble and in times of plenty. May we always keep You first in our life! It's in Jesus' name that I pray, amen!"
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