September 23, 2015
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Happy Birthday?

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Opening Prayer

Mighty God, You are Alpha and Omega, before the beginning and after the ending. I bow before You.

Read Job 3:1-26

[1] After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. [2] He said: [3] “May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’ [4] That day-may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine on it. [5] May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm it. [6] That night-may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months. [7] May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it. [8] May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan. [9] May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn, [10] for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes. [11] “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? [12] Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? [13] For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest [14] with kings and rulers of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins, [15] with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. [16] Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day? [17] There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest. [18] Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout. [19] The small and the great are there, and the slaves are freed from their owners. [20] “Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, [21] to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, [22] who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? [23] Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? [24] For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water. [25] What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. [26] I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

Think back to some good, lovely things that have happened in your life, that cause you to thank God that you were born.

Having no children myself, I derived huge joy from the birth of my first great-niece, and I am of course as biased as any fond mother or grandmother. She is beautiful, clever, full of charm and utterly gorgeous! No doubt Job felt the same–but now with the death of his precious children he can see deep darkness about his existence as he curses the day of his conception and that of his safe arrival in the world.

Note that it is Job who breaks the week’s silence, not his friends. He is not cursing God. He is merely giving vent to his pent-up feelings–an activity of which God approves (Job 42:7). This is wonderful poetry; indeed the whole book is poetry except for the introductory chapters and the final few verses. As with the psalms, the way this book has been preserved for us allows us to identify deeply with real human feelings in a way that factual prose could not express so well. It is OK to vent one’s feelings before God, as Job did.

It is likely that some readers have at some point in their lives longed for death (21) because their undeserved suffering is so great. Sometimes it is hard to understand why a sufferer cannot just die in their sleep but has to awaken to yet another long day of pain. Job felt that God was hedging him in (23), preventing any escape from his dreadful circumstances, or any help from reaching him. This is ironic, in view of the satan’s comment in 1:10 (unheard by Job), where such hedging was seen as keeping Job safe! “To Job it appears that God has locked him into turmoil and thrown away the key” (John E. Hartley). Can you enter into those feelings?

Apply

Be honest before God. If you need to vent your feelings to him, do so. That’s OK with God!

Closing prayer

Patient One, I can identify with the psalmists and with Job. Thank You for handling my questions and distress.

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