And before he does, just by way of introduction, this word, Psalm 88, it's on page 597.
O Lord, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you.
May my prayer come before you, turn your ear to my cry.
For my soul is full of trouble, and my life draws near the grave.
I am counted among those who go down to the pit.
I am like a man without strength.
I am set apart from the dead, with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.
You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.
Your wrath lies heavily upon me.
You have overwhelmed me with all your waves.
You have taken from me my closest friends, and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape.
My eyes are dim with grief.
I call to you, O Lord, every day.
I spread out my hands to you.
Do you show your wonders to the dead?
Do those who are dead rise up and praise you?
Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in destruction?
Are your wonders known in the place of darkness?
Or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
But I cry to you for help, O Lord.
In the morning my prayers come before you.
Why, O Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?
From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death.
I have suffered your terrors and am in despair.
Your wrath has swept over me.
Your terrors have destroyed me.
All day long they surround me like a flood.
They have completely engulfed me.
You have taken my companions and loved ones from me.
The darkness is my closest friend.
It's miserable.
Well, it's a psalm that Job could have written himself.
It is very dark.
But we need to learn from these experiences in life.
So I'm going to ask if you'd turn please to Job.
Chapter 2.
It's on page 510.
There's some sheets and pens going round with notes if you would like to follow on.
As I say, we're going through the book of Job.
Today we're just really looking at chapter 3.
Next week we're going to be going from chapters 4 to 27.
So we're going to be taking some bigger chunks.
But this is a lament.
It's Job grieving as he remembers the loss of his family, his health and his wealth.
So let's pray and ask for God's help as we look at this section together.
Amen.
Our Father God, we thank you for your word.
We thank you for the stories and the people that we meet.
Not just made up stories, but real people.
Real lives.
Real events.
Help us to learn from it.
But we pray that we would also meet their God through it.
And that as we seek to understand what it is to grieve when suffering comes.
That our focus and our minds would be turned upon a God who is the source of all compassion.
And all comfort.
Amen.
The God who does not leave us.
But the God who is always with us.
So we pray for your help in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So Job chapter 2 verse 11 through to chapter 3 verse 26.
When I was at college, I had a good friend called Stephen.
Stephen was married.
He had grown-up kids.
And most of his working life was always with people.
And while he was at college, he was voted in as the student president.
He was very mature.
He was wise.
He was a caring kind of guy.
He had experienced all kinds of different things through life.
So that he could be a help and a support to others.
He was understanding of people's situations.
Now soon after that, he ended up in hospital with cancer.
And I went to see him.
And during the time I was there, I was with him about an hour, I'd say, altogether.
He said absolutely nothing.
I walked into the ward.
And he just looked straight through me.
And for the entire time, he just looked blankly into that open ward.
I tried to talk to him.
There was no response.
I prayed with him.
I no doubt tried even to be humorous.
Looking back, I was trying to bring him out of his despair.
I was trying to give him hope.
I was trying to give reasons and answers.
But sometimes it's right just to grieve.
The writer of another wisdom book, it's called Ecclesiastes, says this.
There is a time for everything.
And a season for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born.
And a time to die.
A time to weep.
And a time to laugh.
A time to mourn.
And a time to dance.
A time to be silent.
And a time to speak.
You see, sometimes there is no room for joyful singing or for happy worship songs.
Sometimes there are no words of comfort or hope.
Romans 8 verse 28, which says,
All things work together for good for those who love God,
is not always the appropriate thing to say.
Sometimes we just need to weep and mourn.
Like Job in chapter 3, we just need to grieve before God.
Job, as we saw in chapters 1 and 2, has experienced enormous suffering.
And for reasons that we're not given and that we struggle with,
God had given Satan permission to inflict terrible suffering in his life.
Job loses his family, his grandchildren.
All his children are wiped out.
He loses all his wealth and his servants.
And he also loses his health.
Remarkably, though, Job responds with great faith.
Look at chapter 1 verse 20.
It says there that,
It's a remarkable response,
considering everything that he's gone through.
Now, although his faith proves genuine,
his faith is not without struggle.
And through his mourning and through his weeping,
he opens his heart to God.
He lets out how he feels and what he thinks before God.
And listening to Job in this chapter,
it helps us to see how we too should learn to grieve ourselves
and how at times we should maybe understand how others grieve in their suffering.
So the first thing is this,
the loneliness of suffering.
As we'll see,
Job had friends who came to support them.
And we can have friends who can support us in times of suffering.
But even though friends come,
there is still a terrible loneliness.
Look at chapter 2 verse 11.
We're introduced there to Job's three friends.
They're called Eliphaz,
Bildad,
and Zophar.
They heard about all the troubles that had come upon him.
And they set out from their homes and met together by agreement
to go and sympathize with him
and to comfort him.
It's what we would expect from any of our friends.
And it's the kind of things we would hopefully do for our friends.
Verse 12.
When they saw Job from a distance,
they could hardly recognize him.
They began to weep aloud,
and they tore their robes,
and they sprinkled dust on their heads.
Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days
and for seven nights.
No one said a word to him
because they saw how great his suffering was.
You know, traditionally,
funerals lasted for seven days in those days.
It shows how bad Job's suffering was.
They were treating him as if he were dead.
After all, he had lost all his family.
He had lost his children, his grandchildren.
He had lost his health,
and he had lost all his possessions.
Completely wiped out.
But as much as they desire to comfort
and they plan that we're going to go and sympathize with him,
they're helpless.
They could do nothing,
and they could say nothing.
All they actually bring into the situation is further despair.
They're overwhelmed with the impact of the suffering.
They can't comprehend what has happened to this man.
Now, if that's how his friends feel,
how do you think Job feels?
You see, they witness the suffering,
but it's Job who experiences the suffering.
So when friends come,
Job still suffers alone.
It's his suffering.
It's a pain that they can't bear or lessen.
It's a hurt that they can't release or repair.
So Job must suffer alone.
Now, I think it's important that we understand that.
As much as we want to help and to support
and to bring comfort and care to people,
those who suffer,
though they're surrounded with family and with friends,
there's a sense in which they suffer alone.
Everybody else is a witness to the suffering,
but they are the ones who experience the suffering.
And that might be your story.
Maybe you've lost a loved one.
Maybe you have to deal with disappointment.
Perhaps you struggle with health.
Maybe you've experienced a relationship breakdown.
And people do comfort you.
And while we appreciate their prayers and their words,
which are invaluable at those times,
deep inside,
we still feel terribly alone.
Because after all, it's your suffering.
It's your heartache.
And it's your pain.
So there's a loneliness in suffering.
And it's from this dark place of loneliness
that Job begins to voice his cries towards God.
And as we read through chapter 3,
it's not easy listening.
It's like Psalm 88.
It's raw.
And it reflects the agony and the pain that he's suffering.
But let's not be mistaken.
This is not a lack of faith.
This is not Job turning away from God.
This is real faith
in the midst of his darkness.
Look at how Job responds
as we try to contemplate the suffering that he's in.
First of all, Job starts by wishing
that he was never born,
that he never existed.
Look at verse 3.
May the day of my birth perish,
and the night it was said,
a boy is born.
That night may it turn to darkness.
May God above not care about it.
May no light shine upon it.
May darkness and deep shadow claim it once more.
May a cloud settle over it.
May blackness overwhelm its light.
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.
Erase my birthday, he says.
Scratch it out with a big marker.
Better still, wind back the clock
and make sure that my birth never even happens.
Verse 7.
May that night be barren.
May no shout of joy be heard in it.
May there never have been any balloons or flowers
or cards of congratulations.
Verse 8.
May those who curse days curse that day.
Those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
Leviathan there is a symbol of one
who brings disorder and destruction.
May its morning stars become dark.
May it wait for daylight in vain
and not see the first rays of dawn.
For it did not shut the doors on the womb on me
to hide trouble from my eyes.
But as the grieving intensifies
and it gets deeper and darker,
Job not only wishes that his birth is cursed,
Job actually wishes that he were dead.
Look at verse 11.
Why did I not perish at birth
and die as I came from the womb?
Why were there knees to receive me
and breasts that I might be nursed?
For now I would be lying down in peace.
I would be asleep and at rest.
Not only does Job long to die,
he wishes that his life never even started.
Verse 16.
Why was I not hidden in the ground
like a stillborn child,
like an infant who never saw the light of day?
There the wicked cease from their turmoil
and there the weary are at rest.
Captives also enjoy their ease.
They no longer hear the slave driver shout.
The small and the great are there
and the slave is freed from his master.
You see, Job longs to be released from his pain.
He longs to end his days of emotional
and physical agony
and die
and be at rest
so it's no more.
In fact, the longer Job has to live
with this suffering,
the more pointless life becomes.
Look at verse 20.
Why is light given to those in misery?
Why is life given to the bitter of soul?
To those who long for their death?
That does not come.
For those who search for it
more than they do hidden treasure.
Who are filled with gladness
and rejoice when they reach the grave.
Why is life given to a man
whose way is hidden,
whom God is hedged in?
You see, to Job,
the only reason he can see for living
is to experience heartache and sadness.
God, it seems to him,
has boxed or hedged Job in
to a life of inescapable suffering.
Verse 24.
For sighing comes to me instead of food.
My groans pour out like water.
What I feared has come upon me.
What I dreaded has happened to me.
I have no peace,
no quietness.
I have no rest,
but only turmoil.
It's uncomfortable reading, isn't it?
Condescendingly, we look on and we say,
well, I'm sure he doesn't really mean it.
Or worse, if we were there,
we might want to interrupt him.
We could imagine Job sitting in a prayer meeting
and he starts crying out to God
and we put a hand on his shoulder
and we say,
Job, don't say that.
It's not as bad as what it seems.
But the reality is,
he does mean it.
Life for Job is as bad as what this is.
Every time he remembers his children
and his grandchildren
that were destroyed in that tornado,
he wishes that he was never born.
Every time he thinks about his servants
and his wealth being completely wiped out,
he longs that he had died along with them.
And every time he feels
the excruciating pain of his illness,
every dart and every arrow
that goes through his life,
he just sees it as wasteless,
pointless,
and useless.
You know, reading through this chapter,
I couldn't help think
that Job is perhaps contemplating suicide.
Or if it existed back then
that he would be going down
to visit his local doctor
to ask the question about euthanasia.
Look at verse 21.
Those who long for death
that does not come,
who search for it
more than for hidden treasure.
I remember listening to a story
of a very godly man.
We know him well as a family
and as a pastor of a church.
He loved Jesus
and he lived to serve Jesus.
And in his life,
he was struck down
with something that brought
unbearable physical pain
to his life.
And as he shared his story with us,
he told us that how one day
he sat on his bed
with an open bottle of tablets
ready to end his life
and leave his wife
and his children behind.
Like Job in his suffering,
he wished he had never been born.
He longed to die
and he thought life
as wasteful.
You see,
that's how God,
how people who love God
feel at times.
This is the story
of a man who was blameless,
who loved God
and who hated evil.
And so we should not
criticise
or we should never
condemn somebody
for feeling like that.
In hard times,
it's a real experience.
And maybe you felt like that
at times.
For others,
your pain is maybe
expressed differently.
Maybe it's a desire
just to hide away,
to stay indoors
and not meet with anybody.
Maybe you felt
that all your energy is gone
and you just want
to stay in your bed
and you actually haven't got
the physical strength
to get out of bed
and get dressed.
just because we are Christians,
it doesn't mean
that we are immune
from the heartache
of suffering
and the cry of pains
that it brings.
Now, before we move on,
I want us just
to take a little tangent
to the left here
and just ask this question
about euthanasia.
We said here that
in chapter 3,
I think Job is considering
ending his life.
Sometimes it's called
assisted suicide.
suicide.
And if you've been
watching the news recently,
you will see that
it's come up again
in the UK.
A man who is suffering terribly
and he wants to end his life.
And euthanasia is this,
I have it up on the screen,
it's about the rights
of individuals
to choose for themselves
the quality of life
they want
and when they no longer
enjoy that quality of life
to end it.
That's basically
what euthanasia is.
Now, as a Christian,
as myself,
who loves God
and who submits
to God's word,
the Bible,
I need to ask myself,
is that right?
Is euthanasia
an option
for the Christian today?
Well, the short answer
is no.
Let me explain.
I don't think
we could find a person
who suffered
as much in life
than Job.
I don't think
we've come across
anybody who's
contemplated ending
his life as much
as Job
as expressed
in these chapters here.
But yet,
Job never did
end his life.
Why?
Well, Job understood
life from God's perspective.
You see,
it's not about
the quality of life,
it's about
the value
of a life.
Not about
the quality of life,
but the value
of life.
Let me just show you
four things
about life
from God's perspective
that we see
through Job.
I have them all
up on the screen.
You can just listen.
First,
Job understood
that God
is the creator
of all of life.
So he says,
remember that
you moulded me
like clay.
Did you not
clothe me
with skin
and flesh
and knit me
together with
bones and sinews?
You see,
it's a reference
back to Genesis 1
that God
created us
in his image.
Male and female,
he created us.
We were designed
to live
in relationship
with each other
and with God.
God is our creator
and life
is valuable.
Second,
Job understood
that God
is the sustainer
of all life.
He says this,
in his hand
is the life
of every creature
and the breath
of all mankind.
If it were
his intention
and he withdrew
his spirit
and breath,
all mankind
would perish together
and man
would return
to dust.
So our life,
whatever circumstance
we are in,
is in
the hand
of God.
He is the sustainer
of life.
And third,
Job understood
that God
is the planner
of his life.
He understood
that from the beginning
of his life
to the very end
of it.
God was in charge
of it.
He plans it.
And so he says
at the very end
of this book,
I know that you
can do all things
and that no plan
of yours
can be frustrated.
life is completely
in the hands
and the plans
and the ways
of God.
And fourth,
as we saw
last week,
Job understood
that God alone
is the one
who can take life.
The Lord gave
and the Lord
has taken away.
So you see,
despite all the suffering,
and we see it here,
the depths of the darkness
and the struggles
that Job is going through,
through it all,
he sees that
life is a gift
from God
and it's all
controlled by God.
all of life
is precious
and valuable
to God.
Even a life
that is suffering
to the extent
that it is,
is precious
and valuable
to God.
And so we do not
have a right
to end
our life.
And I think
that's why Job,
in all his suffering,
never did.
Well, let's get back
into Job
a little bit more.
We've looked at
the loneliness
of suffering,
the cry of suffering.
But this loneliness,
yes, it leads
to a cry,
but there's also
a hope
within this suffering.
Job's grieving
is very deep,
it's very dark,
but it is not
detached.
And while he is
still struggling
with God
and he's crying
out to God,
it's a cry
that does go
out to God.
Look at verse 11.
He has these questions
that repeat,
why did I not
perish at birth?
Verse 12,
why were there
needs to receive me?
Verse 20,
why is light
given to those
in misery?
Verse 23,
why is life
given to a man
whose way
is hidden?
All these questions
there's this
inner conflict
within Job's life.
He's questioning
God with all
the wise,
but he's still
turning to God.
Yes,
he's angry
with God
and we see
the anger
intensify
as we read
through the book,
but he's still
calling out
to God.
God does not
answer
from those
questions.
God does
not respond
to Job,
not yet,
he does
eventually,
but for Job
this is where
his journey
must start.
And if there
is anybody
who's going
to understand
Job in all
his suffering,
it is God
who also
suffered for him.
You see,
in faith,
Job looks
beyond himself
to a God
as we read
at the beginning
this morning,
the God
who is the
source of
all comfort
and all
compassion,
and this is
who he's
looking to.
And we know
that God
did show
his compassion
and his
comfort.
Job is
suffering alone,
but we
remember
Jesus
who went
to the
cross
alone.
Jesus
would suffer
and die
alone.
And on
the cross,
Jesus would
cry out
in despair.
Do you
remember those
words?
My God,
my God,
why have
you forsaken
me?
Those words
are a quote
from Psalm
22.
Let me
just read
to you
the first
couple of
verses of
that Psalm,
Psalm 22,
that Jesus
cried out
from the
cross.
And listen
to the
depth of
Christ's
grieving.
He says,
My God,
my God,
why have
you forsaken
me?
Why are
you so
far from
saving me,
so far
from the
words of
my groaning?
Oh,
my God,
I cry
out by
day,
but you
do not
answer.
By night
and I'm
not
silent.
This is
Job's
God.
This is
God who
understands
what it
is to
suffer
alone,
to cry
out,
and to
have no
response.
And it
introduces
us to
this God
who does
understand,
Christ who
was forsaken
for us so
that we
would never
be forsaken
by him.
That Christ
who suffered
alone on the
cross did
so that we
would never
have to
suffer alone.
And it's
only here as
we come to
terms with
this, as
we cry
out to
God,
that we
do find
one who
does know,
a God
who does
care,
a God
who understands,
a God
who has
been there,
and one
who gives
hope in
the midst
events.
But while
the hope
does come,
let's
remember it's
only through
grieving in
the darkness
that we
can begin
to see the
light of
hope come
shining through.
We need
to learn
to grieve
like Job
did in
our days
of struggle
and our
days of
suffering.
It's not
sinful,
it's not
wrong,
it's
right to
cry out to
our God
who understands
and who
knows what
it is to
suffer alone.
Let's
pray.
As we
pray, let
me just
read these
words of
comfort.
that speak
about our
God
towards his
people.
Shout for
joy, O
heavens,
rejoice, O
earth,
burst into
song, O
mountains,
for the
Lord comforts
his people
and will
have compassion
on his
afflicted
on his
and
his people
said,
the Lord
has forsaken
me,
the Lord
has forgotten
me.
The Lord
answers,
can a
mother forget
the baby
at her
breast
and have
no compassion
on the
child she
has born?
Though she
may forget,
I will
not forget
you.
See, I
have engraved
you on the
palms of
my hands.
Your walls
are ever
before me.
Our
Father God,
as we
remember the
Lord Jesus
who stretched
out his
arms on
the cross,
who suffered
alone,
who was
forsaken
for us,
as we
picture those
nails in
his hands,
the scars
in his
hands,
they remind
us that
our names
are written
in the palm
of his
hand,
that we
will never
be forgotten.
God
will be
our
comfort
and our
compassion
in our
days of
struggle
and in
our days
of suffering.
He will
not leave
us.
He will
not abandon
us
because Christ
was abandoned
for us so
that we
would never
have to
suffer alone.
We thank
you for who
you are
and the
great God
that you
are.
In
Jesus'
name,
Amen.
We
are
there
and
there
are
you