WEBVTT 00:00:00.420 --> 00:00:14.640 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Neammathite. 00:00:15.120 --> 00:00:20.039 They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. 00:00:20.900 --> 00:00:24.740 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. 00:00:24.739 --> 00:00:32.179 And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:43.320 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:49.980 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 00:00:49.979 --> 00:01:19.959 And Job said, 00:01:19.980 --> 00:01:22.680 Let it not rejoice among the days of the year. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:26.280 Let it not come into the number of the months. 00:01:27.320 --> 00:01:29.939 Behold, let that night be barren. 00:01:30.320 --> 00:01:32.620 Let no joyful cry enter it. 00:01:33.300 --> 00:01:38.439 Let those curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up Leviathan. 00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:42.099 Let the stars of its dawn be dark. 00:01:42.099 --> 00:01:53.000 Let it hope for light, but have none, nor see the eyelids of the morning, because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes. 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:54.000 Let it not die at birth. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:55.000 Let it not die at birth. 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:59.299 Let it not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire. 00:01:59.959 --> 00:02:01.960 Why did the knees receive me? 00:02:02.340 --> 00:02:04.920 Or why the breasts that I should nurse? 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:08.139 For then I would have lain down and been quiet. 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:09.759 I would have slept. 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:11.399 Then I would have been at rest. 00:02:11.399 --> 00:02:15.780 With kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves. 00:02:16.099 --> 00:02:20.639 Or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. 00:02:21.639 --> 00:02:27.500 Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light? 00:02:28.459 --> 00:02:32.680 There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. 00:02:32.680 --> 00:02:35.879 There the prisoners are at ease together. 00:02:36.379 --> 00:02:38.599 They hear not the voice of the taskmaster. 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:44.540 The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master. 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:50.480 Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:55.500 who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures, 00:02:55.879 --> 00:02:59.700 who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they find the grave? 00:02:59.699 --> 00:03:05.060 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? 00:03:06.060 --> 00:03:11.000 For my sighing comes instead of my braid, and my groanings are poured out like water. 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:16.259 For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. 00:03:17.379 --> 00:03:19.799 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet. 00:03:20.759 --> 00:03:23.799 I have no rest, but trouble comes. 00:03:24.919 --> 00:03:26.500 This is the word of God. 00:03:29.079 --> 00:03:29.479 Great. 00:03:29.699 --> 00:03:31.219 Thank you, Claire. 00:03:32.339 --> 00:03:33.319 Well, good morning, everybody. 00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:37.319 If you're new to Watermark, my name is Kevin, and it's great to have you with us. 00:03:37.619 --> 00:03:40.879 Let me pray for us briefly as we look at this passage. 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:47.159 So, Heavenly Father, this morning, as we come to this extremely difficult passage in your word, 00:03:47.959 --> 00:03:51.620 a passage which is very challenging, we pray, God, that you will speak to us. 00:03:52.139 --> 00:03:56.659 As we've said so many times, we are not interested in hearing the thoughts or opinion of man. 00:03:56.659 --> 00:03:58.500 Who cares what I think? 00:03:58.500 --> 00:04:00.859 God, we want to hear what you have to say. 00:04:01.579 --> 00:04:06.259 God, your words bring life into the darkness and bring hope into hopelessness. 00:04:06.259 --> 00:04:07.840 And so, God, won't you speak to us? 00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:10.359 You know, Lord, where the hearts of each one of us are at. 00:04:10.959 --> 00:04:12.780 You know our pain and our distress. 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:15.500 You know our joys and our celebrations. 00:04:16.539 --> 00:04:20.439 God, you know what keeps us awake at night, our tossing and turning. 00:04:20.439 --> 00:04:24.160 God, won't you speak to us this morning, we pray. 00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:26.399 In your good and your gracious name. 00:04:27.219 --> 00:04:27.620 Amen. 00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:32.600 Well, we're once again looking at the book of Job. 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:37.819 And it's a book that questions and challenges us at every turn. 00:04:38.579 --> 00:04:44.459 It's a book that artists love and poets love and preachers hate. 00:04:45.139 --> 00:04:46.339 Preachers love to avoid it. 00:04:46.339 --> 00:04:53.000 Because it's a book that deals with so much of the deep wrestling of the soul. 00:04:53.879 --> 00:04:57.519 And it's one of the reasons why the church needs artists and poets. 00:04:57.979 --> 00:05:04.620 Because there are many things about the Christian faith that artists and poets can sometimes express better than preachers and pastors. 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:10.759 Now, if you're new to Watermark or you weren't here last week, the book of Job starts off. 00:05:10.899 --> 00:05:13.579 And chapter 1 and 2 are extremely challenging. 00:05:13.579 --> 00:05:15.680 There's this righteous man. 00:05:15.779 --> 00:05:16.300 He's good. 00:05:16.419 --> 00:05:17.060 He's upright. 00:05:17.180 --> 00:05:17.879 He's blameless. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:20.659 He's the best kind of man that you could picture. 00:05:21.300 --> 00:05:23.439 And yet he suffers terribly. 00:05:24.300 --> 00:05:26.259 Everything he has was taken from him. 00:05:26.339 --> 00:05:27.060 His wealth. 00:05:27.419 --> 00:05:28.240 His servants. 00:05:28.379 --> 00:05:29.060 His cattle. 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:30.979 And ultimately his children. 00:05:31.620 --> 00:05:34.180 And he's brought to absolute misery. 00:05:34.939 --> 00:05:37.199 And he doesn't ever find out why. 00:05:38.099 --> 00:05:40.479 He doesn't do it because of anything he's done wrong. 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:43.360 It's something purely that God is doing. 00:05:44.120 --> 00:05:47.020 And Job questions and his questions are never answered. 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:53.220 And as we said last week that the book of Job is not just about sufferings. 00:05:53.300 --> 00:05:55.640 Though suffering, of course, is a very big part of it. 00:05:56.180 --> 00:06:02.100 The book of Job is designed to make us stumble over our own limitations and finitude. 00:06:02.100 --> 00:06:07.780 And so it's designed to bring us to the end of ourselves. 00:06:07.780 --> 00:06:11.600 And when we think, God, your ways don't make any sense. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:13.840 What are you doing with the world? 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:18.140 It's designed to show us that we don't have all the answers to life. 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:20.860 And that we can't make life work on its own. 00:06:22.300 --> 00:06:27.200 Job brings us the place where our logic and our understanding are shown to be insufficient. 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:31.199 To face the limitations and the finitude of our knowledge and our wisdom. 00:06:32.099 --> 00:06:37.099 And then it asks us the question, will you still trust God? 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:40.319 Will you allow God to still be God? 00:06:41.079 --> 00:06:42.939 Even when his ways don't make sense. 00:06:44.539 --> 00:06:48.459 Now today we're looking at the end of chapter 2 and the whole of chapter 3. 00:06:48.579 --> 00:06:51.539 And so we're going to see a couple of things in this passage. 00:06:51.659 --> 00:06:53.899 And so I hope you've got a Bible or a bulletin with you. 00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:55.419 We're going to look at a lot of scripture. 00:06:55.420 --> 00:06:58.420 And so have it open in front of you today. 00:06:59.379 --> 00:07:00.699 And so we're going to look at a couple of things. 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:01.780 The first one is this. 00:07:02.220 --> 00:07:04.600 The ministry of suffering presence. 00:07:05.220 --> 00:07:06.660 The ministry of suffering presence. 00:07:07.080 --> 00:07:09.040 Look at the end of chapter 2 with me. 00:07:09.840 --> 00:07:11.040 Let me just read it again. 00:07:11.140 --> 00:07:12.800 Verse 11 to 13. 00:07:12.960 --> 00:07:13.120 It says, 00:07:13.620 --> 00:07:17.720 When Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, 00:07:18.040 --> 00:07:19.920 they came each from his own place. 00:07:20.360 --> 00:07:24.420 Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuite, and Zophar the Namathite. 00:07:24.420 --> 00:07:29.060 They made an appointment together to come and show him sympathy and comfort. 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:32.840 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. 00:07:33.319 --> 00:07:34.460 They raised their voices. 00:07:34.600 --> 00:07:35.520 They wept aloud. 00:07:35.640 --> 00:07:39.379 They tore their robes and they sprinkled dust on their heads from the heavens. 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:43.840 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights. 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:54.219 Now we're going to learn a lot more about Job's friends in the coming weeks. 00:07:54.439 --> 00:08:01.299 Much of the book of Job actually consists about the dialogue and the conversations that happen between Job and his friends. 00:08:01.300 --> 00:08:02.579 But here they are. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:03.699 They've heard about Job. 00:08:03.980 --> 00:08:05.079 They come from afar. 00:08:05.180 --> 00:08:07.079 We don't know where exactly these towns are. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:08.520 But they've traveled from afar. 00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:11.199 And they've come to be with him. 00:08:11.259 --> 00:08:13.819 They hear through the grapevine that he's suffering. 00:08:14.400 --> 00:08:16.660 They somehow contact each other and say, 00:08:16.819 --> 00:08:18.519 We need to go and be with our friend. 00:08:19.280 --> 00:08:22.680 And so they travel from afar and they come to be with him. 00:08:23.019 --> 00:08:24.560 And look at what verse 11 says. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:28.339 They come to show him sympathy and comfort. 00:08:29.579 --> 00:08:31.740 They come to share in his grief. 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:37.620 They come to ease some of his pain and his difficulty. 00:08:38.659 --> 00:08:42.159 And here's a great example of what friendship should be like. 00:08:42.940 --> 00:08:43.879 The proverb says, 00:08:44.279 --> 00:08:45.740 A friend loves at all times. 00:08:45.860 --> 00:08:47.940 A brother is born for adversity. 00:08:48.980 --> 00:08:51.679 Many of us have companions and acquaintances. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:55.919 But friends, who are those that are there for you in the midst of suffering? 00:08:56.739 --> 00:08:58.259 Do you have friends like this? 00:08:58.339 --> 00:08:59.359 Like Job's friends? 00:09:00.259 --> 00:09:03.019 It's worth asking in a busy city like Hong Kong, 00:09:03.099 --> 00:09:04.779 where we are very good at networking, 00:09:05.319 --> 00:09:08.159 building friendships for the purpose of our jobs and our careers. 00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:10.459 Do we have friends like this? 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:12.139 That really know us? 00:09:12.599 --> 00:09:14.139 That can sit with us? 00:09:14.219 --> 00:09:16.639 Who can be with us in a time of adversity? 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:23.199 But here we have what some authors have called the ministry of suffering presence. 00:09:24.059 --> 00:09:26.679 They come to Job and they don't say a whole lot. 00:09:26.740 --> 00:09:27.799 In fact, they don't say anything. 00:09:28.460 --> 00:09:30.000 They don't come and give him advice. 00:09:30.620 --> 00:09:32.559 They don't come and tell him what to do. 00:09:33.059 --> 00:09:36.199 They simply come and they suffer with him. 00:09:36.939 --> 00:09:37.840 They sit with him. 00:09:38.659 --> 00:09:39.740 They don't fix his problems. 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:46.279 They simply come and let their presence be a form of ministry in his pain. 00:09:47.240 --> 00:09:49.840 And look at how they share in his grief when they see him. 00:09:50.039 --> 00:09:53.000 They raise their voices, but they don't say anything. 00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:54.460 They just weep with him. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:55.960 Verse 13 says, 00:09:56.259 --> 00:09:59.179 They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, 00:09:59.500 --> 00:10:01.199 and no one spoke a word for him, 00:10:01.240 --> 00:10:03.939 for they saw that his suffering was very great. 00:10:04.860 --> 00:10:06.399 They don't pull out their camping chairs. 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:08.939 They don't pull out their rugs or their cushions. 00:10:09.199 --> 00:10:12.580 They come from afar, but they don't book into the Marriott down the road. 00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:15.860 They join him in the ashy, but in the rubbish dump. 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:19.419 And they sit with him in the dust and the ashes, 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:21.360 and they remain silent. 00:10:22.500 --> 00:10:26.659 They're just there to let their presence minister to him. 00:10:27.960 --> 00:10:32.199 So friends, in a world of Twitter advice and social media soundbites 00:10:32.199 --> 00:10:35.360 and YouTube instructions and keep calm and carry on wisdom, 00:10:36.220 --> 00:10:39.919 do we as a church know how to bring the ministry of suffering silence, 00:10:40.840 --> 00:10:42.460 of suffering presence to one another? 00:10:42.460 --> 00:10:46.060 Do we know how to weep with those who weep, 00:10:46.860 --> 00:10:48.220 to mourn with those who mourn, 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:52.460 to cry and lament and agonize and hurt 00:10:52.460 --> 00:10:57.100 with those who cry and lament and agonize and hurt themselves? 00:10:58.220 --> 00:11:01.800 Being part of a church family means knowing how to enter into the grief 00:11:01.800 --> 00:11:03.759 and the suffering of those of our family. 00:11:04.300 --> 00:11:07.139 And can I confess, I'm not very good at this. 00:11:07.139 --> 00:11:10.699 I like to be with someone for a little bit, 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:12.259 and then I've got a thousand things to do, 00:11:12.319 --> 00:11:13.679 and I quickly want to move on. 00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:17.199 I am not a very good friend to those that are suffering. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:19.580 I need to get better at this. 00:11:20.379 --> 00:11:21.819 And friends, Job's friends aren't perfect. 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:23.279 We're going to see in the next few weeks, 00:11:23.779 --> 00:11:25.199 there are times when they speak too much. 00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:27.439 And we think, can't you just stay silent? 00:11:27.559 --> 00:11:29.779 Can't you go back to how you were in chapter two? 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:34.199 But at times, they have done what they should have done. 00:11:34.279 --> 00:11:35.240 They keep silence. 00:11:35.939 --> 00:11:39.639 Here we have the ministry of Job's friends in a most wonderful way. 00:11:40.259 --> 00:11:41.659 The ministry of suffering silence. 00:11:41.860 --> 00:11:43.740 And so friends, maybe I can ask you this morning, 00:11:43.819 --> 00:11:44.620 how's your heart? 00:11:45.500 --> 00:11:46.879 What's the condition of your heart? 00:11:47.579 --> 00:11:51.000 Do you, like Job, find yourself sitting in the ash heap of despair? 00:11:51.959 --> 00:11:55.600 Proverbs says that a man may have many companions, 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:58.639 but there is a friend that sits closer than a brother. 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:01.000 Do you have that kind of friend? 00:12:01.659 --> 00:12:05.639 Have you opened yourself up to be vulnerable enough to let somebody else in? 00:12:06.659 --> 00:12:10.220 And friends, maybe do you know how to be that friend to others that are suffering? 00:12:11.100 --> 00:12:14.919 Part of being a church family is that we know how to be these kinds of friends. 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:19.879 Job two tells us about the ministry of suffering presence. 00:12:21.500 --> 00:12:24.720 But just when we think that things in Job are picking up, 00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:28.480 well, we get to chapter three and things go crashing down again. 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:32.180 Because in chapter three, we see the pain of suffering alone. 00:12:33.560 --> 00:12:37.940 Like the natural cycle of grief, there is silence. 00:12:38.139 --> 00:12:39.039 There are tears. 00:12:39.379 --> 00:12:40.279 There is pain. 00:12:40.700 --> 00:12:41.500 There is bargaining. 00:12:42.039 --> 00:12:42.860 There is anger. 00:12:43.340 --> 00:12:44.259 There is despair. 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:47.379 And in Job three, we have all of it. 00:12:48.800 --> 00:12:54.259 Job chapter three has been described as one of the darkest chapters in the entire book of Job. 00:12:54.259 --> 00:12:56.939 One of the darkest chapters in the entire Bible. 00:12:57.240 --> 00:13:00.700 I'm not sure when Claire was reading it, if you were picking up on all the imagery. 00:13:01.100 --> 00:13:05.659 But as you read it and think about it, it just gets darker and darker all the time. 00:13:06.419 --> 00:13:13.840 And here we have, having watched the inexplicable sufferings of Job in chapter one and two, 00:13:14.539 --> 00:13:17.460 here we get to sit with him in his sufferings, 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:20.120 in the airship, and listen to his heart. 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:24.080 And so let's read it together and grab it in front of you. 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:25.220 I hope you've got it in front of you. 00:13:25.299 --> 00:13:26.679 Let's just work through it a little bit. 00:13:27.580 --> 00:13:33.159 In chapters three, verse three to ten, Job curses the day that he was born. 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:36.500 And he looks back on the day of his birth, the night that he was conceived, 00:13:36.700 --> 00:13:38.740 and he says, why did that day have to happen? 00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:40.200 Look at what he says here. 00:13:40.500 --> 00:13:40.980 Verse three. 00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:43.360 Let the day perish on which I was born, 00:13:43.820 --> 00:13:45.980 and the night that said, a man is conceived. 00:13:45.980 --> 00:13:49.120 So he's picturing his dad at the birth, 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:52.039 and his dad is so happy because a boy has been born, 00:13:52.279 --> 00:13:57.100 and he is saying, what is a day of joy for my dad is a day of misery for me. 00:13:58.460 --> 00:13:59.159 Verse four. 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:00.759 Let that day be darkness. 00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:04.539 May God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it. 00:14:04.920 --> 00:14:07.340 Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. 00:14:07.420 --> 00:14:09.320 Let the clouds dwell upon it, 00:14:09.659 --> 00:14:14.300 and darkness terrify, and let the blackness of the day terrify it. 00:14:14.299 --> 00:14:17.059 Job's talking about creation language. 00:14:17.199 --> 00:14:19.879 Remember how God says, into the darkness, let there be light. 00:14:20.179 --> 00:14:21.819 But now he's talking about it in reverse. 00:14:22.379 --> 00:14:26.079 Rather than saying, let there be light, Job is saying, let there be darkness. 00:14:26.759 --> 00:14:30.299 I wish the day that I was born was covered in darkness and didn't exist. 00:14:30.859 --> 00:14:34.000 I wish God could uncreate the day of my creation. 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:36.599 Verse six. 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:41.419 That night, the night he was conceived, let thick darkness seize it. 00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:44.240 Let it not rejoice amongst the days of the year. 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:46.899 Let it not come into the number of the months. 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:52.240 He's saying, let that night be like the 29th of February on a non-leap year, right? 00:14:52.519 --> 00:14:56.059 A day that we just pass over and pretends doesn't exist. 00:14:56.539 --> 00:14:59.819 I wish the day that I was born was like that day, says Job. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:03.199 Let those who curse it curse the day that I was born. 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:06.059 Those who are ready to rouse up Leviathan. 00:15:06.059 --> 00:15:10.759 Leviathan is this mythical Canaanite creature, seven heads. 00:15:11.219 --> 00:15:16.259 This sea monster that just brings chaos on the world and brings destruction. 00:15:16.939 --> 00:15:21.279 And he's saying, I wish the myth of Leviathan was true for the day that I was born. 00:15:21.819 --> 00:15:26.759 I wish Leviathan really was aroused and could swallow up my conception and my birth. 00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:27.899 Verse 10. 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:33.959 Because it did not shut in the days of my mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes. 00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:34.960 Verse 10. 00:15:35.340 --> 00:15:38.519 Friends, Job's looking at the day that he was born, the night that he was conceived, 00:15:38.860 --> 00:15:41.139 and he's wishing he could erase it from history. 00:15:42.139 --> 00:15:49.080 And notice, contrary to what Satan said in chapter 1 and what his wife wishes he had done in chapter 2, 00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:53.580 he doesn't curse God, but oh, he comes so close. 00:15:54.379 --> 00:15:54.740 Right? 00:15:54.780 --> 00:15:57.280 He comes pretty close to cursing God. 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:04.399 Job's saying, I wish I could go back in time and turn back the clocks and erase the day that I was brought about, 00:16:04.539 --> 00:16:05.919 the day that brought my existence. 00:16:07.779 --> 00:16:09.980 And look what he says in verse 11 onwards. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:13.559 Job's lament goes from cursing to questioning. 00:16:13.799 --> 00:16:15.279 Six times he says, why? 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:17.120 Why, Lord, do I keep on living? 00:16:17.459 --> 00:16:18.759 Why did this happen to me? 00:16:19.079 --> 00:16:20.620 Why can't I just die? 00:16:20.620 --> 00:16:21.060 Why? 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:28.340 The reason Job asked this question is because in his mind, to die would be better than to carry on living. 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:29.919 Look at verse 11. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:32.480 Why did I not die at my birth? 00:16:33.179 --> 00:16:34.820 Come out from the womb and expire. 00:16:35.940 --> 00:16:39.019 Why did the knees receive me or the breasts that nursed me? 00:16:40.279 --> 00:16:42.679 For then I would have lain down and been quiet. 00:16:42.899 --> 00:16:43.659 I would have slept. 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:44.879 I would have been at rest. 00:16:45.639 --> 00:16:46.360 Verse 16. 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:51.440 Why was I not born as stillborn as infants who never see the light? 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:53.899 There the wicked cease from trouble. 00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:56.379 There the weary are at rest. 00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:00.120 Job is saying, I wish I'd never been born. 00:17:00.200 --> 00:17:04.059 And if I was born, I wish that I had died in my earliest days. 00:17:05.299 --> 00:17:06.900 And finally, verse 20 to 26. 00:17:07.019 --> 00:17:08.920 Job longs for the day of his death. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:12.279 He says, I wish it would come quickly to put me out of my misery. 00:17:13.140 --> 00:17:13.819 Verse 20. 00:17:13.819 --> 00:17:17.759 Why is light given to him who is in misery and life to the bitter in soul? 00:17:18.419 --> 00:17:20.439 Who long for death but it does not come? 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:22.619 Who dig for it more than hidden treasure? 00:17:22.980 --> 00:17:26.339 Who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they find the grave? 00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:29.379 And that's an astounding thing for the Bible to say, right? 00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:36.919 Job says, I rejoice at the prospect of the day of my death like a treasure hunter rejoices when he finds treasure. 00:17:38.259 --> 00:17:38.939 Verse 25. 00:17:38.940 --> 00:17:41.420 For the thing that I fear comes upon me. 00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:43.480 What I dread befalls me. 00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:45.980 For most people what we fear is the day of our death. 00:17:46.059 --> 00:17:50.559 For Job what he fears is the rising of the sun and another day where he has to live. 00:17:51.320 --> 00:17:52.400 I am not at ease. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:53.279 I am not quiet. 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:54.779 I have not rested. 00:17:55.440 --> 00:17:57.279 Trouble keeps coming my way. 00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:02.500 Friends, it's a dark, dark passage of Scripture in the Bible. 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:04.720 Have you ever felt like this? 00:18:06.039 --> 00:18:09.819 Have you ever felt such utter despair that you know not what to do with it? 00:18:10.899 --> 00:18:14.660 Makes me think of the words of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament where he writes and he says, 00:18:14.660 --> 00:18:19.220 Brothers, we want you to know what happened to us, the affliction we experienced in Asia. 00:18:19.940 --> 00:18:24.920 For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 00:18:25.560 --> 00:18:28.380 Indeed, we had felt we received the sentence of death. 00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:33.600 And though we are told at the end of chapter 2 that his friends are with him, 00:18:34.019 --> 00:18:36.680 his friends make no mention in chapter 3. 00:18:37.220 --> 00:18:42.240 And while actually his friends are with him, it feels that Job is all alone. 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:44.100 And that's how suffering feels, right? 00:18:44.099 --> 00:18:46.719 You can be surrounded by people with you. 00:18:46.879 --> 00:18:52.219 And yet when you're in the depth of despair, you can feel utterly alone. 00:18:53.639 --> 00:19:01.480 Friends, the message of Job chapter 3 is that even the most faithful, God-fearing, righteous men and women, 00:19:01.740 --> 00:19:06.299 those who God affirms as blameless and God-fearing and good and righteous, 00:19:06.859 --> 00:19:12.219 are not immune from profound suffering and darkness and despair. 00:19:12.220 --> 00:19:16.620 Because in this chapter it shows us that a man, even a man such as Job, 00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:20.120 a man who's blameless and righteous and God-fearing, 00:19:20.500 --> 00:19:26.220 is not exempt from the anguish and the despair that comes with profound loss and hardship. 00:19:26.220 --> 00:19:32.140 And again and again, the book of Job wants to challenge us that though you may follow God, 00:19:32.600 --> 00:19:36.839 don't think that that leads only to health and wealth and blessing and prosperity. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:40.920 Job is not a perfect man, but he is a good man. 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:42.500 He's a righteous man. 00:19:42.539 --> 00:19:43.660 He's a God-fearing man. 00:19:44.180 --> 00:19:48.980 And yet he suffers so terribly that he gets plunged into the depths of despair. 00:19:48.980 --> 00:19:55.779 And friends, the point of Job chapter 3 is to correct any ideas we may have at the end of chapter 2, 00:19:56.299 --> 00:20:02.000 that Christians should just be stoic, unemotional, chin-up, carrying-on kinds of people. 00:20:02.819 --> 00:20:09.059 If all you have is Job chapter 1 and 2, friends, you can easily feel judged and condemned. 00:20:09.259 --> 00:20:11.539 Because how does Job end chapter 1 and 2? 00:20:12.099 --> 00:20:15.160 Remember, this profound suffering comes upon him, and what does it say? 00:20:15.160 --> 00:20:17.759 Why? Job worshipped, and he said, 00:20:17.940 --> 00:20:19.680 The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. 00:20:19.840 --> 00:20:21.200 Blessed be the name of the Lord. 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:23.759 And you can think, if I'm a good Christian, 00:20:24.220 --> 00:20:28.880 then I better be stoic, unemotional, chin-up, carry-on like Job. 00:20:29.540 --> 00:20:34.320 And Job chapter 3 wants to show us that you can be God-fearing and faithful, 00:20:34.560 --> 00:20:37.019 and yet still plunge into the depths of despair. 00:20:37.840 --> 00:20:42.519 That it's not unchristian to go through difficulty and darkness. 00:20:42.519 --> 00:20:45.819 No, friends, Job wants to correct that. 00:20:46.900 --> 00:20:50.220 Mark Frohgop, that's how you'd say his name in South Africa. 00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:53.200 In America, you'd probably say Rogop or something. 00:20:53.720 --> 00:20:59.819 Says, lament is a prayer that is birthed in pain and agony and leads to trust. 00:21:01.079 --> 00:21:02.400 Friends, do you know how to lament? 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:05.460 Do you know how to struggle? 00:21:05.460 --> 00:21:09.980 Well, it's difficult to see it here, but because in Job chapter 3, 00:21:10.039 --> 00:21:14.400 it seems like all Job does is throw angry phrases up at God. 00:21:14.759 --> 00:21:17.340 But as we continue to read the rest of Job, 00:21:17.559 --> 00:21:19.660 we'll see that Job still hangs on to God. 00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:23.400 And he cries out in despair, but he cries to God. 00:21:24.259 --> 00:21:26.100 For instance, chapter 19, he says, 00:21:26.099 --> 00:21:35.759 Job chapter 13, 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:40.799 Job 23, 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:48.959 Friends, the book of Job shows us that worship in chapter 1, 00:21:49.500 --> 00:21:51.759 agony and despair in chapter 2 and 3, 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:55.740 and trust in the rest of Job are not mutually exclusive, 00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:57.779 but are able to live together. 00:21:59.319 --> 00:22:01.720 And one of the great dangers of the Christian life 00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:04.519 is that with the temptation just to fake it, 00:22:04.920 --> 00:22:08.000 either to God himself or to the Christian community. 00:22:08.680 --> 00:22:10.599 And you feel like you've got to just come to church 00:22:10.599 --> 00:22:12.619 and you've got to put on that cheesy Christian smile 00:22:12.619 --> 00:22:14.220 and pretend that life is all fine, 00:22:14.220 --> 00:22:16.100 and you've got to act all chipper, 00:22:16.620 --> 00:22:19.220 and you've got to be good to God and happy. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:22.700 And friends, don't buy the temptation. 00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:24.319 Be real. 00:22:25.019 --> 00:22:26.039 Be real with God. 00:22:26.140 --> 00:22:28.100 Be real with one another. 00:22:28.779 --> 00:22:30.920 Be real with the one who knows you better 00:22:30.920 --> 00:22:31.960 than you know yourself 00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:33.900 and loves you still. 00:22:35.160 --> 00:22:37.559 And so in his book, Dark Clouds of Deep Mercy, 00:22:37.860 --> 00:22:40.039 Mark Frohgop says this. 00:22:40.120 --> 00:22:41.360 Let me read this quote to us. 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:45.519 He says, prayerful lament, that honest cry, 00:22:45.639 --> 00:22:48.959 the candid expression of grief from a hurting heart, 00:22:49.059 --> 00:22:51.859 wrestling with the paradox of pain on the one hand 00:22:51.859 --> 00:22:53.559 and the promise of God's goodness. 00:22:54.339 --> 00:22:57.099 Prayerful lament is better than silence. 00:22:57.839 --> 00:22:59.719 Many people are afraid of lament. 00:23:00.299 --> 00:23:03.859 We find it too honest, too open, too risky. 00:23:04.459 --> 00:23:06.119 But there's something far worse, 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:10.039 silent despair or fake resolution. 00:23:10.039 --> 00:23:14.059 Friends, despair lives under the hopeless resignation 00:23:14.059 --> 00:23:16.759 that God doesn't care, he does not hear, 00:23:17.159 --> 00:23:18.839 nothing is ever going to change. 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:24.019 Silent, hopeless despair eats away and kills our souls. 00:23:25.480 --> 00:23:26.500 And so throughout the Bible, 00:23:26.659 --> 00:23:28.619 God calls us to bring our grief, 00:23:28.740 --> 00:23:29.639 to bring our pain, 00:23:29.740 --> 00:23:32.899 to bring our feelings of despair to him. 00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:35.039 As we read earlier, the Apostle Paul, 00:23:35.139 --> 00:23:35.779 he writes, he says, 00:23:35.779 --> 00:23:38.779 we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength 00:23:38.779 --> 00:23:40.200 that we despaired of life itself. 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:43.240 We felt that we had been given the sentence of death. 00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:47.639 Yet, that was to make us rely not on ourselves, 00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:49.680 but on God who raises the dead. 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:52.339 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, 00:23:52.579 --> 00:23:54.259 and he will deliver us. 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:56.660 On him we have set our hopes. 00:23:58.500 --> 00:23:59.819 Friends, let me ask you this morning, 00:23:59.819 --> 00:24:01.460 if you're not a Christian this morning, 00:24:01.619 --> 00:24:02.899 where is your hope? 00:24:04.179 --> 00:24:05.839 Upon which do you bank your hope? 00:24:06.779 --> 00:24:08.740 What gives you the hope for a new day 00:24:08.740 --> 00:24:10.259 when darkness comes your way? 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:14.359 Friends, if you are youth this morning in high school, 00:24:14.859 --> 00:24:15.939 where is your hope? 00:24:16.899 --> 00:24:18.200 When darkness comes your way, 00:24:18.259 --> 00:24:19.859 what are you going to bank your life upon? 00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:22.720 Where is your hope? 00:24:23.579 --> 00:24:25.019 Again, Mark Prochropp says, 00:24:25.480 --> 00:24:28.319 lament is how you live between the poles 00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:31.220 of a hard life and trusting in God. 00:24:31.660 --> 00:24:33.460 It's bringing our sorrow to God. 00:24:33.579 --> 00:24:36.200 Without it, we don't know how to process pain. 00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:41.920 Now, before we get to our third and final point, 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:44.480 let me, friends, just say something 00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:48.380 about the very difficult subject of death by suicide. 00:24:48.380 --> 00:24:52.180 And I know that even just mentioning that 00:24:52.180 --> 00:24:53.800 is very difficult for some. 00:24:53.880 --> 00:24:55.920 For some of us, maybe we've lost loved ones, 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:57.980 family members in that way. 00:24:59.120 --> 00:25:01.620 Some of us ourselves have grappled and thought 00:25:01.620 --> 00:25:03.140 and had these thoughts. 00:25:04.180 --> 00:25:05.640 And the reason I bring that up 00:25:05.640 --> 00:25:07.260 is because when we read Job 3, 00:25:07.940 --> 00:25:10.040 it seems that Job is grappling 00:25:10.040 --> 00:25:13.080 with suicidal ideation and thoughts. 00:25:14.080 --> 00:25:15.920 It seems like he longs for the day 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:18.519 when he no longer needs to live on this earth. 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:21.680 Friends, for some people, 00:25:21.779 --> 00:25:25.700 living in such despair and such feelings of guilt, 00:25:26.519 --> 00:25:28.340 maybe such intensity of pain 00:25:28.340 --> 00:25:31.120 by a tragic situation in our life, 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:34.060 means the temptation to think 00:25:34.060 --> 00:25:36.140 that life is not worth living 00:25:36.140 --> 00:25:39.880 and that maybe to die would be better 00:25:39.880 --> 00:25:41.060 than to carry on living. 00:25:41.059 --> 00:25:44.879 Friends, can I say those feelings 00:25:44.879 --> 00:25:48.039 feel so real 00:25:48.039 --> 00:25:52.259 and yet suicidal ideation and temptation 00:25:52.259 --> 00:25:55.059 is built on a network of falsehoods, 00:25:56.619 --> 00:25:59.700 built on a network of things that are not true. 00:26:01.019 --> 00:26:02.119 And so for some of us, 00:26:02.159 --> 00:26:03.159 maybe that have thought that 00:26:03.159 --> 00:26:05.619 or have loved ones that have had these thoughts, 00:26:06.119 --> 00:26:07.619 the feeling is so real. 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:10.259 We feel sometimes that there's no way out 00:26:10.259 --> 00:26:12.759 of the pain or the guilt that we feel 00:26:12.759 --> 00:26:15.019 or the despair that we feel. 00:26:16.220 --> 00:26:17.519 Friends, some people may feel 00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:19.140 that nobody understands me. 00:26:19.339 --> 00:26:21.099 Nobody knows what it's like to go through 00:26:21.099 --> 00:26:21.859 what I've gone through. 00:26:23.500 --> 00:26:24.980 Friends, some people may feel 00:26:24.980 --> 00:26:27.339 that failure will define us 00:26:27.339 --> 00:26:28.480 and define our future 00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:30.480 and that there is no other option. 00:26:32.140 --> 00:26:33.819 Friends, some people may feel 00:26:33.819 --> 00:26:35.359 that the way we feel now 00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:36.960 is the way that we will always feel 00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:38.700 and there's never an option 00:26:38.700 --> 00:26:40.480 for hope or joy 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:42.600 in front of us. 00:26:43.819 --> 00:26:46.640 Friends, those feelings feel so real 00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:49.519 but can I say they're not the ultimate truth. 00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:52.180 They are built on falsehoods. 00:26:52.840 --> 00:26:54.519 And we see this again 00:26:54.519 --> 00:26:56.039 in the book of Job. 00:26:56.160 --> 00:26:56.880 Here Job, 00:26:57.420 --> 00:26:59.980 notice the way that he describes death. 00:27:00.500 --> 00:27:02.740 He's got a skewed version of death. 00:27:03.299 --> 00:27:05.400 And the way that Job describes death here 00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:07.940 is not the way that the Bible describes death. 00:27:08.579 --> 00:27:09.980 Job in his pain 00:27:09.980 --> 00:27:12.759 seems to see death as a release, 00:27:13.420 --> 00:27:15.059 as a way of rest, 00:27:15.640 --> 00:27:17.099 a way of getting away from hardship 00:27:17.099 --> 00:27:18.799 and that if he were to die, 00:27:18.980 --> 00:27:20.099 everything would be okay. 00:27:21.160 --> 00:27:22.039 Friends, that's not the way 00:27:22.039 --> 00:27:23.240 the Bible describes death. 00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:25.720 The Bible says that if you are in Christ, 00:27:25.720 --> 00:27:28.079 yes, we will be more alive 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:29.000 than we are now. 00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:31.019 Death removes the veil 00:27:31.019 --> 00:27:32.839 that hides the reality. 00:27:33.859 --> 00:27:35.259 But friends, if you're not a Christian, 00:27:35.500 --> 00:27:39.319 don't believe the trite sayings 00:27:39.319 --> 00:27:42.039 about being in a better place 00:27:42.039 --> 00:27:44.639 or on a bunch of clouds in the sky. 00:27:44.759 --> 00:27:45.779 Friends, if you're not a Christian, 00:27:45.940 --> 00:27:46.920 death is agony. 00:27:47.200 --> 00:27:48.099 It is not rest. 00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:49.559 It is not peace. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:51.460 You will come face to face 00:27:51.460 --> 00:27:52.660 with the God who made you 00:27:52.660 --> 00:27:54.099 to know him and love him, 00:27:54.579 --> 00:27:56.039 the God that you may have rejected. 00:27:57.599 --> 00:27:58.220 And so friends, 00:27:58.220 --> 00:27:59.299 God in his word 00:27:59.299 --> 00:28:01.120 has given us promise after promise, 00:28:01.380 --> 00:28:02.759 truth after truth 00:28:02.759 --> 00:28:04.600 to counter the falsehoods 00:28:04.600 --> 00:28:05.400 that we feel 00:28:05.400 --> 00:28:07.160 in the midst of suffering and despair, 00:28:07.600 --> 00:28:09.079 to give us hope 00:28:09.079 --> 00:28:11.860 even as it feels hopeless, 00:28:12.420 --> 00:28:13.720 in a world that feels hopeless. 00:28:14.279 --> 00:28:16.640 Friends, your life is precious. 00:28:17.299 --> 00:28:18.420 It's precious to God 00:28:18.420 --> 00:28:20.059 and it's precious to those around you. 00:28:21.120 --> 00:28:21.680 And so I wanna say 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:22.500 that those feelings 00:28:22.500 --> 00:28:25.019 as real as they feel 00:28:25.019 --> 00:28:26.539 are not the whole truth. 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:28.779 There is a God who loves you 00:28:28.779 --> 00:28:30.519 and your future can consist 00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:31.779 of real hope 00:28:31.779 --> 00:28:33.619 because there's a living God 00:28:33.619 --> 00:28:34.559 who knows you 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:36.059 and made you 00:28:36.059 --> 00:28:38.519 and came so that you might know him. 00:28:39.660 --> 00:28:40.720 Friends, part of the problem 00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:41.500 that Job faces 00:28:41.500 --> 00:28:43.139 is that he feels so alone 00:28:43.139 --> 00:28:44.440 and suffering does that. 00:28:45.420 --> 00:28:46.599 And even if you're surrounded 00:28:46.599 --> 00:28:47.779 by people who love you, 00:28:47.839 --> 00:28:49.019 you can feel so alone. 00:28:49.920 --> 00:28:50.879 Friends, I can ask you, 00:28:50.920 --> 00:28:51.639 if you're struggling, 00:28:51.640 --> 00:28:53.900 don't struggle alone. 00:28:54.980 --> 00:28:56.000 There are people in this church 00:28:56.000 --> 00:28:56.660 who love you 00:28:56.660 --> 00:28:58.140 and will lay down their lives for you. 00:28:59.060 --> 00:29:00.360 Friends, there are Christian counselors 00:29:00.360 --> 00:29:00.940 in this church 00:29:00.940 --> 00:29:02.440 that we will love to point you to 00:29:02.440 --> 00:29:03.480 that'll help you walk 00:29:03.480 --> 00:29:04.360 and talk and process. 00:29:05.320 --> 00:29:06.100 Talk to the elders. 00:29:06.940 --> 00:29:08.160 Don't suffer alone. 00:29:09.400 --> 00:29:10.380 Friends, part of the reason 00:29:10.380 --> 00:29:11.520 why Job chapter three 00:29:11.520 --> 00:29:12.259 is in the Bible 00:29:12.259 --> 00:29:14.620 is because God has put it here 00:29:14.620 --> 00:29:15.360 to show us 00:29:15.360 --> 00:29:16.980 that despair and darkness 00:29:16.980 --> 00:29:17.680 and agony 00:29:17.680 --> 00:29:19.759 is not the final part 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:20.740 of Job's story 00:29:20.740 --> 00:29:21.839 and it's not the final point 00:29:21.839 --> 00:29:22.640 of your story. 00:29:23.460 --> 00:29:24.579 That though these are painful 00:29:24.579 --> 00:29:25.859 and despairing moments, 00:29:26.299 --> 00:29:27.079 God knows 00:29:27.079 --> 00:29:28.279 and he understands. 00:29:29.339 --> 00:29:30.279 Wouldn't it be so bad 00:29:30.279 --> 00:29:30.759 if the Bible 00:29:30.759 --> 00:29:31.920 didn't talk about these things? 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:32.500 If the Bible 00:29:32.500 --> 00:29:33.640 was always just chipper 00:29:33.640 --> 00:29:34.940 and good and wonderful? 00:29:35.779 --> 00:29:37.099 God puts us in the Bible 00:29:37.099 --> 00:29:38.579 to know that he understands 00:29:38.579 --> 00:29:39.359 how we feel. 00:29:40.039 --> 00:29:41.160 But it's not the end 00:29:41.160 --> 00:29:41.720 of the story. 00:29:43.120 --> 00:29:44.720 So how does the story end? 00:29:45.660 --> 00:29:46.539 Well, we've spoken about 00:29:46.539 --> 00:29:47.859 the ministry of suffering, 00:29:48.120 --> 00:29:48.519 silence, 00:29:48.620 --> 00:29:49.039 and suffering, 00:29:49.160 --> 00:29:49.460 presence, 00:29:49.460 --> 00:29:50.940 the misery of suffering alone, 00:29:51.600 --> 00:29:52.360 thirdly and finally, 00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:53.039 the ministry 00:29:53.039 --> 00:29:54.960 of the suffering Savior. 00:29:56.220 --> 00:29:57.240 In the first section 00:29:57.240 --> 00:29:57.840 of our passage, 00:29:57.940 --> 00:29:58.759 we saw the ministry 00:29:58.759 --> 00:29:59.880 of suffering presence, 00:30:00.500 --> 00:30:01.240 friends who come 00:30:01.240 --> 00:30:02.059 to be with us. 00:30:02.680 --> 00:30:03.460 And yet sometimes 00:30:03.460 --> 00:30:04.900 even the very best friends 00:30:04.900 --> 00:30:05.759 are not enough. 00:30:06.860 --> 00:30:07.400 Last week, 00:30:07.460 --> 00:30:09.100 we saw how Job's suffering 00:30:09.100 --> 00:30:10.640 anticipates in some ways 00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:11.360 the sufferings 00:30:11.360 --> 00:30:12.259 of Jesus Christ 00:30:12.259 --> 00:30:13.039 upon the cross. 00:30:13.940 --> 00:30:14.100 Friends, 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:15.920 Job suffered alone 00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:16.819 and in ignorance. 00:30:16.819 --> 00:30:17.799 He's unaware 00:30:17.799 --> 00:30:18.779 of the conversation 00:30:18.779 --> 00:30:19.439 that's happening 00:30:19.439 --> 00:30:20.379 in heaven 00:30:20.379 --> 00:30:21.099 between God 00:30:21.099 --> 00:30:21.619 and the Satan. 00:30:22.359 --> 00:30:23.500 Jesus suffered, 00:30:23.960 --> 00:30:25.240 but Jesus suffered 00:30:25.240 --> 00:30:26.059 not in ignorance, 00:30:26.179 --> 00:30:27.379 he suffered intentionally 00:30:27.379 --> 00:30:28.179 and deliberately. 00:30:29.079 --> 00:30:30.079 Jesus suffers 00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:31.539 also because of a conversation 00:30:31.539 --> 00:30:32.419 that happens in heaven, 00:30:32.519 --> 00:30:33.379 not between God 00:30:33.379 --> 00:30:33.799 and Satan, 00:30:34.179 --> 00:30:35.419 but between God the Father 00:30:35.419 --> 00:30:35.960 and Christ 00:30:35.960 --> 00:30:36.819 and the Holy Spirit. 00:30:37.700 --> 00:30:38.659 Jesus is part 00:30:38.659 --> 00:30:39.480 of the conversation 00:30:39.480 --> 00:30:40.579 that leads him 00:30:40.579 --> 00:30:41.099 to earth. 00:30:41.980 --> 00:30:42.779 Jesus suffered 00:30:42.779 --> 00:30:43.679 not in ignorance, 00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:44.720 but intentionally 00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:46.160 because he came 00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:46.700 with a plan 00:30:46.700 --> 00:30:47.460 to bring hope 00:30:47.460 --> 00:30:48.900 to our broken world. 00:30:49.560 --> 00:30:49.779 Friends, 00:30:49.880 --> 00:30:50.900 Job wished that his life 00:30:50.900 --> 00:30:51.259 was over 00:30:51.259 --> 00:30:52.500 because he saw no hope 00:30:52.500 --> 00:30:53.180 in front of him. 00:30:53.980 --> 00:30:54.660 Jesus came 00:30:54.660 --> 00:30:56.180 and gave up his life. 00:30:56.779 --> 00:30:57.259 He died, 00:30:57.340 --> 00:30:58.060 but he rose again 00:30:58.060 --> 00:30:58.759 so that even 00:30:58.759 --> 00:31:00.120 in our deepest despair 00:31:00.120 --> 00:31:00.560 and agony, 00:31:00.779 --> 00:31:01.840 we can live with hope. 00:31:02.840 --> 00:31:03.200 So friends, 00:31:03.240 --> 00:31:04.080 I want to say to us, 00:31:04.560 --> 00:31:06.039 if all we have before us 00:31:06.039 --> 00:31:06.600 in the Bible 00:31:06.600 --> 00:31:07.840 is Job, 00:31:08.060 --> 00:31:09.539 what hope do we have? 00:31:10.320 --> 00:31:11.320 But God didn't 00:31:11.320 --> 00:31:12.100 just give us Job, 00:31:12.180 --> 00:31:13.200 he gave us Jesus. 00:31:14.019 --> 00:31:15.220 That in our darkness 00:31:15.220 --> 00:31:16.560 we might have hope. 00:31:17.580 --> 00:31:17.820 Friends, 00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:18.840 Job 3 is full 00:31:18.840 --> 00:31:19.799 of why questions. 00:31:19.940 --> 00:31:20.759 Why must I live? 00:31:20.840 --> 00:31:21.700 Why was I born? 00:31:21.880 --> 00:31:22.560 Why do I have to 00:31:22.560 --> 00:31:23.120 put up with this? 00:31:23.220 --> 00:31:24.360 Why, why, why? 00:31:26.539 --> 00:31:27.400 The evangelists, 00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:28.140 the gospel writers 00:31:28.140 --> 00:31:28.700 tell us that 00:31:28.700 --> 00:31:29.500 as Jesus hangs 00:31:29.500 --> 00:31:30.080 on the cross, 00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:31.860 there's a why question 00:31:31.860 --> 00:31:32.900 that comes from his mouth. 00:31:33.779 --> 00:31:34.900 My God, my God, 00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:36.620 why have you forsaken me? 00:31:37.940 --> 00:31:39.000 Jesus didn't ask 00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:40.140 that question in ignorance 00:31:40.140 --> 00:31:40.680 because he didn't 00:31:40.680 --> 00:31:41.320 know the answer. 00:31:42.200 --> 00:31:43.039 He knew the answer. 00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:43.980 Jesus was part 00:31:43.980 --> 00:31:44.740 of the conversation 00:31:44.740 --> 00:31:45.299 that put him 00:31:45.299 --> 00:31:45.819 on the cross. 00:31:46.940 --> 00:31:48.440 Jesus bursts out 00:31:48.440 --> 00:31:48.879 this cry, 00:31:49.019 --> 00:31:50.000 why, my God, 00:31:50.039 --> 00:31:50.819 have you forsaken me? 00:31:50.879 --> 00:31:51.639 Because he's quoting 00:31:51.639 --> 00:31:52.460 Psalm 22. 00:31:53.159 --> 00:31:53.740 In agony 00:31:53.740 --> 00:31:55.019 and in darkness 00:31:55.019 --> 00:31:55.579 of despair, 00:31:55.659 --> 00:31:56.779 he quotes Psalm 22. 00:31:58.019 --> 00:31:58.659 Psalm 22 00:31:58.659 --> 00:31:59.420 is a psalm 00:31:59.420 --> 00:31:59.980 of lament 00:31:59.980 --> 00:32:01.440 that starts in agony 00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:02.819 and ends in hope. 00:32:02.899 --> 00:32:03.359 Let me read 00:32:03.359 --> 00:32:04.639 some of it to us. 00:32:05.279 --> 00:32:05.779 My God, 00:32:05.859 --> 00:32:06.339 my God, 00:32:06.379 --> 00:32:07.779 why have you forsaken me? 00:32:07.819 --> 00:32:08.319 Verse 1. 00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:09.500 Why are you so far 00:32:09.500 --> 00:32:10.460 from saving me 00:32:10.460 --> 00:32:11.539 from the words 00:32:11.539 --> 00:32:12.299 of my groaning? 00:32:12.779 --> 00:32:14.039 I cry by day 00:32:14.039 --> 00:32:15.059 but you do not answer. 00:32:15.220 --> 00:32:15.720 By night 00:32:15.720 --> 00:32:17.279 but I find no rest. 00:32:18.579 --> 00:32:19.240 But Psalm 22 00:32:19.240 --> 00:32:19.960 doesn't end there. 00:32:20.039 --> 00:32:20.460 It ends 00:32:20.460 --> 00:32:21.539 with great hope. 00:32:22.419 --> 00:32:23.000 Verse 22. 00:32:23.179 --> 00:32:23.899 I will tell 00:32:23.899 --> 00:32:24.419 of your name 00:32:24.419 --> 00:32:25.039 to my brothers 00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:25.579 and sisters. 00:32:25.700 --> 00:32:26.139 In the midst 00:32:26.139 --> 00:32:26.779 of the congregation 00:32:26.779 --> 00:32:28.119 I will praise you. 00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:30.119 God has not despised 00:32:30.119 --> 00:32:30.759 the affliction 00:32:30.759 --> 00:32:31.720 of the afflicted. 00:32:32.359 --> 00:32:33.099 He has not 00:32:33.099 --> 00:32:33.740 hidden his face 00:32:33.740 --> 00:32:34.119 from him 00:32:34.119 --> 00:32:35.559 when he cried to him. 00:32:35.559 --> 00:32:36.539 The afflicted 00:32:36.539 --> 00:32:37.079 shall eat 00:32:37.079 --> 00:32:37.579 and they shall 00:32:37.579 --> 00:32:38.319 be satisfied. 00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:39.919 Those who seek him 00:32:39.919 --> 00:32:41.019 shall praise the Lord. 00:32:42.019 --> 00:32:42.299 Friends, 00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:43.019 as we continue 00:32:43.019 --> 00:32:43.819 to read the book 00:32:43.819 --> 00:32:44.419 of Job, 00:32:44.759 --> 00:32:45.559 we see that 00:32:45.559 --> 00:32:46.839 that's Job's story too. 00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:48.220 It starts in despair 00:32:48.220 --> 00:32:49.079 and it ends 00:32:49.079 --> 00:32:50.059 in hope. 00:32:50.919 --> 00:32:51.440 As we read 00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:53.200 in Job chapter 19, 00:32:53.440 --> 00:32:54.059 I know that 00:32:54.059 --> 00:32:55.000 my Redeemer lives 00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:56.000 and he will one day 00:32:56.000 --> 00:32:57.059 walk upon the earth. 00:32:58.299 --> 00:32:59.059 Many, many, 00:32:59.200 --> 00:32:59.539 hundreds, 00:32:59.819 --> 00:33:00.779 thousands of years later, 00:33:01.059 --> 00:33:01.839 Job's Redeemer, 00:33:02.019 --> 00:33:02.639 Jesus Christ, 00:33:02.700 --> 00:33:03.779 did walk upon the earth. 00:33:04.940 --> 00:33:05.259 Jesus, 00:33:05.259 --> 00:33:06.539 the true friend 00:33:06.539 --> 00:33:07.299 that sticks closer 00:33:07.299 --> 00:33:07.859 than a brother. 00:33:08.879 --> 00:33:09.140 Jesus, 00:33:09.240 --> 00:33:10.180 the true Redeemer 00:33:10.180 --> 00:33:11.480 who came to die 00:33:11.480 --> 00:33:12.420 and rise again 00:33:12.420 --> 00:33:13.740 to turn back 00:33:13.740 --> 00:33:14.259 the curse 00:33:14.259 --> 00:33:14.960 and the brokenness 00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:15.519 of this world. 00:33:16.339 --> 00:33:16.619 And friends, 00:33:16.700 --> 00:33:17.900 because Jesus lived 00:33:17.900 --> 00:33:18.579 as he did 00:33:18.579 --> 00:33:20.019 and died as he did, 00:33:20.579 --> 00:33:21.819 we can look at death 00:33:21.819 --> 00:33:22.440 and suffering 00:33:22.440 --> 00:33:23.559 and despair differently. 00:33:24.440 --> 00:33:24.619 Friends, 00:33:24.660 --> 00:33:25.299 if you're a Christian 00:33:25.299 --> 00:33:25.839 this morning, 00:33:25.960 --> 00:33:27.299 you have the Redeemer's 00:33:27.299 --> 00:33:28.859 spirit inside of you. 00:33:29.660 --> 00:33:30.720 And so even as we go 00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:31.240 through the most 00:33:31.240 --> 00:33:32.299 severe trials, 00:33:32.440 --> 00:33:33.879 he has not abandoned us. 00:33:33.880 --> 00:33:35.200 If you're a Christian 00:33:35.200 --> 00:33:35.820 this morning, 00:33:36.040 --> 00:33:37.600 you need never suffer 00:33:37.600 --> 00:33:38.280 alone 00:33:38.280 --> 00:33:39.940 because the spirit 00:33:39.940 --> 00:33:41.120 of the living Lord 00:33:41.120 --> 00:33:41.900 Jesus Christ 00:33:41.900 --> 00:33:42.900 resides in you 00:33:42.900 --> 00:33:44.080 and comforts you 00:33:44.080 --> 00:33:45.200 and prays with you 00:33:45.200 --> 00:33:46.240 and prays for you 00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:47.320 and assures you 00:33:47.320 --> 00:33:47.980 of God's love 00:33:47.980 --> 00:33:48.700 and assures you 00:33:48.700 --> 00:33:49.580 of God's presence. 00:33:50.580 --> 00:33:50.800 Friends, 00:33:51.040 --> 00:33:52.280 while Jesus' death 00:33:52.280 --> 00:33:53.840 doesn't take away 00:33:53.840 --> 00:33:54.600 all the questions, 00:33:54.720 --> 00:33:55.500 what it does do 00:33:55.500 --> 00:33:56.020 is it means 00:33:56.020 --> 00:33:57.420 we can trust him. 00:33:57.420 --> 00:33:59.019 And so Jesus 00:33:59.019 --> 00:34:00.360 overcame the hopelessness 00:34:00.360 --> 00:34:00.960 of the cross 00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:03.880 because he is God 00:34:03.880 --> 00:34:04.900 and death and evil 00:34:04.900 --> 00:34:05.920 have no hold on him. 00:34:06.900 --> 00:34:07.259 Friends, 00:34:07.340 --> 00:34:08.019 now we too 00:34:08.019 --> 00:34:08.619 can overcome 00:34:08.619 --> 00:34:09.619 our hopelessness 00:34:09.619 --> 00:34:11.400 because Jesus is God 00:34:11.400 --> 00:34:12.200 and we can hold 00:34:12.200 --> 00:34:13.260 on to him. 00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:15.019 And so don't try 00:34:15.019 --> 00:34:15.680 and beat despair 00:34:15.680 --> 00:34:16.240 on your own. 00:34:16.800 --> 00:34:17.480 Don't hold on 00:34:17.480 --> 00:34:18.240 to it on your own. 00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:19.320 Friends, 00:34:19.400 --> 00:34:20.240 can you look 00:34:20.240 --> 00:34:21.139 to Jesus, 00:34:22.019 --> 00:34:23.220 the man of sorrows 00:34:23.220 --> 00:34:24.500 who suffered 00:34:24.500 --> 00:34:25.579 for us? 00:34:25.579 --> 00:34:27.059 Let me close 00:34:27.059 --> 00:34:27.659 with these words 00:34:27.659 --> 00:34:28.500 from my friend 00:34:28.500 --> 00:34:29.599 Douglas O'Donnell. 00:34:31.099 --> 00:34:31.279 He says, 00:34:31.340 --> 00:34:31.840 Job thought 00:34:31.840 --> 00:34:32.659 that he was forsaken 00:34:32.659 --> 00:34:33.360 by God 00:34:33.360 --> 00:34:34.860 but he was not. 00:34:35.840 --> 00:34:36.679 God's silence 00:34:36.679 --> 00:34:37.360 did not mean 00:34:37.360 --> 00:34:38.440 his forsakenness. 00:34:39.319 --> 00:34:39.639 Jesus, 00:34:39.840 --> 00:34:40.099 however, 00:34:40.239 --> 00:34:41.139 was forsaken. 00:34:41.719 --> 00:34:42.480 He was forsaken 00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:43.319 that we might not 00:34:43.319 --> 00:34:44.739 suffer eternal silence 00:34:44.739 --> 00:34:45.440 and separation 00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:46.099 from God. 00:34:46.779 --> 00:34:47.559 Why is not 00:34:47.559 --> 00:34:48.480 the ultimate question 00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:49.400 of the book of Job 00:34:49.400 --> 00:34:50.719 but Jesus' 00:34:50.960 --> 00:34:52.420 why have you forsaken me 00:34:52.420 --> 00:34:53.199 is the ultimate 00:34:53.199 --> 00:34:54.319 and the most foundational 00:34:54.319 --> 00:34:55.420 question in the Bible. 00:34:56.139 --> 00:34:56.900 Without Jesus' 00:34:57.059 --> 00:34:57.779 death on the cross 00:34:57.779 --> 00:34:58.619 we absolutely 00:34:58.619 --> 00:34:59.599 are hopeless 00:34:59.599 --> 00:35:00.840 having no hope 00:35:00.840 --> 00:35:01.819 of eternal life, 00:35:02.319 --> 00:35:03.059 eternal joy, 00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:04.420 eternal fellowship 00:35:04.420 --> 00:35:05.179 with the wise 00:35:05.179 --> 00:35:05.679 and just 00:35:05.679 --> 00:35:06.460 and loving God. 00:35:07.059 --> 00:35:08.139 So as we read 00:35:08.139 --> 00:35:09.219 this distressing poem 00:35:09.219 --> 00:35:10.279 of Job chapter 3, 00:35:10.799 --> 00:35:11.699 let us thank God 00:35:11.699 --> 00:35:12.659 for Job's honesty 00:35:12.659 --> 00:35:14.119 but oh let us 00:35:14.119 --> 00:35:14.960 also thank God 00:35:14.960 --> 00:35:15.579 for the gospel 00:35:15.579 --> 00:35:17.319 for our great redeemer 00:35:17.319 --> 00:35:18.719 who in his death 00:35:18.719 --> 00:35:19.599 redeemed us 00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:21.159 saving us from sin, 00:35:21.960 --> 00:35:22.360 Satan, 00:35:23.139 --> 00:35:23.500 death, 00:35:23.500 --> 00:35:24.519 and came 00:35:24.519 --> 00:35:26.000 to give us life. 00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:27.280 Friends, 00:35:27.320 --> 00:35:28.199 let's pray together. 00:35:31.900 --> 00:35:32.659 Father God, 00:35:32.739 --> 00:35:33.679 if we had written 00:35:33.679 --> 00:35:34.119 the Bible 00:35:34.119 --> 00:35:34.820 we would not 00:35:34.820 --> 00:35:35.500 have included 00:35:35.500 --> 00:35:36.420 such a chapter 00:35:36.420 --> 00:35:37.579 as Job chapter 3. 00:35:38.539 --> 00:35:39.219 We would have 00:35:39.219 --> 00:35:40.159 included chapters 00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:41.940 like Psalm 23, 00:35:42.099 --> 00:35:43.019 the Lord is my shepherd, 00:35:43.780 --> 00:35:44.340 he leads me 00:35:44.340 --> 00:35:45.440 beside still waters. 00:35:46.679 --> 00:35:46.960 But God, 00:35:47.019 --> 00:35:47.280 thank you 00:35:47.280 --> 00:35:48.239 that even those chapters 00:35:48.239 --> 00:35:49.760 include verses 00:35:49.760 --> 00:35:50.639 like you lead us 00:35:50.639 --> 00:35:51.420 through the valley 00:35:51.420 --> 00:35:51.940 of the shadow 00:35:51.940 --> 00:35:52.359 of death. 00:35:52.879 --> 00:35:54.379 But you lead us, 00:35:54.420 --> 00:35:55.500 you don't abandon us. 00:35:57.559 --> 00:35:58.000 Father, 00:35:58.079 --> 00:35:58.539 we are not 00:35:58.539 --> 00:35:59.539 unaware of the fact 00:35:59.539 --> 00:36:00.539 that in this room 00:36:00.539 --> 00:36:01.519 many of us, 00:36:01.639 --> 00:36:01.859 God, 00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:03.319 either have 00:36:03.319 --> 00:36:04.199 or currently 00:36:04.199 --> 00:36:05.920 are walking 00:36:05.920 --> 00:36:07.099 what feels like 00:36:07.099 --> 00:36:07.500 the valley 00:36:07.500 --> 00:36:07.960 of the shadow 00:36:07.960 --> 00:36:08.299 of death. 00:36:08.440 --> 00:36:08.779 God, 00:36:08.859 --> 00:36:09.539 I pray 00:36:09.539 --> 00:36:11.559 that the living God 00:36:11.559 --> 00:36:13.179 and the spirit 00:36:13.179 --> 00:36:14.519 of the living Christ 00:36:14.519 --> 00:36:15.500 will come 00:36:15.500 --> 00:36:15.940 and minister 00:36:15.940 --> 00:36:16.779 to our needs. 00:36:16.780 --> 00:36:19.120 Lord, 00:36:19.260 --> 00:36:20.340 deep from sorrows 00:36:20.340 --> 00:36:21.060 we cry, 00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:22.820 but we cry out 00:36:22.820 --> 00:36:23.519 to you. 00:36:24.680 --> 00:36:25.480 Won't you come 00:36:25.480 --> 00:36:26.220 and be with us 00:36:26.220 --> 00:36:26.920 like you came, 00:36:27.080 --> 00:36:27.300 Jesus, 00:36:27.420 --> 00:36:28.540 to walk upon the earth? 00:36:29.140 --> 00:36:29.860 Won't you come 00:36:29.860 --> 00:36:31.180 and walk with us 00:36:31.180 --> 00:36:32.240 today 00:36:32.240 --> 00:36:33.600 and tomorrow 00:36:33.600 --> 00:36:35.200 and the next day? 00:36:35.940 --> 00:36:36.519 And God, 00:36:36.640 --> 00:36:37.800 lift our eyes again, 00:36:37.880 --> 00:36:38.380 I pray, 00:36:39.240 --> 00:36:39.960 and help us 00:36:39.960 --> 00:36:40.940 to lament, 00:36:42.019 --> 00:36:43.340 to cry from deep 00:36:43.340 --> 00:36:43.760 within us 00:36:43.760 --> 00:36:44.900 but to cry to you. 00:36:46.780 --> 00:36:47.300 Jesus, 00:36:47.380 --> 00:36:47.820 this morning 00:36:47.820 --> 00:36:48.940 we get on our knees 00:36:48.940 --> 00:36:50.519 and we say, 00:36:50.760 --> 00:36:51.780 we need you. 00:36:52.760 --> 00:36:53.260 Lord, 00:36:53.300 --> 00:36:53.980 we need you. 00:36:54.800 --> 00:36:55.740 Every hour, 00:36:55.960 --> 00:36:56.240 God, 00:36:56.320 --> 00:36:56.960 we need you. 00:36:58.240 --> 00:36:59.040 Come and have your way, 00:36:59.120 --> 00:36:59.560 we pray. 00:37:01.140 --> 00:37:01.660 Amen.