Job 30:21 — Ah, Job’s sorrow is taking a wrong turn. He is accusing God of cruelty.
2 Corinthians 2:14 — Very rarely should we use absolute words or phrases like “always” or “every time.” God can though … God always causes us to triumph in Christ! Sing along with the WILDS.
Job 23:1 — The Third Round of the debate begins to finish. We’ll see Job’s answer to Eliphaz in Job 23 and Job 24, Bildad’s summation in Job 25, and the beginning of Job’s response in Job 26-27.
Job 23:3 — Job acknowledges that he cannot approach God, but he still wants to present his case to Him.
Job 23:12 — This seems to echo Psalm 119. Job was a devout follower of the LORD, and he esteemed the words of the LORD! Do we? How much time do we spend in His Word?
Job 24:24 — We have read a whole chapter on the nature of evil. Why doesn’t bad things happen to evil people? Because they are exalted just for “a little while.”
Job 25:4 — Bildad recognizes that God is great (Job 25:2), but he doesn’t recognize the possibility of knowing for sure that you can be justified with God. Too many people today believe in God, but they don’t believe that you can know for sure that you can have eternal life. They believe you can work and get rewarded. Or you can skip the work and get punished. God’s grace is a mysterious thing to many.
FIRST SAMUEL 2:8 was spoken during a prayer by Hannah after she dedicated her son Samuel into the Lord’s service. Job spoke the other verse while talking with his friends about man’s weakness in light of God’s majestic power. This sort of poetic imagery (pillars, foundations, etc.) is commonly used in Scripture to describe how God upholds the world.
2 Corinthians 2:4 — Biblical discernment ministries ought to operate with tears, not sarcasm. Tears before the LORD is manly.
2 Kings 20:5 – Hezekiah prayed with tears
Job 16:20 – Job prayed with tears
Psalm 39:12 – David prayed with tears
Jeremiah 31:16 – Jeremiah weeped with tears
Acts 20:31 – Paul warned with tears
2 Timothy 1:4 – Timothy had tears
And Psalm 119:136 tells how David declared that “Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.”
Psalm 41:1 — God will not deliver him that hath partiality to the rich, but to the poor (James 2:1)!
Proverbs 22:6 — I’ve been reading Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Living. Dr. Peterson grew up in the “Bible belt” of Canada and admits he turned away from Christianity, but that he later accepted the philosophy of Christianity without actually accepting the Jesus of the Bible (pray for him). Even as a skeptic, he had to admit that the Bible provides the best answers to the challenges of today. He writes an entire chapter of his book defending what God wrote in just one verse, because he says:
I see today’s parents as terrified by their children, not least because they have been deemed the proximal agents of this hypothetical social tyranny, and simultaneously denied credit for their role as benevolent and necessary agents of discipline, order and conventionality.
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Job 20:1 — Let’s recap where we are. We are in the second round of the great debate on suffering. Job 3-14 contains Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar’s opening statements followed by Job’s rebuttals. Now we are at the end of Round 2 where we will see Zophar’s second discourse followed by Job’s Response. This is actually Zophar’s closing statement since he will not participate in Round 3. Finally, we’ll see Eliphaz’s final statement in Job 22. From J. Vernon McGee:
Zophar’s second discourse. He introduces nothing new. He rests upon his seniority and resorts to the same legalism. He still holds to the theory that Job is a very wicked person because of the law that the wicked must be punished (vv. 3-5).
Job’s answer. Job is growing weary of their false charges. He appeals to a higher court (vv. 1-4). He agrees that the wicked will be punished but insists that this does not apply to his case.
Job 21:7-15 — Job points out that in addition to wondering why do bad things happen to good people (him), he also wants to know why good things happen to bad people!
Eliphaz’s third discourse. He accuses Job of being self-righteous (vs. 3). His final word to Job is a great gospel invitation, but it does not fit Job’s case (vs. 21). He admonishes Job to return to God (vv. 22-30).
2 Corinthians 1:1 — Timothy, whom Paul was afraid they would despise (1 Corinthians 16:11), who was Paul’s beloved son (1 Corinthians 4:17), is now with Paul!
2 Corinthians 1:3 — How is God the God of all comfort?
in tribulation (2 Corinthians 1:4)
through us to those in trouble (2 Corinthians 1:4)
through the sufferings of Christ (2 Corinthians 1:5)
through the afflictions and comfortings of Paul (2 Corinthians 1:6)
for the Corinthian partakers (2 Corinthians 1:7)
by trust in God which raiseth the dead (2 Corinthians 1:9)
through deliverance (2 Corinthians 1:10)
through the prayers of God’s people (2 Corinthians 1:11)
Psalm 40:11, 17 — The second stanza of yesterday’s song draws from Psalm 40 today!
Proverbs 22:3 — This is a verse that’s often hijacked by the “prepper” community. Matthew Henry sees this verse as having a salvific focus (i.e. faith foresees the evil coming upon sinners, and looks to Jesus Christ as the sure refuge from the storm). eBible draws from John Wayne (“Life’s tough, it’s even tougher if you’re stupid!”). Salem Bible Church emphasizes the evil is not a natural disaster, but temptation (bad friends, alcohol, marrying an unbeliever, unchristian philosophy, not reading the Bible, unsupervised television, etc.).
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Job 16:2 — The Book of Job is not usually where you go for devotions, but you are awakened by the sharp criticism Job has for his friends. “Miserable comforters!”
Job 16:4-5 — Job tells his friends what he would say if things were reversed. He would have DEFINITELY comforted them!
Job 16:21 — Ever want to argue with God? Isaiah 45:9 and Romans 9:20 warn against this.
Job 18:2 — The friendship seems to be wearing thin, and there is still 13 more chapters to go before his friends bail on him.
Job 19:3 — The argumentation is long, and sadly we witness the further deterioration of the relationship. Job pulls out the Senator Joe McCarthy line, “Have you no sense of decency?”
Job 19:25-26 — Sometimes we wonder what Old Testament saints believed. Did they know about the resurrection? These lines were so poignant that George Frederic Handel included them in the Messiah.
1 Corinthians 16:1 — Ah, yes, Paul is definitely a preacher because he talks about taking up a collection!
1 Corinthians 16:2 — In the Dispensation of Law, the day to gather was the last day (Saturday). Now under the Dispensation of Grace, we gather on the first day. We can give joyfully (2 Corinthians 9:7) and regularly.
1 Corinthians 16:9 — “The door of opportunity swings on the hinges of opposition.” (Adrian Rogers). Be bold, take a stand, and go forward for the LORD!
1 Corinthians 16:11 — Why would anyone despise Timothy, Paul’s beloved son (1 Corinthians 4:7)? Was it because he was a young man (1 Timothy 4:12) with a reputation like the one former president George W. Bush famously described: “When I was young and foolish, I was young and foolish?” Ah, but there’s still time to change!
1 Corinthians 16:14 — The author of the “Love Chapter” reminds us again – do everything with charity!
An example of such an anathema is found in these words of Pope Silverius (536-38): “If anyone henceforth deceives a bishop in such a manner, let him be anathema maranatha before God and his holy angels.” Benedict XIV
The problem is that the word “anathema” is Greek for “dedicated to evil,” while the word “maranatha” was the early New Testament greeting for believers. They replaced “Shalom” (the Jewish greeting) with “maranatha” because it was a reminder that “the LORD is coming!”
Psalm 40:1 — The Northern Lights rendition of these verses is always stirring!
Psalm 40:8 — May this be our life verse!
Proverbs 22:1 — In the news recently, I’ve seen people facing years in prison for tax evasion. Yes, they hid their millions and pocketed the “great riches,” but they lost their good name!
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Job 12:2 — Job is quite sarcastic by this point. While much of the wisdom literature genre of this book can be hard to follow, this line seems like one of Shakespeare’s witty retorts!
Job 13:3 — Job echoes the plea that many have, “I desire to reason with God.” We won’t hear from God audibly when we suffer; interestingly, Job didn’t hear from God either about why he suffered.
Job 13:5 — Oftentimes, wisdom is found in holding your peace!
Job 13:15 — Here is one of the key verses of Job. It clearly reveals the attitude of one who has suffered financial, family, and physical pain. “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” Job unfortunately continues on, “I will maintain my own ways before him.” Job remains the righteous example that God pointed to, but Job still wants to argue with God.
Job 14:1 — Job seems to be foreshadowing the book of Ecclesiastes!
Job 15:16 — Eliphaz makes a good point – man is abominable and filthy, full of iniquity. Yet, how was Job “perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil (Job 1:1)?”
God forgives iniquity (Numbers 14:19-20, Psalm 65:3), but how do we achieve forgiveness?
Knowing who to seek forgiveness from – we all need forgiveness from God (Mark 2:7). Which “deity” are you seeking forgiveness from? Only the LORD (Isaiah 45:5)?
Confessing (identifying) our sins is an important component of seeking God’s forgiveness (Psalm 51:3, 1 John 1:9).
Repenting (turning) from our sins (Psalm 51:10, Acts 3:19). If we don’t turn from our sins, it’s not that we’re not forgiven, it’s just that we’ve restarted the loop of sin (Luke 11:24-26).
Turning back to the LORD
Job 1:1 – fear the LORD and eschew evil
Joshua 1:8 – meditate on God’s Word and avoid sin
Job 1:1 – fear the LORD and eschew evil
Joshua 1:8 – meditate on God’s Word and avoid sin
Yes, even though man is filthy, and though his sins be as scarlet, they can be as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18)! Job’s friends don’t want to acknowledge that anyone can be righteous. They feel more comfortable declaring that everyone is as wicked as they are. We just have to keep trying to be righteous through religious rituals. But righteousness comes not through religious rituals; it comes from a relationship with the Redeemer!
1 Corinthians 15:32 — Was Paul fighting as a gladiator against the wild beasts? From the Pulpit Commentary:
Not literally, for in that case he would have mentioned it in 2 Corinthians 11. as one of his deadliest perils, and it must have been recorded by St. Luke in his full account of St. Paul’s life at Ephesus. A Roman citizen was legally exempt from this mode of punishment. The word points to some special peril incurred in resisting the hostility of the worshippers of Artemis (Acts 20:19), but not to the tumult in the theatre, which did not happen till after this letter was dispatched (1 Corinthians 16:8, 9). The metaphor is not uncommon. Thus in 2 Timothy 4:17 St. Paul alludes to Nero (probably) as “the lion.” David often compares his enemies to wild beasts (Psalm 22:21, etc.). When his jailor informed Agrippa of the death of Tiberius, he did so in the words, “The lion is dead.”
1 Corinthians 15:51 — We shall be changed! What will it be like, Paul?
It will be different (1 Corinthians 15:37)
It will be unique (1 Corinthians 15:38)
It will be incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:42)
It will be glorious (1 Corinthians 15:43)
It will be powerful (1 Corinthians 15:43)
It will be spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:44)
It will be instantaneous (1 Corinthians 15:52)
It will be immortal (1 Corinthians 15:53)
Thus death is no longer painful to contemplate, the grave is no longer the victor (1 Corinthians 15:55)! So, keep on fighting! We Shall Rise (1 Corinthians 15:58)!
Psalm 39:5 — “… verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.” So, what is our calling? We must wait for the LORD. He is our hope!
Proverbs 21:31 — Where is safety found? The horse? No, the LORD!
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Job 8:1 — A second speaker arises, and some have questioned how tall he was (he was a Shuhite)!
Job 8:6 — Does God respond to the upright? Yes (Proverbs 15:8), but does He respond on our timetable? That is the problem with Bildad’s argument. Because his premise is faulty (if you are upright, God responds when you want Him to), his conclusion is also faulty (because God did not respond when you wanted Him to, you are not upright).
Job 9:2 — The question of the ages, repeated by the Philippian jailor a couple thousand years later (Acts 16:30)! Job realizes God’s superiority to man (Job 9:3-15).
Orion and the Pleiades
Job 9:16 — Job lays out his problems with God, emphasizing his desire for mercy (Job 10:2). Job is a hurting individual who is struggling with his innocence (Job 10:7).
Job 11:2 — Zophar is frustrated with Job, but sadly he uses God as a weapon (Job 11:5). Today, too many people use God as a tool to force others to do what they want done. Instead of letting God justify Himself, we try to co-opt God into fighting for our agenda.
1 Corinthians 15:1 — Time to get back to the basics! Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again! Yes, this is the truth that saves people from separation from God (1 Corinthians 15:2).
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 — Listen to “For I Delivered” by Earl Martin:
1 Corinthians 15:6 — Five hundred people saw a dead man alive and all at the same time! The former skeptic, Josh McDowell, was bothered by this statement:
Are you telling me that no skeptic among those profound Jewish leaders examined those witnesses? Paul’s whole reputation would have been ruined if his assertion were not true.
1 Corinthians 15:22 — Paul repeats his argument from Romans 5:17 – one man brought death, but another Man brought life!
Psalm 38:1 — The psalmist utters the cry of Job, but for a different cause (Psalm 38:15). Despite the suffering, we, like the psalmist, will hope in the LORD (Psalm 38:15).
Proverbs 21:28 — Yes, the evil will be punished and the good rewarded, but notice that the word “shall” is used and not “is.”
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Job 4:7 — The danger of being 80% correct. Eliphaz believed that God blesses the righteous and punishes the wicked. And that is a good generalization, but the application made some faulty assumptions.
Job 4:17 — Eliphaz again recognizes a truth but doesn’t stop there. Stop while you’re ahead, Eliphaz! We’ve talked about the atheist argument “more moral than God,” and Eliphaz picks up on that. Instead of only saying, “Don’t argue with God” … period … he says, “Don’t argue with God …” and then proceeds to compare Job to the foolish and silly (Job 5:2).
Job 6:6 — Egg whites haven’t gotten any tastier in the last 3,000 years.
Job 6:8-9 — Poor Job! Like the old preacher said, “Thank God that He doesn’t answer all of your prayers!”
1 Corinthians 14:33 — Whether worship was in the Old Testament under the Levitical code, or in the New Testament as regulated by the epistles – it was never one of confusion, but always practiced decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40).
1 Corinthians 14:34 — Paul says that some things seem to be in conflict with accepted cultural values of the day. But if God’s desires always lined up with our desires, we would have no need for the corrective imperatives of the New Testament.
Psalm 37:31 — How much of God’s Law is in your heart?
Psalm 37:40 — This is an interesting contrast to the story of Job. Job was trusting in the LORD but had not been delivered … yet. The word “yet” is a key word in Job and the Psalms – God will deliver but sometimes “not yet.”
Proverbs 21:27 — This explains why God was not happy with Cain’s offering (Genesis 4:5, Genesis 4:7).
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Job 1:21 — I have a friend that has gone through the loss of his family (Job 1:15, Job 1:19), the loss of financial provisions (Job 1:17), and also the loss of good health (Job 2:7). Today, you may be facing these same challenges, or you may know someone who is. If you aren’t being challenged right now, thank God for this season of blessing. If you are, this is the book to read!
Job 2:13 — Sometimes the best thing you can do for your friends is to sit silently by. Job’s friends did well until they opened their mouths.
1 Corinthians 14:5 — It would be exciting to have a cool spiritual gift to be seen by many (or even just your friends), or to be admired or even envied. But as we read in 1 Corinthians 14:12, your value is not in how impressive your gift is, but in how it edifies the church. From Preaching Today:
Edward Kimball is probably not known to you. He lived over a hundred years ago. He was a Sunday school teacher in Boston, where a young teenager became part of his class. The young man was a country boy. He didn’t know the ways of the city or of the church. But he came to Kimball’s Sunday school class.
When the teen first came to his class, Edward Kimball handed him a Bible. When Mr. Kimball said, “Turn to the Gospel of John,” the country boy didn’t know how to find the Gospel of John. Edward Kimball recognized what was happening, and while the other boys were snickering, he opened the Bible to the Gospel of John and handed it back. When he asked the boys to read, the country boy fumbled as he read.
But Edward Kimball had a big perspective, and he saw possibilities in the boy. Kimball worked with him, and after some months he went down to the store where the boy was working, went into the back room where he was stacking boxes, and led Dwight to Jesus Christ. That was the beginning of the ministry of Dwight L. Moody, this continent’s greatest evangelist during the last century.
Psalm 37:16 — Contentment … whether it’s with your spiritual gift or with your financial state. For at the end, you will be satisfied in the days of famine (Psalm 37:19)! You will not be begging bread (Psalm 37:25)! You will not be forsaken by the LORD (Psalm 37:28)!
Esther 8:14 — Why did the couriers hurry? Because they had an important message that would save the lives of many people! There was a limited amount of time until the people would die, and they had the message that could save their lives! This wasn’t just an ordinary message – this was a message from the king!
We have a message that our King has given us. There’s a limited time left to get this message out to the ends of the earth. This message can save people’s lives – let’s hasten and spread the royal message!
1 Corinthians 12:27 — What is your role in the body of Christ?
1 Corinthians 13:1 — Look at the things that you can do and yet be meaningless:
speak with the tongues of men and angels
gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries
have faith to remove mountains
bestow all my goods to feed the poor
give my body to be burned
1 Corinthians 13:4 — What is “charity”? Love today seems to be a feeling – “I love this song,” or “love is love,” or “as long as our love shall last”. Let’s use the KJV word “charity” so we’re not confusing the biblical definition with a temporal emotion:
long suffering
kind
not envying
not vaunting
not puffed up
not unseemly
seeking not her own
not easily provoked
thinketh not evil
rejoiceth not in iniquity
rejoiceth in truth
beareth all things
believeth all things
hopeth all things
endureth all things
1 Corinthians 13:13 — Faith can move mountains, and hope is the assurance (not a “hope-so” guess) of eternal life, but charity is greater. Why? How? Because it was charity (love) that brought the hope through faith to us (John 3:16)!
Psalm 37:2 — The lawnmower’s theme verse! Yes, we have some simple commands:
Esther 4:2 — Esther is a legitimate hero, but the account shows she’s a bit naive. When she sees someone with sackcloth, she seems ignorant – she doesn’t ask what’s the matter but offers new clothing. When she hears her people are going to die (Esther 4:8), her initial response is that she’s incapacitated – “I can’t do anything about it (Esther 4:11).”
Esther 4:14 — Without talking about the LORD, Mordecai (the Jew who didn’t return to Jerusalem because he possibly was too influential and partially secularized) still knew that his people would be delivered. Many people today may not recognize the divine protection of the Jewish people or why an obscure Canaanite tribe from 3,000 years ago that was virtually wiped out 2,000 years ago, has regrouped to be at least the 8th most powerful nuclear state in the world. Yes, people may not ascribe a divine reason to this, but Esther shows us that this is not mere coincidence. It’s divine providence!
Mordecai’s timeless words to Esther can be turned from a question into a declaration: “Thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” Has God put you in a place that you can use your title, your time, your talents, or your treasure to advance the Kingdom? Don’t be ignorant or pretend you’re incapacitated. You have been placed where you are for such a time as this!
Esther 5:3 — The fearful Esther was offered half of the kingdom!
Esther 5:14 — Speaking of Providence, the very day that Haman was going to ask Mordecai to be hanged (Esther 6:4), the king orders Haman to honor him (Esther 6:10).
Esther 6:13 — Ah, the wise men figure out that this isn’t going well. But Haman is too committed to back out now. Haman decided to hang in there, and he was soon hanged (Esther 7:10)!
1 Corinthians 12:3 — Paul has to start out with the very basics of discernment!
1 Corinthians 12:18 — Contentment … God may not have given you the preaching ability, the deepness in prayer, the quick wisdom, the capacity to gift millions, the ability to do works for God that everyone will sit up and take note of, but you can be content with what He has given you.
When I consider how my light is spent, Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide, And that one Talent which is death to hide Lodged with me useless, though my Soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account, lest he returning chide; “Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?” I fondly ask. But patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed And post o’er Land and Ocean without rest: They also serve who only stand and wait.”
Psalm 36:5 — Let’s thank God for:
His Mercy (Psalm 36:5)
His Faithfulness (Psalm 36:5)
His Righteousness (Psalm 36:6, Psalm 36:10)
His Judgments (Psalm 36:6)
His Lovingkindness (Psalm 36:7, Psalm 36:10)
His Trustworthiness (Psalm 36:7)
His Satisfaction (Psalm 36:8)
His Pleasures (Psalm 36:8)
His Fountain of Life (Psalm 36:9)
His Light (Psalm 36:9)
Proverbs 21:21 – We just read about mercy and righteousness – how they lead to the fountain of life. Whose fountain is it?
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