Being Honest About Suffering

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.

They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.

And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him.

And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven.

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.

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

And Job said,

Let it not rejoice among the days of the year.

Let it not come into the number of the months.

Behold, let that night be barren.

Let no joyful cry enter it.

Let those curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up Leviathan.

Let the stars of its dawn be dark.

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.

Let it not die at birth.

Let it not die at birth.

Let it not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire.

Why did the knees receive me?

Or why the breasts that I should nurse?

For then I would have lain down and been quiet.

I would have slept.

Then I would have been at rest.

With kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves.

Or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.

Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light?

There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.

There the prisoners are at ease together.

They hear not the voice of the taskmaster.

The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master.

Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,

who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they find the grave?

Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?

For my sighing comes instead of my braid, and my groanings are poured out like water.

For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me.

I am not at ease, nor am I quiet.

I have no rest, but trouble comes.

This is the word of God.

Great.

Thank you, Claire.

Well, good morning, everybody.

If you're new to Watermark, my name is Kevin, and it's great to have you with us.

Let me pray for us briefly as we look at this passage.

So, Heavenly Father, this morning, as we come to this extremely difficult passage in your word,

a passage which is very challenging, we pray, God, that you will speak to us.

As we've said so many times, we are not interested in hearing the thoughts or opinion of man.

Who cares what I think?

God, we want to hear what you have to say.

God, your words bring life into the darkness and bring hope into hopelessness.

And so, God, won't you speak to us?

You know, Lord, where the hearts of each one of us are at.

You know our pain and our distress.

You know our joys and our celebrations.

God, you know what keeps us awake at night, our tossing and turning.

God, won't you speak to us this morning, we pray.

In your good and your gracious name.

Amen.

Well, we're once again looking at the book of Job.

And it's a book that questions and challenges us at every turn.

It's a book that artists love and poets love and preachers hate.

Preachers love to avoid it.

Because it's a book that deals with so much of the deep wrestling of the soul.

And it's one of the reasons why the church needs artists and poets.

Because there are many things about the Christian faith that artists and poets can sometimes express better than preachers and pastors.

Now, if you're new to Watermark or you weren't here last week, the book of Job starts off.

And chapter 1 and 2 are extremely challenging.

There's this righteous man.

He's good.

He's upright.

He's blameless.

He's the best kind of man that you could picture.

And yet he suffers terribly.

Everything he has was taken from him.

His wealth.

His servants.

His cattle.

And ultimately his children.

And he's brought to absolute misery.

And he doesn't ever find out why.

He doesn't do it because of anything he's done wrong.

It's something purely that God is doing.

And Job questions and his questions are never answered.

And as we said last week that the book of Job is not just about sufferings.

Though suffering, of course, is a very big part of it.

The book of Job is designed to make us stumble over our own limitations and finitude.

And so it's designed to bring us to the end of ourselves.

And when we think, God, your ways don't make any sense.

What are you doing with the world?

It's designed to show us that we don't have all the answers to life.

And that we can't make life work on its own.

Job brings us the place where our logic and our understanding are shown to be insufficient.

To face the limitations and the finitude of our knowledge and our wisdom.

And then it asks us the question, will you still trust God?

Will you allow God to still be God?

Even when his ways don't make sense.

Now today we're looking at the end of chapter 2 and the whole of chapter 3.

And so we're going to see a couple of things in this passage.

And so I hope you've got a Bible or a bulletin with you.

We're going to look at a lot of scripture.

And so have it open in front of you today.

And so we're going to look at a couple of things.

The first one is this.

The ministry of suffering presence.

The ministry of suffering presence.

Look at the end of chapter 2 with me.

Let me just read it again.

Verse 11 to 13.

It says,

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 Shuite, and Zophar the Namathite.

They made an appointment together to come and show him sympathy and comfort.

And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him.

They raised their voices.

They wept aloud.

They tore their robes and they sprinkled dust on their heads from the heavens.

And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights.

Now we're going to learn a lot more about Job's friends in the coming weeks.

Much of the book of Job actually consists about the dialogue and the conversations that happen between Job and his friends.

But here they are.

They've heard about Job.

They come from afar.

We don't know where exactly these towns are.

But they've traveled from afar.

And they've come to be with him.

They hear through the grapevine that he's suffering.

They somehow contact each other and say,

We need to go and be with our friend.

And so they travel from afar and they come to be with him.

And look at what verse 11 says.

They come to show him sympathy and comfort.

They come to share in his grief.

They come to ease some of his pain and his difficulty.

And here's a great example of what friendship should be like.

The proverb says,

A friend loves at all times.

A brother is born for adversity.

Many of us have companions and acquaintances.

But friends, who are those that are there for you in the midst of suffering?

Do you have friends like this?

Like Job's friends?

It's worth asking in a busy city like Hong Kong,

where we are very good at networking,

building friendships for the purpose of our jobs and our careers.

Do we have friends like this?

That really know us?

That can sit with us?

Who can be with us in a time of adversity?

But here we have what some authors have called the ministry of suffering presence.

They come to Job and they don't say a whole lot.

In fact, they don't say anything.

They don't come and give him advice.

They don't come and tell him what to do.

They simply come and they suffer with him.

They sit with him.

They don't fix his problems.

They simply come and let their presence be a form of ministry in his pain.

And look at how they share in his grief when they see him.

They raise their voices, but they don't say anything.

They just weep with him.

Verse 13 says,

They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights,

and no one spoke a word for him,

for they saw that his suffering was very great.

They don't pull out their camping chairs.

They don't pull out their rugs or their cushions.

They come from afar, but they don't book into the Marriott down the road.

They join him in the ashy, but in the rubbish dump.

And they sit with him in the dust and the ashes,

and they remain silent.

They're just there to let their presence minister to him.

So friends, in a world of Twitter advice and social media soundbites

and YouTube instructions and keep calm and carry on wisdom,

do we as a church know how to bring the ministry of suffering silence,

of suffering presence to one another?

Do we know how to weep with those who weep,

to mourn with those who mourn,

to cry and lament and agonize and hurt

with those who cry and lament and agonize and hurt themselves?

Being part of a church family means knowing how to enter into the grief

and the suffering of those of our family.

And can I confess, I'm not very good at this.

I like to be with someone for a little bit,

and then I've got a thousand things to do,

and I quickly want to move on.

I am not a very good friend to those that are suffering.

I need to get better at this.

And friends, Job's friends aren't perfect.

We're going to see in the next few weeks,

there are times when they speak too much.

And we think, can't you just stay silent?

Can't you go back to how you were in chapter two?

But at times, they have done what they should have done.

They keep silence.

Here we have the ministry of Job's friends in a most wonderful way.

The ministry of suffering silence.

And so friends, maybe I can ask you this morning,

how's your heart?

What's the condition of your heart?

Do you, like Job, find yourself sitting in the ash heap of despair?

Proverbs says that a man may have many companions,

but there is a friend that sits closer than a brother.

Do you have that kind of friend?

Have you opened yourself up to be vulnerable enough to let somebody else in?

And friends, maybe do you know how to be that friend to others that are suffering?

Part of being a church family is that we know how to be these kinds of friends.

Job two tells us about the ministry of suffering presence.

But just when we think that things in Job are picking up,

well, we get to chapter three and things go crashing down again.

Because in chapter three, we see the pain of suffering alone.

Like the natural cycle of grief, there is silence.

There are tears.

There is pain.

There is bargaining.

There is anger.

There is despair.

And in Job three, we have all of it.

Job chapter three has been described as one of the darkest chapters in the entire book of Job.

One of the darkest chapters in the entire Bible.

I'm not sure when Claire was reading it, if you were picking up on all the imagery.

But as you read it and think about it, it just gets darker and darker all the time.

And here we have, having watched the inexplicable sufferings of Job in chapter one and two,

here we get to sit with him in his sufferings,

in the airship, and listen to his heart.

And so let's read it together and grab it in front of you.

I hope you've got it in front of you.

Let's just work through it a little bit.

In chapters three, verse three to ten, Job curses the day that he was born.

And he looks back on the day of his birth, the night that he was conceived,

and he says, why did that day have to happen?

Look at what he says here.

Verse three.

Let the day perish on which I was born,

and the night that said, a man is conceived.

So he's picturing his dad at the birth,

and his dad is so happy because a boy has been born,

and he is saying, what is a day of joy for my dad is a day of misery for me.

Verse four.

Let that day be darkness.

May God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it.

Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.

Let the clouds dwell upon it,

and darkness terrify, and let the blackness of the day terrify it.

Job's talking about creation language.

Remember how God says, into the darkness, let there be light.

But now he's talking about it in reverse.

Rather than saying, let there be light, Job is saying, let there be darkness.

I wish the day that I was born was covered in darkness and didn't exist.

I wish God could uncreate the day of my creation.

Verse six.

That night, the night he was conceived, let thick darkness seize it.

Let it not rejoice amongst the days of the year.

Let it not come into the number of the months.

He's saying, let that night be like the 29th of February on a non-leap year, right?

A day that we just pass over and pretends doesn't exist.

I wish the day that I was born was like that day, says Job.

Let those who curse it curse the day that I was born.

Those who are ready to rouse up Leviathan.

Leviathan is this mythical Canaanite creature, seven heads.

This sea monster that just brings chaos on the world and brings destruction.

And he's saying, I wish the myth of Leviathan was true for the day that I was born.

I wish Leviathan really was aroused and could swallow up my conception and my birth.

Verse 10.

Because it did not shut in the days of my mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes.

Verse 10.

Friends, Job's looking at the day that he was born, the night that he was conceived,

and he's wishing he could erase it from history.

And notice, contrary to what Satan said in chapter 1 and what his wife wishes he had done in chapter 2,

he doesn't curse God, but oh, he comes so close.

Right?

He comes pretty close to cursing God.

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,

the day that brought my existence.

And look what he says in verse 11 onwards.

Job's lament goes from cursing to questioning.

Six times he says, why?

Why, Lord, do I keep on living?

Why did this happen to me?

Why can't I just die?

Why?

The reason Job asked this question is because in his mind, to die would be better than to carry on living.

Look at verse 11.

Why did I not die at my birth?

Come out from the womb and expire.

Why did the knees receive me or the breasts that nursed me?

For then I would have lain down and been quiet.

I would have slept.

I would have been at rest.

Verse 16.

Why was I not born as stillborn as infants who never see the light?

There the wicked cease from trouble.

There the weary are at rest.

Job is saying, I wish I'd never been born.

And if I was born, I wish that I had died in my earliest days.

And finally, verse 20 to 26.

Job longs for the day of his death.

He says, I wish it would come quickly to put me out of my misery.

Verse 20.

Why is light given to him who is in misery and life to the bitter in soul?

Who long for death but it does not come?

Who dig for it more than hidden treasure?

Who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they find the grave?

And that's an astounding thing for the Bible to say, right?

Job says, I rejoice at the prospect of the day of my death like a treasure hunter rejoices when he finds treasure.

Verse 25.

For the thing that I fear comes upon me.

What I dread befalls me.

For most people what we fear is the day of our death.

For Job what he fears is the rising of the sun and another day where he has to live.

I am not at ease.

I am not quiet.

I have not rested.

Trouble keeps coming my way.

Friends, it's a dark, dark passage of Scripture in the Bible.

Have you ever felt like this?

Have you ever felt such utter despair that you know not what to do with it?

Makes me think of the words of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament where he writes and he says,

Brothers, we want you to know what happened to us, the affliction we experienced in Asia.

For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.

Indeed, we had felt we received the sentence of death.

And though we are told at the end of chapter 2 that his friends are with him,

his friends make no mention in chapter 3.

And while actually his friends are with him, it feels that Job is all alone.

And that's how suffering feels, right?

You can be surrounded by people with you.

And yet when you're in the depth of despair, you can feel utterly alone.

Friends, the message of Job chapter 3 is that even the most faithful, God-fearing, righteous men and women,

Job 3 · chapter mention

those who God affirms as blameless and God-fearing and good and righteous,

are not immune from profound suffering and darkness and despair.

Because in this chapter it shows us that a man, even a man such as Job,

a man who's blameless and righteous and God-fearing,

is not exempt from the anguish and the despair that comes with profound loss and hardship.

And again and again, the book of Job wants to challenge us that though you may follow God,

don't think that that leads only to health and wealth and blessing and prosperity.

Job is not a perfect man, but he is a good man.

He's a righteous man.

He's a God-fearing man.

And yet he suffers so terribly that he gets plunged into the depths of despair.

And friends, the point of Job chapter 3 is to correct any ideas we may have at the end of chapter 2,

Job 3 · chapter mention

that Christians should just be stoic, unemotional, chin-up, carrying-on kinds of people.

If all you have is Job chapter 1 and 2, friends, you can easily feel judged and condemned.

Job 1 · chapter mention

Because how does Job end chapter 1 and 2?

Remember, this profound suffering comes upon him, and what does it say?

Why? Job worshipped, and he said,

The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

And you can think, if I'm a good Christian,

then I better be stoic, unemotional, chin-up, carry-on like Job.

And Job chapter 3 wants to show us that you can be God-fearing and faithful,

Job 3 · chapter mention

and yet still plunge into the depths of despair.

That it's not unchristian to go through difficulty and darkness.

No, friends, Job wants to correct that.

Mark Frohgop, that's how you'd say his name in South Africa.

In America, you'd probably say Rogop or something.

Says, lament is a prayer that is birthed in pain and agony and leads to trust.

Friends, do you know how to lament?

Do you know how to struggle?

Well, it's difficult to see it here, but because in Job chapter 3,

Job 3 · chapter mention

it seems like all Job does is throw angry phrases up at God.

But as we continue to read the rest of Job,

we'll see that Job still hangs on to God.

And he cries out in despair, but he cries to God.

For instance, chapter 19, he says,

Job chapter 13,

Job 13 · chapter mention

Job 23,

Friends, the book of Job shows us that worship in chapter 1,

agony and despair in chapter 2 and 3,

and trust in the rest of Job are not mutually exclusive,

but are able to live together.

And one of the great dangers of the Christian life

is that with the temptation just to fake it,

either to God himself or to the Christian community.

And you feel like you've got to just come to church

and you've got to put on that cheesy Christian smile

and pretend that life is all fine,

and you've got to act all chipper,

and you've got to be good to God and happy.

And friends, don't buy the temptation.

Be real.

Be real with God.

Be real with one another.

Be real with the one who knows you better

than you know yourself

and loves you still.

And so in his book, Dark Clouds of Deep Mercy,

Mark Frohgop says this.

Let me read this quote to us.

He says, prayerful lament, that honest cry,

the candid expression of grief from a hurting heart,

wrestling with the paradox of pain on the one hand

and the promise of God's goodness.

Prayerful lament is better than silence.

Many people are afraid of lament.

We find it too honest, too open, too risky.

But there's something far worse,

silent despair or fake resolution.

Friends, despair lives under the hopeless resignation

that God doesn't care, he does not hear,

nothing is ever going to change.

Silent, hopeless despair eats away and kills our souls.

And so throughout the Bible,

God calls us to bring our grief,

to bring our pain,

to bring our feelings of despair to him.

As we read earlier, the Apostle Paul,

he writes, he says,

we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength

that we despaired of life itself.

We felt that we had been given the sentence of death.

Yet, that was to make us rely not on ourselves,

but on God who raises the dead.

He delivered us from such a deadly peril,

and he will deliver us.

On him we have set our hopes.

Friends, let me ask you this morning,

if you're not a Christian this morning,

where is your hope?

Upon which do you bank your hope?

What gives you the hope for a new day

when darkness comes your way?

Friends, if you are youth this morning in high school,

where is your hope?

When darkness comes your way,

what are you going to bank your life upon?

Where is your hope?

Again, Mark Prochropp says,

lament is how you live between the poles

of a hard life and trusting in God.

It's bringing our sorrow to God.

Without it, we don't know how to process pain.

Now, before we get to our third and final point,

let me, friends, just say something

about the very difficult subject of death by suicide.

And I know that even just mentioning that

is very difficult for some.

For some of us, maybe we've lost loved ones,

family members in that way.

Some of us ourselves have grappled and thought

and had these thoughts.

And the reason I bring that up

is because when we read Job 3,

it seems that Job is grappling

with suicidal ideation and thoughts.

It seems like he longs for the day

when he no longer needs to live on this earth.

Friends, for some people,

living in such despair and such feelings of guilt,

maybe such intensity of pain

by a tragic situation in our life,

means the temptation to think

that life is not worth living

and that maybe to die would be better

than to carry on living.

Friends, can I say those feelings

feel so real

and yet suicidal ideation and temptation

is built on a network of falsehoods,

built on a network of things that are not true.

And so for some of us,

maybe that have thought that

or have loved ones that have had these thoughts,

the feeling is so real.

We feel sometimes that there's no way out

of the pain or the guilt that we feel

or the despair that we feel.

Friends, some people may feel

that nobody understands me.

Nobody knows what it's like to go through

what I've gone through.

Friends, some people may feel

that failure will define us

and define our future

and that there is no other option.

Friends, some people may feel

that the way we feel now

is the way that we will always feel

and there's never an option

for hope or joy

in front of us.

Friends, those feelings feel so real

but can I say they're not the ultimate truth.

They are built on falsehoods.

And we see this again

in the book of Job.

Here Job,

notice the way that he describes death.

He's got a skewed version of death.

And the way that Job describes death here

is not the way that the Bible describes death.

Job in his pain

seems to see death as a release,

as a way of rest,

a way of getting away from hardship

and that if he were to die,

everything would be okay.

Friends, that's not the way

the Bible describes death.

The Bible says that if you are in Christ,

yes, we will be more alive

than we are now.

Death removes the veil

that hides the reality.

But friends, if you're not a Christian,

don't believe the trite sayings

about being in a better place

or on a bunch of clouds in the sky.

Friends, if you're not a Christian,

death is agony.

It is not rest.

It is not peace.

You will come face to face

with the God who made you

to know him and love him,

the God that you may have rejected.

And so friends,

God in his word

has given us promise after promise,

truth after truth

to counter the falsehoods

that we feel

in the midst of suffering and despair,

to give us hope

even as it feels hopeless,

in a world that feels hopeless.

Friends, your life is precious.

It's precious to God

and it's precious to those around you.

And so I wanna say

that those feelings

as real as they feel

are not the whole truth.

There is a God who loves you

and your future can consist

of real hope

because there's a living God

who knows you

and made you

and came so that you might know him.

Friends, part of the problem

that Job faces

is that he feels so alone

and suffering does that.

And even if you're surrounded

by people who love you,

you can feel so alone.

Friends, I can ask you,

if you're struggling,

don't struggle alone.

There are people in this church

who love you

and will lay down their lives for you.

Friends, there are Christian counselors

in this church

that we will love to point you to

that'll help you walk

and talk and process.

Talk to the elders.

Don't suffer alone.

Friends, part of the reason

why Job chapter three

is in the Bible

is because God has put it here

to show us

that despair and darkness

and agony

is not the final part

of Job's story

and it's not the final point

of your story.

That though these are painful

and despairing moments,

God knows

and he understands.

Wouldn't it be so bad

if the Bible

didn't talk about these things?

If the Bible

was always just chipper

and good and wonderful?

God puts us in the Bible

to know that he understands

how we feel.

But it's not the end

of the story.

So how does the story end?

Well, we've spoken about

the ministry of suffering,

silence,

and suffering,

presence,

the misery of suffering alone,

thirdly and finally,

the ministry

of the suffering Savior.

In the first section

of our passage,

we saw the ministry

of suffering presence,

friends who come

to be with us.

And yet sometimes

even the very best friends

are not enough.

Last week,

we saw how Job's suffering

anticipates in some ways

the sufferings

of Jesus Christ

upon the cross.

Friends,

Job suffered alone

and in ignorance.

He's unaware

of the conversation

that's happening

in heaven

between God

and the Satan.

Jesus suffered,

but Jesus suffered

not in ignorance,

he suffered intentionally

and deliberately.

Jesus suffers

also because of a conversation

that happens in heaven,

not between God

and Satan,

but between God the Father

and Christ

and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is part

of the conversation

that leads him

to earth.

Jesus suffered

not in ignorance,

but intentionally

because he came

with a plan

to bring hope

to our broken world.

Friends,

Job wished that his life

was over

because he saw no hope

in front of him.

Jesus came

and gave up his life.

He died,

but he rose again

so that even

in our deepest despair

and agony,

we can live with hope.

So friends,

I want to say to us,

if all we have before us

in the Bible

is Job,

what hope do we have?

But God didn't

just give us Job,

he gave us Jesus.

That in our darkness

we might have hope.

Friends,

Job 3 is full

of why questions.

Why must I live?

Why was I born?

Why do I have to

put up with this?

Why, why, why?

The evangelists,

the gospel writers

tell us that

as Jesus hangs

on the cross,

there's a why question

that comes from his mouth.

My God, my God,

why have you forsaken me?

Jesus didn't ask

that question in ignorance

because he didn't

know the answer.

He knew the answer.

Jesus was part

of the conversation

that put him

on the cross.

Jesus bursts out

this cry,

why, my God,

have you forsaken me?

Because he's quoting

Psalm 22.

In agony

and in darkness

of despair,

he quotes Psalm 22.

Psalm 22

is a psalm

of lament

that starts in agony

and ends in hope.

Let me read

some of it to us.

My God,

my God,

why have you forsaken me?

Verse 1.

Why are you so far

from saving me

from the words

of my groaning?

I cry by day

but you do not answer.

By night

but I find no rest.

But Psalm 22

doesn't end there.

It ends

with great hope.

Verse 22.

I will tell

of your name

to my brothers

and sisters.

In the midst

of the congregation

I will praise you.

God has not despised

the affliction

of the afflicted.

He has not

hidden his face

from him

when he cried to him.

The afflicted

shall eat

and they shall

be satisfied.

Those who seek him

shall praise the Lord.

Friends,

as we continue

to read the book

of Job,

we see that

that's Job's story too.

It starts in despair

and it ends

in hope.

As we read

in Job chapter 19,

Job 19 · chapter mention

I know that

my Redeemer lives

and he will one day

walk upon the earth.

Many, many,

hundreds,

thousands of years later,

Job's Redeemer,

Jesus Christ,

did walk upon the earth.

Jesus,

the true friend

that sticks closer

than a brother.

Jesus,

the true Redeemer

who came to die

and rise again

to turn back

the curse

and the brokenness

of this world.

And friends,

because Jesus lived

as he did

and died as he did,

we can look at death

and suffering

and despair differently.

Friends,

if you're a Christian

this morning,

you have the Redeemer's

spirit inside of you.

And so even as we go

through the most

severe trials,

he has not abandoned us.

If you're a Christian

this morning,

you need never suffer

alone

because the spirit

of the living Lord

Jesus Christ

resides in you

and comforts you

and prays with you

and prays for you

and assures you

of God's love

and assures you

of God's presence.

Friends,

while Jesus' death

doesn't take away

all the questions,

what it does do

is it means

we can trust him.

And so Jesus

overcame the hopelessness

of the cross

because he is God

and death and evil

have no hold on him.

Friends,

now we too

can overcome

our hopelessness

because Jesus is God

and we can hold

on to him.

And so don't try

and beat despair

on your own.

Don't hold on

to it on your own.

Friends,

can you look

to Jesus,

the man of sorrows

who suffered

for us?

Let me close

with these words

from my friend

Douglas O'Donnell.

He says,

Job thought

that he was forsaken

by God

but he was not.

God's silence

did not mean

his forsakenness.

Jesus,

however,

was forsaken.

He was forsaken

that we might not

suffer eternal silence

and separation

from God.

Why is not

the ultimate question

of the book of Job

but Jesus'

why have you forsaken me

is the ultimate

and the most foundational

question in the Bible.

Without Jesus'

death on the cross

we absolutely

are hopeless

having no hope

of eternal life,

eternal joy,

eternal fellowship

with the wise

and just

and loving God.

So as we read

this distressing poem

of Job chapter 3,

Job 3 · chapter mention

let us thank God

for Job's honesty

but oh let us

also thank God

for the gospel

for our great redeemer

who in his death

redeemed us

saving us from sin,

Satan,

death,

and came

to give us life.

Friends,

let's pray together.

Father God,

if we had written

the Bible

we would not

have included

such a chapter

as Job chapter 3.

Job 3 · chapter mention

We would have

included chapters

like Psalm 23,

the Lord is my shepherd,

he leads me

beside still waters.

But God,

thank you

that even those chapters

include verses

like you lead us

through the valley

of the shadow

of death.

But you lead us,

you don't abandon us.

Father,

we are not

unaware of the fact

that in this room

many of us,

God,

either have

or currently

are walking

what feels like

the valley

of the shadow

of death.

God,

I pray

that the living God

and the spirit

of the living Christ

will come

and minister

to our needs.

Lord,

deep from sorrows

we cry,

but we cry out

to you.

Won't you come

and be with us

like you came,

Jesus,

to walk upon the earth?

Won't you come

and walk with us

today

and tomorrow

and the next day?

And God,

lift our eyes again,

I pray,

and help us

to lament,

to cry from deep

within us

but to cry to you.

Jesus,

this morning

we get on our knees

and we say,

we need you.

Lord,

we need you.

Every hour,

God,

we need you.

Come and have your way,

we pray.

Amen.