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Speaker 1: I'm John Stangey, and today we're in Job chapter four
Speaker 1: and we'll be reading from the New English translation. Then
Speaker 1: Elephaz the Temanite answered, if someone should attempt a word
Speaker 1: with you, will you be impatient? But who can refrain
Speaker 1: from speaking? Look, you have instructed many, You have strengthened
Speaker 1: feeble hands. Your words have supported those who stumbled, and
Speaker 1: you have strengthened the knees that gave way. But now
Speaker 1: the same thing comes to you, and you are discouraged.
Speaker 1: It strikes you, and you are terrified. Is not your piety,
Speaker 1: your confidence, and your blameless ways your hope? Call to mine? Now,
Speaker 1: Who being innocent, ever perished? And where were upright people
Speaker 1: ever destroyed? Even as I have seen those who plow
Speaker 1: iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same. By
Speaker 1: the breath of God they perish, and by the blast
Speaker 1: of His anger they are consumed. There is the roaring
Speaker 1: of the lion and the growling of the young lion,
Speaker 1: but the teeth of the young lions are broken, the
Speaker 1: mighty lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs
Speaker 1: of the lioness are scattered. Now a word was secretly
Speaker 1: brought to me, and my ear caught a whisper of
Speaker 1: it in the troubling thoughts of the dreams. In the night,
Speaker 1: when a deep sleep falls on men, a trembling gripped
Speaker 1: me and a terror and made all my bones shake.
Speaker 1: Then a breath of air passes by my face. It
Speaker 1: makes the hair of my flesh stand up. It stands
Speaker 1: still ill, but I cannot recognize its appearance. An image
Speaker 1: is before my eyes, and I hear a murmuring voice.
Speaker 1: Is a mortal man righteous before God, or a man
Speaker 1: pure before his creator? If God puts no trust in
Speaker 1: his servants and attributes folly to his angels, how much
Speaker 1: more to those who live in houses of clay, whose
Speaker 1: foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth,
Speaker 1: They are destroyed between morning and evening. They perish forever,
Speaker 1: without anyone regarding it. Is not their excess wealth taken
Speaker 1: away from them. They die yet without attaining wisdom. Let's pray, Lord,
Speaker 1: we thank you for your word, and we thank you
Speaker 1: for the privilege of being able to look at it
Speaker 1: together today. And Lord, as we look at this portion
Speaker 1: of scripture, we could see that after spending some time
Speaker 1: in silence, Job's friend, Elephaz, starts to speak to him,
Speaker 1: and many of the things that he says here in
Speaker 1: this passage seem to ring true to our minds. And
Speaker 1: certainly there are a lot of true things stated here,
Speaker 1: but we also start picking up on a self righteousness
Speaker 1: that Eliphaz is communicating to Job. Instead of looking at
Speaker 1: Job and grieving with him and weeping with him, Elfhaz
Speaker 1: seems to cast a sense of doubt on Job's innocence,
Speaker 1: and he begins speaking as a know it all. Lord.
Speaker 1: We know that this is something that you caution us
Speaker 1: against elsewhere in scripture, as you displayed humility during the
Speaker 1: course of your earthly ministry. We know, Lord, that it's
Speaker 1: your desire that we mirror your humility, as you empower
Speaker 1: us to do so. That just as you wept with
Speaker 1: those who wept, and you mourn with those who mourn,
Speaker 1: and you show compassion to those who need compassion, you
Speaker 1: call us to do likewise, as men and women who
Speaker 1: have been saved through Jesus Christ. We're called to recognize
Speaker 1: that our righteousness does not come from ourselves. Any righteousness
Speaker 1: we have comes as a gift through Jesus Christ, and
Speaker 1: we should never try to hold ourselves up as righteous
Speaker 1: in and of ourselves, particularly in speaking to others who
Speaker 1: are in the midst of grief. Lord, thank you for
Speaker 1: this portion of scripture, and thank you for revealing these
Speaker 1: things to us when we look at the total council
Speaker 1: of your word. And Lord, we're grateful for your presence
Speaker 1: with us today. We commit this day to your care,
Speaker 1: and we thank you for all of these things in
Speaker 1: Jesus's name. Amen.