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Speaker 1: walk with Christ, please visit us at Bible Studyheadquarters dot com.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Chapter a Day Audio Bible. I'm
Speaker 1: John Stangey, and today we're in Job chapter six, and
Speaker 1: we'll be reading from the contemporary English version. Job said,
Speaker 1: it's impossible to weigh my misery and grief. They outweigh
Speaker 1: the sand along the beach. And that's why I have
Speaker 1: spoken without thinking first. The fearsome arrows of God, all powerful,
Speaker 1: have filled my soul with their poison. Do oxen and
Speaker 1: wild donkeys cry out in distress unless they are hungry.
Speaker 1: What is food without salt? What is more tasteless than
Speaker 1: the white of an egg? That's how my food tastes,
Speaker 1: and my appetite is gone. How I wish that God
Speaker 1: would answer my prayer and do away with me. Then
Speaker 1: I would be comforted knowing that in all of my pain,
Speaker 1: I have never disobeyed God. Why should I patiently hope
Speaker 1: when my strength is gone? I am not strong as
Speaker 1: stone or bronze, and I have finally reached the end
Speaker 1: of my rope. My friends, I am desperate and you
Speaker 1: should help me, even if I no longer respect God
Speaker 1: all powerful, but you are treacherous as streams that swell
Speaker 1: with melting snow then suddenly disappear in the summer heat.
Speaker 1: I am like a caravan lost in the desert while
Speaker 1: searching for water. Caravans from Timah in Sheba thought they
Speaker 1: would find water, but they were disappointed, just as I
Speaker 1: am with you. Only one look at my suffering and
Speaker 1: you run away scared. Have I ever asked any of
Speaker 1: you to give me a gift or to purchase my friend?
Speaker 1: Read them from brutal enemies? What have I done wrong?
Speaker 1: Show me and I will keep quiet. The truth is
Speaker 1: always painful, but your arguments prove nothing here. I am desperate,
Speaker 1: and you consider my words as worthless as wind. Why
Speaker 1: you would sell an orphan or your own neighbor. Look
Speaker 1: me straight in the eye. I won't lie to you.
Speaker 1: Stop accusing me falsely. My reputation is at stake. I
Speaker 1: know right from wrong, and I am not telling lies.
Speaker 1: Let's pray, Lord, We thank you for your word, and
Speaker 1: we thank you for the opportunity to look at this
Speaker 1: portion of scripture. And we thank you Lord that we
Speaker 1: have the chance to hear Job's comments or his thoughts
Speaker 1: and insights on the trial that he's experiencing, even though
Speaker 1: it's very clear from this passage that he's still wrestling
Speaker 1: through it. He doesn't understand why you're allowing it to
Speaker 1: come into his life, and he's at a point where
Speaker 1: he wishes he was dead. And in the midst of that,
Speaker 1: he experiences friends who, instead of showing him a sense
Speaker 1: of compassion in these moments, seemed to be accusing him
Speaker 1: of privately sinning against you, but putting on a public
Speaker 1: face as if he hasn't. And Lord's interesting to look
Speaker 1: at his reply to them, and for him to even
Speaker 1: point out that even if he had done wrong, they
Speaker 1: still should have shown him compassion, but instead it seems
Speaker 1: like they were holding their nose up at him. It's
Speaker 1: difficult to see, but we're grateful, Lord that you've shown
Speaker 1: this to us. And we're grateful for the process that
Speaker 1: you brought Job through, where you deepened his ability to
Speaker 1: understand you and to know you, where you use this
Speaker 1: trial to refine his faith and helped him to wrestle
Speaker 1: with deep things. Lord, in the midst of our trials,
Speaker 1: we pray that our faith would grow stronger, that our
Speaker 1: trust in your son Jesus Christ to sustain us in
Speaker 1: the midst of all we go through, would be real
Speaker 1: and genuine and would grow stronger each and every day. Lord,
Speaker 1: we know that you love us, and we know that
Speaker 1: trials in our lives are not evidence of you abandoning
Speaker 1: us or something of that nature. But we're confident Lord
Speaker 1: that in the midst of all that we experience, you
Speaker 1: have a purpose and you have a plan, and you're
Speaker 1: accomplishing all that you set out to do in our lives.
Speaker 1: We're grateful for these things. Lord, We're thankful for your
Speaker 1: presence with us. And Lord, we pray that in the
Speaker 1: midst of our trials, that we would trust you, that
Speaker 1: we would not question your love, and that we would
Speaker 1: look toward the future with hope, knowing that you have
Speaker 1: good things in store for all those who love you, Lord,
Speaker 1: this side of heaven. Maybe those good things won't be
Speaker 1: things that we see quite as readily, but the ultimate
Speaker 1: outcome of our lives, our trials, our experiences, is ultimately
Speaker 1: going to be that You would be glorified and that
Speaker 1: we would grow that good would come from it. And
Speaker 1: we believe you as you tell us that in your word.
Speaker 1: So Lord, we commit this day to your care, and
Speaker 1: we thank you for your presence with us in all
Speaker 1: of these things. In g he use his name, Amen. M.