Job 34 - Godly Sorrow Brings Repentance

Daily Bible Study for Thursday June 16, 2016

By: Hanny Lynn Stearns

Fish – N – Loaves Ministries

Multiplying God’s Word around the Globe!

Chapter Reading for Today: Please read in your Bible before proceeding. Note that most translations are considered paraphrases. The Young’s Literal Translation provides a more accurate translation since he is the one who authored a concordance. Others are helpful for seeing a different perspective, but we cannot always depend on their wording. I hope this is helpful to you. If you are studying in another version, that is fine. I am studying from the KJV, but for the purpose of this study, I will keep it with the New King James Version. One final note: I will put the scripture in italics to differentiate from my own writing. I am adding red to the letters when it is Jesus talking – just like the Bible. Thank you.

All scripture is taken from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Bible Gateway Verse of the Day

Psalm 103:13

As a father pities his children,
so the Lord pities those who fear Him.

Psalm 100:4

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

and into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Song:  God is Good   By: Regina Belle

                                                  Song:  God is Good   By: Lisa Page

Job 34    Job – A Man of Endurance   

Godly Sorrow Brings Repentance

Well saints, we knew it was coming – so here it is. Job’s time to listen to what this man of God – Elihu, will be used by the lord to say to him. And this is just the beginning, so hold on to your hats! It’s gonna be breezy! The winds of change are about to overtake Job. Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father;

Thank You for Your never ending, always faithful word to us every day. Father, today we set ourselves humbly before You. Lord, we ask You to work in us a spirit of peace, a spirit of willingness to really hear and receive into our hearts all that You want to convey to us today. Lord, I ask You to think through my mind and speak through my hands all that You have for us. May Your word and Your purpose go forth from this study unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh Sir. Thank You in advance for changing us – molding us and making us to look and act more and more like Jesus every single day. In Jesus name I pray. Amen!  

Elihu was calling these men who thought they were so wise to pay close attention to what would be said. The great thing is that even though he has to ‘put them in their place’ a bit, he comes right around with great comfort and says in essence, “Hey guys, let’s talk about this together and find out what is really right and good here, ok?” He is coming along beside them, not in a position of condemnation, but in fellowship with them with one desire – to hear from God and be used to get some things straightened out. Glory to God. The Lord had sent Elihu at just the right time and now the process of getting things corrected had begun – hallelujah! There is always hope. Things like this trial don’t last forever though they may seem to. Praise God!

Job had declared his innocence and as far as he was concerned, he was sticking to it. But Elihu called him a ‘friend of sinners’ because of his accusations against God. Whoa! Whenever we hear the word “whoa” in the Bible, it is not good. Basically Job was calling himself righteous and the Lord to be guilty of evil tidings. But look at this…

Isaiah 5:20

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

That attitude had put Job in a bad place where the Lord was concerned. Elihu pointed out that Job had declared that it was of no benefit to delight oneself in God. We can see that back in chapter 9 and 21. He was treading on dangerous ground. This once strong man of God had slid way down in a pit so deep he could never pull himself out. We’ll talk about that more later. Elihu held nothing back in showing him his errors. Job had been trapped by his own words. Sound like anyone you know? I have been guilty on many occasions where this is concerned.

It was time for Elihu to remind these so called knowledgeable, wise and understanding men that God never does evil. The facts are the same throughout eternity. God is good – all the time! And all the time – God is good! He is always just in every situation. He is always fair. He never does wrong, not ever! And there is no one person or thing that has any authority over Him. God is at the top. He is the Lord God Almighty, head and Creator of all that is seen and unseen…

Isaiah 45:18

For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.

This is the foundational ground work that had to be laid in order to go any further in this discussion with Job. God is God! He has the authority title over everything. Nothing can even come close or compare to Him in His goodness, His power, His love and His purposes. We need to get that straight from the starting gate. Until we figure that out, we are on sandy terrain. Job had been a sweet man of God. He had loved justice and hated iniquity – just like God. He had shown compassion on the poor, the fatherless and the orphan and widow – all the same as God does. He despised people who lived in sin, again, just like God. But this trial had pushed on him so hard that the dirt that was buried down deep in his heart was squeezed to the surface like a half empty tube of toothpaste.

When push comes to shove, and we have talked about this in this study, what is in a person’s heart will eventually come out – like it or not. No person, when put to the flames of this life’s fiery trials will be able to hide what is really in their hearts – no one! Elihu reminded Job that God is powerful. How could anyone judge Him as guilty of any wrong doing? Yet in his misery Job had done just that. And for anyone who had known him, this would be the last thing anyone would have expected to see in him. It had gone against everything he had stood for, for so long. After all, it is God who gives every breathing soul their life and every breath. And He can take it away as fast as He gave it if He has reason to. 

Humans need to understand who God really is before they will begin to live right. If our thoughts of who He is are skewed, then we are already in trouble. That’s why children need to be brought up in the fear and admonition (training) of the Lord. If they are not, they are on a course of certain destruction because they have nothing solid or right to stand on. A life built without Him will surely crumble. Today many people have grown up in God-less households because of the rebellion that rose up in the 1960’s. Nobody wanted to be held accountable for anything and they didn’t want to be party to any form of discipline. So they let their kids go.

Now those kids, the ones born in the 60’s are anywhere in age from 56 years old and older, and are now parents and grandparents of a godless generation. They are the ‘freedom’ generation or so they think. And look at the crime rates and the abortions and homosexuality rates. It has all skyrocketed since the Bible and God was thrown out of the schools and the government starting way back then.

Now we have a bunch of evil doers robbing people, raping people and hopping from bed to bed selling drugs. We catch some of them and throw them in jail, and then we toss them a Bible and say, “Good luck!” And there’s no such thing as ‘luck’ so they are in serious trouble. Where can they turn? What are they to do then? They never knew the all-powerful, all loving God. They never stood a chance from the very beginning. But thanks be to God, that’s where you and I come in. We get to go to people like that and tell them about our great and forgiving, loving God. Hallelujah!

Job seemed to have forgotten about the wonders of God in the midst of his storm. Elihu was sent as a forerunner to remind Job of these very basic truths that will span the course of eternity past and eternity future. God is good – all the time! We are reminded in this chapter that as surely as God judges the kings and those in authority, He deals with everyone the same way. He is no respecter of persons.

Acts 10:34

Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

Here is the fairness of God with all men. He treats everyone with equality and He teaches us to do the same. Wicked rulers and evil people can’t find a place on the planet to hide from Him. Nothing is hidden from His sight…

Hebrews 4:13

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. 

And when God raises up a person to leadership, He can take them down in a flash. He needs no man’s timetable to make such a decision if that leader is a wicked ruler. In the right time He will remove and replace them – make no mistake. Saul is a perfect example of what happens to a ruler who did evil in the Lord’s sight. His kingdom was ripped from him and given to David…

1 Samuel 13:13-14

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

Job had a position of authority in his land. That position had been given to him by God. And as fast as it was given, we can see how fast it can be taken away. God will not let the wicked go on forever. Before you start to think, “This is too serious, what can anybody do?” - hear this. Job had been a man of God a long time. He had loved and honored God in all that he did as far as he knew. Yes, he had some hidden sins, but he had done well with what he had and what he understand. Because of that God was stepping in to show him the way out of the mess he had put himself in. Here we will start to focus on how merciful God is…

Exodus 20:6 and Deuteronomy 5:10

but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

I put both of those in there deliberately – so we will be sure to get it – LOL! Like one of the songs for today the words, “patient and kind” come to mind. Many try to blame God for the horror that they go through before they ever understand the facts about the situation. Job came to the point where he didn’t understand why he was suffering because he thought he had been good. Can anyone relate here? How many times have you felt this way or known someone who has? Our thoughts may have been something like this, “God, I have been doing all the right things, so did why You let this happen? Why God, why?”

We can be sure He hears that kind of thing on a daily basis around the world. But those who ask such things have never stopped to seek Him out and find out wisdom about their situation. They just figure God is so big and powerful and it was His fault that this or that happened to them. Nothing could be further from the truth. The devil loves to get into the minds of hurting people and provoke them into thinking that it was all God’s fault that this happened. As a result, they turn away from God rather than toward Him. Sadly, the one who can help them the most is the one they run the hardest from. It makes no sense whatsoever, but it is happening around the globe today.

In my own life, I spent years literally hating my own mother. It was a terrible thing but that is the way it was. Because of the poor upbringing, I blamed her for all the fun I missed out on. I blamed her for my getting pregnant at 15 years old and I really despised her for throwing me out into the street to fend for myself with no money or wisdom about what to do or where to go. I blamed her for missing out on my high school and college. I blamed her for moving me away from my friends to a strange school and then moving again and again.

I hated her for making my life miserable. That lasted from the time I was 13 years old until I had two small children in my early thirties when I finally became convicted in my heart that moms are people too and I owed her an apology for the way I had treated her and disrespected her. I don’t ever remember blaming God for my problems. I laid all that on my poor mom. I wasn’t raised in a house where God was known or loved and respected, so I knew nothing about Him even though I had asked Jesus to be my Savior at the age of 9. God was just somewhere on the back burner out there.

I didn’t know a thing about Him. He was there – I do know that. And He was watching over me through one storm after another and one dangerous situation after another. That is a story of great grace and of limitless mercy. He wasn’t giving me what I deserved and He was giving me a lot of love and protection that I certainly didn’t deserve. I didn’t know what I didn’t know about God or even myself. Job was no different. He did what he knew was right, but underneath it all there was a boiling pot that was simmering and needed to be cooled by the mighty hand of God.

Elihu was sent to get things in motion. Before God Himself would show up in the conversation, He sent a forerunner – sort of like John the Baptist in the New Testament. John had been sent to warn the people to repent because their redemption was drawing nigh. Jesus was on the way into the scene of their sin filled lives and they needed to get ready…

John 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’”

And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

By the time we get to verse 31 we can see Elihu advising Job (quite wisely I might add) to confess his guilt to God and ask the Lord to show him all his sins that he is not aware of. Friends, that is really good advice for us all. We may think we are not in sin, but down deep, way down in those recesses of our hearts, there could be old things lurking that are still allowing the devil an open door in our lives. If you knew there was a lizard hiding somewhere in your house, wouldn’t you want to do anything possible to get it out? Of course! It’s the same with our sin.

Many of us don’t take the time to listen to the thoughts the Lord is bringing to us about our sins. We don’t ask Him to reveal them. David knew something about that…

Psalm 25:16-21

Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart have enlarged; bring me out of my distresses!
Look on my affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins.
Consider my enemies, for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.
Keep my soul, and deliver me; let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.
Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for You.

In this one of many cries from David in the Psalms, he cried out to the Lord to forgive his sins. We can see over and over that physical affliction is usually a sign of unresolved sin and unforgiveness and bitterness – they go hand in hand. What Elihu was encouraging Job to do was the same. He needed to humble himself before the Lord and find out where he had gone wrong. We can imagine, and rightly so, that had he done that sooner the trial would never have drug on as long as it did. Isn’t that the case with most of us? The longer we keep doing the same old things, we will continue to get the same old unproductive results. But God, who is rich in mercy and grace was sending help Job’s way. He would have to listen and obey if he ever wanted to see this mess be over with.

Job had to be confronted with truth by this man of God. Elihu told him (see verse 33) that he was looking for some type of reward from God while still doing the same things and remaining in his sin. Not gonna happen folks! Not for Job and not for us. You all have heard the definition of insanity right? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. It is pure foolishness indeed! God gives us the choice. As long as we refuse to change, we will remain stuck in our misery. Is it God’s will? No way! Is it in God’s control? Certainly not. That brings us all back to the fact that God gave us a choice.

How we live will be determined by our response to God’s word. A friend of mine has been in despair for years and yet she remains there because she has not been willing to seek God in His word. She is still listening to the world and TV and she is getting the same miserable results. But God wants so much more for her. But she, along with you and me have to be willing to do the work it takes. We have to get right with God and others whom we have hurt and then we have to get right with ourselves. We need to forgive ourselves as much as we need to forgive others. Until we are willing to live and play by God’s rules, nothing is going to change. We can stay stuck until we die. In doing that we miss all the blessings the Lord had for us. We miss the rewards, the amazing joy of blessing others while we selfishly lived in our own pity pot. That is really SADD-U-CEE!

Here is what happens to the person who is truly sorry toward God for sinning against Him…

2 Corinthians 7:10

For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

Whining and complaining about our problems to our friends will not yield the right kind of results. Crying at the alter in church because we are sorry that our lives have become so miserable also will yield no fruit. The only thing that changes things is when we look to God in all His goodness and purity and realize deep in our hearts that we are sinning and rebellious toward Him and that we need to change, and quick! Then and only then will things begin to be transformed. When we do the following, we will begin to get the results we are looking for…

Ephesians 5:6-17

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 

Therefore He says:

“Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

We need to find out the will of God and do it. We can’t fly around the church on another person’s coattails and expect to get the healing and deliverance we need. We have to search the scriptures for ourselves. We need to know what God is saying to us personally. And when He tells us to do something, we need to obey and do it. To refuse is to be rebellious and that is acting like the devil is our father rather than God. Elihu said that Job had been talking like a fool so to speak. He had not spoken out of wisdom or knowledge. Job was heaping one sin on top of another in his crisis. It was as if he had fallen into a pit and when his friends tossed him a shovel to dig his way out, he just dug himself in deeper.

Ah, but there was a wise donkey I once heard of. He had fallen into a pit so deep that nobody could see how to get him out. So they decided to bury him alive. They began shoveling the dirt into the hole to fill it in. It sounds so sad, I know. But there’s good news here. This donkey was wiser than his destroyers. Every heap of dirt that they scooped in over him he would step up onto it and wait for the next load to drop. And each one that fell was used by this wise donkey to provide another step closer to safety. As the dirt piled higher and higher, that wise little donkey finally stepped out of the pit onto level ground and was free – hallelujah!

I want to be like that wise donkey – how about you? Let’s purpose in our hearts right here and now saints to be tender hearted toward God. Let’s ask Him to show us any secret faults and then repent immediately. Let’s grow up in our faith and walk with Him so we can be children who are well pleasing to their Father. Then we can be a valuable asset in His kingdom to get kingdom business accomplished and reach out to help others out of their pits – amen?

Questions:

What did Elihu purpose to do with Job in verse 4?

List some attributes about God that are listed in this chapter?

What is it about God that leads people to true repentance?

What sin do you know of right now that you need to repent of?

Have you sought God to see if there is anything you have been doing wrong that you may not be aware of?

Galatians 6:17

From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

 There are three main points to consider from today’s study…

God is good all the time – all the time, He is good

We must ask the Lord to reveal all sin to us

It is the goodness of God that leads us to repent

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for being such a good God. I am so grateful for Your amazing grace and mercy toward me Lord even though I did not deserve it. Father, thank You for making a way for me through Your Son Jesus Christ to come boldly to Your throne of grace and confess my sin and start with a clean slate right here and right now. Lord, I ask You to show me any hidden fault in my heart. Show me if I have not forgiven someone, including myself. Show me if I have been bitter or angry with anyone. If I have wronged You or disobeyed and been rebellious I ask You to show me. Father, I purpose in my heart to follow after You and Your good plan for me all the days of my life. With Your help I know that I can do everything You ask of me. You said in Your word that nothing You have commanded me this day is too hard for me or beyond my reach. Thank You in advance for Your love and forgiveness in Jesus name! Amen.

What do you need to make right with God?

And God Said… You fill in the blanks.

                                               Psalm 71:20-21

You, who have shown me great and severe troubles,
shall revive me again,
and bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
You shall increase my greatness,
and comfort me on every side.