Does Job fear God for nothing?

Job chapter 1 begins with God asking, "Have you considered my servant Job?" It's a good question for us. Have you ever considered the servant Job? Let's open to Job chapter 1 as we reflect on him together.

Good morning, Cross Connection Church! How are you all doing this morning? Would you please stand with me and take out your Bibles? If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. We are going to be in a new book, which is actually a very old book in the Old Testament: the book of Job. If you open to about the middle of your Bible, you'll find the Psalms, and Job is the book that comes just before the Psalms. Job chapter 1 is where we will be.

I am so glad to be back with you. We had a great trip touring the Mediterranean. We visited Israel, Greece, Rome, and many other places. We had 113 people with us, including Pastor David Guzik from Enduring Word. It was really a great trip!

I don't know if you know this, but October is Pastor's Appreciation Month. I want to express my gratitude and appreciation for our pastoral team, our staff team, and our leadership team here at Cross Connection Church. Personally, I might be biased, but I think we have the best staff team that you could ever have at a church. I am very grateful for our leadership team because when I go on a trip like this, I don't have to think about anything back here; they take care of everything. It's awesome and wonderful! I was able to listen to some great teaching while I was gone, and it was a blessing. Thank you to our staff.

Now, let's look at Job chapter 1, verse 1. How many of you have ever read the book of Job? Lift up your hand. Alright, most of you! This will be totally familiar, and you'll remember all of this. Job 1 states, "There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil." He had seven sons and three daughters. His possessions included seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large number of servants.

Household so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East. His sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day. They would sin and invite their sisters to eat and drink with them. So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them. He would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." Thus, Job did regularly.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered and said to the Lord, "From going to and fro on the earth, from walking back and forth on it." Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in all the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?"

So Satan answered the Lord and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge of protection around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now stretch forth your hand and touch all that he has, and surely he will curse you to your face."

The Lord said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay your hand on his person." So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

God, I pray that as we open to this book, this very old story, you would open our minds, our ears, and our hearts. Lord, not only that we would comprehend what the text says, but that we would comprehend what it is that you, by your Spirit, are seeking to say to us through the text. God, I believe you have a message for each of us, something you want to teach us, something you want to open our eyes to, that we would continue to be transformed more and more into the likeness of your sons and daughters, that our lives would show your working.

Power that it would be seen in us that we truly trust and follow You, God. Do Your work in us; speak to us, we pray. We ask this today in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, "Amen." You may be seated.

Well, if ever there was a fascinating story, this is certainly one. I have been thinking about this book and considering doing a short series on it for quite some time now. We are not going to go verse by verse through every chapter of Job, but I have been thinking about this passage for quite a while for a number of reasons.

First, there are some very significant things about the story that we just began to read through that I think we might get wrong or interpret just a little bit off. Second, there are some issues that this book addresses that I believe are very important for us living in our day. Even though some believe that this story is one of the oldest in the Bible, maybe even four thousand years old, there are still applications that I think God wants to give to us from it.

Third, there are some beliefs that some Christians in our day hold or carry that really have no real basis in Scripture, which I think are dealt with in this book. Fourth, one of the biggest problems that people living in our day, particularly Westerners, have with God, Christianity, and the Bible is the issue of suffering, the issue of pain, and the reality of God.

Now, before we really step into what I hope to discuss and look at as we go through this book, or at least in this message this morning and over the next five or six weeks, I think it's good to point out that this is in a section of the Bible that we haven't really been in for a while. We have spent most of our time over the last eleven years going through the New Testament of the Bible. If you are new to the Bible, the Bible is a book of...

The Bible consists of 66 books written by 40 different authors in three different languages across three different continents over the span of 1,500 to 2,000 years. Despite this diversity, there is a cohesive message from God that runs from the very beginning in the book of Genesis to the end.

The Bible is divided into two sections. The last third, which contains the last 27 books, is known as the New Testament or the New Covenant. This is where we have spent most of our time, and in fact, it is where most churches focus their teachings. There is good reason for this emphasis, as the New Testament deals with the New Covenant—an agreement that God has made with humanity through Jesus Christ. It presents wonderful realities that are given to us in that text.

However, the Old Testament is also very important. The first 39 books of the Bible primarily deal with a group of people who descended from a man who began to follow God. This story is introduced in the twelfth chapter of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. God met with a man named Abram and said, "I want you to come and follow me. If you follow me faithfully and trust in me, then I will make you a great nation. I will bless you, and through you, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed."

Abram's name was ultimately changed to Abraham. When he began to follow God at 75 years old, he had no children, but God promised to make him a great nation. Eventually, God blessed Abraham with a son named Isaac. The promise then extended from Abraham to Isaac, who had a couple of sons, one of whom was named Jacob. The promise continued to Jacob, and God changed Jacob's name to Israel, making him the father of the children of Israel.

Most of the rest of the Old Testament deals with God's dealings with the people of Israel. Through them, the promise made to Abraham was intended to reach the whole world, as God said, "Through you, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed." Jesus would ultimately descend through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and on through his son Judah.

Thus, the Old Testament centers around this group of people, and these first 39 books are divided into five different sections. The first five books are known as the Law.

The Pentateuch is followed by the next twelve books, which are historical. After that, there are five books of Hebrew poetry. The last two sections consist of five books called the Major Prophets and twelve books called the Minor Prophets. The text we are examining today, the Book of Job, finds itself in the category of Hebrew poetry. It is one of the great Hebrew epics or poems of Hebraic literature from several thousand years ago.

Hebrew poetry differs significantly from modern Western English poetry. It does not rhyme words; instead, it rhymes thoughts, ideas, concepts, and topics. The Book of Job is one of the most interesting and fascinating poems you could ever find.

One of the challenges with the Book of Job is that there is little agreement among scholars regarding when it was written. There is also little consensus about who authored the book. Additionally, scholars debate whether the character named Job was a historical figure or a fictional creation meant to teach a lesson. There is much discussion among commentators and Bible teachers about the true purpose of the Book of Job.

With all of this as a backdrop, some may wonder why we should study it. I believe that God has something He wants to communicate to us through His Word. We hold that this is Scripture, and all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Therefore, it is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, so that the people of God, the followers of God, may be thoroughly equipped to navigate this life.

If you have never read through the Book of Job, I encourage you to do so either this week or over the next several weeks as we explore it together. I understand that as you read through the Book of Job, it can be a bit confusing, especially when you encounter characters like Bildad, Eliphaz, and Elihu. Who are these people, and why do they seem to have such an issue with Job? As you read through the text, it can indeed be a challenging book to understand.

During this series over the next five to six weeks, we will not cover every chapter, but we will address some key themes that I believe are very applicable in this passage.

We begin to move into the story. I do think it's important to address what I believe might be a major issue with this story, and that is that some teachers and commentators, in interpreting this book, may have some of the interpretation just a little bit off. The part that they interpret incorrectly sets the stage for the whole story. It's found in these opening two chapters, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2, which we'll look at this week and next week.

Now, in saying that, if you've studied through the Book of Job before or read through the Book of Job and you have some conclusions or ideas about what's going on in Chapters 1 and 2, you can feel free to disagree with the way that I see this. However, I do believe that my interpretation is supported by both Scripture and scholarship, as we'll get into today. This is an important issue because, point number one on your outline, a wrong understanding of this text may color one's understanding of God.

Now, that's not only true about the Book of Job; it's actually true about the entire Bible. If you misunderstand the text of the Bible, it may really shape a wrong understanding of your view of God. So, it's very important that we be diligent in our study of Scriptures to rightly divide the word of truth. That's what we aim to do when we gather together here at Cross-Connection Church.

A wrong understanding of this text may color one's understanding of the nature of God Himself, and this is actually one of the things that we're going to be addressing as we go through this study over the next six weeks. I think that many people have a wrong understanding of God, and having a wrong understanding of God and how He works is not a good thing.

I know that many people we interact with on a regular basis—neighbors, co-workers, friends, family members—have a wrong understanding of God. They will say things like, "I could never believe in a God who would..." How many of you have ever had that conversation with someone before? A number of you have. They might say, "I could never believe in a God who hates gays." Well, to be very candid with you, I don't believe in that God either.

God, who would create cancer? I don't believe in that God either. In fact, I suggest to you, give me the God you don't believe in; it's highly likely I don't believe in that God either, and he's probably not the God that's revealed in the Scriptures.

You see, we know a lot of people who have wrong understandings of God—wrong views of God that are not necessarily shaped by Scripture, or they are shaped by Scripture but misunderstood or taken out of context and not rightly interpreted. These things are very important. Every one of us knows people who have a wrong understanding of God. We are living in a culture today that is filled with lots and lots of people—neighbors, co-workers, friends, and some of them may even be in your family, like a brother, sister, or child—who have a wrong understanding of who God is and how he works.

As a result, they wouldn't even necessarily be called atheists; they would be called hate-theists. They hate God. We have a growing group of people in the United States of America, not just here but also in Canada and Western Europe, who have a hard time with the God they associate with Christianity. They have rejected Christianity or walked away from the faith. They may even say, "Well, I don't know; I'm agnostic. I don't even know if God exists," or "I don't believe that God exists."

When you get down to it and start to interact with them—I interact with these people on a regular basis—you find it's not that they don't believe in God; they just don't like him. They don't like what they think he is, how they think he works, or who he seems to be to them. This is very important, and that's why I think we need to consider Job.

We read here in Job 1:1, "There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil." Point number two on your outline: Job was the most righteous man of his day. Whether or not he was a truly historic character, whether or not he lived in the second millennium BC or in 800 BC, we don't really know. I believe that he was a very real historic character, but whoever he was, he was the most righteous man of his day.

Now, you may want to argue that point, especially Christians who understand and read through the New Testament.

Been trained in the doctrine of the Bible, they say, "Listen, Paul says there's none righteous, no, not one." So how can you possibly say Job was the most righteous man of his day? Well, I can say that because that's what God said about him.

Look at verse 8: The Lord said, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright, that is, righteous man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" According to God, there was nobody like Job on all the earth. Now, that's not to say that Job was perfect in comparison to a holy and righteous God, but he was upright and he was blameless. There was nothing that could be brought against him, at least as we see in the text here, as it relates to those upon the earth.

Not only was Job the most righteous man of his day, but also, look at verse 2. He had seven sons and three daughters that were born to him. His possessions included seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household. This man was the greatest of all the people of the East.

Point number three in the outline: Job was the most wealthy man of his day. Perhaps you might even say he was the most blessed man of his day because verse 9 tells us that these possessions came according to the blessing of God. We read in verse 9, "You, God, have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land." He was the Jeff Bezos of 4,000 years ago; he had it all.

One of the indications that this story probably takes place somewhere in the second millennium BC, about 3,500 years ago, is how his wealth is accounted for. It was not accounted for by silver and gold, which is what you see in the first millennium BC during the time of the kings of Israel. It doesn't say that he had much silver or much gold; it says that he had seven thousand sheep and five hundred female donkeys. That's how his wealth was accounted. So, this was a very wealthy man. He was the greatest man in all the East; he was the most wealthy man of his day.

He was the most righteous, he was the most wealthy, he was the most blessed. Look at verse 4: His sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day. They would sin and invite their three sisters, and they would eat and drink.

Have a great party! When the days of feasting had run their course, Job would sin and sanctify his children. He would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all—ten burnt offerings for each of his children. Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed in their hearts." Thus, Job did regularly. This was the regular practice of the man Job. He not only sought to deal with his own righteousness before God, but he also sought to intercede for his children.

Job was the most pious man of his day, the most wealthy, the most righteous, the most devout. He was the priest of his family, just in case his kids may have sinned or done something wrong. Therefore, he offered sacrifices for every single one of them.

Then, as we might say, the plot thickens. Things get all crazy.

Now there was a day when the sons of God, that is, angels, messengers of God, came to present themselves before the Lord. The Satan also came among them. The Lord said to the Satan, "From where do you come?" The Satan answered and said to the Lord, "From going to and fro on the earth and walking back and forth on it."

Then the Lord said to the Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him in all the earth, blameless and upright, one who fears God and shuns evil."

This is the area where I take an alternate view on the interpretation of the Book of Job. Here in this scene, in verses 6 through 8, I have wrestled with this passage for a number of years, and maybe you have wrestled with it too, because it presents a pretty striking image. The image is of a heavenly court, a royal court really. You have the sovereign over the earth, God, the King, the Lord. The sovereign is there, and his courtiers—his advisors, his counselors—come in to meet with him. Among them is this individual, referred to in our English translations of the Bible as Satan.

Every single one of us, highly schooled in Western culture, has a picture that comes to mind that is more influenced by Renaissance art than by Semitic writings from over 3,500 years ago. We have an image of Satan: what does he look like? What color is he? He's red. What does he have on his head? Does he have a tail? What's on the end of it? A little point? What does he have in his hand? A pitchfork? We all have the same picture. Where's that in the Bible? Is that in the Bible? Nowhere. But we've got an image.

There was a day when the sons of God came and appeared before the Lord, and Satan appeared among them. We might think we know him well. Satan came in among them, and the Lord said, "Where did he come from?" He answered, "From going to and fro about the earth, going back and forth on it." It's a fascinating picture. God is having this meeting with His advisers; the Sovereign is having a meeting with His advisers, and among them is this one called the Satan.

The Lord said to the Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him in all the earth; he is blameless and upright, one who fears God and shuns evil." Did God just offer up Job to the devil? That's challenging. I've heard it many times before as it relates to the book of Job, and I heard it just again this morning before the first service. Someone said to me, "I kind of skipped the book of Job because I'm afraid that something like what happened to Job might happen to me." A little superstitious, I won't ask you to raise your hand if you've ever thought that, but there is a thought that goes through our minds: wait, hold on a second, might God say, "Have you considered my servant Greg?"

So we get pretty fearful about that. Did God just offer up Job to the devil?

The devil that we think of is often depicted as red, with horns, a pitchfork, a pointed tail, black eyes, and fangs. However, I don't believe this is an accurate representation. The Satan we envision is not the same as the one described in Scripture. In this passage, we have a picture that is heavily influenced by Western culture, particularly Renaissance art, rather than the Bible itself.

We are reading a book that is, by some accounts, 3,500 to 4,000 years old, written on a different continent, in a different culture, and in a different language. This context provides a totally different view of these concepts. So, what is exactly going on here?

Before we delve deeper, some of you may have heard the old saying, "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't." I want to suggest that this is the devil you don't know. You might wonder why this matters. It matters because, as we saw in the first point, a wrong understanding of the text can color one's understanding of God.

Another question that arises is why I believe the individual referred to as the Satan here is not the devil we assume him to be. To address this, I want to read from a scholar named David Klein, who specializes in ancient shamanic languages and literature, as well as the Old Testament. He points out that every time the term "Satan" appears—specifically 11 times in Job chapters 1 and 2—it is preceded by the definite article in Hebrew: "the Satan." This indicates that it is not a name but a designation.

There is no English translation that accurately conveys this nuance. The closest is the New Living Translation, which states, "One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the accuser, Satan, came with them." This implies that "Satan" is his name, which leads us to misunderstand the text. What is being revealed in the ancient literature is that, in the context of Job, it refers to "the accuser," or "the Satan." Klein notes that the definite article appears before the term "the Satan" in each instance.

Occurrences in the book prevent us from identifying the figure of the Satan with Satan of later Jewish and Christian theology. We need to be cautious about typecasting the Satan pictured here as the arch enemy of mankind, the adversary, the devil who prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Instead, the Satan in Job is remarkably analogous to the functionary in Christendom known as the devil's advocate, whose task is to raise objections to the canonization of a saint. His role as the Satan is to ensure that no potential criticism of the candidate remains unheard and unanswered.

So the question is, is there anything at all that can be said against the exceptional piety of Job? He is the most righteous, the most pious, and the most blessed. Is there anything that can be said against his exceptional piety? The Satan comes and says yes; his piety may be conditioned by self-interest.

What exactly is being meant here? What Klein is saying is that what we have here is the same scene that you would see in a royal court in the ancient Near East 3,500 years ago. You have a sovereign who has advisers who go out into the kingdom of the sovereign to assess how things are going. They come back to return news to the sovereign about what is happening. The picture is as if the sovereign has sent one of them, the devil's advocate, to investigate the piety of the most blessed, the most righteous man in all of the kingdom. He wants to see if this man is as he appears to be.

So he says, "Have you looked into the issue of Job, the most upright, the most righteous man?" The Satan answers the Lord and says, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions you have increased in the land. But now stretch forth your hand and touch all that he has, and surely he will curse you to your face."

It's as if the counselor to the king says, "Yes, I've looked into him. I went and did what you asked me to do. I looked into him, and there may be a problem." All right, what's the problem? It could be said that he only serves you because of what you give him.

The job of a mercenary appears pious and faithful, but if you took everything away that God has blessed him with, maybe he wouldn't remain faithful. Point number five on your outline is that the Satan of Job is not the devil. He is not the devil you know, but rather a messenger of God to test the motivation of His servant.

This is a challenging consideration for us in our 21st-century context, especially with all the cultural narratives we have about the individual called the devil as revealed in Scripture. I am not saying that there is no such thing as the devil; I believe there is a very real spiritual entity that is in opposition to God. However, I don't know that this is that individual here in this text.

Another challenging aspect to consider is that in this text, God seems to be someone who is still waiting to see how Job will respond. Many people have a hard time with that. The question is a challenging one, one that I have wrestled with for a long time. Now, I will present it to you, and you can wrestle with it as well: Was Job genuinely righteous and faithful to God, or was he faithful only for what he could get from God?

Personalize it: Am I faithful to God because of who God is, or am I faithful to God only because of what I can get from Him? That is the test. If we are only faithful to God for what we can get from Him, then when things don't go our way—when we lose our health, when we lose a child, when we lose our livelihood, or when we lose our wealth—we will have every reason to curse God and die.

This is a challenging thought. Pew Research just released their findings for 2018 last week, and it has been in the news; you may have seen it.

Again, for the tenth year in a row, we see a sharp decline in Christianity in the United States of America. A growing number of people are no longer identifying with the church or affiliating with it. Many of them would have said 10 or 15 years ago, "I am a Christian," but they no longer self-identify as such. Instead, they identify as not religiously affiliated, often referred to as the "nuns," meaning they have no religious affiliation.

One of the striking things we observe about some of these individuals—though not all—is their perspective on their loss of faith. They express that they did not get what they expected from Christianity. They were faithful to God and the church only for what they could gain from it. When things did not go their way, they felt it didn't work for them.

I want to suggest that Western culture is filled with people who once identified as Christians for what they could get from God. Sadly, this mindset aligns perfectly with the false teaching that has been propagated in America and exported around the world for the better part of the last 60 years, known as prosperity theology. This teaching suggests that one should come to Jesus to receive health, wealth, and prosperity. When individuals do not receive these blessings, they often abandon their faith.

This brings us to the question posed in the story of Job, which dates back 4,000 years: Does Job serve God out of sincerity, or does he serve Him only because he is blessed? God's response to this question provides insight into the nature of the accuser, often referred to as Satan. If this figure is indeed the accuser of the brethren, one would expect God to rebuke the challenger when the challenge arises against His servant. However, He does not do that. Instead, He grants permission for Job to be struck.

In verse 12, the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, all that Job has is in your power; only do not lay your hand on this person." So, Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

Now, there was a day, as described in verse 13, when the sons and daughters of Job were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house.

A messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing, five hundred yoke of oxen, a thousand oxen. The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys beside them when the Sabians raided and took them away. Indeed, they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

While he was still speaking, another one also came and said, "Fire fell from heaven and burned up the sheep, seven thousand sheep. That's a barbecue! Fire from heaven came and burned up seven thousand sheep and the servants and consumed them. I alone have escaped to tell you."

For a third time, while he was yet speaking, another one came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels, and took them. Yes, they killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

While he was still speaking, another came also and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the oldest brother's house, and suddenly a tornado came. A great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people. They are dead. I alone have escaped to tell you."

How would you respond? Note this: this is very important. Your response to suffering says more about what you believe than your statements of faith. Your response to hardship, difficulty, trial, trouble, and suffering says more about your church attendance, more than your tithe dollars, and more than your service. How you respond to suffering says everything about your relationship to God.

How did Job respond? Verse 20 states, "Then Job arose and tore his robe, and he shaved his head." These are signs of mourning and repentance. He fell on the ground and worshiped, saying, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." In all of this, Job did not sin or charge God with any wrong.

Well, that's Job's first response.

Worry not; the story's not over. It gets worse. Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. He didn't say, "How dare you? I served you! I sacrificed for you every morning. I sacrificed for my sons and daughters. How dare you?" He didn't respond like that.

Never forget a conversation I was having while running on a treadmill. A chaplain with a fire department, I was at one of the stations here, running next to a gentleman on a stationary bike. I knew him to be an atheist. I'm a chaplain, and he's an outspoken atheist. We had never really had a conversation about God, but I had been running on the treadmill for weeks next to this guy, who was riding on his stationary bike. Most of the time, he would talk about the news that was playing on the TV.

One day, he started to talk to me about God. He said, "You know I'm an atheist." I replied, "Yeah, I know that." Then he started to tell me why. He said, "My dad was diagnosed with lung cancer, and I prayed, and God didn't heal, so God doesn't exist."

He was not an atheist because of Charles Darwin, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, or Sam Harris, or because of a really good scientific proof against God. He was an atheist because he was mad at God. I want to suggest to you that most of the people who say they don't believe in God are actually just really mad at Him. They are really angry with the God they don't believe in. This has been the case most of the time when I talk to people who are atheists. I talk with atheists on a pretty regular basis; I try to. I like to talk to atheists; I'm fascinated by them.

But, like I said, I call them "hate-theists," not atheists. They just hate God. Even Richard Dawkins does not want there to be a God because he does not want to be accountable to a God.

How do we respond to suffering? It says a lot about what we really believe. Now, this last verse, verses 21 and 22, may remind you of a song: "Blessed be the name of the Lord."

Naked I came into this world, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Some of you remember a former worship leader we had named Rich Gary. That was his favorite song, and I love the way that Rich would sing it. Rich had a great voice, but he would always start that song off-key. It was great, and he would adjust; it would be great after that. It was like he couldn't find that note at the beginning, but he loved that song.

I remember when Rich was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. A very short time after that, we were at his house to pray with him, and I remember him singing that song. I think I even have it recorded on my phone somewhere: "Blessed be the name of the Lord." I can tell you for certain, having watched him walk through that, he responded to suffering like a righteous man.

Suffering in the life of a believer does one of two things: it either pushes you to be angry at God and walk away, or it causes you to draw near to God and say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." The sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. When I am weak, then He is strong; therefore, I will most gladly boast in my sufferings that the power of Christ may be evident in me.

We have the story of Job, which we're going to continue to look at next week in Job chapter two. We will consider some more things as they relate to this story, but it presents us with some really challenging things that we need to wrestle with. Do I serve God for who God is, for His greatness, that He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Maker of all things, and throned in heaven, worthy to be praised? Or do I serve Him only because of what I might be able to get from Him?

That's the test that Job was being subjected to, and here's the challenge: every single one of you will go through that test. We live in a broken, fallen world. Every one of us will suffer to some extent; we will all go through trials. Some of you have already experienced that, some of you are going through it right now, and some of you look at the trials of other people and think, "Come on, don't even call that a trial. How dare you think that that's so bad?" But every single person will experience suffering.

Suffering exists because we live in a broken, fallen world, and we have to wrestle with the realities of brokenness. In the person who God has worked His righteousness, you will see them praising God, saying, "Blessed be the name of the Lord. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away; blessed be His name." I know that my Redeemer lives, and I will one day stand with Him on that day. That's what Job will ultimately say.

These are challenging things to consider. Would you stand with me for a closing prayer?

God, thank You for Your Word. It is challenging; it does cut deep. It is a sword sharper than any two-edged sword. It divides between joint and marrow, soul and spirit. It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of our heart, revealing us for who we really are.

As we come to Your Word today, I pray, God, that You would examine our hearts. Lord, when we are tried, may we come to see that we are pure gold before You. God, do that work in us. May it be that whatever trial, suffering, or difficulty we face ultimately brings glory to You. May people see in us Your hand working, and may we say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." We praise You, Jesus. It is in Your name we pray.