The Frustrations of the Righteous
Job 23-24
January 31, 2016
Well tonight we jump back into our study of the book of Job.
And while this study can be long,
We are learning some absolutely invaluable truths.
Namely because suffering is an absolute in this life.
• If for no other reason than the sin curse upon this world,
• Add to that reality the desire of Satan to steal, kill, and destroy,
• And even the prerogative of God to use suffering as a tool to
produce righteousness in His children
WE UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN.
That means that we need some sort of understanding regarding suffering.
We need to know some basic truths regarding why it occurs
And we need to know some basic truths
Regarding how we should respond.
Mainly, up to this point we have been EXPOSING the prosperity gospel.
That is that false belief system that says that God
Responds to the righteous with good things and to the wicked with bad things.
But we are ALSO (and this far less often)
Touching on the way the righteous should handle their suffering.
There are two undeniable truths regarding Job in this book.
1) Job did not deserve his suffering
2) Job did not handle his suffering very well
Now I am certainly in no position to critique Job,
For he’s probably handling it better than I commonly do,
But God will clearly reprimand Job for the way he responds during his pain.
So, without thinking ourselves better than Job,
We certainly must learn from his mistakes.
And that is what tonight’s two chapters is really about.
I called this sermon “The Frustrations of the Righteous”
Because that is really what we have here.
We have a righteous man (God called him righteous)
Who is frustrated with his circumstances.
We know Job’s theology is correct.
• Job knows that the righteous don’t always get instantly rewarded,
• Job knows that the wicked don’t always get instantly punished.
• Job knows that the payoff is in eternity, not necessarily today.
But just because Job’s theology is correct
Doesn’t mean Job is happy about it.
HE IS FRUSTRATED.
And I’ll go ahead and give you Job’s TWO main areas of frustration.
1) God is not available to the righteous in his suffering
2) God is not apparent to the wicked in his sin
In Job’s mind, God ought to be a little more pro-active.
God ought to be a little more hands on.
God ought to be a little more urgent.
To Job it feels like God is just letting things go on longer than He should.
Job feels like God is operating too late.
Now, I certainly don’t want a show of hands,
But I’d bet that if I could interview any one of you in the midst of your pain,
I’d bet that you’ve had similar frustrations.
WHERE ARE YOU?!?
Remember Martha and Mary?
Jesus found out Lazarus was sick, so He took His time and purposely waited for Lazarus to die.
That’s not how we think the incident should go.
It certainly wasn’t what Martha and Mary thought should happen.
Martha
John 11:21 “Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Then Mary
John 11:32 “Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Then the crowd that had been trying to comfort them
John 11:37 “But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?”
It was universal, they all thought the same thing.
He’s too late, why didn’t He act sooner?
Listen to the frustration of the disciples as they were in the biggest storm of their lives and they are just a little upset that Jesus is napping.
Mark 4:38 “Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
You hear it don’t you?
• C’mon Jesus, what is Your problem?
• What are you waiting for?
• Let’s go Savior, wake up and save!
It is the frustration heard over and over throughout the Psalms.
Psalms 6:3-5 “And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O LORD — how long? Return, O LORD, rescue my soul; Save me because of Your lovingkindness. For there is no mention of You in death; In Sheol who will give You thanks?”
Psalms 13:1-2 “How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?”
Psalms 35:17 “Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, My only life from the lions.”
Psalms 74:10 “How long, O God, will the adversary revile, And the enemy spurn Your name forever?”
Psalms 79:5 “How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?”
Psalms 80:4 “O LORD God of hosts, How long will You be angry with the prayer of Your people?”
Psalms 89:46 “How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire?”
Psalms 90:13 “Do return, O LORD; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants.”
Psalms 94:3 “How long shall the wicked, O LORD, How long shall the wicked exult?”
You get the idea?
And I have to tell you, it’s not a lament that has ended.
Even in the future tribulation,
Even after death we see people asking this question.
Revelation 6:9-10 “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
It is the frustration of the righteous
Who just can’t seem to figure out
Why God is so apathetic in regard to their justice.
That is certainly Job’s frustration.
I want us to look at it tonight and THEN BE REMINDED
Of what that type of frustration brings from God.
So let’s look at Job’s frustrations.
I already gave them to you.
#1 GOD IS NOT AVAILABLE TO THE RIGHTEOUS IN THEIR SUFFERING
Job 23:1-17
This isn’t hard to see.
(READ 1-7)
Do you hear what Job is saying?
If I could get to God and stand before Him, there is not a doubt in my mind that He would acquit me.
(4) “I would present my case”
(6) “Would He contend with me by the greatness of His power? No…”
(7) “I would be delivered”
Job’s friends have condemned him repeatedly for being a sinner,
But Job knows that if he could just have an audience with God,
That God would most certainly acquit him.
If God would just step into my situation, I know I’d be delivered.
BUT THAT’S THE PROBLEM.
(8-9) “Behold, I go forward but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.”
I can’t find Him.
He’s gone.
Just when I need Him…just when He could help…
I go looking and He’s nowhere to be found.
• It is the same lament of Martha, “If You had been here…”
• It is the same lament as Mary, “If You had been here…”
• It is the same thought as the disciples, “If You weren’t sleeping…”
Job says that God has all the answers
And could most certainly acquit him
And yet God can’t seem to be found anywhere.
And according to Job, THAT’S NOT FAIR
Because after all, God knows that I’ve been righteous:
(10-12) “But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. “My foot has held fast to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside. “I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”
This is actually what makes Job so frustrated.
He knows that he’s righteous.
• He knows that if God would try him, he’d come out “as gold” (i.e. as pure)
• He knows that his “foot has held fast to His path”
• He knows that he has “kept His way and not turned aside”
• He knows that has “not departed from the command of His lips”
• He knows that he has “treasured the words of His mouth”
And yet God won’t stand up and vindicate him.
And to make matters worse,
It’s not like anyone can just grab God and force Him to do His job.
(13-17) “But He is unique and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires, that He does. “For He performs what is appointed for me, And many such decrees are with Him. “Therefore, I would be dismayed at His presence; When I consider, I am terrified of Him. “It is God who has made my heart faint, And the Almighty who has dismayed me, But I am not silenced by the darkness, Nor deep gloom which covers me.”
Today when we need someone to testify we can summons a person.
But Job says, “Good luck with that”
God is “unique”, you don’t just make Him come.
God is sovereign, He does what He wants.
And if you tried to rope Him and drag Him here, He’d terrify you.
(15) “Therefore I would be dismayed at His presence; When I consider, I am terrified of Him.”
Can you hear Job’s frustration?
• God can vindicate me.
• And if I could ever get God to listen, He would vindicate me.
• But God is avoiding me, and I can’t make Him show up.
• Furthermore, if I could make Him show up, I’m not sure I’d like it.
(Those words are going to turn out to be prophetic to say the least)
But you do understand Job’s frustration.
God is not making Himself available to the righteous in their suffering.
TURN TO: PSALMS 44
• (1-3) God we heard how You delivered the people of old.
• (4-8) We proclaimed that You would do that for us too.
• (9-16) But You didn’t, You let us perish
• (17-26) We don’t understand why
There lies the frustration of the righteous in the midst of their pain.
God, I just can’t seem to figure why you would stay so far away.
Remember Habakkuk?
Habakkuk 1:1-4 “The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw. How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save. Why do You make me see iniquity, And cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises. Therefore the law is ignored And justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out perverted.”
Even if you’ve not recently gone through personal suffering,
I think MOST OF US CAN IDENTIFY with Habakkuk’s complaint.
He was a righteous man living in a corrupt society
That had turned its back on God.
• Iniquity is everywhere, and it’s only getting worse.
• I cry out for You to stop it and You don’t.
• There is strife
• There is contention
• Your word is ignored
• Justice is gone
WHERE ARE YOU?
That cry is heard over and over and over and over from the righteous.
It is the cry of Job.
But that isn’t his only frustration.
God is not available to the righteous in their suffering
#2 GOD IS NOT APPARENT TO THE WICKED IN THEIR SIN
Job 24
Here is Job’s other real bone of contention.
God just seems to let the wicked get away with whatever they want.
(READ 24:1-12)
Job says there is social injustice everywhere.
• People stealing land from widows
• People stealing flocks
• People stealing donkeys from orphans
• The poor working but begging for food, sleeping naked in the cold
• People stealing a baby to pay off a debt
• The poor treading wine presses while dying of thirst
And Job ends that discourse by saying:
(12b) “Yet God does not pay attention to folly”
That is to say, “It doesn’t seem to bother Him”
He apparently isn’t riled up enough to want stand up and do something about it.
Matthew West wrote a song called “Do Something”; it starts like this:
“I woke up this morning; Saw a world full of trouble now. Thought, how’d we ever get so far down? How’s it ever gonna turn around? So I turned my eyes to Heaven; I thought, “God, why don’t You do something?” Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of People living in poverty; Children sold into slavery; The thought disgusted me. So, I shook my fist at Heaven; Said, “God, why don’t You do something?”
That is the frustration of Job.
(In fairness to Matthew West he’ll go on to say, “God said, ‘I did’, I created you.”
It is a song meant to inspire action on our part.
But Job has that initial frustration.
• God, it’s bad enough that You won’t make Yourself available to the righteous in their suffering
• But couldn’t You at least make Yourself apparent to the wicked.
• Couldn’t You at least show Your power and scare them a little?
God doesn’t seem to care about social injustice.
Furthermore according to Job it doesn’t appear that God seems to care about SEVERE INIQUITY.
(READ 13-17)
We got all these people who just live in sin
And God seems to just let them keep doing it.
• Murder, adultery…doesn’t seem to matter to God.
• He just continues to let people celebrate homosexuality.
• He just continues to let people live together outside of marriage.
• He just continues to let sexual immorality run rampant.
• He just continues to let drugs and murder and greed go unchecked.
Job wants to know what the problem is.
Tell me you haven’t had similar thoughts.
• Tell me you haven’t at some time wished God wouldn’t just blow up an abortion clinic,
• Or send a bolt of lightning to the middle of a gay pride parade.
We’ve felt those frustrations.
Job has them.
Now listen, Job knows that the righteous will eventually be judged.
In fact, that’s what he says at the end of this chapter.
(READ 18-25)
Job knows that they are going to die and be judged.
He knows they won’t get away with it.
He knows eternity is the great equalizer.
That’s not his problem.
His problem is that God seems to be so apathetic about it right now.
God doesn’t seem too urgent to come to the aid of the righteous.
And God doesn’t seem too urgent to put a stop to the wicked.
And Job is frustrated.
Listen to the writer of Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes 4:1 “Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them.”
Ecclesiastes 8:14 “There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility.”
Ecclesiastes 9:2-3 “It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.”
In fact he is so frustrated with things that
He gives an unthinkable piece of advice:
Ecclesiastes 7:15-16 “I have seen everything during my lifetime of futility; there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness. Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?”
That’s frustration isn’t it?
• I can get on Facebook and see it right now.
• I see gobs of people enamored with Donald Trump for president.
No, I’m not telling you who to vote for,
But I know why people are enamored with Donald Trump.
It’s certainly not because of morality.
It’s certainly not because of faith.
(If you think the man is a Christian, you are deluding yourself)
People are drawn to Donald Trump because he is angry.
All he is doing is expressing the frustrations of the masses.
People who don’t think it’s fair.
This type of frustration is everywhere.
And in these two chapters Job is expressing it.
• Where is God when the righteous need help?
• Where is God when the wicked need to be stopped?
• Why isn’t God readily available to me in my pain?
• Why isn’t God readily apparent to intimidate the wicked?
I NEED TO GIVE YOU THE ANSWER
Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
God doesn’t operate according to your logic.
Want the New Testament equivalent?
Romans 11:33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
It doesn’t matter if we are talking about your specific situation,
Or the cultural situation all around you.
I’ll tell you what God is not waiting for, and that is your advice.
Yes, we are commanded to pray.
Yes, we are told to present our requests to God.
But all the while we are told to pray according to what? (His will)
Make no mistake, God is not at a loss about what to do.
He is not seeking to gather a panel of advisors to find a solution.
God has never approached a man, thrown up His hands and said,
“What do you think?”
All He has ever asked for is FAITH
Does God seem slow? Then wait on Him.
Isaiah 40:27-31 “Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”
I have to assure you that God was not waiting for Job’s advice.
In fact, in just a short while, God is going to tell Job that very thing.
Job 38:1-3 “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, “Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge? “Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!”
Coming back from Angel Fire we were listening to a sermon by John MacArthur and he referenced this passage. He paraphrased it like this:
“What ignoramus stands before Me?”
In Romans 9 Paul is revealing the sovereignty of God.
They are points that Paul knows men will contend with.
Look at how Paul responds:
Romans 9:19-20 “You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?”
“who are you..?”
Well I don’t mind telling you that Job is going to get the point.
Job 42:1-6 “Then Job answered the LORD and said, “I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ “Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” ‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’ “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.”
Job is going to get it.
• His friends were dead wrong spewing their prosperity gospel.
• Job was righteous.
• He didn’t deserve what was happening.
But that did not give him the right
To question the plan or the character of God.
The simple fact is that even in the most unthinkable circumstances
God knows exactly what He is doing.
He’s not asking you to figure it out or give Him advice.
He’s asking you to trust Him in the middle of it.
Think about that often quoted passage in Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”
There is quite a statement in that.
“I know” (not you) “I know the plans that I have for you”
The difference we are talking about is
The difference between wisdom and understanding.
Understanding is knowing what’s going on and why it’s going on.
Wisdom is trusting that God knows what’s going on and He can handle it.
We don’t always have understanding, but we must always have wisdom.
Job’s frustrations here are NOT ok.
Learn from them and in the middle of your confusing circumstances,
Learn to trust God.
