Job chapter 7. I titled this message, Gleanings
from Job chapter 7. Gleanings from Job chapter 7. Let's see what we can find in
this chapter tonight that will help us. Now, Job is still in a very dark
place. He's still hurting, not only outwardly, but inwardly. And he says some difficult things
in this chapter. We always need to remember that
these men All of them, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, David, all
of them were nothing more than men of like passion. They may
be used greatly of God, but at the end of the day, they are
sinners saved by grace. We see the Job who is said to
be patient. Have you heard of the patience
of Job? We're going to get to look at some impatience here.
We're going to see the impatience of Job here in chapter 7. Yet,
when God speaks of him, God says he's an upright man, he fears
me, he shuns evil, and he's patient. He's patient. It doesn't sound
like it when you're reading a lot of this. A lot of this comes
across the other direction. Impatience. But God says he's
patient, he's just, and he's upright. And the way God says
it is, that's the way it is. Now, verses 1 through 6, Job
justifies his reason for wanting to die. This man wants to die. You know, his wife said, why
don't you just curse God and die or commit suicide? But Job
would not do that. He was not going to put himself
in the same category of Saul and Judas. He wasn't going to
be in that same category, even though he was born way before
them. He's going to wait on God. But
at the same time, he wants God to put an end to it, to kill
him, to get it over with. He sees no reason to go on, no
reason to live. And he justifies it in this manner. Is there not appointed time to
man upon earth? Are not his days also like the
days of a hireling? As a servant earnestly desires
a shadow, and as a hireling looks for the reward of his work, so
am I made to possess months of vanity. Wearisome nights, he
says, are appointed for me. He justified his reason for wanting
to die in this. We all have to die. He said,
I recognize this. We all have to die. I just want
to do it now. I want to die now. The pain is so great. The loss
has been so great. I want to die now. What's wrong
with that? He says, the servant who works
all day out there in the heat of the sun, you don't begrudge
him for wanting to rest, do you? Why do you begrudge me for wanting
to die? That's what he's saying to his
friends there. Why are you begrudging me there? He sees no good reason
to live. What we cannot see, God sees. God sees. I'm glad God let him
live, aren't you? I'm glad that in the midst of
this sorrow and this pain and this suffering, that God did
not just take him out. that He let him live. And you
and I get to see the end of Job. We get to see the blessing of
God upon him. We get to see the fact that Job
sees God more than he ever did before. By the hearing of the
ear I have heard of thee, but now mine eye seeth thee, and
I abhor myself in sackcloth and ashes. I'm glad we got to read
that. I'm glad we have this example
hearing the Word of God. I'm glad he didn't die. I'm glad
he didn't. God has a purpose. He has a purpose
in our sufferings. They have their time and their
purpose and their end. And even though in them we want
it to be over with, I've never had a chastening from any one
of my parents that I wanted to last. Have you? I hope this goes
on for a long time. No, I don't. I've never enjoyed a chastening
in the chastening hand of God. You know, the Scripture says
He scourges, scourges every son whom He receiveth. Now, scourging,
that doesn't sound like something easy, does it? There's some pain
that's involved in scourging, and there's a purpose in it.
There's a purpose in it. It's for our eternal good and
God's glory. And I want you to notice something
here. All our sorrows and all our troubles are appointed. I wrote down here, and you can
write down by that, sanctified sorrow. Sanctified sorrow always
brings us to God. It always runs us to Christ. If they do not run us to Christ,
there's a problem. Now, I tell you what, there's
a bigger problem than the trial I'm going through. There's a
problem. But these are sanctified sorrows.
He said, so am I made to possess months of vanity, nothing? You know, it's good. It's good
for us to see from time to time the absolute nothingness of this
world and all that we possess. Isn't that good? Is that not
good to see that from time to time? And we need to see it from
time to time because after we see it, we forget what we were
like the guy in the mirror. We forget what we were looking
at. And time goes by and we get enamored with it again. And God
in faithfulness appoints our afflictions, brings us through
it, and once again, we see the vanity of this life, the vanity
of this world. It's nothing but vain without
Christ. It's all vanity. Without Christ,
it's all... I wish I could get this across
to especially young people. I could get this across to anybody
who doesn't know Christ. It's all vain. It's nothing but vanity.
If you do not know Christ, if you wind up without Him, it would
have been better if you had not been born. It would have been
better if you had not been born. And Job, look here in verse 4.
When I lie down... This is how miserable he was. When I lie down, and that's when
we're supposed to have rest, we find rest. You know what I
find as I get older? I talk too much for one thing. I feel myself start rambling
as I get older. But as I've gotten older, I said
this to Vicki the other night, I said, I never thought I'd enjoy
just going to bed and laying down and going to sleep. I look
forward to it. When I was in my 20s and 30s,
I was restless. It was a waste of time. Sleep
was a waste of time. Now, it's the best time. It's
the best time. Job said, when I lie down, I
say, when shall I arise? I'm so miserable. God made him
so miserable through this trial. And when is the night going to
be gone? It doesn't seem like we are the sickest at night.
If you're going to get a fever, it seems like it comes on at
night. It seems like the night time is the worst time for fevers
and sickness And Job was saying, oh, when's the night going to
be gone? And he said, I'm full of tossings
to and fro until the dawning of the day. God has taken away
for a while his comfort, his rest, his rest. And I think that this
happens to all of God's children from time to time. so that we
might find in Christ true rest. That in all of our pain, in all
of our suffering, in all of our tossing and turning, there is
a real rest and peace that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Job said, I can't find rest in
my couch, in my bed. I can't find it. I'll tell you
what, that's not where it is, is it? I mean, it's good if we
can lay these bodies down, but that's not where real rest is.
True rest is in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where it is. Look in John 16. In John 16,
look in verse 33. These things I have spoken unto
you that in me you might have peace, soul peace, real. You know, there's not a price
you could put on peace of heart. To sit down, to be able to sit
down. And have a say, have a meager
meal on the table, but yet be so peaceful and at rest. These
things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace.
In the world you shall have what? Trouble, tribulation, trials,
heartaches, tears. But be of good cheer. Be of good
cheer. Now brighten up. Look up. You know, the scripture says,
Look up, your redemption draws nigh. Look up. I have overcome the world. I
have overcome the troubles, the trials, the heartaches of this
life. I've overcome this fallen world. In me you have peace. And from time to time, God has
to disturb our peaceful life that we may realize that our
real peace and our real rest is in His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And then we see here in verse
5 what flesh is. He not only disturbed his peace
and his rest, but then he also realized more than he ever did
before. There are times we realize things,
and then as life goes on, we realize them even more. And he
realizes the corruption, the vileness of his flesh. My flesh is clothed with maggots. worms. Job literally had worms,
maggots on his body. I believe that's what he's talking
about. And clods of dust, everyone I read said he scabbed over,
just scabbed over in a putrefying look, just a look about him as
well as a smell of him. One writer said this, he said
that how vile, what vile bodies We have. What vile bodies. You know, we
spend a lot of time taking care of them, and we ought to take
care of these bodies. It's the only one you got. It's the house
we live in. You take care of the house you
live in. But this old house just keeps decaying. And then one
day, I'll die, and you will too. In about three days, you've got
to be buried. was in the grave, what, four
days? What did they say about him? Lord, he stinketh by now. He stinketh by now. Job said,
my flesh is clothed with maggots and scabs and my skin is broken
and become loathsome. I mean, here is a man who was
healthy. He had everything you could want.
I mean, he was the top figure at that time. He looked up to
everybody. And now look at him. He's a putrefying
running sore. And if God allowed even one germ
to turn loose on us, this would be us. How weak, how frail, how
vile these bodies really are. Look what sin has done to them.
Look what sin has done to us. to our bodies. And he believes
he's going to die soon. Well, Lord, if you live to be
old, that's soon, isn't it? If you live to be in your hundreds,
isn't that soon? Everyone that I've ever been
around has come close to death and it's there. Everyone of them
said, it went by so fast. It went by so fast. And that's
what Job was saying in verse 6. My days are swifter than a
weaver's shuttle. They've gone by so fast. He believes
he's at the end of his life. He lives several years beyond
this. Hundreds of years beyond this.
And our spirit without hope. He's come up to the end of life
and he's lost everything. He's not talking about hope without
hope in Christ. He hasn't lost that. but without
hope of ever regaining his health or anything else that he had,
he possessed. He believed that there would
never be another good day. You'll see this here in a second.
You'll see this in a second. Now he prays in verse 7 to God.
He was talking to his friends. Now he's going to talk to God.
One writer said this, we need to use his method, but not his
words. Because he complains to God. He complains. I was telling Dale
and them back there that I imagine after this trial that Job learned
what the Scripture says, be still and know that I'm God. It takes
a while to learn that, doesn't it? It takes a while to be still and know that I'm
God. Oh, remember that my life is
win? It's nothing. Wind is something
that's just, you can't even see it, and it just passes by. And
what he's saying, it just swifts and it's nothing. Oh, remember
that my life is wind? He does remember this. He remembers
our frame that it's dust. You and I are the ones who have
the problem remembering that it's dust. And these things have
to come along to remind us what we are. He says, mine eye shall
see No more good. That's why he wanted to die.
He said there's no more good left. There's no more reason
to live. Good shall not return to my house. Boy, that's dark, isn't it? That's
dark. I've lived long enough and experienced
a few things that I understand how people go bankrupt. I understand
how people snap. I understand why people commit
suicide. They can get into such a place
that they see no good. I don't care if you promise them
the world, they can't see it. They can see no good. They can
see nothing ever getting better. And that's what Job's saying
here. I cannot see any good ever returning to my home, my life. Well, you can be sure of this,
just as the cloud goes by, so will the sun. The sun shines
behind every cloud. I was telling him this in the
study, what made me think of it. He said, I'll never see any
good. Jeremy had called me this morning. A little downer, you
know, and I was sitting there in my study at the house, and
I've got a big window there. And I just kind of sat back,
and I was looking up at the, out of the window just pondering
there. And it was cloudy. It was cloudy. He called me back in the afternoon
with some good news. I looked back, leaned back in
my chair, looked up, and that sky was as clear as could be.
There wasn't a cloud in it. And I thought, that's life. That's
life. There goes clouds. And it's clear. God's in control of this. God's
in control. Shall he not do good? Shall he
that is good not do good? Oh, he'll do good to his children.
Even though Job doesn't realize at this time God is doing good. In our chastening, God is doing
good. When he's taken away from us,
God is doing good. He can do nothing less now, seriously.
He can do nothing but good. He can do nothing but good. Everything
he does in reference to his children, it's always good. Always good. Now he says here, Oh, remember
that my life is wind and mine eye shall no more see good. The eye of him that has seen
me shall see me no more. He shows us here something of
the permanence of death. The eye of him that has seen
me shall see me no more. When I die, I won't be back. I will not be back. I watched
this on a program on television not too long ago, and they had
interviewed some people who had survived jumping from the Golden
Gate Bridge. I didn't realize how many people
a year, every year, jump from that bridge to commit suicide.
A handful of them have lived. Every one of them. Every one
of them said the moment their feet left that bridge, they wished
they hadn't done it. Every one of them they interviewed
said they knew when their feet left that bridge, I don't want
to die. I wish I hadn't done this. Only
a very, only a, I mean just a handful have lived. Most, the majority
of them died. But everyone that lived said,
I wish, when I did it, I wish I hadn't. You know, you can go
to the hospital and come back. You cannot go to the grave and
come back. The eye that has seen me will
see me no more on this earth. Not on this, you won't see me
on this earth. As the cloud is consumed and
vanishes away, so he that goes down to the grave shall come
up no more." He won't be back. Not on this earth.
Not on this earth. He shall return no more to his
house. That rich man said, Abraham,
send Lazarus to go back and warn one of my brothers about this
place. He knew he couldn't leave. He
knew he couldn't leave that place. He asked Lazarus, send somebody
back. He said, Father Abraham. He said,
Father Abraham, send somebody back there to warn them about
this place. He knew he was in prison, in hell. And there's
no discharge. There's no discharge. There's
no parole. It's permanent. He shall return
no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any
more. He's gone. It's permanent. Permanent. Job says, therefore,
now here he complains, but I'm sure I'd do worse. I'm sure
I'd do worse. Therefore, I will not refrain
my mouth, I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. I will
complain in the bitterness of my soul." He felt at this time,
what do I have to lose? Am I a sea or a well? He's talking
to God here. Am I a sea or a well that Thou
sendest to watch over me? Am I so important? Am I so great? That God has a
constant watch over me? That's what he's saying. Listen, our children think that
we watch them too closely, don't they? Well, we do. We do. A loving parent watches their
children closely. Job's complaining about it, he
said, you've set a watch on me, you've set, like the sea, you've
set bounds, you know, I can't turn anywhere, you just. Well, thank God he has that one
on you. Thank God he does watch over
you. Thank God for it. He said, I can't go do it. You
know, I used to say it when I was a kid. Why can't I go do what
my friends are doing? They all get to go here. They
all get to do that. Blah, blah, blah. I was just
upset over it. One of them ended up dead. Others
ended up in trouble. I ended up at home. I was at home. When I say my bed shall comfort
me, my couch shall ease my complaint, then thou scar'st me with dreams
and terrifies me through vision." We get some insight here to his
mental state. He wasn't just suffering. He
was not just suffering physically. He was suffering mentally. Mentally. I've learned this. Mind pain
is the worst pain. You know, if you have a strong
mind and spirit about you, if your leg is hurting, if parts
of your body is hurting, you can deal with it. But when your
mind is hurting, it doesn't matter if you have the most healthy
body in the world, it's the most painful thing. And Job said,
when I lay down, you scare me with visions and dreams, you
terrify me. So that my soul chooses strangling
and death rather than my life. This is the child of God speaking.
This is the child of God. He said, I loathe it. I would
not live always. Would you live always on this
earth? Would you? For the unbeliever, that's all
he has. But for the believer, I would not live always. There's a time to die. There's
a time to go be with the Lord. You know, Paul said, I'm ready
to depart. And not all believers are ready to depart. At that
time, you have families. But there's a time we are ready
to depart and be with the Lord. And not live here always. Live among the sin and sorrow
and pain and suffering. Now, you get older, you see that.
I know young people say, man, you're morbid. Take some medicine
or something. No, that's reality. You know,
you have what we call rose-colored glasses on when you're young.
You know, all you see is you've got all that energy and all you
see is fun. And one day responsibilities come along, age comes along,
and you start visiting. I go to a whole lot more funerals
now than I did 30 years ago. I see a whole lot more suffering
now in people that are my age and older than I did a long time
ago. I would not live always here. But he says here, oh, he says,
well, he says, let me alone. He's not talking about leave
me. He's saying draw, ease up. That's the best way to say this.
Ease up. Will this ever be over? Will this pain ever have any
relief? Oh, he's saying ease up. My days
are nothing. He couldn't see any reason for
living. What is man? And here he gets a proper view
of man, I think. What is man that thou shouldst
magnify him? What's man that you should lift
him up? What is man that you should even visit him or set
your heart on him? What is man? Well, I tell you
what, in the garden he was made in the image of God. That's not
said of any other creation. That's not said of the angels.
That's not said of animals. That's said of man. God created
man in his own image and in his own likeness. That's the way he was created
in the garden. What is man now? He's sinful. He's depraved. He's fallen. What is man that
someone like God is great and holy and beyond comprehension? What is man that you would even
set your heart on him, that you would visit him, that you would
try, that you would even have anything to do with him? And that thou shouldest visit
him every morning, and try him every moment. What is man? I tell you, you
know, man right now is in his fallen state. He's depraved.
He's wretched. I mean, that's the way man is.
But when God took upon him The nature of man. Not the nature of angels. Not
the nature of animals. The nature of man. Except for
sin. Except for sin. What is man? Well, I think that question will
be truly answered when we stand in glory and we see the man,
Christ Jesus. in all His glory. What is this
man? And what are we in this man?
Sons of God. Sons of God. He says, How long wilt thou not
depart from me? How long will this go on? Every trial has its time and
purpose and has its season. Winter is not over in a day.
It doesn't come in a day and go on the next. It takes a few
months before it goes away. And sometimes that's the way
our trials are. It takes a while for them to go away. I'll tell you how long they'll
last when you learn the lesson that God has purpose for it.
That's how long it'll last. How long wilt thou not depart
from me, nor let me alone, till I swallow down my spittle? That's all I got left to do.
Swallow down my spittle. Some said he couldn't even swallow.
It was so bad. And he's saying, how long is
this going to go on? I can't even swallow. And verse 20, this is the first
time Job says it, but he says this to God. He says this to
God, this is what he's saying to God, this is not to the friends,
this is he's saying to God, I have sinned. Job never claimed perfection,
he never claimed sinlessness, he never claimed that I've never
sinned. He's saying, I have sinned. You can pick any day in my life. And I can say I have sinned. And if the Lord would pick any
day in my life to chase me over, he'd be justified
in doing it, because I have sinned. I have sinned. I acknowledge
my transgressions. That's what he's saying. What
shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? It's God who keeps us alive,
isn't it? You know, it's good to be healthy,
but you're going to die one day. You'll die either being sick
or healthy. You'll die. You'll die in an accident. Healthy as a horse, but die in
an accident. Why hast thou set me as a mark
against thee? Why? He hasn't set Him as a mark against
Him. That's just the way it feels. Let's be careful of going off
feelings. They are very, very deceptive in this life. In this
body, in this life, our feelings are so deceptive. And usually,
almost all the time, it's the wrong way. It's the opposite
of what it is. God didn't set Him as a mark.
I'll tell you what it is. He set Him as a mark of His love.
That's why this is happening. That's why it's happening. He
said, I'm a burden to myself. And why does thou not pardon
my transgressions? He has. He's pardoned all our
transgressions in Christ. Through the blood of Christ,
all our sins, the sins of God's elect, His children, those who
believe, He has pardoned all our transgressions. But we still
need chastening. The Lord said, you're all clean,
but you still need your feet washed. We still need chastening. We
still need correction. Chastening is not punishment.
That's what we need to understand. Job is not being punished. And I'm sure after all this is
over with, he looked back and he understood it. But chastening
is not punishment. It's correction. This is the
way. No, this is the way. And God
uses trials afflictions to guide us and direct us, not only with
His Word, but as David said there in the psalm, it's good for me
that I've been afflicted. I can say that now. Can you say
it now? Job said that years later, I'm sure. I'm sure Job looked
back and said, that was good for me. That was good for me. What good came out of it? I learned
God's Word. I learned to take Him at His
Word, trust Him, and follow Him. Even though I'm trusting Him
now and following Him, you go through some trials and
heartaches and afflictions that are sanctified by God, you'll
learn to trust Him more. You and I, listen, can always,
always trust God more than we do. We can always, always love
God more than we do. God cannot love me more than
He does. He loves me perfectly. His love to me, to you who believe,
is a perfect love. It cannot increase, but my love
to Him can increase. It can increase. Oh, He says, and why dost thou
not pardon my transgressions? Well, He has. He has. And take
away mine iniquity? He has. He has. For now shall I sleep in the
dust, and thou shalt seek me in the morning. I'll not be. I'll not be here. That's a dark place, isn't it?
That's a dark place. You know, it's one of those things
I read and I think, wow, how do you deal with that? How do
you deal with it? Well, you recognize This is a sinner saved by grace.
Going through things that we go through. Except he went through
a lot more difficult things. Man of like passion. Man of like
passion. And if you hear me complain,
the Lord's not done. The Lord's not done. When I hear
you complain about something, the Lord's not done. He's not
done with us. He's not done with us. We've
read the end of Job. You've heard of the patience
of Job? You didn't hear it tonight. It didn't sound like he was very
patient, did it? And we don't either. At times, we don't sound
like we're very patient. Thank God. Thank God that our
salvation completely rests in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God.