Let me read, starting in verse
14, read to the end of the chapter and make some comments on this. To him that is afflicted, pity
should be showed from his friend, but he forsaketh the fear of
the Almighty. My brethren have dealt deceitfully
as a brook, and as the stream of brooks, they pass away. which
are blackish by reason of the eyes, and wherein the snow is
hid. What time they wax warm, they
vanish. When it is hot, they're consumed
out of their place. The paths of their way are turned
aside. They go to nothing and perish.
The troops of Tima looked. The companies of Sheba waited
for them. They were confounded because
they had hoped they came there and were ashamed. For now you
are nothing. You see my casting down and are
afraid. Did I say bring unto me or give
me a reward for me of your substance? Or deliver me from the enemy's
hands or redeem me from the hand of the mighty? Teach me and I'll
hold my tongue. Cause me to understand wherein
I've erred. How forcible are right words.
What doeth your argument reprove? Do you imagine to reprove words
and the speeches of one that is desperate, which there is
wind. Yea, you overwhelm the fatherless and you dig a pit
for your friend. Now therefore be content, look
upon me. It is evident unto you if I lie. Return, I pray you, let it not
be iniquity. Yea, return again, my righteousness
is in it. Is there iniquity in my tongue? Cannot my taste discern perverse
things? He said there, and this is Job
still speaking, answering he life has. And tonight my title
is Mistaken Friendships, Mistaken Friends, Mistaken Friendships.
He said in verse 14, the him that is afflicted, pity should
be showed from his friend, from his friend, but he forsaketh
the fear of the Almighty. These three men, LFIs, Bill Dadd,
and SOFAR came from a long, long way off from the east to comfort
Job. They weren't false friends. They
were sincere, but were mistaken in their perception of what Job
was going through and Job's troubles. Their view was that Job evidently
had sinned very greatly and that God would deal with him if he
would turn from it and admit it and confess it. And in being
mistaken, they failed, failed miserably in their position as
true friends, true friends. And these men, I mean, they thought
a lot of Job. They came a long way to be there.
But yet they were constantly, constantly chiding Job over his
sin, over what he'd done wrong. He said, there has to be something
terrible in your life for these things to happen to you, to happen
to you. And there's times in a person's
life when the need of friendship is deeply, deeply felt. There
have been times in my life, in your lives, in the lives of other
people, when friendship is really, really deeply felt. You're so
grateful to have a friend to come. And if they don't say or
do anything, they're just there. And you know they're there. And
then there's other times that friends are awfully terribly
disappointing. You think they're your friends
and then they terribly disappoint you. They end up saying things
and trying to straighten you out or say that if you should
have done this or that, you wouldn't be in this situation. But I'm
gonna go down through these verses and try to say a few things about
them. God made man to have a friend. God made man for friendship. You know, He that loveth friends has to
show himself friendly. And man is made for friendship.
There's a deep and constant need, even a craving sometimes, for
the love of others, and then you return that love that they
showed you. And you know when you're isolated
and you're going through things, that that's when you really,
really need a friend. Trouble intensifies, friendship
does. But let me say this at the outset.
I think the two, the most blessed friend that you have is your
wife. She'll be your friend no matter what she knows about you.
She's not going to bad mouth you, she's not going to talk
about you, she's not going to put you down, she's not going
to go out in public and ridicule you and tell all your faults.
And I think that the wife's husband ought to be her best friend and
do the same thing. Uphold her. Uphold her love,
her integrity. Always brag about her. Never
point out a fault. Never do anything that would
embarrass her in public. And so those are the two best
friends you ought to have in this world. But after that, if
you have a true friend, That old saying of when your friend's
in need, a friend indeed. And when you see somebody in
need, that's when you need a friendship. That's when you need them. And
sometimes, that all you can do is be there for them. Just be
there. Just be there. And I'll tell
you what, so man is made to have friends. Man is made for friendship. But look what he says here. He
says, you know, In verse 14, to him that is afflicted,
in the margin it says, to him that melteth. He is so heavy
that he feels like he's just melting away. His heart's melting,
it's like wax. David says, my heart melteth
within me. And that's what he means, and
he says, and you know, pity. When you see a man that's greatly
afflicted, he is in such a state that he's melting, that his heart
and soul are just melting inside of him, that he's melting away,
pity should be showed from him from his friend. That's what
he's saying about it. Said, you fellas ought to show
pity to me. Ought to show pity to me. And this word pity, Oh,
that means strong affection, strong affection. Kindness done
in love. Kindness done in love. Look what
Eliaphas said over here in chapter four in verse five and six and
seven. Let me look what he said here.
He said, you know, he's asking for pity. You know, I'm a greatly
afflicted. If you're a friend, you ought
to show me some pity. But Laodicea says, but now it has come upon
thee and thy faintest. It touches thee and you're troubled.
Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness
of thy ways? If you would have been upright
and had fear in that, this wouldn't have happened. Remember, I pray
thee, whoever perished being innocent, where were the righteous
cut off? Well, Job's not cut off from
God, but he's cut off from his friends. And that's what he said,
Job, is this your confidence? You had a confidence, but what
is it? What is it? And he said, oh my, Job was answering,
this is your religion. Don't be so hard on an afflicted
friend. Is this your religion? Is this
your religion that life has? that you see me sitting here
afflicted, you see me sitting here burdened, you see me sitting
here grieving, and yet you're telling me that because I'm not
innocent, because I'm not righteous, that God's doing this to me.
God's doing this to me. And that's why, you know, surely
you, that's what he says there in verse 14, again, you've forsaken
the fear of God. If you feared God, you wouldn't
treat me this way. If you feared God, you wouldn't
do this. And you know, David said it about us. David said,
the Lord will not always be angry and not always chide with us.
He won't do that. He won't deal with us and reward
us according to our iniquities. He said, as a father pitieth
his children, even so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Now
I'll tell you what, when somebody is pitiful, in pitiful shape,
pitiful condition, that's when they need somebody to come. Need
a friend. Need somebody to give an encouragement
word. And this man didn't do it. And
look what he said here in verse 15. And I'm gonna deal with this
all the way down through verse 20. He says, my brethren has
deceitfully dealt with me as a brook or as a stream. And as
the streams of brooks, they pass away. He said, you know how a
brook or stream comes down through there? He said, they dealt deceitfully
with it. There's that brook. But then that brook fades away. It dries up. And he said, that's
the way they do it. It's passed away. Now, you ever
heard of a wet weather stream? As long as it's raining, water
stay in it, but just as quick as summer comes, it dries up.
Well, that's what he's talking about here. And he said in verse
16, talking about this, they've deceitfully dealt with us like
a book. A stream of brooks and they pass
away. And they're blackish by reason
of the ice. When it's real cold in the winter and water stands
in it, you can't see it because of the ice. And the snow is on
it. And then the summer comes and
it starts warming up. And those brooks vanish. The
ice vanishes. The ice melts away. And the brook
dries up. And when it's hot, they're consumed
out of their place. He said, these brooks have promise,
a place where you can get some drink, a place where you can
get some refreshment. But oh my, when I tell you what,
they deal deceitfully just like a stream that you think I'm gonna
get something out of it. And beloved, it's bad, it's bad
to be deceived by anyone. But to be deceived by a brother,
by a friend, and he said, they dealt deceitfully with me. Look
in Psalm 55. Look in Psalm 55. Look in Psalm
55. Oh, look what I'm asked. This
is about our Lord Jesus here now. It's about our Lord Jesus
now. Listen to what he says. I say,
excuse me, Psalm 55, 12. It was not an enemy that reproached
me. Then could I have borne it. Neither
was it that he that hated me, that did magnify himself against
me. Then I would have hid myself
from him, but he was you. A man, my equal, my guide, my
acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together
and walked unto the house of God in company. And yet he reproached
me, magnified himself against me. Wasn't my enemy, wasn't my
enemy. And these men came and they were
friends, but they just did not understand what Job was going
through. And it was a deliberate deception. He said, they dealt
deceit, my brethren have dealt deceitfully with me. It was a
deliberate deception. Job looked for comfort and he
looked for comfort as one looks for a water and looks for a brook
in the desert. But it's dried up, he looked
for this comfort. And their talk, oh, their talk
was so unsympathetic. If they would have stayed quiet,
if they would have just kept their mouth shut, or if they
would have expressed sympathy, or they would have said it like
this, God's ways of providence are mysterious. But instead,
they began to search out his sin, search him out, search out
his motive, search out his mind, search out everything about him,
searching out his sin that he would not repent of, his sin
that he wouldn't turn away from. You know why he didn't turn away
from it? Because he didn't have it. Don't you remember what God
said? If you consider my servant Job
a perfect and an upright man, his shoes evil and he went before
God twice and he said the Lord gives and the Lord takes away,
blessed be the name of the Lord. And then he got down and he shaved
his head and he worshipped the Lord when he was drinking with
bulls. But these fellas, they started wanting to find out what
his sin was. And oh my, I tell you what me
and Steve was talking about the other night, I remember years
ago, that if something was going bad in your life, I mean when
I was in fundamentalism and legalism, if something went bad in your
life, the first thing the preacher would start preaching was, if
you got some sin in your life, This is what's happening to you.
That's why your car is breaking down. That's why you put your
money in your pocket and it's got a hole in it. That's why
you have so much trouble. Your children would be under
control if you didn't have that sin in your life. And that's
why they can talk about sin, sin, sin, something wrong with
you, something wrong with you. And that's what they're saying
to Job. Job, there's something wrong with you. Has to be. God
didn't say there was. God said he's a perfect man,
he's an upright man. But these fellas didn't have
any sympathy. Instead of love and pity and
tenderness, Job got cold, unsympathetic words. Job looked for comfort
from these men, and he compared them to the troops of time, looking
and waiting for the water brooks. Yet hope was gone and brought
to shame. Look what he goes on to say.
He said, well, listen, back there in verse 17, you know, after
the brook, you know, warm, and the ice goes, and the water,
the snow melts away, and the water dries up. They're consumed
out of place. The paths of their way are turned
aside. They go to nothing and perish. There's no water in them. And look what it says, and the
troops of Timah looked. The company of Sheba waited for
them. There's waiting for the water
to come, waiting for them brooks. And look what it says here, oh
my. He said, and they were confounded
because they had hoped that there'd be water there. They had hoped
that there'd be some water in those brooks. They came there
and were ashamed. We come all this way desperately
needing help as an army. And there wasn't. And so has
everyone. Their hope was gone. These troops
of Timah, their hope was gone. They was brought to shame. But
let me tell you something. I'll tell you where there's a
well of water that never runs dry. I can tell you where there's
water that never, never, never runs dry. And you'll never be
brought to shame and never be confounded. It's like our Lord
Jesus told the woman at the well. He said, if you'd have asked
of me how to give you a drink of living water, And you'd never
thirst again. You mean to tell me that I won't
have to come here this well again? That's not what our Lord was
talking about. He was talking about living water. Water that
does something for the heart and the soul. Water of life. He said he was the water of life.
And he told that woman, if you knew, if you knew, And he said,
our Lord said, he that believeth on me, out of his bellish are
low rivers of living water. And what that means, that out
of Christ flows bellish of living water. And I'll tell you, our
souls get thirsty. And that sometimes it feels like
we're in a desert place. But I'm telling you something,
that well never runs dry. She asked him, said, are you
greater than my father, Jacob, who dug this well? Listen, he
was Jacob's God! He's the one that gave Jacob
water! He's the one that Jacob drank water from! He was the
one that Jacob trusted! And these folks were confounded
in shame, and the scripture says, he that believeth on Christ shall
never, ever be confounded or shamed. Now what does that mean?
When we face God in the judgment, or you face God right now, we're
facing God right now. Are you confounded by the gospel?
Are you confounded over your sin? Are you confounded over
how you saved? Are you confounded over the sovereignty
of God? Are you confounded over the righteousness
of Christ? Are you confounded over justice?
Are you confounded over everything God's done? Are you ashamed of anything He's
done? You think you'll be ashamed? What's to shame when you go to
God? These folks went to war, and
they said, oh my, it's not fair, they're confounded in shame.
But believers are not confounded, and they're not ashamed. You know, I've been confused
about a lot of things, but this is one of them things I'm not
confused about or ashamed about. It is the gospel of the grace
of God. And oh my, our Lord Jesus, he looks to the Lord Jesus Christ,
will never be disappointed or never be brought to shame. Oh, never, never, never, never,
never, never. Now look in verse 21. He said, now you are nothing. You see my casting down and are
afraid. And that nothing means you're
more like them, you're more like that army that's looking for
the water brooks. You're just as that army, you're
just as everybody, that you're looking for the water, you're
looking for the brooks. You see me cast down. You see
me broken. You see me gone. You see me cast
down. And what help do you give me?
You're as useless as that brook that's dried up. That's what
he said. Useless as that brook that's
dried up. Huh? That's the truth of Timon. And then look what he said. And
are afraid. He said, you're afraid. I'm cast down and are afraid,
and yet what do you do for me? What do you do for me? Are you
afraid you're gonna be like me? Is that what you mean? Brethren,
let me tell you something. God teaches us some things, and
they're hard, hard lessons to learn. No matter how close and
how confident and how satisfied we are in another, there'll come
a time when we'll say, now you are nothing. What do I mean there? This is God's way. This is God's
way. He allows men to be unfaithful. He allows men to fail. He allows
men to fall. He allows men to do things and
say things for one reason, do not trust God. Anybody. I mean what I'm saying is don't
put your confidence in man. Don't do it. Now I've got, Scott
Richardson used to say this, and you know, he said if you
ever find a true friend, take him ice tea when he gets thirsty.
Go to his house and buy him some groceries and set them on his
table. Wait on him hand and foot if you ever find one. Well, the
Lord's blessed me with two, two genuine friends that I can expose
my heart to and they can expose mine, and it'll stay just where
it's left. And I am so thankful. And I mean,
we've been friends for decades and decades, been in every kind
of situation together. And I am not afraid that they're
gonna ever forsake me or me forsake them. But God lets men. It's like that great big statue,
that great big man that Nebuchadnezzar had built for everybody to have
to come and worship. It was a huge image, made out
of bronze and silver and all that. But the difference, you
know, when you look down, his feet was made out of clay. He's
standing on a faulty foundation. And men have feet of clay, and
we all have them. If you just follow me around,
let's be around me, and one of these days I'm gonna say something
that I shouldn't say and hurt your feelings and that, and you'll
say, boy, boy, I'd have never thought Brother Don had done
that. Well, I have and I hope I don't never again. But God
does these things so that we will be brought to
trust Christ and Christ alone. That's what I'm telling you.
That's why our Lord said, I'll never leave you and I'll never
forsake you. I just won't do it. And then let me give you
going down through here. And these men intruded upon Job
and listen to what happens to Job says here in verse 22. Did
I say bring unto me or give me a reward for your substance?
Did I ask you to come? Did I send word for you to come?
Did I ask you to come? Did I ask you to bring me some
money? Did I ask you to give me a reward of your substance? See, Job didn't invite these
men. These men never asked, you know, they never asked for, Job
didn't invite these men and never asked for help from them. And
though he had lost everything, he never asked for their sympathy.
And he didn't expect it, but here they come. Here they come,
they come, they come. Job didn't invite them. And he
says there, he said in verse 23, he said, did I ask you to
raise money for me, to raise an army for me, to restore me?
And he said in verse 23, deliver me from the enemy's hands or
redeem me from the hand of the mighty? Did I ask you to give
me money, to raise money, to raise an army, to go to restore
me? Did I ask you to go get revenge
on the Saviors? Did I ask you to go get revenge
on the Chaldeans? Oh, they should have offered.
They should have offered, Job, let us help you. But they didn't. Even when we
expect little from men, we often get very less. But I'll tell
you something. One person we can expect, listen, God is able to do exceeding,
abundantly, above anything we can think, anything we can ask. We can think big and we can ask
big, but He does more than that. I would tell you the end of the
book, but I better not. I've told a couple of people
what the end of this thing is, but oh my. Listen, that God,
you know, I don't expect, I don't expect much from me. I don't
expect much from me. I've made too many promises to
myself, and ain't kept them. And, but oh my. And then look
what he says here in verse 24 and 26. He said their talk was totally
irrelevant. I'll get it in a minute. Irrelevant.
If I had to look at it, I'd have got it. But I looked down at
it. Their talk was totally irrelevant
to Job's condition. He said in verse 24, teach me.
You teach me. You teach me my condition, teach
me what my affliction is and why I'm afflicted, and I'll hold
my tongue. I'll not say another word. I'll
shut up. And you come and cause me to
understand. If you'll cause me to understand where I've erred,
where have I went wrong, teach me and I'll stop. Show me where
I went off from the straight to this way. Show me, show me. Cause me to understand. And then,
oh my, I'm ready to learn. And oh, when I'm wrong, show
me. You know, James says this, let
every man be swift to hear, slow to speak. Swift to hear, slow to speak.
And all he said goes on right here. In verse 25, he says, how
forcible are right words But what doeth your arguing reprove? You know, right words, when they're
used right, and they have great, words do have force. You know,
how forcible are right words? If you had said the right thing,
how much power would that have been in them? How much force
would that have been? How much right there would have been in
them? And right words are convincing. When words are true, they have
force. And when they're plain, But he
says, but now what in the world, your arguments, what arguments
that you're presenting to me, reprove me, or show me what I've
done, why I'm so afflicted, huh? And then look what he said in
verse 26. He says, do you imagine to reprove
me with words? He just said words are forcible,
but you got words. Do you imagine to reprove me
with words? Huh? Going to reprove me with words
in the speeches of one that's desperate? Is that what you're
trying to do? You're desperate to prove me
how wrong I am, what I've done. And your words are just like
wind. It's just like wind. That's all it is. It's just wind
going by me. And he said, I'm desperate. But
your words are just like wind. If you had some force to them,
I could listen to you. But look what he said in verse
27 then. He said, when you're talking
about me, you said that I overwhelm the fatherless. He said, I mistreat
the fatherless, I dig a pit for your friend. He said, that's
what you're saying about me. You said I overwhelm fathers,
and here you are, you're digging a pit to bury me in, to put me
down in. Oh my. You said, don't you know,
you treat me like somebody that's fatherless and an orphan, and
then you dig a pit for me. And then look what he said in
verse 28. Now therefore, be content. Be
content. Be content. Don't look upon my
words. Therefore be content and look
upon me. Turn around, look at my face.
He said, look at me. You all look at me. Look in my
eyes. Look in my face. Look at me. That's what he's saying. Look
at my past. Look on me. Look at my past. Look at my life. Look on me and
be content. Have I lied? Is it evident unto
you if I lie? If I've lied, look upon me. Have I lied? Will you look in
my face? I'm not afraid to. And I tell you, the honest man
can bear to be inspected, and that's what he's saying here. If you're saying that I'm lying,
is that what you're saying? Be content, be content. Look
at my face and tell me if I'm lying. If you found a lie, I
wanna see it. And then he said in verse 29,
return, return I pay you, pray you, let it not be iniquity.
Yea, again, my righteousness, return again, my righteousness
is it, is in it, or true in this matter. Oh, reconsider, he says,
return, reconsider, weigh the situation better. Consider what
I say is out of pain and sorrow, not
hypocrisy, that's what he's saying. Consider about what I'm saying.
I'm not a hypocrite here, I'm saying this out of grief and
out of sorrow. And consider that, return that,
don't forget that. He said, there's not iniquity.
He said, let it not be iniquity. There's not iniquity in my words.
My righteousness is in my words. I'm in the right. What he said,
I'm in the right. I'm free from blame and discalls
of my affliction, is what he's saying. And then look what he
says in verse 30. Last verse. Is there iniquity
in my tongue? Huh? Is there iniquity in my
tongue? Is there lawlessness, meanness,
cruelty, covetousness? Is there iniquity, sinfulness
in my tongue? Have I said anything that would
poison you or dishonor God or bring shame on God? Have I said
anything? Huh? Have I done it? Is there
perverseness in what I say? But look what he goes on to say.
Cannot my taste discern perverse things? And what he's saying
is, don't my soul know the difference between the false and the true?
If there's perverseness, I can taste it. I know when I'm wrong,
I know what's wrong and I can taste it. I know what is right
and I know what is wrong. In speech, in words, in actions. And that's what he's saying here.
Listen, I can taste things. If I'm perverse, I can taste
it. We taste that the Lord is good,
we taste it of his grace. But now, beloved, there is a
friend that sticketh closer than her brother. That's our Lord
Jesus Christ. And let me say this in closing.
Let me say this in closing. When we have friends like Job's,
and are mistaken in their opinions, and actions towards us. Lay it
to their head, don't lay it to their heart. Lay it to their
head. How we get wrong in our mind,
get wrong in our thinking, but don't lay it to their heart.
Lay it to their head. Charity covers them all to the
sin. Did I ever tell you all about my little brother one time? I'd come back from Vietnam and
I was a mess. I was very, very different than
what I was when I left. Very different. And I didn't realize. I didn't realize what a shape
I was in. I didn't have any idea. I just
thought I was... But anyway, we was down at his
house and I was getting ready to leave. We was getting ready
to leave, and my little brother hid in the bush. Right outside
his front door, he had a bunch of brush there, shrubs there.
He hid in a bush. And when I walked by, he jumped
out of that bush and just went to wailing on me. I said, Michael,
they wonder what you're doing. He said, you've changed so much,
I got to beat it out of you. I got to beat it out of you.
He went to wailing on me and peeping on me. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my. And years later, you
know, years later, he brought that up to me. And I told you
that about it one time. And I said, I laid that to his
head. That surely wasn't in his heart to do that. And years later,
he said, you remember what I'd done that time when you'd come
out of my house and, you know, and you was down there. And I
jumped you out of that bush. I said, yeah, I remember that.
He said, Don, he said, I'm so ashamed and I'm so sorry for
that. I said, I know, I've always laid it to your head, I never
did lay it to your heart. And that's the way we ought to
do when people are wronged us. Lay it to their head, don't lay
it to their heart. I think that's good advice, don't
you? I think that's sound doctrine. Well, turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will
grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. And it really does, don't it?
Well, I'll see you Wednesday, God will it.