So if you turn again this morning
to the passage we read to Job chapter 6, we read at the start of this
chapter, Job's response, his answer to those words which Eliphaz
the Temanite just spake unto him. Eliphaz essentially rebuked Job
saying that this trouble that had come upon him must be due
to something Job had done. For no innocent man perishes. And he finds fault with Job and
causes him, instructs him to repent. But Job answers in chapter six
like this, but Job answered and said, oh, that my grief were
thoroughly weighed and my calamity laid in the balances together.
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea. Therefore,
my words are swallowed up for the arrows of the almighty are
within me. The poison whereof drinketh up
my spirit, the terrors of God do set themselves in array against
me. Doth the wild ass bray when he
have grass, or loweth the ox over his fodder? Can that which
is unsavory be eaten without salt, or is there any taste in
the white of an egg? The things that my soul refuse
to touch are as my sorrowful meat. Oh, that I might have my
request and that God would grant me the thing that I long for,
even that it would please God to destroy me, that he would
let loose his hand and cut me off. Then should I yet have comfort. Yea, I would harden myself in
sorrow. Let him not spare, for I have
not concealed the words of the Holy One. What is my strength
that I should hope and what is mine end that I should prolong
my life. Is my strength the strength of
stones, or is my flesh of brass? Is not my help in me, and is
wisdom driven quite from me? To him that is afflicted pity
should be shewed from his friend, but he forsaketh the fear of
the Almighty. Oh, that my grief were thoroughly
weighed and my calamity laid in the balances together. For
now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea. Therefore,
my words are swallowed up for the arrows of the almighty are
within me. The poison whereof drinketh up
my spirit. The terrors of God do set themselves
in array against me. In these words, we see the great
grief into which Job is brought, and how he finds the words of
his friend to be without pity and without understanding. And yet behind the great sorrow
of Job here, both in this chapter and throughout the whole book, Behind all these words and all
these accounts, we see the mercy and the grace of God under his
servant. Though Job suffered here, though
he felt alone and cast out, though he longed to know God, though
he longed for God's mercy, though he cries out from his suffering,
Though he feels afflicted, behind it all, God has him in his hands. God is watching over him. God
sent this trial for Job's good and for the good of God's people. God was keeping him. No matter
how great Job's sorrows were, no matter how great his grief
was, no matter how dark or mournful the situation, behind the frowning
providence here, we see the abundant mercy of God. When God puts his
children through trial, He does it for their good. He
does it graciously and mercifully to teach both them and others
through them. Their suffering is not in vain. Their suffering is not the suffering
of the wicked. God uses it for good. Cowper In this wonderful hymn,
God Moves in a Mysterious Way, that we will sing at the end.
It says this, judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him
for his grace. Behind a frowning providence,
he hides a smiling face. And behind the frowning providence
that Job found himself in, As we know from Job chapter 1, God
loved him. God said, consider my servant
Job that there is none like him upon the earth. God had set his
mercy and grace upon him and God was watching over him and
keeping him throughout all this trial no matter how hard it may
seem and no matter how unmerciful and how unpitiful How without
pity his friends may have been to him. God loved him. Underneath Job were the everlasting
arms. God had Job in his hands. He was keeping him. We saw in the previous chapters
Eliphaz's counsel to Job. He finds fault, he asks the question,
whoever perished Job being innocent? Whoever perished being innocent? And behind his words that were
used to find fault with Job, he saw the gospel. We saw Christ. Whoever perished
being innocent? Well, Christ was innocent. Christ
himself was innocent, he was righteous, he was perfect through
and through. He was a man, but he was a man
without sin, unlike any other. He never sinned, he never fought
a sin, he never did a sin. He always walked in perfect trust
and faith unto His Father. He looked unto God. He walked
before Him, no matter what men did unto Him, no matter what
trial and trouble came His way, no matter that all men persecuted
Him and sought to put Him to death, no matter that in the
end, wicked men, we with wicked hands took the Savior and crucified
Him. no matter that his hands were
pierced through. And he suffered that death upon
the cross. Christ himself never ever fought
a sinful word. He was utterly innocent. He who
knew no sin was made sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Whoever perished being innocent,
Christ himself was innocent. And yet he bore the sins of his
people. God took those sins and laid
them upon his son as a sacrifice for sin, as a sin offering, as
a scapegoat. He took their sins and laid them
upon him. He made him to be sin who knew
no sin. He was made a curse. He bore the guilt of his people. And thus God could take his innocent
son, now made guilty, and justly punish him. He was innocent, and yet, as
a substitute, in a great exchange, God took the sin of his people,
laid them upon his son, made him to be sin, and justly punished
the guilty, though he himself was innocent. for those who were guilty, but
through him were made innocent. He took their guilt, he took
their sin, he took it away, and he made them the righteousness
of God in him. He made them to be without sin. He washed them in his blood. And being made innocent, they
in him will never ever perish. Job's grief, Job's calamity was
a picture and a pointer for Job and a pointer for us and to the
Savior who would come, who would suffer more than Job could imagine. Job's great suffering was but
a drop in the ocean of what Christ suffered when he was made sin
upon the cross. And he suffered it in order that
he should save his servant, Job, and save all those who look unto
Christ by faith, all those chosen of God in Christ. They will never perish, for they
are in God's hands. Following Eliphaz's words, Job
replies, Oh, that my grief were frually weighed and my calamity
laid in the balances together, for now it will be heavier than
the sand of the sea. Therefore, my words are swallowed
up for the arrows of the Almighty are within me. The poison whereof
drinketh up my spirit, the terrors of God do set themselves in array
against me. Such is the weight of his grief, the depths of his sorrow, that he longs to be released
from it. Again, as in his previous words,
he longs that God would destroy him, that he would let loose
his hand and cut him off, that he would bring this suffering
to an end. Because then should I yet have
comfort, yea, I would harden myself in sorrow. Let him not
spare. I'm nothing. Take me away, Lord. At least then I will have rest
from this suffering. But in the depths of Job's suffering,
in his cries here, How again we are pointed unto Christ. Oh, that my grief were freely
weighed and my calamity laid in the balances together. For
now it will be heavier than the sand of the sea. You cannot measure
the weight of this. Therefore, my words are swallowed
up. The arrows of the Almighty are within me. The poison whereof
drinketh up my spirit, the terrors of God do set themselves in array
against me. Job felt that. But oh, these
words could be the words of Christ himself. The arrows of the Almighty
are within me. Oh, what arrows these are. We read of them, Here in Job,
there's a picture of the arrows of God's judgment that came upon
his own son. But we read of them elsewhere.
David wrote in Psalm 38, these words prophetical of the son
of God, as he hung in the place of his people. Oh Lord, rebuke
me not in thy wrath, Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure,
for thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me
sore. There is no soundness in my flesh
because of thine anger, neither is there any rest in my bones
because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone
over mine head, As an heavy burden they are too heavy for me, My
wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness, I
am troubled, I am bowed down greatly, I go mourning all the
day long. My loins are filled with a loathsome
disease, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and
sore broken. I have roared by reason of the
disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before
thee, and my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart panteth,
my strength faileth me. As for the light of mine eyes,
it also is gone from me. My lovers and my friends stand
aloof from my sore, and my kinsmen stand afar off. Oh, what depths of words, these
could be the words of Job. But truly, though they're also
the words of David, who was brought into similar places, similar
trials, who felt forsaken, who felt destroyed, who felt like
his sins had gone over his head, who felt like he was drowning. In prophecy, these are the words
of Christ. When God laid upon his son the
iniquity of his people, when he bore their sins, he was as
one that drowned in great depths. Thine arrows stick fast in me,
thy hand presseth me sore. There's no soundness in my flesh
because of thine anger. Neither is there any rest in
my bones because of my sin. Mine iniquities are gone over
mine head. As an heavy burden, they are
too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt
because of my foolishness. I am troubled. I am bowed down
greatly. I go mourning all the day long. Oh, the sorrow Christ felt. He who knew no sin, We cannot
understand it. We are sinners. We're born in
sin. We go forth from the womb speaking
lies. All we know is sin. And when
we become aware of our sin, when we're convicted of our sin, when
we feel guilty, then we're overcome by them. But we've always sinned. When Christ bore the sins of
his people, He was as one that had never sinned. To bear that
sin, to be made sin, to be made guilty before God, to be made
a curse, was all that which was foreign to him, foreign to his
nature. Oh, the depths of what he suffered,
what he had to drink, the cup he drank. Mine iniquities are
gone over mine head, thine arrows. Thine arrows of judgment, thine
arrows of wrath stick fast in me. Thy hand presseth me sore. Yet such was Christ's love for
his own that he never turned from the cross. From the moment
he was born, he knew where he was headed. Every day of his
life was a day closer to that day when he would be nailed to
that cross, when he would bear his children's sins, when he
would bear all the sins of all his people, when he would be
made sin, when his father would forsake him and judge him as
the sinner. He never turned. He went there
in faithful obedience unto God because he loved his people. He loved Job. And Job could not
be saved except Christ took his sin. And David could not be saved
except Christ bore David's sins. And you, child of God, could
not be saved except Christ suffered in your place. Oh did he suffer
for you. Again in Psalm 120 we read these
words, in my distress I cried unto the Lord and he heard me.
Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful
tongue. What shall be given unto thee?
Or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? Sharp arrows
of the mighty, with culls of juniper. Woe is me that I sojourn
in Mesek, and that I dwell in the tents of Kedar. My soul have
long dwelt with him that hated peace. I am for peace, but when
I speak they are for war. Christ found himself in the midst
of a people who hated him. He came preaching the gospel
of peace. He came preaching righteousness. He came preaching grace. He came preaching the love of
God and the mercy of God in salvation and man rejected him and cast him out and crucified
him. When he comes unto you preaching
peace, preaching his gospel, what is your reaction? Is he
nothing to you? Do you cast him out? Jeremiah knew of this. He writes in Lamentations chapter
three, I am the man that have seen affliction by the rod of
his wrath. He have led me and brought me
into darkness, but not into light. Surely against me is he turned,
he turneth his hand against me all the day. My flesh and my
skin have he made old, he hath broken my bones. He hath builded
against me, encompassed me with gall and travail. He hath set
me in dark places as they that be dead of old. He hath hedged
me about, though I cannot get out. He hath made my chain heavy. Also, when I cry and shout, he
shutteth out my prayer. He hath enclosed my ways with
hewn stone. He hath made my paths crooked.
He was unto me as a bear lying in wait and as a lion in secret
places. He hath turned aside my ways
and pulled me in pieces. He hath made me desolate. He
hath bent his bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. He hath
caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. I was
a derision to all my people and their song all the day. He have
filled me with bitterness. He have made me drunken with
wormwood. He have also broken my teeth
with gravel stones. He have covered me with ashes
and thou hast removed my soul from far off from peace. I forgot
prosperity. And I said, my strength and my
hope is perished from the Lord. Remembering mine affliction and
my misery, the wormwood and the gall, my soul have them still
in remembrance and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind. Therefore, have I hope. Oh, the depths of the suffering
described here. Jeremiah knew them in measure. but he writes in prophecy of
Christ. And yet he looks beyond to the
mercy and the grace of God, to those hands that uphold, to the everlasting arms which
are underneath. He goes on in verse 22 to say,
it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. because
his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great
is thy faithfulness. Do you know anything of the Lord's
arrows? Do you know anything of the grief
of Job? Do you know anything of the sufferings
of Christ, the sinners? Did he suffer those arrows, that
grief, for you? Job goes on in chapter 6 to describe his weakness. What is my strength that I should
hope and what is mine end that I should prolong my life? Is
my strength the strength of stones or is my flesh of brass? Not
my help in me and is wisdom driven quite from me? I'm helpless. I have no strength in the face
of such trial. I'm broken. He was taught through
this That man has no strength. And he be taught through this,
as the book goes on, to learn that he has no wisdom either.
That we are nothing before a holy God. And how we need to be taught
this. We'll never know God's grace
and salvation until we're brought to an end of ourselves, until
we're shown that we have no strength, no wisdom, and no righteousness. We need the grace and the mercy
of God. We need pity. We need love. We need grace. And we won't find
it in man. We won't find salvation in man. We have no strength to save ourselves
and there is no man who can save us. There's no pity from man. Man cannot show saving grace. Man's mercy won't save us or
deliver us. There's no help in man. To him
that is afflicted, pity should be shewed from his friend. But
he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty. My brethren have dealt
deceitfully as a brook, and as a stream of brooks they pass
away. Where's your pity? he cries out
to his friends. You just find fault with me.
Where's your pity? Can you not see that I'm broken,
that I'm without strength? Can you not see my grief? I need
help. I need mercy. In such a cry,
we're reminded again of Jeremiah's words in lamentation. We're reminded
again of the Savior as he hugged. upon the cross and as all the
world passed by and railed upon him and condemned him and found
fault with him. How we've done the same, how
we've passed him by and hated him. Christ as it were from the
cross cries out, is it nothing to you or ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the
Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. Have you no pity? Do you just hear of Christ and
pass by, consumed with self, hateful of God, despising. We all pass by and
with our sins we all took the hammer and nailed his hands and
his feet to the cross in our unbelief until the day came when
God broke us and showed us that we have no strength. when he
sent his arrows into us in convicting mercy, when he showed us our
sin and showed us our need of a savior, when he taught us and
led us to the foot of the cross and said, behold the Son of God,
behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. Behold
my son. Hear ye him. This is my beloved
son. Hear ye him. Job goes on to ask his friends,
teach me and I will hold my tongue. and cause me to understand wherein
I have erred. How forcible are right words! But what doth your arguing reprove? Do ye imagine to reprove words
and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind? Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless,
and ye dig a pit for your friend. Now therefore be content, look
upon me, for 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 any iniquity in my tongue?
Cannot my taste discern perverse things? Teach me. Teach me where
I've erred. Don't condemn me. Don't say this
has come upon you because of some unknown sin, Joe. Something
you did in secret, perhaps. Something you're not even aware
of. Teach me. Show me my sin, Lord. Show me
mercy. Job shows a teachable spirit
here. Show me where I've erred. Oh,
that we should be brought by God's spirit to say the same. Oh, Lord, teach me. Lead me. Show me my sin. Show me my need. lead me unto
thy son, have mercy upon me. Job goes on in chapter 7 to consider
what man is. Verse 17, what is man that thou
shouldst magnify him, and that thou shouldst set thine heart
upon him? and that thou shouldst visit
him every morning and try him every moment. How long wilt thou
not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my
spittle? I have sinned. What shall I do
unto thee, O thou preserver of men? Why hast thou set me as
a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself? And
why dost thou not pardon my transgression? and take away mine iniquity.
For now shall I sleep in the dust, and thou shalt seek me
in the morning, but I shall not be. What is man that thou shouldst
magnify him? I'm nothing, God. Have mercy
upon me. What is man? Thou dost deal with me in this
way. Thou dost send this trial to
me. Why has that not just destroyed
me? Why am I still here? What's this for? And he's brought to understand
that God has not destroyed him because behind this frowning
providence, God loves him. God loves him. In chapter 15, Job again says,
what is man, that he should be clean? And he which is born of
a woman, that he should be righteous? How can God save a wretched sinner? We're vile, we're nothing before
a holy God. What are we? Nothing. In Psalm 8 we read, the psalmist
writes, What is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son
of man that thou visitest him? For man himself is nothing, but
God set his love upon a people chosen in Christ. The first man, Adam, is earthy. but he was a picture of the last
Adam Christ, the second man. And God sent his son, made a
little lower than the angels, the son of God divine, made flesh
as that man in whom he would deliver all his people. In Hebrews 2 we read, But one in a certain place testified,
saying, What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son
of man that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower
than the angels. Thou crownest him with glory
and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands.
Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he
put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put
under him. But now we see not, yet all things
put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made
a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste
death for every man. For it became him for whom are
all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons
under glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through
sufferings. But we see Jesus. What is man
that thou art mindful of him? Man in Adam is but a wretched
sinner. But in Christ, God looked upon
a people washed clean by the blood of his Son. A people made
to be the righteousness of God. A people redeemed through suffering. redeemed through the grief that
his son suffered, redeemed through the arrows of wrath that his
son bore, redeemed through the curse that Christ was made to
be, redeemed through the death that Christ died. We see Jesus,
who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering
of death. crowned with glory and honor
that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every
man, every man chosen by God in Christ under salvation. Oh,
how he suffered that his people should live. How he died that
they should rise again in him. Job's suffering was but a picture. And at the end of chapter 7,
Job cries out for mercy. I have sinned. What shall I do
unto thee, O thou preserver of men? Why hast thou set me as
a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself? And
why dost thou not pardon my transgression and take away mine iniquity?
O Lord, Pardon me, take away my iniquity, show me mercy. He felt like God was casting
him out. And yet God had taken his iniquity
and laid it upon his own son that Job should be washed clean
in the blood. He felt abandoned, but had God
abandoned him? No. It felt like he had, but
no. When we are brought into trials
like Job was, we may feel abandoned. But has God abandoned us? For
in Christ, never. Never. When Christ hung in Job's
place, had God abandoned him? He endured as one feeling forsaken. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? He felt the fury of God's wrath. He felt the arrows of the Almighty
within him. He drank the poison. of sin and
the wrath of God against it. The terrors of God set themselves
in array against him. He felt forsaken but in the end
his faith was rewarded. He trusted God in the darkness. He trusted God as the fires of
God's wrath poured down upon him. He knew that in the end
God would deliver him and in the end he was never forsaken. He rose victorious from the grave. He rose with a shout of victory. We may feel forsaken when we
suffer. We may feel like Job, alone,
abandoned, but God never ever forsakes his own. I will never
leave thee nor forsake thee, he says unto his people. I will
never leave thee nor forsake thee. The Saviour rose victorious. He rose with Job, rising with
him. David rose with him, Paul rose
with him, all his people rose with him. He rose victorious
and he ascended into glory. And he's gone to prepare a place
for his people, a city unto which he will lead them, a glorious
destination. He leads them to that wonderful
city that John saw in the book of Revelation. I saw a new heaven
and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were
passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the
holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great
voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former
things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne
said, behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, write,
for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me,
it is done. "'I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. "'I will give unto him that is
a first "'of the fountain of the water of life freely. "'He
that overcometh shall inherit all things, "'and I will be his
God, and he shall be my son.'" Oh, what a Savior Job had. What a Savior he had who led
him there. Is it yours? Is this where he's leading you?
Has he got his hands around you? Has he prepared this place for
you? Is he yours? The pathway may
be hard. We may be brought to places like
Job. We may feel the errors of the
Almighty. We may feel great grief. but
if we're his, he'll lead us safely through. Isaiah writes, but now,
thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed
thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have
called thee by thy name, thou art mine. When thou passest through
the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba for thee, since thou wast precious in my sight.
that has been honorable, and I have loved thee. Therefore
will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. Fear not,
for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east, and gather thee from the west. Fear not, I am with thee. Yes, behind all Job's suffering,
and behind the trials of all God's people, We see God's grace. He's there. He's there in the midst of the
suffering. He's there as we pass through
the waters. He's there as the fires come
upon us. He's there as we grieve. He's
there as we cry. He's there as we moan. He's there
as we suffer. And throughout it all, he points
us, points us to his son. who suffered more for his own,
who suffered all and says, there is my son, hear ye him, fear
not. His blood has washed your every
sin away. You're whiter than snow. Fear
not, I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name,
thou art. mine. Amen. We close by singing Cowper's
hymn, hymn number 320. God moves in a mysterious way
his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
sea and rides upon the storm.