Sermon Notes
notes-Job-8-to-9-210918
Sermon Notes
Job 8-9 (LEB)
Bildad’s First Response to Job
8 Then[a] Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,[b]
2 “How long[c] will you say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
3 Does God pervert justice,
or[d] Shaddai pervert righteousness?
4 If your children sinned against him,
then[e] he sent them into the power[f] of their transgression.
5 If you yourself[g] would seek God,
then[h] you would plead to Shaddai for grace.
6 If you are pure and upright,
indeed,[i] now he will rouse himself for you,
and he will restore your righteous abode.
7 Though[j] your beginning was small,
your end[k] will be very great.
8 “Indeed,[l] please inquire of former generations,
and consider what their ancestors have found,[m]
9 for we are of yesterday, and we do not know,
for our days on earth are a shadow.
10 Will they themselves[n] not teach you and tell you[o]
and utter[p] words from their heart?
11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is not a marsh?
Will reeds flourish without water?[q]
12 While it is in its flower and is not plucked,
yet[r] it withers before[s] all grass.
13 So are the paths of all who forget God;
and the hope of the godless will perish,
14 whose confidence is cut off
and whose trust[t] is a spider’s house.
15 He will lean himself against his house, but[u] it will not stand;
he will take hold of it, but[v] it will not endure.
16 He is thriving[w] before[x] the sun,
and his plant shoots spread over his garden.
17 His roots twine over a stone heap;
he sees a house of stone.
18 If he destroys him from his place,
then[y] it deceives him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’
19 Look, this is the joy of his way,
and from dust others will spring up.
20 “Look, God will not reject the blameless,
and he will not uphold the hand of evildoers.
21 Yet he will fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a shout of joy.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”[z]
Job’s Third Speech: A Response to Bildad
9 Then[aa] Job answered and said,
2 “Truly I know that it is so,
but[ab] how can a human being be just before God?
3 If he wants to contend with him,
he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.
4 He is wise in[ac] heart and mighty in[ad] strength;
who has resisted him and succeeded?[ae]
5 “He is the one who moves mountains, and they do not know how,
who overturns them in his anger.
6 He is the one who shakes the earth from its place,
and its pillars tremble.
7 He is the one who commands the sun, and it does not rise,
and he seals up the stars.[af]
8 He is the one who alone stretches out the heavens
and who tramples on the waves of the sea.
9 He is the one who made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
10 He is the one who does great things beyond understanding[ag]
and marvelous things beyond number.[ah]
11 “If[ai] he passes by me, I would not see him;[aj]
and if he should move on, I would not recognize him.[ak]
12 If[al] he would snatch away, who could turn him?
Who could say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 God will not turn back his anger;
beneath him the helpers of Rahab bow.
14 How much less[am] can I myself[an] answer him?
How can I choose my words with him,
15 whom I cannot answer, even though I am righteous?
From[ao] my judge I must implore grace.
16 If I summon him, and he should answer me,
I do not believe that he will listen to my voice—
17 who crushes me with a tempest
and multiplies[ap] my wounds without cause.
18 He will not allow me to catch[aq] my breath;
rather, he will fill me with bitterness.
19 If it is a matter of[ar] strength, look, he is mighty.
But[as] if it is a matter of[at] justice, who can summon me?[au]
20 Even though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me;
even though I am blameless, yet[av] it would pronounce me guilty.
21 “I am blameless; I do not care about myself;[aw]
I loathe my life.
22 It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
23 When the whip[ax] kills suddenly,
he mocks at the despair of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he covers the face of its judge—
if it is not he, then who is it?
25 “And my days are swifter than a runner;
they flee away; they do not see good.
26 They go by like papyrus skiffs,
like an eagle swoops down on its prey.
27 Though[ay] I say,[az] ‘I will forget my complaint;
I will change my expression, and I will rejoice,’
28 I become afraid of all my sufferings;
I know that you do not consider me innocent.
29 If I shall be declared guilty,
why then should I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with soap,[ba]
and I cleanse my hands with lye,
31 then you plunge me into the slime pit,
and my clothes abhor me.
32 “For[bb] he is not a mortal like me that I can answer him,
that we can come to trial together.[bc]
33 There is no arbiter between us
that he might lay his hand on both of us.
34 May he remove his rod from me,
and let his dread not terrify me;
35 then I would speak and not fear him,[bd]
for in myself I am not fearful.[be]
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