One Story That Leads to Jesus, Day 144
16Then Job spoke again.H347H6030H559 2"I have heard all this before. What miserable comforters you are!H8085H7227H5999H5162 3Won't you ever stop blowing hot air? What makes you keep on talking?H7307H1697H7093H4834H6030 4I could say the same things if you were in my place. I could spout off criticism and shake my head at you.H1696H3863H5315H3426H5315H2266H4405H5128H7218H1119 5But if it were me, I would encourage you. I would try to take away your grief.H553H1119H6310H5205H8193H2820 6Instead, I suffer if I defend myself, and I suffer no less if I refuse to speak.H1696H3511H2820H2308H1980 7"O God, you have ground me down and devastated my family.H3811H8074H5712 8As if to prove I have sinned, you've reduced me to skin and bones. My gaunt flesh testifies against me.H7059H5707H3585H6965H6030H6440 9God hates me and angrily tears me apart. He snaps his teeth at me and pierces me with his eyes.H2963H639H7852H2786H8127H6862H3913H5869 10People jeer and laugh at me. They slap my cheek in contempt. A mob gathers against me.H6473H6310H5221H3895H2781H4390H3162 11God has handed me over to sinners. He has tossed me into the hands of the wicked.H410H5462H5760H3399H3027H7563 12"I was living quietly until he shattered me. He took me by the neck and broke me in pieces. Then he set me up as his target,H7961H6565H270H6203H6327H6965H4307 13and now his archers surround me. His arrows pierce me without mercy. The ground is wet with my blood.H7228H5437H6398H3629H6398H2550H8210H4845H776 14Again and again he smashes against me, charging at me like a warrior.H6555H6556H6440H6556H7323H1368 15I wear burlap to show my grief. My pride lies in the dust.H8609H8242H1539H5953H7161H6083 16My eyes are red with weeping; dark shadows circle my eyes.H6440H2560H1065H6079H6757 17Yet I have done no wrong, and my prayer is pure.H2555H3709H8605H2134 18"O earth, do not conceal my blood. Let it cry out on my behalf.H776H3680H1818H2201H4725 19Even now my witness is in heaven. My advocate is there on high.H5707H8064H7717H4791 20My friends scorn me, but I pour out my tears to God.H7453H3887H5869H1811H433 21I need someone to mediate between God and me, as a person mediates between friends.H3198H1397H433H120H1121H7453 22For soon I must go down that road from which I will never return.H4557H8141H857H1980H734H7725
17"My spirit is crushed, and my life is nearly snuffed out. The grave is ready to receive me.H7307H2254H3117H2193H6913 2I am surrounded by mockers. I watch how bitterly they taunt me.H2049H5869H3885H4784 3"You must defend my innocence, O God, since no one else will stand up for me.H7760H6148H8628H3027 4You have closed their minds to understanding, but do not let them triumph.H6845H3820H7922H7311 5They betray their friends for their own advantage, so let their children faint with hunger.H5046H2506H7453H5869H1121H3615 6"God has made a mockery of me among the people; they spit in my face.H3322H4914H5971H6440H8611 7My eyes are swollen with weeping, and I am but a shadow of my former self.H5869H3543H3708H3338H6738 8The virtuous are horrified when they see me. The innocent rise up against the ungodly.H3477H8074H5355H5782H2611 9The righteous keep moving forward, and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger.H6662H270H1870H2890H3027H3254H555 10"As for all of you, come back with a better argument, though I still won't find a wise man among you.H199H7725H935H4672H2450 11My days are over. My hopes have disappeared. My heart's desires are broken.H3117H5674H2154H5423H4180H3824 12These men say that night is day; they claim that the darkness is light.H7760H3915H3117H216H7138H6440H2822 13What if I go to the grave and make my bed in darkness?H6960H7585H1004H7502H3326H2822 14What if I call the grave my father, and the maggot my mother or my sister?H7121H7845H1H7415H517H269 15Where then is my hope? Can anyone find it?H645H8615H8615H7789 16No, my hope will go down with me to the grave. We will rest together in the dust!"H3381H905H7585H5183H3162H6083
18Then Bildad the Shuhite replied.H6030H1085H7747H559 2"How long before you stop talking? Speak sense if you want us to answer!H5704H7760H7078H4405H995H310H1696 3Do you think we are mere animals? Do you think we are stupid?H2803H929H2933H5869 4You may tear out your hair in anger, but will that destroy the earth? Will it make the rocks tremble?H2963H5315H639H776H5800H6697H6275H4725 5"Surely the light of the wicked will be snuffed out. The sparks of their fire will not glow.H216H7563H1846H7632H784H5050 6The light in their tent will grow dark. The lamp hanging above them will be quenched.H216H2821H168H5216H1846 7The confident stride of the wicked will be shortened. Their own schemes will be their downfall.H6806H202H3334H6098H7993 8The wicked walk into a net. They fall into a pit.H7971H7568H7272H1980H7639 9A trap grabs them by the heel. A snare holds them tight.H6341H270H6119H6782H2388 10A noose lies hidden on the ground. A rope is stretched across their path.H2256H2934H776H4434H5410 11"Terrors surround the wicked and trouble them at every step.H1091H1204H5439H6327H7272 12Hunger depletes their strength, and calamity waits for them to stumble.H202H7457H343H3559H6763 13Disease eats their skin; death devours their limbs.H398H905H5785H1060H4194H398H905 14They are torn from the security of their homes and are brought down to the king of terrors.H4009H5423H168H6805H4428H1091 15The homes of the wicked will burn down; burning sulfur rains on their houses.H7931H168H1097H1614H2219H5116 16Their roots will dry up, and their branches will wither.H8328H3001H4605H7105H5243 17All memory of their existence will fade from the earth, No one will remember their names.H2143H6H776H8034H6440H2351 18They will be thrust from light into darkness, driven from the world.H1920H216H2822H5074H8398 19They will have neither children nor grandchildren, nor any survivor in the place where they lived.H5209H5220H5971H8300H4033 20People in the west are appalled at their fate; people in the east are horrified.H314H8074H3117H6931H270H8178 21They will say, 'This was the home of a wicked person, the place of one who rejected God.'"H4908H5767H4725H3045H410
19Then Job spoke again.H347H6030H559 2"How long will you torture me? How long will you try to crush me with your words?H3013H5315H1792H4405 3You have already insulted me ten times. You should be ashamed of treating me so badly.H6235H6471H3637H954H1970 4Even if I have sinned, that is my concern, not yours.H551H7686H4879H3885 5You think you're better than I am, using my humiliation as evidence of my sin.H551H1431H3198H2781 6But it is God who has wronged me, capturing me in his net.H3045H645H433H5791H5362H4686 7"I cry out, 'Help!' but no one answers me. I protest, but there is no justice.H6817H2555H6030H7768H4941 8God has blocked my way so I cannot move. He has plunged my path into darkness.H1443H734H5674H7760H2822H5410 9He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.H6584H3519H5493H5850H7218 10He has demolished me on every side, and I am finished. He has uprooted my hope like a fallen tree.H5422H5439H3212H8615H5265H6086 11His fury burns against me; he counts me as an enemy.H2734H639H2803H6862 12His troops advance. They build up roads to attack me. They camp all around my tent.H1416H935H3162H5549H1870H2583H5439H168 13"My relatives stay far away, and my friends have turned against me.H7368H251H7368H3045H2114 14My family is gone, and my close friends have forgotten me.H7138H2308H3045H7911 15My servants and maids consider me a stranger. I am like a foreigner to them.H1481H1004H519H2803H2114H5237H5869 16When I call my servant, he doesn't come; I have to plead with him!H7121H5650H6030H2603H1119H6310 17My breath is repulsive to my wife. I am rejected by my own family.H7307H2114H802H2589H1121H990 18Even young children despise me. When I stand to speak, they turn their backs on me.H5759H3988H6965H1696 19My close friends detest me. Those I loved have turned against me.H5475H4962H8581H157H2015 20I have been reduced to skin and bones and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth.H6106H1692H5785H1320H4422H5785H8127 21"Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy, for the hand of God has struck me.H2603H2603H7453H3027H433H5060 22Must you also persecute me, like God does? Haven't you chewed me up enough?H7291H410H7646H1320 23"Oh, that my words could be recorded. Oh, that they could be inscribed on a monument,H5414H4405H645H3789H5414H2710H5612 24carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead, engraved forever in the rock.H2672H1270H5842H5777H6697H5703 25"But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last.H3045H1350H2416H6965H314H6083 26And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God!H310H5785H5362H1320H2372H433 27I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!H2372H5869H7200H2114H3629H3615H2436 28"How dare you go on persecuting me, saying, 'It's his own fault'?H559H7291H8328H1697H4672 29You should fear punishment yourselves, for your attitude deserves punishment. Then you will know that there is indeed a judgment."H1481H2719H2534H5771H6440H2719H3045H1779H1779
139[For the choir director: A psalm of David.] O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.H5329H4210H1732H3068H2713H3045 2You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.H3045H3427H6965H995H7454H7350 3You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.H2219H734H7252H5532H1870 4You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.H4405H3956H3068H3045 5You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.H6696H268H6924H7896H3709 6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!H1847H6383H6383H7682H3201 7I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!H3212H7307H1272H6440 8If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.H5266H8064H3331H7585 9If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,H5375H3671H7837H7931H319H3220 10even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.H3027H5148H3225H270 11I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—H559H2822H7779H3915H216H1157 12but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.H2822H2821H3915H215H3117H2825H219 13You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.H7069H3629H5526H517H990 14Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.H3034H3372H6395H6381H4639H5315H3045H3966 15You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.H6108H3582H6213H5643H7551H8482H776 16You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.H5869H7200H1564H5612H3789H3117H3335H259 17How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!H3365H7454H410H6105H7218 18I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!H5608H7235H2344H6974H5750 19O God, if only you would destroy the wicked! Get out of my life, you murderers!H6991H7563H433H5493H1818H582 20They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name.H559H4209H6145H5375H7723 21O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?H8130H3068H8130H6962H8618 22Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies.H8130H8503H8135H341 23Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.H2713H410H3045H3824H974H3045H8312 24Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.H7200H6090H1870H5148H1870H5769
Dublin, OH
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