Living in the Spirit
October 6, 2015
Scripture Reading: Job 23:1-9, 16-17
‘If I go forward, he is not there;
or backward, I cannot perceive him;
on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him;
I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.
God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me;
If only I could vanish in darkness,
and thick darkness would cover my face! –Job 23:8-9, 16-17
This scripture from Psalms is almost the direct opposition of the first few verses of Psalm 139:
O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.
I wonder if the writer of Job was acquainted with this scripture. I wonder if the writer is saying that sometimes we just can’t seem to pull ourselves back from anger and pain. As many times as we have read Psalm 139, its force has been temporarily erased from our memory cards. It is interesting even in the midst of such pain Job does not deny God. Job even continues to see God as being active in Job’s life causing him to nearly faint, terrifying him.
When we find ourselves in such a state our prayer is God abide with me even though right at this moment I do not feel fit to have your company. When we find a fellow traveler on the road to the Kingdom of God who has come to this point on the trip, our job is to abide with them also.
Prayer:
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.* Amen.
First verse of the hymn Abide with Me by Henry F. Lyte. See at http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/b/abidewme.htm
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.