The Boxer
OPENING PRAYER:
Lord, I bow in worship before you. I thank you for sins forgiven and the Spirit given.
The Lord Speaks
38 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?
8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
13 that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
15 The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.
16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19 “What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
20 Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
21 Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
Footnotes
[a] Job 38:7 Hebrew the sons of God
Job 38:1-21
REFLECT:
‘Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell’ (Psalm 43:3).
BOOM! The Lord speaks! Now follow four chapters where Job is challenged and rocked to the core by the voice of God. In these chapters, God asks Job a barrage of questions. Some are in clusters like a boxer using his jab to soften up an opponent. And all have the underlying question: ‘Who are you to challenge me, who made everything, and by whom does everything that lives, live?’
Job now needs to decide. Is God right? Did he create the world as he says? Is he in charge? Or is there another? If not God, then who is in control of the world and Job’s own destiny? Job could be tempted to think this ‘deity’ speaking to him is a little too ‘shouty’! Why has God left him in painful destitution?
One senses that Satan may be trying to play his last cards from the shadows by suggesting to Job: ‘If there is unrest in your world how can your God be in charge? Surely a wise and righteous person like you can be master of your own destiny! Why is God shouting at you? Call his bluff!’
APPLY:
The Lord speaks! Now Job is quiet. God has had to shout to get Job’s attention. Is that how it is with us? Could God speak to us quietly in his unique way and still have us listen?
I WILL STATEMENT:
I WILL start a conversation with my spouse about how I can love or respect them more.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Mighty God, this portion of your Word teaches that you listen to me and answer me. I pray for listening ears and an obedient will.
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