Job 9

He is my favorite constellation. In Winter, Orion stands in the southern sky. Which means, when I pull into the farmhouse driveway on a clear night and shut off the car lights, I have a pretty good view of the Hunter over the closest corn field. Some nights, the sky takes my breath away. An arm of the Milky Way is visible just overhead; stars are sharp points against a field of deep purple-black. My breath puffs in front of my face which starts to hurt in the icy air. I crane my neck to see as many stars as possible as I hurry to the warm comfort of my kitchen…murmuring, “Don’t slip on the ice; walk in the snow…” It’s cold here. The sky is clear, and Orion is shouting God’s glory from the heavens.

“He is wise in heart and mighty in strength – who has hardened himself against him and succeeded? – he who removes mountains and they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger, who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea; who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleaides and the chambers of the south; who does great things beyond searching out, and marvelous things beyond number.”

Job 9:4-10

Job knows the majesty and power of God. He knows his arguments are frail before the Holy Judge, but he longs to bring them before God even so, to lay his complaint before the Almighty. He has confidence in his own righteousness, and questions God’s justice. This is dangerous ground to tread, filled with pits and covered in ice.

“Though I am in the right; I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser. If I summoned him and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice. For he crushes me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause; he will not let me get my breath, but fills me with bitterness. If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?”

Job 9:15-19

Breathless, not with wonder, but in panic. That long, suffocating inhale, driven by fear. “He will not let me get my breath…” Yet, God has breathed life into each one of us. Every breath in, every exhale, each oxygen molecule we take in and every carbon-dioxide molecule we breathe out is a gift from Him. In times of great blessing, and in times of deep sorrow, God deserves our praise, even if it must be breathless praise – a sacrifice of praise

“Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.”

Psalm 147:1-4

“Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

Psalm 150

He has determined the number of the stars and given them each a name that He knows. He “seals up the stars,” and he will one day send the stars down like rain (Mark 13:24-27; Revelation 6:12-17). How do you gather your feeble arguments together against Creator God, the Holy Judge? Job understands his frailty, that he is a drop in time, beseeching the Eternal God. He longs for an advocate, one who will stand between him and God.

“If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint; I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer,’ I become afraid of all my suffering, for I know you will not hold me innocent. I shall be condemned; why then do I labor in vain? If I wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, yet you will plunge me into a pit, and my own clothes will abhor me.

For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together. There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both.”

Job 9:27-33

There is Jesus. We have an advocate (I John 2:1-2), interceding on our behalf (Romans 8), speaking peace between us and the Judge: Jesus Christ, the Righteous. He is our peace, binding us together with God the Father in the Spirit of adoption. Nothing will separate us from that love.