Job - Part 4

A perspective on the book of Job – part 4 – The second Test

So far, we have learned that Job is “the greatest man among the people of the east” (Job 1:5). We have also learned that Satan came to the Lord and the Lord offered to remove His protection from everything Job has, proving to Satan that Job will still be faithful to the Lord. So, Job lost his oxen, his sheep, his camels, his children, and many of his servants, but still he is faithful to the Lord.

In Chapter 2, the setting is again in heaven where “the angels present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them” (Job 2:1). Again, the Lord asks where Satan comes from and again Satan replies he has been roaming the earth.  I think this is very important for two reasons. Apparently, Satan appearing before the Lord is remarkable or it would not be specifically mentioned.  Also, we need to remember that Satan is consistently roaming the earth.

Again, Satan seems to be claiming the people of the earth as his own, when the Lord points out Job. “And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin his without any reason” (Job 2:3). Now Satan is getting frustrated. He is losing the challenge here, and doesn’t like it. So, he claims that if the Lord should allow damage to Job’s person, Job would curse the Lord. And the Lord allows Satan to affect Job’s person, but not his life.

I can only say, that I would love to have the confidence of the Lord to this extent, but I really would not want to prove it this way. For Satan afflicted Job with sores (some say boils) from his head to his feet such that he would scrape his body into the ashes with broken pottery.  In my mind, I picture something similar to chicken pox. Sores that itch and ache and would require continues scratching and scraping. Job’s wife even says, “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9). Job tells his wife she is foolish. “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? (Job 2:10).

There. That last line. That is the crux of the issue. We want to praise the Lord in the good times. We want to presume He will bless us always. But in the hard times, we cry to Him in anguish, and yet, we should still praise Him. There is an old song that says:

Thank you for the trials, if it will bring me close to you,

and help me Lord to smile, when things don’t go the way I want them to.

And if I suffer pain, help me that I don’t complain,

but thank you Lord and praise you just the same. *

Personally, I find it difficult to praise the Lord in times of trouble or pain. However, I have found that if I worship Him at my lowest, He will lift me beyond my highest imagination. It is my prayer that I would be worthy of the trust of my Lord, and so would you.

NOTE: All bible references for this part are from the New International Version (NIV).

* “Praise you Just the Same” Evie Tornquist-Karlsson; recorded by Sandi Patti on “For My Friends. Available on YouTube.