Job chapter 30
Job feels lost in the darkness. He is disrespected socially. He is in great physical pain. He feels spiritually abandoned. He is totally exhausted.
JOB FEELS LOST IN THE DARKNESS
VERSE 1. “But now those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.
have me in derision. Job is disrespected socially.
VERSE 2. Of what use is the strength of their hands to me, men in whom ripe age has perished?
VERSE 3. They are gaunt from lack and famine. They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of waste and desolation.
VERSE 4. They pluck salt herbs by the bushes. The roots of the broom are their food.
VERSE 5. They are driven out from among men. They cry after them as after a thief;
VERSE 6. So that they dwell in frightful valleys, and in holes of the earth and of the rocks.
VERSE 7. Among the bushes they bray; and under the nettles they are gathered together.
VERSE 8. They are children of fools, yes, children of wicked men. They were flogged out of the land.
VERSE 9. “Now I have become their song. Yes, I am a byword to them.
VERSE 10. They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, and don’t hesitate to spit in my face.
VERSE 11. For he has untied his cord, and afflicted me; and they have thrown off restraint before me.
VERSE 12. On my right hand rise the rabble. They thrust aside my feet, They cast up against me their ways of destruction.
VERSE 13. They mar my path, They set forward my calamity, without anyone’s help.
VERSE 14. As through a wide breach they come, in the middle of the ruin they roll themselves in.
VERSE 15. Terrors have turned on me. They chase my honor as the wind. My welfare has passed away as a cloud.
VERSE 16. “Now my soul is poured out within me. Days of affliction have taken hold on me.
Days of affliction. Job is in great physical pain.
VERSE 17. In the night season my bones are pierced in me, and the pains that gnaw me take no rest.
In the night. Job’s nights are miserable.
VERSE 18. By great force is my garment disfigured. It binds me about as the collar of my tunic.
VERSE 19. He has cast me into the mire. I have become like dust and ashes.
VERSE 20. I cry to you, and you do not answer me. I stand up, and you gaze at me.
you do not answer me. Job feels spiritually abandoned.
VERSE 21. You have turned to be cruel to me. With the might of your hand you persecute me.
You have turned to be cruel to me. Job feels abandoned by the LORD God.
In times of spiritual darkness, standing by faith is our best coping mechanism.
VERSE 22. You lift me up to the wind, and drive me with it. You dissolve me in the storm.
VERSE 23. For I know that you will bring me to death, To the house appointed for all living.
VERSE 24. “However doesn’t one stretch out a hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?
doesn’t one stretch out a hand in his fall? Job is opposed socially.
VERSE 25. Didn’t I weep for him who was in trouble? Wasn’t my soul grieved for the needy?
VERSE 26. When I looked for good, then evil came; When I waited for light, there came darkness.
When I waited for light. We believers want the light of the LORD God to shine into our lives.
there came darkness. But sometimes, what God gives us is darkness. The darkness might be just what we need.
This verse reminds us of The Cloud of Unknowing. It is is a spiritual guide for Contemplative Prayer. It was written by an unknown author in the late Middle Ages.
VERSE 27. My heart is troubled, and doesn’t rest. Days of affliction have come on me.
VERSE 28. I go mourning without the sun. I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
VERSE 29. I am a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches.
VERSE 30. My skin grows black and peels from me. My bones are burned with heat.
VERSE 31. Therefore my harp has turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of those who weep.
my harp has turned to mourning. Job is totally exhausted.
JOB
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, Job’s Dark Night
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.