9. Lamentation of a Depressed Soul
Hymns: RHC 10 Still, Still with Thee; 13 Abide with Me; 337 Never Give Up
Job 3:1-10
KJV Job 3:1After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. 2And Job spake, and said, 3Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. 4Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. 5Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. 6As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months. 7Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein. 8Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning. 9Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day: 10Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’swomb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes. (Job 3:1-10 KJV)
Lamentation of a Depressed Soul
OUTLINE
(1) Why Was I Born? (v1-10)
(2) Why Did I Not Die Earlier? (v11-19)
(3) Why Am I Still Alive? (v20-26)
INTRODUCTION
From the silence of a soul going through pain and suffering we shall see now the passionate expression of grief and sorrow of a tormented heart pressed to the limit of endurance in the man Job. It is interesting that the first book of the Bible is given to share the misery and affliction of a godly man. I believe it is meant to show us the reality of life, more clearly, life with God. You mean, walking with God, can lead to such a broken moment in life as we are seeing now in Job? Yes!
1 Peter 1:6-9 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
Peter exhorts the suffering Christian to rejoice in the midst of suffering. Is this a possible reality? I believe it is the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s heart.
Remember when It was in Philippi that the Apostle Paul had to endure beatings and cast into prison. But it was in the prison that the Philippian’s chief guard was saved together with his family. God wrought a miracle to deliver him by an earthquake that caused all the doors of the prison to be opened and his chains freed. He did not run away. It startled the prison keeper to come to faith in Jesus Christ. Whilst the Apostle Paul and Silas were in prison, in their pain and captivity they praised God. What peace God gave them! This is recorded in Acts 16:25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
It is the Spirit’s work in the life of the believer when we surrender ourselves to God’s leading in life amidst unexplainable suffering and pain.
The prophet Isaiah gave these words of encouragement to the tormented soul in Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
One late pastor was asked, “What is the victorious Christian life?” He insightfully observed, “It is not a life without ever committing a sin. It is not a life without ever having any failure. It is not a life without ever having any doubt. It is not a life without ever having discouragement. Instead, the victorious life is the life of bringing our failures to the Lord Jesus and allowing Him to give us a brand new start. Day after day I tell the Lord I need a new start. I need to be anointed with fresh oil today, and I need forgiveness. I thank God that He is a God of grace, a God of glory and a God of the second chance. You’re probably more prepared to serve God after failure and restoration, than perhaps at any other time in your life. Have you recently failed at something? There is no better time than right now to ask for His forgiveness for any unconfessed sin and ask Him to give you a new start.”
But for Job, it was not because of his sin that he was suffering such pain and misery in his life. It was a trial of faith, a most excruciating pain, the deepest valley moment for a man, we are seeing it exposed before us for our spiritual benefit.
He asked three very searching question in his agony which he cannot answer. He was so tired and tried and exhausted and perplexed he asked these questions:
(1) Why Was I Born? (v1-10)
(2) Why Did I Not Die Earlier? (v11-19)
(3) Why Am I Still Alive? (v20-26)
From chapter 3 to Job 42:6, the genre of the text change from prose to Hebrew poetry. It is the reason for this book to be found in the wisdom literature. Dearly beloved brethren, when bad news come, it does not give us time to prepare our hearts to receive it. It just comes suddenly, we are as it were “caught unawares”. The uniqueness of the Book of Job derives from its depth and thoroughness on dealing with the relationship human suffering to divine justice, commonly known as theodicy, from the Greek word “theos” which means God and dike which means “justice”. What is the reason for human suffering? Is there a justification that God gives for giving us afflictions in life?
The book of Job deals with the mystery of suffering or the problem of pain. The Book of Job tells us that there is a sovereign God that rules the universe. Though the punishment of the wicked may be delayed, it is never ultimately evaded. The sufferings of an individual are not necessarily the consequence of the sufferer’s sin. The goodness of God does not exclude suffering for His children. What should the response of the Christian in face sufferings, afflictions and trials in life’s journey? Dear Beloved, we are to measure God’s love not by His providence but by His promises in His Word. We may not be able to trace God’s hand.
He did not know what happened in the councils of heaven, therefore he had to take his trials by faith. We may not be able to trace God’s hand but we can trust God’s heart. When providence dark and difficult to read, it is the Word of God that will sustain us.
So that we know from this study that we are to respond with deep water faith in times of affliction Job said in Job 13:15 “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him”, “the Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the LORD” in Job 1:21.
In faith, we submit in humbleness and humiliation under the Mighty Hand of God, with thanksgiving for the lot that God had deemed fit for us to have. Yet with that boldness and confidence that God has not forsaken us to boldly come in worship and prayer casting all our care upon him.
(1) Why Was I Born? (v1-10)
1After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. 2And Job spake, and said, 3Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.
It is during the time of our suffering that we are all the more need to be prepared to give a guarded response as Wiersbe observed well, “When you are hurting, you may say and do a lot of things that you later regret. Job’s suffering was so great that he forgot the blessings that he and his family had enjoyed for so many years. Had he never been born, he would never have been the greatest man in the East! But pain makes us forget the joys of the past, instead, we concentrate on the hopelessness of the future.” Up to now, Job’s friends has been sitting silently with Job. Now they shall hear the anguish of his heart.
He uses this “jussive” Hebrew verbs that expresses a wish. It is translated with the sentences beginning with “let”. I counted 14 times to express his lament – his grief and sorrow was articulated.
4Letthat day be darkness; letnot God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. 5Letdarkness and the shadow of death stain it;leta cloud dwell upon it;let the blackness of the day terrify it. 6As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, letit not come into the number of the months. 7Lo,letthat night be solitary,letno joyful voice come therein. 8Letthem curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning. 9Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; letit look for light, but have none; neither letit see the dawning of the day: 10Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.
He was really depressed. We notice that he was not contemplating suicide. He cursed the the night he was born and he cursed the night he was conceived (v3). Does God make mistake? He does not. But in the midst of our suffering, we can allow it to overwhelm us if we are not focusing on the Lord.
I know the Lord will make a way for me
I know the Lord will make a way for me (2x)
If I look to Him in prayer, darkest night will turn to day
I know the Lord will make a way for me.
This is the humble confidence that God wants His children to have in times of trial.
In June 2006, I had to undergo eight weeks of army physical remedial training. I was less than fit physically and I tried my best for 3 hours two times a week to follow through the rigours of physical training to build up my physical health. I tried my best to do all the exercises appointed for us by the instructors. Then at the eighth week, I was told to take the test. Running was the toughest for me. The passing mark was 14 minutes for 2.4 km. And I remember vividly, in the last 400 metres, when I was physically most exhausted and mentally tired I knew I had to give it all I have, if I made it, it will be a borderline case. Then it came to my mind also the full-time ministry and my full-time studies in FEBC. This intensive running is very much like FEBC training. I can be giving my best, and I may still fail. I have to accept God’s will for my life. If He wants to put me in the ministry, He will enable me. If He does not, then He will stop me. Submitting to the sovereign will of God must be the lesson that every Christian must learn, and I had to learn that lesson. I ran my heart out and completed the course. I finished in 1404. I failed by 4 seconds. When I received my results, I knew it is God’s will for me and I learned to accept it, I was not good enough, more effort had to be put in. I went to the counter to register for training for the next 4 weeks this time it will be 3 times per week. I would miss 3-4 weeks of the night class in FEBC on prayer. The PTI, physical training instructor took my results slip and ask me to come into the office to fill up on the computer a survey form.
And he asked me for my results slip. In front of me, he took the results slip, crushed it and threw it into the wastepaper basket and gave me another copy and said “you pass”, you can be discharged. I jumped for joy. But as I recall, if the Lord would want me to continue the remedial training, I had to submit to His sovereign will. Have you had failures in life before? When failures come, what is your response?
We may have lost a job and suddenly the weight of having to support the entire household with no solution, the weight of it can cause us to shudder yet God wants to build in us that inner strength to have faith and trust in him whatever the circumstance may be.
Dear Beloved, we are to measure God’s love not by His providence but by His promises in His Word. We may not be able to trace God’s hand we can trust God’s heart. When providence is dark and difficult to read, it is the Word of God that tells us how to view them.
For example, Psalms 37:25-26 “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. 26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.”