29. Weariness and Refreshing (2)

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Hymns: RHC 229 Thy Kingdom Come, O God; 227 Until Then O Glorious Day; 403 Count Your Blessings

Job 10:1-13

1 My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me. 3Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked? 4Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth? 5Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man’s days, 6That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin? 7Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand. 8Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me. 9Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again? 10Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? 11Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. 12Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. 13And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee. (Job 10:1-13 KJV)

My Soul Is Weary

OUTLINE

  • Want of Care (v1-7)
  • Want of Comfort (v8-13)

INTRODUCTION

In midst of our trial, the believer may feel totally worn out, weary and weep for relieve. For the child of God there is an avenue in God that we may find solace and strength. 

Philippians 4:6-7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Faith in God is the believer’s sustenance.

Psalm 27:13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

Psalm 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

As we read the text of Job’s suffering, we are able to see this saint’s agony in the midst of his trial. As we contemplate the psalmist’s words, we realize how true it is that only faith and patience will see us through wearisome days.

Does it not sound like the prophet Jeremiah’s cry in Jeremiah 20:18 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 20:9a Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. 

He felt that his road of service as God’s prophet has reached an end and then he experienced… But his wordwas in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. (Jeremiah 20:9b).

God’s word came to him so strongly with a renewed strength of hope that he couldn’t retreat to self-defeat but renewed in the strength of God’s grace, he felt the strength to endure and overcome.

Job was in this rock-bottom moment of despair where he still resisted to blame God but will leave his complain upon himself.

  • Want of Care (v1-7)
  • Want of Comfort (v8-13)
  • Want of Care (v1-7)

1 My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

This is a man in depression. He was overwhelmed in the heart. The word “weary” means “to feel loathing” from the verb “to break, snap”. He has reached a breaking point.

The Christian writer Jane Hunt saw the cure for depression as “walking from darkness into the dawn”. She commented interestingly, “Have the dark clouds of depression poured their tears upon your soul? Are you emotionally stuck… muddled in your mind… mired in your emotions? Do you feel isolated and alone… afraid that no one understands? If so, you are not alone. People from all walks of life have languished under the black clouds of depression.”

She further observed, “Can anything bring back the white clouds of contentment? King David—no stranger to depression—discovered the answer. He learned how to exchange the darkness of despair for the light of hope. Again and again, when his soul was downcast, he intentionally changed his focus—he continually riveted his focus on the faithfulness of his Saviour… his Redeemer… his God. Three times, in three different verses, David asked himself the same question and three times he followed with the same answer.”

Psalm 42:5-6 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and whyart thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him forthe help of his countenance. 6O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.Psalm 42:11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who isthe health of my countenance, and my God. Psalm 43:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who isthe health of my countenance, and my God.

What then is depression? The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: 9But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

 2I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.

He resorted to God by what Matthew Henry described “a humble petition to God”. He will seek the Lord in prayer and ask for God’s mercy to relieve him, “to deliver him from the sting of his affliction, which is sin”.

He pleaded to God, “do not condemn me; do not separate me forever from Thee. Though I lie under the cross, let me not lie under the curse, though I smart by the rod of a Father, let me not be cut off by the sword of a Judge.” [Matthew Henry]

 3Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked? 

He reasoned with God. To him, it is God who seemed to be oppressing him by the torment of his condition. He reasoned that he is the work of God’s hands. Would God that he will go on living in such an oppressed state and allow his tormenters (friends) to falsely accuse him in His sight? He felt it highly unreasonable that he should continue in this state, pleading for a way out.

4Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth? 

Is God not able to see the suffering of His dear children? Why does He not bring relieve to him at this time of his need. Is God not going to make a way out for him? 

As we search the Scripture, you will find that God certainly will as Jesus Himself said to His disciples to call out to the Father in their time of need.

Matthew 7:7-11 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Ask, and it shall be given you.” (Matt. 7:7a)

There is the needful supply of mercy and grace at God’s mercy seat, at the throne of grace, with Jesus. It’s there that our weak and often wounded souls are healed, strengthened, supplied, sped along in the paths of righteousness. Have we been too discouraged to even ask, too weak to knock, too faint to seek? Do not be, for there is an inexhaustible supply to meet our every need with Jesus. Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 22:28). Perhaps it has been the exacting demand in the workplace, or is it in school, or at home that has taken a toll on you? Will you lift up your eyes to Jesus, from whence comes your true help!

Prayer is the believer’s power with God. There is always recourse with God. To man it may be helpless, but not with our God. The burdens of life can often be so overwhelming at times that they threaten to rob the believer of his confidence in God’s ability to help him through yet another impasse. But when we ask, our text tells us, our request shall be met. This is the promise. This is the joy of asking.

Is this your daily habit to ask at the throne of grace? Do you spread your needs before the Lord and with an expectancy of faith to behold the manifestation of His glory in answer to your every need? If so, life for you is full and fulfilling. You have heeded our Lord’s command to “ask” and have been given your cup’s overflowing. It does invoke a sense of filial gratitude as we examine carefully the second portion of our text, “it shall be given you.” We are the passive party and our Father in heaven is the active party bestowing every blessing. If He withholds, we have nothing. If we abide not in Him, we have no life. Indeed, it is time to seek the Lord!

Will there be instances when we ask and our prayers go unanswered? There will be when we ask amiss. When we ask to fulfil and gratify the desires of the flesh, seeking not the will and glory of God, we pray amiss. James says in James 4:3, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

In our reading and meditating on God’s Word, let us ask that He open our eyes to behold the wisdom of His Word and the conviction of heart to walk in obedience. Jesus told us in the last days before His return, “iniquity shall abound and the love of many shall wax cold.” (Matthew 24:12) There is a real tendency to be seduced by the attractions of this world. May we ask the Lord to fill His people with the Holy zeal to serve Him, constrained by His love, for there is reward awaiting His faithful servants! May we ask for a hunger and thirst after righteousness, that our souls are satisfied, joyous and rejoicing. [4 June 2017, Blessed Hope Weekly]

5Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man’s days, 6That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin? 7Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand. 

He maintained his innocence and pleaded for God to deliver him. 

Matthew Henry explained well, “Men grow wiser by experience and more knowing by daily observation; with them truth is the daughter of time, and therefore they must take time for their searches, and, if one experiment fail, must try another. But it is not so with God; to him nothing is past, nothing future, but every thing present. The days of time, by which the life of man is measured, are nothing to the years of eternity, in which the life of God is wrapped up.” 

He therefore thinks it strange that God should thus prolong his torture, and continue him under the confinement of this affliction, and neither bring him to a trial nor grant him a release, as if he must take time to enquire after his iniquityand use means to search after his sin (v6). Not as if Job thought that God did thus torment him that he might find occasion against him; but his dealings with him had such an aspect, which was dishonourable to God, and would tempt men to think him a hard master. “Now, Lord, if thou wilt not consult my comfort, consult thy own honour; do something for thy great name,and do not disgrace the throne of thy glory,“(Jeremiah 14:21).

To be continued…