For the leader. With stringed instruments. On sh’minit [low-pitched musical instruments?]. A psalm of David:
YHVH, don’t rebuke me in your anger, don’t discipline me in the heat of your fury. Be gracious to me, YHVH, because I am withering away; heal me, YHVH, because my bones are shaking; I am completely terrified; and you, YHVH — how long? Come back, YHVH, and rescue me! Save me for the sake of your grace; for in death, no one remembers you; in Sh’ol, who will praise you?
I am worn out with groaning; all night I drench my bed with tears, flooding my couch till it swims. My vision is darkened with anger; it grows weak because of all my foes.
Get away from me, all you workers of evil! For YHVH has heard the sound of my weeping, YHVH has heard my pleading, YHVH will accept my prayer. All my enemies will be confounded, completely terrified; they will turn back and be suddenly put to shame.
Are these enemies of war? Or are they enemies in the sense they are causing David to consider something contrary to the goodness of God?
Sometimes it takes us being in a compromised state to flush out the truth about people -- and God.
I think we all know what it’s like to be sick. But not many of us really know what it’s like to be sick. Shaking off a cold is one thing. Navigating cancer is another.
With a temporary ailment we seek healing because we are inconvenienced. But with a life-threatening issue we seek healing because we want life.
What happens when others learn about our condition? Well, the super-spiritual will flood your ears with all of the reasons why you deserve it, or how God is a mystery worker and there’s a lesson somewhere in the midst of it all. You're either a sinner getting what sinners get, or you need to grow in faith and trust. Ah, the mysteries of God.
This smells a lot like Job’s experience, huh?
Job had “friends” that seemed to present solid arguments as to why his life was in shambles. And to be fair, as you navigate through the positions presented to Job, they all seem to make perfect sense.
Job’s friends -- Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar -- told him that his suffering must be the result of some hidden sin. They operated from a rigid belief in retributive justice: the idea that God always rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. So, to them, Job’s intense suffering could only mean that he had done something wrong and was being punished. They urged him to confess and repent, assuming this would restore his fortunes. While their theology was consistent with conventional wisdom of the time, it failed to grasp the deeper mystery of Job’s situation -- that suffering is not always a sign of divine punishment and that God's purposes can transcend human understanding.
Think of the last time you went through a tough situation. Do any of these sound like counsel you received from well-meaning people?
Eliphaz appeals to experience and visions. He suggests that Job’s suffering must be due to some fault, because “the innocent do not perish.” He implies gently (at first) that Job should accept God’s discipline and repent. His tone is philosophical, even spiritual, but increasingly accusatory as Job resists.
“As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.” (Job 4:8)
Bildad is more blunt and rooted in tradition. He insists that Job’s children must have died because of their sin and that Job should seek God, who is just and never perverts justice. He puts strong faith in ancestral wisdom and sounds increasingly callous.
“Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right?” (Job 8:3)
Zophar is the most severe. He accuses Job of talking too much and claims Job actually deserves worse than what he’s getting. He emphasizes God’s inscrutability and urges Job to repent if he wants hope. Zophar allows the least space for mystery or innocence.
“Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.” (Job 11:6)
It isn’t until the very end of this ping-pong commentary that Abba Himself sets the record straight.
Job 38:38 Then YHVH answered Iyov (Job) out of the storm:
2 “Who is this, darkening my plans with his ignorant words?
3 Stand up like a man, and brace yourself; I will ask questions; and you, give the answers!”
Oh, my!
The words of man are as fleeting as dried leaves blown from a tree in autumn. Insight and advice from the minds and mouths of men may seem refreshing, but in the end, they are full of ignorance.
It’s only those that speak what they hear the Father say that bring life. Otherwise, death sits close by. Unfortunately, people cover this death in a supposed life-giving oration that makes sense even though it is terribly wrong. But when you’re sick or struggling, it feels as if you have no leg to stand on. Why is it that this has come upon you? A hard question, for sure.
It’s great that people want to comfort us in our trials. In fact, it’s needed. But we have to be very slow to receive well-meaning words that may not fully possess the truth. Instead, we need to sit quietly and listen to what God has to say over what man has to say. And what did He say? Fortunately, we have a record of exactly that. We even have a Man that showed us what it looks like when the Word of God goes forth mightily in the earth. Things that make sense in the natural seem to fall apart at the edge of God’s Word. The wisdom of the world crumbles when it tries to stand in the Face of God. Worse still, the counsel of godly people may even vaporize when it twists the Ways of God.
But when His Word goes forth, all of humanity changes. Those that are evil get exposed for their evil, and those with sincere hearts get healed. These workers of evil are sowers of death, speaking from a place of human wisdom disguised as the Ways of God. The judgments of man usher forth like water from a broken dam. Their arguments seem correct and we are left turning over many falsehoods about our own lives. And these falsehoods are about the goodness of God.
And if we listen closely, Abba will speak truth. He’s working. Perhaps on you, perhaps on someone else. No matter, we appeal to His goodness and infinite wisdom.
“Who is this, darkening my plans with his ignorant words?”
You matter to Him. And He will waste nothing at all in getting us to understand that.
That begins by calling forth the workers of evil and putting their arrogant words in check. Yeshua speaks powerfully into this space:
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, only those who do what my Father in heaven wants. 22 On that Day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord! Didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we expel demons in your name? Didn’t we perform many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will tell them to their faces, ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’
Doing what we think He wants is not the same thing as doing what He wants. Sounds a lot like Job’s friends, huh?
God’s rebuke of Job’s friends comes near the end of the book, in Job 42:7-9. After speaking to Job out of the whirlwind, God turns to Eliphaz and says:
“My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” (Job 42:7)
This is a striking reversal.
While Job had questioned, lamented, and even challenged God, he is commended for speaking "what is right" about God—likely because he was honest, even in his confusion and pain. In contrast, the friends are rebuked for misrepresenting God, even though they were trying to defend His justice.
God is essentially saying:
God then tells the friends to offer sacrifices, and Job prays for them—showing that mercy and restoration follow even the rebuke.
So, Abba's response upends the conventional wisdom presented to Job by his friends: It’s better to wrestle with God sincerely than to defend Him falsely.
In like manner, David wastes no time in setting the accusers straight:
Get away from me, all you workers of evil! For YHVH has heard the sound of my weeping, YHVH has heard my pleading, YHVH will accept my prayer. All my enemies will be confounded, completely terrified; they will turn back and be suddenly put to shame.
The next time you face a trial, seek first the Kingdom of God. Then,
Job 38:3 Stand up like a man, and brace yourself; I will ask questions; and you, give the answers!