Job Says He Longs for God
23 Then Job [a]replied,
2 “Even today my complaint is rebellion;
[b]His hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3 “Oh that I knew where I might find Him,
That I might come to His seat!
4 “I would present my case before Him
And fill my mouth with arguments.
5 “I would learn the words which He would [c]answer,
And perceive what He would say to me.
6 “Would He contend with me by the greatness of His power?
No, surely He would pay attention to me.
7 “There the upright would reason with Him;
And I [d]would be delivered forever from my Judge.8 “Behold, I go forward but He is not there,
And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
9 When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him;
He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.
10 “But He knows the [e]way I take;
When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
11 “My foot has held fast to His path;
I have kept His way and not turned aside.
12 “I have not departed from the command of His lips;
I have treasured the words of His mouth [f]more than my [g]necessary food.
13 “But He is unique and who can turn Him?
And what His soul desires, that He does.
14 “For He performs what is appointed for me,
And many such decrees are with Him.
15 “Therefore, I would be dismayed at His presence;
When I consider, I am terrified of Him.
16 “It is God who has made my heart faint,
And the Almighty who has dismayed me,
17 But I am not silenced by the darkness,
Nor deep gloom which covers me.
Job shows us an interesting contrast in his attitude. Though he is convinced that he has followed the law, and is thus blameless, in verse 5 he says that he desires to know how God would reply to him. That is, would God simply confirm Job’s statements, or would Job discover some hidden sin of which he was to repent? Either way, Job feels as if the heavens are shut, as he cannot find God anywhere.
Fortunately, God is more consistent than our feelings, as Job says in verse 13, “who can turn Him?” Or in other words, “who can change God’s mind?” Yet the writer of Hebrews tells us that we can come boldly before the throne of God. We can, like Job, pour out our hearts to God, and He will hear and listen.
We may not feel like we are hearing anything back, but we can rest assured, as it states in 14, “For He performs what is appointed for me…” Paul would later echo a similar statement, that God is faithful to complete the good work that He began in us. Whether our feelings betray us or not, God will never. He will be with us always, even when our feelings try to tell us otherwise. “God is good, and His love endures forever.”