Good God Almighty | Job, Part 1
TBR for January, 2024
"I can't count the times I've called Your name some broken night. And You showed up and patched me up like You do every time. I get amnesia. I forget that You keep coming around. Yeah, ain't no way You'll ever let me down. Good God Almighty, I hope You'll find me praising Your name no matter what comes. 'Cause I know where I'd be without Your mercy. So I keep praising Your name at the top of my lungs. Tell me, is He good? (He's good) Tell me, is He God? (He's God) He is good God Almighty You say Your love goes on forever, that Your mercy never stops. So why would I assume You'd be somebody that You're not? Like sun in the morning, I know You're gonna be there every day. So what on earth could make me be afraid? Good God Almighty, I hope You'll find me praising Your name no matter what comes. 'Cause I know where I'd be without Your mercy. So I keep praising Your name at the top of my lungs. Tell me, is He good? (He's good) Tell me, is He God? (He's God) He is good God Almighty Praise Him in the morning, Praise Him in the noontime, Praise Him when the sun goes down. Love Him in the morning, Love Him in the noontime, Love Him when the sun goes down. Good God Almighty, I hope You'll find me praising Your name no matter what comes. 'Cause I know where I'd be without Your mercy. So I keep praising Your name at the top of my lungs. Tell me, is He good? (He's good) Tell me, is He God? (He's God) He is good God Almighty Jesus in the morning, Jesus in the noontime, Jesus when the sun goes down Jesus in the morning, Jesus in the noontime, Jesus when the sun goes down." "Good God Almighty" -- Milk & Honey, Crowder {listen here}
The book of Job in the Bible has become one of my favorite stories. Even though Job’s story is full of physical pain and brokenness, questions, financial ruin, death, loss of relationships, bad advice and contempt from friends, and what seems like God’s silence — even though he suffers so much heartache — the story always brings me such hope and encouragement.
I just finished reading and studying the book of Job again for the fourth time with The Bible Recap, and it’s still so good! Even in God’s silence (for 37 chapters), He is there, on every.single.page. In the story of Job we see who God is and how He operates, we see so many eternal truths about Him, and we also see what it looks like to walk alongside Him in this life.
Below are some of my favorite truths about God, a few life lessons, and some prayerful responses. Each section is broken into a handful of chapters, based on the chronological reading plan I’m using with The Bible Recap via the Bible App (YouVersion). I’ll start today with chapters 1-23. Stay tuned for next week’s post, when I’ll tackle chapters 24-42.
Chapters 1-5 — God is in control of all of life’s details and situations, including limiting the power of evil.
We see in this chapter that while God didn’t initiate the plan to test Job, He did allow it. This means that since God is sovereign over all, He kept evil on a leash while the accuser tested Job. His mercy protected Job and limited the amount of suffering.
This truth gives me such hope! While I don’t know if there is actually more evil and violence and suffering in the world today, or if it just seems like it, I can trust and remain confident that God is still in control. Nothing in my life and nothing on the world’s stage escapes His knowledge, attention, or care.
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“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life. The LORD gives and the LORD takes away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” — Job 1:21
Job’s humility and acceptance of God’s will is incredible!
Lord God, You give and take away — may Job’s response also be mine. No matter what, I will bless Your name!
Chapters 6-9 — Sometimes life is just hard.
In the first chapter of Job, we learn that Job is a righteous man. He isn’t being punished; He’s being tested. And since God allows it, He uses Job’s testing to refine him. He also never lets Job go — His heart and mind are set on Job.
I love that this “inside look” is there right at the beginning, before Job’s story even unfolds (and unravels). I can read through all of Job’s friends’ commentary and advice, and I can encounter Job’s questions and suffering, and know that Job is righteous. And though God isn’t the active agent of evil and suffering in this story, it is a necessary part of the story He is writing.
He is wise, all-powerful, and does unsearchable things, yet He SETS HIS MIND AND HEART on me (Job 9, Job 7:17)!
Chapters 10-13 — God is my hope! “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him” (Job 13:15).
At this point in the story, Job is still hopeful. I pray that in all of life’s ups and downs, in every season — whether it’s a season of abundance or scarcity — I will say the same: though He slay me, I will hope in Him!
Job 11:6b says “Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves”. THIS is mercy!
Mercy = when you don’t get what you do deserve
Grace = when you get what you don’t deserve
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Job 12:5 — “Those who are at ease have contempt for misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.” — This one gets me every time because as I read Job’s friends’ advice and commentary, and as I listen to their words to Job, I can see where I’ve been the same way towards some of my friends in the past.
I sure hope I haven’t shown contempt for anyone, but when I don’t understand someone’s reactions to their suffering, I have responded with words and advice instead of support and willingness to listen and be quiet.
Let this be a reminder to me, Father God. Help me to show Your compassion for others, no matter their circumstances and experiences. Give me wisdom and discernment — that I will know when to speak and when to sit with someone in silence.
Chapters 14-16 — God is sovereign over lifespans.
This truth is such a comfort to me. As I get older and my family and friends also get older, I have such a tendency to worry (and I’ve never been much of a worrier) about health and wellness.
I want to do all I can to take care of my body, to age well, and to be a good steward of this body I’ve been given. I also want to make my family and friends do the same (but I can’t change people!). In light of this, Job 14:5 is so freeing to me! I will not stick around longer than I’m meant to stick around. My family will be here as long as they’re meant to be here, and so will my friends.
While I know that losing family and friends is so very tough and that the grief never leaves, I do find comfort, confidence, and rest in knowing that I can trust God even in this.
“Since a person’s days are determined and the number of his months depends on You, and since You have set a limit he cannot pass” (Job 14:5). God is sovereign over lifespans (and over all else) — His supreme authority will not be thwarted.
Ceding control and surrendering to Him is the goal — rather than taking offense or taking matters into my own hands, there is a freedom and a restfulness that comes from knowing He cares more about my life and the details of it than I ever could.
Father God, help me to surrender to You and to rest in the truth that Your sovereignty and providence will go before me.
Chapters 17-20 — I can ask questions of God — He wants (and can handle!) my honesty.
“I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!”
Job’s honesty and questions are still saturated with humility. And they show that he is still engaging with God. He is still praying. Even in these really hard times, Job says with confidence that he knows His Redeemer lives. He continues to point out eternal truths about God. He reminds himself and “preaches the Gospel” to himself.
I need to do the same every day, because my fickle heart forgets every day! I know that my Redeemer lives — I believe it, even when I cannot feel it.
Job’s declaration shows a few things that I just love:
his relationship with God is personal. He calls God “my Redeemer”
God is a redeemer. Job knew God would redeem his circumstances for His glory and Job’s good
He lives! He is alive — Job knew God was always with him
Chapters 21-23 — Job’s story rids me of any thoughts of “fairness” or what I think I deserve.
Job 21:7 — “Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?”
Job 21:30 — “that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity, that they are delivered from the day of wrath?”
I need to resist the urge to make conclusions about God — who He is and what He does (including what He allows versus what He authors) — based on what I think humans deserve.
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Job 23 might be my favorite! In this chapter, Job laments what feels like God’s distance. He wants to plead his case but He can’t — “If I go east, He is not there, and if I go west, I cannot perceive Him. When He is at work to the north, I cannot see Him; when He turns south, I cannot find Him (verses 8-9).”
Yet Job continues to hold fast, even in his confusion and when it seems God is silent. Job trusts that God is at work even when he can’t see Him. Even in all of the pain and suffering, He continues to yield to God in everything.
Father God, let Job’s response be my own! When it’s dark and I can’t see ahead to my next step. When I’m broken and hurting; when You are silent or feel far away — may I hold fast to You. You have been faithful and will continue to be faithful. May I say with Job’s confidence: “He will certainly accomplish what He has decreed for me (verse 14).”
So I’ll sing it again, God. At the top of my lungs!
“Good God Almighty, I hope You’ll find me praising Your name no matter what comes. 'Cause I know where I'd be without Your mercy. So I keep praising Your name at the top of my lungs"
{as my reading and study of the book of Job has been bolstered by Tara-Leigh Cobble and The Bible Recap, I know I have internalized these truths and so even some of Tara-Leigh’s words are likely repeated above. Credit where credit is due!}