THE PIT OF DESPAIR

          The candor of Scripture is aptly viewed as an evidence of inspiration.  No sugarcoating; No whitewashing; Just telling it like it is.  The Bible is a compendium of books (“Book” of books) and the inspired authors of these various and different books have no desire to engage in hoodwinking their readers.  The Bible is the ultimate no-spin zone!   What a delightfully refreshing thought:  to realize that we are reading un-varnished truth, painful though it may sometimes be.  The journal of Job is a case in point.  This ancient book opens with the declaration that Job was blameless, upright, fearing God and turn away from evil (1:1).  He is lauded as the greatest of all men of the east (1:3).  Despite losing seven sons and three daughters in one fell swoop, Job professes:  blessed be the name of the Lord (1:21).  Although thoroughly afflicted, Job opines:  Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity? (2:10). 

If you stopped reading after chapter two you might walk away from the text thinking Job to be some kind of super-human creature.

          Then comes chapter three.  Robert Alden writes, “The third chapter of Job must be one of the most depressing chapters in the Bible.  While some might be as depressed as Job was and use these verses to give vent to their feelings, few sermons are made from this chapter, few verses are claimed as promises, and few are remembered for the warmth of their sentiment.  It is the lowest of several low points in the book.”  It is hard to imagine that the Job we first met in chapters one and two is the same Job we now meet again in chapter three.  Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth (3:1)  If there was any doubt as to Job’s full humanity, it is now revealed in this mournful wail of a miserable man.  O God, put a curse on the day I was born; put a curse on the night when I was conceived! … I have no peace, no rest, and my troubles never cease (3:3 & 26 / TEV).  Job’s pain is not just the emotional trauma of his great losses.  It is more than the suffering of his physical infirmity.  The Job we now see is a man who is in a deep pit of despair,  experiencing SPIRITUAL AGONY while wondering what has become of His God.  Job mistakenly interprets the silence of God as a sign of God’s apathy and this thought is almost unbearable.  Have you been there?  Have you borne Job’s lament as your own?  Let us re- read Job’s journal as we diligently seek to find a remedy for our own sometimes-hard-to-bear disappointments with God.

                                                                                      Terry Siverd / Cortland Church of Christ