Job 23:8-9

8. Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
9. On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

Introduction:

Have you ever come to the point in your Christian walk, where you have to conclude “The Christian Life is not what I thought it would be?” Or have you been faced with such a trial or difficulty that caused you to feel as though God has abandoned you, or that He is not aware, and if He is aware, He is not concerned about your welfare? I am sorry that the questions sound so cliche. They sound like questions that the common televangelist would ask, so that he can get someone to think he’s talking to them. In reality though, these questions describe in vivid detail the experience of many a child of God whom the Lord has laid His hand upon.

Recently I came across a brother in the Lord who was gravely perplexed at to his spiritual condition. He expressed openly his frustration and disappointment in seeking after God and coming up short. It was as though, he said, God had hidden his face from me, and no matter what I did, how much I prayed, how much I begged, how much I repented, how much I pleaded, Christ remained hidden. He would not speak, He would not bless, He would not move on my behalf. In hearing the cries of our brother, my wife and I were greatly moved. Not because we had compassion on our brother going through this difficult time, though indeed we did, but because we identified with him. You see we have felt ourselves in the very same situation. Not a long time ago, but very recently and to the present. Coincidentally the Lord had recently laid a passage of scripture on my heart, that sincerely speaks to the heart of what we and my brother in the Lord are going through. We to because of some difficult times we are facing, have been ofttimes discouraged and we have come to the point of feeling abandoned by our Lord. Our circumstances cause us to doubt the mind and heart of God, and more than that, cause us to be unable to find God during the darkest part of our lives.

Job is a very familiar character in the scriptures. He is well known both by the religious and secular worlds. He was a faithful child of God, whom the Lord allowed the devil to sift as wheat. Few children of God, have suffered the things that Job have suffered. Few have undergone the trials of body and spirit that Job experienced. The bible says Job was a righteous man. Faithful to God. Who prayed daily for his family. Who reverenced God, and hated evil. This was not Job’s testimony of himself, but God’s testimony of Job. The apostle Paul often used a phrase, “God is my witness”. That is to say, he would call upon God to testify that what he was saying was true. So in the account of Job, it was God’s testimony of Job that said he was a righteous man. There could be no higher, truer, unfailing and trustworthy testimony.

In Job 23, we find job at the point of having lost his house, his children, his substance and his health, he is surrounded by his “Friends”, who have taken the time to reason with Job and to show him that the reason he was suffering these things was because he had sin in his life. God was judging Job, they said, because of his pride and some hidden iniquity that he had not confessed. Their accusations could be summed up in the words of one of Job’s friends Eliphaz when he said:

Job 22:23-25

If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent, and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines, then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you.

Put away the sin from your tent, repent Job. Stop trusting in gold and silver, then the Lord will be your gold and silver. We find later that Job’s friends were rebuked by God, because they were in error in judging Job’s situation.

In Job:23 though, we are presented with a unique look at the personal, mental, physical, emotional and spiritual turmoil that Job was going through. The Lord allowed me to see these things, and they have been a great encouragement to me. It is my prayer that the Spirit of God takes His word, and encourages the many Jobs out there who are also sinking under a weight of hopelessness.

I. Job’s Complaint

A. Job as Plaintiff.

I don’t want you to hear the word “complaint” and get the impression that Job was “complaining” as we understand the term today. I have in the past mistakenly read this passage and concluded that Job wanted an opportunity to complain to God about his situation. We would look at what the word “complaint” communicates in a minute. The word of God says in the first verse “Then Job answered and said”. That is to say, he was answering Eliphaz. Even though his words were not directed to specifically, what he was saying was in response to the accusations made by Eliphaz and his other friends. They were accusing him of iniquity and sin, and he was about to respond to their condemnation.

Job says that his case, his cause, is bitter and the yoke that had been laid upon him, was of greater weight than his groaning. Job says that he desires to find God. To come before God’s very throne and act as a complainant in a matter. That’s the idea of Job’s complaint. He believed he had a case, a cause. If he could find God, he would come before God and plead his cause. It is a picture of Job as a plaintiff suffering injury or loss, coming before God the supreme judge and pleading his case and to seek relief, not primarily from the situation he’s going through, but from the weight of the accusations being leveled against him. Based on the arguments that he puts forth before his judge, he believes the Judge would declare him to be innocent and righteous, and to let all know that the things he was experiencing was not as a result of any iniquity in him. Job said:

3. Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!
4. I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
5. I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.
6. Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.
7. There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.

Job said, if I could find God, I would plead my cause. I would fill my mouth with arguments. He would not plead against me, but he would bear witness to me. He says it is at the seat of God, that the one who is confident of his uprightness and integrity can carry his cause. It is there that the righteous man will be heard, and justice will be done on his behalf. Job is talking about himself here, not another. He wants to come before God and plead his cause, because he is confident that he will be delivered. When he says from my “judge” he is not here referring to God as his judge. This is to say, that he wants to be delivered from God. But the word used here to mean “judge” in fact points to anyone who would accuse him, that is to say his friends.

B. God as Supreme Judge

Job was seeking, not necessarily relief from his situation, but relief from those who were condemning him, and believe it or not, we all when going through some sort of difficulty, look to God, not necessarily for relief, but because we seek to be justified. Let me speak for myself here. When I’m going through a difficult time, the ones that sit in the place of Job’s three friends are my own heart, mind and conscience. They tell me that the reason for my difficulty, is because God is judging me because of my sin and iniquity. They tell me that Christ is angry with me for my sin, and He’s punishing me. And when I look for God, I’m looking for Him to give me some assurance, that what I am going through is not because of my own sin and iniquity. I want to plead my cause before Him. “Lord I have followed you. Lord I have trusted in you. Lord I have forsaken all and followed you.” I want Him to say “Yes that is so. This thing that you’re suffering is not because of your sin.” I want deliverance from the things that condemn me. I would suffer anything for the sake of Christ, if only I were confident that what I was suffering was not as a result of Him being angry with me because of my sin. If only I could speak to Him, and he could tell me that this thing is not his anger towards me.

Job was saying that if he could find God and plead his case before Him, God would return a verdict in the matter in Job’s favor. That judgement would be final and irrevocable and could not be overruled. The court system in most countries is made up like this. You have at the lowest levels the Administrative Tribunals. Then you have the Courts. Then you have the Appeal Courts. Then the Supreme Courts. A judgement can be delivered in the courts, that can be overruled in the appeal courts. A judgement can be delivered in the appeal courts that can be overruled in the supreme courts. There is no court higher than the supreme court. It is this idea that Job is conveying. There is no higher court than the throne of God. There is no one that can overrule a judgement that he makes. Any verdict delivered from God’s throne is final. Thus Job’s statement “I will FOREVER be delivered” from my judge. No one will be able to accuse me again, for God had declared the matter in my favor.

Even though these words were written so many years ago, Job had an understanding, albeit not complete, of what God does for us in Christ.

Romans 8:33

Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

If God declares you righteous, the matter is forever settled. No one, not even your conscience can then come and bring an accusation against you.

So Job was seeking God to find deliverance from the condemnation of his friends, or anyone who came to the conclusion that he was suffering his calamity because of some sin that he had done.

Now It’s important for me to point out here, that when you are faced with a difficulty, the correct thing is to seek God. Flee to Him. But Job was in error here, in that he was pleading his own righteousness in the matter. He was going to argue that he had done no wrong, as his friends had accused him of. When we are faced with a difficult situation, and we look for God, it should only be to find Mercy and Grace to help in time of need. To humble ourselves before him so that He would lift us up. To receive the strength to endure the fiery trial that comes upon us. To cry out to Him and say, Lord be merciful to me a sinner.

II. Job Confounded

David says in Psalm 30:7

O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.

The reality of the Christian walk, is that there are times, in particular difficult times, when God’s face is hidden from us. Job was looking for God and could not find him. Job says it this way.

Job 23:8-9

8.Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
9. On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

A. Cannot Perceive God’s Presence

I know there are people out there, who will read Job’s words, and it would seem as though you yourself are speaking them. In your difficulty, you try to find God, and you cannot. No matter how hard you try, no matter how hard you look. You can’t see, feel, or perceive God. Job’s words express not a casual, but a frantic search. It also communicates a complete search. If someone says, “I’ve searched up and down”, or “I’ve searched left and right”, you know that they mean they’ve looked everywhere. Job was in a frantic search for God. He looked everywhere. No place was left un-searched. No effort was left unspent. The words translated “forward” and “backward” are literally in the Hebrew translated “East” and “West”. In Hebrew Geography, the first point is in the East, not North as we are accustomed to. Likewise the words “Left” and “right” are actually in reference to “South” and “North” respectively. So Job makes the reference to say, that he had searched the ends of the earth to find God. This again is not a literal statement, but the painting of a picture to show the earnestness of Job’s seeking after God.

So Job is confounded. And I want you to notice what he says in Job 23:9. Job is of the belief, that it is not that the circumstances are hiding God from his view, but God Himself is hiding himself from Job.

he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

Now there are times, and the bible does speak of situations, where iniquity hides God from the eyes of men. Of this, there is no doubt. But beloved, there are times when the Lord would allow us to come to the place where we can’t see or perceive Him for His own purpose. For His perfect will to be accomplished in our lives.

Oh Child of God, read Job’s words and know that you are not alone. You are not the only one who has been going through a difficult circumstance and did your best to seek the Lord and have come up short. You are not unique in this. You are not the first, and you will not be the last. Many a saint, many a prophet, many a missionary, many a great man or woman of God has been in the place where they sought God with everything in them, and could not find Him. You look for Him in prayer, and your prayer seems cold and unanswered. You look for Him in His word, and God’s word seems to not move you as before. You look for Him in the sermons of great men used by God, and they just seem to be talking to the air. You look for Him in your Christian family, and instead you find condemnation and judgement as in the case of Job’s friends. Job was there where you are. I am where you are. You are not alone in this.

B. Cannot Perceive God’s Providence

Not only are we unable to perceive God’s presence, we also fail to see that God is in control and at work in the difficult circumstance that we are going through. Job said this:

Job: 23:9

On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him:

He is at work, on my left hand, but I cannot see him. It is impossible to see God’s hand at work in any particular situation, especially difficult situations, unless God’s Spirit reveals His working to you. Just recently my wife and I were having a talk about the providence of God and how he works all things together for his purpose and perfect will. Including difficult circumstances, and the shortcomings and failures of His people. We spoke were talking about David before he became King. In I Samuel 27, we read of a time when David, after being pursued relentlessly by Saul, lost hope and concluded that Saul would one day catch up with him and kill him. He thought to himself, despite God’s promise to him to one day become king, that “there is nothing better for me” than to escape into the camp of the enemy. He could not see God’s promise anymore. He could not perceive God’s presence with him anymore. So he decided to take matters into his own hands and flee for his own life, into the camp of the enemy of God’s people.

Oh how true it is, that so many of us become frustrated by a particular hardship, and we give up on the promise of God, and go out into the enemy camp. Because we conclude, as did David, that “There is nothing better for me”. I’m not speaking these words in condemnation to anyone. I’m speaking from personal experience. There was a time in my life in the past where I did not see the promises of God materializing, and I came to the conclusion that “There was nothing better for me”, and I ended up in the world. So it was with David. He fled to the land of the Philistines. Could not see the promises of God. Could not see the hand of God. The reality of the situation was however, that God had already condemned Saul, and shortly after David left Israel, Saul was killed in a battle with the Philistines. His son Jonathan was also killed, and without a doubt, if David were still in the Israel, he would have fought at Jonathan’s side, and would himself had been killed. Oh for sure, God could have preserved David in battle. He did so many times before. But on this occasion, God chose to use David’s moment of weakness, to get him out of Israel, so that he would be preserved when the Philistines came and defeated Saul. Very soon after the death of Saul, David was sent for and anointed king over Israel. Even though David could not see it, God was at work.

Job said, I can’t see Him, but he’s at work on my left hand. So it is with you child of God. You can’t see Him, but He is at work, even in that circumstance that you are going through. You won’t understand it now. He may never reveal it to you till the day you see Him face to face. But God is very much in control, providentially, of what you are going through. this leads us to our next point in the passage.

III. Job’s Confidence

Job goes on to utter what for me are some of the most powerful words in scripture. Despite all that Job has been through. Despite all the condemnation from his friends. Despite the fact that he searched for and could not find God. He still possessed and expressed a deep, solid confidence in God. Job says:

Job 23:10

But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

A. God as Overseeer

Job says “He Knoweth”. The words of the song by Lionel Petersen “He gives me peace, when trouble blows. Jehovah sees, Jehovah knows.” Job had lost his family, his home, his health. His friends were condemning him. He could not find God, could not perceive what God was doing. Yes after all that, Job could say with Confidence. “I don’t know, but He knows.” He Knoweth. God had intimate knowledge of Job’s situation. Oh how many of us feel that God does not know, or that God is indifferent to what we are experiencing. Because we can’t find Him, we think He does not care. He has better things to do, or concern Himself about. Yes we have all been there. Job concludes. I don’t know, but He knows. I don’t know where I’m going, but He knows. This path that I’m on. This thing that is appointed to me. He is intimately acquainted with it. He can see the end of it. He can see the path. He can see what’s ahead of me. He knows the end of a thing from the beginning. Oh how many times we have not knows which direction to turn, or where to go, or we’re worried about what the next turn around the next corner will bring.

Job says this as a consolation to himself. He finds comfort in these words. These words of Job have a twofold meaning.

a. His Righteous Walk.

In the direct context of the passage, Job was here referring to the righteous path that he had taken in serving God. He again is here appealing to God to be his arbitrator. He had chosen a path of following after righteousness in obedience to his God, and he was saying that God was intimately acquainted with that path. He is again here appealing to his righteous walk. His friends were accusing him of sin, and he was saying that God knows the truth about my walk. He knows the truth about my way.

Make no mistake, that God is intimately aware of your Christian walk. This has both a negative and a positive viewpoint. In the negative, God knows if your walk is not right. In the positive, he knows if you are walking right.

b. His Circumstances

The wider application, is that God is fully acquainted with Job’s situation. This period of trial. This difficulty. This “Thing that is appointed for me” as he says in Job 23:14, is in full view of the Lord.

You think that God is not seeing your difficulty? You think that God is not aware of your struggle? Job says, despite all, He Knoweth. Take comfort in those words my brother, my sister. Jesus knows what you’re going through. This is not just idle talk. This is not just something I’m saying to make you feel better. I know cause I’ve been there. You can’t see God at work, so you think that He isn’t aware, or concerned about the trial that is afflicting you. He knows. He knows. Find comfort in this truth. Jesus knows.

B. Job as The Object

when he hath tried me

It is not enough for someone to just be aware of my circumstances, but not be able to do anything about it. To say that God knows, brings one comfort only because of the fact that we realize that God not only has the knowledge, but also possesses the power to cause that circumstance to bring about his perfect will which is my good. Job understood that his God not only had knowledge of his situation, but was using it for a purpose to refine him. That’s what the word “tried” means. It is reference to someone who refines a precious metal by subjecting it to the most intense heat. Job was saying, that this thing that I’m going through, God was n control of it, and was using it for the purpose of trying me.

James says in James 1:1-3:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

Peter says it like this in 1 Peter 1:6-7:

6. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7. That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

The trials that we face, just as Job, are designed to try us, to refine us, to purify us. To burn off the dross and the impurities. The things that God wishes to separate from us. Job said. He knows and is in control of my situation so as to refine me and try me.

C. Righteousness as The Outcome

Job says after the trial. After the testing. After the refining. The process that God not only is aware of, but is in control of. I will come forth as gold. He is referring here to God’s finished product of producing righteousness, Christ likeness in the life of His child.

This thing that you are going through is not for naught. You are not suffering because God somehow gains some sadistic pleasure in seeing you squirm. There is a purpose to your suffering. There is a desired end that God’s wants to achieve. There is something that He wishes to cultivate in you. That is a life of faith towards God, and Christ’s righteousness and life manifested in you. You’re situation is bleak now, but in the end you will be what God wants you to be. Job understood and took comfort in this fact. He is acquainted with our situation, is in control of it, and is using it to bring about Christ’s life in us, just as gold purified by fire. What you are going through, I can’t stress it enough, is not for naught.

IV. Job’s Commitment

This last point, is very important. Many times we feel because we cannot see or perceive God, that there is no point to this Christian walk. There is no profit to our suffering. Why server God anyhow? I might as well go back into the world and live like the unbelievers. They seem to be having a better time of it. What is the point of it all?

Job decided that he was not going to go that route. Listen to what Job says:

11. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
12.Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

Job had determined that despite the fact of all that he had gone through, and all that he was going through. Despite the fact he could not see or perceive God. Job had purposed in his heart, that he was not going to turn away from God. He echoes it again in Job 13:15:

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

I don’t know what’s going on, but even if God Himself is killing me, I’m going to continue to trust Him. The idea is that he was not going to allow the difficult circumstances turn him against his God. It is the same with the three Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were faced with the threat of being burned alive, unless they turned and worshiped Nebuchadnezzar’s idol. They made it clear. They purposed in their heart. They determined in their mind and spirit, that even if God allowed them to die, they were not going to disobey God, or turn from Him to worship idols. It is the divine enabling of God, that allows the child of God to come to the place where he makes a definite reservation that he is going to follow after God no matter what. Yes it is God that must give you the grace to come to this place. It cannot be done in your own strength.

A. Holding Fast to God’s Way

My foot hath held his steps. His way have I kept and not declined.

This speaks of his walk with the Lord. Job had not stopped walking with the Lord, even though he could not find Him or perceive Him. Even though God could not be found by his limited perception. By the grace of God, Job had not deviated to the right or to the left. Job was still walking with God. Oh this is the essence of faith. To continue to serve God, even when you can’t see Him. When you think He’s not there. God give us the grace to not loose heart and turn away from walking with you.

B. Holding Fast to God’s Word

Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

In my times of discouragement, the word of God has been my sustenance. Food is necessary, but I consider the word of God to be more important than the bread I eat. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself when tempted by the devil in the wilderness in Mathew 4, and Luke 4, quoted Deuteronomy 8:3:

man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

When you are faced with a difficult time, and you can’t see God, and you don’t know what’s going on. Get in the word. Immerse yourself in God’s word. Job wasn’t just saying that he was reading and obeying God’s word. He was saying that he needed the word of God more than he needed to eat. Rest assured, that if you do not stay in God’s word during your time of difficulty, you will end up turning from God’s way. I guarantee you. I’m speaking from experience. Read God’s word. Look at his promises. Encourage yourself in the Lord. God will give you the strength to do it.

Conclusion:

May the Lord give each of us the grace we need to keep following Him despite the difficult times. Despite the season of trials. May we never turn from our God. May we always remember that despite the fact we may not be able to see Him, He is at work. May we always be confident that He not only knows about out struggles, but is in control of our situation and is using it to bring about his purpose and perfect will. That will is to conform us to the image of His dear Son our Savior Jesus Christ.