 Let's open our Bibles to the 30th chapter, Job chapter 30. We're going to be looking at that chapter tonight as we continue our our series through the book of Job. We welcome those who are with us online. It's interesting how you know as you're opening your Bibles to that passage. You know the Lord has just done some wonderful things, is doing wonderful things. I'm blown away to be honest with you, by the people who want to be involved in the ministry. You know for some people it's been a very difficult year for many of us really, all of us, with this situation with COVID and all. But you know I'm blessed to say to you that our church is very healthy, that the Lord is doing some wonderful things. You know the idea that this Friday, John it's Friday, we have how many men are going to be there? We have 430 men who are going to be coming out on Friday to have fellowship devotion and hamburgers, and that was as many burgers as we were able to make, right? Because you left what a few for the other guys, right? And so that's 430 guys. And then the next day, and by the way if you didn't sign up to buy a burger, you can still come for the fellowship. We invite you to be part of that. It's on Friday. We had to limit it to tonight because we have to know how many burgers to make. And so we also have on Saturday that date night. It's really important to go out on dates, as David said a moment ago. And you know we have a couple hundred couples who will be there, probably more. And to me that's a blessing guys, because that's you know over 800 people involved in a church that, you know, we have a lot of people who still haven't even returned. And so I'm blessed. And not only that, one more thing. We do invite you, and I know it's a cost and all of that, but we invite you to go with us to Israel. We have 195 people right now who are saying that they want to go with us to Israel. That doesn't mean they will. The whole church could probably say I want to go. But we have a good amount of people who have signed up with interest. That tells me that we're going to have a great possibility of going. We're getting as much information as we can related to it. You know the date will be probably the last week of March. I think it was March and the first week of April. Price is somewhere between $43 and $45. That's the total price. And if you've ever wanted to go to Israel, you know, this may be the time. I'd love to have you go with us. And you know, if you have interest, you can contact us through our Calvary webpage. So today we're going to be looking at Job chapter 30. I'll read beginning at verse 1 to verse 8, just to lay some things down and give you an introduction and then move into our study. Job chapter 30, we're looking at a subject entitled Days of Affliction. And you'll see why that is the title in just a moment. But beginning at verse 1, chapter 30 of the book of Job. Job is speaking and he says, But now they mock at me, men younger than I, whose fathers I disdain to put with the dogs of my flock. Indeed, what profit is the strength of their hands to me? Their vigor has perished. They are gaunt from want and famine, fleeing late to the wilderness, desolate and waste, who pluck mallow by the bushes and broom tree and broom tree roots for their food. They were driven out from among men. They shouted at them as Adithif. They had to live in the clefts of the valleys, in caves of the earth and the rocks. Among the bushes they braided under the nettles they nestled. They were sons of fools. Yes, sons of vile men. They were scourged from the land. And so as we've seen, Job is a righteous man. But Job has lost everything that he at one time had valued. As we've gone through the book of Job, we've seen it. He lost his family. He lost his wealth. Most of all, he lost his depth of relationship with God. When we were in chapter 29, he had said in verse 2, Oh, that I were as in months past, in the days when God watched over me. He said in Job 29, 4 through 6, just as I was in the days of my prime, when the friendly counsel of God was over my tent, when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were around me, when my steps were bathed with cream, and the rock poured out rivers of oil for me. I was rich, he was saying. I was blessed, surrounded by my children. And I had the favor of both God and I had the favor of man. In those days, and we saw this in chapter 29, he had said, in those days young men were intimidated by my presence. Elders would stand in respect when I walked into the room. But in a few short months, everything has changed. Because he is now despised by men. He is afflicted. He's plagued by terrors. He's in constant physical pain. He's been cast away. At least he thinks he's been cast away by God. And he has nothing but death to look forward to. He had said at one time, people greatly desired my counsel. Notice in chapter 29, verse 21, he said, men listened to me and waited and kept silence for my counsel. After my words, they did not speak again, and my speech settled on them as do. They waited for me as for the rain, and they opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain. At one time, people desired my counsel. They would listen to me. I was refreshed into them. But now I've been held in derision by those who should have respected me, because that's how he begins in verse 1 of chapter 30. He says, but now they mock at me, men younger than I whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock. He says, now they mock at me, men who are younger than I. You see, as I was sharing with you last week, when we went through this particular chapter, chapter 29, I was sharing with us last week that the aged should be held in respect. That is something that most every civilized nation understands that the aged should be held in respect. Why would we do that? Well, they've lived a long life. They've gained great experience over length of days. And because they've lived a long life, they have much to see on various subjects. And because they're older and they've gone through so many things, they have gained a different perspective than the young. They've already been young and they've learned how over time and experience to deal with many things. If they're your parents that are aged, perhaps I have some in this room right now whose parents are aged, just remember some things that maybe we should be reminded of. Remember that your parents patiently listen to you when you were little, because sometimes you might get frustrated with them because they want to take a long time to share something with you. And you're thinking within yourself, why don't you just hurry, get to the point. I've got things to do. And you forget that when you were there as a kid trying to share something so important to you like a butterfly you saw or a frog or that the dog barked and something deeply intellectual and something that captured you, your parents listened, your mama listened, your dad listened patiently. And when you were little they would carry you everywhere. They cared about you, they provided for you, they would protect you. When you were learning to speak, they patiently listened as you tried to put words together. And they even learned your language because words you spoke really didn't make sense to other people, but they did to your parents. When you couldn't put something into words, something that you needed, they learned what you needed by watching you. I have a year old couple of grandchildren or both of year old and they don't know how to speak yet. They just point and make noises, they'll grunt at it. And you have to discern what they want just by the grunts and the looks and everything. And you patiently do that. And sometimes we forget that our parents may need our patient attention as they're trying to explain to us something that matters to them. When you needed help doing something, it was them that helped you. When you couldn't move quickly, well they would wait for you. And when you had a problem, they tried to help you to solve it. And I think about this because, you know, I don't think the generation that is coming up, that all of them have really grown to understand how to show respect, how to show respect for those who have lived longer lives. My wife was just telling me today about being at the store where she lives. And as she was in the store, there was a young woman in front of her and in front of my wife was an aged couple, older than she, that makes them very old. And you can laugh, it's okay, she doesn't mind. There you go, thank you. But she said, I'm watching this young woman doing whatever it is with her phone that's so important, showing no respect for these elderly people who are older than my wife and me. And she said so. Marie said, I helped her by telling this older couple, going into that line, going, you can go ahead of me. You know, a lot of people don't do that anymore. Have you noticed that? A lot of people don't. And it's a sad thing. And the Bible makes it very clear that we're to respect those who are older because of all the things that they've gone through and all the things that they can show us. And the elderly should be cared for. They should be in their old age given respect because that goes a very long way. When you show respect and you show attention to those who are aged, it helps them to know that they're loved. It also helps them to understand that they're valued. I shared with you last week at a Leviticus 19 verse 32, but it bears repetition where it says, rise in the presence of the age and show respect for the elderly. Revere your God. I am the Lord. And so there are times that you may have a difficulty with someone who's older, your mom, your dad, an uncle, an aunt or somebody who's just older than you. But when you have a difficulty and you have to iron it out, I would say that it's very important to show respect and to be attentive and to try and see the other side. But to show them respect is a very important thing. It says in 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 1, rebuke not an elder. Do not rebuke an elder, but entreat him as a father. You see, as we're going through Job here last week and now in this study here in chapter 30, there's something that's bothering Job and he's bringing it up again. And that's the disrespect that is being shown to him. You see, in the past, Job had been greatly respected. He was treated with great honor, but that's changed. And the fact that those who should give him respect, the fact that they're not any longer, has greatly wounded this great man. Instead of treating him with the respect that he should have received, younger men are now mocking him. Those who should show him honor are now holding him in derision. And these younger men that we're looking at here in chapter 30, they represent the worst of his society. And that's what he's saying. He's speaking of these younger men. He says, now they mock at me, men younger than I. He goes on in verse 1 of chapter 30, whose father's I disdain to put with the dogs of my flock, whose father's I disdain. Their father's had such low character that I wouldn't even hire them for the least job. They were less trustworthy, Job is saying, than my sheep dogs. And he says in verse 2, indeed, what profit is the strength of their hands to me? Their vigor has perished. They are gaunt from want and famine, fleeing late fleeing late to the wilderness, desolate and waste. He says they're gaunt. They're thin. They live in the wilderness in caves. They live as outcasts. They're regarded as the least of society when it speaks of them fleeing late to the wilderness. The word fleeing is interesting because the Hebrew word is translated fleeing. But several commentators that I was using today in my study were saying that the word flee is not the most exact way. It's actually a word that means to gnaw. It speaks of them gnawing at the roots of plants. It's like they got a plant and they're just chewing on it. That's the picture that he's given. These are people who are mere skeletons of men. They're scrounging meals from wild plant life because they refuse to work, is the point he's making here. In Proverbs 19, verse 15, it says slothfulness or laziness cast into a deep sleep and an idle person will suffer hunger. And that's what he's pointed to here. He's saying that these are people who have no strength or weak people. They chew on them on the roots of plants. They go out into the wilderness. It's desolate and waste. They are people who have been driven out. They're just mere skeletons of men. He says they inverse for pluck mallow by the bushes and broken tree roots for their food. They're just chewing at and gnawing on these things. In other words, these are people who don't work and will not profit from it. In verse 5, they were driven out from among men. They shouted at them as at a thief. They had to live in the clefts of the valleys and caves of the earth and the rocks among the bushes they braided under the nettles they nestled. They were sons of fools, yes, sons of vile men. They were scourged from the land. And so this reveals them as outcasts and thieves. In other words, he's speaking of these as being the lowest of those in the society. They are the lowest morals of all the people. In verse 5, it says they were driven out from among men and shouted at them as a thief. This speaks to them being undesirable for those who have an honest society. They're the ones who come in that those who have an honest and upright kind of way of living. We look at them and say, these people, I don't trust them. They look like they're up to no good. As a matter of fact, when these people would come into a village, there would be those who said, keep an eye on those guys. They would actually warn one another about them when they would walk into the room or come into their villages. They're dishonored. They're distrusted. People don't want them around. And that's how Job feels that he's being treated. In verse 6, he says, they had to live in the clefts of the valleys, in caves of the earth and the rocks. They lived in caves. Cave is where a wild beast would take up residence. In other words, they didn't build. They didn't build cities. They didn't care for sheep, but they didn't harvest crops. They didn't do anything productive. They just lived in caves and would scrounge for a living. When it says in verse 7, among the bushes they braid under the nettles they nestled, that's interesting. This is Job's description of how they speak. When it says they braid, it's interesting. Again, I love studying these things because when you read the word braid there, B-R-A-Y-E-D, that's what donkeys do. So at first, I'm reading that. I'm thinking, well, that must be speaking of the sound of their language or how they sound when they're speaking, and that's what it is. These are people whose language sounds very foreign, and it's an odd sound. Their surroundings are nettles, are thorns. In other words, there's no comfort in their dwelling places, but they live in such conditions because they hide from those who might be seeking them to arrest them. And so they're like outlaws, that's what he's saying. Verse 8, they were sons of fools, sons of vile men. They were scourged from the land. They're uneducated. They're unknown. They're insignificant. And they're despised. Now these are the ones he says in verse 9, and now I am their taunting song. I'm their byword. These are people that no society respects because their thieves, they're dangerous, they're slothful, and yet they're making me the butt of their jokes. So we need to understand something at this point about what Job would be saying. It isn't that he feels intrinsically superior. He's not saying I'm better than they are. That's not what he's saying. Job knows that they're human beings. He knows that they're people. He knows that they have value. He knows that as human beings they have worth, but it's that they lack initiative and they lack character, the kind of character that would reflect a civilized cultured people. They are the ones that do not make a city a good place to live in. They're the ones that make you uncomfortable because you can't trust them. A while back my wife Marie and I went to a place that we have gone for many years, San Luis Obispo. It's been a while now and we went there for overnight. We were coming home from ministry that we had done up in Washington, state of Washington. So we stopped in in San Luis Obispo on the way home and when we did the city has changed. I've been going there since 1968. I've been going there for a long time and it's changed a lot. Perhaps some of you have been there before or familiar with it. It has changed a lot in the last year and everything and the population there is changing. There's quite a number of people who are living on the street and it's a tough place to be. It really is. Just to see what's happened and to see the people who are living there. One person stands out in particular who was there. I saw him because he drew my attention because he was standing at a door of a store and somebody was walking in and this guy began to rant and to scream and to yell at him and called him all kinds of names. It's just right across the street and I told Randy, I said, Randy, you've got to stop doing that. That's not a good thing to do. He was yelling and he was screaming at somebody and it got to the point where as somebody who's just passing through the city, I could see the discomfort that I would feel living there if I couldn't do something of some sort to be of help to these people because if the city is now getting quite a number of people who do that, that's kind of what Job is talking about. He's saying these are people that make you uncomfortable in the city. These are people that are difficult to be around and yet these are the ones who are saying that I'm no good. These are the ones who gossip about me. These are the ones who are making me their song. These are the ones who are saying evil things about me. That's what he says in verse 9. He says, now I am their taunting song. Yes, I am their byword. These people are saying things of me. Now that reminds me of something that the Psalmist King David said in Psalm 69 verse 12. This is what David said. He said, those who sit at the gate mock me. I'm the song of drunkards. In the Old Testament book of Lamentations, a book that was written by Jeremiah the prophet. In Lamentations chapter 3 verse 14, Jeremiah says of himself, I became the laughing stock of all my people. They mock me and song all day long. Well, Job is experiencing that long before Jeremiah and long before King David went through it. And he's saying, I am suffering and I'm losing my dignity. My suffering that I'm going through is now being used to insult and injure me. My suffering has resulted in the lowest of society mocking me. They even make up songs about me. In verse 10, he says, they abhor me. They keep far from me. They do not hesitate to spit in my face. They mock me. They laugh at me. They laugh at all that I once was and what I am now. These are the people who live in caves. These are the people who scavenge food. These people feel superior to me. And when they see me coming down the road, they avoid me. When they're near me, they do not hesitate to spit in my face. There are two ways to look at that phrase, spit in my face. One would mean literally to literally spit in his face. But commentators say that what that's speaking about is showing disrespect by spitting in his direction. And so he says, they have shown me great disrespect. They don't hesitate to disrespect me. They're treating me in such a way that all my dignity has been taken from me. And then he goes on in verse 11 and he's speaking of God when he says, because he has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint before me. God has taken away my strength. God has removed his protection. From me, I've become helpless. Blow after blow has landed on my unprotected life. At one time, I was respected. At one time, I was honored. People wouldn't even think of trying to harm me. But now God has removed his hand of protection. And people feel free to sing taunting songs and disrespect me. They feel free to insult me and spit in my direction. They insult me whenever they desire to. They speak and act towards me without any kindness. And nothing is left to restrain them from treating me with such contempt. In verse 12, at my right hand, the rabble arises. They push away my feet. They raise against me in their ways of destruction. When he says, rabble, that word rabble actually is again, it's a word that speaks of half grown boys. These young men are shouting insults at me. They taunt the one who was respectable. And when I'm walking, they try to trip me. And they'll place obstacles in front of me. And this man was, he was so filled, and you'll see this in a moment, with sores and pain, you know, the idea that they had no sense of compassion at all, that they would put things in his way and try and trip him. I would break his heart. In verse 13, it says, they break up my path. They promote my calamity. They have no helper. They interfere with whatever I'm trying to do. They try to frustrate me constantly. They have no helper because no one opposes them. They don't need help to do what they're doing to me. Now, this sounds unbelievable until you think of what's happening, even as we're living today, even what is happening right now. Not that long ago, some of you perhaps saw this video. There was an elderly couple up in the Pacific Northwest. They were crossing the street. And because a group of people decided that these older people, and these are people, when I say elderly, I'm saying they're probably about 70 years, 70 years that's old. Let's try 80, about 80 years old or older. And you see this older man, he's got to be in his 80s, and his little wife, and he's trying to protect her as he's trying just to walk across a public street to get from this side of the street to that side of the street. That's all he's wanting to do. But a group of people have surrounded this area, and they're saying this is a no-go zone for you, and they were bullying these older people. And that takes place today. We live in a society that increasingly is becoming incapable of the concept of working in order to make a living and to get ahead. The thought that people don't need to work, and others should feed them, exists today. And many believe that others should work for them while they live off of other people's contributions. The lack of respect resulting from sloth, from laziness, and poor upbringing has produced moral savages. We're busy creating a society that blurs distinctions. A society that lacks moral restraint. A society that is not capable of allowing you to have a different opinion without them getting violent about it. We're living in that time right now. When you cast off God, and you cast off His word, and you cast off the things that pertain to the Lord, and treating one another with kindness, and doing unto others as you would have them to do to you, when you cast that off, you end up with the savagery that we're seeing today. And we've created a society, we've allowed it in many places to begin to exist, and not only to exist, but to actually hold sway. This reminds me of what you read in the Old Testament, book of Isaiah in chapter 5, verses 20 through 23. Listen to what he said. He says, woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine and men of strength to mingle strong drink. Those who justify the wicked for reward and take away the righteousness of the righteous from Him. That's the society that we're living in right now, a society that doesn't value the things that make for a society worth living in. And Job is speaking concerning that about how they're treating Him, and these are the things that were taken place then. And in some ways, we can see those kinds of things even today. Notice in verse 14, they come as broad breakers under the ruin of storm. They roll along. A breaker is a wave. They overwhelm me like when a huge wave crashes on the shore, like a wave breaking through a breach in a retaining wall. It just overcomes and overwhelms. And that's what they're doing to me. In verse 15, he says, terrors are turned upon me. They pursue my honor as the wind, my prosperity has passed like a cloud. These terrors he speaks about are the terrible nightmares that he suffers. His dreams often contain frightening images. You see, he thinks God is his enemy. He believes that it's God who's given him these dreams. In Job earlier in chapter 6 verse 4, he said, the arrows of the Almighty are in me, and my spirit drinks in their poison. God's terrors are marshaled against me. In chapter 7, he had said in verses 13 through 15, when I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, even then you frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, so that I prefer strangling and death rather than this body of mine. I can't sleep at night. I can't find any place. And God, it's you who's doing this. That's what he's saying. He thinks God is his enemy. But let's talk about that for just a moment. He thinks God is his enemy. That he's very wrong in, because if God were his enemy, it would be a lot worse than it actually is. All you need to do if you're with us on Sunday morning, you see in the book of Revelation chapter 6 through 18, you see what the tribulation is like. That's when God calls you his enemy. When that's when God brings all of those plagues, those judgments, that's when the sun is blotted out and water turns to blood and the sea animals all die and rotting corpses are on the shoreline. That's when God is your enemy. So he thinks that the Lord is his enemy and God isn't his enemy at all. But these dreams that he's having undermines his calm composure that he one time had, his calmness and his composure were part of his dignity. And people would see that this is a man who was unruffled, but he's lost both his health and he's lost his prosperity. And now he's going through this difficulty. In verse 16, he says, Now my soul is poured out because of my plight. The days of affliction take hold of me. My bones are pierced in me at night. My nine pains take no rest. I'm greatly fatigued. I'm so tired. My body is wracked with pain. My bones are on fire. And I'm constantly aching. I'm in such pain that I can't even sleep at night. He says in verse 18, he says by great force my garment is disfigured. It finds me about as the color of my coat. The clothing that I wear is polluted by the oozing sores. I can't take it off of my body easily because my the sores and and the and the putrification and the oozing wound has actually hardened. And so when I try to pull it off, it clings to my body and I can't get it off. It is my whole body's my garment is just stuck to my body. I can't take it off. I can't take my garment off. One time I had worn clothing that signified my honor. And now even that is polluted. 9th verse 19, he's cast me into the mire. I've become like dust and ashes. He's put me in the mud. God has done this to me. I can't walk anymore. I'm an object of dislike and disdain. I'm unclean in the sight of man. But you know, we're getting to the end of Joe pretty soon. And pretty soon, Job is going to have something different to say. Because when I was reading this today, verse 19, he cast me into the mire. It reminded me of Psalm 40 verse two. In Psalm 40 verse two, it says he brought me up out of the horrible pit out of the mirey clay. And he set my feet upon a rock and established my steps. You know, I that that verse is a verse I heard when a young man was giving his testimony of the kind of life that he had one time had lived. And he said I was walking in a way that was foolish and it was in opposition to God. He says, but he's taken me from the mirey clay. And and he has set my feet upon a rock. And that's what happened to you. That's what happened to you when you came to Christ. That's what happened to me. That's what happened to you. He took you out of the mirey clay. The mirey clay where you could hardly even move. You felt like your life was going in slow motion. You were trapped. But he took you out of that mirey clay and he sent you on the solid rock. That solid rock is Jesus Christ himself. And at one time I had a life that was just going nowhere. It felt like I would I had nothing going in my favor at all. But then the Lord said, no, I'm going to take you and I'm going to place you in the solid rock. I'm going to change your life. I'm going to bless you. And that's what he did to you. Let's not forget that. I mean, as I go through the book of Job, I can get depressed. So I have to remember that God is my rock and God is my strength. And that's what Job is going to discover at the end. But right now he's opening his heart and he's saying, this is what I feel. This is authentic. This is me. This is what I'm going through. It feels like God is my enemy. He's used me as his target. These people who I wouldn't even hire their fathers to take care of my sheep. These people are making me their song. The young kids who at one time would be intimidated at my presence are now are now treating me like with such disrespect and people are spitting in front of me. What happened to me? My body used to be healthy. I had children. I had wealth. I had a wife who loved me. It's all gone. And he's talking to his friends. He's saying, don't you understand? Can't you see what I've gone through? Don't you understand? Well, in verse 20, I cry out and he's not speaking to God. I cry out to you, but you don't answer me. I stand up. You guard me, but you have become cruel to me. With the strength of your hand, you oppose me. You lift me up to the wind, cause me to ride on it. You spoil my success, for I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living. And so he's speaking and crying out and sharing his heart. I've been forsaken. I cry out, but you ignore my cries. When I stand up and I pray, you see me, but you don't answer me. You see, when people are in pain, we understand this immediately. One of the first things we begin to do is believe that God has somehow turned against us. We can say within ourselves, if God loved me, he would remove the pain. The loneliest place we ever go to is the place where we think that we've been abandoned by God. When you say within yourself, I have been abandoned by God and I've been abandoned by man. Every believer, I hate to tell you this, but it's true. Every believer goes through those times of trials. Every believer will go in a various series of trials for a lifetime, thinking, and sometimes you can actually think God has abandoned me. I remember a young woman who came and spoke to me after a church service a number of years ago now and she walked up to me and, you know, God bless her. She's just sharing her heart with me, you know. She says, I'm going through such pain. I'm going through such a trial, pastor. When is it going to end? When is it going to end? And she was very, you know, very upset, very distraught. She says, I'm going through such a trial. When's it going to end? I've been going through it for three weeks and he smiled, you know, three weeks. Honey, I've been going through some trials for 40 years. When do they end? When God's through. When the work is done. That's when they end. And guess what? Here's some hope. When that one ends, a new one comes. So enjoy that too, because what the Lord is teaching you to do is to rely completely on him and not on yourself. And sometimes it takes a long time for our hands to be taken from the object that we want so much. And the Lord very patiently, but very continuously will pull and pull and put things in our life that help us to eventually release that thing that is doing us harm. And so be patient. You may be going through something very difficult right now. And always know that the work is going to be completed when the Lord determines that it is, and the fruit of that work is going to be exactly what you always wanted for yourself. Some of the things that I've gone through that I thought as I was going through them were the worst things I've ever experienced have turned out and you may not believe this, but it's true. They've turned out to be the greatest blessings in my life. They've been the things that the Lord has used to break me so that he could mold me. I didn't know it then as a young person, I didn't, who wakes up in the morning and says, Lord, could you, can you manhandle me today? Can you just make it a real difficult day? Do you wake up that way? I don't. I wake up, Lord, you know, it's a great day today. God be with me today. And he says, well, I'm going to be. And then what happens is you may go through one thing after another, one trial after another. Sometimes a trial continues for a long time, but you know the fruit of it is always good. And the fruit of it, and believe this or not, and you can mark this down, you'll see it to be true. Sometimes that trial you're going through is an answer to the prayer that you had made to the Lord when he said to God, make me like you. And one of the things one of my professors in Bible College taught me so many years ago now was to remember in Isaiah 53 that Jesus Christ is the wounded healer. And he's making me to conform into his image. And the things that I've gone through that I thought I could never make it through, which I would not have made it through without him are the things that made me strong later on in my life. The things that gave me patience, the things that helped me to understand compassion, the things that gave to me the opportunity and ability to listen to somebody's pain and to understand. When you're young, as I was, when our church began, I was 30 years old, when you're young and the church and your ministry is beginning like I was, you have strong opinions about pretty much everything. But over the 40 years of pastoring this church, I've discovered that many of the things that I thought were true are most likely true later on, but I didn't understand the process that would get that truth into my heart. And very often what the Lord did is the Lord would use the sorrows of my heart to break me because in the sorrows, I discovered His joys. And the depth of pain that I've gone through, I've seen the height of pleasure. And so the Lord has given to us and He does that. He works within us and He ministers His will into us and He conforms us into His image and He wounds us so that we may be those who can comfort others who have been wounded. And that's what happens. And so the loneliest place that we ever go to is the place where we think that we've been abandoned by God. When we begin to say, I've been abandoned by God and men, He says in verse 21, you have become cruel to me with the strength of your hand, you oppose me. I at one time believed that you were kind. I thought you were compassionate. I was wrong. You seem to take pleasure in my pain. You actually work to increase it. And the power that I once thought would deliver me has actually been turned against me. In verse 22, you lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it. You spoil my success. You've caused my life to become a storm. I'm tossed about. I'm like a piece of straw that's been caught in a whirlwind. I just can't win. And then He goes on, verse 24, surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins if they cry out when He destroys it. Have I not wept for Him who was in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor? But when I looked for good evil came to me, when I waited for light, then came darkness. My heart is in turmoil, cannot rest. Days of affliction confront me. I go about mourning, but not in the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help. I'm a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches. My skin grows black and falls from me. My bones burn with fever. My heart is turned to mourning. My flute to the voice of those who weep. Verse 24 is very obscure. Every commentator I used, and I looked at several, said this is the most obscure scripture in the book of Job. Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins if they cry out when He destroys it. They said there are so many ways to look at this, but the way that one commentator approaches what I'll repeat to you, I think it's the way I would see this also. It may mean that God would not destroy something that's already in ruins. He especially would not destroy something that cried out for mercy and help. In verse 25 He said, Have I not wept for Him who was in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor? I've had human compassion on someone suffering. I've cared for people in pain. Why is it that I am suffering and God doesn't seem to care? Verse 26, When I looked for good, evil came to me. When I waited for light, then came darkness. Now I've done good for others, but instead of good, I have had evil return to me. In my old age, I would have expected respect and honor. Not what I've been receiving. He says in verse 27, My heart is in turmoil and cannot rest. Days of affliction confront me. I go about mourning, but not in the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help. I'm in turmoil. I'm in torment. I'm in constant pain, unrelenting affliction. I go about verse 28, mourning, but not in the sun. My days are spent in sorrow living without the light of day and without comfort. I stand up in the assembly. I cry for help even though it embarrasses and humbles me. It diminishes me. I have humbled myself in in front of large groups of people. I've humiliated myself. They've seen this. I who was at one time held in such esteem. In verse 29, I'm the brother of Jackals and a companion of ostriches. That was an interesting phrase until one of the commentators said that both Jackals and ostriches have loud, mournful cries. And so he's simply saying that I've been loud and I've been crying. In verse 30, my skin grows black, falls for me. My bones burn with fever. My disease and my fever have combined to dry out my skin. And my bone marrow is even drying up within me. I'm filled with fever. And then finally, my heart, verse 31, is turned to mourning, my flute to the voice of those who weep. Now harps and flutes are musical instruments that are associated with joyful music. So the only song that I now sing is a song of sorrow and pain. I sing the blues is what he's basically saying. My reason to rejoice no longer exists. My pain and my sorrow is too much to bear. And all I can do now is cry in pain. I just don't have anything to be joyful about anymore. Again, remember that he's speaking to his friends who should have been there to bring comfort, but instead have turned to attack him. And this is as low as he's, he's, he's getting low and he's in a very low place right now. But I wanted to close with Psalm 30, verse five. His anger is but for a moment. His favor is for life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Never forget that. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. How many of you have cried all night? I have. I'm sure many of you, especially those who are older, understand that your heart has been hurt, but some things that has caused you such pain, a loss of somebody that you loved, relationship, perhaps that was broken, whatever, a marriage that has ended, a disaster that has occurred, and you weep all night. But I, I have comforted myself with this song for many years. Weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Morning does come, guys. Enjoy does come. And, and you could feel that, you can feel that. Oh God, I'm never going to smile again. I'm never going to laugh again. I'm never going to enjoy life again. The taste of life. There's no taste in my mouth for it anymore. I don't really care if I live or if I die. I don't care anymore. I am just so tired. I am so fed up. I am so hurt. And some of you have gone through something like that I have many times, especially in ministry, especially in ministry. So many betrayals, so many hurts, so many pains, so, so much over the years. And weeping does endure for a night. It does. But joy has always come in the morning. God's mercy is renewed every morning. And you wake up to a new day and you wake up saying, you know, Lord, I just want to forget about yesterday. And I'm just going to live for you today. And guess what? I've been doing that for a long time. I'm going to let yesterday be yesterday. But today I'm going to live for you. And today you're going to show me your goodness. Because as I read through your Word, Father, I see that you love and you love me. And I know that that your thoughts towards me are good. And I know that all things work together for the good to those who love you, to those who are called according to your purpose. I know that nothing just happens serendipity. But what happens? There's a reason for it. And then you're going to make a tapestry out of my life, something from the sorrow here and the joy here, something that's going to be mixed together to give me the depth that I've asked you for. Because I don't want to be a shallow believer. I want to be a person who has a depth of understanding. I want to be a person who knows your ways. And I want to be a person who lives in your love. And if this is the way that I have to go for that to happen, then so be it. Because the fruit's going to be good. Because you're going to conform me into the image of Jesus Christ. And there's not a tear that I've ever cried that you haven't remembered in that bottle of tears that you keep. And therefore, I'm going to just follow you, no matter what. Because I know that my weeping and my pain and my disappointments and the sorrows of my life. And how it's all going to be wrapped up in one moment when I look at you face to face. And I hear you say, well done, my good and faithful servant. And that's what I look forward to. And that's how I'm going to live. And that's what I want to hear one day from the voice of Jesus Christ. I want to hear that. Well done, my good, my faithful servant. You have been faithful in little. You've been faithful in little, but I will give you much. The little things that you were given that you were faithful in have shown that you're able to be trusted with other things. So hold on to whatever the Lord is doing in your work in your life right now. He's working sometimes silently, sometimes invisibly, most time silently and invisibly. But if you've been praying and saying, Lord, make me like you. That's what he's busy doing. And the things that you go through sometimes that are painful. Those are the kinds of things that go into that tapestry of your life. Those are the things that make you deep. And those are the things that give you experience. And those are the things that cause people to look at you and to say, this person has wounds. They understand pain. I can trust them with mine. That's how it works, guys. And you'll see at the end of this book how Job was blessed by God. But right now, he's at that low moment. But joy comes in the morning. Father, we ask that you would work in our lives. Lord, this is a very deep book. And I pray that we might grasp some of the things that you would have us to know. I thank you for those who are here with us right now and for those who are watching online right now, especially would pray for those who are going through pain and suffering and sorrow, perhaps with sickness or loss. Lord, may they even right now cast their hurts and cares on you. Even as Job began to speak out, why, God, have you made me your target? May they understand that they're not. But that the work that you're doing in them is really the work that they have asked you to perform. You're removing from them the things that are not pleasing to you. You're replacing them with the things that do please you. So we ask that you would have your way in us. We yield ourselves to you now. And even as our eyes are closed, our heads are bowed, perhaps there are some in this room we're watching online who need to get right with the Lord. And you need prayer. And if you're here and you need prayer right now, I'd like to pray for you. Would you raise your hand and let me pray for you right where you're at. Father, you see these hands. You see these hands and you know what's in the hearts of each one of these, of these whose hands are raised to you. Father, in Jesus' name, I pray that you would reach down and speak to them in a personal and deep way. And I ask the Lord in Jesus' name that you would have your way in them. As they cast their cares on you, they know that you care for them. And Father, I pray that you would perfect the work that you've begun. And if they're opening up and saying, God, I just need you right now, they've never opened their heart to you, then Lord, I ask that you would flood them with your presence. And from this point on, may they live for you. Do your work in them, I pray, Lord, as we open our hearts to you and cast our cares on you. And we thank you. Bless you, Lord. You can put your hands down. In Jesus' eye, I ask that you keep moving in every one of us to your glory. In your name, amen.