PSALM 3

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Job <1> 16:2-3,7-11,15,22 <2> 17:3,6,9 <3> 19:25-27 <4> 21:2-3,7,9,12-18 <5> 22:2-5,12-18 Note: not sure what it means yet, but "YAHWEH" was used several times in chs. 1 & 2, and 1x in ch. 12-- but then not again until ch. 38. Perh. it means that Job was not an Israelite. <1> Job had a few speeches for (1-way conversations with) God (but 1st listened to his friends-- before chapter 38, that is); Job spoke with 3 former friends (they waited until Job spoke before answering him & were then mockers as far as Job was concerned); Job would have done better to remain silent, as every time he spoke was an occasion for them to provoke Job into believing in his own righteousness. They let Job go on believing God was the author of his woes, bolstering Satan's intent, to have him convinced he had no sin nature, that he had no need of a redeemer. In the sense that they provided the fuel, or fanned the flames, of Job's convictions, they cooperated with Satan-- who implements lying wonders; who is the accuser of Our brethren (2ndThe 2:9; Reve 12:10). Job speaking to his mockers & blaming God (who merely allowed Satan to test him): I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all! Will your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing? Surely, O GOD (X), YOU have worn Me out; YOU have devastated My entire household. YOU have bound Me-- & it has become a witness. GOD (HE) assails Me & tears Me in HIS Anger & gnashes HIS Teeth at Me. Men open their mouths to jeer at Me; they strike My cheek in scorn & unite together against Me. GOD (The Mighty ONE) has turned me over to evil men; I have sewed sackcloth over My skin & buried My brow in the dust. Only a few years will pass before I go on the journey of no return (die). <2> Job speaking-- he blamed God, yes, but yet beseeched him; Give Me, O GOD (X), the pledge YOU demand. Who else will put up security for Me. You will see this prayer answered when Jesus came. GOD (HE) has made Me a byword to everyone, a man in whose face people spit (before whom I was as a tabret). Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to Their ways, & Those with clean hands will grow stronger (add in strength). <3> Job declaring his trust in God: I know that My redeemer (defender) lives, & that in the end HE will stand upon the earth. And after My skin has been destroyed, yet in (apart from) My flesh I will see GOD (DEITY). How My heart yearns within Me! <4> Job again speaking to all his mockers: Listen carefully to My words [not being aware that he was being provoked, he assumed they were just not understanding, & mocking him]; let this be the consolation you give Me. Bear with Me while I speak, & after I have spoken, mock on. Why do the wicked live on, growing old & increasing in power? Their homes are safe & free from fear; the Rod of GOD is not upon them. They sing to the music of tambourine & harp; they make merry to the sound of the flute. They spend their years in prosperity (mirth, with quality/moral goodness-- fellowshiping with the elite) & go down to the grave (sheol) in peace (an instant). Yet they say to GOD (the Mighty ONE), Leave us alone. We have no desire to know YOUR Ways. But their prosperity (best) is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked. Am I dying in peace? Am I saying to God, Leave me alone? Obviously I am righteous! How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by the gale? Recall he had 1-way conversations with God, but he listened to his friends. <5> Eliphaz now speaking: Can a man be of benefit to GOD (the Mighty ONE)? Can even a wise man benefit HIM? What pleasure would it give the Almighty if You were righteous? What would HE gain if Your ways were blameless? Is it for Your piety that HE rebukes You & brings charges against You? Is not Your wickedness great? Are Your sins not endless? Is not GOD (DEITY) distant/impersonal in the heights of Heaven? And see how lofty are the stars! Yet You say, 'What does GOD (the Mighty ONE) know? Does HE judge through such darkness? Thick clouds veil HIM, so that HE does not see Us as HE goes about in the vaulted Heaven.' Eliphaz was implying that since God rebukes sinners, but does not even look upon the righteous, that therefore Job must be a sinner-- it did not occur to him that Job was being tested. But we know Christians: {1} do sin; (2} are lied about; {3} are tested-- whether or not they will trust the Holy Spirit as guide & counselor. It behooves us fellow Christians to not assume the role of (hastily think to assist) the Holy Spirit when a brother/sister is possibly being tested, for Satan is not just the accuser of the brethren, but he is well able to twist things, such that even the purest of motives as one attempts to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit, the simplest of speech/actions as one attempts to fellowship, appear as so much: slander, flattery, rumoring, friction, division, and/or perjury. Not only might the one being tested be discouraged into choosing the wrong course, but whatever unity among the brethren formerly existed is land-mined, perhaps irreparably. God's motive for testing is that the one being tested might see the error of his/her ways-- Satan has a field-day, as believers promptly assume the task of guidance. As a preacher recently said, 99% of all "godly" criticism is destructive-- rather than constructive criticism. Will You keep to the old path that evil men have trod? They were carried off before their time. their foundations were swept away by a flood. They said to GOD (the Mighty ONE), Leave us alone. What can the Almighty do to us? Yet it was HE who filled their houses with good things, so I [Eliphaz] stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked. By law this was the true meaning of standing aloof from the counsel of the wicked-- not even remotely relating with them. The righteous see their ruin & rejoice. The innocent mock them, saying, 'Surely our foes are destroyed, & fire devours their wealth.' We see in PSALM 4 Job<2>&<4>, that Eliphaz & the other counselors failed to convince Job that, in his claimed self-righteousness, he might as well have joined the ranks of the wicked-- that he himself had no desire to know God's ways, that his presumption was folly that since he didn't spend his years in prosperity & go down to the grave in peace, he must be righteous. But as we shall see, God succeeded-- & magnanimously accepted his repentance!