Brace Yourself In Gospel Faith and Let God Work In Your Life. Kevin E. Jesmer  12-10-14

Job 40:1-14   Key verse 8

“ Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?”

How are we to respond when the Living God confronts us in a very personal way. You brace yourself with Gospel faith, holding onto Christ, and let God be God in your life.  Look at verses Job 40:1-5, “And the Lord said to Job: ² “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.” Then Job answered the Lord and said: ⁴ “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?  I lay my hand on my mouth. ⁵ I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further. “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: ⁷ “Dress for action like a man;  I will question you, and you make it known to me. ⁸ Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? ⁹ Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? ¹⁰ “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;  clothe yourself with glory and splendor. ¹¹ Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him. ¹² Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand. ¹³ Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below. ¹⁴ Then will I also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you.”

In this passage, the tone of Job’s dialogue with God is very different than in his earlier speeches. In previous passages he was very forthright in his demands to argue his case before the Almighty. But now he is very quiet. His present reaction came when the living, holy, almighty God revealed himself.

Throughout his time of suffering, Job had longed for an opportunity to plead his innocence before God. And now, here was his chance. God had been listening to Job all along. He was observing all that was unfolding in Job’s life. God was not ignorant. But he was waiting to speak until the right time. And so God appeared to Job and gave him that opportunity top dialogue with him.

What an act of grace this is. Who are we that we can dialogue with the Lord? There is a great chasm between us and God. God dwells in the Kingdom of God. We dwell in a fallen world. But God has bridged that chasm by his grace of forgiveness. He invites us to communicate with him, to relate with him. In Isaiah 1:18 reads, “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” (NIV)  In Matthew 11:28-29 , Jesus invites people to come to him. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (NIV) God wants us to come to him  and talk and relate and in doing so, finding rest for our souls.

Job was made humble. The chance for Job to talk to his creator had come. But instead of pouring out his complaints to the Lord, as he had planned to do, Job decided to remain quiet. Look at verses 3b-4, “3b-4, “…Then Job answered the Lord and said: ⁴ “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?  I lay my hand on my mouth.” Job suddenly saw himself before the living God. God asks Job to do a better job if he can. Job, seeing that he can not do a better job, has nothing to say. Job was totally convicted of his unworthiness. He is overwhelmed by God’s greatness and his own insignificance. Job was convicted of his ignorance; his impotence and his sinfulness. Job now realizes the futility and foolishness of his arguments. He reminds me of Isaiah’s reaction to his beholding the glory of God in Isaiah 6. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Isaiah must have felt a lot like Job was feeling at this time.

God wanted to teach Job to stand before him, with all of his weaknesses and sins and depend fully on the grace of God. Look at verses 6-7, “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: ⁷ “Dress for action like a man;  I will question you, and you make it known to me.” Dress yourself like a man, means “stand up and brace yourself, for I am about to question you.” God didn’t want Job to lay there like a child, feeling sorry for himself and falling into deep, deep depression. No person cannot justify himself by accusing God of wrongdoing.  Job needed to stand before the Lord, confessing his sins and extending his “shriveled hand” sort of speak. (Mark 3:2-4) When we come to God humbly, seeking his help, he will surely save us by his strong right hand.

We can either run and hide from Jesus or stand up before God. Standing up before God and bracing ourselves and dressing for action is very important. It means to confess our sins and acknowledging our complete unworthiness before the holy God. We agree about our complete helplessness to be right before God and to serve God’s purpose in our life. It means to acknowledge that all of our righteousness is nothing but filthy rags and that we truly need a Savior. (Isaiah 64:6)  It takes faith and courage to do this. If you are fearful and don’t know Jesus and his love, you cannot not stand up and brace yourself before God. You will run and hide like Adam in the Garden. Or like the people in Revelation asking for the mountains to cover them. God brings proud people low. He is the one who can break a person or save them. That is why God says “Dress for action like a man.”

“Dress for action”, is related to dressing with faith in Christ. Depending on our own self-righteousness, we can never stand before the Holy God. If we depend on ourselves we can only look forward to judgment. But dress for action means to clothe ourselves with Christ, our righteousness. Galatians 3:26-27 reads, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Jesus is our righteousness. 1 Corinthians 1:30 reads, “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” The only solution is Jesus Christ and him crucified. (1 Cor 1:23).

God then asks Job some questions which have obvious answers. Verses 8-14, “⁸ Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? ⁹ Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? ¹⁰ “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;  clothe yourself with glory and splendor. ¹¹ Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him. ¹² Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand. ¹³ Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below. ¹⁴ Then will I also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you.”  In doing so, God shows Job that, as a limited human being, he did not have the ability to judge God who created the universe nor the right to ask why. God’s actions do not depend on ours. He will do what he knows best, regardless if we think what he is fair or not.

The basic sin of humanity is contending with the Almighty God. People have a tendency to blame God for the problems of mankind. They want to argue their case as if we are innocent. We might demand answers when things aren’t going our way. What about when we loose a job? Or when someone we love is ill or dies? What about when finances are tight? The next time you are tempted to complain to God, decide to “dress yourself like a man”. Hold onto Gospel faith. Know that you are clothed in Christ and he is your righteousness. Extend your shriveled hand and stand before God. God is love. God will reveal his greater purposes for your life. He will forgive and restore and heal in his way and in his time. Trust the Lord and stand firm in your Gospel faith.