19 Aug Lost Chapter of Job – God Replies To The Problem Of Evil
Posted at 23:20h
in Psalms
Answer me then,
If you are indeed a righteous man,
To what in times to come,
Before you witness the shadow of death upon you,
Shall your toil be committed?
What designs and desires live in your heart?
What number of children are welcome,
Befitting a man such as yourself?
What dimensions of your fields are sufficient?
What architectural marvels await your creative genius?
What songs of praise require your hand for their conjuration,
That they wait in the realm of all songs to come,
And sounds no ears have ever heard,
Nor minds have ever conceived?
Which musical phrases tear at their clothes,
To the psalmist who says,
‘Come to my harp, come to my flute,’
And respond in twangs of discordant tunes,
‘Nay, for it is this man whom we belong!’
How do you increase your understanding?
How do you propose to know what is or is not
Against He who Is?
How do you seek to establish justice
By He who takes justice to court?
How do you imagine the world expands as you know it?
See!
How the world around you is shrouded in its darkness,
The unfathomable, the mysterious,
How you seek understanding,
How you wish to know the world,
That you might have control over it!
How then is it that a man names all that he sees,
Yet has no greater understanding of the world?
He names the seas but knows not their depth,
He names the stars but knows not their height,
He names himself and yet knows not the length of his days.
And so too does ignorance expand, not contract,
That as you learn of the world,
You only learn more of which you fail to grasp.
To know of the wind is not to know its path,
To know its path is to not know why its path is made,
To know why its path is made is not to know its coarseness,
Nor the shapes of the wind of every cardinal direction,
Nor the paths of tomorrow,
Nor the coming of greater winds than these,
And to know all of this is to be stricken with awe,
That the winds obey a divine command by course,
That He who sustains its laws and breaks it on His knee;
How small you are if even the vapor is a mystery!
Indeed, as your understanding grows,
It also shrinks,
Indeed, as the cloud of ignorance grows,
I AM waiting there,
Indeed, as the God of the gap,
The sovereign awaits.
For all knowledge is tenuous and imperfect,
For all understanding is to observe but never possess,
For to possess is to control,
But can one control the winds?
How do you propose to stop a storm
If you know it comes?
Do not even the beasts of the field know
Do not even the beasts of the field know
To flee from strong winds?
Tell Me, if you have understanding –
Of all the knowledge you have,
Which is it that grants you possession of the stars?
Which is it that disciplines the rivers to retreat the way they came,
Which is it that delays your death at your whim?
See!
Which is it that, even if you possessed all three of these things,
Should allow it in perpetuity?
Should allow it without error?
Should allow it without effort?
For even if you could hold the stars in your hand,
They would leap from it before too long;
For even if you could reverse the course of a great river,
It would disobey you when you lift your hand
And shout, “Fool! Fool!”
For even if you could delay your death,
New terrors would corrupt your flesh,
As death comes for all.
If you knew the evils of the Pit,
You would not ask to be dragged there.
If you knew the terrors the dead inherit,
You would not plead with Me your demise.
If you knew the awe of the eternities,
You would not be swift in leaping into your grave.
How then are you to be righteous alone,
Having known nothing of the death you condemn yourself,
Having known not that death is the patriarch of all evils,
Having known only of the living horrors
And none of the afflictions in the Pit?
Come to my court, then, you righteous!
Would you contend the judgment
Of He who conceived judgment?
Would you fathom the depths of the seas with a thimble?
Would you measure the distance from where the sun rises
To where the sun sets,
With the potsherd in your hand?
Would you climb to the heavens by standing upon a basket?
Would you measure a man’s life with an hour-glass?
Would you count the blades of grass in a field on your fingers?
Would you race against a horse,
Whose very neck is bridled in thunder,
Whose legs are cast bronze,
Whose hooves are like iron blocks,
Even now in your old age?
Would you test your wisdom to God’s?
Know that it is good for the righteous to be persecuted,
When it is for the sake of all righteousness,
That one would know indeed that they possess their righteousness.
Know that it is Satan who comes for the righteous man,
And to suffer for the sake of righteousness
Is a blessing and an honor
Few ever receive the pleasure of enduring.
Know that if it were not for the persecution of the righteous,
Few would ever know you were righteous,
And your name be a blade of grass in a field,
Your children a quarter of the field,
Your generations a field on fallow land.
No chain of sons survives eternity,
No number of descendants are ransom enough for your life.
But know this, you who claim righteousness,
You were persecuted for your righteous name,
And to know the good of this is to know Me.
Truly, truly, I say to you,
No one robs the poor man,
No one besmirches the man without honor,
No one can pervert the worthless man,
No one takes the old widow for his wife;
You must know that I honor all whom are good,
For to be persecuted for My sake
And for the sake of all righteousness
Makes you a child of Mine;
Truly, truly, I say to you,
It is because you are righteous you were chosen,
It is because you are blameless you were blamed,
It is because you are innocent you were falsely accused,
It is because you are good you were done evil.
To inherit this is to become an heir in the kingdom of heaven,
To inherit this is to become an heir in the eternal life,
To inherit this is to become an heir of all righteousness.