Job 25-28 (The Daily Walk Bible).

We are at the end of Job’s friends arguments here. The last thing they say is that human beings are but worms in God’s sight. So much for comforting Job!

Job answers with a declaration of God’s greatness and omnipotence (26:5-14). He then goes on to once again affirm his innocence (27:1-6). He continually calls upon God in the book. He wants to hear from Him, to see Him, to be able to defend himself! It’s interesting that his friends never actually call upon God. Job concludes this section actually agreeing with some of their arguments. Job agrees that God punishes the wicked — this is what normally happens in life (27:13-23). However, he understands that it’s not true in every case, and he continues to want God to show him if he has done something wrong.

While we can think that Job is proud ,obstinate, angry, and depressed, we have to realize that this all starts out because God considers Job to be a shining example of righteousness! And one other important thing reveals itself: even in his despair and discouragement, Job talks to God. Which is more than we can say for his friends! They talk a lot about God, but Job is continually calling on God.

I think that there is a lesson here for us, and we find it often in the Psalms. God knows what we are thinking. He knows what is in our hearts. In the Psalms we sometimes find a person crying out to God in confusion or despair. It’s okay to do that. God wants us to talk to him, even if what comes out isn’t full of faith and trust. And simply by voicing those thoughts, God’s Spirit helps us to deal with them. Which is why in the Psalms, we often find expressions of trust following those outbursts. And we’re going to see something similar happen in Job!