Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment. – Job 15:31
Friends had come to comfort him, their silence for the first seven days filled with sympathy, for they saw Job’s great distress and the agony of his suffering. But when Job started to question why he was even born and lament his current circumstance, his friends contended with him. They were quick to assign judgment upon him, since, in their opinion, only the wicked suffered the type of devastation in their lives that Job had.
Eliphaz had even accused Job of thinking too highly of his family, as today’s verse indicates, and now the loss of his offspring was God’s judgment upon him. Elihu also gives his viewpoint. Each of the four men spoke some truth about the state of the world, but none had answers for Job… because there were no human answers.
Finally, God broke onto the scene to emphasize that His ways are sometimes hidden from humanity. As David came before the Lord with a broken and contrite heart, Job learned, and may you be reminded, that there is nothing that you can do without the Father’s hand in it, for “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). God is an awesome God whose breadth of knowledge and wisdom is beyond measure.
Matthew Henry encourages you to have humble faith and sincere obedience and you “will see farthest and best into the will of the Lord.” So, pray now that God strengthens your faith as you exercise it, that your confidence will be firm as you trust God in all things, and that your words will be an encouragement to others. Then, pray for this nation, that its focus would be on the Awesome God.
Today’s Verse: Job 15:31
Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself,
for emptiness will be his payment
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Job 42:1-6, 12-13, 16-17
Then Job answered the Lord and said:
2 “I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 ‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.’
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.”
12 And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He had also seven sons and three daughters.
16 And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations. 17 And Job died, an old man, and full of days.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
