God is my Refuge
"Oh that I knew where I might find Him! that I might come even to His seat! I would order my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments." -- Job 23:3-4
In Job's uttermost extremity he cried after the Lord. The longing desire of an afflicted child of God is once more to see his Father's face. His first prayer is not, "Oh that I might be healed of the disease which now festers in every part of my body!" nor even, "Oh that I might see my children restored from the jaws of the grave , and my property once more brought from the hand of the spoiler!" but the first and uttermost cry is "Oh that I knew where I might find Him -- who is my God! that I might come even to His seat!"
God's children run home when the storm comes on. It is the heaven-born instinct of a gracious soul to seek shelter from all ills beneath the wings of Jehovah. "He that hath made his refuge God," might serve as the title of a true believer. A hypocrite, when he feels that he has been afflicted by God, resents the inflictions, and, like a slave, would run from the master who has scourged him; but not so the true heir of heaven, he kisses the hand which smote him, and seeks shelter from the rod in the very bosom of that very God who frowned upon him.
You will observe that the desire to commune with God is intensified by the failure of all other sources of consolation... Nothing teaches us so much the preciousness of the Creator as when we learn the emptiness of all besides.
-- From "Effective Prayer" by Charles H. Spurgeon
posted by Carey @ 6/02/2006 04:04:00 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Does he deal with the second half of the verse? Job says, "I would order my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments." Yes, he's turning to God, but he still wants to tell God that what's going on isn't fair. He wants to appear before God's judgement seat (at least that's my take) and plead his case. I don't think communion with God is the point - YET. Job gets to a better place by the end of the book, but it takes a long time and a little verbal smack-down from God to get him there...
I love the essence of the quote you have here, I really do! It is very true, regardless of what I think of his use of the verse. ;)
Another wonderful morning devotion.
I love when Job says "I would order my cause before Him...." I find it such a beautiful picture that we can plead our cause before the righteous Judge.
I would generally agree with the Ibex Scribe.
I would add though that when in v.7 Job says "so should I be delivered for ever from my judge." we have a strong intimation that Job suspects a power other than God is working on him.
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