The silencing of Job

♪ This glorious bachelor's song ♪ ♪ Is sung by many with all of grace ♪ ♪ It's all your turn, I know you're one ♪ ♪ To raise this song a world in praise ♪ ♪ For it is a falling love like me ♪ ♪ All who have faith so rich can be ♪ ♪ I'm rising, I'm rising, I'm rising, I'm rising, I'm rising ♪ ♪ For I'm so much better than any ♪ ♪ I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love ♪ This reading is from Job chapter 39, starting at the beginning and going through to chapter 40 verse five. In this passage, God is questioning Job about the animal kingdom in order to demonstrate how limited Job's knowledge really is. Rather than seeking answers from Job, God is getting him to recognise and submit to God's power and sovereignty.

Only then can you hear what God is really saying to him. Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth? They crouch down and bring forth their young. Their labour pains are ended.

Their young thrive and grow strong in the wild. They leave and do not return. Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied his rapes? I gave him the wasteland as his home, the salt flats as his habitat.

He laughs at the commotion in the town. He does not hear a driver's shout. He ranges the hills for his pasture and searches for any green thing.

Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night? Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness? Will he till the valleys behind you? Will you rely on him for his great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to him? Can you trust him to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing floor? The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork. She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand, unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them. She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers.

She cares not that her labour was in vain, for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense. Yet, when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider. Do you give the horse his strength or clothe his neck with a flowing mane? Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting? He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength, and charges into the fray.

He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing. He does not shy away from the sword. The quiver rattles against his side, along with the flashing spear and lance.

In frenzied excitement he yeets up the ground. He cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds. At the blast of the trumpet he snorts a ha.

He catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commanders and the battle cry. Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread his wings towards the south? Does the eagle soar at your command and build his nest on high? He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night. A rocky crag is his stronghold.

From there he seeks out his food, his eyes detect it from afar. His young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there is he. The Lord said to Job, Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him.

Then Job answered the Lord, I am unworthy, how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer. Twice, but I will say no more.

So let's look again at that passage, especially as it comes towards the end of the reading that we heard the fifth verse of Job 40, I spoke once, but I have no answer. And the preceding sentence, I put my hand over my mouth. You know the evangelical church has not produced, and I use this word in the best classical sense, and I speak with regret, it has not produced many mystics.

There is such a thing as a biblical mysticism. The person who gives attention to the things of God, who will carve out in their weekly or monthly program special time. Some who give their lives almost to a constant season of prayer.

There have been some, but not that many. Mysticism, the idea of concentrating one's thoughts on the being of God and bringing the problems of the world to the Lord is a biblical pursuit. I mean by that it's honorably defined within the Bible.

From time to time at the tab, I try to hush our services. Not that I'm against the noise of song and the mirth and the movement of a fast melody and sensible words. Quite the contrary.

But there are times when we have to be still and know the presence of the Lord. So I love that more modern song which says, be still for the presence of the Lord is moving in this place. Our Lord Jesus on several occasions silenced people.

In fact, before his birth, Zacharias, the father of John Baptist, was silenced when he heard of what would be the miraculous birth of his son because he and his wife were way beyond the days of being parents at the natural level. And as a result, he was silenced. He was dumb until John was born.

When Jesus was ministering to a man with a withered hand, there were those who came along and criticized him because, well, his activity was on a Sunday or the Sabbath day. And Jesus silenced them as he explained the reason for what he was doing. On another occasion, towards the end of the ministry of our beloved Lord, a number of men come alongside him and they try to tackle him with subtle questions and he answers them expertly.

He does so in such a way that there is no response that they can make. They're absolutely flabbergasted by the wisdom with which he deals with the situation. They are silenced.

There are times when, in a completely different context from the three illustrations I've given you from the New Testament where people were forced into silence, there are times when silence should be a voluntary reaction on the part of God's people to the person and the power and the authority of God. The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him.

Job was not a man who was given to silence. In fact, in the seventh chapter and in the later chapters of the book that bears his name, he's engaged in quite a lot of speaking. The whole book of Job really reports the conversation of several men.

And the only occasion when there was any prolonged silence until you get to the end of the book was when Job's three comforters came alongside and saw the distress in which he found himself, and they were so sympathetic that for seven days they could do absolutely nothing but be quiet. Now here we come to a specific occasion in the experience, not of these men, but of Job himself. And we find that God silenced him.

So Job says, I put my hand over my mouth. I spake once, but I have no answer. Twice, but I will say no more.

Why was Job silent? Well, the fact of the matter is, my brothers and sisters, is that he was not so much silent as silenced. There is a difference between the active and the passive form of the verb. If I am silent, I choose to be silent.

If I am silenced, it is as a result of certain powers, certain influences, certain circumstances external to me which are causing me to be quiet. And it seems to me that this is the situation for Job. He is silenced by God.

And the reason behind his silence, well, it's because of certain things that God did, and maybe, can I argue, certain things that God did not do. I tell you the story again of Job, just in case your concentration has lapsed. He was a man who was tested by God.

Is there a man as righteous as Job on the earth, the gump that was thrown down by God in the heavenlies, and one who is the enemy of men came alongside and said, well, if you're thinking of Job, the only reason why Job serves you is for what he can get out of you. And so, Satan is allowed to work in a malevolent fashion against the circumstances, against the very health of Job. He reduces him to a man who just has putrefying boils, whose body is wracked with pain.

And even the nearest and dearest of Job are saying, curse God to die. But Job doesn't. Neither will he confess sins for which he is not responsible.

And so there is this long dialogue between the three men, and then a fourth, a younger man. And then God takes over. And when God takes over, Job is silenced.

I say he's silenced because of what God did not do. What might you expect God to do in this circumstance? He comes alongside. The days have gone into months, and God is now moving towards Job and showing him that he is involved in his circumstance.

What does God not do? I have problems with what God does not do for me in terms of explanations of certain situations I find irresolvable. And I dare to say that you're alongside me in that. What might you have expected God to do? You might have expected God to have taken up the philosophical arguments of those friends of Job's and just put them at naught, responded, answered to them, quietened them.

But he didn't. You might have thought that God would come before Job and dangle a list of his sins, but he doesn't. You might have thought that God would say, Hey, Job, don't get so upset.

All that really has happened is because of what has taken place in the heavenly realm. And actually, Job, you are the victim of Satan who's come alongside you, and he's brought about these untoward circumstances. It was a gift occasion for God to give Job the intelligence that the poor man has not had up to this point, but he doesn't.

And I suggest to you that what God doesn't do almost creates as many amazed reactions as to what he did do. Well, what did he do? He took Job on a tour of the world that he had made. I want to give you a verse of Scripture and then a doctrine, or else you'll perhaps be a little bit uneasy with what I'm going to say.

But I want to clinch what I say from the word of God, for that is a test of anything that comes out of this pulpit. Here is a Scripture. And I'll go to the New Testament, in case you think that I'm building my argument too much from the old.

Here is the apostle Paul, and he's writing to the Romans. It's the greatest treatise that he ever wrote. There is something about Romans that compels our attention because it is scrammed full of good theological truth, not always easy to comprehend, but if you give it time, then the word of God, even in Romans, becomes plain to you.

Well, here is Paul, and he's writing his epistle. And we're in the first chapter. And he's speaking about the natural handiwork of God.

And he is trying to indict the world with the fact that God has left sufficient evidence of who He is in nature, that the man who is blind to that evidence, who is deaf to the voice of God in nature, is a man who is blamable before the Almighty, His Creator. And so he says in the 19th verse of Romans 1, And what may be known about God is plain, because God has made it plain. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.

That's my verse. He shows His character through His handiwork. Now, here's a term.

Natural theology. Natural theology is part of a study that was popular at times within the church, but occasionally it gets pushed into a backwater. Natural theology looks at the world as the Apostle Paul looks at the world, and says that from creation itself you have every evidence of God's existence.

Now, that of course is anchored not in the Old Testament alone, but in the New. Not in the New, but in the Old. Here is David.

When I consider the heavens, the sun, the stars, the moon that your hand has made, what is man that you are mindful of him? Consider the birds. Consider the flowers. Our beloved Lord Jesus.

You see the point? The theology of nature. For God, my friend, did not distance Himself from the world when He made it. He is involved in it.

In the warp and woof of the world, you still find the activity and the superintendence of God. If you'd have had the privilege and also the difficulties of a good old family and lived for several years in Mwanza, in Tanzania, you would have been placed near one of the great safari parks that there is in Africa. There are several more, but this one is particularly wonderful.

And if you were able to get hold of a car, maybe a Land Rover, and drive into that park, mile after mile, mile after mile, you could lose yourself in the fauna, amongst the flowers, amongst the trees, amongst the scrub, amongst the semi-desert. But there also you would see something of God's handiwork, not just in the flowers, not just in the scrub, but also in the animal world which He has created. And when Job is silenced by God, as a precursor to that silence, God takes him on a safari tour.

He takes him round his world. He starts in the high reaches of the cosmos. He speaks about the rain and the snow and the mountains and the great forces behind nature.

He takes Job from that to the animal world, to the wild animals and to the domesticated horse. He speaks about these things and He's constantly challenging Job. Could you make this? Could you control this? He peppers Job with questions and there is, of course, no answer.

God, in a playful way, is speaking to Job about the world that He has created and the beings within the world and behind the reasoning of God is that He is at the forefront and He is the origin of all these things. There's nothing in the universe that happens which God is not involved in. And that's basically what God discloses to Job in that wonderful 39th and the preceding and this 40th chapter.

Carlisle said that there were no chapters in Scripture that were more wonderful, that more oozed inspiration than these particular chapters. Now, think it through yourself. In terms of some of the hymns that we sing, where did the inspiration come from for that most famous Russian hymn, How Great Thou Art? When I in awesome wonder Consider all the world Thy hand has made.

And so the stanzas progress. Or an English hymn, Things above are softer blue, Earth below is sweeter green. Something lives in every hue Christless eyes have never seen.

Birds with gladder song or flow, Flowers with greater beauty shine. And I know, now I know, I am yours, and thou art mine. You see, it's moving from the realm of nature to the being of God and finding comfort in the fact that God's presence permeates the natural world and that helps you to realize that God has you also in surveillance, his arms round and about you.

So God comes close to his friend, but he doesn't come armed with a catalogue of accusations against Job. Neither does he come with a basin full of theological information. He just takes Job a trip round the world.

I mean, if you're proud of your garden, and some of us at the moment are not terribly proud, but it's not all our fault, we can't blame southern water legitimately. It's a nice occupation, isn't it? It's pleasant to be able to show someone your garden. How much more pleasant for Job if the chief gardener shows him round the world? Job is a tourist, and God is the guide.

There is a word which you can lift out of the Old and the New Testament in terms of a concept, even though you don't find the word itself. It's an old word. I love it.

It's the word creatureliness. Creature-lin-ess. And the concept behind that word is that when you are aware of your creatureliness, you are also aware of something that is gigantic, far beyond all that you could ever take in.

Here is Abraham, and he sees the stars. He sees the moon. Here is Abraham, and he sees something of the pebbles, the grains on the seashore.

And he tries to marvel at the fact that God is not only just behind that, but God is saying, I'm going to make your seed like that. Here is our beloved Lord. And he comes by the seashore of Galilee, and there's Peter, and Peter is aware that Jesus is all that he is not.

Jesus can control the fish in the sea. The Lord Jesus can walk on the water. He is behind the climactic forces.

And Peter says, depart from me, Lord. You see, he shrinks to the level of creatureliness when he recognizes something, the sovereignty of God. So Job, his divine friend, comes by.

Do you know something? When a long-lost friend comes close to you, you're not really bothered about the conversation. You could talk about anything. The thing that is basically of value is friendship for friendship's sake.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, that's where I was brought up. I didn't understand anything about Nazi Germany. I didn't understand anything about Hiroshima or A-bombs.

But when my dad was in our air-raid shelter, it didn't matter. When you're in the presence of someone whom you believe is a solution, the questions don't really seem to exist. And so God draws alongside Job.

Not, as I say, with a shaft of accusations. Not even bothered about the debate that has gone in front. He comes alongside Job and he plays with Job.

He shows Job his world. His world. And when Job speaks about this, later on as he reminiscences, he says, well, I had to be quiet.

There was nothing else that I needed to say. My eyes had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. So, God wants to draw alongside you as he drew alongside Job.

There is no way that this side of eternity you will have a resolution of all your philosophical problems. I cannot tell you why a little child is born with Down's syndrome. I cannot tell you why there are children in India who are not looked after when there are adults in England who would have had them.

There are great theological and philosophical difficulties which we do not comprehend. We see through a glass but darkly, but one day we will see face to face. And until that time, the one who owns the safari park comes alongside and he releases his presence, not resolving all the problems, but giving you sufficient information and such a realization of who he is that you can go on to next week and to next month and to the next year.

You see, what we have been looking at and what my dear friend Alison read to you is in effect a commentary on Psalm 19. Will you turn to Psalm 19? The pattern has already been established by someone older than myself, so I will follow it, of reading out Scripture together. So let's read the first four verses.

Psalm 19. Here is natural theology. And as you read it, bear in mind the context which has been so well read to us, the comments which I feebly made.

Let's go for it. The heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim the works of His hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech. Night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the earth. Their words to the ends of the world. Now let's go to verse 14, which is almost, but not quite, the prayer that I often use at the conclusion of our times here at the tab.

It's a benedictory prayer. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. And don't you see, my dear friends, that Job, whose book I place, not everyone agrees with me, but I place well before the Psalms.

I believe that Job was one of the first men which makes his faith even more astounding. I would go so far as to say that Job, next to our Lord Jesus Christ, is the greatest believer that the world has ever known. Because he came before the Decalogue, the giving of the Ten Commandments, the great inspirational messages of the prophets.

There he was without the Bibles that we see so profusely illustrated in the number of variations this morning. Here is Job at the beginning of time. And he has his problems, but he does believe because his common sense tells him that God is in his situation and behind all things.

And God comes alongside and he says, You're right, Job. Come for a walk with me. And when God's finished, Job can say no more.

He's silenced. Old Isaac Watts, down there in Southampton, sees an even greater glory than that of God's natural handiwork. He sees the cross of Christ and he realizes that God is speaking even more clearly and directly in his special work of grace.

And Watts says, When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride. Watts is silenced by the display of the love of God at the cross. Job speaks no more, but God will speak again to the world after Job's life is ended in the person of his son.

And it's the speech of God through Jesus that will occupy our study this evening. My God, my God, how I have believed Thy love to offer Thee grace in vain did give But I know, through my happy deed Thou have forsaken me ♪ In rivers and vales ♪ ♪ And the Lord, watchful, loyal ♪ ♪ Will he preserve for me ♪ ♪ A weary way to golden days ♪ ♪ Before his ways I see ♪ ♪ But I know that I will be there ♪ ♪ When I'm forsaken ♪ ♪ And the hill of death is carried away ♪ ♪ O teach me what is to be there ♪ ♪ And trust in the light of day ♪ ♪ O Lamb of God, you come into me and love me ♪ ♪ Teach me to sing in your triumph, O Lord ♪ ♪ And still, my brother, you'll hear me say ♪ ♪ I only now shall know ♪ The ladies sing, and then the men. ♪ Teach me what servants bear ♪ ♪ So God hath merit ♪ The men.

♪ O teach me what is to be there ♪ ♪ O God, have mercy ♪ ♪ And grace, O God, have mercy ♪ ♪ And love of the Lord, have mercy ♪ ♪ O teach me more and meekly ♪ ♪ I have no place to keep, O Lord, my Saviour ♪ ♪ O Lord, my Saviour, have mercy ♪ Unaccompanied, but everyone. ♪ O in my life deliverer ♪ ♪ I bring my redeemer ♪ ♪ He was the last in my need ♪ ♪ I cast myself on thee ♪ ♪ Because thou dost my strength need ♪ ♪ I love and I adore ♪ ♪ Because I love my Saviour ♪ ♪ I'll praise thee evermore ♪