Sharper Iron — There Is a Redeemer – Job 7:1-21: In God’s Crosshairs
Job’s complaint continues. He compares himself to a slave who works all day yet receives no payment for his labor other than sleepless nights. He turns directly to God with his lament. Job feels God’s gaze upon him as a terror and a nightmare. He wonders why God has made him a target instead of showing mercy and pardon for his iniquities.
Rev. Dustin Beck, pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Warda, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Job 7:1-21.
“There Is a Redeemer” is a series on Sharper Iron that studies the book of Job. The suffering of Job raises important questions. Does man fear God for no reason? Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? Who can be an arbiter for man? As this book of wisdom literature wrestles with such questions, God reveals to us that He is our Living Redeemer whom we are right to fear, love, and trust above all things.
Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen. Pastor Appel serves at Faith Lutheran Church in Godfrey, IL. Learn more at flcgodfrey.org. Submit comments or questions to: listener@kfuo.org
Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund. Together in faith, LCEF helps to start, sustain and strengthen LCMS ministries through financial and strategic partnerships. Visit lcef.org.
Job 7:1-21
Job Continues: My Life Has No Hope
[1] “Has not man a hard service on earth,
and are not his days like the days of a hired hand?
[2] Like a slave who longs for the shadow,
and like a hired hand who looks for his wages,
[3] so I am allotted months of emptiness,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
[4] When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’
But the night is long,
and I toss and turn till the dawn.
[5] My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt;
my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh.
[6] My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle
and come to their end without hope.
[7] “Remember that my life is a breath;
my eye will never again see good.
[8] The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more;
while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone.
[9] As the cloud fades and vanishes,
so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up;
[10] he returns no more to his house,
nor does his place know him anymore.
[11] “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
[12] Am I the sea, or a sea monster,
that you set a guard over me?
[13] When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
my couch will ease my complaint,’
[14] then you scare me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
[15] so that I would choose strangling
and death rather than my bones.
[16] I loathe my life; I would not live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.
[17] What is man, that you make so much of him,
and that you set your heart on him,
[18] visit him every morning
and test him every moment?
[19] How long will you not look away from me,
nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?
[20] If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?
Although a mathematics degree may not be incredibly helpful to (proudly born-and-raised Texan) Rev. Timothy Appel while hosting Sharper Iron, his love of CFW Walther and the season of Easter will come in handy. His Call is shepherding the flock at Faith Lutheran Church in Godfrey, Illinois, and he’s also husband to wife Kristin and dad to their growing basketball team of children. When he’s not carrying out pastoral duties, you may find him reading “The Lord of the Rings,” snacking on Reese’s peanut butter cups, playing dominoes with his boys, or studying up on Texas history (including Sam Houston, of course).
