Sharper Iron — There Is a Redeemer - Job 19:1-29: I Know that My Redeemer Lives

Job responds to Bildad by imploring his friends to stop their torment. Although Job cries out to God, Job hears no answer. Job laments that God has come against him as an enemy and that God has left him all alone. Even in the midst of his suffering, Job makes a glorious confession. He knows that God is his Redeemer who lives and who will raise him bodily as well. Job’s resurrection hope is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Rev. Dr. Adam Koontz, pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Oakmont, PA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Job 19:1-29.

To learn more about Redeemer Lutheran in Oakmont, visit redeemer-oakmont.org.

“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 19:1-29

Job Replies: My Redeemer Lives

[1] Then Job answered and said:

[2] “How long will you torment me

and break me in pieces with words?

[3] These ten times you have cast reproach upon me;

are you not ashamed to wrong me?

[4] And even if it be true that I have erred,

my error remains with myself.

[5] If indeed you magnify yourselves against me

and make my disgrace an argument against me,

[6] know then that God has put me in the wrong

and closed his net about me.

[7] Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered;

I call for help, but there is no justice.

[8] He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass,

and he has set darkness upon my paths.

[9] He has stripped from me my glory

and taken the crown from my head.

[10] He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone,

and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.

[11] He has kindled his wrath against me

and counts me as his adversary.

[12] His troops come on together;

they have cast up their siege ramp against me

and encamp around my tent.

[13] “He has put my brothers far from me,

and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me.

[14] My relatives have failed me,

my close friends have forgotten me.

[15] The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger;

I have become a foreigner in their eyes.

[16] I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;

I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy.

[17] My breath is strange to my wife,

and I am a stench to the children of my own mother.

[18] Even young children despise me;

when I rise they talk against me.

[19] All my intimate friends abhor me,

and those whom I loved have turned against me.

[20] My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh,

and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

[21] Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends,

for the hand of God has touched me!

[22] Why do you, like God, pursue me?

Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?

[23] “Oh that my words were written!

Oh that they were inscribed in a book!

[24] Oh that with an iron pen and lead

they were engraved in the rock forever!

[25] For I know that my Redeemer lives,

and at the last he will stand upon the earth.

[26] And after my skin has been thus destroyed,

yet in my flesh I shall see God,

[27] whom I shall see for myself,

and my eyes shall behold, and not another.

My heart faints within me!

[28] If you say, ‘How we will pursue him!’

and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’

[29] be afraid of the sword,

for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,

that you may know there is a judgment.”

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Rev. Timothy Appel

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).