Poor and rich lie down in the dust
Then Job answered: ...
"How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
How often does calamity come upon them?
How often does God distribute pains in his anger?
How often are they like straw before the wind,
and like chaff that the storm carries away?
You say, 'God stores up their iniquity for their children.'
Let it be paid back to them, so that they may know it.
Let their own eyes see their destruction,
and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
For what do they care for their household after them,
when the number of their months is cut off?
Will any teach God knowledge,
seeing that he judges those that are on high?
One dies in full prosperity,
being wholly at ease and secure,
his loins full of milk
and the marrow of his bones moist.
Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having tasted of good.
They lie down alike in the dust,
and the worms cover them.
"Oh, I know your thoughts,
and your schemes to wrong me.
For you say, 'Where is the house of the prince?
Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?'
Have you not asked those who travel the roads,
and do you not accept their testimony,
that the wicked are spared in the day of calamity,
and are rescued in the day of wrath?
Who declares their way to their face,
and who repays them for what they have done?
When they are carried to the grave,
a watch is kept over their tomb.
The clods of the valley are sweet to them;
everyone will follow after,
and those who went before are innumerable.
How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?
There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood."
DEVOTION
Recently in Bible study a woman said to me, "It often seems as if the bad guys are winning..."
I affirmed her feeling. After all, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to notice all of the bad being reported on the television and in newspapers.
Just today I read about a man who kidnapped a child, a gang who prostituted women against their will, a group of boys who beat another to death, and the rise of nuclear weapons in countries around the world.
Merciful Jesus, please help!
Sometimes, we can feel so small in the face of such big problems! But there is good news. GOD is bigger than all of our problems and God has a plan to bring all of the bad to redemption through the blood of the Lamb.
I don't know about you, but I am so glad that our God specializes in doing the impossible thing! This was more than proven when he raised Jesus from the dead, triumphant over sin, death, and the grave.
Since God can do that impossible miracle with ease and grace, we know that God is well-able to handle our other problems and conflicts.
We just need to take an eagle's eye view.
It may seem--in the moment--that the bad guys always win--the rich triumph over the poor, the strong over the weak, the powerful over the powerless. But these feelings are actually empty nothings...For our God promises that it will not always be so!
In day-to-day affairs, and in the age to come, God is working out our good in a most wondrous fashion! We can trust him to take care of all that ails us!
Today, let us chose to walk in victory, assured that our redeemer lives and that all things will indeed work together for our good because we love God.
Let us pray: Oh Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth! You are victorious in all your ways. You have already overcome all that ails me. Please help me to put all of my trust in you, for you are the author and finisher of my faith! In Jesus' Name, Amen.
INVITATION
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