“Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.”
– Job 9:20
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you enjoy hearing birds chirping? The pair of eastern phoebes that rebuilt their nest on the top of the porch column that is located right outside the front door of the house where your grandmaa and grandpaa live have been twittering away this morning as they bring bugs to their three hungry little ones. Do you enjoy looking at a rainbow? As your grandmaa and grandpaa yesterday afternoon were after a short shower walking on a street near their house, they saw a perfectly arced, brilliant rainbow. Do you enjoy smelling the morning air? Because the air conditioner for the house where your grandmaa and grandpaa live is on the fritz again, your grandpaa has the window open in the room that he uses for his office which is allowing the morning breeze to waft into the room carrying with it a clean, earthy smell. How often do you stop during a day to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells that are always around you? How often do you stop during a day to express your thanks to the Creator for the sights, sounds and smells that are always around you? How often do you stop during a day to voice your gratitude towards the Creator that He has given you the ability to see the sights, hear the sounds and smell the aromas that are always around you? A place where your grandpaa really enjoys being at is an ocean beach. Your grandpaa really enjoys hearing surf breaking on a beach, watching the sun rising or setting over open water and smelling ocean air. Your grandpaa is in three days leaving for Iquitos, Peru – a place where your grandpaa has never been to. Your grandpaa is looking forward to seeing the sights of a large jungle city that is situated on a river system, the smells of open markets – especially of the fruit that is being sold in the markets and the sounds of a culture that is built around kinship relationships.
Your grandpaa has to admit that he does not begin to stop often enough to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells that are always around him. Why do you think that it is that most guys, gals and kids do not often stop to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells that are always around them? Do you think that it is because most guys, gals and kids simply take it for granted that the sights, sounds and smells that are always around them will always be there? Do you think that it is because most guys, gals and kids do not think that there really is a Creator Who is unfolding methodically and meticulously the sights, sounds and smells that are always around them? Do you think that it is because most guys, gals and kids do not really care that the sights, sounds and smells that are always around them are witness bearers of the existence of a Supreme Being? Why do you think that a guy, gal or kid will find himself or herself sooner or later caught up in the vortex of a heartrending event – such as a natural disaster, a catastrophic illness or a tragic death? Job wrestled with this conundrum after his kids were killed, after he lost all his possessions, after his body became covered with painful sores and after his self-proclaimed friends tried to tell him that he had to have sinned against God to make God want to severely punish him. Your grandpaa is sure that Job would never have done the kind of heartfelt contemplating that he does in Job 9 if his kids had not been killed, if he had not lost all his possessions, if he was not covered with painful sores and if his self-proclaimed friends were showing him any kind of unconditional acceptance, affirmation and approval.
Job had by now concluded – even though he seems to come across as being possibly somewhat bitter about it, that it was an absolute that God had His reasons for allowing to take place what had taken place and what was taking place. Job clearly understood that as a mortal guy that he could never obtain total righteousness before God – which his friends were implying that they had with God. Job had explicitly internalized that he would get nowhere if he tried to dispute or argue with God as to why God thought that He needed to take him through the kind of appalling trials that he now found himself having to endure. Job unambiguously knew that the wisdom of God is profound, that His power is vast, that no one will come out unscathed fighting Him, that His anger will move mountains and shake the earth, that He alone can stop the sun from shining, that He alone can seal off the light from the stars, that He alone can stretch out the heavens and walk on the waves of the seas, that He performs uncountable miracles, that He executes unbelievable marvels, that He cannot be seen or perceived even though His presence is everywhere, that there is nothing that can stop Him from snatching what He wants to snatch, that His unrestrained anger will cause cohorts of evil to cower, that He will give mercy to who He wants to give mercy and that He will destroy both the blameless and the wicked. Verse 20 is Job pronouncing his fallibility to the hypercritical, judgmental guys who were claiming that Job had to be guilty of something, “Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.” Job knew that no matter what he said to the fault-finding, condemnatory guys – who were alleging that he had to be guilty of something, that they would continue to through their words plunge him into a slime pit. If you saw that your life was skimming and swooping by you and that your life was not glimpsing any joy – which was how Job felt, what would your response be? Would you give up wanting to live or would you continue to have the faith to believe that God has a special end game for you – just as God had for Job?
Job 9 (1168)