“Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Oh that with an iron pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever!
Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends,
for the hand of God has touched me!
Why do you, like God, pursue me?
Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!
If you say, ‘How we will pursue him!’
and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’
be afraid of the sword,
for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
that you may know there is a judgment.” ~ Job 19:21-29
This passage never fails to amaze me. Job is probably the first book of the Bible recorded, so Job did not have the written Word of God, and he lived before the Incarnate Word. Yet in spite of losing everything he had, suffering in agony, and being harangued and insulted by his so-called friends, Job still knew and proclaimed that he would see his Redeemer in the flesh one day. How many of us have a hard time believing that when we have the entire Scripture and we know the life and death of our Redeemer? God’s Word tells about many great heroes of faith, and Job is one of my favorites.
Lord, give me the faith of Job. No matter what happens to me in this life, I know I will stand before my Redeemer and see Him in the flesh! In His name. Amen.