The Dark Nights of the Soul - Job 24:1, 9-12, 19-25

The Dark Nights of the Soul

Job 24:1, 9-12, 19-25

Lesson Setting

Job sits amongst his friends as they “comfort” him in his misery.  He listens attentively to their speeches which seek a confession from Job that will enable his restoration.  As he listens to his friends’ self-righteous babble, Job reaches a boiling point of frustration.  Then, he unleashes a barrage of righteous indignation thereby exemplifying the anger and agony of many disciples as they feel their circumstances eclipse God’s kindness and power.

Lesson Outline

I.                 Job 24:1 – Looking in Vain for God to Act

II.            Job 24:9-12 – Why Does God Allow Wrongdoing?

III.        Job 24:19- 22 – The Wicked are Forgotten

IV.         Job 24:23-25 – Who Can Prove Me Wrong?

Unifying Principle

Sometimes it seems as though the wicked people in the world get all breaks and cannot be stopped from doing terrible things.  How can this picture be changed?  Job 24 complains that God support the evil ones, but only for a while; however, Job 5 and the psalmist affirm that, even so, God saves the needy and gives the poor hope in the battles they are waging.

Introduction

“Wait patiently on the Lord!”  This spiritual exhortation echoes loudly between the ears of any disciple living through the dark nights of the soul.  Chances are he has repeated those very words to someone else during a time of considerable adversity and angst.  As he lives with more painstaking questions than comforting answers, he must take his own advice.  Yet, a most practical and even penetrating question remains, “How does a disciple experiencing a hard time wait patiently on the Lord?”

Anyone attempting to mail a letter or parcel via the U S Postal Service must wait patiently in a long line as postal workers sporadically leave for coffee breaks and lunch.  Usually, they disappear as the line becomes longer and people have multiple needs.  Nevertheless, citizens remain in the line until their turn as leaving only extends the time, compounds the energy and increases the expense of completing such a mundane albeit necessary task.  Additionally, waiting for an appointment with a physician to begin is just as frustrating, time consuming and expensive.  It stands to reason that illness, the need of medication or the practice of preventive disease health and wellness are among the myriad causes for a doctor’s appointment.  A patient seeks a most favorable outcome and thus will wait for it however irritating it may be.  Similarly, in the spiritual realm, waiting for the emergence of God’s favor, redemption and salvation can be equally aggravating and agonizing.

There is yet another disturbing dimension to waiting on God.  It is particularly difficult to do so when you observe others around receiving bountiful blessings as you wait for yours.  A pastor of a small local church deals with as many relational, administrative and programmatic challenges as his ministerial colleague who is the pastor of an adjacent mega-church with a large staff.  The former clergyperson ponders whether the weekly offering plates will yield sufficient funds for payroll.  The latter one complains about overcrowding attendance at the third service on Sundays.  In some instances, the pastor of the mainline local church with an average congregation of less than two hundred adults may actually achieve righteousness and integrity in daily living and service.  His counterpart may adhere to an entirely different lifestyle which may be morally and ethically questionable.  Yet, an even starker and perhaps unfair contrast exists in their standard and quality of living as the local pastor maintains an austere life and his colleague enjoys affluence.  As the local pastor waits for God’s favor, it must be very difficult for him to observe a colleague who flourishes despite his morally and ethically ambiguous ways. 

Further, it really leaves a taste of gall and bitterness in the mind and heart of a disciple as he watches unbelievers and non-Christians reap harvests of unimaginable financial gain and material acquisition as he struggles to live within his means.  Imagine driving through your neighborhood on the way to church in a car you have owned for more than a decade and you notice your neighbors washing and waxing their brand new luxury cars.  Have you had the experience of seeing a adolescent talking on the latest model cell phone or watching a video on the most current tablet both of which you do not own even though you work daily?  Waiting on God, as He blesses other people particularly persons whom we characterize as unbelievers, is very difficult for faithful disciples.  In today’s lesson, Job perfectly articulates the frustration that many such disciples feel.

This week’s passage reiterates the myriad ways in which Job and the Psalmist genuinely rely upon Almighty God in times of trouble.  They find great comfort in knowing they can always seek God’s comfort and hope.  Their example reminds us that we also can turn to the Lord during hard times.  However, Job and the Psalmist are not mindless and Pollyannaish.  Forthrightly and sternly, they state their complaints about the time of God’s judgment.  They do not mince words about their feelings relating to the manner in which God judges.  It greatly distresses them to observe just how slowly God appears to act as wickedness thrives.  They wonder whether it is worthwhile to prepare for God’s judgment through deeds of righteousness and faithfulness in belief.  The appearance that God affords evil and wicked people a free pass as it pertains to His judgment creates a major faith crisis for Job.  What an incredible irony!  The wicked enjoy life with impunity while the righteous receive God’s chastening rod.  Assuredly, many modern disciples, as they glance the globe and consider the increase of terrorism and other dastardly deeds perpetrated in God’s name, share Job’s righteous indignation.  Yet, Job appreciates the central and incontrovertible fact that although the timing of God’s judgment is often inexplicable to us, His justice certainly and eventually comes. 

Finally, we have the challenge of determining ways in which we serve as God’s instruments to create a more just and equitable society.  In his compelling book, Raging with Compassion: Pastoral Responses to the Problem of Evil, John Swinton suggests that congregations collectively battle wickedness and the social structures that produce injustice as they care for victims and advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves.  Instead of polishing social, economic and political problems with incessant talking and public relations protests, disciples have an obligation to transform society to enable all children of God to actualize their divine talents, personal potential and natural endowments. 

Exposition

Point I – Job 24:1 – Looking in Vain for God to Act

Do those of us who expect the Lord’s wrath and judgment upon evildoers look in vain for its emergence?  We understand biblically that vengeance and punishment belong to the Lord because only He can adjudicate perfectly as He is the only one with complete knowledge of any predicament.  All five major world religious systems espouse some idea of karma and reciprocal justice.  In Christianity, we often recite Paul’s immortal words in Galatians, “Be not deceived, God shall not be mocked.  Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”  Although we forgive perpetrators of past offenses and crimes and learn from the experiences, we still wait for God to coerce the persons who harmed us to face the consequences of their choices.  But, do we do so in vain as our perpetrators seem to thrive in their daily affairs? 

Job asks why God makes the victims wait so long for truth and justice.  Consider a victim of rape who waits for years before a random traffic stop leads to the arrest and incarceration of his rapist.  Think of the sleepless nights and countless nightmares such a woman experiences as she fears the possible return of her rapist.  What if he rapes someone else?  How can God sit idly and permit another woman to experience such a debilitating trauma?  There are faithful disciples who are victims unsuspecting of infidelity and betrayal by persons whom they love and trust.  People are terminated wrongfully from jobs each day because someone does not like them.  Husbands have abandoned lovingly loyal wives and children for young mistresses.  Doctoral students, after several years of an investment in their degree programs, are dismissed summarily and disrespectfully because their advisors no longer wish to work with them.  They have no legal recourse as courts will not intervene in such interpersonal conflicts and universities will protect their employees to avoid financial and other liabilities.  In all these instances, deeply wounded people seek divine recourse which does not appear to come.

This question is one of faith.  Job inquires essentially about the character of Almighty God.  In pleasant times of plenty wealth and health, it is easy to expound eloquently and excessively about the favorable attributes of God.  It is equally easy to exhort others to trust in the goodness of God.  We hear during each contemporary worship service, “God is good.  All the time!  All the time, God is good.”  Albeit theologically sound and biblically justifiable, this saying is a church cliché which disciples recite automatically.  However, what happens in difficult times such as the season affliction and adversity Job experiences?  Is God still good all the time?  As one author posits, “The spiritual life is not a theory.”  In its most practical sense, genuine spirituality emerges with the furnace of affliction in daily living.  Tribulations and tests most reliably burn the dross of self-centered fears, self-seeking motives and egotistical self-aggrandizement away from the characters of maturing disciples.  A person cannot acquire these divine attributes by reading a library filled with the great tomes of theology and philosophy.  It is very possible for a person to hold an earned doctorate in systematic theology and not have any authentic, experiential knowledge of Almighty God.  In contrast, Job asks about the character of God as Job lingers in the worst predicament of his life.  Is God really who He reveals Himself to be?  Will He execute justice and righteousness as He says?  Will He make righteous persons wait hopelessly as He is unable to accomplish this feat?

The second component of Job’s question is very personal.  For people who know Him, God’s inertia is particularly disturbing and revolting.  Is it unreasonable to presume your relationship with God would afford certain exemptions from laws and protections from danger?  Moreover, would not God eagerly want to deliver justice on behalf of his beloved children who faithfully serve Him and worthily magnify His holy Name?  Job suffers immeasurable angst relating to this dilemma as he relies steadfastly upon his enduring relationship with God.  What happened?  Job’s bewilderment defies description and explanation.  It is troubling that Job waits for God to redeem his personal predicament inclusive of Job’s wholesale loss of everyone whom he loves dearly and everything he owns.  Adding insult to injury, Almighty God makes Job wait for societal redemption as Job watches the wicked prosper and laugh.  As God appears to linger in dispensing justice and equity, He also seems to betray the people who truly trust Him.

Point II – Job 24:9-12 – Why Does God Allow Wrongdoing?

Why does God allow wrongdoing?  This is simplistic wording for an enduring, complex and possibly irresolvable theological dilemma, the problem of prevalent evil in the world although disciples affirm faith in Almighty God whose four fundamental attributes (ever-present, all-knowing, all-powerful and all-kind) oppose wickedness.  Furthermore, Job agonizes over God’s willingness to permit the suffering of His chosen people and subject them to the dastardly deeds of wicked people.  As Job languishes in physical pain and colossal financial and material loss, he is not theorizing about this contradiction.  He is not sitting at the table of graduate school seminar about theodicy, is God the agent of evil given He permits it.  His personal perplexity and perusal of social injustices encourage Job to conclude that Almighty God actually creates ad utilizes evil to accomplish His purposes in contrast with His previous revelation of being the Lord is faithfully loving, gracious and merciful.

Fiercely, Job attacks God for sitting idly by as evil permeates society.  Let’s examine closely Job’s vivid depiction of wickedness throughout the world.  Fatherless infants are ripped from their mother’s breasts possibly to allow the babies of rich people to nurse.  The infants of poor people are taken from them as collateral to remit for outstanding debt.  A lifetime of physical slavery and emotional bondage awaits these innocent and undeserving babies.  Although the poor carry sheaves, they remain hungry as they still need the next meal.  Additionally, they are naked and lacking clothes to shield them from the natural elements and all types of diseases and danger.  Like the modern day poor people in New York City and other urban areas who pilfer garbage on the sidewalks in search of recyclable aluminum cans, the biblical poor press olives on the terraces of people’s dwellings for cooking oil and light.  Even as they press grapes in the winepress, they are still hungry as the meager amounts do not suffice.  Summarily, the lamentations and mourning of the dying resound loudly in the city; and the screams and pain of the wounded vehemently call for help.  Nonetheless, Job sees “God charges no one with wrongdoing.”

How can God appear indifferent to such pervasive and paralyzing evil that robs His children of their divine heritage and cripples their ability to actualize their purpose?  Personally, Job asks how God could allow such evil to overtake and destroy Job’s life.   What benefit is there to serving God if He fails to protect His children from evil?  Honestly, many disciples ask similar questions throughout the world as they strive to incorporate their faith into daily living.  The contradictions are blatant and glaring.  God’s inertia is bewildering.  Further, it is unjust.  Accordingly, it causes disciples to feel He does not possess inherent and infinite abilities, power or goodness.  Erstwhile, He would proactively prevent the occurrence of evil or intervene zealously to blunt its affects and effects upon His chosen people.

In her classic African American novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston begins a chapter with an enduringly profound spiritual maxim, “There are years for questions and there are years for answers.”  Job’s example greatly encourages and empowers disciples as they grapple with difficult and complex questions of faith.  Like Job, they dismiss memorable clichés and boldly state their objections concerning the inconsistency between God’s revelation and covenantal promises and their daily realities.  Today, we live with the ironic and longsuffering question, “Why does God allow wrongdoing?”

Point III – Job 24:19-22 – The Wicked are Forgotten

As the embers of Job’s emotions finally cease burning, he calmly balances his perspective of God’s character with reflections and images of divine retribution.  Essentially, the wicked will die and be forgotten as chaff, husks and shells blowing aimlessly in the wind.  Their longstanding rule and power will prove futile to protect them from divine wrath and justice.    As the wicked who were wealthy as a result of their deceptive and oppressive deeds invested in earthly riches and material acquisition instead of the eternal treasures such as truth, love, mercy and justice, their memories will fade into oblivion as dust in the wind.  Job graphically annihilates their legacy with vivid natural images of demise and decay.  He parallels the desert’s effect on snow with the graves consumption of the wicked.  Even the wombs through which they came forget them leaving worms to devour their rotting flesh.  These predators of infertile woman and oppressors of widows do not deserve recognition after death.  Like a broken tree, no one will recall anything about them.  They cannot rely upon their earthly economic and political power as God shall surely wipe them away in accordance with His righteousness and equity.

These few verses remind us of how heightened emotions become in the midst of a faith crisis.  Intrepid in his righteous anger as he lingers in pain and misery, Job understandably doubts God’s character and abilities.  As his feelings rise, his rhetoric indicting God for passivity although He is the Creator of the Universe and ends of the Earth culminates in exaggeration.   Job sounds as if he is intoxicated with anger and resentment.  As Job calms down and reassesses his life, he realizes that God justice albeit glacial at times assuredly emerges in the course of human history.  These sober reflections provide encouragement and healing for Job.  They equally supply contemporary disciples with the will to persevere through the treachery and tribulations of personal adversity, natural disasters, terrorism and geopolitical dilemmas.

Summarily, Job remembers the Lord’s righteousness and realizes that God maintains justice and equity for His people.  The wicked will reap what they have sown.  The Lord is the Heavenly Father to the fatherless.  He cares for widows and orphans.  He defends the poor downtrodden against the wiles of oppressors and predators.  As a result, God dispenses perfect judgment and punishment.  Only those people who willingly serve as God’s agents of love, truth, justice and mercy will enjoy a posterity and legacy.

Point IV – Job 24:23-25 – Who Can Prove Me Wrong?

Job challenges his listeners and friends to defy his words.  “Who can prove me wrong and reduce my words to nothing?”  Job will not accept theoretical propositions as he languishes in distress and misery.  Quoting a good book on religion, philosophy, psychology and self-help will not suffice.  Job relies upon the certainty of his personal experience to defend his questions and position.  Exhibiting defiant faithfulness, Job dismisses simple answers to tough questions.  He insists upon asking the hard questions of faith in difficult times. 

To persuade Job that he is wrong, his friends would need to demonstrate practical and pragmatic methods of resolving Job’s dilemma.  As a parent of teenagers, far too often, I am bewildered as I attempt to impart fundamental life lessons regarding love, relationships, work ethic, study, discipline, consideration of others, and personal responsibility.  Periodically, I feel as if I more greatly desire my children’s dreams and goals than they do for themselves.  I do not understand their indifference to the importance of high academic achievement and its significance relating to college choices and eventual professional options.  Humbly, I sought the advice and counsel of friends, siblings, colleagues and professionals who deal with adolescents.  To my considerable chagrin, I received feedback on my need to improve my parenting skills.  To the person, no one had any helpful, plausible and effective hints for resolving my dilemma and empowering my children with tools, skills and strategies to help them maximize their talents, time and temperaments.  As I reflect on these conversations, some of which I paid handsomely, I relate to Job’s impatience and dismissive of his friends clichés and facile replies.  Criticizing my approach to parenting without offering anything constructive and workable recommendations is not helpful.  As a result, I resolve my approach is just fine.  I ask “Who can prove me wrong?” 

The Lesson Applied

Let’s Talk About It

1.     Recall an experience in which you lived through any number of dark nights of your soul.  How were you able to maintain your faith and sanity?

2.   Have you ever felt that God is indifferent to evil and suffering in the world?

3.   Where was God on 11 September 2011? 

4.   If someone renounced their faith because of 11 September 2011, would you understand?  What would you suggest to him or her?

5.    Do you have any suggestions for waiting patiently and faithfully for God’s justice to unfold?