Job 42; Psalms 1-2: God’s Sovereignty

Thoughts

Job 42

Job answers the LORD:” I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.”

Job quotes God’s earlier question: “Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?”mJob moves from demanding answers to accepting mystery.

Job: “I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You.” “Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

God’s anger then burns against the friends: “You have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” God instructs them to offer burnt offerings. Job must pray for them and God will accept Job’s prayer. Job becomes the intercessor for others.

When Job prays for his friends, the LORD restores his fortunes “twice as much as he had before.”

Family and friends return to comfort him. Each gives him a piece of silver and a gold ring. Job’s livestock is doubled: 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 oxen, 1,000 donkeys. 

He also has seven sons and three daughters, the same number as before.

• The daughters are named: Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren-happuch 
• Job gives them an inheritance among their brothers

Job lives 140 more years, seeing four generations. He dies “old and full of days.”

What does Job need to repent of? Here is excerpt from https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/job-42/:

i. It is important to note that Job did not give in to his friends and admit that they had been right all along. That simply was not true. The sins Job repented of here were both general sins, common to all men, which seemed all the darker in the presence of God, yet were not the cause of the catastrophe that came into his life; and they were sins committed after the catastrophe came.

ii. What did Job have to repent of? In his sermon, Job Among the Ashes, Charles Spurgeon suggested several things:

· Job repented of the terrible curse he had pronounced upon the day of his birth.

· Job repented of his desire to die.

· Job repented of his complaints against and challenges to God.

· Job repented of his despair.

· Job repented that his statements had been a “darkening of wisdom by words without knowledge”; that he spoke beyond his knowledge and ability to know.

Pslam 1

Hebrew: מִזְמוֹר (mizmor) means psalm/song. Greek translation was ψαλμός (Psalmós). When Jewish scholars translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek they used the Greek word ψαλμός (psalmós), which comes from ψάλλω (psállō), meaning to pluck strings or play a harp.

The Way of the Righteous 

What the Righteous Person Avoids (v. 1)

• “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.”
• The progression: walk → stand → sit 
• True happiness comes from separation from ungodly influence 

What the Righteous Person Pursues (v. 2)

• “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.”
• Instead of dwelling on sin, he fills his mind with Scripture.
• Delight (חֵפֶץ, chefetz) implies joy and desire
• Meditates (יֶהְגֶּה, yehgeh) means to murmur or recite 
• Blessing comes not from avoiding evil alone, but also loving truth 

The Reward of the Righteous (v. 3)

• “He is like a tree planted by streams of water…”
  • Planted: intentionally set by God.
  • Streams of water: continual nourishment (Word and Spirit).
  • Fruit in season: growth and show of character
  • Leaf does not wither: enduring 
• The result: “In all that he does, he prospers.”

The Way of the Wicked

Their Nature (v. 4)

• “The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.”
• Chaff = dry husks separated from grain: worthless
• The wicked lack stability 

Their Outcome (v. 5)

• “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.”
• “Will not stand” = cannot endure or justify themselves before God.
• Judgment will reveal their emptiness; they have no place among God’s people.

God

• “For the LORD knows the way of the righteous…”
• “…but the way of the wicked will perish.”
• two paths: one leads to life, the other to ruin.

Psalm 2

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?”

• Kings and rulers unite against the Lord and His Anointed (Messiah).

 “Let us burst their bonds apart…” 

• They seek to break bonds with God

God, seated in heaven, laughs at their rebellion/ He speaks in wrath and declares His chosen King is already installed on Zion, His holy hill.

The Anointed (Messiah) speaks: God declares to him, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.”

• The Son is granted authority over all nations.
• He will rule with a rod of iron, symbolizing power and judgment.
• Nations that resist will be shattered like pottery.

Earthly rulers are urged to be wise and serve the Lord with fear. Those who rebel will perish; those who take refuge in Him are blessed.

Questions

How did Job’s friends feel after God told them they were totally wrong?

Do Jews read Psalm 2 as Messiah or as King David?

Application

I think chapter 42 of Job flows nicely into Psalms 1 and 2. Job ends with humility instead of finding answers. The arguing stops between Job and his friends and instead the trusting and worship begins. Then Psalm comes and shows us that after surrender to God, we will bear fruit. We need to delight on His law and meditate on it day and night. Our faith becomes more stable like a tree planted by water. Psalm 2 gives us a broader sense showing that God is sovereign not just over us but over everything. While the earth rages, heaven laughs, because our King already reigns. 

(In the Hebrew Bible Job actually comes two books after Psalms but it seems like a nice transition!)