The God Who is Approachable [Job 9]
8Who alone stretches out the heavens And tramples down the waves of the sea; 9Who makes the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south; 10Who does great things, unfathomable, And wondrous works without number. 11"Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him. 12"Were He to snatch away, who could restrain Him? Who could say to Him, 'What are You doing?' 13"God will not turn back His anger; Beneath Him crouch the helpers of Rahab. 14"How then can I answer Him, And choose my words before Him? 15"For though I were right, I could not answer; I would have to implore the mercy of my judge. 16"If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.
32"For He is not a man as I am that I may answer Him,
That we may go to court together.
33"There is no umpire between us,
Who may lay his hand upon us both.
34"Let Him remove His rod from me,
And let not dread of Him terrify me.
35"Then I would speak and not fear Him;
But I am not like that in myself.
Job understood how awesome God is. He got that He was the Creator and that He alone was keeping His creation intact. He acknowledged that He “does great things, unfathomable, and wondrous works without number.” (v. 10) He had awe and respect for God’s majesty.
What Job didn’t believe was that God is a personal God. "How then can I answer Him, and choose my words before Him? For though I were right, I could not answer; I would have to implore the mercy of my judge. If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.” Now we are getting down to the core of his unbelief. He was interpreting God’s character according to his own feelings and circumstances. Later we will see God blow this unbelief out of the water and Job will be a changed man.
Job had the same problem I have. Keeping both truths together - God’s supreme majesty and His intentional intimacy with me. His fear was that if believed that God would listen to him then that would make God not elevated enough. "For He is not a man as I am that I may answer Him, that we may go to court together. There is no umpire between us, who may lay his hand upon us both. Let Him remove His rod from me, and let not dread of Him terrify me. Then I would speak and not fear Him; but I am not like that in myself.” (v. 32-33) Like me, Job was afraid that he would not fear and respect God enough if He were personally involved enough to have a two way conversation, asking each other probing questions. He didn't know that what his heart was longing for was Jesus - someone to stand between and be an umpire.
Father, our finite minds cannot comprehend fully how both of these truths can be true at the same time, but they are. You are a God who is lofty, powerful, doing “great things, unfathomable, and wondrous works without number.” You are also a God who loves us intimately and desires relationship. You do answer our questions when we call out to You. We praise You that You are both sovereign and near. Thank You for giving Jesus to intercede for us.
We praise You for our umpire, Jesus Christ, the best umpire ever.
Verna McCrillis, 1/20/2011