Saturday 07 February 2015

Psalm: Psalm 104:24-35

Background

One of the unresolved puzzles about the book of Job is how thebeginning and end of the book (in prose) relate to the rest, whichis poetry. It seems that a popular tale about a righteous man whois tested by adversity but remains faithful to God has been used asa framework for a profound set of verse reflections on the meaningof suffering. In today's passage we have the end of the reflectionsfollowed by the narrative end of the story. To our eyes they do notfit very well.

In the story ending (verses 7 to 17) Job's friends are rebukedfor being critical of Job, and Job is restored to prosperity - andmore: double the numbers of livestock (compare Job1:3) and twice the expected years of life (compare Psalm90:10). Perhaps a link with the earlier part of the chapter canbe seen at the end of verse 7: Job has spoken rightly in submittingto God in verses 1 to 6.

The opening six verses of our reading conclude Job's dialoguewith God from chapters 38-41. Note the inverted commas in the firstpart of verse 3 (Job 38:2) and in verse 4 (Job38:3), which echo God's words earlier in the dialogue. They arefollowed each time by Job's humble reply. He confesses that God isa mystery he cannot fathom, but now he sees more clearly than inhis earlier, more self-confident days. 

To Ponder

• Do we speak too confidently about God, failing to preserve asense of mystery? If so, how might we maintain that sense ofmystery?

• Can we do more to resolve the problem of suffering than acceptit and trust that God understands it, and us, better than we do? Ifso, what could that be?

• What light might the suffering of Jesus shed on ourunderstanding of the problem of suffering?