Links for today’s readings:
Jan 28 Read: Job 30 Listen: (3:14) Read: Psalms 11-12 Listen: (1:59)
Scripture Focus: Job 30:24-26
24 “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man
when he cries for help in his distress.
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble?
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, then came darkness.”
Reflection: Human Decency
By Erin Newton
Human decency is a set of accepted moral standards. There is an expectation that people will act using human decency. We expect strangers to avoid violence, help the weak, and work for the betterment of society.
This is why Job says Surely. The word highlights, emphasizes, and intensifies the concept he’s about to state. Surely people don’t hurt hurting people. Job is relying on the universal concept of human decency.
Even in the ancient world, it was not the accepted standard for people to harm those who were already suffering. They did not assault those asking for help. Human decency isn’t a modern philosophy; Job’s view of the world is grounded in it.
By now, we’ve read through the stories of Job’s suffering and his friends’ poor assessment of his supposed guilt. Over and over Job has pleaded his innocence and questioned his suffering. If humans are expected to treat each other with kindness and respect, shouldn’t God also treat humans in such a way? This is Job’s mindset.
He feels beaten down by the divine hand because his suffering does not fit into their perspective of retribution. But something is not right for Job. He’s innocent and suffering.
This is one of those times that Job is expressing the fullness of his misery. He’s not holding back his words. He’s suffering and bringing it to God demanding that he answer. He brings human morality to the forefront. He knows that there are those who do hurt the helpless, but everyone can see how wrong that is. Is God acting wrong? Job is asking that sort of question.
As we wake up each morning, hesitant to turn on the news fearing another headline that brings heartache, grief, fury, and rage—we are hoping for human decency to prevail. We also are hoping for God to step in—fix our suffering, tell us why this is happening when we are trying so hard to do what is right. Like Job, we must keep asking and bringing into the argument that this is not how people are supposed to act.
We can rest assured that God can handle our doubts about his seeming inaction or his silence. In much the same way we keep calling our representatives, we plead with God. We keep coming to him: “Surely this is not ok. We are asking for light and all we see is darkness.”
Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Show us the light of your countenance, O God, and come to us. — Psalm 67.1
– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.
Read more: Prayer When None Are Faithful
We relate to the psalmist’s cries…The costs of lies are all around us. Violence. Confusion. Desperation. Loss of life.
Read more: Help That Brings Hope—Guided Prayer
Let us…be the kind of help that Job hoped for in the lives of those around us.