Scripture Focus: Job 20.2-3
2 My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer
    because I am greatly disturbed.
3 I hear a rebuke that dishonors me,
    and my understanding inspires me to reply. 

Reflection: Hounding the Wounded
By Erin Newton

In 2017, my son had an accident while in the hospital and coded. He survived, miraculously. Days later, a discussion about unrelated plans resulted in a friend scolding me for a minor offense. Though forgiven, those words echo painfully in my mind.  

From the depths of his heartache, Job asks why his friends have decided to “hound” him (Job 19.28), literally using a Hebrew military term about pursuing an enemy. Job is in pain, suffering physically, emotionally, and spiritually but his friends treat him as a spiritual enemy.

Zophar feels wounded by Job’s reply to their insensitivity. Job’s complaint is justified and expected from one in despair. Zophar is concerned with his own honor and seeks to defend his view of God’s justice toward the wicked, a debate that continues for chapters between Job and his friends.

The debate centers over whether God judges the wicked during their lifetime or as Job proposes, sometimes the wicked prosper and one must wait to see the hand of God. Zophar repeats the assumption that the loss of wealth and declining health are indicative of God’s judgment. This theory suggests that Job is responsible for his own pain and there the trauma grows. When I was hurt by my friend’s rash judgment, it added to my present trauma.  

The question must be asked: What is our goal in correcting others? Do we seek their edification? Or are we too busy defending our own honor? Job keeps pleading with them for pity. Your words are hurting me. But the friends dig in further. It’s all your fault.

Brené Brown says, “Very few people can handle being held accountable without rationalizing, blaming, or shutting down.” Zophar didn’t have time or patience for Job’s pain. He demanded that the sufferer retract his words while inflicting the same disparaging slander upon his friend.

I’ve had a small taste of the bitter encouragement Job endured. I’m also part of the white, evangelical, Christian community. There has been temptation to defend my honor as a white believer before listening to the pain of my brothers and sisters. This Monday we honored the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. A Zophar-like attitude tempts me to try and say something to preserve my own honor. The better option is to sit silently with our friends. Be willing to be humbled, held accountable, and listen deeply. Let them speak, we want to hear. 

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
But I will call upon God, and the Lord will deliver me.
In the evening, in the morning, and at noonday, I will complain and lament,
He will bring me safely back… God, who is enthroned of old, will hear me… — Psalm 55.17

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Job 20 (Listen – 2:52)
Psalm 30 (Listen – 1:32)

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Read more about God is Faithful, not Indebted
Job and his friends believed in an indebted God who owed good to the righteous, owed suffering to the wicked, and never made late payments.

Scripture Focus: Job 12.2-3
2 Doubtless you are the only people who matter, and wisdom will die with you!
3 But I have a mind as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know all these things?

Reflection: Unhurried Wisdom
By Erin Newton

Consider the cliche: Out of sight out of mind. Now, consider this: Absence makes the heart grow fonder. So, which is it? Forgetfulness or fondness? These are modern phrases. However, the book of Job also utilized opposing statements to reveal the complexity of life and necessity of wisdom.

One of the struggles while reading Job is that the statements made by his friends are often valid comments holding truth in some aspect or another. These short statements and concepts are true but not applicable in all situations. So, what is the problem with their advice?

We have been privy to the opening scene of God and Satan. Imagine removing the first few verses from chapter 1 and reading the story without the prelude about God allowing the testing of Job’s faith. Would you not also be suspicious of what he had done to deserve this?

Zophar made statements such as “God has forgotten some of your sin” and “If you lift your face to God, you will be free from harm.” At the core of these statements is true theology: the forgiveness of sins and the security in the arms of God.

What we know of these friends is that they are all God-fearing men. They speak of things that are true and seem to place their faith in God. But they still give bad advice, tactless encouragement, and sometimes traumatizing remarks.

Job’s response also focuses on truths about God. Zophar has suggested that God allows suffering because of man’s sin. Correct. Job suggests that God allows suffering for reasons outside our ability to understand. Correct. Wisdom involves living in the tension of two seemingly opposing truths. Wisdom involves taking time to understand the situation and knowing which truth to apply.

If we are not presently in Job’s position, we are one of the friends. The world around us is constantly suffering: racial tension, economic hardship, mutating viruses, abusive bosses, wayward children, dementia, loneliness, sexual abuse, cancer, addiction. We must wisely speak truth to our hurting friend.

Wisdom is not a character trait abruptly gained. In our quick paced world, we forget to think before we speak. Sometimes we want to be the first one to reply thinking our promptness is a signal of our virtue. We might speak rashly and say something true, just like Job’s friends. But if our truth is received as trauma, we have missed wisdom entirely.


Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
I will bear witness that the Lord is righteous; I will praise the Name of the Lord Most High. — Psalm 7.18

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.


Today’s Readings
Job 12 (Listen – 2:21)
Psalm 19 (Listen – 1:52)

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Read more about Adding Insult to Injury
There’s no nice way to say this, but Job’s friends are jerks. Maybe they mean well…It’s like one “bad take” after another.

Scripture Focus: Job 5.27
“We have examined this, and it is true.
    So hear it and apply it to yourself.”

Reflection: Adding Insult to Injury
By Erin Newton

There’s no nice way to say this, but Job’s friends are jerks. Maybe they mean well or have a serious deficiency of tact. In the midst of suffering in epic proportions, Job endures painful chapters of the worst advice and lack of comfort by the handful of men in his life. It’s like one “bad take” after another. 

Modern forms of communication (texting, messaging, tweeting) have created a form of terseness that does not really benefit the other person. Our words are often formed under the desire to create something memorable, quotable, something that can easily go viral. A pithy statement is formed, we pat ourselves on the back and declare to the world “apply it to yourself.”

Eliphaz seems to view the suffering in Job’s life as a simple equation. After two chapters describing how Job could correct his situation, the final words end with the statement that there is no way he could be wrong and all Job needs to do is apply this golden advice to himself. 

Jesus confronted this same mindset in his disciples, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9.2). There is an innate desire for life to be a simple “if-then” scenario. If you are poor then it must be strictly your fault. If you are infertile, it’s probably a lack of faith. If you are single, you just need to pray more. These if-then statements are absurd and completely wrong. 

If quick judgments do more harm than good, how do we comfort a grieving friend? I learned through hard situations: sitting with a friend after the death of her father, speaking at a funeral for my friend’s infant child, and waiting for hard diagnoses for my own kids. One of the greatest things we can do for those in grief is to sit and listen. As Paul instructed, “mourn with those who mourn.” (Romans 12.15)

Grief is messy and gray. No black and white solutions. No terse statements will do. Words are empty unless we let them know we are a beating heart, a living soul and a listening ear. The best company during grief are wounded healers, friends who have been down that dark road too. 

Eliphaz should have modeled the character of the Wounded Healer, Jesus. “When Jesus saw her weeping… Jesus wept.” (John 11:33, 35). Be quiet. Listen without judgment. Sadness takes time. 

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Save me, O God, by your Name; in your might, defend my cause.
Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth. — Psalm 54.1-2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Job 5 (Listen – 2:29) 
Psalm 9 (Listen – 2:21)

Read more about When Help Doesn’t Help
Although Eliphaz meant well, his response was insensitive to his friend’s plight.

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