Why were Job's friends such poor comforters? In Job 10-11, Job pours out his confusion to God while his friend Zophar insists Job's suffering is his own fault. Dr. Toby Holt shows how even sincere friends can give deeply wrong counsel.

Job cannot understand why God is contending with him. Zophar responds harshly, claiming Job's pain proves hidden sin and even telling him he deserves worse. The friends' mistake: assuming suffering always means punishment for sin. They were right that sin brings judgment, but wrong about the timing — and they did not know Job suffered because he was good.

Questions this study answers:

1. What was wrong with the counsel of Job's friends? They assumed his suffering had to be punishment for hidden sin. They misread his situation and added guilt to his grief.

2. Were the friends entirely wrong? They were right that sin deserves judgment, but wrong about the timing and the cause. Job's suffering was not punishment.

3. How does the gospel answer the friends' error? For those who trust Christ, the judgment their sins deserve has already fallen on Him. Believers are not under condemnation, even in suffering.

"Know therefore that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves." — Job 11:6 (NKJV)

Dr. Toby Holt is President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio. Find more verse-by-verse Bible teaching at newgeneva.org; support this ministry at newgeneva.org/give.

This podcast is available in video at fpcgulfport.org and fpcgulfport on YouTube.

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All right, let's say that there's two guys, there's two men, and let's say that they're standing in a lion's cage.

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Now, you've got two guys, they're standing in a lion's cage, and not far off, as you would expect, is the lion.

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And the lion sees these two guys and has started to move towards them.

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Now, one of these guys considers his options, and as he considers how he might escape, it dawns on him that if he were but to give his friend a little push towards the lion, then the lion might be distracted, and it would allow him time to save himself.

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Now, that seems, I don't know, that seems kind of selfish.

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In fact, if you were watching a movie of that, you'd boo, you'd hiss, you'd say, that's bad, boo, you'd want some sort of comeuppance.

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You don't want the poor guy on the ground to be the one that's eaten.

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You want the lion to go after the other guy.

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And if you're watching a movie, maybe that's exactly the way it plays out.

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Maybe that's what happens.

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You see, we want villains to get what they deserve.

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We want the wicked and the depraved to suffer, and we want the righteous to be exalted.

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That's just our desire.

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And so we cheer even when villains get their comeuppance and when heroes prevail.

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We want to have our sense of right and wrong validated.

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It helps us to make sense of the universe and the world around us.

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when there seems to be a direct relationship between your actions and the consequences of

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those actions. With that said, it doesn't always work that way. As we know in our own stories,

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and certainly as you see in the Bible, sometimes it seems like the villains are the ones who seem

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to be prevailing, or at least who seem to be empowered, who seem to be wealthy and healthy,

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while the righteous sometimes seem to be imprisoned, or suffering, or beaten, or shipwrecked,

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are martyred. Whether it's in Scripture or in our own lives, we can see a disparity between what

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consequences we think certain actions should result in and what actually happens. And when

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we see that disparity between what we think should happen versus what actually happens,

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it can break our brains. We can stand back and go, I don't get it. I don't get it, oh God. In

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chapter 10, you could just title it, I don't get it, because that's really Job's words here. You've

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got this guy, and he's sitting in an ash heap. I mean, he's sitting in a pile of his own scabs.

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He's covered in boils from head to toe. Last week, we talked about the nature. It might have been

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something called black leprosy. Whatever it was, it was terrible. It was eating him up from his

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skin right down to his bones. It cost him his sleep, and he couldn't run away from it. Remember,

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there's other hardships in life, other things that might be hard for you. Maybe it's a relationship

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issue or a job issue or a financial issue, but you can go to the movies or go to sleep or do

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something and forget about it for a season. Job couldn't escape this. Even as he laid there trying

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to sleep, he felt miserable 24-7. And Job looked at his own life and he couldn't discern a cause.

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He had been brought up, even as his friends, his peers, to think that there was a relationship.

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And in the Bible, yeah, there is a relationship. What you sow is often what you reap, but not in

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every occurrence and not at every time. Whatever the case is, in Job chapter 10, you have a guy

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he was trying to make sense of what's going on. He asked the question, why? Now, if Job had been

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a villain, the answer would have been more readily apparent. He was getting what he deserved. But Job

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wasn't a villain. In fact, in the very start of the book of Job, like the very first verse, Job

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is described as one who's blameless and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil. And if that's

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true, if Job was so nice, then again, it brings us back to the question of why. Well, in today's

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reading, Job's going to ask that question aloud. And at this point, God isn't going to give him an

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answer. However, someone else will, or at least someone else will try. Because you remember, Job

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wasn't alone at this point. But Job's friends, I'll use air quotes, friends had gathered in order to

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comfort him about what was going on. However, Job's friends aren't going to make Job feel any better

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by the time they're done. Job's friends, his friends aren't going to make him feel any better

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because what they're going to do, and especially this guy Zophar, who we're going to look at today,

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especially this guy, is going to look at his friend Job and tell him, Job, you're suffering

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because you deserve it. Job, you're hiding something from us and you're hiding something

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from God. And if you would just get right with God and man, then this difficulty would pass. Job,

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you're suffering because you deserve it. These three friends, John Calvin said that they have

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just one song, and they sing it to death, and it's, Job, you deserve it. You know, as a side note,

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if you're in this church, you get prayer requests. You check your email, and your prayer request will

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come out during the week. Well, that's a good thing, and I can assure you, you will never once

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get a prayer request that goes like this, so-and-so is in the hospital. Please pray for so-and-so

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because they're suffering from blank, but boy, do they deserve it. You can put that one in your spam

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falter, if you ever get that, but it's not going to happen because that's not the way this is

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supposed to work, and it really shouldn't work that way amongst Job and his friend. Let's see

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how this plays out. If you would, let's go back to the first seven verses, and again, we'll try to

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work our way as far north as time allows. Verse one, my soul loathes of my life. I will give free

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course to my complaint. So Job's sitting there going, I've had it. I am done. My soul loathes

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of the next breath I take. I am going to speak my mind, he says. I will give free course of my

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complaint. I will speak on the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, do not condemn me.

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Show me why. Show me why you contend with me. Does it seem good to you that you should oppress,

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that you should despise the work of your hands and smile on the counsel of the wicked? Do you

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have eyes of flesh? Do you see as man sees? Are your days like the days of a mortal man and your

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years like the days of a mighty man that you should seek my iniquity, search out my sin,

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although you know that I'm not wicked? And there's no one who can deliver me from your hand.

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Alright, in last week's sermon from chapter 3, Job's circumstances were so bad that he

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repeatedly said, why was I even born?

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I don't know about you, I mean, all of us have suffered from some form of illnesses

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or hardship or diseases at different intervals, but few of us, I presume, have ever gotten

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to the point where we just wanted to die.

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That would have been more preferable, or that we'd never been born in the first place.

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Well that's where Job found himself, and as he found himself at the depth of the bottom

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of that hole, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, physically, because he found himself in that

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position. He says, I'd rather not be born, and then he turns it into the question, the eight

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million dollar question, God, why? Why? Anything that would help him understand, that would help

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him reconcile why he was suffering, and yet God is good. He desperately wanted answers. You know,

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there was a commentator on this passage who kind of made this parenthetical observation. The

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commentator read this and said, you know what? If I had suffered in this way, I would have just

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become an atheist. I would have denied that God's even there if he would have let me suffer in this

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way. Needless to say, this is bad commentary because it suggests that God's existence is

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predicated on how happy you are. That if things are going badly, God must not be there. And if

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things are going well, then maybe he is. Again, that's sloppy. That's not the way it works. God's

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existence, his nature, his attributes, his characteristics do not vary, do not hinge on how

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you are doing from day to day, even if you're doing terribly. Well, despite Job's suffering,

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he was a far better theologian than this commentator all these years later. And the reason

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I say he was a better theologian is this, because never once in 42 chapters does Job ever weigh the

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possibility that maybe God's not there. As bad as things were, he never once said, well, maybe God

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just isn't there. He never adopted an atheistic mindset. He never questions God's sovereignty.

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What he does question is God's actions in this situation.

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Why are you doing blank?

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He's not questioning God's nature or his presence, but his choices, his actions.

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In Job's mind, he was being punished for something that he had not committed.

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And that's why he's telling God in verse 7, God, you know that I'm not wicked.

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He's making a case for himself.

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Now, we're going to see next week that God is going to respond to this case.

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But for the moment, this is the case he's making.

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all right let's look at verses 8 through 17 so again job is talking to god and he says god

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your hands have made me they fashioned me an intricate unity and yet you would destroy me

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remember i pray that you've made me like clay and will you turn me into dust once again did you not

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pour me out like milk and curl me like cheese and clothe my skin and flesh and knit me together

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with bones and sinews you've granted me life and favor and your care has preserved my spirit

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and these things you have hidden in your heart, I know that this is with you.

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If I sin, then you mark me.

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You will not acquit me of my iniquity.

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If I'm wicked, woe to me.

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But even if I'm righteous, I can't lift up my head.

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I'm full of disgrace.

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See my misery.

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My head is exalted.

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You hunt me like a fierce lion, and again you show yourself awesome against me.

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You renew your witness against me.

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You increase your indignation towards me.

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Changes and war are ever with me.

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All right, let's stop there.

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Let me ask you, you don't have to raise your hand,

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But is anyone in this room good with, I don't know, pottery?

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For most of us, our experience with pottery

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came probably around preschool or kindergarten or something.

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You know, when the teachers, they get the big bunch of clay

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and you take the clay and you knead something out of it

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and you shape this Frankenstein-y creation

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and the teacher tells you it's wonderful

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and then they put it in the oven and it bakes for a bit.

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And then after it bakes, it comes out

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and you get the paints out and you paint it.

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Most of us have had the experience,

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or at least if we've ever done pottery,

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it's often has been in this context.

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This was never my thing.

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It probably goes without saying.

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probably ate the clay or something but that was not my skill set let's say however that someone

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is skilled in this area let's say that you have a master potter is that the name for it master

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potter now let's say that this guy makes an amazing piece of pottery an amazing piece of

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potter just a beautiful thing so intricately done so perfect the contours the shapes the colors

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that marvelous that grand that perfect that precise now let's say that the same guy this

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potterer who makes this amazing pot, that he takes this thing, and that instead of putting it in a

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museum, instead of setting it up in an exalted place, that he takes it, he goes out into the

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street, stands on the asphalt, and smashes it into a million pieces. Now, if you were to watch that,

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if you had watched him form it, and you're amazed at the care, and the diligence, and the precision,

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and the beauty of what he's done, and then he takes what he's done and went out and destroys it,

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would you not be aghast? Would you not have questions over what this guy was doing? Why did

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he spend the time to form something so amazing, so diligent, so careful, and then, without any

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just cause, destroy it? Why would he do such a thing? It would seem counterproductive. Now we're

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getting to the source, the fulcrum of Job's questions in these verses, 8 through 17. He even

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refers to himself as clay. God, why did you do this and form me this way? Why was I ever born?

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Why did you make me and put the sinews and all the pieces together and then set me up in such a way

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where for so many years I was blessed and to succeed and things were going so well, and then

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this, this nightmare, as he looks at the train wreck that his life has become, given what it

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used to be and the care and precision with which God had blessed him in years past, that change,

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you can't reconcile it. Again, newsflash. There's going to be things that happen in your life that

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you're going to have the same question. Things are going to be going swimmingly one moment and

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then terrible the next. If you live long enough, it'll happen, and the question will be, why?

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And then you'll scramble around, and you'll try to say, what did I do? What sin did I

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commit? Or what happened that this might be the end product? You remember the time Jesus

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encounters the blind man, heals the blind man, and then the question among his skeptics,

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you know, as they look at this blind man prior to that, was who sinned, this man or his parents?

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Sometimes what we do is we try to analyze our situation, our determination, what others have

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done, what we've done, our circumstances, our good choices, our bad choices, and we try to conclude

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like we're some sleuths that we can figure out exactly what God's up to. The reality is no.

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God's ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. As far as the heavens above the

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earth are his ways and his thoughts above ours. It's above our pay grade. This is not something

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that we can, by necessity or inference or intellect, deduce on our own. Job's trying to,

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though. Desperately trying to. And he doesn't get it. Let's see how he builds on this. Verses 18

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through 22. Verse 18. Why, O God, have you brought me out of the womb? Oh, that I'd perish and know

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I had seen me. I would have been as though I had not been. I would have been carried from the womb

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to the grave are not my days few cease then leave me alone that i may take a little comfort before

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i go to the place which i shall not return to land darkness the shadow of death land is darkness

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itself is the shadow of death without any order where even the light is like darkness you know

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when a child's upset with their parents especially when they're small there's a disagreement a

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conflict or even a punishment child might not like it or understand it the child can yell out

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leave me alone and run off and door slams now why does a child do that well probably for a lot of

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reasons one of them is that they're just hurting and they're confused they're hurting they're

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confused they're upset and when we get to that point in life and you don't have to be a child

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to be there but when we get to that point in life sometimes we just spiral inward we spiral inward

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and our loved ones notice it our spouses notice it our children notice it our friends notice it

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that we're spiraling inward, and we do this sometimes to protect ourselves from additional

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pain. Well, that's sort of what you're seeing in verses 18 through 22. Job is spiraling here.

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He's spiraling because he still doesn't have the answers to the questions he's asking. He's still

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just feeling miserable. He just wants to be left alone. He even tells God, just leave me alone. Let

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me just die. Let me die in peace here. Now again, there's several cold-hearted commentators who've

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looked at this, said, this is Job's pity party. He's just feeling sorry for himself in verses 18

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through 22. Well, these commentators aren't the only one who came to that opinion, because even

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Job's friends came to that conclusion. Let's see. Again, we don't have the time in the series to go

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through every statement made by every friend, but today we're going to look at one specific statement

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made by one specific friend this guy Zophar let's see what Zophar has to say he's heard Job the

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others have heard Job they've already been trying to give him input Zophar is the guy who he's heard

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the input and he's heard what Job has to say and he's like the guy says all right I've had enough

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Zophar only speaks twice in the whole thing but when he does it's like he rolls up his sleeves

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and he goes all right let me at him I have some things to say to you oh Job so let's see what

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Zophar. What wonderful words Zophar has for Job in chapter 11, verses 1 through 6. So verse 1,

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then Zophar the Nehemiah answered and said, should not the multitude words be answered?

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Job's just talked, and Zophar's like butting in, saying, should not all your words deserve a

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response? Should a man full of talk be vindicated? Should your empty talk make men hold their peace?

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he's really going at Job here. And when you mock, Job, should no one rebuke you? For you've said,

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my doctrine's pure, I'm clean in your eyes. But, but, O Job, O that God would speak and open his

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lips against you, that he would show you the secrets of wisdom, for they would double your

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prudence. Know therefore, know therefore, Job, that God exacts from you less than what your

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iniquity deserves. You hear this? You have a guy who's suffering more than perhaps any man has ever

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suffered. And so far, he rolls up his sleeves and says, you know what, Job? You actually deserve

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twice as bad. You keep talking, but the reality, Job, is that you deserve so much worse than you

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are getting. You know, as we saw a couple of weeks ago, when Job's life fell apart, on the plus side,

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his friends came to him. Now, that was a good instinct. It's good when we're hurting or

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suffering when people who care about us come to us. Now, another thing that they did was good was

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that for seven days, they just sat around and were quiet. That's also good. When people are hurting,

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sometimes what they need most is just your presence, your comfort, maybe for you to listen

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to what they have to say. So initially the friends did all right, but then they just started opening

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their mouths. And the more they opened their mouths, the more that what they said was, it was

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not only not encouraging, but it was just wrong and hurtful. They took truisms from scripture,

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true concepts, like you reap what you sow, but they took it and kind of bent it on its ear and

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weaponized good truth to attack their friend. Now the first couple friends were direct and

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somewhat antagonistic, but compared to Zophar, those guys were, they were sweethearts. Zophar,

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again, he only opens his mouth twice, but he ends up pouring salt out. And that's what he's doing

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in verses one through six. In these verses, he does two things. First of all, he accuses Job

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of speaking with empty words. He says, Job, just shut it. Nothing you're saying is good or right

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or helpful. But then the second thing he does is he tells Job, again, Job, you've got this,

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you've got this all wrong. You're suffering. You don't seem to understand. The way that you seem

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to be hiding your sins, the way you seem to not be naming them or confessing or repenting,

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evidently, you deserve worse. You deserve worse than what you've had. This is a guy who's being

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oppressed by the devil himself, who lost all his ten children, likely his grandchildren as well,

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his possessions, his camels, his livestock, his chickens, they're all gone. He has his bitter

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wife, that's what he has left at this point, and he has his scabs and his pile of ashes,

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and that's his life. The guy comes to him and said, you know, you deserve even worse than that.

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Zophar was convinced that Job was hiding something. Now why? Why was he convinced of that?

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Because his worldview wouldn't allow him to see anything else. There was a wrong-headed worldview

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that exists in this age and it exists in our age as well. And it says in times of trouble like this,

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especially from religious-sounding lips, that what's happening in your life, good or bad,

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is a function of things that you've done. And there's just enough truth in that for people

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to stand upon it. And yet there's just enough error in man that it can be weaponized against people,

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especially hurting sheep, which is what Zophar does here. He says, Job, you're hiding something.

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Stop talking unless it's to repent. Everything that's going on is the root of some secret sin

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that you have. Now, that's just brutal theology. If you were to go to the doctor this week,

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and the doctor says, well, I have bad news for you. You have cancer. And then, as bad as that is,

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the doctor then leans forward and says, now, if you have cancer, it must be because of something

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you've done. If that ever happens to you, find a different doctor. That's not the way that this

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works. You see, God can use circumstances to bless us. He does. I mean, Job was blessed before,

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and Job would ultimately be blessed later in chapter 42. So he can use circumstances to bless

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us, and he can use circumstances to curse us. Uzzah touched the ark. Uzzah died. Ananias and

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Sapphira died. He can absolutely render consequences to sin. He can do that, and he does do that.

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And yet, if that's the way it works all the time, there's always a one-to-one correlation between

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actions and consequences immediately, then how would you explain so much suffering of so many

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good people in the Bible? How do you explain Job's suffering? How would you explain Joseph's

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imprisonment in Egypt? How would you explain Stephen's martyrdom? How would you explain

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Jeremiah's tears? How would you explain Christ's crucifixion if people only got what they deserve?

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Zophar, you're wrong. That's not the way this works. That's not the way this works. All manner

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of terrible things have happened to all manner of wonderful people. Why? Because we live in a fallen

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world. As long as you and I live out our days here, no matter how beautiful and sunny this day

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might be, we live in a world that drinks down sin like it's water. And because we live in a world

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that drinks down sin like it's water, we get tainted and scarred by those same sins, either

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ours or other people's. And that will not change on the side of glory. Good news is we're made for

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someplace better. Good news is we're not of this world. The good place is that God routinely tells

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us you're sojourners here. You're here for a short time and then you're made for someplace else. And

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in that place, there will be no more sin. There will be no more tears. There will be no more fears

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and anxieties and hurts. In fact, God wipes away the tears from our eyes so that they're remembered

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no more. That's what we're made for. But it's not today. It's not today. See, in the big picture,

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Zophar was correct. There is a correlation, a one-to-one correlation between sin and judgment.

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He was wrong about the timing. In God's time, every ounce, every drop, every iota, I don't know what

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an iota is, it sounds small though, but every iota will be judged. Every last molecule in creation

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with a sinward bent or inclination, every last choice or thing that you've done or anyone else

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has done is judged. However, the good news for we who believe is that the judgment that should

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have been due to us and Zophar and Job fell upon Christ. That's the gospel. The gospel is we all

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deserve worse. Double as bad. Zophar was right in this sense that Job did deserve worse. We all

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deserve worse than anything we've gotten to date. We do. But the good news of the gospel is that

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while we're yet sinners, while we were breaking the law, while we were failing to repent and

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confess, while we're doing all manner of things wrong and very few things right, God out of his

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love for us, sent his son to die on the cross, and our sins were imputed upon him, and his

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righteousness was granted to us. This is the gospel, that someone else died for us. We have

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an intercessor. We have a mediator. We have a substitute. And because of that, you can't work

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your way into heaven. No, heaven forbid. Rather, you trust in he whose works were perfect. All right,

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let's look at Zophar's final insults in verses 7 through 20. I'm just going to blow through them.

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so again this is zophar speaking zophar says this he says oh job can you search out the deep things

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of god can you find out the limits of the almighty they're higher from heaven what can you do

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deeper than shield what can you know there measures longer than the earth broader than the sea

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if he passes by and prisons and gathers to judgment then who can hinder him for he knows

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deceitful men he sees wickedness also will he not consider it for an empty-headed man will be wise

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this is really an insult to Job, and a wild donkey as cold as born a man. If you would prepare your

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heart and stretch out your hands toward him, if iniquity were in your hand and you put it far away

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and you would not let wickedness dwell in your tents, then surely you could lift up your face

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without spot. Yes, you could be steadfast and not fear because you would forget your misery and

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remember it as the waters that have passed away. You see what Zophar is saying? Confess Job. If you

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would just stop your nonsense, put away your sins, lift up your holy hands, turn to God with

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confession, then you could be steadfast and not fear. You'd forget your misery. You remember as

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waters that have passed away, your life would then be brighter than noonday. Though you were dark,

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you would be like the morning. You would be secure because there is hope. Yes, you would dig around

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you, take rest in safety. You'd also lie down. No one could make you afraid. Yes, others would court

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your favor. But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope is loss

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of life. Again, what's Zophar trying to tell Job in this final admonition? Well, if you were to

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boil all that, that was a lot. If you were to boil all of it down into one imperative,

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again, it's imperative, confess. Job, I've listened to you. These guys have listened to you. We all

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listen to you. But what we haven't heard as we've been listening is you owning this. Just confess,

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tell us what nasty, secret, naughty stuff you've been up to, and more importantly, tell God.

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Then your darkness shall be as morning, and sunlight, and sunshine, and the like. Job,

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this is what you need to do. Stop talking about how righteous you are and start admitting how

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terrible you are. You know, between Eliphaz and Bildad and the third tenor here, this is the

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intervention from hell, because these guys think they're right about the cure, although they're

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totally wrong about the cause. Not helpful. They're engaged in what you might call spiritual

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speculation. They're just guessing. There's consequences with that. Those of you who counsel

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others, remember, be cautious. Usually you don't know all the details. And spiritual speculation

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is not going to do your friends or loved ones any good. Now, there are times to be dogmatic.

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If there's one thing Zophar had, he was dogmatic. He spoke his mind. And that can be good.

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Even amongst our friends.

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Sometimes our friends need us to tell them the truth.

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So that can be good.

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It can be good to speak strongly when that's what's needed.

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And when we're confident on what we're saying.

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But, dear heavens, choose the right time.

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There's some moments when you'll want to say something desperately to someone in your own life

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who really needs to hear something about God or their lifestyle or their choices.

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There's times to talk and times to teach and times to instruct.

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It's usually, however, not at the pinnacle or crucible of their pain.

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It's usually not just after they found out they had cancer

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or in which they're suffering in the way that Job is.

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So pick your time.

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Beyond that, be careful not to try to guess what God's doing.

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This was 101 in seminary and counseling.

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If you're going to counsel someone, don't try to figure out what God's doing.

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You listen to someone for like 20 minutes and then give them all the answers.

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Say, here's what God's doing in your life.

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Be cautious.

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it's not that easy. You see, Zophar and Bildad and Eliphaz and the like, they didn't know about

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God's conversation, chapters 1 and 2, with the devil, right? No one did. Now, you've read Job.

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Do you think chapters 1 and 2 have a lot to do with what happens in chapters 3 through 42?

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Yes, but they didn't have that information. They didn't understand that in God's eyes,

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Job was not this guy secretly holding on to his sin. Rather, this was the most righteous man

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on the planet at that time. They didn't know the conversation God had with Satan. They didn't

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understand Job's status as the most righteous man. They didn't know that Job's trial was not

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because he was bad, but rather because he was so good. You see that? That would have blown them up

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right there if they'd understood that. Job's trial was not because he was bad. Ironically,

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oppositely, it was because he was so good. They didn't know a lot of things, but that didn't keep

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them from talking. When counseling others, there's a lot you don't know. Avoid speculation.

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Turn to the Bible. Say, thus saith the Lord. Give wise input, but be cautious to try to guess

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the prologue or epilogue to someone else's story that you're only there for one chapter.

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Show some wisdom in this regard. Now, I'll wrap up with these thoughts. If we were to fast forward

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all the way to the end to chapter 42 we'll get there in a few weeks but if we were this morning

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to get all the way to chapter 42 the last chapter you know that god speaks to job right he actually

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speaks to him for several chapters but then god does something interesting then god actually talks

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to zophar and bildad and eliphaz and the like he talks to these guys so god has this to say

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to Job's friends, says this, after the Lord had spoken to Job, the Lord said this to Eliphaz the

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Temanite, my wrath is around you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is

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right as my servant Job has. And so Eliphaz and Bildar and Zophar went and did as the Lord had

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commanded them, for the Lord had accepted Job. And the Lord restored Job's losses when he had

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prayed for his friends. Job's losses ultimately are restored in abundance of beyond that which

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we had before. But interestingly, it happened after he prayed for his friends. God was willing

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to accept Job's repentance and was willing to bless Job. God was willing to show his love and

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extend his mercy and his patience to Job, but he was also willing to do it to Zophar, which is cool

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because Zophar really messed up in today's reading. But even Zophar and Bildad and Eliphaz and the

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like, even they find the same forgiveness from the same source that Job did. Zophar had been wrong,

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and God told him so. However, God forgave Zophar, and so did Job, for he prayed for him. In your

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life, do you have any Zophars that you need to forgive? In your own life, have you ever been a

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so far. If you're like myself, over the years, you've probably surrounded yourself with a lot

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of experts and friends, and some might be more reliable than others. All of them are prone to

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error. Even you are prone to error. We're all prone to error. And for those of us who give advice,

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and for those of us who receive advice, the wise man takes it all to this. Takes it all to this

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and from this, because this is the source of all good advice. At the end of the day, we're all

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going to still be confused about what God is doing in the world around us or in our own lives or in

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the lives of our loved ones. At the end of the day, even as we gather with our closest confidants and

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we try to sort out the weirdness and wildness of the world in which we live, we're going to be like

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Job and we're going to have more questions than answers. As long as we're on this side of the veil,

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that's going to be the way it works. We're going to have more questions than answers. But my

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concluding thought would be this. Your hope does not hinge on your understanding. Your hope does

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not hinge on you getting all the answers. Your hope does not hinge on your understanding of

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everything that God is doing. Job never got that on this side of glory. Your hope does not hinge

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on your understanding. It hinges on your faith. Job had faith. The Lord giveth and Lord taketh

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way. I don't have to like it all the time. I don't have to understand it. But my understanding

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is not the basis of my salvation. My faith is. We live by faith, not by sight. If it ever applied

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to a man, it applied to Job. It applies to you and whatever you're facing. We live by faith,

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not by sight. Let's pray. If you'd like to check out additional recordings or videos by Dr. Toby

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holt please visit our website at fpcgulfport.org and if you're on the gulf coast come join us at

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11 a.m sundays at first presbyterian church of gulfport mississippi