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Call to worship: Psalm 26
Text: Job 6-7
Prepare
Questions to Consider:
- In 6:1-4, what reason does Job give for his rash words in Job 3? What sort of pain does Job describe in these two chapters? Are there different kinds of pain that he happens to be experiencing at once? Consider 6:4 and 10, 6:5-7 and 14, and 7:1-5 and 13-15. How might you respond under the same holistic distress?
- In 6:5-7, then again in 6:14-23, Job implicitly aims at real friendship. Have the friends (really Eliphaz to date) been real friends? What marks a real friend to Job? If you don't have this (and other marks), what does it imply about one's relationship to God? Consider 6:14.
- In 6:24-30, Job challenges his friends. How does he challenge them? Should we reprove the admittedly rash words of a sorrowing soul? Why or why not? Consider 6:26. What are 'windy words'? Are we to judge a person's words and/or theological convictions in the throws of their suffering?
- Does Job still maintain his integrity in these chapters? Consider 6:10, 24, 28-30. Job is in pain through no fault of his own, and he's voicing his perplexity to God because of it. Is that right? Is he justified in interrogating even God? Is this a good defense for lament? Consider 38:2 but also 42:7.
- In 7:11-21, Job continues his lament from chapter 3. It is even more direct and aggressive in it's approach to God. What does Job command God at the end of 7:16? What questions does Job ask of God in 7:17-21? Can you spot any rash words? Any blind spots blocking out the truth of the Gospel? Allowing for 6:26, how might you counsel Job at this point in his pilgrimage to God's speech? Don't forget what we've counseled so far! What might we draw out of these chapters to add here?