Worship service 9/28/25.

Greetings and call to worship.

Greetings and good morning, fellow saints and Christians, eagerly waiting for the blessed coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We come before Him once again to worship and glorify Him magnifying his blessed attributes as they are made known and declared to us in the Holy Scriptures, not in our own Wisdom but the Wisdom that comes from God, peaceable, easily entreated, full of mercy and good fruit. Let us therefore give Him glory and praise who has blessed us with the Wisdom of God, Jesus Christ.
Colossians 2:2-3 says, “that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ‘” Let not your hearts be troubled therefore who hope in God, for we shall yet praise Him who is the help of our countenance and our redemption from sin and death and despair. A Puritan minister writes, “When you go to the ordinances, lay aside disobedience. ‘All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient people.’ Rom 10: 21. It is said of the Jews that God stretched out his hands in the preaching of the word, but they rejected Christ. Let there be none among you that wilfully refuse the counsels of the word. It is sad to have an adder’s ear and an adamant heart. Zech 7: 11, 12. If, when God speaks to us in his word, we are deaf, when we speak to him in prayer, he will be dumb.

If you would hear the word aright, have good ends in hearing. ‘Come to the word to be made better.’ Some have no other end in hearing but because it is in fashion, or to gain repute, or stop the mouth of conscience; but come to the word to be made more holy. There is a great difference between one who goes to a garden for flowers to wear in her bosom, and another that goes for flowers to make syrups and medicines. We should go to the word for medicine to cure us; as Naaman the Syrian went to Jordan to be healed of his leprosy. ‘Desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.’ 1 Pet 2: 2. Go to the word to be changed into its similitude. As the seal leaves its print upon the wax, so labour that the word preached may leave the print of its own holiness upon your heart.

Labour that the ‘word’ may have such a virtue in you, as the water of jealousy, to kill and make fruitful; that it may kill your sins, and make your souls fruitful in grace. Numb 5: 27.”

Prayer unto the public reading of the Holy Scripture:

Our holy and righteous Father,
Eternal, immutable, and full of all glory, justice, and righteousness,
Merciful, compassionate, and faithful—The God who will by no means clear the guilty, yet showing mercy to thousands that love thee with the whole heart and keep thy commandments:
We come before thee solemnly and sincerely, as those whom thou hast redeemed and purchased by the precious blood of thy Son, called out of darkness and into the marvellous light of the gospel and the kingdom of Jesus Christ. According to thy word, we are bid and commanded to draw near to thee humbly, with a single heart and upright affections; and therefore we ask thee to grant it unto us, that it may be even so—Acknowledging that thou art incomprehensibly great, holy, and excellent, Glorious in power, fearful in praises, doing wonders. We are therefore careful to approach thy altar, knowing the severity of thy law, the holy requirements of the gospel, as well as our own vileness and unworthiness to draw so near unto thee.
We freely confess, O Lord, that apart from the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are justly denied entrance into thy glory, and must be cast from thy presence as an abominable thing. For we are guilty and polluted, unable of ourselves to repent or return, and altogether unfit to render thee any service that is not defiled by sin. Yet we believe that thou art our God, and the rewarder of them that diligently seek thy face. Therefore, we boldly cry unto thee for the free gift of thy grace: For pardoning mercy to cover our iniquities, And sanctifying mercy to make us meet for thy presence. Hear our prayers, deliver us from all trouble, cleanse us, we pray, by the blood of Christ. Assist us by the power of thy Spirit. Defend us from all evil, Strengthen our faith, subdue the lusts of the flesh that swell within us, And enable us to perform this holy service, Not in our own strength, But in the virtue which thou dost supply of thine own free goodness. And now, O Lord, as we come to the reading of thy holy word, we pray for a special blessing upon this portion of Scripture, that it may be effectual to build up thy holy church, which thou hast called thy special possession, and thy little flock. Open our hearts to receive it with meekness; Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and cause us by thy grace to worship thee by it; And may the same Spirit who spake unto the fathers, apostles and prophets, the reformers and Puritans, so guide our whole lives, That we may grow up in Him in all things, even He who is the Bridegroom and Head of the Church, Jesus Christ, our Prophet, Priest and King. All this we ask in his most worthy name,

Amen.

Devotional and doctrinal exposition on the Psalms:

Psalm 26 [14] (Verse 9-11): 1 David oppressed with many injuries, finding no help in the world, calleth for aid from God: and assured of his integrity towards Saul, desireth God to be his judge, and to defend his innocence. 6 Finally he maketh mention of his sacrifice, which he will offer for his deliverance, and desireth to be in the company of the faithful in the Congregation of God, whence he was banished by Saul, promising integrity of life, and open praises and thanksgiving.

A Psalm of David.

1 Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.

2 Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.

3 For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.

4 I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.

5 I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.

6 I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Lord:

7 That I may declare with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.

8 O Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.

9 Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men:

10 In whose hands is wickedness, and their right hand is full of bribes.

11 But I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.

12 My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the Lord.

Exposition:

We ought also to look at the sight and vision of the believer. For he looks not only upon their current works and behavior, but upon their end also. He sees that the end is coming for the wicked, as it is written, “‘Thus saith the Lord GOD ; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come. An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come. ‘ Ezekiel 7:5-6 and again, “Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.” Ps. 73:17 or, “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.” Prov. 22:3 and again “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” Hebrews 11:7 and again, “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.” Isaiah 57:1–2 So the righteous being fully persuaded of the truth and power of God know certainly that an evil is coming, a great doom and dread that shall come upon all the world, at once, in a moment, when all men shall be rejoicing then terror and sudden destruction shall come upon them unawares. And they walking in drunkenness, lust, heresy, adultery and bloodshed shall be cast alive into hell.

And it will not do to then call, “Lord, Lord.” For those who walk in iniquity, and in the company of sinners shall be destroyed, and only the righteous shall be spared. So David saith, “I will walk in my integrity.” Even as Enoch who walked with God and was not for God took him. And again, “He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known.” Prov. 10:9 and again, “The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.” Prov. 20:7 and again, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Mic. 6:8

Therefore let us, even as David so walk with God in integrity that the day of evil come not upon us by surprise. If we would not be gathered with the wicked, we must not live like them or even think like them, but keep our souls in sobriety, diligence and all patience, awaiting the coming of the day of the Lord, unto whom just persons, it shall be a day of great joy, with no sorrow or sighing, but the vindication of our walk, and the destruction of the wicked.

Opening Prayer.

O righteous Father,
Thou art our God and the Redeemer of thy people,
The Ancient of Days, whose judgments are unsearchable,
And whose wisdom reacheth from everlasting to everlasting.
We cast ourselves before thee in faith and humility,
For thou hast said, “Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me” (Psalm 50:15).
Behold, many are the afflictions of the righteous,
and thou hast promised to deliver us out of them all (Psalm 34:19).
Thou art our strong tower, our rock, and our defence; therefore in the Lord Christ we shall not be greatly moved.
Truly we are compassed about with tribulation,
Beset on every side by the snares of the wicked,
And weighed down with the inward burden of the flesh.
If in this life only we had hope, we would be of all men most miserable (1 Cor. 15:19).
But thou hast given us a better portion—a hope that entereth.
We have willingly cast off the pleasures of sin, and taken up the cross, forsaking the company of the vain and godless. We are resolved to let no unclean thing cleave to us, For we are fully persuaded that “he that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20).
Inasmuch as thy people are resolved to walk in godly integrity,
Give us faith to believe thy promises, hope to endure our trials, and love to fulfill thy commandments.
Let us not be wise in our own eyes, but fear the Lord and depart from evil (Proverbs 3:7).
Let thy Word be as honey to our lips and as fire shut up in our bones.
And let us praise thy name forever and ever, both on earth and in heaven, even as it glorifies thee, and we ever pray unto thee O our just and merciful Father, in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
Amen.

Lesson 51. [1.2.26.] The Contents of Holy Scripture: The Histories: Job, the First Book of Divine Wisdom.

Westminster Confession of Faith 1.2

Under the name of holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments,
Genesis-Esther, Job.
All which are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life.

Intro.

Job 1-3.

Introduction to the Wisdom Books

The Wisdom Books (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon) are distinct in the canon. They are not history as Kings and Chronicles, nor prophecy as Isaiah and Jeremiah, but rather divine instruction for the pious and spiritual life of God’s covenant people. They answer how a man may behave wisely before God in a sinful and miserable world. Their concern is not abstract philosophy or moralistic platitudes but concrete declarations of sound doctrine, holy religion and the rule of godliness: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10).

They begin with Job, for patience in affliction is the first lesson of wisdom. “It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope” (Lamentations 3:27–29). James also confirms this: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God” (James 1:2–5). And we may use James as the key to the theological import of Job. Wisdom is found in patience, but how? Inasmuch as Wisdom is found in submission to providence, as it is written, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto your own understanding…” Christ Himself is called in scripture “the Wisdom of God”, as seen in Proverbs 8, therefore all true Wisdom points to Christ, the necessity of His atonement, His life and ministry, passion, death and ultimately to the full and inconceivable glory of His second coming. (Ps. 17, 25)

There is an old French Novel, set during the times of the Bourbon restoration and the second French Revolution, written also around that time, called the Count of Monte Cristo. In this novel the protagonist is betrayed by friends and shipmates and implicated in the Napoleonic conspiracy, for which he is imprisoned for 13 years in a dungeon citadel. During this time he meets an Italian priest who teaches him philosophy, science, economy, mathematics and the location to an enormous untouched treasure until through his death Edmond escapes. After his escape he uses the fortune to become a count and exact revenge on his enemies through a long and intricate plan to ruin and or humiliate them. When his vengeance is complete, the book closes with the words: “All human wisdom is contained in these two words: Wait and Hope.” Yet this is not the wisdom of Scripture. It is the “waiting and hoping” of worldly philosophy, which requires escape from earthly dungeons, permits revenge, sets its end on treasures and encourages patience only for the sake of eventual earthly triumph.

The wisdom of God teaches otherwise. “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD” (Ps. 27:14). “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord” (James 5:7). Patience in trial is not to nourish schemes of vengeance, but to entrust ourselves to Him “that judgeth righteously” (1 Pet. 2:23).

We are forbidden to avenge ourselves: “But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt. 5:39). The true waiting and hoping of the Christian is for the last day, when “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked” (Eccl. 3:17), and His people “shall see [their] desire upon [their] enemies” (Ps. 112:8).

Therefore, human wisdom counsels men to hope for worldly success, but divine wisdom teaches us to hope for the appearing of Christ. “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). 

Job in Historical Context

Job is set in the patriarchal age. He offers sacrifices as priest of his house (Job 1:5). His wealth is counted in cattle (Job 1:3). There is no mention of tabernacle or temple, but he knows the LORD as Redeemer and walks in integrity: “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth” (Job 19:25). Thus Job belonged to the covenant people, though not descended from Abraham, showing that God is with His elect people in all ages and nations.

The Question of Suffering

The book confronts the age-old murmur of unbelief: If God is good and powerful, why does He afflict? The heathen in Job’s day asked this, and philosophers still stumble at it. Yet the answer of Scripture is clear: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25). Job himself said, “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10).

Job’s trial was not wrath but discipline. God’s glory was vindicated against Satan, and Job’s faith was purified. The end proved it to be so: “Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy” (James 5:11).

Ancient Pagan Philosophy and the question of evil.

  • Epic of Gilgamesh (Mesopotamia, c. 2000 BC)
     The Babylonian story of Gilgamesh asks why death and sorrow afflict humanity. The answer is essentially resignation: the gods have decreed it, so man must accept his fate and seek pleasure and fame while he can.
  • Ludlul Bēl Nēmeqi: (“The Babylonian Job”) is a historical parallel to the biblical book of Job, and one of the most revealing Mesopotamian wisdom texts. (more than likely stolen from Job and twisted to Babylonian theology)

Overview

  • Title & Meaning: The Akkadian title Ludlul Bēl Nēmeqi means “I will praise the Lord of Wisdom”.
  • Date: Likely composed during the Kassite period (c. 14th–12th century BC), centuries after the Book of Job was written.
  • Form: First-person narrative poem, about 480 lines long, spoken by a righteous sufferer named Šubši-mešrê-Šakkan, a high official in Babylon.

Content

  • The protagonist recounts how he was a faithful worshiper of the gods, but was suddenly struck by devastating misfortunes: illness, social ostracism, loss of possessions, and despair.
  • He cannot discern what sin caused his downfall. His friends and family abandon him.
  • He describes his suffering in deeply poetic, almost Job-like terms:


    “My god has forsaken me and disappeared,
    My goddess has failed me and departed.
    The benevolent angel who walked beside me has gone away.”

  • Unlike Job, he does not dialogue with friends or God, but simply laments his condition.
  • The resolution comes when Marduk, chief god of Babylon, intervenes. After long silence, Marduk restores him, heals his disease, and returns him to honor.

Comparison with Job

  1. Similarities
    • Both texts wrestle with the suffering of a righteous man.
    • Both present the sufferer’s despair, abandonment, and bewilderment at divine silence.
    • Both end with restoration after affliction.
  2. Differences
    • Ludlul is polytheistic: the sufferer thinks he may have offended a god unknowingly; Job insists on his innocence and appeals directly to the one true God.
    • Marduk’s restoration is arbitrary, unexplained; in Job, restoration comes after God’s revelation of his justice, in which Job learns to submit to divine sovereignty.
    • Job frames suffering within creation, fall and covenant; Ludlul within capricious and arbitrary divine will.

Historical Context

The existence of Ludlul shows that the question “Why do the righteous suffer?” was central in the ancient Near East. But where Babylonian wisdom resigns itself to the inscrutability of divine favor, Israel’s wisdom (Job, Psalms, Lamentations) anchors suffering in the sinfulness of man, the holiness of God and the hope of redemption.

Later Philosophy

Scholars have long noted that the themes of Ludlul anticipate the “problem of evil” debates in Greek philosophy, and even resurface in Enlightenment thinkers like Hume. But Job is unique because it refuses both resignation (Ludlul) and speculation (the Greeks), and instead presents a personal, covenantal God who answers His people out of the whirlwind (Job 38:1).

  • Greek Tragedians (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides)
     They wrestled with divine justice in suffering. Fate (moira) was viewed as inexorable, even above the gods themselves. Suffering was explained as punishment for hubris or the mysterious outworking of fate, but without moral coherence.
  • Plato (4th c. BC)
     In Republic II and X, Plato admitted the apparent injustice of the righteous suffering and the wicked prospering. His solution was to postpone justice to the afterlife: the soul is judged after death. This faintly resembles Job’s “my Redeemer liveth” (Job 19:25), which shows direct relation to the scriptures, so much so that a 2nd-century pagan poet once said of Plato, “Who is Plato but Moses speaking in Greek?”
  • Aristotle (4th c. BC)
     In Nicomachean Ethics and Metaphysics, Aristotle’s god is “pure actuality” and unmoved. Suffering is simply the effect of fortune (tyche) and human limitation; there is no providential ordering. (contrast with Plato, who was  exposed to Jewish literature/Old Testament scripture)
  • Stoics (Zeno, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius)
     Suffering is necessary according to fate (logos). The wise man must submit with apatheia (detachment). Marcus Aurelius, Meditations: “Whatever happens to you was prepared for you from all eternity.” and, “Choose not to be harmed — and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed — and you haven’t been.” another,  “I’d rather see you abandon grief then it abandon you.”
    Thus we see apathetic detachment from grief is not hope, nor patience, but surrender to circumstances, and failure to note the cause or product of them.
    This stoic resignation is not the same as Job’s submission (“Shall we not receive evil from the hand of the Lord?” Job 2:10), without joy and hope in the resurrection.
  • Epicureans (Epicurus, 3rd c. BC)
     Epicurus framed the famous “Epicurean trilemma” belched by many modern infidels and ignorant heathen:
    • If God is willing to prevent evil, but not able → He is not omnipotent.
    • If He is able but not willing → He is malevolent.
    • If He is both willing and able → evil should not exist.
      His answer: gods exist but are indifferent; suffering is arbitrary, ergo man should seek pleasure and avoid pain.

      The answer is simple. Man looks at God from the viewpoint of a miserable sinner. Unable to think that which is good, and exposed to all the misery of this life and the one to come. The scripture sets the perspective back where it belongs. Focused on God’s mercy in redemption and man’s misery being just. The question on the peculiar sufferings of a righteous man and whether it is agreeable to the justice of God to afflict one sincere and religious, that will be answered in time to come. 
    • Wisdom in Confession of sin. Thus we see that as Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, the tree of the *knowledge* of good *and* evil, so he brought evil upon himself and is most worthy of the judgment. So Job in wisdom confesses sin saying, “shall we not receive evil?” This takes us back to the garden where Adam rebelled against God and brought sin and misery to the world. Wisdom therefore is not in blind resignation, but in patience, hope and fidelity. 

Conclusion.
Thus Job answers the general question of the problem of evil, (abstract) and how the Christian is obliged to submit to God’s providence. (concrete) Not with complaint, backbiting, despair, or apathy, but wisdom, patience, trust, joy, and hope.


Closing Prayer. 

O Lord, our God, the God of knowledge and all wisdom,
Grant us that pure and perfect wisdom from above—
Which is pure, peaceable, gentle,
And easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits,
Without partiality and without hypocrisy (James 3:17).
Give us such a Wisdom that will incline our hearts towards obedience to thy word,
And humble submission to thy providence.

Make thy statutes to be more precious unto us than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold (Psalm 19:10).
And may we say with thy servant,
“I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12).

Give us patience to endure,
Let us not faint in the day of adversity, for thou art our strength.
Teach us to wait upon thee, for it is written,
“It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord”

Let thy wisdom be our crown and thy Spirit our teacher,
That we may shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation,
Walking in uprightness, cleaving to thy Word,
And keeping ourselves unspotted from the world.

O Lord, remember thy covenant and raise up a generation that seeketh thy face,
Yea, even in the midst of apostasy and heresy,
Let thy church be adorned with holiness, clothed in righteousness,
And kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting:
Let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord (Psalm 106:48).

We ask all these things in the name of our blessed Lord,
The Wisdom of God, the Hope of Glory, the Bridegroom of our souls.
Even Jesus Christ, the Son of God—
In His glorious and holy name,

Amen.

YouTube Audio: https://youtu.be/WbLWNVG-frc

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