Job 23:4

Job 23 is a lament, and it is full of sorrow. Job was full of bitter complaint here, yet he felt that the weight of the blow laid on him was heavier than any groan he made. The blow came from God, yet he did not know where God was, or how to find Him. If only he could find Him and set out his case before Him, he felt sure relief would come and he would be delivered... So once again Job assumed that he himself was upright. His complaint was that the Almighty troubled him, and that he could not reach Him or come into His presence.

Job felt that if God were only a man, he could go to Him and explain his case. He could show Him that there was no fair reason for the treatment he believed he was getting. But the One who struck him stayed hidden, and His greatness terrified him.

That is what Job wanted. He was not afraid of what God would say. God was sure to be good, because He loved, and because of what Job knew Him to be... It would all be right if he could only get a hearing. If he could come close to Him, then He would listen.

Job feels wronged, and so he wants to go before God and bring charges against Him! He would walk straight into His presence, into His very home, and lay his case before Him, with his mouth full of arguments. He even dares God to reply: "I would know the words which He would answer me." A righteous man can speak like this while he is far from God.

Here his tried and storm-tossed soul breaks out with its longing... Then, in blind self-righteousness, he speaks a bold word. He is so sure of it all that he says, "He would give heed to me." How different it was when the Lord did speak! Job's lips were sealed, and they opened again only to express the deepest self-loathing. Yet even in the words he speaks here, still in the dark about the reason for his suffering, he shows that he is not the defiant wicked man, but one who longs for God.

He wanted God, but he felt that God had pulled away from him and would not answer his prayers. He had no idea that God knew exactly what Job was feeling and thinking. God did not have to give Job a public hearing to air his complaints. In fact, when God did at last deal with Job face to face, Job had no arguments to bring Him at all.

By nature we do not know God, and we do not know where to find Him. Job says, "Oh, that I knew where I might find Him! I would come even to His seat!" The gospel makes God known to us. We learn that He is merciful and gracious, and full of kindness and love towards people. We learn this in Christ, and it is in Christ that He is found. So we turn to Christ, and in turning to Christ we turn to God, for in Him we meet a Saviour-God.