Devotional

Don’t you know that ever since antiquity, from the time a human was placed on earth, the joy of the wicked has been brief and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment? Job 20:4-5 CSB

Do you ever find yourself in a comparison trap? It’s that trap where you think other people have it better than you. It might be a possession, a position, an experience, maybe an opportunity. In the age of social media, it’s only been magnified. It used to be that your circle of comparison was relatively small. That circle of influence has now grown exponentially. Today’s verse is a simple reminder that everything we see in the present is brief and short-lived. There is an eternal perspective that God wants to develop in your life that takes you beyond what you see in the present to remind you that this moment isn’t all there is. Take a moment and think about those areas where you may be caught up in comparison and ask God to shift your perspective from the present to the eternal.

Job 20 CSB

Zophar Speaks

20 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

2 This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer,
because I am upset!
3 I have heard a rebuke that insults me,
and my understanding makes me reply.

4 Don’t you know that ever since antiquity,
from the time a human was placed on earth,
5 the joy of the wicked has been brief
and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?
6 Though his arrogance reaches heaven,
and his head touches the clouds,
7 he will vanish forever like his own dung.
Those who know him will ask, “Where is he?”
8 He will fly away like a dream and never be found;
he will be chased away like a vision in the night.
9 The eye that saw him will see him no more,
and his household will no longer see him.
10 His children will beg from the poor,
for his own hands must give back his wealth.
11 His frame may be full of youthful vigor,
but it will lie down with him in dust.

12 Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth
and he conceals it under his tongue,
13 though he cherishes it and will not let it go
but keeps it in his mouth,
14 yet the food in his stomach turns
into cobras’ venom inside him.
15 He swallows wealth but must vomit it up;
God will force it from his stomach.
16 He will suck the poison of cobras;
a viper’s fangs will kill him.
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
the rivers flowing with honey and curds.
18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it;
he doesn’t enjoy the profits from his trading.
19 For he oppressed and abandoned the poor;
he seized a house he did not build.

20 Because his appetite is never satisfied,
he does not let anything he desires escape.
21 Nothing is left for him to consume;
therefore, his prosperity will not last.
22 At the height of his success distress will come to him;
the full weight of misery will crush him.
23 When he fills his stomach,
God will send his burning anger against him,
raining it down on him while he is eating.
24 If he flees from an iron weapon,
an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him.
25 He pulls it out of his back,
the flashing tip out of his liver.
Terrors come over him.
26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
A fire unfanned by human hands will consume him;
it will feed on what is left in his tent.
27 The heavens will expose his iniquity,
and the earth will rise up against him.
28 The possessions in his house will be removed,
flowing away on the day of God’s anger.
29 This is the wicked person’s lot from God,
the inheritance God ordained for him.

Job 21 CSB

Job’s Reply to Zophar

21 Then Job answered:

2 Pay close attention to my words;
let this be the consolation you offer.
3 Bear with me while I speak;
then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking.

4 As for me, is my complaint against a human being?
Then why shouldn’t I be impatient?
5 Look at me and shudder;
put your hand over your mouth.
6 When I think about it, I am terrified
and my body trembles in horror.
7 Why do the wicked continue to live,
growing old and becoming powerful?
8 Their children are established while they are still alive,
and their descendants, before their eyes.
9 Their homes are secure and free of fear;
no rod from God strikes them.
10 Their bulls breed without fail;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11 They let their little ones run around like lambs;
their children skip about,
12 singing to the tambourine and lyre
and rejoicing at the sound of the flute.
13 They spend their days in prosperity
and go down to Sheol in peace.
14 Yet they say to God, “Leave us alone!
We don’t want to know your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him,
and what will we gain by pleading with him?”
16 But their prosperity is not of their own doing.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!

17 How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
Does disaster come on them?
Does he apportion destruction in his anger?
18 Are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff a storm sweeps away?
19 God reserves a person’s punishment for his children.
Let God repay the person himself, so that he may know it.
20 Let his own eyes see his demise;
let him drink from the Almighty’s wrath!
21 For what does he care about his family once he is dead,
when the number of his months has run out?

22 Can anyone teach God knowledge,
since he judges the exalted ones?
23 One person dies in excellent health,
completely secure and at ease.
24 His body is well fed,
and his bones are full of marrow.
25 Yet another person dies with a bitter soul,
having never tasted prosperity.
26 But they both lie in the dust,
and worms cover them.

27 I know your thoughts very well,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
28 For you say, “Where now is the nobleman’s house?”
and “Where are the tents the wicked lived in?”
29 Have you never consulted those who travel the roads?
Don’t you accept their reports?
30 Indeed, the evil person is spared from the day of disaster,
rescued from the day of wrath.
31 Who would denounce his behavior to his face?
Who would repay him for what he has done?
32 He is carried to the grave,
and someone keeps watch over his tomb.
33 The dirt on his grave is sweet to him.
Everyone follows behind him,
and those who go before him are without number.

34 So how can you offer me such futile comfort?
Your answers are deceptive.

Job 22 CSB

Eliphaz Speaks

22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 Can a man be of any use to God?
Can even a wise man be of use to him?
3 Does it delight the Almighty if you are righteous?
Does he profit if you perfect your behavior?

4 Does he correct you and take you to court
because of your piety?
5 Isn’t your wickedness abundant
and aren’t your iniquities endless?
6 For you took collateral from your brothers without cause,
stripping off their clothes and leaving them naked.
7 You gave no water to the thirsty
and withheld food from the famished,
8 while the land belonged to a powerful man
and an influential man lived on it.
9 You sent widows away empty-handed,
and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
10 Therefore snares surround you,
and sudden dread terrifies you,
11 or darkness, so you cannot see,
and a flood of water covers you.

12 Isn’t God as high as the heavens?
And look at the highest stars—how lofty they are!
13 Yet you say, “What does God know?
Can he judge through total darkness?
14 Clouds veil him so that he cannot see,
as he walks on the circle of the sky.”
15 Will you continue on the ancient path
that wicked men have walked?
16 They were snatched away before their time,
and their foundations were washed away by a river.
17 They were the ones who said to God, “Leave us alone!”
and “What can the Almighty do to us?”
18 But it was he who filled their houses with good things.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!
19 The righteous see this and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,
20 “Surely our opponents are destroyed,
and fire has consumed what they left behind.”

21 Come to terms with God and be at peace;
in this way good will come to you.
22 Receive instruction from his mouth,
and place his sayings in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be renewed.
If you banish injustice from your tent
24 and consign your gold to the dust,
the gold of Ophir to the stones in the wadis,
25 the Almighty will be your gold
and your finest silver.
26 Then you will delight in the Almighty
and lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
28 When you make a decision, it will be carried out,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 When others are humiliated and you say, “Lift them up,”
God will save the humble.
30 He will even rescue the guilty one,
who will be rescued by the purity of your hands.

Job 23 CSB

Job’s Reply to Eliphaz

23 Then Job answered:

2 Today also my complaint is bitter.
His hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3 If only I knew how to find him,
so that I could go to his throne.
4 I would plead my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would learn how he would answer me;
and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he prosecute me forcefully?
No, he would certainly pay attention to me.
7 Then an upright man could reason with him,
and I would escape from my Judge forever.

8 If I go east, he is not there,
and if I go west, I cannot perceive him.
9 When he is at work to the north, I cannot see him;
when he turns south, I cannot find him.
10 Yet he knows the way I have taken;
when he has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold.
11 My feet have followed in his tracks;
I have kept to his way and not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the commands from his lips;
I have treasured the words from his mouth
more than my daily food.

13 But he is unchangeable; who can oppose him?
He does what he desires.
14 He will certainly accomplish what he has decreed for me,
and he has many more things like these in mind.
15 Therefore I am terrified in his presence;
when I consider this, I am afraid of him.
16 God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me.
17 Yet I am not destroyed by the darkness,
by the thick darkness that covers my face.

Psalm 140 CSB

Prayer for Rescue

For the choir director. A psalm of David.

1 Rescue me, Lord, from evil men.
Keep me safe from violent men
2 who plan evil in their hearts.
They stir up wars all day long.
3 They make their tongues
as sharp as a snake’s bite;
viper’s venom is under their lips.Selah

4 Protect me, Lord,
from the power of the wicked.
Keep me safe from violent men
who plan to make me stumble.
5 The proud hide a trap with ropes for me;
they spread a net along the path
and set snares for me.Selah

6 I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
Listen, Lord, to my cry for help.
7 Lord, my Lord, my strong Savior,
you shield my head on the day of battle.
8 Lord, do not grant the desires of the wicked;
do not let them achieve their goals.
Otherwise, they will become proud.Selah

9 When those who surround me rise up,
may the trouble their lips cause overwhelm them.
10 Let hot coals fall on them.
Let them be thrown into the fire,
into the abyss, never again to rise.
11 Do not let a slanderer stay in the land.
Let evil relentlessly hunt down a violent man.

12 I know that the Lord upholds
the just cause of the poor,
justice for the needy.
13 Surely the righteous will praise your name;
the upright will live in your presence.

Job 20 CSB

Zophar Speaks

20 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

2 This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer,
because I am upset!
3 I have heard a rebuke that insults me,
and my understanding makes me reply.

4 Don’t you know that ever since antiquity,
from the time a human was placed on earth,
5 the joy of the wicked has been brief
and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?
6 Though his arrogance reaches heaven,
and his head touches the clouds,
7 he will vanish forever like his own dung.
Those who know him will ask, “Where is he?”
8 He will fly away like a dream and never be found;
he will be chased away like a vision in the night.
9 The eye that saw him will see him no more,
and his household will no longer see him.
10 His children will beg from the poor,
for his own hands must give back his wealth.
11 His frame may be full of youthful vigor,
but it will lie down with him in dust.

12 Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth
and he conceals it under his tongue,
13 though he cherishes it and will not let it go
but keeps it in his mouth,
14 yet the food in his stomach turns
into cobras’ venom inside him.
15 He swallows wealth but must vomit it up;
God will force it from his stomach.
16 He will suck the poison of cobras;
a viper’s fangs will kill him.
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
the rivers flowing with honey and curds.
18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it;
he doesn’t enjoy the profits from his trading.
19 For he oppressed and abandoned the poor;
he seized a house he did not build.

20 Because his appetite is never satisfied,
he does not let anything he desires escape.
21 Nothing is left for him to consume;
therefore, his prosperity will not last.
22 At the height of his success distress will come to him;
the full weight of misery will crush him.
23 When he fills his stomach,
God will send his burning anger against him,
raining it down on him while he is eating.
24 If he flees from an iron weapon,
an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him.
25 He pulls it out of his back,
the flashing tip out of his liver.
Terrors come over him.
26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
A fire unfanned by human hands will consume him;
it will feed on what is left in his tent.
27 The heavens will expose his iniquity,
and the earth will rise up against him.
28 The possessions in his house will be removed,
flowing away on the day of God’s anger.
29 This is the wicked person’s lot from God,
the inheritance God ordained for him.

----

Job 21 CSB

Job’s Reply to Zophar

21 Then Job answered:

2 Pay close attention to my words;
let this be the consolation you offer.
3 Bear with me while I speak;
then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking.

4 As for me, is my complaint against a human being?
Then why shouldn’t I be impatient?
5 Look at me and shudder;
put your hand over your mouth.
6 When I think about it, I am terrified
and my body trembles in horror.
7 Why do the wicked continue to live,
growing old and becoming powerful?
8 Their children are established while they are still alive,
and their descendants, before their eyes.
9 Their homes are secure and free of fear;
no rod from God strikes them.
10 Their bulls breed without fail;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11 They let their little ones run around like lambs;
their children skip about,
12 singing to the tambourine and lyre
and rejoicing at the sound of the flute.
13 They spend their days in prosperity
and go down to Sheol in peace.
14 Yet they say to God, “Leave us alone!
We don’t want to know your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him,
and what will we gain by pleading with him?”
16 But their prosperity is not of their own doing.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!

17 How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
Does disaster come on them?
Does he apportion destruction in his anger?
18 Are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff a storm sweeps away?
19 God reserves a person’s punishment for his children.
Let God repay the person himself, so that he may know it.
20 Let his own eyes see his demise;
let him drink from the Almighty’s wrath!
21 For what does he care about his family once he is dead,
when the number of his months has run out?

22 Can anyone teach God knowledge,
since he judges the exalted ones?
23 One person dies in excellent health,
completely secure and at ease.
24 His body is well fed,
and his bones are full of marrow.
25 Yet another person dies with a bitter soul,
having never tasted prosperity.
26 But they both lie in the dust,
and worms cover them.

27 I know your thoughts very well,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
28 For you say, “Where now is the nobleman’s house?”
and “Where are the tents the wicked lived in?”
29 Have you never consulted those who travel the roads?
Don’t you accept their reports?
30 Indeed, the evil person is spared from the day of disaster,
rescued from the day of wrath.
31 Who would denounce his behavior to his face?
Who would repay him for what he has done?
32 He is carried to the grave,
and someone keeps watch over his tomb.
33 The dirt on his grave is sweet to him.
Everyone follows behind him,
and those who go before him are without number.

34 So how can you offer me such futile comfort?
Your answers are deceptive.

----

Job 22 CSB

Eliphaz Speaks

22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 Can a man be of any use to God?
Can even a wise man be of use to him?
3 Does it delight the Almighty if you are righteous?
Does he profit if you perfect your behavior?

4 Does he correct you and take you to court
because of your piety?
5 Isn’t your wickedness abundant
and aren’t your iniquities endless?
6 For you took collateral from your brothers without cause,
stripping off their clothes and leaving them naked.
7 You gave no water to the thirsty
and withheld food from the famished,
8 while the land belonged to a powerful man
and an influential man lived on it.
9 You sent widows away empty-handed,
and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
10 Therefore snares surround you,
and sudden dread terrifies you,
11 or darkness, so you cannot see,
and a flood of water covers you.

12 Isn’t God as high as the heavens?
And look at the highest stars—how lofty they are!
13 Yet you say, “What does God know?
Can he judge through total darkness?
14 Clouds veil him so that he cannot see,
as he walks on the circle of the sky.”
15 Will you continue on the ancient path
that wicked men have walked?
16 They were snatched away before their time,
and their foundations were washed away by a river.
17 They were the ones who said to God, “Leave us alone!”
and “What can the Almighty do to us?”
18 But it was he who filled their houses with good things.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!
19 The righteous see this and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,
20 “Surely our opponents are destroyed,
and fire has consumed what they left behind.”

21 Come to terms with God and be at peace;
in this way good will come to you.
22 Receive instruction from his mouth,
and place his sayings in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be renewed.
If you banish injustice from your tent
24 and consign your gold to the dust,
the gold of Ophir to the stones in the wadis,
25 the Almighty will be your gold
and your finest silver.
26 Then you will delight in the Almighty
and lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
28 When you make a decision, it will be carried out,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 When others are humiliated and you say, “Lift them up,”
God will save the humble.
30 He will even rescue the guilty one,
who will be rescued by the purity of your hands.

----

Job 23 CSB

Job’s Reply to Eliphaz

23 Then Job answered:

2 Today also my complaint is bitter.
His hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3 If only I knew how to find him,
so that I could go to his throne.
4 I would plead my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would learn how he would answer me;
and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he prosecute me forcefully?
No, he would certainly pay attention to me.
7 Then an upright man could reason with him,
and I would escape from my Judge forever.

8 If I go east, he is not there,
and if I go west, I cannot perceive him.
9 When he is at work to the north, I cannot see him;
when he turns south, I cannot find him.
10 Yet he knows the way I have taken;
when he has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold.
11 My feet have followed in his tracks;
I have kept to his way and not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the commands from his lips;
I have treasured the words from his mouth
more than my daily food.

13 But he is unchangeable; who can oppose him?
He does what he desires.
14 He will certainly accomplish what he has decreed for me,
and he has many more things like these in mind.
15 Therefore I am terrified in his presence;
when I consider this, I am afraid of him.
16 God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me.
17 Yet I am not destroyed by the darkness,
by the thick darkness that covers my face.

----

Psalm 140 CSB

Prayer for Rescue

For the choir director. A psalm of David.

1 Rescue me, Lord, from evil men.
Keep me safe from violent men
2 who plan evil in their hearts.
They stir up wars all day long.
3 They make their tongues
as sharp as a snake’s bite;
viper’s venom is under their lips.Selah

4 Protect me, Lord,
from the power of the wicked.
Keep me safe from violent men
who plan to make me stumble.
5 The proud hide a trap with ropes for me;
they spread a net along the path
and set snares for me.Selah

6 I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
Listen, Lord, to my cry for help.
7 Lord, my Lord, my strong Savior,
you shield my head on the day of battle.
8 Lord, do not grant the desires of the wicked;
do not let them achieve their goals.
Otherwise, they will become proud.Selah

9 When those who surround me rise up,
may the trouble their lips cause overwhelm them.
10 Let hot coals fall on them.
Let them be thrown into the fire,
into the abyss, never again to rise.
11 Do not let a slanderer stay in the land.
Let evil relentlessly hunt down a violent man.

12 I know that the Lord upholds
the just cause of the poor,
justice for the needy.
13 Surely the righteous will praise your name;
the upright will live in your presence.

DAY ONE HUNDRED-FORTY FIVE

Devotional

Job 20 CSB

Job 21 CSB

Job 22 CSB

Job 23 CSB

Psalm 140 CSB

Job 20 CSB

Job 21 CSB

Job 22 CSB

Job 23 CSB

Psalm 140 CSB