Job

Job 29: Job remembers gifts used for mercy

Begin in prayer

Before Job remembers his earlier life, please ask God to teach us to notice people who need help.

“‘If your brother has become poor, and his hand can’t support himself among you; then you shall uphold him. He shall live with you like an alien and a temporary resident.

Leviticus 25:35

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Help us see opportunities to care for vulnerable neighbors. Show us the compassion of Jesus toward grieving people. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Job longs for the former days when God watched over him and his children were around him. He remembers abundance and the honor others showed him at the city gate. He delivered poor people, helped the fatherless and made the widow rejoice. Justice clothed him as he defended vulnerable people and rescued them from oppressors. He expected a long and flourishing life. People waited for his counsel like rain, and he lived among them as a leader who comforted mourners.

As you read Job 29, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God gave Job strength and influence, and Job used them to defend the needy.

Job remembers life under God’s watchful care, with his children near and abundance around him. The lamp and flowing oil describe the guidance and plenty he once enjoyed. Respect at the city gate gave him a place where he could hear and defend vulnerable people. He explains his honor through concrete care for the poor, widows, orphans and people with disabilities. His care also reached a person he did not know, whose cause he searched out. This remembered conduct answers the accusations that he withheld food and harmed the helpless. His expectation of a long, flourishing life has been broken, but that does not make his earlier compassion false. The man who comforted mourners now needs others to hear his grief.

How does Job 29 show us that God gave Job strength and influence, and Job used them to defend the needy?

God’s gifts gave Job opportunities to help the vulnerable.

Job remembers God’s friendship, his children and abundant provision. He also remembers public respect and people waiting for his counsel. He used that place to deliver poor people and defend those without a helper.

Justice required personal attention and active protection.

Job searched out the cause of someone he did not know. Being eyes to the blind and feet to the lame pictures help for people lacking what they needed. Breaking an oppressor’s jaws pictures rescuing prey from destructive power.

A former comforter now needs comfort.

People once received Job’s counsel like refreshing rain. He remembers encouraging those without confidence and comforting mourners. His present suffering gives these memories their painful setting.

Memorise

I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame.

Job 29:15

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, who needs the kindness I must ask Jesus to grow in me?

Job remembers defending the needy and comforting mourners. His account answers the friends’ false picture of a man who cared nothing for the vulnerable. Now he needs the compassion he once showed.

Luke 7 verses 11 to 17 shows the Lord Jesus having compassion on a widow whose only son had died. Jesus restored her son to life. His mercy reaches deeper than the relief of one earthly sorrow. He died for His people and carried their sins under the judgment they owed. His finished obedience and sacrifice fully secure their reconciliation with God. He rose bodily, victorious over death.

Turn from sin and trust this merciful Savior. He forgives all who come to Him. His mercy teaches His people to notice the needy and comfort mourners, without treating their kindness as payment for salvation.

Parent's note

Tell your children that Job’s earlier care answers false accusations, while kindness never purchases salvation or guarantees an easy future. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for gifts that can be used to defend and comfort others, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32

Father, thank You for gifts we can use to help others. Forgive our selfishness and our neglect of vulnerable neighbors. Please bring us to trust Jesus, whose mercy reaches guilty and grieving people. Grow His compassion in us as we listen, share and help this week. In Jesus' name, Amen.