*Scripture: Job 5:1-27 (NKJV)* 1 "Call out now; Is there anyone who will answer you? And to which of the holy ones will you turn? 2 For wrath kills a foolish man, and envy slays a simple one. 3 I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling place. 4 His sons are far from safety, they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer. 5 Because the hungry eat up his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and a snare snatches their substance. 6 For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble spring from the ground; 7 Yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward. 8 But as for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause--9 Who does great things, and unsearchable, marvelous things without number. 10 He gives rain on the earth, and sends waters on the fields. 11 He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. 12 He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot carry out their plans. 13 He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the cunning comes quickly upon them. 14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at noontime as in the night. 15 But He saves the needy from the sword, from the mouth of the mighty, and from their hand. 16 So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.
17 "Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. 18 For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole. 19 He shall deliver you in six troubles, yes, in seven no evil shall touch you. 20 In famine He shall redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword. 21 You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes. 22 You shall laugh at destruction and famine, and you shall not be afraid of the beasts of the earth. 23 For you shall have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you. 24 You shall know that your tent is in peace; You shall visit your dwelling and find nothing amiss. 25 You shall also know that your descendants shall be many, and your offspring like the grass of the earth. 26 You shall come to the grave at a full age, as a sheaf of grain ripens in its season. 27 Behold, this we have searched out; It is true. Hear it, and know for yourself." *Devotion* "To which of the holy ones will you turn?" Will Job turn to the angels for mediation with God? Who will plead his cause to God? Who will get him recognized as righteous before God? Of course we know the answer to that question. Job will come to say, "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God." (19:25-26) It is interesting that behind the dialog between Job and his counselors is the notion of guilt or innocence. God's reactions to men are based on their guilt or innocence before Him. This assumption of guilt or innocence, this standing before God as righteous or unrighteous, is a concept that is largely unknown in our modern Western world. Not only would most men in our day assume that they were righteous and innocent, it would not even cross their minds that there was something for which to be guilty. Job would be thought of as some overwrought, hyper-self-critical individual who had overly strict parents that made him guilt-ridden for no good reason. But, as much as the world would like to ignore a God who demands justice, He simply will not go away. He does demand justice, and we are not clean. We need a Mediator. Praise God that He has provided One for us! Our case is pled for us by the same one Job trusted in, Jesus Christ the Lord.
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