Read | Job 2:11–3:23
Now when Job’s three friends—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about all this adversity that had happened to him, each of them came from his home. They met together to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they looked from a distance, they could barely recognize him. They wept aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust into the air and on his head. Then they sat on the ground with him seven days and nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that his suffering was very intense.
After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born. He said:May the day I was born perish,
and the night that said,
“A boy is conceived.”
If only that day had turned to darkness!
May God above not care about it,
or light shine on it.
May darkness and gloom reclaim it,
and a cloud settle over it.
May what darkens the day terrify it.
If only darkness had taken that night away!
May it not appear among the days of the year
or be listed in the calendar.
Yes, may that night be barren;
may no joyful shout be heard in it.
Let those who curse days
condemn it,
those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
May its morning stars grow dark.
May it wait for daylight but have none;
may it not see the breaking of dawn.
For that night did not shut
the doors of my mother’s womb,
and hide sorrow from my eyes.
Why was I not stillborn;
why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?
Why did the knees receive me,
and why were there breasts for me to nurse?
Now I would certainly be lying down in peace;
I would be asleep.
Then I would be at rest
with the kings and counselors of the earth,
who rebuilt ruined cities for themselves,
or with princes who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.
Or why was I not hidden like a miscarried child,
like infants who never see daylight?
There the wicked cease to make trouble,
and there the weary find rest.
The captives are completely at rest;
they do not hear a taskmaster’s voice.
Both small and great are there,
and the slave is set free from his master.
Why is light given to one burdened with grief,
and life to those whose existence is bitter,
who wait for death, but it does not come,
and search for it more than for hidden treasure,
who are filled with much joy
and are glad when they reach the grave?
Why is life given to a man whose path is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?
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Pray
Pray out loud using this prewritten prayer based on today’s Scripture. Use it as a model for using Scripture in your own prayers.
Based on Job 3 - "Prayer for Lament" by John Tillman
You have given us light, even in our misery.
Help us to lament, Lord.
Help us to take our unvarnished pain to you, God.
Help us to know that we need not soften our language or hold our tongues when we are hurting.
You have already heard the worst of our thoughts before we speak.
We release our pain to you through our words and our wordless cries…
You have given us life, Lord, even though we are trapped in death.
Help us to lament our sin.
No matter how righteous we feel, Lord, remind us we are like dust.
Show us your holiness that makes ours look like filthy rags.
Fill us with your spirit and expel from us every complaining spirit.
Give us your presence as our daily bread, rather than the bread of our sufferings.
Help us to lament with you.
Rather than complain about our sufferings as if you did not know about them or as if you caused them…
Let us instead recognize that you are in our sufferings with us. Let us share them with you. As we yoke ourselves to you, share the weight of our suffering, Lord, easing the strain on our hearts.
Hear our prayer. Give us peace.
Hear our cries. Give us quietness.
Hear our lament. Give us rest.
Going Deeper
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