Bible Reading

Prayer

Dear God, thank you for letting us know you. Please help us learn from your word. Help us to serve and praise you. Amen!

Job 3 (NIV)

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. ² He said:

³ “May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’ ⁴ That day—may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine on it. ⁵ May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm it. ⁶ That night—may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months. ⁷ May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it. ⁸ May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan. ⁹ May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn, ¹⁰ for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹ “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? ¹² Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? ¹³ For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest ¹⁴ with kings and rulers of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins, ¹⁵ with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. ¹⁶ Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day? ¹⁷ There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest. ¹⁸ Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout. ¹⁹ The small and the great are there, and the slaves are freed from their owners.

²⁰ “Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, ²¹ to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, ²² who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? ²³ Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? ²⁴ For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water. ²⁵ What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. ²⁶ I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

Sermon Outline

Q&A

Got questions or comments? Send them here