For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
No matter how different we are from each other we all have at least one thing in common. We owe our existence to God. Since God has made us all, I cannot consider myself better than someone else, nor can I consider them to be better than me.
This psalm is a great prayer for times of trouble. Those who search for God will indeed be filled with joy. If we remember that, when it comes to God, we are indeed poor and needy. We desperately need His love and care.
Paul expresses an attitude towards suffering that we should strive to make our own. First, he is grateful for his suffering because God comforted him while he was going through it, teaching him how to comfort others as they suffer. Let us patiently endure the suffering we experience, so that we can be an example to others. God will offer us comfort as we go through these things. Additionally, Paul was grateful for his suffering because it taught him not to rely on himself, but rather to fully rely on God. Let us work to fully rely on God, recognizing how our troubles force us to give up our pretensions at being able to control our lives. Let us learn to be thankful to God for our suffering.
Zophar told Job that the wicked always suffer in this life, or if they do not, their children will. This is certainly something we would like to believe, but it is not always true. Job points this out, that we do not always see the wicked suffer. Often times, as far as we can tell, the wicked are rewarded for their wickedness. The wicked are even sometimes honored in death.
All of which leads Eliphaz to offer a list of sins which he is sure that Job has committed one or more of. Job’s friends refuse to consider the possibility that his suffering might serve some purpose other than punishing him.