‘I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.“Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?”Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.“Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.”I had heard of […]
URC Daily Devotion 15th March
‘Look at Behemoth, which I made just as I made you; it eats grass like an ox.Its strength is in its loins, and its power in the muscles of its belly.It makes its tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are knit together.Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like bars of iron. ‘It is the […]
URC Daily Devotion 14th March
It is as though God pauses for breath and then turns to Job again and demands a response. God doesn’t seem to mind that Job has been critical of the ‘Almighty’; but insists that Job cannot fall silent now that God has opened his eyes to see the bigger picture of divine activity. Job, on […]
URC Daily Devotions 13th March
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. ‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or […]
URC Daily Devotions 12th March
Chapters 32-37 are a long monologue spoken by Elihu, introduced by a brief explanation of who this young man is and implying that he has been silently observing everything since arriving at the scene with Job’s friends. Elihu is angry; angry at the friends and angry at Job. The friends have failed to answer any […]
URC Daily Devotion by Matthew Prevett
1 In wrath do not rebuke me, LORD,Or in your anger chasten me.2 Your arrows deeply pierce my soul;Your hand lies on me heavily. 3 Because your anger rests on me,My body has no health within;There is no soundness in my bones,Because you judge me for my sin. 4 My guilt has overwhelmed my soul;Its […]
URC Daily Devotion
‘O that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me;when his lamp shone over my head, and by his light I walked through darkness;when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent;when the Almighty was still with me, when my children were around me;when […]
URC Daily Devotions 9th March
‘Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold to be refined.Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.Miners put an end to darkness, and search out to the farthest bound the ore in gloom and deep darkness.They open shafts in a valley away from human habitation; they are forgotten by travellers, they […]
URC Daily Devotion 8th March
Job again took up his discourse and said: ‘As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,as long as my breath is in me and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit.Far be it from me […]
URC Daily Devotion 7th March
Chapters 24-26 cause problems for readers and translators alike. Structurally we expect Bildad to speak next, then Job, then Zophar and then Job again – but this third cycle of dialogue isn’t complete. In 24:1-12 the Hebrew text consistently reads ‘they’ as the subject. The NRSV translator is probably correct to interpret this as ‘the […]