Day 28: Job 37:1-40:5; Psalm 19

Well...God finally speaks up in response to Job. It may not have been the response Job was looking for. I've tried to imagine how I would feel if God spoke to me "out of the storm" and said this:

Brace yourself like a man;
   I will question you,
   and you shall answer me. (38:3)

What I find interesting is that God doesn't even begin to answer Job's questions directly. Job wants an explanation for how badly he's been treated. Instead God says, in effect, "Ok...now I have some questions for you." And he proceeds to ask rhetorical questions that Job could never answer in a million lifetimes. This whole scene makes me think of the song we just practiced last night at choir: "...when you don’t understand the purpose of His plan, In the presence of the King...bow the knee."

What I'm starting to understand from this is that we may never get the answers we think we want. If I'm completely honest I'd have to admit that I probably wouldn't accept the answers even if God gave them to me. There would always be a "yeah, but..." That's assuming I could comprehend the explanation in the first place. Ultimately, I suppose I have to get to the point where I respond to God the same way Job does in 40:4:

I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
   I put my hand over my mouth.