Job 19:23-27 (NRSV)
Read Job 19:23-27 on biblegateway.com
Verse 23"O that my words were written down! O that they were inscribed in a book! Verse 24O that with an iron pen and with lead they were engraved on a rock forever! Verse 25For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; Verse 26and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, Verse 27whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!
Devotion
Job puts into words the desire of our hearts — that is, that we want to be recognized for the things we achieve in life: in our careers, with our family, friends, and community. We want to have the assurance we will be praised for our hard work. But even then there is often no true comfort and peace that we have done enough.
In the same way, we worry that we will not be able to please God. Like Job, we go back and forth from unfaith to faith, from trust to uncertainty, from confessing we know that our Redeemer lives to our hearts fainting within us. However, we can have the gift of certainty that God in Christ Jesus has bestowed upon us God’s blessings, forgiveness, and mercy. In Christ there is no more uncertainty. We can be assured our name is already inscribed in the book of life, because we are baptized and claimed by Christ himself forever. Amen.
Prayer
Gracious and merciful God, grant me the faith to trust in you and your promises, that you have claimed me as your child and that you are on my side, through Jesus Christ my Savior and Lord. Amen.