Wednesday in the 26th Week of Ordinary Time, September 28, 2022

Job 9, 1-12; 14-16

Job answered his friends and said: I know well that it is so; but how can a man be justified before God? Should one wish to contend with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times. God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed?  He removes the mountains before they know it; he overturns them in his anger. He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble. He commands the sun, and it rises not; he seals up the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea. He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south; He does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning. Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him; Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay? Who can say to him, What are you doing? How much less shall I give him any answer, or choose out arguments against him! Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me. If I appealed to him and he answered my call, I could not believe that he would hearken to my words.

The irony in the Book of Job is that while most people when they suffer loss and are in agony forget God entirely or, if they are believers, they do not feel his presence, Job very much is aware of his presence and of his immanence.  For him, that is part of his struggle: since God is so present as to be within him, how could he let these catastrophes and sufferings come upon him?  In the verses that make up the First Reading for today’s Mass, Job professes his profound belief in God’s presence and in his power.

“Job answered his friends.”  Three male friends came to Job to commiserate with him, but they offer no real help and even add to Job’s misery.  “How can a man be justified before God? Should one wish to contend with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times.”  Job agrees with his friend Baldad, who pointed out that our lives are shadows and that God is not to be argued with.  “How can a man be justified before God” is better translated, “How can a man appear righteous before God” or, “in comparison with God”.  “God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed?”  This brings to mind Abraham, who appeared to persuade God not to destroy Sodom if he found ten righteous people within it (in reality, God had this in mind all along, but allowed Abraham to intercede for the city).  Abraham proceeded very carefully, lest he be destroyed for tasking God’s patience.  “He removes the mountains before they know it; he overturns them in his anger. He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble.”  God alone is able to create and shake the foundations of reality.  “He commands the sun, and it rises not; he seals up the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea. He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.”  The constellations of the Great Bear and Orion as well as Taurus the Bull, which contained the Pleiades star cluster, were grouped together in the sky and were quite prominent.  While distinguishing these groups of stars from one another, the ancient Jews would not likely have known the Greek myths which are connected to these names.  The Hebrew names were, of course, very different from the Greek names by which we known them. “He does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning.”  God will repeat and expand on Job’s litany of his powers in the final chapters of the book.  Among the “things beyond reckoning” is the design of his Divine Providence, by which all in existence is ordered.

“Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him.”  Job has described God’s power on earth, on the sea, and in the heavens.  He now speaks of his immanence.  This brings to mind Psalm 138, 2-4: “You have known my sitting down, and my rising up. You have understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line you have searched out.  And you have foreseen all my ways.”  Job says, “I am not aware of him.”  Almighty God lives far beyond us and deep within us.  He upholds us at every moment, not only our lives but our very existences.  He speaks to us in the silence of our hearts so quietly that we hardly know it is him unless we ourselves are very silent and attentive.  He moves us along in our lives and directs us according to his plan of salvation for us.  For the faithful, obeying his will comes so easily that they do not usually recognize that is what they are doing.  We should pause frequently throughout the day to thank him for all the gifts he provides us with so unostentatiously.

“Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay?”  Isaiah also notes this absurdity: “shall the clay say to him that fashions it: What are you making, your work is without handles?” (Isaiah 45, 9).  “How much less shall I give him any answer, or choose out arguments against him! Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me.”  This is in fact what Job does at the end of the book, when God comes in a whirlwind and questions him.  We can know that God questions us when we consider performing a good act and hesitate.  Our continuing to hesitate is as though we were trying to answer God’s question.  But who is it we are trying to make excuses to?  This is like the wicked on the last day: “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?” (Matthew 25, 44).  “If I appealed to him and he answered my call, I could not believe that he would hearken to my words.”  That is, he is so transcendent that it would seem impossible for my feeble cry for help to be heard, but he is so present that he knows my needs before I do and is ready to provide for me.

Daily prayer is so necessary for us to know both God’s transcendence and his nearness, and to learn to trust him utterly.