“And Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped and he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked shall I return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.’ In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.”
– Job 1:20–22
Wow, Job 1:20–22 are humbling, overwhelming, encouraging, challenging, startling … I could just go on and on. How do you respond like this when you lose most everything you have? All these possessions in Job 1 are taken away, and then, far more important, far more sorrowful than all those possessions put together, to hear news that all of your children have died. How do you respond to that? The Bible tells us, Job in sorrow, fell on the ground and worshiped and he blessed God, saying the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
This is a response I pray for in my life whenever I face tragedy in the future. I don’t know what that means. I don’t know … Try not to imagine what that could mean, what this would like in my life but I do pray for grace to be able to respond like this. I pray for a heart that is so thankful for God’s blessing that when that blessing is taken away, I still look to God as the one who gave that gift in the first place who is worthy of worship from me, and I don’t think these are trite words, this is not saying this was easy for Job. Like this was hard for Job. Unimaginably hard, just like it is hard for any one of us when we face tragedy.
Let’s pray for grace to respond to sorrow and sadness with worship. Through Christ, we know that even death does not have the final say. May we worship in the face of sorrow and death.
I imagine there might be some who are listening to this who are walking through tragedy right now and it’s hard even to hear these words because you got so many different emotions. I want to pray, especially for those who are walking through tragedy but for all of us, in preparation for tragedy.
This Verse Prays For Grace Amongst All The Tragedy
One of my roles as a pastor is not just in my own heart but to prepare the people I pastor, the people I love at McLean Bible Church to prepare them for suffering, to prepare them for tragedy that might come for our faith, for their faith not to falter in those days so God, we pray for this. God, we pray, amidst a world of hurt and sorrow and sadness and tragedy. God, we pray for grace to respond to tragedy, to hurt, to sorrow, to sadness with worship. Lord, help us to see you as the giver of all good gifts, the one who promises to provide for us in the middle of tragedy, in the middle of our need.
God, help us. Help our faith to stand in those days. God, I pray for those who are walking through it right now. God, I pray that you would help their faith to stand. Help them to fall on their face in sorrow before you and to say, God, I trust you. God, help us not to charge you with wrong. Keep us, we pray, from charging you with wrong. You are righteous, you are good, you are loving, you are wise, you see what we don’t see. You love us so much that you have sent your son Jesus to die on a cross for us.
Job 1:20–22 Reminds Us Death Does Not Have The Last Say
Lord, we think about Job, and his faith even later in the book when he says, “I know my redeemer lives.” We know that in even greater ways, through Jesus, we know we have a redeemer who lives. We know that this world does not have the last word. We know that death does not have the last word, that death has been defeated by Jesus. So for all the more reason, help us to worship in the face of sorrow and death. God, I pray for this kind of faith in my own life. I pray for this kind of faith in all who are listening right now. Help us, help us in whatever moments we face in the future to say, ” you gave and you took away. Blessed be your name.” In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
