Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 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.”
– Job 1:20–21
There is so much to these two verses in Job 1. I trust many of you are familiar with the story that precedes these verses. But in essence, Job’s life comes crashing down as all of his property is destroyed suddenly. Then all of his children die suddenly and his wife is basically telling him to curse God. Job, after hearing all of this falls down on the ground, verse 20 says, and he worships. He says, “The Lord gave and the Lord is taken away, blessed to be the name of the Lord.”
Job 1:20–21 reminds us God is good even when it doesn’t feel like it.
And these verses should cause all of us to ask the question, will I worship God as the Giver of all good gifts, even when those good gifts are gone? And I know there are people listening to this right now who are in a similar situation where you have lost good gifts. Maybe it’s people in your life who you love, or maybe it’s health that you once enjoyed that’s gone, or any number of good gifts that are not there anymore. And you are face-to-face with this question, will I worship God as the Giver of good gifts, even when those gifts are gone? And for others, these verses are an invitation to pray for this kind of faith, not knowing what could happen today or tomorrow or the next day in our lives… To pray for faith that worships even if suddenly many good gifts are gone.
So I want to pray in both directions. Those who are experiencing loss right now… And for all of us who don’t know what lies ahead in this fallen world. God help us, we pray to worship you as the Giver of good gifts, as the one who is worthy of our worship, even when those gifts are gone. Lord, we pray right now for friends, family members, brothers, and sisters in Christ who are walking through hardship and loss.
Job 1:20–21 encourages to worship amidst loss.
God, we pray that you would strengthen them. Uphold them with your righteous right hand. Help them. Give them comfort and strength and peace and supernatural ability to worship you as the Giver of all good gifts. And we praise you as such. God we praise you for all of your good gifts in our lives. Help us to praise you even when some of those good gifts are gone.
God, we pray for all of our faith today, tomorrow, the next day. No matter what comes this week, this year, help us to worship you as Job did. Help us to bless your name as the Lord who gives, and the Lord who takes away. Yet the Lord who always supplies for what we need and always is worthy of our worship. God, we praise you that through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the grave we have the guarantee of eternal life with you, the Giver of all good gifts.
Prayer for the Darwazi People
And oh God, we pray for people who don’t know you as the Giver of all good gifts. We pray for people who’ve never heard the good news of your love in Jesu. We pray for the Darwazi people of Afghanistan… This small people group of 17,000 in the mountains of Afghanistan with no known followers of Jesus.
God, please cause the Darwazi people to be reached with the good news of the greatest gift in your Son. We pray that you would bless the Afghan church for the spread of the gospel to the Darwazi… That you would help us as the global church to work for the spread of the gospel to the Darwazi… Might you be worshiped among Darwazi men and women who right now do not have the hope that Job had in a Redeemer and the hope that we have in our Redeemer, in Jesus. God, we pray for the faith of Job in each of our lives for worship, no matter what happens in this world. May it be so. We pray. In Jesus’ name. 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.
