“But he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.”
– Job 23:10
This is a heavy chapter, as Job is basically asking, where is God? Where is God in the middle of this? I want to speak to God. I want to hear from God. And I want to be defended by God and he really is expressing what we oftentimes feel when we’re walking through challenges. God, where are you? Why is this happening? I just want to see you and you to hear from me and to know that you hear from me.
It’s just this wrestling of faith, because Job knows and he says at different points that he knows the almighty hears him. He knows that the almighty God is his defender and redeemer, as we’ve seen before. But in this verse, he says very clearly, God knows everything about my life, what’s led to this point. Job’s telling these so-called friends, God knows if what I am experiencing is a result of my wickedness or my blamelessness. God knows the way that I take it. He knows where I am right now.
Reminded that the Fire Refines Us
Then he says, “When he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.” What a picture. Job saying, I want to come out of this refined. I want to come out of this purified. I want to come out of this as gold and this is something we see all throughout scripture.
Considerate it pure joy, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know this testing of your faith develops perseverance. The end of trials and suffering in our lives can be perseverance and endurance, and joy and peace, and all of these good things; gold.
Job 23:10 Leads Us to Pray that God Would Refine Us
Can we just pray that for each other today? Whether we’re walking through trials right now, that God would refine us and purify us in them. Or when we walk through trials in the days to come, that we would know that God sees. God knows us. God is hearing us. Oh God is working in a Romans 8 kind of way. All these things together for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose.
God, we cling to that promise, to promises throughout your word, that you are with us when we walk through trials. That you know us. You know every single detail and the circumstance we’re walking through better than we do. And you know, what is good and you know what is best and you are working all these things together for the good of all who are looking to you and trusting in you.
Job 23:10 Calls Us to Look to Jesus
God, we cling to that promise and we pray that you would do it. We pray you would work all these things together in our lives right now, in our lives in the future when we find ourselves in difficult days, you would work it all together for our good. God, help us to come out as gold, we pray. God refine us. Purify us. Make us more like Jesus. We know that’s the end. Romans 8:29-30 made clear that you’re conforming us into your image. So God, do it. Make us more like Jesus and not just for our good.
God, we pray that you’d work all these things together for the good of others, for good purposes in others’ lives. For their good and ultimately God, for your glory. This is the greatest good, you being glorified. So, God, we pray in the middle of trial or anticipation of trial to come for some, God we praise you. That you have purposes, just as we read later in Job 23 here, that are unchangeable, unstoppable. You are accomplishing good purposes and we pray that you would do it. You would work it all, for our good, that we might be as gold for others. Good and ultimately for your glory. We pray this 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.
