Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.
– Job 41:11
Such a powerful verse that shows us God’s supreme ownership of all things, including you and me. In Job 41:11, God’s saying to Job, “Who gives anything to me that I have not already given to him?” It makes me think, and I’ve used this illustration before, about when one of my children buys me a gift, a present for my birthday or for Father’s Day, using my money to buy it. So did they really give me something? Well, yes, in a sense, of course they did. It came from their heart. But at the same time, I’m the one who actually gave this to myself because everything they have came from me when it comes to the money they were using.
Job 41:11 reminds us that we are not independent of our Creator.
So D.A. Carson summarizes this so well, talking about Job 41:11. I’ll just quote from him. He said, “This verse is a salutary reminder that we are not independent”. Now, we prayed about this in light of Job 38 earlier. But follow this, Carson continues, “Even if God were not the supremely good God, he is”. We would have no comeback. He owns us. He owns the universe. All the authority is his. All the branches of divine government are his. The ultimate judiciary is his. There’s no outside place from which to judge him; to pretend otherwise is futile. Worse. It’s part of our race’s rebellion against God. Imagining he owes us something, imagining we are well placed to tell him off like Job has been doing at different points”.
Then Carson says, “Such wild fantasy is neither sensible nor good”. In other words, Job 41:11 is a reminder that we belong to God, that everything in the whole universe belongs to God.
And this is a good thing because God is infinitely good and he’s infinitely just, and he’s infinitely powerful and he’s infinitely wise. So it’s good to belong to God. And it’s good that all things ultimately belong to God. And it’s sin… It’s, in a sense, the heart of sin, to rebel against this reality. And to say, no, I know better than you, God, what is good or right or wise or just, no, no, that’s not who we are.
Job 41:11 invites us to trust the wisdom of the One who possesses everything.
We are dependent creatures on the infinitely perfect God who owns all things, including us. Which means yes, we give our lives to him as a reflection of the reality that our lives, of course, belong to him. And that’s an infinitely good thing, that the one who owns all things and the one who’s Lord over all things, including us, is infinitely good and wise and just and loving and powerful and merciful.
Oh God, we praise you as the infinitely wise, good, just, loving, powerful God. You are. And we acknowledge the reality today that you own all things, and that means you own us. We are so thankful that you are in control of all things, not us. And we are so thankful as your people to belong to you. Think of 1 Corinthians 6, “You are not your own. You are bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your body”, with your life.
God, may it be so today. Please help us to honor you with our lives, to honor you with our bodies, to honor you with our minds, to honor you with all that we are. Because you are Lord of all. You’re Lord over all of our lives. You’re Lord over every facet of them. God, we pray, be glorified in us today and help us not to work against your sovereign lordship in our lives, but to willingly and gladly and joyfully submit to your sovereign lordship in our lives, trusting you, not our own understanding. Following you, not our own ways, our own desires, our own wills.
Submitting to your will, knowing that this is where life is found. And God, we pray, knowing that all the nations belong to you.
Prayer for the Azeri People
So we pray today for the Azeri people spread out across Azerbaijan and a variety of Eastern European countries, including the Republic of Georgia. God, we pray for the 9 million Azeri Muslim men, women, and children. Lord, they belong to you. You love them. You desire their salvation. You have paid Jesus the price for people from the Azeri to be redeemed, ransomed from sin and slavery to Satan, to enjoy your salvation and eternal life forever.
So God, please bring the Azeri to yourself. Claim that which belongs to you. Draw them to your love in Jesus, we pray. We pray that over the Azeri, even as we pray that in each of our lives, you would help us to trust your lordship over all things and your lordship over our lives. In Jesus’ name, we pray all this according to your Word in Job 41:11. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
