Job 18 (Listen)

18:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

  “How long will you hunt for words?
    Consider, and then we will speak.
  Why are we counted as cattle?
    Why are we stupid in your sight?
  You who tear yourself in your anger,
    shall the earth be forsaken for you,
    or the rock be removed out of its place?
  “Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out,
    and the flame of his fire does not shine.
  The light is dark in his tent,
    and his lamp above him is put out.
  His strong steps are shortened,
    and his own schemes throw him down.
  For he is cast into a net by his own feet,
    and he walks on its mesh.
  A trap seizes him by the heel;
    a snare lays hold of him.
10   A rope is hidden for him in the ground,
    a trap for him in the path.
11   Terrors frighten him on every side,
    and chase him at his heels.
12   His strength is famished,
    and calamity is ready for his stumbling.
13   It consumes the parts of his skin;
    the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.
14   He is torn from the tent in which he trusted
    and is brought to the king of terrors.
15   In his tent dwells that which is none of his;
    sulfur is scattered over his habitation.
16   His roots dry up beneath,
    and his branches wither above.
17   His memory perishes from the earth,
    and he has no name in the street.
18   He is thrust from light into darkness,
    and driven out of the world.
19   He has no posterity or progeny among his people,
    and no survivor where he used to live.
20   They of the west are appalled at his day,
    and horror seizes them of the east.
21   Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,
    such is the place of him who knows not God.”




Devotional:

Indeed, such is the dwelling of the unjust man, and this is the place of the one who does not know God (Job 18:21 CSB).

Bildad judges Job and falsely accuses him of not even knowing God, saying that if he did, then he wouldn’t be in the situation he was in. Because God’s Word reveals Job’s heart, we know this to be absolutely untrue. It’s easy for us to be appalled at such a statement when we know what the truth is. But now take this into your own world — how often do we judge a man’s heart? Have you ever thought to yourself, “Oh, that person must not be a Christian” when you don’t even know the person? We can use Bildad’s example to help us understand that we do not know the inner heart of another, but God does, and we can leave the judging to Him.  

Pray it: Father, forgive me for the times I have judged others and assumed that I understand what is in their hearts or why certain things have happened to them. Help me develop a caring and discerning heart that spreads hope, not hurt, to those who are suffering Amen.

Share it: Who is someone you can share a verse or thought from this passage with today?