Daily Devotions
Friday, June 27, 2025
This devotion pairs with this weekend’s Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at lhm.org.
Job 1:21 – And he [Job] 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.”
It’s what Job says initially when he hears the news and later sees his burnt-up property and children dead in the aftermath of some out-of-the-blue “act of God.” “The Lord gave. The Lord took away. Let the Lord’s Name be blessed.” For some, this is the summary of the whole book. But the story is just getting started. It’s a story about how Job’s way of relating to God is transformed. It’s not a transformation from guilt to forgiveness, because we’re told throughout that Job is innocent (see Job 2:3; 42:7-8). Instead, Job’s transformation is in how he talks. Job goes from proper, pious talk about God to raw and honest talk to God.
Imagine yourself in Job’s situation. People look up to you because your faith is so strong. And you know that you have to be strong for them. You have to say the right thing. So, that’s what Job does. He grins and bears it. But there is more going on inside him. And after seven days of silence, he lets it out. His friends try to “shush” him. They want him to stick to the script, but Job isn’t having it. He lets out a torrent of questions, complaints, and accusations straight to God’s face.
But maybe he went too far? The traditional translation near the end of the book leads us to that conclusion. God answers Job in a storm. God challenges Job: “Who are you to question Me?” And what’s Job’s response? The traditional translation has Job saying that he went too far. Job says, “I despise myself and I repent in dust and ashes” (see Job 42:5-6). But some Bible scholars argue for a different translation. They read the ancient Hebrew script and hear Job say something like, “I have heard about You, God, and now my eyes have seen You. Therefore, I am fed up, and I have pity on dust and ashes.” In this reading, Job is not backing off. He is doubling down because he knows he doesn’t need to be guarded with God because he’s already right with God. So, he can be honest with God.
It may be that the traditional translation is right. It may be that Job repents. But it’s also possible the other translation is right, that Job doesn’t back down. Not that he’s trying to be God, but that he’s being honest to God. And if that’s the case, what comes next tells us something about God’s heart, because God doesn’t condemn Job for his honesty. Instead, God condemns Job’s friends for their scripted pious phrases. God says that they haven’t talked rightly about Him, but Job has. However you understand Job, it’s clear from the rest of Scripture that God does not simply want your pious talk. God wants your heart. He wants to hear what’s on your heart. He already knows everything in there anyway. And in Jesus, you’re already in the right with Him. So, you can talk to Him. You can be honest with Him.
Let’s do that now.
WE PRAY: Dear Father, help me to talk with You, even, at times, like Job did, so that we can be closer. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker for The Lutheran Hour.
Reflection Questions:
- Read the following: Job 9:13-35; 10:1-22. Is there anything Job says to which you can relate?
- When are you at risk of letting your prayers become pious phrases that don’t reflect what’s on your heart?
- Psalm 39 is another example of honest prayer to God. How might Psalm 39 and Job’s prayers shape your prayers?
Today's Readings:
1 Kings 10-11Acts 8:26-40