A meditation - Chambers, Oswald
Job 19:2527
For i know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall i see god. . . . Job 19:2526
When a man is agitated by the spirit of god he utters words from which he takes comfort for himself and others can do the same, but the treasure contained in the words can never be exhausted. Job did not under- stand all the meaning of these words, yet he took a meaning of great preciousness to himself out of them. So with us, it is never possible for us to understand what we utter when we get a glimpse of god, or to express the rapture that sweeps our soul at such times. If a mans words spoken in the power of the spirit have such inexhaustible value, who can estimate the value of the word of god, our lord Jesus Christ himself, who expresses to us the very thoughts of god?
God never reveals himself in the same way to everyone, and yet the testimony of each one who has had a revelation of god is the same, viz. , that god is love. If a man doubts god, he is not able to express the doubt, his lips are dumb with the pain: if a man can say he doubts god, the doubt is not worth heeding. Jobs faith is wavering under the blows of the provi- dence of god and the stinging cruelty of his friends; the breakdown of all his traditional belief seems like the breakdown of god, and from the delirium of his perplexity he pleads, have pity upon me, have pity upon me, o ye my friends; for the hand of god hath touched me. And with the utterance of his plea a new confidence seems to creep in, the spirit of god moving through all his incoherent sadness begins to lift him to a higher plane; his consciousness of innocence is confirmed within him as god reveals himself in a more majestic and mysterious way, there is a growing assurance that he will yet be justified in the eyes of those who now accuse him, and he repeats to himself his confidence though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall i see god: whom i shall see for myself. The darkness, which comes from excess of light, is transformed by the never-to-be- explained rapture of his growing realisation of god. Whenever god reveals himself to a man he instantly finds the limitation of human language and reasoning it is impossible! Yet it shall be! Why is it that our faith gets contradicted by what we go through in our experience? Because of our- selves we can know nothing, we only know by god revealing himself to us. We are in danger of taking each stage of our development in spiritual growth as final, and when a fuller flood as from gods own great life comes, overwhelming all the old traditional belief, we close down our soul over the earlier revelations i have the truth now, consequently we stag- nate because we cut ourselves off from god. There is no limit to what god can make us are we but willing. His great love is ever overshadowing us and he waits to visit us with his saving life. For i know that my redeemer liveth. Job is assured that his redeemer (his vindicator) will arise and will put right the wrong; and every upright soul will likewise one day be vindicated, never fear. But jobs words convey to us as Christians a deeper, more glorious truth; they mean that our redeemer, the lord Jesus Christ, will one day stand upon this earth and will clear his name from reproach and slander! The people of god cry, o god, how long shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? The enemies of Christ are triumphant, Christianity is a failure, they say; and the church of god herself looks on in pain at the short- comings in her midst. But lo, at length from the very heart of the shadows appears the majestic figure of Jesus; his countenance is as the sun shineth in his strength, around those wounds in brow and side and hands and feetthose wounds which shelter count- less thousands of broken heart sare healing rays; in that glorious figure meets every beauty inconceivable to the imagination of man. O Christians, dry your eyes! Be not downcast, for i know that my redeemer liveth! He is nearer than you think. Oh the speechless rapture of it, that suddenly he will appear to us! Yea: i come quickly. Amen: come, lord Jesus (RV ).