Job
17:3 KJV
Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will
strike hands with me?
Though the passage uses terms
that are thought to describe legal terms of Job's culture;
- Lay down describes putting on the
table an earnest
- Surety reference to some form of
security deposit and
- Striking hands would be shaking
hands as a sign of agreement
I fix my attention on Job's
pathetic question, "Who is he that will strike hands with me?"
I see the question on various
levels
- Who will stand with me in my time
of trouble?
- Who will greet me and be kind?
- Who will welcome me as a friend?
The ultimate answer to these
questions, and the one I believe the Scripture intends to direct us to, is
Christ. He is our advocate and friend
like no other and when all others fail. When Paul confessed that no man stood
with him he could still joyfully say the Lord stood by him. Jesus promised to
be with us always and even unto the end of the world. Perhaps every Christian
must go through and experience:
- Like Job
- Like Paul, and even
- Like our Saviour
when we have been forsaken of
men and must rest in our relationship with God.
But isn't there a lesson here
for the compassionate Christian as well? Knowing that everyone goes through
times like these can't some of us choose to take up this poor man's cause?
Isn't there someone who will choose to shake a down man's hand and welcome him
as a friend?
We will have plenty who chide
us and judge us and even perhaps rightly correct us.
Won't someone just be a friend?
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