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cheering Bildad

Job 18:1-21 (JDV)

Job 18:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
Job 18:2 Until when will you stop talking? Show some sense, and then we can talk.
Job 18:3 Why are we regarded as cattle, as stupid in your sight?
Job 18:4 You who tear your throat in anger — should the ground be abandoned on your account, or a rock be removed from its place?
Job 18:5 Yes, the light of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.
Job 18:6 The light in his tent grows dark, and the lamp beside him is put out.
Job 18:7 His powerful stride is shortened, and his own schemes trip him up.
Job 18:8 Because his own feet lead him into a net, and he strays into its mesh.
Job 18:9 A trap catches him by the heel; a noose seizes him.
Job 18:10 A rope lies hidden for him on the ground, and a snare waits for him along the path.
Job 18:11 Terrors frighten him on every side and harass him at every step.
Job 18:12 His strength is depleted; disaster lies ready for him to stumble.
Job 18:13 Layers of his skin are eaten away; death’s beginning consumes his limbs.
Job 18:14 He is ripped from the security of his tent and marched away to the king of terrors.
Job 18:15 Nothing he owned remains in his tent. Burning sulfur is scattered over his home.
Job 18:16 His roots below dry up, and his branches above wither away.
Job 18:17 All memory of him is be destroyed from the ground; he has no name anywhere.
Job 18:18 He is pushed from light to darkness and chased from the inhabited world.
Job 18:19 He has no children or descendants among his people, no survivor where he used to live.
Job 18:20 Those in the west are appalled at his fate, while those in the east tremble in horror.
Job 18:21 Surely such is the dwelling of the unjust man, and this is the place of the one who does not know God.

cheering Bildad

Bildad is irritated with Job’s insistence that he is suffering innocently. To Bildad, Job is a loser. He has lost both house and household: everything that he could rely on. Bildad’s worldview has only one answer for such tragedy. It has to be the judgment of God. If you and I did not have access to the secret information shared earlier in this book, we would probably be cheering Bildad on. Can we learn from this ancient book? Can we dare to look beyond the obvious and have compassion on the losers we know?

LORD, give us the compassion to stop branding people, and actually help the needy.