Has suffering ever done you any good? Has it helped you to realize that you have been going in the wrong direction? Now, this wasn’t the case for Job. As we learned in the first two chapters of this book, Job hadn’t committed any great sin that brought all his suffering on himself. But for many of us, for much of the time, Elihu points out that suffering can be a helpful corrective. It can rebuke us (33:19) and bring us to our senses.

But what do we do then? Once the alcoholic realizes that he has ruined his liver, or once the cigarette smoker develops emphysema or lung cancer, once the adulterer has lost his wife and children, it is all too easy for him to retreat into bitterness and despair. In other words, our suffering can very easily lead us into hopelessness, especially when our lives are coming to a close (33:22).

But that’s where God’s mercy comes in. Elihu tells of our need for a mediator from heaven to declare to man what is right (33:23). He speaks of our need for a ransom of some kind (33:24) to redeem us from the penalty our sins deserve. In short, Elihu knew what we needed to keep us from despair, but didn’t really know what form our redemption would take.

As close as he was to God, Job knew a bit more. Back in 19:25, Job spoke of his Redeemer as One Who would not just be an angel in Heaven, but Who would stand upon the earth. Job knew that this Redeemer would one day enable him to see God, not as a disembodied spirit, but as a resurrected, flesh-and-blood man. But even Job didn’t know how God would provide such a Redeemer.

But we know, don’t we? We know that Jesus has come to show the unconditional, self-sacrificial love of God for us on the cross. We know that Jesus has proven His authority and power to forgive sin by rising from the dead. And we know that Jesus has graciously promised to pardon all those who would simply trust in Him and bow the knee to Him as Lord.

But best of all, Jesus promises not only to forgive His people but to cleanse us from all our sins (I John 1:7,9). In other words, no matter how badly we may have screwed up our lives, no matter how much pain and suffering we may have caused ourselves or our loved ones, Jesus promises to give us a fresh start. For Jesus not only has the power to make our flesh fresh with youth on Resurrection Day (33:25). He can return our souls to youthful vigor today. He can help us cast off all the bitterness, all the regret, all the anger and resentment with which we have poisoned ourselves, and as we trust in His forgiveness and rest in His love.

So, let us pray to God, confessing our sins and offering ourselves to Him. For because of the Person and Work of Christ, we can be sure that He will accept us and give us the best reason of all to shout for joy (33:26).

Job 33:19-30 (ESV)

19 “Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones,
20 so that his life loathes bread, and his appetite the choicest food.
21 His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out.
22 His soul draws near the pit, and his life to those who bring death.
23 If there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand, to declare to man what is right for him,
24 and he is merciful to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom;
25 let his flesh become fresh with youth; let him return to the days of his youthful vigor’;
26 then man prays to God, and he accepts him; he sees his face with a shout of joy, and he restores to man his righteousness.
27 He sings before men and says: ‘I sinned and perverted what was right, and it was not repaid to me.
28 He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.’
29 “Behold, God does all these things, twice, three times, with a man,
30 to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be lighted with the light of life.