David Bahn – Reflections

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These reflections grow out of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Job 29-31; Psalm 23.

Job 29:1-6

And Job again took up his discourse, and said:

² “Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
    as in the days when God watched over me,
³ when his lamp shone upon my head,
    and by his light I walked through darkness,
⁴ as I was in my prime,
    when the friendship of God was upon my tent,
⁵ when the Almighty was yet with me,
    when my children were all around me,
⁶ when my steps were washed with butter,
    and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!

Psalm 23

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
³     He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name’s sake.

⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

My mother-in-law had nothing good to say about the good old days. Her life was hard. There was nothing nostalgic about her years in the old days. The same was true of my mother. I was raised in the dust bowl of Oklahoma during the depression she would say. Who would want to go back to that?

Job, on the other hand, yearned for the good old days. He was prosperous. He helped people with his great wealth and was respected for his kindness to those in need. Now he is in misery. He agonizes over the trouble he’s seen.

Against that we have Psalm 23. This psalm reminds us that God is with us in the hard places. He is the one who leads us in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Perhaps that’s the lesson Job is yet to learn. God has pointed out that Job is a righteous man. He has incited Satan to cause Job all manner of pain and suffering – beyond what most of us could even imagine.

But the claim of Satan is not proving to be true – nor will it be shown to be true in the end. Job will not curse God to his face. Quite the opposite is about to happen. We’ll see that in the chapters ahead. But for now, Job – righteous as he is – must learn that God is with him in the green pastures and beside the still waters and especially in the valley of the shadow of death and the presence of his enemies.

Some years after Job, David will speak about God and to God. He speaks about God in the first 3 verses of Psalm 23. He leads me, he restores me, says David. That’s a good thing to do. We can speak about God when we witness to his goodness and faithfulness. Sadly, however, it seems that no one has done that so far in this saga of suffering.

But we can also speak to God. That’s a good thing to do as well. David says, “You are with me, your rod and staff comfort me, you restore, you anoint…”

Even the best of days gone by are a dim image of the joy and bliss of the life of the world to come, where we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

In the end, our comfort is not found in better days of the past or stronger faith in the present. Our true comfort is found in Jesus, the Good Shepherd who walked the valley of the shadow of death for us. Jesus now leads us by his grace to the eternal joy of his salvation.