Job 18-19: My Redeemer Lives

Poor Job.  It never ends.  For every argument, for every protest of his innocence, his so-called friends lob the ball right back to him.  'Do you think we're stupid?' Bildad asks, 'It's not all about you, Job.'

"You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger,
is the earth to be abandoned for your sake?
Or must the rocks be moved from their place?
The lamp of the wicked is snuffed out; " - Job 18:4-5 NIV

'That's it,' Bildad says, 'That's what's going on.  Evil comes to those who don't know God.' 

Some friends you are, is Job's response.
 
If it is true that I have gone astray, my error remains my concern alone.
If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me and use my humiliation against me,
then know that God has wronged me and drawn his net around me.
"Though I cry, 'I've been wronged!' I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.
He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he has shrouded my paths in darkness.  - Job 18:4-8

But, no matter the reason and no matter what has been done to me, I cannot turn my back on God.

I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!  - Job 18:25-27 NIV

And with those words, Job challenges all of us who have trusted in the Lord down through the ages. I know, in spite of overwhelming odds, in spite of fiery trials, in spite of overwhelming temptation, in spite of death, divorce, lost jobs, a faltering economy, bankruptcies, crime, murder, abortion, hurricanes, earthquakes, and oil spills, I know that my Redeemer lives and someday I will see him with my own eyes.