~ Day Six ~

Job was feeling crushed under the weight of the calamity that had fallen on his household. In his mind, he had become the personal target for all of God's arrows, whose poisonous tips penetrated his heart, wounding him in the deepest way with the most disturbing thoughts: that he was the object of God's great displeasure. "For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me" (Job 6:4). Of all the pain he had to endure, this was by far the worst; it drove him to the depths of despair. "The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit?" (Proverbs 18:14). God's arrows inflicted an incurable wound to the soul of His servant. This wounding of his spirit, which troubled Job's mind and threatened his life, could only be cured by One - Jesus Christ!

Once again we see how Job's life portrays the ultimate Suffering Servant, who would come and bear the full weight of God's displeasure for man's sin and experience the depths of the soul's thirst on the Cross, and where He would lay down His life as the atonement for the sin of all mankind. "My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour, "Father, glorify Your name" (John 12:27, 28a). Jesus Christ, through His sacrifice, became for every believer a full body shield to protect us from the enemy's attacks and extinguish all the deceptive flaming arrows of the wicked one. "For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? God is our strength and power, and He makes our way perfect. He makes our feet like the feet of a deer, and sets us on the high places. He teaches our hands to make war, so that our arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have also given us the shield of Your salvation; Your gentleness has made us great" (2 Samuel 22:32-36). Where Job's friends failed in offering him even the slightest relief from his pain and suffering, our Shield provides for our total protection and complete deliverance from the assaults of the enemy when we place our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. With every battle we face and overcome, the Lord our Shield is preparing, polishing, and sharpening His people to become the artillery of His choosing for spiritual war. "The LORD has called Me from the womb; from the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name. And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has hidden me, and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden me" (Isaiah 49:1b, 2). It's one thing to sit where our friends sit, sharing in their sorrows and suffering on this earth and offering them our sympathy and concern, and quite another to rise up to our position in prayer as those who have been "raised up together and made to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6), and become a purified channel through which our Lord can pour out heaven's blessings and bring His salvation and healing upon the earth. Let us lift our hearts in praise to the One who lifts our head up out of all our despair and sits us in the place of honor nearest to Him whom we love so dear. "Let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You. For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield" (Psalm 5:11, 12). "Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together" (Psalm 34:3).

Read: Job Chapter Six

Job's three friends had traveled a long distance to sit with him in his time of sorrow and comfort him in his suffering, as he grieved the death of his children for the appointed seven days of mourning. Geographically, they were as near to their friend as they could possibly get, but emotionally they never bridged the gap. They sat just close enough to hear the distressed sighs and tortured groaning of a man in misery, but they never truly felt the full weight of his suffering; therefore, they could never really understand the hopelessness of his situation. "Oh that my grief were fully weighed, and my calamity laid with it on the scales! For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea..." (Job 6:2, 3a). The flaming arrows aimed at Job from heaven consumed everything he had, leaving his broken and bitter body to decompose on the ash heap outside the city walls. "For Your arrows pierce me deeply, and Your hand presses me down." (Psalm 38:2). Job appealed to his friends to extend to him the smallest morsel of pity and compassion; but rather than add flavor to his tears, which had become his food day and night (Psalm 42:3), their salty words served only to enhance the already unbearable pain oozing from his open wounds. "Can flavorless food be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? My soul refuses to touch them; they are as loathsome food to me" (Job 6:6, 7). The charred remains of Job's once prosperous and peaceful life had become a disgusting and distasteful meal impossible for him to stomach and accept. A word of comfort and encouragement from his friends was all he was looking for to make it a little more palatable and easier to digest, but that proved too much to ask of them. "How forceful are right words! But what does your arguing prove?" (Job 6:28). Job was down in the dumps, literally; and he was feeling useless and growing more hopeless and restless as the days wore on. "Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant me the things that I long for!" (Job 6:8). His friends should have been helping to alleviate some of his sorrow and suffering, but they chose instead to kick a good man when he was down, with Eliphaz making the first go at him. He was supposed to be older and wiser, and therefore should have been more compassionate and understanding, but he wasn't. May we learn from their mistakes and repent of our own. In this sanctified season of feasts, as the Lord is cleansing our palate and nourishing us with His Word with fasting and prayer, may He instill within us an insatiable hunger and thirst for righteousness and a holy desire to speak the truth in love, so we might minister more compassionately to those all around us who are starving for love and understanding (especially in our own homes and in the church) with the Lord's wonderful, powerful, transforming love and truth (Ephesians 4:11-16)!

Listen to the evening audio prayer by

clicking or tapping HERE or the YouTube image

Subscribe to the Trumpet and Torch Ministries official You Tube Channel

to receive automated notifications for the daily prayers.

"Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord - that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful" (James 5:10).

Read about 2020

The Year of Divine Government

A Pandemic Prayer Proclamation

Read more HERE