Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! That with an iron stylus and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!

As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. And at the last He will take His stand upon the earth.

Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; whom my eyes will see, and not another.

My heart faints within me. Job 19:23-27

Job yearns that the cries of his heart would be recorded, that his words would be transcribed so as to last forever.

Job’s expression is first oral. The Book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible to be written down. Job and his contemporaries would not know a written record of scripture in their time, or that one would follow in later times.

And so it is rich irony to read words written in a book:, “oh that my words were written … that they were inscribed in a book … .”

The irony is not only that the words are written and inscribed in a book, but that they are part of the world’s most famous writing, an anthology that has persisted at least 5,000 years and is overwhelmingly the world’s best seller – 100 million copies per year, and a literally countless number over all time. The Bible is translated in whole or in part into 2,426 languages covering 95% of the earth’s population. His refrain “I know that my Redeemer lives” finds multiple enduring musical expressions including in no less than Handel’s venerated “Messiah.” Job’s words, as it turns out, have a permanence and reach that exceed his wish by the widest of margins in all of literature, by far.

Job feels he is passing like the morning fog, and so are his words. He does not know that his words recording his experience and interaction with God will last forever as part of God’s written, inspired, living and permanent Word.

Hermann Melville’s “Moby Dick” sold a mere 3,215 copies during his lifetime for which he received all of $1,260. His work now ranks among the top American classics, with critical acclaim not coming until decades after Melville’s death. The contrast of the obscurity of Melville’s work during his lifetime and prominence afterwards is sharply eclipsed by those of Job’s.

Yet Job’s inability to foresee the multi-millennial endurance of his words and their world-wide impact did not impede his faith.

Job suffered in the most extreme cataclysm. His enormous wealth was completely dissipated. His children and any hope of legacy were dead. His wife no longer stood with him in faith. His would-be friends became his accusers. His health and physical form were pathetic and revolting. His mental and emotional healthy were destroyed. Quite understandably, Job languished in a pit of despair and depression. There was nothing – nothing – about his life circumstances that was positive or hopeful.

From that abyss, we hear over the millennia a resounding faith from the heart of that broken yet still faithful man:

As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. And at the last, He will take His stand upon the earth. … I shall see God. …”

The wonder of this is too much even for Job. His response to his own declaration: “My heart faints within me!”

Job could not see the end from the beginning, and neither can I. Fundamentally, it did not matter for Job; his faith was immovable. It should not matter for me. Circumstances, from the horrific to the sublime, cannot touch the eternal truths of God, His love, His faithfulness to keep His promises, and the surety of Him accomplishing His purposes.

“At the last He will take His stand upon the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; whom my eyes will see, and not another.” This was Job’s ultimate confidence, memorialized far more permanently than with an “iron stylus and lead on the rock.” Indeed, He will stand again upon the earth. With Job I declare that I will see Him, my Redeemer.

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