Job 13:3-5

3 Surely ['uwlam] I would speak [dabar] to the Almighty [Shadday], and I desire [chaphets] to reason [yakach] with God ['el].

4 But ['uwlam] ye are forgers [taphal] of lies [sheqer], ye are all physicians [rapha'] of no value ['eliyl].

5 O that [nathan] ye would altogether [charash] hold your peace [charash]! and it should be your wisdom [chokmah]. KJV-Interlinear

3 'But I would speak to the Almighty, And I desire to argue with God. 4 'But you smear with lies; You are all worthless physicians. 5 'O that you would be completely silent, And that it would become your wisdom! NASB

By far the nicest person you will ever meet in life, is a spiritually mature believer. Likewise, the worst person you will ever meet in life, is a spiritually immature believer who thinks that he knows it all.

The mature believer has his head on straight, and will not presume so much regarding life.

The know-it-all immature believer is the manufacturer of forgeries. And opinions, paranoia's, attitudes, and such, will be found in abundance within such a person. Some will believe that wearing black is the only spiritual color. Black is not even a color. Some might think that the root of all evils is a video game, and that banning them or even burning them on a bon fire is the righteous thing to do.

Immature believers find it easy to blame the woes of the world, on external things. Ban the booze, ban the adult stores, don't work on Sundays, make love not war, and the list of things to do or to not do, becomes an endless list of self righteous works. Good intentions, but wrong methods.

They never consider looking in the mirror, and into their own soul.

And so Job looks at his well meaning friends. Friends, or as he now calls them, physicians, that came to give him aid and comfort in his hour of need, but instead have attacked him with a barrage of condemning accusations of hypocrisy and warnings. They have become physicians of no value.

The immature, always want to correct everyone else, the immature always have great ideas for which others should pay, but they never ever look inwardly toward themselves and consider keeping silent, and thus utilizing their ears for learning rather than using their mouths for their opinions of no value.

These are the foundation principles of liberal thought. 'We know it all, but we know nothing.' 'We deserve to lead, but lack the skills to lead.' 'We will tell you all what to do, but will be exempt from doing these things ourselves.'

Job, on the other hand, wished to confront God, Himself. Why, because Job is arrogant himself? No. Because God is the source of truth, and his friends are nothing more than patterns of false applications of truth.

When truth is used inappropriately in life, then it is no better than a forgery, no better than a lie.

When a wrong thing is done in a wrong way, it is obviously wrong.

When a wrong thing is done in a right way, it is still wrong.

When a right thing is done in a wrong way, it is wrong.

When a right thing is done in a right way, then and only then, is it right.

You cannot compromise Gods principles. You cannot cheat your way into heaven or even into the spiritual life.

Job wishes to confront God. But what does this mean, really. Recall chapter one, and the very good character of Job as described by God.

Job wishes to go straight to the source of truth, to reason, to comprehend, to understand.

I'll bet that there is a Bible in nearly every household in this country, and even in most of the world. I'll would venture to guess that even in oppressed countries, Gods word, in some form, is available to those who want it.

But what do people turn to for their knowledge and beliefs? They get their wisdom from the lyrics of popular songs, from the headlines in the news, from the gossip on the street, from the many printed publications, even from advertisements that entice with the promise of success, or popularity, or youthful vigor.

Life is a, 'see it to believe it' view of the world. The secular opposes the spiritual at every turn and will fight to destroy the spiritual whenever possible. The secular teases the senses for immediate gratification. The secular interpretations of life will tend to be black and white, closing its eyes to truth.

And that is exactly what Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar have done with Job. If you are good, then good things happen. If you are bad, then bad things happen. There are no other possibilities, in their view. And thus they turn around their logic and conclude that since Job is suffering, then he has obviously been bad.

That is not how the world works. Job's friends are guilty of misapplying truth, and therefore they are trying to do something right (correcting Job), but in a wrong way (misapplication of truth). This is one of the patterns of liberal thought, for those who would try to do the right thing. But people who subscribe to this path usually end up hopelessly caught in the trap of prejudices, bias's, and regulatory abuse.

Job is the one who is suffering, and Job is the only one who prefers to hear Gods explanation of life.

His friends are not suffering, and they refuse to listen to Job, or even consider that they might be wrong.

Stubborn people refuse to listen. Stubborn people refuse to learn. Stubborn people are only concerned with their own point of view, and with how they appear to others. They, in reality, are never concerned with the lives of others. The only thing that impresses them, is the sound of their own words.

Thus the ears fail to function, and ones eyes are always evaluating others rather than self.

Job gives them good advice. Be quiet and listen. Then and only then, can wisdom slip through and into ones soul.

Now is the time to post a prayer.