Job 16:15-16

15 I have sewed [taphar] sackcloth [saq] upon my skin [geled], and defiled [`alal] my horn [qeren] in the dust [`aphar].

16 My face [paniym] is foul [chamar] with weeping [Bakiy], and on my eyelids [`aph`aph] is the shadow of death [tsalmaveth]; KJV-Interlinear

15 'I have sewed sackcloth over my skin, And thrust my horn in the dust. 16 'My face is flushed from weeping, And deep darkness is on my eyelids, NASB

A man who had a reputation of prestige, of phenomenal success, of high stature in his community, has been driven to the lowest point possible. He is driven to tears. Endless tears. His eyes are darkened as one who has not had much sleep, as one who is in very bad health, and certainly Job has very poor health at the moment, and as one who is on the very brink of death.

He has been driven from a very high point, to the bottom of society's hierarchy.

The sackcloth represents a state of mourning or extreme poverty. The horn represents a state of authority and power. Both at opposite ends of the emotional spectrum, and at opposite ends of the social spectrum.

In real life in this world, there is a very, very thin line dividing each and every person between phenomenal success and status, and extreme poverty and embarrassment.

No one is exempt from this line. Anyone can be pushed across the line in either direction, at any moment in their life.

Job could have dressed up in his finest of clothes. He still had them. He only lost his business, not his personal home. He could have dressed up and greeted his friends and neighbors with a false front, pretending that things were not as bad as they really were. He could have sat down in a fine chair, and thanked his friends and then sent them away.

He could have pretended, within his mind, that he still had some semblance of self control over his life. Presenting a front of confidence, of toughness, of determination, that he was going to get over this little illness. He could have taken on the attitude, 'I have just fallen, but I am going to pick myself right up and get on with my life.'

But Job was not that kind of a person. He knew the seriousness of his situation. He saw death as being just around the corner, and his conscience drove him to humility before God. God, who was really in control of his future.

What do celebrities do when they get into trouble. They pretend helplessness. They pretend ignorance. They work their publicity as a victim, and they check into a fine hotel and call it rehab. 'Poor celebrity,' the public will say. 'Poor celebrity. They mean well. They understand their mistake. The pressures of celebrityship are to blame.' And so on and so on.

No such thing in Jobs case. Job was indeed humbled. Job was humble to begin with.

But Job is much more than a story of a man who has fallen on hard times. He is a type of Christ, a symbol of just how hard the world can be, of just how low a person can be driven and still be alive.

Job is not the power and the force that keeps himself alive. He does not have command over his immune system. He does not have command over the beats of his own heart. Job has dropped to the lowest of points, such that he, and we, can see that all of us have virtually no power over our lives in this world.

All we have is the power of our own thoughts.

Thoughts absent of Bible doctrine, are empty thoughts.

Thoughts driven by Bible doctrine are the most powerful thoughts in the entire universe. Even Satan and all of his realm, cannot overcome the power of faith.

Now is the time to post a prayer.