Day 29: You Are Loved (Psalm 17:6-12, Matthew 20:1-19, Job 11:1-14:22)

Psalm 17:6-12

  ⁶ I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;
   turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
  ⁷ Show me the wonders of your great love,
   you who save by your right hand
   those who take refuge in you from their foes.
  ⁸ Keep me as the apple of your eye;
   hide me in the shadow of your wings
  ⁹ from the wicked who are out to destroy me,
   from my mortal enemies who surround me.

  ¹⁰ They close up their callous hearts,
   and their mouths speak with arrogance.
  ¹¹ They have tracked me down, they now surround me,
   with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.
  ¹² They are like a lion hungry for prey,
   like a fierce lion crouching in cover.

Psalm Commentary

Know that you are loved and treasured by God

God’s love for you is so great because it is so intimate. David calls on God and asks him to ‘show the wonder of your great love’ (v.7). He prays, ‘Keep me as the apple of your eye’ (v.8a). The apple of the eye is the pupil (the opening of the iris in the eye through which light passes to reach the retina), and so signifies the thing most treasured. Meditate today on just how much you are treasured by God.

Then he prays, ‘Hide me in the shadow of your wings’ (v.8b). Again, this tells of God’s love, intimacy and protection. Jesus picked up this image as he looked over the people of Jerusalem in the days leading up to his crucifixion and longed for them to come and hide under his wings (Matthew 23:37).

David is surrounded by ‘enemies’ (Psalm 17:9), people with ‘callous hearts’ who speak arrogantly against him (v.10). There may be times in your life when you literally face ‘enemies’, but whatever struggles or difficulties you may face, you can rely on God’s intimate love for you.

Prayer

Lord, I call on you today. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.

Matthew 20:1-19

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ² He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

³ “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴ He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ ⁵ So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. ⁶ About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

⁷ “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

⁸ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

⁹ “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. ¹⁰ So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ¹² ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

¹³ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵ Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

¹⁶ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time

¹⁷ Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, ¹⁸ “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death ¹⁹ and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”

New Testament Commentary

Experience God’s love, generosity and grace

Jesus tells a parable that demonstrates again the wonder of his great love. The parable of the workers in the vineyard shows the extraordinary generosity and grace of God, who gives to those who enter the kingdom last the same blessings that he gives to everybody else. This sometimes makes us ‘envious’ (v.15b). We are happy with our situation until we hear of someone else doing even better. Then, we are tempted to envy them.

The landowner in this parable overturns all the normal commercial practices. He does this, not to make extra profit for himself, but for the very opposite reason. He wants to be generous and pay more than justice demands. God is like that landowner, and his blessings and forgiveness are always more than we could ever deserve.

We sometimes hear testimonies from people like Shane Taylor who have lived terrible lives. Then, at the ‘eleventh hour’ (v.9), they repent and believe in Jesus. They are totally forgiven and receive all the benefits of Jesus’ death and resurrection (v.19). Some people complain that this is unfair, or that those like Shane are given too high a profile. Yet God uses their testimonies greatly, often seemingly more than those who have borne ‘the heat of the day’ (v.12b).

As we saw yesterday, God’s kingdom is an upside-down kingdom: ‘So the last will be first, and the first will be last’ (v.16). Jesus is saying this is not a reason to be envious. Rather, it is a reason to marvel at the generosity of God. In his great love, he is generous to all. It is all grace. It is all undeserved. It is all a result of what Jesus foretold (vv.17–20).

The reality is that it is not just other people like Shane to whom God is generous. He is generous to you and me. If God gave us only what we earned, we would be far worse off. Yet if you accept the generosity that God showers on you, the result is staggering.

Through his death and resurrection (vv.18–19), Jesus makes it possible for you and me to be forgiven and to enjoy his great love into eternity.

Prayer

Lord, thank you for your extraordinary generosity to me. May I never be envious of those you seem to be blessing even more than me. Thank you that I can know that I am loved now and into eternity.

Job 11:1-14:22

Zophar

11 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

  ² “Are all these words to go unanswered?
   Is this talker to be vindicated?
  ³ Will your idle talk reduce others to silence?
   Will no one rebuke you when you mock?
  ⁴ You say to God, ‘My beliefs are flawless
   and I am pure in your sight.’
  ⁵ Oh, how I wish that God would speak,
   that he would open his lips against you
  ⁶ and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom,
   for true wisdom has two sides.
   Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.

  ⁷ “Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
   Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
  ⁸ They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do?
   They are deeper than the depths below —what can you know?
  ⁹ Their measure is longer than the earth
   and wider than the sea.

  ¹⁰ “If he comes along and confines you in prison
   and convenes a court, who can oppose him?
  ¹¹ Surely he recognizes deceivers;
   and when he sees evil, does he not take note?
  ¹² But the witless can no more become wise
   than a wild donkey’s colt can be born human.

  ¹³ “Yet if you devote your heart to him
   and stretch out your hands to him,
  ¹⁴ if you put away the sin that is in your hand
   and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,
  ¹⁵ then, free of fault, you will lift up your face;
   you will stand firm and without fear.
  ¹⁶ You will surely forget your trouble,
   recalling it only as waters gone by.
  ¹⁷ Life will be brighter than noonday,
   and darkness will become like morning.
  ¹⁸ You will be secure, because there is hope;
   you will look about you and take your rest in safety.
  ¹⁹ You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,
   and many will court your favour.
  ²⁰ But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
   and escape will elude them;
   their hope will become a dying gasp.”

Job

12 Then Job replied:

  ² “Doubtless you are the only people who matter,
   and wisdom will die with you!
  ³ But I have a mind as well as you;
   I am not inferior to you.
   Who does not know all these things?

  ⁴ “I have become a laughingstock to my friends,
   though I called on God and he answered —
   a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!
  ⁵ Those who are at ease have contempt for misfortune
   as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.
  ⁶ The tents of marauders are undisturbed,
   and those who provoke God are secure —
   those God has in his hand.

  ⁷ “But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
   or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
  ⁸ or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
   or let the fish in the sea inform you.
  ⁹ Which of all these does not know
   that the hand of the Lord has done this?
  ¹⁰ In his hand is the life of every creature
   and the breath of all mankind.
  ¹¹ Does not the ear test words
   as the tongue tastes food?
  ¹² Is not wisdom found among the aged?
   Does not long life bring understanding?

  ¹³ “To God belong wisdom and power;
   counsel and understanding are his.
  ¹⁴ What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;
   those he imprisons cannot be released.
  ¹⁵ If he holds back the waters, there is drought;
   if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.
  ¹⁶ To him belong strength and insight;
   both deceived and deceiver are his.
  ¹⁷ He leads rulers away stripped
   and makes fools of judges.
  ¹⁸ He takes off the shackles put on by kings
   and ties a loincloth around their waist.
  ¹⁹ He leads priests away stripped
   and overthrows officials long established.
  ²⁰ He silences the lips of trusted advisers
   and takes away the discernment of elders.
  ²¹ He pours contempt on nobles
   and disarms the mighty.
  ²² He reveals the deep things of darkness
   and brings utter darkness into the light.
  ²³ He makes nations great, and destroys them;
   he enlarges nations, and disperses them.
  ²⁴ He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;
   he makes them wander in a trackless waste.
  ²⁵ They grope in darkness with no light;
   he makes them stagger like drunkards.

  13 “My eyes have seen all this,
   my ears have heard and understood it.
  ² What you know, I also know;
   I am not inferior to you.
  ³ But I desire to speak to the Almighty
   and to argue my case with God.
  ⁴ You, however, smear me with lies;
   you are worthless physicians, all of you!
  ⁵ If only you would be altogether silent!
   For you, that would be wisdom.
  ⁶ Hear now my argument;
   listen to the pleas of my lips.
  ⁷ Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf?
   Will you speak deceitfully for him?
  ⁸ Will you show him partiality?
   Will you argue the case for God?
  ⁹ Would it turn out well if he examined you?
   Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal?
  ¹⁰ He would surely call you to account
   if you secretly showed partiality.
  ¹¹ Would not his splendour terrify you?
   Would not the dread of him fall on you?
  ¹² Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
   your defenses are defenses of clay.

  ¹³ “Keep silent and let me speak;
   then let come to me what may.
  ¹⁴ Why do I put myself in jeopardy
   and take my life in my hands?
  ¹⁵ Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;
   I will surely defend my ways to his face.
  ¹⁶ Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,
   for no godless person would dare come before him!
  ¹⁷ Listen carefully to what I say;
   let my words ring in your ears.
  ¹⁸ Now that I have prepared my case,
   I know I will be vindicated.
  ¹⁹ Can anyone bring charges against me?
   If so, I will be silent and die.

  ²⁰ “Only grant me these two things, God,
   and then I will not hide from you:
  ²¹ Withdraw your hand far from me,
   and stop frightening me with your terrors.
  ²² Then summon me and I will answer,
   or let me speak, and you reply to me.
  ²³ How many wrongs and sins have I committed?
   Show me my offense and my sin.
  ²⁴ Why do you hide your face
   and consider me your enemy?
  ²⁵ Will you torment a windblown leaf?
   Will you chase after dry chaff?
  ²⁶ For you write down bitter things against me
   and make me reap the sins of my youth.
  ²⁷ You fasten my feet in shackles;
   you keep close watch on all my paths
   by putting marks on the soles of my feet.

  ²⁸ “So man wastes away like something rotten,
   like a garment eaten by moths.

  14 “Mortals, born of woman,
   are of few days and full of trouble.
  ² They spring up like flowers and wither away;
   like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.
  ³ Do you fix your eye on them?
   Will you bring them before you for judgment?
  ⁴ Who can bring what is pure from the impure?
   No one!
  ⁵ A person’s days are determined;
   you have decreed the number of his months
   and have set limits he cannot exceed.
  ⁶ So look away from him and let him alone,
   till he has put in his time like a hired labourer.

  ⁷ “At least there is hope for a tree:
   If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
   and its new shoots will not fail.
  ⁸ Its roots may grow old in the ground
   and its stump die in the soil,
  ⁹ yet at the scent of water it will bud
   and put forth shoots like a plant.
  ¹⁰ But a man dies and is laid low;
   he breathes his last and is no more.
  ¹¹ As the water of a lake dries up
   or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,
  ¹² so he lies down and does not rise;
   till the heavens are no more, people will not awake
   or be roused from their sleep.

  ¹³ “If only you would hide me in the grave
   and conceal me till your anger has passed!
  If only you would set me a time
   and then remember me!
  ¹⁴ If someone dies, will they live again?
   All the days of my hard service
   I will wait for my renewal to come.
  ¹⁵ You will call and I will answer you;
   you will long for the creature your hands have made.
  ¹⁶ Surely then you will count my steps
   but not keep track of my sin.
  ¹⁷ My offenses will be sealed up in a bag;
   you will cover over my sin.

  ¹⁸ “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles
   and as a rock is moved from its place,
  ¹⁹ as water wears away stones
   and torrents wash away the soil,
   so you destroy a person’s hope.
  ²⁰ You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;
   you change their countenance and send them away.
  ²¹ If their children are honoured, they do not know it;
   if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.
  ²² They feel but the pain of their own bodies
   and mourn only for themselves. ”

Old Testament Commentary

Hold on to his wonderful love through the difficult days

Job, in the middle of a long period of intense suffering, holds on to God’s wonderful love. He says, ‘Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him’ (13:15).

Although Job had lived a blameless and upright life, fearing God and shunning evil (1:1), he was not perfect. He speaks here of ‘the sins of my youth’ (13:26) and says, ‘My offences will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin’ (14:17).

The mistake that Job’s friends made was to think that his suffering was linked to his sin. In this passage we see Job’s increasing frustration with his friends. They go on about ‘sin’ (11:6,14) and effectively heap condemnation on Job (v.5). They talk in platitudes, which do not offer any real comfort.

Eventually Job turns around and replies, ‘But I have a mind as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know all these things?’ (12:3). ‘What you know, I also know’ (13:2). He points out to them that their best policy would be to say nothing: ‘If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom’ (v.5).

We need such wisdom when people are suffering, not to speak in glib platitudes but to ensure we demonstrate God’s wonderful love by our actions and are very careful in what we say.

Job has a far healthier attitude than his friends. In his intense suffering he experiences that awful feeling of aloneness and cries out to God, ‘Why do you hide your face?’ (v.24). After C.S. Lewis’ wife died, he wrote A Grief Observed, likening this kind of experience to ‘a door slammed in your face’.

Yet, in the midst of all this, Job is able to say to God, ‘Even if he killed me, I’d keep on hoping’ (v.15, MSG). He knows God and trusts him enough, even in the very depth of despair.

Know and trust that the length of your life is ultimately determined by God and that ‘the number of [your] months is wholly in [God’s] control’ and that no one can ‘pass the bounds of his allotted time’ (14:5, AMP).

At the same time, Job seems to get a glimpse of life beyond the grave – that nothing, not even death, can separate you from God’s great love: ‘If we humans die, will we live again? That’s my question. All through these difficult days I keep hoping, waiting for the final change – for resurrection!’ (v.14, MSG; see also 19:25 onwards).

You and I are so much better off than Job because we know about the cross and resurrection of Jesus and we have the sure hope of eternity in the presence of God – wondering at his great love forever.

As the story of Job unfolds, we see that he is right to keep trusting in God. God never explains to Job why he allowed him to go through so much, but Job’s confidence in God’s love is vindicated. In the midst of suffering, somehow we have to hold on to ‘the wonders of [God’s] great love’ (Psalm 17:7).

Prayer

Lord, thank you that although there is so much that I do not understand in this world, I can trust in your wonderful love. Help me today, and every day, to continue to wonder at your great love for me.

Pippa adds

In Matthew 20:16 it says, ‘So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’

I have taken this verse out of context many times. When our children were young and lost running races, or didn’t do well in an exam or competition, I would recite, ‘The first shall be last and the last, first.’ It was a sort of joke, but also a reminder that what we value in life – success, achievement, getting to the top – will not be valued in the same way in the kingdom of heaven.

Verse of the Day

Psalm 17:8

‘Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.’

References