"God Performs the Thing That is Appointed for Me" (Job 23:8-17), Part 1/4

God can feel closest when life is calm and impossibly far when life starts breaking. We open Job 23 at the exact point where Job says what many believers are afraid to admit: he looks forward, backward, left, and right, and still cannot perceive God. That raw honesty becomes our doorway into a topic most Christians face sooner or later spiritual dryness, the silence of God, and the fear that you’ve been left on your own.

From there we follow the turn in Job 23:10, where despair gives way to doctrine: “He knows the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” We talk about Christian suffering as a refining process, not a random accident and not a sign of destruction. We wrestle with sanctification, God’s sovereignty in trials, and why we cannot let feelings become the judge of God’s character. Along the way we remind each other to go back to Scripture when anxiety is loud, because God’s Word steadies the mind when the heart feels unreliable.

We also linger on Job’s confidence in Job 23:11–12, where he holds to God’s steps and treasures God’s words more than daily food. That leads into a candid theological question about providence and free will: if God orders our steps and keeps His people, what room is left for human boasting and what kind of “freedom” do we actually want? If you’re walking through a hard season, this conversation offers language, hope, and practical direction. Subscribe, share this with someone who’s struggling, and leave a review with the verse that has carried you most.

Transcript

Setting The Context In Job 23

SPEAKER_08 0:00

Job 23 and verse 8. And what I wanted to do is read the previous two verses to kind of set the tone for where we left off at. Just to remind everyone where we left off finally. So in Job chapter 23, verse 6 and 7, Job said, speaking about God, he asked the question, will he plead against me with his great power? No, but he will put strength in me. There the righteous must dispute with him, so should I be delivered forever from my judge. And we said in this verse, in these verses here, that though God is infinitely powerful, it is believed that he would never overwhelm, but he would only sustain those who belong to him. And this is God's grace in terms of his sanctifying mercy, his sanctifying grace that he bespoke or that he um puts upon his people. And it also points out here in verses six and seven of Job 23 that divine power, God's divine power, is not used to crush the upright, but it is intended and always does uphold them. This is very different than what the gods of other people hold to. So the thought here is that God would grant strength to stand in his presence, enabling us believers, to have a fair hearing in his presence. And so the confidence is expressed is this that a righteous cause, once fully examined before God, would lead to vindication and lasting deliverance, ultimately, everlasting deliverance. So now we come to verse eight of Job chapter twenty-three. Job eight and nine, and I'll read. Behold, Job says, I go forward, but he is not there. I go backward, but I cannot perceive him. On the left hand, where he does work, but I cannot behold him. He hides himself on the right hand that I cannot see him. And so Job here in this connection, he is stating, laying out a difficulty that can often arise. And this difficulty that often arises with many of us is that we seek God, but he is nowhere to be found. A common occurrence in the feelings and in the emotions of a believer. Sometimes you could think that God has become so distant from us that even when we're looking for him, he is hiding from us, or he is nowhere to be found. And Job lays this out. He says, I go forward, but he's not there. Backward, can't perceive him. Left or right, I can't behold him. Job is saying that I'm looking in every direction. I'm searching for God in every direction. Forward, backward, left, right. But I do not perceive, I do not sense his presence. A common occurrence for those who are struggling, who are mourning, who are troubled, who are often in despair. We're in Job chapter 23, verse 8 and 9. So what Job here is expressing, what he is expressing is spiritual desertion. At least desertion as it is felt to be. We know now that God never deserts, he never leaves his people, but that doesn't mean that the sensibilities, the feelings of feeling isolated from God can sometimes overwhelm us. And this is what Job is sensing. He's not sensing God's favor, he's not sensing God's presence. But we cannot allow ourselves to trust our hearts, as my sister Lisa says, the heart is desperately deceitful and wicked. And sometimes your own heart will fool you and condemn you, even though God is not seeking to fool you and especially not seeking to condemn you. But it doesn't allay the idea that sometimes we feel that we are being deserted by God, and it often has to do with the impatience and the anxiety that we often go through because of our trials and the oppressions of this life as they are perceived by us. Job feels that God is sort of hidden despite his own earnest seeking for God. And so Job is this here, additionally adds another layer to Job's discomfort. It adds another layer to Job's affliction, that God would withhold himself from involvement, and yet Job has no idea that God left everything to Satan's disposal as it pertains to Job outside of his life, of taking his life. But is Job here, is he denying God's existence by saying, I don't know where he is. I looked in every direction, I've been seeking him, but I can't find him. Is Job intimating that God does not exist? No. I submit to you that that is not what Job is saying. He is not saying that God does not exist. But what he is doing, he's sort of lamenting or whining over the fact that his withdrawal, God's withdrawal from him, is made itself feel very real to Job from a sensibility standpoint. He senses that, but that's not the case, even though the frailty of human nature can lead one to believe that God has left him, that God has abandoned him. And let me say this to every believer. Every one of us is going through trials in various degrees, in various ways, and various degrees of severity, I would say. And even now, there are so many of us, even amongst us, who are struggling, who are having a hard time. Never believe for one second, as Job is our model. Our dear brother Job is a model, that no matter how extreme, no matter how severe a trial you may be having, that you're going through, never come to the place where you believe that God has left you. And do not mistake silence for an opportunity for you to inject your own ideas into the mind of God and what he is doing on your behalf or what he is not doing on your behalf. We are not to be driven by our passionate emotions. We're to be driven by faith alone. We're to honor God by faith. And this condition that Job is in right now, that he finds himself in, is trying his faith very deeply. And you, my brothers and sisters, are going to experience the same thing. And understand something that if it can happen to a man who is as great in faith as Job, it can certainly happen to us. But let me remind you, always be faithful. Do not trust your feelings. Do not trust your feelings. If you start to trust your feelings, what you are going to do is find yourself going through a very trying situation that you are going to magnify the severity of it. And so this is something that I just want to inquire, or not inquire, but to remind you of to stay faithful in these things. Now, verse 10. Joe says, But God, but he, but God, speaking of God, but he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, listen to what Job says. Because it's almost as though he's coming to his senses. And we talked the other day about how faith in a Christian can go up and down. It has it peaks and it has valleys. And what does he say? But God knows the way that I take, he knows my way. He knows me. He knows how I move. And then he says this: When he has tried me, Job says, I shall come forth as gold. Job knows something about what it means to be a believer. Job knows what it means to be a believer. He realizes that when you peel away all of the sensibilities that we try to rely on, getting away from what it means to be faithful, like Kelly says, Job, when he goes back to the stance of the faithful and takes himself away from his feelings, he starts to rely on the doctrines that the Lord has given him to rely on in order to remain faithful. He says, but he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Job knows that God knows his going in and his going out. Job knows that God knows every step that he takes. Job knows that God knows everywhere he is because he says, God knows the way that I take. And then he says, and when he has tried me, tried me. Is he not being tried at this very moment in this narrative, in this story? Job recognizes that what he is going through is a trial from God. He says, when he has tried me. He doesn't say the enemy is trying me. He doesn't say the devil is out to get me, even though that may be the case. Job understands that what he is going through falls from the hand of God. It is by his sovereign control, his sovereign will that Job is going through this trial, and Job knows the reason why. And he says, And I will come forth as gold. Sister Lisa, go ahead.

SPEAKER_05 12:57

Wow, I'm sorry having to chime in. I have all these thoughts popping into my head right at the beginning. No word. Um you know, Job, and just the verses you started with, Job is down. He's saying, Where is God? I go here, I can't see him, I can't feel him. And yet, in just a moment, he he remembers that God knows all that he is doing, and he is going to be redeemed from all of this. He knows it. And my suggestion here is that's the spirit within him, reminding him, Job, be strong. I'm here. I never left you. These things don't just come, you know, because we're clever. You know, this man is sitting there still yet. You know what I mean? He is still, still in a miserable state, and yet he, you know, when you know, we we say Job is a faithful servant, but that faith is given to him by the Lord, and the Lord is the one who is upholding him and reminding him of these truths in this moment. I think it's so darn beautiful, and it's a reminder to us all that when you know, when we have no faith, when we think we have at the end, that's when the Lord's gonna swoop in and just raise us up. You know, it gang Lord is good.

SPEAKER_08 14:26

You're right, sister. You're right. He's like, he goes, you know, I mean, it it's it's amazing. He like he like you see you if you listen to if you listen to Job, you see him going up and down. You see the doubt coming to the surface. Then you see the you see the face, the faith overtaking the doubt. And then you see the faith or the doubt coming back, and then you see the faith coming back again. This is the Christian life. This is the Christian life. We are here to learn, we are here to purge sin. We are here to learn of God. We're here to learn what it means to love our neighbor. We are here to learn what it means to love our enemy. We are here to learn what it means to um hold our anger in check. We are here to learn these things. And so, and more importantly, we're here to learn about our Savior and what he's done for us because the value of what he has done is going to be predicated based upon what you understand your need was. In other words, your appreciation for the Lord Jesus Christ is only commensurate with what how you see yourself as a sinner. And so the the the the more of a wicked and filthy sinner you see yourself to be, the greater the degree of God's glory you will be revealed to. You will be exposed to. Sister Candy, go ahead. Candy.

SPEAKER_11 15:59

Could you hear me?

SPEAKER_09 16:00

Yep.

SPEAKER_11 16:01

It is from the beginning, it's like, guard your hearts. How many times does he tell us to guard our hearts? Because out of it flows the issues of love. And then he said, you know, guard your, you know, watch your feelings, which is so true. Right. Because those feelings can cause us to what's where I want to use, um, sway away so for the moment and forget, you know what I'm saying, God's word and his promises. But then his ways are so much higher than ours, and his thoughts are way higher as well. Right. So going through the trials, and what Job's saying is God is our refinery.

SPEAKER_03 16:40

Right.

SPEAKER_11 16:41

And so, no matter what, it's beautiful to see how God uses these stories of his people expressing to us what it's going to feel like when we go through things and we're seeing them, and they're teaching us where God's word can help us and comfort us and guide us. It's just like we say, it's just beautiful. It is so beautiful.

SPEAKER_08 17:10

It is very much so. Brother Pat, anything you want to add?

SPEAKER_07 17:15

Well, I just want to remind everyone that at the beginning of this uh of the story of Job, we've got the oppressor, we've got Satan, right? What do you think is going through Satan's mind after he's thrown all this stuff at Job right about now? You think he's got to be, you've got to be kidding me.

SPEAKER_03 17:33

Right.

SPEAKER_07 17:34

With what is with this guy? You know, nothing he's doing, it's just not working.

SPEAKER_08 17:41

Not working. And it can't work, it cannot work. Job is relying heavily on what he knows. You know, and so what and what we learn here, brothers and sisters, is this that even though God may seem absent from our perspective, his knowledge remains the same. And so the path of the afflicted, in this case Job, is fully known to God. Look what he says. I love what he says this. God knows the way that I take. He knows. How does he know? Because it is the Lord who ordered his steps. The Lord ordered his steps. That's how he knows. This is a problem that I fail to understand. How even a reasonable man doesn't understand this, an unbeliever doesn't understand this, let alone a Christian. When we talk about the knowledge of God, we're talking about what God knows. And if you're talking about God's knowledge in terms of what he sees we're going to do, that knowledge of God is based on his decree, his order. God knows Job's way. Why? Because God is the one who ordered his way. He ordered his steps, he ordered your steps. All of your determinations, all the things, the places you go, it is ordered by God. He knows where you are. You're never lost. And it's a beautiful thing to understand. And Job sees it. And he says that even in my trial, even when I'm in this condition right now, this affliction, he says one thing. He says, it is God who is the one who is trying me. God is trying me. And he says that this trial is fiery. But what is it doing? It is purging away from me all the dross, all the dross that makes me a stench before my holy God. And when it's all purged, I will come forth as gold. I will come forth as gold. The path of the afflicted is fully known to God, and Job knows this. This trial that he's going through, he understands that it is a refining process, just like gold is refined in fire. And the expectation is not about destruction. Destruction does not even enter to the equation when it comes to God's children, his elect people that he has chosen in him before the foundation of the world. Their destruction is not even a thought in the mind of God, let alone the will or his order decree. Never enters in. But our trials, our afflictions are all about two things. Our current purification, like Brother Rodney says, is about our purification and our ultimate vindication. Look at what Job is expecting. He knows something about the Almighty God. He knows. And we all know in advance that what he is talking about right now, he is going to realize. He is going to realize. Brother Rodney, that's a good one, brother. That's a good one. You nailed it. So the statement that Job makes in verse 10 reflects a strong confidence that affliction, that is rightly ordered by God as it only can be will ultimately end in a condition that is better than the one it began with. So look at this, Christians. You may be going through a very trying time. You may have gone through a very trying time. And perhaps you have trying times coming ahead. But what I will say is this the testimony of those who are Believers who have gone through trials in the past, they can attest to you that when it is all over, you will be thankful that you had the trial. Though when you went through it, it was not something you were grateful for. And you can also understand this, like we learned from Job. If you are going through a trial, you have every right as a servant of the Most High because of his promises that he made. Not because of anything he's obligated to do, but because of what he has promised that he would do because he loves you. And that is that whatever, if you are going through a trial, you can fully expect that whatever your condition was before the trial will be better after the trial than what it was before it. But understand something. When it's over, your station, you will be better than what you were before the trial began. Things will be much different for you. Brother Jeffrey, your thoughts.

SPEAKER_06 23:16

Well, brother, I just got here. I'm running a little late tonight. I uh spent some time this evening with my lovely wife. I just needed to put everything on hold for a while, folks, and invest some time into Joni. If you would, please. I'm still listening, but uh I'm trying to catch up on what your theme is here tonight, brother. So I'm still uh let me listen for a while, okay? All right, that's fine. Sister May.

SPEAKER_09 23:42

Love you, brother. Your thoughts. All right. Brother Rodney, your thoughts.

SPEAKER_10 23:51

All right, good evening, everybody. How are you doing? All right. Um well, I'll just be quickly because I want to hear what happened. I want to get through, I want to get through this because I'm uh eager, because it's bringing me back to the other night where we were talking about uh Job. And um I had mentioned something about it seems as though, you know, like God is trying to, well, God's ultimate ultimate intentions is to expand his capacity for what's about to happen. Um, and that's what this is kind of bringing me back to because it's like Job has no presence of God really because he's going through all this affliction, but he's still, yeah, he's still he believes in him, right? So um kind of in the beginning of my me coming back to Christ, you know, I saw something about consideration. And that's why I just put that in there. And the video was about, you know, being considered, and I'm trying to connect that together in response to, you know, everything of your own salvation and stuff like that. Because once you just realize, I guess he's Job's feeling it or something, you know. So that's what I'm trying to just, I don't want to talk against it, but I just kind of see what's what's what's what's what's what's to come. So amen. Brother Pat, okay.

SPEAKER_07 25:04

Let me ask you this, Jonathan. So at the beginning of Job, Satan said that if God allowed him to take away his stuff, that surely Job would curse God, right? Now, we put Job under the microscope, and even when we see these, like he's his humanity and and that he's not a perfect person, has he entered anywhere near that? What Satan said he would do? Is he he's not even in that universe, right?

SPEAKER_08 25:32

No, no, not even close. Not even close. Not even close, brother Pat. Not even close.

SPEAKER_07 25:39

Well can I just say this, Jonathan? Then we probably shouldn't take advice from Satan. I'm just saying that because not only was he wrong, he was really wrong. Really wrong.

SPEAKER_08 25:53

Really wrong. And he's been around for a long time. Uh, Sister Mariah, what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_04 26:03

Um, yeah. Um, I remember Job um in a few uh chapters earlier had said that like basically he couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. Like it was darkness before he could like know his way, and now he was unsure of it. But I bring that up because it says, um, but he knoweth the way that I take. And so I'm just like recalling those things and and knowing that Job is trusting in God that he will um that he knows what he's doing, right? And and in the end, it's going to be for the benefit of him and for his good.

SPEAKER_08 26:45

Absolutely. Sister Vanessa, what do you think?

SPEAKER_00 26:50

I think that you know, Job's kind of hurt because he's looking for God everywhere and he can't find him. So he's spiritually hurt for one thing, and then and he's looking for him everywhere. And but he knows that God's testing him.

SPEAKER_03 27:05

Right.

unknown 27:05

Right.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

And but he's he knows he's gonna purify him. And so um I think that he knows that God in the end will come through for him.

God’s Word More Than Food

SPEAKER_08 27:16

That's right. That's right. He knows right. And he and he and see, notice what he does, notice what Job does. He gets to a, he gets to a he gets to this peak of despair, and then what does he do? He leaves off from focusing on the despair, and then he leans in on his reliance upon what he knows to be true about God. In other words, he begins to trust in God's word. He begins to look at that. And see, let this be a lesson to us all as well, a very practical lesson. That no matter when you're going through these things and you are distracted because of the trial itself is distracting you from a sincere worship. Go to the word, because that's where you're gonna hear from God. That's what Job is going through right now. He's he's hearing it, he is reciting to himself, he's meditating within himself, he's communing within himself, and he's remembering that God is trying him and that he knows his way, he knows the way that he takes. And he knows that when he goes through this trial, that he's gonna come forth as gold. Remember, earlier in past chapters, we heard him talking about like despairing almost to the point of death. You know, talking about, you know, getting real on that dark side of things. But he comes out of that. And you see him, like I said earlier, you see him, as all Christians do, go through these series of ups and downs and ups and downs. But that ability that is given to us by God to go back to our the foundational promises, the foundational teachings of the Lord that gives us sustenance, spiritual food, enlivening us and giving us strength and putting a glow back on our faces and filling our heart with expectation and hope. And this is what is happening. This is what's happening right now with Job. You see him sort of like, you know, eat like Popeye spinach. He's going to God's word and he's being fed by it. Even though he still doesn't understand all that he's going through, he does know this: that all of his steps are ordered by the Lord. He knows that it was the Lord that that it's the Lord the one who is trying him, and he knows that he's going to come forth as gold, therefore, understanding that he is being refined to be purified, to come out on the other side of this in a much better condition. Verse 11. He says, verse 11 and 12. Job says, listen to what he says. My foot held his steps, God's steps. Job's foot, his foot held God's steps, his way have I kept and not declined. Do you hear the confidence in this man? My foot held his steps. Amen. My foot held his steps. His way, God's way, I have kept and not declined. Is Job saying that he never sinned or that he stopped sinning when he came to faith? No, that's not what he's saying. What he is saying is that that which God has entrusted to me, I have put to use. Sister Mae, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

Oh no, I just like I just wanted to, I was just gonna back up a little bit because in in 8 and 9, I think it's just so beautiful, but we see that, you know, he's looking for him in all directions. And it he's actively seeking the Lord. It reminds me of Jeremiah chapter 33, 3, when it says, Call unto me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things in which you do not know. And he is on this path now, where in his search, the Lord is about to show him these great and mighty things which he didn't know before. And in 11 and 12, his his foot is holding path, the path. He says, I have kept his way and not turned aside. He's gaining confidence in in his journey, understanding that he's going to be refined like gold, because he knows his redeemer lives, and his faith is just skyrocketing at this point.

SPEAKER_08 31:41

Right, right. So he says, My faith held his steps. I mean, my foot have held his steps. In other words, I walk the way that God is going. I'm walking with him. My foot held his steps. His way I have kept. And not declined. Let me tell you something. Or let me read on, because this is just too this is just too much. It's overwhelming. He says, Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips. Now keep in mind, he's telling his friends this. They are throwing everything at him that they can. Job says, I have not even gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Christians. I don't believe that there are more confident words spoken by any saint in the entire Bible than what we're reading right now. I'm not saying that there are others that haven't said something to this effect. I'm saying that this is the pinnacle of godly confidence and boldness. Job right here is killing it. If he were an athlete and we were in the stands cheering for him, this is where we are giving him a standing ovation for his faithfulness. And I don't mean that in an irreverent way. Somebody's gonna probably be like, oh, you shouldn't say that. It doesn't. You know what I'm saying. And so it's a beautiful thing because this is the kind of confidence that every Christian should have. And I'm gonna tell you something. It is not a sin to speak this way. It is not. And remember, it takes into account all your shortcomings. Job is in the middle of a mass, massive trial, and he doesn't even realize why, but he knows this: that his foot has held the Lord's steps and his way he has kept, and he has never declined. Neither have I gone back from the commandments of his lips. I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. And I can tell you something, Christians. I really can say this same thing. I don't know a day since I've been a Christian where the Lord wasn't mine and I wasn't following him. I'm not talking about perfectly. But my faith has never failed. And I hope every one of you can say the same thing as I believe most of you will say. I believe that. We need to be able to understand the difference between our faithfulness to our Lord and God and what that looks like and what that means, and what that means for our walk, and understanding that he orders our steps and that he keeps us, he keeps us from falling, and that we never decline because we can't. Any decline that you admit to, you are admitting, is a fault on the part of the one who can only sustain you. And if you are able to turn from him, it means that either you are never with him, or he somehow failed in his ability to sustain you. Leave that for those people, those foolish people who go around telling everybody that they can lose their salvation. Job doesn't understand that doctrine at all. Sister Mariah, and then Candy.

SPEAKER_04 35:28

Yes. Um, I just can't help but to think of the Lord Jesus Christ when he says that um I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Yes. And it just reminds me of when Jesus was being tried or tested, right? And he says, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the out of the mouth of God. So amen. Glory be to God.

SPEAKER_08 36:01

Amen. Sister Candy, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 36:14

And like uh Mariah was saying, like his word is how we get through. That's that's what he brings to our remembrance. That's the only way we're gonna make it through. But then, of course, you look at again, he never leaves us, he's not gonna forsake us, and then lean not into your own understanding. But trust and know, be still and know that I am God, and I'm working all things for the good of those who love God and are called plan. And that's God's word, baby. Amen.

SPEAKER_09 36:53

Brother Pat.

SPEAKER_07 36:55

Well, this terminology that we're getting into of a God who keeps us from falling, a God who sustains us, ordering our steps. What happened to free will? I just if you believe in any of those things, you can't believe in free will, too. Because if God's not tampering with you, he's not keeping you from falling. Right, right? God is not ordering your steps if he's not tampering with you, right?

SPEAKER_08 37:21

What happened to free will? Right. See, see, the the whole idea, brother Pat, about free will is that man wants to celebrate. Man celebrates by boasting about his free will. He celebrates his indifference. What's the problem with that, Meg? What's the problem with having the ability to be indifferent? What's the problem there?

SPEAKER_01 37:41

Because being indifferent is not being in Christ, is what I would say. I mean, our our just like the Lord Jesus Christ said, for I have come to do not my will, but your will. So his will aligns perfectly with the Father, and this is this is how I see it, make me a robot.

SPEAKER_08 38:00

But if his will exactly, but but if his but if his will was indifferent, what would that imply from a practical standpoint? What is that?

SPEAKER_01 38:09

If whose will wasn't different? Anybody's. If anybody's will is indifferent from God, then you're not doing the will of God.

SPEAKER_08 38:18

What it does, what it means is what I'm getting at, is that it means that you have an option to go against God. So the issue is this would you want a free will that makes you indifferent to the point where sin is an option? Or would you rather have that will that leads to sin, that part of you, be gone?

SPEAKER_01 38:40

I would rather it be gone. I mean, but because we had