Job 7:20-21

20 I have sinned [chata']; what shall I do [pa`al] unto thee, O thou preserver [natsar] of men ['adam]? why hast thou set [suwm] me as a mark [miphga`] against thee, so that I am a burden [massa'] to myself?

21 And why dost thou not pardon [nasa'] my transgression [pesha`], and take away [`abar] mine iniquity [`avon]? for now shall I sleep [shakab] in the dust [`aphar]; and thou shalt seek me in the morning [shachar], but I shall not be. KJV-Interlinear

20 'Have I sinned? What have I done to Thee, O watcher of men? Why hast Thou set me as Thy target, So that I am a burden to myself? 21 'Why then dost Thou not pardon my transgression And take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust; And Thou wilt seek me, but I will not be.' NASB

Job continues with his questions, his rhetorical questions directed toward God, but presented here in this book for our benefit.

'Have I sinned?' This is more or less a statement, which has only one answer, 'Yes, I am a sinner.'

'What can I do about it? What can I do for You, God, with regard to my sin status?' This is a statement, which has only one answer, 'Nothing. There is nothing which I can do with regard to my sin nature.'

Who then preserves humanity if humanity cannot preserve himself? And that again has only one answer, 'God. God is the only one who has the ability, resources, and power to preserve mankind.' But this statement carries more meaning than just being the preserver of men, God is an observer of humanity. God knows man better than man knows himself. Man cannot observe and evaluate himself objectively. God can.

Man is a target because of his own sin nature.

Psa. 38:4

4 For my iniquities are gone over my head; As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me. NASB

Like a kind of genetic defect that passes on from one generation to the next, humanity cannot rid itself of defects that are ingrained in the very fabric of the human body. Humanity becomes his own burden-manufacturing machine. We make ourselves our own target for problems in life.

Why doesn't God simply pardon us all for our transgressions, and take away all of our sins? Why can we not stand before God, and confess and be forgiven? What is so complicated about that?

But then, life is short. Sooner or later we will all die, and then our bodies will turn to dust, back to the original material from which they came, and in the dust there is no life. When someone seeks us, they will not find us. Once dust has retaken its original form, then even that dust cannot be reformed into a viable human body. And certainly no one, not even modern science can command dust to become life.

What then is the purpose of these questions? Does Job not understand the spiritual life? And that answer too is, 'No.' In fact Job does know and understand a great deal about the spiritual life.

We have already studied this in chapter one. Job understands the purpose of salvation. Job understands the purpose of confession. Job understands the spiritual life. He knows how all three of these things are interrelated.

Can man pay the price demanded for sin? No. Only one person can pay that price and that person is the Savior, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Only then, once sin has been punished on the Cross, can man look to God for forgiveness. Forgiveness comes through confession. Likewise, fellowship, or what we call being resident in the spiritual life, can be obtained by means of our confession.

Once we confess, we enter into fellowship, then while in fellowship, we function in our spiritual life. Once saved, always saved. So even death cannot lose us in the fog of this existence.

God watches us continually, and God can never lose anyone who belongs to Him.

In contrast, as we have already seen, when God is not in your life, then the burdens of life follow you around like stink on you know what. The burdens of life are relentless and they follow the unbeliever even into the hereafter. The believer in Christ only has to tolerate the burdens of this life, in this current life. For the believer, there are no burdens in eternity.

Gen. 17:1-2

1 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.

2 'And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.' NASB

Walking before God and being blameless is the believer living in fellowship, and functioning in his spiritual life. Your spiritual life, the only life of value, is your worship, your relationship, your association, your connection, your link with God. Through your spiritual life, God passes blessings to you.

You alone per se, do not have any basis for a relationship with God. But the doctrine in your soul, forms a foundation, a structure, a pipeline, through which blessings unlimited come from God, to you.

People, often times, form the opinion that their successes are due to their own wit, intellect, and effort. However, Isaac Newton, in the late 1600's, who set the scientific world upside down with his discoveries in gravity, motion, mechanics, calculus, and more, couldn't have said it more plainly, 'All my discoveries have been made in answer to prayer.'

If God does not will it, you cannot accomplish it. God makes provision for everything in our life. And that provision incorporates every aspect of our daily life, from the environment we live in, to our education, to the people we will meet, to our work, and so forth. There is nothing too small which God is not aware of and has provided for.

During your life, you will follow the road map set before you, and determined by your own decisions. Before you existed, God saw your life and your decisions and He laid out a map, and guide, a path before you which will aid you on your journey.

We cannot look ahead in our life and see the hills and turns we will follow, but God has placed them there a day, a month, and year, a decade out in front of our life. Only when we arrive there, in time, and then possibly look backwards, will we be able to see the cleverly placed trail, which God has already constructed for us.

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