If you've been following the Bible Reading Plan (download), as devised by Robert Roberts, then you'll be aware that the first portion ends with the Book of Job and the middle portion starts with the Book of Psalms. I'd always assumed that this was just because the Bible as a whole divided into three makes this roughly the place to split it, but at the same time why divide the 'literature' section (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon) when they are all grouped that way in the first place? We don't split the Old or New Testement section just make the numbers fit.

I think the answer may lie in the way we look at our relationship with our Father in Heaven, and in particular, how we pray and what we ask for.

Last year was difficult for me, as my Dad, Jim, fell asleep in Christ back in April. With the Coronavirus Pandemic we weren't allowed to visit him in hospital and eventually persuaded the hospital to allow him to come home for his last few days. When he arrived at home he was unconscious and never woke up before he died the day following. I was at his bedside, but never got to talk to him, and probably prayed to our Father like I have never done before. After he died, I wanted God to tell me why he couldn't be saved and what more I could have done. Why were my prayers so ineffective?

And for that matter, what was the problem with all my prayers in the past that weren't granted immediately? Was I doing something wrong, so God wouldn't listen to me?

I think the answer lies in the Book of Job, and how we view our relationship with God.

I have to say that I don't like Job's attitude in the way he starts off thinking he is knowledgeable, righteous and sinless (but God's answer from the whirlwind puts him in his place and Job sees the error of his ways). But the important fact is that it is Job's friends who are told that they haven't spoken what is right.

For a long time I would agree with what they said; if you are good then it's only right that God should reward you. But that in itself is presumptions and conceited. By this logic some people would say that those who are rich and happy must be right, no matter what they do, because God has approved of them with material things, and by the same logic the oppressed and poor must be wrong.

And contrariwise, if we do what we think is good, then God should reward us. If that is our attitude then we are essentially saying God should be serving us and He has a debt to pay us.

I think the purpose of the Book of Job is to show us that that attitude is 100% wrong. When things goes wrong it is an opportunity to demonstrate our faith. Otherwise how is our faith tested? We need to serve God, not the other way around. Throughout history it has been the way priest have made a living. Basically they say, "give something to us, and the gods will give something to you".

God is God, with all that means. He created everything and even gave us life. We owe Him everything and our purpose in life should be to worship Him.

Material possessions, and even life itself, are inconsequential compared to the gifts of God, that of eternal life in the paradise of the kingdom of His son, Jesus Christ when he returns to this earth. Yes, God has been good to me, probably more than I deserve, but I need to keep this in perspective. To thank God for what I've got and to share with others, but not to expect him to give me everything I ask for, when I ask for it. Even if I think it might be something that would be benificial to God, such as world peace or an end to famine. Yet God uses problems to further His cause. There would be no State of Israel without the Second World War.

The Book of Psalms are full of requests and praises and there’s also lots of calls for the wicked to be punished (but it doesn’t say that they were), and I look at Psalms as a book of encouragement, especially to someone who has just started to learn of the goodness of God. Maybe that is why it is at the beginning, but as this testing isn't something that comes easily and the faith of new believers might not be able to withstand such a test. So maybe the reason why Psalms are at the beginning and Job at the end, is to show the maturity that our faith needs to achieve.

I know that I will see my dad again, but it will be in God's good time, and not because I'm impatient and want things now. God has a plan and everything will work out for the best for those who believe. And it will be better than anything I could come up with.