The Sovereignty Of God Over The Mind Of My Friends

• Read Job chapter 17 as a family.

Job completely trusts that God is sovereign over all of the suffering he has had to endure thus far. Now we see in verse 4 that he also believes God is sovereign over the minds of his friends as well. 

Since you have closed their hearts to understanding, therefore you will not let them triumph.

There are many times in our lives when we seek to know something from God that doesn’t seem to be found in the plain words of scripture. In these times, we call out to the Lord in prayer and wait for him to answer us through events and counsel from those around us. Sometimes you will even hear Christians say that God answers them in three’s, and will look for creation to speak to them consistently three times. Job listened to the counsel of his friends, compared that with what he knew about himself, and knew about the character of God. He then looked up into the heavens and declares his victory over his friends because he saw no wisdom in their words. And because there was no wisdom in their words, God must have closed their hearts to understanding. Hence my statement that God is sovereign over Job’s friends as well as Job. 

Have you ever asked a question of someone who didn’t know the answer? Have you asked a question of a person and they answered like they knew, but you were sure that their answer was not correct? In those times, did it dawn on you to say to them that God had closed their mind to understanding?

I love that Job speaks forth what he knows about God consistently. Our world needs more of it!