Almost everything in Job’s life tastes bitter to him. In chapter 23, his life is still miserable, and he is still weighed down with deep suffering (v 1-2). Yet when Job speaks again, he breaks some new ground in the debate. Job does not charge God with injustice but with absence: “Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come even to His seat!” (v 3). The longing of his heart is not to simply escape and go to heaven. This is a passionate and frustrated desire to present his case before the Almighty (v 4-5). Like the disciple Philip many centuries later, Job longs to see the God whom he will one day know as Father. So if a face to face encounter could be arranged, Job is not frightened that God would crush him—or ignore him (v 6). By faith he knows that he has a heavenly mediator (19:25-27), one who is also his judge—and Job’s greatest desire is to be “acquitted forever” by Him, declared righteous in God’s sight (v 7). But right now, God remains inaccessible. No geographical search Job could undertake would find Him—for Job’s problem is that God is invisible. He could look in any direction of the compass, even to the outer fringes of the cosmos, but he will not find God (v 8-9). However, unlike so many others after him, Job does not draw the conclusion that God must be dead, for Job remains perfectly convinced that God knows where he is! “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold” (v 10). All Job can do is trust God, and he does just that— confident that his faith will be proven genuine when the testing is complete. Satan is losing his bet! (chapters 1-2). Despite his trials, Job remains steadfast and single-hearted in his devotion to God. How has his faith survived the onslaught of these severe challenges? The fundamental integrity of his life is not attributed to Job’s own strength of will. Rather, he has carefully followed the words of God, cherishing them more than his daily food (v 11-12). But Job’s continued confidence is not a shallow or trite thing. While he longs to stand before God, he is also terrified at the prospect. He knows the LORD is unlike us mortals; He is one-of-a-kind, sovereign, and awesome. Job humbly believes that God will bring about His purposes through what He “appoints.” Still, Job feels free to continue his lament. Surrounded by “thick darkness,” he will not be “silenced.” Though unable to find God or understand His ways, Job’s conscience is clear as he anticipates his final vindication (v 13-17). For further meditation: