FAITH EVEN
IN DEATH
“Though
he slay me,
yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15).
Matthew
Henry in his commentary says that “Faith this is a high
expression of faith, and what
we should all labour to come up to - to trust in God, though he slay
us, that
is, we must be well pleased with God as a friend even when he seems to
come
forth against us as an enemy”. This is the kind of faith that we
need to make
sure that we have as Christians; and not that kind of vacillating
“faith” that
one moment is high because all seems to be alright, and then the next
moment is
low because everything goes wrong. Of course, that kind of faith, we
have to
conclude, is not fixed upon God but on the circumstances of our lives.
I’m
afraid that many times we do as Peter did when he was walking upon the
water
and then in seeing the storm, he started to sink because he took his
eyes away
from the Lord. But the faith that we are shown here is that faith that
will
trust God, no matter what! Job expresses this kind of faith in saying
that even
if the LORD kills him, he will still trust Him, “that even in
death, or after
death, he would confide in God” (Barnes
Commentary).
Although
this could properly be applied to mean physical death, as in the case
of Moses
(ref. to Exodus 4:24; cp. 1 Corinthians 11:30); and so there may be
occasions
that our God might be determined to deal with us thusly. Of course, it
doesn’t
necessarily mean that God will do it as He dealt with the adulterous
sons of
the priest Eli (1
Don’t
you
know, dear saint of God, that although “to
live is Christ, (but) to die is gain”; and therefore, we
should have “a desire to depart, and to be with
Christ;
which is far better” (Philippians 1:21, 23). Yes, it might be
we have to
say with Job, “Though he slay me”
according to His infinite purpose which He has purposed for me in
Christ