Weak hands and wobbly knees rob me of my doing and my going. Thank God for strengtheners!
Job’s lament (Job 3:3-26) has hardly died on the air before Eliphaz responds. He wonders aloud if “weary” Job is up for what he has to say to him (4:2, 5). But then he recalls that there have been many occurrences in times past where Job has been the counselor, not the one counseled. Perhaps this is an attempt by Eliphaz to fend off rejection from Job by suggesting he hopes Job isn’t one of those people who can dish out criticism but can’t take it. So Eliphaz starts with a word about Job’s earlier ministry, but it doesn’t take him long to come to what we call the point. “Those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same,” he says (v 8). We’ve seen your harvest of sorrow, anguish, pain, and loss, Job. We can only surmise what kind of terrible seed you’ve sown. To add credence to his message, Eliphaz says he’s seen a ghost! A spirit-being visited him in the night hours and whispered to him, “Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?” (v 17). Here’s the way to shut down all dispute. Say, “God spoke to me.” But Job really had helped others in their need. “Surely you have instructed many, and you have strengthened weak hands. Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have strengthened the feeble knees” (vv 3-4). Weak hands lose grip and feeble knees lose ground. These words are repeated in Isaiah 35:3-4 when looking forward to Christ’s own ministry, and then given again for us as a command in the New Testament. “Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed” (Heb 12:12-13). What a wonderful ministry to have, and how vital it is today!