Jon Huer writes

THE SEDUCTION OF JOB: Twenty Years Later   

A Dramatic Poem

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Job wonders about God's ways.

JOB TO SELF: 

Of all the wonders and mysteries on earth,  

The most amazing is why I am at peace 

Amid the ruins of my fortunes sure to come  

And the agony of my sin's progress. 

Why has God brought His wrath upon me, 

Whose blow has also converted my hardened soul 

In line with His sweetness of mercy 

And peace of mind that softens His anger?    

God punishes me with His fury; 

Yet, He opens my heart so I can see.  

I am the object of His avenging angels, 

Yet, their scorn also makes my mind understand.  

My sin punishes me cruelly and pitilessly 

According to the law of heaven and earth.  

But why does my heart feel mercy in God's displeasure

And in His terror do I see and understand more?    

There are other men of greater sins than mine, 

Old Eliphaz was right asserting the point.  

But why has God selected me, of all sinners, 

For His terrible wrath and His wonderful love,  

His thunderous anger and His quiet light, 

And His immense fury and His measured tenderness?  

Why is God's punishment so cruel 

I should suffer my great fall;  

Why does the Almighty love me so 

That I would find peace in my own death?    

In my suffering I am His favored sinner, 

And in my peace do I understand His love.  

But, why upon me is the burden of the elect, 

And of God's favor that I must return?  

Why has the Almighty chosen me, not another, 

Who has committed greater sins than mine?    

Of all the wonders and mysteries under heaven, 

The most wondrous and mysterious is still  

How He reverses a sinner's ways 

To do His work above all else  

And imitate the angels holy and saints pious. 

I am converted as one of His wonders  

And among God's mysteries have I reversed my ways.   

In His plan I became His chosen sinner;  

In His design will my possessions depart; 

And in His purpose have I denounced myself.  

All things are made new in my world without, 

As my being within is reborn as never before.  

In poverty I will leave my old days, 

And in prayer shall I find my new God.  

O the blackness of poverty, ahead and behind; 

O the loneliness of prayer, rejoiced and dreaded!  

In the purity of poverty 

I should praise God's reason,  

And in the sweetness my prayer 

Would I seek His love.    

Still, I am sorrowful to leave the world I know, 

And, in great fear, do I take my steps forward,  

For God's power to move me I cannot resist; 

Nor His call to awaken me can I refuse.  

In what other ways could a sinner respond, 

And how else would I answer His love,  

But in complete abandonment 

And absolute trust in Him?               

O freedom of my spirit, so true when humbled; 

O abundance of my life only in poverty;  

O my strength renewed in fears conquered‑‑ 

Wonder of all wonders, mystery of all mysteries.  

In my silent prayers does my peace come; 

In my tears overcome is my happiness found.

 

 The Reunion of the Soul and the Body at the Resurrection -- William Blake