Job 38;39: Brace yourself like a man

then the Lord spoke to job out of the storm he said who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge brace yourself like a man I will question you and you shall answer me where were you when I laid the Earth's Foundation tell me if you understand who marked off its Dimensions surely you know who stretched a measuring line across it on what were its footings set or who laid its Cornerstone while the morning Stars sang together and all the Angels shouted for Joy who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst

forth from the womb when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness when I fixed limits for it and set its stores and bars in place when I said this far you may come and no farther here is where your proud waves halt have you ever given orders to the morning or shown the dawn its place that it might take the Earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it the Earth takes shape like clay under a seal its features stand out like those of a garment the w Wicked

are denied their light and their upraised arm is broken have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep have the gates of death been shown to you have you seen the gates of the deepest Darkness have you comprehended the vast expanses of the Earth tell me if you know all this what is the way to the Abode of life light and where does Darkness reside can you take them to their places do you know the paths to their dwellings surely you know for you were already born you

have lived so many years have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail which I reserve for times of trouble for days of war and battle what is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed or the place where the East Winds are scattered over the Earth who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain and a path for the thunderstorm to water a land where no one lives an uninhabited desert to satisfy a desolate Wasteland and make it Sprout with grass does the rain have a father

who fars the drops of dew from whose womb comes the ice who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as Stone when the surface of the deep is Frozen Can you bind the chains of the pades can you loosen Orion's Belt can you bring forth the constellations in their Seasons or lead out the bear with its Cubs do you know the laws of the heavens can you set up God's dominion over the Earth can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water do

you send the lightning bolts on their way do they report to you here we are who gives the Ibis wisdom or gives the cockril understanding who has the wisdom to count the clouds who can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the clouds of Earth stick together do you hunt the prey for the Lioness and satisfy the hunger of the Lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in weight in a Thicket who provides food for the Raven when it's young cry out to God and wander about

for lack of food do you know when the mountain goats give birth do you watch when the dove Bears her for do you count the months till they bear do you know the time they give birth they Crouch down and bring forth their young their labor pains are ended their young Thrive and grow strong in the Wilds they leave and do not return who let the wild donkey Go free who untied it ropes I gave it the Wasteland as its home the Salt Flats as its habitat it laughs at the commotion in the town it

does not hear a driver's shout it ranges the hills for its pasture and searches for any green thing will the wild oxs consent to serve you will it stay by your manger at night can you hold it to the Farrow with a harness will it till The Valleys behind you will you rely on it for its great strength will you leave your heavy work to it can you trust it to haul in your grain and bring it to your threshing floor the wings of the ostrich flap joyfully though they cannot compare with the wings and

feathers of the stalk She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand unmindful that a foot may crush them that some wild animal May trample them she treats her young harshly as if they were not hers she cares not that her labor was in vain for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of Good Sense yet when she spreads her feathers to run she laughs at Horse and Rider do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing Mane do you make

it leap like a locust striking Terror with its proud snorting it pours fiercely rejoicing in its strength and charges Into The Fray it laughs at fear afraid of nothing it does not shy away from The Sword the quiver rattles against its side along with the flashing Spear and Lance in frenzied excitement it eats up the ground it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds at the blast of the trumpet it snorts aha it catches the scent of battle from afar the shout of commanders and the Battle Cry does the hawk take flight by your wisdom

and spread its wings towards the South does the eagle so at your command and build its nest on High it dwells on a cliff and stays there at night a rocky Crag is its stronghold from there it looks for food its eyes detect it from afar its young ones Feast on blood and wear the slain are there it is [Music] [Applause] [Music]