Job 13:21

"Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid"

and so Job lists his two things for God not to do unto him. withdraw thine hand far from me - the hand of the Lord is there for Divine help, salvation and blessings; And if that hand be withdrawn there is no help, salvation or blessings. the hand of the Lord is a phrase given unto us throughout all of Scripture. We should know that hand and what is there for. For as much as the Lord's hand is able to give these good things. If He withdraws His hand then we are left to ourselves and the devil will quickly have his way with us. Our family, our nation, and the church desperately need for the hand of the Lord to be stayed upon us. For as He withdraw it, His mercies, and graces go with it. WE cannot survive without it. Close proximitiy matters here, the nearer His hand the closer His presence; the farther away the more distant is His presence. Can you feel the hand of the Lord upon you? do you know that He abides with you even now? Sin and iniquity causes Him to withdraw His hand. This was the argument of Job's friends against him. they were saying that Job had sinned so great, that God had withdrawn His hand of mercy and extended His hand of wrath against him for his sin. The truth of this is accurate, sin will feel the wrath of God. But for Job, the only way the devil could get to him, was by God withdrawing His hand of Divine protection and mercy. And it was through this that God received the greater glory. Such times of affliction that are being endured does not find God withdrawing His hand, but He gives greater grace to abide and perservere through. See His manifold blessings from His Divine hand: 'Let Thy hand save me; Let Thy hand keep me; Let Thy hand help me; Let Thy hand guide me' Job knew and we should know that we are in great need of His hand. Is your request the same as Job's, 'withdraw not Thy hand far from me'? May you see how much we need it every moment in our daily life. And let not Thy dread make me afraid - Job is mentioning the fear of the Lord causing fearfulness with one of His Own; A lost person usually does not fear the Lord until some great destruction comes. When they are touched by the wrath of God then they cry out for mercy and they fear Him because He afflicted them. When all men shall see God at the throne, they will fall in fear of His glory and Presence. Consider that even John the apostle, when he saw the glorified Christ in Revelation 1, he fell down as if he was dead out of fear. The only difference of this fear is what Job is referring to in this phrase. A child of God does not dread His Presence, they fear Him for His glory, holiness and power, but they know it is for them and not against them. But a lost person, can not say that His power is for them and when he realizes it is against him, he is in a state of fear. OH, dreadful the hand of God when He stands against a soul. Who can stand against Him? Job realized his place before God and he loved Him and feared Him; but if we was to consider that God was agianst him, the dread of that was too much. Men do not know what awaits them, and this ignorance is not good. To him that beleiveth is everlasting life; but the wrath of God abides on them that do not believe. Is this not one of the horrors of hell? A constant state of fear and anguish of despair.