Why is Life so Hard?

Topic: Futility

Passage: Job 7:1–21

May 23, 2019

Commentary

In this chapter, Job speaks directly to God about the seeming futility of his life. He wonders why he should continue living and what purpose his suffering serves. In deep distress, he cries, “What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him?” He compares life to a weary servant longing for relief (vv. 1–2). His nights are long and restless as he tosses until dawn without peace (vv. 3–4). His body is covered with painful sores (v. 5). Life feels slow and heavy with misery, yet it also passes quickly, like a weaver’s shuttle (v. 6). It fades like wind or a disappearing cloud (vv. 7–10), fragile and temporary, reminding Job how limited human life truly is. Such reflections reveal deep exhaustion, grief, and longing for meaning and hope beyond suffering.

Feeling he has nothing left to lose, Job pours out his honest thoughts before God. Even when physical pain eases, terrifying dreams disturb his rest (vv. 13–14). He admits that he would rather die than continue living in such agony (vv. 15–16). Job feels that God watches him constantly and will not leave him alone. Confused and overwhelmed, he asks why his life matters so much if it is filled with suffering. He struggles to understand the purpose behind such constant attention, feeling examined without relief or explanation.

Job then pleads to know his sin. “I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee?” he asks (v. 20). If he is guilty, he longs for forgiveness before it is too late. “Why do not pardon my transgression?” (v. 21). Perhaps a better question would have been what God was teaching him through this pain. Hurting people need encouragement, not argument. Our words should heal rather than wound, because careless speech can deepen sorrow instead of gently restoring hope and faith.

Application

I bring my questions to God today, just as Job did. When life feels heavy and confusing, do I speak honestly to Him, or stay silent? Do I believe God can handle my pain and doubts without fear? I ask for grace to trust Him, to keep praying, and to speak gently to others who suffer, offering comfort instead of judgment.

Job 7:1–21 (NET)

¹ “Does not humanity have hard service on earth? Are not their days also like the days of a hired man?

² Like a servant longing for the evening shadow, and like a hired man looking for his wages,

³ thus I have been made to inherit months of futility, and nights of sorrow have been appointed to me.

⁴ If I lie down, I say, ‘When will I arise?’ And the night stretches on and I toss and turn restlessly until the day dawns.

⁵ My body is clothed with worms and dirty scabs; my skin is broken and festering.

⁶ My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle and they come to an end without hope.

⁷ Remember that my life is but a breath, that my eyes will never again see happiness.

⁸ The eye of him who sees me now will see me no more; your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.

⁹ As a cloud is dispersed and then disappears, so the one who goes down to the grave does not come up again.

¹⁰ He returns no more to his house, nor does his place of residence know him anymore.

¹¹ “Therefore, I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹² Am I the sea, or the creature of the deep, that you must put me under guard?

¹³ If I say, ‘My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,’

¹⁴ then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions,

¹⁵ so that I would prefer strangling, and death more than life.

¹⁶ I loathe it; I do not want to live forever; leave me alone, for my days are a vapor!

¹⁷ “What is mankind that you make so much of them, and that you pay attention to them?

¹⁸ And that you visit them every morning, and try them every moment?

¹⁹ Will you never look away from me, will you not let me alone long enough to swallow my spittle?

²⁰ If I have sinned—what have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you set me as your target? Have I become a burden to you?

²¹ And why do you not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust, and you will seek me diligently, but I will be gone.”

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