Job Complains to God
April 21, 2020
Commentary
Job approaches God from several angles in this chapter. First, he challenges Him (vv. 1–7). With no mediator to defend him, Job speaks for himself. He pours out his complaint and refuses to hide his bitterness. He cries, “I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.” He wants to know why he is treated like an enemy, feeling abandoned and misunderstood in pain.
Second, Job reminds God that He formed him (vv. 8–12). He says that God shaped him with His hands and gave him life and kindness. “Thou hast made me and fashioned me together round about,” he declares. If God creat-ed him so carefully, why would He now destroy him? Job struggles to un-derstand how the Creator could seem to turn against His own work, ques-tioning the purpose behind his painful existence.
Third, Job feels as if God is against him (vv. 13–17). In his pain, he ima-gines God watching him closely, ready to accuse him. He feels hunted and wounded again and again. His innocence appears meaningless because suffering continues, as though mercy had been completely withdrawn. Fi-nally, Job requests relief (vv. 18–22). He wishes he had died at birth. Since he is still alive, he asks for a brief moment of comfort before entering the dark-ness of death, seeking even a small glimpse of peace, before descending into silent despair.
In frustration, Job reaches wrong conclusions about God’s heart. When emotions are strong, it is easy to assume the worst. But our understanding is limited. We do not see the full picture, nor the hidden purposes behind our trials. Though pain is real, God’s purposes are not cruel. When we struggle, we must be careful not to let wounded feelings define who God truly is or twist our view of Him.
Application
When I feel misunderstood or hurt, do I accuse God too quickly? Do I let strong emotions define His heart? When I do not understand His ways, will I still remember that He formed me with care? Instead of assuming the worst, can I trust that His purposes are loving? I’ll choose to speak honestly, yet humbly, before Him.
Job 10:1–22 (NET)
1 “I am weary of my life; I will complain freely without restraint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; tell me why you are contending with me.’
3 Is it good for you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands, while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?
4 “Do you have eyes of flesh, or do you see as a human being sees?
5 Are your days like the days of a mortal, or your years like the years of a mortal,
6 that you must search out my iniquity, and inquire about my sin,
7 although you know that I am not guilty, and that there is no one who can deliver out of your hand?
8 “Your hands have shaped me and made me, but now you destroy me completely.
9 Remember that you have made me as with the clay; will you return me to dust?
10 Did you not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You gave me life and favor, and your intervention watched over my spirit.
13 “But these things you have concealed in your heart; I know that this is with you:
14 If I sinned, then you would watch me and you would not acquit me of my iniquity.
15 If I am guilty, woe to me, and if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head; I am full of shame, and satiated with my affliction.
16 If I lift myself up, you hunt me as a fierce lion, and again you display your power against me.
17 You bring new witnesses against me, and increase your anger against me; relief troops come against me.
18 “Why then did you bring me out from the womb? I should have died and no eye would have seen me!
19 I should have been as though I had never existed; I should have been carried right from the womb to the grave!
20 Are not my days few? Cease, then, and leave me alone that I may find a little comfort,
21 before I depart, never to return, to the land of darkness and the deepest shadow,
22 to the land of utter darkness, like the deepest darkness, and the deepest shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”
Cigarette Smoking Lady Convicted by Her Parrot
A California woman became extremely irritated by the hacking cough of her pet parrot. When this distressing symptom persisted, she took the bird to a veterinarian who checked his feathered patient and found it to be in perfect health. Furthermore, … Continue