Job 10:1-22
Job: I Would Plead with God
1 “My soul loathes my life;
I will give free course to my complaint,
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;
Show me why You contend with me.
3 Does it seem good to You that You should oppress,
That You should despise the work of Your hands,
And smile on the counsel of the wicked?
4 Do You have eyes of flesh?
Or do You see as man sees?
5 Are Your days like the days of a mortal man?
Are Your years like the days of a mighty man,
6 That You should seek for my iniquity
And search out my sin,
7 Although You know that I am not wicked,
And there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?
8 ‘Your hands have made me and fashioned me,
An intricate unity;
Yet You would destroy me.
9 Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay.
And will You turn me into dust again?
10 Did You not pour me out like milk,
And curdle me like cheese,
11 Clothe me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews?
12 You have granted me life and favor,
And Your care has preserved my spirit.
13 ‘And these things You have hidden in Your heart;
I know that this was with You:
14 If I sin, then You mark me,
And will not acquit me of my iniquity.
15 If I am wicked, woe to me;
Even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head.
I am full of disgrace;
See my misery!
16 If my head is exalted,
You hunt me like a fierce lion,
And again You show Yourself awesome against me.
17 You renew Your witnesses against me,
And increase Your indignation toward me;
Changes and war are ever with me.
18 ‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb?
Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me!
19 I would have been as though I had not been.
I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Are not my days few?
Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort,
21 Before I go to the place from which I shall not return,
To the land of darkness and the shadow of death,
22 A land as dark as darkness itself,
As the shadow of death, without any order,
Where even the light is like darkness.’”
Job pleaded with God in his bitterness of suffering that led him to loathe his life and beg for Him to reveal why He contended with his loyal servant who pursued righteous living. He asked the LORD if He despised him as the unworthy work of His hands by allowing the wicked to persecute him. He asked if the Almighty was looking to expose his sin and sinfulness, knowing that he was not wicked and also acknowledging that God alone was able to deliver him from this suffering for reasons beyond the grasp of Job. He alone held Job in a grasp of divine hands that nobody could snatch him from (John 10:28-29), just as we now know this to be true for all who are in Christ. Job knew and acknowledged that he was made by God’s hands (Psalm 119:73, 139:13-14), and could not understand why God seemed to want to destroy the work of those mighty and righteous hands, turning his body back to the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7, 3:19, Ecclesiastes 3:20, 1 Corinthians 15:47) which men were created from. He realized that he had been granted life and grace, and that his spirit was still preserved by God’s loving care for His creation, in spite of all these doubts and fears felt in his immense suffering. He still trusted God, an example and reminder for all who suffer until His return when we will see Him (Job 19:25-26, 27) at last on this earth in our sight. Job had these truths hidden deep in his heart as God had them hidden in His, and he knew he was accountable for his sins. He also knew that even in his righteousness he was unable to lift his head to look at the perfect one, for he knew that he still fell short (Psalm 143:2, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:23) of God’s perfect holiness. He let this give way to self-pity as he wondered why he was even born if this was the outcome, desiring that he had been stillborn instead, carried from the womb to the grave, to avoid this suffering. He just wanted to die and not come back to this world of adversity, feeling the darkness of the shadow of death where no light seemed to be found. He was in despair due to the immense suffering without knowing why he personally had to endure this, even though h had the pieces of truth yet unassembled in his hands as he had been pouring out in prayer to God here. We must not fall into the same pattern of despair while suffering, knowing God works everything for our good and His glory, as we read in Romans 8:28 and other places. Trust Him, only trust Him, as we know His grace and providence in Christ with the hope of deliverance either possibly here or definitely in eternity, as we plead with God in our suffering and trust Him through it all since we cannot see the battle for our souls (Ephesians 3:10, 6:12, Revelation 12:17) in the heavenly realm.
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