Job 6:1-30
Job: My Complaint Is Just
1 Then Job answered and said:
2 “Oh, that my grief were fully weighed,
And my calamity laid with it on the scales!
3 For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea—
Therefore my words have been rash.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me;
My spirit drinks in their poison;
The terrors of God are arrayed against me.
5 Does the wild donkey bray when it has grass,
Or does the ox low over its fodder?
6 Can flavorless food be eaten without salt?
Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
7 My soul refuses to touch them;
They are as loathsome food to me.
8 “Oh, that I might have my request,
That God would grant me the thing that I long for!
9 That it would please God to crush me,
That He would loose His hand and cut me off!
10 Then I would still have comfort;
Though in anguish I would exult,
He will not spare;
For I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
11 “What strength do I have, that I should hope?
And what is my end, that I should prolong my life?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones?
Or is my flesh bronze?
13 Is my help not within me?
And is success driven from me?
14 “To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend,
Even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 My brothers have dealt deceitfully like a brook,
Like the streams of the brooks that pass away,
16 Which are dark because of the ice,
And into which the snow vanishes.
17 When it is warm, they cease to flow;
When it is hot, they vanish from their place.
18 The paths of their way turn aside,
They go nowhere and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema look,
The travelers of Sheba hope for them.
20 They are disappointed because they were confident;
They come there and are confused.
21 For now you are nothing,
You see terror and are afraid.
22 Did I ever say, ‘Bring something to me’?
Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth’?
23 Or, ‘Deliver me from the enemy’s hand’?
Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of oppressors’?
24 “Teach me, and I will hold my tongue;
Cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
25 How forceful are right words!
But what does your arguing prove?
26 Do you intend to rebuke my words,
And the speeches of a desperate one, which are as wind?
27 Yes, you overwhelm the fatherless,
And you undermine your friend.
28 Now therefore, be pleased to look at me;
For I would never lie to your face.
29 Yield now, let there be no injustice!
Yes, concede, my righteousness still stands!
30 Is there injustice on my tongue?
Cannot my taste discern the unsavory?
Job began justifying himself before his friend who had been blaming his adverse circumstances on his own actions that he judged must have been the reason God was allowing all this misery on the loss of family, health, and possessions. He explained how heavy his grief in suffering was as the “terrors of the Almighty” within him were as poisonous terror to his life. He was unable to eat or even think about enjoying food if he was able to in his sorry state. He justified his complaints and begged God to end his suffering by ending his life, that God would cut him off and let him find comfort in death as an end to suffering. He seemed to know God’s word and yet could not fathom his seemingly innocent suffering he was enduring. Job lost all strength to hope and no desire for a prolonged life, seeing hope within himself dwindling and success to overcome this suffering out of his reach. Then he spoke plainly how his friend should show him kindness as he suffered and not deal deceitfully in accusing him of assumed sins as the cause of his predicament. He compared the accusations as coming from a stream that freezes and disappears into the darkness beneath ice or is warmed by the heat in summer to dry up, go nowhere, and perish from sight, useless to counsel or comfort Job. His friend was confident and convinced he knew the cause of Job’s plight with his assumptions and was afraid when seeing the state of Job in his suffering covered with freshly scraped boils all over and starving in the heat. Job made it clear he did not ask for his friend to come to help him by bringing something or delivering him from an oppressor or enemy. He asked for true words of help, right words with the power to help Job understand his situation and the he would listen, stopping the desperate arguments and rebutting of Job’s justification of his position. Then he would gladly listen to the good and godly advice. He saw Eliphaz as undermining his understanding of the suffering he was enduring and overwhelming him with words void of attempts to truly understand what was happening instead of automatically blaming Job for his sickness and situation on his sinning against the Almighty. Job then stood firm on justifying his righteousness (God had already said so in heaven out of hearing by Job in Job 1:8 and 2:3) and fair dealing with others as his position, one that was not as his friend had been accusing him of. We also may face those who judge our suffering and the thoughts of our hearts without knowing them as the Lord in heaven (1 Corinthians 3:13, 4:3-4, 5, Hebrews 4:12, James 2:4) alone can do. This demonstrates how Job justified himself under fire from the assumptions and judgments of a friend. We, however, do not need to justify ourselves in our suffering, but continue to commit our souls to Him in doing good as our faithful Creator (1 Peter 4:19) who sees from heaven and tests our hearts and minds in the face of our adversity and the wiles of our adversary.
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