Job 7:1-21

Job continues his speech only he changes his attention from defending himself before the accusation from Eliphaz to questioning God directly.  Job has lost hope and cannot understand why he has been singled out for this excruciating pain on every level of his life.  His focus is on himself and his own insignificance.  He is not attacking God or accusing God of being unjust but is simply longing for his life to come to an end so that he can stop suffering.  He cannot justify his own suffering in his mind.  He is not aware of sin in his heart that would warrant this type of suffering.  He knows God to be a forgiving God and so this pain without relief does not make sense to him and he wants to find relief.  We always need to remember that God and His ways will not always make sense to us.  He is over us and His ways are not readily discernible to us.

JOB SEEKS FOR RELIEF FROM SUFFERING THROUGH DEATH: Job’s hope has long been spent and he has reached the end of his ability to cope with the pain he feels in his heart and on his flesh.  His prosperity has all be taken away, his children have all died, his body is ravaged with illness, he writhes in excruciating pain and worst of all, he feels completely abandoned by God.  He has no hope of relief from pain apart from death.  He compares himself to a hired laborer who is able to tolerate his work because of the hope of payment.  The payment that Job longs for is death.  He is praying for God to be merciful and bring his tortuous life to an end.  His days are miserable and his nights bring no relief; only death would bring an end to his suffering.  Few people have ever been faced with this kind of pain and suffering.  However, no matter what our circumstance, if we are the children of God; death is always gain for us.  Things on this earth may get very difficult, but in Christ we always have hope for all of eternity.

JOB SEEKS FOR RELEASE FROM SUFFERING THROUGH FORGIVENESS: Job sees his life as a vapor that is quickly passing away.  He recognizes that in light of God’s eternal greatness, he is just a passing moment in the unfolding of history.  What he does not understand is how this insignificant person could be to object of so much attention.  He simply wants to be left alone to die and get things over with.  He does not negate the possibility that sin as brought this catastrophe upon him, but he reminds God that He is a forgiving God.  Job does not understand why, as such an insignificant person; God would single him out and not grant forgiveness if this is all a consequence of sin.  We will not always understand the choices that God makes for our lives and the circumstances surrounding us.  It is God’s prerogative to do with our lives as He sees fit.  We can call out to Him, we can beg Him for relief, we can ask Him for forgiveness even when we do not know of a specific sin.  We have no guarantee of relief or release from God, but we do have a guarantee that God is faithful and just and that His ways are always right even when we cannot comprehend or make sense of them.