Read Job 7
7 “Do not mortals have hard service on earth?
Are not their days like those of hired laborers?
2 Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,
or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,
3 so I have been allotted months of futility,
and nights of misery have been assigned to me.
4 When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’
The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.
5 My body is clothed with worms and 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, O God, that my life is but a breath;
my eyes will never see happiness again.
8 The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;
you will look for me, but I will be no more.
9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
so one who goes down to the grave does not return.
10 He will never come to his house again;
his place will know him no more.
11 “Therefore I will not keep silent;
I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit,
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep,
that you put me under guard?
13 When I think my bed will comfort me
and my couch will ease my complaint,
14 even then you frighten me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
15 so that I prefer strangling and death,
rather than this body of mine.
16 I despise my life; I would not live forever.
Let me alone; my days have no meaning.
17 “What is mankind that you make so much of them,
that you give them so much attention,
18 that you examine them every morning
and test them every moment?
19 Will you never look away from me,
or let me alone even for an instant?
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you,
you who see everything we do?
Why have you made me your target?
Have I become a burden to you?[a]
21 Why do you not pardon my offenses
and forgive my sins?
For I will soon lie down in the dust;
you will search for me, but I will be no more.”
Go Deeper
Job 7 is the continuation of the previous chapter. This chapter is important in the story of Job because he gives us insight into his theology in the midst of deep pain. What is interesting about this section is that we get to see that his thoughts towards God are correct, while also lacking important context. Job’s response towards God in his agony is important for us because oftentimes our theology will look similarly in our pain.
One of Job’s greatest grievances with God in this chapter is that God is so involved with Job’s life. Really, Job just wants God to go somewhere else! He writes in verses 17-19 “What is mankind that you make so much of them, that you give them so much attention, that you examine them every morning and test them every moment? Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant?” He thinks that God is so focused on Job’s life for the sole reason of bringing him pain as a punishment for sin. However, this is a very different picture from the one we get from Jesus. He says in Luke 12:6-7 “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
So while Job knew that God was involved in his life, he thought it was to bring him harm. Jesus tells us that God is aware of our circumstances because we are regarded as valuable to Him. God doesn’t take joy in bringing us pain, but deeply desires to comfort us in it.
In Job’s grief he again looks towards God and says in verse 21, ”Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins?” Again, we know in the context of Jesus that God does count our sins against us (2 Cor 5:19). He does not punish us for our sins, but rather He has taken on our punishment so that we might have peace.
While in this moment Job believed God to be involved in his life for his harm, we can know that our God is involved for our good. He desires not to harm us, but to give us a life abundantly. This chapter is an opportunity to solidify your theology today before pain inevitably comes tomorrow. Don’t let your circumstances define who you know your Savior to be!
Questions
- Is anything that Job says about God surprising to you?
- How does pain and discomfort affect your theology?
- What do you believe about God now that you want to remember whenever you go through pain?
By The Way
David took what was written here and used it as the foundation of Psalm 8. That chapter is written in a different tone. Go read it and compare their ideas of God.
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4 responses to “Job 7”
Job is searching and struggling to find God in his situation. He knows that God is there but the physical pain is so much he is in a fog. He believes deep in his heart that God has a purpose for what is happening. This is the process we all go through when we face something that we do not understand. We hope and we trust because we believe there is more than what we can see on the surface. The ugliness of the world in which we are in the midst of right now, shows us that we are fighting a spiritual warfare.
We have been given Holy Spirit due to Jesus’s gift. We have way more weapons and should have, far more understanding than Job.
I read some interesting questions that are thought provoking.
“Do you have enough faith to be sick?”
Do we have enough faith to continue believing that God is good when we don’t see a way out of our trials?
Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written,
“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:34-39).
No created thing, including our trials and Satan himself, can change what Jesus Christ has done for us and what He continues to do in us by His Holy Spirit. Satan cannot take the Holy Spirit from the believer. He cannot change what Christ has done for us. So, the demonic angels and principalities are disarmed (Col 2:15). They are ultimately powerless. We may suffer and experience pain, but Satan will not triumph because it is God Himself who works within us.
God I truly did not like the questions I found. Do I have enough faith to be sick or suffer a major trial? I want my answer to be of course I do. But I will be honest and say it would be a not fun struggle. God I believe I have grown substantially but this is a tough, icky thought provoking idea. God thank You for helping me to continue to grow in You. Thank You for Your word that helps me know what to speak and believe over myself and others. God continue to grow in all of the ways Your love cannot be separated from me.
God today in these minutes of this day let my heart be continuing to think about my faith. God thank You for Your love goggles to see others as You see them, to speak with kindness and tenderness, to love on the all that are in my path today in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“If I have sinned, what have I done to you, you who see everything we do?” (V20)
From the context, Job longs for his spirit to be renewed with God. In the midst of intense suffering, his musings are raw and real and relatable. Job seems to be wrestling with what he knows to be true about God and his present circumstances. (God can handle his honesty and ours.)
11 “Therefore I will not keep silent;
I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit,
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.“
These continue to be difficult chapters to read, but my takeaway is that it is OK to lament to God, even complain. We are in relationship with him and that is part of the intimacy that He has given to us. Blessed be the name of the Lord!
Job’s lament in this chapter is a raw and honest portrayal of human suffering. It teaches us that it’s okay to express our pain and struggles. God is big enough to handle our questions and doubts.
Remember, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15).