Job 7
Today Job continues his response to Eliphaz. He reiterates some of his agony (Job 7:1-5), his despair (Job 7:6), and his full expectation that his suffering will continue until death (Job 7:7). He expects that while his friends watch, he will die. (Job 7:7-10)
Job’s despair and expectation of death embolden his complaint. (Job 7:10) So he decides to “let loose” and address his complaint directly to God. He does not here look to God for comfort per se; he just begs Him to leave him alone. (Job 7:16,19) What is man, that You make so much of him, and that You set Your heart on him? (Job 7:17) That sounds very much like Psalm 8:4: What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him? But the tone and attitude are entirely different. Whereas the psalmist is in awe and wonder that God would care for any man, Job is annoyed (well, more than annoyed); he would much rather that God took no notice of him at all.
In Job 7:20, Job finally comes out with the question we so often ask: “Why me?” And he says out loud what we might ask silently: “What difference does my sin make to Almighty God? What possible harm could I inflict on Him?” And then in Job 7:21, Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? That is, “If I have sinned in some way that I can’t see, and if God could not possibly have been harmed by it anyway, then why not let it go? Why continue to torment me for it?”
I love Job’s honesty and forthrightness. I am pretty sure none of us could claim anything close to Job’s righteousness, yet we still ask, “Why me?” when trouble comes our way. Job’s view of God is not right here, but it is certainly commonly held — the notion that God is up there just looking for an opportunity to squash us like a bug if we step out of line. I think everyone, at some point or another, shares Job’s complaint. Like Job, we are not right in that complaint, but I am glad that Job gives voice to it and that the Bible includes it rather than “sweeping it under the rug” and pretending it doesn’t exist. The reality is that our existence is challenging and often confusing. Living in denial of our pain — or in denial that God is involved — is just flat dishonest and ultimately foolhardy.