Job 9
Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to contend with Him, one could not answer Him once in a thousand times. He is wise in heart and mighty in strength—who has hardened himself against Him, and succeeded?
Job 9:2-4
Though I am in the right, I cannot answer Him; I must appeal for mercy to my Accuser.
Job 9:15
These verses (and everything in between) capture Job’s feeling of entrapment. He is facing the ultimate Catch-22. He wants to argue his own case before God the Judge, but the Judge is (apparently) also his Accuser, and he cannot possibly out-argue God, nor can he overpower Him in any way. Note here Job’s perspective of God as the ultimate Adversary — not the ultimate Friend. In verse 15, he rightly sees that he must appeal to God’s mercy, but only because he cannot successfully argue the rightness of his cause. He further confirms this perspective in vv. 19-20: If it is a contest of strength, behold, He is mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him? Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, He would prove me perverse.
Job then says that [God] destroys both the blameless and the wicked. (v. 22) That is, forget about good things happening to good people; instead, bad things happen to bad and good alike. Job no longer expects any good thing from God’s hand. From Job’s perspective, God is the Enemy who won’t even let him catch his breath to be able to plead his case. With God as Judge, Accuser, and Tormentor, Job has no hope.
What a woeful position to be in! We know that Job is not right here, but we are happily sitting on this side of the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. Job does not yet have that revelation. He does not see anyone as his advocate, let alone God Himself. (Job 9:33) We, on the other hand, know that there is such an Advocate: For there is one God, and there is one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. (I Tim 2:5)