Job 7:1-6
It seems as if Job in his suffering is no longer addressing his friend, but God his maker. In verses 1&2, “Has not man a hard service on earth, and are not his days like the days of a hired hand? Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages.” One must understand that Job, this man of integrity is suffering physical and emotional pain and is very confused. He is long past the question why and his friends, though trying to be of help have dismissed that he is close to being pure. Job vents to his Maker, and is saying things and having thoughts he has never entertained. Such as He is a harsh master, and uses terms like forced labor and that He is like a master that does not pay his servants for their daily wages.
I keep reminding myself that Jesus tells us that in this world we will have trouble, but take heart, for He has overcome the world. We are also told that the world and its desires are passing away, but the person who lives for God will live forever. I also remind myself how easily I get upset when a project I’m working on in the woodshop does not turnout, and I’m so glad I’m not Job. “So, give thought to your life before jumping on Job for what he says in verses 3-5; “so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me. When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’ But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn. My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt; my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh.” I’m such a wimp that one boil would have me in a total mess, and Job is covered in them with maggots. I’m not sure a lesser man would do as Job’s wife has told him to do.
We will end today in verse six, “My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle
and come to their end without hope.” A person who loses all hope has not long for this world, and Job is sharing that is where he is at this time in the story.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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