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The
Tormented Soul of a Suffering Man
Pat Gates
While this chapter really should be studied in its entirety,
there are good lessons that need to be emphasized so I've divided chapter 19 into three lessons, which have been shown
in red, green, and blue text. These are the titles of the lessons and we will begin this month with "How Long will You
Torment Me with Words?"
- "How long will you torment me with words?"
- "God has wronged me."
- "Have
pity on me, have pity on me."
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Then Job answered and said:
“How long will you torment my soul,
And break me in pieces with words?
These ten times you have reproached me;
You are not ashamed that you have wronged me.
And if indeed I have erred,
My error
remains with me.
If indeed you exalt yourselves
against me,
And plead my disgrace against me,
Know
then that God has wronged me,
And has surrounded me with His net.
“If I cry out concerning wrong, I am not
heard.
If I cry aloud, there is no justice.
He has fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass;
And He
has set darkness in my paths.
He has stripped me of my glory,
And taken the crown from my head.
He
breaks me down on every side,
And I am gone;
My hope He has uprooted like a tree.
He has also kindled
His wrath against me,
And He counts me as one of His enemies.
His troops come together
And build up
their road against me;
They encamp all around my tent.
“He has removed
my brothers far from me,
And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
My relatives have failed,
And
my close friends have forgotten me.
Those who dwell in my house, and my maidservants,
Count me as a stranger;
I am an alien in their sight.
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I call my servant, but he gives no answer;
I beg him with my mouth.
My breath is offensive to my wife,
And I am repulsive to the children of my own body.
Even young children despise me;
I arise, and they speak against me.
All my close friends abhor me,
And those
whom I love have turned against me.
My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh,
And I have escaped by the skin of
my teeth.
“Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends,
For the hand of
God has struck me!
Why do you persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
“Oh, that my words were written!
Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!
That they were engraved on a rock
With an iron pen and lead, forever!
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
And after my skin is destroyed,
this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see
God,
Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns
within me!
If you should say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’—
Since the root of the matter is found
in me,
Be afraid of the sword for yourselves;
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
That
you may know there is a judgment.”
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(Part 2)
"God Has
Wronged Me"
Job 19:5-10
"If indeed you exalt yourselves
against me,
And plead my disgrace against me,
Know
then that God has wronged me,
And has surrounded me with His net."
In other words, "You believe my suffering is the result
of my sin but this is not the case at all, for God has wronged me. He caught me in his net and there is no escape."
“If I cry out concerning wrong,
I am not heard.
If I cry aloud, there is no justice."
In the agony of Job's soul he cries "out of wrong"
(violence), but no one hear, neither God nor man. There is no just trial. There are no answers.
"He has fenced up my way, so that
I cannot pass;
And He has set darkness in my paths.
He has stripped me of my glory,
And taken the crown from
my head.
He breaks me down on every side,
And I am gone;
My hope He has uprooted like a tree.
He
has also kindled His wrath against me,
And He counts me as one of His enemies.
His troops come together
And build up their road against me;
They encamp all around my tent."
In Job's misjudgment concerning God's injustice to
him, he concludes:
a God has
walled him up where there is no escape from his torments, but only darkness.
a
God has stripped him of his former glory, which included possessions, health, happiness, and honor.
a God has broken him down and his hope is dead, as a tree that has been pulled up
and left to die.
a God directed his anger at him,
as He does an enemy.
aGod's army has
besieged him, imprisoning him in his tent for which there is no escape.
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"How long will you torment me with words?"
(Part 1)
Then Job answered and said:
“How long will you torment my soul,
And break
me in pieces with words?"
Job 19:1-2
Words can hurt. It
doesn't matter how strong one is spiritually or how much self-confidence they have, or how innocent they are; false accusations
and unkind words hurt. Job, knowing he was innocent of the accusations being hurled at him, was still "tormented"
and crushed by the men's words.
There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but
the tongue of the wise promotes health. (Prov. 12:18)
Unkind words hurt. We can try and deny
the fact others may hurt our feelings because we believe we are weak if malicious words hurt us. We may feel free to throw
barbs at the strong, believing they can take it. The fact is, words can hurt the spiritually strong and it
is not a sign of spiritual weakness.
David felt the sting of the verbal sword when he wrote: "My
soul is among lions; I lie among the sons of men who are set on fire, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and
their tongue a sharp sword." Psa. 57:4
In speaking of the Servant's suffering, Isaiah
writes about the Christ:
"But I am a worm, and no man;
A reproach of men, and
despised by the people.
All those who see Me ridicule Me;
They shoot out the lip, they shake the head,
saying,
“He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him;
Let Him deliver Him, since He
delights in Him!” Psa 22:6-8
Ridicule is mentioned as part of our Lord's suffering.
The simple fact is words can hurt and when a person's spirit (and/or body) is already being crushed by the trials of this
earth, hurtful words add an even greater burden and more suffering. All of us have felt the pain when the sword of hurtful
words has pierced us and we know how much deeper the pain when we are already down and out due to a severe trial that is upon
us.
Here was Job, severely disfigured, sitting in an ash heap, scraping boils, grieving not one, but ten
children, as well as his physical losses was in great need of kindness and comforting words. Instead he was being accused
of bringing this all on himself and his family because he was such a great sinner. I have experienced, on such a small scale
compared to Job, misjudgment in a time of great sorrow and it amazed me the lack of compassion and understanding this person
displayed. However, I had others who did understand and who would comfort. To have barbs of accusations slung at me without
any means of consolation, how absolutely desolate and disheartening!
"These ten times
you have reproached me;
You are not ashamed that you have wronged me."
Job 19:3
Malicious words, with no shame. Job
told his friends that ten times they have reproached him (10 referring to fullness or completeness) and they were not ashamed.
I'm amazed how easily these men could verbally whip this suffering man -- how they could look at such wretchedness and
feel free to crush his spirit even more. It is startling to read the blunt (false) charges they so freely hurl at Job and
while we may drop our jaw in astonishment, we also nod with an understanding that this is a fine example of what pride does
to a man. Pride lifts us up by crushing another.
The Bible doesn't reveal what the 3 friends talked to each
other about during that first week of silence with Job. In fact, we don't know if they spoke to each other or not; I myself
think they probably had times they may have been alone together, perhaps while eating or taking
a walk. If so, had these men discussed Job and decided before Job opened his mouth that only a great sin(s) could produce
such suffering? I can only imagine the relief they felt when Job gave began talking which gave them the opportunity to spill
out what they had been thinking all week. I can only imagine the pleasure it gave them to build on each other's accusations
and the camaraderie it created among them. It just felt good. Didn't matter how much Job suffered for they convinced themselves
they were doing God's will by giving Job that good lashing he needed.
(I don't want to add to what the
scriptures reveal and this is just my idea of what may have happened.)
"And if indeed I have erred,
My error remains
with me."
Job 19:4
The friends had been quick with their accusation that Job
was a great sinner, but so far they have not been able to prove any of these great sins they believed Job was guilty of. Job,
himself, wondering about the extent of his suffering and why he suffered, beseeched God for answers: "How many
are my iniquities and sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin" Job 13:23. The friends could come up with no proof
of Job's great sin(s), nor could Job, for the reason being Job was not a great sinner and his suffering was not due to
sin, but rather due to Satan's hatred of a blameless man.
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