Job 10:1 - Meaning and Application

Here Job makes a passionate decision to keep complaining. He has been so struck by the awe of God’s majesty that he feels unable to argue his case before Him. So he decides to find some relief by pouring out his resentment in words. He begins with strong language, saying, in effect, “I am tired of my life, tired of this body, and eager to be free of it.”

In his weak moment, he goes against even what nature teaches. We would act more like men if we acted more like saints. Faith and patience would keep us from becoming weary of our lives, or even harsh toward them, when providence has made them hard to bear. To be weary of life in that way is really to be weary of God’s correction.

Job is tired of living and sees no other relief, so he decides to complain. He decides to speak. He will not pour out his soul by violent actions, but he will let out the bitterness of his soul in violent words. People who lose much often think they have a right to speak freely. Unchecked passions, like unchecked desires, often excuse themselves by saying they cannot help it. But what are wisdom and grace for, except to keep the mouth under control?

Still, even here Job’s corruption is speaking, and grace is also speaking through him. He will complain, but he will lay the blame on himself. He will not accuse God or charge Him with injustice or unkindness. He does not know the exact reason for God’s controversy with him, but in general he is willing to assume the fault is his own and bear the blame.

He will speak, but what he expresses is the bitterness of his soul, not his settled judgment. If he speaks wrongly, it is not his truest self speaking, but the sin that lives in him. It is not his soul, but its bitterness.

Job then turns from complaint to prayer. The first word he wants to speak is a request to God, and it is a good one. He asks, first, to be delivered from the sting of his afflictions, which is sin. “Do not condemn me. Do not cut me off from yourself forever. If I must lie under the cross, let me not lie under the curse. If I must feel the rod of a Father, let me not be struck with the sword of a Judge. You may correct me, and I will bear that as well as I can, but do not condemn me.”

This is the comfort of those who are in Christ Jesus, that though they suffer, there is no condemnation for them (Romans 8:1). In fact, believers are disciplined by the Lord so they will not be condemned with the world (1 Corinthians 11:32). So this is the main thing we should fear in affliction. No matter how God chooses to deal with us, we should pray, “Lord, do not condemn me.” Even if people condemn us, God must not.

Job also asks to know the real cause of his suffering, and that cause is sin as well. “Show me why you are contending with me.” When God afflicts us, He is in a kind of dispute with us, and there is always a reason. He is never angry without cause, even though we often are. It is good to know the reason, so we may repent, kill the sin, and turn from the evil over which God has a controversy with us. In searching for that reason, conscience must be allowed to do its work honestly, as it did with Joseph’s brothers (Genesis 42:21).

Then Job moves into a restless complaint about God’s dealings with him. Now he speaks truly from the bitterness of his soul, and he even allows some unfair thoughts about God’s righteousness. He thinks it does not fit God’s goodness and mercy to deal so harshly with His creature, laying on him more than he can bear (Job 10:3). “Is it good for you to oppress me?” he asks. Certainly it is not. What God condemns in human beings (Lamentations 3:34-36), He will not do Himself. Job feels as if God were oppressing His servant, despising His own workmanship, and helping His enemies. He cannot see what such treatment means. Since this cannot be a pleasure to God’s nature or an honor to His name, why does God deal this way? What gain is there in his blood?

Job is not accusing God of doing wrong. He is simply unable to make sense of God’s providence in light of God’s justice, and many good people have felt that way. They must wait until the day makes it clear. So we should not let hard thoughts about God settle in our hearts, because later we will see there was no reason for them.

He also thinks it does not fit God’s perfect knowledge to treat him like a prisoner on a rack, as if torture were needed to force a confession (Job 10:4-6). God does not see things as humans do, because He does not have human eyes. He is Spirit. Human eyes cannot see in the dark, but darkness cannot hide anything from God. Human eyes are limited to one place at a time, but the Lord’s eyes are in every place. They cannot see far, but God sees all things. Many things are hidden from the sharpest human sight, even from the eagle’s eye, but nothing is hidden from God. Everything is naked and open before Him.

Human sight can be fooled by appearances, but God sees everything as it really is. He searches the heart and is a witness to our thoughts and motives. Human eyes notice things little by little, and when we gain one view we lose another. God sees everything at once. Human eyes grow tired and must close at night, but the Keeper of Israel never slumbers or sleeps, and His sight never grows weak.

God does not judge as people judge. At best, human judgments are based on what is said and proved, and even then they are often shaped by feelings, prejudice, or self-interest. But the judgment of God is true, and He knows the truth directly, not by being told about it. Humans uncover secrets by searching, questioning witnesses, comparing evidence, and sometimes pressuring people to confess. God needs none of these methods. He sees as no man sees.

Job also knows that God is not short-lived, as humans are (Job 10:5). “Are your days like the days of man, few and troubled?” he asks. “Do they pass by in the same changing, limited way?” No. Human beings grow wiser through experience and daily observation. For us, truth often takes time to emerge, so we must test one thing and then another. But it is not so with God. Nothing is past for Him, and nothing is future. Everything is present before Him. The days of time, which measure human life, are nothing compared with the years of eternity, in which the life of God stands forever.

Job is troubled that God seems to keep him under this suffering for too long. He cannot see any clear trial, and he cannot see any release, as if God must search for some hidden sin before letting him go (Job 10:6). Job is not saying that God is tormenting him just to find a reason to condemn him. He is saying that God’s treatment of him seems to look that way, and that would dishonor God.

His prayer is, in effect, “Lord, if you will not think about my comfort, then think about your own honor. Act for your great name, and do not bring shame on the throne of your glory” (Jeremiah 14:21). Job also feels that it would seem like a misuse of God’s power to keep an innocent man locked up when no one can rescue him (Job 10:7). Job admits that he is a sinner, and he has already owned that he stands guilty before God. But he still insists that he is not wicked, meaning he is not devoted to sin, not God’s enemy, and not a fake in his religion. He has not turned away from God in a wicked way (Psalm 18:21).

At the same time, Job knows there is no one who can rescue him from God’s hand. So he sees no choice but to stay where he is, wait for God’s time, and cast himself on God’s mercy in humble trust. Here is the lesson: one thing that should calm us in trouble is that there is no point fighting against Almighty God. Another comfort is this, if we can appeal to God as Job does, “Lord, you know that I am not wicked.” We may not be able to say that we are without weakness or failure, but by grace we may be able to say that we are not wicked, and God knows it, because he knows our love for him.