Job 9:25 - Meaning and Application

Job becomes more and more bitter here, and he does not end the chapter with the same reverence for God’s wisdom and justice that he showed at the start. People who let a complaining spirit grow do not know how far it can carry them, even into disrespect toward God. The first step in a quarrel with God is like opening a floodgate, so it is wise to stop before it begins. When we suffer, we may complain to God, as the psalmists often did, but we must not complain about God, as Job does here.

His complaint that his happy days have passed is understandable enough. He says his days, meaning all his good days, are gone and will never return. They were gone so suddenly that he hardly noticed them leave. No messenger carrying good news ever moved as fast as his comforts did when they left him. No ship sailed to its port, and no eagle flew after its prey, with such speed; and his prosperity left no more trace than an eagle leaves in the sky or a ship in the sea (Proverbs 30:19).

This teaches us how fast time moves. It is always rushing ahead and never waits for anyone. That is why we should not waste time, and why we should work to use it well, because time is always moving toward eternity. It also shows how empty the pleasures of this life are, since they can be taken from us while time itself still goes on. A life may last longer than our season of success, and when that success is gone, it is as if it had never been. Later, it will comfort us to remember that we did what was right. It will not comfort us much to remember that we once had much wealth if it is all lost.

Job’s complaint about his present distress is easier to excuse. He seems to have tried to calm himself, just as his friends had urged him. He wanted to forget his complaints and praise God. He wanted to set aside his sadness and comfort himself so he could speak rightly with both God and people. But he found he could not do it. He says, “I am afraid of all my sorrows.” When he tried hardest to fight his trouble, it pressed on him all the more and proved too strong for him.

In such cases, it is easier to know what we ought to do than to do it. It is easier to say what spirit we should have than to enter into that spirit and keep it. It is simple to preach patience to suffering people and tell them to forget their complaints and comfort themselves. But it is not as easy to do as to say. Fear and sorrow are harsh masters, and they do not easily yield to religion or sound reason.

But Job’s complaint about God, as if God were unyielding and impossible to please, cannot be excused. This was the voice of his sinful nature, not of his settled faith. He knew better, and at another time he would never have thought such hard thoughts of God. Good people do not always speak in a way that matches their real beliefs. Yet God, who knows our weakness and how strong our temptations can be, later allows them to take back what they said wrongly through repentance, and he does not hold it against them.

Job seems to speak as if he had no hope of getting relief from God, even if he proved his innocence clearly. He says, “I know that you will not hold me innocent.” His troubles had lasted so long and grown so fast that he did not expect God ever to clear him by restoring him to a good condition. Right or wrong, he feels he must be treated like a wicked man. His friends will keep thinking that, and God will keep laying on him the sufferings that seem to support their judgment. So he asks why he should keep trying to defend himself and prove his integrity.

He also seems to think that trying to clear himself would only make things worse. Even if he washed with snow water and made his innocence as plain as possible, it would do no good. He says God would plunge him into the ditch, meaning either the pit of destruction or the filthy sewer, and that would make him so foul in others’ eyes that his own clothes would seem to hate him, and he would be ashamed to touch himself. He saw that his sufferings came from God, and those sufferings made him look blackened in the eyes of his friends. So he complained about the suffering and its long continuance, because it seemed to ruin not only his comfort but also his good name.

Yet these words can be understood in a better way. Even if we work hard to justify ourselves before people and keep our reputation with them, and even if we avoid the open sins everyone can see, God still knows the heart. He can charge us with secret sin that destroys every claim we make to purity and innocence, and he can show us how unclean we are in his holy sight. Paul, when he was a Pharisee, kept his outward conduct very clean. But when the commandment came and exposed the sins of his heart, it showed him lust and brought him low.

Job also speaks as if he could not have a fair hearing from God, and that would indeed be a hard thing. He complains that he is not on equal terms with God. He says, “He is not a man, as I am.” He could argue with a man like himself, since potsherds may contend with other potsherds of the earth. But God is far above him, so he does not dare to enter into a dispute with him. He thinks he would surely be defeated if he tried to contend with God.

This reminds us that God is not a man like we are. Even the greatest princes are still men like us, but that is not true of God. His thoughts and ways are infinitely above ours, and we must never judge him by human standards. We are foolish and weak, frail and changeable, but God is not. We are dependent creatures who must die, while he is the independent, living, eternal Creator. Thinking about this should make us humble and quiet before God. We must not put ourselves on his level, but always remember that he is far above us.

Job then says there is no mediator between them, no one to stand between him and God and settle the dispute.

This complaint, saying there is no mediator, is really a wish that there were one. The Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation, brings out that sense: “O that there were a mediator between us!” Job would gladly hand the matter over to someone to settle it, but no creature was fit to act as a judge between him and God. So he must still leave the case with God himself and accept his judgment.

Our Lord Jesus is that blessed mediator, the one who stands between God and humanity and has laid his hand on both (Job 9:25; 1 Timothy 2:5). The Father has given all judgment to him, and we must come to God through him. But this truth was not yet as clearly shown in Job’s day as it is now through the gospel. Because of that, Job’s complaint was understandable, and the gospel leaves no room for such despair.

Job also says that God’s terrors had set themselves in battle against him, and this left him too troubled to speak to God with his former confidence (Job 9:34-35). Besides the distance he felt because of God’s greatness, God’s present dealings with him were deeply discouraging. “Take your rod away from me,” he means. He is speaking less about his outward sufferings and more about the heavy burden on his spirit from fearing God’s anger.

Job longs for that burden to be lifted. He wants to see God’s mercy again, and not be overwhelmed by nothing but terror. Then, he says, he could speak freely and present his case. But that is not his present condition. The cloud has not gone away, God’s wrath still seems to press on his soul, and Job does not know what to do.

From this, we should learn four things. First, we should stand in awe of God and fear the power of his wrath. If even godly people have been brought to such distress by it, where will the wicked and the sinner stand? Second, we should pity those who are wounded in spirit, and pray earnestly for them, because in that state they often cannot pray for themselves. Third, we should guard our thoughts about God, because hard thoughts of him open the door to much harm. Fourth, we should thank God that we are not in such deep sorrow as poor Job was, but walk in the light of the Lord. Let us rejoice in that light, but do so with reverence.