Job 19:1 Then Job answered,
2 “How long will you torment me,
and crush me with words?
3 You have reproached me ten times.
You aren’t ashamed that you attack me.
4 If it is true that I have erred,
my error remains with myself.
5 If indeed you will magnify yourselves against me,
and plead against me my reproach,
6 know now that God has subverted me,
and has surrounded me with his net.
7 “Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard.
I cry for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has walled up my way so that I can’t pass,
and has set darkness in my paths.
9 He has stripped me of my glory,
and taken the crown from my head.
10 He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone.
He has plucked my hope up like a tree.
11 He has also kindled his wrath against me.
He counts me among his adversaries.
12 His troops come on together,
build a siege ramp against me,
and encamp around my tent.
13 “He has put my brothers far from me.
My acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.
14 My relatives have gone away.
My familiar friends have forgotten me.
15 Those who dwell in my house and my maids consider me a stranger.
I am an alien in their sight.
16 I call to my servant, and he gives me no answer.
I beg him with my mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife.
I am loathsome to the children of my own mother.
18 Even young children despise me.
If I arise, they speak against me.
19 All my familiar friends abhor me.
They whom I loved have turned against me.
20 My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh.
I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 “Have pity on me. Have pity on me, you my friends;
for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you persecute me as God,
and are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 “Oh that my words were now written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
24 That with an iron pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever!
25 But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives.
In the end, he will stand upon the earth.
26 After my skin is destroyed,
then I will see God in my flesh,
27 whom I, even I, will see on my side.
My eyes will see, and not as a stranger.
“My heart is consumed within me.
28 If you say, ‘How we will persecute him!’
because the root of the matter is found in me,
29 be afraid of the sword,
for wrath brings the punishments of the sword,
that you may know there is a judgment.”
Job begins by again explaining how his friends have neither understood him nor understood the situation he finds himself in. How long will you torment me, and crush me with words? You have reproached me ten times. v.2-3 They should be ashamed v.3 of the way that they have treated him.
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any sin, you who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness, considering yourselves lest you also be tempted. Galatians 6:1
But rather than comforting Job with a spirit of gentleness they instead magnify v.5 themselves against him. They personify the proverb:
The way of a fool is a right in his own eyes. Proverbs 12:15
Job’s friends seemed to believe that God was impersonal, more like a tried-and-true formula to be adhered to than a concerned friend. Conversely Job interacted with God in a personal way. Job spoke freely with God in an honest way venting his anguish.
God has surrounded me with His net. v.6
He has set darkness in my paths. v.8
He has stripped me of my glory. v.9
He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone. v.10
He has kindled His wrath against me, and He counts me as one of His enemies. v.11
He has removed my brothers far from me. v.13
My close friends have forgotten me. v.14
Those whom I love have turned against me. v.19
My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh. v.20
Was Job correct in believing that the hand of God has struck me? v.21
Remember back in Job 2:6 the sovereign God had said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life.” God had never abandoned Job rather God had allowed and overseen all of this, including the visit of Job’s rather harsh friends and their poor counsel, to show to the Accuser that Job was faithful. Against all accusations Job remained faithful.
Can you say the same: Do you remain faithful to God when you are facing unbearable hardships?
Job ends his defense with a beautiful statement of faith.
I know that my Redeemer lives.
In the end, he will stand upon the earth.
After my skin is destroyed,
then I will see God in my flesh. v.25-26
Job walked by faith not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7 If Job walked by sight, by the outward appearances of his circumstances, he would have given up on God. But Job understood that there is more to reality than what he could see. He knew that his Redeemer lives. God is real. God would ultimately save him. He will, one day, see God in the flesh. v.26