Job 10:8

JOB CONTINUES TO PLEAD WITH GOD

Here indeed is the secret of spiritual excellence. Suffering, distressed, shamefully treated by his friends, Job nevertheless communed continually with the Lord in prayer.

"Thy hands have framed me and fashioned me

Together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.

Remember, I beseech thee that thou hast fashioned me as clay;

And wilt thou bring me into dust again?

Hast thou not poured me out as milk,

And curdled me like cheese?

Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh,

And knit me together with bones and sinews,

Thou hast granted me life and lovingkindness;

And thy visitations have preserved my spirit.

Yet these things thou didst hide in thy heart;

I know that this is with thee:

If I sin, then thou markest me,

And thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.

If I be wicked, woe unto me;

And if I be righteous, yet shall I not lift up my head;

Being filled with ignominy,

And looking upon mine affliction.

And if my head exalt itself,

Thou huntest me as a lion;

And again thou showest thyself marvelous upon me.

Thou renewest thy witnesses against me,

And increasest thine indignation upon me:

Changes and warfare are with me."

"Thou hast fashioned me as dust" (Job 10:9). The Psalmist remembered these very words (Psalms 103:14), expressing the same thought that was here in the mind of Job. Job here also granted the right of God to bring him again into the dust.

"Thou hast granted me life ... and lovingkindness ... and preserved my spirit" (Job 10:12). What a beautiful example is this! When sorrows are multiplied and the terrors of life seem about to sweep us away, what a consolation derives from remembering those precious and wonderful things that God did for his in the days that have vanished.

"These things thou didst hide ... I know this is from thee" (Job 10:13). Job here spoke of the terrible things that had come upon him; but he here showed himself willing to accept bad things as well as good from the hand of God.

"If I be righteous, yet shall I not lift up my head ... being filled with ignominy" (Job 10:l5). The very condition of Job was one of extreme shame; and he recognized that, even if his righteousness should be known, his pitiful condition would deny it in the eyes of men.

"Thou showest thyself marvelous upon me" (Job 10:16). Job here called attention to the superlative nature of the disasters that had come upon him. The complimnent he thus bestowed upon God should not be overlooked.

"Thou renewest thy witnesses against me" (Job 10:17). This appears to be a reference to Job's friends whose words certainly were, in a sense, witnesses against Job. In view of all this, Job again renewed his appeal for God to let him die.