Job 13:20

JOB'S EARNEST PRAYER TO GOD TO KNOW WHAT HIS SIN IS

"Only do not two things unto me;

Then will I not hide myself from thy face:

Withdraw thy hand far from me;

And let not thy terror make me afraid.

Then call thou, and I will answer;

Or let me speak, and answer thou me.

How many are mine iniquities and sins?

Make me to know my transgression and my sin.

Wherefore hidest thou thy face,

And holdest me for thine enemy?

Wilt thou harrass a driven leaf?

And wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?

For thou writest bitter things against me,

And makest me to inherit the iniquities of my youth.

Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, And markest all my paths;

Thou settest a bound to the soles of my feet.

Though I am like a rotten thing that consumeth,

Like a garment that is moth-eaten."

Job's illness appeared to be terminal, and he expected nothing but death; yet in that awful extremity he turned to God in prayer. What a marvelous faith he had! In the previous paragraph he had asked his friends to reveal to him any sin that he had committed; and here he prayerfully asked the same thing of God.

"Withdraw thy hand far from me" (Job 13:21). This was Job's plea that God would ease the punishment which he was suffering.

"Make me to know my transgression" (Job 13:23). The absolute sincerity and innocence of Job in all this is clearly visible. Not merely to his friends, but to God himself, he addressed this plea. Jesus himself made the same appeal to men, "Which of you convinceth me of sin" (John 8:46)?

"Wherefore hidest thou thy face" (Job 13:24)? This feeling that God had hidden from him, or had forsaken him, was also experienced by Jesus Christ upon the Cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me"?

The glory of these concluding verses of the chapter is that they are addressed to God. Scholars differ as to the exact meaning of some of the expressions here; but the big point is that, in spite of all the uncertainties, the perplexities, the sufferings, the hopelessness of his awful condition, and everything else, including the cruel allegations of his friends and their utter incapability of either providing any comfort for Job, or understanding him, - in spite of it all, Job poured out his heart to God; and THAT is what made all the difference, finally, completely frustrating Satan's vain efforts to destroy Job's integrity.