Job’s First Response

Job 6-7

            Job responds to his friend Eliphaz with three thoughts. First, his agony is immense; God Himself has wounded him. It’s hard not to look at your life, when you’ve been devoted to the Lord for all of it, and wonder, “Why me?” Second, his suffering is real, not hypothetical. Third, Eliphaz’s words are like tasteless food. Job reiterates his desire to die, lest he live in pain and curse the Lord. He likens Eliphaz to a dried up river—no help to anyone in need of water. As chapter 7 begins, Job disagrees with Eliphaz’s theory: it’s not the case, Job says, that only the wicked are punished. Hard service is the lot of every human. In the midst of this, Job prays for mercy, that the Lord would see that his life is but a breath. If this is God’s fatherly discipline, as Eliphaz suggests, Job doesn’t want anything to do with it.