Job 9

Job's words here remind us that anyone experiencing deep distress or depression is liable to lash out and say wild and irresponsible things. Those who comfort and counsel the sick must respond gently to such outbursts. Sadly, Job's three “friends” did not respond gently, and as a result they added greatly to Job's distress.

25–31 In these verses Job addresses God directly. After complaining that his life is slipping away (verses 25–26), Job tells God that all his sufferings are in vain because God has already found him guilty³⁰ (verse 29). No matter how much he might try to wash himself, God would just push him into a slime pit (verses 30–31). Job cannot win with God. And this inability to stand as an innocent man before God is a greater burden to Job than all his earthly sufferings.³¹

32–35 What can Job do? Where can he turn? If God were a man, Job could confront Him in court as an equal (verse 32). Then Job says: “If only there were someone (a mediator) to arbitrate between us—someone who could remove God's rod of judgment from me—then I could speak up without fear” (verses 33–35).

Christians today have such a Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). Jesus removes God's rod of judgment from us, because He Himself bore that rod in our place. Because of Jesus, we can now approach God without fear (Romans 8:15; Hebrews 4:16).