Job 6:8–9

All this stirred Job to reply. He begins by acknowledging that the arrows that had struck him came from the Almighty. But these friends of his had no proper sense of the weight of his calamity and grief. He was being fed on sorrowful food, and he wanted God to cut him off completely rather than prolong his misery.

You see he had not the slightest fear of death. He was far above it. He did not look at death as gain — he could not do that, because he did not have Christ to make it gain. He looked to death as the end of his trouble, the end of his suffering. And so it would be. That, of course, was a very partial way of seeing it, and by no means up to what God was going to show him. But I mention it to show that he had no fear at all of the unseen world. What weighed on him was the trial he could not solve in this present tangled life.

In Elijah we see the man of God, but also the man who was tired of life. That was not a feeling of faith. There is very often much more faith in being willing to live than in wishing to die. … Having known the Saviour, we may flinch under the trials of this world. Elijah did, and he wished to die, wished to get out of the trial — a most unbelieving wish… Death to a believer is gain, but we ought not to wish for that gain until the Lord's time comes. We ought to wish to do His will — the only right wish for a saint.

Job has only one thing to ask of God: that He would take his life. This, he says, would be a comfort, because his conscious uprightness would sustain him. He has not rejected God's words, and he has not rebelled against Him. That was true, and indeed the fruit of God's grace in him. But Job is using this righteousness in a self-righteous way, to justify himself at the expense of God's righteousness. He follows this course until he grows bolder in it.

Again he expresses his desire for death, which he had prayed for before. He could not understand why God did not answer such a prayer. He was sure death was better than the anguish he was suffering (vv. 8-9). Yet he did not think of suicide as an option. He says he has not concealed the words of the Holy One. He had not been guilty of covering up anything God has spoken (v. 10): could God not then listen to Job's prayer for death?

Poor Job! How much he would have missed, and how much the whole family of faith would have missed, if God had taken him at his word!

Weighed in the light of the New Testament, all these expressions fall short. Death is not a friend whose visit is to be desired, but an enemy. The hope of God's people in affliction and sorrow, in the light of the gospel, is not relief by death, but the coming of the Lord. … Job's language is that of a man in despair. He seems to have quite forgotten the bright and blessed days of the past, and fears a hopeless future.

Again he expresses his desire for death, for which he had prayed before. He could not understand why God did not answer such a prayer, for he was sure death was preferable to the anguish he was suffering (vv.8-9). Yet he did not think of suicide being an option.

Here is the part of his suffering that was probably more intense than the physical side. What gave his grief its sharpness was the sense that God's wrath was on him, that the dreadful poison of His anger was eating into him. We know this was a mistake. The discipline God's poor servant was going through was one more proof of God's love. But he did not know it, and we should not be harsh with a man who felt that the Lord was dealing bitterly with him.

You see, he had not the slightest fear of death. He was well above that. But he did not look at death as gain. He could not; he did not have Christ to make it gain. He looked to death as the end of his trouble, the end of his suffering. And so it would be. That, of course, was only a partial view, and nowhere near what God was going to show him. But I mention it to show that this was not any fear of the world beyond death. It was the trial he could not solve in this tangled life.

It is good, however, that he does not even consider suicide, as many would do today who are in such a condition. God had told Satan to spare Job's life, while allowing him to make Job suffer so terribly, and God knew Job's sufferings were needed to bring about results of great blessing. So that Job's wish for death was not according to the will of God. Job would not die until God ordained it so.

When you wake up to the full sense of your own misery, the first thought, and the most bitter one, is to curse the day you were born. It is a terrible feeling, and when God is not known it leads to suicide. But when God is known, as in Job's case, it is the beginning of healthy action... He does not know that God seeks to make him a witness of dependence on Himself against Satan. But this is God's way. Discipline may have the effect of making us feel that death is better than life, but it is working out God's purpose.

This is still greater despair. And that is what he looks on as comfort; he would even rejoice in pain that does not spare him. It would end his sufferings, and after death he would have nothing to fear. He was sure that he was right with God. "For I have not denied the words of the Holy One." Here is the first note of self-righteousness, of justifying himself, which becomes more marked later in his answers.