What is man, that thou makest much of him? and that thou settest thy heart upon him?
Job is in deep pain, and out of that pain comes a question about the worth of man. The words sound like awe, but Job wants the opposite — he is asking God to look away and leave him alone.
One writer reads the whole outburst as a protest against God's attention.
Job says this in a complaining, badly-behaved spirit: Why does the LORD take such notice of me, and make such a trouble about me? Why does He not depart from me, or let me alone until I swallow down my spittle? Why should the LORD think so much of me, and not cut me off?
Job feels that God's government is too heavy for a creature built like him.
Here it is man under the discipline of God; under the moral government of God. "Oh," he says, "what is man, to be under such a tremendous government as this? If I were a sea I would not feel it. If I were a big whale, I might endure more than I can now. But what is man?" — poor, sensitive man, full of his nerves and his feelings, his mind embittered by his outward trial. "Oh!" he said, "end it! end it!"
The same question appears twice more in the Bible. Each time it carries a different sense.
Scripture asks three times, "What is man?" Job asks it (chapter 7), the remnant asks it in Psalm 144, and the Spirit of Christ asks it in Psalm 8. Job asks it because of God's care over such an insignificant thing as he was. He exclaims, "What is man?" He says, in effect, "Why should You think of me, consider me, a poor worm?" That is what man is. Then the remnant, smarting at the hands of their enemies, ask, "What is man?" ... But in Psalm 8 it is the Spirit of Christ who asks, "What is man?" And the answer is JESUS, the Man according to the whole counsel of God.
Why did God keep pressing when Job had held firm? One writer points to something in Job that the enemy's attack never touched.
If things had stopped there, the experience would probably have harmed Job. He might have said with self-satisfaction that he had stood true to God in good times and in suffering. Chapter 29 makes it plain that a weed of self-satisfaction was already growing in him. He himself probably did not see it, but it was plain enough to the holy eye of God. So God went on with the work at the point where the enemy had to give it up.
God really was making much of one man and setting His heart on him.
The interest of God in the individual soul, though so hard for Job to explain at that moment, is most precious. What greater proof could we have of its reality than the book we are speaking about? Think of it: one of the largest books of the Bible is taken up entirely with the story of God's dealings with one soul — and a man who was not even of Abraham's line! Such was God's interest in His servant that He did not "look away" from him, nor "let him alone," despite his prayer. He went forward with His gracious work until it was finished, and the full blessing of it had been reaped.
What Job begged God to stop becomes precious to a person who has seen God.
Job, with all his outward perfection, had not yet seen God as he was to see Him... How blessed, then, when we have seen Him indeed, to know that every step we take in the way is a matter of concern to Him! — that there is not an hour of the day but He has some thought as to how we should spend it!
Job asks what man is in chapter 7. He does not find out until much later. The answer comes when he sees God, not when he argues.
Not until chapter 40 does Job discover he is vile, and stop speaking. It is then he begins to enter into what man is... In good times his goodness gave him a basis for self-satisfaction. Now in trouble — sent to remove this — he complains! Such is man under instruction. Not until he says, "My eye sees You," does he say, "Therefore I despise myself."
- Complaint — pain forces the question out of Job. God's constant watching feels unbearable, and he begs God to leave him alone.
- Discipline — that attention was God teaching one man. He took up the work where the enemy left off, to dig out a self-satisfaction Job could not see in himself.
- Interest — God truly sets His heart on one man. A whole book of the Bible records His dealings with one soul outside Abraham's line.
- Refusal — God did not look away when Job asked Him to. He went on with the work until the full blessing had been reaped.
- Answer — the reply comes elsewhere. In Psalm 8 the same question finds its answer in Christ. Job finds his answer only when he sees God and stops defending himself.
And that thou visitest him every morning, triest him every moment?
Job is answering his friends, and here he hits his lowest point. Broken in body and hope, he treats God's constant attention as a grievance and begs God to leave him alone. The words echo Psalm 8; the mood is the opposite.
Listen to the spirit behind the words. Job is not admiring God's care here; he is protesting it.
In Job 7 it is: "What is man, that You should magnify him? and that You should set Your heart on him?" He says this in a complaining, bad spirit: Why does the LORD take such notice of me, and make such a trouble about me? Why does He not depart from me, or let me alone till I swallow my spittle? Why should the LORD think so much of me, and not cut me off?
Job feels the morning visit and the endless testing as pressure that never lifts. He goes on to ask why God has made him a target.
What was mortal man, that God should make so much of him and test him without a break? Suppose he had sinned — why set him up as a target until he passed away in sorrow?
The enemy struck Job, then gave up and left. But the trial did not stop there, and the reason lay inside Job.
God let the malicious adversary strip him of his possessions, family, and even his health. The adversary then had to leave the case, completely baffled. Job kept his integrity through all his suffering. But if things had stopped there, the experience would probably have harmed Job. He might have grown self-satisfied, saying that he had stood true to God in good times and bad. Chapter twenty-nine makes it plain that a weed of self-satisfaction was already growing inside him. He probably did not know it was there, but God's holy eye saw it clearly. God, therefore, took up the work at the point where the enemy had to abandon it. His aim was to rid His servant of that harmful weed, and so do him good in the end.
Job asked God to look away. The book itself is the evidence that God did not.
The interest of God in the individual soul, though so puzzling to Job at that moment, is most precious. What greater proof of it could we have than this book? Think of one of the largest books of the Bible given entirely to God's dealings with one soul — a man who was not even a descendant of Abraham! God cared so much for His servant that He would not "look away" from him or "let him alone," despite his prayer. He carried His gracious work forward until He had finished it, and Job had reaped its full blessing.
Nothing in the verse is untrue. God does visit and He does test. The question is whether we feel that as a weight or as love.
His interest is the first thing to consider: "He never withdraws His eyes from the righteous." Yet in his distress even a Job could feel this as a painful trial rather than a gain… Job, for all his outward perfection, had not yet seen God as he was to see Him… How blessed it is, once we have truly seen Him, to know that every step we take matters to Him! For every hour of the day He has a thought about how we should spend it.
Job met his trial in one way. Hebrews sets out three.
If the reader will turn for a moment to Hebrews 12:3-12, he will find much precious instruction on the subject of God's dealings with His people… it presents three distinct ways in which we may meet the chastening of our Father's hand. We may "despise" it, as though His hand and His voice were not in it; we may "faint" under it, as though it were unbearable, and not the precious fruit of His love; or, lastly, we may be "exercised by it," and so reap, in due time, "the peaceable fruits of righteousness."
The same question comes up again in the Psalms. There it gets a very different answer.
Psalm 8 and Psalm 144 stand in beautiful contrast to Job's complaining. There a similar question brings out wholly different answers, in and through the Lord Jesus. Yet the Lord entered the glory of Son of Man, set over all things, through infinitely deeper suffering… Job gives way to murmurs and complaints that God should take such notice of man in His daily government. Not so the Lord. He was rejected by all and tasted death for everything, and now we see Him exalted above the heavens.
- Attention. God's eye never turns away. The morning visit and the constant testing are real; only Job's reading of them is wrong.
- Purpose. The testing went on after the enemy gave up. God was digging out a self-satisfaction Job could not see in himself.
- Refusal. Job begged God to look away. God kept working until Job had reaped the full blessing.
- Response. Hebrews names three ways to meet a Father's chastening. We can despise it, faint under it, or be exercised by it and reap righteousness.
- Answer. Job asked his question in complaint. The Lord Jesus answers it. He passed through deeper suffering and is now exalted above the heavens.