Keep listening to my words, and let my declaration be in your ears.
Job has already told his three visitors to be quiet and let him speak. Now he presses the demand again, like a man opening his case in court — and everything turns on who he is really speaking to, and whether his confidence is well founded.
Who he is speaking to
The call to listen comes at the end of a long dismissal of the men who came to comfort him. One writer sums up what Job wanted from them, and what he found instead:
F. B. HoleWhat he wanted was truth for his mind and healing for his body. They were only men who "whitewash with lies," and "worthless physicians." He advised them to keep quiet and listen to what he had to say, and he went on like this up to verse 13. He felt they had talked as though they were speaking for God, and in doing so had misrepresented Him. In this, no doubt, Job judged rightly.
But the friends were not the hearer he really wanted. They had already decided what was wrong with him:
Samuel RidoutWhat kind of physicians were they to treat a case like this? They have decided what his disease is, and misrepresent his symptoms to confirm their diagnosis! And they bring in their theory that God always punishes sin in this life to prove that Job is a sinner! Job turns from them in disgust... so he turns from man's unfair guesses to God.
A case, not an outburst
What Job wants heard is a case he has prepared, as the next verse shows:
Leslie M. GrantSo Job urges his friends (or critics) to listen carefully to what he says. He had not been careless in preparing his case for judgment. He was certain his case deserved careful consideration... No doubt he would be cleared in the eyes of men in the end. But in the eyes of God it is a different matter, as Job admits in chapter 42:5-6, once God had fully weighed his case.
The confidence underneath
Job presses to be heard because he expects the hearing to go well for him:
William KellyThe fact that no hypocrite, no one defiled, comes into His presence was a promise of salvation to him, not a cause of alarm. He presses his demand with earnest force. He is sure of his innocence, and he does not refuse to die if he deserves it.
There is a simpler reason too. Speaking eased him:
William KellyIn the agony he was going through, it was a relief to him to speak out. All he wanted was to be put right if he was wrong.
Faith with a flaw in it
One writer finds two things in Job at once here:
F. B. HoleOn the one hand, there was a remarkable spirit of faith, which led him to take all that had happened from His hand... He had wanted to die, and if God granted that and killed him, he would not lose confidence but would still trust Him. This was excellent. But at the same time Job showed his very weak spot: he was determined to "maintain," or "defend," his own ways before Him. So we see that in a true believer very real faith in God can exist, and yet be spoiled by a very determined measure of self-esteem.
What he could not yet see
Job wanted an explanation for his pain. He could not yet see what the pain was doing in him:
William KellyHe would hold fast to his integrity before Him, whatever they said, and he knew God would clear him. He asked only for relief from the suffering, and that the dread of Him would not overwhelm him. He wanted to find out all that was wrong in himself. He begged to know why he was blown about like a leaf or dry straw. He did not yet know the grace that was giving him self-judgment.
Summary
- Hearing asked. Job tells his friends to stop diagnosing and start listening. They had misrepresented God while claiming to speak for Him.
- Hearing prepared. His plea is an ordered case, not a burst of feeling — he believes it deserves careful consideration.
- Hearing welcomed. No hypocrite comes into God's presence — and that thought reassures Job instead of scaring him. Speaking out relieves him. He only wants to be put right if he is wrong.
- Hearing flawed. Real faith sits next to a firm resolve to defend his own ways. Genuine trust can still be spoiled by self-esteem.
- Hearing granted. God does hear him in the end. Once God weighs his case, Job speaks very differently. The suffering he resented was grace teaching him to judge himself.