Job 14:6

His short span of life is all in God's hands. So why not look away and give him a little relief, so that he may enjoy his day like a hired worker? All the more so, since life on earth closes for man with no hope. A tree that is cut down may sprout again. But man is like water that drains away and dries up: he lies down and rises no more, as long as the heavens last.

Why did Job not fully submit at this time to God's greater work, instead of fretting against the limits God had placed him under? (v.5). "Look away from him that he may rest," Job says. Did he mean he wanted God to relax the limits, so he could rest comfortably? For he was only like a hired man: could he not finish his day's work in peace?

These were different from the house servants, who were usually slaves. A hired servant was taken on for the day and paid at the end of it. A servant hired by the priest did not count as one of the family, and could not eat the holy food. The slaves, by contrast, counted as part of the family.

But how sadly true are verses 1, 2! And will the mighty God enter into judgment with such a frail creature — not only frail, but impure by nature! Ah, let Job ponder well his own words. But he goes on in self-pity, begging to be left alone for a while, until he finishes his day like a hired worker! (verses 3-6).

The close of this address ends the first round of the debate. It is a most beautiful funeral song about the frailty and uncertainty of human life. Man comes up like a flower, and is cut down and withers. We are listening to the wail of the 90th psalm, but without its faith in God, and not yet followed by the triumph of the 91st psalm.

Man being of few days, his life in this world must end in death, and the time when he goes is determined by God, as verse 5 states. But, what then? Job felt he was just like a hired man filling out his day, and he wished that God would give him rest until the end came. But again, what then?

In Job 14 he clearly does not look beyond this present world of sight. In the bitterness of his spirit he has no sense of resurrection. The tree sprouts again, here and now, in this present world — man does not… Job was right. He simply did not see beyond, and he did not yet know Him who is the resurrection and the life.

Everything around us is an empty show, but what is inside lasts. When the heart takes hold of this fact, it becomes like someone brought into a house to work for the day. He does the work well, but he passes through instead of settling into the circumstances… May the Lord keep us going on in simplicity, doing our day's work like a hired worker, until Christ comes — and then each one will receive his praise from God.