8 "He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass , And He has put darkness on my paths . 9 "He has stripped my honor from me And removed the crown from my head . 10 "He breaks me down on every side , and I am gone ; And He has uprooted my hope like a tree . 11 "He has also kindled His anger against me And considered me as His enemy . 12 "His troops come together , And build up their way against me And camp around my tent . 13 "He has removed my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. 14 "My relatives have failed , And my intimate friends have forgotten me. 15 "Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger . I am a foreigner in their sight . 16 "I call to my servant , but he does not answer ; I have to implore him with my mouth . 17 "My breath is offensive to my wife , And I am loathsome to my own brothers e . 18 "Even young children despise me; I rise up and they speak against me. 19 "All my associates abhor me, And those I love have turned against me. 20 "My bone clings to my skin and my flesh , And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth . 21 "Pity me, pity me, O you my friends , For the hand of God has struck me. 22 "Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh ?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Job 19:8-22
Commentary on Job 19:8-22
(Read Job 19:8-22)
How doleful are Job's complaints! What is the fire of hell but the wrath of God! Seared consciences will feel it hereafter, but do not fear it now: enlightened consciences fear it now, but shall not feel it hereafter. It is a very common mistake to think that those whom God afflicts he treats as his enemies. Every creature is that to us which God makes it to be; yet this does not excuse Job's relations and friends. How uncertain is the friendship of men! but if God be our Friend, he will not fail us in time of need. What little reason we have to indulge the body, which, after all our care, is consumed by diseases it has in itself. Job recommends himself to the compassion of his friends, and justly blames their harshness. It is very distressing to one who loves God, to be bereaved at once of outward comfort and of inward consolation; yet if this, and more, come upon a believer, it does not weaken the proof of his being a child of God and heir of glory.