7 "Though I cry, 'Violence!' I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.
7 Behold, I cry out of wrong,
7 Behold, I cry out, 'Violence!' but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice.
7 "Look at me - I shout 'Murder!' and I'm ignored; I call for help and no one bothers to stop.
7 "If I cry out concerning wrong, I am not heard. If I cry aloud, there is no justice.
7 "I cry out, 'Help!' but no one answers me. I protest, but there is no justice.
20 "I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.
20 I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.
20 I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me.
20 "I shout for help, God, and get nothing, no answer! I stand to face you in protest, and you give me a blank stare!
20 "I cry out to You, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You regard me.
20 "I cry to you, OÂ God, but you don't answer. I stand before you, but you don't even look.
(Read Job 30:15-31)
Job complains a great deal. Harbouring hard thoughts of God was the sin which did, at this time, most easily beset Job. When inward temptations join with outward calamities, the soul is hurried as in a tempest, and is filled with confusion. But woe be to those who really have God for an enemy! Compared with the awful state of ungodly men, what are all outward, or even inward temporal afflictions? There is something with which Job comforts himself, yet it is but a little. He foresees that death will be the end of all his troubles. God's wrath might bring him to death; but his soul would be safe and happy in the world of spirits. If none pity us, yet our God, who corrects, pities us, even as a father pitieth his own children. And let us look more to the things of eternity: then the believer will cease from mourning, and joyfully praise redeeming love.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Job 19:7
Commentary on Job 19:1-7
(Read Job 19:1-7)
Job's friends blamed him as a wicked man, because he was so afflicted; here he describes their unkindness, showing that what they condemned was capable of excuse. Harsh language from friends, greatly adds to the weight of afflictions: yet it is best not to lay it to heart, lest we harbour resentment. Rather let us look to Him who endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, and was treated with far more cruelty than Job was, or we can be.