06.30.2016 Old Testament: Job 19.21–22

To read the Bible in a year, read Job 19–20 on June 30, In the year of our Lord 2016

By Don Ruhl

Job lost just about everything that a man could lose. He did not lose his wife, at least not in death, but he did lose her love and support. Therefore, the poor man cried out in deep wailing over his losses and wanted God to hear. However, Job’s friends, who initially approached him with compassion, did not like the things that he said, and they tore into him. He begged them,

“Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends,
For the hand of God has struck me!
Why do you persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?”
(Job 19.21–22) 

They just needed to let Him pour out the contents of his deep suffering heart. They did not have to criticize every word that he spoke. He just needed someone to show him compassion for all the things that he had suffered.

Questions:

• Do you know what to do when a friend suffers?
• What do you want from your friends when you suffer?