Page 87 - Reading Job to Know God

I am not rebelling against God. And even though I am in all of this pain
and I am screaming out, I thought you would understand that, best friend.
I cry because I hurt. I have not denied God. I have not thrown Him aside.
He would have kept his mouth shut if he had known what they were made
of, but he thought they would be sympathetic. He thought they would
understand. And so in 6:14-30 he shows his disappointment. Verse 14

“For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend; So
that he does not forsake the fear of the Almighty.”

That is all I wanted from you. A little kindness. A little understanding. A
little sympathy. Verse 15 through 23,
“My brothers have acted deceitfully like a wadi, like the torrents of
wadis which vanish.”

A wadi is a winter river. And when the snows come down and melt, the
river is full. Then in the summer when people need it, the sun has dried
it up. So it is dry and there is nothing for the camels, nothing for the
horses and nothing for men. So Job says when friends are in abundance
you are all there to be my friends, but when I really need a friend you
have all dried up. I was thirsty and I wanted something to drink, and I am
disappointed. I thought you would understand. I thought you would
sympathize. But instead, you have become to me like a deceitful wadi, a
dried up river bed. You have not been able to feed my soul. Verse 22 and
23 he says:
“Have I said, ‘Give me something,’ or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your
wealth,’ or, ‘Deliver me from the hand of the adversary,’ or, ‘Redeem
me from the hand of the tyrants’?”

If I had asked you for something, I could understand you thinking that I
have an ulterior motive. But I didn’t ask you for anything. I didn’t even
ask you to come. All I wanted was understanding. All I wanted was an
ear. All I wanted was sympathy. And you have acted like a deceitful wadi.
Then in verse 24-26 he says, you say I have sinned. If I have sinned, name
it. Tell me what I have done. Look at verse 24
“Teach me, and I will be silent; and show me how I have erred. How
painful are honest words! But what does your argument prove?”
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