Yesterday we heard about the intensity of Job’s sufferings, which were by God’s sovereign will, and we heard his wish that after his death, God would become his advocate and vindicator. Today we will hear the second half of his speech in reply to Eliphaz.

1 My spirit is broken,
my days have faded out;
the grave awaits me.
2 Surely mockery is with me;
my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
3 Set my pledge beside you.
Who else will put up security for me?
4 Because you have closed their minds to understanding,
therefore you will not exalt them.
5 If a man denounces his friends for personal gain,
the eyes of his children will fail.
6 He has made me a byword to people;
I am the one in whose face they spit.
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief;
my whole frame is but a shadow.
8 Upright men are appalled at this;
the innocent man is troubled with the godless.
9 But the righteous man holds to his way,
and the one with clean hands grows stronger.

10 “But turn, all of you, and come now!
I will not find a wise man among you.
11 My days have passed; my plans are shattered,
even the desires of my heart.
12 These men change night into day;
they say, ‘The light is near
in the face of darkness.’
13 If I hope for the grave to be my home,
if I spread out my bed in darkness,
14 if I cry out to corruption, ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
15 where then is my hope?
And my hope, who sees it?
16 Will it go down to the barred gates of death?
Will we descend together into the dust?”

REFLECTIONS

I didn’t understand verses 3: “Set my pledge beside you. Who else will put up security for me?” So I looked into it … and I’m still not 100% sure what it’s saying! But I’m a little closer.

It has to do with the fact that Job is not just suffering physically. His wife and all his friends have also turned against him, so he is now completely abandoned and on his own. Job wants someone to “pledge” on his behalf to God, to “put up security” for him – that is, he wants someone to speak in his support and vouch for him. But there is no one left. So he makes a strange request: He asks God to set a pledge beside himself for Job.

But it’s a bit ambiguous. Job is either saying, “I offer myself as my own pledge”, or he’s saying, “God, please lay the pledge down yourself.” Either option would be very strange, when Job is on trial before God as his Judge – but either way, he has no one else.

Why mention all this? Here are two very different thoughts to take away. First, this again reminds me of the sufferings of Jesus. During his trial, all Jesus’ friends abandoned him and fled, as he knew they would. But he knew and trusted that ultimately, his Father would not abandon him to the grave (see John 16:32 and Acts 2:31). That means that, if you are connected to Jesus, God will never leave you or forsake you either (Hebrews 13:5).

But we also have the great blessing of being joined into Christ’s church. That means when we suffer, we shouldn’t feel completely abandoned and forsaken like Job was, because God has put us here to support each other, to be one another’s “pledge.”

Of course, we are all still flawed and sinful, so the church will let you down sometimes (even St Barnabas!). But if you feel alone and abandoned, like no one at church cares, don’t just trust that your feeling must be right. Reach out! Call a minister or your growth group leader, or ask a friend if they would pray with you … and see if the Lord might just surprise you.