Job 7:19-21
“ Will You never turn Your gaze away from me,
Nor let me alone until I swallow my spittle?
“Have I sinned? What have I done to You,
O watcher of men?
Why have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden to myself?
“Why then do You not pardon my transgression
And take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust;
And You will seek me, but I will not be.”
Job has found himself in a peculiar dilemma and, in these couple of chapters, has tried to justify in his mind the pain he feels, the life he has lived (which in his mind is not such a bad and corrupt and sinful life) with the suffering he is experiencing. He comes to the conclusion that God is a "watcher" of men and, in his case, he has become a "target" of God. Note what one commentator says about these final verses of this chapter:
"The chapter concludes with two questions that characterize Job’s continuing confusion. On the one hand, he wishes to know why he has become God’s target. Knowing no sin within himself that could explain his suffering, Job can only conclude that he has become a burden to God, who has now determined to remove him from existence in the harshest manner possible. On the other hand, Job wonders why God is unwilling to forgive any sins of which Job may be unaware. Job does not admit any guilt, but he directs the question at the character of God himself. If God is a God of grace, where is that grace in relation to Job? Job is no gross sinner in rebellion against God. He is a pious man who has always taken scrupulous care to go above and beyond the expectations of faith. How is it, then, that God finds Job so offensive that God can extend no grace or mercy in his case? The chapter concludes with the note that the need for action is urgent because, unless divine redress is immediately forthcoming, Job is not long for this world."
Have we all not, at one time or another, felt like Job. We see the pain in our lives and we struggle with "why" us? We look at our lives and we think that we don't have any real sin that justifies our being in such a struggle. Job comes to a conclusion that God is the only one he can turn to in this time of despair and anguish. This may be Job's redeeming quality. He may be wrong about "why" this is happening to him, but he is not wrong in "who" he should turn to in the midst of it. God is the "watcher" of men. We, like Job, often seem Him in the wrong vain, but He is the watcher and we ought to turn to Him in these times, even if we are wrong in "how" we see Him work in our lives. God is watching Job. That is how the entire book begins (Job 1:1-5). In our despair and pain and suffering and confusion, let's remember that God is the watcher. Let's make sure we are not falling into the same trap Job does and make God the accuser, however. Satan is the great accuser of mankind (Revelation 12:10). God is not the accuser, God is the rescuer. He may be watching, but not to "target" us, but to "deliver" us. Job allowed his pain and suffering to skew his theology. Appeal to God because He is watching, but don't fear God the accuser and the one who targets us. Fear God because He watches us and will deliver us!!
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