Job 19:21-22
Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends,
for the hand of God has touched me!
Why do you, like God, pursue me?
Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?
Tag: Comforting the weary
At this point in the book of Job, his three friends and Job himself are tangled in a web of argumentation and debate. Job believes the bad that has come upon him is God, but he can't see why. His three friends believe the evil that has come upon him is directly due to his sin. In the above chapter he is directly responding to Bildad, a friend who goes as far as stating that Job is among those who don't even "know God:"
Job 18:21
Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,
such is the place of him who knows not God.”
Job simply pleads for mercy. He wishes they would be satisfied with seeing his flesh destroyed and not wish to destroy, further, his spirit. Job simply wants mercy. He wants them to have compassion on him, not judge him. He did not invite them to come to him. They decided to come to him to bring him comfort:
Job 2:11
Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.
However, that did not happen. Instead of the comfort they wanted to give and instead of the mercy he was hoping to receive, judgement came. Imagine the hope in his eyes when his friends showed up, coming a far way to see him. Yet, the kindness in their intent was smothered by the judgement in their hearts. Job only wanted mercy. Mercy is what those who are hurting want.
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