Morning Bible Study: Job 7:17-21

17 What is a mere human, that you think so highly of him
and pay so much attention to him?
18 You inspect him every morning,
and put him to the test every moment.
19 Will you ever look away from me,
or leave me alone long enough to swallow?
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you,
Watcher of humanity?
Why have you made me your target,
so that I have become a burden to you?
21 Why not forgive my sin
and pardon my iniquity?
For soon I will lie down in the grave.
You will eagerly seek me, but I will be gone.

Commentary
(the following is from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, 1706 -- www.christianity.com)
 
"Job reasons with God concerning his dealings with man. But in the midst of this discourse, Job seems to have lifted up his thoughts to God with some faith and hope. Observe the concern he is in about his sins. The best men have to complain of sin; and the better they are, the more they will complain of it. 

God is the Preserver of our lives, and the Savior of the souls of all that believe; but probably Job meant the Observer of men, whose eyes are upon the ways and hearts of all men. We can hide nothing from Him; let us plead guilty before his throne of grace, that we may not be condemned at his judgment-seat. 

Job maintained, against his friends, that he was not a hypocrite, not a wicked man, yet he owns to his God, that he had sinned. The best must so acknowledge, before the Lord. He seriously inquires how he might be at peace with God, and earnestly begs forgiveness of his sins. He means more than the removing of his outward trouble, and is earnest for the return of God's favor. 

Wherever the Lord removes the guilt of sin, he breaks the power of sin. To strengthen his prayer for pardon, Job pleads the prospect he had of dying quickly. If my sins be not pardoned while I live, I am lost and undone for ever. How wretched is sinful man without a knowledge of the Savior!"

Morning Bible Study: Job 7:7-16

7 Remember that my life is but a breath.
My eye will never again see anything good.
8 The eye of anyone who looks on me
will no longer see me.
Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.
9 As a cloud fades away and vanishes,
so the one who goes down to Sheol will never rise again.
10 He will never return to his house;
his hometown will no longer remember him.
11 Therefore I will not restrain my mouth.
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the sea or a sea monster,
that you keep me under guard?
13 When I say, “My bed will comfort me,
and my couch will ease my complaint,”
14 then you frighten me with dreams,
and terrify me with visions,
15 so that I prefer strangling—
death rather than life in this body.
16 I give up! I will not live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.

Commentary
(the following is from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, 1706 -- www.christianity.com)
 
"Plain truths as to the shortness and vanity of man's life, and the certainty of death, do us good, when we think and speak of them with application to ourselves. 

Glorified saints shall return no more to the cares and sorrows of their houses; nor condemned sinners to the gaieties and pleasures of their houses. It concerns us to secure a better place when we die. From these reasons Job might have drawn a better conclusion than this, I will complain. When we have but a few breaths to draw, we should spend them in the holy, gracious breathings of faith and prayer; not in the noisome, noxious breathings of sin and corruption. 

We have much reason to pray, that He who keeps Israel, and neither slumbers nor sleeps, may keep us when we slumber and sleep. Job covets to rest in his grave. Doubtless, this was his infirmity; for though a good man would choose death rather than sin, yet he should be content to live as long as God pleases, because life is our opportunity of glorifying him, and preparing for heaven."