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Job 17 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
Job is pretty depressed here in Chapter 17. He reiterates that he expected his friends to support him but they have not. He asks that God would hear him directly. If his friends will not be his sponsor, who will? There is a strange tension as Job verbalizes this request because he is possibly struggling to reconcile it in his head. How can God be both just and merciful to him? Job knows he is a faithful man but he is being wrongly accused. The wrongful accusation is being done under God’s sovereignty, therefore, he must go directly to the source.
We are reminded in verse 4 of the reason why he goes directly to God. The minds of his friends have obviously been closed. They cannot see truth and will not believe his words. The question becomes, will Job believe that God will fight for him?
This is such a tough situation. In modern terms, it is difficult to face the reality that other people make false accusations all the time. People assume things and make judgments based on limited information. For us as believers, we must trust that God is fighting for us. The ultimate truth is that we only answer to one God.
If everyone in the world affirms you and thinks you are the greatest person alive, what does that really mean at the end of the day? I’m not advocating being divisive and troublesome towards others, but I also know that Job turns to God because everyone else has made false assumptions about his character. He believes that God knows the truth and that in the end, the truth will set him free.
Where have you made false assumptions about someone else? Where do you need to cling to what God knows about your character instead of what others assume about your reputation? We only answer to One in the end.