Job 7:20-21 | KingComments | STEP | Here Job speaks of his sin, that is, in form of a questioning ( ). It is not a confession. Job has a long way to go before he comes to the confession he makes at the end of the book ( ). Suppose he had sinned, what should he do? It is not a question of a convinced conscience, but of calling God to account. Who can resist Him? If He seeks sin in man, He will always find it. “Watcher of men” is a name that indicates that God cares for men and watches over them or protects them from evil ( ; ). However, Job does not use this name in that sense, but in a disapproving sense. He sees in God Someone Who always looks after him and never leaves him alone. He is God’s target and how does God hit him! No arrow is amiss, every arrow hits its aim. God is aiming at him. He pours out all His displeasure on him. It feels to Job that he has become a burden to himself. This is the heaviest burden a man can bear. We can carry another man’s burden, but there’s no one who can take over our own self as a burden. Everyone knows in depth only their own need. There is no greater deliverance than the deliverance of ourselves, of our own self. In Job speaks about his (possible) sin. In he asks why God does not forgive him his transgression if indeed he should have sinned. He also asks why God does not take away his iniquity. The reason he gives is that he will lie in the dust after all. Then he is no longer there. Job is desperate. Why can’t God forgive him instead of continuing with His punishing hand? There is a need for Job to be redeemed. If God is able to forgive and redeem, why does He keep punishing him? After all, God does not gain anything by continuing to punish him, for he is going to die anyway and will lie in the dust ( ). Then God will no longer see him at all, even if He were still looking so earnestly for him. Although Job here speaks too humanly of God, we still hear his longing for God. He does not want to abandon God and also expects God not to abandon him, but to seek for him.

‏ Job 7:20-21

Appeal in View of Sin

Here Job speaks of his sin, that is, in form of a questioning (Job 7:20). It is not a confession. Job has a long way to go before he comes to the confession he makes at the end of the book (Job 40:3-5 ; Job 42:6). Suppose he had sinned, what should he do? It is not a question of a convinced conscience, but of calling God to account. Who can resist Him? If He seeks sin in man, He will always find it.

“Watcher of men” is a name that indicates that God cares for men and watches over them or protects them from evil (Isa 27:3; Psa 31:23). However, Job does not use this name in that sense, but in a disapproving sense. He sees in God Someone Who always looks after him and never leaves him alone. He is God’s target and how does God hit him! No arrow is amiss, every arrow hits its aim. God is aiming at him. He pours out all His displeasure on him.

It feels to Job that he has become a burden to himself. This is the heaviest burden a man can bear. We can carry another man’s burden, but there’s no one who can take over our own self as a burden. Everyone knows in depth only their own need. There is no greater deliverance than the deliverance of ourselves, of our own self.

In Job 7:20 Job speaks about his (possible) sin. In Job 7:21 he asks why God does not forgive him his transgression if indeed he should have sinned. He also asks why God does not take away his iniquity. The reason he gives is that he will lie in the dust after all. Then he is no longer there.

Job is desperate. Why can’t God forgive him instead of continuing with His punishing hand? There is a need for Job to be redeemed. If God is able to forgive and redeem, why does He keep punishing him? After all, God does not gain anything by continuing to punish him, for he is going to die anyway and will lie in the dust (Job 3:13). Then God will no longer see him at all, even if He were still looking so earnestly for him.

Although Job here speaks too humanly of God, we still hear his longing for God. He does not want to abandon God and also expects God not to abandon him, but to seek for him.