Job 17 | MHM | STEP | Deplorable Condition of Job; The Improvement of Job's Troubles This section shows how Job’s words are full of pain and confusion. He moves quickly from one thought to another because of his suffering. Job talks about his terrible situation, the hurtful actions of his friends, and what good people can learn from his problems. v. 1 : Job feels close to death. My spirit is broken, my days are extinct, the grave is ready for me . He thinks he is dying, his strength is gone, and he is prepared for the grave. Life is fading away, and he feels as if he has nothing to look forward to but death (Genesis 2:7 ).

‏ Job 17

Deplorable Condition of Job; The Improvement of Job's Troubles

This section shows how Job’s words are full of pain and confusion. He moves quickly from one thought to another because of his suffering. Job talks about his terrible situation, the hurtful actions of his friends, and what good people can learn from his problems.

v. 1: Job feels close to death. My spirit is broken, my days are extinct, the grave is ready for me. He thinks he is dying, his strength is gone, and he is prepared for the grave. Life is fading away, and he feels as if he has nothing to look forward to but death (Genesis 2:7 ^a).

v. 2: He complains that people around him mock him. Surely there are mockers with me, and my eye dwells on their provocation. Instead of kindness, he receives insults, and their constant criticism makes his pain worse.

v. 3: Job asks God to defend him. Lay down now a pledge for me with yourself; who is there who will put up security for me?. He wants God to stand up for him in court, like a surety or a mediator. Christians see this as pointing to Jesus, who is our surety before God (Hebrews 7:22 ^b).

v. 4-5: Job says his friends lack understanding and will not be honored. For you have kept their heart from understanding; therefore you will not exalt them. He who informs against his friends will have the eyes of his children fail(Job 17:4-5 ^c). Their lack of kindness is a sign of spiritual blindness, and such harshness can bring trouble even to their families.

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v. 6: Job says he has become a joke to others. He has made me a byword of the people, and I am one before whom men spit. Once respected, he is now mocked and dishonored by everyone.

v. 7: His sorrow has made him weak and sick. My eye has grown dim from vexation, and all my members are like a shadow. He has cried so much that he can barely see, and his body is thin from suffering.

v. 8-9: Job says that good people are shocked by his suffering but are inspired to be even more faithful. The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless. Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger(Job 17:8-9 ^d). Even when life is hard, true believers will keep trusting God and grow in strength and faith (Psalm 26:6; Philippians 1:14 ^e).

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Job Reproves His Three Friends; Vanity of Worldly Expectations

Job responds to his friends who tried to comfort him by saying things would get better soon. He explains that it is foolish to base comfort on hopes for success in this world, because life is uncertain and can end suddenly. Job reminds us that true comfort must come from God’s promises, not from earthly hopes.

v. 10: Job tells his friends to reconsider their words. But you, come on again, all of you, and I shall not find a wise man among you. He says they do not really understand how God works and their advice is not wise. Real comfort should not be based only on the hope of getting better things in this life.

v. 11-12: Job explains that all his plans and hopes for the future are gone. My days are past, my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart. They make night into day; the light, they say, is near to the darkness(Job 17:11-12 ^f). He cannot look forward to anything in this world, and his friends’ words about better days ahead only make him feel worse. His troubles turn his nights into days of restlessness and sorrow (Deuteronomy 28:67 ^g).

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v. 13-14: Job says that the grave is the only place he expects to find rest. If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness, if I say to the pit, "You are my father," and to the worm, "My mother, or my sister,"(Job 17:13-14 ^h). He calls the grave his home and even sees the worms as his family. He prepares himself for death because he knows he will soon be there (Isaiah 57:2 ⁱ).

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v. 15-16: Job points out that all his earthly hopes will end in the grave. Where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?(Job 17:15-16 ^j). He knows that worldly expectations cannot last, and true hope must be in something greater and eternal. In the end, everyone will rest together in the dust, so we should set our hearts on what is everlasting (Job 19:25 ^k).