Job 16:1-16: a reflection

1Then Job answered, 2“I have heard many such things. You are all miserable comforters! 3Shall vain words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer? 4I also could speak as you do. If your soul were in my soul’s place, I could join words together against you, and shake my head at you, 5but I would strengthen you with my mouth. The solace of my lips would relieve you. 6“Though I speak, my grief is not subsided. Though I forbear, what am I eased? 7But now, God, you have surely worn me out. You have made all my company desolate. 8You have shriveled me up. This is a witness against me. My leanness rises up against me. It testifies to my face. 9He has torn me in his wrath and persecuted me. He has gnashed on me with his teeth. My adversary sharpens his eyes on me. 10They have gaped on me with their mouth. They have struck me on the cheek reproachfully. They gather themselves together against me. 11God delivers me to the ungodly, and casts me into the hands of the wicked. 12I was at ease, and he broke me apart. Yes, he has taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces. He has also set me up for his target. 13His archers surround me. He splits my kidneys apart, and does not spare. He pours out my bile on the ground. 14He breaks me with breach on breach. He runs at me like a giant. 15I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, and have thrust my horn in the dust. 16My face is red with weeping. Deep darkness is on my eyelids,

Worn down by his friends' words, Job calls them miserable comforters, and shows, by contrast, how he would comfort them if their places were reversed: not with more words piled on, but with strengthening and solace. I have heard many such things, Job says; you are all miserable comforters. And then: if your soul were in my soul's place, I could pile up words against you and shake my head at you; but I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would relieve you. Job's friends had given him not comfort but a barrage of words, lectures, and reproaches; and Job, in his pain, contrasts this with what true comfort would be: words that strengthen and bring solace, not words piled on to reproach. This shows how to be a true comforter, not a miserable one, offering solace rather than piled-up words. Be a true comforter, offering solace, not piled-up words. True comfort strengthens and relieves, rather than reproaching. Do not comfort with lectures, but with solace and strength. Miserable comforters pile on words; true comforters give solace.

Notice the contrast Job draws between his friends' miserable comfort and what true comfort would be. His friends, meant to comfort him in his suffering, had instead given him a barrage of words, arguments, reproaches, lectures about his supposed sin; and Job found no comfort in it, calling them miserable comforters. And he shows what he would do differently: if their places were reversed, he too could pile up words against them, but he would not; instead he would strengthen them with his words and bring them solace. This holds a real lesson about how to comfort those who suffer. It is easy to be a miserable comforter, to respond to another's suffering with a barrage of words, advice, explanations, or even reproaches, thinking we are helping; but such piled-on words often bring no comfort at all, and can add to the pain. True comfort is different: it seeks to strengthen and to bring solace, to come alongside the suffering with words and presence that relieve rather than reproach. Often the suffering need not our explanations or advice, but our sympathy, our presence, our strengthening solace. We do well, when others suffer, to be true comforters, offering solace and strength rather than piling on words. Comfort the suffering with solace and strength, not piled-on words. Do not respond to suffering with lectures and reproaches. True comfort strengthens and relieves; it does not add to the pain. Offer the suffering your sympathy and solace, not your explanations.

That is worth taking to heart, for true comfort strengthens and brings solace, rather than piling on words, and we do well to be true comforters, not miserable ones, when others suffer. We can respond to another's suffering with a barrage of words, advice, and reproaches, thinking we help; but Job called such friends miserable comforters, and said he would instead strengthen and bring solace. True comfort relieves. When others suffer, do not pile on words and lectures; offer them solace, strength, and sympathy, as a true comforter. Be a true comforter to those who suffer, offering solace, strength, and sympathy rather than piling on words, advice, and reproaches, as Job, worn down by his friends' barrage of words, called them miserable comforters and showed, by contrast, that if their places were reversed he would not pile up words against them but would strengthen them with his mouth and bring them solace; for Job's friends, meant to comfort him in his suffering, had instead given him arguments, reproaches, and lectures about his supposed sin, in which he found no comfort, and he shows what true comfort would be, words that strengthen and bring solace rather than reproach, which holds a real lesson about comforting those who suffer, since it is easy to be a miserable comforter, responding to another's suffering with a barrage of words, advice, explanations, or reproaches and thinking we help, but such piled-on words often bring no comfort and can add to the pain, while true comfort seeks to strengthen and bring solace, coming alongside the suffering with words and presence that relieve rather than reproach, since often the suffering need not our explanations or advice but our sympathy, presence, and strengthening solace, so that we do well, when others suffer, to be true comforters offering solace and strength.

Lord, worn down by his friends' words, Job calls them miserable comforters, and shows, by contrast, how he would comfort them if their places were reversed: not with more words piled on, but with strengthening and solace. I have heard many such things, Job says; you are all miserable comforters. And then: if your soul were in my soul's place, I could pile up words against you and shake my head at you; but I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would relieve you. Job's friends had given him not comfort but a barrage of words, lectures, and reproaches; and Job, in his pain, contrasts this with what true comfort would be: words that strengthen and bring solace. Show me the contrast Job draws between his friends' miserable comfort and what true comfort would be. His friends had given him arguments, reproaches, and lectures about his supposed sin; and Job found no comfort in it. And he shows what he would do differently: he would not pile up words against them, but would strengthen them and bring them solace. This holds a real lesson about how to comfort those who suffer. It is easy to be a miserable comforter, to respond to another's suffering with a barrage of words, advice, explanations, or reproaches, thinking I am helping; but such piled-on words often bring no comfort at all, and can add to the pain. True comfort is different: it seeks to strengthen and to bring solace, to come alongside the suffering with words and presence that relieve rather than reproach. Often the suffering need not my explanations or advice, but my sympathy, my presence, my strengthening solace. Take that to my heart, for true comfort strengthens and brings solace, rather than piling on words. When others suffer, keep me from piling on words, lectures, and reproaches; help me be a true comforter, Lord, offering solace, strength, and sympathy that relieve rather than add to the pain.