Psalms 11

Psalms 11:1

His Suffering

Job’s soul is poured out within him, which means that he surrenders to his misery (Job 30:16). He collapses, as it were. He feels how the last bit of life is flowing out of him. The days of his misery seize him, as if they have hands that grip him powerfully, they overwhelm him. His whole existence and feeling are controlled by it. Every day is full of misery, and the days are string together without any relief presenting itself.

The night is no better than the day (Job 30:17). It seems as if the pain increases at night. The pain shoots through his bones. Pain in the bones is the deepest pain. We sometimes say that we are cold to the bone and by that we mean that we are cold through and through. Thus Job suffered through and through pain in the night, so that he had no rest even at night (cf. Job 33:19). Nor did his gnawing pains take rest at night. He constantly had palpitations, through which he also remained awake.

After Job spoke of the invisible bones and gnawing pains in his body, he spoke of “my garment”, which is his appearance. He became unrecognizable because of the devastating power of his illness and ulcers (Job 30:18). He feels seized by God with “great force” at the throat, in a way that a collar of a coat can be so tight around the neck that you feel as if you are suffocating.

Job then feels himself thrown by God into the mire of calamity and misery (Job 30:19). As a result, he finds himself in a terrible situation and is shunned by everyone. As for him himself, all strength and life have vanished from him, which he expresses by saying that he has become “like dust and ashes” (cf. Genesis 18:27). From the beginning he has been “in the midst of ashes” (Job 2:8) and now he feels as if by God’s action he has become as low and worthless as dust and ashes.

Psalms 11:2

His Suffering

Job’s soul is poured out within him, which means that he surrenders to his misery (Job 30:16). He collapses, as it were. He feels how the last bit of life is flowing out of him. The days of his misery seize him, as if they have hands that grip him powerfully, they overwhelm him. His whole existence and feeling are controlled by it. Every day is full of misery, and the days are string together without any relief presenting itself.

The night is no better than the day (Job 30:17). It seems as if the pain increases at night. The pain shoots through his bones. Pain in the bones is the deepest pain. We sometimes say that we are cold to the bone and by that we mean that we are cold through and through. Thus Job suffered through and through pain in the night, so that he had no rest even at night (cf. Job 33:19). Nor did his gnawing pains take rest at night. He constantly had palpitations, through which he also remained awake.

After Job spoke of the invisible bones and gnawing pains in his body, he spoke of “my garment”, which is his appearance. He became unrecognizable because of the devastating power of his illness and ulcers (Job 30:18). He feels seized by God with “great force” at the throat, in a way that a collar of a coat can be so tight around the neck that you feel as if you are suffocating.

Job then feels himself thrown by God into the mire of calamity and misery (Job 30:19). As a result, he finds himself in a terrible situation and is shunned by everyone. As for him himself, all strength and life have vanished from him, which he expresses by saying that he has become “like dust and ashes” (cf. Genesis 18:27). From the beginning he has been “in the midst of ashes” (Job 2:8) and now he feels as if by God’s action he has become as low and worthless as dust and ashes.

Psalms 11:3

His Suffering

Job’s soul is poured out within him, which means that he surrenders to his misery (Job 30:16). He collapses, as it were. He feels how the last bit of life is flowing out of him. The days of his misery seize him, as if they have hands that grip him powerfully, they overwhelm him. His whole existence and feeling are controlled by it. Every day is full of misery, and the days are string together without any relief presenting itself.

The night is no better than the day (Job 30:17). It seems as if the pain increases at night. The pain shoots through his bones. Pain in the bones is the deepest pain. We sometimes say that we are cold to the bone and by that we mean that we are cold through and through. Thus Job suffered through and through pain in the night, so that he had no rest even at night (cf. Job 33:19). Nor did his gnawing pains take rest at night. He constantly had palpitations, through which he also remained awake.

After Job spoke of the invisible bones and gnawing pains in his body, he spoke of “my garment”, which is his appearance. He became unrecognizable because of the devastating power of his illness and ulcers (Job 30:18). He feels seized by God with “great force” at the throat, in a way that a collar of a coat can be so tight around the neck that you feel as if you are suffocating.

Job then feels himself thrown by God into the mire of calamity and misery (Job 30:19). As a result, he finds himself in a terrible situation and is shunned by everyone. As for him himself, all strength and life have vanished from him, which he expresses by saying that he has become “like dust and ashes” (cf. Genesis 18:27). From the beginning he has been “in the midst of ashes” (Job 2:8) and now he feels as if by God’s action he has become as low and worthless as dust and ashes.

Psalms 11:4

No Help From God

Several times Job has spoken about God and accused Him of acting unjustly. Now the time has come for him to speak directly to God Himself (Job 30:20). But there is no answer. In the true sense of the word only the Lord Jesus could say this (Psalms 22:1b-2). And what a difference there is between Him and Job. Never did the Lord give up His confidence in God and His righteousness, while Job doubts the righteousness of God. Job doesn’t get an answer (yet) because he isn’t ready yet to receive it. The Lord Jesus was forsaken by God and received no answer because God laid the sins of all who believe in Him upon Him and judged Him for them. He did not attribute anything incongruous to God.

Job does attribute incongruous things to God. His suffering remains undiminished and even increases day by day. He stands up straight before God, but he notices that God does not pay attention to him. That is the greatest torment. He knows that God is there and sees him. Yet God pretends not to be interested in him. It seems to Job that God is indifferent to his condition.

This leads Job to say that God has “become cruel” to him (Job 30:21). This is a very strong accusation. At the same time, it implies that God is paying attention to Job, but without showing any pity for his situation. On the contrary. God has changed from Someone Who has blessed him into Someone Who now treats him cruelly. The changed attitude of people he has described in the previous verses is also present with God, according to Job. God has turned against him with the might of His hand, His mighty deeds.

Job feels himself a plaything of God, just as a leaf is a plaything of the wind (Job 30:22). Through the disasters that have blown his life away like a wind, he has lost all hold. He is a defenseless prey of the course of events over which he has no control, just as the wind cannot be grasped. The misery is like a chariot on which he sits and which carries him away, without the possibility of getting off the chariot. How could he if God is the ‘charioteer’? In this way his existence melts away and loses all solidity.

He “knows” that God is leading him unstoppably toward death on His ‘chariot’ (Job 30:23). Then he arrives at the place where all the living eventually end up, the grave, nobody excepted – apart from Enoch and Elijah. The fact that he “knows” this does not contradict what he said earlier: “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25). It is part of the back and forth and up and down going of his feelings. Here again he is completely overwhelmed by his disasters and plagues and sees no perspective.

Psalms 11:5

No Help From God

Several times Job has spoken about God and accused Him of acting unjustly. Now the time has come for him to speak directly to God Himself (Job 30:20). But there is no answer. In the true sense of the word only the Lord Jesus could say this (Psalms 22:1b-2). And what a difference there is between Him and Job. Never did the Lord give up His confidence in God and His righteousness, while Job doubts the righteousness of God. Job doesn’t get an answer (yet) because he isn’t ready yet to receive it. The Lord Jesus was forsaken by God and received no answer because God laid the sins of all who believe in Him upon Him and judged Him for them. He did not attribute anything incongruous to God.

Job does attribute incongruous things to God. His suffering remains undiminished and even increases day by day. He stands up straight before God, but he notices that God does not pay attention to him. That is the greatest torment. He knows that God is there and sees him. Yet God pretends not to be interested in him. It seems to Job that God is indifferent to his condition.

This leads Job to say that God has “become cruel” to him (Job 30:21). This is a very strong accusation. At the same time, it implies that God is paying attention to Job, but without showing any pity for his situation. On the contrary. God has changed from Someone Who has blessed him into Someone Who now treats him cruelly. The changed attitude of people he has described in the previous verses is also present with God, according to Job. God has turned against him with the might of His hand, His mighty deeds.

Job feels himself a plaything of God, just as a leaf is a plaything of the wind (Job 30:22). Through the disasters that have blown his life away like a wind, he has lost all hold. He is a defenseless prey of the course of events over which he has no control, just as the wind cannot be grasped. The misery is like a chariot on which he sits and which carries him away, without the possibility of getting off the chariot. How could he if God is the ‘charioteer’? In this way his existence melts away and loses all solidity.

He “knows” that God is leading him unstoppably toward death on His ‘chariot’ (Job 30:23). Then he arrives at the place where all the living eventually end up, the grave, nobody excepted – apart from Enoch and Elijah. The fact that he “knows” this does not contradict what he said earlier: “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25). It is part of the back and forth and up and down going of his feelings. Here again he is completely overwhelmed by his disasters and plagues and sees no perspective.

Psalms 11:6

No Help From God

Several times Job has spoken about God and accused Him of acting unjustly. Now the time has come for him to speak directly to God Himself (Job 30:20). But there is no answer. In the true sense of the word only the Lord Jesus could say this (Psalms 22:1b-2). And what a difference there is between Him and Job. Never did the Lord give up His confidence in God and His righteousness, while Job doubts the righteousness of God. Job doesn’t get an answer (yet) because he isn’t ready yet to receive it. The Lord Jesus was forsaken by God and received no answer because God laid the sins of all who believe in Him upon Him and judged Him for them. He did not attribute anything incongruous to God.

Job does attribute incongruous things to God. His suffering remains undiminished and even increases day by day. He stands up straight before God, but he notices that God does not pay attention to him. That is the greatest torment. He knows that God is there and sees him. Yet God pretends not to be interested in him. It seems to Job that God is indifferent to his condition.

This leads Job to say that God has “become cruel” to him (Job 30:21). This is a very strong accusation. At the same time, it implies that God is paying attention to Job, but without showing any pity for his situation. On the contrary. God has changed from Someone Who has blessed him into Someone Who now treats him cruelly. The changed attitude of people he has described in the previous verses is also present with God, according to Job. God has turned against him with the might of His hand, His mighty deeds.

Job feels himself a plaything of God, just as a leaf is a plaything of the wind (Job 30:22). Through the disasters that have blown his life away like a wind, he has lost all hold. He is a defenseless prey of the course of events over which he has no control, just as the wind cannot be grasped. The misery is like a chariot on which he sits and which carries him away, without the possibility of getting off the chariot. How could he if God is the ‘charioteer’? In this way his existence melts away and loses all solidity.

He “knows” that God is leading him unstoppably toward death on His ‘chariot’ (Job 30:23). Then he arrives at the place where all the living eventually end up, the grave, nobody excepted – apart from Enoch and Elijah. The fact that he “knows” this does not contradict what he said earlier: “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25). It is part of the back and forth and up and down going of his feelings. Here again he is completely overwhelmed by his disasters and plagues and sees no perspective.

Psalms 11:7

No Help From God

Several times Job has spoken about God and accused Him of acting unjustly. Now the time has come for him to speak directly to God Himself (Job 30:20). But there is no answer. In the true sense of the word only the Lord Jesus could say this (Psalms 22:1b-2). And what a difference there is between Him and Job. Never did the Lord give up His confidence in God and His righteousness, while Job doubts the righteousness of God. Job doesn’t get an answer (yet) because he isn’t ready yet to receive it. The Lord Jesus was forsaken by God and received no answer because God laid the sins of all who believe in Him upon Him and judged Him for them. He did not attribute anything incongruous to God.

Job does attribute incongruous things to God. His suffering remains undiminished and even increases day by day. He stands up straight before God, but he notices that God does not pay attention to him. That is the greatest torment. He knows that God is there and sees him. Yet God pretends not to be interested in him. It seems to Job that God is indifferent to his condition.

This leads Job to say that God has “become cruel” to him (Job 30:21). This is a very strong accusation. At the same time, it implies that God is paying attention to Job, but without showing any pity for his situation. On the contrary. God has changed from Someone Who has blessed him into Someone Who now treats him cruelly. The changed attitude of people he has described in the previous verses is also present with God, according to Job. God has turned against him with the might of His hand, His mighty deeds.

Job feels himself a plaything of God, just as a leaf is a plaything of the wind (Job 30:22). Through the disasters that have blown his life away like a wind, he has lost all hold. He is a defenseless prey of the course of events over which he has no control, just as the wind cannot be grasped. The misery is like a chariot on which he sits and which carries him away, without the possibility of getting off the chariot. How could he if God is the ‘charioteer’? In this way his existence melts away and loses all solidity.

He “knows” that God is leading him unstoppably toward death on His ‘chariot’ (Job 30:23). Then he arrives at the place where all the living eventually end up, the grave, nobody excepted – apart from Enoch and Elijah. The fact that he “knows” this does not contradict what he said earlier: “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25). It is part of the back and forth and up and down going of his feelings. Here again he is completely overwhelmed by his disasters and plagues and sees no perspective.