LIVE DISCUSSION: "God Made Me His Target" (Job 16:6-14) Part 1/4

Pain that won’t yield to words or silence is the pain most of us fear—and exactly where Job 16 takes us. We open with Job’s searing line, “Miserable comforters,” and explore why well-meaning speech can wound when it chases explanations instead of offering presence. Then we sit with a harder truth: even quiet can’t mend a soul-deep ache that only God can reach. If you’ve ever felt unseen in your suffering, this conversation names that loneliness and points toward a better kind of comfort.

We also wrestle with sovereignty without flinching. Job traces his exhaustion back to God, not to dismiss his grief but to ground it. That claim is difficult and deeply biblical: affliction isn’t random, and it isn’t always retribution. Together with our panel, we challenge the reflex that equates hardship with guilt, and we show how outward loss can coexist with steadfast faith. Job’s body becomes a witness—wrinkles, leanness, weariness—and yet the testimony is to suffering, not sin. This reframes how we show up for others, trading prosecution for compassion and certainty for humble prayer.

Across the hour, listeners will hear candid reflections, hard-won insights, and practical ways to comfort wisely: speak sparingly, strengthen intentionally, and keep people before principles. For those walking through storms, we offer a steady reminder that formation often happens in the dark and that God’s hand remains firm when answers don’t. Step into a study that refuses easy clichés and instead builds a sturdy faith—one that can say, even here, every inconvenience is a comfort waiting to happen. If this resonated, follow the show, share with a friend who needs real comfort, and leave a review to help others find these conversations.

Transcript

Setting The Scene In Job 16

SPEAKER_06 0:04

Christians. Good evening. I hope you're having a good night tonight. Tonight we're going to continue our exposition on the book of Job. And we are currently in Job chapter 16, where Job begins his continued discourse with his friends. And we began yesterday in Job 16, verse 1, where it says, Then Job answered and said, I have heard many such things. Miserable comforters are you all. Speaking about his friends, he's calling them miserable comforters, and saying that they have provided him no comfort whatsoever other than miserable comfort. And it is almost as though Job is being exercising a little sarcasm here by calling them miserable comforters. In verse 3, he goes on and he says, Shall vain words have an end? And what emboldens you that you continue to answer? What he's telling them is that they have been speaking a lot and saying nothing. That is what the gist of what Job is telling them. You've been speaking a lot. There has been a multitude of words, but there has been nothing of substance. And then he goes on by saying, And yet you continue to respond to me, you continue to answer me, you will continue to address me, and there's no fruit being produced. Verse 4, Job says, I can speak like you. I could talk just like you. If your soul were in my soul's stead, in other words, if you were in my place, I could heap up words against you just like you're doing against me. And I can shake my head at you and wag the finger. This is what Job is saying. In verse 5, he says, but that's not what I would do if I were in your place and you were in my place. What you're how you are treating me is not how I would treat you. How you're speaking to me is not how I would speak to you. And so in verse 5, he tells his friends, he goes, No, I would strengthen you with my mouth. And the moving of my lips would assuage your grief. To the best that we are able to do. Job says, in explaining to them how a comforter should comfort. This is what Job is saying. And so now we get to verse 6. And Lord willing, I'm planning on getting through verse 14, but it depends on how we go tonight. But I will do my best to try to keep a cohesive strain in the narrative. So in verse 6, Job goes on to speak, in continuing from where we left off in verse 5 last night. And he says this. Job says, Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged. Though I forbear, what am I eased? So now you see Job doing what he has done before, which is he doesn't see himself in the position of company, of being in company with whom he is able to reason with. He doesn't see them as being of competence to where they can reason, to where they can sit with him and discuss these matters with wisdom and wisely. So he says here, though I speak, my grief is not assuaged, and though I forbear, what am I ease? So now it is as though he is not even talking to his friends anymore. He turns from addressing his friends and he begins to reflect on the futility that prevails, the futility of relief through human expression. He is saying here that with all the words that have been spoken, whether they are my words or whether they are your words, whether there is silence, whatever the situation is that is prevailing in these particular circumstances that we are find ourselves in, my grief is not assuaged. This also gives us insight into something else. Job is seeking to have his grief assuaged, to have it calmed, to have it somewhat mitigated against. Job has to find some other source from which to be alleviated from this grief that he is going through at this moment. This shows the very depths of his affliction. To him, it seems unfathomable. Ordinary means of relief have failed. I'm certain that he thought that with his friends being there, that he might find some, but that has proven to be a futile endeavor. And we see that as being evident in the narrative. Job is not saying that there's anything wrong with speech and there's there's no benefit to speech. That's not what he's saying. But what he is doing is acknowledging that his suffering lies far beyond what expression can heal. There's nothing that can be said. Speech doesn't help, silence doesn't help. He is perpetually annoyed, afflicted, and saturated in grief. And there seems to be no way whereby he can be assuaged in his words. So the grief that he has persists. And this grief that he has, it persists inwardly, untouched by outward restraint, untouched by outward complaint. These things do nothing for him. The grief that he is dealing with is far more than what meets the eye. It is far more than what we normally address in our sermons on the book of Job. We have a tendency to focus highly. We have a tendency to be very reflective on the circumstances. Even in our discussions over these past couple of months, we've highlighted much about the suffering that Job is going through. But the reality is, the reality is, his real suffering, the real suffering that Job is experiencing is something that is far more grievous than the loss of family, the loss of wealth, the lack of support from his wife, the charges brought to him falsely by the devil and by his friends. It is that inward grief that is plaguing his soul. He wants to know where is my God? Where is my Father? Where is my Lord? Where is the Holy One? Where is the Almighty One who has given me so much comfort through all of my days? Where is He? When will He speak to my soul and give me the comfort that I seek? Words can't do it, and silence can't do it. I need that revitalization that only God can give, and the revitalization that only God can give after the inward parts. This verse here, verse 6, marks a transition from Job's frustration with the others to the inward experience of his unresolved sorrow, which plagues his heart. Job is beyond frustrated. And I know that many of us have some knowledge of what this may be like because Job is in a situation where he feels as though he is misunderstood by all. And the Lord Himself is giving him no clarity. The Lord is giving him no clarity in the matter. He's frustrated. He wants to hear from his God. And this can be a very lonely state of affairs. To be isolated, to find yourselves possibly prone to believe that maybe something, maybe something is wrong with me. I don't know. I just don't know what it is if it is. Now he's addressing God. But now he has made me weary. You have made desolate all my company. Job now identifies God as the ultimate source of his exhaustion. He's worn out. He's tired. But notice he acknowledges that it is God that is doing this. This is who he's speaking about. God. His weariness is not just physical, it is completely comprehensive, affecting every part of his being. But more importantly, and more seriously, his inward, spiritual being. He's worn out. He is fighting for his soul. Every fabric of his being is holding on to the faith that he has in his Lord. He's like, I can't talk to these guys. These guys are clowns. They're not in tune spiritually. They only view things and they view things and make assessments based on what they see. They are driven by sensory perception. And that's spiritual wisdom. That's what is being dealt with here. And notice how he says, You have made desolate all my company. The desolation of his company refers to both the loss of family and his friends, the collapse of his businesses, the collapse of all social and relationship support. And I really think he's speaking very specifically about his friends. I am sitting here in front of this company of men. And yet, I am made desolate by their very presence. The language he is speaking is beautiful. My friends are here with me. And I am emptied by their presence. They bring no fullness, they bring no life, they don't, they bring no vitality, they bring no hope. They bring no inspiration. They bring no aid. They don't supply me with any bomb. They bring no help. They bring no comfort. All they bring me is a bunch of vain, wisdomless words. And Job acknowledges that his condition hasn't come by chance. It didn't come by human malice alone. Job acknowledges in this verse here that this is coming by divine appointment. This is coming by divine appointment. He says, Now has he made me weary. Now he has made me weary. You, God, have made desolate my company. Job is speaking doctrine now. He is saying, I know, Lord, this is coming from you. You are breaking me. You are wearing me down. You are exhausting me. You are pushing me to the limits. You are enforcing my disciplined soul to lean into you and to what your guidance has for me. When you train an athlete, there is nothing but pain involved in the workouts and all that you have to do to get better. Job realizes that what is happening to him is coming from the Lord Himself. You see, this is what biblical Christianity is teaching us if you would open your ears and your eyes and your heart and your mind to understand. Don't listen to these foolish people out there telling you that it is all about your will. It has nothing to do with that. It is about relying on the Lord Jesus Christ in all things at all times, and no matter how bad it looks, it is Him working behind the scenes to make you become what He has called you to become. Job knows that. This is not accidental. This is not fate or kismet. And you have Christians preaching this very thing, they just don't know what they call it. They just don't know what to call it. So they call it biblical truth. Job knows this is all falling down upon him from the hand of God Almighty Himself. His loneliness is intensifying, is adding to his sufferings. Affliction that is born in isolation presses heavily against Job. It affects him in his very soul. And it's a load and a burden that he he can only carry on his own. And that he must carry on his own. Before I go to verse 8, I want to check in with you guys and see what some of you guys are thinking. But keep in mind, I want to try to get through verse 14 tonight. But anyway, but I don't want to restrain you from saying what you was really on your heart. So feel free, but be as succinct as possible. But don't feel like you have to restrict what you want to say if you really need to say it. Brother Rob, what do you think so far? Opening remarks and good evening. I'll come back to you. It sounds like you might be having a hard time. Brother Jeffrey, encouraging serving. Good evening. Opening remarks.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

Good evening, Jonathan, and good evening, panel. Jonathan, I'll keep my comments fairly short tonight. I'm happy to see what Job said in verse 5 of 16. He says, But my mouth would encourage you, and comfort from my lips would bring you relief. He's telling his three friends that, why haven't you done this for me? I would have done it for you if this were happening to you.

SPEAKER_05 18:35

Right.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

And so my thought here is: has any of this gotten into the head yet of his three friends? Have they even started to have an inkling, Jonathan, that they've totally dropped the ball, so to speak, in aiding and comforting their friend Job? Obviously they haven't yet, but they will eventually. But the point is, Job is still restraining himself as best he can from his aggravation of what's going on, but also realizing it's God who has brought and allowed this to happen to him.

SPEAKER_06 19:10

Amen. Amen, brother. Um Sister Lisa, good evening. And what are your opening remarks, sister?

Unshaken Faith Versus Carnal Judgments

SPEAKER_03 19:17

Good evening. Um, well, I'm, you know, I'm I'm just starting to realize, and no, not just starting to realize, but it's just confirmation when Job is saying that he realizes that all of his whatever it is he's going through, it comes through the sovereignty of the Lord. Um, even though we know the attacks are coming from the enemy, he is, he is, um, his belief is that everything is ordained by God, which is, you know, what we know. So, um, he understands that. And so I think that's something that we we need to remember because the first thing that we want to do when we're going through stuff is getting attacked by the devil, or you may be. But remember, nothing comes to you unless the father says okay. So um, that's kind of comforting to me. Just a comforting reminder to us all. So we know that everything works out for good, for the good of those who are called according to his purpose. So just keep that in mind.

SPEAKER_06 20:24

That's right. Amen. Sister Mariah, opening remarks and good evening.

SPEAKER_03 20:29

I don't know if she's there. She had to step away. She said she had an emergency, so she she couldn't even get off. So hopefully she'll tell us when she gets back here.

SPEAKER_06 20:37

All right, no problem. Sister Candy, opening remarks and good evening.

SPEAKER_05 20:43

Afternoon, everyone. Um, I think between encouraging sermon and Miss Lisa. Carry on, brother.

SPEAKER_06 20:53

All right. Brother Penn, opening remarks, brother. It looks like you're having some problems, but it looks like you've got it solved.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

Well, I'm doing my darndest. Hopefully, I get my internet by the end of the week, so and I won't have to worry about that. You know, um, Job is not, um The more you read this, I like Job a lot. It's hard to how do you not like this guy? Um, because his friends have not, it's almost like they've done their darndest to get him his focus on all the wrong things. And nope. He's he there's a sense in which he's unmovable. This relationship that he has with God is not shaken. I don't know how he's tuning out all the noise, but somehow he's able to do it. You know what I mean? He he's got these friends trying to pull him right, trying to pull him left, and uh he knows he has a fet a a firm foundation and and and knows what the real truth is.

Wrinkles, Witness, And False Charges

Preparing Hearts For Future Storms

SPEAKER_06 21:53

Amen, brother. It's it's like like Jove is he he he's like I can't talk to these guys. That's that's that's what it's like. That's The vibe I'm getting. He's like, I can't talk to these guys. Lord, all I have is you. These guys don't get it. They don't know him. See, the thing is, Job understands something very, very special, which is what we've been talking about, which is what we always talk about. Especially me, I talk about this all the time. We serve a sovereign God. We need to understand what that really means. It means that there is no aspect of our life that He does not, he has not designed or orchestrated to have the outcomes that it does. Everything. God leaves nothing to chance, especially with his own people, his particular chosen elect people. He leaves nothing to chance. Zero. And you have these people, you know, that call themselves Christians, these unbelieving Christians that will that will say horrible things. Horrible things. I found out some horrible things that were going on with regard to me today from another sister. Don't care. People don't like the idea that God is sovereign. They don't like that because it strips them of all authority that they believe they have over themselves. But we rest in Christ. We rest in Christ, knowing that He has the wheel, He has the control. What He has done with us is made us aware that He's doing this. He's made us aware. He's given us the capacity to understand what He is doing without frustrating our moral agency. Job understands that this is happening to him because of God. He understands that. It wouldn't surprise me if there were a bunch of unbelieving Christians out there that would look at this and go, Yeah, Job is wrong. Just like you have Christians that are that are contesting both. So you have this whole situation going on where Job is the only person acknowledging who's in charge. Because what do they keep looking at? The same thing. The flesh. They keep looking and putting their focus and attention on man, not on the spiritual thing. Job is looking at things completely different. Verse 8. Job says, again, continuing his prayer to God basically, he says, You have filled me with wrinkles. This should require no interpretation. You're aging me in this situation. You have filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness. My wrinkles, that is, they are a witness against me, and my leanness rising up in me bears witness to my faith. Job is pointing out that his physical deterioration is the evidence that seems that test that seems to testify against him. He says his own body is testifying against him. He's appealing to God and says, You're you're aging me. You're wearing me out. You're wearing me out. And it shows on my face. That is slowly being chipped away at. And that's not the case. Job is saying and is trying to get his friends to understand that what my situation that I'm in, how I look, how my oppression is being reflected, how my affliction and oppression is being shown on my face, this should be the grounds that should evoke your compassion. But instead, instead of having compassion or compassion being evoked, no. You want to do something different. You want to bring me up on charges and unfounded charges at that. Joe recognizes that his physical condition is a testimony, but not of wrongdoing. But it is a testimony of his suffering. These guys, they they they can't see the mutual exclusivity of this. To them, suffering is indicative of guilt always. If you are suffering, if you are getting all these losses, if all this is happening to you, it is because of guilt. That is the equation. It must be. This is something that every Christian should understand. This was not just something to show us and give us some great, cuddly story to talk about and to tell our kids. God is showing us in this story of Job the model in terms of how we are to look at things when they befall us that seem unfavorable from the eyes of man, including our own eyes. We have to rely on the Lord and to trust in his sovereign hand, his sovereign guiding hand in our lives. And he will never upset. Never. Job recognizes outward affliction. How can we be mistaken for inward corruption? This is human to think this way. This is how people think. It's natural for man to come to these conclusions. This is how the carnal man sees everything. The assumption is always that when things are going bad, it has to be something you did that was wrong. When things aren't going good, it's because of something you did wrong. That's the way the world thinks. That's the way the world thinks. Sister Lisa, go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 31:17

I was just gonna say, don't you even think that we that's the first place we go when, you know, even in our own mind, we we can be listening to this story for how many, like a couple of months now we've been in this book. And as soon as we're afflicted with something, our brain goes to that to that place. What did I do, Lord? You know what I mean? So I mean, it's it's this is so good because I know that you said last night, you know, this is a long book and we're just going through it line by line, and and it's but really we need this. We we absolutely need it because our brain will go to that first place and until somebody, brother or sister, will remind us think job, think job. Okay, you know, and then we we come back, and you know, but I mean it's true, right?

SPEAKER_06 32:07

It is it is true, it is true, and and you know, I mean I'm sorry you guys have to be punished listening to me, but hey, but I I think Sister Lisa's right, it's it's something that we really need to um delve into and really understand this in a deeper way because it's because you never know when your time to have to endure this is going to come. And no doubt, in varying degrees, it will come to all of us. Some worse than others, um, some less. But that's okay. But the whole idea is to be equipped and notice and know this. If you are hearing it and understanding it, there's a good chance you're being prepared to deal with the very types of things Job was being dealt with, you know, in one way or another, because these are the things that God uses his word. These are this word is what he uses to equip us, like Sister Lisa said, and to fortify us against the things that can happen to us in this world. And so we always have to be um careful to understand and reflect back on what we have been going through in these chapters, because it's really gonna show up when you need it. It's really gonna show up when you need it. Sister Candy, go ahead.

Every Inconvenience Is A Comfort Waiting

SPEAKER_04 33:30

I was just gonna say it Lisa's right, because we do, even it doesn't matter where we're at in our walk, we do look at like what what have we done? Like what it and and it makes me look back at when my mom and jasmine conspired against me and said I was a bad mother. When everything I was doing was trying not to be a bad mother, but at the same time, it also made me reflect on what I was and needed to improve that I was doing that I could have been better at, that the the Lord had put on me to be better because I knew He showed me so to know it, and it it actually throughout the the circumstance that took place, it did work. He worked everything out for the good, not only for me and my daughter, but for me, my daughter, and my own wife.

SPEAKER_05 34:24

Right.

SPEAKER_04 34:26

So even though I still looked at what did I do, but it was there what I needed to change from doing. But at the same time, it was teach me what what you want me to learn in this for.

SPEAKER_05 34:39

Right.

SPEAKER_04 34:40

What do you want for us to learn through any of it? That's what we got this PCQ and everything else.

SPEAKER_05 34:46

Right. Brother Rodney, what do you think?

SPEAKER_01 34:51

Yeah, um, I'm I'm sorry. I was I was trying to get to my phone loud when I got when I missed you last time. But um first I apologize if I missed the last few sessions, but I know it's neither here nor there. I've been a little bit sick, but I thank God forgive me through and bring me back here. But as far as this is concerned, um it's just it's just hitting right at right at home. So I'm like, I'm I'm taking it in, but I have comments, but I would just say that I want to pick it back off of what Sister Candy just said, you know, what he wants us to learn in this is just for me, is just to walk with him, right? Because I'll just say this, you know, I mean the past few sessions I spoke about a like a 30-year friendship that I had with my best friend, ex-best friend or whatever, but you know, and I'm just gonna say, I guess as we got older, you know, we're just going different ways or different paths or whatever. But it's just different that people that I'm meeting after that, so I've known them for 10 years or something like that, you know, are more becoming. And so I'm I'm taking it as God is showing me like this, I'm removing people that aren't ready to, you know, walk with us in a sense, but I have people that are, you know, here for you. So it's like, you know, I'm just looking at that as a blessing, you know. So Amen, brother. Amen.

SPEAKER_06 36:03

I'm glad you, I'm glad you got better, and I'm glad you're back with us. It's always good to have you. Yeah, I'm here, man. I'm here.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

I'm here. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 36:11

Brother Jeffrey, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 36:15

Jonathan, I I I I I wonder, and I'm I'm sitting here thinking, when the storm comes to our life that you were talking about a moment ago, which they inevitably will, are we going to have the faith to say to God, thank you for the storm? Because it's going to produce something good in my life. I'm just not in a position at this moment to see it or understand it. And for a lot of Christians, Jonathan, it's been my experience, that is a difficult thing to do because all they see is just the storm. And sometimes when you're in the middle of it, I'll admit it can be difficult to see anything good coming from it. But what we have to do, and you've pointed this out, is remember who it is we belong to, who it is that brought the storm, who it is that's bringing us through the storm, walking with us through the storm. Right that will say, okay, the storm has accomplished in your life what I intend for it to accomplish. Now I'm removing it. That's right. And so we just have to give God the praise and the thanks, even when the storm comes that we don't want, we don't like, and we didn't plan for because he has a purpose for it.

SPEAKER_06 37:36

I'll tell you something right now. When it comes to the Lord and how he deals with his people, every inconvenience is a comfort waiting to happen. In other words, in other words, that inconvenience is by design.