From the delightful past, Job is suddenly thrust back into the dismal and disappointing present. You can almost hear him groan his first words, “But now” (Job 30:1; see vv. 9, 16). Job was wise enough to know that he had to face the reality of the present and not escape into the memory of the past. People who refuse to come to grips with life are in danger of losing touch with reality, and soon they lose touch with themselves.
“In their unsuccessful effort to fulfill their needs, no matter what behavior they choose,” writes psychiatrist William Glasser, “all patients have a common characteristic: They all deny the reality of the world around them” (Reality Therapy, 6). By refusing to live in the past and by honestly facing reality, Job took a giant step in maturity and integrity. In his lament, Job contrasted his present situation with the past and showed how everything had been changed by the judgment of God. His five “complaints” parallel the joys that he named in chapter 29: “I have no respect” (30:1–15, see 29:7–11) “I have no blessing” (30:16–23, see 29:2–6) “I have no help” (30:24–25, see 29:12–17) “I have no future” (30:26–28, see 29:18–20) “I have no ministry” (30:29–31, see 29:21–25)
“I have no respect” (Job 30:1–15). Young men who once stepped aside for Job (Job 29:8) now mocked him and even spit in his face (30:1, 9–10). But the worst part of this experience was that these young men were the sons of men so despicable that Job compared their fathers to donkeys wandering in the desert. He called them “children of fools, yea, children of base men” (v. 8). They were outcasts from society who had to forage in the wilderness to find food and fuel for their fires. At one time, Job had been the greatest man in the East; and now he was the song of the rabble (v. 9).
These men were unworthy to carry Job’s sandals, and now they were openly ridiculing him. What made the difference? Job was now an outcast like them. When Job’s bow was “renewed in [his] hand”—a symbol of vigor and success (29:20)—these men respected him. But God had “loosed” his cord and afflicted him, so these rebels set aside their restraint and despised him (30:11). When formerly they had honored Job, it was not because they respected his character and integrity. It was because they respected his position and wealth and hoped to benefit from his favor. Their friendship was fickle, and their respect was hypocritical.
Because this rabble had “thrown off restraint” (v. 11 niv), they made life miserable for Job. Job pictured them as a ruthless army, building siege ramps, laying traps for his feet, breaking down his defenses, and attacking him (vv. 12–14). They were also like a storm that frightened Job, blew away all his dignity, and destroyed his safety like the wind blows a passing cloud (v. 15).
Job experienced sufferings similar to those of our Lord Jesus Christ. The basest of people falsely accused Him (Matt. 26:59–64), spat upon Him (v. 67), and ridiculed Him while He was suffering (Luke 23:35–39); and He became “the song of the drunkards” (Ps. 69:12). Job didn’t know it, but he was being honored by God to share in “the fellowship of his [Christ’s] sufferings” (Phil. 3:10). Though sitting in an ash heap, Job had been promoted in the highest possible way!
“I have no blessing” (Job 30:16–23). “And now … the days of affliction have taken hold upon me,” groaned Job (v. 16). What a contrast to the days of cream and oil (29:6)! Instead of enriching him with blessing, God was robbing him of even the basic enjoyments of life. In the daytime, Job endured unbearable suffering; and at night, God wrestled with him, made his clothing like a straitjacket, and threw him in the mud (30:16–19 niv). Every night, God wrestled with Job; and Job lost.
Job prayed to God. He even stood up and cried out for deliverance; but his prayers were unanswered (v. 20). Instead of God’s hand bringing help, it only attacked Job ruthlessly and tossed him about like a feather in a storm (vv. 21–22). Job begged for his life, but death seemed inevitable (1:23).
“I have no help” (Job 30:24–25). Job had faithfully helped others in their need (29:12–17), but now nobody would help him. They wouldn’t weep with him or even touch him. He was treated like a leper who might contaminate them, or like a condemned man whom God might destroy at any time. It just wasn’t wise to get too close.
Where were the people whom Job had helped? Surely some of them would have wanted to show their appreciation by encouraging their benefactor in his time of need. But nobody came to his aid. Mark Twain wrote, “If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.”
Our motive for serving others is certainly not to obligate them to serve us (Luke 14:12–14). We help others because we love Christ and want to glorify Him (Matt. 5:16) and because we sympathize with their needs and want to help them (Rom. 12:15; Luke 10:25–37). Missionary doctor Wilfred Grenfell said, “The service we render for others is really the rent we pay for our room on this earth.”
“I have no future” (Job 30:26–28). During the days of his prosperity, Job had expected to enjoy a long and comfortable life and a peaceful death (29:18–20); but now that was all changed. He looked for good, but God sent evil; he looked for light, but God sent darkness. Instead of comfort and peace, he experienced constant turmoil within. “The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me” (30: niv).
The British essayist William Hazlitt wrote, “Hope is the best possession. None are completely wretched but those who are without hope, and few are reduced so low as that.” Job was, and even the Lord seemed not to care. Job’s body was weak and feverish, and his skin was black from disease.
“I have no ministry” (Job 30:29–31). In the past, Job’s words had brought encouragement and hope to many (29:21–25); but now his words were like the howling of the jackals and the moaning of the owls and ostriches (Mic. 1:8). Because his hope was dead, Job’s song was a funeral dirge. His harp and flute were tuned to a minor key. How could he speak encouraging words to others when he himself was in the pit of discouragement? “And where is now my hope?” he had asked earlier in the debate. “As for my hope, who shall see it?” (Job 17:15).