Job

Job 6: Job needs a faithful friend

Begin in prayer

Before Job asks his friends for kindness, let us seek the Lord together. Ask Him to give our family patient ears and to show us the faithful love of Jesus.

If you take your neighbor’s garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down, for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What would he sleep in? It will happen, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious.

Exodus 22:26-27

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Help us understand the kindness a suffering friend needs. Help us see Jesus. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Job answers Eliphaz by comparing his anguish with sand too heavy to weigh. He longs for God to end his life, while insisting he has not denied the Holy One’s words. His strength seems too small for waiting, and he asks his friends for kindness. Their comfort has failed like seasonal streams that disappear when caravans need water. Job asks for honest teaching about any wrong he has done. He urges them to reconsider, look at him and judge without injustice.

As you read Job 6, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

Job’s friends fail him in his anguish, but Jesus is the faithful Friend who laid down His life.

Job asks his friends to weigh his words against suffering heavier than the sea’s sand. An animal cries when it lacks food, so his cries should not surprise people who see his pain. He still longs for death, yet values the fact that he has not denied the Holy One’s words. His appeal for kindness reaches even a person who has forsaken the fear of the Almighty. Such a person still needs a friend’s mercy. The seasonal stream explains Job’s disappointment, because melting snow promises water that disappears when thirsty travelers most need it. He asks for honest correction with evidence, rather than accusations built from his desperation. Please let the picture teach us how painful failed friendship becomes when strength is gone.

How does Job 6 show us that Job’s friends fail him in his anguish, but Jesus is the faithful Friend who laid down His life?

A suffering person needs patient understanding.

Job knows his words have been rash, and asks that his anguish be weighed. Sand too heavy for a scale pictures that burden. His wish for death shows need for compassionate care.

Faithful kindness must outlast easy days.

Winter streams look full but vanish in the heat. Caravans from Tema and Sheba search for water and find disappointment. Job says his friends have become like those unreliable streams.

Truthful correction needs more than an accusation.

Job offers to listen if his friends show him where he has erred. He asks them to face him and reconsider their verdict. His desperate words give them no right to trade away a friend’s dignity.

Memorise

To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be shown from his friend; even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

Job 6:14

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, how have I failed others and needed Jesus’ faithful love?

Job’s friends have become like streams that vanish in the heat. He looked for comfort and found accusations. His plea for kindness reaches us whenever a suffering person seems difficult to understand.

Jesus described His love for His friends through laying down His life in John 15 verse 13. At the cross He carried the sins of His people and endured their punishment. Their redemption was finished there, and nothing more needs to be paid. The Father raised Him from death, so His love is the love of a living Savior.

Turn from your sin and trust this faithful Lord. Jesus gives forgiveness to people who rely on His sacrifice. His care does not dry up when His people have no strength. The One who died for His friends is able to help them through their hardest days.

Parent's note

Tell your children that desperate people need truthful kindness, and Jesus’ faithful love calls sinners to come for mercy. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for faithful kindness in Christ, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

Now the God of perseverance and of encouragement grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 15:5-6

Lord God, thank You for the faithful love shown in Jesus. Please lead each of us to turn from sin and trust Him. Forgive the times we have failed hurting friends, and help us listen patiently and speak truth with kindness this week. Amen.