6:1ff Job’s reply to Eliphaz has three key points: (1) You are giving me all this advice without sympathizing with my situation; (2) your criticisms are not based on fact but only on your own experience; and (3) you still have not answered my basic question: Why am I suffering like this? Although Job could not understand why he was going through this extreme suffering, while he sought an answer, he was determined to remain true to God (6:10).
6:6, 7 Job said that Eliphaz’s advice was like eating the tasteless white of an egg. When people are going through severe trials, ill-advised counsel is distasteful. They may listen politely, but inside they are upset. Be slow to give advice to those who are hurting. They often need compassion more than they need advice.
6:8, 9 In his grief, Job wanted to give in, to be freed from his discomfort, and to die. But God did not grant Job’s request. He had a greater plan for him. Our tendency, like Job’s, is to want to give up and get out when the going gets rough. To trust God in the good times is commendable, but to trust him during the difficult times tests us to our limits and exercises our faith. In your struggles, large or small, trust that God is in control and that he will take care of you (Romans 8:28).
6:29, 30 Job referred to his own righteousness, not because he was sinless, but because he had a right relationship with God. He was not guilty of the sins his friends accused him of (see chapter 31 for his summary of the life he had led). Righteousness is not the same as sinlessness. No one but Jesus Christ has ever been sinless—free from all wrong thoughts and actions. Even Job needed to make some changes in his attitude toward God, as we will see by the end of the book. Nevertheless Job was righteous (1:8). He carefully obeyed God to the best of his ability in all aspects of his life.