16:1ff Job’s friends were supposed to be comforting him in his grief. Instead, they condemned him for causing his own suffering. Job began his reply to Eliphaz by calling him and his friends “miserable comforters.” Job’s words reveal several ways to become a better comforter to those in pain: (1) Don’t talk just for the sake of talking; (2) don’t sermonize by giving pat answers; (3) don’t accuse or criticize; (4) put yourself in the other person’s place; and (5) offer help and encouragement. Try Job’s suggestions, knowing that they are given by a person who needed great comfort. The best comforters are those who know something about personal suffering.
16:7 First Job’s children died, then his friends condemned him, and now he felt that God had deserted him. No wonder he wanted to die! But God still had something important to reveal to him, and to us, through his experiences.
16:19 Job was afraid that God had abandoned him. Yet he appealed directly to God (his witness and advocate) and to God’s knowledge of his innocence. A witness is someone who has seen what has happened, and a record can be consulted to prove the facts. By using these terms, Job showed he had cast all his hope for any fair defense upon God in heaven because he would probably die before it happened on earth. In the New Testament we learn that Jesus Christ intercedes on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 2:1); therefore, we have nothing to fear.