After the seven days of silence with his friends had ended, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. His suffering was so bad that he wished he had never been born. Life was a weary struggle -- a struggle to move, a struggle to sleep, a struggle to get through the day, a struggle to get through the night. The weight of it all became overwhelming to Job.
“2And Job spake, and said, 3Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. 4Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.” (2:2-4)
Job’s wish that he had never been born was so strong he did not even want God to remember the day of his birth. He wished that day could be blotted out of history.
Job continued, “5Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. 6As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months. 7Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein. 8Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.” (3:5-8)
A Birthday Full of Sorrow
Lots of company filled with joyful voices, and people having great fun? Not on Job’s birthday. His wish was that his birthday would be forgotten, as if it were not even one of the days of the year. Instead of his birthday being a time of rejoicing and celebration, Job wanted it to be a day of mourning, like a funeral. Job’s birthday bought him sorrow, not gladness.
A Night of Perpetual Darkness
Not only did Job wish that the day of his birth were blotted out of history, he wanted the night of his birth to be one of perpetual darkness. “Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day.” (3:9)
Oh, how Job desired the that the day of his birth would be forgotten for ever! “Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.” (3:10) Why had he even been born if he was only going to have sorrow and pain? In his eyes, good were it if he had never been born.
How about you friend? Do you ever feel this way? Does it ever seem as if life is one hard trial after another, as if it were not worth living but there were no way out of it? Job felt this way. His pain and his sorrow were very great, almost unbearable. God put Job's story in the Bible to help those who are going through similar difficulties to understand that they are not alone. Job's story helps them to know that their feelings and their desires are not unique. Someone has gone through this journey before them, and God has brought him safely to the end of it. The journey was hard and treacherous, but the unseen God was there at every step. I pray the story of Job will be of help to you if you are going through such struggles. You may not see God, you may not feel God, you may not even perceive Him; but He is there. He will be with you as He was with Job.