Sharper Iron — There Is a Redeemer - Job 10:1-22: God, Leave Me Alone!

Job’s complaint again turns freely toward God. He asks God why He oppresses the work of His hands as if He is seeking out the guilt of Job. Job sees no deliverance from the almighty hand of God. Job compares God to a lion on the hunt and an enemy general. If this is the way God is going to act, Job reasons it would be better for him to depart into death’s darkness.

Rev. Dr. Martin Dressler, pastor at Salem Lutheran Church and School in Black Jack, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Job 10:1-22.

To learn more about Salem Lutheran, visit salembjmo.org.

“There Is a Redeemer” is a series on Sharper Iron that studies the book of Job. The suffering of Job raises important questions. Does man fear God for no reason? Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? Who can be an arbiter for man? As this book of wisdom literature wrestles with such questions, God reveals to us that He is our Living Redeemer whom we are right to fear, love, and trust above all things.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen. Pastor Appel serves at Faith Lutheran Church in Godfrey, IL. Learn more at flcgodfrey.org. Submit comments or questions to: listener@kfuo.org

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund. Together in faith, LCEF helps to start, sustain and strengthen LCMS ministries through financial and strategic partnerships. Visit lcef.org.

Job 10:1-22

Job Continues: A Plea to God

[1] “I loathe my life;

I will give free utterance to my complaint;

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

[2] I will say to God, Do not condemn me;

let me know why you contend against me.

[3] Does it seem good to you to oppress,

to despise the work of your hands

and favor the designs of the wicked?

[4] Have you eyes of flesh?

Do you see as man sees?

[5] Are your days as the days of man,

or your years as a man’s years,

[6] that you seek out my iniquity

and search for my sin,

[7] although you know that I am not guilty,

and there is none to deliver out of your hand?

[8] Your hands fashioned and made me,

and now you have destroyed me altogether.

[9] Remember that you have made me like clay;

and will you return me to the dust?

[10] Did you not pour me out like milk

and curdle me like cheese?

[11] You clothed me with skin and flesh,

and knit me together with bones and sinews.

[12] You have granted me life and steadfast love,

and your care has preserved my spirit.

[13] Yet these things you hid in your heart;

I know that this was your purpose.

[14] If I sin, you watch me

and do not acquit me of my iniquity.

[15] If I am guilty, woe to me!

If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head,

for I am filled with disgrace

and look on my affliction.

[16] And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion

and again work wonders against me.

[17] You renew your witnesses against me

and increase your vexation toward me;

you bring fresh troops against me.

[18] “Why did you bring me out from the womb?

Would that I had died before any eye had seen me

[19] and were as though I had not been,

carried from the womb to the grave.

[20] Are not my days few?

Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer

[21] before I go—and I shall not return—

to the land of darkness and deep shadow,

[22] the land of gloom like thick darkness,

like deep shadow without any order,

where light is as thick darkness.”

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Rev. Timothy Appel

Although a mathematics degree may not be incredibly helpful to (proudly born-and-raised Texan) Rev. Timothy Appel while hosting Sharper Iron, his love of CFW Walther and the season of Easter will come in handy. His Call is shepherding the flock at Faith Lutheran Church in Godfrey, Illinois, and he’s also husband to wife Kristin and dad to their growing basketball team of children. When he’s not carrying out pastoral duties, you may find him reading “The Lord of the Rings,” snacking on Reese’s peanut butter cups, playing dominoes with his boys, or studying up on Texas history (including Sam Houston, of course).