Dr. Kim Riddlebarger comments:
In Job 7, the sufferer speaks directly to the Almighty. His friends have no answer and do not understand his plight. Thus it is only natural for Job to look anew to his creator, friend and redeemer for an answer. Job cries out in verses 1 and following, “Does not man have hard service on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired man? Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired man waiting eagerly for his wages, so I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me. When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’ The night drags on, and I toss till dawn. My body is clothed with worms and scabs, my skin is broken and festering.”
Knowing he has done nothing wrong, Job cries out for an answer. In Job 7:11 we read: “Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.” As Francis Andersen reminds us, “Job makes his way to God with prayers that are sobs. Narrow and inhuman is the religion that bans weeping from the vocabulary of prayer.” And Job returns to this theme again in verses 19-23. “Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant? If I have sinned, what have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins? For I will soon lie down in the dust; you will search for me, but I will be no more.” Job wants to know “why?” He knowsthat there is no secret sin. Job wants to know what we already know–that there is a purpose behind all of this and Job’s suffering does not have to do with some secret sin or a divine vendetta against him. Job knows he is a sinner. What troubles him is that it appears as though he has not been forgiven.
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 