...Tough crowd
Moving right along (sorry about the pause -- a lot of driving and seeing my kids and wife and such -- oddly I didn't make it to church this past weekend
).
In Job 9 Job speaks again. Perhaps it is just me but he doesn't seem as perplexed with Bildad as he did Elifaz. Is he playing a game of divide and conquer? Probably not... there was definitely something different about Bildad's approach, compared to Elifaz's I mean. Perhaps they were playing Good Cop Bad Cop with Job? Probably not...
Switching back to the NLT which is so straightforward (but not lacking in charm entirely) that there is almost no need for commentary.
Job 9 NLT or HEB
Iyov (Job) answers Bildad
Then Job spoke again:
“Yes, I know all this is true in principle.
But how can a person be declared innocent in God’s sight?
If someone wanted to take God to court,
would it be possible to answer him even once in a thousand times?
For God is so wise and so mighty.
Who has ever challenged him successfully?
An encouraging opening in that Job agrees with Bildad. But he despairs that it is not possible to contend with God. Job believes he is innocent but there is the nagging detail of his affliction. What does it mean?
Unless he is being rhetorical here, he might also be complaining slightly about the obvious imbalance of power between people and God. In his state, could we blame him?
“Without warning, he moves the mountains,
overturning them in his anger.
He shakes the earth from its place,
and its foundations tremble.
If he commands it, the sun won’t rise
and the stars won’t shine.
He alone has spread out the heavens
and marches on the waves of the sea.
He made all the stars—the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the southern sky.
He does great things too marvelous to understand.
He performs countless miracles.
"God is the mightiest force in existence and master of all creation."
“Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him.
When he moves by, I do not see him go.
Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to see colossal things when you are right up close to them? Or is Job referring to some other aspect of God?
If he snatches someone in death, who can stop him?
Who dares to ask, ‘What are you doing?’
And God does not restrain his anger.
Even the monsters of the sea [or "the helpers of Rahab"] are crushed beneath his feet.
I added the bit about Rahab back in as it appears in several translations. Apparently Rahab was some kind of mythical monster of antiquity.
“So who am I, that I should try to answer God
or even reason with him?
Even if I were right, I would have no defense.
I could only plead for mercy.
And even if I summoned him and he responded,
I’m not sure he would listen to me.
For he attacks me with a storm
and repeatedly wounds me without cause.
He will not let me catch my breath,
but fills me instead with bitter sorrows.
If it’s a question of strength, he’s the strong one.
If it’s a matter of justice, who dares to summon him to court?
Though I am innocent, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty.
Though I am blameless, it would prove me wicked.
This part touches me somewhat. For one thing that feeling of helplessness is very uncomfortable. Sure Job probably knew in principle that he owed everything to God and was happy to return love and obedience in recognition of this. But the day you realize that you are completely powerless before God, completely dependant on his provision, his judgement, and his will -- that without him you are as nothing -- that can be terrifying, especially for people who are used to believing they are the ones in control of their own destiny.
For another it appears Job has decided that it is God who is afflicting him. This must have felt like that separation we talked about a little in the resurrection thread. As someone pointed out in this thread, if God is omniscient, allowing suffering can be interpreted as him doing it himself. I think there is a difference between allowing someone to be tested and torturing them yourself. Regardless, from the point of view of the afflicted and those who love them, the effect is the same. It's not as if knowing you are being tested makes it any less painful... the main difference that I can see is when the faithful are tested, there remains the hope that things will improve or that it is not without reason (or even benefit). It's sort of like trusting that the pain a surgeon causes will lead to improved health in the long run. Doesn't make it easier, but hope goes a long way. Sadly Job is on the edge of despair as the next few verses reveal.
“I am innocent,
but it makes no difference to me—
I despise my life.
Innocent or wicked, it is all the same to God.
That’s why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
When a plague sweeps through,
he laughs at the death of the innocent.
The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked,
and God blinds the eyes of the judges.
If he’s not the one who does it, who is?
Tagging on that bit at the end was probably Job playing it safe. Pretty harsh to say "God laughs at the death of the innocent" but this is what despair looks like. It must have been doubly painful feeling abandoned to the whims of a wicked world... separated from God.
“My life passes more swiftly than a runner.
It flees away without a glimpse of happiness.
It disappears like a swift papyrus boat,
like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
If I decided to forget my complaints,
to put away my sad face and be cheerful,
I would still dread all the pain,
for I know you will not find me innocent, O God.
Whatever happens, I will be found guilty.
Interesting that all of his former blessings count for nothing... suffering keeps you in the now, perspective is not particularly useful. I think it's supposed to work both ways but often happiness seems the more sweet after a period of mourning.
He says: "I am afflicted, therefore God must not believe me to be innocent."
So what’s the use of trying?
Even if I were to wash myself with soap
and clean my hands with lye,
you would plunge me into a muddy ditch,
and my own filthy clothing would hate me.
"There is no escaping God's judgement."
“God is not a mortal like me,
so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial.
If only there were a mediator between us,
someone who could bring us together.
The mediator could make God stop beating me,
and I would no longer live in terror of his punishment.
Then I could speak to him without fear,
but I cannot do that in my own strength.
"Clearly this is not a meeting of equals: God is sovereign and I am beholden to him. I wish there was a mediator that could reconcile me to him because as a human I am powerless to do so myself [by any means]." 
(And it does help that we can read ahead to the end when trying to discern what is going on!) Having been in a similar situation (as I know others here have been -- minus the specific details of course) all I'm saying is Elifaz opening with an accusation, as if he knows the mind of God, was not very helpful just then.
