To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
Job 6:14 stands in Job's answer in which he justifies his complaints, within his extended debate with his friends about suffering. That debate shows that the friends' claims were often true in general but misapplied to Job, so that affliction does not prove a person is under God's displeasure or ought to be discouraged. Job spoke from severe loss and suffering, and for that reason his statement is a lesson in the compassion and comfort needed by those in trouble.
To him that is afflicted pity should be shown from his friend. The pity owed is sympathy and words of comfort, given not by a single friend only but by friends and by the whole church. It is to offer comfort rather than to deepen sorrow through misunderstanding, condemnation, or abuse. To withhold it is to fail in friendship and to abandon a friend in adversity. Such withholding forsakes reverence for the Almighty.
This applies to worthy believers who, under peculiar temptations and trials and with a deep sense of unworthiness, ask to have their names dropped from the church book. To grant the request and remove them is to forsake them, sending conscientious ones away from the bosom of the church into greater darkness and discouragement. It leaves them feeling that the brethren have no confidence in them and no care for them. In contrast, Jesus does not forsake and cast off tempted ones nor withdraw the Comforter, but gives good cheer in tribulation because he has overcome the world. So too the verse serves as words of comfort to a family mourning a child, showing that a person in distress should receive compassion from a friend.
Job 6:14 stands in Job's answer in which he justifies his complaints, within his extended debate with his friends about suffering. That debate shows that the friends' claims were often true in general but misapplied to Job, so that affliction does not prove a person is under God's displeasure or ought to be discouraged. Job spoke from severe loss and suffering, and for that reason his statement is a lesson in the compassion and comfort needed by those in trouble.
To him that is afflicted pity should be shown from his friend. The pity owed is sympathy and words of comfort, given not by a single friend only but by friends and by the whole church. It is to offer comfort rather than to deepen sorrow through misunderstanding, condemnation, or abuse. To withhold it is to fail in friendship and to abandon a friend in adversity. Such withholding forsakes reverence for the Almighty.
This applies to worthy believers who, under peculiar temptations and trials and with a deep sense of unworthiness, ask to have their names dropped from the church book. To grant the request and remove them is to forsake them, sending conscientious ones away from the bosom of the church into greater darkness and discouragement. It leaves them feeling that the brethren have no confidence in them and no care for them. In contrast, Jesus does not forsake and cast off tempted ones nor withdraw the Comforter, but gives good cheer in tribulation because he has overcome the world. So too the verse serves as words of comfort to a family mourning a child, showing that a person in distress should receive compassion from a friend.