Job 7:19

How long until you turn away from me,

   Let me alone for even an instant?

(Written 4/20, Posted 5/3)

I had breakfast with an old friend. It had been way too long. Some flu like bug got in the way a few times. As friends go, he is a keeper.

This first stitch was not so much a question of which word to use, but which timing aspect to use. A couple samples:

• How long until you turn aside from me
• Will you not away from me for a while
• Will you never look away from me

I liked the sentiment in the “will you never”, but I felt it strayed from the poet’s intent. It is true that God will never look away, but Job was asking a rhetorical question. I preferred the “how long” option over the “for a while” option. One source had “depart from me”, but I think that was going to far.

The second stitch had an option I did not like but was probably a phrase in the day of the poet. Instead of “for even an instant”, the phrase was “so I can swallow my spit” or some variation on that. I did not understand the connectivity of the image to spitting, so I dropped it. For “let me alone”, we also saw “let me be”, “let me go”, or “release me”. I did not agree with the “release me” sentiment over the “let me alone” sentiment.

This verse of course carries on the passage from the previous verses and provides a little more detail of what it means to have God watching all day, every day. We know God does not turn away from us and will not and we know Job knows this too. God was Job’s friend, his Father, his Protector. He does not want God to turn from him. He wants God to heal him from this condition and reassure him that God is in control. It is like the kid I saw walking who grabbed his father’s hand. Its not that we do not know He is there, but sometimes, we just want our hand held.