Sunday Sermonette: Despair

Job responds with what amounts to despair. He wants to die, and he wants his despair to be respected. This soliloquy, and especially the second half of it in the next chapter, reminds me of Hamlet ' s " Oh that this too, too solid flesh would melt " soliloquy, the somewhat lesser known one. But as a literary critic, I would say that Shakespeare does it much more efficiently. This runs through an excessive amount of imagery to make a pretty simple statement.6 Then Job replied:2 â€œIf only my anguish could be weighed    and all my misery be placed on the scales!3 It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas —    no wonder my words have been impetuous.4 The arrows of the Almighty are in me,    my spirit drinks in their poison;    God ’s terrors are marshaled against me.5 Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass,    or an ox bellow when it has fodder?6 Is tasteless food eaten without salt,    or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow[a]?7 I refuse to touch it;    such food makes me ill.8 â€œOh, that I might have my request,    that God would grant what I hope for,9 that God would be willing to crush me,    to let loose his hand and cut off my life!10 Then I would still have this consolation —    my joy in unrelenting pain â€...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs