I was not at ease, neither had I quiet, neither was I at rest; yet trouble came.
All Commentaries on Job 3:26 Go To Job 3
Didymus the Blind
AD 398
From this, Job’s preparation against the adversary emerges. Even Paul, who possessed the hope and grace of the Spirit, was vigilant and fought the adversary, since he knew that for the holy the struggle “was not against enemies of blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil.” Our struggle is also against the archvillain himself, the devil, who prowls around “like a roaring lion … looking for someone to devour.” Even though Job was vigilant, the devil did not refrain from asking for permission to test him and to impose on him the burden he proceeds to place on him. Job’s difficult experience seems like God’s wrath, yet he knows that his sufferings are not the result of his sinfulness. For Job states, “I know that I shall be vindicated.” Even in other passages Scripture describes hardship as “wrath.” It is said, “You sent out your fury; it consumed them like stubble.” When we hear about God’s wrath, we do not consider it a condition of the soul similar to human emotions. Such an emotion cannot be sent, since it lives in the soul. The wrath of God, however, is sent, for “you sent out your fury,” that is, hardship. Hardship is imposed. Job calls that which has affected him as “wrath.”
