Matthew Henry Commentary Job 17:1-9

"My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct, The grave is [ready] for me. Surely there are mockers with me, And mine eye dwelleth upon their provocation. Give now a pledge, be surety for me with thyself; Who is there that will strike hands with me? For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: Therefore shalt thou not exalt [them]. He that denounceth his friends for a prey, Even the eyes of his children shall fail. But he hath made me a byword of the people; And they spit in my face. Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, And all my members are as a shadow. Upright men shall be astonished at this, And the innocent shall stir up himself against the godless. Yet shall the righteous hold on his way, And he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger." — Job 17:1-9 (ASV)

Job reflects on the harsh censures his friends had passed on him, and, looking on himself as a dying man, he appeals to God. Our time is ending; it concerns us to carefully redeem the time and spend it preparing for eternity.

We see the good use the righteous should make of Job's afflictions—from God, from enemies, and from friends. Instead of being discouraged in the service of God by the harsh treatment this faithful servant of God met with, they should be emboldened to proceed and persevere in it.

Those who keep their eye on heaven as their end, will keep their feet in the paths of religion as their way, whatever difficulties and discouragements they may encounter.