Matthew Henry Commentary Job 42:7-9

"And it was so, that, after Jehovah had spoken these words unto Job, Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Now therefore, take unto you seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt-offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you; for him will I accept, that I deal not with you after your folly; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as Jehovah commanded them: and Jehovah accepted Job." — Job 42:7-9 (ASV)

After the Lord had convinced and humbled Job, and brought him to repentance, He acknowledged him, comforted him, and bestowed honor upon him. The devil had undertaken to prove Job a hypocrite, and his three friends had condemned him as a wicked man; but if God says, Well done, thou good and faithful servant, it is of little consequence who says otherwise. Job's friends had wronged God by making prosperity a mark of the true church, and affliction a certain proof of God's wrath.

Job had referred things to the future judgment and the future state more than his friends; therefore, he spoke of God what was right, better than his friends had done. And as Job prayed and offered sacrifice for those who had grieved and wounded his spirit, so Christ prayed for His persecutors and ever lives, making intercession for the transgressors. Job's friends were good men and belonged to God, and He would not let them persist in their mistake any more than He had allowed Job to persist in his; but having humbled Job by a discourse out of the whirlwind, He took another way to humble them.

They were not to argue the matter again, but they had to agree on a sacrifice and a prayer, and that was to reconcile them. Those who differ in judgment about lesser things, yet are one in Christ the great Sacrifice, ought therefore to love and bear with one another. When God was angry with Job's friends, He showed them a way to make peace with Him. Our quarrels with God always begin on our part, but making peace begins on His.

Peace with God is to be found only in His own way and on His own terms. These will never seem hard to those who know how to value this blessing: they will be glad of it, like Job's friends, on any terms, however humbling. Job did not insult his friends; but, God having been graciously reconciled to him, he was easily reconciled to them. In all our prayers and services, we should aim to be accepted by the Lord; not to receive praise from men, but to please God. (Job 42:10–17)