Christ not only passed through every grief for us, but He passes on to us the comfort He found there.
As Job begins his fourth speech, he delivers his famous assessment: “Miserable comforters are you all!” (Job 16:2). The two words are on a collision course with each other. The word “miserable” (Heb, ‘âmâl) is a grab-bag of distasteful ideas. It’s variously translated: mischief, misery, travail, trouble, sorrow, grievance, iniquity, pain, perverse, toil, wearisome, and wickedness. But its main thought is irksome labor, whereas “comforters” (Heb, nâham) speaks of sighing with grief, feeling sorrow, consoling or easing one’s burden, being moved by pity. You have worn me down with your words, said Job, instead of binding up the wounds of my soul. I don’t understand “what provokes you” to so vehemently answer as you do (v 3), but “if your soul were in my soul’s place” (v 4), I would be using a very different approach. “I could heap up words against you, and shake my head at you; but I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief” (vv 4-5). I daresay the book of Job would be filled with helpful suggestions to comfort others if the roles had been reversed. Sometimes we hear from some who have passed through deep waters. They tell us that the efforts of others, while well-meaning, were not at all helpful. I encourage such sufferers who have passed through their deep shadows into the sunshine to tell us what would have helped, what they would have said to others who were passing through deep waters. In fact, this is the Lord’s desire, “who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Cor 1:4, BSB). Like every other gift from heaven, comfort is given to us to give away to others.