Job 9:23 says, If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.  I do not believe that Job was saying that if trouble comes to the innocent, those who put their faith in God, that He laughs, or is unconcerned about their suffering.  We know that when God's people suffer, He suffers with them.  We might think that God doesn't suffer, but if that were true, how do we think He felt when Christ was on the cross.  This was a truly innocent man dying for all the sins of all the people for all time.  Verse twenty-four adds, The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?  Job said that the earth was given to the wicked and there was no justice in the world.  The eyes of the judges were covered.  We might feel the same way today, when it seems that evil man prosper and God's people suffer, but we must remember that this life is only temporary.  Verse twenty-five continues, Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good.  Job once more speaks of how fast his days are slipping away.  I do not believe that Job was speaking of the hours of the day passing away quickly necessarily but was likely saying that the end of his days was fast approaching.  Job felt that his good days, days of prosperity, were past and would never come again.  He could see no good in his life, so prayed for his death to come quickly.  Verse twenty-six states, They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.  Again, I believe that Job was speaking more of life in general coming to a rapid end, just as his days when he was prosperous came to a rapid end.  It was more than each day passing quickly away.  When we are suffering, the days seem to drag by more than they seem to fly by.  Verse twenty-seven adds, If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:  I believe that Job was saying that he knew he should quit complaining to or about God, but in his suffering, he found that he couldn't.  We often know that we are viewing God unjustly, but that may not keep us from crying out against Him.  Verse twenty-eight continues, I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.  I believe that Job was saying that God would not hold him innocent because of all his complaining about his sorrows, or suffering.  We today can likewise never justify complaining against God.  We have to know that our physical condition can never determine our spiritual condition.  In verse twenty-nine Job asks, If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?  Job said that if he was wicked, if he was indeed condemned for his sins that he could not correct, then why should he even try.  We cannot find restoration with God through our own efforts, so if we are attempting to do that, then we are indeed working in vain.  Verse thirty adds, If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;  I believe Job was saying that if he made himself physically clean that it would do no good.  Verse thirty-one continues, Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.  Job said if he cleaned himself up physically that he would still be thrown back in the ditch.  People in Job's day put a lot of stock in physical purity being a sign of spiritual purity, and even if Job were clean, he would still be filled with sores and viewed as unclean.  Job was asking with this understanding by those around him why he should even bother.  Verse thirty-two says, For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.  Job recognized that God was not just another person, or even just one of many gods, but that He was the one true God.  Since God was so much superior to Job, Job asked how God and he could come together in judgment.  There is really no need to plead our case before God, because He already knows not only all our actions, but our thoughts as well.  Verse thirty-three adds, Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.  In Job's day, people were looking ahead for the Mediator between God and them, but Job recognized the need for One to stand before God in his place.  We today have that Mediator in Christ.  No outward cleansing nor self-justification will ever make us right with God.  We are only made right through the Mediator, Jesus Christ.  Verse thirty-four continues, Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:  We know that through Christ the rod of punishment has been removed, though the rod of correction may remain, but Job was still looking for that assurance.  Verse thirty-five concludes, Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.  I believe that Job was saying that if he had this Mediator, then he would feel free to speak to God without fear of his own unworthiness.  We today have that Mediator and can speak freely to God without fear of our own unworthiness.