Job 13:1 says, Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.  Job was telling
his three friends that he was sharing not what he thought to be true with them, but instead what he had seen and heard from his relationship with God.  People may argue with us about many things in the world, or even how we interpret the Bible, but what they cannot argue about is our testimony to God.  If we are followers of God through Christ, then we have a personal relationship with God that no one can dispute.  Verse two adds, What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you.  His friends may have thought that they were morally superior to Job, but Job here tells them that he knew as much about God as they did.  He was not speaking out of a sense of superiority as they were but was simply stating that no matter what his physical condition might indicate, he still knew God.  We must never approach others with an attitude of moral superiority on our part, but must approach them as humble servants of God.  Verse three continues, Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.  Job had no doubt that God heard him, even if He did not seem to answer.  Job did not say that he made demands on God, but that he desired to reason with Him.  When we seek to reason with God, we need to acknowledge that God is the One with all the answers.  We cannot reason with God to hope to make Him accept our understanding.  Job did not understand why he was suffering as he was, but knew that God could give him the answers he sought.  In verse four Job states, But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.  Job declared that the advice of his three friends was based on lies and that they did nothing to offer healing, or comfort, to him. When we offer spiritual advice to others, we need to make sure that what we are advising is based on what God's word teaches under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  Verse five adds, O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom. Job tells his friends that they should just quit speaking and let that show their wisdom.  Job felt that they had nothing of value to tell him, and that they should be wise enough to just remain silent.  The silence of their first week had proven to be of more value than their speech was.  If we are just attempting to condemn others for their sins, then we would be better off to just remain silent.  Verse six continues, Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.  Job asked his friends to simply listen to him.  I believe this meant more than just acknowledging that he was talking, but to listen with understanding and compassion.  Too often today, instead of really hearing what someone else has to say, people are just waiting for that person to quit talking so they can dispute what has been said.  We too often lose the ability to reason together.  Verse seven asks, Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?  Sometimes when people attribute certain acts to God that He was not the direct cause of, then they are indeed speaking wickedly and deceivingly of Him.  Job was telling his friends that what they were saying did this.  Verse eight adds, Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?  I believe that Job was asking his friends if they would accept God's word if they heard it, or if they would argue even with God.  Verse nine continues, Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?  Job asked them if they would mock God as men mock each other.  Notice that Job did not make these as negative statements against his friends but asked them to look at their own attitudes.  We are better off getting people to examine their own understanding of God, and anything we disagree on, than we are to just condemn them outright.  Often, if someone feels that we are condemning what they believe, they will just become that more defensive.  Verse ten states, He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons.  I believe that Job was telling his friends that God would correct them if they secretly thought some people were more worthy than others.  We can be sure that God will judge us, not just by our actions and words, but by the very thoughts, or reasons, behind them.  Nothing is secret with God.  Verse eleven adds, Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?  We should be afraid, or stand in awe, of the excellency of God.  Verse twelve continues, Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.  Job reminds them, and us, that no matter how powerful or strong we think we are, we are still just God's creation, formed of the clay of the earth.  No one person is more important to God than another.