Link Job 30:14 to Psalm 22's suffering.
How does Job 30:14 connect with themes of suffering in Psalm 22?

Setting the Scene—Parallel Laments

Job 30 and Psalm 22 each record a righteous sufferer speaking from the depths of pain.

• Both chapters move from raw lament to a glimmer of hope, preparing hearts to see God’s eventual vindication (Job 42:10–17; Psalm 22:22–31).


A Breach in the Wall: Job 30:14

“They advance as through a wide breach; amid the ruins they come rolling in.”

• Job pictures enemies rushing through a broken city wall—swift, unstoppable, merciless.

• He feels exposed, unprotected, overwhelmed by forces he cannot resist.

• The image captures sudden catastrophe: life once secure now lies in ruins (cf. Job 1:13-19).


Encircling Predators: Psalm 22

• v. 12 – “Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.”

• v. 13 – “They open their jaws against me like lions that roar and maul.”

• v. 16 – “For dogs surround me; a band of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.”

• David’s foes close in from every side, just as attackers surge through Job’s breached wall.


Shared Themes of Crushing Suffering

• Overwhelming assault

– Job: attackers “come rolling in.”

Psalm 22: “surround,” “encircle,” “open their jaws.”

• Deep humiliation

Job 30:9-10—mocked with songs, spit upon.

Psalm 22:6-7—“I am a worm… all who see me mock me.”

• Sense of abandonment

Job 30:20—“I cry out to You, but You do not answer.”

Psalm 22:1—“My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?”

• Physical, emotional, spiritual agony converging (Job 30:16-17; Psalm 22:14-15).


Foreshadowing the Suffering Messiah

• Both passages anticipate Isaiah 53:3 – “He was despised and rejected by men.”

Psalm 22’s details (vv. 16-18) are fulfilled at the cross (Matthew 27:35, 43; John 19:24).

• Job’s image of a breached wall becomes a picture of Christ bearing the full onslaught of sin and wrath (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Hebrews 4:15 draws the line forward: Jesus “was tempted in every way we are, yet without sin,” knowing Job’s and David’s anguish firsthand.


Hope After the Breach

• Job’s story ends with restoration (Job 42:10).

Psalm 22 turns to praise (vv. 22-31).

• In Christ, the breach is repaired: “By His wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

• Sufferers today can rest in Romans 8:18—present sufferings are “not comparable to the glory that will be revealed.”

What can we learn about human vulnerability from Job 30:14's imagery?
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