What Zophar says could easily be placed in many a prophetic book or even the book of Proverbs. Like the other comforters, every word is true about the wicked but is not true when applied to Job. I have commented before that it is easy to apply to someone, whose life has seen misery, as "deserving it." Yes, there are times when we add to our own miseries, but often what happens to us is beyond our control. Life is by in large difficult, not easy.
We have like Job's comforters believe that if we are decent people everything should be good. However, it has only been in the last hundred years that large numbers of people live lives of relative comfort. We have come to expect that an easy life should be the norm and something is wrong when it isn't but it never has been easy. When you look at areas outside the developed world life is normally a struggle just to stay alive. Life is hard and therefore we shouldn't be as discouraged when life goes wrong and never assume that is someone's fault for hard times.
Side note: I'm not saying we shouldn't strive to have the largest number of people enjoy this easier life. We should want it, but understand this hasn't been the normal state of affairs for humans so don't blame, as it were, the victims.
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