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The article reflects on the failure of the conversation between Job and his friends at the time of his suffering. Topics include the efforts of friends to comfort and express sympathy to Job; the portrayal of the suffering of the righteous in the book of Job; the argument claiming how good behavior has good effects, while bad behavior has negative consequences; and how Job's suffering raises the theodicy question: if God is good, where does suffering of innocents come from.

The article discusses human failure as depicted in the Psalms in terms of interpersonal relationships and in the relationship with God, and based on this tenets how people can still take refuge in failure. Topics include how King David measured the distance from God in despair and wrote the Psalms; and how the Psalms presuppose an existing relationship with God, be it individually or collectively as a member of God's people, with whom God has made a covenant.