Job 42: The Desire of God's Heart

Then Job replied to the LORD:
“I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.
You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.
“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’
My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
Epilogue
After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. - Job 42:1-7 NIV

What was the difference between Job and his three friends?  (Notice that God does not name Elihu in the group with which he was angry)  Job is disappointed with God and his friends do not appear to be so.  What is the difference?

Unlike his friends, Job had a relationship with God and, rightly or wrongly, felt that God owed him an answer.  Job's friends had a head knowledge of God, but no heart knowledge.  They could describe God in a fearful way: 
Dominion and fear are with him (Job 25:2 KJV).  They knew that God punished evil:  the triumphing of the wicked is short (Job 20:5 KJV).   They could describe Job's shortcomings:
Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? (Job 22:5 KJV).  In all of their discourse with Job, there is no indication that they really knew God.  They knew about him, but that was a deep as the relationship went.  Job didn't just want to hear God, he wanted to see him as well.  That was the cry of his heart.  For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another (Job 19:25-27 KJV)
I fear sometimes, that many of the Christians today are more like Job's friends than Job.  They can spout all the right religious phrases. They call sin a sin and single out the sinners for their contempt when they should be searching for God and his truth instead. Don't get me wrong. Sin is sin, but God so loved the sinner that he provided a means for their sins to be blotted out. God has always been looking for friends, for companions, for those he can have a relationship with, for those who truly want to know and see him.  That is the reason why we were created.  That is the desire of God's heart.