Job 29:18

AN ELABORATION OF JOB'S HONORED PLACE IN SOCIETY

"Then I said, I shall die in my nest,

And I shall multiply my days as the sand:

My root is spread out to the waters,

And the dew lieth all night upon my branch.

My glory is fresh in me,

And my bow is renewed in my hand.

Unto me men gave ear, and waited,

And kept silence for my counsel.

After my words they spake not again;

And my speech distilled upon them.

And they waited for me as for the rain;

And they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.

I smiled on them, when they had no confidence;

And the light of my countenance they cast not down.

I chose out their way, and sat as chief,

And dwelt as a king in the army,

As one that comforteth the mourners." "Although from a Pauline perspective we know that, `There is none righteous, no not one' (Romans 3:10), the case of Job makes it clear that some men indeed are innocent and righteous."[6] Sinless perfection, of course, was achieved by only One in the whole history of mankind. "Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus it is He"![7]

As Kelly wrote, "These chapters are remarkably like the closing speech of a skilled lawyer, summing up the evidence, presenting the facts, reinforcing the legitimacy of his plea."[8] All along, Job has been wishing that there was a court where some judge or umpire might hear his plea and exonerate him; but, of course, there was no such court. God does not provide times when he may be arraigned, nor does he answer any human subpoenas.

The marvel about Job is that he went right on pleading his case before no visible audience whatever, except that of his skeptical and unbelieving friends. Yet God overruled the negative appearance of this situation and achieved the spread of Job's complete lamentation upon the blessed pages of that Book that shall outlast heaven and earth! How marvelous is the justice of God!

In the days of his prosperity and happiness, Job had supposed that life would continue without intermission, with no interruption of his happiness and prosperity; and in the disasters that overwhelmed him, we must read an illustration of the eternal truth that, "Ye know not what shall be on the morrow" (James 4:14).