Job 31:16

JOB STRESSES OTHER AREAS OF HIS INNOCENCE

"If I have withheld the poor from their desire,

Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

Or have eaten my morsel alone,

And the fatherless have not eaten thereof

(Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as a father,

And her have I guided from my mother's womb);

If I have seen any perish for want of clothing,

Or that the needy had no covering;

If his loins have not blessed me,

And if he have not been warned with the fleece of my sheep;

If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,

Because I saw my help in the gate:

Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade,

And mine arm be broken from the bone.

For calamity from God is a terror to me,

And by reason of his majesty I can do nothing."

These verses carry Job's protest that he has not been careless or negligent in his duty toward the fatherless, the widows, the poor, the needy, the hungry, or the naked. Job was rich, "But there is no sin in being rich. The sin comes when we use our riches selfishly and ignore God. Money is not the root of all evil; that root is the love of money. Job was not guilty of this sin; but how about you"?[15] In our world today, there are countless thousands of rich and affluent people who use their wealth solely for selfish and personal reasons without regard to anyone except themselves.

"If I have eaten my morsel alone" (Job 31:17). "Job does not mean that he has maintained a continual open house for his friends, but that he has shared his plenty with the destitute. His haunting words here still live in the consciences of many."[16]

"Her have I guided from my mother's womb" (Job 31:18). This is hyperbole in which Job is saying that as far back as he can remember, he has been careful to minister to the needs of widows, orphans, and the poor.