Page 20 - Job

was hushed, And their tongue stuck to their palate. For when the ear
heard, it called me blessed, and when the eye saw, it gave witness of
me, Because I delivered the poor who cried for help, And the orphan
who had no helper. The blessing of the one ready to perish came upon
me, And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy. I put on righteousness,
and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes
to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I
investigated the case which I did not know. I broke the jaws of the
wicked and snatched the prey from his teeth.”
And it goes on and on. I, I, I, I, I yay yay!!! . You can glance at Job 31 and
see more of the same – even worse. You see here the deep root of self-
assuredness. There is not one word of brokenness. Not one word of
helplessness. No evidence at all of a contrite spirit. Nothing about conscious
weakness. Nothing about failure.

You go through this book and see Job who was in the summer of prosperity,
now in the cold dark winter of adversity! Under the awful pressure of divine,
satanic and human oppression, Job began to utter many things from the
depths of his heart. He started saying things he would never have said in the
beginning of the book. Take chapter 30, verse 1. Boy, you could see his
heart here.

“But now those younger than I mock me, whose fathers I disdained to
put with the dogs of my flock.”
He is bitter now. He says, “Now look at the people who are mocking me.
Why, I wouldn’t even employ their fathers to watch over my dogs, and they
are mocking me”. Now don’t get me wrong. This is not the theme of Job.
The theme of Job is not how to get rid of self-righteousness, how to get rid
of subtle pride. For years I had a real shallow view of the book of Job. I
thought that the message of Job was to reveal that hidden root of self-
righteousness we all have. I thought that, was the message of the book. I
have self-righteousness in me and God will pull the rug out from under me
so that it will be revealed.

That is not the point at all, and that is not the message of Job. The fact is,
stripping a man externally of all his pleasures will often lead to despair.
Taking his prosperity, his family, his friends, his reputation and his health do
not lead to righteousness and to God. It most often leads to hopelessness and
bitterness. It is utter despair that makes Job write chapter 3. If you are ever
going to a birthday party, read chapter 3. Now there’s the worst Happy
Birthday song you will ever hear! The whole chapter is a lament.

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