Job 32:2 "He justified himself before God"
Job has spent the previous chapters asserting his integrity, recounting the ways he has lived a righteous life. His soul was grieved for the needy and he wept for those whose lives are hard (30:25). He guarded his eyes from lust (31:1). He did not go after other women but had been faithful to his wife (31:9). He treated his servants justly (31:13). He fed the poor and took care of the orphan and the widow (31:16). He took no pride in his wealth (31:24). He did not curse his enemies (31:29). He showed hospitality to the alien and the stranger (31:32). God Himself affirms the upright heart of Job: "There is no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man" (1:8). Job's life appears Christ-life indeed. Surely God worked a profound miracle of grace in Job's life and led Him on the straight and narrow path of righteousness. Yet when calamity befell Job, his heart cried out "what have I done to deserve this?!" And so Job justifies himself before the Almighty God.
I don't think Job was lying about his life. I am confident that he was an upright man who had lived a life of faith that was very pleasing to God. But tremble in amazement: even the most righteous man on the earth cannot justify himself before God! I have sought to live an obedient life before God, but can I make any of these claims of Job for my life? How wretched I am compared to Job. And if Job cannot justify himself before God, how much less can I? How can I ever hope to be righteous? My hardest attempts are weak and tainted with sin.
Praise God, He completely supplies everything we lack in Christ! Every debt has been paid, every failure accounted for. He took our sin, we get His righteousness. "He made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)
(6/20/2011)
