I Put On Righteousness

Job begins, Oh that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me; when his lamp shone on my head, and by his light I walked through darkness, as I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was in my tent. What Job misses most is not his wealth but closeness with God.

Job remembers his honor at the city gate. The young men saw me and hid themselves. The aged rose up and stood. The princes refrained from talking. Men listened to me, waited, and kept silence for my counsel. They waited for me as for the rain. He lived as a king in the army, as one who comforts the mourners. His leadership was marked by comfort, not cruelty.

Job's honor came from his care for others. I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had no one to help him. I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy. I researched the cause of him whom I didn't know. This chapter directly refutes the friends. Zophar hinted that Job oppressed the poor, and Eliphaz said Job sent widows away empty. Job's life shows the opposite.