Job’s Past Was Glorious
And Job again took up his adiscussion and said,Num 23:7; 24:3; Job 13:12; 27:1
2 “Oh, that I were as in the months of old,As in the days when God awatched over me, Eccl 7:10Jer 31:283 When aHis lamp shone upon my headAnd bby His light I walked through darkness;Job 18:6Job 11:174 As I was in the prime of my days,When the afriendship and counsel of God were over my tent,Job 15:8; Ps 25:14; Prov 3:325 When 1the Almighty was still with meAnd my boys were around me,Heb Shaddai.6 When my steps through rich pastures were washed with abutter and cream from my livestock,And the brock poured out for me streams of oil from my olive groves.Deut 32:14; Job 20:17Deut 32:13; Ps 81:167 “When I went out to athe gate of the city,When I took my seat as a city father in the square,Job 31:218 The young men saw me and hid themselves,The aged arose and stood respectfully;9 The princes astopped talkingAnd bput their hands on their mouths;Job 29:21Job 21:510 The voices of the nobles were ahushed,And their btongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.Job 29:22Ps 137:611 “For when aan ear heard my name mentioned, it called me happy and fortunate;And when an eye saw me, it testified for me approvingly,Job 4:3, 412 Because I rescued athe poor who cried for help,And the borphan who had no helper.Job 24:4, 9; 34:28; Ps 72:12; Prov 21:13Job 31:17, 2113 “The blessing of him who was aabout to perish came upon me,And I made the bwidow’s heart sing for joy.Job 31:19Job 22:914 “I aput on 1righteousness, and it clothed me;My justice was like a robe and a turban!Blameless and upright as Job had been—and God had so pronounced him—his misunderstood afflictions had caused him to get dangerously off-center. Instead of keeping his mind focused on God and justifying Him, he is giving his whole thought to justifying himself. Instead of humility there is self-righteousness. In this chapter he uses pronouns referring to himself fifty times. But when he was able to see himself as God saw him, he loathed himself and repented “in dust and ashes” (42:6).Job 27:5, 6; Ps 132:9; Is 59:17; 61:10; Eph 6:1415 “I was aeyes to the blindAnd I was feet to the lame.Num 10:3116 “I was a father to athe needy;I investigated the case I did not know and assured justice.Job 24:4; Prov 29:717 “And I asmashed the jaws of the wickedAnd snatched the prey from his teeth.Ps 3:718 “Then I said, ‘I shall die in my nest,And I shall multiply my days as the sand.19 ‘My aroot is spread out and open to the waters,And the bdew lies all night upon my branch.Jer 17:8Hos 14:520 ‘My glory and honor are fresh in me being constantly renewed,And my abow gains ever new strength in my hand.’Gen 49:24; Ps 18:34
21 “They alistened to me and waitedAnd kept silent for my counsel.Job 4:3; 29:922 “After I spoke, they did not aspeak again,And bmy speech dropped upon them like a refreshing shower.Job 29:10Deut 32:223 “They waited for me and for my words as for the rain,And they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.24 “I smiled at them when they did not believe,And they did not diminish the light of my face.25 “I chose a way for them and sat as achief,And dwelt as a king among his soldiers,As one who bcomforts mourners.Job 1:3; 31:37Job 4:4; 16:5