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Job Continues
I Promised Myself
1I promised myself
never to stare with desire
at a young woman.
2God All-Powerful punishes
men who do that.
3In fact, God sends disaster
on all who sin,
4and he keeps a close watch
on everything I do.
5I am not dishonest or deceitful,
6and I beg God to prove
my innocence.
7If I have disobeyed him
or even wanted to,
8then others can eat my harvest
and uproot my crops.
9If I have desired someone's wife
and chased after her,
10then let some stranger
steal my wife from me.
11If I took someone's wife,
it would be a horrible crime,
12sending me to destruction
and my crops to the flames.
13When my servants
complained against me,
I was fair to them.
14Otherwise, what answer
would I give to God
when he judges me?
15After all, God is the one
who gave life to each of us
before we were born.
I Have Never Cheated Anyone
16 I have never cheated widows
or others in need,
17and I have always shared
my food with orphans.
18Since the time I was young,
I have cared for orphans
and helped widows.
19I provided clothes for the poor,
20and I was praised
for supplying woolen garments
to keep them warm.
21If I have ever raised my arm
to threaten an orphan
when the power was mine,
22I hope that arm will fall
from its socket.
23I could not have been abusive;
I was terrified at the thought
that God might punish me.
24 I have never trusted
the power of wealth,
25or taken pride in owning
many possessions.
* 26I have never openly or secretly
27worshiped the sun or moon.
28Such horrible sins
would have deserved
punishment from God.
29I have never laughed
when my enemies
were struck by disaster.
30Neither have I sinned
by asking God
to send down on them
the curse of death.
31No one ever went hungry
at my house,
32and travelers
were always welcome.
33Many have attempted to hide
their sins from others—
but I refused.
34And the fear of public disgrace
never forced me to keep silent
about what I had done.
Why Doesn't God Listen?
35Why doesn't God All-Powerful
listen and answer?
If God has something against me,
let him speak up
or put it in writing!
36Then I would wear his charges
on my clothes and forehead.
37And with my head held high,
I would tell him everything
I have ever done.
38I have never mistreated
the land I farmed
and made it mourn.
39Nor have I cheated
my workers
and caused them pain.
40If I had, I would pray
for weeds instead of wheat
to grow in my fields.
After saying these things,
Job was silent.
Reflect
When I was in Scotland, working on this chapter, I saw a BBC program on the tomb of Kha and Meryt in Egypt. In it was found a papyrus which listed 42 sins, which the dead person would swear that he had not committed. There is a picture of his heart being weighed in scales. I was amazed, because the idea of a checklist of sins, which the “accused” either confessed or denied, is so similar to Job’s protestations in this chapter.
There is a similar catalogue in a Hittite prayer in which a person is seeking release from suffering. The defendant declares his innocence of any of the sins on the list.
Parallels like this show how much the book of Job illustrates ways of thinking that were not uniquely Israelite, but common to the Ancient Near East. This in turn brings into sharp focus the ways in which the Old Testament is unique. Job still has to wait for the true God to manifest himself (chs 38-42).
There are some interesting things in Job’s checklist — “if my heart has been led by my eyes” (v 7 NIV), if I have not shared with the poor (v 17), if I have put my trust in money (v 24), if I have gloated over my enemy’s misfortune (v 29) — that speak across the centuries.
It’s a good idea to examine oneself honestly in the presence of God from time to time. This isn’t to be connected with looking for answers to the insistent “why?” in the context of suffering, but rather to check our behaviour/lifestyle in the sight of God. Some Christian traditions encourage their members to do this before receiving communion. It’s all too easy to slip into an easy “God will forgive me — it’s his job” mentality without remembering that our sins sent Jesus to the cross.
Respond
Almighty God, forgive me that I can be careless about my sin. I so easily justify it with the excuse that other people do that too, or, to put it crassly, thinking I’ll be forgiven anyway because I’m justified by faith. Forgive me for pretending that you didn’t notice. Help me to live with integrity in your presence. Amen.
Annabel Robinson
Annabel was born in Kew, near London, England. She committed her life to Jesus Christ at a Scripture Union camp when she was 16, and immediately found joy and peace. At Oxford she was active in the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, where she met her husband, Reid. They emigrated to Canada in 1965, where she taught Classics at the University of Regina until 2007. She has two children, Heather in Oslo and Alasdair in Calgary.