Job 8:20–22

"Behold, this is the joy of his way" (v.19), that is, the joy of the hypocrite is short and soon over. In contrast to this, "God will not reject the blameless," while He will not uphold evildoers (v.20). If Job were blameless, God would fill Job's mouth with laughing and his lips with rejoicing (v.21). No doubt Bildad was implying that Job could even yet find such blessing if he would return to living a blameless life.

"Behold, God will not reject a blameless man." But God was trying and troubling the blameless at that very moment. Job's friends could never take this into their minds. They did not understand it or believe it in the slightest degree. So their reasons were all false, and more than that, unkind through and through. It is a sad thing to be unkind to what is good and true. It is just as sad to be very kind to what is not good and not true.

If Job really is a blameless man, God will not reject him — and neither does He take the hand of evildoers. He will not cast Job off until He gives him the fullest grounds for thankful praise, defeats his enemies, and destroys the wicked forever. But applied to this case, Bildad's thoughts held no fellowship with God and no gracious care for the sufferer. So he judged by appearances, and his judgment was unrighteous.

Job knew that much of what Bildad said was true. God will not reject a blameless man. He will fill the blameless man's mouth with laughter and his lips with shouts of joy, and those who hate him will be clothed with shame (Job 8:20–22). All of this happened to Job once his days of testing were over. But Bildad did not understand that God could test a man hard — a man whose life already pleased Him — so that it might please Him still more.

It was all very well for Bildad to say "God will not reject a blameless man." No one ever thought He would. But where is the blameless man to be found? Job himself felt that he was not that man. God gives His answer to the guilty man's "hard question" in Romans 3:21-26. The redemption that is in Christ Jesus lets God justify by His grace, as a free gift, everyone who owns his guilt and believes in His Son.

Next, he argues that God's ways are just by telling Job there is restoring mercy for him, if he will only turn to God in prayer. "If you are pure and upright" — those words carry a strong hint of suspicion — then God will restore everything and bless Job's later days. This did come true, but in a very different way from what Bildad expected. God blessed Job not for his purity, and not because he confessed the evil Bildad suspected.

Next comes Bildad the Shuhite (Job 8). He follows Eliphaz, but with much more harshness, and so he draws a sharper reply out of Job. While rebuking Job, he does not hesitate to suppose that Job's children had brought on themselves what their deeds deserved. He also hints that Job himself could not be what he seemed. He speaks and thinks only of justice. Yet he urges Job to repent, and more blessing than ever would surely follow. The greenest, freshest plant is the first to wither. The hope of the hypocrite or the impure is no more than a spider's web, and the place where he stood will deny it ever saw him, while the upright is filled with joy.

If Job really is a perfect man, God will not cast him away. Neither does He take the hand of evildoers. God will keep him until He gives him the fullest grounds for thankful praise, confounds his enemies, and destroys the wicked forever. But in Job's case, Bildad's thoughts had no fellowship with God and no gracious care for the sufferer. He judged by appearances, and so his judgment was unrighteous.

Lastly Bildad reminds Job of the sure reward for the righteous. God will not join hands with evildoers by punishing the righteous. He will fill Job's mouth with laughter and his tongue with singing, and all wickedness will stop its mouth, if —

Job knew that much of what Bildad said was true. God will not cast away a perfect man. He will fill the mouth of the perfect man with laughter and his lips with rejoicing. Those who hated Job would be clothed with shame (Job 8:20–22). This is what happened to Job after his days of testing were over. But Bildad did not understand one thing. God could test very severely the man whose life was pleasing to Him, so that his life might please Him still more.

The reasoning of Bildad rests on exactly the same principle as that of Eliphaz. It is all founded on God's moral government. No one can grieve God or cast a truly righteous man to the ground, and God is sure to bring every wicked man to nothing. It is all founded on what is going on in the world now. There was no faith in it. There was conscience, conscience toward God. But conscience never reveals God and never can, however useful and important it is for the soul.

Yet the Lord does not let His saint go without proof of His interest and blessing. Job therefore received even then this testimony of what God is. He did not forget the man who had passed through such a storm of trial. Job had held on to Him even when He seemed to be against His servant… But Job only held on to God because God held on to Job. That was the real root of the matter. It is grace after all that gives and keeps integrity.

The word usually translated "tent" is ohel. The Authorised Version often translates it "tabernacle." It also stands for "dwelling" or "habitation," as in Job 8:22 and Psalm 91:10.

If Job is really a perfect man, God will not cast him away — though neither does He grasp the hand of evildoers. He will not cast him away until He has given him the fullest grounds for thankful praise, shamed his enemies, and destroyed the wicked for ever. But applied to Job's case, Bildad's thoughts held no fellowship with God and no gracious care for the sufferer. So his judgment went by appearances, and it was unrighteous.

It is all true and grandly stated: the wicked cannot prosper, and their doom is certain. On the other hand, God will not cast off the perfect man. But Job is in the place of a man cast off. So he must belong to the wicked who do not prosper. That is hidden beneath Bildad's rhetoric. Yet the closing sentences of his first speech are beautiful, and Job fully acknowledged their truth in his reply.

If Job were blameless, God would fill Job's mouth with laughing and his lips with rejoicing. Bildad was surely hinting that Job could still find such blessing if he returned to a blameless life. Then even those who hated Job would be clothed with shame, and the home of the wicked would come to nothing. He did not mean that Job was wicked. He meant that the wicked who opposed Job would be subdued.

Things that are true, but misunderstood and misapplied, may do more harm than many a false thing. Misapplied truth gives an error the apparent authority of God. That error carries all the more weight, because it comes as the truth. If someone says a foolish thing, or something clearly false, people despise it. But no believer can brush aside the truth of God. So when someone uses the truth of God wrongly — using it to crush one who is an object of intense interest to God at the time — how foreign and offensive to His mind!

Job knew that much of what Bildad said was true: that "God will not cast away a perfect man," that He will fill the perfect man's mouth with laughter and his lips with rejoicing, and that those who hated him would be clothed with shame. This is what happened to Job once his days of testing were over. But Bildad did not understand that God could test a man very hard when that man's life pleased Him, so that it might please Him still more.

This was indeed fulfilled, but in a very different way from what Bildad expected. Job is blessed not for his purity, and not for confessing the evil Bildad suspected.