Job 1:22

And how did it affect Job? Very few converted men now would act as Job did then. "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped." Now Job was a most affectionate man. He was full of graciousness even to strangers. What was it for him to lose all, not merely his property, but every soul of the family, outside his own house? … You could not imagine a happier or clearer expression of complete godliness from a soul so deeply tried. "In all this Job did not sin, nor charge God foolishly," that is, in a way that was contrary to all propriety.

The first chapter sets before us Job's heavy afflictions: the loss of his property and of his family. It is true that he tears his robe (chap. 1:20). But he did not sin in that, the word tells us. His grief was lawful. He was free to grieve for the loss of his children. But he rises and worships before God. He can worship Him because his will is broken. He can say, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

So far, Satan has failed completely. His object had been to drive Job from God; he had only drawn him to Him. This proves the reality of Job's faith.

So Job's attitude is a real answer to those who claim that hard circumstances are an excuse for sinning! "In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong" (v.22). Many since Job's time have proven this though enduring terrible afflictions and trouble. Their troubles did not push them away from God. Instead they drove them into His presence, to find comfort and joyful fellowship with the Lord. Job still had much to learn, as we often do, yet his response to trouble shows the reality of his faith in the Lord.

At the end of the first chapter we read, "In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong." In Job 2:10, however, it says only, "In all this Job did not sin with his lips." God would surely have wished to spare Job his sufferings. And what Satan was allowed to do did not come directly from the hand of God. This is a mystery, hard to understand. If Job later did charge God foolishly, it was partly because he did not understand this mystery.

And to think of Satan being allowed — yes, commissioned by God — to bring about all this! And for what? For the deep and lasting profit of Job's precious soul. God saw that His servant needed to learn a lesson. What is more, He saw that there was no other way to teach it. Job had to pass through an ordeal whose bare record fills the mind with solemn awe. God will teach His children, even though it be by stripping them of all that the heart clings to in this world.