Behold, I have prepared my case; I know that I shall be in the right.
Job's three friends insist that his suffering proves he is hiding some sin. He turns away from them and speaks like a man in court, with his case laid out and his verdict expected. Is that confidence faith, self-esteem, or both at once?
A case prepared, not a rash outburst
The language is legal. Job has arranged his defence and expects the verdict to go his way. One writer notes the care behind the claim, and its limit:
Leslie M. GrantSo Job urges his friends (or critics) to listen closely to what he says. He had not been careless in preparing his case for judgment. He was certain it deserved careful consideration, for he says, "I know that I shall be in the right" (v.18). It was true that men would one day judge him to be in the right. But in the eyes of God it is a different matter, as Job admits in chapter 42:5-6, once God had fully weighed his case.
Why he had to speak at all
His friends had taken truths everyone accepted and bent them into an accusation against him:
Samuel RidoutNext, Job charges his friends outright with being false witnesses for God. They took well-known truths that everyone accepted and used them to back up their charge that Job was wicked. What kind of doctors were these, to treat a case like this? They have already decided what his disease is, and they twist his symptoms to fit their diagnosis!
Faith and self-esteem in the same breath
Job's confidence here is not a simple thing. One writer finds two elements in him at once, and only one of them is healthy:
F. B. HoleIn verses 14-19, Job has God before his mind, not his friends. We can see two conflicting elements. On the one hand, there was a remarkable spirit of faith... This was excellent. But at the same time Job showed his very weak spot: he was determined to "maintain," or "defend," his own ways before Him. So we see that in a true believer very real faith in God may exist, and yet be spoiled by a very determined measure of self-esteem.
Job even asked God to show him what was wrong in himself. What he missed was where that desire came from:
William KellyHe would hold on to his integrity before Him, whatever they said, and he knew he would be justified. He asked only for relief from his suffering, and that the terror of God would not overwhelm him. He wanted to find out everything that was wrong in himself... He did not yet know the grace that was giving him this self-judgment.
Turning uprightness into a righteousness
Job's uprightness was real. The danger lay in what he did with it:
J. N. DarbyJob was upright, but he began to make this his righteousness. That clearly proves he had never really been in the presence of God. The result was this: although he reasoned more correctly than his friends, and showed a heart that felt far more deeply than theirs what God is, he charged God with injustice and with wanting to harass him for no reason (see Job 19; 23:3, 13; 13:15-18; 16:12).
It helps to remember what was on trial in this book:
W. H. WestcottGod allowed Satan to test Job. The test was not to find out whether Job's soul was saved and whether he stood righteous before God. It was to find out whether Job feared God only because of his prosperity and his material advantages — which Satan claimed were enough on their own to make a man godly.
The vindication came — by the opposite road
Job got the verdict he wanted, but not on his terms. It came when he stopped defending himself:
F. B. HoleWhen his friends slandered Job, he felt it very deeply. But for a long time he fought for his own reputation instead of committing his way to the Lord. When he finally did commit it, God soon brought out His righteousness as the light and His judgment as the noonday. As soon as he condemned himself and justified God, his righteousness became clear, and God Himself testified that at last he had spoken what was right.
Summary
- Prepared. Job speaks like a man in court. His case is arranged, and he expects the verdict to go his way.
- Provoked. He speaks because his friends acted as false witnesses for God. They fitted true statements to a false diagnosis.
- Mixed. Real faith and a stubborn defence of his own ways stand side by side in him. Self-esteem can spoil genuine trust.
- Misplaced. His uprightness was real. Turning it into his righteousness was the error, and it led him to charge God with injustice.
- Reversed. The verdict Job argued for came when he stopped arguing. He condemned himself and justified God, and God declared that he had spoken what was right.