Job 29:2

Job now gives his last speech — his greatest effort to justify himself. Yes, this was the reason all his trial and sorrow were needed. His words are very touching. "Oh, that I were as in the months of old … as I was in my prime." It is not, Oh that it were with me, but, Oh that I was. How like the mistaken longings of a soul being driven from self to Christ. There is a peculiar, deceptive pleasure in being satisfied with oneself.

Job then sets before us a beautiful account of his earlier life. God shone on the days and months as they glided by. His lamp was above his head, and His light let him walk through darkness. He especially recalls the days of his harvest — the days of maturity, not youth. Then he enjoyed the familiar presence and counsel of God over his tent life.

This is truly a remarkable speech. We look in vain for any breathing of a broken and contrite spirit here. There are no signs of self-loathing, or even of self-distrust. In this single chapter, Job refers to himself more than forty times, while the references to God are only five.

Job 29 has become one of the great "I" chapters of the Bible. Ecclesiastes 2 is Solomon's "I" chapter. That pronoun occurs 16 times in the first 9 verses. It is the true chapter of the self-gratified "I". Job 29 is the chapter of the self-satisfied "I". Romans 7 is of course the chapter of the self-condemned "I". And to be self-condemned is far better than to be self-gratified or self-satisfied. Best of all is to be self-eclipsed, as we find Paul to be in Philippians 3.

Job was a godly man. There was no one like him in his generation. But in his soul a rapid current was flowing. Not that he was self-righteous or worldly in the usual sense. He was truly a believer, and a generous friend and benefactor. But he valued his circumstances in life, and his standing among men. In the hidden workings of his heart, he used to survey his fine condition with satisfaction. His neighbours had not traced the course of that stream, but his heavenly Father had. He loved him, and He wanted him to share His holiness. All this was inconsistent with that holiness, so He put him into His own school to exercise him.

And so he looks back: "Oh, that I were as in the months of old." God was going to do far better. Job went through very severe sifting, but that was all for his good. … "When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me." Was He not with him then? That is exactly what he did not see or know. "Whom He loves He chastens" — and that is one of the great lessons of the Book of Job. I admit it was terrible chastening. And that is where the friends were all wrong; it was so severe that they thought it was punishment.

It is disappointing that some Christians seem so satisfied when they speak of a power they knew in early years long past. They gravely tell us that it has now passed away. They are ready to cry out with Job, "Oh, that I were as in the months of old." All this is sad, since it helps neither themselves nor anyone who hears them. Job's experience was very different from that of the wise man who lived even earlier than Paul. That man declares that "the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day." As you come nearer to what you long for, the way grows brighter and brighter.