Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
Job has reached the end of his long defence, and now he signs it. His last words are not a confession but a demand: let God answer, and let the accuser put the charge in writing.
The signature
Job treats his defence as a legal document and puts his name at the bottom.
Samuel RidoutHe reaches the climax: he is chaste, just, God-fearing, kind, sincere — what has he to fear? He challenges all; he wishes he had someone to hear him. "Here is my signature!" he cries. I sign my name to the list of my virtues. "Let the Almighty answer me!" "Let my adversary put his charges in writing."
The book he asks for
Job is not afraid of a written indictment; he wants one. He is so sure the charge is false that he would wear it in public.
William Kelly"Let the Almighty answer me!" — Job wanted to hear His voice about it — "Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!" Suppose someone who wished him harm laid charges. "I would take it," he says, "on my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me." He was confident that it was false. "I would declare to him," that is, to the Almighty, "the number of my steps; as a prince I would go near to him."
Who the adversary might be
Job's challenge is not aimed at his friends only. It reaches to God as the accuser.
Samuel RidoutWe cannot believe that anyone but an honest man could challenge his accusers like this. If God is his adversary, let Him write the charges in a book!
The flaw inside a true defence
Everything Job says about himself is true. The problem is what he does with it: he clears himself and gives God no glory.
Samuel RidoutHe looks over his whole life and character, and concludes that he welcomes both the indictment of man and the judgment of God. We cannot question the truth and the sincerity of all that he says, but we may well ask: is his conclusion a happy one, even for himself? He shuts the mouths of his friends, and he seems thoroughly satisfied with himself. Suppose God were to let it rest there — is the sight of a completely self-vindicated man a pleasant one? Divine truth, as well as divine love, will not let him wrap himself in these clothes of self-righteousness. For the most part they are borrowed garments that belong to God, and Job gives Him not the least bit of glory. All the rest is only "filthy rags." They belong to the dust and ashes where Job will soon put himself.
The wish granted
Job gets what he asked for. God answers — and the man who planned to approach like a prince says something quite different.
Samuel Ridout"Let the Almighty answer me!" was Job's closing word (Job 31:35). He is now to have his wish granted; but how different the effect! "As a prince I would go near to Him" (v. 37), he had declared. "I am vile" is what he has to say when he hears His voice.
The book God wrote
Job asked for a written case from God. One commentator finds that wish answered — though not in the spirit Job expected.
Leslie M. GrantJob bursts into the urgent plea that someone in authority would hear him (v.35), and realises his only hope along this line is in "the Almighty." Why did He not answer Job's desperate cries? If God was taking the place of a prosecutor (which was certainly not so), why had He not written a book dealing with the whole case? Here, in early years, was the expressed desire for a book written by God! Now we know such a Book is written. It comes not from a prosecutor's viewpoint, but from that of God being for us. It shows His understanding of everything about us. Its object is both the glory of God and the greatest good for mankind.
Summary
- Signature. Job signs his own defence and asks God to answer it — the verse is a legal challenge, not a prayer of confession.
- Book. He wants the charge in writing because he is sure it is false; he would carry it on his shoulder and wear it like a crown.
- Adversary. Even if God Himself is the accuser, Job still wants the charges in writing. Only an honest man could challenge his accusers like that.
- Rags. His record is true, but the virtues are borrowed from God. A man cleared only by his own word is no pleasant sight.
- Answer. God grants the wish. The man who meant to approach as a prince says instead, "I am vile." The book Job wanted came from a God who is for us, not against us.