Job 9:1

Answering Bildad the Shuhite in chapter 9, Job said, "Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God?" (verse 2). Job knew that much of what Bildad said was true: that God will not reject a blameless man, and will fill his mouth with laughter (Job 8:20–22). This is what happened to Job after his days of testing were over. But Bildad did not understand that God can test a man whose life pleases Him, and test him hard, so that his life may please Him still more.

In our day the short sentence, "Get right with God," has stirred interest in the gospel message. It might well bring the reply, "Yes, but how is it to be done?" This is exactly the question Job asked in verse 2. The rest of the chapter shows how earnest and sincere he was in asking it, for he put forward and examined four possible answers. Each one starts with an "If."

There is more emphasis in this chapter than we often notice. "How should a man be just with God?" The weight falls on "with God." A man may be just in a certain sense — he may not fail in any way that troubles his conscience in his dealings with other people — but being just with God is another thing.

What does the expression "be just with God" mean? First we must remember that in God's vocabulary there are no words of uncertain meaning. There is no room here for "more" or "less." What is good in His eyes needs no improvement. To be just before Him means to think, to speak, and to do what is right, and to be what one ought to be before the eyes of a thrice holy God. He alone holds the standard of measure.

Although he speaks quietly, there is deep bitterness in what Job says here. He seems to agree with Bildad that God is just. Job says, "Of course He is just, for there is no appeal from whatever He does. He has both wisdom and power, and He can crush any attempt to reason with Him." This is terrible. This is not a man humbly asking God for a reason, as Jeremiah does in a similar situation (Jer. 12:1-4). It is the hardness of despair — might is right, and God has the might on His side.

It is clear that Job knew he was a sinful creature before his holy Creator, and that he had in himself no way of getting right. So his only hope was that a third party would step in. But he knew of no such third party, no "daysman." His three friends could not play that part, and neither could any other man. The daysman must be great enough to lay one hand on Almighty God, and gracious enough to lay the other on poor, diseased, sinful Job.

Compared with other men, Job knew he had been righteous, and God Himself had confirmed this when He spoke to Satan (ch. 1:8). But only the New Testament gives a full answer to Job's question. Scripture says of believers, "you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (1 Cor. 1:30). Christ's sacrifice on Calvary laid a righteous basis for our eternal salvation, so that God counts us righteous through faith in Christ. Job could not understand this at the time, for Christ had not yet died for us.