“My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips;
I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” –Job 23:11, 12.
Thus Job speaks of himself, not by way of vaunting, but by way of vindication. Eliphaz the Temanite and his two companions had brought distinct charges against Job’s character: because they saw him in such utter misery they concluded that his adversity must have been sent as a punishment for his sin, and therefore they judged him to be a hypocrite, who under cover of religion had exercised oppression and tyranny. Zophar had hinted that wickedness was sweet in Job’s mouth, and that he hid iniquity under his tongue. Eliphaz charged him with hardness of heart to the poor, and dared to say, “Thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.” This last from its very impossibility was meant to show the extreme meanness to which he falsely imagined that Job must have descended–how could he strip the naked? He was evidently firing at random. As neither he nor his companions could discover any palpable blot in Job upon which they could distinctly lay their finger, they bespattered him right and left with their groundless accusations. They made up in venom for the want of evidence to back their charges. They felt sure that there must be some great sin in him to have procured such extraordinary afflictions, and therefore by smiting him all over they hoped to touch the sore place. Let them stand as a warning to us never to judge men by their circumstances, and never to conclude that a man must be wicked because he has fallen from riches to poverty.
Job, however, knew his innocence, and he was determined not to give way to them. He said, “Ye are forgers of lies, physicians of no value. O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.” He fought the battle right manfully; not, perhaps, without a little display of temper and self-righteousness, but still with much less of either than any of us would have shown had we been in the same plight, and had we been equally conscious of perfect integrity. He has in this part of his self-defense sketched a fine picture of a man perfect and upright before God. He has set before us the image to which we should seek to be conformed. Here is the high ideal after which every Christian man should strive; and happy shall he be who shall attain to it. Blessed is he who in the hour of his distress, if he be falsely accused, will be able to say with as much truth as the patriarch could, “My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”
I ask you, first, to inspect the picture of Job’s holy life, that you may make it your model. After we have done this, we will look a little below the surface, asking the question, “How was he enabled to lead such an admirable life as this? Upon what meat did this great patriarch feed that he had grown so eminent?” We shall find the answer in our second head, Job’s holy sustenance –”I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” May he, who wrought in Job his patience and integrity, by this our meditation teach us the like virtues by the power of the Holy Ghost.
I. Let us sit down before this sketch of JOB’ S HOLY LIFE: it will well repay a meditative study.
Note, first, that Job had been all along a man fearing God and walking after the divine rule. In the words before us he dwells much upon the things of God–”his steps,” “his way,” “the commandment of his lips,” “the words of his mouth.” He was pre-eminently one that “feared God and eschewed evil.” He knew God to be the Lord, and worthy to be served, and therefore he lived in obedience to his law, which was written upon his instructed conscience. His way was God’s way; he chose that course which the Lord commanded. He did not seek his own pleasure, nor the carrying out of his own will: neither did he follow the fashion of the times, nor conform himself to the ruling opinion or custom of the age in which he lived: fashion and custom were nothing to him, he knew no rule but the will of the Almighty. Like some tall cliff which breasts the flood, he stood out almost alone, a witness for God in an idolatrous world. He owned the living God, and lived “as seeing him who is invisible.” God ‘s will had taken the helm of the vessel, and the ship was steered in God’s course according to the divine compass of infallible justice and the unerring chart of the divine will. This is a great point to begin with; it is, indeed, the only sure basis of a noble character. Ask the man who seeks to be the architect of a great and honorable character this question–Where do you place God? Is he second with you? Ah, then, in the judgment of those whose view comprehends all human relationships you will lead a very secondary kind of life, for the first and most urgent obligation of your being will be disregarded. But is God first with you? Is this your determination, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”? Do you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness? If so, you are laying the foundation for a whole or holy character, for you begin by acknowledging your highest responsibility. In this respect you will find that” the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Whether the way be rough or smooth, uphill or down dale, through green pastures or burning deserts, let God’s way be your way. Where the fiery cloudy pillar of his providence leads be sure to follow, and where his holy statutes command, there promptly go. Ask the Lord to let you hear his Spirit speak like a voice behind you saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” As soon as you see from the Scriptures, or from conscience, or from providence, what the will of the Lord is, make haste and delay not to keep his commandments. Set the Lord always before you. Have respect unto his statutes at all times, and in all your ways acknowledge him. No man will be able to look back upon his life with complacency unless God has been sitting upon the throne of his heart and ruling all his thoughts, aims, and actions. Unless he can say with David, “My soul hath kept thy testimonies and I love them exceedingly,” he will find much to weep over and little with which to answer his accusers.
We must follow the Lord’s way, or our end will be destruction; we must take hold upon Christ’s steps, or our feet will soon be in slippery places; we must reverence God’s words, or our own words will be idle and full of vanity; and we must keep God’s commands, or we shall be destitute of that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. I set not forth obedience to the law as the way of salvation; but I speak to those who profess to be saved already by faith in Christ Jesus, and I remind all of you who are numbered with the company of believers that if you are Christ’s disciples you will bring forth the fruits of holiness, and if you are God’s children you will be like your Father. Godliness breeds God-likeness. The fear of God leads to imitation of God, and where this is not so, the root of the matter is lacking. The scriptural rule is “by their fruits ye shall know them,” and by this we must examine ourselves.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”