Job 23:11 Commentary and Bible Study

Here we have an insight into the godly character of Job throughout this prolonged trial. This may not have been evident at all times, but it was always there. We can accept this witness to his character, even though it comes from his own mouth, for later he is approved by the Lord and that would not be possible if he was mistaken on so fundamental a point. But how are these favourable descriptions of himself consistent with Job’s complaints and the great expressions of despair that have been wrung from him? Had he not said, ‘My spirit is broken, My days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me’ (Job 17:1)? Had he not protested, ‘God has delivered me to the ungodly, And turned me over to the hands of the wicked’ (Job 16:11)? These and many other complaints had been forced from his mouth, and yet he had not denied the Lord; he had not done what his wife had urged him to do: cursed God and turned away from him. Always he had searched for an explanation for his trials that was consistent with the God he knew, and not denied the work that the Lord had done in his heart. His confusion arose just because he found it so difficult to reconcile the holiness of God with the providences in his life. He also held to the true gospel while those around him were continually denying it and resorting to a doctrine of salvation by works.Job is set before us in Scripture to teach us how we should handle trials, and therefore although he far exceeds us in patience and faith, and we no doubt would have fared much worse if we were in his circumstances, yet we must also see the way his shortcomings so that we avoid the same errors in our lesser trials. Job was brought to say unworthy things against the Lord which he later regretted. When he afterwards considered his demands that God should provide an answer and his confidence that he could convince the Lord that he was wrong to let his suffer so for no good reason, he was ashamed of what he had said. He demanded explanations from the Lord which betrayed a lack of trust, but because he had true faith in his heart he was forgiven.Therefore his evaluation of his own conduct is not essentially mistaken. Truly, Job had kept the way of the Lord. In all his trouble his greatest desire was that the character of the Lord should be vindicated and he should be given understanding of the reason for this trial. God was still his sun even though the cloud had obscured its light for a while. However painful it was for him and however his mind struggled under the burden of it, he would not give up looking for an answer from the Almighty. What the comforters offer him was, in a sense, an easy way out, for they offered rest to his mind by providing an explanation. Yet in his integrity Job would not accept an answer that fell short of the truth and he knew this was not the truth.