Job 31:19 Commentary and Bible Study

Because Job took such delight in doing good, he was not grudging with his help but searched for needy cases that he might have the blessing again and again of helping others; and because he lived in a fallen world, he had no shortage of work to do, for this is a world where selfishness predominates and there is little competition to do real good to those in need. Job could point to countless occasions when he had come to the rescue of those who had come dangerously close to the brink of life; if they did not receive help immediately they would perish. The righteous man delights to save life and to show mercy, because he knows that life has infinite worth due to the eternal future that stretches out in front of every soul. ‘To do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased’ (Hebrews 13:16). Job saw the substance that he had as a God-given opportunity to help others. By using his wealth in this way he was using it far more profitably than if he simply hoarded it for himself. He knew that to give away his wealth in this life was to receive it back again in the next but in a form that would not decay and which he could keep forever. Whatever is lost in this life is gained for the next; whatever is put to the service of faith is preserved forever.If such a man has not had cause to bless Job and give thanks for his thoughtfulness and generous heart, then let Job be cursed. Job allows himself to be measured by the reckoning of those who have the utmost interest in his help. He places his reputation in their hands and willingly makes them his judges. If they will judge him on this one issue alone – Has he helped them in their time of need? – he is confident that he will be approved. But this is for him the approval of God. Though the test applies in a limited sphere, Job is aware that God watches him and tests him with these situations. If Job cannot love his fellow man whose welfare falls within his reach, how can he say that he loves God who is beyond all human needs?Again, if Job has taken advantage of the vulnerability of others simply to benefit himself and not put their needs before his own, then he would be guilty of abusing his own power. ‘When I saw my help in the gate’ – the gate refers to the place of power and justice in the community where Job officiated. This seems to refer to the opportunity to take advantage of others which his official duties afforded him, but which he scrupulously avoided. He was not there to turn justice into a means of enriching himself. Had he done such a thing then let him be rewarded with a curse of the most fearful sort. Let his arm be torn from its socket as a due reward for such wickedness. Job certainly believes in justice even though it appears to act against him at present. As Hailey says, ‘It was not the fear of human judgment that restrained Job, … beyond and above this terror of judgment was his respect for God’s person and glory.’ How much more effective this restraint is than the fear of man, which only succeeds in holding men back when they know they are seen, which calculates according to what men can see. The fear of the Lord is with us governing not only our outward behaviour but the very springs of our heart where God reigns in secret and searches our hearts revealing to us what we did know existed. The fear of the Lord is, as Hailey says, not just a terror to us but an even stronger restraint in the form of a horror at offending the one we love. Job knows the tastes of God and how his character determines the way his creatures should live. Since he is the God full of mercy and pity towards the needy, then we too should exercise the same compassion, and delight to help those around us. Job fully expected the providence of God to act against him if he were to pursue selfish interests at the expense of others. He would be caught in any of the thousands of ways that God had at his disposal which men are not able to resist and which by the Lord’s skill overpower us in trapping us in the consequences of his sin.