Job 34:9 Commentary and Bible Study

Job had formed this terrible conclusion. It ought to have told him immediately that he had gone down the wrong path and needed to correct himself. No Christian should ever think like this, and yet this had become a fairly settled conclusion in Job’s mind. If you set out for Land’s End, and find yourself in John O’Groats, you know you need to retrace your steps. The evidence that he was in such as bad a state, as Elihu said, came from Job’s own words. This was a summary of many things he had said and not his exact words (Job 9:22-23; 9:30-31). Of course, such a sentiment reveals the opposite of the outlook which all who fear God should possess, and nothing could more thoroughly undermine Job’s testimony. It is a very basic assumption of faith that ‘godliness is profitable for all things’ and that ‘there is great gain in godliness with contentment’. Of course faith sees this profit largely in the world to come and has to disregard many apparent disadvantages in this life, which must be suffered for Christ’s sake. Faith overcomes by assuring itself that God can make the first to be last and the last to be first, for the Lord is content to let his children come last in this world in order that they may have their position reversed in his kingdom. The convert therefore enters into the Christian life with the deep-seated conviction that delight in God brings the greatest possible gain whether or not our circumstances on earth are improved, and he must often hold onto this conviction in the face of strong mockery from those who say that godliness is a waste of time, a delusion, a useless way of life. Yet Job appeared to join the side of the enemies of Christ. He had gone this far adrift because of the strong pressure which he had been put under, but he had failed to meet this pressure with the shield of faith.