Job 29

Job 29:1

Job reminds me of a little tea party I heard about: I had a little tea party This afternoon at three. ‘Twas very smallThree guests in all, Just I, Myself, and Me. Myself ate all the sandwiches, While I drank up the tea. ‘Twas also I who ate the pie And passed the cake to Me. Author unknown

Job 29:3

Those were the good old days for Job.

Job 29:4

Here is a man who from his youth served God.

Job 29:5

He was prosperous. Everything he touched turned to gold. Not only was he a prosperous man, but he was also a man of influence.

Job 29:8

The children would run and hide from him because he was such a great man. The old men would rise when they saw him coming, they would take off their hats and bow to him. When he came, all the others quit talking. Even the princes and the nobles were silent. They waited for Job to speak. Nobility didn’t speak in his presence unless he asked them to do so.

Job 29:11

He was voted the most valuable citizen by the city clubs of Uz in Chaldea. He was the outstanding citizen of the town.

Job 29:12

He provided pensions for the aged. He helped the poor.

Job 29:13

He took care of the widows. My, this man was thoughtful!

Job 29:14

Job was adorned with good works. And people came to him for advice.

Job 29:15

He was chairman of the board at the blind school, and he was a benefactor of the crippled children’s home. My friend, this man Job was outstanding! How we need citizens like this.

Job 29:16

He made a thorough investigation before he gave to a cause. This is something which many believers do not do today. Job supported only that which he knew to be a worthy cause.

Job 29:17

He believed in civic righteousness and law and order. He was influential enough to bring it to pass. What a man he was!

Job 29:18

Job said to himself, “I’ve got it made. I have everything I want for retirement. I’m going to die in my nest. I’ll multiply my days as the sand and live to a ripe old age.” I tell you, he thought he had everything. He had a wonderful family. He had good health. One can’t think of anything that Job did not have.

Job 29:21

All the group sought out his advice. Before they would make a decision, they would contact Job and ask his advice. The governor of the state and the supreme court would talk things over with Job before they made a decision. I tell you, he was an outstanding man of great influence. They would hang on every word that Job said.

Job 29:24

Job sat at the very top of the totem pole of life. He dwelt in honor, affluence, and influence. He was a plutocrat and a tycoon. He was an ideal man, the goal toward which humanity is striving today. He lived the good life. He knew what abundant living really was. But Job lived in a fool’s paradise. He was in a Cinderella world; and when the clock struck midnight, his chariot turned into a pumpkin. Remember what he said in chapter 3: “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came” (Job_3:25-26). The bomb fell on his nest. He had dreaded something like this. He had feared that all of this material substance could be wiped out and taken from him in a moment, and it was. He had nothing to fall back on. Even his friends didn’t cushion his fall. In fact, they made him fall with a terrible, resounding crash. Job has been putting on his self-righteousness. Listen to him again in verse Job_29:14: “I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.” Fifty-two times he has used “I” and “me.” We hear no confession, no admission of failure. We see nothing of a broken and contrite spirit in Job. Chapter 30 continues his description of his present wretchedness and suffering.