Context No. 2533 of 4322 · Job

Job 34:17-32: in context

17Should even one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty, 18who says to a king, ‘Vile!’ or to nobles, ‘Wicked!’? 19He doesn’t respect the persons of princes, nor respect the rich more than the poor, for they all are the work of his hands. 20In a moment they die, even at midnight. The people are shaken and pass away. The mighty are taken away without a hand. 21“For his eyes are on the ways of a man. He sees all his goings. 22There is no darkness, nor thick gloom, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. 23For he doesn’t need to consider a man further, that he should go before God in judgment. 24He breaks mighty men in pieces in ways past finding out, and sets others in their place. 25Therefore he takes knowledge of their works. He overturns them in the night, so that they are destroyed. 26He strikes them as wicked men in the open sight of others; 27because they turned away from following him, and wouldn’t pay attention to any of his ways, 28so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him. He heard the cry of the afflicted. 29When he gives quietness, who then can condemn? When he hides his face, who then can see him? He is over a nation or a man alike, 30that the godless man may not reign, that there be no one to ensnare the people. 31“For has any said to God, ‘I am guilty, but I will not offend any more. 32Teach me that which I don’t see. If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?

Elihu is describing the justice of God, and one thread is worth lifting out. God shows no partiality to princes, he says, and regards the rich no more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands. His eyes are on the ways of every person; there is no darkness thick enough for evildoers to hide in. And he hears the cry of the afflicted that rises against those who oppress them.

Two truths steady a person here. God cannot be bribed by status; the prince and the pauper stand before him on level ground, judged by the same clear sight. And nothing is hidden from him; there is no shadow deep enough to conceal a deed. For the one tempted to defer to the great and exploit the weak, this is a warning. For the one crushed by the great, it is a comfort, because the Judge who plays no favorites also hears the cry of the afflicted. His impartiality is not cold; it bends toward the oppressed.

Do I live aware that God plays no favorites and misses nothing, and do I imitate the impartiality that bends toward the afflicted rather than the great?

Sources

Job 34:19: He doesn't respect the persons of princes, nor respect the rich more than the poor, for they all are the work of his hands.
Job 34:21: For his eyes are on the ways of a man. He sees all his goings.
Job 34:28: so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him. He heard the cry of the afflicted.