Context No. 3848 of 4322 · Job

Job 27:1-16: in context

1Job again took up his parable, and said, 2“As God lives, who has taken away my right, the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter 3(for the length of my life is still in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils); 4surely my lips will not speak unrighteousness, neither will my tongue utter deceit. 5Far be it from me that I should justify you. Until I die I will not put away my integrity from me. 6I hold fast to my righteousness, and will not let it go. My heart will not reproach me so long as I live. 7“Let my enemy be as the wicked. Let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous. 8For what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life? 9Will God hear his cry when trouble comes on him? 10Will he delight himself in the Almighty, and call on God at all times? 11I will teach you about the hand of God. I will not conceal that which is with the Almighty. 12Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain? 13“This is the portion of a wicked man with God, the heritage of oppressors, which they receive from the Almighty. 14If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword. His offspring will not be satisfied with bread. 15Those who remain of him will be buried in death. His widows will make no lamentation. 16Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare clothing as the clay;

Under relentless pressure from friends who insist his suffering proves secret sin, Job refuses to concede a guilt he does not have. Far be it from me to say you are right, he tells them; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. I hold fast to my righteousness and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

Job will not buy peace by confessing to sins he has not committed; he clings to his integrity and a clear conscience. There is something admirable and instructive here. Job's friends offered him an easy way out: just admit you are a great sinner, and this will all make sense. But Job would not lie about himself, even to satisfy his accusers, even to explain his own suffering. He held to the truth of his own conscience before God. There are times when others will pressure us to accept a false account of ourselves, to confess to things that are not true. Like Job, we are called to hold fast to integrity and a clear conscience, refusing to trade the truth for an easier peace.

When others pressure me to accept a false account of myself, do I hold fast, like Job, to my integrity and a clear conscience before God, rather than trading the truth for an easier peace?

Sources

Job 27:5: "Far be it from me that I should justify you. Until I die I will not put away my integrity from me."
Job 27:6: "I hold fast to my righteousness, and will not let it go. My heart will not reproach me so long as I live."
Job 27:2: "As God lives, who has taken away my right, the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter."