As Job continues his final speech, he confidently stands in his integrity before God. He will not, cannot agree with his accusers. He will not be persuaded to agree with them when he knows he is innocent of unconfessed sin. He is confident that, in the end, his lot and the lot of the wicked will be very different. They will, in the end, find themselves destroyed and all they lived for lost.
Job’s words in verses 3-6 are important and helpful:
as long as my breath is in me,
and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
my lips will not speak falsehood,
and my tongue will not utter deceit.
Far be it from me to say that you are right;
till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.
It can be very tempting at times to just agree with someone who is accusing us of wrongdoing, even when we know we are not guilty of the offence, just to “get them off our back”. Job is not driven by the idol of “peace at all costs.” He will rather continue in open disagreement with these men than to disagree with God. His conscience and integrity before God is his priority.
Clearly, this doesn’t mean we dig our heals in and never listen to the corrections of others. We are often wrong and God often uses others to correct us. Yet there may be times when we are not in the wrong when someone else thinks we are. We need to be able to confidently stand with God in our integrity and not agree with an untruth just to maintain the peace.
Job is right here. Like the Psalmist in Psalm 73 when we consider the end of all things, the destiny and destination of the wicked is terrible. The destiny and destination of all those who have held fast trusting God is glorious. Both eternal destinies will far outshine what was experienced in this life for either.
It is better to stand in the truth even with no friends in this life than to compromise for “peace” in this life and find yourself on the path of the wicked.
Soli Deo Gloria
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