Job’s Former Blessings

Job continues his discourse by longing for the months when God watched over him, his lamp lit the darkness before him, and he walked in the intimacy of divine favor. Those days were marked by household fullness, the presence of his children, and such abundance that even his steps and surroundings seemed saturated with rich provision.

A¹nd Job continued his discourse: ²“How I long for the months gone by, ³when His lamp shone above my head, ⁴when I was in my prime, ⁵when the Almighty was still with me ⁶when my steps were bathed in cream

Job remembers going out to the gate and taking his seat in the square, where young men stepped back, nobles fell silent, and people called him blessed because of the justice they had seen in him. He had rescued the poor, the orphan, and the widow, worn righteousness like clothing, become eyes to the blind and feet to the lame, investigated the stranger's cause, and shattered the power of the unjust to snatch victims from their teeth.

⁷When I went out to the city gate ⁸the young men saw me and withdrew, ⁹The princes refrained from speaking ¹⁰The voices of the nobles were hushed, ¹¹For those who heard me called me blessed, ¹²because I rescued the poor who cried out ¹³The dying man blessed me, ¹⁴I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; ¹⁵I served as eyes to the blind ¹⁶I was a father to the needy, ¹⁷I shattered the fangs of the unjust

From that place of integrity Job expected to die secure, deeply rooted, and always renewed. People listened for his counsel in silence, received his words like rain, and took heart from his smile; he chose the way before them and sat like a chief, yet with the tenderness of one who comforts mourners.

¹⁸So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest ¹⁹My roots will spread out to the waters, ²⁰My glory is ever new within me, ²¹Men listened to me with expectation, ²²After my words, they spoke no more; ²³They waited for me as for rain ²⁴If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; ²⁵I chose their course and presided as chief.