And now I have become their taunt,
And I have become a byword to them.
They loathe me and stand aloof from me,
And they do not refrain from spitting in my face.
Because He has undone my bowstring and afflicted me,
They have cast off the bridle before me.
On the right hand their mob arises;
They push aside my feet and pile up their ways of destruction against me. (vv. 9-12)

If you think you have wealth and health, hold a high position at work and in your church, you may find it difficult to understand what Job is going through. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, was born in a poor family. God did not give Him a proper room at the inn when Mary was in labour. Our Lord was laid in a manger. Compared to Him, we often have more than enough and yet complain about what we have or don’t have. People say that the rich can go to heaven. But the rich people cannot separate themselves from pride. They think they are prosperous because of their works. They talk about God’s blessings, but the poor Christians are more blessed than they are because they do not think highly of themselves. Christ went through poverty and humiliation.

But I am a worm and not a person, a disgrace of mankind and despised by the people. (Psalm 22:6)

Job still longs for his former days when he had prosperity and health in this chapter.

When I expected good, evil came;
When I waited for light, darkness came.
I am seething within and cannot rest;
Days of misery confront me.
I go about mourning without comfort;
I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.
I have become a brother to jackals,
And a companion of ostriches.
My skin turns black on me,
And my bones burn with fever.
Therefore my harp is turned to mourning,
And my flute to the sound of those who weep. (vv. 26-31)

Job expected rewards for his good works, but instead he received disasters. Because of this, he claimed that God is not righteous. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, God’s righteousness is neither conditional nor changeable. It is absolute—because only God is truly righteous. However, people often judge God by their own standards. They use (and have used) the law to judge Him, but in reality, they rely on their own interpretations of the law. Our Lord was judged according to Jewish law, even though He had committed no sin.

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

Christ suffered for our righteousness. Through His death and resurrection, we have become one with God. We are clothed in God’s righteousness through His Spirit. Some theologians say that we are not like God and that righteousness is merely imputed to us because of Christ’s perfect obedience to the law. But no—our righteousness comes from Christ’s death and resurrection. It is only through the Cross that we are made one with God.

But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I am leaving; for if I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment: regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me; and regarding righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you no longer are going to see Me; and regarding judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. (John 16:7-11)

If you feel you are lower than the least esteemed in the eyes of the world, remember Jesus Christ, who descended from heaven to the lowest position in order to save us.

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or trouble, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? (Romans 8:35)

If we believe that we earn God’s love through our own initiative, then it ceases to be true grace.