Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.
The declaration belongs to the debate between Job and his three friends concerning his afflictions. It is Job's reply in the midst of their constant accusations, stated and implied, within the section from Job 8 to Job 27 that ends with the friends ceasing to trouble him and stops in the middle of Job's last reply. In the surrounding account in Job 11-14 he appeals to God and maintains that his afflictions do not prove him guilty. The larger part sets forth the great problems of overruling providence and of sin and suffering, showing God disciplining Job and bringing him through the fire of affliction while his friends charge him with sin and declare his sufferings are because of that sin.
The word translated cause is mish-pat in the sense of a cause or suit. He has ordered, set out, and laid his case before God with confidence that he will be justified and vindicated. Though he cannot understand God's dealings with him, he knows his integrity and does not falsely accuse God.
The verse teaches against misjudging fellow sufferers in the same way as Job's friends did. While suffering under accusation, Christians can trust God to defend them and continue serving cheerfully rather than taking their own cause into their hands. The confidence that one's case has been laid before God and will be vindicated comforts mourners, as when it was used as a word of comfort at Mary Williams's funeral.
The declaration belongs to the debate between Job and his three friends concerning his afflictions. It is Job's reply in the midst of their constant accusations, stated and implied, within the section from Job 8 to Job 27 that ends with the friends ceasing to trouble him and stops in the middle of Job's last reply. In the surrounding account in Job 11-14 he appeals to God and maintains that his afflictions do not prove him guilty. The larger part sets forth the great problems of overruling providence and of sin and suffering, showing God disciplining Job and bringing him through the fire of affliction while his friends charge him with sin and declare his sufferings are because of that sin.
The word translated cause is mish-pat in the sense of a cause or suit. He has ordered, set out, and laid his case before God with confidence that he will be justified and vindicated. Though he cannot understand God's dealings with him, he knows his integrity and does not falsely accuse God.
The verse teaches against misjudging fellow sufferers in the same way as Job's friends did. While suffering under accusation, Christians can trust God to defend them and continue serving cheerfully rather than taking their own cause into their hands. The confidence that one's case has been laid before God and will be vindicated comforts mourners, as when it was used as a word of comfort at Mary Williams's funeral.