My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.
The book of Job is poetry, the oldest book in the Bible and the oldest poetical book that has come down. It is a wonderful poem whose meaning is best understood by reading the whole book through. The verse stands in the second of the four parts of the book, the debate in chapters 4 to 31 between Job and his three friends about his afflictions, made up of three rounds of speeches by each, while the other parts are the prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2, the speeches of Elihu in chapters 32 to 37, the speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud, and the prose epilogue in chapter 42:7-17. It belongs to Job still defending himself, maintaining that he has committed no open sins against God while earnestly and anxiously wanting God to show Himself to him.
In affliction Job is remembering his former days of strength and plenty, when he had enough and to spare, helped the blind and the lame, received the gratitude of those ready to perish, and enjoyed the honors people give for good works. His inward glory stayed new because his root was spread out by the waters and dew lay all night on his branch, which means daily rest in the Lord and drinking in His quiet presence for refreshing, reviving, growth, and strength to stand firm in sin and trouble. That same new glory belongs to every believer as the glory of the Lord risen upon him, fresh and glistening like a dew-covered meadow in the morning sun, which is the testimony of the Christian life.
His good deeds brought him glory and renewed strength, but he treated those works as evidence of his own righteousness and clothed himself in it and was satisfied with it, and that self-made righteousness is only filthy rags, gives no acceptance with God, and holds no salvation in it but death, because it tries to establish his own righteousness without submitting to the righteousness of God. His afflictions were necessary so he might see this lack and gain a personal acquaintance with God rather than merely hearing about Him.
The book of Job is poetry, the oldest book in the Bible and the oldest poetical book that has come down. It is a wonderful poem whose meaning is best understood by reading the whole book through. The verse stands in the second of the four parts of the book, the debate in chapters 4 to 31 between Job and his three friends about his afflictions, made up of three rounds of speeches by each, while the other parts are the prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2, the speeches of Elihu in chapters 32 to 37, the speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud, and the prose epilogue in chapter 42:7-17. It belongs to Job still defending himself, maintaining that he has committed no open sins against God while earnestly and anxiously wanting God to show Himself to him.
In affliction Job is remembering his former days of strength and plenty, when he had enough and to spare, helped the blind and the lame, received the gratitude of those ready to perish, and enjoyed the honors people give for good works. His inward glory stayed new because his root was spread out by the waters and dew lay all night on his branch, which means daily rest in the Lord and drinking in His quiet presence for refreshing, reviving, growth, and strength to stand firm in sin and trouble. That same new glory belongs to every believer as the glory of the Lord risen upon him, fresh and glistening like a dew-covered meadow in the morning sun, which is the testimony of the Christian life.
His good deeds brought him glory and renewed strength, but he treated those works as evidence of his own righteousness and clothed himself in it and was satisfied with it, and that self-made righteousness is only filthy rags, gives no acceptance with God, and holds no salvation in it but death, because it tries to establish his own righteousness without submitting to the righteousness of God. His afflictions were necessary so he might see this lack and gain a personal acquaintance with God rather than merely hearing about Him.