Job 33:26
He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness. He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness.
Elihu teaches that God uses affliction not merely to punish sin but to discipline and instruct, first speaking to warn man from proud purposes and save him from ruin, then permitting wasting sickness and nearness to death to open dull ears when he does not heed. When the sufferer is shown God's uprightness, God in grace finds a ransom, spares him from going down to the pit, begets new life in him, and renews even his body to the freshness of youth. The repentant man then prays to God with a sincere and dependent heart, confessing and forsaking his wrong, and God hears him, is favorable to him, and delivers him from destruction. Forgiveness is not merely overlooking the past, but God accounting the believer righteous with His own righteousness and clothing him with salvation and the beauty of holiness. Knowing that righteousness is upon him, he comes into God's presence and beholds His face with joy.
Context and Discipline in Affliction
Job 33:26 belongs to the instructive speeches of Elihu in Job 32-36, also described as chapters 32-37. Those chapters form the third of the four parts of the book, coming after the prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2 and the debate between Job and his three friends in chapters 4 to 31, and before God speaks to Job in chapters 38-41 in speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud, with the prose epilogue in chapter 42:7-17 closing the book. As held by some, it is part of Eliphaz's assurances about God's care for the afflicted. God's favor and the restoration of righteousness are true in the end, but suffering does not prove a person is under God's displeasure, and Job's friends generally spoke truths that they misapplied to his case.
The verse belongs to Elihu's teaching that affliction can be disciplinary rather than punishment for sin. Affliction does not come by accident or chance but under the reign and control of God for correction. When God speaks by His Word and by visions and dreams and man does not heed, God permits chastening by sickness and severe pain that wastes the body and brings man very near death only to open dull ears, to withdraw man from proud purposes, to turn him back to the path of right, and to preserve him from destruction, bringing back his soul from the pit to be enlightened with the light of the living.
God sends affliction to teach truth not learned in prosperity and to mold character after the divine likeness. He speaks first to hearing to withdraw man from his purpose and keep his soul from the pit, and then, when man does not perceive, He speaks through pain, loss of appetite, and nearness to the grave. God uses pain and chastening to turn people back from spiritual ruin and lead them to the light of life. He may allow physical affliction to teach a person more truth.
When an interpreter, one among a thousand, shows the sufferer God's uprightness, that the same kind hand that gave roses now gives the bitter cup, God is gracious and commands deliverance from going down to the pit because a ransom is found. He begets new life and physically renews him so his flesh becomes fresher than a child's and he returns to the days of his youth. He restores the years the locust has eaten, as seen when a hardened criminal is converted and his face no longer shows forty years of sin.
Prayer, Righteousness and Joy
The repentant person prays to God and receives His favor, and in connection with the following verses that prayer is joined to confessing sin and turning from wrong, with God delivering the sinner from destruction. It is a particular promise that God hears an individual's prayer and answers graciously, showing Himself favorable to prayer when new life is begotten.
God is favorable to the forgiven sinner who comes to Him in prayer and renders His own righteousness to man. Forgiveness is not merely setting aside past sins or treating them as if they did not matter, but accounting the believer as righteous with God's own righteousness. He clothes him with salvation and the robe of righteousness and covers him with the beauty of holiness. The one who comes into God's presence knowing God's righteousness is upon him sees God's face with joy, covered with the beauty of holiness. Knowing that God's righteousness is upon him gives the believer reason to rejoice in the righteousness of God.
Seeking God's presence with dependence and a sincere heart, rather than offering cold, formal words, is part of such prayer. After Job saw God, he prayed for his friends, and God showed him favor and restored his prosperity. Praying for those who misjudge us is a valuable spiritual experience.