Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
Job's words are his immediate response as soon as he heard God's own voice speaking out of the whirlwind and caught a glimpse of his Creator in the might of His power revealed there. That encounter turned him from discouragement and self-vindication to humble sorrow, repentance in dust and ashes, and implicit trust in God's mercy and saving power. His pettish feelings were changed when God spoke, and his soul was bowed down with a sense of his own sinfulness.
Toward friends who misunderstood, misconstrued, criticized and censured him, Job had defended himself and flung back their reproaches, showing a deeper and more thorough knowledge of sin than they had. The self-vindication and self-justification he felt necessary against their condemnation he set aside before God, because God never misjudges and never errs. Before God's purity and holiness he stopped defending his personal righteousness, recognizing his sinfulness and humbling himself.
Seeing the purity, holiness, majesty and exalted perfection of the Infinite One led him to recognize his own frailty, corruption, unworthiness and sinfulness. A clear view of Christ's purity makes a person hate sin and hate self, see self as corrupt and unworthy, and despise personal sinfulness. As people behold Christ they see less to admire in themselves and lose desire for self-importance and recognition. His soul bowed into self-abhorrence and humble sorrow and contrition in dust and ashes, laying the hand on the lips in silence and rising from the depths of despondency and discouragement to implicit trust in God's mercy and saving power.
That repentance and self-abasement do not cancel God's declaration that he was upright and feared God, for the verse teaches humility before God, not that Job was without integrity. Bible sanctification and true repentance produce humility rather than self-exaltation, a pattern seen in the godly of every age in the light of Christ. There can be no self-exaltation and no boastful claim to freedom from sin in those who walk in the shadow of Calvary's cross. Those who live nearest to Jesus discern most clearly the frailty and sinfulness of humanity, feel that their sin caused the agony that broke the heart of the Son of God, are led to self-abasement, and place their only hope in the merit of a crucified and risen Saviour.
This humbling made Job ready, so that after that repentance the Lord was able to bless him abundantly and make his last years the best of his life. The verse means lying with the face in the dust in self-abhorrence and repentance, prostrating in the dust with the hand on the lips in silence, instead of talking flippantly, passing judgment on God's reproof, giving opinions, and criticizing what God has given for the benefit of His people. Those with little spirituality do not understand the value, real object, spirit, power and force of divine reproof and know little of the Spirit of God. That humble response is the right place for young workers who are wrapped up in themselves, working in their own strength, almost wholly unacquainted with the operations of God's Spirit and ignorant of the spirit of God's messages, so that they realize their great destitution and learn moment-by-moment dependence on God and prayer to know His will.
Job's words are his immediate response as soon as he heard God's own voice speaking out of the whirlwind and caught a glimpse of his Creator in the might of His power revealed there. That encounter turned him from discouragement and self-vindication to humble sorrow, repentance in dust and ashes, and implicit trust in God's mercy and saving power. His pettish feelings were changed when God spoke, and his soul was bowed down with a sense of his own sinfulness.
Toward friends who misunderstood, misconstrued, criticized and censured him, Job had defended himself and flung back their reproaches, showing a deeper and more thorough knowledge of sin than they had. The self-vindication and self-justification he felt necessary against their condemnation he set aside before God, because God never misjudges and never errs. Before God's purity and holiness he stopped defending his personal righteousness, recognizing his sinfulness and humbling himself.
Seeing the purity, holiness, majesty and exalted perfection of the Infinite One led him to recognize his own frailty, corruption, unworthiness and sinfulness. A clear view of Christ's purity makes a person hate sin and hate self, see self as corrupt and unworthy, and despise personal sinfulness. As people behold Christ they see less to admire in themselves and lose desire for self-importance and recognition. His soul bowed into self-abhorrence and humble sorrow and contrition in dust and ashes, laying the hand on the lips in silence and rising from the depths of despondency and discouragement to implicit trust in God's mercy and saving power.
That repentance and self-abasement do not cancel God's declaration that he was upright and feared God, for the verse teaches humility before God, not that Job was without integrity. Bible sanctification and true repentance produce humility rather than self-exaltation, a pattern seen in the godly of every age in the light of Christ. There can be no self-exaltation and no boastful claim to freedom from sin in those who walk in the shadow of Calvary's cross. Those who live nearest to Jesus discern most clearly the frailty and sinfulness of humanity, feel that their sin caused the agony that broke the heart of the Son of God, are led to self-abasement, and place their only hope in the merit of a crucified and risen Saviour.
This humbling made Job ready, so that after that repentance the Lord was able to bless him abundantly and make his last years the best of his life. The verse means lying with the face in the dust in self-abhorrence and repentance, prostrating in the dust with the hand on the lips in silence, instead of talking flippantly, passing judgment on God's reproof, giving opinions, and criticizing what God has given for the benefit of His people. Those with little spirituality do not understand the value, real object, spirit, power and force of divine reproof and know little of the Spirit of God. That humble response is the right place for young workers who are wrapped up in themselves, working in their own strength, almost wholly unacquainted with the operations of God's Spirit and ignorant of the spirit of God's messages, so that they realize their great destitution and learn moment-by-moment dependence on God and prayer to know His will.