In Job we have a very rare specimen of a man. He was perfect, upright, God-fearing, and He
eschewed evil. But Job needed to be tested. There was a deep moral root in his heart which had
to be laid bare. There was self-righteousness which had to be brought to the surface and judged.
Indeed, we may discern this root in Job’s words quoted in chapter one:"It may be that my sons
have sinned." He does not seem to contemplate the possibility of sinning himself. A soul really
self-judged, thoroughly broken before God, truly sensible of its own state, tendencies, and
capabilities, would think of his own sins, and his own need of a burnt-offering.

Now, let the reader distinctly understand that Job was a real saint of God, a divinely quickened
soul, a possessor of divine and eternal life. But with all this, Job had never sounded the depths of
his own heart. He did not know himself. He had never really grasped the truth of his own utter
ruin and total depravity. He had never learned to say, "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh)
dwelleth no good thing" (Romans 7:18).

* * *

There is no more fruitful field of study than that which is opened before us in the history of God’s
dealing with souls. One grand object in those dealings is to produce real broken-ness and
humility_to strip us of all false righteousness, empty us of all self-confidence, and teach us to lean
wholly upon Christ. All have to pass through what may be called the process of stripping and
emptying. With some this process precedes, with others it follows, conversion or the new birth.
Many are brought to Christ through deep plowings and painful exercises of heart and
conscience_exercises extending over years, often over the whole lifetime. Others, on the
contrary, are brought with comparatively little exercise of soul. They lay hold speedily of the glad
tidings of forgiveness of sins through the atoning death of Christ, and are made happy at once. But
the stripping and emptying come afterward, and, in many cases, cause the soul to totter on its
foundation, and almost to doubt its conversion.

This is very painful, but very needful. The fact is, self must be learned and judged, sooner or
later. If it be not learned in communion with God, it must be learned by bitter experience in
failures and falls. "No flesh shall glory in His presence"; and we must all learn our utter
powerlessness, in every respect, in order that, we may taste the sweetness and comfort of the truth
that Christ is made of God unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. God
will have broken material.

* * *

One special want of the present moment is brokenness of spirit. Nine-tenths of our trouble and
difficulty may be traced to this want. It is marvelous how well we get on from day to day_in the
family, in the assembly, at work, in our entire practical life_when self is subdued and mortified.
A thousand things which otherwise would prove more than a match for our hearts are esteemed
as nothing when our souls are in a truly contrite state. We are enabled to bear reproach and insult,
to overlook slights and affronts, to give up our crotchets and prejudices, to yield to others where

weighty principle is not involved, to be ready to every good work, and to exhibit a genial large-
heartedness in all our dealings, all of which so greatly tend to adorn the doctrine of God our
Saviour. How often, alas! it is otherwise with us. We exhibit a stiff, unyielding temper; we stand
up for our rights; we maintain our interests; we look after our own things; we contend for our own
notions. All this proves very clearly that self is not habitually measured and judged in the presence
of God.

* * *

We are disposed to marvel as the eye scans the record of the remarkable discussion between Job
and his friends. We are amazed to find close to a hundred references to Job himself in chapters
29-31 alone. In short, it is all "1" from beginning to end.

But let us look to ourselves. Let us judge our own hearts in their deeper workings. Let us review
our ways in the light of the divine presence. Let us bring all our work and service and have it
weighed in the holy balances of the sanctuary of God. Then shall we discover how much of hateful
self is insinuated, like a dark, defiling tissue, into the whole web of our Christian life and service.
How, for example, does it come to pass that we are so ready to mount the high horse when self
is touched, even in the most remote degree? Why are we so impatient of reproof, be it clothed in
language ever so refined and gentle? Why so ready to take offense at the slightest disparagement
of self? And, further, why is it that we find our sympathies, our regards, our favoritism, going
out with special energy to those who think well of us, who value our ministry, who agree with our
opinions?

Do not all these things tell a tale? Do they not prove to us that, before we condemn the egotism
of Job, we should seek to get rid of a vast amount of our own?

On the other hand, when we feel called upon to approach another in the attitude and tone of’
reproof, with what rudeness, coarseness, and harshness we discharge the necessary work! How
little softness of tone or delicacy of touch! How little of the tender and the soothing! How little
of the "excellent oil"! How little of the broken heart and weeping eye! What little ability to bring
our erring brother down into the dust! Why is this? Simply because we are not habitually in the
dust ourselves. If, on the one hand, we fail quite as much as Job in the matter of egotism and self-
vindication, so on the other, we prove ourselves fully as incompetent as Job’s friends to produce
self-judgment in our brother.

* * *

The real secret of all Job’s false reasoning is to be found in the fact that he did not understand the
character of God, or the object of all His dealings. He did not see that God was trying him, that
He was behind the scenes and using various agents for the accomplishment of His wise and
gracious ends. God was dealing with Job. He was trying him in order that He might instruct him,
withdraw him from his purpose, and hide pride from him (Job 33:16,17).

This is immensely important for us all. We are all of us prone to forget the weighty fact that "God

trieth the righteous." We are in His hands, and under His eye continually. We
are the objects of His deep, tender, and unchanging love; but we are also the subjects of His wise
moral government. His dealings with us are varied. They are sometimes preventive; sometimes
corrective; always instructive.

* * *

"Then Job answered the Lord, and said, I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought
can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have
I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech
thee, and I will speak:I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by
the hearing of the ear:but now mine eye seeth thee" (Job 42:1-5).

Here, then, was the turning point. All his previous statements as to God and His ways are now
pronounced to be "words without knowledge." What a confession! What a moment in man’s
history when he discovers that he has been all wrong! What a thorough break-down! What
profound humiliation! It reminds us of Jacob getting the hollow of his thigh touched, and thus
learning his utter weakness and nothingness. These are weighty moments in the history of souls_
great epochs, which leave an indelible impression on the whole moral being and character. To get
right thoughts about God is to begin to get right about everything. If I am wrong about God, I am
wrong about myself, wrong with my fellows, wrong about all.

Thus it was with Job. His new thoughts as to God were immediately connected with new thoughts
of himself; and hence we find that the elaborate self-vindication, the impassioned egotism, the
vehement self-congratulation, the lengthy arguments in self-defense_all is laid aside. All is
displaced by one short sentence of three words, "I am vile." And what is to be done with this vile
self? Talk about it? Set it up? Be occupied with it? Take counsel for it? Make provision for it? No.
"I abhor myself."

The two things must go together:"Mine eye seeth Thee," and "wherefore I abhor myself."

* * *

When Job got right as to God and himself, he soon got right as to his friends, for he learned to
pray for them. Yes, he could pray for the "miserable comforters," the "physicians of no value,"
the very men with whom he had so long, so stoutly, and so vehemently contended! "And the Lord
turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends."

This is morally beautiful. It is perfect. It is the rare and exquisite fruit of divine workmanship.
Nothing can be more touching than to see Job’s three friends exchanging their experience, their
tradition, and their legality for the precious "burnt-offering"; and to see our dear patriarch Job
exchanging his bitter invectives for the sweet prayer of love. In short, it is a most soul-subduing
scene altogether. The combatants are in the dust before God and in each other’s arms. The strife
is ended; the war of words is closed; and instead thereof, we have the tears of repentance, the
sweet odor of the burnt-offering, the embrace of love.

(From "Job and His Friends," in Miscellaneous Writings, Vol. 1.)