Ps 140:12-13: I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.
Are you confident in the Lord’s justice? You can be. Throughout the pages of scripture the Lord consistently reinforces the commitment that He has in His heart to maintaining justice. He presents Himself to man as firmly committed to dealing with man in a balance of both justice and mercy. Job, who lived as one of the most righteous men in recorded history, endured a season of painful tragedy. In his heart he wrestled with the confusion that sprang up within him as he sought to understand how a just God could allow such painful trials to beset him. Job cries out to God in his pain and yet finds himself tormented by accusations against God that afflict his thoughts. In Job 19:7 he declares "Though I cry, 'I've been wronged!' I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.”
The helpful aspect of the book of Job is that we are allowed to see the entire journey of a righteous man enduring a season of painful trial. Too often our human tendency is to evaluate God and His justice based upon a particular span of time in the course of our lives or the lives of others that we know. We endure or see others walk through a painful season and we form conclusions about God and His character. But we do not see both the human outcome and the eternal outcome. We do not understand the end from the beginning the way that God does. Nor do we grasp the greater work in the human hearts affected by these trials that may be the greater goal of God’s dealings in the midst of these hardships.
God allowed the people of Israel to endure slavery for 400 years, but those 400 years were the incubator in which a nation was born. He allowed them to endure captivity for 70 years but those years were the years of discipline intended to chastise them for their rebellious ways; not to destroy them but with a goal of restoring them to a right relationship with God. What is even more profound in regard to Job’s season of trial is that the primary work of God in regard to Job was taking place in the context of the invisible realms of the spiritual kingdom. God is at work to confront Satan and his accusations against God in the courts of heaven and He engages Job in this spiritual confrontation without Job even being aware of the work that is taking place in the realms of the spirit throughout his trial.
God points to Job as a testimony of an upright life and uses him as a testimony in the courts of heaven. Job’s trials are in fact a reflection of God’s confidence in him. Though Job does not understand the process that is taking place, God is making a statement through Job’s righteous response to trials and his confidence in the character of God throughout his suffering. Chapter one of Job contains a powerful example of Job’s confidence in God’s justice as it says in Job 1:22 “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” Even though he could not comprehend the reason that his life was under such pressure he would not accuse God.
The justice of God is clearly seen in the outcome of Job’s story. His heart is sifted, his circumstances are pressed in unimaginable ways but in the end twice as much as was lost during his trials is restored to Job’s life. Equally powerful in this story is that Job not only receives justice in the form of material restoration, he receives the blessing of a deepened intimacy with God. His testimony end the end of this season is not bitter resentment towards God as so many people yield too, but instead he declares in Job 42:5 “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.” Though seemingly he experienced great injustice from God the testimony that accompanied the end of his life was this: Job 42:12 “The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first.”
God is faithful and just and His watchful eye is upon the needy. We may have seasons where we do not understand what God is doing, but we can rest in this knowledge. It is certain that either in this life or eternity God’s justice will catch up to us and the testimony of our lives will be that God’s blessing rests upon us. Do not judge God based on your now! Confidently hold to your confidence in God’s commitment to justice regardless of what you see. As Elihu exhorted Job in the midst of his trials; Job 34:12 “It is unthinkable that God would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice.” The Lord is faithful, though His ways and His timing may not always be comfortable to us in the “NOW” of life!
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