Job 27 Devotional

Refusing a False Confession

“I will never say that you are right; I will maintain my integrity until I die.”Job 27:5 (BSB)

Job swears an oath by the living God, the same God who, he says, has denied him justice (27:2). He will never agree that his friends are right, and he will keep his integrity to the end (27:3-6). This is not a claim to be sinless. Job has spoken of the sins of his youth and asked why God does not pardon his wrongdoing (7:21, 13:26). It is a refusal to confess to crimes he did not commit just to make the argument stop.

Then Job asks about the godless. Would such a person ever take delight in the Almighty, or keep calling on him (27:10)? That is exactly what Job has kept doing, through all his complaints. Job would not trade the truth for a quick peace, and in the end the LORD says that Job, unlike the friends, spoke about him accurately (42:7). God is not honored by false repentance. He is honored when people bring him the truth, including the truth about what they have and have not done.

To think about: Is there an area where you have been tempted to say what others want to hear rather than the truth before God?