Job 9:1-35: “Don’t Be Right”: Jesus, the Mediator Job Longed For

Introduction: My college professor who was always right:

When I went to Bible college, I had a professor we called “Doc Martin.” That’s because he was a doctor, and his last name was Martin. He was also the dean of the school, so he sometimes called himself “Dean Martin.” Nobody under the age of 40 gets that joke!

He was an educated man, many degrees, wrote books… But, there’s one thing he said I’ll never forget: “My opinion is always right. How could it not be? If it wasn’t right, it wouldn’t be my opinion!” I’m still not sure if we was joking or not.

Our flesh always want to be right:

Joking or no, there is one that’s true: your flesh always wants to be right. Your flesh will gladly give up every vice: lust, lying, cheating… before it gives up this one.

Your weak, earthly side wants to justify itself above all else. It doesn’t matter who you are, there is this urge within you to that says, “I have to be right.” And you'll use any means necessary to prove you are right.

It’s worse for Christians:

This is true for everybody, but I’m convinced this is a greater temptation for Christians. We, above all other people, are certain we are right. After all, we study the Bible. Over time, we gain more and more of its knowledge.

But if we’re not careful, we’ll convince ourselves that the things we know or the things we do make us right. The flesh looks for anything it can use to justify itself. And if you give in to this temptation… bad things will happen.

For the people who think, “What if I am right?”

Now, some of you might be thinking, “But I am right. I study the Bible. I serve God. Isn’t that what it means to be a Christian? If we’re not right, who is?” Well, A wise man once wrote, “If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet.” (1 Corinthians 8:2). I’m here today to warn you about a very real danger that every person here faces. And, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, that danger is greater for you.

The danger of being “right in your own eyes”

The Bible calls this problem being “right in your own eyes.” It’s also called self-righteousness. It’s the belief that you are right because of what you know or what you do. If you believe this, you’ll even convince yourself that this is why you are right with God. 

Even a person who has walked with God for years, can end up believing, “Hey, I know a lot! I do a lot, for God! That must be why he loves me. That is why I’m accepted by the Lord.” 

When you think way, you start down a very dangerous road. You’ll look at people differently; treat them poorly; think of yourself more than what you are. Worse still, you will end up misrepresenting the very God whom you worship. 

What are we going to do about this?

But there is hope. You can be free from the temptation of being “right in your own eyes.” I warn you, though, there is a part of you that doesn’t want to listen to this message. Ignore it. For some of you, this message could result in your eternal salvation. For others, this message will wake you up to a very real problem in your heart.

Looking at some people who all thought they were right:

Today, we are going to look a few people who were right in their own eyes. So much so, they fought each other over it. The problem? None of them were right! Turn with me to the book of Job, chapter 9. My message is entitled, “Don’t Be Right.” I named it that deliberately to upset some of you. You’re welcome. 

What is the solution to being right:

Let me give you the solution to this problem right up front, because suspense is overrated. None of us are right, despite what we know or do. The only solution is to put our trust in someone who can make us right. Job longed for such a person, but we have him. His name is Jesus.

How did things start out with Job?

But, what actually happened to Job? Let’s quickly recap his story. Job was the greatest man living in the East (Job 1:3). He was rich, with ten children. Plus, he was blameless, upright, feared God, and shunned evil. He had everything a person could want out of life and, on top of that, he had godly character. But everything changed after a conversation between God and Satan.

God’s talk with Satan about Job:

God told Satan (the accuser) all about Job’s good qualities. But, interestingly enough, Satan still found a way to slander this good man.

Job 1:9–11 (ESV) 

9 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 

Your personal merit does not make you right:

People have struggled with the book of Job. They’ve tried to understand why God put Job through so much misery. But that’s not the point of the book. Job’s ordeal becomes an opportunity to explore deeper spiritual truth.

What truth is God revealing to us in Job 1:9–11? It’s this: Job’s good works and reputation was not bulletproof. Satan still found a way to accuse Job, despite doing nothing wrong.

That should wake you up. Satan just doesn’t accuse you when you sin. Even when you do good, he’ll find a way to condemn you. Even with such spectacular merits as Job’s, his good qualities did not win him points in the courtroom of heaven. Satan saw to that.

If you think all your good works are enough, think again. God is telling us this: your standing before him is not secured by your merit. Job was better than all of us, yet when judged on his own, Satan still found a way to accuse him.

1. You are never right because of something you have or can do. 

What ends up happening to Job:

You probably know what happened next. Job loses everything, even his children. He is then afflicted with painful boils. He’s only left with is his lovely wife… The rest of the book is mostly Job and his companions arguing. That’s worse than the boils! Men who should have comforted Job blathered on and on about why this was all his fault. Does that sound familiar? These men were smart; they were spiritual. They had profound things to say. Yet they were completely wrong when they said God was punishing Job for sin.

Job’s friends think they are right:

You see, they had plenty of theological knowledge (not all of which was accurate, mind you). But they assumed that their knowledge made them right, and so they made false accusations against a suffering man. They kept telling him, “You sinned, that is why God is punishing you.”

Job 8:5–6 (ESV) 

5 If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy, 6 if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore your rightful habitation. 

Sounds pretty good. The problem was, Job was not being punished for sin. Job defended himself against their accusations. The arguments got uglier and uglier. This is pretty common when you are convinced you are right and everyone else is wrong. You fight people; you become bitter. In the end, your “rightness” only brings pain to those in need.

Job has a similar problem:

But, where Job’s friends thought they were right because of what they knew, Job had another problem. He was convinced that he had been right, based on what he did.

Job, like his friends, had fallen for the lie that God accepted him because of his merits. Job had become so confident in his own rightness that when he lost everything, he became confused, bordering on hopeless. He grew so disillusioned that he even said, “It would have been better if I was never born” (see Job 3).

Job begins to acknowledge he can’t challenge God:

But, over the course of his book, Job begins to understand the truth: God is right and he can’t argue against him. As we read in chapter 8, Bildad told Job that God shows mercy to sinners. In chapter 9 verses 1, 2 we see Job’s response, “Then Job answered and said: Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God?”

Job is coming to terms with the fact that there is nothing he can do to impress, challenge, or win over God. He admits he can’t even beat God in a battle of words. He goes on in verse 3, “If one wished to contend with [God], one could not answer him once in a thousand times.” Doesn’t matter how wise or accomplished Job was. He couldn’t even get a word in edgewise, if he were to debate the Lord.

God’s mastery over creation reveals his might:

Job elaborates on this reality by discussing God’s mighty power.  

Job 9:4-10

Job is admitting God is Lord over all. Nothing can withstand him. If God can shake mountains, how can Job stop God from upending his life? Notice what he says next:

Job 9:11-13

Nobody can match the awesomeness of God. No man has the wits or intelligence to match a being as vast and magnificent as he. Job is beginning to understand that humanity’s might is pitiful, compared to God’s.

Job clings to his rightness, despite knowing so much about God:

After taking all this in, Job restates his original problem. Listen to him:

Job 9:14-24

Job reasserts his rightness. Yet, he complains, that doesn’t matter. Because he can’t oppose God.

You can hear Job’s bitterness in this section. He even said God mocks innocent’s suffering and gives the earth to wicked people. Strong words, Job. But is he right? Does God sit back and laugh when good people suffer? Does he purposefully give the world to evil men? Sure seems that way, sometimes. 

You can know a lot about God, but still be wrong:

As irreverent as Job sounds at this moment, you need to feel the emotion behind his words. Throughout his ordeal, Job has been realizing one thing: his merits never won him a good life from God. All the good he ever did couldn’t stop these calamities from happening. And that’s hard for him to accept. 

The text is revealing an important truth: you can know a lot about God, but still have a wrong view of him. You can be a follower of God, and end up in your own eyes. Job is learning this, but it’s a hard lesson for him to learn.

It’s painful to admit you are wrong:

Job is going through something we all have to go through. It’s painful to admit you are wrong. It’s even more painful, however, to realize you are wrong—but to refuse to admit it! God calls that kicking against the goads (see Acts 26:14). There is still a part of Job that can’t let go of being right.

You will try to fight admitting you are wrong:

When you begin to realize that you are wrong you will try to fight it. You will say to yourself, “No, I’m not wrong; everyone else is wrong.” You might even think God is wrong. But you are only fooling yourself.

Humility does not come naturally to human beings. But, 2. you must be humble and admit you are wrong. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). It’s painful to humble yourself and admit you are wrong. But the good news is, the more often you do it, the easier to becomes. Because humility is a lifestyle—and like all lifestyles, you have to practice it.

Another term for admitting you are wrong in response to God’s truth is repentance. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but it is the only medicine that can save you.

Job laments his condition and says he can’t change it:

Job is reluctant to take his medicine. His next tactic is to look away from God and complain about his problems again. See here in verse 25:

Job 9:25–31

This is typical. When we are in pain, we tend to wallow in it. We gather it up like a warm blanket. Job thinks he can excuse his wrong thinking by pointing to his pain. We do this all the time; we use our pain as a barrier, insulating us from our need to listen to God’s word. But not even being a victim scores you points with God.

Job compared his plight to be dirty, humiliated.  He accused his friends of making it worse with their accusations (“You plunge me into a pit”). But does his self-pitying make anything better? No. In the end, he has to face the truth. He must settle accounts with God. He needs an audience with the Lord to make this situation right. But he is realizing, he can’t do anything to make that possible.

Job finally recognizes his righteousness isn’t enough:

Job to demand answers from God, as if they were in court. But he can’t do that. God is too lofty for Job to approach. He expresses this in a poignant way in the next verse:

Job 9:32 (ESV) 

32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together. 

Job can’t go up to heaven and talk to God, can he?  And he can’t bring God down to an earthly court. So, what’s Job to do? Nothing, honestly. There is nothing Job can do to heal this rift that exists between himself and God. Even good, honest Job is too unworthy to make peace with the Lord.

Realizing this, Job makes this powerful statement…

Job longs for someone to arbiter between him and God:

Job 9:33–35 (ESV) 

33 There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both. 34 Let him take [God’s] rod away from me, and let not dread of him terrify me. 35 Then I would speak without fear of him, for I am not so in myself. 

Job’s made excuses, he’s tried to distract himself, he’s thrown a pity party. But now, he finally faces to the facts. Job can’t go to God and demands answers. All his right doing wasn’t enough. So, in this pitiful state, he begins to imagine a person who could go between him and God. He called this person an arbiter (or a mediator, as in a legal dispute), who could work out the conflict. If Job had such a representative, he would no have dread of God. He could finally speak to the Lord and know that he would listen.

3. You can’t be right, but someone can be right for you.

Job cannot go to God directly:

Now, remember: Job was a good man. Yet all of his good deeds, all his theological knowledge… all his wealth, reputation, and social standing… none of it could bridge the gap that existed between he and God. When he was at his lowest point, when he needed God the most… his merits failed him completely. 

He needed someone to go to God in his place. Someone who would secure peace between this man and the Almighty. But who could ever do such a thing?

Jesus is the mediator Job was longing for:

Job couldn’t do it. His friends weren’t able to do it. His wife was not up to the task. No earthly judge would be able to accomplish this task. None of them were wise, mighty, or righteous enough to approach God.

Who, in heaven or earth, was qualified for such a job? Who could be so good, so perfect, so strong, so right that he could stand before God on behalf of imperfect and utterly wrong human beings?

This mediator Job was asking for would do more than secure a conversation. He would have to remove God’s rod of judgment that is pointed at us. He would have to remove the fear that God will condemn us. All so that we could free stand before God and ask for his help, forgiveness, and salvation.

Who could do all that? Who could act as a mediator between fallen humans and God?

1 Timothy 2:5–6 (ESV) 

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 

There is only one person who ever lived who would answer Job’s plea: Jesus Christ. He is the one who took the rod of judgment away from us. He is the one who is able to bridge the gap between fallen people and the righteous God.

Jesus’s took on human flesh to be our mediator:

But how is Jesus able to make wrong men right? Because he is both God and man. Jesus is God, yet he became a man just to fulfill this task. Job even comments on this in the next chapter:

Job 10:4–5 (ESV) 

4 Have you eyes of flesh? Do you see as man sees? 5 Are your days as the days of man, or your years as a man’s years?

Job sounds like he’s making accusations against God. But he is speaking with all of our voices. How can God understand what it’s like to be a human? How can he know what we are going through, creatures so weak, so frail, so quick to wither and die? God knows. Because in the greatest act of mercy and kindness, God himself became a man. 

Hebrews 2:14 (ESV) 

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil. 

God took on human flesh and lived a life of a man. He knows what it’s like to be human, to live in this world, to deal with the very same issues we deal with today. 

Jesus endured worse than Job:

Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, was born a human being. But he did even more, much more, to bridge the gap between us and God.

Remember Job’s pitiful state? He’s sitting in the dirt, his skin covered in sores. His lips were chapped, his eyes bloodshot from weeping. His clothes were tattered and filthy, not a penny to his name. 

But Jesus suffered far worse. His character was greater than Job’s; the Bible said he did no evil (see Isaiah 53:9; 1 Peter 2:22). Yet he was rejected by his people, abandoned by his friends. Roman soldiers stretched him over a stake and whipped him with jagged rocks and bone until his body was torn to shreds (Mark 15:15). He was forced to carry his cross to Golgotha, where they took the Immaculate, Precious Lamb of God and brutally nailed him to a tree (John 19:17–18). They stripped him bare of his clothes as he hung there, humiliated, like a common criminal.

People mocked him as he suffered on the cross, rejected, pitiful, despised more than any other human (Mark 15:29–32). The Bible says he didn’t even look like a person (see Isaiah 52:14), because of his torment. And on top of this, he endured God’s holy wrath meant for sinners (see Mark 10:38; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

He did this, all so he could restore our fellowship with the Father. So that he could put his hand on our shoulder and his hand on the Father’s shoulder and say, “Take your rod of judgment from them, Father. I have taken their punishment. This man, this woman, is now your beloved child.”

What Job longed for in the dust you and I have! Job’s arbiter is our savior, Jesus Christ. We have an eternal mediator who has gone before us and secured our right standing with God. Jesus is the only human who has the right to be called right—yet he gives us his perfect righteousness. 

4. Jesus is the One who makes us right.

To the unbeliever, Jesus is your only salvation:

I’m not going to pretend that everyone here believes this. You may have gone to church your whole life, but that doesn’t cut any ice with God. You can only approach God and know he will hear you, if you put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. That means giving up ownership of your life and giving it to Jesus. You must say to God, “I believe Jesus died for me and rose again. I believe he is the Son of God, and my Lord and Savior.”

To the Christian, your theology is not enough:

Now, here’s where I’ll make perhaps 90% of you mad at me. Being a Christian doesn’t mean you’re right because of what you know or do. It means you are trusting in the One who makes you right, with God, through his shed blood.

We are a Bible-teaching church. Many of you have spent years studying the scriptures. You read books on the Bible; you know your theology backwards and forwards.

Here me now when I say this: Your theology is not enough. It’s not enough to save you, it’s not even enough to sanctify you, it’s not enough to make you a “good” Christian. Your theology, no matter how good it is, means little when compared to the awesomeness of the God of Job.

Theology, Bible knowledge, is a good thing. Theology is supposed to help us understand and explain the scriptures. But you can become so confident in your knowledge—that you convince yourself that you are right. Maybe always right.

We’re always tempted to replace the blood of Jesus with something else. For some, they think their obedience makes them right. Others think their knowledge of the Bible is what makes them right.

The only thing that makes right, makes you who you are is the blood of Jesus. Your real identity comes from Christ. Your sense of self-worth comes from Christ. The thing that makes you confident as a person… can only come from the person of Jesus Christ. You don’t earn that from God. You can’t work for it. You only gives it to you because he loves you. And that never changes, no matter how long you are a Christian.

Your standing is only and forever secure by the blood of Jesus:

My friends, hear me when I say you never reach a point in your Christian walk were you begin to depend on your merits. Merits are things you do. Things you know.

It’s very easy to begin to think that way. But no matter how long you’ve been a Christian, no matter how long you’ve been serving the Lord, you are always totally dependent on the grace of God provided for you by Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:1–2 (ESV) 

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

Grace is is God’s unmerited favor. You can’t earn it; he gives it to you when you believe. Some people think grace is only needed for salvation. Not true. Grace isn’t just the door into salvation. It is the ground we are standing on. 

How do you make sure you are not “right in your own eyes”?

So, how do we make sure we are not right in our own eyes? Let’s follow Job’s example. Oh, yes, he figured it out, eventually. Job recognized that, on his own, he wasn’t right. God himself speaks to Job. And this is how he responded:

Job 42:3a, 6 (ESV)

“I have uttered what I did not understand… therefore I despise myself repent in dust and ashes.”

He made no excuses, didn’t blame anyone else; he simply humbled himself and repented. 5. Jesus makes us right, when we repent. Repentance means there is a change in your heart. You let go of the lies you were once believing and embrace the truth. In mind and heart you turn away from false things and to the one who can save you, Jesus Christ.

How an unbeliever can become “right”:

Perhaps you are here today and you conflicted. You’re not certain if you are right with God at all. All your church attendance, good works, and right opinions won’t save you. Nothing you can do or know will make you “right.”

You need Jesus. To be saved from sin and death, you must put your faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is not simply agreeing with the Bible, it is putting your entire life into God’s hands. That’s true repentance. You must believe Jesus is the Son of God who died and rose again. 

Romans 10:9 (ESV) 

9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 

You can do that today. In a few moments, we will have a time of prayer. Let me urge you to come down and speak with me or one of the folks who’ll be at the front. We’ll pray with you, as you accept Jesus as your savior.

What is the Christian to do, in light of this message?

But, what about the Christians in this room? Perhaps this message has pricked your heart. Maybe something I said got you mad. Don’t hardened your heart to God’s word.

Theology is good. Doing good works is good. But these things don’t make you right. Your opinions don’t make you right. You are only “right” because of Jesus.

Humbly admit to God that it was never up to you. You always and forever are dependent on his grace. The grace of God is what saved you, the grace of God is what is sanctifying you, and the grace of God is what will perfect you when Jesus returns.

Repent by telling God that you are letting go of being right in your own eyes. Thank him that he is forever the right one, who makes you right in him. Come down and pray with us. Ask the Lord to give you are fresh understanding of his love and grace for you. 

Remember, your true value, worth, and purpose are forever found in the person of Jesus Christ. Don’t be right.