Job 8:6
If you are blameless and upright,
He would surely watch over you,
And safeguard your righteous home.
(Written 5/6, Posted 5/13)
It is almost comical how Bildad is missing the point of how God impacts our lives. This is the prosperity gospel, that God will make your life great if you follow Him. The difference is that this great life is only after you die, and that life on earth is just the opportunity to work hard and grow through serving God and others. My home is nothing compared to the glory my life can give back to God.
“Pure” was an often used alternative for “blameless” as in all but the one that used “blameless”. “True” and ”honest” were each single use alternatives for “upright”.
The single use of “Watch over” had the alternatives of the once used “protect”, four times for “rouse for you” and twice for “awake for you”. Somehow, I do not see the need for God to awake.
“Restore”, “prosper”, and “grant wellbeing” were options for “safeguard”. “Your rightful place”, “your righteous house/home”, and “the dwelling of your righteousness” were suggested for “your righteous name” which I created on my own somehow. (I could not read my writing. I used home as well in the final version.)
After I changed name to home, I realized the last sentence “My _____ is nothing compared to the glory my life can give back to God.” is true no matter what you put in the blank. Bildad knows in his heart that if God struck Job down for his sins, God would have already struck Bildad down for his, even if he would not admit it to himself. He is free to disparage Job because he knows God is slow to anger.
Job knows he was “blameless and upright”, and he knows God protected him right up until He did not, and Job knows that nothing in his home is safe except as God wills. Job is learning that wealth and family are great things, but even they pale in comparison to the joy found in right relationship with God. Job’s friends demonstrate the wide disparity that godlessness can be. Narrow is the path that God calls us to, but since we are only taking one step at a time, it is as wide as necessary. As we seek the unachievable goal of being blameless and upright, we know that God will watch over us and protect our path to Him.