Job 13:23-28 – Always stay humble and contrite before God

Job now calmly presented his case before God. In his mind and conscience, he was totally resolved and confident that he was innocent. However, he knew he still had not convinced his three friends that he had done nothing wrong. Here we can sense that Job’s genuine desire was to make amend if he had wrongly estimated himself. Verse 23 indicates that he wants to know where his sins were. He logically laid out his case, saying how could he possibly forsake any wrong if he couldn’t even identify them. So, the first step to change would simply be self-awareness. He felt that if God would make it known to him then he could do something about it. His plea was for God to first relieve him of his terrible suffering and provide him with the help he was crying for.

Verses 24 suggests that he was feeling lonely, for God seemed very far way. It’s true that when one is going through tough time and struggles, God usually seems far away. One often feels uncared for. He longed to be able to sense God’s presence and friendship. Verse 26 tells us that he had so thoroughly examined his life that he even considered the sin of his youth. He thought perhaps God was dealing with something he did wrong while he was young. Honestly, Job wanted to be rid of the feeling of being so bound up. His condition bugged him. He felt his body decaying away as if he was a moth-eaten garment. 

Note that we know Job was genuinely searching for the cause of his suffering. He even contemplated the things he did when he was a youth. He left no stones unturned to identify where he had gone wrong. Even so we must, when we spent time in self-examination. What we can learn from Job here is this: even if we are confident before man concerning our innocence, we must stay humble and contrite before God. We must not presume on God. We must learn to trust God in our worst of feelings, because faith will overcome fear within our heart.