Clothed with Righteousness

Below, we will read Job’s testimony of the way he lived. God Himself bore testimony to Job that he was a righteous man. These words have gripped me so much that I can hardly get beyond them.

“When the ear heard, then it blessed me, and when the eye saw, then it approved me; because I delivered the poor who cried out, the fatherless and the one who had no helper. The blessing of a perishing man came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, and I was feet to the lame. I was a father to the poor, and I searched out the case that I did not know.” (Job 29:11–16)

Isn’t it remarkable that Job’s righteousness was not his own? There is no self-righteousness anywhere in the Bible. Job said, “I put on righteousness, and it clothed me.” He was clothed with a righteousness that he had received from God by faith. This was the outworking of his righteousness.

The poor, the widows, and the fatherless are the objects of God’s compassion. These are the people whom God has in mind when He speaks about righteousness—the widows, the fatherless, the poor, the blind, and the lame. We can measure how much of God’s righteousness we have by looking at the way we relate to these types of people.