Therefore hear me you men of understanding far be it from God that he should do wickedness and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.
– Job 34:10
This is really good news. Hear me, men and women of understanding. God does not do wickedness and the Almighty does not do wrongly. That’s really good news, isn’t it?
Job 34:10 reminds us that if the world was governed by an unjust God, we’d be hopeless.
Just imagine if the Almighty, the one who has all power did wrong, was unjust. That’s what Job 34:12 goes on to say of a truth. God will not do wickedly and the Almighty will not pervert justice. Can you imagine if God who has all power over all the universe and your life and this entire world, was unjust? We would have no reason for confidence, for peace today. We would not know what’s going to happen in our lives. You think about the times when you have faced injustice.
I think about some unjust things that I’ve been facing recently and I just think if the world was governed by an unjust God, we’d be hopeless. This is the beauty of our God. He is perfectly just, he’s perfectly right. Everything he does ultimately is right and good and just, and this is reason to praise God and this is reason to have confidence even when you face injustice in this world or even when you don’t understand why this or that is happening in this world, to trust in God.
He is working all things together for the good of those who love him and he will in the end show his justice and his righteousness and one day we will be with him in a new heaven and a new earth where only justice and only righteousness will reign. We have a great reason for hope today for, confidence.
Job 34:10 reminds us that God is perfectly righteous and good.
Why? Because far be it from God, Job 34:10, “That he should do wickedness and from the Almighty, that he should do wrong.” Oh God, we praise you today for your justice and your righteousness and your goodness for your perfect justice, righteousness and goodness and power. We praise you that you are the almighty and that you are just and good and righteous. God, we stand today on these realities. That’s a rock. You are our rock to stand on confidence in a world of evil and unrighteousness and injustice. God, we look forward to the day when these things will be no more. Jesus, we praise you for coming to us, the just and righteous one for dying on the cross for us, for enduring evil and injustice as the price for our sins, for our evil, for our injustice and unrighteousness.
All glory be to your name for the cross and for your resurrection from the grave… For conquering sin and evil and Satan, and death, for rising from the dead and ascending to heaven where right now, you, the just and righteous one are seated at the right hand of the Father, and we are praying through you. We know you and our confidence is in you. We look to you in a world of evil and injustice, and we pray. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly and help us. Help us to work for righteousness and justice and good in every way according to your word in this world until that day. Help us to proclaim the good news of your righteousness and your justice and your mercy on the cross.
Prayer for the Hunan Iu Mien People
God, help us to share the gospel faithfully today with the people around us and ultimately with all the peoples of the world. We pray for the Hunan Iu Mien people of East Asia, God, for 223,000 of them. God, please cause the church to rise up and take the gospel to 223,000 Hunan Iu Mien people. They have little to no knowledge right now of your justice, righteousness, mercy, and grace in Jesus. Oh God, we pray all this according to your word, which we love in Job 34:10 and 12. In Jesus name, we pray, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
