Integrity

 Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?
Job 4:6 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/job.4.6.ESV

The best thing Job's friends did for him was to sit in silent solidarity with him. Once they started speaking they started pontificating about why he was suffering. They ended up simply compounding his grief.

'Job's comforters' have become synonymous with ineffectual and unhelpful counsel. Eliphaz here is no exception. He makes groundless assumptions about Job and his faith.

Eliphaz assumed that Job's confidence was in his fear of the Lord. Fear of the Lord by definition is the opposite. We fear the Lord because we have no confidence in ourselves. Instead we trust God to be gracious to us.

Eliphaz assumed Job's integrity was his hope. Job however made clear his awareness of his need for a Redeemer, and that his hope was in God. We should never second guess people's hearts.

'God our Redeemer, please help us fear You as we ought. May we have integrity, but hope in You, not ourselves, in Jesus' name, amen'

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