Certainly not Job. “Job went on to answer Jehovah and say: ‘Look! I have become of little account. What shall I reply to you? My hand I have put over my mouth. Once have I spoken, and I will not answer; and twice, and I will add nothing.’” Job’s remorse was not wordy; nothing to smack of self-righteousness. It was simply: “I have become of little account.”—Job 40:3-5.

Jehovah’s further words show the wisdom of Job’s expression:

“And Jehovah went on to answer Job out of the windstorm and say: ‘Gird up your loins, please, like an able-bodied man; I shall question you, and you inform me. Really, will you invalidate my justice? Will you pronounce me wicked in order that you may be in the right? Or do you have an arm like that of the true God, and with a voice like his can you make it thunder? Deck yourself, please, with superiority and highness; and with dignity and splendor may you clothe yourself. Let flow the furious outbursts of your anger, and see every one haughty and bring him low. See every one haughty, humble him, and tread down the wicked right where they are. Hide them together in the dust, bind their very faces in the hidden place, and I, even I, shall commend you, because your right hand can save you.’”—Job 40:6-14.

Will any man question God’s right to be Universal Sovereign? Has any man an “arm like God” to abase the proud and wicked and hide them in the dust of the earth, as God will do at the war of Armageddon? If so, then says Jehovah, “I, even I, shall commend you, because your right hand can save you.” It is not man but Jehovah’s arm and right hand that will deliver righteous men from the wicked. Armageddon is God’s battle for the vindication of his sovereignty. No creatures on earth will need to fight in that war for God. So if man cannot do God’s work, what right has any man to say God does not do it well? He can never have the right to impugn God’s actions.

We must be careful not to charge God with injustice or to be found faultfinding with the divine way. “We are not stronger than he is, are we?” (1 Cor. 10:22) Let us remember the words of Isaiah 45:9: “Woe to the one that has contended with his Former, as an earthenware fragment with the other earthenware fragments of the ground! Should the clay say to its former: ‘What do you make?’”

Let us realize our proper place, as Job did. Under the influence of the new knowledge that Job had gained, he realized the impotence of man and the greatness of God. Like Job, Christians need to get the true size of themselves, they need to see how insignificant their justification is compared with the vindication of Jehovah’s name and sovereignty. Let there be no faultfinding with God. Let our words be: “To my Fashioner I shall ascribe righteousness.”—Job 36:3.

“Worship That Is Clean”

◆ The disciple James wrote: “The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world.” (Jas. 1:27) Interesting is the observation of historian John Lord in this connection: “The example of the early church would seem to indicate that religion can only spread in a healthy manner by constantly guarding and purifying those who profess it. It would seem that the true mission of the church is to elevate her own members rather than to mingle in scenes which have a corrupting influence.”—The Old Roman World, page 550.