True King

In his excellent study of God’s generosity ( God So Loved, He Gave: Entering the Movement of Divine Generosity , 134-5), Kelly Kapic summarizes the “righteousness” of Job:

“In Job 29:1-25 this man describes, in his own words, what his righteousness actually looked like. Above all, we find that Job’s life was characterized by a ceaseless concern for the needs of the poor and oppressed. Job tells us that he rescued the needy and assisted the fatherless (Job 29:12). As one ‘who comfort[ed] mourners’ (29:25), Job gave men reason to bless him with their dying breath and even made the hearts of widows sing for joy (29:13).

“According to Job, this is is what it meant to ‘put on righteousness as clothing” and justice as a ‘robe” (Job 29:14 NIV). Job was like eyes to the blind (29:15) and transportation for the disabled (29:15). He was a father to the poor and an advocate for the stranger (29:16). And finally, Job did not fail to vehemently oppose those who oppressed others, breaking ‘the fangs of the unrighteous’ so that they would drop the victims ‘from his teeth’ (29:17 NIV). Job’s life provides us with a full-orbed picture of what generosity that spills over into all of life looks like. His compassion was not limited to check writing; his hospitality was not about social maneuvering. Instead, Job used his resources, time, and energy to pursue the interests of those who were least able to help themselves or repay him for his kindness.”

It is also, for the same reasons, a “full-orbed picture” of genuine kingship. If there was any remaining doubt that Job was a king, this should remove it.