Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.
22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.
27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.
28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
29 When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.
30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.
Job 22:21-30
Preface
Here recently a very intriguing passage was brought to light in my mind. I had found this passage in a book that I was reading, and the application is amazing! It brought out the idea of the ladder concept, so I can’t take full credit for that. I didn’t realize that this part was so deep. So, let’s dig into this passage!
1. Acquaint now thyself with Him
“Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee”
Job 22:21
Let’s look at the word Acquaint. Here is the definition from the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary which, by the way, has Job 22:21 as a use of the word Acquaint.
“1. To make known; to make fully or intimately known; to make familiar”
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
Become intimate with Him, God. How do you become intimate with God? Well, you need to have a relationship with Him by inviting Jesus into your heart and by continuing in prayer. Make Him the Lord of your life which gives Him control of your thoughts, actions, and words. Please, dear friend, realize the importance of this foundational rung in the ladder! If you are not sure about what it means to be Acquainted with Christ, read this article about salvation. Don’t just read past this next verse without thought. Consider this thought…
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”
2 Corinthians 13:5
Once you are acquainted with Him, you are His and He is yours. Now, you can’t live like you did before. You must take the next step.
2. Lay up His Words in your Heart
“Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.”
Job 22:22
Notice the pleading of the writer, “Receive, I pray thee…”. In other words, “Please! I beg you to read and hear the Bible. Not only that, but memorize the scriptures. Put them in your heart!”
Receive and lay up; These are words that indicate that you have to work at getting God’s Words or the Bible in your heart. It is not always easy. In fact, it is very difficult to take time to study and memorize the Bible. Satan is constantly distracting you or discouraging you from getting to the scriptures. Realize that this is an essential step in climbing the ladder. Here is an article with practical tips to memorizing Scripture.
We will all have times of failure in this and I don’t think that our generation even realizes the amount of God’s word that we should have. We think that an hour or a chapter is sufficient, but it is not. Continue, all your life to engraft Scripture into your life. That leads to the next part…
3. Return To God and Be Built up
“If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up…
Job 22:23a
We are going to have “dry” seasons, times when you are struggling to enjoy the Bible to the extent. However, from our verse we see that, if you return to the Almighty, then you will be built up. What a promise! You must have the foundation of Salvation. Then, you must lay up God’s Word diligently. The result will be that He will build you up. Let’s see what is next.
4. Put away Sin
“…thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.”
Job 22:23b
This is a vital part. Iniquity is sin. Put sin far from you. Sometimes this is more obvious than other times. For example, it is obvious to put away lying, stealing, and bad language, but there are lurking sins just as damaging, such as, pride, anger, and bitterness. Examine closely and intimately your soul. Ask God to reveal your sins and once detected cast it out! This is a lifelong process, one that is called self-examination.
The Blessings of God’s Ways
“Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defense, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.”
Job 22:24-25
This part is full of promises that are a result of the preceding steps. Alright, let’s get this straight, this does not mean that you will be filthy rich with earthly gold and silver. However, I believe that this means that God provides for His children. He gives them sufficient and abundant blessings every day. He will also defend you. That is amazing!
I think that there is a real danger here. This sounds like the top of the ladder. Wouldn’t you like to stay right here? There are three steps to follow and then God will be on your side, right?
“For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.”
Job 22:26
Those are sweet words! Keep seeking. Keep reading. Continually put sin away from you. Then, you will delight in the Almighty. You will also lift your face to God. This takes time and effort but the desire and delight will come!
5. Make thy Prayer to Him
“Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.”
Job22:27
Prayer is an essential step of the intimate part. Prayer is another step that might start “dry”, but keep going! Seek God by prayer! This verse says that He will hear you!
“Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.”
Job 22:28
Your words are important. What you say has effect. At this point, being made right with God and seeking His will and ways, there is a level of authority given. Whether through prayer or declaration there is weight to what you say. Be sure what you wish or say is meaningful. Speak words of blessing and not of cursing, because it shall be established unto you. If you speak words of blessing, established unto you, then the light will shine on your ways. Be sure to give God the glory for the great things done in and through you.
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:16
There is still more!
There is Lifting Up!
“When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.”
Job 22:29
When others are struggling or are distressed then you have something to give. You have followed God’s ways and now He has given you something to give; hope. Ladies, you can’t give what you don’t have! It takes all of the previous steps in order to get to a place of mentorship or discipleship. You can say that there is lifting up; There is hope!
6. Walk in Humility
He shall save the humble person. Walking in humility is key! Whether you have a lot of knowledge or not pride can be lurking. It will be a greater temptation when you are in a place of giving advice or are living a life in accordance with God. Satan’s greatest tact is pride.
“Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”
1 Peter 5:5
God Knows your Heart
“He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.”
Job 22:30
God knows all. He knows your heart and thoughts. He will openly reward the things you do whether good or bad. He will save the innocent and pure. Don’t fool yourself. People around you can be fooled by false Christianity, but God will not. In all this, examine yourself, evaluate where you are at and where you need to improve.
Conclusion
In conclusion, realize that there will never be a person who can climb the top of the ladder and stay there in perfection. We are all be failures and sinners who will return to our sinful ways. Stay close to God and keep striving onward to the top. Alas, when we rest in our heavenly home the “small” decisions on Earth will not have been in vain. Lay up your treasures in Heaven starting today! Reflect on these words of a beloved hymn,
Higher Ground.
I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining ev’ry day;
Still praying as I’m onward bound,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”
Refrain:
Lord, lift me up, and let me stand
By faith, on heaven’s tableland;
A higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
2 My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay;
Though some may dwell where these abound,
My prayer, my aim, is higher ground. [Refrain]
3 I want to live above the world,
Though Satan’s darts at me are hurled;
For faith has caught a joyful sound,
The song of saints on higher ground. [Refrain]
4 I want to scale the utmost height,
And catch a gleam of glory bright;
But still I’ll pray till heav’n I’ve found,
“Lord, lead me on to higher ground.” [Refrain]
